AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

Happy New Year!

Thanks to some really nice reviews to Submerge that I came across yesterday (clearing out my inbox... I had over 300 to go through... I haven't checked it in a while... oops?), I actually found the motivation to write, so THANK YOU! The last part was half-written for months, with an idea for the ending floating around... *sigh*

Anyway, please enjoy!

Jackie. Who was Jackie? How was she tied to Jose? Why could she not find a single thing on a woman who was apparently shot, pregnant, and an unwilling accomplice to a major crime lord?! And was connected to Gajeel! Her name should have been mentioned in Gajeel's files if she was his wife! Then again, girlfriend seemed more likely, but why would she not be mentioned in his file? If she was close to him – and in the state she was found in – then she should have been mentioned.

But she was not in a single file.

She was not Juvia's. She was not in Totomaru's. She was not in Sol's. She was not in Aria's.

And she definitely was not in Jose's.

Which she now held in her hand.

Pregnant women with bullet holes in them do not just disappear! She could not even find a report of a pregnant woman being rushed into hospital with a bullet wound that night! She dropped the file onto her desk with a groan, falling back in her chair. She could not approach Gajeel about it – he had made that perfectly clear. He had made sure to be out of the flat every time she had gone to visit and, as much as she enjoyed her chats with Lily, they were not going to get her anywhere. Juvia and Sol were out of the question too. Aria was unstable. What about Totomaru?

She leant forward again, sifting through the pile on her desk. An arsonist. She was going to have to go talk to an arsonist about the ex-girlfriend of her bo- of Gajeel. He had shut her out completely since she had overheard his conversation with Juvia and she did not doubt that the police would have noted her lack of contact with him. Especially when they had no proof that Juvia and Gajeel had had no intention of killing Bora. Or Lucy, for that matter, who had once been kidnapped by Bora herself. Levy could easily have put Lucy in contact with her last abductors for the purpose of dealing with her previous abductor.

Maybe Gajeel was right and she really was getting too involved in his world?

What was she thinking?! They were supposed to all live in the same stupid world and he was supposed to- He would never join her. They could never be like that. If she had not pushed him away when Lucy had found them, then he would have made another move... He really was interested in her... Maybe. That maybe now seemed like a resounding no. He had heard a whisper of a name of a girl he had thought was dead and now he had cut her off.

Now that he was free.

...

"I still don't get what the hell she was thinking, goin' to that damn warehouse on her own."

"She was not on her own," the hollow female voice, suddenly next to him, argued, "she brought Miss Heartfilia and knew you were there."

"One of these days, I'm gonna accidentally punch ya for appearing like that." He sighed, glancing down at the long-legged blunette.

"Were you not speaking to Juvia?" She frowned, looking at the bare, weather-worn door ahead of them.

"I knew ya were gonna appear, but I'm still pissed." He grumbled, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "She's not gonna give up."

"And you do not want her to." Juvia seemed to shrug as she knocked on the door. "The question is more to do with who she will find out about Ja- Kelly! How lovely it is to see you again." Juvia began, cutting herself short as the door swung open, her joyful words sounding hollow as they left her unsmiling mouth.

His jaw tensed. Her long, straight, black hair fell like seeping oil over her naturally tanned shoulders. In a single moment's glance, her skin seemed paler, her hair duller, her clothes less...her. Her baggy, grey t-shirt seemed foreign on her, compared to the sleek, skin exposing tops she had worn a decade ago. Her chest no longer bulged out from her low neckline – the t-shirt seemingly impossibly close to her now paled neck. Her black joggers were clearly men's and a few sizes too big as they hung loosely around her hips. Her eyes were still the same chilling grey as they locked on him.

She jerked her sharp chin in the direction of the interior of the house wordlessly.

As he passed her in the doorway, he glanced back over his shoulder at her, already awaiting a knife in his back.

...

"You want to ask me about a dead woman?" The man across the table snorted, clearly amused.

"What if I tell you she's not dead?" Levy returned, narrowing her eyes at the teacher.

"Jackie Porla is dead." He stated, his jaw tense.

"Porla? Jose's daughter, then?" She pressed, trying to make herself look at ease under the gaze of the man with two-toned hair.

"Daughter? No, niece – his sister's bastard." He corrected, his right hand shifting to adjust his ponytail. "Why the sudden interest? Ten years is a long time."

"You know who I am, right? Sol told you. That's why you're here today – he told you I was looking for you." She began, watching him carefully. Was he still a risk? Or was he really reformed? "I heard you're a teacher now. How did a convict such as yourself manage to get such an important job?"

"Ex-convict." He hissed, glancing over his shoulder at the busy cafe. "I'm pretty sure you know the difference, Miss Parole Officer." He continued, seemingly having decided he wasn't about to be under attack. "And I teach in prisons, not schools with kids – don't want to risk me poisoning those innocent little minds, now do we?" He frowned almost bitterly as he sat back in his chair. "How is the big bastard, anyway?"

"Aria? Still in confinement." Levy shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee.

"I meant the one that's supposedly keeping a bed warm for you." He returned, his fist clenching on the arm of the chair.

"What do you mean by 'supposedly'?" She puffed, sitting forward in forced annoyance as she tried not to show her embarrassment.

"Are you saying he is fucking you? Because I seriously doubt that." He smirked, running his eyes over her.

"I don't see how that's any of your business." She pursed, her grip tightening on the mug.

"It is when you start asking questions about Jackie Porla."

...

"Took you long enough, scumbag." She snorted, shaking her head at him in disgust.

"I thought ya were dead, so forgive me for not lookin' ya up sooner." He returned, already feeling his old skin begin to creep over him. "Ya should have called."

"Oh, I'm looking pretty dead right now, amn't I?" She hissed, stalking over to him, her hips swinging with every step.

"Yer lookin' pretty shit." He sneered, dropping onto her sofa. There was a definite lack of photos, but they had never been ones for taking them. There was definitely something male about the place though. "Figured ya'd be livin' the high life without yer uncle."

"So you came for money, huh? Is that how low you've sunk now?" She murmured as she leant over the back of the sofa where he sat. "Well, guess what, baby? There ain't any!"

"Oh, I didn't come for money, sweetheart." He purred, grabbing hold of her chin forcefully. "I wanna know why ya've been hidin' from me – word has it, ya never went in." He continued, pulling her closer to him. "So, why didn't ya come visit? I thought ya loved watchin' me? Watchin' me beat the crap out of guys, watchin' me with a knife ready to stab me with if I ever betrayed ya to Jose!"

"Well, you were the only one who knew how much I hated him." She shrugged, trying to snatch her head back. He just held on tighter. "I'd heard you'd changed when you went inside. Quiet. Didn't get into any fights. Eventually, you got out on good behaviour." She hummed, moving in closer as if to kiss him. "You're disgusting." She hissed, her right hand suddenly an inch from his face, his hand now gripping her wrist. "You're broken – why would I want to keep playing with you?"

"Ya forget who it was playing with the broken thing." He sneered, tightening his grip on her wrist. "Yer mother left ya to him because ya were a useless piece of shit. I only picked ya up 'cause ya had a half-decent ass. If it hadn't been for me, ya'd still have been whoring yerself out to the mutts that worked for him when the police found ya – imagine the shit ya'd have gotten for prostitution, huh?"

"I'd ha-"

"So where is he?" He demanded, releasing her. She stepped back, startled at the sudden lack of contact. He clenched his fist, willing that old skin to shift from his shoulders, and she took another step back. That old skin did not fit him anymore. He would not let it. "Well?"

"If you tou-"

"Ya just said yerself that I changed when I went in." He sighed, holding her stony gaze. "Well, Kelly?"

...

"Kelly Orat," he chuckled, seemingly to himself, "is the wife of Motu Orat. She has a son to her first husband that died in a tragic traffic accident – a far cry from the lost little girl that was Jackie Porla, bitch of Gajeel Redfox who ended up in prison for assault, amongst other things."

"And who is Motu Orat?" She swallowed, suddenly wishing she had not sat in the corner.

"Really? It's a simple anagram, but it does explain why Sol had to pass on my invite to this tea party." He hummed, his eyes fixing on her white knuckles. "Regretting your choice of seat? Don't worry, I have no intention of playing with his current toy. Where is my wife's dead first husband anyway? I'm surprised he isn't here to guard your back?"

"You can't guess?" She returned, falling back into her seat with a knowing smirk. Juvia's apparent need to intervene certainly came in handy at times.

"Bitch!" He hissed quietly, suddenly standing over her. She gulped at his charcoal eyes snarling soundlessly into her soul. "If he even-"

"He won't." She stated, clenching her jaw as she fought her body's urge to shake. "He just wanted to see Max."

"So you're here as the distraction?" He snorted, taking hold of her hand as if to kiss its back. "I'll burn your very bones to dust for this." He murmured, his charcoal orbs beginning to smoulder with hatred.

"He doesn't know I'm here." Levy replied, trying to free her hand from where he gripped it in midair. "At least, not with you. I don't think he knows about you and Kelly anyway."

"He will by now."

...

"Where's Dad?" The boy frowned, his shaggy, black hair forming a desperately brushed mop upon his small head.

"He's at a meeting, I told you." Jackie snapped, glaring down at the boy. "Well, asshole, you happy now? You've seen the brat, so you can go now."

Gajeel just stared at the boy. He had his mother's sharp chin, but also her soft cheekbones, while he had Gajeel's broad, angled nose – almost unnoticeable in his youth. His eyes were his mother's, but held his crimson colour. His skin was slightly paler than Gajeel's, but whether that was due to his mother's slightly paler skin tone or a lack of sunlight, he had no idea. He seemed a little short, but he was only about ten – Gajeel himself did not find himself being called tall until at least his mid-teens. The brat even had his stupidly large canines.

"What are you staring at?" His son puffed, folding his arms across his narrow chest.

"Why Totomaru?" Gajeel questioned, ignoring the boy's question as he continued to study him.

"Who?" The boy frowned. What?

"Motu actually has a head on his shoulders, unlike a useless sack of shit like you." Jackie sneered, grabbing hold of Max's shoulder. "All you were ever good for was smashing up shit."

"Motu? Fake name for a fake couple, nicely done." He snorted, standing from the sofa to step towards the boy and his mother.

"We're not fake." She hissed, tightening her grip. "He actually understands!"

"And he's had a schoolboy crush on ya since I cleaned ya up." He finished for her, dropping down to a crouch to be lower than Max. "I don't give a shit – he can damn well have ya."

"Then what do you want...?" She demanded quietly, taking Max with her as she took a step backwards. A dark shadow flickered below his t-shirt sleeve as she moved him. He snapped his hand out to carefully take hold of the boy's arm before she could take him out of reach. "Let him go!"

"I think you should be the one letting him go." He seethed, raising the boy's sleeve to reveal multiple bruises the size of his mother's small fists. "Unless ya can explain this?"

...

"You know, your file says you have a sense of humour."

"It also says I'm a simple arsonist." Totomaru shrugged from the driver's seat.

"H- How many people have you...killed?" She gulped, gripping the edges of the seat.

"I don't think you want to know the answer to that." He mused, glancing at her. "And there's no point in trying to run. You're one little woman and I'm 'an arsonist'. Even if you have a 'brute' on your side, Jackie would be a lot more use in a fight than you would be – you'd just get in his way." He continued, still watching her. "I bet he told you to stay away from all of us."

"Where are you taking me anyway?" She pouted, turning to look out of the window.

"You don't recognise this place? I could have sworn this is where you're supposed to be getting your brains fucked out." He chuckled, shaking his head. "If I am going to turn you to dust, I may as well do it somewhere he's going to find you. Well, he'll not find you, but he'll know you were in there."

"You're really going to set me on fire?" She mumbled, biting her lip.

"If my wife doesn't reply to my text, then yes." He answered, his tone that of a person talking about the weather.

He was going to kill her.

He was going to burn her alive.

And he did not care.

She's a twisted trickster, everybody wants to be the sister's mister.

"Your wife, I assume?" She smiled, desperately holding her voice steady as she listened to the sound of his text tone.

"Unless it's your pretend lover using her phone." Totomaru shrugged, finally pulling up in front of the block of flats where Gajeel and Lily lived. Lily. She was the one that had gotten them all into this mess and he was just some nice guy who wanted to help people. "You know, if you stop being so stuck up about it, he might actually fuck you. He is an ass man after all and I'm guessing yours counts as a nice one – judging by what I saw when you were getting into the car."

Levy jumped as a knock sounded on the car window.

Blushing as Totomaru lowered the passenger side window, Levy gave the giant wall of muscle an awkward wave. A heavy sigh escaped him as he looked between her and the man in the driver's seat. She sat quietly as the two seemed to have a soundless conversation, only for Gajeel to suddenly open the door and unclip her seatbelt without a word. Totomaru seemed to grin at them as Gajeel stepped back to watch her getting out the car. Stupid idiots. After shutting the door, they stood for another moment in silence as they watched the 'arsonist' drive off.

"I told ya to stay away from them." He grunted, not taking his eyes off of where the car disappeared to. "I had to leave him with that bitch because he had damn leverage."

"What?" She gasped, looking back up at him in horror.

"Don't worry, I'll go through the proper channels...but fuck knows how I'm gonna get him from her that way." He frowned, turning towards the flat. "Even if I can prove that it's her leaving those marks, it's not gonna be easy."

"She's hurting him?" Levy mumbled, making to move after him, only to stop dead.

"Yeah, but that's not surprising." He stated, stepping back to wrap an arm around her waist. Her face flushed at his intimate touch and she cursed his sudden casualness with her. "Jose used to beat her something awful, so I don't think she knows how to discipline without violence. Totomaru says he stops her if he's there, but he can't always be."

"So the good guy was the one threatening to set me on fire?" She groaned, finally letting him lead her.

"There ain't a good guy amongst us," he stated, his tone serious, "so ya'd be better off not lookin' for one."

"What about you?" She returned, giving him a coy smile.

"I ain't a good guy...I just ain't a bad guy anymore either." He sighed, shoving her in through the door.

...

He frowned across at the midget sitting next to Lily. What the fuck was he supposed to do with her? If he tried to distance himself, she would find things out for herself. Apparently that usually involved her trying to get herself killed. What the hell had made her think approaching Tomomaru would be a good idea?! Just because the damn fire-starter had been let out didn't mean he was suddenly a good guy! Hell, he wasn't even a good guy and he'd had the Shrimp and Lil' to help him!

"What was that address you went to today?" Lily's voice inquired, cutting through his thoughts.

"Why?" Gajeel grunted, watching as Levy looked between the two of them. Damn, he'd been too silent. He should have paid more attention to their conversation, said something so she hadn't noticed him thinking... Fuck.

"It was across in the old town, right? As opposed to that rundown cul-de-sac on the outskirts you used to live in?" Lily frowned, watching the TV unblinkingly. Gajeel glanced at the TV. "Abbey Mews?"

"Yeah?" He nodded, watching the news report clearly being taken from a helicopter. He watched as flames roared up from the building on the screen, wondering why Lily had taken a sudden interest in his trip further into town. That street... looked familiar. Was it near where he'd been? "I didn't set that." He grunted, narrowing his eyes as he glanced back over at Lily.

"I didn't say you had." Lily countered, frowning at the screen. "I was just wondering if it had something to do with both your outings today."

"Both?" Levy echoed, finally speaking again as she stared unblinkingly at the enormous, seemingly untameable flames.

"The man you went to see today was an arsonist, correct?" Lily hummed, shifting in his seat slightly. He was clearly still angry with the Shrimp too for being so damned stupid. "And Gajeel went to see that arsonist's wife on Abbey Mews." He added calmly, finally taking his attention away from the TV to look at Gajeel, his expression serious. "That blaze is on Abbey Mews."

"Shit!" Gajeel snarled, standing from his chair. Fuck. Jackie and Max. Had Totomaru set that fire? To cover their tracks? Trying to outrun him? Shit. That was best fucking case. What if Jackie had pissed him off? Would he have done that to her? No. That wouldn't be like him. His temper wasn't like that. That's why the two of them had likely worked. He wasn't the kind of person anyone wanted to see angry, but he was hard to seriously piss off. "When did it start?"

"When?" Lily frowned, thinking for a moment. "I'm sure they said it started about four? So less than half an hour before you got back? They haven't mentioned anything about inquiries or how it started."

"Less than half an hour?" Levy gasped, her eyes snapping up to Gajeel.

"I said I didn't fucking start it!" He growled, trying not to bare his teeth at her. He couldn't snarl at her. She'd already had a terrifying enough day without him being like that at her. "Hell, even Totomaru couldn't have gotten back to set that in time! Even with his fancy accelerants, it couldn't have been him. With the traffic, he would have gotten there about twenty minutes after we got back. Fuck..." Gajeel tensed, his right hand finding its way to his hair. "Some bastard must have fucking set that as soon as I fucking left... Totomaru had to go back to that. He went home to find it on fucking fire!" He ranted, pacing back and forward in front of his chair, his right hand tightening and pulling his hair.

He threw his plate down onto his chair, earning a shout from Lily. What had he done? He'd led someone straight to them. He should have left them alone. So what if Jackie had had his kid? They'd managed without for ten whole years. He had no business turning up on their doorstep. Fuck. Had they gotten out? Where were they now? Maybe Totomaru had gotten them out? Maybe he'd set it up before he'd went to meet the Shrimp and Jackie had set it off? Maybe that had been the failsafe? They had been taught to always have a failsafe. Yeah, they were fine. Jackie had set it off intentionally to cover their tracks. Totomaru had never went back to that house.

"Gajeel?" He jumped as the Shrimp's tiny hand touched his studded left forearm.

"It'll be fine. It's their damn house, but Totomaru will have set it up for Jackie to set off if they were ever found. That'll be it." He reassured her, releasing his hair to ruffle hers.

"Gajeel, I've- I've just seen..." She trailed off, her eyes dropping to the floor to avoid his gaze.

"What?" He lightly pushed, gently taking hold of her chin to bring her eyes back up to meet his. "What did you see?"

"Totomaru." She gulped, a tear escaping to roll down her cheek. "They've just shown a replay of the first big explosion of flames...and he was there." She continued, another few tears joining the first. "He was just inside the frame... He was dragged off by three big police officers... He was distraught, trying to- trying to get to the h- house." She sobbed, the tears falling uncontrollably as she finished.

He pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her tiny, shaking body as he scrunched his own eyes closed. He couldn't cry, not now. Not with the Shrimp like this. He had to hold himself together, be strong. Jackie and Max had been in that house. It was his fault that they'd been set alight. He'd been the one to lead someone to them. He should have stayed away. He'd killed them. He'd almost killed them ten years ago and now he'd finished the fucking job!

"Gajeel..." Lily comforted, laying his hand empathetically on Gajeel's shoulder, gripping it. Tears began to flow.

They were gone.

He'd spent ten years regretting attacking the Shrimp. Regretting accidently leading that damn raiding party right to the front door of their base. Regretted getting Jackie killed. He'd only just fucking found out that she'd survived. Only just found out that he had a son. Now he'd finally killed them off. He was never going to be the good guy. He destroyed everything he touched – how could he ever be a good guy?! He looked down at the blunette midget pressed, sobbing, against him through his own tears. He gently kissed the top of her head. He'd caused those tears that racked her fragile-looking body. She should never have gotten involved, but he'd gotten her involved. He'd gotten her involved ten fucking years ago!

"It's not your fault." She sniffed, pulling back slightly to look back up at him through puffy eyes. "The strength of that blaze in such short time... An accelerator had to have been used. It's possible the person who did this got their information the same way you did." She continued, her voice turning into her calculating, serious work voice. "The same way as I did. Sol betrayed them to Juvia-"

"Juvia wouldn't have hurt them." He defended, his fists tightening his grip as he continued to hold her close.

"I know that." She confirms, her lips pursing. "But she betrayed them to you, then you got their address from him. I only managed to meet with Totomaru because Sol arranged it."

"He wouldn't have done this either, Shrimp." He snapped, releasing her to step away. He wasn't sure he'd go so far as to call them all friends, but the five of them wouldn't fucking give each other in! They wouldn't help someone kill each other!

"No, but maybe someone else is pulling his strings. Maybe he didn't have a choice." She argued, taking a step towards him. "Gajeel, Totomaru – the arsonist – had been taken out the way. He was Jackie's defence, right? The one who looked after her? Even if he had been hurt by her attacker, he probably would have known how to deal with the fire or get them out safely!"

"Yeah, but surely they'd want to fucking frame him! They've given him a fucking alibi! A great fucking alibi – you!" He snarled, throwing his arms up in the air in frustration.

"Yes, but your alibi was what went up in smoke! You were there just before it started! She had been hiding your son from you for all these years! Maybe you were so angry, you decided to kill her and pin it on her husband, the guy she seems to have left you for! You'll be the prime suspect!" Levy exclaimed, suppressing her own growl. "And you don't have an alibi..." She mumbled, taking a step back as her expression turned to something akin to despair.

She thought it was him. She thought he'd actually just killed them! What the fu-

"Le-" Lily began, cutting off as she held up a petit hand to silence him.

"We need to find you an alibi. Was there anyone, anyone at all, that could possibly remember you leaving or walking here? Something that would make the police realise that it had started after you had left?" Levy urged, an almost desperate note to her work voice.

"Well, yeah, Rain Woman was with me?" He frowned. Well, damn. She was already trying to fucking save him all over again.

"Will they take her word though? Or think she's his accomplice?" Lily questioned, watching Levy.

"Likely an accomplice... but their stories will match and people will have noticed them." Levy nodded, a glimmer of hope in her hazel eyes.

"What makes ya so sure?" Gajeel grunted, narrowing his eyes at her.

"You weren't trying not to be seen and I'm willing to bet that the two of you stopped to talk, even for a moment, before you left to relieve Totomaru of my company. Even with Totomaru, you could have let him drive off, but you seemed to have some sort of silent conversation. If you and Juvia did the same, then people would have noticed you." Levy shrugs, moving passed him to lift his plate and remove the remains of his dinner from the upholstery. "Am I wrong?"

"We did..." He signed, shaking his head. How the fuck had she gone from a shaking, crying mess to thinking so damn clearly? She'd already got his fucking alibi sorted. "And they'll remember Jackie's farewell. Plenty of people noticed that..." He cringed, trying to forget how quickly people had begun to practically run from him, with the vulgar abuse she'd shouted after him... Some of it true, he was ashamed to admit. "They'll admit she was very much alive when me and Rain Woman left, which will prove that we wouldn't have had time to circle back and set the fire."

"But will anyone remember someone going to the house after you?" Lily sighed, shaking his head.

"That's the stumbling block..." Levy admitted, handing Lily the plate. "We'll just have to wait until we find out more...and, Gajeel?" She continued, gently taking hold of his forearm again. "If the police take you in, tell them the truth. All of it. Do not leave anything out."