Hmmm... So I really wanted to do a big sweep and do an update of everything at once but I am so far unhappy with the other stories' chapters so it will have to happen next time lol. I hope you enjoy the story so far!
As always, I don't own Fairy Tail or these characters, they belong to Hiro Mashima and I thank him for their use in my own creative expressions *bows*
Seven AM the next day Gajeel was leaning against the back door of his small office building sipping a strong black coffee and waiting. The building was a single story, made of brick and wedged between a bar and a bakery in the heart of the Magnolia neighborhood of Fiore. It's only adornment was a large hanging sign of a Japanese style dragon twisted into the shape of the number seven over the front door facing the street. Finally a sleek black mustang pulled into the small back lot beside his truck and Gajeel watched as the driver got out and walked over. He was a big man, slightly bigger than Gajeel in the shoulders and not much taller but as fair as Gajeel was dark, with blonde hair and light skin. The only visible distinguishing mark was a faint scar in the shape of a lightning bolt across his left eye, but Gajeel knew that there were several flowing tattoos underneath the arms of the lightweight black sports jacket pulled tight by his biceps. Even when he was trying to be discreet, there was something ominous and dangerous about Laxus Dreynar, like he was always just one step away from thunderous anger and great violence.
"You're early," Laxus commented as he stuck a key from his key ring into the door. "Did you lose your keys again?"
Gajeel shook his head, "Naw, I just hate being the first one here." Laxus nodded and they both entered the building, hanging their coats on a small rack by the door and walking into the large main area which consisted of a small secretary desk and three large filing cabinets against one wall and several waiting room chairs, a stand up water cooler and coffeemaker on a card table on another. Gajeel waited as Laxus filled the coffee machine with water and flicked the on switch before following him through another door that led into his private office. Gajeel shut the door behind him, but leaned against it instead of taking one of the chairs in front of the large desk and didn't start speaking until Laxus was seated.
"So, you got my SOS text last night I take it?" He asked the blonde man.
"I did, Zoldeo is dead? That could be a problem…"
"Tell me about it," Gajeel growled, the slight bruise on his chin seemed to twitch. "You have to hear the whole goddamn shitfest." He told Laxus in great detail about his surveillance on Zoldeo and how it had turned into an assassination attempt instead of just a simple meeting like they had been led to believe.
"Where did that tip come from?" Gajeel asked him when he got to the part about Zoldeo bolting into the alley.
"Phone message left on Wendy's machine, all it said was the time and place and that some kind of a meeting was taking place. I will contact the boys about trying to get a trace on it but it sounds now like it was a set up so I doubt we will get much from it."
"Damn rights it was a set up! That asshole wasn't even trying to hide what he was doing and then there is the problem with the girl…" Gajeel growled again, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest.
"Girl?" Laxus asked with his eyebrows raised.
"Yeah, some girl was in the alley. Zoldeo nearly ran her over trying to get away and then the hitman tried to take us both out in the getaway."
"Where is this girl now? Who is she? Do you think she was involved?"
Gajeel shook his head. "I doubt she was anything other than in the wrong place at the wrong time, I think she was taking out the trash behind the building and just got caught up in it. And I don't know who she is or where she is now, she got away." The growling tone was back and his chin was definitely twitching in pain.
"Got away?" Laxus' eyebrows where still high and Gajeel sighed, explaining about taking cover behind the dumpster and then being hit in the face twice. By the time he had finished Laxus was trying and failing to keep a smile off his face.
"You got something to say?" Gajeel asked menacingly, his eyes now so narrowed they were practically closed.
"Nope, nothing," Laxus snorted in half laughter. "I just never thought that the great Black Steel Gajeel Redfox would get overpowered by a girl." And with that he couldn't control it anymore and started to laugh in full, leaning back in his chair and gasping for breath.
Gajeel could feel his face redden in embarrassment. "She did NOT overpower me! She surprised me, and how was I supposed to know that she would be so ungrateful for me saving her that she would attack me in the face with a heavy bag."
This caused Laxus to laugh even harder. "A purse…" he large man managed to get out, "You got beaten up by a purse…"
"SHUT UP!" Gajeel turned towards the wall and started banging his head against it.
"Hey," Laxus growled between his tears of laughter. "Don't put a hole in my wall man. Well, whoever she is, you need to find her."
Gajeel froze in mid-bang and turned to face Laxus again. "Say what? Why do we need to do that?"
"Because, she is the only other person that can ID the shooter so you can bet that they will be after her too. Plus, by the sounds of it I would really like to meet her." Laxus finally composed himself and it was like the laughter had never happened.
"But she can't ID the shooter any more than I can, they were wearing full biker gear and a tinted helmet, it could be anyone." Meeting her again was one of the last things that Gajeel wanted to do.
"It would be better to error on the side of caution with this one, if they think that she could be a problem then she is in a lot of danger. Also, if she goes to the police and tells them that you were there it could mess up this case." Laxus stood up and walked past Gajeel and opened the door to the main office. Gajeel could smell the fresh coffee and noticed that they were no longer alone; another man was sprawled out in one of the waiting room chairs studying his hand when they walked in.
"What am I supposed to do? I have no idea who she is or how to find her," Gajeel asked, undeterred that they were no longer in the privacy of the office.
"You're the private detective, detect her idiot," Laxus answered while pouring himself a cup of coffee. "There has to be somewhere you can start, something you remember about her."
"She was small, couldn't have weighted more than 100 pounds, I thought she was a kid at first. She had blue hair and a strong arm, that's about all I got," Gajeel admitted lamely.
"Well you said she was taking out the trash, which means she has to work or live somewhere in the area. Plus she ran towards the residential area and not the street, which means she was probably on foot and not driving so makes it even more likely that she lives somewhere nearby." Gajeel had to admit that Laxus was making it hard to him to find excuses not to find this girl and being the only person that knew what she looked like he couldn't even convince one of the other guys to find her instead.
"What are we talking about?" The seated man asked, his hand now under his chin and leaning against the chair arm, studying them curiously.
"Gajeel lost a witness last night, a girl," Laxus answered before taking a sip of coffee. Gajeel sputtered again and felt his cheeks re-heating.
"Interesting," the man mumbled. "Is it a funny story? Is that why there was so much laughing coming from your office a few minutes ago?" He asked innocently.
"Cobra," Laxus warned, "I've told you before not to listen in on my office."
"It's not my fault you were being loud," he answered sourly. "Someone should tell me what is going on…" Laxus explained to him about the shooting and the missing witness. Cobra nodded in agreement when he got to the part about Gajeel needing to track her down.
"She also might be good bait," he added when Laxus was finished. "If they think she is useful and they know we have her, it might draw them out and give us the break we need in this case." The other two men just stared at him in slight disbelief. "What?" He asked finally. "What did I say?"
"That's a little cold," Laxus replied slowly. "We can't really use an innocent person as gang bait."
Cobra just shrugged again, "It's just an option, but I think we all agree she needs to be found."
They all turned towards the front door at the sound of a key being inserted into the doorknob, it opened to reveal a young woman with long dark blue hair and wearing a flattering but work appropriate green dress. "Good morning everyone!" She announced cheerily before removing her light coat and throwing it over the chair behind the secretary desk.
"Good morning Wendy," Laxus greeted her first. "No donuts today?"
"The bakery doesn't open for another ten minutes," she said with a smile. "Then I will go get some donuts." Gajeel and Cobra greeted her also as she settled into her desk.
"Natsu isn't here yet? What about the twins?" She asked them while taking a seat in her chair.
"The twins are on still on special assignment, but that should be wrapping up today. Natsu is probably still sleeping, you might want to call his house," Laxus turned back to Gajeel. "Find her and then report back to me." He went back into his private office and shut the door. Wendy started checking the messages on her answering machine and Cobra turned to look at Gajeel again.
"You heard the boss," he said with a hint of malicious grin. "Find her before the killer does."
Gajeel glared at him, "You know, technically he isn't the boss."
Cobra grunted in response, "I would love to be there when you try and tell him that."
"How you would like to lose your other eye?" Gajeel growled. Cobra's grin deepened revealing his overlarge canines that narrowed into small points like fangs.
"You should get to work instead of handing out idle threats that we both know you can't deliver on anyway, especially since you say you have nothing to go on."
Gajeel was just about to tell him the difference between an idle threat and a promise when he remembered what was in his pocket. He pulled out the scarf from last night to get a better look at it in the daylight. It was mostly orange and made out of some kind of silky material, he didn't know though how common headbands like this would be.
"What is that," Cobra asked curiously, peering at the scarf from his chair.
"A headband," Gajeel answered as he continued to feel it with his fingers. "I picked it up in the alley last night and completely forgot about it. I think it belongs to that girl and it fell off when I pulled her behind the dumpster."
"Well," Wendy announced from her behind her desk. "Natsu is awake, but I think somebody is going to have to go and drag his butt in here, sounds to me like he had a rough night."
Cobra stood up and stretched. "I'll do it, dealing with a hungover Dragneel is always a good time and Gajeel is going to have his hands full. Watch out for those killer purses, Black Steel," he said with a wink.
"Damn your ears," Gajeel muttered at him murderously.
Wendy nodded to him as he left through the front door and then looked over at Gajeel. "What is that?" She asked.
"A scarf," he answered, holding it up so that she could see it. "I need to find the girl that was wearing it last night; she could be in a lot of trouble."
"I think I know that scarf, can I see it?" Gajeel gave it to her and she looked it over carefully. "I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like the one that this girl who works at the bookstore wears."
"Where is the bookstore?" Gajeel asked, hoping that he finally caught a lucky break.
"Over on 14th, Crux Antique Books. I've only been in there a couple of times but there is a really good cupcake place on that same block."
"Do you remember what she looks like? Or her name?"
"Umm, she has blue hair, I think it was cut about here," Wendy motioned to her shoulders. "But she was a little shorter than me, really nice though and she knew the answers to all my questions. I don't remember if I got her name and I don't think she had a nametag either… I hope that helps." Wendy gave the scarf back to Gajeel carefully and he slipped it back into his pocket. "Thanks, I think I have a place to start now at least. You should go get those donuts; Natsu is going to need them when he finally gets in here." He said goodbye to Wendy and slipped out the backdoor to his truck, heading back to 14th Street and Crux's Antique Books.
We will start getting more into the other characters soon! Thanks for reading and I hope you will stay tuned for more.