Note: Sooooo I realize I said I would be getting this out sooner. I have no excuse except that life just got in the way. I am sorry! Also thanks again for the reviews and I hope y'all enjoy! :)

Here and There

Dinner was amazing and Evie was still surprised that the marshal could cook so well. When they were done, she helped him clean and put dishes away. It was getting late, but she didn't feel as tired as she should. She still felt carried by adrenaline, which seemed to have become a normal bodily process since the situation with Jason and Hank began. After the last dish was in it's proper place, Cor reached for her hand and she gladly gave it. He smiled and that single expression brought her comfort. She took a deep breath and allowed him to lead her to the couch. Cor sat first, pulling her down next to him and reaching his arm around her to keep her close. She laid her head on his shoulder feeling content despite everything else on her mind.

"Thank you," she whispered, closing her eyes.

"For what?" He asked, turning his head slightly to hear her better.

"For giving me so much happiness and peace," she answered. "I usually overthink everything in these kinds of situations. I usually give into fear and despair, but you make me feel safe. You make me feel brave." Her eyes were still closed and she was starting to get sleepy as she gave into the feelings she was describing. The chaos in her mind and the adrenaline in her veins seemed to subside as she leaned on him and as he held her there. For once, she was allowing her heart to speak over her mind, and it felt as if she had unlocked something in herself that she had previously sealed shut. She felt tension in her neck and shoulders fall away and as it did, so did consciousness.

XXXXX

Cor listened and watched her intently as she fell asleep. He smiled down at her, running his thumb up and down her arm.

"You're always welcome, Evie," he said softly before kissing the top of her head. He lingered there for awhile, enjoying the feeling of having her so close and not wanting to wake her. He lost himself in thought, imagining Jason and Hank's next move and thinking about the next day. He had several meetings to get through and training to catch up on. Monica and Dustin had been running some training drills the last few days and Cor was eager to see where the newest recruits were at. His phone vibrated and brought him out of his thoughts. He reached for it slowly, not wanting to move his arm from around an obviously content Evie, and found a text from Clarus waiting for him.

Clarus: King is calling a meeting tomorrow based on new info concerning growing Niflheim threats. I know it's last minute, can you meet at 9 am?

Cor: I'll be there.

Cor sighed, knowing the 'info' could not be good. They would likely be sending more troops beyond the wall to protect nearby cities. He had tried to put the threat of Niflheim aside while performing daily duties and dealing with the most recent developments that threatened Evie and the Citadel. If he had not met Evie, he would volunteer to go out against them himself. It had been a long time since Cor had been in a battle worthy to be called a challenge. Still, he knew where his duties, and his heart, lay.

He shook the thoughts from his mind, resolving that it was time to call it a night, and gently lifted Evie to carry her to bed.

XXXXX

Evie woke up feeling rested, something that had seemed rare until meeting Cor. She felt Cor's arm loosely hanging over her, keeping her close, and felt his chest rise and fall slowly against her back. She didn't know what time it was, but decided to wait to move until he did. It didn't take long as his alarm went off, earning a low growl from the man. Evie couldn't help but chuckle revealing that she was awake. Cor moved to hit the snooze button before returning to his original position behind her.

"Something amusing?" He asked, his voice muffled against her shoulder.

"You're cute when you're annoyed," she answered softly.

"Hmmpf, I don't think I've heard that from anyone else," he said. He moved to stretch before sitting up. "You're welcome to the shower first, if you like. I'll make us breakfast."

"You could join me," she replied, the smile present in her words. She felt him lean down and nuzzle against her neck her her exposed ear.

"Mmmm, as enticing as that sounds, we'd never get anywhere today if I give in." He moved up and kissed her temple, before sitting up to get out of bed.

Evie sighed as she watched him leave for the kitchen and finally forced herself out of bed and into the shower.

XXXXX

Cor left Evie with Gladio before making his way to the meeting Clarus had called. He hated making her feel as though she needed a babysitter, but also worried she wouldn't be safe on her own while Jason was on the loose. He had been training with her before all of this and knew she was getting stronger and becoming a skilled fighter, but Jason had no honor; no value for a fair fight. Perhaps weapon training will suit her soon, he thought as he approached the large doors of the Royal Meeting Hall. The king was already seated with Clarus to his right. As Cor approached, Regis gestured to the seat to his left. Other members of council were there, as was Titus. Cor sighed, knowing that whatever they were meeting about, it could not be a simple matter.

XXXXX

"So," Gladio said with a tone of sass, "You and the marshal? Can't say I didn't see it coming." The future shield folded his muscular arms over his chest and smirked down at Evie.

Evie rolled her eyes, but still smiled as she sat up on the mat she had been stretching on. "I figured you'd be one of the first to know."

"When your dad is the king's shield, you have the advantage to overhear things," he shrugged, still smirking. "Plus, I couldn't help but notice an unusual smile on the marshal's face this morning, before he left."

"You're welcome, then," she replied wearing a smirk of her own as she took a sip of water from the bottle nearby. "You're dad is in the meeting this morning, too, right? Cor usually has me join. I wonder what it's about."

"Now, that is something I have not overheard," he answered, sighing. "I will say that dad has been less optimistic than usual. He seems to be distracted most of the time, lately."

"Well, perhaps it will be all worked out today in this meeting," she said, sounding less worried than she was now.

"Yeah. Maybe," he replied.

XXXXX

Cor already hated meetings. This one was becoming unbearable. An argument had broken out concerning their defenses against growing Nifflheim threats and whether or not it would be wise to send out more glaives to meet them head-on. Cor rubbed his temple as he listened, wishing he was back in the training halls with Evie. His wish was not granted and the council carried on loudly:

"The Niffs have already destroyed two more villages just north of us! If we don't show some force, they will assume we are weak enough to be next!"

"She's right! And what about those villages that were destroyed? What of the refugees? We owe it to them to offer some sort of assistance!"

"Are you aware of what that will cost? We are already at our limit now with refugees from other villages!"

"Yes, and there have already been conflicts between them and native Insomnians."

"We cannot not afford to send more Glaives out to be slaughtered! And with the rumors of their abilities to control demons now? It would be a suicide mission!"

"So what then? Do we cower behind the wall? Do we wait until they try our defenses? Do we put our people at risk?"

"Enough!" The king finally interrupted them all. "I agree that we should assist the refugees, but we will convince Lestallum to help as well. We can take half and they will take half. As for Nifflheim, I put forth that we will send a force of twenty to thirty experienced glaives to our borders for scouting and defense purposes only."

The king's orders were voted in and the meeting was dismissed. Cor rubbed his eyes and stood up. He had a lot on his mind all of a sudden. Regis gently grabbed his arm, letting him know he wanted him to hold back. The king waited until everyone but Clarus and Cor were gone before speaking again.

"You, my friends, are the only ones I feel I can fully at this time," he confessed with a sigh.

Cor looked from Regis to Clarus and back again. The king look tired all of a sudden. It was as if the strong, energetic persona he wore before the council and media had fallen and shattered to the floor. He was giving up so much of himself to protect the city and keep it's inhabitants feeling secure.

"This growing threat of Nifflheim is only one of our newest problems," the king continued, before looking over to Cor. "It seems that while investigating the breech that revealed how recent Citadel enemies procured certain personal information, we have discovered that there may be Nifflheim spies in our midst."

"How do you mean?" Cor asked, eyes wide and brow raised.

"A young, tech-savvy kingsglaive brought our attention to some encoded messages being sent back and forth between someone here at the Citadel and an outside source. Somehow, the one, or ones, sending and receiving messages through our computers are using codenames and those names are being changed every so often to make them harder to catch. The glaive also believes that the possible traitors have made it harder to locate what computers have been used to send or receive messages and that they could easily be using their phones as well. All we really know right now is that sensitive defense information is being sent out of the Citadel, including our current defense and offense strategies."

Cor brought his hand up to massage the back of his neck. His head was heavy and his neck and shoulders tired. If he could only go deal with the situation himself. He hated the idea of waiting and working passively. Why not meet the Nifs head on along with the glaives he had helped train? The image of Evie filled his mind. Her smile. Her eyes crinkling and lighting up as she smiled. Her long, soft hair blowing gently in the wind. His heart sped up in a different way than the idea of battle did. He couldn't leave her. Not now. Not while they were just starting out. Not while her life could be at risk here as well.

"What would you have me do, your majesty?" Cor sighed out in the uncomfortable silence that had taken up too much space in the room.

"I can tell a part of you longs to go with the glaives that I intend to send out," the king smiled sympathetically as he spoke, "but I need you here." Clarus looked slyly between the two. "I want you looking after our defenses here and continue training and teaching what you know to our own. Also, keep your eyes open, and have Evie do the same. Evie seems to have the advantage in befriending others here and earning their trust. No offense, Cor."

Cor chortled and looked down. "None taken. And, to be honest, a greater part of me wants to be here."

The king smiled at his friend and looked up at Clarus, returning a knowing look. "I knew you would understand."

XXXXX

Evie and Gladio were practicing a new move he thought she could handle at her level of training. It involved countering a frontal attack by using what was nearby to get behind the attacker and hit usually unprotected and more vulnerable areas. She fell the first few times, causing them both to laugh.

"Are you alright?" Gladio had raced over to her, worried she may have broken something. Cor would kill him.

"I'm…fine," she answered, laughing as he helped her up. He couldn't help but laugh as well, after making sure she was fine.

After practicing and training different variations of the move, she had it down. She looked up, after successfully knocking Gladio's bent frame over, and saw Cor watching them. She smiled until she read the look on his face. He had his eyes on her, but his eyes were dull and glazed over. He wore a frown and was absentmindedly chewing on his bottom lip. His arms were folded but his shoulders slumped in a defeated pose. She walked over to him slowly as Gladio grunted and rose to his feet behind her.

"Cor?" She asked hesitantly.

"Hmmm?" He answered, coming back to his present senses. "Evie…you were doing very well."

"Oh, thanks," she blushed, allowing her smile to return. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, how'd that meeting go?" Gladio asked, finally making it over. "And is my dad cranky or in a good mood? Asking for a friend."

"As of now, things are fine," Cor answered them both. "This war with Niflheim is just getting more complicated is all. And your dad seems fine, to me, Gladio."

Gladio huffed, setting his great sword against the wall. "Guess I'll get cleaned up and head home then. Iris is due home from school soon anyway." He looked between the two of them, nodded and left for the men's locker room.

Cor waited until the door closed behind him, then grabbed Evie's hands and pulled her into him. She wrapped her arms around him, nervous about what his actions meant. He seemed to be hiding something. He seemed anxious. If something scared Cor, it sure as hell scared her. He pulled away suddenly and lifted his hand to her chin before bringing his lips to hers, kissing her breath away. She put any fear temporarily out of her mind and wrapped her arms around his neck. He pulled away, leaving her lips sore and wanting.

"Come out with me tonight?" He asked with a whisper near her ear. "We can sit somewhere together and talk while we eat…together. Then we can come back to my place and just be….together."

Evie chuckled at his repetitiveness and simply nodded.