It was late as hell when Xigbar was just about to go to bed. Even though missions had been easy as cake, he felt tired somehow. How could sitting on a roof, casually sniping Heartless, exhaust him like that? Maybe his brain had been overly active. After all, it had been some interesting days. Watching that new guy – Luxord – trying to find his place and rhythm in the Organization was more amusing than it sounded. It was like the dude hadn't seen anything before, like he was a child introduced to a whole new world. Pretty comical.

Xigbar had only just gotten out of his coat, and was about to rid himself of his boots and shirt, before a Sniper appeared in his room. The Freeshooter, having sat down on the edge of his bed, looked up at his Lesser Nobody, and rolled his eye.

"What?" He demanded in slight annoyance. He knew that his Snipers weren't usually screwing around, so this had to mean some sort of job or request. Great.

"... Lord Xemnas wishes to speak with you... Now..." The Sniper told him. Xigbar nodded. At least it wasn't a Dusk. He always wondered why the hell Xemnas could understand all the Lesser Nobodies, when each member could only understand their own. But, hey, he was the Superior after all.

"He better have a good reason," Xigbar grumbled before getting up again. The Sniper had already left.

He didn't even bother to put on his coat before he teleported to the hallway leading up to Xemnas' office. Heaving a great sigh, he knocked on the door, and made sure that Xemnas could hear the annoyance in his knocking. He folded his arms, waiting.

After a moment of thick silence, a quiet "Enter" was heard from the other side of the door. Xigbar unfolded his arms and opened the door quietly. As he entered, he was met with a pretty awkward scene, if he had to say so himself.

The office was darkened as usual, shelves with books lining the walls and almost reaching the ceiling. But what Xigbar noticed the most was the very still form on the floor, dressed in a black coat like any other Organization member. He was just about to think the person to be Xemnas, but then he noticed a head of blond hair. It was that new guy – Luxord. And he really didn't look too good. His face was partly burried in the rug, and he wasn't moving.

Xemnas was sitting behind his desk, glowing eyes observing Xigbar. His elbows were resting on the wood of the desk, and his fingers were interlocked under his nose. Those eyes were almost shining in the darkness of the room. Xigbar supposed his eye did that sometimes too. He was amazed at how Xemnas could look like nothing had happened, while there was a friggin' body on the floor. The Freeshooter chuckled inwardly. This was just as comical.

"Do I even wanna know what happened?" Xigbar said, breaking the thick silence. He looked between Xemnas and Luxord, while Xemnas' stare was boring into him more and more. As he got a better look of Luxord, Xigbar noticed that the blonde looked very much awake. His eyes were half open, and he could see his chest heaving to catch air. Scratch that, he didn't look awake as much as he just didn't look, you know, dead. Heck, he was even drooling into the carpet.

Xemnas finally spared a glance at Luxord before looking back at Xigbar. He lowered his arms completely to the tapletop slowly.

"Number X's element has revealed itself," Xemnas said simply.

Xigbar lifted an eyebrow. "So you decided to smack him to the floor?" He said lamely.

Xemnas got up from his chair silently. He stepped around the table and went to stand next to the still form of Luxord too, looking down on it with a blank face. "He received the element of time."

"Really?" Xigbar said. He kneeled next to Luxord and tried to snap his fingers in front of the blonde's eyes. They were still open, but not reacting at all. It looked like he was trying to fight off some powerful exhaustion – like he was falling asleep. Putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking him gently didn't work either.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xemnas nod. "Like yours, it's an immensely rare element. And it was just what I needed..."

Xigbar stood up again. "What you needed?"

Xemnas nodded and leaned against his desk. "Indeed. It's a part of a plan," he said, and Xigbar felt his guts twist for some reason. He sounded just like that old coot sometimes. "I, myself, tried to take it from him – just some of it." He held out his hand, which clenched into a fist, just for dramatic effect.

'Did he get it?' Xigbar thought. He looked down at Luxord again, with what could have been pity.

"He resisted," Xemnas said simply, and let his hand drop to his side. "Something stopped me."

"Right," Xigbar said. Something had stopped Xemnas? He had to be pissed now, Xigbar thought. "And that's what you called me up here to tell?"

A wicked grin appeared on Xemnas' face. "His powers haven't unfolded completely yet," he said. "And for some reason, he survived. And, incredible as it was, I'd like to keep it that way, Xigbar. Take him to Vexen, see to it that he survives. If he's fine, put him back in his room. When he awakens once more, this will all be a far off nightmare to him, and nothing more than that I assure you."

"That's all?" Xigbar said in a sarcastic manner. He could've done that himself! Hell, even Vexen could have gotten him down to the lab... with a lot of effort.

"It is not," Xemnas said after some time. "I'd like you to keep an eye on him." He was using that tone which meant that it was actually more of an order than a request.

"Why?"

"See how his powers make progress. I haven't completely given up on this. No, I can always try again. But he needs to get stronger," the Superior said and pushed away from the desk. He nodded towards Luxord. "I have informed Saïx that the two of you will be going on some missions together. You could even... befriend him." An empty smile found its way to Xemnas' lips.

"As if," Xigbar mumbled to himself. There was no way he was gonna befriend someone, especially not a nutcase like Luxord and especially not because of an order from Xemnas. "Fine, I'll take him down to Vexen." He kneeled down once again to lift their newest member from the floor. Then he threw him unceremoniously over his one shoulder.

"See that you do," Xemnas said calmly and waved a hand. The door opened on its own, and Xigbar stepped out. Even if he didn't have an adult man slung over his shoulder, he wouldn't look back.

He started walking down the hallway, wondering if there was even life left in this baggage of his. He was just about to teleport, before a groan brought him out of his thoughts. He stopped, wanting to make sure that he had really heard it. There was another groan, certainly from Luxord, even though he was limp as a ragdoll and wasn't even supposed to be fully awake.

Luxord mumbled something that Xigbar couldn't hear. The Freeshooter teleported down into the infirmary, which was just a few doors away from the laboratories, before he carefully put the blonde down on one of the many beds. His eyes were still partly open, now staring into the ceiling instead of the floor.

"What did you say, buddy?" Xigbar asked him. That mumbled had been real back then, but of course Luxord didn't answer now that Xigbar was actually listening. "Right... Hang in there, blondie, I'm gonna get you some help."

He was about to step away from the bed, then teleport, before Luxord's hand suddenly grabbed his wrist weakly. "Don't..." Luxord choked out. It was barely a whisper, and Xigbar was amazed that he could hear it. "Don't let him..." The grasp around Xigbar's wrist loosened, and Luxord's hand dropped.

Xigbar didn't hesitate, but teleported to Vexen's laboratory immediately. Even though it was late, he'd be damned if Vexen was to find in his actual room. He tried calling out for the scientist, before walking around the corner to find Vexen half asleep on his couch. A mischievous grin spread on Xigbar's face. Oh, this was priceless. Had it been any other time, Xigbar might have pulled a delicately planned prank, but right now he had to follow orders. He hauled the Chilly Academic up from the couch, by the collar of his coat, and simply just teleported them both back to the infirmary.

Vexen looked around wildly, as Xigbar let go of him. "What in the - "

"Sorry, dude, Xemnas' orders," Xigbar said with a justifying shrug. He pushed him towards the bed where Luxord lay. "Fix him."

"Fix him?" Vexen snapped, looking between the two. "I hardly know what's happened to him!"

"Beats me."

Seeing no other choice, Vexen started examining Luxord. He started out by checking his pulse, which was racing like mad. His breathing came in small gasps and sighs, and his limps seemed to be twitching unwillingly at times. But he was completely unresponsive.

"It would seem to me that his body has fallen victim to an immense amount of stress," Vexen said after some time. "It must have been too much for him to handle..." He rubbed his eyes tiredly.

'No kidding?' Xigbar thought sarcastically. 'I don't exactly remember Xemnas as gentle...'

"Rest will be all he needs right now," Vexen concluded. "What happened to him?"

Xigbar thought for some time. "If you wanna know, you gotta ask Xemnas."

Vexen didn't answer. He glared slightly at Xigbar before leaving the infirmary.

Xigbar chuckled. "Right," he said and shook his head. "Come on, you.." He lifted Luxord off the bed and teleported both of them to the blonde's room. Xigbar noticed how nothing much had changed about the room yet. Luxord had only been on a few missions, and hadn't really been in the Organization for that long yet. What he did notice, however, were two clocks hanging on the wall.

He put Luxord on his bed, and unzipped his coat. Wouldn't really work to try and convince him that he had been dreaming if it looked like he'd never gone to bed. He got him out of his coat and got rid of his boots too, noticing how Luxord seemed to stir a bit. His eyes were closed now, meaning that he'd probably nodded completely off.

So this dude's element was time, huh? Well, whatto ya know. Like Xemnas had said, it was a pretty rare element. No wonder he didn't like the guy – weren't time and space supposed to be opposites. However, Axel and Demyx seemed to be doing fine. They hadn't killed eachother just yet. Yet. Xigbar sat down in a chair, and looked at the now sleeping form. He noticed how Luxord seemed to have aquired some silver earrings.

Luxord groaned again, this time moving a bit too.

"Can't believe I gotta watch you..."


Douchebag Xemnas and douchebag Xigbar, I guess? XD Im slowly starting to make tie-ins to KH3D, just not too spoilerish. This is chapter 29, meaning that next chapter will be chapter 30. And as usual, I'd like to make something special for every tenth chapter. I can already say now that next chapter is going to be a continuation of this! R&R people.