Anni was slowly drifting back into consciousness. As soon as she was aware enough to realize she was waking up, she tried to dive back into her dreams. Anything was better than what she remembered. She didn't want to face reality just yet. It was interesting though, after the unpleasant encounter last night, she'd slept peacefully. She should have had nightmares again, but they left her alone. Why was that? When her dreams refused to take her again, Anni gave up and let her eyes open a moment.

It was bright, with the sun streaming in the window, so she only got a moment's glance before snapping her eyes shut again. It was a scene she was used to seeing, though she hadn't seen it for a while now. She was on Shizuo's couch again. Something about it was different. Anni still wasn't aware enough to get what it was though. The heavy pull of sleep still hadn't let go of her limbs. She heaved a sleepy sigh, and was surprised when what she had though was a pillow clutched beneath her did the same. She finally remembered the rest of last night. She'd broken down and clung to Shizuo while she cried. He'd been so kind. He never complained or let her go, save for however long it took to finish preparing her tea and getting her to drink it. Then, when she'd cried herself to sleep on top of him, he'd stayed with her. Anni could only assume it was because he knew about her nightmares. Maybe sleeping face down on his chest was what kept them at bay. Either way, Anni was exceedingly comfortable and didn't feel at all like moving, even if she couldn't go back to sleep. The steady sounds of his breathing and heart rate kept her mind from unpleasant things. The arm that had been slung across her back promised to keep her safe. She was more than glad that she had today off of work, so she had no reason to move, except when her phone went off. Anni groaned at the disturbance and quickly fished her phone from her pocket, trying to move as little as possible. "'ello?" she asked quietly. She hadn't even opened her eyes to check who it was.

"You sound absolutely terrible, Little Anni. Did I really wake you up at 11? Since when do you sleep in this long?" her brother laughed at her.

"What do you need?" Anni breathed. She really hoped she wouldn't wake Shizuo, and she didn't want to tell Alex about what happened yet. The quicker she could hang up and go back to her comfort the better.

"I just wanted to bug you and find out what's been going on. I also have something I need to tell you, if you have the time."

"I wanna go back to sleep."

"Fine, call me when you're awake then. Don't forget, or I'll start calling you at 3am again."

"Ya" Anni agreed, hanging up. Her phone stayed in her clutch while she returned her hand to its previous home under Shizuo's shoulder blade.

"How're you feeling?" her pillow asked.

"I'm sorry I woke you" Anni whispered, still unmoving.

"I've been awake for 'bout an hour now, don't worry about it. How are you feeling?" he repeated. Anni took a moment to answer.

"I'm… better than before" she admitted. She was far from being well again, she hadn't dealt with anything, much less the damn informant who'd set her up. Her pillow had decided he was going to get up, so Anni got out of the way while he extracted himself from the couch. He was still wearing the same bloodstained outfit, though his glasses, bowtie, phone and other assorted pocket fillers sat on the coffee table, along with her knife. He stood on the other side of the table, facing away form her with his hands stuffed in his empty pockets.

"Did the scumbag say anything to suggest he had help from someone else?" Shizuo turned his head just in time to see her flinch.

"The first thing he said was that a 'little birdy' had told him I was your girlfriend" Anni said carefully, closing her eyes. As usual, the change was noticeable even without seeing him. He reached down to retrieve his phone then headed for the door.

"I'll be back later. I have to go kill that good-for-nothing flea first" he said as he left. Even if it would screw up the storyline, she still hoped he got his hands around Izaya's neck this time. Left to her own devices, Anni decided to scrub away the feeling of the scumbag's hands then call her brother.

-!DRRR!-

Alex wasn't at all surprised when his phone went off. It had only been an hour since he'd called her. "Awake already?" he chided in greeting.

"I need to talk to you, but you said you had something too, so you should go first" came his sister's soft voice.

"Anni, you still sound absolutely horrid. What happened?"

"We'll get to that. Say your thing first" she ordered. Alex ran his fingers back through his hair. He hadn't been looking forward to this.

"It's about what I arranged the day I left Ikebukuro." He was met with silence. "Still there?"

"I had entirely forgotten about that."

"Remember how you told me not to do anything stupid?"

"You did something REALLY stupid, didn't you?" Anni accused, using something other than that weak, defeated tone for once.

"Ya. I went and made a deal with Izaya-"

"ALEXANDER!" He jerked the phone away from his ear. Ow. Anni was crying when he brought the phone back.

"What the hell happened?!" he demanded frantically.

"Tell me what you did. Tell me EXACTLY what you said" Anni demanded in return, near hysterics.

"I traded him spoilers for your safety, now tell me what happened to you!" He was once again left without a response, but this time he could at least hear his sister's labored breaths. "Anni, please."

"It didn't work, Alex" she said, her voice once again weak. What had Izaya done? What in the world could he have arranged to break her down like this?

"What did he do?" he asked slowly, terrified of the answer.

"He found someone who had a grudge against Shizuo. I think it was one of the people he beat up who wouldn't pay. He found this perverted bastard, and told him I was Shizuo's girlfriend, and where I lived. He was going to use me as leverage against Shizuo, and he planned on…" Anni gasped a sob. When she had enough control over herself to speak again, she continued. "If Shizuo hadn't found me…" Alex could only listen in horror and shock.

"I'm coming back out."

"Alex, I'm safe now-"

"I'm going to give that back-stabber a taste of his own medicine" he growled. Even if Izaya's intention was purely to get at Shizuo, he'd gotten Anni hurt, which very directly violated their agreement.

"What did you tell Izaya?" she asked slowly.

"I let him ask a few questions in exchange for leaving us both alone."

"Exactly how many is a few?" Anni accused.

"Three. He asked about his safety, if he was right about Celty being a Valkyrie, and if there were any more universe-hoppers like us."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I told him about [spoilers from x2]. I couldn't exactly fully answer his second question, so I told him about the limit of our information instead. For the last one, I told him there shouldn't be any more of us."

"Did you not tell him about the black eye Simon gave him at the end of the yellow scarves arc?" Anni asked once he was done.

"That hardly counts as a threat to his safety. He just got told off in russian and was sent on his way" Alex dismissed.

"It would count to him, you idiot!"

"Damn it" Alex sighed after a minute of consideration. "This is my fault then. If he thought I gave him any false info, he would take it out on you…" They were both quiet for while.

"We're even now" Anni stated simply.

"The prank wars are really over, then" Alex laughed, his head propped up on his hand. "I'm sorry" he said after his laughter faded.

"It's ok."

"Would you like me to come out again?"

"No. I should be ok here on my own" Anni said. Silence fell between them again. "Hey Jamesy-face."

"Ya?"

"I love you, you idiot" she said softly. Alex smiled at that.

"I love you too, Little Anni" he said, hearing her hang up shortly afterwards. Alex didn't move for a while.

-!DRRR!-

Shizuo found the flea while on his way to Shinjuku to punch his face in. "Shizu-chan" the informant called, pissing him off even more. "Is that Anni-chan's blood on your precious uniform?"

"Did you send that slime after her?" He wasn't in the mood for banter.

"Do you think I would be wrong to hold up my end of a deal?" the flea asked, avoiding his question.

"That's got nothing to do with this" he growled.

"But it does! I made a deal with her brother you see. We agreed that Anni-chan would stay safe if he gave me some very specific information."

"If you were supposed to make sure she was safe, why did you send that slime after her?" he demanded, losing his patience. Izaya wasn't making any sense.

"I didn't send anyone after her. Someone approached me asking for information on her, so I did my job" the flea explained. "Besides, the information Alexander gave me fell through. There was no more reason for me to protect her" he continued, his tone darkening. "I don't like being played for a fool."

"So you targeted her for revenge?" Shizuo snarled, losing his temper. He freed a nearby street sign from the ground and charged.

"Surely that shouldn't surprise you." Izaya dodged with ease. The flea led him on another chase, finding his safety outside Russia Sushi where Simon stopped their fight. The flea got away again.

Shizuo stalked back towards home, frustrated. He opened his apartment to find Anni sitting stiffly on the edge of the couch, with an expression that mirrored his own. She was glaring down at her knife, which hadn't moved from where he left it when he emptied his pockets last night. The little blonde spared him a glance before returning to staring down the blade.

"I'm sick of being weak" she stated, the emotions on her face seeping into her voice. He could tell she had more to say, so he took off his shoes and sat beside her without comment. "I'm tired of being such a wimp that someone who's still recovering from a fight with YOU can disarm me and throw me around without a care in the world. I'm tired of needing to rely on everyone else to protect me. I want to get stronger." Anni turned to meet his eyes. "I want to be strong enough to protect myself. Can you help me?" she asked, her expression set and determined. She looked ready to take on an army to get what she wanted, when just a few hours ago she'd been depending entirely on him to save her from the horrors in her own head. Now that was a turn around he could respect.

"I probably wouldn't be able to help you very much myself, but I know somewhere you can train" he replied. Anni's face lit up.

"Thank you" she breathed.

-A/N-

I'm so sorry I had to crack the fourth wall like that. While I can assume everyone who reads this has seen all of the first season or is willing to deal with spoilers, I can't assume everyone has seen second season. If you have, you know approximately what would be mentioned. I promise to issue a warning the chapter before I start in with the story line of X2 Sho, but that's still a while off. I'm doing my best to keep this all as canon as possible.

On another note, thank you for getting this far! It means a lot to me that people are willing to tolerate this much of my little abomination. If there's anything you think I do terribly, or plot holes you would like to point out, or something about the characters that bugs you, please feel free to leave a review or contact me. I always appreciate the feedback.

Anyway, if you're enjoying, keep on!

Edited by my dear friend Faded Phoenix