Ah… Shit, this hurts…

Orihara Izaya, the infamous informant, found himself sitting on the cold ground in a small alley. He was handcuffed to a lamppost, and his feet were bound together with a thin rope, cutting in his skin. He had different kinds of wounds all over him. There were long, irregular cuts on both his arms, the result of a knife slowly cutting open his skin, leaving his sleeves soaked in blood. His face was nearly covered in the ugly blue-purple of fresh bruises. There was another cut on his left cheek, this one slight and straight, a fast cut.

How much more…

The back of his shirt was soaked in blood, originating from several shallow stab wounds along his spinal cord. He had several broken ribs and nearly black bruises in the same places. The back of his head was still bleeding, and thick red blood trickling down his neck.

Where… Did I make a mistake…?

The physical injuries were painful, but not life threatening if treated in time, so Izaya could deal with that. Regularly getting hit by various flying object has toughened him up quite well. He had Shizuo to thank for that. Not that he would.

The thing that troubled Izaya most at this was the fact he was soaking wet. The ice water that was continuously splashed in his face made him feel numb, and jeopardized his train of thought. It was in the middle of winter, and although it wasn't that cold, it still was no time to go out for a swim, and Izaya could feel himself freezing up, finding it rather hard to think straight.

Can't… stay here…

Izaya knew he had to get moving. Aozaki and his subordinates had left him alone on Akabayashi's advice… But they would definitely be back, and soon too. Their intention was to give him time to think, not to let him get away. Izaya was well aware of that.

He pulled himself up against the lamppost, pulling his bound feet underneath him. With a quick flick of his right wrist I managed to take his flick blade out. Squatting down against the lamppost he carefully cut the rope binding his ankles together.

Couldn't he have done so earlier, and have used the knife to defend himself?

Of course he could. But the result would have been nothing more than an extra wave of torture, the loss of the one thing he could use to possibly free himself, and possibly making an enemy of the Awakusu-kai for the rest of his life. He didn't exactly fancy any of those options, so he had opted to do nothing.

It took nearly a full minute to cut the ropes, as Izaya had to take care not to injure himself further. When they finally loosened Izaya pulled himself up again, kicking away the rope.

He tried to keep himself steady, but the blood-loss was getting to him. The kick was too sudden and caused Izaya to slip and fall back to the ground.

Al this was happening in the light of day, but even so, nobody seemed to notice to struggling informant. The crowded streets were barely 30 feet away, but nobody spared a look in de darkened alleys. Dangerous. They were best avoided completely.

Too tight…

Izaya sat on the ground, trying to spare his strength as he tried to get out of the handcuffs still binding him to the lamppost. He tried to pull out his hand, not caring much about breaking it, if that meant he could have his freedom. But it was impossible, they were simply too tight. Feeling defeated and running out of ideas, Izaya huffed, as his strength was quite literally flowing out of him.

What a lame way to go out~…

He leaned back against the lamppost, letting his head fall back, eyes closed in defeat. Then, a small smile twitched the corners of his mouth upward.

I can't believe this~ How can it be my luck today is going to turn even worse~?

Not even two seconds later a man in a bartender suit appeared on the busier street about 30 feet away. Izaya had heard him… He had been chased so often he by now recognized his footsteps out of thousands, which was useful when he needed to run, but right now it didn't make the least of a difference. He wasn't looking forward to being beat up more, so he kept quiet, not even opening his eyes.

Of course Shizuo noticed him. It's almost like a sixth sense, the way he'd always find Izaya, no matter what. Naturally Shizuo approached Izaya. Except something was different…

He didn't seem angry at all. And he wasn't shouting Izyaaa-kuuuun~ like he usually does.

Izaya found this rather odd and looked up, to find Shizuo standing rather close, looking… Somewhat irritated, but more like a normal person than usual.

"Shizu-chan~…"

Izaya struggled to stand up against the lamppost, not able to stand the feeling of sitting helplessly on the ground while one of the most dangerous people in this city loomed over him. His expression was grave as he glared at Shizuo, knowing very well he wouldn't be able to do a thing.

"Don't call me that."

Even so, Shizuo still didn't look angry. He just couldn't be mad at somebody so defenseless, even if it was Izaya. He signed loudly.

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

Izaya just looked at Shizuo, confused. He was dizzy from the blood loss and leaned heavily on the lamppost as he tried to arrange his scrambled thoughts properly. He was really about to pass out at this point… Could he take more?

Shizuo signed loudly as he walked up closer, lifting his hand.

Izaya automatically stiffened, preparing for the impact.

But all Shizuo did was flick his finger at Izaya's forehead. Which still hurt quite badly, with Shizuo's insane strength, but not nearly as much as what Izaya was expecting.

He was at loss for words. Shizu-chan was always an unpredictable person to him, but now he was even treating him like a friend… That's just too much. Izaya ended up just staring in confusion.

"Definitely an idiot."

Shizuo grabbed the handcuffs holding Izaya, and pulled them apart. It looked almost effortless, the way he did it. It wasn't quite so, but it still looked that way to a normal person.

Suddenly loosing the chains that held him up Izaya lost his balance and fell forward. Shizuo managed to grab the hood of Izaya's jacket, preventing his head from hitting the floor, but the sudden shock was enough to knock him out at this point.

Shizuo picked him up and wondered what to for a moment. He had already decided he couldn't just leave him here to die… Even if it was Izaya. He could take him to Shinra's place, but that's quite far. He didn't know if it would be okay to move that much, so he decided to take Izaya to his own place instead. Carrying him in princess style was seriously too much, so Shizuo carefully placed him over his shoulder, and walked back to the main street. Tom was waiting for him, and he looked quite shocked when he saw Shizuo.

"What? Don't tell me you really…?"

Shizuo shook his head. "No, I found him like this… I'll have to take care of this, so can you handle today's business on your own?"

Tom frowned at this rather strange scene, but let it go. "It won't be pretty… But I'll manage."

Shizuo frowned too. "I'm sorry; I'll definitely make it up to you and the boss."

Tom nodded and waved him away, continuing on. He couldn't fathom why Shizuo was carrying the man he was always trying to kill, but he knew he wouldn't be able to talk Shizuo out of it once he had decided something.

That's how Shizuo ended up carrying an unconscious Izaya to his own apartment, owning him an awful lot of stares on the way. That was pissing Shizuo off quite effectively, but the weight on his shoulder reminded him to stay calm and go straight home.

While walking along with large steps he phoned Shinra.

"Moshi, mosh~ Shinra here!"

"Hey. I got a little problem on my hands."

"Shizuo? It's unusual for you to call me like this… did you get hurt again? You don't sound hurt at all though!"

"Stop blabbering so much. I found a passed out flea."

"Huh…. Wait, what…?"

"…."

"You're serious? Ugh… Of course you are… What happened?" Shinra suddenly switched to a much more business like tone.

"I don't know. He was handcuffed, and he looks like he's been beat up quite badly."

Shinra nodded, although there was no way Shizuo could see on the other side of the phone-line. "I see, so what then?"

Shizuo shrugged. "I couldn't exactly leave him there, so I'm taking him home."

This confused Shinra. "Why don't you take him here?"

"Too far. It's really bad."

"I see, I'm on my way."

For Shizuo to say it was that bad… Shinra wondered if Izaya would still be alive when he would arrive. He called Celty and quickly explained was going on, and she immediately made a helmet for him and they took off for Shizuo's apartment a few seconds later.

Meanwhile Shizuo had almost reached it, as he climbed the stairs to his place.

Izaya was slowly gaining consciousness. The first thing he noticed was that he was upside down. The next was that his hands were free. And finally there was the steady movement of Shizuo's steps.

I'm being taken somewhere.

This realization made his entire body try to shy away from the one carrying, which was impossible in the first place, and it hurt like hell too.

"Stay still, Flea."

Shizu-chan?

Izaya's auburn eyes snapped open. At first he could only see one big blur. It took a few seconds for his eyes to focus, giving him a moment to think. And it allowed Shizuo to reach the door.

I was freed… By Shizuo. And now I'm being carried by Shizuo… Why, Where?

Questions kept popping up one after another, but Izaya wasn't quite clear enough yet to come up with any answers. But he could see now. And he saw the ground being rather far away, with nothing but a half broken-down staircase separating him from it. That, along with sharp stabs of pain at every move he made, gave him a remarkably good reason not to struggle, as Shizuo opened the door to his apartment and walked in. Even in his already confused state it still surprised him how careful Shizuo was not to hurt him further.

Shizuo stepped into his living room, and paused for a moment. He'd love to just dump Izaya on the floor and wait for Shinra to arrive, but he didn't feel like listening to Shinra's endless complains about it. The cough? It would be a pain to get the blood of…

Thus he carried Izaya to his bedroom. At least sheets and blankets can be changed. Izaya was still hanging around obediently. Shizuo found this rather strange and wondered if he was still consciousness, but wouldn't mind much if it wasn't so. Shizuo walked over to his bed and let Izaya slide of his arm, onto the bed. Izaya let out a soft yelp as he was dropped in a new position. When Shizuo looked at Izaya he found two clear auburn eyes intently staring at him, clearly and openly trying to figure him out. For Shizuo this was a rather strange experience. Izaya had said before that he could never guess what Shizuo was thinking, but to see it so clearly on his face was new. It made Shizuo feel superior, and made it easy for him to control his anger upon seeing Izaya's face. The fact it was covered in ugly blue and purple bruises helped too.

Still... Shizuo felt uncomfortable, standing in the same room with the person always after him lying quite helplessly on his bed. It made him want to avert his eyes. But he couldn't, somehow those Auburn eyes were still strong, convincing him he wasn't completely safe, even now.

"Shinra is on his way here."

Shizuo decided to break the silence. Izaya finally averted his eyes. He just could not comprehend it at all. Shizuo helping him. It was like the world was turning the wrong way around to Izaya. But aside from the confusion there was still his pride, suffering a mayor blow as his archenemy was helping him.

Izaya wanted to stand up and leave, or better even, poke fun at Shizu-chan and run.

But at this point he should be happy if he were even able to turn away. Well, he could, but the pain wasn't worth it. After a while he couldn't take the unanswered questions in his head anymore.

"Why… Why did you bring me here?"

Shizuo looked surprised as Izaya's eyes once again fixed on him. He wasn't expecting such a straight forward question. He turned away to think about it. Why did he?

"Because you looked like you were dying."

There was nothing to it. He just couldn't stand letting a person die right in front of his eyes.

Izaya looked away again. He actually tried to smile, but found in was somewhat painful and quit the attempt.

What a stupid reason… But really Shizu-chan… I never realized you were that kind.

"Thank you." He muttered softly, actually hoping Shizuo wouldn't hear it. He didn't want to thank him in the first place. It just felt wrong not to, and his head had enough to deal with at this time.

Shizuo couldn't believe what he just heard. He wasn't sure about it either… Izaya thanking him, really? But before he could think much about it the doorbell rang. He quickly stood up and walked to the door, glad for the opportunity to get away from Izaya for a moment.

He opened it and found Shinra standing there with a small medical case, and Celty walking up the stairs with a huge suitcase.

"Come in."

Shinra walked through the door, Celty following closely behind. "Where is he?"

"The bed." Shizuo answered as he gestured toward his bedroom door.

Shinra looked a little surprised, but in a good way. He was clearly happy with Shizuo's decision not to leave Izaya on the floor. "Good.. good…"

"I'll just stay here…"

Shinra nodded, guessing Izaya's presence in his house was more than enough to deal with for Shizuo.

He then proceeded to the bedroom, Celty in tow.

Izaya was deliberately looking the other way. He felt weak and helpless, and it made him very nervous to be that way.

Shinra whistled though his teeth as he saw Izaya. "You look terrible."

"Shut up." Izaya turned his head to look at Shinra and at Celty, who was unpacking the large suitcase, fishing up several kinds of medical equipment from it. Shinra had taken just about everything he could. And seeing Izaya's state, he thought he might need even more.

He shook his head as he started what might prove the most difficult; undressing Izaya. "Honestly what did you do this time, I just can't believe you!" He rattled something about how he couldn't possibly have befriended anyone so prone to getting into trouble, some stuff about what they were like in high school and a lot of 'you shouldn't be so reckless'. Izaya was hardly listening and only paid attention when he had to do something.

"..sit up.. and then.." Izaya bit away the pain the best he could as he let Shinra push him in a sitting position. Shinra took Izaya's jacket off carefully, as not to open any of the cuts. Removing his t-shirt proved impossible almost immediately, and is was so torn and drenched in blood there was no sense in trying to keep it in tact anyway, so Shinra cut it off with a pair of scissors.

He stepped back and took a look het the full extent of Izaya's Injuries. It was a strange sight. Shinra guessed that most people would have been dead, or at least unconsciousness.

Izaya was getting strangely drowsy. Strange, because a moment ago, when he was with Shizuo, he felt fine, aside from the pain. But sitting up caused his currently low blood pressure to show much more. Izaya clearly swayed, almost falling over, needing Celty to keep him upright as Shinra examined him. Shinra then gestured to Celty she could let him down.

"He needs a transfusion before anything else." That didn't surprise anyone. Celty set up the bag as Shinra quickly disinfected Izaya's arm.

Izaya just stared at the ceiling. He hated this. He hated this more than anything in the world. He hated being weak, being left in somebody else's care and control. It just didn't suit him. But dying didn't suit him either, so he quietly put up with it.

The blood on Izaya's wounds had mostly dried, keeping him from losing any more. They absolutely couldn't afford that, so Shinra focused on one cut on Izaya's arm that was still open, examining it carefully, noticing its odd shape. The raffled edges and deep running were a clear indication of how it was done, causing Shinra to frown at it. But it was obvious Izaya wasn't going to say anything, so Shinra continued babbling about unrelated topics as he disinfected the cut and stitched it up before bandaging it. He then moved on to the shallow injuries. The deep injuries and broken ribs would have to wait until Izaya's blood pressure was high enough. As it stood he couldn't even apply an anesthetic without severe risks attached. Shinra signed. "Turn over."

Izaya groaned in pain as he turned over, now lying face down. Shinra almost felt sick having to do this on somebody without any anesthetic, but he didn't complain as he cleaned and stitched the small stab wounds on his back. Izaya would occasionally let out a pained groan, but it was clear he was trying hard not to show his pain. Shinra had had plenty of patients who would have screamed feeling the intense sting of the disinfectant coming in direct contact with their wide open wounds.

"I'll have to check if your spinal cord wasn't damaged later…"

Izaya nodded in the pillow his head was on.

"That goes for your ribs as well. I'm pretty sure I'll have to re-locate some."

Izaya buried his face in the pillow. Operations mostly meant too long a recovery time as far as he was concerned. He wouldn't be able to watch his work unfold like that…

How boring…

Shizuo appeared in the doorway just when Shinra started to bandage Izaya's torso. He stared at the bright red lines and stitches covering his enemy's back and the arm that wasn't bandaged yet. Izaya buried his face even deeper in the pillow. Shizuo seeing him like this… That was the last thing he wanted.

Shizuo seemed somewhat confused. Seeing Izaya like this was very strange. It reminded him that his human-loving archenemy was still very much human himself. Especially compared to Shizuo himself. The scene made him wonder how Izaya had always been able to stand up to him all this time.

And finally another realization hit him.

No way. The flea wouldn't have to stay here, right?

He had enough sense not to ask in Izaya's presence, but it bothered him to no end.

He couldn't stop watching from the Shinra work. As much as he hated the flea it still bothered him to see him bruised and cut up to a point where he was utterly helpless. And he looked so pale and fragile. It looked plain wrong.

It was different from when he found Izaya. At that time he was still trying to get away, in a way it had seemed more natural then the scene playing out before his eyes now.

He had seen Izaya being treated by Shinra before. Quite often, in fact. But that was all back in high school. And he himself had always been the cause of those wounds. Moreover, he would usually be the next one getting treated.

Celty noticed Shizuo's staring and approached him, her PDA seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

[Are you ok?]

Shizuo nodded. "Of course."

[You seem a bit out of it… Are you worried?]

Then she frantically kept typing, thinking about Erika's opinion on Shizuo and Izaya.

[Not that I think you're.. uh.. you know! Or anything.. really!]

Shizuo looked confused, not understanding what that second line was about. "Not worried. It's just… weird."

Celtys shoulders relaxed just a little. If she had a head she might have looked relieved.

Shizuo finally tore his eyes away and went back to his living room, turning on the tv, and immediately turning it off again as he saw the alley where he had found Izaya being brought on to the screen. Instead he turned on the radio, and went to the kitchen to serve himself a glass of milk.

Meanwhile Shinra had finished bandaging Izaya's torso and took a look at his head.

"How'd you get this?" He asked softy poking at the broad but shallow wound that was still bleeding a little.

Izaya flinched at the touch but still answered, his voice sounding muffled in the pillow.

"I was smashed into a wall."

Shinra nodded slowly. "So your memory isn't hazy at all? How unusual… I at least expected you to have a concussion. Either way, I'll have to shave you; I can't clean it like this."

Izaya seemed to stiffen for a moment, but he told himself to deal with it.

"Fine…"

He heard a muffled laughed from another room. Was Shizuo imagining him bald?

Urgh… I don't even want to think about it.

Shinra smiled apologetically. "Sorry, there's just no other way." He searched the suitcase for a shaver, glad he took one with him, although he hadn't expected to actually use it.

"I'll try to make it look decent, so stay still." Shinra said as he turned it on and carefully started shaving over the large wound. At first he was staying well of it, giving Izaya a chance to feel drowsy again, as the pain wasn't strong enough to keep him awake when Shinra wasn't tempering with his wounds. But then Izaya let out a loud yelp, only just holding back a pained scream as Shinra had to shave over the still half-open wound.

Izaya dug his fingers into the bed sheet, trying very hard not to start screaming. He absolutely would not. There was no way he'd let anyone see that. Especially not Shizuo, who had once again appeared in the doorway.

Came to see me being tortured huh? Tsk, he didn't need to take me all the way here for that…

Izaya's thoughts sunk into the dark as the pain became too much to take. He finally passed out again, mostly due to the pain this time.

This made the work a lot easier for Shinra, as his patient was now completely relaxed.

He sped the whole procedure up a bit. He cleaned the last visible cuts and other wounds, stitching and bandaging them. When he was done there wasn't much free skin left on Izaya. But even where it could be seen it had such a deathly pallor you could hardly differ it from the bandages.

Shinra took a good look at his work. "I think I got everything, aside from the inner injuries."

He was nodding to himself, pleased with his work, when Shizuo interrupted him.

"He has some weird scars on his ankles too."

Shinra looked up in surprise. For one he hadn't known Shizuo was there, but what surprised him most was that Shizuo would actually help Izaya. Of course he should have figured, considering the blond dept collector already brought Izaya all the way here. But Shinra had still thought that with Izaya's life no longer in danger, they would go back to their usual hating. They probably would… Still, not this soon.

"I'll take a look." … "These… Jikes. He could stand while these were still fresh?"

Shizuo shrugged. Hey didn't look that bad to him. Just a bunch of fiery red winding lines, but the skin wasn't broken anywhere.

Shinra however knew better, being a doctor and all. These thin ropes would cut off your blood stream, and possibly cause much heavier nerve damage then regular cuts and bruises.

But Shinra wouldn't be able to do anything about those, so he was stuck just treating the skin with an anti-pain ointment and bandaging it.

"Well that's that… The rest will have to wait until he's a little stronger. I'll be back tomorrow to refresh the bandages."

"Sure." Shizuo answered before processing all information, causing Shinra to glance at him curiously. As Shizuo got the problem a vein popped on his face. And he started talking rather loudly, almost yelling. "What? You're saying he has to stay here?"

Shinra shuddered, backing away from Shizuo. "I can't help it! He won't be going anywhere with that IV hanging on to him… Even if he does manage to walk, can you count the amount of people who would jump at the opportunity?"

Opportunity, which opportunity? Oh... I see. Of course, there ought to be a thousand people out there ready to kill that flea off.

Somewhat satisfied with the idea that Izaya wouldn't be able to troll and bother him too much for the time being Shizuo calmed down.

"You're right. He'd be dead in a second."

Shinra signed in relief. He hadn't been thrown out the window… Thank god.

"Well then, I'll see you tomorrow I guess." Shinra was packing his stuff, leaving some pain medication.

"I'll be at work till 5."

Shinra nodded, preventing himself from accidently pissing of Shizuo again.

As they left Celty showed her PDA to Shizuo.

[You will be fine right?]

Shizuo shrugged and nodded. He didn't like the situation one bit, but he'd surely manage somehow.

With that Shinra and Celty left, leaving Izaya and Shizuo on their own.