Negotiations were all about giving a little and taking a little. But sometimes, you end up giving a little too much until you have nothing left to give but empty words of promises. Xigbar x Tidus. –For WgreyB-
I've been working on this story for the past HOW many days (mostly during the time my internet was down...) Yes, I'm procrastinating, but...meh, you're still getting something out of me!! Lawls.
Ok, so fine, crack pairing…But I grew to love it, somehow…Ok, maybe not love, love.
...I like it ok? Enough said…
Anyways, thank WgreyB…for 'expanding' my horizons. Lawls.
Negotiators are the most highly paid agents in the police force. And do you know why? It's because they go in, unarmed without anything to defend themselves with, and the only thing to protect them in a life and death situation is a bulletproof vest that's the only thing between their heart and the bullet.
They constantly put their own lives at risk to calm down the assailant, or whoever they could talk to as a mediator.
Negotiators are just that. They negotiate. Negotiate for the hostility to go away, negotiate to find a better way to do things and save a couple of lives while they're at it.
That's who Xigbar is. He's a negotiator, and today, he's going into work to help a particular case that hasn't quite been wrapped up yet. It's been a couple of hours since they got the last phone call through to the house.
"In there?" he asked as he pulled on a bulletproof vest and tightened it up before he went to pull on his black fingerless gloves.
"Yeah, here's your pocket radio." His captain, a man with extremely light colored hair, spoke as he handed the item over for the other to take, "Call us if you need anything. We believe they've cut off their phone lines or something. Can't get a call through." He shook his head as he looked out the back of the van to the closed blinds of the house.
"How long do I get?" Xigbar asked as he tucked the pocket radio into one of his leg belt bags. The other one had a small medical kit in case he needed to do some sort of medical help.
"As long as you want, as long as you need, but keep us posted every ten minutes. If you don't respond, we will assume you dead and we will ram in." he spoke without much care or sympathy.
"Gee…Thanks a lot Luxord." He spoke sarcastically as he shook his head, stood up from his seat and hopped out of the van. "You still having poker night tomorrow?" he asked offhandedly.
"Yeah, come join us if you're still alive." he smirked and gave a short wave.
"Fuck you too Lux." He rolled his only visible eye, flipped him the bird and cautiously started for the house.
He lost his other eye when he had been working on the field with his partner Xaldin. They were called for a break-in but they hadn't been expecting a homemade bomb to go off. Xaldin, being the person close to the exit, only suffered a couple of broken ribs but Xigbar was the one closest to the bomb and therefore, the one to take most of the damage.
He was hospitalized for a few months. And he lost sight in his right eye.
The stressed he experienced in those months in the hospital made his hair gain odd streaks of white. It looked nice, but it made him look damn old even though he was only in his late twenties.
He couldn't continue working on the field as a police officer, but he decided to train himself for something else that was part of the police force. He didn't know how it happened, but the next thing he knew, he was sitting in a conference room with men and women talking about negotiators.
He found it interesting and decided that it was going to be his next career choice.
There had been no regrets so far, just the sad case of being too late a couple of times.
It was completely their fault they didn't want to call him up until the very last minute.
Not this time though. Mistakes are meant to be learned from after all.
Xigbar picked up the loudspeakers from one of the vested and armed policemen behind a shield, pushed the button and spoke into it, "Hey, anybody in there? I'm the negotiator, do me a favor and shift the blinds a little so I know you're listening." He called out and waited for a sign or anything from within the white house with the blue roof.
There was nothing.
He took a deep breath and counted to five.
And just as Xigbar was about to call out again, there was a flicker of movement from one of the blinds and he nodded as he spoke into the loud speakers again, "Ok, good, if you want, you and me can just talk one on one. How's that for ya?"
He waited patiently for another movement of the blinds and when it came, the older man nodded again, "Alright, I'm coming up, lemme just tell you that I'm unarmed. I swear I won't hurt you. Ok?"
He didn't have to wait long before another shift in the blinds alerted him that it was ok to get closer and maybe start negotiating.
Xigbar handed the loudspeaker back to the policeman and slowly started his way up the front yard to the house. He knocked on the door twice, and then brought his hand to the doorknob.
It was unlocked.
With a slight twist, it was opened and he tentatively walked inside the house.
He immediately froze when he saw the boy with a guy pointing straight at him. He took a deep breath and slowly raised his hands in defense, "I won't hurt you, I'm unarmed, I swear."
"Get in and close the door." He demanded and Xigbar obliged as he slowly took another step in and then quietly closed the door behind him.
Xigbar kept his hands up as he took a better look around the living room and he noticed a few people huddled together in fear.
Task one was to locate any hurt hostages and tend to their injuries.
The brunette girl with short hair had tears flowing down her cheeks even though no noise escaped her lips. There was the other brunette, with slightly longer hair and she looked as though she was trying to drown out the rest of the world as she had her hand clamped over her ears and her eyes shut.
There was a boy with orange hair, orange reddish hair, lying on the couch with a bleeding arm. And there was a brunet boy who was trying to stop the wound from bleeding all over the place with a blood stained cloth.
"Hey," Xigbar started slowly and quietly, "I was wondering, before we start negotiating, if I could have a look at that guy's arm?" he asked as he nudged his head to the boy who was holding back the cries and winces of pain.
"Whatever." He replied in a voice that was a mixture of anger anxiety and kept his hold on the gun firm. "Just don't do anything funny."
"Ok, ok." He slowly lowered his arm, "I have a first aid kit in here, no guns, I swear." He continued to slowly lower her arms until it reached the bag that was attached to his leg with a belt and pulled the flap open, the sound of velcro seemed to have jolted the blond a little, "Just a first aid kit, I swear." He repeated again as he pulled out a small, white rectangular box with a red cross on it. "See?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He huffed and watched as Xigbar slowly stepped into the living room and then over to the couch. "Sora, get lost." He demanded as he flicked the gun to the side a little as a sign for the brunet to step away.
The boy named Sora did eventually, and stepped back to a corner where a silver haired boy was and a crimson haired girl shook in fear.
Xigbar opened up his kit and immediately set to work. After he looked at it, he concluded that it wasn't that deep to begin with. It just grazed him. A fairly deep graze, but no permanent damage.
"You're going to be fine." He spoke to the orange haired boy as he dabbed a cotton bud with antiseptic and proceeded to clean the wound.
He was done within a few minutes. And his task of helping the wounded was completed.
"Ok, I'm done," Xigbar spoke as he closed up the kit and stuck it back into the belt bag, "Is there anybody else that's hurt?"
"No, they're fine." He snapped and his arms were starting to shake a little from being held up too long.
"Ok, that's good. Mind if I call for an ambulance for this guy?"
"No, you don't get to call anybody."
"Look, kid, I gotta make check ups with them every ten minutes, or else they're gonna think I'm dead and barge in here." He reasoned as he slowly stood back up, "You don't want that, do you?"
The blond hesitated a little, there was sweat on his forehead, his arms shook a little more, "…No."
"Then mind if I just tell them I'm ok?"
"Don't say anything more than that." He warned and raised the gun up a little higher. "I swear I'll blow your fucking head off."
"I'll just check up with them, nothing more." He spoke as he lowered his hand to the other belt bag and pulled it open for a pocket radio. He pushed the button and spoke into it, "Negotiator reporting in, I'm fine and dandy." He didn't bother to wait for a response before he placed it back into the bag.
They stood in silence. A storm raging in the blonds' head. Xigbar tried to think of his next move. Which was to try and get some people out. Or at least try to.
"You look edgy." Xigbar spoke as he took in the disheveled look from the boy.
"No shit, but it's not like you care."
"Of course I care." it was half true, "Its part of my job."
"You don't look it."
"Why don't we let some people out-"
"Nobody leaves."
Xigbar heard a whimper from one of the girls, and again, tried to think of another alternative. He didn't want anymore bloodshed.
There was silence again, and the older man planned his next move, "You didn't have to shoot him, you know?" maybe a guilt trip would work.
"I didn't." he snapped a little but quickly corrected himself, "I mean, I did. But I didn't mean to. It just got bad." His hold on the gun seemed to falter a bit as his arms continued to shake in the strain.
Silence reigned for a short moment, and then, the blond spoke again, "Is it too late to call an ambulance?"
"No, I'll call for one now." He spoke as his hand slowly made its way to the pocket radio. He pushed the button and spoke into it again. "Hey, can I get an ambulance here? One guy has an injury."
The radio crackled and fizzle a bit before a reply was received, "We've got an ambulance on the way now."
"Thanks." He released the button and then slipped the item back into his pocket. "They're coming."
"Ok, thanks." He seemed less angry now, but a little bit more anxious about everything else. Almost over the edge.
"No problem kid."
They stood in silence. Each of them in a world of their own. They listened to the tick tocks of the clock, the noises that came from outside, and eventually, the sounds of the ambulance was heard.
"The ambulance is here." He pointed out bluntly and waited for a response from the blond.
"No shit. I'm not deaf." He scowled as he flicked the gun towards the door. "Wakka can leave now. Yuna and Selphie can go too. In fact, why don't all of you just leave?" he snapped, "Except you." he glared at the older man in the room and remained still as the other people of the house left through the front door either one by one, or two by two.
Xigbar's eye never left the boy, but it flickered over to the door once it was closed behind the other people.
Second task of getting rid of the hostages, cleared.
And now, the real negotiating begins. The negotiation of the captor's life and what he wants to do next.
Once the door was closed, the blond seemed to take on a different image. He seemed more disheveled than ever and he looked edgy and stressed. His arms shook even more under the strain.
"I'm not gonna hurt you, just lower your gun, you look tired."
"No shit…" he answered weakly and very slowly lowered his arms back down.
"Ok, look kid, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Which one do you want?" he asked as he carefully surveyed the blond. He seemed to have lost all hope in his blue eyes.
"Can I just…die? Instead?" he asked, his voice filled with defeat.
Xigbar shook his head, "No kid, there're a lot of things to look forward to in life." He reasoned.
"What's the point? I'm just gonna end up in jail."
He seemed to take this into consideration before he asked, "How old are you?"
The blond seemed to look a little confused by the question, but he answered either way, "Seventeen…" he muttered out tiredly.
"Then you'll only end up being in juvenile detention." He pointed out and the blond seemed to have lightened up a little bit at the sound of an alternative, "So kid, what's your name?"
"It's…Tidus." he spoke hesitantly.
"I'm Xigbar, nice to meet you."
"Yeah…" he scoffed, "Nice…real nice." He spoke sarcastically.
"So, Tidus, why are you doing this?"
There was silence again. Xigbar's mind completely clear of distractions, listening in to the outside world and to the boy in front of him.
He finally spoke again, "Nobody understands me, I hate this place." He grumbled out and moved his eyes away from the older man momentarily before he snapped them back to him.
"You should've just left, you know? Like, go someplace else." He suggested, "Road trip, or just even getting yourself a job and work up enough money to go camping for a few days."
The blond refused to say anything as he took in the suggestion, probably wondering why he never thought of it before.
"I'm not gonna go through the whole bad cop, good cop thing with you. That shit never works, lemme tell you that much. Just tell me what's wrong and I'll try my best to help you." He tried to sound genuine, but a small laceration from that last job in the field in his throat impaired his voice a little and now it was always sort of gruff sounding.
"I don't wanna talk about it." he muttered out.
He sighed, "Mind if I make a cup of coffee?" Xigbar asked as he pointed a finger into the kitchen area.
"Sure…whatever." He shrugged and seemed tired all of a sudden, as though he didn't care anymore. Probably didn't even take into consideration the kitchen knives.
"Cool, thanks." He nodded his head in appreciation before he slowly walked into the kitchen.
"Cups are in the top right cupboard and the instant coffee is in the cabinet to the left…Spoons are in the top drawer right in front of you." The blond spoke as he walked in after the older man and sat down with a tired sigh on the chair by the small dining table.
"Want me to make you one?" he offered as he pulled two cups out from the cupboard.
"No thanks. I don't like coffee."
"Doesn't have to be coffee. Can be cocoa, milo, honey." He suggested as he unscrewed the top of the coffee container and tipped two big spoonfuls of it into a cup.
"…Cocoa I guess." He gave in and released the hold on his gun to grab his hair with both hands. He just didn't care anymore.
"Ok, cocoa it is." He placed the coffee container back in and pulled out a cocoa box out then piled in two big spoonfuls. "Not too sure how sweet you like it."
"That's fine. I can add more sugar later on…" he mumbled out and sighed.
Xigbar nodded as he brought the cups over to the hot water dispenser and pushed the slot to make the hot water come out. Once he was done mixing and stirring in the contents together, he placed the cocoa in front of the blond and then the other cup in front of himself. He then turned back around, placed the cocoa box back in and then pulled out a small container, with a label saying sugar, out then placed it in front of the blond.
"Mind if I do another check in?" the older man asked cautiously and watched the blond.
"Sure, whatever." He shrugged and waved a hand at the comment.
"Ok." He brought the radio back out, checked in again, and then slipped it back in. "So…you wanna tell me what happened?" he asked as he stirred his coffee around and then took a sip of it.
The blond froze a little before he relaxed again, "Not…not really, no."
"Ok, that's fine, that's cool. Take your time. We can do this all day and all night if you want."
They sat in silence. The blonds' cocoa left untouched, and Xigbar's coffee cup half empty.
Then the blond started talking about just how much his life sucked. How school was just plain bullshit, how life just didn't give a fuck and how his parents didn't give a damn.
"That's rough, really, it is." He nodded his head in understanding. "But that's life, you just gotta suck it up and adapt to it."
"I've been trying! It's just too hard!"
"And you think this is going to make things better?" he didn't snap at the blond, but he just pointed it out bluntly.
"Just arrest me and get it over and done with." He sighed and sat back in his chair.
Xigbar watched the blond, made a move for his pocket radio and for a moment, he caught a look of betrayal pass through his blue eyes, "Negotiator reporting in, I'm just fine and dandy." And then the radio was back in his pocket.
They were in silence again.
And then Tidus spoke, "For a second there, I really thought you were going to arrest me."
"We're not going anywhere until you're ready to. Ok?"
The blond seemed grateful as he lowered his eyes back to the warm cocoa drink in his hands before he brought it up to his lips and sipped it, and then stared into the cup, "How many spoonfuls did you put in."
"Two big heaps. Too much?" he raised his eyebrow at the question.
"No, just right actually. My mum never makes it sweet enough and my dad always makes it too sweet. But this is nice." He spoke as he took another long sip of it.
"Glad you liked it." he smiled and finished the rest of his coffee.
"You know…" he started suddenly as he looked into his half empty cup of cocoa, "When you first came in through the door, I thought you were a pirate."
"It's the eye-patch isn't it?"
"No shit." He started laughing.
And Xigbar's lips tugged up into a smile, "So you can laugh! That's good to hear."
Tidus stopped almost immediately, "Whatever." His solemn mood returned, "What's going to happen after this?"
"You go into court, and probably get shipped off to detention." He replied with a shrug, wondering if he was too blunt with his choice of words.
They were silent again.
And then Tidus spoke once more, "Will you come and visit me? I don't think my friends will. I don't think my parents will either. They've all disowned me." He muttered out with a tone of depression as he twiddled with the cup handle.
"Sure, I'll come visit you." He always went to visit whoever he had previously helped in a tight situation.
"Ok then." He drank up the rest of his cocoa. "I'm ready to go." He spoke as he pushed the chair back and got up from his seat.
Xigbar watched as he blond waited for him, "You're pretty brave kid."
"It's Tidus." He corrected.
"Sure, whatever you say." He smirked as he got up after the blond, placed an arm around his shoulder and led him out of the house where he was then handcuffed and taken into a police car to be processed in the police department of Hollow Bastion.
The negotiation was a success and this was one of the smoothest assignments Xigbar has ever had.
"So kid, how're you doing so far?" he asked into the black plastic phone as he stared at the blond.
Xigbar had been coming over to visit every other day. At least three times a week, sometimes four. Maybe even five times.
"It's Tidus, how many times do I have to tell you?" he growled into the phone and glared at the man sitting in the chair on the other side of the glass.
Xigbar chuckled.
"The food here sucks." The blond said eventually in a slightly miffed voice.
The questions were always the same. The answers he got back were almost always the same.
"How're the other people treating you?"
"Not so bad…" he shrugged and then added, "They're nice once you get to know them." He reasoned.
"Just like you kid, just like you."
The blond smiled.
And Xigbar thought that this was by far, the most rewarding success in his career.
"Hey," the blond started softly, "When I get out of here, can I live with you?" Tidus asked with a quiet voice.
He was caught off guard with the new question, something different compared to his other visits, but he eventually replied, "Sure, but you're gonna have to work for the rent."
"Whatever you say Xiggy." He grinned and saluted.
"Don't call me that." He huffed and listened to another laugh that came from the blond.
Tidus was released six months earlier than expected on account of good behavior but he was still under careful watch. Xigbar made sure to fill out a report on how the blond was doing every week. He had to do that for about two months.
The blond eventually moved in, after he packed everything he owned from his house that wasn't thrown away and started to live with Xigbar.
Tidus went and got a job at the supermarket, working alternatively between a cashier at check-outs and a person who does the shelving and re-organizing.
They celebrated his eighteenth birthday after three months of living together and Tidus asked Xigbar out, much to the older man's shock, but he said yes either way.
The blond still kept paying for half the rent, but Xigbar saved up the rent money that Tidus gave and placed it into a shared account he had yet to tell Tidus about. He decided that he'll tell him later on. When he's twenty or something.
Five months later, Xigbar lost his life doing the job he loved.
And Tidus committed suicide because he lost the one he loved.
Their last words to each other had been;
"It's your turn to cook dinner tonight." Xigbar shouted out before he stepped out of the door of his apartment.
"Yeah, yeah."
Xigbar had been planning to ask Tidus if he wanted to go camping. He already asked his boss if he could take leave for a while, and they gave him a week off.
It's a shame they didn't get to do it.
The money in their shared account remained untouched, accumulating interests as the days and months passed.
They were given a funeral, and they were buried next to each other.
"You didn't have to do it you know? Kill yourself like that." His voice was quiet, filled with a tone of disappointment.
They were standing in fields of green, skies of blue, and the bright heavens above them.
The blond remained silent as his fingers reached out to hold onto the older man's.
"Why did you do it?" Xigbar asked again in a quiet voice.
"I didn't know how to live without you." He spoke eventually, his own voice quiet.
"You could've done something with your life."
"I didn't want to do it without you." Tidus spoke as he turned towards the older man and looked into eyes of auburn. He felt something stinging his eyes and the blond blinked to make the tears go away, "I love you."
His features were filled with sadness and depression, but his voice was filled with honesty and affection, "I love you too." He leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead, "Till the next life do us part." He whispered into his ear as he wrapped his other arm around the blonds' shoulders.
"Promise me you'll find me again." His arms reached out to hold onto the man who he could feel just slipping away from him. "Promise me!"
He pulled back and wiped a tear away, "I promise." He looked into the blonds' blue eyes, "I promise I'll find you again." He could feel himself being pulled away, and he gave the blond one last kiss.
"Good, 'cause I'll be waiting." He lost his grip on Xigbar's fingers and more tears flowed from his eyes. "You hear me?!"
Tidus watched as the older man flew into the heavens' above while he felt himself sink into the hells' below.
There was no happy ending for the both of them, despite their empty, broken promises of meeting in the next life again.
What a twist…Something new and morbid-ish from me huh?
Guh…Now I feel horribly emotional…
But yes, yes…I know I mixed in some lines here and there from other characters and what not…Too cliché still?