WARNING: Hints of physical abuse and suicidal thoughts.

Offering


Humming to herself, Lucy walked toward Natsu's assigned hospital room with a bag of goodies in one hand. It had only been a couple of hours but Natsu's mini operation of having glass removed from his back and legs was quick and mostly painless. Now the pink haired goofball looked like a mummy covered in bandages who was hungry and drugged up.

"Natsu, I hope you're hungry…."Lucy trailed off in when she walked into his room and noticed the bed is empty. The tubes and some bandages lying on the rumpled sheets, a few spots of blood dried up on the sterile, hard floor. She suddenly noticed something scrawled onto one of the small note pads beside the phone.

Lucy stay inside

Frowning, she looked out the window only to gasp and drop the bag of food. A cloud of gray was steadily crawling towards the hospital.

Lucy fell as her knees gave out, wrapping her arms around herself in fear. Its happening again! The same thing that killed her mother!

"Natsu….don't…..."she whispered to the empty room.


Betrayal and frustration boiling through her veins, Levy marched from the main offices to the library. Headmaster Makarov sided with someone who not only supported Redfox but lined the Academy's pockets as well. Deep down, a part of her logical sense understood why Makarov chose to accept Redfox, but Levy didn't have to be okay with the arrangement. She didn't have to put up with the man who beat and bullied her in Phantom.

Which is why she is going to grab her paycheck from Polyushka's desk. There is a good chance Poly was sent home, which gave Levy the opportunity to slip in unnoticed. If she was going to switch her classes to the online server, she needed money for food during her stay in her dorm room. Already plans for avoiding the campus ran through her head. How far can she stretch three hundred dollars?

Grabbing the set of keys beside the pencil jar, Levy opened the drawer that was sure to have her paycheck. Her attention so set on shuffling through papers and notes, she didn't notice the person standing up from the study tables across from her.

"Levy."

She froze, then looked up with wide eyes at none other than Redfox. Why was he there, waiting for her? Shaking from fear, she grabbed the large pair of scissors and stepped backwards until her shoulders met the wall.

"What do you want?" she demanded, clenching the pair of scissors in a fierce, shaking grip.

Silent, he stepped forward until he was on the other side of the wide, organized desk. Leaning forward, he slowly placed a heavy item on the dark mahogany beside the computer mouse. Levy couldn't believe it. Barely visible from the ceiling lights in the hallway sat a shiny, black gun.

Shocked, Levy looked up from the weapon to the man she cannot stand. "Why?"

He stared at her, red eyes almost glowing in the dim light. "Because you need this."

The scissors dropped from her hand as she reached for the loaded automatic pistol.

Gajeel looked down, pierced browns bunched in a frown. "Apologizing is meaningless. Nothing can make up for a what I did to you or your friends."

She raised the muzzle to line up with his heart, only for the aim to shake from her grip. Using her other hand, she steadied the gun.

Closing his eyes, Gajeel waited. "This is all I can do for you."

Levy stared at the man who bullied her in Phantom, calling her names and mocking her grades, her glasses. Then one day, he showed up to school, aggressive and feral. Attacking and fighting with anyone he saw, her included. Already visions from that day made her chest clench in panic. The pain from her head cracking against the cement, the bruising grip threatening to snap her neck until Jet and Droy pulled him away, only to be beaten up themselves...

Tears came, filling her eyes with salt and pain. "You ruined my life. Because of you, I abused my pills. Because of you, I can't….scream or sing at certain octaves because of my fractured larynx."

"I hate you!" she hissed, thrusting the gun forward to make her point. He still didn't move. "I hate you for hurting me! For putting my friends in the hospital! For taking my voice away for almost a year!"

Her finger slipped onto the heavy trigger, her thumb shakily pushing the safety off. With one shot, Redfox could be in pain. He could suffer as she did, crumpled and immobile on the floor, wishing for someone to take it all away-

IhateyouIhateyouIhateyou!

With a hard sob that caused her throat to ache, Levy lowered the gun and began to cry. She couldn't do it, as much as she wanted it. To see him hurting, to see him in pain like she went through. She couldn't….hurt him.

Head bowed and panting, Levy pushed the safety back into place then dropped the weapon onto the desk. "I can't."

Red eyes snapped open, staring at her in shock.

Shaking her head, Levy pointed a trembling finger at him. "I am not like you where violence is the answer. You want this bullet? Pull the trigger yourself and die with the fact I'll never forgive you!"

Snatching up her paycheck, Levy ran from the room in tears, leaving a silent, Gajeel behind.


What did he think would happen? That all would be right with the world if he let her shoot him? Gajeel knew better but it was the only solution he could think of. Reaching for the gun, he stood looking down at the weapon. What if….she's right?

The soft click of the safety being pushed off sounded like a gunshot in the empty library.

"Don't."

Yuuma. His older brother in all but blood always knew where to find him. He should have known the pink haired joker wouldn't have waited in the parking lot like he asked. "If someone like me didn't exist, people like her wouldn't suffer."

"True, but there's more than one of your kind. Offing yourself doesn't solve anything except acting like a coward."

"I didn't mean to do it," Gajeel whispered, wishing Levy knew the truth. More than ever, the gun looked so tempting. "I didn't know…I…"

Pausing by the young man's side, Yuuma reached forward to lightly touch the gun in Gajeel's hand. "I know but you promised. Not until this is all over."

Clenching his eyes shut, Gajeel felt the hot tears fall down his cheeks and then offered the gun again, handle first. Sighing heavily, Yuuma took the weapon, put the safety back and stuffed it into the back of his pants. "Bro, you have balls for running from Gaku like that."

Using his arm to wipe the tears away, Gajeel glared, "You were right behind me when I said I forgot my homework!"

"I didn't have a good enough excuse." Yuuma said with a grin as he remembered they both paused in front of the door leading to the basement, then turned around and ran for their lives. "He'll gonna kill us for jacking his motorcycle."

Wincing from the pummeling to come, Gajeel rubbed at the back of his neck as they made their way to the Academy's parking lot. "Guess we'll be sipping shit through a straw for running off but he looked so pissed."

Yuuma shuddered in fear. "You think the penguins will mind if we move to Antarctica?"

Gajeel would have laughed had he not sensed it. Eyes growing dilated, he stiffened in place as he stared off towards the center of Magnolia. Faintly he could make out a growing cloud of gray forming over the buildings.

"Find the Headmaster and tell him to sound their alarms." Gajeel ordered then hopped onto the motorcycle, revving the engine to a loud growl.

Eyes wide, Yuuma turned to see the gray cloud growing bigger by the second in the orange light of the setting sun. "We should call Gaku-"

"You do it." Gajeel snapped as he kicked up the stand," Levy's running straight toward 'em."

"Shit! Of all the times to forget my sword at home!" the pink head growled, snatching the emergency phone from the side satchel behind the bike seat.

As Yuuma made a dash for the school, Gajeel spun the bike around in a burst of gas and drove straight for downtown where the cloud started.


Bright blue eyes snapped open and a young girl sat up, gasping. Looking around frantically, she noticed she was sent to some city, lying in the middle of an intersection. Why would they send her here?!

Everywhere she looked, people were leaning out of or standing beside their vehicles, staring at her. All around them, the heavy cloud of mist grew and thickened. Soon the air started to crackle and spit with pure energy, the pavement rumbling under her feet.

The hairs along the girl's arms rose just moments before she sensed them.

"Run!" the girl screamed, waving her arms at everyone. "Get away from here!"

No one moved until it was too late. A giant crash sounded above before it started raining glass and cement from the ruins of a building behind her. People screamed and ran as a long object moved too fast back into the mist after causing a large crack into the side of the building. The girl struggled to stand up when she saw a blue haired woman standing in the middle of the road, staring over the girl's head.

A loud shriek cut through the air, causing the blue haired girl to cover her ears. The other woman still wasn't moving, her brown eyes staring wide in shock. A large shadow covered the now empty intersection, but the rumbling only grew louder.

Looking up, the girl watched helplessly as a giant, scale covered snout loomed from the crackling mist and opened wide to reveal sharp, gleaming fangs.

The creature hissed low and deep in its throat and then lunged forward for the blue haired woman. The girl screamed but knew...its already too late.


TBC

Did Levy just die?

Is Gajeel going to save the day?

Where the heck did Natsu go?

But more importantly...I finally get to introduce killer dragons! I was inspired by Stephen King's The Mist, Attack on Titan and the Alien movies. A special scene with the dragon first appearing in Escaflowne always stuck with me because its a killer lizard in a modern setting, and I was like...has anyone done this yet? Will anyone expect this and Not scream Godzilla?!

I'm trying to keep these chapters relatively short. I think I'm failing. As for timing, I need to edit the previous chapter so that instead of 11 at night, Gajeel is heading home with Gaku at around seven thirty so that it makes sense for Gajeel and Yuuma to show up at the school for a second time.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and favorited! Looking forward to your reviews!