Labyrinth of The Mind

Trying to make Demy-poo even more loopy than he already is. Just to make o'l Reno suffer... :3

And Axel goes off on his own to explore stuff...OhOhOH!!! Axel the explorer...lalala!!!

Right. I'm drunk or something. Read ooooooon---

Oh...and the title is not as it seems. It's a very literal meaning, don't read in to deep...:P

"…" Speech

::…:: Thoughts

Chapter III – Moving into Insanity

"So...what else do you like?"

"Red."

"Besides that?"

"Red crayons!!"

"Besides things having to do with red?"

"Um, uh...red."

Reno sat in that chair, trying to learn more about the blonde strapped to the bed in front of him. There really wasn't much to do; he couldn't smoke, watch television, and he sure as hell didn't read.

He hadn't been able to get anything much sensible from him though.

"Oh! I like to sing!!"

"Really?"

"Uh huh---" Demyx opened his mouth wide, and to Reno's horror began singing some random song. "RED!!! and yellow and pinkandgreeeeeeen!! Purple and OHrange aaaaand bloo--- I can SINGa rainboooow---!!!"

"Stop!" The redhead clamped the boy's mouth shut with a hand. "That's enough yo."

Silently, Reno wondered if maybe the boy was really crazy. Or maybe retarded, even.

Blue eyes blinked up at him, and he found them once again focused on his hair. Removing his hand from the soft mouth, he grinned. "Yo, like my hair, do you?"

"Uh huh!"

"Wanna touch it?"

The boy was nodding and if not for his restraints would've been jumping on the bed. "I wanna!!"

::Hm...I shouldn't be doing this, but---::

Reaching out, Reno undid the buckle of the strap holding down the boy's arms. He took a bandaged hand and placed it on the top of his head. Demyx stopped his jumping and cooed softly as he wound fingers through the red hair.

Reno noted, as he kept a hold on the boy's hand in case he decided to pull out some of his hair as a souvenir, that Demyx looked a tad bit more sane at the moment.

"Daddy had red hair too..."

Reno blinked. "What?" The blonde sounded almost sad.

"Daddy was red...red...redredredredre---" His chanting stopped when his fingers brushed against the top of Reno's goggles. "Oooh!" He ran his fingers over them, the depressing tone in his voice gone.

"They're goggles."

"Oooh---Do you swim?? I like to swim! Like a fishy!!" He made an 'O' with his mouth and puffed out his cheeks, looking like a goldfish. Reno chuckled at that.

"They're for when I fly the chopper."

"A chopper? Liiiiike---A GIANT knife!??"

Reno laughed again at that. "No, as in a helicopter. You know? Like a plane."

"Oh! Like, in the sky?" Wide blue eyes sparkled at the prospect. "I wanna fly too! Outside my room---"

"Outside your room?"

The boy nodded, and again looked sad.

"I've never been outside before...I wanna go..."

The blonde was looking so depressed all of a sudden, Reno started to feel a little bad. He let go of that bandaged wrist, and removed his goggles. "Here." He pulled them over Demyx's head, right onto his eyes.

This earned him a silly giggle from the blonde.

"You can keep that, yo." Reno grinned at the elated look on the boy's face. "Till I get to bring you up there, in the sky."

" 'kay!" Demyx pushed the goggles up onto his forehead, like Reno did, and reached out with outstretched arms. "Thank joo!!!" He huggled the redhead.

Reno blinked in surprise at first, then returned the hug, smiling.

It has been such a long time since he'd last been hugged.

----------

Axel peered in from outside, and saw that redhead, still sitting there by the bed. A little annoyed that the man prevented him from going in to see the blonde, he stalked outside into the garden.

He heard some laughter, and a sound of someone crying out in pain. Looking out from behind some trees, he saw a group of patients surrounding on lying prone on the ground, kicking and spitting at him.

Stuffing hands into his pockets, he stepped out of the trees to confront them. No, he wasn't exactly a goody goody twoshoes, but he couldn't stand the weak being bullied.

"What's up?" He asked in a carefree manner.

The men turned, staring at him with menace in their eyes. "The fuck you want?" The gruffest of them asked, puffing out his brawny chest.

Axel rolled his eyes at him. ::The brawns without the brains…oh wait, or was that the brains without the brawns?:: While pondering this thought, he failed to notice that the burly man had come up to him, and he barely dodged his punch.

"FUCK!!" He hissed, and lashed out with his leg in reflex. This easily sent the man crashing into a tree far far away. The others advancing on him also met the same fate, crashing into one thing or another.

He stood there, seething, examining that strand of hair that had been touched when the man threw him a punch. Seeing that it was fine, he moved over to the form lying on the ground.

"Hey." He poked at the body with the toe of his boot, kneeling down beside it when the person didn't move. "You alright?" The man had long, curly pink hair, looking rather feminine. He had sea green eyes, which looked up slowly at him.

"C'mon." He lifted the man easily with a hand, letting him lean on his shoulder for support. "Can you walk?"

The man nodded, and so Axel led him back into the hospital, leaving the beaten men behind.

----------

There was a click at the door and Reno turned to find an orderly walking in. He heard a whimper; from Demyx. Obviously his last encounter with the orderlies hadn't been very pleasant.

"You're the new care taker?" Asked the orderly with this suspicious look on his face, looking the redhead up and down. Reno wanted to punch him. Did everyone think he wasn't the type to be a good-doer?

::So I smoke, drink and maybe fuck a girl or two. Is that so bad?:: He thought this notion over and found himself laughing. ::Okay. Maybe it is.::

"What is it?" He asked, after his sudden outburst of laughter (which had the orderly thinking he was as crazy as the patients here, no doubt).

The orderly set the tray down on the bedside table. On it there were fresh bandages, food, and some pills. He knew the bandages were for the boy's wounds, but the pills he eyed warily. He'd always wondered what they gave patients here in the asylum. He heard they only made them loonier.

"They're anti-depressants." Said the orderly, noticing how Reno was looking at them.

"Oh. So these are what make him loopy?"

"Who knows? Maybe he's loopy already. Make sure to change his bandages everyday." With that, the orderly left.

He brought the plate of food to the bedside. "Up for some food?" The thin boy shook his head, making a face at what was on the plate. Reno didn't blame him. The goop didn't look at all appetizing. "Well…you gotta eat something." He looked at those thin wrists. "C'mon." He lifted a spoon with the gooey stuff on it.

"Noooooo!!! I dun wanna eat CRAP. It's craaaaaaaaap---" The blonde flicked at the spoon with a hand, and the gloop was splattered all over Reno.

The redhead yelled out a loud "FU---!!" by instinct, but stopped himself when he remembered there was a 17 year old next to him, switching it to a rather subdued: "Feck."

Demyx seemed to find that amusing. "Feck!" He repeated after him, and Reno groaned, wiping gloop off his face. "Feckfeckfeck---!!!" Continued the blonde, bouncing on the bed.

Sighing, Reno licked some of the goop off his finger, and grimaced at the horrible taste. Just then his hand phone rang. The song 'I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt' played out, telling him it was the boss who was calling.

"Yo, boss." He answered, trying to speak louder than Demyx was shouting 'FECK.' "Whazzup?"

"Are you still in the asylum? I hear someone yelling half-obscenities in the background." Rufus sounded amused.

"That's the one I'm looking after." Mumbled Reno wearily.

"Oh. Really." He could swear Rufus was grinning on the other end of the line. "Anyway, I need you to come give me what you've seen there so far."

"What? You mean to your office? Can't I just tell you from here?"

"Remember your assignment isn't just about the boy." Rufus sounded suddenly serious.

"Right." Reno got the idea. "I'll be there." He looked at Demyx and covered that open mouth with a hand. The boy giggled into his palm.

"Listen yo." Reno said, suddenly sounding really professional. "I gotta go out for awhile. I'll be back soon…so eat your food and pills like a good boy, alright?"

At this the boy pouted and folded his arms. "Don't. Go."

Reno pat the dirty blonde hair softly. "Sorry, boss' orders. I'll be back soon, yo." He pulled the goggles down over the boy's eyes, and as the boy fumbled with them, giggling, he exited the room.

----------

"You alright now?" Axel asked the wet man, who'd just come out of the shower. He silently nodded, standing at the bathroom door, wearing a bathrobe, looking lost.

"C'mere." He placed a hand on the man's shoulder and felt him flinch, then guided him to sit on his bed. "What's your name?"

"Bitc---" He replied immediately as if he had been trained to do so, but cut off mid-sentence. He looked at Axel piteously, biting on his lip. "M, Marluxia."

"I'm Axel. Now got that memorized?" The redhead waited for a response from the pink-haired man before continuing, "Coz if you need help, you can come to me." He may have killed many people, but he'd never hurt the weak.

Marluxia blinked, and nodded. "Thank you…"

Axel sat on the beanbag and leaned into it. "So, what are you in here for?" He asked casually.

"I poisoned someone…I think. I'm not sure." Sea green eyes looked to the figure reclining in the beanbag. "And…you?"

Axel shrugged. "Killed some people." He grinned as he saw the look of fear spread across the pretty boy's face. "Are you afraid of me now?"

"No…there are others…others I fear more…"

"Hm…" Axel threw a leg over a knee. "Why?"

Marluxia looked up and laughed, suddenly, though it sounded a bit strained. "Coz they make me do push-ups in draaaaag---" He sang, and instead of finding this amusing, Axel frowned. It gave much insight to what the man had been going through in the asylum.

::Well that's just frick'n sick.::

----------

"Yo, boss." He was in that office again, standing before the desk of Rufus. The blonde looked up from papers he had been reading. He always seemed to have some papers to read somehow.

He raised an eyebrow at the redhead.

"What?"

"Something missing, Reno?"

"Oh." He fingered his unusually empty forehead, where he always, ALWAYS had his goggles on. "Um...lost them. Kinda."

"I see...so...Reno. Tell me, what have you gathered about the asylum so far?"

"It's…not what I expected…really. The patients are allowed to walk around on their own, with no supervision what so ever, yo. Besides that, the asylum looks just like what other mental hospitals look like."

Rufus placed a chin on his hand, looking thoughtful. "And the boy you've been assigned to look after?"

::He's really cute.:: "Um…He's loopy."

"And?"

::And he's cute!!:: "And well, he really doesn't look like the type to kill."

"Have they given him any kind of medicine?"

"Just depressants."

"I see…" Rufus sat silent for awhile, as if contemplating something in his mind. "You will move in with him."

"WHAT?" An outburst from Reno.

Rufus calmly continued. "Observe the boy carefully. And by that I do not mean the boy's behaviour. I mean to observe what they do to him."

The redhead furrowed his brows at this. "What? Why? Are they going to do something bad to him?"

"You are dismissed." Rufus replied, not answering the questions at all. Reno grumbled, and left for his apartment, to pack.

----------

"DON'T TOUCH ME!!!"

He heard the scream as he turned the corner, and recognized it immediately as Demyx's.

Entering the room, he saw three orderlies crowded around a very distraught blonde. One of them was holding down his shoulders, but released him upon seeing Reno enter the room. Like he had been caught red handed.

"Reno…RENO!!" The boy wailed, and crawled, like a dog, to cower at the redhead's feet. He clawed at his legs, like a cat trying unsuccessfully to climb a tree. Regarding the orderlies with green eyes, Reno bent down to comfort the boy.

"Yo! What did you do?" He demanded, pulling the boy to his chest protectively.

Like a mother hen. Or a chocobo. With red feathers. Which was extremely weird but that was besides the point.

One of the orderly replied. He had shifty eyes. "We were just trying to change his bandages." Reno knew he was lying; he'd seen the glint of a needle when one of the orderlies had swung his arm behind his back. However, he decided it would be wise not to show that he had seen it.

"Well, fuck, you scared the shit outta him." He gestured to the sobbing boy. "I'll handle him, so you can all leave now."

They exchanged looks amongst themselves, then left without a word. Reno stared at the door for awhile, and a whimper brought his attention back to the boy in his arms.

"Yo, you alright?" He pulled the boy away from his chest a bit to look at that tear streaked face. "Where did they hurt you? Show me?"

Sniffing, Demyx stretched out his arm. Blood ran down from a gash.

"What happened?" Reno began wiping blood away with a sleeve subconsciously.

"They POKED me! It…it hurt…"

Taking the roll of bandages which had fallen off the tray and onto the floor, he began bandaging the wound. It looked like they had accidentally burst a vein when trying to give him the injection. Probably because the boy was struggling a lot.

"There." He carefully picked up the boy, and brought him to the bed. There he sat the boy upon his lap, and let him rest his head against his chest. "It's all better now."

"Will you…go away again?" Asked the blonde softly. He sounded afraid.

"Nope." Reno lifted the boy's chin and grinned at him. "Gotta move in with you, yo. Boss' orders, bummer, eh?" Demyx giggled, and buried his head in that lean chest. The redhead smiled at the giggle; he preferred loopy Demyx to emo Demyx.

Soon, he heard slow, even breaths, telling him the blonde had fallen asleep. Careful not to wake him, he lay the boy down onto the bed, untangling bony fingers from the front of his shirt.

He covered the figure with the blankets, and thought he heard him speak---

"Mommy is dead…"

Reno blinked and looked over to that soft boyish face. He was sleeping peacefully.

There was a grin on his lips.

End Chapter III

SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE!!!! Again my com crashed on me after I'd completed the chapter, and I lost all the 7 pages I'd written. So I was devasted and stopped writing for awhile…today I decided to continue again…

Okay…now for the reply column:

To W4white:

Well…yeah, it's an odd pairing especially since it's a cross over…and I guess it is something new coz I don't think anyone's written it before.:D

And yes…Dem is crazy enough to kill…17…YAY!!!

To Matmar:

Glad you love it!! Sorry for the long wait.:3

To yuki hibiki:

Yo!!! I'm so happy you like it yo!!!! Don't worry, will try to update more…then we can hear more 'YOs' from YOU KNOW WHO!!:D

To Nobody:

Yay!!! I be forgiven!!!! –does the happy dance- Thank you oh great red headed one…-bows-

Till next time peeps…TTFN!!!!!