Chapter Text
Felix and Sylvain were waiting near the gates when the Professor, Ingrid, and Dorothea came back from whatever mission they had suddenly disappeared on. It wasn’t that the boys were worried, Ingrid and Dorothea were strong, and Professor Byleth was basically unstoppable. They were mostly just curious as to why the mission had been so sudden, and why they hadn’t been invited. However, Ingrid’s expression when they walked in made them back off.
“So, how was the mission?” Sylvain asked when they were closer.
Dorothea smiled. “I think it was a success. Another bastard was warned off from coming near my sweet Ingrid.”
The Professor nodded seriously, but glanced over at Ingrid all the same.
Ingrid just gave a forced chuckle and thanked Dorothea and the Professor for their help before excusing herself to settle her pegasus in for the night.
Dorothea dragged the Professor off for a celebratory meal, but Byleth’s gaze watched Ingrid for a moment more with a frown before following after the excited brunette.
“The Professor seems unsatisfied.” Felix muttered.
“Yeah, I noticed that.” Sylvain agreed crossing his arms. “We should check on Ingrid. Something about this feels off.”
“Agreed.”
They found her closing the stable doors for the night.
“Ingrid, so why so secretive about the mission?”
“Sylvain… not tonight. I just want to go to bed.” She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
The two hesitated before Felix finally spoke up. “Are you hurt?”
She looked over at him with a soft smile. “Thank you for the concern guys. I’m ok. Just… taking care of another letter from my father.”
“We understand. Good night Ingrid.” Sylvain gave a small pat on her shoulder.
Once she had rounded the corner that led to the dormitories Sylvain growled. “I can’t believe her father is still at it.”
“Her knight training has been improving exponentially too.”
“I wish there was something we could do.”
“She clearly wants to be alone for now. Let’s just wait till morning.”
There was a crash coming from the hall. Sylvain waited, maybe it was just someone sneaking back into their room after a little fun. Not even a minute later though there was a louder noise, and this one was clearly someone putting up a struggle. Climbing out of bed he stumbled into the loose pants he wears for training and finally made his way out into the hall.
There was a strange man in dark clothing, with a tight grip on Ingrid’s wrist. He was clearly trying to press a cloth to her face to knock her out, but she was managing to fight him off just enough. Just as she managed to get a fist in his jugular, Felix flew out of his doorway tackling the man to the ground.
The surprise of a new comer forced the man to loosen his grip on Ingrid. Sylvain hurried over to make sure she wasn’t hurt, but she nodded that she was fine. There was a moment of struggling before it ended with Felix holding a dirk to the man’s throat.
“Who sent you?” Felix demanded.
The man just glared at the young noble.
“What’s going on here?” Dimitri and Dedue stepped out of their respective rooms to see the commotion.
“Some bastard just tried to abduct Ingrid.” Sylvain informed him while glaring at the intruder.
Dimitri quickly assessed the situation, deciding that Ingrid was indeed safe, if not a bit shaken, before taking over.
“Dedue, would you help take this man to the Professor? I’m sure they will know what to do.”
“Of course, Highness.”
The large man lifted the would-be abductor easily before dragging him down the hallway following Dimitri.
Felix was still kneeling on the floor while Sylvain tried to diffuse the tension filling the atmosphere.
“Ingrid… are you hurt?”
“N-no. Just. He just bruised my wrist a little.”
Getting to his feet Felix picked up the blanket that had been kicked into the hall from the struggle out of her room and draped it around her shoulders.
That’s when Sylvain noticed how little she was wearing, and how much was on display. Much more than Ingrid ever cared to show. Gently he fixed the blanket so that it covered her torso properly.
“You guys…” Her voice was so soft they would have missed it if their attention was not completely focused on her to start with.
Sylvain pulled her into a hug, which seemed to be all she needed to trigger the tears she had been holding back. Carefully he guided them to the floor to lean against the wall, while she curled up and cried into his shoulder. After a second Felix sat on the other side of her to offer the little moral support he could. Clutching his sleeve, she pulled him into the hug and just hung on to them for a long while.
“Both of you. Thank you.” She said when she finally calmed down a bit.
“Of course.” The red-head replied.
“We always have your back.” Felix nodded.
“He was sent by the man my father wanted me to marry. There is apparently a reward for bringing me in.”
“We won’t let them take you.” Sylvain assured her.
“I know. I just… just wish that he didn’t keep doing this to me.”
“We won’t let him marry you off to some old shit.” Felix told her.
“Eventually I won’t have a choice.” Ingrid muttered uncharacteristically pessimistic.
“It won’t happen.” Felix sounded so sure, that she decided to believe him. At least for now.
They sat in that hall huddled together till the sun rose over the horizon. When the first rays began peeping through the windows Dimitri and Dedue returned and found them sound asleep. Sylvain had an arm wrapped around Ingrid and Felix his head on top of Ingrid’s, while the dark-haired noble was resting his head on the blonde’s shoulder. Ingrid seemed comfortably squished between the two as her head rested on Sylvain’s chest.
“Should we wake them? Classes will be starting soon.” Dedue inquired.
Dimitri shook his head as he looked down at them fondly. “No. Let them rest. I’m sure the Professor will understand.”