"SHIT!" Shizuo yelled.

The blond didn't have time for a moral debate with himself. He had little time to even think right now. He had to get to the docking bay. NOW!

Shizuo held the spy to his chest. He tossed the raven over his shoulder—getting covered in fruit juice—with the raven's bag pressed against his chest. That immediately became uncomfortable, so Shizuo pulled the raven's bag off him and tossed it over his own head. He turned it so it rested against his back, tossed the raven back over his shoulder, turned and ran.

Crates went from sliding to flying as another jolt wracked the ship. Left and right, metal and wooden crates tumbled. The isles quickly disappeared. Shizuo had to jump and kick the crate out of the way with each step. The ship was definitely taking blaster fire. The alarms started going off to indicate heavy damage. Shizuo probably only had a minute at most to make it to the docking bay. Luckily, they weren't that far. If he ran without stopping, he could probably make it.

The blond jumped up, climbing over a tower of boxes that haven't fallen yet, simply slid everywhere. Once at the top, he could see the door. Another blast hit the ship. The pile he stood on careened precariously.

"Ah, shit!" Shizuo called.

He flailed one arm to try and keep his balance but yet another blast stopped that attempt entirely. Shizuo fell on his rump, the pile of crates tilting over completely.

"Ah, SHIT!"

Shizuo pulled the spy off his shoulder and hugged his black head to his chest, so he didn't sustain any more brain damage. He kicked his feet rapidly against the boxes in an attempt to catch his footing. It didn't help. Crates slammed into his back and sides. He managed to protect the smaller man with his bigger body. As far as he knew, the spy didn't sustain any injuries—although he shouldn't worry about if this bastard got hurt since he was the one who caused all this to begin with. But care he did, as he tumbled down to the floor with crates falling on top of him.

The blond forced himself to his feet, shrugging the crates off. None of them hurt him so he was able to stand just fine. He kicked many of them out of his way and had to grab a few that were stacked in his way. He was only a few feet away from the door now, and luckily that last hit had slid all the other boxes away from the entrance. Shizuo bolted.

Another explosion went off, knocking Shizuo off his feet entirely. He wrapped his arms around the unconscious man out of reflex as he fell to the floor. Metal crates came flying towards him again. He swung his foot out and hit one away, then rolled to the side out of the path of the others.

"For fuck's sake, how long are you going to sleep for?" Shizuo growled down Kanra.

There was no response. He knew there wouldn't be. Nor should he even be questioning him when he was the one who knocked him out—although he obviously deserved it.

Shizuo pushed himself to his feet, hoisting the smaller man back over his shoulder, and ran. He pushed himself harder. His feet hammered against the floor. He jumped, dodged, and avoided the oncoming flying cargo to the best of his ability.

Soon enough, he stood before the door. It slid open right as the ship careened dangerously. The blond gasped as he grabbed the door frame. The shit tilted far enough that Shizuo's feet left the floor and he was hanging suspended in the air by that one hand. He tightened his grip, burying his fingertips into the metal and certainly leaving indents. Shizuo was dangling in the door frame.

Within seconds, the ship tilted back to its proper stability, in which Shizuo slammed against the ground. It didn't hurt, so he didn't care to check himself for injuries. Instead, he scrambled to his feet and ran through the door.

In the hallway, Shizuo forced his body to move faster than he ever tried to before. The walls were a blur as he pumped his legs and his one arm with all the strength he had in them.

"BROTHER!" Kasuka yelled through the communicator.

Shizuo pulled the device out of his pocket and held it to his mouth.

"I'm here!" He yelled, "Get to the ship, Kasuka! I'll be right there!"

"We're here! Tom-san and Kadota-san are here!"

"Where's Yumasaki and Togusa?!"

"I don't—"

"We're almost there!" Walker's voice came through the communicator. "The elevator stopped working from that first blast, so we had to take a detour! We're not that far off. We're on the 23rd floor."

"Alright!" Shizuo yelled. "Be quick!"

Izaya heard that voice seep through the darkness. Slowly, his consciousness came back.

"I just left the storage room!" Shizuo yelled. "Kasuka, start the ship up and get ready to launch! We'll get there soon!"

"Understood."

Izaya grabbed the back of Shizuo's shirt with a groan. Shizuo perked to the noise.

"You awake, Jedi dog?" Shizuo growled.

"No thanks to you..." Izaya retorted with little thought.

Warning bells were going off in Izaya's head. He needed to be more alert. It was very obvious he was being carried by a Sith Lord that no doubt intended to kill him. He had to get away from this dangerous situation quickly. However, his mind was numb and his body was sluggish. There was little doubt he had a concussion. Or maybe a contusion. He got hit pretty hard. His bells were rung, that went without question.

So, even if he wanted to be more alert—to fight, to attack—he knew he wouldn't stand a chance. Not right now. At least this Sith Lord wasn't killing him just yet.

"Took you long enough, for fuck's sake!" Shizuo growled. "How the hell you slept through everything crashing around us—"

"Who's fault is that?!" Izaya yelled, then groaned, resting his head on his shoulder.

Shizuo didn't respond. He wasn't wrong, after all.

Izaya's vision spun. He closed his eyes tight shut and shook his head. He then looked around himself.

"Where...?" Izaya voiced.

"Where do you think?" Shizuo hissed. "We're in the damn ship that you rigged to be a sitting duck!"

"Ah, has the barrage already started?" Izaya said, nonchalantly. "I'd be off the ship by now if someone didn't hit me with a damn crate."

"Shut the fuck up!" Shizuo shrugged his shoulder hard to jolt the spy. "You tried to kill us all! Don't you go sitting here bitching about your poor luck!"

"Paha, what's that?" Izaya looked over his shoulder at him with a glare of hate and a smile on his lips. "What, are you actually offended I tried to kill you lot?"

"After you pulled that doe-eyed noobie shit earlier? I'm absolutely furious!"

"Then why haven't you killed me already?"

Shizuo clenched his teeth hard as his eyes stretched wide with rage. In that moment, he stopped in his tracks. Izaya glared with suspicion before he was dropped. His eyes stretched wide and he gasped. A second later, he hit the ground hard.

"If you want to die, then be my guest." Shizuo glared down at the raven. "I'm not going to soak my hands with anymore Jedi blood."

Izaya glared up at him, that smile still in place. "Ahaha! What high-and-might narcissism you just spewed! Leaving me here on a doomed ship is no different than killing me yourself! My blood will still be on your hands, you'll just take the stains the cowards way!"

Shizuo snapped. In a blind rage, he turned on the downed man. Izaya jolted back. He attempted to scramble to his feet, but it was a fruitless endeavor. His head was spinning too much for him to properly defend himself. Shizuo was on him within a hearts beat, sitting on his hips with his hands around the raven's throat.

"If it's all the same, then fine!" Shizuo yelled. "DIE RIGHT NOW!"

His hands tightened around his small throat. Izaya's airway was crushed. Intense pain filled his lungs, his trachea, his entire chest. However, he didn't show it. That smile was sketched on his face. That glare still cold and calculating, looking at Shizuo like he wasn't a person but a number to an equation. His hands stayed at his side. He didn't try to push Shizuo away, didn't struggle, didn't fight. All he did was smile.

That smile infuriated Shizuo. How could he stay so calm? Death was staring him in the face, yet he looked at Shizuo like he wasn't worth it. Like he wasn't even a minor inconvenience. That smile said that he was still in control. Even now, as Shizuo held his literal life in his hands, he looked like everything was as he wanted.

Why? Why would he give that gaze? Was it just a facade to keep his nerves under wraps? He heard Jedi had infallible control of their emotions. Was that it? Or was this all according to plan? Did he truly plan to go down with this ship, and was more than content taking more than one person with him? Was he suicidal? Did he agree to this mission as some kind of last hurrah?

That smile pissed Shizuo off. He couldn't understand it. He didn't want to understand it. He had never met a Jedi like this before. If he didn't know any better, he would say that this wasn't a Jedi, but another Sith. This behavior just didn't seem to fit the high and mighty goodie-two-shoes of the Jedi Order.

It confused him. He didn't know what to feel.

"SHIZUO!" Tom's voice screamed through the communicator. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Shizuo jolted, releasing the raven's throat. Izaya coughed but made no move to try anything.

"What are you going to do, Sith?" The raven asked. "Are you going to die here with me?"

Shizuo glared at him.

"SHIZUO!"

The blond growled. He didn't have time to get into a debate with this bastard. He brought the communicator to his mouth.

"I'm on the way. I'll be there soon."

"I don't know if we can wait much longer!" Togusa yelled.

"No, we're waiting!" Tom yelled before the communicator crackled.

Shizuo stood, however, he didn't take off. Izaya was surprised by that. No, instead, he looked down at the raven with that glare still in place.

"Can you stand, Jedi?" Shizuo asked.

Izaya cocked a brow as he sat up. "What?"

"Can you stand?" Shizuo repeated through clenched teeth.

Izaya glared right back. He then attempted to stand. His legs were shaky and he struggled to find balance.

Shizuo let out an irritated sigh. He stepped up to him, knelt down, and wrapped his arm around the raven's thighs. He lifted Izaya up.

"HEY!" Izaya yelled. "What are you—put me down, you bastard!"

"Shut up!"

Shizuo turned and took off running. Izaya had no choice but to lean down so he didn't get jostled about.

"You can't run and I'm not going to let you get gunned down by your own men!" Shizuo yelled. "If you're going to die, then let it be by the enemies hand, not your friends!"

"So, what? A temporary truce until we get to the ship?" Izaya sneered. "What a soft-hearted Sith!"

"Call me what you want! I don't care!"

"I think you do care, else you wouldn't respond!"

Shizuo didn't say anything else. He had to focus on keeping his balance as the ship kept careening left and right. Izaya grabbed the blonde's shoulder, holding his coat tightly. The raven was having trouble focusing on anything. The ship was tilting at dizzying angles, which didn't work with Izaya's throbbing head and spinning vision.

'What the hell is this bastard thinking?' Izaya glared at the blond. 'This violent man that can tear through metal like it's nothing. Why didn't he kill me when he had the chance? No, why didn't he just leave me? What the hell is with that, 'better to die by the enemies hand than the allies' shit?'

Izaya looked over his shoulder to stare at him.

'For him to decide to save me. How unexpected. He threw a crate at my head, I can only assume with the intention to kill me, but now he wants to show mercy? I don't get it.'

Shizuo huffed hard as he ran. He refused to think about anything but getting to the docking bay. Izaya was so confused by this man.

'Well, for the time being, he's my only ticket off this ship.' Izaya thought with resignation. 'I'm guaranteed not to die in his custody. I'll just have to try hard to escape from the Interceptor.'

The ship shook violently. Shizuo stumbled but pushed off the wall with his arm—tightening his grip on Izaya's thighs to keep him from falling—and kept running.

'Being a prisoner is easier to get out of than getting out of this sinking ship.'

The hall blurred past them. Shizuo rounded the corner, the door to the docking bay in sight.

"There it is!" Shizuo yelled.

Izaya looked over his shoulder at the door.

However, both were thrown to the ground as the hall behind them exploded. Wind began rushing past them. Shizuo didn't understand what was going on at first, but Izaya was quick to realize.

'They shot out the hall we're in!'

"Get up!" Izaya yelled, punching the Sith on the back. "We've got to go!"

Wind started rushing past them, deafening and suffocating. The oxygen was being pulled from the space around them. The raven and blond started gasping for air. The two were being pulled to that hole. Shizuo let Izaya go in favor of digging his hands into the ground. His fingertips dented the metal. He slammed the toes of his boots down as well and felt the metal cave around that as well. Izaya was pinned under Shizuo's body, so he didn't go flying away, but he also made sure of that himself by holding Shizuo's coat hard.

'Shit, shit, shit! We're going to get sucked out!' Both Shizuo and Izaya had the same thought.

Izaya's mind began to race. What to do? What could they do to get out of this?!

Within seconds, Izaya came up with an idea. He looked down at himself, surprised to see his bag wasn't on him anymore. Panic gripped him for a second before he realized it was around the Sith's chest. He glowered, but decided not to question why. Instead, he pulled himself up Shizuo's chest until he was bent over his shoulder again. He reached down the blonde's back and shuffled through his bag.

He found his rebreather. Not very useful for outer-space use, but enough that he should be able to breathe. He shimmied back down to be pinned under Shizuo again then reached for the Sith's pocket. The blond glared at him in suspicion, but Izaya ignored him. The Jedi grabbed his communicator. Izaya put the respirator to his mouth and inhaled a greedy gulp of air.

He then took the rebreather away and put the communicator to his mouth.

"Hey, whoever's listening, take off! We're in the hall right in front of the door, between the storage deck and docking bay!"

Shizuo's eyes widened. Izaya took another breath from the respirator.

"Who is thi—"

"The hall we're in was blasted! We'll get sucked out in no time! Fly around to that breach in the ship and come get us! It's our only chance!"

"Where's Shizu—"

"SHIZUO WILL DIE IF YOU DON'T DO WHAT I TELL YOU!"

Izaya took another gulp of air from the respirator, inhaling deeply. Then, he put the rebreather to Shizuo's mouth. Shizuo's eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't hesitate to bite down and take a breath of air.

"We're on our way. Be there!" Tom yelled over the communicator.

Izaya wrapped his arms around Shizuo's neck and smack his shoulders. Shizuo looked at Izaya. From the little bit of information he got from the conversation, he knew exactly what was required of him. He had to let go, let the gravity of space take them. Hopefully, the Interceptor would be waiting for them. If not, they would freeze to death in a matter of seconds.

They had one chance. This was their only option.

'Dammit!'

Shizuo let go. Izaya hugged him tightly, burying his face in Shizuo's shoulder to help hold his breath longer. The gripping rush of air took hold of them and pulled them to the hole in the ship. The two floated through the air at a dizzying speed. Shizuo wrapped his arms around the Jedi to keep him from flying off. He was so small, he doubted he could actually hold onto Shizuo with his own strength.

They came to the opening. Shizuo saw the broken metal around the rim and knew he needed to avoid that. If that cut him, then he was going to have far worse problems in space. He'll be frozen from the inside out thanks to the cut. Shizuo kicked like he was swimming and quickly turned himself over. He put his feet out towards that broken metal.

He slammed into it hard, feet first. He then pushed himself off towards the vacuum of space. He clamped down on the respirator hard. In the next second, all was quiet. The rushing of wind stopped; they were surrounded by darkness and stars. They could see ships, both Republic and Sith. There were giant blaster bolts from cannons hitting each other, hitting Tie Fighters and X-Wings, and certainly the ship they were just ejected from.

They then saw something that they both wanted to see. The Interceptor. It flew right past them. The landing ramp was down, a person in a space suit standing on the ramp and holding onto the bar of the lowering mechanism.

The person saw them as he turned to yell something over his shoulder. However, whoever was piloting didn't slow down as the ship began to pull away.

Izaya reacted on impulse. He reached his hand out and commanded the force to yield the ship—to hold it in place and keep it from moving. The ship did just that, shuttering violently in place. The person in the space suit leaped from the landing ramp, an obvious tether on his back, and reached for Shizuo. He was only a few feet away and the two were drifting towards the frozen ship. Izaya's head was screaming in agony. It felt like his skull was being ripped apart. His eyes started to leak, his nose began to run. Every fiber of his being was telling him to let go of the ship.

He refused, however. He couldn't take the chance of this being the death of him. The person in the space suit was right there. His hands reached out and grabbed Shizuo's shoulder. Shizuo held Izaya tight. The man activated his jetpack and he pulled the duo to the ship.

They were safely within the landing ramp. The man held them tight as he slammed his hand on the button to close the access hatch. Within seconds, space was closed off to them and a rush of oxygen gushed into the closed boarding room. The trio fell to the floor hard. Shizuo made sure to land on his back, so he didn't crush the spy. So not only did he slam back first into the metal floor, he also had the man land on his chest. Shizuo groaned hard, but the Jedi gasped hard. With concrete proof they were safe, Izaya finally let go. The ship jolted forward, the trio rolling back and slamming into the closed ramp.

Shizuo groaned again, as did the person in the space suit. However, Izaya was silent. His mind had already been swimming from the concussion, and with the use of such an advanced technique of the force, there was no energy left in him. It took everything out of him. His world spun at a dizzying angle before black took over his vision.

Shizuo took the respirator out of his mouth and looked at his companion in the space suit. Said person went about taking the helmet off, exposing the face of his little brother.

"We...made it." Shizuo looked at Kasuka with a crooked smile. Then he chuckled.

"That was a risky move, nii-san."

"Yeah. Yeah, it was." Shizuo rolled over, rolling the Jedi off him. "I'll give you this, Jedi, you're a quick thinker in a pinch."

Shizuo looked down at the raven in his hands. However, his smile immediately vanished when he saw the Jedi was out cold—and even worse, his nose was bleeding. There was a thin layer of ice under his eyes and along his cheeks. The blood has also dried from the frigid temperature.

"Hey!" Shizuo pushed himself up to sit on his knees, lifting the raven over his lap. "Hey, wake up, you bastard!"

There was no response. He was completely limp. Panic hit Shizuo hard.

'Was he unable to hold his breath long enough?'

Shizuo put his bare hand to the raven's neck to look for a pulse. There was frost on his neck, as well as on Shizuo's fingers, but he pushed nonetheless, hoping to find some sign of life. He felt the softest push against his fingers. He was still alive. And from the rise and fall of his chest, he was also still breathing. He was just unconscious, for some reason. Shizuo exhaled a breath of relief.

He looked up at Kasuka. "He needs medical attention. We—"

His sentence was cut as a voice came over the ship intercom.

"Guys, get up here quickly! Strap yourself down! We've got a bumpy ride ahead of us!"