Ugh, I'm ill again and have somehow gotten a swollen eye…..weird.

As always, thank you to all you reviewers, favouriters, alerters and readers – thank you to kate882, SisterOfScarletDevil, KasaixKaru and LadyKittania for reviewing! You are all amazing XD

Here is Axel, like I promised. This chapter is a bit lame and filler-ish in my opinion but tell me what you think ;)

Disclaimer: I still do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. You know, I don't think that's gonna change.

Axel POV

The earth was still. There was nothing except the ground, the sky and me. I looked around me for someone, anyone to break the loneliness. I needed someone to be there.

A lone figure straight ahead of me suddenly materialised, first see through like a ghost but then opaque. I leaned forward, a little noise of joy mixed with uncertainty left me.

The beautiful white-grey wings and spiky blonde hair confirmed it. It was Roxas! He was here. I ran to him with outstretched arms, intending to hold him and never let him go. It took forever to reach him even though he was right there. The ground was dusty and smooth but for some reason I felt like I was running through mud.

I was slowly getting closer though. As soon as I was about to wrap my arms around his lithe frame he quickly folded his wings in front of him, as if shielding himself from me.

I drew to a halt and let my arms fall limply to my side.

"Roxas, Roxas, it's me! It's Axel!" I shouted. He withdrew his wings, letting me see his beautiful face.

He smiled lightly at me but it only lasted a second.

"Axel," he spoke, "Where are you?"

"I'm here," I reassured him.

He carried on as if he hadn't heard me.

"I need you, I need you to find me."

"I'm here, I've got you," I told him desperately and tried to reach out for him again but he was suddenly standing further away, as if he had teleported.

I watched in horror as his face contorted into one of agony. He screamed and cried.

I tried to move forward to him again, he needed me, I had to comfort him!

He was only further away again though.

He screamed my name and collapsed.

"Roxas!" I called and tried to run to him but with every step I took his form moved, as if by another force, two steps back.

"Roxas, Roxas, Roxas!"

"Axel!"

"Roxas!"

"Axel!"

I opened my eyes and gasped in a deep breath. I quickly sat up, my head nearly colliding with Reno's.

Wait, Reno? What in the hell was he doing in my room while I was sleeping?

"Woah, jeez, watch it, Ax," he muttered after evading my movements and saving us both from a headache.

I scooted away from him a bit and set him with an angry look although in my sleepy state there was a chance it came out confused and flustered.

"What the hell are you doing in my room? You know I hate it when you come in uninvited."

"Hey, I just came in to wake you up so you're not late for school. Talk about ungrateful."

I looked sideways at my clock, wondering how late he had let me sleep in.

6:37

My eyes widened in shock.

"You woke me up at this time? What's wrong with you? Are you mad? Are you delusional? I mean, how could you deprive me of another hour of sleep like that? You're insane!"

He held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. Oh, dream on Reno, that will not be working today.

"Easy, I just didn't want you to be late again. What would Dad think if I just let you be late for school?"

"I dunno, nothing? He isn't coming home for another couple of weeks so he won't know for a while yet."

"But when he does come home and find out I'll be the one to get the blame. So, being the responsible-" I snorted at that but he carried on. "-older sibling that I am, I have woken you up extra early to make sure you're there on time – which you better be before the school starts sending letters home."

"You know we could just hide them."

"Dad would find them. Anyway, I need to get something to eat." He turned and started towards the door but stopped halfway there and turned back to me. "Oh, by the way, who is 'Roxas'? You were mumbling the name in your sleep."

I gaped at him before springing out of bed and rushing at him. He scuttled away and shut the door and held it closed on the other side so I couldn't get out and beat him to a pulp. I pulled on the door a couple of times before dropping the issue.

I went back to my mess of a bed and sat down on the edge, deep in thought. That dream, it was frightening to say the least. The way Roxas had been screaming my name.

I wasn't sure if it meant something but even if it was just a reaction of the brain, it reminded me of how a whole week had passed since Roxas had been taken. I tried not to think about the pain he could be experiencing but every night, I had thought about Roxas and what he could be going through because of my pathetic attempt to save him that night.

I pushed the thoughts away; they were too painful to think about. I quickly turned on my laptop and went downstairs to make myself some toast while it started up. Although I would never admit it to him I was glad Reno had woken me up so early; I now had time to check my emails.

I gobbled down the two slices of buttered toast in less that a minute and went back upstairs to my room. I sat down at my whirring laptop and logged into my email account.

1 new message

From .com

Ah ha! A message from Rikku. Almost everyday I had sent her an email before I went to bed, asking how it was going. I couldn't always find her at lunchtime and I had my own friends to hang out with so we had talked little face-to-face.

I clicked on the email and waited for the message to load up.

From: .com

To:

Sent: 4:25am

Hey Axel! I'm making some good progress on this. There are definitely some classified documents on there somewhere for me to dig out. It seems like something pretty big because it's all well protected. I promise I'm working my arse off but it takes time to do it without being discovered yourself.

If you want, you can stop by the computer lab in the east building Tuesday lunch to see what I've got. I might have it done by then as well if you would quit emailing me every night! You know I have other things to do like my chores and hanging out with Yunie and Paine. Trust me, when I get something you'll be the first to know.

Okay I'm off to bed after tonight's work and am taking Monday off "sick" so I can get some more of this done for you. See you on Tuesday!

xoxoxox

I looked at the time the message was sent again. Jesus, she really was working hard on this. I would have to find some way to repay her after I'd finished business with those bastards in black coats.

I still couldn't believe Xigbar was never really a school student. He had really pulled it off well, as well as his disappearance. He hadn't returned to school since the incident at the mansion. It wasn't like I expected him to or anything but I had expected someone to ask where the hell the guy was. It was as if no one noticed, or even cared. It was as if he had never existed.

I hoped to God that if I suddenly up and disappeared at least someone would be sad. I wanted to be remembered, to live forever that way. Well, maybe not forever; even memories fade.

I turned off my laptop after sending a short email back to Rikku saying I would see her on Tuesday.

I got myself ready for school and set off at the earliest I had ever done: 7:30. Be proud everyone, be proud.

Monday was the longest it had been in a while. Every lesson was a drag as usual but even at lunch I was bored and distracted. I wasn't sure, but I had the horrible feeling that in Maths I had been so distracted that when Mrs Birggs asked me a question I accidentally answered it….correctly. Oh God, she probably thought all her nagging had paid off! Damn it all!

Out of habit, I went on my emails when I got home from school but had no new messages. Then, out of sheer boredom and anxiety, I sat down and did my homework. It gave me something to focus on and I found myself actually trying to work out the right answers instead of half-heartedly attempting it.

Something was definitely wrong with me. Or maybe I was finally growing up a little. I wasn't sure but after I had finished every assignment in the space of one night there was a little bubble of satisfaction and pride that welled up in my chest.

Huh, odd feeling….but also addictive.

All throughout English I was bobbing up and down restlessly in my seat, glancing at the clock every few minutes to see if it was lunch yet. Mr Piper actually asked me if I wanted to go to the toilet, something the teachers rarely let you do during lessons at my school.

Although I didn't need to I walked to the bathroom anyway, just to relieve some of the pent up anxiety. When at long last the bell rang I was out of the room faster than a shooting star and sprinted all the way to the computer lab in the east building.

I checked to see that it was empty before I went in and sat down in the same seat that I had the week before to wait for Rikku to show up. I logged onto the computer and went on a random games website to pass the time. Less than five minutes later Rikku walked in looking a little upset. I exited the game I was on and looked up as she slumped down in her seat and logged on, muttering a quick,

"Hi."

"Hey, what's up?"

She said nothing and stared at her computer screen. I waited but it didn't look like she was going to say anything.

I asked again. "What's wrong? You look like someone just died…"

She looked at me and said, almost yelling,

"Do you know how hard I worked on this! I stayed up so late with only an energy drink for company, looking for your stupid science facility! I was so looking forward to finding the answer! I could almost taste it! I was sure I could get it done after Monday's work! And you know what I find?"

I shook my head and shrank back from her aura-of-death-and-destruction range.

"I find more secrets! All I got was this stupid document that said where this science facility was! That's it! Nothing more! Zilch! Zip! ZERO!"

"What? You found it? That's amazing! That's-"

"No it's not! I really, really wanted to know what this secret was by today and it says nothing! And I bet you won't tell me!" she whined.

"You're upset about that? Just because you didn't get it done in the time you thought it would take-"

She leaned towards me with a scowl.

"Look, I have to keep up my standards. I was so sure I could get this done by today but I couldn't! Do you know how much of a blow to my ego that is? I live on big egos!"

"Calm down! Just, tell me how much more time you need."

Rikku sat back and thought for a moment.

"I could get it done tomorrow."

"Perfect!" Knowing that the location to Roxas' whereabouts had been discovered was making it even harder for me to wait for Rikku to find out all the information. It was taking everything I had not to rush off that very instance and go save him.

However, I had told Rikku I would expose what this group was doing and if I succeeded, I would know they would never be able to hurt Roxas again.

I suddenly realized Rikku had been talking to me as she rummaged through her orange shoulder bag for something.

"-easy to tell there's more to it because the document's suspiciously sketchy on the details of what this facility is for and who's running it. I can probably hack into some emails and get hold of some phone call information which will give me what I need."

She pulled her hand out of her bag and triumphantly held up a lime green memory key.

"Here's a memory key with all the information on it," she said, handing me the item. "Right, I'm off."

"What? Where are you going?" I asked as she logged off her computer and stood up.

"Home. Duh. I need to use my computer to get all this information in time. Meet me here tomorrow again. See ya!"

She skipped off, leaving me slightly dumbstruck. I looked at the memory key I was still clutching in my hand and plugged it into the computer.

I opened the folder and double clicked on the only document stored on there. A Word document simply titled: 'Info'.

It opened up to reveal a word document. It was official looking, save for some highlighted areas with were probably Rikku's doing. I scanned through the first two lines, realized I didn't understand a word of it and instead read the highlighted parts.

'…to be stationed in the building with the address: 13 Twilight Grove, Sunset Hill, Twilight Town, YD17 6NZ' (A/N: totally made up.)

It was still in Twilight Town? Sure, it was pretty near the border but I was starting to worry what I'd have to do if this facility was miles away. The feeling of being useless hit me again. All this time they had been practically under my nose I had sat around for a week, getting someone else to find out all the information for me. Furthermore, I wasn't even going to do anything right away, even without the location.

With much effort, I pushed the feeling away and looked at the other highlighted pieces.

'…named 'The Biological Beings Science Department…'

'…given full permission to carry out anything they desire with no questions asked.'

These guys had pretty much been given free reign. But why? Maybe they had bribed whoever had allowed it or threatened him or her.

I had the feeling that only the guys in the black coats (plus me and Roxas) knew about what was going on down at that facility and whoever had allowed it had no business in it whatsoever.

This task I had set myself seemed very daunting all of a sudden. Just how was I going to expose this group while keeping Roxas hidden? If the police found out they would just ship him off to some other research lab and the whole point of this was to set Roxas free. I couldn't let him down like that again because…..you don't let the ones you love down.

I had to rethink my plan. Maybe if I got Roxas out first and then called the police I could get Roxas some place safe and the police would most likely find the evidence for what they had done. But then the police would be looking for Roxas….

Ugh, I had not thought this through. After a strenuous cloud-bursting [1] session I decided to just wing it. Even if I just got Roxas but left the group, it would be a great achievement.

All I had to do was to wait for tomorrow when Rikku would bring me the information.

I groaned as I realized another thing: if Rikku found out about Roxas, would she keep her mouth shut?

I really hadn't thought any of this through.

..just like me. I can probably figure out something at least semi-sensible for the plot but if there are any suggestions, please tell me! Please review as well - new evidence has proven that reviews on fanfiction are the very essence of a story!

[1] Cloud bursting means the same as Brainstorming but we're not supposed to say that any more because it offends people with epilepsy….

Back to school soon - I won't be able to write at all during the first week, what with school trips and orthodontist appointments and birthdays….the fun of September!

I might go back to City of Smoke for a chapter because that's being neglected now but fear not! I shall hopefully have this finished before I start anything else!

Thanks for reading,

Cipher.