Author's Note: Geez, I can't believe it's been about a month since I've last updated! And there's also a Natza Week? About damn time. (Well, it might be late but still, Happy Natza Week.)
Sorry about that, I also just got Borderlands Handsome Collection and Mafia 3 for PS4 and I'm kind of addicted to both of them at this point, haha. If you'd like to add my PSN gamertag, it's vV-CrUst-Vv.
Anyways, thanks for being very patient for this author to update. And now, story time…
The blonde detective stared at the lifeless body of his wife, as she laid on the autopsy table in the medical examiner's room.
Her hair, let loose and combed. Her body, washed gently to show her cuts and bruises. Her clothes, all bloodied and neatly laid out on trays to take to evidence room. Even in death, her body was taken in to great consideration among her loved ones. She had a blanket that covered her chest, all the way down to her thighs, showing some respect for her body.
The detective continued to stare at her, silently mourning his loss. "I…I'm sorry…"
He placed his hand on her cheek, caressing her cold skin. He would never again feel her warmth, feel the lovely touch she once had. Everything he would remember from her would vanish, it was only a matter of time when it did.
"I… I should've never left you alone… it's my fault…" He brought his hand back, deeply sighing as he held and fought back some tears.
"This was never you fault, Laxus." A voice from behind. The detective turned around and in the doorway, stood Freed, one of the medical examiners.
"Oh, hey Freed," Laxus greeted him. The green haired man walked towards the table. "How long have you been there?"
"Just got here when you started to blame yourself for this," Freed hovered next to him and the body. "This isn't your fault, like I said." Freed sighed, deeply looking at the body. The sight of her, the sight of seeing a friend end up in their autopsy table, it made him feel a small squeeze in his stomach.
"But it is…" Laxus swallowed some saliva, feeling guilty of her death. "I should have never left her alone at the restaurant… I should've known the tip was a trap to lure me away… it's my fault…"
"Do I have to slap you?" Freed threatened.
"Pardon?" Laxus was surprised to hear those words coming from him, of all people. Surely Evergreen bug Freed? It sure made him surprised.
"Am I going to have to slap you in the head?" He repeated, voice clearly. "For the last time, and I hope this one doesn't go in from one ear and out the other, this is not your fault."
"…" Laxus went back to stare at Levy. Maybe he was right, maybe he shouldn't blame himself. Maybe not, he still felt guilt-stricken.
"Look," Freed could see the detective, hurting emotionally at the sight of her. His love for her was undeniably showing, which hurt the medical examiner emotionally as well. "This, right here, this isn't your fault. This was the work of a psycho maniac terrorist, thinking what's she's doing is for you, getting your attention, getting underneath your skin, don't let that happen."
"How can I when she took her life? How can I not give her my attention after this!?" The detective's tone was elevating. "How can this not get under my skin when Levy was the closest person in my life!?" The doctor's advice struck an unwanted nerve. "This… this personal now…"
"She wasn't just the only person in your life," Freed placed his left hand over Laxus' right shoulder, showing empathy towards his friend, telling him he's not alone in this grieving time. "She was my friend too, Evergreen's, Bickslow's, half of the precinct. You, my blonde friend, are not alone in this."
"T-Thanks," his friend's words were heartedly true, bringing a faint smile across his face. "Is Evergreen still crying?"
"Yeah," Freed took his hand off his shoulder. "She or Bickslow didn't have the heart to do the autopsy, I did though." Freed looked at the tools at the cart, recollecting the hardship of doing the autopsy. "She needed someone, a friend, to treat her right."
"Thank you for that." Laxus appreciated what he had done for her.
"She… she had gun shot residue on her clothes and hand, you know anything about that?" Freed went over the stuff he found on her.
"When Minerva called, she said that Levy had shot her, dunno where." Laxus remembered his phone call from a day ago he received from her.
"Did she now? Glad to know at least she went down fighting." Freed said.
"Yeah, BOLO is out in every hospital and roads out of town are all blocked, Minerva isn't leaving the city any time soon." Laxus told him.
"That's good, hope you catch her." Freed said.
"Hope? We are going to catch her." Laxus corrected him. He went towards the bin where Levy's other stuff we're placed in.
"You looking for something?" Freed saw the detective desperately ramble the stuff inside the bin, looking for something specific in it.
"Yeah," Laxus double checked everything once more, hoping to find what he was looking for now. "The ring I gave her when I proposed to her, I didn't see it on her or near her at the crime scene. It was a gold band with a beautiful emerald in the middle."
"I didn't see it on her nor did I find it when I did her autopsy," Freed told him. "You don't think…"
"If it's not on her, then she took it…" Laxus closed his eyes and angrily sighed. The thought of that someone else wearing that ring only made him mad.
"She must've taken it, claimed it as a prize of some sort," Freed speculated. It wasn't farfetched to think that much of what she's done to it. "Or maybe it just feeds her delusion of herself and you together."
"As if this wasn't enough to take in…" Laxus placed his left hand on his forehead, fingers massaging the headache he suddenly got.
"All the more merrier I guess," Freed said. "Hey, listen, I'm going to go check up on Evergreen, see if she's stopped crying."
"That's alright, I'll probably be here with her just for a few more minutes," Laxus told him. "Just… a bit more…"
"That's… that's fine by me." Freed gave the detective a small smile before leaving him be.
Once again, Laxus was alone with her, like a loyal dog not leaving his owner alone.
"I'm going to get the ring back, I promise."
…
Another sleepless night and both the Interpol agents and FBI agent have not come across another clue to the whereabouts of the assassin slash terrorist. Even wounded, no hospital in Magnolia has called about her.
"Fuck!" Gildarts got up from his seat, restless as he had no idea of what to think anymore. "We have all the exits closed, airports, both private and public, all closed, and subway stations and docking stations closed as well, and yet, we still have no idea where this bitch is!"
"No hospital, clinic or veterinary, have said anything either." Meredy hung her phone up and placed it back in her pocket.
"She literally has no where to go, we have to assume she's getting help from an underground doctor." Ultear suggested.
"But from who? And where as well." Gildarts walked back and forth in front of a map of Magnolia City. The red markings all over the map were highways, train stations, every possible way Minerva can get out, and now were all inaccessible.
"So many questions, and so little time we have." Meredy said, exhausted as she stretched all over her chair.
"And where's Laxus!?" Gildarts got that he didn't have any clue where Minerva was, but Laxus? Where is he?
"Last I checked, he went down to the medical examiners room." Ultear answered.
"Oh." Gildarts stopped his ranting upon hearing that.
"RIIINNGGG!" Suddenly, Gildart's phone rang, vibrating in his pocket. Without haste, he took his phone out and answered without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?"
"Yo, Gildarts." It was Laxus on the other side of the phone.
"The hell, I thought you were down at the Medical Examiner's room?" Gildarts had initial thought, thanks to the information given to him by his coworkers. His conversation however caught the attention of both Interpol Agents, knowing exactly who the man was talking to.
"I was, then I needed some air," the blonde told him. "Anyways, not the reason I called."
"Then why did you call?" That pegged the question.
"I may have found a lead." Laxus finally answered, the reason for the call.
"Oh, where?" Gildarts now stood up from his seat. At this point, any clue would help the investigation.
"Well I'm not so sure if it's concrete or not." And like that, Gildarts sat back down, disappointed to hear those words.
"Okay, how are you just going to tell me that you found a clue then tell me that it's not as solid as you think it is!?" The redhead yelled through his phone.
"Well I'm about to find out if it's credible or not," from what Gildarts can discern, he heard some type of dance trance kind of music on the other line. "I'm about to meet up with a CI of mine, talk to you when I'm done."
"Alright." And like that, their conversation came to an end.
"The detective found a clue?" Ultear looked at Gildarts, sighing as he leaned more into his metal chair.
"Sort of, said he'd call me back when he's done with his meeting with his CI."
…
As Laxus placed his phone in his inner jacket pocket, he neared the entrance to a club known as the Rabbit Hole. "Detective Laxus, good to see you." The doorman recognized the blonde.
"Good to see you too, Lily." The detective shook his hand. The doorman was a tall muscly black man, having a full blown beard, a scar on his eye similar to the detective's and security gear.
"You here for pleasure or-"
"Business." Laxus interrupted him, getting to the chase.
"Alright." The doorman let him in.
The inside of the club had purple to pink LED lights, making the room bright with it's reflecting color. The stench of booze was in the air and on the dance floor were woman who had sexy and alluring bunny suit and ears. The real reason the club was called the Rabbit Hole.
Laxus paid no attention to none of it while his only concern was to look for his CI, a man named Gajeel Redfox. Owner of the club and the boss of the gang known as the Metalheads. It was pretty ironic that a man with so much power was the confidential informant for the detective.
And in the corner of the club sat Gajeel, a man with intimidating piercings all over his face and a white suit, sitting next to a bunch of babes with the same bunny attire.
"Ah, detective Laxus, it's so nice to see you." Gajeel waved around a beer bottle, greeting the detective in front of his table.
"Hello Gajeel." Laxus had an annoyed look to his face. As if the loud music wasn't enough to annoy him, the sight of his CI drinking and hugging his employees was adding to his unnerving annoyance.
"So, what do you want?" He asked, sipping down some regular brand beer.
"We need to talk," Laxus sighed. "And now."
The serious look on Laxus face only raised an eyebrow on Gajeel. And with that, he could tell it was pretty urgent. Slowly, the man put down his drinks. "EVERYBODY!" The man yelled.
And with that signal, the music, the dancing, the drinking, everything and everyone, stopped. Even the lights were back to normal and everything was no longer a bright pink or purple color. The power Gajeel had over them was astounding.
"Scram!" And just like that, the party was over. The women on stage returned backstage, the people all left and only his staff were here. The women he was surrounded with had left backstage as well, leaving the two be.
"You don't disappoint." Laxus chuckled. He sat across from Gajeel.
"What can I say, I am a man with a lot of power at the tip of my hands." Gajeel exclaimed. Even with all that power, he had high respect for Laxus, given that he cleared out his club just for this sudden meeting.
"I don't need your power, I just need your information," Laxus took out a picture of Minerva, placing it down on the table for Gajeel to set his eyes on. "Her. I want to know where she is."
"Oh, I've seen this woman around on the news," good to know that even a gang leader watches the news. "Yeah, big fish in a small pond."
"Tell me, which under-the-rug doctor did she go to?" Considering no hospital has called in on her, Laxus would have to assume she's gone under the radar.
"I would have to assume the doctor only known as Grandeeny," Gajeel slid the picture back to Laxus. "Only doctor who would be nuts to even consider this bitch as a patient."
"And where can I find this person?" He asked.
"Careful now, Grandeeny is just as dangerous as the psychopath you're chasing after." Gajeel warned.
"Not my question." Laxus didn't seem to care whether Grandeeny bites or not.
"Just saying," Gajeel crossed his arms across his chest. "Any ways, last I heard, he or she has a setup down by the Magnolia's Docks, on one of those fancy ships only rich people can buy, I think it was called the Unsinkable Cher."
"I greatly appreciate the information." Laxus put the picture back into his pocket. After getting the concrete information, he was finally heading out.
"Detective." Gajeel called out, stopping the blonde from walking any further.
"Yeah?" Laxus asked.
"I'm sorry about your girlfriend." Gajeel took off his hat, giving his condolences to the detective's loss.
"…" Laxus stood there, quietly. He didn't bother to turn around. "… word travels fast around the city, doesn't it?"
"The city never sleeps, not even in the night." Gajeel answered.
"Thanks though." And finally, Laxus was on his way out of the club.
"Careful out there." Was the last few words he heard come from the mouth of the gang leader.
Laxus took out his phone and as promised, marked Gildart's phone number. He placed the phone on his ear, hearing the dial tone.
After several seconds of waiting, the call went through. "I got an address."
"Great, send me the address, we'll meet you there with a SWAT team." Gildarts said through the phone.
"Got it."
…
The door's bell jingles as Erza went through the small convenience store front entrance.
The store looked small on both the interior as well as the exterior. Everything was almost hunched together but had enough space for customers to walk through.
Erza walked through the snacks aisles, reaching the end of it where the cash register was. Behind it stood a man with a brazen hair cut, causal attire with an apron with the stores name on it. On his chest was his name and was Erza so happily grinned as she mentally read the bold text of the name: Alzack it was.
"Hi, you ready to pay?" The man asked her.
"Alzack, my dear, we're going to have a nice little chat."
Author's Note: And that's a wrap for this chapter. Like I said, sorry for waiting a whole damn month for this chapter.
I also have a new story, it's called Natza Drabbles. A collection of one-shots for Natza as an honor for Natza Week. I am also writing requests for them over there but until I'm done with the prompts for Natza Week, so wait patiently 'til then.
Hope you enjoyed it, see you guys later.