#handsomecaitlynweek

#handsomecaitlynweek 1 - Knight

Anything

Summary: late day four of HCW with the prompt crime!

1.2k words

“Promise this one won’t be long?” Caitlyn adjusted her uniform collar and sighed. “Sadly I can’t. I won’t say much for your own safety, but an aggressive enemy has threatened war. I don’t want to send us into a conflict, but it looks like everyone is turning to me again.” Caitlyn brushes a stray lock of hair behind her ear. 

“Just do your best.” You kissed her one last time before she leaves.

Shouting. 

That was the only thing you could hear besides your own breathing. You couldn’t see at all. The room you’d been keep in was pitch dark. You couldn’t move at all either. Your wrists and ankles had been tightly bound for hours. 

It was a politically motivated stunt. You weren’t really involved, but you were the perfect target if they wanted to get under the skin of someone who was involved. Your wife, Caitlyn Kiramman. But hopefully, she wouldn’t do anything rash.

Maybe around twelve hours ago, you were at home alone, trying and failing to stay awake until Caitlyn came home. The last few weeks had been rough. Meetings and strategies had completely sucked away any free time. Things would be okay though. 

You gave up waiting when the clock struck midnight. After retiring to bed, you blacked out quickly. Then you woke up here. In a dark room, all alone, and restrained. This was definitely a plot to finally get Piltover to make a move. Holding the spouse of the Commander of Piltover hostage was practically taunting them. 

By this time, you had no clue if maybe they asked for ransom. If maybe they lied about your condition to the outside world. For now, you were unscathed save for the small cuts from the less than gentle transportation. Caitlyn would definitely be worried. You could only hope they would find you before something worse could happen. 

Another few hours passed. Your jaw was hurting. Your mouth was rendered useless by a rag muffling any sound you made. You were still scared for your life, but you were more afraid of how eerily quiet it had become so suddenly. 

That’s when the screaming started. You heard one shot, then two, then five, and then eight. Not fast enough to be a machine, but calculated and skilled. 

“It’s a sniper!”

“Get down!”

“Find them! now!” 

Your captors were scrambling outside. Your head was scrambling. It’s possible this was not your savior, but perhaps an even bigger threat. The screams died down, but you could still hear gunshots. Why were they still shooting? There’s no way anyone was still alive out there. Then they stopped. Now it was really quiet. You held your breath, praying to whoever was above that they had your best interest in mind. Another shot rang out, this time right outside the door of the shed you were in. You heard the lock and the bullet hit the ground. Shutting your eyes tightly, you heard the door creak open. 

Footsteps of a single person was all you heard. The clicking of boots. Then, they stopped. In an instant, the figure was knelt down, hugging you tightly. “Caitlyn?…” you tried to say through your gag. The familiar scent hit you like a train, and you began to cry. 

She pulled the rag from your mouth, and laid her hands on your shoulders firmly. She’s shaking. “Are you okay?” Her voice is empty. Cold. “Yes.”

“Did they hurt you?”

“Uhm- no.”

“Is there anything I need to know about?”

“I-I’m okay. Nothing happened by the time you came to save me. Thank you..”

After pulling away, Caitlyn quietly freed you. Something felt wrong. Why was she being so quiet? And why was it still quiet outside? 

She helped you to your feet, and walked you to the closed door of the dark shed. “Wait.” You stopped. “Is everything alright?… Did you arrest them?” She doesn’t respond. She’s right next to you too. 

Slowly, one of her arms goes behind your head to come around and cover your eyes. “What’s going on? I can manage on my-”

“Don’t say a word. Just do as I say.” She’s speaking low. Without another word, you allow her to keep her hand over your eyes. You can hear the door open, and step out in time with Caitlyn. The metallic scent of blood is overwhelming. You can’t help but gasp for fresh air that doesn’t come. “Caitlyn what’s-”

“They didn’t want to come for you.” She starts quietly, while guiding you through whatever horror she doesn’t want you to see. “They needed more time to think it over. Saving one person would risk the entire population.” Was she talking about you? “I didn’t like that answer, so I decided to come get you myself. Lucky me, though.” Your stomach is sinking. You can hear the smile on her lips. “They weren’t organized. They argued over what to do with you, and broke out into an argument. It got violent. They all thought they were the leader, so they killed each other. A shoot out. Result of infighting. I heard the screams of my precious wife, so I merely had to come and get her. That’s what happened. That’s our truth.” 

A lie. You know that’s not what happened, but the alternative made you want to vomit. “If I get in trouble for this, you’ve seen nothing, you’ve heard nothing.” She helps you into a vehicle, and removes her hand from your eyes. “Don’t turn around. Just look at me until I say it’s over.” Her eyes look distant and hollow. She keeps eye contact for maybe five minutes, before nodding. “Don’t worry. Everything will be okay.” She brings you in for another tight hug.

When you’re finally home that night, Caitlyn helps clean and patch you up. In bed, she holds you tight against her. “I’ll never let that happen again. Do you hear me? That will never happen to you ever again.” You’re still scared, but you never imagined that you’d be afraid of her. You knew she was a military official, but what she had done to get you back showed what she was capable of. 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been out for so long. I should’ve known. Should’ve been there…” Caitlyn’s fingers twitch against your hair, like she’s pulling a trigger. “It’s okay. You’ve had a lot on your plate.” You mumbled into her shoulder. 

“No it’s not. Nothing I did could ever amount to the amount of pain I wanted them to feel. Not a death slow enough, not a bullet fast enough.” She’s gripping you tighter. “Cait? You’re scaring me a little…” It’s like she doesn’t hear you. She keeps going on about death, and making those kidnappers suffer. All the while, she’s beginning to grip your hair too tight, and you can feel her nails in your back. “I’ll never let you out of my sight again. I can’t- I cant loose anyone again. Not you.”

You make a pained sound that finally snaps Caitlyn out of her rage. “Oh, oh darling I’m so sorry… Forgive me please. When I got home, and the house was ransacked, you weren’t there, and I..” She’s crying. You try and comfort her as best you can. “Hey it’s okay! I don’t know what’s going to result from…whatever you did, but I’ll be with you the whole time.”

She moves so she can look you in the eyes, and places one hand on your cheek. “Even though you know what I did?”

“I saw nothing. I have no evidence of anything against you.” Caitlyn gasps quietly before pulling you close. “I’d do anything for you. I’d do that again if I had to.”  You stayed huddled like that all night. 

The next morning, you wake up to Caitlyn on the phone. “A camp of them found dead? Oh….yes, I see. Have you got any leads?…”  Caitlyn turns around and grins at you. An uncanny smile graces her lips.

“That’s too bad..”

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Thanks once again for making #HandsomeCaitlyn Week such a success! Thanks especially to the artists who shared their art for this edit!

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“Caitlyn.”

Caitlyn pauses doing up her cloak as her mother approaches. It feels as though she has aged her parents ten years in the span of a few days. Caitlyn tries not to shift her weight as she stands there. Her mother is her sovereign, but she’s also her mum. And the past few weeks with her have been a kindness Caitlyn never thought she would get. But it makes this next bit harder. So much harder. There is a part of Caitlyn that just wants to throw herself into her mother’s embrace and never leave. Even if they have just fought over whether or not she will be shuffled around. They look at each other for a moment before her mother moves forward and wraps her arms around her. It’s a tight embrace, but for once there are no words that accompany it. No warnings, no reminders, just a tight squeeze that Caitlyn sinks into. She buries her face in her mother’s shoulder like she has not done since she was a child, since she had to push up to do it instead of curving her neck down. 

“I’ll see you soon,” she says, when they finally must pull apart. 

Her mother nods as Caitlyn fights the burning that has spread from her ribs to her throat. It’s never easy to watch her mother take her place as the queen, but this time it hurts even more. All of the other Knights who wear her face look equally emotional, they always do. It’s a kindness concocted by someone in her line, someone who realized it was probably a step too far to ask the heir not to be emotional at every parting. But this time it is harder. This time Caitlyn feels the weight of parting even more. It aches through her as she is absorbed by the crowd. Everyone here would lay down their lives to protect her. Guilt burns through her as Caitlyn aches with the knowledge she has very nearly rendered their sacrifice irrelevant with her selfishness. Even if one of them was shifted to take her place, they would know. Her mother would know. Caitlyn has no-one to blame for that but herself. Even though she held on, even though it didn’t happen. The longer time spent with her mother, the harder parting—all of it feels like some kind of punishment she deserves. Caitlyn can feel the sob building even as she pushes it back. Her parents are watching. It’s hard to hear a few of the others sob but Caitlyn tries not to. This time it’s a losing battle. She’s one of the first at the gates. This feels like running away and leaving a part of her behind. A part of her soul, perhaps. 

Because the gates opening and Caitlyn knows it’s not her heart. 

That is already elsewhere. 

“Vi!” 

The name tears out of her as Vi whips around. Her eyes go wide at the sight of her. Caitlyn barely notices the shadows under her eyes, the unkept length of her hair, the white knuckled grip on her sword—all of it falls away as she throws herself through the half opened gates. Vi’s arms are open and that is all it takes for Cailtyn to fling herself into the embrace. For all her shock, it only takes a moment for Vi’s arms to lock around her. In that moment Caitlyn can hear the pound of her heart, the catch of her breath, but then she hears the sigh of relief as Vi’s arms clutch her back. Dimly Caitlyn can hear the chaos surrounding them, but it flies by as though happening to someone else. The only thing that matters is the way Vi tucks her head against hers as she holds her close. 

“Gods, Cait—“ she breathes and Caitlyn just tries to press herself closer. 

“I know,” she says.

Vi lets out a weak laugh instead of arguing. She buries herself closer and only Caitlyn can hear the choked half-sob that leaves her. It makes Caitlyn clutch her back even tighter. Vi smells horrible, but somewhere under that smell of stress and worry is the smell of Vi. And that’s what matters. Especially as the adrenaline and relief make Vi sink into her embrace. They shift somehow from Vi holding her up to Caitlyn returning the favor, both of their knees embarrassingly weak. But Caitlyn’s side reminds her that she’s healed but not entirely. And the idea of dropping Vi isn’t one she’ll entertain. 

“Let’s get back to the inn,” she says. Vi nods against her, “when did you last sleep?”

Vi pulls back with a weak sound that might be a laugh and Caitlyn gets her first real look at her in weeks. Everything in her aches at the sight as she takes in her appearance. She begged them to send word to Vi, but it’s clear that wasn’t done. Caitlyn reaches out and touches Vi’s cheek. She turns her face into her hand, her breath coming down Caitlyn’s wrist. But when she opens her eyes, she manages a weak smile. 

“You can’t go worrying about me,” she says, “you’re the one who almost got yourself killed.”

“Then why do you look as though you’re dying?” Caitlyn asks helplessly. 

Vi doesn’t have to answer. It’s the same reason Caitlyn knows her heart was not left in the palace. That it hasn’t been there for years now. It’s why Vi lets her lead her back to the inn and get her into the bath. Why even though Vi is exhausted and Caitlyn’s ribs are aching, they won’t sleep for hours. There’s nothing to catch up on, it’s not as though they have done anything for the past weeks. But neither can quite believe this worked. That they are back together when everything from tradition to logic says they shouldn’t be. But for now, Vi smiles and shrugs and even manages to wink like they are fresh of that muddied field where they first met. And just like back then, when Vi also had no business winking and smiling, Caitlyn cannot help but smile back. 

Handsome Caitlyn Week 2 - Formal