Aww, I don't know how many of you are aware, but this story's starting to wind down! Only a few more chapters left! *sigh* What am I going to do with myself afterwards?

On a different and entirely more serious note, I'm sure most of you have heard of the earthquake and the terrible aftermath that happened in Haiti. I encourage all of you Americans to go to the American Red Cross's website (www. redcross. org, without the spaces) and click on that big red donation button; even $10 is a big help. I heard that you can also donate $10 by texting "HAITI" to 9-0-9-9-9. I'm not sure how it works in other countries, but yeah, that's my little public service announcement.

Huge, enormous thanks and hugs go out to ChaosGarden, Jellicle-Wishes, Cracked Plastic Crown, Shinimegami7, BlackCatHikari, Nekotsubasa, Love-in-the-Stars, Trempush, xHanako, Lucia-luce, RealityInABottle, ramen-is-my-goddess, Caithdean, bliss, chibi heishi, SUFFERINGLOSTSOUL, Becca86, DeNiSaY60, Little Wolf Vamp Hearts Yaoi, Dragi, , Arid Tundra, Clockwork Phoenix, MadeInHolland, JigokuYume, ooXloveXoo582, Shukakku the adorable raccoon, Aindel S. Druida, Bane-Dane, nearcreature, becauseimthefavorite, IceySTAR., LoneBoy7!! You dudes are the best! ^^

O

Chapter 19

Cloud sat for the Interrogation Room for a few minutes after Leon had left, clutching the CD in one hand while just staring at the wall. How had things turned out like this…? He and Axel were going to nail Leon, Zexion, and Riku for their robberies, put them in jail, then move onto their next case to start the whole thing over again. But now…he had just cut a deal with his suspects to put an even more dangerous adversary behind bars and Axel…Axel wasn't beside him any more.

That was the part that bothered him most. He and Axel had been working together for two years now. He had absolute faith in the man, hell, he was even starting to be okay with the idea that Axel and Roxas had something going on between them. Axel had always seemed so sincere…the last thing Cloud ever would have thought was that he'd been double-crossing the department. He still didn't want to admit it but, judging by the redhead's behavior during the interview, he was hiding something. And the worst part of it all was that Cloud knew that he would have to find out what the truth was now.

For the first time in his career, Cloud didn't want to know the truth.

Unfortunately he had a job to do. Pushing his chair out, Cloud stood up, carefully molding his face into a blank expression before stepping out of the room. The building was beginning to fill with day shift employees and he didn't want anyone asking any unnecessary questions just because he was wearing a funny look. As he walked back towards the main lobby, he was nearly instantly jumped by his brother. Roxas's brows were drawn down in worry, his voice serious but tinged with anxiety as he spoke, "What happened? I got up when I saw Axel storm out but he just, just brushed me aside and stormed into your office! He looked really ticked off."

"I'll tell you what happened in a minute Rox, but I need to talk to Axel first."

"Hey! Don't you just brush me off too! I'm really worried here, the least you could do is—"

"Roxas, I said I'll tell you later." Cloud's tone was sharp and left no room for argument.

Roxas's shoulders fell and with a great deal of reluctance turned away, "Fine. But, if it's important, I want to know."

"You'll find out soon enough…"

Not feeling up to meeting his brother's gaze, Cloud continued on, pausing only a second as he reached his office door. He wasn't sure what to expect on the other side. If Axel was guilty of something, how would he be acting now? Expecting the worst, Cloud steeled himself and let one hand drop down to rest on his hip so that his fingers were only inches away from his gun. Taking a breath, Cloud gave one sharp knock on the door before pulling it open just enough to slip inside.

Axel had apparently been waiting for him, though the redhead's back was to the door as he leaned up against his desk and stared out the window. Closing the door behind him, Cloud cautiously stepped forward. Even though his partner had his back turned, Cloud knew him well enough to know that the other man was furious. His suspicions were confirmed as he took another step forward and Axel finally reacted to his presence.

Straightening up, the other detective threw down a sheaf of paper onto his desk, "Dammit Cloud, why did you cut a deal with them? We had them! We were about to close the case!"

Recognizing the papers as Leon, Zexion, and Riku's arrest warrants which Axel had stayed up all night to receive, Cloud grimaced. This was not a good place for this conversation to start. "They're still going to have to go to court, and they'll be under house arrest; it'll pretty much be the same thing as jail, accept for the prison bars. We'll have a probation officers following them around so closely that they won't be able to so much as sneeze without us knowing about it—"

"It's not the same! You might as well have just let them walk! After everything—Just because you fell in love with Leon, doesn't mean you can just decide to let him off!"

Cloud bristled. He was sick and tired of listening to Axel go on about that! Even if he had…developed some level of connection to the SeeD…first off, it still was no where near love, and secondly he would have made the exact same decision had he hated the brunette with every fiber of his being. "That has absolutely nothing to do with this! Besides, we could only concretely link them to one robbery, the rest was circumstantial. Who knows what they could've gotten away with in court?! Think about it for a second, will you?"

Axel fell silent and Cloud immediately began to mentally backpedal to try and figure out what he had said to make the redhead give that sort of expression. Finally, Axel turned away with a sickened look on his face. "So you're not even going to deny it anymore huh?"

Trying desperately to suppress an urge to yell, Cloud forced himself to regain some composure. He had other things to deal with right now than accusations about who he found attractive. "I think that the real question here is why are you so upset about the deal we made? You realize that if this information," Cloud motioned towards the disk in his hands, "if it's verifiable, and if it's as damning as they claim, we'll be able to take some ranking members of the Organization to trial. Do you know what that would mean? It would spell the end of a crime group that has been ruining lives for years."

Axel was frowning heavily at this point, his head tilted so that Cloud wasn't able to read the emotions flashing through his eyes. "It's not the same."

Cloud let out a sigh to try and keep his voice steady. He knew that this wasn't going to be easy, but he hadn't expected it to be this hard. "Axel…?"

The tension between them was growing too thick as Cloud tried to put his question into words, Axel finally snapping as it grew too much to take. Spinning around, the redhead threw out his arms, "What? What is it? Just ask me what you want to ask me!"

"Fine!" Voice rising in volume with his mounting frustration, Cloud walked right up to the other man so that he could look right into his eyes. "Axel, are you working for the Organization?"

"Why would you even think that I—"

"I'm not stupid, Ax! When we were back in that gunfight in the tower the day before yesterday, I know that you aren't that bad of an aim. You didn't hit one guy! You threw yourself into our case, but the moment the Organization is brought up you suddenly aren't interested anymore. I watched you freak out during our meeting as soon as they told us what was on that CD! Tell me why I shouldn't suspect you?! Give me a reason!"

He might have been yelling angrily but Cloud was pleading with his eyes. Just one reason to explain the strange behavior. Anything…

But the redhead just looked away, "Tch…you always stick your nose into other people's business…"

"Axel—"

"—Yeah, I work for the Organization, okay?"

And Cloud's world came crashing down around him. The one man who he had fully trusted, after everything…It couldn't actually be true. "You can't—"

Axel once again interrupted, his green eyes darker than Cloud had ever seen them, "—Sure I can. Not everyone's perfect like you Cloud. Some of us actually went through some shit in our lives! Now, give me that CD, alright?"

The demand revived Cloud and his anger flared as his left hand tightened its grip around the disk, "No."

"I'm serious, give it to me and let's just forget anything happened."

Cloud shook his head defiantly. "No way in hell! I'm going through with this whether or not you're with me!"

"Cloud." Axel's tone had shifted now, to something Cloud almost didn't recognize as his partner moved forward to close the slight space between them, "I'm dead serious. Don't make me do this."

Cloud was just about to ask what he was talking about when he caught sight of the other's hand slip down to his belt. Toward his gun. Not giving himself the time to think, Cloud moved faster, managing to whip out his own pistol just as Axel's fingers touched his holster.

Cloud's voice was shaking, his whole body was shaking, as he pointed the barrel of his handgun straight at his partner's heart, "Don't move!"

Axel looked just as shocked as he felt, the man swallowing once before regaining some sort of courage, "You won't shoot me."

"No?" Cloud met his eyes, daring him to test his theory out, "There's plenty of places to hit you without killing you, but believe me it'll still hurt like a bitch. And I might find it in me, seeing as you were about to do the same to me."

Glancing down, Axel eyed the gun pressed against his chest, "Your grip's loose."

"Shut up, Axel!" His grip wasn't just loose but it was killing him. Out of habit and necessity, his left hand holding the CD, he had grabbed his pistol with his right hand, momentarily forgetting that he had injured his arm. Even the slight strain on his muscles and the effort it was taking to keeping his arm up and outstretched was being to throb with pain. "I can't believe you! I can't believe that you would do something like this!"

"What, you mean join up with the Organization? It's not like it's something I'm proud of." Looking up, Cloud was finally able to pinpoint the look in Axel's eyes. It was something that he had never thought he'd see from the man: self-loathing. "I was stupid as a kid. Shit happened, and they took me in. That simple."

"Then why are you still working for them?"

"Because there were benefits! If it wasn't for me, they…" Axel took a deep breath, seemingly having forgotten about the handgun pressed to his heart as some of his rage seemed to return, "Do you know how long I've been protecting your ass?"

Cloud blinked at the sudden question, the conversation having taken a very strange turn, "What?"

"All because you won't get the hint and are so damned 'high and mighty' and 'dedicated to justice'! You know what happens to guys like you? The Organization makes them disappear! You have no idea the cards I've had to play to keep them distracted. I've been keeping the Organization off yours and Roxas's backs for two years now!"

At the mention of his brother's name, Axel now had his full attention. Cloud's jaw tightened as he pressed his gun in closer, demanding an answer, "What do they want with Roxas?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?! They probably see him as a potential recruit or something! I'm doing my best to keep both of us from finding out!"

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and both men froze, Cloud's eyes moving up to meet Axel's as they heard the door creek open. They were both warning each other with their eyes to stay silent, Cloud turning Axel around so that his back was once again to the door. The blonde was unwilling to let his guard down for a moment. He had seen the desperation in Axel's eyes. Slightly out of breath from yelling, Cloud swallowed once to try and level his tone, "Who is it?"

"It's me! What the heck are you guys doing in here?"

Damn it; it was like Roxas had been summoned by mentioning his name and his brother was definitely the last person Cloud wanted to walk in on the current situation. Cloud's voice tightened as Roxas cracked the door open, "This is between us Roxas, get back to work."

"Don't order me around! Besides, we can hear you screaming at each other out here, if you have to argue, at least do it outside of the station."

The two detectives looked as each other again and Axel finally ground out, "Did you hear what we were saying?"

"No, not really, but the tone was pretty clear. Look, what's going on?" Before either of them could say anything Roxas poked his head inside the office. There was a pause and for a moment Cloud thought he might not have noticed. Then, he saw the smaller blonde's blue eyes widen and knew that he had seen the pistol.

Instantly Roxas was completely inside the room, slamming the door behind him with a panicked face, "Axel! Cloud, what the hell are you doing?!" Running over, Roxas forced himself between Cloud and Axel, "Put that down!"

Cloud growled in frustration but was unable to keep his handgun up while his little brother was in the way. "Roxas, move! You don't know what's happening!"

"That's because no one will explain it to me! All I know is what I see: you pointing a gun at Axel!"

Axel shifted and for half a second Cloud's heart skipped a beat thinking that the other man was reaching for his gun. If he pulled out his gun now, with Roxas standing where he was, he could easier hold the smaller man hostage! "Get back, Roxas! Axel's working for the Organization!"

Starting, Roxas's face paled as he realized that Cloud was being serious. Spinning around, his gaze flying up to Axel's face, "Wh-what?"

Axel's eyes fell shut as if he was in pain, "Roxy, wait—"

Roxas took another step back so that he was standing next to Cloud, the smaller blonde shaking his head in disbelief, "—It's, it's not true, is it? Axel, it can't be…"

"Would you just let me explain, Roxy?"

"Don't call me Roxy! Axel, you, you really…" Choking up, Roxas's hands balled into fists before he suddenly reached back, his tone deadly, "Give me your gun, Cloud!"

"What? No!" Wrestling his brother off of his firearm, Cloud knew that he had to do his job, no matter the emotions constricting his heart. "Enough! Axel," Looking up, Cloud saw that the man's eyes were downcast, his hands clenched at his side. Cloud squared his shoulders, preparing himself for the worst news, "Axel, are you the informant?"

Confusion once again washed over Roxas's face though disgust was still the overriding expression on his face. "Informant? What do you mean?"

Cloud's eyes never left Axel, "Someone within the department has been passing confidential information about our cases onto the Organization. Was it you this whole time Axel?"

Axel muttered something under his breath and Cloud scowled, "Speak up!"

Axel's gaze finally lifted again, his tone dark but earnest. "I said 'I wouldn't do that'."

Roxas was the first of the Strife brothers to reply, "Oh, so now we should believe you?"

"Look," Axel lifted his hands to run them through his red spikes, "I know that I'm not exactly the most truthful person in your guys' eyes right now but I'm not selling our information to anyone and you've gotta believe that. I'll admit, they asked me to but I told them straight out that would be going too far."

"Oh, yeah, good time to show some restraint, you asshole!"

Shushing his brother, Cloud decided that in this case he was going to give Axel the benefit of the doubt. After all if he had been honest about being a member of the Organization, it seemed weird of him to try and hide the fact that he was the informant. Nevertheless, he wasn't going to let up his interrogation. "So if it wasn't you, you still must know who the informant is. After all, you're working for the same people."

Shifting, Axel remained silent for a minute before nodding, "Yeah, I know who is it…But," continuing before Cloud could comment, Axel crossed his arms, "you have to ask yourself if you really want to ask me about them."

Cloud narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "What do you mean?"

"This isn't as simple as you think it is, Cloud. If you want to start this, you're going to have to see this through to the end or else the Organization will eat you alive. It's not going to be easy."

"Just tell me what you know!"

"Are you sure?"

"Axel!" This time it was Roxas who had spoken, the shorter blonde's anger still at a boiling point. Cloud couldn't blame him; he knew that his brother had grown really fond of the redhead. Just how fond, he didn't know, didn't want to know, but Cloud knew that the pain of betrayal he was feeling must only be worse for Roxas. "Just frickin' tell us already! Who is it? Who's the informant?"

Axel still seemed hesitant about it and Cloud was himself getting beyond frustrated, "Tell us everything. If you feel at all guilty about it, this would be a real good chance to start making it up to us."

At the comment Axel closed his eyes again, the man's brow furrowing before a name slipped through his lips, "…Head Detective Fisher…"

"What?"

"If you want to know more about it you should talk to Head Detective Fisher."

Cloud's whole body went cold. "Dilan Fisher?"

"Yeah," Axel sighed before his acidic green eyes flashed opened and gave them a tight, mirthless grin, "though he mostly goes by 'Xaldin' in the Organization."

Roxas's jaw dropped in shock, "Holy crap…! Axel…you, you're lying!"

Axel's jaw tightened, "I'm not lying Roxas. I never wanted either of you involved in this, but you had to go and find out about it anyway." Chuckling dryly, he leaned back against his desk, "But I really shouldn't have expected anything less from you, Cloud. Like I was saying, this goes way deeper than you realize."

Cloud swallowed, "How many others…?"

"Huh?"

"How many other department staff are working for the Organization?"

Shrugging Axel finally looked like he was relaxing, as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Cloud almost understood but he thought the man should be showing a little more sobriety, given the fact that he was facing losing his job, not to mention serious jail time. As a cop, the last thing you ever wanted to do was end up in prison along with all the other criminals you put there. "Well you just learned about the big two. I think there might be one more among the clerical staff, but he's a real low rank, like a grunt member. I can't even remember his name…"

"Well that's good news…"

His sarcasm wasn't lost on Axel. "Believe me, it is. You should see how entrenched the Organization is in the bigger cities."

Cloud didn't even want to think about it. Right now he was trying to figure out how the hell he was supposed to proceed. Axel was right; now that he knew, he wasn't going to be able to back down. He needed to see this through. Which meant that he made to confront his supervisor, and fast, before Detective Fisher realized that he knew. Otherwise, he'd have the authority to fire Cloud before he could do anything about it. But Cloud was going to need help to do it; he needed proof to make an accusation like that. "Hey Axel…"

Axel seemed reluctant to answer, "Yeah?"

Letting out a long sigh of his own, Cloud holstered his weapon, much to everyone's surprise, "The way I figure it…I already made one deal today, making one more isn't really going to kill me." Clearly interested, Axel raised a brow. "I'm, going to need help with this one. And, just like letting Leon, Zexion, and Riku off the hook is worth nailing the Organization, cutting you a deal for cooperation would definitely be worth taking Fisher in if he really is the informant like you say. Besides," Cloud let a weak smile cross his face, "this is something I need my partner at my side for."

The blonde detective was startled as Roxas suddenly grabbed his arm, "Forget about him! I'll come with you!"

"I don't think so." Axel stepped forward with a sincere, thankful smile, "Count me in." Looking down at the CD still clutched in Cloud's fingers, "If you're really taking on the Organization, you're going to need someone to help you tear it down from the inside."

"Are you willing to put yourself out in the open like that?"

"Yeah. I'm done with all their shit, it's time for me to move on. If moving on means testifying in court then I guess I'll just have to deal with it. Let 'em do whatever they want about it…"

Roxas gaped at his brother, "I can't believe you! How can you trust him now?"

Remaining silent for a few moments, Cloud finally shrugged, "…I can't, and I won't." Axel's expression fell though he looked as if that had been what he was expecting to hear. Having seen the change, Cloud released a breath and put his hands on his hips. It was true; as far as he was concerned, his entire impression of the other detective had been shattered. There was no way that he would be able to truly believe that anything that came out of the redhead's mouth was the truth, that the other man really had his back. But…as much as Axel's admission had crushed their relationship, Cloud still couldn't help but believe that somewhere in this new Axel was the old Axel that he had come to know over the two years, and that Axel was just too good of a companion to completely abandon. "There's only one thing for it. Axel, you're going to have to try and earn my trust back. Am I clear?"

As if sensing that he was getting a second chance, Axel's dejected expression regained some of its confidence, "Crystal clear."

"Good." Now they had to get back to business. If they were going to hit the Organization, they would need to hit them fast and hard before the Organization could build up any sort of retaliation against them. Cloud was going to have to coordinate the release of whatever data was on that CD and Fisher's arrest, and it was going to have to happen soon, today, within the hour. He was going to have to put some faith in the idea that whatever was on the CD was going to be enough to prosecute at least some of the highest members of the Organization. That meant that he was going to have to have some faith in the idea that Zexion, Leon, and Riku weren't trying to screw him over. But, thinking about it, their freedom depending on the validity of the data. At the very least, if Cloud went down he knew that he would be taking them with him.

With that though in mind, Cloud looked up, his voice allowing no room for argument, "Then let's not waste anymore time. Rox, confiscate Axel's gun." Roxas did so readily and Axel let him though not without giving Cloud a look. "Even if you've really turned over a new leaf, you're still being paid by the Organization and I'm not about to go into a situation while allowing you to be armed. Are you sure there isn't anybody else among the staff working for the Organization beside those you already mentioned?"

Axel shook his head, "I told you everyone I knew about. That clerk only works the nightshift though, so he'll have left the station by now. And, not to brag, but I was pretty high on the ranks; if there were other people planted here, I would've heard about it."

"Good, we don't need anyone getting in our way."

Roxas's eyes widened slightly as Cloud put the CD down on his desk, "What are you planning on doing?"

"Simple." Pulling his own handgun back out, Cloud checked that he had a full clip, "I'm going to go arrest my supervisor for conspiracy."

"You're crazy!"

"Why? He's in his office, isn't he?"

Roxas sputtered for a minute before glancing up at Axel then, remembering what had just transpired, quickly jerked his face back to look at his brother, "That's not the point! You, you need a warrant and evidence and all that crap! You can't just burst in and—"

"This is an emergency situation, I'm sure the law will forgive me. Now, are you coming or not?"

Pursing his lips, Roxas shook his head before he tightened his hold on Axel's firearm, "Of course!"

"And Axel? Are you?"

"Just waiting on you!"

"Alright, then let's go." Not waiting for any more uncertainty, Cloud walked to the door and pushed it open. Stepping out into the main area of the station, Cloud realized that they had attracted the attention of all of the other desk workers and off-duty officers loitering around the room, undoubtedly because of their raised voices. They of course immediately spotted the weapons in Cloud and Roxas's hands but Cloud ignored all of their questions, merely stating that he had business to attend to. He should've took the time to explain the situation but if he had stopped to talk, they would've wanted to hear the whole story before they let him go and who knew how long that would have taken? There would be time for explanations later.

Moving quickly, Cloud tried to steady his thoughts as he turned down the hall to head to where all of the higher ranking officers had their offices. Head Detective Fisher's office was right next to the Police Chief's…oh god, Cloud hoped that the Chief hadn't come in yet. But he didn't have time to think about that right now. He had to focus and push his anxieties to the side. He had a job to do.

Too soon Cloud came to the right door, his face pale but set. Glancing back once to make sure that Roxas and Axel were right behind him, Cloud took a breath and switched his gun back to his right hand. Even though that arm was ridiculously weak right now, he was just too inaccurate a shot with his left. If he did need to use his gun he was going to make sure that the bullet went exactly where he wanted it to go.

A small group had followed them from the other room but Cloud brushed them from his mind and gave the Head Detective's door a swift and powerful kick, using both arms to hold his weapon as the door flew open. His boss was sitting as his desk, a shocked look on the large man's face, "Detective Dilan Fisher, you are under arrest!"

He felt Roxas rush up to stand beside him, the younger man shaking as he held his gun out. That's right; Roxas wasn't an officer yet, he had no experience with this sort of thing. He was just going to have to learn fast. Cloud's attention flew back to the Head Detective as the man pushed himself up, his expression having shifted from shock to a disturbing calm, in Cloud's opinion only making the man look even more intimidating. He had never been fond of his supervisor, though he had respected the man, and even he had to fight to not back down under Detective Fisher's, or Xaldin's, cold stare. "Detective Strife, the door was unlocked; there was no need to break it down."

Cloud wasn't going to be sidetracked, hardening his voice to show that he meant business, "I said you're under arrest! Get on the ground with your hands behind your head!"

"That's quite a statement. Under what authority do you dare try to arrest your supervising officer?"

"On my own authority!"

Large brows rising, Detective Fisher looked back at him mockingly, "Oh really? And here I was under the impression that you worked under me. By the way, haven't you become a bit distracted from your real case Strife? Something about burglaries…I was aware that you were becoming a little obsessive about it but I hadn't realized that it had devolved into delusion."

"This is my case now, and I can assure you, I'm not delusional! Now get on the floor, you're under arrest!"

"What would the charge be?"

Narrowing his eyes, Cloud stepped slightly to the side so that his supervisor could clearly see Axel standing behind him, the redhead giving a quick wave, "Conspiracy for one! You've been selling confidential information to the Organization!"

Cloud heard murmurs erupt further behind them but ignored it as Detective Fisher's face twisted into something darker before the man let out a low chuckle, his hands sliding smoothly into his pockets, "Axel…I should have known that you would have opened that big mouth of yours and start spreading rumors. Are you aware, Cloud, that the man standing behind you is working for the Organization?"

Before Cloud could reply, Roxas beat him to it, "Shut up! Of course we know, Axel told us everything!"

"Then I suppose there is only one way to respond to this." As the Head Detective slipped his right hand from his pocket, Cloud eyes just barely caught a small metallic shine before a gun seemed to materialize in Fisher's grip, "You should've known when to quit."

But Cloud had prepared himself for the worst. Never having let his guard down, his arms were already stabilized, his shot lined up.

Gunfire erupted in the small room, shouts echoing out as the officers behind them reached for their own weapons. Hearing a cry beside him, Cloud was shoved lightly to the side as Roxas suddenly fell to the ground, Cloud only able to spare his brother a glance. Axel had tackled him from behind and thrown himself on top of the smaller man to protect him from the bullets. Feeling a round scrape passed his own ear, Cloud focus was instantly brought back and he knew that this had to end now. Fisher was aiming for his head; he was aiming to kill. Caught in the doorway thanks to the small crowd of people behind him, there was no where for Cloud to take cover. He had no choice but to take a stand.

Luckily, Cloud had always had good aim, and even with a weak arm his accuracy was still adequate enough to get the job done. Cloud fired his gun and a loud shout split the air as the bullet flew straight into Head Detective Fisher's leg a few inches below his kneecap. The sudden pain caused the other man to drop his weapon, Cloud instantly approaching just close enough to kick the firearm to the other side of the room as the sound of gunfire ceased, "I'll say it one more time. You're under arrest! Turn around with your hands behind your back! Someone call an ambulance, he's going to have to go to the hospital."

Fisher glared up at him from his crouched position, clutching both hands over his leg as blood began to seep through his fingers. Cloud couldn't quite see his complete reaction passed the dreadlocks hanging in the man's face but he knew that the other was still feeling murderous. Warily kneeling down beside him, Cloud wrenched the man's hands free and tugged them behind his back, pulling a pair of handcuffs off of his belt and quickly snapping them into place, "Don't make this any harder than you already have, Detective."

Xaldin replied in a low growl, "I'll ruin you for this Strife."

"Not where you're going you won't. Thanks for putting on that little show in front of so many witnesses by the way, it'll be a big help during your trial."

"I have friends in more places than you can imagine, I'll be let off before you have time to put together a case against me."

Scowling, Cloud heaved the larger man to his feet, wincing as he had to keep the unbalanced injured man from falling over, "About that. You'll be seeing those friends of yours real soon. Who knows? Maybe you'll be cell mates." Glancing over toward the door, his scowl morphed into a concerned frown as he caught sight of Axel and his brother, "Is Roxas okay?"

"I'm fine!" Angrily pushing his protector off, Roxas pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, "And I would've been better if this moron hadn't jumped me!"

Sitting up, Axel glared right back at the small blonde, "Right, so next time I'll just let him shoot you. Does that sound better?"

"I didn't even have a chance to fire back!"

"Well excuse me for worrying! Just because you hate me now doesn't mean my feelings for you have changed! I wasn't about to stand back and watch you get shot full of lead!"

Cloud watched as his brother's face lit up an interesting shade of pink, the young man glancing around to see if anyone was listening. The crowd that had followed them had mostly dispersed as soon as Cloud got cuffs on Fisher to call for ambulances and file reports and whatnot, and Fisher himself was only half-conscious due to shock. Nevertheless, Roxas lowered his voice to a hiss, "Don't talk about those things in public, you idiot! And by the way, we're over!"

"Yeah, I figured…"

After a short moment of tense silence, Cloud spoke up from across the room as he gave Fisher's cuffs a small tug, "Stop moping Axel and come help me haul this guy to the front. He's too big for me to move on my own."

Axel grinned weakly and pushed himself to his feet, "Well, at least I know one Strife still needs me."

"Don't push your luck Axel." Between the two of them they managed to coerce their ex-supervisor out of his office and down towards the main entrance where the ambulance would be arriving. On the way, Axel was looking so depressed that Cloud felt obligated to say something to the other, "Hey, thanks for back there."

Axel scoffed under his breath, giving Fisher an extra harsh pull as the man stumbled, "Oh yeah? For what, hiding behind you while you did all the heavy lifting?"

"No, I mean, I mean about Roxas. Thanks, for covering him." And he meant it. He knew that his brother was going to have to grow up some time and someday experience a real firefight unprotected if he wanted to stay in the law enforcement field but inside he still didn't think Roxas had been ready. At the moment, he had been a necessary participant but in a way Cloud was glad that his brother hadn't had the opportunity to fire a single shot. If by some miracle or show of skill Roxas had actually landed the shot and mortally wounded Fisher, well, he didn't want Roxas to have to experience the mental trauma of his first kill yet. Not right now when everything else was getting so screwed up. "And give him a month or two. If you're on good behavior and this whole prosecution thing works out, he might come around again."

The redhead smiled sickly as they walked into the main hall again, this time the room a flurry of chaotic activity as the staff tried to make sense of what had just happened. "I don't know about that one…I saw how he looked at me…and I guess I deserve it."

"Yeah but," Cloud couldn't believe he was about to say it but the truth was the truth, no matter how much he wanted to deny it, "he liked you a lot. And, as much as I hate to say this, and I really hate to say this, I think what the two of you were starting was, good for the both of you."

"Wow." Axel's smile had perked up a little bit again, now a shadow of his old grin, "Coming from you, that actually means a lot. Hopefully you're right. Like I said before, I don't expect you to believe me after all this but I really do care about him."

Cloud winced, "I know, and I'd really like to stop talking about it, it makes me want to vomit. Besides, I hear the ambulance coming."

"Good, because I think this guy just about to pass out on us."

Letting his body drop down onto his couch, Cloud blinked tiredly at his cell phone as it flashed up at him the coffee table. Four new messages. And he had only been in the shower for ten minutes.

He had finally crawled back to his apartment after no less than eighteen hours at the station. Everyone was in a flurry after the events that had transpired that morning. Moments after Fisher had been admitted into the hospital phones started ringing nonstop thanks to the media trying to get interviews about why the Head Detective of the Twilight Town Police Department had been seen being led in handcuffs and covered in blood into the hospital.

Of course he had locked himself up in his office. After he and Axel had reviewed the CD, which had information that Axel hadn't even known about some of the Organization members on it, Cloud had sent the man home. At this point from Cloud's perspective Axel was in an odd sort of Limbo; now that Axel had shown his true colors as an Organization member he couldn't let the redhead continue working with him but at the same time, Cloud needed him to help build a case against the higher ranking members. Thus, he had settled on sending Axel out on unpaid leave for a few weeks, or at least until the court date, during which time Axel would come into the station occasionally to help form their argument. It was weird but it would have to work.

Then again that meant that he was left with arranging everything. Within an hour of having Fisher, or Xaldin as Cloud kept reminding himself, arrested, he had contacted the D.A. to get arrest warrants issued for everyone whose name appeared on the CD. It hadn't been easy and Cloud counted himself lucky that the D.A. himself wasn't mentioned on the disk. After everything that had happened, he didn't think that there was anything that could really surprise him anymore.

Knowing that the city was going to need a really good lawyer, the next thing that Cloud did was get in touch with an old college friend. He knew that if anyone could push this case through the courts it was her but as of yet he hadn't been able to get a hold of her personally. Hopefully she would get one of the five messages he had left on her answer machine and get back to him soon.

The thought of messages brought him back to reality and he tiredly picked his phone off of the table. Bringing up his voicemail, he set the phone on speaker and leaned back into his couch to listen.

"First message." Cloud frowned as a man's voice sounded through the lines. He recognized him; in fact, it was one of the men who had been there that morning when he had confronted Fisher, a beat cop who had the late morning shift. "Detective Strife, this is Officer Henderson. I apologize for calling your personal phone but it's rather urgent. I know you've been, well, avoiding it but the Chief says that if you don't show up in his office first thing tomorrow morning he's going to take away your badge. I…just thought I'd give you a heads up that it would probably be a good idea to talk to him about what happened. See you tomorrow at the station."

He was a good guy, and an even better one in Cloud's eyes thanks to the warning. That meeting with the Chief was not going to be a fun one though; Cloud had a lot of explaining to do. In the last twenty-four hours he was pretty sure that he had violated protocol about thirty times, and that was overlooking some of the more minor stuff. Heaving a sigh, Cloud deleted the message. There was no way he'd forget about that; he was dreading it too much.

"Next message." Hoping for some better news, Cloud's face brightened as a more familiar voice came on. "Hey Cloudy! It's Tifa! I just got your messages, all five of them! You must really be desperate, huh? Anyway, it sounds like you got quite a case on your hands. Taking on the Organization by yourself is pretty gutsy, but I should have expected that from you. If you think that you have enough evidence to put some of those guys away then I am definitely up for the challenge! But you're going to have to tell me everything, and I mean everything about what happened. If I sign on to represent you, you're going to have to take me on as a full partner. You can't be all secretive like you were in college! At any rate, my schedule's pretty busy this week, but next week is pretty free so I can fly in from Midgar and you can tell me all of the juicy little details. Call me back from this number, it's my personal cell, and we can work out an exact date that we both have a few free hours. Despite the circumstances, it was good to hear from you again! Talk to you soon!"

Cloud couldn't help but smile as the message ended. Tifa had been one of his closest friends throughout his four years of college and despite her looks and young age she had become a very capable and formidable lawyer. More importantly, she wasn't intimidated by anyone, inside or outside the courthouse, so she was perfect to be the lead prosecutor in their case against the Organization.

The next message that came recaptured his interest; "Hey, it's Axel. Just wanted to call and see how everything was going. Ha, you're right about the being stuck at home thing by the way, it kinda gets to you after a while when you know there's work to be done. Just wanted to let you know that you're already causing a pretty big stir in the underground. I've gotten calls and emails from like eighty different people, I kid you not, all asking me what the hell is going on. Apparently the arrest warrants were all served out, by the way they told it you sent Twilight Town PD up there to bring the baddies in? Probably a good decision, the local Dark City cops might've let them off…Anyway, call me when you get the chance and let me know what's going on, will you? I'm really fricking bored."

It sounded like Axel was going through his own personal hell. Trying to imagine the redhead stuck out in all alone in his little farm house in the country almost made Cloud laugh. He deserved it.

Cloud was probably going to have to call him soon though to figure out what sort of plan he was going to bring to the table when he met up with Tifa. Ugh…he still had so much work to do…

"Cloud!" Ah, the next message must be from Roxas. He didn't know who else yelled at him like that and his brother's personal brand of rage was hard to miss. Roxas had stayed with him all day and had still been working when Cloud said he needed to go home for a few hours. The smaller man was still overflowing with righteous fury, although Cloud had a suspicion that he was just acting up in order to keep other emotions down. He often did the same; if you drowned yourself in work and repressed unwanted emotions, you wouldn't have to deal with what you were really feeling. Maybe it was a genetic trait.

"You'd better get back here soon! Ever since you left, some news station has been calling your office every fifteen minutes! I answered the first call because I thought it might actually be important and it sounds like they want an interview. I told them that you couldn't discuss open cases but they just won't let up! Also, I just got a confirmation call that all of your suspects have been brought to the city jail but that they will only be able to hold them for twenty-four hours because they've all already lawyered up. You need to release some of your evidence so that they can be held longer or else they'll slip out and we'll all be screwed. Last thing, I've been in contact with the courthouse to try and set up a trial date. They haven't gotten back to me yet but they said that three weeks from now looks good. Apparently for a case this big they said they needed some time to increase security or some crap. So get in your nap or whatever and then get your ass back here!"

Cloud blinked as the message suddenly cut off then reached up to try and soothe away some of the pressure that was building up behind his eyes. He didn't expect that Roxas was going to give him a very warm welcome when he finally did get back. Maybe he should stop by the fast food place and pick something up for them on his way back as a peace offering. He couldn't even remember the last time they had eaten…his stomach growled noisily as if in agreement and Cloud shook his head. So much for having time for a nap…

After all the messages though there was one thing he knew that he needed to do. Picking up his cell phone off of the table, Cloud quickly flipped through his contacts and dialed a number before glancing up at the clock. It was 2:06 a.m…That's right, normal people would usually be sleeping right now. Oh well, the phone was already ringing, he might as well stay on the line.

"Mnph, hello?"

The corner of Cloud's mouth twitched up into a small smile, "Sorry about the late, or early, call. I forgot that not everyone works on my insane schedule."

"Cloud?" There was a soft rustling and Cloud could imagine Leon pulling himself out from underneath his covers to sit up. His voice was a little clearer now but still filled with a heaviness brought from sleep, "What is it?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I've had everyone on the disk you gave me arrested and flushed out the informant in our department." Cloud heard a small noise of surprise escape the SeeD but continued, "I don't know what that means to you, whether things will still be dangerous for you for a while or what, but I've hired a lawyer and I'll want to have all of you come speak with her at some point so she can learn your side of the story."

"Why?"

"Because you three were the source of the most damning evidence so that means that you'll be expected to testify at the trial. I thought that'd be obvious. Just because you cut a deal doesn't mean that you can clean your hands of all of this quite yet."

"Mn, fine…When do you want us to come in?"

"Some time next week. I'll call you when I get more details but I thought that all three of you might want a chance to start pulling together a story."

Even though he couldn't see the other man, Cloud could still hear the small grin spread across his face, "I thought we were supposed to tell the truth in court?"

"Yeah, well…" Cloud paused for a moment, "I guess if I've learned anything over the last few weeks is that 'truth' is a very tenuous, subjective thing."

"Hm, I like the sound of that. Alright…By the way," Leon's voice had softened a bit, "Was it Axel? The informant?"

"No." Heaving a sigh, Cloud closed his eyes, "It was my supervisor. Axel was working for them though…"

"What'd you do?"

"I put him on leave until we get this whole thing sorted out. He's promised to testify against the others and I figured since I stooped so low as to offer you guys a deal, offering my partner one wouldn't be too out of line. Hopefully they'll let him stay on the force…"

"…How are you holding up?"

Cloud smirked, "What, concerned about me? I'll be fine; I'll take care of myself, the only person you should be worried about is you. You're going to need to have your head about you in the next few weeks. I know you're used to the battlefield, but the legal system is a whole other type of war zone, and you all are going to have to be ready for it. This is going to tear the whole city up."