Chapter Text
This child is leading him to Viktor.
Viktor. His savior.
He didn’t know what affliction this child had prior to seeing Viktor. A child from the Undercity. He thought back to his argument with Ekko before being sent in the future by the wild rune; how the run-off from the hexgates was dangerously close to the Undercity’s waterline. How many people had Viktor healed with ailments unintentionally gifted to them by Jayce’s dream? He was no different from the Councilors of the past. Choking them, poisoning them, with the vague promise that they’d be headed into the future with Piltover by following their lead. Viktor was a victim of it, and he couldn’t fully blame Viktor for the conclusion that he’d drawn. Why he left.
There was trust in the child’s eyes, even after Jayce had raised his hammer at him. He’d killed a kid like that once before, and it haunts Jayce as the small child walks him to the sphere that Viktor was residing in. What would killing Viktor do to this child? Was he going to kill yet another child by raising this hammer?
The child gives him a smile and a kind nod before turning and leaving Jayce at the entrance, contemplating the promise he made, wondering if his heart would even permit him to pull the trigger.
He takes a hesitant step forward. He made a promise . He walks through the arcane tunnels, all pointed in the direction of the most important person in his entire world. Jayce’s mind lurches with visions of all he had endured, all the horror and pain. He made a promise.
He enters the lit up cocoon that housed Viktor. Viktor was suspended in the air, looking like he was meditating, though Jayce knew he was likely in someone else’s mind at the moment. If Viktor knew of Jayce’s presence, he did nothing to show it. Jayce’s legs feel like jello, his body begging him not to do it, to turn around, to walk away and let it be. His heart was in his throat, and agony in his lungs, but his eyes were full of awe at Viktor’s beauty. He had to steel himself, shove the pain and want down to get the job done.
Jayce takes him in, just one last time. The grief was immeasurable. He’d created so many wonderful things through hextech, but the best thing that’d ever passed his hands was Viktor. How he could walk now, how his lungs weren’t poisoned, his body not snapped in half from the terrorism Jayce had unintentionally egged on… how he was alive. And now, he was going to slip through his fingers. No, Jayce was going to break him with his fingers.
His eyes glaze over as he lifts his hammer, his eyes falling from Viktor’s peaceful, beautiful face, to the gear he was fidgeting in his hands. The gear… it was almost enough to make him give in to his anguish then and there. The sob was on his tongue, so he bites it. The last thing he wanted was for Viktor to look. Viktor did not deserve this, but it would at the very least be a mercy to kill him while he was unaware, at peace. To do him the favor of dying without the knowledge of Jayce’s utter betrayal.
He looks away, closing his eyes as he aims his hammer at Viktor, his fingers numb on the trigger. The pulse of the weapon in his hands alerted him of its readiness to take Viktor’s life, and Jayce hated the cruelty of it; how his hammer was allowed to hum with life, but not Viktor. He repeats the promise he made in his head over and over and over again, making it the only thing pushing him forward. How Viktor was the one who instructed him to do this.
Only you can show me this.
Only you can show me this.
Only you can show me this.
Show me this.
Show me.
Jayce gasps as though he’d been held under water, his hammer falling unceremoniously to the side.
“ HAH!” he laughs in horror at himself, falling to his knees, “ OH, HAHAHA. ”
Jayce stressfully threads his fingers through his own greasy hair as the tears flow, sobbing, then pinching his eyes aggressively in a feeble attempt to stop them. He wasn’t sure if he was reading too far into it, but he’d realized he may have misunderstood future Viktor’s request. No. No. He was not sent back to murder Viktor, he was sent back to change his mind.
It had to be possible. If it were not, then Viktor’s future self would not have admitted fault.
What would’ve happened if he had taken that shot? There was no guarantee that Viktor would’ve died… would that be the catalyst? Jayce’s betrayal?
It was all too much to think of. That any one action could be the result of the end of Piltover. Which one was it? What did he need to say or do to prevent the set fate? Did he just make a mistake? Had he already failed?
“Jayce?” a soft voice, a concerned voice, cuts through Jayce’s mental breakdown, a hand lightly pushing hair out of Jayce’s eyes.
Jayce throws himself away from the touch, eyes darting from the pretty purple and gold feet up to the shocked expression on Viktor’s face.
“ DON’T-” Jayce starts sternly, the visions of the past making his head jerk away. He gathers himself.
“Don’t turn me into one of those things. ” He says sharply. Viktor’s eyes dart over Jayce’s dirty form as Jayce dusts himself off, wiping the tears away.
“I would not do so without your willingness,” Viktor says, not having lost the concerned tone, “And they’re not things, Jayce, they’re people.”
“Are they?” Jayce snaps in exasperation. Viktor frowns at him, his eyes flicking with a touch of hurt and uncertainty.
“I told you before; you should come and take a look at the good that I am trying to accomplish. The lives I’ve improved by the gifts the arcane has given me. The gift that you bestowed upon me, Jayce. There are plants growing in the Undercity. There is peace here. No wars, no poverty, just community and healing. I do not understand why you refuse to give me the chance to explain.” Viktor reasons, offering his dainty hand to Jayce in an attempt to help him up.
Jayce stays on the ground, shaking his head at Viktor, “No, no, Viktor, you don’t understand what you’re doing to these people. You’re creating a- a hivemind . You’ve taken their free will. They can’t say no to you.”
This seems to offer a small consideration from Viktor, his eyes flicking in the direction of the commune, and back to Jayce, “Of course they can say no. They’ve chosen to stay here. I am not a jailor, Jayce, I do not enforce rules, other than the no weapons policy… Which you seem to have somehow skirted by…”
“Oh, is that right? Salo, of all people, wanted to stay down here and farm for the rest of his days?” Jayce retorts, using his hammer to help him stand up, his injured leg aching from the pain. He winces, leaning against the handle, and the voices swirl in his head again. Jayce shakes his head, as though it’d physically remove them from his head.
Viktor’s face darkens, unamused now, “ You killed Salo, Jayce,” he says grimly, “there’s something corrupting you. I can see it. You’ve touched the arcane, and it’s poisoned you. I can heal you, and we can be partners again, if you’d only let me help-”
Viktor reaches out towards Jayce’s forehead. He had no intention of healing him without his permission, but the call to touch Jayce, to offer comfort, maybe to show him his touch was not a bad thing, was too strong to resist.
Jayce snatches Viktor’s wrists in his large, calloused hands, then pushes him back against the wall, pinning his hands against it as he covers Viktor’s small frame with his strong, bulky form, Viktor’s hands left useless at either side of his face. He didn’t push him hard, but his back hit the wall with just enough force to shock him for the moment. Viktor pauses, his lip quivering, pretty eyes studying Jayce’s face, inches from his, waiting to see Jayce’s next move, if he should expect violence...
No, no, no, no, no. He had to bite the frustration off. He couldn’t allow this to delve into a fight. It would only escalate things further. Push them to the grim reality.
He huffs at Viktor, keeping him pinned as both of their breaths go ragged, though each for two entirely different reasons.
“Viktor…” he starts, taking a softer tone, “You cannot stand here and tell me Salo wanted this for his life. You say they have free will. Has any one of the people you have healed left this commune entirely? I do not mean off on an errand, like Salo, I mean left to their own lives ?”
The question catches Viktor off guard, and Jayce could see the reality beginning to set in, “I-...” he starts, still trying to think up one person who has left…
“But… but they came to me, Jayce. The arcane… It led me here, and there was so much pain and suffering. They were dying, Jayce. Just like me. They were deformed and disabled, just like me. I can’t- surely this is a far better fate than needless suffering and pain?” He says, conflicted now, leaning in closer to Jayce, until his face was painfully close to Jayce’s. He didn’t fight against Jayce, didn’t try to wring his hands free.
Jayce’s heart breaks. It was clear to him now that Viktor was innocent. That the arcane was taking advantage of his empathy. His kindness. His pain. Muddying up his morals and telling him that the people he’d touched were happy. Jayce lets go of his wrists, and instead uses his large hands to cup Viktor’s face.
“Please, Viktor, you have to listen to me. The arcane is preying on you. It’s making you see that these people are happy living out your ideal world, but it’s just puppeting them. It wants you to think they’re happy because you’ll continue to do its bidding. It’s so, so wonderful that you want to help people. You’ve always been so passionate and soft for people in need. It’s one of the things I utterly adore about you, Viktor, I-” his breathing slows, calm and easy, relaxing into the moment. He feels a peace that he hadn’t felt since Viktor woke up from the hexcore.
“ I love you, Viktor. So please, if you’re still in there, listen to me, not them. Whoever is pushing you forward with this, please, their word can’t mean anything more than mine, can it? I know- I know I’ve been stupid. But you’ve got to know that I’ve only ever wanted the world for you. You wouldn’t be asking me to be your partner in this otherwise. You know you can trust me. I’ll catch you, I promise.”
Now it was Viktor’s turn to look at Jayce in awe. His eyes remain locked with Jayce’s, his delicate fingers wrapping around Jayce’s wrist, thumbing at the rune embedded in. Jayce could see his eyes dilate ever so slightly, hints of amber slowly washing over iridescence.
“Wh- What about Mel?” Viktor asks, still stunned at Jayce’s words.
Jayce laughs, hard, baring all his teeth in his grin. Of anything to take from Jayce’s words…
“Eh- it’s an important question, is it not?” Viktor cuts in, offense in his voice, a blush creeping on his cheeks,“You cannot come in here making proclamations of the sort when you’re already spoken for, Jayce.”
Jayce’s laughter subsides into chuckling, smiling at Viktor and giving him the soft eyes he used to give him, “Mel and I aren’t a couple… at least not anymore… I haven’t seen her since you left our lab… And anyways, I’ve come to the understanding that she’s only ever seen us as investments… She’s called us that multiple times. And I’ve only ever wanted to be by your side… I didn’t see it before. Or I did see it, but didn’t understand it at the time. Everything I’d done, I did for you. For your well being. For you to be taken cared of. All I wanted out of that stupid hexcore was to cure you. Everything I’ve done for Mel, I’ve done for approval. Recognition. Success. Selfish reasons that just became too much for me to handle.”
“Well, who could say ‘no’ to a beautiful face like hers…” Viktor says with a tinge of both sadness and jealousy, turning his head away from Jayce to look at the ground to his left.
Jayce sighs softly at him, cradling his jaw with one hand and turning his face back to look at him again, affection written all over his face, “Do you know what happened the first time Mel and I had sex?”
Viktor scoffs at him, scrunching his face up in disgust and starting to pull away from his touch, “Jayce, I don’t need to hear about your sex life with Mel-”
Jayce adds the other hand, steadying him so their eyes didn’t leave each other, his voice serious again, “It was the day you ended up in the hospital. The day we found out you were dying.”
Viktor fell silent, his lips pressing together in upset at the reminder of it.
“While you were dying, I was fooling around with a woman who saw me as an ‘ investment’. And when I found out, I left her. I didn’t even wake her up to let her know what happened. She woke up the next morning thinking I’d used her for a one night stand. And of course I felt bad, and I apologized to her the next time I saw her, but I never regretted that choice, and I never will. What eats me up is that you were laying there unconscious on the lab floor for god knows how long, and I wasn’t the one to find you . V, you don’t know how much I wish it were me.” He says, upset, “Mel has never needed me. But you? You need me.”
Viktor opens his mouth to argue, but Jayce cuts him off, “And no, I don’t mean that I think you’re feeble and helpless. You’re extraordinarily capable, that is why you’re my partner. But I can sense it; I know you need me. I’m the only one who understands you, and that is why you want me as your partner again. It is why you said affection has kept us together. I want to just… take care of you. I want to be useful to you. I want to be your rock, more than anything in this entire world.”
Viktor purses his lips, rubbing them together before tisking at him, “So… just me? Or me and my hivemind?”
Jayce gives him a look of disbelief before Viktor smirks at him playfully, “What? It is a hivemind, Jayce, you can’t just love one of us, it’s sort of a package deal.”
Jayce rolls his eyes at him, “Stop it,” he chuckles with Viktor, stressfully rubbing at his forehead.
“Ehh, it’s too bad for Salo, that man needed someone to fish the stick out of his ass.” Viktor says, taking a slightly more serious tone in his joke.
“Oh for sure,” Jayce agrees, nodding along with Viktor, happy for the moment of reprieve, even if it’s at Salo’s expense.
But soon, the laughter dies, and Viktor pulls the conversation back to the problem at hand.
“Jayce, I don’t even know how to let go of these people. Sky, she’s in my head, guiding my actions, and she hasn’t left since I walked out of the lab. And what about this body? I’m not… I’m not human anymore.” he says, looking at his hands, turning them as he observes every purple tendon.
“ Sky?” Jayce says in disbelief, “ Sky has been guiding you this whole time? Viktor, she died, you didn’t see that as an indicator that something wasn’t right?”
“Well, now that you’ve brought it up…”
“ Viktor?!” Jayce says in exasperation, his mouth trying to find the words to lecture him with.
“What?! If you think about it, she died from the hexcore, I thought, potentially, her soul got trapped inside, as did mine.” Viktor explains.
“Your- I’m sorry- your soul is in the hexcore?” Jayce asks, concerned.
“Yes, my soul is in the hexcore.” Viktor reiterates.
“Wha- What does that- how?” Jayce asks, flustered, threading his fingers through his hair.
“It’s… complicated. I’m floating in a space that is between consciousness. Everyone this body touches, I become connected with. It’s like looking through different windows. I can look through the window that represents this body- my eyes- or I can go over to another’s. That is how I was able to talk to you through Salo.” He tries to explain, “It’s like I’m a part of the universe. I can see the vastness of everything from here.”
Jayce takes this in, taking a deep breath from his nose, “Okay, well, to start, no more using the powers from the hexcore. At all. No ‘healing’ anyone, no looking into their soul, and no more… ‘switching windows.’ Stay in your body the best that you can. And no more talking to Sky. It’s not her.” he says sternly.
Viktor hesitates, his celestial self turning to glance at Sky in the ether, though he says nothing to her.
“Viktor, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Sky says, floating closer to Viktor, “I’ve done nothing but support your vision.”
“She claims that you don’t know what you're talking about…” Viktor says softly. Jayce can see a hint of fear and confusion in his face, evident in how he crosses his arms over his chest to hug himself.
Jayce grabs his shoulders comfortingly, lowering his head to get on Viktor’s level, “Just ignore her, Viktor. I know it’s hard, but she’s gone. It’s a trick. I know it is.”
“But how?” He asks, “How do you know?”
“... Because you showed me,” Jayce says, before pulling him into his embrace, holding him tightly to his chest.
Viktor’s eyes widen as all of Jayce’s memories from the past few months flood into Viktor. The dead bodies. The robots. The armageddon. Jayce’s broken leg. His crawl back to the top of Piltover. His future self. Jayce’s stone body… All of it hitting like a punch in the gut. A cacophony of violence and pain, everything that Viktor had set out to eradicate, not just living, but thriving. It all felt like a cruel joke. All at once, he felt his own autonomy slip through his fingers yet again. Again, the world denying him control over his life.
But then…
“ In all timelines… in all possibilities… only you…”
Like a soft kiss… Like a gift… Like a second chance…
As all the missing pieces file in, Viktor trembles in Jayce’s embrace. Jayce does not let go, supporting him, comforting him as painful reality hits him. He wished he could protect him from it, but Viktor would never stay on the right path if he didn’t believe Jayce. Jayce knew the memories were over when Viktor’s delicate form reciprocates the hug, burying himself further in Jayce’s embrace, and his shoulders quake from grief.
“I got you… I got you…” Jayce murmurs in his neck, hands rubbing up and down his back to soothe him.
“H- how could you still love me?” Viktor sniffles through his tears, pulling slightly away so he can look Jayce in the face, “I- I ruined these people’s lives. I’m a monster.”
“Shh, shh, shh… No, you’re not. You didn’t know any better. You were just trying to help. We’re going to fix it, everything will be ok.” He says, voice low, he pulls him back into his chest, encouraging him to cry it out close to Jayce’s heart, hoping it’d absorb all the pain for him. Jayce’s embrace was like a thick blanket; protective, warm, all encompassing. He wanted to bury Viktor in himself. To shield him from the world. To selfishly keep him all to himself. Jayce plants a long kiss on top of Viktor’s head while he cries. And then another. And ano-
Suddenly, out in the commune, chaos erupted. Gunshots, followed by war cries, and then screams.
Jayce wants to squeeze Viktor in tighter, but Viktor pulls himself out, tears drying instantly as he tries to figure out what was going on. His first instinct is to jump into his follower’s heads, to look and see whatever is causing the fighting going on outside, but he stops himself. Even in a life and death situation, he was worried even the smallest bit of interaction would push him down the path Jayce saw for him.
“What is going on?” Viktor asks, starting to head for the exit. Jayce grabs his forearm, ripping him back to the wall. He then grabs his shoulders, holding him there like he was a child.
“It’s the Noxians. I saw them outside the commune before I came in.” Jayce explains, his tone even and stern.
“What are you- Jayce, we have to go help.” Viktor says, trying to brush his hands off.
“No; I’m going to go help. You need to stay here. Whatever it is they want, you being there will not help the situation. They will take you prisoner, and I can’t allow that to happen.” Jayce says, holding him still.
“They don’t want me, they want Vander,” Viktor states, trying again to weave around Jayce, but Jayce is stronger. He presses him right back to the wall, “God damn it Jayce, let go! I can’t let them take-”
“ No, ” Jayce says, far more gravely, “I will physically pin you down if I have to, Viktor. You don’t want to give them Vander? Then you’re their enemy. They’re Noxians, they will kill you. You can’t use magic right now, so you’re vulnerable, do you understand me?” Jayce says, shaking his shoulders in efforts to knock sense into him.
“I can’t just do nothing, Jayce, it’s my fault he’s even here in the first place,” Viktor retorts, giving him a scathing glare.
“Well you can either do nothing in here, or you can do nothing out there and get killed. Or, let me rephrase that; I can go out there and help, or I can physically restrain you until it goes quiet. Viktor, them killing you is the least of our worries. If they try to weaponize you- ”
Viktor gives him a miserable look at the last statement, knowing he’s right. His struggling ceases, and Jayce loosens his hold, testing to see if he will try to run past again.
“Go… I’ll stay…” Viktor says softly, “Just, please, protect them… They’re not going to fight back…”
Jayce recalled the little boy from earlier. The one who didn’t even balk when Jayce waved a weapon at him…
“I’ll protect them. I’ll protect you. Just stay here. If you can hear the fighting getting too close to you, then run away. I will find you,” He says, placing his hand on Viktor’s cheek, the other at his waist. He pulls Viktor in, kissing his forehead, “I swear it.”
It takes all of the will in the world to pull away from Viktor. He steps backwards away from him, soaking in his beautiful features, before grabbing his hammer and heading out of the sphere.
Viktor stands there, uselessly, balling his fists up in frustration. It had suddenly felt rather cold in this notably empty space…