"Whose side are you on freak??" Smith was past irate and doing the color changing thing with his face again. " Your men must have gotten their vocabulary from you. It’s quite a lovely vocabulary. You must have been really proud of them." Unbeknownst to Izaya, there were still working security surveillance in the Dead Zone, at least unbeknownst until now. Smith had watched the whole exchange while it was happening. Smith had called Izaya back in when he was about to begrudgingly start after the girl. Even Izaya had not been sure what he would have done when he caught her. Being back in that part of the facility had opened some old psychological wounds that had apparently never healed. Even now he was trapped between his job and his morality but that was his battle to fight alone and none of Smith's business.<br/><br/>"I saw what you did freak. I got it all on video record. You're going back in a cell and back to being subject SS-X23." Izaya pretended not to know what Smith was referring to. He was, after all, not supposed to have any memories left of that time. "What the fuck are you talking about Smith? You been playing in the doc's stash?" It was common knowledge that Brady had indulged in some of the mind altering drugs that were used on the test subjects. Smith realised the error that had slipped from his tongue in his rage and moved past before Izaya started to question him. Smith's face remained the same hue between red and purple which actually served as a pretty good poker face. Izaya could hear his heartbeat and smell his hormones through his sweat making him a virtual living lie detector. It was hard for Izaya not to call Smith on his fuck up but that would have possibly given away his own secrets.<br/><br/>"Because of you, this company has lost a very valuable piece of merchandise and have put the public at an extremely dire risk. Every life that is lost, including those of my security, is on your head. The days of you running around untouchable are done. You are going back on a leash freak." Izaya didn't really give a fuck what Smith had to say at this point but he knew Damn sure that they weren’t making him a test subject ever again. "If you think you're locking us down and torturing us then you have lost your fucking mind. Now you're just writing checks you and your security boys can't cash. We are leaving here right now. We are going to retrieve the girl alive and pretty much unharmed. And you are going to back the fuck off. If you would have let us go after her right then, this conversation would be moot."<br/><br/>"You think it's just that easy freak? You just get back to business as usual? Not this time. This time you're bringing a team of my people along for the ride to keep your priorities straight. One wrong move and they shoot to kill… you." This time Izaya did laugh aloud because now Smith was making empty threats for sure. “Send your boys along if you think they can keep up but the first one that fires on us, you’ll need a spoon to get them into body bags. Then next time we meet, us and you, will be the last. This conversation is over, we have a job to get done.” Izaya was done with Smith and wasn’t sitting in there and listen to his berating rants any longer. He rose and left then retraced his steps back to where the girl/wolf had broke out from the Dead Zone. This time he wanted to go through the Dead Zone and he wanted to remember.<br/><br/>He paused by a particular cell door that stood ajar. The heavy titanium steel door did not want to move at first but Izaya gave it no choice. The partially decomposed female was still in the cell and still chained to the back wall. The bullet hole in her forehead was still clearly visible. Like so many others, they didn’t even bother to move their bodies or give them any sort of proper burial. If only he had been stronger then, maybe he could have saved her. He continued through the Dead Zone pausing at random doors to peer inside. Each of them had their own dreadful image to portray. He eventually made it to the door where the female had escaped. A unit of Smith’s mercs were waiting there for him.<br/><br/>“Let’s get a move on freak! We’re burning daylight.” Izaya didn’t even acknowledge that he nor any of his team was there. He walked past them and out the door. The sudden glare had no effect on his hybrid eyes as they adjusted immediately. He scanned the area where he had watched her vanish and could still see light impressions of where she had trod. They were barely still visible and he figured the humans wouldn’t be able to detect them even with their hi tech gear and he was right. “Alright freak, which way did she go? You’re the bloodhound. Time to earn your keep.” Izaya felt his insides churn like a lake of magma but he remained calm on his exterior. ~Not yet. Their time will come. We must be patient.~<br/><br/>The voice! Its voice had returned. Izaya had not heard it since the voice had abandoned him in the Dead Zone just before the quarantine. He smiled beneath the mask as he spoke too low to be heard by the human. “We’ve missed you.”<br/><br/>“You say something freak??”<br/><br/>~We will kill him the slowest.~<br/><br/>In the same low voice he answered. “Yes we will.” And then loud enough to be heard, he replied to the squad leader. “She went this way. Try and keep up with us if you can.”