Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Body

IV

A/N: Well, I wanted to have this chapter done for Gladio's birthday but as you can see, that just didn't happen. Much like most things I try to plan out. But hey, nothing wrong with rolling with the flow of things and living in the now. Its done me good so far, minus a few minor details. As for the chapter itself, its hit me hard in a couple places just writing them cause they strike way to close to home for me. Things are about to get interesting and come to a head. I wonder how many of you have been paying attention to some of the stuff Aquas has either let slip or referenced and if you've made the right guess. I may have been too obvious about it or not obvious enough, should be pretty clear after this chapter even if the choco-broz haven't caught on yet. Don't worry, I've still got plenty of tricks up my sleeve for upcoming chapters, just hoping I can stick with it long enough (looks at stories I've neglected months/years), I really want to finish this one. It's kinda like an experiment before I get down to an original work, testing out my planning skills, trying new writing techiques, ect. If I do well, finish this, I'll definately have the confidence I need to publish a book! Thanks for reading my rambles and enjoy the new chapter!

P.S. (Circum the release of 'A Single Pale Rose') If you're in the SU fandom, I am quaking with you. But it has given me new ideas for narrative though. Hue hue hue!

Disclaimer:Final Fantasy XV is owned by Square Enix and Sony studios. I do not own any other mentioned properties.

The morning did not come easy to the Shield and thief. Having gone to bed much later than usual, it hit Gladio the hardest, being the early bird to the night owl next to him. His internal clock had forced him awake before the sun had fully escaped the horizan, keeping him conscious despite the various reasons for him to go back to the world of dreams: a comfortable bed, a warm body at his side, and the curtains drawn shut to block out the morning rays. It wasn't the first time he had been awake long before Aquas this past week, but that was before last night, where he would always continue his morning ruetines of streches and exercise to ready for the day. But it was different now. Now he felt no urge to get up and train, no urge to leave this moment, no urge to sleep and no longer be able to gaze upon the man slumbering softly in the safety of his arms. Gladio does his best to memorize this scene, the smell of the room, the warmth of the shared bed, the feeling of arms wrapped loosely around him, and the way Aquas' hair fell messily over his face as he dremt on without a care in the world.

The moment wore off quickly as Gladio's nose began to itch. Trying to be quiet, he let out the sneeze without much noise. Aquas, apparently having been awake, chuckled in his throat, smirking, "You sneeze like a kitten." Adjusting his head to look at Gladio with half-lidded eyes as his smirk turned into a warm, gentle smile.

"I don't, I didn't wanna wake ya," a little defensive.

"Yer cute when yer embarassed."

"Am not," he fought back weakly.

"Yer blushin'," reaching up to ruffle his hair before pulling him in for a quick kiss, "Come'on now, can't let little ol' me ruffle yer feathers that easily kid."

"Who ya callin' kid," asked Gladio, slightly taken aback, "I'm twenty-three!"

"Just the 23-year-old man that let himself be pinned up against the wall by someone half his size," his eyes flicking over the very light bruises from his staff, "then proceeded to be presuaded into sex by that same someone. Though I appreciate it, you should never trust someone ya jus' met, 'specailly someone like me," he finished, his chesire grin fading into a look of deep content as his fingers ghosted along Gladio's tattooed arm. Under his breath, "Gods how I've missed this."

Deciding to push for answers to a few old questions, Gladio asked, "What's the deal between you and Cor?"

Aquas stopped moving, caught off guard as his content melted into somthing that resembled grief and regret. He avoided Gladio's gaze, saying slowly, "He pulled me from a very bad situation, not knowing who I was or why I was there. He sort of took me in as his own, treated me like, well, a normal young adult. But when he found out who I really was, I dunno, I guess he felt like I betrayed his trust or that I didn't trust him enough to tell him after all he did... I was to blame for... I was gonna tell him the day I... You know what? Forget it. It doesn't matter anymore, it was years ago."

Gladio didn't buy it. Whatever happened, it obviously mattered to the thief a great deal. But he knew it wouldn't help to press further, even though it was clear that there was a lot that Aquas had purposely failed to mention. "Is that why you wanted us to know..."

"To know who I was, without the bullshit half-truths," he put bluntly, "Kinda, I mean, most folks 'round these parts knows of the infamous thief 'Aquas the Swift,' but the people in Insomnia were more isolated than they thought. I can only imangine how Cor found out. Since then, he's done his best to avoid me like the Starscurge." Shifting a little closer, "I guess it was for the best anyhow."

Why's that?"

"'Cause I would't've met ya," he said. Even though it was a cliche thing to say, he was sincere, making Gladio feel a bit closer to the thief. But though it was a sincere answer, somewhere in the back of his mind, Gladio still felt like Aquas was still dodging the real question. For now, he didn't care, he would have plenty of time to get to know the thief as continued down this path to take back Lucis. All that the Shield cared about right now was holding on to the beauty of the moment for as long as he could.

It didn't last long, cause of course it didn't, as the sound of a very familiar engine was pulling into the parking lot just outside. In a desperate move of tangled limbs, the two bedmates left the bed with the speed of someone about to be caught doing something they're not supposed to as they made for the bathroom. Working in near unison, they grabbed washclothes and cleaned each other off roughly as they heard the slaming of car doors. As they raced to get their clothes on, footsteps approaching the door, they both had the same thought. The room didn't just smell like they'd been living here for a week, it smelt like a few other, dirty things.

"Got it covered," shot Aquas curtly, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. For once, Gladio was relieved, even glad that someone was a smoker. For an added measure, the thief lit the tabacco with a match. The combination of the two quickly over-powered the scents from last night. Aquas took quick drags as he walked from one end of the room to the door to be sure there wasn't a trace left. Satisfied that the smoke had done its job well enough, there wasn't a need to choke everyone out with his old, filthy habit.

"Don't mind me, just stepping out," excused Aquas, squeezing past them to the railing.

"Whoa dude, keep that outside," whined Prompto, waving the smoke from his face.

"Surprised Gladio let you smoke in the room," added Noct, "he hates cigarettes."

"Yeah, kinda too late t' do anythin' 'bout it now," said the thief sheepishly, "Big guy only had t' look at me before I decided to get lost."

"Maybe not that far," said Gladio, catching on to Aquas' act to help keep them all out of the room, "Jus' didn't wantcha to be doing it indoors."

"Slipped my mind," said the thief, looking a bit guilty, "Should've thought'of yer health instead of my bad habits."

"Forget it, let's just meet up where Cor mentioned," Gladio turned back into the room, the others almost catching his anxious expression as they seemed to get away with his poor excuse of a lie.

"But of course," flicking the cancer stick away, "Give us a sec," he said to the others as he followed Gladio back inside.

"Sure thing," said Prompto, buying the whole thing hook, line, and sinker.

"We'll have the Regalia ready to leave upon your return," assured Ignis, turning to do just that, perhaps a bit suspicious of their behavior. Aquas made a mental note to be more careful from now on if he wanted this to continue. Specs never seemed like the guy to keep something hidden under his nose easily to him.

Back in the room, Gladio had his fist pressed against his mouth as his opposite knee bounced up and down nervously. Post Performance Anxiety, thought Aquas, remembering that's what she called the state of mind after a bout of close calls in the game of words. He had reckoned that the Shield wasn't use to this sort of thing like he was, but he did handle it rather well in that real tight spot. This gave Aquas more reason to steal Gladio for himself. Perhaps 'steal' wasn't the right word for what he wanted to do.

"Ya handled that better than I thought," complimented Aquas, unfazed by the experiance as he collected his scattered belongings.

"Think they're on to us," he asked, failing to hide his worry.

"Specs might think somethin's off, but the other two ain't that quick on the draw," he said, pausing in slight disappointment of himself for sounding like such a hick for a moment before adding, "But I think we're clear, they'll figure it out at some point."

"I hate lying to 'em," he grumbled, "We should tell them."

"Hold yer horses cowboy," glaring at him for moment before his expression softened, "Maybe yer one t' kiss n' tell, but I ain't. Would ya seriously go out there and say 'hey guys, I just banged the new guy'?"

"When you put it like that, I guess not," he agreed, sounding a bit put out.

"Look, I'm not saying we have t' keep it secret," admonishing himself, "I'm just saying that I don't even know how this'll turn out. For all I know, this could've been a one time thing."

Gladio got up quickly, startling the thief a bit as he closed the gap in two steps. Cupping Aquas' chin with his thumb and forefinger, he said, "What if I don't want it to end? What if I want to see what this'll turn into?"

The certainty in his eyes caused the thief to smile, soft and true as he gently moved the man's hand to cup his cheek for a moment. He hummed contently at the feel of it before he pulled it away and letting drop to his side, saying, "Then we have to take this slow, find the right time for us and the right time to tell the rest of yer friends. Who knows, maybe they'll figure it out on their own."

"Never thought you'd be such a romantic," commented Gladio, catching onto what Aquas really ment, "and their your friends too."

"Well, I guess ya shouldn't judge a book by it's cover," taking quick, soft kiss from Gladio, "but seein' as yer catchin' on, there's hope fer ya yet."

"Ouch, way to ruin the moment," jested the Shield, mockingly covering a wound as though Aquas' words had cut him.

"Alright wise guy, we should get movin'," turning away from him to begin collecting the rest of his belongings, "otherwise, they'll get suspicious."

In a few minutes, the two of them finished cleaning up both the room and themselves. Aquas never understood people who had to style their hair everyday. To him, it seemed like a huge waste of effort for something that would only last a day and did jackshit to help them survive until the next sunrise. Maybe it was becouse of the environment he had lived in for so long that he just didn't have the patience to care about his personal appearance aside from cleanlyness, thought it as part of his charm. He was pretty damn grateful Gladio was so low maintiance and practical with his sense of style (minus the exposed abs, as nice as they are, not very safe) compared to everyone else. The thief was dreading the morning he had to share a single bathroom with everyone as they groomed themselves like fancy chocobos for gods know how long. It'll be an absolute disaster if one of them gets food poisoning or some other stomach virus.

- Cut to the rock crevice out side the blockade -

Aquas' stomach grumbled uncomfortably as they hiked to the meeting point Cor had specified. Really wishing he had snacked on something in the car, but Noctis had berated him as soon as he reached for the granola bar in his bag. The thief almost told him to piss off and eat it anyway, but he was still on patchy terms with the group so he held his tongue and sullunly put it back.

To the thief's surprise, Cor was not there to meet them. Instead, there was a middle-aged woman in black clothes similar to that of Gladio's.

"Monica, am I glad to see you," Gladio exclaimed with relief as he pushed way to the front, leaving Aquas a bit bemused at his eagerness and reasons.

"As am I," she said calmly, "It's good to see that both of you and your sister are safe."

"Iris, where is she? Is she okay," he asked urgently, concern controling his voice.

"She is perfectly fine," calmed Monica, "She is on her way to Lestallum with Dustin as we speak."

Most of the group seemed to lose some tension in their shoulders as Aquas' confusion grew. He even heard Noct mutter his relief under his breath. Well, I guess everythin's fine them. I wonder why Gladio never mentioned that he had a sister? Not important now. "So, what's the plan," he asked, ruining the moment.

Monica looked questioningly at Aquas momentaraly, as though she just noticed that he was there. She seemed not to think twice about his unfamiliar face among those she knew. It stung a bit, but the thief figured that Cor must've told her something about him because she regarded him with a strange, almost wary look. At least he'll acknowledge me now that I'm with the prince, he thought bitterly.

"We'll be dividing into two groups," she explained, "The prince will join the Marshall on the other side of this crevice and make their approach from the rear. While the rest of you will attack the main gates to cause a distraction."

"Well ain't that jus' like 'im," Aquas grumbled quietly, still audible to the group, "makin' others do the heavy liftin' while he takes the easy route."

"Is there a problem," Monica said dangerously.

"Oh no, no problem at all. The prince's safety is top priority," he said bitterly, "A good excuse, I'll give 'im that. It'd be nice if he had the balls to tell us himself instead of hiding behind his subordinates."

"That's enough Aquas," cut in Gladio, glaring venomously at the thief. "Now's not the time to be startin' shit!"

Aquas bit his lip as he glared back before letting out a scoff and looking away, "Fine, let's jus' get this over with."

"Oookay then," Prompto commented awkwardly, "Welll, I guess we'll see you on the other side Noct."

"Yeah," Noctis responded in kind, unsure of what make of all this, "See you guys in a bit."

As the prince squeezed between the two formations, the remaining party marched over to the blockade's front entrence with Aquas stomping angerly ahead of them. He got a goodways away from the main group as Prompto asked, "Man! What is up between him and Cor? They're literally at each other's throats all the time"

"I asked him that this morning," answered Gladio, not knowing he was, "he wasn't to keen to talk about it..." At that last word, he covered his mouth before adding, "Err, pretend I didn't say that."

"Whoa ho! You actually asked him, " said Prompto in amazement, "Now ya gotta tell me what he said!"

"Nuh-uh," shot down Gladio, "I ain't betraying what trust he has in me and if ya don't want me t' deck ya, you'll forget I said anything." He clenched his fist, glaring at the blonde as he spoke.

"Alright big guy," he said dejectedly, a little scared, "My lips are sealed."

"Good," letting his hand relax, "glad we're on the same page."

"Hey," Aquas shoated over his shoulder, "if you ladies are done gossipin' 'bout my personal life, we got shit t'do!"

"Aw crap," gasped Prom, "he's got Iggy ears!"

"I'm still here, thank you," deadpanned Ignis.

"We're almost there, so get ready t' make some noise," he ordered as they rounded a cliff corner, turning his attention to the artificial walls of the blockade. "Attention Imperial douchebags," he shoated at the top of his lungs, "prepared to get royally fucked by the Lucians ya so kindly overlooked!"

"What the hell are ya doin'," squacked Prompto, waving his arms in panic, "Are you trying to get us killed!?"

Aquas ignored him, staring at the MT that stood, unmoving, from his postion atop the metal barricade, completely unfettered. His gaze of angry defiance fell to confused dissappintment. "Are... are they ignorin' us," he asked with annoyance.

"Gee, wonder what that's like," mumbled Prompto bitterly.

"It seems," interjected Ignis, "that they do not recognize insult."

"Then let's give the somethin' they do recognize," he said iratibly, turning to the gunman, "Prompto!"

"Eep!"

"Shoot that bastard off his perch," ordered the thief, pointing at the same MT he had shoated at earlier.

"Do ya really think that's necessary?"

"Yes," with stressed, iratated importance, "If we want to draw the fuckers' attention to us, then we need to really give'em some'em ta look at!" Turning around, conjuring his sword, "Now shoot him or I'll do it and hope to Etro that they don't snipe me out of existance."

"Aren't ya being a bit dramatic," Gladio said, stepping inbetween them.

"Gahh," growled Aquas in frustration, "Fuck it! I'm going," throwing the sword into the middle of the crowd of MT's that had gathered at the sounds of the thief's yelling. As soon as he blinked up there, Aquas unleashed a frenzy of slashing and staff swinging, completely tearing the soldiers to pieces.

As they stared on, Gladio said, slack jawed, "Remind me to never piss him off," remembering the anger the thief had held back during the whole magnanir incident.

"Same, big guy. Same."

Warping back, Aquas gathered himself and said, "Git ready! We've really got these assholes' attention."

"Technically, you've got their attention," Ignis pointed out.

"Whatever, just shut up and fight," he commanded, glowering as he charged the opening gates lik a mad man. Throughout the skirmish, Gladio kept finding himself unconsciously protecting Aquas more than he should when he should be helping the others. Each time, he would shake his head and make to move somewhere else, away from the thief only to find himself back where he started. Maybe it was because he had gotten used to fighting with Aquas this past week. Yeah, that's why. Not because of this morning and certainly not because of last night. He was just looking out for the thief because he wasn't in his usual state of mind, no need to read too much into it.

The fight drug out for another ten minutes as the Magi-tech continued to pour out of the gates like cockrouches. As it went on, the group began to tire and Aquas became sloppier and sloppier. Soon enough, the thief had enough gashes that the pain finally cut through his red mist. With one last wack of his staff, Aquas had finished the last trooper and was using his weapon as a crutch as he collected himself, lighting a cigarette. Breath caught, mind somewhat cleared, and the pain pushed back, he walked over to Ignis who was handing out potions to the group. Upon looking him over, the rouge handed him an elixir in silent reluctance, making the thief assume that it was something that he had been hording. Grateful, he took it with a quiet thanks as he began to drink it with gusto.

Restored, Aquas let out a belch before excusing himself. "Lost myself there fer a sec," he admitted sheepishly, "Sorry guys."

"No problem man," said Prompto, waving him off, "Can't expect ya to keep cool all the time, 'specially with whatever's eating at you and Cor."

"What about me," asked a voice frm behind the blockade walls.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," the thief muttered under his breath as Cor and Noctis came into view, letting the cig drop onto the ground.

"What was that, I couldn't quite hear you," asked Cor, irate.

"Maybe ya could have someone else be yer ears," chided Aquas, looking innocent, "seeing as ya have no problem usin' another voice as yer own."

"My job," bit back Cor, "is to protect His Majesty. Not babysit every slackjawed thief who can not even begin to understand..."

"'Protect His Majesty'," scoffed Aquas, "well you're doin' a real bang up job of it. Seeing how well you 'protected' the last King of Lucis!"

Everyone was left absolutely speechless by the thief's blatantly insulting comment. Noctis and the others could only slowly back away as the two stared each other down like incredibly lethal and unstable wolves. Cor was completely livid, drawing his katana in challenge to Aquas' foul mouth.

"I will not allow you of all people mock my integrity," growled Cor in pure malice, pointing his blade directly at the thief's chest.

"Integrety! Is that some kind of joke," Aqual snarled, mimicking the Marshall's stance. "Where was it that day you went behind behind my back! The day I finally had the courage to tell ya everything and ya drug me in front of yer master like the good little lapdog you are! Where was that 'integrity' then, huh?! Tell me!" Aquas was shoating by this point, voice shaking with anger, sadness, and confusion. His eyes were wide with fury as he stared down Cor, his stance unmovable.

The Marshall stood aghast, his mouth working but no words came out as his blade fell an inch or so. His anger rose it's head again, "Are you really goin to be so petty as to say that here?! Now," he spat.

"Oh, but of course," he said in mock formality, inching forward a bit, causing Cor to flinch. "'cause now I've got yer attention for the first time in four years now that I've allied myself with the family you swore to 'protect.' Etro only knows how hard I tried to reconnect, try and apologize for what I didn't say, and all you did was ignore me like nothing ever happened. Not only that! You attacked me the first time ya saw me in years!" Aquas was seething with rage at this point, taking a step forward and satisfied to see the Marshall take a similar step back. "And you call me petty! Yer the only one holdin' a grudge! I forgave you! Even after you stabbed me in the back after I felt like I could let my walls down around ya when you told me..." Aquas's voice had broken, lips quivering as they silently finished the sentance as his chin dipped down. In the resounding silence, they could hear him begining to choke up, trying to keep it together.

Everyone stood silent, awkwardly shifting their feet with not knowing what to say or do. If anything, they felt sorry for the thief or couldn't help but glare at the Marshall. If Aquas was telling the truth, then Cor wasn't as great of a man as they once thought. Prompto took a step forward, perhaps knowing a bit more about how the thief was feeling, only to have him shakily say, "Don't," refusing him the attempt to comfort Aquas.

Gladio was the one to break the silence glaring down his mentor as he barked, "Aren't you gonna say something for yourself, cause yer in a pretty bad spot right now!"

"No, I won't," Cor said venomously, looking almost hurt as he turned away from them all and began walking into Duscae, "You four have already made up your minds on who you are going to believe and it sure as hell's not me."

Collecting himself, Aquas scoffed bitterly, "Coward. Now I finally see the true reason why they call you the 'Immortal'. You run with yer tail between yer legs as soon as things get too tough to handle."

Against his better judgement, the Marshall rose to the thief's bitter taunt and pivoted around to charged him, sword gripped tightly as he prepared an upward strike. Unbeknownst to them all, this is really what Aquas wanted, a chance to repay Cor all the hurt he had endured. He was no longer hampered by his injury, had time to regain old skills and strength, and aquire new power that the Marshall was not aware of , but he will soon. This won't be like their old sparing matches, this was about spilling blood.

Cor closed the distance quickly, aiming his slash at the thief's sword arm in hopes of hampering him into submission early. But Aquas was ready, to familiar with how the Marshall fights, and blocked it with the flat of his blade, head butting him in the nose before he had the chance to switch tactics. Staggering back in a daze, he didn't have a moments respite before Aquas was on him, reminding him how a thief fights, dirty. It was only going to get worse there. From an outside perspective, it looked as though Aquas was controlling the skirmish with a series of low blows and slieghts of hand. But in truth, it took every trick he knew, new and old, to keep Cor from gaining the upperhand. The Marshall was a man trained by the Royal Army and hardened by years of battle whereas the thief had only his wits, his own experiances, and a strong will to survive. So on it went, back and forth, experiance against trickery. It ended when Cor had the thief by the throat after the fight had devolved into a brutal puch up and Aquas escaped by taking a huge slash at the Mashall's torso. That was when Noctis finally had the sense to step in, both of them on the ground clutching their respective wounds, with Gladio following close behind.

"Alright, that's enough," grunted the Shield as he pulled Aquas away, when he resisted and kept trying to get at Cor, he shoated angerly, "I said that's enough!"

Both of them were panting, hard telling who was more worn out, bloodied, or bruised. Cor looked worse off, his nose bleeding heavily, possibly broken, and his clothes were ripped in several places as blood stemmed from them. The worst of it was that nasty gash that Aquas just gave him on the side of his ribs which he gripped tightly. Aquas himself, on the other hand, had less noticable wounds other than the cut above his right eye and the bruises that were begining to show where Cor's hand had been. Gladio could hear his breath catch everytime he moved or something would barely touch his torso, maybe a broken rib or two.

Letting out a shakey, arrogant chuckle, "Looks like we come out even now that we've got the same powers, eh Cor?" The smirk was nothing short of mocking, smug that the Marshall could no longer best him easily.

Cor had nothing to say to that, not wanting to give the thief any sort of validation. Aquas could only assume that his pride had been severely wounded. That was enough to satisfy him, his closest allies had seen the "Immortal" bleed, shown them that he wasn't untouchable. This may shake their faith in him and his ability to keep them safe. All it took was one man who seemed to be rather mundane. The reprecusions of the thief's actions may become grave, but he didn't care. Aquas was able to take Cor down a few pegs and he took a preverse sense of pride in that.

"Sorry to break up this petty scauble," said a mockingly arrogant voice above them, "but it's time for me to put an end the legend of the Immortal!"

Those words chilled Aquas to the bone as his gaze followed everyone's up to the source of the disturbance. His heart seemed to stop as an Imperial Dreadnot descended over them, the bay doors opening to reveil a large mecha and a fresh troop of MT's. The thief began to panic, there was no time to recover and no way he could truely help his new friends with the impending threat or even protect Cor from it. All Aquas could do was pray to Etro that they'll all make it out alive as he regretted his decision to confront Cor when they needed him the most.

Hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter and are looking forward to the next! Please leave a review on what guys think of the chapter or the series as a whole. I have a twitter now, so guys can follow me gladioamicita for updates on everything I'm working so you're no longer in the dark. Until next time, I'll see you in the next chapter!