Going Left

Noodle was feeling wobbly inside.

He blamed the feeling on the fact that he was mulling over some sensitive information.

It started out with Luxord saying stuff about the birds and the bees, and that was really confusing because Noodle didn't even know what a metaphor was, let alone recognize one. So, Axel kept urging Luxord to, "just put the kid out of his misery," which alarmed Noodle quite a bit since Luxord had just finished explaining metaphors, euphemisms, and similes. Once it was established that Luxord wasn't actually going to put Noodle out of his misery, then the real misery began.

It took the entire car ride back to the station, but Noodle gained a general understanding of why he felt so different around Zexion. He also gained a general understanding of what could be happening to Zexion for every second he was just waiting around, every second he was being too much of a coward to do something. He began to feel antsy, because he couldn't stand the thought of Zexion being… "touched" by anyone but himself. Noodle felt himself blush to his ears at the thought.

He really did like thinking of it, though. Zexion would be uncharacteristically excited and leap into Noodle's waiting arms. Their hug would be warm and soft and right, their lips would touch and blend, and that's where the fantasy used to end. Now Noodle knew how to interpret his urge to be…closer. Zexion's collar would be slipping down his slender shoulder, and he would look up to Noodle with round eyes and moist lips just eager for more. Noodle would feel deft hands making short work of the fly of his pants and he would encourage the removal of his pants. Then those rosebud lips, red and shiny from kissing, would lower themselves upon his full length and Noodle would feel-

Noodle shifted himself to hide his erection. He had learned about that, too.

It really wasn't the time to be thinking such thoughts, Noodle had to remind himself. He felt himself softening as he began plunge his mind back into the real life situation and in this situation, Noodle resolved to be a brave man of action, and not one who couldn't control his erections…

Noodle pinched his face into a determined frown. How could he even be aroused? After all, Zexion was at risk of being r…well, Noodle didn't like saying the word. But he assured himself that his inability to say it didn't reflect at all on his ability to be a brave man of action.

"…And finally, you, Noodle. You can just sit there and wait, okay?" Luxord had been saying something, but Noodle's preoccupied brain forgot to listen in.

"Wait? For what? Where?"

"While you were squirming in your seat, I've been going over our plan."

"Plan of…action?" Noodle supplied.

"Yes, you get to wait here." Luxord confirmed, "Get some sleep, it's almost morning."

"Larxy will have a fun time with you, won't she?" Axel beamed at the fuming woman, not really waiting for a reply as she left the room to return to the front desk.

"B-but, Zexion! He needs help! He needs me to-"

"-just let the professionals handle it, kid." Axel pointed towards an old couch in the corner of Luxord's office.

Noodle plopped himself down and anxiously began pulling at the fringe of the torn fabric.

"We're going to have all the bases covered, in an hour the rest of the squad is showing up and we'll be hitting all the high activity areas."

"You won't even let me tag along…?" Noodle gave a long face.

Luxord piped up, "No, that entails a lot of paperwork. This has turned into an official matter, so you really do have to stay here."

Axel flung a musty blanket at Noodle. "Now, get some shut eye, kid." Luxord retreated with Axel and hit the lights before Noodle could get in another argument.

He just sat for a while, just thinking in the dark, staring at the little slivers of light that came through the crack of the door. He strained his ears to listen to the men behind the door. It was just muffled mentions of who was going to be assigned to patrol where, and Noodle didn't know any of the people or places. It made him feel strangely lost.

Noodle pulled the funny smelling blanket up over himself as he attempted to get comfortable on the couch. Zexion's blankets didn't smell funny. He looked at the clock through the dimness, noting it was still early morning. He should have felt tired, but he wasn't. All he felt was a strong sense of urgency that pervaded into his dreams when he somehow finally drifted to sleep.

Zexion didn't know how long he had been in the room, as he was very focused on his current task. The room only contained a bedside table with a drawer and a single person bed. He was led to the room by Saix, and he was told to get some rest. Zexion estimated it had to be around four when they put him there, so he only had a few hours until they would be coming back for him in the morning.

He was crouched over the bed with the drawer in his hands, trying to quietly splinter away some wood from the square bedpost. The first thing he had done when he was left in the room was check the lock on the door. It was of course locked, but that didn't mean some rudimentary tools couldn't fix that.

His arms were sore, but he eventually had a few nice pieces of wood to work with.

As he began to pick at the lock, he was reminded of doing the same thing for Noodle's handcuffs. It shouldn't have made him sad, because it reminded Zexion that he could get through the lock, but his eyes still welled up. He stopped fiddling with the makeshift picks to pull himself together.

After a deep breath and rubbing the tears out of his eyes, Zexion composed himself. Calm and cool, he blocked out all other thoughts other than getting out. His focus didn't waver until the lock clicked and he cracked the door open slightly.

He hadn't really thought of what to do when he finally got the door open.

Zexion had seen the building from the outside. It was huge.

From the ride over Zexion could tell the man was horribly rich. They had driven quite a ways out of town and up to a secluded mansion. All he really knew is that they took him into the basement.

Outside the door, Zexion could see nicely polished wood floors. He didn't really care about the floors, but that just meant that no one was watching the door.

Inside the room, he slipped off his shoes to be sure his footsteps would be quiet. He had no idea what time it was, so he didn't know if anyone was awake.

Deftly, he exited the room and hurried to check the length of the corridor. He did not like sneaking around. If prior experience meant anything, then he would have to say he was bad at it. The whole issue with being caught by Xigbar was not a high point for Zexion. Once finding the hallway to be clear, Zexion turned to cover his tracks. He noiselessly closed the door to his room. He would not be making a mistake like that again. Now, he could roam the mansion and anyone outside the room with think he was obediently sleeping inside.

Now he began a look out for an escape. He was hoping to find a stairway out, or one of those small basement windows. He figured he was small enough to slip out of one of those. However, the hallway just contained a lot of doors, which made him nervous. He didn't really want to open a door; he couldn't predict what was behind it.

Pacing the length of the hallway, Zexion had to ponder which door to choose. He stuck his ear up to each one, finding that there wasn't a sound coming from any of the doors. Of course there would be no sound, people were supposed to be sleeping. This frustrated Zexion. It seemed logical that one of the doors at the very end of the hallway may be the stairs, so he just had to pick, left or right.

Left or right. This made Zexion start to sweat. He went with right. He based this solely on the fact that he once read that the Greek word for "left" also meant "sinister."

He went to the right door, and pressed his ear to it once more for good measure. Five minutes later, he still didn't hear a sound. Ever so slowly, he turned the door knob, instantly regretting his choice of doors. He pushed it in slightly and peeked into the room. He could only tell it was dark. He poked his head inside and got a better picture, it was another room, but it seemed to be a sitting room of some sorts. It didn't contain stairs or a window, but he spotted the soft blue glow of a phone.

It hadn't been ideal, but it was better than being caught. He closed the door and decided not the turn on the lights. He took the phone and halted. Who would he call? Clearly he should directly call Luxord, but he couldn't really remember his cell phone number. He had to think back, he closed his eyes and tried to picture to numbers he had entered into his cellphone's contact list. The first was Axel's mobile and his office. He didn't pay much attention to those. Then he entered Luxord's numbers, he could picture it well, the first three numbers of each where the same as his own phone number, so it was easy to remember. Each set of the last four numbers were difficult, though. He couldn't remember which set corresponded with Luxord's mobile. He could have gone between the two sets of numbers for hours, but he just decided to try one.

He entered each number, jumping at the loud electronic beep the phone made. The ringing seemed even louder. His nerves where on high alert and he waited in the darkness. He became hyper aware of his surroundings. He focused at the light pooling at the base of the door from the hallway. He was just waiting for two dark feet to appear. He could almost hear the doorknob turning…
"Hello?"

Zexion recoiled from the phone so hard he almost dropped it. He took in a shaky breath and answered, "Hello…" Then he realized something about the voice. "Is this…Noodle?"

Noodle jerked awake. He instantly felt guilty for falling asleep. Groggily he realized a phone was ringing. And it was loud.

He lifted his head to see a red light blinking on Luxord's desk. He blinked. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to answer it. He bounded off the couch, tripping over the itchy blanket that fell around his ankles, and opened the office door. Larxene wasn't at the front desk like she was supposed to be. And it looked like the guys were long gone. So it just left him to answer the phone.

He had never answered a phone before, so he just imitated Zexion. He picked it up, put it to his ear, and managed a timid, "Hello?"

"Is this…Noodle?"

Noodle almost jumped out of his skin. "Zexion?" He yelled too loudly into the phone, "Zexion, you left! Where are you?"

"How do you have Luxord's phone?" The tiny voice asked, "I need to speak with him, Noodle, because I don't really know where I am."

"I answered because he left me in his office, he told me to sleep while he went out looking of you. They wouldn't let me come, Zexion! I wanted to help, really, but-"

"Noodle!" Zexion harshly whispered, "I can't really talk now! You can help me by telling Luxord something for me. I don't know where he is looking, but I'm betting it's in the wrong place. I'm going to describe my location to you, so pay attention."

"Yes!" Noodle fumbled about for a pen and paper and poised himself ready to write.

"I'm out of town in a mansion. I saw it coming out of the car. It's surrounded by trees and up on a bit of a hill. I'm going to have to estimate it's a half an hour out of town. Got it?"

"Yes, and good news, I remember how to write! I don't think I really forgot, but it's just the first time I've done it," Noodle rambled, "And, wow, my handwriting it horrible, but at least it's written down, right? Oh, I've missed you so much Zexion."

The only reason Zexion had let him ramble was because he truly had missed Noodle as well. "It's very important that you tell him, okay? I have to go now, because I have to try to get out of here. I'm in a basement so…I just need to get out."

"They haven't…hurt you? Have they?" Noodle chewed on his bottom lip.

"Uhm…" Zexion didn't really want to explain to Noodle what his brother did. He paused long enough to come up with an evasive response, "I'm going to be fine."

Noodle had caught on that something wasn't right. His stomach dropped. His mind was floundering to find something to say when Zexion interjected.

"Ah-I think I hear someone. I'm hanging up." His voice was a small whisper.

"I love you," Noodle blurted.

"T-thank you." The line became dead.

Noodle stared at the phone for a moment. He then rushed to look up Luxord's phone number.

He was sure that he heard footsteps. Tip toeing his way to the door, he kneeled down until his flushed cheek met the cold floor. Ignoring the sudden bright light invading his eyes, he scanned for movement. He didn't have to wait long because a door suddenly closed. He kept his eye trained on the hallway, looking for those feet. He knew he was cornered, but there was always the chance that the person wasn't even looking for him. If he could just see what was going on, then he could perhaps make a run for it. He could hear steps, they were loud, but no matter how hard he pressed his face into the door…

Zexion reeled backwards as he finally caught sight of a pair of shoes. They were large and right in front of the door. There was nothing Zexion could do but sit up from his sprawled position on the floor as the door opened.
It was Saix who looked down at Zexion with passive eyes. He didn't look angry that Zexion had misplaced himself; in fact, it looked like he had even perhaps expected it.

Zexion didn't dare make a sound. He waited as the man looked him over and finally said, "Where are your shoes?"

Zexion gaped and eventually answered, "I took them off."

"You will come with me," the tall man said.

Taking as much time as possible, Zexion stood up under the eerily watchful eyes of Saix. He brushed himself off of invisible dust then looked up to Saix.

The man turned and walked briskly to the opposite end of the hall. He opened the door and began up a staircase. Zexion followed, cursing the fact that he would have had freedom if he had just chosen left instead of right…

They continued upwards through the house until they reached the third floor. Zexion's legs were already unsteady from the shock of being discovered so he relied heavily on clutching the elegant banisters lining the staircases.

Soon, Saix had decided on a final destination. Zexion was brought to a large door and presented a tray of food that smelled delightful. Saix prompted him only with the words, "You will serve him his breakfast," and opened the door.