THE WORLD BELOW (VixCaitlyn) / a dive into season two

Truth

"Stay here" Caitlyn reassured Vi as she let go of her hands and got up from the bed, collecting the ends of the bedsheets around her damp, naked skin. The knock on the door was intensifying as she threw on a light, oversized cotton sweater, pulling out her wet hair from the collar, and slipped into a pair of cargo sweatpants that she blindly pulled from a drawer. She barefootedly stumbled to the door and, with one last look over to Vi, opened it just enough to slip through and close it behind her.

"Dad?" Caitlyn raised her eyebrow as she saw him in the hallway "Is everything okay?"

Tobias' eyes seemed worried at first, but his face softened as Caitlyn approached him with a smile for a morning hug.

"I heard there's been some commotion so I just wanted to check in..." he said, placing his hand on his daughter's shoulder "But you seem alright now. I am having a hard time myself dealing with everything that happened, so don't be afraid. It will get easier day by day."

Caitlyn nodded. She knew that, although her father carried his pain and fear in silence, he had been incredibly frightened ever since the attack. He had been working at the hospital that evening, only to see his own wife rushed in barely alive and mangled beyond recognition. In one of her last laboured breaths before she fell unconscious she had uttered the name of their daughter, to which Tobias had rushed home to find her bedroom empty with the window wide open and her clothes in a chaos all over the floor. Upon closer inspection he could make out the name Jinx, etched into the wooden panels by desperate, trembling fingernails.

In one night he had lost the two loves of his life, only to have them both returned to him soon after, but changed.

Caitlyn could see the pain in his eyes every time he looked at Cassandra in the wheelchair, watching as her will too live grew scarce and fragile. Nothing would ever go back to how it was, but he saw his role and tried to function, nursing his wife back to health and posting trusted guards all about the house and the gardens of the residence.

"I'm fine. We're... fine." Caitlyn mumbled,"I think Vi is doing better with the fever pills this morning, but she looks pale."

"Well, I bear good news then. I identified the pathogen last night and I was able to find a reliable source for antibiotics: It's been a common ailment in the undercity since the shimmer crisis, the microorganisms feed on the chemicals and proliferate quicker, causing a heavier reaction than usual. Her body must have been fighting the infection through the leftover shimmer in her blood but eventually it grew too fast. I hope you realize she is lucky to be alive."

Caitlyn let out a relieved sigh. She already knew the illness was serious so she was happy to hear that she would have been able to help Vi fight through it. Without thinking, she replied: "I am so glad, honestly. I couldn't stand to see her suffer much longer."

Tobias raised an eyebrow with a suspecting glance. He raised his second arm to grab both of his daughter's shoulders and squeezed them firmly, trying to make eye contact. Suddenly aware of what she had let slip, Caitlyn blushed and cast her eyes to the ground, her wet, messy hair falling into her face to conceal her embarassment.

"You know you can't hide from me, Poppet." he said with a chuckle, "I see the way you look at her, I knew since that time I saw the two of you sneak through the window. She is not like the other girls, is she?"

Caitlyn dared a look into her father's eyes and found nothing but calm, genuine understanding in them. He let go of her shoulders but stood close, giving her time to collect the right words.

"She changed me, dad. She taught me her view of the world and things about myself that I had never imagined to be. To you she may seem dirty and uncultured..." Caitlyn took a deep breath before continuing as she noticed herself getting emotional again "But she is the only one, in this world of deceit... of masks... the only pure and real thing that doesn't covet and lie. She says what she wants and she means it, which is something I've seen rarely topside. So yes, she is... different."