Chapter Text
Axel couldn't sleep.
He wasn't sure why, but... there was something. Something turning around in his mind. He couldn't escape it. He thought it might have something to do with the fact that Roxas hadn't come to the clock tower after work today. Axel had bought the ice cream but Roxas had never showed. And he hadn't been back when Axel had gotten back, either; he'd gone to his room to check, but he hadn't RTC'ed.
Axel hadn't checked later, but Roxas hadn't come by his room with an excuse or apology, either. Weird. They didn't always meet up, but Roxas had said he was looking forward to it today.
Axel yawned and rolled over, wrapping his arms around his head.
He had to get some sleep. He had missions to do tomorrow.
One week.
It wasn't a long time, so why did it feel like forever?
Roxas hadn't checked back in in seven days. He hadn't been back, going by the state of his room. Saïx had brought it up solely for the fact that their heart collection was faltering. He assigned Axel to tracking him down... not that Axel needed someone to tell him to do that.
"Something just doesn't feel right," Axel muttered, clenching his fingers into fists at his side. Leather stretched tight against his knuckles. "Where are you... Roxas?"
He sighed and unclenched his fingers, striding across the plaza. Blonde hair not unlike Roxas's, spiky and flaxen, fell into his line of sight. There was another guy next to him, one with dark hair, and both were huddled over something and talking. It wasn't Roxas, but it might be a start.
Axel strode over. "Hey. Have you guys seen a blonde kid around here?" he asked plainitively. "He's about this height and his hair's spiky, blue eyes that almost drown you?" He realized just how pathetic it was that he didn't have any other way to describe Roxas besides that. "He was probably wearing a coat like mine."
The blonde and the brunette shared a glance with each other.
Axel raised his eyebrows.
"We saw someone with a black coat with Sephiroth," the blonde one with the red cape-coat said.
Axel perked up. "You did? Was he short and had a giant key with him?"
The brunette stood up. "I'm not sure if he had a key or how tall he was. Do you know Sephiroth?"
"Squall," the blonde muttered.
"If his friend's with Sephiroth, no matter to the extent, someone, somewhere, including this man, is missing him," the brunette, Squall?, said.
"Why?" Axel interrupted. "Who's Sephiroth?"
"He's bad news," the blonde said, standing. "We saw your friend with Sephiroth, but I find it hard to believe that he went willingly."
"Cloud and I were just discussing it. We caught a glimpse of him heading that way, he had a figure in a black coat in his arms. I'm fairly sure that he wasn't conscious."
If he had a heart to actually feel his pulse pick up, his heartrate probably would have picked up and thus, his heart would have probably exploded from his chest. Still, he didn't have a heart. Instead, his palms just started to sweat a bit under the layers of leather piled on.
"Why would Sephiroth want someone from Org- I mean, why would he want Roxas?" he asked, flexing his fingers.
"We don't know," Squall said. "It's strange."
"Usually, he's after me," Cloud said flatly.
"That's why we were discussing it," Squall continued. "If he's with Sephiroth, it usually means little good."
"Okay. Where can I find this Sephiroth guy?" Axel asked.
"He is dangerous."
"Well, yeah, I got that," Axel replied. "But my friend's with him. If he's dangerous, someone has to go after him. Danger just happens to be my middle name, so, where can I find him?"
Squall and Cloud shared a glance again. Squall shrugged.
"Squall. You know how Sephiroth is," Cloud said. He looked at Axel. "He will kill you."
Axel faked a grin. "Well, aren't you confident."
"I know him," Cloud said bluntly.
"Right," Axel said, looking at Squall. "Where can I find him?"
Squall looked at him, eyes keen and searching for... whatever, for a moment. He sighed. "I can tell you where to find him, but I don't think you'll want to."
"I have to," Axel said simply.
Squall laughed after a moment. "You remind me of him," he said, jerking his thumb towards Cloud. "Alright, listen up."
He didn't know who those guys were, Squall and Cloud, but apparently they had some beef with this Sephiroth guy, too. They had settled upon a joint effort; because they thought that Axel had a snowball's chance in hell against Sephiroth (and he would have been offended if he wasn't thinking about Roxas and why he was with that guy), they were luring him out with Cloud, and Axel was infiltrating his keep.
Not what he had planned on doing today, but he was tired of not having Roxas around.
Sephiroth turned out to be a really huge guy with silver hair, one black wing and a really huge, deadly-looking sword. Okay. Maybe he didn't really want to fight him today. He hated fighting flyers, anyway. They didn't fight fair and this guy looked like no exception.
Axel slowly let himself in after Sephiroth had taken off like a shot from a gun. Whatever Cloud and Squall were doing, they must have been doing something to draw his attention elsewhere. Axel didn't care what they were doing, really. They seemed like they could handle themselves. Big swords and scars and all. They had experience.
He hoped.
"Roxas?" he called softly, flicking his gaze around for a light. According to Cloud, Sephiroth worked alone. Axel wasn't worried about anybody being here that would try to stop him. And the sooner he got out of here, the better.
Room by room, he picked his way through. No sign of Roxas. Maybe they had been talking about someone else... but how many other black-coated figures wandered around?
"Well..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "What now?"
Footsteps snapped his attention back up and he whirled around.
Sephiroth didn't make that much noise.
Axel darted across the room, getting to the door just as a little figure in a black coat ran through the door. "Roxas!" He grabbed his shoulder to stop him.
Roxas screamed.
Axel jumped, his fingers faltering against Roxas's shoulder enough that the blonde slipped away from him. He had never heard that noise come out of Roxas's mouth. Ever.
"Ro... Roxas!" Axel shook away the surprise and darted after him. "Roxas! It's me! Roxas!" He caught up with him easily, grabbing his sleeve.
"S-Stop!" Roxas jerked on his sleeve, staggering a few steps without looking back. "P-P-Please, just l-let me g-go! I swear I won't say anything, I w-won't-!"
Axel frowned. "Roxas, stop! Roxas!" He grabbed his shoulders, dragging him into the circle of his arms. "Stop it. Stop. It's me! Axel."
Roxas struggled against his arms for a few seconds before it seemed like all the fight just went out of him. Axel had to tighten his grip so Roxas didn't collapse.
"Roxas. Roxas?"
Roxas buried his face against Axel's chest and broke down sobbing. It was equally if not more disturbing than the scream.
They weren't supposed to have the capacity to cry.
"Calm down, Roxas," he muttered, kneading his fingers into the small of his back. "Come on. Calm down."
His mind was saying You found Roxas. Get out. Get out now, before that silver-haired bastard comes back, but his body wasn't moving. Instead, he was picking up on little things that he hadn't in his mad dash to grab Roxas.
He gently looped his fingers around Roxas's arm, raising it to eye level. There was a circular pattern of black blue, purple, and yellow ringed around his wrist. Axel frowned and released his hand, reaching for the other one. The same marking pattern... like he'd been tied up. Cuffed. Axel leaned away slightly, reaching for Roxas's chin to tilt his head up, but the blonde jerked away from the touch like he'd been shocked, cowering as if he expected punishment for it. There was a dark bruise mottling below his eye and a half-healed gash on his cheek.
"Roxas..."
Axel narrowed his eyes, tucking Roxas back against his chest. "What the hell did that bastard do to you...?" he muttered, holding Roxas's trembling body protectively against his own.