Happy Holidays, everyone! Sorry this is a few days late, but I have a gift for you. I've been working on it ever since I finished the last one, but I've only just gotten around to finishing it. I apologize for the extended delay in the resolution of this story.
Warnings are for possible OOCness at the end. I finished it up kinda sleep deprived and it's been ages since I saw NCIS. Other warnings are for more crossovers because why the hell not?
I don't own anything in this fic. With that said, enjoy!
Karakura town was quiet at night. The only noises were those of the insects buzzing and chirping, the occasional car on the road, and sometimes a few teenagers laughing as they passed the shop that sold the best sweets in town.
Then again, Kisuke Urahara liked sweets. He chewed his stick of strawberry bubbglegum pocky as he sat in the darkened interior of his shop, eyeing all of the confections dotting his shelves. As his gaze roamed he was making mental notes – that shelf needed to be restocked tomorrow, did he have any of that one sweet he knew sold well on the weekends?
As he sat, and looked, and listened, he was also watching the world with another sense few living humans ever actively used.
"That's some pretty strong spirit energy," he mused. "Doesn't feel like a Hollow, but it's too unrefined to be a shinigami. It's not a soul that hasn't passed on… Huh."
That last was said because the mysterious energy stopped right outside his door. Kisuke's glance slid to his door just as it opened, light spilling in from the outside and around a human-shaped figure.
"Are you Kisuke Urahara?" a male voice asked. It stepped forward and slid the door closed again, plunging the room back into darkness. Kisuke's eyes took a moment to adjust, but the figure spoiled it when he conjured a flame in his hand. Green eyes and high cheekbones were thrown into stark relief, red hair fading quickly back into the darkness as it swept back into spikes.
Kisuke regarded his visitor calmly. "I'm your man. What can I do for you?"
"I need a gigai. The Soul Society won't give me one, but one of my friends is in danger. You've never heard of him but he's the strongest person in all the worlds, and right now I need to help him."
"And why would you need a gigai for that?" Kisuke wondered calmly. "Unless your friend is in the world of the living… in which case, what you would be doing would be quite illegal."
The figure snorted, a wry smirk on his face. "Don't try to make me think that's anything new. Your reputation precedes you, former Captain Kisuke Urahara of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. You're the one behind just about everything going on lately. Don't try to tell me that you'd balk at doing something illegal."
Kisuke tipped his hat; this guy had done his homework. "There's illegal that the Soul Society can deny, and there's illegal that would get them angry. They couldn't stop me, but all that blood everywhere would be a pain to clean up." He twirled a few blonde strands around his fingers. "Besides, I don't even know who you are."
"Touché." The stranger clenched his fist around the flame, plunging the room into darkness once more. Kisuke raised the lights so he could get a proper look at his guest. He saw a grief-torn face, traditional western slacks and a dress shirt, and felt spirit energy coiling around him. "I'm Lea. Lea Burns. I died a few months ago."
He'd only been dead a few months and he already had spirit energy that strong? Kisuke was curious. "And what could be so important that you have to go back to the living world, potentially freak out all of your friends, and have old man Yamamoto wanting to fry me to a crisp?"
"Ever heard of the Keyblade?" Lea asked.
"Just rumors. A weapon so powerful it can save or destroy whole worlds. It hasn't been seen in a long time though." Kisuke raised an eyebrow. "You know where it is?"
"Even better. I know who's using it. He's a good kid, but I felt it just a few days ago. He's in trouble, and I have to help him." Lea crossed his arms. "So, you gonna help?"
"I'll see what I can do." Kisuke stood gracefully, already thinking. "I might have one for you tomorrow. But I have one condition."
"You want me to bring Sora to you, right? So you can see the Keyblade for yourself."
Kisuke grinned. "You're a smart one. Bring the Keyblade to me when you're done doing… whatever it is you'll be doing, and the gigai's yours."
Lea nodded. "If Sora wants to come, I'll bring him. But I won't force him, Kisuke. If all he wants to do is go home, then I'm not going to kidnap him. Kid's been through enough already, got it memorized?"
Kisuke shrugged. "I'm not doing this on a maybe. Bring me a Keyblade or no deal."
"I can't make any promises. I'll do my best, that's all I can say."
"Well, as long as it's your best," Kisuke said, only a hint of mocking in his tone. "Fine. Instead of bringing me the Keyblade, I'll just go to it. Is that fine with you?"
"As long as you don't stand around looking pretty." Lea shrugged. "I'll be breaking some major rules, but since when has that mattered?"
Kisuke grinned. "This sounds like the start of a wonderful working relationship."
Leroy Jethro Gibbs wondered, as he walked down a decidedly creepy street with tall, looming buildings, just what he'd gotten himself into this time. The night was dark, so dark that the sky was black and the shadows were deep, and the streetlights dotting the road did hardly anything against the darkness.
"So where are we going?" he asked his companion. They were both clothed in long black leather cloaks, though Gibbs' black pants and dress shirt contrasted sharply with the other's torn blue jeans, green t-shirt, and decorated denim vest.
The teen grinned. "Someplace I've never actually been, but Larxene just wouldn't shut up about it. We're probably going to be facing Heartless and you're going to need some good weapons."
"I like my gun," Gibbs protested.
"Trust me," the silver-haired teen said, green eyes shining. He brushed one of his green streaks out of his eyes impatiently. "You're going to love these guns."
"Abyss," Gibbs could only sigh. The one so named, who also at one point had gone by the name Riku Replica, laughed.
"Come on, we gotta hurry. Those guns are pretty deep in the castle and we don't have much time."
The trip into the castle was uneventful, the whole place eerily silent. Gibbs wanted to stop and look around, he really did, but he stayed behind Abyss and let the other lead the way. Even so, he kept glancing at the white walls, the echoing corridors, the vastness and emptiness of the castle that, he knew, had only held thirteen people.
"This is just a bit of overkill," he muttered.
"Well, Xemnas was just a bit crazy. Ansem was too, but Xemnas… well. He was a special level of crazy. He's the one that had me made…" And Abyss trailed off.
They walked in silence for a while, Abyss ducking into rooms as they passed. After a long time Abyss stopped at a room, staring into it. Gibbs peered over his shoulder at the sparse decorations.
"Whose room was this?" he asked, eyeing the bareness of the room. There weren't any identifying characteristics, just a few wooden sticks tossed on the desk. A bare bit of wall was slightly discolored, a rectangle that suggested there had once been something there.
"Roxas', I think." Abyss stepped into the room and opened the closet; it was as bare as the rest of the room. Only a few pairs of pants and some socks were left. "I think Larxene said he was in this part of the castle."
Gibbs only knew the name, didn't know anything about the person that Roxas had been. He walked over to the desk and picked up one of the wooden sticks. They looked kind of like -
"Ice cream bars?" Gibbs wondered aloud. "That's right, Lea mentioned sea salt ice cream in his will." He set the stick down and opened the desk. There, he found a book with a plain silver cover, along with a silver pen. Interested, he picked up the book and flipped it open to the first page.
"What's that?" Abyss wanted to know, leaning around Gibbs' arm so he could see.
Gibbs skimmed the words, unsure of what to feel about them exactly. He flipped through the book until the very last page and read the rage-fueled words there. "It's kind of sad," he decided finally, tucking the book into his pocket. After a moment he also took the pen; they looked like a set and the pen looked a bit lonely by itself. Abby was rubbing off on him.
"Roxas' journal," Abyss realized. "I never knew he wrote one."
There was no time to stand around. "How much farther to where we're going?" Gibbs asked.
"I think Xigbar was a few floors up?"
They soon found the room Abyss had been seeking. This one was a mess, clothes and dishes everywhere with guns strewn about and magazines open on the bed and desk. Gibbs let Abyss do the searching while he flipped through the Radiant Garden Weekly Gun Magazine. There were so many different models of guns that were, for lack of a better word, different from anything on Gibbs' world. He rolled up the magazine and stuck it in his pocket along with Roxas' journal.
"Here we are," Abyss announced, turning to Gibbs. In his hands was two handguns, large and angular. "These are Xigbar's guns, he's not exactly around anymore to complain. They also combine into a sniper rifle."
Gibbs took the guns, turned them over, and studied them. Despite their large size they weren't that heavy and he could easily locate the trigger and barrel. He could even tell how they locked together. He'd have to use them to get used to them, and for that he needed one very important thing.
"What sort of ammo does it use?" he asked.
Abyss frowned and went looking again. Gibbs poked around the weapons, looking for where the ammunition was even loaded, but he couldn't see any kind of opening.
"Nothing over here," Abyss said reluctantly. "I wonder if it even uses ammo."
"Then what the heck does it shoot?" Gibbs wanted to know.
They took the guns with them anyway as they trekked back through the empty castle. Abyss explained, as they walked, that only Organization members could go directly in and out through the portals and only when Xemnas wanted. Without Xemnas, the only place one could portal out of was in the darkened city.
In the city Gibbs was forced into a crash course on using the guns. The previously deserted streets were packed with a roiling mass of black, hundreds of eyes shining yellow out of the shadows.
"Heartless!" Abyss shouted, his wing-shaped Soul Eater weapon appearing out of thin air. He charged in immediately, slashing left and right, while Gibbs reacted with the weapons he still held in his hands. He whipped Xigbar's gun up and pulled the trigger, aiming at the nearest pair of eyes.
There was a painful tug on something he didn't have a name for, something that wasn't physical but still nestled deep within him. Gibbs was too well trained to gasp or cry out; all he did was wince, but his aim was true. Red streaked from the barrel of the weapon and impacted the Heartless. It evaporated without a sound.
There was no time to be wary of the weapon, no time to do anything but endure the pain. Gibbs didn't shoot any more than he had to, but he thought he took out a dozen or more Heartless before the streets were once more clear. By the end of it he was exhausted, as if he'd been up for days on the battlefield with no rest, and his chest was hurting with that incorporeal pain. Abyss looked about before dismissing his weapon, turning to make sure Gibbs was okay.
"It looks like Xigbar's guns draw energy from the user," he noted. "So, no ammo needed. Just have to make sure you don't over-exert yourself."
Gibbs nodded, taking a few deep breaths to calm his breathing. He wished he had a cup of coffee to help his energy level. But for now he started down the road behind Abyss, who was leading them to the same dead-end street as where they'd entered this world. The guns were a bit burdensome, as they hadn't come with a holster, so he was forced to carry them in his hands.
Jenny Sheppard tried very hard not to take her sudden bad mood out on the woman currently standing in her office. It wasn't Ziva David's fault that Jenny's best agent had decided to take an unannounced, indefinite leave of absence - that had happened before. It also wasn't her fault that, prior to said leave, she and Gibbs had vanished on an unofficial NCIS case that the rest of her team had been left out of. So, instead of giving in to her homicidal urges, Jenny instead rubbed her forehead and hoped that her new headache would fade soon.
"So Gibbs is off to help find Sora's... heartless?" Jenny asked after a moment, trying to make that sentence make sense in her head. She'd listened to Sora's story, what Abby had been able to record in the morgue that day. Despite the fantasy battle she'd witnessed she still had a hard time believing it. Gibbs believed it, though, and she would trust him if nothing else. "And he's working with the boy that Sora fought before?"
"Abyss, yes. He has had a... change of mind and is now trying to atone for his actions," Ziva reported. "Gibbs believes that his motivations are genuine and is willing to trust him. Abyss thought that it was best for me to return here so I could deliver this report in person and keep an eye out."
"In case Sora's heartless decides to visit the places the boy himself had been recently?" Jenny surmised.
"Or in case Roxas does. Sora's friends are searching for Roxas while Gibbs and Abyss search for his Heartless. As Sora gave his heart willingly this time, Riku is certain that Sora's heartless will not be hostile. There is no guarantee that Roxas will be the same - that is why the two known Keyblade wielders are searching for the Nobody while Gibbs and Abyss look for the Heartless," Ziva reported. She'd been privy to the hasty planning that had gone on in the hours after Sora's sacrifice and so she was confident in what she spoke.
There was no way for her to know that their planned actions were right, which made Jenny's instincts rankle. Instead of giving voice to her frustration, however, she nodded. "Is that everything?" she asked.
"I believe so."
"Then go home for today, you deserve the day off after all of that," Jenny decided. "Let's just hope that Gibbs knows what he's doing this time."
Blue eyes stared at the sky unseeingly. What had brought them there, their owner wondered. Vacant orbs traced a cloud through the emptiness above them. What had gone on in the hours before that had caused them to open upon the void? It wasn't a true void, blue and bright and shining, but there was nothing above him. Nothing stretching up through the blue and into the black that always closed on everything eventually...
The boy who owned those brilliant blue eyes finally blinked. As the minutes passed he could feel things falling into place, wisps of memory settling into the niches at the edge of his mind. Those wisps were nothing compared to the void inside his own head, but they were enough for him to know that he was a he, and that he had a name, and that he was supposed to be going somewhere important. They were enough for him to know just what those things were that he, as a person, could do.
He sat up and regarded his surroundings, gaze focusing on details that were starting to name themselves in his mind. He took in grey surfaces that he finally identified as stone, stone that paved the road upon which he was sitting. His fingers traced the roughness, half-remembering the sensation and yet feeling it for the first time. As he moved his body shifted, cloth settling around his form in a way that was almost-remembered, yet, as with everything else, also felt brand new.
Finally, finally enough of him had settled that he knew that he had to stand up, and so he did. He flexed fingers that were new and familiar at the same time. Refreshingly, his location was completely new - there were no half-feelings brought forth as he gazed around at the buildings. Ideas sort-of-formed in his head, ideas that were fed by the steady trickle of him that was flowing into his head.
Mind made up (but did he have a mind of his own?), he settled off down the path laid out in front of him. He didn't know where he was going, only that he had to look. There was something that he needed to find.
Kisuke regarded the world that Lea had named Radiant Garden. He hadn't bothered to change his clothes, unlike Lea, and so his hat was garnering some attention from the people that passed by. Lea was attracting a different sort of attention, women giggling behind their hands as the man looked around.
"You know," he said after a while, "I actually grew up here. About... I guess it'd be twelve years now, I was taken into the castle for an experiment. When I woke up, I was in Washington. After a while I thought I'd dreamed this place up - well actually a few shrinks got into my head and convinced me that it couldn't be real. Then the Heartless came and grabbed me, and the rest is history."
"Interesting. So you were born on another world, and yet you ended up in our afterlife," Kisuke murmured. "That's... actually kind of fascinating. Raises a lot of questions about how souls end up where they do. Wonder if there are any other souls like you in the Soul Society?"
"Probably not," Lea shrugged. "The worlds were closed off from each other thousands of years ago. Not very many people can travel between them."
"And yet you did," Kisuke pointed out. "And we both have, through those portals that you summoned for us. Something tells me that the worlds aren't going to stay separate for long."
"That's not my problem," Leas shrugged. "All I'm here for is to get Sora safe. And maybe..."
Kisuke waited but his companion didn't follow up on that thought. Instead, he stretched his senses out, feeling for anything that wasn't human or was almost-human. There was a surprising cluster of powerful humans somewhere nearby but aside from that...
A voice from behind startled them. "You're not the sort of Shinigami I remember."
Lea's eyes widened in recognition and he whirled around. "Saix?" he blurted out.
The blue-haired boy regarded them with a cool gaze. "It's Isa," he corrected. "It's been a long time, Lea." He was wearing a pair of jeans and a blue button-up sweatshirt that he'd left hanging over a white dress shirt. "You shouldn't even be here."
"That's what you have to say after all this time?" Lea laughed. "I was born here, if you don't remember. We played in that courtyard just up the way."
Isa shrugged. "That was a long time ago. Just as the worlds of the living are separated, so too are the worlds of the dead. You and I inhabit two different ones and so we can no longer say that we're from the same world. Therefore, you shouldn't even be here."
"We're just passing through," Kisuke put in. "Looking for someone."
"Sora's in trouble," Lea explained. He told Isa what he'd felt those few days ago. "I think he's become a Heartless again and we have to help him."
Kisuke waved dismissively. "I'm just here for the Keyblade," he put in. "That's all. I have no interest in the affairs of other worlds, even if they're ever so interesting."
Isa remained impassive. "You're not looking for him, are you?"
Lea flushed but replied, "If I find him, I won't complain. I shouldn't have to lose him this time, not without DiZ meddling. It's only because of that old bastard that I had to lose Roxas."
"Roxas is Sora, Lea," Isa said, his voice softening just a touch. "You can only have one or the other. When the time comes, you have to be willing to let go."
"Why does it have to be Sora?" Lea demanded hotly. The air around him heated with his anger and Kisuke sidled aside just a step. "Why can't it be Roxas? Roxas has a heart! Roxas has his Keyblade and he can protect the worlds just as well. Why does it have to be Sora that's allowed to be real?"
"Because Roxas already made that choice," Isa contended. "He couldn't forcibly be reintegrated into Sora - he had to choose to do so. And he did, because Sora woke up."
Lea's face was stubborn. "I'm not going to lose him again."
"This is all well and good," Kisuke spoke up, drawing the attention of the two men. They looked at him as if they'd forgotten that he was there. "However, there's something else I'm much interested in. You're dead, Isa?"
The blue-haired boy nodded. "It happened shortly after I woke up, whole. There was an explosion and I lost my life. However, I was given the choice to continue to exist in return for my services to the master of the dead, Enma. I spend most of my time in Meifu, now - that's what we call our world of the dead."
"How fascinating," Kisuke grinned. "Shall we compare notes?"
The lab was still quiet in the early morning, all of its machines still silent and waiting for their user to arrive. She was humming when she did, black boots muffled in the carpeting as she pirouetted around the room pressing buttons and bringing the room to life. Her black hair was in pigtails, her schoolgirl outfit strangely at odds with the black wristband on her arm and black makeup on her face.
Abby Scuito smiled at her friends, beaming at the machines that performed the many tasks she needed them to. "Well boys, what do you have for me today?" she said with a grin.
Behind her, the table rattled. She turned and looked at it, a curious expression on her face. "Is anyone there?"
Something moved behind the table, nudging it and knocking a few books over. Abby reached over and grabbed a baseball bat that was evidence in another case, then inched around the table with it raised.
Nothing was there. Behind her she heard scuttling and she whirled around, bat raised. "This isn't funny anymore! Come on out!" she shouted. Her fear had her breath catching in her throat sharply.
The scuttling stopped, then something peeked around the corner. All Abby saw was red before it ducked back behind her computer, but it wasn't big enough to be an adult. More like a pet, she guessed. Did Tony sneak something in to mess with Gibbs?
"Hey, I didn't mean to scare you," she crooned, setting the bat aside and crouching down. "How'd you get in here, anyway? Come on out and I'll see about getting you home."
Shuffling, then the red thing moved into view. It wasn't anything like Abby had seen before, a creature clothed in white with a round, red hat. Between the white and the red there was black, with yellow eyes staring innocently out of the otherwise featureless face. It was roughly half her size, if she had to guess, and on its chest was an odd black and red symbol.
"Well now, I've never seen anything like you before," she murmured, reaching a hand out towards it. It drew back a little bit, eyes wide and posture fearful. "Hey, I won't hurt you. Honest."
It looked at her, tilting its head, before shuffling forward and wrapping its stubby arms around her leg. She patted it on the head, bemused, and found that it was chill to the touch.
Abby sat there for a few minutes, petting the odd mushroom-shaped thing, before gathering it in her arms and standing. "Well, I can't stay like this forever. If you're good you can stay while I call around and see if anyone knows what you are."
It closed its eyes and purred, nuzzling her chest. She laughed.
"You're a boy, definitely. What can I call you?" she asked, setting it on the counter next to her computer and beginning her morning routine. It tugged on her arm and, when she looked, pointed upwards.
"Ceiling?"
It shook its head.
"Heaven?"
Another head shake.
Abby tapped her chin and thought. "Light?"
It shook its head vehemently, pointing upwards again.
"Well, what else is up there? Sky, cloud, rain, sun…" she rattled off.
It jumped up and down, clapping its hands cheerfully.
"Which one was it? Sky?"
It nodded vigorously, chirping with an odd sound like condensed bells.
"That's an odd name, Sky. I like it!" she said, grinning and patting the creature on the head. "Well, Sky, want to help me? I have so many tests to run on this baseball bat and only three hours!"
Sky grinned, an odd feat considering it lacked a mouth. Abby gave it a squeeze and set to work, once again humming cheerfully.
Squall Leonhart, better known to his friends as Leon, was walking out of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee's headquarters in search of something to eat. Yuffie had effectively sabotaged their stock of fresh vegetables, Cid had laid claim to the last of their bacon, and Aerith and Tifa were concocting something out of the chicken that had been buried in the back of the freezer. That left Leon with absolutely nothing to eat and, frankly, he was starving.
With his mind on a nice little restaurant that was out of the way, he didn't pay any attention to the small blonde heading his way until they bumped into each other. Leon, not one to speak first, backed up a step or two and regarded the other boy impassively. He was dressed in shades of white and black, the only color on his outfit the red at his collar. His hair was spiked up, immediately bringing to mind a fluffy little chocobo chick. It was a testament to how much time he'd been spending with Tifa that that was the first comparison he could come up with.
For his part the blonde shook his head, frowning at Leon. "I... know you," he said after a moment.
"Usually you apologize after running into someone," Leon shot back. He had never seen this boy in his life, but there was something about him that was familiar.
"Apologize..." the boy repeated. He tilted his head, a hand lifting so a finger could tap at his chin. His gaze was focused on Leon, an intense look that had the older man feeling a bit uncomfortable. After a moment he said, hesitantly, "Leon?"
Leon bristled. "How do you know my name?" He didn't have his gunblade on him, a fact that he was beginning to regret. This boy was really weirding him out.
"I don't know," the boy answered honestly. "I really don't know. I met you, but I didn't. My head's all fuzzy." He was frowning at Leon. "It wasn't me that met you, but I remember it all the same." His stomach growled suddenly and he started.
Even though his weird-o-meter was reaching his limit, Leon shared the sentiments. He didn't want to scare the boy off because he had so many unanswered questions and so he said, "Tell me how you know me over food. I'll buy."
The meal was uninformative. All Leon got out of the boy was that he'd awakened somewhere without even the barest shreds of memory. As the boy walked around he was remembering some things, but as it stood he didn't even remember his own name. For lack of anything better to suggest Leon decided to bring the boy back to headquarters. Maybe Aerith could help him remember. Plus he was still curious.
"No sign of him," Riku sighed, futilely trying to shield his face from Agrabah's sandstorms. Jasmine and Aladdin had been more than eager to lend him and Kairi their magic carpet once Sora's name was thrown around. However, this was their second world in a week. Belle hadn't seen Roxas when they'd visited her, but she'd promised to send word if an unknown blonde boy ever showed up. Agrabah had been the next stop on their list.
Kairi had adopted the dress of the locals, something that had raised Riku's eyebrow but elicited no comment. It was because of this that she was a lot cooler than her friend, though she was finding out that sand could be downright stubborn when it was flown about in gale-force winds.
She'd need several baths after this just to make sure that she got it all out of her hair.
"Genie checked the Cave of Wonders and didn't see him," she sighed. "He'll tell us if he showed up."
"So on to the next world then?" Riku asked.
"Please!"
As they turned the carpet back towards the city, where they'd parked the Gummi Ship, Kairi couldn't help but worry. It'd already been two weeks since Sora's sacrifice, so much longer than when he'd been a Heartless the first time, and she was beginning to wonder if they'd be able to restore Sora. The first time he'd only been a Heartless for a few hours and had recovered with very few side effects. After this long, there was no telling what would happen.
Riku looked at her and seemed to understand what she was thinking. "He's strong," he said softly. "No matter how long it takes us to find him, we'll be able to bring him back."
"How much of him?" Kairi whispered. "He said that there's a light that never goes out, but it can dim and be hidden by the darkness. How long will it take for him to forget that it's even in there?"
"Stop thinking like that," Riku ordered. "It won't be much longer. Sora remembered the last time he became a Heartless and he'll be someplace we can find him."
Kairi nodded. "I hope you're right," she said.
Ziva walked into Abby's lab with a box of evidence in her hand and blinked at the sight that greeted her. Abby was talking animatedly, though there was no one else in the lab. That in and of itself wasn't unusual - she talked to her equipment all the time and people learned to accept that fact. What was strange was the stuffed animal that was next to her at her computer. It looked like what a mushroom would look like if it came alive.
Then it turned to look at her with its large yellow eyes and she tensed. "Abby," she said, slowly putting down the box and reaching for her gun, "what is that?"
"Oh hi Ziva!" Abby greeted cheerfully as she turned to take the box with a pen in hand. She started initialing on the white label each bag in the box without even noticing Ziva's reaction. "What's what? Thanks for this, by the way, Director Sheppard's been on my case all day about finishing this up! What took so long getting here, anyway? Did Tony drive?"
"That thing by your computer," Ziva clarified. "It moved."
"Oh." Abby looked at the creature and shrugged. "He was in here a few days ago when I came in. I wanted to take him out to see if someone knew what he was but he doesn't want to leave the room. I found out he could teleport - it took me ages to get him off the ceiling!"
"And you did not think that this was important to tell anyone?" the other woman said in exasperation. "First, normal creatures do not teleport. This must be something related to Sora. Second-"
The creature jumped up, the sound of bells reverberating around the room as it jumped up and pointed at Ziva. "Sky?" Abby asked it, pausing in the middle of initialing a candy wrapper. "You did that thing again. You haven't done that since I guessed your name."
"Your creature rang," Ziva deadpanned. "It rang when you guessed its name?"
"Yeah, Sky. I was wondering what to call it and it started pointing up." Abby frowned at it. "So why'd you ring this time?" she asked.
Sky pointed at Ziva again. "Perhaps it was what I said," the woman mused. "I said normal creatures do not teleport."
There was no reaction from the creature.
"So that was not it," Ziva sighed.
"Then you mentioned that teleporting would have something to do with Sora," Abby continued. Sky rang again, jumping and clapping its hands together gleefully.
They both stilled, coming to the same conclusion at the same time. "Sora," Ziva repeated, staring at the creature. It bounced around the table in joy, waving its arms. With a puff of smoke it was suddenly bouncing on Ziva's head, though it was surprisingly light.
"Ziva?" Abby asked, looking up at Sky. "Did something happen to Sora?"
The creature jumped towards Abby, who caught it in her arms. It smiled at her, gesturing towards itself this time. It turned to Ziva and repeated the motion, eyes wide and pleading.
"Sora was convicted of murder on his home Island," Ziva explained, staring at the creature that couldn't be what she thought it was. "The punishment was death. However, he chose to become a Heartless again instead. He turned his Keyblade upon himself and vanished in bursts of light."
Sky clutched its chest, yellow becoming slits as if it had closed its eyes. It shuddered in Abby's arms.
"Gibbs is out with Abyss trying to find his Heartless," Ziva continued. "Once it is found, Kairi will be able to use her power to restore him."
Sky gestured towards itself again.
"However," Ziva concluded, "they will have no luck."
"Why is that?" Abby asked, stroking Sky's mushroom top. It settled down in her arms, but it was still staring at Ziva.
"Sora's Heartless is here," Ziva replied, reaching for the creature. It rang again, jumping into Ziva's arms and clutching her in as much of a hug as its stubby arms could manage. "Abby, Sky is a Heartless and it's Sora. We have to tell Gibbs."
Sky put its head against Ziva's chest, closing its eyes. At first Ziva was confused until she realized that it was listening to her heart beat. "Did he leave you a way to contact him?" Abby asked.
After a moment Ziva sighed. "No, he did not."
They stood for a moment, looking at the creature that was their friend but not. "We have to keep him safe," Ziva said after a moment. "What can we do?"
"What can we do?" Abby grumbled. "I'll keep him in here. I can make plenty of excuses not to leave him alone." At that she glanced at the evidence that she'd set aside. "And when you see Gibbs..."
"Or Riku," Ziva added. "I am sure they will come here soon enough. They are checking every world that Sora has ever visited."
Sky jumped to the ground and wandered over to the wall, settling against it without a sound. It wrapped its arms around itself miserably and hung its head. "It's okay," Abby told it, crouching next to it. She patted its mushroom top comfortingly. "You'll be normal again soon. Promise."
Aerith, Tifa, and Yuffie stared at the nameless blonde that Leon had uncharacteristically dragged home. The blonde stared right back, his hairstyle bringing to mind a certain other blonde. The silence was broken when he frowned and said, "You're Aerith, right?"
"Who are you?" the brunette he'd called out asked, blue eyes confused. She looked him over and was certain that she'd never seen him before, but there was something about him that was familiar. "Have we met before?"
His frown deepened. "I'm... nobody," he said at last. "That's what I remember. Nobody, but I'm remembering things. People, places... I've been here before. It wasn't me though." He walked over to Merlin's part of the place, eyes landing on the book that was itself a world. A faint smile replaced the frown. "Pooh," he said softly, touching the book. "He's a bear, isn't he?"
"Only one person has ever been inside that book," the magician noted, stroking his long white beard. "But you're not Sora. So who are you?"
The boy stiffened, his frown returning. He touched his temple as if there was something in his head that was bothering him. "Sora," he repeated. "Yes. I'm Sora... but I'm not. I'm nobody."
It finally dawned on Tifa. "You're not saying nobody as in 'no one'," she realized. "You're calling yourself a Nobody."
"Wait, this kid is like those cloaked creeps that were after Sora?" Yuffie butted in, pointing a thumb at the blonde. "They certainly weren't acting like spaced-out zombies."
The boy's eyes flashed in recognition. "Axel called me that," he said with certainty. For a second he looked perfectly aware. "He said I was a zombie that first week. All I did was what I was told."
"What first week?" Leon asked. He had gone to the corner to be his usual antisocial self.
The blank look returned and he frowned at Leon. "I don't remember. It wasn't Sora though. That was... me."
"You're Roxas," Aerith breathed. The boy whirled to look at her, surprise crossing his face. "You said you were Sora, and that you're a Nobody. You have to be Roxas!"
The blonde frowned, hand once again going to his head. "Roxas..." he repeated. "Roxas..."
"But you rejoined with Sora," Yuffie protested. "He told us all about it when he visited last time, when Donald was experimenting with that transformation potion and Sora got out of the line of fire."
"And yet here he is," Leon noted. "It explains why he knows us. Why is he acting like this, though? I thought Sora said that he was more of a person than the other Nobodies."
"It hasn't been long," Roxas said. All eyes turned to him, frowning as he was an holding his head. "I woke up and it was all empty in here, but it's filling up. Memories are coming more quickly now."
"How long?" Aerith asked.
"Two weeks," the boy replied. "I was empty all this time, staring up at the sky in an alley. The memories came, though, and I knew I had to move. I have to find someone." He frowned again. "Sora. I have to find Sora."
"What happened to Sora?" Leon wanted to know. His hand twitched towards the Gunblade on his back.
"I don't know." But as they spoke Roxas's gaze was becoming more focused. "I'm remembering more and more. Why are the memories coming so fast? I remember the past, now, my past separate from Sora." He stared at his hands. "Why are we separate again?"
"Calm down," Merlin soothed, putting a cup of tea in the boy's hand. No one had noticed him departing to the kitchen and concluded that he'd conjured the tea. "It must be startling, being born anew into the world. Sit, and drink, and we will explain."
Roxas sat on the only thing available - Merlin's bed. He gazed into the tea with a frown. "Who am I?" he asked after a moment, looking up at them all helplessly. "Am I Sora? Am I Roxas?"
No one knew what to say to the boy who, technically, shouldn't exist. After a second it was Leon that stepped forward. "At the moment, you're Roxas," he answered, voice even. "You are a being called a Nobody, which is born when a person becomes a Heartless. Sora is your Somebody - the being that is created when you, the Nobody, reunites with his lost heart."
"I'm not human?" Roxas asked, voice soft. "I'm not," he continued before he could be answered. "Humans don't wake up in an alley with no memories. But I have a heart, I know that much. That man... the man in red. He said I held half of Sora's power."
If he was a Nobody then he couldn't have a heart. Yet Aerith was moved by his genuine confusion, his frustration and sorrow, and she sat on the bed next to him. "Right now you're you," she encouraged. "You'll find Sora."
"Your memory loss is easy to explain," Merlin said. "Xehanort's research indicated that Nobodies retained some memories from their Somebodies, but those memories could only be passed along so long as the parent heart was a Heartless. The first time you were born Sora was a Heartless for only a few hours, so there was no way for you to gain any of his memories. It was this, perhaps, that allowed you to grow your own personality. This time, Sora must still be a Heartless. Once you began to draw on his memories it became a growing flood. The more you remember, the more you will continue to remember."
Roxas looked up at him. "You're right. I remember most of Sora's life now. It's an odd feeling," he said, eyes growing distant. "Axel recalled his memories as if he were the one who had lived them. These memories... they're someone else's life and I can recognize that. It's so strange."
The humans in the room traded glances. "What about your life?" Tifa asked. "You existed for a whole year. What do you remember of that?"
Roxas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I remember Axel," he said. "We would go on missions, and every day we'd go to Twilight Town and eat ice cream." He frowned. "Something happened. I don't know what it was, but just thinking about it makes me sad. I left the Organization in search of answers, went to the Tower, and..." He shook his head. "I don't remember. There's something I promised to remember but I can't. I went to confront the Organization and dismantle their Kingdom Hearts, but Riku stopped me."
The door flew open, startling everyone in the room. All eyes flew to the door to regard the redhead that had barged in without warning. Roxas's gasp filled the silence. "Axel!" he cried out, tea spilling from his hand as he shot upright. Then he frowned. "But you can't be here. You're..."
"Dead," the man agreed, stepping into the room. He looked around at everyone else. "These guys' spiritual energy masked yours. Took me weeks to figure out what was bothering me about them. I've been all over the worlds and back again looking for you, Roxas." His green eyes turned to the blonde, softening into a genuine smile. "I knew I'd find you again."
"You died," Roxas insisted. "Back in Washington. Riku Replica killed you, then he tried to kill Sora. I saw your body. I went to your funeral!"
"Shh," Lea soothed, walking close enough to his friend to put his hands on the other's shoulders. "It's all right, Roxas. I don't regret dying. I'd break the rules of life and death for you, Roxas, I always swore that."
The blonde was staring up at the impossibility. "Lea?" he said hesitantly, reaching up and placing a hand on the redhead's cheek. "Why isn't your hair black?"
"Hell if I know," Lea laughed, hugging Roxas close. "Now come on. I think I know where Sora's Heartless is."
"We have to find Kairi," Roxas protested as he was dragged out.
The door slammed again, leaving all of the members of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee to
trade looks. "What just happened?" Yuffie asked finally.
"Call Riku," Leon ordered, turning to the computer bank that Cid normally sat at. "He's in a Gummi Ship. Let him know that we found Roxas and he might be headed their way."
Yuffie nodded and slid into the chair that Roxas hadn't noticed earlier. "Right away!"
"What do you mean, you let him leave?" Riku shouted into the headset. Kairi winced at the volume.
"Let who leave?" she asked. Riku ignored her, his attention turned to the Gummi Ship console. He started pressing buttons quickly and the ship turned on a new trajectory. "Riku!" she said, poking him in the arm. "What's going on?"
"Roxas showed up in Radiant Garden," Riku reported. "So did Lea."
"That's impossible, he's dead," Kairi protested. Still, stranger things had happened. "Well, you've been to the land of the dead right? I guess if you can go in, dead people can come out. So what now?"
"I was about to ask that." Riku turned away from Kairi. "So where are they going?" he asked into the headset. "Why didn't you ask them?"
"They don't know," Kairi guessed.
"Lea said he thought he knew? Can't you follow him?" Riku sighed. "All right, all right, I can't expect the world from you. Thanks for letting us know."
Kairi looked at the nebulae outside the ship, in part because it was gorgeous and in part because wayward Heartless were no fun to battle. "So what now?" she asked.
"We need to regroup. Let's see if we can't find Gibbs and my Replica and start trying to figure out where Lea and Roxas would go."
"Don't they have a phone?" Kairi wondered.
"We don't have any mobile devices capable of calling between worlds," Riku grumbled. "And neither my Replica nor Gibbs knows how to fly a Gummi Ship."
"Abyss," Kairi corrected. When Riku frowned at her, she explained, "Your Replica. His name is Abyss. He's trying to find his own identity, so it's not fair to just keep calling him your Replica."
Riku hesitated. "Sorry," he muttered. "It's kind of hard to forgive the guy who tried to kill you."
"Sora did," Kairi said softly. Just thinking of her friend made her heart clench with worry. There wasn't time to dwell on that, though. They had to find him. "So where are they supposed to be?"
"My rep… Abyss said that they were going to check out some of the more obscure areas. Twilight Town, Traverse Town, places like that. So if they stuck to their schedule…" Riku frowned and thought. "They should be at the Coliseum now."
"I always hated Greek Mythology," Gibbs grumbled to himself as he stared at a few Heartless. They glared back impassively, their claws gleaming darkly in the bright light of the Coliseum.
"You can do it!" Abyss cheered from the sidelines. "And if you can't, their medics are very good at what they do!"
"Shut up!" Gibbs roared back. It was that teen's fault he was in this position. He needed to build up his strength to use his adopted guns for any length of time. Abyss's suggestion had seemed sound at the time. Now he wanted nothing more than to "accidentally" aim into the stands. The protective barrier around them prevented that.
Gibbs sighed and turned back to his battle. The only way out was to win. Defeat wasn't even on his mind.
Two minutes later he was walking out of the arena. Using the weapons was easier after half a dozen tournaments. It no longer hurt to use the energy that they drew from his heart. Only prolonged battles fatigued him now.
He raised his eyebrow when he saw the twin silver-haired boys and redheaded girl that greeted him. "So, have you heard anything?" he asked Riku.
"Roxas turned up," the original twin reported. "We don't know where he's heading, but…"
"But what?" Gibbs frowned.
Kairi spoke up. "Lea's with him. Somehow he's come back from the dead."
"That's a problem," Abyss noted, tapping his chin. "Axel and Roxas were really close. Like, brothers close. If Lea still has those same feelings, it might not be easy to get Sora back."
"We can't focus on that until we know where Sora is," Kairi assured them.
"Yuffie said that they were looking for Sora anyway, so it sounds like they want him back as much as we do," Riku added. "Our best bet is to stay together and look for Sora's Heartless."
Gibbs nodded. Two weeks was a long time to be away from his job, he lamented. Now it was turning into even longer. If he let it stay like this he wouldn't have employment when he returned. "Can't we head back to Washington?" he asked. "I need to check in with my people there, and maybe they've heard something."
"That is the last place Sora went," Riku agreed. "I'll call Mickey and tell him to meet us there."
Abyss nodded. "So, all aboard?"
Abby patted Sky's head as she hummed to her latest metal hit. "Don't worry," she crooned in between verses. "Your friends are on their way."
"Maybe not quite his friends," a strange voice agreed, "but someone is at least."
She whirled around, gun that she really shouldn't be using because it was evidence pointed at the source of that voice. A blonde in a green and white striped hat greeted her warmly. "Hello! Don't worry, we come in peace and all that."
"I doubt it," she retorted, already moving to put Sky behind her. Her heart pounded in her chest as she looked at the unknown man. "So what are you? Are you one of those Organization creeps?"
"Oh I'm not," the man said. "But he used to be."
Abby turned around and came face to face with a face that really shouldn't have been looking at her in bemusement. "Okay, I've finally cracked," she admitted. She grabbed Sky and backed away. "Man, I didn't think zombies really were real. I was just hoping for unicorns."
"Relax, I'm not a zombie," Lea chuckled. His hands were up to show he wasn't armed, but couldn't he summon those things that had killed him? Weird, weird. "I'm just visiting from the world of the dead. So's he." He jerked a thumb towards blondie. "That's Kisuke Urahara. You can just call him Hat-and-clogs like Ichigo if you want. He's the one that got me this body."
"Still impossible," Abby argued. Her back hit the wall of her office and she winced. "Well, improbable." She considered. "Well, since Sora came from a whole other world anyway…"
"We're not here to hurt you," Lea assured her. "I felt that Sora was in trouble and I wanted to help. So I kinda broke the laws of life and death."
"Shattered them," Kisuke agreed. "I helped. Then again, I like to make trouble." He peered at the creature in Abby's arms. "So that's a Heartless. It feels strange."
"This one's a nice Heartless," Lea grinned. He lowered his hands and waved at Sky. "You look cute, Sora. Way cuter than last time. Shadows have a cute air about them, but White Mushrooms are loads better."
"Sora?" another voiced asked. Abby turned to see yet another new face, this one young with blonde spikes and an outfit with way too much grey.
"Sheesh, kid, go black or colorful. Settling for halfway never works," was out of her mouth before she could help it. Then she blinked. "If you're Lea… Are you Roxas?"
Sky jingled and bounced in her arms. A second later he was in Roxas's arms and hugging the other boy as tightly as he could. "Yup, it's Roxas. Now we just need to figure out how to get Sora back to normal," Lea grinned.
"Don't you need Kairi for that?" Abby asked. "She's out looking for… well, you, actually," she admitted, pointing at Roxas. "Ziva and I were hoping that she'd show up soon to help Sora."
The lights flickered. Urahara didn't quite stiffen, but a sword materialized in his hand. "Call the rest of the building," he instructed. "Heartless are coming."
"How can you tell?" Roxas asked curiously while Abby scrambled to sound the alarm. Even as she spoke rapidly to Jenny she listened to the reply.
"I've been dead a lot longer than Lea," Kisuke answered wryly. "Human souls have such power, but only when they're free of a body can that power manifest. That is why Heartless are so powerful, I'm guessing. I'm also concocting a thesis on the relationship between Heartless and Hollows."
"Please don't tell me we have Hollows here too," Lea groaned. He held out his hands and summoned the familiar chakrams.
"A Shikai already?" Kisuke asked, impressed. "Looks like a permanent release too."
"Greek," Abby said pointedly as she hung up. "As in, you're talking about stuff I know absolutely nothing about. Unless you feel like teaching an impromptu class let's leave talking about dead stuff for later, okay?"
"Right," Roxas agreed. He summoned his dual Keyblades, an act which has Abby studying him in fascination.
"Now while we're waiting for the bad guys to show up, let's have a chat pretty boy," she told Roxas cheerfully. "Why do you have two Keyblades and why are they different from Sora's?"
"At least we're not in Ducky's storage closet," Gibbs pointed out when they piled out of the Gummi Ship and into Jenny's office. The director looked at them incredulously as they picked themselves up off the floor. "That's where Sora showed up last time."
He grunted in pain when Kairi elbowed him in the stomach while trying to scramble to her feet. Dogpiles were not on his list of top ten things in the world. It was still better than being shot, he reflected.
"I hope you have an explanation for all of this," Jenny warned while they gathered themselves. She pointed at Riku. "First, why is he here and not in chains? You know we have a warrant out for his arrest."
"I'm not the one you should be glaring at," Riku shot back. He pointed at the boy who only barely resembled him now. "That's the one you're looking for."
Jenny stared. "Oh, so you're the original Riku. My apologies." She turned her glare onto an unapologetic Abyss.
"Different worlds, different laws, timey wimey stuff," Gibbs told her. "And yes, before you ask, I like Doctor Who. Abyss has repented and is trying to save Sora. I'd say that deserves a head start after all of this is done." He tried to ignore the blank stares of his otherworldly companions and Jenny's sudden snickers.
"Don't let Tony find out," she managed between undignified snorts.
"Am I the only one confused?" Riku asked Kairi.
"Nope," she agreed.
"It's some kind of entertainment program here," Abyss offered. "Abby likes it too. At first she wanted to call me Doctor. Then Jack. That girl is strange."
"I'm going to trust Gibbs on this," Jenny told him sternly, her giggles finally subsiding. "But one toe out of line, mister, and I'm throwing the entire might of the Navy at you."
Abyss bowed at her deeply. "I truly apologize for my actions," he said, voice suitably humble. "If I could do it all again then I would leave Lea and Ulmaria alive."
"Just stay out of my sight. I want plausible deniability after this," Jenny warned him. "So you're all here about Sora, right?"
"Yeah," Gibbs said, then told her about Lea and Roxas. "We figured we'd come here to regroup before setting off to find them."
"So you're not here about the Heartless Abby's keeping as a pet?" Jenny said skeptically.
The four world-travellers traded looks. "Of course," Kairi groaned. "This was the last world he came to before he became a Heartless."
"It's only natural that he'd be drawn back here," Riku agreed.
"Wait, that Heartless is Sora?" Jenny asked. "That explains why he's nice. He hasn't tried to hurt anyone and he's just been hanging around Abby. She called him Sky."
"Sky is what Sora's name means," Abyss pointed out. "All right then, let's get to Abby's lab. We can collect Sora and then wait for Roxas to come to us."
Just then, alarms sounded throughout the building. Jenny picked up her phone before it finished ringing once. "Report," she demanded.
The four world travelers shared a glance. "I'll give you three guesses what's going on," Abyss said dryly.
"Do the first two count?" Gibbs asked innocently. Abyss lost his composure and snickered into his hand.
"This isn't a time to joke around," Riku sighed, but he didn't really sound angry. "Sora's Heartless is here. I'm guessing that the other Heartless have probably noticed. Do you think they'd try to hurt him?"
"Who knows?" Kairi mused. She held out her hand and a Keyblade appeared in it. It was pink and flowery, which didn't surprise Gibbs at all. The only surprise was finding out that she had a Keyblade of her own.
"Riku got it right on the first try," Jenny interjected. She put the phone down with surprising calmness. "Abby has visitors in her lab – Sora we already knew about, but Roxas, Lea, and a random guy who wears hat and clogs appeared right before the Heartless. It was clogs guy that identified the Heartless. They're all over the building."
"Conveniently between us and the lab," Gibbs stated. He didn't doubt it. That was how these things always happened.
"Of course. We may not have drills for Heartless attacks, but our people have fallen back on anti-terrorism tactics. Tony is in the corral, McGee is stuck in the elevator, and Ziva was already on her way to the lab. She's stuck in a closet with only her backup weapon." Jenny sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Why did it have to be monsters from another world?"
"Because it'd be too easy otherwise," Gibbs quipped. He hefted his guns and looked to his young companions. "We'll rescue my team on the way to Sora." He glanced at Kairi. "Anyone have any tricks they want to share before we start?" He didn't want to be surprised in the midst of battle. Surprises then could be deadly.
"Abby taught me a card trick!" Abyss grinned.
"I shoot fireballs," Riku told him. "I'm a good shot, and I'll try to warn you before I light something up."
Gibbs nodded. "I'm ranged," he said, waggling a gun to emphasize his point. "As long as you're not shooting behind you, we should be fine."
"Gibbs was a sniper in his heyday so you shouldn't have to worry about a bullet to the back," Jenny put in. "Now get out of my office and go get Sora."
Both halves of him, Gibbs amended as he led the teens behind him into his usual base of operations. Jenny's office was on the second level of the large open space. His eyes were immediately drawn to his desk. Set in one corner of his team's shared cubicle it looked the same as he left it.
Well, there was one thing new. "I don't believe I ordered a Heartless," he deadpanned. This Heartless looked like a small child wearing armor that clanked as it looked around
"Then get it returned to sender," Tony's voice yelled at him. That answered his most pressing question at the moment. A quick look spotted his senior agent ducking under McGee's desk.
The fact that Tony had heard his comment drew his attention to another important fact. "It's too quiet," he said grimly. With Heartless in the building he expected to hear the sound of muffled gunshots. It wasn't as if Tony had run out of ammo. He hadn't heard any sound of combat from this room at all.
The squad room was large enough for several teams. While Riku started to descend the stairs towards the immediate threat, Gibbs surveyed the area. There were several other agents in the other shared cubicles, he noted to his relief. There were small Shadow Heartless moving along the floor and up the cubicle walls.
"Spread out and protect the people," he directed his group. He was taking teenagers into this. The guilt he felt wasn't as intense as that time no so long ago. When he'd asked Sora to help catch Abyss he almost changed his mind several times. Now he knew these teens could take care of themselves against a threat they knew. It was his coworkers that were in danger this time.
With various noises of assent the teens dispersed. Riku scattered the papers on Gibbs' desk as he sliced the armored Heartless apart. Kairi chased a few Shadows out of the ground with well-timed thwacks. Abyss went for the chaotic route and used the cubicle walls as stepping stones. He raced for the far wall and jumped down into a throng of Shadows.
With the threats taken care of, he stepped forward. "Attention NCIS," he intoned. "This is not a terrorist threat as you know it. We are under attack by a threat from outside our world. Their target is in Abby's lab. The plan is to fight our way through the Heartless to rescue her. Your task is to keep this room secure. We will send anyone we find here."
"Our guns were snatched away," Tony grumped. He crawled out from under the desk and shook dust from his hair. "Man, McGeek should clean under that thing more often." Appearance sorted, he went to his own desk and started going through it. "The first thing we did was go for our guns but I barely got mine in my hand before one of those shadow things got it."
"They're more interested in Sora than the chance for more hearts," Kairi guessed. "That's good. It means that Ziva is probably okay."
"Abby's in more danger than we thought," Abyss fretted. "We have to get to her."
"Everyone, backup weapons, now," Gibbs barked. "Don't bother covering the exits. These things can crawl through the floor. If you run out of bullets, grab a melee weapon." He gestured to the Keyblades and Soul Eater weapons the teens were carrying. "The real weapon here isn't your gun. It's your strength of will."
"Yes, Boss," Tony and the other agents affirmed.
Roxas, in between ducking seeking claws and slicing apart increasingly larger and meaner enemies, found his attention dragged away from the fight. His eyes kept going to the center of the room, where Abby was standing protectively over Sora. The White Mushroom was huddled morosely between the two tables that formed his hastily formed barricade.
He'd finally done it. He'd found Sora. His first life, his reunion with his Somebody had been forced. Despite accepting his fate, there was a part of him that still simmered with resentment. Finding Sora had been his goal, but it should have been his achievement. He should have found Sora on his own, not had his original thrust in his face and his own existence belittled.
This was twice now he, the one who shouldn't have existed, had been born. He covered Abby when a floating winged light bulb called an Angel Star shot a ball of light at the tech. She threw her stick of heavy wood at the Heartless and winced and the high-pitched clanking the impact on the glass created. "Why won't these things just stop?" she demanded. The gun she'd pointed at Roxas first had vanished the instant the Heartless had breached the room. Now weaponless, she crouched on the floor and hugged Sora tight.
Roxas pulled her up and away from the Mushroom. "Don't give up!" he urged. He flipped Oblivion around and pressed it into her hand. "Keep fighting and we'll beat them!" Some part of him was satisfied at the distressed chime Sora gave when Abby was forced to drop him.
Kisuke, on the other side of the room, made a sound that could only be described as interested. It didn't make him pause as he sliced cleanly through a tall, floating, sword-wielding Heartless. Lea's fire was keeping the room a bit too unhealthily warm. His chakrams were wreathed in flame as they swirled around the former Nobody.
Abby nodded and lifted Oblivion. "At least you gave me the black one," she muttered as she thwapped a Shadow that tried to use the cover of its larger companions to sneak to Sora.
His power halved, Roxas could only grin. The loss of the black Keyblade felt like a weight of sadness off his heart. "Just keep him safe," he directed. He wondered at that odd feeling, but there were more important things to worry about at the moment.
Abby nodded. "I won't let my little Sky down!" she cheered. "Bring it on, you Heartless bastards!" She patted Sora's mushroom top and brandished Oblivion. The next Shadow that tried its luck got black metal to the face.
That settled, Roxas turned back to the more powerful enemies. There was nothing saying he'd have to be forced to merge with Sora again. Kairi had been able to restore his Somebody before without needing him. It was Namine's machinations that had resulted in the need for Roxas to merge with Sora again. Maybe, without Namine, Roxas and Sora could coexist once again.
There was a pause in the battle after a Darkside tried to materialize. It was thwarted by the fact that Abby's lab was simply too small for its mass. As its tentacles faded, Lea dismissed his fire and chakrams. "I wonder what's going on in the rest of the building," he wondered.
"I can sense four powerful spirit energies battling towards us," Kisuke said thoughtfully. "The Heartless decided to take care of that threat first, I guess."
Four? Roxas thought hard. "Riku and Kairi, definitely. Are Donald and Goofy with them?" he wondered.
"They're all living humans, if that helps. One of them feels a bit like an echo of the other, just a bit, um, green." Kisuke blinked. "That's interesting."
"I don't know," the blonde shrugged. He turned to Abby to check on her and Sora. "You okay?"
"This thing is awesome!" Abby shrieked. "It looks like it should weigh a ton but I can swing it like nothing!" She spun it over her head and danced in a circle. "Can I keep it?"
"Something tells me you might not have a choice," Kisuke sang. "Keyblades choose their master, or so the lore goes."
"Abby Scuito, Keyblade Master," Lea deadpanned. "The worlds won't know what hit them."
"Hey," Roxas objected. "I'm going to need Oblivion back eventually."
Abby stuck her tongue out at him while she studied the black Keyblade. "Hm, this looks like something I'd put on my key ring," she commented as she toyed with the key chain. "Sora had a strange shape on his, like three circles joined together."
Roxas lifted Oathkeeper. "This key chain is Kairi's good luck charm," he said. "She gave it to Sora after he rescued her from Hollow Bastion. It was a promise between them to always find each other again. The Keyblade's name is Oathkeeper."
"Where'd Oblivion come from?" Lea asked.
"Sora found it in Hollow Bastion when he went back to seal the Keyhole," Roxas remembered.
"So anything can be a key chain," Abby mused. She patted Sora's head. "Sounds cool." She stood and went to her desk. "Major Mass Spec!" she lamented. "You have a scratch!"
Lea rolled his eyes. "There's that famous Scuito quirk. I never worked with her back when I was alive, but she was famous after I got back. As batty as Demyx but formidable as Saix on a bad day."
"Do I need to Gibbs Slap you for that remark?" Abby asked innocently. She grabbed something from her desk and glared at Lea.
"It's a compliment!" Lea insisted, edging towards Kisuke. "Save me?" he mock-whispered.
Abby rolled her eyes. "I'm keeping Oblivion," she declared. "I don't care what you say. But, it's dangerous for one Keyblade to go alone," she continued, eye twinkling. "Take this."
Roxas took the charm that the lab tech handed him. It was a small circle of dark wood, small vines wrapped around it and crossing the open middle. Set into the center, where the vines met each other, was a small black stone. Dangling from the bottom were black feathers on simple strings. The whole thing wasn't much bigger than Kairi's charm.
"A Native American dreamcatcher?" Lea noted.
"I bought it when I visited a tribe," Abby admitted. "It looked real cool. I doubt it's authentic, it's just a tourist bauble."
"What's a dreamcatcher?" Roxas asked in confusion.
"It's something a group of people on my world believe," Lea explained. "The middle filters bad dreams, and the stone in the middle captures them. This lets the good dreams go through."
"They stop nightmares and let people have a good night's sleep," Roxas said softly. Like he would sleep if he was reunited with Sora again. Did Abby know what he was thinking? "Thank you," he told Abby. "Even if I fade away, I'll always hold it in my heart."
There wasn't any hesitation when he called out the Keyblade. The dreamcatcher shimmered in his hand before the blade appeared. Even though the stone was a small part of the key chain, the black gem formed the shaft of the blade. It was a straight blade, not one that angled out in odd directions like some of Sora's other key chains. The key part of the blade was the dangling feathers. Wrapped around the blade and forming the handle was the wood of the charm. There were small gaps in the blade where the vines crossed. The end result was a blade that looked half hollow, but in a way that let light through the darkness and was stronger for it.
Roxas swung his new Keyblade experimentally. "Nice," he approved. "I don't think I'll miss Oblivion."
"So what are you going to name it?" Lea teased. That, and the way he threw his arm around Roxas's shoulder, made it feel almost like old times. All that was missing was the ice cream.
"It's not a baby," Roxas grumbled as he batted Lea's arm away. "I'll just call it Dreamcatcher since that's what it is."
"Sounds good," Abby chirped. "Dreamcatcher, away!" she shouted, pointing Oblivion at the door. Right on cue, a Shadow materialized.
"Damnit Scuito," Kisuke griped. "You just had to summon them, didn't you?" He sighed. "Oh well. Ready for another go, Benihime?"
Who the hell was Benihime? There was no more time to wonder. Oathkeeper in one hand and Dreamcatcher in the other, he charged back into battle.
He didn't miss Sora's longing look at Oathkeeper.
McGee was rescued from the elevator. Ziva rescued herself and met the group halfway through. Gibbs tried to catch his breath after the unexpected wave of Heartless almost swarmed them. Three fighters who needed space paired with the one who needed distance meant that the cramped hallway the ambush was in was almost fatal.
"They really don't want us getting close, do they?" Abyss asked wryly.
"How much further until we get to this lab?" Riku wanted to know.
"Two more floors," Gibbs replied. "We don't have anyone else to rescue, so we can head straight down the stairwell and be there in no time."
The Heartless made the trip harder than Gibbs implied. There were fewer Heartless than before, which meant only one thing to the former Marine.
"They've refocused their attacks on Sora," he guessed. "We have to hurry."
The hallway leading into Abby's lab was packed with Heartless. Gibbs settled into the rear of their pack in a formation that had become routine. It was too impractical to use both guns so he combined them and waited for the perfect shots. They came infrequently enough but they were valuable to the melee fighters.
The closer they got to Abby's lab, the warmer the air around them got. The crowds of Heartless slowly cleared out. They burst into the crowded lab just as Roxas sliced through the last Heartless. After a heated pause where the only sound was the last of Lea's flames burning, no more Heartless appeared.
"Finally," Lea groaned. "I thought they wouldn't ever end."
"Welcome to the world of the living," Abyss said brightly. "Sorry I sent you to the land of the dead. If you want to kill me, I'll give you a free shot."
Lea's hand twitched on his weapon. "Much as I would love to," he said after a while, "but the rules of the Soul Society forbid a Shinigami from harming a living human. You're not quite human, but you're living."
"You're not a Shinigami," Kisuke pointed out after a beat.
"Whatever, I'm still dead. Can't hurt a living human." Lea huffed.
"Where's Sora?" Riku demanded. He dismissed his Keyblade with a wave of his hand. "Is he okay?"
"Here," Abby said. She stood, a strange weapon in one hand and a white mushroom creature in the other. "We kept him safe."
Gibbs pat his lab tech on the head. "I knew I could count on you," he told her with a smile. He tapped the weapon in her hand. "So, what's this?"
"Oh, I stole Roxas's Oblivion Keyblade. It looked really cool and it liked me." She shrugged and stared at it sideways. "I know it can go away but I haven't figured that part out yet."
Of course. Gibbs didn't even try to question it. Instead, he turned to the two people in the room he didn't know. They were both blonde, but which one was Roxas was easy enough to discern. The Keyblades gave it away.
"I didn't notice Sora having two Keyblades," he said by way of conversation.
"He can only use them when he's wearing his magical clothes and if he's with Donald and Goofy," Roxas returned. "With his Final Form, that whole army of Heartless would have been cake."
"So why can you use them without the magic clothes?" the other blonde asked casually.
Roxas shrugged. "I don't know. I could suddenly use two after I left the Organization. I think they're both mine and Sora's."
"Kisuke, you are not going to dissect Roxas," Lea warned. "I can't beat you in a straight fight but Roxas sure as hell can. This room was too cramped for him to unleash his full power."
All eyes turned to Roxas, who shrugged. "If I'd used my most powerful attacks then Abby would have been caught in the crossfire."
This witty exchange was interrupted by Sora. He wriggled out of Abby's arms and leaped at Kairi. She caught him only by dropping her own Keyblade, which vanished in a flash of light.
"So, how exactly are you going to restore him?" Abyss asked.
Kairi clutched Sora close. "The last time it happened, we were in danger. I told him I would protect him this time. Heartless attacked him, so I shielded him with my own body. The next thing I knew, we were engulfed in light and his arms were around me."
While Kairi was speaking, Gibbs noticed Abby frown at her new Keyblade, then turn away and drop it. It vanished in the same way as Kairi's had. Abby grinned and turned back to the group.
"So," he asked lowly while everyone thought about what to do next, "how do you plan on summoning it again?"
She shrugged. "Instinct?" she asked brightly.
Sora patted Kairi's head and chimed. When his friend looked up, he patted the left side of her chest, right over her heart.
"Heh, I guess you're right," she said. "Our hearts are always connected." She looked over at Roxas. "Do you feel anything?"
Roxas lifted his black Keyblade. "Nothing," he said "Not what you want me to feel. It's not like last time where I was drawn to Sora against my will."
Lea put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "That was DiZ's fault. I'm sorry I couldn't save you from that."
Roxas shrugged. "Whatever. I'm going to the bathroom." He looked over at Abby expectantly.
"I have my own private bathroom," she said smugly. She pointed through the remains of a glass door. "It's the door that's still in one piece over there. I can't go very far when certain tests are running." She winked at Kairi knowingly. "It's a perk."
Gibbs resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his tech while Roxas went to the named room.
"He just doesn't want to vanish," Abyss murmured. "Can you restore Sora without him, Kairi?"
The redheaded girl patted the mushroom top absently. "I think I can. Just give me some time, okay?"
"I'm going to start getting cleaned up," Abby sighed. She stared at the ruins of her lab morosely. "Even Major Mass Spec has a scratch on him. He's so unhappy about it."
"That's our cue to leave," Gibbs declared. "An unhappy mass spectrometer is the end of the world."
Despite the blank looks the hodgepodge started to file out. "I give it five minutes," Abby called over her shoulder. "You got this, Kairi!"
"Once Sora's restored, we can all go out for ice cream," Lea sighed happily. "Then it's back to Soul Society for me, exile for you, and wherever you guys want to go."
"Home," Riku said wistfully.
Abyss shrugged. "At least I'll get a head start," he offered.
"Back to work for me," Gibbs said. "So many crimes, so little time."
"To solve, not commit," Kisuke added for him. He looked sideways at Lea. "You know, you're a fugitive too. If you went back to Soul Society, well, who knows what'll happen. There's nothing saying you didn't run off to another world where I can't follow you."
"Really back from the dead! Awesome!" Lea cheered.
"Keep in mind that that's a gigai, not a real body, so if it gets destroyed you're stuck as an invisible ghost," Kisuke waved. "I've left my shop long enough and I have plenty of data on the Keyblades. Call on me if you need me again. You know my price."
With a tip of his hat, Kisuke blurred from sight.
"Are all Shinigami like that?" Riku asked.
"Shinigami are assholes. Kisuke's one of the nice ones," Lea replied.
There was a flash of light that distracted everyone. When they looked again, a human Sora was slumped on the floor, Kairi cradled in his arms.
"Hah!" Abby crowed from down the hall. "Tony, McGee, pay up!"
Two hours later, NCIS was returning to some semblance of order. Reports were drawn up, casualties counted. Gibbs kept track of every name Jenny would have to write a letter for.
The group of inter-world travelers gathered in the space Gibbs' team called their own. The Gummi Ship entrance was in Jenny's office, but that felt like the wrong place for goodbyes.
Roxas didn't know how he should feel at the moment. He had his wish. Sora was standing there with his friends laughing. He'd known the moment that Sora awakened. His memories of his Somebody's life went from crisp to murky in an instant. The drain on his body had him wondering if he was going to fade away anyway. Then he'd been on the floor of Abby's bathroom, still separate but way less inclined to be upright.
"I know you're not sure what to do," Lea said quietly. "I'll bet Sora wouldn't mind letting you come home with him. I'll probably freeload off him actually."
"You won't," Roxas admonished. "We'll do work for our board."
Lea grinned and lightly tapped the blonde's shoulder. "That's settled, then. Time to get going. You can take the Dark Corridors easily enough, but the rest of us have to take the Gummi Ship."
"I don't want to be a Nobody," Roxas denied immediately. "No Dark Corridors. I do have the right to exist."
"Whoa pal," Lea soothed. "I'm the last guy you have to convince."
"Major Mass Spec is happy again," Abby announced. "I have one hell of a mess to sort through for the courts, though. I don't think they'll take 'attack of the Heartless from other worlds' as an excuse." She grinned wickedly. "That's why I'm coming with you guys!"
"We can't meddle," Sora started to say. He stopped when Abby grinned triumphantly and waved a summoned Oblivion in his face.
"This thing says I get to meddle," she said smugly. "Now you're going to take me out for ice cream."
Sora sighed. "Well, I do need to thank you for taking care of me while I was a Heartless." He turned to Lea and Roxas. "So, are you coming with? I don't think the clock tower can fit all of us," he said apologetically.
"There's enough room if he squeeze in close," Lea noted. He snuck an arm around Roxas's shoulders and squeezed him for emphasis.
"And I'm feeling left out," Tony interjected. He stuck his head next to Lea and leered. "No ice cream for us who are stuck on this world?"
"It'd melt by the time they got back," McGee pointed out. "Are there refrigerators on Gummi Ships?"
"Say goodbye and get back to work," Gibbs ordered. "There's still a lot of damage to clean up."
"Yeah, yeah," Tony grumbled. "Thanks for saving our butts. Stay safe on your way home and don't get framed for murder again, okay?"
"What he said," McGee said. He turned to Roxas. "It was nice to meet you."
"You too," Roxas said in surprise. "I can bring some ice cream before it melts."
"Not without a coat!" Abyss scolded. "Vexen told me why supposedly heartless creatures needed to wear a protective cover in the Dark Corridors."
All eyes turned to the replica. "Why?" Sora asked.
"Well, because Nobodies start to develop hearts of their own eventually. Continued exposure to the Dark Corridors posed a danger to those fledgling hearts." Abyss tapped his chin. "So what would happen to a Nobody who gained a heart and then lost it?"
"Let's not find out," Lea decided.
Sora knocked Lea's arm away so he could take the redhead's place. Roxas didn't know how to feel with his original so close. He was half afraid that the physical contact would cause him to vanish into Sora. It didn't happen.
"Well, there's two of us now," the brunette grinned. "The Heartless should be running scared, right?"
"I guess," Roxas said uncomfortably.
"Well then," Abby said, "I'm ready for that ice cream! Where's the Gummi Ship?"