Chapter 25
Roxas's heart pounded in his chest as the guards led him down the hallway. He tried to keep a calm exterior, though it was so difficult for him to do. He could not believe he had just done that. But he hadn't been able to bring himself to tell Director Xemnas the truth about Zexion and Demyx. He couldn't betray his friends.
Seeing Zexion on the ground like that, seeing him look so broken caused Roxas to feel an anger he hadn't felt since…well since Zexion and Demyx were fighting. Part of him really hated Director Xemnas for treating Zexion like dirt, for causing him so much pain. Zexion had betrayed his mate, yes, but Saïx was a cold, heartless bastard, even worse than Axel. Roxas had not thought there was a person colder and more heartless than Axel, but that was before he had found out about Saïx.
Zexion had tried to hide it at first, but Roxas knew. He saw the bruises Zexion acquired after he mated with Saïx. He saw how scared Zexion was when his heat came, the distress he was in after it was over. Most of all, he saw Demyx's barely-concealed anger after Zexion came back from the Breeding Rooms covered in bruises and on the verge of tears. Roxas never said anything about it; he was much too polite to bring it up when he knew it would just distress Zexion even more.
Roxas was put in one of the confinement rooms, one that was very similar to the one he had shared with Axel all those years ago. It all seemed so far away now, just a distant memory.
The guards removed his handcuffs and shut him in so he was consumed by total darkness. With a quiet sigh, Roxas made his way over to the bed and laid down.
A while later, he heard a set of keys jingling and the door slid open with a loud, creaky groan. A light was shone in his eyes, causing him to flinch. There were footsteps across the floor and Zack's face appeared, illuminated by the light from the partially open door and the flashlight he carried. He looked angrier than Roxas had ever seen before.
"You…are…an…idiot." The words were ground out one at a time in a hoarse whisper. "Do you know how stupid that was, refusing to talk? Now you're gonna be in serious trouble along with those two."
"What was I supposed to do, Zack? Betray my two best friends? Leave them to the wolves so they can be condemned because of their actions? At least this way they won't be alone."
"Do you know what this means?" Zack asked hotly. Roxas shook his head. "By refusing to cooperate, you implicate yourself! They'll think you had something to do with the affair and willingly helped them break the rules. Your punishment may be just as severe, depending on how lenient the High Council is willing to be."
"I don't care," Roxas said stubbornly.
"You should," Zack hissed. "Especially if the High Council decides that it's in their best interest to have you executed."
This seemed to get Roxas's attention. "E…executed?"
"Yeah," Zack said grimly. "It's not likely, but it's something you should keep in mind."
Roxas seemed to mull this over. At last, he said, "I…I don't know what I should do, Zack." His voice waivered. "I don't want to betray Zexion and Demyx, but I…"
Zack seemed to understand. "I know. I…look I can't promise anything, but I can try to see if I can make sure the High Council is lenient. Only…" he looked around as though he was afraid someone was listening. "Look, I can help you and your friends, but you can't tell anyone about it, okay?"
Roxas nodded. Zack turned toward the door.
"Is…?" Roxas called out, causing Zack to stop walking and turn around. "Is something going on?"
"Now why would you say that?" Zack asked, puzzled.
"I…" Roxas looked hesitant to speak.
Zack threw a glance at the open door before walking back over to Roxas, crouching down so his face was level with Roxas's.
"What is it, Roxas?" he asked softly. "You can trust me."
"When I was in the medical facility, you know…having the twins, I overheard Dr. Vexen talking about me," Roxas whispered. "He said…he said that I might hold the key to their little problem with the Bearers."
Zack's breath caught in his throat and he struggled to remain calm. "I see."
"Do you know what he's talking about?" Roxas asked.
Zack knew he had to lie, but he wasn't sure how successful he'd be. Roxas was very perceptive. He had been able to tell that Zack was lying when he denied that he was in a relationship with Cloud. Would he be able to tell now that Zack was lying? Zack took in a deep breath. This was for his own good. It was best that Roxas was kept in the dark, for now at least. There may be a time when it was all right for Roxas to know the whole truth, but it wasn't now.
Zack sighed and ran his fingers through his short hair. "I can't tell ya, Roxas."
"You can't tell me because you don't know, or you can't tell me because you know but for some reason must refrain from telling me?" Roxas asked.
Damn. Zack winced. That was exactly the method Cloud used when he wanted to wheedle information out of Zack. And Roxas looked remarkably like Cloud right now.
"Uh…" he was at a loss for words.
"If you aren't allowed to tell me, fine," Roxas continued. "I guess I understand. It's just that I trust you so why don't you trust me?"
Zack swore under his breath. He was getting absolutely nowhere with Roxas and he was wasting valuable time, time that could be spent planning a way to prevent a disaster. He tried to take several deep breaths to calm himself down, but it wasn't working; he could feel his temper bubbling up to the surface. He gritted his teeth, determined to not lose his temper in front of Roxas.
"I can't do this right now," he finally said. "I've gotta leave or I'm gonna lose my temper. And I cannot lose my temper right now."
Without waiting for a response from Roxas, he stormed out, slamming the door behind him a little louder than he intended, but he couldn't bring himself to care right now. He was inches away from falling apart and it would take a lot of effort to keep himself together.
By the time Zack was on the road, heading for the man's apartment at 90 miles an hour, he was starting to feel better. The adrenaline from driving at such a high speed sharpened his focus and helped relieve some of the anger and frustration he was feeling. He wove in and out of traffic, grateful for the distraction. He had called the man to let him know ahead of time that he was coming, though he refused to say why over an open line. The man understood. They couldn't take any risks of being eavesdropped on. It was very unlikely that anyone had caught on, but they were being cautious all the same.
Zack shifted impatiently on his feet, waiting for the man to let him in. At last the man opened the door and Zack burst in.
"We got a major problem," he said unceremoniously dropping his helmet on the couch.
"What now?" the man asked. "Please don't tell me the drug failed."
"Oh no. The drug worked perfectly," Zack answered.
"Good," the man said.
"The problem is that that idiot Demyx got Zexion pregnant and had the unfortunate luck of genetics," Zack continued as though he had not been interrupted.
The man looked at him blankly.
"The baby looks like Demyx." Zack waved his hand impatiently. "Enough like him that Director Xemnas found out."
"Oh," the man said. "Oops."
Zack snorted. "No kidding. That's not the half of it. Roxas decided to be an uncooperative, stubborn little brat and pissed Director Xemnas off. Now he's under arrest and faces charges."
"Damn," the man muttered.
"I think I convinced him to talk, but he's still gonna be charged with something like obstruction of justice or something like that," Zack said. "Either way, he's gotten himself involved in this mess. And, he knows something's up."
"What do you mean?" the man asked.
"He overheard Dr. Vexen talking about him possibly being the key to their little problem with the Bearers," Zack answered.
"Damn it, Zack, I thought I made it clear that Roxas wasn't supposed to know anything about that!" the man snapped.
"You think it's my fault?" Zack hissed. "I can't control everything at The Institute, especially that incompetent moron Dr. Vexen who can't seem to keep his mouth shut if his life depended on it."
The man sighed. "I guess you're right. Fuck, what are we gonna do about that?"
"We can worry about that later," Zack said. "Right now, we've gotta focus on keeping Roxas and his friends alive."
"Agreed." The man nodded.
He fell silent, his gaze distant. Zack could tell that he was thinking, formulating a plan to get them out of this mess. Suddenly, the man's eyes widened in shock, a look of dawning comprehension crossing his face.
"You have something?" Zack asked.
"Maybe," the man said vaguely. "It's extremely risky. And complicated. But I might just be able to pull it off."
"Well, let's hear it," Zack demanded.
"Okay…" the man said slowly. "I think the time has come to move our plans forward."
Zack's eyes widened. "You mean…?"
The man nodded gravely. "Yes. We must infiltrate the High Council."
They had talked about this before though they had both agreed that the time was not right. Their plan came with a lot of risks and they had to be absolutely sure they could pull it off successfully. And even then, there was no guarantee that they wouldn't be caught.
"Are you…are you sure?" Zack whispered.
The man nodded. "It's time."
Zack nodded swallowing hard. "All right. I'll let my partner know."
"And I'll let my people know," the man said. He suddenly grinned maliciously. "Things are about to get real interesting."
Zack nodded, silently hoping they weren't about to get everyone killed.
By dusk, their entire team had assembled in the man's living room. Most of them were associates of the man, so Zack only vaguely knew who they were. There was a mixture of men and woman, mostly around their age, though there were a few who weren't. Once everyone was settled, the man brought the room to order. Zack noticed that he had pulled his hood up to conceal his identity once more.
"I think you all know why we're here," the man said. There was a murmur of assent from everyone in the room. "I'm just gonna cut to the chase here. It's time for us to take action. It's extremely risky, but I'm confident that we can pull it off. It's time to infiltrate the High Council.
"As you know, in order to pull this off, we need to replace one of the High Council members with one of our own people. That man will be me." He paused for a moment, allowing that to sink in. "We have concluded that the best way to accomplish this is to assassinate the target and for me to assume his identity. Luckily, the High Council requires its members to remain anonymous so they don't actually know our target aside from his name. Nor do they know what he looks like, which is the most important thing. That being said, we're still taking every precaution necessary to ensure I don't raise suspicions. I will disguise myself the best I can. Our first objective, however, is to take out the target. Elena has agreed to lead that operation." The man gestured to a young blonde woman in the corner. "Maybe you would like to take the floor now?"
Elena nodded and stepped forward. Zack would have found her pretty, if he swung that way. Zack tuned her out while she talked; he already knew he wasn't going to be on that mission so it was really pointless for him to listen. Instead, he watched the man, who stood off to the side, listening intently. When the meeting ended, he remained where he was until everyone had gone. Only then did he straighten up and turn to Zack.
"Well, it gets a bit boring now," he said apologetically. "Nothin' more to do until we get the call telling us we're clear to proceed."
Zack shrugged. "It's all right. I figured there'd be a lull in the action. Mind if I crash on your couch for a while?"
"Nah." The man shook his head. "Probably a good idea to get some sleep while you can. I'll let you know if anything changes."
"Appreciate it," Zack said.
He removed his boots and jacket and stretched out on the couch. Within moments, he was asleep.
Zack did not know how long he had slept when he felt the man gently shaking him.
"Wha?" he asked groggily.
"Just got the call," the man replied at a whisper. "We're good to go."
Zack was up at once. He fumbled for his boots and hastily pulled them on. He left his jacket on the couch with his motorcycle helmet. He followed the man into the bedroom, where several of the man's friends were setting up various items.
"We good?" the man asked.
A younger man with mouse brown hair and hazel eyes nodded. His companion, a man with blonde hair and midnight blue eyes eyed Zack warily.
"He's cool," the man said. "This is Zack. He's keeping an eye on things at The Institute. Zack, meet Hunter…" he gestured to the brown-haired man. "And Alex." He gestured to the blonde. "They're makeup artists and are quite good at creating disguises to help people blend in with their surroundings."
"We should probably get started," Hunter said.
"Right." The man nodded. "Remember, you can't tell anyone what you see here, got it?"
"Yes," Hunter said.
"Got it." Alex looked vaguely annoyed. "So what's the big secret? What could you possibly gain by hiding your face?"
"You will understand in a moment," the man said.
He reached up and pushed his hood back. Zack quickly looked away. Hunter and Alex gasped loudly.
"You…but…no…" Alex faltered, sinking down on the edge of the bed. "It's…it's impossible! You can't be here!"
The man grinned. "Hey Alex. Long time, eh?"
Alex scowled. He sprang up from the bed and hit the man as hard as he could, his fist connecting solidly with the man's jaw. The man reeled backward into Zack, who caught him before he fell to the ground. The man straightened up, rubbing his injured jaw that now had a large red mark where Alex had hit him.
"Nice to see you too, Alex," he said wryly.
"You bastard!" Alex growled, lunging forward.
"Alex, no!" Hunter protested.
"You fucking bastard! How could you do this to me?!" Alex yelled. "You were dead! I went to your funeral! I mourned for you!"
He moved to hit the man again, but instead, collapsed against him, sobbing.
"How…could…you…do…this?" he gasped between sobs.
The man sighed softly. "I'm sorry, Alex. I had no other choice. But I…I can't tell you why."
Alex growled softly at this. He looked at the man, disgust filling his eyes. Without saying a word, he pushed the man away and stormed out.
"Alex!" Hunter protested, starting to follow him.
"Let him go," the man said. Hunter turned to him, surprised. The man grinned at him. "It's better to just let him be for now. You know how he gets." He rolled his eyes.
Hunter smiled. "Yeah, you're right."
"So what's first?" the man asked.
Hunter shifted nervously. "Your hair."
The man stiffened. "Oh. Right."
"I know it's hard," Hunter said meekly.
"His hair?" Zack asked, puzzled. "Why…?" Then, he understood. "Oh!"
"You know why," Hunter murmured.
"Just get it over with," the man snapped.
Hunter nodded. "You should probably wash it first, unless you want me to."
"I'll do it." The man gritted his teeth and headed into the bathroom.
Moments later, they heard the shower running
"He's such a baby," Alex muttered from the door.
Zack turned. Alex leaned against the doorframe, smoking a cigarette.
"That one of his?" Zack asked, motioning to the cigarette.
"Yeah." Alex took a long drag from the cigarette and exhaled a large cloud of smoke. "I figured that the bastard owed me for pulling that stunt on me."
Zack smirked. "Fair enough."
Hunter frowned. "You shouldn't be smoking that."
"I know," Alex said, rolling his eyes. At Zack's curious look, he said, "I quit smoking about three years ago. But damn, I really need to smoke right now. It helps relieve the stress, which is why I started smoking in the first place."
Hunter sighed. "If you have to smoke, will you at least open a window?"
"Fine." Alex stalked over to the only window in the room above the desk in one corner and shoved it open.
The shower seemed to run for ages, but at last, it shut off. A couple minutes passed and then the door opened and the man stalked out. Zack couldn't help staring; it was the first time he had seen the man with his hair unbound. It made the man look even more effeminate. He quickly looked away as the man caught his gaze and glared.
"Come on," Alex said, rolling his eyes impatiently.
"Is that one of my cigarettes?" the man asked, eyeing the cigarette stuck between Alex's lips.
"Of course it is," Alex responded.
"You have some nerve…" the man said, scowling.
"Oh, says the guy who faked his death," Alex retorted.
The man opened his mouth to reply, but Hunter cut him off.
"That's quite enough out of you, children," he scolded, stepping forward.
"I'll get you for this," the man mouthed at Alex.
Alex only smirked. He gestured to the desk chair. Scowling, the man sat in the chair. Alex positioned a garbage can behind it to catch the falling hair. Hunter moved forward, armed with a comb and pair of scissors. He set the scissors down on the cluttered desk and attacked the man's hair. Zack watched in fascination as Hunter expertly worked the comb through the rust-colored hair made wavy from being kept in a tight braid. When he was finished, Hunter set the comb on the desk and picked up the scissors. The man eyed them nervously and pursed his lips, but didn't say anything.
Hunter took a large chunk of hair and paused for a moment, staring thoughtfully at it before setting off to work. The room was silent, save for the soft snipping of Hunter's scissors. He blocked the man from Zack's view so he wouldn't have any idea what the man would look like until Hunter was done with him.
Zack blinked and stared when Hunter finally stepped away. He almost didn't recognize the man. Almost. The man's hair had been cut extremely short on top, but left longer in the back. It was rather dashing, though Zack certainly wasn't about to say that aloud. The man reached up and ran his fingers through what was left of his hair. He clearly did not look happy about the haircut, but at least he didn't say anything.
"Well?" Hunter asked nervously.
"It'll do," the man answered gruffly.
Hunter looked visibly relieved. He hastily moved around and cleaned up the hair that had missed the garbage can.
"Come on," Alex told the man. "We've still got a lot of work to do."
The man scowled. "Can I at least have a drink first?"
"Fine." Alex sighed.
The man brightened at this. He turned to Zack. "You want a drink?"
"Sure," Zack replied.
He followed the man out to the kitchen, where he pulled a pair of shot glasses out of a cupboard.
"Whiskey okay?" the man asked, going into another cupboard.
"Yeah." Zack nodded.
The man poured out a healthy amount of whiskey into each glass. They clinked their glasses together and downed the shots in one gulp.
"Ah, that's better," the man said, setting his shot glass back on the counter.
"Mmm," Zack agreed, putting his shot glass next to the man's.
"Come on." The man rolled his eyes. "Better get back in there before Alex throws a fit."
Zack could not conceal a grin as he followed the man back into the bedroom.
Several hours later, the man was virtually unrecognizable. Alex and Hunter had worked wonders to conceal his identity. His hair had been dyed a darker shade of red so it didn't stand out. Hunter and Alex had used some sort of prosthetics to disguise his face. Zack didn't know what they did, but it looked so realistic. His scars had been hidden with make-up as well. Even his eyes were different; blue-green instead of vivid blue, thanks to colored contacts. He wore the dark robes of the High Council, though he had the hood pushed back.
The man smiled nervously at Zack. "What do you think?"
"You look the part," Zack replied.
"Good," the man said. "Now I just gotta play the part."
"You'll be fine," Zack reassured him. He gently touched the man on the shoulder. "Remember, everything depends on this."
He knew the man understood how high the stakes were.
The man smiled at Zack. "I won't let you down. I promise."
Zack only hoped he could keep that promise, or they were all screwed.
Author's Notes
Hi there. I'm sorry this chapter is posted so late. I forgot that today was Friday. I've been having a rough week. Today was my only day off this week so I'm a little stressed. Well, this sort of came out of the blue. None of this was planned. At all. My characters just sort of sprang this on me, but I'm going with it, because it makes a lot of sense.
Aw, what the hell? This wasn't supposed to happen. Our mysterious man was already supposed to be on the High Council. But given his circumstances, I guess it makes sense
Elena is a character who wasn't supposed to be introduced until later, but I guess it's better for her to be introduced now even though she probably won't make too much of an appearance. Ditto Hunter and Alex.