AN ~ Hey y'all! Eevee here, and I just wanted to thank you for reading (if anyone is). This is my first fic, so it's probably really trash. Now, funny story...the timeline, I'm fairly sure, isn't cannon. See, I wrote this before I saw Gajeel get Lily, and I know that I'm waaaaaaaay behind on things, so think of this as an AU maybe? I don't know. This is just my take on things. Please review! Thanks, hope y'all enjoy!

Gajeel Redfox walked briskly through the grand double doors of the guild hall. His usual black overcoat was missing and in its place were black combat pants and a black vest. He strode down the aisle between the rows of tables that sat the various other guild members, his stride long and proud. His crimson eyes, full of anticipation, were burning a hole through the job board. As he got closer to his destination he searched the board, his eyes swept over the numerous requests tacked to the smooth wood. They stopped their search as they rested over a blank spot where a request was formerly posted. The anticipation turned into annoyance as he slammed a fist into the board. Damn it, he thought. That job was the easiest thing in the world. When I get my hands on whoever took it I'm gon-

"Hey Levy! Find a good job?"

Gajeel's thoughts were interrupted as he spun around to see Levy McGarden sitting at a table reading a book. Her short blue hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, held in place by an orange and yellow headband. The headband matched the color of her orange strapless dress. A big white bow attached to the front of the dress wrapped around her neck, holding the dress in place. Her arms bore sleeves up to her shoulders, also that same vibrant orange as the dress and headband. A pair of red-framed reading glasses rested daintily on the tip of her nose. Her golden-brown eyes stared out intently from behind the lenses, absorbing the information from the book with laser focus. Gajeel had to admit, she looked kinda cute like that. But of course he would never tell anyone else that.

"Levy, hey, you in there?"

Gajeel shifted his gaze from the tiny mage to the two men standing over her. Gajeel rolled his eyes. It was the two knuckleheads from Shadow Gear, the ones that followed Levy around everywhere and were always very protective of her. Levy looked up from her book and smiled upon seeing her two friends.

"Hey Jet! Hey Droy!" she said. She set her glasses down on the table beside her thick book. "Do you guys need something?"

"Yeah, we wanted to know if you had found a good job yet," Jet said. Droy nodded his affirmation.

"I did find one. Take a look."

Gajeel's ears perked up at this and he casually slid into a chair at a table two down from hers. Levy lifted up her book and pulled a sheet out from under it, waving it in front of Jet and Droy. "It's a complaint from a town about two hours travel to the south. A minor dark guild broke into a local trading guild and stole all their jewels. So they want us to go get it back." Jet's and Droy's eyes lit up and smiles crept onto their faces.

"All right!" Jet said, pumping his fist. "Let's go kick some butt!" Droy simply smiled and made a fist.

"Great," Levy said, also smiling. "Meet me at the train station in half an hour." She waved to the two as they made their way towards the door, then went right back to her book. Gajeel stood up and walked over to Levy's table.

"You take the job from that trading guild down south?" he asked gruffly, arms crossed. This caused the little mage to squeak and sent a chill down her spine. She could recognize that voice anywhere. And she was scared. It had only been about five months since Gajeel's acceptance into the guild and while others had begun to count him among their own, she did not. It was not like Levy to hold a grudge, but she just couldn't manage to forget the terrible things that Gajeel did to Shadow Gear that day. She still had nightmares about it. Even after he saved her from Laxus, she still did not trust him fully. She could not trust him fully. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't. And it seemed that he understood this too and took care to avoid her. But this sudden appearance and question were almost too much for her. She forced herself to turn around and face him. Being as small as she was, combined with the fact that she was sitting down, she came face to face with his thighs. Her eyes slowly climbed his body, taking it in as they did so. His strong arms were crossed over his muscular chest, their piercings reflecting the light from the hall. The brown gloves that he usually wore were replaced by black ones of the same design. His crimson eyes were staring at her from his rugged face, which was also covered in piercings. His long black hair, which reminded Levy of a horse's mane, stretched all the way down to his waist, jutting out from certain places to give it a spiky appearance. He was already frightening, and his looks just added onto that fact.

"Oi, I asked you a question," Gajeel's voice cut through her thoughts.

"Oh, um, yeah...I did. Did you have your eyes on it? I'm so sorry. You can take it if you want…" Levy trailed off. She didn't want any more trouble with the dragonslayer, and she certainly didn't want to be the one that stole his job.

"Nah. Keep it, Shrimp. It's an easy one anyway. Just be careful," he said as he turned on his heel.

He made for the bar when Levy suddenly said, "Thank you, Gajeel. I will."

Gajeel didn't miss a stride and simply grunted in response. To be quite honest, Levy was caught by surprise. She had expected him to be furious, and if not at least annoyed. But he was right, it was an easy job, and he probably wouldn't miss it. She simply went back to her book, trying to finish the chapter before she had to leave.

Gajeel felt weird. Very weird. It probably had something to do with the fact that he had just walked up to Levy and said something positive and caring to her. Maybe it was because he had turned down the job. But no matter what it was, he felt different. His chest was warm and he wasn't the least bit annoyed that his job had been taken. As he sat himself down in a barstool, he couldn't help but steal a glance at the short mage sitting at her table. Damn she's cute...He quickly shook the thought from his head. He was Gajeel Redfox, Iron Dragon Slayer, and he didn't need to concern himself with someone as weak and unimportant as Levy. He sighed to himself and asked Mira for a drink. He needed a new job.

Levy closed her book and took off her reading glasses. She looked at the large clock on the wall above the bar. She sighed; she was late. She slipped the book into an orange drawstring bag that was sitting beside her and hurried left the hall, muttering to herself about being late.

Magnolia's train station was usually a very busy place, but today it didn't seem to be all that busy. There was hardly a line at the ticket offices, and within five minutes she was walking toward her platform, ticket in hand. As she passed by one of the boarding platforms, she saw Gajeel standing with his back against one of the grand pillars that held up the roof. His eyes were cast down and moving back and forth. Levy's eyes widened and she quickly ran to find Jet and Droy and their train. She ran past three terminals until she found the two of them, standing impatiently at the platform. Upon seeing her, they rushed to her side, all the while asking if she was okay and if someone had done something to her. Levy giggled and brushed them off.

"I'm fine guys. I was just reading."

Jet and Droy stopped their questioning and smiled at each other. Typical Levy. The trio that was Shadow Gear sat down on the benches and waited for the train.

Gajeel tapped his foot impatiently as he tipped back his head and let out a loud groan. He had been waiting for half an hour and the train still hadn't arrived. He was bored. He leveled his head and was about to go check the schedule again when his sharp eyes caught a streak of blue across the station. Was that...Levy? Gajeel shook off the possibility as he realized that he was being ridiculous. How could that be Levy? There were lots of people in Magnolia; while blue wasn't exactly the most common hair color, it was by no means exclusive to Levy. Gajeel realized that his thoughts went straight to Levy. Why was that? He let the question float about in his mind, searching for an answer. He assumed that it was out of guilt. That had been happening to him a lot lately. He had thought that he had seen her numerous times over the past three months, and he knew that that was because he felt guilty. Guilt was making him see things, giving him nightmares, and no matter how hard he tried to escape it it was always there. Every time he saw Levy, Jet, and Droy he felt like a monster. Why did they accept him into their guild after he did everything in his power to destroy it? How could they forgive him after he beat Shadow Gear within an inch of death and left them hanging from that tree? Were they mocking him? Or did they really care about him? Gajeel knew that he was sorry and had done everything to prove it. That day when Shadow Gear followed him, he knew they were there. He could have just turned into an alley and slipped away, but he let them corner him and take out their anger on him. And when Laxus showed up and tried to hurt Levy, Gajeel took the blow without so much as a grunt. He had later helped the guild defeat Laxus when he went rogue, thus proving to many that he really was Fairy Tail material. Most people in the guild had begun to accept him. They didn't make an effort to get to know him, but they stopped avoiding him and glaring at him. Gajeel was okay with this; he wasn't in this to make friends, after all. But he certainly wanted to be treated as an equal, and now he felt like he finally was. He knew who trusted him and who didn't, and he knew that Levy still didn't have any trust in him. People had begun to talk to him at some point and had told him things about Levy. How she was emotionally the strongest person they had ever known. How no matter what she wouldn't ever give up. How she always greeted everyone with a bright smile. How she never stayed angry at anyone for more than a short while. Gajeel heard all this, but also heard whispers. How she was different after that night on the tree. How she spent more time in her apartment. How she was no longer seen without Jet and Droy. How she was more easily frightened by heavy footsteps and grinding metal. Gajeel knew that was because of him. And he felt terrible. Every time he looked at her, his eyes instinctively drifted to her midriff. He couldn't help but wonder if that mark was still there, haunting her. Gajeel nearly jumped out of his skin as he was pulled down to earth by a loud whistle. His train had arrived.

AN ~ Thoughts? Reviews! Thanks a ton :)