All right, this is it. Tech Support ended last month, but I promised a sequel. This is it: Attenuation.

Disclaimer: I did not get ownership of Durarara for Christmas, so I still don't own anything but my OCs.

Izaya scowled as he ran through Ikebukuro. He'd known that it easy risky to enter the city after the scene he and Shizuo had put on two weeks before, when they had destroyed even more of the city than usual… and he had begun ignoring the technician who had held most of his attention before that.

Since informing Shizuo of his intent to go underground, Izaya had not had any contact with Arlua Teki. No, make that since he had found out about the threat from her former friend and coworker, Netsuke Homerun. Specifically, if the Homeron believed Izaya and Arlua were working against her – the woman had a serious case of paranoia – then she would order them both killed.

Since Izaya hadn't managed to pinpoint who the individuals who were taking their orders from Netsuke, he had kept his distance from the technician, even refusing to answer the one time she had come by his office.

He wondered if she knew about the threat from her former friend.

But none of that was the reason for his frustration at the moment.

Why did they have to be together today of all days? he grumbled to himself as he ducked to avoid a flying billboard and sidestepped the bullet aimed at his feet.

Behind him, he heard Shizuo's familiar roar of fury and the newly-recognizable muted cough of Tania Yuuki's handgun.

I really hope that's not live ammo, he thought as he weaved from side to side, trying to make it harder for her to shoot him.

"IZAYA! COME BACK HERE YOU DAMN FLEA!" Shizuo yelled. If Izaya had been in the mood to make a snappy retort like usual, it would have been drowned out by the sound of tearing metal. Izaya risked a glance over his shoulder and saw his blond enemy hefting a piece of guard rail.

Then the bullet hit his hip. He hissed and fell. The sound of her silenced weapon must have been covered by the sound of Shizuo mangling the guard rail, he realized as he caught himself just before hitting the pavement. As the information broker scrambled to his feet, he felt slender, strong fingers wrap around his wrist, preventing him from retrieving his switch blade as he had been about to do.

"Quit running and listen for two seconds, flea," Tania's voice ordered.

"Why should I do that, Yuki?" he inquired, twisting his wrist out of her grip.

"Because it's about Arlua," she replied. Izaya hid a frown and raised an eyebrow.

"If you haven't noticed, the technician and I aren't in contact anymore," he reminded her.

"I know. That's the problem. I'm sure you've dealt with everything that happened with her coworker, but she hasn't. She pretending it didn't happen. She's even pretending she doesn't know you." Izaya wanted to run, but then he noticed that Shizuo, who would usually be glaring at him and practically smoking from his ears even with Tania to calm him down, looked… worried.

So Izaya allowed himself a frown and tried to figure out why these two – two of the people in Ikebukuro who hated him most – had chased him down together and now instead of shooting him again or throwing any large and usually immovable objects at him, they were watching him worriedly.

He remembered something Tania had said.

"She's pretending she doesn't know me? I'm insulted," he murmured, putting some space between himself and the people who had been chasing him just a moment before. "But you're right; I have dealt with all the trouble Homeron caused."

"Well Arlua hasn't. She's ignoring it, like I said, and it's your fault for biding from her," Tania accused. Izaya smirked.

"I'm not hiding. I just have nothing to say to her," he said.

"Liar," Tania accused. "Now listen, she mopes and pretends she's not. I think she's bored. Nothing challenges her anymore, and she still hasn't gotten a new job – not because she hasn't had offers, but because none of them interest her. Now fix it."

"How am I supposed to fix her being bored? And why should I?" he demanded.

"I'm sure you can think of something. But if not, text me. I've got an idea," she added, turning away. Izaya blinked.

"I don't have your phone number," he pointed out. Tania glanced over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

"You're an informant. Do your job and you'll be fine," she told him. Then she took Shizuo's hand, and the two walked away side by side as if they hadn't just chased him through the city to tell him that. And as if she hadn't just shot him. Which reminded him… he turned his attention to the small wound on his hip and decided he would drop by Shinra's before he went home. It wasn't painful or bleeding a lot, but he knew it would limit his mobility. Good thing Tania used birdshot with her silenced handgun.