A/N: The pairing is LevyxGajeel, because I think they're perfect for each other. Updates will be pretty irregular, seeing as I write whenever I have free time. Enjoy the story!

Chapter 1

Gajeel walked along the streets of Magnolia, his path lit by tall, black lamps situated at regular intervals. He raised his head and spied the moon in all its glory, surrounded by a sea of stars. Although most people would've found this view to be a pleasure to behold, to him it was nothing special.

After a long, tiring day at Fairy Tail he was on his way home, planning to do nothing but sleep the night away. When he had first joined the guild he had had his doubts about the place. And all of them had been confirmed upon entering the newly built castle. The room had been filled with almost every mage belonging to the guild, with the exception of Natsu and the rest of his team. They had received Gajeel pretty well; most of them brandished their weapons, bloodlust appearing in their eyes, and the rest attacked him in the hopes that 10 against 1 might give them an advantage. Of course this was highly unlikely, but Juvia had managed to block their attacks, trying to explain to them why he was there.

"I invited him!" Juvia had yelled over the battle cries echoing throughout the hall. "He's not going to harm anyone!"

The mages didn't believe the Element Four mage, but when Makarov had spoken up in support of her they backed off, unable to go against their master. All they could do was glare at the Dragon Slayer as he made his way to the bar and asked Mirajane to hurry up and give him some damn scrap iron already. The dirtiest looks had been sent by Jet and Droy, while a rather horrified Levy had scampered to the table farthest away from the guild, terrified by the man's mere presence.

It wasn't as if Gajeel had wanted to join the guild in the first place. But with Master Jose defeated in a mere minute and Phantom disbanded for good, Juvia's invitation to Fairy Tail seemed like a pretty sweet deal for him, even if he had totally wrecked the guild and hospitalized one of its many teams.

That was how things had been in the beginning. Nowadays, after helping save Magnolia from Luxus's lightning lacrima, and keeping the guild's 'good' reputation while Natsu's team was away fighting the Oracion Seis, he only received a few silent threats and death glares, and most people had grown used to his presence in the guild. If anyone pointed this out to Gajeel he would declare he really didn't give a damn, and this was almost completely true. In his eyes all the fairies were one and the same, and had no significance in his daily life.

Allowing his thoughts to accompany him on his long walk home, he began to make his way past one of Magnolia's many alleyways when he heard a loud crunch, and suddenly his vision was clouded by dust. He coughed and waved his hand in front of him, the dust swerving and curving around his fingers.

The sound of laughter emerged from the alley, and a couple of groans followed suit. The former Phantom mage raised an eyebrow, wondering whether he should just ignore it and walk away or find out what was going on. Curiosity got the better of him and he silently walked towards the laughter, taking cover behind a large dumpster. He winced as the stench of the garbage wafted into his nostrils, for once cursing his enhanced sense. He tried to block out the smell by covering his nose with his hand, but realised that other scents he recognized were floating around as well, scents that were normally present in Fairy Tail.

"You bastards!" someone yelled, coughing on the last word. The voice was surprisingly close. Gajeel poked his head out, and had to suppress the urge to laugh at the sight in front of him. Jet, the annoyingly fast mage who always somehow managed to bother the Dragon Slayer with only his presence, was lying against a large crater in the wall behind him, coughing up blood. He slid to the ground, where another person was lying face down. If the scent of the man hadn't been enough to identify him, his odd stem-like hairstyle certainly clinched it.

Jet glared at two dark figures in front of him, one arm wrapped around his chest and the other pressed against the crater, supporting his weak legs. Droy lay motionless beside him, obviously knocked out by whatever had hit the two before.

What fools, Gajeel thought with a twisted sense of glee, a grin forming on his face. I should just leave them here; after all you reap what you sow.

He turned to leave but froze when a certain scent caught his attention. Glancing back at the scene he had just moved away from, he realised that there were three people in the shadows. Looking closely, he could clearly see two muscular, almost identical men standing beside each other. His suspicions were confirmed as he recognized the third figure standing – well, kneeling, – in front of them. Her clothes were torn and covered in dust, and her arms were bound to her sides by loops of thick, brown rope. A large, callused hand covered her mouth, muffling any sound she tried to make.

Gajeel looked away from the sight and began to retrace his steps, exiting the alley rather quickly. This wasn't his problem, those fairy pests should have been able to take care of themselves. After all, they should've learnt by now that it wasn't safe to take a path through random alleyways this late at night. You were supposed to learn from your past mistakes, not repeat them.

He took a few steps forward, completely intent on just walking away and pretending he hadn't seen or heard anything, but couldn't help glancing back at the alleyway again.

"...Shit."

"Well girly, looks like it's just you and us now."

Levy flinched as the man stroked her cheek, an eager and hungry look in his eyes. He was squatting in front of her, one hand under his jaw and the other still on the side of her face, preventing her from turning away. His comrade was behind him, tossing Jet's limp body to the side like a worthless doll, smiling as he landed with a thump on top of Droy.

"I hope you didn't kill them," the man commented, not even glancing back. "That'd cause us a lot of trouble."

"Of course not," his comrade said. "They won't be going anywhere for a while, though."

Levy bit her lip and held her breathe, trying to ignore the lump in her throat. She would not let these men have the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She had been forced to watch as her friends were beaten to a pulp, made worse by the fact that no matter how many times she tried to beg the men to stop, they simply ignored her and continued their relentless attack. Her partners had tried to protect her, but she had no way to protect them. Was all this pain really worth preventing her from coming to any harm? She'd rather have fought alongside them instead of being a mere spectator, but in this situation she was useless, and she hated it.

How did we get into this? She asked herself miserably. The Solid Script mage tried to look over the man's shoulder to see if Jet and Droy were alright, but he brought his face down in front of hers, blocking her view with his wicked, toothy grin. She grimaced as he brought his lips closer, wincing as they brushed her cheek and headed towards her ear.

"No-one's gonna save you now, darling," he whispered, his disgustingly warm breath blowing over her ear. "If I were you I wouldn't struggle."

His hand snaked towards her shirt, and Levy did the only thing she could to stop him. She leaned her head down and snapped her teeth closed on his hand, causing the man to emit a deafening howl. He removed his hand from her clutches and backhanded her cheek, sending her skidding across the gravel, small, sharp stones tearing into her skin. She grit her teeth, trying to bear the ache in her jaw.

"Oh, she got you good, Bullion," the man's partner chuckled.

"Shut up, Vice," Bullion snarled. He started towards the girl, fists clenched so tight that his knuckles were turning white. "She's gonna get it now."

He was so focused on her that he didn't notice a glint of light reflecting on a metallic surface in the shadows, nor did he see the long iron pillar heading towards him until Vice yelled out "Bullion, watch out!" However it was too late as the pillar had already reached him, slamming into his chest and thrusting him into the dumpster on the opposite end of the alley.

"Bullion!" Vice ran over to his partner, who was slumped against the dumpster, a small stream of blood making its way down his chin. He moved his hands to his partner's chest and experimentally placed one on it, recoiling as the man let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Don't...touch...ribs...broken..." Bullion gasped, his eyes rolling back into his head

"Who the hell was that?" Vice yelled angrily.

He was answered with the sound of footsteps, followed by a tall figure emerging from the shadows, red eyes blazing with satisfaction. Levy tried to look up to see who it was who had saved her, but found she didn't have the strength to move.

Vice stood up and glared at the stranger standing in front of him, slightly unnerved by the smile on his opponent's face.

"That was boring," the man complained, barely even glancing at Bullion. His eyes moved to Vice. "Maybe you can entertain me?"

Levy's eyes widened as she recognized the voice of her savior. Gajeel? She thought, more surprised than relieved. Why is he here? As desperately as she wanted to look up and to see what was going on, she suddenly felt herself getting very drowsy, the past hour's events finally taking their toll on her. Darkness began to envelop her mind, and the last thing she heard before she slipped into her deep sleep was her attacker cry "Shut the fuck up!" followed by a loud crunch, and then silence.

Voices swarmed through her head, relieving her of the ability to form a single coherent thought. She attempted to understand what these voices were saying, what they wanted from her, but this wasn't possible. It all just seemed too hard, too confusing, and all she wanted to do was to go back to sleep and rest her weary mind. Why should she have to focus on the sounds around her? No, she'd much rather they left her alone.

"Le...ear...me?"

Levy's fingers twitched as she tried to make sense of the jumble that had decided to join all the other murmurs in her mind. Before she had a chance to interpret it the whispers soon ceased, and a loud, clear voice cut through the silence.

"Levy...can you...me?"

Hearing the sentence a bit more clearly was a big help to the mage, but she still couldn't comprehend what exactly the voice was trying to say. It was a lovely voice though, gracefully winding through the recesses of her mind as it tried to convey a message to the girl. But what could it be? And was it really that important?

"Levy-chan, can you hear me? Please, wake up!"

"Lu...chan?" Levy sighed, the words barely audible.

Lucy sat up straight, a relieved grin spreading across her face, "Finally! I was afraid you'd never wake up!"

Levy gradually opened her eyes, allowing her pupils to adjust to the lighting in the room, which seemed to be unnaturally bright to her. The first thing she saw when her sight was restored was Lucy's smiling face, and somehow it relaxed her, allowing her to nestle into her bed more comfortably. Wait...when did I get here?

The mage sat up straight, suddenly recalling the events in the alleyway. How on earth could she have forgotten about it? "Where are Jet and Droy?" she almost yelled, grabbing Lucy's shoulders as hysteria started to get the better of her.

"They're right in front of you," Lucy replied, turning her friend's head in the direction of the two beds opposite hers. There lay her teammates, both of the boys fast asleep and snoring very loudly. Levy wondered how she hadn't noticed them before when she had first woken up. "Wendy already healed the worst of their wounds, and now they're just sleeping it off."

"...I see," Levy murmured, raising a hand to her cheek, which had a large plaster stuck to it. She realised that her arms were wrapped in clean, white bandage. There were more bandages wrapped around her torso, which she soon learned ached when she leaned forward. She gazed at the rest of her body, realising she was wearing a white tank top and large grey sweats that she didn't remember putting on. "What happened to us?"

"That's what we were going to ask you." The Stellar Spirit mage shifted around in her chair, trying to find a comfortable position. Once she was happy, she continued. "We found you guys completely knocked out in front of the gates. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw you, Levy-chan! So we brought you in here and tended to your wounds. It's been a day since then, and you're the first one to wake up."

Levy massaged her temples, pain suddenly rearing to life in her head. "We...they were walking me home...and then we were jumped by two guys...we thought we'd have no trouble getting them to leave us alone...but they used some kind of magic that made them much stronger than we had expected. They tied me up and then they...they...they relentlessly attacked Jet and Droy...I think we were saved by someone, but for the life of me I can't remember who."

"It's okay, you don't have to remember everything right now," Lucy said soothingly, gently pushing Levy down onto the bed and covering her with the sheet. "Just go back to sleep, okay?"

She followed Lucy's orders and closed her eyes, allowing all her worries to slip away into nothingness as she answered the beckons of her dreams.