Chapter Two: Gone

Ignis assisted Gladio in laying Noctis down once they were in the tent. He watched the Shield struggle for a moment, reluctant to give up his hold on the prince. But when he had to intervene and gently take Noctis from his arms, he met no resistance. He got him settled and then sat back to breathe and fight off the encroaching shell shock. Noctis is fine, he told himself. He is healed. Everything is…far from okay, but Noctis isn't dead.

There was a barely contained tremor in Gladio's hand as he ran it through his hair.

"That…that was too close," he said, his voice weak and strained. It was strange to see him so shaken, but not surprising.

Ignis could only nod, his eyes roaming over Noctis' sleeping form and fixating on the torn, bloody fabric.

"Help me get him out of these clothes," he said. I can't stand the sight of it.

"Sure."

Noctis didn't stir as he was undressed, deeply exhausted from the blood loss and his resurrection. His breaths were regular and unhindered. He looked sickly but would recover.

The fact of such a word as 'resurrection' now being applicable to one of Ignis' beloveds turned his stomach. The agony of feeling Noctis dead under his hands was a memory he knew would haunt him. He feared that he would bear it at its full weight for the rest of his days. At least, it was hard to imagine that the knife in his heart he was experiencing would ever leave him.

He put Noctis' clothes in a bag to be dealt with later. Even with them removed, there was still blood smeared across the prince's chest. It was everywhere, really. One of Gladio's hands was positively coated in it and he had traces of it all over his pants and bare chest (he had abandoned his shirt in the woods, clearly having no interest in salvaging it). Ignis could feel the dried splatters of it clinging to his face, and they had, of course, tracked stray droplets into the tent.

They were a mess. But Ignis couldn't bring himself to leave Noctis' side to remedy that. A stupid, paranoid part of him screamed in his head that if he did, Noctis would stop breathing again.

Ignis pressed a shaking palm to Noctis' cheek, finding his skin still slightly chilled with the echo of death. That broke the remaining composure Ignis had. His eyes burned and his chest began to violently shudder with the sobs attempting to break out of it. Just as every emotion he had been holding back burst to the surface, warm arms encircled him and he found himself pressed into Gladio's tattooed shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said, breathless. "I shouldn't…he's alive, so I shouldn't be so—"

"It's okay, Iggy," Gladio soothed, his own voice thick with emotion. "We had a scare. It's okay to cry. You gotta let it out or you'll explode."

As if his body had been waiting for permission, Ignis began to sob much harsher than he had in a long time. He wrapped his arms around the larger man, nearly digging his nails into Gladio's skin in his anguish. Wordlessly, the Shield trembled against him, simply sharing his pain and holding him securely as he cried. The tears helped if only as an outlet for his sorrow which would have torn him apart inside otherwise. He realized he was being a little loud too late as he heard Noctis' weak voice speak.

"Iggy…Gladio?"

His gorgeous blue eyes were cracked open, concern flickering through weighty exhaustion as he watched their distressed embrace.

Ignis breathed in a shuddering gasp, wiping his tears hastily as Gladio released him but kept a warm, supportive hand at his elbow.

"Yes, love? We're here," he said. "I woke you didn't I?"

"Yeah, but…s'okay," Noctis said in scarcely a whisper. He looked at both Ignis and Gladio and then to his right. His brow pinched slightly as his gaze flicked back to them. "Where's Prompto?"

With intense guilt, Ignis noticed only then that the fourth member of their group wasn't with them. The poor dear was probably sitting alone outside, tearing himself apart over this and thinking they didn't want him anywhere near them. Ignis had seen the whole incident on the battlefield; a terrible accident that had happened in the blink of an eye and nearly took Noctis away from them.

Ignis wasn't blaming Prompto though; friendly fire was bound to happen. Especially given the chaotic nature of their skirmishes. He was honestly surprised that it hadn't happened yet before that day. It was an accident. A frightful one, but an accident nonetheless. However, it was absolutely not one that would be free of guilt, and Ignis had been so preoccupied with getting Noctis safe that he had overlooked what a horrid state that Prompto was likely in. He should have at least tried to reassure the blond right after the fact. Gods, what is wrong with me?

Gladio stood with a worried and sympathetic look on his face, probably thinking something along the same lines.

"I'll get him," he said and then went to stick his head out of the tent flaps. He visibly tensed before exiting fully. Ignis' stomach dropped as Gladio called Prompto's name twice without receiving an answer.

With wild eyes, the Shield returned. "He's not out there."

"What?" Noctis blurted, startled into wakefulness.

"I don't see him. He's gone."

"He's run off?" Ignis asked even though he knew the answer. He was getting far too used to feeling his heart in his throat that day.

Noctis, surprising them both, managed to launch himself up into a sitting position, shaking with adrenaline and fatigue.

"W-we need to go find him!" he cried in immediate panic.

Ignis put his hands lightly on Noctis' shoulders, effectively stopping the weakened prince from standing and bolting out of there. "Noctis, please. Don't overexert yourself."

"He's blaming himself! That's why he left!" Noctis continued, not struggling but looking desperately at Ignis with a heartbreaking expression. "It's dangerous out there alone and even if it wasn't, he probably thinks we hate him! He might not—we have to find him!"

Gladio dropped down beside them, taking Noctis' face gently between his hands.

"We'll get him back, Noct," he said, brushing a thumb over the prince's cheek. "But you're not gonna do anyone any good working yourself up and passing out. Stay here with Iggy and rest. I'll find him."

Gladio let him go as he nodded, but not before tilting Noctis' chin up and giving him a quick kiss. "I promise."

"Be careful, dear," Ignis said as Gladio moved to leave, a thousand scenarios of either him or Prompto becoming horrifically injured running rampant in his distressed mind.

"I will. And I won't be back without him."

He was gone in seconds, his fast footsteps through the bush fading to silence.

Ignis was left alone with Noctis. As worried as he was about Prompto, he was needed to tend to the prince. He gently eased him back into laying down, keeping a hand in his hair in an attempt to fully calm him.

Noctis' panicked breathing eventually evened out but he looked far from returning to sleep. His eyes shifted to Ignis' after staring expectantly at the tent's opening for a while.

Ignis sighed. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Noctis asked.

"Perhaps if I had said something to Prompto then he wouldn't have left."

"Look…that was some awful shit. To say the fucking least. I get why you and Gladio were completely focused on me. Hell, that's been both of your jobs long before we were anything else."

"Anything better," Ignis said, a fleeting smile twitching at the corners of his mouth as he held Noctis' hand. "That still doesn't excuse allowing Prompto's pain to fester like that. I adore him, but I couldn't see his needs past my fear for you. It breaks my heart to think of him feeling it necessary to flee as he did because we didn't tell him otherwise."

"I know, Iggy…me too," Noctis said. "But we'll fix this. We have to." He looked at their entwined fingers. "You're shaking."

Ignis cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses. "'Awful shit' as you recall."

Noctis reached out to him with his free arm.

"Could you hold me?" he asked.

"You need to rest, Noct."

"Please?" Noctis pressed as if sensing that Ignis needed this just as much.

Easily relenting, Ignis shifted from his knees to sit with his legs crossed. He loosely wrapped the blanket around Noctis' back and helped him up into his lap, the prince's legs thrown over his thigh and his head resting on Ignis' shoulder. He was still cool to the touch so Ignis held him close, laying his cheek against soft, dark hair and trying to will his own warmth into his ailing love.

Underneath the horrid, lingering stench of blood was a comforting scent that was so undeniably Noctis. Slowly, some of Ignis' tension began to leave him; some—not all. He let out a stuttering exhale as a few more silent tears fell.

"We nearly lost you," he said. "What would we have—?"

"Don't think about that."

"You were dead."

"And you saved me." Noctis pulled back a little to cup Ignis' cheek in his hand. His eyes were wet. "I'm still here with you. I'm alive. You saved me."

Ignis kissed him, soft and chaste. He found Noctis weakly gripping his hair as he tried to move away.

"C'mon," the prince said. "Don't do that like I'll break."

The next kiss wasn't fierce, but not entirely gentle either. Something that wanted to be both desperate and tender but was caught in between. Ignis held their foreheads together afterward, reveling in the feeling of their warm breath mingling. He clung tightly, almost deciding against reason that he would never let go again.

"We are so blessed to have you, Noct," he breathed. "Even more so after today."

"Like you ever took me for granted before."

"Never." Ignis was drawn to his lips one more time. "Never."

Thanks for reading~

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