Back with another chapter...this is what happens when your trapped on a bus for four and a half hours. Enjoy!

Beep…beep…beep.

The rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound to greet Dazai's ears as he walked into the darkened infirmary, careful to silently close the door behind him.

At the center of the room was the young man they had brought in earlier that morning. They were lucky this hospital was so damn close. The Agency had developed a sort of mutual understanding with the most of the medical staff there. Many of the Agency members would come here to get treatment if they were only mildly injured or didn't want to suffer through Yosano's "treatment." Dazai shuttered at the thought of the boy having to be exposed to that kind of treatment, especially after being shot.

A flash of lightning lit up the room for the briefest of moments, allowing Dazai to catch the barely perceivable rise and fall of the boy's chest. Dazai relaxed when he could confirm with his own eyes that the kid was in fact still alive. They had been lucky to get him out of that forest when they did. The rain would have made their escaped a lot more difficult, even with The boy looked awful, incredibly pale and fragile looking, but he was alive.

Dazai smiled softly when his eyes caught sight of Atsushi, who was curled up in a ball on the chair next to the bed.

He even sleeps like a cat.

"Atsushi-kun." he whispered. Dazai gently pet the boy's silver hair as he slept. The poor thing looked exhausted, having spent half early morning hours chasing the men in black in the forest. Dazai didn't ask when his partner came back from his misadventures soaking wet. Cuts and bruises marked his body and he couldn't tell exactly who's blood was on the young man's clothes. Atsushi just glared at him when he walked through the door and spent the rest of the night keeping a quiet vigil at the injured boy's bedside.

Dazai sighed. They would have to have a talk about his reckless behavior later.

"Atsushi-kun, wake up. Come on, you have to open your eyes now."

"Dazai-san?" Atsushi blinked, his eyes trying to adjust to the dark. "How long was I asleep?"

"Only a couple of hours. How is he?"

"He's still out of it. They said that the bullet missed his spine by an inch. He's really lucky they're such a bad shot. The doctors were able to repair most of the damage during surgery. He's lost a lot of blood but the doctor who came in earlier seems to think that he might be okay. They'll know a little better once he regains consciousness." He sighed and curled his knees up in the chair to meet his chin. "Dazai, if he had been out there any longer, he…he wouldn't have made it."

Atsushi grew quiet, letting the sound of the heart monitor fill the uncomfortable silence in the room. Tears began to cascade down Atsushi's cheeks. Dazai continued to pet the young man's hair, trying to offer some form of comfort to him.

"Who would do something like this, Dazai?" The crack of his young partner's voice was enough to break Dazai's heart in two. Atsushi wore his heart on his sleeve and he knew the situation with this kid was tearing him apart.

"I don't know."

"We have to find out. We have to…" he growled angrily.

"Easy, Atsushi." Dazai warned. "I know you're eager to bust skulls. You want revenge on whoever did this but Atsushi, you need to calm yourself."

"I don't need you patronizing me, Dazai." Atsushi was getting annoyed at Dazai persistence. He moved away from him, turning his attention back to the wounded child on the bed.

"Show me your arm."

"What?"

"Your arm, Atsushi." Dazai repeated, a little more sternly. The boy reluctantly held out his arm, wincing in pain as Dazai grabbed his bruised wrist.

"You let your emotions get the best of you. And judging by that reaction…your left wrist is broken." Atsushi shamefully hid his eyes and pulled his arm away from Dazai. He really didn't need a lecture right now.

"These cuts and bruises should have been healed by now. But they're not. Your ability to control your power seems to be tied to your emotions and yours are still a wreck. Get it together."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Atsushi! You need to pull yourself together and learn to get a grip on your emotions or it will eventually cost you your life."

Atsushi's head snapped around and his eyes glared at Dazai with frightening intensity. Dazai knew he was being harsh with Atsushi but he needed his young partner to be able to act rationally if they were ever going to figure out what happen to this kid.

"Dazai…they shot a child! In the back! They can't just get a pass on this!"

"I'm not saying they should. But…"

"Dazai, they said that he should just go die in a ditch somewhere!"

Dazai was taken aback. Atsushi had grown into his voice over the past year, learning to speak for himself and others. But he was still soft spoken and rarely shouted at anyone, especially not Dazai. Atsushi turned his back on the older man, moving over to stare out the dark room's only window. Tears flowed freely once again, this time matching the intensity of the rain that had started to come down outside.

"Atsushi-kun." he sighed. Dazai knew a little about his young friend's past in the the orphanage. The sisters and headmaster would often call him worthless, that he should make everyone's life easier and just die in a ditch somewhere.

No wonder Atsushi is so protective of this kid.

Dazai let him be. After a year of working with him, Dazai knew when to offer comfort, when to lecture, and when to just let the young weretiger deal with things on his own. Lecturing him any further today wasn't going to do him any good.

Dazai turned his attention away from Atsushi to the young man lying unconscious in the hospital bed. He noticed the jade dragon hanging from chain around the boys neck. Dazai reached into his pocket and pulled out similar necklace. This one resembled the boy's chain but it was slightly more delicate and dangling from this one was a jade butterfly. The boy had it clenched in his fist when Dazai had found him. He knew it must be important so when the doctors gave it to him before the surgery, Dazai held on to it for safe keeping. Maybe it would help them figure out exactly who this kid is.

Atsushi looked over from the window when he heard Dazai sigh. He watch the older man as he studied the broken necklace in his hand. Atsushi noticed the concerned look on his partner's face.

"Dazai? What's wrong?"

"I can't shake it."

"Shake what?"

"Something the kid said to me right before he passed out."

"What?"

"He said…Help us."

"Us?" Atsushi shook his head. "Dazai, you don't think we left someone out there, do you?"

"I don't know." He put the necklace back in his pocket. "There's nothing we can do tonight anyways. Why don't you go home? You can still catch a few hours sleep until the rest of the agency shows up in the morning. You can even stay in the office again if you'd like."

"You knew about that?"

"Everybody knew about that."

"I'd rather stay."

"Do I have to make it an order?"

"But I…"

"Atsushi-kun." The soft sternness in Dazai's voice stopped him. "I promise you'll be the first one I call when he wakes up. Then we'll find the bastards that did this."