For a long time, Levi and Azrai stood simply staring at each other. No words were spoken. There was only silence, and the sounds of a city thrown into chaos around them, it was almost as if time had stopped completely just to center around them and watch the events that were about to unfold. Azrai had his gun aimed at Levi, and Levi at Shizu. There was a tension in the air between the two of them that could be sliced with a knife. He could feel himself shaking a little simply from the weight of this situation. At any moment, anything could happen. It was just a matter of when. And when it did happen, it would most likely not be very pretty at all.<br/><br/>Levi shifted his weight a little, letting out a slow breath, “I can see that determination in your eyes. You’ve always had it.” He chuckled, attempting to work Azrai up a little more. The man was already pissed off. “Come on. If you want her, come and get her.”<br/><br/>But Azrai said nothing. Could Levi really see through him? That was dangerous, but it was too late for Azrai to correct himself.<br/><br/>All that was on his mind was getting Shizu out of there, and get her out alive. Get out. Go home. The look in her eyes when he had approached the scene had terrified him; she looked like she was going to kill everyone. He really wanted to tell her everything was fine. That he was here now. If he could do anything, anything at all, just to comfort her he wanted to at least try. It was true that he was not good at being comforting but if he treated it like a mission he knew it would be alright. Right? It was worth a shot. But she was down before he even had the chance to say anything. As soon as that happened, he really started to feel even more pissed than he already was. If that was even possible.<br/><br/>Azrai had honestly thought that this situation would have gone a little differently. Differently as in he would have Shizu in his hands and Levi would go home empty handed. At the end of the say, Shizu would have been safe and they would be getting information out of Levi. This outcome did not make him happy at all. If only he had gotten here a minute sooner, damn this bullet wound for slowing him down. If only he was a faster runner. Every last part of him was ready to wipe that grin off of his face, he knew the man was reveling in this, and he didn’t care how he did it. There was so much swirling around in his mind right now that it was literally driving him mad. He was ready to just kill the bastard right here and there. It would get rid of all of their problems, would it not?<br/><br/>Wrong. Doing something that reckless would harm Shizu as well. It already had him pissed off that she had been struck by a tranquilizer. He knew that he had to keep calm in this situation… a situation that reminded him of what happened with Cassandra a few years ago. She was held at gunpoint, with a threat that the man holding her hostage would kill her, and he was powerless to do anything against them while they did what they wanted with her. He started to have horrible flashbacks. His hands started to tremble a little as he did his best to stay focused, the gun starting to waver, refusing to allow his mind to go back to that dark time in his past. He had promised himself that he would not dwell on the past. The past was the past, and he knew that there was no way to change it.<br/><br/>But here… here he could not help it. The feeling of failing yet another person he had made a promise to protect was tearing him apart inside. Yet his stubbornness refused to give in just yet. There was a voice in his mind, telling him that he could take Levi on. That he could just end it all right here. There was a good chance that Levi was not as quick with a gun as he was, and could be easily taken in a battle of speed. It was worth the risk, right? The thought was tempting him more than he wanted to admit, mostly because he did not want to fail again. If he failed, he would never forgive himself. He had promised Shizu that he would protect her… in a way he had already failed, but he could still get her out of this. He was not leaving without her.<br/><br/>Then he heard Elias’s voice, followed by Ivan’s.<br/><br/>At that moment, Azrai could literally feel something crash down upon him. His heart pounded in his chest and he could feel his body begin to tremble more. He was caught between a rock and a hard place right now. Elias meant a lot to him, more than he ever wanted to admit. It was true that he hardly got to see him in person, and he did get irritated with him from time to time, but he still cared about him. The hacker was one of the few people he had as a friend, and he really didn’t want to bring the news to Lucian either. He literally felt like he was going to break down at this moment, but he refused to allow it, he wanted to have faith that Elias was not dying. They had to get to him, and get to him right away, before he really did… No.<br/><br/>He did not want to think about that. As much as he hated to admit it, Ivan was right, there was too much at risk here.<br/><br/>“Elias…” he said into his earpiece softly. “Try to hold out as long as you can… please…” For a moment, he let some emotion slip though. It was a bad move, considering Levi already had the upper hand, but he was no longer able to hold it in. On the outside, Azrai was someone who seemed almost emotionless whenever he was on a mission, since he didn’t get attached to people easily or allow himself to become attached on a mission. He could be a little cold, but he did have a good heart and wore it on his sleeve more often than not. If he lost Elias, he had no idea what he would do. The man was their best hacker. He also completed their little ‘friendship group’ as it were. There was no way they could lose him, not here, the fact that they might really hurt him.<br/><br/>But at the same time, he felt like he was letting Shizu down by just handing her over to the enemy. Once again he was breaking a promise to her. He wanted to get her out of here. Now, that was just not an option. The feeling of defeat came over him, even if he refused to show it on his face. He was not someone who liked to be defeated, especially with how stubborn he was. Was it simply impossible for him to ever make a promise and keep it? For her, that was all he wanted. What if she thought he was unreliable? After this, he wouldn’t blame her. On the other hand he was sure she would not want to hear the news that Elias was dead so he allowed that to keep him going. Every part of him hated that feeling of failure. This really took a stab at his pride, his profession being one of the few things he was prideful about.<br/><br/>But he could not afford to lose a friend. It was one or the other, right? Nobody can have the best of both worlds. If Elias was saved in time, maybe they could find Shizu again… Maybe…<br/><br/>Lowering his gun, he began to walk away.<br/><br/>As soon as he did so, he heard a snarl come from Levi, “You’re just going to walk away? Fine. Walk away. Fail this woman just like you failed Cassandra!” Levi’s voice cracked for a moment. He had tried his best to keep himself under control, but in the end he couldn’t keep his composure. He wanted Azrai to fight for her, not run away.<br/><br/>Azrai decided to ignore it. It wasn’t like him to give into the words of others and take the bait to start a fight, and he simply could not afford it. He an Ivan had to get to Elias. Immediately.<br/><br/>In a furious rage, Levi grabbed Shizu’s limp body and slammed her against the wall of the alley. The gun shook in his hand as he held it to her head. “If you leave now, I will blow her fucking brains out.” But Azrai continued to walk away. Why was he walking away from him? Why? Didn’t he care about the woman? This was all so… so… infuriating! He pulled the hammer back on his pistol, hoping that Azrai would turn around, but even that didn’t work. The man was not taking him seriously. That had to be it. If he was taking him seriously, he would have said something to him by now. Levi could not believe it. After everything he had been though, after what he had said to him years ago, that he would ruin his day if they ever met again, the man was not taking him seriously.<br/><br/>Azrai was about to speak into his ear piece again when suddenly a bullet flew past him. He looked over his shoulder to see Levi now with his gun aimed at him. His attention was off of Shizu completely. “Don’t you dare walk away from me again.” The man growled out. “I won’t let you walk away… not again. I’ve waited far too long for this.” Has it really been that long? Perhaps it has been. Azrai was about to keep moving, but when the second bullet came something snapped inside of him.<br/><br/>Suddenly, he could feel his aggression beginning to surface. As hard as he was trying to keep it down, to stay calm, the thought of losing Elias was just too much for him to tolerate Levi being a pain in the ass and taunting him. He turned around and gave Levi his complete attention. The man gave him a triumphant smirk, but little did he know that grin was about to be wiped off. Azrai started running toward Levi. Levi took aim and shot him, hitting his shoulder, but Azrai didn’t even seem to notice in the state of mind he was in. Unsure of where this burst of energy came from, the next thing he knew he had Levi pinned against the wall, hand at his throat while his other hand kept his gun hand restrained. He was boring into the man’s eyes with a malicious gaze of his own.<br/><br/>The look on Levi’s face was hard to describe. It was either a combination of fear or surprise, or surprise and anger. There was no way to tell for sure.<br/><br/>“I should… snap your neck.” Azrai growled out in a low and oddly calm tone.<br/><br/>“Do it.” Levi spat out. “Go ahead! I’m sure you’re just dying to. Killing me gets you the girl, right?”<br/><br/>That was true. He nodded, and looked like he was about to end it right there and then, but the kill did not come. Instead he simply looked at him and shook his head. As much as he wanted to just kill him, there was one thing holding him back. He let Levi go, coming back into control of himself. “No.” He said softly, and then added, “Cassandra… would not want us fighting like this.” Then he started to walk away again. In the end, he couldn't do it. Levi was Cassandra's brother... he just couldn't kill him...<br/><br/>“Ivan…?” Azrai called out once he was away from Levi. He hoped the Russian was near by, or at least had located Elias.<br/><br/>---------------------<br/><br/>Levi could not believe it, he refused to believe it. It had to be a joke, right? Azrai was walking away from him again. He sat against the wall, staring at the gun in his hands as if he was about to end his own life with it. Azrai could have easily killed him, that look in his eyes was terrifying, he thought he was going to be a dead man, yet he just let him go. All because Cassandra did not want them to fight? Please. Levi was well aware that she would never want to see them fight. He was doing this because he wanted to get revenge, he didn’t care about anything else. Sometimes he really could be a selfish man but he did not care as long as he got what he wanted. He was infuriated. Everything felt like it had gone wrong, but… he did have the woman.<br/><br/>Standing up, he walked over to her and stood over her. A mad grin spread across his face once again as he looked over to her. “Tyler, David, be prepared to get out of here.” He said into his ear piece. In his mind, he thought of so many ways to get at Azrai with her. “I have the woman. We’re heading back to the hideout.” With that said, he picked her up, over his shoulder, and began to carry her to where Tyler would be waiting with the car.