A/N: A rather large chapter this time around. Hopefully, it will mean that this story won't be dragged on forever, lol. Enjoy:D


Zexion - 1 month later

Sitting crossed legged on Demyx's bed, my head was tilted as I stared at his sleeping form. His lips were slightly parted, and I'd moved a bit so that the sunlight coming from the window could fall gently onto his face, the sunshine glittering through his soft blond hair. Tilting my head the other way, I reached out and tucked the blanket up onto his shoulder more neatly, not wanting him to get cold.

To say that my relationship with him was easy, would be a lie. After that first kiss, it had taken a while for me to calm the mad, rushing thoughts in my mind, trying to take control. Usually it was One's voice reminding me of the Organization rules, or Four's training lessons flashing, reminding me of everything I was doing wrong. I'd broken all the rules and my allegiance to the Organization was relatively uncertain and quite damaged. It had scared me at first.

Being with Demyx, even if his kisses could lift me high into the sky, felt like I was being poisoned with the love I harbored for him. But then, one night, he'd asked me to stay. I could barely deny him anything, so of course I'd found a way to have One permit me twelve more hours off base, lying through my teeth to obtain the extra time with Demyx. That fear had bubbled at first, making me think that manipulating the trust One had in me to my advantage, would get us both killed. Instead though, being able to sleep in his arms had been everything I needed to calm those angry thoughts down.

He was my anchor, as though when things became complicated, only Demyx was able to make me forget about it and see how truly amazing it was to be with him. Smiling at his wrinkled nose, I reached over and flicked a lock of hair out of his face, knowing that had been bothering him. He was beautiful. Or gorgeous. I liked how that word sounded. It sounded like a mouth full of ice cream. Ice cream was delicious. Demyx had made me taste it and Demyx was definitely just as good as ice cream.

I glanced at his eyes and was surprised that they were open and staring back at me, his lips curling into a gentle smile. "Are you watching me sleep again?" Stretching out his arms, he grunted as I heard his vertebrae popping. He relaxed and reached for my hand. "You should have woken me. I'd rather hang out with you than sleep."

Lying down onto my belly, I smiled as I could see him up close now, always feeling warm when I was near him. "You know I like to watch you sleep." Giving him my hand, I laced our fingers together, placing a kiss on one of his knuckles. "It's a peaceful sight. Makes me feel as though I'm in a sanctuary."

"Quit making me blush, silly boy." He gave me a quick closed mouth kiss on my lips. When I pouted as he pulled away, he simply shook his head and laughed. "Morning breath. I am not going to kiss my boyfriend with morning breath. Bad etiquette and all that. But let me up, I can shower and then we can do something together. Kairi has the store today." He did grant me a nearly bone-crushing hug in place of my morning kiss, so it wasn't all bad. "You okay to hang out, or is One needing something today?"

Pressing my lips together at the tone of his voice when he spoke of the Organization, I stopped myself from reassuring him yet again for the millionth time that One or any other number had no idea I was seeing him behind their backs.

"I do have a mission to attend to in less than two hours." I admitted. He hated it that I was a number, strangely enough, not so much because of the crime they committed and I was implicated in, but he feared for my safety. "I've asked for twelve more hours off base twice in a row today, Demyx, I can't ask for another twelve, One will be suspicious if I come back with no intel after having been gone for 36 hours."

He sighed, but I knew by now that he wasn't upset at me. "I get it. I suppose I shouldn't waste what little time we do have together being upset that I can't have you around all the time." Rolling off of me and releasing me from the hug, he laid back against his pillow and gave me a pained look. "What in the world are we supposed to do together in two hours? I suppose we could grab some breakfast from the ramen stand after my shower."

I was so incredibly sick of ramen. "How about I go get the ramen while you shower? That way we gain some minutes." Bouncing off the bed, I bent down and placed a soft kiss against his lips, that rush still there every time I did so. I'd eat ramen forever for him. "I love you." I told him in a whisper. I'd said it to him before, he hadn't told me it back yet though. I wasn't worried or upset. I'd read that some people needed more time to realize what exactly it is they felt for their lover. Then again, we hadn't consummated our relationship as of yet, so maybe I couldn't truly call him my lover.

"I know." He whispered back and gave me a return kiss on my cheek. "No peeking in on my shower and don't forget the fortune cookies." His hand snuck around and patted my backside before he smirked at me and turned to head into the bathroom.


Demyx - Later that day

"The other day, the other day, I met a bear, I met a bear, in tennis shoes, in tennis shoes, Oh way up there! Oh way up there! The other day I met a bear, in tennis shoes oh way up there!" Seriously, the best camping song ever created.

It was such a nice day outside, and I was in a pretty good mood despite the fact that Roxas had called and told me I needed trudge out in the middle of nowhere to the Lustitia base and report or something. And because it was in the middle of nowhere, it reminded me of camping as a child, which in turn reminded me of my favorite camping song, and there ya go. Not to mention that this far away from people meant I could sing at the top of my lungs and no one was going to whine about it.

This was the first time that I was going to be actually meeting Roxas at the base. Normally he just called and I'd tell him stuff; I didn't understand why he needed me there. I admit I was actually curious about this whole thing. As often as I didn't think about my relationship with Six when he was around, the 'mission' was always in the back of my mind.

I knew Roxas wasn't the only agent in the area, and since Axel had spilled that he had two agents in charge of 'protecting' him, I figured there could be dozens of agents around and I'd never know. I groaned when I realized that that meant there could be dozens of people who knew about me and my relationship with Six. Talk about no privacy. Not to mention that it was pretty creepy. Roxas was gonna get an earful if he was being a gossip about me.

I spotted a cottage through the trees and I figured that it had to be the base. And that was confirmed when I tried to ring the doorbell and it turned into some sort of fancy keypad. I rolled my eyes.

"Roxas, I know you're in there! Lemme in, stupid!"

I heard many sounds of unlocking, keys beeping and then after a curse, the door opened, revealing my cousin's red headed fiance. "It's not like the Organization will use the door if they figure out this is where we are. They'll just bomb their way in." Axel growled out, kicking the stupid, overly well protected door. Then he chuckled. "Then again, they've lost Number Eight, not sure One can handle the bombs." Stepping aside he waved me in. "How you doing, Dem?"

I grinned, giving him a nod. "Pretty good, Axel. And yourself?" I breathed a sigh of relief. If Axel was here, it made this place slightly less intimidating. He moved aside so I could make my way past him. The entry opened up into a living area with an arched doorway that I could see led into a kitchen. The room was fairly normal looking, despite the obvious creepy agent design. It was horribly cliché and the floral pattern was hideous. I wrinkled my nose. "Horrible 80's sitcom, much?"

"Leon won't let me re-decorate." He shrugged. "Come on, follow me. Stay glued to my side if you want. They're all in the conference room shouting at each other since none of them can agree, like, ever." Wrapping an arm around my shoulders, he guided me through the living area and then into a hallway.

"You know your cousin and me. Leonhart is the agent in charge of this base and the case. He's got a stick up his ass, so you've been warned." He smiled tightly my way. "Then there's Cartwright and Legrand. They're together, so they can't give you shit on your situation with Six, since they're breaking more rules than Six is when you compare the Lustitia system to that of the Organization." Good to know. "Riku is the silent brooding type, whereas Sora is-" Stopping before a door, he knocked and then threw it open. "Well, he's Sora." Nudging me into the room where a simple wooden table stood with chairs around it, I saw all the Agents sitting there, having gone silent when Axel and I had come in.

"Demyx, welcome." Ah, that must be Agent Leonhart or Leon. He was tall, with brown hair and I internally cringed at the scar across his face. That must have hurt. Hmm, he looked kinda familiar, but I couldn't place it. I glanced at the two other agents besides Roxas and did a slight double take when I saw the taller agent had silver hair. That looked very familiar. It was almost the same shade as Six's and I wondered which one he was. Leon cleared that up for me, pointing at the shorter spiky haired guy, then the silver dude. "Agents' Sora Legrand and Riku Cartwright. They are the agents in charge of Axel and are supposed to keep him in line." His voice clearly was digging at them, reminding them of when he'd snuck out. Roxas rolled his eyes, but straightened when Leon glanced suspiciously at him.

"Oh would you let it go?" Axel said, sitting down beside Rox, pulling my cousin in for a quick kiss. "I was trained to run and hide like the best since age four by the Organization. That they even noticed I was gone is a miracle alone."

"Axel!" Sora snapped. "He's your superior now too. Show him some effing respect." The short agent smacked Axel over the back of his head.

"Shut up, Axel." Leon sighed, making me think it was a phrase he was used to repeating all the time. "Demyx sit down. We need to talk." Very ominous sounding and I felt my stomach clench. This obviously wasn't a 'let's invite him here for a BBQ' meeting. It was a 'something is wrong' meeting.

"Relax, Dem." Yeah right, Roxas. Easy for you to say. I raised an eyebrow at him, letting him know that I wasn't about to relax in a room full of Lustitia agents. He stuck his tongue out at me discretely while his superior wasn't looking

Leon took a deep breath, shuffled his papers and then leaned forward to start whatever it was he was going to start. "Demyx. This past month has been rather disappointing, information wise. I know that you were pulled into this rather unwillingly, but we do appreciate your help." He glanced down and pulled a piece of paper from the pile in front of him.

"That being said," Oh boy, not good. "I have decided that this entire mission is not going the way it should and I am therefore obligated to end it, pulling you from being in contact with Six. His involvement hasn't been discussed by my superiors, for obvious reasons." He glared my way. "So, all they are aware of, is that we are trying to make contact with the Organization, and that things are failing. And since we are failing with that, we have been ordered to end the mission." His tone was off. He had been given orders, but he clearly didn't like them.

My jaw dropped and I couldn't seem to get my voice out of my throat as he went on. "Until further notice, the music store will be closed, and Demyx O'Malley will be relocated to the mainland and set up in witness protection. Axel Montenegro will also be relocated. Agents Legrand and Cartwright will be reassigned and Senior Agent Leonhart is hereby summoned for a yearly review." I could see the rest of the people in the room getting just as upset as I was, as Leon finished reading from the correspondence he'd gotten.

While Riku was calmly placing a hand over Sora's mouth to keep the shorter agent from saying things he'd most likely regret, Roxas' mouth was hanging open and Leon looked somewhat frustrated with the paperwork he was holding. Silence dragged on long enough for it to surprise everyone when Axel started to laugh.

"That's subtle. Six will totally not notice at all that something is off. It will so not set off any alarms and he so won't look into Demyx's disappearing act." Sarcasm ahoy. "You think the Organization isn't aware that there are agents on this island? It's their home base, those fuckers know everything!" He was angry now. "Your superiors know this, Leonhart. Retreating from a location in a blink of an eye and with the Organization aware we are here or not, is much too risky because if they are aware, they'll know something fucked up."

"Shut up, Axel! You think I like this? You think I don't know that this is the most fucking asinine thing that could be done?" Leon ran a hand through his hair in frustration and he slammed his fist into the table, making me jump in surprise. "Do you fucking know what a 'yearly review' is? It's a fancy way of saying I'm in deep shit trouble, thank you very much!" This was really bad. I looked at Roxas and he was looking more and more upset about it all. As much as I didn't want to interrupt, I figured that I owed these guys some information that Six had let spill.

"Fix it!" Axel shouted at Leon. "Hate me as much as you want. But fix the fucking situation before the Organization takes us all down one by fucking one. Which, believe me, pull Demyx away from Six now and the Organization will be on our asses in no time."

Leon slumped back into his seat and heaved a huge sigh. "The only way to fix this, would be to delicately explain the contact that has happened with Demyx and Six. I haven't wanted to say anything, but maybe if I just tell them we have contact with Six, but not how, then we can get the mission un-aborted." He sounded thoughtful, but my stomach plummeted at his words. Of the many things that Six had let slip in his conversations to me, and the conversations that he'd had with One in front of me, I'd come to realize that the agency wasn't as squeaky clean as Roxas made it out to be.

I doubt even he knew that there were people working within it who were on the Organization's payroll. And if they found out that I was talking to Six? He'd be as good as dead. So many rules were being broken by him and I doubt that the Organization would be at all lenient with its newest member.

"That is a BAD BAD BAD idea!" I yelled frantically, fearing that if the Organization retaliated at Six, they wouldn't hesitate to kill all of the agents currently on the islands; basically everyone who was in this room.

"Easy, Demyx. Let's use our inside voices please." Roxas gave me a disbelieving smile and held up his hand to stop Leon from speaking. "Let's hear what his reasons are first, Leonhart, before yelling at my cousin for interrupting. He has as much right to be speaking up here as everyone else." Leon paused and waved his hand at me.

"Look. Basically, your entire agency is compromised at this point. There are people in there that are on the Organization's payroll. If they find out that Six is talking to you guys? He's dead, I'm dead, and you are all dead too." This was not good. Either we were all pulled from the islands or we all got to die. "Look." My mind had been trying to come up with a solution and ease my guilt a bit and if it was going to work, then I really needed to sell it to them here and now. "Six has agreed to meet Roxas." Not exactly true, but I was reaching for straws. If Six did meet Roxas, then the agents could push the information gathering from Six, and I wouldn't feel like I was betraying him every two seconds. I took a deep breath. "He knows Roxas is an agent, so it's fine." Liar, liar, pants on fire!

While all the agents looked both perplexed and almost happy with what I'd just given them, Axel's was the only one who's eyebrow was raised, his lips pursed. When I sent him a nervous look, he leaned back in his chair, out of all the agents their line of vision, and he mimed he'd keep his mouth shut, not revealing I was lying.

"If that's true..." Sora breathed, "Leonhart, this is perfect. If you omit certain truths to our superiors and simply tell them that Roxas has managed to receive a meet with a number, they won't be as likely to pull us out, but you could also keep them busy for the next little while by informing them we got Organization spies within the Lustitia."

Leon looked thoughtful, and he was nodding along with Sora when Riku decided to speak. Again, I got a strange feeling when his voice came out, like I'd heard it before or something.

"Maybe you should find someone you can really trust who is your superior, Leon. We don't know who we can trust in the agency. Anyone could be dirty. We are in a really delicate position and one wrong move and we are toast." He smiled at Sora. "Sora's right. That should keep them busy for a long time while we can get things moving here on the islands."

"But I don't wanna be a field agent." Roxas muttered as the meeting came to end. "But I suppose I should meet my cousin's boyfriend and scare the crap out of him."


Cloud - A few days later

Flipping pages through the book I was pretending to read, I peeked over at Leonhart. Had he heard me, or? Checking the clock on the wall, I winced. I hoped he'd leave soon, I had plans. But I'd decided when he'd walked into my store, to at least try not to assault him again. He was making it difficult though...

"I'm closing in ten minutes." I warned.

He glanced up at me sharply, then looked at the clock on the wall and scowled. "That's not when the store regularly closes." Not moving, he went back to checking his tablet screen.

I reminded myself to breathe. "Yes, well, I am the store owner and I can close earlier if I feel like it." Taking my anger out on the book, I shut it harshly. "You need to leave." I had a date walking in here in ten minutes. I didn't want him to be faced with Leonhart. Maybe if I tried to be polite. Gritting my teeth, I swallowed my unwillingness. "I have plans with someone." I said meaningfully. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't make this first date more awkward than first dates regularly are to begin with already."

"Date?" Suddenly his eyes were on me and I had his full attention. He thought for a moment, before shrugging. "It doesn't matter. This is where I need to be and regardless of your date, I'm staying right here." And then he went back to ignoring me.

I saw red. "You-" No. I could be behaved. I could not take my anger out on him by assaulting him for the, what was it, fourth time? "Please." I gritted out. When he kept on ignoring me, I knew there was nothing that could stop me. Picking up the book, I threw it at him, smiling in true satisfaction as it connected harshly with his back.

"Dammit all to fucking hell! What is your deal with assaulting me?" Leon jumped out of his chair and came stalking over to me. "I think you owe me a fucking apology this time. I've been fairly tolerant of you hitting me, Cloud, but that was a bit overboard, don't you think?" He was getting right up in my face, rubbing his shoulders where the book had connected, but he didn't look like he was about to hit me back, so that was a plus. Still though, I hadn't missed him saying my name. Which he wasn't supposed to know. Which only had me more enraged.

"You did a background check on me?" I growled out, poking his chest. "You can suck on that apology now, mister agent!"

"I do a background check on everyone, I don't know why you're so surprised!" He snapped back, then resorted to poking me back in the chest. "But your name has been in the newspaper at least twice, so quit whining about it."

"You quit whining!" Sure, that was immature, but I had nothing else. "And I like assaulting you!" I continued to resort to childishness. "When you come over, I get all excited because I get to assault you! Assaulting you is the happiest thing in my life!" I shouted in his face. His chest was heaving with anger, as was mine, and I couldn't help but noticed the lack of space between us as we were so hell bent on glaring at each other as close as possible.

"Ehm... Cloud?" Blinking out of my anger, I looked over Leonhart's shoulder, wincing as I eyed my frightened looking date. Whoops.

I was about to shove the agent aside and try to convince the guy standing in my store's exit that I wasn't truly happy about assaulting people, but then Leonhart turned around, his hand pushing me behind him so I was blocked out of the line of sight. I frowned at his actions and realized I'd probably be obsessing about it in the near future when I wasn't so pissed at him.

My dates eyes widened as Leon flashed his badge. "Official Lustitia business." His voice low and biting. "Get out." My poor date's eyes widened comically and I could barely blink my eyes and he was gone already. He quite literally left a puff of smoke after him, he'd run that fast. Maybe that should worry me. I mean, if he was so terrified of the agent, it meant he might have some kind of crime history.

Shaking my head, I grasped Leonhart's shoulder and tugged harshly on it so he would turn to face me again. Unfortunately, he no longer seemed surprised by my touching him to get his attention through violence, so I couldn't budge him. Groaning, I stepped out from behind him, circling and then stood in front of him.

"You make my life so incredibly complicated!" I shouted. "Was that really necessary?!" As I looked into his dark glare, his shoulders squaring and his tall size looming over me, I couldn't help but realize that angry sex with this guy would be so hot. "I hate you!" Yes, I truly did.

"Get over it! I'm not leaving until I damn well want to!" Apparently, Leonhart could be just as childish. He walked around me and started making his way back to his leather chair.

My mouth was open, ready to retort something else in his face, but I couldn't find anything to say. Because let's face it, he was going to stay and he wasn't going to leave until he wanted to. "The urge to assault you again is grand, Leonhart. Can't you go pick on your agents or something?" I complained, walking over to the chair and kicking the side of it, since I figured that assaulting him twice in one day may be pushing it. "Is it really that hard for you to see that we don't get along, or do I have to physically harm you more regularly for you to get the hint that it would be better if you, Squall, found somewhere else to go do your surveillance?"

"Don't call me Squall. It's Leon." He bent over the armrest and eyed my leg that was still kicking his chair. Raising an eyebrow, he gave me an annoyed look. "This place gives me everything I need in order to do surveillance, so why would I go elsewhere? And we get along just fine, but quit kicking my chair."

"No, no," Crouching down so I wasn't looking down on him, but rather up, I grasped the armchair. "No and no. We do not get along just fine. You don't listen to a word I say. You pretend you own this place and when I tell you to get out, which is my right, you blatantly ignore me." Taking the tablet out of his hands as he wasn't looking my way, I put it on the low table before him. "Either you respect my opening and closing hours, or, you find somewhere else to continue your surveillance." I paused. "And don't ever do that badge trick again. I needed to get laid and you ruined it." I gave a sharp nod and then stood, crossing my arms as I looked down on him again. I was proud I hadn't shouted.

His eyes followed me as I stood up and they once again stared at my hair for just a tad longer than necessary. Before I could say anything to that, he let them start trailing over my entire body, in a very unnerving fashion. "I'm not apologizing for that. And I'm trying to keep an eye on Demyx and Six so that not just the Organization doesn't wise up, but apparently I have to make sure the agency doesn't get too nosy. I thought you wanted to have Demyx be happy?"

I frowned. "Of course I want Demyx happy." And I did understand why he needed to be here in order to make sure they could at the very least remain alive. "What's wrong with the agency?"

"Fucking dirty agents." Growling in anger, Leon turned back to his tablet and furiously scrolled through the familiar scenes from Demyx's shop. "Giving the whole agency a bad name. Traitors." It was a testament to how durable they made those tablets nowadays as Leon was really jabbing at it and clenching it tight enough that his knuckles were white. "This whole thing is giving me a fucking ulcer."

I nodded along with his words, taking in his appearance, admitting that he had been stressed every single time he'd come into the store. When he had any of his agents on the phone, he was usually shouting at them because they'd pulled another screw up which they seemed to be doing that all the time. I could also agree that Demyx's situation most likely didn't help sooth him. And for a loyal agent to hear there are dirty agents? Well, it's like stabbing them really, takes a while to recover.

"Would you like some coffee?" I rolled my eyes internally at myself. What in the world was I thinking? "I made a fresh pot about an hour ago." What the hell was the matter with me? Since when had I decided sympathizing with him was a good idea? Maybe it was just the sight of him. He did look exhausted and the worry lines on his face seemed to be engraving themselves deeper and deeper into his skin every time I saw him. "You don't really have an ulcer do you? Because if you do, I'm not giving you coffee."

He looked as startled as I felt about asking him to stay, but he nodded slowly, then shook his head. "Uh, yes to coffee, no to the ulcer." The chair creaked as he quickly stood up, nodding at me to lead the way. "Thanks." He offered me a smile; the first I'd ever seen on his face.

I blinked and felt myself smile back hesitantly before walking over to the door behind the counter that read 'private' and led to a staircase that went up to my apartment. "So," I started, turning around and walking backwards up the stairs so I could scan him over, frowning as I tried to get a read off of him. Now that I had time to calm myself and think clearly after all that anger, he hadn't so much as bat an eye at my date's gender. "Are you gay, Leon?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I take it you are to? Or are you bi?" Wow. He certainly didn't mince words, did he?

"No, neither. I just like to lead men on." I offered him a sarcastic raise of the eyebrow as he snorted and then turned to walk up the stairs.


Zexion - A week or so later

Arms crossed over my chest, I sat back in the large chair that was settled behind the desk that had my computer on it. It was the Organization's truly, but only I and One knew the password to unlock the wall that protected the precious files within the machine. I'd been staring at a particular file for quite a few hours now, wondering what I should do with the information. I was still in shock, not really sure how to move past that feeling.

When Demyx had asked me to meet his cousin, I'd been a bit reluctant, but only because I wasn't quite sure his cousin would be happy to know that Demyx was dating a number. I didn't want to anger his relatives. Then Demyx had told me what his name was. Roxas O'Malley. The last name, while not common, wasn't rare either, so when I'd gotten to know Demyx's last name was O'Malley, it hadn't rung any alarms in my mind whatsoever.

When I heard the name Roxas put before it though? I admit, I was ashamed I hadn't recognized it without looking it up in my large pile of data on my computer. Roxas O'Malley was quite literally my twin and opposite all at once. He was the Lustitia's technical analyst. While he didn't roam the alleys and rooftops like I did, as far as I knew anyway, he was in charge of the data, as was I in the Organization's.

He was an agent other agents most likely underestimated, someone they didn't think about twice. I was relatively certain he wasn't an impressive field agent, maybe he wasn't even allowed in the field at all. His superiors would take his knowledge and skills for granted, not realizing just how important his job and position was. I knew though; he was dangerous. He was the type of agent that could do most damage to the Organization if he were able to penetrate my firewall. And I knew only he could. None of the other field agents would be able to decipher the codes.

He most likely knew better than to shove the field agents back in place, knowing they would never take a moment to think and realize just how grand his skill was. I knew this because I was in the same situation as he. Six, while appreciated by One and Four, was underestimated by all the other numbers.

While I could sympathize with him on many levels, right now I was only angered at the fact that he happened to be Demyx's cousin. I hoped it was a coincidence. It better be a coincidence. I've been wishing for it to be for the past couple of hours now. When I'd figured out his identity, I'd nearly stood from my chair and gone straight to One, wanting to inform him I knew the identity of an agent on the island.

One knew as well as I did that once you figured out one of their identities, it would only take about three phone calls to find out who they worked with, what case they were on and who their team leader was. Knowing all that? They'd be more than just vulnerable; One would have them crushed by the end of the week. But then I remembered I wasn't just a number anymore. I was someone's boyfriend, Demyx's boyfriend. The boyfriend of the person who's cousin was a Lustitia agent.

Growling, I shoved away from my desk, pulling the cloak over my head and angrily making my way out of the room and into the dark corridors of the Organization base. Demyx had some explaining to do.

I'd hoped the time it would take me to walk to the town's center would allow me to calm my nerves, tone down my anger, but apparently I'd hoped wrong and it was the complete opposite. I just became more and more enraged as I came closer to the plaza, closer to the music store, closer to Demyx. This was way too perfect for it to be a coincidence. The idea of Demyx having been able to report my actions to an agent the entire time we were together? Intentionally or not? I-

"ARGH!" I screamed, spinning around so I could kick the alley wall I found myself beside, ignoring the pain that radiated it's way up my toes because of it. Walking on, I glared at the music store when it came into my line of vision. Had I truly been idiotic enough to fall into a trap as dumb as the one I imagined? Was Roxas O'Malley using his cousin to get to me, a number? Hesitating as I nearly stepped out onto the people filled plaza with my cloak on, I then followed the hesitation with a double take. Why would I make the effort of not making a scene?! Pushing away from the wall, I marched out of the hidden shadows the alley offered, my cloak neatly surrounding my face, my identity hidden.

"Oh my god! A number!" A woman shouted.

"You don't say!" I roared back, "Get. Out. Of. My. WAY!" I added in a spelled out scream, watching in satisfaction when the civilians around me scrambled off, looking at me with fear in their eyes, the plaza quickly clearing out as I stood in the center of it.

While I could still see some people along the store walls, clearly waiting for me to leave so they could continue with their routines and most likely talk about the crazy incident with the number on the plaza, I decided to swallow the fright that rushed through me. I had good reason to be frightened. This would get back to One, and when One found out? I'd pay. I don't know how, but I knew it wouldn't be pleasant. Gulping and then pushing that aside for now, I sprinted towards the alley beside the music store, deciding that it might be best for the civilians not to see that I was in any way connected to Demyx or his store.

Making my way in through the back door, I quickly found my way to the front, and I was glad that moment of fear over the idea of what One would do to me had allowed my anger to dissipate a tad. Unfortunately it came crashing back in when I saw Demyx behind his counter, listening to music on his ipod.

I stalked over, reaching out so I could rip the headphones out of his ears. "You are in big, fat trouble, Demyx!"

He jumped sideways and let out a squeak, his hand over his heart as he looked at me. "Six! Holy crap, you scared me to death!" Patting his chest, he took a deep breath and smiled as he leaned in for a kiss.

I nearly gave it to him out of pure habit, but managed to stop myself, shaking my head. "No!" I smacked my hand on the counter, making him jump again. "You don't get kisses! You don't get to come the fuck near me!" I shouted.

"Hey!" He scowled at me. Like he had a reason or something. "There is no need to swear at me! What is the matter with you?!" Putting his hands on his hips, he was looking at me as though I was a strange nutcase escaped from prison.

After pulling the cloak of my head, I mimicked him, propping my hands on my hips, copying his expression. "You're asking that of me? Why don't you fucking explain why the fuck your fucking cousin is a fucking," I threw my hands up in the air while screaming out the following, "AGENT?!" I wasn't much of a swearing person, which I knew was one of the reasons Demyx appreciated me so as he particularly hated when people swore, but right now I couldn't stop myself from being petty and using that against him.

"Roxas?" He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he's an agent. But guess what?" He was speaking slowly, mimicking the way he spoke to this music students, which was rather insulting. "He's also my cousin. And guess what else? He was my cousin before he was an agent." There was a pause. "Now, I know that you have the whole job conflict thing going on, but just like I ignore the fact that my boyfriend is a number, I also ignore the fact that my cousin is an agent. It has nothing to do with me. I love you just the way you are and nothing he is, is going to change that. Now, can you knock off the swearing, or do I need to get you the swear jar?"

"Are you just saying you love me to make me less angry?" I demanded angrily. "Because it's kind of working!" This man had way too much power over me, and to be truly honest, I don't think I minded. Had I minded, I wouldn't have come to see him to get an explanation. I wouldn't have given him the chance. I'd have gone straight to One and ratted everything out, knowing that Demyx could get in some serious danger because of it. But I'd rather die than ever let that happen.

"I'm sorry for the swearing!" I was still shouting, not quite sure how to calm myself or my voice; I was overwhelmed. Our relationship was beautiful, certainly, but it was also a constant worry in my mind. I felt sad and ashamed that I'd doubted him. And yet I knew that I couldn't have helped it. I felt under such pressure all the time, I'm surprised I hadn't snapped before.

"I'm saying it, because it's true." Came his soft reply, and then suddenly his arms were around me, squeezing me tight enough that my breath was gone. "I love you, and I will never do anything that would harm you. I will not let Roxas ever come between us, just like I'll always ignore your number." He pulled back and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. "And you're forgiven for swearing."

Breathing out shakily, I pulled him back to me, my arms wrapping around his shoulders while I buried my face in his neck. "It got to me, I'm sorry I let it." I was, because the whole reason I was breaking so many rules was so I could be with him. My world and logic would stop working if he weren't in my life.


Demyx - the next day

It was a testament to how far I was sunk that I didn't even bat an eye when I woke up with Six in my bed. It was becoming a rather awesome habit and for the most part, I was tickled to death that he'd been able to stay the night with me after that episode yesterday. Not wanting to wake him, I sighed quietly.

Yesterday. Six had burst into my store, frantic and for a good reason. I'd lied to Leon. Six had had no idea that Roxas was an agent. Between the agency and the numbers, I was certainly racking on the dishonesty. I was so far down the rabbit hole, I couldn't see daylight. The agency thought that Six was aware of who they were and was willing to betray his Organization and Six thought that it was just a coincidence that Roxas was my cousin and an agent. It was a giant mess of lies and subterfuge and I was in the middle of it just making it worse.

But what exactly was I supposed to do? Roxas had thrown me in the middle by asking for a favor. I quietly snorted. Some favor. I was just supposed to make contact with some guy in a black cloak that was going to appear at the corner of the plaza sometime that night. I'd been watching for over an hour before I'd seen something. Nothing in the world could have prepared me to hear the voice of some younger guy and I'd been even less prepared to see just what lay under that black hood.

It had felt like a shot to the chest and even as I'd let myself stare longer than necessary, I was cursing Roxas for all I was worth. There was no way I was just going to turn him over to the agency and I certainly didn't want to just ignore him. The more he spoke, the more I realized that he wasn't what I thought a number should be. There was no evil aura or heck, even a uncomfortable aura around him. I could not wrap my head around the fact that he could be seriously breaking the law. He looked like he'd barely graduated high school, for heaven's sake.

So, despite the logical brain kicking me the entire time, I just pushed the whole fact that he was a number to the back of my brain. And I decided to treat him as if I truly had just run into him that night and Roxas hadn't told me to look for him. Whenever Roxas called to see how I was doing, I'd purposefully omitted things that I felt would betray Six's trust. Like the fact that he was constantly lying to One about missions and sneaking out to be with me.

But when Leon had mentioned his superiors and I remembered the snippet I'd heard about agency pay offs, I had to say something. Right? No way could they really find out that Six was sneaking out to see me. I knew what the Organization was capable of, and they certainly wouldn't blink twice about killing him. My arms tightened around him. No way in hell was I going to let anything happen to Six.

I'd do anything to keep him safe. If that meant spilling more to the agency or at least to Leon and Roxas, who I knew I could trust, then so be it. And if Six hated me for it, my throat tightened, then I'd take his hating me over him being dead any day of the freaking week.

I glanced at the clock, and smiled as I saw it was past seven. That was a personal win, as Six always seemed to wake up before now and more often than not, had to leave. I stroked his head where it was resting on my chest and bent down to kiss his hair.

"Six." I whispered seeing no reason to speak louder and startle the poor guy.

His nose scrunched up, "Rule number twelve, don't steal another number's lunch..." He murmured, the short snore that followed telling me he was still asleep.

I smirked and wondered how Leon would react if I was to share that rule. He'd probably yell at Roxas for useless information. Filing that sneaky revenge away, I ran my fingers up and down Six's side. "Come on, I'm starving."

His entire body squirmed as I softly tickled his side, and it was funny up until he pressed himself closer against me to try and evade my fingers. He was rock hard and it was currently poking me against the thigh. Looking at his face, I saw he was fiercely red in the cheeks, his eyes hugely round and after a beat of choking silence, he only moved his hips backwards as I was still holding him around the shoulders.

I bit my lip and decided to let it go. Normally, I would be all for some early morning fun, and I can admit to myself that I was desperate to be more intimate with Six. But not today. Today was the day Roxas was going to come by and I wasn't going to be able to look Roxas in the face knowing I'd messed around with Six only a few hours before.

"Um, are you hungry? I can make pancakes!" Keep it together, Demyx, keep it together.

Sitting up when I did, he placed his hand on my chest to keep me from moving out of the bed. "I don't want too, you know... Not yet. But..." I could hear the shyness in his voice, but there was determination too. "We never do anything beyond kissing, and while that is more than enough for me right now, we never talk about going... you know... further." He had trouble saying words such as sex, foreplay and most likely penis too, or so it seemed.

I blushed as my mind took me to just how much further we could go. "Um, well. What did you want to talk about? I mean, it's not like I don't want to talk about it at all. So, um. Go ahead." Babbling. Nice and classy, Demyx.

His fingers slipped from my skin as he crossed his legs, his hands clasped together between them as he nervously looked up at me, down at the bed, back up at me, and then the bed again. "I haven't ever..." He whispered, his teeth biting onto his bottom lip. "And I don't know how..." Licking his lips, I saw him gulp, "And I'd rather ask you about, you know, than read it in a book or learn from a documentary..."

I couldn't help the snort. "Documentary? You mean porn?" Smiling at his nervousness, I patted his head. "You are ridiculously cute, Six. And I love you." The more I said it, the easier it became. Not to mention that I was hoping that he'd overlook every betrayal that I'd have to do because I loved him. And because I loved him, I would treat this subject with respect.

"Sex between men is different than between a man and a woman. There is one who receives and one who gives, and I'm sure you can figure out where the receiving takes place." No way was I gonna be able to point that out without going red. "Whether you are a giver or receiver, it should always feel good. You can just let me know what you'd like to do for your first time."

Staring at me with huge eyes as he absorbed that, he nodded somewhat hesitantly, but then shook his head. "I-" Now he looked sad, or apologetic. Both? "I wish I was more experienced so you wouldn't have to always be in charge..." He breathed out, somewhat shakily, "Or that I could sweep you off your feet the way you always do me. I just want to make you feel the same way you make me feel. Because all the dark stuff that looms over our heads and relationship because of my...job..." The word job was said uncertainly, and I'd noticed it became less and less of a sure thing in his mind the more time he spent with me. "I'm able to ignore it because you're just so amazing, Demyx. I've never felt this way before ever and I know only you can make me feel as such." Ugh! Why was he pulling my heartstrings like that? So unfair...I gulped and tried not to jump him.

"Six, I'm not really as amazing as you think. I'm just a regular flawed guy who makes mistakes." Too many mistakes. And so many that would make him hate me, it was hard not to break down and admit it right now. "That you find me so amazing makes me feel really humbled. When the time comes for us to be intimate together, it will be wonderful."


Zexion - Later that day

Glaring up at Demyx, I batted his hands away and pulled the cloak back over my head. "I want to keep it on." If my books were right, the fact that me and Demyx were bickering more often than we did at the beginning of our relationship was a good sign. And if we were able to get through them, it meant we were willing to compromise and adapt to be with each other. At the moment though, I had no intention of compromising my identity even if Roxas wasn't here as an Agent today, only as his cousin. And I certainly didn't want to adapt to having my cloak off. He ripped it off again, giving me a pointed look. I only shook my head and pulled it back up. We'd been at this for a while now.

"Six! For heavan's sake, relax!" He was annoyed, but he was also smiling and looking exasperated. "What's he really going to do if he sees you? Seriously?"

"He could take a picture and then send it to the Lustitia Capital base with the title 'This is number Six's face'!" I pointed out, logically. "I trust you, Demyx, I do. I just don't trust him." Before he could say something to that, I shook my head again, pulling the cloak tightly against me, "And don't say that's ridiculous, because it's not!"

"I wasn't going to say you had to trust Roxas." He pulled it down and held it. "I'm just saying that you can trust me. He's not going to go to the Lustitia capital with your picture. I won't let him, okay?" The bangs were pushed out of my face and he rested his hand against my cheek. "You are more important to me, okay?"

I grumbled. "Yes, alright. But stop being so sweet, it's really not fair." I poked his chest and then patted the spot I'd poked, leaning up to press my lips against the corner of his mouth. "Don't underestimate him, he's a technical analyst as I am. We're far more sneaky than people think."

"Well, isn't this comfy?" Came a sarcastic drawl from the front of the store, and I registered the bell signaling someone had entered. We both turned at the sound of the voice, and I got my first look at Roxas O'Malley, Lustitia agent. Not only did we share the same job, we were the same height, only our hair was really different. His was blonde, slightly spiky and if I didn't already know that he was Demyx's cousin, I would suspect him to be related to the bookstore owner.

"Well Dem, aren't you going to introduce us?" I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic again, or if his tone was naturally mocking.

I felt Demyx sigh. "Yeah, yeah. Six, this is my bratty cousin, Roxas. Roxas, this is my boyfriend, Six." Roxas only nodded and stared at me hard enough that I wondered if I had something on my face.

"Use my identity, and I'll use yours." I warned, needing to get that out of my system.

He glared. "Hurt my cousin, and you'll regret ever meeting me, shorty." Demyx facepalmed and shook his head.

"Can you two pretend to get along, please?"

No, I could not. And here's why. "Who are you calling short?! We're the same size!"

"As if I would ever be the same size as a number. I'm at least two inches taller than some guy who doesn't even look old enough to buy cigarettes." Roxas folded his arms across his chest and smirked at me. Like he was winning this argument.

"Bite me!" I growled.

"Believe me, you wouldn't enjoy it!" He snapped back and took a step forward, dropping his arms to his side with clenched fists. But before I could say anything, Demyx had jumped in front of me and was turning to flick Roxas in the forehead with his fingers.

"Hey! There will be no biting of my boyfriend by my cousin! Seriously? Are you guys three or something?" He threw his hands up in the air. "If you can't get along, then you can leave and I will eat all of the wonderful food I prepared. By myself!"

"You're asking the impossible, Demyx." I murmured out, eyes fixed on a glaring Roxas. "Numbers and agents are born to hate one another." I breathed out, settling my hand against Demyx's back and pushing up onto my tip toes so I could place a kiss softly against his cheek. "But I'll behave, try to like him and if I don't, I'll pretend."

"I suppose I can put up with him for you, Dem." The shorter blonde growled out. "We're having ramen, right?"

Leaning against the doorframe, I watched Demyx and Roxas interact some just between the two of them at the music store's exit as I waited patiently for the agent/cousin to leave. While it had started off somewhat rocky and impolite, we'd managed to behave throughout dinner, even going as far as making small talk with one another to please Demyx. The good thing I'd learned out of that was we both loved Demyx so much, we were willing to overlook our job titles momentarily just to keep him comfortable. Sharing that with the agent made him marginally less obnoxious in my mind and less hard for me to deal with.

Smiling happily as the guy finally left, allowing Demyx to lock the store's door for the night and this ultimately meaning I had him all to myself, I pushed away from the doorframe, walking over to him.

"That wasn't too bad, right?" I edged, knowing full well it could have gone a million times better, but we had tried and I did hope Demyx would acknowledge that.

He shrugged and grabbed my hand to lace our fingers together. "I admit, it could have been worse. Roxas can be protective and temperamental." He grinned then. "But he seems to tolerate you and all that. So, that's a plus."

Tolerate me. He was lucky I was able to tolerate him. "Yes, it most definitely is." Momentarily lost in what I was supposed to say or do next, I ended up blinking up at Demyx, feeling a tad stupid for letting the silence drag on between us.

I don't think we'd ever had this before, the awkward silence. Then again, Roxas did leave somewhat of an impression that was hard to swallow. And he was an agent. An actual agent. Not a field agent, but an agent nonetheless. The situation I found myself in became more and more dangerous and whereas before I could always envision ways of getting out of it, I knew that I couldn't come up with anything now. I was in too deep and no matter how hard I could try, I wouldn't be able to get away.

"I'm terrified we'll end up dead." I blurted out.

"What?" Demyx gaped at me. "Because of Roxas? No way." He shook his head, while pulling me further into the store and putting my back up against the counter. "Listen. Roxas would never do anything to put you in harms way. I'd never forgive him if something happened to you."

Smiling softly up at him, I placed my right palm against his cheek. "Not so much him as our entire situation." I whispered. "I just realized that if we ever want to stop sneaking around, I'd have to leave the Organization. The only way for a number to leave is to either get stripped of their number, die during a mission as though being collateral damage, or like previous Number Eight, serving as a decoy." I wrinkled my nose. "I'm pretty much dead in every which scenario. But the idea of having to hide our relationship forever just sounds so dark as well, you know?"

Demyx bit his bottom lip, worrying it between his teeth. "I-I...crap. I don't know." He took a deep breath and gently gripped my face in his hands, his thumb absently stroking my cheek. "I wish I could say that I am not going to let anything happen to you." Blue eyes were staring so intently into my own now, I couldn't look away. "I wish I could promise you that nothing will ever come between us. More than anything, I wish that. But I can't. I can only promise that I am never going to give you up. No matter what."

Grasping the shirt on his shoulders, I nodded, trying to breathe through the sudden fright I'd been feeling, his words helping me keep calm. "Sometimes I feel as though 'I love you' isn't enough to express just how much I feel." I admitted, tilting my chin up so I could inch my face closer to his. The incredible need to be close to him right now was overwhelming.

The smile he gave me was brilliant and shone through his eyes as he looked at me. He dropped his hands from my face, only to grab my hands again, and stepping close enough that I could feel his breath tickle my cheeks. "It tells me enough. And you being here with me, despite everything else, tells me the rest." Our noses brushed as he leaned even closer.

Swallowing, I let out a shaky exhale, returning his smile before pushing up onto my toes so I could press my lips to his. I was glad when his fingers slipped out from mine so he could settle them lightly on my sides.

He didn't press me, but let our lips just settle against each other sweetly. Moving slowly, almost too slowly, he trapped my lower lip and sucked lightly, wetting it with his tongue. One hand was settled against my side, while the other snaked to my lower back to hold me close.

Letting my fingers intertwine through the hair at the base of his neck with the left, my right hand slipped down so my thumb could smooth back and forth over his cheek and jaw while soft moans of pleasure escaped me. Chills ran through my entire body as I deepened the kiss, keeping the slow pace he'd set for us, but needing to pay as much reverent attention to him as he did to me.

When I felt my back connect with the counter, his hands moved to my shoulder blades, his head pushing down so I wouldn't need to stand on my tip toes anymore. Completely surrounded by him, I gulped as I tried to return the kiss as feverishly as he, but having a hard time as I felt dazed, my eyes rolling to the back of my head when they'd closed and the fingers in his hand tightening.

Demyx moaned quietly and I felt his chest rumble against me. His tongue was leaving no corner of my mouth unexplored. He was stealing my breath away, and it was only because our faces were tilted to the side that we were able to breathe at all. It felt as though his entire body was pressed up against mine now and it was starting to feel incredibly warm in his store.

As I tried to swim through the incredible feelings, I realized that we had never quite kissed like this. Never so intensely. His kisses always made me happy, but this one was making me forget about the world around us entirely. His mouth was warm and giving and being able to feel every curve in his body pressed up against mine had my head spin, my senses loosing control. Whimpering first, my head fell back on my shoulders, his lips landing on my chin while I moaned and it's only now that our mouths weren't locked that I realized my entire body was trembling.

He didn't stop kissing me and I shivered as his lips were slowly leaving a trail along my jaw to the soft patch of skin in front of my ear and then lower to my neck. I felt his teeth scrape lightly, nipping gently on my jugular as his tongue traced my racing pulse.

Biting onto my bottom lip, I drowned in the sensations, not able to open my eyes anymore as my hands slowly slipped off his shoulders. My head tilted up on it's own accord, allowing him more access, and as his mouth continued to pepper my skin with soft kisses, his tongue occasionally joining in, I felt my knees go weak, head heavy, muscles so relaxed, they seemed disconnected.

"Demyx..." I panted out softly, a moment of hot and warm darkness surrounding me, rocking me gently, and then... I felt my ass connect with the ground, the shock and surprise overthrowing all the feelings I'd been drowning in before. Blinking several times to make absolutely sure that just had happened, I looked up at Demyx.

His hands were still in the air in the position they'd been in when holding me, and his mouth was forming a very surprised 'oh'. Blinking a few times himself, he finally focused on me before blushing and dropping to my side.

"Six! Oh my heck, are you okay? What happened?!" Fingers brushed my hair out of my face and he gripped my chin and held up his hand. "How many fingers do you see?"

I chuckled, feeling incredibly awkward and shy about what had just happened, but assuming it was better to laugh about it then to be mad about it. Batting his hand away, I did lean my face into his other hand's touch.

"You never had a guy swoon on you before?" My eyebrows knitted momentarily, "Or is the word swoon too girly? Maybe I should just say I fainted. But fainting tends to last longer." All the blood rushing to my head right now could cause another one of those episodes. "I told you that you overwhelm me." I whispered, turning my face away from his gaze as I couldn't help but feel terribly embarrassed. I was so intensely virginal, it wasn't even funny anymore and the main reason for that was I couldn't seem to do anything about 's not like I knew any better.

"I am sorry about that." His voice was contrite and he pulled my face back around and our eyes met. "I should have stopped when you first pulled away." Demyx ran his other hand through his hair and looked unhappy. "Sometimes I forget that this is new for you and I push you a bit too fast."

Smiling happily at his care, I pushed forward onto my knees so I could wrap my arms around his shoulder, hugging him while settling my face in his neck, breathing him in, the smile on my lips growing. "You don't push me. You do everything just right." I told him honestly. "I loved every single second of our kiss and I hope you'll make me swoon again sometime soon."

He chuckled softly, then surprised me by nibbling my ear. "Is tomorrow morning too early?"

Although the blush on my face was outrageous, I managed to stutter out the following nonetheless, "M-maybe even tonight."

I could hear the smile in his voice as he answered, "Must be my lucky day."


A/N: Just a taste of lovin' for you readers;) For every review, we'll make Cloud assault Leon again. Maybe with whips and chains...^_^