Author's Note: Omg don't kill me! *ducks behind a giant target* O_o;; I'm SO sorry I haven't updated recently! Forgive meeeeeh! I would recommend re-reading (at least part of) Chapter six for anyone who can't remember what happened.
Thanks SO much to everyone who has reviewed so far! I love all of your comments to death and REALLY appreciate getting them! Please remember that constructive criticism is appreciated-but flames are not tolerated.
THIS CHAPTER IS NOW COMPLETE!
IMPORTANT NOTES: Okay, several key issues on this chapter. First, this chapter introduces more personal characters- *hears readers groan* Don't worry though! I assure everyone that this story is NOT going to be about my OCs! It centers on Axel/Red and his story, these characters are just critical in progressing the story. There will be parts with them but they're pretty much key pawns being moved around. And second. I REALLY hope it isn't coming off like this, and I'm sorry to disappoint anyone who IS getting the wrong idea, but Axel and/or Demyx will NOT be paired up together (or with any other guy) and the jokes that they (mostly Axel) crack around each other are just that-jokes. Whew! Okay, now that that's out of the way! This chapter is pretty much just goofing off-but with some seriously important changes that will be occurring. This chapter is literally the beginning of Axel's change as a character.
Wow long Author's comment! So everyone please don't forget to take a few minutes to review and enjoy!
~~~GW~~~
Chapter 7: Wavering Identity
Tseng turned on his heel and he too followed the hall in the opposite direction to his office, passing Rude's under construction office and another untouched and fully furnished office on the way to his. He settled himself in his chair with a sigh and placed the file in front of him on the desk. Flipping open the manila folder he leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers together as he thoughtfully stared at the blurry photo of a redheaded man.
They say after dark, when the sun sinks below the horizon in one last blaze of glory, that all of the worst prowling creatures emerge into the night. Dangerous creeping predators and the lowest of scurrying vermin slip from their stinking holes and crevices they've been holed up in all day. The fine line between humanity and savagery lies drawn in a child's faint, smudged chalk down some un-traveled alleyway. Blood drips…and the line is washed away. Little by little. Rather surrounded by woods and rotting vegetation or surrounded by rough hewn stone and rotting trash-in this harsh, cruel city…it made no difference. The truth was you didn't want to be caught wandering the slum streets at night. You only drifted the dank alleyways after dark if you had a purpose-and in the slums it was hardly ever a wholesome, pure one. The shadows were filled with the worst of society slipping around each other and somewhere, somehow; someone usually ended up dead. The same idea held true as two figures cautiously picked their way down a dark ally, avoiding garbage cans, miscellaneous trash and sleeping people. The buildings at that level rose so tall that the moon and stars that could possibly have been visible despite the city's lights, were hidden from view. The streets below were pitch black, cast in permanent shadows. The two figures emerged from the shadows of the ally onto a main street and began following the sidewalk to their destination. A strange glow emanating from the edge of the city flooded down all of the main streets, illuminating their backs and casting their shadows ahead of them in eerily warped figures. One of the figures, his red hair lit ablaze by the light, paused on the sidewalk and turned to look at the light source from behind them.
"Yo Dem, what's with the creepy green light?" Red asked curiously as his blonde friend also halted in his steps.
"That glow?" He questioned and Red shot him a scornful look.
"No Dem, the other creepy green light." He replied sarcastically and the blonde scratched his head with a sheepish grin.
"Ah sorry, that's one of Shinra's power plants." He answered as the two resumed their hurried walk.
"Shinra?"
"It's a huge company around here-oh! Yeah, the Turks work for them." Dem informed him.
"Ah, so that's where we were." The redhead remarked.
"Yeah…I wonder if there's a run going on?" The blonde absently mumbled to himself as they passed yet another darkened ally. "Anyways, we're almost th-" A sudden cry ripped through the air and Red whirled around to find Demitry struggling with a pair of arms pinning him in a headlock.
"DEM!" Red shouted before freezing as the man behind the blonde leveled a weapon at him. For the second time that day he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
"Auck!" Dem choked as he desperately clutched at the arm around his neck.
"Give me all of your money." The man demanded in a sultry voice into the blonde's ear. A look of understanding quickly replaced the surprised one on Dem's face, before it turned into an annoyed look and with an angry noise he elbowed the man sharply in the gut.
"Draise!" He nervously snapped, shrugging the man off of him.
"Oomph! Geez Dem! What'd I ever do to deserve such a harsh and completely unjustified blow?" The man whined and Demitry wheeled on him angrily.
"Try scaring the hell outta us!" The blonde fumed and the man shrugged silently before stepping into the circle of dull light cast from an overhead street lamp. "What if one of us had shot you out of reflex?" Dem continued, a worried frown knitting his brow.
"Pfft-you give yourself too much credit kid! Besides, everyone in the gang knows you won't carry a gun! Am I right? Bet ya don't even have one on you now!" The man stated and Demitry looked away guiltily.
"Still…" Dem persisted. "What if Red had-"
"The newbie?" The man interrupted. "Oh yeeeeeah-the newbie!" He exclaimed, side stepping the blonde to get a look at the redhead. "Whoa! Holy hell but you are an eye catcher!" He quipped.
"What the hell you asshole?" Red snapped in reply, trying furiously to slow his pounding heartbeat. A moment of expectant silence dragged between the three of them until it was broken by the curious voice of the man.
"If I touch your hair…will my hand catch on fire?" He jested and blinked before smiling warmly, and for the first time since waking up in the city and having people smile at him, minus Dem-this smile actually reached the man's eyes. "The name's Draise-you must be Red, the new guy!" The man stated and Red nodded in confirmation as he actually took a good look at the man. He was a few inches shorter than Demitry with mid-length coal black hair that was cut in layers so that it gradually got longer as it fell down his face, until it reached the collar of his shirt in the back. It was short and spiky on top and in the front his bangs were brushed mostly to the right. Only one of his bright green eyes was visible where his bangs parted in an upside down v-shape over his left eye. As he shifted in his spot, his feathery hair was swept aside from his left ear, revealing a line of mismatched earrings that followed the entire curve of his ear. His skin was extremely pale and from what Red could see, his features soft. On the far left side of Draise's mouth, on his bottom lip, glinted a green stud piercing. His bottle green eyes glittered in goodhearted humor. He was dressed in a black pair of baggy pants with pockets dotting the legs from below the knee up to the hip, and silver zippers and designs decorated the piece of clothing. He wore a green t-shirt with a swirling black pattern on the front and a black hoodie unzipped on top of that. He seemed laid back and nice to Red, and the redhead immediately took a liking to the man.
"Hey man-" Draise spoke up, his eyes glittering in mischief. "I know I'm good looking, but it's rude ta stare!"
"Good looking my ass! I was trying not to throw up just seeing your face!" Red scoffed, before allowing a grin to spread across his face. "Besides, my little Dem here is the only one for me-right Dem?" He laughed, throwing his arm around the shorter man's shoulders.
"Indeed, quite a lovely pair, quite a lovely pair!" Draise agreed in a mock philosophical tone as he furiously nodded his head, his hand stroking his chin.
"Ha ha, very funny!" Dem bristled, shrugging the redhead's arm off of his shoulders for the second time that day. "Somehow I just knew you two meeting would be hell!" He groaned.
"Why Dem that hurt!" Red mockingly gasped, his hand clutching at his chest where the two of them both knew there was no heart to be hurt.
"Alright, alright! You two lovebirds can kiss and make up later! No more fun and games then-" Draise cut in.
"Don't think that's possible with Red here…" Dem muttered under his breath.
"-it's time to get serious before we're here all damn night!" The black haired man continued obliviously. "Okay newbie, here's your first little piece of information! As I'm sure you don't know since no one's told you yet-everyone in our little gang is assigned a job, or jobs-it all depends. Due to my one-of-a-kind niceness, one of my jobs just happens to be a "teacher"-and I swear one of these days it'll get me killed…" He trailed off, muttering to himself.
"A teacher?" Red prodded curiously.
"Yeah, as in when we get a newbie to the gang, I teach them everything they need to know. Long story short, basically my job is to make sure you don't die too soon!" He pressed as if trying to insert the idea into Red's head as he poked the redhead in his chest with an unforgiving finger.
"My only other current job right now is as a runner." He informed them.
"A runner?"
"Yeah."
"What are you running from?" Red questioned, with a slight smirk. Since he'd arrived at the gang's warehouse, he'd constantly heard about these runs that were apparently happening.
"We don't run from things, we run after them." Draise enlightened him, beginning to walk down the sidewalk and expecting the other two to follow. "So anyways-just stick ta me 'n Dem and listen to what we tell you. After all, I was the one that dragged Dem here around and taught him everything he knows when he showed up here!" He boasted. "You should've seen him, trailing around behind everyone like a lost puppy!" He smirked and Dem palmed his face into his hand as Red let out a laugh. "First thing's first though-new clothes for the new guy!" Draise declared and the three of them cut across streets and down an ally or two, before they halted underneath the orange glow of a streetlamp. The blue-green glow from the mako reactor was dimmer here as they boldly stood in front of a small clothing store. For small it was. About four yards wide and made out of dusty bricks, with a row of three glass windows at shoulder level and one glass door on the right side. The room was dimly lit by a bare overhanging bulb and Red could make out round stands with clothes hanging off of them inside.
"Glass? Really?" Draise scolded, as if the store owner were there to hear it. "This dumbass deserves robbing!" He exclaimed, reaching into his jacket and removing a black gun. His fingers slid over the top of the gun and a loud click cut through the quiet of the street as he glanced up at the sign. "Hellooo Mike's Midgar Clothing Store!" He cheerfully greeted, before leveling the barrel of the gun at the top part of the glass door. His finger pressed the trigger down and a loud gunshot ripped through the air, reverberating off of the dirty buildings around them. The glass crackled before shattering and raining downward on the other side of the door with an almost beautiful tinkling noise.
"What the hell are you doing?" Red snapped as Draise slid his hand through the hole now created, and turned the lock to the side.
"Relax Red, there's no one in there." He stated, pushing open the door and brushing shards of glass from his clothes. "A lot of store owners leave their lights on to dissuade potential burglars. They also hope that some one across the street will be nice enough ta call the cops if they notice someone inside." He informed them, stopping in front of the counter inside the store and looking upwards to the far left corner of the room where a shattered security camera haphazardly hung, sparks falling occasionally from its ruined equipment.
"Bulls-eye!" Draise grinned proudly, pointing at the ruined camera. "Always take out security first!" He instructed, before hoisting himself up onto the counter and crossing his legs underneath him Indian style. "Okay listen up! We gotta be swift and precise!" He ordered, rapping his knuckles on the counter. "There's a row of houses across the street, so knowing our luck someone over there will probably decide to develop a conscience and be nice for once in their lives! The police force in this shitty little city we call home sucks ass. Half of 'em are lazy, crooked and almost all of them bribed-that combined with the fact that they're quite a disgruntled little group due ta Shinra constantly puttin' 'em off and covering shit up! Therefore…their response time is slow-I'd say we have about twelve minutes." He estimated. "So let's make this quick, shall we?" Red crossed the few feet to the clothes rack and began browsing through the men's section as Draise slid over the counter and dropped to his feet behind it. Closing one eye and mockingly poking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, the ebony haired man stepped back and aimed his gun at the old key lock on the cash register. The gunshot split the air and the lock was blown apart, causing Dem to flinch away in surprise as Draise let out a crisp laugh. He shook his head in an almost disappointed way and began emptying what little amount of money lay in the register.
"Man, oh man! This guy must be new to the city or just really, really stupid! Poor guy-he would've gotten robbed eventually." Draise stated, hopping back up on the counter as Red tossed a shirt to Dem. "Tick tock ladies! Are we almost done?"
"Yeah, yeah-shut the hell up, I just gotta find something that will fit. Damnit! Does everyone in this city have fat asses?" Red demanded irritated.
"Heh, not in the slums!" Draise snorted. "Hey man." He called, sounding serious for once. "You're not from around here huh? Piece of advice then. The winters around here are hell-I'd find a good jacket if I were you!" He advised.
"Yeah Red-" Dem spoke up from a clothes rack behind him. "-how 'bout this one? It matches your hair!" The blonde snickered and Red turned to look at the man, only to come face to face with a hideous and overly sparkly, sequined pink sweat jacket.
"Actually, it kinda matches something else." Red smirked mischievously as a burst of laughter erupted from the man on the counter. "You remember that time when you walked in on Larxene? Yanno, when she was-"
"Ah! No, no!" Demitry cried, quickly dropping the girly piece of clothing. He shut his eyes tightly and waved his hands frantically in front of him as a red blush flooded the bridge of his nose.
"Look Dem! It matches your face!" The redhead grinned innocently, tallying yet another victory up for himself as he turned back to the jackets he was flipping through. Selecting one he liked he tried it on and nodded to himself in satisfaction. It was a little loose on his frame, but then it was the only one, and if he grew or shrunk by weight loss any it would be fine. There was, after all, no telling how long he'd have it or any of the other clothing he'd selected. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the wail of an approaching siren drifted into the room.
"Shit it's the coppers!" Draise exclaimed, launching himself from the counter. "Huh, they're a bit early…ah well! Always expect the unexpected huh? Hope you were done shopping-'cause if not you're done now!"
"Yeah I'm done. Let's get the hell outta here!" Red replied as Draise ushered the two of them towards the back room. Stumbling around boxes and empty racks, Red suddenly halted as the black haired man in front of him stopped, causing Demitry to bounce abruptly off the redhead's back. His arms still laden with the clothes Red had thrown at him, he peered nervously around the dark figures of the two men in front of him.
"What's going on? Why'd we stop?" The blonde nervously whispered as a soft fumbling noise filled the room before a small pen light flared on. A large, thick and slightly rusty looking metal door loomed in front of the three, catching the light shining from the sable haired man's hand and reflecting it dully. What caught Draise's attention though, was the shiny new bolting lock securing the door and protecting the room's contents, while at the same time locking them in a particularly dangerous and hard to explain situation.
**CONTINUATION BEGINS HERE**
Draise's nimble fingers slid across the bulky contraption as the first few flashes of blue lights began sweeping across the opposite wall from the doorway. The lock, it seemed, was a brand new heavy duty anti-pick lock.
"Screw this!" Draise hissed, removing his gun and resolutely aiming it at the stubborn lock.
"Wh-" Red started before the loud gunshot cut him off. Loud swears erupted in the room as the three frantically ducked their heads-sparks exploding from the door as the bullet ricocheted off of it.
"That 'oul bastard!" Draise angrily shouted, quickly straightening from his crouched position. "I'm gonna kick his ass if I ever see him! You have glass windows you asshole-what the hell do you need a god damn bullet proof lock for?" He ranted, before delivering a heavy kick to the unmoving door. The three froze as the screech of tires cut through the air.
"Move you dumbass!" Red snapped, shoving Draise aside. Stepping close to the door he pressed his fingers to the section of the door where the lock's bold slid into the door frame and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath he opened his eyes again and concentrated on the lock, summoning his fire. The lock and the portion of the door it was in quickly began to glow a red-hot color before turning a blazing white and liquefying. The molten metal dribbled down the door in rivulets and oblivious to the searing heat, Red wrapped his hand around the pull bar of the door and wrenched it open. The three men hurried through the door and Red pulled the door closed behind them as noises from the front room of the clothing store drifted into the back.
"Let's haul ass boys-follow me and stay close!" Draise ordered and the three sprinted off into the maze of alleyways. It seemed like they'd ran half of the night away-barreling down twisting and turning alleys, darting across streets and occasionally hopping a fence or scaling a fire escape, before Draise slowed to a stop in front of them. They stood there for a moment catching their breath, Demitry gasping for air, before the ebony haired man looked up and over at Red.
"Holy shit man…" He grinned and the redhead tensed, meeting his gaze with an almost alarmed look. No one was supposed to find out about their powers. No one was supposed to know. Oh shit don't tell me I've already blown our cover! Red groaned to himself. "That was some seriously fast lock picking!" Draise complemented him, a new look of admiration in his eyes.
"It was-! Wait…what?" Red hurriedly recovered, a bit confused.
"Yeah, I didn't even see what you did-but whatever you did, it was fast! You'll fit in just fine, I think, especially if you're that sharp on the draw in everything you do." The man sent him a confident smile and Red hesitantly returned it while replaying the scene over in his head. His back had hidden the lock from sight of the other two but it was dark, wouldn't the glow…? The pen light! He suddenly realized. Draise had of course trained the only source of light forward on him! The pen light hid the glow of the melting metal! He thought. The man didn't know-he was still safe. The redhead breathed out an internal sigh of relief as Demitry finally caught his breath behind him.
"Oh man, I'm so not cut out for this job!" The blonde whined to himself.
"Come on, the warehouse isn't that much further." Draise informed them and they took off again at a much slower pace than last time.
Later that night.
Officer Rick Sampson was tired. He was tired of the nightshift he was currently on. He was tired of not getting enough sleep at night. He was tired of the high crime rates, the stress, the coffee he drank and he was tired of the color of his kitchen walls. He was tired of getting up early and he was tired of his asshole boss. Most importantly though, he was tired of trying to be a good cop in a city where being a good cop was a futile and dumbass thing to be. This heavy tiredness seemed to weigh him down, putting a defeated droop in his shoulders, wrinkles on his forehead from crinkling his brow in worry, and a grey dusting of color in his shortly cropped hair. He was tired or being tired. He was tired of caring. Therefore, feeling very exhausted and overwhelmed-he stopped giving a shit. To him, everything unselfishly good he tried, every extra sacrifice and extra care-was a completely wasted effort. He should've listened to his ex-wife Margaret-he grudgingly admitted to himself, and switched to construction, working in a Shinra power plant…or Chocobo farming. As he stepped from his squad car and let his eyes wander over the rinky little store located in one of the worst parts of the slums, he really didn't care. Nor did he care about the greenhorn rookie that stepped out of his car after him and slammed his passenger side door entirely too loudly.
"God damn boy! Will you be quiet!" The officer spat in his direction and the rookie-who was quickly becoming accustomed to his new boss having a kink up his ass 24/7-responded by shooting a soured scowl back at the man. The look, luckily for the rookie, was missed as the other man by that time had swiveled his head away from the newbie. Officer Sampson abruptly disregarded the rookie entirely and instead focused on the officer that was tiredly approaching them.
"Hey Rick." The man sighed in greeting and removed his uniform's hat before deftly sweeping his fingers through his hair. "Building's all clear." He informed them and beckoned the two to walk with him. "Me 'n my partner got here first-we were patrolling not too far out past that big old burnt out building. One that burned a few years back? Geez what a mess. Anyways, no one was in here when we rolled up." He told Officer Sampson as the three stopped in front of the shattered door. The older man's gaze swept across the front of the shop-taking in the three perfectly intact windows and the one busted door, before a contempt scowl aged his face.
"What a dumbass." He growled. "I bet the owner's a god damn foreigner! Movin' down here-don't even know what's what! Anyone that leaves windows and doors-especially glass, unprotected in this city is a pure dumbass!" He spat out and the other officer responded with a thin smile.
"Let me walk you through what we've got so far." The younger man who while younger than Sampson, was still much older than the rookie and certainly had more experience under his belt. "We've contacted the store's owner and he's on his way here and yes, he is new to the city." This statement was received with a contempt snort but the other officer simply ignored it. "It looks like the thief, or thieves, shot through the upper glass pane of the door and unlocked it. Our team will dust for fingerprints." He informed the two, carefully pushing open the door with his gloved hand. "The security camera was shot out although we recovered video surveillance tapes from an old ass VCR in the back and the bullets discharged are being combed for. It appears to be a classic robbery-all the cash in the register, minus small change, is wiped. The lock shot off. We'll have to wait for the owner to take stock of his wares to see if anything else is missing." The officer paused, received a confirming grunt and continued, steering them into the back room. "The thieves escaped through this back door. This scrape here looks like a bullet nicked it-" He pointed to a shallow gouge in the door's surface. "Must've not worked because they did this…" He gestured at a horribly melted and warped-well…he was guessing it used to be a pretty heavy duty lock. Severe heat, it seemed, had been applied to the lock and the liquefied metal had run down the door and cooled into permanent little metal droplets.
"Looks like the punks blasted their way out with a fire materia." Officer Sampson declared and the other man stared at him with a skeptical look, his eyebrow raised in question as his mouth was opening in a retort. The rookie however, beat him to it.
"No, it doesn't look like the damage a fire materia would cause…" The boy stated thoughtfully, intently studying the melted lock from his crouched position. "The pattern doesn't match. Fire materia creates a blast that would scorch the whole door, but this looks like the lock was melted from the inside. See?" He asked, looking up. The other officer sent him an admiring smile and the rookie quickly returned the look with a proud beam. He turned his head to confirm his analysis with the boss and his smile quickly dropped. The older man was scowling angrily down at him with an annoyed glare.
"So what? You think he stood there with a damn lighter and waited for it to melt?" Sampson lashed out at him. The boy flinched like it was a cold slap to his face. "Really think before you spout crap outta your mouth will ya? Damn rookies. Geezus I'm too old for this newbie bullshit! I'll tell you what happened. Some stupid teenager was making a break for it and fried the lock with a weak fire materia!" He made a noise of distaste in his throat and shook his head stiffly on his thick bulldog neck. "I doubt they could even manage a high level blast either!" He scoffed.
"Yes well-" The other man cut in, seeing the newbie's downcast face. "-we'll find out. The crew should be here by now-procedure and all that right? It's most likely just cut and dry like you said and you look tired sir! How about just turning this simple little break-in case over to me and I'll take care of it? Man, these small time cases must be boring to a senior officer like you!" He shook his head in fake exasperation as he propelled the two other officers forward by firm hands on their backs. "And why don't you just leave the rookie with me while you're at it? We could put him to work here and someone can give him a lift later-get him outta your hair, hm?" He murmured in the older man's ear. Officer Sampson seemed to contemplate the idea for a moment before he nodded his head in agreement.
"Sounds like a plan. You're a damn smart officer!" He grunted, nodding again as he imagined his comfortable bed waiting warmly at home for him. "I'll sign leadership of this case over to you-it's your problem now." He stated. "Don't get in the way!" He sharply commanded the newbie before gruffly stalking away. The rookie stood, shoulders drooping and a rebellious scowl on his face when a kind hand clapped down on his shoulder.
"I think you were on to something there." Whispered a voice in his ear and he looked up in time to catch a sly wink and a casual wave before the nameless officer-who Rick Sampson hadn't bothered to introduce, trotted away to catch up to the older man. "let me walk you to your car Rick." He called and an appreciative smile spread across the rookie's face.
While the rookie's hopes were being raised that that night could possibly turn out to be okay for the first time in a long time, in another section of the slums Red was feeling much the same way. The warehouse was once again dark as they entered the building through the large metal door that creaked their arrival. This time though, his eyes were already adjusted to the darkness and it certainly helped that various fires had been lit in rusted barrels scattered around the room. Draise led the way, navigating around quietly chattering groups that lounged in circles around the fires and groups of people who were snatching sleep while they could. He directed them to the far left corner of the warehouse where a group of eight or so people in particular sat around a crackling fire. The three were greeted with cheerful calls and loud laughs and Red watched as Draise and Demitry exchanged several words and rough thumps on the back with some of the others. The sable haired man wormed his way into a cross legged position on the far side of the circle and Red and Dem found seats on the opposite side. A circle of mismatching eyes stared curiously at him. The light from the fire flickered and a strange glow emitted itself from several of their hands. Seeing this Draise smiled slightly.
"I take it the raid went well?" He asked and one of the men grinned slightly and shrugged.
"Depends, who's the new guy?" He shot back, pointing a finger at Red. His hand was curled tightly around a glowing cup. Red noticed and quirked an eyebrow in interest.
"Maaaah-I asked first!" Draise whined, leaning over to dig a handful of sweets out of a nearby bag.
"Hey!" The owner complained, snatching the bag up.
"Mm?" Draise paused, his cheeks bulging with sweets, and pointed at his mouth. "Wan' 'em bawk?" He asked.
"Che-"
"Raid didn't go so well…" The man finally caved, swilling the contents of his cup around. The mood around the group instantly tensed and Draise's expression turned serious. He swallowed thickly.
"Whaddaya mean?"
"I mean we got the goods but almost got caught doing it." The man explained, shaking his head nervously. "And of course they're catching on to us! We're stealing mako from Rufus Shinra for shit's sake!" He spat and Draise grinned sardonically.
"Well we knew that would happen eventually. We'll take a break pretty soon and then switch reactors."
"Yeah well…we keep this up and they'll sick the Turks on us." A hush fell about the group and Red met Demitry's eyes. "Don't know what the hell Zimmerman's thinkin'-running such a risky business as messing with Shinra."
"Who knows?" Draise shrugged uneasily, popping a few more candies in his mouth.
"So who's the new guy?" Someone else piped up, breaking the serious mood.
"Ladies and gents I present to you-" Draise performed a somewhat sticky drum roll on his pants leg. "-the newest new guy, Red!" In response a round of disgruntled hellos welcomed him, coupled with a shield of shaded looks.
"Hm my aren't we an eye catcher?" One woman murmured, light glinting off her pupils.
"Ah-that reminds me!" Draise exclaimed, palming his forehead in remembrance. "You probably want to get out of those old threads, yeah? Bathroom's straight across the warehouse, far right door. It's near a pile of crates-can't miss is." Draise informed him. "Lucky for us it used to be like the men's employee bathroom or some shit. Anyhoo, it's got showers in there too."
"Gotcha." Red stood, collected his clothes and saluted the group. "Be back in a second." He told them before following Draise's instructions. The group waited for the redhead to disappear into the shadows before any of them spoke.
"Rekk seen him?" The first man asked.
"Yep." Draise smirked.
"Been to Zimmerman?"
"Of course."
"Where'd he-"
"-Dem's friend." All eyes swiveled onto the blonde and he shifted nervously.
"Everything check out?"
"So far."
"When's the test?"
"Tomorrow."
"Really?"
"Yeah really. Who almost caught you?" Draise countered.
"Two SOLDIERS, stationed as guards."
"Shit, they're upping security."
"Obviously…"
"Get stuffed-" Draise grinned back.
The black cloak slithered to his feet in the grungy bathroom stall with an audible swish of fabric and clink of chains. Red rotated his shoulders at the sudden lack of weight and pulled the pair of pants down from the wall he'd slung the clothes over. He pulled on the black pants that had a silver chain dangling from the hip and was relieved to see they fit. A red shirt was added next with some band name spattered across the front. The wording was black and an eerily grinning jester had been added below the logo. Last he pulled a loose black hooded jacket over his head and collected his cloak from the stall. The fabric was heavy and familiar, he realized. How long had he been wearing this coat and staring at marble white walls? He wondered. He almost felt like he was shedding his old life off like a worn skin. I wonder… He thought. I wonder if Sora ever-
"SHUT UP!" The scream caught him off guard and he whirled around alarmed, only to find that he was the one who had spoken. He faced the line of busted bathroom mirrors again and pressed his hands to his face. "Shut up-don't think about that!" He roughly scolded himself. "He's gone…they're all dead…" He reminded himself before picking the Organization cloak up again. Wistfully he fingered one of the silver chains. His fingers closed around a few of the links and with a sudden decisive yank he wrenched them free and carelessly tossed the cloak into the filthy corner.
But you survived!
Red stowed the chain piece in one of his pockets and stepped towards the row of sinks. Someone had left a switchblade knife on the side of one of them, he noticed. Red's fingers gripped the edge of the cracked porcelain sink and he leaned forward to peer into the dusty mirror. His pale reflection came into focus and he stared eye to eye with himself. His fingers slid delicately over the smooth handle of the knife and the pads of his fingers gripped it. It felt heavy in his hand. With his other hand he grasped a lock of his hair between his fingers. Staring into the mirror again he deftly pressed the blade against the silken strands and with a quick sawing motion the crimson hairs floated softly to his feet. By the time he was done his hair was cut short in the back in feathery spikes, with the occasional long bang dangling in his face. Red straightened from the mirror and stared at himself in satisfaction. He turned and kicked what hair he could into the corner, along with his coat before gesturing at the pile with one hand. A delighted little flame stirred from its midst and quickly devoured the black fabric before reluctantly dying away. Red then turned on his heel and calmly left the dirty bathroom. Out with the old…and in with the new.
~~~GW~~~
Author's Note: Phew! So that chapter's finally done! What a long one! Lol. Sorry for taking so ridiculously long to update guys. Life got really busy and writing a story sorta fell to the bottom of the list. So did you like it? Reviews…? *is stabbed* Seriously though, many of your comments seriously motivated me recently and I was like omg I can't let this story die! *does heroic poise* So any reviews would be mucho appreciated! I'm already working on the next chapter everyone so don't worry!
