Even though the man had released him, Izaya couldn't bring himself to move. He couldn't think clearly as he looked up to see that the man was now pointing his weapon at Shizuo. Without a second thought, the informant reached into his pocket and produced his flick blade. He could see the man's arm tense slightly, and in a flash, Izaya had sunk his blade into the man's arm just a millisecond too late.

Shizuo was about to charge at the man when he saw the flea attack out of the corner of his eye. His knife made contact with the man's arm, throwing off his aim slightly. However it wasn't quite enough. The sound of the gun firing filled the alley mixing with the man's scream, and before he had time to think, Shizuo found himself on the ground from the force of the bullet that made a solid connection with the blonde's side, just below his ribs. Shizuo felt the pain for an instant as it hit him, but by the time he was able to assess the situation, the pain was gone. That's just how it worked. Shizuo rarely felt any pain, and getting shot didn't seem to be any different. Nevertheless, he still took a moment to recover from the impact that had caused him to fall over. After a few seconds he was able to look up to see that the flea had turned the tables, holding his knife to the man's neck. The look in his eyes said that he was ready to kill.

Izaya pressed his blade into the vile man's neck, and drew a little bit of blood before he heard sirens. Police sirens. Shit. They must have been nearby and heard the gunshot. That's the only way they could have responded so quickly. With a final glare at the disgusting creature underneath him, Izaya stood and firmly kicked the gun from the man's grip, before picking it up and putting it in his coat pocket. He turned to Shizuo in time to see the blonde pulling himself up, using the wall for support. He was holding his side to prevent further blood loss.

The informant rushed over and pulled Shizuo's arm over his shoulder, trying to support some of the blonde's weight. Izaya helped Shizuo walk as fast as they could back in the direction of his office. No words were spoken between the two, even as on looking people pointed at the bleeding man, all of them looking too frightened to approach. 'Well at least they're not going to interfere' Izaya thought with relief.

The elevator doors closed on the two just as Izaya could see flashing lights pass by the front of the building. The pair was cut off from the world for a few moments as the elevator started to move. Izaya stared at the ground, not wanting to look at Shizuo. He could feel the blonde staring at him, but he couldn't bring himself to look back. Shizuo had just taken a bullet for him. Literally. Izaya had told Shizuo not to follow him, but if he hadn't, then what would have happened? Izaya knew that the man was a little off from a previous meeting with him, but the informant had felt confident he would be able to handle the situation. Clearly, he was wrong, and that didn't sit well with him. There were two things that Izaya truly hated, and those things were being wrong, and losing control in a situation. And those two things went hand in hand in the position he had just come out of.

Izaya was torn from his thoughts as the elevator made a 'ding' sound, and the doors opened. He helped the injured blonde over to the couch. He ran into the bathroom and fumbled around for his first aid kit, which stayed quite well stocked considering all of the times he fought with the strongest man in Ikebukuro. It was then that Izaya noticed his hands were shaking violently, and he was pale as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He tried to take a few deep breaths, which caused him to start coughing again. He really didn't want Shizuo to see him looking this pathetic. 'Fuck it. He already saw what happened…' He thought as he rushed back over to the couch.

Shizuo sat on the couch watching Izaya run into the bathroom, and returning with a handful of bandages. He set the bundle down on the coffee table and started to lift Shizuo's shirt to get at the wound.

"I'm fine, you don't need to do that…" Shizuo trailed off as he noticed that the flea's hands were shaking, and he was considerably paler that usual. He was coughing slightly as he wiped the excess blood from Shizuo's side.

When he spoke, his voice reflected the shaking in his hands as he tried his best to sound confident. "Shizu-chan, I can't have you bleeding all over my office. It's expensive, remember? Heh, that bullet went clean through your side, didn't it…? Good, I don't have the proper tools to dig out a bullet..."

Shizuo watched in silence as Izaya managed to tightly wrap the bandages around his side. He sighed when he was finished, and went to the kitchen where he washed his hands. Izaya made his way to the windows where he picked up a pair of binoculars and looked in the direction they had come from. He saw Izaya smile in satisfaction.

"Hah. The bastard is in the back of the police car."

Shizuo thought for a moment. "Won't he give the police your name?"

"Shizu-chan, do you think I'm stupid? That man only knew me by a false name that I use online. I can tell when my clients are extremely untrustworthy, and I make sure they don't know my true identity. And let me tell you… That one in particular seemed quite unstable to me." Izaya's voice had gained some of its confidence back upon seeing the man get what he deserved.

They were silent again for a little while again. Shizuo broke the silence, speaking quietly. "So… Why was he… I mean… He was trying to—"

"—The man is twisted, Shizu-chan. Completely mental. And when I say that someone is insane, they have to be pretty fucked up. I met with him once before, and I could tell he was unstable by the way he looked at me. I suppose I should have predicted he'd try something like that…" Shizuo saw Izaya shiver slightly, before he spun around and picked up his phone.

"Hello, Shinra?... No, I'm fine, it's Shizu-chan actually…. Well, you see he kinda got shot… That doesn't matter…" –his voice lowered—"I'll tell you some other time… Okay… Yeah." Izaya held the phone to Shizuo. "Shinra wants to talk to you."

Shizuo took the phone. "Hello?"

"Shizuo! Why won't Izaya tell me what happened?"

"Don't worry about it Shinra. It's not important."

"Fine, fine… But are you okay?"

"I'm all right. The bleeding has almost stopped already."

"You're healing powers amaze me, Shizuo! But you still shouldn't move too much. I'd come over there myself, but I'm kind of in the middle of something… I've been busy."

"It's fine, Shinra. I don't need any more help."

"Okay, but I suggest you stay there at least until you can walk around without re-opening the wound, okay? I'll see if I can stop by when things aren't so busy!"

Shizuo paused. Of course. Now he had to stay with the flea longer. Then he realized something. He should feel disgusted, but for some reason, he felt okay with the idea of staying with the flea a little longer. That was weird. "Fine, Shinra…"

"Good. Take it easy, I have to go! Bye!"

"Bye." Shizuo ended the call, and handed the phone back to Izaya, who pocketed it before walking over to the kitchen. He opened the bottom drawer, and pulled the gun from his pocket, placing it in the drawer which contained various other guns.

"Rule number one: never leave an attacker with their weapon!" He said weakly. Izaya stood in the same spot, facing the wall for a moment. "Why did you help me…?" he asked quietly.

"Because you needed it." Shizuo responded flatly.

Izaya spun around to face Shizuo, looking rather angry and raising his voice. "I was doing just fine until you showed up!"

"Didn't look like it to me." Shizuo said raising his voice as well. The flea was starting to get on his nerves again, and he could feel his anger start to boil up.

"There was a windowsill right above me that I was about to use to jump out away from the wall and take his gun away, but then YOU messed everything up!" He coughed slightly as he finished.

"Really? You were going to do all of that BEFORE he shot you? Flea, you may be light on your feet, but even you can't dodge a bullet like that!" Shizuo resisted the urge to throw the couch he was sitting on as he saw Izaya's face fall slightly. He turned around again, and started making tea.

After pouring two cups of green tea, Izaya made his way to the couch and sat next to Shizuo. He handed him one of the cups, avoiding eye contact. "Thanks…" Izaya mumbled, sipping his tea.