Noctis was not accustomed to being permitted to go certain places outside of his norm, not that that ever bothered him much. He had his apartment, school, a few restaurants, and a couple of other hangouts that had been deemed safe enough so long as there was a Crownsguard operative within spitting distance at all times. His friends' homes could be a different story depending on the person. Ignis and Gladio's residences were no problem: Gladio was Noctis's Shield, and Ignis lived at the Citadel. Prompto's house, however, was another matter entirely.

He was never all that keen on having Noctis over anyway, often citing that anything they could do at his place, they would be able to do at Noctis's better and easier. He insisted that princes had no reason to visit the plebian domain he called home.

That only served to make Noctis more curious. It wasn't that he thought Prompto was hiding something; he had too high an opinion of his friends to honestly believe any of them were plotting against him. Except maybe Ignis, although Noctis and his father had very different opinions on what things were considered treason. Broccoli, as much as he argued to the contrary, was not one of them.

Anyway, he was more of the mind that his friend was embarrassed by his likely humble surroundings. Noctis already knew the general area that Prompto lived in: it wasn't a high-end community. There were no gates or guard patrols. There was a neighborhood watch, and that was it. The place definitely wasn't anything to write home about, but it wasn't something Prompto should have feared Noctis would judge him for either.

He got it, though. The first couple of times they had gone to Gladio's or Ignis's or even just hung out at Noctis's apartment, Prompto had been pretty awestruck by some of the amenities. Noctis was well aware that there were a lot of occasions where his friend simply didn't feel like he stacked up by comparison. He never voiced it, and in Noctis's opinion, he was wrong—there were better ways to point that out than saying it, however.

Like going to Prompto's house and proving to him that the world and their friendship weren't going to end over having a two-and-a-half-bath situation.

It had taken a lot more effort to convince Prompto to allow it than it had Noctis's dad. His father had agreed almost immediately, so long as Noctis brought Gladio along. Apparently, he believed he was a lot safer just hanging out at an unknown commoner's house than in the open at an arcade with only two well-lit fire exits.

Eventually, Prompto had agreed, rolling his eyes and telling Noctis that if he died of boredom after the first twenty minutes, it wasn't on him.

He hadn't. There was something simple and comforting about being outside the city proper and just hanging out in Insomnia's residential districts. There was no constant buzz of noise from the streets outside, only Gladio's constant stream of curses when Prompto managed to take him down in the game they were playing for the sixth time in a row.

"Okay," Noctis sighed, tossing his phone back on the coffee table as he picked up his own controller again, "think I found the one drawback to being this far out of the city."

"Dude, you step on Ms. Faucus's flowers, she puts a curse on you. That's just how things go in the suburbs," Prompto chimed in without looking up as he casually leaned into Gladio in an attempt to bump the latter's controller.

Snorting, Gladio answered with a more forceful shove of his own.

Noctis knew better than to address Prompto's sarcasm and continued as though his friend hadn't said a thing, "Takes longer to get a pizza delivered out here."

"Uh, yeah," Prompto scoffed. "That's 'cause your apartment is two blocks from the place. My house is, like, two bus rides away."

"What'd you get?" Gladio asked, tossing aside his controller in annoyance as the game declared Prompto victorious again.

Honestly, Noctis imagined that Gladio had to be getting pretty angry at his repeated defeat by now. There weren't many instances where he didn't come out on top in competitions; in fact, that made Gladio so competitive that he was nearing insufferable levels. It didn't help that video games were more Noctis and Prompto's domain than his. A few more lost rounds, and Gladio would declare the entire endeavor stupid, resorting to taunting the two of them about doing something more productive with their time. Like laps around the neighborhood.

Before he replied, Noctis shot Prompto a subtle look that clearly said, let him win, or we're both screwed. Prompto seemed to understand, given that he rolled his eyes as he turned back to the game.

"Just the usual." Noctis shrugged. "I've got our regular ordered saved, so I just had to change it to delivery instead and put in the address."

Prompto leaned back against the couch, not putting in as much effort now as he had the last round-which Gladio picked up on almost instantly.

"Play right or give the controller to Noct. Ain't fun beating ya if you aren't even trying."

"That's because you can't beat me if I'm trying, dude."

Instead of putting forth his best effort again, Prompto was apparently more inclined to take choice number two and offered his controller to Noctis.

"We could always change game modes or something and all play on the same team," he offered. If Ignis wasn't here to offer the diplomatic solution, Noctis assumed that burden was going to fall on him. Neither Prompto nor Gladio was going to take up the reins on that one.

"Yeah, but then Gladio sucks on our team," Prompto pointed out, even though he was already taking the game back to the main menu and changing the settings as Noctis had suggested. "Alright, big guy, I'd better not have to carry you the entire time."

Gladio grunted, not having prepared a retort. So, he made the mature and responsible choice to kick Prompto in the side.

This was what Noctis had been striving for: there was a certain measure of calm that descended on the room in spite of Prompto and Gladio's bickering, and everything felt completely normal. Here, at that moment, there were no princes or Shields; he could forget about kings and Crystals and his father's declining health to just enjoy himself. None of that stuff would go away completely, of course. Noctis knew that he would return to his apartment tonight and find that Ignis had left an organized stack of papers for him to look over. That was later-for now, he scooped up the controller that Prompto was edging towards him with his foot and joined in.

All three of them got so comfortable that when the doorbell rang to signal the arrival of their pizza, no one wanted to get up to answer it. If they hung out at Noctis's apartment, they never had food delivered. It was either up to Ignis or one of the Crownsguard members who kept watch on his building to go and pick it up. Noctis would concede-just not aloud-that that was a small perk to staying at his place.

"It's your order," Prompto observed even as he rose to his feet.

"Yeah, but it's your house," Noctis shot back for good measure. "Besides, you're already dead. Gladio and I will finish this fight."

"Yeah, yeah," Prompto called as he headed down the hall to the front room. "Do we have cash for a tip?"

"Just put it on the card." Noctis glanced over in confusion when Gladio stiffened at his response, his Shield's eyes darting over to him. For a second, it looked like he might say something, but apparently Gladio thought the better of it and turned back to the game instead.

"Watch your damn left side," he grunted when he finally spoke up. "You ain't got Prompto there to watch it for ya."

Noctis had a sarcastic response on the tip of his tongue when a loud bang from the front of the house stole his words away. Two more followed in rapid succession, and when Noctis turned to ask Gladio what the hell was going on, his Shield was already on his feet. Practically throwing the couch out of the way, he made a straight shot for the door.

"Gladio?!"

"Stay there!" He didn't even turn around as he barked out the order and disappeared into the hallway.

Stay there? What the hell? Noctis's compliance with his Shield's less than gracious request lasted all of five seconds, which was long enough for the few enraged shouts from the doorway to fade. With a cold, sinking feeling, Noctis realized none of them were Prompto's-when he skidded to a stop in the foyer, he saw why.

The front door was wide open. Noctis could see that Gladio had a man in a delivery uniform slammed up against the Argentum's mailbox on the other side. A firearm had been discarded on the lawn, and lying between the front stoop and the threshold in a slowly growing pool of blood was Prompto.

Noctis felt his chest tighten, his mind racing to interpret the sight before him. No part of this made any damn sense. Hadn't it only been a few seconds since Prompto had been sitting right beside him at the base of the couch? This couldn't be happening. None of it felt real. None of it could be real.

But it was.

Noctis didn't remember kneeling down beside Prompto, but that's where he found himself, his hands hovering uselessly over his friend while Gladio stormed back through the door with the unconscious assailant slung over his shoulder.

"Dammit, Noct-call an ambulance!"

Gladio's shout broke Noctis out of his stupor, but not by much. The crushing reality of the situation had him frozen in place, and he cast a quick glance down the hallway at where his phone sat abandoned in the living room. Every nerve in his body was screaming for him to get up and do what Gladio had asked, but no matter how much he urged himself, he couldn't move.

With a gentler touch than he used to deposit the would-be assassin on the staircase, Gladio pushed Noctis out of the way. His tone didn't have the same bite to it as it had moments ago, but he made up for it with firm urgency as he commanded, "Get to the living room and make the call. You ain't doing him any favors just sitting there."

Noctis swallowed around the dry lump in his throat and nodded mutely before he scrambled to his feet, sparing only a brief glance for Gladio as he took his place beside their friend and placed his fingers against Prompto's throat to check for a pulse.

A flare of panic shot through Noctis's gut.

He's not dead.

Noctis shook his head, refusing to believe any of the negative thoughts that were attempting to convince him of the contrary. It would all work out okay if he could just focus-which would have been a whole lot easier if his hands weren't shaking when he picked up his phone.

Even with his attempts at strengthening his resolve, Noctis's conversation with the emergency response operator felt like an out of body experience. He could hear the answers he gave to their questions-my friend's been shot, I don't know how many times, I don't know where-but it all seemed like the words were coming from far away. It was embarrassing to hear how many of his replies were that he didn't know.

The scene in the foyer was almost the same as he had left it when he returned, only Gladio's hands were now pressed firmly against Prompto's chest, stemming the flow of blood. He shifted his position as soon as he noticed Noctis approach and bore down with one hand as he got back up.

"Take over for me," Gladio ordered, frowning as he caught sight of Noctis for the first time since everything had erupted. Noctis knew what he was doing: Gladio had gone into Shield mode and was inspecting him for any outward signs of injury. Finding none, he continued, "Need to call Iggy so we can do something about that one."

He jerked his head over at the man on the steps, and Noctis nodded, unwilling to answer verbally for fear of how it would sound coming out. Gladio had always been a man of action and unbreakable will; Noctis was far too embarrassed at how his response might be taken given that he was still reeling to catch up with the events that had transpired.

"Ambulance coming?"

Noctis didn't look at Gladio, replying with a tiny nod as he focused on the ragged breaths Prompto was drawing in beneath his palms. He was still breathing, which Noctis would consider a good sign if it weren't for the amount of blood that seeped into his friend's shirt, causing the fabric to cling to his hands.

"Noct."

Gladio's voice was sharper and mixed with exasperated annoyance as he looked to him for an answer. A spoken answer.

"Y-Yeah. I…yeah, they're coming."

Gladio wiped his own hands off on his pants and retrieved his phone, planting himself next to the man he had subdued on the staircase. He didn't even try to hold back his look of disgust. It was clear the only thing keeping him from taking matters into his own hands and throttling the guy was a remarkable level of professionalism.

Perhaps that and the fact that the ambulance would be arriving shortly, which meant Gladio wouldn't want to split their attention between Prompto and the guy he'd kicked the crap out of.

Prompto.

Noctis peered down at his friend, a sudden and renewed flare of worry and panic rising in his gut. Prompto had been unresponsive since Noctis first arrived on the scene; the most he had heard from him was a small whimper of pain when Gladio applied pressure to his wound. Mouth opening and closing wordlessly, Noctis shot Gladio a desperate look as he struggled to form the words for the question he wanted to ask. Eventually, he swallowed hard, daring another glance at Prompto. His friend was looking increasingly pale in the dimming evening light.

"He's going to be okay, right?" he asked, hating how the question sounded. Noctis couldn't shake off the sinking feeling that this was all his fault: he had been the one who insisted they come here and refused to take no for an answer. None of this would have happened at his apartment-the place was crawling with the Crownsguard and the occasional Glaive. No one would have made it to his door unless they were authorized.

What Noctis needed was the reassurance that this wasn't as bad as it seemed.

He knew if anyone was going to give it to him straight, it would be Gladio, who drew in a sharp breath. Normally, he considered that a good thing. This time, however, the look of uncertainty in his Shield's eyes made Noctis's insides twist. Gladio would never tell him everything would work out fine if he wasn't sure it would, which is why instead of reassurances that anyone else might have provided, he heaved an exasperated sigh and inclined his head.

"Put your weight into it. You're tryin'a stop the blood flow there."

With that, Gladio threw himself back into his phone call, relaying the situation to Ignis-or maybe it was Cor. Noctis's attention kept fading in and out of the conversation, so he no longer had any idea who Gladio was talking to. Instead, he focused on the end of the street, watching for the telltale signs of emergency vehicles.

Gladio hung up, letting out a long, frustrated sigh. This was not where he expected the day to go. He'd had a bad feeling when Noct had said he changed the normal order to delivery, but he'd let it go. This was sissy picket fence suburbia-there was no reason to mother hen about it. The king had even allowed Noct to come here with just him as protection.

Then the first shot had rung out, and Gladio knew how wrong that had been.

Prompto had still been on his feet after the first shot, albeit staggering against the door frame. It was the second and third that knocked the kid on the floor.

Gladio figured the bastard probably would have continued firing if he hadn't caught sight of him charging down the hall. The man had been quick to throw his weapon and make a run for it-coward. He hadn't been all that scared when he was shooting down a defenseless seventeen-year-old.

He wasn't so tough anymore, not when Gladio had him pressed against the pavement either.

Under different circumstances, he supposed he would have been pissed that Noct didn't follow instructions and stay in the living room. Seeing him hunched over Prompto came as more a relief than anything else, though. The kid needed help and fast.

If only Noct hadn't been too paralyzed with shock to do much of anything. It had taken everything in Gladio's power not to literally shake his charge out of it and send him to call the paramedics.

He was thankful when they finally arrived and swallowed his temper. The time between Noct's call and their appearance on the scene probably only felt like forever. Noct backed off almost instantly, giving them room to take over as they made quick but gentle work of hoisting Prompto onto a stretcher and loading him into the back of the ambulance.

Gladio didn't consider himself well-versed in the medical profession, but he didn't like the sound of the commands being thrown back and forth between the paramedics. It didn't sound good, although then again, why should it? The amount of blood left on the entryway floor should have told him that.

"Do we need to tend to him too?"

Gladio snapped back to attention, looking at the paramedic, who was staring cautiously between him and the sack of human filth on the staircase. She couldn't seriously mean she wanted to help him as well, not when he could see the rest of them already in the back of the ambulance frantically trying to treat Prompto.

Hell no. We can deal with this asshole ourselves.

"He can walk it off," Gladio grunted, crossing his arms over his chest to emphasize the fact that he would not be budging on this. They all might have some candy ass oath where they were supposed to help all the sick and injured, but Gladio had an oath as well: anyone who tries to murder my friends deals with me.

If the paramedic found Gladio's statement to be vaguely threatening (and it was), she was smart enough not to say anything about it.

"Are either of you going to ride along?" she inquired, stopping halfway to the ambulance and looking more at Noctis than Gladio. He figured she probably suspected that he would be murdering that man once they had driven off; to be fair, if there wasn't an obnoxious ton of legalities involved, Gladio would have considered it.

Noct nodded silently to her question, immediately making to follow.

Oh, hell no.

Gladio clapped a hand on Noct's shoulder, halting him in his advance and earning a bewildered and somewhat annoyed glare from his charge. "We'll follow in a bit. King's already called ahead to make some arrangements."

The paramedic's eyes grew wide as she threw a glance at Noct and then back over her shoulder at Prompto still lying unconscious. News of the Crown's involvement must have inspired her not to sit around and wait for the resolution of the argument that Gladio knew was coming. Instead, she firmly nodded and hastily reentered the ambulance, shutting the door as it pulled off with sirens blaring.

As Gladio expected, Noct didn't even wait until they were out of sight before he shrugged off Gladio's hand and spun around, leveling him with a look that might actually have been intimidating if he wasn't half his size.

"What the hell?!" Noct gestured towards the road with a glower. "You're just going to leave him like that? Alone?"

Yeah, of course Noct would choose now to snap out of his stupor. Gladio tried not to feel too put out by his anger: he had an obvious reason to be upset, and Noct just wasn't the type to think logically in an emotional situation. That was Gladio's unfortunate job at the moment.

So, with a little less bite than he would normally have responded to Noct's outbursts with, Gladio huffed and settled for a light glare instead. "He ain't gonna be alone. We'll head over as soon as-"

"You left him alone at the door!" Noct interjected. Apparently, the shock had now given way to some, in Gladio's opinion, misplaced fury.

He sucked in a breath. There was a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Ignis, telling him to proceed with caution. He wasn't looking to upset Noct further, but he'd be damned if he let himself be accused of the callousness Noct was implying.

"You seriously think he was here to kill Prompto?"

Maybe his tone had a bit more venom in it than he intended it to, but the sentiment stood. They had just been through an ordeal and were still in the thick of it; there was no way in hell Gladio was going to be able to wind it down until he was one hundred percent sure his charge was safe.

His answer brought Noct up short, any snarky retort he might have prepared dying on his tongue. He simply shut his mouth and clenched his jaw in silence.

Gladio took that as his cue to drive his point home, as much as he loathed to do so this time. If his suspicions about what had gone on here were correct, then Prompto's injury was on them-a fact that he was not about to take lightly.

"You said you used the usual order, yeah?"

Noct swallowed hard and nodded, apparently aware that he was being walked to a point that he wasn't going to like the results of.

"Yer name is saved on it, isn't it?"

Another nod. Noct's eyes searched out the ground, his shoulders slumping in defeat as realization started to set in. Gladio knew this was on him just as much, if not more, than Noct. He was his Shield, and as such, he was tasked with his protection. As soon as he'd found out that Noct had switched their normal order to delivery, he should never have allowed Prompto to answer the door. He had gotten caught up in the casual atmosphere of their outing and let the details slip through the cracks, and now Prompto-a civilian-was the one paying for it.

It was clear who the gunman believed was going to open the door. Noct might have found it heartless for him to bypass Prompto to go for the fleeing assailant, but Gladio would never apologize for it. There were countless other things he could be blamed for when it came to preventing this entirely, but the bottom line was that Gladio's job was to protect Noct. He'd done what he had to, given the situation. If that man had come to kill his charge, there was no way Gladio could allow him to escape. No matter what had happened, no matter what happened now, he did his duty. Any consequences that came from the missteps that led them here, Gladio would accept, but Noct would get no damn apology for leaving Prompto.

It wasn't that Gladio didn't care. He did. It was hard to wrap his head around the fact that fifteen minutes ago could have been the last time he'd see Prompto alive, and if it was hard for him, Gladio imagined it was twice as bad for Noct. But he couldn't let him leave with Prompto. There was too big a risk involved in letting him go anywhere unprotected.

"Iggy's on his way with the Crownsguard," Gladio continued with a heavy sigh. "You should head back into the living room."

At least Ignis would be able to handle all that emotional junk.

The waiting didn't suit Gladio's temperament at all. He was a man of action, and with no current course of action available to him, he was left to wear a hole in the Argentum's foyer by pacing back and forth like a caged animal. There was the fleeting idea of punching the murderous bastard a few more times, but Gladio figured the marshal would prefer he still have all his teeth when they hauled his ass back to the Citadel for questioning.

Pity.

That only left standing in the doorway like an angry father waiting for an errant child to sneak in after curfew, which was absolutely ridiculous in Gladio's mind. You would think that, with the knowledge that there had been an attack that threatened the prince's life, they would have arrived quicker than this. It had been-what, ten minutes since he'd ended the call?

Gladio knew he was being unreasonable, not that he would admit it aloud. Still, with each minute that ticked by, he grew more irritated with only being able to hang around and watch the blood dry on the floor.

Maybe he'd just knock out half that guy's teeth.

Ignis and the rest of the appointed Crownsguard had barely come to a complete stop on the street before Gladio stalked out to meet them.

"Took ya long enough."

"Hardly," Ignis responded with a scathing glare of his own that informed Gladio this was neither the time nor place to start getting petty. "Where's Noct?"

Gladio nodded back towards the house. "Inside."

"Is he alright?"

"You think I'd be out here chattin' with you if he wasn't?"

That one earned him another glower from Ignis, and Gladio swallowed his own mounting hostility and pent-up aggression before he continued, "He's pissed I wouldn't let him leave with 'em for the hospital, but ain't nothing I can do about that."

Read: That's your job now.

Ignis sighed as though he'd expected as much, although it wouldn't have been hard for him to anticipate. You didn't have to know Noct all his life to realize how stubborn he was.

"And our would-be assassin?"

"Been keepin' him knocked out on the steps. Bastard tried to run as soon as he saw me. Threw the gun and everything," Gladio scoffed. His voice dipped, and he adopted a quieter, more frustrated tone as he went on, "Not before he fired three shots, though."

Ignis's jaw clenched, and he nodded slowly, giving himself a few moments to process that information. The little bit that Gladio had given him on the phone had been brief at best; they hadn't had time for a drawn-out discussion. "All three of them hit Prompto, I take it?"

"Hard to say." Gladio shook his head in dismay. "Doesn't really matter how many hit him. He was in pretty rough shape when they got him outta here."

"Certainly explains Noct's desire to leave as soon as possible."

"You think I'd just let him go by himself?" Gladio shot back defensively. "I ain't exactly thrilled to be sittin' around here waitin' either."

Ignis hummed, answering with a knowing look that would have tempted Gladio to kick him if it didn't mean delaying them further. "I will speak to Noct. It's best that you brief the marshal so we can get going as quickly as we can. The sooner we have a clear handle on the situation, the better."

Gladio glanced over his shoulder at where Cor was standing on the lawn, carefully retrieving the gun that had been tossed haphazardly in the attempted escape.

"Yeah," he muttered, not looking forward to admitting that his own shortcomings that brought them to this-especially not to Cor. "I told Noct to go wait in the living room."

Ignis nodded, silently wasting no time in brushing past Gladio and heading into the house, leaving him to his own unfortunate task. Gladio took a deep breath and squared his shoulders as he strode over. It would do no good to keep the marshal waiting.

"Noct?"

Noctis lifted his head from his hands. Ignis was using that cautious voice, the one he'd adopted back when Noctis was eight and everyone feared that the smallest thing would break him entirely. He hated that tone. It meant that Ignis was worried or about to say something Noctis wasn't going to like-maybe both.

"Are we going now?" That was his only concern at the moment. He didn't want to talk about what had happened, especially not that it was entirely his fault. He only wanted the absolute assurance that Prompto would be fine, and right now, he believed that the best way to ensure that was to be there.

Every moment he spent staring at the empty living room, watching their game cycle through the idle screens, was another moment he wasn't fixing this and undoing the damage he'd caused. That wasn't something he could accomplish by sitting alone or being protected. He knew-and loathed-the fact that they were only stalled because they had to make sure he was safe. He also knew where Gladio was coming from, but it didn't make him any less frustrated. He was fine. Gladio had nabbed the guy, and Noctis didn't have a scratch on him, all because someone else had suffered in the line of fire instead.

Noctis couldn't stand that he was still waiting here, protected and coddled while his friend was miles away, alone with his life hanging in the balance. There was absolutely no reason, in Noctis's mind, that they should be worrying about anything other than that.

"Gladio is currently reporting to the marshal. Once that's taken care of, we can go."

Noctis huffed in irritation. Perfect. More waiting.

"There isn't much you can do for him at present," Ignis pointed out, and Noctis felt the muscle in his jaw twitch. That was not what he wanted to hear right now. "His Majesty has already seen to it that the hospital was contacted ahead of Prompto's arrival. He will be well taken care of, I can assure you of that."

When that didn't do anything to placate Noctis, Ignis sighed, "Even if you were there, you would only be waiting for him to come out of surgery. There is a lot more you can do here."

Noctis let out a shaky breath. He wasn't prepared to flat out deny any of what Ignis had said, but he had been sitting here awhile now watching the minutes crawl by, and nothing useful had come to mind. "Like what?"

"Neither His Majesty nor the Crownsguard have been able to get in touch with Prompto's parents. Perhaps you might try calling them from his phone so that they are informed of the situation. They may be more likely to answer from a number they recognize."

As helpful as it sounded, that was not what Noctis had in mind. He had never met Prompto's parents let alone spoken to them; he hardly wanted their first introduction to be delivering this kind of news. Ignis must have come to the same conclusion, because he was quick to amend his suggestion.

"If you are able to locate his phone, I'll make the call."

Noctis scanned the room until he found it beside Prompto's controller, where he'd tossed both of them on the floor when he went to answer the door. Swallowing awkwardly, he glanced down at the phone as he picked it up and offered it to Ignis. "I don't know his passcode…or their number."

"It's no matter." Ignis instantly went to work on the device, adding, "All recent models often allow unimpeded access to emergency contacts for times-" Ignis cut himself off with a frown.

"What is it?" Noctis asked, a thrill of panic shooting through him. He was unable to imagine what could possibly make this situation any worse. However, it was not something he was tempted to test the universe on.

"It would appear that Prompto keeps his emergency contacts set as you, Gladio, and myself." Ignis set the phone back down beside him. "I suppose, given that the three of us are currently informed, we need not bother."

Ignis glanced back at the device, staring in a thoughtful way that told Noctis he was formulating some sort of plan he intended to keep to himself until he felt ready to divulge the details. For a moment, Noctis wondered if he had forgotten about his presence entirely. When it passed, Ignis looked over at him and cleared his throat.

"Do you think you could go to Prompto's room and gather a few of his personal effects? There is no telling how long he may need to remain in the hospital's care, and at the very least it might do him some good to have fresh clothes."

Noctis nodded mutely, starting to head towards the stairs while Ignis pulled out his own phone and dialled a number.

"Ah, yes, Your Majesty-"

Ignis's voice faded out as Noctis reached the top of the steps and turned down the hallway, peeking into a room and attempting to determine whether it was Prompto's. Noctis assumed that Ignis was contacting the Citadel to provide an update or to tell them not to bother continuing to call Prompto's family. In reality, Noctis wasn't surprised that Prompto didn't keep them as emergency numbers: in the years they had known each other, Prompto had often proved himself to be a sympathetic ear for Noctis's offhand complaints about his own father's absence. He really should have realized it came from a place of personal experience.

If he was being honest with himself, Noctis knew he should have clued into that earlier. Prompto's parents had always been absent from every school function dating back to before they were even friends. Noctis frowned at that thought: his dad might not have always been around, but at the very least he'd expect someone to pick up the phone and get a message to him if something happened.

Seeing as that wasn't the case for the Argentums, Noctis wanted to get to the hospital sooner. Who cared if it only amounted to more waiting?

Noctis pushed open another door and peered inside. The entire endeavor of finding Prompto's room felt vaguely intrusive. He had already passed a bathroom and a seemingly unused bedroom that probably belonged to his parents. This one, however, had to be Prompto's even if it was a lot neater than he'd expected.

That wasn't to say that he'd assumed his friend was disorganized, but Prompto never struck Noctis as the type to make his bed every day either, especially since he spent so much of his time at Noctis's apartment. There, they were lucky if laundry made it two feet from the hamper.

At least this would make whatever he needed to grab easier to find.

He started by snatching the bookbag that was slung over the desk chair and unceremoniously dumping the contents on Prompto's bed. The last thing he was going to do was bring him school work: that would only add insult to injury, and at this point, Noctis was willing to do all his homework for him. Even math.

Noctis frowned, The room might be neat, but he realized he didn't have any idea where Prompto kept anything. As invasive as it felt, it appeared he would be reduced to opening and rummaging through drawers until he located what he needed.

The first drawer in the desk gave him pause. On the surface, there was nothing inside that Prompto would probably require during his hospital stay, but a neat slip of paper on top caught his attention. A letter, most likely, that had obviously been folded and unfolded so many times that he thought touching it again might cause it to tear at the creases.

Well, that was interesting.

Noctis shut the drawer. It was also none of his damn business. He was supposed to be looking for clothes and toiletries, not snooping. He'd be pissed if someone went through his private notebook with Luna, so there was no excuse for him to be going through Prompto's private stuff.

It didn't take him long after that to locate clothes. Noctis optimistically took only a couple of shirts and pants-sweatpants, seeing as they'd be the most comfortable-and all the bathroom essentials before he shut the flap on the bag.

He almost left it at that, turning to leave the room with a pillow tucked under his arm when a ratty looking chocobo plush toy on the shelf over the bed caught his eye. Under normal circumstances, Noctis would have had at least five different, albeit childish, insults ready to go at the sight of a plush toy in his friend's room.

No such taunts came to mind as he shoved the stuffed animal in the bag between two shirts.

When he was younger and been attacked, the Carbuncle figurine his father gave him had provided a small bit of comfort. Noctis didn't know if this particular memento had any sentimental value, but it wouldn't hurt to bring it along. Even Gladio would have the common decency not to make fun of him for it. Plus, it was way better than the 'History of Lucian Monarchs' text that he left behind on the bed.

Gladio was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, watching him expectantly. "You ready?"

Noctis nodded, handing over the pillow he was holding when he reached him. "That mean we're going now?"

"The marshal just left with our culprit. His fate will now be for your father to decide," Ignis chimed in, pocketing his phone and surveying Noct quickly. What he didn't say was that that would depend on how things with Prompto turned out.

"Ignis'll drive the first car with me and Noct. The rest of you can follow behind him," Gladio announced, nodding towards the four Crownsguard operatives that were congregating in the foyer.

"We're really taking four guards?" Noctis asked with a frown, glancing over his shoulder as he climbed into the backseat of the lead car.

"Two, really," Ignis explained as Gladio slid into the seat next to Noctis. "His Majesty thought it best that, depending on how long Prompto must stay there, two guards remain at the hospital to watch his room."

"They weren't trying to kill him, though," Noctis noted a bit glumly. He wasn't against the idea of leaving someone there to make sure Prompto was safe, but it didn't change the fact that he was never a target to begin with.

"Be that as it may, it isn't wise to discount the possibility of accomplices who may wish to finish the botched job."

Gladio snorted. "'S'all well and good, but it sounds like he acted alone. The marshal said the guy's a refugee. Lost his family in one of the Niff attacks near the borders. Probably wantin' to kill Noct so the king loses his family too."

Noctis turned his attention towards the window as silence descended inside the car. He wanted to feel sorry for the guy and knew that maybe he should. Currently, it was just too hard to do so. They were in a car on their way to a hospital to see his friend-a friend who this guy had shot instead of him and then kept shooting at even after he had to have realized it wasn't Noctis.

It was tough to feel sympathy for someone who responded to tragedy by creating more.

Prompto's entire body felt heavy, and for a brief moment, it even hurt to open his eyes. He groaned in protest, bringing an arm up to cover his face, but a sharp pain flaring across his chest had him instantly regretting it.

"Careful," an unfamiliar voice called out from his left. "The pain medication they gave you when they put you under is probably wearing off, and I can't give you another dosage for a couple of hours. Best you try not to move around so much."

Prompto gaped momentarily at the nurse, who was tapping at an IV fluid bag. Correction: his IV fluid bag. It wasn't just that she was super cute (because she totally was), but the entire day's events slowly funneled back to him as he took in his surroundings.

He had answered the door to get their dinner. A loud bang had muffled all the sound around him, and the white-hot burst of pain that accompanied it had had him clutching the doorway for support. Everything had been shrouded in a dark haze after that. Prompto vaguely remembered winding up on the floor and a distant shout from Gladio and then nothing.

Wait.

Gladio. Noct. What if something had happened to them too? It didn't seem likely: the guy had apparently just been packing regular bullets and not the tranquilizer darts necessary to bring Gladio down. Plus, his room was empty, and Prompto was pretty sure they didn't stick plebs like him in private rooms.

"Umm, my friends that were at my house-"

"Oh, they've been waiting outside for hours." She grinned, leaning against the door. "You've got some pretty good looking friends, especially that tall one with the tattoos."

Prompto snorted. The nurse might be super cute, but she clearly had terrible eyesight. The real takeaway here was that the guys were all okay, which softened the blow of his nurse having the absolute worst taste. Nothing put a damper on the mood quicker than getting the crown prince of Lucis killed at your house.

It was a really good thing Noct hadn't answered that door.

"You feeling up for some visitors?" she asked, walking back over as she checked him over. "I don't think your one friend is going to wait much longer, but just as long as you all don't get too rowdy, you should be alright. The stuff we've got you on is bound to make you groggy, so when you start getting tired, you need to rest. Sound good?"

Prompto swallowed thickly and then nodded in agreement even though he didn't listen to much of what she'd said after absorbing the fact that his friends were about to be allowed in. She'd called Gladio 'hot'-what did she really know anyway?

With a quick wink and a promise to send them in, she slipped out the door.

Prompto shifted slightly, making an effort to carefully prop himself up on the pillows. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in one of the screens near him and flinched. He definitely looked like hell and imagined that once whatever drugs they had him on wore off, he'd feel like it too.

The door opened again, instantly drawing Prompto's attention to Ignis, who was trailed by a very solemn looking Noct and a Gladio who looked way too proud of himself to be up to anything good.

"Nice to see you're finally awake. Getting kinda boring waiting out there." Gladio grinned, walking over to the small table beside Prompto's bed and depositing a pile of assorted chocolate and other sweets.

Prompto snorted. If he hadn't been so distracted by the offerings Gladio was spreading out, he might have had a sarcastic comment at the ready.

"Iggy said we shouldn't be gettin' ya chocolate, but-"

"He's wrong," Prompto replied, tilting his head and eyeing Noct. He looked like he would rather have the floor open up and swallow him whole than glance in his general direction. Prompto chewed at his lip, looking to Ignis and Gladio for any sort of direction on how to proceed.

Ignis was the first to speak up in response to his unspoken plea. "We weren't sure how long they would be keeping you here, so we picked up a few things from your home to bring you."

He elbowed Noct, who shuffled forward a bit with Prompto's school bag slung over his shoulder, still refusing to make eye contact. Prompto could have kicked himself if it wouldn't end up being a totally painful endeavor. It shouldn't have taken him that long to realize what his friend's problem here was. It was typical Noct accept blame for something that wasn't even close to being his fault (in Prompto's opinion, anyway) and withdraw into it.

Prompto offered him a small, lopsided grin as he surveyed his best friend. There was only one way to fix this.

"That's not homework, is it?"

That got the reaction that Prompto was hoping for: the barest of smiles found its way onto Noct's face when he held out the bag for him to accept. "Nah, would I do that to you?"

As Prompto rummaged through his things, he noticed the smile slip from Noct's face as quickly as it had appeared. Prompto paused, pulling out his old chocobo plush from where it had been tucked between a few articles of clothing. Man, Noct had to be playing guilty-not a single sarcastic comment about the fact that Prompto still owned a stuffed animal. It wasn't like he slept with it anymore or anything. It was just something he had kept since he was a kid, and the sentimental value made it impossible to get rid of the little guy.

There was a reason why Prompto hadn't taken his friends up to his room when they'd arrived, namely that if he thought Noct was going to be obnoxious about some of the stuff he had up there, Gladio would be insufferable.

Not this time. They were both quiet now, though Gladio appeared to be trying to get Noct to just spit out whatever he wanted to say.

"Look, Prompto... I'm sorry," Noct said with a small huff when Gladio caught his eye. That still didn't mean he felt comfortable looking directly at Prompto. No, he seemed really focused on the spotless floors. "I know it's my fault, and-"

Prompto cut Noct off with an amused snort. "Dude, pretty sure it was the deranged pizza guy's fault, not yours."

Yeah, it was exactly as Prompto had thought. If anything, Prompto felt bad that Noct had been grappling with his unnecessary guilt for hours now. He could only guess that their delivery guy had been there for Noct and not him, but that could hardly be considered his fault, at least not where Prompto was concerned.

The momentary look of surprise on Noct's face was worth the interruption, in Prompto's opinion, especially now that his friend seemed at a loss for how to continue when his pointless apology had been cut off.

"Look, if you really wanna make it up to me, you can sneak me in some real food. I haven't seen what they serve here yet, but I don't have high hopes."

That seemed to edge out any lingering doubt Noct might have been harboring, and his friend shot a small grin at Ignis. "Well, I mean, my dad did make the room arrangements for you. Pretty sure one more royal decree and Specs here could be head chef at Insomnia General for your entire stay."

Ignis was not on board with the idea, as he immediately dashed Prompto's growing hopes: "I am not equipped to cater for an entire hospital."

He rolled his eyes at the exaggerated pout Prompto produced, a pout he hoped would get him to change his mind.

"However, I am not opposed to providing adequate nutrition to supplement your meals during your stay."

"That's Specs talk for, he's going to cook you some boring healthy stuff," Noct muttered, not concealing a look of disgust as well as he probably would have liked.

Prompto wouldn't complain. Health food was all well and good with him; he wasn't the one with the vegetable aversion. Still, he was going to need them to back the conversation up just a little bit.

"Wait, wait, wait—I mean, okay, that's awesome and I'll totally live here if it means I get to eat Iggy's cooking. But your dad-you know, the king-he got me this room?"

Gladio rolled his eyes. "What did you think, they stuck you in a private room to quarantine you from the other patients?"

"Uh, yeah. That makes more sense."

"Then perhaps I should inform you that His Majesty has also seen to it that both he and the marshal have been added to your list of emergency contacts should you require aid in the future," Ignis added. That was probably a good thing: if it had been anyone other than Ignis, Prompto would swear this was a joke.

"Your dad is in my emergency contacts now?!" Prompto gasped, staring at Noct with wide-eyed shock.

"Yeah, well, next time don't take bullets for me," Noctis muttered, appearing more embarrassed than he deserved to be. If anyone here should be mortified, Prompto figured it ought to be him.

"I didn't do it on purpose," Prompto protested weakly. There was no reason for any of them to make this sound more valiant than it actually was. All he had done was open the door at his own home. Noticing Gladio's raised eyebrows, he hastily added, "I-I mean, I would on purpose, though."

Noct shook his head and murmured, "Really rather you not do that again on purpose either."

Obviously having had enough of the sentimental stuff, Gladio pushed himself away from the wall and stretched. "So, your nurse is pretty cute."

Prompto threw his head back against the pillow and groaned. That was the most obnoxious segue ever. "Ugh, seriously dude?"

"Pretty sure she's in to me," he added, ignoring the eye rolls he was receiving from the rest of them.

"Oh, yeah," Prompto drawled sarcastically. "I mean, who wouldn't be, what with your shirtless physique, tattoos, sultry eyes, and shitty haircut."

Tossing in the barb at the end wiped the increasingly confused stare off of Noct's face.

Gladio scowled and snatched the largest, most enticing chocolate bar off of Prompto's end table. "See? Told ya he was fine. We can leave now."

"What? No!" Prompto burst into a melodramatic coughing fit that had Ignis rolling his eyes again and shaking his head. Pointing to his side, Prompto whined, "I'm clearly dying here! I think my appendix is going to explode, too! Would you honestly leave me here with-"

"Wrong side," Ignis indicated flatly.

Prompto frowned, dropping the theatrics. "Thaaaaanks, Iggy."

He didn't actually harbor any delusion that Gladio was buying the act anyway, but did he really need to shut him down like that? Now Gladio was going to eat his chocolate.

Gladio smirked, unwrapping Prompto's prize and digging in. "Well, if we're gonna hang around here, I'm going to hit up the vending machine and get some coffee."

As Gladio exited the room, Prompto frowned at the door. "He's going to go hit on the nurse, isn't he?"

"Probably," Noctis muttered back.

"Son of a bitch."

"Now, Prompto," Ignis spoke up, getting back to business. "If it is acceptable to you, His Majesty suggested that once you're released, you stay with Noct for a while. The added protection should provide a benefit should this incident provoke any more attempts on your life."

"Uh…" Prompto trailed off and looked over at Noct. He knew his friend valued his privacy; he wouldn't want to impose on him. Prompto suspected that he was still probably more a nonentity than anything else. This had been a mistake more than an actual hit on him. "You cool with that, buddy?"

Noct frowned in confusion. "Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

Well, that settled that, then. "Uh, well, I guess that's cool."

"We also contacted the restaurant when we looked into your attacker's background. They wished to offer their condolences and free pizza for life."

Prompto responded with a weak chuckle, fidgeting in discomfort. "Um, as long as it's carryout, I'll take it."

"Yes, I do think deliveries are now off the table," Ignis agreed, glancing over at Noct when he let out a shaky sigh, "which is honestly for the best. If you all wish to have pizza, I'm more than happy to make one for you from scratch."

"The one with the weird, wrinkly tomatoes?" Noct asked, his disgusted expression pulling him out of whatever funk Ignis's previous comment threatened to put him in. "Pass."

Ignis opened his mouth, the start of a lecture obviously on the tip of his tongue, but was interrupted by Gladio's return-sans coffee.

"You know, that nurse is cute and all, but we both have such demanding jobs. I know it would never work, so I let her down easy," he said, dropping down into one of the armchairs.

"Awww." Prompto fought back a yawn. "You open your mouth and your personality came out?"

His eyes were starting to feel heavy, and as much as he wanted to deny it, a nap sounded pretty good right about now.

"You wanna run that one by me again?"

"Easy there, tough guy. You wouldn't go attacking an injured civilian, would you?" Prompto mumbled the last few words, tucking the chocobo plush that Noct had brought along for him under his arm.

Gladio opened his mouth to respond only to have Ignis cut him off.

"While I'm sure whatever retort Gladio wanted to share was riveting-"

"He means stupid," Noct supplied.

"Yes," Ignis continued. "We should probably leave and allow you to get your rest."

Prompto frowned, sitting up a bit and instantly regretting it. As they started filing out the door, he hopefully asked, "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Count on it," Noct replied with a nod. A cheeky smile spread across his face as he added, "I'll bring a pizza."