Notes

Thank you to my reviewers! DragoonHearted and Argetblodh. I have a few more chapters already mostly written so I'm gonna keep pushing out the updates while I've got the steam. Again, thank you for the reviews!

People at the guild had started to wonder what was going on with Levy almost immediately. She still smiled and laughed but on more than one occasion she'd let herself slip up and it had cost her more than just the odd look. She could hear her guild mates whispering about her behind her back as they discussed her somewhat unusual behavior. Even she was having a hard time predicting her own reactions to stuff. Very normal situations were resulting in volatile, and in most cases violent responses. For instance, Natsu had slung one arm over her shoulder and the other over Lucy's during a debate and he'd barely managed his proclamation of "My team could kick your ass any day of the week" before she'd bit him. Straight up, no flinching, no hesitation. She bit him on the forearm, hard enough as well to bruise. Natsu laughed it off. It was only after that she realised it had been a very Dragon thing to do to a personal space invader. He'd gotten that. Lucy and the others hadn't, especially when she'd refused to talk about it, because let's face it, telling people that you'd become physically, magically, mentally and emotionally linked to a somewhat antisocial guildmate because you had the hots for them was never going to be an easy thing to spew out. Already the script mage could feel a wedge begin to form. What started as a kind of amusing gossip was clearly becoming a source of worry for everyone at Fairy Tail. They were deeply troubled and somewhat wary about her lashing out at them. Back at Fairy Hills, Erza had taken to randomly dropping in unannounced at times proclaiming she'd heard something and was just checking it out. Something Levy knew to be an outright lie. The script mage could hear fucking everything going on around her. When Jet and Droy had taken to following her they'd been completely unaware that she could now hear Droy's labored, tired breathing practically two buildings over at any given time. Over the course of two weeks, the gossip had turned to worry had turned to suspicion. People that she'd known her whole life were treating her like she was some imposter. Like the real Levy had been swapped out with her and was due back any minute. They couldn't prove anything but they treated her with paranoia and even a little resentment. What had she done with the real Levy?

The situation degraded more so when Wendy had confirmed that Levy was smelling a little different lately. For a lot of people, even Makarov, this seemed to add some sort of legitimacy to the idea that she was some sort of stand in and the real Levy was off somewhere possibly held against her will. As ridiculous as all of that was. Let's face it, it was Fairy Tail, they'd come across stranger and rational thought wasn't in an overabundance at the guild at the best of times.

The whole thing had begun to quickly spiral out of control and the one person she needed more than anything right now had taken jobs back to back so as to avoid her. The confidence boost that was. Lily was her only comfort, the Exceed trying to calm things down and assuage people's fears but he'd only served to outcast himself. When he was around they just didn't talk about her. But he hadn't changed anyone's mind. Not in the least. Oddly enough his furious defense of her only made people more paranoid. She was certain of only one thing, she needed Gajeel.

Utterly fed up Levy packed a bag and left her apartment using her precious savings to cover the rent for the next month. If she did have to leave permanently she'd have to work out a way of transporting her things but she was hoping it wouldn't come to that. With Gajeel almost never home she was willing to risk staying at his over the possible mob that might decide to storm on her apartment in the middle of the night. Despite the situation she couldn't quite keep hold of the smile that crept onto her face when she realised that she didn't want to hurt any of them. Because she was fairly sure she could, if it came down to it. She'd always had the ability. She just couldn't see it.

Learning from her mistake Levy took the guest bedroom this time round and decided she'd use the peace and quiet to try and untangle her thoughts. That night, she slept properly for the first time in weeks though when she woke up she realised she'd stolen one of Gajeel's pillows from his room at some point in the night. Something she couldn't even remember doing.

Sleepwalking. That couldn't be good.

Gajeel was practically assaulted when he arrived back to Fairy Tail. Never in all his time at the guild had he seen such a commotion. His head throbbed with the noise and the shouting. His ears picking up at least half a dozen people repeating his name, clamoring for his attention. Experience had thought him that that, could never, ever be a good sign.

Before he could make the conscious decision to turn on his tail and literally run, an impossibly strong grip that could only have belonged to Erza fell on his tired, bruised and unsuspecting shoulders.

"Just the man we need," She announced rather loudly and Gajeel felt his eyelids flutter with exhaustion before audibly groaning.

"Gajeel, you need to help us find the real Levy!"

"We think Levy's been kidnapped."

"Natsu is on a mission and Wendy is too young, you can smell her out can't you?"

Jet, Droy and Gray all spoke simultaneously while others started up as well with some very unhelpful things about shapeshifters and some plot to take over Fairy Tail. Gajeel's brain couldn't quite catch up with everything that they were yabbering about. It was nonsensical madness. More so than usual.

"Wait, what?" He snapped and was rewarded with silence. "Does someone with their faculties' still intact want to clue me in on whatever the fuck is going on here?" A headache was forming in the area just behind the Dragon Slayer's eyes.

For all the hysteria, Gajeel's voice fell on them like a cold wet towel. Erza stepped up and Gajeel couldn't quite tell if she'd be the reasonable one or not out of this mob. You could never quite tell with Erza. One situation and she'd be mobilizing them with all the control and coordination of a military commander and then the next she was dressed like a bunny holding up a casino for the sheer thrill of it. The woman had issues. Coming from him, that was really saying something.

"We've had some suspicions lately that our Levy might be in some trouble. While the woman coming to the guild might look like her she hasn't been acting like Levy at all." Erza was measured in her reasoning. Emotionless. "Wendy confirmed to us that her smell had changed. Of course when we brought this to her she still refused to talk about it. Now the imposter has vanished. More than likely because we've caught on."

In a way that only a Fairy Tail mage would think rational, they'd made a wild leap from Levy being irritable and a bit confrontational to her being kidnapped and replaced with some magical lookalike for some unknown reason no one could seem to explain. Gajeel genuinely couldn't believe the crap he was hearing.

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe Levy was dealing with some shit she didn't want to talk about?" He asked, a quiet rage brewing in the pit of his stomach.

"What about her smell? Wendy says…"

Gajeel interrupted Jet with a stern look and a threatening finger.

"Wendy is just a kid! I can tell you that smelling different could be anything from her changing her brand of detergent to using a different shampoo." Gajeel glared at Jet. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" He meant a lot to Levy. Probably the only reason that right now he hadn't received an iron pole to the face.

"Why'd she disappear then? Why couldn't she talk to us?"

Gajeel felt a special kind of hatred for the Bunny Girl. The woman with more secrets and pent up emotional issues than he had piercings. Those questions were rich coming from her. If it weren't for the fact that she seemed genuinely hurt by Levy's voluntary isolation Gajeel wouldn't have even answered her.

"Maybe because she was upset by something and instead of supporting her, her friends started talking behind her back and treating her differently. Nothing wrong with the Shrimp. It's all of you that are the problem,"

Gajeel didn't stay to collect another job, instead he turned on his heel and headed home. A crying Lucy, a deeply embarrassed Erza and a thoroughly dumbfounded Jet and Droy to name but a few left utterly silent at the realisation that Gajeel was right and they'd behaved like a bunch of grade A jackasses. That they'd been pulled up by him of all people really struck a cord with most. How bad does it have to be for Gajeel of all people to start reading you the riot act. Fuck Dragons, fuck the link magic and fuck the guild. Gajeel was going home to Levy and they were going to sort something out. Cause this just wasn't working.

Of course, if she'd just explained all of this to them it might have saved a hell of a lot of stress. Then again, did she not do precisely what he would have done in her position? Gajeel knew the answer to that as much as he knew that he was a complete moron. Songs and lengthy poems would be composed about the totality of his idiocy.

The pain he felt was like a physical punch to the gut when he realised he could hear her crying from outside his house. Lily was in the kitchen putting some mugs of what Gajeel could smell was hot chocolate on a tray. The Exceed went to speak but Gajeel held up a hand.

"I straightened out those idiots back at the guild."

"Oh thank the gods! Those people are lunatics," Lily let out a breath and sagged so much in relief he almost fell over. "Here, take this up to her. She's missed you," He passed the tray to Gajeel who just grunted. The Dragon Slayer would have accepted death before admitting it himself, but he'd missed her too. Not just the link. He'd missed her laugh. Her smile. Her threats of bodily harm. Her fondness for kissing him when he was too distracted to notice.

He couldn't tell if it was relief or disappointment he felt when he realised she was in the guest room and his bed wouldn't smell like her. It was such an odd and selfish thought to have. In a moment that he could only purely attribute to the emotional intuition that had leaked from her to him, he knocked on the bedroom door instead of trying to barge in. A few weeks back he wouldn't have even though about it, this being his house and all.

"You can come in, Gajeel," Her voice sounded tired.

"Hey, Shrimp," He set the tray on the dresser by the door and took a mug, offering her the hot chocolate. "Lily made you this,"

"Thank you," She paused staring down at the liquid, her eyes pooling again with tears. "I didn't think you'd be back for a while yet. I hope you don't mind me staying here. I just couldn't think with all that racket."

Gajeel laughed.

"Yah get used to it, I swear," He sighed. "So, I sorta sorted stuff out back at the guild. Didn't necessarily tell them anything. Guess I just made them feel stupid. They were being stupid, though,"

Levy smiled at him brightly. "I heard!" She sweetly replied.

"Ahhhh...I see you're putting the hearing to good use. Secret Dragon Slayer art; the eavesdrop. Gihee," He chuckled.

"How do you stand it?" She asked him, suddenly serious.

"Stand what, Short stuff?" The nickname dragged a reluctant half smile out of the woman.

"All the things they say about you when they think you can't hear them," She whispered.

Gajeel scratched the back of his head nervously and sat at the end of the bed. About as close as he was willing to risk getting.

"Well, in my case I do deserve it, you know. They're right to hate me," The Dragon Slayer admitted. Levy threw a pillow at him and snarled. Quite literally snarled. Complete with elongated teeth and everything.

"No, they aren't. The last two weeks I've learned what it's like being Gajeel Redfox and not only was it scary and lonely and painful… it was clear that Fairy Tail is letting you down," She set the cup aside, untouched and scooted closer to him. "Just like they let me down," Gajeel opened his mouth but she stopped him with a finger to her lips. "Before I knew you no one ever told me it was possible to be physically capable. I'd accepted that I was just this tiny word mage. When people thought I was weak I told myself that that was because I was weak. I'd made peace with that. The first time I think I've ever thrown a solid punch was Jet's black eye," She rested one hand on his shoulder and half pulled, twisted him to look directly at her. "When I said I was small and too weak for the trials you were the only person there that didn't look at me with pity, or lie and tell me I wasn't. You admitted it and told me to get stronger. You were the only person who even genuinely thought that was possible. My friends should have been the ones telling me I'd no limits, but it was just... you."

The kiss this time was an eternity coming. Gajeel watched her inch her way closer to him. Her lips dry and chapped raw from all the crying she'd done. Her gaze was warm, though, and her hands on his neck were soft. It was gentle. Her breath ghosting over his chin before she pressed herself up to him in silence. Even his heartbeat stalling, not willing to break the quiet. She held him there for a moment and Gajeel let his hands steady her by the waist as even though he was sitting on the bed and she had risen on her knees, she'd still to stretch a little to meet him.

When she pulled away there was this tiny glimmer of hope where there'd been nothing before. Gajeel felt as close to normal as he had in months. He let out a huff of air.

"What you gonna do about the guild?" He asked her.

"I'm gonna forgive them, maybe try and come up with some way of an explanation for all this," She laughed and Gajeel grinned. He really missed those. "I still can't believe they thought I was some sort of Levy-replica. That's just insane!" She grew thoughtful. "Though, has that happened before?"

Gajeel shrugged. It was Fairy Tail, so probably.

Levy fell backwards on the bed. Arms stretched out over her head. She let out a huff of air before propping herself up on her elbows.

"You know, I feel a lot more like my usual self," She admitted with curious look he couldn't decipher. "I don't feel like I'm one hair away from multiple homicide anymore." As though she were trying to figure something out. "Is it because you're here?" The look on Gajeel's face told her everything. "When you used the word 'consummated' before...did you mean as in consummated or something else?"

Gajeel couldn't help the predatory grin that pulled at his face in reply. Levy threw herself face first into the pillows to hide the blush assaulting her normally fair complexion. She kicked her legs against the bed trying to release some of the frustration she was feeling but only serving to accidentally catch Gajeel in the ribs with a stray foot.

"Holy shit, Shrimp. What are your legs made out of?" Gajeel coughed. That had genuinely hurt. He was an Iron Dragon Slayer and that had actually fucking pained him. To say he was impressed would have been an understatement.

"Sorry," She replied sheepishly. "I took your advice and got Lily to help me on his days off. He says it's easier to punch up than down and I've got good legs," She laughed.

Gajeel turned his head away and mumbled under his breath "Ain't that a fact..." before attempting a cough to cover it up. Levy stretched out her leg and with a bare foot under his chin she tilted his head back in her direction.

"I didn't need super hearing to hear that, you know," She gave him a devilish look. "I want to try this," She said resolutely.

"Try what?" The Dragon Slayer gave her a perplexed look to which she only grinned wider. Before moving her fingers back and forth between them, indicating she was talking about them as a singular item. Gajeel now noticed that Levy had left her foot hovering just at chest level.

"Being stuck here thinking for so long I had to try and factor in what this whole 'mate' thing would mean for me," Gajeel's breath literally hitched in his chest. This wasn't happening. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not ready for that, I can barely process the idea and I'm not saying that two months down the road we aren't going to at each others' throats and ready to call it all off...but avoiding each other isn't working. Sex is off the table for the moment but I'm not a sex on the first date kinda girl anyway. We could still..oooofff"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as Gajeel grabbed a hold of the foot under his face and used it to pull her to him. One hand quickly snaking it's way under the small of her back and pulling her to her knees, the other hand bringing her head and lips to his. She moaned into the kiss and to Gajeel's shock she was the one to include the movement of tongues. Her hands tangled in his hair, tugging slightly. Before he even realised they were moving, he was sprawled out across the bottom of the bed, her body pressed into his. They kissed as though the other were going to vanish at any moment. Two lengthy months of denial and frustration and longing and here they were a tangle of breathless limbs at the bottom of the bed. Gajeel let his hand wander up under her shirt and felt a responding rumble stir in his chest when she arched into him, her head falling back in a look he could only describe as rapture.

"Am I setting the table for three, or will you be going out again, Gajeel?"

Levy squealed in surprise accidentally headbutting Gajeel in the face; the Dragon Slayer rolling himself to the side away from her so fast he collided with the iron bedpost at the foot of the bed. Lily stood in the door a look more bemused than anything else.

"I'm stayin'. Damn cat, I'm stayin'."