A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews/alerts/favorites everyone! They mean a lot to me. =)
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, simply because I'm not cool enough.
Nuff said.
(I'M A PAGEBREAK! =D)
Axel smirked as Roxas sprinted down the path he just created with his chakrams. He was momentarily mesmerized with how the blonds' hair whipped around his head as he ran for his life. A heartless jumping on his leg brought him out of his stupor and he kicked the little shit before reminding himself he had to blow up the propane tank.
He checked once more to make sure Roxas was gone and sure enough the blond wasn't in sight. Axel spun around once more with a swirl of flames to ward off the oncoming heartless before opening a dark portal. He lit up on of his chakrams and hurled it with all of his strength at the propane tank in the back of the alley. The redhead quickly stepped into the portal all the while smiling to himself at thought of those heartless being blown to bits.
Axel waited a good 5 minutes in the crossing of the portal before going back to the alleyway. He had to get Roxas before the police came around to inspect the damage and possible bodies. Axel had even felt the tremor of the explosion from inside the dark portal, it had been bigger than he expected. Someone probably got killed. Oh well, it happens.
Running a hand through his hair he opened up the portal once more and stepped out into the smoke infested alleyway. Luckily smoke never bothered Axel since he basically breathed fire. His eyes had even grown adjusted to seeing through the smoke so when he saw a body in the middle of the alley his first thought was, "Shit, I did kill someone."
Pursing his lips he decided that the best course of action was to get rid of the body. He didn't need some mundane police keeping a profile on him. He looked suspicious enough with the black coat; he didn't need to confirm those suspicions as well.
He walked through the haze of smoke and burning crates towards the body. He identified it as a small boy when he got closer and that his back was burned to a crisp but the black coat had saved him. Clarity hit him like a frying pan to the face.
He recognized that coat… it was an organization coat. He sprinted the rest of the way to the boy and quickly turned him over. Axel almost puked right then and there.
"Holy fuck… Roxas. Roxas! ROXAS!" Axel screamed, shaking the bleeding boy whose eyelids remained closed. The coat had saved him from severe burning but the blast had shot him back a couple of yards and broke his arm by the looks of it. His head was gushing blood from a huge cut right down the side and some of the hair on the back of his head been singed off from the explosion. The only indication that he was alive was the faint pulse Axel checked for on his neck.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," Axel's mind raced as he scooped the injured boy into his arms and quickly opened another dark portal that he sprinted into once it opened up.
(I'M A PAGEBREAK! =D)
Vexen was having a lovely day. Everything was going his way today. He had used all the hot water, blamed it on Demyx and made fun of Roxas about his penis because he had to take a cold shower. He made earl grey tea and eaten the last of the good pop tarts, blamed it on Larxene and made sure the only thing left to eat was oatmeal. He had told the Superior how many heartless there were in Twilight Town and that he should send Roxas off to collect the hearts for Kingdom Hearts and the Superior actually thanked him and gave him the day off for the information.
Now Vexen was sitting in his lab, still sipping his steaming tea and reading a book on anatomy. Today could not get any better.
The door to Vexen's lab slammed open and scared the crap out of him. He even spilled his tea all over his book. That was his only copy! He was about to yell at the bastard who dared to disturb him but his words got caught in his throat at the sight before him.
Axel had rushed in carrying a very burned and bloody Roxas and Vexen couldn't help but notice all the blood staining Axel's coat and he realized that it wasn't his own blood but Roxas'.
The redhead's eyes were wide and panicked; Axel was even hyperventilating a bit as though he might break down any moment.
"Put him on the table," Vexen commanded, rushing to the sink to wash his hands and put gloves on so as not to infect the burns and cuts on the poor blond.
Axel did as he was told and even in his panicked state he remembered to be gentle with the dying boy.
"Tell me what happened," Vexen snapped as he pulled out his stethoscope, tore off the blonds' coat and proceeded to listen to his heartbeat.
"E-explosion, I blew up a propane tank to get rid of the heartless… th-there were so many. T-told Roxas to get away, I thought he was. This is all my fault," Axel stuttered shaking uncontrollably.
Vexen tore the stethoscope away from the blonds' chest and cursed under his breath. He opened the blonds' lips and blew air into it with his own. Roxas had stopped breathing. After a few more breaths, Vexen pulled away and started pumping the blonds' chest in a rhythmic pattern.
"He stopped breathing," Vexen explained at the horrified expression on Axel's face. "Go get Zexion, I need help to stop the bleeding."
Axel stood there petrified watching as Roxas remained unresponsive to Vexen's CPR. Vexen leaned back in to blow in the smaller boy's mouth again when he noticed that Axel didn't move. "Get him, NOW!"
Axel shook his head dazed, glanced once more at the scene before sprinting out of Vexen's lab to search for his blue-haired colleague and all the while praying that Roxas would make it out of this alive.
Funny, how he doesn't believe in God.
(I'M A PAGEBREAK! =D)
By the end of the day everyone in the castle knew what happened. Larxene didn't even bother taunting Axel at all, so everyone knew how serious it was.
No one was allowed in Vexen's lab except for himself and Zexion. They didn't want to risk infection since Roxas' cuts and burns were very susceptible right now and the only sterile place in the castle was Vexen's lab.
Axel sat outside the room, tapping his boot against the marble floors and staring straight ahead, barely blinking. Demyx had tried to get him to talk before but even with his annoying persistence Axel didn't budge. The redhead hadn't spoken a word since Vexen had slammed the door in his face.
Footsteps resounded off the marble walls but Axel continued to tap his foot and stare blankly at the opposite wall. The footsteps approached and stopped right in front of Axel. Curiosity got the better of him; he looked up to the Superior's stoic face.
"I've heard what happened to XIII," The Superior stated coldly, glaring down at Axel. If Axel weren't already so out of it he probably would've feared for his life. The look in Xemans' eyes could kill.
Xemnas seemed to be waiting for a response from Axel but when the redhead gave him none he continued on his own, "You know how valuable XIII is to us. We need him to collect hearts for us VIII or else our dream of Kingdom Hearts will never be recognized," Xemans explained slowly, his voice remaining stoic but his gaze too icy to bear straight on, "He's no good to us injured to the point of near death, now is he?"
After a few tentative seconds Axel realized that the Superior would not continue his verbal lashing until he answered him.
"No sir," Axel answered hoarsely.
Xemnas nodded. "I remember telling all the members that keeping XIII safe takes top priority. Please tell me that I am remembering this correctly."
Axel swallowed his fear, "Yes sir."
Xemnas nodded again and murmured an hmm. "So tell me why keeping him safe wasn't your top priority." Xemas' golden eyes narrowed furiously even though his stoic expression never changed, never even slipped.
Axel knew that no matter what he said the Superior wouldn't care but also wouldn't walk away until he answered him. God, he already was filled with self-loathing and now he was just going to add to the burden.
"I thought Roxas was safe when I-"
"Well you thought wrong," Xemnas interrupted, some of his fury finally slipping into his tone. "Should XIII even survive this you are not to go anyway near him. I will put him in Vexen's care since he seems to be the only able person to take care of someone. You are also being demoted, you're going to have to work your way back to the top VIII." Xemnas turned on his heel and started to walk away from the redhead.
Axel's mouth dropped, "Superior, this is unfair-"
"Yes, it is," Xemnas spun back around his face contorted in rage that it made Axel freeze on the spot, "But I'm not the one who compromised our mission by almost killing the one person we need. You are lucky I don't kill you."
Axel reeled back from his Superior, hands clenched tightly in defense.
Xemnas looked slightly amused at this and added, "Clean yourself up as well. You're a bloody mess."
With that said Xemnas finally turned away from the shocked redhead and walked down the hall without a protest from Axel.
The redhead himself slumped into the chair he had pulled from his own room to wait for news on Roxas and held his head in his hands.
This day couldn't possibly get any worse-
Wait he takes it back. There was no way he was jinxing himself right now. No fucking way.
Thinking about his own humiliation he didn't even notice Zexion open the door to Vexen's lab.
Axel jumped a mile high when Zexion tapped him on the shoulder. He willed his heart to calm down as Zexion spoke, clearly uncomfortable, "Roxas is stable if you want to see him now. He still hasn't woken up though."
Forgetting the Superior's warning about steering clear of the blond Axel rushed inside Vexen's lab (never before had he been so willing to go into that weirdo's place).
Vexen had replaced the metal operating table with a bed in which Roxas was hooked up to a million machines that let Vexen know the blonds' vitals.
Roxas looked like hell though. His arm was in a sling so Axel had been right when he suspected that he broke his arm, his head was bandaged tightly and was a little bit red from some blood, and even though Axel couldn't see the blonds back he could tell he was burned by the blistering marks on his shoulders. A tube was inserted in his vein and pumping more blood into his system so he had lost enough blood to do a blood transfusion and an IV tube stuck out of his wrist which was filled with some clear liquid that Axel didn't know about.
"His vitals are stable for the moment but he's lost a lot of blood Axel," Vexen explained solemnly from a chair besides Roxas' bed, he looked exhausted. "We had to do a transfusion to keep him alive and luckily his body accepted it. But there is fifty percent chance that he'll fall into a coma. All we can do now is hope that he'll pull through."
As Axel digested the information that Vexen dumped upon him he could literally feel his guts twist around and choke him from the inside out. He walked slowly to the blonds' side and Vexen was kind enough to offer his chair to the distraught redhead. Axel took the Roxas' hand within his own and mumbled, "It's my fault. It's my fucking fault."
Vexen just patted him awkwardly on the back and motioned for Zexion to leave with him. As the door closed behind them, the only sound left in the room was the beeping of the monitors, Roxas' soft breathing and Axel's pitiful self-loathing session.
(I'M A PAGEBREAK! =D)
The first thing that hit Roxas was the pain. It was a dull throbbing in his arm, head and back. It wasn't enough to make him grimace but enough to rouse him from the dark world of the dead. What the hell happened?
His eyes squinted against the bright light overhead and he muttered a small curse under his breath for the sudden brightness. He winced and turned his head to the side to avoid the light and was surprised to see Axel with his head held low and his hand gripping his own. The redhead seemed to be shaking just the slightest and Roxas became unnerved as he was back in the alleyway when Axel seemed genuinely concerned for that second. This wasn't like Axel; he needed to snap him out of it.
He called out his friend's name but no sound came out. That was weird; did he lose his voice or something? Even though he heard nothing Axel apparently did because his head shot up faster than Roxas thought possible and surprise shined in his green irises. His mouth moved amiably… but no words came out.
Roxas stared at his friend, confusion written all over his face. He was sure Axel was talking but he couldn't hear a word he was saying… now that he thought about it he didn't hear anything. He tilted his head to gaze around the room to see if he should be hearing anything else. He noticed the heart monitor and realized that he should be hearing the monotonous beeps of his own heartbeat but only silence filled his ears. He watched as the lines of the monitor flowed down the line at a much faster pace than before and he realized that his own heart was racing. The pounding in his eardrums was the only noise present in the whole room.
A touch to his forearm drew his attention back to Axel who looked even more concerned than that moment in the alleyway. Roxas was too freaked out to even care about his friend's behavior. Why couldn't he hear anything?
Upon seeing his friend's breakdown Axel placed both of his hands on each of the blonds' shoulders and asked him if he was okay.
Roxas continued to stare at him horror-stricken before opening his own mouth.
"I can't hear."
He only hoped that sound actually came out, because he had no way of knowing.
(I'M A PAGEBREAK! =D)
A/N: So the big secret is finally revealed! Roxas is deaf. Not a pleasant thing to wake up to I must say. XD
Reviews and whatnot are always welcome! Thanks for reading! =)