Work Text:
Jayce had not anticipated his downfall being an eleven year old.
It was – okay. Even by the Machine Herald’s standards, it was pretty fucking low to enlist a kid for his schemes. He had some moral guidance, objective lines like don’t swing at civilians and child labor is bad. Apparently he was blurring one of those lines. Jayce was going to be exceptionally pissed off at him as soon as he wasn't dangling from the ceiling.
He was already pissed. Jayce was always pissed when it came to Herald, might as well be a conditioned reaction, but it was a perfectly functional degree of wrath and not the mind numbing ‘ what the fuck have you done, Viktor’ and ‘ you’re not even him anymore,’ because his old partner would never put a kid in harm's way but his old partner had torn himself apart, dead in every way that mattered--
Functional. He was being functional right now. And Jayce could fall back on the one thing he always had, before he had the mercury hammer and a full suit of Hextech armor. He took a breath and called down,
"Hey! Hey, kid!"
The eleven year old in question was a scrawny thing. It was more in the 'Underfed Zaunite Child' way than actually just being a small kid, and Jayce had to wonder if that was part of the deal, food for a well placed lie to take out the Defender of Tomorrow. The kid’s hair was dark and curly, pushed up on a band with thick goggles, big brown eyes and crooked teeth pulled in a grin as he craned his head up towards Jayce.
He stood on a catwalk, having climbed the stairs to it since springing the trap where he now stood near a control panel. "What's up?" He called. And then, after a loud sniff, cackled, "It's you!"
"Haha!" Jayce forced a laugh. "You're hilarious, kiddo. Hey, what's your name?"
"None of your business." He sounded gleeful.
'Smug little brat,' Jayce thought, but it was almost amused. "Come on," he cajoled. "Herald's gonna march in here and death ray me, right? That's the plan?"
"That's the plan!"
"Then what's the harm? I want to know who outsmarted me."
The kid squinted up at him. How much had Herald coached the kid, hell, where was Herald? Sending a kid to lie in wait completely alone, that had last ditch effort written all over it.
The kid sniffed again. "Okay." He drew the word out slowly, like he was still considering. Then, with a nod, "Okay! Yeah. I'm Naph."
"Naph. Great. Okay, Naph --"
"I'm not gonna let you down," the kid chirped. It was a little less amusing this time.
"Look," Jayce said, watching as the kid wandered to a control panel. He examined the buttons and switches, and Jayce had a moment to think oh gods tell me he knows what he's doing before the kid's hands start flying across it. It would be a sight to behold, hit a button, lever down, spin one dial then another, smooth as breathing, except Jayce was too busy shouting as the metal claw holding him reeled back and launched him in an arc.
He didn’t fly long. Another caught him by the legs, dangling him upside down, pig in a slaughterhouse as the kid giggled far below him.
Jayce groaned. The blood was rushing to his head. "Look," he tried, again. "What will it take for you to let me down? Whatever the big guy’s promising you, I can do better. You shouldn't have to do this to get food on the table."
I dunno," the kid mused. “It’s pretty good food.”
"Let me down and we can make sure you'll have lots of good food." Even held like this, even in the face of this little brat's smug face, Jayce's heart went out to him. It wasn't his fault. Kids did what they had to survive down here. Sometimes that meant pickpocketing. Sometimes that meant working for the Machine Herald. "I swear, no cost, no favors, I genuinely just want to get you what you need, and I can't do that from up here. Once I'm down, we can get you some new clothes, maybe to a school in Piltover --"
Naph snorted. He did something on the panel that made the arm start to swing, Jayce giving a quiet "Oh, fuck," as he was waved languidly back and forth. The ground was a good forty feet below and swaying in his view.
"I don't wanna go to some Piltie school," he drawled. "Quit trying to bribe me, I'm not dumb. Or at least make it a good bribe."
Jayce winced. Fucking Zaun kids. "Okay. Okay. What do you want?"
Naph craned his head, squinting. "You suck at n – nnnn –"
"Negotiating?"
"Shut up. You suck."
"Ouch. You really hurt my feelings there, kid."
"Shut–" His voice pitched into a yell. He cut himself off, taking a sharp breath and puffing it out again. "I want a hammer like yours," Naph demanded.
Jayce's brain stalled out. The image of this scrawny little kid even trying to lift the Mercury Hammer – first of all, kind of adorable – made him chuckle. "I can't do that," he said. "But! But. I can make you a hammer. Just not one that's also a magic cannon, alright?"
"Can it still be magic?"
Jayce didn't necessarily like lying to kids, but every adult did it, didn't they? Sometimes it was lies like his mom saying that getting a shot at the doctor's wouldn't hurt. Sometimes it was lies like his dad saying he'd be home for dinner. This at least was a little more of column 'A' as he said, "Sure."
"Liar."
"Fuck."
Jayce repeated it, "Fuck!" as the arm holding him suddenly descended, dropping him twenty feet down to where Naph was standing.
The kid got up on his tiptoes to lean on the catwalk's rail, flashing a smug little grin. He was still well out of Jayce's reach.
"Clever brat," Jayce groused.
"That's what Viktor calls me." Jayce blanked at the name. Naph didn't say it like everyone else. Even in Zaun, the Machine Herald was something of a boogie man. His old partner had been reduced to this: cold, unfeeling, a scary story at best. A living nightmare to those who knew better, blood streaked gauntlets in an open, living chest. But Naph smiled around the sound.
"What's your – what's your deal with Viktor, anyway?" Jayce asked.
"He teaches me things. Top secret things." Naph tapped the side of his head. "I mean. Okay, right now it's mostly stuff like how to build a watch. He taught me to use a drill the other day, that was pretty cool." Naph sank down, sticking his legs through the bars of the railing to swing them back and forth. "He said I’m gonna be helping him work on his armor!” And even though there was no way Viktor would let the kid near anything significant, his eyes were shining. Then they narrowed, suspicious as he glowered at Jayce. “But I'm not telling you anything else."
And that image of the Machine Herald kneeling down with this kid, guiding his hands and showing him how to put pressure behind a drill driver, that made Jayce's heart twist. He was going to pack that one into a box and stow it away for never. He didn't need to think about how good his old partner would have been with kids before he shredded his humanity away.
Before Jayce could catch his voice, a heavy clunk announced the locks of the lab disengaging. The kid perked up. A moment later he was on his feet, making an immediate run for the stairs. "Viktor!"
The Machine Herald came through the broad doors below. From his angle, Jayce could watch as Naph stomped down the stairs and directly to him, fearless as he grabbed the robot's gauntlet to pull him back the way he'd come. "I've got a surprise for you!"
Herald followed a few steps, seeming surprised. "You aren't supposed to be in here," hescolded.
"Oh." Naph cleared his throat. "Well. It's a really good surprise."
"We will talk about this later," Viktor warned. His voice was dangerous, but he let himself be yanked up the stairs.
Jayce swallowed around a new lump in his throat. Dangling by the legs by a robotic claw was not the right place to feel his heart trying to pop, but he didn't know what to do with this. There was no world where a kid that size could budge the Machine Herald if he didn't want to go.
They clunked onto the catwalk. Naph let go of him to run a few steps ahead, spin around, and broadcast his arms to Jayce with a "Ta-da!"
The yellow lenses of Herald's mask fixed on Jayce. He was still holding Naph's hand.
"Naph," he said. His mask turned down to look at the kid. "What did you do?"
Jayce blurted, "You didn't put him up to this?"
Herald looked nearly affronted. "I would not endanger a child," he growled.
"I'm eleven," Naph frowned.
"You’re a clever brat," Viktor snorted.
"That's what I said."
"Viktor!" Naph yanked on his hand. "Come on, I beat him! It was so easy, I just had to –” He widened his eyes, big and shiny, voice a simpering exaggeration of grief as he whimpered, “' The Machine Herald took my mom .'" A grin split his face. “And then -- bam! Hit the button! And now I caught him!"
Viktor looked at Jayce, then at Naph, then at Jayce.
He stared. Jayce gave a hapless shrug.
"I do not feel like I should encourage this," Viktor muttered, as much as he could mutter when his voice was a mechanized growl. "You are too clever for your own good some days. What if he'd been dangerous?"
"He wasn't."
"What if he was."
And for a cold and emotionless robot, Viktor sounded concerned. He didn’t dare call it fear.
The image wasn't lining up. Jayce was starting to be glad he was dangling and helpless, if only for the excuse to do nothing but watch.
Viktor sighed, setting a hand atop Naph's head. "We will discuss this later. I am proud of your ingenuity. Now go put the groceries away, I will deal with this."
He nudged Naph by the back. The kid sulked back down the stairs, stomping with every step until the door slammed shut behind him. And then it was just Jayce and the Machine Herald.
"Cute kid," Jayce commented.
"Defender of Tomorrow," Herald sighed, putting a hand to his mask. "Jayce. I would advise you be very, very mindful of your words right now."
"You know? Honestly I was more scared when the kid was here," Jayce quipped.
"That," Viktor started, stopped, and then chuckled.
"That is stunningly wise for you."