Shizuo had been relieved when the job Tom had needed him for took less than an hour. In forty-five minutes he was back on his doorstep, happy he didn't have to leave Izaya for too long. Pulling out his keys, Shizuo went to unlock the door.

There was no resistance. The door was unlocked.

Shizuo's blood ran cold. He rushed inside, eyes scanning the apartment. There was no sign of movement.

"Izaya?!" he called out, quickly checking the bedroom and bathroom before rushing back to the living room where he had last seen the man. He was gone. Shizuo glanced down and for a moment his heart felt like it jumped into his throat.

Izaya's knife and phone were on the ground in the middle of the floor. There was no way Izaya would have left those two items by choice.

What do I do…?

Where could he have taken him?

Fuck

I don't know what to do!

Izaya…

This is all my fault…

I left him…

He could be hurt… or worse…

He's suffering because of me…

Shizuo collapsed onto his hands and knees, tears flowing free as he struggled with the guilt of his thoughts. He could feel himself shaking as he realized he really had no idea where Jiro could have taken Izaya. He thought of that room–the basement where Izaya had been held. Could he have taken him back there? Izaya never told him exactly where it was… He might never be able to find him…

His phone chimed in his pocket, signaling a text message. Shizuo fished the device from his pocket and quickly pulled up the message from an unknown sender.

It was a photo attachment.

Shizuo swallowed, shaking as he clicked to open the image.

Tears obscured his vision and the photo was taken in some bad lighting, but it was definitely Izaya he was looking at. Tied, gagged, and unconscious by the look of it.

And then another message came through.

It was a location.

Shizuo quickly looked up the location to find it wasn't too far away. If he left now he could be there in less than fifteen minutes. He quickly picked up Izaya's knife and phone, slipping them into his pocket. He didn't have time to beat himself up. All he wanted was to rush to Izaya's side.

Then his phone began to ring.

He didn't recognize the number, but he had a feeling who it could be. He took a deep breath, hoping he could keep his voice steadier than his shaking hands.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Heiwajima-san," a smooth voice responded on the other end of the line, "We haven't met properly yet, but I'm sure we will soon. I trust you got the picture I sent you? Doesn't that little whore look so good all tied up?"

"I'm going to fucking kill you," Shizuo spat, trying his best not to crush the phone in his hand.

"Testy, aren't we? I can see why he likes you. He's quite fiery himself, I had to sedate him pretty frequently to keep him from acting out. Of course watching him gradually break down was part of the fun of it. It took a while but eventually he became the best obedient little fuck hole."

Shizuo felt sick. The way this guy talked about Izaya… it was dehumanizing and disgusting and made Shizuo's blood boil. Is this part of what Izaya had endured? Being talked to like that? It was vile and made him want to throw up just thinking about what other things he'd probably said to Izaya in the past.

He couldn't even stand ten seconds of that kind of talk and Izaya had listened to Jiro talk to him like that for thirty-seven days?!

"What have you done to him? Is he hurt?"

"Nothing yet," Jiro mused, "However, I do still have to address him running away from me years ago. I thought I'd trained him better than that, but I guess I'll have to try harder. Maybe I'll carve my name into him this time, that way everyone will know he belongs to me."

"Don't you dare touch him," Shizuo growled, his throat going dry.

"Try and stop me," Jiro challenged just before the line went dead.

…~-~...

Shizuo stared at the dart in his hand. He couldn't be sure what was in it, but from what Shinra had told him in the past drugs didn't work on him as well as they did the average person. However whatever was in that syringe couldn't be good if the horror in Izaya's eyes was any indication.

He decided to push forward anyway. As much as he wanted to murder Jiro, getting Izaya to safety was his top priority.

He took a couple steps before he could tell something was off. His legs suddenly felt very heavy, making it difficult for him to walk. He stumbled a bit as that heavy feeling moved to his arms as well. He knelt on the ground for a moment, trying to push past the feeling, but he could feel it starting to get worse.

"Fuck," he cursed, trying once again to force himself to move. He managed a few more steps before it became too much. He fell to his hands and knees when his legs felt too weak to hold himself up anymore.

"Izaya, are you hurt?" he asked, trying to assess Izaya's condition from where he was stuck. It occurred to him then that whatever had been in that syringe had probably been given to Izaya too. If what he was feeling was any indication of what this drug was meant to do, he imagined there was a good chance Izaya was completely paralyzed. If he was going to get them out of here he would first have to be able to lift not only himself, but Izaya as well.

"Damn," A disappointed sounding voice from behind Izaya spoke, stepping closer into the light. "I was really hoping that would work better on you."

He immediately recognized the voice before he even saw the man's face. Jiro stepped out of the shadows, standing over Izaya who was still attempting to struggle. This was the man who had hurt Izaya. The man who had raped and tortured him. Every nightmare Izaya had, every flash back, every panic attack… This man was the cause.

"You." Shizuo growled, wanting nothing more than to rip the man's head from his shoulders. The weakness in his limbs refused to allow him to do that, of course. But he had something he could still do without having to stand.

"Yes, me. I'd say it's nice to finally meet you in person, but I find myself rather upset with you at the moment."

"Likewise," Shizuo said, letting his anger push his body just enough to be able to reach into his pocket, fingers curling around Izaya's knife. With way more effort than he'd like to admit, Shizuo flipped it open and threw it as hard as his body would allow.

The pained sound from Jiro told him he hit his mark, though he couldn't be sure how much damage was done.

"You…You defiled my pet," Jiro said through gritted teeth, "Unfortunately I can't let you live for touching what's mine."

His… pet…?

HIS…?!

Shizuo really hated the way this man talked about Izaya… He spoke about Izaya as if he was nothing but an object to be owned.

Pushing through the weakness in his legs, Shizuo stood. Jiro was a real monster. He was going to tear him apart. "He's not y–"

There was a loud bang and an invisible force shoved him back, making him stumble again. Shizuo recalled feeling this sensation before, but this felt worse. There was a pain in his chest he instinctively reached to touch when he realized his shirt was wet. There was blood on his hand when he pulled it away. He could feel it pouring out of him. He looked up to see the gun in Jiro's hand. When had he pulled that out?

Shizuo was about to slap that shitty grin from his face when he suddenly realized…

Why can't I… breathe?

Something inside him felt wrong. He couldn't get enough air into his lungs. A few seconds later his vision began to blur and he could no longer hold himself up. He felt his knees his the ground once more as blood continued to fall from his wound. He placed his hand over the area, remembering that he should be applying pressure to stop the blood loss…

But he was rapidly losing the ability to hold himself up. He tried to get his body to move closer to Izaya whose eyes were wide with terror, watching him.

I have to get him out of here…

I promised I'd…

Protect him…

When blackness began to invade his senses, he fell. He heard Izaya's muffled scream when he went down.

Izaya… just hold on…

…~-~...

He would be okay.

He had to be okay.

He'd survived a construction vehicle being dropped on him! How could one bullet possibly be the end?!

Izaya struggled hard against the ropes, just beginning to get some movement back in his arms. He needed to get to Shizuo. He needed to make sure he was alive.

"Shit," a voice behind him hissed.

He glanced back to see Jiro holding his side with one hand, the other flipping through his phone. When his eyes looked up at Izaya, they narrowed. With a scowl, Jiro turned and began rushing to a door on the side of the building. A moment later he was gone.

Izaya would have to deal with that problem later. Right now getting to Shizuo was all that mattered. But the more he struggled the more hopeless he began to feel. He could barely move, his muscles screaming in pain as he fought through the remnants of his paralysis to inch across the ground. He was already breathing heavily, his chest aching with every inhale.

He scraped his cheek against the ground, attempting to push the gag down past his chin. With a great amount of effort he was finally able to remove the gag and take a few gasping breaths as he fought against his exhaustion.

"Shizu-chan…?" he called out, his voice hoarse.

No response.

"Shizuo, please…" Izaya begged, inching closer through the pain tearing through his body.

Still nothing.

He was finally forced to stop and catch his breath before he passed out. It was in that moment that the situation they were in really began to sink in. Shizuo was injured–probably unconscious–and Izaya could barely move with his limbs still tied. Even when the paralysis eventually went away, he still would be unable to free himself. His knife was nowhere in sight and there was nothing else he could use.

He couldn't do anything. He couldn't call anyone. Shizuo was slowly bleeding out in front of him and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Shizuo, p-please," he sobbed, tears falling freely with each passing second Shizuo remained still. He pushed himself to continue inching closer. Even if he couldn't help, he just wanted to see his face. "I can't do this alone, please… I need you… I… I love you…"

He was nearly face to face now. Shizuo was pale, but he could see a slight rise and fall of his chest indicating that he was breathing, albeit very small and shallow breaths.

Izaya let out a sob of relief. He was still alive.

"Shizu-chan, can you hear me?" Izaya asked, pressing his forehead to Shizuo's.

Finally, there was a response. Shizuo coughed, his eyes cracking open just a bit to meet Izaya's.

"I… zaya…" he whispered between coughs.

"Yes," Izaya responded, pressing his forehead back against Shizuo's in the only form of physical contact he could do. "I'm okay, Jiro's gone for now. Please, I need you to get up. Do you have your phone?"

"S'okay," Shizuo slurred, "She's… already…"

As if on queue, Izaya heard the best sound he could have possibly hoped for in this desperate moment.

The sound of a horse.

A second later a familiar figure in all black was sprinting towards them, her yellow helmet the only part of her clothes that reflected the minimal light in the room.

At that moment Izaya hated himself for doubting Shizuo's intelligence. Shizuo had known this was a trap all along. He'd already alerted Celty to their location for back up.

They were going to be okay.