Len: Sorry for the later than usual update.

Rea: We were seeing all our friends over spring break! Now we start school, but Len usually does his updates in class, so you should all be alright with us returning. We're not as busy this quarter anyways.

Len: I do hope you enjoy this chapter. Love you, Toosh! (A private note to our fan ^.^)

Chapter Two: Burn

"Where's Roxy?"

"What?"

"Where's Roxy?"

"Who's Roxy?" The Night guard asked.

Axel sighed. "Tell Ansem to give me Roxas again tonight."

"Why should I, criminal?"

Axel smiled at first. He stood and walked slowly to the bars, where his little smirk became a cold-blooded hate. "If Roxy isn't put back on my shift, this place...you...everything....will burn."

"N-no!"

"Yes, Yes."

"No, please!"

"Oh, yes...yes...." Axel advanced, flames all around him, licking his body. But he couldn't feel the burning heat. Fire could never hurt him. "I want it." He said. "I need it."

"Please, don't!" The man cried out, backed against the wall with his hands shielding his face.

Axel set his weapon down at the man's feet. "Fight me."

"No!" The man said. "I-I don't know how!"

"Fight me." Axel said again. "Show me what you can do."

"P-please! Don't h-hurt me!"

Axel sighed, the flames nearly died down completely, as if he was out of energy. He looked tired for a moment; the kind of tired that mimics inner death. His eyes flashed and he was angry enough to kill. "THEN BURN!" he screamed. The fire returned nearly four times higher and hotter than before. The man burst into flames and burned out quickly in the face of Axel's furry. At first he screamed, but just as Axel was getting his high, he stopped and crumpled over. Most of his body turned to dust as as soon as his body doubled over. Axel stared as if stunned that it had happened, calming down enough for the fire to disappear.

Axel kept staring at the mess of black and grey dust covered in human ooze for a long moment, the tired look silently creeping back into his dead eyes. He sighed. "What a bummer." he said. "Axel, you've got to learn to control yourself!" He scolded, before realizing what that meant. "Oh, never mind. You couldn't stop the killing even if you wanted to. It's just too....good."

"This feels good to you?" Axel spun at the man's voice. He was in a dark cloak like his and the hood was up. He coudn't even tell his hair color from where he stood.

"I suppose you've called the police." He said. "I'd better go, then. Or you should. I don't want to kill you."

"Really? Because I haven't called anyone." The man leaned against the brick wall to the right of the alley. "Just tell me the truth. Why does it feel good for you, pyromaniac."

"Hey, hey! I'm not crazy!" Axel denied, obviously knowing where he was going with such a question. "I just like the feel of it. It makes me feel so....why do you want to know, huh? It just feels good. I don't know why!"

"You should explore that." He turned his back on Axel and began to walk down the alley. "Feel free to burn me to a crisp." He said nonchalantly.

Axel just stared after him. "Nah, I'll spare you." He practically whispered.

Roxas did indeed dream of Axel all day as he slept for his night-guard job. Hot hands wandered over his body in his dreams, but behind bars, Axel could never reach all the parts Roxas wanted him to touch. He woke up in a heated sweat and took a shower first thing. He tried the water hot, but it reminded him of the sexy criminal too much. He hoped Axel hadn't told the day guard about what had happened.

He looked into the mirror after his freezing shower and stared deep into his own eyes. "It's not so bad, is it? He didn't rape you or anything...It's not like you didn't need it. Look how sexy you are this morning. You're totally changed by this guy. And you'll be more careful about getting too close to the bars. It's not like it's bad that he's really hot. Everyone has the ability to be hot, even homicidal maniacs. Right...Roxas?" He paused, staring at himself like he was crazy. "Who the hell am I kidding?"

He slumped out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. Sora was pouring himself some organge juice as he stared at the half-deranged form of his brother.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked Roxas as the blond got out a pan and some eggs.

"What do you think is wrong? I was up most of the night, and you woke me up this morning." Roxas complained, though it was actually his mind that wouldn't let him rest.

"It's not morning. It's afternoon. Sorry for having work." Sora replied moodily.

"I'm sorry. I'm not myself this morning."

"Is the job really bad or something?" Sora asked.

Roxas was silent for a long time as he cooked. Only after he flipped the eggs, he surprised Sora by replying. "Not bad, per say...just a little stressful."

"Oh." Sora decided not to push it, since Roxas was making him breakfast. He began to eat as soon as the plate was put in front of him.

"Say, Sora....theoretically, what if I met a guy....?" Roxas asked, turning back to fix his own breakfast.

"You don't theoretically meet a guy. You meet a guy." Sora said, mouth full. "Who?"

"I don't know...I was just wondering...about..." Roxas trailed off. His egg was starting to burn, but he was just staring down at it.

"Alright. Well, is he sexy?"

Roxas blushed. "Huh? Yes. We don't...have to talk about this..."

"You brought it up." Sora pointed out.

Roxas turned his attention back to cooking, flipping his already demolished egg suddenly. "Right. Red hair." He said.

"Ah, it is your weakness." Sora said as if Roxas was silly. He added, "Uh...I'd just start a new one." about the egg.

"Yah, well. Green eyes." Roxas didn't comment on his egg, which was burning again and now about a third the size it was supposed to be.

"That's new to your guy profile." Sora said. He finished up and put the dishes in the sink.

"It looked really good on him, though." Roxas poked the egg with the spatula, but didn't do anything else.

"Night guard?" Sora asked, staring at the egg with Roxas.

"Yah." Roxas replied immediately. He wasn't about to say anything else, after all. Sora turned the stove off.

Roxas was almost late to work that night because he had taken so long talking to himself in his apartment bathroom. As soon as Ansem assigned him to a different section of the prison and apologized about setting him against Axel the first night in a very nonchalant "he didn't tell us that you screwed up" sort of way Roxas gave a sigh of relief. Part of him couldn't forget Axel's firery hair, but the other half wanted to be as far away from such a lunatic as he could.

That is, until there was an obvious explosion in Axel's hallway. Guards flocked to the secured sector to stop whoever was breaking loose. None of those prisoners could possibly be let go without killing someone. Ansem arrived shortly before Roxas, who was in the back of what appeared to be a circle around the prisoner, closing off the hallway. "Roxas!" He said, coming up to the boy. "Listen to me- What did Axel do?"

"W-What?" Roxas asked nervously.

"What does he want from you?" Ansem asked. There was the sound of an explosion going off again. Roxas shivered at the obvious power. "Quickly, please!"

"How would I know?" Roxas lied, and Ansem took his arm and dragged him to the middle of the ring of guards without another word.

Axel was flaming. Literally, practically a ball of fire. He was a threat too great for even the one hundred officers that surrounded him. Everyone had a weapon out. Shouts of "Just give him whatever he wants!" and the like could be heard from the cells in the hallway behind them. As soon as Axel caught a glimpse of Roxas, he turned completely cool and the fire went out. No one relaxed but Axel.

"Ah, Roxy. There you are. Come work down here. I've missed you."

"WHAT?" Roxas half-yelled, exasperated.

"You heard, my love." Axel winked.

"So you see, Roxas, the only reason Axel hasn't broken out yet is because we pretty much let him have anything he wants. Some people have a very calming effect on Axel, and that's why they work there. But he still hasn't kept one guard more than a four to six month period...He says some people calm him, but it isn't for long, in other words...." Ansem sat back in his chair as if trying to think of a solution.

"So, why are you telling me this? I don't understand." Roxas said truthfully. He was seated across from Ansem in his office now, pretending not to know what his boss was telling him, or denying reality. Axel was being temporarily detained by a small group of officers in the hall coming from Ansem's office. He was obviously getting impatient, though.

"Well, it's not simple, Roxas. See, I've been waiting for the old gaurd's calming effect to run out. It always does. And when that happens, we try guards until he's satisfied, and he stays in there a few more months until that calming effect wares off. He usually ends up....well..."

"Killing them?" Roxas asked rhetorically.

Ansem sighed. "I hesitate to send you in as his guard. He can kill everyone here...but somehow I'd rather that then a boy be killed." He said seriously.

Now Roxas had no choice. "What you're saying is that I'm Axel's new fix, Sir?"

"Yes." Ansem replied. "In a way."

Roxas leaned back so far in the chair that he almost fell onto Ansem's office floor. "I see." He said once he recovered balance. "So I've got to work down in his tunnel area?"

"I'm afraid so." He stood and Roxas followed him out to greet Axel, who smiled at Roxas.

He could tell what Axel was thinking. He didn't have to say "I've got you now, little one!" His face spelled it out in capitals.

"He stays because he wants to." Ansem continued. "We actually treat our criminals well considering what they've done. We allow them books and normal food. Some of my men have been known to slip them cigarettes, though that's really against the rules..."

"I've got to get to work, then, Sir." Roxas said, taking the chain that one of the guards was holding like a leash around Axel's neck. The red-head looked positively ecstatic at this, of course.

"Huh? No argument?" Ansem asked. He was clearly a little surprised.

"Did you expect one?" Roxas asked.

"I don't think you understand. He may KILL you." Ansem said, getting up in Roxas' face.

"Well, Sir...actually...I thought it was an order. And I'm pretty non-confrontational." Roxas said.

He closed the door behind him just as Ansem was saying "I think that's why he likes you so much." Maybe it was a little rude, but Roxas didn't want to argue, and that was the point. He began to drag Axel down to the cell.

"I guess....hmm....I guess I like it because..." Axel stared at himself a few seconds before feeling like finally giving up. "It's been hours! Why did I think that guy said that for any particular reason anyways!" He yelled. "Oh, I feel like burning him now! Why'd I let him walk away! He would scream so pretty as his body burned slowly. The screaming! The screaming! The sight of his flesh just peeling away- oh!" Axel sat down in the chair next to his bathroom, not looking in the mirror on the wall anymore. He sighed.

Then it hit him. "Oh, now I get it...not even trying to anymore! But I guess that's it...the look...the sound. Fire crackling, screaming, red and orange and ash and....I need it again now...I shouldn't think about this so much. It just makes me want to more..." Axel put his head in his hands and took deep breaths. "Let me do it again....It feels so good...." He whimpered. "Why does everyone think it's so wrong....?"

"Welcome back." Xemnas said, laying down a card.

"Welcome back." Xigbar repeated, laying another card in retaliation. Roxas walked past them.

"Welcome back, Roxas." Larxyne said happily. "Don't get burned."

"Hey, Roxas!" Demyx waved. "Oh.....h-hi, Axel...."

And at last, the far too cool fiery voice of Axel, deep and unnerving and soothing and musical "Hi, Roxy. Welcome back to my cell room."

"Hi, Axel." Roxas replied, feeling the same hot chill run wild down his spine as before. "Will you stay in your cell now?" He asked as he unlocked the newly patched-up door and opened it.

Axel didn't answer, but stepped inside. "Did you dream of me?" he asked sincerely.

"I don't think we should talk about this, Axel." Roxas said just as honestly.

"Why, Roxas? Because it felt good to think of me all night? Because you're lonely?"

"Axel...."

"Are you afraid it was...wrong...?"

Rea: Cliffhanger!

Len: What do you expect. I do it all the time. Please review!

Rea: You never ask for reviews if you didn't write most of it!

Len: The reviews are for us and axulsgirl now. I must ask for reviews.