The alley behind Lucky's was a bust. The only evidence that remained was an arc of blood splatter on the wall at neck height and a golden pendant that looked like it belonged to a necklace, shaped like a barren tree stripped of nearly all its branches. It struck a note in Gray but he couldn't say why.

"Do you think it's the killers?"

"I don't know. Looks like something a woman would wear," Bacchus responded.

"Our victim was a man."

Bacchus lifted his shoulders. "Could be it's not even related. Lots of girls sell on this corner, maybe one of them got into an altercation. Things got rough, necklace broke."

"Maybe…" Gray picked it up and put it in his pocket.

Bacchus said, "There isn't anything here, no witnesses, no evidence."

"There was a witness."

"We don't know her though, do we? And we're not going to, either. Stuff like seeing a murder is hush, you know? That girl would have told one or two people, tops. We squeeze a name and our source gets iced."

He was right. Meredy took a pretty big risk telling them anything at all.

"Come on, Fullbuster. Let's call it a night," Bacchus said. "We'll hit Rose's, I'll buy you a drink, you can forget your woes."

"I'd rather just head home if it's all the same," Gray said, heading back to the Tudor.

"It's not," Bacchus said. "Come out."

"No." Bacchus still had the keys so Gray got into the passenger's side. It was a mistake. With Bacchus at the wheel, he drove them to Rose's anyway and took the keys with him when he parked and got out despite Gray calling him an asshole.

"You can either walk back to the Constabulary or you can come inside," Bacchus said.

"I'm not fucking walking anywhere." Gray got out and used long steps to catch up with Bacchus. He was fast but Gray snagged him by the door and hauled him around by the elbow. He didn't know what happened next but Bacchus was free and Gray's arm was aching and the keys were walking inside. The door slammed in his face before he got with it and followed.

The bar was bursting with people, the noise and music overwhelming. He looked at the bar first, hunting for Bacchus's tall, lanky frame. Surprisingly, he wasn't there. Gray examined the tables. Yellow caught his eye, a girl squeezed into a revealing dress, and black, her hair was loose around her shoulders. Ultear.

She smiled and waved him over. Gray would have left but his partner and the Tudor's keys were at her side and it didn't look like Bacchus was going to deliver them.

"Hi, baby," Ultear said when he was close enough.

"Ultear. Can I have the keys, please, Bacchus?"

"The keys?" Ultear asked. "You just got here."

"And I'd like to leave, too."

Ultear, for the first time since Gray had known her, looked stricken. "Did I do something?"

Bacchus sold him out without hesitation. "Don't take it personally, Ul, Gray's just had a bad day. Found out his girl's split."

Ultear was nothing but sympathetic. "Then it sounds like he should be with friends."

"It does, doesn't it? I'll tell you what, partner," Bacchus said. "Ultear's just ordered us a round of tequila. You have a seat and a drink and the keys are all yours."

"Please, Gray?" Ultear begged.

"The lady's asking you to stay," Bacchus said. "Are you going to deny her?"

Gray hesitated.

"Just sit down for a few." Ultear took his hand and pulled him down into the seat beside her. He tried to take his hand back and she put it on her leg, high enough that Gray's ears roared. She looked at him sideways and winked. "I won't let you be sad for long."

The tequila came, and it was two shots, not one. Gray took the second because after the first, Ultear put his hand a little higher on her thigh and some of the negative, circular thoughts that had been plaguing him since leaving Halo went to sleep. Bad coping mechanism? Probably, but all of his cards were on the table and Ultear had looked through them. She knew what she was getting into.

Ultear put her elbow on his shoulder and rested her chin on her forearm. She was close enough that he could smell all the alcohol on her breath when she asked, "Another round?"

"Yes," Bacchus answered for Gray. "It's just what the doctor ordered."

The shots appeared while Ultear's fingers were in Gray's hair. After that shot, his fingers were up the hem of her skirt, put there by Ultear and kept there by her, too, though he'd be lying if he said he wasn't eager to see where she'd stop.

It took a total of six shots to realize that a) she'd stopped drinking, and b) she actually didn't have a governor. He was touching her panties under the table, sliding his middle finger over the silk and she was wiggling her hips just enough that she wasn't very subtle. Bacchus wasn't paying attention, he'd snagged a girl of his own, a blonde one that folded into his lap like she'd done it a hundred times before.

Ultear's lips brushed the shell of Gray's ear and then spilled a symphony. Gray walked down the tunnel of Indecent Things her voice dug and found it difficult to find his way out. His sense of direction got even worse when the bartender told them it was time to leave and Ultear suggested that they got a cab. That was the logical thing. They couldn't stay where they were.

When Gray tried to find Bacchus, he was gone with the dame he'd picked up and it was just them in an emptying bar. Ultear stood, shadowy and graceful as a snake, and offered him her hand. He got up on his own and considered it a win but she put his arm around her waist and Gray couldn't figure out how to undo it. He didn't really want to.

The sidewalk was empty when they came out. Ultear pulled a package of cigarettes from her bra and sparked one up with a book of matches that came from the same place.

"How do you have so much hidden in there?"

"Do you want to see?" she asked cheekily.

"What's a guy supposed to say to that?"

She held out two fingers. "Yes. No."

"You're the most brazen girl I've ever met," he said instead.

"Good," she replied.

A cab turned the corner. Ultear stuck out her hand and waved it down. When it pulled up to the curb, she opened the door and pushed Gray inside and then followed him in.

"Where are we going?" the cabby asked.

Gray scoured his brain. Ultear helped him out and gave over his address. Gray waited for her to tell him hers, too, but she didn't. She settled back into the seat, which really meant that she settled back into him, and put his hand back on her leg.

"Where were we?"

Before they got into the cab? She was whispering in his ear things he'd done before but had never heard spoken aloud. Ultear found her way back to the conversation without his input and delivered her words in a low purr while he went back to teasing her. She spread her legs, unafraid in the dark backseat. Her lackadaisical attitude was catching. Gray got bolder and bolder until he wasn't touching just underwear but skin. There was music in the cab, it drowned out Ultear's light sigh and any other noises, too.

The cab came to a stop and Ultear pushed Gray's hand aside. "Pay the cabdriver." She got out; the interior light came on, blinding. Gray squinted and pulled out his wallet.

"How much?"

The driver said, "Five."

Gray gave him fifteen, feeling generous and a little abashed for the way he'd violated that backseat.

Ultear was waiting for him when he stumbled out and took his house keys from his pocket. She knew which one opened the door and pulled him up the stairs by the tie.

Erza made a conscientious effort to keep the sound of the cab's door closing to a minimum, despite the fact that inside, the light in the laundry room was on. She mounted the steps to the sound of the cab rolling down the driveway; its lights swung back out into the road and then it was driving off. She barely paid it any mind, she was thinking about other things. Jellal, mostly. His lips, the taste of gin on his tongue. The war in her mind that she felt was drawn-out and bloody.

She opened the door and, in spite of the late hour, the smell of cooking and bleach assaulted her nose. Erza freed herself of her coat and shoes. Her feet were aching. "Momma?"

The laundry room light was on. Erza drifted that way, listening to the sound of scrubbing. She found her mother wearing only a skirt and a bra, leaning over the laundry sink, elbow-deep in a bucket of pungent bleach. "Momma?"

Eileen startled and let out a breath. "Erza. I didn't hear you."

It wasn't like she was very quiet. Maybe her mother was distracted. "Sorry. Why are you still awake? And what are you doing?"

Eileen straightened. "I wanted to make sure you had dinner when you came home. And I got blood on my favourite shirt."

"Blood?"

Eileen waved her off. "From the roast."

"Oh."

"Yes. It's not coming out very easily." She lifted the shirt. There was a big pink stain on the breast. "I might just have to throw it out." Eileen dropped it back in the bucket and rinsed her arms. She grabbed her robe off the clean laundry pile and draped it over her shoulders, then floated toward the kitchen. "Go get changed. I'll get your dinner out."

"Thanks."

Upstairs, Erza stripped off her suit and hung it up on a hook to be dry cleaned and got into her pajamas. She brushed her hair and washed her face clean of all its makeup before she came back downstairs. Her mother was sitting at the table, a plate of food on the placemat across from her. "Did you have a good night at work?"

"Not really."

Eileen was always reserved but she looked less sympathetic than what Erza expected. "What happened?"

Erza sighed and told her of Gray's visit. And Laxus' state and Jellal's inability to tell her why he showed up like that."

"You'll see a lot of that if you remain at Halo," Eileen said. "If it makes you uncomfortable, you should reconsider your employer."

"How many times are we going to fight about this?"

"Forgive me. My only daughter is working for Magnolia's resident drug and arms dealer."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Quit."

"And go where?"

"Anywhere."

"I'll just apply to the bank, why not, and be another skirt at a desk."

"Erza," Eileen said. "You know that's not what I want for you."

"That's what it sounds like."

"You're twisting my words. The streets are unsettled, Mister Fernandez seems to be in the thick of it, and I'm worried about you being so close to this."

"There's no place I'd rather be." She was happiest when she was in the thick of things. Erza stood.

"Where are you going? You haven't finished your dinner."

"I'm tired and not very hungry," Erza lied. She put her plate in the fridge unwrapped. Her mother didn't scold her for it, they both knew she'd be back down to finish it in an hour when the kitchen was empty.

Six-thirty brought with it a singing alarm. He hadn't two hours of sleep but Jellal wouldn't close his eyes for a minute longer. Up he got. He peed first, unable to deviate from that human ritual, and then when he came back out into his bedroom in a pair of boxer briefs, he made a stop by his TV, unable to shirk that ritual, either.

Bugs Bunny greeted him this morning as he pulled his best suit from the closet. There were a time and place for an Armani and he needn't anyone to tell him that today was certainly that time and Bristol Avenue was certainly that place.

He chose the black dress shirt and the black tie. Usually, he didn't go so dour, he liked a little bit of colour here and there, red, mostly, but if it was going to be messy, he didn't want to have to throw out any clothing. Black hid everything. The last piece of the ensemble was cap-toed oxfords. He tied the laces meticulously just as his father taught him when he was small. Two bunny ears. Loop around, down the waskly wabbit hole. Pull it tight. That done, he made a pit stop in the bathroom to slick back his hair. It wouldn't stay that way without the help of pomade. He was liberal with it.

When he was finally ready, he tried to put to rest any fluttering butterflies in his stomach—why should today be any different than any other day?—it was, though. It was and he couldn't get around that. He wasn't sure he really wanted to.

A call upstairs revealed what he already knew: Zeref was already waiting for him in the bar and he had brought Sting.

"Ask the kitchen to make us breakfast, please," Jellal requested.

He left his guns where they were. It was rude to take them. The one thing he would allow himself was to stop by Laxus' room. It would be good to match Zeref's entourage.

His halls looked the same as ever when he opened his door and stepped into his heaven. His haven. His Halo. At the room where Wendy stayed, there were two guards still very much alive and alert. That was good.

"Did she give you any trouble?" Jellal asked on the way by.

"No, Sir. She's awake and she's getting breakfast now, though," one answered.

"Good. Keep sharp." Jellal kept on.

Laxus' door was answered with less gusto than Jellal would have liked but it was answered. Laxus was in a state. Underwear, that's all. Behind him was a messy bed with a girl sprawled out on the mattress, naked. She was slowly, slowly waking up.

"Yeah?"

Jellal didn't scold Laxus for the unprofessional address. "Get dressed, we have business."

"We do?" Some light and life came to Laxus' eyes.

The girl on the bed sat up dozily and looked around. Her hair was a mess and mostly covering her breasts, though she didn't look too concerned with that just then, she was looking at the nightstand that was choked not only with drug paraphernalia but a bedside clock, too. "Does that say seven? Like, seven AM?"

Jellal ignored the girl, for now, speaking only to Laxus. "You wanted to know when we're making our big move, consider yourself informed. Get on something nice."

"Nice?" Laxus repeated. Jellal slapped his cheek to wake him up and get him in the moment.

"Nice, Laxus. Put on your good threads. We're going to make an impression."

Laxus batted his hand away and closed the door. Jellal waited in the hallway, listening to Mirajane melt.

"You said you could have me home by five."

"And then you wanted to come up to my room. What was I supposed to do?"

"Say no?"

"What the hell would I do that for?"

She huffed noisily. The door was yanked open a second later and Mira came out with her panties in one hand, her heels in the other.

"Miss Strauss."

"Mister Fernandez," she said airily.

"Do you need a car?"

She was already walking by him. "What I need is to get my head examined," she muttered. She was gone before he could say another word. Jellal invited himself into Laxus' room and sat on the bed while Laxus went through the rounds. Disappearing into the bathroom to piss, brushing his teeth, fixing his hair. Coming out again in a fresh pair of underwear.

"Nice night?"

"It was a night," he said shortly.

"I wouldn't be so pissy after turning that classy chassis from my bed."

"I'd be less pissy if she didn't spend the entire night blue balling me," he groused.

Jellal raised a brow.

Laxus' voice got high and squeaky. "Nothing is free, Laxus. Earn it."

Jellal laughed and Laxus' annoyed expression intensified. "Is she going to give you another chance?"

"All she says is cryptic bullshit but she seemed to like it well enough." Laxus passed by and Jellal smelled Mira's perfume.

"Aren't you curious about our morning?" Jellal questioned.

"I know you like your games. Figured you'd get to it."

Jellal flopped back on the mattress. The bed smelled like Miss Strauss, too. "Zeref's come. He's brought Sting with him."

"Sometimes, I think Zeref brings him around because he wants him to end up dead," Laxus said as he tightened a blue tie on his throat.

"He is annoying."

"Unbearable." Laxus grabbed his gun and Jellal shook his head.

"No weapons."

"You want to send me in a room full of mages without a fucking gun?"

"Yep."

"Nah uh. No way. Take Gajeel or something if I can't pack."

"I'd rather you."

"I'm touched," Laxus said sarcastically, "But resolved."

Jellal tried a bit of flattery. "I don't trust Gajeel, not like I trust you. Unless something's changed, you're my guy, Laxus. Besides, you said you wanted some action."

"I did." Jellal watched Laxus take in a huge breath and let it all out again. "Alright."

"Thank you. Let's go." Jellal picked himself up from the bed and led the way out of the room, down the hall, and into the bar, where he threw the doors open widely to make an entrance.

Zeref sat at one of the round tables dressed all in black, right down to a pair of black gloves, and Sting matched him. He'd been staring at the door dully when Jellal entered and his expression didn't change.

"You two paint a sombre picture," Jellal said.

Zeref stood. "It's sombre business. Guns?"

Jellal opened his jacket to prove he had nothing. Laxus did the same. "Your turn," and Zeref and Sting mimicked their actions.

The door opened and one of Halo's servers came in pushing a trolley full of food beneath silver covers. Jellal had flashbacks to the previous night and wondered if someone else's head was going to greet him.

When the covers came off, there were only bacon and eggs, toast and hash browns beneath. Plates and utensils were laid out on the table, coffee cups, too. The server dolled out the food, poured steaming black liquid into each cup and then left.

Jellal stacked his plate high. Laxus was more conservative. Zeref stared at the food with a slight curl to his lip and Sting looked voracious but made no move.

Jellal asked, "Have you had breakfast?"

"I want to talk business," Zeref said. "I don't want to eat your food."

"Never deal on an empty stomach," Jellal said. "Men make mistakes."

Zeref's gloves creaked when he flexed his fingers. Jellal kept a wary eye on him while pretending to not, tense as Zeref reached out, his magic was quick, after all, and just as deadly as any gun could be. Zeref only grabbed the plate holding the bacon. He shoveled some on his plate, handed the tray to Sting, and took off his gloves. They lay neatly beside his coffee cup.

Zeref picked up a piece of bacon but didn't take a bite. "I want Wendy back."

"I understand that."

"You had no right to take her the way you did."

"I did not."

"You also had no right to ruin my place on Danver."

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps?" Zeref hissed dangerously. "On what fucking planet is that perhaps?"

Jellal sipped his coffee and swallowed. It was strong and almost as good as an early morning cigarette. "You upset me."

"Because I wouldn't let you cow me into a bad deal?"

"That was a good deal," Jellal countered. "At the start of it, we were good friends, you had your healer, your brother was home and your girl was going to get her sister back. Now, though?"

Zeref got dourer if that were possible. "I hope I like your next words."

"You won't. Wendy is staying here. Yukino is mine, and that's just act one."

"I will tear this place apart to take back what is mine."

"A word and she's dead."

Zeref's neck was red and the shadows around the room came toward him, creeping slowly across the ground like a sickness. Sting leaned away from him ever so slightly and didn't take the next bite he was bringing to his mouth.

"It doesn't have to be this way, though."

Zeref took in a short breath. "And what's the other option?"

"Allies. I know," Jellal held up his hand. "You're angry. Just listen.

"Precht approached Laxus and admitted he's in thick with our assassin." That was a little bit of a stretch but Jellal sold it flawlessly; he was good at lying to get what he wanted. "That means he's the one that's been behind this gutting of our city. You've lost good people, Zeref, and so have I. We're both feeling the burn. The Den's not much as it is right now. Come to Halo. Have a safe place to stay and work with me to expunge Precht and his people from Magnolia."

Zeref managed to loosen the stranglehold he had on his bacon. "I have it good right now. Precht's bought me a distillery, he's promised us steady work and he hasn't held any of my members hostage to do it."

"No, he's just cut their fucking heads off. You were hit first," Jellal pressed. "There's a reason for that. He wanted you weak, he wanted you floundering, and when you were, he swooped in with a business deal. Now, you and I haven't always been best friends, we've clashed on territories and had our share of growing pains, but we've never spilled blood unprovoked. Right?"

"True," Zeref reluctantly said.

"I want to fix things between us. I want to work together. So. Tell me what we need to do to make that happen."

"Making nice with you's inviting a guillotine down on my head," Zeref said.

Jellal made him no promises he couldn't keep. "It's the life we lead."

Zeref seemed to like that answer more than anything flowery. "You really want to make this work?"

"This is the second time I've offered, is it not? Tell me what you need."

Zeref said, "I need you to let Wendy go. And I need Yukino. And I need a contract worked up. We want property downtown. A building for distilling, and faces to run the upfront. And insurance that the police won't raid it."

"I'll get my girl to fix the paperwork," Jellal said. "As far as the city will be concerned, you're a legitimate business that always pays its taxes. Nothing suspect about that."

"And I want your distribution lines," Zeref pushed. "Your scotch and my stuff sold side-by-side, through your endorsement."

"You want to cut into my profits, in other words," Jellal said.

"It's not good when the rich hoard all their dough." Zeref was without shame.

Jellal made a play at considering Zeref's offer, though he already knew his answer. "Your demands are steep. If I'm going to meet them then I need you to do something for me. As a show of good faith."

"Lay it on me."

"I want you to knock over that little gambling house Precht owns, Sentence Six. Take all the cash, and then raze it."

Zeref didn't balk for much but he was balking now. "Do you know how much security he's got there?"

"I know you'll figure it out." Jellal wiped his mouth and stood. "Do we have a deal?"

"What happens to the cash we take?"

"I have no use for it," Jellal said after a moment. "It's yours."

Sting spoke his first words. "All of it?"

Jellal shrugged. "Sure. I know one of the guys that does security. Lucky for you, he's working tonight. Should I let him know you're coming?"

Zeref sat back in his chair, his thoughts clearly churning. Finally, he said, "Do that."

Jellal smiled. "That's what I like to hear. Feel free to arm yourselves from my store. Anything you need."

"I must be crazy," Zeref muttered.

"I call it smart," Jellal replied.

"A smart man wouldn't forge a deal on so little."

"You're wrong. Honour. It's always been the foundation of our friendship."

Zeref stood and put out his hand; Jellal mimicked him. "Good luck tonight. What's that charming little saying you like to tell one another?"

"No grievers," Zeref said.

"Right. I'll have Wendy on standby."

Sting rushed to stuff the last bite of his meal into his mouth and followed his boss out of the bar, leaving just Jellal and Laxus.

"What do you think?" Jellal asked.

"I think he'll do it," Laxus replied. "He was iffy before but the money's got him hook, line, and sinker."

"Nothing changes, eh? Money talks." For which Jellal was grateful.

"The Den's had a rough go since that Heartfilia business, and word is, that girl's got an inheritance that she's not collecting."

"No, I don't suppose she would," Jellal said. "The police would be on her like flies, sniffing out her and Natsu."

Laxus added, "I hear Zeref's a little conflicted about it."

And why wouldn't he be? Lucy was the one that got Natsu into hot water, she had the ability to pull him out of it, but only at the risk of him getting boiled a little more. "Feeling up for a little more work?"

"What now?"

"We need to teach my father some manners."

"What did he do?"

"Ruined his dreams and then came to ruin mine, Laxus."

Laxus sighed. "It's going to be a long day, isn't it?"

"I suspect."

"Let me check in on Gramps before we get on."

"I have a call to make anyway. Meet me at his room."

Laxus disappeared and Jellal grabbed the phone behind the bar. When her phone went to voicemail, he tried her mark's.

"Fullbuster residence."

"I need you to meet me at Bristol in forty. Come armed and ready for trouble," Jellal said.

Professional to the last, she didn't ask any questions.

Laxus wondered if Jellal's father knew what was coming his way when they asked Acnologia to join them under the guise of a business deal needing his attention. He was a wily old man, that's how he'd stayed on top for so long, so how could he not sense the menace when Laxus and Jellal rapped on his door in their best suits?

He got his coat without complaint. Jellal stood in the doorway patiently; Laxus loitered behind him and marvelled at how cold Jellal was, only faltering when his mother came out of the washroom in a long black robe, hair tousled gold. She clutched the robe up near her throat and looked at Jellal. Not just at, but through; Laxus could feel the weight of her gaze from where he stood; he could only imagine how Jellal felt beneath it when she asked,

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, Madre," Jellal assured her.

"You say nothing but I know that look. It's the same your father wears when he's about to do something he thinks will scare me."

"Everything is fine, Madre."

Her voice got unnaturally high. "You lie, Jellal. What's happening?"

Acnologia came out of the walk-in closet in his coat, hair gathered in a low horsetail that fell to the center of his back. He put on shiny black shoes, then dropped a kiss to Anna's cheek. "Nothing is wrong, il mio amore."

"You're both wicked liars. Tell me!" She clutched Acnologia's arm. Laxus watched Jellal for his reaction. There was a moment where he flinched. He touched his tie, though, and tightened it, and he was composed once more. He held out his hand for his father.

"Come. The day is wasting."

Acnologia kissed Anna square on the mouth and then went to Jellal. Jellal wrapped his arm around his shoulder and they walked like that all the way out of Halo and to the Studebaker. He gave his father the front seat and took the back. Laxus drove. They went in silence all the way to Bristol. It was only after they pulled into the underground parking that Acnologia asked,

"What crime have I done, Jellal?"

Laxus watched the exchange through the rearview mirror. His hand was on his gun but he didn't draw it yet.

Jellal sounded like a cool cat saying, "You take advantage of my hospitality."

"Oh?"

"My men call you Sir. When you ask Arum to ruin my evening, he agrees."

"Yes. There was that, I suppose. I guess you should know, too, that Gajeel didn't return to work this morning."

Laxus could hear Jellal's teeth grinding. "I suppose at least you're truthful going to your death."

"You're angry. There are things you don't understand, though."

Laxus stopped the car and Jellal said, "I understand enough." He got out and got his father's door, saying, "You told me to never shirk the punishment that's coming for me. Now come and take yours like a man." He reached into the car and pulled his father out by the arm. Acnologia shook him off.

Laxus did nothing to help or hinder, leaning back against the hood of the Studebaker and taking in the parking garage's dark copper floor, still stained by Natsu's blood; soon it would be bright again.

Acnologia said, "Killing me will be a mistake. You'll want me by your side in the days to come."

Laxus didn't suspect Jellal would hesitate but he did. "And why's that?"

"Because as it stands, you're waltzing into a nest of vipers and I am your only ally, mio figlio. Let us drive back to Halo and forget all that's happened here today. Then you can make your madre breakfast and apologize for worrying her."

Jellal hardened his jaw. "Speak plainly. What nest?"

"That's all I can say without risking everyone's life."

"It's not enough." Jellal took out his pistol and aimed smoothly. He even started to depress the trigger, colder than what Laxus gave him credit for. He never got the shot off. The floor beneath their feet exploded and they both fell, down, down, through layers of concrete and rebar. Laxus hit the bottom along with fist-sized pieces of concrete; his ears were ringing and his lungs were rejecting all of the dust-choked air he dared to drag in.

Men's voices filled the garage, Acnologia's and Precht's and some Laxus didn't recognize.

Bullets started raining down in the hole. One bit into the concrete by Laxus' head.

Precht's voice rang out loud and clear. "Leave them. The police will be here shortly."

The bullet's stopped. Darkness came for Laxus.

Gray woke not to the sound of his dolling doorbell but to feet on his stairs. He rolled over and blinked dazedly up at the ceiling; it was stucco as he remembered, which was good because his head was cottony enough that he felt like he didn't remember much of anything at all.

His door wasn't knocked upon but opened without permission. Gray squinted and focused on Bacchus standing in the doorway, outfitted in his Constable's uniform. "Wakey, wakey, Constable Fullbuster."

Gray grunted lowly. "How did you get in here?"

"You left the front door unlocked. Or Ul did, one of the two."

Ultear.

Gray turned his head slowly and looked at the other side of his bed. The pillow still held the indent of her head, and there was Deptford Pink lipstick the pillowcase.

Gray sat up slowly. "She's gone?"

Bacchus shrugged. "I don't see her here, do you?"

No, he did not.

"Get up and let's get going."

"Going?"

"There was an explosion on Bristol. Bad one. Chief told us to check it out."

"Shit."

"Fire and ambulance are already there; they're waiting on us."

"Bristol? Is it Fernandez's building?" Gray repeated.

"Yeah."

Gray groaned and dropped back to the pillow.

"Lord." Bacchus tipped his head up to the ceiling, saying a prayer, likely, for a partner that wasn't quite so dense or hungover, before coming to Gray's side and throwing the blankets off him. He didn't even flinch when Gray was naked beneath. He picked up last night's pants off the floor and threw them at Gray, who caught them clumsily. Holding the material, Gray was thrust into a memory that was only half-there. Ultear pacing his room back and forth, back and forth with a wicked smile. Her mouth moved around a word Gray couldn't hear but could decipher well enough. Shirt. And then once he'd removed that, Pants.

"What's wrong, Fullbuster? You look like you're choking. Good?" Gray didn't answer so Bacchus asked, "Going to puke?"

Yes. No. Gray thrust his fingers through his hair. The feeling fled. "I'm good."

"Good. Then get the hell up and let's agitate the gravel. Chief's already pissed at us for ditching the Tudor at Rose's."

"What?" Gray asked sharply.

Bacchus was unapologetic. "Guess he saw it on his way into work this morning. Made sure to call me up nice and early."

No. No. No. "You're kidding, right?" Please.

Bacchus waved him off. "I told him he should be thanking us very much for not driving it home drunk."

"You did what?" It felt cruel for his entire life to unravel piece by piece but that's what it was doing. Erza. His career. What was next? Was the house going to go? The cottage? The truck?

Bacchus didn't seem to have a care in the world. "He doesn't like being lied to."

"You could have lied a little. Told him we got robbed or something."

"You sound fucking ridiculous." Bacchus straight-faced. "Get dressed. Get your gun. After we dig through the rubble, you can go into Chief's office and tell him how you were coerced into a night of irresponsibility."

Gray got up, grumbling. How had their positions reversed? Bacchus was the negligent one, not him.

A/N: I know re-writes are annoying but I'm so much happier, so… Not sorry.