Disclaimer: It's rated 'M' for a reason, folks.

Chapter 11

The person who stepped through the door was not the person Axel wanted to see. It had been a while but he recognized Riku immediately and his blood started to boil the instant the other walked in. Roxas had moved to sit next to the redhead on the couch and put a hand on his in order to keep him from lunging out his seat. Albeit a brief sensation, he was thankful for the touch. He tried to settle back in the couch and crossed his arms over his chest, watching carefully.

"Oh, hey Riku," Sora chimed when he walked in. "We were expecting your dad."

"Yeah, he's on his way—Oo! Strudel!" Riku said before taking a pastry off the tray and shoving the entire thing in his mouth. He sat next to Sora and leaned into the brunette, draping his arm across the back of the seat. Sora's cheeks colored a little and Leon kept an eye on them, tapping his fingers on the armrest. Selphie eventually came back with a martini glass and set it on the small table next to an empty armchair. She sat on the other side of Riku, who in response draped his other arm across the seat. She giggled a little, which made Axel tense up more.

"How have you been?" Roxas asked the boy. Riku raised an eyebrow before answering.

"Oh same old same old I guess. I see your leg is better. That's good."

"Yes, it's useable anyway. I see your trachea is in tact."

"It is. It's useable anyway," Riku retorted with a curt smile. Shortly after their spat, Xemnas strode in and didn't even look around before taking a seat. He regarded Axel with a stone cold stare and smiled at Roxas as warmly as his demeanor would let him. It was very obvious to Axel that the man held himself on a high pedestal that he felt no one else could reach him, his amber eyes were nothing like Riku's blue ones and aside from their shared olive skin tone and silver hair, they didn't look too much alike.

"I don't believe we have met," the man said in an even tone.

"Axel," the redhead said simply.

"Ah yes. I remember hearing about you. I'm glad we could finally meet face to face. How have you been, Roxas? I haven't heard from you or yours in a while now."

"Oh everything is fine. Mother is away on a cruise, and Namine is flitting around the home as she usually does. Nothing exciting, really."

"Ah, well. You'll have that. Happy belated birthday, if I'm not mistaken."

"Thank you."

"How are Demyx, Marluxia, and Zexion? Not over working them I hope?"

Axel was confused. What did they have to do with anything? Roxas gave Xemnas a light smile. "They are happy."

"I'm glad I sent them to you then."

"It's been a thrill, to say the least."

Riku stretched lazily in his seat his shirt riding up his torso a bit; when Axel glanced over he could see the workings of a large tattoo on the boy's hip, peeking out from the top of his pants. "God you old people are boring," he said with a yawn. Xemnas smiled.

"If you're so bored you can leave. Take everyone with you for all I care, but leave Roxas here. We need to catch up."

"Sure thing," Riku said, standing. Sora, Selphie and Leon stood as well and the four of them left without another word. Axel stayed put; he didn't want to go with Riku. Xemnas looked at him.

"I'm afraid I must insist."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Axel…" Roxas said. The redhead looked at him and got a blank but serious face. Axel sighed and begrudgingly stood, leaving the two to talk. When he exited, Leon was no where to be seen but the three remainders were hanging around the bar. Riku, had a glass of something in his hand and Sora was practically drooling on him. Selphie stood off to the side with her own googly eyes trained on the boy. Axel sighed and sat on the stool farthest from them, which also made it closest to the door to the lounge. He tried his best to ignore the group, he really did, but they eventually came over to him which was not the most ideal situation.

"Get away from me," Axel interjected at Riku.

"Whoa, Mr. Hostile I didn't even say anything."

"Good. Leave."

"It's practically my house, dude. You're the one who should be leaving," Riku said as he set his glass on the bar and waved a hand at Sora and his sister, both of whom pouted a little before turning to leave. Riku sat in the stool next to Axel and leaned in. "But since you're Roxas' friend, I'll let you stay. Can't we let bygones be bygones and call a truce on this war we're apparently having?"

"What makes you think I would even consider that?"

"Because I'm a nice guy. We just got off on the wrong foot."

"Oh yes, rape is a wonderful precursor to a fruitful relationship, I agree."

"Ooo touchy. Look, I'm sorry, okay? It wasn't the best decision on my part." Riku leaned in close to the redhead and gave him his best apologetic face. Axel looked him over carefully. He tried his best to weed through the rage in his mind to look at this in a more practical light. What did he have to lose exactly? Not a whole lot, Roxas seemed okay enough to act civil with him so why couldn't he? He sighed.

"Fine," he spat.

"Fantastic!" Riku grinned happily. "To commemorate this momentous reunion I say we get shitfaced!" he exclaimed, raising his glass. Axel shook his head.

"No, thanks."

"Well you're boring. We could go in the back and see if I have anything in my stash for us to smoke if that's more your deal."

Axel gave it more consideration than he should have before shaking his head again, "no, I'm fine."

"Aww, I thought I had you," he grinned. They sat together for a silent minute before Riku took a swig of his drink and clanked it on the bar again. "So let's see… I know you have tattoos on your face, how about any other ones?"

Is he trying to get to know me? Axel thought. "Four more," he said simply.

"Awesome, can I see?"

"I would need to take my pants off, so no," which wasn't entirely true but he wasn't about to take his shirt off either.

"Well that's an interesting visual," Riku said with a thoughtful face.

"What about you?"

"Oh well I have one, but it's the same situation as you I'm afraid. Unless you're really freaky and want to go to my office for some show and tell."

"You have an office?"

"Ch'yeah! I own this place, my friend."

"I thought it belonged to Sora's family."

"Not any more it doesn't. We're going to keep part of the name for familiarity sake but we bought out their entire chain almost eight years ago. I dunno who my dad decided to wait until now to move forward, but whatever."

"Whoa."

"Whoa indeed."

Axel thought about the whole situation for a minute. Sora was under the impression it was a partnership, not a corporate buyout. Weird, maybe the kid was misinformed? It really didn't concern him so he didn't think much past that. Instead, he changed the topic, "I know you… know Roxas, but I heard you're sweet on Namine?"

"Aah yeah. She and I go to school together. She's totally gaga for me, it almost creeps me out in some ways, and she's real money hungry. My dad likes her way more than I do, he keeps telling me to propose to her."

"Will you?"

"Eh, I considered it simply for the purpose of reproducing and keeping the family going, you know. But I don't think I would ever do it if that wasn't a reason. She's cute and can be a laugh but I'm not sure I can spend my life with someone like her. Plus her mom is psychotic, have you seen that bitch? She isn't exactly my ideal mother-in-law."

"I can see where that would be a hindrance, yeah."

"Though I could marry her until she squeezes out a son for me and then leave her, but I'd like to break that chain in my family, honestly."

"With that I can assume your dad did the same with your mom?"

"Yeah, basically. He actually has like twelve children by five women or something, I'm his only son."

"Holy shit, that's a lot of babies."

"Yeah it is. His taxes are crazy." Axel had to laugh at that last remark which made Riku smile. The boy finished his drink and ordered another. "Are you sure you don't want anything?"

"No really, I'm fine."

Riku spun around in his seat and reclined back against the bar. "Suit yourself," Riku looked at his watch before sighing. "My dad can be so long winded sometimes. I bet he's in there yammering Roxas' ear off about something to do with money."

"They've been in there for over an hour."

"I think I'll just go barge in. Wait here, if they're talking important business things you probably shouldn't hear." Axel waved a hand dismissively. Riku disappeared back into the lounge and was gone for all of three minutes before he rushed out again and yelled to Axel. "Get in here! I need your help!"

Axel immediately jumped up as his blood ran cold. Did something happen to Roxas? He ran into the lounge to find it devoid of life save for Riku and himself. Roxas' clothes were scattered about and there was no sign of Xemnas. He and Riku looked around with concern on their faces. The door started to creak slowly behind him and Axel barely had time to turn around when a pair of strong arms seized him and held him still.

"What the fuck!?" he growled as he struggled against the arms. Riku made no move to help him; instead he was digging around in a small cabinet, retrieving a bottle and a rag. He wet the rag with the bottle's contents and walked towards Axel with a twisted smile.

"Tell me my friend; does this smell like chloroform to you?"

***

The world was black. All Axel knew was that he couldn't see, his heart was racing at an unhealthy level, and he couldn't move his hands from behind his back. When he tried to move there was a metallic grinding against the floor he was laying on. The floor itself was cold, damp, and uneven and he was suddenly aware that he didn't have a shirt on when he tried to move and his shoulder landed in something wet. He did a mental check of himself where he found he was still wearing pants but his shoes and socks were gone. Everything was silent around him but if he listened hard enough he could hear a light murmur of conversation coming from above him.

He tried to speak but his throat was on fire and he choked on his words, sending him into a frenzy of coughing. There was movement somewhere relatively nearby and Axel froze. He tried his voice again but to avail, he only managed a grunt. There was a vocal crack as someone else tried to talk but started coughing just like he had. He lay still, trying to breathe slowly and evenly even though he felt like panting. He was sweating some and he could feel his cheeks flush the more he tried to control himself. He eventually was able to scoot back enough to where he hit a wall and was able to shimmy himself to sit upright. He got his feet under himself and tried to stand but a pain shot through his thigh and he staggered and fell back with a loud grunt, it echoed.

There was movement again from somewhere near. More coughing came up before a weak voice managed to croak "…'s there?" It was Roxas. Axel tried his best to respond but could only cough more and let out a frustrated groan. The echo was making it hard to tell where the movement was coming from but Axel tried his best to listen to Roxas' resisting to get a better feel of where he was. His hands found that he was indeed chained to the wall and with shackles around his wrists no less. Roxas kept making noise from wherever he was and Axel heard a definitive 'chink' as Roxas' own bindings had reached their limit from the wall.

Another vocal crack and some coughing later, Roxas managed to get a raspy sentence out. "If that's you, Axel, give me a sign." Axel's brain tried to think of something other than a rattle of chain or something else generic. He licked his lips a few times and it took him a few tries before he started whistling the legato tune Roxas used to call Joseph to him. After he was finished Roxas was heard struggling against his restraints and coughing as he tried to speak.

They sat in silence for a length of time before the flames in his focal chords started to snuff out. He was finally able to croak out some words to the blonde albeit a little breathlessly. "Roxas? Where are you?"

"I'm not sure, I can't see. Try to move towards my voice." Axel tried his best to move along the wall but eventually ran into a corner. He shimmied down and went as far as he could with the length of his chains. He could hear Roxas doing the same and eventually they bumped shoulders. They both let out a heavy sigh.

"Do you know what's on your eyes?" Axel asked.

"No idea. Here, tell me what you feel," Roxas leaned over and rubbed his eyes against his shoulder. Axel had to think through his racing heartbeat to figure it out.

"Duct tape."

"Oh fantastic."

"Lay down and I'll try to pull it off," he shifted away from the wall and Roxas lowed himself to the side so Axel could shimmy back and touch his face. It took a minute and some creative maneuvering but Axel was able to get a fingernail under the edge of the tape and pull a little. Roxas hauled himself upright and Axel held the tape and it came off in one swift movement. Roxas hissed.

"I hope I have eyebrows left, my skin burns. Your turn." They repeated the process and Axel sat up with pained moan.

"Okay, ow. Why would people ever think it's a good idea to wax their eyebrows is beyond me."

"I'm sure there's more of a process to it than duct tape, Axel."

"I hope so." The tape wasn't the only things keeping them in the dark. The lights were off. Axel moved around, bumping into Roxas several times and who was starting to sound agitated at him. Eventually he was able to grab hold of the blonde's hands and give them a reassuring squeeze before feeling up his shackles. They were held closed with a padlock and were one solid piece of steel, not quite as easy as duct tape to get around. The redhead groaned. "Okay weird question, but could you feel my thigh? It hurts like a bitch."

"Sure," they situated themselves again and Roxas smoothed his hands across Axel's thigh slowly, feeling all the details. The redhead shivered under his touch and he could feel himself getting a little aroused. His heart rate never slowed since he woke up but he did feel his skin become more attentive to Roxas' touch, something wasn't right. He felt a light pinch as Roxas pulled away from him. "It's a syringe," the blonde said quietly. There was a light clatter as he tossed it away.

"Great. Chemicals," maybe that was his problem, "I have to say though it makes sense. My heart's been racing since I woke up."

"Oh yeah? I'm sorry to hear it. Aside from the obvious I don't think much else is wrong with me."

"The obvious?"

"The shackles, duct tape and bum leg. The usual."

"You sound extremely calm to me, almost casual about this."

"I'm just having a hard time not being cynical about this. The one time I want to go out on my own accord and this is what happens. Fan-fucking-tastic."

"Good point," Axel sighed and sat back against the wall. His heart was racing a mile a minute and his thigh was still tingling. He was having a hard time ignoring the warmth in his groin as well.

"Did you change pants at some point?" Roxas asked abruptly.

"I don't recall doing so, no."

"I don't remember you wearing suede."

"I wasn't. I was wearing jeans."

"Odd."

"I saw your pants; they were back in the lounge so you can't be wearing the same ones either."

"Someone stole my shoes as well."

"Me too." Even after sitting in the dark for quite some time, Axel's night vision wasn't kicking in. It meant to him that there wasn't and opening for light to get in around them, which also meant there probably wasn't any ventilation to speak of as well. He wondered if they would run out of oxygen at some point.

"Your shoulder is sticky, by the way."

"Yeah I moved and landed in a puddle of something."

"Wonderful."

"Yep," Axel felt a brush of hair against said sticky shoulder as Roxas leaned against him a sighed. Axel laid his head on top of his swirly spikes and closed his eyes. Not that he needed to in order to make the room dark, it was just more comfortable. Suddenly there was a loud click and both he and Roxas were yanked away from each other and they both slid to their respective places across their dungeon-like room, being pulled by their hands. They both clanked into the anchor for their chains as all the slack was retracted into the wall. Axel was dragged through a puddle on his way and his entire left side was coated in whatever it was. He was finally able to stand at this point, being already half-hoisted up by his restraints. A low wattage bulb buzzed to life in the middle of the room.

The room itself was made mostly of concrete except for the ceiling, it was made of mirrors. Roxas had been right in guessing that they were both stripped of their own clothes and were dressed in identical pairs of suede pants. Axel looked to see what he had been covered in and was horrified to see that his entire right side was slick with blood the source of which was chained to the wall a few feet away from him. Roxas was staring in horror just as he was as Selphie's lifeless body hung taught against the chains that held her in place. She was completely naked and had a large burn on her forehead in the shape of a tree. There was a large slice in her throat that led to her entire front being coated in her blood. Once he started to comprehend what was seeing Axel started to scream and struggle against his restraints.

"Axel! Stop! You'll hurt yourself!" Roxas called from across the way. In the middle of his struggling there was another loud click and he was suddenly able to run away from the body. He ran until the slack ran out again and it caught him off guard causing him to fall to the concrete beneath him. Roxas ran over and knelt by him. Axel was panting and his vision was getting blurry. Roxas pleaded with him. "You need to calm down, otherwise you'll pass out. Axel please," the blonde sat and lay himself next to the redhead so he could see his face, "calm down. I don't want to be here by myself."

Axel and Roxas didn't have time to think before they were pulled away again in the same manner as before, this time Axel went through the puddle on his left side and smacked into the wall. He was starting to get disoriented as his breathing stayed labored. He tried his best to ignore Selphie and focus on Roxas but the blonde was starting to fade from his vision and blend in with the concrete. Another loud click and he was let to stagger forward again and fall to the floor. He rolled onto his back and looked up but realized all he could focus on was Selphie and the giant crimson puddle below her, so he closed his eyes. He had fallen too far from Roxas and the blonde couldn't reach him.

"Don't close your eyes. It'll be too easy to black out," Roxas pleaded.

"I'll… be fine," the redhead panted in response. His breath had slowed some, not back to normal, but at least he managed to get it back to what it was before he saw Selphie. He didn't want to think anymore. He almost welcomed passing out, if it wasn't for Roxas talking to him, he would've gladly accepted that alternative versus having to be awake wherever he was. After a while of lying still he opened his eyes and saw himself in the mirrored ceiling. Both of his sides were coated unevenly in a glossy red but very little of it had gotten on his face. The suede pants showed every curve and detail of his lower half, which he wasn't thrilled about but at least he wasn't naked.

Axel maneuvered his shoulders around so he could roll onto his stomach and use his chin to push himself up. He carefully stood on watery legs and walked over to Roxas. The blonde waited for him patiently and Axel stood in front of him with a hurt smile. "Hi."

"Feel better?" the redhead knew he was talking about lying on the floor for so long.

"Yes."

"Liar."

"I know."

"Your pupils are huge."

Axel tried his best at a clumsy shrug. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I feel like I could have a heart attack any minute now."

"You could, really. You need to try your best to calm down. I wish we could just sit in a frantic heap but I don't think we have that luxury right now. We can go to therapy later." Axel nodded and tried his best to breathe through his heartbeat. Roxas leaned forward and laid an ear on Axel's chest, ignoring the red stains on his skin. He backed away and nodded. "You need to sit and take it easy."

Roxas left him to wander around the radius his chains would let him, looking for any nooks and crannies that would give them some idea as to what they could do to get out or contact someone. Axel simply flopped down where he stood. His skin was tingling where Roxas had touched him and it was hard to ignore the feeling. While he was focused on that his pants were becoming excruciatingly tight as he tried to fight off an obnoxious erection and shifted around impatiently trying get comfortable in the unforgiving fabric. He sighed, giving up.

"Oh wow Axel," Roxas said. The blonde was looking him over carefully.

"I know! I'm having a problem. I'm sorry," he could feel his cheeks reddening. He wished the light would go off again.

"I know how you feel, don't worry about it," Axel's mind flashed back to the night Namine messed with Roxas' pills and he nodded in understanding.

On the furthest wall, the one neither of them could reach, a panel in the concrete sunk back before being pulled open and Sora was shoved inside by a hand that disappeared back into the darkness. The door closed again and became one with the wall. Roxas watched him carefully. Sora was fine. He looked the same as he did when he left Riku and Axel at the bar, except he was wearing different clothes. He didn't even seem to notice his sister chained to the wall, having long since been killed and drained. It wasn't a normal reaction and immediately red flags flew up in Axel's bleary mind.

The brunette didn't say anything to either of them; instead he dug in his pocket and pulled out a small key. He quietly walked over to Roxas and unlocked the padlock from the blonde's restraints. The shackles fell to the floor with a loud metallic clank and Roxas, rubbed his wrists, regarding Sora with a wary eye. Sora made no move to help Axel.

"Come with me, Roxas," Sora said quietly, a solemn look on his face.

"Not without Axel," Roxas said back. The blonde made his way to the redhead and sat next to him on the concrete.

"Just come willingly please," the brunette pleaded.

"Not without Axel." Sora sighed and walked over to Roxas in attempts to grab his arm and pull him away. Roxas shrugged him off easily and leaned back against the redhead. Roxas glared at him, "aren't you a bit concerned that your sister is dead?"

"I already knew about that. I did it," the pair's eyes widened in disbelief as they looked up at the brunette who wore a blank expression that said everything and nothing. Once again Sora tried to pull Roxas away and the blonde immediately swatted his hand away and moved back to sit on Axel's lap, effectively crushing an important part of his anatomy.

"You're a monster," Roxas said, glaring up at his murderous friend through stray hairs.

"I know. I've come to terms with that."

"Come to terms w—she was alive only a few hours ago! How can you make peace so quickly?!" Roxas shouted angrily.

"Hours ago? You guys have been down here for almost an entire day." Both of them were shocked to hear this. Axel didn't know Roxas' particular situation on how he got here, but he certainly didn't feel like he had been sleeping on concrete for a whole day. He wasn't hungry either. Roxas looked to be thinking about it as hard as he was. "What did you guys think? You fell asleep and woke up here an hour later? We're not even in the city anymore."

"Xigbar will find us," Roxas said with a light sneer that made Sora giggle at him.

"You think so?"

"I know he will." Sora smiled and made a move for Roxas again prompting Axel to pull his legs up defensively and mashing Roxas to his torso. Sora gave him a look like he had just committed a mortal sin before backing off and digging in one of the pockets of his cargo pants. He retrieved a black device and a pair of handcuffs. From the electrical clicking Axel could tell that the device was a taser.

"So are you going to go willingly? Because this is getting old, Roxas."

Axel shifted around balancing Roxas' weight as best he could. "Don't worry about me, Roxas. Just go with him. You really don't want to be tased. It isn't fun." Roxas thought it over some, staring at the ground before looking at Axel.

"I'll come back for you," he said quietly.

"I know you will."

***

Axel had been left to his own devices for what had to be an eternity. He lay on his stomach facing Roxas' discarded chains and trying not to let his mind wander. Once he was by himself, he was able to think about all the tiny details of the room he was too frantic to think about earlier. The smell being the biggest one coming from Selphie, and the blood that had dried on his skin let out a coppery scent that made him think of pennies. At one point he did start to dry heave from the combined sensations but he couldn't outright vomit, which he was happy about, he didn't need another puddle to roll through.

His shoulders hurt as did his wrists. His heart had eventually calmed some and he could breathe a little easier. His skin hadn't stopped tingling though; he just chalked that up to either the remnants of whatever they injected him with and him just being a giant pervert. He purposely didn't think about Selphie, or the fact that the way she was killed was all too familiar. He didn't want to deal with it anymore. He just wanted to take Roxas and go home. He lay on the floor for so long that he eventually started to doze a little. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep there was a light click, different than the one that meant he was going to go careening into the wall again. The light had gone off.

There was a thumping. The kind of thumping that sounded like a bunch of unruly teenagers throwing a party down the street but much more sporadic. Axel looked around the room but couldn't see any change though because of the lack of light. The thumping became move fevered before a resounding thud happened. Axel realized it was coming from above him.

Axel franticly got to his feet and looked up in awe as he saw Roxas' face and hands pushed up against the glass of the one-way mirrored ceiling, worry spread across his expression. Axel smiled up at him like 'I'm still here, I'm okay.' He watched as something surprised Roxas and he turned. Slowly, Riku's bare feet padded across the glass and stopped next to the blonde, who was frozen and couldn't take his eyes off him. They shared some dialogue between each other before Riku started to laugh. Roxas was on his feet in an instant but quickly knocked back to his knees once Riku grabbed onto his throat. Axel grit his teeth, frustrated he couldn't do anything. He could hear his blood pulsing through his ears.

Riku leaned in close to whisper in Roxas' ear causing the blonde to resist him. Axel started to pace as he watched. Riku moved a hand to the back of Roxas' head and took a handful of hair and pushed him down into the glass, smashing his face against it. Roxas' breath came out in labored pants that fogged the glass near his mouth. Riku shouted a few sentences at the blonde before letting him go and moving off the glass. Roxas only had a moment to lay still and gain his bearings before Riku returned with a syringe. Roxas tried to push him away but Riku tackled him and kept him pressed to the glass. The older boy weaved through Roxas' fighting arms and found a spot before sticking him and injecting. He tossed the plastic tube away and Roxas slowly started to fade until he lay completely still.

At this point, Axel was worried that Riku had just killed him. Either that notion was untrue or it wasn't a deal breaker for Riku because he shifted around and pulled the blonde's pants off. Axel's eyes widened with the understanding with what was going to unfold before him and let out a frustrated scream hoping that Roxas would hear it and wake up. He fought against his restraints with as much force as he could manage, causing the shackles to cut into his wrists. After fighting against himself for several minutes Axel took a tentative look up. He froze.

Riku had flipped Roxas over onto his stomach and was already pumping into him with fervor. Riku had laid himself against the blonde's back and was talking into his ear, causing Roxas' eyes to open wide. The blonde made a move similar to twitching in all of his extremities before he let himself lay still again and panting against the glass. Riku laughed and put his hands on Roxas' lower abdomen and pulled upwards, causing the blonde's torso to slide lazily across the surface so his hips met with Riku's. To Axel, it was like watching a train wreck. It was horrible to see it happen, but he couldn't look away as Riku pounded into Roxas with such force it caused the blonde's entire body to move across the glass inch by inch. Roxas' face was contorted into what Axel could only assume were pants and helpless screams as tears streamed out of his eyes and left streaks on the glass.

Eventually, Riku's rage must've been sated because he pulled away from Roxas and stood, zipping his pants. He said something to the blonde before settling a foot against his hip and shoving him causing a thud as Roxas' body flopped to the side; Riku spat on him before turning to leave. Roxas lay there, panting and clenching his teeth as silent tears slid down his cheeks.

Axel was exhausted from struggling and he let himself slide down the wall so he could sit. Every cell of his being wanted Riku dead. His blood was pumping through his veins so hard that he was starting to get a headache from not being able to release his rage on anything. He also thought of killing Sora for taking Roxas away from him. There was a thumping from above him again as shoes clacked across the glass. Leon dropped to his knees in front of Roxas' still body and nudged him around, talking frantically with a worried face. Someone must have come in because Leon's attention was diverted away from Roxas just enough for a flash to happen and pieces of his skull to fly away as he fell backwards onto the glass and a steady pool of blood started to surround him. Roxas was pulled backwards off the glass and out of sight.

***

Another length of time passed and this time Axel was starting to go insane. It was still dark in his little dungeon but he knew she was there so he started to have nonsensical conversations with Selphie. His wrath subsided after sitting for a while and he had an overwhelming feeling of helplessness.

"I don't know what to do. I'm not strong enough for this shit, you know? Roxas is up there somewhere fighting against whatever Riku is putting him through and all I can do is sit and watch. I feel so worthless," Axel said. When Selphie didn't say anything back he continued. "I wonder how long it'll be before Roxas gives in and just lets them kill him. I hope… well I don't really know what I hope. This all too much"

"Do you love him?" Selphie asked. Axel considered that for a minute before responding.

"I'm not sure how to respond to that one. I want to protect him. I want to so bad it makes my chest hurt. Is that the same thing? Feeling so overwhelmed when something bad happens to that person that you think your heart's going to burst?"

"It might be. I wouldn't know. The only people I really ever loved were my family members and I don't think the same rules apply."

"I don't think so either. I had the same feelings of wanting to protect my mom too, so maybe it isn't the same thing. Let's see… well I get nervous around Roxas a lot."

"I think you just have an anxiety disorder."

"That's what Vexen tells me, yeah. Okay so… hmm. I feel bad that he gets the raw end of the deal most of the time."

"Well you got a pretty raw deal yourself; love and pity are not the same."

"True. I've come to think of his home as my home, though. That has to be something."

"Xigbar probably feels the same way and he loves Roxas."

"Yeah but that goes back to that whole family thing. Well… I'm running out of things to explain it."

"There has to be something."

"I didn't mind ah… helping him? Pleasing him? When Namine screwed with his pills," Axel laughed a little, "It sounds like such a whorish thing to say when you don't have the words to describe the situation."

"Lust. Love. Are they the same?"

"Can't have one without the other, I think."

"I agree, but did you really have feelings for him at that instant? Or were you just being a giant perv?"

"Good point. I'm not really sure."

"What about after?"

"After? What do you mean?"

"Can't have one without the other, right? Did you think about it afterwards?"

"Some. But I don't think the feeling is mutual."

"Unrequited love, a thing of classic literature, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah it is. Corny too."

"I think so too."

Axel sighed and settled against the wall. He was starting to think that they had forgotten about him. Once the pain and the upset subsided he simply sat feeling numb. "Why are you dead like my mom and dad are dead?" his sense of grammar was starting to fail him.

"Beats me."