Still clinging to one another, Noctis and Ignis stared at each other with wide eyes. They'd heard an unfamiliar voice, but so far hadn't seen anyone.
"Hide!" Noctis whispered, letting go of Ignis and pushing him towards Santa's chair. Then he dove behind the sound system, drawing his weapon the second he was under cover.
"Yes, indeed!" intoned a fanciful voice that was accompanied by the slow, swaggering sounds of confident bootfalls. "Quite the festive display."
"Yeah, yeah," grumbled a woman's voice. "All I care about is that this time we have some actual light to see by."
Noct made sure Ignis was hidden behind the oversized chair before turning his attention to the dark shadows parading around the outer fence of the charity setup. A tall man in a large hat and long coat was leading three others: a woman clad in black leather, and two large men in masks who were clearly the muscle of the party. If they were armed, Noctis couldn't tell.
"Don't you just love this time of year?" the man in the hat purred as he opened the gate and stepped into the exhibit. "The colorful lights, the ringing bells, the beautifully-wrapped presents…" He lifted a small, red-and-green striped package from the sleigh, tossing it back and forth between two gloved hands. "Merry Christmas to me."
"Biggs! Wedge!" the woman barked, and the two muscleheads snapped to attention. "You heard Mr. Izunia! Get these gifts loaded up and outta here! We have a store to stock."
"We're on it, Aranea!"
"Done in a minute."
Izunia? Noctis thought, slowly and quietly drawing his gun from its holster. I know that name… Wait—Ardyn Izunia? The Secret Santa Charity's founder?!
It was no wonder the thieves had access to the mall, in that case, and knew just when and where to set it up. The whole charity had turned into some kind of con! The founder was scamming his own patrons!
Noct felt a hot rage beginning to bubble inside. This was the most despicable thing he'd ever heard of. He couldn't let Ardyn get away with it.
He watched quietly as Ardyn strolled casually over to Santa's seat and fell gracefully into it, one long leg thrown over the arm while his henchmen did the hard labor. Biggs and Wedge, under the direction of the woman, Aranea, tossed all the presents from the sleigh into a large, wheeled bin on the outer side of the fence, the kind of cart typically used by janitors for gathering up the trash. Noct remained motionless, but saw Ignis peek around the side of the chair to catch his eye. The woman and her brutes were on their way back to the exit with their first load of loot, leaving them alone with the leader of the pack. Noct made a gesture to let Ignis know he was about to make an arrest, and Ignis nodded in agreement. He had his back.
Suddenly the dark-haired detective rolled out from behind the sound system, landing on his feet directly in front of the con man. "Off that chair, Grinch," Noctis quipped, aiming his gun at the man in the hat. "Santa sits there."
If nothing else, he'd caught the man off guard. Ardyn's mouth parted in a silent gasp, but he didn't get up or even change his relaxed pose.
"Well, well, well," he sang instead. "Are you a vigilante, or has Insomnia PD finally caught on, I wonder?" He tossed the package back and forth between his hands without any sign of concern. "Such a shame… One night more, and this would all have been over."
"It's over now," Noct said angrily. "I'm Detective Noctis Lucis Caelum of Insomnia PD. And you're under arrest!"
Ardyn laughed, a low sound of pure amusement. "Oh, am I?"
Noctis shook his head. "How could you do it—rob your own charity? How could you steal from innocent little kids, do this to their families? What about the volunteers? The people using donations to purchase toys, the ones wrapping all the gifts? Were they in on it, too?"
This time Ardyn let out an exaggerated sigh. "What is it about wintertime that makes everyone so damnably dull? So consumed with giving to others when 'tis just as much the season of receiving?"
"Because," Noct replied, "it's Christmas. And I won't let you ruin it for anyone, ever again!"
"All right," Ardyn said, holding up a palm in peace offering. "I give up. You caught me." Now, he said, quickly taking aim, "catch this!" He suddenly threw the package he was holding at Noctis.
It was small, so although it was well-aimed, Noct was able to knock it away easily. But he had been distracted just long enough for the woman to return and catch him trying to make his arrest.
"Who invited this guy to the party?"
Noct barely had time to turn his head in the direction of her voice before Aranea was suddenly using a string of Christmas lights like a whip, slapping the gun from his hand.
It turned out the criminals were packing heat, after all. Ardyn climbed out of the chair and kicked Noct's gun out of reach, then theatrically withdrew one of his own from inside his long coat. "No one," he answered. "Quite rude, really, showing up uninvited. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave—this mortal coil!"
Ardyn cocked the hammer of his gun with an audible sound. He lifted his arm and aimed directly between the detective's dark blue eyes.
Then suddenly Ignis was scrambling out from behind Santa's chair, screaming his name.
"Noooooct!"
Before Noctis even knew what was happening, Ignis was shoving him aside.
A shot rang out and both detectives hit the ground.
Noct quickly sat up. "Ignis!" he yelled. His partner was lying on his back, very still. Noct flung himself in front of the other man's motionless form, glaring up at Ardyn furiously.
"That man took a bullet for you," Ardyn said, taking aim at Noct once again. "Now you can take one for him!"
"Drop it, asshole!" boomed a familiar voice. "Or the next gun that goes off will be mine!"
Noct almost collapsed with relief as Ardyn growled and opened his hand, letting his weapon drop. "Gladio!" he shouted. "Ignis has been hit."
"The paramedics are already on the way," Prompto called from the other side of the fence. Noct turned to see the rookie cop had the woman already handcuffed.
"There are two men with them," Noct began to warn his friends.
But as Gladio took Ardyn roughly by the shoulder and turned him around to cuff his wrists, he cut him off. "We know; Cor's already got them on ice."
At the sound of a groan coming from behind him, Noct whirled around and inspected Ignis for the gunshot wound. Ardyn had apparently hit him in the shoulder. He tore off his own jacket and wadded it up, pressing the fabric to the injury to help slow the bleeding. "Hang on, Ignis," he pleaded. "Just hold on for a few minutes and we'll get you to the hospital."
"…Detective Lucis…" Ignis groaned. It sounded like they weren't on a first-name basis anymore.
"I'm sorry," Noct said, his eyes misting with regret. "I'm so sorry!" No innocent had ever been hurt while he was on a case. This was a first, and it was all his fault.
Ignis started to say something else, his voice weak, but mercifully the paramedics arrived with a stretcher and Noct found himself pushed out of the way.
He climbed to his feet and watched as the medics worked, doing a quick patch job on Ignis before moving him onto the stretcher and hoisting him up. Noct followed them outside, numb to the cold night air as he watched from a distance as the men loaded his partner into the back of an ambulance.
The mall parking lot was swarming with police cars. So Cor and Gentiana hadn't trusted just the two of them to take care of this job alone, after all, Noct realized.
"Good work tonight, Detective."
Noct looked up and found his boss standing at his side, smoking a cigarette. It was what Cor did every time things went right.
"But, Chief, my partner got shot."
"I hear it's just a minor injury. He'll recover. In the meantime," Cor said, clapping Noct on the shoulder, "you prevented another robbery from occurring and caught the mastermind behind the thefts. And there's not a scratch on the car, to boot! It might be a little early to say this, but you can look forward to another commendation for closing the case."
"Thanks," Noct said feebly, "but Gladio and Prompto made the arrests. And Ignis was the one driving—and I got him hurt. I don't think I deserve a medal for that." The ambulance turned on its flashing lights and took off. His eyes followed the vehicle's taillights until they had vanished. "Do you mind if I take off? I want to go to the hospital. I know Ignis may be in surgery for a while, but I want to be there for him."
"Did you two end up getting along, after all?" Cor cocked his head curiously. "Do you think that's what he'd want?"
"I don't know, now," Noctis sighed, "but I need to be there. We're family."
