Title: What Will You Do?

Summary: Vaan and his party fall into some trouble during an overnight airship flight. Balthier's willpower is put to the test as he tries to save his friends and discovers something very disturbing about House Solidor. Vayne x Balthier. Balthier x Larsa. Vayne x Larsa. Rated M for mature adult content and dark themes.

Author's Note: I regret to inform you that I do not own FF12 or any of its characters. I also feel I should warn you that this story is not for the faint of heart. If you do not enjoy dark themes – including non-con/forced sex, shota, incest, and abuse – please do not read any further! I do not wish to be responsible for you reading something you cannot unread. ^^; So consider yourself warned! I pulled this story from my archives to post on FFN in celebration of the upcoming game remaster (which has me pretty excited). Additional chapters will follow as I have time to review and post them. This was one of my earliest fanfics, so it could be a tad bit rough. I don't have a beta, so please excuse any errors. Please enjoy! ^^

Warnings: Yaoi, M/M, non-con, shota, incest, abuse, language, storyline spoilers.


Chapter 1: No Sleep till Brooklyn

"Damn it, that kid can sleep anywhere," Balthier muttered as he looked over at the young, dark-haired boy sprawled across the Aerodome bench. The sky pirate wondered when he would finally get to catch up on some rest. He had been awake for what seemed like an eternity. Muscles he didn't even know he had were aching from the hunts Vaan had insisted upon dragging him. But it wasn't like a sky pirate to turn down a hunt, so what could he say? After all, how could he hang back and be shown up by a princess and the other ladies… or bunnies… whatever they were.

"What's wrong Balthier? Jealous that someone besides you gets to sleep?" teased Vaan, knowing full well from their conversation earlier that afternoon that the man hadn't slept in three days straight. Go figure. Balthier should have known that he couldn't tell a teenager anything without having them sling it right back in his face within a maximum of six to eight hours.

"Just book the rooms on the airship, would you please?" Balthier responded coolly. 'Best not to show any hint of annoyance because that's what they latch on to', thought the sky pirate to himself. He casually readjusted the collar of his shirt, smoothed out his sleeve cuffs, and ran his fingers down over his sideburns. No matter how tired he was, there was no point in a gentleman looking disheveled when there were so many ladies about.

It was almost boarding time as Vaan left the group to go book rooms from the concierge. With some persuasion from Balthier, the group had decided that they would travel by airship back to Bhujerba and get private rooms so that they could finally catch up on some much needed shut-eye.

'Ah, thank the heavens… I can practically smell the clean sheets already,' the sky pirate mused as he imagined how wonderful it would be to stretch out on a soft mattress. It was a luxury he had not enjoyed in weeks. 'Yes, this is going to be purely divine. I simply cannot wai–'

"Hey everyone," greeted Vaan as he returned from the desk. "They didn't have enough rooms available, so we're gonna have to pair up."

The words quickly knocked the wind from Balthier's sails. In fact, he could practically feel his entire ship sinking into a black whirlpool towards the deepest depths of the sea. "Wonderful," the man said dryly.

The group made their usual pairings (Ashe and Fran, Penello with Vaan (that was just a given), and so on), each pair taking a room key from Vaan's outstretched hand and heading off to the boarding area, until there was but one key left. Balthier looked around to see nobody else besides Larsa, who was now standing next to him.

"Lady luck is just not on my side, is she?" Balthier protested once he realized there was nobody left for him to bunk with besides the little runt. He barely even knew who this child was, let alone could he imagine having to share a bed with him.

"Would all remaining passengers traveling to Bhujerba please board the aircraft.We will be departing in 5 minutes," crackled a female voice over the Aerodome speaker.

Balthier watched with incredulity as the royal brat grabbed the last key from Vaan's hand and jubilantly marched away.

"Guess it's decided then," said the blond. "Have a nice flight!" Vaan added with a smirk, spinning around and heading for the airship.