A/N - HELLLLLLLLL YESSSSSSSSSSS. FINALLY. I get to write something positive and happy for once.

I am sure you, as a reader, are as happy as I am! Ahhhh! Shizuo finally gets some justice in this chapter, without giving away too many spoilers. You are going to really enjoy the story from here on out.

I mean, when you hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up.

Thank you so, so, so much for those that review. You really help me out, and even give me insight to what I might not know already.

And I also want to give a HUGE shout-out to those that give kudos. I know it's just one click, but it means so much to me!

Without further ado...

Suitable Reward

"Mr. Heiwajima, I know you said to be left alone, but there is a call for you in the conference room. What should we do?" An officer asked Shizuo on the other side of his cell.

"Mmmm…" Shizuo groaned. He didn't want to stop reading this book. Reading became one of the best things to keep his mind from going absolutely crazy. Still, he was amused by the officer's tone. Completely different now that they believed he was innocent. They kind of treated him like a prince. "Tell them I'm coming."

A few minutes later, he headed for the direction of the conference room, and picked up the phone. "What? This better be important… I was in the middle of reading."

"Hey Shizuo…" Shinra started nervously.

"Shinra?" Shizuo leaned in closer to the old pay phone, resting his elbow against the counter. "Thought you weren't going to talk to me again."

Shinra nodded although Shizuo couldn't see him, impressed by his composure. Despite going through some awful events, he definitely learned a lot. "I thought about that for a long time, too… But recent events lead me to believe you were forced to… do the thing."

"Either way, he was still one of your good friends. Something's fishy here." Shizuo tapped his foot. As expected, he was a little on-edge and paranoid.

"Well then I guess I'm just going to have to come right out and say it. Izaya visited Celty in one of her dreams, and offered her a deal. If she can bring him back to life somehow, he will give her, her head. I am going to try to convince her not to take her head back, but I digress… He also added another offer. If you aren't truly happy with Izaya's revival, he will be banished to Hell for eternity. No way out."

"Yup, that sounds like him, aside from my happiness. I don't see why he cares, but he did tell me that he would find some way back to life. I'm listening."

"You… You're not surprised by what I just said?" Shinra's brown eyes widened.

"Shinra… You wouldn't believe all the things I've witnessed the past few days. At this point nothing can really shock me."

"Well… Alright then. Makes sense." Shinra frowned. This only added to the proof that Shizuo regretted everything, and he'd been through his own hell. "She wants to take the deal, so I wanted to inform you what's happening. If you're not content with him being alive, this whole experiment is a waste of time."

"Is it?" Shizuo answered while picking at his nails. Something to do. "If he gets banished back to Hell, is that really so bad?" The blonde asked, though his words didn't seem sincere. He mostly asked for reassurance. "I mean, I can't control how I feel about that."

"I agree with you Shizuo, but you have to try to think about this differently. If Izaya feels remorse as a demon , he is going to be ten times worse when he's human again. He is going to be filled with regret, from a doctor's point-of-view. I never thought about that with Izaya… but Celty helped me change my perspective... I should have tried more to help him, before he had the chance to make any of these poor decisions."

"But they were his decisions-"

"Believe me, I had the same thoughts going through your mind right now. I have concluded trying is the best possible solution, but only if you are on board."

"Fine." Shizuo sighed. "Whatever, honestly. Fuck it. If he wants to see what happens when he comes back to life, fine. But if something bad happens… that won't be my fault. If he's not as broken as you think he is, then there is no saving him. He can go back for all I care."

"No one blames you anyway." Shinra reassured.

Shizuo doubted that no one blamed him, but this was a start. "About fucking time. Are we done here?"

"No… On to a lighter subject; your appeal! Congratulations. Yeah, Father told me everything, and Celty and I are really happy for you. Seriously… and… we are incredibly sorryfor not being there for you Shizuo."

Shizuo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, and?"

"Well… Um… We want to hold a party at the prison. Everyone is pretty much hypnotized, aren't they?"

"Miraculously, yes. I can practically do whatever I want here… But I'm not in the party mood. Never been one for parties. You know that." Shizuo groaned.

"Don't think of it like a party then, and we won't make it awkward. I promise."

"Right, like there is nothing awkward and weird about my situation."

"I-I mean, obviously it's weird to most people… But I'm living with a Dullahan."

"True… I guess we've been through stranger things."

"Like the show?"

"What?"

"It's a show on Netflix… Nevermind." Shinra paused for a minute, holding back a laugh. The family of doctors tended to be incredibly inappropriate sometimes. "Anyways, there will be lots of alcohol."

"Sign me up. See you later… or whatever." The blonde hung up the phone and looked to the side, noticing a new prisoner who looked extremely creeped out and confused. "What? I am writing a book, fuck off." He started to walk back to his cell, before turning his head to the side.

"Feel lucky that I'm not a killer… Don't listen to people's conversations. Especially not in here." He advised, and the new prisoner agreed frantically. Eh, he will learn. He thought with a small smile on his face.

A week later, a few people gathered for Shizuo's celebration party. Celty, Shinra, Shingen, Josh, Mikado, Masaomi, Anri, Tom, Vorona, Awakusu, Kasuka, fellow prisoner-friends, and even some officers joined.

Needless to say, Shizuo was a bit surprised that everyone had a change of heart, with the help of Shingen of course. For the first time since Izaya's death, he felt some sort of happiness seeing everyone. "Kasuka…" Almost immediately, Shizuo ran towards his brother and gave him a big bear-hug.

"Hello Shizuo, been a while." Kasuka said with a positive tone that would sound emotionless to most people, but Shizuo knew when he was happy or disappointed. "It took us time to adjust to the situation… But we realized that you were right all along. I knew you could never kill someone without there being any other option." The brunette smiled weakly. Shizuo was relieved that they didn't know about any of the batshit crazy demon-and-hell stuff happening.

"I don't blame you… Trust me, I'm just excited that I finally get to see you again." Shizuo answered honestly, and grinned towards Shingen. The older doctor raised his glass of champagne, as if to say you are welcome. "Can't believe that my appeal trial is happening so soon."

"That is karma, isn't it? You've been through so much… About time you are able to catch a break." Kasuka smiled while taking a sip of his own champagne.

"Wow…" Shizuo whispered to himself, looking around at everyone chatting and laughing. "This is a strange atmosphere for a prison, huh?"

"Yeah... But you've always been strange. Kinda fits." Kasuka chuckled lowly, not loud enough for anyone else to hear. He liked remaining an apathetic-actor most of the time. It made interactions with family and friends special.

"That is also very true." Shizuo placed his hands in his pockets. He wore his usual bartender outfit for the first time in months. He felt good, clean, polished. All things he missed now that he had hope again. "I'm gonna go grab a drink, want to come?"

"Nah, brother… Enjoy yourself. You deserve it." Kasuka pushed him gently towards the make-shift bar table. "Go."

Shizuo listened to Kasuka and continued towards the bar. He poured himself a few shots of expensive whiskey, moaning a little at the taste. God, this felt good. Drinking.

"What do you think? I told you it wouldn't be awkward." Shinra walked up to Shizuo. He also wore something nice for the party, along with Celty, and most of the guests.

"I don't know about that… There are many things we still need to do."

"Try not to worry about that tonight. You should celebrate with your friends and family, and leave the stress to us. It's time for someone to take care of you, believe it or not. You have felt alone for far too long."

"Honestly, Shinra, I'm still going to feel alone… But I suppose this is a good start."

"It's going to get better eventually." Shinra placed a hand on Shizuo's shoulder. The young doctor glanced towards Josh and gave him a little wink.

The detective took the cue and tapped on the side of his glass, calling everyone for a toast. He walked up to the microphone and cleared his throat. Since he didn't want to freak everyone out due to his resemblance to Izaya, he wore contacts, a blonde wig, and really showed off his tattoos. "I would like to make a toast, to honour Shizuo. Most people under these circumstances wouldn't be able to survive..."

Josh pointed his index finger at Shizuo for a moment. "But that man defied all odds against him. He is still here with his sanity in tact. He brought me from the depths of despair being here in prison, and made me a better man. He taught me what it means to be truly independent. Through his wisdom, I will be getting out of here sometime soon. Thank you, Shizuo. I wish you the best of luck."

After his closing statement, the entire crowd of people started clapping in appreciation. "Now it's time for the real surprise of the evening," Josh started while the clapping began to die down. "Come on over here and open up your gift, Shizuo. This is from an anonymous friend, your favourite janitor." The detective winked, knowing that Shizuo would recognize the janitor was in fact Josh. He needed to keep his identity private, posing as an inmate, so he couldn't allow people to know how rich he actually was.

"Uhhh… Okay then." Shizuo said with a slight blush on his cheeks, walking towards the front of the room. "What did you get me…" Shizuo leaned over and whispered in Josh's ear quizzically. Obviously Shizuo was expecting something small, never anticipating that this gift would change his life... forever.

"Before you open your gift, Mr. Janitor wanted to add that it is not negotiable. It is yours legally, with no exceptions. He made sure of that."

"What the fuck…" Shizuo tilted an eyebrow at that comment. Now he was really curious, and worried what Josh got him. Either way, the curiosity killed him, so he ripped the wrapped box opened. Inside he noticed a card and another smaller, more expensive looking box.

Of course, Shizuo opened the card first to be polite. It read:

[My dear friend,

Thank you for changing my life for the better. You have opened my eyes throughout the short time I've had the pleasure of knowing you. I meant every word in my speech. You really don't have a choice to accept the following gifts. They have already been accepted, and they are all legally in your name. Enjoy your new well-deserved life. I hope I can visit sometime in the future, when you've settled, and we've both moved on for the better.

I will be there for you forever and always.

Sincerely,

Winters.]

Shizuo blinked at the card, even more curious thereafter. "Okay then…" He carefully opened up the smaller box and watched as two keys fell out, and a small piece of paper. He picked up the piece of paper. It appeared to be a copy of a cheque. A cheque of two million dollars. From Josh Winters. "What…" Shizuo's eyes widened like saucers. He'd never seen so many zeros on a cheque before. "No way…" He looked towards Josh, a mix of strong positive emotions bringing tears to his eyes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Shizuo is now the proud owner of a fully-furnished mansion and a new car... Congratulations. You've earned it." Josh smiled with his own tears welling up.