Chapter Twenty-One
Axel slept shallowly throughout the day, too agitated to really settle. Each time he came anywhere near the upper skin of consciousness, it would hit him all over again: the exultation, the near-panic, the terrified glee of being near the one he… loved… but knowing that the clock was ticking away.
He would then open his eyes, see Roxas in the muted light, and wonder how much longer he had before that golden, supple flesh was rotting in a grave in the ground. Each time it occurred to him, he had to take a breath – a deep, deep breath – to stave off the pounding in his chest. He really… wasn't used to this sort of strain. He had never – ever – questioned a mission like this before. Then again, neither had he ever been so emotionally invested in a target, so it was a job full of firsts.
All he really knew by this point was that they'd sent the wrong guy.
He was no longer an objective party in all this; he was neck-deep in it, his heart swollen with everything he felt for the blond. He'd been so confident of its ephemerality at first, but that had so quickly crumbled… and now Axel could no longer see an end in sight for what he felt for Roxas. The fact that he had admitted at all to himself just how deep his feelings were was infinitely bad and disturbing. This changed everything – while at the same time, frustratingly, everything remained exactly the same. The contract still existed, Roxas still thought nothing of his presence in his life, a life which chugged dutifully on like he was a fixture in the year 2033 instead of merely a violent visitor.
He squeezed his eyes shut, burying his knuckles punishingly into them. Everything was so fucked up…
At some point, he fell into deeper slumber, plain old fatigue carrying him off into unsettled dreams. When he next opened his eyes… the room had gone dim, the sunlight gone, and Roxas was awake, watching him. The kid was propped up on his side on one elbow, still dark under the eyes but – looking better than he had.
For a long moment, Axel simply stared at him, getting used to the throb in his chest.
Softly, Roxas said, "Good morning." Glancing over at the window, he added, "Well – our version of morning, anyway."
Before Axel could think or say anything in response, the blond planted a hand on the other side of him, and leaned over him with a kiss. Axel, lying on his back, legs still somewhat splayed, was transported into sleepy paradise. Every part of his being… just sang.
The kiss deepened, tongues delving, Roxas still seeming to need that physical contact he had wanted when falling asleep. Axel, perfectly happy to accommodate, ran a hand slowly up the kid's bare arm, nails dragging lightly on the way back down, making Roxas shiver. The blond sighed a little, lapped at Axel's lips. Axel continued to stroke him, the motions becoming circular, reaching around to his back now, fingertips trailing along taut skin. If Roxas could've started purring, Axel was pretty sure he would have.
Sex followed, Roxas riding him slowly, hands planted on Axel's stomach for balance as he whimpered and sighed. Axel gripped his hips tightly, neck arched as he lost himself in the sweet pleasure of it all, his heart feeling three sizes too big for his ribs.
When the dreamy haze parted, Axel found Roxas nestled in his arms, the kid cuddled close to his chest. His arms tightened, expression briefly twisting, eyes passing over the room with something akin to desperation. What am I doing, what am I doing, what am I…?
"It still… doesn't really feel real."
Roxas' quiet words reached him in the midst of mounting panic, Axel swallowing, consciously calming himself, and asking as evenly as possible, "Which part?" God only knew he could relate.
"…Lucrecia. That guy – Vincent." Roxas let loose a low sigh. "The cornerstone." He angled his head back a little, looking up into Axel's face, though the redhead himself was gazing at the ceiling, unable, at this point, to meet the kid's eyes. "I can't believe it was only last night. I can't believe it all happened." Shifting in Axel's arms, so that they were both on their backs now, staring at the same patch of roof, he said, "I know it happened – but it still doesn't feel real."
Axel sighed, reached a hand up to rub his under his eyes. "I think I know how you feel." Remembering the toll it took on Roxas, he stroked the kid's bare shoulder with a thumb, still not looking at him as he asked, "How are you doing? You scared the crap out of me, you know. The whole cornerstone thing – it was different this time."
Roxas inclined his head in the faintest of nods. "You're telling me." His voice was almost inaudible. "I could feel it – dragging at me. I could almost feel on my own spine where Vincent was damaged."
"Jesus, Roxas." The very idea made Axel's stomach twist.
"No, no – it's fascinating." Roxas looked over at him. "The theory is that cornerstone reacts to the people around it. This is like – proof of that. It reacted to Vincent's injuries, and it was drawing energy from me. That shows that it has sympathetic vibrations with organic damage and requires an external, affinitive source to be charged. That is exactly what we're trying to prove." The energy that danced briefly in his voice then dulled. "Too bad nobody can ever know about it, though. I could almost single-handedly prove the Cornerstone Theory, but I can't even present my findings."
Axel gave a wheezing, almost choked noise. "Yeah, I know. But hey, you'll get there, right?"
"Mm." Roxas sounded dissatisfied with the idea of having to wait when he was sitting on such a scientific bombshell, but goddamn, if ever Axel needed the kid to just play it safe, it was now.
"Don't… don't tell anyone about it, Roxas." It was hard to keep the plea out of his tone.
Roxas sighed. "Yeah. I know. I won't."
Axel squeezed him, turning onto his side and burying his nose into the kid's hair. Bemused, Roxas asked him, "You okay there?"
Axel inhaled deeply, taking in the faintly lingering scent of his shampoo. "…Yeah."
"I won't tell anyone, Axel." The kid patted his arm reassuringly. "I haven't stopped being scared of what Ansem might do if he found out. Not to mention I'd then have to explain the whole Lucrecia thing, which I'm pretty sure we just spent the early hours of the morning trying to prevent… So, it's fine."
It's fine… Oh, kid. If he only knew how far from fine either of them was or ever could be.
After a few silent minutes, Roxas asked, "Do you think this means that those guys are going to stop coming after me now?"
Axel's hands twitched around him. "…Yeah. Probably."
"What if ShinRa just replaces Lucrecia?" Roxas wondered, unconvinced. "Or stops using her as a proxy, and starts making the orders directly?"
"No," Axel said, injecting every bit of authority he could muster into it. "I bet that they get spooked when they find Lucrecia gone. They'll back off. If not, I'll get my contact to get more dirt on them – they'll wish they had backed off."
Brightening slightly, Roxas murmured, "Oh, hey, yeah – your contact. I almost forgot about that." He twisted his head to look at Axel. "Hey, introduce me to them sometime – I want to thank them for what they did."
Axel's chest tightened. He shook his head, hissing regretfully through his teeth. "Oh, uh, sorry. No can do. My friend sort of operates alone, and what he did wasn't strictly legal, so he wants to remain anonymous in it all, even to you."
"Oh." The kid sounded disappointed, but accepted it without question. "Well, I understand, I guess. And it's good to know that you still have him in the wings if things do keep happening, because otherwise it could mean trouble." He grimaced. "I don't think I can get more cornerstone on my own, it's too closely watched. When I found that piece in my backpack, I just figured it was dumb luck, you know? I was kind of scared to try and return it, in case they thought I'd taken it deliberately. And then I found out about its abilities, and I just… figured it had all worked out for the best." He sighed, Axel feeling that familiar little ache in his chest at the sound of such… despondency in the kid. "But it was all just Lucrecia, huh? From start to finish."
Axel gave a sympathetic murmur, while Roxas shook his head. With a touch of anger, he went on, "And she couldn't even rein it in, right at the end there. What the hell was that with trying to warn me away from you? What, just because she's happy again, no one else is allowed to be?"
Axel swallowed. "Yeah, well – she didn't seem all that stable to me, maybe the months of pressure cracked her up a little." Before Roxas could think too hard about it – and feeling rather keen to focus in on this next point – he asked, "But, what's this about you being… happy? You mean – with me?"
Roxas arched an eyebrow, again turning to look up at him. "Well – yeah. I…" He fell silent for a moment, returning his gaze to the ceiling, Axel nearly bursting beside him, but keeping it contained, locked up tight. His heart, though, oh, his poor heart: it was going a mile a minute. He was so glad Roxas wasn't still up against his chest, or the kid would've known in an instant. At length, Roxas started talking again. "I like – being with you. And I'm really grateful for everything you've been doing for me. Not," he hastily added, "that that's why I like you or anything – I mean, I'd still like you even if you hadn't become involved in this at all, it's just that I appreciate what… what you have done for me…"
Axel smirked, glowing inside. "What a lie. The only reason you started talking to me civilly was because I saved your ass in the parking lot. If I hadn't become involved, you'd have kept hating me."
Roxas retorted, "And whose fault was that in the first place?"
"Mine." Axel nuzzled the side of the kid's face, Roxas rolling his eyes and turning towards him.
"I'm glad you acknowledge that. But anyway… yeah. You make me happy." The tiniest hint of shyness that entered his voice and expression were just… entrancing. Axel felt his breath get briefly snatched away, his heart throbbing more tightly than ever.
He groaned, "Jesus, kid," and rolled himself atop Roxas, kissing hard. Caught by surprise, but more than able to keep up, Roxas kissed back – and soon they were panting again, Axel gritting his teeth as he thrust into Roxas, the blond moaning beneath him. The climax was… intense. Axel's voice came from somewhere deep inside, low and guttural, the shudders wracking his body from top to toe. Roxas seemed almost dazed in the aftermath, boneless and satisfied after two sessions so close together.
Axel, on the other hand, felt... dirty.
"I'm, uh – going to have a shower," he announced, the kid nodding dreamily beside him, still catching his breath. Axel rolled out of bed, kicking free of the blankets, and grabbed his clothes from the ground. Carrying them under one arm, he headed downstairs, allowing the grimness of his being to fill his face only once he was sure Roxas could no longer see him. Shoulders hunched, he made his way to the bathroom, got the shower going as hot as he could stand, and stood under the flow for minutes untold, staring dimly at the rapidly fogging glass.
Again, the thought drifted up in his mind: What am I doing? It held traces of despair – he knew he couldn't stop this relationship with Roxas until the moment he stopped it with a bullet. He was just too engrossed in the kid. Distance and heartbreak were the two things he required more than anything, but there was just no way in hell he could do it. He felt so strongly for Roxas, while a part of his mind was always coldly aware that in time he would have to do it. He had no choice in the matter; a job was a job. That he had feelings for the target meant nothing. But it killed him to be doing this to Roxas – abusing his trust, loving him while planning to kill him, taking advantage of his body while planning to eventually, someday, just flat out murder it.
What… am… I… doing?
Shit. This was the worst contract ever.
Dragging his hands through his wet hair, plastered flat along his neck and down between his shoulder-blades, Axel wrestled his train of thought to the one thing he could affect: the safety of the next several weeks of Roxas' life. Dealing with the silver-haired trio was imperative, before they realised that Lucrecia had vanished and they began acting independently. Neither they nor ShinRa could be given time to think about what to do next – Axel had to be the one to act first.
He shut off the shower and stepped out, towelling himself dry in Roxas' small, steamy bathroom. There were too many things in this job he couldn't directly affect or change – but this wasn't one of them. The first priority for Organisation agents, beyond their contract, was always to have as minimal an impact on the timeline they were entering into as possible… and, well, since the timeline had already been muddied beyond all help by the outward ripples Axel's mere presence had set into motion, he might as well go for broke and just terrorise those fuckers right the hell out of Roxas' life.
He tugged on his clothes and went upstairs in search of Roxas. He found the kid exactly where he'd left him, lying on his stomach with his head on the pillow, fighting to keep his eyes open. Axel couldn't stop the indulgent smile from softening his face, going over to the edge of the bed and sitting down, placing a hand on Roxas' bare back and moving it soothingly back and forth. The kid gave a contented hum, sighing deeply, looking like he'd happily return to sleep just like this.
Bending low, near his ear, Axel softly said, "Hey – I need to go back to my apartment for a while, get a change of clothes and check on my car at the hospital. Can I borrow your wheels?"
"My 'wheels'," Roxas faintly snorted. A lazy smirk in place, he opened his eyes and swivelled them to Axel. "Sure, you can borrow my hatchback, but make sure it comes back with a speed stripe on it."
Axel had to kiss him. Didn't have a choice in the matter. With the kid lying there looking so perfectly satisfied and dreamy and with that flicker of amusement… resisting the urge just never crossed his mind. The mischief melted from Roxas' face, Axel's lips hot and needy. When the man eventually pulled back, it was with the utmost reluctance. Roxas, evidently feeling the same way, gave a small noise of protest at the loss. Scraping his nails through the kid's blond spikes, Axel pressed their foreheads together, breaths mingling, and raggedly vowed, "I'll be back."
Dazedly, Roxas replied, "I'll be here."
It took every ounce of Axel's self-discipline to not strip every item of clothing back off his body and dive into bed with the blond. But – no. Short-term lust did not win out over Roxas' long-term safety. It just… ached between the legs, was all.
With a few fortifying breaths, Axel managed to turn his back to the kid and leave the room. Roxas' keys were downstairs, the redhead snatching them up from the table near the front door and exiting out into the night, making sure he locked up as he left. As his feet crunched along the short path to the little, yellow car in the driveway, he glanced around, wondering if he was even at this moment being spied on. He slowed to a stop beside Roxas' car, holding the keys tightly so they wouldn't make a noise, his senses expanding into the darkness. He hadn't turned on the porch lights, so the gloom was deep and only getting deeper. Not exactly ideal for taking pictures. Still, he would need to make sure that no one was lurking before he attempted to invade their temporary base. Just – not yet. Not while he still wore the guise of a civilian.
With a steady exhalation, he continued on.
Roxas' car was a decent little vehicle. Not exactly Axel's style, but it held traces of Roxas all over it. Scraps of paper and discarded receipts, the kid's scent, a pair of shoes lying inexplicably in the back seat… it made Axel tingly all over. Which, incidentally, was not the feeling he was going for right now. A change of transport was required.
His first stop was Saint Bastion's. His rental was still there, along with several other cars this time, visiting hours still barely operational. There was a ticket on the windshield. He scrunched it up, tossed it into the back as he climbed in. Roxas' car would be fine on its own for a while.
Axel's next destination was his apartment, smelling of dust and mildew. He flicked on a couple of lights and got to work. In the bedroom, he changed his clothes to black gloves, black pants, black t-shirt, black combat boots. He knelt, pulling out, almost reverently, a bag from under the bed and, from it, the long, black, hooded overcoat of the Organisation. He held it for a moment, a thumb smoothing over the material. It was snug, warm, breathable. Everything you'd need for melting into the shadows. It was the symbol of everything he was here for. It had served him… very well over the years.
It felt… right to be holding it again. It felt right to be like this – alone, gearing up for a fight. This was what he'd always lived for, this moment, this point in time when he could don his coat and embody the Organisation. When he wore this, he was dark, dangerous, far-reaching; damn near omniscient, omnipotent – a master of everything. Even time bent to his will, when he wore this coat.
His fingers tightened around it, his gaze travelling across the black fabric. Would he be wearing this, he wondered, when Roxas' time came…? He felt a stinging throb in his chest, eyes briefly closing.
…Now was not the time.
In the next moment he was up, the coat's hem swinging as he twisted it around, slipped it over his arms, zipped it up to his chest. Moving swiftly, he armed himself, a knife slipped into the sheath at his back, a gun in the holster under his arm, and, the pièce de résistance, a propane-fuelled blowtorch. This was his pride and joy, his absolute baby. He got so few chances to use it, but oh, when he did – the rush. The fuel tank resided in an unassuming backpack, the torch extension strapped to the side with Velcro. If he got to whip this out tonight, he would go back to Roxas a happy and extremely horny man.
He spent a minute in quiet reflection, standing in the middle of the apartment, going through a mental checklist to ensure that he was ready. At length, he gave a short nod. All that was left now was to find where he was going.
Crouching in front of the coffee table, leaning back against the couch, he quickly opened his laptop and typed in the name of the business that Lucrecia had given him. Highwind Storage Services. As the woman had said, it was in the city, not so far from his current location. They had chosen a place closer to Lowtown, with rules more on the lax side, hence their ability to straight-up squat in one of the cells. That should also, happily, make it easier for him to move around undetected.
Shutting the computer down, he again stood, rolling his shoulders slowly, glancing around one final time. Then, he was back in motion. Long strides took him across the apartment, a hand flicking the lights off as he passed each switch, the door banging in his wake, locks snapping into place with a quick twist in each keyhole. He ascended the stairs, went around his car, briefly checking his surroundings but doubting, this time, that he was being watched. Lucrecia had not been around to give the order, after all, and the likelihood of her having got in contact with them after Axel and Roxas had left her was extremely low. She knew too much, and now that she was no longer a willing participant in the destruction of Roxas, ShinRa sure as hell wouldn't just let a loose end like that float around unchecked. Lucrecia was a smart woman, despite her recent behaviour – she wouldn't do a thing that might risk her precious Vincent. That was why Axel had to act now – before the silver-haired trio realised something was amiss.
Behind the wheel once again, Axel got moving. The sense of purpose he felt was glorious – a relief, to be honest. It felt so clean in his head. For so many weeks now, his thoughts and feelings had been in shambles, complication on top of complexity, question on top of an echoing lack of answers. This, though?
This was plain old fun.
His foot grew heavier on the accelerator, the thrill of the hunt starting to bubble up inside, cauterising away all the uncertainties Roxas had given birth to within him. He was a hunter, a reaper, and those three guys had better hope he wasn't feeling in the mood to take some souls when he rocked up. They had just better not tempt him.
Axel had proven weak to temptation lately, after all.
He changed gears, drove faster, leather gloves creaking around the steering wheel.
Feeling a little like he was chasing his tail, but knowing that he needed to be sure, he returned to Roxas' house, parking a couple of blocks away, and made a pass of the area on foot. He moved quickly, quietly, keeping to every pool of shadow, eyes peeled for signs of Roxas', and now his, favourite stalkers. He noticed, as he passed, that Roxas had turned the porch lights on. It was so hard to not sigh, that increasingly familiar warmth threatening to fill his chest again at the realisation that the kid had put them on for him. Over the road, Roxas was waiting, patient and trusting, for Axel to return. He'd probably tossed on some clothes, maybe took a shower first and had damp hair. Was he watching TV? Or fixing something to eat? Or…
With a mental slap, he redirected his thoughts. He was crouched in the bushes, for Christ's sake, along a suburban street, checking for stalkers. Now was not the time to become that stalker, if for no other reason than the longer he remained here, the more likely it got that someone would spot him.
He moved on, continuing his careful patrol of the area.
After a tense and alert period of searching, he eventually concluded that the silver-haired guys weren't around. As suspected, they apparently waited for direction from Lucrecia before embarking upon anything. The night that they'd strangled Roxas flashed through Axel's head, and for a heartbeat he was eaten up with fresh anger for the woman. How bitter it was that she should, after all she'd done to Roxas, be allowed to simply walk free with her heart's desire. He wished he'd been rougher with her when he'd had her cornered in the guard station. Oh, if only he'd known at the time.
But at least he could deal with the bastards that had enacted the order.
He returned to his car with fresh purpose, setting off again through the night, headlights blazing. Roxas' neighbourhood was left behind, and, with it, everything that made Axel feel weak. As he drove, gaze fixed ahead, preparing himself for a fight, it was like he was being poured into a new vessel. Or an old vessel, maybe. Somewhere between Roxas' bungalow and Lowtown, a shift took place, Axel Drake passing the baton to Axel of the Organisation, and when the car finally stopped again, he was a different person to the man who had climbed into Roxas' hatchback. His eyes glittered, his veins aflame with excitement, teeth briefly baring in the darkness that fell when the headlights cut off.
He tugged his hood up, obscuring his distinctive hair, and slid from the car with mercurial grace, the night accepting him into a chilly, protective embrace that he breathed deeply of, tasting exhaust fumes stained into the walls from all the heavy vehicles that passed through the area. He shrugged the backpack with the propane over his shoulders, closing the door of his rental quietly, leaving it unlocked, wanting to be able to access it hurriedly if the necessity arose. He then walked the three remaining blocks to the storage centre, each step a soft thud in the night, scraping occasionally over loose stones, anticipation rising in his chest, the feeling remarkably similar to sex with Roxas but containing something sharper, more… razor-like.
When he reached the vicinity of Highwind Storage, he found a back alley and followed along until he found a section of crumbling brick wall that was climbable. Using a couple of trash cans for a boost, he hauled himself up, hunkering down once he was atop it and using the perch to survey the area. Highwind Storage was two lots over, all chain link fences and barbed wire, a collection of tin sheds crammed inside, some little, some larger. It was surrounded on three sides by warehouses, the fourth side facing a quiet side street. A cool wind blew, the only thing moving in the still silence. Business hours were long over, whoever operated the place had gone home for the night; now the only ones left out here were Axel and his triplicate quarry.
Doubled over, he made his way swiftly along the wall until he reached the warehouse lot to the right of Highwind Storage. He dropped quietly to the ground, loped over to the fence and crouched. With one gloved hand on the links, he paused and checked his surroundings. No hint of discovery. He swung the backpack around, pulling from one pocket a set of miniature bolt-cutters, perfect for this sort of task. With a series of sharp squeezes, Axel clipped a line down to the ground, the fence shuddering faintly with each snick. Glancing about, he parted the new opening and pushed the backpack through, following close behind, the sharp points of the freshly cut links dragging at his coat.
On the other side, he placed his hands against the fence to still its agitated motion, the clatter of the links against one another falling silent again after a few moments. He again checked his surroundings, listening keenly, detecting nothing out of the ordinary. Swinging the bag back over his shoulders, bolt-cutters tucked away again, Axel set off through the darkened storage lot. He found himself at the east end, the numbers on the sheds in the sixties. He needed to locate unit number twenty-eight – that was the information Lucrecia had given. That was over by the larger sheds. Moving steadily, keeping his senses alert, he crossed the storage lot with minimal noise, excitement once again on the rise. He could feel his heartbeat acutely, breaths soft but quick. His tongue came out to moisten his lips, a gleam of saliva in the moonlight.
As he approached the western edge of the lot, the numbers heading downward all the while, he slowed, becoming more cautious in his approach. There wasn't much in the way of defences that the trio could set up in a public place like this – but even so, it wouldn't pay to become careless at this point and alert them to his presence before he was ready.
It was at this point that a noise caught his attention. Axel froze in place, stilling his breaths and listening – ready to swing around and fight if there was someone coming up from behind. The noise had begun abruptly, and continued, puzzling him for a long minute until it gradually filtered through that what he was hearing was… television. Someone had switched on a TV. The sound he'd heard was a laugh track starting up out of nowhere, someone tuning in to some sitcom or another all of a sudden.
Someone was bored.
The breath that left him was almost a laugh. If he hadn't already known the unit number, whoever it was would have just made his job a lot easier. The sound had dimmed since that first eruption, the volume evidently turned lower to avoid being overheard, but it was still faintly audible, the noise bouncing along between the sheds in the hush. Whoever was operating it was being careful, but regardless held the complacency of believing themselves out of anyone's earshot. After all, who would think to be wandering around at this hour?
Axel felt a thrill of glee, resuming his approach.
Silently, he advanced on unit number twenty-eight, unassumingly similar to all the other sheds around it. Anyone not already aware that it contained a trio of squatters wouldn't have thought anything of it, under normal circumstances. Crouching at the heavy sliding door, Axel inspected the lock, saw that it was a deadlock over the handle, looking at a glance like it was locked from the outside when in fact the lock wasn't holding anything actually shut. Naturally; it wasn't like the guys could just sit around, day and night, until someone came to let them out. Attack dogs though they might be, Axel doubted they'd have appreciated being caged between times.
He heard, through the metal, someone say, "When is that bitch going to call? Ten more minutes of this, and I'm heading to the mini-mart."
Axel nearly chuckled. In ten minutes, nobody was going to be mini-mart capable. He placed a hand upon the roller-door, no solid in plan in place other than causing mayhem. In Roxas' name.
He stood, pulling the door upward with him, rattling loudly, keeping one hand on it while the other pulled the gun from its holster and swung towards the nearest silver-haired body. Axel's very favourite, Yazoo, with the long, shiny hair, took a bullet to the thigh and dropped with a familiar howl. He laughed, a snarling sound, and stepped inside the storage unit, which had been dressed up to be a living space for three men: three sleeping mats against the right-hand wall, a table on the left with a small gas stove and an array of plastic bottles and cutlery, with a beaten-up couch in the middle, a battery-powered television set sitting on a crate in front of it, casting dim light in the gloom, grainy images moving on the screen. The second guy was on the sofa, the hulking one, twisted around with a look of comical disbelief that Axel erased in an instant, levelling the gun at him and squeezing off a round that took him in the shoulder. Loz fell out of sight, partially from the force of the bullet, partially from a belated desire to get behind cover.
As Axel began casting about for the third guy, said third guy got to him first. Axel's element of surprise had been spent on the first two; the third one, Kadaj, had his own element of surprise in that he was the only unknown entity among the trio. Axel didn't know how he moved, as he did with the other two, and as a result was caught from the side, the guy slamming hard into his ribs, arms wrapped around and driving him sideways across the unit until they hit the table. Axel's hip slammed into the edge, turning numb after a flash of pain, a groan bursting from his lips, while Kadaj wound up and delivered a sharp punch to his face. Shit. Roxas was going to notice that one. Unacceptable.
Kadaj reached over him and grabbed his gun hand, started trying to pry his fingers from around it, Axel growling and throwing his elbow into the guy's sternum, following it quickly with a head-butt that sent him reeling. There was no advantage to press, however, as the second he'd shrugged Kadaj off, Yazoo came in, thigh bleeding, and started frantically swinging a knife in a blatant attempt to disembowel him, preventing him from bringing the gun up.
Clutching his face, Kadaj yelled, "Loz! Get the door!"
"On it!" The big guy lumbered across the unit and dragged the metal door back down, shutting them off from the outside world – shutting Axel in.
Turning to him, holding a wrist against the blood starting to trickle from his nose, Kadaj snarled, "You're not leaving here alive, security guard."
In response, Axel laughed, a dark, dry patter like the flurry of dead leaves in an unforgiving winter. "Security guard? Is that what you think I am?"
He caught Yazoo's knife-hand, twisted it sharply before he could yank away, held the gun against his fingers and pulled the trigger. This time, Yazoo positively screamed. Axel kicked him away, the tall man curling in on himself, cradling the stumps to his stomach, moaning endlessly. The remaining two brothers stood frozen in place, eyes like saucers as they registered what he had done.
"What? Too brutal even for you?" Axel softly taunted. "More so than, say, sneaking into a guy's house to try and throttle him with a length of rope?"
He took a moment to size up the third guy, Kadaj. He was like the baby bear of the trio – not as big as Loz, not as thin as Yazoo, even his hair was mid-length. There was a flicker of cunning in his eyes as they darted between Yazoo, bleeding on the floor next to the couch, and Axel's almost placid expression. "…What is this?" he rasped.
Axel grinned slowly. "This is your cease and desist. This is the moment you three stop coming after Roxas, and scurry back to whatever rock you came out from under."
Kadaj swallowed, studying him through narrowed eyes. "…You've been a thorn in our side from the moment you appeared. Where did you come from? You're not normal."
"I wasn't really looking to open a line of dialogue," Axel replied conversationally, popping the magazine briefly from his gun to check on how he was going for ammunition, snapping it back into place, holding the weapon loosely, almost carelessly. "This isn't open for negotiation, fellas." He levelled the gun at Kadaj's head with both hands, a small smile in place. "I'm telling you… that the time has come for you to retreat. Lucrecia is gone. I know you're ShinRa, and have proof demonstrating it."
Kadaj's face twitched, first at the mention of the woman, then with widening eyes at the mention of ShinRa. "…How…?"
Axel put a little pressure on the trigger, stopping Kadaj short. The man bared his teeth and hissed slowly, mind racing as he weighed up his rather limited options. "Where have you been throughout all this, anyway?" Axel wondered. "I know your brothers pretty well. They're sloppy dancers, but they provided some fun. But you – you scared of the field or something? What's your role been in it all?"
Kadaj glared, evidently remaining unwilling despite his utter helplessness right now. He didn't want to answer, so Axel swung around to where Loz was trying to surreptitiously inch along towards to Yazoo, who was stretched out, trying to pass him the knife he still clung to, and shot his other shoulder. The bulky man staggered back with a strangled yell. Axel turned back towards Kadaj, drawling, "You know, I can do this all-oof!"
Kadaj had once again seized the few seconds of distraction to throw himself at Axel. This was exactly the sort of shit that Axel hadn't anticipated, having not experienced the guy before. So he was one of those 'til death' fighters, huh? Fuckin' great.
Kadaj rammed him again against the table, this time going straight for the gun. Axel expected him to try and wrestle it away, but rather trying to prise it from him, this time Kadaj changed tactics and stuck a finger over Axel's on the trigger and started pulling it.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Fuck off!" Axel huffed, Kadaj practically climbing him, keeping him off balance, keeping the muzzle pointed upward, one bullet after another punching through the roof of the unit until eventually – click! Click-click! Out of bullets. Kadaj grinned, savage triumph, and tried to punch Axel a second time, but the redhead was ready for this, instead stiff-arming his palm into the guy's jaw, teeth slamming together with enough force to cut through tongue had it been in the way. With a grunt, Kadaj stumbled back, Axel grabbing the table, rearing up and following with a sharp kick to the guy's stomach. Kadaj fell back against the couch, while Axel slid the empty gun back under his coat and instead drew his knife, advancing on the winded Kadaj and gripping a handful of his hair, wrenching his neck taut, placing the sharp blade against the tight, pale skin.
"Three to one, and you couldn't even put up a half-decent fight," Axel sneered. As Kadaj glowered, he pressed the knife in, coaxing a thin, red line into existence right over the guy's throbbing pulse. Raising his voice, he announced, "I will kill the next one of you to stand against me. You comprehend that one, fellas? I've got no qualms dealing in death. I've been playing with you kittens 'til now – but Roxas is expecting me back in the next little while, so I'd rather not drag this out longer than necessary." He turned to glare specifically at Loz, who, even though shot in both shoulders, had been moving like he was preparing to take Axel out at the knees. "You want to be responsible for me slitting your brother's throat?"
Loz halted, then, with a dark look, sank back into a submissive position.
"Exactly. Good boy." Turning his attention back to Kadaj, Axel took his time lovingly carving the thin line a little deeper, causing the man's teeth to grit together. "So, what have you been doing, Kadaj? You seem a little too clever to just be a behind-the-scenes type of guy." The use of his name caused the man's eyes to flash. There could be little doubt now that Axel had spoken truthfully about how much he knew about them all. This was cemented as the redhead went on, "I mean, I know what your brothers were attempting – trying to force Roxas to charge that piece of cornerstone, right? By the way, it broke," he added. "So hey, there's another reason you don't need to keep all this up."
"How in the hell are you so well-informed?" Kadaj hoarsely demanded, as if he had any authority despite being bent backwards over a sofa with a knife slicing a thin flap into the flesh of his neck. "Was it Lucrecia?"
"Her?" Axel snorted. "I don't think so. She was way too focused on her darling coma-boy. Good work there, by the way – that was you guys, right? Or at least, ShinRa guys? It's a very ShinRa thing to do, to gain her cooperation like that, a mole right in the heart of the Research Committee. That Vincent guy was nothing but a pawn in the end, even though he was one of you."
Kadaj scowled, confirming Axel's suspicions. He laughed a little. "Cold. But it's not like I wouldn't have done the same." He pressed the knife in a little for emphasis, the blood running somewhat faster now, Kadaj gasping slightly.
"What – what do you want?" the man asked, evidently feeling the chilled fingers of his own mortality creeping closer.
Axel tilted his head to one side, leaning close. "I want to know your role in this. You haven't laid a finger on Roxas since I turned up, and I want to know why. I want the full picture."
Kadaj swallowed with some effort, lips pressing thin for a moment, as if he was going to resist right to the end. But even he apparently had that instinct to survive, because he took a careful breath and muttered, "I never touched the damned kid. Each time we went in for an attack, I'd be waiting nearby. I have my own piece of cornerstone, a purified one. In the presence of other charged stones, it glows."
"So you were waiting on the sidelines with your piece to confirm if Roxas had charged his own?"
"Yes."
Axel arched a brow. "That's it?"
Kadaj struggled not to squirm under the blade's threatening bite. "Yes. One of us had to do it, and I'm the one in charge, so it fell to me."
Axel inclined his head. "Well, I guess that explains how you'd have figured out whether or not he'd done it. So two of you charge in, fuck him up, and the third waits outside to see if the emotion from it all kicks the cornerstone into overdrive." He thought for a moment, seeking any further unanswered questions. "Yeah, that seems to cover it. One last question, though: what now? What should I do with you, I wonder?" His gaze intensified over Kadaj, the knife sliding slowly back and forth, sawing gently against the cut he'd made. The man closed his eyes, jaw tightening.
"Well, it's just an idea, but you could let us go," Kadaj suggested tightly. Axel smirked a little. The guy had some fight left in him, after all. It was just on hold while he was under immediate threat.
"Yeah, but then what? You run off to Hojo at ShinRa, tell on me? I'm trying to figure out if it's better that everyone connected to this vanishes without a trace, or if I should let you run off to Hojo, to deliver the warning in person that Roxas is officially off-limits."
He visibly pondered, Kadaj keeping a beady eye on him, waiting to see where his preference fell. However, it occurred to Axel that he had taken enough time already, and that the act of butchering the trio would take longer still, as well as being a messy endeavour. He felt Kadaj tremble slightly in his grasp as the decision to let them live evidently showed itself on his face.
"Okay, this is how it's going to happen," Axel proposed, all reason and graciousness. "I'm going to walk away from here, and none of you is going to follow me. You're going to leave Roxas alone, you're going to leave me alone, and this whole thing, this – tormenting of him, trying to intimidate me, the whole illicit cornerstone deal… it's over. Your operation is shut down." He dragged the knife down Kadaj's throat, over his Adam's apple, staring intently into the man's eyes. "And if anyone tries to make another attempt at any of this shit, the media will be made aware of ShinRa's activities. I have contingencies in place that will deliver all the information I have to every major media outlet in the nation if either Roxas or I are… compromised in any way. Do I make myself clear?" He flicked the knife tip up, poking it into the soft flesh under Kadaj's chin. "I've demonstrated how much I know tonight, not to mention what I'm willing to do. You run along to Hojo and let him know: Roxas Black is under protection."
"Under whose protection?" Kadaj hissed between his teeth, eyes flashing. Axel smiled, a slow, playful expression.
"…That's between me and my employers. Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head over. Just remember what you've seen and heard tonight, and… pass it on."
Kadaj looked ready to murder, but nodded, accepting their resounding defeat, and just like that, single-handedly, Axel had effectively neutered the wolves sniffing around Roxas. The smile hovering, he lowered the blade, stepping carefully back. Kadaj straightened, fingers rising to touch the blood that continued to trickle down his throat.
"You might want to take your brothers to the emergency room," Axel advised, glancing over at where Roxas' main tormentors sat huddled next to the couch, bleeding profusely. He smiled brightly, reaching around for his backpack. "And when I say that, I do mean reasonably quickly, because, uh, this storage unit's not going to be around for much longer. Whether you're inside it or not is up to you."
Suspiciously, Kadaj asked, "Why? What are you going to do?"
As his answer, Axel withdrew the rod of his mobile blowtorch, took out his lighter, and switched on the gas. The grin that split his face as he lit it was nearly obscene. The flame started off long and yellow, Axel quickly switching it up to blue and short, and very, very lethal. His eyes aglow, he simply looked at Kadaj, who was already moving, going to his brothers and hauling them up, the three of them shooting alarmed glances over as he stood there, grinning over the flame and waiting for them to open the door. He then touched the torch to the battered couch, starting to laugh as it caught alight. The trio escaped into the night with that sound ringing in their ears – and hopefully, in the future, their nightmares.
Axel waited until the couch was a guaranteed bonfire, then shut off his portable flame and sauntered off into the darkness, the flicker of flames lighting his way. By the time he reached the wall he'd climbed over in the next-door lot, the fire had started spreading to other units, Axel's teeth bright in the gloom as he surveyed over what he had wrought. What a delight it was to have made such a mark upon the world. Who cared about the timeline anymore? Perhaps this would teach the Organisation to send him off on sleep-away missions. Somebody deserved punishment for what he'd been put through. Somebody needed to regret ever having put him near Roxas without expecting him to fall in love.
With the flames climbing higher behind him, Axel retraced his steps back to his rental. He climbed in, sitting in the silence with only his somewhat heavier breaths for company, staring out into the darkness. He could see the fiery glow expanding over the nearby buildings, wondered how far it would go before someone came to quench it. He heard himself chuckle, a noiseless, excited, breathless sound. His fingers wrapped tightly around the wheel, he reached for the keys, started the car up, and slowly, carefully, reversed out of the alleyway and returned to the main thoroughfare. As he drove along, he kept an eye out for any potential witnesses, but the area was clear. Axel was out without incident.
Feeling full, his chest broad with satisfaction, so cheerful it was hard to keep from giggling, he drove back to his apartment to change and gather some clothes into a bag. In the bedroom, he peeled his Organisation coat back off, folded it carefully, and returned it to the bag under the bed, zipping it shut. The next time he pulled it out it would be… because of Roxas. Either to do the deed, or because the time had come to slip away through the night and never look back.
And just like that, the high was over. The sense of elation born from the fight and the fire abruptly lost its edge, less like a drug losing effect than a bucket of cold water tossed over him. Crouched on his bedroom floor, with a seed of dread in his belly, Axel started to consider the coming days.
The trio was out of the way; this he could be all but sure of. Certainly they would be somewhat… physically incapable of pursuing him further on their own, and his threats about exposing the operation to the media would likely keep ShinRa in line as well. The last thing they'd want was to be associated to something so shady, in the public arena at any rate. The whole issue surrounding Roxas and the cornerstone fragment and the silver-haired guys, though… they had been what was occupying Axel. It had been his focus for so long now: keeping Roxas safe. Tracking down his attackers, confronting them, protecting the kid. Now, with them gone…
…Well, all that was left now was him. Him and Roxas. And Roxas' death sentence, hanging over both their heads, though the blond couldn't know it. With no one left to protect Roxas against, Axel's white knight persona was nothing more than smoke and dust: he was himself the next great threat, and he couldn't really go to town on his own apartment with his hardware-store little flamethrower. Well, he could, but it wouldn't achieve much.
As the bag containing his coat was slid slowly back under the bed, out of sight, Axel's face gradually darkened. The gleam in his eyes went dull. He stayed there for a minute, hands splayed on his knees, staring at where the bag had been. Then, with the slowest of sighs, he straightened, hands sliding up his thighs until they were hanging at his sides. He stood in the emptiness of his apartment and simply… listened for a moment. Listened to the stillness within the walls. This – was this his life? What worth was it having a luxury pad back in his own time when he spent so much time in others' times, just… alone with his thoughts, in places of varying states of crappy decay or motel plastique-chic?
Face creasing, he ran a hand across his brow, trying subconsciously to smooth out the scowl, or maybe the thoughts behind it. He couldn't keep wasting time like this. Roxas would be expecting him back. Sucking his lips briefly into his mouth, then popping them back out with some modicum of determination, Axel moved on to the bathroom. There, he inspected his appearance, post-fight, post-fire. His face held lingering traces of sooty dustiness, remnants of the storage yard and the smoke from the fire. He cupped a few handfuls of water from the faucet and quickly splashed the grime away. He dried his skin and looked again, tilting his head to each side. Where Kadaj had hit him was starting to colour up. That was frustrating. He would have to concoct some kind of lie to offer forth to Roxas, to allay his concerns and simultaneously smother any chance of suspicion. The kid… couldn't be made aware of what was going on. Of what Axel was. When Lucrecia had tried to warn Roxas about him, man, if he'd had lasers in his eyes he'd have zapped her on the spot.
He didn't want Roxas to be wary of him. Didn't want the kid to… distance himself from him. He could try and tell himself that it was because of needing Roxas guileless and therefore easy to get to, but he already knew how much of a pile of bullshit that was. At the end of it, he didn't want to lose out on whatever quality time with the kid he had left. He didn't want to waste a second – and oh, those seconds, those wily, terrible seconds… they were disappearing. Like hounds nipping at Roxas' heels, those seconds were passing, each one so final, with Axel waiting at the end of them like the dynamite at the end of a burning fuse.
God… damn it.
Jaw stiff, he grabbed a can of deodorant, shook it hard, and sent a spray over his body and hair, to overpower any clinging smokiness. Until he had time for another shower, that was going to be as good as it got for now.
He spent a minute with his hands pressed to either side of the basin, head hanging low. He was… mustering up some strength, some energy. Who knew how much longer there was to get through before – well, before? Stretching before him was an unknown period of wonderful, awful time. Time to be with Roxas, time to contemplate the end.
This was all doing his head in. He was going to be so grey by the end of it.
And the end… couldn't be so far off now.