Author's Notes: My God! I leave for six hours, and I come back to all these reviews! Wow! Thanks for the feedback, guys. I really appreciate it. And please don't worry - Riku will get better, I promise. Just not anytime soon. But until then you can watch as everyone tries desperately to help him. :) This chapter and the next one are my updates for the night. Stay tuned, more to come! MUCH more!

Chapter 12

" 'Bond. James Bond.' "

As promised, Roxas met with Tidus after school. Once they had all gotten home, Tidus went to hang out with Roxas at the skate park. They kept this casual; they were friends, after all. But as he ripped up some moves on the half-pipes and grinded the rails on his board, Roxas couldn't help but think that Tidus was planning something a little dangerous.

Hmmm. Danger. He liked danger.

Tidus sat on the sidelines and watched, until Roxas came over to sit with him. "So what's this all about?" asked the sunny blond, taking off his helmet so he wouldn't marinate in his own sweat.

Tidus folded his hands in front of him, deep in thought. As Roxas sucked eagerly on the squeeze-cap of his water bottle, Tidus fidgeted with his fingers as he became lost in his own mind.

"Roxas," he began, "You know the first time I moved here I was with different parents, right?"

"I think so. I didn't know you then."

"Well, I saw Riku a few times before Leon took me back to be re-fostered." Tidus stared ahead of him intently. "He was nice. He was friendly. Then something happened and he became a recluse. When I moved back in last year, Riku was way different. When he saw me he hugged me, even cried."

"Careful, you sound sappy." Roxas teased. Tidus glared at him.

"I'm serious. I never thought about it before, but I've heard things lately, and thinking back on it, I think it meant something. He's been all aggressive since then, and every once in a while I see him with this fear in his eyes."

"Fear?" Roxas snorted. "Riku's not scared of anything. You're imagining things. That guy's got a heart of lead and brass balls to match."

"Cut the bullshit, Roxas!" Tidus growled suddenly, making Roxas jump. "Open up your mind and listen. I really think something's going on with Riku, and I want to find out what."

"What…you think he's been abused or something?"

When Tidus stared at him unblinking, Roxas coiled back, his face pale.

"NOOOOOO. You're not fucking serious!" He paused. "…Are you?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Tidus locked eyes with the blond, daring him to say he looked even the least bit amused. Roxas swallowed a lump in his throat, and shook his head.

"But…man, I don't know…are you sure? Riku could just be a weird kid. That's how he's always been."

"As far as you know." Tidus corrected. He scooted closer to Roxas. "Rox, did you know that before Edea fostered me, I lived with a couple of rich people in Midgar City?"

"What? You were living in the Lap of Luxury? How come you didn't stay!"

"I'm a Foster Child, Roxas." Tidus leaned back against the fence. "There are a lot of things about me people don't know. They just know that something happened to get me fostered…the couple thought they could use me as a 'test drive'. I was their experimental son. After three months, they decided that having a child was too expensive and they sent me back. I heard them talking about it when they thought I wasn't home."

Roxas was stunned.

"…Fuck…that's a low blow, man…I'm real sorry."

Tidus shrugged. "It just goes to show you what some people think when they don't know everything about you. They never bothered to ask me what I was like—they just adopted me and called me theirs, then turned around and sent me back. Riku's the same. There's got to be something we're missing. There's a piece of this puzzle that we haven't figured out."

Roxas chuckled. "Dude, I feel like I'm in a Double-oh-seven movie." He acted all suave, pretending to straighten the lapels of a tuxedo, holding a glass of champagne. He deepened his voice and said, "I am Bond. James Bond."

Tidus smiled a little. "I guess so. It is a mystery of some sort I guess."

"Yeah, it's like, a total expedition! 'Discover the Mysterious Ways of the Juggernaut! Find the Source of His Rage!' "

"Okay, okay, get serious." Tidus sighed and slapped his hands on his knees. "We need to start from the beginning. I don't think Riku was ever this bad before he came here. I want to focus on Ansem."

Roxas blinked. "Mr. A? Why so?" he wondered. "Seems nice enough to me."

"Roxas, you might not have paid attention, but Ansem's fostered lots of kids." Tidus looked at him. "And he never kept any of them as long as Riku. Most of them were right around his age group. Maybe eight, thirteen years old."

Roxas' brow creased. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You lost me. How do you know this?"

"Because I always asked kids who their parents were," Tidus groaned, rolling his eyes. "You know, so I can visit them? Lots of my old friends who were in my various neighborhoods had Ansem for a father at some point."

"So what? That doesn't mean anything."

Tidus thought for a while. Trying to recall what he could. Then he bit his lip, not liking the thought that crossed his mind. If it was true, then it was no wonder Riku was so strange…

"Maybe not…unless you think Ansem's a pedophile."

"A WHAT?" Roxas cried. "Tidus, your head is like, in Fantasy Land."

"No, it makes sense…!" Tidus began to put the pieces together. The children he'd met. The looks on their faces. Now that he was old enough to understand it all, he knew what it meant when the pieces formed the big picture.

My God…poor Riku!

"Tidus, Ansem doesn't have any signs of a pedophile! How can you tell?"

Tidus looked at Roxas. "How many times has he offered to pick us up at the bus stop, Roxas?"

Roxas frowned, confused. "Only a dozen times, but—!" His eyes widened. There was a long silence, and Tidus gave him a look to say, "See? I told you so."

"…That…that still doesn't mean anything."

"Fine, then I'll make you believe me." Tidus stood up. "Come on, we're going to call someone."

Roxas blinked incredulously, standing up with his board in hand. "Who? What?"

"Riku and I happen to have the same fostering agent." Tidus explained. "Leon must still have all of Ansem's old foster papers. He can show you."