Noir's hotel was eerily quiet. Laxus perpetuated the silence; he didn't say anything to Mira as he waited for the elevator, his brain was ticking, going through what very little evidence he had.

Someone had killed Logan. Someone had then cut out his tongue. And then they'd animated his corpse and had sent him into the Theatre Room to shoot Mira. And all because Laxus had told Julian that Mira was a takeover mage and a powerful one at that. Magic meant money in Innisfil, and money meant power.

Given that reasoning, Laxus was almost certain that the would-be-killer would try again.

"If you keep frowning, you're going to get wrinkles," Mira informed him.

Laxus didn't even dignify that with an answer. The elevator dinged and slid open. He turned sideways so they could both fit inside.

"You know," Mira said conspiratorially, not at all perturbed by his muteness, "This doesn't have to be all that bad. We'll be alone so you could kiss me inappropriately again. Or did you just like to do that because there was a chance of you getting caught? That used to be your thing, right?"

It had been. Laxus didn't want to talk about that then, though. Or ever, maybe. "Shut up about that, would you?"

"This is the first time in minutes you've done anything with your face but scowl. Absolutely not." She grinned ear-to-ear. "Was it because Natalie kissed me? Or because you know you're still shallow but you wanted to fool me?"

"Neither, Mira." What possessed him to cross that stage was madness. Total madness.

"You're a little liar," she breathed in his ear and laughed when he shivered.

Laxus tightened his grip on her thigh and growled out, "Do you think this is a fucking game?"

She sobered. "Of course not."

"Then stop trying to make light of it. You almost died." He adjusted his grip on her legs and jammed a finger into the three button. The door closed and they were trapped in the silvery-metal box.

"I didn't almost die," Mira refuted. "I don't know how he was when he was alive, but dead, Logan was a terrible shot."

They again fell into a strained silence that was interrupted only by the metallic ding of the elevator arriving on the correct floor. The doors glided open and Laxus, hand on his gun just in case, magic at the ready, had his first glance at Noir's hotel.

It was in the same theme as the casino, black walls shot through with gold, shined black mica-infused floors, red, red doors spread so far apart that the rooms must have been huge. He looked at the wall, saw seventy-three would be located on the left side of the hallway and went searching for it.

One of the doors opened and blonde woman in tight leather and bunny ears came tottering out. Laxus' magic surged up so close to the surface, Mira jumped, sparked by a stray piece of electricity. Her fingers curled in his shirt and wouldn't let go until he tamed his magic.

The woman winked at them, ignorant to the magical transfer, and closed the door behind herself. She moved down the hallway like a ghost and disappeared into the elevator. Mira hissed, "What's your problem? That hurt."

"She could have been the necromancer," Laxus hissed back.

"She was a paid lady. I recognize her from the lobby."

"How the hell was I supposed to know?"

"Look first and attack after," Mira scolded.

Laxus drew in a deep, deep breath and let it all out. "Are you okay?"

Mira did a quick assessment. "Yes."

Good. Laxus kept moving, still on alert though not as trigger-happy. It didn't matter, not another door opened.

Seventy-three was the next room on the right, its numbers blazing gold. "Where's your key?"

Mira held it up for him to see. "You can put me down; it only really hurts when I put all my weight on it."

Laxus obeyed her command. Mira leaned against the wall while she fit the key in the lock. The door slid open soundlessly and revealed the room beyond. The light of one lone lamp sitting next to the bed welcomed them. Beside the bed was the same carry bag Laxus had to turn inside out; Julian had brought over all of Mira's things.

The ground was black stained wood, the walls textured and dark as well. The sheets on the bed were white as the face of the moon, expensive looking things, silken with a high thread count. Set into the wall was a fireplace, crackling and alive with a small orange flame.

Laxus breathed out. "Swanky."

"Seems like." Mira staggered inside. She was a little more hurt than she let on. Laxus let her get far enough that he could close the door. He locked it with the chain and the deadbolt, then grabbed her bicep and prevented her from going any further.

Mira looked back over her shoulder, a guarded expression on her face as if she expected him to scold her. There was a reprimand on his tongue, but when she regarded at him like that, wary and upset, the words evaporated. He said instead, "I'm glad you're okay."

Mira's expression darkened a little and not like she was mad, but like she wanted to be wicked. There was still a bit of demon in her. There always would be. "Were you scared?"

"Yeah."

His honesty prompted Mira to abandon her teasing and to soften. Her mood swings were hard to keep up with. "I really am fine."

Laxus tried to bowl on ahead, wanting to think of something clinical and cold. "Someone targeted you because they think you can earn Julian a lot of money."

Mira shook her head. "I'm sure they weren't targeting me—"

"Really? Because those were the words out of Julian's mouth. He said your name specifically."

Mira leaned against the wall. "This has got you really worked up, huh?" Apparently, the temptation of wicked was just too strong. She had to cave.

"Someone shot you on my job," he told her.

"It's not just that."

"Because that's not enough for you?"

Her mean smile was back. "Never. Let's go back to when we were behind the stage."

"Let's not."

She wouldn't listen. "Do you want to kiss me again, Laxus?"

"Don't be stupid," he admonished her.

"Liar. Just do it."

He didn't move. She took his suit jacket in hand and pulled him in close. Laxus went because he was afraid of pulling her off balance if he stayed where he was, though he said, "Let me go."

"Can you only kiss me after Natalie has?"

"I don't know what I was thinking earlier. I apologize." He worked on getting her fingers loose.

"I don't want an apology. Kiss me again," Mira commanded. She was strong, pulling him down. Laxus tried to make her see reason.

"Julian will be here soon."

"I don't care."

"You should."

She grinned impishly; Laxus gave her what she wanted.

Mira's lips moved with fervor, her hands gripped in his hair. He touched her waist, more thorough this time than he'd been behind the stage. Mira's breath warbled and he knew she wasn't pure mean. She liked this, she liked it quite a lot. So much, she pawed at his jacket and the hem of his shirt, she pushed her body against his, letting him know she felt his excitement. When her intentions became clear, Laxus caught her wrists and pulled away. Mira let him. She fixed her lipstick.

"Was that so hard?"

"Hard? No, but it has the air of stupid to it if we get caught."

"Then we won't get caught," Mira said.

"Natalie knows," Laxus reminded her.

Mira shrugged. "We'll deal with that if we need to."

Laxus rolled his eyes and caught sight of himself in the mirror. His hair was a mess. He combed his fingers through it and straightened his suit and thought about baseball.

Mira one-upped him at pretending composure and asked, "Did you find out about the delivery?"

"I didn't even get there," Laxus griped, thankful for the distraction.

"That's alright, we'll try again." Mira was the optimist.

"This probably won't happen again," Laxus was the realist.

"Then we'll find something else."

Meaning Mira would sit on Julian's lap and preen or worse, he'd take her to his lounge and get her to take off all her clothes. Afterwards, he may mutter about things he had to do that day or he might say nothing at all.

Mira, ever astute, said, "Don't worry about me."

"Says the one who's shot?" he replied blandly. Mira pressed her lips into a thin line. Laxus ignored her dark expression. She could be fed up and angry all she liked, it didn't bother him much. "I'm helping him interrogate people tomorrow night—I'm getting closer so you can back off some."

"Interrogation—what does that entail?"

"Nothing great, I'm sure." He thought about Gramps. What would he say about his grandson in a place like this, doing work like this?

Mira said, "You know it would be easier to let me do things my way."

Laxus glowered. "Shut up and come here. You shouldn't be standing anymore." He led her across the room to the bed and guided her to the soft mattress. Mira looked up at him through her lashes and her eyes flashed with wickedness that Laxus would have died for when he was a kid. He was no mind reader but he knew well enough what she was thinking and it made him hot and cold all at once. He stamped on it so she couldn't tease him. He couldn't juggle everything just then. "Do you need anything?"

Mira leaned back on her elbows as if she hadn't decided if she was going to try to make him more uncomfortable or not. "I'd take some water."

Laxus hurried to find some.

The room was more of a large condo than a hotel, as big as a house with as many nooks and crannies stuffed full of all the same comforts one would expect from a home. The washroom he found just down a narrow hallway. It was cavernous, all checkered white and black tile, claw foot tub, a huge mirror.

He found a clean glass on the bathroom sink and filled it. When he returned to Mira, she was lying back on the bed staring up at the ceiling. Her hair was cascaded over the white bedsheets, shining like silk. She turned too-blue eyes upon him and asked, "Do you really think someone will try to attack me again?"

Laxus circumvented answering by assuring her, "I won't let anyone get near you, Mira."

"I'll be ready next time," she replied. "I'll take care of them myself."

Of course, Mira never needed anyone's protection. "I know."

She sat up and took the water from him. Laxus sat on the bed beside her. It was comfortable, the mattress giving under his weight. He leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together. He rested his chin on his knuckles. He played the night over in his mind, trying to remember everyone's places in the lounge, the mood of the crowd, how inebriated everyone was, and if he felt magic or not. There was a lot of Magicfire happening, so he felt little spurts of spells here and there. He couldn't recall any one moment when he felt magic more than the rest. And necromancy was a quiet magic, delicate and subtle. If you were skilled, it was possible to work it without drawing too much attention to yourself.

Mira interrupted his chain of thoughts with gentle fingertips on his chin. Laxus startled and looked at her. She was lost in thoughts of her own and they weren't about necromancy. She wetted her bottom lip before moving in. Laxus didn't move to meet her but when she kissed him, he kissed her back. His thoughts redirected and whirled around this. He was kissing Mirajane Strauss. He needed a cold shower. And a mental assessment. A wrong move and she was apt to turn him into a crater.

She leaned into him and her body was soft in all the right places, generous. Her hair was tangled in places bad enough that his fingers got caught and he stopped trying to pull them out. Laxus touched her skin through a diamond cut in her dress and Mira's breath shuddered. The sound rocketed straight through him and made his head cloudy.

A knocking door cleared it right up for him.

He broke away from Mira and wiped away lipstick again on his way across the room. He had no way of knowing if he was presentable or not when he pulled back the door. It was too late to worry about such things. Julian waited with the tall, narrow healer at his side. The healer held his medical bag.

Julian barely looked at Laxus as he came in. He only had eyes for Mira. The Golden Goose. "How are you, Mira?"

When Laxus glanced back, Mira was sitting on one of Julian's large armchairs, her leg propped up on the ottoman as if she'd been there that whole time. From this vantage point, Laxus could see the scabby bullet wound in her calf. The area around it looked red and irritated, magically three days healed. "I'm alright, thank you."

Laxus closed the door and locked it, trying not to be miffed by the slight. Back home no one ignored him. His mood only darkened when Julian walked right over and kissed Mira firmly on the mouth. Mira, however, barely even stiffened.

"How is your leg?" Julian asked when he'd let her mouth go.

She looked at him through her lashes and murmured, "I don't think it's too bad, just a little sore." She wouldn't look at Laxus.

"Wilbur's going to fix that right up, okay?" Julian prodded.

Mira smiled. "Thanks."

"Good." Julian pulled her into a standing position and then took her spot in the chair. Mira was then pulled into his lap. Her cheeks were high with colour and her fingers plucked discretely at the hem of her dress, the only outward sign that she was uncomfortable Julian wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in close. "Good girl." Like she was a dog.

Laxus told himself to stop staring. Stop scowling. He had to turn the other way and find a place on the wall to look at. It didn't last long. Wilbur shuffled deeper into the room and examined Mira's leg and Laxus watched. He got on his knees at Mira's feet and poked and prodded her. Finally, his verdict was, "I should be able to fix the rest of that quick,"

The air filled with magic. Within seconds the wound scabbed and closed. He held his hand there for another moment then pulled back. "Good as new. How does it feel?"

Mira reached down and rubbed the area. There was a thin red line where the wound had been. "That's amazing. Thank you."

Julian went fishing in his pocket and came out with a baggy full of small, white pills that he handed to Wilbur. "Thanks. You can go now. And leave that." He nodded to the medical bag. "I'll have Natalie bring it back for you."

Wilbur's eyes glowed. "Thank you, Sir." He rose on stork-thin legs and swiftly exited the room. The door closed loudly in his wake.

Julian said, "You can leave too, Laxus. Go stand in the hall for a bit, Mira and I have some things to talk about."

Laxus looked at Mira. She wore a sort of alarmed expression. "I don't think that's a good idea," he said. Cover be damned.

"But I do, so get out." Julian lifted his hand from Mira's ribs to tickle beneath her breast, his chin on her shoulder and a smile on his mouth.

And that was far enough. Laxus stepped forward. Mira recovered. "You take your job too seriously, Laxus. Julian asked you to guard me, but not from him." She skimmed her fingers over Julian's jaw and kissed his cheek lightly. "We're okay here for a few minutes. You just wanted to talk, right?"

Julian lifted a corner of his mouth. "Absolutely."

Mira was good at hiding how she really felt but Laxus knew her. In some ways, he knew her better than her family did, and he knew she was uncomfortable. "Julian—"

His eyes flashed. "Mister York."

It was all a game. Julian wanted to seem in control to Mira; Laxus was annoyed, but he played along. "Mister York. She's had a hard night. She's uncomfortable."

Julian scowled and looked like he was about to tell him to get out again. Then what? Then you walk over there, grab him by his skinny neck and wring it until he doesn't breathe anymore. No more problems.

Laxus wondered what his expression was like when Julian said a second later, "Fine. Sit." He motioned to a chair on the opposite side of the room. It was too far away, but Laxus could see and hear everything. He'd take what he could get.

Julian turned his attention to Mira; he wore a sharp smile. "What is it about you that makes people so devoted? Natalie, Laxus—you have them all twisted up."

Mira shrugged innocently. "I don't try to do anything, Mister York."

"Don't be ashamed. It's a good quality, you're a talented girl." He rubbed his finger over her cheek and then down her neck, past her collarbone, getting closer and closer to the place where her breasts came together. Laxus watched her shiver and didn't think it was entirely an act.

Mira all but whispered, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Always business, huh?" Julian murmured. Mira responded with something Laxus couldn't quite hear. It made Julian sit back, though, and go digging through the bag Wilber had brought in. He came back out with a long, gleaming athame and a clay bowl.

Laxus stood so fast the chair tipped over. "Get away from him, Mira."

Mira looked back at him and pressed her lips into a thin line. She shook her head minutely, always believing she was in control. He hated her at that moment.

Julian said, "Relax. I don't want to kill her; I want her magic."

"So what's the knife for?" Mira asked, forcing a wobble into her voice.

"Our magic is in our blood. I cut you here," Julian ran a finger over her forearm, "You bleed, I gather that, extract the magic, and the rest," he pinched her cheek too hard to be sweet, "Is a secret."

Mira's chest rose and fell quickly. "What happens to me after?"

"You'll be tired," he admitted. "Dopy. You'll need someone to watch over you." He glanced at Laxus. "I think I may call Eli in."

Mira curled into him and poured it on thick. "If I do this for you, I'd prefer if it was Laxus."

Julian's smile was artic. "Why?"

"I don't know Eli, but Laxus and I have met a few times and Natalie said he was alright." Mira was such a good liar, even looking the right amount of uncomfortable; it was discomfiting. Even Julian believed her, asking,

"Did she?"

Laxus shot her a warning look that she ignored. This could blow up on them with just a word from Natalie. "Yes. If—if not, I won't do it."

Julian frowned. "I could force you, you know?"

Laxus thought he couldn't get any angrier, but he was so very wrong. He couldn't quite hide the sparking in his fingers. If Julian noticed, he had an incredible poker face.

"Maybe," Mira agreed. "But I want to stay here at Noir, Julian, and I want to help you, why would you betray that?"

He rubbed her arm gently with the hand that still held the athame. "You're a smart girl. Very well, he'll stay." He didn't give her any warning when he dragged the razor sharp blade over her skin.

Mira hissed and clutched her arm. "Hey," Laxus rumbled in surprise.

"You heard her, she wants to help," Julian said with a smile. "I'm just doing as she said."

Hot blood leaked over Mira's arm and dribbled into that ceramic bowl, Julian caught every drop while her head drooped to his shoulder.

Laxus said, "I'm pretty sure she would have appreciated some warning."

The smile Julian gave him was icy and he knew somehow, some way, he was going to pay for his interference, though outwardly, he said, "You're right. Next time I'll ask properly."

Mira shivered. Her eyes were closed, lips a wintery blue and parted.

"You're taking too much," Laxus said. "You're hurting her."

Julian set down the knife and the bowl. Next, he stood with Mira cradled in his arms and brought her to the bed. He laid her down, wrestled a handkerchief from his pocket and tied it over the long wound. Seemingly satisfied, he bent down and kissed her forehead then turned away, grabbed the bowl and the knife and left without a word to Laxus.

Oh yeah, Laxus thought manically, I'm going to pay.

He didn't care.

He moved on numb feet and locked the door at Julian's back. Then he went back to Mira's side and sat down beside her. He watched carefully for the steady rise and fall of her chest. When he got the confirmation that he needed, he made sure that the handkerchief was tied nicely around her wrist and that the blankets were up around her shoulders. He took the gun out of his pocket then and watched the door.