Beta read by: SinikkavonWolperting and istoleyourcheesecake
And please, I do want to improve my writing, and I know there are far superior writers out there, so please, I welcome you guys to point anything that could use improvement.
Prompto found himself unable to move, stricken with panic and terror. His breath became non-existent as he held his breath and tensed up his whole body to keep himself from making anymore movements. He even resorted to biting his lip to prevent any unwarranted sound from escaping. Cursing himself for making such a stupid mistake, he slowly lowered his head until his forehead was touching cold metal. 'Please.' He mouthed the word to himself, praying they would just let it go, and think it was nothing.
"Quiet," he heard one of them speak up, followed by dead silence. The only thing he could hear was his own rapid and shallow breathing. They may not have been able to hear it, but it was deafening to him. There were footsteps shuffling around beneath him, they sounded purposeful and steady, and they stopped directly underneath him. All the commotion grew quiet, so much so that the quick and jarring thud that was thrown right below where he was almost caused him to gasp in surprise. Now more than ever, he wished he had his hands, to cover his mouth if nothing else.
He could feel his heart about to explode as it thumped against his chest, and he was shocked they couldn't hear that. Not to mention how much sweat he felt running down his face, he thought he was hot before, but now, now it was almost too much. The longer he lied there, the harder it was to tolerate, and the more suffocation threatened him. After so long, he was afraid he might faint from anticipation, but that crumbled away when the footsteps finally began to leave where he was. Reluctantly, he breathed out slowly, trying to take steady and deep breaths from there to attempt to convince his body to calm down.
For a moment, he only listened, not trusting himself to move yet, still feeling like the slightest movement could alert them to him. And, for a split second, he wondered if he would be stuck in this confined death trap for the remainder of his life; it would be one hell of a way to go, he had to admit. Coming to the conclusion that he couldn't very well stay there for eternity, he made the decision to push himself forward one. Then he stopped, waiting to see if there was a reaction. Nothing. Again, he inched forward and paused.
"Rudis, you sure he's still out?" came Acerbus' questioning voice, sounding highly suspicious with an edge to it.
A second of quiet, "Yeah, I told ya, didn't move an inch." Even Prompto could hear the lie in his words, and held his breath as he turned his head to hear the response that was about to come easier.
"Macto," he called evenly, "Maybe we need a second pair of eyes to make sure." From where he was, Prompto could tell he was enjoying the criticism he was portraying. And just like that, his pulse was trying to destroy him from the inside out. With newfound resolve, he kept pressing forward, moving as fast as he could while still being as silent as was allowed. Even when he heard shouts of displeasure and anger, he didn't hesitate, he now had one goal. Throwing all the ideas of getting out unnoticed, he threw stealth away and just went.
And, much sooner than he had first foreseen, he reached the end, and in front of him was another vent cover. The sight of it washed over him with dread and defeat. 'No, no, no,' he whispered to himself, still making his way to it. As he approached it, he nudged it with his head, that being the only thing he could do. He almost exclaimed his shock when it easily fell away. Either it was already broken, or someone else had loosened the screws, either way, he was thankful.
Inching forward, he looked over the edge, and until then, he almost forgot he was basically wiggling above the ceiling, which meant this wasn't going to be a fun exit. He leaned slightly over the edge, and the vertigo that hit him was almost enough to overshadow his need to get out, but not quite. With another shout from one of the guys, he scooted far enough where he was barely staying up. And, with one final inch, he felt himself tilt downwards as his body reacted to the sensation of falling, hands naturally trying to go in front of him to break his fall. He knew he hit the floor when the wind was knocked out of him, but he tried to ignore it and struggled to right himself.
He only wished that he could take a moment to at least breathe, but the shouts and heavy footfalls that were now quickly approaching after the commotion he had caused was motivation enough to get up. Disregarding the way the room was slanting slightly, he stumbled towards the first door he saw. He didn't know where it led to, but what he did know was that it was away from them, and that's all he cared about. Turning his back to it, he struggled to grip the handle enough to turn it, and as it swung open, there came Acerbus himself, coming into the room from another entrance. "I don't think you realize how bad you just fucked yourself!" he shouted as he tripped over his own feet trying to rush over to the blond, who was now squeezing through the slightly ajar door. "When I catch you, I'm breaking your damn legs!"
Prompto didn't look back, he didn't want to know how close he was behind him, but he had no choice but to stop. 'Right,' he thought to himself, 'second floor.' He was painfully reminded of that when he noticed he was standing on a balcony, a railing being the only thing separating him from freedom.
"Why don't you get your ass back in here," Acerbus said rather calmly for someone who just promised to cripple him, "Come on now, it's better for everyone if you do this the easy way." Swallowing the lump in his throat, he glanced from him to the railing, and his mind was made up. He rushed over and managed to get one leg over, about to swing the other over as well. His efforts were interrupted as a hand clamped around his leg mid-swing. "Hard way it is then," Acerbus smiled as he held on, preventing Prompto from going anywhere. In moment of panic and desperation, he kicked as hard as he could, earning himself a satisfying 'crunch' and a cry of pain.
That did it, that was what it took for his grasp to momentarily loosen, and enough for the blond to rip his limb free. But, the force of the kick threw his balance off, and without the ability to catch on to anything, he felt himself plunging down again, this time, however, was much more terrifying to him. The last thing he needed was to hit his head and get a concussion, so he swiftly tried to turn his body before he landed. It wasn't a very high fall, so he didn't have much time, but it was enough to land on his feet. Through the disorientation and unexpected fall, he didn't get the chance to brace himself and had to attempt to roll into it. Despite his best efforts, there was still a small jolt of pain shooting up his left leg, starting from his ankle.
It wouldn't be long before they would be after him, so he went against his better judgement, and forced himself to his feet, the weight almost causing his leg to buckle. Shaking his head, clearing it of any other thoughts, he began sprinting, well it was more of a hurried and ungraceful jog. Each step brought on fiery throbs, but he could still walk at least, albeit very awkwardly. Yelling and curses were soon drowned out by the pulsing blood that rushed through his ears, and he could no longer tell where he was, or how far he was, but he didn't risk stopping to find out.
Gladio and Iris had been at it for what had to be hours now, as it was well into the night, and they were sure any moment and the sun would be coming up. Their gunner had been gone nearly all night, and it wasn't sitting well with any of them. Every time his phone went off, he felt a twinge of hope, but it was quickly dissipated when it was only them asking if he had any news. Glancing over to Iris, he could see her once optimistic gaze dimming into devastation. Now, even she was beginning to believe all this was pointless, which in turn lowered his own spirits. "Hey," he got her attention, "You said you guys ran into someone that night, right?" She nodded in approval, "Mind showing me the way? It might be better to look around that area."
She timidly nodded, "Yeah, if you think it'll help." She walked past him and allowed a hand to rub over his shoulder in a supportive way, though it lacked its usual perkiness that it usually held.
"Also," he added as he followed close behind, "Try not to get too down about this, he's been through worse, ya know. I'm sure this is nothing to him." Iris didn't reply right away, but offered a quiet 'yeah', sounding as though she didn't believe that herself. "I'm serious," he kept on, anything to lift her mood, "Even after all that happened back there, he still kept it together fairly well. Sure he had a few hiccups here and there, and over there, but still."
Her pace slowed a small amount as she listened, "Yeah, but he had someone with him. He had Ignis to help him keep it together, but who does he have now? He's out there alone." He flinched at the sob that cracked through at the end of her sentence. "There isn't anyone out there with him to let him know things will be alright. I mean, did you see the look on his face when he left? He looked betrayed, and he left thinking we were all mad at him. Probably thinking you hate him now."
She wasn't facing him, but from the small tremors that ran through her body, he could tell she was doing everything she could not to show how upset she was. The occasional whimper gave way to that though, and he didn't need to see her face to know she was barely keeping it together herself. Knowing there wasn't much that could be said to make her feel any different, he stepped closer, and wrapped his arms around her. With the contact, she turned and leaned into the embrace, letting the comfort take some of the sorrow away, even if for just a minute. "Look, we'll find him, alright. And when we do, I'll make sure he knows that we all care, and that I don't hate him. But first, we have to track him down."
He felt her head move slightly against his shoulder, and with a soft smile, she pulled away, wiping the back of her hand over her eyes. "You're right. We can't waste time feeling sorry." That seemed to re-kindle the light in her for the time being. "That night, it wasn't too far from here, so we should be there within a few minutes."
The rest of the way they traveled in silence, but this time it was more of a comfortable silence. She soon slowed to a stop as she recognized the surrounding, the restaurant they visited was now just within sight. "It was that way," she pointed in the direction of the alley they took. "We took the back ways because there were less crowds to deal with."
"Got it," Gladio replied, grabbing her hand as he took the lead from there, moving at a normal speed to make sure he didn't accidentally drag her along, even though he desperately wanted to sprint. "Keep an eye out, but try to look casual, just to be safe," he instructed, on the off chance they were being watched. He kept his eyes glued to the street as it grew closer and they got further away from wandering citizens, pausing as he stood before it. Throwing a glance back at Iris, he gave a light squeeze to her hand before turning back and stepping in. Any other time, this would be nothing, but given the circumstance, it was unnerving and almost surreal.
Iris, out of know where, skipped forward, fast enough where Gladio couldn't react in time and she slipped out of his grasp. "Hey," he called after her, "Where are you going?" He followed suit, staying close behind.
"It was right here," she said once she reached the turn, "This is the spot they ran into each other, and where he lost his phone." She gazed down at the exact spot she remembered it being. "I don't know if we can get anything from that, but-" She ceased, now fully alert as shouts and yells echoed down another alley and filtering into the one they were in.
"What the hell is that?" Gladio asked, already walking towards the source, showing no signs of fear or hesitation. He stopped partially way down, squinting his eyes as he picked up movement. "Hello?" he called down to them, but there was no reply, they didn't even seem to be paying him any attention, so he decided to start making his was towards them instead. Once he was closer, he could make out a few features, one in particular sticking out to him. I little hint of yellow sticking out on the top. "Prompto?" he kept his voice low, low enough for neither of the others to hear. From the way he was moving, something was definitely off, it didn't look natural.
He could easily make out the stumbles and limping now that he was close enough, but he was keeping his focus down on the ground, watching his own feet intently. As he drew closer, he showed no signs of slowing down, "Hey," he tried again. Prompto looked up just in time to veer to the right before running into the larger man, but he never seemed to really look at him. The sudden turn seemed to throw him off, and he started leaning too much to one side, so Gladio did what he had to and grabbed onto him before he could fall.
It was like catching a wild animal; he thrashed and tried to slip out of his grasp, something other than him driving him to get loose, "Hey," Gladio tried again, "Calm down, you're alright." That didn't seem to help any, he wasn't listening to him.
"Prom," Iris finally made her way over and spoke softly, "Prompto, please, we've got you now, you can relax." At the sound of a more feminine voice, he visibly slumped slightly, now seeming to really look at the others.
"Iris?" he asked, near breathlessly, "Gladdy? W-we have to go, you have to get out of here." He directed at Iris. "Please, Gladio, you have to get her away, they want her, they want to use her against me; you can't let them." His voice was cracking all over the place, the extensive use of it severely irritating it. He tried to struggle away a little bit more, but with the way he was barely standing, even with the larger holding on, that wasn't going to happen.
He gave the blond a quick glance over, noting how he was avoiding putting weight on his left leg, but he knew it couldn't be too bad, considering he was just walking on it. And as he moved up, there was one thing that caused his blood to boil, and he wasn't sure why he didn't notice sooner. His arms were bound behind his back, wrists rubbed raw from the rope digging into them. "Ok, settle down," Gladio spoke softly, "First let me get these off, then you can explain everything."
Prompto twisted his body to keep the other from touching anything, "We don't have time, they're chasing after me, we have to go. Now." He didn't pause for breath, trying to throw it all out there.
Gladio looked back down the alley the gunslinger had come from, and saw no one. He repeated with the other directions, coming up with the same results, "There's no one around," he reassured, "Now, let me remove these." He reached for them again, and just like before, he tried to keep the larger from touching it, which he found slightly confusing, until he remembered the talk Ignis had with them. "Oh," he said, remembering, "You don't need to worry about hiding anything." Prompto's gaze snapped up to meet his.
"W-what do you mean?" he asked, stuttering.
Gladio sighed heavily, "We know everything, Ignis explained everything, and we don't care alright? There are more important things to worry about right now, so let me untie you."
He looked almost emotionless, but there was a hint of hurt in his eyes, "H-he told you?" His voice was lower than usual, and they could hear just how betrayed he felt, "So, you know about..." He didn't finish, couldn't say what he was thinking.
"Yes, he did, so you can chew him out later, ok?" He was done talking for now, and set to work undoing the knots, having a lot more difficulty that he thought he would. They were tied unbelievably tight, but soon enough, they fell to the ground and Prompto hissed in pain as his shoulders rolled forward. He brought his hands in front of him to rub the soreness from his wrists, but one touch told him that was a bad idea. So much dried blood covered them, and a bit of fresh. Both were even tracing down his fingers.
He was caught off guard as there were arms thrown around him, nearly knocking him over, "I'm so glad you're alright," he heard Iris say next to his ear. "Well, mostly ok," she corrected, backing away when she was aware of how much that small interaction effected him.
"Oh!" Gladio exclaimed, taking out his phone, "I should probably let the others know." He sent a quick message, not wanting to take the time to actually call and be asked a million questions. "Done, now let's go," he didn't even ask before he scooped Prompto up, no way he was going to let him walk, support or not, it wasn't happening. "Iris, stay close," he reminded, heading back out to the main alley. "I think maybe we should take the long way and not the back ways," he decided, the thought of staying in this area any longer sending chills down his spine.
Also, I want to know, I do plan to add a little bit of Iris x Prompto in this, but if I do, it will merely be hinted at, so even if you don't like that pairing, then he can easily overlook it and see it as pure friendship. But, please let me know if you don't want that.
And the guest the commented, I try to update almost every day, so no worries there. C: