Chapter Text
"It smells like garbage." Caitlyn complained, sniffing at the clothes Vi had handed her as soon as they both got in the Undercity.
"Which is great, isn’t it? C’mon, Cupcake. We don't have much time."
"Can you stop calling me that?"
Violet had already come up with that nickname in their first conversation, just before the enforcer broke her free from Stillwater.
"Why? You are so sweet," Vi smirked. "like a cupcake."
Caitlyn rolled her eyes:
"So I’ve been told. A lot."
"I believe you. That’s why you better dress yourself with that stinky garment" Vi nodded at some jerks who were catcalling them on the other side of the street. "Some shitty alphaholes are already crazy to claim your neck, sweetness. Don't worry." She pushed the omega behind the dumpster and turned her back to her. "I would kick their asses before they even tried anything."
"What about you?" Vi heard the girl asking. For some reason, she turned her head around to see her face:
"What about me?"
Caitlyn didn't say a word. Her eyes were saying what her mouth wasn't:
I already know it.
"I’ll be alright. Fortunately I wasn't born with a strong scent." Vi said in a flush, eyes glued to the ground. "I don’t know how you figured it out. Everyone thinks I’m a beta."
"Really?"
The topsider girl got temporarily naked as she was taking off her uniform - Vi could feel it in the air.
Vi found actually relief being in a filthy, fetid alley. Caitlyn's scent was just way too good.
"Yeah. Why do you say that?"
"You don't smell like a beta. Even dressed with that pissed jacket," The omega stated. "you don't smell like a beta at all."
That was the first time Vi heard something like that in her entire life. She suddenly felt some unpleasant butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
"Huh. Guess you have a keener sense of smell than usual, then." The redhead girl said, doing her best to ignore her feelings. "Now let's keep going."
"One condition" Ekko stated, clutching the gemstone. "I'm the one who gives it to them."
After offering to take the Undercity's issues to a friend in the Council, Caitlyn looked very satisfied to get into an agreement with the Firelighter:
"Deal." She nodded, solemnly. "Oof."
Caitlyn's legs suddenly wobbled in a swoon. Vi grabbed her arms and kept her knees from hitting the floor.
"Cait? What's wrong?"
"Hmm," She muttered, anchoring herself to Vi. "My apologies. I just need to sit down for a moment."
Ekko frowned:
"Are you hurt?"
"I must have twisted something along the way. Really need to rest." She swallowed. "And to eat."
"Lemme give it a look." Vi said, gently placing Caitlyn in the gutter and checking her temperature.
After their adventures together, Vi developed a strange attachment to the topsider. It was indeed - something strange. Something more than the natural attachment you have for a dear friend.
Vi was constantly worried about her well-being.
Maybe that was why she got so afraid when found out that Caitlyn's forehead was hot as a kettle.
"It’s nothing serious."
"You are feverish. Don’t you have some secret infected wound, do you Cupcake?"
"What?" She chuckled. "Gods, no. Why would I hide an infected wound?"
Vi shrugged:
"Dunno. Some stupid noble reason."
Suddenly their conversation got interrupted by Caitlyn's stomach - that rumbled so loud that Vi couldn't contain a laugh:
"Ha. First time I see a topsider getting that hungry."
Ekko also was clearly enjoying that vision, despite his concerns:
"At least there's an easy solution for that." He smiled. "Feeling better, lady?"
"Dizzy. I'll be okay." Caitlyn grumbled, red as a pomegranate. "Just need some food and sleep, that’s all."
"We have to lower that fever." Vi quickly crouched down beside the girl, worried. Ekko, in his turn, held out a handkerchief to her in solidarity. Caitlyn acknowledged the offer with a nod, wiping the sweat from her face.
"C’mon," The beta said. "Let’s make the two of you comfortable. We can’t make it all the way out to Topside with you like that. It would be too dangerous."
"Food, medicine, clean clothes… Guess this is it. She’ll be okay."
"I still think she must have got some infected wound." Vi blurted out, absent-minded, as she picked up the groceries Ekko was providing. "Dumbass."
"Whatever. Caitlyn's crucial to try any agreement with the Council, so you better protect her Vi. You must have noticed already that her scent is too... appealing," He pointed out. "and that's not good. Not good at all. It just makes us even more vulnerable."
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry about it." The redhead girl muttered, analyzing the antibiotics she now had in hand. "How she got an infection? I didn't see any blood coming from her."
"Do you need anything else?"
Before Vi could answer, a young man suddenly wedged himself between both of them, politely interrupting it:
"Do you have a minute, chief? The irrigation system is failing."
"Great." He rolled his eyes. "That’s my call. Keep me updated about Caitlyn."
"Right. Hey, Little Man." Vi gently grabbed his elbow "Thanks. For everything."
The Firelighter nodded with a little smile:
"Don’t forget it, Vi. You'll always have a place in this pack."
Who would say Lil Man would be such a natural leader?
A mix of shame and pride went through Violet. She should be what Ekko had become to Undercity’s people. Her sister was supposed to be right next to her, not painted on a memorial. Inside Silco's hands, having her mind broken by that gigantic amount of trauma she had to pass since her sevens.
Anyway, Ekko's moral compass did not change - and for some reason that made Vi proud, despite it all. If one day Vi's figure was an inspiration to Ekko, now he was an inspiration to her.
She would protect the pack. Would take good care of Caitlyn. Help them to get to Topside. Find Powder and be the sister she deserved.
Turning the knob, a confident Violet was ready to convince a convalescent Caitlyn that her fever definitely wasn’t normal - but the omega's scent knocked her out as soon as she opened the door:
"Hey Cupc--"
Wrapped in the four blankets that they both were supposed to share, there it was: a rosy-cheeked and sweat-soaked Caitlyn, exuding a terribly intoxicating aura of vanilla - with a new sexual essence that Vi couldn’t describe.
So good.
There was no need to check Caitlyn to know that she was drenched down there. Her scent was slightly milky now, as surely was her... her...
"---whoa." Vi blurted out, closing the door as quickly as she could.
Caitlyn looked more worried about eating than anything else:
"Finally. Did you bring it? I’m starving."
Holding her breath, Vi managed to hand the food to the girl without shaking or stuttering - what was quite an accomplishment, really.
"You should have said you’re in heat." She groaned.
"I didn’t notice it until I was completely alone." The omega explained while devouring a sandwich. "It came much earlier than usual."
"Is that so?"
"Yes." Caitlyn frowned. "Maybe it was an effect from the pills’ sudden interruption."
"Sudden interruption?"
"The rifle wasn't enough to get your potion. Everybody knows that topsiders always carry a flask in the pocket, so I had to trade it too."
A bolt of guilt split Violet in two. She was so careless about Sevika - and Caitlyn was the one who paid the price in the end.
"Shit."
"It’s alright. They must have some suppressants here."
Vi was trying to not look at Caitlyn, but it was kinda irresistible.
At a given moment, she had a glimpse of the girl’s situation: all that bluish hair was all glued in sweat on her feverish face; the sharp bright eyes were darkened with lust; and her scent was screaming a desperate arousal, like a firework.
That omega was such a mess, and yet there she was - talking normally, giving her ideas. Caitlyn's self-control was admirable.
"You were right." Vi stated, after finding some heat suppressants in the medicine box. "Here, Cupcake. It won’t last long."
"Thanks." The girl smiled, taking it with a glass of water.
Vi knew it would take a while until the pills had their effect, but damn. Cait's scent only got more and more intense and viscous as the minutes went by. It didn't take long for Violet to feel pangs of desire coursing through her wet core.
It wasn’t just embarrassing anymore; staying there next to Caitlyn was starting to be painful.
"Well," Vi hoped her own scent wasn't already giving her feelings away. "If you need something I’m right here guarding the door."
"Wait. Vi."
"Yeah, Cupcake?"
"Can’t you… stay?"
"Sorry," Vi mumbled. "what?"
"Can’t you stay" Caitlyn repeated herself. "and nest with me?"
"Do… Do you want it?"
"I’d feel better with you here. Together. If you want to."
She wasn't quite sure how to interpret that ambiguous message. What Caitlyn was actually asking her?
However, Violet knew that many omegas used to need company during heat, even if it was just a friendly presence. Actually, even Vi herself had a habit of sleeping with Powder during her own teenager heats. Her little sister's alpha pheromones used to helped her to calm down.
It wouldn't be fair to have any hopes of getting anything else with Caitlyn. After all...
What kind of omega would want to satisfy their needs with another omega?
"Right. Of course."
Vi sat down on the floor but Caitlyn pulled her by the arm:
"No." She purred. "closer. Here." The girl grabbed the blankets to herself, making space for Violet to come in, to join her on the mattress. "Please."
When Vi realized, Caitlyn's long legs were already tangled in hers, her face already nuzzling into Vi's scent glands - oh, she knew something was about to get out of control.