Title: Last Train
Author: nikki_ntm
Beta reader: Shattered Apocalypse
Chapters: 14/20
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, current Leon/Arlene, and implied one-sided Isa/Lea.
Setting: Modern Japan (yakuza-themed)

x

Chapter 14: In My Veins

~ooo~

2007

~ooo~

Zexion's mansion was soon to be filled with the most important people in the family. A so called merge was about to take place and all of it had been made possible by Zexion's persistence and persuasion skills. The Chinese Triads had been breaking ground in Kobe and they had caused quite a stir amongst the higher-ups. The yakuza families had joined forces and pushed them back, but the group Lea wanted to vanish the most had stuck around, and the leader of those scums was the new addition to the family.

He hurried down the corridor at the ground floor and opened the door to the small cleaning shed where he had hidden an unpretentious black bag that was full with money. This was compensation money. Lea had tried hard to get rid of that Liam, as the leader called himself. He had begged Isa to do something, to hinder the merge, but it was difficult to get him to do anything for him nowadays.

This city was too small for them now. Lea wanted to keep Larxene far away from Liam, and leaving was their only choice.

He dug in his pocket to find his cell phone when he felt it vibrate for the tenth time in about as many minutes.

It was Isa.

He stared at the blinking screen on his cell phone and sighed as he put it back in his pocket and closed the door to the shed quietly. He was through with this life; he was through getting in trouble for someone who used to be his best friend, for someone who had decided to abandon him instead. It hurt realizing it, and he would probably never have thought of this if Larxene hadn't been there to support him when he needed it.

The cell phone vibrated again and he took it out to see who was calling. He flipped it open and put it to his ear with a small smile, "I was starting to worry that you were bailing out on me."

He gulped and dried his other hand off on the front of his shirt when he realized that he was breaking a sweat. He looked around to make sure that there was no one around.

"I was thinking the same about you."

Nervousness didn't suit Larxene, he thought at hearing her voice, she was meant to be confident and keep him convinced to the very end that they were doing right in abandoning the family to start a normal life together.

"You're ready with the packing yet? I have what I need right here with me. I could run over to you now."

He could hear her smile through the phone and he knew that she shook her head softly.

"We can't. We have to wait for Zexion to leave the house. They'll meet Xemnas at the Crowne Hotel an hour before Marluxia's arrival. We have to leave within that hour. Is he getting ready yet?"

"I don't know. I think he's still upstairs. Lex is standing guard outside so I can't sneak around."

A small beep sounded over the conversation. Isa was calling again.

"I'll call you when I leave for the station. We'll take the first train to Shimonoseki."

This was really happening. Soon this gangster life would be a thing of the past. They would take the first ship to South Korea and leave everything behind. There was nothing keeping them here anyway.

"Yeah. Be careful, don't get emotional with everyone and don't tell them where you're going."

"Same to you," Larxene paused and he could hear her sigh softly as if she was preparing to say something else. "See you later."

He hung up and decided to go out and sit in the dimly lit garden. No one would think of going there today, not when the big boss was in town.

Despite all the bad things that had happened here, it felt strange leaving it all behind. This had been his home for the past nine years; the people here had been the ones to have his back when he needed it. And yet, it had always felt like he was just passing by, like this wasn't his definite stop in life, but then again, that's not what he was used to feel. This had been his home until he had decided to do the dirty work for Isa and save him from a life they had been doomed to live anyway. Despite his efforts, Isa did nothing but utilize him and judge him.

He didn't think that he had changed that much over the years, but Isa had changed beyond recognition. He wasn't the Isa he had known, he was becoming something ugly and it had opened Lea's eyes to the reality of the life he was living. It was difficult to believe that Isa had been able to hide his ugly side from his mother as long as he had.

The look of disgust in Isa's eyes that rainy evening was something that would forever haunt him; here, in South Korea, everywhere. Isa had pulled away from him as if his touch had been enough to make him physically ill. Lea had become a murderer that evening. He hadn't hesitated to get blood on his hands for Isa, but it hadn't been enough. Isa had turned his back on him, and Lea had refused to accept that their friendship had ended that day. While he tried to patch everything up by obeying his every command, Isa climbed up in rank. Lea had given him power, but the family saw him as nothing but Isa's loyal dog, and Lea knew that they laughed at him behind his back.

Nothing comes for free, he thought as he held his bag closer to him.

The cell phone vibrated again and Lea took it out to look at it lazily, Isa was being awfully persistent. He put it back in his pocket and ran his fingers through his hair. The wait was tearing on his nerves. He just wanted to get out and be done with it. There was really no point in waiting, even though Larxene insisted on that there was.

He lay down on the bench and looked at the sky as time passed by. The amount of steps down the stairs came as a surprise, and he sat up to look into the foyer and saw that Lexaeus, Xaldin, Seifer and Raijin walked out. There was no sign of Zexion though.

Lea waited for a moment, this could be his cue. Maybe there had been a change of plans, but when Zexion didn't show, he stood up and threw the bag over his shoulder and walked back in quietly. There was no one in the corridor on the second floor. He tiptoed toward Zexion's room to hear if maybe he was still in there, but he stopped when he heard voices come from the other side of the corridor – from Zexion's office.

"You'll have to fetch Larxene. The exchange will take place in two hours. Seifer will be going with you. And look a bit happier, will you? Unfortunately for all of us, you'll have to meet with Xemnas and the last thing he needs is to look at your sulky face."

"What will Ansem say?"

"Ansem doesn't know. Besides, it's none of his business. He stopped caring a long time ago and thanks to that, we have leverage."

"What's the deal?"

"You're in no position to ask questions, Saïx. Do as you're told. The instructions I gave you is all you need to complete this mission successfully. Oh, and try to complete this mission without using Axel. There's no need for him to witness you kidnapping his girlfriend."

Lea clenched his fists tightly and he had to keep reminding himself that nothing was going to happen to Larxene to not slam the door open and punch Isa's teeth out.

"Yes, Saïx. I know that you failed at keeping Axel away from her. You can surely see the lack of surprise on my face, that's because I was warned about your failure. If it wasn't for all the money you owe me, I'd throw you out to the curb."

Lea pressed closer to the door and heard Zexion shuffle some papers around and he chuckled at the silence that stretched between him and Isa.

"What, Saïx? Are you going to stand there all night? What do you want to say? Are you going to tell me off? After all I've done for you."

"You haven't been much of help."

"Haven't I?" Zexion didn't sound the least bit angry, "Are you trying to blame the death of your mother on me again? Shame, Saïx, shame. You killed her the second you decided to chase those silly dreams of yours. You didn't know your place, Saïx. That was the lesson your mother had to pay for with her life. You seem to be forgetting your place again, and I don't think you can afford more losses, can you?"

For a moment it was like Lea felt a void in his chest. Isa's mother was dead. His mind raced; how could he have missed something like that? Even if Isa had decided to keep him out of it, he would've found out through someone else, unless no one else knew.

He leaned his forehead against the door softly, what if no one else knew?

Zexion knew, he told himself as if that would somehow make it all better. It cushioned the sense of guilt he felt at missing something that should have been so obvious to him, but even as he thought back he couldn't figure out when it could have happened. Had it been recently?

"Is that all?" Lea heard Isa ask after another moment of silence.

"Yes."

Isa walked up to the door and Lea held his breath, as if that would keep Isa from noticing him when he stepped out of the room. He wasn't sure why he wasn't hiding, maybe he wanted to say something. "I'm sorry for your loss" seemed like a drop in the ocean, but after so many years spent together, he had to say something.

"No, wait. There is one more thing. I told Seifer to clear his schedule this Wednesday so that he can go with you to the tattoo artist. You have to get that dragon finished, the coloring needs fixing. I cannot have you walking the streets and making us look bad with that half-done tattoo any longer. You should clear your schedule as well. The tattoo artist estimated that it would take approximately eight hours to be done with it."

Lea held his breath and moved closer into the door to hear better when the silence stretched again. Eight hours was a long time to be under the needle, Lea thought, and Isa's tattoo was on a very sensitive place. Only show-offs tattooed their neck, and Lea had thought that Isa was showing off. He could never be like everyone else, he always reached higher to stand out, to seem special, but now, Lea felt himself tremble at the thought that maybe Isa had been forced into it.

"No."

"You don't have a choice, Saïx."

"Stop calling me by that name."

Zexion sighed loudly.

"I don't have time for your little fits now, Saïx. Just do as you're told or suffer the consequences. There are worse things than death, to quote our dear Master Ansem."

The silence that followed was ominous. Lea rested his hand onto the doorknob, ready to barge in, and his heart thumped hard in his chest when he suddenly heard Zexion scream in agony. The scream wasn't long-lasting, but it was loud, and Lea froze as he heard small thumps come from inside the room. He expected that his brothers would come running, and it felt like he waited for eternities before he pushed the door open with more force than he had intended.

"Isa..." His voice trembled at what he saw and he dropped the bag in his hand as his muscles felt heavy.

The room smelled of blood. It was a smell he had gotten used to and he hadn't thought much of it before, but now, as he watched Isa stand over Zexion's motionless body, this smell seemed repulsive and sinful.

Isa stood up straight slowly, keeping his gaze on Zexion's limb body where it lay on the Persian carpet. His look was blank and empty as he slowly realized that Lea was in the room with him. Lea closed the door and locked it before he ran up to Zexion to see if he was still breathing.

"Shit..."

He didn't even know where to begin. There was a gaping wound on the back of Zexion's head and there was no way for Lea to stop the blood from flowing out.

Zexion was dead.

"Isa, what did you do?"

He looked up at Isa who stood there, clutching one of Zexion's many trophies with blood splattered across his shirt and face. He shook his head slowly and stepped back.

"It was his fault."

"He's supposed to be at a meeting with the big boss in less than an hour and you killed him!" He stood up and paced nervously. Isa was done for if they found out about this. "Fuck... this is bad. This is really bad." Lea was about to run his fingers through his hair but reminded himself of the blood on them.

When he turned around to face Isa again he couldn't help but to notice the serene look on his face.

"Have you been planning this?"

Isa looked up at him with a stern glare, but he remained silent.

That silence, he had come to hate it with a fiery passion. The higher Isa climbed the less he spoke with him. Seifer had told him that it was something the higher-ups always did, Isa was no exception. A dog's job was to follow orders anyway, nothing else.

He didn't care anymore, he reminded himself with a snort.

"We have to get rid of the body. The guys downstairs are waiting for Zexion to get down there and they'll be coming up to check on him in at least ten minutes. The garden is right out that window, right?" Lea hurried over to the window and pulled it open to look down. If they pushed Zexion's body through the window he would fall straight into the bushes.

He walked back to Zexion's body and tried to figure out how best to carry him without getting more blood on the carpet.

"Once he's in the garden I can run down and dig him a hole. There's no one out there now and it's dark. No one will see me and you can go and change clothes and –"

"It doesn't matter."

Isa's monotone answer left a crack in the cocky façade Lea was putting up, and he turned slowly to face him.

"What?"

"It doesn't matter. I don't care if they find out." He tried to smile but it quickly turned into a shaky sigh as he clutched the trophy closer, "You're leaving, aren't you?"

Lea stood up slowly. His mouth felt dry and that sickening nervousness came back again. He thought of lying first or maybe even telling Isa that it was none of his business, but he couldn't, not when Isa stared at him with that blank look in his eyes.

"How did you know?"

"You've stolen fifty million yen from the safe and you've completely ignored me these past two weeks. I would've given you the money if you'd asked."

Had he always looked this tired, this pale?

Why are you talking like this, why won't you yell at me for getting you in trouble, why aren't you telling me to take you away from here?

He wanted to shake Isa, get him to react, but he stood frozen until Isa broke the silence.

"If I don't leave now, they'll send Seifer after Larxene." Isa gave him a quick look, "Go."

"No. Isa, you can't do this. They will kill you a thousand times for this. There won't be anything left of you when they're done." He walked up to him to grab him by his arm and drag him out of here, but Isa pulled away.

"I don't care! Whatever happens, happens. You better leave before you get dragged into this."

"I'm already in this up to my neck, Isa! I can't leave knowing that you're practically committing suicide. There's time to hide the body, let me do this for you at least."

They suddenly heard heavy footsteps from further down the corridor and some mumbling that became clearer the closer the two outside came.

"Lexaeus, he's probably just a bit nervous about meeting Xemnas. I assure you, we're well within time."

"That is easy for you to say. You're already within Xemnas' inner circle. Zexion is up for second in command and he has to make a good first impression to be the sole candidate for that position."

Lea had never felt this sense of panic before. He couldn't let Isa go through with this; he couldn't just leave knowing that the two men that were about to come through the door were going to take justice in their own hands for what Isa had done to Zexion.

Isa still mattered to him, more so than he dared to admit.

He snatched the trophy that Isa held in his hand and took a deep breath.

"Lea, what are you-"

"You can't give up, not like this. Live, Isa. You'll owe me that much for this."

"Zexion!"

Lexaeus tried to open the door, but when it didn't work he started to push on it. The wooden door was no match for the bulky giant and it folded underneath his weight by his third attempt. Lea felt his heartbeat like a dull sound coming from the back of his neck. The second Lexaeus stepped in he felt the stench of blood.

Whatever he was going to say died out in his mouth when he saw Zexion motionless on the floor and Lea's bloodied hands, holding the soiled trophy he had seen so many times before.

"What the hell have you done?"

He hurried to Zexion's side and cradled him into his arms, trying to find any signs of him still being alive. Xaldin stepped inside and frowned at what he saw. He was a huge man, almost comparable to Lexaeus, and Lea gulped as the floor shook slightly with each heavy step that he took.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"I killed him," Lea said quickly, "Isa tried to stop me, but he got here too late."

Xaldin eyed Isa from where he stood behind Lea, pale as a sheet and as silent as the dead body on the floor. He must have clearly heard about them enough to know that he should be in doubt.

"Is that true?"

"Of course it is!" Lea burst out with a slightly panicked laugh, "Why would I take the blame if I hadn't done it?"

"I'm not talking to you." Xaldin's eyes flashed dangerously and took one step closer to get a better look at Isa, "Is he telling the truth?"

Lea looked at Isa with a both pleading and fearful look in his eyes. It was all on Isa now; if he wanted he could end his own life right now by taking the blame. Lea wasn't sure why he was so convinced that he could deal with the punishment for this and why Isa couldn't. Isa wasn't fragile, or rather, he hadn't been fragile before – but he was falling apart now, and Lea felt guilty for wanting to leave him behind.

"Saïx! Did he do this, yes or no?"

"He did."

It looked like the air had been sucked out of Isa the second he uttered those words and at that very same moment Lea felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket.

Larxene.

He took out his cell phone, but Xaldin snatched it away and threw it across the room.

"It's too late for that now, redhead."

He struggled against Xaldin's grip, he was sure that he did, but that blaring screen on his cell phone was what he remembered the most about that moment. Larxene was ready to leave, she would be waiting for him at the train station, but he wouldn't be there.

Seifer, and maybe even Isa, would be there in his stead, ready to escort her to the Crowne Hotel where Marluxia would be waiting.

No death had ever been enough to stop a business deal from going through.

"Isa, warn her! Tell her what happened! Isa!"

He never caught the meaning look that Xaldin gave Isa, but that small nod Isa gave in return was enough to put his mind at ease.

Lea didn't know what they would do with him now, no one had been stupid enough to take the blame for the murder of the second in command before. Death didn't seem like punishment enough.

His imagination was running wild, and despite the long drive, it never once crossed his mind that Xaldin was going to turn him into the police.

Lea had to call Larxene; he wanted to know if she was okay, but she never answered his calls. After months of insistent calling he found out that she had managed to escape.

She was fine and she hated his guts, but he was never told why that was.

~ooo~

Present

~ooo~

It had been two hours now. His one leg was starting to tingle and he could feel it stick in his foot from keeping it still so long, he was shaking his other leg and drumming his fingers against it as he looked at the clock for the millionth time. It didn't take two hours to establish that someone was having a nosebleed, he hated to know that. It just made it more difficult to sit here completely powerless, waiting for a doctor to show up with some kind of news.

The TV hanging in the corner was amusing some patients in the waiting room, a group of nurses stood by the reception, looking at different folders while gossiping about which doctor was going out with whom, and it was all utterly annoying to see how everyone else's lives continued while his own was going straight to hell.

Marluxia must have done something to Saïx. There was no other way Axel could explain Saïx's behavior and symptoms, before then he had been normal, but what could he have done? Axel doubted that Marluxia would be let in on any of Xemnas' secrets, especially those concerning his research. Marluxia was dangerous and unscrupulous, he would step over his own mother's corpse to get to what he wanted and as far as Axel knew, Marluxia still wanted the post as second in command.

Axel reached for the file he had under his jumper and put it on his lap, he was starting to break a sweat being as nervous as he was and he didn't want to lose these files without looking through them first. He was still far from solving this mystery and he had to care for the few clues that he had to an answer.

After another few more minutes, Axel got up and walked over to the reception desk where he could look into the long hallway. Both Cloud and Zack had disappeared in there and he thought that they would at least have the courtesy to keep him updated. When the nurses from the reception desk left, Axel walked in closer and took a plastic bag that was empty. It had the Shinra Cookies logo on it and Axel put the file in it, wrapped it up and put it back into his jumper again.

"He should be getting married soon; it would be a shame if he didn't. Imagine having his child." One of the nurses giggled as she held up the door to her friend.

"I'd rather not," said the other.

"Why not?"

"Because I have to work with him and you're making it difficult to concentrate by putting all those weird thoughts into my head."

Axel hurried over to the door before it closed and waited for the chatter to slowly die out before opening the door that said "Staff only" and sneaking into a lounge. The room was connected with the long hallway and Axel quickly reached for a white lab coat and for a white hairnet to hide his red hair. He put on a mask as well and hurried down the main hallway until he heard someone step out of a patient's room. He quickly hid behind a corner, cursing under his breath.

"Dr. Fair, do you have time to speak now?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. What is it?"

"Dr. Bach won't be coming in for the night shift and I was wondering if you could fill in for him."

"Yeah, I'll do that. I was going to stay anyway, I have a high-risk patient to attend to…"

"Right. How did that go? Is he stabilized yet?"

"He is. We managed to properly reduce the intracranial pressure, there's no more bleeding. Now we just have to wait and see if there's been any damage done to the brain tissue."

The elder doctor nodded and smiled, patting Zack on the shoulder, "He's in good hands. Good work, Dr. Fair." He walked off and left Zack there, looking back at the room where Saïx was. He peaked in and said something to whoever was in there aside from Saïx and then walked away in the other direction with quick steps.

Axel sank down onto the floor and rubbed his face with both of his hands and sighed. He wanted Marluxia to be responsible for this. That would at least rid Axel of the thought that maybe Saïx was walking down the same road his mother had gone. There was a cure and a face to rearrange if Marluxia was behind this, and as soon as Axel could get his legs to work again, he would march into Saïx's room and find out what Marluxia had done.

"Axel."

He sighed again and looked up with an annoyed glare at hearing that serene voice. He stared her right into those baby-blue eyes and gritted his teeth.

"Axel."

"Did you do this?"

She smiled and shook her head, "You must find her."

"Aqua? Why do I have to find her? How do I even know that she's alive? And even if she was, why would it matter, huh? What makes her so goddamn special? My friend is dying in there and you just come along like everything's fucking fine." He tried to keep his voice low in this big and empty hallway where even a whisper could be heard.

"You must release her. She's suffering."

"Tell me where she is and I'll help her out, but I'm not gonna crisscross throughout all of Japan to find her. If her own mother thinks she's dead then why should I believe anything else?"

"He hurt her."

"Are you even listening to me? Just tell me where she is! You're Ansem's computer, right? You should know where he kept his experiments and where he used to go – all of his dirty secrets. Stop giving me cryptic messages if you really want me to find her."

"He will die if you don't find her."

"You fucking wench, if you as much as bend a hair on his head I'll smash you up like –" Axel was just about to reach his arms out to swat her away, but she disappeared and suddenly he could hear someone hurry down the hallway to his left and he stood up, looking away.

"Axel?" Zack walked up to him, he had a file in his hand and he waited for Axel to look at him, "What are you doing here? You can't come in here without permission..."

"Permission? I've been waiting for two hours!" Axel pulled the mask away, "How long were you gonna keep me waiting? Or are you gonna say that you decided not to tell me because somehow I caused Saïx the hemorrhage?"

"Look, I know that it has taken us long to get back to you. I'm sorry for that. Saïx is out of danger for now, it was massive bleeding and I honestly thought that we were going to lose him, but he's stable now."

The anger Axel had felt just now was like blown away when he was reminded of the gravity of the situation. A massive bleeding, he said. What did that mean? Had he been bleeding into his brain since Kyoto? Axel didn't know how these things worked, or how long it lasted before the brain or any other body part started to react.

"You said to the other doctor something about damage to the brain tissue. What does that mean?"

"When a bleeding in the brain occurs it can damage the brain tissue around the bleeding. It cuts off the blood from other vital parts of the brain and it manifests in different ways; some have to learn to talk again, others lose motor skills and have to relearn that, some suffer cognitive damage. We just have to wait and see and work from there. There's a fifty percent chance that he'll walk away from this without damage and for now we can only hope that he's in those fifty."

Axel had to hold his hands against the wall to not sink back to the floor again. How was it possible to say all of that and know that you were talking about someone's life? He had to laugh softly as Zack's diagnosis echoed in his head. For years he had wished for Saïx to rely on him again, he never thought that Saïx would have to be incapacitated for it to happen, and he wondered, as he held back the tears, how many times had he put Saïx in the crossfire to get what he wanted?

"There's something I need to ask you. Has he had brain surgery before?"

"What? No. Never. Why?"

"Are you sure? How long have you known each other?"

"Since we were ten. He's never had brain surgery, we could hardly afford going to the doctor's."

Zack looked worried and was deep in thought while drumming his fingers against the folder he was holding. He sighed and he scratched the back of his neck as he made a decision.

"There is something really weird that I found. I thought that I had just done the CT wrong somehow, or maybe that I was reading it wrong, so I asked around to get other opinions to make sure that I had drawn the right conclusion. Do you mind if we take this somewhere more private?"

Zack didn't let him answer the question, he walked down the hallway to the right with big steps, he pulled out his ID-card and put it against a machine that gave a beep and opened the door. He held it up for Axel and gestured for him to sit down. When the door closed, a light by the door lit red and Axel gulped.

"Let me just begin by saying that this is not a hearing or anything. This is just me trying to figure this out, okay?"

"Sure."

Zack turned to a board across from Axel that was attached to the wall and he lit up the lights on it and opened the folder to put the different CT scans on there.

"This is Saïx's brain. This is where the bleeding occurred. See that it's lighter thanany other part of the picture? These pictures were taken before taking him to any O.R. First we had to establish where the bleeding came from and on these scans we can see that the bleeding occurred in left Hippocampus."

"So how does it look now after surgery?"

"That's the thing. There was no surgical treatment. It could've killed him just as easily as the hemorrhage. It's too dangerous to go in so far into the brain, so we just had to wait it out and hope that it would stop. Blood was literally running down his nose, it was almost like he had overdosed on blood thinners, but, look at the next picture."

Zack pointed at the picture he had put up next to the first one. His fingers were shaking slightly from fascination and he pointed to where Saïx's brain had bled.

"It's not shining anymore." Axel said as he got up from his chair and closer to the board.

"His nosebleed stopped shortly after that. He didn't lose as much blood as it looked like so he didn't need a transfusion, we just need to keep him hydrated. And here's the thing that I went to verify for a moment ago. There are thousands of capillaries in the brain, it's enough for one to pop for something to happen, many wouldn't have survived something like this and those who do may end up with severe amnesia. Saïx's brain looks like it has been wired to cope with bleeding in Hippocampus without injuring the tissue around it. That can't be natural, not even a miraculous mutation."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that someone must've done this. Don't ask me how, because I wouldn't be able to tell ya, but this – this has to be manmade."