A/N: I don't want to say anything but I read some fanfiction over the weekend which motivated me (after such a long time) to update. I do apologize for the snail pace updates but I am trying. And thanks to all of you that are still sticking around to read. This is a long chapter, there's also some bonus Laxus x Erza at the end, for those who wanted more of them. I hope you enjoy

Erza's headspace was not occupied with the right thoughts and she was forcing herself to filter out everything that had nothing to do with the matter at hand. But as she got closer to the steps leading up to the Magnolia Police division, images of Jellal were hard pressed to leave her mind. She shoved open the swinging door with more force than was needed; her physical attempt to get herself in the right frame of mind to face her partner and Lucy. Laxus would know if something was wrong and he would have no problems taking over the interrogation if he realized soon enough that Erza was not capable. That was something she didn't want. She wanted to handle this because for some reason she felt obligated to handle the brunt of this case on her own.

She slapped her cheeks hard, gaining the unwanted suspicious, concerned and judgmental stares from some of the officers and civilians inside the foyer. The sting her palms caused was a lot more effective than her just willing herself to stop thinking about what had just happened. Quickly, she crossed the area and started up the stairs to Makarov's office, taking the steps by two's and then three's, almost tripping over her own feet.

Reaching his door, she knocked first then opened the door, giving the room a cursory glance for the girl in question before meeting Makarov's eyes. He opened his mouth and Erza knew what question was coming so she beat him to that with one of her own.

"Where is she?"

"Laxus has her outside the interrogation room. He's been waiting for you; her parents are there as well."

She nodded and left. She knew they weren't waiting for long, though it had taken her some time to get back to the office. Ten minutes, maybe. But probably that was long enough for her parents, especially Lucy, whom Erza was sure just wanted to go home and curl in her bed and forget everything that had happened.

Down the corridor, she saw them towards the end, facing the door to the interrogation room and Laxus looked up when he heard her nearing footsteps. He gave her a relieved look then stood to his feet, giving Erza view of the girl, a thick blanket was round her shoulders and she was huddled against her mother.

"I'm sorry for being a bit late, I'm Officer Scarlet but you can call me Erza," she extended her hand to Mrs. Heartfilia. The woman's eyes were watery, her cheeks streaked with dried tears that slightly marred her make-up. She shook Erza's hand and Erza took note of how soft and delicate it felt.

She turned to the father and swallowed. He was looking at her intently and curiously, his golden eyes focused and unwavering. Erza felt a small chill zip down her spine and hesitated only a second before offering him her hand also for a shake. His hand took hers in a firm squeeze and she almost winced, almost opened herself up to the memory of that same hand around her throat.

Forcing an amicable smile, she pulled her hand from his and it nearly looked as if his memory cleared as to who she was. But if he really did remember, he made no obvious sign of that.

However, there was no room for Erza to feel any resentment towards the man. Instead, she focused on Lucy.

"Lucy? We're ready for you now. We'll just ask you a few questions and then you can go home with your parents, alright?"

She looked up at Erza beneath her wet and clumpy lashes. Her eyes were swollen from crying and so red, Erza almost reached out to her. She nodded and sniffled, slowly disengaged herself from her mother and stood. Her feet were bare and dirty, all of her was dirty and Erza knew she must feel uncomfortable standing here.

"Come," she opened the door and allowed Lucy to walk ahead of her and spick any of the two folding chairs at the lone table inside the room. She glanced back at Laxus.

"I'll handle this," she muttered to Laxus, who understood completely.

"He can come in..."

Erza paused and turned to look at Lucy, "Are you sure you're okay with him inside?" She wasn't sure what had happened to Lucy but usually, the girls brought in for questioning were most times never comfortable to have a male officer sit in during the interrogation if certain things had happened to them. And Erza was almost positive that would be included.

"Yes." Her voice was so soft and barely coherent but there was still some bit of clarity for Erza to know Lucy was certain that Laxus would not be a distraction.

"Alright."

Laxus entered the room and closed the door. There was one another chair, folded and propped against the wall, and Laxus went for it then unfolded it beside Erza's chair. They both sat after Lucy and Erza took her small notebook from her pocket and Laxus handed her a pen, realizing she didn't have one.

"Okay, so first. What is your name?"

"Lucy Heartfilia."

Erza wrote that down, "How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"When were you taken?"

She paused and rubbed her arm then shook her head, "I...really don't remember but I felt I've been there forever..."

"What happened while you were there?"

Lucy took a deep breath and tossed the dishevelled curls from her face. By the up and down motion of her arms, Erza knew she was rubbing her thighs, comforting herself.

"I was chained up in this underground place, like a cell. There was blood and bones...and roaches. Rats. She was going to kill me."

Laxus and Erza exchanged discreet glances at that piece of information. Neither was expecting the offender to be a 'she'.

"Why did she want to kill you?"

Lucy shook her head, "I don't...I've never seen her. I don't know her, I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't do anything wrong." Her voice wavered and Erza knew she was maybe seconds away from breaking down again.

"How did you escape?"

"I ran. I just kept running. I think he helped me."

"He?"

Lucy nodded, "He works with her but...I don't think he's a bad person," she said and wiped at her runny nose.

"What does he look like?"

Lucy licked her lips, wiping the back of her hand on the blanket. "There's not much to remember, it was always dark but he had a scar-"

Erza's hand paused abruptly and she glanced up at Lucy, who was pointing to her left eye.

"-across his eye, a bit like yours," she said this to Laxus. "But it's red, the skin doesn't look as healed as yours. It almost looks like an odd tattoo."

There was a lapse of silence before Erza spoke up, her voice slightly hoarse. "What color was his hair?"

Laxus looked at Erza, frowning at the question but she paid no attention to him, all her focus was on Lucy.

"I...don't know. It looks black but..." she trailed off, remembering him in the candlelight and the blue hue, "blue...it kind of looked blue..."

Erza forced herself to remain composed and wrote that down.

"What about the woman?" Laxus asked a question of his own. "Do you remember what she looks like?"

Lucy shook her head and her chest heaved, "No." Everything about that woman was shrouded in darkness. All she remembered now was her long dark hair and vague details of her face. Maybe if the officers didn't question her, she would recall nothing of that woman being there.

"She has long dark hair..."

Laxus nodded and glanced over at Erza, who obviously seemed far off. "Erza?" he nudged her side and she jolted to attention, glancing between the two. "Do you have anything further to ask Lucy?"

"No...no. I'm sorry." To her chagrin, she had done exactly what she didn't want to do; make Laxus realize that something was probably off. "Thank you so much for cooperating with us."

It was then she realized that there had been no recounting of rape and it brought her such relief. He wasn't a rapist...but maybe he was an accomplice to a murderer.

They guided Lucy out the room and both her parents stood, her mother took her right back into her arms.

"Everything's alright but take her to the doctor and have her checked."

"We already know that," Mr. Heartfilia quipped.

Erza looked up at him, her expression slightly apologetic. "Right...thank you for your cooperation. If she remembers anything else, please let us know." Though Erza felt that Lucy recalled most of what had happened, and that was a bit surprising.

"We will," Mrs. Heartfilia promised and they left afterwards.

Erza ran her fingers through her hair, "I'm so happy that nothing worse happened to her. She's a sweet girl and she's their only child."

"Yeah...Erza-"

"I'm tired," she stretched her arms above her head, her back arched and then she relaxed. "I'll report to Makarov and then head back to the inn. You don't have to wait for me." She walked away without waiting for his response. She already knew what would he was going to say if she allowed it. And she wasn't going to give him the opportunity to pry so she would evade the issue as much as she needed to.


The day had felt extremely long, and it was solely the fault of her uncanny reunion. Somehow, she felt it didn't really happen, that maybe she had been hallucinating or had fallen asleep. But the memory was so vivid, almost tangible, that it was impossible for her to write it off as a moment of pure madness.

Sighing, she sunk further in the bathwater until her nose was hidden by the bubbles. And now, she had harder facts to digest; like the fact that Jellal was maybe a partner in crime, or even a murderer. What if he had done something to alter Lucy's memories? No, he wouldn't do something like that. What if he had murdered those girls before taking Lucy? No...NO. Jellal would never harm anyone. Lucy had said it herself that he had probably been the one to help her escape.

Erza pressed her hands to her face and rubbed at her eyes, almost digging too deep in the sockets. The confusion was setting in already, the battle between her objectivity and personal feelings. She lashed out by kicking her foot, water sloshed over onto the floor and rippled madly about her until it calmed. Anything but this...anything but this. She sank further, completely submerged in the water.

When she couldn't hold her breath for much longer, she came back up then drained the water and rinsed herself clean. That long, warm soak helped to calm her nerves but there was still a burden in her chest that she would try to ignore as the night went on.

Wrapped in a towel, she walked into the room and found Laxus lounging on his bed. They had reserved a two bed room suite at the Magnolia Inn. There weren't many furnishings, but what was necessary for convenience and cozy appeal; a small dressing table with a chair, night tables by each bed and two standing lamps. A flat screen television hung on the wall facing the foot of their beds and there a mini freezer was on Erza's side of the room.

"I told you not to come back until the next hour."

"Was tired," Laxus said with a one-shouldered shrug, "plus there was nothing to do outside."

"Make friends."

"I have enough."

"Have drinks."

"I plan to do that with you."

Erza gave him a dull look then returned to rummaging through her duffel bag for underwear and an oversized tee.

"Don't look at me that way. I'm doing it as a favour, you look like you could use a drink."

"I'd rather wine than the harsh stuff you drink."

Laxus smirked. He knew Erza had a more refined taste, which came as a bit of surprise since she was so rough around the edges and just like one of the guys. It was actually her taste in wine that made him remember she really was soft and feminine. She hardly had cute ways about her but that was fine, he didn't like her for what made her cute.

He got up and turned his back slightly, affording her some privacy while he got the gin ready. He tugged the cork from the bottle and poured the spirit in two small rum glasses, both half full.

As she came over, he offered her one and she took it. "Thanks," she muttered as she sat, cross-legged on her bed. She tossed back the gin and shuddered at the sharp bite of it. It burned all the way down her throat and she almost felt an urge to throw up – she reacted the same way with rum.

"God," she groaned and coughed a little. There was an almost instant dizzying effect and she held out her glass for more. Like all liquors, gin definitely had an acquired taste and she hated the harsher liquors but this was right up her alley of what she needed. It was better than smoking, which she had quit a long time ago.

Laxus grinned, "What were you saying, about not liking my type of drinks?"

"Just shut up and pour."

He chuckled and leaned forward to do so. Erza relaxed in her position again and downed her second glass in two, quick swallows. She shuddered again but not as violently as the first time. This was good; it really had that numbing effect she was looking for.

"More?" Laxus asked.

"Mmm." Instead of extending her glass, she left her bed and climbed unto Laxus' then held out her glass. "I like it."

"Obviously," he said with a smile while he poured. This time she took it almost to the brim then began gulping it down.

Laxus watched her silently, his own drink forgotten on the night table and when she extended her glass a fourth time, he lowered the bottle.

"What's wrong?"

Erza blinked at him, "What do you mean?"

He turned away for a second to set the bottle down on the night table then returned his attention to her.

"Today during the interrogation, you seemed distracted. When Lucy mentioned a scar, that seemed familiar to you. You almost looked pale."

Erza shrugged, "It did remind me of something," she offered noncommittally.

"Something or someone?"

She clicked her tongue and shook her head, "It has nothing to do with you Laxus." She preferred when he was stupid than perceptive. But he was a lot sharper than he was dumb, and Erza absolutely hated giving him credit for that.

"We're partners, Erza-"

"That doesn't mean anything," she cut in harshly.

For the first time, she thought she truly offended him by the way his eyes went from incredulous, to hurt, to almost unreadable.

Neither said nothing for awhile, there was just silence until Laxus shifted on the bed and cleared his throat. "I'm going to bed."

About to turn out the lamplight, Laxus paused when he felt Erza's hand on his arm, slowly pulling him around to face her. He could hardly tell what she was thinking but he knew she was holding something back from him. Her gaze dropped to his lips then back to his eyes. She was close but said nothing; neither did she do anything further.

He swallowed and leaned in; swaying closer as if tugged by a magnetic force and Erza closed the gap. She pulled his tongue into her mouth and ran her hand beneath his shirt, her fingers tracing over the contours of his abs then up over her chest, scratching at his nipple.

She was using sex to her advantage and Laxus knew that. Even if they indulged their sexual desires together, he knew when Erza was taking advantage of the hold she had over him. And he let her do it because he wanted her to.

She pushed him onto his back and straddled him while she pulled her shirt over her head then tossed it aside; exposing herself to him and his hands cupped her breasts, his thumbs rubbing her nipples. He sat up to suck each into his mouth and she rubbed against him, grinding against the bulge in his sweatpants. His heavy breathing mixed with her soft moans and whimpers, and he slipped one hand down into her panties, cupping her damp sex and he played with the protuberance of flesh, causing her to thrust her hips and moan louder.

She pulled his erection free from his pants then pushed her underwear down and off her legs. Without hesitation, she positioned herself above him then sank down. His groan echoed her moan and his hands smoothed down her back to squeeze her hips as she rocked back and forth.

Their motion started slowly until his rough thrusting picked up speed and Erza kept up with him; her arms wrapped tight around his neck as they moved together. There was desperation to her movements and to Laxus, her moans almost sounded like sobs...as if she really was crying. He guided her lips to his, his head arched as he kissed her to muffle her cries. His thumb swiped her cheek and came away dry. It was all in his head, then?

They came together, fast and hard and panting against each other. Her lips were lax against his and she could barely return his kiss as her spasms subsided. She looked down at him and touched her fingers to his scar then down his face.

She didn't say it but Laxus could tell by the soft look in her eyes, that she was apologizing for what she had said earlier. But it was easy for him to forgive Erza, even if she didn't show any bit of remorse for what had been said.

She slid off him and got up to get her shirt from the floor and her underwear. Laxus said nothing, he knew he wasn't supposed to. So when she settled into bed, and the rustling of her sheets stopped, he turned out the light and went to bed.

O.o.O.o