Oh my dear readers, what an adventure we've had together. You are all amazing and beautiful.
Eight hours was a hell of a lot longer then I thought it would be. I had to switch positions a lot to relieve the stress on my stomach wound. I'd already reached the limit of recommended doses for a twenty-four hour time period on my pain pills.
"It's been eight hours!" I snarled as I glanced at the clock on the dash. I was leaning my face against his seat from the back. Vincent said nothing, I opened my mouth to say something else but was cut off.
"If you say another word I will pull this car over and rip out your stitches with my bare hands!" He snapped at me and I shut my mouth. I closed my eyes and tried to relax but every turn and bump brought a small sound of pain from me. After a few minutes Vincent seemed ready to be civil.
"We're about twenty minutes out." He said, his eyes on the road.
"Okay." I mumbled. He let out a sigh and I wasn't sure if it was exhaustion or just irritation. Fifteen minutes later we were pulling into the parking garage of our old base. Vincent pulled the car into a spot a few spaced down from the door and killed the engine.
"I'm going to go in a check the place out." He said and started to get out of the car. I opened my door and slid out as well. "Roxas, I need you to stay here." He said as he came around to my side. I huffed and managed a small glare.
"You've never been here before, I have. I know what to look for and I'll know if anything is out of place or looks suspicious." I said with as little attitude as I could manage. He gave a nod and pulled out Cerberus.
"I go first." he said and disappeared around the car. I followed at a much slower pace, taking careful, even steps. I got to the doors to find Vincent already inside. "Clear." He called back and I entered the stair well. It was two flights of stairs down and it was gonna hurt. I got half way down the first flight and Vincent got impatient. He took the stairs two at a time back up to me, scooped me up and set me on my feet at the bottom. I rolled my eyes but stepped to the side of the door just as he did.
He motioned to the door knob and I grabbed it, counted to three with my other hand and pulled the door opened. Vincent went in low, scanning the room with his eyes and his gun.
"Clear so far." He said, his voice soft. I followed him in but was sure to stay behind him. The place looked pretty much how we left it except it'd been tossed pretty well. The desk were Zexion had left his old set up was completely clean, they'd taken it all. I followed Vincent to the first door which was the restroom, I mouthed this to him before we did the same routine of me opening the door and him checking the room. He reemerged a few minutes later.
"Clear." He said and we moved on to the next. We repeated the process on all the rooms and when the whole place was announced clear I collapsed onto the computer chair that was still sitting by the round desk.
"Nice of them to leave the furniture." I said as Vincent started to examine the room more closely.
"They had surveillance set up in here but it's been taken down recently." He said as he moved around the large opened space, examining corners.
"That's strange." I said as I tracked his movements around the room by swiveling the chair. "Maybe Zexion had it cleaned out?"
"We'll have to assume so until they get here." he said then turned his attention to me. I squirmed a bit as he assessed me. "Why don't you lie down while I go get the bags?" He said and then was gone back out the door before I could argue. I grumbled but pushed myself out of the chair and to the couch. I lay down on my back and stared up at the ceiling.
"How strange to be back here." I said to the empty room. I let my head roll over to stare at the wall where the monitors use to be. I heard the door open and close again. "This is where I was when I watched that video of you in the cell at the manor." I said and a small smile came to my face. "Seems like a life time ago." Vincent leaned over me from the back of the couch.
"That was a life time ago." He said as he reached down and pulled up my shirt to examine my bandages. "No blood, that's good." He said as he lowered my shirt back down.
"Hurts though." I muttered as my eyes slipped closed. I heard Vincent chuckle but let sleep take me.
I was woken by the sound of voice's arguing on the other side of the room. I struggled into a sitting position and looked over to find Zexion and my brother in a heated discustion.
"Cloud?" I asked, slightly confused. Cloud brushed past Zexion and rushed over to me. He squatted down next to the couch.
"Hey Rox, how's the stomach?" He asked. I shrugged as I met his gaze and held it.
"I'm sorry about Leon." I said. His eyes went to the floor and came back up.
"I'm not giving up on him. I'll keep looking, there are several people still unaccounted for." He said and I nodded.
"I hope you find him." I said. He smiled and pushed me back onto my back.
"Let's take a look at the booboo." He said as he pulled up my shirt. I frowned.
"I'm not a child Cloud, and this certainly isn't a 'booboo'." I said. He pulled up the bandages and I saw his face shut down.
"No, this certainly isn't a booboo. This was a very serious attempt on your life." He said as he stood, his eyes blank. "How has it come to this..." he trailed off and then seemed to pull himself together.
"Cloud.."
"I'll go get Vincent, your bandages need to be changed." He said and then was gone. I set up again to find Zexion sitting at the round desk, a lap top in front of him.
"Any luck finding Axel?" I asked and he shook his head. I sighed as Cloud and Vincent came out from the back rooms. Vincent was carrying a first aid kit and Cloud had a pill bottle and a glass of water.
"Let's get you cleaned up." Cloud said he set down by my feet on the couch. He set the glass and pills on the low table. Vincent knelt down where Cloud had been earlier and pulled out the scissors. I closed my eyes as he started to cut the bandages away.
"Sit up for me." he said when he was done cleaning the wound. I groaned and with Cloud's help, managed to sit up. Cloud helped my sit forward and Vincent quickly wrapped a new set of bandages around my torso. I leaned back into the couch as soon as he was done.
"How much longer till the others get here?" I asked. Cloud looked down at his watch.
"Well if they didn't hit any traffic or any bad weather, within the next 15 minuets." He said. "Demyx is napping and Zexion as you can see is hard at work on his lap top." Vincent got everything picked up and then headed toward the kitchen. I set next to Cloud and stared at the empty wall.
"How's mom?" I asked after a few moments. He let out a breath.
"She's upset Roxas." he said. "She's afraid and she's worried." I sighed and closed my eyes.
"It'll be over soon." I said.
"At what cost?" He asked and our eyes met again. Only this time I saw the worry and the fear in his eyes. I smiled, careful to keep it casual.
"Axel's life." I said at the same moment the main door opened to reveal Variedy and Phystie.
"Ah, I kinda missed this place." Phystie said as he dropped his bag by the door and walked over to take up the small love seat next to the couch.
"Vincent?" Variedy asked as he moved over to stare at Zexion's computer screen.
"Here." Vincent said as he came out of the kitchen door and went over to look at the computer screen as well.
"How's your stomach?" Phystie said, pulling my attention away from the two raven haired beings.
"It hurts." I said, as I went back to staring at the empty wall.
"Ah.." he said, letting his voice trail off. My eyes flicked over to him but he said nothing else. I pushed to my feet and Cloud stood with me, his hand on my elbow.
"I got it." I said as I pulled away from him and moved toward the door to the bedrooms. No one said anything as I left the room. I paused in the hall way for a moment before moving off to my old room. I pushed the door opened and gazed around.
It was the same as I had left it, bare. I moved to the bed and collapsed onto it. My arm went over my eyes as I sank into the mattress.
I had an impossible task ahead of me and now that the actual moment was drawing near I was starting to realize how much I cared about those around me. Some where along the way they had become much more then just allies.
My brother had been right, at what cost?
I loved them. They were my family. I didn't want them to get hurt...I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a deep breath. The ache in my chest was all to real as I set up and tried to think around it all.
A knock on the door brought me back to the here and now.
"Come in." I said as leaned back against the pillows on the bed. Variedy came in, closing the door behind him. He took a few steps into the room and then stopped, his eyes on me. After a few moments I was squirming. "What?" I snapped at him. He crossed his arms over his chest.
"I'm here to offer you a one time deal." he said. I pushed into a sitting position and put my feet on the floor. Variedy being this serious was never a good thing.
"I'm listening." I said with a neutral voice.
"You are in no shape to take on Axel." He said. I opened my mouth to argue but the only noise I made was a pain filled yelp as Variedy pressed a blade into my throat. I hadn't even seen him move. He used his other hand to brush my hair away from face, as his other hand kept the knife steady on my jugular, if I didn't know Variedy so well I'd say it was a tender gesture. "Now I want you to think very carefully before you answer my next question." I was looking directly into his eyes and I was getting scared. I hadn't seen this Variedy since we had first met.
"Alright." I said with a steady voice. (Point for me.)
"How important is your life to you?" he asked. I swallowed and felt the knife cut ever so slightly into my skin.
"I think I've proven that I'm willing to do whateve..." He cut me off with a yank of my hair.
"That was not the question." he hissed. "How important is your life to you?" I gulped and I knew I no longer had control over my face. I was radiating panic I could see it in his eyes.
"As important as it is to anyone." I said, my voice no longer steady.
"Is it more important then your revenge?" he asked. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"No, my life is not more important then revenge against Axel." I said and he let me go. I shoved him away and rubbed at my neck.
"Even though you have people to live for now?" he asked, his face back to it's blank carefulness.
"I'm doing this for those people. None of us can live peacefully as long as he's alive." I said. "And if it takes my life to get the job done, then so be it." I held his gaze now, he simply nodded.
"We found him." he said. "We need to discuss a plan." He opened the door and held it opened for me. I moved past him but paused and looked up into red and gold eyes.
"You'll help me won't you" I whispered and he said nothing but I could see the answer in his eyes. Nothing would stop him from killing Axel. He had way to much to lose now that Axel was bargaining off his name. I gave a nod and we joined the others in the main room.
Everyone was gathered around the center desk. I took a seat in Vincent's lap as Variedy leaned against the desk next to Zexion. Vincent touched his fingers to my neck and they came around red. I kissed his cheek and he said nothing, just wiped his hands on his jeans.
"Alright, we know where he is." Zexion said. "He's holed up in Roxas's old apartment." My heart clenched as he pulled up a video feed that had to be a traffic cam. It showed a black car pulling up to the curb of my old building and Axel getting out. "We've got several videos like this of him coming and going from this location. No sign of the child though."
"Do we have any idea of what he did with her?" I asked and I felt Vincent shift under me. I ignored him.
"No, as far as I can tell he must have hired someone to take care of her." Zexion said as he started going through some folders on the lap top.
"We need a plan." Variedy said.
"Well we know that the roof across the street is ideal for taking photo's." Vincent said as his hand slid under the back of my shirt. Cloud snorted and rolled his eyes form his spot on the desk. I poked Vincent in the cheek.
"Don't get cute." I said.
"He's got a point." Phystie said. "If it's good for taking photo's then it's good for someone to set up with a sniper rifle."
"No." I said. "That's way to easy, and besides that I can guarantee he's got that roof covered. Even if he thinks' I'm dead. He knows you guys aren't. He knows your coming. Our only advantage is me." Vincent's hand went very still on my lower back.
"I don't like it, but he's right." Cloud said.
"So we get me in at night, I'll take care of him. One of you take the roof as cover and the rest make sure my get away is clean." I said, my arms crossed.
"You're right, but not that right." Cloud snapped. "I'll be damned if you go in alone."
"He'll have too." Variedy said. "It'll take all of us to subdue what little security he'll have. We'll have to cause a distraction. Especially if the local PD has a detail on him."
"No!" Cloud said. "We are not sending him in alone!"
"He won't be alone. I'll have him covered from the roof across the street." Variedy said. "We'll have him wired. We'll have communication."
"I'm with Cloud." Vincent finally said, his hand a heavy pressure on my back. "He doesn't go in alone."
"I can do this." I said to Vincent.
"No you can't. Not in the condition your in." he said, his eyes locked on mine.
"That's why I go in at night, once he's asleep. I get in, kill him, and get out." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to my cheek.
"You're lying." He whispered. "You'll take your sweet time, you'll tie him down. You'll plunge a knife into his stomach and then rip it out and try several other body parts. You'll watch him scream and bleed and you'll give him the chance to take you from me yet again." I had my eyes closed now and the others were pretending to be any where else.
"Fine, you come in with me. Keep me in check. But if you interfere," I grabbed his face with my hand and forced his eyes to meet mine. "if you kill him, if you take that away from me I will never forgive you."
"Then it's settled." Variedy said, breaking the awkward silence that had settled over us. "We'll go scouting tomorrow to get a better idea of how many men were talking about on security and what his nightly routine is like. We'll get this planned down to the minute, no mistakes this time around. We finish this." Everyone nodded and the silence that settled over us was full of questions and doubt.
The final act was approaching. No one knew what that meant, or what it would mean for us when it was all said and done.
Vincent stood, scooping me up into his arms and carried me from the room. He kicked the door closed behind us and set me on the bed. He stepped back and stared at the wall for a moment before he finally turned to me.
"Why is Variedy the one covering from the roof?" He asked, his eyes locked on me. I blew out a breath.
"Because he's the best shot we've got." I said.
"Cloud is the best long distance shooter." Vincent pressed.
"I can't count on Cloud to do whatever it takes to get this done." I snarled. "Is that what you wanted to hear? I can't count on Cloud to take the shot if Axel decides to use me as a body shield, I need someone who will do whatever it takes no matter the cost."
"That's not how this is going to work." Vincent said and I huffed, rolling my eyes at him. He knelt in front of me, his hands on my legs. "I'm not going to let that happen. No matter what you say, I will not let Axel take you. I will do whatever it takes to make sure that you get out of this alive." I glared down at him.
"I am not more important then everyone else's happiness." I hissed.
"You keep telling yourself that, you keep saying that this is for everyone, that he needs to die to save all of us. And yet you won't just let us take him out from a far. You have to be the one to do it, you have to see his blood and watch the life drain from his face." I looked away from him now. "And there is nothing wrong with that Roxas, but stop trying to dress it up and make it noble. This is about revenge with the side bonus that we need him dead now."
"Fine, it's about revenge. I want him dead, I want to watch him suffer." I snarled. "But I also want everyone to be able to move on with their lives, to be happy; without having to look over their shoulders for the rest of their lives!"
"Then what about my happiness?" I jerked back as if he'd slapped me. It felt as if he sucked the breath right out of my lungs. "I want to move on from this too Roxas. I can't do that without you."
"That's not fair." I whispered.
"Not fair?" He said, his eye brows raised. "The truth rarely has to be fair. It just is." I shook my head, trying to clear the jumble of emotions that were rising in my chest. "You won't play fair, so I won't either. If you die as a result of this plan, or at the hands of Axel, I want you to know that I will be following right after you." he said, and I couldn't look away from his eyes.
"Vincent..." I whispered, tears leaking out.
"I will never move on, I will never find happiness. I will die the second you die. I never knew that I needed a reason to live until you gave me one. Do not take that away from me." he said, his voice soft but strong. I threw my arms around his neck and buried my face into his hair and let the tears win over.
"Fine, fine, fine!" I snarled as I squeezed him and fought down the pain. I pulled away and glared at him. "But the same applies to you!" I hissed. "You have to survive this as well. I will never move on, I will never find happiness." He hushed me with his lips on mine.
The next few days were nothing but scouting and planning. Variedy hadn't been kidding about planning every minute. He just about had it down to seconds.
If everything went according to plan it would all be over in a matter of minutes.
Then again when did anything go according to plan when Axel was involved?
We had his schedule down pat, he would be in bed by midnight and out like a light but one A.M. Vincent, Cloud and I would enter the apartment building at one o'clock exactly. Cloud would wait in the stair well to make sure noone came up after us. Vincent and I would be in the apartment by 1:05. The security detail would be in the middle of a shift change. As long as we were in by 1:15 we would be fine. Once we were in, we secure the apartment, make sure Axel is the only one there.
Then he was all mine. I had 15 minutes to get in and do what I came for while Variedy and Vincent cover me. Zexion and Demyx would be down in the street making sure the security stay away. Phystie would cause a distraction by acting like a drunk fool and pulling attention away from the building. We slip out and are gone before anyone knows we were there.
There were several things that could go wrong, we would have to cut the electricity to make sure that any alarm is disconnected but that in itself could cause an alarm to go off. There were a lot of if's but we didn't have time to figure it all out.
The fall back plan is that I open all the curtains in the apartment and distract Axel long enough for Variedy to get a clear shot.
I was currently seated on the swivel chair at Zexion's desk waiting for the others to finish up the final touches on the ear pieces we'd be wearing to keep in contact.
"Alright," Variedy said as he handed me mine. "These are stuck in the 'On' position. We will all hear everything any of us says. Just keep that in mind. We won't put them in till it's time." I put the ear piece in my pocket and stood, rubbing at my abdomen. I was feeling a lot better then I had been a few days ago, the wound was healing up nicely according to Vincent. I could move a lot more with out so much pain now.
"We head out in fifteen minutes." Vincent said. Variedy looked around at us all.
"Well this has all been fun." He said with a smirk. "But I am ready for this to be over." Phystie wrapped his arms around Variedy's middle.
"Me too." Demyx said as he leaned against Zexion who nodded his agreement.
"Thank you." I said and everyone looked to me. "I know that none of you had to stick through this long, and with out most of you I would have been dead a long time ago." I looked up at Vincent who was beside me. "I wouldn't have Vincent back, So thank you." I turned back to everyone. "This is almost over." I saw the collective look of relief on everyone s face and I knew this had to end tonight. Nothing would stop me. I would free us from this.
"Alright, let's get the van loaded." Variedy said and we got to work. Cloud pulled me to the side as we were headed up to the garage.
"What's up?" I asked as I checked my gun in its holster one last time.
"Be careful." He said and gave me a rough hug. I was frozen for a moment but relaxed against him.
"When this is done. Let's go see Mom." I said with a smile when we pulled away.
"Deal." He said and we shook on it before joining the others in the garage.
"Alright guys." Zexion said as checked his watch. "We all know the plan, lets stick to it and we'll all get out of this alive."
"Ear pieces in." Vairedy said and we all pulled out the little devices and slid them in. "Check." Variedy said and we all nodded and took turns saying check to make sure the mic's were picking up sound.
"Alright, let's do this." I said with a last look around at everyone. "Good luck." We all piled into the van. Demyx drove, with Zexion in the passanger seat. We pulled in the ally behind the building that was across from my old one. We got out and Variedy headed for the fire escape that would take him up to the roof. I followed him over and grabbed his arm. He stopped and looked down at me.
"Whatever it takes." I said to him and he nodded.
"Get going." he said as he tossed the case onto the fire escape and then pulled himself up to the first landing. I took a deep breath and turned back to Vincent and Cloud, the others already going to take up their places. I gave them a shaky smile.
"Let's do this." I said and they both gave me blank nods. We moved into the shadows of the building and headed for the ally exit.
"We're in place out here on the street." Came Demyx's voice. There was a sound of a scuffle through the mic and we all froze.
"I'm all set up on the roof." Came Variedy's voice. "There were two men up here. They're dead now." I felt a smile tug at my lips but fought it down.
"Shift change, Roxas it's a go." Came Phystie's voice. Cloud went out first, walking causally across the street and into the building.
"Go." came Cloud's voice. Vincent and I laced our hands together and made the same causal stroll across the street to the building.
Just a cute couple out for a stroll.
We slipped into the building and up the stairs in a matter of seconds, Cloud was concealed under the first set of steps on the ground floor. As we reached the door we paused, Vincent had his lock picking tools out and ready.
"Go" Came Zexion voice. "Powers cut." We gave it a few minuets.
"No movement from within the apartment." Variedy said. I looked to Vincent and gave him a nod and he went to work on the lock. I pulled my gun and put my back to his while he worked. I heard the lock click and we slid into the apartment, guns drawn. From what I could tell Axel hadn't moved much around, it looked a lot like it had when I had left it.
"Clear." Vincent said as he came out of the kitchen. We moved on to the rest of the apartment, careful to be silent. Easy for Vincent but a little harder for me. We came to the bedroom door and we stopped, our eyes held.
"I could do this." Vincent said to me, his eyes unreadable in the darkness of the apartment.
"I have to do this." I said, I pressed my lips gently to his and then slid into the room, closing the door behind me and locked it. I let my eyes take in the room, but my focus was on the man sprawled out on my bed.
It was the same bed that he had bought me, that Vincent had helped me put together, the first bed that Vincent and I had slept together in. And the last that Axel would ever sleep in. I moved to the bed and slid the gun back into it's holster and pulled the blades from my wrist sheath.
I stepped up to the bed and looked down on the man that I had once loved. His fire red hair was spilled across his pillow, his back was to me, curled away from the door as if that would protect him. I smiled as I reached across the bed, but my hand never made contact.
I was on my back on the floor before I could even blink and I was looking up into acid green eyes. I saw the shock radiate through him as he realized who he had pinned to his floor.
"Roxas..." he breathed, his shock was all I needed. I plunged the knife I had in my hand into his shoulder and threw him off me as he screamed. He was on his feet to quickly for my liking. He ripped the blade from his shoulder and turned it toward me.
"I guess I deserved that." He said with a tight smile, but I could see the sweat beading on his forehead.
"I hope it hurts." I said with as much sincerity as I could muster.
"Oh love, not as much as I'm going to hurt you." He said and then he lunged, the knife grazed my face but I dropped and rolled away, pulling the second knife from it's sheath. We grabbed a few more minutes, him getting a few slashes in and me getting a few more. We were bleeding from every body part that we could reach on each other and still circling, looking for more.
"Roxas, time." Came Variedy's voice. I snarled and lunged at Axel again, but he was ready for me, he knocked my knife away and plunged his into my shoulder. I screamed and almost fell as he shoved me off of him. I rolled to the floor and came back up with my gun in hand. Axel was standing by his bed, a cell phone in hand.
"I win Roxas." he said as he hit a button on the phone.
"I'm the one with a gun and this place surrounded." I said, keeping my eyes on his face. He smiled.
"I hope they're close." he said. "This whole building is rigged to explode." He showed me the screen of the phone. A timer was going, 5 minutes.
"Shit. Five minutes, this place is going up in smoke!" I snarled to my ear piece. "Get OUT!"
"Let them get away." Axel said. "But you aren't going any where." He said as he got between me and the door. I pointed the gun and stared down the barrel at him. "Going to shot me Roxie?" He asked with a smile.
"Yes." I whispered. "I had originally planned to come here and die right along side you, but I was reminded that I have something to live for. I have someone to live for." I smiled at him and his face contorted into a snarl of rage. He lunged for me and I shot.
The bullet took him in the stomach and the first blast came from somewhere in the building. The floor shook and a banging came to the door.
"ROXAS!" Came Vincent's voice. "Roxas open the door!" I went to step around Axel but his arm shot out and a searing pain shot up my leg and I crumpled to the floor. I looked down my body to see a knife sticking out of my ankle. Axel was on top of me in seconds.
"You're not going anywhere." he snarled down at me around the blood bubbling up in his mouth. I glanced to the phone screen that was a few inches away on the floor. I ripped the ear piece out, I couldn't tell who was talking anymore.
"VINCENT GET OUT OF HERE!" I yelled as I shoved my hand into Axel's bullet wound and he screamed. I threw him from me and rolled away and toward the door. I pulled the knife out of my ankle and threw it under the bed. I managed to get it unlocked and it came blowing open to reveal a very pissed off Vincent. He had Cerberus out and aimed but scooped me up in one arm.
"Let's get out of here." he said as he carried me into the living room.
"NO!" Came the scream from behind us. I looked over Vincent's shoulder to see Axel stubble out of the hallway, my gun in his hand.
"Vincent DOWN!" I screamed as Axel raised the gun, but time seemed to freeze, the moon light from the opened window cast his face into the light. His eyes were crazed, his pupils blown wide so that very little green was even visible any more, his face was obscured by blood but I could see the form of a smirk there, victory was at his finger tips. Our eyes met and held as he smirked at me and then- PING.
And I watched the life drain from his face, the gun fell to the floor first and then his body collapsed, his wide, lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling.
"Get out of there damn it!" I distantly heard Variedy yell through Vincent's head set. Suddenly Cloud was there.
"Take him!" Vincent snarled at my brother and I was roughly shoved into Cloud's arms.
"Whaa?" I asked looking around for Vincent but we were already moving. "Cloud wait! Cloud Vincent! What happened to Vincent!" I started to thrash. "CLOUD GO BACK!"
"Roxas be still damn it! He was shot, Axel got him in the back! I don't know how bad but I have to get you out of here first!" He snarled down at me.
"NO! NO! GO BACK RIGHT NOW!" I screamed at him but we were already outside and across the street. He shoved me into someones arms and he turned to go back. I fought the arms restraining me. "VINCENT!" I screamed. "VINCENT YOU GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE GOD DAMN IT!" Cloud made it as far as the door way when time ran out.
I could feel the heat from the blast singe at my face as I fought the people holding me back. Cloud was on the pavement next to me, the blast having thrown him back. My eyes were glued to the burning building.
"THAT WAS SUPPOSE TO BE ME!" I screamed, my voice broke around the first sob that shook my body. "I WAS WILLING TO PAY THAT PRICE! NOT HIM! NOT HIM! VINCENT! VINCENT!" Arms pulled me away from the building.
"Roxas! We have to get out of here!" Came Variedy's voice. "I'm sorry but we have to go!"
"NO! NO! NO!" I screamed and finally broke free of Variedy's grip. I ran for the building but was tackled from the side. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO! I'M GOING BACK! I'M GOING TO GET HIM!" I said, fighting tooth and nail to get away from my capture.
"That's very sweet dear, but I'm right here." came the deep-strained voice next to my ear.
"Vincent!" I gasped as I finally looked up at the person pinning me down.
"Yes, we have got to go." he said as he rolled off of me. I stood and turned to find him still on his back. "Well maybe you should go." he said and I saw the blood leak from the side of his mouth. I dropped to my knees beside him.
"VARIEDY! VARIEDY I'VE GOT HIM BRING THE VAN!"I screamed. Variedy was there in seconds.
"They're bringing the van." he said "I'm going to roll you over to see how bad it is." Vincent gave a nod and I helped Variedy roll him onto his side.
"How bad is it?" I asked, my voice shaking. Variedy licked his lips.
"It's not through and through so we need to get the bullet out. He needs a hospital" he said as he looked over his shoulder. The van came shooting toward us, the side door was thrown open and we got Vincent in as gently as we could and all piled in around him. Demyx put the van in gear and shot toward the free way.
"No hospital!" Vincent snarled at me. "They ask to many question, they have to call the cops." He hissed.
"Vincent." I said as I stroked his hair away from his face. "We don't have a choice."
"Yanc!" he hissed, grabbing the front of my shirt.
"Perfect!" Zexion said. "I know where he lives. He has a private practice on residence! Demyx take this exit!" Zexion said as the van shot across three lanes of traffic to take the exit. I looked over to see Cloud holding his head in his hands.
"Cloud?" I asked my worry growing.
"He hit his head pretty hard. Dr. Yanc will fix him up." Variedy said, his hand on my shoulder. We pulled into the drive way of a small manor in under five minutes. I threw the doors to the van opened and ran for the door. I banged on the door till a young girl answered.
"I'm looking for Doctor Yanc!" I said to the girl who looked confused and slightly alarmed. "Dr. Yanc! Is he here?!" I said and she seemed to snap out of it.
"DAD!" She yelled over her shoulder. Doctor Yanc appeared a moment later.
"Roxas?!" he asked, shock taking over his face.
"Please, there's no time, there's been explosion, Cloud is badly hurt and Vincent's been shot in the back." I said, tears streaming down my face.
"Of course. Let's go." He said and turned to his daughter. "Get your mother, tell her to set up for emergency surgery." The doctor followed me out to the van, took one look at all of us and started barking orders. His wife appeared a moment later with a stretcher. We got Vincent onto it and she wheeled him away.
"He's in good hands." Dr. Yanc said to me. "But you need to get this van in the garage and get all of you inside and cleaned up. We'll take care of Vincent." I nodded and Variedy placed his hand on my shoulder.
"We'll take care of this. Just save him Doc." Variedy said. Yanc nodded and followed his wife.
We got the van hidden and found the pool house ready for us. We got ourselves cleaned up and our in juryes cleaned and dressed. The most severe were probably mine, Axel had left his fair share of scars.
I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom and examined the wounds before I let Dr. Yanc's daughter bandage them for me. They would leave scars, scars I'd carry for the rest of my life.
It seemed fair, considering I'd taken Axel's life.
I killed Axel.
I did it.
As I stared at myself in the mirror, something Cloud said to me a long time ago came back.
""You and Axel are like gasoline and fire." he said, his smile sad. "He wants you more then anything in the wold but he doesn't need you. When he finally gets you, everyone around him is in danger of the explosion. And he is everything to you, what you fear, what you love, but all he'll ever do is burn you up till there is nothing left but vapors."
"Nothing left but vapors." I whispered to the mirror. Then I thought of Vincent, fighting for his life in another room some where in this house. Of my mother sitting at home, crying in front of the morning news as she watched my apartment burn, not knowing if I was inside or not. I thought of my friends in the next room, of the freedom they had now.
"The price was worth it." I told my reflection and I'm sure he would have believed me if he hadn't been sobbing uncontrollably on the bathroom floor. Demyx and Zexion where there, pulling me up and taking me to the couch. They laid me down and Demyx curled up with me, his arms anchoring me to this world as I sobbed into the couch and Zexion stroked my hair.
I don't know how long we set in that pool house waiting but it felt like a life time before we saw Doctor Yanc again.
"How is he?" I asked, standing from the couch.
"He's going to be fine." he said and I collapsed to the floor. No tears, no sobs just pure relief. "The bullet missed his spinal cord but nicked a lung. He'll be okay in a few days. He's resting now. As you all should be as well." He said as he looked around the room. We all gave vague nods. "You can see him first thing in the morning." he said to me and I nodded again.
He was going to be okay.
I stared at the floor, my eyes vacant my mind whirling. The only thing that stood out for certain was that Vincent was okay. We're going to get our chance to be happy. I looked around the room at my family and more tears came.
"It's over." I said out loud. "It's all over now." I met Variedy's eyes from across the room and I broke into sobs again.
He was smiling. Not a full blown smile, but a Variedy smile.
"Now that's a proper response to my smile." I heard him mutter to Phystie and my sobs turned to chocking laughter.
"It's over." I laughed.