Author's Note: Oh snap! A second update in two days?! On a roooooll *cough* Never mind that this has been in the works for...ugh, I don't even want to know.

The long (long, long, LONG) awaited 4th chapter of Almost Human! Man, I can't believe I'd nearly forgotten about this. I'm really putting to the grindstone and am HOPING to get a chapter update for each of my unfinished things before the end of the month. It almost seems possible, too!

Warnings: This chapter has destruction of an inhuman sort and much swearing from Angry!Roxas. It's not pretty.

Other: For those of you who might still be around, thank you! You guys are the reason I write, besides for the love of the characters.

The following day Roxas set out to the local police station. He wasn't sure what he would say, really. Axel seemed to be an adult and unless the man was willing to press charges there was little the police could do. Still, he might have other family that could be looking for him and it was with that thought that Roxas pulled open the solid wooden door leading into the 25th precinct.

It was early morning but even so the place was buzzing with life. Officers in uniform stood around a table, pouring coffee while others hustled in a woman who looked to be just a skeleton with skin draped in scraps of cloth. Officers and people alike were bustling about and Roxas felt his heart beat pick up as he approached the receptionist desk, the woman typing away on her computer until Roxas was right before her.

Eyes such a bright brown the looked almost red flickered over to the blond and she turned, visible just from the chest-up. From what Roxas could tell she was young even with the grayish tone to her hair, white blouse pressed to perfection. "Welcome to the 25th precinct. What can I help you with today?" Though her words were friendly the tone was hard, like someone who didn't have time to deal with anything short of a homicide. So Roxas thought, at least.

"Uh - hi." Swallowing hard under her stare Roxas pushed on, placing a hand lightly on the high desk. "I came across a stranger the other day who was beat up pretty bad and was wonder if he'd been reported to missing persons."

The woman was back on the computer before he finished, clicking several times. "What is the name of this person?"

"Axel."

There was brief typing before she looked up, arching a brow. "Last name?"

Roxas shook his head. He had questioned Axel before leaving and the man hadn't given any. Roxas hadn't actually gotten much new information out of Axel that he didn't learn upon their first meeting. "He doesn't think he has one. He-" Roxas hesitated, gaze flickering down to the desk before looking back up. "He thinks he's an angel."

Twin brows shot up in surprise before the woman changed her expression into something more neutral, lips pursing. "I see." She turned back to the computer, typing some more. "He thinks he's an angel. Well, kiddo, let me put this into perspective."

Roxas bristled. "I'm not-"

"Anywhere between 100,000 and 800,000 people are reported missing a year in this country, give or take." She wasn't looking at Roxas, fingers flying over the keys. "About half of them are children. Seeing as you said you found a stranger and not a kid, I'm assuming this 'Axel' is part of the 4 to 500,000 adult cases. Now, assuming that he's from this side of the country, above the age of 18 and Axel is in fact his real name, that leaves us with-"

Grasping the top of her flat screen the woman turned the screen around for Roxas to see. To his dismay the result showed one of thirty with over a hundred pages after the first. "Shit."

"Shit is right, kid." She turned the screen back around, turning her full attention to Roxas. "Look, I can see that you want to do good by this guy but the truth is, people lie. People run away, or get into trouble or simply go nuts and claim to be angels sent to smite sinners in the name of God before shooting up a school. It sounds like you friend needs to see a shrink to find out who he really is before you put in a search."

Roxas' shoulders drooped, catching his lower lip between his teeth. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he agreed grudgingly, dropping his hand from off of her desk. "Sorry to have wasted your time."

Turning the blond shoved his hands into his pockets, discouraged. He hadn't thought that finding out of anyone was even looking for Axel would be that complicated.

"Hey, kid."

Roxas turned, frowning. The woman was addressing him, looking around a frazzled-haired lady who had rushed up to her desk. "The name's Paine. Come see me when you have more info, alright?"

"Uh - yeah, thanks." Watching her half-wave before turning to help the next person Roxas headed out of the precinct, a new goal in mind. Pulling out his cell phone he waited until pushing through the solid wooden door leading outside before pushing call twice to dial the last number called.

A ring and a half the other line clicked, a soft, "Hello?" greeting him.

"Hey, Nam."

"Hey, Roxas." Roxas felt bad at the tired tone to her voice. He had been hoping she wouldn't have gone to bed yet but maybe he was wrong. "I'm glad you called-"

"Namine-"

"I'm sorry."

They spoke at the same time, words ringing together in quiet harmony. Both fell silent for a beat and Roxas spoke up. "I still owe you some Okaman."

"You're damn straight you do!" Roxas couldn't help a slight grin at that. She was sounding more awake by the moment. "Had you wanted to meet up somewhere?"

She's freakin' psychic, Roxas thought, heading for the bus stop. "Yeah, I'll treat you to breakfast. Or dinner or whatever. I can be at that café by your place in twenty minutes."

There was the sound of rustling while she answered. "That sounds good. Just call if I'm not there, I might just pass out in the bathroom."

"Hey! It's your fault for working those crazy hours!"

"Yeah, yeah. See you."

"Later."

Hanging up the phone Roxas stuck it in his pocket before digging out change for the approaching bus. He and Namine rarely fought as they had the day before but it usually only took a few hours to a day before they had made up again. Roxas knew that he was lucky to have someone willing to deal with his pig headedness, even though he still felt that she had been in the wrong.

It was closer to a half hour before Roxas walked through the door to the little café, looking around as he stepped in. When he spotted Namine waving at him from a corner booth the blond walked over, undoing his scarf and coat as he went. "Sorry about the wait."

The blond girl shrugged. "That's fine, I've only been here a minute or so. Long enough to get drinks." As she spoke a older woman with graying hair curled at her shoulder approached, setting the glasses down. "Thank you, Nadine."

"No problem, sweetie. The usual for you pair?" Roxas tried not to roll his eyes and nodded, Namine doing the same. "Alright! I'll come with that soon as I can."

As she walked off Roxas sighed, dropping his coat, scarf and gloves on the empty spot beside him. "Why does everyone swear that we're going out? Though at least she didn't call 'the adorable blondies' today."

Giggling behind a pale hand Namine beamed. "Oh, hush! She's just looking out for us." They had been going to the café for years and while Namine has had a few romances come and go, the cozy little place was for her and Roxas alone. Her happy mood dipped as she lowered her hand, it disappearing under the table with its mate. Roxas could see her gripping and bunching the hem of her skirt in his mind's eye - he knew Nam better than himself at times. "I'm really sorry, Roxas. I wasn't thinking about how being kept in a hospital to be poked and prodded would be for Axel, I just-"

"You just want to do good for people," Roxas finished, taking up his glass though he didn't drink from it. "I know. I knew it at the time but…" Sighing quietly he took a quick sip, tea-lemonade both sweet and tart on his tongue. "I feel like- I don't know. Like I'm the only one he has to look out for him."

Watching Roxas as he took another swallow of his drink Namine decided to keep her thoughts to herself. Roxas seemed to be especially sensitive when it came to the subject of his ward and she didn't' want to rock the boat so soon after it's been stabilized. "Did you go down today?"

Roxas sighed, tapping the side of his near-empty glass. "Yeah, though it was kind of pointless. I've been questioning Axel for days and so far the only useful information I've gotten is his name and what happened to him… sort of." Roxas couldn't believe that the red head had wings ripped out of his back; that was just too absurd. At least, until he had some solid proof. "Any other ideas?"

"Aside from checking the net for missing persons and prying for more info, not really," the blond girl murmured, looking up as Nadine came with their usual order and a pitcher of the homemade brew. "Thank you!"

"Not a problem at all, dear." Refilling Roxas's drink and placing down the orders the pair were soon left alone again, this time with food as a distraction.

The subject of conversation drifted from one topic to another, pair talking between bites. By the time they were finished Namine was telling Roxas of a particularly obnoxious patient she has been tending to for the last week.

"She threw a remote at you?" Roxas just stared at the girl with an incredulous look, pulling on his scarf and coat. "Are people allowed to do shit like that?"

Shrugging on her own wool lined jacket Namine shook her head. "No, but there isn't much that can be done about it aside from strapping them down or talking to them. When people are sick sometimes they just can't control themselves."

Roxas snorted at that, pulling out his wallet to put down money for the meal and tip. "Yeah, well, better you than me. If Axel were that unruly he would have been out on his ass a long time ago." Aside from the odd speech and apparent twisted memory the only issue the red head seemed to have was with being touched. Axel seemed to be pretty much used to being handled by Roxas and only sat and scowled when Namine had to check up on him. "Speaking of, I should head back. He's been on his own since ten."

"I should go, too," Namine agreed, heading to the front once all bundled up. "I have to run some errands before getting ready for work. Call my cell if something comes up."

"Yeah, I will." Pushing open the framed glass doors to the café Roxas was braced for the chilled wind that whipped by. Even so he couldn't help a shudder, wishing again that he either lived closer or that they found a 'usual spot' that wasn't a half hour out of his way. "Bye Nam!"

Waiting for a bus by the stop was like a slow torture to Roxas, the blond bouncing in place to try and keep himself warm. By the time the bus showed up his fingers and toes had gone numb. Climbing on board Roxas fumbled with his pass to show the driver before moving to the back to sink down into a seat as blessed warmth washed over him.

So the question is; what am I going to do if nothing turns up? That same question had been lingering in the corners of Roxas's mind for days and it pulled a frown to the blond's lips. Reaching up to loosen his scarf absently Roxas's gaze drifted to the window, watching the people and shops go by.

Would he be homeless? IS he homeless? Axel had said that it was his father - not directly but still - who had done the damage to his back and left him out in the street in the nude. That the red head hadn't had Roxas call or contact any other family could mean that he didn't have any other family.

"Poor guy," Roxas murmured without really thinking, sights just on the other side of the window going unseen. While the blond felt his own family was frustrating, annoying and otherwise a pain to deal with most times, he couldn't imagine just being shut out from them as Axel had been. As much as he complained about them Roxas loved his family and wouldn't trade their love for anything n the world.

I'll fix this, Roxas quietly promised, straightening as a frazzled-looking woman boarded the semi-filled bus and sat beside him. It's the least I can do for him.

~.~.~.~.~

Sometime after Roxas left for the police station Axel was pulled out of sleep by a high, droning whine from somewhere outside. Raising a hand to go through the peculiar process of wiping sleep from his eyes (really, mortal leaked and oozed and crusted in places that Axel would of rather left well enough alone) the red head sat up, the motion not causing nearly as much pain as it had before. It seemed that sleep had done much for his fever as well as letting his back heal and Axel was thankful to have the burning/cold sensation and pain done with.

"Hello?"

The apartment was unusually quiet and Axel guessed that Roxas was either sleeping or at the place where he worked, something the blond had mentioned a few times. A heavy feeling in his gut informed the resting male that a trip to the bathroom was long overdue and, after kicking back the covers and slowly getting to his feet, Axel shuffled to the room he had been lead to on more than several occasions.

Once done Axel made his way down the hall to the front of the apartment, an area he had seen only once since arriving. The loose cotton pants were all he had to protect against the chill and Axel couldn't help but stare in fascination as goosebumps broke out along his outstretched arm, sending shivers along his skin.

Keep the mission in mind. Giving himself a mental shake the red head carefully pushed away from the wall as the hallway came to an end, looking around.

The living room, unlike the bedroom, was not carpeted and though Axel's bare feet longed for the quick warmth that the fuzzy flooring provided but was much too stubborn to turn back for the comfort of warm blankets and a soft bed. There was too much to try and puzzle out. The chairs, couch and tables were easily defined, as well as the shelving unit with books. The odd box with rounded glass in front, though, was somewhat of a mystery to Axel.

"I should have taken Human Studies more seriously," he muttered to himself, making his way over to the box. It was set in a shelf of its own, this one deeper than that of the books with odd, thin boxes stacked behind glass on either side of it. Finding the handle to the glass door proved fruitful but upon taking one of the small boxes - more like flat books - to open, there was only a thin circular object inside.

"Hm." Studying the disk for a few moments Axel noticed the button set in the middle, pushing down with a finger and grinning in triumph as the object popped out. The open box was set down in order to better study the odd treasure, thin brows furrowing.

"The mortals seem to find value in the oddest of things," he murmured to himself, turning the disk over in both hands and absently pulling it together as he tried to puzzle it out. "Though the box could be for protection, as this seems-"

With a snap! the circular disk snapped in half, leaving the red head with a piece in each hand.

"…There appears to be many," Axel said after a moment of stunned silence, warily looking between the broken DVD and TV unit before setting the pieces on top of the wooden set. "Surely there are multiples."

Figuring that was enough exploring of the strange round disks Axel moved on, poking and eyeing and picking up all items of interest he came across. It wasn't until the lanky male's stomach begun to growl that he paused in his learning, deciding that hunting down something to eat would be better for the moment.

It wasn't hard to figure out where the food was kept; though the shapes and outlines had changed from his last trek to the mortal world the basic concept was the same and soon enough Axel had the fridge open, peering into the cool box in search of something eatable.

There were so many containers- some with crumbly things, one with what looked to be thin worms with small bits of vegetables (Noodles), a dozen liquids, each a different color inside. Axel picked up a few cool tin cans that he could not see the inside of and shook them, trying to figure out what they held. In the end they were put back where they had sat and he moved on, pulling out a drawer at the bottom most shelf. "Ah, this I can use."

Moments later Axel was settled on the couch with varying fruits and vegetables set on the table before him. A rather small selection, he noted with a frown. Still, it was bound to be better than any of the other junk that Roxas had tried to feed him so he took up the crown of broccoli, separating each bunch of the flowers to crunch on before eating the stem. After a carrot, two small mandarins and a handful of strawberries he went back to searching, opening cupboards and drawers and pushing buttons and pressing leavers as he tried to work out the strange world he had been brought into.

~.~.~.~.~

Roxas came home to an explosion.

That was the first word that popped to mind when he opened the door, looking down the short hallway into his living room. Locking it behind him the blond undid his boots quickly before stepping down the hall to take in the chaos more fully.

DVD and game cases lay strewn on the ground, most of them open though, from what he could tell, the disks were still inside. The table had half a tray of strawberries, some empty veggie bags and a few more DVD cases on them. The TV was on, the audience of the talk show cheering as a man was told 'You ARE the father!' and what looked to be a tissues from a dozen boxes were scattered all over.

Walking slowly in to see into the kitchen area was deemed worse; all the cupboards and drawers were open, one of the latter on the ground with silverware scattered around it, apparently laying where they had fallen. The microwave had over a 3-hour setting on it with nothing inside and from the color of the coils ALL the burners were on, the knobs at varying settings.

As Roxas stared, somewhat in shock, a mass of red hair popped up from behind the kitchen's island. "Axel!"

The man spun, obviously started, both hands raising in his surprise. He was wearing the puppet oven mitts that Namine had gotten him, the blond noted dully. "Roxas. Your heating unit was unlit. Come, you must be chilled."

Baffled the blond swayed between dismayed and angry. Anger won out and he ripped off his gloves, throwing them on the ground as he marched to the kitchen. "What do you think you're doing? Are you trying to burn the whole fucking building down!?" Canceling the microwave with one hand while pulling at his scarf with the other he turned the dial on the toaster, which had been compressed, to pop up. "What the hell were you-"

Two warped, melting DVDs popped out of the toaster - or rather were forced up, as they had partially melted to the metal prongs - pulling a strained sound from the blond. "FUCK! Are you FUCKING SERIOUS?"

Axel, standing on the other side of the oven - the door of which was opened - took a weary step back. "Is that not what they are used for? The fit rather well, though the storage is odd-"

"GET OUT!"

Flinching at the volume Axel took another step back, removing the mitts from his hands. "I am sorry. I had planned to fix everything-"

The oven door was slammed shut, blond turning the knobs of the stove all off even as he continued to glare at the red head. "Are you deaf now, too? Get. Out. I don't want to see you, I don't want to talk to you and I DAMN fucking well DON'T want you IN MY HOUSE!"

Back bumping against an open drawer the weight caused it to tip, falling with a clatter to the ground. Twine, plastic wrap, coasters and varying items jostled or were bounced out of it, scattering on the ground.

It seemed to be the last straw as the blond lunged forward, grabbing a shell-shocked red head by the arm and dragging him across the room, through the living room and down the short hall. "OUT!"

Roxas undid the locks, flung the door open and shoved Axel out unceremoniously. The red head stumbled, catching his balance in the middle of the hallway and turned, a hand outstretched. "Roxas-"

"Go home!" Axel flinched at the venom in those words, hand lowering. "Find out way back to wherever you came from! Just stay out of my life!"

With a resounding boom! the door slammed shut.

Axel stood there for some long moments, in just the borrowed pants and long-sleeved shirt, shaken. "I had not…" His voice was weak to his own ears, wavering and uncertain.

What did I expect? Trusting and depending on a mortal. They are known for their great cruelty as well as their rare kindness.

Wrapping his arms around himself Axel headed for the stairs. It was better to part on hard terms and bitter words than for him to grow attached to the child. That was what he told himself as his bare feet took to the stairs, at any rate.