Disclaimer: I, Sadistic-but-sweet, do not own Kingdom Hearts or any related materials. I simply use them for my own fangirlish devices. Also, I have next to no clue how heavy artillery works. Had to ask my Dad and make it up from there. Roll with me here, people. XD

Also, thanks C-man for assisting with this. I've made some slight edits thanks to his advice since I first put this up ... two days ago. Heh. Damn you continuity errors!

"You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once." - Robert A. Heinlein, American Sci-Fi writer

"Do you see him?"

"Yeah, I see him."

Two pairs of blue eyes gazed down across the street at the patch of red hair that was quickly making its way down the street. One of the men clicked his tongue, turning away from the view of the street. The other remained leaning on the edge of the roof, drumming his fingers impatiently. It took him long enough to show up, he thought irritably.

From behind him there was a metallic click.

The man at the edge of the building peered over his shoulder. He was silent for a long second, raising an eyebrow in half-assed curiosity. His hand shot up to catch the earmuffs thrown at him. Another long pause sounded."You sure you know how to handle that thing?" he asked his associate slowly as he draped the black muffs over his head, pushing them back so he could hear for the moment.

The blond shrugged, approaching the ledge again and kneeling down. For a moment he looked down at the piece of heavy artillery in his hands, running hand over the muzzle. He peered inside of the barrel before popping open the back chamber and checking that it was properly loaded before snapping it back together. Finally he clicked off the safety.

He turned to the man beside him, shrugging. "Can't be hard."

The brunette man grunted in disbelief and turned away again, eyes locking on the red-haired male once again. Reaching up, he tugged the earmuffs snugly over his ears, offering this one last bit of wisdom:

"Just don't miss."

At times Riku had to wonder how he had gone from top of his class at the finest university anywhere to shelving books at the local library. How the brilliant have fallen! He once had a wonderful job, great pay, a social life. Just twenty-four years of age and he was already one of the Government's top scientists. How, then, had he been reduced to ISBNs and alphabetizing?

Lazily shoving a K book between M and N, Riku thought back to the previous night. He thought of everything from Axel's flippant attitude, his questions, to the dreams the red-head had often while being unaware of Riku's own reoccuring nightmares. They didn't happen as often as they had a year and a half ago, but they were none the less haunting -test tubes and numbers, facts and figures, flesh and sometimes electronics beneath his fingers.

Riku rubbed his face. Right, that was why he was here at Hollow Bastion Memorial Library. Because he was foolish enough to get caught up in something he couldn't get out of, he'd lost everything. He knew the benefits were too good to be true.

"Hey, Riku! I'm taking my break! Think you can handle things while I run up street to the cafe?" Riku jerked a little, glancing through silver tresses at the perky young librarian. He hadn't even heard her approach.

"I've got it covered, Yuffie," Riku commented, picking up another book and frowning as he looked over the titles on the shelves. He wound up having to pull four books off the shelves and quickly rearrange them, wondering why in the world he was filing Westerns in the Sci-fi section and when he had gone stupid and forgotten the alphabet. Damn, talk about losing it. Riku thought to himself, deciding he would promptly kill Axel if he cost him another night of sleep. Focusing had been an issue for him lately. How many nights had he woken up to Axel's panicked yelps from the other room, or listening to the other drench his head in the sink trying to wash away the images of his nightmares?

Yuffie lingered for a second, rocking on her heels. "Sure you don't want anything?" Yuffie offered, tucking black hair behind her ear and grinning. She offered the same thing every day, and every day -

"No. I'll be fine until my shift is over," Riku mumbled, shoving the Western novel back onto the book cart he pulled along with him. Briefly he had to wonder why the heck they even still had book carts with wheels. You would think that with the advances technology over the years to the point that even hover-boards were possible that someone, somewhere, would suggest they replace rolling bookcarts with hovering ones. It would certainly be less of a pain to pull.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Come on, you'll starve to death!" she tried to reason, but knew it was a lost cause as Riku shrugged. "Fine, suit yourself, just means more for me."

Riku raised an eyebrow a little. "Weren't you complaining about how broke you were a day or two ago?"

There was a tiny twinkle in Yuffie's eyes as she tucked her hands behind her head, whistling a little tune. "I 'lucked upon' a fortunate bit of money yesterday, so I'm good," she replied mysteriously. Riku shook his head, knowing that what she had really "lucked upon" was a rich man with a fat wallet within easy reach on the streets. Riku had to admit he was impressed at how skillfully she managed to pickpocket without being caught by the cameras, or maybe the police just didn't care that much about petty crimes.

She laughed a bit at Riku's face. "He wasn't using it!" she retorted to his unspoken censure, at which Riku threw up his hands.

"I said nothing," he replied, waving her off. Yuffie laughed again at his flippant attitude and waved goodbye before bolting out the door with a small skip in her step, leaving Riku alone with the books. The door creaked as she shut it behind her.

Riku let out a long, exasperated sigh. Thankful for the silence, he dragged the book cart behind him as he slowly strolled along. It wasn't that he disliked Yuffie or company in general, per se, but he enjoyed being alone sometimes. It gave him time to think, be it dismal thoughts of the past or the slightly hopeful thoughts for the future. At the moment he found himself running last night over in his head as he halted in the Westerns section. He hadn't been able to get asleep after Axel woke him up, pictures flashing in front of his eyes. Twenty months ago, wasn't it? He didn't really know. Even knowing it was unhealthy he subconsciously blocked it from his mind, and everything related to it. The date, the faces, the voices -

"R-riku, he knows! I-I helped him and I -"

Sometimes Riku got really sick of the memories he kept locked up. The whole reason he had left that damned Organization was to get away from those things. Apparently normalcy was in short enough supply in the universe that it had none left for Riku.

" Oh gods, get him out! R-riku, get him out! HE'S IN MY HEAD! PLEASE, MAKE HIM STOP!"

His head hit a shelve of books roughly, nails digging into palms. Even if it was unhealthy to ignore a problem, at least he had good reason to.

Slamming his head against the shelf once more for good measure, Riku pulled away and straightened himself up, roughly flipping through the books to see if there were any he needed to replace on these shelves. He ignored the pain searing up his arm from his palm, the little pin pricks of pain where his nails had left deep imprints on his skin, the voice ringing in the back of his head. The past was in the past, right? No use dwelling on ghosts and skelletons. They could rot in his closet for all he cared.

He shoved the earlier misplaced Western into its proper spot.

A tiny creek sounded from behind him.

Riku turned, peering over his shoulder. For a long moment he just listened. "Yuffie? You back already?" he called. There was no response; just some noise filtered in from the streets. Sighing, he abandoned the cart, strolling through the lines of shelves until he could see the door to the library. It was cracked open just barely, letting in a small breeze from outside. Riku frowned slightly, looking around and seeing no sign of the black-haired girl he worked with, nor any of the other library assistants that worked irregular times.

Didn't Yuffie shut that door? Riku thought to himself, strolling over. He strode over and pushed the door closed with a resounding click from the latch and a creak from old hinges. It echoed in the library a second before the silence returned. Slowly Riku turned all the way around, seeing no mysterious shadows on the walls or floors. Rubbing his face, he strolled back to his book cart, peering down rows and around corners. He was about to declare himself officially paranoid until -

"Hello, Riku."

Riku halted when he turned a corner and saw his cart, and the male casually leaning on it, a book in hand. His face was hidden by slate-colored hair until he shifted and looked up, a calm neutral expression on his face. He was small, only coming up to Riku's shoulder, and thin. His clothes hung loosely on his frame, the black cloak almost touching the floor. A small shiver went down Riku's back; it didn't go unnoticed. "Judging by your reaction, you remember me," the other male commented on the tiny detail as he snapped the book he had been lazily reading shut, tilting his head a little to peer at Riku.

Riku drew himself up. "Number Six, Zexion," he spoke calmly, prattling off statistics and facts in an attempt to not appear afraid and prove how much he remembered. "Excellent tracker due to a severe case of hyperosmia. Sense of smell on par with that of wolves. Selective genetics left you with ageusia. You also have a high pain tolerance. There's a tattoo of the roman numeral VI on your right hip, for identification."

As if instinctive, Zexion reached down and ghosted gloved fingertips along the aforementioned spot hiding under his cloak. He let out a little noise in the back of his throat. "You memorized our files. I'm impressed," he commented, turning and replacing the book on the shelf. He was meticulous enough to run his fingers over the books, carefully making sure he was replacing the book properly.

"How did you find us?" Riku asked curtly, leaning against one of the shelves. His ears were perked for any sign of footsteps, hypersensitive to his surroundings. If one of the Organization was here, then a second one could just as easily be hiding.

"Irrelevant. You expect me to tell you?" he scoffed, turning to face Riku and crossing his arms.

Riku and Zexion shared a long stare down, before Riku quirked an eyebrow. One could hear the gear clacking in his head, clicking pieces into their proper places. "The faulty security cameras everyone has been up in arms about. Those were the Organization's doing, wasn't it?"

Zexion's hand came up to cup his chin, a thoughtful expression crossing over his face. "Still sharp I see. Far too sharp for your own good," Zexion mumbled, dropping his hand. "You've caused us a lot of trouble. Tracking you has been difficult, considering how you locked our access systems before you left. That was quite a feat, I must say. Larxene completely destroyed our databases in her attempts to reverse the damage."

"It wasn't that hard. You shouldn't've left your mainframes wide open like that," Riku commented, risking a glance over his shoulder. Plans were formulating in his head. The Organization had hacked Hollow Bastian's security system. No matter where Axel and Riku ran too they would find them. Damn it. This meant they would have to leave, again, and start running. An escape plan was starting to form; there were two ways in, and both were roughly the same distance. Riku could risk turning his back and break for the front door, or bolt past Zexion to the back door and risk the alley way.

Riku bit his lip.

"You seem nervous. Is something wrong?" Zexion asked, not even bothering to hide the mockery in his voice. "Surely you aren't concerned about me, are you?"

Riku opened his mouth to snap a retort when a sound caught his attention. From across the room a rough buzzing sound filtered through the air; Riku's cell was vibrating against the counter where the books were checked out, having been left there while he worked. A tiny frown appeared on Riku's face, but he didn't move.

There was only one person who had his cell number.

BBBBBBbbbbbzzzt. BBBBBBBbbbbzzzt.

"Well? Are you going to pick it up?" Zexion asked, raising an eyebrow. Riku turned his attention back to the slate-haired man. "It must be urgent for someone to call you during work. Maybe someone's...in trouble?" It was phrased almost like a threat.

Riku growled.

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBbbbbzzzt.

"What did you do to him?" Riku demanded. If they had caught Axel -

"Nothing...yet," Zexion snapped harshly back, taking a step toward Riku. The buzzing stopped and, shrugging, Zexion relaxed slightly. In an undertone, he added, "If you can't convince him to come with us, we may have to try more 'drastic' actions."

"Drastic like what?"

The buzzing started up again.

Zexion arched an eyebrow. "Now, you're an intelligent individual, Riku. I am confident in your ability to imagine our repertoire of methods for dragging you back."

The buzzing was abruptly stopped; there was an odd click, the sound of his cell being flipped open. Riku risked a glance over his shoulder, scowling at the tall auburn-haired man holding a cell - his cell - in a large hand. Mentally Riku was cursing at himself for not noticing him earlier. The newcomer held out the cell, a familiar voice filtering out from the speaker.

"Hey, Riku?" Axel's voice was a dull mumble, rushed. He was obviously speaking quietly to avoid being over heard. "I'm coming to get you. We're in trouble. the Organization's -"

Riku didn't listen to the rest of his words. His blood chilled; Axel was coming here? Damn it. Turning fully, Riku looked over the tall man clutching his cell phone. "Stay away!" Riku spoke loudly so the device would pick up on his voice. "Don't come here!"

"Wha- Riku? What -" Axel began, his voice faltering over the cell. Obviously that was not the reaction he expected.

"Lexaeus, hang up," Zexion spoke from behind Riku, raising his voice for the second part, "and restrain him. We've waited long enough."

Zexions words were bait, and Riku knew Axel would take the hook.

"Damn it," Riku swore. Everything happened so fast. Before Riku knew what had happened Lexaeus snapped the cell shut, cutting off Axel's shout of protest, and had tossed it away carelessly. Riku knew he was trapped on both sides, but he also knew who was the fighter. Lexaeus grabbed for Riku, but the smaller male saw it coming. He stepped out of the grasp before turning, shoving Zexion roughly into one of the bookcases as he bolted past. As he fled he heard books clattering to the floor, Zexion snapping a soft order Riku didn't even try to hear. Somewhere amongst the shelves he heard his cell ringing.

He raced for the back door, not daring to try to retrieve it. Getting out of there and into the open was first priority; finding Axel was second.

"Damn it!"

Axel was almost mad enough to crush his cell in sheer anger. As it was he simply shoved it back in his pocket, picking up his pace. If they got to Riku, Axel wouldn't forgive himself. It wasn't supposed to be like this. How the hell had the Organization found them? Axel had watched Riku dismantle and codify the Organization's mainframes, leaving them without access to any of their information. Had they been able to rectify Riku's mess? How long had they been watching them? Had the last four months of freedom been false security?

"Damn it," Axel repeated under his breath, unable to do anything but swear. He was nearly running now, weaving in and out of pedestrians and late returners from lunch. Rounding a corner, he felt a sudden onslaught of dread upon seeing the Hollow Bastian Memorial Library.

No one had stopped him. There were no black coats, no mysterious tattoos. Axel hesitated for just a moment, slowing to a light jog as his eyes scanned the block. There were a handful of people roaming the street, but no one sent a look Axel's way. The street was more urban than where Axel worked, being on the outskirts of town near the river. His eyes peered over the windows as he started toward the library, looking for any faces in the windows. A year on the run made one naturally suspicious of everything.

He was thankful for his cautious observance, otherwise he might have never seen the two men far above him, peering at him from across the street.

It probably wouldn't have changed anything if he hadn't noticed them, looking back on it. The moment he had walked into view he was a target. Sure, Axel could have turned and ran, tried the back alleys instead to get to the rear entrance of the library.

Axel eyed the glint of metal pointed at him, hitched over one of the figure's shoulders, and decided he had a better chance of defending himself against firearms than more of the Organization.

That's why he wasn't worried when, within a split second, he felt more than heard the explosion.

It was a split second reflex, his hand thrown up as he felt heated steel collide with heated skin, ripping through into the sinew as the outer shell cracked apart. The force from the explosion ripped through him, chucking Axel roughly into the brick wall just a few feet behind him. His skull slammed into the wall first, followed by the rest of his body. He was pinned to the wall for just a split second before he slipped to the pavement, dazed. Finding himself unable to focus on anything, his eyes slipping in and out of focus, Axel just shut them. Every last muscle in his body felt like it was on fire, a harsh buzz echoing in his ears. He bit his lip, digging his nails into his palm until he felt sharp point jab the tips in one. Slowly he tilted his head to the side, reluctantly peering down at the shards of metal embedded in his palm. Blood boiled to the surface, rolling over his skin before falling onto the pavement, sizzling and leaving red stains as it evaporated.

"Well, isn't that just fantastic," he groaned, unwilling to move to remove the remains of the missile from his palm. His hand was stained red, the blood hitting the ground with a hiss. More droplets evanescing into the air. Somewhere in the distance Axel was vaguely aware of footsteps, someone's labored breathing, then -

"Damn, Axel!"

Axel cringed, recognizing Riku's exasperated voice anywhere. "Don't yell," he muttered, groaning. "God damn, that thing was the size of a fucking golf ball. How the hell does it hurt that much?" Slowly Axel forced himself to look up at Riku, wincing as the sun hit his eyes. Something warm slipped down one side of his face, down his neck.

For a split second Riku hesitated and flinched at Axel's injuries; however, he just as quickly threw on his "I'm the one with a PhD" face. Kneeling down, he softly ordered, "Quit talking."

"Tell me I don't have a concussion," Axel grumbled in defiance, completely ignoring the order and attempting to raise a hand to wipe the blood out of his eyes only to gasp and drop it again, gritting his teeth. "God damn, did someone get the license plate on that double-plated tank?"

"Axel! For five minutes, shut up and let me see," Riku snapped testily. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder, feeling only minutely safer out in the sun than he did inside. It would only be time before the Organization was swarming them like lions on roadkill. Ignoring his own gruesome metaphor, he turned back and reached down, grasping Axel's hand.

A brief second passed before he yelped and pulled back, stumbling back and grasping his hand. Slowly he turned his hand over, peering at the inside. From where he lain Axel could see parts of his palm were white and blistered, the rest a bright red where it had touched Axel's skin.

"Damn," Riku hissed. That really hurt. He could feel his palm throbbing, cringing as he lightly flexed his hand and caused one of the blisters to pop.

Axel forced a tiny grin. "Careful. I'm hot."

"Yeah, I noticed," he grumbled, shaking off the pain before dropping his voice to a low whisper. "Look, we're not safe here, Axel. They have eyes on us. We need to get out of here, now, and get you under control."

Axel shut his eyes again. They finally thought they were safe, and now look what happened? He was really getting sick of this cat and mouse game. Slowly he opened his eyes, drawing in a deep breath and glancing pathetically at Riku.

"Does this mean I have to move?"

Through gritted teeth, Riku hissed, "Yes."

Far above, on the rooftop across the street from the library, two pairs of eyes watched as the red head - Axel - pulled himself from his crumpled state as Riku, avoiding contact with his skin, hooked an arm under Axel's and half dragged him out of the sun.

The blond swore. The older man next to him sighed, pulling the small launcher out of his partner's hands. He turned away from the rubble and smoke, shoving the weapon back into its case. The blond rubbed his face with his hand, sighing and pulling off his earmuffs.

The two men met eyes.

"At least you didn't miss," was all the gunslinger said before pushing down his earmuffs to hang around his neck, picking up the case, and stalking off. That hadn't been in the plan.

Just means they'd have to work a little harder.

A/N: Ranting of an authoress is as follows:
Holy - Man, was this hard to write! Once it got to the end and Riku and Axel were in the picture together all was right with the world, though. I really have no clue why I really, really enjoy giving Riku and Axel this reluctant friendship thing. I'd never ship them, but this bickering and dependence on each other is so wonderful it makes my heart swell with joy writing them.
Also, if you have no clue who the two men were, you need to play more Final Fantasy. Or Kingdom Hearts. Or possibly both. I'm looking forward to the later chapters with these two, honestly - they aren't that important (yet) but I am working out some plot twists involving those two. Especially how I "Sci-fied" them.
Also, some definitions - "hyperosmia" is an increased sense of smell. "Ageusia" is the inability to taste. I didn't read much about them, just enough to get the gist of what I needed to know. I'm not a doctor here, nor a bio major. I'm making most of this up as I go, people.

Also, fun fact: Riku misplacing a western in the sci-fi section was an allusion to the fact this entire story was originally spawned from a one-shot western I wrote for my English class. (Yeah, I wrote a Western fanfiction for English. Had to change the names, but I did it.) I am not making this up. I originally began planning this as a Western, and I have the page I began plotting it on too. In one tiny corner there's the words "What if this were a sci-fi instead?" Thus I rewrote all of the parts I already had made, changed a few details, and began the long process to writing this baby. In the end, this is next to nothing like I started with, except for three - Riku and Axel are still semi-friendly, Axel escaped from the Organization, and -
Well, I'll keep the last detail secret. You all will get to see it soon. It was the whole reason I used KH as a basis for my Western in the first place! I had to carry it over to this!

Anyway, moving on. Zexion and Lexaeus have shown up. We're delving a bit deeper into Riku and Axel's past. And what the hell is up with Axel? The questions are going to keep coming, and don't hope for answers too soon. I will adore reviews and comments though. This fanfiction means a lot to me, so I want to know what others think of it. I'm still making up some details as I go, so who knows? One of ya'll might inspire me.

- Celia