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In Our Youth

Part 2 (coming soon)

Notes: I would like to Thank @arcanefujoshi and @buvy1 for helping me on this post and @jewishdainix for making me laugh.

Story notes:The rune used in this fic is entirely made up for plot purposes. This is also an au where Jayce and Talis are Jinx' mentors, Silco found the letter so him and Vander, along with Milo and Claggor, aren't dead, and Vi and Jinx are still close sisters. Enjoy.

It was supposed to be a normal day at the lab.

Viktor spent almost all morning going over some calculations that he and Jayce had been working on for the past few days. He had given Jinx the day off to spend time with either her sister, Vi, or her new flame, Ekko so he could have some peace and quiet while he worked, knowing that he couldn’t get much done due to her… sometimes harmless… pranks. Now he was sitting at his and Jayce’s shared desk, cradling a Man of Progress mug full of coffee in one hand while sporting a pencil in the other, writing away in his notes while waiting for Jayce to get back. He noted how his partner looked far more excited than usual. How he was so eager to head out that he just gave him a quick peck on the cheek and told him that he would be back soon, heading out of the door with quick haste.

Viktor didn’t mind it. He knew how Jayce was when he got like this, knowing that he was just hurrying to bring whatever he had to surprise him. Viktor couldn’t help but think it was endearing and sweet that Jayce liked to surprise him with things, like a cool gem he found on his way from a walk, or present him with a gift that he’d thought he would like. Either purchasing said gift or making it himself.

Viktor couldn’t help but smile as he looked across the desk at a metal object in the shape of a rose, lying on its side. Putting down his pencil, he reached across the desk, gently grabbing the flower from its spot and looking it over, rubbing the pad of his thumb around the grooves of its petals. He remembered when Jayce first gifted him the flower, coming straight from the forge to give it to him for their one-year anniversary. He could never forget the look on his face that was covered in ash and sweat, looking at him with those big puppy-like eyes, trying to gauge if he liked the gift or not. And Viktor loved it, keeping it on his desk where he spent most of his days just within his reach, holding it close during his free time.

Cherishing that fond memory, he gently set the rose back down before returning to his notes, picking up his pencil as he began to write, though that action was short-lived once he heard the lab doors slide open causing him to pause mid-writing shifting in his chair to see who was coming in, but he already knew who it was without having to look.

Just as he suspected, it was none other than Jayce walking right through the doorway with a slight pep in his step as he did so. He had a bright, excited smile on his face as he clutched a small metal case in both hands, holding it securely to his broad chest as he walked. Once his eyes landed on Viktor, his smile only seemed to brighten more, making big strides to get to him.

“Viktor!” He exclaimed as he made his way to their shared desk, watching as his partner slowly began to stand, using the crutch that was next to him as support. Jayce then rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he spoke. “Sorry for keeping you waiting. I know sitting there for a while hurts your-,”

“Oh hush, you worry too much,” Viktor chuckled, watching as Jayce smiled before leaning forward to place a kiss on his cheek, which he happily leaned in to. “I can sit in an uncomfortable chair for a bit.”

“Yeah I know,” Jayce chuckled before taking one of Viktor’s hands into his own, rubbing circles in the top of his hand with his thumb. “But I missed you.”

“You were only gone for a few hours,” Viktor argued, rolling his eyes but having an amused smile on his face as he did so.

“Well, I did all the same.” He whispered, placing a kiss on the top of the other’s hand.

“Ever the clingy one,” Viktor chuckled, looking into Jayce’s warm brown eyes before casting them to the case in Jayce's other hand. He slowly motioned to it before grinning at Jayce. “Is this the surprise you’ve been heavily guarding for the past few weeks?”

Jayce blinked at Viktor at first before following his gaze, his eyes widening as he gasped. “Oh yes!” Jayce smiled as he took his hand away, clutching the box, before looking at Viktor once more. “Yes! I finally finished it! This may be very beneficial for our work! It’s gonna blow your mind.”

“Color me intrigued,” Viktor grinned, watching as Jayce set the box on the table next to them, “What revolutionary discovery do you have hiding?”

“This,” Jayce grinned as he unlatched the sides of the box and twisted a dial in the front before backing up, both watching as the box slowly opened on its own, revealing the objects inside.

Viktor blinked in surprise, his eyes flickering between the objects that were neatly placed in the metal casing. They were a bunch of tiny metal plate pieces. Each had symbols carved in the middle that he was all too familiar with, having worked with said symbols with Jayce to create the hex gates and other hex-tech-related projects. However, there was one he couldn’t recognize. In the middle, there lay a metal plate that was slightly bigger than the others and had a symbol carved in the middle that he had never seen before. The symbol itself had a tiny oval-shaped dot in the middle and was surrounded by three squiggly lines with points at the end that faced counterclockwise.

“I just finished creating these pieces at the forge yesterday,” Jayce explained, the grin never leaving his face as he stood behind Viktor, placing both his hands on either side of Viktor’s shoulders, looking between him and the case. “Noticing anything different?”

“Hmm, this piece,” Viktor began, gently picking up the metal piece in the middle from its spot and holding it up, looking it over as he spoke. “I haven’t seen this rune symbol before.”

“Exactly!” Jayce began gently shaking Viktor’s shoulders before letting him go. He then walked beside Viktor toward their desk, moving some notebooks over until he found the book he was looking for. “Sky found this book about ancient rune symbols and their meanings by chance. It mostly has descriptions of runes we already know. Or so I thought,” Jayce then opened the book, flipping through it until he found the page he needed, aiming the book toward Viktor, pointing to the very symbol that was ingrained in the metal piece that Viktor was holding. “It’s called a Revert Rune.”

Viktor blinked at the page, gently setting the metal piecing back in the case before stepping closer to Jayce, leaning on his crutch to get a better look at the page, skimming it over. “Revert Rune, you say?”

“Yes,” Jayce whispered before setting the book down on the desk between them, both leaning down to look at the book as he pointed to its meaning. “It says that the Revert Rune can turn back any object to an earlier state of being.” 

Viktor thought long and hard about Jayce's words, his eyes lighting up as a small smile formed on his face. “So in theory, if we were to able to… experiment with this rune, we could essentially-.”

“Rewind anything to an earlier state. Almost brand new,” Jayce finished for him, receiving a smile and a nod from the other. He then turned back to his desk, pulling out his own personal notebook and looking over the pages. “It’s almost like how Ekko was able to create time travel,” He then pointed to the notes he copied from Ekko explaining his theory to him before helping him and Jinx create the machine for the distinguished innovators' competition (Which he was proud that they won). “It’s like it’s rewinding time but the object itself and not its surroundings. Now, if my theory is sound and if we can get this to work, imagine what good we can do with this?”

“Medicine that has expired could be usable again,” Viktor began, making his way over to Jayce, looking from his notes to his partner. “Broken machines considered unfixable could be easily repaired.”

“Exactly! It’ll make things a little bit easier,” He then looked down at the case, placing a hand on the metal plate with the symbol in question. “We just have to test it to be sure that it’ll work.”

“Well,” Viktor began with a shrug before picking up a wrench by the handle and throwing it up in the air, catching it by the head of the tool, and holding it out to his partner. “What’s stopping us from doing so, hmm?"

Jayce looked from the wrench to Viktor, a knowing grin forming on his face as he gave his partner a nod, taking the wrench from him. “Let’s get to work.”

...

So both Jayce and Viktor had spent the rest of their morning and afternoon working on this new project. Jayce had already made all the materials and figured out all of the blueprints that they needed, so all that was left was the assembly of the prototype they were going to use to cast the Revert Rune. It wasn’t hard to create between the two. It was almost a fusion of two machines they had created already. First, they created a replica of the machine that created resonance when they first tried to stabilize the hex crystals, the Runic stabilizer they liked to call it, and the hex claw but instead of shooting a laser, the energy built up from the hex gem that will house the Revert Rune will transfer through the hex claw, creating a blast that will hit the desired target without the risk of hitting anything or anyone else.

It took about a few hours, but with both Jayce and Viktor’s brilliant minds working together, they were just about finished. All that was left was to place the metal pieces in the right order. So Jayce began to gently place them where he thought they would be best looking over his schematics as a reference.

Viktor watched Jayce work, leaning on his crutch for support as he did so. He smiled as he observed his partner, watching as he paused to look through his notes, wanting them to align properly.

“Just have a few more pieces to place before I do the Revert Rune,” Jayce explained as he placed another metal piece in. “Then we can test drive it.”

Viktor hummed in acknowledgment before turning their attention to their desk, picking up some notes they had worked on for this project. However, his eyes trailed up from the paper, looking at a pile of books that had been sprawled out across the table. Most of them just looked like Jayce’s usual notebooks. Probably filled page by page with ideas. Only one book stood out to Viktor. It was a navy blue book with the Talis family crest, with the words photo album written in black. Intrigued, Viktor set his notes down before reaching across the table and picking up the book from where it sat. He held the book in his hands, running his hand over the blue fabric of the book cover before slowly opening it, his features softening upon seeing what was inside.

It contained photos; Viktor knew that it was a photo album and all, but it wasn’t just any photos. It was photos of Jayce, all from when he was a newborn to now. The first had multiple pictures of Jayce’s mother in a hospital bed, cradling a tiny Jayce in her arms. He couldn’t help but smile, looking at a picture of Jayce with his eyes nearly open, looking at the camera with a furrowed brow. His curiosity gets the better of him as he begins to flip through the pages, looking at the photos of his partner from when he was growing up. He saw pictures from when he was one, covered in icing from his first birthday cake, pictures of him when he was 4 sitting on his father’s lap as they took a picture near a forge and anvil. He saw a 6-year-old Jayce holding up a hammer with a big grin, showing that he was missing a front tooth. Viktor flipped through the pages, secretly gushing at how adorable Jayce was as a kid, pausing when he saw a picture of Jayce standing next to a famous magician, wearing the magician’s top hat that was too big for his head, a big bright smile on his chubby face, causing Viktor to chuckle. Jayce hadn’t lost that bright look in his eye even after all these years.

Meanwhile, Jayce placed the last few pieces onto their prototype, stepping back to look it over with a smile. Everything looked like it was in the right place. Now, all that was left was placing the important piece. He went to grab the Revert Rune from the case only to pause when he heard chuckling. Realizing it was coming from Viktor, he turned to his partner to ask him what was funny, only to pause, blinking in surprise. Viktor was at their desk leaning on and holding his crutch in one hand while reading a book in the other. Only he wasn’t reading. Upon closer inspection, he realized that Viktor was looking over his family album.

“Ah, I uh see you found that,” Jayce chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head, hoping that his mom didn’t put any embarrassing photos in there.

“Not very hard to find when it’s on our desk,” Viktor grinned, looking up from the book to Jayce, motioning to the book as he spoke. “Almost every page is just of you. Now I know where that big ego of yours came from.”

“Haha,” Jayce laughed as he rolled his eyes before smiling at Viktor, watching as he went back to looking over the book. He then walked up to the other, leaning on the table beside him as he looked at the book as well. “My mother just took all the extra photos she had and placed them all in one book. She thought it was a good idea to give them to me. She said it showed how far I had come.”

“Hmm, she has so many pictures of you,” Viktor commented before looking up at Jayce with a smile. “You are well loved.”

“I know,” Jayce whispered, looking from Viktor to a picture of him as a kid holding up a trophy for first place in an inventors competition for kids, his mother posing in the picture with him, her hands on his shoulders, a proud look on her face as she smiled at the camera. “I’m very lucky.”

Viktor smiled as he watched Jayce skim through the pictures, running his hand through the pages like he was reminiscing about his childhood. Viktor looked from Jayce to the book, motioning to it as he sat down, getting Jayce’s attention. “Why don’t you show me your fondest memories before continuing our work?”

Jayce blinked in surprise, a smile forming on his face as he pulled up another chair. “Alright,” He whispered as he sat down, flipping through the pages of the book until he found the page he was looking for, pointing to the one of him and his father. “This one was one of my earliest memories. This was the grand opening of my father’s tool factory. We were next to one of the first anvils that Dad purchased.”

He then flipped to the next page, pointing to the one where he was holding the hammer. “This is when I made my first hammer at the forge. It wasn’t as good as my dad’s, but he wouldn’t use any other hammer after that.”

Viktor listened to Jayce speak intently, a fond smile on his face as he listened to him talk about his childhood, watching as he flipped through the photo book, getting rather animated as he explained things about his past.

“Oh, this was my favorite,” Jayce chuckled, pointing to the picture of him taking a picture with the famous magician. “After my mother and I were saved by the mage, I became obsessed with magic,” He paused before looking down at some of the hex crystals and giving Viktor a light chuckle, “If you uh... Couldn’t already tell.”

“What? No,” Viktor teased, squinting his eyes as he shook his head, his voice laced with slight sarcasm, causing Jayce to laugh.

“But anyway, for my birthday that year, Mother took me to a showing of all the famous magicians that traveled to Piltover, and my favorite magician happened to have a showing. I was so happy to take my picture with him. He even gave me his top hat. Sure, it didn’t fit at the time, but it fits perfectly now.”

“Oh I’d love to see that,” Viktor chuckled, looking from the picture to Jayce. “Do you have it in the lab with you?”

“Uh… No.” Jayce whispered, his eyes darting around the room while his face turned red, causing Viktor to snort.

“I only tease,” Viktor then motioned back to the book. “It was sweet of your mother to take you to something you really enjoy.”

“Yeah it was,” Jayce grinned. “She always tried to indulge me when I became obsessed with something. However, I was devastated when I found out that some magicians didn’t perform real magic, only illusions. Though it didn’t stop me from learning illusions like magicians, I got a book called Magic for Dummies to learn basic tricks.”

“Oh, now this I have to see,” Viktor said with a smirk, resting both hands on the hook of his crutch and leaning in closely.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Jayce began nervously, rubbing the back of his head as he leaned between himself and Viktor, setting the book down in front of them, causing the other's eyes to flicker to the book. “It was a long time ago, and I may not be as good as I-.”

“Oh, don’t give me that,” Viktor interrupted, looking from the book back to Jayce, “Modesty isn’t a good look on you. Come on, just one trick.” 

“Well, there is one I liked to do to Catlyin ever since she was little,” Jayce smiled as he leaned forward, causing Viktor to look at him in question. “It takes a lot of practice,” He then reached behind Viktor’s ear, causing the other to freeze. Jayce only smiled as he pulled an object from behind Viktor’s ear. “And a tiny distraction.”

Viktor’s eyes widened, seeing that Jayce was holding a cog up by his two front fingers and thumb. But it was just any cog it was the cog that Jayce sent through the hex opening when they tested their theory for the first time. He kept it after all those years, finding it very sentimental to him, always keeping it on his person in his vest pocket. He patted his vest pocket, looking inside to find it empty. A look of shock and utter confusion etched his features as he looked at Jayce, who had a smug grin on his face.

“H-How did you-?”

“Like I said,” Jayce grinned, flipping the cog between his fingers as he spoke. “Takes practice and a little distraction. Placing the book on the table, which caused your eyes to follow, gave me the distraction I needed to pull this off.”

“So it’s just glorified pickpocketing, no?” Viktor asked, arching an eyebrow, watching Jayce pausing from flipping the cog, holding it between his pointer finger and index finger.

Jayce began to stare off, thinking over his words, before nodding his head and looking over at Viktor with a grin. “Yeah, you could say that,” He said, watching Viktor roll his eyes with a chuckle. Then he looked from him to the cog before holding it out to Viktor. “Here, I know that this is important to you.”

“Thank you,” Viktor then took the cog from Jayce, looking it over before placing it back into his vest pocket as he spoke. “I admit, it is a pretty good magic trick. You’d make a fine magician.”

“I don’t know about that,” Jayce then sat on the edge of the table, resting his hands on his sides. “But it did help me make new friends when I was little. Kids in my class thought it was the coolest thing.”

“Hmm,” Viktor smiled fondly at that as he looked back down at the photo book, filled with pages of his partner running a hand through the pages as he looked at pictures of a tiny Jayce looking so bright and full of life.

Jayce watched Viktor closely, a small smile forming on his face as he gently nudged him. “So, what was your childhood like? Do you have any cute baby pictures that you’re hiding?”

Jayce watched as Viktor paused, his eyes lifting from the photos to stare ahead, causing his smile to fall. He noticed a small frown forming on his partner’s face, watching as he pulled away from the pages, now clutching his crutch with both hands curling in slightly.

“No,” He whispered, looking down at the ground as he nervously tapped his crutch on the tile floor. “I don’t have any photos from when I was a child. Cameras were a luxury for my family. My parents relied on drawings, but those were lost with time, and uh, my parents aren’t really around anymore to tell me where they are.”

Jayce frowned at this, his heart sinking slightly at the confession. Come to think of it, he had noticed how much Viktor used to be a minimalist. When their relationship grew, he had asked Viktor to move in with him, and when he agreed, all he had was a few small boxes to his name, and none of them were pictures of his family or any of him. He felt like that was something he should have noticed, but he didn’t.

“As for friends… I didn’t have those either,” Viktor then turned toward Jayce, finally looking at him as he spoke. “It was hard for someone with my… limitations to make friends. I couldn’t keep up when the others played, and others mocked me, so I stayed mostly to myself.”

Viktor went silent after looking to the ground again, which only made Jayce’s heart ache. After all these years of knowing Viktor, he had never known much of Viktor’s past. He knew that he was a zaunite and was from the Undercity, but he never talked much of his childhood. And now he knew why.

“But hey, since I never had a camera, I’m able to draw up some fine blueprints from the practice.” Viktor tried to joke, forming a small grin. But it went away when the joke didn’t land. Feeling like he ruined the mood, he turned toward their current project. “Anyway we are getting off track. Maybe-.”

However, Viktor fell silent when he felt a warm hand rest on his shoulder, causing him to stop in his tracks. He slowly turned toward Jayce, whose pretty brown eyes were boring into his own, gently rubbing circles into his shoulder with his thumb.

“I’m sorry,” Jayce whispered, giving Viktor’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze listening as his partner let out a sigh. “I didn’t know. It must have been hard.”

“It’s alright,” Viktor whispered with a shrug. “It's all behind me now. You can’t really change the past.”

Jayce gave him a nod in agreement, looking at the ground with a frown before a small smile formed on his face, looking up at Viktor as he shook his shoulder slightly. “Well, if I had known ya when we were little, I would have been your friend.”

Viktor blinked at this, looking from the ground to Jayce, who had that same infectious, beaming smile he always had. He couldn’t help but smile in return, feeling a bit warmer at his kind words. He slowly reached up with his free hand, resting it on the top of Jayce’s as he spoke. “I know, and I’m grateful to have you as a friend and much more now.”

“Me too,” Jayce whispered, watching as Viktor lifted his hand to his face, placing a small kiss on the top of his knuckles before staring at him with a warm smile. They both stayed like him for a few seconds longer before Jayce blinked, his eyes widening as he shook his head. “Oh, we, uh, lost track of time, huh?” He questioned, pulling his hands away as he pointed to the clock.

“It appears we have,” Viktor agreed before motioning over to the machine. “Shall we get back to it?”

“Yeah yes, uh let’s-let’s do it.” Jayce chuckled as he closed the photo album before following Viktor over to the machine. They needed to place the final metal piece before they tested it.  

...

After placing the Revert Rune piece in the right place and looking over the schematics to see if they aligned perfectly, they felt they were almost ready. Jayce double-checked his notes one last time before looking over to the machine. “Okay, I think it’s ready. You have the glove that controls the hex claw on, right?”

“Just about,” Viktor whispered as he secured the glove tightly on his hand. Once it was on, he turned to Jayce with a grin, giving him a thumbs up and causing the claw to do the same. “Done.”

“Good,” Jayce whispered before turning to another case that held most of their hex gems. “If we are right about this, we will need two Hex Gems to make this work. One to get the machine running and to store up all the energy and the other in your glove to control the hex claw.”

“When all of the built-up hex energy ricochets off of the metal pieces hitting the Revert Rune last,” Viktor added, moving the hex claw as he spoke. “The hex energy housing the Revert Rune magic will flow through the hex claw, creating a laser-like beam that will hit any object we so desire.”

“Exactly and I have just the thing.” Jayce grinned, holding up a wrench covered in rust. “This rusty wrench!”

“Ah you mean the wrench I lent to you that you’ve left outside for months and remembered when I needed it?” Viktor questioned, arching an eyebrow at Jayce.

“The very same,” Jayce said as he shied away slightly, watching as Viktor rolled his eyes fondly. “But hey, this is an opportunity to make it up to you by fixing it!”

“Well, set it up here, opportunist.” Viktor then motioned to an empty spot near the machine.

With a grin, Jayce walked over toward the machine, placing it on an empty spot on a table at the far end of the room, not wanting to hit anything important if the project backfired. Once he set it down, he grabbed a dial box that was connected to the machine itself through wires. He then walked over next to Viktor, both standing behind their desk and keeping a short distance from the machine.

“I created this separate dial that’s connected to wires so that we can control the speed of the machine from here in case anything were to happen,” Jayce explained, setting the dial down in front of him, receiving a nod and a hum from Viktor in response. “Will you be able to control the hex claw from here?”

“Hmm, I don’t see why not,” Viktor shrugged, placing a pair of goggles on his eyes before lifting his gloved hand up, causing the hex claw to move, a tiny blue laser light forming and aiming right at the rusted tool. “I’m ready when you are dear.”

“Right,” Jayce whispered, looking from the dial and pulling down a pair of goggles he had on his head over his eyes as well. “Let’s do this.”

“Start slow with the dial,” Viktor stressed, keeping his eyes concentrated on the tool itself. “Don’t want too much build-up right off the bat. Just build up over time.”

“Got it,” Jayce whispered, beginning to slowly twist the dial, starting at one before looking up. He watched as the metal around the machine began to spin, causing the hex gem to let out sparks of energy that were slowly bouncing off of the metal pieces. “It’s starting.”

“Good,” Viktor whispered, using his hand to aim the hex claw on the tool. “Give it another turn.”

“Turning now.” Jayce then turned the dial-up, causing the machine to begin to build speed, making the gem burst with energy. The runes on the metal pieces began to glow blue brightly, flickering now and then.

While that was happening, the hex claw was beginning to shake, filling up with so much magical energy, which caused Viktor to concentrate harder to keep the laser steady.

Jayce noticed this his brow furrowing as he looked over to Viktor. “Vik, are you okay? We can stop if-.”

“It’s fine,” Viktor interrupted, keeping his eyes on the tool as he spoke. “It’ll hold fine. Just crank it a little bit more. We are close.”

Jayce gave him a nod, looking from his partner to the machine that was spinning pretty fast, his eyes landing on the Revert Rune that was now flickering with light. This next one should get it to glow like the others. Holding his breath, he twisted the dial once more, praying to Jenna that this would work.

With that next turn of the dial, the machine only worked faster, sparks of blue flying everywhere at first, causing Jayce to worry but he sighed in relief when the energy finally aligned and hit right on the Revert Rune causing it to glow brighter than the others which in return caused the hex claw to hum with energy the light in the middle of the claw growing brighter with each passing second.

“I think that’s enough build-up,” Viktor began loudly over the humming. ”When I give the order, press the button!”

“Okay.” Jayce nodded his head, placing his finger over the top of the dial, looking between Viktor and the machine that was shaking slightly

Viktor watched the between the rune and the tool closely, waiting for the right moment. Once he felt the rune was bright enough, he looked back at the tool, aiming the claw directly at it.

“Now!”

Jayce didn’t hesitate to press the button before bracing himself. He watched as a beam of blue light shot from the hex claw hitting the tool directly. His eyes widened when blue static formed on the tool, shooting up and down it in sparks. But he gasped, pointing to the tool in awe. “Look!”

The tool began to shake, rattling on the table, but that wasn’t what had Jayce in awe. The rust on the tool was beginning to disappear slowly. Not only that, but a chip on the end of it was beginning to reform. It was almost as if it was never there in the first place.

“Whoa,” Jayce whispered in awe, watching as the tool returned to its perfect state.

“I think that’s enough!” Viktor said through gritted teeth, causing Jayce to blink. His features softened when he noticed his partner now clutching his wrist, which was beginning to shake. “I don’t think I can hold it much longer!”

“Right, right!” Jayce panicked before grabbing the dial, twisting the one down to zero, and pressing the button, causing the hex claw to shut off entirely. “There it's off!”

Viktor let out a sigh of relief, letting his hand fall to his side to rest. He then used his other hand to take off the glove, causing the claw to go into rest mode. Once it was off, he set the glove down before taking his goggles off, watching as Jayce walked around the desk toward the machine that was winding down, lights flickering from it until they were out completely.

Jayce could not stop grinning as he looked at the tool, lifting it from its spot and looking it over. All the rust was gone, and there wasn’t a single scratch on it. He then looked over to Viktor, whose eyes widened at looking at the tool. With that, Jayce flipped it in the air before catching it, walking up to his partner and holding it out to him. “See? Good as new.”

“Incredible,” Viktor whispered, taking the wrench from Jayce looking it over in shock. “It looks like when I first bought it…It-.”

“It worked!” Jayce exclaimed in excitement before grabbing Viktor by the shoulders, leaning, and placing a kiss on his cheek, causing the other to pause in surprise. “The rune actually worked! Think of the number of people we are going to help with this!”

“I know, I know,” Viktor chuckled, setting the tool down and placing both his hands on the top of Jayce’s. “Once again you’ve managed to create something phenomenal.”

“No,” Jayce interrupted, grabbing Viktor’s hands and holding them close to his chest. “We created something phenomenal. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

Viktor could only smile at Jayce’s kindness, holding his hands tightly in his own before looking over to the tool. He then let go of one of Jayce’s hands to pick up the tool, looking it over. “Thank you for finding a way to fix this. Definitely beats having to replace it.”

“Of course,” Jayce grinned before looking around the room. “I wonder what other objects we could revert with this.”

“I imagine there are an infanant amount of things we can revert,” Viktor grinned. However, he froze as he began to stare off, thinking for a second before he spoke, looking up at Jayce. “I wonder… if we could revert anything… Organic.”

Jayce blinked at that, looking back at Viktor in question. “Organic?”

“Yes,” Viktor nodded his head as he thought it over. “Like food, sick plants… maybe even people, I wonder.”

“How about we take it one step at a time, V.” Jayce chuckled, patting the top of Viktor’s hand that rested now on his shoulder. “Though helping sick plants revert to a healthier state sounds like a good idea.”

“Of course it is. I suggested it.” Viktor joked, watching as Jayce chuckled before pulling away, walking over to the desk where the dial sat while he made his way over toward the machine, looking it over. “Do you think we should tell Heimerdinger of our discovery?”

“How about we wait until we have it a bit more fortified. Then we could present it to him,” Jayce suggested, picking up the dial and turning toward Viktor and about to head for the machine. “We might want to keep this a secret from Jinx as well. Otherwise, she might-.”

“MIGHT WHAT!?” Jinx snapped, jumping in front of Jayce somehow.

“SHIT!” Jayce snapped, dropping the dial to the ground, failing to notice it crack once it hit the ground, but Jayce failed to notice as he glared at Jinx, who was laughing at his outburst. “Jinx! What the heck?!”

“Oh come on,” Jinx said, rolling her eyes and wrapping her arm around his shoulder, causing him to huff in annoyance. “Lighten up, you should be used to it by now.”

“I thought I gave you the day off, Jinx,” Viktor grinned, trying not to chuckle at Jayce’s scared expression, not noticing the machine beginning to spark lightly behind him, “To spend time with your friends and sister.”

“She did.” They heard a voice say, turning to the entrance to see Vi, Caitlyn, and Ekko walking in, Vi being the one to speak. “Or at least she was until she thought it was a good idea to visit her two favorite mentors.”

“Yup got it verbatim Vi,” Jinx grinned before eyeing Jayce up and down. “So what’s this I hear about presenting something to Heimerdinger? What are you two trying to hide from me?”

“N-Nothing!” Jayce tried looking over to Viktor, who just shrugged. “We uh, we were just.”

“What’s a Revert Rune?”

Jayce blinked, looking from where Jinx was standing, finding that she had disappeared, looking around the room until he found her at their desk looking over their schematics and notes. ”Hey! Can you put those down, please!?” He snapped, storming over, trying to take the notes from her, before she let out a gasp looking at Jayce in shock.

“Are you making a machine to revert objects!?” She asked, looking up at Jayce in shock, watching as he tried to snatch his notes from her, only for her to move them out of his reach at lightning speed. She then began to pout. “Why wasn’t I invited to help?”

“Because this may be dangerous for a young inventor to handle and knowing you, you would try to test it on the whole lab,” Jayce stressed, trying to grab his notes but failing to do so. “Jinx would you please!?”

“Okay Pow, that’s enough teasing.” Ekko tried as he walked toward them, but his protest didn’t seem to work.

Viktor watched the whole ordeal in slight amusement, about to speak, when he saw a spark in the corner of his eye. He slowly turned towards it, his smile dropping when he saw the machine was up and running and was slowly picking up speed. “Uh… Jayce?”

“I’m sure it’s not that dangerous,” Jinx scoffed, finally letting him take his notes from her, placing her hands on her hips as she watched him shuffle his note back in order. “I’ve done projects with explosives before.”

“Which got you suspended and us a stern talking to from Heimerdinger,” Jayce added as he glared at Jinx, who rolled her eyes.

“Jayce?!” Viktor tried again as he slowly backed up, looking between Jayce and the machine. The Revert Rune began to glow as the hex claw began to rattle with energy.

Viktor wasn’t the only one to notice as Vi looked from the machine to the two arguing scientists. “Uh, guys?”

“Come on, you act like I’m a child that doesn’t know what she’s doing!” Jinx argued, throwing her arms up in frustration.

“Well, one I’m your mentor,” Jayce said, holding up one finger before holding up a second one. “And two I’m older than you, so that makes me the boss, and when I say you can’t work on a project I deem dangerous, then you are not working on it. If one thing goes wrong with this Rune, it could-!”

“JAYCE THE MACHINE!” Vi snapped finally getting his attention.

Jayce turned from her to the machine, causing him to freeze. It was up and running and was surpassing the speed that they originally stopped at, causing the desk it was on to shake and rattle. He then looked over to the dial that was cracked and broken on the floor, turning it on with no way of turning it off. He then looked back to the machine, blood running cold when he saw Viktor standing right next to the hex claw that was shaking like crazy about to go off at any minute.

“Wa-wait,” Jinx froze, looking at the machine in fear. “What’s going-?”

“EVERYONE RUN NOW!” Jayce shouted, shoving Jinx toward the others before heading toward Viktor. “V GET DOWN!”

But Viktor couldn’t move; he was frozen with fear as he watched sparks fly from the machine, the claw suddenly being forced open as the beam in the middle began to glow brighter.

Jayce ran toward his partner and without any hesitation, he wrapped his arms around him and turned his back toward the machine, shielding his partner from the glowing claw.

“JAYCE, VIKTOR!” Jinx shouted, trying to run for them, only to be grabbed by Vi who wrapped her arms around her, pulling her out the door. “NO!”

Suddenly, the hex claw exploded as a burst of blue energy covered the room before encasing the whole room in smoke. After waiting a few seconds, Jinx forcefully pulled herself from Vi, as she, Vi, Caitlyn, and Ekko rushed back into the room, all of them pausing in shock at the state of the room. The whole lab was covered in blue smoke, making it hard for them to see anything. Jinx was frozen in fear, her body trembling as she tried to look for any sign of Jayce or Viktor.

“Jayce?… Vik?” Jinx tried, scanning the room over.

“Are you guys alright?” Ekko tried coughing a bit as he waved smoke from his face.

“Say something!” Jinx pleaded her hands in tight fists, praying to hear them say something. Fearing the worst, she went to step forward when she heard coughing from the other side of the room, causing her to gasp. “… Jayce?”

The others listen closely to hear the cough as well, looking at each other before following Jinx, trying to look through the smoke. They all made it toward where the machine was, seeing that it was now on the floor in pieces, the hex claw lying on the ground in tatters.

Jinx waved the smoke from her face, suppressing a cough as she looked about. “Jayce?” She tried again following the coughing that was now closer. “Vik? are you-?”

Before she could finish, she froze mid-question, her eyes widening in shock as she dropped her hands to her sides, the smoke finally clearing for her to see.

“Jinx?” Vi asked, walking up from behind her, looking from her to what she was staring at. “Did you find-?” Even she fell silent, her eyes widening in disbelief at what she saw.

Ekko and Caitlyn finally made it toward them, about to ask why they went silent when they caught a glimpse at what they were looking at. Their own eyes widened in disbelief as well.

“Caitlyn… are you seeing this?” Ekko whispered, leaning in toward her.

“Yes but… but how?”

Jinx stared at the two figures in front of them who were on the ground, having coughing fits from the smoke. She was too stunned to speak, unsure if this was really her two mentors in front of them, finally finding the voice to speak. “Jayce… Viktor?”

“Ugh, my head,” Jayce groaned, his eyes closed as he reached up to rub his temple, his brow furrowing when all he felt was fabric touch his head… Did his clothes feel looser? What happened? Why did his head hurt, and why was he on the ground? What did-?

Suddenly, he froze, his eyes shot open as he remembered the explosion and how Viktor was right next to it. “ V ?!” He shouted before he froze, reaching for his neck. Why did his voice sound so high? But before he could question any further, he heard groaning next to him that almost sounded like Viktor… but something was different. He looked ahead to see a figure rising from under the smoke. ”Viktor?” He questioned, watching as the figure rose from the smoke. “Are you okay-?”

Jayce's words died in his throat when he didn’t see his partner rise up from the smoke, causing him to crawl back in surprise. Instead, he saw a little boy, no older than 9, slowly make it to the sitting position, groaning as he rubbed his head. Jayce looked the boy over in caution, trying to figure out how a boy got into the lab, but before he could question, he watched as the boy hissed before clutching his leg in pain. Jayce looked the boy over, his dread only growing when he realized that the boy was wearing Viktor’s clothes, only they were baggy on him, and Viktor’s leg brace hung loosely on the leg that the boy was clutching. At that moment, it finally clicked in Jayce's head. This wasn’t just some random boy. This boy was Viktor, his partner.

“ V ?” Jayce tried, reaching for him slowly. “Viktor is that really-?”

Jayce froze, looking down at his arms with a gasp, seeing that they were engulfed in the sleeves of his shirt, which was now way too big for him. Shakily, he rolled up his sleeves, looking at his hands and arms in horror, seeing that they had lost their muscle mass and were now small, child hands. He then touched his face, finding that his cheeks were chubbier, obviously developing some baby fat. He then grabbed fists full of his shirt, which was far too big for him. He was definitely a kid also. But how?! Why was he and Viktor kids now!? It didn’t make sense! How could he-?

Jayce froze when he heard static, turning to see that the machine was in pieces next to them, his eyes landing on a metal piece next to him with the Revert Rune in clear view, causing him to gasp. The rune caused this. Viktor was right. It did work on organic matter.

“J-Jayce?”

Jayce gasped, looking from the Rune to Viktor, who looked at him in horror, still clutching his leg as he looked him up and down. “Is it really you?”

“Y-Yeah,” Jayce whispered, finding it weird how high his voice was now. “It’s me.”

Viktor then squinted his eyes shut, an involuntary sniffle escaping him as his eyes began to water. “It hurts.” He whispered, cradling his bad leg close.

Jayce frowned at this, watching as a few tears began to stream down Viktor’s face, hastily wiping the tears from his face when they began to fall. He had never seen Viktor cry so easily, and it scared him, always seeing Viktor so strong-willed, rarely ever shedding a tear in front of others. Without a second thought, he clutched his clothes tightly to keep them from falling as he made it to his knees, beginning to shuffle, making his way over to Viktor, sitting beside him before wrapping his little arms around him and hugging him close. He felt as if Viktor didn't hesitate as he wrapped his arms around him, hiding his face into the crook of his little neck as he began to silently cry, trembling in Jayce’s grasp. Jayce couldn’t help but sniffle, too, his eyes beginning to water as he hugged Viktor close. He didn't like seeing him upset. Viktor was scared. Jayce could tell that much, but he didn’t blame him. Jayce was absolutely terrified as well. He didn’t know if they could turn back or reverse this. Both are not sure if they will be stuck like this.

“Jayce?… Vik?”

Jayce looked up with a gasp, seeing Jinx, Ekko, Vi, and Caitlyn looking down at them in shock and slight fear. He couldn’t help but cower slightly, hugging Viktor close as he looked up at them, finding it slightly intimidating at how they were now towering over them.

“Is it really you?” Caitlyn asked as she crouched down to be at their eye level.

“Y-Yeah.” Jayce whispered giving her a nod.

“H-How?” Ekko whispered, resting a hand on his temple, trying to wrap his head around this. “How did this-?”

“That machine,” Jayce interrupted, looking over at the remains of it. “It did this.”

“Can you turn back?” Vi questioned next looking between the two kids.

“I… I-I don’t know.” Jayce sniffled, hiding his face in Viktor’s hair feeling as his partner hugged him tighter.

Jayce suddenly found it hard to keep his emotions in check, a lump forming in his throat that hurt so badly his lower lip began to tremble, the tears in his eyes finally leaking down his chubby face. He was scared, very scared of what was going to happen to him and Viktor, causing him to tremble as he fully hid his face in Viktor’s hair. Besides feeling sad and frightened, he was beginning to feel embarrassed for breaking down in front of everyone, always being the rock for the others, and was always confident in any tricky situation, so this feeling was foreign to him. He wanted nothing more than to pick Viktor up and find a place for them to hide, but his thoughts were interrupted when he felt a hand in his hair. He let out a gasp, looking up to see Caitlyn looking down at him with a warm smile.

“It’s okay, Jayce,” She whispered, petting his head gently. “We’ll figure this out. Let us help you clean up the lab a bit and get you two proper clothes to wear. Then we can figure out how to get you two back to normal.”

Jayce sniffled a bit, using his large sleeve to wipe the tears from his eyes as he gave Caitlyn a small smile, nodding his head. “Okay.”

“Just sit tight,” Caitlyn said as she got up, turning to Vi. “Vi, find my mother and have her pick up some small clothes. She’ll know where to get some. Ekko, go find Heimerdinger and tell him what has happened while Jinx and I will work on fixing the place up.” She watched as Vi gave her a nod before running out of the room.

“Jayce, Vik,” Jinx began, a look of regret on her face as she looked at them. “This is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”

“Jinx, It was an accident,” Caitlyn said, placing a hand on her shoulder and watching as she turned to her with a frown. “They know that, but I’d give them some space. Let them have a moment to calm down.” She watched as Jinx looked from her to her two former mentors, then back to her, giving her a nod and beginning to help clean up. She then turned back to Jayce and Viktor, watching as Viktor peered up at her with big owl-like eyes still hiding into Jayce's shoulder slightly. She just gave them reassuring smiles. “Just try to calm down while we clean up okay?”

Jayce gave her a nod, watching as she began to help the others, leaving them alone on the ground, hugging each other tightly. He listened to Viktor’s quiet sniffles, able to feel that he was still trembling, causing him to look down at him. “You okay, V?”

“…I’m scared, Jayce,” Viktor whispered, clutching Jayce’s loose shirt tightly as he squinted his eyes shut.

Jayce frowned at this beginning and felt like he could cry again. But he tried sucking it up as he hugged Viktor tightly, rubbing circles into his back. “I know… I’m scared too. But whatever happens, we deal with it together, right?”

“Yeah,” Viktor sniffled as he pulled away, looking at Jayce with a nod. “Together.”

Jayce then leaned forward, resting his forehead on Viktor’s, both holding each other tightly. Hanging onto each other like a lifeline, afraid that the other would disappear if either let go, feeling like they needed each other in that moment.

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