[ The betrayal and anger in those words of hers are enough to force Jayce to break eye contact with her, fixing his gaze on some empty point on the pavement while Viktor tries to explain himself.

Some days ago, right before he awoke here, Jayce was moments away from being atomized - and at peace with the oblivion that should have followed. Viktor had arrived here from relatively the same point.

He talks Jayce up like he's the hero, and shame flashes through him.

It doesn't occur to Jayce that Vi could be that much further ahead in the timeline, though it should, considering everything he's personally experience by now.

Jayce has thought about the people back home a lot. About Mel, about Cait, about his mother, about everyone he rallied to that fight, people he barely knew and some he would never know. He's started to accept that he might not ever know what happened to them, who survived the battle and who was lost. ]

We broke the hold on everyone. Took the anomaly out of the equation. We - [ he shakes his head, features twisting up: ] - the two of us shouldn't be here at all.

[ He finally looks up, hopelessly searching for some understanding from her, of all people. ]

It's just Viktor in there now.