Chapter Text
He hadn’t visited the next day, nor the day after.
Jinx returned instead, upholding her promise to start with the renovations, but didn’t make staying the night a habit, which Viktor was particularly glad for since he needed a moment of his day to spend in complete silence. She didn’t ask about Jayce either, clearly upset he had even entertained the idea of talking to him.
Him and Jayce hadn’t ended their conversation amicably enough to make their meetings a nightly habit once again, and the files he had stolen had proved to be useless, just as expected, making the hassle of retrieving them ungratifying in more ways than just one.
It was one of these days where Jinx and him were supposed to meet again when Viktor got an unexpected visitor instead, Viktor put away his mask as soon as he recognized his guest, comfortable in the presence of someone that wasn’t a stranger.
Renata had been let in without as much as a word uttered between either of them, methodical and efficient was what she’d look for after all, so it wasn’t unusual for Viktor to sign her to follow him with a well-aimed nod at her general direction, but this time, she raised a palm, and Viktor halted his steps before he could even inform her of his new designated laboratory room, now deep in his basement.
”I’m not here to retrieve the shimmer.” She said, standing between the living room and the hallway. “ if you’ve reached your quota for the month in advance…I’ll send someone over to get it for me” She said matter-of-factly. “Have you?”
“You have so little faith in me.” Viktor retorted with a scoff, crossing his arms. “I always meet quota in advance.”
Renata made a hum of a praise before walking around the house, inspecting the perimeter and the freshly dried walls of the living room and halls as if they were the most interesting thing in the world, as long as she didn’t have to look at him , Viktor supposed.
Viktor moved to Renata’s general direction to stare at the same empty frame she was looking at with silent consideration, and while Viktor wondered how odd Renata could at times be, he knew Renata had been wondering something else entirely.
“Why are you here, then?” He simply asked, successfully snapping Renata out of her own thoughts.
“I think someone might be attempting to murder me…” She said in a quiet voice, she didn't face him. “At the next meeting with the chembarons, precisely.” Renata informed him, her voice held a tinge of disgust as her mouth twisted in a mean upturned sneer.
”Wouldn’t be the first time.” Viktor said instead, raising one of his eyebrows in question before turning around. “Can I offer you something while you explain why you would back away from a murder attempt this time? You don’t need me to fight your enemies, nor am I the most qualified person for the job.” He had already walked to the kitchen even without an answer, Renata kept her distance as she followed him a while later. “Not to mention the idea that someone is bold enough to try is as much of an affront as a challenge to you...”
”Tea is fine.” She said, nodding to the jar he had been inspecting at that moment. “And you’re not that bad of a choice as a personal guard if you ever get bored of alchemy…” No, it wouldn’t be ideal. she would still need an alchemist to replace him. “Perhaps you could do both.”
”I’ll pass.” Viktor said, waving a hand in dismissal. “About that murder attempt…” He prompted again, putting a pot of water to boil on the stove. He refrained from using his laser so often, as of late.
Renata walked closer, but not close enough to bother him.
”Have you heard talks of me finally resigning from my ‘reign of terror’, as some like to say, Viktor?” She asked, Viktor nodded his head once, He supposed he had heard rumors, fleetingly . “ Well, that’s fake news of course, you won’t get rid of me that easily, but those rumors have spread after my apparent absence from most of the unorthodox work practices I am known to partake in…” She adjusted a magnet on the fridge’s door, before taking a few steps away from Viktor once more.
“My image has been kept pristine for the most part of a whole year now, all because some most important business in Piltover requests my attention.” She continued. “Silco found a few investors he’d like to introduce to me, it’s a hush sort of deal, nothing official… but I have been waiting for an opportunity like this since…” her breath hitched, and her finger that had moved to twist her hair at some point in the conversation stopped as she stilled in place. “Forever.” She said in an exhale, finally facing Viktor, her eyes intercepted his gaze and she waited for his full attention before she spoke again.
“You look decent.” She mumbled, looking at him fully for the first time ever since she entered Viktor’s lair. She resumed twisting her hair as soon as the semi-compliment left her mouth.
Viktor hummed as if not quite believing her. He took a good look at himself, noticing how he could barely see the point of his feet when he looked down. He would say he had seen better days.
”Well, decent enough to go in my stead.” She added soon enough.
“So I’ll get the end of a blade instead of you.” Viktor supplied, furrowing his eyebrows in a clear show of disapproval. “I’m disappointed you even asked.”
“And now I can’t even ask a dear friend for a favor…” she mumbled in that pitying tone she reserved for mocking, but didn’t give Viktor enough time to retort. “They want me, but they respect you, Viktor.” Renata said, moving the slightest bit closer, the sound of her short heels clicking on the pavement following her every step. “You know how it goes, they love a revolutionary but hate an economist. Nobody wants you dead, they’re just envious they haven’t got you by their side and I do.”
“Mostly.” Viktor hummed, fetching two mugs out of the cupboard. “You flatter me, truly. But I don’t feel comfortable taking this risk this time.” He decided, pouring boiling hot water into the ceramics cups.
“We can postpone the meeting to another day if you need to clear your schedule,” Renata offered. “but you’ll have to deliver the news of Glasc’s expansion yourself.” She stopped, moved her eyes away sheepishly. “with the price increase that it would bring, of course. If there’s more demand, then…” she let her words trail off.
“You’re asking for a bloodbath. Will my wage be increased if your plans are successful?” He asked, half as a joke, half genuinely interested in Renata’s answer. He gave her the mug, the tea bag still brewing inside, she took a tentative sip.
“I might give it a thought if you don’t argue any further.” It was a no , Viktor realized. He hadn’t been counting on it.
“I know you are particularly skittish around the subject,” Viktor started, taking a sip out of his own mug before starting to sugar his tea to taste. “But I am currently with child, so I have to keep certain life-threatening activities to a minimum, threats of murder attempts included.”
“You’re not a target, you’ll be safe.” She repeated. “I’ll give you backups and I can tell the others to put off the meeting for as long as you need,” She hadn’t taken a sip of her tea since the first, and when she set the mug back on the counter again still untouched, Viktor realized she was ready to leave soon enough. “How long until you’re back on business again?” She asked, softly but firm.
Viktor took a second to reply. “The end of June. Maybe July.” He informed her, watching her reaction with a hint of amusement.
“ No .” Renata only said, she lidded her eyes in annoyance, clearly not believing he’d ever need that amount of time. “I’d have any other insubordinate fired for even suggesting that long of a time. That’s 3 months from now.”
From dear friend to insubordinate pawn again.
“That’s my approximated due date.” He explained. “And that’s technically how long I’ll need to get back to business as usual by your standards. Standards that require me to be much more than the alchemist I was first listed as…” He pointed out, he truly considered the idea of a voluntary break for the first time in years.
“Well it’s certainly further away than what I thought.” Renata scoffed, crossing her arms and looking at him up and down. “I’d have given you… a couple of weeks at most, maybe three, before you’d cut your little monster out.”
“Funny .” Viktor commented, his mug nodding her way as one of his fingers wrapped around its handle pointed at her. “Then it’s a no.”
“I apologize for letting you think you had a choice before, Viktor. But in my defense, you were gullible enough to believe it.” Renata said, heaving a sigh. “Your inestimable competency and reliability will be the death of you, I suppose. You’re the only one I trust with this fast and you don’t have a choice.” She informed him. “Meeting is this friday, I’ll give you a chart to present and you’ll just have to explain it to those brainless idiots as easily as possible.” She pointed a finger at him, and repeated: “ easy . Read off the script I’ll send you if Smeech starts to give you shit about how fancy you talk.”
“I’d rather fucking die than give a presentation to those degenerates again .” Viktor seethed, his nose scrunching up in disgust. “They have no fucking idea what a pie chart is, they’d ask for a slice if I ever presented one.”
“If you kill yourself out of exasperation then I’d just have to find someone to put you back together.” She said, dead serious. “Don't give me any more paperwork, Viktor.” She groaned, then grabbed at her temples as if pained. “It’s bad enough I lost one of my most productive employees to… pregnancy .”
“My work has been of the same consistency.” Viktor replied to Renata’s dramatics, shaking his head. “You’re exaggerating, the only thing that’ll change come summer is that I’ll have a small child strapped to my chest while I work.”
“Oh dear god,” She exclaimed, placing a hand on her chest mockingly. “So you’re really keeping it?”
“Of course, why would I carry a pregnancy to term otherwise?” Viktor huffed before smiling, amused. “You’ll be aunt Renata soon enough, unless you want to be called grandma.”
“And that is my cue to leave.” Renata held a palm as if to stop Viktor right there, preventing the conversation from derailing any further into uncharted territories she’d rather never hear of, which for her meant childbirth and progeny, apparently.
Soon enough she was stepping ahead of Viktor and into the entrance hall, he followed with his mug still in hand, in case she’d have any further instructions to give. “I’ll send you a couple of my personal bodyguards to escort you when it’s time.” She said at last, before a knock came from the same door her hand had taken hold of the handle of.
“Well, you seem to have a visitor.” Renata commented before pulling the door open, she looked at the new guest up and down, noticing the gallons of paint Jinx had brought with her. She held one by the handle with her left hand, while the others were in a bag temporarily discarded on the porch instead; she wore white overalls over an old stretched blue T-shirt, which Renata thought was particularly unusual, but didn’t dwell on it. “I was just about to leave. He’s all yours, Jinx.” Renata told her and walked past her.
Jinx watched her leave silently and turned around to face Viktor with wide eyes just moments later. “Huh…” she only said, before stepping inside. Viktor took the paint she left behind by his augmented arm and followed her.
“Before you say anything, I must remind you that Renata is my boss, and she came here to give me a professional related task.” He said, clearing out the misunderstanding before word would spread that he had a secret romantic relationship with Renata. He was years too late for that.
“Oh for sure ,” Jinx mocked, scoffing. “my boss comes to my house while I’m in my pajamas aaaaaall the time.”
“Your boss is your father and you still live with him. I bet he does, actually.” Viktor pointed out, rolling his eyes. “And anything I own is either too formal or too small. I’ll stick to wearing loose clothing for as long as I need in the comfort of my own home. Nobody but you has ever complained about it before.”
“I think she winked at me when she left…” Jinx said, taking one of her braids in her hands and making a show of rotating the end of it in the air. “Maybe she was trying to tell me something.” She giggled.
“She didn’t. And if she did, she’s fucking with you.” Viktor sighed, following her to the room he had chosen to be a nursery. “You’re not her type.” He commented.
She stopped at the door, barricading his access by holding her arms on both sides of it. “I’m not going to ask how you know that, ‘cause honestly, it’s getting a bit repetitive . I’d ask you if you two are fucking, you’d say no… then I’m back asking again, it’s annoying!” she conceded. “Why don’t we get to work instead, hm?”
“That’s what I’m trying to do. Move.” He ordered, and raised an eyebrow in question when she refused.
“Actually, I was thinking I could take care of the painting of this room alone and then show you as a little surprise, what do you think?” She asked. “You’d still be working on the furniture yourself, but we could split up the work. you as the engineer and me as the artist.” Jinx didn’t point out how she was as much of an engineer as Viktor, trying to appeal to his ego in hope for a positive reaction.
Viktor hummed, looking seconds away from refusing, but then he placed the bag full of tins of paint by her shoes, taking a step back. Jinx smiled as he finally gave her full creative reign over the nursery. “If you insist…” He said as confirmation, his hand joining his other one on the side of his now lukewarm mug of tea. “I’ll be in the basement if you need me.”
Turns out, Viktor had overestimated how much Jinx would actually need him.
She hadn’t called upon him once, obstructing his view of the nursery whenever he went to check on her instead, even going as far as locking the door whenever he’d ask her to come out. She had been working on the room by herself for around three days when she walked out of it and climbed down the stairs to search for him out of her own volition. Viktor had been, expectedly, in his designated laboratory station when cold hands wrapped around his shoulders, making him jolt before he turned around.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that, Jinx.” He chastised, fully expecting it to be someone else despite his better judgment. “What do you want ?”
And as calmly as she could, Jinx said: “I set the house on fire, we have to get out of here, quickly.”
“What ?!”
“I’m just kidding, I’m done painting!” She said, laughing at Viktor’s unamused expression that followed. Jinx moved to stand in front of him instead, sitting on his workbench as she waited for him to finish with his ‘independent studying’ , as he liked to say, noticing how some of the papers she saw under his palm had been there for quite some days. The tiny organized notes filling every available blank space in sight had become a scribbled mess of blacked out words as Viktor went over them again and again. It was a pitiful sight.
“I’m sure you did a great job.” He said before she could say a word herself, tidying up his desk, starting by piling up the sheets of paper Jinx was eyeing with suspicion. “Thank you.”
“Why are you thanking me?” She asked, picking up a discarded leather notebook from the pile of folders set by a corner of the table. “You haven’t even seen the room yet!” She pointed out, opening the notebook by a random page.
“You have yet to disappoint me, I don’t see why you’d do so now.” Viktor replied before standing up, he walked by the side of the door leading upstairs, waiting for Jinx to follow.
“It’s not… as nice as you think it is to say that.” She said, tilting her head to the page in front of her. “And if I knew you were such an artist I wouldn’t have offered, when did you draw this?” She hopped off the table soon after, walking towards him.
“What are you talking about?” Viktor asked, before Jinx showed him the notebook, holding it with both of her arms outstretched as if presenting it, and pointing at one of the pages with one of her fingers. “Oh, that’s not…” he began, sighing and reaching for it with both of his hands. “It’s not mine.” He said as he grabbed the binded notebook. “I haven’t drawn anything of the sort in ages, only blueprints…”
Jinx hummed. “Really? But that’s your arm… very detailed too.”
“It seems to be a drawing of the inner workings of my arm, correct.” Viktor mused. “Someone was trying to figure out how it worked.”
“Isn’t that a problem?” Jinx asked, following Viktor upstairs and prompting for an answer when one wasn’t immediately given. “You’ve got a copycat on your hands, doesn’t that mean you’re going to lose business?” She asked.
“I doubt that would be the case.” Viktor said cryptically, walking on without further explanation given.
She walked in front of him before he could go too far, setting a hand on her hip and raising her eyebrow in suspicion. “What does that mean?” She asked.
“It just means I have an admirer, not a competitor.” He finally explained.
“An admirer ?” Jinx repeated with an unimpressed look on her face. “What was your job Topside again? ‘cause I don’t think scientists get as much attention as you do.”
Viktor scoffed, setting the notebook aside. “Why don’t you show me the nursery?”
“I guess…” Jinx mumbled, yet to be completely persuaded to move on from the odd interaction they just had. It was a good enough answer to be believable, she supposed. “Oh, I must warn you, the paint isn't dry yet, don't touch anything!”
Viktor hummed as a response, and followed Jinx into the nursery.
The room’s walls were painted with various shades of blue, going from the palest of hues to a deep navy that covered the entirety of the ceiling, and there, hand-drawn stars, each a little different from the next, were placed. Jinx pointed to each of her painted masterpieces one by one, describing how she had made each of them; the cerulean blue strikes of colors that were supposed to represent trees and leaves in the distance, the little white drawings near the floor that represented wood critters, and then, she pointed to the big star at the center of the ceiling, the one she had tried to blend with the new square illumination system they had installed.
“I wanted to draw a moon but it would’ve looked odd …” She said to that particular artistic choice. “You don’t know how hard it is to paint a ceiling, how do people do that?!” She complained with a little laugh before she crossed her arms. Viktor admired her work without as much of a word uttered, walking along the perimeter of the room and scrutinizing each detail once more, and Jinx tried to fill the silence while awaiting for the final verdict, the old anxious habit of oversharing her thoughts whenever she felt uncomfortable resurfacing. “I made butterflies to hang in here, they’re back at my place but they’re made of iron and glass… and sharp … and they flutter if you touch them, so…” She huffed. “They might be a little dangerous for a newborn.” She said, shrugging her shoulders. “I guess I’ll just have to run them by you first…” she muttered in a small voice, going quiet when Viktor faced her once again.
“You did an amazing job, Jinx.” Viktor only commented, his expression softening as he set his eyes on his sister again. “Naph is really lucky to have a talented aunt like you to care for him.”
“ Naph ?” She repeated before her eyes widened in realization. “Is that what you’re going to call him?”
”Yes.” Viktor answered. “I had the name figured out for a while now, but you’re the first to know. I think that’s only fair after everything you’ve done.”
”If you had it figured out already why didn’t you just announce it? I might’ve written his name on the walls if I had known…” She mused, looking around for a spot on the walls where she could still do it.
“I had a couple of names that I preferred in mind when I first realized I was pregnant, but I decided on one of them further along.” Viktor explained. “If this pregnancy had gone through unfortunate complications and ended up not being viable I’d have used the name for my next big project without anyone suspecting that I was mourning. If there’s still a chance of that happening then you’re the only one to know.” He shrugged.
” Stop saying that. I always regret asking you shit about your ugly kid for that reason! You’ve got a weird sense of humor, Viktor!” Jinx chastised. “Why the hell wouldn’t it be viable or whatever?! As a matter of fact-!” She exclaimed, pointing a finger at him. “Your baby is going to have to pay rent if he doesn’t get out soon enough! You’re over-baking him in there!”
“He’s still small, Jinx.” He said with a laugh. “You just haven’t seen enough pregnant people to know what’s average and what isn’t.”
“Eh, you know… parenthood isn’t trendy anymore… must be the war undertones in the air.” She said, waving a hand in the air before crossing her arms.
“Good point.” Viktor conceded with a nod. “We’ll begin moving the furniture next week.” He informed her, moving on with a different conversation. “Don’t bother coming tomorrow, take a break. I’ll be busy in an important meeting.”
“What kind of meeting?” Jinx asked, curious.
“The boring kind,” Viktor explained shortly. “You can’t come.”
“Hm.” Jinx huffed, scrunching her nose. “I didn’t want to go, but now I suddenly changed my mind…”
“Seriously, you won’t like it…” he insisted. “Renata is away for work-related business, and she has given me the task of reading economic growth data of Glasc’s industries off a presentation in her stead. If you want to follow me, suit yourself.”
“Eh…” she hesitated, flicking her eyes anywhere else in the room and searching for something that would distract Viktor from realizing that; yes , he was right, she would hate that. “What about the other name for the kid?”
“What about it?” Viktor asked, dropping the subject easily despite the smug smile he acquired.
“What was it?” She asked, shrugging her shoulders. “You said you had a couple names figured out. So? What was the other one?”
“I’ll keep it to myself.” He said, moving out of the room, Jinx following. “In case I have another child further along the way.”
Jinx crossed her arms, and Viktor closed the nursery door behind her. “You must be joking.” She said, calm and collected despite the dirty look she had given him.
Viktor didn’t reply.
It was no surprise when protests erupted from each of the five members gathered around the table at the very first mention of an overcharge for shimmer as much as Glasc’s industries branded weaponry and products, but Viktor’s eye twitched behind his mask all the same when silence was replaced with unorganized verbal violence, mostly directly at him but not exclusively.
“I knew something was wrong the moment you walked in without that hag by your side! Well, tell her that if I send you back to her with a lot less limbs then she’s next !” Smeech seethed, his threats, Viktor was sure, were devoid of any true bite even in his apparent aggression. He stabbed his pocket knife into the wooden table in front of him soon after, pointing his finger at him instead. “I’m not squeamish .” He said to him, and Viktor raised his chin. “I’ll carve her kid out of you and serve it on a platter, I’ll show her who’s got the upperhand!”
Viktor didn’t know if Smeech had gotten the wrong idea on the account of his own limited intellectual capabilities or if it was the general consensus that Renata and him were having an affair, but he much preferred the answer that included the yordle possibly not understanding romantic interaction, or the intricacies of human reproduction.
He wasn’t going to be the one to correct him.
“You simply enjoy making void promises.” Finn, on the other side of the table, yelled instead, he raised one of his hands as if to highlight his point, while the other swirled a glass of wine. It wasn’t missed to any of the participants that he had tried to act much like Silco, even sitting at the chair that directly faced his empty one. “Let me deal with her. After a unanimous vote of course, it seems only fair .”
Viktor thought he was enacting an awful attempt at democracy, and if Silco’s right hand had been there to fill the spot he had temporarily left, he wouldn’t have been so bold to sway the other Chem-Barons on his side in fear of a reprimand. Or a beating.
Viktor didn’t care enough to get involved in petty internal conflicts within Zaun’s council, the same one that mirrored Piltover’s nonetheless. He only scrunched his nose at the idea that he had had to deal with childish men and women known to be influential figures of power within their districts on more than one occasion in two different situations despite never having had the patience to.
“It’s about time someone does…” Margot agreed next to him, crossing her arms and shaking her head. Her voice successfully tugged Viktor out of his own train of thought. “I mean, who does she think she is? She even sent her fuck-toy to deliver the news ‘cause she was too scared to face us, but we have to roll on our ass and show our belly just for a drop of shimmer, she walks us around like dogs…” She said, heaving a breathy, dreamy, sigh.
“She can set any price she wants on her product, a product she had earned the patent of after a legit process of negotiation, nonetheless.” Viktor spoke up. “Everything has been run by Silco beforehand, tariffs are already in effect and will apply on anyone’s next purchase. There won’t be an ‘ unanimous vote’ to deal with the issue either. It’s awfully counterproductive.” Viktor explained, beginning to set his out-of-place presentation aside.
The neat thick paper of his graphs was pierced by not only one knife, but two as soon as he had turned his back. He turned around once more, discarding the presentation altogether and walking at Silco’s vacant seat instead. Despite the aforementioned threat, his voice was calm as he kept talking. “Besides, more demand means-“
“You already said that, dickhead !” Smeech screeched from his seat, his metallic claws scratching the table as he grabbed it.
“Glasc’s industry has increased the price of shimmer because of demand further up , correct?” Renni asked as he sat down, reiterating what he had already explained. “Then double the price of shimmer sold up-top and exempt us from any overcharge and we have a solid compromise .” She said, her hands found herself at the side of the table as she tilted her head just the right angle to look unnecessarily haughty and petulant. “You call yourself an alchemist but you haven’t got the brains to reach that conclusion? Seems like this new generation of progress can hardly be worth the investment…”
“You must realize that would only hinder Glasc’s industries expansion…” Viktor explained again from his seat, trying to avoid sounding condescending as to quell the thick tense air at least by a tad. “Renata is as much of an opportunist as any of you here present. She has made her personal considerations and has found that the best course of events includes larger tariffs to provide a better service globally.”
“What about you , tin can?” Margot yelled from her chair, addressing him personally. “Are you ok getting charged more to get shimmer for your independent projects? What happens if you can’t afford Shimmer, then?”
“He makes it, you dumb bitch.” Smeech talked in his stead, despite never being correct. “He’s getting half of the earnings for all we know!”
“I’m only here to represent Renata in her absence. I don’t have an opinion on this matter.” He politely replied to Margot’s answer while ignoring Smeech altogether, he drummed his fingers on the table.
“What if I cut your good arm off, hm ?” Smeech threatened again, a disgusting smile plastered on his face. “That’ll tell Renata how much we liked her presentation.”
“Oh, I agree with the rat for once. Let’s send him back to his master, leaking oil.” Margot agreed enthusiastically, clapping her hands together.
“My ‘good arm ’ is the one I cut off myself .” Viktor corrected, raising his augmented arm from under the cloak he wore. “But by all means, I’ll allow you to try all the same, if you so please. I’ll tell Renata’s bodyguards to leave us alone for as long as it takes me to pluck your fur hair by hair and throw you in an oven. I’ve always wondered what yordles tasted like.”
Neither of the two offenders went beyond their frivolous threats, and the room fell into a predictable silence.
“We’ll have to talk about the issue in private… without any external… interference .” Finn said when the others failed to answer, still debating if a match was truly worth it. “He told us repeatedly he didn’t have any say in the matter, after all… It’d be idiotic to threaten the messenger.”
“Oh, he’s an odd one, He'd definitely get off to it…” Smeech finally relented. “And where’s the fun in that? I mean, for me .”
“Well, I don’t want to get on the bad side of someone who can just give me an arm if I ever lost one…” Margot backtracked at last. The room became even more silent as the first bout of aggressivity dissipated.
“This is preposterous…” Chross said after a moment of complete stasis, speaking for the first time in the whole meeting after only communicating through mumbled nonsense. “I’ll talk to Silco myself if I have to but until he fills his vacancy again, I’ll act as if this meeting never happened!”
“And about THAT !” Smeech protested, jumping up the table and beginning the second round of intensive arguing once again, this time completely directed at Silco’s apparent abdication from his formal duties.
It was tiring, Viktor realized as he sunk deeper into his seat. His part of the job had been done, and he had spoken less and less as newer issues were raised and Renata’s offense was forgotten.
It had been late, later than he had expected when the meeting had ended, his brain was thumping against his cranium as he realized he had found he could experience migraines again just like old times after years of blissful ignorance.
Renata’s absence had felt like a mere annoyance in the grand scheme of things, and while he had analyzed hushed conversation as the meeting had come to a conclusion, none of the conversations had included her.
Before he could leave, Renni stopped him; she had a cigarette in one of her hands as the other poked his shoulder, urging him to turn around.
They had never interacted that much before, and Viktor didn’t have any idea why they would now . So he only stared at her as an acknowledgment, hoping she had mistook him for someone else.
“Is it your first?” She asked, moving her cigarette in a circle in the general direction of his abdomen, this one completely covered by a long coat, and letting ash fall on the red carpet of the entrance hall. She moved to his right, while his guards politely excused themselves from the conversation as he dismissed them without as much as a word.
“Yes.” He replied once in her presence alone.
“I have a son.” She said.
“I have heard.” He replied.
Renni scoffed. “You don’t talk much, do you?” She looked far in the distance, out of the gap the half-open door that the entrance made. The night was quiet, the streets were characteristically dark even with the bright-green street lights around every corner. She was waiting for her ride home, Viktor realized.
“It’s hard,” she said after a moment of silence, startling Viktor. “Bringing a child into this world, I mean. It seems like the most noble act someone can do and then, now that I have a kid I can see why it’s anything but.” She threw her cigarette on the ground, stomping on it. “You're a godsdamned selfish brat.”
“... Excuse you ?”
“Oh, someone had to tell you eventually.” She said, facing him again, her arms now crossed against her chest. Viktor raised an eyebrow at her. “You’d think someone as ‘ smart’ as you would know, yet here you are, completely clueless… Any kid born down here doesn’t have good odds to lead a life worth living, and with the state of things now, with Silco as councilor…” She let her words trail off. “I’ve never thought I’d see the day I'd ever admit it, but I wish Silco hadn’t accepted the peace treaty after all, it’s...”
“It’s defeat.” Viktor supplied, taking the words out of Renni’s mouth. “The independence of Zaun cannot be achieved if it’s a mere clause under a title; if his vote, representing an entire city’s, is valued as much as anyone else’s. ”
“He’ll bite more than he can chew, eventually…” Renni muttered, Viktor tilted his head slightly, disapproving of her choice of words, and she didn’t mention Silco again. “If you care about the future of your kid, I'd reconsider making your mistress’ weapons available for just about anyone .”
Viktor remained silent, and Renni’s ride came soon after. She sat in her seat, but she had one last thing to tell Viktor before she’d leave.
“But it doesn’t matter.” She said, possibly interpreting Viktor’s silence as indifference. “I doubt you’ve got anything human left of you, it’s like talking to a brick wall.”
Renni was not a warm-hearted woman, and had never earned the title. A manipulative hag fit her description better, and the few conversations Viktor had the ‘honor’ to share with her, including this last one, further consolidated that belief.
She cared little about children born in Zaun, children that she hadn’t mothered herself at the very least, as she had been one of the first to experiment with the lives of orphans as if they were livestock, her only good invention was at the expense of many deaths due to error and trials.
But her hatred and ardent desire for revenge was just as fervent as any of the older members of the chem-barons council, the ones that could relate to a life of hardships, and she had a point, even if her plan had been trying to appeal to his more compassionate side in order to lower prices to keep her Shimmer needs satisfied. It was a low blow, even if ineffective.
He was glad when his bodyguards finally came to fetch him, asking if he was ready to leave and snapping him away from thoughts he had no business doubting about after so long of a time.
And with the potential threat of a murder attempt back at the meeting with the chembarons over, his guard had been lowered and at that moment it had yet to dawn on him that it was all too odd that he was being led in hallways after hallway but going in circles.
When one of the two men he had been given as a guard swiftly pushed him into a near wall holding his hands behind his back, he admitted he hadn’t seen it coming.
“He’s not Renata Glasc.” The one that didn’t currently hold Viktor in place said before Viktor could process what was happening, evidently reiterating what the two had already been mumbling about while Viktor was too distracted to eavesdrop.
“He’s still got a hefty bounty on his head, more than hers.” The other man replied, Viktor squirmed under his hold trying to get a better look at the man’s face that he had completely ignored up until that point, but this one only pushed his head still. Viktor didn’t try again. “And he’s defenseless.” The man added, mistaking his actions for compliance.
“I thought The Machine Herald was taller…”
“Apparently not. Help me tie him.”
He had expected insurrection to rise from any of the members of their council, so much so that he hadn’t thought Renata’s own guild might be trying to sabotage her empire.
“He’s not completely defenseless.” The other corrected at last, and Viktor heard the unmistakable sound of chains clanking at the same time as he saw the end of a screwdriver with the back of his eye. “Got a metal arm, like her. I can work with that, if you keep him still. It’s going to be worth something, and he won’t need it where he’s going…”
Renata’s guards had good enough knowledge of her to know she’d have fought back, Viktor supposed. If the plan had always been to sell her arm as scraps and send her to Stillwater, then Viktor assumed they had prepared for a similar situation for him and had all the means to do so. That is, unless they were just two incredibly bold idiots.
Viktor analyzed the situation quietly, he let himself be manhandled with commendable pliancy as well, but stilled all the same when the first man of the two, the broadest one Viktor noticed, dragged his head by his hair, reminding him of his ‘delicate’ condition with a question that hadn’t truly been directed at him.
“Do you really think he’s pregnant?” He asked, before turning him around with enough gentleness that he’d never thought he was actually being kidnapped, he still held both of his hands still.
“He looks like he is.” The other, the shorter out of the two, replied. Viktor took his time to remember each of the two men’s faces to heart in case there’d be any particular feature left on them he’d have to report to Renata. “It’s nothing personal, really.” he said at last, and Viktor tilted his head to watch him scrape the end of his screwdriver on the steel of his arm, after roughly shoving his cloak away.
He’d have to convince Renata he had earned that promotion.
He headbutted his head to the broadest of the two, his metal plate of a mask clanking loudly against the man’s nose, before he used his augmented arm to elbow the man unsuccessfully trying to dismantle him.
The thinner man grabbed at his inconveniently long cloak from behind him before he fell backwards, making Viktor stumble forward, the other had taken the half second that it took to try to regain his balance to grab him from behind and push him on the ground. He fell on his back and his head hit the ground with a loud thud.
The man that held no particular feature on him except his broad shoulders and covered nose and mouth, pushed him on his side with a kick aimed to his back, before leaning forward and straddling him in an odd position. He took off his mask, throwing it away from his field of vision, Viktor tilted his head just enough to see the other man approach with a metal pipe in hand, this one making a loud metallic sound as it scraped on the floor as it was dragged.
He squirmed under the hold trying to free himself only to be grabbed by his throat instead, the smaller of the two instructing the other to keep him still again with urgency in his voice, while the other assured him all would be fine if he just fell asleep for the whole trip to Stillwater.
He grabbed at the hands tightening against his throat with no avail but finally freed himself by turning his body around just enough to kick his assaulter in the stomach, and throw him thumbling against the nearest brick wall.
He was painfully aware that he had been outpowered and underperforming in a completely short-range attack, but without the proper fighting equipment he only had his augmentations and enhanced healing factor to rely on.
And he was thankful for the latter when the metal pipe he had only previously seen swung at the side of his head, his head tilting with the impact even as he tried to keep himself steady.
Anyone else might’ve dropped dead, yet Viktor spit up two of his teeth on the ground before he grabbed at the offending hand with his augmented one, just a sluggish second after he regained control of his poise. He tightened his grip around the wrist in his hand with ease, while the weaker of his arms shot to grab at the man’s nape, keeping him in place. He exhaled a deep breath before his core burnt hot enough to be of use, his eyes shot a red-ish thin beam of light right into the other man’s eyes, the man shrieking a blood curdling sound out of his throat before being dropped off to the ground.
Viktor fell on his knees just an instant later when the previously discarded screwdriver was stabbed on the back of his non-augmented leg by the last remaining man standing. The attacker realized quickly enough that as long as The Herald had the aid of his more robotic side of his body, he wouldn’t stand a chance against him, so he pushed him once again into the ground, using his size to his advantage. His foot kept Viktor’s head in place right on the cold stone surface while he pulled at his hand with all the might a desperate man might’ve had, Viktor groaned and gritted his teeth, his knees trying to find enough leverage to get out of his less than ideal position with no avail. His arm didn’t budge yet Viktor felt his shoulder dislocate from the force that was applied, successfully rendering it inoperable.
Despite the damage and injuries sustained, his attacker took the failure of being unable to detach his arm as a sign he wouldn’t have survived the fight, and fled the scene before Viktor could regain his strength.
Viktor got on his elbows soon after, watching his attacker run away and pondering his next move, his eyes lit up again as he took aim, but he closed them shut when a wave of nausea overtook him, exhaustion following it soon after.
Although he prided himself in his immense show of calm and pondered collectedness, his breath picked up in pace as he set a hand on his bump, slowly caressing it as if to tell the child within him that the worse had passed, that same hand shot to his aching shoulder immediately after, and then, to his leg.
He pulled the screwdriver out of the back of his leg before adjusting to a sitting position and analyzing his overall state, wondering if he’d be able to limp back home or if his best course of action would involve waiting for that healing factor to kick in on itself.
he had not been able to look himself in the face at the time, but he knew his blood had been running from his nose, and he supposed that his bruises had advanced despite not enough time having passed, beginning their process of discoloration as they always did when he got hurt, he might’ve also been aware that this time it would take longer for him to heal.
Viktor took one last shaky breath as he stood up on his own two feet, walking over the dead body of the man he had been able to subdue, before limping past him and searching for a way home.
It had taken time to get back to his lair, and his sense of urgency to check his overall health and his child’s only intensified as he finally reached his door, unlocking it sluggardly and loudly despite the silence of the night.
Upon entering he had immediately noticed a few things in disarray, his whole self high on adrenaline and alertness; a can of spray paint had rolled to the ground and against the leg of a tilted chair where Viktor had found it, and he wasted no time calling for the possible intruder.
“ Jinx !” Viktor called, and hearing a rattling noise coming from deep within his lab he had supposed she was listening. “Get here, now. ” He ordered. “You have to…” he took a shaky breath, collecting his thoughts as well as taking off his cloak, hissing when his hand bumped against bruises that had only recently started to hurt. “You have to-“ he repeated “-get to Renata. She’s staying in the south of Piltover, the hotel located near wharfside’s docks’, you can’t miss it.” He instructed, throwing his cloak on the ground before unlatching his many decorative belts he had over the stretchy dark fabric of the plain looking clothes he wore, he walked to the stairs leading to his lab, holding the handrail as he awaited for Jinx.
“Tell her her guild might have a rat, several.“ he added. “and dear Janna bring me some damn shimmer in case I-“ the silhouette that emerged from the end of the stairs wasn’t Jinx’s and Viktor stilled in place, almost immediately considering fighting his way out of the situation in a near-automatic response. He thought against it when his hand still wouldn't respond to him, and walked away from the stairs aware that Jayce would follow.
“It’s not the time .” He scolded as he heard footsteps get closer, he didn’t turn around, set into finding any kind of self-medication instruments at his disposal into one of the many drawers he and Jinx had recently rearranged. “Leave at once Defender, I won’t ask again.” He seethed when his search was fruitless.
He was reaching for the cupboard closest to the fridge when he was abruptly turned around with more force than his current state could bear, his head reeling with the pain that shot from his lower back all through his side. He whimpered and lolled his head back, this one hitting the cupboard behind him.
“Viktor…” Jayce breathed, his eyes analyzed him briefly, unfocused, before he snapped out of it, understanding the urgency of the situation. “What the hell happened?!” He demanded to know, taking a step back.
“You need medical attention, immediately . Can you walk to the bed, lay down?” He asked softly, and Viktor nodded his head in affirmative before turning to his side and setting his elbow down against the surface of his kitchen counter. He took a few steps forward to the wrong direction that Jayce had otherwise instructed him to take, and bent his head over into the sink to throw up instead.
He felt Jayce’s hand rub soothing circles on his back before the movement stilled, the sight of blood being the cause of his temporary stasis. Viktor looked down at the pitiful sight for just the slightest of instants before letting the faucet run.
“Teeth.” He said.
“What?”
“I lost two teeth. It’s not internal bleeding, I-“ he said, before his hand shot to cover his face, finally realizing the lack of his mask. He moved a few steps ahead of Jayce but didn’t have the necessary strength to stop him from following him. He walked to his room just as Jayce had previously instructed.
Jayce didn’t mention his face, taking the reluctant compliance as a sign Viktor was accepting to be helped. Viktor sat at his bed facing away from him, and he took a deep breath.
“I need you to force my joint back into place.” Viktor said a split second later. “Go take a hex key from the lab, size 8, and take off my arm, I can’t have it weighing down my shoulder.”
Jayce followed orders swiftly, undoubtedly messing up his workstation in search for the right tool. When he came back, he set himself in front of him and worked efficiently, as if he had done this countless times before despite never having had the chance to.
Viktor knew the reason of course, had seen the notes he had written about him in the notebook he had stolen, admiring how incredibly accurate each of Jayce’s own private musings were.
Jayce, even in his careful thinkering, seemed to admire him instead. His eyes flickering from the task to his in rhythmic intervals.
Viktor set his head on Jayce’s shoulder just to have a reason to pretend he hadn't seen disappointment in the gaze reflected back at him, he hid his face for a while longer and exhaled a shaky breath.
“It’s going to be alright, Viktor.” Jayce consoled, setting a hand on the back of his nape after he had successfully dismantled his steel arm off. He stayed clear of the metal attachment at the end of his over-the-elbow amputated arm, the one device that had been useful when mixing and matching new prototypes whenever he felt like he’d need a change, or a replacement.
“This is going to hurt.” Jayce warned softly, and Viktor nodded his head where it was still half-hidden. Jayce pushed the joint back in, Viktor groaned in pain before reaching for his aching shoulder in an automatic response.
“It’s okay, it’s over… it’s alright…” Jayce comforted again, and Viktor gave a grunt of a response before pushing himself away from their less than than favorable position.
He’d need to keep the injury immobilized for as much time as he’d need.
“What happened?” Jayce asked again, unable to keep his eyes off of the bruises visible on his face even as Viktor try to shield him from seeing. “Who did this to you?”
“They’re dealt with, that’s all you need to know.” Viktor replied coldly, hoping his statement would at least partially quell Jayce’s worries. “Help me take this off.” Viktor demanded right afterwards, tugging at the hem of his shirt. “I need to assess the damage.”
Jayce complied, slowly and carefully taking off Viktor’s shirt. His mouth parted in a quick exhale when he saw the red bruises covering the entire side of Viktor’s flank, some of them extending over one side of his bump while most of them, he realized, were located on his back. Viktor touched the taunt skin with concerned consideration, before his mouth twitched in an irritated tic that Jayce was all too familiar with.
“Why aren’t you healing?” Jayce asked after a moment of shared silence, and Viktor closed his eyes shut in response, inhaling a deep breath. “Why isn’t your body healing on itself?”
“Does it matter ?” Viktor snapped.
“Yes. Yes it does!” Jayce replied, matter of factly. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“It doesn’t concern you.” Viktor stood up back again, stumbling over his injured leg before regaining his balance, sustaining most of his weight on the other. His pace carried urgency even in his less than ideal state, Jayce followed him as he climbed the stairs leading to his laboratory, and Viktor didn’t acknowledge his pleas, aware that no amount of apologies would stop him from his newly acquired objective.
Viktor took little notice of the state Jayce had left his lab in, only reaching for the secret compartment inside a seemingly normal drawer and taking a lone hex crystal in his hand as soon as he set foot near his workbench’s environs.
“I can’t do it alone…” Viktor muttered, unaware of the frown Jayce acquired after his odd, ominous words.
Seeing as it was most urgent that he’d have to replenish his arcane resources, he turned around once again, and finally addressed Jayce. “You have to cut my chest open, I can’t do it alone.”
“What ?”
“My stitches.” The ones that had never fully healed, he tapped at his chest once more with his knuckles, the crystal in his hand reacting at the contact by glowing the slightest bit brighter before it was pulled away. “Cut them.” He ordered.
“You want to..?” Jayce asked, finally grasping at his intentions. “Is this- are you-“
“Do you think we have time to discuss this?! Cut them .” He ordered again.
Jayce obediently took the nearest sharpest object in hand and cut over the stitches with near surgical precision, Viktor willed the paper-cutter away from Jayce’s hand as soon as he had done what was asked of him, the tool falling on the ground between them with a low clank of a sound.
He handed the gem to Jayce, and didn’t give him time to oppose him as he pushed his hand inside the open wound. The incision widened with the intrusion, but didn’t bleed, the gem inside glowed a bright blue as Viktor stumbled over in pain. Jayce took a hold of him with his only other available hand, preventing Viktor from falling to his knees, but didn’t pull his hand away.
The Hexcore within him accepted his offer adamantly, and when Viktor exhaled, his breath carried a blue-looking hue before it dissipated in thin air. Jayce retreated his hand as soon as the gem was drawn in, blood that had never split coating his fingers for just an instant before each drop was returned back to its owner, and before the scar over Viktor’s heart gained new stitches out of the ones that were just cut.
Jayce stood completely still for an awkward amount of time, amazed by what had just happened with childlike wonder etched in his eyes. He didn’t let go of him even as Viktor tried to free himself from his hold, completely and utterly mesmerized.
“Jayce.” He called, no longer as panicked as he previously was. “You can let go of me. It’s over.” He reassured, tugging himself away once more, this time Jayce let his grip loosen, and Viktor moved backwards to lean over his workstation instead. He closed his eyes shut when his back hit the wooden table, aware the arcane input might’ve still not been enough to completely satisfy his needs and heal him.
Jayce analyzed his palm, his hand, his wrist, noticing how his skin still tingled with what he could have only described as unbridled potential, and then, he willed his mouth open. “What… happened?” Jayce asked again. “Are you ok?”
“I will be, eventually.” Viktor assured.
“Is… the baby alright too?” He asked after half a second of consideration, unsure if he had the right to ask after their last conversation. “Is this safe for…” Jayce paused thinking about his next words, and he had perhaps said the wrong thing when he opened his mouth again. “... it ?”
“ He’s fine too,” Viktor corrected, and Jayce’s breath hitched. “as far as I know.” He added, before setting his hand on the side of his bump, partially covering the bruises that were still healing. “He’s kicking me where it hurts. Must be my punishment for wreaking havoc in his ‘house’.”
Jayce let out a soft exhale of a laugh before launching himself at Viktor again, hugging him tightly against himself. Viktor grunted in response, but wrapped his hand over his back all the same, trying to reciprocate.
When they parted the embrace, Jayce looked at him with teary eyes and a pitiful little frown of his mouth, looking distraught but relieved at the same time in a conflicted show of unrestrained emotions. Viktor grabbed at the hand that surely ached to touch him still and kissed the offered palm before setting it at the side of his cheek where it truly belonged.
“I think…I’m ready to talk.”
He said, his voice no more than a whisper.