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Chapter Text

It had been six months since they’d last seen him when Vex’ahlia got the call on her phone. 

It pulled her attention from the news article she’d been scrubbing for information, and the ‘unknown caller’ label had her finger hovering over ‘ignore’. 

But, what if it was him? 

She answered, pressing the phone up to her ear. “Hello?” 

Silence, the sound of labored breathing and something rustling in the background. 

“Hello?” Vex repeated. “Is someone there?” 

There was a pause and Vex strained to pick up on anything notable before she heard an intake of breath. “ Stop looking for him ,” a feminine voice ordered in a tone that sent shivers down Vex’s spine. 

The line went dead. 

Vex pulled the phone away and stared at the black screen. Her heart hammered in her chest. She didn’t recognize the voice, nor did she recognize any of the sounds on the other end. 

But there was a warning in that voice, a threat . 

Vex stood from her desk, her need for answers reinvigorated, she had some people to call. 

~~~

Six months prior, Vox Machina had been whole, and things were good, no drama, no nights in the drunk tank, not even a dinged car. 

But, Vex was observant, and she’d seen how Percy had been in those last few weeks. Jumpy and nervous, his eyes betraying his sleeplessness and he’d carried his gun on him more often, despite living in a relatively safe neighborhood. 

She’d tried to get him to open up, but he’d been pushing them all away. She knew that something was wrong, she knew that he was upset about something, but he’d never told them anything before . . .

Well, before. 

Keyleth was the one to report him missing, having gone to his apartment and entered with the spare key he’d given her months ago. She had found his gun on the nightstand next to his phone and wallet, and no sign of Percy anywhere. 

Keyleth had been near inconsolable, the two were best friends after all, and she had been worried as well. She’d been checking up on their friend when he didn’t answer anyone’s phone calls for a day and a half after he’d exploded at Vax. 

Vex still kicked herself for not going after him then, for letting him hide away long enough for whatever happened to happen. 

It took a short amount of time for Vox Machina to gather together, for them to piece together the things that never added up. 

Like how Percival Frederick Desney didn’t exist. 

“His ID is fake,” Vax had said after he and Scanlan did some digging. “There is no record of a Percival Desney anywhere.” 

The group was gathered in Scanlan’s living room, scattered around from the couch to the bar. 

“What?” Vex took the ID card from her brother, it looked like any other she’d seen, and it had always allowed him to follow them into bars. Fuck, the police hadn’t noticed when they first met him in jail those years ago. 

“Percy doesn’t exist,” Scanlan added, hands propped up behind his head. “I’d be impressed if it wasn’t sketchy as fuck.” 

Percy’s ID was fake, his name was fake, there were too many questions to ask and no one to answer them. 

“So who is he?” Grog asked, looking up from his drink. “If his name ain’t his name?” 

“We don’t know,” Vax answered.

“He’s been lying since we met him,” Scanlan sniffed, sitting down at the bar by Grog. 

“But why?” Keyleth asked, his breath hitching. “Why lie to us?” 

Vex wracked her brain. They’d met Percy in a jail cell, when she and the others save Pike had been arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. She still maintained she was mostly sober when they started the bar fight, but nevertheless. 

They’d met him there, locked up for trespassing, and they soon realized he was homeless and Keyleth’s do-good-er instinct kicked in and Vex saw the expensive watch he wore and they had decided to give the stranger a chance to get off the streets that night. 

It had spiraled into a week, then into months and soon enough Percy had wormed his way into their hearts and lives like he’d always been meant to be there. 

But if that wasn’t even his name . . . then who was he? 

“He was lying from the start, Kiki,” Vax said, not quite soothing the other woman. “Probably never expected to get close. You know him, he never talks about himself.” 

Vex frowned. “That doesn’t mean we don’t know anything.” She tapped her chin. He was a handyman, always fixing things by himself. Definitely from money, even if he was scraping by now. He was loyal, based on how many times he’d come to their aid without needing to be asked. 

He was also arrogant, compassionate, paranoid and able to defend himself. 

“He is still our friend,” Pike spoke up. “Name or no, we know him .” 

“ Do we ?” Vax countered. “He was off his rocker the other day.” 

Vex winced at her brother's words. Percy had been getting more irritable lately. He’d even pulled his gun on Vax when he’d surprised him. 

It was what initiated their fight, before Percy stormed off, and Vax was not willing to risk anyone’s life because Percy wasn’t able to calm down. It spiraled into a shouting match when neither man was willing to back down and Vex had never seen Percy so angry, nor her brother so afraid. 

“He didn’t even bring his wallet, Vax,” Vex argued. “He wasn’t planning on disappearing.”  The room fell quiet, and Vex looked down at the floor. “He wasn’t planning on leaving.” 

Vex’s hands clenched into fists. He had left his wallet, he’d left his damn gun . He’d left everything behind, that wasn’t the behavior of someone who was leaving forever, that wasn’t the behavior of someone who was gone by choice. 

“The cops will find him,” Scanlan said, voice soft before he grew firm. “They have too . . . Right?” 

Pike shrugged. “They’ve swept his apartment for fingerprints, I doubt they’d tell us anything though.” 

“They probably already know his information is fake, anyway,” Vax added. “Not much to go on.” 

“Does he have any enemies?” Grog piped up. “That’s what people ask right?” 

“You’ve been watching too many procedurals with Pike,” Scanlan huffed a laugh. “But yeah, big man, they do.” 

“So, did he?” Keyleth lifted her head and looked around. “Did–did he have anyone besides us?” 

They all looked around at each other. Percy was private, painfully so, and Vex wasn’t sure he’d ever mentioned his life prior to that jail cell. It hadn’t mattered then, but it did now. 

“He works at that garage, right?” Vex said. “Victor’s?” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Vax nodded. “We can ask there.” 

They had asked, and the strange garage owner had told them that they were the second group of people who’d asked after Percy in the last month. 

“Who else asked after him?” Pike pressed, leaning up against the counter the oil-covered older man was standing behind. 

“Ah, a woman, yes!” Victor clapped his hands in triumph. “Came in for some repairs with two men, asked for Percival.” 

“What did she need repaired?” Vex questioned, her eyes narrowed. 

Victor tapped his fingers together. “A newer car, a tesla, if memory serves.” 

“Can we-uh- can we get the plates?” Vax hazarded the question, exchanging a look with Vex. 

Victor raised a bushy white brow, and his pushed up goggles made the wrinkles on his forehead stark. “Why?” he asked sharply. 

“Uhm,” Keyleth wrung her hands together. “Percy is missing, we’re trying to find him.” 

Victor clicked his tongue, frowning. “He is my best worker. Alright, let me check my records!” 

Victor moved to a backroom quickly, leaving the rest of the group to wait for him to reemerge with a paper. 

“Here!” Victor shoved the paper into Vex’s hands. “Find him and tell him to come back to work!” 

Grog snickered and Vax huffed a laugh. “Will do.” 

They went to the police, at Scanlan’s insistence, and gave them the information, not before Vax had copied down the license plate number, and they were thanked for their efforts and told to wait. 

Vex didn’t wait. 

Instead she spent the next six months of silence looking. 

She didn’t know who Percival Desney was, but she knew Percy, and she knew that he wouldn’t have left them. 

Left her. 

She didn’t know what their relationship had been becoming, but he was kind to her, in a way he never had to be. He was more earnest with her, never revealing too much, but letting her in piece by piece. 

She set up fliers, she scanned security footage around the pound she worked at, she asked around if anyone had seen a tall, young man with white hair and glasses. She wasn’t deterred at every no, at every run around. 

Vex had gone to her desk in the apartment she and Vax shared, searching for a pen when she saw it. The watch she’d never gotten around to pawning. It was white gold, with a dark face and green numbers. She scanned it, flipping it around in her hands. 

She remembered how he’d given it to her in payment for his bail. The last thing of any worth he had at the time. Her heart ached then at taking it, but he insisted. 

Her fingers caught on some etching on the underside and she flipped it over, narrowing her eyes. 

Whitestone Clocksmiths.  

Whitestone? She blinked. Whitestone was a ghost story, a condemned and private city-state far north of Emon. 

Sitting at her desk, she recalled the news stories. A whole family was wiped out by plague, the area was placed under quarantine. 

Nothing ever really came of it, if she remembered correctly, and it wasn’t as if she cared much for the royalty. She barely paid attention to the politics around her own home’s reigning family. 

But something itched in the back of her mind, and she turned to her computer, searching for Whitestone. 

She had gotten halfway through an article about outreach for the dilapidated city-state when she had gotten the phone call. 

~~~

“ Stop looking for him .” 

“Stop looking for him?” Vax repeated. 

“That’s what she said!” Vex threw her hands up. “The woman on the phone said that and hung up. Scanlan couldn’t even trace the call.” 

“You think whoever it is has something to do with Percy?” Vax raised a brow. 

“Of course, brother!” Vex crossed her arms. “He’s gone six months, and I get a phone call telling me to stop looking, of course it’s connected!” 

She still couldn’t shake the unease from the call, the sense of being watched that had plagued her since hearing the rasping breaths on the other end. 

“Vex,” Keyleth tried to soothe. “We believe you. But what are we supposed to do?” 

Vex looked at her gathered friends, Pike and Grog were hesitant to contact the police again after the months of silence on Percy’s case. Scanlan was now equally faithless in the police’s competence, and Keyleth and Vax were supporting her search but it seemed like Vax had given up. 

Vex couldn’t. 

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the watch. She wasn’t sure what it meant, but she had a feeling that the answer lay in the etchings on the back. 

“We go to Whitestone.” She lifted her head and met her brother’s eyes. 

“Whitestone?” Vax tilted his head. 

“Isn’t that place like, under quarantine?” Pike added. 

“Not anymore,” Vex countered. “They lifted it a year ago, but no one’s gone in or out since then.” 

“I’m down.” 

Vex turned to Grog, he leaned back against the couch, his arms crossed as he listened to Vex’s story. Vex knew that he’d grown attached to Percy much like she and Keyleth had, just in a subtler way. He was grounding for the younger man, and often protective during bar fights or other shenanigans that got out of hand. 

The fact that he was the first to voice his support made Vex’s heart twist. “Thank you.” 

He sniffed. “He promised to show me how t’fix my tv, it’s been months and that thing still breaks all the time.” 

Keyleth nodded. “I’m in too.” She worried at her hands. “He’s my best friend.” 

“He’s always helped us,” Pike spoke up. “I want to help find him.” 

Scanlan nodded. “You’ll need a car to get there, and my van should fit us all.” 

Vax sighed, running his hand down his face. “Guys, we don’t even . . . it’s been six months .” 

The unspoken fear that Vex still had was clear in Vax’s tone. That it had been six months, that there very well may not be a Percy left to save. 

“He’s our friend,” Vex said, voice firm. “Brother, please.” 

Vax met Vex’s eyes, he had never been close to Percy, always distrusting the man from the start. They’d gotten closer over time, but – 

Vex still had the scar from the car accident, a jagged gash across her stomach. Percy had been driving, it was raining, and a drunk driver t-boned their car. Percy was unhurt and Vex had been on death’s door. It was only thanks to those at Queen’s Fate Memorial Hospital that she survived. 

Vax still blamed Percy for it, though, and he held that grudge for well over a year now. 

Vex didn’t blame Percy, it was bad luck, if she’d been driving she was sure he would have been the one in the hospital. When he’d covered his black eye as poor sleep, she’d let him, she didn’t want to make him or her brother feel worse in those days. 

But it wasn’t just an accident this time, someone took Percy. Someone who knew something, who could find her number, who threatened her to get her to stop looking. 

She could still hear that rasping breaths on the line, and she knew deep down that he was alive. 

He had to be alive. 

“I need to do this,” Vex insisted. 

Vax bit his lip, before nodding. “Fine. Let’s do it.” 

They piled into Scanlan’s van, a relic of the Eighties that held all six of them in a tight squeeze. 

“No complaining about my driving or music,” Scanlan warned. “Or you’re walking to Whitestone.” 

Grog sat in the passenger seat, with Vax, Vex, Keyleth, and Pike sat on the benches in the back. The drive from Emon to Whitestone was many hours, and Vex knew that they were likely walking into something they couldn’t easily walk out of. 

She fiddled with the watch, running her thumb over the etchings in the back. 

“You kept it?” Keyleth asked, voice quiet. 

“Never got around to pawning it,” Vex admitted, just as soft. 

Keyleth reached out wordlessly, and Vex gave her the white gold watch. 

“He said it was all he had left,” Vex whispered. “When we met.” 

Keyleth studied the watch. “You think he’s from Whitestone?” 

“It makes sense, right?” Vex shrugged. “I was researching it when I got the call. If he’s running from something . . .” 

“How would he have gotten out?” Keyleth asked, handing the watch back. “The whole city was under quarantine when we met him.” 

“Maybe he left before?” Vex suggested. “I don’t know. He never told us anything about his past.” 

“No,” Keyleth sighed, propping her chin on her palms. “But he’s still our friend.” 

Vex nodded. “He is.” 

~~~

“You’ve been a good boy, Percival.” Her voice was saccharine as she stepped into his cell. “Would you like a reward?” 

Percy wheezed as he struggled to lift his head from where he laid on the freezing ground. He was so dizzy, the drugs she’d pumped into his system had left him fuzzy and the room around him spun. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been there, how long he’d been trapped in the cold, dazed world he found himself in. It could have been hours or days, he had no way of knowing. 

A hand petted his hair and he flinched back, knocking his skull against the stone wall of his cell. 

“Easy,” she soothed. “It’s okay.” He felt her hand again, lifting his chin and he blinked. 

Her dark hair framed her face, eyes like gunmetal stared down at him. He tried to pull away but she dug her nails into his flesh harshly. “I asked you a question, Percy: would you like a reward?” 

He felt himself whine in the back of his throat, words escaping him. 

She patted his cheek and his head fell again as she pulled back. His eyes landed on the cell’s door. It was open. Could he free himself? He could barely move, he could only just get his legs to twitch from his prone position. 

“I’ve found that one of your friends has been poking her nose where it doesn’t belong.” 

He needed to get to the exit. He had to get out . 

“I figure it wouldn’t hurt to give her a little phone call, right?”

He dragged his arms forward, his ragged nails digging into the stone as he tried to get himself to the exit. 

There was a sudden pressure on his back as he registered her boot slamming into his spine. He let out a wheezing groan as his progress was halted. 

“Careful, Percy,” she clicked her tongue. “Or you’ll lose your privileges again.” 

He went limp, he knew that tone, he knew what she meant. He shivered, full body tremors wracking through him as she pressed her weight onto his back. 

“Good boy,” she crooned. “Now, let’s make that call, hm?” 

He nodded slowly, who was she calling? Maybe he could– 

The phone rang. 

“Hello?” 

Percy’s heart picked up, he knew that voice like he knew his own. He let out a rasping breath, tongue too heavy in his mouth for him to speak. 

“Hello?” she said again. “Is someone there?” 

Please. He wanted to beg. Help me.  

Anna Ripley smiled down at Percy as he felt tears slide down his face. It was all he could to drag in breaths through the pressure on his back. Someone help me, please.  

“Stop looking for him,” Anna said calmly into the phone before the line went dead. 

She stepped off his back, and Percy let out a weak sob. Please. Please, just let me go. Let me go or let me die. 

She dropped the phone on the ground by his face and through his filthy glasses Percy watched as she stepped on it, digging her heel into the glass and metal before she pulled out a few chips. 

“Let’s hope she takes the hint, right?” Anna chuckled. “Wouldn’t want her to end up, well, like you .” 

I hate you. Percy thought with as much venom as he could, blurred eyes tracking her through the spinning room as she walked towards his cell’s door. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.  

She closed the door behind her, and turned off the lights, leaving Percy in darkness as he wept on the floor of his prison.

Chapter Text

She was watching him. 

Percy sat in the corner of his apartment, a hand over his mouth and eyes watering as he rocked back and forth through his anxiety attack. He had managed to find what he hoped were all the bugs, destroying them as he went, but that didn’t mean he was safe. 

She was watching him. 

He took in a shuddering breath, gathering his wits after his panic-fueled destruction of his apartment. He had to clean up, had to make sure he wasn’t being watched anymore. He had found a dozen devices planted in his home, they’d been there for who knew how long, keeping tabs, keeping him under surveillance. 

Why? Part of him wanted to ask, but he knew why. 

The photo of Cassandra he’d discovered had been the cause of this whole mess. A blurry photo of a sponsored fencing match where Cassandra was in the back, right beside those two monsters. 

He grit his teeth, anger flaring as he stood. 

She was alive.

He’d left her with them. 

She was alive.  

He was a horrible brother. 

But he couldn’t let that stop him now, ever since finding that photo he had a new purpose, finding her and saving her. He had to get her away from them. He would do anything to get her to safety. 

He wouldn’t let her down again. 

Which led to him researching more about Whitestone, finding the quarantine had lifted last year, that the Briarwood’s had fully taken over his family’s company and charity, and that they had adopted his sister.  

He had been sick at that, rushing to the sink before falling to his knees. That’s when he saw it, the odd addition to the carbon monoxide detector. 

A bug in his apartment. 

One of many. 

He wouldn’t let them get away with this. 

He paced around his ruined apartment, kicking at the destroyed cushion he’d torn through while searching for more recording devices. He couldn’t tell his friends, what would he say? “I know we’ve been hanging out for two years, but I’m actually not who I said I was. Technically I’m dead and I’ve been lying to you all this entire time.” 

He couldn’t go to the police, who would they trust? Respected charity workers or the one crazed man claiming to be a dead boy five years buried? 

No, he had to do this on his own. 

As if on cue, he felt his phone buzz. Pulling it from his pocket he saw a message from Keyleth. 

“Are you okay?

You seemed distracted today at vax’s” 

He sighed, typing with trembling fingers . “Yes, my apologies. It was a long day.” 

She sent a heart in response and Percy put his phone back. 

He stared at the torn cushion. 

He had to do this alone. 

~~~

They parked at a motel for the night, Pike requesting two rooms; one for the men and one for the women, but Vex needed some air. 

She needed to talk to her brother. 

Vex sat outside, leaning against Scanlan’s purple van as the others got ready for the night. They were only a few hours out from Whitestone and the closer they got the more her anxiety ramped up. 

She tried to run through those last few weeks where he’d been off, to see if she’d missed anything. 

She fiddled with the watch, thumb running over the etched words on its back. Had he known, she wondered, that something bad might happen to him? 

She didn’t know what she hoped for. If she hoped that this was as shocking to him as it was to them those months ago, or if he had an idea that something was about to go horribly wrong.

Why didn’t he tell them? 

Scanlan’s words echoed in her ears. Percy doesn’t exist.  

She shivered in the cool wind, they were just outside Westruun now and the north was making itself known. 

“Here.” A coat was placed over her shoulders and Vex turned to see Vax, looking as tired as she felt. 

“Thanks,” she murmured, shuffling closer to her brother. 

“No problem.” 

She studied him, his eyes shadowed and mouth tense. He was clearly still doubting this whole mission, and she knew she couldn’t blame him. It was ridiculous, what were the odds he was alive after six months? 

She was chasing a dead man for all they knew. 

But she needed to know, she needed to find him, dead or not she wanted closure. 

She still thought about his soft smiles, his gentle touch on her arm to steady her. She still missed him, she missed him so much it hurt. 

She also knew there was likely something bigger going on, the weight in her pocket was sign enough. 

“Vax,” she sighed. “I need to tell you something.” 

He raised a brow. “What?” 

She put the watch away and pulled out the smashed component from her pocket. “I found this in the lamp in the living room.” 

She held it out for him to see, a small electrical device that fit between two fingers. 

“Is that . . ?” Vax blinked at her. 

“It’s a bug.” Vex pulled back. “I found it after that phone call, I kept thinking, how did they know? How did they know I was looking?” 

Vax’s mouth fell open as his eyes flashed from her face to the bug in her hand. 

“This is it,” she continued. “I searched our apartment top to bottom, this was all there was.” 

“ Vex. ” 

“I know, I should have told you before, but if–.” 

Hands gripped her shoulders and Vex dropped the bug as her brother met her eyes. 

“Vex, this is serious.” Vax’s eyes were hard. “Someone bugged our apartment? ” 

She nodded. “I couldn’t be sure they wouldn’t do it again–.” 

Understanding flashed in his eyes. “That’s why we met at Scanlan’s? In case someone was listening in?” 

“Yes.” The word was heavy on her tongue. “Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t say anything.” 

Vax let go and ran a hand down his face. “You should have told me. Vex, I – we could have –.” 

Vex watched as his hand tightened into a fist and he hit the side of the van half-heartedly. “Fuck, Vex’ahlia, this is . . . why? ” 

Vex had a theory. “I think . . . I think Percy knew something. I think he was being watched too.” 

Vax was quiet, but he swallowed thickly and nodded once. 

“You saw him, fuck Vax, you were the one to point out how tight-lipped he’d been,” Vex continued. “He never put that gun away, he was jumpy as all hells, and he was constantly looking over his shoulder.” 

“He was never a good actor,” Vax said, pinching his brow. “So those were all, what , warning signs?” 

“Yes.” Vex crossed her arms. “And we missed them.” 

Vax leaned his head against the van. “Shit. Shit. ” 

“We know a lot more now,” Vex added. “We know his ID was fake, we know he had to have been involved in something to get him taken.” 

“Or he just lost it finally,” Vax murmured and Vex felt a spark of anger build in her gut. 

“He wasn’t crazy, Vax.” 

“Wasn’t he?” Vax gestured wildly. “We met him in jail–,” 

“We were there too.” 

Vax barreled forward. “He carried a gun everywhere with fake permits. Every bit of documentation he had was faked. He worked for some crazy, old guy’s garage. He nearly shot me , and he–!” 

Vex knew where this was going. “He what , Vax?” 

Vax met her eyes, his own were watering and Vex was sure her’s were too. “He almost got you killed.” 

Vex groaned and put her head in her hands. “That was over a year ago,” she argued. “It was an accident .” 

“It still happened!” Vax stepped away from the van and towards her. “It still– you almost died .” 

“I didn’t!” 

Vex was squared off against her brother, both with tears brimming in their eyes at the memories that now swirled around their minds. “It was an accident.” 

“Y-you could have . . .” Vax stammered over the words, the fight seeming to flee from him as quickly as it came. “I almost lost you.” 

Vex shook her head. “You’re never going to lose me.” 

“I can’t do that again,” he admitted softly. “I can’t watch you get hurt.” 

Vex frowned. “Is that why you were against this? Because it’s dangerous?” 

“Everything about Percival seems dangerous,” Vax huffed. “This– this search for him? In a city that only just lifted its quarantine? Tell me it doesn’t sound insane.” 

“He’s our friend,” Vex insisted. “You can’t fake that for two years. You can’t . . . you can’t fake how he holds Kiki’s hair when she drank too much, how he helps Scanlan set up before gigs, how he and Grog will go shooting together, how he–.” 

How he makes me feel.  

“He fixes things for us,” Vex continued. “He fixed our car when it wouldn’t start. He helped Pike when she needed a handyman at the church and you know he’s never set foot in one of those since.” 

Vax huffed a laugh. Vex counted it a win. 

“He’s a good guy. He’s made mistakes, and he’s lied, but– he doesn’t deserve to just . . . disappear.” 

“No,” Vax relented. “No, he doesn’t.” 

Vex let out a breath, tension bleeding from her shoulders as the two siblings stared at each other. 

“Hey, guys!” Scanlan’s voice called from the motel. “It’s getting late, get your asses to bed so we can sleep.” 

“Be right there!” Vex replied, eyes not leaving her brother. 

Scanlan waited a moment before shrugging and closing the door, leaving Vex and Vax in the cool night air. She shrugged her brother’s coat off her shoulders and handed it back to him. 

“I’m going to bed,” she said. “In the morning, we’ll set off for Whitestone and . . .” 

“And we’ll find him,” Vax took the coat. “We’ll figure it out.” 

Emotion welled up in her throat before she swallowed it down. Vex lightly punched her brother’s shoulder. “We’ll figure it out.” 

The drive to Whitestone was quiet, tension thick in the air as they neared the northern city-state. Keyleth’s leg wouldn’t stop bouncing as they approached, and Scanlan had turned off the radio after it replayed the same nineties one-hit-wonder for the fifth time in a row.  The silence felt heavy, like a stiff blanket that wrapped the group in its oppressive heat. 

The gates were in sight and Vex leaned over the passenger seat where Grog sat, scanning the sight before her. 

The city looked dilapidated, nothing like the brochures she saw online of pristine white walls and colorful banners depicting a large tree and stars. Now the walls were cracked, as if they hadn’t been kept up with or repaired, and the banners were all faded and sunbleached. 

“Shit,” Grog huffed as the car trundled up the road. 

“Looks creepy as hell,” Scanlan muttered. 

“No guards,” Vax added, slinking up beside Vex, blocking Keyleth’s view as she and Pike tried to look. 

“Guess we can just go in?” Scanlan said, looking over his shoulder before driving forward. 

The roads were mostly empty, small stores and houses lined the streets with a few people out and about, but things had clearly been left to disrepair. Vex shuddered as she watched eyes follow the bright purple van. 

“Should we park somewhere?” Keyleth suggested. “Ask around?” 

Vex bit her tongue. She had explained to the others about the bug in her and Vax’s apartment on the drive up to Whitestone, and it had freaked them all out. Keyleth especially. However, instead of growing meeker, she was angry, scared sure, but there was a wild fury under it that was driving her forward. 

“What do we ask?” Scanlan sniffed. “Hey, have you seen a white-haired guy around? Name’s probably Percy, has glasses, yey tall?” 

Grog shrugged. “It’s a start.” 

Pike shook her head, leaning forward to peer out the window. “We need to be smart about this. If someone’s gone through the trouble to bug Vex and Vax’s apartment then whoever took Percy will know who we are.” 

“So, what then?” Keyleth asked. “How do we find him?” 

Vax bit his lip. “We still have the license plate number.” 

Vex blinked at her brother, remembering their visit to Victor’s Garage six months ago as he pulled a creased sheet of paper out of his coat pocket. “You kept that?” 

He met her eyes before looking away. “It felt wrong to get rid of it.” 

Vex took the paper from her brother when he offered it, reading the plate. 

4nimu5 . 

A woman and two men. Vex recalled. They came asking for Percy.  

“We ask if anyone recognizes this plate then,” Vex decided. “See if we can’t find the owner.” 

“Sounds like a plan,” Scanlan said, pulling off into a parking lot by a church. “A shitty one, but a plan.” 

~~~

Percy opened his eyes to the sound of footsteps outside his cell. He felt a little more like himself, the drugs must have been leaving his system. He lifted his head from the ground as he watched Anna approach. 

She grinned down at him. “Percival.” 

“ A-Anna. ” He croaked, tongue still heavy and voice broken. 

She crouched outside the bars, and Percy glared. “No need for hostility, I’m only here to check on you. Seems that I need to up your dosage, hm?” 

Percy couldn’t help the shudder that ran through him. He hated the drugs, he hated the helplessness, the lost time, the hallucinations. He shook his head. “ No.”

“No?” Anna tilted her head. “But look at you, already getting stronger.” 

He certainly didn’t feel stronger. His legs were numb, his arms burned with the effort of hefting himself up to look Anna in the eyes. His stomach ached with hunger, and his entire body thrummed with the residual pains of her treatment the day prior. He had been too dazed then to do anything, to stop her from stripping his shirt and tying his arms to the bars while she took a whip and–

He lost time again. Anna had moved on to the other end of the room outside his cell and Percy struggled to sit up, forcing his legs to move jerkily into a better position for him to lean against the wall, despite the fire that the wounds on his bare back ignited in his nerves. 

He hissed in pain, and Anna turned back to him. “Poor dear,” she mocked. “How nice though, moving on your own.” 

He panted. “ Fuck. You. Anna. ” 

She frowned, and Percy felt a thrill of fear run down his spine. He shuddered and a whine came up the back of his throat as he felt the lash wounds rub against the stone. 

“I think you’ve gotten too used to certain privileges.” Anna’s voice was dark as she stepped towards the cell, a newly filled syringe in her hand. “You know why you’re here, and I will not have you run your mouth when this whole situation is entirely your fault.” 

He couldn’t help the tremors that ran through his body as she unlocked the cell. I just wanted my sister. He struggled to get away when she stepped in, only succeeding in causing more sparks of agony to flare up his ruined back. 

“Steady, Percy,” She warned. “I wouldn’t want to pop a vein.” She knelt in front of him and he kicked out with a weak leg, managing to connect with her knee and throwing her off balance. 

She caught herself on the ground and snarled, lashing out with a backhand that had Percy falling back to the floor, his head cracking against the stone as the wounds on his back rubbed harshly against the wall. He let out a strangled cry as he felt her hand grip his bare arm. 

“That’s not how you treat your host, Percival,” Anna spat. “I”ve been nothing but hospitable, keeping you fed, watered, alive . The Briarwood’s would have killed you already if not for me.” 

Just do it already. He didn’t know how long he’d been trapped with her, how many weeks or months or years he’d been stuck in this cell, slowly wasting away. He had lost so much time to the drugs, to pain, to his own mind. Why keep me here?

A sharp prick. “Now this version,” Anna spoke as she pushed the drug into his body. “Is going to be a little more potent. I don’t need you making a ruckus after all.” 

“ Anna-” 

“Shh.” Anna pulled the needle out and all Percy could do was wait for it to take effect. He felt her hand run across his hair and recoiled, only for her to grip it and tug his head up. “Your friend found my gift.”

“ What ?” His mind was turning sluggish. 

Hello? Vex’s voice. Is someone there?  

“I assume she didn’t take my warning seriously,” Anna was grinning again, all sharp teeth and cutting words. “Unfortunate.” 

“ Nn ,” Percy tried to pull free from her grip. “ L-leave ‘em . . . ”

“Oh, no my dear Percival,” Anna tutted. “They’re the ones who can’t leave well enough alone.” 

Hello? Is someone there?  

The first friendly voice he’d heard in months, years, eons. He couldn’t tell. It hurt just as much as it had soothed him, but she couldn’t come here. She couldn’t risk her own safety for him. He wasn’t worth that. 

The room tilted on its axis and Percy groaned, eyes squeezing shut. “ Please. ” 

Anna let go of his hair with a shove, and Percy felt his body going limp against his will as he laid on the ground. “They’re not going to find you.” She stood up and Percy cracked an eye open to see her peering over him. “No one will.” 

He tried to get his arms to work, his legs, anything to give him some freedom, a chance at movement. 

“You’re here forever.” Anna was smiling at him, expression sickly sweet. “And there’s nothing you can do about it.” 

Chapter Text

His apartment was still a mess but he had nowhere else to go. 

The fight with Vax had been his fault, he knew that, but what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t tell them the truth, he couldn’t let them know what he was going to do. 

He put his gun down on the nightstand by his bed, taking his phone and wallet out of his pocket. 

He had seven missed calls from Keyleth, and a dozen messages from the others. 

He put his phone down, he couldn’t deal with that now. 

Groaning, he ran a hand through his hair. Fuck. He had pulled his gun on Vax, he was never going to earn his trust again. The surprise of the rogue-ish man had been enough to spark his already frayed nerves and he’d moved on instinct. He hadn’t seen Vax in the moment, only a nameless threat. Yet another person who meant him harm. 

He could still recall the terror of the night the Briarwood’s came, the utter devastation of his family being murdered before his very eyes. He could still recall Julius telling him to run, the sound of his mother being shot in the neck, choking on her own blood. The way red ran through the once white halls of Whitestone Castle. 

He had found Cassandra, fleeing from the terror like him, only to be ‘rescued’ by their tutor, and then tossed to the wolves. 

One thing he never understood was why he was allowed to live. Why him? The second son, the third child, the spare’s spare? He wasn’t supposed to rule, to inherit, to run anything. He was a tinkerer, he wanted to go to school for engineering, he wanted his family . 

He moved away from the nightstand. He was alive for a reason, though. He would find a way to survive, to make things right with his friends, once this was all over. 

His phone buzzed again, another missed call. 

Sighing, he stood and stepped towards it before stopping, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. 

Someone was watching him. 

He only had a moment to react before a shadow moved in his peripheral vision, a shape leaving the corner of the bedroom, something he’d missed while wrapped in his head. He lunged for his gun but was quickly tackled to the ground. 

He swung out with a fist, connecting with a ski-masked face. His attacker was bigger than him, stronger too as he struggled against his hold. 

Percy’s eyes flashed around the room, he had to get his gun, a knife, anything. 

His attacker moved a hand from his bicep to his neck, pressing down on his windpipe. 

Percy's now free arm scrambled to find anything as he struggled on the ground. He resorted to clawing at the man’s arm, but was unable to penetrate the man’s thick clothes. 

He reared back with his leg and kicked out, taking the man’s thigh out from under him and the pressure on Percy’s throat lessened enough for him to scramble away. 

He got to his feet and rushed towards the door only for another figure to approach from the kitchen, gun drawn. 

Percy froze, his heart hammering in his chest as the two intruders cornered him. His mouth was dry, his weapon left abandoned and phone out of reach. He was in the living room, on the fourth floor of his apartment building. If he leapt from the window he’d be too injured to run. If the man wanted him dead he’d have shot already. 

A wave of horror washed over him as the intruders converged. 

She wants me alive.  

~~~

“You brought a sledgehammer?”

Keyleth was staring at Grog with wide eyes and Vex watched as Vax unfurled his lockpicking kit, scanning his implements. 

“Yeah?” Grog replied.

“Why?” 

“Someone took Percy,” Grog shrugged, hefting the sledgehammer over his shoulder. “I’m not letting them take anyone else.” 

“Hey, Vax brought a knife,” Pike pointed out. 

“Three knives,” Vax corrected, rolling his kit back together and tucking it into his backpack. 

“Three knives,” Pike repeated. 

“What about you?” Keyleth turned to Pike. “Did you bring a weapon?” 

Pike smiled at Keyleth. “My body is a weapon.” 

Keyleth looked over at Vex.. “I’m using one of Vax’s knives. My bow didn’t fit in my travel bag.” Part of her wished she’d had Percy’s gun, but it was confiscated by the police when they’d searched his apartment. 

“And I’m the getaway driver,” Scanlan added cheerfully from where he leaned against the van. 

Vex watched as Keyleth huffed a breath before scanning the church parking lot. She walked towards a median with a tree and leaned over, picking up a stick, before walking back over. 

“Here,” Keyleth held the sturdy stick with two hands, like a baseball bat. “Now I’m armed.” 

Vex blinked at her as Vax moved past and patted her shoulder. “Great job, Kiki.” 

“What’s the plan again?” Grog asked. 

“We need to ask around,” Vex answered. “See if anyone knows anything about Percy.” 

“Ah, okay, where do we even start?” 

Pike perked up. “Well, this is a church,” she motioned to the building they were outside of. “What better way than community leaders?” 

Vex looked at the white, stone building they were parked outside of. It was a small church, looking remarkably well kept compared to the rest of the town. The stained glass windows depicted a few prominent images of the sun and open fields. 

It looked welcoming, despite the desolate place it was found in. 

“Well, nothing to do but start,” Vex sighed, looking around at her friends. The weight of the switchblade in her pocket was heavy, as was the knowledge of the watch in the bag slung over her shoulder. “Let’s see what they know.” 

The inside of the church was clean, smelling of incense as they pushed open the grand doors. Vex scanned the area, the pews were empty and there was a stage with a pulpit at the end of the long room. 

And an older woman, speaking softly to a  man and woman, the three perked up at the sight of the group of six entering and Vex had the distinct impression they were intruding. 

Vax cleared his throat and the older woman said something too soft to overhear to the younger couple. The couple nodded and stood, before walking down the hall past them. Vex gave a weak smile as the older woman approached. 

“Greetings, strangers,” the woman smiled softly at them, before eying Grog’s sledgehammer warily. “We don’t see many new faces around here.” 

Vex studied her, she was wearing priestly robes, her face aged, framed by curly gray hair, and she had kind eyes. “We’re just visiting.” 

“We’re looking for someone.” Pike added. “We think he may have lived here?” 

“Oh?” the woman raised a brow. “Who are you looking for?” 

“Our friend,” Keyleth spoke up, wringing her hands around the stick she still carried. “Percival Desnay?” 

Vex pulled out her phone, pulling up a photo she had of Percy, it was months old when he went missing but she was fond of it. It was him smiling at her as her dog, Trinket, jumped up on his lap. His white hair was in disarray and he was looking at the camera affectionately. 

The woman’s brow furrowed as she leaned towards the phone, before paling significantly. 

“Ma’am?” Pike reached out, pressing a hand to her shoulder. “D-do you know him?” 

The woman pulled away, a hand to her mouth. “I do.” she took in a shuddering breath. “You called him Percival Desnay? ” 

“We-uh- we know that’s not quite his name,” Scanlan admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“No, no it’s not,” the woman sighed, running her hand over her forehead. “May I?” she reached out towards the phone. 

Vex nodded, and handed it to her. “You know him well then?” 

“I knew them all well. I was his mothers midwife,” the woman chuckled, a sad sound. “I held him first in this world.” 

Vex was struck with the woman’s words, and the underlying grief in her tone as she stared at the photo, rapt by the image of Percy. 

“What’s your name?” Pike asked gently. 

“Keeper Yennen,” she answered. “I can’t believe he’s alive.” 

Vex swallowed thickly. “He’s missing.” 

Yennen pulled her attention from the phone. “What?” 

“He was taken,” Vax said, voice soft. 

“We came here to see if anyone had any idea where he was,” Keyleth added. “Or if they knew his-uh-his real name at least.” 

“His real . . “ Yennen shook her head. “Everyone knows his real name around here.” 

“What is it?” Grog spoke up.

“Percival de Rolo,” Yennen answered. “He’s Percival de Rolo.” 

de Rolo. Vex’s mind turned to her research of Whitestone, the dead ruling family, the plague that wiped them out, the name de Rolo. 

“You’re saying he’s royalty ?” Vex couldn’t keep the shock from her words. 

Yennen nodded. “He was Lord and Lady de Rolo’s third child.” 

“Third?” Vax’s brow furrowed. “He’s never mentioned siblings.” 

Yennen’s eyes darkened before she spoke again. “You said he was taken?” 

Vex met her brother’s eyes, nodding. “Yes, we have reason to believe he was.” 

“Gods,” Yennen closed her eyes, murmuring a soft prayer. “If he’s alive then . . . Whitestone may have a chance.” 

“What does that mean?” Scanlan questioned, his expression pinched. 

“The Briarwood’s,” Yennen said their name like it was a curse. “They came to Whitestone five years ago. No one knows what happened, but when they emerged from the castle . . . they claimed the de Rolo’s were sick, and they produced documents claiming ownership over their properties. They took Whitestone.” 

“The fuck?” Grog sniffed. “That don’t sound right.” 

“S-so what happened to the de Rolo’s?” Keyleth asked tentatively. 

Yennen smiled sadly. “The disease they had supposedly killed them. It was a closed casket affair. The Briarwood’s had their own doctor do the autopsies on eight members of the family.” Her eyes flicked back to the phone. “But Percival being alive . . . that taints their story, if he was never dead . . .” 

If he was never dead then their story was never true. Vex’s eyes widened. If Percy never died then he still has claim to Whitestone. 

“We need to find him,” Vex insisted. “He’s been missing for months now.” 

Who knows what could have happened to him in that time.  

“I wouldn’t know where he is,” Yennen said. “He– he’s been dead for years according to our records.” 

“Do you recognize this license plate at least?” Vax dug into his pocket and held out the creased paper. 

Yennen handed back Vex’s phone before studying the paper. “I don’t, I’m sorry, but . . . the last name he chose, Desnay, belongs to Archibald, you may have better luck with him.” 

“Archibald?” Scanlan tested the name. 

Yennen grinned softly. “He and Percival grew up together, Archie now runs the community center, he’d . . . he will help you.” 

“Thank you, Keeper Yennen,” Pike spoke softly, and it seemed the whole group was processing the slew of information they’d received. Vex knew she had plenty of questions for when they found him, but that entailed finding him first. 

“It’s my pleasure.” Yennen scanned the group. “You’re all Percival’s friends, correct?” 

Grog nodded. 

“We are,” Keyleth answered firmly. 

“I’m glad.” She dipped her head. “If I give you my phone number, would you contact me if you find him?” 

Vex pulled her phone back out. “Of course.” 

They left the church with a new purpose, piling into Scanlan’s van with their weapons and Keyleth’s stick in hand. The drive to the community center was swift, but still gave them time to stew in the knowledge they’d gained. 

“Percy’s royalty,” Scanlan muttered.

“And heir to a town, I guess?” Keyleth huffed, fiddling with the stick. 

“If that’s what Keeper Yennen was implying,” Pike said, narrowly avoiding being smacked by Keyleth’s twirling. 

“It had to be, right?” Vax huffed. “Like, the whole ‘Whitestone may have a chance’ thing was pretty . . . heavy.” 

Vex looked out the window. Whitestone was being led by the people who possibly, what, Killed Percy’s family? They took over his homeland and he was supposedly dead here from some disease that caused the massive quarantine. 

“Let’s just find him first,” she reminded them. “Once he’s back we can get our answers.” 

The community center was in view and it took all of Vex’s impulse control to not jump out the car and rush to get answers. She needed to find him, but as the sun began to set she wondered who would even be around this late. 

“Okay, let’s go.” Vax patted Vex’s knee as the care came to a stop. 

They moved as a group, leaving the sledgehammer behind in the car this time, much to Grog’s annoyance. 

The community center was mostly empty save a blue-haired receptionist with a nametag reading: Brynn. 

“ Hey ,” Scanlan slid up to the counter, giving his best smile before Vax shoved him away. 

“Hello, we’re looking for Archibald Desnay?” He said before Scanlan could flirt with the poor person. 

Vex stood next to her brother, there were only a few folk around, wandering the halls with exercise equipment or with books and papers like they’d been studying. She could see that this place was a hub, there were paintings on the walls clearly made by kids, and a basketball court with the squeaking of sneakers echoing across the hallway. 

“He’s upstairs,” Brynn answered after a moment, scanning the group. “What’s this about?” 

“We just have some questions about the center,” Vex answered smoothly. “We’re looking to join up.” 

“Yep!” Keyleth chimed in. “Love-uh-community.” 

Brynn raised a brow, but shrugged. “Okay . . . He’s in the second office, and it should have his name outside it. We close in half an hour, though.” 

“Right,” Vex nodded. “Thank you, we won’t be long.” 

Vex and the others trekked up the stairs, and quickly found the office. 

Archibald Desnay. Vex tapped the sign before knocking on the door. 

“Come in!” a deep, accented voice called. 

Vex pushed it open and saw a short, well-built man with red hair tied back by a headband. He grinned at them from his desk, half-buried in paperwork. 

“Can I help you?” 

“Yes, I”m Vex, this is Vax,” Vex entered the room with the others introducing them as they came in, and he blinked in surprise at the size of the group. “We were looking for you actually, Keeper Yennen said you could help us?” 

“Yennen, eh?” Archibald replied. “Well, if it’s in my power, I’ll do it.” 

Vax spoke. “We were told you might recognize this plate?” 

The moment Vax showed the license plate, Archibald’s entire friendly atmosphere disappeared, replaced instead by a stern and somber expression. 

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why do you want to know about her?” 

“Her?” Pike echoed. 

“Animus,” he spat the word. “It’s the Doctor’s car. She never comes here, but I’ve seen it around town.” 

“The Doctor?” Vax frowned. “Can you start from the beginning.” 

“Can you ?” Archibald countered. 

“We’re looking for someone,” Vex interjected, picking up on the growing tension. “He went missing six months ago.” She hesitated. “It’s Percy de Rolo.” 

Archibald’s face fell, and Vex could see the way his eyes hardened with grief and anger. “He’s dead, miss.” 

“He’s not,” Grog argued. 

“Vex, the photo?” 

Vex pulled her phone out at Keyleth’s suggestion. “Here.” She pulled up the photo of Percy she’d shown Keeper Yennen. “This was taken maybe eight months ago?” 

Archibald collapsed into his seat at the sight of Percy. “You’re not pulling my leg?” 

“No,” Scanlan shook his head, serious at the sudden tone shift. “But he’s been missing and we’re told you can help us find him.” 

“We think this Doctor was looking for him six months ago,” Vax explained. “He went missing afterwards.” 

“Shit,” Archibald pressed his hand to his eyes. “I helped bury that bastard.” 

Vex bit the inside of her cheek. She could see the war of emotion in Archibald’s face, relief, joy, grief, anger. He let out a weak laugh. “You said that the woman who drives Animus wanted him?” 

Vex tasted blood. “Yes.” 

“She lives outside town,” Archibald said, wiping his eyes. “She works for the Briarwood’s, some sort of engineer or something, she seems to do a bit of everything. Right bitch too.” He stood from his desk. “If we leave now, we might be able to get in while she’s still out an’ about,.” 

“Wait, we?” Vax blinked. 

“You come to me, claiming Percy’s alive, and there’s a chance that the Briarwood’s are involved?” Archibald scanned the group. “Any opportunity to take them down I’ll jump for, and if Percy truly is alive . . .” He shook his head. “He was my best friend, I can’t just leave him hanging. We can scour the house for information, maybe find out where he’s being hidden, and bring him home.” 

Vex felt her expression soften as the man spoke. This was the man who Percy had taken the name of. One who had no hesitation in jumping into the deep end for someone he hadn’t seen in five years. 

“Okay,” she said, earning surprised glances from the group. “Can you lead the way?” 

He grinned, a sly expression that spoke of trouble. “Certainly.” 

With Archie piled into the van it was getting rather cramped in the back. 

“Up here, into the Parchwood a bit,” Archie leaned over Scanlan’s driver seat, keeping an eye out for the right turns and path they had to take. 

Night had fallen and according to Archie she usually left the city around eight thirty, which gave them just over half an hour to get information and get out. Vax had gotten his lockpicks back out and was fiddling with them while they crossed onto a narrow dirt road that led down a hill towards the manor. 

Doctor Anna Ripley, as Archie had called her, had a good-sized manor in the Parchwood. She’d wanted the privacy for her work, apparently. The manor loomed over them as they approached, and Vex couldn’t begin to count the ways this could all go wrong. 

Chapter Text

A woman sat alone in an empty laboratory, goggles down her face as she worked with the corrosive chemicals. She carefully dropped them into the flask, watching as smoke rose from the concoction. 

Grinning, she leaned back, only to find her phone flashing with a notification. 

WARNING: MOTION DETECTED AT OUTSIDE PERIMETER. 

The grin slid off her face as she peeled her protective gloves off and removed the goggles. Opening her security app, she saw the footage of a gaudy, purple van driving down towards her home.

She narrowed her eyes. It seemed she had visitors. 

~~~

The lock opened thanks to Vax’s careful ministrations and the door creaked open. The group of seven entered slowly, behind their friend as he scanned the area for any signs of people or dangers. 

“C’mon,” Vax motioned the others forward as they entered the house. Grog hefted his sledgehammer, just in case, he’d said. Vex admittedly still had her knife, which gave her some small comfort in this whole insane mission. 

“Nice house,” Scanlan commented as the door closed behind them. 

“It’s not that nice,” Grog sniffed. “Don’t even have a bar.” 

“That we’ve seen.” Pike nudged her buddy’s side. 

“Focus up,” Vex snapped. “We need to find her office, see if she’s got any documents or-or something.” Vex honestly didn’t know what she was looking for, paperwork about the Briarwood’s? Photos of Percy? The bugs someone put into her apartment? 

Anything, she’d take anything that would give them a chance at finding him. Vex trekked through the house, careful to not leave any fingerprints. The house was grander on the inside, old architecture granting a sense of age and superiority that reminded her of her time in Syngorn. 

It made her skin itch. 

The bottom floor was relatively open, bookshelves pushed against the walls, a small den with two chairs and a fireplace, a frankly gorgeous kitchen and a set of stairs leading up to the second floor. Vex nodded her head and the group followed after her and Vax. 

The walk upstairs showed photos on the wall of a dark-haired child, and who looked to be her father, she was holding trophies or just with him in general, before it transitioned to an older woman alone, one with a degree near the top of the stairs. 

Vex studied the photo. The woman smiled, but something about it seemed off, fake. 

The upstairs was more closed off, a few rooms to explore with contents hidden behind heavy oak doors. 

“Split up?” Vax whispered. 

“Split up.” Vex agreed. “You and Grog and Scanlan, I’ll take Keyleth, Pike and Archie.” 

Her brother nodded and relayed the information to those still on the stairs. 

Vex started her search with the first door she came across, opening it up to find a bedroom. It felt weird to be in someone’s bedchambers without their knowledge, but Vex was determined to find Percy, and this woman seemed to have something to do with it. 

“Eugh.” 

Vex turned to see Keyleth shudder at the sight of a deer head mounted on the wall. 

“Yikes,” Vex frowned. She’d never had the heart for trophy hunting. 

Pike whistled quietly, and Vex saw her grabbing a journal off the bedside table. “Look what I found.” 

Vex crossed the room quickly, Keyleth and Archie by her side. “What’s in it?” 

Pike flipped through the pages, her brow furrowed. “Dates, notes.” she flipped a few more pages. “Looks like she was complaining about her old employers.” 

Archie frowned. “May I?” 

Pike handed him the book. 

He scanned the page she’d been flipped too. “I don’t recognize these names.” Pages flew past his thumb before he stopped them at a more recent date. “Looks like she was excited to join the Briarwood’s, they gave her funding for something.” 

“Funding for what?” Vex asked. 

“Doesn’t say,” Archie huffed, closing the book. “Should we keep this?” 

Pike shrugged but Vex nodded. “Anything and everything that can help us.” 

Keyleth wrung her hands on the stick she carried as she approached the group. “I can’t find anything else in here, it’s like, really clean.” 

“Too clean.” Pike pursed her lips. “Also what kind of person could sleep with that looking over them?” She jabbed a thumb towards the deer head. 

“A creepy one,” Vex muttered before speaking up. “Alright, let’s look in the next room.” 

They left the bedroom as they found it, sans book, and moved on to the next room as Vax and the others left their own search. 

“Just a guest room,” Vax said.

“Bad one too, no free booze.” Scanlan added. 

Grog shook his head sadly. “A waste.” 

“Also no creepy shit,” Scanlan amended at the glare Vex leveled at him. “I mean, that’s what we’re looking for right?” 

Vex rolled her eyes before pushing open the door, stepping into the middle of an office. 

“Jackpot,” Archie said, his lips twitching into a grin. “If you want information, this is where we’ll find it.” 

Vex couldn’t help the thrum of excitement that coursed through her. This was likely their best bet. She stepped into the room quickly, Vax sliding up behind her. Inside was another bookshelf, a large desk with a desktop computer on it, a few side tables with more papers and a printer, as well as a work table much like Percy had in his apartment. 

“There’s a lot  to sort through,” Vax commented. “Let’s get to work.” 

Vex eyed the computer. “Think you and Scanlan can get into there?” she asked, motioning towards it. 

Vax tilted his head. “If there’s a password written down somewhere, don’t want to leave too many fingerprints.” 

Vex nodded. “We’ll see what we can find.” 

Vex turned to the papers beside the computer as Vax sat down in the plush leather chair, Scanlan at his side searching the cabinets. 

Vex opened a notebook that was filled with small additions and post-its. She flipped to a random page. Ripley’s handwriting was easy enough to read, with the characteristic scrawl of someone excited by their work. 

The subject has responded well to the newest solution. I will be looking to see if increasing the paralytic has any unwanted effects. 

The subject has been more combative, increasing the sedative is a must. 

The subject responds poorly to compound A, will remove in the next round of testing. 

ORTHAX V7 has proven effective at keeping Subject conscious but pliable, will continue to perfect for mass production.

Vex felt a wave of nausea reading the words on the paper, dates and figures and chemical names were plastered over it. Whatever Orthax was, it was being used to hurt someone. 

Mass production? Vex blinked, rereading it. What kind of ‘mass production’? 

“Um, guys?” Scanlan’s voice cracked through the quiet of the room. “You might wanna see this.” 

Vex turned to see Vax and Scanlan had opened up the desktop computer, and had pulled up a security camera extension. 

There were multiple cameras set up, including one pointed down at them. Keyleth looked up and waved at the ceiling, her image on the screen waved back a few seconds later. 

“Shit,” Vax swore. “We gotta wipe this footage.” 

“How many rooms are being watched?” Vex asked, leaning over to study the small squares. 

“Uh,” Scanlan narrowed his eyes. “Seems like seven. This one, two perimeter cameras, the den, the kitchen, the backyard, and–” he stopped as the final camera frame was pulled up.

Vex’s breath caught in her throat, a horrible choking noise left her as she stared at the screen. There was a person lying prone on the floor of one of the rooms. 

The grainy grayscale didn’t help much for Vex to pick out details, but she knew him. She knew him. She could see his pale hair, his lanky frame, the light reflecting off his glasses. 

“Is–.” Keyleth’s voice broke as the group converged on the computer. “Is that him?” 

Vex was still, watching the footage with wide eyes. 

He was shivering, hands curled to his chest as he laid on his side. There were shadows on the ground, cast by whatever light was glinting off his glasses, long lines  that stretched onto his body, caging him. Realization came quickly, those were cell bars. 

The subject has responded well. The subject has been more combative. Subject. Subject. Subject. 

She gripped the notebook tighter, pages digging into her fingers. She quickly stuffed it into her bag.  

“Where is this room?” she asked in a hoarse voice. 

Vax was still frozen and she shook his shoulder. “Vax! Where’s the fucking room?” 

“I-I don’t know, uh, the-the basement!” Vax scanned the screen quickly as Keyleth stifled a sob with her hand. 

“Is he- Is he in the house?” Pike asked, her voice growing more urgent by the second. “Is he in this fucking house?” 

Vex turned to see Pike and Grog standing together, Archie beside them, and swallowed back the bile in her throat. “I-I think so.” 

Grog let out an animalistic growl before his hands tightened on the sledgehammer and charged out of the room, Pike at his heels.

“I’ve got em,” Archie said, snapping from his stupor and chasing after the two. 

“Vax?” Vex turned to her brother. “Get that footage, g-get all the footage. We need evidence.” 

Vax met her eyes. “I’ve got this. Go get him, sister.” 

Vex nodded and Scanlan hopped off the desk to follow, Keyleth close behind. 

They tore down the stairs, and Vex leapt over the bottom railing, just in time to see Grog take the sledgehammer to the wall. 

“Percy!” he shouted, a guttural rage in his voice. “Percy!” 

Pike had thrown open every door, already, and shook her head as Vex stood in the chaos. 

“There’s no doors to the basement, it’s gotta be hidden,” Pike explained. 

Archie had thrown the den into disarray. “We’ll find it, don’t worry.” 

Percy was below their feet, and the thought made Vex sick as she tried to keep her wits. 

If you’re a mad scientist, where would you keep your hidden door? Vex scanned the den, the halls, the bookshelves. 

The bookshelves. 

Vex leapt over an overturned chair. “Kiki! Start pulling books off the shelves!” she ordered. “You too, Scanlan!” 

They didn’t argue as they took to the shelves, tearing books off where they were placed carefully. 

Vex worked with reckless abandon, Percy was here, he was trapped and they could get him now. She tore off an entire shelf’s worth of books before she paused for a moment to breathe. 

Grog’s anger was still rattling her teeth as he tore at the walls, Vax was getting their evidence, and Pike had gotten to work, tugging at the floorboards. 

Vex moved to the next shelf in the den, ripping books off the shelves before she was stopped by the sound of something mechanical and a book that refused to budge from its tipped position. Paradise Lost. 

There was the sound of gears turning and Grog’s raging settled enough for them to gather. The bookshelf slid to the side, revealing a narrow door, painted the same color as the walls. 

Vex reached out, gripping the indent where it could be pulled to the side and did so. Beyond it was a set of stairs, leading down in a spiral. 

Her heart hammered in her chest, but she wasted no time. She had to find him. 

Archie was after her in just moments, Pike, Grog, Scanlan and Keyleth following after as they descended the dark staircase. At the landing she saw an iron door with light seeping out from under it. 

She swallowed thickly and opened it. 

Inside there were fluorescent lights that illuminated the harsh stonework. There was a desk set up with a tray of syringes and medicine bottles. She turned from it and saw him. 

He was stuck behind bars, like when they first met, only this time he wasn’t standing and making conversation. He was half-curled into himself, shivering violently on the ground. He was shirtless, and Vex could practically see the pain lancing through his body. Dark bruises and bloody gouges and cuts littered his pale skin. There was blood staining the cell, dark, rusty splatters and smears that made her stomach roll. 

“P-Percy?” Vex called out, sinking to her knees by his face. His hair was longer now, hanging by his ears. 

He didn’t lift his head, he didn’t even respond. 

“Percy!” Vex tried again, gripping the bars desperately, before looking back at the stunned group. 

Keyleth acted first, rushing to the cell door, only for it to be locked. “Shit.” She looked to Scanlan who had moved to the work table, throwing open the drawers. 

Grog was standing back, his eyes wide as Pike and Archie moved forward. 

“Percival?” Archie’s voice shook and Vex waited with bated breath for him to respond to his old friend’s voice. 

Nothing. 

Scanlan rushed over, and Keyleth snatched the key from his grasp, opening the door with a click. Vex surged to her feet, almost tripping over Pike as the two entered the cell. 

Pike was a doctor, and Vex thanked all the gods she was because she never expected this. Percy whined softly as they moved closer to him and Vex felt her heart break as she studied him more closely. 

He looked like hell. 

His back was a mess of long lacerations that were barely treated to prevent infection. Under it she could see older scars, marks too old to have been made in the six months he’d been missing, that looked like a mirror to the scabs on his back. He shuddered under Pike’s touch, as the doctor tried to get him to respond. 

“Percy, Percy c’mon, it’s us, can you hear me?” Pike gently grabbed his face, angling to look in his eyes. Vex could see how his pupils were blown wide and tears had dried on his cheeks. He made a soft noise in the back of his throat, animal-like in its desperation. 

“It’s us, Percy,” Vex repeated, trying to keep her voice steady. “We’re gonna get you out of here, okay?” 

He trembled under her touch as Vex grabbed his hand curled by his chest. His hands were cold and she could see where his nails had grown in warped.

they didn’t look like this before. Her eyes trailed down his arm, seeing track-marks where he’d been given injections over and over again. 

She wanted to scream, she wanted to kill someone, she wanted Percy whole and hale and to be okay again. 

“Can you follow my finger?” Pike asked, dragging her finger slowly through the air, back and forth. “Good job, Percy, that’s really good.” 

Vex blinked tears out of her eyes as Percy made another soft whine and she felt his fingers curl weakly around her hand. 

“Grog, I’m gonna need you to carry him,” Pike instructed. “His back is really bad, so–.” 

“I’ll be careful,” Grog promised, handing the sledgehammer to Archie before entering the cell. 

For a moment the goliath of a man hesitated, and Vex knew he was trying to figure out how to pick Percy up without hurting him further. Eventually he gave up and scooped the man into a gentle hold. Percy still protested with a moan, but it seemed like he couldn’t move much at all, and that thought made Vex’s anger rise up as she lost her grip on him. 

I will be looking to see if increasing the paralytic has any unwanted effects. 

“Let’s go, people!” Pike urged. “Gotta get a man to the hospital.” 

Archie reached out. “Not Whitestone General.” He warned. “The Briarwood’s, they’ll . . .” 

Percy flinched reflexively when Archie said that name. 

“Shit,” Pike cursed. “Where then?” 

“Westruun,” Keyleth suggested. “That’s the next nearest city.” 

“It’s hours away!” Scanlan protested, hands in his hair. “He could–.” 

“He hasn’t yet,” Pike snapped. “And I’ll be damned if he does now, we’ll get him there.” 

Vex nodded, watching as Percy wheezed in Grog’s arms, his eyes meeting hers directly for the first time. She tried to smile at him. “You’re gonna be just fine, Darling.” 

His jaw worked, and he wheezed again. “Mnn.” 

Vex felt her heart stutter in her chest. “You’ll be fine,” she reaffirmed. 

He shivered again, and Vex was suddenly aware of the chill that pervaded the stone room. She could still feel his cold hands on hers. He was supposed to be warm. 

“We can argue and move,” Pike urged, ushering Grog up the stairs. “C’mon everyone.” 

Vex followed after Grog and Pike who took the lead, keeping her eyes on Percy as they travelled up the stairs. 

“Vax will have to meet us at the van, there’s no way we can spare a moment,” Pike muttered and Vex nodded. 

“I’ll call him when we’re there.” She knew her brother, he was fast, and he’d be able to get out and join them quickly. 

They pushed out into the destroyed den and Grog froze as he entered the hallway. 

“Grog! Keep going!” Vex hissed, urgency driving her as he blocked the way. 

“Uh,” Grog’s hold tightened on Percy. 

Vex peered down the hall before her blood ran cold, blocking their exit were four large men and the woman from the photos on the wall. 

Anna Ripley. 

Chapter Text

Vex could remember the first time her heart skipped a beat when it came to Percy. They had known each other for a few months then, and he’d gotten back on his feet, working at Victor’s Garage and living in his own apartment. 

She’d been over with Trinket, just to visit as he finished moving in. She was proud of him, he had really turned his life around from when they first met. 

“I made something for you,” he’d said, sitting down on the lumpy couch beside her. Trinket had lifted his head from her lap and sniffed at the box in Percy’s hand. 

“Oh?” Vex raised a brow, taking the box with a curious gaze. “You know people are supposed to give you housewarming gifts?” 

Percy smiled, a rare but welcome sight. “I wanted to thank you for your help these past few months.” 

“Percy, you don’t have to.” 

 “I want to,” he insisted.

Vex found herself at a loss for words, but she opened the small box’s lid, revealing an arrowhead. 

She picked it up gingerly, the edges were smooth, sharp and perfectly balanced. It was made of sturdy brass, lightweight enough to fly easily through the air but strong enough to pierce her targets. 

“It’s wonderful. Thank you,” Vex breathed, looking up at Percy. He was still smiling at her, eyes soft and warm behind his glasses. 

For a moment she’d been caught, the breath leaving her chest and she felt heat rise in her cheeks. 

She forced back the flush to her face, and nudged his knee with hers. “I suppose I’ll have to take you to the archery range soon, so we can see what this can do.” 

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t say no.” 

Vex wasn’t some blushing schoolgirl and Percy was just her friend, but for a moment she wanted to grip him by the lapels of his coat and pull him into a kiss. 

“I’ll hold you to it,” she said instead. 

He nodded. “I would expect no less.” 

~~~

The first thing Vex noticed was the gun in Ripley’s hand. The second was that it was pointed at Grog. 

Vex swallowed thickly, Grog was a big guy, but no one could survive a point-blank shot to the brain. Not to mention he was still holding onto Percy, who definitely wouldn’t survive a gunshot. 

She slowly reached into her pocket, where the switchblade was kept. Her eyes darted to Archie who held Grog’s sledgehammer. He was glaring, hatred palpable in his expression. 

Keyleth and Scanlan were behind her and Pike, and Archie stood beside her. She knew they had the numbers, but none of them had a gun and Vax was still upstairs. 

“You know, people usually are rather upset when someone breaks into their home and destroys it,” Ripley said smoothly, as if she wasn’t holding them at gunpoint, as if Percy wasn’t found in her basement. “I think I can overlook it for now, if you put him down.” 

Vex’s jaw twitched as Grog held Percy closer. “Like hell,” she snapped, fingers curling around her switchblade.

Ripley shook her head. “You all seem . . . pleasant enough.” She eyed the holes in her wall from Grog’s sledgehammer. “I’m sure we can come to some agreement.”

“What kind of agreement?” Grog’s eyes were narrowed, and Vex could hear the anger in his words. 

Ripley shrugged, gesturing to Percy with her gun. “How much is he worth to you?” 

Vex’s attention flicked to her friend, the way he was limp in Grog’s arms, the dazed look in his eyes, the bloody scabs that now stained Grog’s hands. She thought of secrets shared and quiet words, of his smile, of days spent in each other’s company, of his warmth under a cold exterior. She cared deeply for him. In any world she’d find him. In every world she’d take him home. “He’s priceless.” 

Ripley smiled, shark-like. “Of course. Then you understand why I will not give him up so easily.” 

Vex’s lip curled. “Then you understand why we won’t let you keep him.” 

“Obstinate, just like him,” Ripley sighed. “I suppose I should have expected that from you, Vex’ahlia.” 

Vex stiffened. “How do you–?” 

Ripley’s smile widened. “I thought you were quicker than that, Miss Vessar, or did you truly think I wouldn’t do my research?” 

Did Percy tell her about me? She dismissed the thought. No, she means something else. 

Realization hit hard. “Y-you’re the one who bugged my apartment.” 

“Finally, she gets it.” Ripley mocked. “Percival truly wastes his talents with you people.”

“The fuck do you even want with him?” Scanlan demanded, stepping forward, only to halt as Ripley clicked the safety off on her firearm. 

“He possesses genius,” Ripley answered, eyes training on Percy with an intensity that stoked a protective fire in Vex. “Once he’s ready, we can change how we do things.” 

“That’s insane,” Pike said, her stance one that Vex had seen many times before a bar fight. “You kidnapped him.” 

“I saved him!” Ripley snapped. “The Briarwood’s would rather he be dead than be of use.” 

Keyleth growled "And you’d rather torture him?" 

“Call it remedial lessons,” Ripley replied, before she jerked her arm down and fired a shot. 

The sound of the gunshot made Vex’s ears ring as she flinched back, blinking at the sudden hole in the floor by Grog’s feet. 

“That was a warning,” Ripley’s voice was low. “The next one won’t be.” 

“You fucking bitch,” Archie snarled, raising the sledgehammer and charging forward. 

The bodyguards moved quickly, converging on the stocky man, but he slammed the hammer into one’s knee and they toppled to the ground as another tackled him. 

“Go! Get him out of here!” Archie snapped, using the hammer’s handle to hold off the guard. 

Keyleth rushed forward, whacking another with her stick, breaking it in two over the man’s face as Vex rushed at Ripley with Pike. 

The doctor fired a shot, just barely missing Vex’s neck, and Pike ducked low to sweep out at her legs, throwing her off balance before Pike was grabbed by the fourth bodyguard. 

The doctor raised her gun and fired again. Vex yelped as she felt the bullet graze her arm. It was a hot, burning pain and blood welled up quickly from the wound. She didn’t have time to stop though, as she drew her blade, lashing out at the doctor’s hand. 

Ripley dodged back, distracted as Pike and a bodyguard grappled on the floor near her, and Vex could see Scanlan and Grog rushing through the fray, Percy in tow, as they raced towards the open door. 

The doctor snarled at the sight, swinging her gun around to fire at Grog. Vex’s heart was in her throat as she lunged forward with her knife. 

With a shout, Vex swung her knife down on Ripley’s wrist that held the gun. Ripley fired as Vex’s knife connected, and the shot went low. 

“Agh!” Ripley stumbled back, blood flowing from the deep gash in her wrist as the gun clattered to the floor. The doctor hissed through her teeth as she staggered towards her weapon. “Idiots! We were going to change the world!”

In a flash, there was a dagger digging into Ripley’s shoulderblade, sending the woman to her knees with a gasping cry of pain.  

Vax stood by the stairs, his hand outstretched, as he stared at Ripley.

Vex moved and stepped on her hand when she reached for the gun. 

Archie had managed to knock out one of the guards and was grappling with the other, while Pike was on top of one, one eye swelling shut and her fists bloodied. Keyleth had a bloody nose and the guard was watching Ripley now instead of fighting her. 

Vex twisted her boot, forcing Ripley to cry out as it stretched her wound. She reached down and picked up the gun, aiming it at the doctor. 

Ripley stared up at her on her hands and knees, her wrist and back bleeding profusely. “So,” She grinned up at Vex. “You’ll kill me then?” 

Vex could barely hear anything over the pounding of her heart. This woman had taken Percy, her friend, for months. She’d been using him as some guinea pig in her twisted experiments. Blood flowed down Vex’s arm from the graze, and she knew that Ripley had been meaning to kill her. Kill all of them. 

Vex’s hand steadied as the image of Percy’s shivering, battered body flashed in her mind. 

“I’m not,” Vex took in a breath. “Percy is.” 

She fired. 

The recoil went a shockwave up Vex’s arm and Anna Ripley fell to the ground. The bullet hole in her chest left a rapidly spreading red stain on her clothes and she gasped, choking. The body guards froze and Archie threw off the one pinning him and got to his feet. 

“We need to go now,” he said, urgency in his tone. 

Vex blinked at the quaking form of Ripley. She’s dying. Vex felt her hand begin to shake. She deserves it. 

The bodyguard that had been fighting Keyleth shoved past the woman to get to Ripley. Vex staggered back, her breath catching in her throat as Ripley coughed flecks of blood onto the wood floor. 

Scanlan’s van pulled up outside the door, the back swinging open as Grog waved an arm. “Get in!” 

Vax reached over and grabbed Vex’s uninjured arm, tugging her away from the doctor. “Sister.” 

She met his eyes, and nodded, allowing herself to be pulled before the bodyguards got their bearings. 

Keyleth was pale, trembling as they piled into the car, the tight squeeze never seemed more oppressive as Scanlan sped off from the manor. 

Vex stared at Percy, Grog was holding him up in a sitting position. He was still shaking, head lolled onto his chest as Pike kept watch on his pulse, her fingers pressed to his thin wrists. 

He’s alive. Vex watched as he took in slow breaths. He’s alive. 

Her hands were shaking and it was only the weight against her knee that made her realize she was still holding Ripley’s gun. 

She’s dead. A wave of vertigo rolled over her. She’s dead and she can’t hurt anyone anymore. 

I killed her. 

Vex had never taken a life before. She worked at a pound for gods’ sake, she tried to rehabilitate animals. She still had the faded childhood memories of nursing a bird back to health with her mother’s guidance. 

But that was a long time ago. 

She watched Percy, his body slumping against Grog’s hold, like a marionette with its strings cut. His eyes were unfocused, his body frail and limp. He barely responded to anything that Pike did as she tried to reach him. 

Vex squeezed her hand around the grip of Ripley’s gun. 

He’s worth it. 

Grog’s arm was still keeping Percy up by the time they entered the open road outside of Whitestone. He was limp and pliable, struggling to do whatever Pike asked of him while she studied his injuries and tried to understand the extent of his awareness. 

Vex watched, somewhat detached as Pike checked Percy’s pulse for the umpteenth time. Keyleth had shifted closer, her upper lip and shirt bloodied and the bridge of her nose purpled with a blooming bruise. 

“Pike?” Keyleth’s voice was off from her damaged nose, but the desperation was there. 

“He’s alive,” Pike replied. “We just gotta get to a hospital.”

“Vex.” Vax’s voice. Vex turned to him. “Vex, can you let go of the gun?” 

Vex blinked, looking down to her hand. Her knuckles were white as she held the grip. “Oh.” She shuddered and slowly, carefully, passed the weapon to Vax who put it in his bag. 

“Vex, how are you feeling?” He asked, eyes wide as he studied her. “You weren’t hit right?” 

Suddenly she could feel the throbbing pain of the graze on her arm again and she winced. 

“Vex, were you hit?” Vax grabbed her shoulders and barely brushed the wound, causing Vex to flinch. “Shit.” He bit his lip, taking his coat off before pressing it to her arm. 

Vex hissed in pain at the pressure but Vax simply pressed harder. “You’re still bleeding,” he said by way of explanation. 

Vex shivered. “Thank you.” 

“How’s everyone doing?” Pike asked, looking around the car. “Vax?” 

“I’m fine,” Vax assured her. “I was in her office for most of the fight.” 

“Grog?”

“I’m good, Pikey.”

“We need a fucking plan,” Scanlan’s voice cut in from the front of the van.”We need a godsdamned plan.” 

“What do you mean?” Grog asked.

“We just broke into someone’s house and killed them!” Scanlan let out a hysterical laugh and Vex flinched. 

“For good reason!” Keyleth protested. “She had Percy! She was shooting at us!” 

“That’s manslaughter still!” Scanlan hit a hand against the steering wheel as he sped down the highway. “Justifiiable homicide at best.” 

“What were the police even doing to find Percy in the first place?” Archie asked.

“Nothing,” Pike answered. “He had fake documents. They didn’t care about finding a missing person whose real name no one even knew.” 

Silence hung over the car, as reality sunk in. 

Finding Percy was their goal, but Ripley had died because they broke into her house to find evidence. Because she’d taken him under everyone’s nose. Because Percy had lied about his identity for so long no one knew who to look for. 

Because he was supposed to be dead. 

“We stick to the important things,” Vex said, voice as firm as she could make it. “We were defending ourselves, she had Percy, we were concerned citizens looking for our friend.” 

“And the breaking in?” Scanlan countered. “The injuries?” 

“I wiped the recording of us breaking in, and I still have the footage of the basement,” Vax spoke up. “And it turned into a fight when Ripley tried to stop us, there was a gunshot, but we don’t know what happened.” 

Keyleth shuddered. “It’s true enough.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “It’s our word against hers and well . . .” 

Vex shuddered. 

So, you’ll kill me then? 

Vex leaned into her brother’s side, eyes trained on Percy’s shivering form. 

It’s our word against hers.

Chapter Text

Percy opened his eyes suddenly, sputtering as freezing cold water was dumped on his head. 

He coughed, rolling onto his hands and knees as the shock to his system left his heart racing and adrenaline pumping through his body. He looked around, harsh lighting silhouetting the shape of a woman. 

“Good morning, Percival.” 

Percy’s blood ran cold as Anna Ripley put an empty bucket down and leaned forward, reaching out and adjusting his glasses for him. 

“Glad to see you in one piece.” She stood back up, hands on her hips as she surveyed him. 

Percy growled under his breath, resisting the urge to touch his glasses, water dripped down his face and hair, his clothes clung to his skin uncomfortably. “What do you want, Anna?” 

Ripley raised a brow. “I want your help.” 

Percy glanced around, moving to stand. He was trapped in a cell that took up half of the room, leaving him looking out at a work desk pushed into the opposite corner. Inside the cell there was only a thin mattress that was now damp with the ice water that had been tossed on him. 

It was clear to him what was happening, and he struggled to keep his wits about him. He wasn’t going to lose it, he was not going to panic.

“What kind of help?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at Ripley. 

She grinned. “The Briarwood’s would rather you be dead. You know how they feel about loose ends,” she began. “But I managed to convince them that I could take you . . . under my wing, so to speak.” 

Percy couldn’t help the shudder that ran through him. “Why?”

“The Briarwood’s have hired me to create something new,” she explained, excitement in her voice. “But together we could truly revolutionize how things are run in Whitestone, the entirety of Tal’dorei.” 

“Revolutionize things, how?” 

“Orthax.” 

Percy blinked. “Orthax?” 

Ripley nodded. “It’s a new medication I’ve been tinkering with, it’s a mix of a few more common street drugs; Vampire’s Thrall, Dominate, and Dream, among other things.” 

Percy felt his heart pound in his chest. Vampire’s Thrall and Dominate were similar, mostly used to daze someone and make them more agreeable, though many used it for the apparent high, they were illegal but Percy knew that they were easy enough to find on the black market. Dream was hallucinogenic, causing vivid visions in those who were dosed with it. Percy had heard Pike’s horror stories of late night ER shifts when people came in having injured themselves accidentally while out of their minds on the substance.  

“What’s the point?” He demanded.

“Power,” Ripley said the word like it tasted sweet. “Orthax would be beneficial for the Briarwood’s sure, but imagine the income it could bring. The money it would provide could grant us the chance to make real change, and any who stand in our way? It’s a simple thing to dose them, to make sure that they’ll comply.” 

Percy shook his head. “You’re mad.” 

She wasn’t phased. “I’m a scientist, you of all people should understand what it means to want to shape the world with your own two hands.” 

“I’m not going to help you, Anna,” Percy insisted. “So let me go, and we can go our separate ways.” 

It was a lie. He had no intention of letting this go, he’d find a way to stop her, to kill her, to get this ghost of his childhood put to rest. He’d end her, he’d find Cassandra, and he’d get her to safety. 

“Hm,” she hummed. “I think you overestimate your choice in this endeavor.” She moved to the cell door, turning her back on Percy. “If you won’t help me with synthesizing it, you can help with the testing phase.” 

Percy grit his teeth, gathered his strength and lunged forward. Ripley spun, drawing a gun from her jacket and pressing its barrel into Percy’s sternum as they collided against the cell bars. 

“Careful, Percival,” She warned. “Wouldn’t want this to go like last time.” 

He hesitated, memories flashing in his mind of weeks spent in a cell much like this one, Ripley relishing in her power over him. His seventeen year old body broken and bloody, his spirit beaten down, hearing Cassandra crying out for help. 

I just want my sister back. 

In the time it took for him to claw his way back to himself, Ripley had her finger on the trigger, and turned off the safety, motioning for him to step backwards towards the mattress. 

“Good.” Ripley moved away, gun still pointed at him as she opened the cell door. “Now, stay put, and stay quiet.” She stepped out of the cell, locking it behind her. “I’ll be back soon.” 

~~~

“Mister Vessar?” 

Vax turned to see a tall, broad-shouldered man with short, curly hair staring at him. He had a marquessian accent and a serious expression. Vax stood up, it was his turn then, for the third time. 

After arriving at the hospital in Westruun, they were treated for their injuries and police were called. The conscious members of the group had been separated for questioning over the next few hours while Percy was being tended to by the doctors. Vax had seen Pike bullying some of the physicians for information, using her credentials in Emon as a bargaining chip. Scanlan had also mentioned calling some lawyers, and Keyleth had offered her family’s connections, so Vax was at least at ease knowing that someone was coming soon to help them out. 

Needless to say, everyone was exhausted from the fight and drive, and then they were questioned by hapless idiots who didn’t understand what had happened. Vax wasn’t looking forward to doing this again. 

He followed the officer to the small room set aside in the hospital for questioning, a private area that made Vax wish he was back with his sister already instead of having to repeat the story that they’d agreed on over and over again. 

“Please, have a seat.” The man motioned to the lone table and two chairs in the center of the room and Vax reluctantly sunk into the furthest chair. 

“I’m Detective Howarth from the Tal’dorei Bureau of Investigation,” he said, sitting down across from Vax. “I need to ask you a few questions.” 

“I figured,” Vax sniffed, crossing his arms. He’d never liked police, and while this guy apparently wasn’t the run of the mill cop, Vax still couldn’t find it in himself to trust him after the bungling of Percy’s case months prior. It seemed that people only took action when they could take credit. 

Howarth raised a well-groomed brow. “I’m not your enemy, Mister Vessar.” 

“Vax.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“It’s Vax, not Mister Vessar.” The name left a bad taste on Vax’s tongue, and burned his ears to hear it. 

Detective Howarth nodded once. “Alright, Vax, I just want to get your story straight.” 

“The truth you mean?” 

Howarth frowned. “Yes. The truth. Let’s start simple, can you describe your relationship with the victim?” 

“Percy,” Vax corrected. “His name is Percy, and we’re friends.” 

“Percy, my apologies,” Howarth said. “How long have you known him?” 

“About two years before he-,” Vax swallowed. “Before.” 

“Before he went missing?” 

“Yeah.” 

Howarth paused, leaning forward onto his elbows. “Look, Vax, I want to do right by your friend, and you need to trust me on this. I know what the Emonian Police found; that Percy had forged documents. and I know that there’s video evidence on your laptop.” 

Vax stayed as still as he could. “They took my laptop when you people showed up.” 

“And I have someone looking over it now,” Howarth said. “Whatever’s on there, whatever happened, the people who did it are going to go down.” 

She already did. Vax thought ruefully. The memory of Ripley’s dying breaths still echoed in his ears. “Good.” 

The detective leaned back. “I want to help.”

Vax sighed. “Okay.” 

Howarth took a breath. “Can you tell me what happened the last time you saw Percy? Before you and your friends found him?” 

Vax’s fingers twitched. “We were over at our friend Keyleth's place. We got into an argument, he left and went home.” 

“What was your argument about?” 

“Nothing important, he was irritable, I was–,” Worried “-annoyed, it was a bad day for both of us.” 

“Did you often get into arguments with Percy?” 

“Sometimes,” Vax admitted. “He’s a stubborn guy.”

Howarth’s eyes bored into Vax. “Did you know his identity was fake?” 

The non-sequiter threw Vax off. “No. We only found out after the cops did.” 

“And you continued to look for him?” 

“Yes, we looked for him,” Vax answered. “My sister never gave up.” 

Howarth paused. “And did you?” 

“Wh– I-,” Vax stumbled over his words. Had he? He had supported his sister’s efforts, even when it seemed to be more obsession than healthy concern. Maybe it’d kept him up at night, the fear for her mental state. Maybe he’d been worried more for her than for Percy. Maybe he’d thought Percy had run off, maybe he’d doubted that they’d find him at all. 

But Vex wanted to try, and he’d hoped it would give her some closure, even if it meant going on a wild goose chase.

Vax’s jaw worked. “I wouldn’t have—.” 

“Excuse me.” A voice came from the now opened door. Vax turned to see a short, stout woman with tanned skin, red hair and a scar on her cheek. She looked in at the two with sharp eyes. “I would like a word with my client before you continue this interrogation.” 

“It’s not an interrogation,” Detective Howarth protested. 

“Fine, questioning,” the woman said, before turning to Vax. “Vax, right? A word?” 

Vax stood, baffled, as the woman urged him to follow her. He hurried out of the room and away from the digging questions. 

“Who are you?” Vax asked, glancing down at the stranger. 

“Kima Vord,” she replied, pulling out her phone. “I’m a lawyer employed by the Ashari Foundation. Korrin called me.” 

Vax blinked. “Keyleth’s father?” 

Kima shrugged. “Said his daughter got caught up in some nasty business, he flew me over on a red-eye. Speaking of, I need a coffee.” 

“There’s the cafeteria?” Vax offered, flabbergasted by the woman’s brusque nature. She grinned at him and the two set off. 

Vax had always known Keyleth was the heiress to the Ashari Foundation, a large charity that focused on environmentalism, but it was different seeing that power in action. Her father had gotten a lawyer down here in a matter of hours after Keyleth called him, and if Vax knew the man from her stories, he was likely already in the hospital with her somewhere. 

Walking through the halls, Vax’s mind wandered. Detective Howarth was clearly angling for something, and part of him feared that he may have been implying that Vax wanted Percy gone. 

Did he? 

Vax hadn’t tried as hard, not like Vex did, not like Keyleth did. Vax cared, sure, he’d known Percy for two years, he was part of his life, he was funny, he was sharp as a tack, he was caring towards his sister in the way she deserved. They’d been good friends before the car crash. 

He bit his lip, suddenly feeling sick. 

He never actually looked, did he? 

Vax’s eyes fell to his shoes, a fleck of red stained the tip of his left boot. 

Keyleth’s panicked sob. Vex’s fury. Pike’s righteous anger. In the midst of it all, Vax had been numb, perhaps he’d remained numb until now, until he saw the blood on his shoe, the blood from the woman that took his friend. The woman his sister killed because she was going to kill them. 

Ripley’s pained shout as he rushed down the stairs echoed in his ears. “Idiots! We were going to change the world!” 

She had plans. Ones they’d never know the extent of. Ones that included torturing Percy to near death. 

And Vax had never looked. 

I’m a horrible friend. 

“Kid, you good?” Kima’s hand was warm on his arm. 

Vax shuddered and nodded. “Yeah. Just, it’s been a long fucking day.” 

If Kima noticed how shaky his voice was she didn’t say anything. 

They made their way to the cafeteria, there were a few groups of people and a scattering of other solo patrons. Kima moved to the coffee maker, getting a cup as Vax sat heavily at an empty table. 

She made her way over, the smell of burnt coffee drawing Vax’s eyes to her. “I’m guessing you want to ask your own questions?” 

Kima drank from her cup. “I’ve got some.” 

Vax waved a hand. 

“Alright,” She put her drink down. “You didn’t have anything to do with it right?” 

“No,” Vax said, anger flaring in his chest. 

“Good,” Kima responded. “That makes my job easier.” She tapped her finger on the cup. “What did you see when you found him?” 

Vax opened his mouth, closed it. He had seen a lot. “I only saw the security camera footage.” 

Kima gestured for him to go on. 

He didn’t want to. “I saw him in a cell.” The words were dragged from his throat. “I went back to start downloading the videos to my laptop while the others went to find him. After going through some previous days  . . . I saw her hurt him.” His leg started to bounce against his will. 

“You saw who hurt who?” 

“I saw that fucking doctor hurting Percy.” 

“Dont be vague. Which doctor?” Kima pressed. 

“Anna Ripley!” Vax exploded, standing up to get his leg to stop. 

Kima was unphased by his shout, but others nearby turned to look and Vax sat down again with a thump. 

Kima drank from her coffee again. “Look, kid, I’m on your side, I’m paid to be actually.” 

Vax snorted. 

“And I want to make sure you’re gonna be ready for the questions, the accusations, the stress.” 

“What do you mean?” Vax asked, arms crossed as his leg started to bounce again. 

Kima’s eyes softened slightly. “Your friend was a missing person for months, and with the drama around this ‘rescue’, it’s gonna be a field day for the reporters once they get their claws on it. I mean, I only got a brief overview of the case and it already reeks of something deeper. I’d be shocked if any of you get out of this without being harassed by story-chasers.” 

Vax frowned. “Shit.” 

“Yeah,” Kima chuckled. “Shit.” 

Vax put his head in his hands. “I’m a bartender, not some vigilante.” 

Kima scoffed. “Yet you drove off in a comically purple van to save your friend?” 

“It was Vex’s idea,” Vax defended weakly. “And Scanlan drove.” 

“You were all involved, though,” Kima countered. “That’s not gonna go away.” 

Vax wanted to disappear, he’d never liked the limelight, he wasn’t like Vex. He couldn’t schmooze his way through trouble with wit and charisma. He was charming in his own way, sure, but Vex was in another league. He liked the shadows, the secrecy he could weave himself into. He’d never wanted his past to be examined, never wanted his skeletons to be found. 

“Vax,” Kima reached out, putting a hand on his. “I won’t promise that everything will be okay, it’d be a load of shit if I did, but I can promise I’ll do my best to get you and your friends out of this as unscathed as possible.” 

Vax sighed, lifting his head. “I appreciate it, Miss Vord.” 

“Yeah well, it’s my job.” Kima took her hand back and sighed. “We should head back to that detective. I’ll stick with you, make sure he doesn’t try to corner you.” 

Vax nodded and gathered himself. This was going to be a nightmare.