Chapter Text
The familiar arching notes echoed through the mansion, though this time not by Viktor’s hand.
Allison and Luther were confused by who this woman was. Viktor was mesmerized by her violin playing, by the music that filled the halls. The same notes that had brought the moon crumbling to Earth played on the same instrument.
The blonde woman turned to greet them, but Viktor barely heard what she said. He was too focused on the violin in her hands. Something in him told him it was his , that it was the same one he’d carried with him all his life. He was transfixed by it, feeling somewhat like it was an old companion being held just out of reach. A wave of possessiveness washed over him.
“And Viktor,” He was broken out of his thoughts by the woman saying his name. “I understand we share a passion for the violin,” She said with a soft smile.
“It’s more of a love-hate thing for me,” He said bashfully. The woman fixed him with a gaze that was both understanding and unbelieving at once.
As the conversation with the woman, who introduced herself as Abigail, wore on, Viktor remained distracted by the violin sitting on the table. Something in his heart ached at seeing the instrument he had once held so dear. He wanted to run his hands over it, feel the familiar glossy wood, press the strings against his calluses.
In this new world, he had given up on his pursuit of music. Somewhat. He’d purchased a second hand violin about a year into their time here. Without his powers, he was able to feel the missing part of his playing clearly in a way he never had while on the pills. He hadn’t known what he was missing then. It hurt, hearing the sound yet never being able to achieve what he knew he was able to do. He’d practiced out of a sense of obligation and routine.
That violin had been sold when he went through a rough patch a year ago.
Viktor turned back towards Abigail and met her eyes as she watched him gaze at the violin. He blushed in embarrassment, avoiding her stare and fiddling with his hands.
“Would you like to play it?” She offered kindly.
“I — Yeah, sure!” He stuttered out. She smiled, then stood and fetched the violin from the table. Viktor stared at it as she held it out, then tentatively took it from her. After positioning his hand over the neck of the instrument, he raised the bow. Abigail nodded encouragingly at him.
Carefully, he pulled the bow over the strings. The notes to Angel of Music from Phantom of the Opera, one of his favourite musicals, sang from the violin. Tentative at first, until Viktor fell into the music as he always did.
The orange sparks of his new power began appearing like an aura around him. They didn’t make the sound echo and resonate, rather seemed to simply be fed by the music.
As the part he still had memorized came to an end, he opened his eyes. Luther was grinning dopily, while Allison had a slight smile on her face that betrayed her nervousness. Abigail gave an approving smile. The familiar embarrassment at receiving praise brought a flush to Viktor’s cheeks.
“Abigail, is that you? Ah," came a familiar voice. Viktor spun around to find himself face-to-face with Reginald Hargreeves. He froze, quickly lowering the violin and backing away. His father looked him up and down, pausing at the violin in his hands.
“My chief of security informs me that the tiny hamlet of New Grumpson, Maine, is still smoldering in the wake of your colossal ineptitude.”
Well. At least for once in his life he didn’t insult his playing.
His father had a gun and he was going to kill Ben and Jennifer. Again!
Allison pushed Reginald to the ground, berating him, as the siblings watched. Then, he reached for the gun.
Viktor’s instincts took over.
“Don’t even think about it!” He yelled, surging forward with orange light to knock the gun away.
“Do you think these childish theatrics will stop me?” His father called. That was a mistake.
“Okay, well, I can step it up a notch if you like.”
Viktor picked up the violin from the table, quickly placing it on his shoulder. A rock version of ‘Music of the Night’ resonated from the strings, feeding the orange storm around his father.
“Viktor, please don’t hurt him!” Abigail pleaded, though she made no further attempt to stop him.
“Why not? Why shouldn’t I? All he does is hurt everybody else! Ben, Jennifer, me! All of us!” Viktor said angrily, not taking his eyes off the man in front of him.
“Spare me the waterworks. One life isn’t more important than the entire planet!” Reginald said, still acting as though he had any authority. That was a sentiment Viktor had heard before. All through his childhood, from his own mind when he wondered why his siblings saved him, all the times he questioned why he was worth saving. His notes grew more accented as Reginald was pushed harder into the cracking floor.
“Oh, but your wife’s is?” The taunt made Reginald hesitate.
“You stuck your nose in where it didn’t belong, and you allowed Jennifer to escape! This is your fault!”
“Oh no no no this is your fault!” Viktor yelled back. “All my life, all I wanted was for you to see me, to make me a part of the team. Instead you treated me like I was broken !” A squeak of the strings from him pressing too hard. “And I believed you! I thought you knew me better than I knew myself, but I know now you don’t know shit !”
“ You’re the failure!” The floor cracked further. “You’re the reason this happened! And I am not gonna let you kill Ben! Not now, not ever! Am I clear ?”
He took a shaky breath in as his father stared up at him. The storm of orange light continued around him as the notes he played wavered in and out of pitch. A hand landed gently on his back.
“Viktor. That’s enough.”
Abigail stood beside him, not in fear of his powers but wearing a look of… concern? It must have been concern for Reginald, right? The last note faded out with his powers. Yet, she did not remove her hand. It reminded him of Mom, in a way, when she would put a hand on their backs to comfort them. Though Reginald remained on the ground, she did not go to help him, instead watching Viktor as he slowly calmed down.
A security guard entered the room, earning a glare from Reginald at having been so late.
“It seems we may have found your brother.”
Everyone began preparing to leave, both sides having decided to (begrudgingly) work together to find Ben. By preparing to leave, of course, he meant the siblings stood around waiting for Reginald to pack his things. His siblings were giving him space. They’d never quite figured out how to act after he used his powers, all of them equal parts impressed and terrified.
Before Reginald returned, Abigail pulled Viktor aside.
“Take this. You will need it, and can put it to better use than I,” She said, reaching behind her to grab a long box. It took him a moment to realize it was his her violin.
“I can’t take your violin!” She simply raised her eyebrows.
“From what I understand, it is our violin. It has been gifted to you before, and I am gifting it to you again. Please, take it.”
Viktor stared at her, numbly taking the violin as she handed it to him. Why was she giving him this? She was a mystery; first her playing the Apocalypse Suite, then her gentleness when he assaulted her husband, and now giving him her violin? It just didn’t make sense. But when he felt the familiar comfort of her his violin in his arms, he decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
His father’s voice began coming from the other room, so he quickly whispered a thank you and rejoined his siblings.