Chapter Text
Viktor sank into his chair again, Jayce's words echoing in his mind, over and over again as furious tears started to gather in his eyes. A year of endless work, of never-ending projects, of never saying no, of pushing just that little bit more, that little bit harder... turned to nothing. He wiped at his cheeks angrily, breathing hard, ignoring the questions from Sky and the others when they returned, trying to focus on the work in front of him. Until Jayce took control and forced him to stop, he would not stop.
Jayce stalked out of the lab, out of the Council building, past the Academy and onto the battlements, staring out at the ocean, his fingertips digging into the stone smoothed by decades of ocean breeze. He wiped at his face angrily and stared out at the ocean. He couldn't even go home, because he tried, he had no doubt that his mother would take Viktor's side and demand that he go apologize. But everything that HexTech was now, everything that had somehow grown in the single year, he'd had a hand in none of it, Viktor hadn't needed him for any of it. Not really. He'd only been holding him back all along.
Jayce watched the sun set over the ocean, hanging his head as he sighed, turning away from the last golden rays on the water that reminded him too much of Viktor's eyes and wandered back into the city. For all that so much had changed, very little had. Viktor's favorite pastry shop was still on the corner, and Jayce could see the restaurant they had made several trips to due to how late it was open, that they had become regulars at, and the carriages that rattled along the streets like nothing had changed when everything had changed.
Turning another corner that had had more closed shops than open ones, Jayce blinked in surprise at all of the businesses that were now there, and some had the distinct coloring and hallmark of Zaun. Jayce stopped in front of one of them, staring at the bright fabrics and the different pieces of clothing on the mannequins and fought down a smile. Viktor had always despaired over Piltovian fashion, but now there was a place here selling Zaunite clothing. His eyes caught on a small sign in the corner that held the symbol of the Acceleration rune lit up in HexTech blue, but no words attached to it and frowned. What did that mean?
As he walked down the street, the more he looked, the more he found that tiny symbol tucked into corners of windows everywhere. The Acceleration rune, everywhere, glowing HexTech blue.
Jayce swallowed and eventually turned back to the Academy once the streetlights had all flickered to life, and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Once he crossed the threshold into the Academy, he blinked in surprise at the brightness of the lights and looked up at them. Every single one of the lights was markedly brighter than he remembered them being.
"They'll dim at midnight, if you're worried. They're set on an automatic timer."
Jayce turned to the Enforcer standing by the entrance, confused. "The, the lights? They'll dim?"
The Enforcer nodded. "They were installed a few months ago to make it safer for students staying out late to study. A new HexTech system was put into place, powered by one of those gems, and now the entire campus is switching over to their electrical systems to save on efficiency."
Jayce blinked in surprise. "They are?"
"Yeah," The Enforcer gestured to the lights. "Heard that the owners of HexTech wanted to bring that to the entire city. Council is dragging their feet on it, last I heard, but I don't know why. Look at what a difference it makes!"
"Yeah," Jayce said, looking up at the lights again, wandering onto Academy grounds and through the Courtyard. There would have been no profit to make in doing something like this. It had been done because it had been needed. Because the people had needed help. Jayce closed his eyes and sighed, then forced himself to look around. There were several students wandering home from the library, or labs, bags clutched over their shoulders as they muffled yawns. He shook his head and let his feet carry him forward, toward the far end of the courtyard where the stage was often erected for Progress Day and the Distinguished Innovator's competition.
Had Viktor won this past year without him?
Jayce shook the ugly thought away and stopped in the grassy part of the courtyard where he and Viktor had once danced together, and Viktor had smiled in a way that had made his chest feel like it was cracked open and all he wanted was one more smile like that. How many others had Viktor helped, simply because it had been the right thing to do? What they had always wanted to do with HexTech?
"I missed you at the last Distinguished Innovator's competition. We were invited to be judges, but I knew you wouldn't make it home in time, even if I managed to get a letter to you," Viktor said.
Jayce tensed, even as he heard Viktor walk closer until they were standing shoulder to shoulder, looking up at the stars like they had done together once, what felt like a lifetime ago. "Do you remember that last one?"
Viktor hummed. "Where I walked through the HexGates without telling you I was going to?" He let out a small chuckle. "Of course I remember. One of the best nights of my life."
Jayce glanced over at Viktor, but his face was still tilted upward, his expression relaxed, but this close, he could see the bags under Viktor's eyes, and the tiredness that was clinging to him like a physical weight. "Mine too," he agreed. "I didn't let you hide in the shadows, either. We danced together, watched the fireworks, drank champagne and celebrated."
"The newspaper clipping of us holding the winner's trophy is pinned to the board above my desk," Viktor answered. "I have a few dozen copies of it, of course, but I always keep one in the lab."
Jayce swallowed and clenched his hands into fists, his heart pounding uncomfortably hard. "I am sorry."
Viktor sighed. "Jayce."
"No, I shouldn't..." Jayce sighed. "I should never have said that, Viktor. No matter how angry I was. I'm sorry. I am..." He glanced at Viktor. "I'm feeling very left behind, but I want to learn. Will you tell me what you've been working on? I want to help. HexTech, us, our partnership, was always about helping people. I want to help people, just like you have been."
"Apology accepted," Viktor said, giving Jayce's shin a poke with his cane. "However, you accuse me of stealing technology we developed together for my own gain again, my cane will be meeting the back of your head."
Jayce laughed, relief flooding through him and he nodded. "Very acceptable terms."
"I thought so," Viktor said, leading them over to one of the benches, settling down on it with a huff, stretching his legs out. "I did all of it for you, you know." He paused and lifted a hand. "Eh, and proving to the Council that even a Sump Rat could perform as well as their Golden Boy."
Jayce grinned despite himself. "You would be motivated by spite."
Viktor lifted his nose primly into the air. "I don't know what you're talking about." He settled back against the bench and took a deep breath. "There are some of the obvious changes you can see, and some you can't. You cannot see the massive leap forward we have made in medical technology powered by HexGems. Your tip about a rune encyclopedia from Demacia was a correct one. We've more than tripled the size of our own encyclopedia."
Jayce sucked in a sharp breath. "Tripled?"
"Tripled," Viktor confirmed. "We've been able to use concentrated rays of Arcane energy to perform surgery. To do things like burn an infection out of someone that is concentrated in a body part. It is a difficult surgery, of course, but it can be done, and those people get a new chance at their lives." He looked pointedly at Jayce. "It cures the Rot, Jayce. Lung Rot. We're eradicating it."
The weight of those words wasn't lost on him and Jayce reached out and touched Viktor's arm. "Have you..."
Viktor smiled faintly. "I had a different journey. I'll tell you, but not tonight." He looked at the head of his cane. "The sewage pipes around where we were making the HexGate power cells were falling apart and dumping raw sewage into the water. We couldn't use it for cooling until the pipes were fixed. They could not be fixed, they had to be replaced. The entire system, which is still in progress. It will take another decade to finish completely, but it is making progress."
"And air filtration systems, too?" Jayce asked, looking over at him.
"Yes," Viktor said, letting out a rough breath. "That was a fight. Councilor Kiramman had to be outvoted by the entire Council to give up control of the filtration systems into Zaun, but they are now under Council control, rather than selectively her family. We found that they were operating at maybe a fourth of their actual capacity." Jayce's immediate sound of protest made him smile. "They have since been turned up to their actual operating levels and the air quality has started to improve and continues to by leaps and bounds each day. I have ideas I can implement to continue to improve them, but for now, we are waiting to see how much they improve with the existing systems."
Jayce swallowed. "There are businesses, they have a rune in the corner of their windows?" He looked over at Viktor and saw his expression twist. "What... what are they?"
"My private little project," Viktor admitted. "I have a series of grants that can be given to a business willing to make the step from Piltover to Zaun, or Zaun to Piltover. If you went down to Zaun, you'd see a dozen more. That symbol is an indication that the business has passed our vetting process and is also under the protection of the HexTech name." He saw Jayce's confusion and continued. "We ran into issues of businesses being raided and broken into. Now, anyone who would dare, knows better."
"I like that," Jayce admitted, thinking of the Zaunite clothing he'd seen. "What's next? Making the Pilt clean enough to swim in?"
Viktor laughed and shook his head. "The Pilt is a much larger problem, and one I am tackling in tandem with Silco-"
"Silco," Jayce repeated, incredulous. "The Chem Baron?!"
Grinning proudly, Viktor met Jayce's eyes. "The soon to be Councilor, if the Zaun sovereignty passes. He was responsible for taking down the other Chem Barons, or assisting in their pivot to less unscrupulous businesses. We have worked together, many times over in the past year."
Jayce swallowed. "Is there more?"
"Do you remember hearing about Shimmer before you left?" Viktor asked, looking over at him.
"Briefly?" Jayce hedged. "Why?"
Viktor tapped the head of his cane in consideration. "There's a lot to cover in regards to Shimmer, but the main thing you should know right now is that it is Zaun's primary export to multiple countries, due to his medicinal properties. It has saved countless lives, and will likely save hundreds of thousands more, the more we experiment and explore with it."
Jayce sat back on the bench, his mind racing at all of the things that Viktor had talked about. More than he had ever imagined. "How did you do all of this in a year?"
"Delegation," Viktor said dryly, meeting Jayce's eyes when they darted up to his. "And a refusal to accept the word no." He shifted and leaned back so their shoulders were touching once again. "It is not all finished. Like the courtyard lighting for the Academy, it is started. It is a work in progress. It is far from complete, but the work has begun, and the people see the benefit. That is the biggest hurdle. Selling them on the idea."
Jayce swallowed and reached out to take Viktor's hand, giving it a squeeze. "You are a better partner than I ever could have asked for, Viktor. I am sorry for saying otherwise."
Viktor looked down at their hands for a long moment, and the way Jayce's thumb was sweeping over the back of his hand in a way that made him wonder if Jayce was even aware of the gesture as he repeated it, again and again. "Partners," he repeated, well-aware that they were alone in the extended courtyard and that no one would come looking for them here. They were alone in a way he rarely was these days, and the moment reminded him of when they'd stood under the fireworks and smiled at each other. "Did you ever..." he frowned and stopped himself. Perhaps it would be best never to ask, to leave the words buried in the ashes behind them, so they could move forward exactly as Jayce had decreed them - Partners.
"Did I ever what?" Jayce asked, giving Viktor's shoulder a nudge with his. "Your pet peeve is people not finishing their sentences, Viktor. Our world might have changed, but it did not change that much."
Viktor laughed again, despite himself. "Did you ever have a moment where you considered us more?" The words were heavy, lingering in the air between them, but Viktor was glad he'd forced himself to say it. To ask the question. "We certainly gave that impression with our dancing."
They had. And he'd spent weeks deflecting the comments with repeated assertions that they were partners and everyone could leave them alone. Perhaps... perhaps there had been something more there that he hadn't been willing to see or look at until he'd spent a year turning to say something to Viktor only to remember he wasn't there. Writing down jokes to tell Viktor that would have made him laugh. Imagining how Viktor would critique his work and demand he could do better. Perhaps that was something that Viktor had been brave enough to bring into the light.
Taking a deep breath, Jayce stood up, releasing Viktor's hand before he turned and offered it to Viktor, smiling at him.
Viktor sighed at the lack of answer and took Jayce's hand again, blinking in surprise when he was lifted and deposited on Jayce's feet, leaving them pressed together. His breath caught and he looked up at Jayce, his heart starting to pound as Jayce began to spin them in slow circles. "Jayce."
"I've missed you, Viktor," Jayce said, leaning to press their temples together as they danced across the courtyard together. "This entire time, being away from you was the hardest part of this. I felt like I was missing a limb. The other half of me wasn't there to keep me honest, to bring me back down to earth, to make me the best version of myself that I could be, and I was miserable. All I wanted was to come home. To invent with you, to be with you. It's all I could think about at the end."
Viktor's breath caught and he tipped his head back, meeting Jayce's eyes before surging up on his toes to kiss him, wrapping his arms around Jayce's shoulders, lingering there for several long moments until he eventually had to pull back a fraction, looking up to meet Jayce's eyes. "Stay home, Jayce. Come back to the lab, where you belong. Come back to me. Help me make this a better world for everyone, like we always wanted."
Jayce swallowed, leaning in to brush their noses together briefly. "You don't need me. You've done all of this without me."
"I did all of it for you, you idiot," Viktor said with a snort. "Now help me do the rest. A year is not nearly enough time, and we have hundreds more projects."
Jayce laughed and leaned in to kiss Viktor again, relaxing into the tight hold around his shoulders, both his arms sliding around Viktor's waist, pulling him in closer. "Hundreds, huh?" He whispered. "Guess you'd better show me what you're working on."
Viktor hummed. "Not yet." He pulled Jayce down and into another kiss. "The lab won't be empty yet."
Jayce frowned at Viktor, squinting at him. "Why does the lab need to be..." His eyes widened and he flushed. "Viktor!"
Viktor laughed, his head falling back as Jayce swung him back into another dance. "Give it another hour and they'll all be gone."
Jayce spun them slower and pulled Viktor closer. "An hour then," he agreed, leaning in for another slow kiss.
~!~
"Viktor, we're going to be late for judging!" Jayce called, holding back a snort when the small booming sound from a successful HexGate launch punctuated the statement.
"Just a moment, just a moment," Viktor waved at him, bent over the microscope. "You're the one who wanted me to run this test!"
Jayce's eyes caught on the silver ring on Viktor's finger and bit down a smile as he walked closer to where his stubborn husband was still twisting the knobs to focus in on what he was looking at. "It'll keep until we're back Viktor."
Viktor huffed and forced himself to lean back, cracking his back with a grunt. "I suppose you're right." He reached for his cane and then for Jayce's hand that was waiting for him and pulled himself to his feet. "Whose turn is it for the Council meeting tomorrow?"
"Designated dual meeting," Jayce answered, taking Viktor's hand with a squeeze, the both of them making their way to the doors of the lab. "Silco demanded the both of us."
"Of course he did, bastard," Viktor said with a huff. "He's still mad that we both turned down Council positions."
Jayce chuckled. "He can't be that mad about it, considering they've agreed to fill the spot with another Zaunite. High time, too."
"Agreed," Viktor said, lengthening his stride and they stepped out into the celebrations. "I have to admit, I much prefer judging, rather than participating."
"What, you don't miss hours of checking and double checking only to be judged in a handful of minutes?" Jayce asked, adjusting the sash on Viktor's shoulder so it draped across him properly as they made their way over to where the other Councilors were waiting.
Viktor gave Jayce a look and inclined his head to the rest of the Councilors as they approached with the other judges and took a step back to survey their work. For the first time since they'd last participated, it looked like there was an equal number of both Zaunite and Piltovian submissions, which would be refreshing. Meant that the school system they had steadily been implementing in Zaun was producing results beyond their imagining.
"You two certainly took your time," Councilor Medarda observed. "All is well?"
Jayce smiled. "You know Viktor, he had to peel me away from a microscope. We'll present the findings at our meeting next week, I think the Council will be very encouraged by the latest improvements we've made."
Heimerdinger laughed. "We always are, my boy!"
Viktor looked out across the candidates as Jayce the other Councilors began to discuss some of the projects that HexTech was looking to tackle in the next year. Several students that HexTech had sponsored into the Academy were present, and it looked like more than one of them had a project circling around the technology itself.
(Designing a lower-power version of the batteries that could be used for testing and experimenting by the students had been a project that had privately taken he and Jayce almost a year, but it meant that they could begin teaching the technology to others and using it for the best reasons.)
"You look like a proud father."
Viktor glanced over at Silco and then at the Councilors behind them. "It's a changed world."
"With you and that husband of yours leading the way."
Viktor reached into the bag at his side that had a large hole that had been patched over and pulled out a worn notebook. "We had a good outline."
Silco snorted. "Impertinent as ever."
Viktor lifted his chin up. "I did learn from the best."
Silco fought down a smile and acknowledged that with a nod. "I suppose you did."
"Viktor! Ready to begin judging?" Jayce called.
Viktor tucked the book away, nodding to Silco. "Councilor Silco." He turned and reached for Jayce's hand. "Lead the way."