Every part of Gajeel hated being in Magnolia. The only reason the man was even there was to get a rise out of Fairytail. Him destroying the guild wasn't enough, and as per Jose's orders, he was to find another way to get a rise out of them. He could think of a few ways that were more civil, but had heard a rumor long ago that Fairytail actually cared deeply for each and every one of it's members. Weak or strong. He knew they would defend their own to the very end. The smell of alcohol and heavy oak from Fairytail still well engraved into his mind. He would easily be able to find any member of Fairytail by that scent alone. Scumbag fairies
As night fell on Fairytail, he soon began his hunt for his targets. Someone to set an example of to antagonize the perceived rival guild. He'd already picked the perfect location to leave his carnage behind. The very image of it bringing a smirk to his face. With no intentions on getting caught, he had to find someone who was outside of the guild, and out of the public eye. Almost silently he was able to travel on the rooftops of Magnolia, staying within a few blocks of the heavily damaged Fairytail guild hall. His patience wearing ever thinner as the hours passed and not a single guild member exited the building unaccompanied.
Midnight finally struck, leaving the man ready to attack anyone strictly out of his own impatience and annoyance. A faint scent found his nose as it traveled lightly on the breeze. It was that of Fairytail, but was somehow mixed and smelled like that of paper and dust and something he couldn't put his finger on. He needed it, regardless of what it was and almost unwillingly, he followed it. He followed the scent on the wind until eventually coming across a darkened alley. The sounds of a small group of people noisily making their way through it catching Gajeel's attention. Two men walking on either side of a small woman came into his view. A sharp pang hit him in the chest, clouding his vision for a moment before he shook it off. He genuinely had no intentions of dealing with any size group of guild members, but he found himself making an exception for this small gang.
Looking around and seeing no one else around, Gajeel made quick work of the two men. Neither of them putting up even so much as a fight to the iron dragon slayer. They were easily rag dolled away and beaten to near pulps within only a few seconds leaving a cocky smile across the man's face as his vision was stained red. Weak idiots. The woman was his last target. As he turned to begin his assault on her, he was hit hard by the scent he'd followed. The smell taking over all of his senses and feeling as though it were blinding him as his vision returned to color. His sudden urge to dispose of the guild members he'd come across causing him to become mentally conflicted and frustrating him deeply. He needed this scent. He could feel it in his bones. He needed the person it was attached to and he wanted it desperately. The feeling left a knot in his stomach. He was quickly hit across the face by words scripted in the air, snapping him out of his conflict and within a second, he was able to do away with the blue haired woman. Her body limply laying on the ground as fresh blood dripped steadily from her head. The smell instantly making the iron dragon slayer sick to his stomach.
He was easily able to drag the bodies of the two men of Fairytail, carrying the woman as carefully as he could. He bolted the two men to the tall, old tree readily and even left them with a few extra bruises and gashes for good measure. Carefully, he lifted the blue haired woman up. The smell of her blood filling his nose and making him cringe even more. Her limp body in his arms filling him with regret. With far more caution, he bolted her up to the tree...sorry... The crucifixion he'd left on the tree, leaving him completely unsatisfied and with regret. Something he'd not had in a long time. Carefully he drew his guild insignia over her stomach able to feel her soft, bruised skin under his fingertips. He could hear her heartbeat. The beating in her chest light and unsteady. She would be lucky to survive and he knew it. As he walked away, he turned around for a moment. He watched as the small woman flinched and convulsed slightly, making him grit his teeth. He could hear the death rattles coming from her as his vision went red again and he left the small trio to die in the tree he'd left them in as morning peered over Magnolia.
Levy could feel the air being forced out of her body as heavy arms locked against her tightly. It was almost suffocating as the studs in Gajeel's heavy arms began to bore holes into her skin. She was certain her bones might break this time. She violently kicked and hit Gajeel's arms as she tried to get him to wake up. Her screams being squeezed out of her as his grip tightened. "..Ga...Gajeel...please..." she managed to whisper out as his grip tightened even more. She was becoming lightheaded as her kicks weakened and a growl reverberated from deep in Gajeel's chest.
"LEVY!" Pantherlily shouted loudly as he kicked the door to the bedroom open. His full Exceed form ready to take on the dragon slayer as he quickly grabbed hold of Gajeel's arms and removed them from Levy's body, giving the bluenette a small window of opportunity to crawl out of the tight grip the man had on her.
The sudden lack of warmth from Levy's body snapping Gajeel awake instantly. His vision having gone red as he could smell her, but couldn't see her or hear her. Instead, he felt a strong grip holding tightly to him. His body instantly going into fight mode as he and Pantherlily engaged into combat. The Exceed had the slight advantage as the dragon slayer was laying in bed. Forcing him to be face down, Pantherlily held tightly to Gajeel as the man began to scream out angerly and began to thrash about. The Exceed pinning the dragon slayer's arms to his back. The red from Gajeel's eyes beginning to brighten the room.
"She's gonna die up there!" Gajeel screamed out "I gotta get her down! What the fuck was I thinking!"
"Gajeel wake up! She's fine! She's right here!" Pantherlily shouted, feeling Gajeel's skin beginning to become cold as silver scales began to slowly appear as the dragon slayer's hackles rose "Levy! Hurry up!" Pantherlily shouted as he slowly was being outmatched by his pinned comrade.
Air returning to her, Levy quickly scurried from the floor to the bedside, grabbing hold of Gajeel's head and wrapping it in her arms. The iron dragon's breathing becoming almost painful with how audible it was. "Gajeel..." she said quietly "I'm okay. I'm right here." she said as she covered his ears with her hands. The loud sound of her blood running through her veins deafening the dragon slayer slightly as the sound of her heartbeat eventually filled his ears. The bright red his eyes had turned seeming to relax and die down as his retracted pupils slowly dilated and returned to a more normal look. His skin returned to it's normal state along side his breathing.
When he finally came to, Gajeel panicked, tossing Pantherlily off of him and rushing towards Levy, checking the small bluenette over in every spot he'd hurt her before letting his head drop almost shamefully when he spotted nothing. Gently, Levy brought his head and mass of black hair into her chest as the man flinched nervously. He carefully brought a hand up to meet her's. He growled lowly as he opened his eyes and stared at the ground. His teeth gritting loudly.
"...this is fucking pathetic..." he said. The trio in the room relaxing knowing that Gajeel was now awake.
"It certainly is a wake up call." Pantherlily said as he rose from the bed and began walking out of the bedroom, rubbing his now small paws that were slightly bruised from dealing with Gajeel's hardened skin "Are you good?"
Gajeel nodded as he leaned back onto his bed, rubbing his face as he let his arms fall heavily to his sides. The tops of his hands hitting the old hardwood flooring. Levy looked to Pantherlily and smiled, the gesture being enough for the Exceed to take his leave, shutting the door behind him as he went. With the door now closed, Levy scooted herself closer to Gajeel and sat directly across from him and smiled. A few of the man's black hairs having fallen into his face, she moved them softly. The gesture seeming almost as though it were painful to the dragon slayer as he shut his eyes hard and leaned slightly into her touch.
"Same dream?" Levy asked as she grabbed Gajeel's hand and tugged him upwards, trying to get him to his feet. Gajeel nodded, silently brooding to himself. "That was a long time ago Gajeel. I know you'd never do that again." Gajeel didn't respond, instead he let Levy drag him to where ever she so pleased. In this instance, it was back into bed. She crawled back into bed with him. Her small frame easily being overtaken by his. She grabbed his hand and lay a small kiss between his knuckles bringing a small smirk across the man's brooding face. "We'll go talk to someone tomorrow, okay?" Levy then said as she curled comfortably into Gajeel.
"Yeah. Sure." Gajeel said knowing full well, that this was his own personal relived hell.
It wasn't the first time he'd been stuck on repeat of this scene. Levy had forgiven him long ago for what he did during his Phantom Lord days, yet for what ever reason he would relive that specific moment in time. It almost always ended the same way. Pantherlily bursting into the room and Levy having to inevitably calm him down and bring the man back to his senses. Sometimes these moments took mere seconds. Other times, they took what felt like an eternity. Before Pantherlily was there, the man would simply go into a fit of rage and destroy his home before inevitably waking up to him home being turned nearly upside down. Despite being hurt by Gajeel, Levy always seemed okay with what had happened and constantly reassured the dragon slayer that he was okay and that she trusted him fully. Since joining Fairytail, Gajeel had been trying his damnedest to make sure he could at least harbor her trust. The man being more than happy to jump into the line of fire so long as it meant Levy would be safe, yet for what ever reason, he struggled with a scene in his past he could never remove. It followed him like a shadow he didn't want. Gajeel had murdered innocent and guilty men and women without so much as a second thought. Their faces occasionally popping up in his head, but never so much as phasing him as they were "just a part of life" he would say. But something about the very idea of hurting Levy haunted him.
Despite a great deal of time having passed and the little script mage having gone from staying at her dorm room to his home almost daily and their lives being built together slowly but surely, the dreams never seemed to get better. In fact, one could say that they were becoming worse. Where he once would simply stress himself to the point of panic in his sleep, he'd now left several unintentional marks on Levy's skin. Something he hated himself more for given his vow to never let that happen.
The pair lay silently in the room as they attempted to go back to sleep. Gajeel looking over the features of Levy's face carefully before finding a bare patch of skin on her shoulder with a bruising hole clearly bored into it from one of the studs on his arms. He furrowed his brow at the image and sighed. When his eyes returned to Levy's face, she was staring right back at him. She lightly ran her fingers over the metal studs on his face. The sensation feeling almost like a spark of electricity that ran straight to the back of his head and sent shivers down his spine. In truth, those studs had always been where they were and made his senses more acute. Levy's gentle touch was no exception to this rule, and Gajeel relished in those light grazes.
"Go to bed Gajeel, okay?" Levy said softly, place a soft kiss on the stud adorning the man's chin and without question, Gajeel closed his eyes. Relying only on his ears, he could hear Levy's heart beating strong and her breathing level. She was fine. Tomorrow would be a new day with hopefully new answers and hopefully solutions to help the man overcome that which troubled him the most.