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Prompto whined when his alarm went off. He snuck one hand out of the warmth of his bed and blindly smacked the alarm clock to put a stop to the shrill ringing.
It had been a mistake to stay up so late on a school night.
Prompto rolled out of bed, dropping to his knees on the cool floor with an exhausted groan. The duvet fell with him, and he just barely resisted the urge to curl up in it and drift off again. Grabbing his phone from the nightstand, Prompto tapped his way to his morning playlist and blasted rock on full volume. That kept him awake until he managed to drag himself into a cold shower.
Thirty minutes later he was standing at the door, dressed in his school uniform with a backpack slung over his shoulder. He felt much more alert but he knew for a fact that he would be nodding off as soon as he got into Mrs. Treven’s class. Noctis had once said that even council meetings were more entertaining than her class. Prompto was inclined to believe him. At least it was Friday. He would only need to make it through the next eight hours and then he would be free for the weekend.
He stepped out of the door, making sure to lock it behind him as he left for school. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, shoulders hunched against the cold. Snow crackled beneath his shoes, almost making him slip a few times. Sneakers didn’t make good winter shoes but they were the best he had. He had barely enough money for groceries so better shoes were out of question. Fortunately the subway station wasn’t that far from his place so he would only have to slip his way through a few blocks.
Except he never even made it half-way there.
There was a screech of tires. Prompto turned on his heels, breath catching in his throat. A dark SUV came to a halt next to him, and two men piled out. They were large, a matching dark expression on their faces as they rushed at him.
Prompto yelped, his backpack dropping to the ground as he turned to run. He made it two steps before he was caught by his coat and tugged back. A startled shout escaped Prompto. Massive arms wrapped around him in a bear hug, pinning his arms to his sides as he was lifted off his feet.
“Help!” Prompto shouted, a panicked tint to his voice as he struggled. He kicked as hard as he could, squirmed and screamed but the grip on him didn’t give. “Help! Let me go!”
Suddenly he was shoved into the SUV, eliciting a yelp from him as he fell. There were instantly hands on him again. He was manhandled back, hands gripping his wrists and pinning them to his front as he was pulled across the back seat and against a broad chest. He continued to struggle, breaths coming fast and uneven as he screamed and pleaded to be let go.
“Settle down!” a voice snarled, close enough that Prompto felt the hot breath of the kidnapper on his ear. The grip on his wrists tightened to the point where it hurt and he whimpered but didn’t stop. He couldn’t. He was panicking, too far gone to listen. He just knew he needed to get out, needed to escape. “Shit, Rev, the syringe!”
A hand clamped over his mouth, silencing his screams to little more than muffled noises. Tears sprang into his eyes. He went still as the car lurched forward. He shuddered, a low whine bubbling up his throat. Someone laughed.
“Keep him still.”
A hand dug into his hair a moment later and wrenched his head back. His cry came out muffled. He caught a glimpse of a syringe from the corner of his eyes and tensed. The man holding the syringe gave him a smirk.
“Don’t worry, kid, this will just put you asleep for a few hours.”
Another wave of panic washed over Prompto but there was nothing he could do, restrained as he was, when the man leaned closer and plunged the syringe into his bare neck. He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a sob. His head lolled to the side as his hair was released. The men chatted but the words bled into an incoherent mush in Prompto’s ears as the drug started to take effect. A moment or two later his eyes slid shut.
Prompto groaned, blinking blearily as he returned to consciousness. His head felt heavy, almost stuffy. It took him a moment to realize he was staring down at his own lap. His school uniform looked disheveled and he was almost certain Mrs. Treven would huff and give him that disapproving look before sending him to the bathroom to tidy up. She always wanted them to look their best and act all mature. It was stupid if you asked Prompto. They were a bunch of 16-year-olds, not adults.
The sound of a door creaking open sent a spike of panic through him. His head snapped up, colliding with something hard. A pained noise burst from his lips and he squeezed his eyes shut.
“Finally awake, are we?” an amused voice asked, “That’s good. I was beginning to worry you’d sleep through the whole day and miss half of the fun!”
An overwhelming sense of fear and panic blossomed in his chest, taking Prompto’s breath away. He remembered now. He forced his eyes open and tried to move his arms and legs, only to find them tightly restrained to the chair. A whimper escaped his lips.
The man who had spoken huffed. He walked closer, perfectly relaxed as if there was nothing wrong with the situation.
“I would have never guessed the Crown Prince’s little friend would turn out to be a Nif.”
Prompto tried not to wince at the dig but the man’s ugly laugh told him he didn’t quite succeed. He shook his head, weakly tugging at the coarse rope that bound his hands behind the chair. “Let me- please let me go!”
“Sorry, kid, can’t do that.” The man shrugged and tilted Prompto’s head back with one finger under his chin.
“But I don’t- I don’t know anything! I’m no one important!”
The man shushed him. His thumb brushed over Prompto’s cheekbone, causing him to flinch away from the hand. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. Being the Prince’s personal boytoy certainly makes you important.”
Prompto made a choking sound and blushed. There was nothing between him and Noct! They were friends, and equal at that! Prompto didn’t feel that way, and he was pretty sure he would have noticed if Noct had those kinds of feelings towards him. He wasn’t- he wasn’t! “I’m not-!”
The man’s hand snuck into his hair and pulled. Tears formed in Prompto’s eyes as he let out a sharp gasp. He tried to plead, ask to be let go but the words got stuck in his throat.
“I don’t have the time for this, kid. Whether you want it or not, your friendship with the Prince makes you very valuable,” the man told him, voice low and stern this time. “Look at me. I’m being very generous with you. I could gag and blindfold you, even keep you drugged the whole time if I wanted. So do me a favor and behave yourself. If you do everything as you’re told, you might very well get to go home to the little Prince. Understand?”
“Yes,” Prompto released a shuddering breath and nodded. A few tears slid down his face and disappeared into the collar of his uniform.
“Good,” the man said and took a step back. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready for the main event. You just sit tight for a while longer.”
Prompto flexed his hands behind the chair and tugged on the ropes with desperation as the man left the room. His fear only grew when it did nothing. He trashed in the chair until he was breathless and exhausted. With a broken sob he slumped down. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want to be here.
Would anyone come for him? Like he had told the man, he wasn’t anyone important. He was just a random kid. Not even important enough for his parents to be around for more than maybe a week or two in a year. It would most likely take weeks until they would notice something was wrong. Noctis may have been his friend —his best friend —but that didn’t mean the Crown was going to do anything to get him back. Besides, Prompto was almost certain the Crown didn’t negotiate with criminals. Maybe someone had witnessed his kidnapping and would contact the police?
Prompto’s bottom lip quivered and he was almost thrown into another panic attack. “Please, someone…”
No one came. Hours passed, and all Prompto managed to do was make himself even more tired. His wrists were hurting, rubbed raw from the ropes. They were too tight, both on his wrists and ankles, for him to get free. Eventually he drifted off to a dreamless sleep.
He jolted awake an indeterminate time later. There was commotion somewhere close. People were shouting, there were sounds of running and, worst of all, gunshots.
Prompto gasped and pressed himself tightly against the chair. A fresh wave of fear washed over him but this time it was mixed with hope. Could someone be coming for him? His heart raced in his chest, pounding against his rib cage as he watched the door. He didn’t dare to breathe.
The door burst open a minute or two later. It didn’t bring the rescue he had hoped for, however, but instead the two men that had caught him in the morning.
Prompto stiffened, shrinking into his seat with a barely concealed whimper.
“Grab him, we gotta go!” the other, slightly taller one hissed. He was waving a gun in his hand and kept glancing towards the door.
“Wha- what’s going on?” Prompto asked, trying not to flinch when the shorter man came closer.
“Keep your mouth shut!” the man growled. He flicked open a pocket knife and crouched down to cut the ropes around Prompto’s ankles. “And don’t you fucking move or I might just cut something more important!”
Prompto shut his mouth. He was trembling again, terrified.
“Come on grab the kid already, we need to move!” the man by the door exclaimed. He was shifting restlessly now.
“What do you think I’m doing?” the shorter one snapped back. yanked Prompto up from the chair hard enough that the chair fell to its side. Prompto’s legs gave out beneath him, having gone numb a long time ago. The man cursed but kept him upright easily with a bruising grip on his arm.
While the two men continued to bicker, Prompto’s gaze was drawn to a large knife of some sort that sailed through the air and into the room. It was such an absurd sight that for a moment his fear gave way to confusion.
Then there was a crackling noise and a man appeared in the room in a flash of blue sparks, the knife in his hand. This man was wearing a black uniform, one that Prompto recognized as the type the Kingsglaive wore. The man flashed him a cocky smile, even giving a quick bow as the two other men tried to catch up to the situation.
“Hey, kid, close your eyes, okay?” the Glaive said.
Prompto stared at him for a second longer with wide eyes but then the Glaive threw his knife and warped. Prompto shut his eyes, even going as far as to hold his breath. He could hear cursing, sparkle of magic and even smell something burnt. The man holding him jerked him to the side roughly and Prompto couldn’t keep himself from crying out. His eyes stayed closed though.
A moment later there was a grunt right next to him, followed by a coppery smell. The hand holding him let go but then he was being grabbed again. An arm wrapped around his midsection, but this one was more gentle than the one from earlier. He managed to catch a muttered “I’m sorry, kid” before the floor disappeared from beneath him. The world twisted and turned sickeningly even with his eyes closed, and a strong wave of nausea crashed into him. He heard two gunshots but they sounded almost distorted.
Then he hit the ground. He coughed, all air expelled from his lungs. He heaved, both from the lack of air and the nausea swirling in his gut. There was a faint groan from next to him and words that didn’t sound Lucian.
“Nyx!” someone shouted. There was a thunder of approaching footsteps and Prompto whimpered.
“Kid, are you okay? You can open your eyes now.”
Prompto slowly, hesitantly cracked his eyes open to see the Glaive from earlier lying on the floor next to him with a worried look on his face.
“I- I feel sick,” Prompto managed to gasp.
The Glaive’s eyes widened in alarm but in a flash of blue there was a plastic bag in his hands. “Sorry, warping can do that to you. I had to get us out of there fast.”
“Nyx, godsdammit, what the hell was that? You just- is that the Argentum kid?” a feminine voice exclaimed somewhere close but Prompto was too busy making acquaintance with the plastic bag to hear the response.
When his stomach finally calmed down, he slumped down. Surprisingly, there was a strong pair of hands there to catch him. Someone took the bag from him with some disgusted muttering but he didn’t have the energy to pay attention to it.
“You’re safe now, kid.”
That was enough for Prompto to let go of the fear and relax. He was safe now.