It seemed like hours had passed since Dazai tried in vain to get Atsushi to go home. Instead, his young partner had settled for resuming his cat-like state and fell asleep in his chair. That was fine with Dazai, he preferred not to get into another sleep deprived argument with him this morning. Tanizaki didn't need to be asked twice. He told Dazai he would check in with the rest of the Agency and come back later.

10am. That was when the quiet room suddenly became a cacophony of noise and chaos. The heart monitors screamed as the child in the bed woke in a raging panic. The kid attempted to rise from the bed only to fall back down in a series of coughing fits. The noise was enough to send a startled Atsushi over backwards in his chair. Dazai raced to the boy's side and started rubbing circles on the his back to try to ease his strangled gasps.

"Easy, breathe! There you go! Atsushi, get the nurse." Atsushi raced out of the room while Dazai focused on the boy. The kid shoved his hands away as Dazai got frustrated.

"Ok, fine. I won't touch you. Just listen to the sound of my voice then. In…one…two…three. Out…one…two…three." The boy's breaths slowly evened out. The monitors settled down, the screaming slowly returning to a rhythmic beat once more.

"I…" the boy rasped.

"Here." Dazai handed the boy a glass of water. He gulped it down in two seconds. "Now just relax. I sent my associate out to get a nurse so we have a few minutes alone. Can you speak?"

The boy only nods, refusing to make eye contact with Dazai. He could see the tremors still wracking the poor kid's frail body. This was the first time Dazai had a chance to really look at the boy. He appearance made him seem even younger now than he did when Dazai had found him in the forest. His overgrown black hair covered his eyes and his dried lips trembled with every intake of breath. He noticed several healed over scars on the boy's arms and a large cut on his right cheek.

What the hell happened to this kid?

"What's your name?"

"Na…Naoki. Naoki Okura." The boy's voice was shaky, unstable.

"Naoki. My name's Dazai." The gentleness of Dazai's voice must have broken through somehow because the boy finally turned his way and looked at him. Dazai still couldn't get over the intensity of his gaze. Despite the state of his body, his eyes still held their vibrancy.

"How old are you, Naoki-kun?"

"Twelve." Dazai heart began to pound in rage. Twelve. Naoki was only twelve years old and those heartless bastards had deliberately shot him in the back. Atsushi was right. Whoever did this deserves whatever the Agency had coming to them. He knew he was no saint. Dazai had relentlessly tormented Akutagawa and Chuuya too, to a certain extent. He could be outright cruel. But to deliberately kill an innocent child was not a line he would cross.

"Where am I?" the boy asked, sitting up a little on his pillows. The voice was enough to snap Dazai out of his murderous thoughts, for the time being anyways. Naoki was alive and they had to focus on that at the moment.

"A private wing of a hospital friendly to our Agency."

"A hospital? How did I get here?" Dazai watched the boy look over his surroundings. While his voice seemed to have settled, the fear and panic in the boy's eyes were still very much present. Dazai was at a loss. How the hell was he supposed to explain to a child that someone wanted him dead? He knew what he would do if it was Atsushi but he wasn't exactly skilled at the art of comforting someone so young.

His mind suddenly flashed back to a moment he had almost forgotten. It was right around the time when Odasaku first took those five young orphans into his care. Now that he thought about it, Naoki wasn't that much older than those children.

Dazai opened the door quietly, not wanting to disturb the children. The moon shone brightly through the window, lighting Dazai's path up the stairs. He was shocked when he heard a soft humming coming from one of the bedrooms.

Through the crack in the doorway, he saw his friend on the bed with one of the orphan boys. The child had a death grip on Oda's arm and tears streamed down his face, soaking Oda's sleeve. Soft hiccups reached Dazai's ears as the boy continued to sob by his friend's side.

Oda locked eyes with Dazai, placing a finger on his lips with his free hand. He understood and settled himself in the hallway behind the door. Shutting his eyes, he listened while Oda continued to comfort the child.

"Do you think you might be able to sleep now, Shinji?"

"I…I…think so, O…da…sa…ku?" the boy gasped between sobs. Oda gently took the boy's glasses off and laid him back down in his bed, continuing to hum his sweet song until the boy finally closed his eyes.

A few minutes later, Dazai heard footsteps as Oda came to sat down beside him in the darken corridor. With a sigh, Oda collapsed his back against the wall.

"Didn't know you could sing, Odasaku?" Dazai teased gently.

"I don't make a habit of it." Oda said, lighting a cigarette. "But I'll do it, every once in a while. If only for their sake."

"Shinji again?" Oda sighed, tilting his head back against the wall as he blew smoke.

"The old man told me that he hasn't slept for three days. The monsters plague his dreams at night."

"They plague all our dreams."

"But some of us had a choice, Dazai. He's far too young to have to be struggling with his own mortality. Kids should just be able to be kids." Dazai nodded, understanding all too well. Oda lit another cigarette and the pair of them sat together in the solemn silence of that darkened hallway, the purpose of Dazai's visit having long been forgotten.

"Hello…Dazai? Earth to Dazai-san?"

Dazai blinked his eye to see Tanizaki staring at him. The memory of his time with Oda had him so dazed, he didn't even notice Tanizaki walk through the door.

A moment later, Atsushi came walking in with the nurse. The shy woman quickly stepped in to check the boy's vitals and up his pain medication. She flashed the group a sympathetic smile before leaving.

"Hey man, where'd you go? I've been trying to get your attention for the past few minutes."

"Sorry Tanizaki, my mind was elsewhere. I completely spaced out on Naoki though."

"It's ok. He just fell back asleep." Atsushi said, joining the group by the window after leading the the nurse out. The agents were finally alone to contemplate the silent question that was on everyone's mind.

"What's the plan, now that the kid's awake?" Dazai sighed. Tanizaki had a point. Naoki was alive and now they had to figure out how to keep him that way.

"We have to assume that whoever's after him is going to come back."

"So what do we do, Dazai?"

"We need more information from Naoki about who these people are and where they were holding him." Dazai made a point to look at Atsushi next. "Going off in a blind rage isn't going to help us here." Atsushi turned away from Dazai, refusing to acknowledge him.

"You were saying before that there may be more people in trouble?" Tanizaki asked, temporarily defusing the tension filling the room.

"Before Naoki passed out in the forest…he said…Help us."

"Help us?"

"Yes, so I'm assuming there are more people, maybe even more children out there somewhere."

"Is it the Mafia?" Atsushi inquired.

"I'm going to figure that out." Dazai said, knowingly. He had asked himself the same question. Mori wouldn't do the dirty work himself but he would consider ordering others to do it. But trafficking in human beings carried too much unnecessary risk.

"The Mafia doesn't stand to benefit from actions like this, which leads me to think we're dealing with another group. One that likes to traffic in human beings."

A soft cry startled the group away from their conversation. Naoki had tried to sit up once more only to fall back down in a spasm of pain.

"Hey, easy there kid. Don't try to move." Tanizaki said, moving to the kid's side.

"Everything hurts. Why does it hurt?" The three agency members cast a glance at each other, not sure how to answer the kid.

"Naoki-kun, do you remember talking to me?"

"Yeah. Dazai-san. You…you helped me."

"That's right. Do you think you can remember anything about what happened?" Dazai asked.

"I just remember running through the woods. I think I heard a tiger's roar and then everything went black. I must have been going crazy cause what would a tiger be doing in the woods out here." Naoki's last statement got a chuckle out of Dazai as he smiled at Atsushi.

"Do you remember anything else?"

"I remember…I remember pain. Just a lot of pain. And then…"

"Easy Naoki-kun. Take your time. Then what?" Dazai gently guided.

"You…your eyes. I remember seeing them before everything went away." Naoki broke off his eye contact and turned away from Dazai. The boy's shoulders started to shake as Naoki silently sobbed. Dazai sighed, not sure how to proceed with a crying child. Tanizaki shrugged

"Why was I out there? Why can't…Why can't I remember?"

"Naoki-kun It's going to be okay." Atsushi said, placing a comforting hand on the boy's arm. Dazai hoped Atsushi would be able to get through to the boy.

"No! Let me go! Don't touch me!" Naoki suddenly screamed. Atsushi's touch had set off a lightning fast reaction in the boy. Naoki tried to back away but suddenly grabbed a tight hold of Atsushi's arm.

"Arrrggg!" Atsushi suddenly screamed in pain. He tried to break free of the death grip the boy held on his arm but the Naoki would not release him. Atsushi arched his back in painful spasms and blood started to leak from his nose and mouth.

"Atsushi!"

"No! Let him go!" Tanizaki screamed as he tried to pry to boy's hands off Atsushi. Naoki flung his arm, the strength of it sent Tanizaki flying across the room. His back hit the wall with a sickening thud and crumbled to the ground, unconscious.

"Tanizaki!" Dazai raced to his colleagues side. He breathed a sigh of relief when he could see the rise and fall of Tanizaki's chest. Dazai quickly turned his attention to Atsushi and Naoki, approaching cautiously. He didn't want to be the next one thrown against the wall.

"Dazai!" Atsushi gasped. "I can't breathe." Dazai quickly caught him before he collapsed in agony onto the floor as Naoki finally let go. The boy backed away before making a break for it. The boy froze in the doorway and stared back at the chaos he had created. He locked eyes with Dazai, tears streaming down his face.

"I'm sorry…I can't. I'm sorry." Naoki cried and raced out of the room.

"No wait!" Dazai called after the boy. Dazai didn't understand what was going on. A moment ago, the boy could barely speak. Within seconds, however, the kid had the strength to take out two of his subordinates.

"Dazai." Atsushi gasped, snapping Dazai from his thoughts. Atsushi, unable to keep his eyes open any longer, closed them as his breath left him.

"Atsushi! Atsushi!" The young man's face was pale, lacking it's usual color and brightness. Dazai pressed his fingers against the cold skin of Atsushi's neck. Nothing.

"No. No, no, no, no! Atsushi! Help! Somebody, please help!"

The nurse who smiled at them before came rushing in with two others, shoving Dazai out of the way while they got to work on Atsushi. One of the three nurses rushed over to Tanizaki, trying to rouse the unconscious agent. After a couple minutes, Dazai could hear a cough coming from his direction.

The two nurses working on Atsushi quickly got him on a gurney and proceeded to race him out of the room. Dazai ran along side them as far as he was allowed until he was forced to stay behind. The doors slammed in his face with such finality. Dazai sighed and blinked away the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. There was nothing more he could do for Atsushi right now.

How the hell did things go so wrong, so fast?

Dazai walked back to the room where the nurse was still working on Tanizaki. He was still sitting on the floor but he had his back propped up against the wall. Dazai could hear the hiss of oxygen as the nurse was forcing Tanizaki into an oxygen mask. The young man winced in pain as the nurse poked at him but he still managed to flash Dazai a grin. Dazai knew he was faking it but he appreciated the gesture.

"Tani…"

"I'm fine, Dazai." Tanizaki wheezed. "Go."

Dazai didn't like the idea of leaving one subordinate struggling to breathe and the other struggling to survive but he had to find out what had happened.

I need to find that kid.

So sorry for the long wait. I've worked really hard to get this chapter out sooner but life got in the way. Hopefully the next one will be out sooner. Thanks for the follows and reviews. They help keep me motivated. :)