*Inspired by the fanart done by karedake-annex on Tumblr. Quite impressive work.

BETWEEN A ROCK…

Part 1/2

The four of them had been on the road for about a month now. The current task on the docket was transport to Altissia now that the ferry out of Galdin Quay was out of commission for the foreseeable future. Cid had something in the works, but it wouldn't be done for a while. In the meantime Prince Noctis and his Crownsguard were keeping themselves busy with hunts and helping civilians out whenever they could.

They'd managed to take out a couple of Imperial Bases as well, which was a welcomed bonus. Where it lacked in Gil it more than made up for it in the satisfaction of being a thorn in the Nif's side.

Currently the group found themselves in the Lestallum spice market, cashing in their latest hunt. The griffin was a bit of a challenge, but thanks to Prompto's firearms and a few well-placed warp strikes they managed. "Perhaps we should avoid avian enemies for the time being," suggested Ignis as Gladio collected the Gil from their hunt and perused the options for the next one.

"You got an eye on the kids?" Gladio asked Ignis over his shoulder.

The strategist looked up from the ground cumin and paprika and scanned the market, finding them tucked in a corner of the market browsing Prompto's photos from earlier that day. "I do," he replied. A smile tugged at the corner of Ignis' lips as he watched the blonde look up fondly at the Prince more than he did his own photos. When Noctis laughed at one particular photo and wrapped an arm over Prompto's shoulder the blond went completely flush.

Ignis was quite happy to see his ward smiling, especially after the news about Insomnia and everything else that entailed.

"Okay Iggs," said Gladio, "The choices for the next hunt are: Three mind-flayers at night, a Marlboro at night, a giant lighting shooting spider lady at night…lot of night hunts… oh and one giant snake anytime by a waterfall."

Ignis sighed, "Well, with those options I'm inclining toward the diurnal one."

Gladio nodded. "Giant snake it is."

Ignis' eyes turned back down to the spices. "Just make sure we stock up on antidotes and curatives before we go. If it's the variety of snake I think it is, then they tend to spit venom." The last one Ignis saw was large enough to stand fifteen feet tall when it reared up. Hopefully this one wasn't that big.

"Gotcha."

He pondered for a moment. "What spice do you suppose would go with snake meat?"

Gladio appeared next to him. He put a hand on his shoulder as he perused the spice selection. "What would we be eating with it?"

Ignis took a shallow breath, Prompto wasn't the only one to blush at the occasional contact. Though he suspected Gladio didn't do it intentionally. He cleared his throat. "Rice, most likely. Maybe some greens if we find any."

"Then I'd probably go for some of those chili peppers and citrus. Maybe some fresh cilantro if you can find it. Snake meat is pretty bland."

Ignis tilted his head toward the larger man. "You've had some before?"

"Once or twice. If we can find some scorpion that's even better. Those taste a bit citrusy on their own. Might pair well. Either way I'm sure you'll cook up something fantastic. You always do." He gave Ignis a tap on the ass before walking toward the younger men, eliciting an even deeper blush from the strategist.

Thankfully Gladio was out of eye shot before he could see it. "Spicy food it is then."

They were restocked with curatives and on the road again within the hour. The two younger men opting to ride in the back seat so they could play Kings Knight against one another. That was the excuse Prompto used anyway. Gladio didn't care either way so long as he could push the seat back to accommodate for his longer legs.

They drove quietly with the radio on low so Gladio could read without much distraction. Ignis glanced over to the book he'd been occupying himself with since the beginning of the trip. It was a dark green volume with a silver cicada emblem on the front. Gladio's brow furrowed as he leaned forward into the pages suddenly. "Oh, shit."

"Something the matter?" Ignis asked, trying not to take his eyes off the road.

Gladio put his thumb on the page he was on, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "I feel betrayed."

"Care to elaborate?"

"The main characters lover, who honestly was really likeable up to this point, just drugged their whole group. They just woke up in a cell with her on the other side of the bars taunting them. She'd been working with the enemy the whole time. That fucking bitch!"

"Language."

Gladio shook his head, "Nope, not censoring myself this time. She deserves every curse word thrown at her."

Despite the foul language Ignis couldn't help but smile as Gladio dove back into the pages. It had been forever since he'd seen the shield so riled up about something not work related. He let him read uninterrupted for the next hour until they got near the area on the map where the serpent had been seen last.

As they parked Gladio finished the page before replacing the bookmark and tucking it in between the seat and center console for safe keeping.

"Has the situation for your characters improved?" Ignis asked as they walked down to the waterfall, keeping an eye out for danger.

"No," he grumbled. "They're still prisoners. Things aren't looking good."

Prompto patted his tattooed shoulder. "It'll be alright, Dude. It's not like you're reading Game of Thrones or anything. Your characters will figure it out."

Gladio pat the blondes head playfully. "Thanks, Prom."

The closer to the waterfall they got, the more on edge they became. Ignis paid special attention to the water's edge, noticing some sahagin gators sunbathing on the rocky shore upriver. They wandered around looking for the serpent in the rock outcroppings and shallow waters for over two hours, but only ended up finding a few wild edibles.

"You think someone else got it already?" said Noctis, looking more bored than anything.

Ignis sighed. "That's a distinct possibility, some of those hunts have been there for a while. Or perhaps it's moved."

"Or one of those gators ate it," offered Prompto.

Gladio glanced up at the position of the sun. "Well, whatever the reason, let's set up the haven before the sun starts going down. I saw one about a quarter mile up the hill."

Prompto and Noctis groaned in tandem. "I don't wanna camp," said Noctis.

"Too bad, Princess. We won't make it back to Lestallum before dark. Besides, we've got some good weather on our side. It's supposed to be warm tonight." This news didn't seem to alter the Prince's expression. "Come on, I'll set the tent up."

With camp made up and a safe fishing spot within view of the haven, Noctis and Prompto decided to go kill some time until dinner. Much to the boys chagrin Ignis and Gladio insisted on joining them. "There are still sahagin everywhere," Ignis pointed out. "Even if we couldn't find the serpent it's not an area I would call safe by any stretch of the imagination."

They huffed, but relented. Gladio suspected they wanted some time to themselves, but unless they were at the haven the sword and shield weren't going to let them out of their sight. Especially with Lucis at war. Niflheim carriers were still dropping MT's all over the place.

At least there was a tree overhead, providing decent cover from the air. So unless the Nif's saw where they'd stashed the Regalia, they were probably as safe as they were going to be in the wilds.

Ignis kept a watchful eye on Noctis fishing while Gladio made himself comfortable under the tree, facing the road behind them should anything approach. He'd brought his book at least, maybe he could get some reading done. He cracked it open where he'd left off.

North fumbled with the shackle around his wrist for the hundredth time. The metal dug into his skin until tears pricked the corners of his eyes and fresh blood began to flow down his fingers. Their captors hadn't fed them since they'd woken up here and North didn't have any strength left in him to fight. He slumped to the cold stone floor of the cell and put his head in his knees.

He still couldn't believe Abbigail had betrayed them. His fellow Warden. His companion. His lover.

North wasn't sure who he was angrier at. Abbigail for deceiving them, or for himself for letting her get close to him in the first place. "This is my fault," he said under his breath.

"No," said Vargas, shackled next to him. The chain dragged along the floor as his fellow Warden scooted up beside him and wrapped his free arm around his shoulder. "It's all of our fault. We should have seen the signs from the day she arrived at the Academy… or at the very lease before they pinned our ranks on." His calloused fingers traced the cicada emblem on his collar.

There was a hollow silence in the cell. The only noise was the dripping water down the hallway and the distant screaming of some other prisoner who hadn't accepted their fate yet.

"We're going to die here," said North without any emotion left in his voice.

Vargas didn't correct him this time. Instead he said, "Can I confess something to you? Normally I'd worry about it being awkward, but given the current situation…"

North leaned his head onto his compatriots shoulder. It was almost a relief to be devoid of hope. As backwards as that sounded. "Go for it."

Vargas' shackled hand came up and touched North's chin, tilting his face up, and kissed him.

Gladio blinked. He read the line again. Well… he certainly didn't see that coming. He glanced up at the field, scanning for threats quickly before he continued reading.

North's eyes shot open, but he didn't pull away.

When the kiss broke he held perfectly still for a moment, gazing into Vargas' green eyes. How could he have been so oblivious about not one, but two of his teammates. This man who'd been beside him every day for the last six months, who'd saved his life, who…was kissing him again. This time something warm coiled its way through North's chest as he leaned into the kiss, shifting his position so that he was better facing Vargas. He felt a tongue trace his chapped lips and he opened up to him, causing the heat in his chest to spread throughout his body.

Vargas seemed to drop his shields too as he pulled the smaller man into his lap. North straddled him, the arousal evident through his uniform pants as he ground down through his own forming hardness. A moan escaped him when Vargas shifted the kisses to North's pulse. Several days' worth of stubble rubbed along his skin. He could hear his heart hammering in his ears as he ran his hands up Vargas' collar before pulling his hand away sharply. "Ouch," he hissed, looking down at his bleeding finger.

"What happened?" asked Vargas, his green eyes heavily dilated.

"Something pricked my finger," said North, slowly moving Vargas' collar aside. The pin that held their rank on their collar had lost its backing… North's eyes went wide. "Holy shit."

Completely pushing aside what they were doing, North pulled off Vargas' collar device, exposing a two inch long spike of metal. Perfect for a lock pick.

"How's the book?"

Gladio jumped and looked up at Ignis. Behind him Noctis was gathering up his tackle box while Prompto carried the decent sized trout they'd caught.

"It's going well, actually," said Gladio. "They found a lock pick. Things are looking hopeful."

Ignis nodded and glanced back at their wards. "That's good. I know I often end up relating more with the characters in my books than I intend to. I wind up living their adventures vicariously, so when they're having a difficult time, so do I." Ignis tilted his head to the side as Gladio stood up. "Do you require sunblock?"

Gladio frowned. "No, why?"

"Your face is all red. Perhaps I should stop driving with the Regalia's roof down for a while."

"Yeah, probably," Gladio said, feigning agreement. He never got sunburn and he knew for a fact that his face was red for other reasons. Namely the book in his hands.

"Anyway," started Ignis, "Once we get the boys back to the haven I was wondering if we could go find some Leiden peppers. I'll need it with the trout for dinner and we haven't any."

"Didn't you just buy a bunch of peppers?"

"Spicy ones, yes. But Leiden peppers are sweet and will better compliment the dish. Do you know if any grow around here?"

Gladio thought for a moment. They usually grew well on warm, south facing hills with sandy soil. Which was pretty much what they were on now. "Yeah, there should be some around here. Let's get these two back to the haven and we'll go look for some."

Ignis nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

With the fish in the cooler and the Prince and Plebe (Prompto's words, not Gladio's) playing their game in the shade of the tent, Ignis made them promise not to leave the haven and to call them if there was even the slightest sight of a Magiteck Carrier nearby. They both agreed as Ignis and Gladio walked away from the haven in search of ingredients.

Gladio tapped Ignis on the arm when they were about a hundred yards away. "Stop looking over your shoulder. They won't go anywhere. We'll be back in fifteen minutes."

"I'm not worried about them leaving. I'm worried about someone finding them."

"You are going to have to stop babying them sooner or later. He is the King of Lucis now, after all."

Ignis' eyes regarded him with something Gladio couldn't read. "Not until the coronation… but I understand your point."

They walked around in casual silence for a few minutes until Gladio spotted an old garage towards the bottom of the hill near the dirt road. The soil around it was plenty sandy, so it was worth a look. When they approached the gray husk of a building they noticed that the roof had long since collapsed in. Pieces of metal and rebar stuck out in all directions and overall it looked like a tetanus nightmare. Ignis walked around one side of the building while Gladio walked around the other.

Almost immediately he found the familiar looking plant sticking out from the corner of the building. "Score," said Gladio, picking a handful of peppers and putting them in the pouch strapped to his thigh. "I got some, Iggy," he called.

"Gladio…" said Ignis. His voice was laced with something resembling alarm. Gladio poked his head around the cinderblock building and froze.

Running from the shack to the bushes seventy feet away was a snakeskin. It was the width of a twin mattress and almost as thick.

The color drained from their faces as they heard a deep hiss emanate from the bushes at the end of the empty skin.

X~X~X

Alright, I have to break this up into two pieces. I have to go to bed at SOME point. Next chapter will be up within 48 hours. Smut is coming too. I promise.