Well, this is it guys! I'm sorry it took almost a year, but here we are! Thank you to those who have followed and commented - I hope you all enjoyed.

Hammerhead

Showing Cindy how to take photos had been one of the best moments of Prompto's short life. She had been full of questions and, best of all, had given him her full attention for each of their three-hour outings. There wasn't much to take pictures of in the dim light, but they had used some plant life and each other as subjects. It had been quite some time since he'd used his camera, but now it seemed he had plenty of reasons to get back into it. This was their third outing and part of him wished that their remaining party members would take their time getting back. Not being fully honest with Cindy about his past had begun to weigh on him though. He wasn't lying by not saying anything, but he felt it was his responsibility to be completely honest.

"I better head on back. Lot of work waitin' for me and Paw Paw can't take care of it by himself."

Prompto finished packing up and they head back toward the bright flood lights. There were daemons out, but most of them gave Hammerhead a wide berth and those that didn't they could either easily avoid or outrun. "Cindy?" He took a deep breath in an effort to calm his nerves.

"Yes?" she responded as she kept pace in front of him.

"Remember how I said my parents weren't really my parents? Well, while we were gone, I kinda ran into my 'real' father," Prompto said creating the air quotes with his fingers now that Cindy was walking beside him. "Turns out I was actually created in lab with the intent of being one of those Magitek Troopers." Prompto put his hands in his pockets and bit his tongue to stop himself from interrupting the silence while she processed.

"That's quiet a story, Blondie," she said after a time. "Don't seemed to have worked though. You don't act or look like an MT to me."

"Thanks, Cindy. It doesn't bother me as much, but I thought you should know."

"What matters is who ya are now, and I'd say you've been a huge help to Lucians, not the Empire."

Prompto nodded and sighed as they walked through the back gate and toward the garage.

"Thanks for the lesson, Prompto. It was actually nice to get away from this here garage for a bit," Cindy said as they both stopped in front of the garage. "And thank ya for bein' honest."

"Any time," He said and meant it. He was about to say farewell when Cindy leaned forward and planted a kiss on his left cheek. Before he could react or even absorb what happened, a large vehicle pulled into the parking lot, horn blaring.

"Is that yer pals?"

Prompto squinted and then his eyes went wide. "Hey guys!" he shouted, waving both arms in greeting. "I didn't expect them for a few more days." He was concerned something was wrong, but he counted four people in the vehicle. He and Cindy both made their way to the vehicle that pulled in next to the gas pump. Driven by pure emotion, before they reached their friends, Prompto turned and surprised Cindy by reciprocating her gesture of affection. Surprised by his own boldness, Prompto continued to stare at Cindy until she brought his thoughts back into focus.

"Don't keep 'em waiting," she said, motioning in the direction of the newly arrived vehicle.

Prompto smiled and jogged over to his friends who were now getting out the vehicle. It appeared the Gladio had been driving with Iris riding shotgun and Ignis and Aranea in the back seat. Iris was leaning on Gladio heavily and Ignis was helping Aranea out of the back seat – Prompto noted that they didn't separate once out of the vehicle. What surprised Prompto the most is that Ignis and Gladio were talking, and not out of obligation. He wasn't gone from them that long, was he?

"Prompto," Ignis called as Prompto approached them. "Care to join us for a meal?"

Hammerhead - Caravan

They had settled in the caravan for the evening. It had started with a meal of cup noodles, Gladio's personal request, over free conversation and then eventually turned to strategizing. After dinner Gladio had helped Iris settle into one of the plastic chairs outside to catch up with Talcott and Cindy had returned to work. The remaining members settled in around the table. Ignis led the discussion, briefly bringing everyone up to speed then coming to the discussion of what needed to happen prior the true King's return. It felt uncomfortable for Gladio to be planning in a group format again but he knew it was necessary to accomplish the goal. He could tell Prompto was unsure about the situation as well, but he seemed to continue to relax as the night progressed.

"So," Ignis continued, "we assume when he returns he will be coming from the location of the crystal and likely head our direction. We need to have a plan in place to get him around safely. We also need to make sure we locate and keep an eye on Ardyn."

"We also need to keep the Daemons under control," Aranea added.

Gladio was glad she had agreed to join the group as they could certainly use her skills. It would take time to get used to her closeness with Ignis, but Gladio was pleased to see his friend finally happy. "Yeah, Ignis. I can't wait to see some of this 'talent' of yours in action." Gladio was still somewhat skeptical, but after talking at length with Ignis, he realized that even if his friend wasn't where he should be, Gladio could help him reach that goal; he had underestimated his friend's determination. Ignis' tactical skills were also irreplaceable.

"Certainly," Ignis said with a smile. "Also, I caught wind in Lestallum of some tombs that may provide us more information on Ardyn. I spoke with Talcott after dinner and he said he would be willing to join me."

"Sounds like we have a plan," Prompto said with a smile.

Once the specifics were laid out, the talk returned to friendly banter. Gladio sat back, hands behind his head and just enjoyed the chatter of his comrades. He didn't know for long this would last, but he knew he would allow himself to enjoy it while he could. Things would never be perfect, nor would they return to the way they were, but at least now there was hope for the future.