Summary Cor has just returned to Lestallum and is looking for Monica, wonder why she is not picking up her phone? You'll have to read and find out. Sorry I really suck at summaries. One day I will have a good summary. But till then please RxR.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, except the ideas and the creativity. Otherwise final fantasy belongs to someone else. Not me.

Anyway, after I played this game I could not help but fall in love with Cor and Monica. I know she is a super minor character. My favorite. Seriously I love a good main character, but there is something about a minor person with no background that just calls my name. I ship these two together because I feel that it just fits. Anyway I hope you enjoy, and please review. As always I am up to improvements just be gently nothing mean, please.

Silent Needs

Monica and Cor

It has been three years since they had last seen the light and their king. Three years since King Noctis had gone missing after he had his friends were in Niflheim. Since then, the people of Eos have lived in darkness, and in fear of the rising daemon populations. Thousands of refugees fled to whichever area held most promise of survival. That meant one overcrowded Lestallum. The only place with running power. The only place with light.

With the rising daemon populations, so was the rise of more daemon hunters. Leading this growing lifestyle was none other than the marshal himself, Cor Leonis. Cor along with the aid from Gladiolus, Ignis, and even Prompto had started training any abled body who was willing to become a hunter in these trying times. Cor had to admit he had seen better days, but as long as they all stayed positive and stayed alive he was sure they would see their king and the light again.

The hour was late, at least according to his phone. There was no way to tell time in the darkness. Cor had just come back from a hunting party with Gladiolus and his little sister, Iris. It was her debut in the field. Gladiolus had wanted to be there for her first time out. At first he had been against the idea of letting his sister fight, but Iris insisted. She said that it was in her blood just like Gladiolus and her father. And that she had to do something to protect the people. In the end he caved, at least he had reasoned she would be able to defend herself if anything should happen to the last light filled city.

Cor shook his head and rubbed his aching shoulder, as he made his way to his room. There was not much space available, so he usually shared his room with Talcott. As he entered his room, Talcott was sitting on his bed.

"Marshal!" he said, "How was it. Did you guys kill a lot of daemons?" Talcott was also being trained to be a hunter. But it was taking a longer time with him since he lacked the background that Iris had. Regardless he always seemed to keep up a cheerful composure.

"It went well enough," Cor said taking off his dusty coat.

"That's good to hear," he said then his face dropped a little.

"What is it?" Cor asked reading his expression.

"Well…ah."

"Out with it. Something happen when I was gone?"

"Well sort of. Have you seen…Monica yet?" Cor stopped unbuttoning his shirt and locked his eyes on Talcott.

"What happened? Is she alright?" Monica was his partner. He would handle the field work, while she managed the backbone of the operation. She did just about the same amount of work that any hunter or solider did, only she was safe when performing her duties. That was what Cor liked best, the simple information that she was safe gave him the strength to carry on. However, any little hint that things could have gone south was enough to raise the hairs on his neck.

"Well yeah, I think she's fine…she just seems down. Depressed almost." Cor released a sigh he was unaware he'd been holding. He could handle depression, he could not handle a wounded Monica.

She had been the one person that he found he could always rely upon. She never pried into his personal business, though he knew she kept her ears open. She never blamed him for not being there for King Regis. No, Monica was an important force in the current days they all faced. She always appeared in control and always stayed positive. The two of them had over the years built the perfect work relationship. She always knew where he was and he always knew where she was. The most important thing in trying times is by staying informed. And these two were a dynamic duo that many people relied on their leadership. Hearing that she was faltering, even in the slightest, was not a good thing.

"Where is she?" Cor asked as he began to re do the buttons on his shirt. Talcott smiled slightly, "I would try her room first. She has been hanging out there a bit more as of late." Cor thanked Talkit and went in search of his partner.

The search took longer than he expected. He first went to her room but was told that she was nowhere near it. To make matters worse, she was not picking up his calls. She never ignored his calls. 'Monica, where the hell are you,' he thought just after being told for the millionth time that on one knew where she was.

"Man you are Hard-Cor, eh marshal?" Cor looked to see Gladiolus walking up to him.

"Just looking for Monica, have you seen her?"

"As a matter of fact, yeah. She was by the west gate. She looked like she was looking for something." Cor nodded his thanks and moved on.

He quicken his pace, least he miss her. Some tension left him when he heard she was seen. That meant she was alive at least and had not done something reckless or stupid. He rounded a corner and spotted her standing near the edge of town, staring off into the darkness. His paced slowed momentarily, only to figure the situation out. She looked torn between walking into the night, and staying in the artificial light. She looked lonely. As if she was on the edge and was giving into gravity. Cor felt his heartbeat quicken against his ribcage. What in Eos happened when he was gone to cause such an inner turmoil to brew in his partner? She took one small step toward the night, and Cor's blood froze in his veins. Paralyzing him for a brief moment.

"Monica!" he said a little too coldly. She jumped, squawking her surprise. She turned to face his approach clutching her chest.

"Cor, your back? You scared me" she said fixing a facade on her face. He nearly growled a warning, 'You nearly scared me,' he thought. He had seen her face. The sadness etched into her pale skin. The longing for something out of reach. And now she was trying to cover it up with her usually work face. She should have known by now that it was pointless to try and hide anything from him. He was after all the only person who knew her best. She was not always sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"What are you doing here?" he asked coming to stand in front of her, gesturing to the land beyond the light and gate.

He could not have her wondering off into the blackness to be shallowed up by a daemon. He restrained a shudder at the thought that a pair of tags could have been the last bit of her. He also restrained himself from grabbing her and dragging her back to her room and place her under house arrest. The latter was pretty extreme. But after three years of nothing, but constant battling with daemons. It was wearing thin on him. He was not going to take the chance. He had seen things he wished he would never have seen. Daemons tearing into the flash of clumsy hunters. The actual terrors of battle and smell of metallic blood covering the ground and himself. No, there was no way he would allow Monica to just throw her life away, least of all to a daemon.

"Um… just out for a wal-"

"The truth please," he said cutting off her lie. Monica looked into Cor's face and realized it was a foolish idea to try and lie in the first place.

"I was looking for something," she said simply, hoping he'd take the excuse. He didn't.

"Why didn't you answer my calls?" To say that Cor was mad was an understatement. In fact to Monica he looked piping mad. She knew she should have answered his calls. But she was allowed a few dumb mistakes in her life. She was preoccupied and frankly she had not been expecting him to return so quickly. Therefore, she had assumed she could miss a call. She thought he was calling her to inform her on their return time.

"Oh I must have forgotten to charge the battery," she started to say, when said phone betrayed her by whistling a tune.

"Try again," he said quite patiently, carefully watching her wince at the ringtone. If Monica was having depression problems he had to wait her out and pull any negative thoughts to the surface. It would destroy him if he knew something was amiss, and leave her to possible suicidal thoughts. It was not unheard of in the times they faced. There had been plenty of reports on the dark subject. But if Monica left him in such a state there would be nothing left for him. He himself would fall off the face of Eos. It would be the worst feelings in the world to fail everyone who trusted him and depended on him. He was not there for both of his Kings. He failed both of them. One dead and the other only the Six knew. He felt like he was failing Eos itself. No he would not fail Monica. She was the reason he kept fighting. She pushed him by not giving up herself. Reading her frantic attempt to conceal her emotions. He moved closer to her, reaching a hand to place on her shoulder.

"Monica, what is it?" he asked in a softer voice.

She dropped her head to hide her eyes. The silence that issued was broken by the sound of an emerging daemon in the distance. Monica jumped eyes wide with terror, three years and she still was not used to the sound. It was the center of her nightmares.

Both of their heads turned to the sound. Cor immediately clutched his katana, and pulled Monica in close to his body, preparing for a fight. That sound was the pure black essence of nightmares. It was habit at this point, when you heard that sound you had to be on your feet. However, they were still in the protection of the cities lights and behind the gate. Usually the daemons arose when there was a warm bodied person or animal nearby. Meaning that someone may be in trouble.

Cor turned to Monica intending to tell her to wait, when he noticed the sad look in her eyes. Before he could ask, she told him the reason behind it.

"King Noctis's feline friend is out there."

"The cat," he said astounded. That was the reason she was here. She nodded in agreement.

"He was pretty old, and in the last couple of days I noted that his movements were slowing."

"I can go get him," he offered. Monica shook her head and surprised Cor by leaning into his body and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Please don't," she whispered against the fabric of his shirt, "Please don't risk yourself. I followed him here, I know he's not coming back." Cor felt his shirt becoming slightly damp. He closed his eyes, and relaxed his grip on his sword. He then raised his right arm and wrapped it around Monica. His hand rubbing small circles into her back. Monica let out a small sob, forcing Cor to squeeze her tighter. He released a pent up breath of relief. She was not here to commit suicide, at least not likely. But he would watch her for a few days just to make sure. His restless feet usually took him away from the city frequently. It would do him good to sit still for a little while.

"Come on let's head back," he suggested.

"Oh crap! I'm sorry," Monica stuttered as she pulled back turning around to hide her tears, "You just got back you must be tired? I should not have kept you."

He snorted, "I am the immortal Cor nothing makes me tired."

Monica didn't say anything, there was nothing she could say because the laughter that bubbled out prevented her from saying anything. Her laughter quickly turned into uncontrollable sobs. He let a small rare smile form on his lips as he moved behind her and took hold of her shoulders and pulled her against his body. He wrapped his arms around her, and held her tightly against himself. This one simply gesture was enough to push Monica over the cliff.

She let her body relax and press into the warmth of the Marshal. Her chest heaving with the ensuing sobs that slipped pass her parched lips. Tears burned down her cheeks but she paid them no mind. She cried and cried till she felt herself being gently led toward a direction.

Her heart was filled with death. She faced it every day, hearing news of her hunters falling, of defenseless people dying. The world was a bleak and dark place, and she felt herself being dragged into the black abyss. She barely managed her daily fear that the last few people that she cared for would come back to her as dog tags. She was not a fighter. She was a leader by her knowledge and her gifts for strategy. She had no place in the battle field, but by getting in the way. She could use a firearm. She was not completely helpless in that aspect. But she had trouble when it came to daemons.

Years before the fall of the crown city, she had gone to Gaud quia with her family. On the return journey just outside of Hammerhead, they were attached by an Iron giant that spawned in front on the car. Her father had swerved and collided with another emerging giant. Her father had died on impact. Her mother was trapped and had yelled at her two daughters to run. Monica and her sister tried to flee. But it was futile. It had torn apart Monica heart to leave her mother and father but she had to get her little sister to safety. The lights of Hammerhead were so close, yet so far away. Just out of reach. The two iron giants were joined by four white bombs. Monica had heard their mother cry as she heard the crunch of the car. In that moment her sister had faltered and stumbled, a fatal mistake. The last thing Monica remembered before feeling an intense burning sensation run down her back was the shouting calls of man and the firing of a gun.

When she had awoken, she discovered that a man named Cid had saved her. But her family was not as lucky. She remembered the numb feeling she felt when he told her the news. Cid asked her if there was anyone he could inform of her disposition, she recalled his look of surprise when she told him to call Cor Leonis. She was also surprised at how fast Cor was there by her side. He came and carried her home, placing her into the citadel's hospital to tend her wounds. This part was a blur to her. She never saw the sheer panic that Cor's face displayed after hearing what happened. Or the fact that he missed an important meeting with King Regis to drive out and get her. Even now he was taking care of her, without her realizing it.

She vaguely heard a door open and shut. Her nose slowly registering the familiar scent of a room she spent a good deal in planning various strategies over a stale bottles of water. She felt herself being pushed gently into a sitting position on a somewhat hard bed. Her eyes puffy, and her nose dripped snot. She giggled slightly hysterically, she must look really attractive right now. A surprisingly gently hand dabbed at her tears with a damp cloth. Monica blinked a few times to clear her vision and lock her red eyes on those steel blue eyes of the Marshals.

"I'm sorry for being weak," she whispered, her voice raw and hoarse. Cor just shook his head, "You're not weak for showing your emotions."

"Yes I am."

"No! It is very hard to stay positive without at least a little relapse every now and then."

"But you never show weakness!" He met her eyes but didn't answer. He did not trust his voice with a reasonable excuse. If he was being honest with himself he was finding it difficult to stay positive. He had spent many restless nights, worrying about whether the lights would go out. Leaving hundreds of people in the dark and him miles away to aid anyone. Leaving Monica without protection to fend off daemons by herself.

That time when she lost her whole family, and nearly her own life. That was a moment in his life that he wished he would never have to face again. He should have closed the gap between them then. Shiva only knew that he should have done more for Monica in the days that followed the incident. He had remained by her side through most of it. He even made her stay with him at his place till she got back on her feet. That was a trying time. The first couple of weeks were plagued by screaming night terrors that resulted in Monica sharing his bed. Nothing came of it, but Cor found that she sept better when there was a warm body to lean against. They never had sex. Cor had been appalled when Claurs had asked such a thing. He would never have taken advantage of her in that way, even if she wanted it at the time.

He eyed her face, etching every line into his memory. He restrained his hands from closing over her body and drawing her in again. Eos without her was unthinkable.

"I should not be sitting here crying over a cat," she said flinging her hands out. Cor caught them in his hands and kneeled in front of her. He knew there was more behind those tears than just for a cat.

Her hands were rough from the hard life they were living. At one point in the past they used to be silky smooth, but that was when she had access to proper moisturizer. Cor found that he missed her original scent, of honey and lavender. He missed lying in bed with her, smelling the lavender in her hair. The way she would snuggle against his chest, holding onto him for dear life. He even missed the way her legs would wrap around his, as if she was trying to subdue the restless immortal. He may have missed her perfume scent but Monica had a special smell that was uniquely, Monica.

He would be lying to himself he didn't say he loved it with or without the honey and lavender. He was drawn to her, wherever she was in Eos. She was the most stable being in his life. Which made him chuckle, because he was the most unstable, restless wanderer in all of Eos. He just could not sit still, and for some reason Monica never left him. She was his anchor. His beacon in the night. Any normal person would have gotten fed up long ago and would have left without thinking about it. But not Monica, not his Monica.

"Monica, you are doing a magnificent job, of showing the people stability." 'Of showing me stability,' he thought the latter, "You must not give up now."

"Cor, what if I can't go on, what if I'm not stron…" Cor gave in and sealed his month over hers, stealing those nasty words from her. Never would he allow her to question herself. She was the strongest woman he knew. Hell she was stronger than most men he knew, at least half of the hunters. He refused to allow her to think that she was weak. She had seen things that would have made a grown man piss themselves. She had lived through hardships, from the Iron giants to fleeing the crown city to now living in pitch darkness. If that wasn't considered strong then he clearly did not understand the word. So he kissed her, hoping that it would be enough. He had to show her that they would get through this together. He needed her to continue to live. He had to show her somehow to fight through this. Even if it meant damning their relationship.

Monica's eyes widen in surprise. His lips were surprisingly soft against hers, not demanding, not pushing, just soft. A gently kiss, one hand framing her delicate face, his thumb absently stroking her tear burned cheek. Once he pulled back just enough so that their foreheads were lightly touching. She could feel his warm breath on her face. Her mouth was agape, as she stared stunned by his bold actions.

Cor smirked, and lifted a finger under her chin to close her mouth, and said, "You'll catch flies that way." He immediately stood and turned around to gather something off the back of a chair. Monica was still shocked. She was finding words to be difficult and could not form a simple sentence in her head. When Cor turned back to her he held out a long t-shirt to her. "You can sleep here tonight."

"What?" she said, her mind fighting to regain control.

"I don't want you to be alone tonight. You just lost something important to you. I for one know the feeling," he said remembering things he wished to forget, "I won't have you face that alone. I am here for you."

"Are you here for me?" she questioned. They lived with so many uncertainties. She could not bear the thought of a commitment if it was only going to be taken away.

"Always."

Fresh tears sild down her face, "It was just a cat." She whispered.

"It was our Kings cat," he said, "I know full well that you were taking care of that cat for King Noctis. I know that you want him to return. Everyone is waiting on him. So don't say it's just a cat. It was a little bit of hope and life." His words struck deep to the core in Monica, damn it all he spoke the truth. She was caring for the cat in hopes that when King Noctis came back the cat and he could be reunited. Something she wished could happen with her and her family.

To see something good. It was a stupid notion but it was one that kept her going. There was a helpless creature that needed her and she needed it in return. She did not realize how important that cat was to her.

She had lost her cats when the crown city fell and she remembered how happy they made her. How they made her life more bearable after the daemon attack. She was not as alone as she often had felt in the days that followed. In fact it was Cor's idea for her to get an animal of sorts. It was his way of caring for her. He could not be there every night since he was technically the marshal of the crowns ground. But he did go to the humane society with her, where she found her first cat.

It was the same with King Noctis feline friend, even though they faced tough times the soft purring after a particular troubling day was soothing. Especially on the days when she would receive news that her hunters or even the one time Cor had been hurt. She involuntarily shivered at that memory.

She remembered it quite vividly. Cor had called in with a progress report. He had played off his injury as minor, but Monica knew better. He played it down to prevent excess worry. After hearing the news she had returned to her room where the cat had curled into her lap and purred as she cried. She could not bear the thought of losing him to a daemon like her family.

The cat was important for her. It was her support system when Cor was away. She depended on him more then she realized. He was the only person in her life that was good and stable. She had no social life outside the crowns guard before and after the fall of the city. Cor was the only constant in her life, and they worked flawlessly together. If he were to leave her now, she would forever be lost in the dark. He was her beacon, her light in this pit of blackness where they lived. She reached for the shirt, taking it from Cor. He was about to leave to let her change when she stopped him.

"Help me change?" He froze, she could change herself. She was not helpless, but the way she said it he understood what she meant. 'So maybe I didn't just commit friendship suicide,' he thought as he moved closer to her and tugged her shirt over her head. Her pale skin, desperate for some sun, broke out in goose bumps in the cool air. He glanced down, to stare at the lacy worn black bra she wore. She reached behind her to unclasp it, he quickly stopped her hands from finishing it.

"Monica." He said locking their eyes together. He had to make sure she fully understood what she was doing. Because for him there would be no going back to normal after tonight. He could not lie with her the same way as they had in the past.

"I am not sleeping in my bra," She said simply, she knew she was asking for trouble. But at this moment all she wanted was to live in the moment. Tomorrows were not guaranteed for the life they lived. Tonight she wanted Cor's hands on her body. She wanted to lie beneath, to feel him inside her. She wanted to feel what it would be like to make love with her immortal. She had wondered many times if he would be hard, gently, or a mix of both. She wanted this now. If she never did this she would regret it for life.

"Please Cor, just this once. You have taken care of me in so many ways. For one night let me feel good, let me be alive for you." Cor responded by claiming her lips in a heated fury. He had been waiting for those words. Those exact words, alive for you. He lived for Monica. As long as they had each other they could get through this.

His hands making quick work of the article of cloth and firmly latched onto her skin. There was such a raw desire coursing though both of them. Years of pent up emotions and skirting this subject. The two needed this, to feel the other naked beneath them. To feel needed, to feel alive. To feel each other.

They have for years now walked that thin line between comrades and lovers. Cor could not deny her anything. Which worked out for him, because she never asked for anything. He was sure if she had said jump a long time ago, he would have fallen blindly.

It was a statement of their trust in each other. It shows that their hidden love could shine through and break any wall of darkness.

She called and he fell.