AXEL

Hungry Dogs

Len Danvers strolled into the room greeting Axel with a nod of his head. A cigarette balancing between his lips, the ashes falling to the wooden floor. His shirt creased and coffee stained, the cuffs unbuttoned, messily flapping around his wrists whenever he removed the cigarette from his mouth.

Rays of sunlight broke through the gaps of the wooden planks covering the windows, dust particles floating in the air merging with the rotting smell of timber. The shadows clung to Axel's pale face like a second skin, shielding his crooked nose and his prominent cheek bones, the only scrap of light shining in his dark eyes.

Those eyes haunted Danvers. The cold stare was unmoving that he couldn't keep eye contact with him. The first minute of every meeting Axel would silently assess the situation and dive straight into the important details. The hair on Danvers' arms stood up as he waited for some sort of  interaction.

Axel raised a brow at the dishevelled man, "Len Danvers, let's cut to the chase shall we." He stood in front of the closet door, not moving along with Danvers who paced the room.

He flicked his cigarette to the floor, crushing it under his scuffed brogue. He sniffed, wiping his nose with the back of his hand, "yes, of course," his gruff voice breaking.

"For fuck's sake Danvers, spit it out!" Axel snapped, stopping him in his steps.

He lifted his hand, pointing to Axel, "Watch it, Monroe! I'm here out of loyalty," he snarled waving his finger angrily. Axel tilted his head, searching the man noticing the absence of stacked rings, the jewellery that identified him as the top boss in the organisation.

Axel scoffed, swatting his hand away, "loyalty is for dogs Danvers, even you know that in this line of business."

Danvers pulled at the top two buttons of his shirt, ripping it open to reveal his hairy chest and gold medallion, the man had more money than taste. He scratched the greying stubble on his chin, narrowing his eyes at the blow to Axel's head and the dry blood clumped in his eyebrow.

He flashed a brief smile, "having a little trouble?" he asked, his eyes following the trail of blood down the side of Axel's face. It was only now that Danvers realised how scruffy he was, his usual tidy aura was a mess. The lapels of his overcoat were creased, his patent shoes covered in a thick layer of mud and he held his red tie in his hand, clutching onto it for dear life.

"Nothing I can't handle, now why don't you stop dancing around the subject and bloody tell me what's going on!" Axel snapped the tick in his jaw pulsing as he waited impatiently. "You're wasting my fucking time!" He threw his tie across the room, the silk fluttering to the floor at his feet.

Danvers upper lip curled, his skin felt like something was crawling underneath his flesh and he couldn't help but scratch the inside of his wrists leaving pink marks. A shiver ran through his spine, the sweat rolling down his forehead as he watched the red silk fall to the floor like blood.

"Danvers!" Axel snapped, grabbing his attention from the distraction of the colourful tie and the vision of her.

He cleared his throat and rubbed his fingers on his chest trying to calm his hammering heart. "Henridge," he croaked out. His ears buzzed at the sound of his voice, the room spinning out of sight as he closed his eyes.

Axel grunted, "What about Henridge?" he asked robotically.

"He's coming for you," he mumbled, opening his eyes to warn Axel of Henridge's threat. Axel's body trembled lightly, his lips tugging up at the corners to spread into a smile.

His body shook with laughter, not fear or rage. He stepped out of the shadows wiping the smirk off his face to return to his cold stone exterior. Danvers flinched at the abrupt change.

The devil is in the details. Axel was an enigma, something Danvers couldn't figure out. There were no tattoos that linked him to gang or organisation and no jewellery to tie him to a family. The first five years he worked with him, everyone thought he was a former MI6 agent because he could speak six different languages fluently and didn't even flinch when we heard a gun go off. His knowledge of the human body and international laws of disposing of them was so detailed, Danvers always wondered if he stuck to his values of never killing the living when he could so easily get rid of the evidence.

"Let Henridge have at me, old man," Axel scoffed picking up his tie and wrapping it around his knuckles...reminding Danvers of her red hair spilling through his fingertips.

The girl who got away, the one who constantly got under his skin like the blood under his fingernails. He couldn't quite get rid of her though and that damn colour red.

Danvers nodded, "then you understand why I must terminate our contract," he replies solemnly. His chest tightens at the words finally slipping from his tongue, years of work buried away like Axel never existed.

Axel hummed in agreement clenching his fists by his side. The silence irked Danvers, a quiet rebellion he couldn't predict.

"One day your loyalty will kill you, Danvers," Axel said spreading his fingers apart to send the silk tie spiralling out from its twist. He caught the tip before it could fall to the floor and glanced up at Danvers waiting in the doorway.

He sighed, "I met my death many years ago. When you're an old man who's committed the deadliest of sins, you know the people who will be hammering the nails in your coffin...you will not be that person," he replied pulling his shirt out of his dress pants and slipping his gun out of his holster.

He stroked the barrel of the gun, his gaze flickering up to Axel's heated glare. "Catch," he snapped throwing the weapon to him.

"You're here to warn me not threaten," Axel said pausing to check the unloaded gun. He walked closer to Danvers leaning in to add, "now hear this warning old man. I don't dig shallow graves."

Danvers straightened up and challenged Axel's burning gaze, "I thought you didn't kill the living, Monroe," he hissed like a snake.

He slid a cigarette out of a case, breaking eye contact to pop it between his lips.

Axel's right eye twitched as Danvers flicked his lighter on, "and hungry dogs are never loyal," he snarled, a vein in his neck bulging out with the phrase.

The colour drained from Danvers' face, his cigarette tumbling to the dusty ground. His lighter snapping shut brought him back to reality. His hands grabbed onto Axel's lapels and pulled him closer, "what did you say?" Danvers Blurted out, spit dripping down his chin as he furiously spat the words out.

His lips quivered with rage, nose turning up in disgust and he shook Axel in his hold. He twisted the fabric in his grip, his eyes darting to the bloody prints marring the grey overcoat. Something about Axel was out of place for Danvers.

Axel laughed tipping his head back, his whole body shaking. "You're not going deaf, are you old man?" he chuckled lightly swatting Danvers away.

He stumbled back and leant on the wall, "old man? I'm going to out live you, Monroe," he said punching Axel's chest lightly. He licked his dry lips and turned to walk out the door, his brogues slapping against the creaky floorboards. He narrowed his eyes at the two sets of footprints on the dusty wood, one pair, in particular, dragging along the surface.

"Don't choke on your pride Danvers!" Axel's voice echoed down the hallway.

Danvers looked up from the floor, furrowing his eyebrows at the phrase and he couldn't help but think he'd heard it many times before.

"What are you up to, Monroe?" He thought.

Authors note: I wrote some of the conversations in italics because these are little important sayings that will connect with other characters (Axel without realising has started to pick up and use some of Kit's mannerisms such as always having the last word haha...where normally he'd just keep it simple, to the point.) Things should be interesting now that Axel has pissed off Danvers.

Kit and Axel are back in the next chapter! 😈 You'll be seeing a bit more of Knox too :) thanks for reading...hopefully wasn't too boring tell me what you think!