Roxas felt the persistent tapping on his cheek, and as much as he wanted to ignore it and remain in his sleeping state, the tapping wouldn't cease. He groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, flinching at the bright light that blinded him.

"Riku?" he sat up a little, instantly becoming light headed. He rested himself on his elbows.

"Gotta get up Roxas, get your things together, we have to go somewhere," the silverette grabbed his bag from under the sink, undoing the lock around the zippers before he moved around the room.

"Where?" the blond asked, finally managing to sit up.

His eyes remained squinted as he looked around the room, it was rare that all the lights were on- normally the other man just had on the light above the stove or the one in the bathroom- the brightness, and maybe even the pain in the back of his head, was causing the blond's eyes to water.

Riku never gave Roxas an answer, and before the blond could ask again, the man pulled out his phone and started writing something. He continued in his concentrated state for a few minutes, his hand flying across the paper as he wrote down quickly. His quick, and probably atrocious, handwriting wasn't what surprised the teen, what surprised him was when the man took his phone and dropped it in a glass sitting in front of him on the table. The cellular device bobbed in the water for a few seconds before finally sinking to the bottom.

"Riku?" the blond was definitely awake now, and fear was starting to creep up on him.

The man turned to look at him with wide eyes, pausing before speaking, "Come on," he motioned with his hands, "Get up, get your stuff, we're going out that door in a few seconds and if you don't have it then it's staying here."

Not that Roxas was expecting Riku to pack his own things, the blond was curious as to what the man was doing. He was rushing around the room, but his things were already clearly packed, with the rush he seemed to be in they should've already been out the door. And then he noticed. There was a white, wet, cloth in Riku's hand, and the slightly older man was wiping down everything.

All the doorknobs were being scrubbed, even the ones on the fridge and cupboard. Roxas jumped up, his vision going white for a second, and realized he really needed to start moving. Looking over his shoulder when all of his belongings were stuffed into his small bag, he noticed Riku walking to the bathroom with a bottle of Clorox Bleach. Curiosity implored Roxas to follow the man, he peaked around the bathroom door and watched as Riku poured some of the bleach down the drain, splashing it across the shower walls, he ripped his rag and used half of it to spread the bleach around.

Roxas understood.

Riku was covering their tracks and erasing all evidence. Questions filled Roxas' mind.

Where the cops on their way? Did they know Roxas was being held in the rundown motel? Were Vexen and Luxord in on what was happening, or were they in the dark? What if Roxas stayed put?

"What's going on?"

The man didn't bother to stop to give Roxas a proper answer, "Hurry up and get your things."

Roxas had a chance of freedom, if he stayed put he could be saved, "No, I'm not going."

Riku stopped in his tracks, turning around to look at Roxas.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Roxas," the elder started, "Get your things together, we have to go, now."

"No," Roxas repeated, he wasn't running away from his chance to get away. "I'm not leaving."

Blinking seemed to be all Riku could do, he stared at the blond in disbelief, "Roxas…" he said softly, "You… you want to stay here?"

The blond nodded, he walked over to the bed and took a seat, he would wait for the police to show up.

"Roxas," Riku ran over to the teen, "You can't stay here," he tried to convince him, "Vexen will kill you," he stressed the word 'kill', but Roxas didn't relent.

The silverette stood up, "No." he told the blond, surprising him. "I'm not letting you stay here- you either walk out that door with me at this very second or I will drag you out there," he pointed at the door as if to prove his point. Sephiroth had ruined the teen enough, he wasn't going to let Roxas wreck his own life at his own young hands.

There was a small pause, Riku opened his mouth to continue to beg, but the younger one spoke up. "I'm sorry Riku…"

Riku looked around, they needed to be gone 5 minutes ago, Luxord would be walking up those steps any moment to stop them. "Roxas," he realized the blond never stopped talking, but instead had continued to talk about how he wasn't going, "Roxas, we have to go. If we don't, Luxord and Vexen are going to come here and stop us. Do you honestly want to stay here and, and, be at the mercy of Vexen? This is your only chance to get away- this is your only chance to get back to your old life! No one is ever going to come here to rescue you. No one knows where you are. No one is ever going to find this place. No one is even going to look for you here. It's been months since you've been here, 100s of other kids have been taken, you're not being looked for anymore!"

'The truth tends to hurt' Riku reminded himself.

It became clear to the blond that the police weren't on their way, him and Riku were instead fleeing in the night. He grabbed his bag at the end of the bed, sniffling as he slid his shoes on, he knew it would be cold outside but he never really went out so no one ever felt the need to buy him a jacket.

Just like any other time Roxas left the room, he took a left. He never went right, and curiosity never even provoked him to wonder why, it was just easier and closer if he went left. But as he started to walk, Riku grabbed his upper arm and pulled him the other way. "Why this way?"

"Because," the older boy started, "If we go the other way, Vexen will hear us."

They got to the end of the hallway, and where there should have been a staircase, there was instead a drop off. Riku leaned over the edge, getting his bag as close to the ground as he could before he let go, just to make the thump of it hitting the ground a little bit quieter. Without a word he swung his legs over the edge and jumped down, landing silently on the asphalt.

Looking up at the blond, Riku began to second guess his swift movements. He'd dreamt about this day, over and over again, playing out in his head, and when he actually started to act it out, it came naturally, but now he didn't know if Roxas would follow him. Silently he begged the teen, hoping the blond would do what was best for himself and follow the silver haired man down.

Roxas froze instead.

The man opened his mouth to speak, but he found a bag being tossed at him, he caught it silently, and the teen came down just as Riku had, landing off balance and having to catch himself on the heels of his hands. "Come on," the man said quietly, grabbing his bag and holding it along with Roxas', he looked to make sure no one was in the parking lot before he took off. Riku ran across the blacktop, the blacktop, following closely behind the man, his legs working just fine from the random running Vexen had him do downstairs.

"Riku," the blond asked, pulling in cold air to fuel his now stopped body. "What're we doing?"

"There's a cab, with the, the, number 2T23, that's ours, you see it- get in." that wasn't a definite answer to Roxas' question, but he nodded anyways. Within seconds Riku spotted the vehicle, he grabbed the teens wrist gently and took off towards the taxi, hearing and seeing nothing but the yellow vehicle.

He opened the back door and pushed the blond in with the bags before Riku climbed in himself. As soon as the older man shut the door, the vehicle took off down the road. Taking a deep breath Riku relaxed into the seat, his heart was still racing and his lungs were aching from the run, but he pulled together to look over at the blond. What he found was the teen staring at him with wide eyes. He wanted to ask Roxas why he was staring, or what exactly he was staring at, but he kept quiet instead and the blond's gaze shifted downward and then out the window.

After almost an hour they were dropped off, the taxi drove away, and the two stood in silence. A moment later the road was lit up with headlights and a dark car pulled up, stopping in front of the two, and without a word, Riku opened the door and they climbed in.

"Riku?" the teen asked after almost 2 hours of silence, "We're not going back… right?" his eyes didn't leave the view of his window, and his wounded face stayed practically glued to the glass.

Riku could only imagine all the things swimming around in Roxas' mind, everything that was clashing, and when he saw the reflection of Roxas' eyes- he knew there was no possible way for him to even begin to comprehend.

"Roxas," he said softly, waiting for the blond to look at him, repeating it till the blond pulled his gaze from the window and instead looked at Riku, "I promise," he emphasized, "I promise I will do everything in my power to make sure you never have to go back." he kept eye contact for as long as he could, Roxas broke away to look back out the window, a small smile talking over his face.

"So," the teen started a few minutes later, "Where're we going?"

Riku knew he had more than that for questions, so he answered with as much details as he could. "Well, the driver works for the two men we're going to. They're not part of the government or anything, but they hate Vexen just as much as you… I've making plans to go away… then you came along, and I waited around for a little while… I planned on leaving soon anyway… but then I just couldn't, I didn't want to leave you behind. I'm sorry Roxas, I'm sorry I waited so long to set this plan in motion… but…" he knew he was starting to stray off topic.

"We have to lay low for awhile, a long while Roxas," he faced the teen, "If anyone sees us they could instantly link us back to Vexen- especially since Vexen is known for setting bounties and," he trailed off when he realized he was scaring the blond. "Look," he finally said, "Where we're going, we'll be safe. We'll have to lay low for a little while, but then we'll be set and Roxas," he faced the teen, "You will be free. You won't have to do anything for anyone again. No one will know where you are…"

The blond's eyes saddened, 'No one knows where you are,' the words echoed in his head. Roxas knew it wasn't meant to hurt like it did, but it definitely shot his heart, and the look of pain didn't slip by Riku.

The car ride was silent again, the blond falling asleep, but only for a few minutes before he'd wake up again, it lasted for about an hour then Roxas was wide awake again. "I know where we are…" he said silently.

"Oh?" the silverette indulged him.

"Yeah," the teen perked up in his seat, "Yeah, right up, up, here there's um, a, big purple victorian house, and my school is a few houses down from that." And just like the teen said, the car slowed as they entered a school zone just moments after passing the purple house. "What day is it?" he asked as he looked over the front seat, seeing the time glowing on the radio, it was quarter to eight in the morning, which meant school would be starting any minute. The heads of teens he suddenly started to see confirmed that it was a weekday, he didn't bother to listen to the answer to his previous question.

Sinking in his seat Roxas tried to hide. He didn't have his hood to hide behind, or the lack of presence, but instead he was stuck in a very slowly moving car. When he saw familiar faces his head quickly turned away.

A knocking began on his window, startling him- since he was, indeed, in a car- he looked to see a smiling face. "Roxas!"

He slowly rolled his window down, and offered a smile, the student practically jumped through the car.

She wrapped her arms around Roxas' shoulders and neck, "Oh god Roxas!" the dark red head started, "We haven't seen you in so long- we were so worried!" she stood back up, continuing to walk at a quick pace, suddenly there was another girl beside the first, this one paler in complexion and hair color, but the same bright eyes.

"Roxas," the other girl said much more gently, "We've missed you…"

Both the girls noticed the bruises and cuts on Roxas' face, but neither chose to mention them- just like any other time.

He waved, and the two girls waved bye back. As the car began to speed up, leaving the school zone, Roxas looked over his shoulder. Behind him, in the school zone stood the two girls, as well as another girl with shortish brown hair, a boy, and two other boys almost completely opposite of each other. They stood together, and chatted for a moment before all looking at the car and waving one last time.

Roxas sank in his seat, a small- sad- frown on his face, a soft chuckle left him, pulling a small smile along with it. Roxas shook his head as he sat up in his seat, looking out his window again with a small smile still holding his lips.

It was hard to believe Kairi and the rest of them actually remembered who he was. He'd only gone to the school for a few years, but Kairi was quick to cling to him and try to talk to him. Roxas never spoke to the girl though, he became more interested in the pale girl always with her- Naminé- but that was only because she was just as quiet as he was.

Kairi, the dark red head, always tried to get him to open up, to hint to something about his personal life. She was always smiles and giggles, flirting endlessly, but she was naive, and Roxas liked that about her… it was good to see someone who hadn't been hurt by the world. She knew there were troubles in life, and while they got to her from time to time, she accepted it and looked to the bright side every time.

Naminé was quiet, like Roxas, and while they didn't share many words, they shared art. The pale blond often shared her sketches with Roxas, her's just as dark and demented as Roxas' own- they were the only ones to see each other's work, and while that made Roxas feel special, he hoped she had opened up a bit more since he left. He didn't need her to tell him that she had trauma in her life, it was written in the smeared graphite in her sketch books. There was a wall around Roxas, and she made him want to open up- just to see if he could help her, just to know how to make the sketches a little less dark.

Olette, the other girl that hadn't had the chance to speak to him, was definitely someone he couldn't forget. She came along with Kairi and the boys, she was tough to the bone, and didn't take anything from anyone, yet she was the most kind hearted person you could ever meet. The teen was the definition of tough love. A smile worked onto his face as he recounted the time she went out of her way to buy him a watch, she set it with alarms so Roxas wouldn't forget to eat- having used 'I forgot' as an excuse more than once, she acted on it quickly.

He hated that he had to come up with a new excuse.

Hayner and Pence, the two boys, definitely were opposites, that's probably what made it so easy for them to become best friends. Pence was short and pudgy, with peace and relaxation written all over him. Hayner was lean and aggressive, he wasn't quick to raise his fist but it seemed like he only had two settings- happy, or enraged.

Sora looked almost like he could've been Roxas twin, and it often led Roxas to stare at Sora throughout the day. The brown haired boy was exactly alike to Roxas except for hair color and the happiness that radiated off of him. Roxas imagined if he had the loving parents like the brunet had, then maybe he would've grown up to be like Sora- a teen who everyone was socially attracted to, who all the girls had a crush on, and someone who was confident in what he did and knew, no matter what, that someone cared.

They hadn't forgotten who he was… in all the time that had passed, they still remembered…

"Who were they? Old friends?" the man asked beside him.

"Something like that…" he replied sadly, relaxing into his seat once more. "How much longer?" he couldn't help but ask after a few minutes.

"About half an hour," the man replied with a smile.

Roxas nodded. He knew where they were going- well, sort of. The teen used to live about half an hour from the school, and since the school was sort of in the middle, that meant where they were going was in a radius of the school, all it would take was some mapping and, if he didn't know the area from the moment they arrived, then his thinking would come in handy.

He memorized all the turns, all the intersections they passed, remembering them backwards after every significant spot. Riku was trying to do what was best for Roxas, the blond figured, but Roxas wanted to choice, and if things didn't seem right to him then the moment he could- he would run.

Roxas didn't know where he'd go, but he had to leave, he just wanted out of the only world he had ever known. Shifting his glance over to Riku, he stopped his thought process for a second, he knew he could survive on his own- but could Riku?

Riku had just left behind the only life he'd known for a few years now, he was in a new place with strange people, was 'normal' anything Riku could even fake?

He kept his questions to himself, he recited the route backwards over and over again, until the car finally stopped. Energy coursed through Roxas' veins, numbing that small aching that was starting to fill his body. He grabbed his bag and followed Riku's lead, getting out of the car and walking through the alley between two buildings.

They stood at the bottom of a set of metal grate stairs, the stairs lead up about a foot or two to a door in the back alley, Riku leaned up and knocked in a strange rhythm before returning to his original stance. The door pulled open a few inches before shutting again, the sound of a chain told the two that the door was being unlocked.

The door opened, and Riku nodded for Roxas to enter first. Tightening the bag on his back, Roxas walked up the stairs and into the strange place, there was a headache slowly forming behind his temples, but he bit back the pain.

Riku touched his back, Roxas hadn't realized that he'd stopped walking, and soon they came to the end of the hallway and to a room that resembled a living room- pleasant in every way.

"Hey," Roxas' head shot around at the sound of the voice, finding a man walking through the doorway from some other room. "It's good to see you again…" the voice didn't sound all too happy, but the face didn't look it either.

"You…" the teen's eyes widened in surprise. In the doorway stood a man an inch or two shorter than Roxas, with slate gray hair, and an uncanny look to the man that seemed to love showing up in Roxas' room at Cloud's.

The slate haired man nodded, knowing Roxas had made the connection. "My names Zexion…"

Fear flashed across Roxas bruised face, he looked back at Riku, stepping away from both men- Zexion worked with Saix, and helped kidnap him. He didn't want to go from the hands of one man to the hands of another- a little more rope to go on didn't make him free.

"Relax Roxas," Riku began, "Zexion don't work with Saix or Vexen anymore…" But that didn't really convince the blond. To make matters worse, a few seconds later, the teen heard another voice, from another man he'd seen before.

This one had long pink hair, "Hey kid," the same man who'd drugged him and kidnapped him.

The teen's head began shaking back and forth, he thought Riku was going to help him, he honestly trusted the man, but no, they were just testing him it seemed. Testing to see if he'd run- and look at that, he did. When Vexen found out, Roxas knew he'd get even more beaten. No, he had to go back, he could still make this right, he could lessen the punishment, or just slip away altogether.

He turned, body facing Riku, he ran as quickly as he could, hoping to slip past the silverette and make it through the doors. Once outside he could run all the way back to the school- he was thankful he'd memorized the way. If he got caught now, he could at least say he was trying to run back to the place, or better yet he could not get caught at all and save himself completely from another beating.

"Roxas!" the once friendly foe strung his arm out, dropping his bag as he grabbed Roxas, the teen falling to the ground as he feet ran out from under him. "Roxas," Riku repeated in a much softer voice, the teen was shaking and breathing like he'd already run a marathon. His body was kneeling to hold the struggling teen still, Roxas was pulling and tugging on Riku's arms to try and get free, and Riku wanted so badly to grab the teen's arms and restrain him- but he knew that would only hurt the teen's cuts.

"No," the blond sobbed, throwing his shoulders every which way as his body sank lower and lower to the ground, "I'm sorry," he begged, tears breaking free. "I'm sorry," he repeated, he knew running would be a bad idea, and now he'd just hurt himself even more. "I'm sorry," he choked on his own tears, his mumbled apologies being cut off as Riku sat on the ground, pulling the teen up off the floor a little so Roxas' back rested against his chest.

"Roxas," he used his hand to try and brush the teen's hair out of his face.

Roxas wasn't listening, his whole body was shaking as he begged to be forgiven by Vexen.

He could see it all, Vexen would show up any moment and, if Roxas was lucky, he'd start hitting and kicking Roxas while shouting at the top of his lungs. The teen would be left on the floor with broken bones and everything hurting. If he wasn't so lucky, Vexen would drag him all the way back, giving him the silently treatment, and not hurting him at all until they arrived back. Once they arrived back, Vexen would lock the two of them alone in a room, and Roxas would be torn apart from the inside out.

"I'm sorry," he cried again, his voice just barely audible.

Zexion and the pink haired man just watched the teen breakdown, they knew the job, and they knew what came along with it- seeing the blond breakdown, was all just part of the test...

Sooooo... I'm not dead. I didn't take a vacation from typing either.

I don't have a computer to use at home. There's three computers in the house but none I can use to type on- the computer in the living room is broken so you can't see anything on the screen (literally), the second computer would be mine, but it's completely crashed (again, it seems) and it's just not an option anymore, and the last computer is my mother's husband's and I'm not allowed on it (no one is but him and my mother, but I'm on it right now shhhhh- it's password protected, but I gots the password) - I wanted to explain why it was taking so long, but I didn't want to give false hope to a new chapter only to have it be an author's note, that would be just cruel.

I texted most of this story, using my phone, so sorry for any mistakes. It may seem short- just try texting almost all of it -.- not so short then...

Thanks for all the reviews you guys, really :D

Uploaded: March 17th, 2014