Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 11

Ignis sat on his bunk, watching them sleep, Noctis curled protectively around Prompto. In some ways, things were about to become more dangerous. They would have to remain in a remote location which would mean they were always in danger from daemons and the wildlife. They would need a reliable source of power to ensure lights ran all night to keep the daemons at bay. Every trip to buy supplies would increase the chance of being found by either side of the war, the only way it could end at least well for some of the group would be if they were found by Lucians. At least Noctis would be well cared for then, and with Gladio to speak for him, hopefully Prompto would receive the care and rehabilitation he would need to move passed the programming. If that were to happen then Ignis knew what his fate would be…and he could accept that so long as the others were safe.

"Go to sleep Ignis," Gladio called, and Ignis looked up to find he was awake and watching him.

"Apologies," he murmured, laying down fully, staring up at the ceiling.

Gladio snorted, "sleep, it'll take both of us to get them somewhere safe and settled."

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Prompto walked beside Noctis, feeling their hands entwined, staring straight ahead at the beat up old truck waiting for them. He was terrified to leave the ship, to be back in Lucis. There was no way to know what would happen now, at least back at the base everything had been scheduled, regimented, and that had helped him deal with what had been done to him.

"Checked it over myself, she may look old and beat up, but the engine's good," one of the Commodore's men was explaining to Ignis as they walked over.

He felt Noctis squeeze his hand and knew he was just as scared as Prompto was, so he forced his muscles to contract, squeezing back. "Nnoct," he forced out as well. It was getting a little easier to say his name at least.

"I'm scared," he whispered as they stopped, and Prompto wanted to turn to face him, to hug him, offer some kind of comfort. All he could do was force his hand to squeeze again.

Gladio walked up to them, taking everything in. "It's okay Noct, we'll keep you safe." He made an aborted movement towards patting Noctis' shoulder or something before looking at Prompto. "Hanging in there blondie?" he asked carefully, and Prompto shocked them all when his head jerked slightly in a small nod. Gladio grinned and reached out to ruffle his hair. "That was great!" he praised. "Let's get you two settled in the truck and out of sight."

"Right," Noctis agreed.

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Aranea watched the Prince and his friend get in the truck. She really hoped they could recover from what had been done to them. They were leaving the ship where it was since it was too distinctive, instead they would head out in vehicles and not travel together. Her men would eventually regroup in Lestallum but a small group would be going with the boys to make sure they made it safely and to find them somewhere to live. She'd seen the way Ignis and Gladio looked at the Regalia, but the old King's car was far too recognisable to risk using. For now, it would remain with the ship.

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Gladio heard Noctis hiss in discomfort as he got out of the truck and moved to his side to support him. "Your back?" he asked gently, seeing his surprise. "Right, you don't remember and I'm guessing no one told you what really happened in that place. When you were eight, your Father, the King, allowed you to accompany him on a trip outside of Insomnia. You travelled separately for security reasons and your car was attacked by a massive daemon. It killed everyone with you and was attacking you when your Dad arrived. You…you nearly died Noct, you ended up in a coma for a while and couldn't walk. You had to be taken to the Oracle for healing and she did what she could, but it still troubles you and always will," he explained.

"Oh," Noctis whispered. At least he let Gladio support him over to the Haven where Aranea and her men had set up a basic camp, Prompto obediently trailing after them.

It wasn't surprising when Noctis went to sleep right after the meal, Ignis had explained the therapy he'd been given to rebuild his strength but it would still take more time for him to fully regain his stamina and long car trips always affected his back. Hopefully, they could begin combat training soon, he did not like having his Prince…King so vulnerable.

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Noctis got out of the truck, accepting Gladio's help, looking around curiously. There was a very old building in the clearing, no road, just the…house? Was this where they were going to stay now?

"Needs some work but we'll get it done and make sure everything's good before leaving," Aranea said as she eyed the building. "Okay people, let's get the lights going before dark!" she yelled and soon the area was chaos as people went to work.

He wanted to help but what could he do? He felt Iggy's hand on his shoulder and looked back at him to find him smiling. "Just relax Noctis. If you really want something to do, work with Prompto for a while."

"Okay," he agreed.

He took Prompto away from the chaos and sat down, taking his hands in his to begin working with helping him get more movement, like his own therapy.

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Cor studied the reports, the ship had vanished. Surely if Noctis or any of the boys had been aboard, they would have tried to make contact? There had been no sightings of anyone matching any of their descriptions anywhere, although there had been an influx of people into Lestallum, people who moved like they had military training. Perhaps the ship had only held defectors then? But the level of fuss thrown did not seem to match that. He knew the Hester's and Iris were in the city, perhaps he should have them approach one of the newcomers to see what they could learn, but very carefully, Iris was the only trained fighter of the group after all.

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Ignis stared at the once dilapidated building in awe, they'd done it. The house had been fixed, enough supplies to last them several months had been brought in, they even had a small barn with animals for milk and eggs.

"Not bad hey?" Aranea asked, smirking at him.

"I am…beyond words," he admitted, and she snickered.

"Good luck Ignis," she offered her hand, and he took it. "You've got our numbers, call if you need anything, us defectors have to stick together."

"Thank you, for everything."

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Noctis lay in the bedroom he now shared with Prompto, Gladio and Ignis shared the other one and he knew Gladio had wanted that so he could watch Ignis. Even after weeks together, he didn't trust him. Prompto's head was resting on his chest, Noct's fingers in his hair, Prom lying still and utterly relaxed.

"Noct?" he asked, he no longer had trouble speaking the nickname which was great.

"Yeah?" he asked, feeling Prompto's fingers tighten in his shirt briefly.

"I...Ig…gy kay?"

"Is he okay?" Noctis asked to clarify, feeling the slight jerk of a nod. "I think so, he seems…sad a lot though. It's not fair that Gladio treats him like that, after everything he's done to save us." Noctis took a deep breath and glanced down at Prompto's head. "Ready to sleep?" he asked, smiling at the sound of a soft whine. "Okay, not yet," he agreed. He couldn't go to sleep till Prompto did, otherwise Prompto could be left awake all night. He shifted his hold briefly, hugging him. "Whenever you're ready."

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Prompto sat on his chair, Noctis carefully emptying a food pouch into the correct port. Ignis had stocked up as much as he could before they left, but eventually they'd run out. Ignis could easily cook and puree food to be fed to him, but would his body accept it? That scared him, starving to death or suffering any issues when they had no way to get medical support…

Noctis removed the pouch and then gave him one of water. Despite having had the ports for months, it still felt strange, and he figured it always would. Noct brushed his hand through his hair and Prompto managed to press into his touch. "Good?" he asked softly, and Prompto nodded once.

"Noct…ggood?" he asked, and Noctis grinned at him, obviously pleased he'd spoken.

"I'm okay," he answered.

Prompto stared at him and Noctis smiled, leaning in to press their foreheads together.

"Really, I am," he promised. "Come on, we both have therapy to do. Iggy and Gladio should be back soon."

Prompto nodded, they didn't like leaving them alone, even though Prompto had orders to defend them both and had proven he could call his weapons from the Armiger to do so.

They moved to the floor and Noctis began doing his stretches while Prompto sat with a stress ball in each hand, working on his ability to moved when he wished.

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Noctis jerked awake, gasping for air, looking around the room wildly. "P...Prom?" he called but there was no response, the body in his arms limp in sleep. He forced himself to take a deep breath. "Prompto, wake up," he ordered, feeling his muscles gain tension.

"Noct," Prompto said once properly awake.

"I…sorry…I," he felt Prompto squeeze his hand.

"Dddreeam?"

"I…I guess," he pressed even closer to Prompto if it was possible, feeling Prom's arms move jerkily but Prompto managed to wrap them around his waist. "I'm sorry I woke you."

"Want."

"You want me to wake you?" he asked, lying back down, feeling Prompto nod, arms tightening briefly.

They were now face to face and even in the near darkness, he could see Prompto's eyes were a lot more focused than they used to be. He reached up and stroked Prompto's cheek, feeling him press into it.

"I wish I could remember you," he admitted softly.

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Gladio listened through the door until they went quiet, hearing Noct telling Prompto to sleep. Only then did he return to the room he shared with Ignis, finding he was awake and waiting.

"Sounds like Noct had a nightmare. He's okay now," he said before Ignis could ask. He got back into bed and lay down. "Do you think…"

"His memories are influencing his dream?" Ignis offered quietly.

"Yeah."

"Maybe," Ignis sighed. "The drug was experimental, it could be that the memories weren't destroyed but blocked. There's no way to know without access to Insomnia's medical technology to take brain scans. Either he will regain some or all of his memories in time, or he won't. There's nothing we can do but try and jog them. Being with all of us is probably the best help he can get since we would be a large part of them."

"How much longer do you think we can stay here though? Neither of them is ready to travel on the road non-stop."

He'd begun re-training Noct, thankfully muscle memory remained which made it easier, but Noct didn't have the strength he'd had before being drugged into paralysis. He was getting it back slowly, but he was nowhere near ready for battle yet. Prompto could actually fight better than before, but he had to be ordered to, and that was risky too.

"I spoke with Aranea the other day, she has been preparing a series of safe houses for their use, and ours. She will be sending us a list of locations so we can move around to keep from being seen in one place to often, if we are recognised."

Well, that solved some of his concerns. He hated owing someone so much, but what other choice was there? Yeah, they could try and find survivors from the Crownsguard but that had its own dangers. It would devastate Noctis should they attempt to attack or punish Ignis, and who knew how they would react to the Prince or Prompto's condition? He would trust his Dad or Cor, but if the King was dead then surely they were as well. Perhaps Monica had made it and taken control?

TBC…

Filler chap, time skip coming up