Maxwell Family Values

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3. Maxwells have enough issues that by now that the paperboy knows he'll get killed if he even steps on the property. (It's why we have the "Beware of Maxwells" sign on the front gate, after all.)

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"Well fuck," Axel smirked at his siblings. "He's in denial, but as soon as we get that out of him, bam, pure bona-fide Maxwell. If he's running like that, he must have one hell of a bloody streak in him."

When he turned around, he found that the other two siblings present were clearly Not Pleased with him.

"Go get him," Duo stated, arms crossed over his chest.

"Whaaat?!" Axel whined, shoulders slumping. "The kid ran out all on his own, Duo, got it memorized? Ain't my fault he hasn't faced his inner demons."

"It's your fault he had to face them before Reno even got here, though," Rabi said, scratching his chin absentmindedly. "That's usually a whole-family-blocks-all-the-doors-as-we-embrace-our-bitter-sadism event."

Axel grudgingly admitted he had a point. Four exits from the room and they'd only blocked three. Front door was usually Reno's, and back when it was only the twins and Duo, they hadn't installed the fire escape yet. And with Duo…well.

With Duo they hadn't had to do a damn thing but keep him from killing them. No demon-releasing required.

"…right. Fine," Axel said, and headed out the door, thinking if I were a newly-almost-adopted orphan teenager with a hell of a mean streak and excellent survival skills, where would I go?

Shyeah. Like that was a hard one in this city. Down one street, across an intersection, and the long-legged redhead was on his way to Twilight Sands.

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Twilight Sands was originally a city poverty project, a self-contained and self-sustainable neighborhood that, with a little effort from the inhabitants, would give them a few blocks of happy neighborhood. No rent, only had to pay city utilities…a good idea, in theory.

Note the in theory, kiddos, Axel thought darkly as he approached Twilight Sands.

The central problem with the whole idea was that all the people had to contribute. The pimps and whores and streetrats and homeless that moved in were so used to the world outside that they had to leave to 'ply their trades', as it were.

And that just left the homeless and the streetrats, and anyone could guess the viciously cutthroat streetrats of the city had killed or run their competition out in a week or less. In the city, kids grew up hard and fast, or they didn't get a chance to. Twilight Sands' politics was a mess of gangs – thugs, thieves, and thorns, mostly – but they were smart enough to live under umbrellas. One was Twilight, the other Sands. The two leaders were well-known, if not legendary, for keeping the relative peace and strict, sometimes lethal, penalties against those who broke their truce.

…well, that and keeping just about everyone over the age of seventeen from knowing who was spearheading the groups. That certainly had both Reno and Axel's bosses panties in a twist. And while Reno seemed plenty happy to fix them for his, probably with tongue and teeth, Axel preferred to watch the pontificating bastard twitch.

The twins definitely had different definitions of 'office politics'. For Reno it seemed to involve the decision between a threesome or not. Axel preferred to stab people in the back and watch them twitch as they suspected anyone but him and his devout loyalty (which was, in fact, to nobody but himself and the Maxwells). Both twins were equally fucked in the head, sure, but in such fun and unique ways.

Shoving office machinations out of his head, Axel headed through one of the side alleys near Twilight Sands. Not their territory, probably a block away honestly, but it was always polite to knock first. And by knock he meant whistle an obnoxiously bouncy pop song loudly as he strode down the alley, hands conveniently stuffed into his coat's pockets as he walked down one of those alleys your mother warns you about, because people like Axel could be waiting for you.

As expected, a wiry tomcat of a kid dropped down from…somewhere. He guessed one of the broken windows above. The boy didn't seem happy to see him, and Axel reciprocated the sentiment as they watched each other.

"I'm looking for a kid," Axel stated. Not enough of a blushing innocence to be a Thorn, not enough brawn to be a Thug, so he had to be a Thief. Sand or Twilight he didn't know yet, but hey. Reciprocity and all that. Thieves seemed to be the most sensible of the lot, although he had to admit that Thorns had style. "Blond hair, blue eyes, short?"

It was new eyes looking at him. Wary eyes. Axel was guessing this was a pretty high-ranking Thief from that gaze alone. "That fits a lot of kids," he said, almost glib about it. Axel amended his high-ranking to VERY high ranking. You had to have a lot of power to show off that kind of sass.

"Then show me a lot of kids," Axel snapped, tossing a convenient roll of bills at the kid, who could see a hundred dollars without even counting it all. Very high ranking, and very very good. Interest piqued, Axel gave him a once-over. "What's your name, kid?"

It took a moment for the kid to answer, clearly not too keen on the 'kid' label, before he answered. "Hayner," he said, and sighed, like he'd just made a necessary but painful decision. Rabi did it every time he sold one of his precious books. "Come on then, man. I'll take you to the only blond with blue eyes who could possibly answer."

"Thanks, kid," Axel actually smiled at the Thief, who looked back at him.

"How old are you, old man?"

Everyone over five foot eight was considered old to a streetrat. "How old do I look?"

Hayner shrugged, twisting them…the other way? They were backtracking? But the kid was a bona fide high Thief and knew where he could get a hundred bucks freely he could get even more freely for a job well done. Thieves thrived on reciprocity when not out on a heist.

"Nineteen?"

Off by a couple years, but hey. "Must be a psychic along with a Thief!" Axel grinned.

"Must be a spy along with an assassin," Hayner countered smoothly, and when Axel's step didn't faulter, his did. "…I, uh-"

"Not gonna kill anyone tonight unless they start it, got it memorized?" Axel appealed. "Not even the idiot kid I'm looking for." He paused. "Or you."

"It's the coat, man," Hayner explained in a rush, pace speeding up. "I mean, we've all heard stories about the Organization, we watch our backs and shit when we see one of those coming anywhere near Twilight Sands, but you weren't causing any problems or anything so Rox- uh…"

Axel's lips quirked up. "Shutting up in general's the best way to keep from saying something that can get a guy killed."

Hayner just nodded. Axel assumed he was using the advice.

With a twist, the redhead blinked at the realization that Hayner had somehow gotten them into Twilight Sands' original neighborhood, the two of them scaling creaky fire escapes up to the roof of a building, where three kids stood waiting for them.

The boy on the left, probably the youngest of the bunch, was a smiling ball of pudgy muscle with iron knuckles on each hand. From the way he was looking at Axel, the redhead had to change his label of Thug to a Smart Thug, meaning this group was probably pretty high-ranking, with Hayner along with them.

The girl in the middle, who had cut off her conversation with Mr. Smart Thug, had Thorn written all over her conveniently-tattered-in-all-the-right-places clothing. Of course, that was worn over a sensible woven pair of shirts and pants. Her shoes were nice, too, meaning this was a Thorn with money, even with the Friendly Neighborhood Tax (aka the police bribes).

The boy on the right, though, he couldn't really tell anything about. The guy was facing away from them, a good bit of distance between him and the other two as he watched the sunset. Something in his shoulders told Axel this kid wasn't a kid, even by streetrat standards, and even though he was short, the redhead had to wonder how many years the guy had left in Twilight Sands before they kicked him out for mutual good.

Long khaki pants. A flurry of blond hair spiraled up from his head, and Axel couldn't help but notice that the guy had a…really nice neck. Like…nice.

He was making no sense in his head, so Axel tried to shut off that bit of himself still sizing up the streetrat (nice ass, skinny hips, just the right size to fit under his chin-) and turned towards Hayner, who had joined the Smart Thug and the Good Thorn. "So. Looking for a kid that goes by the name of Naruto. About yea high, blond hair, blue eyes, scars on his cheeks-"

"Naruto? Uzumaki Naruto?" The blond asked in a voice that had Axel suppressing a shiver for no apparent reason. When the guy turned around, he couldn't suppress it. Painfully blue eyes in a flawless, perfect, sonnet-inspiring face that was tempered to a smooth, malleable steel.

But those eyes weren't looking at him. They were looking over at Hayner reprovingly, who held up his hands as the blond put his own firmly on his hips, head tilting in a way that demanded an answer. "Hey, Roxas, he never told me the name, just said blond with blue eyes-"

Roxas. The name was like rolling an ice cube around in your mouth. He liked it.

"And you were too scared to take on a member of the Organization by yourself." And then the eyes, thank god, were on him. "Why are you looking for him?"

Composure, he thought to himself. You're a motherfucking assassin, for Christ's sake. Just because a guy is hot doesn't…

Zipper. It was begging to be yanked, to free the poor skin it covered-

FOCUS, dammit!

"Naruto Uzumaki's soon to be the new and improved Naruto Maxwell," Axel said lightly, hands stuffed in coat pockets as he instinctively began circling Roxas (Roxas. What a great name.), who did the same, step for step. "I'm just trying to bring the poor lost puppy home."

Roxas smirked at that, a little laugh coming from him. Axel wanted him to laugh more. Smile more. And at the same time he realized that he was getting way over his head with this kid.

"You're serious, aren't you." Arms crossed over his chest, a small smile. He was just so fucking pretty.

Axel gave him his most innocent look. "I'm just a worried older brother hoping my little brother hasn't fallen in with the wrong crowd." The look dropped almost completely as a smirk came on his own face. "It seems to be so easy nowadays."

"Which the Maxwells aren't even close to being," Roxas smiled knowingly, and Axel grinned at him. Damn, but what a smile. With that, the blond turned his head to the three other teens nearby. "Olette, see if you can fetch Naruto from the Sands without a fight. Pence, watch her back."

The Thorn – Olette – and the Thug – Pence – complied with nothing but a tiny nod, immediately zipping down the fire escape.

"So, how old are you?" Axel asked, and immediately wished he hadn't at the guarded look and the very dangerous curling of muscles he got in response. He held up his hands. "Hey, hey, take it easy. Just making small talk. My brother and I used to live near here, back in the day, so-"

"It's fine," he said instead, and sat down on the edge of the roof, facing Axel with a bittersweet smile. "I'm seventeen. The only reason I'm still around is I'm good."

"Well, hey. Pretty much the same everywhere in the city, if it's any consolation," Axel shrugged. "Cutthroat world, I tell you." He paused, smirking. "Got any idea what you want to be when you grow up?"

Roxas just glared at him, making Axel laugh. Fuck, this kid was going to be addictive, he could just tell.

"The three that were up here before, they take over until they get run out," Roxas said darkly. "Twilight's turning into a triumvirate."

"Pretty tongue twister," Axel grinned, trying to hide how damn impressive the blond was. Making a three-person committee to replace one man's control over half of Twilight Sands— "Wait wait wait, HOLD on."

Roxas smirked this time.

Axel gaped. "Are you shitting me?! I've been sitting pretty up here with the Tsukikage?!"

The blond grimaced. "Oh please. Moon-shadow. It's obnoxiously arrogant. Nobody's used that since Ishida Uryuu up and disappeared."

"We just call him Boss," Hayner spoke up, making Axel remember there was more than a walking moving target over there. And that he was behind by at least two years in the Twilight Sands hierarchy, since he knew Ishida had been picked up by the Quincy…

"Huh," Axel said, letting his blank numbness show on his face. "…You know, you always hear about these types of things and know the traditions and all that shit but damn if this isn't weird."

Roxas frowned at him, so Axel continued, his hands doing half the talking for him. "So, you probably already know this, but when a leader in Twilight Sands leaves, they don't just disappear and shit, you know? Someone always comes bumbling along and meets them and offers them a job. I mean, happened with us twins. Just, uh, a bit differently." And by differently he meant they'd been posing as one person, and since Reno had been the one playing Kazekage he'd gotten the job.

Which really had turned out for the best, all things considered, but hey.

Roxas was giving him that 'are you high?' look.

"I think I'm supposed to invite you into the Organization," he blurted out. When Roxas moved to speak, however, Axel was already there, one gloved hand over his mouth. "Hear me out, okay? Fate likes to fuck with people like us and this is how it happened with my brother, I swear. This Turk walks in looking – ironically enough – for some blond kid with big blue eyes, nearly gets shot by my brother, and bam, job offer-"

Before Axel could get another word out, he found himself punched in the face and flung onto the roof, furious blue eyes glaring down at him.

"We do not touch the royal mouth, got it," Axel quipped from the floor, only for a foot to stomp down dangerously close to his groin. "…so no touchie in general then. Okay. Got it memorized."

Roxas made an amused noise and moved aside, letting Axel get to his feet again. "For a smart guy, you are very very stupid."

Axel smirked. "You have no idea." He paused, shaking the grime off his coat and out of his hair like a very demure mutt. "Job offer's even more solid now, though."

That earned him a small chuckle, but he was cut off by the arrival of people on the fire escape. First came Olette, then a well-muscled brunet with purple facepaint, and then a blonde girl with four bushy ponytails and a pair of sharp, cutting black eyes. Next came Naruto himself, glaring at just about everyone, followed by a redhead of just about the same age and then Pence.

"Roxas," the redhead said, greeting him as an equal. He nodded towards the arrivals that weren't part of the future Twilight Trirumvate. "Kankuro, Temari, and Naruto." The redhead paused, eyes locking onto Axel. "Naruto has been a strong and vital part of the Sand family as long as I have been Kazekage. I will not see him forced into anything he doesn't want."

And if them weren't fighting words, Axel didn't know what was. So, he gave the kid his best 'I'm-better-than-you-and-trying-to-be-polite' smile. "Axel Maxwell," he said, and paused. "Or Reno Maxwell. Either way, an ex-Kazekage, and that kid ran out on a bona fide Maxwell dinner invitation. We were hurt deeply, being the sensitive types we are."

"Hold on, you're Axel AND Reno? And an ex-Kazekage?!" Naruto began, only for the blond girl – Temari – to grab him by the back of his collar and back behind the redhead.

"Twins," Axel shrugged, grinning like an idiot at the youngest Maxwell – yeah, fine, he'd admitted it, Naruto was definitely a Maxwell if a fucking Kazekage would call him part of the Sand family. He let his face drop to what Larxene called his 'Fuck You I Am A Motherfucking Organization Member And Will Not Mind Killing You' face. Axel preferred to call it his 'negotiator' face, as it seemed to work pretty damn well for that. "I want my littlest brother back. Now."

Naruto was giving him a weird look. "…Gaara, I think I'm officially a Maxwell now, according to them."

"Three fourths, at least," Axel smirked. "But we're mostly a democratic family, so even with a three to one vote you're in."

Gaara, however, seemed to not listen to a word Axel said. In fact, the bastard turned his back on him to look Naruto in the eyes. "You know what we are, Naruto. Will they accept that?"

"That's why he's a Maxwell," Axel said, softer than he'd meant to.

"…Gaara, I know Naruto's one of yours, but I think you have to let him go, and let him make his own decisions," Roxas said from behind Axel. God, the kid was fantastic.

And Axel mentally cursed as he realized that, just like every other Maxwell, he'd finally found The Boyfriend. And the kid was three years younger than him.

In regards to Roxas, if the Maxwell mating trend continued (and it seemed to be doing so), Axel was officially fucked. They took monogamy to a whole other emotional plane while not giving a crap about physical. He'd seen what Kanda had done to Rabi a year ago, and like hell was he going to-

"He cares about Naruto too," Roxas continued. "Don't you, Axel?"

"You betcha," he said immediately, grinning back at Roxas.

…Fuck.

Ahem. "Naruto, I know we probably got off on the wrong foot, but, well, Maxwells are…special," he continued cautiously. "That's why we stick together. That unique Maxwell quality is what makes us family."

Family. The word was the immediate trigger, he could tell, because Naruto wanted one. Just like they'd all wanted one.

The newest Maxwell took a step towards him, and then another.

"…you won't be…scared of me?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

Luckily Axel didn't laugh. He grinned, but didn't laugh, and shook his head. "I promise, none of us will hate you, or fear you. You're a Maxell, Naruto. I told you. That makes us family, unconditionally."

Naruto smiled, and Axel held out a hand. "C'mon. You've got your brothers worried sick, and dinner's getting cold."

It didn't take much more prompting than that. Their hands clenched up into a fist, elbows bent as the brothers grinned at each other. With his spare hand, Axel ruffled his brother's hair. "You can still be a member of the Sand family too, silly. Go give Grumpy over there a hug."

That got a good, strong guffaw out of the blond, hands dropping. "Hug Gaara?! I think freaking out at him was too much emotional pressure for him to take in one night."

"True. Very true," Axel said, and winked at the Kazekage. Gaara stared at him in surprise. It was kind of creepy, so Axel decided to do it as much as possible.

He turned towards Roxas, knowing he already had a sappy smile on his face as he shoved a hand in his pocket, brow furrowing as he felt around in it until he proudly grabbed an almost crown-shaped card, the Organization's symbol on it…and his name and cell phone number on the back. Still grinning, he flicked the heavy paper at Roxas, who caught it easily between his fingers. Damn, but those were some fantastic fingers with those two bandages AND YEAH.

"Think about it, and give me a call," he said, voice probably an octave higher than usual. Of course, Roxas noticed. He noticed everything, apparently.

And damn it, that should NOT be hot.

"C'mon then, 'Ruto," Axel called, walking straight through both the Twilights and the Sands and to the fire escape. "Don't want you to fall into the wrong crowd or anything around here!"

Naruto frowned at him, but followed. "Ruto?"

Axel smirked at him. "Reno, Axel, Rabi, Duo, RUTO. It fits. Get used to it, baby bro," he said, and slid on down the metal, grinning all the while.

With a roll of the eyes and a mutter of "Freak", Naruto Maxwell followed.