Disclaimer: not mine
Chapter 3
Noctis shifted, feeling the warm weight of another body pressed against his side, an arm slung across his hips, and he smiled sleepily. He opened his eyes and turned his head to see Prompto in the low light coming through the curtains. The blond was still asleep, face relaxed, breathing deep. Sometimes he still couldn't believe that Prompto wanted to be with him, even after a year since their first kiss.
He had never learnt what had upset Prom so much that day and he'd never pushed. Prompto didn't talk much about his family and Noctis forced himself to respect that, Ignis had suggested that maybe there was some kind of tension between them, and Noct thought he might be right.
Prompto would be leaving tomorrow…okay later today to go see his family. Once again, he was being given a lift part way by the Glaive, Drautos just giving a knowing smirk when he'd asked about Prompto. As selfish as it was, he really hoped it was Prom's last trip, that he'd just stay in Insomnia from now on. High School was done, Noctis wasn't being forced to move back to the Citadel…yet, but he was expected to take on more duties. That would mean less time together but at least Prompto was staying in Insomnia.
Noctis would love to move him permanently into his apartment but while his Dad would allow it, others would cause trouble. Dating for Royalty was complicated, to put it mildly. Technically, Prompto spending the night, especially in his bed, should not be happening. He didn't care though, and it wasn't like they were doing anything more than sleeping, well okay there was some kissing and touching but nothing more.
They'd only been together a year, despite being friends for longer, and they both had to get used to physical contact. Neither of them was ready for more than they had at the moment. Though he had finally seen Prom without his shirt…had seen the scars left by whatever had happened to him, but Prompto had seen the scars on his back too and hadn't flinched from them. It had felt strange…but also nice when he had gently traced them and then kissed them, no one ever touched the scars except his doctors.
Prompto stirred, nose wrinkling, and then his eyes slowly blinked open. "World endin'?" he mumbled.
"What?"
"Still dark 'n you're aw'ke," he yawned, rolling onto his side.
Noctis rolled his eyes. "I'm not that bad," he grumbled.
Prompto just smiled sleepily and kissed him. "Too early, sleep more." He cuddled in and closed his eyes and Noctis smiled, wrapping an arm around him before closing his own eyes.
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"He kid," Nyx greeted him with a wave and Prompto smiled, tossing his bag to the Glaive when he motioned for it, accepting the hand up into the truck.
"Thanks," he sat beside him as the rest of the team filed in, those he'd met before greeting him.
"Congratulations on graduation," Crowe offered from her seat. "What's next?"
"My parents agreed to keep paying for the apartment as long as I pay everything else. So job hunting I guess and I'm looking into photography classes."
"Nice," she grinned.
He shrugged. "I like taking photos and No…Prince Noctis seems to think I'm good."
Taking photos helped keep his aim and dealt with any urges to shoot when he didn't have access to a weapon and shooting in the city would be very bad. He was sure that the spy in the Citadel was a member of the Glaive, it was just too convenient that he was always able to get a lift close to his pick-up point but there were too many in the Glaive to narrow it down. If he could work that out then he'd have something to give the King and he'd know who to avoid to get a meeting with him. He'd met the King at graduation but only very briefly and it had been nerve wracking, he'd spent the whole time feeling like the King could see right through him.
Travelling with the Glaive teams wasn't so bad at least, they camped on Haven's at night and he was treated like one of them, pulling his own weight in camp and sleeping among them. The comrade, joking, singing…it was nothing like anything he had experienced at the facility or on the bases he was taken to. Did even the human Imperial troops not have friendships in the ranks? Or was it just kept well out of sight?
When the van pulled over, he wanted so badly to say something, but he couldn't. He just got out and waved goodbye, wondering how many of them would return from their mission alive.
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Cor heard the familiar sound of a dropship's engines and guided his bird out of sight, tracking it. When it lowered he dismounted and moved in on foot to see what was going on. What he saw had him tensing, calling Kotetsu to hand. He knew that blond hair from seeing the two together, and the timing was right, Noctis' friend was on his way home to Lestallum. Damn it! They had a leak somewhere, the Prince's civilian best friend was a prime target, should anything happen to Argentum… the boy was thankfully smart enough to not attempt putting up a fight as he was surrounded by MT's, obediently going with them.
The Glaive team that had likely given him a lift would be long gone by now and there were no other troops in the area. He'd have to follow the ship and rescue the boy single handily, not the hardest mission he'd ever had, but it wouldn't be easy. When they got back to Insomnia, he'd personally see to getting him some training, in escape and evasion at the least. He doubted they would start in on torture immediately, not with a civilian, but if he kept quiet then it would happen.
He got back on his Chocobo and began to follow the ship, changing course when he realised which base they were heading for, taking a different approach that had better cover.
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He lay on the surgical table, strapped down tightly, using everything he knew to keep his breathing steady, his expression blank. He couldn't let them know how terrified he was, what would they take this time? He stared up at the ceiling and then blinked, was he hallucinating? No…there was slight movement, light blue eyes looking right at him…someone was hidden in the crawlspace…no Imperial would be hiding up there which meant it was over, if they hadn't worked out what was going on yet, they would soon, and they would know what he was.
Prompto remained still, keeping quiet, he should inform the scientists, but he didn't. He'd made his choice, his loyalty was to Noctis, and giving a Lucian away would betray that loyalty. He let his gaze move from vent to stare directly upward.
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Cor mentally swore when he found Argentum, naked and restrained in a lab. That was not good. The kid was doing a good job of not showing how terrified he had to be as they moved around preparing surgical equipment. He blinked as the kid looked right at him, wondering if he could see him and he realised he could when Prompto deliberately shifted his gaze away, good. He doubted he knew who was in the crawlspace but obviously it would be someone who didn't belong and therefore possible help. He watched as something was injected and the boys' eyes closed, body limp.
He took in the odds and they weren't good, security in the room was tight, armed MT's lining the walls and…automated weapons in the corners, they weren't taking any chances with their prize. He could do it, but without Argentum being hit? And getting him out unconscious would make things even harder.
What were they going to do to him? He could understand interrogation, holding the kid as ransom, something like that. Screens lit up, showing scans, and Cor shifted slightly to try and get a better look, careful not to make any noise. He'd seen enough medical scans to know there was something not right about the ones he was seeing, and he wished that he could make out what they were saying.
The door opened and suddenly the security made sense, Research Chief Verstael Besithia did not leave Niflheim so what was he doing at the Tollhends Stronghold? He studied the scans, speaking with the scientists or surgeons, then again with the Empire they could be both. One approached Argentum with a scalpel and there was nothing Cor could do but watch, even more MT's had appeared with Besithia and in such cramped quarters… he would have to wait for a chance to make a move.
He was glad for his iron stomach as they cut the kid open, slicing through skin, muscle…his eyes widened as they exposed his internal organs…what was that? His heart sank as he took in everything he was seeing…no, it wasn't going to be a rescue mission. How could he tell Noctis?
Besithia leant over, examining Argentum's internal whatever they were because there was no way some of that was real internal organs, but they weren't metal either. He spoke with them and then Argentum was stitched up carefully. The strap across his forehead was undone and his head turned to the side, the scalpel coming out again to make a careful incision in the skin. As part of his skull was exposed, Cor looked away briefly as it was removed as well. He took a deep breath and looked back, seeing as…parts were lined up. What were they doing to him…it?
His hands clenched into fists as they cut out a section of his brain…and it looked like a real human brain from where he was. The parts were put in and then his view was blocked but he realised what they were doing when an eyeball was placed aside. Okay…so it was going to be a rescue because no one deserved what they were doing to him. Even if he executed him himself, it was kinder than what was being done. He was obviously partly human or had started out human, how could anyone do that to a human…to a child?
It looked like the boy had been a plant, despite passing the security checks. Which meant this had all started when he was a child. Likely brainwashed into believing that what was being done to him was a good thing, that Noctis was the enemy… how deep was his loyalty for him to fake a relationship?
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Prompto collapsed to his knees, hands pressed to his eyes…except they weren't his! His head ached fiercely but he'd hidden that, desperate to get out before they could do anything else. Whoever had been hidden had seen, so there was no point going any further. If they were a soldier, they would kill him, and…he wouldn't fight back. He'd always known what would happen if he was discovered. The only thing he would dare to ask for was that they cover up his death for Noctis' sake, make is seem like a daemon got him or something.
He didn't move as a sword touched the back of his neck, letting his hands drop from his face, holding them away from his body, open, to prove his had no weapons.
"Up," a cold voice commanded, and he got shakily to his feet. "Turn around."
He obeyed and swallowed as he recognised the man holding him at sword point. "Marshal," he greeted, keeping his hands up, blinking as he swam in and out of focus. The ocular implants hadn't fully integrated yet and he was having to try and adjust to the greater range of vision, seeing things humans couldn't. "You saw…" he looked at the man and then frowned. "How'd you even fit in there?"
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Cor stared at the boy in disbelief, had he really just asked that? He saw him blinking and…yeah, his pupils kept dilating and then shrinking. He shook his head slightly and wavered on his feet, Cor having to pull his sword down a little before Argentum accidentally slit his own throat on the blade. His knees buckled and he went down, body limp, and Cor moved to keep him from smashing his skull on the rocks.
He cuffed his hands and feet and then lifted him, carrying him to a safehouse nearby that was known only to a very few people employed by the Crown. He set the kid down on the cot, fixing the restraints so he was tied to it, and then he took Argentum's bag and began going through it. he found nothing incriminating at all inside, just things a teenager on the road would need. He lifted his shirt, seeing the mass of scars across his abdomen that were supposedly from an animal attack during his first trip but after what he'd seen he doubted that very much. He couldn't see any sign of the incision he'd watched being made, the same with his face. It was very good work.
He summoned a potion and hesitated, but then broke it over him. If he'd been sent to infiltrate the Crown then surely the Empire had ensured whatever they were doing wouldn't react badly to things like potions.
Argentum moaned softly, head lolling on the mattress and then his eyes fluttered. He went to move and then jerked against the restraints, panicking.
"Argentum," he called, and wild blue eyes locked on him, the boy going limp as he recognised him.
"Did I pass out?" he asked in confusion, and Cor nodded. "Oh…sorry." He swallowed heavily. "Are you going to kill me?"
"Is there a reason I shouldn't?" he asked, wondering what the spy might offer for his life.
To his surprise, the kid shrugged slightly. "At least you'll make it quicker than they would. Never heard that you're in to sadistic torture."
"They?" Cor watched him, and blue eyes met his.
"The Empire. They'd take me apart piece by piece without deactivating me first."
"And yet you work for them," Cor stated flatly, arms crossed, and Argentum looked away.
"I don't have a choice," he whispered.
"Explain," Cor ordered, and Argentum looked at him again, studying him, but then he nodded and began talking. By the time he was done, Cor felt sick…if it was true. "How much intel about the Prince had his Retinue have you given them?"
"At first, everything I knew, but I haven't done that in over a year. I can't just outright lie, there's someone else, someone in the Citadel but I don't know who."
"And why should I believe you? Why would you stop telling your superiors everything?" he demanded.
"Because I love him," Argentum told him, keeping eye contact.
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He hadn't really felt it at first, it had been attraction and affection, but that had changed over the year they'd been together. He loved Noctis, something he had never expected; something he knew the Empire would have never imagined. "I've been lying, leaving things out, even changing them in my reports to protect Noct. If you're going to kill me, don't tell him, let him think I just never made it back, that I died on the road or something. Don't hurt him," he entreated.
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Cor stared at him, no pleas for his own life, just for Cor to not tell Noctis the truth about him, to save Noctis the pain of knowing he had let the enemy into his life. It was his choice, he could kill him or not, this was the kind of decision that Regis trusted him to make. The boy appeared genuine, if anything he seemed relieved to have been caught.
"I'm taking you back to the Citadel and you will tell the King and Lord Amicitia everything. If you try to escape,"
"I won't," Argentum cut in. "I'll tell them everything, I swear. If we're seen…what if the spy goes after Noct?"
"There are a lot of hidden ways in. For now, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that there's someone else."
"I think they're connected to the Glaive," the kid told him, and he stared at him. "It's pretty convenient that they're always able to give me a lift," he shrugged as best he could with one arm cuffed to the cot.
There was some truth to that, but that didn't mean a Glaive, there were others who could ensure they were available. And that was as long as the kid wasn't trying to throw suspicion onto others. They needed a severe security overhaul either way because at least one spy had made it through the process and he had become so close to the Prince… they could have lost Noctis, dead or kidnapped, because Noctis trusted Argentum.
Cor moved away to the small stove and put on some soup, giving him a bowl with no cutlery, seeing the flash of surprise on his face.
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Prompto took the bowl with his free hand. "Thanks." He sat up as much as he could with one arm and one leg cuffed to the cot and put the bowl to his lips. He figured it was safe since the Marshal wanted him to answer to the King, the worst he'd have put in were sedatives and sure enough half way through he began to feel very tired. "Gon...na spill," he slurred, losing his grip on the bowl but it was caught, and he vaguely felt himself being laid down fully again. "T'an…"
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He'd never had a captive thank him for sedating them before. He hadn't been sure they'd worked but if he still needed to eat then his body had to be able to absorb the nutrients somehow. He shook his head but covered him with a blanket before settling in for the night himself.
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Prompto shifted in the saddle, trying to get a little more comfortable. He'd been utterly amazed two days before when the Marshal had shown him the birds. Riding when his hands were tied to the saddle though was not exactly comfortable. His feet had been tied into the stirrups as well to make sure he stayed on the bird; the Marshal had also tied his reigns to his own saddle. Overkill considering Prompto had no intention of running.
He'd considered it, he was stronger than he looked and could break free, but where would he go? He'd be on the run from the Crown if he did that and the Empire would either decommission him as a failure or worse. Surely they didn't intend for him to be undercover for Noctis' whole life which meant they had plans for if he was extracted in one piece at the end of the mission. He doubted very much he would like those plans so if he ran then he'd spend his entire life running.
If the King ordered him executed then so be it, surely it would be done quietly though, for Noct's sake. And hey, at least he was adapting to the implants, he was getting great views of things he could never have picked up before. He guessed they would be nice last sights if he was going to die or be locked up for life.
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Cor let the birds go and slipped around the back of the garage where Cid had a car waiting for him. The kid had been perfectly behaved the entire trip, other than watching the scenery he'd kept his head down and stayed quiet unless Cor spoke to him or he needed to use a bush. He'd eaten every drugged meal without complaint or hesitation, the only time he hadn't had been because it was food his system couldn't handle. Cor had been suspicious but then he remembered overhearing Ignis and Gladio speaking of his sudden dietary restrictions after his first summer trip.
He put the kid in the front passenger seat to keep an eye on him, although he was coming to believe he really wasn't going to try anything, and then drove towards the city. If he did try something, his cuffed hands and feet would slow him down at least. All he did was lean back in the seat and close his eyes.
Cor didn't take the main routes to the city, if there was a spy in the Citadel then he couldn't be spotted with the kid in custody.
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Prompto felt them pass through the Wall, his stomach cramping briefly like it always did in reaction to the magic. He opened his eyes and watched the city, wondering if he'd ever walk the streets again. He doubted it very much. He remained silent as they moved ever closer to the Citadel, hoping Noctis wasn't inside, though the Marshal was hardly going to call him and let them in the same room.
He was terrified of being brought before the King and his Shield, but there was nothing he could do to stop it now. He'd made his choice.
TBC….
