A/N: So here's another chapter for you guys! I am working on getting on all my other stories caught up, but I figured that's not reason to let this one fall behind when I have a bunch of chapters.

Please Review!

"Lucy, we have to move," Erza said, kneeling down beside the blonde.

"It...it hurts," Lucy cried, gripping her leg.

"I know," Erza said, motioning to her bleeding shoulder. "We have to go, though. If we don't find Natsu and explain what's happening, he may just kill us both."

Lucy nodded weakly and tried to stand up. Her knee had been shot, so she couldn't stand right. Erza had to help support her while she walked. They began walking, holding their guns tightly with their free hands. A monster appeared in front of them, but Erza quickly shot it. "There's a shimmer over their eyes if it's one of us, so you can shoot the dull-looking ones," she explained.

They wandered aimlessly through the forest, trying to find Natsu. Midnight was really playing a twisted game this time. They were all dropped off with guns in the woods in honor of how Lucy shot herself. These monsters attacked them, but some of them were actually each other. The game would end when they all made it to the lake at the center of the forest and jumped in. Erza shot herself in the shoulder within moments of the game starting by shooting two monsters. She realized the trick right away, which made it obvious that Natsu was shot since she was only shot once. Lucy was positive she got him three times. She's shot three monsters and they've all had shimmering eyes.

Lucy stopped walking when she heard someone whisper her name. "Gray?" she asked aloud, whirling around.

"Lucy, Gray disappeared, remember?" Erza asked. The day before he wasn't there when they were all allowed in their lounge room. When they asked Midnight, he said that he didn't know who they were talking about.

"No, I just heard him," Lucy said, letting go of Erza. She hobbled over to the nearest tree and sat down.

"Lucy, listen to me."

She knew that she heard it that time. The voice was louder and an odd warmth was filling her chest. She closed her eyes and listened.

"It's all just a dream. You're going to come back to us as good as new. You can get through this."

She gasped as her eyes flew open. Is he alive? Did he go back to the "real world?"

"It's our promise, right?"

After they spent that night together, she asked him if they would ever make it out of Midnight's clutches alive. He said he would find a way. They promised each other they would try their hardest to get each other out no matter what the cost.

"Lucy, we have to go," Erza said. She yanked the blonde off the ground. A large amount of monsters were walking towards them, and they both knew they couldn't fight all of them.

X

"Are you awake?" Cana asked, stepping into Gray's room. She saw that he was sleeping and smiled. It's been three days since he first woke up. The doctors have been happy that he hadn't went on any more adventures. He had promised not to run off on his own, as long as he could be escorted when he wanted to go. They said that if he rested for a few more days they would let him leave his room for a little bit; they wanted his side to be all healed up first.

Cana sat down beside Gray's bed. She couldn't stop thinking about everything. It was so weird that Lucy tried to kill herself the same day that Gray almost died from drinking too much alcohol. Then he ended up knowing her, which was really strange. She wondered if they really did know each other without her knowledge. She didn't exactly keep tabs on the two of them, so it was possible. It was totally a coincidence that Laxus and Lucy had a fight when Gray drank too much alcohol, considering the doctors said that his liver was bound to give out eventually. That didn't keep her from being curious about it all, though.

What was really weird, though, was that Lucy was apparently starting to breathe better after Gray saw her. Not to mention that the doctors said that she was getting blood clots in her knee. It was like she got better and worse all at once. That's why she wasn't sure if she should bring him back or not. If he helped then she should, but if he didn't she shouldn't. After thinking about it so much, she decided that she was just overthinking things. Gray being there had nothing to do with anything.

Gray let out a moan in his sleep. She smiled at him. She was really happy that he said he loved her, but she wasn't sure how much he meant it. Did he really have to almost die to realize that? She wished that he could have just figured that out on his own. It was nice that he hasn't mentioned wanting to drink anything yet, so he probably wasn't going to have much trouble fighting the addiction. That was what she hoped, at least.

Gray made a couple more cute noises in his sleep. Sometimes when she slept at his apartment he would fall asleep before her and she got to hear him snore in his sleep. She usually found it annoying when people snored, but with him she liked it. He was never loud and obnoxious and keeping her awake; she would only hear it if she listened for it.

What she wasn't used to hearing, though, was gurgling noises. She raised an eyebrow, wondering what was happening. She watched until she saw a drop of blood come out of the corner of his mouth. Her eyes widened and she jumped up to press the button for the nurses to come. She quickly laid him on his good side, grabbing the small container for vomit to catch the blood that came out of his mouth. She noticed how there were some black clots in there, which really made her concerned.

What was really sad, though, was that Cana came right after school, since she was only able to skip once a week. Wendy doesn't get off of school much after her, so she came skipping into the room just in time to see her brother drowning in blood. "Gray!" she cried, running over.

"Wendy, stay back!" Cana yelled, trying to stay calm. She tapped his back, hoping he would cough all the blood up. He woke up at some point during the whole thing and saw all the blood, which made him vomit. He hadn't actually eaten any food yet, having been fed by a tube, so he was just vomiting blood.

Amber finally came in the room. She gasped when she saw what was happening. "I need some help in here!" she screamed into the hallway. Two other nurses and a doctor came in behind her. They started speaking in medical terms, which Cana didn't understand. Since she didn't have to be a hero anymore, tears started falling from her eyes. She wasn't sure what was wrong with him and she was afraid he would die.

"Get him into surgery," the doctor said. He started going on about what was happening. Cana could tell that something inside of Gray was bleeding and his heart wasn't beating correctly. From what she could tell the problem wasn't his liver, but she truly didn't understand everything they were saying, so she wasn't too sure.

Cana realized that Wendy was over at the other side of the room, watching as her brother was being wheeled out of the room, more nurses and doctors surrounding him. She quickly went over to the girl, hoping to be of some help. The little bluenette just stared at her in horror. Looking down, she realized that she had blood all over her torso. "Shit," she cursed. Amber handed her a towel, which gratefully accepted.

"Why don't you two go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat? It could be a few hours before they fix him," Amber said, smiling kindly at Wendy.

"No way!" Cana said stubbornly. She plopped down onto the ground, arms and legs crossed. "I'm not going anywhere."

Wendy nodded and put on a determined face, sitting as Cana was. "Me, too! If...if that's okay." She wasn't as assertive as Cana was, but she tried.

Amber sighed. "I understand that you feel that way, but you really can't-"

"Don't you have a dumbass to go save?!" Cana blurted out.

Amber turned scarlet and scurried out of the room, realizing she was about to be left behind.

Wendy and Cana burst out laughing, which felt good after all the commotion that just happened. They would just have to wait and hope for the best.

X

"I can't believe he actually hurt us," Natsu said, hitting the puck across the air hockey table. "He hasn't done that to us yet. I'm glad the pain ended after the game but damn."

"I just wish that you would all believe me," Lucy said from the couch. She had her arms crossed and her lips pursed. "I definitely heard Gray talking to me. He's at a hospital right now. This really is all just a game."

"Lucy, we've been over this," Erza said, hitting the puck into the goal below Natsu. He groaned and put the red plastic circle back on the table before continuing. She scored again. "Gray just disappeared. There's no way that Midnight would let him talk to you like that if he wanted us to forget about him."

"Or he just wanted to screw with you guys," Midnight said, suddenly sitting beside Lucy on the couch. Everyone gasped, surprised to see him there so suddenly. "I wanted to tell you all that Gray might die."

"Wh..what?" Lucy stuttered. "There's no way! He was fine a couple hours ago!"

"Honey, it's been three days since he spoke to you," Midnight said, chuckling. "He's in surgery right now. He's losing a lot of blood and they can't really keep up with him. They don't have enough blood for him. He has 0-. Of course, I could always change any blood into another type, but I'm not there with him."

Lucy jumped off the couch. She held her hand out. Surprising everyone, she was holding a knife. "Take mine! Get to him!" She stabbed her leg, standing firm. She was standing in a basin, which caught all the blood. She then started slitting her wrists. Erza watched that in wonder.

Midnight laughed deeply, grabbing his stomach. "See! This just shows you all how much power you have! You can all control this world as you please. You just didn't know you had the power. Actually, you've been running the show all along."

In a flash, he and all the blood was gone, Lucy's wounds completely healed.

X

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Cana asked, hugging her knees tighter.

"I'm sure he'll make it," Laxus said, smiling at his friend. "I mean, who would want to die when they have a babe like you waiting for them?"

Cana smiled faintly. She had Jellal take Wendy to eat dinner while she went to sit with Laxus in Lucy's room. "Is that what you keep telling yourself?" She saw him flinch, but he didn't say anything.

The only sound in the room was the heart-rate monitor and the constant, slow dripping of Lucy's IV. They both heard it and thought they were just nervous. The dripping was getting faster. Their hearts were racing, so they were just hearing that, right? Actually, the IV was going faster. Midnight stood beside it, working the control. He already put all the bags of 0- blood by the doctors to use, so now all he needed to do was keep Lucy alive. It wasn't her fault that she didn't know her body was connected to her dream-state, so he wasn't going to let her die because of it.