Lie Like You Mean It Chapter 15 part 2
Title: Lie like you mean it.
Rating: PG-13 for language
Pairings: AkuRoku (main), Zemyx, Marluxia/Larxene, Sephiroth/Cloud
Word Count: About 12,000 this chapter, over 115,000 total so far.
Summary: AU. Axel is an assassin in Chicago of 1914, with no morals to speak of and an aversion to truth in all its many forms. When fate puts him in Roxas's way, he finds that he will do anything - anything - to keep Roxas safe, no matter what the cost. Betrayal is the only choice, and trust the quickest way to die - but every step taken is for the ultimate good. As the march progresses, death reaches out to touch everyone, and redemption is an unreachable goal for those who deserve it.
Comments: Because either LJ fails or I fail, this chapter was too large to fit in one post so it's split. Sorry about this!
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 /
Chapter 15 part 1
Chapter 15 part 2
Watching the battle from above, it was easy for Vincent to notice the darker, quicker figures who flowed in the windows after the Turks - but even he could not dispatch all of them with his pistols, though many fewer would leave than had entered. But they were only dangerous in large numbers, and were occupied with searching the lower level - and it would be wiser to focus on the pair who had detached themselves from the battle below,, The Turks were dangerous in their own right, with their partners or without - and Vincent remembered vividly just how deadly they could be.
The pair flew up the stairs and onto the landing, guns out and ready - but Vincent was faster, shot at the woman Turk and she moved, shot at Tseng and grazed his shoulder, then dodged out of the way of ther answering fire. They turned to him, leaving their backs awkwardly open to the other end of the hall - and Cloud watched the scene from behind them, waiting for the opportune moment to attack.
Vincent saw Tseng’s eyes go wide in recognition after passing over the former Turk’s clothing and locking on his face. They hadn’t known each other back in Vincent’s days with ShinRa, not well; but they had known each other’s faces. And more importantly, now, he was recognized for what he had done - for the death of Hojo, for his betrayal of everything the Company held dear.
Before either of them had a chance to speak, a silver blade met the air where they had once been - Tseng ducked and brought his gun up for a shot underneath, while the woman jumped lightly off of the ground and over the blade, her own weapon out and firing.
Both Turks finally stopped on Cloud’s other side, and they met each other face-to-face for the first time.
“Captain Strife, I am less than pleased to find you here,” Tseng intoned, every line of his face making that quite obvious. “This is treason - fighting against ShinRa troops, consorting with a known murderer -”
“Hojo deserved to die,” Vincent noted quietly, taking aim at the woman’s legs - she would be less trouble if she was incapacitated.
“I never argued that point,” Tseng responded as he let off a shot at Cloud’s shoulder - and though it ricocheted off the blade and into the wall, the blonde woman’s bullet met a mark in the captain’s side. It barely impeded his movement, though likely caused him great pain - and he careened forward again, barely avoiding Vincent’s bullet.
“But,” the Turk continued, “that doesn’t change the fact that you are a murderer. Vincent Valentine, your torture at his hands do not give you the power to decide who may live and who may die.”
“I will accept that name if it means that no others must endure what I did,” Vincent returned, moving quickly enough that only his red cloak was caught by the enemy fire. He barely glanced over in time to see Tseng give the woman a nod.
“Elena,” he said, as an order rather than acknowledgement - and she flashed over to the nearest doorway. She opened it and then, glancing inside, moved on to another, searching for the children. Searching for the redhead, for Axel.
Cloud saw it first, and brought his massive sword around to cut at her - but its movement was impeded as it caught on the walls of the too-small hallway, and Tseng impeded its movement by blocking it with the barrel of his pistol, bracing hand only barely cut as he held the weapon in place
Even the former Turk’s hasty shot was too late - Vincent knew by the sound of gunfire that she had found her target.
*~*~*
A chorus of gunfire from outside - downstairs, or maybe up? He couldn’t tell - informed Roxas that the battle had started, and his grip on his gun tightened uselessly as he watched the entrance; waiting, knowing. Axel was sitting on the bed, pretending to be comfortable for the blonde’s sake - but it was easy to see the tension in his neck, in his back as he faced the door, a gun resting on each leg and pointed exactly where they would need to be if someone entered.
They were lucky the room didn’t have windows - if it had, they would have been fucked; if he was gonna have to die, then sniper shot would not be the way he’d pick to go.
But he wouldn’t, of course, be the one to choose - the door was flung open before Roxas even had a chance to react; two blasts from a gun - he couldn’t tell whose - and the woman who appeared in the entrance was drenched in blood, clutching her stomach as her gun flew away from her grasp. Almost instantly, Axel swiped his revolvers across his sides - he didn’t have the time or hands available to cock his guns the usual way - and the realization dawned on Roxas as the woman crumpled to the ground that he had just watched his lover kill someone. The redhead slammed the door shut, and the younger couldn’t help but watch breathlessly as the red liquid seeped under the door, and he hugged his brother tighter to him, knowing that it wouldn’t be much longer.
*~*~*
“Reno! I need you up here, now!”
The redhead heard Tseng’s exclamation just in time to turn and see Elena crumple to the ground helplessly, bloodstained - and the moment that he moved to help her, he felt the sharp cut of a blade across his back. Ignoring it - it was shallow, wouldn’t matter, would heal quickly - he bolted up the stairs and threaded through the battle on the landing so he could reach her, maybe in time.
The Turk could see that the fight was unfair; Tseng versus Cloud Strife - shit, Strife too? - and a red-cloaked man, but within moments he had been joined by another five, maybe more, faceless members of Xemnas’s Syndicate. In the clash of weapons and the sound of gunfire, Reno just managed to reach the blonde woman before Tseng spoke again.
“Get Elena out - and, also, I need you to tell the Vice-President that Vincent Valentine is here.” There was a pause as the dark-haired Turk was hit in the arm - again, it seemed - by Strife’s blade. “That may be of some use to us.”
Without another word, Reno jumped over the railing and landed, crouched, on the ground before taking off through a window, towards the army.
He was barely even conscious of medics taking her out of his arms, head light as it was from blood loss and the intoxicating thrill of fear and excitement. Somehow, he found Rufus in the throng of boots and helmets and frost-scrabbled steel - standing like a statue in his white, eyes never wavering from their focus until Reno crossed his vision, stopping beside him breathlessly.
“Hey, boss,” he greeted with a grin, blood dripping from a cut on his upper lip. “Tseng has some news for ya. And,” his expression sobered here, “Elena’s down. We’re not sure how bad she is, but she’s down.”
Rufus took that in for a moment.
“And your news was?” the blond asked, nonplussed. Nothing ruffled that exterior.
“Well, he says that Vincent Valentine’s in there, and it might be useful to ya. It don’t mean much t’ me but I figured you’d know what it meant,” Reno informed the other with a shrug.
There was a long, awkward silence then, broken only by the sounds of shouting and gunfire from inside. The quiet went on for long enough that the Turk had begun to wonder if he had done something wrong - until, almost faster than the redhead could see, the vice-president’s expression had turned to a smile - determined, feral, vicious; but a smile nonetheless.
“You may return to the battle - and give Tseng this message from me.”
It was their turn, finally, to win the whole goddamn pot.
*~*~*
The battle between the Mansion’s guard and their opponents quickly turned into a fight of numbers rather than skill - with two of the Turks out of the picture, for the time being at least, they were not the force to be reckoned with. Their men, the disposables - not ShinRa’s, from somewhere else - swarmed up the sides; they were incompetent alone, but deadly when together. From behind them, Tseng fired precise shots at his opponents, and though Cloud and Vincent took down one after another, still there seemed to be no end.
The captain swung into the crowd and was gratified to hear the crunch of bone underneath his weapon. He was vaguely aware that there were enemies in the children’s doorway, now - but there was little that could be done about that, there were men everywhere, bullets all over; in the air, in the walls, in his side and arm.
Just when a path seemed to be clearing - Tseng on the other side, a former ally but now a dangerous enemy - the Turk was joined by another, by Reno, whose grin was only made more disturbing by the blood on his face.
“Hey, I wanna call a time-out for a minute,” the redhead called, but Cloud ignored it - the man was not particularly well-known for his honesty. “Not with you, Strife - with your friend over there. Valentine.” A pause. “So you wanna hear a proposition?” he asked, and the blonde captain could see Tseng shoot his associate a look of confusion and perhaps frustration.
“We’re not interested,” Cloud informed the other, taking down another nameless man, “unless it involves you backing off.”
“It does,” Reno observed, and receiving another glance from Tseng for his troubles. “Sort of, anyway. Just hear me out.” He gave a grin to the nameless fighters. “Anyway, we’ve got this covered here, why don’t you go kill somebody else?” he suggested, and within moments they were relatively alone, though Tseng looked like he was about to make Reno the Turks’ first friendly fire casualty.
“I talked to the boss, no worries,” the redhead muttered to his leader before he turned his sharp gaze back on Vincent, ignoring Cloud for the moment. “Look, buddy. We know you’re after ShinRa, am I right? ‘Cause old man Hojo did some crazy shit to you.”
The former Turk nodded, tense as always but not firing - he, at least, was a man of honor.
“So, we’re gonna give you an opportunity to get back at us.”
Tseng took this moment to interrupt: “Reno, I sincerely hope that you are doing nothing that would endanger -”
“Don’t get yourself in a knot - this is all approved,” the redhead shot back, gaze never moving from Vincent. “Anyway, you interested? The deal is this - you get to kill President ShinRa and we don’t kill you for it,” he drawled, and Cloud stiffened - it seemed like a trap if there ever had been one.
“Why would you offer something like that?” the blonde captain asked, shocked - he had never had any love for the President, but he wouldn’t allow any of his men to make that suggestion, either.
“It’s simple, Spike,” Reno noted with a laugh. “With President ShinRa dead, his son gets the spot. Valentine here gets his revenge and a free pass outta this place.”
There was a long quiet.
“If I agree to do this,” Vincent began, crimson gaze never shifting, “then I would like for all of the Turks to withdraw, and follow me to the ShinRa building. And I want ShinRa’s word that no others will be sent in your place.” A pause. “And assure the other men you are fighting with that their services are no longer necessary. It seems like a small enough favor for the service I am about to perform.”
He glanced at Cloud, and suddenly the soldier understood; if everything went according to plan, it might just be their saving grace. Maybe the enemy’s fighting force would only be halved - but perhaps it would be enough.
“Deal,” Reno replied. “But if Elena dies from your goddamn bullets then we’re coming back, agreement or no fucking agreement.” They both knew from the look in the Turk’s eyes that it was the best offer that they were going to get; so Vincent nodded, and suddenly all that was left to Cloud was the faceless men, and his own blood.
*~*~*
His practiced coldness was evident in everything that the General did, but at least in this case it was only a front for his much less comfortable emotions. He wasn’t even sure why he was there, why he had deigned to be a part of the assault even if he wouldn’t fight - perhaps it was guilt, a desire to see what his weakness had wrought, and perhaps it was because he was still thinking of a way they could be talked out of their idiocy.
They were wrong, to defend that man - he was an assassin and a murderer, and would have no qualms about killing any of them if it served his purpose. And still, out of some misplaced loyalty, he would not attack them himself. He would not betray a former ally, but he was incapable of defending them either.
Are you going to stand by and watch as they are torn down? Watch, again, as their friends are torn down? Be the instrument of their destruction?
He had been standing at the head of the unit, but now he began to pace back and forth, frustration and anger rolling off him in waves strong enough to turn even his own troops into cowards. He took one glance at Rufus - cold and implacable in his certainty - and then at the mansion, and told himself that he would wait another moment, another five minutes, to see if they would come to their senses.
Another five minutes, he told himself. Five minutes and I will choose.
*~*~*
Breaths misting in the cold, Xemnas and Saïx stood together on the roof of the building directly next to the Mansion - when they made their move, it would be together. Xigbar stood below them - two stories down and ready - with his weapon, an artillery shell capable of a destructive force much greater than anything that the Syndicate had, though he was loathe to admit it.
It was laughable, how ShinRa pandered to the police - apparently they would not fire on the mansion in fear of repercussions. Xemnas himself had no such qualms.
It was only a matter of time - and then a dark figure rushed towards the assassin, bearing the information that they had been waiting for; the location and strength of the Rogue’s hideout within the mansion.
Another instant and Xigbar had let his weapon fly, shattering the wall of the mansion with a massive explosion, shards flying everywhere - and into the cloud of gathering dust jumped Saïx and his master, into the room where the Rogue had been found. After all the time he had been the hunter, now he was the prey - and they intended to prove that to him.
*~*~*
The casualties on the first floor were low, considering everything; Yuffie had only a broken arm - shattered, more like - and Zack was bleeding from his mouth, but as the dead piled on the floor, their injuries began to seem more bearable. It seemed like they were winning, like everything was going right for once in their damned lives -
And then, they heard the explosion. Both spun around to find the source - but they were met, instead, by a man whose face promised not a hint of mercy.
“Name’s Xigbar,” he drawled, voice raspy from hard use. “Nice to meet you - though I’d guess that our acquaintance won’t last very long,” he laughed, drawing some kind of weapon - a rifle, maybe - from the sheath on his back. Yuffie shifted her weight and grasped the knife in her still-working hand.
“You good with this, Yuffie?” Zack asked, wiping the trail of blood off his chin with the back of his hand.
“Good with what? Kicking some arrogant bastard’s ass? Always,” she retorted, and they shot forward in unison, ready to take him apart.
But he just smiled.
*~*~*
The ShinRa building was not far away from where the battle had been going on, and within ten minutes Vincent and the Turks had reached its foundation, though that was only the beginning - the outer walls stretched to the heavens, higher than any other, in a testament to the company’s arrogance. They would not settle for second-best, or simply one of the most powerful - they had to have it all. So, Vincent stood at the bottom, both the agent of that arrogance and the punishment for it - and the hypocrisy was not lost on him, but it did not change what had to be done.
“We will take you through the inside of the company building as our prisoner,” Tseng began, taking a pair of handcuffs from his waist and displaying them. “The handcuffs will be left open so that you may take any action you feel to be necessary - and when we get to the floor directly below the President’s, you will ‘escape’ and complete your objective. Is this quite satisfactory?”
Vincent did not respond, but evidently his eyes showed his misgivings quite plainly.
“Please do not be afraid that we will betray you,“ Tseng responded quietly. “I am a man of my word - I make no promise that I do not fully intend to keep, and my actions to not deviate from that intent.” The former Turk paused a moment then, considering - the other’s words seemed sincere enough; but more than that, Vincent had very little choice.
“I accept,” he responded, hoping that his trust did not lead to his downfall.
Tseng then gave a nod to Reno, who took the handcuffs from his superior’s hands and placed them around Vincent’s wrists - and the man waited tensely for the telling click of a lock that never came.
“Good luck,” the redhead mentioned, and he grinned as they all turned to face down the massive entryway - as traitors or heroes, motivated by redemption, greed, loyalty, or vengeance - it didn’t matter, now.
*~*~*
Fragments of wood pierced Axel’s skin as the closest wall suddenly imploded, filling the room with dust and smoke from whatever the fuck it was that had just blown up their fucking wall. He fired off a shot - and another, another - in the direction of the wall, but he heard nothing; no scream, no thud of the bullet hitting something else.
Until suddenly, without warning, he heard another gunshot - and felt a blade at his neck and another gun at his head, neither moving - and when the smoke cleared, he saw Saïx with pistols to the two boys’ heads, bleeding from his leg where apparently Roxas had managed to shoot him.
Fuck yes, Axel thought with the part of his mind that wasn’t frantically trying to find a way out of that situation, a way to save his lover and himself and anything he could save.
“Don’t bother trying to struggle,” came a voice from behind him - Xemnas, that bastard - and the assassin took a sharp breath, knowing that likely as not there were a hundred other men waiting for them, even if they did manage to get past their leader. At least - at the very least, he and Roxas could die together.
“Don’t worry, you’re not going to die yet,” Saïx rumbled from across the room, holstering one gun to take a coil of rope off his shoulder, “Though you’ll probably wish you had,” he amended, gaze glinting.
Something in Axel regained hope then - the longer Saïx wanted to play with his food, the longer the redhead would have to figure something out.
“Saïx, let’s make this urgent,” Xemnas said, as he used his own rope to tie Axel’s hands together. They were bound within moments, the rope cutting into his wrists unflinchingly. At that, a knife appeared in Saïx’s hand, and it was suddenly buried in Roxas’s arm, hilt barely visible as it ripped unmercifully through the chin.
His scream then was bone-chilling, pure animal terror mixed in with a pain more intense than anything the boy had ever imagined possible; and Axel felt the bottom drop out of his stomach in a way it never had before. The assassin flipped himself around, pulled himself from Xemnas’s grasp and brought a knee up to that man’s groin. Roxas’s scream had hit something inside of him - something primal, aggressive, angry; and for once in his life he couldn’t keep detached from his anger. He couldn’t be still, be logical, not when Roxas was going to die and Axel was still alive, when he could still do something that was halfway fucking useful.
And Saïx was across the room, tying him into a chair to prevent further misbehavior before moving to the still-closed door, as a guard. Axel sat directly in front of his lover, but leagues away - positioned so that he could see Roxas’s eyes, see the terror in them, the pleading.
“Now that everyone’s here, we can get started,” Xemnas ordered imperiously. “Because, Axel - you have caused too much trouble to be allowed to simply die.”
Axel couldn’t stop his heart from pounding, because he knew the sort of torture that would be worse than death.
*~*~*
The entry hall of the ShinRa building was much the same that days as Vincent remembered it, save for one crucial exception - it was almost completely empty. One secretary stood stiffly at the desk, expression politely vacuous - but none of the usual guards were present, nor were any businessmen in tightly fitted suits wandering the lobby area. He did not ask why this might have been, though Tseng seemed to have caught the minute change in his expression.
“The army is currently at the McCarthy mansion,” Tseng explained, stepping quickly across the tile and up one of two grand staircases that framed the whole hall. “We did not expect the President to return so quickly,” he continued, face impassive - but his hidden meaning was clear. Now that the elder ShinRa had returned, it made for the perfect opportunity - an opportunity that Rufus, with his cold-hearted ambition, could not pass by.
Vincent nodded wordlessly - there was nothing more to be said that the other men did not already know - and walked forward, flanked by both Rude and Reno, silently grateful that his handcuffs were loose. He did not like this place - it brought back too many memories, both of hurt and happiness. He chose not to remember either.
They took the elevator shaft to the floor just below the President ShinRa’s office - the Turks would not want to be associated with the murder, of course - and here they saw the first guards. Suddenly, as a burst out of nowhere, Vincent ripped free of his handcuffs - all present watched him, frozen in surprise; though that was clearly an act in the case of the Turks.
He whirled around to face them even as the guards were scrabbling for their weapons, his cloak floating menacingly behind him, and targeted a precise backhand to two inches from Tseng’s head. The man took the hint and crumpled to the side as if he had been hit. Reno and Rude pulled out the guns that they never used, and proceeded pretend like they were trying to hit Vincent - and in the commotion, the dark-haired man flowed over to the guards and incapacitated them.
“What, you’re not gonna kill ‘em?” the redhead asked with surprise as he exchanged his gun for his baton.
“I do not kill when I can easily do otherwise,” the former Turk responded tonelessly as he swept forward to the stairs that would lead up to the ShinRa president’s office.
“Well, good to know. We’re gonna be down here pretending like you knocked us out, if ya don’t mind. Kill the guards on the inside, though, will ya?” he asked with a little smirk that left Vincent unsure of whether the purpose was security or some petty vengeance. It didn’t particularly matter, however - he would do as asked.
He was up the stairs with a remarkable speed for one so laden down with heavy clothing, and pulled the office door open even as he took his Death Penalty from its holster.
The two guards in the room were hardly unaware, so when Vincent gave his first shots they returned their own in kind and moved out of the way skillfully as the former Turk darted into the room. Their shots hit nothing but his cloak - part of its purpose was to obscure his true form, and it performed that admirably - but Vincent’s next shot hit one, then another, and they were down. His attention could then turn to other matters.
The corpulent President was not an imposing man, nor had he ever been - and he was even less so as he cowered in the seat at his desk, sweating in terror.
“You are,” he breathed, still trembling and eyes wide, “You’re Vincent Valentine. You’re Hojo’s murderer.”
“Yes,” Vincent responded, “I removed him from this world, and now I will do the same to you. Your crime was perhaps even greater than his,” he murmured, and meant every word.
“Listen, I’ll pay you anything, just let me -”
“Money is not an adequate repayment for the torture you have inflicted upon me and upon countless others,” Vincent returned, though he felt surprisingly little anger, now that he was there - on the threshold of his revenge.
He let his bullet fly - and forced himself to watch as the former President ShinRa died, lifeblood seeping out through the gash in his already damp forehead.
Vincent felt no catharsis, no great sense of relief after the man’s death - it was simply another killing, another death in a long series that had led up to this moment. The blood on his hands was already thick enough that even another man’s life was only a drop in the sea - and Vincent couldn’t help but wonder, as he flew down the stairs back to where the Turks were waiting, if he had done right.
*~*~*
The battle had lasted for perhaps a half hour when Cloud was shocked from the mind-numbing routine of one slice after another by the sound of shattering wood; a blast that froze his heart in terror, from the direction of the children’s room.
He rushed towards the sound as swiftly as his legs would take him, but he was met in a rush by a new wave of enemies - the ones, he noted as he recognized one man’s face, who had left at the Turks’ request. The captain felt another bullet lodge itself in his leg - but he kept on, killing one and knocking another over the rail and to his death. Despite everything he was doing, he couldn’t help the feeling that however quickly he made it there, he was going to be too late.
Finally - after one step, and another, too long between them and between each roaring heartbeat - he reached the door, but as he opened it a man slid fluidly in front of him and pressed knives to his neck, faster than vision could allow. The doorway was too small for the captain to move his sword for a proper swing, so he dropped the buster sword and brought his arms in for a quick punch - but the man dug his fingers viciously into one of Cloud’s bullet wounds, deep enough to touch the fractured bone.
The moment of pained hesitation that caused was more than enough; the unknown man twisted the blonde’s arm around behind him and brought the knife up to slit his opponent’s throat before words from the interior of the room interrupted him;
“Saïx,” a deep voice rumbled, and Cloud looked up to see Roxas and Sora - bloody but still breathing - immobile from restraints, and another cruel-eyed man standing by Axel, murder in his every expression. “Leave him alive for now. We will allow ShinRa’s vagrant captain to watch before he dies.”
The blonde’s gaze turned to Axel, then, though he didn’t know what he was hoping to find - and Cloud saw no hope in those eyes. No hope, perhaps, but determination.
*~*~*
The Turks returned within a half hour from their duties, allowing Vincent to slip back into the mansion, unseen. They appeared at the side of their Vice President - no, the President now.
“So, boss,” Reno noted, running a hand through his tousled hair, “I heard a rumor that you just got a promotion. How’z it feel?”
“Wonderful,” Rufus returned, not allowing himself to smile or give any other reaction. “Now, my first order as President is this - as soon as this battle is over, if the Rogue survives - I want you to hunt him down and kill him.”
Tseng seemed to be the most reluctant about this; “Mr. President, sir - with all due respect, we promised to leave Valentine and the family alone after he performed this favor for us.”
Rufus shrugged carelessly.
“Leave Valentine and the family alone if you have to; I know you hate breaking your word - but you never made any promises with regards to this Axel. Take him out,” the blond man ordered, and the Turks nodded in assent - it was not their place to question the commands of Rufus ShinRa.
*~*~*
A thousand images assaulted Vincent’s mind at once as he entered the Mansion’s entryway, like silent, breathing snapshots - Yuffie, unmoving on the floor; Zack, panting, sword up like a shield as he regained his strength; a man with blood in his smile, though the blood of others - someone’s life running down the stairs in abstract trickles. He had only had enough time to turn on Zack’s opponent before they were joined, by a familiar presence at their backs. Evidently the Turks had shorter memories than they professed.
“I see the Turks have lost their honor since I was a member,” Vincent murmured, barely taking the time to glance behind him - though Zack flipped around, still in a crouch, to face his former allies.
“We will not break an oath unless you force us,” Tseng’s voice noted from somewhere behind them - at least they had that much humanity left to them. “We are here prevent the Rogue from escaping alive.. We have no desire to fight with you.”
“Nice thought and all, but we’re here to stop you if you’re here to kill him,” the dark-haired captain chimed in, still smiling despite the toll that the fights had taken on him. “We’d look like idiots if we just went and let you have your way now, wouldn’t we? I mean, it’d all be pretty pointless,” he noted, hefting his buster sword up into a better position for fighting.
Yes, Vincent thought, glance flashing over to Yuffie - she was still breathing, but perhaps not for much longer if she could not be helped. All of this pain would be for nothing if we gave up on our goals at this instant.
He pulled out the knives hidden under his cloak then, because out of everything with which he had begun, only one bullet was left - and he knew exactly where it would be most effective.
*~*~*
A cold silence fell over the room as Roxas saw Cloud struggling against Saïx’s grasp and threat - but he wasn’t really watching, couldn’t really watch, because the pain in his arm was so staggering it left his mind numb. Blood seeped down his clothes and stained the bed, but he really couldn’t care less about that because right here, right now, he knew he was going to watch Axel die, watch Cloud die, watch his brother die and he would be completely and utterly helpless.
There was honestly nothing in the world more terrifying than this situation - being in danger, and unable to actually do anything about it, to help anyone or change anything at all.
“So then, we begin,” Xemnas declared tonelessly, and Roxas stiffened at the sound of his too-cold voice. His almost yellow eyes turned piercingly on to the blonde - and the boy met them with all the strength he could muster.
“To the boy named Roxas,” the elder continued, voice uncaring but expression telling, “This, then, will all fall on you.”
Axel’s eyes shot up like that, and suddenly again he was struggling in his chair, against his restraints with that same wild look in his eyes.
“You fucking bastard,” he snarled, face contorted with the force of his rage, “I’m the one who’s been fucking with you this whole time, leave him the hell outta this!”
“I suggest you keep any future such outbursts to yourself, unless you want everyone to die here and now.” Xemnas paused then, his cold expression turning slowly into a sharp smirk. “As it is, I am giving you an opportunity to live. You should be grateful.”
Roxas shivered in terror more complete than he had ever felt before - the sadistic smile behind the Syndicate leader’s words betrayed their intent. But his scowl didn’t leave his face even once, and he struggled silently against his bonds, not wanting to hear what the other man had to say next.
“Because you, Roxas, will be allowed to make a choice based on the answer of this question.” Saïx laughed softly, cruelly, as his master’s words filled the room. “Of the two of these; of your brother, who has stayed with you all of his life and been your best friend; and your lover, who has given up everything he had to protect you - who do you care about most?”
The blonde could feel his heart beating its way out of his chest, and all of his frustration, his rage and the sensation of a steel blade in his flesh, all congealed in a lump at the back of his throat.
He had thought that it wasn’t possible to be any more terrified than he had been before - but proving him wrong was apparently something those bastards did for kicks.
“What the fuck kind of question is that?” Roxas shot back, never one to let anyone know that he was scared fucking shitless. “Why do you want to know, you sick bastard?”
“Because,” Xemnas returned, voice ominous and deadly, “your choice will determine which of the two lives, and which of the two dies.”
The boy could feel his face go pale, and the tremors begin to run down his body - he saw Sora, restrained and breathing hard from fright - Axel, watching him with this intent look of pain that Roxas could hardly stand.
“You sadistic fucking son of a bitch,” the redhead murmured, hatred in every breath. “There aren’t enough words in the whole goddamn world for you.”
Xemnas ignored him, though his knife pressed up harder against the man’s skin, and blood welled to the surface in a crimson pool.
“Now, Roxas, before I lose my patience. Choose.”
*~*~*
*~*~*
…I hope you don’t hate me for this. Please don’t hate me. I love you?
In other news, sorry for the late update… *bows apologetically* Complications arose, ensued, and were overcome. And sorry for the extra super-long chapter. 12,000 words according to my word processor.
Speak to me?
Rating: PG-13 for language
Pairings: AkuRoku (main), Zemyx, Marluxia/Larxene, Sephiroth/Cloud
Word Count: About 12,000 this chapter, over 115,000 total so far.
Summary: AU. Axel is an assassin in Chicago of 1914, with no morals to speak of and an aversion to truth in all its many forms. When fate puts him in Roxas's way, he finds that he will do anything - anything - to keep Roxas safe, no matter what the cost. Betrayal is the only choice, and trust the quickest way to die - but every step taken is for the ultimate good. As the march progresses, death reaches out to touch everyone, and redemption is an unreachable goal for those who deserve it.
Comments: Because either LJ fails or I fail, this chapter was too large to fit in one post so it's split. Sorry about this!
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 /
Chapter 15 part 1
Chapter 15 part 2
Watching the battle from above, it was easy for Vincent to notice the darker, quicker figures who flowed in the windows after the Turks - but even he could not dispatch all of them with his pistols, though many fewer would leave than had entered. But they were only dangerous in large numbers, and were occupied with searching the lower level - and it would be wiser to focus on the pair who had detached themselves from the battle below,, The Turks were dangerous in their own right, with their partners or without - and Vincent remembered vividly just how deadly they could be.
The pair flew up the stairs and onto the landing, guns out and ready - but Vincent was faster, shot at the woman Turk and she moved, shot at Tseng and grazed his shoulder, then dodged out of the way of ther answering fire. They turned to him, leaving their backs awkwardly open to the other end of the hall - and Cloud watched the scene from behind them, waiting for the opportune moment to attack.
Vincent saw Tseng’s eyes go wide in recognition after passing over the former Turk’s clothing and locking on his face. They hadn’t known each other back in Vincent’s days with ShinRa, not well; but they had known each other’s faces. And more importantly, now, he was recognized for what he had done - for the death of Hojo, for his betrayal of everything the Company held dear.
Before either of them had a chance to speak, a silver blade met the air where they had once been - Tseng ducked and brought his gun up for a shot underneath, while the woman jumped lightly off of the ground and over the blade, her own weapon out and firing.
Both Turks finally stopped on Cloud’s other side, and they met each other face-to-face for the first time.
“Captain Strife, I am less than pleased to find you here,” Tseng intoned, every line of his face making that quite obvious. “This is treason - fighting against ShinRa troops, consorting with a known murderer -”
“Hojo deserved to die,” Vincent noted quietly, taking aim at the woman’s legs - she would be less trouble if she was incapacitated.
“I never argued that point,” Tseng responded as he let off a shot at Cloud’s shoulder - and though it ricocheted off the blade and into the wall, the blonde woman’s bullet met a mark in the captain’s side. It barely impeded his movement, though likely caused him great pain - and he careened forward again, barely avoiding Vincent’s bullet.
“But,” the Turk continued, “that doesn’t change the fact that you are a murderer. Vincent Valentine, your torture at his hands do not give you the power to decide who may live and who may die.”
“I will accept that name if it means that no others must endure what I did,” Vincent returned, moving quickly enough that only his red cloak was caught by the enemy fire. He barely glanced over in time to see Tseng give the woman a nod.
“Elena,” he said, as an order rather than acknowledgement - and she flashed over to the nearest doorway. She opened it and then, glancing inside, moved on to another, searching for the children. Searching for the redhead, for Axel.
Cloud saw it first, and brought his massive sword around to cut at her - but its movement was impeded as it caught on the walls of the too-small hallway, and Tseng impeded its movement by blocking it with the barrel of his pistol, bracing hand only barely cut as he held the weapon in place
Even the former Turk’s hasty shot was too late - Vincent knew by the sound of gunfire that she had found her target.
*~*~*
A chorus of gunfire from outside - downstairs, or maybe up? He couldn’t tell - informed Roxas that the battle had started, and his grip on his gun tightened uselessly as he watched the entrance; waiting, knowing. Axel was sitting on the bed, pretending to be comfortable for the blonde’s sake - but it was easy to see the tension in his neck, in his back as he faced the door, a gun resting on each leg and pointed exactly where they would need to be if someone entered.
They were lucky the room didn’t have windows - if it had, they would have been fucked; if he was gonna have to die, then sniper shot would not be the way he’d pick to go.
But he wouldn’t, of course, be the one to choose - the door was flung open before Roxas even had a chance to react; two blasts from a gun - he couldn’t tell whose - and the woman who appeared in the entrance was drenched in blood, clutching her stomach as her gun flew away from her grasp. Almost instantly, Axel swiped his revolvers across his sides - he didn’t have the time or hands available to cock his guns the usual way - and the realization dawned on Roxas as the woman crumpled to the ground that he had just watched his lover kill someone. The redhead slammed the door shut, and the younger couldn’t help but watch breathlessly as the red liquid seeped under the door, and he hugged his brother tighter to him, knowing that it wouldn’t be much longer.
*~*~*
“Reno! I need you up here, now!”
The redhead heard Tseng’s exclamation just in time to turn and see Elena crumple to the ground helplessly, bloodstained - and the moment that he moved to help her, he felt the sharp cut of a blade across his back. Ignoring it - it was shallow, wouldn’t matter, would heal quickly - he bolted up the stairs and threaded through the battle on the landing so he could reach her, maybe in time.
The Turk could see that the fight was unfair; Tseng versus Cloud Strife - shit, Strife too? - and a red-cloaked man, but within moments he had been joined by another five, maybe more, faceless members of Xemnas’s Syndicate. In the clash of weapons and the sound of gunfire, Reno just managed to reach the blonde woman before Tseng spoke again.
“Get Elena out - and, also, I need you to tell the Vice-President that Vincent Valentine is here.” There was a pause as the dark-haired Turk was hit in the arm - again, it seemed - by Strife’s blade. “That may be of some use to us.”
Without another word, Reno jumped over the railing and landed, crouched, on the ground before taking off through a window, towards the army.
He was barely even conscious of medics taking her out of his arms, head light as it was from blood loss and the intoxicating thrill of fear and excitement. Somehow, he found Rufus in the throng of boots and helmets and frost-scrabbled steel - standing like a statue in his white, eyes never wavering from their focus until Reno crossed his vision, stopping beside him breathlessly.
“Hey, boss,” he greeted with a grin, blood dripping from a cut on his upper lip. “Tseng has some news for ya. And,” his expression sobered here, “Elena’s down. We’re not sure how bad she is, but she’s down.”
Rufus took that in for a moment.
“And your news was?” the blond asked, nonplussed. Nothing ruffled that exterior.
“Well, he says that Vincent Valentine’s in there, and it might be useful to ya. It don’t mean much t’ me but I figured you’d know what it meant,” Reno informed the other with a shrug.
There was a long, awkward silence then, broken only by the sounds of shouting and gunfire from inside. The quiet went on for long enough that the Turk had begun to wonder if he had done something wrong - until, almost faster than the redhead could see, the vice-president’s expression had turned to a smile - determined, feral, vicious; but a smile nonetheless.
“You may return to the battle - and give Tseng this message from me.”
It was their turn, finally, to win the whole goddamn pot.
*~*~*
The battle between the Mansion’s guard and their opponents quickly turned into a fight of numbers rather than skill - with two of the Turks out of the picture, for the time being at least, they were not the force to be reckoned with. Their men, the disposables - not ShinRa’s, from somewhere else - swarmed up the sides; they were incompetent alone, but deadly when together. From behind them, Tseng fired precise shots at his opponents, and though Cloud and Vincent took down one after another, still there seemed to be no end.
The captain swung into the crowd and was gratified to hear the crunch of bone underneath his weapon. He was vaguely aware that there were enemies in the children’s doorway, now - but there was little that could be done about that, there were men everywhere, bullets all over; in the air, in the walls, in his side and arm.
Just when a path seemed to be clearing - Tseng on the other side, a former ally but now a dangerous enemy - the Turk was joined by another, by Reno, whose grin was only made more disturbing by the blood on his face.
“Hey, I wanna call a time-out for a minute,” the redhead called, but Cloud ignored it - the man was not particularly well-known for his honesty. “Not with you, Strife - with your friend over there. Valentine.” A pause. “So you wanna hear a proposition?” he asked, and the blonde captain could see Tseng shoot his associate a look of confusion and perhaps frustration.
“We’re not interested,” Cloud informed the other, taking down another nameless man, “unless it involves you backing off.”
“It does,” Reno observed, and receiving another glance from Tseng for his troubles. “Sort of, anyway. Just hear me out.” He gave a grin to the nameless fighters. “Anyway, we’ve got this covered here, why don’t you go kill somebody else?” he suggested, and within moments they were relatively alone, though Tseng looked like he was about to make Reno the Turks’ first friendly fire casualty.
“I talked to the boss, no worries,” the redhead muttered to his leader before he turned his sharp gaze back on Vincent, ignoring Cloud for the moment. “Look, buddy. We know you’re after ShinRa, am I right? ‘Cause old man Hojo did some crazy shit to you.”
The former Turk nodded, tense as always but not firing - he, at least, was a man of honor.
“So, we’re gonna give you an opportunity to get back at us.”
Tseng took this moment to interrupt: “Reno, I sincerely hope that you are doing nothing that would endanger -”
“Don’t get yourself in a knot - this is all approved,” the redhead shot back, gaze never moving from Vincent. “Anyway, you interested? The deal is this - you get to kill President ShinRa and we don’t kill you for it,” he drawled, and Cloud stiffened - it seemed like a trap if there ever had been one.
“Why would you offer something like that?” the blonde captain asked, shocked - he had never had any love for the President, but he wouldn’t allow any of his men to make that suggestion, either.
“It’s simple, Spike,” Reno noted with a laugh. “With President ShinRa dead, his son gets the spot. Valentine here gets his revenge and a free pass outta this place.”
There was a long quiet.
“If I agree to do this,” Vincent began, crimson gaze never shifting, “then I would like for all of the Turks to withdraw, and follow me to the ShinRa building. And I want ShinRa’s word that no others will be sent in your place.” A pause. “And assure the other men you are fighting with that their services are no longer necessary. It seems like a small enough favor for the service I am about to perform.”
He glanced at Cloud, and suddenly the soldier understood; if everything went according to plan, it might just be their saving grace. Maybe the enemy’s fighting force would only be halved - but perhaps it would be enough.
“Deal,” Reno replied. “But if Elena dies from your goddamn bullets then we’re coming back, agreement or no fucking agreement.” They both knew from the look in the Turk’s eyes that it was the best offer that they were going to get; so Vincent nodded, and suddenly all that was left to Cloud was the faceless men, and his own blood.
*~*~*
His practiced coldness was evident in everything that the General did, but at least in this case it was only a front for his much less comfortable emotions. He wasn’t even sure why he was there, why he had deigned to be a part of the assault even if he wouldn’t fight - perhaps it was guilt, a desire to see what his weakness had wrought, and perhaps it was because he was still thinking of a way they could be talked out of their idiocy.
They were wrong, to defend that man - he was an assassin and a murderer, and would have no qualms about killing any of them if it served his purpose. And still, out of some misplaced loyalty, he would not attack them himself. He would not betray a former ally, but he was incapable of defending them either.
Are you going to stand by and watch as they are torn down? Watch, again, as their friends are torn down? Be the instrument of their destruction?
He had been standing at the head of the unit, but now he began to pace back and forth, frustration and anger rolling off him in waves strong enough to turn even his own troops into cowards. He took one glance at Rufus - cold and implacable in his certainty - and then at the mansion, and told himself that he would wait another moment, another five minutes, to see if they would come to their senses.
Another five minutes, he told himself. Five minutes and I will choose.
*~*~*
Breaths misting in the cold, Xemnas and Saïx stood together on the roof of the building directly next to the Mansion - when they made their move, it would be together. Xigbar stood below them - two stories down and ready - with his weapon, an artillery shell capable of a destructive force much greater than anything that the Syndicate had, though he was loathe to admit it.
It was laughable, how ShinRa pandered to the police - apparently they would not fire on the mansion in fear of repercussions. Xemnas himself had no such qualms.
It was only a matter of time - and then a dark figure rushed towards the assassin, bearing the information that they had been waiting for; the location and strength of the Rogue’s hideout within the mansion.
Another instant and Xigbar had let his weapon fly, shattering the wall of the mansion with a massive explosion, shards flying everywhere - and into the cloud of gathering dust jumped Saïx and his master, into the room where the Rogue had been found. After all the time he had been the hunter, now he was the prey - and they intended to prove that to him.
*~*~*
The casualties on the first floor were low, considering everything; Yuffie had only a broken arm - shattered, more like - and Zack was bleeding from his mouth, but as the dead piled on the floor, their injuries began to seem more bearable. It seemed like they were winning, like everything was going right for once in their damned lives -
And then, they heard the explosion. Both spun around to find the source - but they were met, instead, by a man whose face promised not a hint of mercy.
“Name’s Xigbar,” he drawled, voice raspy from hard use. “Nice to meet you - though I’d guess that our acquaintance won’t last very long,” he laughed, drawing some kind of weapon - a rifle, maybe - from the sheath on his back. Yuffie shifted her weight and grasped the knife in her still-working hand.
“You good with this, Yuffie?” Zack asked, wiping the trail of blood off his chin with the back of his hand.
“Good with what? Kicking some arrogant bastard’s ass? Always,” she retorted, and they shot forward in unison, ready to take him apart.
But he just smiled.
*~*~*
The ShinRa building was not far away from where the battle had been going on, and within ten minutes Vincent and the Turks had reached its foundation, though that was only the beginning - the outer walls stretched to the heavens, higher than any other, in a testament to the company’s arrogance. They would not settle for second-best, or simply one of the most powerful - they had to have it all. So, Vincent stood at the bottom, both the agent of that arrogance and the punishment for it - and the hypocrisy was not lost on him, but it did not change what had to be done.
“We will take you through the inside of the company building as our prisoner,” Tseng began, taking a pair of handcuffs from his waist and displaying them. “The handcuffs will be left open so that you may take any action you feel to be necessary - and when we get to the floor directly below the President’s, you will ‘escape’ and complete your objective. Is this quite satisfactory?”
Vincent did not respond, but evidently his eyes showed his misgivings quite plainly.
“Please do not be afraid that we will betray you,“ Tseng responded quietly. “I am a man of my word - I make no promise that I do not fully intend to keep, and my actions to not deviate from that intent.” The former Turk paused a moment then, considering - the other’s words seemed sincere enough; but more than that, Vincent had very little choice.
“I accept,” he responded, hoping that his trust did not lead to his downfall.
Tseng then gave a nod to Reno, who took the handcuffs from his superior’s hands and placed them around Vincent’s wrists - and the man waited tensely for the telling click of a lock that never came.
“Good luck,” the redhead mentioned, and he grinned as they all turned to face down the massive entryway - as traitors or heroes, motivated by redemption, greed, loyalty, or vengeance - it didn’t matter, now.
*~*~*
Fragments of wood pierced Axel’s skin as the closest wall suddenly imploded, filling the room with dust and smoke from whatever the fuck it was that had just blown up their fucking wall. He fired off a shot - and another, another - in the direction of the wall, but he heard nothing; no scream, no thud of the bullet hitting something else.
Until suddenly, without warning, he heard another gunshot - and felt a blade at his neck and another gun at his head, neither moving - and when the smoke cleared, he saw Saïx with pistols to the two boys’ heads, bleeding from his leg where apparently Roxas had managed to shoot him.
Fuck yes, Axel thought with the part of his mind that wasn’t frantically trying to find a way out of that situation, a way to save his lover and himself and anything he could save.
“Don’t bother trying to struggle,” came a voice from behind him - Xemnas, that bastard - and the assassin took a sharp breath, knowing that likely as not there were a hundred other men waiting for them, even if they did manage to get past their leader. At least - at the very least, he and Roxas could die together.
“Don’t worry, you’re not going to die yet,” Saïx rumbled from across the room, holstering one gun to take a coil of rope off his shoulder, “Though you’ll probably wish you had,” he amended, gaze glinting.
Something in Axel regained hope then - the longer Saïx wanted to play with his food, the longer the redhead would have to figure something out.
“Saïx, let’s make this urgent,” Xemnas said, as he used his own rope to tie Axel’s hands together. They were bound within moments, the rope cutting into his wrists unflinchingly. At that, a knife appeared in Saïx’s hand, and it was suddenly buried in Roxas’s arm, hilt barely visible as it ripped unmercifully through the chin.
His scream then was bone-chilling, pure animal terror mixed in with a pain more intense than anything the boy had ever imagined possible; and Axel felt the bottom drop out of his stomach in a way it never had before. The assassin flipped himself around, pulled himself from Xemnas’s grasp and brought a knee up to that man’s groin. Roxas’s scream had hit something inside of him - something primal, aggressive, angry; and for once in his life he couldn’t keep detached from his anger. He couldn’t be still, be logical, not when Roxas was going to die and Axel was still alive, when he could still do something that was halfway fucking useful.
And Saïx was across the room, tying him into a chair to prevent further misbehavior before moving to the still-closed door, as a guard. Axel sat directly in front of his lover, but leagues away - positioned so that he could see Roxas’s eyes, see the terror in them, the pleading.
“Now that everyone’s here, we can get started,” Xemnas ordered imperiously. “Because, Axel - you have caused too much trouble to be allowed to simply die.”
Axel couldn’t stop his heart from pounding, because he knew the sort of torture that would be worse than death.
*~*~*
The entry hall of the ShinRa building was much the same that days as Vincent remembered it, save for one crucial exception - it was almost completely empty. One secretary stood stiffly at the desk, expression politely vacuous - but none of the usual guards were present, nor were any businessmen in tightly fitted suits wandering the lobby area. He did not ask why this might have been, though Tseng seemed to have caught the minute change in his expression.
“The army is currently at the McCarthy mansion,” Tseng explained, stepping quickly across the tile and up one of two grand staircases that framed the whole hall. “We did not expect the President to return so quickly,” he continued, face impassive - but his hidden meaning was clear. Now that the elder ShinRa had returned, it made for the perfect opportunity - an opportunity that Rufus, with his cold-hearted ambition, could not pass by.
Vincent nodded wordlessly - there was nothing more to be said that the other men did not already know - and walked forward, flanked by both Rude and Reno, silently grateful that his handcuffs were loose. He did not like this place - it brought back too many memories, both of hurt and happiness. He chose not to remember either.
They took the elevator shaft to the floor just below the President ShinRa’s office - the Turks would not want to be associated with the murder, of course - and here they saw the first guards. Suddenly, as a burst out of nowhere, Vincent ripped free of his handcuffs - all present watched him, frozen in surprise; though that was clearly an act in the case of the Turks.
He whirled around to face them even as the guards were scrabbling for their weapons, his cloak floating menacingly behind him, and targeted a precise backhand to two inches from Tseng’s head. The man took the hint and crumpled to the side as if he had been hit. Reno and Rude pulled out the guns that they never used, and proceeded pretend like they were trying to hit Vincent - and in the commotion, the dark-haired man flowed over to the guards and incapacitated them.
“What, you’re not gonna kill ‘em?” the redhead asked with surprise as he exchanged his gun for his baton.
“I do not kill when I can easily do otherwise,” the former Turk responded tonelessly as he swept forward to the stairs that would lead up to the ShinRa president’s office.
“Well, good to know. We’re gonna be down here pretending like you knocked us out, if ya don’t mind. Kill the guards on the inside, though, will ya?” he asked with a little smirk that left Vincent unsure of whether the purpose was security or some petty vengeance. It didn’t particularly matter, however - he would do as asked.
He was up the stairs with a remarkable speed for one so laden down with heavy clothing, and pulled the office door open even as he took his Death Penalty from its holster.
The two guards in the room were hardly unaware, so when Vincent gave his first shots they returned their own in kind and moved out of the way skillfully as the former Turk darted into the room. Their shots hit nothing but his cloak - part of its purpose was to obscure his true form, and it performed that admirably - but Vincent’s next shot hit one, then another, and they were down. His attention could then turn to other matters.
The corpulent President was not an imposing man, nor had he ever been - and he was even less so as he cowered in the seat at his desk, sweating in terror.
“You are,” he breathed, still trembling and eyes wide, “You’re Vincent Valentine. You’re Hojo’s murderer.”
“Yes,” Vincent responded, “I removed him from this world, and now I will do the same to you. Your crime was perhaps even greater than his,” he murmured, and meant every word.
“Listen, I’ll pay you anything, just let me -”
“Money is not an adequate repayment for the torture you have inflicted upon me and upon countless others,” Vincent returned, though he felt surprisingly little anger, now that he was there - on the threshold of his revenge.
He let his bullet fly - and forced himself to watch as the former President ShinRa died, lifeblood seeping out through the gash in his already damp forehead.
Vincent felt no catharsis, no great sense of relief after the man’s death - it was simply another killing, another death in a long series that had led up to this moment. The blood on his hands was already thick enough that even another man’s life was only a drop in the sea - and Vincent couldn’t help but wonder, as he flew down the stairs back to where the Turks were waiting, if he had done right.
*~*~*
The battle had lasted for perhaps a half hour when Cloud was shocked from the mind-numbing routine of one slice after another by the sound of shattering wood; a blast that froze his heart in terror, from the direction of the children’s room.
He rushed towards the sound as swiftly as his legs would take him, but he was met in a rush by a new wave of enemies - the ones, he noted as he recognized one man’s face, who had left at the Turks’ request. The captain felt another bullet lodge itself in his leg - but he kept on, killing one and knocking another over the rail and to his death. Despite everything he was doing, he couldn’t help the feeling that however quickly he made it there, he was going to be too late.
Finally - after one step, and another, too long between them and between each roaring heartbeat - he reached the door, but as he opened it a man slid fluidly in front of him and pressed knives to his neck, faster than vision could allow. The doorway was too small for the captain to move his sword for a proper swing, so he dropped the buster sword and brought his arms in for a quick punch - but the man dug his fingers viciously into one of Cloud’s bullet wounds, deep enough to touch the fractured bone.
The moment of pained hesitation that caused was more than enough; the unknown man twisted the blonde’s arm around behind him and brought the knife up to slit his opponent’s throat before words from the interior of the room interrupted him;
“Saïx,” a deep voice rumbled, and Cloud looked up to see Roxas and Sora - bloody but still breathing - immobile from restraints, and another cruel-eyed man standing by Axel, murder in his every expression. “Leave him alive for now. We will allow ShinRa’s vagrant captain to watch before he dies.”
The blonde’s gaze turned to Axel, then, though he didn’t know what he was hoping to find - and Cloud saw no hope in those eyes. No hope, perhaps, but determination.
*~*~*
The Turks returned within a half hour from their duties, allowing Vincent to slip back into the mansion, unseen. They appeared at the side of their Vice President - no, the President now.
“So, boss,” Reno noted, running a hand through his tousled hair, “I heard a rumor that you just got a promotion. How’z it feel?”
“Wonderful,” Rufus returned, not allowing himself to smile or give any other reaction. “Now, my first order as President is this - as soon as this battle is over, if the Rogue survives - I want you to hunt him down and kill him.”
Tseng seemed to be the most reluctant about this; “Mr. President, sir - with all due respect, we promised to leave Valentine and the family alone after he performed this favor for us.”
Rufus shrugged carelessly.
“Leave Valentine and the family alone if you have to; I know you hate breaking your word - but you never made any promises with regards to this Axel. Take him out,” the blond man ordered, and the Turks nodded in assent - it was not their place to question the commands of Rufus ShinRa.
*~*~*
A thousand images assaulted Vincent’s mind at once as he entered the Mansion’s entryway, like silent, breathing snapshots - Yuffie, unmoving on the floor; Zack, panting, sword up like a shield as he regained his strength; a man with blood in his smile, though the blood of others - someone’s life running down the stairs in abstract trickles. He had only had enough time to turn on Zack’s opponent before they were joined, by a familiar presence at their backs. Evidently the Turks had shorter memories than they professed.
“I see the Turks have lost their honor since I was a member,” Vincent murmured, barely taking the time to glance behind him - though Zack flipped around, still in a crouch, to face his former allies.
“We will not break an oath unless you force us,” Tseng’s voice noted from somewhere behind them - at least they had that much humanity left to them. “We are here prevent the Rogue from escaping alive.. We have no desire to fight with you.”
“Nice thought and all, but we’re here to stop you if you’re here to kill him,” the dark-haired captain chimed in, still smiling despite the toll that the fights had taken on him. “We’d look like idiots if we just went and let you have your way now, wouldn’t we? I mean, it’d all be pretty pointless,” he noted, hefting his buster sword up into a better position for fighting.
Yes, Vincent thought, glance flashing over to Yuffie - she was still breathing, but perhaps not for much longer if she could not be helped. All of this pain would be for nothing if we gave up on our goals at this instant.
He pulled out the knives hidden under his cloak then, because out of everything with which he had begun, only one bullet was left - and he knew exactly where it would be most effective.
*~*~*
A cold silence fell over the room as Roxas saw Cloud struggling against Saïx’s grasp and threat - but he wasn’t really watching, couldn’t really watch, because the pain in his arm was so staggering it left his mind numb. Blood seeped down his clothes and stained the bed, but he really couldn’t care less about that because right here, right now, he knew he was going to watch Axel die, watch Cloud die, watch his brother die and he would be completely and utterly helpless.
There was honestly nothing in the world more terrifying than this situation - being in danger, and unable to actually do anything about it, to help anyone or change anything at all.
“So then, we begin,” Xemnas declared tonelessly, and Roxas stiffened at the sound of his too-cold voice. His almost yellow eyes turned piercingly on to the blonde - and the boy met them with all the strength he could muster.
“To the boy named Roxas,” the elder continued, voice uncaring but expression telling, “This, then, will all fall on you.”
Axel’s eyes shot up like that, and suddenly again he was struggling in his chair, against his restraints with that same wild look in his eyes.
“You fucking bastard,” he snarled, face contorted with the force of his rage, “I’m the one who’s been fucking with you this whole time, leave him the hell outta this!”
“I suggest you keep any future such outbursts to yourself, unless you want everyone to die here and now.” Xemnas paused then, his cold expression turning slowly into a sharp smirk. “As it is, I am giving you an opportunity to live. You should be grateful.”
Roxas shivered in terror more complete than he had ever felt before - the sadistic smile behind the Syndicate leader’s words betrayed their intent. But his scowl didn’t leave his face even once, and he struggled silently against his bonds, not wanting to hear what the other man had to say next.
“Because you, Roxas, will be allowed to make a choice based on the answer of this question.” Saïx laughed softly, cruelly, as his master’s words filled the room. “Of the two of these; of your brother, who has stayed with you all of his life and been your best friend; and your lover, who has given up everything he had to protect you - who do you care about most?”
The blonde could feel his heart beating its way out of his chest, and all of his frustration, his rage and the sensation of a steel blade in his flesh, all congealed in a lump at the back of his throat.
He had thought that it wasn’t possible to be any more terrified than he had been before - but proving him wrong was apparently something those bastards did for kicks.
“What the fuck kind of question is that?” Roxas shot back, never one to let anyone know that he was scared fucking shitless. “Why do you want to know, you sick bastard?”
“Because,” Xemnas returned, voice ominous and deadly, “your choice will determine which of the two lives, and which of the two dies.”
The boy could feel his face go pale, and the tremors begin to run down his body - he saw Sora, restrained and breathing hard from fright - Axel, watching him with this intent look of pain that Roxas could hardly stand.
“You sadistic fucking son of a bitch,” the redhead murmured, hatred in every breath. “There aren’t enough words in the whole goddamn world for you.”
Xemnas ignored him, though his knife pressed up harder against the man’s skin, and blood welled to the surface in a crimson pool.
“Now, Roxas, before I lose my patience. Choose.”
*~*~*
*~*~*
…I hope you don’t hate me for this. Please don’t hate me. I love you?
In other news, sorry for the late update… *bows apologetically* Complications arose, ensued, and were overcome. And sorry for the extra super-long chapter. 12,000 words according to my word processor.
Speak to me?