"Fucking piece of shit."
Roxas found consciousness in the jolt of pain that accompanied the vicious kick to his ribs. He cried out, but the sound was cut short by the cloth stuffed unlovingly in his mouth. Shocked, he gagged, clamping his teeth down on the fabric and trying to shake it from his mouth. Not that it was any use. It was tied in a firm knot that pressed to the back of his skull, and all that his struggling earned him was another kick to the abdomen. He whimpered, curling into a ball on his side to protect his stomach from anymore abuse.
"Oh, don't even bother," Riku snorted above him. "I'll just kick you in the head, too. Damn brat."
Roxas dared to look up. They were in a large, empty building with concrete walls, floors, ceilings. A frantic search, though, revealed the black SUV with its heavily tinted windows and the open stairwell just nearby him. A parking garage. He sat at the foot of the steps, and when he looked up at Riku, the man gestured impatiently with his hand.
"Go on, get up there," he commanded, nudging him with his foot—and not kindly. Roxas flinched away from him. "Look, I'm not dragging your ass up a hundred damn flights of stairs. Get the hell up there."
Roxas stared up at him, wide-eyed. At first, he nearly jumped up and ran up the stairs. He didn't want to piss Riku off. Who knew what he was capable of? What if he hurt him again?
But then, suddenly, he refused. He narrowed his eyes, bit down on the gag, and stared Riku down. Roxas wasn't stupid. Riku wasn't going to do anything drastic. He couldn't. Roxas was his bargaining chip. That made him safe. Sort of.
At least he had the satisfaction of seeing the older man's surprise. Yes, he wanted to say. I have a backbone.
"You stupid fuck!" Riku screamed, and for a moment, Roxas thought he was going for his stomach again. Instead, though, he dropped down to a squat and grabbed a handful of his hair. With it, he yanked Roxas upright, hard enough the blonde yelled against his restraints. He squirmed, protesting the awkward position. "You think you're brave? Huh? You think I won't torture the fuck out of you? I just need you alive, you brat. You don't need your fingers to breathe, do you? You decide, runt."
Roxas glowered at him through his pain, meeting the perfect, crystal blue that mirrored his own. And looking into those eyes is how Roxas knew.
How he finally understood.
In all the ways Axel loved his blue eyes, in the ways he collected them like trophies, adored them like gems, cherished them like lovers… Axel did not love Roxas for his eyes. How could he?
When the same eyes glowed deadly and cruel before him?
Roxas consented, struggling to his feet with his hands still bound. Riku eyed him distastefully as he stood, watching as he rose and shook himself off. Suddenly, he lashed out, striking Roxas in the side of the head with his fist. Roxas crumpled on impact, groaning as he rolled over on the ground. Everything blurry, soundless, upside down. As he managed to shift onto his back, Riku leaned over him, only now looking smug.
Fine, he wanted to say. But Axel still doesn't love you.
He managed to get to his feet again, and this time, Riku let him walk, and up they trekked. Roxas didn't know if there really were a hundred flights—he stopped counting after a while—but about halfway up, the climb had made him too dizzy again. He tried to fight it off as long as he could, but the stairs were steep and Riku pushed him at a merciless pace. He collapsed midway up a flight, sinking to the step he was on, slowly falling back, swaying uneasily—but it was impossible to find his balance. Hands tied and vision fading, he tumbled downward. He felt his side brush something solid on the way down, and for a moment, he thought to cry out for help. But it was only Riku. And Riku let him fall.
The wall stopped him instead, and with the help of his head. Everything was dark for what felt like a long, frightening and blissful reprieve, but then Riku was grabbing his hair again, and the agony was blinding enough to bring him back. Screaming, he twisted and turned as Riku literally hauled him up the stairs by his hair. Up one flight, two, three… The pain was numbing and awful and brought tears to his eyes. Only on the fourth landing did Riku release him, disgusted.
"Hurry the hell up," he snapped, wiping his hand on his shirt, as if he'd been digging through filth. He paused when Roxas whimpered, hesitating, and added as an afterthought, "Before I push you down myself."
Axel was coming. He was. He had to be. As Roxas forced himself to trudge up the stairs—floor after floor—he repeated his mantra. Reassuring himself that Axel was coming for him. Why else would Riku want him? It was the only connection that made any sense. It was the only thought that kept him strong enough not to give up, not to lose hope.
By the time they finally reached the top, he was panting hard, drooling a little around the cloth, and seeing stars. His knees wobbled and he almost collapsed as Riku pushed him onto the landing, but he caught himself on the receptionist's desk with his ribs, doubling over it, eyes shut tight.
Riku was suddenly behind him, chest pressing to his back, hot breath in his ear. Roxas froze, eyes popping open wide as Riku's arms trapped him in.
"How many times, I wonder?" he hissed, so low and angry and close, Roxas flinched away. Riku only pressed closer. "Has he taken you like this? Like you're a dog? Like you're a whore? Because that's what you are. A nasty, filthy whore."
Roxas couldn't stop the tears. They streamed without warning and trying to stop them was futile. He didn't know if it was his words or his proximity or what he was insinuating, but Roxas was terrified. Terrified and pathetic.
"You think he loves you? You think you matter?" he growled, and only then did Roxas break.
Crying out, he snapped his head back as hard as he could. The knot cushioned some of the blow for his own skull, but he heard the defined clack of bone as his head hit Riku's face, his startled gasp, and his clumsy, shaken retreat. Unable to think, Roxas bolted for the stairs. It was all that flooded his mind: escape, escape, escape, so close, right there…
"You damn faggot!" Riku screeched, voice muffled by the hand clamped over his face, but he was already chasing after him. His fingers snagged the back of Roxas' jacket, and panicked, Roxas swung around with Riku's tug, and head-butted him again. Shocked, Riku released him, stumbling backward. "Fuck!"
It was another opportunity to run, but the blow of his forehead catching Riku's chin made him falter. His brain was shrieking for him to flee, but his body couldn't respond. Wouldn't wake up. Gasping, he pushed himself a couple unsteady steps toward the stairs, but fell to one knee, paralyzed. And Riku was already on top of him.
He slammed him into the floor with the full weight of his body, snarling as Roxas screamed and cried when his face met the carpet. Riku was spitting hateful things in his ear, but Roxas didn't give him a moment's ease. He couldn't stay down. He had to fight back.
Just once.
At least once.
Still clinging to his newfound resolve, he found the strength to twist and kick, catching Riku in the shin, and then the abdomen, and…oh, shit—those were definitely his balls. Gasping, Roxas scrambled away as Riku groaned, clutching himself desperately, but he recovered quicker than Roxas could find his footing. And this time, he grabbed him by the neck, whirled him around, and slammed the barrel of a gun to Roxas' forehead.
Every bone in his body turned to stone. All he could see, feel, think was that gun, and even Riku's satisfied snarl didn't register until he said:
"That's what I thought."
And the side of the gun slammed into his temple.
He came to in a new room, where it was more or less silent and he was, from the looks of it, alone. Riku had left him on the floor, propped up against a wooden table, still bound, still gagged. The room smelled of leather, paper, ink, and he lifted his weary gaze to take in the towering bookshelves lining the room.
His head was still throbbing, a dull ache that nestled at the back of his skull and lingered. With every beat of his heart came a new flash of pain, and only when he lay his head on the floor and closed his eyes did the agony become bearable.
How did this happen to him? Was this normal? He exhaled loudly, reviewing his last few months. His brother throws him to be sold in a sex slave market on his birthday, where he's bought by an unlikely merciful heir to one of New York's most influential families, who then, against all odds, falls in love with him—even though he's never been gay before—which, in turn, gets him kidnapped and abused by said prodigy's evil business partner. Roxas frowned.
His life sounded like a Lifetime movie.
Those were the kinds that Sora always made fun of, because he said nobody's life was really ever that dramatic. He wondered what his brother would say now, if he could see him. If he knew. Would he regret it? Would he take back all the things he'd said? Did he still think about him? Roxas couldn't keep himself from wondering. His head was too foggy, too bothered, for him to push Sora from his mind. The all-encompassing feelings of betrayal, denial, and depression slowly seeped from his heart, where Axel had tucked them away not twenty-four hours ago.
Axel did make things better. Undoubtedly. But functioning without Sora was like being on autopilot. Like letting life steer him in the right course until he found himself again. It had been possible before, to delude himself into believing one day, everything would be normal again. But he couldn't believe that anymore now. That door slamming in his face had been the loudest declaration of finality he'd ever had to experience. In a breath's time, his hope was gone. It had no place in this Lifetime movie.
He'd manage, he supposed. Longingly and sadly, but not without his own happiness. He was warm and loved and cared for, in ways that very well should have been impossible.
Except for this. This he could live without.
He rested in and out of his daze, only half listening for signs of Riku's return. A dark part of him—the part that could fight back—hoped he tripped down the stairs. Or fallen out of a window. Or shot himself with his own gun.
When the doorknob suddenly jiggled, Roxas stilled, wide-eyed. He found the door as it began rattling on its hinges, locked. Someone trying to get in…someone trying to get to him. He cried out against the cloth, but found he hardly had enough energy to muster the noise, let alone be heard, muffled as his voice was. New tears found their way to his eyes.
The door stopped moving as abruptly as it began. Roxas stared at it, willing it to move again, straining to see through the wood. Silent and motionless, he waited, face damp and taut with tears—and then he heard the voices. A low, murmuring voice, and the strong, defined sound that was Axel. Roxas inhaled a shaky breath, and then forced himself to be quiet again, trying to hear what they were saying. Had Axel fallen right into Riku's trap? What was going on? What was going to happen to them?
Was this the end?
He waited. And waited. And waited and waited and waited and waited, waited tense and still and unblinkingly as he watched the door and waited for it to open. Waited to see who would be on the other side. Waited to find out what might become of him after this. Waited to know whether Axel was safe or not. Waited. He waited. For a lifetime.
Everything was silent. They were no longer speaking outside. Every second lingered. Every moment drove him insane. He needed release. All he wanted was to know Axel was safe. That was all he would ever ask for. Ever again.
He heard the key slide into the lock.
He saw the knob turn.
He watched Axel push open the door.
"Roxas?" he called, but then their eyes met and his eyes grew in size and he was rushing to his side like nothing else in the world could ever matter. "Shit, Roxas!"
Roxas could do nothing. Bound in such meager chains as he was, he was still bound and still too weak and powerless to do anything. He had to wait until Axel dropped to his knees beside him and took the gag from between his teeth even to let out the sob he'd been holding in for hours.
"Dear God, Roxas," Axel gasped, and pressed a desperate kiss to his lips. Roxas responded without even trying. His body was working on autopilot. His brain couldn't function. He just knew those lips, knew that kiss, and he knew what to do without even having to think. "I am so sorry, Roxas. God, I am so, so, so sorry. I love you so much."
Oh, yes. He'd been worried about him. He'd cared. He'd come. Just for him.
"Please don't leave me," he begged, sobbing, not caring if it sounded selfish or pathetic. He was tired and hurting and wanted to go home. He wanted this all to be over. He wanted everything to be simple and clean again. Not like this. He sucked in a shaky, tear-filled gasp. "Don't let me go."
"Never," Axel whispered, wrapping tight around him. Just how Roxas liked him to. He could feel Axel's fingers picking at the knots of his binds. The relief of them falling away…was heavenly. "I promise. I'll never leave you, Roxas. I love you so much."
How he had feared he'd die never hearing those words again.
"I love you, too," he rasped, as clearly as he could. He raised his gaze to Axel's and let that green consume him. Unafraid. "I love you, Axel. I love you."
"I will never let anyone hurt you again," he sighed, letting his forehead touch Roxas'. Letting their heartbeats collide. "You're safe, okay?"
A click.
A familiar click.
Roxas hated that click.
"I beg to differ, Mr. Heart."
Roxas hadn't even seen him. Hadn't even known he was there. But of course. Of course it wasn't over, of course there was someone else, of course Riku hadn't been behind all this nonsense, of course the damn movie wasn't over yet.
"If you could please stand," he commanded, and Roxas' eyes found him over Axel's shoulder. Tall, evil, red eyes and scarred face and all. Too cliché. Too unreal. Roxas was scared shitless. But he was over this. Over it all. Be done. That's all he wanted. They stood slowly, Axel covering him as they did. Protecting him.
But Saix had his gun.
"Now, move away from each other, would you? I know it's just going to kill you, but I think you'll manage."
Roxas inhaled, jerked his eyes up to Axel. Torn. Both of them. Just separate, and they delayed their demise that much longer. But they didn't know what Saix wanted. If they split up…if they gave him that victory… Would it be worth it?
If Roxas was about to die, he'd do it in Axel's arms.
"You'll have to shoot me first," Axel said softly, so softly it was like a kiss. A last kiss. And terrified as he was, Roxas was relieved. They had made the same decision. They did this together. "I'm not abandoning him."
Thank you.
"Axel, come now," Saix sighed, and Roxas would bet he rolled his eyes. He didn't care to look, though. He wasted not a moment of his time. "Don't be stupid about this. Do as your told for once, would you?"
"Not a chance," Axel answered, and wrapped Roxas up so close, the boy could no longer see Saix in his peripheral. All he could see was Axel. He leaned down to kiss his ear softly. "I love you, Roxas."
"Axel…" Roxas breathed, touching Axel's face gingerly. "Thank you…"
"Oh, fine," Saix hissed. "Always doing things the hard way. Always a pain in my ass. Spoiled brat. You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this."
Roxas shuddered as Axel placed his head over his, and Roxas buried himself into Axel's chest. He didn't stop the tears. Axel would go first. He would be alone for a little bit…but then he would follow. He'd follow right after, and then they'd be together again. Wherever it was that waited for them after this. Wherever they could find peace.
"Good bye, Axel."
Saix's words were casual. Nonchalant. Bored.
Roxas hated him.
But the gunshot silenced his thoughts.
It's so shooooort. Haha, I know. And I'm sorry. But I've got a million things going on, and it's hard for me to write, and this is where the chapter ended in Chains. I guess I could have elaborated more on what went on during the kidnap, but oh well. It's already written, I'm not revised, annnnd this is what you get. :)
I do hope you like it, and hope you review. I'm working steadily on Inferno Princess right now, and I've been doing my best to start something new, but I'm running out of ideas. I have an idea of what I want, but I'm not sure what fandom I want to write it for or what exactly the details will consist of. I've been trying to write little oneshots in the mean time, but it's ridiculously hard. I'm swamped with theatre, school work, real work, and scheduling daily conflicts. For example, last week I was sick with strep and it's a pain in the ass going to the health center on campus. You have to make an appointment the day of, online or by phone, beginning at 5:00 AM. And they're usually booked by 8 or 9. So after trying this twice and failing, I just marched in and demanded I be given medicine because my throat was going to die. So they gave me penicillin. Which for the first few days, made me sick and nauseous and made me not want to eat anything. No me gusta. Anyway, shit like that happens, and it's annoying. -_-
Oh, and my computer charger is broken, so I'm limited to writing/typing/posting when the computer lab opens, and these times don't always coincide with the days my creative side is functioning. You know? So yeah. I'm going to stop rambling now. I'll try to get the next chapter up soonish. It's been almost a year since I posted this first. Not good, haha.
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