You guys...I can't even...the reviews...I just...-sobs-
You all are the reason I can go on.
It was a beautiful day, the sky was a wonderful clear blue that reminded me of the color of Namine's eyes. I spared a few thoughts for her, hoping she was doing well as I stretched out under the tree across from the waterfall fountain.
Everyone was in positions, now all we had to do was wait. I had several wires on me, one that was pretty obvious, one that was a little better hidden and two that were impossible to find. I didn't have Cerberus with me and I felt very unprotected with out it.
Zexion was back at the base, computers up and ready to start the trace as soon as I was taken. Variedy and Phystie were both positioned around the park in places that appeared like they were trying to hide but in reality we wanted Axel's people to spot them. They knew I had Variedy and Phystie, our secret weapons were Zexion and Demyx.
Demyx was in a parking garage a few buildings over with a wire of his own. As soon as he got word he'd follow whatever vehicle they put me in.
"Sora is approaching from the south." Came Variedy's voice in my ear. "He's alone but I've spotted several of Axel's men around."
"Alright." I muttered.
"Rox?" Came Sora's voice. I set up and gave him a shaky smile. Here we go. I thought as I stood and embraced my cousin.
"Hey Sor." I said as I hugged him tightly. He pulled away and searched my face.
"I've been so worried about you." he said his voice soft.
"Let's sit." I said, gesturing to the grass. He nodded and we both sat. "I've been doing that best I can, considering."
"I know Rox." he said and he gave me his best sympathy look and I knew it wasn't faked. "I'm really sorry about Vincent." I gave a shaky smile.
"Yeah me too." I said as I ran my hand through my hair. "It hasn't been easy. Every time I close my eyes I see..." I trailed off.
"You can tell me Rox." He said, taking my hand in his. "Please tell me." I met his sincere eyes and almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
"I was in my room at the house." I said, looking away from him and staring off into space. "I was getting ready to take a shower when my phone went off. I saw the message was from Axel and I was instantly filled with dread. I opened the text and saw the picture of me and Vincent kissing and I knew. I dropped the phone and ran out the door and down the stairs. I think I called out his name.." I trailed off here and had to shake my head, I'd almost fallen into my own story. "I ran down the hallway, I could see Vincent standing on the mat next to Phystie, I called out again and he turned to me. I reached him and grabbed his arm. I don't know why I grabbed him, I don't know if I meant to pull him down..I don't know..." I trailed off again as tears rolled down my face. Sora scooted closer to me and squeezed my hand.
"It's alright Roxas." he said, his voice soft. "Go on."
"I grabbed his arms and our eyes met and I watched the life drain out of his eyes. He fell into me, and I went down with him, I think I was screaming, I don't remember. The next thing I can see clearly I'm being pulled away by Phystie and Variedy is checking his pulse..."
"Oh Roxas." Sora said as he pulled me into an awkward hug. I hugged him back best I could and let myself cry into his shirt. "I'm sorry. God I'm so sorry." he said over and over again.
And then suddenly I was seeing things a little differently. Variedy had checked Vincent's pulse. Why had he checked his pulse if he knew he was dead? He had seen the hole, he would have had to know that he was dead already...unless he knew he wasn't...I pulled away from Sora and stared at the ground, my eyes wide.
Had I trusted to quickly? Had he known all along? And now I was letting him hand deliver me back to Axel? I stood suddenly.
"Rox?" Sora asked. I glanced down to him but I wasn't seeing him.
"I have to go." I whispered.
"Roxas what are you doing?" Came Variedy's voice in my ear. I pulled the ear piece out and threw it to the ground and slammed my foot down on it. I started off down the path and Sora was suddenly beside me.
"I'm really sorry about this Rox." He whispered to me as he hugged me tightly. I felt the needle sink into my arm and a slight stinging sensation.
"Sora.. what?" I asked as I felt my knees go weak. My blue eyes met his and I couldn't help the feeling of betrayal that rose in me.
"I need help!" He hollered over his shoulder. "Roxas? Roxas are you alright?" I tried to push him away.
"Get away." I slurred as two big burly men appeared.
"How can we help?" One asked and I would bet my life that they worked for Axel. Hell I think I was already betting my life and now I wasn't even sure the person who would get me out could be trusted.
"Help me get him to my truck." Sora said and one of the men picked me up. I tried to open my mouth to scream again but nothing came out but a small wine.
"Axel will be so happy to see you." the man carrying me whispered. My last thought before whatever they had drugged me with took over was, Man I hope I'm wrong about Variedy.
The first thing I noticed when I started to regain consciousness was that I was hella thirsty. The second thing I noticed was that I wasn't tied down in any way. Axel clearly was underestimating me. I slowly opened my eyes to find myself in a bare white room. I was lying on a small twin sized bed that was across from a metal door. I looked around and spotted the one camera that was up in the corner of the room. I set up, slowly, my head spinning.
The good news was I was in the same cloths which meant that I had still had the tracking device. The bad news was they had found all but one of the wires and the one that was left was sewn into the hem at the top of my pants and most of the sound it would record would the sound of the fabric moving so I'd have to be perfectly still for it to pick up anything useful. Hopefully it got something good while I was passed out.
I swung my feet to the floor and put my head in my hands. I wanted to talk to the wire, wanted to express my doubts in Variedy but the entire room was probably bugged and if I said a word they'd be in here strip searching me. I sighed and rubbed at my face. Time to get this show on the road. I stood from the bed and moved to the center of the room.
"I'm awake ass hole." I said to the camera. "Come and get it." A few moments later the door banged opened and Leon came in followed closely by Riku and then Axel. Leon stood on Axel's right while Riku was on left, the door closed behind them. If only one of them had come in I would have taken them out just on principle but all three was a no-no.
"Good morning Love." Axel said and I wanted to punch him so badly. I must have made some kind of step forward because Leon and Riku both moved toward me. "I was beginning to worry that Sora had overdosed you, you've been out for almost 24 hours."
"Fuck you." I snarled, my fist balled "What the fuck do you want from me?"
"Just to see you." He said, his acid green eyes darting up my body. It made me feel sick.
"Well you've seen me, I'd like to go now." I said. He chuckled and walked toward me. I stayed where I was, if he got close enough we'd see how much I could make him bleed before Leon or Riku could get to me. He didn't come that close though, instead he circled me but I didn't follow him.
"I don't think so. If what Leon and Cloud reported to me is true then you are far to dangerous to be let out." He said as he came back to stand in front of me. Just out of reaching distance. "Is it true Roxas?" He asked, his voice full of mock hurt. "Are you hell bent are avenging a death that you caused?" I felt my temper rise but I held it down.
"I did not cause Vincent's death. You did." I said, keeping my eyes glued to his. "And I am going to bring you to your knees. I am going to take everything away from you." He gave a smirk.
"I'd like to see you try." he said, his eyes going into slits. And then it happened. One second we were standing about three feet apart the next I had swept his feet out from under him and had him on his knees, my hand wrapped in his hair. I jerked his head back so that he was looking up at me. His eyes were shocked but the anger was quickly growing. Leon and Riku were moving quickly toward us.
"You have no idea the monster you've created" I hissed in his face. I let go of him just as Riku tackled me to the ground, as we were falling I got my feet up and positioned on his chest so when we hit the ground I kicked out with both my legs to send him flying over me. I rolled and quickly got to my feet to face Riku but Leon came up behind me and he was armed with another syringe. I felt the drug hit me quickly and I went down to one knee, Leon gripping my right arm. Axel came over to me and pressed his lips to my forehead.
"Sleep now. We'll talk some more when you wake." he whispered and I wanted to vomit.
The next time I woke I was chained to the bed. My right wrist was shackled to the bed by a chain. I was able to sit up and even stand but I couldn't move very far away from the bed. Next to the bed was a tray of food and water. I scarfed it down, not caring if it was poisoned, I would be needing my energy.
After I finished I went back to examining the shackle but there was no way I was getting it off. I stood and pulled at the chain, hoping maybe the bed would move, but of course it was bolted to the ground.
"Son of a bitch." I hissed as I gripped my hair in both hands. I needed to talk to my wire without ears.
I ripped the sheets off the bed, looking for a bug of some kind. I pulled the pillow case off and when that didn't turn up anything I ripped the pillow apart. I found a small bug in the stuffing and smashed it. I tossed the pillow aside and flipped the mattress off the bed frame and found a more advanced bug, wires and all. I ripped it off just as the door to my 'room' swung open. I smashed it to the ground just as hands grabbed me and spun me around. I came face to face with Cloud.
"What the hell are you doing?!" He snarled, searching my face. I pooled what little moister there was in my mouth and spit in his face. He wordlessly snarled at me and then back handed me across the face. I stumbled back but didn't go down. I came at him hard, my left fist took him square in the jaw and it was his turn to stumble back. His right fist got me in the stomach with enough force to knock my breath out. I fell this time and his foot took up where his fist left off. One of the kicks connected with my face. I felt my lip split wide open and I curled in on myself trying to protect my face from the on coming abuse.
He finally backed off and I looked up at him, a smile plastered across my face. He was breathing heavy and looking at me like I'd grown an ugly second head.
"Dad would be so proud." I said and coughed, splattering blood across the floor. He turned and left the room like his ass was on fire. I couldn't help but laugh as the door closed behind him. I lay on the ground and laughed for a while. In that moment I was pretty close to an edge that I wasn't quite ready to fall over just yet. Once you went over that edge you either had to put down or you turned into Variedy. Speaking of which... I curled into a ball again on the floor, bringing my face closer to the bug in my jeans.
"I'm starting to wonder if I can trust anybody." I whispered, trying to remain cryptic, I could probably plead insanity if they ask who I'm talking to. "I don't know any more. Why would you check his pulse?" I started to say more but decided against it. I uncurled and got to my feet. My right side was a little sore from the kicking but not to bad. I checked the rest of the bed frame for any wires or bugs but didn't find anything. I grabbed the edge of the mattress and pulled it closer to me before I started ripping in to that as well.
By the time the door opened again I was sitting with my back to the wall next to the bed surrounded by stuffing from the mattress and another bug down.
"Oh Roxas, you just can't have nice things." Axel said as he came in the room, alone this time. I flashed him a smile that may have been a bit crazed, what with all the blood. He frowned at me. "Cloud didn't tell me he drew blood."
"That seems to be a common thing among your people, the whole not telling you things they probably ought too." I said as I stood from the ground. I gave a little laugh. "Like for example the dead guy in the woods behind that apartment they followed me too yesterday?" I said with a bit of laughter. Axel just stared at me, his face blank. "I bet he didn't tell you that he saw your guys dragging Vincent through the manor the day after the house burnt down." Axel was frozen, his eyes glued to mine. I stepped around the mess on the floor and got as close as my chain would allow. "Where is he Axel." I asked. He didn't say anything, our eyes locked but I knew what was coming seconds before he acted.
His foot shot out and took me in the center of my chest sending me flying back onto my back. I was on my feet in seconds, avoiding an on coming boot that would have smashed my wrist.
"Why can't you just leave well enough alone?!" he snarled at me as he came for me again.
"I think I'm the only one in this room that has the right to ask that." I snarled back. He started to back me up toward the bed frame with several well placed punches. Right when he thought he had me cornered I dodged around him and took out his knees, he stumbled and I was on him. I had the chain around his throat, he managed to get his hands under the chain between it and his neck but all that meant was I had his hands trapped as well as his windpipe. I pulled the chain tight and he struggled under me. I pressed my face to the side of his.
"Where is he?" I growled just as the door banged open. "Don't!" I snarled at Leon as I pulled the chain tighter, Axel was still struggling but it was becoming weaker. "Tell me where Vincent is and I'll let him go." I said. "That's all I want is to know where he is." and that may have come out as a scream. I felt Axel give a slight nod.
"He's in the room next to you." Leon said and I released Axel. He fell to the ground, gasping for air. Leon grabbed him and drug him away from me. I put my back to the wall and glared at them as Riku joined Leon and helped Axel to his feet. Axel's eyes met mine and I knew I was in store for something nasty.
"Leave the door opened." He said to Leon before he turned and left the room. Riku followed Axel but Leon stayed, leaving the door opened. I heard another door opened with a bang as it hit the wall. I felt my heart start to pound.
"What is he doing?" I asked and I might have sounded a little panicked. Leon just kept his eyed glued to the wall next to me.
"Wake up Vinny!" I heard Axel say and I wanted to sob. "We have a guest in the next room who would just love to hear from you!" I heard the distinct sound of something thin and whip like striking flesh but no sound of pain. I felt the tears on my cheeks before I knew I was crying. I quickly wiped them away. If Vincent could keep quiet so could I. "I think you know him!" Axel said and the lashes were getting more angry. "You know, the one you stole from me? The love of my life that you decided was fair game?!" he was practically screaming now.
And then I heard it, barely audible.
"Roxas." it came out as a pained groan.
"Vincent!" I called out, my voice cracking a bit. "Vincent, I'm here." I heard a door slam closed and I sunk to the floor. Leon slid his eyes to me but I didn't have anything left in me to say anything to him. He left the room, closing the door behind him.
I sat on the floor for what felt like forever before the door opened again. This time it was just Riku. He walked right over to me and knelt next to me. I turned my head and met his calm eyes and I knew what was coming seconds before the syringe made contact with my arm. My last thought was what now?
I woke to the sound of birds. Odd I thought as I rolled over, trying to snuggle deeper into the surface I was laying on. My eyes flashed opened when I felt the scratch of leafs on my face. I set up, looking around. I was in the middle of the woods. I felt panic start to rise as I stood to my feet, looking around.
Had I imagine everything? I felt my face and sure enough I still had the split lip from where my brother had kicked me. So what the fuck was going on? Suddenly I could hear voices off in the distance. I looked around for a hiding place and quickly climbed the closest tree and waited. The voices were getting closer but I couldn't make out what they were saying just yet. I closed my eyes and strained my ears.
"Roxas!" They were calling my name? I waited a few more moments and heard it again.
"Demyx?!" I called out and dropped from the tree. "DEMYX!" I yelled and started moving toward the voices.
"Roxas?!" I heard him shout back. "Guys he's over here!" I ran toward their voices. The first person I saw was Demyx and then Variedy. "Oh god Roxas!" Demyx said as he ran to me and hugged me tightly. "We were so sure we were going to find your body." He said. I pulled away from him and looked to Variedy. Zexion and Phystie joined us. Phystie gave me a shaky smile and Zexion gave me a nod.
"I fucked up, he knows that we know. He's going to move him, please tell me you know where he was holding me." I said, my voice shaky. Zexion and Phystie looked away but Variedy held the eye contact.
"As soon as you were put into that truck the signal to the tracking device was jammed. Demyx tried to follow but Sora lost him pretty quickly." he said. "I'm sorry Rox, we don't know where you were. We looked but we couldn't find you and then all of a sudden your tracking device turned back up here in these woods, we were so sure that the only thing we'd find was your body." I leaned against a tree and tried not to let the feeling of defeat over whelm me.
"He was there." I said, my hand over my face. "I heard him. He called out to me." A hand on my shoulder had me looking up at Demyx.
"We'll find him Roxas." he said as Phystie came over and draped a jacket over my shoulders. I was shivering apparently. "Let's get out of here." he said, his arm around my waist. I let myself be led out of the forest and to the SUV that was waiting for us on a dirt road a ways from where I had been dumped.
"Why did he let me go?" I asked out loud once we were all in the SUV and headed back to base.
"You'll have to walk us through what happened and maybe we can figure it out." Variedy said from the drivers seat.
"How long was I gone?" I asked as I pressed my forehead to the cool glass of the window.
"Three days." Phystie said from the passenger seat.
"I think I'm dehydrated." I said as the world seemed to shift around me. I must have passed out because the next I knew I was on the couch at the base and hooked up to a IV.
"Good to see your up." Zexion said from his seat on the other couch.
"Since when do we have medical supplies?" I asked as I tried to sit up. He came over and helped me get propped up.
"Since you got taken by a criminal over lord who is an expert in torture, we didn't know what kind of shape you'd be in when we got you back." he said as he checked the needle in my am.
"The others?" I asked as he handed me a bottle water.
"I'll go let them know that you're awake." he said. I nodded and took a big swig of the water as he disappeared around the couch. A few moments later I was joined by Variedy and Phystie. Phystie took the recliner that I normally set in and Variedy knelt next to the couch by my head.
"How you feeling?" He asked me as he searched my face.
"Better." I said, clearing my throat a bit. Demyx and Zexion joined us and it was down to business.
"Walk us through what happened." Variedy said as he stood and went to stand on the other side of the coffee table.
"Sora got me at the park with a syringe full of some kind of drug, it knocked me out pretty quickly. I don't remember anything after that to the point when I woke up in the room." I said as I rubbed at my face.
"Why did you try to walk away from him?" Variedy asked and I froze up. It was a hell of a time to admit that I had doubted him.
"I was having second thoughts about letting myself get captured." I said, going for half truth. "I woke up in a room on a bed. I felt really thirsty but I put most of my effort into making sure I still had one of the bugs on me and the tracking device, lot of a good it did." I muttered.
"We got the bug, I'm in the process of extracting the data it picked up. We can hope it caught something good while you were drugged." Zexion said.
"I hope so." I said before I took another drink of water. "Any way, I wasn't tied down, Axel's first mistake." Variedy smirked, his arms crossed over his chest. "I called them out, told them to come and get it. Leon, Riku and Axel came into the room soon after that. I asked what he wanted, he said he just wanted to see me." I spat, my anger rising easily at the thought of that first meeting. "He asked if I meant what I said to Cloud and Leon when they came to the house in the swamp to which I said yes and used some other colorful words to tell him exactly what I was going to do to him. I attacked at the first chance I got, I got Axel on his knees before the others could intervene. I made some kind of remark and then Riku tackled me. I threw him off with a well placed kick to his chest and then Leon got me with another syringe from behind." I trailed off as I took another drink of water.
"The next time I woke I was chained to the bed." I said with a smirk. "I wanted to talk to the bug in case you guys were listening so I tore apart the bed I was chained to and found three recording devices, one in the pillow, one under the mattress and one in the mattress. Cloud came in this time and things got a bit nasty. Punches were thrown and I sadly, was not the victor this time. He got a few well aimed kicks in and I told him our father would be proud which sent him running."
"The next time Axel came in he was alone, and I was feeling edgy after Clouds visit. My lip was bleeding." I reached up and touched it to find a few butterfly band aids there now. "He said that Cloud didn't tell him that he'd drawn blood. To which I responded that his people not telling him things seemed to be a regular occurrence. That's when I told him about the dead guy in the woods that told me about Vincent..." I trailed off for a moment before I snapped out of it. "He got pissed, kicked me in the chest, knocked me down. I got up before he could smash my left wrist, I let him back me into a corner and then I got the chain around his throat. I asked him where Vincent was but he wouldn't say so I squeezed harder."
"Leon came in but he froze when he saw how close Axel was to passing out. I asked Leon where Vincent was and he said, 'In the room next to yours.' I let Axel go and quickly backed to the wall. Leon grabbed Axel and dragged him away from me. When Axel got to his feet he told Leon to leave the door open and he left. I heard another door opened and Axel was talking to Vincent." I felt the tears on my cheek before I knew I was crying. I quickly wiped them away. "He was whipping him from what I could hear but Vincent never made a noise, not till Axel told him I was in the next room." I stopped and had to look away from the others to try and get myself under control. Demyx came and set next to me on the couch and gripped my arm.
"It's alright Rox." He said. "No one here expects you to be strong through something like this." I let my eyes meet his and I let my anger show now.
"He said my name Demyx. I heard him say my name. I yelled his name, let him know that I heard him, that I knew he was alive and then they shut the door. I was given another syringe full of that crap soon after and then I woke up in the damn woods." I said. "He knows that I know he's alive but there isn't a damn thing I can do about it because we didn't get the damn trace!"
"Well I can tell you why he got rid of you after that." Variedy said with a sigh. Everyone looked to him now. "You broke his bubble. When you're trying to brainwash or torture someone into submitting to you, you have to keep control of the situation and Axel lost that the second you called Vincent's name. By letting him hear you Axel gave Vincent a sliver of hope, a piece of who he was before the pain, before the torture. He also knew that we'd be looking for you so he had you dumped out in the middle of no where, far away from where he was holding you so that when your tracker picked up again it'd lead us away from him while he moved Vincent."
"Why not kill me?" I asked. "He'd already told me I was to dangerous to let go so why not just kill me and move on?"
"Sentiment?" Variedy said with a shrug. "If it had been me I would have killed you but I expect his feelings for you prevented that." Everyone fell quiet after that, thinking. My mind was running over and over everything again. A loud ping from Zexion work station pulled us all out of our thoughts.
"What's that?" Demyx asked as Zexion got up and went over to the computers. He got behind his desk and started tapping away at the keys. There was a silence and then a chuckle.
"I did it." Zexion said. Everyone was watching him now.
"Did what?" Variedy said with a raised eyebrow. Zexion hit a button on his key board and pointed to the screens on the wall in front of us. We all turned to examine the screens but they weren't showing the outside of our building anymore.
"Wait! This is.." Demyx started to say but trailed off.
"I'm in." Zexion said. "Gentlemen I give you Axel's manor."
"Zexion you genius!" Phystie exclaimed as he stood form his chair to get a closer look at the screens. One screen caught my eye.
"Zexion! Camera 89! That's the room they were holding me in. Where is that at?" I asked, sitting up. Zexion started to type away at the keys.
"It appears to be transmitting from a basement but not the one under the main house. There appears to be a basement under the pool house." He said as he clicked away.
"Find camera 90 or 88." I said and my voice might have cracked. The big screen flickered and I was looking at another empty room. "Son of a bitch!" I snarled. The room was clean, just two chains hanging from the ceiling. "Please tell me these things record and you have access to them."
"Absolutely give me just a few...seconds." he hit a button and suddenly we were all looking at a bloody Vincent hanging by his wrist. "This is exactly 24 hours ago." Zexion said. As we watched Axel came storming into the room, there wasn't any sound so I filled it in for them.
"Wake up Vinny." I said, keeping my tone dry. Axel hit Vincent several times until Vincent's eyes opened. "We have a guest in the next room who would just love to hear from you!" My voice was a little shaky now as I watched the whip make contact with Vincent's bare skin. "I think you know him." I muttered, just loud enough for everyone to hear. "You know, the one you stole from me? The love of my life that you decided was fair game..." And then I saw it.
He lifted his head up and he seemed to focus for a moment, his lips moved.
"Roxas." I whispered and had to cover my mouth to hold back the sobs. I watched as his head came all the way up. "Vincent." I said through my tears. "Vincent, I'm here." I chocked and watched as his head fell back, his face to the ceiling and the picture froze on his face.
"I'd say that's hope if I've ever seen it." Variedy said, his voice soft. Vincent's eyes were locked with the ceiling but even in the fuzzy, pixelated video the look on his face was one of absolute relief. Demyx had his arms around me now, I wasn't even trying to hide the sobs at this point.
"He's counting on me and I've already lost him." I sobbed into the other blonds shoulder.
"We'll find him Rox." Demyx whispered. "Zexion will piece together the camera videos, we'll figure out where they took him. We'll go through every second of video."
"Demyx get him to his bed." Variedy said but I pushed Demyx away.
"No. I'll help." I said wiping my face.
"No, you'll get some rest. We've got a lot of video to go through. As soon as we get something I will let you know." Variedy said. "You're no good to us or Vincent if you run yourself into the ground. You need to flush your system of whatever the hell they were injecting you with and let your body recuperate." I sighed but allowed Demyx to help me to my room, he had to push the IV stand so I could hobble along.
"I feel like such inept tag along." I muttered as Demyx helped me down the hall and toward my room. Demyx gave a huff of amusement.
"Give it a day or two and I'm sure you'll be back to your normal state of being, whatever that may be." he said as he patiently allowed me to walk at my own pace. I rolled my eyes at him.
"My 'normal state of being' is directly effected by those around me." I snapped at him. He just shook his head and chuckled.
"We're not the one's who cause you to behave the way you do. You're the one who decides how to react to those around you. We simply are what we are, you make the decision on how to respond." he said.
"And you make the decision on how to respond to me and in turn it is my decision to respond to your response and we have a circular argument in the making here and one I am not feeling up to having right this moment; so save it." I snarled as we made it to my door. "And your argument simply sounds like a way of opting out of your own actions. By implying that my reaction is my choice is just another way of settling all the blame on the other party and off of yourself."
"Or," He said as he pushed opened my door and let me pass. "If our reactions are our own choices then that puts us in complete control of ourselves, and not at the mercy of those around us." I paused for a moment, considering this line of thought but quickly moved past it.
"When the fuck did this become philosophy class?" I hissed at him before continuing on my pursuit for my bed.
"When it became clear that you needed it." he said back and I stopped and turned to him, my eyes made into slits.
"I have been through hell these past few months, yes it was my choice to stay, and yes some of what has happened has been my own doing. But I will not shoulder all the blame for what has happened. When I was getting pushed around by Axel, no one would help me. Everyone warned me it would happened but no one would step up to intervene when it did finally happen. Not you, not Zexion, not anyone. Everyone told me that Axel would come first if it came down to me or him. So I took matters into my own hands and now I am helping myself. So screw you if you don't agree on how I'm handling the cards that have been dealt to me. And screw you if you don't like how I've chosen to react to the people around me." I snatched the IV stand out of his hands. "Now if you'll excuse me, I am choosing to get some rest since my body is choosing to react badly to the medication that was forced upon it."
I turned my back on him and moved toward my bed. I managed to get myself seated just as he was closing the door behind him. He paused and I rolled my eyes, of course he'd have to have the last word.
"I just want my friend back." He said as he looked at me over his shoulder.
"He's dead Demyx. He died a long and painful death and it all started the morning he showed his bruises for all his friends to see and they all looked away." I said and I couldn't help it if I sounded tired. Demyx made no further comment and closed the door behind him.
I reluctantly pulled my legs up into the bed with me and curled up on my side, being mindful of the IV in my arm. A part of me felt bad for Demyx, or at least bad for the way I had been treating him but most of me just couldn't muster up the strength to care.
Vincent was alive and I needed to concentrate on getting him back in once piece, both mentally and physically.
The state of my mental health could wait.