The night air was frigid, snow falling silently onto the black pavement. A man stopped under a bar sign, it's fluorescent light flickering as he pulled the hood over his face. His eyes glowed a faint red, only enough to not be noticed by passer-byes.

"You shouldn't be out here like this, Gajeel," a deep voice sounded from the alleyway.

The man snickered and rubbed his thumb against his bottom lip, stifling the annoyance.

His breath was hot as he spoke, wafts of steam pouring from his mouth, "You know I can't be cooped up like that, Lily. There's only so much a man can take." His voice trailed off as a woman walked by, her short black skirt barely covering enough to leave anything to the imagination. She wobbled on her kitten heels, make up smeared and her hair teased to what she would think was perfection.

After the women entered the door to the bar, Gajeel continued to speak. "Let me have my fun, cat."

"Jose will not be happy," the deep voice sounded of disapproval.

Gajeel heard the cat fly off before continuing into the night.

I can only take so much of this, he thought, walking into the bar. Clouds of smoke hung thick in the air as he sat at the counter, waving down the bartender.

"No hoods, man," the bartender pointed, pulling the bottle opener from his sweatband on his arm and sliding two beers across the bar.

Gajeel groaned, obliging.

"Looks like you're into body mods," the bartender laughed, noticing the studs on the man's brow, nose and chin.

"Yeah, sure bud; get me Jim Beam, Devil's cut; neat." Gajeel wiped his brow in irritation, feeling the iron studs that replaced any eyebrows he might have.

The bartender nodded, pulling out a glass and fixing the liquor.

Gajeel fingered his long raven hair, before leaving cash and taking his drink. He walked over to a corner of the bar and surveyed the people, reaching into his pocket and dropping a small metal nut into his drink.

After an hour of surveying people, he kicked back the rest of his drink, gulping down the nut and chewing slowly. It was a first in a while where he was able to enjoy himself and not be bothered by anyone at the bar. Usually his look attracted women who were already a few drinks in. He would oblige himself to them, filling his primal needs.

One of these days, maybe I'll finally find something more...

Making his way through the people, he walked out into the cold night, pulling his hood back over his face once more.

"Ya know, ya don't have to wait up for me," he said, smiling.

A black cat sauntered out onto the sidewalk, adorning the same black hood as his partner's. "I know how you are Gajeel, I need to make sure you don't get into trouble."

The man laughed, picking up his furry friend and cradling him into a hug. "What would I do without you?" He snickered.

Lily, feeling defeated, smiled back and became limp. "I really don't know," he said, rolling his eyes. "I suggest we get home, although; the sun will be up soon."

"Ya, ya, I hear ya. Why don't you go on up ahead." Gajeel let his friend go. "I'll be home soon."

The cat smiled, taking flight. "Fine. I'll meet you at home."

Gajeel walked as silent as he could, the snow crunching under his footsteps sounded deafening.

Once he reached his Guild's headquarters, he stopped, smelling the air. There was something off about the scent, something new. He rested his face, setting forth into the hall; when the opened the door he was met with his guildmates, up late and blustering around. A blue haired woman walked up to him, no emotion in her face.

"Gajeel," she greeted, nodding her head. He looked at her with question, removing the hood from his face and closing the door behind him. The last of the cold air bit at his neck.

'They took one of the girls from Fairytail," she mumbled, glancing back at the small crowd.

"Are they idiots?" Gajeel scoffed, his brows furrowing. "This will cause a war. I'm not saying I can't beat 'em, but I really don't feel like putting up with this crap."

"I guess they don't know yet, and it was a covert mission. Jose said that it was needed, and we'll use her as a bartering chip soon. We'll find out whether or not they'll figure it out that it was us..." she trailed off.

As she was lost in her thoughts, staring at their guildmates before them, Gajeel interrupted her.

"Juvia, who is it?"

"It's the script mage, the one with the blue hair?"

Gajeel started walking towards the crowd, hearing Juvia as he strode. He wasn't going to answer back, but he needed to see what was going on.

"Gajeel!" He heard a voice roar at him. "What the hell were you doing out so late? You missed out on all of the fun."

He looked up to see Jose, his Guild Master peering down at him.

"I just needed to get some fresh air," Gajeel said.

"Well, well, well. No harm done! Besides, I have a present for you," the man smoothed his mustache, smiling wickedly. "Boys, bring her on over to Gajeel..."

Gajeel watched tenderly, his eyes following his guildmates as they brought out a small female mage. His face hardened then, eyes becoming slits and his jaw clenching.

She was thrown to the floor before him, bruises covering her body and the Phantom Lord's guildmark burned into her stomach.

"What do you want me to do with this?" He asked, crossing his arms. Jose smiled as Gajeel took his boot and placed it on the small Fairytail mage's cheek, turning her head so he could see her face.

"Just keep her alive."

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A/N: I guess this works. I haven't written anything in such a long time I feel a bit rusty! :D R&R