I love you guys. I promise that I know where this story is going, I promise its not all for nothing. I haven't lost it just yet. Also sorry the chapters have been getting shorter, I just get so excited to let you know whats happening that I have to share with you!

Enjoy loves.

We made it down stairs without incident. I let Zexioin take the couch but put Demyx in a wooden chair from the kitchen and with Phystie's help we secured him to it.

"Is this really necessary?" Demyx growled at us after we had backed away.

"Yes." I said as I slid Cerberus back into the holster. I took a seat in a chair like the one Demyx was in and went back to staring out the window. Phystie left the room for a while but I wasn't interested in what he was doing. The three of us set in silence for a long time, the only sound being Zexion moving slightly on the couch. By the time Phystie came back into the room it was dark outside. He went over to Zexion and asked him something in a hushed tone before he started to examine the wound on his arm.

"We need to get this bullet out." Phystie said. I kept staring out the window and watched the last of the day light fade before I turned to him.

"Can you do it?" I asked, my eyebrow raised. He shot me an eye roll over his shoulder.

"I've been Variedy's lover for over 10 years and his personal doctor for just over 11. I've pulled out my fare share of bullets." he said as he pulled the wadded up cloth away from the wound.

"Alright." I said. "Do it then. Try not to kill him." Phystie snorted and headed toward the kitchen. I stood and pulled off my over shirt so that Cerberus was in plain view and repositioned the chair to face Demyx with just a foot between our knees.

"Why are you here Demyx?" I asked, my eyes locked with his.

"We're running from Axel." he said through clenched teeth.

"Why are you running from Axel?" I asked, perfectly calm.

"Because we wouldn't do what we were told." Demyx said.

"What were you told to do?" I asked. Phystie had come back into the room and was setting up his tools on the small table next to the couch.

"Yesterday, Axel gave the order to kill Vincent." Demyx said and he seemed to be closing down, he was no longer angry or frustrated. His voice was flat, clinical almost. "We were all told that he had betrayed the organization and he was to be taken out as quickly as possible."

"Who was given the direct order to kill him." I asked.

"I don't know. We were all in Axel's office, he told us Vincent was to be taken out and then dismissed us when Larxene came banging on the door. When he called for us again Zexion and I had already run."

"Roxas, I need your help to get this bullet out." Came Phystie's voice from the other side of the room. I let my eyes leave Demyx's to focus on Phystie and Zexion. Phystie had a small knife in his hand, the tip was blackened from heat. I stood.

"What do you need?" I asked as I moved over to the couch.

"Stand behind the couch and help me hold him down." he said and I did as I was told. I leaved over the back of the couch and placed my hand on Zexions shoulder and his hip.

"This is going to hurt, your going to want to move but it's important that you don't." Phystie said to Zexion who simply nodded. Zexion met my gaze as Phystie started to dig for the bullet. He barred his teeth and let out a small hiss. I applied pressure to his shoulder and hip as he tried to move away from the pain.

"Be still damn it!" Phystie hissed at him and his movement stilled ever so slightly. After another minute Phystie finally got it out. "Alright hold this here." he said to me as he pressed a clean cloth to the wound. I replaced Phystie's hand with my own as he pulled away. Zexion's eyes met mine again.

"Who was given the order to kill Vincent?" I asked him. His eyes were clouding over, so I applied a little more pressure to the wound. He cried out.

"Roxas!" Demyx shouted. "I told you what we know!"

"Who was given the order Zexion?" I asked again. His breathing was heavy but his eyes were glaring back at me now.

"I don't know. We ran when we heard what the orders were. We knew that you and Vincent were sleeping together, we knew that that was why Axel wanted him dead. We didn't want any part of it. So we left." he said, his voice ruff.

"How did you find us?" I asked.

"We were following you for a while and then we stopped when we realized that Axel had sent someone after us." Demyx said. "We weren't planning on coming here but then Zexion was shot so we traced your cell phone."

"I'll get it now Roxas." Phystie said and I pulled away from the couch and went back to my chair across from Demyx. He was glaring at me something fierce now.

"Don't ever hurt Zexion again." he said his teeth clenched.

"Don't threaten me Demyx. I should put a bullet between your eyes for what the two of you did." I said, still perfectly calm.

"We didn't do anything!" He hissed at me and strained against the ropes around his wrist.

"Exactly!" I snarled, my calm breaking for a moment. I looked away from him, my fist clenched as I fought for control. I looked back up when I was calm again. "You knew Axel was sending them after Vincent the day before he was killed. That's an entire 24 hours you could have given us the heads up, could have warned us. And yet you ran. You may not have wanted to kill him but you might as well have." I pulled Cerberus out of the holster and laid it across my lap.

"As soon as we didn't show up for that meeting we were being hunted!" Demyx said, his eyes slightly wide and his breathing heavy. "We couldn't get any where near you! We left our phones behind because they'd been tapped a while back. We wanted to tell you! Hell we tried but they had the entire neighborhood swarming with Axel's people." Suddenly I was on my feet, the chair fell back with a clatter and Cerberus was pressed to Demyx's forehead.

"Roxas." Phystie said, his voice low with warning which I ignored.

"The SECOND you left that room after he said Vincent was to be taken out, you should have been on the phone calling me or him or Variedy." I said as I pressed the barrel into his forehead. "He'd still be alive if you'd have just picked up the damn phone!" I snarled and my finger went to the trigger.

"We think he's still alive!" Demyx suddenly shouted, his eyes wide, too much white showing. It was like a physical blow. I felt my anger rising like bile up my throat. I felt my face twist into a look of pure rage.

"How DARE you." I snarled.

"Zexion! Zexion tell him!" Demyx said, his eyes shooting over to his boyfriend who was being held down my Phystie. I drew my arm back and slammed Cerberus into the side of Demyx's face. The impact was so hard that the chair he was seated in rocked back on two legs for a moment before falling back to all four with a loud bang.

"Shut up." I said, my voice soft, my eyes glaring. "Shut up. Don't you dare say another word."

"Roxas." Came Zexion's strained voice. "Just let me explain why we think he might.."

"I SAID SHUT UP!" I bellowed and the entire room fell silent. "I will not let you do this. I was there you sick son of a bitches, I was standing in front of him when the bullet struck him between the eyes. I watched the life drain out of his face!" I snarled, my eyes locked with Demyx's watering ones.

"Just let us explain." Demyx said. I pressed Cerberus between Demyx's eyes and cocked the gun, a bullet sliding into the chamber with an audible click.

"Roxas maybe we should hear them out." Phystie said, his voice sounded calm, neutral. "If it's nothing then yeah it'll hurt a bit but if they're right..." he trailed off. I felt the tears spill over and leak down my face.

"No." I said. "I won't listen to this." I felt the shift in the room seconds before he spoke.

"What's going on here?" Came Variedy's voice from behind me. I kept the gun where it was, pressed into Demyx's forehead. Phystie started to speak but I cut him off.

"Demyx and Zexion are trying to save their own skin by telling me that Vincent is still alive." I said and I didn't even try to hide the disgust in my voice.

"Put the gun down." Variedy said. I let the gun fall to my side instantly. "Zexion, explain." I spun around, my eyes wide.

"Variedy!" I said.

"We need to know what they know." he said before he turned his attention back to the wounded man on the couch.

"For the past week or so Axel's been renovating the basement. No one is sure what for but from the glimpses people have caught it looked to be a holding cell of some kind." He said as Physite helped him sit up.

"That's it?" I asked. "He's doing some home remodeling and you think Vincent is still..." I trailed off but my anger was at a nice low boil.

"That's not all. Axel's been having meetings with a guy by the name of Ansem. When we did some digging on him we found out he's a hired hand for a lot of the big names in the mafia. He helps stage crimes, and helps cover them up." Zexion said.

"I know Ansem, I've had the misfortune of working with him a few times. Why didn't you say anything when he first started having these meetings?" Variedy asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

"We didn't know what he was discussing with the guy!" Demyx said. "We assumed all sorts of shit, we thought maybe he was going to fake his own death to get away from Larxene or maybe he needed to fake someone else death to help them escape. We never thought it'd be Vincent!"

I was suddenly sitting again without any memory of having moved.

"It seems unlikely." Variedy said. "It's one thing to fake someone's death when they want to disappear, it's an entirely different thing to fake someone's death against their will."

"I know." Zexion said. "We thought the same thing but Axel is stubborn, he wouldn't want to lose Vincent if he thought he could re train him, brain wash him back into what he was before Roxas." I looked over to Zexion at the sound of my name.

"I watched him die." I whispered and he looked away from me. "I watched the life drain from his face." I stood up and slid my hand into my pocket and pulled out the bullet. "I pulled the bullet out of the wall. His BLOOD SPLATTERED ACROSS MY FACE!" I screamed into the silent room.

"All of which can be explained if we look close enough." Zexion said. "If the house hadn't burnt to the ground I could find out for sure but I can tell you how we think they did it."

"How you think they did it?!" I snarled. "Why am I even listening to this!?" I turned to Variedy to find him staring at Zexion.

"What if they're right Roxas." He asked me and his calm red and gold eyes met mine. "We could do some digging, find out what's going on at the manor."

"What if they're wrong?" I asked and my voice caught in my throat. "It'd be like losing him all over again."

"If it had just been the basement I would have ignored it Roxas but Ansem being there changes things. This is what he does, he makes a living of making people disappear." Variedy said. "We have to look into it Rox." I was frozen.

Vincent could be alive? Axel could have him right now, brain washing him, torturing him.. I gave a nod but couldn't bring myself to say anything.

"Phystie untie Demyx." Variedy said as he moved toward the couch. Phystie made quick of the ropes with the small knife he had used to dig out the bullet earlier. Variedy bent over Zexion and was examinig his wound.

"It looks clean. Should heal with out a problem." he said and Zexion gave a nod. Once Demyx was freed from the chair he was on his feet and moving toward me. I stood from the chair and slid Cerberus back into his holster as Demyx stalked toward me, his hands balled into fist.

"Demyx." Zexion said from the couch, his voice a warning but it was ignored. I pushed the chair away from behind me as he closed the distance between us. I could see his intentions, they were written all over his face and body language. I slid my right foot back just as he came at me, I blocked the first jab and took the second one to the shoulder. I managed to grab his left wrist and jerked it across his body forcing him to spin around. I pinned his left hand behind his back and had his right in a matter of seconds when he reached for me. I used both of my hands to push his hands higher up his back, straining both of his shoulders at painful angles.

"Don't move or I'll dislocate your shoulders." I snarled into his ear as he continued to struggle against me.

"You held a gun to my head." he snarled right back. His right foot came down hard on the inside of my foot but I didn't let go I simply pushed his hands further up his back. He cried out and fell to one knee. I went down with him.

"You work for the man who just had my lover killed. You followed me, sneaked into the house where I was hiding. What was I suppose to do?" I asked.

"Roxas, Let him go." Variedy said but I ignored him.

"We're friends Roxas. You're suppose to trust me!" he said. I shoved him forward, letting go of his arms just in time for him to catch himself.

"We were friends Demyx, that was a different life time." he got to his feet, his eyes glaring into mine. "In this life I only have people that I trust and people I don't. You didn't fall into the trust category. Truthfully you still don't, I think this whole 'he's still alive' crap is a trap. Either that or its the two of you just trying to save your asses." I said and met Zexions gaze.

"I don't blame you for not trusting us." Zexion said. "But I would never tell you that Vincent was alive if I didn't believe that to be true. As we said before, we weren't planning on coming here but me getting shot changed things. We had originally planned to do our own investigating before we came to you with this, I wanted to be a hundred percent sure, we didn't want to hurt you if it turned out to be nothing."

"Too late now." I said before turning away from them. "I'm going to bed." I headed up the stairs, fighting to keep my mind blank. I took a right at the top of the stairs and went into the first bedroom I came to. I pushed the door opened, making sure it hit the wall. There was a small empty bed against the far wall, the one window in the room was boarded up from the inside. I flicked on the light and a single bare bulb flicked on above me, casting shaky shadows around the room. I moved to the closet hoping to find a blanket of some kind of the bed but only found a very flat pillow and a thin sheet. I tossed them onto the bed and set down, my head in my hands.

They were all serious? They actually thought Vincent was alive? A flash of memory across my closed eye lids, me running, him turning to me, the ping, the blood...They had to be wrong. I was there! I saw it! I shook my head and rubbed at my face with my hands. A soft knock at the door and my hand going for Cerberus.

"It's me." Came Variedy's voice.

"Come in." I said as my hand relaxed away from the gun. Variedy came in, his eyes taking in the room in one sweep.

"I just wanted you to see this." He said as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. He handed it to me and I opened it up. It was a list of a bunch of numbers and times.

"What is it?" I asked looking up at him.

"Phystie's phone record for the past three weeks. He didn't send that picture. The only number he had contact with from that phone was me." he said.

"Then how did Axel get it?" I asked as I handed him the paper back.

"I don't know but it'll be put on our agenda list to find out." he said.

"How did the meet with that guy go?" I asked, having forgotten about it earlier.

"As expected. He basically told me to go screw myself, he didn't want anything to do with it. Apparently Axel is more powerful then I thought if Sephiroth doesn't want to cross him." he said with a shrug. "I've got plenty of people who will help I was just hoping to have Sephiroth's support financially. But we'll make due."

"We've got Zexion now." I said. "He can get us any money we might need. He's a computer genius, it's why Axel recruited him in the first place."

"I'm thinking we'll head back into the city and set up a base. We'll get Zexion set up with the best tech toys we can get our hands on and get him started on finding out whats happening at the manor. " he said as he pulled out a pack of cigeretes. He placed one between his lips and lite it with the flick of a lighter.

"You think going back into the city is a good idea? Won't Axel be looking for us there?" I asked. He took a drag and released the smoke into the air.

"No, he'll be looking for us out here. He'll assume were going to leave the state, which is exactly what we were going to do before this latest piece of news fell into our laps." he took another drag.

"I don't trust it." I said with a frown.

"Neither do I, but I don't want to take the chance that its true and find out later by running into him on the street and him putting a bullet through my head." I shivered at the thought.

"When do we leave then?" I asked. He blew out another stream of smoke.

"Tomorrow. Get some rest." He said and left the room, closing the door behind him. I grabbed the pillow, folded it in half and collapsed back onto the rickety bed.

I stared at the ceiling for a while, my mind running to quickly for me to really process anything in particular.

He could be alive.

It was suddenly hard to breath. I rolled onto my side and brought my knees up to my chest as emotion after emotion rolled over me, through me.

I couldn't believe it, not with out proof but it didn't stop me from wanting to believe it. And, oh god, did I want to believe that he was alive. The logical part of me was screaming that I was being a fool, that trusting Demyx and Zexion would only lead to more pain down the road but I could already feel the little spark of hope that had been lite in the center of my chest.

I curled into myself, almost unconsciously trying to protect that little spark.

"Its possible." I whispered to myself as I squeezed my eyes closed.

But not logical.

"It doesn't have to be logical."

This is only going to lead to more pain.

"Or it could lead to having him back. Could lead to being able to tell him all the things I never did."

If it is true, how far are we willing to go to get him back?

"To wherever the hell we have to. To hell and back if that's what it takes." I felt myself slipping off to sleep when I realized I just had a conversation with myself..out loud.

"Guess I'm finally loosing it." I muttered as my eyes slipped closed.

Everyone does eventually.

I was awoken the next morning by a lack of air entering my lungs. My eyes flew opened, ready to fight but was met by lavender eyes. Phystie removed his hand when it was clear I wasn't going to scream. He leaned over me.

"Leon and Cloud are outside." he whispered in my ear. "They haven't tried to come in, they say they're just hear to talk to you."

"What does Variedy say?" I asked as I set up. I made sure Cerberus was still in the holster before I got out of the bed.

"He and Demyx went out the back door, their going to scout the swamp and make sure that they came alone like they claim." he said. I did a quick scan around the room for my over shirt but didn't see it.

"Ok." I said and headed out the door. We made our way downstairs, careful to keep our movements silent. We through the hall way and into the kitchen, Zexion was sitting at the table a cell phone out in front of him.

"Clear so far." Came Variedy's voice through the cell.

"How the hell did they find us." I hissed at the phone.

"Good morning to you too sunshine." Variedy said back, his voice low. I glared at the phone and went back out toward the living room.

"Roxas!" Phystie hissed after me but I ignored him. I pulled Cerberus out and went to the front door. I pulled the door opened and stepped out onto the porch, Cerberus pointed at the two, seemingly, unarmed men standing in the middle of the front yard.

"What the hell do you want?" I snarled at them. Cloud raised his hands in the universal 'I am unarmed' gesture.

"We're just hear to talk Rox, put the gun up." he said.

"The gun's name is Cerberus. You'd do well to remember that because it's going to be the gun you die by if you don't start talking real fast." I said, my eyes hard and cold as they stared into my older brothers.

"I remember the first time you saw that look on my face, the first time I let the killer slip through in front of you." he said and he sounded tired, drained. I cocked the gun and Leon stepped between me and my brother.

"Alright calm down kid." Leon said.

"What. Do. You. Want." I said through my bared teeth.

"We want you to come home." Cloud said stepping around Leon. "Come home with us and put this all behind us. Mom misses you like crazy and she's worried Roxas."

"You want me to just go home?" I asked. "You want me to just forget what Axel did?!" I was damn close to shouting now.

"Axel did what he told you he would do!" Cloud shouted back at me. I felt the shock radiate down my spine, and the hurt, the betrayal...

"Are you saying Vincent getting killed is my fault?" I asked, my voice empty.

"You knew what would happen." Cloud said, his anger was like a slap in the face. "You cost a good man his life because you couldn't fucking keep it in your pants!" Cerberus dropped to my side, my arm going limp.

"You..." I was at a lose for words, I was drowning in too many emotions and then I felt the rage. I embraced it like an old lover, wrapping it around myself. "How dare you!" I snarled. "I loved him you righteous ass hole!"

"Look Roxas, we didn't come here to point fingers." Leon said, taking a step toward me. "Everyone made mistakes here, we just want to put it behind us."

"Did you pull the trigger?" I asked, I could feel what little was left of my old self sinking into the blackness of the rage.

"What..." he asked, looking confused. "Rox..." he took another step toward me. I raised Cerberus again and fired a warning shot into the ground next to his foot. He froze but Cloud's anger was back.

"Roxas! What the fuck!" He snarled and started to come toward me but Leon grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Cloud, don't." he said, his eyes locked with mine. Leon was finally understanding what my brother was failing to grasp. I was no longer the Roxas they came here to get. I was too far gone.

"I asked you a question." I said.

"No." he said. "Axel brought in an outsider to pull the trigger, he didn't want any fuck ups."

"You need to leave." I said "Don't come back, don't come looking for me. Next time you won't walk away." Leon started to back up but Cloud wasn't moving from his spot. I met his eyes and I knew I was seeing a mirror image of my own eyes.

"Don't do this." Cloud said. "If you don't come back Axel is going to take this as war. You don't want to be on his bad side."

"I've been on his bad side since I got on that plane all those years ago. He shouldn't have gotten on my bad side, he should have left well enough alone." I said and I walked down the steps to stand toe to toe with my brother. "I'm going to tear his world apart, piece by piece, and I'm not going to stop until I've brought him to his knees and if you get in my way you'll go down with him."

"So be it." he said before he turned and walked away. I watched his back for a few moments before Leon spoke again.

"One more thing," he said, I slid my eyes over to his. "Have you seen Demyx or Zexion?"

"No." I said. "If they're coming here as well, be sure to tell them not to bother. I'm shooting on site from now on." He watched me for a second, trying to see if I was lying or not. Finally he gave a nod and turned to follow Cloud. He paused.

"You know, I wish now more then ever that I hadn't encouraged you to stay. I'd give anything to go back and make you go back to London." he said over his shoulder. I felt a cold smile curl my lips.

"But things are so much more interesting with me around Leon." I said in a sickeningly sweet voice. He gave a shrug.

"Yeah maybe." he said before he started walking again. I stayed where I was until he disappeared into the tree line. I turned and went back into the house to find Variedy, Zexion and Phystie in hallway.

"Well, that was pretty stupid but at least it went well." Variedy said as soon as the door closed behind me.

"Where's Demyx?" I asked, ignoring the comment.

"He's making sure they're gone, when he sends word we're out of here." he said. "Let's get the car loaded up." Phystie and Zexion headed up stairs, I went to follow them but was stopped my a hand on my arm.

"You did good." Variedy said when I met his eyes. "It was smart to not let them know that Demyx and Zexion are with us, that gives us an edge. Zexion has set up a few decoys that will lead them on a wild goose chase for a while, long enough for us to slip back into the city and bury ourselves." I gave a nod and went to pull away but he didn't let go of my arm.

"I've got to get my stuff." I said with out looking at him.

"Roxas." he said and the bite of his voice had me looking back at him. "Do not let what Cloud said get to you. No matter what we find out, this is not your fault."

"It won't get to me. It's not like he said something I hadn't already thought of myself." I said as I pulled out of his grasp. "If I blamed myself I would have swallowed one of Cerberus's bullets, I know where the blame lies." When he didn't say anything else I went upstairs and made sure I didn't leave anything in the room. We met up down stairs and made the short walk to the car. Variedy had parked it on a back road that came up behind the house. I was surprised to find that it wasn't the same car we had come in but a dark blue SUV. Probably a better bet with so many of us now.

"Demyx gave the all clear. He'll be waiting for us at the station about a mile up the road." Zexion said as we loaded the bags into the back of the SUV.

"Alright, lets get moving." Variedy said as he pulled open the drivers door and got in. Phystie took the front seat and Zexion and I got into the back. Zexion phone buzzed in the silence. He hit accept and put it on speaker.

"Whats up Dem?" He asked.

"Two black SUV's just turned down the road headed back to the house, I hope you guys are out of there." Came Demyx's voice.

"We're already gone." Variedy said as he turned off the AC and rolled all the windows down.

"Alright see you soon" He said and then the phone went dark in Zexions hand. A loud bang sounded in the distance.

"Gun." I said, letting my hearing strain to try and hear something but nothing else happened. We hit pavement a few moments later. Variedy took a right and headed toward the fill in station were Demyx was waiting. The windows went up and the AC came back on just as we pulled into the station. Variedy pulled the SUV up next to the dumpster and Demyx slid into the back seat with me and Zexion. We were gone a few minuets later.

We took a left, headed back for the city. I felt my heart squeeze tightly when I thought of what we might find and I felt it drop when I thought of what we more then likely wouldn't find.

Chances were pretty good that this little escaped was going to get me, and everyone in this car killed. I let my eyes slide from one to the next before going back to staring out the window.

Sad part? I was willing to sacrifice each and everyone of them if it meant getting Vincent back, or just getting revenge if it turned out he wasn't alive.

Actually, if he wasn't alive? Demyx and Zexion would be the first to go and it'd be my finger that pulled the trigger.