DEVIATION OF FATE

CHAPTER 2

~1.5 Years~

The battered old truck slowed to a halt outside the Lestallum security gate (a makeshift pully system with several junk cars in place as a portcullis) an instant before Gladio slid out and took up a fighting stance. Sword already in hand he scanned the edge of the liminal space between artificial light and darkness along the cobbled streets. They'd managed to dodge a red giant on the way back from Meldacio Hunter HQ, but once they got to the narrow winding road approaching the city there was little room for maneuvering once something saw them.

Even now, while the others unloaded the payload of supplies, Gladio could hear the cackling whoops and laughter of the mutated havocfangs that considered the outskirts of the city their territory. The mutant animals were almost worse than the daemons. They weren't quite as strong, but they hadn't the aversion to UV lights the way the daemons did.

"We got everything," called one of the other hunters behind him. "Get in here, Amicitia."

Backing into the alleyway with his sight still fixed on the edge of the darkness, he saw the shine of several pairs of eyes move just before the security door banged shut.

Banishing his sword into the armiger, Gladio finally let out a relieved sigh and stretched. Riding in the bed of the truck while maintaining hyper vigilance for the last few hours was exhausting to say the least. But now that the sun had gone down for the last time and the world was plunged into constant darkness, it was the only way to stay alive.

"Need anything else from me?" Gladio asked the driver.

He shook his head. "Nah, we're good for right now. We'll be heading back tomorrow around 1900 if you need a lift back to HQ."

"I'll let you know before mid-day tomorrow. Thanks, Tim." Gladio waved him and the other hunters goodbye before making his way down the narrow passages of the city. He tried his best not to make eye contact with the absolute swarm of vagrants and refugees that choked every nook and underpass along his path. Not that he didn't have the gil to give them, he did, but if he gave a coin to one person the rest would descend upon him like pigeons on breadcrumbs and he just didn't have the energy for that.

He always donated whatever extra meat he hunted to the shelters, so that curtailed his guilt somewhat.

He rounded another corner and unlocked the bolted door to his apartment building. Thank the Six Ignis had the foresight to land them an apartment early on before it began to really get dark and refugees began piling into the city. It was only a one bed one bath loft, but it had enough space for two oversized futons to cram into the living room for when Gladio or Prompto needed a place to hang their hats. Ignis claimed the bedroom without argument from the other two. He'd found the place after all and he was in Lestallum more than either of them anyway, so it only made sense he got the luxury of the actual bed.

"Hullo hullo…" Gladio called once he was in the door. No response.

Ignis was probably out doing whatever he did with the Lestallum government. He'd also been working with Doctor Sania with the collection of items for her research into different remedies. He was fuzzy on the details of that too, but it seemed to keep the advisor busy enough. Ignis was never one to give himself much downtime.

Taking a quick shower and changing his clothes to something a bit less armored, he headed back out to get a desperately needed meal.

Making his way to his favorite Lestallum pub, The Harp, he gave the bouncer a light punch on the shoulder as he made his way past him without needing to show an ID. The place was pretty well packed for the late lunch rush. His stomach grumbled at the smell of cooking food as he made his way up to the bar and found a vacant stool. It wasn't until he sat down did he realize he recognized the person sitting next to him. "Libertus?"

The older man turned toward Gladio, took an instant to recognize him, and stood up so fast he nearly knocked his barstool over. "Gladio!" Suddenly he's wrapped in a bear hug so tight that he's briefly reminded of the last time he'd fought a midgardsormr. "I haven't seen you since Crownsguard training. What…two years ago?"

He wheezes, "Nice to see you too, Lib." Libertus put him down. "How's things?"

The glaive shrugged. "As well as it can be I suppose. We've been doing a half decent job gathering shards and we've almost got the grid up all the way to Wiz's Ranch.

Gladio nodded and ordered an ale and medium rare burger from the passing bartender. "Yeah, we went out that way before things went dark. Vyv, paid us a good chunk of gil to explore the Tomb of the Tall and Costlemark. Prompto offered to take the pictures for him, but he insisted on experiencing it himself."

Libertus' eyebrows rose. "You managed to get Vyv…the photographer guy, through Costlemark? How did you pull that off? That guy gets winded standing still."

Shrugging, Gladio sipped his beer. "Hey, he can move when he needs to. He got some really amazing shots too, and we even found some loot we'd missed first time through. So, it was a win win."

"That's good. I've been seeing Ignis around a lot lately. Busy guy."

"That's Ignis. He doesn't know what to do with himself if he has free time."

Libertus finished off his beer and ordered another for each of them. "And you? What have you been up to lately other than escorting photographers around?"

"Been doing hunts a little way out east for Hunter HQ. There haven't been as many daemons as we expected, but there's been an influx of mutants."

Libertus nodded with a slightly bitter look on his face. "Yeah… You notice more and more bounties are for humans too?"

"Unfortunately. I don't like taking them, but some people are more monstrous than the daemons out there. You hear about the old man out near Old Lestallum?"

"The one trafficking kids?"

"That's the one. Rumor has it he didn't live long enough for the marshals to get there. I hear the townsfolk along with the hunter who found him tied him up to a tree out in the wilds and left him there for the local fauna." The bartender brought him his food. "Thanks."

The topic at hand didn't curtail his appetite as much as it should. Discussions like these were getting more common by the day. There was that shooting at the Lestallum club last week where four people died, the caravan that broke down in the heart of killer wasp country, that brothel that burned down near the Cauthess Rest Area... He shoved another handful of fries in his mouth while Libertus spoke.

"I did hear that." He shrugged sadly. "But what do you expect now that most of the prisons are closed. I hear word that marshals are going to start going medieval with punishments soon."

Gladio swallowed a mouthful of burger. "You mean like hangings?"

Libertus shook his head. "Not that extreme yet. Unless you deserve it, I guess. But I hear whispers of cutting off fingers for theft and stuff like that."

"Well… What can you do? It's getting wild out there." Gladio finished his beer and declined when Libertus offered to buy him another. "By the way, stay away from the area around Kellebram Haven."

"More bandits?"

Gladio shook his head, idly considering ordering a shot or three from the images that started to flood his head. There had been so much blood and no bodies. "Just trust me on this one."

There was a pregnant silence between the two while Gladio forced the rest of the burger past the sudden bitter taste in his mouth. Thankfully Libertus decided to change the subject. "So… I saw Prompto last week."

That perked Gladio up. "Oh yeah? Where?"

"Here in Lestallum. We had a few of our younger Glaives looking to spar with some of the 'legendary Crownsguard'" he said with a hint of humor. "You remember sparring with a few of them if I recall. Alexus took quite the shine to you." Libertus winked.

Gladio shrugged humbly and wiped the last of the ketchup off his plate with the pickle. "I took a shine to her too. It's not often I meet a lady that attractive who can beat me in a fight." They'd done more than spar that night up at their apartment too, but Gladio was never one to kiss and tell.

"Other than Aranea of course," Libertus added with a knowing smirk.

Gladio scoffed, remembering his embarrassing defeat at the hands of the dragoon the last time they sparred. What was it, two months ago? "Yeah well you try dodging a spear coming at you at that height."

Holding his hands up defensively, Libertus chuckled. "Oh, I'm not knocking you. She's got bigger fangs than a behemoth…" Libertus glanced over his shoulder cautiously just in case she was in the room. "She does look like she was poured into that outfit though. I'd ask her out, but I think she might break me."

"You might be right." Gladio put a few gil down and slid his stool away from the bar. He patted the Glaive warmly on the shoulder. "Well, I've been up for about forty hours and I'm gonna hit the hay. Keep fighting the good fight, Lib. Thanks for the beer."

Libertus patted him back. "For hearth and home?"

"For hearth and home."

A few minutes later, Gladio was walking back up the long stairs toward the apartment. He entered the room quietly out of habit and kicked his boots off before stripping himself down to his boxers and flopping down onto his futon. He barely had the energy to pull his blanket and pillow out from beneath the lumpy mattress and make himself comfortable before he was well on his way to a much-needed slumber.

He didn't really dream, he rarely did, but he was swept with the intermittent vision of the inside of his dining room back in the Amicitia Manor , half a lifetime ago. He was eating a bowl of cereal with Iris across the table from him as sun streamed in the oversized windows. Jared was occupying himself in the background wordlessly while his father walked by and scolded Gladio for eating something so laden with sugar. Iris idly told her father to 'chill out Dad, he'll burn it off anyway,' before Clarus smiled, mussing her hair. It was a simple dream that was mostly a memory, but it left the young Lord Shield with a deep sense of saudade that lingered with him deeply well through the rest of the night.

The sound of a door opening snapped Gladio's eyes open. He'd always been a light sleeper, even before his days training to be shield. Light from the only bedroom flooded their small kitchenette with a warm orange glow as Ignis stepped out in just his sleep pants. His hair was mussed, sticking up every which way. Gladio had never seen Ignis like that before. His face calm and blissful, a tired swagger to his step, and his shoulders didn't seem as tight as they usually were.

He turned the kettle on and pulled out a mug, showing no indication that he knew the shield was there.

A second pair of footsteps drew Gladio's attention back to the bedroom.

Prompto here too? He'd never known Ignis to keep company.

A dark-haired man, somewhere in his early twenties, and a few inches shorter than Ignis, walked out of the bedroom, buttoning up his jeans as he did. Gladio's eyes adjusted as the man walked up to Ignis and wrapped his arms around him sensually, kissing the back of the strategist's exposed spine as he did. "Will you be home tonight?" he asked.

"Most likely," Ignis replied warmly. "Will you be joining me?"

"Maybe. We have a run to Old Lestallum to pick up some car parts, but we should be back before long."

"Call me when you return?" It sounded more like a question than a request.

The man kissed Ignis' shoulder and gave him a light smack on his ass. Gladio raised an eyebrow and stifled a chuckle. "Keep the bed warm for me."

"Of course."

Grabbing his shoes, the dark-haired man waved at Ignis casually before opening the door and descending down the stairs to the street below.

Gladio waited for the sound of footsteps to fade away before he cleared his throat, announcing his presence.

Ignis turned toward him and in a flash of light his daggers were in his hands. Sense of peace gone, Ignis the Crownsguard member was standing in their kitchen again.

"Iggy, it's me. Put those things away."

Ignis resumed his non-battle stance and banished his blades, but a lingering sense of guilt lingered on his face. "Apologies. I… When did you get back?"

"Midafternoon yesterday." Gladio shrugged from the futon. He was still groggy and had every intention to go back to bed, but not before a little humor on Ignis expense. "Sorry to eaves drop on your friends visit." Gladio briefly considered the man's stature, hair, and build. It reminded him of someone. Someone princely.

Even in the darkness, the blush on Ignis' face was apparent. "Yes…well…" The kettle began to whistle. Ignis turned it off and poured himself a cup. "Can I get you any?"

"What time is it?"

"Somewhere around six."

"No thanks. To the tea I mean. I'm gonna try and catch a few more hours."

Ignis almost looked relieved. Gladio assumed he was only making small talk to be polite. The three of them had fallen out of communication as of late. Every time he bumped into Ignis or Prompto it felt like they were falling more and more out of synch with each other. Shit he hadn't even seen Prompto in six months.

"Hey, Iggs…" Gladio said as the other man turned toward the bedroom.

"Yes?"

"You seem happy. I'm glad."

Ignis just smiled, nodded, and closed the door.

~X~X~X~

Okay I know not much has actually happened in this story yet, but just know that I'm working really hard to have character and world development during this fic. There's a lot we don't see or know about what happened during the WOR, especially during the alternate ending. So, I'm peppering in as much canon (what even is that word anymore?) content as I can while still leading up to where I want it. Comrades included.

The next chapter will have some NSFW content. I promise.