Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Captain’s Log. Day 45. We have crossed the fifty million kilometer mark from Earth to Mars. The crew, although admittedly small and novice, has proven surprisingly capable. The presence of the Blitzcrank model 0927 has been of great use… seeing as they’ve been on more space walks than all three of us combined. Jinx is an excellent aviator. We ran into a small patch of asteroids that the scanners didn’t pick up but she was sharp as a knife: we didn’t even get a scratch on us. Ekko, our lead engineer, has also managed to keep everything in pristine condition. Honestly, my biggest problem is keeping the two of them from bickering over who gets the last few bits of fresh fruit we left.”

A pause. Then a heavy sigh. 

“ Actually… my biggest problem is how deeply I miss a certain astrophysicist back at home. I hope he knows I’m thinking about him and our new baby, Rio. Everyday. End of log, Captain Viktor Talis.”

Jayce stared at Viktor’s face shortly before the video cut, right as he was reaching out to close the camera. There were countless video logs he had access to but this was one of his favorites. He stared at it for a few more moments before pressing his forehead against the tablet and pretending, hopelessly, that Viktor was with him at that moment. 

But no. Viktor was far above the sky, making their dreams come true. Jayce tore his gaze away from the tablet and forced it towards the stars. They shone especially bright from their home: the view was the entire reason they bought the cozy cottage in the remote fields of the countryside. It was one of the best decisions they ever made.

Now, it felt painfully lonely for Jayce as his husband raced through the heavens in pursuit of their theory. 

As a baby’s cry broke the heavy silence of the house, Jayce was reminded that he was not alone. He never would be again. Jayce grabbed his cane and rose from the alcove, settling the tablet down on the seat. 

He made his way to the nursery room where Rio was weeping for her father. Jayce cooed gently as he scooped her into his arms gently. 

“Shhh… shhhh…. It’s alright sweetheart, daddy’s here,” Jayce whispered, leaning onto the cradle for support. Even as Rio settled against his chest, Jayce whispered still. “I know, I miss him too.” 

As everything on the planet once did: it all started out as a dream.

For Jayce Talis, it was a dream that was over too soon. 

The young, aspiring astrophysicist was on the brink of expulsion from his doctorate program after conducting unauthorized experiments with space rocks acquired from the black market. 

Hextech Theory, he called it. The possibility to harness an infinite amount of clean energy from Hexon, an element that does not exist on earth, but has been found in meteorites.

No one believed him. No one saw what he saw. 

That was why he was here, at the bar, hunched over his eighth drink with a gun inside of his pocket that got from a shady man he met on the internet. 

It will all be over soon, he told himself. Jayce would be forgotten in a few years save for a headline about a failed scientist offing himself. Every scrap of his broken dream, fading into oblivion. 

“Am I interrupting?” a man said as he slid to the bar stool next to him, hanging his cane on the counter. 

“What the hell is your problem?” His mother would smack his head for being so rude but Jayce was too drunk and miserable to care. 

The man seemed indifferent to Jayce’s suffering, opting to sift through his bag and pull out a book instead. 

His journal, which was confiscated along with all his other research materials, landed with a thud in front of him. 

Jayce finally looked up at the man: it was Professor Heimerdinger’s teaching assistant. The man scrutinized Jayce with equal parts curiosity and…something else he could not quite place. He leaned in close and Jayce, for the first time in days, felt conscious about how he looked…. and smelled. After all, he had been too depressed to care.  

“Do you plan to drink yourself to death or are you going to do it with the cheap gun you got hidden in your pocket?” 

Jayce’s body went rigid. 

“H-how did you kn—” 

“I’ve fought in a war or two,” he said, tapping his cane on his leg, the sound of metal confirming that it was a prosthetic. 

“Your battle is different though. I can’t fight it for you…but maybe I can fight with you.” 

For the first time, Jayce felt curious again. Not about Hextech, but about the man right next to him. 

“What’s your name?” Jayce managed. 

He cocked his head slightly to the side, his hazel eyes catching light. 

“It’s Viktor.” 

The two of them have been inseparable since then. 

In their early days, when Viktor convinced Professor Heimerdinger to pursue experimentation, Jayce would find himself sneaking glances at the man who saved his life. 

It was not enough that Viktor saved his career and his theory from the brink. Nor was it enough that he was ten times smarter than Jayce was. He also just had to be the most gorgeous thing he had ever seen in his life. 

Jayce thought it was envy at first. 

The need to study his every movement. The need to know every detail about him. The need to be within his proximity at all times. 

It could not have been farther from the truth. 

Jayce reviewed the details of the mission in his mind as he drove to the Piltover Aeronautics and Space Administration headquarters. He stole a quick glance at the passenger seat and saw Rio sleeping peacefully at the back. The girl was an angel. Jayce felt a rush of love. The sheer excitement of Viktor meeting their baby soon filled him. It was meshed with the sliver of grief knowing that Viktor was missing so many moments. 

Rio was due to start walking soon, he remembered. Jayce had equipped their home with countless cameras to capture every moment so he could send the clips to Viktor. 

One day, Jayce promised himself. Viktor would be there for every moment. 

As he neared the headquarters, wired fences greeted him. He flashed his security clearance and the soldier let him in without much fuss, only saluting to Rio at the back. After parking, he strapped the baby onto his front and walked into the base. 

Jayce was still allowed to work hybrid given that he was a new parent but today was an important day at work. 

“Jayce! Good morn—OH MY GOODNESS HI RIO!” Caitlyn yelped as soon as she set eyes on the two of them walking into the control center. Rows of scientists and engineers turned their gaze from their computers as Jayce entered, many of them awestruck. 

Their research had garnered them much attention this past few years, both within the science community and outside. Among their peers, Doctors Jayce and Viktor Talis were budding pillars of the academe, their theories bound to be in textbooks next to the likes of Marie Curie and Carl Sagan. 

But Mel, for all her sharp intuition and corporate savvy, marketed the duo to the world as two, star-crossed, queer lovers who were making leaps and bounds in space exploration.

It was their second reputation that reeled in the fame and money for their long-awaited space program, which has since been dubbed as the Janna Project. 

Caitlyn was in full “aunt” mode, trying to steal Rio from Jayce the moment they walked in. Jayce chuckled and relented, unstrapping Rio. The girl seemed happy at the change of pace. 

“Who’s your favorite auntie!?” Caitlyn cooed. 

“That would have to be me,” Vi yelled as she approached them. 

She donned her full lieutenant’s uniform, blending seamlessly to Caitlyn’s captain’s outfit. Their Air Force unit was the main security unit for the Janna Project but that was not the only reason Vi was inside the main control room today. 

Vi threw her arms around Jayce. “Good to see you, my man. And especially good to see you, little muffin!” 

Vi turned her attention to Rio, who was speaking gibberish in response to Caitlyn’s cooings. 

“How’s being a dad?” she asked. 

“Never seen so much poop in my life,” Jayce quipped, chuckling as he wagged a finger at Rio. “But honestly? It’s the best decision we’ve ever made. I just wish Viktor was here.” 

“Well, at least they get to see each other in real time today,” Vi said. 

“You must be proud of your sister,” Jayce said warmly. He remembered Jinx with fondness from the semester he taught in Zaun University — even when she almost blew up the school lab several times. 

“Hell yeah I’m proud. Our folks are throwing a big party down at the bar back south. Vander finally convinced Silco to splurge a bit on a nice TV just so they could watch the broadcast.” 

Ah yes, Jayce thought. The live broadcast televising one of the most important moments in history: humankind was about to take their first steps on Mars. 

And yet all Jayce could think about was talking to Viktor again and showing him how big Rio had grown. 

Before the astronauts set foot on Mars, they were going to set up a base and call back to Houston. 

He had been sending countless photos and videos but it took awhile for Viktor to get them given how far he was. By then, Jayce had a hundred or so new media he wanted to show Viktor. Live video calls were few and far in between, given the amount of data and energy they required. The plan was once they set up a base on Mars, they would establish a strong connection to earth. 

“Vi! Look at you now!” a man yelled. At a glance, Jayce was able to identify him as Benzo, Ekko’s stepfather.

“Benzo! You made it!” Vi said, walking up to the man. Jayce smiled, letting the two catch up. 

“Oops, someone needs a diaper change,” Caitlyn said. 

Jayce smiled, turning his gaze back to his child. “I got this.” 

In a few moments, the entire world would watch Viktor become the first man to set foot on Mars. But first, a diaper must be changed. 

Fresh from the restroom, Jayce headed over to his station in the control room, going over the data several times over. As the lead scientist on the project, Jayce had a station all to himself, equipped with a large holoscreen just  for him. He looked over the details once more. Oxygen levels. Fuel reserve. Air pressure. Everything was in order. 

Jayce checked his watch and took a deep breath. 

It was time. He walked over to the center, where seats have been set up for the astronauts’ loved ones. Vi and Benzo scooched over to make room for him. Vi wiggled her finger in front of Rio, who happily grasped it. 

The large holoscreen that took up the entire east wall of the control room lit up, bathing them in static light. 

“Is it on?” Jinx’s voice filled the room. 

“Jinx!” Vi said as she stood up, tears filling her eyes at the sound of her sister's voice. Jayce was reminded that he was not the only one missing a loved one. 

“Give it a second, Jinx! Visuals take more time to load,” Ekko said. 

Benzo lit up at the sound of his son’s voice. 

As the moment stretched, Jayce waited, desperate to hear him. 

“Signal is getting stronger. Houston, we confirm a successful landing on Mars. Do you copy?” Viktor’s face filled the large screen in front of them in a snap. Next to him, Jinx and Ekko were floating in the Janna ship, staring at the screen. 

Jayce felt like he could weep. Cheers erupted from around him but all he could look at was his husband. The first thing he noticed was that his hair was much longer than before as it floated around him like a crown. He lost a bit of weight, but muscle decay was expected in space. 

All in all, he was still the most beautiful thing Jayce has ever seen. 

“We copy, Viktor,” Jayce managed through a lump in his throat, remembering that he was the lead for this project. “You did it… you made it.”

Viktor’s face lit up at the sound of his voice. 

“Jayce…” he said softly as he saw his partner’s face on his screen. All those hours of waiting was worth it, Jayce thought. Viktor’s eyes grew wide as he realized who Jayce was holding. “Rio?! Gods, you’ve grown so much already.” 

The tears flowed freely from Jayce’s eyes now as he swelled with both pride and grief. He tried to hold up Rio properly so Viktor could get a good look. 

“Hi Viktor Junior! Hey Vi!” Jinx said, squeezing to the front of the screen. Ekko squeezed next to her to get a better look. 

“Benzo!” the younger man said. 

As chatter filled the room, Jayce and Viktor could only stare at each other, as if they were the only people in the world. 

Jayce tried his best not to stare at him. He really did. 

Really, there were so many other things he could look at. He could look at the giant streamer that said “CONGRATULATIONS DR. JAYCE TALIS AND DR. VIKTOR REVECK ON YOUR HEXTECH BREAKTHROUGH!”. Or he could look at Vi trying and hilariously failing to pick up Caitlyn. Or he could look back at Mel, who had that dangerous sparkle in her eye that told him she either had a brilliant business proposal or she wanted to make out with him even if they just broke up again months ago. 

Anything. He could have looked at anything.

So why then, did he keep looking at Viktor and the man that was too fucking close to his him, eyeing him like he was some carnival prize? 

They had just proven that Hextech was a viable renewable energy source. They were in talks with the Ministry of Science and Technology for expansion. Tons of companies were blowing up his inbox. It was Jayce’s dream for years. 

So why does he feel so miserable? 

“You know, you should just talk to him instead of souring up the whole place,” Mel said, sliding up to him in the booth. The bar was abuzz, filled to the brim with professors and researchers who wanted to rub shoulders with them. Many of whom wanted him out of the Academy years ago. So many chances for Jayce to say “I told you so.” 

But all he could think about was how much he hated the stranger cozying up to Viktor at the bar counter. 

“Talk to him about what?” Jayce huffed, trying, and failing, to tear his eyes away from him. 

“Aboouut how you badly you wanna kiss him?” she sang, already tipsy. 

“No, I don’t!” Jayce said, voice rising several octaves as he stared furiously at his drink. 

“Oh? You don’t mind that Viktor’s kissing that hot guy now?” 

“What?!” Jayce turned around and he felt like he was seeing red. 

He was kissing Viktor. 

Jayce was marching towards them, before he realized what he was doing, before he could think. His hand gripped Viktor’s arm, startling the man and breaking the kiss. 

“Jayce?” Viktor said, eyes half closed, already drunk. 

“Viktor!” he blurted out. “I… I need to talk to you outside. It’s an— it’s an emergency.” 

Viktor sobered up slightly, throwing the man a single, apologetic look and allowing Jayce to usher him out of the bar. 

“Jayce? What’s the matter?” Viktor asked as Jayce held his arm like an anchor. 

But Jayce could not speak. He could not think. He was one of the brightest minds in the world but he could not summon a single, coherent thought.

Putting what he felt into words would make it real. 

“Jayce? Are you just fucking with me? Come on, I don’t always—” 

“I’m not fucking with you,” Jayce said. 

“Then what is it?” he said, impatiently. 

“I…” Jayce started. “I don’t want you kissing that guy.” 

Viktor stared at him incredulously. “That’s your emergency? Unbelievable. You go around hooking up with gorgeous women like Mel but the moment I finally start putting myself out there, suddenly it’s a problem!”

“It-It’s not!” Jayce stuttered, still unable to summon the right words. 

“Then why? Why can’t I kiss him?” 

Jayce only looked at him, blood rushing to his cheeks as he found himself unable to say the words he’s been wanting to say for months. 

Like a candle blowing out, Viktor deflated. He started to turn around, back to the bar, back into the arms of a stranger. 

The thought terrified Jayce to the core. 

Without thinking, Jayce grabbed Viktor’s arm and pulled him in. 

Their lips collided and Jayce could have sworn he saw the cosmos. Viktor tasted of burnt coffee, alcohol and stardust. 

The two of them melted into each other like moonlight dancing over the sea. 

The next thing Jayce knew, they were running to the street to flag down a cab to his apartment. It was impossible for them to keep their hands to themselves.  They didn’t give a damn about the dirty looks they got from the driver. 

It was only the two of them in the whole world that night. 

The rest of the casual partygoers who wanted to meet the Hextech founders would struggle to find the two geniuses. 

They would turn to their friends, pestering them about the missing Men of Progress. But Mel and Caitlyn would exchange knowing glances, knowing fully well that Jayce and Viktor finally figured themselves out. 

From the eyes of the Orianna rover, Jayce watched his husband make history as he set foot on Mars. 

The entire room leapt to their feet and erupted in cheers. All except for Jayce. Rio sat on his lap, staring at the man floating down the ship and onto the red planet. 

“See that? Your daddy’s a hero,” he whispered in her ear. 

With the Mars base established, he would be able to call Viktor more frequently, even from their home. 

The team would stay there for one month, collecting data and searching for Hexon reserves. 

The two of them scheduled another call for that night, but for now, Viktor had work to do. 

As Jayce drove back home, he watched the boundless sky turn into dusk. After all the remaining paperwork was done and all the messes were cleaned, Jayce settled back into the alcove, with Rio in his arms. He waited for every minute to pass until he could talk to his husband in private. 

The ring came and Viktor’s face popped up on the tablet. 

“Hey!” Jayce exclaimed. 

“Jayce! Rio! I missed you so much. How are you both?” 

Lonely .

“We’re okay here,” Jayce said, smiling softly. “But we miss you terribly. Look at you, though! Where are you?” 

Viktor’s background was a little dark, Jayce could not help but notice. Even in the darkness, Jayce could not help but notice the “V. TALIS” embroidered on Viktor’s tracksuit. 

“Ah. I should be asleep. Lights out here at the base. On top of setting up the satellite towers, we had to recalibrate the rover machines. These things are ancient!” Viktor leaned in closer to his screen. He tilted his head slightly, his eyes half-open. 

“Let me look at you and Rio,” he murmured. 

“We’re just here,” Jayce chuckled. 

“Tell me everything, Jayce,” Viktor said. 

And this is what Jayce missed most about Viktor. How they could talk about anything and everything under the sun and it would never feel like a single moment had passed. Jayce told Viktor all about the types of gurgling noises Rio would make and the kind of food that she liked and which one she would throw at his face. Viktor told him about his theories on what else Hextech could be used for if they find more of it.

It was a cycle: one would speak so much but rather than getting bored, the other would beg for more details. The two did not notice how late it was at night until Rio started crying. 

“Ah she’s tired,” Jayce murmured, picking her and the tablet up. “Let’s put her to bed, yeah?” 

Viktor beamed, nodding eagerly.  

Jayce noted the growing lines under Viktor’s eyes and made sure to force him to sleep after setting Rio down. But that was for later: Jayce knew that Viktor wanted to see everything he could before he went to sleep. 

Jayce did not learn about Viktor’s night terrors until they started spending the night together. 

After another long day at the lab, they ended up at Viktor’s place once more. It was often Viktor’s apartment: after all, his fat, orange tabby cat won’t feed himself. 

Of course, they kept Blitz out of the bedroom when they had sex. 

The two had fallen asleep, falling into an easy pattern of how to hold each other as they dreamt.

Tonight was different. 

Jayce awoke to the sensation of a lithe body tearing himself away from him. He chased after Viktor on instinct, holding his partner as his breaths came in fast and ragged. 

“I’m here, V. It’s okay,” he whispered, trying to get him to calm down. 

Viktor stared at the darkness, as if he could not tell if there was something in the shadows that would come and get him. Gently, Jayce drew Viktor closer, pressing his head to his chest. 

“Let’s get you some sweetmilk, okay?” 

That was how Viktor finally opened up to Jayce about his life before he came to Piltover. 

“I wasn’t supposed to be on the frontlines of the war,” Viktor said, staring at the cup in front of him. “I was sixteen when I was drafted. I was just a mechanic’s apprentice. I was good at saving planes, but not the pilots. They needed the pilots more.” 

Jayce remained silent, wrapping Viktor’s hand in his. “Did you see the war in your dreams?” Jayce asked, thinking about his partner’s prosthetic leg. 

Viktor shook his head. “I saw my stepfather operating on me.”

He stared at him. Corin Reveck was a legend in the biotech field but from the little that Jayce has pried from Viktor about the man, he hated him. 

“You were… conscious when it happened?”

Viktor took a sip of his sweetmilk and sighed. “The plane was catching fire and I had to land it. Got it back to base somehow before it blew up,” he said. 

Jayce listened with rapt attention: he had never spoken about his days in the army. 

“My leg was… no longer functional. I was bleeding out fast. That’s where Corin found me: dying at the medical bay. I would have died if he hadn’t cut off that leg.” 

“Was there no way to make you fall asleep during the surgery?” Jayce asked. 

Viktor shrugged. “It was a war. We had to make do with what we had. He put me under a concoction of his own making to dull the pain, but all it did was make me see… things.” 

“Wh-what things?” he asked. 

“I… don’t wanna talk about it.” 

“Fuck…” Jayce said, tightening his grip on Viktor’s hand. “I’m so sorry you went through that. He used hallucinogens instead of anesthesia?”

“He was conscripted to serve in the war, just like the rest of us. He used what he could.” 

Blitz, awoken by all the noise, started brushing against Viktor’s leg. Viktor picked him up, setting him on his lap.

“I still hate the man though, don’t get me wrong.”

From what Jayce knew from his partner, it seemed like Corin was more interested in Viktor’s mind over being a father figure. As if Viktor was a mere curiosity to be preserved. 

But beyond that, even if Jayce knew nothing of Viktor’s history with him, his reputation in Piltover was known. The man was nicknamed Singed for all his scars: not from their country’s war but from the experiments he conducted on himself. 

Jayce would absentmindedly look for any scars Viktor might have hidden on him. Scars that Singed might have inflicted on him. 

“There's some good there however. He ended up taking me to Piltover. Then I happened upon a suicidal grad student and my life was never the same,” Viktor said, setting Blitz down and walking over to Jayce across the table. 

Jayce gently pulled Viktor to him, placing him on his lap. He buried his head on his partner's neck as they wrapped their arms around each other. They drowned in each other, falling into each other’s orbit with ease. 

It has been years since Viktor and Singed spoke. They went their separate ways once Singed was arrested for illegal experimentation. 

“One thing is still the same though,” Jayce murmured. 

“Hmmm?” Viktor hummed. 

“Your last name. Revick,” Jayce said, meeting his eyes. 

“What about my last name?” he said, raising an eyebrow. 

“You should change it.”

Viktor rolled his eyes playfully. “To what? Heimerdinger?” 

Jayce shook his head, chuckling. He grabbed his partner’s hand and did the inevitable. 

“Talis. Viktor Talis.”

Their calls became regular as the weeks went by. It was always the same time — 8:00 PM. 

Viktor and Jayce would exchange stories of their days. While the astronaut would regale his husband about stories of untapped landscapes and potential mining sites, the astrophysicist would talk about how their daughter should start saying her first words soon. 

“If she says ‘dada’ as her first word, is she talking about you, or me?” Jayce said as he cooked himself dinner. 

Viktor rolled his eyes and smirked. “It’s you, Jayce. You feed her and change her diapers. I’m just a face on a screen to her.” 

“You don’t know that. Kids these days are raised on tablets,” Jayce said, turning the chicken breast over. 

“I would like to think kids still prefer to be with humans, Jayce,” Viktor said, his light expression suddenly turning serious. “Wait. You haven’t given her tablet time, haven’t you? The parenting book said not to—” 

“No, Vik,” Jayce chuckled, looking at his own tablet livestreaming his husband. “I haven’t.” 

He set his food on the plate and brought both his dinner and his husband over to the kitchen table. 

They started having their meals together, every now and then. 

On Viktor’s end, he started eating his own food: rehydrated roast beef with some carrots. 

“That actually looks pretty damn good,” Jayce mused as he watched his husband eat. 

Viktor shrugged. “I still prefer your overdone steak.” 

“We aren’t werewolves! Why would we eat it raw?” 

Viktor merely laughed and it washed away whatever annoyance he drew up in Jayce. His hair danced around him as he chuckled and Jayce could only think of running his fingers through those locks again. He could only stare, and the ache from missing his husband only came back with a vengeance. 

His eyes turned sad, as if he recognized that look on Jayce’s face. 

“We found a potential site. If it turns out well, we could be coming home earlier,” he said. 

“Wait. What?! Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Jayce exclaimed.

“I didn’t want to get your hopes up,” Viktor said, beaming. “But I have a good feeling about this one.” 

Their dreams of Hextech filled Jayce's head once more but more than that, he might be able to get Viktor back sooner than expected. 

The next few days were filled with anticipation. Jayce had Rio on his back as he watched the live feed of the Mars team’s exploration. 

The Blitzcrank robot drilled effortlessly into the orange rocks as everyone waited in anticipation. Multiple cameras were set up on the Oriana rovers to allow several angles of their activities, but Jayce kept his eyes on the one trained on Viktor. If Viktor’s calculations were right, then there should be an entire cave full of Hexon beneath the surface. 

It was a big day. Even Mel, who would rather focus on the financial side of the project, was in the control room, watching the screen in anticipation. She was as gorgeous as ever. 

Jayce had a feeling that a press conference was already set up somewhere in the building to make the announcement. 

But Jayce cared little for that now, not when his husband was about to change the world.

As a blue glow erupted from the fissures, the entirety of the control room cheered. 

“We have visual confirmation of Hexon deposits. I repeat, we have visual confirmation,” Viktor said. 

“This is gonna change everything!” Ekko exclaimed. “Perpetually renewable ene—”

“We’re gonna be so fucking rich!” Jinx yelled. 

Jayce could only look on as the Orianna’s camera captured his husband looking at the Hexon, bathing him in the most beautiful shade of blue. 

Now, his husband could come home. After getting samples and analyzing the deposits, Jayce saw his husband look at his screen, as if deciphering something. 

“I’m picking up a strange signal somewhere deeper in the cave,” Viktor said. “Ekko, Jinx, stay here. Permission to check on my own.” 

It was not until everyone looked at Jayce when he realized that he was the one who could grant that permission. 

“Permission granted,” Jayce said. “Take a bot with you. Be careful, Viktor.”

“I will. Give Rio a kiss for me, Jayce.” 

A wave of “awwws” filled the room and Jayce had no choice but to shift Rio to his front and plant a kiss on her forehead. The girl giggled in response.  

An Orianna bot followed Viktor deeper into the cave, capturing his descent. The cave was lit by the glow of the Hex crystals. 

Jayce could not help but stare: his husband was glowing, basking in the light of their dreams. As he descended into the cave, it grew darker. Orianna flickered on its light, illuminating the way for Viktor. 

Jayce’s heart started picking up. “Viktor,” he spoke to the telecom. “What do you see?” 

“Zoom in on it, Orianna,” Viktor commanded, awestruck. Whatever he found, it illuminated the cave purple, turning Viktor’s eyes the same shade. 

The camera turned, allowing the control room to finally see what Viktor had happened upon. 

Then Jayce saw it. 

The feed was grainy, but they saw it: at the end of the cave was a stone relic, carved from stone on the outside. The cracks from stone revealed a bright, violet light. 

As the Orianna’s image stabilized, Jayce saw it: they were not cracks, but runes. In no way or shape it could have been random: they were intricate lines, carved in a language no human could understand. 

“Oh my god,” Jayce whispered. 

The room fell silent, a quiet understanding befalling everyone: Viktor’s team was the first set of humans to step foot on Mars, so anything artificial that wasn’t made by a human on Mars only confirmed what scientists have hypothesized for hundreds of years: 

Humans were not the only intelligent beings in the universe. 

A feeling took over Jayce, one of absolute dread. As if tomorrow’s grief was so powerful that it was echoing back to today, crying, begging for this moment to change. 

“Viktor, get out of there,” Jayce begged. 

“I… I need to see it,” he replied. The feed from Viktor’s body camera showed him stepping closer to the stone. 

“Viktor!” Jayce yelled, panic rising in his chest. Rio seemed to sense her father’s distress as she started to cry. 

“It’s alright, Jayce,” Mel’s commanding voice said. She rarely interfered with their projects, but when she did, her word was law. “Let him look.” 

Jayce glared at her across the room, but she met his gaze head on. He could do nothing but stare at his partner’s new discovery, hoping that his instincts were wrong.

“Why are weddings so expensive?!” Viktor said, looking over the running tally of their planned wedding at their kitchen table. 

Jayce raised an eyebrow from his laptop, leaning over to get a peak at their sheets. 

All in all, it wasn’t too bad for a wedding. It was definitely still within the budget. They were making a substantial amount of money from Hextech so they could afford a more lavish wedding. 

They hired a wedding planner so they wouldn’t need to think about the details. The planner was headed towards the upper limit of their budget but it wasn’t overboard. 

But Jayce only gave Viktor a sympathetic look: he knew the circumstances he grew up in. He was in a fighter plane at sixteen years old, for goodness’ sake. He sacrificed his leg for a war they would ultimately lose. Jayce could only imagine the pain and hunger. 

So, he took his partner’s hands in his. 

“We can wind it down a bit but I hope you know that you deserve a beautiful wedding. But if you don’t feel comfortable with something big, we don’t have to push it either. I would marry you in town hall with plastic rings. All I want is you,” Jayce said, cupping his partner’s face.  “You in a house under the stars up north. You and the three stray cats you brought home without telling me. You and a cute little kid who’s going to drive us insane.” 

Viktor turned into the cutest shade of pink before throwing his arms around Jayce’s neck. 

“I don’t know what I did to deserve you,” Viktor said. 

Jayce could only chuckle, nuzzling Viktor’s neck. “I feel the same way about you.”

He could feel the desire pool at the pit of his stomach as his hands started to roam Viktor’s lithe body. His partner hummed happily, burying his hands in Jayce’s hair. Viktor tugged gently, making Jayce look up. Their lips collided. 

Every kiss felt like their first one: a collision of stars. They did not stop; they were in a world of their own. 

Suddenly, Viktor stopped, grasping at Jayce’s undone collar. “You… you want kids with me?” 

He looked up at him, earnest eyes filled with hope and love. “Yes.” 

In hindsight, they should have talked about this a long time ago. What if that was a dealbreaker for Viktor? 

Jayce opened his mouth, ready to take it back, to tell him he was alright with not having kids. 

“What are you waiting for?” Viktor said. “Let’s get on the adoption list.” 

It was called the Hexcore. 

A respectable amount of Hexon was already loaded onto the ship. They could go home. But with Mel’s approval, they extended their stay by a week to study the Hexcore. 

By the fifth day of their extended stay, a decision needed to be made. 

“We are NOT gonna bring that thing home!” Jayce yelled, pacing around Mel's office. 

“Why not?” Mel said calmly as she sat behind her desk. Cait sat on the sofa, listening. 

“Our containment vessels were designed for Hexon, an element that’s being used on Earth. We know a fuck ton about it. We don’t know shit about the Hexcore.”

“All of Viktor’s tests have proven that it’s harmless,” Mel replied

“That’s just one week of testing. We studied Hextech for years!” 

“And bringing the Hexcore back will allow you to do the same thing,” she said. “If any other astronaut made the discovery, you would want it to be brought back here.” 

Jayce stared at her, furious. “Is this what you want, Mel? Do you want to outdo your mother so badly that you would put my husband at risk?” 

Mel looked at him. Anyone who did not know her would think she was unphased by what he said but Jayce knew the storm that laid behind those eyes. 

“Your husband just made the discovery of the century. If his theories are right, intelligent life had existed on Mars at some point,” she said. “Does that mean nothing to you?”

“Of course it does!” 

“It does to Viktor, too. Talk to him. He was the one who requested to bring it back.” 

And that was what Jayce intended to do, that very night. At 8:00 PM, Jayce waited patiently at their home, at the alcove. The pain in his leg was flaring up again and he still felt stressed from his argument with Mel, so an open can of cold beer sat within his reach. 

As the minutes ticked by, Jayce nervously took sip after sip. 

Half an hour later, the call came in. 

“Jayce! I apologize. I got caught up with testing the Hexcore.”

He tried to talk but a lump had formed in his throat, the type that came from being too upset in too many different ways. 

Jayce merely nodded. 

“The Hexcore has proven quite adaptable! It’s much less volatile than the Hex crystals but it could potentially have ten times the energy,” Viktor said, failing to notice that Jayce was not smiling. 

“That’s great, Vik,” Jayce said, trying to keep his voice light. 

It must have been something in the way Jayce said his name that finally caught his husband’s worry. 

“Jayce? Are you alright?” 

“I-I’m okay. Tell me more about the Hexcore,” Jayce said, swallowing that lump down his throat, wanting desperately to join his husband’s momentous discovery. 

Whether it was the thousands of miles between them or the euphoria brought by the discovery of the century, Viktor did not catch the sorrow behind Jayce’s eyes. He told him about the Hexcore and all the possibilities it could bring to humanity. 

“Gods, I wish I could stay longer to see if there’s more,” Viktor said. 

Jayce crunched his half-empty beer can, his fifth of the night. It spilled on his hand and onto the cushions but Jayce didn’t care. 

“Oh. So you want to stay longer? 

Finally, Viktor looked like he had awoken from a reverie. 

“I don’t mean— Jayce, we just made the biggest discovery known to mankind. I’m excited for it! That’s all. Don’t you care about that?” 

“I care about our family!” 

“I care too! Jayce… this isn’t just for me. Our daughter could live in a better world. Clean, limitless energy at the palm of our hands! I just want time to figure it out here.” 

“Yeah, you go do that. Rio and I will stay right here, so fucking far beneath you,” Jayce said, his voice rising. 

“Jayce, I’m so—” 

Jayce ended the call before he could say anything else he would regret. 

The pain did not leave Jayce’s leg. It likely never would again. The meds dulled the pain but Jayce could hardly bring himself to care. 

He stared blankly at the television, the plot of the movie completely lost on him. 

It should be a happy time, really. 

The Mars project had been approved: their life’s work was finally within reach. More importantly, he had finally married his soulmate. 

For a while, Jayce was the happiest he has ever been. 

He was, until a van driver decided to run a red light at an intersection while Jayce was minding his own fucking business in his car. 

His car turned into shredded metal and glass, destroying his leg. 

Jayce was lucky, in many ways. He was alive, for one thing. The reckless driver who rammed into him was not. If they hadn’t died, Viktor would have killed them anyway. 

As Jayce stared at the TV, his partner was in the other room, taking a call. While it has been weeks since he left the hospital, Viktor had taken to hiding the more stressful parts of their work from Jayce, forcing him to rest. 

All it did was make Jayce more miserable. 

They were supposed to start training for the Mars mission two months ago. 

Viktor walked into the room, unable to hide the look of sheer stress on his face. 

“What is it?” Jayce asked. 

“Nothing, J—” 

“Don’t lie to me. Don’t push me out of the most important work of our lives,” he pleaded.  

Viktor visibly deflated, understanding finally, what he had accidentally been doing to Jayce. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, walking over to Jayce. He settled gently next to his husband and grasped his hand. 

“It was Mel. We… we need to push through with it. She’s… she suggested a replacement.” 

Typical of Mel not to confront him directly about this, Jayce thought bitterly. She and Viktor seemed to share the same instinct when it came to trying to spare Jayce’s feelings: skirting around the issue until it all inevitably blew up. 

More than the replacement though, it would mean that Viktor would need to undergo specialized training. While his experience as a war pilot could chip off a few months of training, Viktor would still have to endure at least a year of specialized courses and drills. 

It was the longest time they would spend apart. 

Jayce didn’t even want to think about the years he would be in space. 

“Who would it be?” Jayce asked, trying to distract himself from thoughts of separation. 

“Well, funnily enough, you know her. A former student of yours that goes by Jinx?” 

“Jinx?! She was the one that blew up the Academy lab!” 

Viktor shrugged. “She’s also summa cum laude. I heard she used to street race. Might translate well to spaceship,” he quipped. 

“She was arrested for illegal racing!” Jayce said, exasperated.

“You were nearly arrested too, once,” Viktor said. 

“Vik!” Jayce said, throwing his hands up. 

“Alright, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Viktor said, taking his hand.

Jayce leaned his head back against the couch, an understanding settling in his mind. He had pictured it dozens of times: him and his partner staring at the infinite abyss of space together, the cosmos theirs to explore. Jayce dreamed that he would spell Viktor’s name in the stars one day. 

But the world needed Hextech. He would never be so selfish to let a shattered leg get in the way of helping people. 

“Promise me, Viktor. When you’re up there, flying through space and saving the planet, you’ll remember that guy you met in the bar all those years ago. You’ll remember him on this tiny blue dot that’s been ruined by a bunch of stupid meatsacks.” 

“No,” Viktor said. 

Jayce raised his eyebrows. 

“I promise to remember my wonderful husband, every moment I’m out there. I promise to remember this beautiful, messy planet where the universe made us meet.  And most importantly, I promise to come back to you, no matter what.”

Viktor was finally on his way home. 

Jayce tried not to think about how Viktor could have extended his stay some more but chose to go home after their fight. 

If he thought about it too much, Jayce would forget why he was mad. 

Days after their fight, Viktor had tried apologizing to Jayce through written messages but had been met with a curt “it’s ok”. 

Now that they were set to come back home, it would be inevitable that they would talk again. Jayce couldn’t decide if he was excited or not.

The two were formal during system checks. No one batted an eye at the two of them, save for Caitlyn, who seemed to notice the lack of typical warmth. But the moment was too critical for their work for Caitlyn to ask about marital problems. 

“Initiate flight sequence,” Viktor said, strapping safely into the captain’s seat.

“Copy that,” Jinx said. 

It would take a few minutes. On the holographic panel in front of him, Jayce chose to stay on Viktor’s camera. He allowed himself to look at his husband. 

It struck him, all of the sudden, that Viktor had lost weight. Jayce had spent so much time averting his eyes that he hadn’t noticed. His cheekbones were sharper and the circles beneath his eyes have doubled. Viktor’s eyes would flutter quickly, as if trying to stay awake. 

The change was astounding to Jayce. He had not been in such a state when they landed on Mars. 

Jayce switched to their private line.

“Are you okay?” Jayce started, already forgetting why he was mad. 

“I’m sorry I upset you,” Viktor said quickly, ignoring Jayce’s concern. “I’m… I’m going home to you and Rio, okay?” 

Jayce swallowed, the weight of guilt heavy in his chest. “Okay. I’m… I’m sorry too.”

As Jayce stared at Viktor, his worry only deepened. His husband looked like he had barely eaten or slept. Viktor had still been euphoric when Jayce saw him the other night. Had something happened after their fight? 

“Vik, are you—” 

“Alright people! Strap in!” Jinx yelled on the open line.

The countdown for liftoff flashed on Jayce’s screen. 

“Jayce,” Viktor said, to him and him alone. He did not meet the camera’s eyes, as if he couldn’t look at Jayce directly. He stared forward, the orange glow of Mars coloring him golden as it reflected on his helmet. “Please, listen. Don’t say anything.” 

A horrible feeling gripped Jayce: the same instinct that seemed to come as a warning from beyond time. 

“I’m sorry. For everything. I just… I need you to know,” Viktor looked dead straight at Jayce as if it was the last time he would ever see him. 

“If anything happens… I love you with everything I am. You and Rio, our family.”

“Vik… what’s going on?” 

“S-sorry. Everything is alright. I just had a bad dream. It’s alright, everything is alright.”

The line cut as the ship departed from Mars. 

“Viktor!” 

Jayce frantically pressed the call button again and again but to no avail. 

Viktor and his crew were off. Even if he knew they wouldn’t be able to call again, Jayce kept trying. 

A hand suddenly grasped his wrist, stopping him from breaking the control panel. 

“Jayce, what’s going on?” Caitlyn asked, gripping his hand. 

But Jayce could not answer. Shadows tinted his peripheries as his heart raged against his chest. The other half of his soul wandered in the dark of space, uncertain and lost. Yet Jayce could do nothing but cry out into the dark, hoping Viktor could find his way back. 

He tried to be rational in the days that followed. 

Even as the week went on and the crew was able to send their status updates promptly, Jayce could not shake the horrible feeling. He tried calling a few more times, but the signal was too weak, and it took too much power to call. There was no room for personal conversations, every bit of the ship’s power was dedicated to essential functions: after all, they already extended their stay on Mars.

When he wasn’t at work, Jayce forced himself to focus on Rio. She had been crying more frequently now, as if she could sense her father’s distress. He stayed awake, even in the hours she was asleep. Slumber could not find him, not when the fear of uncertainty gripped him mercilessly. 

One night, after Jayce had finally settled her down, he laid in his own bed. He stayed on his side, staring at the empty space next to him. Thinking of his husband filling the void next to him brought Jayce some comfort. Perhaps, he could finally sleep. 

His phone rang. Suddenly, every chance of sleep went out the window. 

A call at this hour was not good. 

Jayce snatched the phone quickly, dread already overtaking him. 

Communication lines were down. The ship had fallen radio silent. 

Viktor had never held Rio. 

His husband was on his way to Mars when Jayce got the call. There was a baby waiting for them. It had been so long since they submitted the adoption papers that Jayce didn’t think they would ever get a call. 

The accident that took away Jayce’s mobility turned into a secret blessing: if both of them had been on the Mars mission, then Rio would have gone to another set of parents on the waiting list. 

Jayce had put in a special request to contact Viktor. He waited for two days, they would call once they were near the International Space Station. 

Jayce sat at his desk in the control room. He waited in anticipation as he stared at the screen. He doted on Rio, who laid peacefully on her carrier, out of his camera’s view. 

The call finally came through. 

Viktor sat in the captain’s chair, the intricate machinery of the ship behind him. His husband beamed at him, his golden eyes shining brighter as they caught sight of Jayce. 

“Jayce! My god, I missed you,” Viktor said. 

A noise escaped Jayce’s throat as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. “I missed you too.” 

His eyes shifted to Rio quickly, making sure she was alright. 

“I-is everything okay?” Viktor asked, furrowing his eyebrows. 

“Yes! Yes… Vik, I have something to tell you.” 

“Yes, Jayce?” 

“I—” 

A child’s cries broke out. Rio probably wanted to introduce herself. 

“Jayce… is that?” 

He carefully extracted Rio from the carrier. 

“Viktor… meet Rio,” Jayce said, settling their child in his arms. 

“Oh my god,” Viktor said, covering his mouth as tears filled his eyes. 

“The adoption agency called. We… I’m sorry. I know this is a huge decision but it was now or never and—” 

“She’s so beautiful,” Viktor choked out, tears spilling out of his eyes. 

Jayce was crying too. Out of joy that they were finally parents, and out of sorrow that Viktor couldn’t be here for this moment.  Rio stopped crying, seeing the man on the holoscreen. She reached out to Viktor, as if she knew him without ever meeting him. 

Viktor stared at the child, extending his hand to touch his screen. 

There were no words to be spoken, as two hearts, thousands of miles apart, felt the same way. 

Jayce dropped off Rio at his mother’s house. He had taken to staying at the base, working with engineers and scientists to figure out what the hell went wrong and why they couldn’t contact the Janna. 

Jayce refused to sleep. Not when his husband was lost in space. 

They lost contact with the ship when it was halfway to Earth. Jayce had half his mind to go there himself. 

The team was working another late night when a distress signal was received. 

“An escape pod made it out the Janna!” one of the engineers shouted. “It just entered the Earth’s atmosphere.” 

Within the hour, Jayce was on a military jeepney with Vi driving like a maniac, headed towards the beach. The escape pods were designed to automatically travel back to select areas on earth. It happened to fall to the coastal area an hour away from them. 

The extraction unit was there. Military jeeps and ambulances lined the beach. Vi parked the jeep haphazardly and the two of them ran, with Jayce right on her heels, running despite the screaming pain in his leg. In the distance, Jayce could see the pod, smoke rising from it. 

“JINX!” Vi yelled as they ran. 

A coastguard boat was on its way back to shore. Even from afar, Jayce could see the brilliant shade of Jinx’s blue hair. 

Vi wasted no moment. She kicked up sand as she sprinted to greet her unconscious sister. Medics lifted her from the boat and onto a stretcher. Vi ran to her, leaving Jayce to watch as another boat made it back to shore. He waited, eagerly. 

As it drew closer, he saw that it carried Ekko. Unlike Jinx, he was awake. He sat upright as medics tended to him. The young man was dazed and disoriented, staring into nothing. As medics and soldiers assisted Ekko out of the boat, the radio buzzed. 

“...only two astronauts onboard…” a voice said. 

…. What?

Jayce’s hand sprang out, grabbing the medic. 

“Where’s the third astronaut? Where’s Viktor?!” Jayce said. 

The medic looked at him, panicked, uncertain of what to say. 

“He isn’t there,” Ekko suddenly said, limping towards Jayce. He stared at Jayce, eyes heavy. “Y-your husband almost killed us…” Ekko said. As he took another step, he collapsed. Jayce caught him, his words still echoing in his ears. The medics took hold of Ekko, putting him on a stretcher. Too much was happening. All he knew was that Viktor wasn’t on the escape pod. Thinking of anything else too deeply would send Jayce down a spiral he would never recover from. The world spun around him and Jayce wanted nothing more than to hide in Viktor’s arms. 

The control room was empty, save for a few engineers and executives. Mel and Caitlyn were with him but Jayce didn’t care about anyone else in the world: he needed to know what happened to Viktor. 

Ekko’s words had already spread across the base like wildfire and everyone had come up with their own conclusion: that Viktor had gone rogue and ruined the mission. 

But Jayce knew that this was not true. His husband would never hurt anyone. Jayce knew this, the same way he knew that the sun sets in the west, and how Rio’s favorite toy was a plushie of a purple lizard. 

Jayce stared at the screen, waiting for the contents of the black box to show itself. His body was exhausted but it did not matter. The screen finally booted up, decoding the footage from the black box. 

Viktor came into view, fixing his camera for another captain’s log. 

“Alright. We are officially on our way back to earth. To recap we’re—” 

Viktor suddenly stopped, looking around him, as if he heard something. He shook his head, dismissing the apparent noise. 

“We’re on our way back to earth. We have a two month journey ahead of us. So far, all systems are working well, we— Jinx! Ekko! Turn down that noise please!” 

“I… I don’t hear anything,” Caitlyn said, looking at Mel. Neither did Jayce, but he would not admit it at the moment. He already knew what they were thinking: based on Ekko’s short statement, it would seem that Viktor had lost his mind and turned on the crew. 

Suddenly, the video glitched out, skipping ahead. 

“I thought the tapes were fixed!” Mel called out. 

“They were!” the engineer called out. 

“Day 156,” Viktor said as he adjusted the camera. He was wrapped in a hazmat suit, floating around in the ship’s lab, with the Hexcore strapped onto the desk. “The Hexcore appears to be stable. I’ve run a few more tests. Judging from the carbon dating of the artifact, it’s at least a thousand years old. This tells me that there was some form of civilization on Mars around that time. They made use of Hexon as an energy source. The Hexcore must have been a means to amplify the potential of Hexon. Looks like they beat us to the punch a long time ago, Jayce,” he said, chuckling. 

Jayce could feel his eyes water as he heard his name from Viktor’s lips. He could have stared at the video of Viktor smiling for ages, but the video jumped ahead again, switching from the logs to security footage within moments. 

“What’s wrong with these tapes?!” Mel yelled. 

“I don’t know! It’s moving by itself!” 

Jayce didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, his eyes glued on the screen as he watched the Hexcore in the lab. As the numbers on the timer ran, he realized that the speed of the video had increased tenfold. Jinx, Ekko and Viktor all took turns looking over the Hexcore, their figures dipping in and out of the frame. 

Finally, the video returned to normal speed. The lab was empty and the Hexcore remained still on the counter. 

As the seconds drew on, Jayce stared, waiting. In less than a blink of an eye, the Hexcore ignited, and light filled the room. Everyone in the control room had to shield their eyes from the light but Jayce forced himself to look, even when his eyes burned. When the light faded, they watched as the artifact begin to shift and rotate on its own. 

Moments later, the entrance to the lab opened. 

Viktor floated into the lab, his expression dazed, as if he was possessed by a dream. 

“I just had a bad dream.”

Jayce watched, horrified, as Viktor hovered around the revolving artifact. His eyes were vacant, as if his mind had retreated somewhere far away. Slowly, Viktor extended his hand towards the Hexcore. 

“VIKTOR!” Jayce yelled, even if he knew that it was a video from the past, even if he knew that Viktor could not hear him. 

Before Viktor’s hand touched the Hexcore, the video changed once more. 

Only this time, it did not show full clips. It ran too fast, switching rapidly between cameras, changing the scene within seconds. In some of the frames, operations were running as they should: Jinx at the helm of the ship, Ekko monitoring the ship’s status and Viktor examining the Hexcore. 

Then, the clips rapidly glitched, all without any audio. As the scenes flew by, the silence screamed at them. 

Viktor arguing with Ekko.

Jinx trying to reach out to the Hexcore but Ekko was holding her back.

Viktor’s staring languidly at the Hexcore as it floated in the middle of the lab. 

Jinx screaming right at the camera. 

Ekko curling into himself, floating in the middle of the ship. 

The scenes started to get worse. In one of them, Ekko was punching Viktor. The next showed Jinx crying in a corner as Viktor tried to comfort her. 

As the clips flickered to one after the other, Jayce could have sworn he saw a face that did not belong to any of the three astronauts on board. It lasted less than a second but it struck Jayce like an bullet. 

The clips started to run impossibly fast, and Jayce could no longer tell what was happening. 

“Pause it!” Mel called out. 

“I can’t!” the engineer replied. 

Right then, the clips stopped switching, staying on a single video. Jinx and Ekko were unconscious as they floated in the hull of the ship. Viktor was putting them in their space suits, and Jayce quickly pieced together that this was the moment before they were placed in the escape pods. 

After his husband secured his subordinates in the pods, he sat back in the Captain’s chair, the same way he has for countless other logs. As the camera focused on Viktor’s face, a sob escaped Jayce’s chest seeing the state of his husband. His cheeks were hollow, as if he had not touched food in weeks. The circles around his eyes deepened even further. He looked to be a ghost of who he had been. 

“My name is Dr. Viktor Talis,” he said, his voice raspy as his eyes stared vacantly ahead. “Let it be on record that I was the one who put Ekko and Jinx in the escape pods against their will. I take full responsibility for the failure of this mission.”  

“I… the Hexcore was a mistake…” he said. “Hextech… was a mistake. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen what it could do. If I bring it back to earth, it will end us all.” 

Shakily, Viktor raised his hand.

Caitlyn gasped and Mel covered her mouth with her hand. But Jayce only looked, his eyes wide open as he took in his husband’s mutated hand. 

It was made completely of metal.
“The Hexcore… is alive,” Viktor said. As he looked blankly at the camera, his eyes, golden and warm, started changing. “It has birthed and ended a thousand universes, and it will do so for a thousand more.” 

Jayce kept his eyes on Viktor’s and watched, horrified, as the gold left it, a deep, cold silver overtaking it. 

“The Hexcore has shown me worlds beyond our imagination. Horrible, wonderful worlds. Beyond us. Infinite and unyielding.” 

“I saw both utopia and dystopia. Heaven and hell. But I know the truth at the end of it all. It’s evil, Jayce.”

“And yet, I can’t help but look for you. I saw us. In different timelines, in different possibilities. In one of them, we’re gods. In another, we’re stars. Oh, I love you in all of them, Jayce. It doesn’t matter what form you take; you are the soul of my soul.” 

Viktor looked at the camera, as if he was directly staring at Jayce . “And I always end up destroying you. Or you always destroy me. Every time. We are fated to ruin each other, again and again.”    

Viktor smiled gently.  “I can’t let that happen to us this time. I know, I promised you…”

As he smiled, Viktor’s lips began to tremble as tears fell down his face. 

“But I don’t think I’m coming home this time.” 

“SELF-DESTRUCT PROTOCOL. INITIATED.” 

“No, no, no, no, NO!” Jayce fell to his knees as he kept pleading out loud, to God, to the devil, to anyone who could rewrite the fabric of the universe. He screamed Viktor’s name, over and over again, a desperate plea to a star long dead. 

“I love you, Jayce. You and Rio. I love you, with all that I was. All that I am. And all that I could have been. In all lifetimes: it’s you… it’s you.” 

“Jayce, don’t look!” Caitlyn said, crying as she raced towards him. But she was too late. Jayce watched, horrified, as Viktor closed his eyes. A moment of serenity. It almost looked like he was asleep. 

Then the fires suddenly tore through Viktor until he was no more. 

Everything moved around Jayce as if it was in slow motion. People would talk to him, trying to console him, but he could no longer hear them, he could no longer see them. 

How could everything keep moving around him, Jayce wondered. It felt as if the moon had fallen out of the sky and no one minded. They kept moving and Jayce was just here. Alone. Stuck in a place that no one could reach. 

The black box footage was permanently damaged after their first and only viewing. 

Mel was successful at burying the secret further, making sure everyone in that room signed a non-disclosure agreement that would legally bury any violators. The official records would say that Viktor sacrificed himself to save his crewmates from a failing ship. 

In the eyes of the world, Viktor was a hero, afforded the honors and ceremonies of one. His coffin was adorned with purple and white flowers but Jayce knew: his coffin was empty. His husband’s body was buried in stardust and metal. 

At Viktor's funeral, Jayce watched the empty coffin go into the ground. He moved automatically: playing the role of the perfect widower. Holding their child, wearing all black, looking despondent. Really, the only thing left was to sob uncontrollably in front of everyone. 

But the tears would not come. Partly because he didn’t want to cause Rio more distress. Mostly because he still didn’t believe that Viktor was gone. 

It didn’t make sense to Jayce. It was like telling him that the sun was blue or that turtles fly. There was no logic to it, because how could Jayce still be here when Viktor wasn’t? 

Rio kept him rooted in reality. She would cry, as if looking for a father she never knew existed. Ximena stayed with them, helping soothe Rio’s sobs. Jayce was trying so hard to be there for her but the thought of his daughter never meeting Viktor sent him into a deeper spiral. 

Months passed by. Eventually, Rio stopped crying as much, probably already forgetting the man on the screen that amused her so much. Jayce taught himself to keep moving somehow, even when it didn’t make sense to him. 

When he noticed the line on his mother’s face getting deeper and her breath becoming labored, he finally insisted that he could take care of Rio himself again. 

He focused on Rio. Thinking of Viktor too much would paralyze him, and he couldn’t afford it. Not with a baby starting to walk around the house. 

The days went on. Somehow, he moved along, letting the hours drag him as they pleased. Eventually, he was able to show up to work again. He taught himself to nod and smile and reassure people he was alright. 

Because he fucking hated how people simultaneously pitied and judged him. Somehow, it ended up being his job to make people feel better about his husband’s death. 

I’m so sorry for your loss. He was a great man. 

How are you and Rio holding up? 

I’m praying for you. 

Useless platitudes that only reminded Jayce that his husband was dead. 

Jayce didn't start crying until the third month, by the time he started to realize that , as senseless as it was, Viktor truly may not return. 

And he cried. Oh, how he cried. Not in front of anyone. Not even in front of Rio. He cried into the space in their bed where Viktor should have been. He would scream into Viktor’s pillow and ask him, over and over again, where he went. 

These were the only moments Jayce would allow himself to think about Viktor’s last words, his warning about the Hexcore. last words. Jayce believed him. He could not explain it, but the mere knowledge of the Hexcore already struck fear into Jayce’s heart: and he had never even touched it. He knew that the others probably just thought Viktor was crazy but Jayce knew the truth. Everything that Viktor said was real: he had sacrificed himself to save his family from the entity. Jayce would watch the old logs, the ones from before they landed on Mars. His favorite was always the moment where Viktor met Rio. 

These led to Jayce’s worse days: the ones where he would drink. He would drink and call Viktor’s old number. It never mattered if the line was dead. Jayce kept trying. 

On the days that were exceptionally worst, he pictured joining Viktor in the flames. 

But Rio always seemed to sense these moments, crying for her Jayce. 

He would not dare take away another father from her. 

Caitlyn and Vi would visit, every now and then. Just to check on the two of them. With the space program in the dust, they’ve been deployed elsewhere. But still, they made the time.

One time, Jayce tried asking Vi how Jinx was. Vi only looked away, telling him that she was still in the psychiatric ward. Ekko left the program completely, going back to his hometown and cutting off all communications from them. 

Jayce wanted to apologize to them. They didn’t deserve to see the horrors that ended up killing his husband. 

Today was one of Jayce’s better days. He went to work, putting up the same facade that he has for the past year. People were finally convinced that he was okay and that he didn’t need any more condolences. 

When he picked up Rio from his mother’s, she wasn’t too fussy. She even ate her mashed vegetables. She was fully cooperative, even when Jayce put her to bed. A perfect angel. 

Maybe Jayce wouldn’t have to cry himself hoarse tonight. 

As he laid down in their bed, Jayce took some sleeping pills. He felt himself relax, reaching the peripheries of a dreamless sleep. 

Then Rio started crying. 

Jayce sighed, picking himself up from bed. 

As he entered the hall, he immediately locked in on the light escaping from their daughter’s room. It was far too bright for the nightlight that Jayce left for Rio. Before Jayce could reach his daughter’s door, she stopped crying. 

Ice cold panic seized him. 

Jayce burst through the door to see someone holding Rio, their back turned to him. The intruder’s body… glowed, as if it was made out of stars. A beautiful gradient of purple, pink and blue lights, dotted by infinite stars.  

Even when touched by the cosmos, Jayce knew the outline of that body as it glowed against the dark.

Viktor turned to him, holding Rio, staring at her like she was the center of the universe. To them, she was. Slowly, Viktor’s golden eyes shifted to him. For the first time in months, Jayce felt human again. 

His husband smiled at him gently as he carried Rio. 

Without uttering a word, Viktor extended his free hand to Jayce. 

Tears welled in his eyes. He knew it. He knew that it didn’t make sense to exist without Viktor. So it only meant that Viktor was still here. 

“It’s you,” Jayce whispered as he took Viktor’s hand. “ It’s you. ” 

EPILOGUE

“Are you sure about this? Maybe he just needs some time alone,” Vi said as they stood on Jayce’s porch, looking out at the fields as the moonlight illuminated them. 

“Mel said hasn’t shown up at work for a week. Something is wrong, Vi,” Caitlyn replied, she knocked. 

Only to see that the door was open, its lock busted. 

Caitlyn and Vi took one look at each other and took out their guns. Vi kicked down the door. 

“Jayce?!” Caitlyn said, eagle eyes sweeping the living room. “Go check the kitchen. I’ll check the bedrooms.”

Vi nodded, taking off. 

“Jayce? Rio?” Caitlyn called out. The door at the end of the hall was ajar. If Caitlyn remembered it correctly, it should be Rio’s room. She felt her heart rapidly beat in her ribcage, a terrible feeling threatening to overwhelm her. 

Caitlyn pushed the door open. 

Jayce was seated in the rocking chair, gently swaying as he held Rio in his arms. His back was turned to her as he stared out into the nightsky through the window. Caitlyn sighed in relief. She put the gun back at her holster and reached out to touch his shoulder. 

“Didn’t you hear me yell—” she stopped mid-sentence as she saw Jayce’s face. 

His eyes were silver. The exact same shade of silver that Viktor’s eyes turned to when he was on the Janna. His forehead bore strange marks, silver and iridescent as it glowed in the dark. 

But it wasn't the change in color that struck Caitlyn, no. It was the sheer emptiness in his eyes. Where pain and joy used to reside, there was vast emptiness. 

“Caitlyn. You’re right on time,” Jayce said, his voice devoid of any emotion. 

“Oh my god,” Caitlyn, her eyes slowly descending to Rio. 

The child was eerily still, her eyes staring blankly ahead. To Caitlyn’s horror, her eyes were the same as Jayce's.

She took an instinctive step back, trying, desperately to understand what was happening. Primal intuition told her to run. 

“Jayce… what happened to you…” Caitlyn said, her feet carrying herself away from Jayce. 

“It’s okay Cait. The Herald is here. They're going to save us,” Jayce said. 

Something blocked her as she backed away. Slowly, she turned around.  

A creature towered above her: cold and metallic. Steel and gears replaced where bone and skin should have been. As her eyes trailed up, she saw its face. Its glowing eyes were empty, yet she felt like they could see right into her soul. A man's face, torn into two by the creature staring at her. She stared at the split faces, recognition finally settling in. 

Caitlyn screamed.