Title: Sacrifice
Rating: Teen for mentions of rape and abuse (but it's not exactly described)
Pairing: Faint AxelxRoxas mentions of XemnasxAxel
Roxas bit his lip in worry. Worry, was that this gnawing feeling was in his gut? But that's ridiculous, nobody's can't feel, can they? He rolled over in his bed, to stare at the door. He wished Axel would come back. He winced slightly at the memory of what had happened.
xxx
Roxas stumbled through the portal with a curse. It wasn't supposed to go like that! Axel followed close behind, in an equal bad mood. They had failed in their mission. And Xemnas was not going to be happy.
"Number VII and Number XIII" Speak of the devil. They both turned to see The Superior standing behind them. Roxas noticed the man almost had a faint grin on his face. He mentally shook his head, he must have imagined it. Axel narrowed his eyes briefly. He had an idea where this was going. And he didn't like it one bit. "Did you acquire the object I asked for?" Roxas felt his cheeks light up in shame as he shook his head.
"Kinda hard to get something that was even there in the first place, don't you think?" Roxas' jaw dropped, marvelling at the fact that Axel had actually used that tone. With the superior of all people. Xemnas just smirked and waved his hand to dismiss this.
"We won't bother with the trivial. The fact of the matter is you failed. Both of you. Now you have to accept the consequences." Roxas widened his eyes and a spark of SOMETHING ran up his spine. He didn't know what the consequences were, but he did not want to find out. Axel was silent for a moment, clenching his fists, his teeth. He spat out,
"He had nothing to do with this. It was MY fault." Roxas glanced at the redhead. What was he trying to do? Xemnas slid forward, grinning like some madman. His amber eyes were now fixed on Axel and Axel was meeting them without backing down.
"Such passion for a nobody." And Axel flinched now."And what are you willing to do, to spare him?" At this the attention was brought back to the blonde. Roxas switched his glance between the two older men. What was going on here? Axel inhaled sharply and kept his glance at the floor.
"Anything." At this Xemnas's smile becomes even more maniacal and he grabbed Axel's arm, chuckling at the wince when he dug his fingernails into the clothed limb. Axel tore his glance from the floor to Roxas, who was watching with horrified eyes. "Roxas, just go back to your room, okay?" He didn't need the kid to see this. He frowned when Roxas didn't do anything. "Please, listen to me. I'll be fine, just please, get out of here." He sighed a mental sigh of relief when Roxas did as he was told, disappearing in a portal. He turned back to Xemnas who just shook his head in mock pity. He sighed and hoped it wouldn't be too painful this time.
xxx
Roxas stared at the ceiling. He had never seen the redhead look so, resigned. What was so horrible that the redhead felt the need to save him from? He sat up when he heard the familiar whoosh of a portal being opened. For a second time that day, his mouth dropped open.
Axel looked terrible. His coat was unzipped and there were scratches and bite marks all over his chest. He was oozing blood from some of them. His nose was bleeding and there was a cut on his forehead. As if someone had bashed his head against something hard and unyielding. His boots were missing and there was a looping bruise on his ankle that looked suspiciously like a rope burn. A glance at his wrists saw the same marks placed there. But what really got Roxas were Axel's eyes.
They looked almost dead.
He swayed for a moment, looking confused. As if trying to remember where he was. His dull eyes flickered around the room and fell on Roxas. He smiled then, more for the blonde's benefit then his.
"Hey Roxas." The blonde reacted instantly, rolling of the bed to and landing gracefully on his feet. He gently pulled Axel's arm, hoping he didn't hit any bruises that he was sure were there. He helped Axel lie on his bed, murmuring questions but not really expecting any answers. He left Axel's side to go into the bathroom wetting a cloth with warm water. He went quickly back to the tall redhead and helped him take of his coat. With shaking hands (Oh shit those bruises look painful) he carefully cleans up any blood he can find. Axel is silent, watching him with interest. He winces when Roxas, even though he is gentle, wipes at a particularly painful cut. Roxas quietly apologizes and is even more gentle. He keeps his ministrations going until all the wounds are clean. He leans back, not at all surprised that Axel had fallen asleep. Watching the redhead, he reaches out and gently strokes his hair. He marvels at the softness and the warmth there, like some wild animal pelt. He has no idea what the redhead went through, but it must have been bad. And as he lay down next to nobody, he made a silent vow to never put him a situation like that again.
Axel woke sometime later. He felt a weight on his side and sighed. Had he actually stayed at Xemnas's? Wait. He didn't remember the Superior being so small. Or having blonde hair. He stared at Roxas for a moment. He remembered coming back to the room. And the small blonde had immediately cared for him. He was always left to clean himself up after "visiting" Xemnas. It had been nice to just sit back and let someone else care for him. His unwillingly clenched his fingers at the thought of the Superior. He had been particularly brutal tonight. He made the redhead scream and cry, made him bleed and bruise. But he couldn't break him. And that alone made the silver haired male furious. He tried to use every disgusting, demoralizing trick he could to make the redhead break. But Axel clung to a hope, a hope that had sandy blonde hair and wide blue eyes and a warm smile. In the end, Xemnas had actually given up, letting Axel leave. He knew that Xemnas wanted Roxas. Wanted him to go through the same pain and humiliation. And he would go to the ends of any world, would jump through hoops, would subject himself to daily torture just so Roxas's eyes would never be dull like his. He gently stroked the blonde hair, smiling when Roxas wraps his arms around his chest in his sleep. It hurt slightly, but he was alright with it. Pressing a kiss to the boy's forehead he lay down to go back to sleep.