Title: Bad Bromance Alternate Ending; or rather, Heroes
Story: Bad Bromance
Author's Note: I posted this on my LJ a while back, and I'd forgotten to post it here. I changed a few things here and there, and I found a second scene for the end of this in my closet (random, yes) so I added that, too. This was before I added in Ragnarok to the plot, so that's why our dear beastie isn't mentioned.

Balthier was already trying to start the Strahl when Snow reached the cockpit, standing behind him and looking over his shoulder. It wasn't hard to see the anxiousness in his eyes, no matter how hard he tried to hide it under his sarcastic facade. If anything, it was more obvious than ever before. Things weren't going as planned.

When Fran informed him that the glossair engines weren't responding, Balthier stood up from his seat and moved for the back of the ship, brushing past the blond. Seeing that the viera wasn't going along, Snow knew that that was the signal telling him to follow the sky pirate. He walked right past the princess, not once looking at her frightened expression, and followed Balthier into the hall. However, something crashed above the ship, and Snow grabbed Balthier before he fell over.

Ashe cried out, exclaiming that the glossair rings of the Bahamut had stopped. The two men exchanged glances, a silent agreement between just the two of them. Balthier turned around and told Vaan what to do when the power came back to the Strahl's engines, while Snow patiently waited in the door way. Ashe was looking at him again, expecting some sort of explanation before he went off and killed himself.

He wasn't prepared to give her one.

The moment Vaan sat down in the pilot's seat, Balthier was on the move again. He and Snow hurried into the Strahl's engine room, and while the sky pirate repaired the little damage done, the taller man eagerly looked out the small window to the left of the engine. Air ships were still flying around, failing in an attempt to hold off enemy forces. What was the point of fighting? The war was over.

Wasn't it?

Balthier grabbed Snow's arm and dragged him off the Strahl and onto the familiar runway into the Bahamut. He looked back once at his precious ship as if he was saying good-bye. It took off not a moment later; there went their only means of escape, Snow noted. The two of them found their way to the control room of the damned ship, and just as he had with the Strahl's engines, Balthier went to work on repairing the glossair rings.

"See if you can't fix the main engine of the ship, Ice," Balthier commanded, pointing to a large device across from the machine he was kneeling before. "It'll buy them some time, at the least."

Snow nodded. "Right."

He got on his knees, ignoring the increasing temperature of the room. The very little Mist left over from Vayne's insane attack helped the engine recover energy, but it made the faded l'Cie brand on Snow's arm burn like hell, to be brutally honest. He didn't care to really notice. As he unscrewed the small handle of the mechanism, he looked toward Balthier, noticing the tense way his eyes were narrowed.

"You holding up okay, Balthier?" Snow asked, pulling the hinge from the engine. "Not gonna start crying, are you?"

The sky pirate scoffed. "If anyone is going to express their sadness, it'll be you. Thought you would have wanted to stay with our dear princess and become King of Dalmasca."

"Nah, that life's not my style. Not that I won't miss her or anything, but this is more important. Remember: we're the heroes! Someone's gotta save the day, so it might as well be us."

"I admire your dedication, Ice. But you're still a fool."

Snow forced a grin. "What about you? You regret not getting to see a certain someone again?"

"I'm certain Lightning will be more than happy to slap me the moment we see each other in the afterlife. I deserve at least that much."

"Now you know how I feel."

The next few minutes seemed to pass by quicker than either of them expected. Basch (pretending to be his late brother), Larsa and Ashe announced that the war was over. The princess was overtaken by emotion, though Snow knew that he was a part of the reason why she was crying. He didn't get the chance to tell her how he really felt.

But the moment a judge said that he and the remaining air ships of the Archadian army were preparing to ram the Bahamut in order to stop it from crashing into Rabanastre, Snow grabbed the speaker-device from the ceiling and handed it to Balthier.

"Hasty, aren't they," Balthier said, smirking. "I think it's a little early to be throwing away our lives just yet."

Vaan was quick to reply. "Balthier? Wait, Balthier! Where are you?"

"Ah, Vaan! Sounds like you made it out okay!" He continued to slide tubes into the glossair engine, while Snow finished up with the repairs on the main engine. "The Strahl's a fine air ship, eh?"

"What does he think he's doing?" It was the Marquis of Bhujerba; Ondore. "Balthier!"

"Marquis! Stop that fool judge on the Alexander for me, would you? Just getting somewhere with these glossair rings. Almost done! Don't want them ramming me before I finish, do we?"

Something crashed in the distance, and a cloud of dust flew into Snow and Balthier. Snow shook the dust from his hair, spluttering, while Balthier only brushed some off of his forehead. He was smirking, as always.

"Balthier! Do you understand exactly what it is you're doing?" Ashe asked. Snow frowned; did no one realize that he was there, too?

"Princess! No need to worry. I hope you haven't forgotten my role in this little story." Balthier picked up one of the tubes from the floor, sliding it into the machine. "I'm the leading man. You know what they say about the leading man? He never...dies." He slid the last tube in the machine, and almost instantly the glossair engines powered up again.

Snow grinned at him, but just as he looked up, part of the ceiling collapsed. Debris fell onto of him, forcing everything to black out for a few moments. The next thing he knew, Balthier was at his side, muttering under his breath.

"Do I have to do everything around here, Ice?"

"Listen to me, Balthier. Get yourself and Snow out of Bahamut immediately!" Ashe pleaded. "Please! You musn't let yourselves die for this!"

As Balthier moved the debris away from Snow and helped him sit up, the blond couldn't help but smile. Blood dripped from his forehead and into his eyes, staining everything he could see red. He had to blink a few times before he could see clearly.

"I've been thinking about this for a while, Balthier," he said, despite his pounding headache. "You really think you're the leading man of this story? I think you're just a supporting role this time. I'm a hero, too, remember?"

Balthier scoffed. "Ice, please."

The Bahamut continued to fall apart around them, and Ashe kept trying to get them to leave. But the two of them only leaned against the ship's engines, not saying another word to each other. As the Bahamut hit the Dalmascan desert, and fire erupted around them, Snow and Balthier exchanged smirks one last time.

It's not all the time that heroes die, but when they do...It really is all for the best. Heroes are meant to save the world, and that's exactly what we did.

"For the last time, Ice, that's not what happened."

Snow grinned widely as he looked up from his mug of hot water, a frown replacing that smile as soon as he spotted Balthier's disgruntled glare. The sky pirate had bandages wrapped around his torso and right arm, where he earned a gruesome gash from the Bahamut's crash. His nose had been broken as well, leaving his voice with a uncharacteristic nasally tone. Snow, apart from the cut on his head, had left the ship unscathed.

"What do you mean, 'that's not what happened'?" Snow asked, crossing his arms. The nurse standing at the other end of the room giggled, leaving the room with a pink tint to her cheeks. For some reason, seeing the two bicker was amusing (or so the nurses had gossiped earlier). "I distinctly remember you and I going off on some suicide mission, thinking we'd get eternal glory from saving Rabanastre."

"And all we got were a fair amount of wounds and an endless amount of ogling nurses," Balthier groaned, slouching in his bed. "The next time one of them even so much as winks at me, I will tear off these bandages and choke them."

Snow clapped a hand on the sky pirate's shoulder, earning a muffled whine in response. "You know what? Once you're all healed up, how about you and I go on a trip, just us?"

"No."

"Aw, come on! Fran will let us go, won't she? I think she's getting tired of you complaining about every little thing that isn't the way you want in this hospital...And I know Vaan and Penelo will let us get the Strahl back."

"Ice, there is no 'us'. You are no sky pirate, therefore the Strahl is not your girl."

Snow smirked. "Really? I seem to recall that you saying that we had a partnership. Remember, back on Cocoon?"

Shifting his shoulders, Balthier turned over so he was no longer facing the blond. Snow had to grin; Balthier always did this when he was embarrassed. "You know what, Ice," Balthier murmured, "I almost wish I hadn't dragged your helpless behind off that ship."

We heroes have a secret language. What Balthier really meant was, "Snow, I'm glad to have you by my side."

...I think.