Hey dudes! New chapter's up! Whoo! ^^; As always, huge thanks need to go out to those who reviewed: chibi heishi, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, xHanako, RealityInABottle, a-chan, Clockwork Phoenix, ooXloveXoo582, nearcreature, dumdam, Arid Tundra, Lucia-luce, Nekotsubasa, Caithdean, TMX Archives, Cracked Plastic Crown, Love-in-the-Stars, Bane-Dane, Jellicle-Wishes, SUFFERINGLOSTSOUL, ChaosGarden, Dragi, Maiden Masquerade, Shinimegami7, Trempush, ramen-is-my-goddess, Aindel S. Druida, shebajay, MadeInHolland, Little Wolf Vamp Hearts Yaoi, JigokuYume, LoneBoy7, CloudedMirror, and StephanieHatesUtoo!! You guys are awesome!!

Also, haha, for all you dudes in the NorCal region, I just wanted to let you know that my sister and I are officially attending SacAnime Jan. 8-10. We'll be the twins, easy to spot...especially when we're cosplaying as another certain pair of twins...red-headed ones that is... Oh my god, when did I start wanting to publically embarrass myself…? Anyway, onto the story…

O

Chapter 18

Cloud could barely keep himself awake in the car as Axel silently drove them back to Twilight Town, each detective much too occupied with their own thoughts to bother with conversation. After he had learned that Leon and the rest of them had made it out alive, Cloud had allowed the ambulance to take him to the hospital in Dark City, Axel coming along for the ride. He had kept the contents of the text hidden from Axel, his confidence in his partner shaky as he slipped his cell phone back into his pocket. The visit to the hospital itself was a short one, the on-site EMT having done most of the work for the doctors, but they stitched him up, wrapped his arm in a bandage, given him a few pills, and sent him on his way.

By that time, Axel had gotten another call from Luxord telling them what Cloud already knew. Their suspects had miraculously escaped both capture and death and disappeared into the night. Apparently they had leapt from a window on the fourth floor and landed in a dumpster. Whatever it was, Cloud couldn't figure out whether he was relieved or depressed because of it. It would have been…annoying if they had been shot but on the other hand, if they had been captured and taken into custody, this whole thing would be over right now. Perhaps it was a strange mixture of the feelings and that, coupled with the pain and lightheadedness from his wound, was making him slightly nauseous and completely drained.

They pulled up to the Twilight Town police station near 11 p.m., Cloud nearly too tired to push his door open and walk up the steps into the building. Axel dogged his heels, but the blonde ignored him and just continued to stumble up towards the main doors. The last thing he wanted to do right now was face the redhead. He didn't want to think about what he would see on the other man's face. Pity, smugness, guilt, or worst of all that closed off expression that he was beginning to hate most of all; Cloud didn't want to deal with any of it.

The station was relatively quiet, the majority of the staff having long since made their way home. Cloud wasn't terrible surprised though to see that one day shift employee remaining.

Roxas lifted his head from his desk as the two walked in, his whole face brightened for only a short moment before it fell into a glower, "What the heck took you guys so long?"

Cloud let out a deep sigh. "Didn't hear about it over here yet, huh?"

"Hear about what?"

The two detectives trudged into their office, Axel waving for Roxas to follow them. Practically collapsing onto his own desk, Cloud didn't bother looking up as Axel closed the door so the three of them could have a little privacy. "So, what happened?"

Seeing that the older blonde wasn't about to answer, Axel crossed his arms over his chest, "Our guys made their move."

"Really?! What happened?"

"They went back to the Tower, to do who the hell knows what. There were explosives involved, but it's hard to tell if that was part of their plan or not. The Organization had them cornered and a pretty good gunfight got started…it was like a fireworks show. Apparently they jumped out of a window before the Organization could get a good handle on them. That's a pretty good summary of our evening. Oh yeah, and your brother was a moron, ran into the building, and got himself shot."

"You what?! Cloud!" Running around to the other side of the desk, Roxas began tugging at Cloud's clothing as if looking for bullet holes, "Where'd you get hit?"

"Okay, okay, ow! Knock it off, Roxas!" Frowning as Cloud tugged his sore arm out of Roxas's frantic grip, Cloud carefully peeled off his overcoat, revealing the bloodstained clothes beneath, a bandage peeking out through a hole torn open by the bullet. "It's nothing too serious."

Roxas's eyes widened at the sight of the blood, "Holy crap! Cloud, what the hell did you do?"

"I was trying to make sure no one died! I wasn't getting a lot of help either. The Organization has the entire Dark City Police Department eating out of their palm…"

Whipping his head around, Roxas turned to glare at Axel, "Why didn't you stop him?"

"Hey, don't give me that look! You know how he gets; he wouldn't listen to a word I said! For the record, not only did I tell him it was a stupid idea from the start, but I pretty much saved his life. I'm sure the gratitude will come eventually."

Frowning but somewhat placated, Roxas turned back to Cloud. Cloud glanced up and, seeing the worry in his brother's blue eyes, wondered how bad he much actually look to be garnering that sort of reaction from his usually cynical sibling. "W-well, it sounds like you had a full enough day. I'd say that you deserve a break."

Cloud rested his chin on his hand to keep his head from falling to the desk, "Unfortunately it doesn't work like that…After this little show, the public attention is going to be all over this case and there's going to be even more pressure than ever to get this thing solved."

"Cloud, you got shot. I think that that means you can take a day off."

Nodding, Axel walked over to stand behind Roxas, "Besides, and I'm just guessing here, but I don't think very many people besides us and Luxord know who did this. I mean, even we don't have any proof that they were even the ones in the building and that explosion was probably enough to cover any tracks they might have left this time."

Cloud remained silent for a minute to think that over. He hadn't even really considered the fact that no one else would have any reason to suspect Leon, Riku, or Zexion had anything to do with this. Unless they were involved with the Organization, it probably looked more like some sort of terrorist attack on a random skyscraper than anything else. He had known that it was them from the start because his gut feeling told him so, and his phone call to Sora and that text from Leon only confirmed it in his mind. But it's not like those were really pieces of evidence he could use in a courtroom. "…But if they left anything behind or someone saw them…"

Axel shook his head, "Like I said, that explosion probably obliterated any sort of worth while evidence. And when Luxord called about the perps escaping, he said that anyone who would've been close enough to identify who did it was dead. You and I know what's up, but the M.O. is totally different from anything they've done up until now. It'd be a ridiculous jump for the media to say that it was done by the same guys we're after."

"So it's decided then!" Slapping his hands down onto the top of Cloud's desk, Roxas leaned forward, "You're taking tomorrow off, Cloud! Call it a mental health day if nothing else. You look like you could use about twenty hours of sleep. In fact," the shorter blonde looked up at the clock on the wall, "It's almost eleven thirty. You should've been asleep about two hours ago."

Sighing, Cloud ran his hand over his face, "Alright, I get it. I'll call in sick tomorrow or something. Let me just pull some of my stuff together and—"

Roxas shook his head and lunged forward, catching his older brother's hands before they could open his file cabinet, "No! I said you're taking a day off, and I mean a day off! No work, just you, your bed, and your T.V.!"

Cloud narrowed his eyes and tried to pull his hands free, but he just couldn't quite find the energy to do so. He hadn't taken a real vacation, even so much as a day, in years. It just felt…wrong. Especially with everything going on. "What are you, my mother?"

"No, but I'll call her if it'll make you relax for a day!"

Letting out another sigh, Cloud closed his eyes to try and fight off a building headache. "Mom definitely doesn't need to know about what happened tonight."

Roxas grinned and relaxed his hold, sensing that he had won the battle, "That's what I figured. Now, I guess one of us should give you a ride home, huh?"

"I can drive—"

"—Yeah, I don't think so." It was Axel who had spoken up this time, a small smirk on the other man's face, "You were about ready to pass out on the way over here, and you could barely walk up those stairs straight."

Face falling into a thoughtful frown, Roxas fell silent for a moment before nodding, "How 'bout this? I'll take you home, then pick you up for work the day after tomorrow? That way, you won't have to drive now and I can make sure that you don't have a car so you can't go anywhere, like back to work, during your vacation."

"It sounds like I'm going to be held hostage at my own house."

Roxas shrugged, "Pretty much. Whatever it takes."

"…You're set on this, aren't you?"

"Yup."

"…Fine." Pushing himself up and out of his chair, Cloud held the desk to steady himself as he wobbled a bit, "But you're going to have to work your ass off to cover me while I'm not here tomorrow."

Roxas scoffed and opened the door to their office, "I know that. Now come on, let's get you home before you fall over."

Cloud grudgingly followed as his brother led him out of the station, Axel taking a few minutes to lock up behind them. The role reversal was weird, to be looked after; Cloud was pretty sure he didn't like it. Nevertheless he didn't complain as Roxas jumped into the driver's seat, Cloud tucking himself into the passenger's side and allowing his younger brother to drive him back to his apartment. It didn't take long to get there, although Cloud may or may not have drifted off to sleep during the ride, he wasn't sure. The next thing he was really aware of was Roxas pulling up to his apartment complex, the smaller blonde shaking his shoulder to wake him.

"Hey, Cloud. We're here."

"Mn…'kay."

Roxas frowned as he watched Cloud fumble around with his seatbelt and then the door handle, "Do you need me to walk you up?"

Snorting, Cloud pulled himself up with his good arm, careful not to put too much pressure on his right, "Please, I'm not that messed up."

"Hey, I'm just trying to be nice! Don't need to bite my head off…"

Taking a breath, Cloud paused. "Sorry…my mood's not the best right now."

At the apology, the younger's eyes lost some of their edge, "Yeah, no kidding. I'll give you a call if anything particularly amazing happens at the office, alright?"

Cloud gave him a small wave to show that he had heard as he walked up to his apartment. Much to his chagrin, Roxas didn't leave until he got to the door, pulled his keys out, and unlocked it. Really, it wasn't like he was five years old. He just couldn't see straight. No big deal.

Stepping into his house, he locked the front door behind him then continued straight on to his bedroom. While he still wasn't sold on the idea that he needed to take a whole day off, he would readily admit to needing a good night's sleep. And right now, his bed looked like heaven.

Not even bothering to take off his shoes, Cloud flopped down onto the rickety twin-sized bed. He was out like a light the moment his head touched his pillow.

OoOoOo

Several hours, fourteen to be exact, passed by before Cloud's blue eyes flickered back open. Scrunching up his nose, Cloud quickly closed them again and buried his face into his covers. The sun was hitting him straight it in the face. Apparently he had forgotten to close his window last night.

Frowning, he let a few minutes go by as his mind slowly came back into focus. It was weird, waking up like this. Not the fully-clothed, on-to-of-the-covers part, but the part that didn't involve waking to a piercing alarm clock going off in his ear. Shifting slightly, Cloud's frown deepened as the muscles in his right arm protested, sending a dull shock of pain up through his shoulder and down to his fingertips. A small hiss slipped passed his lips and he slowly eased himself up to lean back against the headboard. Not only was his arm killing him but his head felt heavy. It was probably because of the painkillers he had taken last night, plus the fact that he had slept in so late. He hadn't gotten more than six hours of sleep for the past six weeks or so, his body wasn't used to it.

Cloud glanced over at the clock out of curiosity, his mouth falling open as he took in the time. It was already 2 p.m. He had wasted over half of his day off sleeping! Then again…what else was he really going to do? He may not have gotten a full night's sleep for a few weeks now, but he couldn't even remember the last time that he had gotten a real vacation day. Usually he at least brought home some paperwork to go through but Roxas and Axel had made sure that he left his briefcase behind before they left the office.

Not quite sure what to do with himself, Cloud settled on taking a shower, pulling on a change of clothes, then stumbling out to his rather pathetic kitchen to make lunch. He didn't really do much cooking, usually not able to find the time, but luckily he had a freezer stocked full of microwavable dinners. Honestly, he ate worse now than he did when he was in college.

After heating up his less than healthy meal, he plopped himself down on his couch and turned on the T.V. As he ate, Cloud tried to make his mind go blank, to simply focus on the colorful moving pictures on the television screen and shovel food into his mouth. But his brain wasn't having any of it. Images of yesterday kept flashing through his head, along with all of the crime scenes he had been to in the past month or so. All the damage that was done, all the property that was stolen…all the human life carelessly destroyed. Leon, Riku, and Zexion…they were guilty, and he and Axel had almost developed a solid enough case against all three of them to take it to the D.A. and get arrest warrants. Then they had to go and pull a stunt like this…

Axel and Roxas had been right yesterday though. As far as Cloud knew, there was nothing from the scene that could link any of the three to the crime. The only real piece of evidence they had was the text Leon sent to him, but any decent lawyer would be able to counter that in seconds. Perhaps if any stolen property showed up in their possession but…he had a feeling that they were only going to catch the three felons with stolen money once. They seemed to be the type who learned quickly from their mistakes.

Realizing that he had decimated his microwavable meal, Cloud set his plate on the coffee table before settling down in his seat. His arm was still throbbing a bit, but he hadn't expected his bullet wound to magically heal itself over night. Hopefully he would be able to hold his gun again soon; he wasn't going to be very good out in the field if he had a bum right hand for a couple of days. The way the investigation was going, a gun was starting to look more and more necessary to making it out alive. Especially now that Zexion, Riku and Leon had apparently declared war against the Organization. He wasn't sure what they were up to, besides making a statement, and he wasn't sure that he would like the answer when he found out, but something in the back of his mind was nagging at him. They must have had some sort of motive other than simple retaliation. After having spent some time with them, he could imagine Riku doing something like that, but not Leon and certainly not Zexion. The latter two would have had more of a reason behind their actions. He just had to figure out what—

Cloud's thoughts were scattered as a high pitch ringing filled the air. In his rather disheveled state it took him a few moments to realize that it was his phone. What if Roxas was calling about the case?

Practically tripping over his own feet, he jumped up off of the couch and darted into his bedroom. Cloud swore as he heard the ringing coming from a small pile of clothes on the floor, frantically digging through them until he found the jacket he had been wearing yesterday. Digging through the pockets, he finally found his cell, yanking it out and flipping it open just before the call switched over to voicemail. "Hello?!"

"You sound out of breath."

Cloud's eyes widened, his grip on the phone subconsciously tightening as he leaned back against his bed, "Leon?"

"Hey."

Face falling into a scowl at such a casual response, Cloud glared at his carpeted floor, "What the hell do you mean, 'Hey'? What were you thinking yesterday?"

"I was…thinking about a lot of different things."

Cloud's scowl only deepened as he felt his cheeks flush. He didn't know if the other man had done it intentionally or not but the tone of his voice had implied that one of those things had been him. "Why the call? Did you want to brag about the fact that you managed to elude capture?"

"No, actually, I'm calling on behalf of all of us. We want to talk."

"What?" Cloud couldn't have possibly heard right. It had sounded like Leon had said that they wanted to talk, "Talk? Talk, like, turn yourself in, talk?"

He heard Leon give a low chuckle, apparently amused by the disbelief in Cloud's voice, "Sort of. We were thinking of more of a negotiation."

Cloud's face went blank before he pulled the phone away to stare at it. Yes, the screen said that it was Leon calling. No, he did not appear to be dreaming nor did this appear to be the side affect of his pain meds. So what the hell was going on then? "I don't think that you're in a particularly good position to be asking for a bargain, if that's what you're talking about. After yesterday, you'll be lucky if the judge and jury don't put you right onto Death Row."

There was a small noise and a slight change in Leon's tone, but it was all that it took to let Cloud know that the other man was smiling. The bastard was actually smiling at him. "We both know that there's nothing to say that what happened yesterday had anything to do with us."

"Then how do you know what I'm talking about?"

"Easy. It's been all over the news since six o'clock this morning. I figured you would've known about that."

Snorting, Cloud picked himself up off the ground and went back into his living room to flick on the T.V. Switching to the local news channel, his face fell as images of the Dark City tower flashed across the screen. "…Looks like they got some nice camera angles of your handiwork. But I still don't see what you possibly have to tell us that could make this go any easier for you. Even if we can't pin you for the Tower explosion, the three of you have more than enough to put you away for life."

"What if I said that we could hand you the Organization on a silver platter?"

That caught Cloud's attention. "Run that by me again?"

"We have the proof you need to send some of the highest members of the Organization to prison."

Sitting back down on his couch, Cloud laid back so that his head was resting on one of the arms, his knees dangling over the other. If Leon really had proof of that, it would be…well, it would be unbelievable. "Oh yeah? What exactly would that proof be?"

"I don't think so. First, we get to make a deal, those are the stakes."

"And how exactly did you come across this proof of yours?"

"Let's just say we got it through some good luck."

"Somehow I find that hard to believe."

"Just, hear us out Cloud. We'll even come out and meet you. Drive into Traverse Town and we'll be—"

"Oh no, if you want to try and strike a deal with me and the Twilight Town Police, you're going to have to make it official and come to the station."

"I assume that we'll be able to walk out without being slapped with arrest warrants?"

It was like he was reading Cloud's mind. "Depends on what you have to say. It's a possibility." It was if they could get the warrants soon. If he called the D.A.'s office now, he might be able to wrestle up some attention and they could get their warrants issued sooner. They probably wouldn't be officiated for about 48 hours but that would still be plenty fast. Unless—

"We'll be there tonight then."

Unless Leon said something like that. Time to make excuses. "Tonight won't work. I've been, uh, forcibly removed from my post for twenty-four hours."

"What? By who?"

"By my brother. Something about hypertension or exhaustion and having time to heal. I blame absolutely everything on you by the way."

"I suppose I deserve it. But, since you're off duty today, we'll be there first thing tomorrow."

Damn. That meant that he'd have to pull a few strings to get the warrants in before they got to the station. "Fine. It will only go worse for you if you back out now, so I'll expect you to show."

"We'll be there."

There was a small pause before the call abruptly ended, Cloud staring at the cell phone screen again before speed dialing another number. So much for his day off. For a minute there, Cloud thought that he might actually be forced to take a break from the case.

Cloud leaned his head back to stare up at the ceiling as he waited for his next call to go through. The phone rang, and rang, and just when Cloud was about to hang up and try again, someone finally picked up, "TTPD, Detective Flynn speaking."

He couldn't help but smirk at the other man's professional tone. He had never been on the receiving end of one of Axel's business calls before. If he didn't know any better, he would say that the man was a mature officer of the law. "It's Cloud. I—"

Before he could even get going, Axel interrupted him, "Can you really not let work go for twenty-four hours? You're worse than I thought!"

"This is important."

"It'd better be. Otherwise I'm gonna get Roxy in here to give you an earful."

"Leon just called me."

"What?!"

"Leon called."

"Just out of the blue like that? What the hell? What did he want?"

That's right. Cloud hadn't ever told Axel about the text Leon had sent him last night. The thought brought a frown to Cloud's face as it brought back to mind the doubt he had about his partner's loyalties. "He, Zexion, and Riku are coming into the station tomorrow morning. They want to talk."

"They're giving themselves up?"

Pausing, Cloud considered his next words carefully. If it had been like before, Cloud would have told Axel every detail about the conversation he had just had with their suspects but now…If he were to tell Axel that the three were coming in with information about the Organization, and Axel was actually working for the Organization, something might go wrong with the plan. His heart feeling a little heavier in his chest, Cloud finally replied, "I don't know what they're thinking. Maybe. But either way, I need to get everything set up for us. It's pretty much going to be up to you to contact the D.A.'s office; we need to have arrest warrants for all three of them before they come in tomorrow morning, in case they decide to confess. And reserve an interrogation room for a few hours, I don't know how long it's going to take."

"And how exactly am I suppose to get our warrants in twelve hours when we've been trying for weeks to get them?"

"Try harder. Besides, our cases against them are a lot better now than they were the last time we petitioned for a warrant. Pull any strings you have to to make it happen."

"Yeah, like I have that much political weight to throw around here. But I'll see what I can do. Damn, of course the hard work comes on the day me and Roxy kick you out of the office."

"You deserve it. Being stuck here is worse."

He heard Axel scoff through the phone line, "You have a weird sense of bad situations. Anyway, I'll try to have everything ready when you show up tomorrow. Thanks for making my life more complicated."

"No problem. See you then."

Hanging up, Cloud let his eyes fall closed as he set his phone down on the coffee table, his hand going down to rest on his stomach as he continued to lay sprawled out over the couch. Axel wasn't the only one who suddenly had a complicated life…

The sun had barely peeked over the eastern horizon when Squall woke, the couch he was sleeping on giving a sharp jolt. Instantly awake, he looked up and found Zexion staring down at him with his usual disinterested expression. "You have half an hour before we need to leave for the train."

Letting out a small grunt to show that he understood, he let his head stay on his pillow a little longer as he watched Zexion hobble out of the room, undoubtedly to go and spend their remaining minutes with Demyx. When they had gotten back to Traverse Town after the drive back, they had all agreed, although rather grudgingly, that it would probably be best if they stuck together for a while. That, and their houses might be under surveillance, either by the police or by the Organization. Neither would have been a good thing to return to. Thus, they had all camped out at Xigbar's place. However, it was still hard for Squall to sleep on a couch with his brother instead of walk fifteen minutes to their home, where they each had beds waiting for them.

Ever since they had gotten back, Sora had alternated between yelling at him for doing something so dangerous and sticking to his side like glue. He was pretty sure that Zexion had received a similar treatment from Demyx. The fact that Cloud had told them not to come in yesterday had actually been a blessing in disguise since he got to spend a full day with his younger brother despite the frustration that came with being confined to a single house with five other men.

Speaking of which…Squall glanced around, looking for Riku. The other man supposedly slept on the floor in the same room but he hadn't been asleep by the time Squall finally crashed on the couch. The fact that he still wasn't in the room either meant that he went to bed really late and got up really early, all while being so quiet about it that Squall didn't wake, or that the silver-haired hitman had never actually slept.

As he finished scanning the room, his gaze settled on Sora. He didn't know how they had managed it, but the two Leonharts had managed to squeeze onto the same couch after neither was willing to make the other sleep on the floor for the night. Right now Sora was curled up on his side, one arm flopped over Squall's legs while the other was tucked under the younger's head as a makeshift pillow. Somehow he still managed to look comfortable.

Knowing that Sora would be mad if he left without saying goodbye, Squall reluctantly reached up and gently shook his brother awake. He waited a moment for Sora's sky blue eyes to flicker open before speaking, his voice still rough from sleep, "Hey Sor, we're going to be leaving in a bit for Twilight Town…"

Sora's eyes squeezed shut again as he clutched onto the blanket covering both of them. "Mmn, no…"

"Yeah."

He heard Sora let out a breath before his eyes once again slipped opened. Then, before Squall knew what was happening, Sora rolled himself up so that he was sitting up on top of Squall's stomach, "No, you can't leave yet…! It's too early."

Wincing as the cold air hit his legs, chilling him despite the fact that he was still fully dressed, Squall only managed a weak smile. "Sorry, but we need to follow the train's schedule."

Sora only frowned down at him at the reply. "Do you really have to leave so soon?"

"Yeah…" Pushing himself up, Sora slid down onto his lap as he sat up, "The faster this is over with, the faster things can go back to normal."

"But—but what if things don't go back to normal…?"

Sora had spoken so low that Squall had barely heard him, "Huh?"

The teen bit his lip before looking down, fiddling nervously with the blanket that had pooled up in between them, "What, what if things don't go back to normal…? I just, you're going to a police station. After what happened, won't they arrest you?"

Squall let out a breath before shrugging his shoulders lightly, "I won't lie…it's a possibility."

"And if they arrest you, doesn't that mean you're going to jail?"

"…Probably."

Lifting his chin, Sora raised his eyes to match his older brother's gaze. The worry in the younger's eyes almost physically pained Squall. "I, don't want you to go then. If you end up in jail I…I don't know what I'd do. I don't think I could, could go through losing anyone else."

Face softening, Squall was about to respond when suddenly two cups of coffee were thrust into his line of sight. Blinking, Squall's eyes followed the cups up to the hands holding them and then to the face, his confusion not lessening any when he found Riku staring back. "Here, you look like you could use it."

Still confused, but sensing that the other was legitimately trying to do a good deed, Squall hesitantly accepted the cup closest to him, "Thanks…"

Seeing the man's offer, Sora blushed, "Uh, sorry, but I don't really drink coffee."

Riku tossed the teen a wink, "I thought that might be the case, which is why yours is hot chocolate."

Squall couldn't help but feel grateful as Sora's face lit up a bit, the teen nodding his thanks and reaching out for the second mug. Eyeing the other man, Squall frowned up at him, "You're up early."

"Didn't bother going to sleep."

Letting out a hum, Squall took a moment to take a sip of his coffee. "Are you that nervous about today?"

Riku blinked back before a small smirk slipped onto his face, although Squall noted that it lacked some of his normal arrogance, "Not so much, although I'll admit I'm not so hot on the idea of walking into the lion's den. Mostly I just didn't see the point, since we're getting up so damn early this morning."

"Won't you be tired?"

Both Riku and Squall looked back over at Sora, both having forgotten that he was there for a minute. Nevertheless, Riku rolled with it and gave the teen a comforting smile, "Don't worry about me, kid. I can handle one night of not sleeping. Besides, there wasn't much to do yesterday but sleep anyway, so I'm at my limit."

"That is good to hear. It would be rather inappropriate for you to fall asleep in the middle of our bargaining." Zexion had reappeared back in the doorway, "We now have about twenty minutes before we need to leave. I would suggest getting yourselves ready to go."

Riku rested his chin on his hand as he leaned over the back of the couch, "Did you stash all the loot?"

Zexion's brow rose before he gave a small nod. "Everything has been taken care of. I have returned Xigbar's weapons to him and the money will be safe momentarily. Ah, the weapons remind me: it would be prudent of you to leave any weapons you may have here. The last thing we need is to give them the excuse to arrest us for concealed weaponry…"

"Don't worry, I was a good boy and left my holster off this morning."

"No hidden knives anywhere?"

"Zex, only you're weird enough to actually hide daggers under your clothes. Have a little faith in us."

Even from across the darkened room, Squall could tell that Zexion was rolling his eyes, "Only after you are able to earn it…Now, make the best of your time. The next time you see me, it will be time for us to leave."

Squall and Riku both nodded. However, Squall had no idea how twenty minutes could pass by so fast. Before he knew it, Zexion was back in the hallway and he was climbing off of the couch after receiving a tighter hug from Sora than he ever thought his brother capable of giving. He ignored the kiss Demyx and Zexion were sharing and even pretended not to see the small hug Sora gave Riku despite how much it made his stomach twist to see. After all, despite how much he didn't want to think about it, this could be the last time the two were going to see each other without being separated by jail bars.

It felt strange as the three of them finally stepped out of Xigbar's house, each carrying nothing except enough money for the train and the CD tucked safely away in Zexion's pocket. Squall had become so accustomed to having his gun on him that he almost felt naked. It was still too early for the general population to be up so they had the streets to themselves as they walked to the train station. Only a handful of people were waiting at the station, the sun still only rose halfway above the horizon as they boarded the train.

The ride to Twilight Town probably would have been rather pleasant had Squall not been so completely unsure about what they were about to do. The sunrise was beautiful that morning as it rose over the fading autumn landscape, the word reflecting a soft of glow in the pale light. It had been a while since he had been up to see a sunrise.

By the time that they pulled into Twilight Town station, the sun had risen fully and was just starting to beat off the chill left behind by the night. The small city was enveloped in a fog bank that had seeped up from the seashore, making it hard to see to the end of the streets. Not that it mattered; by now, all three of them had a pretty good idea about where they needed to go. Stepping out onto the platform, Squall pushed his hands into his pockets as they continued walking straight ahead.

Sooner than he would have liked, the Twilight Town police station emerged from the fog, Squall's pace slowing at the sight just enough to be noticed by his companions. Turning around, Riku gave him a look, "What? Having second thoughts?"

Letting out a sigh, Squall shook his head. He couldn't stop thinking about what Sora had said. "It just, feels like we're giving up. Do you think they're really going to arrest us?"

"I dunno, you're probably the one who'd know best."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think Detective Strife has it in him to arrest you?"

What sort of question was that? "Yeah. He seems pretty intent on it, actually."

"Then they'd better go for our trade or there's your answer."

Squall had known what the answer was; maybe he had asked just to have someone actually say it out loud. Shaking his head again, he returned to a normal pace, keeping up with Riku as the two quickly climbed the short flight of stairs up to the front of the building. Zexion took a little longer to get up with his crutches, but Squall couldn't say that he minded the break. Was it strange that this scared him more than going into battle or breaking into a building?

He tried to push the thoughts away as Zexion made it up to the top, all but holding his breath as they stepped through the front doors only to immediately spot some familiar faces. Cloud and Axel had apparently been waiting for them.

Keeping his gaze away from the blonde detective's face, Squall let Zexion do the talking. The shorter man was much more eloquent anyway. "Good morning gentlemen. Shall we get this over with?"

Axel smiled dryly, "Sounds like a plan. But I'm sure you won't mind if we pat you down first."

Riku rolled his eyes, "Of course not."

"Good. You know the drill. Turn around, hands on the wall, legs apart."

Squall sighed but did as the redhead said, Riku even more reluctant to obey him as they all slowly turned around. Zexion kept silent as Axel patted him down, Squall too remaining quiet as Cloud came up and made sure that he didn't have any weapons on him. Squall had to bite his lip to keep a comment slipping out though as Cloud quickly ran his hands over his body, his motions completely professional but arousing nonetheless. But it seemed that Cloud didn't want to linger and switched over to Riku the instant he had finished with Squall. Riku scowled down at the blonde, "You guys really need a metal detector."

Glancing up, Cloud finished his search, "I wouldn't trust it. Besides, I wouldn't put it past any of you to carry non-metfallic weapons."

Axel nodded in agreement, "But it looks like you guys are clean. Come on, the room's right over here."

The three followed at a short distance as the two lawmen led them down a hallway Squall knew only too well. Cloud and Axel's demeanors were casual but it wasn't hard to pinpoint a tension just beneath the surface. He supposed he really couldn't blame them; after all, within the last few days alone, they had dragged the two detectives into a firefight and car chase, escaped from the cabin and out of police protection, only to turn around less than twenty-four hours later and bomb a skyscraper.

After they had all filed into one of the interrogation rooms and sat down around a table, Cloud pulled a tape recorder out and set it on the tabletop, speaking a moment later. His voice was soft but guarded, clearly not wanting to waste this opportunity, "So, Zexion, Riku, and Leon; yesterday you called me asking for a meeting and have come here by your own freewill, is that correct?"

Zexion nodded briskly and launched into his speech, "Indeed. Detectives, we are fully aware that you have been building a case against us and intend to put us in jail for our crimes."

"Are you admitting to them then?"

"Hardly. I will not do your job for you. However, knowing that the two of you are at least somewhat adept, I am assuming that you already have something against us. We three are here to offer a deal."

Axel scoffed, "Oh yeah? It doesn't seem like you really have much to bargain with."

Eyes sharpening, Squall finally looked up at Cloud at the redhead's comment. Didn't Cloud tell Axel about what they had said on the phone? It seemed like it would be an important point to mention to his partner. Unless…Realizing that he was being stared at, Cloud's eyes connected with his, an understanding suddenly sparking through them. He suspected Axel of being the informant.

Squall's gaze turned to study Axel's expression as Zexion continued, unphased by the turn of events, "A certain piece of evidence has come into our possession through a series of events, much too complex to discuss." Reaching into his pocket, Zexion pulled out the CD and set it on the table in front of him, "On this disk is a compliation of data that proves, without a doubt, the involvement of several well-known businessmen from Dark City with the crime ring known as the Organization."

Axel's face paled a bit, whether from surprise or something else, Squall couldn't be sure. "How, how can we trust that anything on that is authentic? It seems like it would be an easy thing for you to type up on your home computer."

"Because you can trace the data back to having originated from computers in the possession of the Organization, specifically those computers located on the fifth floor of a certain tower in Dark City. If your department does not now how to verify this, I would be happy to give your IT employees a short lesson."

Cloud frowned, "I'm sure our guys will manage, and you can bet that we'll double check. But for now, Axel, go grab a laptop."

"Are you serious? You want to go over this now?"

"Before we go any further with any sort of bargain, we need to know what we're getting for it."

"I don't think so." Snatching up the CD before either detective could get their hands on it, Riku waved it around, "Before you see this, we need to set some rules. When you finally admit that the stuff on here's real, what are we going to get for it?"

Cloud's face fell into a frown, "Maybe we'll advise the judge not to give you a death sentence."

"Yeah, that's not good enough."

Zexion stepped in before an argument could erupt, "Allow me to put it this way. Though the three of us have caused you a bit of a headache over the past month or so, which would be a greater accomplishment? Putting us in jail, or putting some of the most notorious crime lords of the region in jail?"

Axel crossed his arms, eyeing the CD warily, "We still wouldn't have the same sort of evidence against them that we have on you, no matter what's on that disk. By the end of it, we probably wouldn't be able to put them away for more than a few years."

"I suppose you will have to decide which is more important to you and your department then, getting us off the streets or putting career criminals behind bars, if only for a few years. I hope you realize that by doing this, the ones who are most at risk in all of this are us. We are putting our lives on the line to, to ensure that justice is done, and to make some recompense for the damage we have caused." Leon barely kept in a small snort. There was nothing selfless about their actions, and everyone here knew it. However, it would probably sound good on tape, which undoubtedly was Zexion's motive.

Cloud stayed quiet for a minute, his lips pursing before he spoke up. Squall could tell that he wasn't happy with the situation. "If, and only if the information is accurate, and we are able to take in the Organization…we might be able to arrange some sort of deal with you—"

"Cloud!"

The blonde shot a quick glance to his partner at Axel's exclamation, "I'm not exactly comfortable with this Ax, but this could be our only chance to nail the Organization for anything. And, despite the damage you guys have caused, I know it's a lot less than the damage the Organization deals out annually. So make an offer."

This is the moment they had all been waiting for, Zexion speaking up after a short pause, "Nothing less than a pardon for all three of us."

Axel let out a sort of choking noise as Cloud's eyebrows shot up. "A full pardon? With everything that you've done? I don't think so!"

"Well, I am afraid that spending time in prison is not in our plans for the future. Consider your options well before you respond."

Squall could tell that Cloud was becoming stressed, the blonde's finger tapping on the tabletop as his brow furrowed. The decision must be a hard one for the detective to make, but that didn't mean that Squall was going to let up any pressure, "Who would you rather see being sentenced in a courtroom? Us, or the Organization?"

"You all should be sentenced in a courtroom! But, in the long run…" Cloud heaved a sigh, Axel watching cautiously as he spoke again, his voice sounding almost defeated, "In the long run, as much as I would like to see you all in prison…this is just too good of an opportunity. So…full probation for five years, for each of you, if, and only if, the Organization is convicted. If not, no deal."

Axel sat up, "No way Cloud, we've worked way too hard on this to—"

Interrupting before Axel could continue, Zexion nodded, "Deal accepted. Riku, if you would?"

Smirking, Riku set the CD onto the table again and slid it across to where Cloud was sitting. As soon as Cloud's fingertips touched the disk, Axel rose to his feet with a disgusted look on his face and, before Cloud could even say a word, stalked out of the room.

Cloud frowned but tightened his grip on the disk, picking it up before reaching over to turn off the tape recorder, "Looks like this meeting is over…"

"So it would appear. Well, thank you very much for your time Detective Strife. I would say that it has been a pleasure doing business with you but I believe it has been a headache for everyone involved."

"I'm assuming you can see yourselves out?"

Riku smirked, "I think we'll manage."

Leaning back in his chair, the blonde watched as his three suspects-turned-collaborators stood up, eyes drifting up as Squall lingered behind. Letting out a sigh, Cloud tilted his head up, "…What? Do you want to rub it in my face that I have to let my case go?"

Squall shook his head. It hadn't even crossed his mind to do so. Speaking for the first time since they had gotten into the station, Squall stepped closer to the detective, "No. How's your arm? That's where you were injured right?...You've been holding right arm stiffly all morning."

Cloud nodded slowly, then rolled up his sleeve to show Squall the bandages wrapped around his forearm. A small breath left Squall as he saw the wound's location; it was in nearly the same place that Seifer had gotten shot the last time he had seen the other soldier. It seemed like so long ago. Taking another step forward, Squall fingered the bandages lightly, "Looks like they did a good job treating you."

The man's blue eyes were on Squall's fingers, a frown slipping onto his lips, "They did. Of course, if you hadn't gone looking for trouble, it never would have happened in the first place."

The bitterness in Cloud's voice stung, but Squall hid the emotion as he withdrew his hand, "It was the last time. After all," he straightened up and turned towards the door, "we're working with the police now."

"Don't add insult to injury."

Squall shook his head with a small smile, the expression fading as he reached the door, "Look over the CD. And keep an eye on Axel. I think, you might be right about him…"