Disclaimer: I own none of the characters
"Gajeel Redfox?"
Gajeel looked up, lips still pressed to the rim of his glass. The two men that had approached him were both wearing expensive suits, but that was the only attractive thing about them. One of them looked like a dog, and the other was scrawny and smelled of rotten eggs.
He instantly disliked them.
"That's my name," he said, turning back towards the bar, "don't wear it out."
"We're going to have to ask that you come with us," Eggy said, and Gajeel looked at him out of the corner of his eye with a quirked eyebrow.
He finished his drink, setting the glass down along with the money for his drink before standing. He pulled his leather jacket back on before giving the two men an unamused glower.
"Look, boys," he started, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I'm not in charge of the bettin'. I'm just the one who throws the punches. If yer mad because ya lost some money, take it up with someone else."
He turned to make his way out of the bar, but Dogboy stepped in front of him. Gajeel looked down at him with a quirked eyebrow. He could only have been 5'4, and Gajeel couldn't detect any muscle under his suit. The fight would be quick, but Gajeel probably wouldn't be allowed back in this bar again.
Damn, he was really starting to like this one.
"We're not here to talk about your boxing," Dogboy said, and Gajeel suddenly had a very bad feeling. "We're here to talk about your… other profession." Aw shit.
"Wow, now I'm even less interested."
"Mr. Redfox-"
"I'm. Not. Interested," Gajeel growled, and with that, he turned on his heel and headed for the back exit. No one stopped him, but Gajeel knew that the two suits were following him out. He made it halfway down the alleyway before Eggy spoke up again.
"Mr. Redfox, I don't think you know who we represent. We're here to-"
"Yer more of Hades' bastards," Gajeel said, stopping. "Ya want to recruit me for whatever new asinine plot he's come up with. So I'll tell ya what I've told everyone who's come before ya. Leave me alone."
"I'm afraid we can't do that," Dogboy said, pulling back his jacket so that Gajeel could clearly see the holster on his hip. "You're coming with us whether you like it or not."
Gajeel looked at the two flatly, before laughing. He laughed and laughed, bending over and clutching his stomach. Dogboy and Eggy both looked distinctly uncomfortable now, and Gajeel took a moment to revel in their expressions before he straightened up, still chuckling.
"The guys at headquarters or whatever didn't tell ya very much before they sent ya out, did they?" Gajeel said with a smirk, shrugging out of his leather jacket. It had been a gift from Juvia and he didn't want to ruin it.
Dogboy and Eggy exchanged looks before pulling their pistols out and aiming at his t-shirt-clad chest. Gajeel laughed again, shaking his head.
"Do ya know why Hades' wants my help so much?" Gajeel asked, and their grips on the guns shook. "Because," he said slowly, holding out his fist as his skin began to ripple, "it takes a hell of a lot more than a gun to take me down."
The two men watched in horror as metal raced across Gajeel's skin, making a protective armor of iron scales that covered his entire body. His normally dark brown eyes turned a piercing red and his already thick muscles bulked up even more, making the seams of his t-shirt pop open a bit.
Eggy dropped his gun in shock, and Gajeel grinned, revealing sharpened canines. "Yeah," he said, and rushed forward.
A solid punch to Eggy's jaw had him down for the count (and possibly a trip to the hospital, there had been a suspicious cracking noise), but Dogboy was harder to pin down. After the initial shock of seeing Gajeel transform into a metal beast in front of him had worn off, Dogboy actually had some skills. He continually slipped through Gajeel's fingers, attacking different spots to see if there was a crack in his defense.
Hint: There wasn't.
"I could do this all day," Gajeel mocked, swinging his elbow in an attempt to hit Dogboy's temple, but he slipped away again. Gajeel growled in frustration, spinning around to face the other man just in time to take a taser to the chest.
Everything stopped for a moment and then everything burned. Gajeel screamed, his metal skin conducting the electricity easily. He could feel his heart fight to keep beating, and wished that he had called Juvia for help the second those men had walked into the bar (though how much help a woman who could control water would be against a guy with a taser was debatable).
Dogboy ripped the taser away and Gajeel's knees buckled, dropping the large man onto the ground. His breathing was hard, and he could feel his metal skin start to retreat as his body fought to keep functioning.
"Now," Dogboy said, and Gajeel glared weakly at him through long strands of black hair. The other man had pulled out his gun again, aiming it at Gajeel's temple this time. "You're going to come with me, or you'll get another dose of this-" the taser cackled threateningly " - to the chest, are we clear?"
Gajeel opened his mouth to say something rude about Dogboy's mother, when the taser and gun yanked themselves out of the other man's hands, floating in midair. There was a loud creak as the dumpster a few feet away lifted as well, and soon everything in the alley was floating several feet off the ground. Dogboy looked at them with wide eyes, but Gajeel just grinned.
"How'd ya find me?" he asked, and the car that had been blocking the view of the street lifted, a young woman stepping forward from behind it. She was outfitted in full superhero regalia, smirk on her lips, and her presence filled the whole alley as she stood there with her hands on her hips. She was gorgeous, and Gajeel felt his heart stopping again, this time without the aid of several hundred volts to the chest.
"Just had to listen for the sounds of a fight. You're normally not too far away," she said, and Gajeel wheezed out a laugh. Dogboy was looking at the woman with wide eyes, trembling where he stood.
"Catalyst," he whispered, and the superhero turned to look at him. Even with her domino mask on, Gajeel could see how unimpressed she was, and he laughed.
"Why can't I ever make people react like that?" Gajeel said as he slowly pushed himself up on shaky arms, and Catalyst laughed, a light sound that contradicted the darkness of her suit.
"Because you're losing your touch, Redfox."
"Low blow."
Catalyst rolled her eyes, and suddenly everything in the alley dropped. Dogboy covered his ears at the loud clanging, and when he looked back up, Catalyst was floating in front of him, fist cocked back and ready to fly. She hit him hard in the face, breaking his nose with a snap. He cried out, but she lifted him into the air before he could fight back, picking Eggy up as well and dumping them both in the dumpster. She perched herself on the lid delicately, smiling as Dogboy started pounding on the lid, screeching to be let out.
"You don't normally go for the face," Gajeel said as he finally rose to his feet, his breathing shallow as he tried to steady himself.
"It was a special circumstance," Catalyst said with a shrug. "The first plan was to throw the car at him. You okay?"
"Bastard got me with a taser," he grumbled, rubbing his chest. His t-shirt was burned around the spot where Dogboy had dug the prongs in, and Gajeel almost pouted.
He really liked this shirt.
"That doesn't answer my question," Catalyst asked softly, and Gajeel grinned at her, slowly making his way over to where his leather jacket was.
"I'm fine, really," he said. "I just need to lay do-" His leather jacket jerked out from under his hand, and when he turned around, it was draped around Catalyst's shoulders. He sighed, giving her a Look. She smiled innocently at him, and he rolled his eyes fondly, walking over to where she was sitting and settling himself between her legs. His hands ran up her nomex-covered thighs, gripping her hips in his large hands. She sighed, tangling her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck.
"I'm fine," Gajeel said, rubbing her hipbones with his thumbs. "It's gonna take more than a mook with a taser to take me out."
"That's not what it looked like to me," Catalyst said with a frown. "Gajeel, seriously. Hades is gonna keep sending guys after you, and soon it won't be just random guys in suits. It'll be other supers. I'm worried," she said, resting her forehead against his, her blue curls forming a curtain between them and the rest of the world. "Even if you're not."
"As long as I'm unaffiliated, I'm gonna have people coming after me," he said lowly, reaching up to cup her cheek. She leaned into his touch, and his heart clenched. "They still remember me as Jose's bitch, and they think they can put me on a new leash. Not again," he said, eyes closed. "Never again."
"I know," Catalyst sighed, wrapping her arms fully around his neck. "You know…"
"No."
"Makarov still has a place open for you-"
"Catalyst, I said no," Gajeel said firmly, and Catalyst pouted at him, yanking on his hair roughly. He yelped loudly, frowning at her.
"Being a part of Fairy Tail isn't being put on a leash, it's protection," Catalyst said, crossing her arms. "Juvia joined us almost a year ago, and she's happy. Please," she said again, cupping his jaw in her hands and turning his face until she could look him in the eyes. "I can't always be here to save you."
"I don't need saving," Gajeel protested, and Catalyst's eyebrow quirked under the mask. "Most of the time," Gajeel grumbled.
"Gajeel," she said softly, and he sighed, resting his hands on the edge of the dumpster.
"… Fine," he said, looking up at her through the strands of hair that had fallen in his face. "I'll join Fairy Tail." Catalyst's face lit up with a bright smile, but when she opened her mouth to say something, Gajeel pressed a finger to her lips. "On one condition."
The telepath nodded eagerly. "Anything," she said, and Gajeel took a deep breath.
"You let me take off your mask."
The silence that descended on the alley was thick, and Gajeel wished that Eggy and Dogman were back out of the dumpster. Knocking heads together, that he could do. It was what he was paid to do, what he'd been doing his whole life. Fighting was easy to him.
This thing he had with her? This was hard.
"Gajeel," Catalyst said softly, pain in her voice. "You know I can't."
"Why not?" Gajeel asked. "I'm gonna find out eventually, especially if I join Fairy Tail like you want me to. But I want you to let me. Come on, please." She squirmed uncomfortably, and Gajeel took a step closer. "We've been doing this for a year," he said. "You know everything about me. I just wanna know who you are."
"I… I can't," she whispered, and his heart broke at the hitch in her voice.
"Why? Because I used to be a villain?" he asked. "I left that all behind. I left it behind for you!" He took a deep breath, trying to calm back down. "This isn't a rooftop fling to me," he told her, "not anymore. It hasn't been for a long time."
Catalyst wouldn't look at him, and he felt his heart shatter into dust at her feet. "Fine," he said quietly. "Forget I asked." He started to pull away, but her legs tightened around his hips. Gajeel slowly looked back at her, and Catalyst was tugging nervously on her hair.
"I'm," she started, taking a deep breath. "I'm scared that if you find out who I am, you'll stop wanting me," she said quietly. "I'm not… Catalyst is only one half of me, and I'm scared the other half is lacking."
Gajeel carefully cupped her cheeks in his large palms, running his thumb across her mask as she leaned into his touch. "I'm in this for the long haul," he told her softly. "Always have."
She watched him for a few moments before wrapping her arms around his chest, flying them both onto the roof. Gajeel almost laughed at the irony.
Rooftops were where they started, and this would be where the game ended.
Her feet hit the rooftop, and Gajeel looked down at the young woman who only came up to his shoulder. After checking to make sure there were no security cameras that were watching them, she nodded at him, and clung tightly to his waist as he carefully peeled her mask off.
The domino mask landed with a muted clatter on the roof, and Catalyst looked up at him with the warmest pair of golden brown eyes he had ever seen. She had freckles dotted under her eyes, and he wanted to kiss all of them. "Hey," he breathed, running his fingers through her hair. God, she was stunning.
"Hey," she said back, smiling softly at him. "I don't think we've been properly introduced," she teased weakly, and he laughed. "My name's Levy McGarden. I'm 23, I have a pet Border Collie named Lizzie, and am afraid of the dark."
"You're afraid of the dark?" Gajeel said with a laugh, completely in awe of the woman in front of him. "Levy, you're what the things in the dark are afraid of!"
"Why do you think I started with the superhero gig in the first place?" she said with a shrug, smiling widely at him. She floated so that they were at eye level with each other, crossing her legs in the air.
"And why'd you stick with it?" Gajeel asked, watching as her black domino mask jerked into her hand. Levy fiddled with a mask, a small, shy smile appearing on her lips.
"Well, there was this bad guy named Kurogane that I fought one night, and not a week later I saw him save a little girl from a building he was going to blow up," she said, and Gajeel felt the tops of his ear start to burn. Levy's dark eyes flitted up to meet his, and she grinned. "I decided that if nothing else, I would save him before I gave up on the whole 'Catalyst' thing."
"... That is so cheesy."
"Yeah yeah, I'm a superhero; making cheesy speeches is literally in my contract. Now come on, I believe you mentioned something about wanting to join Fairy Tail."
Here, have some superpowered dorks. This was a response to a prompt I got way back when I first started my writing blog on tumblr, and it got lost somehow in all the mess. I found it again today and decided I really liked it, so I finished it up and here we are! I hope you all enjoy!
do-fairys-have-tails . tumblr . com