Two updates in one day! I'm on a roll! I posted a new sin origin about an hour ago for those who read Define Sin and are interested in the sins back stories, it's Demyx's this time.

This update is loooong overdue I know. I hit a rut with this story a month or so ago and just finished up today. It's not the first time it's happened as some of you have probably noticed, but I'm in that 'hm now where should I run with this' phase of writing and it's not going well with college, relationships, and health. Sorry in advance if things seem sluggish between now and my next update, but for now please enjoy.

Chapter 4

Good Boy

Roxas squinted as sunlight flooded the room and he mumbled a protest while rolling over to avoid it. "Get up, there's a lot to do today." Roxas sat up quickly but collapsed back down almost instantly, not expecting his body to be as sore and stiff as it was. Axel realized he still wasn't getting out of bed and came over, pulling the blankets off, "Out of bed," he was obviously feeling better. Roxas quickly wrapped his arms around his naked torso, "A-Axel," he protested but it went unheard as Axel had already left the bedroom. Convinced he was just on a schedule Roxas ignored the behavior and forced himself out of bed, sitting on the edge and feeling a coat of sweat and stick all over accompanied by the smell of sex. What had he done?

His head was throbbing and he supported it with his hands as he stared at the floor. He slept with his supervisor, the most powerful and revered man in their hemisphere. Not only had he destroyed any wall of resistance he'd worked over the years to establish, but he'd also thrown away his first time with 1. a man, and 2. a person he didn't even sincerely care about. He could almost hear the world mocking him as he pushed himself to his feet and staggered to the shower.

Dressed in wrinkled clothes from yesterday and noticeably less rigid, Roxas entered the study and forced a smile as he shut the doors behind him. Axel was engrossed in a report he held in one hand while the other supported his head. The silence that followed made Roxas want to crawl back into the shower but instead he said, "So I never figured you were gay," bad way to start a conversation and he felt what dignity he'd regained collapse with embarrassment.

"I'm not," Axel said simply, not phased by the comment at all. Roxas stared on in confusion but Axel wasn't going to let him waste any more of the morning, "Take these folders over to accounting, then those three letters need to go to the mailroom. When you're done with that, come back and get in touch with the invite list for the conference tomorrow afternoon."

It was as if nothing had happened at all and Roxas didn't move, "…Axel?"

Axel merely shot him a look out of the corner of his eye, "What?"

Roxas said nothing, not sure whether he should be as bold as to ask, 'why are you ignoring it?' or say, 'last night was amazing.' He held his tongue like the obedient dog he was though and nodded, grabbing the stack off of Axel's desk and only hesitating a moment across from him before leaving to do as he was instructed.

"So this is our training facility," Sora informed a tired looking Riku as they made their way down the wide white hall with clear doors leading into different sorts of rooms, "Only higher-ups get access to this stuff and there's…are you listening?"

"Not at all," Riku said, watching Sora turn on him before asking, "Do you have any relatives other than Roxas?"

Sora didn't have time to get angry as the question was sprung on him. He hesitated at first then shook his head, "Not anymore, he's all I have left."

"And you treat him like he's got the plague. I don't get it," Riku said, opening the door to his left. Sora started to say a warning but he quickly found out what sort of training this room provided, abruptly shutting the door as three bullets came crashing against the bulletproof glass, "I see they try to kill you here."

"Just the idiots who don't read the warning signs above the door," Sora grabbed his wrist and dragged him along to the end of the hall, opening one of the doors on his right and pulling him in with him. The lights were almost too bright in the purely white room and Riku searched his pockets for his sunglasses while Sora explained, "Did you ever play that game when you were little where you'd try to keep the balloon in the air?"

"I'm afraid I never had that luxury," he said sarcastically as he hindered the bright lights around him with the tinted glasses.

Sora hurried over to the wall and tinkered with a small panel on it, "Well it's basically that…just it's not a balloon."

"What is it then?" Riku asked, looking up when he heard a mechanic buzz and a ceiling tile slid aside causing a blue orb to fall through. He put his hands out and easily caught it only to receive a painful jolt of electricity through his body, immediately releasing it. When it hit the ground sparks emerged from the floor shocking them both.

Sora hurried and grabbed it, sending it up in the air high, "Don't touch it for long, otherwise you get shocked! Same thing happens if it hits the floor!"

It was a game Riku wasn't keen on but he wasn't in the mood to get shocked again, already wide awake. So as he ran to volley the ball back into the air he had to ask, "What is the point of this?"

"To keep people on their toes, electrified blitz balls were one of the earliest methods of training here in the society," Sora hurried to return the serve poorly, "It's good for you."

The poor return hit the ground briefly, a short shock, before bouncing and Riku kicked it back up, "Not by my standards. Turn it off."

"I set it for a 50 hit round," Sora admitted, being far more careful in his serve this time, "It won't turn off for another 45 hits."

"If this game doesn't kill you I will," Riku threatened while quickly tying his hair back out of the way and stalling the ball on one knee briefly before hitting it back. The game was over in barely 5 minutes and the exercise left them both on the floor, "Just wait, I'll kill you later." Sora laughed and held the defused blitz ball to his chest with a tired sigh, yelping when a buildup of static electricity was transferred to him with just one poke from the vampire.

"What about you?"

Riku rolled over onto his side, putting his arm under his head and asking, "What about me?"

"Do you have any relatives?" Sora rolled over as well, rolling the ball to him as he did so.

Riku stalled it under his hand and seemed to think for a minute before smirking to himself, "I have a lot, don't like any of them though."

"Why's that?" Sora was curious now and caught the ball as it was rolled back to him and Riku said, "Because they don't like me."

Sora stared for a minute, wondering if he should ask any more and deciding otherwise, "Well I can see why. You're terrible at playing games." It was meant as a joke but Riku found it amusing in a different context, "Their games are made to lose."

Roxas opened the door to the large office, struggling to support a small tower of applications. With the year coming to a close it was time to sort out who deserved to keep their title as a Cerberus, and also sort through the many applications of aspiring members. He shut the door behind himself and carried the stack over to the coffee table by the fireplace, setting them down with a sigh before addressing Axel, "There they are, all 1,375 of them," he said before looking back to the empty desk. Axel was nowhere to be seen and Roxas realized he was alone in the warm and foreboding room. Lavish reds and dark wood covered the room which few had seen. Axel valued his privacy; it was, as he put it, the foundation for success. Roxas scoffed at the words and wandered over to the desk, a few papers cast aside as well as a book or two. He picked up the glass sitting on the surface and lifted it, taking a whiff and surprised to smell something sweet and heavily laden with mint. Knowing Axel though there was likely a drug of some sort mixed in with what he assumed was tea.

He set the glass back down and glanced at the chair. Axel sat upon it like a throne, and from that throne he delivered orders. Safe and secluded here, Axel sat far from the battles others fought for him just like the king he pretended to be. Roxas stared for a moment, wondering if it would be too bold to do what his subconscious was suggesting. Thinking better of it he turned to leave, three steps away realizing something.

"The enlistment process and training is hard enough for admission into the Cerberus society, to put him as an officer of our stature though is unheard of."

"Unheard of indeed…Think he's got a file lying around here?"

"Anyone who comes through our front doors has a file idiot. Axel keeps them in his office under lock and key."

The end of the week was quickly approaching and Roxas looked to the corner where a series of elaborate cabinets sat with a large brass lock on each latch. The contents were a secret to all eyes but Axel's own. The question then became a simple one: where was the key? Before it could be answered he heard the door open and immediately he turned his attention to the redhead who entered with a phone pressed against the side of his head. He didn't pay Roxas any attention and, using Axel's disinterest to his advantage, he hurried back to the tower of applications as discreetly as possible.

"Who do you think you are?"

Roxas looked up quickly as he heard the foulest tone of voice. Fortunately Axel's tone wasn't directed at him and rather to the person on the phone. It dawned on him that someone had crossed Axel and without any other grasp on the situation Roxas resolved it would be wise to leave.

"This is my facility, MY organization!" Axel was outraged and when he slammed his fist down on his desk he accidentally knocked over the minty brew. The drink spilled across the desk and stained documents Roxas had carefully organized. The look on Axel's face was a strange combination of rage and dismay, which only seemed to worsen as the person on the line spoke. Axel sat down in his chair and as Roxas came over with a towel to clean up the mess he'd made the blonde realized he was witnessing something else no other soul had: Axel was being put in line! "Understood," Axel was solemn, obediently reciting, "See you at the end of the week sir."

When the phone shut Roxas quickly adverted his eyes and finished mopping up the spill while Axel merely slouched back and stared at the ceiling. Who had that kind of authority over Axel? Whoever it was Roxas hoped to never encounter, "Someone's coming to the base?" Axel said nothing and Roxas sighed, "Didn't sound like a very pleasant person." After yet another attempt at conversation was shot down Roxas could feel the familiar sense of awkwardness ebbing into the room while memories of last night taunted him.

As Axel stood up Roxas snapped out of his thoughts and watched him grab a coat out of the closet against the wall. He didn't even pay Roxas a glance as he pulled on the extra layer and headed for the door. Barely ten seconds after the door shut behind him Roxas threw down the towel he used to clean up the minty mess and hurried after him. The elevator was already closed and he doubted Axel would let him in anyway, so instead he resorted to the stairs and followed them down six flights to the ground level.

Axel was met by one of the drivers who had brought a car around for him. Roxas, out of breath from the stairs, spotted them just as the door was opened for him and he rushed outside as it was shut behind Axel. He could almost feel the eyes staring through the blackened glass at him and he clenched his fists tightly, refusing to be mocked any longer. As the driver went to get in the car Roxas bolted around to the other side and opened the door, climbing in next to Axel before anyone could notice, "Why are you ignoring me?!" he shouted immediately. The driver looked into the backseat and was reaching into his jacket for a gun, but Axel flipped a switch on the side to raise a dividing wall between the two. When it was up and all was quiet he reached over and grabbed Roxas' tie, pulling it tight to choke him. Roxas' hands reached up to try and undo it but the bind was too tight and Axel wasn't relenting, "…You make a mockery of me again and it will be your undoing."

Roxas gasped as he was released and quickly undid the tie while Axel sat back and straightened his jacket, the car finally moving and heading away from the manor, "…You've been avoiding me all day and you act like nothing happened," Roxas finally got it out and once it was on the table there was no taking it back.

"That because nothing happened," Axel told him. Roxas looked confused and Axel looked over to him, "A mindless fuck. That's all it was."

"So… you used me?!" Roxas was livid and reached to grab his jacket, realizing his mistake when it we too late. Axel glared into him and Roxas tried to release his hold on the material which could easily increase his debt another ten thousand but he couldn't move.

"Let go," Axel ordered and Roxas did so without realizing it but he didn't back down, still looking mad. His anger made Axel grin though, "Good dog," he pulled Roxas in by his shoulders, kissing his neck and confusing the blonde to no end. He was a meaningless fuck. He was a dog who must obey, and underneath the hot kisses his master left down his throat he finally understood. He was paying off his debt, one kiss, bite, and moan at a time.

"What a mess," Sora's stomach turned and he had to look away from the series of bodies strewn across the scene, "What happened here?" They'd been called in along with a handful of grunts who worked under Riku to investigate a disturbance reported in the borough less than an hour ago. The disturbance turned out to be the aftermath of a small uprising which had turned sour fast.

"Mutts. Declared they were working for the sanctity of the city," explained one of the grunts who'd gone ahead to secure the scene, "Eyewitnesses say it was a group of adolescence, two of which were wearing varsity jackets from the local high school."

"Mutts?" it was a term Riku picked up on and looked to Sora for an explanation.

Sora noticed the grunts looking annoyed and surprised that he didn't know a familiar word in their society, but he paid them no mind since he wasn't working for them, "They're what we call the groups who act out using our motto as motivation."

"And what's the motto?"

Sora himself looked shocked but he ignored the disapproving whispers amongst the grunts as he recited the all too familiar Latin phrase, "Vivere commune est, sed non commune mereri…It translates into: everybody lives, not everybody deserves to." Riku said nothing and Sora continued, "The mutts who caused this acted out in a way they think we would. Look at the victims though, what do you notice about them?" he wasn't looking for Riku to answer since he wasn't going to let his commanding officer make a fool of himself again, "You, cadet Hayner."

The spaced out looking grunt quickly snapped out of his daze and looked at the bodies. They were lying on the sidewalk, hanging out windows, and on the stoops of the run down little borough area they'd cornered off, "They are all…poor?"

"They're all Jewish," Riku said. He'd paid attention to the affiliation of the church up the street and had spotted the Star of David on at least three necklaces now, "It was religious genocide."

"And that is something we don't believe in or advocate," Sora told them all firmly, "Axel's ideology is simple: the weak, the sick, and the useless do not belong among us. Religion, race, and gender play no hand in this judgment and you all need to remember that. What these mutts did is wrong and we're to find and eliminate them, direct orders from Axel himself." That got the attention of the others just as it had Sora's earlier when he and Riku received the call. Axel hated the mutts who tried to justify their actions by associating themselves with him, especially when it targeted someone he didn't put a hit on.

Riku took over the situation and distributed the orders, "You lot stay here. Identify and tally all the bodies for our own report before turning the contact and cleanup over to the police." As they set to work he led Sora back to the car, "We're going to the high school."

Sora nodded reluctantly and climbed into the car with him as the chauffer opened the door, "There's a place I haven't been in years."

There was only one public school on the island and it was of a small universities size, its campus making up almost half a coastline district. Roxas and Sora had abandoned their secondary schooling roughly 4 years ago at the start of their freshman year. It wasn't a choice so much as a last resort situation and while their mentors scorned the act of dropping out, they didn't understand.

"Welcome! How may I…" the secretary's cheerful voice trailed off when she looked away from the computer screen and saw the two who'd just entered the main office. She recognized the insignia and the uniforms of Cerberus dogs, immediately standing up and paying them full attention, "How can I help you?"

"We need to meet with the dean," Riku told her, not about to tell her the reason they were there. The secretary nodded and scurried out from behind her desk while beckoning them to follow, "Would you like anything? I could send an aide over to the cafeteria if you're hungry."

"No thank you," Riku was having some trouble believing a title and a uniform supplied this much authority and he looked back to see if his 'little minion' wanted anything. The 'little minion,' as he'd been dubbed, hadn't moved to follow and was instead looking at a framed picture on the wall. "Hey," Sora didn't flinch and finally Riku returned to see what had him so distracted, "Hey, we're going." Sora abruptly looked up and nodded before going after the secretary. Confused to say the least, Riku looked at the picture and saw a group of four hundred or so students with a caption underneath: class of 2009.

"Sorry to keep you men waiting, I had a student to deal with in attendance," greeted the brunette woman as she entered the large baroque decorated office. When the door was shut and she turned to face them her expression fell, "What business do you have in my school?"

"Have a seat," Riku insisted, beating Sora to the first word and getting out of his chair. The dean said nothing and he went around behind the desk and pulled out her chair. There was a short pause before the dignified and firm looking mistress crossed the floor and sat down in the chair Riku then pushed in for her, "Chivalry is dead sir."

"Not dead madam Lockhart, just stubborn like yourself," Riku came back around the desk and sat down in the chair next to Sora.

Rolling his eyes at the banter Sora got to business, "We have reason to believe that two or more of your students were recently involved in a case of religious genocide."

"Mr. Benvolio," the dean rose from her seat and stared down at him, "Accusations like that are a serious matter. You expect me to take a dropout seriously?" Sora said nothing and she continued in a calm voice, "I run a respectable institution here, and I will not tolerate charges of hate crimes."

"Eyewitnesses to the event clearly testified that they saw two of the men wearing varsity jackets from this school," Sora insisted, ignoring her clearly disdainful temperament.

A slight smirk turned up at the corners of her mouth as she said, "And I'm to believe that? I know how you people work and I know that without my permission or a subpoena you have no right to search, question, or act on my campus."

Sora fell silent and clearly had nothing more to say, just like the dean. She sat back down in her chair and adjusted the already neat stack of papers on her desk, "Now, if you both are quite finished wasting my time I have other business to attend to."

"Listen you rotten woman," neither Sora nor the dean expected Riku to stand up calmly and take the letter opener off her desk, glaring through her, "Do you know the name Axel Tybalt? His authority is broader and more feared than you can even begin to understand. Should you go through with this and send us away who knows what might happen to your school, or your authority, or to your family Tifa." Even if there was a smile on his face and ease in his eyes, the edge in his calm voice made both Sora and the dean afraid. He pointed the letter opener at her and pressed the tip right against her throat, saying with a fading grin, "We're here so Axel doesn't have to take the matter into his own hands madam. Making our job difficult isn't a wise decision."

The door suddenly opened and in rushed someone who clearly didn't respect authority or the crest on Riku's armband. "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiyyyyyyya!"

"Yuffie no!" shouted the dean but it was too late and just as Riku turned to see who it was he was tackled to the ground. Sora and Tifa both watched in shock as the schoolgirl toppled the vampire. As soon as she tried to restrain him though Riku shoved her away and Sora grabbed her arms since it was his duty to ensure his commanding officer wasn't harmed by any means. The metal cuffs shut tight around her wrists but when Sora looked up he saw something he hadn't expected, the girl's leg swung up and nailed him right in the head. He staggered back and fell into the chair he'd been sitting in moments ago, vision distorted from the impact but as things returned to normal he saw Riku had hold of her ankle still up by her head and yet she held balance easily though restrained now.

"I'm so sorry about her," the dean hurriedly apologized, "My kid cousin is a handful I'm afraid. Yuffie apologize immediately!"

The girl kept her gaze adverted and looked annoyed, "He had a knife on you! I'm not going to apologize."

"Yuffie?" Sora mumbled, trying to remember where he'd heard that name before. Riku let go of her leg and with one shove sent her down where she sat slumped against Tifa's desk. Sora looked at her and tried to recall but he couldn't, especially with his ears still ringing, "Be careful about who you pick fights with," he told her, standing up and shaking his head to try and get over the shock.

The schoolgirl looked up, clearly ready to shout some kind of retort but finally she saw the crest on Sora's jacket and then on Riku's armband. She remained silent, her anger fading and mouth hanging open. The dean came around to the other side of the desk and blocked her cousin from them, "You have my permission to conduct your investigation so long as the details are reported to me at the end of every day. Now leave my office."

'Why me…' despite the approaching evening and his horrible exhaustion Roxas couldn't shut his eyes. He just lie there on his back staring up at the high ceiling with the covers pulled up over his waist, leaving his naked and pale torso exposed. There was nobody to see him in his vulnerable and naked state. It was a private suite in a luxury hotel Axel had apparently visited before, just based on the look the manager meeting them at the front desk gave him. Roxas could only imagine how many others he'd brought up to this place, to this bed, and how many he left there for a business call. Why did he choose him though? Axel could get anyone he wanted, if not with his looks then with his authority. Why pick a blonde boy with a massive debt?

Roxas heard someone coming up the stairs and looked over out the window instead of rolling over since his body ached. In the faint reflection off the large windows Roxas saw Axel come onto the landing with a towel around his shoulders, a clean pair of pajama pants, and a cell phone against his ear. He rolled his eyes and looked beyond the reflection at the twilight lingering over the brightly lit grim island. The depression still loomed over them even if the word 'recession' was no longer in effect, it hung like an inversion layer above them and Roxas doubted it would ever lift. Roxas sighed just as he heard the cell phone click shut, and using quite a bit of effort rolled over to face the window entirely and avoid talking to the other man in the room.

Axel didn't want to talk either and Roxas picked up on that too when he felt his weight on the mattress and a hand on his shoulder. Unintentionally he shivered because of the numbingly cold fingers which closed tightly around his arm and pushed him back onto his back. Roxas kept his eyes on the window though and Axel noticed, in turn looking out as well, "…What?"

"Don't you see it?" Roxas mumbled sadly, an unusual tone but one he couldn't hide when he saw what the island was. Axel didn't reply, all he saw was the island. The bustling world he ruled over and governed, cutting out any weakness before it could threaten what he controlled. Roxas scoffed, "Ofcourse you don't," Axel was too narrow minded to understand that his world was far from perfect. To his surprise Axel let go of his arm and got out of bed again, this time not because his phone went off. Roxas watched him with a minor curiosity as he wandered out of the room, returning without the towel he had on his shoulders earlier but his hair still a damp mess he kept tied back, "Did you take your pills?" he asked and Roxas nodded shortly. Axel crossed to the windows and flipped a switch on the wall nearby to shut out the world outside, "Good boy."

Roxas looked away. Even if he was a dog he hated it how Axel treated him like one, "What's next? Fetch? Heel?" he looked back up when Axel's weight settled on the bed again and before he could say anything more he grabbed Roxas' wrists and held them above his head, forcing one of his legs between Roxas' and staring down at him. Roxas couldn't look away, paralyzed under the dominant stare but keeping his glare unrelenting, "Heel," Axel said simply and he let go of Roxas' wrists before leaning down and kissing the base of his neck. Roxas inhaled abruptly and as he felt one of Axel's hands slide down his stomach he reached to stop him. As soon as he moved though Axel's other hand grabbed both of his and forced them back to where they were, "I said heel," and Axel meant it, Roxas could tell by the tone in his voice that he would be in trouble should he violate the order again.

"You look scared of me now," Axel said, still not letting go of his hands and Roxas didn't say anything since it could be a trick to get him to move his mouth and violate the order. A slight whimper was heard from behind his lips and Axel grinned before forcing his mouth down on his own. It was too easy to make him cry and moan, keeping him quiet was where the real fun was. This wasn't right and Roxas pulled his head away with a noisy protest, "Why are you doing this?!" Axel abruptly stopped and Roxas realized he'd spoken his thoughts out loud. He couldn't stop now though, "Let go of me you sick bastard!" Axel did so and Roxas pushed him away so he could sit up, "I'll work to pay off my debt the right way, not in your bed."

Axel laughed in his throat before telling him, "This isn't going to repay what you owe me," he said and Roxas sat there confused, a sickness rising in his gut when Axel reached for him, "It's for fun."

Fun. Axel easily pushed him back down and Roxas could only stare up at him. Fun. This was meant to be fun, "Why me?" Because it was fun? "Why has it always been me?" He got away with so much, Axel should have killed him long ago but he hadn't for some reason. Why? For fun? Axel didn't say anything and the look of amusement on his face faded, letting Roxas know the fun was over. Before anything could be said the phone in Axel's back pocket rang and he got out of bed to answer it, leaving Roxas for the second time that night to wonder, 'Why me?'"So you dropped out?"

Sora looked up from his desk quickly, spotting Riku sitting on the mattress that Roxas once occupied. When had he come in? More importantly why hadn't Sora heard him, "Don't sneak up on people like that!" he shouted. When Riku didn't say anything Sora just looked back to the book he'd been reading and answered the question, "…Yeah. Roxas and I decided together it was for the best."

"And your parents didn't object?" Riku asked, not sounding interested but just desperate for a conversation.

Sora scoffed and shook his head, not surprised by the question, "I told you earlier: Roxas is all I have left. That hasn't changed in the last five years." Though he kept his eyes on the book it was impossible to focus with Riku sitting nearby watching. Sora shut the book and turned around to face him, "Don't you have something else to do?"

Riku shrugged and got to his feet as he told him, "Yes, but I like to play with my food first." Hastily Sora stood up and raised his guard. "How's your head? Did she hurt you?" Riku asked, stepping towards him and reaching out to push aside the hair in his face which hid the bruise Yuffie left. His hands were cold and Sora froze solid to where he stood, "I can take that pain away," the words drove fear through him but rather than tear into his throat Riku took his wrist and lifted it. A sudden instinct took over and Sora abruptly raised his other hand, still holding the book firmly in his grip. Before Riku could stop him and before Sora realized what he'd done, the metal binding of the book struck against the side of his skull. The vampire's grip loosened on his wrist and Sora dropped the book as Riku collapsed.

What had he done? Assaulting another member of the Cerberus society was a severely punishable offense. Assaulting someone of Riku's ranking was a kiss of death.

Everyone enjoying the new year? Better be. Haha, okay I really have to go sleep now. I just got back from California a couple hours ago and haven't slept in over a day. Let me know what you thought please though since I struggled over this chapter so much and am finally satisfied with it. Wishing you all the best in all the world!

~Your loving bohemian, Mad-TopHat-Ter

ONE MORE THING! I finally sketched out the layout and floor plan of the base! Plan to scan and upload to my DA sometime later tonight or tomorrow so take a look please.