Chapter Text
Viktor and Jayce were in Zaun looking for scrap metal and spare parts. There were things that you simply couldn’t find in Piltover, but that would be useful for their work. Viktor had wanted to go alone but Jayce had practically begged to come along. Not wanting to mess up this new partnership, Viktor had given Jayce some clothes that would help keep him from sticking out too badly. He told him to let Viktor do the talking, but he was still so clearly from Piltover. So they had been quick, getting what they needed from the markets and not looking at anything else. There had been a few times where Jayce tried to pause at a stall or go into a shop that Viktor had to drag him away from. Viktor pulled him onto an empty backstreet so they could talk without anyone overhearing, but he still kept his voice low.
“You cannot be curious here. I can show you around at some point, but today is not the day, Jayce. You stand out too much.” He opened his mouth to protest, but sighed and closed it. Viktor wasn’t trying to be cruel, he was trying to keep Jayce safe. He hoped he could tell.
“Okay. I’m sorry, I just…” Jayce shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
“Just be more cautious. This is not Piltover, people won’t be nice if they know you aren’t from here. I’m shocked you were able to come here alone and make it out unscathed.” Jayce turned red and looked away from Viktor, suddenly finding a crack in the ground very interesting.
“Jayce.”
“Hm?”
“What happened when you came here alone?” Jayce didn’t respond. “You got robbed, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, someone took my money,” he said quickly. Viktor shut his eyes, sighed, and reached up to run a hand through his hair.
“Of course they did.” He looked back to Jayce, who was watching him sheepishly. “You are not coming here alone again, and you aren’t carrying the money when we come here.” Jayce was still clearly embarrassed, but smiled at the prospect of Viktor bringing him back. Viktor didn’t think he had ever met someone so naive.
“Now come along, we still have one more place to go.” He turned and began walking down the street. He heard Jayce’s footsteps scrambling to catch up with him after a moment of processing.
“Where are we going?”
“Benzo’s.” Jayce’s face lit up with recognition.
“Oh, I went there on my last trip here!”
“Keep your voice down, Jayce.” Viktor knew all too well that just because somewhere looked empty, didn’t mean it was. “But that’s not surprising, he tends to have some very good supplies.” Jayce nodded.
“I was able to get a lot from him. And the kid was nice.” Viktor looked over at him and raised an eyebrow.
“Ekko?”
“Yeah. He was nice.” Viktor chuckled before looking forward again.
“He can be, yes.” He decided to not tell Jayce that he had probably scammed him. Let him see the price Viktor could get and see if he’d come to that conclusion himself.
They turned a corner then, onto the back of Benzo’s street. Jayce gasped and stopped in his tracks. Viktor took a few more cautious steps forward as he scanned the street. It was covered in blood. There were large puddles of it on the ground, soaking into the stones underfoot. There were splatters on the walls, dried blood left where nobody had bothered to clean up. Viktor had heard someone talking about dead enforcers in a hushed voice, and thought it was the normal death threats for if they came into the Lanes again. Evidently not. Someone had already been sent for the bodies, though. All but one.
Viktor looked around, glancing back at Jayce before stepping closer. His breath caught in his throat and his stomach sank as he recognized who the body belonged to. Benzo. He had been thrown against the wall, by the looks of it. Viktor stepped back before looking around again.
“Ekko? Are you here?” No response. Viktor began walking towards Benzo’s shop before gesturing for Jayce to follow. When he didn’t hear footsteps, he turned. Jayce still stood at the corner, staring at the blood on the ground. Viktor paused. “Jayce?” He looked up. His eyes were fearful and he was extremely pale.
“What happened here?” Viktor stepped back over to him, careful to avoid the blood when he could. He stopped a few steps away from Jayce, close enough that he could touch him if he reached out.
“I don’t know. My best guess is a fight with some enforcers. But that doesn’t matter right now, because they’re gone. Right now, we need to see if Ekko is still here and make sure he’s alright.” Jayce nodded slowly. He looked away from Viktor, eyes landing on Benzo’s body. Viktor followed his gaze.
“If-”
“Benzo never would have done anything worth killing him over. Maybe they thought he was in the way when he was just trying to protect someone.” Viktor waited to see if Jayce would fight back, but he didn’t. He simply nodded and shut his eyes before turning away. Viktor nudged his arm and nodded towards the shop. Jayce followed him this time.
Viktor peered in through the window when they got there, and tried the door. It was open, so they stepped inside.
“Ekko?” There was a moment of silence, and then a thud from the basement. Jayce inhaled sharply. Footsteps started coming up the stairs slowly, and a muffled voice made its way through the door.
“Viktor? Is that you?” He rushed forward, throwing the door to the basement open. Ekko stood halfway up the stairs, his tear stained face flooding with relief as he saw Viktor. He ran the rest of the way up and hugged Viktor so tightly that he stumbled back into the shop counter. Viktor leaned his cane against the counter and reached down to hug Ekko back.
“Hey, it’s alright. I’ve got you.” Ekko began to cry, clutching onto Viktor’s clothes like a lifeline. He held Ekko closely, letting him cry into his shoulder as he looked up at a shocked Jayce. He opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again when Viktor shook his head.
They sat like that for a few minutes, until Ekko pulled away and wiped his tears on his sleeve. Viktor moved his hands to Ekko’s shoulders, but his grip was loose enough that he could move if he needed to. He looked Ekko up and down, scanning for any sign of an injury.
“Did you get hurt?” Ekko shook his head. “Do you know what happened?” He nodded this time, but began crying again. “Hey, hey. You don’t have to say it.” Ekko shook his head and wiped his face on his sleeve again. He took a deep breath and steeled himself before speaking.
“Vander got taken and Vi went after them. She wouldn’t let me go with her, but- but Mylo and Claggor might be with her. She said something about going home first.”
“Where did they go?”
“The old cannery. The one by the docks.” Viktor nodded slowly.
“Alright. We’re leaving, and we’ll pass by on our way back to Piltover. If anything happens, I need you both to listen to me. I won’t have either of you putting yourselves in danger.” He looked between Jayce and Ekko as he spoke.
“We?” Ekko asked. Viktor looked back at him.
“You think I'm leaving you here alone right now? You’re staying with me until I can make sure you’re somewhere safe. I’m not leaving you unless you truly want me to.” Ekko shook his head and stumbled forward for another hug, resting his head on Viktor’s shoulder. Viktor wrapped his arms around Ekko. He watched him for a moment, but looked up at Jayce as he began to speak.
“Wait, why are we even getting involved in this? Can’t we take Ekko and just… go?” Anger surged in Viktor’s chest, and he could feel Ekko bristle with the same feeling before he pulled away. Jayce didn’t get it. He probably never would, but he really didn’t get it. How Viktor’s relationships were the only thing he had while growing up. How Vander would let him into The Last Drop and feed him when he was young. How he had played with a young Vi before moving to Piltover, and how he kept his relationships with these people. They were the closest thing he’d had to a family in years, and he’d be damned if he lost another person.
“We can’t just leave them, they’re too important. Everything would fall apart without Vander, and-”
“Ekko. It’s alright.” Viktor turned to Jayce. He looked scared, mostly. VIktor tried to keep his tone gentle, but a bit of his anger still seeped through. “These people helped raise me, Jayce. I’ve known Vi for her entire life. If I can help her, I’m helping. If you'd like to just go back to Piltover, you can.” Viktor was ready to fight. He was ready to tell Jayce that he was doing this no matter what. Even if it cost him this new partnership, a camaraderie that he had never experienced before. He had to help his family.
Jayce stared at him for a moment before looking away. He was fidgeting with his bracelet, twisting it around and running his fingers over the stone. He sighed and looked back at Viktor.
“Okay. I’ll- do you want help? I can’t… really fight, but-” He cut himself off when he saw Viktor shaking his head.
“We hopefully won’t need to. Just listen to what I tell you to do when we get there.” Jayce nodded, and Viktor made his way to the door.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
~~~~~~~~~~
The walk to the cannery was uneventful, thankfully. They kept their heads down and moved quickly, with Jayce not straying from Viktor’s side once. Ekko’s hand slipped into his at some point. There were more whispers of the fight, now that Viktor was listening for them. Silco had kidnapped Vander to kill him. The enforcers had thrown him in Stillwater because he was the one who blew up Jayce’s lab. One or two times, Vitkor heard someone say that Vander and Benzo had gotten into a fight. He had rolled his eyes and kept moving at that idea.
The cannery exploded when they were about a block away. They froze in place. Viktor looked to his left and locked eyes with Jayce, his eyes wide and fearful. Then down to Ekko, who was simply staring. Viktor had to be the brave one here. He took a deep breath and squeezed Ekko’s hand before letting go and taking a step forward.
“Both of you, stay here.”
“I want to come with you.” Viktor turned to look at Ekko. He had taken a step forward, fists clenched by his sides, his face determined.”
“No. We don’t know what’s happened and I won’t put you in danger.”
“I want to help. If- if something happened to Vi or Vander-”
“If something happened to them, I can handle it. If you want to help, the best thing you can do is make sure he doesn’t get kidnapped or something.” Viktor pointed at Jayce when he spoke about him. Jayce opened his mouth to protest, but shut it as Viktor held up a hand to shush him. He turned back to Ekko.
“I trust that you can help, but I don’t want to be worrying about whether or not you are safe. I need you to stay here, and I’ll be back soon. Alright?” Ekko sighed, frustrated, but nodded anyway.
“Alright.”
“Thank you.” Viktor took a step back and looked between Jayce and Ekko. “I’ll be right back.” With that, he turned and approached the cannery. He was near the front, and made his way around the side and to the back, where the explosion had happened. He stepped cautiously, avoiding debris and chunks of brick that had landed on the ground. He could see a fire now, crackling loudly behind the building. He prayed that nobody was caught in it. Being close to it would be bad enough for his lungs.
A shriek from a familiar voice drew him in quicker, and he rounded the corner. Powder was on the ground in front of him, shoulders shaking with sobs. Vander layed a few feet in front of her, his body covered in purple veins. Powder screamed again, pulling him forward.
“Powder?” She turned. She was covered in dust and soot, but her face was clean where tears were streaming down.
“Viktor?” She stood and began to stumble forward. She spoke through sobs, her voice breaking constantly. “I wanted to help. That’s all I wanted, I just wanted to help.” She fell against Viktor, causing him to stumble back, and wrapped herself around him in a hug. “I just wanted to help.” Viktor wrapped his free arm around her, holding her tightly.
“Ekko told me Vi was here. Is she alright?” Powder bristled and buried her face in his chest. Her voice was muffled despite the fact that she was yelling.
“I don’t care! She is not my sister anymore!” What the fuck happened here? Viktor didn’t voice the thought.
“What about Mylo and Claggor?” Powder simply whimpered and shook her head. “Alright. Will you come with me? Ekko is waiting, and I need to make sure you’re both safe.” She nodded and pulled herself away before wiping her face on her sleeve. Soot smudged against it, coating her sleeve in a new layer. A shower would be the first thing when they got home.
Viktor offered his hand to Powder and she took it. Her tears were falling quietly now, and she shuffled along slowly. The anger seemed to have drained out of her, replaced with sadness and disappointment. Or, knowing her, it had turned inwards and she was yelling at herself mentally. She was always hard on herself when she made mistakes, and this… this seemed to be a very big one.
Ekko ran up to Powder the moment they rounded the corner and saw them. She hugged him back and her sobbing began again. Her hand fell from Viktor’s as she clung onto Ekko and collapsed onto the ground. Ekko whispered something to her, and Viktor stepped around them to stand next to Jayce, who was simply watching. He turned to Viktor as he approached.
“Is that Vi?” His voice was hushed, which Viktor was thankful for. He shook his head.
“No, her name is Powder. Maybe avoid speaking about Vi around her. It seems to be a sensitive topic right now.” Jayce nodded slowly. They turned back to Ekko and Powder, who were still curbed together on the ground. Powder had stopped crying, and had her face buried in Ekko’s shoulder.
“What do we do now?” Viktor took a deep breath and sighed.
“Now? Now we go home.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Viktor offered to take Powder and Ekko back home to get their things, but they both turned down the offer, so they went straight to Viktor’s apartment. The walk back was uneventful. He lived on the outskirts of Piltover, so they were able to avoid busy streets, and stay away from prying eyes. It was best to keep Ekko and Powder out of the public eye right now, and that included rumors about what two Zaunite children were doing in Piltover.
Jayce came back to the apartment with them, saying that he wanted to make sure they got back to the apartment okay. And he did, but he also wanted to watch Viktor with the kids more. He was good with them. Caring. He hadn’t talked about family with Jayce, but they had only known each other for a week. A very busy, eventful week. And this was helping him get to know his partner better.
They made it to Viktor’s apartment quickly. They had walked almost the entire way with Powder holding Viktor’s free hand, and Ekko holding the other. She let Viktor’s hand go so he could unlock his apartment, and he held the door open for Powder and Ekko to go inside first. Jayce followed behind Viktor and stepped into his apartment. It was small, but nice.
There was a smell bench to the left of the door where Viktor sat to take off his shoes. Jayce followed suit, and placed the bag of their new supplies on the ground next to it. To the right of the front door was a large entryway that led to the living room. The left wall contained a few paintings of landscapes, as well as two doors. The kitchen was in the back of the apartment, complete with a small dining table.
“Powder, Ekko?” They had wandered into the living room, but came back to the entryway at the sound of Viktor’s voice. “Look around all you want. There’s food in the kitchen and I have a shower if either of you want to use it.”
“Where is it?” Powder asked. Viktor led her to the bathroom, leaving Jayce and Ekko alone for the second time that day. They hadn’t talked much in the alleyway, both too nervous to say much. Here, however, Ekko seemed to be a bit braver.
“How did you and Viktor meet? He hasn’t said anything about you.”
“We did only meet a week ago. He took an interest in what I’m studying.” Ekko stared at him for a second.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.” As far as he needed to know, anyways. He didn’t need to know about the whole ‘stopped Jayce from throwing himself out of the rubble of his lab’ thing yet.
“Hm.” Ekko turned around and went back to looking at Viktor’s bookshelves. Jayce stepped into the living room to look around. It was small, like the rest of the apartment, but housed a plush looking sofa and armchair. They sat on two sides of a large coffee table, and a small table with a gramophone and some records sat in the corner between them. There was a large window on the wall behind the sofa, and a massive bookshelf took up an entire wall. Jayce joined Ekko by the bookshelf as Viktor came out of the bathroom.
“Alright, I’m going to get started on dinner.” Jayce and Ekko both looked up from the bookshelf, with Jayce slipping the book he had been holding back into its place.
“Do you want any help?” He asked. Viktor glanced over at his kitchen before shrugging.
“Sure. You can chop things for me.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Viktor and Jayce made a stew. At some point in the process, Ekko brought in a book and began to read at Viktor’s table. He glanced over and smiled at the sight before turning back to the meat he was cooking. Jayce wasn’t sure whether or not he noticed how Ekko mostly just watched them cook.
Powder came out of the shower not long after Ekko joined them. She was wearing an oversized sleep shirt and a pair of shorts that fit her shockingly well, considering the fact that they belonged to someone twice her age. She sat down next to Ekko, who smiled and passed her the book he had been looking at. She took it and smiled, turning to Viktor.
“You have a book on Valdiani’s work?” Viktor turned and smiled at her.
“I do. I was going to bring it for you the next time I visited.” She smiled at him widely before turning back to the book, her and Ekko speaking in hushed voices as they flipped through it.
Dinner was eaten quietly, with Viktor telling Powder and Ekko to take their time eating, and that they could have more if they wanted it. They ate quickly, both getting seconds before Jayce had finished his first bowl. The only conversation was between the two men, discussing some of Jayce’s thoughts on Hextech and where he wanted to start their work.
Jayce helped with dishes after dinner, drying the bowls and spoons as Viktor washed them. Powder and Ekko still sat at the table, reading and talking. Viktor chimed in every once in a while, but Jayce simply observed. He felt like he had learned more about Viktor in the past few hours than he had in the last week of them working together daily. Viktor was smart and witty and sarcastic, but Jayce already knew all those things. He didn’t realize that he was so caring, or sweet. It felt like he was unlocking a previously unseen part of Viktor. One that he really liked.
Viktor’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
“Jayce.” He looked up from where he had been looking at the bowl he was holding.
“Hm?”
“Powder asked you a question.”
“Oh!” He set the dish down and turned to face her. “I wasn’t paying attention, sorry. What did you ask?”
“Viktor says that you had a Valdiani music box. What did it look like?”
“It was small, and round. The body of it was gold and it had kind of a… little blue dome, I guess? I could probably draw it for you. It was pretty.”
“Was it the kind that opened?”
“Yeah! There was a little knob on top of the dome that you could turn and it would open up.” He mimed the motion with his hands, acting as if he was holding the box and twisting the knob. “It had a small globe and some orbiting moons that could move.” He looked up from his hands. Powder watched him with a look of longing on her face.
“That sounds so pretty. How’d you get it?”
“My mom gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago. I’ve always admired Valdiani’s engineering.” Powder nodded in agreement before pausing for a moment.
“Can you draw it for me?”
“When I’m done helping Viktor, yeah.” Jayce smiled at her and she smiled back before they both turned back to what they had been doing before. Jayce looked to Viktor as he turned around, a small smile on his face.
“I’ve got it here. There’s paper and a pencil on the coffee table, go draw it for her.”
“Are you sure? I can-”
“Yes, I’ve got it, Jayce.” Viktor waved him off. “Go.” Jayce nodded and set down the newly washed bowl he had just picked up before walking into the living room. He found the pencil and paper, sitting down on the couch as Ekko and Powder joined him. She sat on the couch close to his right arm, but gave him enough room to draw, and Ekko sat on the other side of her. Jayce drew quickly, and was almost done when Viktor joined them a few minutes later. He sat down on the armchair with a groan and propped his bad leg up on the coffee table.
“This is about the size it actually was,” Jayce told Powder as he finished his drawing. “It was pretty small.” She peered over his shoulder as he passed it to her. She took it and studied it carefully, eyes scanning each section before moving to the next. Ekko had been resting his head on her shoulder, but picked it up to look at the drawing. His brow furrowed as he saw the sketches.
“I think this was in the book.” He picked it up from his lap and began sifting through the pages until he found what he was looking for. “Yeah, it's right here. Explains the inner workings and everything.” Powder’s eyes lit up as she took the book.
“Whoa, it does.” Ekko let his head fall against her shoulder again as she looked at the detailed blueprints.
“Can I see?” Viktor asked. Powder nodded and handed the book to Jayce for him to pass for Viktor. He scanned the page for a moment before passing it back. “I have access to the majority of the parts needed for that, if you’d like to try building it. Powder looked up at him, eyes wide.
“Yes! I want to try.” Viktor grinned.
“We can start on getting the parts tomorrow.” Powder nodded excitedly before turning back to the book. Viktor leaned to the side a little to peer at Ekko.
“Ekko? How are you doing?” He picked his head up off Powder’s shoulder and straightened himself a little.
“I’m okay. I’m tired.”
“Do you want to go to bed?” Ekko looked down at the floor as he thought. He was fidgeting with his fingers, twisting them and picking at his nails.
“I don’t… I don’t want to be alone right now.” Powder looked over to him.
“I can go with you.” He shook his head.
“No, I’m okay.” Viktor and Powder both looked at him skeptically. He looked between them for a moment before dropping his gaze to his hands. “If- if you’re sure.” Powder nodded and stood, offering her hand to him.
“Yeah.” He took it, and Viktor stood to lead them to his bedroom.
“I have a shirt you can change into,” he said. Ekko nodded. His and Powder’s hands stayed intertwined as they walked. Jayce could hear them speaking as they went into the room, and picked up the book from where it had been left on the coffee table. He had a feeling that he shouldn’t eavesdrop on this conversation.
Viktor emerged from the bedroom a few minutes later, shutting the door behind him gently. He walked over to the sofa, dropping himself next to Jayce and leaning his head against the back of it. Jayce placed the book back where he had picked it up.
“Are you doing okay, Viktor?” He barked out a laugh.
“No. Everything just fell apart for both of them and I need to put the pieces back together.” He tossed his hands up in defeat and sighed. “This is the second time it’s happened to them. To both of them. It’s good that they have each other, at least.” He sighed again and sat up, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. “They deserve better than this.”
“Better than what, someone taking care of them? Helping them through their traumatic experiences?” Jayce ducked his head to catch Viktor’s eyes. “You obviously love them, Viktor. And it’s understandable to be worried about it, but you aren’t gonna take care of them alone.” He offered a small smile. “We’re partners now, remember?” Viktor laughed again and sat up straight.
“I thought you just meant lab partners.” Jayce shook his head.
“Not with something like this. They need more support than one person can give them.” He took a deep, shaky breath and brought a hand to the band on his wrist. He ran his fingers over the familiar angles and grooves, attempting to steel himself for what he was going to say next. “I… I watched my dad die.” He could feel Viktor string at him as a pit opened in his stomach. “When I was seven years old. He had been sick for a long time and I knew it was coming, but- but it didn’t make it any easier. And then a year later, I thought I was going to have to watch my mom die, too.” He took another deep breath and shut his eyes, willing his forming tears to not fall. “So I know how hard it is to lose family. To- to lose a parent. They’re going to need a lot of support. And it seems that we’ll be working together for a while, so…” He shrugged and looked up at Viktor, meeting his eyes. They were sad. Jayce looked away again. “So I’ll be here to help them. And you. You don’t have to try taking care of them on your own.” Jayce blinked back his tears and turned back to Viktor. He smiled at him, but knew it didn’t change how sad he looked. “We’ll do this together. Just like Hextech.” Viktor nodded slowly.
“I appreciate that. Thank you.” He looked away and gnawed at his lip as he thought for a moment. “And it is hard to lose someone, especially that young. You shouldn’t have had to go through that.”
“Thank you. And hey.” He put his hand on Viktor’s shoulder, making him meet his eye. “I mean it, I’m not gonna let you do this alone.” Viktor nodded.
“I know. Thank you.” Jayce smiled at him.
“Of course.” He pulled his hand back and there was a moment of silence as he collected himself. “I should probably get going. It’s starting to get late.” He stood and turned to Viktor. “Thanks for having me over. Thanks for… everything today, I guess. It was…” He paused and stared at the floor as he tried to think of the right way to say what he wanted to say. His voice was quiet and slow when he spoke again. “It was a lot, but you made me feel safer. So, thank you for that.” He nodded once, satisfied with his words, and looked at Viktor. He smiled gently.
“You’re welcome.”
Viktor walked him to the door, leaning against the wall as Jayce put his shoes on and took the bag of parts from its place by the door.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Viktor nodded.
“Tomorrow. Get home safe.” Jayce smiled at him as he opened the door.
“I will.” It shut behind him with a click, and he made his way out of the apartment building. He took a deep breath as he stepped outside. It was cool, the sun just beginning to set over the city.
It would all work out. He would make sure of it.