[Kingdom Hearts] Hooch [part four]
Aaaand that's all I've got thus far. I know my track record for multi-part stories is...horrendous, but I swear I'll get this done. You have permission to throw stones at me until I do.
Title: Hooch
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Characters/Pairings: Xigbar/Luxord, Organization XIII, various cameos and implied relationships
Rating: PG for now [language, minor violence]
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney.
Summary: Roaring Twenties AU. A new speakeasy has opened up in town. When two rivaling gangs vie for its business, shit goes down as it only can when everyone's packing heat and the moral of the story is “kill or be killed.”
Notes: Soooo my action scenes definitely need work. And I added a new plot point without meaning to, so this will probably mess with everything I had planned. Whoops.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three
It seemed the whole town was abuzz over the night’s upcoming match. Axel scowled at himself for using such a ridiculous word as “abuzz.” What the hell did that even mean?
Never mind that. He had managed to wave off Marluxia and Larxene’s prying questions about where he was going tonight, get a decent outfit, and actually have cash on hand if it were needed. Mostly, he was still rather amazed that he had found Roxas in the first place. And speaking of Roxas…
As Axel approached the glamorous hotel, he finally considered the one fatal flaw in his plan: what if Roxas wasn’t waiting outside for him? That would slow things down tremendously.
He shook his head. This was no time to be doubtful. Plus, he’d never hear the end of it from Xigbar if Roxas stood him up.
The front doors of the Ritz came into sight. Axel held his breath, scanning the crowds of people moving about. There was no sign of the short blond… There! Heart pounding, he hurried over to the column behind which Roxas was standing.
“Trying to avoid me already?” he greeted the boy, who jerked away from the wall he had been leaning against.
“Just trying to stay out of sight,” Roxas answered, looking a bit put out that he had been so easily surprised. “I had to sneak out.”
“You’re going to the biggest boxing match of the year,” Axel chuckled. “You’ll have a hard time hiding there.”
Roxas didn’t answer, and for a few awkward moments there was silence,
“So, uh, I’ll go get a cab now,” Axel suggested, making to head back to the street.
Roxas grabbed his arm. “Wait. What would you say to borrowing my limo for a while? After all, they already think I took it out for a joyride once.”
A great wolfish grin broke out across Axel’s face. “That, my friend, should be such a painfully obvious answer.”
Roxas just hoped he’d get it back in one piece.
*
Xigbar was debating whether it was time to finally get a car of his own. Taking your “date” out in a taxi cab wasn’t nearly as impressive as having your own car. True, he’d have to learn how to drive it, but hey, he was a fast learner.
“What’s on your mind, if I might pry?” Luxord inquired. He didn’t look as mad as he ought to be at the moment, considering that he had to pay the cab fare when Xigbar realized he had conveniently “forgotten” his wallet.
“Imagining you naked,” Xigbar replied without missing a beat.
Luxord didn’t appear thrown at all. “You seem too uninterested.”
“That’s not my fault, now is it?”
Xigbar considered how lucky he was as they made their way into the stadium and to their seats. Any normal guy would have punched him in the face (or perhaps pulled a gun) for making jokes like that - and he’d had the bruises to prove it before. Of course, Luxord didn’t seem the kind of guy to punch people in their faces a lot, but to be so utterly unfazed…
Xigbar glanced over at the other man. Naw, he couldn’t be. Could he?
“I’d venture to ask what you are thinking of again,” Luxord said, barely audible over the roar of the stadium crowd, “but from the way you are staring I believe I can already guess. You’re not one for hiding your emotions, are you.”
Yeah, either definitely gay or definitely very confident with himself. Maybe both. Xigbar grinned. This was going to get a lot more interesting.
*
Down in the locker rooms, the three time heavyweight champion was talking to a reporter. Or rather, he was listening to the reporter talk at him.
“As I was saying, Lexaeus, this is the fourth year that I’ve been covering your matches,” the journalist was saying, pacing up and down the aisle of lockers, “and as much as I hate to say it, your matches tend to be a little…dry.”
Lexaeus grunted in response.
“I know you have a formula,” the smaller man went on, sticking the pencil he was holding behind an ear, “and thus far it’s worked very well. But occasionally I get the feeling that I could reuse the same single article with the names changed and no one would notice.”
“Zexion,” Lexaeus said with a sigh, lacing up a boot, “it’s boxing. You have to remember you’re not writing about advanced science anymore.”
“I know!” Zexion snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. “I just think it could use some more…imagination.”
Lexaeus almost laughed. “You? Think something needs more ‘imagination’?”
Zexion glowered at the boxer. “Don’t push it. I got you out of the construction business, and I can put you back in it.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” Lexaeus replied, amused. “Then who will you report on? Remember, I got you off the streets, and I can put you back on them.” In their years of working together, when Zexion got mad he liked to remind Lexaeus (not very convincingly) that he only reported for him because Lexaeus was the best in the league. It was disconcerting having the statement thrown back at him.
“Someone will eventually replace you,” Zexion stated sullenly.
“And until then, I keep on.”
Subdued, Zexion checked his watch as Lexaeus checked his gear. It was getting close to the start of the match.
“All right, now keep in mind everything I dug up about this guy,” Zexion demanded, trailing after Lexaeus to the door. “Keep your guard up, he’s very good at getting his opponents to - ”
“Zexion,” Lexaeus interrupted, stopping so that the other man smashed right into his back. “Don’t worry. You want to reuse my articles, remember? I always win.” With that, he disappeared out into the stadium arena.
“Worried?” Zexion muttered, absentmindedly taking the pencil from behind his ear and chewing on the eraser. “Who said I was worried?”
*
For a movie star, Roxas wasn’t very demanding. He seemed very intent on just glaring at Axel every time the redhead offered to buy him something.
“Okay, what is your problem?” Axel asked at last, after Roxas had informed him calmly that he wished Axel would go jump off a bridge.
“I want answers.”
Axel groaned. Okay, scratch that, Roxas was every bit as demanding as one would expect. “I told you, you’re the one that ran away. You owe me answers!” Axel leaned closer so they wouldn’t have to keep shouting over the crowd. “Did you find them? Your parents.”
Roxas stared blankly at him. “No.”
“Oh.” Axel glanced down at the floor.
“But I did find my sister.”
Axel looked up excitedly. “Really? I didn’t know you had a sister. How did you know she was - oh, who cares. That’s great.”
“Yeah.” Roxas looked away. “She’s dead.”
Damn, this kid sure knew how to kill the mood. “I’m…sorry to hear that. How…?”
Roxas shifted in his seat and for a moment Axel thought he wasn’t going to tell him. Then at last,
“She worked in this flower shop. One night she didn’t come back from work. She was found dead in an alley. Bullet through the head.”
Axel winced. That wouldn’t have been a pretty sight. Perfect, Axel, way to start such a pleasant conversation. “What was her name?”
“Naminé.”
It was then that the match started, and Axel’s heart nearly stopped.
*
The challenger in today’s match was a relatively unknown fighter named Pete. Xigbar didn’t know much about him, so he was a little surprised when Luxord bet on him to win. Did he want to lose to Xigbar or what? Whatever the case, Xigbar wasn’t about to complain.
“So what made you go into the, ah, drinking business,” Xigbar inquired casually.
“If you wanted to have a heartfelt chat, a boxing match was a bad choice of location,” Luxord replied, watching uninterestedly as Lexaeus got in the first hit of the round.
“Sorry.” Xigbar shrugged. “Straight to my place next time, then?” He smirked, not caring if he would eventually cross the line and actually get punched in the face.
Luxord returned the grin. “Something wrong with mine?”
Xigbar let out a long whistle. “Never noticed what a funny guy you are, Luxord,” he remarked. In the ring, Pete had thrown a particularly nice left hook, but Lexaeus was nowhere close to being out.
“Perhaps because I am disinclined to speak to idiots,” Luxord said pleasantly.
Xigbar almost didn’t catch the jab. “Hey, I could’ve been a scientist or something clever before,” he protested, not really very offended.
“Wouldn’t stop you from being an idiot.” Luxord turned briefly back to the match, where Pete had just taken a bit of a nasty spill.
Chuckling, Xigbar followed suit, turning back to the two in the arena. “True.” He patted an empty pocket, wishing he had brought cigarettes with him. “So that’s your type, huh? Intellectuals.” It was just like talking to Axel, Xigbar realized (only this was how Axel talked to pretty much everyone). Actually, he idly wondered why Axel had never ended up punching him in the face. Maybe the redhead would have realized what a hypocrite he was then. All the same, it made Xigbar wonder - was this chemistry? Fuck.
“Rules you out, then, doesn’t it,” Luxord answered complacently. “Is it just me, or does it look like your man is trying to draw out the fight?”
“My what?” Confused, Xigbar looked down at the ring. “Ah. Hm. You know, it sorta does…”
“Do you think it’s fixed?” Luxord asked, raising both eyebrows. “I refuse to bet on a fixed game.”
“Not unless you fixed it, right?” Xigbar said with a laugh, elbowing Luxord in the arm.
He laughed again when Luxord looked at him disapprovingly. “Naw, nothing’s wrong here. Except for the fact that your man’s gonna lose,” Xigbar added, right as the power to the stadium was cut and they were enveloped in darkness.
*
“Okay, don’t panic,” Axel ordered, gripping Roxas’s shoulder tightly. “Everything’s gonna be fine.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Roxas mumbled, wrenching his arm from Axel’s grasp. “It’s just a power failure.”
They heard the screaming before they heard the gunshots.
*
The place was in total chaos. Spectators rushed for the nearest exits, hysterical voices were heard trying to calm the crowds, the sound of gunshots pierced through the air. Zexion stumbled in his attempt to get back into the locker area, letting out an uncharacteristic yelp as someone caught him before he hit the floor. Lexaeus hoisted the journalist up as if he were merely picking up a child, and Zexion let out a sigh of relief.
“You’re all right,” he breathed.
Lexaeus nodded, though Zexion couldn’t see the movement in the dark. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“Are you kidding me?” Zexion said, kicking his legs in an effort to break free. “This is going to be a brilliant story. I’m not missing it for anything.”
Lexaeus wanted to point out that there wasn’t going to be much to see in the middle of a pitch-black stadium, that the risk of him getting shot wasn’t worth it, but he said nothing. After all, hadn’t Zexion just been lamenting the lack of interesting stories to cover? He’d kill the boxer if he stopped him.
Reluctantly, Lexaeus set Zexion down; there was no arguing with him at this point. He had better write an amazing story for all the trouble this was going to be.
*
Xigbar found an emergency exit with surprisingly little difficulty. The whole place was still dark; he had shoved through the crowds hurriedly, dragging Luxord along behind him like a misbehaving child that wasn’t allowed to run off again. They found themselves in a side alley, the sky almost as dark as the building behind them, but the glow of the streetlights and nearby buildings lit up their surroundings.
“Are you okay?” Xigbar asked, his head spinning. It felt like he had smashed it into something heavy. His back was throbbing almost as badly. Someone must have run into him while he wasn’t paying attention.
“Enough for you to let go of my hand,” Luxord answered, and Xigbar dropped his arm, clutching at his own head instead. “I believe it would be more appropriate for me to be asking you that.”
“I’m just a little dizzy,” Xigbar muttered, wincing. He didn’t feel like he’d been injured, if you didn’t count the pulsing headache. He’d been shot before. If it hadn’t killed him yet, then it wasn’t serious. And anyway, that didn’t matter. He had more pressing problems. “What the hell was that?” It wasn’t exactly a question. What happened was obvious. Who had made it happen was what he had worried about.
“Did you see who they were targeting?” Xigbar glanced over at Luxord, who looked a little ruffled but no worse for the wear.
“It was relatively hard to see anything at all,” Luxord reminded him.
Xigbar swore under his breath. There were plenty of gangs out there that could have done this. It didn’t even have to be a gang; it could have been some psycho with good connections. But you’d have to be insane to pull something like this. Insane or very large and influential…
“You’re thinking exactly what I’m thinking, aren’t you?” Luxord interrupted, voice full of disdain, and Xigbar swallowed the sarcastic remark he had been about to say.
“You don’t think we did this?” he asked, the “we” in his statement obvious. Xemnas would never - there was no point to shooting up this match, nothing to gain. Unless… Oh, shit, Luxord didn’t think…
“I must admit, it’s a rather interesting way to get someone to cooperate with you,” Luxord said, confirming Xigbar’s fears. “But I guess if someone won’t give in, better dead than in the way.”
“That’s ridiculous. You think they were after you? It’d be so much easier just to lure you into a back alley and - ” He stopped, biting his tongue. Baaad thing to say now, Xigbar. He couldn’t think clearly with such a headache. “Well, you get my point.”
“I’m sure it wouldn’t have been purely because of me,” Luxord conceded, “but it would be highly convenient if I was in the same location as their main goal.”
Now Xigbar was getting angry. “Hold it. I didn’t ask you here to get you shot. Like I’d put myself at risk of getting a bullet in my head. You think I don’t do that enough?” He winced again, almost doubling over in pain. Okay, maybe it was time to rethink that whole thing about feeling all right.
“There was no other reason. We could have easily bet on the match without actually going to it.”
Xigbar clenched his fists, partly in pain, but mostly in anger. “Are you so blind as to not notice when someone’s coming on to you?” he shouted.
“Of course not,” Luxord snorted. “But I’m also not daft enough as to not know when a person is a very good actor.”
It was probably a good thing that Xigbar never got to reply, as someone he never expected to see right then had just barreled out the door into the alley.
*
Axel shoved open the door with his shoulder, his arms currently occupied with not dropping Roxas. The cool air hit him like a wave, and he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He was occupied with very few thoughts at the moment: that he needed to get help, now, and that he’d rip the bastard who did this to pieces when he found him.
Roxas hissed in pain, the blood flowing from his shoulder staining his clothes and Axel’s red. Axel resituated the boy in his arms to get a better grip, trying as best as he could not to jostle the bullet wound. He had to get to a hospital, reputation be damned. They could throw him in jail after Roxas was taken care of.
“Dammit, you don’t need to carry me, I can walk,” Roxas grumbled, pale-faced and breathing slowly.
Axel wasn’t listening. He’d noticed the two that they had burst in on.
“Xigbar,” he growled, disregarding the confused expression on the other man’s face. “I can’t believe you.”
Xigbar gaped at him. “Not you too.” He waved his arms, nearly falling over. “Why does everyone think it was us?”
The blond man - Axel registered that this must be Luxord - laughed at this comment. “I wonder why.” Despite his tone, Axel noticed that he was looking at Xigbar strangely - worried, almost? Was Xigbar hurt too?
To confirm his suspicions, Roxas shifted in his arms, pointing at Xigbar. “Is your jacket dripping?”
Everyone immediately looked down at the bottom of Xigbar’s jacket, which was indeed dripping blood. Xigbar fumbled with the coat, pulling it off and tossing it aside. A dark red blot was growing upwards from his left hip, and Xigbar touched the fabric gingerly, making a face.
“Oh, hell,” Xigbar whispered before swaying on his feet and collapsing backwards.
Previous | Next
Title: Hooch
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Characters/Pairings: Xigbar/Luxord, Organization XIII, various cameos and implied relationships
Rating: PG for now [language, minor violence]
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix and Disney.
Summary: Roaring Twenties AU. A new speakeasy has opened up in town. When two rivaling gangs vie for its business, shit goes down as it only can when everyone's packing heat and the moral of the story is “kill or be killed.”
Notes: Soooo my action scenes definitely need work. And I added a new plot point without meaning to, so this will probably mess with everything I had planned. Whoops.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three
It seemed the whole town was abuzz over the night’s upcoming match. Axel scowled at himself for using such a ridiculous word as “abuzz.” What the hell did that even mean?
Never mind that. He had managed to wave off Marluxia and Larxene’s prying questions about where he was going tonight, get a decent outfit, and actually have cash on hand if it were needed. Mostly, he was still rather amazed that he had found Roxas in the first place. And speaking of Roxas…
As Axel approached the glamorous hotel, he finally considered the one fatal flaw in his plan: what if Roxas wasn’t waiting outside for him? That would slow things down tremendously.
He shook his head. This was no time to be doubtful. Plus, he’d never hear the end of it from Xigbar if Roxas stood him up.
The front doors of the Ritz came into sight. Axel held his breath, scanning the crowds of people moving about. There was no sign of the short blond… There! Heart pounding, he hurried over to the column behind which Roxas was standing.
“Trying to avoid me already?” he greeted the boy, who jerked away from the wall he had been leaning against.
“Just trying to stay out of sight,” Roxas answered, looking a bit put out that he had been so easily surprised. “I had to sneak out.”
“You’re going to the biggest boxing match of the year,” Axel chuckled. “You’ll have a hard time hiding there.”
Roxas didn’t answer, and for a few awkward moments there was silence,
“So, uh, I’ll go get a cab now,” Axel suggested, making to head back to the street.
Roxas grabbed his arm. “Wait. What would you say to borrowing my limo for a while? After all, they already think I took it out for a joyride once.”
A great wolfish grin broke out across Axel’s face. “That, my friend, should be such a painfully obvious answer.”
Roxas just hoped he’d get it back in one piece.
*
Xigbar was debating whether it was time to finally get a car of his own. Taking your “date” out in a taxi cab wasn’t nearly as impressive as having your own car. True, he’d have to learn how to drive it, but hey, he was a fast learner.
“What’s on your mind, if I might pry?” Luxord inquired. He didn’t look as mad as he ought to be at the moment, considering that he had to pay the cab fare when Xigbar realized he had conveniently “forgotten” his wallet.
“Imagining you naked,” Xigbar replied without missing a beat.
Luxord didn’t appear thrown at all. “You seem too uninterested.”
“That’s not my fault, now is it?”
Xigbar considered how lucky he was as they made their way into the stadium and to their seats. Any normal guy would have punched him in the face (or perhaps pulled a gun) for making jokes like that - and he’d had the bruises to prove it before. Of course, Luxord didn’t seem the kind of guy to punch people in their faces a lot, but to be so utterly unfazed…
Xigbar glanced over at the other man. Naw, he couldn’t be. Could he?
“I’d venture to ask what you are thinking of again,” Luxord said, barely audible over the roar of the stadium crowd, “but from the way you are staring I believe I can already guess. You’re not one for hiding your emotions, are you.”
Yeah, either definitely gay or definitely very confident with himself. Maybe both. Xigbar grinned. This was going to get a lot more interesting.
*
Down in the locker rooms, the three time heavyweight champion was talking to a reporter. Or rather, he was listening to the reporter talk at him.
“As I was saying, Lexaeus, this is the fourth year that I’ve been covering your matches,” the journalist was saying, pacing up and down the aisle of lockers, “and as much as I hate to say it, your matches tend to be a little…dry.”
Lexaeus grunted in response.
“I know you have a formula,” the smaller man went on, sticking the pencil he was holding behind an ear, “and thus far it’s worked very well. But occasionally I get the feeling that I could reuse the same single article with the names changed and no one would notice.”
“Zexion,” Lexaeus said with a sigh, lacing up a boot, “it’s boxing. You have to remember you’re not writing about advanced science anymore.”
“I know!” Zexion snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. “I just think it could use some more…imagination.”
Lexaeus almost laughed. “You? Think something needs more ‘imagination’?”
Zexion glowered at the boxer. “Don’t push it. I got you out of the construction business, and I can put you back in it.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” Lexaeus replied, amused. “Then who will you report on? Remember, I got you off the streets, and I can put you back on them.” In their years of working together, when Zexion got mad he liked to remind Lexaeus (not very convincingly) that he only reported for him because Lexaeus was the best in the league. It was disconcerting having the statement thrown back at him.
“Someone will eventually replace you,” Zexion stated sullenly.
“And until then, I keep on.”
Subdued, Zexion checked his watch as Lexaeus checked his gear. It was getting close to the start of the match.
“All right, now keep in mind everything I dug up about this guy,” Zexion demanded, trailing after Lexaeus to the door. “Keep your guard up, he’s very good at getting his opponents to - ”
“Zexion,” Lexaeus interrupted, stopping so that the other man smashed right into his back. “Don’t worry. You want to reuse my articles, remember? I always win.” With that, he disappeared out into the stadium arena.
“Worried?” Zexion muttered, absentmindedly taking the pencil from behind his ear and chewing on the eraser. “Who said I was worried?”
*
For a movie star, Roxas wasn’t very demanding. He seemed very intent on just glaring at Axel every time the redhead offered to buy him something.
“Okay, what is your problem?” Axel asked at last, after Roxas had informed him calmly that he wished Axel would go jump off a bridge.
“I want answers.”
Axel groaned. Okay, scratch that, Roxas was every bit as demanding as one would expect. “I told you, you’re the one that ran away. You owe me answers!” Axel leaned closer so they wouldn’t have to keep shouting over the crowd. “Did you find them? Your parents.”
Roxas stared blankly at him. “No.”
“Oh.” Axel glanced down at the floor.
“But I did find my sister.”
Axel looked up excitedly. “Really? I didn’t know you had a sister. How did you know she was - oh, who cares. That’s great.”
“Yeah.” Roxas looked away. “She’s dead.”
Damn, this kid sure knew how to kill the mood. “I’m…sorry to hear that. How…?”
Roxas shifted in his seat and for a moment Axel thought he wasn’t going to tell him. Then at last,
“She worked in this flower shop. One night she didn’t come back from work. She was found dead in an alley. Bullet through the head.”
Axel winced. That wouldn’t have been a pretty sight. Perfect, Axel, way to start such a pleasant conversation. “What was her name?”
“Naminé.”
It was then that the match started, and Axel’s heart nearly stopped.
*
The challenger in today’s match was a relatively unknown fighter named Pete. Xigbar didn’t know much about him, so he was a little surprised when Luxord bet on him to win. Did he want to lose to Xigbar or what? Whatever the case, Xigbar wasn’t about to complain.
“So what made you go into the, ah, drinking business,” Xigbar inquired casually.
“If you wanted to have a heartfelt chat, a boxing match was a bad choice of location,” Luxord replied, watching uninterestedly as Lexaeus got in the first hit of the round.
“Sorry.” Xigbar shrugged. “Straight to my place next time, then?” He smirked, not caring if he would eventually cross the line and actually get punched in the face.
Luxord returned the grin. “Something wrong with mine?”
Xigbar let out a long whistle. “Never noticed what a funny guy you are, Luxord,” he remarked. In the ring, Pete had thrown a particularly nice left hook, but Lexaeus was nowhere close to being out.
“Perhaps because I am disinclined to speak to idiots,” Luxord said pleasantly.
Xigbar almost didn’t catch the jab. “Hey, I could’ve been a scientist or something clever before,” he protested, not really very offended.
“Wouldn’t stop you from being an idiot.” Luxord turned briefly back to the match, where Pete had just taken a bit of a nasty spill.
Chuckling, Xigbar followed suit, turning back to the two in the arena. “True.” He patted an empty pocket, wishing he had brought cigarettes with him. “So that’s your type, huh? Intellectuals.” It was just like talking to Axel, Xigbar realized (only this was how Axel talked to pretty much everyone). Actually, he idly wondered why Axel had never ended up punching him in the face. Maybe the redhead would have realized what a hypocrite he was then. All the same, it made Xigbar wonder - was this chemistry? Fuck.
“Rules you out, then, doesn’t it,” Luxord answered complacently. “Is it just me, or does it look like your man is trying to draw out the fight?”
“My what?” Confused, Xigbar looked down at the ring. “Ah. Hm. You know, it sorta does…”
“Do you think it’s fixed?” Luxord asked, raising both eyebrows. “I refuse to bet on a fixed game.”
“Not unless you fixed it, right?” Xigbar said with a laugh, elbowing Luxord in the arm.
He laughed again when Luxord looked at him disapprovingly. “Naw, nothing’s wrong here. Except for the fact that your man’s gonna lose,” Xigbar added, right as the power to the stadium was cut and they were enveloped in darkness.
*
“Okay, don’t panic,” Axel ordered, gripping Roxas’s shoulder tightly. “Everything’s gonna be fine.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Roxas mumbled, wrenching his arm from Axel’s grasp. “It’s just a power failure.”
They heard the screaming before they heard the gunshots.
*
The place was in total chaos. Spectators rushed for the nearest exits, hysterical voices were heard trying to calm the crowds, the sound of gunshots pierced through the air. Zexion stumbled in his attempt to get back into the locker area, letting out an uncharacteristic yelp as someone caught him before he hit the floor. Lexaeus hoisted the journalist up as if he were merely picking up a child, and Zexion let out a sigh of relief.
“You’re all right,” he breathed.
Lexaeus nodded, though Zexion couldn’t see the movement in the dark. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“Are you kidding me?” Zexion said, kicking his legs in an effort to break free. “This is going to be a brilliant story. I’m not missing it for anything.”
Lexaeus wanted to point out that there wasn’t going to be much to see in the middle of a pitch-black stadium, that the risk of him getting shot wasn’t worth it, but he said nothing. After all, hadn’t Zexion just been lamenting the lack of interesting stories to cover? He’d kill the boxer if he stopped him.
Reluctantly, Lexaeus set Zexion down; there was no arguing with him at this point. He had better write an amazing story for all the trouble this was going to be.
*
Xigbar found an emergency exit with surprisingly little difficulty. The whole place was still dark; he had shoved through the crowds hurriedly, dragging Luxord along behind him like a misbehaving child that wasn’t allowed to run off again. They found themselves in a side alley, the sky almost as dark as the building behind them, but the glow of the streetlights and nearby buildings lit up their surroundings.
“Are you okay?” Xigbar asked, his head spinning. It felt like he had smashed it into something heavy. His back was throbbing almost as badly. Someone must have run into him while he wasn’t paying attention.
“Enough for you to let go of my hand,” Luxord answered, and Xigbar dropped his arm, clutching at his own head instead. “I believe it would be more appropriate for me to be asking you that.”
“I’m just a little dizzy,” Xigbar muttered, wincing. He didn’t feel like he’d been injured, if you didn’t count the pulsing headache. He’d been shot before. If it hadn’t killed him yet, then it wasn’t serious. And anyway, that didn’t matter. He had more pressing problems. “What the hell was that?” It wasn’t exactly a question. What happened was obvious. Who had made it happen was what he had worried about.
“Did you see who they were targeting?” Xigbar glanced over at Luxord, who looked a little ruffled but no worse for the wear.
“It was relatively hard to see anything at all,” Luxord reminded him.
Xigbar swore under his breath. There were plenty of gangs out there that could have done this. It didn’t even have to be a gang; it could have been some psycho with good connections. But you’d have to be insane to pull something like this. Insane or very large and influential…
“You’re thinking exactly what I’m thinking, aren’t you?” Luxord interrupted, voice full of disdain, and Xigbar swallowed the sarcastic remark he had been about to say.
“You don’t think we did this?” he asked, the “we” in his statement obvious. Xemnas would never - there was no point to shooting up this match, nothing to gain. Unless… Oh, shit, Luxord didn’t think…
“I must admit, it’s a rather interesting way to get someone to cooperate with you,” Luxord said, confirming Xigbar’s fears. “But I guess if someone won’t give in, better dead than in the way.”
“That’s ridiculous. You think they were after you? It’d be so much easier just to lure you into a back alley and - ” He stopped, biting his tongue. Baaad thing to say now, Xigbar. He couldn’t think clearly with such a headache. “Well, you get my point.”
“I’m sure it wouldn’t have been purely because of me,” Luxord conceded, “but it would be highly convenient if I was in the same location as their main goal.”
Now Xigbar was getting angry. “Hold it. I didn’t ask you here to get you shot. Like I’d put myself at risk of getting a bullet in my head. You think I don’t do that enough?” He winced again, almost doubling over in pain. Okay, maybe it was time to rethink that whole thing about feeling all right.
“There was no other reason. We could have easily bet on the match without actually going to it.”
Xigbar clenched his fists, partly in pain, but mostly in anger. “Are you so blind as to not notice when someone’s coming on to you?” he shouted.
“Of course not,” Luxord snorted. “But I’m also not daft enough as to not know when a person is a very good actor.”
It was probably a good thing that Xigbar never got to reply, as someone he never expected to see right then had just barreled out the door into the alley.
*
Axel shoved open the door with his shoulder, his arms currently occupied with not dropping Roxas. The cool air hit him like a wave, and he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He was occupied with very few thoughts at the moment: that he needed to get help, now, and that he’d rip the bastard who did this to pieces when he found him.
Roxas hissed in pain, the blood flowing from his shoulder staining his clothes and Axel’s red. Axel resituated the boy in his arms to get a better grip, trying as best as he could not to jostle the bullet wound. He had to get to a hospital, reputation be damned. They could throw him in jail after Roxas was taken care of.
“Dammit, you don’t need to carry me, I can walk,” Roxas grumbled, pale-faced and breathing slowly.
Axel wasn’t listening. He’d noticed the two that they had burst in on.
“Xigbar,” he growled, disregarding the confused expression on the other man’s face. “I can’t believe you.”
Xigbar gaped at him. “Not you too.” He waved his arms, nearly falling over. “Why does everyone think it was us?”
The blond man - Axel registered that this must be Luxord - laughed at this comment. “I wonder why.” Despite his tone, Axel noticed that he was looking at Xigbar strangely - worried, almost? Was Xigbar hurt too?
To confirm his suspicions, Roxas shifted in his arms, pointing at Xigbar. “Is your jacket dripping?”
Everyone immediately looked down at the bottom of Xigbar’s jacket, which was indeed dripping blood. Xigbar fumbled with the coat, pulling it off and tossing it aside. A dark red blot was growing upwards from his left hip, and Xigbar touched the fabric gingerly, making a face.
“Oh, hell,” Xigbar whispered before swaying on his feet and collapsing backwards.
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