Chapter One: Changing Is For Dummies
Stating at the table in depressing thought - basically brooding - Gajeel wondered when the hell Lily was going to get off his back. All the cat wanted to do was know his past, and every damn time he asked, Gajeel snapped at him. It was a wonder why the cat didn't learn his lesson.
"Gajeel?"
The raven's head snapped up and red eyes locked onto the small bluenette. She smiled shyly at him, wringing her hands in front of her yellow clad stomach. He grunted in acknowledgement. Smiling a little more broadly, she took a seat next to him. "I was wondering..." She trailed off with a frown, her pink tongue coming out to lick her lips. His eyes locked onto them. Sighing, she started the phrase again, only to stop as before.
"Spit it out, Shorty," he grumbled, leaning back in his seat to get into a more relaxed position.
"Um, well, do you, um, want to, uh, go . . . do something later?" she finished off with a rush, her cheeks turning bright red, the color of poppy flowers. He raised a metal studded eyebrow at her, a ghost of a smirk tugging on his lips. Catching the hint, she looked down embarrassingly, hand coming up to scratch the bridge of her nose. "Well, other than the S-Class competition, we haven't really talked a lot, and I, uh, I just, you know . . . wanted to get to know you better." Biting her bottom lip, she looked back up at him sheepishly.
"You sure ya want ta get ta know me better, Shrimp?" he asked, his eyebrow still raised, though it was in a patronising position instead of an inquiring one. She nodded hesitantly, suddenly more nervous than before. Then he smiled, a d it want the evil smirk or the teasing, mocking grin he wore. It was a true smile, with soft - or softer than usual - eyes and a small turning up of the lips. And the small girl relished in the warm feeling it gave her.
"So that means yes?" she asked timidly, a small smile breaking out on her own face. He nodded and she outright grinned this time.
"What do ya want to do?" he asked, leaning forward and laying his head on the palm of his hand.
"Well, what do you like to do for fun, other than fighting?"
"Hm, I like goin' ta the blacksmith's, but I doubt ya'd wanna go there, and ya like reading books for fun, so that doesn't work." Gajeel frowned, thinking. "Ya wanna go walk or somethin''?"
Levy smiled again and let out a tinkly laugh. "I don't think you'd want to do that, Gajeel. How about we go to the market? I'm running out of food anyways, and it's a great way to get to know a person's likes and dislikes."
Gajeel grinned at her, and it was his normal grin. Of course, he wasn't going to change just because she asked him out. He want the kind of guy to change for a single person, but a man to do what he wants when he pleases. Levy was just glad that he wanted to get to know her. Smiling back at him, she asked, "How about we meet in front of the Guild hall tomorrow at ten?"
He nodded, and she jumped up to hug him. Stiffening, his eyes widened at the feeling of her small arms around his neck. Just now realizing how awkward it must be for him, Levy jumped back and stammered a quick apology. But he just relaxed, chuckled, and ruffled her hair.
Suddenly, making everyone in the hall jump and exclaim in surprise, the Guild hall doors banged open and a group of people walked in. The girl in the front sniffed the air and snarled. "Where is he?!" she roared.
Levy was confused and frightened, and she reached out for Gajeel, only to snag air. Jerking her head around, she spotted him on the far wall, looking for all the world like he'd seen a ghost. His red eyes were wide and riveted on the small, angry group in front of the hall. His normally tan skin was chalk white, and he looked ready to pass out.
The woman in the front of the group growled low in her throat. "Where is Kurogane Gajeel?! I can smell him! Tell me where he is!'
"Gajeel?" Levy asked quietly, moving backwards, only to pause as he flinched. Eyes widening the size of dinner plates, Levy put and arm out, intending to touch him, only for him to jerk away like she was some type of monster out to eat him. Stepping back, she whirled to glare at the group.
They were the ones making him act like that. They were the ones making him scared, pulling him down below even her helpless level. They were to blame. Stepping forward, she shoved her way to the front of the crowd. Jet and Droy called out for her to stop, to not put herself in danger for his expense, but she ignored them and glared at the group.
Standing there, she planted her feet shoulder width apart and crossed her arms over he small chest. Sure, she wasn't so intimidating, but she had the entire Guild to back her up.
"What do you want with Gajeel?" she said icely.
The blond haired girl in the front growled at her, but the raven haired boy stepped forward and placed his hand on her arm. She glanced back at him, and they seemed to have a silent conversation, before the girl sighed and nodded. Schooling her angry expression into a mask of indifference but clearly agitated, the woman smiled tightly. "That is between us."
"He is our family. Whatever you have against him, you have against us," Levy said firmly.
"Family, huh?" If Levy wasn't paying attention, she never would have seen the flash of hurt in the other girl's eyes.
"Max," the black haired man said beside her. Levy flicked her eyes to him, only to pause and squint. Eyes widening, she took a step forward, stopping when the girl growled at her.
"You look just like him," she whispered. Tilting her head to the side, Levy scrutinized him some more.
The she saw where his eyes were riveted, not blinking. It seemed like the girl did, too, for she looked past Levy and into the back of the Guild. Levy turned as well to see Gajeel, pale faced and scared, moving towards them. People moved out of his way to let him pass, every one just as confused as the last, and turned to watch the show.
"Gajeel," Levy whispered, knowing he could hear her, especially in the quiet of the room.
"It's okay, Shorty," he said, just loud enough for her to make out the words.
Levy frowned and stepped back.
"So this is where you were," the girl started, her voice sharp and icy. "This entire time while we were stuck in that Hell hole."
"I though ya were dead," he said, his voice a deep rumble in the entire Guild.
"Angel," the girl said. A shuffling came from the back of the small group, and a little girl that looked no older than seven or eight stepped forward timidly. Levy guessed the girl's name was Angel and couldn't really deny that the name suited her.
The girl's blue eyes stared at Gajeel, never wavering. Finally, she looked back toward the older one, and said, "He's not lying, Max."
Oh, so the older one's name is Max. Said Max looked at Gajeel for a long moment. "What happened to you when you were dragged away?"
Gajeel's fists tightened, his knuckles turning white. "They gave me the Special," he said simply.
Max's eyes widened and she sucked in a sharp breath, along with the others. "How are you still alive?" she whispered hoaresly.
Gajeel smiled grimly. "I should be askin' ya the same thing," he said. "They showed me a video as soon as they locked me away, sayin' ya were no good to them an' it was time to exterminate ya. They killed ya in that video."
"They told us you escaped, and that the Erasers took you down when they cornered you. For the longest time, we hated you for not coming back to save us, and for a while I was glad you were dead. They kept us there for another two years until Jeb broke us out." Max stepped forward but Gajeel flinched. Stopping, she gave him a curious look.
"They really fucked you up, didn't they?" It was a strawberry blond guy that spoke, his voice filled with understanding. Gajeel sucked in a sharp breath.
"Yer blind," he said, his voice incredulous. The blond laughed bitterly.
"Yeah, well things like that happen in that place. Wanted me to have night vision."
"Iggy," Gajeel rasped, head shaking.
"How long were you there, Kuro?" Max asked, hand latching onto the raven haired boy's arm beside her. The boy was watching Gajeel's every move without blinking. Almost like he wase memorizing him.
"Five years after the video," Gajeel said. The small black girl burst into tears and rushed forward. Latching onto his waist, the girl nuzzled his chest. Shocked, Gajeel froze underneath her.
"We missed you nii-san!" she yelled, her arms tightening. "We missed you so much! It hurt so much."
Snapping out of his shock, Gajeel tentively wrapped his arms around the girl, pulling her closer. The others took that as a cue to jump in and tackle the Dragon-Slayer. The only one that didn't move forward was the raven haired boy. He was stuck to the ground, his eyes never leaving Gajeel's face. Levy found it creepy and fascinating at the same time. He was like Rogue Cheney. But not quite.
When the other's pulled back, the black girl and Angel holding onto his hands, Gajeel caught the black haired boy's gaze. "Fang," he said, his red eyes wide. Fang stepped forward until he was standing in front of him, pulled his hand back, and snapped it forward in a punch.
Gajeel's head snapped back and Levy gasped, taking a step forward, only to have Max's hand in front of her, stopping her with a shake of her head.
Gajeel grunted and shook his head. "Guess I deserve tha'." Then he smiled, unlatched Angel's hand, and held it out. "C'mon lil' brother, give her bro a hug, huh?"
Fang stared at him for a couple more heartbeats, then broke out into a grin. He stepped forward, grabbed Gajeel's hand, and pulled him into a tight embrace. Gajeel hugged back just as tightly.
"Ne, Metal-Head, who're they?" Natsu called out, bounding forward.
"None yer business, dragon breath," Gajeel growled, glaring at the pinkette. Natsu grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Ya lookin' fer a fight?"
"You offering?"
Gajeel considered him for a moment and then shook his head, making around half the Guild members' jaws drop. "Nah, I'm gonna spend some time with ma family."
"What?" Natsu asked incredulously. Gajeel glowered at him with more force than normal, causing Natsu to step back slightly. "Alright, alright, go."
Gajeel laughed and stalked forward, the black haired girl's hand in his still. Then his gaze met Levy's. "We still on fer that date tomorrow?"
Levy's cheeks heated as catcalls and wolf whistles went around the hall and Max turned to look at her in amusement. "Y-yeah, see you then," she squeaked.
Gajeel grinned at her, ruffled her hair, grabbed Angel's hand, and walked out with the group of kids following him. Levy put her cool hands on her blushing face, making her way to the archives to get away from the amused stares.
Stupid Gajeel!
Gajeel laughed at Angel's explanation of the Eraser chase with Max and Fang through the streets of New York. She said she had gotten it from Max's head a week later and went on to tell the tale of Disney Land and the library in New York.
Gajeel couldn't get enough of it. There he was with his thought-dead family, laughing, reminiscing of earlier times, and getting tales of their lives of when they escaped. And to add to it, he had a date with the shorty the next day! He felt like a load was lifted off his chest, and he didn't want the moment to stop.
"Hey, Gajeel," Iggy said after a while of peaceful silence. Gajeel hummed since Iggy couldn't see his face. "When I hugged you earlier, your, uh, your wings..."
The others all looked to him at the half inquiry, but Gajeel grew stony and silent. "You know what the Special is, yeah?"
"No, actually. We just know that the others never came back out alive. And when they said you failed the experiment, we thought you died," Max said quietly, her hand tightening on Fang's.
"The Special is when they give you a chemical that speeds up the healing process. It regrows yer limbs, stops bleeding in three seconds minimum, all tha' stuff." Gajeel was silent for a while, and the others understood it was a painful experience. "They ripped my arms and legs out," at this there were multiple gasps of shock and disgust, "multiple times, and each time they grew back out in three hour intervals. It's painful, let ma tell ya. Having yer cells grow an' divide tha' fast, it takes up energy and a huge strength of will.
"An' since it worked with my arms an' legs, they decided ta take it ta the next step."
"They ripped out your wings," Nudge gasped, eyes tearing up.
"Yeah. Before they did, they gave me a different sedative, somethin'' that was s'posed to work with ma DNA better. But somethin'' got screwed up - formula was wrong or somethin' - an' they didn't grow back." Gajeel said this all with a straight face, eyes looking ahead but not seeing anything.
"Gajeel," Max whispered, stopping to grab his shoulder. He stopped mid step, turning to face her with dead eyes. She threw her arms around his neck, choking on sobs. Sure, she knew what it was like to have an injured wing and not be able to fly for a few weeks, but to have them ripped out permanently?
"Ano, don' be sorry," he mumbled, hands coming up to embrace her. "I'm okay. It just hurts sometimes when I see birds. S'okay, Max."
"No its not okay!" Max yelled as she stepped back, scrubbing at her eyes furiously. "They ripped them out, Gajeel! How are you able to cope with that! I'm going to kill them! Hurt them so bad they'd wish they were never born! How dare they do that to you!"
"Too late, yeah?' Gajeel smiled grimly, fangs peeking out. "Know how I told ya the formula was messed or somethin' like tha'? Well it woke somethin' in me, an' next thing I knew there's a huge crater where the building was. It just stopped at the experiments' building but took out ev'rything else out. Tha' made me happy."
"Really?!" Nudge squealed, her other hand coming up to grasp his as well, tugging him forward to keep walking. "What happened next?!"
"A dragon found me walkin' 'round the forest behind the crater. Took me in an' taught me ev'rything I needed to know about the outside world. Though I still can't read very well," he added, wrinkling his nose and free hand coming up to scratch his head.
The Flock laughed and Iggy reassured him that he couldn't read too well either, making them laugh harder. After they all calmed down, Gajeel waited a few minutes in silence before asking, "Ya'll got a place ta stay?"
"Mmm, no, I just caught your sent and followed it on a whim," Max said sheepishly. She laughed airily and scratched the bridge of her nose in embarressment.
"Ya'll can stay at ma place if ya want," Gajeel said. "I's big and clean, so ya don' half ta worry bout tha'."
"Are you sure? We don't want to impose," Max said.
Gajeel snorted. "The hell? Yer ma family, course I want ya to impose!"
Max smiled brightly at him. Seeing them coming up to the turn to his house, he tugged the kids' hands in the direction. The house was outlined by the edge of the forest, big and white and two stories tall. It looked like something a rich, posh man would have, not something a rough, edgy man like Gajeel would own.
"It's just you in this?" Fang asked, the first time he spoke in a while.
"Na, me and my cat, Pantherlily."
Iggy and Gazzy snickered at the name and the thought of him owning a cat, and Gajeel huffed at them. "What? Jus' wait til' you see 'im! Yer socks'll jump off yer feet!"
They laughed outright then, but got interrupted buy a deep voice calling, "Gajeel!"
Gajeel grinned wickedly. "Ah, speak of the devil an' he shall appear!"
They turned around to see a small, black cat running toward them on two feet and with clothes on. "Gajeel, you forgot to put the blankets away this morning!'
"Sorry Lil'! I'll put 'em away now if ya haven't earlier," he added when Lily was closer.
"A talking cat!" Gazzy crowed. "That's so cool! What other stuff can you do?!"
Lily smiled at them, but shot Gajeel a look that said "we'll settle this later". Gajeel rolled his eyes as if to say "yes Mom". "I can fight, sew, cook, plan strategies, keep him," he pointed at Gajeel, "from eating out silverware, and I can clean. Not that I really need to since Gajeel is a neat freak, but every once in a while the OCD helps."
By then the Flock's jaws were dropped in amazement. "Dude! Where can I get a cat like that?!" Iggy exclaimed. Gajeel snickered.
"Well, let's go in then," he said, unlocking his door and stepping inside to turn on the living room light. There were two feather stuffed couches, a recliner, as well as a floor lamp in the far corner. A big flatsceen lacrima powered TV sat on the far wall, and there were various painting of dragons and birds in flight. On the left was a door to the hallway that led to the stairs, and on the second floor was where all the rooms were. On the right was a door to the kitchen and dining room that was laden with an oakwood rectangle table and a linen tablecloth with an overhanging light in the center of the ceiling.
The kitchen was packed with boxes of utensils and a box of scrap metal. The refrigerator was made of Gajeel's own iron so he wasn't tempted to eat it, along with the sink faucet and handles.
"Whoa, this is awesome!" Nudge squealed, running to plop down on one of the couches. The others laughed and joined her, Max and Fang staying behind.
"Thank you, Gajeel," Max said softly, her eyes smiling as she looked on at the small group.
"Mmm, I didn't know why, but I had this irrepressible urge ta buy this house. It felt like I'd really need it one day, an' I guess the feelin' was right. Ya'll can stay here forever if ya want," he added, smirking as Iggy whacked Gazzy upside the head for something he said.
Angel came running up then, her eyes bright and mouth stretched in a wide smile. "Nii-san! Tonight can you tuck me in and sing Hushaby Mountain for me like you used to?!"
Gajeel laughed and lifted her up, kissing her forehead. "Sure, Pea. What 'bout ya, Motor Mouth? Want me ta tuck ya in, too, or are ya too old for ya older brother?"
Nudge frowned at him. "How could you think I'm too old for that? Meanie!" She stuck her tongue out at him and peeled into laughter as he put Angel on his shoulders and ran toward her, roaring and pouncing to tickle her. Iggy and Gazzy joined , only to have Gajeel switch from her to them.
Max watched on with a wide smile. Finally, her flock was complete. They got back their older brother and to her, everything was right in the world.
"I don't believe I got your names," Lily said, startling her out of her thoughts. "My name is Pantherlily, but you can call me Lily."
"Maximum Ride, sister to Gajeel, and this is Fang, biological brother to Gajeel," Max introduced. Lily raised nonexistent eyebrow at her.
"Brother and sister to Gajeel? I wasn't aware that he had any family," he said.
"He likes to keep to himself, so it's not really a surprise to hear that you haven't heard of us," Max amended. Lily nodded.
"Oi, Chicklet, the shower's upstairs and Lil' will show ya where the towels are," Gajeel called. When Max raised an eyebrow at the random comment, he pointed at Angel. She laughed then and nodded, moving across the room to the door he pointed at, Lily following at Gajeel's insistence.
"Chicklet?" Lily questioned when they were going up the stairs. Max laughed.
"When I was younger, my wings weren't completely feathered, and he called me a chick, so the name Chicklet was born and it stuck," she explained. Lily nodded as if he understood, but paused on the stairs when he picked up on a tiny detail.
"Wait, wings?"
Max paused as well, her shoulders tensing. "You don't know?"
"Know what? What is this about wings?"
"Um, let's go back. I think we all need to sit and talk," she said nervously.
"I think that would be best."