Author's Note: Another Fairy Tail one-shot that's been stuck in my head for a while and that I decided to write because...well, because I really should be working on something else. XD I've become a huge LisBix fan and even though it will probably never be canon I still feel like it's one of those couples that just goes. Like Mirajane and Fried. Honestly, the whole Strauss siblings pairing up with the Raijinshuu seems awesome. This didn't turn out as good as I thought it would but...here you go. It's almost-but-not-quite canon. You'll see.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail...! If I did, everybody would have ended up together by now.

When It Counts
by: SmurfLuvsCookies

"Quatro Cuberus's Bacchus!" Lisanna watches with interest as the drunken mage saunters into the ring. The big screens do a close up of his cocky smirk. According to Elfman, this guy is on par with Erza. He doesn't look like much, although he does have a certain arrogance.

Lisanna ducks out of the way as Cana's outrage fist flies over her head. "There he is! I don't care who does it! Someone take revenge for me!" she shrieks over Macao's soothing words. Lisanna puffs out her cheeks and turns her attention back to the man in the arena. She almost forgot that he is the one who bested Cana in a drinking contest and humiliated her in front of everyone by taking her sorry excuse for a shirt as a reward. He left her incapacitated, half-naked, on the floor of a bar. Despicable.

"Against Fairy Tail A's Elfman!" The man in question seems astounded, as does everyone in the vicinity. Behind her, Macao and Wakaba complain about how they're all doomed. Lisanna reprimands them, because they're not helping Elfman, who is obviously feeling the pressure of his first task.

Lisanna puts a hand on his arm. "Don't worry, Elf-nii. I've been there with you these past few months you've trained, every step of the way. I know that you can do it. You're strong."

"Go forth," Erza adds. "There is no path for us but that of victory."

Lisanna gives the Titania a look of rebuttal. Saying eerie stuff like that isn't going to help alleviate any of the pressure that rests on Elfman's shoulders now.

Elfman walks up to Bacchus, who has struck a pose in the center of the arena. Beside her, Mirajane fidgets nervously, twisting long locks of white hair around her pale, slender fingers. "It'll be okay, Mira-nee," Lisanna whispers. But she's not sure if it's a question or words of comfort. Mirajane doesn't seem to hear her.

"Hey," Bacchus says to Elfman. Loud speakers project his voice across the entire stadium. "Why don't we make a bet like those guys just now?"

"Hm?" Elfman seems intrigued.

"Your sisters are some real beauties...If I win, lend them to me for a night. Both of them. At once."

Lisanna can feel the stunned revoltion on her face. She feels like throwing up, because she can tell that this guy is serious. She can't even look at Mirajane for guidance. She doesn't want to look at her sister. Bacchus is just a creepy pervert, but he is a powerful creepy pervert. What if Elfman doesn't win?

"Man..." Lisanna looks up at the furious face of her older brother on the screen. Veins are bulging from his forehead, turning his tan skin an unhealthy puce. Lisanna doesn't think she's ever seen him so angry. "As a man, there are things I can't forgive, you hunting dog. I'll tear you apart."

Bacchus doesn't seem concerned. He just smiles, a challenging smile that sends shivers down Lisanna's spine. "I'm glad we agree. My soul is shaking." They are mocking words, but they are words that seal the deal. Oh, God, Lisanna wants to throw up, especially as the battle starts and immediately Elfman gets knocked around the arena. She sees Mirajane's hands gripping the banister, her knuckles bleached white with the force of her anxiety. Mirajane is just as worried about Elfman and what happens if he looses the bet as Lisanna is.

"This is quite the one-sided battle! Elfman can't even lay a blow on Bacchus!" And it's true. Elfman has yet to scratch Quatro Cuberus's most powerful mage, no matter how enraged he gets by Bacchus's constant taunts about the bet and his beautiful sisters. Lisanna is more sickened with each one, because it makes the reality of their situation concrete.

"Elf-nii..." she murmurs to herself. Evergreen nudges her, giving her a smile that is brimming with faith in Elfman's abilities. Since when did Evergreen have faith in anyone other than her own team? Even Bixlow is cheering boisterously for Elfman behind them.

"It'll be fine," Evergreen tells her. "Elfman's the kind of guy that comes through when it counts."

Lisanna can't imagine that Evergreen knows enough about Elfman to deduce this, but the look in her eyes screams the truth of those words. Lisanna feels a little comforted. "Yeah. You're right."

That comfort is ripped away when Erza explains the fundamentals of Bacchus's extraordinary power as Elfman gets beat to a pulp in the arena, and its direct correlation with alcohol. "It's impossible to predict the Drunken Falcon's attacks," she explains. "And on top of that, acohol increases his destructive power as well, which is part of his key to victory. But that's not even the problem." Erza stops and lets out a long breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. "He hasn't even had a drop of alcohol yet."

They all gape at the Titania's tragic words. Lucy's eyebrows come together in a frown as she works out the horrible truth. "So that means..."

"He's not even trying at all, right?" Gray finishes for her.

Erza says nothing. But her silence says it all.

Lisanna can't look away as Bacchus strikes her brother to the ground and Elfman reverts back to his human form. Elfman struggles to get off the ground. Bacchus licks his lips. "You're a man aren't you? Keep your promises."

"Is Elfman unable to get up?" It's the question that everyone is asking. Lisanna buries her face in her hands. Never mind. She can't watch.

Someone puts a hand on her head. She looks up to see Bixlow giving her an uncharacteristically genuine smile. His tongue isn't even visible. "Don't worry," he says. "We won't let anything happen to you or your sister."

"That's right," agrees Fried, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Elfman's promises are not ours to keep." His hand is on the pommel of his rapier. Like Mirajane, his knuckles are white as they grip the metal.

"Come on, Elfman! Be a man!" Evergreen screeches above the roar of the crowd.

One of Bixlow's dolls gently nudge Lisanna's cheek. She thinks it's Peppe, but she can't be sure. Again she gives her attention to Bixlow, who remains strangely quiet. He tucks a lock of short white hair behind her ear in one swift movement before removing his big, warm hand from her person. "You're safe with us. That, I do promise."

Lisanna is touched. She swallows a lump in her throat as she says, "Thank you." But her words are drowned out in a fresh bout of cheering, because Elfman has just settled his side of the agreement (later she learns that he changed Quatro Cuberus's name to Quatro Puppy for the remainder of the games, and she laughs for three straight minutes; a lot of their members do resemble dogs). Bacchus has also consumed alcohol. He is serious.

Elfman shocks them all with the use of Lizardman. Lisanna is tense with the suspense like most of the crowd as they brawl with wild dedication. "Rather than a simple batte this is a clash of wills! Will it end first for the attacker, or the attacked? This match...who will be...the victor?!"

Lisanna is jostled by the Raijinshuu around her. She's quite certain that Evergreen has Fried in a headlock. She can barely hear anything over the sound of Bixlow's yelling and the shrill cheers of his dolls.

Suddenly, the fighters are still. They are bloody, exhausted, done. Swaying on their feet. Who will fall first? The stadium is utterly silent as they wait for the answer. Lisanna doesn't think when she grips Bixlow's hand between her own. She just needs a hand to hold tight and she thinks that Bixlow can take it. He squeezes back just as tightly, completing the compact ball of hope and desperation as their fingers interlock.

"So...your name...was Elfman..." Bacchus huffs. Then he begins laughing, hysterically, with growing enthusiasm. Elfman falls to his knees.

"The one that stands...is Bacchus!"

Lisanna really does think she's going to vomit this time. She covers her mouth with her hands and tears of disgust roll down her cheeks. Really, how can Bixlow, how can anyone, protect her from his monster? Elfman is reduced to a bloody mound at his feet. Oh, Elfman.

"You know..." Bacchus continues. "You are...a man!"

And Bacchus falls to the ground, defeated.

"Bacchus's down! Elfman is the victor!"

The stadium is in chaos. Lisanna can't stop grinning as Elfman raises his arms into the air and roars his victory to the sky. She can feel the vibrations of people's screams under her feet. Suddenly the ground isn't under her feet anymore and she's spinning in circles through the air. Bixlow's thunderous laughter rumbles deep in his chest next to her ear and she laughs with him, gripping his arms around her waist as he spins her around and around in celebration. When he sets her back down she looks up at him and says thank you. She is thanking him for so much more than a hug. She is thanking him for his encoragement, for his promise to keep her safe from the lusting hands of Bacchus and offering the same courtesy to her sister. This time she knows that he hears her, loud and clear. He just gives her a big tongue-lolling Bixlow grin and wipes a stray tear from her eye. "Anytime, babe."

Evergreen then proceeds to put Bixlow in a headlock with the arm that a purple Fried isn't occuping. She must be deceptively strong, because no amount of squirming can convince her to release him. Lisanna sympathizes with him but makes no move to help him, because if she's being honest Evergreen still scares her a little.

As Lisanna watches Bixlow turn blue on the way to the infirmary, she thinks about what Evergreen said. She decides that maybe Elfman isn't the only man around here who comes through when it counts.

Eh, this probably didn't actually happen but...oh well. I did warn you that it was almost-but-not-quite canon. If you liked it, visit my other (better) Fairy Tail stories and tell me what you think about those too! :D