Chapter Text
The ringing in Jayce’s ears was deafening as he fell to the ground. Flashes of mirrored patterns, the hooded figure, and the ruined Piltover clouded his thoughts. He had promised to stop Viktor, to save everyone from that terrible fate. He pushed away the dread and nausea burning in his throat as he finally opened his eyes. Jayce surveyed his surroundings, taking in that he appeared to be in the undercity. He figured that this was it. He couldn’t fail, he wouldn’t fail.
Jayce used the distorted hammer to leverage himself up and lessen the pressure on his leg. He dragged the hammer behind him as he leaned around the nearest corner. He had expected to find some sign of Viktor, but instead he was met with a dim street leading off to who knows where. Jayce was alert as he walked down the street, his eyes running over the scattered Zaunites exchanging hushed whispers. Their eyes followed him cautiously. Judgingly, sure, but not with intent to act.
As Jayce rounded the next corner his head throbbed aggressively and another wave of visions and memories blurred his vision. He veered off the path and bumped into someone, snapping him back to reality.
“Watch it.” The lady growled. When Jayce moved to apologize, he froze. Standing in front of him was Renni, the same woman who had nearly killed him during the memorial ceremony. The same woman that was, in fact, dead. Jayce tightened his grip on his hammer, expecting Renni to recognize him and try to attack. To his surprise, she simply scoffed and turned back to the person beside her to continue her conversation.
Jayce stumbled his way into an alley as he mulled over the situation. He considered the possibility that he was sent back in time to before he touched the hexgate. Maybe he could save Viktor from getting caught in the explosion in the first place. Jayce shook his head, disregarding this theory with the way Renni didn’t seem to recognize him.
“Silco keeps getting on my ass about it. He finds two brats on the street and all of the sudden it’s our job to clean up after them.”
“Sorry, what was that?” Jayce felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He looked back towards Renni, his view of the woman blocked out by flashes of blue. “I was just passing by and I couldn’t help but overhear a little something-something.” Jinx tilted her head in feigned curiosity and innocence. She circled around Renni, the other Zaunite quickly making their escape.
Renni scowled. “Nothing. It was nothing.” It was clear that the woman was holding back from spitting the words. Jinx pouted, brushing her hair out of her face. She looked younger than Jayce had seen her before.
“What, do you not like me, Renni? I’m hurt.”
“I’m not on Silco’s time. Don’t sic your guard dog on me for a bit of gossip.” Renni huffed, following Jinx as she circled like a hawk. Jayce let his mind wander to Silco. He remembered the brief conversation with Silco on the bridge, the meeting, Viktor-
“I prefer the term bloodhound.”
It felt as though the breath was knocked out of Jayce as he heard the smooth accent echo against the brick walls. It was only a matter of seconds for the man to enter Jayce’s vision and oh how young Viktor looked. And how different. He wore a vivid red top with gold highlights and black pants to match his gloves. The gloves he was currently adjusting with an apathetic look on his face. Renni turned back to Viktor with a suppressed glare. “Viktor.”
Jayce was too distracted taking in Viktor's appearance and poise to realize two very crucial things. One; Viktor wasn’t using his cane, in its place was a staff of black and gold. Two; Viktor was clearly working with Jinx, maybe even Silco. What could have possibly gone wrong to lead to this?
“Renni. Bold choice to be talking that way out in the open like this. I’m not going to do anything, though. Silco values your services. However, I cannot speak much for Jinx. And you’re very right, Silco has no issue cleaning up after his- what was it you said, his brats?” Viktor’s lips turned up into a smile of the likes Jayce hadn’t seen before. It was cruel and calculating. Renni made the wise choice to not respond, staring at Viktor with an obvious disdain. “If we all understand each other, we’ll be on our way. Jinx?”
Jinx happily skipped over to Viktor, giving a smug sneer to Silco’s associate as they turned to walk away. Jayce had to stop himself from lunging out of that narrow alleyway, shouting Viktor’s name and, well, he didn’t even know what. Instead, he waited for them to be out of sight before following their trail as he sorted out some kind of plan. Jayce kept his distance, making sure to keep the arcane-infected hammer off the ground to stay quiet despite the weight making his body ache.
Jayce picked up on their conversation here and there, lost in the affectionate way Viktor regarded Jinx and the way Jinx playfully bumped into Viktor. They treated each other with a kindness Jayce hadn’t felt from Viktor in a long time. The mage flashed in his mind, flashbacks following quickly after. Jayce’s back fell against a greasy wall and he shut his eyes tight, holding his head as it pulsed. Before he could open his eyes, he was knocked out cold.
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When Jayce woke up, his throat was dry and his head ached. He moved to touch the sore spot only to find that his hands were bound tightly behind his back around what felt like a metal pole. Jayce’s eyes shot open and he took in his dim surroundings, his hammer quickly catching his eye as well as the man inspecting it.
“Don’t touch that!” Jayce winced at the roughness of his voice and the way his head throbbed, not caused by the arcane’s influence for once. Despite the pain, he didn’t miss how Viktor looked at him in surprise before quickly correcting his expression back to neutrality. He carefully pulled his hand back from the hammer and stood up straight, observing Jayce.
“You’re awake. I apologize for the… unorthodox method of getting you here. Jinx can be a bit overzealous.” Viktor crossed his arms. Jayce was wary of words, not quite believing the authenticity of his apology. In the moment of silence, Jayce had the opportunity to take in Viktor’s appearance more closely. Almost everything was how it was when he first met Viktor, his moles on his cheek and above his lip, his honey amber eyes, his neat, soft hair. He couldn’t help but notice the differences no matter how small they were. One of which happened to be the white streak in Viktor’s hair that Jayce couldn’t tear his eyes away from. Viktor didn’t seem pleased with the lack of a response. “Who are you?”
“You don’t know who I am?” Jayce uttered, finally meeting Viktor’s eyes again. “Viktor, it’s me. Jayce.”
For a split second, Viktor’s eyes widened and realization flashed across his features. His face hardened quickly, something of the likes of anger taking over. “You should know I don’t take well to dark humor. Who are you?” Viktor leaned in closer, putting a hand against the metal pole above Jayce’s head.
Jayce huffed, locking eyes with Viktor with the same amount of vitriol. “Jayce Talis.”
“You can’t be.” Viktor pulled back, confused rather than irritated. “Jayce Talis is dead.”
There it was. Jayce dreaded that fact, but it made sense. There would be no reason for Viktor to talk to Silco in the first place if Jayce had anything to do with it. Jayce inspected the look on Viktor’s face, the hidden hurt and grief that he learned to spot. “How?” He asked quietly.
Viktor hesitated. “Suicide. His project was shut down. I went to find him because I was interested in his work, but by the time I got there…” He trailed off, breaking his gaze away from Jayce and finding a spot on the floor to stare at.
Jayce let his head hang as he sighed. “Before you could stop me.” He remembered that night well, he rarely stopped thinking about it. Viktor had changed his life that night, saved him and gave life to his dream. He tried not to think about how badly that went. “I know this will sound unbelievable, but I’m from a different world. I’m not sure how I ended up here, but it has to do with our- my work. I need to find a way back.” Jayce raised his eyes up to Viktor who looked conflicted, emotions running rampant on his face.
Viktor reached towards Jayce, pausing halfway before continuing. His hand curled under Jayce’s chin so he could get a better look at the man he once knew. Jayce longed to feel his warmth, denied by the thick gloves, but granted by the look in Viktor’s eyes.
“In your world… I make it in time?”
“Yes.” Jayce responded immediately. “We work together for years. My work… we did it.”
Viktor smiled at Jayce who quickly mirrored the expression. He gave Jayce’s face another onceover before digging his fingers into his cheeks, his gentle smile twisting into one of filthy pleasure. Jayce grimaced as his head was pushed to the side and Viktor stood up straight once again. “Good.”
“Good- good?” Jayce looked up at the other man in confusion, still trying to decipher the sudden change in attitude.
“Yes, good.” Viktor strutted over to his desk, unlocking a compartment and pulling out a notebook. Jayce’s notebook. Viktor turned it over in his hand and flipped through a few pages. “If you made it work in your world, that means you can make it work here too.”
Jayce let out a breath in disbelief, Viktor’s words echoing in his mind. “No, no- Viktor, you don’t understand!” He tugged at his bindings, his eyes darting from Viktor’s thrilled face and his own notebook. “Hextech ruined my life- our life! It ruins worlds, I’ve been there myself, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. We were wrong to tamper with magic and try to control it. You can’t make hextech. You yourself made me promise to destroy-” He stopped himself, sighing harshly and shaking his head. He should have destroyed that cursed thing. But Viktor…
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but from what you said it was hextech that caused all of…” Viktor gestured at Jayce, “this, yes? If it was hextech that brought you here, that would mean you would need it to get back, wouldn’t you? It doesn’t matter what my intentions with it are as long as you get back to your world. I will help you accomplish this.”
Jayce felt nauseous at the idea of letting this Viktor, much less Silco, get ahold of hextech. He knew it was foolish to trust him so quickly. He should have seen that Viktor would manipulate him. He could worry about that later. Jayce watched as Viktor wandered over to the hammer, running a hand over the end of the handle.
“It seems to me like you don’t have much of a choice, Talis.”
He hated the way his surname fell from Viktor’s mouth.
“You do want to go home, don’t you?”
His head split with the memories of the Viktor he knew, dead, back to life, leaving. He wanted to tell Viktor to shut up.
“You don’t seem the type to leave people to die-”
“Fine!” Jayce growled. “Fine. I’ll make hextech here. To get back to my world.”
Viktor smiled and it made Jayce’s blood boil. He closed Jayce’s notebook and placed it on his desk that was tiny compared to what they had at the academy. “Good.” He walked past Jayce to the side of the room enshrouded by darkness, not that Jayce could turn enough to see anyway.
“Where are you going?”
“To inform my employer of the situation. Don’t worry, I’ll untie you eventually. I have to make sure you’re safe to roam free. You understand, don’t you?” Viktor said, an irritating cheerfulness in his tone. “I’ll make it quick.”
Before Jayce could protest, the door shut, leaving him with just silence and his thoughts. The two things he had gotten quite enough of.