Chapter Text
When Vi wakes up, that enforcer is still carrying her.
She thinks they’re on the other side of the bridge but it’s dark and she’s still dizzy from whatever drugs he used to knock her out. The farther he goes the more tense her body becomes, muscles coiling and legs stiff, ready to attack and bolt at a moments notice.
And apparently that moment is now.
Vi delivers a swift hook to the side of his head, almost knocking him down and for him to release his grip on her. She sends another hook to his jaw, a kick to his ribs and he doubles over. She takes the chance to bring her arms down on the back of his neck, and he falls to the ground. As soon as he falls, Vi turns and runs. She keeps running and doesn’t stop until she’s absolutely sure he hadn’t followed.
Only now she doesn’t know where she is. She’d never gotten to know topside nearly as well as the undercity, and now she had no clue where to go, to hide out, to get home.
Take care of powder.
Powder! Vi wants to kick herself for forgetting about powder. she has to get back to the undercity, she has to find her sister.
How the hell is she gonna do that?
She attacked an enforcer, that’d be more than enough to get her tossed into stillwater while they threw away the key. The bridge was always covered with them, they roamed both sides of the city constantly, I wouldn't stand a chance.
She looks up and realizes she’s been walking. She's not sure for how long but now she’s sitting under the Piltie side of the bridge while the adrenaline wears off. Fuck, everything hurts.
It doesn’t take too long to pass out after that.
—-
When Vi wakes up later it’s early in the morning, the sun just barely peeking up. if she wasn’t in so much pain right now, she might’ve thought it was pretty. She shifts, sitting up and keeping her injured arm still while holding her side.
Just that much seemed to be too much for her body right now, with her breathing ragged and aching against her definitely broken ribs. There’d be no easy way to get back home from here, especially with enforcers all over and especially in her state.
Home.
Take care of powder.
Because you’re a jinx!! Mylo was right!
Violet, please!!
She didn't realize she was sobbing until she heard it echoing around her, stabbing her chest. Vi quickly covered her mouth as she cried from the mental and physical pain she’d been in nonstop for hours. She had to calm down, she had to calm down. Having a breakdown under a bridge while some angry enforcer was probably actively looking for her wouldn't help her at all.
God but everything hurt. Her head was pounding, the pain in her chest was sharp every time she breathed. Her shoulder was dislocated and her arm was probably broken and now theres footsteps getting louder and she cant shut the fuck up.
Someone kneels in front of her, too blurry to make out, and for the first time Vi realizes she's fallen to her side and curled into herself. He starts speaking in a tone so soft and warm she can't help but let her guard down, if just a bit. She can't process what he says, but he helps her stand and she all but collapses into him when she puts weight on her left foot.
"Easy, easy. Let's get you somewhere you can get help, alright?`` In her confused daze of trying to figure out his accent, Vi manages to force out 'no hospital' and thankfully the man listens.
The next half hour is a blur, really. Traveling through back alleys to one big house (mansion?). the man enters without hesitation.
he calls someone's name and Vi passes out.
---
It's hours later when Vi wakes up. It's dark out now, and she's in a huge bed that feels softer than a cloud. it's so big she'd be able to comfortably share it with Powder, Mylo, Claggor, hell even Vander could probably fit on this thing.
The pain she feels when she remembers what happened less than 24 hours ago is worse than anything she's ever felt.
Her breathing comes out in quick, shallow gasps while her chest just feels tighter and tighter and the memories won't stop.
She squeezes her eyes closed and grips the blankets so harshly she thinks they might tear. A ragged sob bursts from her chest and this time she can't do anything to stop it.
it fucking hurts but holding it in isn't better, either.
There's a knock on the door she doesn't hear, quick footsteps and a hand on her forehead and her brain is too overloaded to even register it as a threat.
The cool, calloused hand leaves her forehead and vi whines at the loss of the grounding weight she refuses to find the source of. If she keeps her eyes closed maybe she can convince herself it's Vander or even her father. That she's just sick but she's fine and they're fine and everything can just be normal again.
The hand comes back with a cold towel wiping at her forehead and eyes, and this time she loosens her hold on the bed to hold the hand and cloth tight against her clammy face. It doesn't take long for her to pass out again.
---
The next day passes in much the same way, with the still nameless girl waking at random times with a spike in her fever and crying so loudly Tobias wonders if Caitlyn can hear her all the way from her room.
As much as his wife tries to hide it, he knows she's just as concerned about the girl as he is. She's around Caitlyn's age, even younger, and it seems she's been through hell twice over.
It's around noon on the third day since he brought the pink haired girl to their home. He enters the dark guest room she's staying in to change some of her bandages. Tobias sits on the edge of the bed and flicks the bedside lamp on. He starts removing the wrappings on her hand when she starts to stir.
She mumbles inaudibly at first, then her eyes blink open, squinting at her surroundings. when she makes eye contact with him, however, her eyes widen and she shoots up with a hoarse shout of pain and quickly backs away.
Tobias puts his hands up in what he hopes is a placating gesture, knowing full well provoking her won't help.
"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help."
"Bullshit." her voice is rough from sleep, but it cracks just a bit. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"
Tobias sighs and puts his hands palm down on his thighs. "My name is Tobias, I found you under the bridge, beaten and sick. I did what any good adult should do and decided to help. I didn't even take you to a hospital, just as you asked."
The teen’s breathing starts to slow and her shoulders slump, still looking exhausted after spending the past 2 days mostly just sleeping.
"Where am I?" her voice is so much smaller now
"Topside, more specifically my home. I figured it'd be the safest place to take you."
He clears his throat at the end and the girl just stares at him scrutinizingly.
"You're not from Topside, are you?"
He huffed a laugh through his nose. "No, no I am not. I grew up in the fissures, but I managed to get a scholarship to a school up here and later met my wife, so I decided to stay."
"You abandoned the undercity."
"There wasn't anything left for me down there, anyways."
it's quiet for a moment before Tobias breaks it. "I never did catch your name."
the girl mumbles something into her shoulder.
"Excuse me?"
"it's Vi. Stands for violence."
Tobias smiles to himself at that. "Your injuries made that quite clear, I think."
vi doesn't find that as funny as he did.
The silence that lingers is tense and awkward, then Tobias stands up.
"Well, I originally came in to change a few of your bandages, though I understand if you'd rather do it yourself.”
"Yeah, no, I'd-, I'll do it. Uh, thanks."
Tobias nods and leaves the room, closing the door with a sigh.