Title: Last Train
Author: nikki_ntm
Beta reader: Shattered Apocalypse
Chapters: 3/20
Genre: Drama/Adventure/Suspense
Rating: M for language, violence and disturbing themes such as bullying, crime and disease.
Characters: Axel, Saïx, Larxene and Marluxia amongst others (Lea, Isa, Seifer and Org. 13).
Pairings: Implied past/present/future pairings, mainly past Axel/Larxene, and implied one-sided Isa/Lea.
Setting: Modern Japan (yakuza-themed)

A/N: Comments and reviews are much appreciated. Enjoy!

x

Chapter 3: What Goes Around

~ooo~

Three months earlier

~ooo~

It was dark out; the streets were packed with people, the neon signs could be seen in the far off distance, but Axel was walking in their opposite direction. There were some foreigners looking at him, but he wasn't bothered by it. He had a mission to deal with, and to accomplish it he had to walk through half of China Town. He walked past a lot of small shops and restaurants. The smell of food filled the air, reminding Axel to stop by a shop and buy himself some dinner. He wasn't sure he was welcome to join his brothers to dinner, not until he had done his job at least. It had taken him a lot of time to locate his source and he knew that Saïx had begun to doubt him.

He recognized the restaurant he was looking for; it was across the road and looked almost like any other restaurant on the street. The owner had named it "Kuon Huang Kou" if he was reading the kanji correctly. The Kingdom of Light. No wonder there was so much bad stuff in the world if the Kingdom of Light was a small restaurant in Kobe's China Town.

Axel looked through the window; there weren't many customers in. He tried to see if he could spot Larxene, or Arlene as she liked to call herself now. It felt strange to know that he was close to seeing her again after nearly four years. Last time he had talked to her, she had made it perfectly clear what she thought of him. Axel knew that Saïx had given him this mission to test his loyalty, and knowing that he had burnt the bridges with Larxene, he wouldn't do anything to jeopardize it.

He opened the door and a bell above it gave off a small noise to let everyone know that someone was coming in. Axel hadn't expected that the owner would come out, staring him down as he walked up to him.

"You're not welcome here."

The man was middle-aged, his black hair had streaks of gray and he was well-built for his age. His name was Eraqus, a refugee from China with a temporary visa that had expired fifteen years ago. Axel smirked and lifted the right side of his vest to reveal the gun he was carrying.

"Get outta the way, old man. This isn't for you."

"She doesn't want to see you. You should respect her wishes or -" Eraqus wasn't given the time to even formulate the threat in his head before Axel pulled out his gun and pointed it at him.

"I'm not gonna say it again."

"Eraqus, it's fine. I'll talk to him." Arlene showed up in the open kitchen, behind the counter in the corner of the small restaurant. Axel couldn't see her from where he stood, but he put the gun away and walked past Eraqus, pushing the old man away with his shoulder as he did.

He sat down on a high stool by the counter and waited for Arlene to turn around and face him. He hadn't seen her since that fateful night and he couldn't really blame her for not wanting to see him. She had disappeared from the map the second she left; she changed her name, manners and made sure to never once revisit the places she usually had gone to as Larxene. Axel had spent an unusual amount of time looking for her and that made Saïx suspicious. How long could it take to find a person who supposedly was in the same city?

"I've been looking for you," Axel said. Arlene moved around some soup bowls to seem busy, but then stopped, sighing before she turned around and looked Axel in the eye.

"What do you want?"

Axel tried to stifle a snicker, "What the hell happened to you?"

Arlene wasn't wearing any make-up; she had her hair tied in a tight bun with a hair-net over it, and there wasn't nearly as much of her on show as Axel was used to seeing. She just looked wrong. The normal lifestyle she had been talking so much about was apparently not agreeing with her as far as Axel was concerned.

She glared at him. In the background she saw Eraqus sit down by a table across from the counter to keep an eye on their conversation, and she tried to ignore the sting in her chest at realizing that he was looking out for her.

"I need the gate code to your pop's."

Arlene froze, looking away. She began pushing back the cuticles on her nails absentmindedly. There was nothing she hated more than the effect the mentioning of her father had on her. Axel knew most of the story and yet he never had any qualms when he brought him into the conversation.

"I don't have it," she snarled, "I haven't talked to that old man in years."

Axel rubbed his eyes in feigned exhaustion, "Let's not do this. I'm tired, you're tired, and we both know that I'll get it one way or another. I was just hoping that I could come in here and ask you nicely for it before I set this cute little shop on fire."

Arlene looked at Eraqus quickly and gulped. She looked back at Axel and tried to reach out to whatever humanity he had left in him, but he just grinned at her. Her hands were trembling when she reached for a small notepad on the counter that was used for take-away orders.

"See it as a favor between friends," Axel said while she wrote down the numbers that he needed to get to his mission. Arlene pulled out the paper from the notepad, folded it once and gave it Axel with an empty expression.

"You don't know what friendship is, Axel. You and your family will pay for this."

Axel stood up and stretched his arms nonchalantly, "Famous last words. I'll catch ya later, Arlene."

~ooo~

Present

~ooo~

The young woman by the cashier was shaking and crying, glancing at her coworker on the floor who kept telling her that everything was going to be alright. She tried to nod as she collected all the bills that were in the cashier. She put them on the counter and looked at the masked perpetrator with fear in her dark eyes.

"Get over there."

The man waved around with the gun and pointed towards the refrigerators. The young woman hurried over there, her breathing came out in short sobs and she whimpered when the masked man walked closer up to her. He had duct tape in his hand and when he came closer she realized what he was going to do.

"Turn around."

She shook her head, holding her hands up in defense as she pleaded with him.

"Leave her alone! Don't touch her, you scum! You have all the money!" The wounded man on the floor tried to crawl up to them, but his pain slowed him down.

The man put the gun to the girl's head and sighed. "Turn around or I'll shoot."

"Y-Yumiko, turn around. It's alright, Yumiko."

She did as she was told and she let the man tie her hands together with the duct tape. He didn't tie up her feet, but he gave her a small sharp object to hold and the girl tried to identify it.

"It'll take at least ten minutes for you to get out of the duct tape. Hold on tight to this, ten minutes is all he gets before he starts to bleed out real bad. Understood?"

The man had barely finished the sentence when the girl started to work through the duct tape binding her hands together. The man walked by the counter and took the only telephone in the store and put it where the man on the ground couldn't reach it without risking bleeding out sooner. He took the money and the shirts on the counter and walked out to the parking lot.

He pulled off his mask and flopped down into the driver's seat. He threw the shirts on Saïx's lap and got the engine going. His quest for a normal life was going down the drain, but he had forced himself to do the robbery. They had left half of their clothes back in that village and the shirts they were wearing now had their tattoos all out in the open.

Saïx looked through the clothes that were clearly made for tourists. Half of the shirts had the printing of the Himeji-castle, and then there were others with "I heart Hyôgo" or "I heart Japan". In short, they would look like idiots wearing this.

"They didn't give you a complementary cap to go with these?"

A bump came from the trunk, followed by a lot of muffled complaints. Xigbar was conscious and probably really pissed. Axel was glad that he had decided to put him in the trunk. He wasn't in the mood for a surprise attack from the backseat again.

They passed by a road sign, and according to it, they were getting close to Shiso. Axel wasn't sure of how healthy it could be to lay in the trunk of a car, but he figured that unless he wanted to commit a murder on top of a robbery tonight, he shouldn't let Xigbar lay in there for too long.

"You were having nightmares," Saïx said.

Axel gripped the wheel tighter and clenched his jaw. He kept his gaze on the road, attempting to push away the thoughts that emerged in his mind by trying to think of the vast fields of grass surrounding the highway. Who wouldn't have nightmares after seeing the things he had seen? After hearing the things he had heard?

He knew he should tell Saïx. If there was anything that would make him reconsider and change his attitude towards Axel's plan it would be the truth. Or that's what he would like to happen. It was difficult for him to read Saïx nowadays and it frightened him to think that Saïx no longer cared for him.

Another bump from the trunk reminded him that he shouldn't be talking about it now. Xigbar was dangerous and difficult to control and he had far too many problems right now to give Xigbar free ammunition.

"I'm sure you have 'em too." Axel accelerated. He had to get rid of Xigbar quick and he needed help. Xemnas was probably aware of Xigbar failing with the mission by now. He had probably a load of gangsters combing through the entire Hyôgo-area now that he knew where Axel and Saïx had been.

"Who's Naminé?"

Axel didn't answer. He just wanted to get to Shiso quickly so that he could get rid of Xigbar and continue with their journey. He would tell Saïx eventually, when the time was right.

~ooo~

Three months earlier

~ooo~

The mansion was three stories high, with large windows and entirely in white. It looked like one of those mansions from American movies where everything was big and luxurious. The house was named New Orleans, so there was no doubt from where Dr. Ansem Kenzui had gotten the inspiration for the house.

Axel walked through one dark room after another in search for the study. There was an abundance of things in this place; there were pictures, expensive couches, paintings, designer furniture. What was the point of having so much stuff if you were never here to see it?

Axel reached for his gun and put away the note Arlene had given him. Aside from the gate code she had written a message for him. "Don't kill him" it said. It was cute how she thought that he would take orders from her, especially since Saïx's orders were completely different. "Get the data whatever the cost."

Seeing how the house was empty Axel would be able to comply with both orders. It would be difficult to get Arlene to do him favors if he killed her biological father.

He walked down another dark hallway and tried the doors to peak into each room. He found the room he was looking for at the end of that hallway; Ansem's study. He walked in and had a look around. It was quite big. There were shelves filled with books alongside the walls, a large wooden desk in the middle of the room stacked with papers, pencils and files. Axel went straight for the biggest painting in the room. He put it down and revealed the safe behind it. It wasn't a classic safe where he could just twist the handle until he got the password right. Fortunately for Axel, it was still quite an old model so he could just play around with the wiring until it opened. He removed the screen and the small keyboard underneath it to reveal the wiring he needed to move around.

The machine gave off a small beep and lit up green, but instead of opening the heavy door to the safe it grew out another machine that lit up with a blue light. Axel cursed under his breath when he saw what it was; it was a safe with fingerprint-identification. He was going to reach for his cell phone to call his superior when the door flew open.

"What are you doing here?"

Axel didn't stop to identify the person that had barged in. He aimed immediately for the head and shot at the man twice and watched him fall to the floor with a loud thud. Axel walked up to him, closing the door and locking it quietly before kneeling down by the body. There was a pool of blood forming around the blond man's head. His blue eyes were empty of emotion, but his face was stuck in a look of horror. Axel had killed Dr. Ansem Kenzui.

"Damn."

Axel looked around as he put his gun back in the holster he wore underneath his vest. He could still accomplish his mission; he realized when he looked at the safe that was still asking for a fingerprint. Axel pulled out a small knife that he had attached to his ankle and took Dr. Ansem's right hand.

"You won't need this anymore, doctor."

He cut off Ansem's index finger by the base and once he had it, he stood up and walked over to the safe. He put the finger over the small touch-screen with a fingerprint on it and waited for the machine to scan it. The door to the safe opened up and Axel dropped the finger to begin searching through the safe. He pulled out a black bag from his pocket and filled it with the money that was in there to make it look like a robbery gone wrong.

On the top shelf there was a metal box; Axel took it and opened it to see that it contained seven USB-sticks, each labeled as "research". He put that one in the bag, glanced at the safe once more and decided that there was nothing else of importance. At least Saïx would be pleased with the mission.

Axel was feeling paranoid; he hadn't even heard the doctor walk up to the room. Maybe the place was crawling with lifeguards and police officers.

"Axel."

Axel reached for his gun within a blink of an eye and turned around, ready to shoot. He nearly dropped the gun when he saw a young girl standing at the other side of the room, by the desk, looking at him intently with blue eyes. She had a very small built, she couldn't be older than fifteen, her hair was blond and she was in a white nightgown. When the hell did she get in here?

"Axel."

He was going to have to shoot her. There was no other way out. She had seen his face, she had seen him empty the safe and she had probably seen him kill her father. He aimed the gun at her and gulped. This wasn't right. This girl had done nothing wrong. When the gun went off it felt like he was outside his body, looking down on someone else committing a horrible crime. He hadn't realized that he had closed his eyes until he turned around to see if the young girl had fallen to the floor. She was still standing, but there was a look of shock on her face. There weren't any bullet wounds on her forehead and for a moment Axel was scared that he had shot her somewhere else, but that shock on her face was slowly turned into a gentle smile.

"Axel of the Ingô-family. Age: 28. Blood type: B-B-B..."

Her voice was distorted and she flickered as she disappeared, leaving Axel alone in the room again. He looked around, feeling like his heart was about to beat itself out of his chest. He had to get out of here. He hurried for the door when the girl suddenly reappeared right in front of him with that serene look on her face.

"Burakumin. Real name: Lea Connolly. Committed murders: 41. Family:..." Her smile grew wider, "None."

Axel walked right through her; he unlocked the door with shaking hands and slammed it open. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down; he had to remember how to get out of this godforsaken house. Was it left or right? Axel stopped in his tracks when he saw the girl appear again. He hurried in the opposite direction and tried not to bump into the million things that were in his way.

"I'm Naminé. You killed my father. You will pay, Axel. You and your family will pay for this."

It was like her voice traveled down the hallway and became louder the closer to Axel it got. He didn't stop to see where she was, if she could teleport then it really didn't matter. All the doors he tried were locked and he wasn't sure he knew where he was anymore. There was one more door at the end of the hallway, and Axel was ready to kick it in just to get out, but there was no need. The door was open and he hurried inside the room, running down the stairs that led to a room with only one window, high up on the wall where the moonlight came through and illuminated a small portion of the floor.

"My father was going to set us free." Naminé appeared right where the moonlight struck and Axel stepped back slowly. "We're doomed to be slaves forever. I-I'm N-na-na-mi – I'm Naminé." Her voice distorted again and it seemed like she was in pain, "I have your memories, Lea."

She looked straight at him even though he was standing in the dark. She was smiling again, but as the moonlight grew stronger she began to scream. Axel was sure that the security would react to her scream that threatened to turn his bones into dust.

"I can delete you."

She was flickering and as she disappeared, the lights in the room went on. The next thing Axel knew, he's on a lawn in a park downtown with the dark bag in his hands. He shook his head and made sure that he had everything with him. He thought that he would forget that weird night, he thought that he had been scared by a hologram and that what she had said had no importance. That was until the nightmares began.

~ooo~

Present

~ooo~

They had dumped the unconscious Xigbar by Shiso General Hospital. Axel was forced to knock him out before leaving him there; he couldn't risk having Xigbar making a fuss and getting people to meddle. They had left the car in a parking lot north of Shiso and made sure that they had left no traces of themselves in the car. The sun was setting, but it was still warm outside. They had both changed into different shirts. Saïx had a long-sleeved shirt underneath his t-shirt with the Himeji-castle print on; he had hidden the dragon that was visible on his neck by letting his hair out and buying a cap to keep it in place.

Axel had also put a long-sleeved shirt underneath his "I love Hyôgo" t-shirt. He hadn't bought a cap, despite knowing that he should hide his fiery-red hair to not attract any unwanted attention. They had been walking for hours to get to the south of Shiso, had stopped for food at McDonald's, and were hoping to find a small, cheap inn to stay at during the night. The money Axel had robbed from that gas station back at the highway had to last until they found other means to get more. Aside from that, they needed to get a car. Axel was seriously thinking about stealing one, but if the owner of the stolen car was to report it, they could get caught by the police and Axel was not going to risk that.

Axel looked out of the glassed cubical he was standing in, keeping an eye on Saïx, who was sitting on a bench right outside, drinking a Frappuccino from the 7-eleven across the street. Axel put the coins in the telephone and dialed a number he knew by heart, although he had never called it before. He was stomping his foot with impatience as the ring signals went by, about to give up hope when someone on the other side of the line picked up.

"Yamamura residence. This is Leon speaking."

Axel frowned. He hadn't expected someone else to pick up the phone, "I'm looking for Arlene."

"Who is this?" The man asked in an annoyingly gentle tone.

"A coworker. It's really urgent; may I please talk to Arlene?"

The man put the receiver away and called for Arlene. Axel could hear them talk a bit before Arlene walked up to the phone and picked up the receiver, "Yes?"

Axel put a few more coins into the phone, "Arlene, it's me. Axel." He sighed, "I need your help."