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ax_mainPercy, Vax, and Pike test Percy's new invention. There's some disagreement as to whether or not it goes as planned.
Percy checked his cellphone for what had to be the thirtieth time in the last minute just to give his hands something to do. They were testing the gun today, and nerves had his stomach churning. He couldn’t say what frightened him more—Being shot, or the prospect that his invention wouldn’t work. Neither were appealing. When his phone didn’t prove sufficient enough a distraction, he pocketed it, and turned to face the range. As much as he would have preferred the privacy of his lab, this was the best place for a trial run. It was sound-proofed, and the steer and rubber berm at the back would stop any stray bullets.
The gun sat on the counter. He’d styled its design based on the pepperbox pistol with obvious modifications to account for the modern advances in firearms and the energy source and ammunition this particular weapon used, leaving it looking like something that would be more at home on a cosplay costume at a comic book convention. Six barrels arranged in a circle were attached to on what modern guns would be the chamber, but on The List (as he was privately calling it) was a combination revolver-like chamber for ammunition and a housing unit for the power source. It had a grip of metal inlaid with wood designed with the de Rolo family crest—A stylized sun over a stylized tree.
Percy caught himself staring at it and, with a blink, looked away to press a button on the counter. The paper target at the far end of the range whirred quietly and moved up the range. He released the button when it reached the halfway point, considered the distance, and then nodded to himself in approval. That’s where he’d stand when Vax shot him.
Across the room, Vax sat on the edge of another counter, watching Percy twitch and fiddle. He noted the target, and the gun, and he hated all of it. Sure, he supposed a gun had to be tested, and had to be tested on a mutant, no less, but it wasn't exactly an ideal situation. Then again, he had no intention of shooting Percy with it, either. As soon as Pike got there, it would be easier. Just do it, then roll with the consequences. Which, he knew, weren't likely to be fun at all. But they were better than shooting his boyfriend, that was for damn sure.
As if he could feel Vax’s eyes on him, Percy turned to face his boyfriend. He crossed the room to him and leaned his hip against the counter. “Pike should be here soon.” He didn’t know what else to say to fill the silence. What did you say to the person who was going to shoot you?
Vax smiled slightly and gave a short nod. "Good. Because neither of us is touching that thing until she's here.”
“Hey,” Percy said softly, catching Vax’s hand. “I’m going to be alright.”
Quirking a small smile, Vax squeezed his hand, and tried not to feel like such an asshole. "I know.”
Pike shoved her way into the room, head down in the anatomy book she'd stolen from the library. "Where is he shooting you again?" She looked up, a bright smile crossing her face as she saw her two friends. She was glad she was able to bite back her 'coo.' "Am I interrupting? I can come back.”
“No, you’re alright.” Percy gave Vax’s hand a squeeze in return, then kissed his cheek before turning to Pike and tapped the place in question. “My shoulder. No major arteries or organs, and easy to heal should it come to it.”
"You got that, right?" Vax looked over at Pike as he hopped off of the counter. "You can heal up a hole, no problem.”
"Yup!" Pike turned around her book, showing a diagram of the tendons and ligaments of the shoulder. "Just wanted to quadruple check." Definitely. Probably definitely. And if not, she could at least do enough to stabilize him until she could get Steph here. "I haven't healed anything since you told me about this mad plan, so I should be all juiced up.”
Percy nodded, then looked to Vax. “Do you need me to go over anything again?” They’d reviewed basic gun use and safety, and had taken practice shots with a regular gun. It wasn’t much, but it was enough that Vax should be able to safely shoot him in the shoulder.
Vax gave a nod as he moved to pick up the gun, which was heavier than he'd expected, and headed for the target as he glanced at Percy. "And this is where you're going to stand?"
Pike glanced at the gun askance but trailed behind. She still wasn't entirely sure why Percy had wanted to make a gun of all things, but if he was going to be mad, she was going to make sure he was as safe as possible.
“Yes. I’m significantly taller in my shadow form, so I’ll be crouching,” Percy said as he folded back a portion of the counter and went into the range itself. He lined himself up in front of the target, then turned his attention to Vax and Pike, his stomach in knots. “Any final questions before I shapeshift?”
"None here," Vax told him. "But don't bother with the shapeshifting."
Vax had made sure that he was standing with his back toward one of the rubber walls as he inspected the gun, just far enough away from Pike and Percy that nothing could happen to either should something go wrong. It occurred to him suddenly that he didn't know what else the gun did besides the normal things a gun might do. Would it remove a mutant's powers? That was a scary thought, but one he pushed out of his head. He didn't care. Whatever it did, he was doing this for Percy, and for Percy's family. The hows and whats didn't matter. Gritting his teeth, he raised the gun to his own shoulder. Then before Percy or Pike could react, he gave an apologetic smile and pulled the trigger.
"Vax!" Pike yelled, dropping her book and sprinting over to him, hands outstretched to press against his shoulder, willing all of her powers into them.
By the time Percy realized what Vax was about to do, it was already too late. The List went off and the sound was the loudest thing he’d ever heard, even as his scream of Vax’s name rose above it. He rushed forward, flowing into shadow to dart over the counter and to Vax’s prone body where he immediately rematerialized, pale and wide-eyed with terror. “Vax? Vax? Talk to me, dear.” Oh, God there was so much blood! He’d known. He’d done his research. But, God, it was Vax’s and there was so much, and it looked so, so red against the tiled floor.
It hurt. It hurt so much more than Vax had expected. It was hard to catch his breath against that pain. He had to struggle not to pass out in the face of it, his blood rushing loud in his ears. Dimly, he felt Pike trying to heal him and he gently pushed her off with his one good hand, the gun left on the floor beside him. It wasn't easy. For one thing, he desperately wanted that healing, and for another, Pike wasn't a pushover by any means. Still, he managed to grit out, "Did...it work? Make...make goddamned sure...it...it worked.”
"Shite." Vax's pushing hadn't registered at first, but it eventually let Pike see past the panic, and she remembered what they were doing here. Right, they needed to see what would happen. She pulled back but was at the ready. "Do what you need to, Percy. Tell me when I can start.”
Percy bit back an argument. There wasn’t time, and he didn’t want Vax to have harmed himself for nothing. “Right. Yes. Uh,” he stammered, fear making it hard to think. “Try to use your mutation.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Vax found it hard to think, much less reach for his power. He also had to deal with a constricting terror that Percy's gun did work, and had taken his power from him forever, and that would just fucking well show him, wouldn't it? He shifted against the tile, trying to sit back against the wall, biting down a cry of pain as he did. Why did it hurt so much? He'd been hurt before. This...this felt like a hot poker in his shoulder.
Finally, he managed to close his eyes and tried to claw at the shadows. At first, he thought it hadn't worked. But air closed in his mental grasp instead of the substance that shadows normally provided, and that was like a second wound - a deep, aching loss, like losing a limb. Part of him wondered, briefly, whether something like that gun should ever have been created in the first place. "It's...it's gone," he croaked out quietly.
Pike sucked in a gasp, not sure how she felt about this 'success.' It was what Percy wanted, but the idea of taking away someone's powers made her stomach twist. She flicked her eyes to Percy, silently asking if that was all he needed to know.
This had gone too far. It hadn’t been worth this. It had never been worth that broken tone in Vax’s voice. “Heal him, Pike.” Percy cupped Vax’s cheek, trying to get Vax to focus on him. “It’ll come back, Vax. It’ll come back.” God, what if it didn’t? What if he’d taken Vax’s mutation away from him forever?
Percy struggled to tamp down his panic. He had to stay calm; Vax needed him to. He found Vax’s hand and squeezed it. “You’re alright. I promise.”
Vax gave a slight nod. Right. Right, his power would be back. Percy said it would come back. No reason to be both shot and gutted. Or either, really. He squeezed Percy's hand, then looked up at Pike, giving her a sharp, pained smile. "All yours, Pickle. You...you got this, yeah?”
"Sorry if this hurts," Pike said as she placed her hands over the wound, applying pressure to keep the blood in while she worked. She felt for the wound, the torn tissue appearing like a twisting darkness. She had started to glow as soon as she had touched Vax, and now her hands grew brighter and brighter as she held the picture of a whole and healthy shoulder in her mind. She imagined pushing that light into him, rebuilding what had been destroyed until it matched what she was visualizing. It took maybe half a minute before it felt like her power had nothing left to fix, but she kept her hands on Vax just in case. Pike caught his eyes and asked, “Good?"
Holding onto Vax’s hand tightly, Percy watched Pike work. Normally, it would be awe-inspiring to watch flesh and muscle knit back together like nothing had ever happened, but at the moment it only made him feel sick. When she finally spoke, he looked to Vax with trepidation, waiting for his answer.
Vax wasn't sure he'd ever felt Pike's healing before but it was weird as fuck. Maybe a little nauseating, too, but when it was over, the pain was gone, and he just felt... okay, maybe a little sick to his stomach. He huffed out a breath, a bead of sweat dripping off of his brow and nodded. "Much better. Thanks, light-bright.”
"Oh good," Pike blinked, then sat back heavily on her heels. Wow, that was a bit of a head rush. "I'm so gonna smack you for this, Vax." She pointed a finger that was mostly not shaking at him. Then blanched when she saw the blood dripping off of it.
An intense wave of relief rushed through Percy, making him feel dizzy. He helped Vax sit up, his eyes flicking over him to make sure he really was alright, before finally fixing on his face with a glare. “What the fuck were you thinking?” he asked angrily, tears leaking into his voice.
Vax sat up, then stiffly reached out to take Pike's bloodied hand, squeezing tight. Then he looked up a Percy and sighed. "Please, Percival. You're smart. You know what I was thinking. I was never going to shoot you. And I couldn't trust you to have Pike around if you tried to shoot yourself."
He managed to get that all out, but it took a lot out of him, and Vax thumped his head back against the wall, catching his breath and trying to let his stomach settle. He still felt that phantom heat in his shoulder, and that was a little concerning, but he was whole, and he'd take that over bleeding out all over the floor.
Pike grasped Vax's hand between both of hers, bending her head over their hands to say a quick silent prayer of thanks. "You're both are so dumb," she said to their clasped hands. "It worked, right? Do we have to do that again?"
The condescension in that probably wouldn’t have irritated Percy’s as much as it did if it were not for the fact that Vax was literally sitting in a pool of his own blood. “Yes and no,” he told Pike, then, pulling his hand free, said to Vax, “Don’t you 'please, Percival’ me. We had an agreement. Why can you risk your safety, but my doing so is out of the question? Do you have really have that much of a death wish?”
Vax eyed the both of them tiredly. He still couldn't feel the shadows. "Are we really going to do this here?"
"He's right," Pike directed at Percy soothingly, trying to diffuse the situation. "Let's get this cleaned up first. Can you get him to your room or a bathroom? I'll come check on you after I take care of the mess here, okay?" She gave Vax a reassuring smile.
Percy shot Pike a look of betrayal, but, chastised all the same, he scooped Vax up without a word and left the gun range.
Once there, he stiffly stripped out of his ruined clothes and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. He’d need a shower soon, but for the moment, he sat on the edge of the bed, catching his breath.
“Take it slow,” Percy said, the softness of his voice in stark contrast to the glare he gave Vax as he put a hand on his shoulder, steadying him. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the bathroom, and returned a moment later with a wet washcloth. Silently, he washed away the blood, too bright against Vax’s pale skin.
Obediently, Vax sat still, letting Percy work. He recognized that glare. He’d been expecting that glare. “I don’t have a death wish,” he finally answered. “But I wasn’t going to let you test it.”
“Right. We can’t risk denying the world my genius,” Percy said bitterly, wiping away a streak of red that had seeped into the crevices of an old scar. “I’m so mad at you, Vax’ildan. Did you even stop to consider what if something happened to you? What it would do to your sister? To me?” His voice broke on the question and he shook his head. “To the others?”
“I trusted you,” Vax told him quietly. “I trusted your creation. You wouldn’t have let me die. Pike wouldn’t have.”
“I don’t trust me.” Percy hastily scrubbed away a tear, and went back to cleaning away blood that was no longer even there, needing something to distract him, to keep his hands busy. “I should have been the one to test it. My life should have been the one we were risking.”
“I take exception to that. Especially seeing as if something had gone to shit, you wouldn’t have been in any condition to explain it.” Vax reached out to catch his wrist. “You needed to keep your head.”
Percy looked at Vax when he took hold of his wrist. “And what makes you think I would have kept my head if you’d been seriously injured? If you’d died? I’m barely fucking together as it is.”
Vax breathed out a sigh. “I’m sorry.”
Percy sighed too, and he took Vax’s hand so he could bring it to his mouth for a kiss. “I appreciate what you did. I can see your reasoning and it has merit, but , please, don’t do it again. I’m not worth it. Nothing is.”
“Incidentally,” Vax breathed out, “when do my powers come back, and why does it hurt so goddamned much?”
It didn’t escape Percy’s notice that Vax had avoided the request. “They should be back now. And it hurts because it’s an energy weapon that’s specifically designed to attack what makes a mutant a mutant.”
Vax closed his eyes and reached for the shadows, but it felt like water slipping through his fingers. The room dimmed, but didn't go dark. For the moment, he decided not to push the issue. Maybe it came back slowly. When he opened his eyes, he eyed Percy. "Well, it hurts like a bitch.”
Though he didn’t acknowledge it, Percy made note of the way the room dimmed, but didn’t darken. Vax’s mutation was coming back online so to speak, but slower than anticipated. The pain was lingering longer too. Those might need to be tweaked. It would work against the Briarwoods, but he shuddered to think what it would do in the wrong hands.
Percy studied Vax for a long moment, trying to decipher whether there was more there in that statement than was said aloud. Vax had seen what Percy was capable of first hand now. What did he think? “That’s rather the point,” he finally said as he left again to rummage through Vax’s bureau for a clean shirt. He returned with a plain, black t-shirt and helped Vax pull it on. “Lie down. You should get some rest.”
Vax could actually agree with that assessment, and pulled the shirt on carefully before sliding back onto the mattress to lay down. "Come back when you and Pike are done talking about me?”
Percy looked at Vax like he was crazy. “I’m staying here.” He climbed into the bed beside him, and put an arm across his middle, drawing him in closer to curl around him protectively.
Oh. For a moment, Vax felt bad about leaving Pike with cleanup duty, but it felt so good to just close his eyes and enjoy Percy's heat at his back. He'd make it up to Pike a hundred times over. He owed it to her, anyway. He owed this to Percy. "Good," he finally murmured.
Percy could feel Vax’s heart thudding steadily under his hand. He hugged him in more and pressed a kiss to his shoulder, then tucked his head in against him, breathing in the smell of his shampoo and skin. Vax was okay and, for the first time since this insanity had started, Percy let himself relax. “I’m still upset with you.” He didn’t sound it, though. He just sounded relieved.
"I know," Vax breathed. "I promise I won't betray an agreement between us ever again.”
“You didn’t—Alright, maybe you did a little. It wasn’t just that. It—You scared me, love. For a moment… For a moment, I actually thought I might have lost you.”
For a moment, Vax had too, but he wasn’t going to admit that. “At least we know it works. Those assholes aren’t going to get the drop on you again.”
“No. Not again.” Percy pushed morose thoughts away to concentrate on the boyfriend who’d literally take a bullet for him. He kissed his shoulder again, fingers tracing slow circles on the skin of his back. “Get some rest, dearest. I’ll be here.”
Percy checked his cellphone for what had to be the thirtieth time in the last minute just to give his hands something to do. They were testing the gun today, and nerves had his stomach churning. He couldn’t say what frightened him more—Being shot, or the prospect that his invention wouldn’t work. Neither were appealing. When his phone didn’t prove sufficient enough a distraction, he pocketed it, and turned to face the range. As much as he would have preferred the privacy of his lab, this was the best place for a trial run. It was sound-proofed, and the steer and rubber berm at the back would stop any stray bullets.
The gun sat on the counter. He’d styled its design based on the pepperbox pistol with obvious modifications to account for the modern advances in firearms and the energy source and ammunition this particular weapon used, leaving it looking like something that would be more at home on a cosplay costume at a comic book convention. Six barrels arranged in a circle were attached to on what modern guns would be the chamber, but on The List (as he was privately calling it) was a combination revolver-like chamber for ammunition and a housing unit for the power source. It had a grip of metal inlaid with wood designed with the de Rolo family crest—A stylized sun over a stylized tree.
Percy caught himself staring at it and, with a blink, looked away to press a button on the counter. The paper target at the far end of the range whirred quietly and moved up the range. He released the button when it reached the halfway point, considered the distance, and then nodded to himself in approval. That’s where he’d stand when Vax shot him.
Across the room, Vax sat on the edge of another counter, watching Percy twitch and fiddle. He noted the target, and the gun, and he hated all of it. Sure, he supposed a gun had to be tested, and had to be tested on a mutant, no less, but it wasn't exactly an ideal situation. Then again, he had no intention of shooting Percy with it, either. As soon as Pike got there, it would be easier. Just do it, then roll with the consequences. Which, he knew, weren't likely to be fun at all. But they were better than shooting his boyfriend, that was for damn sure.
As if he could feel Vax’s eyes on him, Percy turned to face his boyfriend. He crossed the room to him and leaned his hip against the counter. “Pike should be here soon.” He didn’t know what else to say to fill the silence. What did you say to the person who was going to shoot you?
Vax smiled slightly and gave a short nod. "Good. Because neither of us is touching that thing until she's here.”
“Hey,” Percy said softly, catching Vax’s hand. “I’m going to be alright.”
Quirking a small smile, Vax squeezed his hand, and tried not to feel like such an asshole. "I know.”
Pike shoved her way into the room, head down in the anatomy book she'd stolen from the library. "Where is he shooting you again?" She looked up, a bright smile crossing her face as she saw her two friends. She was glad she was able to bite back her 'coo.' "Am I interrupting? I can come back.”
“No, you’re alright.” Percy gave Vax’s hand a squeeze in return, then kissed his cheek before turning to Pike and tapped the place in question. “My shoulder. No major arteries or organs, and easy to heal should it come to it.”
"You got that, right?" Vax looked over at Pike as he hopped off of the counter. "You can heal up a hole, no problem.”
"Yup!" Pike turned around her book, showing a diagram of the tendons and ligaments of the shoulder. "Just wanted to quadruple check." Definitely. Probably definitely. And if not, she could at least do enough to stabilize him until she could get Steph here. "I haven't healed anything since you told me about this mad plan, so I should be all juiced up.”
Percy nodded, then looked to Vax. “Do you need me to go over anything again?” They’d reviewed basic gun use and safety, and had taken practice shots with a regular gun. It wasn’t much, but it was enough that Vax should be able to safely shoot him in the shoulder.
Vax gave a nod as he moved to pick up the gun, which was heavier than he'd expected, and headed for the target as he glanced at Percy. "And this is where you're going to stand?"
Pike glanced at the gun askance but trailed behind. She still wasn't entirely sure why Percy had wanted to make a gun of all things, but if he was going to be mad, she was going to make sure he was as safe as possible.
“Yes. I’m significantly taller in my shadow form, so I’ll be crouching,” Percy said as he folded back a portion of the counter and went into the range itself. He lined himself up in front of the target, then turned his attention to Vax and Pike, his stomach in knots. “Any final questions before I shapeshift?”
"None here," Vax told him. "But don't bother with the shapeshifting."
Vax had made sure that he was standing with his back toward one of the rubber walls as he inspected the gun, just far enough away from Pike and Percy that nothing could happen to either should something go wrong. It occurred to him suddenly that he didn't know what else the gun did besides the normal things a gun might do. Would it remove a mutant's powers? That was a scary thought, but one he pushed out of his head. He didn't care. Whatever it did, he was doing this for Percy, and for Percy's family. The hows and whats didn't matter. Gritting his teeth, he raised the gun to his own shoulder. Then before Percy or Pike could react, he gave an apologetic smile and pulled the trigger.
"Vax!" Pike yelled, dropping her book and sprinting over to him, hands outstretched to press against his shoulder, willing all of her powers into them.
By the time Percy realized what Vax was about to do, it was already too late. The List went off and the sound was the loudest thing he’d ever heard, even as his scream of Vax’s name rose above it. He rushed forward, flowing into shadow to dart over the counter and to Vax’s prone body where he immediately rematerialized, pale and wide-eyed with terror. “Vax? Vax? Talk to me, dear.” Oh, God there was so much blood! He’d known. He’d done his research. But, God, it was Vax’s and there was so much, and it looked so, so red against the tiled floor.
It hurt. It hurt so much more than Vax had expected. It was hard to catch his breath against that pain. He had to struggle not to pass out in the face of it, his blood rushing loud in his ears. Dimly, he felt Pike trying to heal him and he gently pushed her off with his one good hand, the gun left on the floor beside him. It wasn't easy. For one thing, he desperately wanted that healing, and for another, Pike wasn't a pushover by any means. Still, he managed to grit out, "Did...it work? Make...make goddamned sure...it...it worked.”
"Shite." Vax's pushing hadn't registered at first, but it eventually let Pike see past the panic, and she remembered what they were doing here. Right, they needed to see what would happen. She pulled back but was at the ready. "Do what you need to, Percy. Tell me when I can start.”
Percy bit back an argument. There wasn’t time, and he didn’t want Vax to have harmed himself for nothing. “Right. Yes. Uh,” he stammered, fear making it hard to think. “Try to use your mutation.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Vax found it hard to think, much less reach for his power. He also had to deal with a constricting terror that Percy's gun did work, and had taken his power from him forever, and that would just fucking well show him, wouldn't it? He shifted against the tile, trying to sit back against the wall, biting down a cry of pain as he did. Why did it hurt so much? He'd been hurt before. This...this felt like a hot poker in his shoulder.
Finally, he managed to close his eyes and tried to claw at the shadows. At first, he thought it hadn't worked. But air closed in his mental grasp instead of the substance that shadows normally provided, and that was like a second wound - a deep, aching loss, like losing a limb. Part of him wondered, briefly, whether something like that gun should ever have been created in the first place. "It's...it's gone," he croaked out quietly.
Pike sucked in a gasp, not sure how she felt about this 'success.' It was what Percy wanted, but the idea of taking away someone's powers made her stomach twist. She flicked her eyes to Percy, silently asking if that was all he needed to know.
This had gone too far. It hadn’t been worth this. It had never been worth that broken tone in Vax’s voice. “Heal him, Pike.” Percy cupped Vax’s cheek, trying to get Vax to focus on him. “It’ll come back, Vax. It’ll come back.” God, what if it didn’t? What if he’d taken Vax’s mutation away from him forever?
Percy struggled to tamp down his panic. He had to stay calm; Vax needed him to. He found Vax’s hand and squeezed it. “You’re alright. I promise.”
Vax gave a slight nod. Right. Right, his power would be back. Percy said it would come back. No reason to be both shot and gutted. Or either, really. He squeezed Percy's hand, then looked up at Pike, giving her a sharp, pained smile. "All yours, Pickle. You...you got this, yeah?”
"Sorry if this hurts," Pike said as she placed her hands over the wound, applying pressure to keep the blood in while she worked. She felt for the wound, the torn tissue appearing like a twisting darkness. She had started to glow as soon as she had touched Vax, and now her hands grew brighter and brighter as she held the picture of a whole and healthy shoulder in her mind. She imagined pushing that light into him, rebuilding what had been destroyed until it matched what she was visualizing. It took maybe half a minute before it felt like her power had nothing left to fix, but she kept her hands on Vax just in case. Pike caught his eyes and asked, “Good?"
Holding onto Vax’s hand tightly, Percy watched Pike work. Normally, it would be awe-inspiring to watch flesh and muscle knit back together like nothing had ever happened, but at the moment it only made him feel sick. When she finally spoke, he looked to Vax with trepidation, waiting for his answer.
Vax wasn't sure he'd ever felt Pike's healing before but it was weird as fuck. Maybe a little nauseating, too, but when it was over, the pain was gone, and he just felt... okay, maybe a little sick to his stomach. He huffed out a breath, a bead of sweat dripping off of his brow and nodded. "Much better. Thanks, light-bright.”
"Oh good," Pike blinked, then sat back heavily on her heels. Wow, that was a bit of a head rush. "I'm so gonna smack you for this, Vax." She pointed a finger that was mostly not shaking at him. Then blanched when she saw the blood dripping off of it.
An intense wave of relief rushed through Percy, making him feel dizzy. He helped Vax sit up, his eyes flicking over him to make sure he really was alright, before finally fixing on his face with a glare. “What the fuck were you thinking?” he asked angrily, tears leaking into his voice.
Vax sat up, then stiffly reached out to take Pike's bloodied hand, squeezing tight. Then he looked up a Percy and sighed. "Please, Percival. You're smart. You know what I was thinking. I was never going to shoot you. And I couldn't trust you to have Pike around if you tried to shoot yourself."
He managed to get that all out, but it took a lot out of him, and Vax thumped his head back against the wall, catching his breath and trying to let his stomach settle. He still felt that phantom heat in his shoulder, and that was a little concerning, but he was whole, and he'd take that over bleeding out all over the floor.
Pike grasped Vax's hand between both of hers, bending her head over their hands to say a quick silent prayer of thanks. "You're both are so dumb," she said to their clasped hands. "It worked, right? Do we have to do that again?"
The condescension in that probably wouldn’t have irritated Percy’s as much as it did if it were not for the fact that Vax was literally sitting in a pool of his own blood. “Yes and no,” he told Pike, then, pulling his hand free, said to Vax, “Don’t you 'please, Percival’ me. We had an agreement. Why can you risk your safety, but my doing so is out of the question? Do you have really have that much of a death wish?”
Vax eyed the both of them tiredly. He still couldn't feel the shadows. "Are we really going to do this here?"
"He's right," Pike directed at Percy soothingly, trying to diffuse the situation. "Let's get this cleaned up first. Can you get him to your room or a bathroom? I'll come check on you after I take care of the mess here, okay?" She gave Vax a reassuring smile.
Percy shot Pike a look of betrayal, but, chastised all the same, he scooped Vax up without a word and left the gun range.
Once there, he stiffly stripped out of his ruined clothes and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. He’d need a shower soon, but for the moment, he sat on the edge of the bed, catching his breath.
“Take it slow,” Percy said, the softness of his voice in stark contrast to the glare he gave Vax as he put a hand on his shoulder, steadying him. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the bathroom, and returned a moment later with a wet washcloth. Silently, he washed away the blood, too bright against Vax’s pale skin.
Obediently, Vax sat still, letting Percy work. He recognized that glare. He’d been expecting that glare. “I don’t have a death wish,” he finally answered. “But I wasn’t going to let you test it.”
“Right. We can’t risk denying the world my genius,” Percy said bitterly, wiping away a streak of red that had seeped into the crevices of an old scar. “I’m so mad at you, Vax’ildan. Did you even stop to consider what if something happened to you? What it would do to your sister? To me?” His voice broke on the question and he shook his head. “To the others?”
“I trusted you,” Vax told him quietly. “I trusted your creation. You wouldn’t have let me die. Pike wouldn’t have.”
“I don’t trust me.” Percy hastily scrubbed away a tear, and went back to cleaning away blood that was no longer even there, needing something to distract him, to keep his hands busy. “I should have been the one to test it. My life should have been the one we were risking.”
“I take exception to that. Especially seeing as if something had gone to shit, you wouldn’t have been in any condition to explain it.” Vax reached out to catch his wrist. “You needed to keep your head.”
Percy looked at Vax when he took hold of his wrist. “And what makes you think I would have kept my head if you’d been seriously injured? If you’d died? I’m barely fucking together as it is.”
Vax breathed out a sigh. “I’m sorry.”
Percy sighed too, and he took Vax’s hand so he could bring it to his mouth for a kiss. “I appreciate what you did. I can see your reasoning and it has merit, but , please, don’t do it again. I’m not worth it. Nothing is.”
“Incidentally,” Vax breathed out, “when do my powers come back, and why does it hurt so goddamned much?”
It didn’t escape Percy’s notice that Vax had avoided the request. “They should be back now. And it hurts because it’s an energy weapon that’s specifically designed to attack what makes a mutant a mutant.”
Vax closed his eyes and reached for the shadows, but it felt like water slipping through his fingers. The room dimmed, but didn't go dark. For the moment, he decided not to push the issue. Maybe it came back slowly. When he opened his eyes, he eyed Percy. "Well, it hurts like a bitch.”
Though he didn’t acknowledge it, Percy made note of the way the room dimmed, but didn’t darken. Vax’s mutation was coming back online so to speak, but slower than anticipated. The pain was lingering longer too. Those might need to be tweaked. It would work against the Briarwoods, but he shuddered to think what it would do in the wrong hands.
Percy studied Vax for a long moment, trying to decipher whether there was more there in that statement than was said aloud. Vax had seen what Percy was capable of first hand now. What did he think? “That’s rather the point,” he finally said as he left again to rummage through Vax’s bureau for a clean shirt. He returned with a plain, black t-shirt and helped Vax pull it on. “Lie down. You should get some rest.”
Vax could actually agree with that assessment, and pulled the shirt on carefully before sliding back onto the mattress to lay down. "Come back when you and Pike are done talking about me?”
Percy looked at Vax like he was crazy. “I’m staying here.” He climbed into the bed beside him, and put an arm across his middle, drawing him in closer to curl around him protectively.
Oh. For a moment, Vax felt bad about leaving Pike with cleanup duty, but it felt so good to just close his eyes and enjoy Percy's heat at his back. He'd make it up to Pike a hundred times over. He owed it to her, anyway. He owed this to Percy. "Good," he finally murmured.
Percy could feel Vax’s heart thudding steadily under his hand. He hugged him in more and pressed a kiss to his shoulder, then tucked his head in against him, breathing in the smell of his shampoo and skin. Vax was okay and, for the first time since this insanity had started, Percy let himself relax. “I’m still upset with you.” He didn’t sound it, though. He just sounded relieved.
"I know," Vax breathed. "I promise I won't betray an agreement between us ever again.”
“You didn’t—Alright, maybe you did a little. It wasn’t just that. It—You scared me, love. For a moment… For a moment, I actually thought I might have lost you.”
For a moment, Vax had too, but he wasn’t going to admit that. “At least we know it works. Those assholes aren’t going to get the drop on you again.”
“No. Not again.” Percy pushed morose thoughts away to concentrate on the boyfriend who’d literally take a bullet for him. He kissed his shoulder again, fingers tracing slow circles on the skin of his back. “Get some rest, dearest. I’ll be here.”
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Date: 2018-07-09 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-09 02:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-09 02:47 am (UTC)Aw but he can't stay mad at you Percy.
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Date: 2018-07-10 02:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-09 03:45 am (UTC)Can we please make some enemies first before you continue SHOOTING PEOPLE? There are so many things about this. So many things. She loves them both, and they are a mess.
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Date: 2018-07-09 11:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-10 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-10 01:52 am (UTC)