Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.
Chapter 9:
Roxas was hiding in fear for his life, but also off the adrenaline rush of seeing a friend he hadn't seen in what had seemed an eternity, a thousand questions screamed out in his head. Many of them being about his brother, Officer Cloud Strife and whether or not his brother was still on the force, and if so, what would happen or pass between them if their paths ever crossed again.
If Squall was on the force still at this time; it meant his brother had to been on the force as well, or could it not be true that his brother was on the force; had his brother given it up to search for him? It had been almost two years since the once swinging and prosperous Jazz Club, Twilight Jazz, had seen a happy and joyful face; it had become a place of solace and silence.
Not many visited it as of late after the late Owner's death at the hands of the Mob, many believed that within in another year, it would fail to see another patron pass through its doors, or hear the sound of smooth, sweet Jazz echo throughout its halls. There was reason to believe its closure was imminent due to the trial pending against under the suspicion that had been working a racketeering business for the Mob to work through the time of the Prohibition.
"I hope they didn't see me…if my Brother," Roxas stopped in mid sentence; the very word "Brother" seemed to be like a venomous sting on his lips.
That one simple phrase had been absent from his vocabulary for so long that its mere phrasing was like a poisonous sting upon his dry lips, "Does my…does that man even care or know I exist anymore?"
"You can either spend your short time off pondering the meaning of life or you can get your butt back to Headquarters," the gruff and salty toned voice of Axel remarked as he stood against the dumpster.
The only real light around him was the one given off by the end of the lit cigarette that danced on his lips; "How…how did…when," Roxas sputtered and stuttered the words like a baby learning to speak.
"It's not that hard to find you kid, you're about the only kid in this entire city, under the age of 18, who isn't smoking and the feign innocence you seem to give off," Axel took one last drag and then deposited it onto the floor of the alleyway.
"Are you always this charming or are you just laying it on thick to make good with someone?" Roxas remarked sarcastically as he began to move out of the alleyway, but Axel's firm grip stopped him where he stood.
"You act so tough now, but what are you to do if the Boss finds out your own brother is a cop?" Roxas was frightened at the mere thought of his brother being found out and risking getting him killed.
"So, what's it going to be kid?" Axel held onto Roxas' arm still until he finally felt less resistance and let the kid go.
Roxas' feet felt like they were bolted to the ground with cement, his mouth was dry as cotton as he waited to utter the next words that escaped his mouth, "Whatever I do, there is no way out, is there?" he asked as he glanced at Axel
"That's the life we are allotted kid," Axel walked past Roxas and out towards the mouth of the alleyway.
It seemed that was how life was to play, like a cruel and never ending play that would continue to play out and mock him constantly until no end as if to tell him that there was no way to escape fate. It was a cruel and sadistic world, but yet, he was forced to play a role in its never ending storyline; he wanted to wake up from whatever nightmare or dream this was and have life be like it used to be.
"Come on, let's get back before the Boss gets suspicious," Axel called out to Roxas from the mouth of the alleyway while sitting in an old car with the passenger door open.
