Jayce watched as Viktor fell to his knees, the support of the strangely armored guards gone as they let go of the man they had just dragged back to the small room they found themselves trapped in. He couldn't help but to wince, seeing the twist in Viktor's leg once more causing him to be unstable enough to fall onto a floor of hardened steel.
Still, Viktor didn't flinch. He kept his once more golden eyes trained beyond the door, defiant as he straightened himself out.
Jayce rushed over, nearly tripping over the chain attached to the shackle around his ankle, taking more care to kneel next to his partner, a hand sprawling over thin shoulders. He wanted to speak, but his eyes caught movement of someone walking into the room past the guards.
The man was lanky and tall, taller than Jayce, a coat of stark white wrapped around his frame as he held his hands behind his back. Embroidery was etched into the coat, indicating that this man was "Dr. Corin Reveck". His face was angular, sharper than even Viktor's, hair brown and receding betraying the man's age. His eyes, dark and beady, stared down, trained on Viktor's burning gold ones.
"Who are you?" Jayce demanded as he tried to move between Viktor and this stranger, but Viktor held out a hand to stop him. Jayce looked over in shock, and he couldn't help but to notice the recognition he saw on Viktor's face.
"I know you are far more intelligent than you are trying to lead on." Corin said, his voice even and calm. "No one can hide a brilliance like the one you have in your eyes. So I ask you again— help us discover the secrets you know."
Viktor's face twisted into one of frustrated anger, a look Jayce wasn't sure he had ever seen on the man.
Not even when he had said his cruelties on the bridge in what felt like a lifetime ago.
"I will not." Viktor hissed, his lip a snarl. "I told you, you have no clue what you are trying to seek. I will not let another world to be condemned because a fool sought to control forces he didn't understand!"
Another world.
Jayce wasn't sure if Viktor meant the home he had been thrown from, or the futures seen when the memories of the mage flooded their minds.
"I'm not asking." the doctor said simply. "I simply hoped you would comply easily. Maybe a show of how cruel I can be will get you to understand you have no power here."
He raised his hand, a signal, giving a simple nod to one of the guards as they stepped forward. Viktor watch, first with that same intense defiance that he had kept since he had returned, but it was quickly being replaced with horrified realization as the guard stepped behind Jayce.
Dread began to well in Jayce's gut, as he tried to crane his neck to see what was going on, eyes going wide as the barrel of the guards gun trained on the back of his skull. His heart began to hammer. He knew he couldn't move. Even if he dodged in time, it would simply put Viktor into the trajectory of the bullet.
Jayce could never allow that to happen.
The guards finger curled around the trigger, and with grim acceptance, Jayce knew what was about to come. He looked back at Viktor, whispering the words "I'm sorry" to his partner.
Sorry for everything he had done. For the hurt he had caused Viktor. For not protecting him when he should.
At least Jayce could take solace in the fact that the last thing he would see would be Viktor, human and alive once more, even if he had been scarred by the arcane as he waited for the bullet to enter his skull.
Everything moved too quickly.
The moment he had expected never came. Instead, thin arms wrapped around him quickly, deceptively strong as Viktor quickly curled around him. Viktor's voice was a howl, screaming "Don't shoot!" the words a desperate plea as Viktor tried to place himself between Jayce and the gun.
Jayce could hear the sobs being wrenched from Viktor's heaving chest, could feel the rabbit-fast pulse where Viktor's wrist pressed into his cheek, listened to how Viktor's breaths came out in near hyper-ventilation.
"Don't shoot! Please, don't shoot! I'll do it!" Viktor begged again, and try as Jayce might, he couldn't break the protective grasp Viktor held. "Viktor, please," he whispered. "Don't do this."
Viktor wasn't listening, only chanting "I can't lose you. I can't lose you." over and over.
Viktor wasn't willing to condemn the world, save for one thing.
Jayce's own life.
"Don't shoot. Please, just let him go. I'll comply." Viktor begged through sobs.
Jayce saw, from the corner of his eye, the slight smirk on Corin's face as he signaled the guard to stand down, and rage curdled in his gut.
The man never had any intention to have him killed.
"Then let us not waste any more time." Corin stepped aside as an aid brought in a wheel chair. Jayce could see the straps, and he felt sick. He tried to hold tight onto Viktor, but before his arms could wrap around Viktor, his partner was being ripped away from him once more out of his reach, watching as Viktor allowed the straps to be wrapped around his ankles and wrist to ensure he would not try to escape.
Jayce's eyes met Viktor's, seeing the terror and the grief in them as Viktor whispered "I'm sorry." back to him. The aid wheeled Viktor out of the room, the guards following behind, and Jayce tried to rush, only to be reminded of the shackle around his ankle as he fell back to the floor once more.
Corin looked down at him, a hint of amusement etched on his face.
"You've proven to be quite useful." he said, unbothered by the wrath on Jayce's face as he realized the doctor had only brought Viktor back to use Jayce as bait.
"You fucking bastard." Jayce snarled.
"I have been called worse." was Corin's only reply before he slipped out of the cell, leaving Jayce on the floor as the steel door locked shut.
I know it's not WIPWednesday, but I AU'ed again with another PostCanon modern, only this one is a bit darker than the other one.
An AU where they are in another world, only to be captured by an agency looking to recreate magic, using Viktor.
CW for cohersion, kidnapping, and Singed.
#jayvik
