Sora rubbed the back of his neck and swallowed, the sound echoing round the living room. He looked left and saw Vanitas rubbing his right hand over his knuckles, his thumb jutting against the bone.

"You okay?"

Vanitas grunted and stood, looking around the quiet room. He shook his head and walked into the hallway.

He heard the clock ticking in the living room and the soft sound of the couch cushions springing back as Sora followed him. The kitchen door was closed but he could hear the duckling squeaking and splashing inside and the occasional sniffle. He knocked twice, waited, and slowly pushed the door open.

Sat on the kitchen counter, hugging Ventus so tight his hands had become white, Roxas's face was turned away, his shoulders hunching when he sniffled. Ventus raised an eyebrow at his brothers, one hand hugging Roxas's back and the other softly brushing through the teen's hair, their cheeks pushed softly together.

"Oh, um…" Sora looked away. "We were just—"

"I'm going out," Vanitas cut across. "You want anything?"

Ventus's eyebrow rose further but he didn't stop rubbing Roxas's back.

Vanitas shrugged. "Just out."

Ventus scowled.

"I'm not gonna do anything!" Vanitas protested loudly, holding his hands up and rolling his eyes. "I just…" He chewed his lip and Roxas sniffled. Swallowing down the bitter lump in his throat, Vanitas walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the table, rubbing Doodle's ears with his thumb and forefinger. He still couldn't see Roxas's face, just the mop of blond hair that was nestled into Ventus's shoulder. "Hey, pipsqueak," he reached forward and gently patted Roxas's hand. "How 'bout you come with me. We'll do whatever you want," he added, hoping to perk his youngest brother up.

Roxas clung tighter to Ventus, shaking his head.

"You sure?" Vanitas coaxed, drawing out the words. "We can hang out while Ventus gets Axel."

Roxas lifted his head, his eyes puffy and pink round the edges, his cheeks wet and shining. "Axel?"

"Sure. I bet you want to see him, right?"

Very slowly, Roxas released Ventus and wiped his face with the edges of his hands, sniffling and rubbing his nose, his eyes aching and his shoulder throbbing and his body burning. But he couldn't stand it. He reached out and held the front of Ventus's shirt loosely, wanting to let go but struggling to find the strength.

"Rox, it'll be okay," Sora said, leaning against the door. "Me and Ventus can go get him. Even if you don't wanna go out, you and Vanitas can hang out here. Nobody'll be back until tonight."

Roxas wrinkled his nose and looked at the floor.

His chin was lifted by a finger just beneath it, guiding him upwards, and he looked at Ventus. The oldest brother's smile was faint on his lips, barely pulling at the corner of his mouth, but it was there. Detaching one of his arms, Ventus pulled his sleeve down over his wrist and wet the fabric with his mouth.

Roxas watched the action curiously. Ventus licked the fabric until it was moist, chewing once to rid the excess spit from the expensive shirt. He pulled the damp sleeve from his mouth and Roxas frowned.

"What are you-Ew! Ew! Ventus, gerroff! Ventus!" He wriggled back on the kitchen top, trying to escape the wet sleeve that stroked just under his eyes and over his cheeks, ridding the pink skin of the tear stains. He scrunched his face up as tight as he could, snorted madly and pushed his brother back with his hands, but Ventus was stronger. He held Roxas's chin tight with his fingers and smiled as he cleaned him, hearing Vanitas snort behind him and Sora's breathy laughs by the door.

Satisfied that Roxas was clean, Ventus pulled his hand back with a nod. Roxas glowered at him, sweeping his fingers over his damp cheeks. "You're so gross."

Ventus's smile widened and he took Roxas's hands, walking back and pulling him off the kitchen top. The teen jumped down and Ventus turned to Sora.

'We'll take my car.'

Sora nodded, spinning on the spot and leaving the kitchen, muttering about the keys being on the electric box. Ventus focused his attention on Vanitas, narrowing his eyes at his brother's sudden smirk.

'Why are you so happy?'

Vanitas looked at Roxas; the teen was leaning over the sink and stroking the duckling's head, still sulking from Ventus's attempt at cleaning his face.

Vanitas didn't speak, he signed. 'Me and Roxas are going to have a chat.'

Ventus's eyes narrowed dangerously and he shook his head. 'No more, Vanitas. Leave him alone.'

Rolled eyes were his response. 'Not about that.'

'Then what?'

'You'll see.'

Ventus double-checked over his shoulder that Roxas was still busy before signing. 'I'm surprised you're not coming with us. You're normally so hot-headed. Did you finally blow a fuse?'

'No!' Vanitas huffed. 'I just don't trust myself yet.'

'Trust yourself?'

'Ventus, if I see the people that did this,' he indicated to Roxas, the blond's back facing them as he leaned over the sink. 'I don't think I could hold myself back. I'd do time for it.'

'I wouldn't let you go that far. You know I wouldn't.'

'I don't trust myself,' Vanitas signed, looking away bitterly. 'If I see red, I don't think it would matter if you were in the way or not. I'd go too far.'

'Vanitas-'

"You should go," Vanitas said loudly, slapping his hands down on his thighs. "Me and Roxas'll be fine. Right, Rox?"

Roxas grunted, petting the duckling with one finger and watching it swim round the sink.

Ventus looked apprehensive. He chewed his lower lip and looked over his shoulder. Sora revved the engine loudly outside, his foot firmly on the gas.

"You should go before he stalls it and wets himself," Vanitas said, his lips tugging into a smile. "Don't worry. I'll look after him."

"I don't need looking after," Roxas grumbled, feeling Ventus pat him lightly on the shoulder before the kitchen door closed. There was tense silence for a moment, Roxas still patting the duckling, his back turned on Vanitas, still not sure what he should do now his secret was out in the open. He felt his chest pinch tighter and struggled fighting the urge to cough and choke up some of the fluid stuck on his lungs. His shoulders wobbled and he heard the car outside slowly pull out of the drive and head on up the street. His shoulders shook harder and he could feel his need to cough becoming desperate, but he didn't want to disturb the quiet around them.

"Are you crying again?" Vanitas asked.

Roxas couldn't help it. His hands shot up to cover his mouth and he coughed, choking into his hands, the phlegm in his throat shooting forward to coat his fingers. He groaned, feeling an ache behind his eyes and across his chest, his shoulder wound pulling. He looked down at his hands. "Ew."

"Can't be helped," Vanitas said, reaching across the table and snatching some kitchen roll. He turned Roxas around and took hold of his hands, wiping the phlegm away from between each finger. "You're still pretty sick."

When it was clean Vanitas scrunched the tissue into a ball and threw it onto the table, still holding Roxas's hand, his shoulders tense. He squeezed Roxas's hand. Squeezed and squeezed until Roxas couldn't feel his fingers anymore.

"Vanitas?" Roxas's eye twitched. "Can we go out? I don't want to be in."

Vanitas blinked, snapping from his trance. "Out?"

"You said we could." Roxas physically dislodged his brother with his other hand, flexing his fingers to circulate the blood.

"I thought you wanted to stay in?" Vanitas said, finally looking up, his eyebrows raised as he lowered his hand under the table and stroked the top of Doodle's head.

Roxas shook his head. "I hate being in."

"Then we'd best go out, huh?" Vanitas stood, stretching his arms over his head. "But not like this."

"Eh?"

The muscles in Vanitas's shoulders popped and he groaned with satisfaction, letting his arms swing by his sides. "Come on. You look like shit."

He left the kitchen and started up the creaking stairs, stopping at the top and looking back. Roxas was following him, and behind the blond was Doodle; the Westie tried to get up the stairs but gave up after the first few steps and lounged at the bottom, panting heavily and licking its chops.

At the top of the stairs, Roxas stopped and looked round the corner, watching Vanitas nudge open the door to Sora and Kairi's room with his foot. He motioned for Roxas to come over with a nod of his head and disappeared into the bedroom.

Roxas was rooted to the spot. He waited for a moment, taking long breaths, but when Vanitas didn't come back his curiosity got the better of him and he crept towards Kairi's room. Holding the doorframe, he peered round the corner.

One wall was forest green with the headboard of the double bed backed against it, and the other three walls were a soft beige with pine furniture (a dresser, wardrobe and small desk) pushed up against them. Knickknacks and photos of Kairi and Sora on holiday, on a beach, graduating, pulling faces at a party, all decorated the walls and surfaces. The bedspread was lime green with circular patterns, the floor was a light pine laminate, and Vanitas was currently grabbing clothes from the couple's shared wardrobe and throwing them on the bed in a scruffy heap.

"Nope." He threw a male's shirt onto the bed. "No." He threw a jumper. "No." A pair of jeans with matching belt were thrown on the floor. He pulled a dark yellow knitted jumper from the drawers and grimaced, holding the item away from him with his finger and thumb pinching the collar. "Good god, Sora has no taste! Oh, wait–aha!"

"What are you doing?" Roxas asked.

Vanitas looked up from the blue and white chequered shirt he was holding. "What? You think I'm gonna let you go out in the clothes you've been sleeping in?" He rolled his eyes as Roxas looked down at the white jumper and jeans he'd been wearing for the past three days. "Here."

Roxas caught the shirt thrown at him and Vanitas began rummaging for a pair of jeans.

"This is Sora's."

Vanitas grunted and finally found a decent pair of jeans under a mountain of slacks. "Yep. He has a few things stashed here and some more at Kairi's flat. You know, cuz this is like his second home and shit." He walked over to Roxas, ignoring his mess. "Go put these on."

"On?" Roxas frowned and Vanitas piled the jeans onto the shirt he was holding. "But—"

"Sora won't care if you borrow a few things." He shrugged and pulled Roxas into the hallway, nudging him in the direction of his and Axel's borrowed room. "Go on. You look pretty skinny so they should fit."

Roxas stammered as the door behind him closed, looking at the clothes in his hand.

Will he really not mind?

'Who cares if he minds or not?' Alter Vanitas grumbled in the back of his head. 'We've been wearing these crappy clothes for days. The least these bozos can do is give us something decent to wear.'

'They're not bozos, Vanitas,' Alter Sora muttered.

Roxas ignored them, leaving them to bicker as he pulled the white jumper over his head and pulled Sora's fresh shirt on instead. It smelled of washing powder and Comfort, lilac and snapdragon scented. When it hugged his chest snuggly Roxas grabbed a fistful of the collar and lifted it to his nose, taking a quick sniff.

So much better than the bleach in the asylum.

The shirt was too good of a size-match to be true. The arms were short and stopped just over his shoulder, the hem was perfectly wrapped around his middle, and the collar was loose enough not to choke him with the top button done.

His attention turned to the dark blue jeans in front of him. He traced his thumb along the hem, his brow pinching into a frown as he felt the rough fabric, but he quickly shrugged it away. Double checking that the door was locked, he rested his back against it and slowly undid his trousers, stepping out of them and pulling on Sora's jeans. They were a little loose along the waist, maybe a little long, but it was a pretty close fit otherwise. He felt the pockets, putting his hands inside to make sure he could, then looked over at his clothes on the bed. He folded them even though they were dirty and opened the door, walking out into the hallway.

Vanitas wasn't upstairs, but Roxas could hear grunting downstairs. Closing the door behind him and ignoring the twitch in his eye and the voices in his head, Roxas crept downstairs and looked over the banister. The curses were louder now and coming from the living room. He snuck closer, pushed the living room door open, and froze.

Inside, Vanitas heaved his top up and over his shoulders, revealing his back. Across his side a deep purple and red scar in the shape of a buckle was indented over his ribs, just under his arm, and across his back was a white scar that stretched from his left to his right. He turned at the sound of Roxas gasping, one eyebrow raised.

"Huh? Oh." He reached over to Ventus's bag and stole one of his brother's white t-shirts. "Those look good on you."

Roxas's nails dug into the doorframe. "Is that…"

"From him? No. He was never interested in me." He looked away uneasily, pulling the shirt over his head and covering the scars. "Those are from Dad."

"Dad? Why?"

Vanitas shrugged. "Who knows?" He went to tug on his shoes but stopped, frowning thoughtfully. "Hey, Roxas?"

Roxas jumped. "Yeah?"

"Anyone hurts you—no matter who it is—you come find me." He looked up, his hair in front of his eyes. "I'll kill 'em."

Roxas stared at Vanitas incredulously, waiting for his brother to break out into a grin and laugh because he was only joking. But he didn't. He stared at Roxas for a long time, finally pulling on his boot with a soft sigh.

"Just saying," he muttered.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why?" Roxas asked again, walking into the room and sitting opposite him. "Why would you do something like that? Even just saying it."

Vanitas smirked. "'Cuz you're my brother, ya idiot. Nobody has the right to hurt you. And what those bastards did…" He clenched his fists. "Nobody has the right to hurt you." He pointed his finger at Roxas. "You hear me? There's nothing wrong with you. You're a little fucked up in the head maybe, but damn-it that's no excuse! A human is a human. And you're my blood."

"Blood?"

"Family," Vanitas said, grabbing his keys from the mantelpiece. He slung his jacket round his shoulders and reached back into Ventus's bag, grabbing a grey jumper and a light sports jacket. Without waiting he tugged the jumper down over Roxas's head a little too roughly. The blond yelped but stuck his hands through the baggy sleeves, letting Vanitas roll it down his front before his arms were pulled through the jacket.

"Vanitas—"

"I don't want you getting sicker." He zipped Roxas's jacket up to the collar and fluffed it out. He stepped back, admiring the white jacket and blue jeans on his littlest brother before he extended his hand out. "I ain't go not gel so you'll have to spit."

"Huh? I-I don't—"

"Spit."

Roxas frowned. Parting his lips a little, he spat timidly into Vanitas's hand. It was a pathetic attempt, and both of them knew it. Roxas's mouth wobbled into an uneasy smile and he laughed nervously.

"Sorry. Vanitas is normally the one who spits. And that's usually in people's faces, not hands, so, um… yeah."

Vanitas wasn't sure what to make of his name being mentioned when he knew Roxas wasn't talking about him, but he let it slide over him like a cold wave and mushed his hands together. "'S fine."

He pulled Roxas's head down and began to rearrange the spikey tufts of blond hair, combing some of it and threading the rest through his fingers, controlling the angle and sliding it over to one side in a smooth action. Roxas yelped and pushed and struggled, but by the time he'd got free Vanitas was finished and laughing at him.

"It's done, pipsqueak. You look better."

"Why did you do that?! It's gross!"

"I told you, I don't have no gel," Vanitas said, pocketing his keys. "And we share the same spit. Mostly, anyway."

His mood darkened and he left the living room, Roxas following close behind.

"What do you mean mostly?" Roxas asked.

Vanitas herded Doodle into the kitchen, gently scooped up the duckling and placed it back into its carrier, and locked the doors, swinging his keys around his finger. "You never figured it out?" he asked, walking past Roxas and checking the windows before he held the front door open.

The cold air gushed in and Roxas shivered, walking out into the dim sunlight and shaking his head.

A grunt pulled itself from Vanitas's throat and he locked Auron's front door with Sora's key. "You never wondered why I look so different from the rest of you?"

"Different?" Roxas was too busy looking across the garden. People were moving on the opposite side of the street and staring at them. "Vanitas, I changed my mind," he said, swallowing with difficulty and walking backwards, his back hitting Vanitas's chest. He reached back and felt his brother's hand, grabbing it with as much strength as he could. "I wanna go back inside."

"Why? Because of them?" Vanitas squeezed Roxas's hand and pulled him across the lawn and onto the street.

The middle-aged men sat in lawn chairs in their front gardens stared at them, four of them, all of them round and pudgy with bristly beard hair and upturned noses. Vanitas glared at them and tugged Roxas along, but when he saw the men get up from their chairs with their beers clenched in their fists he stopped. They walked to the edge of their fences and leaned against the posts, eyeing the duo carefully from across the narrow street.

Roxas almost walked into the back of Vanitas, but he stopped just in time. He looked over to where the men stood glaring at them and quickly looked away, hiding a twitch with the back of his hand and squeezing Vanitas's palm.

"Let's just go back."

"No."

"Vanitas—"

"You queers know whose house that is?" one of the men yelled, nodding his head at Auron's house and downing his beer. He crunched the can and threw it back onto his lawn, opening his gate and wobbling into the street, definitely drunk.

"Queers?" Vanitas frowned, looked down, and scoffed. He was still holding Roxas's hand.

"Vanitas, what's a queer?" Roxas asked, frowning thoughtfully, his lips barely parting when he spoke.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me?" He looked sidelong at Roxas with disbelief showing in his wide eyes. "Really? I know you've been locked up, but—"

"Hey, boy!" the second drunk said, stomping across the lawn to join his friend, still holding his beer. "Don't you listen? We don't take kindly to faggots hanging round!"

"Well I don't take kindly to pussies starting shit in the street," Vanitas snapped back, tensing his shoulder muscles and puffing his chest out, his feet set apart.

"Who you calling a pussy, boy?" the third man yelled, standing by the first and the second, still chugging his beer.

"Don't call me a boy!" Vanitas barked, pushing Roxas behind him and rolling up his sleeves, opening his arms wide. "You got something to say you come say it. Come right here—right fucking here—" He pointed down at the pavement. "—And you say what you gotta say! See how quick I send a pig like you squealing! See how quick I rip you open! Come on! Let's have ya! Come on!"

He opened his arms wider, pounded his chest and paced on the sidewalk like a caged wolf, spitting and hissing and yelling insults. Roxas stepped back and watched it all curiously, trying to figure out what a 'queer' was and why Vanitas was one. The men had started for no reason and he couldn't understand it.

His back hit the fence and he watched the world as if it was in slow motion. Insults were yelled on both sides, Vanitas still spitting and the men growing bolder and bolder with every breath and beer. They squared up on either side of the pavement, four on one.

'Four on two,' Alter Sora said quietly.

Roxas twitched and covered it with his hand. The second man threw his half-empty can and it would have smacked Vanitas in the face if he didn't sidestep in time. Vanitas snapped. He picked up the can that had been thrown and ripped it open, cutting the tender flesh of his finger joints as he stepped across the deserted road with the sharp tin in his hand, ready to slice whatever he slashed—whoever he slashed.

The men paled, backing away. Their chin fat wriggled and the reality of what was happening hit them. Four fat middle-aged men had pissed off a young psychopath who was heading towards them with a ripped piece of sharp steel in his bloody hands. Vanitas snarled, his face distorted under a thick line of wrinkles like a wolf that's pulled back its lips to reveal each and every single splendid white shining tooth that was ready to rip into every morsel of flesh it could possibly find.

They ran. Or rather, they wobbled, jiggled and bounced inside their houses as fast at their fat arses could carry them.

Vanitas stopped his advance halfway across the road and dropped the can, flexing his bloody fingers and struggling to even his breaths. He blinked twice, looking straight ahead and waiting for his adrenaline to calm. It evened out eventually, just enough so he could think, and he quickly backtracked off the road, standing beside Roxas. Still breathing heavily, he took Roxas's hand with his own and marched down the street.

Roxas almost tripped, staggering over his own feet in an effort to keep up, both fascinated and disgusted by the warm blood squelching between their hands. "Vanitas—"

Vanitas slowed down and took a deep breath. "A queer is someone whose sexual orientation belongs to a minority group. Normally LGBT. It also means that something's strange."

"Huh?"

"You asked what a queer was. I'm not a dictionary, but I think that's a pretty good explanation."

"Then why did those men—"

"They thought we were gay," Vanitas said darkly.

"Gay?" Roxas looked down at their hands and his shoulders sagged at the thought. "Oh."

He tried to pull his hand away, but Vanitas clung tighter.

"What are you doing?"

"Vanitas?" Roxas frowned and tried again, but again Vanitas wouldn't let go. "Vanitas, your hand—"

"If you live your life doing what other people expect you to do just to keep them happy then you're never gonna be happy yourself. Sometimes you have to upset people. Especially ignorant fuckers like that. They didn't even bother asking before they judged, so they deserve to run like piglets. We've done nothing wrong."

"But it's weird," Roxas said, blushing. "Guys don't hold hands."

"You're my brother and you were afraid. Am I wrong in wanting to reassure you?"

"Well, no, not exactly. And I wasn't scared!"

"You were backing up against me," Vanitas muttered, turning down another quiet street were the cars were sparse and the houses were even neater than the ones they'd left.

They walked in silence for a while, turning down random corners onto quiet streets and enjoying the cool breeze of the day. Roxas was thinking. He didn't know if it was a bad thought or a good thought, but it upset him. He squeezed Vanitas's hand and sighed.

"Vanitas, is it okay to be gay?"

Vanitas shrugged and slowed down. "It's okay to be whoever you are."

Roxas nodded. "So it is okay? Then why did those men get so angry. Just because we were holding hands?"

"Because some people think they're high and mighty and the rest of the world should suck their soggy cock. They don't get it. A human is a human. That should be enough for them, but it's not. Some people just… They just don't get it, Rox. They just don't get it."

Roxas wrinkled his nose. "But I don't get it either."

"Yeah, but you're not gonna start on someone just cuz they like the same sex, right? That's the difference. You don't have to like it, you just have to accept it. We're all human and we're all different, so ignorant fuckers need to get used to it and get the fuck over it."

"You're pretty open minded about this," Roxas said, smirking cheekily. "You gotta confession to make?"

"Confession? What do you—You little shit!" He whacked the top of Roxas's head lightly, enough so the blond yelped and covered it with his hands, supressing laughter whilst Vanitas flashed a tolerating smirk. "I'm not gay."

"Sorry. You just defend it so rigorously."

"Oh please. I told you, didn't I? Anyone starts on you and I'd kill 'em. I just didn't think we'd walk into trouble as soon as we left the fucking house. Talk about starting off on the wrong foot."

"Wait, defending me?" Roxas's cheeks were bright crimson and he shrunk in on himself, trying to pull his hand away, but Vanitas wouldn't let go. "Why would you have to defend me?" he asked quietly. "I never said I was gay."

Vanitas frowned curiously. "I defended you because that was a pretty big confession you had to face in front of me, Sora and Ventus. To walk out and have someone start straight away was way too much pressure on you. Why the heck would you think that I thought you were gay? Unless…" He stopped walking completely, narrowing his eyes. "Roxas, are you…?"

Roxas tried to keep walking, but Vanitas pulled him back by his hand and forced him to stop. He stared at the concrete, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks. His body became uncomfortably warm and he felt the stiff ache in his chest and behind his eyes more clearly.

"Roxas, are you gay?"

"I… No! I mean, well… I dunno." He shuffled nervously. "Is it bad?"

Vanitas gaped, unsure of what to say. He opened and closed his mouth, rubbing the back of his neck. "I… I, er…"

"Ventus and Axel said it's okay," Roxas mumbled. "They said two guys can…" He twitched and growled, ripping his hand away. "Fuck this! I knew it was wrong! I knew it!"

"No!" Vanitas grabbed his hand back, wincing when his cut fingers were caught. "Roxas, listen, there's nothing wrong with—"

"Let go!"

"Roxas—"

"My name's not Roxas!" Alter Vanitas spat.

"Roxas—"

"Get the fuck off me!" Alter Vanitas yelled, swinging round, his fist raised.

Vanitas tried to swerve out of the way whilst still trying to hold Roxas's hand, but he couldn't. Roxas's fist connected with Vanitas's cheek-bone and there was a distinct muffled yelp. Vanitas let go of Roxas's hand on reflex, raising his fists to defend himself, almost seeing red, but he refused to attack. He closed his hands across his face and ducked away when he saw the second punch aiming for his face and grunted when he was unprepared for it striking him hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He grunted and fell back, landing hard on his arse with one hand on his jaw and the other on his gut, withholding a wince.

He heard footsteps running away from him and looked up, struggling to bite back the itching nerve telling him to bounce back and attack whoever had sprung on him, but he wouldn't. He watched Roxas's retreating back; the blond sprinted down the street, ambling across open roads before he finally turned right and disappeared from view.

"Roxas!" He staggered to his knees and rubbed a bloody hand along his jaw, wincing and testing the bone. It wasn't cracked, but it was definitely bruised. "Fuck me," he groaned, rubbing a hand over his gut. "Roxas, get your arse back here right now! Roxas!"

Roxas didn't come back. Vanitas stood, straightened his back and groaned, still rubbing his stomach as he pulled his phone from his pocket. He found Sora's number and raised it to his ear, pinching the bridge of his nose and heading back up the street.

"Sora? Yeah, it's me. No. No, Sora listen. I fucking lost him. Roxas is gone."

"Gone? What the hell do you mean he's gone?" Sora barked. He was sat in the front passenger seat of Ventus's car, almost at the asylum. Sora put the phone on loudspeaker so Ventus could listen. "Vanitas, what—"

"We left the house cuz he wanted to go out, yanno?" He grunted on the other end of the phone. "And there were these guys that started calling us queers. Fucking pussies, I should have kicked their arses, but I—"

"Where's Roxas?" Sora asked worriedly.

"Well he was fine. Those guys left and we got so far down the street but then he started asking questions. He wanted ta know what a queer was and shit. He asked if it was okay to be gay. Fuck me, the question came out of nowhere!"

Sora begged to differ. The warning signs were clear. Too clear. He glanced at Ventus and he knew his oldest brother had seen it to. "What did you tell him?"

Vanitas spat onto the pavement. "I asked if he was gay."

Sora groaned. "God, Vanitas, why the hell did you ask that?"

"Why the fuck shouldn't I?"

"Because he just admitted he was raped. Fucking hell, Vanitas, don't you have a single sympathetic bone in your body?"

Ventus glared at Sora, but the brunet didn't care.

"Don't yell at me, Sora!"

"Then stop thinking with your fists and try and understand how he's feeling!"

"I was thinking! I mean, I was trying to consider his feelings. Fuck me, I thought I was doing a good job! Then he turned round and fucking attacked me—"

"He attacked you?" Sora's rage melted and he pinched his eyebrows together worriedly. He finally noticed his brother's haggard breathing and the occasional wince on the other end of the line. "Are you okay?"

"M'fine."

"Vanitas—"

"I just wanted to let you know so you could look for him on your way home. I'm getting in my car now. See you later."

"Vanitas, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Sora blinked at the phone. "He hung up on me."

Ventus pulled up outside the asylum and turned off the engine. He relaxed back in his seat and closed his eyes, signing to his brother.

'Sora, I know you're angry and upset, but you have to be angry and upset at the right people. Vanitas is trying. I know he can be stubborn and hard-headed but he really is trying to help. He probably thought he was doing the right thing.' He reached over and patted his brother's shoulder. 'It'll be okay. We'll get through this. I promise.'

"How can you promise something like that? For crying out loud, Ventus, Roxas was in this place for nine years. How long did they abuse him for?"

'I don't know, but we'll help him get through it.'

"How? How can we help him? We had so many chances to find him, to save him, and we didn't until it was too late and he's so mentally fucked up that I barely even recognise him. How are we going to get through this?"

'We will. Trust me.'

Hot tears slipped down Sora's cheeks and landed on his phone. "I don't think we can help. I don't see how. Things just keep getting worse and worse. When are they going to get better? When do we get a happily ever after, Ventus? When?"

Ventus unclicked his seatbelt and pulled Sora to him, holding him close to his chest and hugging him tightly. He felt his shirt dampen with tears and stroked a hand up his brother's back, listening to the muffled sobs. He had seen this happen before, when everything became overwhelming and Sora switched from emotion to emotion and always fell back to this negative attitude with a bad outlook on what was going to happen. The depression was coming back.

"We can't do it," Sora said, shaking his head. "We can't."

Ventus gently pulled away, sweeping his thumbs under the brunet's eyes and wiping away the tears. 'We can. And we will.' He smiled comfortingly. 'I'll go get Axel. Can you stay here and look after the car?'

"You don't want me to come in with you?"

'I can handle it.' He gave Sora the car keys and left, straightening himself up and walking into the asylum.

The revolving doors swung wide and the smell of bleach stung his nostrils, almost making him gag. In the quiet lobby he could hear the clock ticking on the far wall and the security guard sighing on his left.

He ignored the man and walked up to the front desk. Naminé sat behind it, her headset still hanging round her neck as she filed paperwork. She looked up when she saw the blond approach, pausing unsurely for a second before she smiled.

"Hello. Sorry, for a moment there you looked like a past patient." She laughed nervously. "How may I help you?"

Ventus grabbed a piece of paper from her side of the desk and a pen. My name is Ventus Strife and I'm here to see Doctor Flint.

He handed her the note and she read it quickly. "Oh, I see. Is he expecting you?"

Not exactly, he wrote.

She frowned. "Oh. One moment." Reaching across her desk, she found her radio and clicked the button. "Doctor Flint? Mister Strife is here to see you. Do you have time to meet him?"

"Ventus? Oh, er, sure. Send him down, Naminé."

"Sir," she looked across at Ventus nervously and then turned back to her radio, almost whispering. "It's company policy that—"

"Send him down, Naminé. I don't have time to come up. Don't worry, I'll take full responsibility for him."

"Yes, sir." She set the radio down. "Sorry about that. The lift is just through those doors. I'll have it meet you when you arrive and take you to the correct floor."

He nodded and walked through the double doors, holding his hand over his nose to block out the disgusting smell of disinfectant. The lift doors opened and he waited in silence as he descended to the eighth floor. The air grew stagnant and stuffy and the artificial lighting was yellow and compromising. He walked down the hallway and stopped outside of Roxas's room, glaring at it before he finally continued on to Axel's office.

He knocked twice.

"It's open."

Ventus pushed the door open. The small room was just as he remembered it with only one difference. The books and files he'd been curious about on his last visit were no longer on the bookshelf; they were scattered on Axel's desk, in piles and mounds and tumbled heaps, hiding everything else except the redhead himself. Axel rubbed his eyes, looking up at Ventus worriedly.

"Everything alright?"

Ventus scowled, slamming the door.

Axel frowned. "Ventus?"

He snatched a piece of paper from Axel's desk and scribbled his words.

Roxas was raped.

Axel's mouth fell open. "How do you…? He told you?"

Zexion told us.

"Zexion?" Axel ran a hand back through his hair. "How is Roxas? Is he okay?"

Why do you care? You work here.

Axel scowled. "I had no part in anything that happened to Roxas. I tried to stop them!"

Ventus's glare darkened. Am I supposed to believe that?

"Yes. For God's sake, I told you. Mine and Roxas's relationship is professional," he said, his cheeks gaining a faint red blush. "I have never done anything to Roxas. I came back to work to collect these," he indicated to the files, "because I want Roxas discharged from this place as soon as possible. But so far all of the evidence I've collected has been destroyed or stolen. Look at these."

He threw three notebooks in front of Ventus.

The blond opened the first one, looking at the photo inside and frowning. It was Roxas, but it was a bad photo of him. To Axel it was clear that the photo was of Alter Vanitas, not Roxas, but to the untrained eye Roxas really did look mad. Hair dishevelled, clawing at the camera, clothes hanging off, he looked like he was in mid-attack.

Ventus closed the file. What does this prove?

Axel leaned back in his chair, trying to stop his heart from exploding in his chest. He really thought he might have been punched, or in the very least attacked. If Sora and Vanitas depended on Ventus in their times of need, then God alone knew how wild the oldest brother was when angry.

"That's a photo of Roxas when Alter Vanitas has control of his consciousness."

So?

"So Vanitas is an alter that only appears when Roxas feels a need to defend himself. If he's provoked, scared, or upset, Alter Vanitas is the alter he calls upon for help. This photo was taken when Roxas was defending himself. From what, I don't know. It was taken three years ago."

Ventus opened the file for another look.

"My point is," Axel continued, "that someone has altered these files. The notes and pictures of Roxas when he's stable are gone. The positive feedback from other doctors has been shredded. I can't find a good note on his character anywhere. All of my own notes have gone. I've been down here all day looking, trying to find something that would work in his favour, because if they drag us to court over keeping Roxas here all of this," he waved his hand over the files, "goes against him, and they will lock him up until another peer assessment is done. And another. And another. And I can't stop it."

You're his doctor. Of course you can stop it.

"Not if the facility demands two assessors, which is their right. There's another colleague working in the asylum who's supposed to help Roxas besides myself. I haven't met him yet, but since they've arrived all of my notes have changed. There's not a doubt in my mind that this new guy has been bought. So if they drag us to an assessment, and I say Roxas isn't dangerous, and this new person says he is, we go to a higher official. Roxas will be brought back here and he'll have to wait longer for another assessment. The assessment will then be done by my boss, which would have been Zexion but will now be Xehanort. If Xehanort does the assessment Roxas will be brought back here to stay, I know it, and the others will come back. This rape isn't old news, Ventus. It happened three weeks before you came to London." He saw Ventus's eyes widen and hated himself, but he had to hit home hard with the truth if he was going to get the blond's cooperation. "If Roxas is locked back up then there is nothing you, I, or anyone else can do to stop these others attacking again. So don't come in here accusing me of doing something as disgusting as that when I lov…er…" He stopped, coughed into his fist and quickly looked away. "When I have done nothing wrong."

Ventus raised an eyebrow, but shook his anger away and gathered up the files into one large pile. Roxas has ran away.

"What?" Axel read the note twice. "Why? When?"

I'm not sure. Vanitas rang and said some people were starting in the street. When they got away he asked if Roxas was gay and he ran off.

Axel's heart beat unevenly. He looked down at his phone. It was passed midday and it was going to be dark soon, the sun practically set already. He grabbed his coat. "We need to find him."

You're not coming.

Axel frowned, staring at the note on the table. "Excuse me?"

I won't have someone from this asylum near Roxas now that I know what's happened. He scowled at Axel, underlining the sentence with his pen. You either quit your job or quit being Roxas's doctor.

Axel swung his jacket round his shoulders and zipped it up. "That's hardly a choice."

Is that your answer?

"No." He sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose and thinking. "Give me two weeks and I'll quit."

Ventus was taken aback. He stared at Axel and thrust his hands into his pockets, thinking for a moment before he pulled out his right hand and wrote:

You'd really quit for him? I thought you had rent to pay?

"I do. And I also have a sick father expecting money at home. But Roxas… For him, I'll do it. I'll quit. Can't say I ever liked working here anyway." He smiled, happy when Ventus returned it, even if the blond was still unsure. "Come on, let's go find him."

Roxas climbed another fence and ran down the empty street, his lungs aching. He had been running and speed walking on and off for three hours, heading further and further into the rundown suburbs of London's wrecked districts. The fancy houses and pretty shops with crowds of people had long ago merged behind him, replaced by grey flats that scraped the sky and meshed fences that kept baying dogs back. Danger signs hung on every door, broken glass and needles laid in the gutter of the road; the walls were slimy, the bricks crumbling, the people sitting on the sidewalk with shrunken eyes and their hands outstretched, the tips of their fingers showing through their fingerless gloves. The smell of the bakeries and fast-food restaurants he had come close to in the popular city streets were replaced with the pungent smell of something stale, like dried dog piss lingering on a musty carpet, and it polluted the air.

Roxas staggered past another block of flats. Both of his alters yelled at him, but he couldn't listen to them. Every part of him pounded and ached and if he stopped to listen he might not start again.

He ran for another ten minutes until his body almost caved. His legs shook with the last of his adrenaline and he was wheezing, he could physically hear it, but he kept walking, further and further out and away from the city until the cars stopped coming altogether and he was walking alongside bordered up buildings tagged with red graffiti. No matter where he walked he could hear sirens and people stared at him from doorways and under bridges, their eyes shrunk and dark.

He walked along the sidewalk and shivered, hugging Ventus's jacket tighter around himself.

BANG!

He jumped and covered his ears. The sound was far off, high up in one of the flats, the car park fenced off with barbed wire. A woman screamed and the sirens grew louder.

'Roxy, we need to get outta here,' Alter Sora whimpered, his voice high pitched and panicked.

"I can't go back. I snapped." He rubbed his twitching eye and hissed. "I hurt Vanitas. I… I hurt him."

'A few fucking bruises,' Alter Vanitas snapped. 'He'll get over it, Roxas. But trust me, this place…' His voice wavered and he gulped. 'I don't like this place.'

"Are you scared?" Roxas asked, wiping the sweat from his fevered forehead and trying hard not to let his dizzy-spells sap the last of his strength.

'Don't be a fucking retard! I'm never scared! But… But it's getting dark.'

"Since when where you scared of the dark?" Roxas asked, jumping when a vicious Rottweiler attacked the fence, ripping the wire to try and get him.

The curtains in the flats above fluttered. Roxas frowned.

What are they looking at?

'Well you're the only person out on the streets, dumbass,' Alter Vanitas said.

'He's right, Roxy,' Alter Sora said. 'It's dark and we're the only ones here. We should go back.'

He stopped and sighed, but as he turned around he felt a rough hand grab the back of his jacket and throw him at the railings. The wire clashed and clattered, shaking to the very top. The Rottweiler snarled and jumped up on the other side, its sharp teeth tearing the wire, frothing at the mouth inches away from Roxas's face.

Roxas struggled and kicked back, elbowing whoever had him in the ribs and feeling the twitch on his left side ache and throb like a sharp electric shock. He struggled harder, his face pressed against the cold wire and leaving red lines. His arms were pinned and his legs kicked out from under him, leaving him hanging.

"Thought you'd get away a second time did you, you little prick?"

He heard laughter behind him, around him, near him, three or four people laughing at him, one of them snorting. The person that had him span him and threw him to the pavement.

Roxas yelped and landed hard on his back, his head hitting the concrete with a vicious CRACK! His world span. Whatever fight was in him, whatever sense he could make, it all melted away and he couldn't concentrate. His trainers scraped the gravel back and he felt sick, his head aching and too heavy to lift. Someone crouched in front of him, a beanie hat on his head and a cig rolled to the corner of his mouth, smirking, but Roxas could hardly concentrate to know him.

"You thought you'd make a fool of me, huh? Thought I'd forget about you, did ya? Bastard!" He yanked Roxas forward by his hair, holding the teen close. His body stunk of cheap cider and smoke, and something heavier and punchy… dope? "I'm gonna make you pay," he whispered in the blond's ear, grinning smugly.

Roxas looked over the man's shoulder. Through the group of stringy teenagers circling them with chains and knuckledusters, up the street, on the very edge of his vision, Roxas swore he saw an orange car.

Is that…?

He tried to shove off the man holding him.

"Aw, what's wrong? Don't remember me?" The man laughed. "Well I sure as hell remember you! Does the name Seifer ring a bell?"

Roxas felt bile collect at the back of his throat. "Seifer?"

"Remember now?" Seifer snapped, slapping the side of Roxas's head so painfully that the blond cried out.

Seifer yanked him up by his collar and sneered. "Let's take this somewhere private."

Roxas kicked out and yelled before a hand was clamped down over his mouth and he was dragged into the nearest alley. Thrown down by the bins, he looked up and gulped. He was right; Seifer and three others. They were thin, men with pinpricks on their elbow joints and wrists and whose jackets were three sizes too big and hung off their slouched shoulders.

Seifer yanked Roxas up by his collar.

"Ah! Gerroff! I—"

"You little punk, I lost a lot of business 'cuz of you! I—"

"Hey! Get the hell away from him!" a woman shouted, standing in the centre of the alley. She pointed at the thugs, her face hidden by a dark grey cap and a matching wool scarf. Her biker jacket flapped open in the wind, revealing a dirty white tank top tucked into ripped skinny jeans. She pulled her scarf down from her lips and scowled, stomping towards them, her eyes still hidden.

Seifer dropped Roxas, grinning with amusement as she shoved the thugs out of her way and pushed past him. She stood over Roxas protectively, her hand held down to help him up.

"What the heck are you playing at, Ventus?" she snapped. "Get up."

Roxas shuffled away, staring at her hand suspiciously. "I'm not Ventus."

She pulled her hand back, almost stepping away. She narrowed her eyes and looked at him, saw that he was younger, much younger, and she hissed inwards. "You... Who the hell are you?"

"That's exactly what I wanna know," Seifer said, still eyeballing the woman's perfectly curved thighs and slender figure, his fingers twitching as he imagined touching her arse. He looked up and smirked. "You're a courageous bitch running down an alley like that."

She lifted her cap with her finger, just enough to reveal her blue eyes and show a raised eyebrow and strong cheekbones. "Am I supposed to be afraid of you?"

"A smarter person would be," Seifer said. He reached behind his back and pulled a slick handgun from his belt, wetting his lips and panting with excitement, his bandaged hand flexing, his finger hovering over the trigger.

Roxas saw the girl freeze beside him and twitched when she grabbed his collar and heaved him to his feet. He staggered upright, feeling dizzy and wanting to be sick, his mind swimming, but the barrel of the gun pointed firmly at him and he froze.

"Don't even think of moving! If I see so much as one muscle twitch I swear to god this bullet'll be in your fucking brain."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the woman said lazily. She shrugged, her lips smirking. "Just saying."

"And why the fuck shouldn't I?" Seifer asked, cocking the gun. "You gonna stop me?"

"No. I'm gonna," a dark voice grated at the front of the alley.

Roxas looked up, squinting to see as the world span and the shapes collided and merged and split. He saw a dark figure standing at the mouth of the alley, walking forward in trackies and a dark hoodie, a baseball bat swinging in his hands. The man lifted a bottle of cider to his mouth and downed it, letting it drop from his fingers and roll.

"Who's first?"

Seifer turned and the thugs pounced, three on one, avoiding the bat whilst lashing out with their own weapons, trying to latch a chain around an ankle, snap a wrist, break bone, slice flesh.

Seifer laughed smugly under his breath and left them to their fight, raising the gun at the woman first. She sucked in a dry breath and shifted back, her boots crunching the glass-covered alley. Her eyes narrowed and Seifer took his time walking around her, tilting his head this way and that.

The woman looked up from the gun and saw the man fighting the three thugs, ducking under a whipping chain and swinging his bat in an arc so fast that it smashed into the thug's jaw, shattering bone and ending in a long, low wail of pain. The thug dropped to his knees and cradled his head, whimpering loudly.

"Vanitas," the woman said slowly, just loud enough to be heard over the chains scraping on the concrete.

Roxas looked up. "Vanitas?"

Vanitas yanked his hood down, smashing his bat into the gut of the second thug and grabbing the third by his arm when he swung too wide. The thug's eyes widened with surprise when Vanitas booted his knees out from under him, throwing him to the ground on his front. The thug's chest hit the concrete, the lamplight behind them illuminating the pavement to the colour of gold. The thug wriggled and squirmed, his backup immobilized with their own pains.

Vanitas spat a clot of blood beside the man's head and stood on his back, grabbing the thug's right hand and pulling it back.

"Please!" the man screamed, crying into the concrete, trying to turn but unable to throw off Vanitas's weight. "Please! Please!"

He was shrieking. Vanitas yanked his arm up. Seifer turned with surprise and mild interest, the gun lowering from the woman's face as he watched, first in awe and then in rage and finally in fear.

Vanitas moved his foot up towards the joint of the man's shoulder. He grabbed the thug's wrist, twisted, yanked, ground his boot down hard, growled, and tugged.

Crack!

"AAAAHHHHHHH!"

Vanitas sniffed with disgust and threw the man's arm down to the concrete, the shoulder ripped from its joint, the bone twisted and mangled, the muscles torn. He licked his cracked lips and stepped off the croaking thug, spinning his bat round.

Seifer span, huffing fiercely through his nostrils, his pupils dilated, the gun aiming at Vanitas's chest. "Don't move! You motherfucking… God-damnit, what the fuck did you do?!" He glanced helplessly at his mangled backup lying pained and bleeding on the ground. "Who the fuck do you think you are?! Bastard, I have a gun!" He raised the weapon and the steel shone. "How tough you gonna be with a bullet in your heart?"

"You're not gonna put a bullet in me," Vanitas snarled, stepping over the broken bottles, the glass crunching under his feet.

Seifer looked around warily, his fingers flexing on the gun. "Stay back!"

Vanitas spat another clot of blood out of his mouth. "Or what?"

"I have a gun!" Seifer said, almost whining. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You're a fucking idiot, that's what's wrong," the woman snapped.

Roxas looked at her, his back pressed against the alley wall and his head spinning. He couldn't think straight, could hear Alter Sora screaming and barely make out the difference between the light and shadows merging in front of him. He couldn't recognise any faces, only action, and he felt sick, incredibly sick, his stomach knotting and his chest stinging. His head throbbed and he felt the cold mossy bricks under his fingertips. He wanted to sit down, but he knew that was a bad idea, so he pressed a hand to his queasy belly and groaned.

Seifer twisted back and Roxas yelped when the dealer's nails sank into his upper arm and dragged him forward. He lost his footing and his knee scraped the concrete; his joint burned and he felt as if he'd shed a layer of skin, feeling the burn on his knee and knowing it was more than just grazed. He winced and ground his teeth together when Seifer grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked him upright, holding him close with the barrel of the gun under his chin. Roxas cursed, struggling until the gun was pushed close enough to bruise.

"Oooh," the woman tutted. "Now that was a bad idea."

Seifer turned. "What—"

SMACK!

"Mmfgh!" Seifer wailed, his nose splitting along the bridge and spurting blood forward over the back of Roxas's already blood-stained head.

The woman pulled her hand back, waving it through the air and blowing on her knuckles. "Ow! Ow—ow—ow—ow—ow!"

Roxas didn't have time to think about what was happening. Whilst the woman nursed her wounded knuckles after punching Seifer, Vanitas swept clear across the alley and ripped Roxas from the dealer's grasp. Roxas landed hard on the pavement, wincing when his head cracked louder on the concrete and he swore he could see stars. He groaned and shut his eyes tight, holding his breath for longer than he should before he dared to open them, tears stinging the corner of his eyes.

Across from him, standing by a dumpster with his hand on Seifer's throat and dragging the struggling dealer back, Vanitas was unbearably tense, his body twitching and spasaming with jolts of anger. He threw Seifer against the wall, his coat flapping, the dealer sagging down the brickwork until Vanitas locked his bloody hands around his throat and tugged him up.

Roxas watched the dealer struggle and claw Vanitas's hands, the gun lost somewhere in the alley, the life draining out of him, the desperation showing on his face, the strangled noises and the gleam in Vanitas's eyes beyond madness. Roxas couldn't think. He couldn't get up; whatever strength was in him was useless, it was drunk, it was pathetic, it was immobile, he was paralysed, he couldn't move, he couldn't help, he could hear but it was like listening from beneath the waves of the ocean at high tide. He tried to get up but wobbled and collapsed back, throwing his guts up beside him and pressing his hand down on the glass and sick to keep himself up.

Vanitas's grip tightened. Seifer's mouth bubbled and frothed blood, his eyes rolling back, the veins bulging on his cheeks. It wasn't enough; Vanitas could feel the bloodlust and he set two hands on the dying man's throat, squeezing, squeezing, squeezing. Squeezing until his fingers were numb. Squeezing until Seifer's breath was a death-rattle. Roxas heard the sounds; the vicious bubbling, gulping sounds of a thirsty man drowning.

"Vanitas!" the woman yelled, forgetting her swelling knuckles and stomping up to him, grabbing his elbow and yanking back with all her might. He wouldn't move. "Vanitas, let him go! Vanitas! Vanitas, listen to me!" She tried to get him to look but he wouldn't. "Vanitas, for god's sake, he's dying!" She wedged her fingers into his grip and pulled. "Vanitas!"

Vanitas released Seifer's throat only to shove her away with a snarl. She lost her balance and fell back, her cap flying off her head. Her elbow smacked the concrete and she cried out, cuddling it close to her chest with her blue hair falling thickly in front of her eyes. Roxas looked at her and blinked twice; he had never seen a girl with blue hair before.

Vanitas looked at her sideways, his face softening. "Oh, crap, Aqua… Are you—"

"You're a prick!" she yelled, hugging her arm.

Guilt swelled in Vanitas and he dropped the dying man, leaving him to choke on the floor. Seifer gasped and curled into a ball, guarding his throat with his hands and glaring at Vanitas.

Vanitas spat and booted him in the ribs. "Fucking pathetic," he mumbled, leaving Seifer in a crumpled heap and walking to Aqua.

She ground her teeth together and smacked his offered hand away.

"Aqua—"

"Touch me and I'll rip your nuts off." She winced with pain. "I mean it, Vanitas!"

"Aqua…"

Roxas stopped listening. He curled into a ball and restrained a whimper, tasting the sour sick clinging to the back of his throat and wanting to puke again. He was hurt and he felt sick; he couldn't restrain the whimper any longer. It left his throat before he knew what was happening, but the sound went unheard; Vanitas and Aqua were yelling at each other—something about the company, the second in command, her being a bitch and him being an unbearable retard.

Roxas watched them.

Vanitas raised his hands to the air, his jacket flaring behind him before he turned and pointed his finger in Aqua's face. She smacked it away, her left hand limp in her lap. Her nose wrinkled and she pounded her fist on the ground, yelling so loud, but Roxas could only hear the sound. The words just weren't processing properly anymore; he was seeing stars.

He leaned his head back against the brick and closed his eyes.

'Roxy, Vanitas won't wake up,' Alter Sora cried, his voice trembling. 'I can't wake him up!'

Shh, Sora.

'But he won't wake up!' Alter Sora yelled.

I don't want him to.

'Wh… What?' He could almost feel Alter Sora cowering from him. 'How can you say that?'

I don't need him. I don't need you.

'No.' Alter Sora sobbed, his voice cracked. 'No!'

Roxas smiled tiredly. You're not real. I don't need you.

Before Alter Sora could respond Roxas heard a muffled scream so loud it hurt his ears. He opened his eyes and paled when he saw Vanitas crumple in a heap with his hands covering his bloody face, Seifer standing over him with the remaining neck of a beer bottle, the glass shattered. Vanitas grunted and clutched his face, shards sticking out of his skin, blood pouring. Aqua tried to get up but Seifer grabbed her wrist and span her, bringing her broken arm up behind her till she screamed and twisting till he heard it crack.

He pushed her into the dirt beside Vanitas and turned to Roxas.

'Still think you don't need us?' Alter Sora snapped bitterly.

Roxas twitched and shrugged him off, trying to stand. He failed and shrank back by the wall.

Seifer twisted the bottle in his hand, panting like a dog, his face a mess of blood and bust tissue, clotted and mangled and broken. He snarled and raised the glass, standing over Roxas, about to plunge it down, his eyes maddened and wide—

"Oi!"

Seifer looked over his shoulder and—

SMACK!

The bat collided and smashed into the side of Seifer's face, shattering bone. Seifer stumbled back and held his hands to his jaw, whimpering like a kicked puppy. The dealer sank to his knees and rolled over onto his back, shrieking and squealing.

Roxas stared in shock. The bat dropped and clattered and he looked up. Vanitas was panting over him, shoulders slumped forward, heaving every breath inwards and struggling to control himself. Roxas could hear the choke of air in his brother's lungs and knew he was on his last legs; the glass bottle Seifer had hit him with had shattered in Vanitas's face and now the entire left side was flowing crimson, the shards glittering over his ripped eyelid and temple.

Vanitas thrust his hand down at his little brother, the wounded fingers open and his cut sore. "Get up."

Roxas jumped, almost cowering back against the wall. "V—Vanitas?"

"No, it's the goddamn Toothfairy on acid," Vanitas snapped, grabbing Roxas's elbow and yanking him up. Roxas gulped, stiffening under Vanitas's touch whilst his brother booted Seifer again for good measure. "Don't ever touch my brother! You hear me?!"

He booted him again. Harder. Until Seifer cried and rolled away. Vanitas grunted and turned to Roxas, dragging him up and holding him steady, his frown terrifying.

"How the fuck did you get caught up in this?"

"Accident," Roxas mumbled, hearing their voice just slightly, his vision fading and his legs almost giving out.

Vanitas yanked him upright and grabbed his waist.

"No!" Roxas tried to shove him away, hating the pressure on his hip, his mind lost. He didn't care that it was Vanitas, he was being touched on his hip, too close, and his mind jumped to the worst conclusion. The only conclusion. "No! No, I don't want it! Let go!"

"Stop struggling!" Vanitas yelled.

"No! No, please!" Images and people flashed before his eyes; the others, his grandfather, the asylum doctors. He struggled, kicking out and biting, trying to claw with his nails, desperately hitting everything and anything, mostly Vanitas.

"Ouch! Fucking hell. " Vanitas wrapped his hands tight around his little brother, holding him till the fight died out of him and he was left sobbing on his chest. "Roxas—

"I don't want to," Roxas whispered, the tears hurting the small cuts on his cheeks. "I don't want it. Please." He grabbed fistfuls of Vanitas's jacket and his knees gave way. "Please, I don't want sex."

Vanitas tensed, his arms stiffening around Roxas's shoulders and his eyes wide. He rested his head on top of Roxas's, rubbing a hand up his back and sighing. "It's okay, pipsqueak. You'll be okay. I promise, Rox."

"My name's not… It's not…"

"Not Roxas?" Vanitas held him up so he wouldn't fall down. "Are you me?"

The blond would have shaken his head, but it hurt too much. He stayed quiet.

"Are you Ventus?" When he didn't answer, Vanitas squeezed him tighter. "Are you Sora?"

"Please," Alter Sora whispered, holding Vanitas as strong as he could. "Don't hurt me."

Vanitas sighed, the strength leaving him. He looked over his shoulder at Aqua, saw her sat on the floor, completely amazed and puzzled, not sure whether to frown, smile, or cry with the shots of pain igniting in her elbow.

"Can you walk?" Vanitas asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah. Think so. But my elbow…"

"Looks broken," Vanitas said, licking the blood off his cracked lips and wincing at the brief sting. "Let's go."

She watched him walk out of the alley, practically carrying the blond she thought had been Ventus. With one last look at the sorry thugs about her, she followed Vanitas, walking out into the street. There was nobody around, only the sound of sirens. It had gotten dark during the fight and now the streetlamps were lit and the pavement glowed amber. She saw Vanitas heading towards her car, but he passed it, heading to his own instead and sinking down into the passenger seat. He leaned back with a groan and pulled the blond onto his lap, strapping them both in with the seatbelt.

She stood by his side as he slammed the car door.

"Vanitas?"

"Here." He pulled his keys out of his pocket and handed them to her, closing his eyes as the blond squirmed on his knees. "You drive."

"But my car—"

"If there's any damage I'll buy you a new one. And if someone nicks it I'll kill 'em."

She curled her fingers around his keys. "You'd really let me drive? This is your favourite thing in the whole world."

He leaned forward, squashing the blond for a moment and making him squeak. He pulled his jacket from his back and folded it, pressing it to the blond's head.

"Ow!"

"No, don't pull back," Vanitas said, holding him still. "We gotta clot it. Aqua, please drive."

She looked at him for a moment, blinking dazedly under the streetlamp. "Alright."

The car door slammed on Vanitas's other side and she started the ignition. The engine purred.

"Think I'm gonna be sick," Alter Sora whined.

Aqua's hand tightened on the bloody steering wheel. She looked over at Vanitas, saw the cuts on his hands, and knew it was his blood, but she was nervous. Vanitas had never owned anything more precious than his car, it was practically his baby, but there was mud on the seats, blood on the wheel, beer bottles and cans on the floor, and now this kid was gonna puke?

"If you gotta be sick then be sick," Vanitas said, his voice tired and his body slack. "Don't hold it in."

"I can't be sick on my lap," Alter Sora groaned.

Vanitas sighed, opening his legs, Roxas's perched on top of his, creating a gap to the floor below. "Be sick down there."

"On the car?"

"If you have to."

"Vanitas, are you feeling alright?" Aqua asked, starting the car and moving off, finding it difficult to use the gears with her broken arm.

"Feel fine," Vanitas lied, pulling his phone from his pocket and dialling Sora's number.

Brr-brr… Brr-brr… Brr-b—

"Vanitas, please tell me you've found him. We've been looking everywhere. We can't—"

"I've got him."

"You have?" He heard Sora sigh. "Thank god! We've been really worried. Are you bringing him home?"

"Taking him to the hospital," Vanitas slurred, more blood dribbling into his mouth. He licked it away.

"The hospital? Why? Are you both okay? What—"

"We're fine. Ish. Aqua saved us." He looked sideways and smirked. She was blushing, muttering under her breath that he was a sarcastic arsehole.

"Aqua? Wait, she came to London? Why? What about your business?"

"That's exactly what I said. She thinks I'm too wild to be left on my own." He snickered and bit his tongue to stop himself groaning. The adrenaline rush was fading and he was feeling the pain now. "Good job she came though. She saved mine and Roxas's arses."

"Why? What happened? Was there a crash? Did—"

"Just some thugs getting cocky. We sorted 'em out."

"A fight?! Vanitas, what the hell did—"

"Geez!" Vanitas pulled the phone from his ear, ended the call, and rolled his eyes, setting it down on the dashboard. "He's having a mini rant. Best to leave him to it."

"Won't he notice you've hung up?" she asked.

"Probably."

B-Ding!

Vanitas looked at his text.

From: Sora.

On way to hospital :(.

Vanitas smiled, but one look at Aqua's arm and it faded. "I, er… I'm sorry."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "What for? This? You can let me punch you in the balls later to make up for it."

"Oh, yeah, right, like I'm gonna—"

She glared at him.

He gulped. "Yeah, maybe later. Pull in at that Co-Op."

"Why?"

"I need a drink."

"What?! No way, Vanitas."

"Just one little drink."

"No."

"Please."

"No means no."

He scoffed and turned away from her, tenderly pressing the jacket to the blond's head. "You still feel sick?" he asked.

Roxas twitched and felt his body shake, finally pushing Alter Sora back, his world spinning. "Vanitas?"

"Yeah?"

"I feel dizzy."

"Dizzy?"

"Think I'm gonna pass out."

"What? No! Hey, Rox—I mean, er, you know, Sora, or whatever—hey! You can't pass out. You gotta stay awake."

"Why?" Roxas asked sleepily, leaning back on Vanitas.

"I dunno, that's just what they tell you to do when you have a concussion. Oi!" He shook Roxas's arm.

"Ngh! Vanitas—"

"Stay the hell awake! I didn't take a kicking just so you could die in my car."

Aqua smiled and listened to them squabble, stopping at a red light.

"And he didn't say what was wrong with them?" Axel asked, running alongside Sora and Ventus.

"Didn't I already say no?!" Sora snapped, giving him a mucky look. He ran on the other side of Ventus, away from Axel, refusing to translate what his brother said, being awkward and difficult on purpose and calling everything Axel said sick.

It annoyed Axel. He hadn't done anything wrong, he didn't deserve to be grouped with the others or Xehanort or their grandfather. He was different. He cared about Roxas. Just the thought of him being hurt was enough to send his heart pounding and his mind frail. That was the only reason he had followed the two brothers through the maze of hospital floors, corridors and rooms; because he wanted to make sure that Roxas was okay before he blew a fuse and did something he regretted.

They ran up another flight of steps and Axel recognised the corridor leading to the small back room where the mental patients were treated. The stuffy air and beeping machines made him nervous. Sora asked for directions to the right room. Axel followed the brunet and blond quietly, staying back a few feet in case they needed some space, but he wasn't prepared to go back to Auron's and wait like Ventus had suggested. He wanted to be here. With Roxas. To make sure he was okay.

They walked down the corridor in silence, a barrier thrown up between them. They reached the door at the end and pushed it open. Inside was the same small desk with a few doors leading to different rooms. In the centre, yelling at the top of his lungs and holding a bloody jacket with Aqua slumped in a chair beside him, was Vanitas, his back turned to his brothers as he yelled at a doctor.

Axel recognised Pete. The large man was trying to lead Vanitas out of the ward and to his own floor so he could be treated, but the dark-haired brother was far from compromising.

"Mister Strife—"

"Don't fucking touch me!" Vanitas snapped, batting Pete's hand away. "You lay one more finger on me and I'll lay you out you fucking quack!"

"Vanitas, he just wants to help," Aqua said tiredly, flinching from the pain in her arm.

"I promised Roxas I wouldn't leave him. You can't take him away from us," he growled, advancing on Pete. "Let me in that room right now or I swear to God—"

"Look, I'm sorry, but I can only let medical officials in until Roxas's been stabilized," Pete said helplessly.

"I'm gonna fucking stabilize you in a minute you little—"

Ventus walked forward and grabbed Vanitas's shoulder, spinning him fast and pushing his brother into a seat. He frowned, raising his hands stiffly to give Vanitas a lecture, but he froze at the sight of his brother's face.

Vanitas's left eye was clamped shut and stuck with clots of blood, shards of glass still seeping into the skin and sticking out, blood dripping from his chin and landing on his neck in thick droplets. His hands were cut deep, no longer bleeding but crusted, inflamed, and shining bright pink, definitely infected.

Vanitas licked the blood off his lips and grinned. "What? Sumat on my face?"

Ventus scowled. 'That's not funny.'

Vanitas scoffed and nodded at Pete. "This bastard won't let me see Roxas."

"For the last time, Mister Strife," Pete said, pinching his eyes, "the lad can only be seen by his doctors. After he's been deemed stable ya can see him, but not till—"

"I'm still his doctor," Axel said.

"You can't see him," Sora snapped.

"Why not?" Axel asked, glaring at the brunet.

"Because you're one of them!"

"I am not one of them!" Axel growled.

Vanitas tried to stand but Ventus pushed him down. 'No.'

"But Ventus—"

'I said no,' Ventus signed angrily. 'You're having that wound looked at and stitched. Aqua looks hurt too.' He turned to Sora. 'You go with Aqua and I'll go with Vanitas.'

"But what about Roxas? He needs us," Sora said, clenching his hands into fists.

'Sora, I need you to trust me.'

Sora looked away, taking a deep breath. "Fine."

He helped Aqua to her feet, letting her lean on him. Vanitas folded his arms.

"Well soft sack might give up easily, but not me. There's no way a bozo like him should get to see my brother," he said.

'Our brother,' Ventus corrected. 'Vanitas, I need you to trust me. This is what's best for Roxas.'

"How is leaving him with a pervert what's best for him?"

"I am not a pervert," Axel snapped.

Vanitas licked the blood off his upper lip and shrugged. "You look like a pervert."

Axel chewed his tongue to stop himself replying, his fists down by his side so he wouldn't use them. He walked past Sora, glaring at Vanitas as he headed to Roxas's room. Pete didn't stop him.

"Hey!" Vanitas yelled, jumping up, held back by Ventus's hand on his chest. "Hey, get the fuck away from there! Ventus, gerroff! Hey, you motherfucking redhead!"

Axel opened Roxas's door and stepped inside, shutting it quickly and taking a deep breath of bleach and disinfectant. Vanitas's muffled cursing was drowned out by the steady beeping of the heart monitor on the far right. The lights above flickered, casting a florescent light over the area and leaving shadows in the corners of the room. Axel looked over at the bed.

Roxas was sat up, his legs and arms strapped down and his head supported by several plush pillows. He blinked dazedly, his head and right knee bandaged thickly, his eyes glazed, his smile soft but quickly replaced by a wince.

"Vanitas said I'm an accident magnet," Roxas slurred, laughing a little.

Axel walked closer, sitting on a chair beside the blond's bed and undoing the first strap on his wrist. "How are you feeling, Rox?"

"Sore. Pete says I have a concussion. And a bad knee." He blinked down at his knee, as if expecting something to happen. The strap slithered away from his wrist and Axel reached over the teen's torso to undue the other.

"How did this happen?"

"It's a long story," he said, blinking too fast and groaning when the light hurt his eyes. "Ow."

Axel stopped undoing the second strap and looked at him. Roxas was staring at his lap, rubbing his head and frowning.

"I can't remember a lot of it. Think I was sick in Vanitas's car though." He shrugged. "Sora's scared."

"Sora?" Axel couldn't help scoffing. Sora had been incredibly hard on him all day. He couldn't say he blamed the brunet, but he wished he'd believe him. It would make his life a hell of a lot easier. "Sora is pissed, not scared."

"How do you know?" Roxas asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. "You can't see inside my head."

The strap fell from Roxas's other wrist, but Axel didn't move. He hung over the blond, one hand on either side of his lap, staying close. The blanket was thin and itchy, made of some funny cotton, laid just over Roxas's lap. Nobody had bothered removing his clothes, just treated him, bandaged him, and tied him to the bed. Axel stared at the blood on the collar of the blond's jacket.

"You mean your alter?" he finally asked.

"Well, yeah. Why would Sora be mad? I mean, the real Sora. That one." He pointed at the door.

Axel tensed and span to look back. But the door was still shut. Sora wasn't there; they were alone.

Roxas laughed, but quickly stopped when his head ached. He covered his hand with his mouth and giggled when Axel looked at him, completely unimpressed.

"Sorry. Couldn't help it."

"You're mean, you know that?"

"Mm." Roxas tentatively reached out and felt the fabric of Axel's collar, his hands shaking, from the concussion or nerves he didn't know. He felt the smooth fabric of the shirt and ran his thumb along the button, feeling it dip before slowly popping open. The collar slipped apart and Roxas saw the bottom of Axel's neck, the beginnings of his collar bone, and chest hair. He swallowed nervously and looked up, blushing when jade eyes watched him. He quickly dropped his gaze, pushing his fingers past the collar, feeling Axel's skin on the edge of his fingertips, barely touching before he pulled his hand back.

"Sora's scared," he repeated. "Vanitas is gone."

"What?" Axel's arms were growing weak. He sat on the bed beside the teen. "When? How? I mean…"

"I dunno, he just… When I got hit he just, left. I'm not sure." He rubbed his head and winced when it throbbed. "I mean, I could feel him there, but only till Vanitas showed up. And then he… He just…" He shrugged. "He faded. It's making Sora scared."

"Yeah? You think maybe he left because he knows you have faith that the real Vanitas could protect you?"

Roxas heard the emphasis and felt a lump form in his throat. "I don't… I don't know." He looked away. "Maybe."

"Roxas?"

"It was scary. I still feel fuzzy. But not that fuzzy, you know? I couldn't even move. But we've been here a while. Hours, I think. I could hear Vanitas yelling at Pete."

"He was pretty mad."

"He was so cool," Roxas said, his voice filled with awe. "I was so happy he showed up. And that girl. Aqua, I think she's called." He reached up and rested his hands on Axel's shoulders, feeling the breadth. "Do you still… Do you like me?"

Axel's eyes widened and he felt Roxas grab the fabric of his shirt.

"I was just thinking," Roxas said, blushing, stumbling over his words and looking down, "you know, cuz you said a while ago that if these go then we… we…" He exhaled shakily. "I think about it. A lot. I… I told my brothers. I told them everything. I did it because I thought then we could… Oh, but not like that! I don't want… yanno. I want it to be normal. L-like, like a relationship. If that's okay? I mean, Vanitas said being gay is… is okay." His voice was high and he squeaked. "I-I mean, well, I think that's what I—we—um, maybe, are? I just, well, what I wanna say is, that I… I… I like you. Really like you. Like you a lot."

He blushed and closed his eyes, holding Axel so strongly, expecting the redhead to shove him away, repulsed and disgusted. But Axel didn't say anything. Roxas kept his eyes closed and listened to Axel's breathing hitch and struggle above him, listened to the heart monitor, the rustling sheets, the quiet around them. He gulped again.

"I just…" He struggled to take a breath, ashamed. "I'm sorry, I just—"

"Roxas, I like you."

Roxas's eyes opened with shock. He looked at Axel and saw the redhead's smile, so bright and wide that his teeth were visible.

"I like you, Roxas."

"You do? But your job, the asylum—"

"I'm quitting. I handed in my resignation today. Two weeks and I leave."

"You're leaving me?!" Roxas's heart leapt and he grabbed the front of Axel's shirt. "Why?"

"No, Roxas, I'm not leaving you," Axel said, resting his hands over Roxas's upon his heart. "I'm leaving the asylum so I can stand beside you."

"Beside me?" Roxas frowned. "What's that mean?"

"It means I want to do this."

He left Roxas's hands on his heart and stroked the blond's cheeks, bringing him closer, holding him and pressing his lips softly upon Roxas's. He waited, letting Roxas adjust, giving him chance to pull away if he didn't want it, but instead he felt the blond's hands shift up his shirt and wrap around his neck, the fingers spreading through his hair gently, almost timidly.

Axel scooted closer on the bed, lowering one hand to Roxas's shoulder, moving his lips gently and softly, amazed at how Roxas was following him, letting him lead, the heat flowing up inside him when their lips parted.

They stayed together, so close that Roxas could feel Axel's breath tickling him. He couldn't think, but did he want to? He looked at Axel, too scared to unwrap his arms in case the redhead pulled back, laughing or saying it was a mistake. He didn't want the butterflies in his belly to fly away. He was shaking, but it was good and he liked it.

"Axel—"

Axel kissed him again, pressing harder, holding the back of Roxas's sore head tenderly. He raised his hand from Roxas's shoulder to his face and stroked the cheek with his thumb, kissing and kissing and kissing him, always softly, always patiently. He heard the heart monitor beep faster and smiled into the kisses. Roxas felt it and twisted his fingers through Axel's hair, sighing against Axel's lips and smiling back.

They kissed again and Axel pulled back, staying close and kissing the corner of Roxas's mouth, his cheek, and finally a peck on the lips. He looked at Roxas breathlessly, still unable to quite believe it, ignoring all the threats and warnings that his mind was concocting.

"Roxas, I really like you. Will you go out with me?"

Roxas's smile slipped and he frowned, leaning his head back on the pillows. "Why?"

"Why? Well, er…" A sharp shot sliced through Axel's heart. "Well…"

"It's dark outside," Roxas said. Even though the curtains were closed he knew that. He dropped his hands from Axel's shoulders and rested them in his lap instead, thoroughly warn out. "I'm really tired too. Can we go out in morning?"

"What? Oh, no, I meant…" He held Roxas's hand, interlinking their fingers. "I meant will you be my boyfriend?"

"Then why did you ask me to go outside?" Roxas asked.

"It's just an expression."

"It's a dumb expression."

"We're sidestepping the point here," Axel said, his cheeks glowing red. "Roxas, I really like you. Will you be my boyfriend?"

Roxas struggled to sit up. The world span a little and he wobbled to the left, but Axel straightened him up.

"Can I really be your boyfriend?"

"I'm asking you to be."

"Isn't it… you know, bad?"

"I like you." Axel kissed him again, holding on longer to prove his point. "What's wrong with that?"

"It's just… It should be a secret," Roxas said at last, biting his bottom lip.

"A secret?" Axel frowned and thought back to the others and the blond's grandfather, he thought of the abuse and the twisted relationships that had made things difficult. He held Roxas's hand tighter. "You have nothing to be ashamed about. We have nothing to be ashamed about. I want to show you, Roxas. I want to show you what it's like to have a real relationship, a loving relationship love. Will you let me?"

Roxas blushed. Alter Sora yelled at him desperately, but Roxas couldn't hear him. He'd tuned the alter out. It didn't matter what they thought anymore because he was thinking for himself. He smiled at Axel. "Okay. I'll be your boyfriend."

Axel beamed, kissing him again, loving the taste of the blond's lips, his heart racing as fast as the beeping monitor. They parted after two quick kisses, and another, and maybe one more, just one more, right, this was the last one, crap, that was two. Well, can't end it on an odd number. Axel used this logic over and over as he kissed Roxas senseless, always only light and gentle pecks. He pushed Roxas's shoulders down, urging him to lay back, but the moment Roxas's head and back hit the pillows he stiffened and pushed Axel away, his heart hammering, the monitor beating louder, his fingers clenching fistfuls of Axel's shirt.

"Roxas, what—"

"I don't want it. No! No sex!"

"Sex?" Axel frowned. "No, I wasn't going to…" He trailed off, watching Roxas shake and shrink back. "Roxas, no, I wouldn't, not until you're comfortable."

"You were pushing. You were pushing me back," Roxas accused.

"So you could rest." Axel stood from the bed and sighed. I suppose it's going to take a long time before he'll believe me about things like that.

Roxas's heart slowly calmed down. "So I could rest?"

"You're still pretty hurt," Axel said, standing over the blond. He pushed the few pieces of Roxas's fringe that weren't bandaged out of his eyes and kissed his forehead, frowning when the blond shrank timidly back. "I'll see you soon."

"Huh? No, wait!" Roxas sat up to fast and the world span. Stars flashed in front of his eyes and he groaned, holding his head and leaning forward. "Don't go."

Axel heard the small groan and stopped. "Roxas, I'm not leaving."

"You're not?"

"Of course not." He reached down and pressed a kiss to the side of Roxas's head, rubbing his back to help the sickness pass. "I'm just gonna go get your brothers."

"Why?"

"They were worried about you," Axel said, "and I'm going to prove to you that this is nothing to be ashamed of."

Roxas snorted, his head still in his hands. "You've got a death wish."

"You're worth dying for," Axel said, aware of just how corny the line was but loving the intense blush that spread over Roxas's face, not just his cheeks but his nose and ears too. "I'll be right back, Rox."

Roxas smiled, just slightly, and Axel smiled back.

Everything was slowly looking up.

Xehanort stared at his lap, his leg jutting nervously as he sat in his office. He gulped and wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking up nervously. Ansem puffed a cigar leisurely, reading the paperwork set out in front of him with a pinched frown. The men in suits with dark shades and earpieces stood a little way back, keeping a sharp eye on Xehanort.

Ansem tutted and threw the file onto Xehanort's desk. "You have five seconds to explain yourself." He took a long drag of his cigar and blew the smoke in Xehanort's face. "Four."

"E-er, well, well you see, Doctor Flint, he, um, he just—"

"Three."

"He's quitting! He's handed in his resignation notice. There's nothing I can—"

"Two."

Xehanort began to panic. "What was I supposed to do? He came to my office with some blond barrister a-and—"

"Blond?" Ansem's interest peeked. He leaned forward and outed his cigar on the desk. "What did he look like?"

"Like… Like…" Xehanort gulped, watching the guards anxiously when they reached for their guns. "He looked like your grandson, but he was taller. And, um, wrinkles, just starting round his eyes. Older. He looked older."

"How much older?"

"I'm not sure."

"Are you lying to me?"

"No! No, no, I wouldn't! I wouldn't! Erm… thirty." He rubbed his head, taking fast shallow breaths. "He looked about thirty. Give or take a couple years. He came with some brunet guy in a car parked just outside of—"

"A brunet?" Ansem's smiled, his red lips cracking. His eyebrow twitched and rose upwards. "Did you get the licence plate?"

"License… plate? No… No, I was busy dealing with Doctor Flint. I swear, I didn't know he'd quit so soon after Zexion. I thought—"

"You don't think, Xehanort," Ansem said. He crossed his legs and flicked his tab away, appearing bored. "Listen to me and listen to me well, because you are becoming incredibly annoying and getting on my last nerve."

Xehanort gulped. "Yes, sir."

"You are going to give me the CCTV footage of this asylum. All of it. I want that license plate."

Xehanort nodded, looking at his lap. "Of course."

"And you are going to wipe every file regarding P13 on your computer system. Do you understand?"

"Wipe it? But, Sir—"

"Do you understand?!"

"Y-yes!" Xehanort shrank back. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Bring me all of P13's files from Doctor Flint's office as well. I have use for them."

"Use, sir?"

"Of course." He picked up the file from the desk and opened it, blowing smoke over the picture of Axel, all of his details, his family history, his brother and father, their addresses, lives, relationships, even their bank details. He frowned at the picture of a teenage Axel trying to get out of a nuggie that his older brother had bestowed on him.

"Sir, if I can ask, what good are P13's files? We've already changed them."

Ansem flicked ash on the floor. "Because if you want to trap an animal you must first block off its escape, blow up its burrow and destroy its allies. Have those files brought to me by first thing in the morning." He stood and looked at the men behind him, ignoring Xehanort completely. "Come, gentlemen. We have work to do."

Author's Notes:

Wow, it's just... it's been so long! I'm so sorry for the long wait. What can I say? I backed myself into a corner and burned out. I knew where I wanted this to go, I knew exactly what to put in it, but I couldn't do it. This chapter... It makes me cringe, it's so corny! haha XD But after nearly seven weeks of waiting I think that I should definitely get this up, even if I haven't edited it, so please forgive any mistakes!

I wish I could say updates will be more frequent, I really wish I could, but I made myself sort of... well, not sick, but definitely tired. I'm not taking a breather, and updates will be a lot more frequent than seven weeks a piece, but I'm slowing down. Life is getting heavy. But updates will keep coming :) I promise!

So, next chapter (if you can't guess ;)) you'll be receiving:

- Reno! (Been waiting to bring him in for so long! XD)

- Aqua (and also why she turned up. It's not out of the blue! She has a reason lol).

- The brothers finding out about Axel and Roxas.

- Obviously you'll get some more akuroku, seeing as I've starved you for a long time.

- And then we have Terra.

Safe to say, chapters are gonna get a little longer lol Anywho, I hope you enjoyed! Sorry about the long chapter length lol.

Review Replies:

MissLove - Haha, I hope someone resuscitates you so you can read this chapter, and I hope you enjoy it :) Cheers for the review!

Anonymous - Thank you, I'm so glad you enjoyed it :) I'm really glad that my plot-twist caught you by surprise! :D I did some research and though a lot of reports said that people with selective mutism have some form of social anxiety, I couldn't believe that it represented 100% of people with selective mutism, and Ventus needs to be strong for his brothers. Haha, I think it's about time some akuroku hit this story, even if it is only light and fluffy, but maybe it's needed because the main plot is so dark? Ansem is going to be one huge thorn in the brothers' sides. So sorry for the long wait for this chapter! I hope the length of it makes up for it :)

mitzi-hindle - I think Ventus deserves a pat on the back haha. I'm really glad that you liked the chapter :D I know, I think there's a common theme running through my stories haha But I don't think this is the kind of story a lot of people would prefer to read at Christmas, so I can't blame anybody :) Thank you for the review!