Author's Note: It's been a long while since I posted anything. With that being said, this is going to be a short story with hopefully less than twenty chapters. Yes, this story is a RokuNami and there will be other various pairings. Some unusual and some not.
If anyone spots any errors, please let me know.
When You Fall
PROLOGUE – A Rookie's Mistake
The clock struck twelve.
Her lungs felt like they were on fire, and her legs were about to give out. She swiftly turned the corner, taking out the gun that had been securely placed in her holster attached to her belt. And suddenly, she stopped. A small gasp left her lips as she nearly bumped into her colleague, an overly confident blonde haired man named Roxas Steele. His blue eyes traveled down her small figure and as he placed his hands in his pockets, sighing softly.
"Get out of the way, Roxas." Namine stepped to the side but like always, he was one step ahead of her. He stood in front of her, brows coming together in obvious frustration. "We're running out of time!"
"Where are you even going?" Roxas snapped, "Did you not hear Ansem's order?"
"What are you talking about?"
"We're moving our forces to the back."
Namine was baffled. "Why? I can take care of myself—"
"It was an order from Ansem," Roxas growled. " And frankly, I don't give a shit whether you can take care of yourself or not. Our mission is to make sure the victim gets out alive."
"Ansem never gave such an order," Namine said, trying to remain as calm as possible. She knew all about Roxas's bad temper. She, after all, had been the victim of it more than fifty percent of the time. And surprisingly, she had no regrets. The man needed to open his eyes, to see that she wasn't just a pushover he could command whenever he liked. "Now, why don't you get out of my way? Or do you want to report back to Ansem that we failed to rescue her?"
Roxas was silent. His eyes never left hers and for a split second, he saw an unfamiliar spark in hers. He bit his bottom lip and glared at her. "Fine, do what you want. But don't be counting on me to save your sorry ass when you get in trouble."
Namine scoffed. "Don't worry, I never did."
She pushed past him and loaded her gun. Roxas watched with mild amusement, her shoulder-length blond tresses bouncing against her back. He thought he had imagined the spark he saw earlier, but he was proven wrong as he noticed the tight grip she had on her gun and powerful stride.
Namine reached the porch and her gaze landed on the doorknob and reluctantly, she placed her hand over it, ignoring the fear that prompted her to step away from the door. She took a deep breath and slowly the knob twisted open. Namine quickly stepped into the household, her gun raised, finger on the trigger.
"Don't move!"
But the house was silent. Her gaze gave a brief sweep of the visible rooms and from what she saw, the house was a mess. From its toppled chairs and tables to its spilt food and drink remnants staining the carpet, Namine concluded that the victim had at least put up a fight. She carefully stepped over the fallen furniture, trying her best to preserve the crime scene.
As she walked down an empty hallway that had paintings smashed and scattered on the wooden floor, an open trap door caught her eye. In three swift strides, she was staring at the bottom where there was a dim light and a silhouette. Her eyes narrowed but before she could take any action, she felt the barrel of a gun pressing hard against the back of her neck.
"Hello, kitten," a smooth voice said before cocking his gun. "Why don't you drop that gun of yours?"
She froze, and her eyes grew wide. How long had he been watching her? His presence had gone completely undetected which escalated her anxiety even more. Her grip on the gun loosened and the weapon fell to the floor. Slowly, she got to her feet and turned to face the tall man who could easily pummel her at any given moment.
"That's a good girl." His face was pale and the murderous glint in his wide eyes made her stiffen. The man eyed the staircase leading to the basement. He took a step forward and as soon as he did she took a step back, nearly stumbling on the first stair. "Clumsy, aren't we, love?"
Namine scowled. As she walked down the steep steps, he kept the barrel pressed firmly against her skin. Just as she got to the bottom, she saw the beaten victim unconscious in an old wooden chair. Her long tresses were stuck together by dry blood, and the collar of her used to be white shirt was stained with the red liquid due to the gunshot that had penetrated her throat. Her eyes were not only wide with fear but Namine swore that she saw the woman's last moments replaying over and over as if it were a broken film.
"You promised you wouldn't kill her," Namine growled, glaring at him out of the corner of her eye. "As long as the ransom was delivered on time, you said you wouldn't kill her."
"Did I say that?" A low chuckle came from his throat. "I guess I lied." Her fingernails dug painfully into the palm of her hand, "I wouldn't try anything if I were you, sweetheart. I wouldn't want you to end up like her."
Namine spun around, frightened of the gun that threatened to puncture a hole in her throat, but she didn't dare let it show. Her stoic countenance amused the criminal, but he could sense the fear that was practically radiating off of her.
Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering made both their heads turn. And in this split second of confusion and shock, she swiftly kicked the gun out of his hand. As the man turned to face her, she punched him in the jaw. The man stumbled, but recovered faster than she had expected. Before Namine could escape up the stairs, he grabbed her wrist and slammed her against the wall, his arm pressed hard against her neck, suffocating her.
A choked scream erupted from her throat. Her legs were now dangling in mid-air and her hands clawed at his muscular arm, leaving barely anything but a few faint scratch marks.
"Check the basement!"
She recognized the voice. It belonged to Xion Spears, the newest addition to the team. The man peeled Namine off the wall, the tight grip of his arm around her neck never loosening as he backed away from the staircase. Her eyes were shut tightly and a silent scream escaped her lips as she dug her nails into his skin.
"I see that you've met our unreliable rookie."
Her eyes flew open and shock was etched onto her face as her gaze landed on Roxas, the last person she thought she would see in a situation like this.
"You know the drill," the man snarled. "Come any closer and I'll snap her neck."
Xion's eyes grew wide. By now, another man had joined them. He rivaled the criminal in terms of physical build and was dressed in complete black like his comrades. His outrageously spiky red hair was known as his trademark as anyone could recognize him from a mile away. He was known as Axel Hansen, Roxas's mischievous partner. The former's jade eyes were kept on the criminal, his finger on the trigger of his raised revolver.
"Your goal wasn't to kill those women," Roxas began. "It was to see the reactions of their loved ones."
When the man said nothing, Roxas continued casually like this was a perfectly normal conversation. "If you weren't satisfied, you killed them, believing that you were doing them a favor."
"A favor?" Xion asked, confused.
"If no one had ever cared about you, what's the point of living?" The man snapped angrily. "If no one had ever cared about you, you would have never existed!"
"Like you?" Axel suddenly spoke."Are you trying to make your existence known?"
A murderous smile appeared on his lips. "Yeah, that's right. I'm helping these women. I'm helping them get known, helping those idiots realize how much they mean to them."
"I'll make sure everyone knows your name...your history, family, and perhaps even your favorite movies," Roxas said, his voice low.
"Really now?" The man asked, suddenly intrigued as his smile widened by a mile.
"I'll make sure everyone knows you're a murderer."
The grip around her neck loosened. And instantly, Namine spun out of his grip. However, before she could give him a piece of her mind, her wrist was grabbed by Roxas who pulled her towards him as the other agents filed in to arrest the delirious man.
"Are you hurt?" Xion asked.
Namine squirmed out of Roxas's grasp. "I'm fine, thank you," she nodded in Xion's direction.
As the criminal was apprehended, Namine stuck her hands in her pockets, refusing to meet Roxas's intimidating gaze.
"Stop looking at me like that!" she snapped, though it was obvious she was in the wrong. "I messed up, okay? I shouldn't have been so rash. I should have-"
"I'm sick of the same goddamn excuse every single time!" Roxas said angrily. "This isn't some kind of children's game that you can just easily take control of. You have orders and you will silently follow them to the last letter. Unless you want to get all of us killed one day, I suggest you smarten up, rookie."
"Just because I messed up a couple times doesn't mean I'm not fit for this job," Namine said, her cheeks flushed.
"I never said you weren't fit for this job."
"Actually, you did," Axel perked up unexpectedly. "Twice I believe."
Roxas shot his partner a glare that made the redhead turn away instantly.
"I…I want to help people. I want to help catch those cowards that think they can get away with things like this!" Namine protested.
Roxas faced her, smiling a doubtful smile that made Namine's heart quench. But that was nothing compared to his later statement that shattered her heart into a million pieces. "Then start doing something useful."
Namine bit her bottom lip as the frustrated blond stalked away without another glance. Tears welled up in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. His words stung as she had never been called useless by anyone. She was always diligent and did her best in every endeavor assigned to her.
She sighed heavily, wiping away a couple of tears that had 'accidentally' left her eyes. With her gaze on the grotesque body, her heart felt heavy and overwhelmed with guilt. Attempting to push away all negative thoughts, she quickly exited the house without a glance black.
