voidtreckerexpress | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Gladio and the bros.
What: Gladio's confusing return
When: Fiddlesticks 5, early hours of the morning
Where: Luggage Carriage
Warnings: I'm not sure... Crying? Mild-panic attacks. Smooching?

The last thing Gladio remembered was a voice and something about a control coach. He remembered wanting to ask Ignis where the hell that was. He remembered thinking it was strange...

And then he didn't remember much of anything else.

Until now.

Awareness came to him all of a sudden, and instead of the mysterious control coach or even his cabin, Gladio only knew darkness. Darkness and... he couldn't move. He tried to bring his arms up but it he didn't get them moved further than an inch. His legs were pulled up near to his chest and he couldn't stretch them...

Gladio sore under his breath and tried to throw his body, tried to gain purchase enough to buck and push at what he realised were hard walls all around him. When those walls didn't give... panic set in. He started to shake, his breathing came faster and he tried to throw himself to the side, yelling out for help, any help, as he did.

... The world shifted and Gladio damn near screamed as whatever he was trapped within toppled and gravity did the rest.

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Ignis was walking by the luggage carriage when he heard a loud noise. He was on his way to the quiet carriage but once he heard what sounded like a crash he stopped. Opening the door, his green eyes widened at the sight and went to go help. Moving the debris aside revealed Gladio and the advisor smiled so much that he laughed.

"Wait..there's something that's pinned to your shirt.." And with a little bit of rummaging, the strategist was able to move the heavier object. After that was moved, Ignis grabbed onto his fellow Crownsguard member and long time friend, holding on tightly. The first thought that went through him was relief. The next was that Noct and Prompto would be really happy too.

The family was now reunited.

Gladio wasn't laughing. He was, for lack of a better word, freaking the fuck out. Ignis was suddenly there and helping him get the broken crate off of him, but Gladio was damn near throwing the pieces away from himself and would have bolted the second that he was free... If it wasn't for arms that were holding him in place.

The arms were both comfort and terrifying and for a moment Gladio tried to get free. He was breathing hard, eyes wide and not quite seeing the man in front of him, though knew his voice...

The only reason Ignis had laughed was being happy to see the man but that had only lasted a moment as he now had a fight on his hands so to speak. Why was he thrashing...Keeping the shield in place wasn't easy and then it dawned on him what was going on.

This was familiar now that his mind kicked in, because he'd gone through this very thing with Tony. With a resolute face, Ignis kept Gladio with him and spoke in a gentle tone. "You're alright. I'm here with you and I'm going to keep you safe."

He was going to hold on and wait as long as it took and as he promised, he would keep the shield safe. Then he would ask those questions that Tony had taught him.

It didn't take much more than that. A calming voice to break through the rising panic that made his chest ache and his need to run strong. He hated confined spaces. Wherever he had been had been too small for him. Much too small. It was his worst fear realised. It was everything that haunted his nightmares, and he knew would haunt them more now that he actually had real life experience to back them up!

It took a few more seconds for Ignis' words to sink through the terror clouding his mind.

And once they had, once Gladio realised that there were arms around him anchoring him more than restraining him, he damn near broke down.

Gladio threw his arms around Ignis with a strangled sob and clung to the other man like his damn life depended on it. Later he might have worried he would bruise Ignis, but at that moment in time he couldn't care. He just clung.

Suddenly something seemed to work breaking through to the shield. And that's when Gladio's strong arms went around him, clinging to him for dear life it seemed. Ignis wouldn't admit a tear came out of his eyes at the hug, but he couldn't even recall the last time this had happened between them. So when he spoke his voice was thick with emotion. "I've got you and I'm not letting go." If he got bruised he wouldn't care and he'd rather have been the one to try and keep the other man calm. And he was here to reassure and soothe the other as long as it took.

If the shield was simply holding on, then that's what would be returned. The advisor didn't want to talk or try to initiate conversation right now. Making sure Gladio felt safe was his top priority and that's exactly what was going to happen until the other man moved away first.

Edited 2020-05-08 17:17 (UTC)

Oh, there were tears. Gladio couldn't seem to get them stopped, though barely realised they were there at all. His main focus was on trying to breathe. He was panting hard, gasping sobs mixed between, his heart was racing and he feared it would burst out of his chest and he would die amidst a sea of debris that had attempted to be his final resting place.

A harsh shudder ran through the larger man's body at the image his rebellious mind threw up at him and for a brief second his arms went tighter around Ignis.

But that level of panic was hard to maintain. He was making himself dizzy panting and gasping for breath. Ignis' shoulder was already wet from tears that Gladio just didn't give a damn about...

He slumped. His arms around the advisor loosened some, through Gladio had managed to grab fistfuls of the back of Ignis' shirt and he was loath to actually let go of that. His head dropped, face pressed into the others shoulder. And then low... voice gravelly and rough... he spoke a single word...

"... Fuck."

Ignis rubbed Gladio's back soothingly, trying to just be a presence and a reassuring one at that. He heard the gasps and sobs and held on tighter. "I'm here." If there was anything he was trying to get across, it was that the man was safe and no harm would come to him. He could feel how wet his shoulder was and the advisor's heart ached for the shield in his arms. What happened he couldn't know, but questions would come later.

Feeling the dark head move against his shoulder, the fistfuls of his shirt were welcome. At least it seemed the worst had passed. Ignis gently rested the side of his head against the dark hair and he continued his hold. At this point he couldn't remove the tears from beneath his glasses but there was a gentle smile and tone.

"Welcome back."

It helped, strangely, Ignis talking him down. Gladio did his best to focus on the words. And soon the panicked panting started to settle down and the tension in his shoulders eased.

But then he just felt shaky and so damn weak he couldn't even lift his head from where it rested upon Ignis' shoulder. Though he did have enough presence of mind to loosen his hold upon the other man more, enough that he wasn't about to break bones or cause any more bruises than he already had.

"T-thanks..." Gladio replied after a moments silence to work through the dizziness to find the word he needed. And even then it came out shaky and weak and rough from his tears.

When Gladio let go a little, Ignis breathed a sigh of relief because that really meant whatever had a hold of the shield was slipping away. He was more than sure there would be bruises but he really didn't care. This wasn't going to be the norm between them and while he knew it and why, it was something he would always remember.

Being let go of allowed Ignis to finally get a hand up to gently rub down the dark locks of hair just to try and be more of a comfort. "You're quite welcome." was the soft reply. There was more he wanted to get into and say, but here the shield was going to set the pace with conversation. So he just kept up with smoothing down Gladio's hair which he'd noted was getting longer. But that could wait too.

Little by little his world was returning to it's axis, but it was leaving Gladio exhausted and shaky. And he wasn't quite ready to relinquish his hold of Ignis just yet.

Distantly he knew the position was a strange one... It was normally he who comforted, not the other way around. He was the one to hold and try and make things better. This was... strange. But not uncomfortable.

And then Ignis started to stroke his hair. And the level of strangeness went up several notches and for a second Gladio had the most bizarre urge to laugh... but it didn't come through. Because it felt good. It was helping. And slowly but surely Gladio was coming back to his senses. And those senses told him that he and Ignis were alone... Prompto and Noctis weren't with him. A wave of sadness washed away some of the fear, but he knew that was an unreasonable thing to be feeling. He was sure if they had known he was there they would have been there as well. Though that begged the question...

"... How... how did you know...?" Gladio still hadn't pulled away from Ignis, his head was still resting with his forehead upon his friends shoulder. His arms had dropped though, linked loosely around Ignis' middle, but still tight enough to keep the other man close.

There was another soft smile as Ignis felt Gladio gradually relaxing in his arms. It was infinitely better than the struggling that had gone on earlier, but there was no blame. He'd been through it before a few times but it hadn't happened in awhile so it took but a moment to remember the proper procedure.

The advisor had no problem being the one to comfort because like the shield the one being comforted wasn't a normal role. It was hard to let the guard down and Gladio was the same so that was silently understood. He felt the other change his hold and he shifted to accommodate whatever position the shield wished them to be at. There was absolutely no hurry for them to get back to normal here, they would do this and be here as long as the other man desired it. But at hearing the question, the blondish head cocked to the side as he continued stroking through the dark hair, retaining his soft tone.

"How did I know what?"

"... I was here." Gladio clarified quietly.

Gladio didn't have much of a problem letting his guard down at all. Opening up, yes. That was harder. But letting himself be weak? Showing emotion. He could do that. Crying was harder, he'd never been good at that and could count on a single hand the amount of times he had been brought to tears. And most of those times had been when he was much, much younger.

Being like this with Ignis didn't embarrass him. Being afraid of something so stupid embarrassed him. Not knowing how or why he had been trapped pissed him off. But it was hard to focus on those feelings when he felt so... weak and tired. And his head ached. Damn but his head hurt.

Prompto had been trying to figure out how to take pictures of the void. It wasn't easy and the whole thing was giving him an awful headache. As he sat up and rubbed his eyes, he groaned softly. Going over to the train store, he considered buying something as a treat when he flipped over to the roster instead.

Wait..

Wait..

Gladio's name wasn't gold. It wasn't gold!

"Gladio?" He called, immediately jumping up and dashing through the train frantically looking everywhere. Was he in the medical room? His bedroom? Prompto or Noct's bedroom? He wouldn't already be in the gym, would he?

As he burst into the car with their cabins, he spotted the gorgeous, extremely missed man. "Gladio! Gladio!" He cried ecstatic beyond words. He ran faster and only barely managed to not break his camera as he threw his arms around the large man and held on tight.

"I've..disappeared as well and this is where I was found." Ignis moved his other hand to gently remove a strand of hair that had gotten caught in his engagement ring. After that was done, he shook his head. "When people disappear from the train they always end up here." He then thought about Joss who had died and came back here amongst the luggage. He had told Noct and Prompto as much too.

"So I happened to pass by and was going to come check a little later, as there seem to be no set times in which people turn up trapped in a crate or a suitcase." There was a gentle smile as his hand continued moving through the dark hair to soothe the troubled shield. "I heard a noise and came to investigate. And then I found you."

Edited 2020-05-08 20:16 (UTC)

Gladio needed sleep. He felt drained, physically and mentally. He'd promised Ignis he would be find getting back to his room on his own. And for the most part he had been. Though outside of his room he'd just stood there for a long moment, looking at the names and realising with a heavy heart that one was missing. Prim was gone... He hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye.

He was about to enter his room when he heard the shout of his name. His head was throbbing so for a brief moment he didn't register who had shouted. But the second one was clearer and he turned toward the sound.

And just in time to catch Prompto as the blonde came flying at him.

Gladio stumbled back a few steps until his back hit the wall beside the door, near knocking the wind out of him. But he didn't care. His arms went around the younger man tight and pulled him off his feet, though this time he did his best not to bruise.

"Prompto..." The name left Gladio's lips with a near pained groan and just when he thought he was over the tears he could feel more prickling at the backs of his eyes. "... Prom..." Gods but he had missed him. It felt like it had been both minutes since he had last seen his love and years.

"Ah..." He supposed that all made sense. In a way. Gladio didn't like it though. He didn't like how he had been put in a damn crate. Of all the stupid, insane things... why did people have to come back in this way?

But then a very important question came to him and he went very still.

"... How long?" He also wanted to know where the hell he'd been. But more important than any of that was how long he'd been gone for... Had it been minutes? Weeks? No way it could have been months...

When Gladio stiffened, Ignis immediately stopped with the hair soothing, thinking the shield wanted to get up or move though the rest of him wasn't doing anything. "You've only been gone a matter of about five days." He almost then said something about having two crying boys on his hands but he didn't want to worry the man, as he was more than sure the other felt bad enough about disappearing as he had. Six knew Ignis had a time of it when he'd left.

"So we'll have a good dinner tonight to welcome you back properly as you've been missed." That much the advisor wanted to get through, that his absence had certainly been noted. And he could relinquish the duty of sleeping with the other two back to their rightful lover.

The strategist breathed in and smiled. "Can I get you anything?" Always of service, that was Ignis. But if Gladio wanted to sit here for hours or however long, that was exactly what they were going to do.

It took till Ignis asked him if he could get anything for his brain to actually catch up with the rest of what his friend had said. For a minute all he knew was a loud buzzing in his ears.

Five days...?

Five whole days...?

Had he been in that crate all that time? Where had he been? What the hell was going on?

The buzzing intensified until Gladio thought he was going to scream... But then just like that it went away. And he slowly pulled back away from Ignis.

His eyes were red and swollen, his cheeks wet and hair a mess. He was a mess. But Gladio didn't care. He looked at Ignis... and there was such pain in that gaze. An ache that could be felt straight to his very soul. "... Prompto... and Noct. Are they..." They hadn't vanished as well, had they? "... Are they alright?" Did they hate him now...

Ignis could only obey the silent request to let go as Gladio sat up and pulled away. Green eyes were slightly alarmed as he saw the red eyes and everything was disheveled. The pain in the other's gaze went straight to his heart and for a moment everything on the advisor just ached.

He smiled for the shield's sake and reached over to pull the strands out of the other's eyes. Slowly he moved a little closer, to gently wipe some of the tears away. "They're fine darling, try not to worry." And no, he's totally not talking about how they were both lost little souls when they had discovered him missing.

Taking Gladio's face in his hands, Ignis smiled softly and spoke the same way. "Everything's alright now, you've returned to us."

Edited 2020-05-08 22:20 (UTC)

Ignis was being... heartbreakingly sweet, and Gladio wasn't sure he deserved any of it. Not the gentle words and reassurances nor the tender touches. And yet he clung to them. He wanted to believe the man in front of him. Wanted to trust in his every word. Needed to believe that Prompto and Noctis were alright. That he didn't need to worry. That they would be happy...

Because the alternative...

Maybe it would have been better if he had remained gone?

His eyes fell closed and he took a deep, shuddering breath. And then without quite meaning to realised that he was leaning into Ignis' right hand a little more than he should have as he sighed a soft, humourless chuckle. "... So I haven't screwed up everything good in my life?"

It hadn't been that long ago Gladio had asked him to not run in the halls anymore, but he couldn't help it. He was so excited to see his beautiful, beautiful boyfriend. He clung tightly to the large man and let out a peal of happy laughter when he was lifted right off the ground. Everything was right with the world again!

Hearing his name triggered the tears. They were happy ones, but that didn't keep the sob from bubbling up. "Glads.. I thought- I'm so happy you're back! I missed you so much! T- they said you might not and Noct and I were going to find out who they were and cut off their head but we didn't know where to start- but you're back! You really, really are back! I love you! I won't ever take you for granted again!"

The advisor gently smiled when he felt Gladio lean into his touch. "No, you didn't. They'll be rather happy to see you in fact." He sighed and gave the shield a fond gaze. "No one ever disappears from here because they want to, especially since landing in luggage always seems to be the inevitable outcome." Being like this with Gladio was who he really was beneath all the bluster, but there was no way Ignis would pull this in front of the other lads, so it was a good thing that they weren't here. And even with as much of a secret as Ignis liked to pretend it was, the others too knew how caring and nurturing he was. But they all still humoured him regardless.

He wanted to ask how the other was feeling but with what happened so far, it was a safe bet that things weren't quite back to normal yet. So this was where they would remain as long as it took before the other decided otherwise.

Prompto was talking and, despite his best efforts, Gladio was struggling to keep up with what was being said. He was catching every other word or two and in the end all he could really do was hold his blonde tight and just ride it out.

His head dropped, eyes closing as he pressed his face into the crook of Prompto's neck and just breathed him in.

There was a word he caught though. And hearing it was like a balm upon his poor, battered soul... And without quite meaning to, without realising it was happening until it had, his knees buckled and Gladio slid down the wall to the ground. And brought Prompto down with him.

"Yeah... that I can do without..." Gladio felt himself shiver just thinking about where he had been before Ignis had found him. But it was getting easier. As the seconds ticked by Gladio was finding his center returning. It was still a little crooked and it would take work to get himself 100% put together, but he was getting there.

And knowing the other two didn't hate him was going a long way to making him feel better about the whole thing. Because no, he hadn't wanted to disappear... At least... not this way. He'd missed home. He'd said as much to a few people, Ignis included. He missed home and there was a big part of him that had wanted to return.

But while he couldn't be sure where he had been when he had been vanished, he knew it hadn't been home. And since Ignis was avoiding the subject, Gladio wondered if anyone knew where they went when people disappeared like he had.

He sighed again and then went ahead and gave Ignis a tug and wrapped his arms around the other man's waist, pulling him into a tight (but less crushing than earlier) hug. "... Thanks, Iggy. For being here."

They were already going down before Prompto knew what was happening. He hadn't been prepared enough to withstand it, so he went right onto down with the Shield.

"Whoa.." He squawked, worried Gladio was passing out on him. He drew back and put his hands gently on either side of his face and then moved one to his forehead. "Hey, are you okay? You're home." Gladio had to be okay. He just had to. The large man didn't get a choice in this matter. Prompto needed him to be okay- at least eventually. Gladio could be weak in this moment. "What do you need me to do?"

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