I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters or locations; I'm just playing with them for my stories.

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Chapter 2 Pickpockets and Crooked Deals

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Levy examined the auto shop as they pulled up into the parking lot beside the old three story building. It looked like it was once an old style firehouse. From the opened garage doors she could see the copper pole that led up into the 2nd and possibly 3rd floor of the building. It was a faded red brick building with many arched windows spaced out across the front and sides. The garage had a few other cars inside suspended on lifts as well as having counters covered with car parts and tools. Just to the side of the garage was a store front looking area. It had a large window with the name of the shop scrawled across its surface as well as having a surprisingly friendly looking green front door off to the side. The sign on the window read, Metalicana's Chop Shop, in gold lettering and under that in smaller print it read Auto Parts and Towing.

Lily as well was interested in the old building and had pressed his face firmly against the wrecker's side window to get a better look. Both of them turned to the sound of snickering and watched as Gajeel put the truck in park and hop out.

"Come on yah can get a better look from inside." Gajeel said with an amused tone as he walked around the front of the wrecker to open up the passenger side door. He stuck out his hand and helped Levy out of the truck; seeing how it was quite a distance from the ground for her short legs.

"Thank you Mr. Redfox."

"Oi don't call me that, Gajeel is fine, and yah making me feel like an old man Shrimp."

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize you where such a young soul" Levy had snapped back playfully.

"Lookie here short stuff I'm only 25 so I don't wanna here that crap from you, and like your one to talk anyways. To me it seems like you haven't even hit puberty yet, kid."

Gajeel's tone was playful as well but he could see the agitation as it rolled off her shoulders at him calling her small. His grin got bigger at this and walked pass the girl and into the shop through the garage. He knew she would follow and at the sound of her stomping footsteps he also knew she was trying to come up with a comeback to his earlier statement. Gajeel opened the door leading into the storefront from the garage and walked past the counter to grab a reference book on her make and model of car so he could see if he had any spare parts in the shop. The pocket woman stomped up to him and waved a finger in his face when he turned to face her.

"Now you lookie HERE, I am not a child alright! I am 23 years old and I can't help the way I look, so you don't have to be an ass about it!"

Gajeel just brushed past her as she continued with her tirade, he only half listened as he went back outside and began to unhook her car and roll it into the shop on one of the lowered lifts. He was barley aware of the girl having drowned her out just shortly after she started talking. Gajeel had to admit, having her jump around and yipping like a small dog as quite funny to watch even if her voice was becoming very annoying. It wasn't until he began to notice her voice cracking and becoming less angry and sadder did he tune her back in.

".. and we just been through a lot, ok!? The last thing I needed to happen was the stupid car to break down because I don't have the money to pay for all these repairs. Hell I don't have any money to feed Lily let alone myself."

After her last statement she crumbled onto herself and sobbed into her knees as she wrapped her arms around them. Lily ran up to the girl and hugged her leg as he rested his head on her arms.

"Levy you didn't tell me we were that low on money, why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to worry you Lily! It's my responsibility to take care of you not the other way around! I thought if we could make it to the city of Mermaid's Heel on the other side of this freaking desert I would be able to find work. But nothing ever goes as plan does it!?"

Gajeel looked up from his work as saw the pathetic sight that was the small girl and her black cat. He felt bad for the two and from the sound of the girl's voice they have been having a very long rough patch in their lives. He knew exactly what that felt like. It seems like the whole world is against you and is just waiting for you to crack and fall. However Gajeel got a saving grace that was his Old Man, and from the looks of it no one was going to save this poor girl. He began to feel that same feeling of fear and guilt as he did when he first saw her cry.

Gajeel knew this time it wasn't a trick and the tears were not because of him but the feeling never left. Seeing a girl cry was just something that never sat right with Gajeel and he tried to avoid it at all costs. But the raw and ugly sobs refused to leave the girl as she just kept on repeating that she was 'so sorry' to the cat over and over. It was obvious to him that this girl had nothing in her life but the black cat that sat with her and if that kept up she might end up on the wrong side of life like he did. He wiped his hands on his old rag and walked up to Levy. Lily's eyes following closely on his every move, showing to him that the cat will do him harm if he did anything to hurt the girl.

Gajeel awkwardly squatted in front of the girl and gently laid a hand on her head. He only then just realized how small she actually was as his hand covered nearly the entire top of her head and the same guilty feeling ate at his gut. He ruffled her hair a bit and she looked up at him with puffy eyes and a runny nose. Gajeel just gave her a small smile and repeated his statement to her from earlier today.

"I'll see what I can do alright? Just quit it with the water works ok?"

The girl just stared up at him as he picked himself up and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out a few jewels and handed them to her. She just wore a confused look as she took the jewels from him. Gajeel just looked back down at the girl and jerked his head to the side towards the street in reference.

"There's ah pub and grill just a bit up the road, has some of the best food yer gonna find in this town. It's called Lady Tankard, go get yah something to eat and come back here in a few hours. By then I should know what's wrong and how to fix it. Then we'll talk about how yah can pay me back for it."

Gajeel couldn't help the bush that reached his ears as Levy just continued to watch him from the floor.

"Well ain't yah gonna go? I assure you sittin' there in this heat is gonna get old pretty fast."

"Why are you doing this…" Levy's voice was weak and rough from the sobbing. She stood up slowly while grabbing ahold of Lily and hugging him tightly to her chest. She noticed the gruff man as he shifted on his feet and tried to look at anything that wasn't her. He was quiet for a few minutes before he spoke, seeing that she wasn't going to move without her answer.

"Cause I've been where yer at before, and I know what it's like…" Gajeel let his words die off and didn't finish his statement as he turned back to her car and began to take apart the engine. He promptly ignored the girl as he tried to focus all of his efforts on the task ahead of him. It wasn't until a small hand touched his shoulder did he even look back at Levy. She looked him in the eyes with a small smile on her lips. It looked like she had wiped her eyes and nose to hide the evidence of her break down moments earlier.

"Thank you Gajeel, I'll make this up to you, somehow."

"We'll talk about that later now get going," He watched Levy as she made her way out of the garage before shouting out to her.

"And don't tell anyone I'm helping yah out ok! Last thing a need is a line of sob stories looking for handouts."

The playful tone was back and Levy saw that his threat held no weight and just laughed out loud at him before walking to the sidewalk with Lily in tow. She raised her hand in the air and waved slightly.

"No promises!"

Gajeel just watched as the girl made her way out of his line of sight and let a grin of his own spread on his face. He felt better about the situation and was pretty sure that Metalicana, if he were here, would have done the same thing as him. His eyes focused back on the pile of junk sitting in front of him and let a groan past his lips as he knew it will take all afternoon to figure out the cause of this car's sudden death. Her car really was a piece of shit and he wasn't quite sure if even he could fix it. But he had a promise to kept and figured he would fine out some way to fix this mess the girl was in. He wasn't sure why he was going out of his way to help Levy, but he did know that if he just wiped his hands clean of her, it would leave a poor taste in his mouth. Gajeel didn't care for the money; he had all he needed to live off of with or without her payment. But he had seen that look before that she had sported as she broke down. He knew what follows after that and refused to let someone else make his same mistakes.

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Lily walked along side Levy, keeping his paw on her leg so he wouldn't lose her in the small crowd that filled the sidewalks. He didn't say anything about the events 10 minutes prior, knowing full well that Levy was quite embarrassed and flustered over her mini break down in the shop. He knew she will eventually tell him the truth about their condition and where they stood as far as money, food or even where they were going next.

Lily had met Levy almost a year ago in the large city of Crocus. He himself had escaped from a lab that was running tests and experiments on him to find out more about his breed. Levy had found him bleeding and half dead in one of the alley ways. She took him in and nursed him back to health and never asked anything from him. He had known she was running from something, she would often be lost in thought and always looking over her shoulder. He never asked knowing she would tell him when she was ready. Lily just became a part of her life as though he had always belonged and when she had told him she was leaving the city he refused to be left behind and begged to come with her. They have been jumping from place to place ever since, never staying in one place too long.

He looked up at his owner and smiled up at her when she met his eyes.

"That Gajeel fellow is very nice Levy, I am honestly surprised from the way he looks, you would never know."

"That is the funny thing about us humans, Lily; you just can't judge a book by its cover."

"It would seem so Levy. Do you think we will be staying here longer than the other locations? After all we will need to hang around long enough to pay off the car repairs and even more after to restock on supplies and jewels."

Levy looked up a bit in thought and rested her hand against her chin. She narrowed her eyes a bit before looking back down at Pantherlily, obviously coming up with her answer.

"Would seem so, it might take a few weeks maybe even months. We still don't have a place to stay tonight seeing how we can't exactly sleep in the car. I'm afraid to ask anymore of Gajeel, he already has done so much for us. I don't want to ask for anything more."

"We might not have a choice in the matter however, but we won't know that until later when we get back to the shop so for now let's get some food, I'm starving!"

Levy giggled as Pantherlily raised his arms in the air and gained a sparkle in his eyes at the prospect of good food. She merely nodded in agreement and found the pub that Gajeel had recommended. It was an old wooden building with two large front windows and a simple gray door leading to the inside. There was a neon sign in one of the windows that read Lady Tankard in bright red and blue font. A sign that read Opened was also hanging from under the name of the pub. Levy picked up Lily and pulled open the gray door and walked inside.

The inside of the pub looked very clean for it obvious old age. Nick-knacks, signs and old trophies and placards littered the walls and bar some dating back over 40 years. The room smelled of burgers and beer and the front end of the bar and tables where filled with customers. A sign near the waiter's stand read, 'Have a seat anywhere and a Waiter will be with you shortly'. Following its orders, Levy made her way to the back end of the pub to take a seat at a small table place in front of a large glass window that stretched the whole length of the back wall. Looking out through the window, she got a great view of the mountain range way off in the distant. She could almost make out the snowcapped tops. However the view was muddied by the large dried up ditch that the back patio of the pub hovered over. The ditch expanded miles out in all directions and looked to be almost half a mile deep. Old boats and trash littered the ditch as the banks where surrounded by dried and rotting trees.

Levy assumed it was the once famous lake called Fairy Tail. The sight of the remains of this once great lake was a sad one and put Levy back in her somber mood from before. She heard it was once an almost magical looking place that people would travel for days to witness in real life. Levy looked around near her table and saw a picture of the lake when it was still in its prime. It was a photo that was probably taken from the deck just beyond the window. The lake was beautiful and she also saw that the trees where once Magnolia trees.

'That's probably how the town got its name,' Levy's musings where cut short as a girl about her age approached her in an old diner style dress and apron with a pen and pad. She was average height for a female, probably 5'6, with golden blond hair that fell strait down around her face and shoulders. She wore a chunk of it up in a side pony tail with a blue ribbon. She had brown eyes and wore a cheeky grin, and had a huge rack. Levy coughed in her hand a bit at the thought, trying to snuff out the jealously she felt about that.

"You must be new in town! I don't think I've ever seen you in Lady Tankard before and… Oh my god is that an Exceed!?"

The waitress plopped down across from Levy at the table and reached over and grabbed Lily from his perch on his owner's shoulders. Levy could only watch as the girl swooned over Lily. Lily however merely enjoyed the attention he was getting and purred as the girl scratched his ears.

"Um…" Levy honestly didn't know what to say about the situation in front of her. Thankfully the girl realized the awkward silence that was coming from the bluenette. The girl just grinned and scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"So sorry about that! My name is Lucy by the way Lucy Heartfilia." Lucy stuck her hand out to Levy which she took into her own.

"I'm Levy McGarden and that traitor of a fluff ball is Pantherlily, but I just call him Lily."

Lily just grinned up at Levy at her statement before untangling himself from Lucy's grip. He walked back across the table and sat down on the table beside Levy. The cat held his paw up in greeting to Lucy.

"Hello."

"Wow I never thought we would get another Exceed in Magnolia! We already are the proud owners of two. Happy and Carla are our Exceeds; Natsu Dragneel owns Happy a blue and kind of silly one while Wendy Marvell has Carla she is white and is very proper."

Levy only leaned in on the table and listen as the girl went on and on about the strange town she now found herself in. Sometime shortly after her talking about the old man and his grandson running the orphanage and electronic store as well as mentioning that the gym is owned by this Natsu person, did Levy's hunger made its self-known. The bluenette blushed deeply as Lucy laughed at her embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry! I totally forgot you came here to eat not listen to me prattle about like an old hen! I'll go get you two some of our famous burgers and then we can talk more after, kay?" Lily smiled at Lucy as she stood up to go put in the orders and nodded.

"That sounds wonderful doesn't Levy!"

Levy just laughed and agreed with her cat as she scratched him behind his ear. She knew her and Lily have had a very poor diet these last few weeks. Mostly cheap items out of cans and bags, nothing cooked or seasoned properly. Her eyes held the sadness that she refused to let meet her smile as she petted her cat. She knew she wasn't properly taking care of him or herself this last month and felt horrible that she pushed her problems onto her only friend.

Lily however knew how to read her eyes and saw the guilt. He placed his paw over the one that rested on his head and held her hand. The cat was giving her a comforting smile that promised that things will get better for the two of them. Levy leaned down to him and kissed him on the nose in apology and agreed with his unspoken promise. They both started to drool a bit as Lucy showed back up with their food and happily dug in as the waitress went back to her gossip once more.

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Levy and Lily both made their way out of the tavern and bid a good bye to Lucy with promises of stopping by at a later date. Levy had really enjoyed her long talk with Lucy and even enjoyed the cliff note version of the novel the blond was apparently writing. The bluenette even asked if Gajeel had a favorite meal he enjoyed at the pub and was able to also purchase a meal for him to-go, as a thank you of sorts. Of course just getting this information was like pulling teeth as Lucy teased that Levy had the hots for their residential bad boy. With a million no's and rebuttals she was finally able to make it back on to Old Fairy Tail Rd and start her walk back to the shop. The sun was beginning to set as the old worn clock tower rung out its seven tolls. Levy picked up her pace as Lily hopped onto her to stand on her shoulders as he leaned over her head. She didn't want to be out when it was still dark seeing how she never been in the town before.

Even with Lucy's unrelenting knowledge bounding in her head, she still felt uneasy. She had just caught sight of the shop when someone violently shoved her to the ground before running off and around a corner. Her head hit the ground with a crack and it took her a good few minutes to clear her vison long enough to see that Lily was looking her over with worry. The ringing in her ears made it hard to make out what the cat was saying, however she knew it was probably along the lines of 'Are you ok?'.

"I'm fine Lily just give me a second." Lily stopped talking as he watched Levy pull herself up to a stand as she clutched her head. He knew she was probably dazed but he needed her attention.

"Levy! They took your bag! That person who knocked you down just robbed us!"

That seemed to hit home with the girl as she quickly looked around on the ground for her bag that was no longer there.

"NO! That had all of our money, and my driver license! Oh no! It had our IDs Lily what are we going to do!"

Lily just watched as his friend pull at her hair and let go of the building tears. He didn't see where the person went to, being too busy worrying over Levy's wellbeing. It wasn't until he caught sight of Gajeel opening up one of the garage doors that got the cat thinking. Lily pulled at Levy's leg as he led her to Gajeel's shop. The large man caught sight of them and quickly rushed up to the injure woman as he saw the blood on her temple. Gajeel wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders to steady her as he took her inside the shop and up to the second floor of the living quarters.

"What the hell happen to yah shorty?"

Gajeel couldn't get a straight answer from the girl as she kept on mumbling 'what am I going to do?' over and over to herself like a mantra. Thankfully Lily was there to explain the run in with the thief and the reason for the blood. The mechanic listened closely to the cat's words as he cleaned the girl's cut and bandaged her up. He saw that it wasn't a serious injury and the robbery it's self was probably the reason for the shock state the girl was in.

After hearing Lily describe the symbol he saw on the robber's coat, Gajeel knew exactly who took her bag. A half circle with a dot in the middle with a swirling tail at the bottom, it reeked of Phantom Lord. All that was left of the street gang was petty thieves and cruel boys and Gajeel has had enough of seeing them run amuck. He instructed to Lily that they were going to stay in his guess bedroom and that Gajeel will get her items back. The cat didn't protest and led the girl to the room and shut the door behind him.

Gajeel then closed up his shop early and locked all the windows and entrances before pulling on his long leather coat and making his way down the street. He headed towards a side road that led to the old and worn down ware houses. He then picked up his pace and walked up to an old abandon apartment building and let himself in. A few teenage boys could be seen lounging about on an old worn couch and mattress. They jumped up at the sight of the large man who filled the door and started to back away from him as he grinned evilly at the young men.

"I think yah got somethin' of mine boys…"

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Lily stretched out his back and legs. He was usually the first to wake and today was no different, Levy was still sound asleep beside him wearing her clothes from the day before. After rubbing the rest of the sleep from his eyes he leaned over the girl to examine her head injury. It was healing nicely and wasn't bruised too badly, with that peace of mind Lily crept out of the room quietly. As he closed the door behind him he saw the figure of Gajeel leaning up against the counter of the kitchen that was right across from the guest room. Gajeel was holding an ice pack to his cut up knuckles and didn't notice the cat until he jumped onto the counters he was leaning against.

Gajeel gave a quiet good morning as he put down the ice pack and handed the cat Levy's bag. Lily was surprised at this and gave an equally quiet thank you. The gruff man just gave the cat a grin and let out a small snicker.

"Gihi, I think I found a way for you and shorty to repay me."

Lily looked interested and matched the man's grin, his amusement spreading like wildfire.

"Oh? So what's the deal boss?"

"Gihihi…"

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GAH! That took me a long time to write today! Ok so here is chapy two! I'll have chapter three out by Friday cus right now my mind needs a short break. Hope yal like the length of these chapters I'm trying for at least 3-4k words at a time. Next time will be their deal! I wonder what Gajeel is planning hehehe.

As always…

Thanks to all that read, review, fav and follow myself and all of my other stories! Makes me happy to see that so many people enjoy them. So I hope you all have a great day and I will see you next time!

-Paint