Hey all! Once again, I apologize for the getting the chapter out a little late. This time my only excuse is I'm sick. After my sister and roommate came down with something, it was pretty much inevitable that I was going to be next. Not to mention the fact that my university has pretty much turned into a giant sanatorium with students and faculty dropping like flies. Unfortunately none of my classes were canceled and you're still expected to show up unless you're on death's doorstep. Bah, who needs to breathe properly, I'll still bike the four miles to and from school. Anyway, whatever it is I have, a cold, swine flu, the bubonic plague, the next chapter managed to write itself despite it all.

Thank you very much to The Hollow Fairy Wolf, Shinimegami7, Nekotsubasa, andhearts, Lems, ChibixLeon, Dragi, CloudedMirror89, LoneBoy7, b4k4 ch4n, ramen-is-my-goddess, Bane-Dane, FireHawk038, DeNiSaY60, krad, , ooXloveXoo582, Lucia-luce, MadeInHolland, and RealityInABottle! Reading your guys' reviews gave me the energy I needed to get this thing done!

By the way, this chapter sort of earns the "T" for "teen" rating. Um, yeah…just a warning.

O

Chapter 10

Hurrying down the front stairs leading up to the Twilight Town police station, Squall found Riku and Zexion waiting for him at the bottom. Riku gave a little smirk in Zexion's direction, "See, told you he'd follow us out."

"Yes, well, it is not too surprising is it?"

A frown formed on Squall's face as he fell in line with the other two, "Neither of you seem very worried about the fact that we were all just brought in for questioning."

Shifting his position on his crutches Zexion gave an imitation of a shrug, "They clearly did not have much, although I will admit that the fact that they were able to bring the three of us shows that they are indeed closer on our trail than I would have preferred…Nevertheless, that is not my key concern at the moment."

"How's that?"

Riku took over from the drowsy looking Zexion. Squall wasn't sure if the detectives had noticed but Zexion was definitely not at his best, his eyes having lost some of their edge to the pain medication he had taken. "He's not concerned about the detectives because they have to play by the rules. I don't know if you remember but the last guys we tried to rob are run by a major crime group, and they're probably not too happy with us right now."

Squall's frown deepened as the three began to slowly make their way towards the Twilight Town train station. Since they had all been brought into the city in the back of a squad car, they had to rely on public transit to get them back home. Luckily the walk wasn't far but it would take them just to the edge of the city limits up a small hill. "Do you think that they're going to try something?"

"I know they're going to try something—"

"—Which is why," Zexion interrupted, "the two of you are being laid off, as it were."

At this, both Riku and Squall's attention was captured, "What?"

Nodding, Zexion continued to look straight ahead as he limped forward with his crutches, "For the time being, I think it would be best if all of us were to lay low. Whereas before we were able to simply focus our expeditions on a new town, this time we will surely attract the attention of the Organization wherever we go. They will forget about us with the passing of time but it would be wise for the both of you to find alternate means of employment."

The thought of once again being unemployed sent a chill down Squall's spine, "There are no other jobs. Don't you remember why I went along with all of this in the first place?"

"You and I will be facing the same problem so do not expect sympathy from me."

"Weren't you working at that employment agency downtown when I first met you?"

"That hardly pays enough to provide a suitable income. Although the job allows access to municipal records it provides few other benefits. Believe me, as soon as I feel it is safe to do so I will restart our little business."

Riku scoffed a bit at this, an annoyed scowl clear on his face, "I never thought I'd see the day when you went into hiding."

"One does what they must when their survival is at stake."

"I think Demyx is rubbing off on you too much."

Zexion shot an icy glare at Riku, "Perhaps my fractured fibula has reminded me of my own mortality, a fact you yourself should remember from time to time. Besides, it is clear that the police are at least somewhat aware of our involvement and will undoubtedly be watching us closely. We should not allow them the opportunity to gather more evidence against us by committing further crimes."

"If you think that they're getting too close, I can take care of them for you…"

Squall stiffened as he realized what exactly Riku was offering. Riku was a hitman; assassination was his specialty. "As much as I appreciate the offer Riku, I think it would be prudent to decline, although that could be the medication affecting my rationality. In our line of work one should not murder an officer of the law unless they are absolutely sure that they will get away with it. In this case, I fear that there are too many eyes trained on them and on us for it to go smoothly."

"Fine, but don't say I never try to do anything for you." By now they had walked a few blocks, the area emptying of pedestrians as they moved further away from the city center. As they crossed the street, Riku shot a sly grin towards Squall, "By the way, don't think I didn't notice your flinch, Leon. You of all people should know that you don't humanize the enemy."

Frowning, Squall ignored Riku's insinuation, "That reminds me, you kept calling me 'Leon' back during the interview. Just what were you trying to do?"

Zexion raised his eyebrows as if he had just realized that for the first time, proving that the drugs were indeed having an effect on his cognition. Feigning ignorance, Riku gave Squall an "innocent" look that he didn't buy for a second. "You mean they didn't know about that before? Guess we're all in the same boat now, huh?"

Squall nearly tripped as he stepped up onto the sidewalk, his attention focused on glaring at Riku, "You ungrateful brat. After what happened at the tower, you owe me your life!"

"But you owed me from before—"

Scoffing, Squall's glare hardened, "The favors can't even be compared. Maybe I should just let you fall next time."

Riku's grin had left his face to be replaced with a piercing gaze of his own, "Maybe you should've."

"Would you two stop bickering!"

Falling silent as Zexion raised his voice, Squall was suddenly struck by déjà vu. Except instead of him having to be the mature one, it was Zexion. Embarrassed that he had managed to let Riku rile him up so much, Squall forced himself to calm down, taking a slow breath to ease his temper. He had been on edge recently, it wasn't too much of a surprise he had let himself go like that.

Riku, however, didn't seem to have the same feeling and instead turned to Zexion, his annoyed scowl still in place, "What?"

"I think…we are being followed."

This immediately caught both Squall and Riku's attention, both beginning to subtly glance around. Automatically resting his hand on his hip, where his firearm would've been if he hadn't just been taken to the police station, Squall's grey eyes narrowed,

"Why's that?"

"Because. It may just be my imagination but I think that I have seen that black car behind us pass by once before, as if it were circling."

Squall glanced back behind them and, sure enough, there was a black SUV on the road about a block behind them, stuck at a stoplight. "Maybe they're just lost…?"

"Perhaps—" Zexion stopped midsentence as Riku suddenly tensed beside them, "What is it?"

As he shook his head Squall saw Riku's hands moving up to where his own holstered guns would've been, "All the windows are tinted. I just have a bad feeling about th—Get down!"

Starting at Riku's shout and the abrupt screeching of rubber on pavement, Squall threw himself to the concrete sidewalk, hands instinctively moving to cover the back of his neck as, he kept his head down as a sudden hail of bullets ripped overhead. The barrage ended with another sharp squeal of burning rubber, the sound of Squall's pounding heart and panting breath slowly coming through as his ears rung from the unexpected onslaught of noise.

He ran a quick mental check, cautiously concluding that he hadn't sustained any injuries before slowly pushing himself up, his gaze immediately searching for his companions. Riku was beside him, a flash of teal showing under a veil of silver hair before the gunman sat up as well. Seeing that he looked relatively unharmed, Squall turned to look behind him only to find Zexion somewhat curled up against the wall, his crutches thrown haphazardly to the side. It was clear the man had just let himself drop to the ground at Riku's command and, with his broken leg, was probably the only way he could've moved fast enough to save his life.

Looking up, Squall saw the brick wall behind them littered with a roughly horizontal band of bullet holes right about where their torso would've been if they had been standing upright, and right about where their head would've been if they had only crouched down.

Squall glanced back as Riku stood up completely, the man shaking himself off before brushing the remaining dust off of his clothes as if he had simply been bumped by someone in a crowd. Shocked, Squall followed suit and stood, "What was that?"

"That," flicking a final piece of dirt off of his jacket, Riku turned his eyes up to meet Squall's, "was a pathetic attempt on our lives."

"But who…?" Squall shook his head. When Zexion had said that they were being followed, he had immediately assumed that it was the detectives but they definitely didn't seem to be the type to try and take your head off with an automatic assault rifle which, if he was still able to accurately identify weaponry by the sound of their discharge, was the weapon that had been fired at them.

Wincing, Zexion grabbed his injured leg, apparently having banged it up in his dive for the sidewalk, "I would say that it likely was our dear friends at the Organization. This seems like their typical sort of warning."

Squall's gaze shot back to the wall behind him and the ruined brick façade, "That was a warning?"

Nodding his confirmation, Riku watched as Zexion picked his crutches up and stumbled to his feet, "Yeah. They're not the type of guys who mess around."

"How did they even know we were here?"

Riku looked to Zexion and Squall followed his gaze, the smaller man frowning thoughtfully as ran his fingers through his bangs, momentarily displaying the other side of his face, "That I do not know. They have undoubtedly been looking for us but even I am surprised that they found us so quickly. Not even we knew that we were going to be in Twilight Town until a few hours ago…" Zexion's voice trailed off for a few seconds. When he spoke next, his voice had a sharp tone to it, "The Organization does not have a base here in Twilight Town so, giving their timing, they must have left as Dark City to drive here nearly at the same moment we ourselves were being driven to the interrogation. The most likely explanation for this is that the Organization has some sort of connection among the police and were tipped off."

"How much do you think they know?"

Squall's question was met with a slight shrug from Zexion, "It would be difficult to say. We will simply have to wait to see what happens next. However, it is more imperative than ever that we maintain a low profile. I hope that this little, display, has convinced even you, Riku, of that necessity."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Swiping a strand of hair away from in front of his eyes, Riku made one more visual sweep of the road, "Anyway, now that the fun's over, we should probably get moving. The train leaves in about ten minutes; if we miss it, we'll have to wait another hour and I'd rather not give those guys an easy opportunity to make a return visit."

Cloud and Axel had just finished putting away their material from that disaster of an interrogation they had just attempted to hold when there was a commotion coming from the main part of the office. As Axel curiously raised his head from his paperwork, Cloud hopped up and opened the door to their office, a stream of excited voices reaching their ears as officers hurried out of the building. Sticking his head out, Cloud spotted Roxas near the front of the room talking to a small group of desk workers. Cloud caught his attention with a sharp whistle, yelling out across the main floor as the smaller blond turned his head, "What's all the fuss about?"

"A report of a shooting just came in from up on Market Street! I guess it happened a few hours ago but we just got wind of it now because there's hardly anyone up there at this time of day."

"A shooting?" Hearing Axel come up to stand behind him, Cloud frowned. There were hardly ever shootings in Twilight Town. Hell, there were only a handful of people who owned guns, excluding members of law enforcement. "Was someone injured?"

"I don't think so; I didn't hear anything either way. Apparently is was right up near the train station so we're thinking it was done by someone from out of town."

"Hey…" Axel's voice caught the back of Cloud's ear as the redhead leaned back against the doorframe, "Do you think it's just a coincidence?"

"That what's just a coincidence?"

"That we were just interviewing three suspects wanted for murder and robbery and right about the time they leave there's a shooting?"

Catching on, Cloud scowled, "They would've been going that direction too."

"Then again, when they came in none of them were armed. The guys at the booking desk said they checked them all twice for weapons."

Just as Axel had finished his sentence, the two detectives heard the buzz of a police radio from in the huddle Roxas was standing in. Moments later, Roxas spun around and hurried towards them, "Hey guys! The first units just got to the scene. It looks like there were no signs of any injuries but they estimate around fifty rounds were fired into the side of a building! They're saying it's probably a drive-by shooting!"

"Fifty rounds? From a drive-by?" Axel whistled, "Must've been a semi-automatic or automatic weapon then. That sounds a little out of our perps' range. And we know they didn't come with a car."

"Still, I wouldn't put it past them to somehow be involved…Maybe one of them somehow got a gun and a ride and was trying to silence the other two?"

"I don't know. From what we saw, I think they like each other too much to want to kill the others in cold blood, even if it's what they do. Maybe someone else took a shot at them—"

"—And there's a pretty short list of who wants them dead."

Axel met Cloud's gaze, "You think it was the Organization?"

"I'm not sure. But it would fit. If so, this whole thing is getting way out of hand. Getting shot at in broad daylight, why won't they just confess?!"

"Maybe they think they have a better chance out there than in a jail cell."

"At least they wouldn't be killed in a jail! I doubt the Organization's going to just let them go; there's going to keep going until all three of them are dead. Everyone on the force has heard stories about the lengths they'll go to just to prove a point."

Giving a slight nod, Axel glanced out their office window, the Twilight Town clock tower gleaming in the distance, "Right…They've done a lot worse than a drive-by shooting. We have to solve this fast before they try something like blowing up the train."

"This is ridiculous!" Blue eyes flashing, Cloud stormed past Axel and over to his desk where he quickly grabbed his jacket, pushing a pile of papers and miscellaneous junk off of the top of his desk and straight into his briefcase.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going to see Leonhart to get a damned confession!"

"This could be considered harassment you know."

"Fine! He can sue me for all I care!" Snapping his briefcase shut, Cloud straightened up,

"This little game has gone on for long enough. It's time to end it before someone gets hurt!"

Letting out a sigh, Squall stepped into his home, closing the door behind him. Hearing footsteps, he looked up to find Sora appear from the family room. "You're back! What happened?"

Squall shook his head, "They just wanted to talk, nothing to worry about." Setting his keys on the side table by the door, he ran his fingers through his hair, "Were you getting hungry? Sorry, I said I'd have dinner ready by now."

Sora walked up to him, eyeing his older brother as if searching for wounds, "No, it's okay! I was just wondering when they were going to let you out."

Giving Sora a smile Squall hoped was comforting, he ruffled the teen's hair before making his way into the kitchen. This time when the police had come, Sora had been home. Luckily they didn't cuff him again when they took him in. Then again, Squall wasn't sure what they would've done if he had refused to go with them. Instead of putting up a fuss, he had just quietly told Sora was going to be out for a while and left with the police officer who had come to his door to get him.

"Sorry about that."

"Is everything alright? They're not, not going to come back for a while, right?"

Squall glanced back at Sora as he pulled his jacket off, dropping it onto the kitchen table before walking over to the fridge, "It doesn't look like it; unless something changes I should be left alone for a while."

"Good. I, don't like it when, when that happens…"

Pausing as he grabbed a head of lettuce, Squall glanced back again to see Sora gazing down at the floor, his hands clenched at his side. A frown worked its way onto his face and he dropped the lettuce, "Sor…come here."

Sora hesitated a moment before shuffling forward, clearly ashamed as tears began to build up in the corner of his eyes. The drops escaped, trickling down his cheeks as Squall pulled him into a firm hug, "I, I'm sorry! I shouldn't be crying! But I'm just scared that, that you're going to just disappear someday, just, just like M-mom and Dad! I don't want to come home and find you gone!"

"Hey, hey, it's alright. Sor, it's alright." Tightening his grip on his brother, Squall ran his hand up Sora's back to rest in his hair, his shoulder beginning to dampen as the teen buried his face against Squall's shirt to try and stifle his crying. "That won't happen. I won't let that happen." Gently urging Sora's head back up, Squall pressed their foreheads together, "Even if I am eventually arrested, it won't be the same as Mom and Dad."

Shaking away the thoughts of how close he suddenly came to being gunned down that very afternoon, Squall stared resolutely into Sora's sky blue eyes, "I'll always come back, I'll make sure of that. Okay?"

Squall received a shaky nod, Sora's tears having dried up as the younger met his eyes, "Yeah…" Giving a trembling laugh, he nodded, "I'm sorry. I'm acting like such a little kid!"

"I don't blame you. I know, I've been putting you through a lot recently, things you shouldn't have to deal with. But I need to ask you for a little more patience. Can you do that for me?"

"…Yeah!"

"Alright. Now," reaching back into the fridge, Squall grabbed the lettuce again, "let's get dinner going. I'm hungry, I'm sure you're hungry, and it's been a long day."

"Can I help again?"

"Of course."

An hour later the Leonhart boys had put together and consumed a satisfying enough dinner. Having managed to get all the dishes, pots, and pans washed, they had retired to the family room to lounge in front of the television. Squall could tell that Sora had had a stressful day. Now that his stomach was full and his brother was home, Sora was beginning to nod off, his eyelids drooping every now and then as he tried to focus on the show they were watching. Nudging him lightly in the side, Squall gave him a quick smile, "Tired?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah." Sora let out a soft laugh, "Guess so."

"Why don't you turn in for the night?"

"You sure?"

Squall nodded, "Since all the, excitement, recently at work, I'm taking a break from all that so we'll have all night tomorrow to hang out."

Nodding back with a sleepy smile, Sora slowly pried himself up off of the couch, "Okay! Good-night then."

"'Night. See you in the morning."

Squall watched as Sora strolled off towards his room, his eyes floating back to the TV as he heard the teen rustling around in the hall bathroom before his bedroom door closed. Settling back down, Squall let himself melt into the sofa a little more, never feeling so grateful for a quiet evening.

Only fifteen minutes later, that quiet was shattered by a sharp knock on the door. Immediately back on edge, Squall muted the television, tensing as he heard another knock, this time more demanding. Looking down the hall to make sure Sora wasn't coming out of his room, Squall slipped to his feet. Not having time to go all the way to his room for his pistol, he picked up a knife as he passed through the kitchen instead. He held it behind his back as he crept toward the front door, a third knock coming just as he reached the entryway.

Taking a breath to steady himself, he utilized the peephole, a gruff, annoyed noise escaping him as he spotted a familiar head of golden blond hair that seemed to stalk his doorstep. Squall flung the door open, resisting the urge to stab the butcher knife into the detective as he came face to face with Cloud Strife, "Do you know what time it is?"

The blond stepped forward, clearly intent on blocking Squall from closing the door, "We need to talk."

"We've talked. We've talked more than you deserve from the lame-ass crap you try to pull me in on."

He saw Detective Strife's eyes flash, "You want to tell me about what happened after you left the station?"

Raising a brow, Squall set the knife down next to his keys, noticing how the cop didn't even look down to check. The man's focus was disquieting but the fact that he wanted to know about what happened that afternoon caught Squall's attention. Deciding that it would be better to let him in than perk neighbors' curiosities, Squall moved aside, waving the detective in when he hesitated. "So you found out about that?"

"There's a wall on Market Street full of bullet holes, yes we've found out about it, the whole city found out about it."

"News travels fast."

"Don't be smart with me!" Detective Strife set down the briefcase he was holding, all his attention on Squall's face as the SeeD closed the door to keep out the cool air, "What happened?"

Taking a step back, Squall shrugged, not liking the tension he was feeling quickly building up, "What you'd expect, due to what we've been accused of. Someone took a potshot at us while we were walking to the train station."

"How can you be so casual about it! Someone tried to kill you on the street and you're just brushing it off like the weather?!"

"It's not like I'm okay with it! I'll admit, at the time I was scared shitless but I made it through alive so there's no reason for me to dwell on it."

"Dwell on i—Has it occurred to you that they're going to try to kill you again?"

"First of all, keep your voice down. My brother doesn't need to know you're here. Second, I'm not stupid, of course I know that. But I need to be able to live my life in the meantime. You can't constantly think about dying."

"You wouldn't have to worry about it if you just turned yourself in!" Throwing his hands up in exasperation, the detective nonetheless kept his voice low as he combed his fingers through his hair, his usually beautiful face marred by a deep scowl. "You clearly care about your family, your brother. If nothing else, every second you keep this up, you're putting him in danger! Do the right thing for once in your life—"

"Do not start that!" Hissing angrily, it was Squall's turn to advance on the other man, "Every single thing that I have ever done in the last two years has only been for the good of my family!"

"You sure do a hell of a job showing it!"

Squall's anger, which had been boiling too near the surface all week, slipped for a second and he grabbed Detective Strife's wrist, his voice a low, tight whisper, "Listen, you stuck-up bastard, I have had just enough of your high-and-mighty attitude! We haven't all had it easy! You don't know what I've been put through to get where I am, as god-awful as that place is, so don't start lecturing me again!"

The detective refused to back down, giving a sharp tug to test Squall's strength, "And you say I'm repetitive. All you say is how horrible your life has been but I've seen men in worse situations come up with better solutions than you have! Stop making excuses for yourself and at least have the guts to face the consequences of your actions!"

A small gasp escaped the blond as Squall shoved him up against the wall, "I have never made excuses!"

"It's all I've ever heard coming out of your mouth!" Scowling, the lawman struggled to break the soldier's grip, neon blue eyes sparking with a rage that only served to fire up Squall's own anger. "Things are getting dangerous! It won't be too long before people start getting injured! I could care less what happens to you but innocent people are going to get caught in the crossfire! If you have even a shred of conscience left, confess!"

"I'd rather face the Organization than rot in a prison cell!" Squall's hold tightened, the man forced to lean closer in order to keep the detective trapped against the wall. As he felt himself starting to lose control of their argument, it was the only thing Squall could do to keep any sort of upper-hand on the situation. "Why are you so persistent?"

Still trying to get free, Detective Strife jerked forward, "Because prison is where you belong! You're a thief and a murderer and everyone knows it!"

Squall pushed the blond back up against the wall, "Why don't you prove it then?!"

Apparently the other man had had enough of being pushed around. Tearing an arm free, he managed to reach a hand down towards his belt, a quick glint of cold metal the only warning Squall needed to know what was coming. Before Detective Strife could even pull his revolver out to defend himself, Squall grabbed the wrist holding the gun and with one hand, his other occupied pinning the blond down, twisted the detective's arm to force him to drop his weapon. Detective Strife let out a strangled cry of frustration as the handgun clattered to the hardwood floor. As he threw all of his weight into loosening Squall's grip, Squall was just barely able to keep him restrained, both of their breaths coming out in pants, chests heaving as Squall finally managed to pin Cloud with a shaky grip, their faces less than inches from the other's.

Squall wasn't sure who snapped first. It could've been him or it could've been the detective. He found that he didn't really care though as lips were suddenly pressed against his. Letting out a low rumble, Squall closed his eyes as their struggle for dominance shifted into their kiss. Everything that had been building up inside of him, all the anger, fear, attraction, anxiety, was being released all at once. He didn't know what he was doing anymore, only knew that it wasn't enough.

Automatically relaxing his hold on the detective's wrists, Squall's hands moved up to instead grab the blonde's head behind his ears, pulling the man in closer to deepen the kiss. The blond, who had seemed to be somewhat shocked into submissiveness until then, suddenly came to live in his arms, forcing his way forward until there wasn't any space left between them. Feeling a sharp sting on his bottom lip, Squall let out a small gasp, apparently the only invitation the detective needed, their tongues meeting along with the taste of blood.

As Squall's ability to think rationally began to wash away, the only goal he had in mind was a bed. Get to a bed. A bedroom where Sora wouldn't hear. Stumbling back, Squall haphazardly began to lead Cloud back towards the only room that he could think of, his parent's room. The other man didn't seem to have the same sort of patience and Squall nearly lost it in the hall as Cloud began to disrobe, jackets, ties, and shirts dropping onto the floor as Squall half-heartedly continued to push Cloud back.

Reaching the bedroom door at last, Squall shoved it open, separating from Cloud just long enough to shut it firmly and lock it behind them before roughly pushing Cloud onto the bed. Climbing up after him, the last of Squall's rational thinking disintegrated, his finally emotions boiling over as their lips reconnected.

The next thing he was consciously aware of was a white shaft of light hitting his face, Cloud letting out a small moan as he slowly let his eyes crack open. Rubbing tiredly at his face, Cloud let out a long breath, a dull stab of pain suddenly hitting him. Frowning in confusion, he carefully moved again, his heart stopping as he felt someone shift beside him.

That's right.

Last night he had gone to Leon's place to try and get anything, a confession, evidence, even an indirect admission of guilt. But to say that things went a little differently was the understatement of the year. Not to say that he hadn't enjoyed it at the time…

Steeling himself, Cloud rolled over so that his eyes landed on his bedpartner. Leon was still fast asleep, the covers drawn up to his waist as he lay on his back, his hair mussed from their previous activities. With that image, reality suddenly crashed down on Cloud and he felt the distinct urge to vomit. Or throw himself off of a building. Anything to get rid of the guilt and self-disgust racing through him.

Sitting up, Cloud cradled his head in his hands as he tried to think. There had to be a way out of this. There had to be a way out. So what if he had slept with his suspect? So what if they were suspected of murder and robbery? So what if—Damn it. If anyone found out about this he'd be lucky if he was just taken off the case. He could be kicked off the force, or worse, criminally prosecuted. Just because he lost it for one night.

But maybe the trip didn't have to be a complete failure. With another glance back at Leon to make sure that he was still asleep, Cloud carefully slipped out from underneath the sheets. Covering his mouth to smother a moan, he tripped over to his pants which had somehow found their way over to the other side of the room. Reaching into one of the front pockets, he pulled out a DNA swab he had brought along, never having expected to use it like this.

Technically, Leon had willingly given him a sample of his DNA, so it was legal evidence. Sealing up the swab, Cloud made short work of pulling on the clothes he could find nearby.

Once he had his belt buckle fastened he took a moment to look around the room Leon had pushed him into. Judging by the pictures on the walls it wasn't Leon's room. He was in a few of the pictures however, a younger him, and a younger boy, probably the brother Leon had mentioned earlier. The family photos showed a couple and their two sons living what appeared to be a relatively happy life, all the smiles in the pictures seemingly genuine. However, the frames of the photographs were all covered in a thick layer of dust and as Cloud took another look around, he realized that the rest of the bedroom's furniture had a similar coating of dust. The room looked like it hadn't been used for months. That meant that his parents were either living in another home or not around anymore. From the way that the master bedroom had apparently been sealed off, Cloud would have to guess that his parents had both died.

Cloud frowned lightly back at Leon, the brunette man still sleeping lightly on his side of the bed. Walking over, he fiddled with the DNA swab in his hands before slipping it back into his pocket. Resisting the urge to brush Leon's bangs off of his face, Cloud settling instead on a soft whisper, "Sorry, Leon. I'm going to get this case solved, for both our sakes."

A small crease appeared in Leon's forehead at the sound of the murmur, the man shifting slightly under the covers. A small smile flickered onto Cloud's face and he glanced at an alarm clock on the bedside table. 4:31am. Well, at least traffic would be good on the way back to Twilight Town.

Making sure to remain as quiet as he could, Cloud snuck out of the room, closing the door behind him slowly so as not to make a sound. He didn't let himself relax yet, remembering that the night before Leon had said that his brother was home, and continued to creep through the house. He had his fill of drama that day, all he wanted to do was get home and take a shower.

As Cloud moved down the hall he gathered up the remainder of his clothes from the floor. He forced down the emotions that were resurfacing at the sight, focusing on buttoning up his shirt. The only thing that he should be feeling now was relief that he had finally got a break in the case…But the feeling wouldn't come no matter how much he tried to force it.

He settled instead on letting a numbness seep in, that same numbness that entered his bones whenever he got a particularly disturbing case or arrived at a gruesome crime scene. He had to remember his job. It was just about getting through it; doing what needed to be done and putting it away when it was over. Simple as that. It had to be as simple as that or he'd go crazy.

Making sure that he had everything with him, including his handgun which had been kicked under a table sometime during the night and the briefcase he had left by the door, Cloud paused to listen for movement one last time. When only the continued silence of the home reached his ears, he picked up a set of keys placed on a small side table by the door. Finding the one that matched the lock on the door, he unhooked it from the key ring. Opening the front door, he pulled the door shut firmly behind him and locked it, slipping the key back through the mail slot when he was done. Even if Leon was a murderous burglar, Cloud's guilt would be a little too much to handle if someone from the Organization came during the middle of the night and killed him or his brother in their sleep.

With a sigh, Cloud walked around the corner to where he had parked. It was clear that he had been in a hurry on his way there by his parking job; he had pretty much parked at a 45 degree angle to the curb, having nearly took out a motorcycle that was parked up against the side wall of the alleyway.

Cloud jumped into the front seat, wincing as he hit the leather. It seemed that he shouldn't forget completely about what had just happened. The fact that physical activity should be kept to a minimum, for example, was something that should be remembered.

The drive back to Twilight Town was fairly calm, as he had expected. The only people on the road beside himself were commuters just getting off of the night-shifts and truckers bringing goods between cities before stores opened up for the day. The drive that usually took about two hours only took one and a half, the clock reading 6:17am as he pulled into the parking garage of his apartment complex. That gave him about an hour to get ready before he had to get back in the car to go to work.

Not wasting a second, Cloud hopped out and hurried up to his apartment. After sitting in his car for so long after waking up in another guy's bed, he really, really wanted a shower. A long, cold shower. With just enough time left over to pull on a fresh change of clothes and stuff some cold cereal down his throat for breakfast, he found himself back in his car.

Luckily the drive was a lot shorter this time and, before he knew it, Cloud was pulling into the police station parking lot just as the sun rose over the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. Making sure that the DNA sample was still in his pocket, he slowly climbed the stairs up to the entrance.

As he walked past security Cloud jumped as a hand fell on his shoulder, "Woah there! It's just me!"

Rolling his eyes, Cloud looked back over his shoulder to find Axel standing behind him, "Give a little warning next time, won't you?"

"I tried! I was calling your name the whole time you were walking up the stairs."

Cloud turned his eyes away from Axel's curious stare as they began to walk back towards their office, "I had an, interesting night."

Axel laughed at his exhausted tone, "I'm kinda afraid to ask! It doesn't have anything to do with Leonhart does it? Did you end up going to see him again last night?"

"Yes, and yes." Reaching their office, Cloud pushed the door open and gratefully set his briefcase down.

"Well, gonna tell me about it detective?"

Instead of replying with words, Cloud simply pulled out the capped DNA swab from his pocket, waving it a bit in front of Axel's face before dropping into the shocked man's open palm. Axel stood, mouth agape, for a few more seconds before shaking himself off, "Are you serious? You got him to give you a sample?"

"Yeah."

"You're like some sort of miracle worker! And I was starting to think you were going crazy or something. Go figure."

"Can you get that down to the lab for me? Tell them it's a priority for analysis. We need those results asap." Cloud wouldn't admit it out loud but he was happy that Axel was so enthusiastic. He was glad to have the matter out of his hands.

He had just sat down at his desk when he heard the sound of Axel snapping open the cap to take a look at the swab, "Wait, don't contaminate th—"

"—Cloud?"

Knowing it was too late, Cloud heaved a sigh, "Yes Axel?"

"Is this what I think it is?"

"Probably."

"Please, please tell me you went through his laundry to get this."

"Not exactly…"

"Cloud!" Snapping the sample shut again, Axel slammed his hands down onto the top of Cloud's desk, leaning in as his voice lowered to a tense whisper, "You slept with our suspect?"

"Listen," Cloud paused a few seconds as he tried to think of any kind of viable excuse. Nope, nothing was coming to mind. "Yesterday was just a crazy night. I'm not even sure what exactly happened. The only thing that you need to worry about is that I got that sample."

Axel just stared at him before shaking his head, "Man…that is seriously messed up."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean the guy sleeps with you and you turn around and betray him the next day! That's kind of a low blow."

"We weren't going to get anywhere either way! Besides, Leonhart wasn't drunk or anything, he knew what he was doing."

"Still…" Axel shook his head, "And you just majorly compromised yourself too. If anyone finds out about this, you'll be kicked off the case."

"Which is why no one is going to find out about how I got this, right?"

Straightening up, Axel frowned down at his partner. For the first time in his career, Cloud suddenly understood how a suspect felt when they were being stared down by that condescending look all cops had mastered, "Well I won't tell if that's what you're asking. You know that's not what I do. But I'm certainly not happy with how this went down. In fact," Looking down at the DNA swab in his hand, he passed it across the desk so that it was sitting in front of Cloud, "if you want to get this sample processed, you take it into the lab. And I mean you, not you passing it off to Roxas. I don't want anyone else involved."

Cloud narrowed his eyes but didn't argue, simply slipping the DNA sample back into his pocket. Silently Axel walked over to his own desk and flopped down, the mood in the office clearly having been spoiled.

The tension remained for another few minutes before Cloud softly spoke back up, his voice much more thoughtful this time. "Hey Axel…"

"What?"

"How is it that we're the good guys, that I did what I did in the name of solving a crime, and yet I'm the one who has to feel the worst about it?"

Face softening, Axel waited a moment before leaning back in his chair, "I guess doing the right thing isn't always easy."

"Is it the right thing?"

"When it comes down to the basics, probably. Leonhart and his buddies committed crimes and they deserve to pay the price for them."

"Why does it feel wrong then?"

"Probably because you're backstabbing the guy you like. It's understandable."

"Thanks. You're so comforting…"

"No problem."