Chapter 6:

Snagged Thread

Wow, this chapter has been a major battle for me. As always, I'm sorry these take so long. I actually had to rewrite this chapter more times then I can count and it still ended up being about 3x longer than ANY previous chapter in the story. Anyway, thank you all for your kind words, support, and interest in my work. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Shizuo walked into Izaya's office casually after another long day of work. It had been hell on him waiting all week, but the day had finally come. He went through the now annoying but routine process of turning the key in the desk drawer, pushing the revealed button on the bookshelf, and walking down the damn spiral stair case that always made him dizzy. He paused at the base of the stairs, regained his equilibrium, and walked into the lab.

Right on cue, he heard the voice of Izaya's body near the computer as it turned to bow and greet him. "Hello, Shizuo-san. How was your day?"

Shizuo took a seat in the chair by the computer. "Busy, boring, and annoying, same as usual."

Izaya's body gave its hollow imitation of a chuckle and its fake smile. "Hahaha, I see."

Shizuo looked Izaya's body over slowly under his sunglasses. It had finished aging right on time, just like it said it would. Izaya's body was now fully grown and it looked exactly like it had the last time he'd seen Izaya. That meant that it really was time to finish all of this shit. He looked Izaya's body in the eyes, his tone serious. "It's been a week now. That means it's time, right?"

The fake smile was replaced by the usual emotionless, serious look that Izaya's body usually had on its face. "Yes. Thank you for being patient with me." It looked at the large computer screen and its eyes flicked back and forth as it brought up the list it had shown Shizuo before. The list displayed on the screen read just as it had before:

1) Voice. 2) Thought Patterns. 3) Emotions. 4) Memories. 5) Body.

Shizuo looked at the list, three of the items now scratched off. The only things remaining were emotions and memories. How the hell was he supposed to get those? It's not like Izaya had a microchip in his head that recorded things…at least he hoped not, 'cause that would be pretty damn messed up. "So…what do you need me to get?"

Izaya's body looked back at him. "I need you to retrieve Orihara Izaya's brain."

Shizuo's eyes widened a bit in shock. Some part of him should have expected that. Really, it was pretty obvious. The only way to get stuff like that would probably be to cut open and scan the brain (or whatever the computer would do with it). But…for one, the thought alone was pretty morbid and disgusting…then there was the way it had been said- like it was the most natural request in the world (then again, the computer really only had one tone of voice, so everything sounded that way). Shizuo knew that the request was genuine and that there likely wouldn't be any other way, otherwise Izaya's body would have given him alternatives. He wasn't really sure how to respond, so he just nodded to let Izaya's body know it could continue.

Izaya's body looked back at the computer and pulled up an image of Shinra. "My records show that my other self had an agreement with one Kishitani Shinra in the event of Orihara Izaya dying before him. He should still have the brain, among other things, in his possession."

Shizuo looked at Shinra's picture on the computer screen and remembered what he'd seen at Izaya's funeral. "Yeah…he took the brain home with him. I'll go ask him for it." He got up and started heading to the door, but stopped and looked back when he heard Izaya's body speaking to him.

"One more thing, Shizuo-san: Please do not tell him why you need Orihara Izaya's brain."

"Huh?" Okay, that would certainly complicate things a lot more than Shizuo was hoping. "Why the hell not?"

Izaya's body gestured to the computer it was still connected to, then over to the tubes that the body had come from. "None of this technology is legal yet in this country- or many others, for that matter. Orihara Izaya requested that the number of people who knew about it be kept to a maximum of two. Not counting myself, since I will technically BE Orihara Izaya soon, you are the only other person who knows about this lab- meaning that the maximum number of people has been met."

"Of course..." Shizuo grumbled in an irritated tone as he headed for the staircase. "Should've known…damn flea never does anything legal…" He waved passively over his shoulder before he was out of sight of the computer-brained body and headed up the spiral staircase. "Alright, alright, I won't tell him anything."

Izaya's body called to him in its best imitation of a cheerful voice. "Thank you, Shizuo-san! Best of luck!"

Shizuo grunted a half-assed reply that didn't really matter if Izaya's body heard it or not. He was too busy trying to think about how he could get Shinra to give him Izaya's brain without having to resort to brute force. His mind ran through various possibilities as he walked up into the house, then continued trying to think of something as he started the long walk to Shinra and Celty's apartment.

He was more than aware that he could just storm in, grab what he needed, then get out before Shinra and Celty had time to react, but he really didn't want to do that to them. Shinra was one of the only- no, scratch that, he was the ONLY doctor left in town that Shizuo could go to. On top of that, Shinra and Celty were two of the very few people that Shizuo actually considered to be his friends. They had never been scared off by his monstrous strength. He could usually talk to them about anything that was on his mind. Especially Celty, he noted, since they always vented to each other whenever they were annoyed or bothered by regular people or just needed to talk to someone who wouldn't judge them for their odd strength and abilities. What's more, the two of them had been there for him the most since Izaya's death. Even though he didn't want to talk to them about how he felt, he really did appreciate how they checked up on him or took the time to talk to him if they passed him on the street.

With all of this in mind, he knew that he couldn't bring himself to just bust into their apartment and steal something. Especially since it would likely result in him having to fight Celty- something he REALLY wanted to avoid, if he could. He could probably try waiting until they both went out then sneak in….No, that wouldn't work. Shizuo wasn't really the "sneak in, take something, and sneak back out before anyone noticed without leaving a trace" kind of guy. Even if he tried to be sneaky about it and wait until they left, he didn't know how to pick locks or any of that other stuff he'd seen in bad spy movies. Knowing him, he'd probably end up breaking the door knob, turning the place upside down as he looked, and, even if he managed to find the brain before Shinra and/or Celty got back, he probably wouldn't be able to put everything back where he'd found it correctly. He'd either get busted when they saw the broken doorknob or when they saw their moved furniture. Either way, sneaking in definitely wasn't an option.

As he looked up at the apartment complex he felt he'd reached far too soon, Shizuo realized that he was left with only one option: talking to them. He started up the stairs, wishing he had a cigarette right about now to take the edge off of everything. He knew this wouldn't end well. He wasn't the best with words in a GOOD situation…and this was far from good…

He hesitated only a second at the door before knocking. He had to get this over with. One way or another, he needed that brain if he was going to get Izaya back.

The door opened and he was greeted by the surprised but pleased face of Dr. Kishitani Shinra. "Oh, Shizuo! It's been a while! Come on in!"

Shizuo nodded a bit but didn't verbally return the greeting as he walked in. He still wasn't sure how exactly he was going to phrase his oddly morbid request.

Shinra closed the door behind him and walked with him to the living room. "So, what brings you all the way out here, Shizuo?" He gave Shizuo a quick once-over, ruling out the need for medical attention. "You don't seem to be bleeding or dealing with a gun-shot wound this time."

Shinra took a seat on the couch and, to Shizuo's slight disappointment, next to Celty. He was really hoping she wouldn't be there- if it was just Shinra, then he could probably avoid a fight breaking out if things didn't go the way he hoped. Having Celty there complicated things a bit…

The dullahan in question looked up from the magazine in her lap and waved to Shizuo. She was in her usual black rider-suit, minus the helmet, gloves, and shoes, and she had the zipper down more than she usually allowed when she was out on her bike (Probably part of why so many people mistook her for a guy, Shizuo thought briefly). While Shizuo already knew about her head not being there, it was still a bit different actually seeing her bare from the neck up and watching the black, shadowy, smoke-like vapors that flowed out from the top of her neck.

Shizuo sat in the arm chair across from the couch, briefly glancing around the apartment to see if he could spot the brain (he was glad he hadn't taken off his sunglasses yet, those really came in handy when he didn't want people to know where he was looking). He didn't see the brain on display anywhere, leaving him torn between being annoyed that he may actually have to look around for it if things went south and being a little relieved that Shinra had the decency not to display a dead friend's brain out in the open for all to see.

His attention was snapped back to the strange but happy couple sitting on the couch when he heard the familiar sound of Celty typing on her phone before she turned it toward Shizuo. "How have you been lately, Shizuo? It seems like every time I see you lately, you're working."

Shizuo read over the text and nodded a bit. It was true, after all, he'd been constantly busy lately. "Yeah, I've had a lot to do…lots of overtime at work and stuff…" Well, there were the pleasantries out of the way. Now he'd have to deal with the question he'd been dreading and still didn't have a good answer-

"So, what brings you here, Shizuo? It's a bit odd having you drop in unannounced without blood being involved." Of course, Shizuo figured, Shinra WOULD be the one to bring it up in that annoyingly cheerful voice of his.

"Um…well….the thing is…" Shizuo took a breath and sighed. Might as well get straight to the point, right?

He looked at Shinra, speaking in the most even tone he could muster. "You and Izaya made a deal before he died, right? You got some of his organs and stuff…?" He continued after Shinra gave him a nod and a confused look. "Do you have his…brain?" He hesitated just slightly on the last word (it still felt weird to ask about it).

Shinra nodded again and adjusted his glasses, giving Shizuo an utterly perplexed look. "Yes, I do. It's in my medical freezer." He spoke slowly and carefully, as if he was uncertain about telling Shizuo this information without knowing his intentions. His next words, however, were accompanied by a quizzical look and a tinge of concern in his voice "Why are you asking…?"

Shizuo paused for a minute and took off his sunglasses, tucking them into his pocket. "….." He looked at them seriously, letting them see how exhausted he really was. He didn't like people to see him as desperate or weak, but he really felt that way at this point and was hoping it would make his request seem more serious. "I need you to give me Izaya's brain."

Shinra blinked in surprise and stared at him for a while. Shizuo couldn't blame him, really. He did just ask him something REALLY fucking weird. He glanced over at Celty for a moment and noticed the change in the odd shadows coming from her neck. He briefly imagined that if she had eyes she'd probably be giving him the same look as Shinra right now…

Between the two of them, Celty was the quickest to recover from the shock. She grabbed her phone and typed quickly, showing the message to Shizuo. "Shizuo…why do you need Izaya's brain?"

The other question Shizuo wasn't sure how to answer…perfect…

"I…can't really tell you guys why…I just…it's really important that I get it, okay…?" He ran his fingers through his hair in slight frustration, wishing even more than before that he had a pack of cigarettes on him right now.

Shinra and Celty looked at each other (at least Shizuo assumed that Celty was looking at Shinra since her neck turned that way a little), and seemed to have a silent conversation. Actually, no, it was more like they both thought the same thing and were looking at each other for confirmation on their thoughts.

Shinra looked back at Shizuo after a minute and spoke in what Shizuo recognized to be that annoying, impersonal voice that so many doctors used when they were trying to say something without outright saying it. "Shizuo…how have you been feeling lately? Have you been resting well? Any headaches or strange dreams or-?"

Shizuo heaved an annoyed sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh, for the love of…no, alright? I'm fan-fucking-tastic. Now stop trying to psycho-analyze me or whatever you're doing, okay?" He hated when doctors tried that shit on him. They'd always done it, ever since he was a kid: they would ask him a bunch of questions that they didn't even need the answers to then try to figure out what was wrong in his head without even giving a damn about what he had to say. "Like I said, I can't tell you guys why- I just need you to give me the damn brain. Okay?" Shizuo was getting seriously weirded out saying "brain" so many times in one day.

Shinra reached into one of the pockets on his coat and pulled out a small notepad and a pen. "Look, Shizuo, I know things have been hard on you lately…" Shizuo watched quietly as Shinra started writing on the first blank page he turned to in the notepad. "I'm going to recommend you to a friend of mine from school. She's an award-winning therapist who specializes in helping people dealing with grief after losing a loved-" He quickly corrected himself when he noticed the glare forming on Shizuo's face. "-losing someone after a tragic accident. She's dealt with everything from depression to obsession to the inability to-"

Shinra was cut off by the loud sound of smashing and breaking as Shizuo slammed his hand down against the armrest of his chair, unintentionally breaking it. He took a deep breath and glanced down at the chair, mumbling an apology. "Sorry..." He looked back at Shinra and Celty. "I'm not crazy, or suicidal, or turning into some sort of obsessive freak, or any of the shit you're trying to avoid saying, Shinra. Now…I'm gonna ask one more time…as a friend…" He looked at Shinra seriously, trying to keep any edge from his previous aggravation out of his voice. "Please give me Izaya's brain."

Shinra frowned a little. "I'm sorry, Shizuo…but I'm worried about your mental state right now. I can't, in good conscience, as your doctor or your friend, give it to you if you're not going to tell me what you intend to do with- Wait, what are you doing, Shizuo?" Shinra stared up at Shizuo as he rose to his feet.

Shizuo looked down at the doctor with an annoyed expression on his face. "I've tried doing this the 'nice' way. Looks like I'll just have to do it MY way." He started walking around the apartment, searching for Shinra's medical freezer. "Just stay the hell out of my way…I'll take the stupid flea's brain and go."

Shizuo could hear Shinra whispering something to Celty as he looked around the apartment. He was heading further back into the apartment when he felt something wrap around his arms in an attempt to hold him back. He looked down in confusion, moving his arms despite the restraints, and saw some sort of black chains wrapped tightly around his arms. His eyes followed the chains and he saw where they were coming from. It really wasn't a surprise (he'd seen Celty do all sorts of things with her powers, including making those gloves for him when he fought those crazy people with the knives), but it was still a little disheartening to see the phantom biker herself holding the other ends of the chains in an attempt to restrain him while the odd doctor stood at her side. Shinra gave him a concerned look, one that Shizuo imagined was also on Celty's not-present face.

Did they really think his judgement was that bad? They were his friends, damn it, couldn't they just give him the benefit of the doubt when he said he wasn't crazy and let him do what he needed to do?

The chains tightening a little more gave Shizuo his answer.

Ignoring the chains again, Shizuo retrieved his sun glasses and put them back on. "….." He looked at Shinra and Celty with what Tom often jokingly referred to as his "game face". It looked like he was going to have to do this the hard way.

Shizuo turned his arms in a quick, sharp motion, bringing the chains close enough to his hands that he could grab them and jerk the surprised Celty forward. "!" Shizuo followed up with his usual method- punching the shit out of his opponent with his monstrous strength. Usually Shizuo would just go with a quick punch to the face and knock his opponent out, but since Celty didn't have a head-at least not one that was attached- he had to go for a hit to the stomach instead. The force of the hit was enough to send Celty flying across the room and break the chains (either from Celty being forced to let go and the magic dissipating or Shizuo's hit being strong enough that the chains snapped when they were jerked, it was hard to tell at the moment), Celty hitting the wall with a solid "thud".

Shinra, ever the good doctor and loyal boyfriend, was at his beloved's side in seconds. "Celty!" He kneeled down to check on her, but she seemed fine. When he looked up at the wall, it wasn't even dented- an odd occurrence with one of Shizuo's punches. It could've been that the force of Shizuo's punch was dulled due to the split-second change of target when hitting Celty's stomach. Or, possibly, it could have been that Shizuo had held back just slightly to avoid injuring Celty too much and causing unnecessary damage to the apartment.

Shizuo looked at Celty as she rose to her feet. "Look, we both know how things are gonna go down if we keep this up. Just stay out of my way and everything'll be fine." He turned and started heading further back into the apartment again, but was stopped once again- this time by a familiar black scythe curved in front of his neck. He glanced back at Celty over his shoulder with a slight scowl. "Really?" She was very quick and very stealthy, there was no doubt about that. There was also no doubt that her strength could come close to matching his if she put some effort into it. If she didn't want him to do something, she could easily continue getting in his way- even if she couldn't outright stop him with brute force. She may even be able to wear him down if they fought for a while. That meant that he'd just have to end this quickly, which was fine with him. "Just so you know…I'm sorry about this…"

He quickly tilted his head down and bit the blade of the scythe, holding it tightly in his jaws as he turned his head and used the momentum to throw Celty and the scythe in front of him where he could see her better. This was a move he'd done plenty of times against opponents with knives, with the only difference being that when he bit a knife like that it usually broke (Celty's scythe was either way too tough for his teeth and jaws to crack or it was made of stronger energy than the chains from before).

Shizuo barely had time to get his arms up before Celty was sprinting right at him with her scythe. He managed to block the first strike using his right forearm to hit the snath (he'd learned that word from Celty one night when they were talking about her scythe- it meant the long pole that made up the body of the scythe), but Celty was quickly able to move into a second attack by swinging the scythe around. Shizuo ended up getting hit with the un-bladed end of the scythe right in the side of the head, causing him to lose his balance just long enough to give Celty an opening to knock him down- and allowing her to press the back of her scythe's blade against his throat in an unspoken but clear warning.

Shizuo scowled a bit. He'd been a bit too careless. Celty was agile and quick, after all, and would probably have finished him if this had been a real fight and not just an attempt at warding him away.

A smirk tugged at Shizuo's lips as the realization dawned on him: Celty wasn't really trying to fight him…which meant that she wouldn't be using all of her strength…and that meant that he could definitely take her. A fight was a fight, even if one opponent didn't see it that way…and, after all, no rules in a fight, right?

He began to raise his hands up as if to surrender, causing Celty to drop her guard for a mere fraction of a second- which is a REALLY bad idea when your opponent is one of the strongest men in the country (and possibly the world). Shizuo used that small window of opportunity to grab the blade of the scythe tightly, not caring if his hands got cut, and pulled the surprised dullahan down onto his quickly extended leg. He used the momentum of his movements to roll backwards and throw her off of him before getting back up into a crouching position then quickly transitioning to standing straight-up again. Celty, Shizuo noticed, had recovered from her shock and used her scythe to stop herself and return to an up-right position as well.

There was a brief moment of tense silence in the room- like when you're in the eye of a heavy storm right before it passes over you and leaves you surrounded by blistering rain and crashing thunder again.

Shizuo clenched his fists and that was all it took for the moment to shatter into a flurry of punches, kicks, slashes, strikes, blocks, and counters.

The two fighters were already building up a hurried but well-timed rhythm to their movements. Celty, being the quicker of the two, would strike at any openings she saw using her scythe. Shizuo, in turn, would block the moves he could tell would knock him back down and just deal with the slight sting of pain from the rest. Then Celty, now on the defensive, would quickly bring her scythe back and use it to block or dodge Shizuo's punches before timing a retaliating strike and starting the process all over again.

Shizuo scowled as he knocked back the scythe again after several repetitions of their fighting sequence, the force making him take a step back. He wasn't getting anywhere like this. He needed to look around for Shinra's medical freezer, but it was kind of hard with the headless scythe-wielder not relenting in her attacks. When he blocked another attack from her and was forced to take another step back, he decided to try changing things up a little.

On his next attack, Shizuo faked Celty out by pretending to go for a fast, straight punch with his right hand that would go into her stomach if successful. Just like he'd hoped, Celty dodged toward his left and, before she could go in for a counter attack, Shizuo managed to shoot his left hand out and grab the death fairy's arm.

If he was reading the smoke coming from her head right, Celty was surprised, which worked out just fine for Shizuo. He used the moment of shock to throw Celty further back into the apartment. Predictably, she was able to recover quickly before hitting a wall, but she didn't have enough to time to charge back towards Shizuo before he came sprinting after her- effectively moving the fight to a new location.

Shizuo took the initiative with the first attack this time, putting enough strength into each punch to ensure that the ones that weren't dodged would push Celty backwards. Too distracted blocking and counter-attacking, Celty didn't notice how far back she'd been pushed until her back connected with a door. Now out of room to dodge, Celty was forced to block Shizuo's next successful punch with both arms- protecting herself from any major damage, but not the door behind her that easily gave way and splintered apart from the force of Shizuo's punch.

Shizuo stepped into the room after Celty, barely having time to glance around between blocking and countering her attacks again. From what he could see around the scythe and through the smoke of the dullahan's neck, it looked like Shizuo and Celty were now in a bedroom. Shizuo looked around the room as he now took on the defensive role in this fight again- doing his best to multitask between blocking, pushing Celty away when possible, staying close to the doorway, and looking around the room for anything that looked like a freezer.

After blocking a series of alternating strikes aimed at his sides, Shizuo concluded that the freezer wasn't in this room and decided it was time to move on. He took the opportunity to leave when Celty raised the scythe for an over-head strike, quickly jumping backwards out of the broken doorway and running to the next door he saw with Celty in hot pursuit.

Now Shizuo had a method for searching the apartment and dealing with the dangerous motorcyclist: He would open (meaning break) a door, knock Celty into the room, and fight with her while looking around for the medical freezer before moving on to the next room and repeating the process. It shouldn't have taken too long to find the freezer this way…except Celty kept slowing down his progress whenever she got the upper hand in the fight and would drive him back a few feet or bind him with some easily broken chains…and the fact that there were so many rooms in this apartment wasn't helping Shizuo at all. (Seriously, though- bedrooms, an office, two bathrooms, closets- the fucking condo felt bigger than his house! Not counting the secret lab, of course.)

After a while, though, Shizuo moved towards the only door that wasn't open (broken) - the brain HAD to be in there! While facing Celty, Shizuo blocked her attacks and steadily moved backwards towards the door with each strike. When his back hit the door (in a sort of "tables turned" image from how he trapped Celty against the first door), Shizuo blocked Celty's over-head strike with one hand and slammed the other one backwards through the door so he could break it open without taking his eyes off of her for too long.

After taking a big step back so he was in the room, Shizuo only had to glance around for an instant to see that this room was different from the others: Cold, hard, smooth floors clearly meant for easy clean up with a drain in the center for liquid to flow down easily. No excessive furniture, pictures on the walls, or any sort of decorations in sight. Overhead lights meant to reduce shadows and provide a clear line of sight from above. And, most noticeably, the unmistakable scent of high-grade disinfectant and rubbing alcohol…like being in a hospital, Shizuo thought. This had to be the place…

Now that Shizuo knew he was in the right room, it was time to actually look around. But, to do that, he needed to first get Celty out of the way. Peering through the smoke rising from her neck while Celty attacked him, Shizuo could see the living room down the hall. An idea started to form…it would be tricky, but if he could pull it off it could give him the time he needed…

On Celty's next attack, Shizuo sprang into action: Shizuo ducked under Celty's scythe when she swung at him and lunged forward instead of stepping back as he had done before. Moving quickly so she couldn't get away, Shizuo practically tackled the surprised dullahan and locked his arms firmly in place around her. Celty tried to free herself from his grip- punching, kicking, attacking with her scythe- but her attempts were in vain against Shizuo's vice grip on her. Shizuo ran as fast as he could down the hall with the struggling phantom rider in his arms- he had to get to the living room before she got free!

As soon as he set foot in the living room, Shizuo immediately pivoted and turned towards the sliding glass doors leading to the balcony outside. Shizuo gripped the fabric of Celty's riding suit tightly and drew his arms back. A part of him did still feel bad for doing this to his friend…he hoped she'd be alright…

"Sorry for this, Celty…"

The mumbled apology was barely heard by the struggling dullahan before she was thrown out of the glass doors and over the balcony, her boyfriend's worried shout of her name following the sound of the glass shattering.

Shizuo took a moment to catch his breath after throwing Celty through the glass doors, watching as Shinra hurried out to the balcony so he could look down and see if his beloved headless lady was okay. Shizuo started heading back to the room he found earlier, doing his best to ignore the bitter taste this whole thing was leaving in his mouth. Celty was tough and would (hopefully) be okay after a fall like that…after all, it's not like she could snap her neck or crack her skull…right…? No, she would be fine. Shizuo kept telling himself that as he stepped back over the broken door of the room, finally getting the chance to take a look around.

There wasn't much to see to this room, over all: In the center of the room was a simple operating table with a wheeled tray of sterilized surgical tools next to it. Against one wall was a simple desk and chair that was likely only used for writing brief notes or filling out quick paperwork since the desk in Shinra's actual office looked a lot more comfortable. Next to the desk was a filing cabinet and next to that was a storage cabinet that likely held more tools and materials necessary for surgery. Against the other wall was what looked like a large stainless steel box plugged into the wall like a meat freezer that Shizuo saw once when he went with Tom to collect a debt from a worker at a butcher shop-wait that was it!

Shizuo walked to the freezer quickly and opened it up. Inside were several glass jars, containers, and canisters of various organs, body parts, liquids, and other things Shizuo didn't care to identify (Seriously, he didn't wanna think about how Shinra had managed to get some of this stuff), all with neat little labels on the front with names of who the various parts came from.

"Ugh, this shit's gross…" Shizuo grumbled while pulling stuff out to make his search easier. He wasn't an anatomy expert, by any means, but Shizuo could still recognize some of the stuff in there- a few hearts, what looked like a messed up lung, some sort red veiny thing (a liver, maybe?), some muscles, a hand (Seriously, why the hell was he keeping some of this stuff?!), some eyeballs- this was taking forever!

Just as Shizuo was about to lose his temper and start throwing the containers out, he saw it. Right there, at the bottom of the freezer wedged between a heart and a lung, was a large canister with something pink and wrinkly looking inside. After moving the other containers aside, Shizuo leaned down into the freezer and pulled out the canister to get a better look at it. Again, he was no anatomy expert, but Shizuo had seen enough cartoons, TV shows, and bad sci-fi movies to recognize a brain when he saw one. He turned the canister in his hands and looked it over, noting the name written on a neat little label on the front: Orihara Izaya.

"Izaya…" Shizuo's fingers lingered on the frosty glass of the canister for a moment. This was still really gross and morbid…but, the thought that he was essentially holding what made Izaya who he was in his hands was hard to ignore. It wasn't quite the same as holding the REAL Izaya, far from it…but it served as a mile-marker, so to speak. Now that he had this, Izaya could come back and everything could go back to how it was before.

After taking a breath to calm himself down, Shizuo started to leave. He still had to get this brain back home and take it down to the lab. Hopefully whatever the computer-brained Izaya-body needed to do get the emotions and memories out of his brain wouldn't take too long. He really wanted Izaya back as soon as pos-

Shizuo's train of thought was suddenly interrupted as he entered the living room again. A series of large black chains had begun wrapping around his body and were currently pinning his arms to his sides. He turned his head to look behind him at the source of the chains and saw Celty, who had apparently used the chains to climb back up to the apartment quickly, charging at him with her scythe. Shizuo barely had time to struggle before Celty rammed the blunt end of her scythe's snath directly into his temple and everything went black.

Shizuo's body felt heavy when he started to regain consciousness. How long had he been out? His head was killing him and he felt something wet on his forehead…

As he tried to bring his hand up to touch his aching head and wipe away the liquid, Shizuo realized he couldn't move. When he opened his eyes to see what was going on, everything looked tilted and out of focus. He could hear sounds, kind of like people talking, but it was muted and far away. Between his sight and hearing, Shizuo felt like he was underwater but still able to breath. He could also smell iron…blood, probably...must've hit his head or something and split the skin a bit…

Doing his best to focus and look around, Shizuo could see that he was on something solid…the floor, maybe? Yeah, this felt like a floor since he was lying flat against it. He could see something shiny on the floor in front of his face…familiar round shapes…oh, wait, those were his sunglasses…must have gotten knocked off of his face when he got hit…That's right, he was starting to leave with Izaya's brain when Celty hit him from behind. His vision slowly coming back into focus, but still a little blurry, Shizuo could see two pairs of feet and legs a couple of feet in front of him…Shinra and Celty, he realized, when he saw the general colors of their clothing…they were talking about something, but everything still sounded muffled and far away so he couldn't tell…

Shizuo tried to move again, but still couldn't. He managed to tilt his head down enough to look at himself but all he could see was some sort of strange black tarp. When he tried to move his hands, Shizuo could feel the tarp against his skin, but it felt like something more solid was holding his body down. Celty had used chains to bind him earlier before she knocked him out…

He looked back up towards Shinra and Celty, adjusting his head so he could see a bit higher up. He could see up to Shinra's mouth and around the area of Celty's neck now…he could also see the canister containing Izaya's brain being held in Shinra's hands…

Damn it all! He'd finally gotten his hands on it and he got too careless again…

Shinra and Celty were probably talking about what to do with Shizuo now. Were they going to call the police? Maybe have him committed to some looney bin? And what would they do with Izaya's brain? Just shove it back into the freezer again? What about Izaya's body waiting for him back in the lab? It couldn't leave the lab yet…would it just stay there, waiting for Shizuo to get back with Izaya's brain? What if Shizuo was committed or locked away for life and could never go home? Would Izaya's body just wait down there forever?

Izaya…he had gotten so close to having him back…the body was done…he just needed that brain…needed to get Izaya back…needed Izaya back…needed Izaya…

Shizuo grit his teeth. "Damn it…!" He had not come this far, dealt with everything up to this point, just to fail when Izaya was practically right in front of him!

He began to flex his arms, pulling at the chains that were binding him. The chains didn't give easily, but Shizuo was pissed and determined now and no damn chains were going to keep him down- no matter what black magic bullshit they were made out of!

He managed to get his arms underneath him and started to push up off of the ground, slowly moving his legs too. It was hard to get up like this- the chains were solid and much stronger than what Celty grabbed him with before, not to mention the tarp was strong but flexible, making it even harder to push against. He just needed to get his legs underneath him a bit more…got it!

Shizuo managed to drag his legs forward enough to get them underneath his stomach. He was a little dizzy as he started to push up into a crawling position, but everything was starting to come back into focus now.

Apparently Shinra and Celty had noticed this, too, because Shinra was speaking in a nervous tone. "He…He's getting up…?! I thought you said that was impossible!"

Shizuo couldn't tell if Celty replied or not (he couldn't understand her like Shinra could), but he felt more chains wrapping around him from outside of the tarp to hold him down. They didn't do much good, though- Shizuo just kept getting up. He managed to plant one foot flat against the ground and started pushing up to stand. It was hard to do, even with his strength. It felt like he was trying to lift a skyscraper with every movement, but he kept going. He faltered a few times while trying to get his other foot under him, but he eventually managed it and was able to stand up straight.

Everything had stopped spinning now and Shizuo was able to focus on getting free. Celty kept adding more chains to hold him, the tarp and chains wrapping around him instead of trying to pin him to the ground now that he was upright- but a few of the chains were trying to latch him to the ground, just in case. Shizuo ignored them as he started taking slow, heavy steps toward Shinra and Celty.

"Give…him...to...me…!" He growled out through his gritted teeth, his voice rough from the strain he was under.

He must have looked terrifying to them: Wrapped in chains but still moving. His steps heavy and loud like large stones being dropped onto the floor. Blood on his face. His voice rough and teeth bared. The anger and frustration clearly visible on his face.

Like an enraged demon being kept from its stolen treasure.

Celty stood protectively in front of Shinra with her scythe ready, clearly worried about what Shizuo might do despite his bound arms. Soon enough, though, Shizuo proved that she was right to be cautious of him.

With a primal shout of anger, frustration, and effort that bordered on a roar, Shizuo began to flex his muscles and push his arms outwards. The chains struggled to keep him bound, the links tense and straining to stay together in the face of Shizuo's power and determination. Shizuo summoned every ounce of strength in his body, exerting more force against his bindings than he'd used on anything else in his entire life.

All at once, everything gave way like an explosion had happened around Shizuo's body. The tarp burst open before disintegrating and the busted chains shot out like a shrapnel bomb before disintegrating like the tarp.

This left Shizuo, panting heavily, standing in front of Shinra and Celty with his arms straight out on either side of him. "…."

He took a step forward and Celty tried to attack him again, to stop him, but Shizuo was done playing around. He clenched his fist and swung it to the side with as much force as he could muster, hitting Celty in the shoulder and sending her flying back outside through the already broken glass door. She wouldn't be back to stop him this time. Before, he had thrown her out with the intent of just getting her out of the building and down to the ground or something. This time, though, he wanted her as far away as possible and hit her with enough force to send her at least four or five blocks away (if she didn't hit any tall buildings). She'd probably be sore for a while, but she'd heal quickly. Despite how frustrating fighting her was, Celty was still Shizuo's friend and he only wanted her out of the way, not dead or stranded in the middle of town without her helmet and motorcycle.

With Celty out of the way, Shizuo now turned his attention to Shinra.

Shinra looked stunned, shocked even. His eyes were wide with a mixture of surprise, worry, scientific curiosity (he always got that way when he saw Shizuo use his inhuman strength), and the slightest bit of fear. He flinched slightly when Shizuo held out a hand towards him expectantly.

"Hand it over. Now, Shinra." Shizuo's voice was tired and frustrated, but the authority in those words was backed by the strength that Shinra had just witnessed.

Shinra was no fool. He had been around unnatural people his entire life- his dad, Celty, Izaya, Shizuo, hell, he even counted himself in that category as far as mentality went- and, after a lifetime of dealing with people who were so capable of both great and terrible things, Shinra had learned when he could control a situation and when he couldn't. At that moment, he knew instantly that this was a situation he had absolutely no control over or say in. So, he placed the canister containing Izaya's brain in Shizuo's hand and stepped away to show that he wasn't going to try anything to stop him from leaving.

Shizuo tucked the canister underneath his arm and (finally) wiped the blood off of his face with his free hand. He then kneeled down and picked his sunglasses up off of the floor, distantly pleased to see that they hadn't gotten broken or too dirty. He put them back on and started heading towards the front door (the only non-broken door in the whole apartment now).

He paused when he had his hand on the doorknob and turned his head to look back at Shinra. "Sorry for all of this…tell Celty I'm sorry, too, when she gets back…" With that he opened the door and left the (now ruined) apartment. "Send me the repair bill."

Shizuo made his way down the spiral staircase to the lab at the bottom. He was sore, tired, battered and bruised, and in desperate need of either a full carton of cigarettes or a really strong drink. Despite all of this, though, he walked with an unmistakable aura of victory- he won and was bringing back his prize.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Shizuo saw Izaya's body in front of the computer again. It seemed to be working on a few programs and hadn't noticed him coming in.

"Oi! I'm back." He called out as entered the room, getting Izaya's body to look away from the screen.

"Oh, welcome back, Shizuo-san. How did everything g-Oh my…" Izaya's body stopped mid-question when it finally saw Shizuo, putting on its imitation of a concerned expression. "Are you okay, Shizuo-san? You appear to have sustained several minor to medium-level injuries and have traces of blood on your face."

Shizuo shrugged and took his usual seat. "Don't worry about it. I've had worse." He held up the canister. "Here, I've got it."

Izaya's body took the canister and looked it over. "Excellent work, Shizuo-san. I trust you remembered not to mention anything about the equipment down here or the reason you needed Orihara Izaya's brain?"

Shizuo rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses and grumbled bitterly. "Yeah, yeah, I kept my mouth shut…and paid like hell for it…"

He mumbled the last part and the computer-controlled body didn't respond in any way to indicate whether he heard him or not. It was far too preoccupied examining the brain in the canister. After glancing over it manually, Izaya's body went to the computer as programs began to open and start on the screen. A large panel on the body of the computer opened and Izaya's body placed the canister inside, allowing the panel to close again before looking back at the screen and controlling the programs with the occasional flick or blink of its eyes. Soon enough, what looked like x-ray images began to display on the screen.

Shizuo sat and watched silently for a while, but got bored and decided to ask about what was on the screen. "So, what's with all the pictures and stuff? It's still going to work, right?"

Izaya's body nodded briefly as it worked, eyes never leaving the screen. "I am scanning the brain for any sustained damage or areas of decay. Also, I am mapping out the areas where Orihara Izaya's memories and emotions are located, so that I do not need to waste time looking later on."

Shizuo made a sound of acknowledgement, understanding most of what was said and content to sit and wait a bit longer.

This changed in a minute, however, when one x-ray picture of the brain popped up with red areas highlighted and Izaya's body muttered to itself. "Uh oh…"

Shizuo looked up at the picture and stood from his seat, walking closer to the computer to stand next to Izaya's body. "What's the "uh oh" for? What's with the red marks?" The words "uh oh" and the color red together were hardly ever a good thing.

Izaya's body looked over the picture for a moment before answering Shizuo's question. "The brain seems to have suffered from decay. While it was properly preserved once it was received by Kishitani Shinra, the process of decomposition had already started. Freezing the brain stopped the decaying process just before it reached the necessary areas of the brain…"

Shizuo eyed Izaya's body questioningly. "That's a good thing, right? The parts we need are still okay, so what's the problem?"

Izaya's body shook its head a bit and sighed. "The problem is that the process by which I will extract the necessary information from the brain is quite long and will require allowing the brain to thaw before I can begin. We do not have the proper equipment here to re-freeze the brain without damaging it and I am only able to work on one section of the brain at a time, so, by the time I will be finished with one, the other one will have decayed."

Shizuo frowned a bit. He knew what that meant, but he had to ask anyway. "So…that means you can only save one part…?"

Izaya's body nodded. "I am afraid so, Shizuo-san." Two areas on the picture of the brain's x-ray were highlighted in yellow as Izaya's body spoke. "This area is for memories…and this one is for emotions…" After letting the information sink in for a moment, Izaya's body looked at Shizuo again. "Shizuo-san…which area do you think I should save?"

Shizuo blinked in surprise and stared at Izaya's body for a minute. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because I recognize the merits of having both memories and emotions and find them equal in terms of value. In other words- I cannot decide which one is more necessary for me to become Orihara Izaya."

Well…that answer was simple and to the point…if only Shizuo could give one back as easily…

As he looked at the picture again, Shizuo was unsure of what to say. Emotions or memories? Both were an important part of who Izaya was as a person.

From what Shizuo knew about Izaya's life, his childhood had been fairly simple. But, after he reached middle school all sorts of changes started happening. Shizuo didn't know or ask much about Izaya's life I general. Izaya rarely talked about his past, so Shizuo only knew bits and pieces from what Shinra and Izaya's sisters had told him before. Then, for the longest time, Shizuo and Izaya weren't exactly on the best of terms and Shizuo's knowledge of Izaya was limited to their fights. Even after they got together, Izaya wasn't really one to talk about his day-to-day life since his business involved being able to keep secrets when necessary (mostly so he could sell them later). He always felt like if he was supposed to know something, then Izaya would tell him about it, right? That's how he'd always felt before…but now it was a problem…if Izaya didn't remember who he was or what had happened in his life, then there wasn't much that Shizuo could tell him if he had questions. Also, a voice in the back of his mind wondered if Izaya would still want to be with someone like him if he didn't remember who Shizuo was and what they were to each other…

On the other hand, even if Izaya remembered who he was, would he even care about their history together without his emotions? Izaya was an interesting and unique person because of how he thought and how he felt about people and the world around him. Izaya loved humans, he had said that quite often. He loved watching their reactions as he pulled their strings and caused chaos to blossom around them. He loved challenging the ones that interested him to see if they would meet his expectations or turn out to just be ordinary people. He was a sadistic guy who loved to do as he pleased with a grand design and goal that only he could see. Most people would be crazy to find any part of that personality good, let alone be attracted to it…then again, Shizuo had never been 100% okay in the head, anyway. He liked watching the twisted gears turning in Izaya's head when he was plotting something (planning sounded too nice for what Izaya liked to do). He liked how they would clash over just about everything- it never took long for a fight to break out when the two of them were in a room…but Shizuo enjoyed his fights with Izaya…it was true that he didn't like violence (despite the way he acts when he gets mad), but there was just something special about how Izaya made his blood boil to the point that objects went flying and knives were drawn.

Shizuo ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed in irritation. No matter which one he picked, in the end he still wouldn't have the actual Izaya- only part of him. He really wasn't in the mood to think about this…

When he leaned against what he thought was a free space on the computer console, Shizuo's hand touched something that crumpled slightly from the pressure. "…?" He moved his hand and picked up what he touched, looking it over.

It was the picture that Celty had taken of them at the beach. As Shizuo looked at the picture, he remembered the feeling of his lips against Izaya's and the warmth that filled his chest from that one simple moment of instincts and passion…neither of them had thought about what they were doing at the moment, it had just happened naturally with no thoughts of their past or their future…

"Shizuo-san?" Shizuo was brought back to the present situation by Izaya's voice coming from his body. "What do you think we should do, Shizuo-san?"

As Shizuo listened to the body that looked like Izaya but spoke with the monotone voice of the machine it was connected to- a voice lacking any knowledge of who Shizuo was outside of their interactions and lacking any interest in anything aside from an answer- and held the picture of a moment that meant so much to him, Shizuo's choice was clear…