A/N: This is probably the last chapter, guys. Hope we all had fun!
Roxas spotted the door leading to the grounds and grabbed Sora's arm, dragging him towards it. He threw it open, the two of them running out. He quickly closed it before starting across the grounds, following Sora.
The door slammed open, coming off its hinges slightly, and they glanced back as the man came running out. He lifted his gun and shot, and they dodged to the side before continuing to run forward.
Suddenly Sora blinked before swerving, pulling Roxas after him. They banged slightly against the fence before running beside it, panting heavily. The man gave a smirk, turning to cut them off. He soon stopped infront of them, and they quickly came to a halt before backpeddling and trying to get away.
"Don't move," he snapped, pointing the gun at them. At such close quaters, it would definitely hit one of them.
They both went still, gazing at him in fear.
"You boys are a nuisance. It's really affected my work, did you know? All because of your silly little games."
"You think causing my brother to lose his voice is a game?" Roxas snarled, glaring at him.
The man shrugged. "I really don't care. All I know is that if I kill you two, my record gets put straight. And let's be honest; who is there to stop me?"
"Us," a voice said suddenly, and the man glanced to the side in surprise.
Lea and Riku stood on either side of the grounds, close enough to hit him but not within reach. They both held guns, pointing them at the man without a ounce of fear.
The man frowned. "And who are you?" he asked.
Lea smirked. "Axel and Ansem, at your service," he said with a flourish, the gun never moving.
"Oh ho, from the little SSS, are we?"
"That is none of your concern," Riku replied, his face betraying no emotion.
"And let me guess; is it your job to protect the two little Strife boys here?"
Roxas looked confused, glancing at them. "What..?"
"The SSS is a service for younger children founded by Mr Strife - The Strife Secret Service. They do away with the no-good evil-doers, receiving military style training on par with any professional soldier, and get assigned undercover missions. I've had the pleasure of dealing with a few of them myself," the man said.
"Well, don't you know a bit?" Lea said, though his face had become set and his eyes were cold.
"I try," the man replied with a shrug.
"Matthew Browning - Wanted in seven countries for stealing, murder, arson, drugs dealing, drug trafficking, human trafficking, breaking and entering, assaulting an officer of the law, sexual assault, abuse, and others. Mother died when he was eight. Father constantly in prison. No siblings or other relatives. Had a girlfriend, but killed her. No children. Never married. Has killed five agents so far," Riku suddenly listed off.
The man, Matthew, gazed at Riku with hard eyes. "And you appear to know quite a bit as well," he said softly.
"I try," he mimicked.
"You're an irritating kid, you know that?"
Riku shrugged. "I've been told a few times."
Matthew scowled, then glanced at the two boys infront of him. Suddenly his expression cleared, and he gave a chuckle. "Oh, I see. You're buying time."
Lea and Riku stiffened, glancing quickly at each other, and Matthew laughed.
"What a simple trick! Realise you can't take me on, do you? Or maybe you know that if you tried, I'd kill one of these kids here." His smirk grew wider as he saw their worried expressions. "Well, too little, too late," he said, then fired.
Sora threw himself at Roxas, sending them both sprawling on the floor. He quickly jumped up and leapt at Matthew, struggling against him. His gun went falling out his grip as he grappled with the brunette.
"Damn kid!" Matthew shouted, finally throwing Sora against the fence and closing his hand around his neck. Sora choked, clutching at his throat.
"Let him go!" shouted Riku, levelling the gun.
"You shoot and I'll snap his neck," Matthew snarled at him.
Roxas stared. Sora was struggling against him, but he wasn't strong enough. It was just like before...just like when they were kids. He couldn't...he couldn't do anything to protect him.
A glint caught his eye and he glanced down, spotting the gun. For a moment he hesitated, glancing back up at Sora, then his resolve strengthened and he jumped forward.
He didn't stop to think. His hand closed around the gun as he rolled, coming upright and aiming. He briefly glanced in Sora's eyes, made his decision, then pressed the trigger.
The bullet closed the space in less than a second. Matthew didn't have time to react as the bullet hit his heart, causing him to stiffen then collapse, dropping Sora. Roxas sat there for a moment, the gun in his grasp as he shivered. He just..he just killed someone. He killed a person.
Sora coughed, clutching at his throat as he shook his head dizzily. The sound of several police cars and a helicopter came as Riku and Lea crossed the gap, kneeling beside the two boys. Riku quickly soothed Sora, rubbing circles on his back, as Lea gently worked the gun from Roxas' grip.
Police quickly stormed the grounds, surrounding the body of Matthew. The helicopter landed and Cloud came running out, crossing the distance between him and his sons.
"Sora, Roxas!" he cried, coming to a halt beside them.
Sora looked up, giving a vague smile, still massaging his neck. Cloud looked worried, then turned to Roxas.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Matthew tried to shoot them. Sora tried to take him on, but he just started strangling him. Roxas grabbed his gun and shot him," Riku quickly explained.
Cloud sighed, then crossed over to Roxas. Lea backed away to give him space, and he hugged Roxas to him.
"You did the right thing," he murmured.
"D-Dad...I..I killed someone," Roxas whispered, hugging himself.
"But you did it to protect Sora. And if you hadn't, he may have hurt someone else," Cloud said quietly.
Roxas nodded slowly, and Cloud gave him a vague smile before helping him up.
"I know it's not easy. You'll overcome this though, Roxas. You're strong enough to."
Before Roxas could reply, he was suddenly engulfed in a hug. Looking down in surprise, his expression softened as he spotted a familiar mop of brown hair.
"Sora.." he murmured. Sora glanced up, their eyes meeting, then Roxas reached round and hugged him back. "Are you okay?" he asked.
Sora nodded, looking at him in concern. Roxas gave a half smile.
"I'll be okay," he promised. Sora nodded slowly, not looking convinced.
The two boys turned as Lea and Riku walked over, standing infront of them. As Cloud looked at them, they straightened, heads held high.
"We apologise, sir. We almost allowed our targets to be hurt. We take full responsiblity for this failure," Riku said.
Cloud shook his head. "You did admirably. Mr Brownings was an extremely dangerous individual; we already knew that it was unlikely the two of you would be able to handle him on your own. You have well exceeded the expectations of your mission."
"So...what are we going to do now, sir?" asked Lea hesitantly.
Roxas looked at Cloud. "They aren't going to leave, are they?" he asked quickly.
Cloud hesitated, glancing between the boys. None of them looked really keen on the idea of splitting up - except Riku, who looked like his usual stoic self. Still, his gaze flickered over to Sora, looking briefly worried.
Cloud rubbed his chin, then shrugged.
"No, they'll be staying. Mr Brownings might be gone, but I still want to be reassured that my sons are safe," he said.
The boys grinned, and Cloud straightened.
"I need to get back, to sort through all the technicalities. I'll be back home tonight though, so don't worry," he promised them. The two boys nodded, smiling, then watched as he went back to the helicopter and climbed in.
The four boys stood up, turning away as the body was carried away, and Roxas sighed.
"Well...at least that's over," he murmured.
Sora gave a grin, hugging him happily. He was pretty certain that everything would be better now; maybe Roxas would even stop having his nightmares.
A man placed his mobile back on the desk.
"Mr Brownings failed, and paid with his life," he said to the other people sitting round the table.
"I knew we shouldn't have sent him," said another, shaking his head.
"He was a very capable man. There was no reason to doubt his abilities," said a woman.
"Ha! Browning's was idiot. We send my guy next time, yes?"
"Let's see what happens next. Who knows; maybe the Strife twins will prove to be valuable assets?" murmured another man, giving a little chuckle.
"What if they end up turning against us? The entire reason we were aiming for them in first place was in case they ended up being a serious enemy," another woman pointed out.
"What do you suggest we do, sir?" asked a man, sitting next to the man at the head of the table.
He considered, gazing out into the distance before smirking.
"Well...I believe Alexei should have a chance to show off his own skills."
"But sir, if we continue to attack them, there may be no chance of them ever joining us!"
A withering glare was directed at the one who spoke out, and he shrunk in his seat.
"I-I mean...you know best, sir."
"Better. Alexei? I leave it up to you."
"Gladly, sir," grinned another man, cracking his knuckles.
A/N: Well. I think this may be the first story which has a cliffhanger/ominous ending, rather than a definite happy one.
And yes. This went the same route with Roxas killing someone and freaking about it. That boy really can't get a break with me around, can he.
Do not worry, everyone! A sequel will be written! I'm not sure when, and I need to plan it out a little, but it will be written. (Probably at Camp NaNoWriMo next year...)
Review? And thanks for reading!
