The longer he stayed here the more he wanted to go out and find Shizu. While he sat here in this bed, staring at the ceiling, he was still feeling terrible for leaving her like that. The more he thought, the more he wondered if he really could have saved both Shizu and Elias. However, as much as he hated himself right now and wanted to go out and find Shizu, he almost didn’t feel bad about his decision to choose Elias over Shizu. Maybe it was because he has known Elias longer than he had Shizu and that he really did not want Shizu to have to hear that Elias was dead. He probably wouldn’t have survived if he and Ivan didn’t get to him when they had. Knowing that they still had a chance made him feel a little better and this time, when he did find Shizu, he was not going to fail.<br/><br/>From that moment forward, he vowed that he would never failed Shizu again. No matter how far away from each other they were, he would protect her. Maybe he sounded selfish, stubborn, and perhaps a little silly, but he didn’t care. He wanted to show that he was capable of keeping his promises. Now, doing so without being reckless wasn’t something he could guarantee. He knew he would do something reckless, as trouble always seems to find him especially when it was the last thing he needed. One of these days he would find a way not to be such a magnet for trouble. It would sure as hell make everyone’s life a lot easier and probably cause Ivan less stress, considering the man felt like he was his babysitter some days.<br/><br/>Letting out a slow exhale, he sat up, rubbing his shoulder a little. It felt a little stiff, but there wasn’t any pain. Whatever drugs they had given him were working out pretty well at least. He was also glad that they had not handcuffed him to the bed like they had in the last place he went to, prior to the war in Israel, when he was injured on the field. That time had been horrible. What they thought was helping, only made things worse and things had escalated into a huge mess. Thinking about it sent a chill down his spine and he shivered a little. He never wanted to experience it again, it was bad enough getting him to a hospital was enough of a struggle; he hated these memories that flooded his mind whenever he was in such an environment. They gave him an almost unbearable headache.<br/><br/>He closed his eyes. He took in a deep breath, slowly counted to three, and then he ripped out his IV and whatever monitors and other shit they had attached to him. The machine next to his bed started to sound an alert, which would alert a doctor or nurse soon. He winced at the sound, holding his head as the noise made his headache worse. He groaned and buried his face in his hands, then took in a deep breath. These drugs were still making him feel like he was still off in some land far away from Earth. He truly hated being drugged when he wasn’t awake to receive it no matter how good they made him feel.<br/><br/>Once he was out of bed and found his balance, finding his equilibrium was still thrown off quite a lot, he looked around to see a nurse running straight for him. Great. That was a lot quicker than he would have liked…<br/><br/>“You need to rest.” The nurse, a young man, said. “I’d estimate it will be another few hours before you’re well enough to leave.”<br/><br/>“No.” He replied. “I am… leaving now.”<br/><br/>“I’m afraid that’s Alice’s decision, not yours, or mine for that matter.”<br/><br/>“I was not… asking for anyone’s permission.”<br/><br/>The tone in Azrai’s voice made the nurse back off a little. “W-well, either way you should rest. I don’t want Alice to walk in and see you up and about. She’d have both of our heads.”<br/><br/>He didn’t care. He wanted out of here and that was all he was focused on right now. This mission was far from over. Once Shizu was found, then he would think about resting. He was sure that Levi would keep her alive, as he was using her to get to him, but that did not help the fact that he was probably tormenting her. That really pissed him off. The sooner he found her, the better.<br/><br/>Despite the nurse’s efforts, Azrai simply refused to listen to him and he walked off to get this ‘Alice’ woman, who was supposedly the head person here from the way she was spoken about, leaving him alone to do as he pleased. Well, this Alice person was just going to have to deal with a patient leaving his bed. This place was beginning to get to him; his entire body was tense and he had to take steady breaths in order to keep calm. Finally, he was able to place one foot in front of the other and find his into the hallway. If he stayed there any longer it would not end well at all. He was already beginning to feel nauseous even with the drugs blocking most of everything out. The other doctors around must have thought there was a zombie walking around.<br/><br/>When he made his way towards the foyer, a thought hit him. He has heard nothing about Elias’s condition and that worried him quite a bit. His mind went straight to the worst case scenario that he had not survived, which he refused to believe. Elias was going to pull through. He just had to. There was no telling what he would do without his good friend, and he didn’t want to think about it either.<br/><br/>“Sir?” Another nurse, a woman who appeared younger than the man, placed a hand on his shoulder. He tensed up immediately. “Sir, you shouldn’t be out here.”<br/><br/>“I will be fine.”<br/><br/>“You don’t look fine. Sir, you have to get back to your bed.”<br/><br/>As soon as her hand moved from his shoulder to his arm, and she began to tug on him, something inside of him snapped again. Between the drugs, being in a place he wanted to get out of, the stress of this mission, desperately needing a drink, and wondering about his friend, he was rather irritable. The last thing he needed was someone touching him.<br/><br/>He turned around quickly and decked the woman.<br/><br/>---------------------------------------<br/><br/>When Zachariah first saw that it was Ivan who was contacting him, he was a little surprised. He never really knew what to expect; in fact he was almost expecting the usual comment about Azrai being reckless. But what Ivan told him was actually rather surprising and a little disappointing at the same time.<br/><br/>“I see.” He said in response, rubbing his chin in thought. This new information of Elias being wounded and Shizu falling into Levi’s hands was definitely not what he wanted to hear. A heavy sigh left him and he sank back in his seat a little while he gathered his thoughts. He knew how he wanted to respond, but at the same time they did what they could. This was a tough mission; he knew that it would be when Ivan had first brought it to his attention. It’s been awhile, but when he use to go out on the field he had seen some pretty bad situations either turn into something positive or take a turn for the worst. If their suspicions were right and someone was helping Levi then perhaps the outcome could have been much worse if they managed to save both Shizu and Elias.<br/><br/>When he spoke again, he seemed a little more relaxed. “I still stand by wanting to capture Levi and bring him back here. We will deal with whoever is helping him once Shizu is out of his hands.” Maybe that was not quite what Ivan wanted to hear, but sometimes he felt that the man just had too much on his mind at once and it dragged him down. It was obvious, he was on the verge of crumbling, and when he did have a lot on his mind he wanted to try as best as he could to help out. Sometimes failure needed to happen. Life was not fair; nobody could have their way all of the time. He wanted to think positively, and hope, praying to God that He would lend a hand and turn this around. In the end, he always stuck by God.<br/><br/>There was a long pause as he thought of what to say again. He had faith in Ivan, and in Azrai and Elias, to complete their mission. This was a tough situation but he knew that they would succeed in the end. Or so he hoped. Perhaps he could be included in not always getting his way. He always tried so hard to be successful, but he knew there was bound to be failures. He was worried.<br/><br/>What worried him the most, was the new information about Azrai’s aggression showing signs of surfacing a little. That was the last thing that they needed. If not kept in check, the mission would be compromised and everything would fall apart for sure. Perhaps sending him out there was a bad idea after all. He could only hope that nothing escalated, thinking back to that state of mind he goes into once again. If he did go into that state of mind, and his aggression got out of hand to the point where they might not be able to calm him down… That wasn’t something he wanted to think about. He just hoped to avoid it at all costs and had faith that Ivan would do all he could even if the situation did get out of hand. That really was the best thing he could do for right now.<br/><br/>To be honest, he wasn’t even in the mindset to handle this sort of thing. Even though it was always a little chaotic around the organization, this day had been especially long and tiring. With everything going on, Zachariah was ready to call it a night and get some sleep. He was often seen as someone who could go days without sleeping and keep going as if nothing was wrong, but he wasn’t really. Even he needed some sleep every now and then. He had been out training the new recruits and contacting people he knew about keeping unified and really strengthening the organization’s defenses. He did not want another repeat, and could not stress that enough to anyone, and was always working to better the organization so that they prepared for anything. It was quite taxing. Zachariah never wanted to admit it, but he really needed a break every now and then.<br/><br/>Exhaustion was beginning to sink in a lot quicker, especially now that he was getting older. In his mind it was not time to look for someone else to help run things. He had most of not the entire organization under his control without much issue aside from the occasional irate person here and there. They trusted him, and in return he gave them what they deserved. He poured his very heart and soul into this organization; Zachariah lived and breathed this organization. But he knew he could only do it for so long. Part of him wanted Ivan to step up. He had thought about it before, but he knew that the man was not there yet. It was evident in the way he came to him asking for advice. There was simply way he could even think about stepping down off his throne just yet. He was still needed.<br/><br/>“For now, I want all of you to take it easy.” He said finally, “You especially, Ivan. Take a deep breath and relax. You sound like you’re on the verge of breaking down, and we can’t have that while Azrai and Elias are recovering. I wouldn’t call this mission a failure just yet” He knew Ivan would keep things under control, like he always did, but he also wondered if he was placing too much on his shoulders. Or was Ivan just doing this to himself? He has known Ivan as long as he has known Azrai, but he still wondered sometimes. “Rest assured I will be doing everything I can on my end to see if we can get to the bottom of who might be helping Levi.”<br/><br/>Zachariah knew Ivan trusted him. Elias was not the only person they knew who could find things, though the person he had in mind was not as good as Elias was. The man did have skill, however, and hoped it was enough. They would get to the bottom of this.<br/><br/>---------------------------------------<br/><br/>“I’m sorry… my hand slipped.” Levi said softly, though without any apology in his tone whatsoever. It was probably one of if not the oldest excuse in the book. In fact he knew it was, he was just trying to get to her more. He was someone who liked to play with his food a little. Sometimes he played with his food little too much, which he was warned about constantly by a few of his comrades, to the point where it got him into a little trouble. Before the main event happened he was going to revel in this moment for as long as he could. Perhaps what he said had been true, his hand had slipped a little, because he was trying pretty hard to contain himself at this moment. He backed off a little, feeling the urge to do more damage and make her suffer some more steadily becoming almost unbearable.<br/><br/>There was no use exhausting her before Azrai came busting down the door. From the looks of things, she was already stirred up. This was good, this was very good.<br/><br/>“At least I know that is actually works now.” Levi chuckled. It was soft at first, and then erupted into laughter. He couldn’t believe that talisman actually worked and suppressed her Oni powers. Maybe Tyler was more reliable than he thought he would be. The look in her eyes had been terrifying, he was worried she really would break free from her restraints and rip out his throat. But nothing happened. She was probably wondering what the hell was going on, and he was enjoying it. Yes! Everything truly was going well for him today and he was in a much better mood as well. What had began as such a horrible day was starting to look so much brighter. He really thought he was going to walk away with nothing, that Azrai would have protected his precious Oni, that Dean’s men really would have ruined his day more. Now, he knew that Dean was no longer an issue.<br/><br/>“Are you surprised?” He said suddenly, after his laughter had faded, noting the look in her eyes. "You aren’t human; you’re a monster. We couldn’t have you misbehaving, now could we?” There was a grin on his face as he folded the knife back up and tucked it away in his pocket. He wouldn’t say it, but there was something about that look that really reminded him of the look that Azrai got on his face when he murdered the people who had hurt Cassandra. For a long time, he stood there just watching the Oni, almost as if he was a little curious. “Maybe he was right…” He murmured, mostly to himself, folding his arms over his chest, thinking once more about the man who had given him this opportunity. It really would have been a shame to be given this chance only to fail miserably and be left with absolutely nothing.<br/><br/>A mental note was made to contact the man. Levi was sure he’d like to know that the Oni woman was in his hands. Perhaps he would allow him to work with him permanently. He wouldn’t bring it up to him, not until he earned the man’s trust and proved he was reliable, at the moment he feared if he did he’d be killed, but if he could gain another ally that would be wonderful. However, whoever he did find would have some big shoes to fill. Despite all of their bickering, Hank was one of a kind. For now, Levi would do things with just David, Tyler, and himself as they were the only people he was willing to trust, even if Tyler still made him wary, at the moment. He could not allow anything to happen now. He was so close to victory, so close to his revenge, he had come too far to allow any fucks ups.<br/><br/>A sigh left him as he glanced at his watch. He was surprised Azrai had not arrived yet, considering more than enough time had passed. He was starting to feel impatient. What was keeping the man? Whatever it was he knew it had to be something important.<br/><br/>Well, it looks like he was going to have to stir things up a little more in order to get his prize.<br/><br/>Levi didn’t want to leave the room, he wanted to rough her up more, but again he did not want to exhaust her, or kill her, before Azrai showed up. “I’ll leave you alone for awhile.” With that, he turned and left the room closing the door softly behind him. It was time to find something else to pass the time with.<br/><br/>Even though Levi was in a calmer mood, there was still a lot on his mind, he was feeling restless, there was a lot of pent up energy still deep inside him. He really wanted to take it out on the Oni. She couldn’t hurt him, so he would not have any problem seeing how far he could push her. Levi really liked seeing how far he could push his hostages sometimes; it was entertaining to see how they reacted to him.  The same went for any of his victims really. He was going to lure Azrai out of hiding. As badly as he wanted to rescue the Oni woman, Levi had a feeling that he would come storming through the door any moment. He was probably regrouping with whoever he was working with. Knowing Azrai was well as he did, he was sure the man would try something reckless.<br/><br/>The man was always reckless. He had to admit, he was surprised he turned and walked away, and was still pissed about it, but he knew that he hasn’t changed much and planned to play off that a little. It wouldn’t be too difficult. The man was already worked up, he was sure. At least that was what he hoped anyway. If not, well, he was just going to have to step up his game even more than he was already. He already had so many plans in order to set him off, and could not wait to set everything into motion. The more he thought about it, the more his impatience grew. This excitement was simply too much to contain any longer. It was time that he did something about it, he never really did like waiting games anyway, being more of the ‘take action’ type.<br/><br/>“Alright, listen up you two!” Levi’s voice boomed as soon as he entered the common area. He seemed pretty lively, though that was just a reflection of him being in a better mood. Rubbing his hands together, he grinned, looking at David briefly and then looking around for Tyler. The man made himself so small that it was kind of hard to miss him, all the more reason for him to keep a closer eye on him until this was all said and done. As they say, it was always the quiet ones you had to worry about at any given time, or any situation. “We have a lot of work to do, and I would rather not have to fucking sit around waiting for Azrai to come to us.” As soon as he said that, he knew that David would catch on to what might be up his sleeve.<br/><br/>“I was thinking we set out a little trap for him.” He continued, moving to sit in one of the chairs. As he sat, he felt restless and was unable to sit still and ended up standing after a few seconds passed. Maybe he was a little too energetic for his own good, but damn, the turn around this day had just done was simply amazing. He wondered if David was feeling the same way or if he had a lot on his mind like usual. If he asked him, he’d probably think he was just being childish. “I don’t feel like waiting around for him to come busting down the door. So why not let him come to us?” Perhaps he was being a little reckless because of his good mood as well. Whenever he threw plans like these out there, it was never really certain whether or not he would come out successful.<br/><br/>It was another reminder of how important Hank had been to the group. This was normally where an argument would break out between the two of them, which would last awhile, and eventually something a little more reasonable would come out of it. But they no longer had that. Somewhere in Levi’s mind, he had to be aware he was a little too gung-ho about this, but that didn’t even seem to matter at the moment. Not when he was so close to victory.<br/><br/>At the end of the day, Levi was going to have his revenge even if he had to go back out there alone.