A/N: Sorry, forgot to post this with the last chapter, so it's even shorter than all of the rest!

DISCLAIMER: Same old... Hiro Mashima's characters.

Gajeel had made a grave error. In a misguided attempt to avoid the unavoidable, he fled the guild, putting as much distance as possible between him and Levy. His worries over her physical welfare overcame the need to root out the strange behavior she had suddenly acquired. An oddly behaving Levy was better than a dead one, at least that was his logic at the time. His rather close brush with Pantherlily was the final push he needed to send him catapulting out of Magnolia. However, by leaving her side the Hunger only grew worse by sinking its fangs and claws into him. He struggled gloriously but as time moved forward, the struggles became weaker and weaker until finally, all that was left was a hunched figure with only one goal on his mind; find his mate. He would have her even if it meant breaking her legs to keep her from ever leaving him. The thought produced a perverse smile every time it came to him and in fact, it was what kept him scouring the mountains for days. Her scent was strongest along the footpaths leading away from the guild. Gajeel had only noticed it as he returned to the outskirts of Magnolia, calculating the fastest way to the petite woman. In a moment of bestial contemplation a subtle whiff of her scent danced its way under his nose.

The scent was altered in some way, but it was definitely her. With hunched shoulders and a spark that made his eyes glow blood red, he set out to run down his prey. This was his mission, to make her his no matter what cost and no matter who stood in his way, or in this case… what stood in his way.

The damn mountains were nothing but a giant labyrinth, one designed specifically to boggle the senses and turn everything around on itself. After spending an entire day in a near crazed state, Gajeel was about to rip out his hair in frustration, that is until a different smell came to him. It wafted in on a small breeze and it immediately made his throat go dry. It wasn't her… It couldn't be…

He vaulted over an outcrop of stones before pivoting around a near invisible corner. He hurled himself headlong down one crumbling path after another. The smell was getting stronger, thicker. No, it wasn't her. Closer, closer, harder, faster, the urgency barreled him forward without a clue as in to where he was going. The haze of that the Hunger had set upon him was dissipating as his mind felt clearer than it had in days. It subsided only long enough for him to feel that terrible fear looming over him, dumping out the contents of its martini over his head. It wasn't her!

With a final leap, he cleared a boulder, landing on a barely visible pathway and he froze. No more than twenty feet ahead, he saw two crumbled bodies, fallen along the side of the path. He recognized the clothes and smell. Slowly he approached, scanning frantically the landscape for any indication that she was with them. It couldn't have taken more than a few seconds to reach them, but to him it felt like an endless night. Finally, he stood over one which he knew to be Jet. Very slowly and with little decorum, he used the toe of his boot to nudge the unconscious mage in the shoulder. He didn't move.

"Oi," said Gajeel loudly. He wanted answers and he wasn't one much with patience in these situations. He nudged him again. "Oi, Jet." Jet winced, his eyes squinting against the sunlight.

"G-Gajeel," he groaned as he attempted to move his body. "W-where am I?" It all came flooding back to him. "Levy!" He twisted around to try to find her, but immediately regretted such a fast movement.

"Where is she?" Jet let his upper body fall limply back to the ground as he tried to muster the energy to respond. He had been bleeding all the way up to this point and they still had not managed to reach the edge of the mountain range. He had eventually collapsed from sheer exhaustion. "Oi, Jet!" Gajeel growled more persistently. The man was going to fall back into the void.

"In the cave… up the mountain…" he winced. Even the difficult task of speaking was draining him. "She… she's not Levy, I mean she is but…" his eyes fell sideways trying to get a better look at his injured teammate. He was still breathing. With a sigh of relief, he turned back to Gajeel. "Something has possessed her. She turned on us…" Gajeel turned his back, clearly intent on leaving them there.

"Wait!" Jet reached up towards him. "Please, you've gotta help us. We can't go any further." Gajeel didn't turn towards him in the least as the Hunger fell back in upon him. He needed to get the hell out of there before he made minced pies out of them!

"You are members of Fairy Tail. Find your strength, if not for you, but for your nakama." With that, Gajeel took off at a dead sprint. Hunt, hunt, hunt… Find her!

Jet at first was furious with the iron dragon slayer. How dare he even call himself a nakama of Fairy Tail! But then upon further review, Gajeel's words spun around and revealed new meaning. Perhaps he hadn't meant it to snub him, but encourage him. He was a Fair Tail mage and they were notorious for their stubborn drive and ability to overcome the odds. Gajeel didn't throw him to the dogs, he was entrusting him with a task. Get back to Fairy Tail, find help. It was an undertaking that fatigue had beaten out of him up until where he had fallen, but now with a clear mind and a new burst of determination, Jet slowly rolled over to his stomach, gasping against the pain. Gritting his teeth he somehow managed to get his knees underneath him. Another, burst of pain and with the pain came his motivation to move… move damn you!

His fists clenched together as blood seeped from wounds reopened. His mouth hung open as sweat began to fall from him in droves. Purposely and without hesitation, he grabbed hold of Droy's arm and foisted it across his back while quickly wrapping his other arm around the waist for support.

"Come on, my friend. We have a mission to complete."

"I'm with you all the way." Jet looked at him in surprise, thinking he was still unconscious from the blood loss. Droy smiled weakly as his head hung low, unable to hold it higher. "Let's go save Levy…"

The two took a breath and began their journey. Only at the base of the mountain would Droy insist that he be left behind, allowing Jet to use his last reserve for the run back to the guild. Jet didn't know if Droy would survive but they were both determined to accomplish what they had set out to do. Get help and save Levy.

A/N: Please R&R!