CHAPTER FIVE

Riku straightened from his position at the edge of the room and took the head of the group, leading the way with Ansem bringing up the rear and Roxas walking beside Axel. Roxas wasn't saying anything, because the other two were well within earshot, but Axel could tell he was annoyed with him for being a smartass. Maybe it had reflected poorly on him. Whoops. The thing about Axel was, you couldn't put anyone too self-important in front of him, or he got this sudden urge to go in for a pantsing. And self-importance had been radiating off Roxas's two contacts in waves from the moment Axel, in his scruffy shoes, torn denim, flannel shirt, and beanie, had stepped into sight. If it hadn't been for the fact that Roxas himself had vouched for them, he wouldn't have stayed beyond the initial handshake.

However, getting along with others was something that Demyx was always pestering him about, and he supposed this was as good a time as any to try and put that into practice. He drew a breath, tightened his grip on his violin case, and rolled his neck as he exhaled. He sent Roxas a look, calm and steady. A silent promise to be good, at least for now. Roxas's gaze momentarily darted around him, as if reading the air itself vibrating from Axel's intentions, then he nodded. Behind them, Ansem watched the exchange, while Riku marched towards the elevators. Using the same type of pitch black card that Roxas had flashed, Riku operated the elevator once all four were aboard, and pressed the button for the second-last floor – a sub-basement. The ride down was a silent as glass. Axel didn't even dare clear his throat, despite the sudden tickle that had started up the moment the thought popped into his head.

At length, blessedly, they reached their floor and the doors parted to the bright floor of a white-walled laboratory. They exited with seemingly no intent on stopping yet, Riku leading the way through rows of bubbling beakers and chemical glassware, people in full-body PPE handling things busily at each station. Axel tried to linger, started to ask, "What…?"

But a hand from behind made him jerk forward, scowling back at Ansem, who had been trying to urge him forward. Seeing him prickle, Roxas grabbed his hand and in the ensuing distraction was able to get Axel again. Manipulative little bitch. Axel sent him a look to show that he knew damn well what he'd done, and Roxas was not the least bit repentant. Regardless, Axel allowed himself to be jostled past the… science guys in their science clothes… and to a further set of doors, where Riku was waiting for them to catch up.

Through here, Axel found himself at the top of a short set of stairs in a large computer lab this time. Riku closed the doors behind them, as a group of people nearby looked up from around an illuminated table on which a collection of papers seemed to be spread out. They all immediately turned over what they had been poring over, clearly not trusting Axel in the slightest. What a friendly organisation this was turning out to be.

Placing a genial hand on his shoulder that he stared at, Ansem announced down to the group, "Everyone, allow me to introduce the most recent reincarnation of Lea. This is Axel."

Axel was met with a sea of chilly expressions. "Uhh, did I miss something?" he joked, trying to break the really hard ice these people were for some reason putting up.

"Ansem?" A man with longish, unkempt brown hair was giving the old man a hard look. "I thought we agreed no more."

"We agreed no such thing," Ansem retorted. "A few bad apples does not – "

"Are you trying to make it easier for him?" a spiky-haired blond was next to demand, clearly in full agreement with the first dude.

Okay. That was about as much bullshit as Axel was willing to take for one afternoon. He held up his hands. "Hey, now. Whoa. You people came to me," he placed a hand on his chest, looking around at each of them. "I was very happy just doing what I was doing."

"We all were," the blond attempted, to which Axel clasped his hands theatrically.

"Oh, I know! I've heard! There's a big, nasty war, though, right? Oh, aren't they just the worst?" He made an exaggerated sad face and rubbed his eyes with his fists for added measure. When everyone was good and pissed, he straightened up and demanded, "So can we talk about this like adults now? You people need to cancel your subscription to Cloak and Dagger Magazine, because it's turning you into assholes."

There was a collective exchanging of looks, a general consensus of flat eye-rolling, but at the very least their drama had been dialled down. "Axel's a courier in the city," Roxas told them, seeming to want to, extremely ironically, humanise him. "He plays violin in his spare time and wants to get into the city orchestra."

"I did not tell you that," Axel pointed out, swivelling around to him. "'Not really mind-reading' my ass."

"I did research on you," Roxas argued. "I asked around."

"Oh? Oh you 'asked around'?" Axel echoed, voice going high. "And who, exactly, did you ask?"

"If you wouldn't mind," Ansem tried to cut in, but Axel silenced him with a raised finger and a swing of his violin case.

"Roxas?" Axel asked warningly.

"I asked your landlady about you!" Roxas declared, throwing up his hands. "And your boss!"

"My boss?" Axel nearly shrieked.

"I just said I was calling about an application for a car loan, and asked some general questions. Your landlady's the one who volunteered that you're trying out for the orchestra!"

"Because that woman talks! Constantly! About everyone!"

"Well, it's not like anything bad came out of it, right?" Roxas huffed. "Your boss didn't care. He did tell me you don't earn enough to pay back a car loan, though," he added as an aside. "So maybe don't put him down as a reference if you're ever applying in the future."

They became suddenly extremely aware that absolutely everyone was staring at them, and fell silent. They looked over at their audience, Riku gazing up at the ceiling like he'd love nothing more than to be abducted by aliens and never returned, while the rest of them appeared merely baffled.

Eventually, a small, short-haired woman who was eyeing him critically loudly said, "So basically, you're pretty sure he's not going to defect?"

"Defect?" Axel repeated. He asked Roxas, "Where am I defecting to?"

"Well, if you'd be so kind as to allow me to explain?" Ansem finally broke in. Axel thought about it for a good, long moment, then nodded his agreement to – for the moment – shut up. The older man sighed, but stepped forward, past Axel and Roxas, past Riku in his position of suffering, and descended the steps to where the others were. "My friends and colleagues, allow me to introduce each of you. This is Yuffie," he said, of the one who had mentioned defection. "Beside her is Aerith." This woman, who had worn a worried look throughout the tension, flashed him a genuinely warm smile. "This is Leon," he gestured to the brown-haired guy, then to the blond, "and Cloud." The hostility from those two was still pretty palpable. Looked like trust wasn't given freely by the gods.

"And Cid," came a call from deeper in the stack of servers. A gruff, older guy emerged from between them, wiping grease from his fingers. "Ansem. I thought we were going to pause the recruitment."

"Yes, well, Axel was an unexpected exception," Ansem replied, with carefully concealed irritation, but next to him, Roxas wilted a little, Axel frowning at the sight. To everyone, he declared it: "Axel is an exception. He was scouted by our messenger, and deemed an excellent fit for our group. It was a decision… made without consultation, for which I have already had strong words with him," he slid a long glance Roxas's way, "but I can vouch that this was not someone planted by Xemnas."

"Planted?"

Axel's protest was spoken over by Ansem continuing, "He is a coincidence, but it's our opportunity to turn it into a happy one." He gestured up at Axel the way you show off a dish about to be consumed. "Here lies our key to Xemnas's forces. This man," he announced, "is close with the god of water, and can be used to get near him and perhaps even turn the tide."

Axel blinked, swaying curiously onto his toes. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"You are friends with him, are you not? With the reincarnation called Demyx?"

They might as well have slammed him with a piece of wood. He actually staggered. Ansem sent Roxas a questioning look. "Yeah, I, uh, hadn't got to that part yet," he sheepishly admitted.

Axel snapped.

"Hadn't got to it yet?" He absolutely roared it, silencing everyone utterly. All he knew was that none of these people mattered, but Roxas had been starting to. He had given him his trust in navigating this. He had changed a lot of Axel's life very fundamentally, and he at least thought that it meant something. Something… positive.

But it was… because he was friends with Demyx?

Demyx? His best friend? Was a god?

"A-Axel, I'm sorry, I –"

Axel took a wide step back and gestured broadly with his free hand. "Fuck you all. Forever and ever. Amen." He gave a bow, then commanded Roxas, "Give me your black card," and snatched it when it was immediately offered.

He ignored the chastising, "Roxas!" that Ansem snapped. He raised his middle finger and held it over his shoulder as he opened the door and headed back out through the laboratory, randomly flipping off the employees in PPE as he went.

He heard Roxas call out, "Axel – Axel, come on. Be reasonable. Let's just talk about it for a sec-"

Axel stopped sharply and spun, stopping Roxas dead with his glare. "If you dare use your zipping powers on me without my consent again, I will fucking beat you until you bounce." A flash of hurt and sorrow passed across Roxas's features, who had no reply. Even when Axel could hear Ansem chewing him out about it, Roxas didn't try again.

Using the black card, Axel managed to find his way back to the ground floor, and he was almost out the doors when he heard Riku, clearly their absolute last-ditch effort to make him turn back, shout out, "We need your help, Axel. We have to protect the – "

He turned and bellowed, "THE PEOPLE THAT WE LOVE!"

Roxas, who was standing behind Riku, flinched. Riku simply widened his eyes, then frowned. "…If you walk out that door, I'm not sure what's going to happen to you," he said. "You shouldn't contact your friend. He –" When Axel spun away and resumed flipping him off, he called, "He's part of Xemnas's army. He's the enemy."

Axel looked over his shoulder, let his pain show just enough to make even Riku fall silent, then squeezed the handle of his violin, took a breath, and walked away.

He left the shining building behind, tucking the black card into his pocket as he quickly made his way to where he'd locked his bike up. Roxas was waiting for him. He stopped short, closed his eyes and stomped his foot angrily. "God damn it, that isn't fair! I should be able to storm off and have it be final. You're – you're fucking up my vibe."

"I know," Roxas said softly. "I'm sorry."

He was… he was sorry, was he? Sorry for what? For lying? For acting like Axel was special when he was only kind of special? For using him to get closer to Demyx? For knowing this entire time that his best friend was a reincarnated god and not telling him? For completely fucking him over? For only doing any of it because he'd been told to by some asshole in a tower?

He made eye contact with Roxas, and he tried, goddamn it he tried, to keep his anger hot. But the thing was… when Roxas had said 'I'm sorry'… it was for everything. For all of the above and any others that Axel hadn't got to yet. He was just… sorry.

…Fuck.

Axel tutted, pissed at himself for caving, while Roxas smiled slightly, seeing the change in him. He stepped cautiously close, and Axel didn't back away. "…So are you on my side, or on their side?" Axel demanded. "Are you here to try and get me to go back?"

Roxas hesitated, then shook his head. "I'm not going to tell you to go back. I mean, I was sent out to look for you, to bring you back, but obviously I'm not going to do that." He fiddled with his hands, his gaze suddenly low. "I just, uh, wanted to find you so I could apologise. I wasn't trying to keep secrets. I was just supposed to make sure of who you were… and I awoke you in the process. Which was, I guess, a shitty thing to do."

"Oh, you 'guess', huh? You 'guess' that it's a shitty thing to do?" Axel glowered. "It was a shitty thing to do, Roxas. You totally upended my life, and all I can think is that it was for nothing at all."

"It wasn't for nothing," Roxas said quietly at his tangled hands.

"Oh?" Axel glowered at him challengingly, eyes burning into Roxas's face. "What was it for, then?"

When Roxas lifted his chin, his breath caught at the intensity of Axel's gaze. His eyes wandered across Axel's face, his hands slowly reaching out, fumbling for his fingers, which Axel clamped firmly. They were close enough for their noses to be just barely apart, breaths mingling. Roxas's eyelids fluttered, while Axel's head tilted slightly.

A man's voice called through the darkness, "Roxas?" and the pair jolted. Roxas almost looked over towards the direction of the voice, but before he could, Axel caught the side of his face and kissed him hard. He then released the blond and climbed on his bike, quickly fixing his helmet over his head and tucking his violin case under his arm.

"Visit me after business hours," Axel firmly told him, "at my apartment. We need to talk." Then he was cycling rapidly off into the night, vanishing from view only to pop back into sight as he passed swiftly beneath the streetlights. A moment later, he turned a corner, and was gone. Roxas was left standing in the park, dazed, to be found several minutes later by Leon, blushing completely red and wearing, as Leon put it, 'an idiotic grin, considering the circumstances'.