Disclaimer: Plot is mine but the characters are borrowed and no money is made from this work of fiction.

Author's note: Firstly, this features a threesome so if that's not your cup of tea then I suggest looking for something that is. Also it involves a lot of BDSM themes as well. Yaoi as well. Another thing to note is that Gajeel sees Kurogane as an almost completely separate part of him at least right now showing that he's still got things in his own life to work through. So pay attention to that. Also, random POV changes abound and at some point I'll find a decent way of marking them but for the moment being if you see this "*~*~*~*~" then it means it's focusing on someone else. All warnings will be granted a chapter-by-chapter basis. I have no beta so all mistakes are mine.

Prologue

She'd been a little annoyed when he'd canceled on her though it was not completely his fault. The job had taken longer than expected and he wouldn't be back in time for their usual Friday dinner date. That he'd asked her to just go as normal and that he'd send word ahead for it to be on him had made her want to tell him not to bother but it was his way of apologizing so Levy takes it and goes.

It was quiet eating by herself and gave some time for reflecting that she didn't quite need but was nice nonetheless. She'd spent the day with Jet and Droy watching them tease and flirt with each other while she was sure they didn't realize that is what they were doing. It amazed her that they couldn't see what was right in front of them when she could and it was definitely surprising that Gajeel didn't miss it.

And of course her thoughts slide back to the raven and she finds herself chuckling softly. It had started out with her just helping him and Lily with an apartment and somehow had slid into them becoming more and almost without them realizing that the shift had even taken place. They'd gotten into a routine of cohabitation until one night while watching a movie something sparked and it had gone from there.

Her musings are interrupted on her way back mostly by accident. An argument catches her attention and though she made a habit of not eavesdropping something about this one drew her in. "I asked you a question!" comes a woman's angry voice, "I swear sometimes I wonder if you have a brain at all."

The caustic remark makes Levy dislike whoever this stranger is and she was about to push it off as none of her business to try and keep from getting emotionally involved when she hears a quiet, "I'm sorry. It won't happen again, baby, I promise." It was Bixlow as there was no missing the familiar speech or timbre of voice but Levy had never heard him sound quite so meek before.

Slowly, attempting to be quiet and not seen; Levy moves to peer around at the two and immediately the dislike transforms to loathing at the sight of the woman with her fingers twisting the male's shirt having him pressed up against the wall. The reddened flesh of his cheek tells her he'd been struck and the free hand that was cocked stated that the woman was all too willing to hit him again.

"Oh, I know it won't," the woman responds, eyes glinting with a sadistic sort of pleasure, "I intend that this misbehavior will never reoccur. I just thought that you'd been taught better the last time you saw fit to challenge me."

Levy watches fear fill Bixlow's red eyes and all her internal alarms sound wildly as it was obvious this wasn't right. "Please, no...don't..." The stricken plea twists her heart violently because there was no reason to reduce someone that she knew to this. None.

As she watches the woman relaxes the cocked and hand before bringing it to the reddened side of his cheek. "Ah, pet," she croons, "I do this for your own good. I've told you this over and over; I'm the only one willing to put up with someone as dark and twisted as you are. I'm the only one capable of giving you want you want. So you owe me. And it's not so bad is it?"

Levy was going to be sick at this point. How could someone like this get anywhere close to one of her guild mates? Did the other members of his team know about this? Did they condone it? Levy could not see that being the case because there was no way that this was at all a healthy relationship. Withdrawing, she decides she'd seen enough. She could not just butt in to that without knowing what was going on. Which meant that she had a stop to make at Fairy Hills.

Of course there is no answer at the room and repeated knocking brings one of the others who explain that she went on a job with Freed and Laxus. Levy inquires as to if Bixlow had gone as well and finds the answer of him being on a solo job odd. So she returns to the guild hall to perhaps catch Mira alone to ask her.

"That's odd," the white-blond remarks as she approaches with the log, "I could have sworn he said that he was taking a job."

"Or did he just say that was what you were to tell the others?" Levy quietly asks.

Mira stills and looks at her. "Levy, what's going on?"

"I don't have all the facts," she admits, "But I saw something and I don't like what it might mean."

"But you think he's in trouble."

"I think he's in trouble," she agrees, "I think he's in the kind of trouble that his team has no idea about."

"It's not like him to keep secrets from them."

"No. It's not."

But that he was, told Levy a great deal more about the subject than most would think. If they had no idea he was seeing someone then it meant part of the Seith Mage knew they would not approve. And that meant he knew the situation was toxic. Now all Levy had to do was figure out how to get him away from that woman long enough to get the truth. Her fingers tighten a moment before relaxing as she lets her mind sift and calculate because she was sure of one thing at the core of this; Bixlow was being abused by that woman and needed someone to get him out of there.

And she has every intention of not stopping until that happens.