I said so in Virus, and I will say it again here. In Nothing's Call it will be Leon, and in Virus it will be Squall.

There was a second of pause that spanned lightyears. Species came and went, the stars burned out and the universe had time to come into being and collapse on itself before anyone moved. All three doors popped open. They were blocking the exit but who cared?

They'd hit someone. More than that, they'd hit two someones.

Roxas glared over the hood of the car. "You idiot, you never look away from the car."

"It was like half a second! What do you want me to do about it now?"

"Ow…"

"What the hell…?"

Thank every divinity that people had come up with – they were alive. Conscious, at that. So Axel wouldn't be slapped with murder charges - that was a plus. Upon closer inspection the two were both young and male. One was taller, pale with silver hair not unlike Axel's cousins. The other bore a striking resemblance to Roxas… if he were a shade darker with insanely-shaped brown hair. Their bags scattered beyond them, contents spewing out where they had sprung open on impact.

Slowly they were pulling themselves up from the ground. They didn't seem too badly injured. Probably in shock, though.

Demyx crouched in front of them. "Hey, are you guys alright?"

The silver-haired one spoke first. "No thanks to you."

"Yeah! Weren't you watching at all?" The little one didn't seem to be in any better mood about it. Kind of understandable. He was rubbing the back of his head constantly

Demyx sunk into himself a little. "Sorry about tha-… Hey, Roxas, is this the twin you were talking about? He totally looks just like you."

Roxas stiffened a little. "What are you talking about? He doesn't look like me." How could he know? He was hardly looking at him at all. "And my twin is blond, like me."

The little spiky one of the pair was starting to get up. He groaned, one hand going to his forehead. "Riku, my head hurts…"

"What? Do you feel dizzy or anything?" He leaned towards him and quickly flinched back as his hands touched the ground. "Agh-…" His left hand sprung back towards his chest like a cat's. He clenched his teeth.

"Riku…" He sounded a little too distressed about the guy's pain. He was probably just a kid…

Axel didn't appear to be concerned, exactly. "Come on, get up. We're blocking traffic here."

The brunet one was wrapping his hands around his friend's wrist, glaring a little. "You hit us, why are you telling us what to do?" That was just a bit shocking, coming from such a small thing. His cold expression disappeared as he glanced back. "Does it hurt a lot?"

"Just in my hand and my wrist." He hissed again. "Gently."

"Oops, sorry…"

Demyx was dutifully picking up their things from the road. People were starting to honk and shout at them. Axel sighed impatiently. "Just get off the road and I'll take a look at it. I know a little first aid."

The two helped each other to their feet reluctantly. "I'll carry your bags…" Demyx's voice was small and sheepish. He really didn't have to be. Axel was the one who hit them. He still felt kinda responsible for some reason…

It was like coercing animals into a cage to get them to sit in the back of the van long enough to an actual parking lot. They didn't notice much of what was going on around them at that point. They only had interest in making sure the other was okay. It was pretty over the top. At least in Roxas's opinion. He'd had enough of weird characters.

In Axel's case, he was getting beginning to lose patience with all of the interruptions. Oh well. With this one he'd just had to tell them they weren't dead and send them on their way. Three hours until he had to pick up Marluxia. If he got this over with quick he'd make it with some time to spare.

'And I had so many great things planned to do with whatever time I had alone! …Uh… I swear there must have been something…'

Okay, so maybe it was better that there were interruptions. Too long on his own and he would finally go off the deep end. The deep end had piranhas.

He got out and prompted the silver-haired kid – Riku, according to his little friend - to sit on the edge of the van. He took the (apparently) injured wrist in one hand, moving it up and down rather carelessly.

"Uhn-… Watch it, that hurts."

"Be careful." The brunet one's constant pestering wasn't making this go any smoother. He got all in a fit whenever he so much as touched him.

Axel was merely watching the movement of the joints. Nothing seemed out of place. "But you can move it right?" He let go to allow him to try.

Riku gingerly flexed his hand, moving his wrist in either direction with a slight groan of pain. "Yeah, but it's painful."

"Then it's not broken. Here." He held it still again, not wanting him to keep bitching about it. He couldn't actually get in trouble if it wasn't broken, could he? And he was helping them and everything. "Where's it hurt?" Axel moved his thumb across the flesh, applying pressure here and there.

He breathed in slowly, responding with renewed composure. "That's fine. That hurts. That's beginning to hurt. That fuc-… uh… hurts quite a lot."

The substitute 'nurse' took all of this into account, nodding. "Like I thought. It's sprained."

Blue eyes doubled in size. They looked like they were about to pop out of the poor brunet kid's head. He was still clutching his head, but his other arm reached for his friend. "Sprained? But that's bad! You'll have to go to the hospital or something."

"Oh calm down, it's not life threatening. You can take him in any time for it." Axel glanced farther into the van. "Someone pass me a magazine or newspaper or something."

"You hit us! Stop telling us what to do. Ow-… Riku…"

"Your head?" He glared up at Axel. "I swear, if you gave him a concussion..."

"I didn't hit him that hard, come on." He took the old rolled-up newspaper from Demyx's hand. "I should have a black scarf in there under one of the seats."

Demyx had to nearly crawl under the seat to reach what he'd asked for. "Got it!"

The dark material was thin, but would still be heavier on his arm than an ideal cloth bandage. Axel somewhat forcefully arranged Riku's arm into the correct position. ("Just hold your wrist flat like that. And quit moving it around.") He slid the newspaper under his arm – it was firm enough when it was folded so many times like that – and instructed Sora to hold it there while he wrapped the scarf around it. He tucked the end of the scarf into itself, securing Riku's arm in place.

"There, now it won't move. You can get someone to look at it whenever." He thoroughly intended to kick them out of his car now.

"Hold on a minute, something is still wrong with Sora. We have to take him to a hospital now to check if he has a concussion." His good hand brushed over Sora's hair, concerned.

"Great, have fun with that." He opened the driver's side door, indicating for Demyx and Roxas to get inside. His hands slapped onto the roof of the car, pulling himself in as well.

Sora quickly held onto the door handle, preventing him from closing it. "You're gonna take us. Right, Riku?"

Axel bolted upright. "What?"

The now-according-to-Axel-somewhat-bitchy silvery one went to help his friend hold the door. His injured wrist was held delicately against his side. Drama queen. "We haven't got a car, so you have to drive us to the hospital. If you want to avoid a lawsuit."

"Oh come on-!" Axel tried again to slam the door shut. Sora had a surprisingly firm grip.

Demyx tried to mediate things. He was kind of worried about that kid too. Maybe it bothered him, how much he looked like Roxas. "It'll only be a couple minutes to drive, right? We can do that?"

"I have somewhere to be!"

Sora's voice was an indignant squeak now. "You have a responsibility to us first now. You're the reason we got hurt."

He nearly slammed his head against the steering wheel. Since when was he the chauffer? He swore, this would be the last person he picked up. Well, that and Marluxia. He better not have anyone else with him to drive off somewhere too. A hospital wasn't like a cross-state bus station, though - it had to be in a certain driving distance from everywhere, right? A few minutes, and he'd get the overly-concerned lovebirds off his hands. They had to be dating or something; guy friends just didn't act that. It was far too… well, gay. He'd be a bit late getting back to the club though, and he had no way of call-…

Wait a minute, what the hell did he care if he was late? He didn't even like Marluxia!

His forehead really was resting against the steering wheel this time. He didn't think it was possible for himself to get more insane. Never let it be said that Axel was not charitable! "Goddamn-… Just-… get in. And stop holding on to my door. You're getting finger marks on it." That shouldn't have mattered to him; this van was so crappy and dinged up anyway. Maybe he just felt like being defiant, okay?

The back door slid open. Demyx shifted to the end of the bench seat to allow the two of them a seat together. Sora was the smallest, so he took the middle. Riku surprisingly didn't demand help, climbing in one-handed. Their bags were at their feet and Sora pulled his precious shoulder bag up onto his lap.

Roxas was quite determinedly not looking into the back seat. It was the first thing Axel noticed when he looked up. Perhaps it should have made him wonder why, but he could only think of one thing to ask. "Hey, little brown-haired one."

"Sora."

"Sora, right. You're all little like Roxas, but he's way older than I thought he was. Are you eighteen too?" Roxas scowled at being called 'little' but didn't make a sound.

"No way, I'm just about to turn sixteen."

"See, that makes more sense. Poor Roxas, destined never to hit his growth spurt." Roxas rolled his eyes.

Axel could see he wasn't getting a response. Oh, whatever, he shouldn't have even been trying. He started the car again. "So I don't live here. I don't know where any hospitals are."

Sora glanced toward Riku. The two of them seemed to communicate with their eyes. Freaky. "I know where one is. I can probably give you directions."

"Get directing, then."

"It's um… let me think." He appeared to be counting on his fingers or somehow figuring out with way with his hands. "You have to get to a kind of downtown area first so… from here I think you'd go up onto the highway and go around to get back into the city…"

"You give directions like a girl."

Regardless, he did as Sora said. At this point he was at their mercy. Like he knew where anything was in this town. He'd only been in it for half an hour, and only because he'd been blackmailed. And the person who blackmailed him only found him because he'd been in a nightclub that he'd gone to in order to do a favour to someone he met at a gas station. That person he'd only met because the brat in his car wouldn't get out and pump the gas himself. The brat in question was only in his car in the first place because he'd played it cute and Axel had thought it was hot-…

Fuck, was his penis really to blame for all of this?

And furthermore, why didn't that surprise him?

He pulled onto the highway, following the lights of the city to find the exit back in. "Alright, where do I go from here?"

"It's um… there's a street with the name of a tree or something… and you turn right the-… Riku, did that hurt? I'm sorry…"

"It's fine. Are you still hurting?"

Axel growled. "What tree is the street named after? Pay attention."

Sora smiled apologetically to Riku. "I don't quite remember… But there's a strip mall type thing with this really big toy store in it and it's all colourful so you can't miss it."

Axel grumbled something. God, what a useless kid. It was getting dark, so yes, it was quite possible to miss things. He turned down the next street that looked like it was heading towards the downtown and kept a sharp eye for any signs with (apparently) some tree name.

Each inhale which could be mistaken as pain was accompanied by anxious murmuring and reassurances. Especially on Sora's part. Now and then, though, he would gaze almost longingly at Roxas, Demyx or even Axel. He wanted to talk to them, he really did. He fidgeted in his seat, always glancing back to Riku. He wondered what was going to happen to them now. But he couldn't bring it up here…

Sora perked up a bit, glancing into the front seat. He rubbed his head again. "Hey, so… it's kind of we-…"

"You're still rubbing it. Is it worse?"

Instantly, he was back at Riku's side. "No, it just throbs the same, but how's your hand?"

"Fine as long as I keep it still. Yours could be much more serious."

If synchronized eye rolling was an Olympic sport, Axel and Roxas would have been gold medalists at that moment.

"But sprains can last a long time, and-…"

"Hey, I know that movie!" Demyx was pointing at some pin on Sora's shoulder bag. Just a dumb little cartoon fish with an arching logo 'Just Keep Swimming'. "I love-… loved that when I was a kid."

He turned, glancing between the pin and the older blond. "Hu-… Oh, yeah! I still love it."

"Really? I do too, I just thought it'd be weird to say so." It was difficult to tell, but he seemed to be blushing. "It's always been like really moving to me. I stopped eating fish entirely after I saw it."

"Woah, really? That's so cool! I could never do that." No, it wasn't cool. It was incredibly lame. Somehow it just figured that people like Demyx and Sora could get along automatically.

"I just couldn't help but think about them when I did. I've never had anyone actually get that before."

"No, I still feel bad wh-… Oh, did that hurt, Riku?"

"A little, but don't worry about it."

Sora was pouting again. "Sorry."

Axel's already not-so-great posture was taking a blow as he curved himself over the steering wheel. He turned sharply, knocking everyone to the side. "Is this the street?"

"Huh, yeah! If you drive right to the end you should be able to see the hospital sign above the hill up ahead."

"Thanks, that's all I wanted."

Roxas sat up a bit from where his head had been resting against the window. Axel actually seemed to be angry. As short a time as he'd known him, he'd seen an array of his emotions and anger or frustration with him could be scary. He would prefer him to be an annoying asshole and at least be happy about it. He was more predictable that way. Eh, he was taking it out on Sora and Riku, not him, so what did it matter? It didn't, so he went back to ignoring everything.

The rest of the ride was anything but an absence of conversation. Sora had a lot of pins on his bag and Demyx apparently knew all of them. Roxas tuned out the world completely, not even noticing until they were slowing down. Riku's annoyance had to break at least once or twice with the younger brunet's antics. Even with the possibility of a serious injury, he could remain a cheerful idiot.

"There's the hospital." Two and a half hours until he had to pick up Marluxia and an hour and a half to drive back there. Axel stopped in front of the entrance, waiting for them to get out.

Riku protested. "You're not just going to drive away. You take responsibility if Sora is really hurt."

There was a moment in which Axel's face contorted into several different expressions. It was impossible to name them all but one could clearly see the wheels turning in his head as he kept himself from flatly turning them down. "Fine. Just be as fast as you can."

"I can pay to get front of the line."

"Get to it, then." How much money did they have? If so, what were they doing out there?

The two friends helped each other out of the car and remained close all the way towards the entrance. Demyx had decided by then that he wanted to stay with them at least until he found out if Sora was okay. Roxas was very reluctant to follow, but didn't want to get stuck alone with Axel while he went to park. He definitely wasn't amused with the situation.

Inside the Emergency Room was not what they expected. Most nights there would be a handful of people clutching damaged hands or ankles, a few old paranoid people, a little kid in his pyjamas and a really bad cough clinging to his mother, and always one really weird guy who breathed loudly and looked like something was seriously wrong with him but you could never quite figure out what it was and you end up watching him out of the corner of your eye the whole time to check if he's about to die. You know the guy.

But not tonight. Paramedics rushed in stretchers of people mostly covered by blankets and doctors wheeled them hurriedly inside, shouting to each other. Others with not so serious injuries sat in the chairs being mopped up by nurses. Many of them were crying and watching each stretcher go by, probably looking for a loved one. The four of them stood there dumbly, watching other people experience the horror that they were no part of.

Wow, awkward.

Nonetheless, Riku had to get someone to look at Sora, and now he'd caught on as to why he wanted it to be this hospital. He pulled a distracted Sora with him to the reception desk. Uncomfortably, Demyx and Roxas took a seat as far as they could from anyone crying and-or bleeding. The nurse looked like she could cry herself at seeing more people in need. She was clearly at her limit with the situation at hand.

Riku didn't hesitate to ask. "What happened here?"

Her eyes flickered to the makeshift splint holding his wrist and tucked back some dark hair that was falling from her ponytail. "There was a bad accident on highway eleven." Courteously, she lowered her voice. "There have been no deaths but we have a number of patients in serious condition."

"… I see." Clearly it was slowing down the system significantly. But man would it be insensitive to comment on that. "I've got a sprained wrist and he's a possible concussion. Is there any way we could get a doctor to just quickly look at him?"

She made a considering noise, clearly wishing he hadn't asked that. "I can see if anyone will be available but we have to take care of the emergency patients first."

"Of course."

"And then it's our duty to look after less critical family members…"

Riku dug into his pocket, laying a surprisingly thick pile of bills before the nurse. "Just a quick visit. Please."

What the hell? Were those teenagers loaded, or what? Unless all the bills he'd pulled out were ones, he had at least a couple hundred to throw around. And that was just what he had been carrying around in his pocket! If that was the case, how much did Sora have? How much was hidden in their bags. Just who were they, anyway? Roxas exchanged a glance with Demyx, the two of them definitely thinking the same thing.

The nurse frowned and pushed the money back. "I'm sorry, Sir, you'll need to wait. I can suggest other hospitals or clinics you could try." She shook her head. "If you stay here it could be a few hours yet."

Sora spoke up. "No, it has to be this one. We can wait as long as we have to."

Two clipboards were handed up to them. "Fill these out, and I'll need to see your health cards." The nurse's expression softened, glancing back at Sora. "If you need to sleep, ask someone to wake you up periodically. As a precaution."

Riku nodded, starting to write. "I'll definitely do that."

"Just come back when they're filled out." The two moved quickly to a blank wall where they could be on their own. Sora looked at his silver-haired friend nervously and they spoke to each other in hushed voices. Occasionally Riku would point something out on the page and they would both write something down.

It was at that point Axel returned. His expression shifted just as theirs had upon seeing all the accident victims coming in, though it had slowed down quite a bit from when they came in. Now and then a doctor would dash in and hold a brief, urgent conversation with a nurse and they both would leave the room just as hurriedly.

The redheaded flamer found the others again, sliding into the seat next to Demyx. "So I'm guessing this is going to be more complicated than we thought."

Roxas tilted his head back against the wall, eyes closing. "What was your first clue?"

Demyx was a little more helpful. "Apparently there was like a pile up or something and there were tons of people in here with injuries and they take priority. Sora and Riku keep insisting that we have to stay here, though."

What was so great about this hospital? It looked amazingly mediocre to Axel. "How long is the wait?"

There was a slight pause as almost comically the three glanced over at Sora and Riku. Demyx shifted closer and lowered his voice."They said a few hours probably."

Eyebrows raised. This was turning ridiculous. "What? We're out of here."

"But-…"

Axel's arms crossed. "We took them to the hospital, what more can we do? Serve them drinks and massage their feet? It's the doctor's problem now."

"I don't want to stay, either." Roxas entered the conversation, leaning close as well.

The taller blond was fidgeting in his seat. He wanted to please both sides. And he really thought it was fair that they could just stay until the doctor saw them. And… maybe past that if it turned out Sora did have a concussion. "We do have kind of a responsibility, though. We hit them."

Roxas glanced back at the boys again, thinking of that clip of money. "They're rich, though. What do they need us for now? What if they try to sue or something?"

"They're rich, too? Then fuck that. I'm not getting bitched out by Marluxia for some whiny prissy boys."

Demyx was halted in his attempt to protest. "Uh, who's Marluxia?"

"It-… Just never mind."

"This conversation isn't about us, is it?" Riku stood behind them with Sora at his side. Great, they'd been caught. Fortunately, Axel was not concerned with things like tact and thus didn't attempt a cover story. He straightened up completely, walking past the two to sit down.

"Actually it was." He moved one leg up to rest on his knee, leaned back in his chair and glared at Demyx. "We'll stay for one hour, and then we're leaving."

Demyx gave the two a look that almost screamed yeah-sorry-but-that's-as-good-as-you'll-get-from-him. Sora responded before Riku could. "We'll see what happens." Someone like that really shouldn't try to sound threatening.

Their one instance of luck was that by now all of the stretchers had stopped coming in. Only those with minor injuries remained. There were plenty of chairs for the five of them. Against the wall there was a small table with kids books and old magazines, and chairs came out from it at perpendicular angles. Demyx, Axel and Roxas took chairs against the wall, while Sora and Riku stayed on the other side of the table where chairs extended into the room. There was nothing left now but to wait.

Some in the group were not very good at waiting. Sora fidgeted around in his seat, once in a while asking if Riku was okay or otherwise moaning about his head hurting. Within the first ten minutes he had done all that and also read all the short books on the table out of sheer boredom. Everyone could see the slow progression to him stretching out on the seats and trying to drift off.

There was something weirdly intimate about the way Riku muttered to him. "I don't want you sleeping." Being around them was somewhat uncomfortable for everyone who wasn't them.

"But I'm bored. What else can I do?"

"I'm not your mom, Sora, but if you do have a concussion you shouldn't sleep."

"…No fair." He dragged himself up from the seats, bleary eyes scanning the others. His feet tapped against the ground. "Hey, Roxas was your name, right?"

Roxas didn't respond until he had calculated it carefully, it seemed. Surely then whatever came out of his mouth would be a truly scholarly statement that would last through the ages. "Yeah."

Sora wasn't actually sure where he had been taking that. Roxas looked like an interesting person. And they were right that they looked a lot alike. Their eyes and their hair were a bit different but other than that they could be, like, mirror images. Hey, cool! Maybe he'd found his secret long-lost twin or something. Maybe they had like, reverse fingerprints or something. Twins have that, right? He had a friend growing up who had a twin, and he always wanted one too. But his mom never said anything about it, and he was pretty sure he was an only child. But if it was like some crazy mystery where it turned out they were separated at birth that would be so freaking awesome!

He decided then that even if it wasn't true, he'd pretend that Roxas was his twin. Did that mean he should act like him, too? Or maybe they could be opposite twins. Roxas was kind of crouchy and quiet, so maybe he could be the bad twin. Sora would definitely be the good one. Or was it cooler to be bad?

His pretend-twin was looking at him like he was supposed to be doing something. …Oh, yeah. He did just start a conversation with him, didn't he? He probably should be saying something then. But what did he have to say? "Um, so…What sort of… stuff d'you like?"

"Uh… Just whatever." It was simply not possible for Roxas's brain to bullshit conversation if he honestly did not want to be a part of it. "Music, running, sleeping. …Freedom."

Demyx leaned closer to Roxas's chair. "Man, your life is so boring."

"Freedom? That's like, deep." Sora, apparently, was impressed.

Axel snorted. "Running? You mean you did track and field and all that shit?"

Roxas was trying to keep track of several different conversations at a time. "Yes, I do track and field. Or I did back in high school. And what do you mean it's boring?"

It was hard to be heard over Axel's laughter (and something that sounded like 'first the boyband, now this'). "I mean it's boring. My life is cool. I was in a band."

"So what does freedom even mean? Wait, you were in a band? That's wicked! Can you sing me one of your songs?"

"Um… I never did vocals. I don't remember a lot of words, just chords." His fingers moved automatically to where he would have played on his sitar. Inwardly he sighed. The wound from being kicked out had been steadily healing by being around Axel, Roxas and the others until it had been brought up again. Man, that stung.

Riku was not so eager to talk to the people that had put him in this situation. Honestly. He would never understand how Sora was so trusting and so amiable with anyone he met. He rested his elbows against his knees and blocked out the conversation. His eyes were intent on the workers in scrubs bustling around the doors.

Sora shrugged, rubbing his aching head again. "Then maybe you can just play some time."

"If I get the chance I guess, but it's kind of not allowed in a hospital."

"Oh yeah…" The conversation looked like it was going to fall flat. Sora shifted his weight again and again, then looked at Roxas. "So um, before all this happened, where were you going?"

That was a pretty good question. Roxas wasn't sure what Axel's… and, he supposed partly his, plans went from here. "I think we were going to pick someone up. And then… I don't know."

"You didn't know where you were going?"

"Not really. We play it by day."

Sora's eyes practically glowed with admiration. "That's really cool, I wish I could do something like that. I bet it's nice, not having any responsibilities." (Axel snorted) "Must be pretty carefree."

Roxas wrinkled his nose. Something bothered him about Sora thinking the blond had it better than him. "You don't know where you might sleep, where your next meal is coming from, or whether the money will run out. And there's really no where all that interesting to go."

"It's better than always sitting at home. Or being in school."

"Amen." Demyx gave Sora a lazy high-five. He hesitated another moment before asking, "So, where were you guys going on a bus so late at night?"

He didn't have much concept of what was prying, and Axel just didn't care so reluctantly Roxas stepped in. "They could have just been crossing the street, Dem."

"With all that stuff?" He waved toward their bags.

Sora glanced quickly at Riku, who didn't respond. Which was surprising, actually. He turned back and seemed to deliberate over his answer. "We were going to see my great uncle, Cid. We're supposed to stay with him for a while." That reminded him, he was still supposed to call Uncle Cid and let him know they were coming. Technically, he kind of, sort of didn't exactly, specifically know they were going to show up at his door the next day. It was getting late now, so he probably shouldn't until tomorrow. Come to think of it, where were they going to stay tonight? Would they be in the hospital all night?

It still didn't make a lot of sense to Demyx. "Isn't it Sunday? You'd leave on a school night?"

"Duh. Anyway, I've done it before. It's not the first time I went off on an adventure and didn't come home for a while. I've missed tons of school already." He seemed to be oddly proud of that fact.

Axel's eyes opened. "That's surprisingly badass of you."

Sora couldn't help but grin a little. "How is that surprising."

"I mean, look at you, first of all. Then, you like kids cartoons, you talk like a kid in grade school and you're always fussing over your little boyfriend."

"Riku's not my boyfriend." He laughed, and Riku looked up as well, rolling his eyes. They must have gotten that a lot. "We're just old friends." The 'old' made it a little more believable, to be honest.

"Lame." Demyx frowned. "I thought it was cute." Axel laughed, mentioning something about how gay fangirling was. Sora joined in laughing. Straight, gay, or anything else on the spectrum, he wasn't upset about Riku being called his boyfriend even if it was incorrect.

The way they acted with each other, that was unexpected. Roxas didn't want to comment, though. He wasn't much on conversation in the first place. For more reasons now than just that. Being around Sora was freaking him out. He really did look like him… it made him think of Ven. He was beginning to miss him more every day, but there was no way he was going to turn back.

He wished things had been normal. Right now he could have been home with his twin, zoning out and watching some movie, both of them fighting to rest their legs over top of the other one. Their homework would be tossed behind the couch, maybe finished if they felt like it or maybe not. When Cloud came home he would mock-scold them and then join them for a bit. But ever the cool one, he would have something more interesting and grown-up and mysterious-big-brotherish to do and the twins would have just each other again. Their lives weren't all that exciting. Roxas was comfortable, but with things too content he had grown restless.

Things have this habit of changing, and Roxas had left it all behind when he walked out of the house that day. Over the past week he'd managed to get from there to here and meet all new people at a pace he couldn't possibly keep up with. He hardly knew a thing about them, he thought. The more he longed for home, the less he wanted to socialize with these practically unknown people. It was childish, but he didn't want them right now. He wanted his brothers. He wanted his old friends.

But he'd begun to get off topic even in his own mind. Not only did the loneliness echo much deeper around Sora, but it made him paranoid. There was this creeping feeling that Sora might know everything about him. Probably because he reminded Roxas so much of home, but it unsettled him.

Axel dropped out of the conversation soon after that as well and just listened. Demyx, Sora and occasionally Riku were capable of keeping it up as long as they needed to. Their ability to talk was astounding, even for someone as loud-mouthed and blunt as him. He kept on glancing at the clock. Ten to nine, five to nine, ten after nine. He really and truly hated being on a schedule. The idea of having to be anywhere at a certain time was somewhat counterproductive to the whole freedom thing. Goddamn it.

'Once again, penis, this is your fault. But since when was that news to anyone?'

He looked up again after listening to a long dialogue between the most talkative of the group about how much or how little you could actually learn about fighting from video games (some real intellectual, worldly topics from those two). The one-hour mark had passed faster than he thought. He could let it slide for a few minutes. Fuck Marluxia, he was getting a free ride, he could wait. Besides, he didn't feel like getting up.

Things in the waiting room were clearing up significantly as person after person was called in from their chairs. Sora and Demyx talked through it all. Eventually, when it seemed they were the only ones left, Riku got up to speak to the receptionist again.

His wrist had begun to seize up, slowly but surely limiting its movement. He wanted to get some professional care before he lost mobility of it. Alright, so perhaps that was a bit dramatic. Regardless, he knew what he was supposed to ask for him and Sora. He waited until he had her attention. "Could I request we see Doctor Leonhart if he's got time? Not even to treat us if he's that busy. We're relatives of his."

She didn't believe it on Riku's part, but the relation was clear enough in Sora. She thought on it for a moment."I'll call him if he's available."

"Thank you very much." The woman stood and left her desk to check with another nurse. Riku joined them again, muttering briefly to Sora.

Sora himself could hardly be pulled away from his description to hear whatever Riku was trying to tell him. "Yeah, okay. So like I was saying, you have to actually see them to believe it but I totally did. They're kind of like bugs because of the… uh… what's the word, antennae things, but a they're little bit like cats too and they walk on two feet. They're all black and they have these huge yellow eyes."

Demyx was snickering. "No way, I saw those in a movie once. You dreamed that you saw them." How exactly was he talking like he knew Sora so well? The three on the outside were wondering almost the same thing, and no one could figure it out.

"I did not, because Riku remembers that day I was with him, don't you?"

Riku grinned. "Sorry, Sora, I don't know what you're talking about."

"What? But it was real! You just weren't with me when I actually saw them. Anyway, people have been studying them too, and why would they study something that's not real."

Axel raised his head, bordering on laughing. "People study Bigfoot too."

"So...? Bigfoot is so real, too." Sora shrank a little. It seemed everyone was against him on this.

Riku's good hand clasped Sora's shoulder. "Give it up, man. How's your head, by the way?"

He rounded on his pale friend. "But-… Oh, it's, um, it feels a little better than before."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"So am I." This voice was deeper, with a rough and smoky edge to it.

The five turned towards a taller man, clearly a doctor by his uniform. Other than that though, he didn't look a thing like a doctor. He was muscular with a hard-set jaw and piercing eyes. The diagonal slash across his face made him look dangerous and downright, well, cool. His hair matched Sora's in colour but it grew longer and was not nearly so wild. The spikes he had turned down and currently they were held back for sanitary reasons. He would have looked way better as some kind of motorcyclist or superspy than a doctor.

"So, d'you think you can look at us Leon?" 'Leon' was his nickname taken from the surname he'd changed to after he'd left his family. Squall, his given name, was on his legal documents and his nametag, but you definitely should not have called him that to his face. Almost everything about his former family had been shed but his ties with certain members. Sora, his nephew (Leon was much younger than his sister), still spoke to him from time to time, in secret.

"I can take a quick look. It's too bad we had to meet again like this. What happened to you?"

Sora glanced up at his uncle with an almost guilty look. "Um, I'll explain later. That's why we asked to see you."

Roxas froze instantly when Leon entered the room and he attempted to inch out of his seat unnoticed. Most of the doctor's attention was on Sora and Riku anyway. Axel threw up his arms. "Doctor's here, we're off."

"Hold on a minute." Demyx looked conflicted. "I think I want to stay. At least until they get treated."

Axel's hands almost went to his hips before he caught himself doing it. "You want me to drive all the way to that club and then back here to get you?"

He sunk a little into his shirt. "Yes-… Well, I mean, drive Marluxia wherever he's going first. You've got nowhere to go after that anyway, right?"

"What if it takes all night?"

He waved it off, glancing at Sora and Riku who were still talking to that doctor, uh… Sora said his name was Leon, he thought. "Then I'll bunk with these guys. Riku said they can't go anywhere else tonight so we might just get another motel room."

"Do you have any money?"

"Well, no."Demyx had this incredible lack of critical thinking. It was almost amazing that he'd mastered the art of walking and talking, sometimes even at the same time. "But they'll probably spot me if we really need to. They're not so bad."

Axel almost laughed. "Don't count on it. Remember, they're the ones that dragged us here and made us stay way past what was needed. And that kid is fine, he doesn't even act hurt."

"Axel, they're really not that bad."

He raised his hand to Demyx's mouth to silence him. "You know what? I've got to make an hour and a half drive in forty-five minutes, and I think I've really done more arguing than I want to today. So I will gracefully take my leave. Stay here if you want, but you owe me. And Rox-… Where is Roxas?"

Demyx glanced in every direction, but the blond could not be found anywhere in the waiting room. He seemed to have disappeared in a puff of smoke, because he could have sworn he'd been there just a moment ago. "I guess he must have gone to the washroom or something. I'll catch up with him when he gets out."

It didn't make any sense for Roxas to just leave, so Axel believed that one. It really, really didn't make any sense... really. There was no motivation to leave if he wasn't already going to, he had nowhere to go, and most of his money was with Axel. The redhead sighed. He wasn't in charge of watching everyone like a day care teacher, so he left the hospital and that was the end of that train of thought.

He swung his keys dexterously around his fingers. It wasn't difficult to find the van. It was exceptionally shitty in a parking lot of mediocre cars. Over a bit of a hill was the lot full of shiny, expensive sports cars mixed in with dull SUVs (the staff parking lot). Man, what he wouldn't give to have a sleek car in the deepest black or maybe crimson to match his hair. The kind with just the slightly flashy spoilers with accents in whichever colour the car wasn't. Oh, and with the over-exaggerated roar when the engine kicked in and it practically flew down the street. That sound that usually makes people think the driver is compensating for something – which Axel would like to note, he was not because he had absolutely no flaws in that area. That was his dream car.

But, here on Earth, in reality, he had the old van with the rusted paintjob, the doors that stuck, sputtering engine, broken air conditioning, and it still ate up gas like a bandit. Fuck life, it wasn't even close to fair. He made his way over and almost started when he realized someone was leaning on it. Someone small, blond and petulant. Oh.

"Roxas? What are you doing out here?"

His arms crossed, and Axel received quite the look. Oh, right, he was coming with him. That should have been obvious by the fact that he was out here and not in there. Axel could totally put two and two together, shut up. But why the hell did Roxas want to come with him? Last time he checked he was more or less being ignored because Roxas was still mad about… Uh, whatever he was mad about this time. Did he hate being around Sora and Riku that much? He did seem to get tense and if it was possible even more inclined to avoid people around Sora. Something was weird about the connection between the identical not-brothers. He got along just fine with Demyx though, much better than being alone with the eccentric redhead.

'Too much thinking, brain. Don't even try to understand, it will never work.' He seemed to be having a running exchange with his body parts today. But you know what, that was just fine. He'd given up on making sense long, long ago in the days of old.

To sum things up and to avoid narrating the painfully awkward few moments that passed between the two, Axel didn't ask and they both got in the car.

Getting back out onto the highway was complicated and Axel didn't want any speaking going on anyway, so that was just fine. Once he'd gotten his bearings the silence was filling the car in a way that almost suffocated him. One could almost see the unapproachable aura radiating off of Roxas and making him seem to grow that much bigger. He was being crushed by the tension. But, being who he was, that would never stop him.

"So I'm thinking I'll make Demyx start driving the car as soon as we pick him up. In return for me having to haul my ass back out there for him." He wondered if he pissed him off more if that would evoke some – any – kind of response. Might as well check if he was even listening. "Or maybe I could just get him on his knees while I'm driving and he can suck me off to repay me." He laughed a bit, which ended as that horrible, fading 'ehh' noise one makes when they realise the person they're speaking to either didn't find that funny at all or were flat-out ignoring them.

Right, that didn't work in the slightest. Okay, new approach. There was no way he wouldn't respond to a direct question. He would have to admit that he was being childish if he did that, and Axel knew for a fact that he hated the kind of people that he was acting like right now. "What a fucked up night, eh? Here I thought this would be simple, but that's my fault for being too charitable. Did you figure you'd be here when you conned your way into my car?"

There was a stretching silence before Roxas even raised his head. "No. How could I?"

"… I guess that's a good point. I'm getting exhausted having to chauffer everyone around every day. No more picking up randoms after this, I swear." No response on that one either. That was no good. He wasn't in the mood to pussyfoot around, wondering what could possibly be amiss in Roxas's oh-so-important world.

'That's right, the princess can suck it up because I'm not playing mind games with him. I don't date chicks because I don't want to do this stupid shit.'

"So, why are you pissed off this time?" He almost forgot to add on. "And if you say, 'nothing', I swear to god I'm booting you out onto the highway."

"N-…" He breathed deeply. There was no gain in avoiding telling Axel and he had no problems with being upfront. "You were a complete ass at that club. You made me dance, which I hate doing, and you left with some guy without telling me you were leaving."

"So you're mad I left with some guy? I'm touched."

Roxas sat up very straight, irate that Axel would think he would be as clingy as that. "No, I'm mad that you just disappeared and left me on my own surrounded by freaks and having no idea where I was." He took a quick breath. "And you never came back. And apparently I drank enough that I passed out there."

"You got pretty upset about that then, didn't you?"

"Whatever." Roxas was beginning to lean towards the window again. Oh no, he would not let him off the hook so easily! For a moment, Axel envisioned himself grabbing Roxas's collar and forcing him to pay attention. That could come very close to the beginning of a bad porno. Hm, that almost had merit. No, focusing!

Instead of doing anything that was running through his head (Especially the porno. Sigh.), he just kept on talking. If Axel could do anything, it was talk. Well, that and be wickedly gorgeous and a sex god. Oh, and being the most humble person ever. Ever. "While we're playing twenty questions, I've got another one for you."

Roxas didn't say anything, which Axel understood was his invitation to keep talking. "Why'd you suddenly get so eager to come with me? I mean, you booked it out of there."

Silence again. This was turning out to be such a compelling conversation. As expected of Roxas. Fortunately, at that moment Axel had a brainchild. Not a literal one because that would be disgusting and against nature and wouldn't even make sense. No, he had just pieced together the memory from twenty minutes ago and probably figured out the answer for himself. "Correct me if I'm wrong, I do love to make up stories, but… was it something to do with that doctor who showed up?"

Unsurprisingly, Roxas wasn't talking. But his shoulders seemed to hunch more and he stared more determinedly out the window. The blond teenager felt Axel's eyes on him and somehow knew that he had already been discovered before Axel had asked the question. He couldn't possibly know everything though. There was no way. It was just the way he acted, it had been too obvious. No big deal.

He inhaled, speaking in the most reluctant tone he could muster. "…I knew him from before, that's all."

Ooh, at risk of sounding like a raging queen - that was juicy. Axel leaned a little more over the steering wheel and grinned too-widely at him. "So, you're hiding from him too?"

"I never said I was hiding." Roxas didn't know why he was still talking. He most certainly did not want to say anything more, but he did. "I just didn't want to talk to him. He'd recognise me and it'd be awkward because no one has heard from me since I left home."

But it was too late to stop Axel. Now he wanted to keep making up Roxas's supposed life. Who cared that it was bullshit, it was fun. "So. What you're saying is that no one is supposed to find you. Therefore, something scandalous is going on." Man, was he ever having a gayfest tonight.

"Crazy talk." His lips tilted up just the slightest bit, but he refused to smile. Axel was absolutely ridiculous, and to Roxas's divine horror, he was beginning to get used to it.

There was something of an understanding, though Axel hadn't officially apologized, that the issue about the club would soon be blown over. Roxas wouldn't forget about it, though, and he might bring it out again if it had a use in the future. If there was one thing he had learned about being around Axel, it was the faster he let the little things go, the better. The more he held grudges, he more he would be teased for it. For someone more stubborn than the grouchiest mule, it would be a lesson Roxas needed ground into him. Why did it feel like he was always losing in these situations? Besides all that, though, the tiny stupid, whiny, hated back part of his mind had begun to wonder if he would be ignored again if he went on being stubborn. And that part of his mind that he wanted dead and buried was afraid of that. Stupid brain.

Maybe it wasn't worth it. Having to think about all these conflicting things instead of just figuring things out alone and being himself. It wasn't a challenge at home. Everyone knew what he was like because they had experienced all of Roxas's life as he grew up. Even when they took flack from him, it wouldn't necessarily be held against him. They knew he could be fun and playful at times as well. Here and now, well he would have to work for his image. Again, he wanted to be home. But he couldn't, he knew he couldn't. Even with that being the case, should the place he stayed instead really be here?

"I've been thinking…" Axel, who must have thought he was done talking, looked back at him. "I think I should just get you to drop me off somewhere and leave."

Axel gazed onto the road again. His expression didn't change. "That would make my life easier."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." He was almost surprised. Despite his sulking, he hadn't been expecting such an immediate, clean-cut answer. "Do you support it?"

"I don't know, man, up to you."

He shifted in his seat. Now that he'd brought it up, he would have to finish it. Meaning he would have to think about it seriously. "I'm not exactly happy here. I'm tense and pissed off all the time, way more than I was before I got here."

"Well…" Axel clicked his tongue. What an annoying habit. "I have no reason to keep you here. I don't owe anything to you and you're impossible to get along with. Not fun like Demyx or anything."

"We've established that." Were it humanly possible, Roxas might have become even more monotone. None of this was helping Axel help him. Did Roxas really want to leave? That seemed a bit harsh. Roxas didn't seem quite self-hating enough to think that he, himself, was causing everyone misery. So then it had more to do with the other people in the car. …Didn't that just make him feel all warm and appreciated.

He groaned. "I don't know, Rox. Have you got a reason to stay?" He half-hoped Roxas would say Demyx, maybe even him. He wouldn't be that generous. Dare to dream, Axel.

"No, but I've also got nowhere to go if I leave." His eyes hardened. "And it's Roxas." He despised any of the shortened names used around him. Especially Roxy. His name was not, and had never been Roxanne, so Roxy was not a nickname for his name. If lynching were still in style, people would be a lot more careful about calling him Roxy. Ugh.

"Fine, Rox-ass." He played with the word in his mouth, as though testing how it felt. "Then if you've got no real reason to stay, but no place to go… what's so bad about staying?"

"Simple. You annoy me."

"You annoy me too, sugar." He grinned, amending his statement. "But you would annoy me a lot less if you didn't bitch about every little thing."

"Does this mean we've come to a truce?"

"No way, we'd just break it and get on each other's backs again." The redhead snorted, turning onto a nearby exit. He really hoped they were going in the right direction. They were going on Axel-navigation so they could end up just about anywhere.

"So the deal is we just keep annoying each other?"

"More or less."

"… Okay, I can live with that." Axel chanced a look over and-… Oh, sweet Jesus, Roxas was smiling! Lord be praised, it was possible! This was a grand discovery for man. It could reinvent science's way of thinking about anything and everything. Or maybe it just looked out of place. But that was a boring way to think of it.

Things fell silent again after that. Axel wasn't sure how much longer he had. At least he'd managed to find out a smidgen of information, and now he knew why Roxas had been acting so… well, not exactly weird today. He glanced at the clock. They were already late to picking up Marluxia, but Axel planned on taking his sweet time if he damn well wanted to.

Axel couldn't help but think this felt a lot like the first few days he had spent alone in the car with Roxas.

It was well past midnight when they pulled up to the now-familiar club. They were over an hour late, but it seemed that the tension had eased.

And now they were faced with the raging pink-haired man. He looked a lot more stressed than the snippy holier-than-thou bouncer they'd met yesterday, but no one could mistake that face, that body and that hair. Wisely, Roxas stayed in the car while Axel braved the attack and went out to meet him.

"What in god's name took you so long?"

"Nice to see you again too."

He tapped his designer shoes against the sidewalk. "I said eleven. You do know how to read a clock don't you, Axel dear?"

"I did take the fifth grade. To be fair I was usually distracted by this boy who sat in front of me and to the left. I mean, hormones hadn't kicked in yet, but oh did he have the best lunch snacks."

Marluxia made a sound of disgust. "Spare me."

Axel let that one slide. He was getting so very tired now that it was growing late and he really just wanted to finish this errand. "Alright, I'm done. So, where am I taking you? Is this going to take long?"

"It might, depending on how far you can get in a day."

"Again, I ask, where am I taking you?"

Marluxia's weight shifted to his other hip and a slender finger rested not quite against his chin, but giving the illusion of that (He avoided touching his face as much as possible, the oils could wreak havoc on his divine complexion). "It isn't so much where you're taking me. There's someone you need to pick up for me when I get there."

"Another-? No, just, nevermind. Get in." He could not believe what his life was turning into. But he could not get into a battle of will with Marluxia. No one ever should, because he will win.

He muttered that the door was open and the flamboyant man helped himself inside. "Ugh, I'm being made to sit in the back seats. Peasantry."

"Sure is, Queen Marluxia. And you're getting a ride for free to just bite your tongue and get used to it."

"As if I would."

Roxas noted that anything they said to each other just bounced off and they kept up the dry banter. That truly was a sign of them being friends once.

Axel was busy adjusting his mirrors. "Anyway, I still don't know where I'm going. Want to drop a hint at who I'm picking up?"

"You remember Zexion, don't you?"

"Of course I know Zexion, he was my best friend. I said goodbye to him on the day I left."

Wait a minute, Zexion had – and to the best of his knowledge, still did – live in the same area that Axel had all through high school. And he was supposed to go get him now?

That meant… that Axel would have to go home.

So this chapter very nearly killed me. I don't know why it took so long to write, and I have no excuse.

Here in good old Canada, pretty much everyone can come into a hospital, and for minor things, you could be in the waiting room all night. No joke. I have no idea how it works anywhere else in the world.

I'm thinking about putting this and Virus on hiatus for about a month or so (says the one who just took a month to write a chapter) after I update them both again. Just to give me time to write something else for a bit. I haven't been having an easy time generating interest in them so I'm looking for another way to refresh my own interest in them.

So let me know anything you'd like to see happen, or just tell me what you think.