**I know Gladio is a lot more timid compared to SSLOT (ok a LOT more), but consider that he's never been with a guy and this is four years before the other story.

ANYTHING TO HELP YOU SLEEP

CHAPTER 2

Normally Ignis didn't spend this much time at the gym in one day, but thankfully his office schedule was fairly clear and he took the opportunity to try and burn off as much energy as he could. He may have been able to sleep a few hours last night, thanks to Gladio, but he wasn't sure if he would get so lucky again. Maybe if he exhausted himself his mind wouldn't have the energy to produce nightmares.

Taking a break from the treadmill Ignis shook his legs out before bending over and putting his palms on the mat, stretching out his hamstrings. He heard a loud whoosh in the other room of the gym and recognized it. There weren't many people who could swing a sword that big, even a practice one.

Walking through the gym, making sure he didn't trip over any stray weights, Ignis made his way to the enclosed sparring room. He opened the door and listened. He only heard one pair of feet on the mats as the oversized sparring sword whirled around at a measured pace. The faint aroma of argan oil was in the air. "Afternoon, Gladio."

The wooshing stopped. "Hey, Specks. Thought that was you in the gym. You looked like you were in the zone so I didn't want to bug you."

"You never bug me," Ignis said before he could stop himself. He cleared his throat to cover it. "Would you care for a sparring partner?"

"Sure. His Highness should be along soon, I was just warming up."

He slid his sneakers off and placed them squarely by the door before Ignis summoned his practice daggers. He double checked the edge to make sure they weren't his Vigilantes before heading into the room.

It had been a few months since Ignis had gotten a decent sparing session in and Gladio gave him no quarter. Thankfully his sword made a decent amount of noise and was comparatively slow to Ignis' daggers. Still, the shield was true to his title and managed to block nearly all of Ignis' attacks as the strategist dodged his in turn. He heard another swing coming at him from the side and managed to lean back far enough, just feeling it pass in front of his nose as he did. What he didn't expect was a swift kick to the back of his calves. He lost his balance and hit the matt hard.

Gladio was breathing hard, but was by no means was winded as he chuckled. "I win."

"You cheated."

"Since when is a leg sweep considered cheating in a sparring match?" Ignis didn't have a witty response at the moment. Gladio tapped his knee, indicating he was holding out a hand to help him up. Ignis grabbed the larger man's hand and was hoisted to his feet a little faster than he anticipated and he wound up against Gladio's chest.

"Sorry," he said, but the larger man didn't say anything or make any attempt to move away. The back of his hand was touching Gladio's chest and he could feel his heart beating. They stood there for long, drawn out seconds. He wished he could see the expression on the shields face.

Suddenly there was space between the two. Ignis went to say something, but he heard the sound of the sparring room's door opening. He turned toward it when he heard a familiar voice. "Oh, hey Ignis," said Noctis from the doorway.

"Afternoon, Highness."

"Are you joining us?" asked their King.

Ignis shook his head. "I was just finishing up. Don't let him go too easy on you," said Ignis in a light tone as he grabbed his shoes. "Watch out for leg sweeps," he whispered to Noctis as he slipped past him and out the door.

Ignis ran through the dark hallways of the citadel toward the throne room. He'd lost track of the others during the fray and could only hope that they were on their way too. The cries of daemons echoed from the hall behind him.

Bursting through the throne room doors he looked up and choked on his cry. Hanging from chains from the ceiling were Luna, King Regis, Noct, and Gladio. Their eyes had been gouged out and fresh blood still dripped from Gladio and Noct. Ignis fell to his knees.

"Well, well, well you finally arrived." said Ardyn from the top of the stairs. He was holding Prompto by the throat, the gunslingers feet kicked freely beneath him as he struggled. "Has anyone ever told you it's rude to be late to a party?" Ardyn looked down at him with the eyes of a daemon, blackness oozing from his mouth as he spoke.

Chains snaked their way down from the ceiling and wrapped around the blonde as he struggled. Ardyn held a bloodied dagger in his hand as he restrained Prompto by the hair. "Would you like to choose which eye he loses first? It's only fair, after all, for them to be as blind as you."

"Let him go!"

Ardyn shrugged. "Very well I'll choose for you." He held the dagger to Prompto's face. "Eeny… meeny… miny…"

Gladio tossed and turned in his bed. He was tired, but he just couldn't sleep. He was worried about Ignis. On top of that there was that moment they had in the sparring room before Noctis walked in. Gladio was still trying to figure out if it was a moment at all. Ignis was such an enigma. He never wore his emotions on his sleeve like the others did.

He rolled on his back and pressed his palms into his eyes. He wasn't going to get any sleep. Reaching for his phone he checked the time. It was just after eleven. Gladio groaned, he was supposed to be up early to run the Kingsglaive rookies through a drill. There was no way he was getting to sleep without checking on Ignis. The strategist might still be awake too.

Sliding out of bed he threw on his sweatpants and tank top before heading out into the hall. Ignis' room was on the same floor but the other side of the wing. The hallways were empty as they usually were at this time of night. The Citadel had only recently started having the upper suites available and most of the rooms remained unoccupied.

Finding Ignis' door he raised his hand to knock and paused. What if Ignis was finally getting some sleep? He'd pushed himself pretty hard today in the gym and Gladio assumed he would be pretty wiped. This was stupid, he was overthinking things. He lowered his hand and began walking back to his room before he heard Ignis scream.

Thankfully the door was unlocked or Gladio would have broken it down.

"Ignis," he called as he turned the light on.

Ignis was flailing like he was running in his sleep. Gladio held his shoulders, trying to calm him down, but he was in a state of panic. Somewhere in the chaos Ignis landed a punch to the side of Gladio's face, hard. It took Gladio a moment to see straight again before he managed to get a hold of Ignis' wrists. "Ignis. Ignis wake up. You're dreaming. Ignis."

Slowly Ignis stopped flailing and his gasps retreated to only labored breathing. "Gladio?"

"Yeah, I'm here. You were screaming." He let go of Ignis wrists.

Ignis' breathing slowed. "My hand hurts."

"I would think so," said Gladio with a light smile. "It did make contact with my skull."

Ignis reached out and placed a hand on Gladio's face. He winced, not from the contact, but because it really hurt. "I'm so sorry." Ignis had already began to heal him.

"I'm just glad you don't cast in your sleep. The room would be on fire."

"I have had that concern," Ignis said as the tingle of magic dissipated. When it was gone completely Ignis didn't remove his hand right away. He traced a thumb across the scar on his cheek and seemed lost in thought.

"Umm, Ignis?"

"Sorry, just making sure you were really you."

"What was the dream about? It must have been bad."

Ignis slumped back. He looked exhausted. His normally perfect hair was in disarray, his blankets were cast all over the bed and there was a dark ring under his less-damaged eye. "It was Ardyn in the throne room. I never saw it in person but Noct told me about what it looked like. With Luna and the others hanging there."

"Oh… yeah, that was pretty nightmareish."

"But you were one of the ones hanging there. Noct too. Ardyn had cut out your eyes before he killed you. He started doing the same to Prompto in front of me."

Gladio cringed from the mental image. "Six, Iggy. That's the stuff that's been keeping you up at night? No wonder you tried drinking that garbage vodka."

Ignis nodded sadly. "It's been like that every night for a week. The best sleep I've gotten was the few hours you were here."

Gladio was silent. He didn't know what to say. Going that long without sleep would have driven Gladio mad. He hadn't seen Ignis so vulnerable since the accident.

"Could you stay?" Ignis asked suddenly. Gladio didn't answer right away, causing Ignis' expression to falter. "I'm sorry, you probably have an early day tomorrow. Nevermind. Forget I-"

"I'll stay," said Gladio. Ignis expression lightened. "Let me just text someone real quick."

While Ignis got back into bed and straightened out the blankets Gladio pulled out his phone and texted the Captain of the Kingsglaive, his next in rank.

Something came up. Could you cover the drill tomorrow with the noobs?

There was a surprisingly quick response.

Yes, Sir. Everything alright?

Everything's fine. Thanks.

Gladio put his phone away and sat down on the recliner, trying to get comfortable.

"Would you like to sleep in the bed?" Ignis asked.

Gladio's face got warm. "Won't that be a little snug?"

"No more than the tent or the lumpy hotel beds we all used to share. I just don't want you messing up your neck like you did yesterday. It's the least I could do considering you're helping me get some sleep."

"True." Gladio tried to keep his voice calm. Back in the day it was all four of them together and normally they ended up sleeping in their clothes. Ignis was only in pajama pants and it was his bed. It was a lot more intimate.

Ignis scooted all the way over to let Gladio in. Despite the tension in his stomach he had to admit these were some really nice sheets. Once he was fully covered he turned off the light. "Night Iggy. Sleep well I hope."

"Me too. Thank you, Gladio."

X~X~X

I know, still pretty tame. I'm building it up here. More to come soon.