The response I received was utterly heart-warming. From the bottom of my heart, I thank these wonderful people who spent some of their time to give me courage. It was all I needed, all I need and all I will need until the end of this and every other story I write. And because I was moved, I created this. Albeit I don't promise fast updates, I'll try for sure to continue it and make it work out in the best way possible. Once again, thank you so very much for your words, every single one of you. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

Disclaimer; I do not own Fairy a Tail or any of the characters.

XXXX

A vase flew right past her head and slammed against the wall, crumbling to pieces. She didn't flinch, she tried not to. Nobody dared to show fear in front of master, or else he would make sure they stopped being afraid...forever. But she was afraid for her life. When master got angry, even the most fearless like her experienced dreadful shivers.

"What the hell is taking so long?!", the man hissed and slammed his palms on top of his mahogany desk. His eyes were staring right into hers, black and vicious, full of anger and rage. She wanted to run away crying and hide, yet she kept a stoic face. Like she always did.

"They noticed us sir," she said calmly and with confidence she didn't feel, "And their defenses doubled up. We thought they would lower them after a few weeks but it seems they are far more careful that we thought."

Master pushed his fingers through his hair and huffed angrily, pacing on up and down on the room before he was standing in front of her. She was slightly taller than him but that didn't make her fear him less. On the contrary actually; he was a lot more intimidating like this.

"Kill them all," he murmured darkly, "All the useless pieces of shit who got us noticed." His eyes narrowed and he hissed again, "Kill them."

"But sir!", she tried to reason him, "If we do that, we'll have to postpone our plans further!"

"I don't care!", he snapped, punching the wall right next to her head and she heard the cement crack, "Since I've already waited for so long..." He laughed evilly and started walking back to his desk. "I can wait a little longer."

She stared at his retreating back for a few seconds, breathing slowly in and out in order to get her pounding heart into place, before she made a small, respectful bow. "As you wish sir."

"Make sure you find more capable people next time, or else I'll kill you too," he added just as ominously, then waved her off. "Now piss off."

She flinched, all the hairs in her body rising to attention. "Yes sir."

"Our plans will be realized," he promised right before she turned on her heel to leave. He wasn't looking at her; he was staring outside the window, his eyes lost in the horizon. "We will change the world," he added with a smile, "We will make it a better place. I promise."

She swallowed and bowed again. Yes, that was the plan; to change the world; to make it a better place; to get rid of all these corrupted people who thought they controlled everything, just because of their beliefs and ideas about peace. "Of course, sir," she muttered before she exited his office and headed towards the computers room, loading her guns on the way.

For the sake of their freedom, she had a couple of people to kill.

XXXX

"This is sick."

"I know right?"

Wide brown eyes stared at the screen of Erza's computer in shock. "Nothing is safe in this world, is it?"

Erza chuckled and took a long sip from her drink. Coca cola; the girl was obsessed with it. "Nah, it's only easy when you have the right program," she corrected.

Jellal glanced at her from the corner of his eyes in suspicion, half-seriously, half-jokingly. Well, it was a real shock to see all the contents of his personal computer arrayed on Erza's laptop screen. A great shock and a bigger apprehension. Although Jellal didn't have any utterly confidential documents, documents he wasn't supposed to have in there, that didn't mean he wasn't afraid of Erza's hacking abilities.

Maybe he shouldn't ignore that wariness nudging the back of his head or let his guard down like he had been doing for a while now. Maybe Erza was behind the attacks on the main computers' defences.

"I'm scared shitless right now," he sighed and leaned back on the couch, trying to reject the previous thought but he had hard time doing it, "You can so easily barge in my privacy and know about what I'm up to."

The red-haired woman smiled sweetly at him and inched closer, settling right next to him and with her hand on his chest. Ah, God; that was one of the greatest things in his life so far. Jellal finally managed to forget all about his insecurities and pull her in his arms, planting a tender kiss on her temple.

"You have nothing to worry about, unless you're cheating of course."

Jellal froze and pulled away from her lily-scented hair, their eyes locking almost immediately. Erza was smirking devilishly in a way that made him feel a little uneasy. Not that he was going to cheat or anything - who on their right minds would want something else than the perfection impersonated - however, he did feel a little vulnerable and violated. "I hope you won't start acting all stalk-ish and creepy now..."

"Hey, don't insult me like this," she deadpanned and a scowl formed on her angelic face, "What kind of person do you think I am?"

The blunet immediately got defensive. "That's not what I meant-"

"Either way," Erza interrupted him with a sigh, "Just to clear things up, I only seriously hack people's privacy when it is a life or death situation. I don't read anything when I break the codes, I only congratulate myself for my good work."

Jellal felt more than shit when he saw a hurt expression crease her forehead. Okay, he wasn't supposed to let his guard down but on the other hand, he wasn't supposed to hurt his girl either. Not cool. Because Erza was a sweet and rather sensitive girl with a heart made out of gold. At least that was what he had found out the past week, when they started getting things together. As in together-together. After their first kiss, Jellal lost count of the moments and hours they had spent getting to know each other's lips in the most analytical ways possible.

He soon found out that Erza's good looks went hand-in-hand with smart brains. Honestly, the girl was almost frighteningly intelligent. Jellal never had an issue with girls being smarter or equally smart like him, however Erza was light years brighter. She had graduated from high school when she was sixteen and got herself a scholarship in one of the best universities, where she pursued her passion for Biology. Jellal had frozen on the spot when he had heard all that and kept staring at her in awe until she cooed and kissed him stupid. And that was only one of the few things she was a master at; she knew the guitar better than Jimi Hendrix himself, she could cook like a chef, she could break every firewall created by experts... She was so different than what he was used to. Yet Jellal wouldn't have her any other way; nah, she was far too perfect to be changed in any way. She was his girl after all. His girl. Only his. Nobody else's. He would tear to pieces whoever tried to approach her in a way other than friendly. And yes, he was fucking possessive. Of course he was possessive. He was in love with her for so long and he wouldn't allow anybody, anybody, to steal her away from him.

What was I talking about? Right.

"I'm sorry," he muttered apologetically. With his thumb, he tried to smooth the taut muscles on her forehead, "It's not that I don't trust you, I just felt a little strange for a moment and-"

"Yeah, it's okay," she cut him off - again - and a small smile tilted the edges of her mouth upwards, "But now you know how to break codes too, so I should be feeling the same way."

"You should but you don't because we both know you're way better than I am." Erza laughed and Jellal felt his heart miss a few beats in his chest. Ah, he was a fool in love and he couldn't stop it. "Don't laugh young lady," he hissed with no heat and mercilessly tickled her sides, "I wasn't born a genius like you."

Well, not the same type of genius, he added in his head, I'm more of the fast-learner type of genius.

The redhead screamed from the intense touches and swatted his hands away, pining both of them on the pillows as she straddled him. "Tickling me will either lead to kissing or an extreme act of violence," she muttered with narrow eyes, "Which one is it?"

Albeit a little intimidated - or rather, a lot intimidated - Jellal grinned at her playfully. On one hand, Erza was sweet and adorable and cute without being too girly but on the other hand, she had this aura of superiority, like a savage fairy-queen who could make anyone bow to her wishes. Jellal was certainly one to willingly become freaking putty for her sake.

"I was actually aiming for the kissing part," the blue-haired man said in a snarky tone, "But if you wanna fight, I'm down for it too. Fights always lead to sexy make-out sessions, right?"

Her lips stretched into a grin. "Not always," she drawled, biting her lower lip, "Sometimes they lead to broken arms and legs."

Jellal rubbed his nose against hers tenderly. "That's why I'd be happier if you kissed me."

"Hmm," the other hummed, her lips ghosting over his oh-so-very temptingly, "Desperate, aren't we?

His eyes had already rolled close. Things had started to warm up inside of him too, especially his pelvic area and it didn't help that Erza's soft behind were so close to his crotch. Although he wasn't the let's-rush-to-sex type of guy, the sinful redhead wasn't making things easier for him when she teased him like that. Just like a little succubus, she was having her way with him and he loved it. Hot damn, that had to be illegal. If sexiness was a crime, Erza would be sentenced for life without parole. But that was fine because Jellal would use every means possible to get her out and make her his again.

That's right, he lost complete control over his thoughts. Sue him.

"I am," he swallowed, his breath growing heavier and deeper by every ticking moment, "I am pretty desperate, not gonna lie."

"I like that." Her voice was a mere whisper, "I really like that."

Jellal tried to open his eyelids but he instantly got burnt by the overwhelming intensity in Erza's brown eyes. His face caught on fire, but not because of embarrassment. The thin threads of his patience were snapping apart one after the other.

"Erza, don't tease me so much," he muttered a little darkly. She smirked.

"Or else?"

He didn't answer; he didn't have the patience to answer her taunts anymore. Jellal simply freed his arms from her vice-grip and flipped them over, so that he was on top while he kissed her in frenzy. Erza had the nerve to chuckle in the beginning but she soon melted into the passionate kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

"Mmn," she moaned thickly and her legs were suddenly around Jellal's waist.

The blunet almost lost it, so he found it fitting to break the kiss, breathe and try to restore and restart his brain again. Erza complained and tried to get his face back on hers but he resisted. "H-Hold on babes," he husked, "I gotta breathe."

"Che," she snorted and pouted, the tip of her tongue drawing meaningless figures on his lower lip, "Breathing is for the weak."

Jellal smiled and suckled her tongue in his mouth. "I'm not as strong as you are."

"Shut up and kiss me," she chuckled and they were kissing again.

They got rather into it. Especially Erza who hastily broke away from their kiss and began assaulting Jellal's neck. That wild little vixen... She was rather harsh, her teeth digging into the pliant skin but Jellal didn't mind the pain. He had been through worse pain than that. After all, his girl wanted to mark him; who was he to say no? Besides, he was way too busy exploring every inch of her body with his hands; her hair, her shoulders, her breasts, her flat belly, her jean-clad thighs... He got a little ahead of himself and lifted her tee, trying to touch her stomach under the fabric but...

"Hey!", Erza jumped and desperately squirmed under him, "Don't do that!"

Jellal flinched in astonishment and sat back on his haunches, watching in utter confusion as she tried to get as far away from him as the couch allowed.

Wait what?

"U-Uh-"

"Never do that again, ya hear me? Never," she hissed breathlessly and all alarms went off in Jellal's head. There was fear in her eyes. Actual fear. He didn't know how to react to that, but he kept it together on the outside. On the inside however, he was freaking out. W-What? She's afraid of me? What the hell?! I was only going to touch her!

Then, like some sort of God smack, realization hit him hard. Holy shit, he cussed in his head as Erza clenched the front of her shirt while taking deep breaths, She's having a panic attack.

"I-I'm so sorry," he fumbled with words, not knowing what else to do, "I didn't mean to upset you. I didn't know."

Erza glanced around in apprehension and as much as Jellal wanted to scoot over to hug her, she didn't seem in a position to appreciate an action like that, so he stayed put, observing her face instead. She had to calm down first and stop looking like a scared, caged animal. Jellal only relaxed slightly when he saw her shoulders shrug, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Sorry," Erza facepalmed, "I just get a little anxious when someone touches me under my shirt."

"It's perfectly understandable," Jellal rushed to assure her, even though he understood nothing, other than the fact that he had done something very wrong, "I'm not going to do it again."

Her brown eyes held his for a while before a small, apologetic smile lightened up her face. "Thanks," she muttered and averted her gaze, "Aren't you gonna ask why?"

Of course he wanted to ask why. Of course he wanted to know why with just a mere touch under the shirt, she was having a nervous breakdown. That wasn't normal; that wasn't just another quirk of her character. It went deeper, much deeper than that; it was a scar on her pure soul... But as much as he was dying to know, Jellal shook his head and forced a smile on his face. He wouldn't pry. He wasn't that type of guy. Besides, he could sense that this was a very, very delicate subject for the redhead, he wasn't stupid. He could clearly see the terror and the pain in her eyes, the same pain and terror he had grown so familiar with after all these years. See, he had a load of sensitive subjects haunting him too, subjects that he couldn't talk about and never would.

We all have something that haunts us right?

"You just don't like it," he said pleasantly, "It's totally fine."

Erza gave him a long, blank look but the blunet could see himself reflected in the earthy depths like a mirror. It hurt him like a knife to his side to know that a girl like her had been through something traumatic in the past, something that made her yank herself away from him in such way. If he knew who was that bastard responsible for it, he would kill them violently.

"Yeah... Yeah, I just don't like it," she murmured, mostly to herself before she switched back to her old, cheerful self. Just like that. As if nothing had happened. "Let's go grab something to eat, shall we? I'm famished."

Jellal watched closely as Erza jumped off the couch and hopped around his apartment to get her shoes. He didn't believe that front one bit but it seemed like Erza wanted to move past that unfortunate incident and change the subject. That was fine; if she didn't want to talk, that was her deal and he respected it. No pressure. They weren't an old married couple who had no secrets, they had only been together one week. Hopefully, she would open up to him one day, so uncomfortable revelations could wait for the time being. Plus, he wanted to change the subject too because ever since he saw the terror written all over her face, not only he got sick to his stomach but he had also remembered a couple of stuff he shouldn't have remembered.

Unpleasant chills ran up and down his spine and he shuddered before getting to his feet, silently putting his shoes on.

The past is a scary thing.

"Is Chinese okay?", he smiled while opening the door for her. Erza flashed a grin of her own and interlaced their fingers.

"Yup!"

Even though things hadn't changed much between them yet, other than the fact that they grew slightly more attached to each other, Jellal was happy with what they had so far. Friendship, companionship and a slowly building romance. What else could he ask and not sound greedy? But either way, he was happy. Happy enough to ignore the scary monsters lurking in the darkness of their pasts and stuff all the fears and anxiety at the back of his head. Clearly, Erza was doing the same thing.

But for how long would they be able to do that? Life is full of surprises after all, isn't it?

XXXX

To be continued.