Title: 10 Minutes

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts II

Characters: Naminé, Roxas

Table: #1

Prompt: #90 – Bomb

Word Count: 1359

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Roxas, Naminé, her information, and a bomb.

Author's Notes: I'm in the total spy mood right now, and I was listening to the Mission Impossible theme song while writing this. :D Yes, I made Axel the bad guy cause…Well just look at the prompt XD READ JUMP BY SOVEREIGN BETA :D for more parkour action + Roxas. ^.^ I just thought it would be easier for him to make it up thirty-one flights of stairs with parkour instead of just running up them. XD BTW, expect a sequel…

"You understand, don't you?"

"No," Roxas said, furrowing his brows and staring at the man who used to be his best friend. "Axel, I don't understand why you would do this."

For a moment, the red-head looked ashamed, casting his green gaze on the floor, but that expression was quickly banished. Instead, his look turned predatory as he motioned at the hotel. "Who's on the thirty-first floor of the hotel?"

Roxas ran through the people on that floor in his mind. The names flashed before him. Biggs & Wedge. Cloud. Tifa. None of them rang a bell until he got to the end of the list. Naminé. "You wouldn't," he growled, already radioing for backup just in case. "Axel, why?" Roxas' voice was pained now, and he struggled to keep from breaking down from the betrayal.

"The real question is why did you leave Naminé up there," Axel stated, sighing slightly and crossing his arms.

Roxas shook his head. He just needed to distract Axel long enough for backup to get there and find a way to warn Naminé too. "She knows that my job is dangerous. Her job is too! She's as much of a trooper as I am."

"Don't delude yourself," Axel snorted, nodding his head toward the hotel. "She's in intel. She gathers information, but she doesn't know about it. Do you want to know what she stumbled on during the ongoing investigation of Organization Thirteen?"

"Nothing of importance," Roxas retorted. "She would've told me."

"You do know that couples having no secrets is a lie, don't you?" Axel asked, stuffing a hand into his right pocket. "Let's do this, Roxas. I don't know why you left the Organization or why, but I do know that we want you back. You know that you can't be a cop. You've done too much on the dark side already."

"Naminé believed me," Roxas muttered. "She believed I could be a cop."

There was a sharp laugh from Axel. "Oh geez. This is too good. Naminé was our prisoner for half of her childhood. You can't possible believe she has the best judgment. During that time, she learned things which is why it was such a shock when she slipped away and you next. We've been searching for her ever since she escaped, but she made some powerful friends. It was a pleasant surprise when we finally tracked her down and learned you two were engaged."

Roxas slowly looked at his watch. Why wasn't any backup there?

"Wondering why there's not backup?" Axel asked, leaning against his car and flippantly jangling his keys. "Some of our friends are holding them up. They'll hold them up until the signal."

"And what's the signal?" Roxas spat, fearing the answer he would receive.

Axel's grin widened, reminding Roxas of a predator stalking its prey which was just in reach. "Well, I'm glad you asked, Roxy. The signal is an explosion…" Axel stopped jangling his keys and smirked. "The button to my car alarm is linked to the bomb. I made the bomb myself…it has a little…extra flair. Now, it would be fun to just make it explode now, but I'm such a nice guy. I'm going to give you a chance. You have ten minutes, starting now."

Roxas didn't even stay to question Axel. He bolted forward, tearing through the doors and startling most of the hotel staff. Barely pausing a beat, he flipped his ID at them and pressed the button for the elevator. After thirty seconds of waiting, Roxas grew impatient and decided to take the stairs inside. He was fit. He wouldn't tire out, but the stairs would still obviously take longer than the elevator.

"This is taking too long!" Roxas roared on the tenth floor, one minute having already elapsed. Throwing all caution to the wind, Roxas stepped onto the banister and vaulted upward, testing his rusty parkour skills. He had dropped practicing parkour after leaving the organization which was when he was still a teenager not a twenty-three year old!

"Not too bad, Roxas," he hissed as the metal banister of the stair banged into his chest. Ignoring the pain, he waited a few seconds until he caught his breath and jumped up again. At the cost of a few bruises, Roxas made it up to the thirty-first floor in record time and burst down the hallway.

Throwing open the door to her room, he screamed, "Naminé!" His heart was stuck in his throat as he saw her tied to a chair with a sign looped over her neck. Her eyes were wide, and there were tear tracks down her cheek.

"Roxas, don't come any closer!" Naminé yelled as Roxas took a step forward. "I need to tell you something."

"Tell me later!" Roxas exclaimed, reading the note from where he was standing. Say goodbye to Naminé. P.S. Xion says hi…

"There's not going to be a later, Roxas!" Naminé cried, struggling slightly against her bonds. "Listen, Roxas. I don't care about Xion. I swear it. I just need to tell you."

"Don't talk!" Roxas said, rushing forward and kneeling behind the chair Naminé was tied to. Her wrists were red from the coarse rope tying them together, and he felt a surge of anger at the Organization. "Don't speak, Naminé!"

"Roxas," Naminé said, her voice low now. "Roxas, Axel…"

"Yes. I know he betrayed me."

"No, that's not it!" Naminé said, shaking her head. "Axel was the one who saved me from DiZ along with Riku. Axel's not a bad guy, Roxas. You have to realize that!"

"All I know is that he's tied you up with a bomb, Naminé!" Roxas hissed, freeing her wrists of the rope. "Does it hurt?"

"What?" Naminé asked, rubbing her wrists absentmindedly and taking the sign off of her. "No! Of course not. Axel's on our side, Roxas. You have to believe me. He's making a distraction so that I can tell you without anyone listening in."

Roxas ignored what Naminé was saying and started dragging her to the door, surprised when she dug in her heels.

"No! Roxas, listen to me!" Naminé exclaimed, gripping Roxas' wrist tightly. "Roxas, listen to me. The bomb is here, but it's in the unused basement far away from any of us. This was the only way, Roxas. Listen to me. The Organization is planning something. They've been planning it since we were teenagers, but I recently found something else while I was in intelligence." She leaned in closer and whispered something in Roxas' ear, taking slight relish in how his eyes widened and how he looked at her as if she were crazy.

Roxas opened his mouth to say something, but his phone ring. Without thinking, Roxas picked it up.

"Time's up, Roxy," a voice hissed, and everything seemed to blur together as a resounding boom sounded in his ear while Naminé screamed.

It was obvious Roxas was in a hospital from the first glance he took around, but it was also obvious that he was alone. Mouth feeling like cotton, he pressed the red button to call for a nurse who looked surprised but quickly got him some water.

"Your cousin is waiting for you out in the hallway."

"Sora?" Roxas croaked when his cousin walked in.

"The one and only," Sora said, grinning and rubbing his head bashfully. "Geez, Roxas. You look like…"

Roxas could think of a million words to fill in the blank but refrained. There were more important questions to be asked first. "Sora, where's Naminé?"

"Well, you see," Sora said, frowning slightly, "Kairi was supposed to come in and explain it to you, but she's a little…busy, so I decided to come in instead."

"Where's Naminé?" Roxas insisted. His entire body and head ached, but he was sure that the remedy would be to know that Naminé was alright.

"Roxas, you were alone when you were found…"

"What do you mean…?" Roxas asked, slowly. His brain was so fuzzy. He could barely comprehend what Sora was saying.

"I mean," Sora said, gazing down at the ground. "I mean that Naminé's body wasn't found."

Roxas' world shattered.