A lot was running through Azrai’s mind as he and Ivan moved quietly through the building, working their way towards Levi. How long has it been since he had to come rescue someone he cared about? Since Cassandra, from what he could recall, which had to be a good six or seven years ago now, he really couldn’t remember. Time really seems to fly in this day and age. Even now, he thinks about that day, thinking of things he should have done differently, and could have done differently now that he has been living this life for awhile. He had been inexperienced back then and did some really stupid shit. Sometimes he would beat himself up over it, though it was not as bad as it was back then, especially when he has had a rough day and his thoughts wandered. He was not going to make those same mistakes again.<br/><br/>Perhaps that was why he was so worked up over this. Ivan was not only right to suspect that he was worked up because this was the second time that someone he cared about was in this position, but also because he knew he could do better now. Deep down, he hoped Levi would listen to him. He hoped that they could get out of this without too much trouble. But he was also willing to take action. He had wanted to reason with Levi but that had officially been thrown out the window. What would be the point? While searching for Cassandra, he had been so worried that she would get hurt and that had been his downfall. He was not going to allow himself to fail this time. Cassandra wouldn’t want him to be reckless, but he was sure she would not forgive her brother for hurting the man she loved either.<br/><br/>He was ready to just unload his clip on Levi and his partner once they entered the common area and saw the look on said man’s face. Levi was not an easy read; the man was quite unpredictable, which made him all the more dangerous.<br/><br/>The tension in the air seemed amplified. Immediately, Azrai’s attention was placed on Shizu mostly so he would not go after Levi. Perhaps it was because of the Oni blood in his veins, or because of how they had bonded, but he could see that she truly was struggling to remain under control. He glanced at Levi, gripping his Desert Eagle tightly in his grasp as he, liked Ivan, aimed at him. As he thought back to the mistakes he had made, he now knew better than to try to reason. The look on Levi’s face was telling him that it would just be a waste of time, time that he and Ivan could not afford to lose any more of at this point. It would only get Shizu hurt, or worse. That was not something he was willing to risk now, not when the thought of her Oni nature coming out lingered in the back of his mind.<br/><br/>Levi shifted in his seat a little, folding his arms over his chest. Azrai thought it was a little strange that he didn’t reach for his gun. There was something about the man that just seemed a little too calm about all of this. It was concerning to say the least, and only made him want to shoot the man even more. The gun was trembling in his hands. His nerves were coming closer and closer to driving him to his breaking point. Did Levi not realize he was close to a ticking bomb? He wondered if the man would try to reach for Shizu. If he did, he wanted her to rip his throat out. Instead he just observed the scene before him like he was all too familiar with how this situation would play out. Damn it, if only he could grab Shizu… There had to be some way he could wipe that look off of Levi’s face.<br/><br/>“You aren’t too far off.” Levi said calmly, though it was clear that he was anything but calm at the moment. He was fiddling with the knife in his hands like he had before. “These past few hours have been a lot of fun. It’s been awhile since I’ve been on a ride as wild as this one.” His smile widened, causing Azrai’s jaw to clench. Every part of him was trying so hard not to do anything rash and wipe that smile off Levi’s face. Levi must have seen it, for he looked at him and said, “I’ll say the same thing I told her before you arrived. She must be pretty fucking special to you. You surely worked to find her quicker than you did for Cassandra, when she was in trouble.” There was a hint of bitterness in his tone, which had not come as a surprise at all.<br/><br/>Standing from the couch, Levi continued, “Unfortunately, I’m running on a tight schedule. I would have loved to spend the rest of the day with you, but I’ve been robbed of that satisfaction. Let’s just get down to business.” He grabbed Shizu by her hair and jerked her head up slightly, pressing the blade of his knife against her throat. “I could just hand her over, but I think I’ll have some fun first.”<br/><br/>Azrai growled lowly, knowing there was no way he could get to Shizu now. “You are… playing with fire.” He warned, hoping that Levi truly did understand how close he was coming to having everyone killed. For a moment, he glanced at Shizu hoping to reassure her that this was going to be over soon. At this point he truly was praying to God that she would hold out just a little longer. Judging by Levi’s response, they needed all the prayer they could get.<br/><br/>“Sometimes you need a good burn to make you feel truly alive.”<br/><br/>“Levi… I am begging you… Let her go.”<br/><br/>“Now, why would I do that?”<br/><br/>“Do you… truly believe that Cassandra would be happy with this?”<br/><br/>“You’ve told me before that she wouldn’t want us to fight.” Levi replied slowly, as if what Azrai had said was really making him think. For a moment there was a bit of hope that he would come to his senses and just stop all of this. There really was no point for them to fight. Azrai thought back to what he had been up to all of these years, and not once could he think of anything that would have provoked Levi to do this. Sure, he had been pissed about what happened with Cassandra; that much was obvious, since he couldn’t just let it go. In a way he didn’t blame him for that, neither could he. But that didn’t give him a reason to do this… someone must have provoked him. It was probably the person that was helping him out, yes… that had to be it. If only he could just strike now.<br/><br/>“I’m not doing this to avenge her,” Levi continued. “I’m doing this for me. I told you that you would regret not killing me when you had the chance.”<br/><br/>“Tell me… why do you have this death wish?” Azrai inquired.<br/><br/>Levi didn’t answer, changing the subject instead, “You should have been there for her…” His voice was a little shaky. Of course, it always went back to Cassandra. How many times have they had this conversation? Why could Levi just not give it a rest? Azrai wasn’t sure whether he should be frustrated or pity him at this point.<br/><br/>“We have… been over this before, Levi. I did everything I could to save her. I… I was not as experienced then as I am now.”<br/><br/>“Save her? Oh… you ‘saved’ her alright…”<br/><br/>“She…”<br/><br/>“Don’t. I was there, Azrai. If you really cared for her, if you truly loved her, she would still be alive. But you just had to be selfish…”<br/><br/>Azrai ran a hand through his hair. This conversation was not something he wanted to have right now. His heart pounded in his chest, and his eyes remained transfixed on Levi’s knife. One wrong move and he had a feeling he would slit Shizu’s throat… He needed leverage. Levi seemed to be in complete control of this situation and that could not be allowed any longer. He was sick of this, all he wanted was to take Shizu home and find out who Levi was working with. All Levi wanted was to bring up the past, and torment someone innocent for his own selfish ambition. At least now Azrai was a little more aware of why he was doing all of this, of why Levi was still so worked up over all of this, and it was more of a reason to end this once and for all.<br/><br/>Suddenly, Azrai bolted for David. He practically dragged the man out of his seat and then held him in a restraint, holding his Desert Eagle to his temple. There was a dark look in his eye; he was struggling to keep his aggression down and almost looked as though he was about to enter that murderous state of mind. They were about the same size, but even then David was still about an inch taller. It might have looked a little awkward but he did not care. He had seen the way Levi had shifted and that was all he needed. Now, all he needed to do was play his cards right and end this quickly. He tried his best to give Shizu another reassuring look, hoping that she was still holding on. Her Oni nature was more of a threat than Levi was. In a way, thinking Azrai might be entering that state of mind was not too far off.<br/><br/>He was officially done with this situation. They needed to get Shizu out of there, now, and he was going to do everything he could to achieve that.<br/><br/>“If you… refuse to hand her over, I will blow his brains out.” Azrai growled in a low voice. He was sure that this man meant something to him. As much as he did not want to sink down to Levi’s level, his aggression had gotten the best of him and sometimes a person had to play dirty to get what he wanted. If he was going to threaten someone he cared about then he might as well do the same.<br/><br/>-------------------------------------<br/><br/>Levi swallowed hard at the sudden turn of events. Until now he had felt that he had everything under control in spite of all that happened. Things were going so well. Azrai was worked up, the Oni woman looked ready to tear someone to shreds, and his partner was even upset. This woman had truly meant something to everyone and he was glad that he had been given this opportunity. He knew David had been waiting for the green light, but he couldn’t give the word just yet. Dealing with Azrai was proving to be a lot more difficult than he had originally thought. The man had acted far sooner than he had hoped which caused everything to suddenly backfire. He knew the man was stubborn, but going after David like that was something he had not expected. He wasn’t sure what he should do now… One wrong move and David was a dead man.<br/><br/>He shifted uncomfortably on the couch, his entire body tensing when Azrai spoke. Was he really going to kill him? He could not allow that to happen. David has been his partner for a long time, he meant as much to him as Cassandra, there was no way he could accept a world where he no longer had his partner at his side. It wouldn’t be long before they were part of something bigger. He wanted David to be by his side when that happened. He wanted to keep his word to him, knowing that he deserved it for all of his hard work and willingness to put up with being dragged around like a dog. Would he even be able to function properly without David? He needed him, and he was sure that Azrai was aware of that no matter how much he tried to hide it from him.<br/><br/>A weak smile spread across his face, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” He said in a slightly mocking tone. He almost sounded defeated. “Correct me if I’m wrong, that is how the saying goes, right?” In fact, his own tone seemed to surprise him a little. Was he really about to give in that easily? He had come so far to have his revenge, and now he was just going to throw it away? It seemed so strange to him. Why? He knew that Azrai was willing to kill David. He knew that he would probably be killed as well, and he wanted to take the Oni woman with him if they opened fire. Everything he had worked to achieve had slipped right through his fingers and now he was sure there was no chance to move on to something more. He was trembling, anticipating the death of both David and himself.<br/><br/>Would they do it?<br/><br/>To tell the truth, Levi has wanted to die for a long time. Ever since he lost Cassandra, he had fallen into a dark well. David had brought him out of that well for awhile and he was grateful for him. However, he supposed all good things had to come to an end. To be honest, while he had been rather content these past few years, he was still down there and would rather die than live in a world witout David.<br/><br/>Azrai nodded slowly at Levi’s words, but did not say anything. There was a look in his eye, aside from that dark gaze, that told him he finally understood everything and probably did not want the conversation to head down that road. At this point, he has probably said everything that needed to be spoken. It was obvious he wanted this to be done and over with.<br/><br/>Suddenly, Levi, who seemed displeased that Azrai had not spoken, looked over to Ivan and pointed at him as if he was recognizing an old friend, “Your name is Ivan, am I right? I think we’ve met once or twice a few years ago, before all of this… Since Azrai doesn’t want to say anything, maybe you can tell me why I did this. Aside from the obvious, I mean.”<br/><br/>“He already knows,” Azrai spoke in a grim and slightly cryptic tone that he assumed was mostly directed at the Oni woman. Levi was amused by it.  “Now, enough stalling. You have… thirty seconds to make your decision.” He pressed his Desert Eagle harder against David’s temple. Out of reaction, Levi pressed the blade of the knife harder against Shizu’s neck. “Hand her over.”<br/><br/>There was a long silence between them. It looked as though neither man was going to budge any time soon. Well, at least Levi knew he was not about to budge. On the other hand he knew Ronen would be here soon and he needed to have everything finished up by then. Damn it. If only he knew that he was in the area, he probably would not have taunted Azrai into coming here. This was extremely nerve-wracking. He wanted David to live, he wanted to move onto bigger things with him, but he could not do that if he did not have the woman. That was the difficult part. It was either he gives up his dream of being something bigger, or he loses the only friend he had in this world. If he did give it up, would David be pissed at him? It was odd for him to think about it but he was sure he would be.<br/><br/>“If I do hand her over, you’ll let him go, won’t you?” Levi spoke slowly, the defeat practically oozing off his tongue now. He was frustrated by it, and he did not want to do it… but…<br/><br/>In the end, David was just that important to him. He didn’t care if he did get pissed at him for sparing his life, well aware that his loyal dog was willing to die for him, he just could not stand the thought of losing another person, especially David.<br/><br/>Of course, once David was safe… he did have one other thing up his sleeve…<br/><br/>-------------------------------------<br/><br/>Azrai was not sure how much more of this he could take before he snapped and killed everyone himself. He should just kill this idiot and get it over with. That would really cripple Levi, but it was not that easy. In his own way, he was thinking on the same wavelength as Ivan in the sense that David should be kept alive. His blood would feed Shizu and hopefully prevent her from going on a rampage. Levi really was playing with fire… He was slowly making it worse for himself and everyone else in the room. If only he understood that. Then again, he didn’t really understand anything until Shizu had come along and explained her nature to him when he first rescued her. He had not dwelled in the preternatural world. The human part of him could see why Levi was so confident getting close to her in spite of her fangs, due to ignorance.<br/><br/>Even he did not understand her fully. He was still a little hesitant around her, though right now his fear was drowned out by his determination.<br/><br/>He looked Levi over when he mentioned letting her go, and wondered if he really should follow through with his request. There really wasn’t any reason for him to let David go. Levi had harmed Shizu; and like the man had said, and eye for an eye. If he let him go he knew he would probably be allowing his weakness to show through and he could not afford to let his guard down. He wasn’t sure if he could trust Levi and made no effort to hide it. After all, Levi could be trying to trick them into releasing David and then they would do whatever they had planned. He did not want to find out what that plan might be. For all he knew, maybe Levi was aware of how dangerous Shizu’s Oni nature was and planned to unleash it no matter the consequences. The thought made him uncomfortable.<br/><br/>“Give me one good reason why I should allow him to live.” Azrai said in as calm a voice he could muster. Anger was laced in his voice, as he was unable to hold back completely. Like Shizu was trying to hold back her nature, he was trying to prevent himself from falling into that dark state of mind. All he had to do was focus and he was sure that everything would be alright. He had Levi where he wanted him, and he was going to push him a little. This actually felt kind of good, the more he kept this up. Levi looked like he was going to surrender, but again he was not going to be fooled by him. He might as well pretend none of this had happened if he decided to just let this slide. Levi was going to regret coming after him, he had already sealed that before the message was sent to them.<br/><br/>When Levi didn’t answer right away, he just assumed the man didn’t have a good reason and was about to just kill David, but then Levi cleared his throat, and folded open his pocket knife. He watched warily as he began to cut away at the ropes that bound Shizu’s legs together gingerly. In a way, Azrai was glad he didn’t cut her arms loose, fearing that she might go on a rampage. He was also sure that Levi was probably trying to be careful not to get bitten; he appeared to be keeping an eye on her out of the corner of his eyes. Was this a joke, or was this really happening? Was he really going to hand Shizu over? He glanced to Ivan briefly, wondering what he thought about this situation. It certainly seemed strange and almost pissed him off more than he already was. This just seemed far too easy to believe.<br/><br/>Azrai was positive that Levi had to be trying to pull something, and he sure as hell was not going to fall for it either.<br/><br/>“I…” Levi began, speaking through clenched teeth, pulling Shizu up by her arm, “Here… I’ll hand her over, but only if you promise you’ll let him go.”<br/><br/>“You… have my word,” Azrai replied curtly. “You first.”<br/><br/>Levi did was he was told, pushing Shizu in front of him so she could walk towards Azrai and Ivan. Azrai waited a moment to see if anything would happen, and still had the strong urge to just kill David, grab Shizu, and go for Levi, then get out of there. But being a man of his word, that side of him took over and he released David, shoving him toward Levi. Both Azrai and Levi had their guns aimed just in case something was to happen.