CHAPTER 5:2

It was dark. Hot. Something heavy was being dragged across concrete floor, accompanied by steps.

Jayce slowly opened his eyes. A sharp pain cut across his forehead and right cheek as he groaned involuntarily in pain. Every muscle in his body screamed in agony and it was difficult for him to breathe. Warm, thick liquid trailed down his face and limbs from all of his cuts and bruises. Rough hands were almost wrenching his shoulders apart and Jayce realized that the sound of the slightly uneven shuffling was from his lifeless legs, and the sound of his captors steps. But then they stopped.

Where have they taken me? It looks like we're in a passage... and there's a light just around that corner. He swallowed and tasted the metallic aroma of blood. Jayce tried to spit it out but almost choked instead. The movement echoed across his beaten body like a thousand more hits and he gasped for air – and mercy.

"Shut up, whining won't do. You aren't even close to being dead, pretty boy."

Jayce tried to lift his gaze from the dirty floor but it was impossible. Another wave of pain resonated throughout his skin and organs and he bit back a scream.

"Where..." he whispered and coughed. "Where is... Vi?"

The same voice replied malignantly. "The officer?" The owner of the male voice laughed and spat at him. "She's pretty fucked up, if you know what I mean. Real good body, that woman."

An uncontrollable anger ignited somewhere deep inside of Jayce and he furiously made an attempt to attack the speaker. But he forgot the strong arms holding him and instead, someone hit him in the stomach and he lost his breath. It wasn't enough to make him pass out, but enough to make his vision darken by the edges for a couple of moments.

Too close for comfort, thought Jayce in frustration. I can't lose myself again. They have Vi. They have my hammer. I need to stay awake to be able to come up with something smart. Damn, if only Caitlyn was here to back us up!

"Woah, chill," mocked the person who hit him. Jayce guessed he was highest in rank by Viktor's guards. "I was merely cracking a joke. Boss won't let us touch her, so she's safe. For the moment."

Jayce's sight returned and he stared in disgust at the man in front of him. He was wearing the same kind of attire as the men at Jayce's sides and as the group of people he and Vi had encountered earlier. The Piltoveran guessed that at least one of the strangers' arms were a "beamweapon" as mentioned by the first guy he had knocked out.

Incredible strength, shooting laserbeams from their palms... Jayce furrowed his brows. Those are only small pieces of the prototype suit I shared with Viktor long time ago. My dream ever since I was only a child. They are my ideas, my work and my dedication. How dares he steal what someone else has constructed?

He took a deep breath even though it hurt in his chest and exhaled. But most importantly, mused Jayce anxiously, did he succeed in making the suit? Does he plan to use it himself? Or is he going to sell it and the rest of the production for a war? Noxians would do anything to get their hands on my invention.

This could be the beginning of another Rune War.

"Get the prisoner in before he grows impatient and decides to fry our brains," said the leader, awaking Jayce from his grim thoughts. "Viktor is already stressed up enough by that woman. Careful in there."

Jayce tried to resist his captors but it was in vain and was brutally led through a small tunnel to where the strange, blueish light shone. He didn't dare to speak or protest, terrified if they would strike him again, and tried to quench his curiosity about the unknown woman. It was clear enough that it was someone Viktor either feared or revered, and for a moment his thoughts darted to Caitlyn.

No, it can't be her, he thought bitterly and would've huffed to express the irony of the situation. She must be in her perfect office with her perfect job and perfect life. Nothing bothers her ever. Nothing ever attaches. She's like the beautiful swan spending all of her life alone on a lake where only some colorless fishes live, admiring her reflection in the water and pitying that fish may never be able to fly.

Jayce felt his eyes slowly closing. He wanted to sleep and never wake up again. His mind carried him away to a place where everything was dark, relaxing and comfortable. There was no pain. No anxious thoughts about tomorrow. He could finally find peace.

Maybe it would be easier to just let go, mused Jayce with the faintest of a smile across his crimson-streaked lips. I'm anyways going to die down here. Why take the hard way around? I'm tired. I just want to sleep.

"Maybe..." whispered Jayce as his eyes finally shut. The darkness instantly wrapped around him like a motherly embrace and he exhaled in relief. His pain lifted and dissipated into the abyss.

"Maybe this is the only fair thing..." His voice trailed off at his lack of strength and Jayce silently finished his sentence as his breathing quieted.

… for a fool like me.

Caitlyn finished her fourth cup of tea that morning and gently placed the cup back on its usual place on her nightstand to her left. She was having the day off for once, though only officially. The sheriff was never able to stay away from her much needed work for especially long. At rare occasions, she stopped in her occupations to contemplate over the fact that it was impossible of her to be vacant no matter what, wondering if she was perhaps suppressing some psychological trauma by always being busy, but those moments were as mentioned incredibly rare. This day was not an exception, but the reason why Caitlyn had drunk four cups of tea instead of two as was her usual routine, was all explained in the small, white, unassuming box at the bottom-right corner of her bed. A pregnancy test.

How should I do this? Maybe I should have asked the pharmacist before buying so he could consult me. Her forehead creased in worry and she nervously pulled up her knees in level to her face and rested her chin on top of them. She suspiciously observed the unmoving box and sighed.

Well, how hard can it be? It's just a stupid test, thought Caitlyn and recollected herself. Normal women go through this without any problems at all, so how comes it is of such difficulty for the Sheriff of Piltover? I beat criminals every day! Not some stupid stick made of plastic...

She groaned in frustration and managed her hair into a high ponytail. Almost eight weeks had passed since her last monthly bleedings, and Caitlyn didn't feel any changes in her body that her menstruation would return on the scheduled day. She was afraid to admit it, but she had honestly forgotten about her... problem due to the incessant presence of the mysterious "C". Caitlyn never usually neglected anything important out of her mind, but about the could-be-pregnancy, she just then realized a test would be and had been adequate for a while now. In a panicked minute just before she visited a small pharmacy around the block an hour ago, Caitlyn thought that she was too late to make an abortion if she was pregnant. And as she frantically demanded to know everything from the lonely, part-time working student there, Caitlyn had fortunately been able to shake off her fear as her questions had been answered with very pleasant facts and information. She had shortly thereafter bought the most expensive pregnancy test to then take off as quickly as she could in embarrassment. The student had clearly recognized her but considerably enough, chosen not to comment neither her status nor who the dad might be.

Seems like the tea has finally started working through my system, thought Caitlyn as she slowly felt the urge to use the toilet. I better head off then.

She slid out of her bed and reached for the pregnancy test as she went to the bathroom. Her heart pounded louder than she thought could ever be possible, drowning the sound of everything else. Even her own thoughts. She numbly opened the tiny package and removed the slender stick from its seat. A lid covered one end of the unsettling object and Caitlyn pulled it off with much effort.

What if I actually am pregnant? What will I do then? She exhaled and stared at the pregnancy test as it lay in her hand. Am I ready to become a parent? Absolutely not. Will I ever be ready? Definitely not. But do I really want to kill a defenseless child?

Caitlyn clutched the white stick until her knuckles whitened. I have no choice. I'm not keen on ruining my body with toxic, but it's the only option I have. I cannot bear a child already, not at the age of twenty-seven. I'm still rather young and I have my job to think about: the safety of the city-state of Piltover and its denizens. Their happiness and safety goes in front of mine at all times.

She nodded in consent and quickly conducted the test with her mind finally in peace.

"She's here."

Vi pushed past her escort with a frown fixed on her features. She had spent the last hours being supervised by one of Viktor's "employees" in a pretty nicely decorated study with strange maps and documents lying here and there, and she had even had the opportunity to use a bathroom. Her guard was taller than her, maybe trice her size and had a grim look on his scarred face, but she knew that she had nothing to fear from him. After all, Viktor needed her.

"'She' has a voice," she said venomously and glared at the man to her right. He shrugged and didn't seem bothered at all. "It's been a pleasure waiting for you to take your sweet time," continued Vi in a sharp tone. "I haven't got all day. Where is my sister?"

Vi was standing in a room looking similar to the last one she had visited with comfortable furnishings and large bookshelves and found Viktor's leaning over a spacious, metal-made workbench, his back faced towards her. She couldn't hide her obvious shock and dismay that a third, robotic arm was fixed into the Zaunite's shoulder and that it carefully screwed something into its bearer's face with gentle movements. Viktor's body was tense and he stiffly raised his right arm, pointing at a shelf at the other side of the room where two familiar shapes of metal were lying.

"There's your gauntlets," he said with gritted teeth. His voice sounded like he was talking into an empty tin. "I've made some minor improvements, but other than that I've got to hand it to you. I didn't think you would be as skilled maintaining them as you are at fighting with them." Viktor chuckled. "At first I thought it was Jayce's handwork as I saw its obvious quality, but I daresay you're better than him."

Vi shook her head even though she knew he couldn't see her. "Don't make me laugh," she huffed and hurried to grab her weapons. She quickly glanced at Viktor and saw a tube connecting his head with his backbone as she put her gauntlets on, making a mental note that it probably was a very important piece of the cyborg's armor. "Jayce is far superior both me and you. I didn't make these," she continued and clenched her metal-clad fists. "I scavenged them as a kid."

"Interesting," replied Viktor and nodded slightly. "Extremely interesting. Where did you grow up?"

"At the outskirts of Piltover," she answered sincerely and approached him slowly. The guard at the doorpost seemed to want to step in between them but Viktor gestured for him to stand back. "No parents and no sister. I stuck to a guild of thieves and cowards, but it was my only way to survive."

The fully synthetic arm on Viktor's left shoulder stopped its careful motion and put down the tiny screwdriver on the workbench. The cyborg relaxed and gingerly rubbed his neck using his index fingers and sighed.

"It always hurts too much," he mumbled, his voice lined with irritation. "I got to fix that."

Vi opened her mouth to ask what he was talking about when Viktor turned to her. Her breath caught in her throat and she stared at him in utter disgust, more surprised than she had ever been before. A mask made of the same material as the rest of his synthetic parts covered his face and a steady, cerulean light shone from his eyes through two blank lenses. She had the time to ask herself how Viktor was able to breathe before he spoke again.

"I hope my guise fit my face accurately," he said and chuckled. "You stare at me like it's upside down."

What the fuck... a robot with humor. Vi cleared her throat and averted her gaze. "Nah, it's fine," she replied casually. "But why are you wearing it? You gotta protect your sensitive skin?"

"Not at all," he answered, "I just like scaring people."

Sarcasm as well? Wow, thought Vi and shrugged. He's crazy but fun. "Could you take off my stupid bandage now?" she asked and gestured at her face. "I'm not going to meet my little sister with my face all beaten up. That wouldn't make an especially good first impression."

Viktor nodded in agreement. "I agree," he said and closed the distance between them with two swift steps. His strange, blue gaze dazzled her and she instinctively closed her eyes to protect them from the unnatural light. "So how did you find out she was alive?" he wondered.

"Your eyes though," muttered Vi before replying to his question. "Weirdly enough, I got a letter from someone anonymous about the matter, and beforehand, I've had the most fucked up dreams..." She sighed. "I don't know why I'm telling you since you're supposed to be the bad guy here," she confessed with a laughter that was abruptly cut off as Viktor tore up the tape holding her improvised bandage to her skin. "Ouch!"

"Take it easy," he snapped in response. "A strong and healthy officer like you can definitely not wince about something as pathetic as that. You cannot even dream about how it hurts when you mutate your DNA to be able to adjust to synthetic parts. It took me several tries, each one a pure thrill of agonizing pain." His cold, dead fingers brushed aside her hair to reveal the wound beneath. "Looks good," he continued. "It's healed good and your scar will only be barely noticeable."

"Thanks mom," replied Vi dryly and carefully creased her forehead. It stung a bit, but she could live with it.

He huffed and finally turned away from her. Vi blinked a couple of times in temporary white blindness before regaining her sight. "It healed rapidly. How?" she asked.

"A secret of mine," replied the cyborg as he threw the bloody bandages in a trashcan. "You wouldn't like to hear it." She opened her mouth to protest but he shook his head and raised a hand. "No, really. You would definitely feel better not knowing."

Vi frowned but couldn't resist the smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She started laughing uncontrollably and pointed at him.

"You're really fucked up, I must say," she said as she finally calmed down but still with a big grin on her face. "You're pretty crazy, have the weirdest sense of fashion and a very questionable place where you stay." She paused, hesitating before she continued. "But you're not a bad person, I can tell you that already. I've met tons of criminals such as thieves, smugglers, murderers and even traitors, but you don't belong to their group. You aren't after money, nor reputation or revenge."

Viktor stiffened and looked away. "You don't know anything about me," he replied with a low voice. "So don't try to think you do. You just don't."

"What do you want from the world, Viktor?" she inquired boldly. "Or what has the world taken from you?"

"Silence!" he roared and slammed his fist into the workbench. A flare of blue energy emerged from his body in a powerful wave that would've knocked Vi to the ground had she not been so quick to react. She protected her face with her gauntlets and bit back a grunt as her footing slid backwards. Vi held her position with a determined look across her features and waited until the aftermath of the collision to relax and lower her weapons.

"Not a word more about that."

Viktor was looking down at his hand as he slowly moved his fingers. They were unharmed – not even a scratch on the shiny steel – but when her gaze traveled to the workbench she saw that even though it had been made of solid metal, his fist had easily passed through the material and almost split it in two. The room was a pure havoc and the screwdriver that Viktor's... assistant had used rolled across the floor in an almost comical way. But Vi couldn't laugh.

"It seems like you don't know where my borders of hospitality reach, officer," said Viktor calmly and suddenly turned to her. His eyes blinded her again, but Vi refused to avert her gaze. "I can't kill you, nor hurt you but I've been far too polite. Maybe you need to be reminded at why and how you got here. Don't you wonder where poor Jayce is?"

Vi felt a chill in her body that had nothing to do with the approaching of the cold robot in front of her. "But you said–" she started.

"Well, I did," replied Viktor, nodding. "But haven't your mother taught you not to trust strangers?" She knew he was smiling in malice behind his iron mask as he continued. "Oh, that was truly insensitive. You've never actually had a mother."

He took the final step to close the distance between them and lowered his face until it was only inches away from hers. "Even I had a mother," he murmured softly.

"Where is he?" Vi raised her gauntlet to the cyborg's face and spoke with her teeth gritting. "You swore you hadn't done anything to hurt him!"

"Relax, officer," he replied in obvious amusement. "I am an honest man and I haven't done anything to hurt him."

Vi frowned. "Then what?" she spat furiously. "What did you do to him, you filthy Zaunite freak?"

A silence lingered as the two eyed each other. Vi with squinting eyes full of hatred and despise, and Viktor with a gaze that showed absolutely nothing at all. Vi tried to raise her heavy gauntlet to inflict some damage into the robot standing directly in front of her, to break his body of metal until he was nothing but a heap of scrap, but she realized that her hand refused to move.

Something is wrong, she thought as she moved her fingers."What have you done to my gauntlets?" she asked. "I can't seem to give you a slap in the face."

Viktor shrugged. "As I mentioned earlier, I can't risk to let you hurt yourself," he answered coolly. "I just modified it. The slightest. I've jammed the signal your brain sends through your nerves where your fingers connect with the mechanism inside and canceled a couple of things. With simpler words: you won't be hurting anyone."

I can defend myself but not attack. "Right." Vi exhaled and rested her hands on her hips. She chuckled. "You know I will have to kill you when I fix this, don't you? So let's make this easy, robot-freak. I'll do this little thing for you to get my sister off your back but when I'm done, I don't care about the information you have about my past and all; I just want Jayce, alive. Nothing more."

"So you don't want to know if your parents might still be out there? Why your sister is crazy?" he asked instantly, clearly surprised by her demand. "You don't want to know what fucked up thing you really are?"

Vi shook her head. "Nothing. My parents can go and die, I won't even blink. As for my sister..." She paused and finally turned away her gaze. "She's my sister and the only family I remember sharing a past with, even thought it's nothing but glimpses and flashes, and I will probably mourn my choice in a not too far distant future when Caitlyn decides to reclaim him... but I still cannot afford to lose Jayce."

She sighed heavily. "And about the last thing you said, I can honestly tell you that I'm not at all interested. I don't care if my parents are siblings or some homosexual couple and I'm the fruit of their 'sinful' sex life and genetically retarded. Who cares if I don't?"

"It's nothing as ridiculously easy as what you think." Viktor shook his head and backed away from her. "But I won't say more about it. I accept our new agreement. You can have him, I don't mind. He's proven to be quite useless to me anyway, not at all as enlightened as I'd hoped."

"What do you mean?" asked Vi suspiciously. "And what did you mean by earlier when you said you hadn't done anything to hurt him? It's obvious that Jayce isn't in his best shape."

"Don't try." Viktor walked towards the only exit of the room where she had entered, sounding content and very much entertained. The guard no longer stood there and Vi wondered glancingly if he had been hurt in Viktor's power demonstration. "I meant what I said, officer. I didn't do anything to hurt him," he continued and reached for a long, black cloak hanging on a hook to his right. The cyborg carefully draped the cloth around his body in methodical movements until his skin and metal was covered. When Viktor was finally done, he glanced over his shoulder and nonchalantly gestured for Vi to follow him with a flick of his hand.

"Everything I did to him was to kill him in the most painful and stretched-out way possible and it was out of pure pleasure only. Now if you'd please; our guest is waiting."

Caitlyn screamed as she finally dared to look at the pregnancy test after three minutes of tense waiting.

She wasn't pregnant.

"Bless me!" she shouted and started laughing in relief. "Wow, if I only was religious. I'd be screaming someone's name instead, making the poor family beneath me think I am having sex."

Well, isn't this a piece of cake, thought Caitlyn and picked up the stick to throw it into the bag for recyclables beneath the kitchen sink. These hundred and eighty-two seconds of my life have never been more frightening. Like a good horror movie then.

She had been sitting rigid stiff on one of her two, white bar stools by her kitchen island made of white wood and gray marble for the last couple of minutes, while drinking a high glass of water fervently. Caitlyn hadn't been able to look at the pregnancy test even once during her waiting but patiently passed the time by contemplating what color her nails should have the next week. But she hadn't lost her counting even once.

"I am not pregnant, I am not pregnant," she sang with a childish melody as she put her glass into the dishwasher. "I am not pregnant, I am not pregnant!"

Her phone suddenly shrilled from somewhere in her apartment and she hurried to find it before the caller would give up. Caitlyn exited her kitchen and walked through her clean and tidied hallway, as she was trying to trace from where the sound came from. It wasn't the toilet so she passed it with no further notice, and neither was it her study nor living room. Caitlyn's last option was her bedroom and so she ran the short way to there from her sitting room, instantly finding her phone by her bedside table. She swiftly somersaulted over her soft bed and gracefully landed on her feet, then snatched the annoying phone and read on the display that the caller was Theodore.

Strange, she thought as she answered politely. "Yes? You have something more about your case?"

"Greetings, I suppose this lovely voice belongs to nobody but the Sheriff of Piltover."

Caitlyn didn't recognize the voice and she immediately turned harsh. "Who are you and what have you done to Officer Theodore?"

The owner of the male voice chuckled and she heard Theodore in the background calling: "It's fine, Sheriff, he's someone from Demacia who wanted to speak to you."

If Theodore lets some stranger use his phone to talk to me, that "someone" must be of quite some caliber. "Who is it that I'm speaking to?" asked Caitlyn commandingly.

"I'm in charge of the Royal Museum of Demacia," replied the man sternly. "My name is Jeffery Robertson and I've come all this way to ask you for help. An ancient artifact has been stolen and I've been sent here on personal orders of His Royal Majesty, the king himself."

"I understand," said Caitlyn gravely and nodded. If even the proud king of Demacia decides to bother with this theft and ask me for help, it must be a piece of extreme value. "I reckon you've already had the crime scene checked thoroughly. Are there any prime suspects? A guild of thieves? A lone wolf? Any clues left?"

Jeffery cleared his throat. "Unfortunately, the efforts of my people haven't come to any conclusion about your first questions. The only thing that was left by whoever – or whatever – stole the artifact, is a simple card."

"And what is said on it?" she inquired impatiently.

"Nothing," replied the Demacian with a little sigh. "It's only signed with a lonely character. We aren't completely sure what it's really supposed to say, but what I – and everyone else in this world – would say, is that it looks almost like a–"

Caitlyn turned cold as ice and sank down on the floor. She knew what he was about to say and finished his sentence.

"C," she murmured. "A simple 'C'." Of course.

"You're even better than your reputation claims you to be," laughed the man into her ear. "Can you perhaps read minds? Bah, never mind. So do you take the job? Please, whole Demacia begs for your help in this."

Caitlyn swallowed hard. I know I shouldn't take on this case, and I even have valid reasons not to. I must bother with the strange sickness in Piltover as well as the outbreaks of violence and even the stupid trains! She pinched the bridge of his nose. But even though I know where I'm needed, I have a feeling that this case is different. C is baiting me, taunting me in every way possible. He probably thinks I will be too scared to take on this, but I'll prove him dead wrong.

"Certainly," she answered and a smile slowly spread across her lips. "I'll head down to the station in an instant; please have all your files and information ready and we'll go through this piece by piece. Tomorrow morning, we'll be off to Demacia."

This time, it's my turn to surprise you, friend.