A/N: Hey, guys! Thanks for clicking on my story! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I liked writing it. GaLe is one of my all-time favorite shippings ever, so I was really excited when I got the idea for this fanfic. Here's a quick disclaimer just to cover my tracks: I DO NOT OWN FAIRY TAIL, ITS CHARACTERS, OR THE SONG "THINGS LEFT UNSAID" BY DISCIPLE. THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS, AND ALL I CLAIM RIGHTS TO IS THE STORY IDEA. PLEASE DON'T SUE ME. This is going to be a short story, just three or four chapters, and this is only my second Fairy Tail fanfic, so reviews are, as always, strongly encouraged! Constructive criticism is okay, but please be nice about it. No flames please, I'm not a Fire Dragon Slayer like Natsu. Enjoy!
Things Left Unsaid
"There's been an accident."
Gajeel Redfox looked over at Lucy Heartfilia in annoyance. The Dragon Slayer wasn't sure why Lucy had gone through the trouble of finding him to tell him something so trivial, and the fact that she had somehow found him sulking in the back ally irked him even more.
"So?" he snapped, biting another chunk off of the piece of scrap metal he held in his hand.
"So, it's Levy!" Lucy elaborated, her eyes wide with fear and her lips trembling. "Team Shadow Gear was leaving on a mission when they were attacked by some rogue mages just outside of town!"
Gajeel abruptly stopped chewing as something like ice settled in his veins. Swallowing hard, he replied in a quiet, dangerous voice, "That doesn't sound like an 'accident' to me."
"Well I suppose not, but that's not the point! They all tried to fight back, but one of their attacker's hit Levy with some spell and injured her really bad. Jet and Droy managed to escape and bring her back to the guild, but…" Lucy trailed off, unable to continue. Gajeel's fist suddenly tightened, and the piece of iron in his hand was crushed like a tin can in a trash compactor.
"Where are the attackers now?" he growled.
"We don't know. Natsu left with Jet and Droy to hunt them down about half an hour ago, and we haven't seen them since."
Jet and Droy, Gajeel thought irritably as he ground his teeth and threw his ruined snack against the brick wall opposite from the one he was currently leaning on. Those two are completely useless when it comes to Levy. And of course Salamander would go charging out after someone hurt a fellow guild member…
"Why are you telling me this?" Gajeel grumbled, standing up and turning his back on the celestial mage.
Lucy blinked in surprise. "I… well, because it's Levy," she replied. 'I just thought that since you cared about her so much-"
Gajeel whirled around, his red eyes flashing dangerously. "What makes you think I care about her?"
Rather than backing down from the scary Iron Dragon Slayer as most people did, Lucy folded her arms and glared right back at him. "Well, you're always so keen on protecting her, so I thought there must be some kind of goodness in you. If I was wrong, then I apologize for wasting your time. I'll let you get back to your scrap metal," she finished spitefully before turning and running out of the ally.
Gajeel stared after her in shock and anger. Very few people were ever brave enough to snap at him like that. He knew the celestial mage had a sharp tongue and a fiery spirit, but he had never seen either of them channeled at him like that. Maybe he deserved it, though. After all, one of her best friends was seriously hurt, and Gajeel had been tactless enough to shout at her that he didn't care.
But he didn't care. Why should he care what happened to the shrimpy little bookworm anyway? Levy McGarden meant nothing to Gajeel. Absolutely nothing.
But if that was true, then why did he still feel ice racing through his veins, somehow simultaneously freezing and boiling his blood? Half of him was gripped in gut-wrenching worry that begged him to run back to the guild, and the other half was so full of raw rage he thought it would kill him if he didn't get revenge before Natsu did. And he hated to admit it, but Lucy's words had really hit a nerve. "Well, you're always so keen on protecting her, so I thought there must be some kind of goodness in you."
"Lily," Gajeel growled, speaking to his black cat, who had been sitting silently on top of a nearby dumpster the entire time. "Let's go."
"Where are we going?" Pantherlily asked as he stood, tossing aside the half-eaten steak Mirajane had cooked for him earlier that day.
"We're going to find these rogue mages who attacked Levy. I'm not letting Salamander get his fiery little claws on him until they've gone through me."