"Yo! Seen Saïx around?"

The loud greeting was impossible to miss, shattering the relative silence in the Grey Area as Axel stepped through the doorway. Xigbar was the only other body in the room, and he shot an apathetic glance over his shoulder from his place on the couch.

"Said somethin' about recon this morning, but I haven't seen 'im since." Without fail, that sharklike grin of his suddenly broke over his face. "What's up, Red? Workload ain't big enough for ya?"

"I think it's big enough for you 'n me both, if I'm being honest," Axel remarked. He stopped in front of the window, looking out at the edges of the city. He'd intended to check in with Saïx like he always did, a quick exchange to confirm that he'd finished his mission before heading back for the night. It wasn't like the guy to be absent at this time of day.

"I won't hold my breath on the honesty part," replied Xigbar flippantly. "But if you ask me, he was lookin' pretty under the weather last I saw. Somethin' up?"

Catching his reflection in the glass, Axel shrugged with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He didn't use that old expression much these days, but he still had it. "You know Saïx. Come hell or highwater, he'll get his work done."

"Heh. Too bad that work ethic doesn't rub off on some of you youngsters. Then again, maybe you all just have a better sense of self-preservation. Am I right?"

The smile faded. Axel was hardly surprised by the casual insinuation - he'd come to expect as much below-the-belt commentary from good old Number Two - but he'd already been thinking along the same lines. Saïx had clearly been suffering from some bug or another for the last few days, and all the apathy in the worlds couldn't have disguised how miserable he looked this morning. And he had gone out like that? And now it was getting pretty late.

That didn't bode well.

Nonetheless, Axel looked indifferent as he turned away and headed for the door at an easy pace. "You've got it backwards, don'tcha? Kids are the reckless idiots. Old-timers like you take it easy and live out your years." Xigbar chuckled at that; Axel stopped in the doorway without looking back. "He happen to mention where he was going?" he asked casually.

"Twilight Town - assuming this old-timer's memory isn't on the fritz."

Twilight Town? Must've just missed him... Axel lingered where he was only a moment more, and then left without another word.

Twilight Town wasn't the biggest of cities, but it was large enough that it took even Axel a while to comb it thoroughly. He figured he would have no luck in the busy areas, so skipping over those places saved him some time, at least. Regardless, most of the streets were soon empty as the time tipped past the local curfew, indicated only by the numerous clocks throughout the town in the midst of the neverending twilight.

He paused outside one of the underground gateways, arms folded as he scanned the slope leading down into the heart of the town.

Might've missed him again... Heck, he probably RTC'd while I was wandering around. He scratched the back of his head. It had been well over an hour, maybe two. Or Xigbar was screwing with me. Guess it can't hurt to go check. Knowing Saïx, he'll drill me for being late either way.

Axel started back up the hill, looking for a place to open a Corridor with minimal risk of witnesses - and then paused with a sudden thought. The only other place he could think of was the plaza in front of the clocktower... It would be busy any other time of day, but now? Virtually dead.

Well, he was headed in that direction anyway, so he might as well. Minutes later, climbing the last slope and rounding the last corner, the absolute last thing Axel expected to find was a mass gathering of Heartless crowding the plaza-

-so, go figure, that was exactly what he came across. "Mass" didn't really cover it; there were a ton of them, mostly of the pureblood variety. Considering he hadn't seen even one when he was here with Roxas and Xion just a few hours ago, he was momentarily baffled. Why so many, and here?

More importantly, perhaps, they were all fixated on a point at the crowd's center - and as Axel watched, a dozen of them suddenly went flying with brutal efficiency, knocked aside by a single swing of an enormous weapon and giving him a clear view of-

He sighed, shaking his head. "Of course," he muttered to nobody. Throwing out his hands, he summoned his chakrams. The glow attracted the attention of some of the closer Heartless, but too late: Axel blazed through them with little resistance, killing or crippling anything within range. He made pretty good time, he thought, considering the odds - it wasn't long before he had cut his way through to the middle, where Saïx was leaning on his claymore and risking a moment's respite in the brief gap of enemies.

And with good reason, Axel noted. Saïx looked much worse than he had that morning, now downright pale and short of breath. As Axel landed beside him, Saïx leveled him with a look that, despite his condition, was very Saïx.

"Why are you here." It was delivered so flatly that it barely qualified as a question, with nothing in that monotone suggesting that he actually wanted an answer - or maybe he just didn't expect an acceptable one.

Either way, Axel rolled his eyes with an agitated huff of not-quite-laughter. "Oh, you know me. I just love working off the clock." One of the Heartless darted forward in the corner of his eye and on a dime Axel whirled, sending both chakrams flying. One clipped the Neo Shadow on the crown of its skull, knocking it off its feet; the second sawed through its middle in a blaze of smoke and embers to finish it. The sarcastic amusement was gone from Axel's face as he stepped in front of Saïx, catching his weapons on their return with movements that were almost lazy. "Back off," he said idly. "I've got this."

"You?" Saïx sounded more perplexed than skeptical - it was a fine line, and anyone who hadn't known him long enough to pick up on those subtle fluctuations would easily have mistaken one for the other - but Axel scoffed all the same.

"No, Santa Claus." Fists on his hips, he risked an annoyed glance over his shoulder. "Yes, me. If you wanna crap on the little white knight shindig I've got goin', you can do it later. But this'll be-" He was interrupted by the sudden leap of two Shadows in his direction. He caught one in a backswing, batting it out of the air, and hurled the other chakram into the second, freeing his right hand long enough to cast Fira into another group that was trying to sneak up on him. "This'll be harder," Axel continued, "if I have to watch you, too. I'll take care of the mission, so get lost already." He started to leave it at that, but then added for a final touch of sarcasm, "And I mean it. No heroics."

He thought he heard a low scowl, but in the same instant his attention was redirected as the rest of the Heartless finally lost patience and surged forward. Rolling his wrists in anticipation, he quickly righted his grips on his weapons and ran to meet them.

'Why are you here,' he says, he thought bitterly. Flames ignited along the metal spokes, bright with his agitation. Idiot. Like you gotta ask.

He slammed into the Heartless in a violent flare of rotating fire and steel, cutting a path through the collective darkness that was quickly filled as more eagerly rushed in to meet him. Most of them were small fries, the kind he could have taken out in his sleep, but their real danger lay in the ability to conceal the smarter, deadlier ones. As Axel fought, he spared glances between the Shadows and along the ground when he was able, watching for a sign of anything that looked out of place, but it was a needle-in-a-haystack dilemma. One glimpse did show him that Saïx was gone, so that was oneless issue, at least.

When a Neo Shadow surged up out of the cobblestones, Axel didn't see it until it was in mid-leap. Lanky arms outstretched, claws grasping, it made a bold and desperate swipe for his face. Basic reflex saved him: he jerked abruptly to the side with a startled curse, twisting into a follow-up swing that was a second too late and a little too clumsy. He hit the Heartless, but not accurate enough or hard enough for a killing blow - worse, in his haste he lost a good portion of his balance and was forced to compensate with a quick sidestep-

-only to stumble over a Shadow right as a Yellow Opera made a well-timed dive, striking him square in the gut and winding him. Even as Axel's mind raced - open the Corridor, get the Dusks out here - he knew that slip-up had cost him dearly. The claws that suddenly raked across his back, the Blizzara slamming into his shoulder, were more of a confirmation than a surprise.

He caught himself and kicked hard off the ground, propelling his body to the side. The laidback composure was gone from his face as he shifted to purely defense - dodging, ducking, sidestepping - and replaced instead with a coldly calculating look. The upper half of his right arm was numb from that ice attack, so he dismissed that chakram and adjusted to keep his bad side behind him. The fire encircling his remaining weapon grew larger and brighter as if to compensate.

"Come on," he hissed in challenge. The Heartless were glad to obey, leaping forward in a frenzy-

-only to scatter as the ground under them exploded. Their bodies were scattered as debris crushed and tore through them, and as the dust and chaos cleared Axel found himself looking at a familiar claymore, standing alone in the small crater it had created. A second later there was a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye as Saïx landed - heavily - beside him, his low panting audible.

"Saïx? I told you to-"

"I still have a mission to complete," he interrupted in that irritating monotone, not looking away from the recuperating Heartless.

"A death wish is what you have," Axel snapped. Even so, he took the opportunity to cast Cure on himself, returning feeling to his wounded arm. "I said I've got this!"

Saïx finally spared him a glance, and that brief look probably had more emotion in it than he'd collectively expressed in the last ten years - in the form of doubt and blatant skepticism. Before Axel could counter it with a sarcastic expression of his own, Saïx was moving, wrenching his claymore from the ground in a swift motion. "Stay alert," he threw over his shoulder.

"Don't gotta tell me twice," Axel remarked. He summoned his second chakram again, teeth bared in a hard grin. Now they were talking.

"What were you doing out here, anyway?"

Five minutes and some thirty-odd dead Heartless later, both Nobodies were catching their breaths in the shadows off the side of the road, weapons dismissed. With his arms crossed, Axel leaned against the brick wall at his back as he regarded Saïx curiously and waited for an answer.

"Recon," came the simple reply. Saïx still looked exhausted, but a little bit of color was slowly returning to his face, at least. "As you saw, there was an unusual influx of pureblood Heartless in the area."

"Find the cause?"

"No. But with that many exterminated, hopefully emblem Heartless will fill the void."

"Hopefully," Axel agreed, although there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm. Saïx returned his look.

"You weren't assigned to Twilight Town today," he pointed out.

"Ya don't say," said Axel dryly. "What, I need to ask permission to help somebody out? I was just returnin' the favor."

"Favor?"

Axel cocked an eyebrow incredulously. "Oh, c'mon - what, you don't remember? Not long after we became Nobodies, we were on that mission together. Overwhelming number of Heartless, yadda yadda, you helped me out." He twisted his lips slightly, and then waved a dismissive hand. "Well, y'know. A little. I pretty much had it under control."

Saïx was silent for what Axel guessed was a few heartbeats. "I don't recall that," he remarked indifferently.

"Eh, figures. Well, like I said, it wasn't like I woulda died or anything, so don't give yourself too much credit." Pushing off the wall, Axel shrugged a shoulder - and then decided to carry through with the motion, stretching his arms over his head until both shoulders popped. "That's what I get for pulling my punches, y'know?"

"Hm." It was a neutral sound.

"And why'd you come back?" Axel challenged. "You're not backsliding and getting sympathetic on me, are ya?" It was a joke meant to irritate, of course. There was no "backsliding" from lacking a heart.

"You're an asset," said Saïx coolly, refusing to meet that gaze out of nothing more than annoyed spite, most likely, "that I'd rather not lose if it can be helped."

"Wow, gee, thanks-"

"Not to mention that had you perished while coming to my assistance, my own competency would have been called into question-"

"Okay, I get it." Axel threw up his hands in exasperation and fake offense. "I'm a cog in the machine, as usual. Thanks for the boost of confidence in my self-worth."

Saïx turned away, unfazed by that attitude. "I said you're a valuable asset. How much more worth can be placed on those without hearts?"

It was Axel's turn to make a noise, a noncommittal grunt in his throat. He couldn't argue that - not with Saïx, at least. A year ago, Axel wouldn't have tried to argue with anybody over it, period. How could Nobodies have value when they arguably weren't anything to begin with?

These days, though... he wasn't so sure. However flippantly he treated the matter around Roxas and Xion, he would never say they lacked value - their ability with the Keyblade notwithstanding.

It was the same with Saïx. Even now, so many years and changes later - despite that neither he nor Axel completely trusted or even understood the other anymore - he wasn't just a coworker, a fellow reject in a circus of freaks who should never have existed. Neither was he simply an accomplice in their two-way agenda. He had been a friend once, and now...

Then again, they were all just Nobodies, right? What did labels matter?

Axel stretched out a hand, ready to open the Corridor and leave the conversation at that, but Saïx spoke up. "But it's ironic that you, of all people, would speak of backsliding."

"...Heh." The chuckle was humorless, much like the sharp smile Axel shot him. "Finally figuring it out, huh?" Saïx stared - blankly, but to Axel it translated as a questioning look. No, he could immediately tell, Saïx still didn't get it. Stepping aside, Axel only motioned him through with a jerk of his thumb. "Invalids first. Don't wanna have to save you a second time."

Even for him, it was tough to tell whether Saïx took more offense at being called lame or in need of rescue, but that cold look was the same either way. He passed by briskly and silently, not making so much as a breeze before disappearing into the portal.

Staring after him, Axel gave a low scoff that was at least partly dry laughter. "You're welcome, by the way."