InsaneJournal

Who: Percy Weasley and Sam Winchester
When: Mid-May
Where: The Office
What: Helen’s still gone and Sam’s starting to worry
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete



Sam Leaned against the door frame to Percy’s office and knocked on the open door. His jacket was off, his tie loose, and his sleeves rolled up. A nervous expression was sitting on his eyebrows.


“Hey, Percy, you got a minute?” He asked. There were a couple of interns wandering around, so he didn’t want to say anything to alarm them. So far they’d been able to keep Helen’s wanderings relatively quiet.

Percy glanced up from his papers, computer, and general workload. He wasn’t going to be the one to say it, but he’d been terribly overworked the last few weeks, and it looked like it was catching up with him a bit. That stack of papers had never been quite so unwieldy before.

“Of course, Sam.” The redhead gave a little nod, and gestured for the much taller man to close the door if he felt the need.

The much taller man stepped into the office and closed the door behind himself, then took a seat in the chair opposite Percy’s desk. He gave a sigh, relaxing a little bit, but still looked worried. “I’m a bit concerned about Helen’s disappearance,” he began. Though, he was hoping that Percy would jump in and agree with him.

Which, to his credit, Percy did. “It has become a bit disconcerting.” He hadn’t realized it until Wilson had pointed it out to him, but that hardly seemed like the point now. “Have you -- tried contacting her?” He’d considered it, but really just wasn’t the sort to deal with oddities as such.

“I’ve tried. Straight to voicemail. I’ve tried the house phone, too, but no answer. I suppose Varric is working during the day when I think to call.” Sam said, frowning a bit. “I’ve emailed, too, though it’s not surprising I haven’t heard back there, either.”

Percy frowned at that, thinking. He leaned over enough in his seat to lean his elbows against his desk and slouch a bit. “Well,” he said slowly, dissecting the problem at hand. “Clearly she left intentionally, or else someone would have come asking questions, you’d think...” It was getting a bit on the side of ridiculous, though. That, of course, Percy would not say aloud.

“Well, she left some instructions.” Sam said. “I think she knew she was leaving. Not sure why, though, or for how long.” Sam added, frowning as he steepled his fingertips in front of him. “I think you and I should develop some sort of contingency plan, should she decide not to come back.”

Percy kept his mouth closed for a moment, considering Sam’s words. They had a very wise thought behind them, and the bespectacled man found himself appreciative of his friend all over again. “I -- think that is smart,” he agreed. Because really there was no telling how long this could be self sufficient without the person behind the name. He liked this job very much, but not enough to sink with it if it broke. “Very smart, actually.”

Sam hated to bring it up. Helen had been nothing but supportive and helpful to him, respectful and respectable. But if she just up and left... they really needed to have a plan. Just in case. “Do you have any thoughts?” He asked, tentatively. He wasn’t willing to sink with the ship, either, but he didn’t want to jump the gun, so to speak. How long was too long to wait?

Percy glanced at his door for a moment, as if trying to make sure no one was listening. That anything that was said here was between only Sam and himself. It felt a bit like mutiny. It felt a bit like sacrilege to be talking about this while at work. Then again, if he had to be honest, Percy felt like he was always at work lately - there wasn’t much choice on the matter.

He liked working, he loved this career, and he was happy Helen had hired him so fresh from the Bar Exam. But in the last month he’d completely missed out on life, too. He’d moved in with his boyfriend (one box at at time) -- and now felt he rarely even saw the other man unless they were sleeping. It might have been worth it for his own practice. But this wasn’t his.

“Well,” he said slowly after a minute of silence had ticked by. “We could always --er. Go into business together, so to say. We have both recruited some clients since starting here. Additionally, if Helen isn’t coming back -- we could...” Percy felt guilty even saying so. “Well. Her client base could effectively be ours.”

Sam nodded. He hated talking about it, but it had to be done. “Agreed. I think you and I work together rather well, and it would be a shame for the place to go under without Helen’s management. So, I take it you’d still be interested in working with me should she decide not to return?”

“We do work well together,” Percy agreed -- because it was true. They communicated well, and were often on the same wavelength as far as legal concerns were concerned. “Of course I’d like to continue working with you.” He gave a slight pause, finding his look of concern again. “How long -- I mean. How long is too long for someone to be gone? She might have an accountant, but -- who signs his paychecks?” Eventually it would all fall apart. Percy did a lot of things, but working for free wasn’t one of them.

“I think he signs his own,” Sam said, frowning just slightly. “That’s a good question, though. I don’t know how long is too long. A couple months?” He suggested. “God, it feels like digging her grave before she’s died.” Beat. “Terrible analogy, forget I brought it up.” He lifted his hands and ran them through his hair, feeling stressed and frustrated.

Percy agreed to not comment on that analogy, instead, remained silent for a moment. “Well,” he said after a long beat. “We shouldn’t rush into anything, obviously. But -- perhaps it can be a slight comfort for the both of us to know that we won’t be completely lost if things go downhill?” The redhead made a mental note to sit down with Wilson and glean his opinion as well.

Sam nodded emphatically. “I think that’s more than a slight comfort. It’s good to know we’re on the same page. We can revisit this topic a bit later, once the case load slows down a bit. After the judgement on the Stones’ case next week we should have a much lighter load.” Sam said, then gave Percy a smile. “I’ll have more things off my plate, anyway.”

Percy smiled at that too, because Sam wasn’t wrong. “I’d just like to clear up my ugly divorce case with the Walters,” he admitted. He wasn’t usually one to gossip, but, sometimes -- well. “I swear, fifty emails a day. Just give the woman the vase collection and sign the papers, already.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose just thinking about it.

“I hear that. Like the case we had last month with Anderson and Valencia? Jesus. Talk about irreconcilable differences.” He climbed up from his chair to head out of the office. “I swear they’re just doing it to be spiteful. I hope I never get to that point in my life.” They’d talked about the important stuff, and Sam should let Percy get back to those fifty emails from the Walterses.

“Same,” Percy said, but literally could not imagine a day when he and Wilson would ever really argue, let alone argue over belongings in a terrible break up. He shook his head to clear away that thought. “Thanks for -- you know. Bringing that up, Sam. I don’t feel better necessarily, but at least it’s something.” A pause. “Do let me know if you need any help with anything else you’re working on.” That Percy, always willing to take some extra work.

“You’re welcome.” Sam nodded. Even if Percy didn’t feel better, he did. There was the start of a plan. He and Percy were on the same page. That was a relief. “And I definitely will. So far so good. You keep me posted if you need help on the Walters case. I know it’s eating up a lot of your time.” Sam moved to the door, opened it, and gave Percy one last smile. “Drinks on Friday night. My treat.” He said, then headed off toward his own office.