A/N: Hey guys. Chapter 2 arriveth! Tell me what you thinketh! Also I know Gajeel and Juvia are probably super OOC but I like it. So please no flames. Please? I ask nicely!

Chapter 2: Leaving

"Hey. Bookworm." Levy jumped at the voice of the Iron Dragon slayer jolting her out of the latest of Lucy's novel. She looked up to see Gajeel behind her, fidgeting and looking around the guild.

"Gajeel? Good morning!" She said, wincing as her voice climbed an octave higher than she was aiming for. Next to her, Lucy giggled and then stared non-commitally into her magazine, ignoring the dirty look that Levy shot her.

"Yeah, yeah. Listen, you seen Juvia? She hasn't been to the guild in a month or somethin'." Levy raised an eyebrow at that. She knew he probably did care about Juvia a little more than the rest of them since she was with him in Phantom. Lucy looked up at the question, looking between the two. She realized she hadn't had to defend herself against Juvia in a while.

"You're keeping tabs on Juvia? Didn't know you cared Gajeel." He flushed, avoiding her eyes as Levy and Lucy grinned at him.

"The answer, squirt?"

"I have a name okay? And Juvia's sick I think. She went out on a solo mission after Lucy's party and came back with a cold. Said she was nauseous and stuff. She locked herself in her room so she wouldn't get anyone else sick. We didsend Wendy to check on her though. Seemed fine." Just then, Gajeel heard the guild doors open and saw the water mage walk in.

"Oh there she is now. Guess she must be feeling better." Lucy said, pointing to her in case Gajeel had missed her entrance. Gajeel thought she still looked tired but chalked it up to exhaustion from being sick. He nodded to Levy and went to resume his beside Pantherlily who was currently counseling Happy over Charle rejection. Again. Now that Juvia was feeling better, he could concentrate on himself. He'd picked up some grade A metal that we was looking forward to eating. He glanced up again and was surprised to see Juvia making a beeline for him instead of watching and playing cheerleader to Gray in his daily fight against the Salamander. He cocked an eyebrow as she approached within hearing distance.

"Yo Rai-." He paused and sniffed. Something was off about her. Way off. Juvia smelled like...

Juvia squeaked in fright when Gajeel abruptly got up, grabbing her wrist and proceeded to haul her out of the guild in a flash.

"W-wait! Gajeel-kun!"

The only one to notice their sudden departure was a celestial mage with very keen eyes.

. . .

Gajeel dragged Juvia through the streets of Magnolia, ignoring the stares they were getting. He needed to talk to her alone. He didn't need prying ears listening in on them. So he took her to his house, only a fool would dare to eavesdrop on him in his own house. Once they were inside his house, Gajeel turned to Juvia, arms crossed over his chest.

"Anything you want to tell me Juvia?" Juvia couldn't hold his gaze. She felt so ashamed. So dirty. What would he say? He probably wanted nothing to do with her after this. He probably thinks Juvia is a slut.

"You know already don't you? You can smell it can't you?" Gajeel sighed and leaned against the wall of his living room.

"Yeah, I know. What I want to know though, is how? What happened? Is it...is it the strippers kid?"

"I ...I dont think so Gajeel-kun." Gajeel got off the wall and faced her properly.

"You don't think so? Do you have a secret boyfriend I don't know about? Wait a second...when did you start seeing the stripper?" All of a sudden, Juvia seemed to withdraw into herself. She clutched her coat closer to her and tried shrink away from him. Almost as if she thought he was judging her. Gajeel suddenly realized that something bigger was going on. She was wearing her baggiest coat, the one that covered her from neck to toe. it was mid September, she wouldn't usually wear something like that, not without ample cause. And he doubted it was because she had run out of clothes.

"Juvia?" He led her to his couch and sat her down, aware of the fact that she shrunk from his touch.

"Juvia? Hey. What's going on? What happened?" She remained silent, looking steadily at the ground at her feet. Gajeel sighed. He didn't like doing this. Caring, feeling like he had to help people. But this was Juvia. They had a connection he couldn't put into words. She'd seen him at his worst. She still saw him as her friend. Though he would sooner die than admit out loud, he'd promised himself a long time ago that he would always look after Juvia and pulverize anyone that made her cry. He didn't know what had happened but he knew he just couldn't let this go.

"Juvia. I can't help you .if you don't let me. You need to tell me what happened." Juvia sent him a furtive glance and looked back down at her feet, shuffling them. She then mumbled something that even Gajeel couldn't pick up.

"What?"

"Natsu and Lucy-san's party."

"Yeah, what about it?" He wasn't normally this patient, but something told him that right now he needed to be. Forcing it out of her made it feel like he would only alienate her instead.

"G-gray-sama...Gray and Juvia...we...Gray was drunk and..."

"and you had sex with him." Gajeel finished for her. She nodded and looked down. He didn't understand. That was good wasn't it? She was always fantasizing about him, always wanting him. Didn't this mean he wanted her too?

"Good. Then he likes you too." He was honestly surprised when Juvia shook her head meekly at him.

"Gray-sa ...he likes Cana-san. Juvia believes that he mistook Juvia for Cana-san." Gajeel stared at her. He could not believe what he was hearing.

"What? You telling me, that the ice moron thought you were that crazy drunk booze chick and did you?" She nodded, her cheeks coloring.

"If Juvia is lucky, he will think it was a dream."

"This, " He said, pointing to her stomach that was still flat. "is not a dream Juvia. Are you telling me you're going to raise that bastard's child by yourself?!" Juvia seemed to shrink away at his accusing and angry tone. She averted her eyes.

"Juvia told Gajeel-kun, Juvia doesn't think the child belongs to Gray - to Gray." She finished. She seemed to be trying to kick her habit of calling him Gray-'sama' Gajeel noted on the side as he tried to understand what she was trying to tell him. Her shoulders began to shake and Gajeel realized with panic that she was crying. Crying girls he could deal with. Juvia crying? Oh no. She had never cried in the years that he known her. Even when she was in pain.

"Oi, oi. Wait! Don't cry! Seriously, just, just tell me, if it wasn't Gray, then who was it Juvia?" At this point Juvia's words became unintelligible but Gajeel had caught a word in the muddle that made his blood run cold.

"Rape? Goddammit Juvia, you were raped?!" His voice rose unintentionally and he instantly regretted it, seeing her flinch away from him.

"How did it happen Juvia?" He asked her in a voice he hoped was soothing. He had watched Lucy and the other girls when they tried to calm someone down. He didn't like that he had to use this method, but he supposed he didn't have a choice. "I'm not judging you Juvia, I just want to go kick his perverted ass."

Juvia turned her tearstained face to him.

"Juvia was taken by Gray and then tossed aside like a used rag. Juvia was upset Gajeel-kin. She didn't mean to be stupid. Juvia was trying to go home and she got caught by rogue mages. He...they.." Gajeel put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "It's okay. I don't need to anymore. that's more than enough information to get him. But why didn't you kick his butt? You could easily have taken him out."

At this, she held out her wrists and Gajeel saw the purple bruising around them.

"Anti-magic lacrima." She said softly, tears falling as she bowed her head. "Juvia never saw it coming." She took off her coat, now seeming to have to tell it all in one go. That if she stopped now, she'd never be able to say it again.

"He tore into Juvia. Over and over again. Juvia yelled and screamed. No one came. No one helped me. Instead, he did this to Juvia." She yanked the neckline of her shirt on the inside down and Gajeel instantly caught the scent of burnt flesh, recoiling slightly. He saw a brand mark just beneath her collar bone, a symbol of a knights shield. The skin around the burn was red and raw, in horrible juxtaposition to her beautiful alabaster skin. He looked at her and saw her eyes filling with tears and she began to pace around the room.

"He called Juvia a bitch. Don't you see? Juvia is dirty now. She is filthy. No one will take Juvia now that she's been used. Juvia knows she's been wicked. She knows she wasn't a good person. But Juvia was trying to change! She was trying. Why was Juvia this way?! " Juvia began to pull her hair becoming hysterical. Gajeel tried to calm her down.

"Juvia stop it!"

"No! Let Juvia go! Let her go!"

She struggled against him now, kicking and hitting anywhere she could reach. Gajeel couldn't get through to her.

"Juvia, Juvia stop. JUVIA!" He had had enough, and had grabbed her by the top of her arms and shook her violently, effectively garnering her attention. He absentmindedly brushed the hair out of her face.

"You are not dirty Juvia. You aren't filthy and you most definitely aren't wicked. People make mistakes okay? You and I made ours together, but that doesn't make us bad people. Alright? Do you understand?" Juvia looked up at him, eyes wide and watery. She nodded timidly. Gajeel let her sit back down, groaning. He didn't like doing this. This was way too much for him. He didn't like handling things like this. But what choice did he have? He tried to think of what they would do from here.

"Gajeel-kun?" He heard Juvia's hiccupping voice call him. He turned to her.

"Will you take Juvia away?" His eyes widened as he stared at her.

"What?" She stared at him determindly as she stood up, eyes still teary. The only difference was the hardness in her eyes.

"Juvia cannot have the baby while she is in Fairy Tail." Gajeel was stunned.

"Wait a second, are you telling me you're going to have the pervert's kid?!" He cried, staring

incredulously at the young woman.

"Gajeel-kun, it isn't the child's fault how he was concieved. How can Juvia justify killing him?!" She put a hand on her stomach. "Juvia just wants some time to cope with this. Juvia cannot do it with Fairy Tail near her. Maybe Juvia will come back after, but right now, Juvia just wants to leave. Please."

With her looking at him like that, Gajeel knew he couldn't refuse. He couldn't leave Juvia to do this alone.

"Please Gajeel-kun. It's the only thing Juvia will ever ask you."

He was going to have to explain this to the master somehow. Somehow, he was going to have handle this.

"Fine. We'll leave."