Archive of Our Own

The door closed behind them with an ominous thud.

Percy knew that it was most likely his imagination, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding at the sound. He wasn't foolish enough to say anything, though, not considering the reason they'd ducked through the door in the first place. The guards couldn't be far behind them, and even the slightest noise risked getting them caught.

His breathing sounded harsh even to his own ears. Percy tried to get it under control, he really did, but the pain in his side was making it difficult. He couldn't tell if it was from where one of the guards had managed to slice at him with a dagger just before they made a sprint for it or if it was just a severe stitch in his side brought on by said mad dash. Either way, it felt as if it was going to be a problem.

Then Vax elbowed him in the stomach, much harder than was needed, and breathing too loudly stopped being an issue. Admittedly, it was because the wind was knocked out of his lungs and he stopped being able to breathe, but still. One of the first things Percy had learned, back when the others had found him in that cell, was to roll with the punches.

Expect the unexpected, that was Vox Machina's motto. Or it probably should be, if they actually had a motto.

Footsteps rushed past the closed door they were hiding behind, muffled yells coming from the other side as the guards they'd been running from presumably kept going down the hallway. The sounds slowly quietened and then disappeared completely.

Percy took in a ragged breath, his lungs burning a little from lack of air.

Nearby, there was a very soft chuckle of amusement that had to have come from Vax, even though Percy couldn't actually see through the darkness well enough to make him out. It was almost pitch black in the tiny closet-like space they were crammed in, only a hint of light flickering in under the closed door. He could make out a vague shadow nearby, but that was about all he could see.

"This has not been our day," Percy muttered under his breath.

Vax let out a small huff of agreement before elbowing Percy in the ribs. "Be quiet," he said, his voice barely louder than a breath. "We don't want them to hear us."

Percy flinched slightly as Vax's elbow jarred the cut in his side again. He had almost forgotten about the damn thing in their dash down the hallway, until they'd stopped running long enough for the pain to make itself known. And now he couldn't stop noticing it. It had been his own fault, his attention so focused on the guard that had been behind Vax that he hadn't noticed the one sneaking up on himself until it had been too late.

He didn't say anything. Vax was right. They needed to stay as quiet as possible if they didn't want to get caught. The pain in his side was still there, but it was manageable for the time being. He'd worry about it later, once he was sure they were safe.

And if he was pointedly ignoring what he suspected was blood that was slowly trickling down his side, well, it's not like there was anything he could do about it just then anyway.

The seconds ticked away, slowly turning into minutes. They'd both heard the sound of the guards running past the door, but it had quickly faded into silence.

Percy did his best to focus on breathing. He felt a little light-headed, and he'd rather get that under control before they had to do any more fighting.

"I think they're gone," Vax finally whispered, the words barely loud enough for Percy to even hear.

It took a second for Percy to catch his breath long enough to reply. "Good," he whispered a bit breathlessly, hoping it just came across as him trying to be quiet. "Let's get the hells out of here."

Vax chuckled. "Already ahead of you."

Percy felt light pat on his arm, reassuring despite the fact that it there and gone so quickly he might have thought it was his imagination if he didn't know Vax so well. Then there was the sound of movement as the faint shadow in the dark that was Vax knelt in front of the door, presumably to pick the lock.

The movement stopped after a few seconds, followed by a long pause. "Fuck."

Percy grimaced. "Dare I ask?"

"Just give me a second," Vax said, his tone more than a little distracted.

Percy heard the soft clanging sound of metal against metal, presumably Vax's lock picks being put to good use, and he tried his best to relax. After a moment or two, the sound stopped.

Nothing happened. The door stayed closed. The room stayed dark. All in all, it was rather anticlimactic.

Vax muttered a rather emphatic curse under his breath.

"I thought you could open any door," Percy said, forcing his voice to remain as calm as he could. He could feel his heartbeat picking up as the darkness seemed to press in around him, a steady chant of something's wrong running laps through his mind. This was neither the time nor the place to give into panic, though, not if he could help it.

Vax glared at him. Percy couldn't see it, not in the darkness, but he could almost feel it. "I can pick locks," Vax shot back almost petulantly, "but there has to actually be a lock for me to pick in the first place. I'm not a miracle worker."

Percy frowned. "There's no lock?" he asked. He almost took a step forward but thought better of it at the last minute. As dark as it was, the odds of him falling flat on his face were fairly high.

"No," Vax said. "It's a storage room, so I'm guessing they normally want to lock things in, not out."

That made sense. But then again...

"You didn't look before you shut the door behind us?" Percy asked.

A hand connectedly solidly with the side of his leg. "Shut up," Vax grumbled. "You didn't notice either."

Percy didn't roll his eyes. It took quite a bit of effort on his part, but he resisted the urge.

He heard more movement in front of him, and the slight clicking of the beads woven into long dark hair let him know that Vax had stood back up. "It's fine," Vax said. "The others are around here somewhere. Once they come back in range, we'll use the earrings to call for help, and they'll get us out of here in no time. No big deal."

Percy reached up to rub the bridge of his nose. "Wonderful," he said dryly. "You do realize that Scanlan is never going to let us hear the end of this, right?"

Vax chuckled. "So many 'in the closet' jokes," he agreed.

Percy sighed and shook his head. Then he reached out, feeling for the wall he knew had to be there somewhere. He leaned forward as his fingers brushed against it, taking a few careful steps until he was in position to lean back against it. His legs felt a little wobbly at the moment, and he'd rather have some support to make sure he didn't end up sprawled unexpectedly on the ground.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took in a shaky breath.

"Don't worry so much, de Rolo," Vax said, his voice moving closer to Percy in the dark. "It could be worse." There was a pause, and Percy could almost picture Vax's shit-eating grin. "You could be stuck in here with Grog instead of me."

Percy just shook his head. "Very funny."

"I thought so." Vax's elbow dug into the knife wound that Percy had been pointedly ignoring for the past ten minutes or so. A sharp stabbing pain shot up his side, and try as he might he couldn't quite hold back a hiss of pain.

In front of him, Vax instantly stilled.

"Percival," he said slowly, "what was that?"

Percy grimaced and shifted a little, trying to breathe through the pain that was still shooting up his side. "Nothing."

There was a long pause, and Percy almost thought that he was lucky enough to have gotten away with his lie. Then Vax reached out and put a hand against Percy's side, right where his elbow had hit it a moment or two earlier.

Percy flinched. It was mostly instinctual, less because it hurt and more because he knew damn well just what type of reaction it was going to prompt. Not that it didn't fucking hurt. He was just usually better at hiding it when he was in pain.

"Please tell me that's not blood I'm feeling," Vax said sharply.

"That's not blood you're feeling," Percy shot back without hesitation. He didn't bother hiding his sarcasm.

Despite the darkness, Percy swore he could feel Vax glaring at him. "Damn it," Vax all but hissed at him. "Why didn't you say you were hurt, you stubborn idiot?"

There were a lot of things that Percy could say to that. It's not that bad. We had other things to worry about. It wasn't that long ago that you hated me, and I didn't want to risk giving you a reason to start again.

Instead, he stayed quiet and gave a half-hearted shrug that he instantly regretted as pain shot up his side at the movement.

Percy tried to keep his face expressionless. He was well aware that Vax wasn't nearly as blind in the dark as he was.

There was another long, uncomfortable silence.

"I mean it, de Rolo," Vax hissed at him, "why in the hells didn't you mention you were hurt?" There was anger in his voice, yes, but there was something else mixed in with it that sounded suspiciously like worry. With maybe a side of fear, just to keep things interesting.

Percy shrugged and looked away. Even though he couldn't see Vax's face, a part of him didn't want to risk meeting his gaze. He suspected the other man would be able to read more than he wanted him to see on his face.

Vax muttered something under his breath that Percy couldn't quite make out. Then he reached out and touched Percy's injured side again.

This time, Percy managed to hold back the instinctive flinch. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to heal an idiot," Vax grumbled. "I have healing magic now, remember?"

Percy closed his eyes. It was easy to forget about Vax's new abilities, even after months of seeing him use them. He suspected it was because he still felt guilty about everything that had happened back in that damn tomb, not that he was willing to admit it out loud.

The pain in his side didn't lessen.

After several more seconds passed, Percy opened his eyes and squinted in Vax's direction. His hands were glowing slightly, providing enough light for Percy to see him more clearly but still hiding most of his face in shadows. "Did you change your mind?"

Vax shifted a bit, his expression still hidden in shadows. Percy narrowed his eyes a bit. It was difficult to see in the dim light, but he thought that he saw a thin line going across Vax's face that shouldn't be there, with something trickling down from it.

Oh. Oh. And Vax had the nerve to call him a stubborn idiot.

After another moment or two, Vax pulled his hand away from Percy's side. The faint glow coming from his hands slowly faded away, leaving the room in darkness again.

"I healed Scanlan earlier, back in the treasure room," Vax said almost hesitantly. "I, uh, think that it tapped me out. Maybe?"

Percy frowned. He'd heard that tone in Vax's voice before, on a handful of occasions, and it usually wasn't a good sign. "You think?" he repeated. "Maybe?"

"Nothing's happening when I try to heal the damn stab wound," Vax snapped back at him. "I'm still new to this paladin shit, okay? It's not working, and I'm not entirely sure why. And I don't even have a healing potion left on me."

"You had one earlier," Percy said, tilting his head a little even though he knew it wouldn't help him see in the almost pitch black of the room. He supposed it was habit. "What happened to it?"

"I gave it to my sister," Vax snapped at him. "Where's the one you had?"

Percy couldn't help but smile, just a little, despite the situation. "I gave it to your sister."

There was another long pause. Vax sighed. "Terrific."

"Why don't you try healing that cut on your face?" Percy asked innocently. Or, at least, as innocently as he could manage, which probably wasn't all that much. "Then you'll at least know if you're out of magic or if it's something else."

He swore that he could almost hear Vax narrowing his eyes at him. "What makes you think there's a cut on my face?"

Percy rolled his eyes. Then he shifted, letting the wall help support a little more of his weight. It was harder to tell in the dark, but he felt a little dizzier than he had earlier. And he had the worrisome suspicion that it wasn't from blood loss.

"Your hands were glowing just a minute ago, remember?" Percy pointed out. "Just because I can't see all that well in dim light doesn't mean I'm completely blind."

Vax muttered something under his breath that Percy couldn't quite make out. His hands lit up again, one of them resting on the side of his own face, and for just a moment Percy could make out his features clearly. Then the light faded away, leaving nothing but darkness behind.

There was a long pause. "It worked," Vax said, sounding confused. "I don't understand. If it worked on me, it should have worked on you."

Percy grimaced, his hand trailing down to tentatively feel the cut on his side. It didn't feel that big now that he was actually focusing on it. Not large enough to be bleeding the way it was, at least. Which seemed to imply, well, several things. None of them good.

"Not if there was something unpleasant on the blade," he said quietly. "Something that could potentially block at least some magic."

Vax let loose with a string of curses that was honestly quite impressive. Percy suspected even Grog and Scanlan didn't know a few of the ones he was using.

Percy closed his eyes for a moment and took a few deep breaths. It was more habit than anything, considering it was almost as dark with his eyes open as it was with them closed, but it helped keep his panic at bay at least. Even if he regretted the breaths almost immediately as the ever-sharpening pain in his side complained about them.

"Congratulations, Percival," Vax said dryly, a hint of worry overlaying the carefully casual tone. "I think you've been poisoned."

Percy took in one last shaky breath and then let it out, opening his eyes again. It didn't make much of a difference. "Then it looks like I was right to have given Vex the healing potion," he said, forcing levity that he didn't actually feel into his voice. "It didn't go to waste that way. It probably would have been useless if I'd taken it."

The faint shadow that was all Percy could see of Vax leaned forward, running his hands over the cut on his side. Percy choked back a hiss of pain.

"Sorry," Vax said quietly, but he didn't stop exploring the wound. "I'm trying to see how bad it is."

Percy let out a weak chuckle. Or, at least, that was his intention. It turned into a coughing fit approximately two seconds later that took much longer than he would have liked to stop.

"The cut itself is superficial, I think," he managed to choke out, trying his best to ignore the clammy sweat he could feel gathering on his brow. "The poison is keeping the bleeding from stopping."

"Fuck," Vax muttered.

Despite everything, the corner of Percy's mouth twisted upwards into a weak smile. "Quite."

The world felt as if it was spinning slightly, and if there had been any light for Percy to see by he suspected his vision probably would have been blurring more than a little. He could practically feel his thoughts starting to slow. Whatever it was that had been on that damn dagger, it was clearly making its way through his bloodstream by now.

"Don't you dare pass out on me," Vax hissed, grabbing him as he swayed. Which was somewhat surprising, since Percy hadn't actually realized he was swaying in the first place.

Percy let out a dry chuckle. "I make no promises," he said weakly.

There was a long silence at that. Then Vax grabbed him, pulling him close.

Vax's lips felt as hot as a flame as they brushed against Percy's forehead, just for a second. "You're going to be fine," he said quietly.

Percy snorted. "You're a horrible liar, for a rogue," he replied.

With a huff, Vax pulled away, but his hands didn't loosen their grip on Percy's shoulder. Which was probably a good thing, since Percy wasn't entirely certain he'd be able to remain standing without Vax's support.

He closed his eyes, just for a moment. It didn't particularly help with the dizziness considering he already couldn't see much in the dark, but it was better than nothing.

Time went a bit hazy. It might have been minutes, or it might have been hours. Percy was only vaguely aware as Vax helped lower him to the ground, his hands still refusing to loosen their grip on his shoulder even when he wasn't standing any more.

"If you die, I'm going to kill you," Vax said, not even attempting to hide the worry in his voice.

Percy tried to smile, but he suspected it came across as more of a grimace.

Vax's grip on his shoulder tightened. Then he let go with one of his hands. In the dim light, Percy saw him put his hand up to his ear. "Come on, guys, you've got to be out there."

In his own ear, there was a burst of sound. It took a second for Percy to realize that it was coming from his earring. He couldn't quite make out the words, not yet, but it was a clear sign that someone was moving back into range.

"Oh, thank gods," Vax muttered. "Hey, can anyone hear me? Vex? Pike? Keyleth?"

There was another burst of noise. After a moment or two, it slowly coalesced into a very familiar voice. "—and I find it extremely insulting that you didn't mention my name just then."

The corner of Percy's mouth turned upward into a smile, entirely of its own accord. Trust Scanlan to lighten the mood without even being there.

"Percy's hurt," Vax snapped, not even a hint of amusement in his voice. "We could really use Pike right about now."

Scanlan's voice shifted immediately, losing the flippant tone and picking up something much more serious. "She's not too far behind me," he said. "Where are you?"

"Locked in a closet near the vault," Vax replied.

There was a long pause. "Don't think I won't make jokes about that once I know you're both okay," Scanlan said finally. "I'll get Pike."

Percy's eyes started to drift closed again, and he forced them back open the best he could.

"The others are on their way," Vax said, squeezing Percy's shoulder a bit harder than was necessarily needed.

Percy managed a weak smile. "I heard."

He'd tried his best to keep his tone casual, but he must have failed at it. Even though he couldn't see Vax clearly, there was no mistaking the way he stiffened.

"Do me a favor, Freddie, and try to still be here when they arrive," Vax said, his voice just a bit too serious despite his joking words.

Percy took in a deep breath and then shakily let it out. "I'll do my best."

After a long moment, he felt the unmistakable sensation of lips brushing against his cheek. "I'll hold you to that," Vax whispered in his ear.