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"Jayce, you have to sleep."
Caitlyn puts a steady hand on Jayce's shoulder, standing to the side of where he sits in her library. He's had his eyes locked onto the battle plans Caitlyn pinned up once everything had been finalized. Their intel indicated a march by Ambessa's forces tomorrow, along with some kind of… weapon. Something that Viktor has or… has become. Jayce's duty will be to shut down the Hexgates at their power source.
At least, that's what he's told Caitlyn.
Jayce believes Viktor will be there, at the Hexgates, waiting for him. Before the other Viktor sent him back to Piltover from the hollow dimension where he keeps solemn watch over his Jayce's blooming carcass, he told him that all versions of Viktor are meant to find their Jayce, or be sentenced to an existence in dreamless solitude for all of eternity.
Viktor will find Jayce. What happens next… Jayce is unsure.
But Caitlyn is right, and when he arrives at his usual room at the Kiramman's manor, weariness sets in like a sore muscle. Though he has slept since his return, it's never been particularly restful. Nightmares plague him every time he closes his eyes for rest. He wonders if he'll ever have a normal dream again.
Tonight is different, but only slightly.
Jayce doesn't remember falling asleep. His head rises as though he'd been dozing off in a chair, his feet flat on hard, cold tile. Immediately he recognizes the room; this is the hospital where Viktor got his prognosis. This is the night, or close to it.
Viktor lies prone, tubes running through his nose, attached to his hands. Transparent bags hanging from long, metal rods drip a clear solution into him. Each of Viktor's breaths is visibly labored.
"Viktor? Is it really…" Jayce leans forward in his chair slightly.
The last time he saw Viktor he was… radiant. Floating in that strange, anomalous globe at the center of his commune, suspended by strings of light. Jayce had squeezed his eyes shut tight as arcane energy rippled through his hammer, pointed directly up at his former partner. He killed him. Shot a hole straight through his chest, likely disintegrating whatever remained of Viktor's heart.
In this room, lit only by a singular lamp on the table beside the hospital bed, Viktor looks like he has one foot in the grave. His features are gaunt, and dark. When he's stirred awake by Jayce's voice, his lips stick together, and his eyes blink open with flecks of discharge building up in his tear ducts.
"Jayce?" Viktor furrows his brows curiously. "I thought you…"
"You can see me?"
"I-" Viktor is interrupted by his own coughing fit. Without thinking, Jayce collects Viktor's delicate hand in two of his own. It's colder than he expects, and he realizes with a weight in his stomach that he never made this gesture the last time he was here. Viktor looks down at their conjoined hands. "Ah, I am dreaming. Though I don't think I ever imagined you looking so…"
Jayce smiles sadly. "Haggard?"
"Rugged." Viktor provides, with the slightest twitch of his lips. "What has happened to you, Jayce?"
With his hands still wrapped around Viktor's, Jayce leans his elbows on the edge of the bed. He can only look at the prominent veins on the back of Viktor's hand, purple and blue beneath the milky whiteness of his skin, punctured by a needle and tube.
"You… We made… a mistake." Jayce squeezes Viktor's hand. "I tried to save you, but the-"
"The Hexcore," Viktor finishes his sentence, a grave look in his tired eyes.
Jayce nods.
"You did so much to try and salvage it, Viktor. I should've been there to help you, should have been by your side the entire time." His hands tremble. "I'm so sorry, Viktor."
Jayce's shoulders shake with the effort it takes to hold himself together before he realizes he doesn't have to.
Jayce lets himself weep. The tidal wave of his decisions crashes into him all at once, burning his eyes and filling his nostrils. He's almost dizzy at the sensation. He collapses onto Viktor's hospital bed with his head buried in his forearms as he cries. Viktor's hand weakly makes contact with his, and Jayce looks up.
"I don't know what exactly you've been through, Jayce," Viktor starts gently. "But it is enough."
"I b-betrayed you. Multiple times over, V. And to fix it, I had to— to kill you." Jayce inhales and his lungs rattle with the effort it takes not to fall back into a sob.
He thinks Viktor's expression would be hard to read even if his vision wasn't swimming with tears. But still, Viktor puts a hand over Jayce's wrist, where the rune grafted itself into his skin, and gives a light squeeze.
"Did you do what you thought was right?" Viktor asks.
Jayce nods. "I don't regret the things I've done, the things that hurt you. Is that bad?"
Viktor sighs.
"Come here, Jayce."
Careful of the many cords attached to him, Viktor shifts to the side and pats the bed. It's a small space, but Jayce squeezes in and rests his head against Viktor's chest. The rhythm of Viktor's still-beating heart steadies Jayce, anchors him to this place and this moment. He can finally take a long, deep breath, just in time to appreciate the way Viktor's fingers run through his hair.
"I need you to promise me something. Even if this is a dream."
Viktor nods, his chin resting against Jayce's crown.
"Tell him — your Jayce — to help you. That he needs to be in the lab, with you. Tell him to trust you, and trust in your shared vision. He won't give up on trying to save you."
Jayce listens to Viktor's wheezing. His ear is right against his chest, rising and falling. Each breath is a reminder that Viktor still lives.
"What happens to me, Jayce?"
A heavy silence settles over them like a blanket.
"I don't know, not exactly. I tried to save you and you became… something else. The Hexcore saved you, but it also changed you."
Viktor worries his bottom lip.
"I will admit, it has been quite entrancing lately. I'm not entirely certain what it means."
"I still couldn't figure it all out, even with your notes. That's why I need you — both of you — to work together on this. There's a way to save you, all of you."
Viktor's chest rattles as he takes a deep breath. He turns his head away from Jayce to cough, and Jayce can't help but wince at the sound of it.
"When you see me next, know that there's a part of me that will never die. And that part… is my devotion to life, and to you," Viktor admits in almost a whisper. "I don't think I could tell this to my Jayce. But you have a chance to learn the depth of my love before it's too late."
Jayce looks up at Viktor, whose eyes are fluttering closed.
It truly was affection that held them together.
He knows it's too little, and too late, but Jayce presses the gentlest kiss to Viktor's chapped lips. Viktor weakly returns the gesture with a contented sigh.
"Will you do one last thing for me, Jayce?"
"Anything."
"Sleep in my arms tonight."
Jayce nods. It's easy to drift off to the sound of Viktor's heartbeat, and the feeling of his fingers running through Jayce's longer hair.
When Jayce wakes, he will be alone. And he will be on his way to confront Viktor once more. But, with a heart full of love, he believes that saving him is closer than ever.