AN: Wow, the second chapter. I was planning to have this up much sooner, but you know how it goes with us lazy as flying flip writers. Thanks for hanging on though! On with the show!

Riku arrived early the next morning after Sora's release; he'd literally flown across the world to be with his lover and longtime boyfriend in a single day. Sora had fallen asleep on the couch facing the front door waiting up for him. When Riku had come stumbling through the front door, half dead and soaked with rain, he'd run straight to Sora, sinking to his knees beside the couch and throwing himself over his boyfriend.

Roxas had spent the last three days of what he considered his "freedom" tying up loose ends with his life. He floated about the house and the town in an eerie sort of calm, noting but ignoring the Assassin that followed him from a safe distance. He spent his time doing silly things with Sora he'd never do otherwise, as if he was finishing up a last-minute bucket list. Sora followed him with a pained expression, guilt obvious on his ever emotional face. He chewed his lip and bit his nails, as if a long tirade of emotions and apologies was dancing on the tip of his tongue, but he remained silent. Roxas personally preferred it that way.

The first day Roxas had spent withdrawing from college; Axel said his continued attendance would be unnecessary.

Roxas liked to consider himself lucky for those three days; a dead man rarely got a heads up, much less three days. By the third morning, Roxas had exhausted himself with pointless emotion and anger at the fates. Tomorrow morning he would belong to Axel, hypothetically and literally. Members of Organization XIII pressed women and men into service as life partners or sex slaves more often than not. Legally no action could be taken, because as far as legality goes, Roxas was offering himself willingly. And he wouldn't dare testify otherwise; there was too much at stake.

It'll be okay, Roxas told himself. Which was half true.

Axel may be a criminal bastard with a tendency for blackmail, extortion, violence, hatred, and cunning, but Roxas had known him to be a truthful bastard. If Axel said he would protect Sora, god knew the boy needed protecting, then he would. Even as the eighth member of Organization XIII, Axel held influence across the Kingdom, even more so than his outranking members. The Flurry of Dancing Flames was a powerful beast of a man, worthy of the kind of respect you got for being ruthless.

"Rox."

Roxas looked up from the rapidly cooling coffee, the mug clenched tightly in his hands. He hadn't even noticed when Riku had entered the kitchen. It was late; Roxas had sat down with his usual mug of coffee expecting Sora to have fallen asleep in Riku's arms, exhausted from his last day with his twin brother.

Instead, Riku was standing in the door way, hair tussled and dressed in his pajama pants with no shirt. He was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest with a sadly knowing look on his pretty face.

Roxas motioned for him to sit, which Riku did silently. Folding his hands, Riku rested his chin on them as he leveled a stare at Roxas, which the blond avoided by staring into his cold coffee. As if the answer to the universe resided within. Did it? …Damn.

"You're leaving tomorrow then?" Riku asked, tilting his head to the side in that innocently inquisitive way he had. Roxas simply nodded.

"You'll take care of Sora, won't you?" Roxas asked, looking up from his coffee with a begging expression. He knew that never in his life would Riku let harm come to Sora, but verbal confirmation could only offer the blond twin much needed reassurance.

"I will." Riku said in the loud, affirmative voice he normally spoke with. Roxas wouldn't have accepted the answer any other way.

Silence reigned for a few more moments.

"Tell me about Organization XIII." Roxas said quietly.

Riku looked up to see Roxas nervously tracing his finger around the mouth of his mug. "What? Does it look like I'm wearing a black coat?"

"You're going into the military with all honors and a major in political history and political studies." Roxas offered, pushing his mug of coffee off to the side of the table to fold his hands in front of him. "What have you got?"

Riku took a moment to gather his thoughts before he stood from the table. Roxas watched the silverette leave the room and patiently counted the ticking seconds until his timely return. Riku once again seated himself across Roxas, this time with a thick blue book in his hands. Laying it flat on the table with a sigh, Riku hesitantly slid it across the table to the blond.

Roxas reached and brought the book in front of him, flipping it over a few times in his hand. Nothing in particular special but the title written in black on the cover.

The Organization of Organization XIII, a look at the forming and upkeep

Roxas set the book back down on the table with a snort. "You're kidding, right?" He looked at the book again as if he honestly didn't believe it existed. "You've gotta be fucking with me."

"Sorry bud, I only fuck Sora," Was Riku's not so situation appropriate response. Quickly, the silverette covered his mistake before Roxas chucked the book back at his face; "Look, in my college class we spent a whole month studying Organization XIII. This book is actually really helpful, trust me."

"I don't have time to read-" Roxas looked at the clock over the sink "Holy fuck, I haven't got five hours to read some college 300 page textbook!"

"Look, it's really helpful." Riku offered again. "It's the best I've got."

"I don't have time to read this! I don't suppose you could do something like summarize it!" Roxas snapped, picking up the book only to slam it onto the tabletop, not caring if he woke Sora or not.

"Stop being a bitch Roxas! I'm just trying to fucking help!"

"I wouldn't be in this if it weren't for Sora!"

Roxas immediately slapped a hand over his mouth, biting his tongue at the same time. Riku was staring back at him with an equally horrified expression, eyes wide and shocked.

Never, ever. Not since the day their parents died, did Roxas once regret Sora.

"That was wrong of me." Roxas murmured, face down and eyes watering. "That was very, very wrong."

"No, you're right. It's unfair you're in this situation." Riku sighed, running both his hands through his long hair with a sigh of exasperation. After a few guilt ridden seconds; "I'm sorry."

"Don't tell Sora..."

"He already blames himself." Riku deadpanned. There was an awkward, pained silence as the seconds loudly ticked by on the small clocked in the kitchen.

Looking up, Roxas placed his elbow on the table, one hand supporting his chin as he looked off to the side of the kitchen with fake nonchalance. "I put sleeping pills on his bedtime milk. He should sleep through tomorrow morning. I didn't want him doing something stupid when I try to leave tomorrow. We've already said our goodbyes."

"I left them on your nightstand for a reason." Riku shrugged, copying Roxas' faked vibe of laid back air. "You know he'll never stop harassing Axel till he gets you back."

"Yeah, I know." Roxas sighed. "And he's going to get himself killed doing that. That's why I need to ask you this."

Riku's ears perked up as he turned to face Roxas across the table again.

"I want you to take Sora to Hollow Bastion with you." Roxas felt like a lump of clay had settled in his throat. "I've made arrangements to sell this house. You and Sora are already set to receive the profit." As an afterthought, "I won't be needing it where I'm going."

Roxas needed Sora to get out of this town where he'd be less tempted to cause trouble with Axel. Sora couldn't survive on his own; not without both his boyfriend and twin brother. Roxas needed him away, safe, with someone he trusted away. Away from Roxas and the people he would soon be involved with.

"I'm sure Axel will let me visit Sora!" Roxas quickly said, brightening at the thought. "It's not like I'm dieing, I'll see you guys again! Maybe a lot!" A pause. "Will you take him with you?"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence until Riku spoke. "Organization XIII works on a kingdom-wide scale."

Roxas took the subject change as an unspoken yes.

"Generally, they operate on legal levels, trading businesses, just businesses in general. Hell, they even work a kingdom wide charity for sick, orphaned children."

Roxas snorted at the though of Axel maniacally flying a Santa Sleigh through the skies loaded with flaming presents.

"What you're going to be seeing is the more illegal part of it all. They do weapons smuggling mostly, extortion, hell, even assassination if they get paid enough. They have plenty of buyers and partners all around the kingdom in different worlds. Mostly they blackmail world leaders to wrap them around their fingers and coerce them into owing 'favors'. Even though everyone knows what's going on, there's really no legal proof. They're smart that way."

Roxas generally imagined Axel as anything but smart. Sometimes he imagined him on fire when the redhead's stalking really got on his nerves.

"Organization XIII is supposedly headed by a man named Xemnas. Their structure is generally built in a monarchy fashion. There Xemnas at the top, he's the Superior. Then there are the eleven sub-leaders beneath him. Axel being the 8th. Generally, the higher ranking members order the lower ranking members around, but my studies were sketchy on that."

"Wait-" Roxas cut in. "Why is it Organization XIII if there are only twelve current members?"

"Well," Riku took a moment to recall his afternoon classes. "At the moment, there are only twelve publicly recognized members. Whether there's actually a thirteenth is uncertain. Hell, everything I learned at college about the organization is general speculation. They play everything close to the vest."

Roxas felt his stomach dropping bit by bit as the conversation went on.

"Originally, the group was founded by a man named Ansem The Wise, his past is pretty sketchy and no ones really sure about him. It's generally accepted that he was once a scholar. He founded the group with his twelve apprentices and from there the less important followers."

"Where do their names come from?" Roxas asked. "Nobodies and Heartless?"

"I have no idea." Rik admitted with a sigh. "No one does. Outside of the Organization, that is. Like I said, they protect their secrets better than a dodge ball player protects his junk."

"Riku!"

"I digress. The only way to join is to be invited by an already existing member. If you want to become a Heartless, it had to be approved by the Nobody who heads the squad. After that they rise in the ranks. Generally, to become one of the thirteen Nobodies, you have to be specially invited by one of the existing thirteen members then have it approved by the Superior. And obviously, the only way out is to retire under close supervision, or be killed."

"Great." Roxas mumbled, letting his forehead fall against the tabletop, his hands clasped over his head like he was hiding from something.

"Now you, as a consort," Riku began tenderly. "Generally you'll just do as Axel tells you. I assume once you're in..." Riku bit his lip, trying to find a better way to phrase this and came up with nothing but the harsh truth; "You're in forever."

There was another long silence. Riku tried to discern if Roxas was crying or simply sleeping on the table. The silverette jumped slightly when Roxas sat up quickly, wiping at damp eyes. "What the fuck have I gotten myself into?" The blond asked with a forced chuckle, trying to make light of his tears.

Riku stood from the table, his bare feet slapping against the tiled floor as he came to stand next to Roxas. Pulling around another chair, Riku took a seat next to Roxas, and without a second thought, wrapped the quaking blond in his arms.

Roxas took comfort in the silent embrace; he knew he'd never feel another like it for the rest of his life. The only embrace he'd ever feel again was that of Axel's, which he could only fathom as cold and rough in contrast to Riku at the moment. For a few seconds, Roxas hugged Riku back, allowing himself to feel safe in the arms of his twin's boyfriend, one of his good, good friends, before he stood again, wiping his eyes as Riku stood with him.

"You'll be okay out there." Riku reached out to wipe a stray tear from Roxas' cheek. "You little spit fire."

Roxas let a small chuckle escape his lips.

"Here, you can take this can't you?" Riku patted the book on the table beside them. "Axel said you could bring stuff from home, right?"

"He said he'd trust my judgment in knowing what to bring and what not." Roxas replied with a shrug, his voice dry and cracked as he spoke.

"Some reading for on the can." Riku offered as an explanation.

Again, the room descended into an uncomfortable silence. It had become a habit in the last few days. The tense vibe was palpable in the air.

"You'll watch after Sora?" Roxas asked for the third time that night, his voice even weaker than the last two times he'd asked.

"You know he won't stop coming after you." Riku murmured quietly, both boys thinking of the sleeping brunette in the room above.

"I know."

"Neither will I." Riku said, his voice definitive and strong. "Never."

Roxas didn't seem to register what Riku had said for a moment. After it clicked, his expression was stubborn. "No. You look after my brother."

"And I'll look after mine."

"What?" Roxas asked, quirking an eyebrow as if Riku was an idiot.

Riku reached into his baggy pants pocket, producing a velvet purple box. Opening it hesitantly, as if he was unsure if the contents would still be inside, Riku handed the open box to Roxas to examine.

Roxas looked at the gold wedding band in the small box. He squinted at the inscription on the inside of the gold, the letters traced flawlessly and fancifully. Nothing short of Riku's typical grand romantic gestures.

to sora with my heart body and soul

Roxas spent the rest of the night crying in his brother-in-laws arms, unable to mask the fear, pain and sorrow.

AN: Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks to everyone who has already taken the time to review, it really helps to know what people think of the direction of the story!

Ezellia