While he sat there with Azraiâ€™s head resting on his shoulder he could not help but wonder if the man really was going to be alright. That brief burst of energy might have been convincing enough to tell everyone that he would be alright but somehow Zachariah was not as convinced as he wanted to be. The look on his face was enough to say that he was still very much concerned. He continued to hold the man in his arms, holding him close to him, as prayers ran through his mind desperately pleading that God would give him the strength to recover fully. Had he gotten everyoneâ€™s hopes up for nothing, or was this Azraiâ€™s, and perhaps Godâ€™s, way of saying that everything would be fine? With everybody as worried as they were about Azraiâ€™s recovery that did make sense, perhaps it truly was a sign from God. Maybe Azrai would be alright after all.<br/><br/>The transfusion was definitely working. The monitors next to the bed were showing he was in a much more stable condition and color was returning to his face making him look significantly less pale, which was pleasing him greatly. It was but a small improvement but he wanted the man to wake up again even if it was for a few seconds. He wanted to see some more signs that he was pulling through and would not be satisfied until he knew for sure. When the man did wake up again he hoped that Shizu would be away from here so they could explain everything to him in peace. Admittedly he had been worried at first when he woke up, expecting him to put up much more of a fight than he had, he was glad that he fell back asleep before anything escalated. Maybe he had wanted him to put up more of a fight, maybe he had wanted him to step out of the room and confront Shizu.<br/><br/>Nonetheless, he was relieved that the man had even showed this much recovery.<br/><br/>Zachariah was still holding Azrai in his arms when Ivan had entered the room. He acknowledged the man with a nod. â€œBriefly, yes, but it is still an improvement. His condition is improving slowly, heâ€™s recovering at his own pace, Iâ€™m sure he will be back with us soon.â€ He spoke quietly, though it was mostly out of exhaustion, as to not disturb Azraiâ€™s slumber. Though the man didnâ€™t show it, he could tell that Ivan was very relieved to hear that Azrai was showing signs of recovery. He decided not to voice his earlier skepticism knowing that he would only be adding to the worry that Ivan and the others were feeling. Now more than ever they needed a miracle and continued to place his faith in God as he always did. Zachariah was not going to make everyone think he was giving up hope because that definitely was not the case. He was merely taking into consideration that Azrai was only human and was not impervious to death though he knew the man wanted to believe he was.<br/><br/>As carefully as he could Zachariah lay Azrai back down and stood from the bed. As much as he wanted to stay there a little longer he knew he had to leave the man in the care of the medics hoping that the man didnâ€™t try to kill them once he woke up again. That was the least of his concerns at the moment, however. Unfortunately there was still much to be done before and after Shizu and Lucian departed. As he looked Ivan over with a stern look which essentially said he admired the fact that Ivan was still doing so much in spite of everything that has happened today, but he wished he would rest. Hell, he needed rest himself and was more than likely going to take a much needed nap after this was over since he couldnâ€™t afford it now. He was sure that Ivan had the same mentality; sometimes Ivan and Zachariah were a little alike.<br/><br/>--------------<br/><br/>In his current state Azrai was vaguely aware that there was something going on. Why else would Zachariah have pulled Ivan out of the room? Why did they feel so uncomfortable talking about Shizu in front of him? That was why they had left the room he was sure of that, and he could not help but be worried about her. On the battlefield he had seen how badly she had been wounded. Had she not recovered at all? He felt a sense of dread begin to strangle him. If she had not recovered then he wasnâ€™t sure what he would be able to do with himself, he would not be able to face everybody. He would not be able to show her the modern world. He stirred in his sleep which had caught the attention of medics that had entered the room when Ivan and Zachariah had left. He hated it, but he knew that there was nothing he could do right now, not in his current state.<br/><br/>As much as he wanted to jump out of bed and find out what was going on he was too weak to even think about moving. No matter how much he screamed at his body to wake up and get off the bed, he received no response. The medics continued to monitor him wondering whether or not he was going to wake up soon; he could hear them conversing but could not make out what was being said. There were still traces of that poison in his system, he couldnâ€™t really describe it but he knew it was there, and he needed to recover. He truly hated being in such a vulnerable state to the point where he almost loathed the fact he was unable to do anything. As soon as he has recovered enough he was going to go see Shizu first thing, he needed to know if she was alright.<br/><br/>--------------<br/><br/>â€œIf everything is set, then we waste no more time,â€ Zachariah continued. â€œItâ€™s going to be a pain explaining everything to Azrai but itâ€™s better thanâ€¦â€ he paused when he thought he heard some movement coming from the bed. For a moment he had actually been hopeful but knew that if Azrai were to wake up in the middle of their conversation then it would be even worse. Deciding not to take that risk he pulled Ivan out into the hallway again. He cleared his throat, snapping back to the demeanor of someone in charge. New emotions were swelling up in his chest that seemed to be both comforting him and adding to his exhaustion simultaneously, â€œWhile I think we can both agree Azrai pulling through is a relief, we canâ€™t have him coming around right when Shizu is leaving. As Iâ€™ve said before, the sooner she leaves the better.â€ He placed a hand on Ivanâ€™s shoulder right when Maverick was spotted walking down the hall.<br/><br/>He wanted to scold him for not resting like he should be but he decided to just let it go. Sometimes it really was stressful being the leader. Why must he be stuck with people who didnâ€™t know the meaning of rest? He knew the two of them were just concerned about their friend but this has been a long day and they should take it easy now that they knew that their friend was recovering. It was bad enough dealing with one out of the three individually. Those two could be just as stubborn as Azrai, and both of them combined, he knew he would lose if he were to say anything to them. Not that he had room to talk anyway since he knew for a fact he should probably have his injuries checked out, though from the looks of things he had been extremely lucky. He could have very well been poisoned out there himself but had somehow managed to elude that.<br/><br/>The look on Maverickâ€™s face had said everything before the man even spoke, â€œSo heâ€™s going to pull through, right?â€ His voice was strained from emotions threatening to take him over. When Zachariah nodded, he let out a breath of relief and put his hands together, looking up, and thanked the Lord. He knew that stubborn jackass would pull through. As soon as he was well enough, he was going to kick his ass for worrying them so much, because, he swore, if that man allowed poison to kill him he was going to drag his ass out of the afterlife and kill him again.<br/><br/>Peace had slowly begun to fill the air since Zachariahâ€™s return from the battlefield. Peace, and more miracles occurring it seems, people were slowly starting to get better. Everyone in the area who heard what was going on seemed to quiet down and all eyes were now upon Zachariah for he was their glorious leader. He had been in the room with Azrai when the first miracle happened (really it was the medics, but some didnâ€™t know this) so it had been his doing. Zachariah was truly a saint, blessed by God, the very definition of a Holy Man capable of performing miracles. The peace seemed to vanish a little when emotion started to fill the air. While he was flattered and wanted to make some big speech about the events of the day, that they were lucky that everyone had come back alive, on top of his exhaustion Zachariah felt this to be a little too overwhelming and pulled Ivan and Maverick into an empty room for further conversation.<br/><br/>Now that he was away from all the commotion he relaxed a little, though he was not in the mood for relaxing himself, â€œNow that Azrai is showing signs of recovery, we need have other work to do.â€ He looked to Ivan, â€œIâ€™ll leave you in charge of getting Shizu out of Israel since youâ€™ve been making arrangements. This place will be our temporary base of operations until we can get the organization back on its feet. It doesnâ€™t have nearly everything we had back at the old base, but Iâ€™m sure we will have little trouble making do with what we have.â€ They were going to need to rebuild everything they have every worked for but that was not much of a problem. In a world filled with parasites in need of being eliminated there were plenty of ways to make money. Not just with the use of hired guns either, no, the organization brought in money plenty of ways, he planned to expand on that and rebuild better than ever.<br/><br/>Was it just a dream, though?<br/><br/>For a moment the thought crossed him that maybe he was expecting too much in such short time. Nothing was going to happen overnight. People can cling to their prayers and hope for miracles, but that was the reality of it. They were going to need to work as a team now more than they ever had before. Money has always been an issue, even before the base had been destroyed, and now it was going to be extremely tight. Searching for a new location would be ideal as well. He had a few in mind but he would wait before they relocated, keeping a low profile was probably ideal with the government officials running around, in case there had been any witnesses who might have brought the battle to their attention, the medical base would do just fine for now. If push comes to shove he could always contact one of his colleagues for help. He was not in any hurry, really, it was just a shame that all they have worked for had been destroyed.<br/><br/>Zachariah thought he had all that he wanted to say all written out in his mind, but now that he was actually standing before Ivan and Maverick he was having a hard time getting everything out. His words seemingly slipped out of his mouth without his consent. â€œIâ€™m just glad that weâ€™ve all made it out of that mess alive somehow. I truly believe God was looking out for us today.â€ In the end, he knew that saying a few words to two of his most trusted people, hid friends, made him feel better than if he were making some huge speech in front of every single one of his followers right now. He was pretty convinced that he needed some rest, some time to recover right now before he got down to doing anything big.<br/><br/>------------------<br/><br/>Lucian had lay back on the bed after Ivan had left. He stared up at the ceiling blankly, thinking about everything that had happened today, relaxing before the long trip home. It had come as a huge surprise to him that the man had thanked him, especially because the two have never really gotten along that well. Part of him was glad that Ivan had left the room. Ever since they met they have always seemed to rub each other the wrong way and were almost always nothing but bitter towards each other though he has never really known why. For the most part he was fine with everyone elseâ€¦ aside from maybe Maverick, evident by the way he had come at him like that he was sure the man disliked him. It would have been awkward having the two of them stare at each other until one of them found something to say to the other. Whenever that happened with Elias he was not going to deny that he was not particularly good at that.<br/><br/>He was pulled away from his thoughts when he heard his name being called and saw Shizu coming into the room. A smile appeared on his face, as best it would be with how tried he was, unable to help himself. Sitting up on the bed again, he listened to her intently.<br/><br/>â€œReally? Azrai has woken up?â€ Lucian blinked in surprise and gave a soft sigh of relief, â€œSon of a gunâ€¦ Thatâ€™s pretty amazing. I had a feeling that jackass would pull through. I still think it serves him right, though, â€ Honestly he was not sure what else he could say about that. His eyes darted towards the door, there was a part of him wanted to leave the room and go see for himself but then he thought back to Ivan again. The man probably wouldnâ€™t want him anywhere near him, not to mention he was feeling pretty tired. Sitting up from the bed again had been more of an effort than he wanted to admit. Perhaps now that Azrai was showing signs of recovery Ivan and everyone else would settle down and he could leave in peace. There was no need to start any more arguments, Lucian knew he was going to have to keep his head down until he left, otherwise things would not be very pretty.<br/><br/>Taking a deep breath he forced himself to stand from the bed and walked towards the door, out to the hall. â€œIvan had mentioned sending you away.â€ He paused, in thought, looking over his shoulder at her, â€œIâ€™ll be alright, but Iâ€™m warning you know Iâ€™m grabbing something to eat before we take off. I havenâ€™t had anything to eat all day, Iâ€™ll need my energy. You should grab something, too, if you havenâ€™t. We have a long trip ahead of us.â€ As much as he didnâ€™t want to admit it he really was tired and should probably get at least an hour or so of sleep before they depart. Ivan had been right to assume that he was determined to get out of here, too determined to sleep. He was relieved that Shizu wished to depart as soon as possible as well.