Everyone has their breaking point, that's all Gajeel kept telling himself. Even someone as good as Levy could do something unthinkable if she was pushed hard enough. It was just a feeling he had and it made him uneasy, if it was anyone but her would he have blinked an eye? He hadn't slept, and he doubted he was going to get the sleep he needed after learning something like this. He ran his hands down his face, trying to make sense of the situation, watching the fire burn out before he had to face whatever demon escaped her tonight.
He just wanted to go home, doing a week long mission for a bitchy client was bad enough, but the 2 hour train ride back just put the icing on the shit-cake. He was dead on his feet, him and Lily headed for the train station the minute their mission was over, there was no way he was spending another night in the over priced motel, he was sure he was going to get a staph infection from. He was probably going to have to the burn his clothes if he couldn't get the smell of bad decisions out of them. He would have loved to run home but, the motion sickness was slowing him down. Lily was just as tried as he was, but flew to their home straight from the train station, leaving Gajeel alone with his thoughts. At least Gajeel would have a warm house to come home to.
Going through the city this time of the night would just be asking for trouble, it didn't really matter that Gajeel was a big, scary looking guy who could handle himself. Someone was always looking for a fight, which he usually would have been all for, but he was way too exhausted to deal with anything that wasn't hugging a pillow. He decided to walk just outside the city, that way he could avoid anyone if they were there, and make it home in the same amount of time. The outskirts of Magnolia was quiet this time of night, everyone was already in bed, and it was too early for anyone to start their day. Gajeel was thankful for this, if he was ambushed he would probably give whoever it was whatever they wanted just so he could go home and sleep for a week.
He was almost home when he smelled something that made his stomach turn. There was no mistaking it, there was blood, and a lot of it. It smelled human and it was close by. He didn't exactly live on the best side of the city, so crime was bound to happen, but he hadn't once come across a body, yet. He was trying to decide if he should investigate, it was nearby and it probably wouldn't take long. But if it was what he thought it was there was no way he would sleep well waiting until morning. His conscious led him towards the smell, just in case the person was still alive and needed help, the closer he got to the smell, the more uneasy it made him and then he smelled something that made his heart stop. He broke into a sprint, he barely caught the scent, but there was no mistaking the fact it belonged to his shrimp.
He couldn't get a lock on it, so he just followed the smell of blood, he could tell it wasn't hers, but maybe someone she was with was hurt, and she was next to fall victim to whatever it was. He thought back to when he fought Shadow Gear, it didn't matter to them that one of them could get away, they would never abandon each other, so if one of them was mortally wounded, it was only a matter of time before she suffered the same fate. The drops of blood were steady, so whoever they were coming from couldn't of been in too bad of shape, which made him worry more about where the original source is. Eventually the drops slowed and they were spaced farther apart, he could tell that either they were able to put pressure on the wound, or the bleeding was stopping on its own. There was still too much blood for this to be just a little cut.
He sped up his pace hoping to see a flash of blue or orange anywhere, a shadow, something to send him the right direction of Levy now that there was no longer a blood trail to follow. From the corner of his eye he caught sight of a small figure zigzagging through the trees. From the size alone he could tell who it was, he felt relieved, and worried at the same time, not knowing if there was a threat nearby, so he carefully followed for a little while before he grabbed her. "Are you hurt?" He had her pinned between his body and a tree so she couldn't move, he could tell he surprised her by the look on her face and his hand over her mouth so she couldn't scream. When the fear dropped from her eyes when she realized it was him, he dropped the hand from her mouth and asked her again. "Levy? Are you hurt?"
"No." Gajeel was relieved, she was safe in his arms, but there were still too many questions for him to relax completely. "They're fine." was her response when he asked her about her team. She dropped her head to avoid eye contact, not ready for any other questions he might have. He took the time to take in her disheveled appearance. She was covered in blood, a black jacket hid her stained dress underneath, and a hood hid her hair, but it did nothing to hide the way the red that was starting to turn brown stood out against the blue. It was matted in places, and the jacket did nothing to hide the smeared blood on her face, he could tell where she tried to wipe it off and where it transferred to her face from her hair while she was running.
Gajeel tried to wrap his head around why Levy would be running through the woods covered in at 3 in the morning, he disliked each scenario he came up with more than the last, and decided here was not the best place to talk. He closed his eyes trying to accept the fact that if Levy was not the victim here, there was one somewhere. He flung her over his shoulder and made a bee line to his home, levy tried to open her mouth to protest, but her wants went ignored. "The only thing that should be coming out of your mouth right now, is an explanation, if it ain't that I suggest you save it."
He was praying lily was already sleep when he finally pushed open the door to his home he shared with the cat. He dropped her in the bathroom, trying to avoid getting a good look at her in the light. "You smell like death, take a shower and I'll loan you something to wear cause I'm burning your clothes. He didn't give her a chance to respond, and he heard the shower start, he went to his room to pull out a t-shirt and a pair of boxer-briefs she could borrow for the night and came to trade it, with the pile of bloody clothes outside his bathroom door.
The jacket definitely wasn't hers, even with its dark color he could still see a decent sized blood stain staining the fabric. Her dress was saturated in it, the light orange color ruined by the drying blood, it was ripped in some places, there was no saving it even without the stain in it. The blood even soaked through to her lacy white panties, ruining the pure color, her matching bra suffered the same fate. Normally Gajeel would be flustered by holding panties belonging to levy, ones that were fresh off her body, and still held the scent of her most intimate place. Or he would spend his time teasing her about how they were either cute and innocent, or surprisingly sexy. But he felt nothing as he threw them in to the fire place, and slumped exhaustedly into his couch.
That's where he was now, his hands scrubbed down his face again, trying to fight sleep, and make sense of what the hell happen tonight. "Gajeel?" Her voice was as sweet as it always was, her scent filling his nostrils mixed with the smell of his soap, in any other situation, he could appreciate how cute she looked in his clothes, or the way her nipples poked through the shirt she was wearing and how it stopped at the top of her thighs.
"What did you do?" His words were slow but he still spit them out like venom through gritted teeth. His fists were clenched, and his whole body language screamed anger. But the look on his face showed concern, and he seemed like he was mostly disappointed. She looked down at her feet, and started to twist the bottom of his shirt she was wearing trying to find the words to make him understand. "Levy?" He called her when she didn't respond so he decided to be more direct with his question. "Did you do, what I think you did?"
She hesitated, but she nodded, he took a minute to process this information and his whole demeanor dropped. She confirmed that she did something he would never think she would do. He felt like there was a knot on his chest and the way she looked at him, let him no she wasn't the least bit sorry. "I did a bad thing... But I have my reasons." Her tone surprised him, she usually sounded so sweet even when she was mad, and now it was cold to the point it sent a chill down his spine. "Just don't worry about it... Okay?" What bothered Gajeel the most was the fact she didn't look like she felt a shed of regret about anything, she didn't seem even the least bit shook up that she was caught.
"I fucking love you, and you're telling me not to worry about it?" His voice shook, she could tell he was trying really hard to calm himself down. "I find you covered in someone else's blood and I'm just supposed to look the other way? I thought you were dying, and you're acting like I'm the one who's wrong here." Levy flinched, she expected him to raise his voice at her and she was mentally trying to prepare for it when she was in the shower. His words were calm and straight to the point, she knew he was right and his confession made her heart drop to her stomach.
Gajeel wasn't easily manipulated, she could cry on command and make up something dumb and it would have worked on anyone else, but he deserved the truth and she decided he would get exactly that, just not tonight. "Can we just talk about it in the morning? I'm really tired, and I'm not ready to talk about it. " She still wouldn't make eye contact with him, he was pissed, at the situation, at her. He was too tired to think with a level head, so he agreed to calling it a night. But he wasn't going to let her leave without giving him an answer.
"You owe me an explanation, so don't leave" He dragged her farther into the house, past Lily's room and into his. "I'm not gonna be so forgiving if you leave while I'm asleep." She could tell he was tense, but he was out as soon as his head hit the pillow. She didn't have much room in between Gajeel's back and the wall, but she knew trying to cuddle with Gajeel was out of the question, she didn't expect him to kiss her good night or be loving, but it still hurt. It wasn't the first time they had slept in a bed together, but it was the first time without stolen kisses and looks that made her melt. The way he looked at her made her heart hurt, she could only describe it as disgust. She rolled away from him towards the wall and let sleep take her. Tomorrow was always another day.
I'm sure my grammar is absolutely terrible, but that's what happens when your computer breaks and you write on a phone. Thanks for reading -Chesxca