Multifandom Oneshots

arcane ~ apology ~ jayce/viktor

The explosion at the Council building had been a blood bath.

Jayce and Viktor had been the only two to survive, having been farthest from the window. They'd miraculously been able to come out with minimal injury (which was good since Viktor would not have survived had it been severe). The rest of the Councilors were not so lucky, however. Mel in particular had been completely blown to bits, as she had been the closest to the explosion. It was a slap in the face to her mom that she couldn't even have an open-casket funeral. After all, this was the second child she'd lost in a very short amount of time. Even if she'd essentially disowned Mel years ago, she was still her daughter.

Jayce had been a wreck after everything, even though he wasn't physically harmed in any major way. Survivor's guilt had plagued him more than ever before. Caitlyn was a mess in her own right, and seeing such a close friend of his suffering was not a very good feeling. Beyond that, he was one of the people who was closest to Mel.

Now he and Viktor were standing at her funeral.

It was one of many funerals. Each Councilor had gotten one. An expensive one, for each of them. A small part of Viktor felt bitter over this. Sky hadn't gotten anything nearly as fancy. No, she'd gotten a few short words, and then had her ashes dumped into the water that surrounded the Academy. But, he still showed up for all of the Councilors' funerals. Partially for Jayce, partially to process his own grief. He'd never particularly liked any of them, but they were kind to him over the years. He owed them the decency of showing up to their mourning.

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"My daughter was a piece of work, I'll tell you that" was how Ambessa had opened her eulogy. Jayce had to fight himself to not go sock her in the face- He'd never really held any respect for the woman, not after how Mel explained her exile. But, this was her time to mourn, even if her way of going about it was to poke fun at her deceased daughter... Yikes.

"She'd always complicated my feelings and was always far too soft. That's why I sent her over here, with you soft ones" she continued. "I'd never had a particularly good or close relationship with her, even before I'd relocated her" she sighed. "But, she was still my daughter. I've already lost my son recently, but at least he died in battle. No, someone took my daughter from me without any warning. And I will never forgive them for that, whoever it is" She turned her head to Caitlyn, who had been made Sheriff after Marcus' passing a few days prior. "And I trust that your enforcers will see to it that they get caught"

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"Jayce, are you okay?" Viktor asked the Councilor as they walked back into the Academy together. "I've been better" Jayce responded with a small, forced smile. "Mel and I had been very close. I'd gotten close with all of the Councilors, honestly" he continued. "I can't believe they're gone. I almost wish that I had gone with them. Things would be much easier"

"No, they wouldn't" Viktor replied sharply, unable to mask his frustration towards the Councilor. He'd been keeping nice during all these grieving times for Jayce's sake. After all, for better or worse, Jayce was his partner. They'd created Hextech together, which had at least started as a positive thing. They'd both stopped each other from suicide, though they never really talked about either occurrence. They cared about each other above anyone else, or at least they used to.

But, when Jayce had become a Councilor, he had changed. Honestly, he'd changed before that, but him becoming a Councilor had truly highlighted how corrupted he'd become. He began to indulge in the very corruption that he judged the other Councilors for and had straight-up neglected Viktor for weeks at a time, which had not been easy on the scientist. Not only did Viktor just deserve more attention than Jayce had been paying him, but he'd also been unable to complete more basic tasks due to his disabilities- Tasks that Jayce had helped him with for years. Sky had assisted him for a bit, but she had passed.

"They wouldn't be easier" Viktor continued. "Not for me, at least. And maybe that selfish, but... Fuck" he sighed. Jayce stared at him, not daring to interrupt. "I deserve to be selfish at this point"

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you know how hard it has been for me, Jayce?" he asked, but continued before the Councilor could respond. "All this time with you as a Councilor, do you understand how difficult it has been for me? Even now- I get you're grieving. I do. But do you know how challenging it has been to be there for you this whole time like nothing is wrong!?" he was shouting at this point. Jayce was too stunned to speak, even if he had a proper response. "I have been working myself to death, working on the Hexcore. And, what have you been doing? Setting up a blockade on the bridge and then shouting at me for visiting a friend?"

Jayce felt a pang of guilt at that. Everything about the blockade had brought him guilt. He'd felt guilt over when he snapped at Viktor. He'd especially felt guilt when he saw all the dead enforcers bleeding out on the concrete. It had been a fundamentally bad idea that never should've happened, and he felt endless regret over its turnout. He couldn't even blame Viktor for snapping at him at that point. He probably would've done the same if the roles were reversed.

"I can't do things on my own, not like you can" the scientist continued. "And that wasn't a problem before because you would always help me when I needed it, but then you fucking..." he trailed off, taking a deep breath. He didn't like to curse, because he felt it was an immature way to express anger, so he always took a breath whenever he started dropping a lot of swears. "Then you left. You became a Councilor and you left me"

"You can't expect all of my time, Vik-"

"I don't" Viktor cut him off sharply. "I never expected all of your time. Never. Even before you became a Councilor, I never expected to have all of your time. I was perfectly content with what time we had, and I would never have expected more and wouldn't have minded a little less" he continued. "But, as much as I wish I didn't, I need help with things. Things that you don't need help with. And you were always there to help me with them, and you never seemed to mind. So when you left to become a Councilor, and you would only visit me once a week- Things got really hard"

...

"Are you gonna say something?"

"I'm sorry, Viktor"

The scientist scoffed at that. "Sorry?"

"Yes" Jayce insisted. "I'm sorry. I became... Corrupted and greedy and shitty, I know" he continued, placing a cautious hand on his partner's shoulder. Viktor flinched slightly, but he didn't move away. "I just... Wanted more, I guess. I thought that, as a Councilor, I would be able to fix all of the issues between Piltover and... Zaun. I was wrong. I see that now. I am not fit to govern them"

"That's not..."

"No, I know" Jayce assured. "I know I messed up with you too. I messed up so much, Viktor. And I am so sorry. I just..." he sighed. "I need time to process Mel's death and everyone's death, and I also need to be there for Caitlyn, but I- I'll try to do better by you, okay? You were always enough for me, and I am realizing that now. I'm sorry I neglected you"

"...I love you, Jayce" Viktor said quietly. "You know that, right?"

"Yeah" Jayce smiled. "I do. And I love you too"