Fated

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts

Summary: Roxas is just your average rich kid whose been repeatedly drugged and virtually imprisoned by his older brother Cloud. When he realizes Cloud may have an alterative motive Roxas goes on the run where he meets Sora and begins to uncover dark secrets about himself that could change the world. Post KH II

Pairings: None at the moment although the story is centered around Roxas and Sora.

Chapter 1

Roxas jerked awake when he realized the car had stopped moving. He tried to sit up, hoping to find a clue on where he was but the bile rose to his throat at the movement and he quickly laid back down. He was sprawled out on the backseat of the car, head on his arm, vision blurry and he blinked a few times in an attempt to clear it, noticing he was alone. Axel was gone.

Roxas's breathing hitched as he felt panic twist inside of him, his thoughts jumping to what if Axel had left him, just walked out and then Roxas tried to force himself to calm down, tried to rationalize it. Over the past couple of weeks they had made several pit stops rather it was just to stalk up on gas or grab something to eat, usually at a drive threw but Roxas had always been with him or Axel at least told him when he was leaving, always said he'd be back in just a few minutes. So that had to be it right. Axel must have said something and Roxas must have mumbled an affirmative in his sleep, or at least he hoped. Plus he didn't think Axel would just abandon his car.

Feeling a bit calmer, Roxas slowly picked his head up from off his arm, trying to get a better look at his surroundings, they were off the highway and in what looked like a nearly deserted parking lot of a run down diner which was a discolored pink with the paint flaking off, windows scratched, and the outermost wall had a very large dent. There weren't any other buildings as far as he could tell just the diner and it was still bright outside but the sky was beginning to darken so Roxas guessed it was in the early evening. It was hard to get used to the sky, still felt strange looking at it compared to the cloudy void that was Midgar.

Roxas wanted to call out, to see if Axel was somewhere in hearing range but his mouth felt dry, his throat fused together and he doubted he could speak much over a whisper, a sudden sharp pain ran behind his eyes, making him nearly cry out in a dry and voiceless scream, his body then convulsing and Roxas dug his fingers into the red torn seat until it passed, leaving him gasping for air.

He'd been feeling increasingly sick, starting out as only a dull throb in the back of his head so he hadn't thought anything of it but it had grown into something so sharp and piercing that it nearly brought tears to his eyes, now to the point where his whole body ached, where he could barely move, couldn't keep from trembling, couldn't even hold his limbs still, then there was the nausea, and he wasn't sure but he thought he had a fever, his skin felt too hot to him. Axel had asked him a few times if he was alright but Roxas was afraid of slowing them down and each time replied he was fine and the redhead had let it go, not really seeming to be concerned either way.

Roxas had no idea what was wrong with him, he'd never been sick before or at least that he could remember, he'd never even had the chance to get sick, hardly ever being around dirt and having so little contact with others except for when he was out with Kairi but even when she or Naminé had gotten sick, which was hardly at all, he was never allowed around them.

Roxas was so caught up on trying to figure out what was wrong with him, on trying to swallow the pain back that he barely noticed when the car door opened and Axel sat down, leaning tiredly against the steering wheel but he wasn't alone there was a girl with him and she climbed into the passengers' seat, she was pretty Roxas thought with long legs, a pointed face, glinting blue eyes, and short blonde hair but with bangs that stuck up from the side of her head and reminded him of an insect's antenna. She was showing a lot of skin, wearing blue jean shorts that only reached her mid thigh and a glittery pink halter top.

Axel said something in such a low tone that Roxas couldn't hear but the girl laughed giddily, mumbling something back.

"Axel" Roxas tried to call but his voice came out hoarse and thick and Axel or the girl didn't look back, Axel either not hearing him or choosing to ignore him.

"Axel" Roxas tried again, putting more force behind the name, making his throat burn and his voice hitch but at least it was loud this time.

"What?!" The redhead snapped, jerking his head around, green eyes flashing toward the blond.

Roxas didn't know what he wanted to say, had just wanted Axel's attention but soon realized he didn't have to say anything as the girl turned in her seat folding her arms on top of the headrest, placing her chin on her hands, staring at him and smiling almost mockingly. "Axel, why do you have a kid in your backseat?"

Axel ran a hand through his spikes and groaned. "Long story."

The girl's smile broadened as she hummed an affirmative. "He's so cute. How old is he?"

"I'm sixteen." Roxas snapped.

"Right," She drawled as if Roxas hadn't spoken, eyes flickering to Axel. "Sixteen isn't that illegal or something?"

"You know Larxene? For some reason I really don't feel like going into it."

Larxene, at least he had a name now, laughed high and piercing. Roxas instantly didn't like it and repressed the urge to shift away from her as she turned her attention back to him. "So what's your name cutie?"

Roxas glanced at Axel, wondering if he should answer or not before the redhead spoke for him. "It's Roxas. Roxas this is Larxene…" Axel trailed off as if not knowing how to finish. "She's my friend." He said at last.

Larxene looked as if she was considering something for a moment before shrugging it off, turning back around. "Yeah, whatever so if you still want to do that thing…"

"Sure," Axel droned. "Hey Rox you mind waiting here for a couple of hours?"

Roxas felt the panic come back. "What?"

"I have something I need to take care of. Wait here and I'll be back to pick you up."

Roxas tried to sit up again, relieved when he actually managed it. "How do I know you'll come back?"

Axel shrugged. "I guess you don't."

"That's not good enough." Roxas hissed. "Do you think I went through all this just so you can walk out on me?"

"Relax," Axel replied, leaning back in his seat. "I wouldn't leave you out here."

Roxas shifted forward, barely managing to hide a wince at the movement, thrusting a hand between Axel and Larxene. "Half of what I gave you, I want it back."

Larxene glanced from Roxas to Axel, obviously confused. "Half of what?"

"Money" Axel replied easily.

Larxene snickered. "Wow Axel, taking money from a kid even for you that's an all time low."

"It's not his," Axel said without bothering to look at her. "He stole it from his brother."

"His brother?"

"Right, his brother's completely loaded. They live in this huge house. I swear it's like something one of those big high and mighty ShinRa officials would have or something one of the president's body guards would have Turks or whatever..."

"Well if that's the case," Larxene said sweetly. "Then tell me Axel what the hell is he doing with you?"

"Easy really, I help Roxas escape his insane brother and he provides the money."

Larxene pressed her lips together but she didn't comment, staring straight at Roxas. "Where are your parents?"

Roxas didn't understand why Axel was talking to Larxene so freely, after they'd been running for over two weeks, hadn't stayed in one place for more then a few minutes, and spoke to others as little as possible. Did Axel not think Larxene was a threat or did he really just trust her that much? Somehow, she didn't seem very trustworthy to him, so maybe Axel had another motive. "Dead."

"I see," Larxene hummed. "So who's your brother?"

"Don't answer that." Axel cut in before Roxas even had the chance to open his mouth.

"There's more going on here isn't there?" Larxene drummed her fingers against her chin. "You know how much trouble you can get in for harboring a runaway Axel?"

Roxas could see Axel tense but he ignored her, lifting an arm and tapping the door with the back of his hand. "Alright enough of this we need to get going and Roxas get out of the car."

Roxas felt something tear through his stomach and it suddenly felt harder to breath. He tried to not let it show by swallowing heavily, folding his arms over his stomach, and leaning against his door. "No, I told you to give me-"

"And I told you before you came with me, it was either my rules or nothing. You're not the one in danger of being arrested. Besides I'm not an ATM machine. You don't carry that much around with you."

Larxene grinned, shifting closer to Axel, her eyes shinning. "Just how much are we talking about anyway?"

"Larxene, drop it. Roxas if you don't get out of the car right now-"

"I'm sick." Roxas choked out in a last desperate effort. He could feel something rush into his throat, swallowed again.

Axel ran his eyes over him, disinterestedly. "You look fine to me."

As if on cue Roxas rushed to open the car door, heaving violently onto the parking lot, expelling everything he'd eaten in the last few days, choking and gagging.

Axel sighed, closing his eyes and massaging the bridge of his nose. "Its irony isn't it?"

"You know Axel," Larxene supplied, watching Roxas from over her shoulder. "I think he's sick."

"Thank you Larxene." Axel got out from the car, nearly slamming the door.

Roxas was still gasping, half in shock and half disgusted with himself, he'd actually just thrown up. This wasn't supposed to happen to him, this never happened to him, he wasn't supposed to be sick. He felt suddenly terrified, considering for the first time that maybe something really was wrong with him.

Then Roxas felt long fingers close tightly around his forearm as Axel pulled him out from the backseat until he was leaning against the frame of the door, Axel standing in front of him, the redhead's hand leaving his arm to place the back of his hand against his forehead. Roxas watched him for a reaction, feeling dread tear inside of him when Axel immediately frowned.

"How long have you been feeling like this?" Axel asked almost softly.

"A few days."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to slow us down." Roxas hesitated, that was the truth but now he was partially relieved Axel had found out. He was sure the redhead would know what was wrong with him, or at least know something he could take to stop the pain. It was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he found himself telling Axel everything in a rush. "It really started almost right after we left, but I've only been feeling this bad for a few days and now everything hurts, I feel sick all the time, and I can't stop shaking. Do you know what's wrong?"

"I have no idea." Off Roxas's worried look, Axel quickly added, "I wouldn't worry about it though, it's probably just the flu or something."

"Really?" Roxas asked hopefully. "Is the flu supposed to hurt this much?"

"It's not great." Axel let his hand fall from Roxas's forehead and onto his shoulder. "Hey, why don't you try to eat something alright? I promise I'll be back in two hours tops."

"Alright," Roxas agreed hesitantly, "But if you leave me out here and something happens then I'm going to track you down and make your life a living nightmare for all eternity."

Axel chuckled, squeezing his shoulder before producing a large black wallet from his torn blue jeans, fishing out a few spare bills. "I'll give you something to eat with."

"I don't need it."

Axel shrugged. "You sure?"

"Yeah," Roxas dug into his own pocket, holding up a strip of blue plastic, forcing a triumphant smile. "I've got Cloud's credit card."

The redhead froze, before narrowing heated green eyes, gritting his teeth, and tearing the credit card out of Roxas's hands. "Dammit Roxas! Don't you know anything!?"

Roxas looked up confused, had thought Axel would be pleased he'd taken it, didn't understand why he was reacting like this. "What's wrong?"

Axel held the credit card in front of him, desperately looking as if he wanted to rip apart the next living thing. "What's wrong? Your fucking idiot brother can track us with this!"

Roxas felt his blood run cold, clenched his eyes shut, breathing sharply. He couldn't speak, couldn't move, the realization worse then anything he'd been through so far.

"Did you use this?!"

"Once. Just once."

"When? Where exactly did you use it?!"

"I don't know!" Roxas shouted, tears of frustration forming in his eyes. "A couple of days ago. We were just some place, you were off talking to someone, and I used it to get something to eat. I swear that's all I did!"

"Alright, alright." Axel raised a hand to his temple, breathing deeply, trying to calm himself. "It's alright," He mumbled more to himself. "You're sure you didn't use it for anything else?"

"No, I swear that was it."

Axel nodded slowly. "Okay, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it."

"Hey" Larxene called, leaning her head out the window. "What's going on?"

"Nothing" Axel shouted back, palming his wallet and shoving the few bills into Roxas's hands. "Use this." Without another word, he walked back to his car, quickly closing the door, reaching for his keys.

It occurred to Roxas then that Axel had everything, all the money he and Kairi had stolen from Cloud, the few items he'd been able to take from home, and now the credit card. There was no reason for the redhead to come back. Roxas felt the familiar sensation of panic start to surface, he was being left alone, abandoned. But strangely, the concept didn't bother him as much as he thought it would and he found he was only focused on one thing.

"Axel wait!" Roxas called, running to the car and shoving his hand through the window, gripping the steering wheel.

Axel sighed. "What now?"

"There's this capsule in the glove box. I need it."

Axel looked blank, raising an eyebrow. "Capsule?"

"You really are a moron Axel. You know that right?' Larxene commented, opening the glove box and digging through it. "What do you usually put in capsules?" She soon took out an orange plastic tube, holding it out in front of her face. "Is this what you want cutie?"

"Y-yeah that's it." Roxas leaned forward, hand outstretched.

"Really now?" Larxene grinned, holding it out of his reach and shaking it, making the few pills inside rattle.

Axel grabbed it from her. "What the hell? I've never seen this before."

"Because you never check the glove box," Roxas said absently. "Why else do you think I'd put it there? I can't trust you remember?"

"I'm wounded," Axel squinted his eyes as if trying to read the capsule's non existent label. "So what is this anyway? You taking medication Rox?"

"No, and it's nothing I just need it."

Axel frowned, looking as if he was debating on saying something else before sighing and hastily handing it to him. "Fine, we're out of here."

Roxas backed away from the car, clutching the tube protectively against his chest. Axel didn't even glance at him, the car immediately speeding out of sight and Roxas found himself alone, for the first time ever he was alone, without Kairi, without Axel. He wondered if he should feel terrified or excited but he was only numb, in too much pain to focus on really anything.

Roxas started toward the diner, his knees stiff, and his muscles protesting as a sharp pain shot through his legs. He was shivering badly, suddenly very cold, couldn't walk straight. Somehow, he made it to the door, pulling it open, the inside was small, dark, and smelled mostly of grease, making him almost sick again.

Staggering to a bar stool, he sat down heavily, letting his whole upper body collapse against the grimy wooden counter, resting his head against his arms and breathing deeply until his body stopped involuntarily jerking. Forcing himself to sit up, Roxas dumped out his remaining pills, thumbing through them, touching each one, noting with a sinking sensation that he only had seven left. He'd been trying to ration them by only taking two a day instead of the usual five, he'd even skipped the last few days but after these, they were gone and he didn't know where Cloud bought them from. Maybe Axel might know where to pick some up. Roxas made a mental note to tell him if he ever came back. Cloud said they were for his heart, so that had to be common, there had to be other places to get them, the thought made him feel slightly better.

"Do you need a menu?"

Roxas looked up, seeing a young girl behind the counter, staring at him expectantly.

"No, uhhh…just water."

The girl's eyes strayed to the pills but she didn't comment, twirling a strand of chestnut colored hair around her finger. "You sure? Nothing else?"

Roxas was about to refuse again but paused. Axel had said to try to eat something. Just the thought of eating made his stomach churn but maybe it would help with the flu or whatever he had and then he remembered once when Kairi had gotten a fever, Tifa had made her soup. Tifa always knew the right thing to do, the right thing to say but Roxas immediately tore the thought from his mind, not wanting to think about her. "Soup maybe?"

"We only have tomato."

Roxas managed a smile. "That's fine."

The girl nodded before shortly returning with his order and leaving him alone. Roxas grabbed five of the pills, more desperate to finally be taking them then he realized, cupping them in his hand, tilting his head back, pushing them into his mouth, draining about half the water. It left him trying to catch his breath but he did feel a little less shaky and the throbbing in his head didn't seem as intense. With mild relief, Roxas pocketed them and turned his attention to the soup, carefully taking a spoonful. The warmth of it felt nice but it was thick, slightly salty, tasted acidic, and hard to swallow.

Almost as soon as he'd gotten it past his lips, his stomach left as if it had lurched into his throat and he gagged, running for the bathroom, barely making it before he heaved into the toilet, throwing up mostly bile, and the pills he'd just taken. Roxas fisted a hand mostly annoyed he'd just wasted the pills but all he could do was kneel on the cold and dirt splattered tiled floor until the trembling had stopped and he didn't think he was going to throw up again. The pills wouldn't have dissolved yet and for a moment Roxas thought about fishing them out of the toilet but dismissed it, revolted at the idea, and flushed them before he had the chance to think of it again.

He climbed to his feet, making his way out of the bathroom but as soon as he entered the dinning room he felt as if the whole world was spinning, he was wavering, wasn't even sure if he was right side up anymore, and tightly gripped the counter to keep himself from falling, putting however much money Axel had given him by his soup bowl before stumbling outside, only wanting to be out of the diner.

He was able to make it around back, hopefully out of the way enough where the few people that there were wouldn't notice him, before collapsing against the muted pink wall. Roxas felt as if he was being torn apart from the inside, his head about to split open, his every nerve on fire. He dry heaved, curling onto the sidewalk, holding back a sob as hot tears formed in his eyes, everything distorted and blurry. His eyes falling shut as he tried to fight the dizziness before everything faded to black.