The local authorities were already rounding up people when Levy arrived at the guild that morning. Two coffees in her hands. One of which had an iron nut rattling in the bottom of it, both a thank you and somewhat of an apology for her lack of gratitude before. The woman was now thoroughly convinced that Gajeel's attitude and abrasive personality were almost entirely still prevalent due to a lack of effort on his guildmates behalf. He was mean... and people avoided him because of it.

Levy consciously made the decision to change that. Nearly a year in and it was time to start to get to know the ornery Dragon Slayer. But arriving at the guild she found that Gajeel wasn't there.

Neither was Natsu, or Laxus, Wendy or Elfman. Mira and Lisanna to top it off were gone, too. They'd all been reprimanded by the city guards. Makarov had almost flattened the men when they'd arrived with magic cancelling cuffs to take them. A precautionary measure only, they'd assured him, he very almost sent them running but for the quiet word he'd had with their commander. The all but riotous old man, starkly pale, suddenly now urging them to comply.

Natsu and Gajeel put up the most resistance to being chained. One of the few times the pair agreed on anything. Wendy was completely blank; quiet and stunned. Carla not so much. The Exceed flitting in the commanders face demanding answers; that they remove Wendy's chains. The normally so reserved Exceed practically frantic.

Wendy looked about ready to cry but chose not to resist.

The others though, weren't so obliging.

"Don't fuckin' touch me!" Gajeel snarled, snapping his jaws at them and pulling away from the hand that landed on his shoulder. Lily taking his other arm warningly. These weren't enemy mages, or members of the magic council. These were city guards. Just regular people doing their jobs. After a moment of thought Gajeel finally held out his hands with a dark glare, snarling a series of curses when they then put cuffs on Lily, who of course immediately shrunk to his smaller size without magic, the cuffs slipping off comically.

The guards at a loss on how to restrain the Exceed tied him up with rope. Lily wasn't concerned. They weren't strong enough to actually hold him, but they did succeed in comforting the guards.

"We won't resist," Lily said calmly reassured them, shooting a sobering look Gajeel's way; he was quite possibly the only one Gajeel would actually listen to.

Natsu on the other hand seemed unwilling to listen to anyone. The guards had been left with two ruined, melted beyond recognition set of manacles before they asked Makarov to directly intervene. Natsu's fire destroying their restraints before they could even be fastened to block his magic.

"Boy! Cut it out before I knock you out!" Makarov said seriously and Natsu reluctantly allowed himself to be restrained. His fire vanishing. The world suddenly a cold, empty place encroaching on him without that fire in his veins. But it wasn't completely gone. At his core he could feel it bubbling and boiling like lava. He reminded himself that this was temporary. Makarov wouldn't be allowing it otherwise.

Carraiges took them to the guardhouse. An old building with yellowing wallpaper splotched with faded unidentifiable shapes and patterns and a smell of faint mildew. They were led in, single file to find that the guard hadn't just targeted their specific guild. The building was overflowing with mages. Some were simply passing through town. Others were unaffiliated with any official guild, and just living in Magnolia with alternative professions.

"What in heavens is going on?" Carla muttered out loud. Clutched like a comforter in Wendy's overly tight grip.

Mira was looking around with a scrutinising eye.

"I don't know... but everyone here has some kind of animal or transformation magic," She noticed. "She's a beast master mage," She pointed at a short haired woman in a soil stained sweater; their local landscaper. The woman had turned her skill with moles into a regular profession. Mira gestured to another. "Shape-shifting magic. He can pretty much take any form. He's from Sabertooth, visiting his sick brother. Nice guy, " Mira had taken and shared a few transformation spells with him. He was naturally gifted. She looked at the others. "Dragon Slayers, three takeover mages, and an Exceed with a beast battle form," She said without stuttering.

"Excellent reasoning skills, Ms Strauss," A feminine voice rasped from the nearest hall doorway. A small sickly looking woman with a tight bun and sharp dark eyes was scrutinising them while Mira was evaluating the situation. "You're exactly right," The uniformed woman said before stepping passed them without an introduction, ignoring the glares and angry muttering from the crowd. After wandering into the center of the main room she pulled out a chair and stood on it so everyone could see and hear her.

"I understand you're confused and angry..."She drew a breath and pulled a picture from a file clutched under her arm. A photograph that silenced everyone there. "... but last night five people were murdered. Not simply killed...they were torn apart," She pulled out another photo and waved it in the air before letting it drop. A quick glance at the image was all it took for those close enough to see it, to start retching The mages withdrawing from the sight of the pulverised corpse, moving back even as others came forward to look. Their curiosity getting the better of them.

"That was Janette Hennessy," She growled out, voice wavering. Another picture was pulled and let drop in similar fashion. "This was her husband, Malcolm Hennessy," And another. "Local couple Aga and Michaela..." One more photo was pulled then. "... And we're fairly sure this might be Robert Carmichael..."

"Whatdya mean fairly sure?" Gajeel couldn't hold his tongue anymore. He'd seen some dark things in his time, but nothing like this. Animal's killed and ate, but this wasn't that. Even from photos he could see rage in the killings.

"Well, Mr Redfox, when we've pulled the rest of him out of the trees and pieced his face back together, we'll know for sure," She said snarkily, her supervisor, the captain of the city guard put his head in his hands at her attitude. Gajeel however went utterly silent.

"And you think one of us did this? Could be capable of this?" Lisanna spoke out disbelievingly in the dead silence that followed.

"You should know more than anyone else how wrong spells can go..." The officers gaze switched briefly to Elfman. "How dangerous animal based magic can be. What we're presently doing is eliminating suspects. There were handprints left behind from whatever, whoever did this, so there's a few of you we can clear straight away. The more cooperation we get, the faster this gets done and the sooner we find the responsible party," Her words held weight behind them. Whoever had done that wasn't evil, they weren't bad people. They were ill. Violently, nauseatingly sick.

"You heard the woman, line up!" Elfman yelled and were once there was arguing there was only complacent silence as people reformed in orderly lines.

The officer picked her way back from her makeshift podium toward them and unlocked Elfman'and Wendy's cuffs. Much to Míra and Carla's relief.

"Too big," She announced to Elfman before looking at Wendy with a smile. "Faaar too small!" She snickered at Wendy's disagreeable pout.

Behind her lines of officers were going around checking people's left hands against a life size replica, a reproduction taken from the scene. The claws on it were twice as long as Gajeel's even, and he had the longest among the Dragon Slayers. But while the claws might vanish, they reasoned the general size of the palm and length of the fingers would probably remain either the same or very similar. Elfman had hands like spades and Wendy's were very small, even for a young girl.

Slowly they began to eliminate people. First by checking their hands, then by whereabouts the night before. For the most part people could account for their movements and had witnesses that could verify. Either a take out driver delivering their pizza or a friend or family member. In fact, out of everyone in the guard house, only Gajeel and two others couldn't accurately account for themselves. The two others simply didn't have anyone who could vouch for them. Gajeel however, simply refused to disclose his location. To the wide eyed horror of Lily who knew he'd been out but had expected him to fire back with a location and time, rather than "I went for a fucking walk!". Which happened to be exactly what Gajeel's told them. Alone. At night. No proof.

"The whole point about goin' on a quiet walk is to get away from people," He shot back.

"That's not good enough to let you leave here!" The officer came back at him, her eyes in the dim lighting looked at him with almost predatory focus.

"Sounds like you're lookin' for a reason to let me go," Gajeel laughed at the put out look on her face. She was tired. They'd been interviewing and examining people all day and it showed in her exasperated frown.

"And you're looking for a reason to stay..." Gajeel glanced away and she leaned her elbows on the table, shifting forward. They'd been at this same back and forth for hours. "Listen, I know your past is complicated... fucking hell, your file is so thick I didn't even get further than half way, but I don't honestly think you did this, and the longer you waste my time the further away from the killer I get!" She looked at him pleadingly. " So, please, just tell me the truth!"

Gajeel looked very much like he wanted to say something but his voice seemed to vanish. His mouth opened and closed just as quick.

In the terse and awkward silence between them there was a knock on the door. A thin haired older man popped his head in.

"Móira...I mean lieutenant Saggart, a word?" She winced as he slipped, calling her by her first name before hastily correcting himself.

"I'll be back!" She said before leaving.

Gajeel checked quickly for recording equipment before letting his face drop into his hands with a quiet groan. Calloused fingers tugged painfully at his scalp in the dim hope the pain could refocus him and prevent him from anymore stupidity.

He... was an absolute idiot.

When the door opened again, Saggart looked even more unhappy than when she'd left. A difficult thing to accomplish.

Walking around the table she reached forward with a key and unlocked Gajeel's cuffs with a hard, unimpressed line where her mouth was.

"You're free to go," She bit out, not giving him a chance to speak, turning away as Gajeel stiffly followed, intentionally bumping her as he passed her at the door. When he'd passed her, Saggart turned to her waiting colleague with a pain filled "owww!" clutching her shoulder. "What a fucking asshole!" She growled.

"Pity being an asshole isn't illegal," He barked a laugh in reply.

"Remains to be seen. The girl's story is crap. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's our killer, but he's still no alibi... and I really don't like liars," Saggart rumbled.

Out in the waiting area Levy found herself wringing her hands, her heart pounding, mouth so dry the air burned her throat with every breath.

She'd joked about not recognising herself but this was too much. The woman with the bun and the shark eyes glared at her from behind a confused looking Gajeel like she knew everything Levy had told them was completely false. But Levy was a Fairy Tail mage and she wouldn't show her panic.

It was a very good thing Saggart couldn't see Gajeel's face because seeing how startled he suddenly appeared as Levy linked arms with him to walk outside would have revealed just how thickly Levy had spread that lie; that he'd spent the evening with her. The script mage couldn't come to grips with why she'd lied for a man she truthfully, barely actually knew. He'd saved her life, but this hadn't saved anyone, only potentially landed them both in very hot water.

"What the fuck did you do!?" Gajeel's snarled at her once they were clear of the authorities, his booted feet were pointed ding the footpath so hard Levy thought the stone might crack.

When they were far enough away he stopped sharply, pulling her by her elbow into darkness and out of sight.

"Gave you an alibi..." She replied bravely.

"That's literally the dumbest, stupidest fuckin' thing you coulda done!" He wiped at his face, shaking his head to banish the facts from his mind. Giving him an alibi only put her under scrutiny but it made a blatant liar out of her.

"They were going to arrest you!" Levy blurted out, unsure why they were both suddenly so angry.

"It ever cross your mind they might have the right guy?"

Levy stepped closer to him.

"I don't believe that for a second," She said with conviction. The entire town was now a buzz with news of the murders. Those poor people dead for no reason. But Levy knew enough about Gajeel to know that while he might have been capable of a lot of bad things, nothing remotely close to this, and there was generally a specific reason for them. These murders were opportunistic, and even at Gajeel's worst he'd only painted that Phantom Lord logo on her skin when he could have branded it. She knew he didn't commit these crimes.

"I kept you out of jail!" Her tone came out indignant. She'd expected gratitude.

"And? Newsflash you stupid little girl... maybe I didn't pin you high enough to that tree to sink in long term, but it ain't exactly my first time in a cell...probably won't be the last..." A slap rang out in the emptiness of the night. Gajeel's rebuke died on his lips. Tears welling in Levy's eyes; half of it was raw emotion...the other half actual pain. Slapping Gajeel's face had fucking hurt.

"Don't you dare patronise me!" She sucked in a breath to steady herself. "I'm not some little girl...you can't threaten and bully me."

It didn't look like she'd hurt him, overall, Gajeel was just shocked. Way more on his mind now than this morning when he'd woken up. He hadn't expected Levy to have such a very quick swing. All he could do was grunt his displeasure at her, rendered temporarily speechless by the slap.

"Maybe people wouldn't hate you so much if..." He came to his senses enough to draw himself up to his full height, interrupting her statement.

"If...what?" Gajeel growled low, now stepping toward her. He lifted his hand as if he meant to wrap it around her neck but he hesitated. Letting it hover like a silent threat. A look of utter, unflinching defiance in her eyes.

She prodded him sharply in the chest.

"If you weren't such an asshole to them," She ground out. It was ridiculous how much her hand was still stinging after slapping him but she focused on that sting to distract from the fact that he did have an effect on her. He could intimidate her and she knew it. She suspected he did, too.

Gajeel laughed. Not in humour. Not in joy. He sounded almost like he was giving up. It was a despairing thing to hear.

"Well, I am an asshole, shrimp!" He shrugged. "Take it or leave it!"

Levy growled at his ultimatum. Gajeel had to know how frustrating he was being.

"I...you've saved my life twice this year," Levy couldn't believe she was trying to reason with him on this. "I'm not giving up on you. Friends don't do that."

"Yeah, and I suppose you think that cancels out the time I almost killed yah!" He said, voice heavy with sarcasm. "So what, you're gonna save me, now?" He levelled an even glare at her. "How the hell is someone so fuckin' naive still breathin'?"

Gajeel didn't see the knee that hit him square in the balls and sent him to his knees.

"Constant underestimation," Levy whispered, finally turning to walk away, angry beyond words and so unaware of everything else but her temper she missed the smirk on Gajeel's face, present even through the haze of pain.

"Apparently..." He muttered to himself. "... pointy fucking knees, too..." Gajeel said, coughing.

He lay there in the dark while the cathedral bell rang in the distance. It was only nine o'clock at night but it may as well have been two in the morning for all the life out. People retreating indoors in the wake of the grizzly crimes.

He could understand that. You'd have to be a lunatic to be wandering the streets at a time like this. Or a Dragon Slayer.

Or a Script Mage with little to no sense of self preservation storming off, obvious to the world. He knew he'd have to get up and go after her. The thought hurt him more that the knee he'd just taken to the jewels. His body healed faster than his pride, after all.

He groaned sucking in a breath to calm himself down and his stomach turned. Gajeel bolted to his feet at the stench of death and blood on the wind. Old decay. Fear. Rotting flesh. He'd have gotten sick himself if they'd have bothered feeding him during his seven hour long interview. He looked in the direction Levy had travelled and started running.

At the end of the street, his ears picked up a scream in the distance. One he was all too familiar with. A surge of panic gripping him harder than he'd ever experienced before. Crushing his lungs in his chest like a vice.

Gajeel raced off into the night.