Life. Sorry guys, but life kinda happened to me. Can't really explain other then that. Forgive me.

The trip down to Jackson was three hours but it was starting to feel more like 10. The entire way I had to fight with myself to not rip the steering wheel away from Zexion and turn the damn car around. It felt so wrong being separated from the others, I knew that it was for a good reason but I really wanted to be with Vincent.

"I really hate to say this, and risk sounding like a bad road trip movie, but are we there yet?" I asked as I turned from the dark sky outside to Zexion.

"Does it look like we're there yet?" he asked, his voice empty. I rolled my eyes and grumbled about smart asses. "Call Demyx, see how things are going with them." he said and dropped the ghost phone into my lap. I snatched it up and hit the speed dial for the other phone. It rang once before Demyx picked up.

"Hey." I said, my eyes once again on the night sky. "How's Vincent?"

"He's in and out of consciousness. We're just about into Indianapolis, about ten minuets from the Doctors. You guys are already in Jackson?" he asked.

"I think we're just about there. How's Variedy?"

"Grumpy, and sulking." He said and I could hear a growl in the background. "Hold on he wants to talk to you."

"Roxas." Variedy said his voice soft.

"Got quite the headache don't cha?" I asked, with a smirk.

"Shut up. Did you kill Cloud?" He asked and I felt my heart squeeze.

"No. I shot him in the thigh, if he got to a hospital then it won't be fatal." I said, keeping my voice calm.

"I'll try and keep an ear opened for any information I can get."

"Alright. How's Vincent?" I asked, my voice going slightly soft. I heard Variedy grunt and then the sound of movement.

"Roxas?" Came Vincent's groggy, weak voice. "Where are you?" My heart cracked a little at the sound of his voice.

"I'm with Zexion, were setting up the safe house. You'll be with us as soon as the doctors have you on the mend." I said, trying to keep my voice level and reassuring.

"I'll be fine. Watch your back. Axel will be looking for you now." He said, and he sounded like he was in more pain.

"I'll be fine Vincent, just worry about yourself. Don't get worked up." I said and hoped someone took the phone away from him soon.

"You have to watch your back Rox." He was saying when the phone was taken from him.

"Sorry, he's getting a little emotional. We need him calm." Demyx said with a sigh. "Take his advice to heart tho Rox."

"We'll be alright Dem, just get here as soon as you can." I said.

"We will, try not to kill Zexion." He said and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"I won't. See you all soon." I said, and my voice was a forced firm that gave away my nerves.

"Yeah you will." He said and the line went dead. I let the phone drop back to my lap and my head hit the head rest.

"Everyone alright?" Zexion asked.

"Yeah, everyone's fine." I said, my voice soft. "They're just about to Indianapolis. Vincent says to watch our backs."

"Good advice." he said. We fell into silence and eventually I drifted off to sleep. I was woken by the sound of the drivers door opening. I set up, my hand on Cerberus to find Zexion staring at me from the drivers door.

"We're here." He said and I eased away from the gun and got out of the car. It was a one story house and pretty well kept. No boards on the window or anything.

"How long can we stay here?" I asked as we approached the door.

"As long as we need." he said as he crouched down and pulled a set of keys out of a potted plant by the front door. "Lets check it out first before we get our stuff out." I gave a nod and he unlocked the door. I made sure the door pushed all the way against the wall and Cerberus was in my hand before I even realized it but when I glanced over, I saw that Zexion had his gun out as well.

We moved silently into the living room of the house. It was modestly furnished in deep earthy tones to match the walls and carpet. I flicked on the light and a nice fixture hanging form the ceiling came to life.

"It's a little nice for our needs." I muttered as we moved from the living room and into a hall way. Zexion snorted but made no other comment as we pushed opened doors and checked every room we came too. Eventually we made our way back to the living room. "Alright," I said with a sigh as I put of Cerberus. "Three bedrooms and two baths."

"Vareidy will want the master no doubt." Zexion said as he glanced outside.

"He can have it." I muttered. "I'll claim the room closet to the front." I collapsed onto the couch, rubbing at my face.

"I'm going to start unloading." Zexion said before he disappeared out the front door. I sighed before lunging back to my feet and following him out. It didn't take us very long to unload the few things that we had with us. I made short work of storing my cloths in the closet and dresser in the front bedroom before moving into the dinning room where Zexion was setting up his tech once again.

"We'll need to do a supply run first thing tomorrow." he said as I dropped into the chair next to him. He kept his eyes on the screen in front of him and his fingers on the keyboard.

"Sounds like fun." I said just as a loud vibrating noise started up from the phone sitting next to the keyboard. I snatched it up and hit accept. "Hello?"

"Hey Rox." Came Demyx's voice. "Vincent and Axel have been seen by the doctor, Axel had six stitches to the back of his head, and a balled spot." A very distinct snarl was followed by that last bit. I had to suppress a laugh as Demyx continued. "Vincent's ankle is in a cast and a few bandages and lots of fluids and pain pills. We're all loaded up and headed toward you guys. We'll be there by first light."

"That was a lot faster then what we had thought." I said a little worried.

"Well their injuries were not as severe as we thought." He said. "Can I talk to Zexion please?"

"Yeah sure." I said and handed the phone over before going to the room I would be staying in with Vincent and made sure there were plenty of pillows for his ankle. Zexion came and found me sometime later.

"He was going to let you talk to Vincent but he was passed out." he said as he tossed me the phone. I gave a nod and slid the phone into my pocket.

"I guess we need to do a quick supply run tonight." I said as I stretched.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting them so soon." he said as we headed for the front door.

"Sooner the better." I said as I checked to make sure Cerberus was in his holster and loaded. Zexion glanced back at me as I slid the gun back.

"We're just going to the grocery story." He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Everyone has to go to the grocery store. It's the first place I would look for us." I said as I got into the car.

"Point." He said as he slid into the driver seat. "Who knows, maybe we'll be able to get in and out with out getting shot at."

"That's a nice thought." I said as he started the car. "But I won't get my hopes up."

A few hours later found us back at the house, gun shot free and loaded with grocery's and other necessities. We unloaded the car and got everything put away, I collapsed into the chair next to Zexion's computer with a bottle water in hand. He joined me shortly after and started up the machine and immediately began to type away at the keys.

"What are you looking for?" I asked as I eyed the screen.

"Anything that might tell me what Axel is up too. I'd like to know if he even knows that Vincent is missing." he said as his fingers flew over the keyboard.

"What are you in?" I asked, I wasn't the most tech savvy person but I certainly didn't recognize what the hell was going on.

"It's a program I wrote myself with a bug I planted in the manors home system a long time ago. It was kind of a fail safe, if anything happened I could crash their network and then disappear. I've rewritten the bug and can now access anything on any computer in the entire manor..." he trailed off, his eyes glued to the screen. I watched as all the color drained from his face, he made a few clicks and an email opened up.

"Zex, what is it..." I trailed off as I noticed the sender of the email was Larxene. "I'm so glad that you've agreed to make that little correction to the test results..." I read aloud. "I don't understand?" I looked to Zexion.

"It would appear," he said as he opened another email. "That she had the paternity test faked." My heart clenched, my breath whooshed out of me and I froze. "The baby isn't Axel's." Zexion said, as he continued to go through email after email. I watched as an amount was mentioned, as the lab guy agreed to her terms. Zexion eventually stopped and looked at me. "Rox?" he asked.

So many things were going through my head, Axel hadn't lied to me, when he found out he was going to be so pissed. But on top of it all was an over whelming thankfulness to Larxene.

"I'll have to be sure to send her a thank you letter." I said as I leaned back in my chair. Zexion gave me a raised eyebrow, clearly that was not the reaction he had been expecting. "The baby being Axel's is what pushed me to the edge to leave him but it is such a small reason now that it doesn't even matter if it's his or not."

"I'm glad to hear it. I was afraid there for a moment that you'd go running back." he said as he went back to his computer.

"Glad to know you think so highly of my character Zex." I snorted.

"I only can guess based on past actions." he said and I could say nothing to that. "It would seem that your brother and his lover both received medical attention in time. They are alive, both of their names are on the hospitals registry."

"Then it's safe to say that Axel knows Vincent is gone." I said with a sigh, I glanced to the window to see a streak of sunlight inching it's way into the room. "They should be here soon." I stood and stretched. "We'll have to think about using those emails to our advantage." I said as I moved to the living room, Zexion right on my heels.

"How would it help us?" He asked as I went and stood in front of the window and peaked out the curtains.

"It would at least distract him from us for a while." I said, "I don't know, we'll run it by Variedy." A pair of headlights was moving through the tress, meaning someone was making their way up the drive way. I let the curtain fall closed except a small sliver so that I could see. "Someone is here." I said as the vehicle came into view. I slid Cerberus out of his holster. "Either they switched vehicles or its Axel."

"They could have switched vehicles." Zexion said and he sounded very close to hopeful.

"It's a little black jag, I doubt theres enough room for Vincent even when he isn't injured." I said as the car came to a stop beside ours. I heard Zexion swear and then the sound of his gun cocking. Axel stepped out of the jag, the sun hitting him just right to show off the sharp ankles of his face and the vibrancy of his hair. He stepped around the car and came to stand just at the front steps of the porch.

"Call the others." I whispered as I pulled the phone out and tossed it to Zexion. "I'm going out there."

"Rox NO!" Zexion hissed but it was too late. I slipped out the door, Cerberus out and pressed to my thigh. I took a step away from the door and into the early morning light and the smile that stretched across Axel's face was enough to make a weaker mans knees weak.

I was so done being the weaker man.

"Roxas." he said with his stupid smile.

"Axel." I said, my face blank, my voice empty. His smile faltered but only slightly before it turned into a sheepish grin.

"Sorry, just happy to see you." he said, his green eyes meeting mine after a bashful (Bull Shit) look at the ground.

"I wish I could say the same." I said as I shifted Cerberus in my hand, his eyes darted down and then back up, his smile fading altogether.

"Down to business then." he said. "I've got an offer for you."

"I'm listening."

"I want you to come home with me." he said, his eyes locked on mine. "I want you to drop that gun, walk off this porch and get into the car and drive off with me and never look back." I wanted to laugh, I wanted to brush him off as crazy but I knew the bad part was coming, I knew the other shoe was going to drop...

"We both know that's not going to happen." I said, still perfectly calm. "I've got a house full of people ready to shot you dead if I don't get to it first. I'm not going any where with you." He gave me his shit eating grin.

"Now Rox, we both know that's a lie. Zexion!" He called out. "Why don't you come one out and tell our Roxy here how lucrative that phone call was?" he said and I felt my heart beat pick up. The door opened behind me and I moved to keep both the door and Axel in view. Zexion stepped out on the porch, the phone clutched in one hand and the gun in the other.

"Why hello old friend." Axel said but Zexion's eyes were glued to mine.

"He has them." he said, his voice soft. "All of them." My eyes closed of their own accord as I let it sink in.

"Come now Roxas, you should have realized when Demyx called you earlier that it was far to soon for them to be on their way here." Axel said with a smirk.

"What do you want." I asked, turning toward him completely now.

"I want you to come with me." he said, his eyes boring into mine. "Come with me, come home, for good and I will let them all live. I will release them and as long as they promise to never come to St. Louis I will ever harm a hair on their heads. We'll end this today, right now." he held out his hand and gave me that smile again. "Come on Rox."

My grip on Cerberus loosened as I stared into his smiling face, parted me wanted to. Part of me wanted to let the gun go, let the violence go, go home, see my mom, make things right with my brother, end all of this.

"You'll let them go?" I asked and I felt Zexions shock.

"Roxas no." Zexion snarled at me. "Don't you dare, don't you dare make all of our sacrifices for nothing. We're all in this together now. Do you really think Vincent will really just let you walk away? Do you think any of us will?" he asked

"Zexion, shut up." Axel said with a snarl.

"We will follow you." he said, his eyes glued to my face but I kept my eyes locked on Axel. "We will never let him bully you into something like this. We will find you and drag you away again and again until we are all dead."

"I could end it." I said, my voice soft.

"It would not be an end. We will NOT let you do this." he snarled. A loud bang had all of us hitting the floor, I looked up to see a pillar of smoke coming from the direction of the road.

"What the hell is that?" I asked looking to Zexion. Axel was on his feet and on his phone but he wasn't appearing to be able to get an answer.

"I would make a pretty good bet that that was Varidy's idea of remind you that there are always options." Zexoin said, his eyes locked with mine. I raised Cerberus and was off the porch in seconds. I had the gun buried in red spikes, my hand wrapped in the back of Axel's shirt.

"On your knees." I whispered as a black SUV came skidding around the corner. Demyx and Variedy were the first out, followed by Phystie and Vincent, crutches and all. I wanted to sob in relief but the kneeling red head was a bigger distraction. I slowly walked around Axel, my gun on his head, till I was face to face with him.

It was his turn to have a blank, unreadable face. The mask.

"There is only one thing in this world that can create hate that burns like ice." I said as I caressed the side of his face with Cerberus. "I loved you so much." I whispered as I pressed the gun to his forehead. The distinct sound of a bullet sliding into the chamber filled the silenced yard.

"You can't kill me." he said, his dead green eyes locked with my dead blue ones. I felt the laughter bubble up and spill out.

"Your looking into my eyes, you know I can. Once upon a time that wasn't true, but you made this, you gave me that capability." I said. A body pressed to the back of mine and suddenly I was wrapped in a warm embrace, hands encircled my wrist and a finger joined mine on the trigger.

"I won't tell you not too." Came Vincent's deep voice in my ear. "I don't have that right, but you must think about what this will do. If he dies here he will have a system set up and everyone you know will be killed, Sora, your brother, your mother. He's not worth anything, and he certainly isn't worth the lives of your family." I let go of the gun and Vincent took it into his hand before he wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly.

"Leave." I whispered. Axel got to his feet and turned towards his car. "By the way, Larxene had the paternity test faked. The proof you need is in her emails." He froze by his car, his hands clenched. His head dropped and then raised to the sky.

"You just had to take everything from me, didn't you?" he said as his tired eyes met mine.

"I'm just returning the favor." I said. "I hope your money and power keeps you warm at night." Vincent's arms tightened around me as Axel disappeared into his car and shot out of the drive way. I turned in the arms holding me and buried my face into his chest. I could hear the others talking, Demyx and Zexion hugging, kissing, but I kept my face hidden.

They didn't need to see me cry again.

Vincent just stood there, my pillar once again, silent and unmovable. I felt a hand on my back and I knew it was Variedy. He moved passed us and I heard the door of the house open and then close.

I wasn't sure if this was an end. I didn't know if tomorrow we would have to pack up and leave or if this meant a truce for now. Maybe Axel was as tired as I was, maybe he didn't want to rage a war that would burn a trail from state to state until one of us was dead.

Vincent pulled away enough to press his lips to my forehead.

"No matter what, we'll follow you." He said. "When Variedy blew up that car and came straight here instead of going to safety I knew what it meant. He and Phystie are with you till the end."

"And you?" I asked. He chuckled, a deep rumbling sound.

"I'd follow you to hell and back." he whispered.

"You already have." I said as I brushed my lips on his.

"Who's up for round two?" he asked and I couldn't help the stupid grin that stretched across my face as he kissed me.

"How bout some sleep first?" I asked.