Hey, friends! Welcome to the next installment in the Hours universe! This one includes nine chapters that are all pretty much self-contained events set from right after the last few stories to a few months later. The largest sequel composed of WHO FREAKING KNOWS HOW MANY CHAPTERS will be posted shortly after this one's completion. Seeing as the chapters of that larger sequel are longer, I only have a few of them done and will thus be updating once a week on this story so I have time to stock up more chapters on the next one before we begin.

—

While finding Gladio in the training rooms was not unusual, finding him there at 4:30 in the morning was less common. Cor had been catching glimpses of him doing smaller tasks for the King all day, but, even with everything that still needed doing, almost everyone in the Citadel had gone home or was asleep by now. Clarus had bidden Cor goodnight hours ago.

Not that Cor was curious what Gladio was doing. No, that was fairly obvious given his lack of coordination and the harshness of his strikes as he whaled on a punching bag. He wasn't training – he was raging.

Cor shrugged his coat off, hanging it neatly over a nearby weapon's rack as he approached the young Shield. "Trouble sleeping?"

Gladio barely spared him a glance, landing several more punches. "Didn't really try."

There were about half a dozen things wrong with Gladio's at the moment, but clearly form wasn't at the forefront of his mind.

"There's only so much you can learn from beating a stationary target that doesn't fight back."

Gladio landed a last punch, his chest heaving with effort as he turned to face Cor. "You making an offer?"

"If you would like." Not that the boy had any chance against him, especially in his current mindset.

They moved to the center of the room, where Gladio instantly barreled into action. It was honestly pathetic how many openings Cor could have taken advantage of, but he stayed on the defensive, letting Gladio burn himself out.

One wild hit after another, and all Cor did was block. Gladio radiated frustration, pushing on and punching harder and harder until exhaustion slowed his every strike. It was then Cor turned the tables, parrying one of his blows and rushing him, taking him down to the ground and pinning him there.

"Are you done?" Cor asked calmly.

Gladio didn't give much effort into struggling, his exhaustion clearly winning over his stubbornness. Either that, or he just knew it was useless.

"Yeah…" He huffed out a few more breaths into the floor. "Yeah… I'm done…"

Cor released him, standing and offering his hand down. "I take it there's something on your mind?"

Gladio rolled over, accepting the hand and pulling himself to his feet. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Hmph. This definitely hasn't ben the easiest few days. Your father had the luxury of adjusting to his duties a bit more gradually."

Gladio snorted. "Adjusting to my duties? I sat on my ass most of the time. Hell, Prompto did more to protect Noct than I did."

Cor nodded. "Your frustration is understandable, but it was a particular situation. Your skills wouldn't have helped, but you directed us to someone whose would."

Gladio scoffed, looking away and eying the punching bag again. "I'm Noct's Shield – it's my duty to protect him, not draft in others to do it for me. Even when he was right in front of me, I let him get taken again."

Gladio's words spoke of guilt, but his tone was of pure frustration and determination. The only reason he dwelled on his past actions was to learn – a trait he'd no doubt inherited from his father.

"So learn," Cor said flatly. "Take what you believe your mistakes to be and learn from them, as every other Shield has before. And while you're at it, find the focus you're sorely lacking at the moment."

Gladio seemed to contemplate his words before squaring his shoulders. "Yes, sir."

A buzz came from across the room, where Gladio's jacket was sitting on a chair.

Cor arched an eyebrow, wondering just how many people were awake at this hour.

Gladio's eyes flickered over to the jacket. "I'd better get that – it's Noct."

Of course. Noctis, Ignis, and Prompto were likely all battling fitful nights of sleep currently.

Cor headed for the door as Gladio went for his phone.

"Get some sleep, Gladio. And make sure your ward does the same."