Inktober for Writers, h/c edition, Day 19

Prompt: Panic Attack

Summary: [Early days] In which Napoleon learns the hard way that falling off of a waterfall has repercussions, even if you think you’ve recovered.

Cross-posted to AO3

As much as Napoleon wanted to admit that falling off
Niagara Falls was something that he had easily moved on from, it simply wasn’t
the case.  It had been embarrassing
enough when, just a couple of months later, he had fainted at the sight of
Angel Falls in Venezuela.  And it had
been frustrating as well to know that this was a weakness now.  He could only hope that THRUSH would never
find out about it.

Illya was calm and understanding through all of it,
reassuring him that it was to be expected that he have this aversion towards
waterfalls after what he had been through.
He thought nothing less of him.

However, the slow road to recovery from this ordeal soon
had to be abandoned as THRUSH gave chase while they were running through the
jungle.

“There is a cave behind these particular falls—we can use
it to hide from THRUSH,” Illya said.
“The tunnel goes deep enough that we can escape through the side of the
mountain.  We can outdistance them if we
hurry!”

And Napoleon had stopped as they approached, his breathing
tight and sweat pouring down his face as he stared at the cascade of water.

“Napoleon…” Illya said, gently but firmly.  “I would not insist upon it if we had no
other choice.  THRUSH grunts are coming
at us from all sides—there is no other way of escape but through the water.”

“…Go without me,” Napoleon said, after a moment.

“…What…?”

“I can’t ask you to put yourself in danger because of my
cowardice,” Napoleon said.  “You go on
ahead through the falls; I’ll try to hide out here.”

Illya’s expression softened—but only slightly, given the
dire circumstances.

“I have known you for over a year now, Napoleon.  Trust me when I say that you are not a
coward.  You do have a phobia, brought
about by your trauma—and it is a fear you must face, for THRUSH will not be
merciful after you dispatched of their leader last year.  And I will not abandon you to their
wrath.  Either we go through the water
together, or we both take our chances out here together.”

“I can’t let you do that!”

“And I cannot let you face THRUSH alone,” Illya
responded.  “I will go with your
decision, whatever it may be—but we will face it together.  It is how we defeated the Baron of THRUSH
last year, after all—and why our partnership worked out so well, in spite of
our being so different.”

Napoleon considered this and nodded; he looked back at the
falls, trying to unlock the knot forming in his chest.  And gunshot rang out from the opposite
direction, and then another—THRUSH was coming.

Napoleon stared at the water once more, looked back to
Illya, and gave a shaky—but determined—nod.

“We’ll take the falls.”

Illya nodded back in approval; he seized Napoleon’s hand,
and the two of them jumped through the veil of water and into the cave.

Napoleon exhaled the breath he’d been holding,
relieved.  He looked back at Illya with a
smile.

“Well done, Napoleon,” Illya said.  “But we cannot stay; we need to keep going
down these tunnels.”

Napoleon nodded and led the way, the two of them heading onward
together.