Roxas stared at his plate of food blankly. Axel had done the cooking, and he seemed to be effortlessly good at it. His over easy egg was perfectly done, the bacon was just right, crispy but not burnt and the hash browns smelled great. And Roxas was finding it difficult to muster up any interest in any of it. I want to go home. I want to be with Sora. Roxas had to hold back an immense surge of homesickness. He desperately wanted bran flakes and his brother's friendly smile.

"Hey, try it, it's good." Axel poked his plate, tilting his head slightly as Roxas looked at him dully. "Roxas?"

"…Yeah." Roxas picked up his fork with a sigh, and tried the egg. It really was very good, and he found his appetite returning as he ate. "You're a good cook."

"Yeah, I know." Axel smiled. "I started learning a long time ago. I've always wished I could be a chef."

"Why can't you?" Roxas looked up from his plate. "If you don't like the terms of your trust fund, why don't you just leave?" Being a chef wasn't something that required degrees, really. And Axel couldn't get a degree while he was tied to the house anyway, unless he did it online. Axel paused a moment before eating another piece of bacon.

"I was going to." He said quietly. "We were going to. We had plans. Astrid loved making and decorating cakes. We were both going to get jobs as line cooks and then try to start a bakery, one of the ones that makes really fancy cakes. I was good at decorating them too. Then she got sick and it was over." Axel shrugged, as if it didn't matter, and returned to his breakfast. They ate in silence for a while.

"What's wrong with her?" Roxas finally asked.

"Bone cancer." Axel replied, and Roxas winced. He didn't know much about cancer but he knew that was bad. "The treatments are expensive. The trust fund pays for everything as long as I don't violate the terms of the trust, but if I do…" Axel shrugged again, and Roxas swallowed. It all made a horrible kind of sense. But still…

"That doesn't give you the right to kidnap me." He muttered, and Axel smiled, amused.

"No, it's just a reason. I know it was the wrong thing to do, but don't worry, it won't last forever." Roxas looked up and Axel blinked as he caught the sudden fear in the blonde's face. "Not like that! I mean, wh-if Astrid dies, then I'll take you back to your family." Roxas caught the correction. Axel had been about to say when rather than if. But Roxas couldn't ask him about that. He could imagine how he would feel if Sora was dying.

"Aren't you worried about the police?" He asked instead. Axel shook his head with a small half-smile.

"Nah. Not worried about the police at all." Axel seemed to think it was a funny question, and Roxas frowned at him.

"You're that sure they wouldn't catch you?" He couldn't keep the skepticism out of his voice. Axel shook his head.

"No, just confident it wouldn't matter." Before Roxas could ask what he meant by that, Axel stood up. "I was thinking I should show you around. This is a pretty big house and I have a lot of neat stuff. There are also a few places you shouldn't go." Roxas frowned, wondering what those would be and followed Axel. He was a bit curious now.

Axel quickly showed him through the house, and he was right, there was quite a bit of neat stuff. An exercise room with plenty of equipment, a wide screen TV with three different gaming systems, a nice sound system, a library… and plenty of unused rooms. One of them had a pool table, which interested Roxas although it was obvious from the dust that Axel didn't play. Or maybe he just didn't like to play by himself. If that was the case, maybe Roxas would be able to interest him in a game. Roxas suddenly grimaced to himself as he realized he was thinking about this as if he had accepted staying. Although what else could he do? Although he would have to test the collar to see if Axel was bluffing about the shocks. Roxas doubted it, but he had to try.

"Now this is the first place you shouldn't go." Axel's voice caught Roxas' wandering attention and he frowned at the door Axel was pointing out. "This leads to the basement. It's got a serious eight legged infestation. Dad even called in an exterminator once, but they couldn't get rid of the spiders. Fortunately, you don't see them much in the rest of the house." Roxas shuddered at the thought, but then frowned. Axel could be lying to him. Still, he wasn't sure he wanted to check to be sure. They went through the kitchen then up to the second floor, which was largely bedrooms and several bathrooms. "Now this is the second place you shouldn't go… the attic. Dad's stuff is up there." Axel paused, then shrugged. "Well, you could check it out if you don't creep out easily. I don't care, but I figured I should warn you."

"Huh?" Roxas blinked at that, and frowned. "Why, was your dad a Halloween fanatic? Is it a haunted house up there?" Axel laughed mirthlessly.

"I wish. No, it's something else." Axel's tone indicated he didn't want to discuss it anymore. "Now. Clothing for you is going to be a bit of a problem, but I think my sisters' clothes will fit you. You're about the same size." Axel led him back to one of the bedrooms as Roxas felt vaguely offended. His sisters' clothes? "Don't worry, she never wore dresses or skirts except-uh, when dad made her." Roxas blinked and eyed Axel curiously. He had the feeling Axel was glossing over something.

The clothing, though, really did almost fit. Roxas had to roll up the cuffs a little bit, Axel's sister was clearly taller but she must have been just as slender. A lot of the clothing tended towards flannel, though.

"Your sister had a lumberjack fetish?" Roxas asked sourly, and was surprised when Axel laughed uproariously. He hadn't thought it was that funny, but Axel was almost crying.

"Oh god. That was a good one." Axel rubbed his eyes, smiling. "Sorry, it's just, um, an inside joke. Once she said I looked great in a flannel shirt, chopping wood, all sweaty and sexy." Roxas blinked at that. It sounded like an odd thing for a sister to say, but how would he know? He didn't have any sisters. "Anyway, yeah, she does like flannel." Axel smiled. "It's warm at least. I can try to order you some things online in your size, if you want."

"That might be nice." Roxas said neutrally. He didn't like ordering clothing online, it hardly ever seemed to fit. But it would be worth a shot. Axel just watched as he rolled up the cuffs of his pants.

"You're taking this fairly well. I was afraid you'd be a weeper or a screamer." Roxas suddenly paused, frowning. That almost sounded like Axel had experience with this sort of thing.

"You haven't kidnapped anyone else, have you?" Roxas asked, uneasy. Axel blinked and shook his head.

"Oh no. Just, um, watched a lot of movies, you know?" Axel said innocently, and Roxas had the distinct feeling he was lying. And that was unnerving on all kinds of levels. Could he trust Axel at all? He'd already been completely wrong about the redhead once. "So, want to play some video games?"

"I'd rather get a book and read for a while, if that's okay with you." Roxas wanted to do something relaxing, preferably as far from Axel as possible. Axel nodded.

"Sure. Why don't we read together in the living room?" Roxas sighed to himself, resigning himself to the redhead's presence. He wasn't going to be able to shake Axel without being completely rude, and he didn't want to piss off the redhead too much. Roxas wasn't sure how much of a temper Axel had.

The book room had plenty of science fiction and fantasy, but as he explored Roxas found a lot more than that. There was hard science, romance, and detective novels. Also quite a bit of philosophy and current affairs, although most of the latter was sadly out of date. And on one of the shelves were tons of magazines. Roxas pulled one out and blushed. It was hard core pornography.

"Um, yeah. That bookshelf is my dad's old stuff." Axel said apologetically behind him, almost making Roxas jump out of his skin. He hadn't realized Axel was behind him. "I've considered burning it, but there's actually some halfway decent stuff in there if you're desperate."

"Too much information, Axel." Roxas said firmly, putting the magazine back. "Your dad sounds like a freak."

"You have no idea." Roxas looked over at the redhead, a bit startled by the bitterness in his voice. For a moment he caught a look of cold hatred on Axel's face, and swallowed hard. Then Axel blinked, managing a smile. "Nothing to worry about, he's dead and gone. Although the terms of his will are still around, so feel free to curse him if you want."

"I'd rather curse you. You're the one who dragged me into this." Roxas said dryly as Axel pretended to be hurt. The grin tugging his lips up was ruining the effect.

"Guilty as charged. Here, try this?" Axel offered him a book, and Roxas tilted his head to one side, taking it and reading the cover.

"Rats, Bats and Vats." He looked at the cover art dubiously before catching the author. "Eric Flint?" That suddenly made the book interesting. He'd mentioned liking one of his series to Axel at the bar, but he'd never read this book.

"Yeah. It's one of his earlier ones, I think. But anyway, it's really good and there's a sequel that's even better in my opinion. They're both hilarious." That sounded very good to Roxas. He wanted something to distract him from the reality of his situation, and Eric Flint was exactly the right speed for that. Soon they were both ensconced in two large, comfortable chairs in the living room. Roxas looked up from his reading and blinked as he saw Axel.

"You're going to destroy your back that way." Axel's way of reading looked horrible. He had a leg slung over the arm of his chair and was gradually turning, until he was partially flopping over the other armrest. Axel looked up with a blink.

"My back? Oh. Hmm." Axel straightened and tried to read properly for a moment, but ended up slinging his leg over the arm again. Roxas gave up, turning back to his book. It was peculiar but almost endearing.

Nothing about him is endearing. Roxas told himself firmly. I don't want to be a prime example of Stockholm syndrome! He was vaguely aware it might be hard with Axel, though. He had a genuinely touching story if it was true. But that was the question. How could he be sure anything Axel was telling him was the truth? Suddenly a thought occurred to him, and he frowned.

"Axel?" Axel looked up from his book curiously. "If you don't have a phone, how do you keep in touch with your sister?"

"Webcam." Axel answered promptly. "I have satellite internet, although the reception can suck sometimes, especially when the weather is bad. I talk to her every morning I can." Roxas nodded. That made sense.

"Do you record your talks?" Axel frowned slightly and nodded, clearly wondering why Roxas was asking. "Could I see one? I mean… well, I'm sorry, but I don't necessarily believe your story."

"Oh!" Axel looked a little relieved. He could understand how Roxas felt. "Sure. But the files are on my computer. You'll have to stay where I can see you." Roxas hesitated, trying to figure that out. Then he understood. Axel would have to be logged into his computer to access the files, and it had full access to the internet. If Roxas could somehow knock him out then, he would be able to send a message for help. It was like Axel thought of everything. Or… he'd done this before. Roxas felt a chill as he remembered the feeling he'd had earlier, that Axel was lying.

"That's fine." Roxas set down his book, and Axel shrugged, standing. Axel had shown him the computer room on his tour of the house. It was a small room with a TV in the corner and most of the space taken up by a nice desk and a very impressive computer.

"OK, you stand right there." Axel pointed to his front and right. "Don't try anything." Roxas obediently took the spot, silently trying to decide how much of a chance he would have to knock Axel out and grab the computer. Unfortunately, his mental calculator thought his chances were terrible. Axel was too alert. Axel quickly logged in, and Roxas tried to catch the passwords but found it was impossible. "Okay." Axel stood up, standing behind the chair. "Take a seat." Roxas hesitated, but took the chair. Axel reached over his shoulder and hit the enter key and a video began.

"Axel!" Roxas stared at the girl in the video. She had very short, spiky red hair and eyes of sea green. She was a touch taller than him, like he'd expected from her clothes, but he hadn't expected the sweet pixy-like beauty he was seeing in the screen. Or the terribly wasted appearance and the pain lines that were too deeply etched into her face to disappear even when she smiled. "How have you been?"

The conversation was one sided, since the video hadn't captured Axel's responses. But it had captured his sister's warmth. A few times, Roxas would almost have thought Astrid was flirting with Axel. He wondered if he was imagining it. But the video ended, and Axel drew a deep breath.

"So. Willing to believe I have a sick sister now?" Axel asked teasingly, and Roxas nodded.

"Okay, I believe you about your sister." The blonde said. Then he added, "although I'll have to see the will first before I believe you about your trust fund." Axel stared at him, astonished, then laughed.

"Roxas! You are the most suspicious guy I've ever met." Axel had expected some suspicion, but not that much. He wasn't sure if he was amused or appalled. "Well." Axel locked up the computer again, as Roxas stared at it glumly. He'd been just a click or two away from help. "C'mon, lets go read."

"Yeah." Roxas rose from the computer with a small sigh. He wasn't sure how he'd get out of this, but he would think of a way.

He wanted to see Sora again.