It wasn't supposed to turn out like this.

Gray wasn't supposed to turn into the monster he did. It was just an undercover operation. It wasn't supposed to turn south.

Gray said he was strong enough to resist the darkness and Avatar's temptations. He promised that he was strong enough.

But he wasn't. The darkness got to him. His markings only spread further across his body. The Gray of old was gone.

Knowing their operation was compromised, Erza set out to put a stop to this, and do anything to rescue Gray from the darkness he's become.

So there they were, opposite each other, a dark air lingering between them. Gray's expression was void of all emotion, except for anger. The purple markings have engulfed his entire face, save for a jagged circle around his left eye. It was the epitome of evil, and it broke Erza's heart like nothing else. This was the second time around that her closest friend was taken by the darkness. Erza didn't know if she could take it.

There was a sword in Erza's hand, and the other was outstretched towards Gray in a painstaking plea. She didn't want to do this. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"Gray...Please. We can work through this." She said, slowly, carefully. Her voice was close to quivering with tears that threatened to form. "Don't do this, Gray. Please. Don't do this." Erza implored.

A cold, hard stare was the only response she got. That only made Erza's heart break more.

"It doesn't have to come to this. Don't make it come to this. I don't want to fight you, Gray. We can fix this." Erza spoke one last time, her hand lowering; her plea was going unanswered. The chance of her being able to get out of this without fighting was dwindling. There was almost no point in putting it off any longer.

When Gray's hands moved to his side in his battle stance, that was the hardest for Erza to keep it together. She felt as if her world was crumbling down. Her hold on her sword grew shaky, and she brought her free hand to join in gripping the hilt and steady her sword.

"Ice Devil's…" Gray's monotonous voice murmured. Erza swallowed the bile in her throat and furrowed her brow, bracing herself.

Gray's hands slowly started to separate, a rod of ice shown forming in his grasp. The weight on his feet started to shift, and he lunged, the rod of ice surging out from his hands to form a sword.

Erza, as soon as Gray flew forth, upended her sword, knowing that with Gray's speed, it'd cut clean through his ice once he closed the distance between them.

"Zeroth Long- what?!" Gray growled after coming to a halt behind Erza. His sword was shattered, spell interrupted. He turned back towards Erza, red eyes burning with rage and contempt.

Erza turned her head to look at Gray from the corner of her eye. She looked upon him sadly, face riddled with reluctance and pain.

Gray only grew more agitated, bringing his hands together to forge a sword of his own, reinforced to survive blows from Erza's magnesium-alloy swords.

"You know how skilled I am with swords, Erza." Gray warned, rotating the sword in his hand before settling into his stance.

"Where do you think you learned it from?" Erza said flatly, pausing before charging and unleashing her battle cry.

Each blow Erza made, Gray matched. Each blow Gray made, Erza matched. It was a stalemate. No one was gaining the upper hand; that is, until the ice of Gray's sword started to chip away, even with the reinforcements. Gray only growled angrily, increasing the speed of his strikes and pouring all his energy into offense.

Once Gray's ice sword shattered, Erza wasted no time in kicking Gray square in the chest during his shocked delay. He stumbled back, the wind being knocked out of him, and Erza quickly followed with a jab to his nose with her elbow.

He stepped back, gripping his nose, and noting the blood on his marked skin when he pulled his hand away. Gray just clenched his fists, encasing his one arm completely in an ice spike, and forming another from his other arm's elbow. He dashed towards Erza, leaping into the air and spinning in his Seven Slice Dance.

The Ice Blades were dripping red before they shattered, and Erza's skin was marred with cuts, scrapes, and blood. Her breathing was heavy, and she barely had any time to block Gray's next sword strike.

Their swords clashed, and fought against each other to overpower the other. Gray was growling as he pushed harder and harder against Erza's sword. Erza merely kept her eyes locked on Gray.

"Gray, please-" Her voice was strained, "Stop this! We don't have to fight any longer! I know you're still in there! You have to snap out of it ! Think of Natsu, or Lucy, or Mira, or Cana!" She winced a bit at the pain building in her arms from pushing against Gray's blade. "Think of me!" Erza yelled, pushing through Gray's sword and breaking it. "You can still pull through! For me..for us."

Gray dropped the remnants of his blade and grabbed his head, groaning at his inner turmoil. Erza lowered her sword and looked on with sorrow and pity.

"Gray…"

His moans only grew into pained shouts, before transitioning into hisses and winces. He fell to his knees, hunched over with his head still in his hands.

Gradually, the markings started to recede, back so that it only covered his one arm and through his right eye, but back to an amount he could control. His breathing was heavy and he lowered his lands, using it to support himself from hitting the ground.

Erza inched closer and kneeled down beside him, making him flinch before slowly sitting back on his knees.

She could see tears in his eyes, and was looking at her with so much regret.

Erza wasted no time in grabbing his shoulder and pulling him towards her in a hug. She let her fingers entangle themselves in his matted but still slicked hair.

"I'm sorry…" He whispered, wrapping his arms around her tightly, "I'm so sorry…"

"It's okay." Her own tears started to fall, and she buried her head in his neck, "It's going to be okay."

"I wasn't strong enough… I'm sorry…"

"Don't. Don't do that to yourself, Gray. You pulled through in the end. You're okay."

"Thank you, Erza…" He said, breaking away from the hug to rest his forehead against hers.

Erza's hand still was at the base of his neck, and she brought it to his cheek, finger tracing the remaining markings. "You know I'd do anything for you. You know I can't lose you."

Gray nodded, eyes falling closed. "I can't lose you, too."