Chapter 25

Trick

Mira stealthily followed Gajeel and Levy to the Library, where she heard them whispering.

"Maybe we should take a break from the guild for a few weeks?" She heard Levy suggest.

"That's probably the best thing you've said today."

She watched them exit through the side door, everything clicking in her head. 'It all makes sense now. He'd been around her a lot more often lately, she'd been wearing scarves when it's hot out, she'd worn a baggy sweater, she hadn't seen her drink in a while and she denied the drink that was offered her today,' the clues just came pouring through her mind.

"That must have been what he and Juvia were talking about the other day," she said to herself as Lucy and Natsu came around the corner.

"Mira!" Lucy greeted. "How are you?"

Mira cocked an eyebrow at the two. "How long have you known?"

"Known what?" Lucy tried to play dumb, but she knew all too well that she was caught.

"About Levy and Gajeel?"

"Oh! Those two!" Natsu chimed in. "Yeah, Levy's been kinda hanging back a little because she doesn't want anyone to know about the baby," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Natsu!" Lucy kicked him in the side of his head, sending him into a wall.

Mira's eyes turned into saucers, a wild grin spreading across her face.

"Please, don't tell anyone!" Lucy begged. "Levy would kill me!"

"Oh, please," Mira said. She was going to do a lot more than tell.

Lucy knew her attempt to keep Mira's mouth shut was futile, and Levy was going to be in for one hell of a surprise the next time she showed up at the guild.

"Next time they'll think twice about not including me and the rest of the guild." Mira knew the hiding was all Levy's doing, and that she didn't want to be bombarded, but who the hell cares? Fairy Tail was family, and they'd go through hell and high water to protect each other. They'd all be happy for her, anyway.

"If it makes you feel any better," Mira said, turning to Lucy. "I already knew. It just took one little, small detail to tie everything together."

Lucy wondered what they did to set Mira off, watching as she walked away, surely planning something outrageous.

Gajeel, Levy, and Lily made it to their home to find the whole area surrounding the small mountain burned by flame. Up top, from Lily's point of view, it was a large black circle.

"He found us…" Levy said quietly.

Gajeel clenched his fists, getting angry.

"H-How did he know where to look?" Levy asked, scared.

"I'm not sure," Lily said. "We've all been pretty good at covering our tracks."

"Well this dick obviously has the ability to gain information," Gajeel remembered, wondering how he knew Levy was pregnant.

He looked down at his Shrimp, seeing tears in her eyes. He didn't want her involved in any way, shape or form.

"Levy," he said, holding her shoulders. "Lily will take you to Lucy's. I'm gonna find this asshole, and take him down."

"No!" Levy said, frustrated. She knew he was only looking out for her, but she didn't want to be treated as if she were fragile. "I can fight too! Ever since we found out that your iron gives me energy, I haven't been tired or anything!"

"Levy," he said sternly. "Go to Lucy's."

"I'm not even that far along yet. I can defend myself!" She shouted, her small hands clenching.

"I'm not gonna argue with ya, Shrimp!" He said, getting frustrated. "You need to go to Lucy's where you're safe! I can't risk almost losing you again, especially now that the circumstances are different!"

He looked at Lily. "Lily! Take her to Bunny Girl's and make sure Lucy doesn't let her leave."

"Gajeel!" Levy stomped her foot, demanding his attention. "I'm not a child!"

He faced her, getting angry. Why was she doing this? Why did she want to risk her life like this? There was no way in hell he was going to let her fight. Not with his child in there.

"Look, Shrimp, now is not the time," he said, trying to stay calm. "You have your own and another life to worry about now, both of those lives being MINE. I'm not gonna let you put yourself and our kid in harm's way. This guy clearly wants to kill you."

"Ok, well he wants to kill ME. Wouldn't it be the best idea to keep me around to draw him out? Then I can help you if you need iron or something." Levy tried every reason to stay.

"And use you as bait? Hell. No." He said, dismissing the conversation.

"Lily, take her!"

Lily shot Levy an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Levy, but I have to agree with Gajeel. You're far too valuable to us."

She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. Gajeel walked over to her, taking her into his arms.

"I'm sorry, Shrimp. I know you're not weak. I just don't want anything to happen to you." He kneeled and kissed her belly before Lily picked her up and flew off toward Lucy's.

Lily brought Levy to Lucy's, setting her down at the entrance to Fairy Hills.

"Here," Levy said, making iron for him to take to Gajeel in case he needed it. "Tell him this is only if he needs it," she said, knowing he loved her iron and ate it every chance he got.

"Will do," Lily said, preparing to fly off until he saw Levy crying. "Levy?"

"Go! It's ok! I'm just hormonal and worried. Don't worry about me! Just be safe, ok?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Levy hurried into the building, making her way to Lucy's.

Lucy opened the door slightly, peeking through the crack. "Oh! Levy, I wasn't expecting you."

"Yeah, well, Gajeel didn't want me to fight and he ordered me to stay here," Levy said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Is it a bad time?" Levy noticed the blonde's caution and assumed Natsu was inside.

"Uh…." She shut the door for about five seconds, then reopening it fully, "Nope! Come on in."

Levy entered Lucy's apartment, seeing clothing scattered everywhere. She spotted Natsu's scarf, her eyes getting bigger.

"Um, Luce?" Levy said to the celestial mage wearing a robe.

"Hey! Levy!" Natsu came out of Lucy's room shirtless. "What's up?"

Levy clearly came at a bad time.

U-Uh, sorry! I didn't realize I was interrupting something!" Levy said, waving her hands. "I'll just go to Cana's." Levy hurried out of Lucy's apartment before the blonde could even say anything. She was super excited for her tall friend. They'd finally gotten together after all the flirting and game playing. She was definitely going to have to have a long discussion with Lucy about it eventually, but right now, all she could do was worry about Gajeel and Lily. She started to cry, but got angry and stopped herself. 'I hate these stupid hormones! They make me feel weak! All I do is cry all the time over frivolous things. I can't wait for this kid to be out of me!'

"Levy!" Lucy called from her door. "Come back!"

Levy decided she'd rather be with Lucy and Natsu than Cana. She would rather not be around all that alcohol. She turned around and went back to Lucy's and made herself at home.

"So, what's this about Bolt Brain not letting you fight?" Natsu asked.

Levy contemplated telling him what was wrong, but she knew he would get Happy to fly her right back to Gajeel and she wanted to avoid another argument, but she really wanted to vent so she did.

Axos was perched on a large tree branch in the woods just outside of Fairy Hills, watching the celestial mage's apartment. He ashed his cigar in the wind, content with the message he left for the slayer and the girl. He'd spent some time collecting information on the two, finally figuring out where they lived. He also saw that they had an exceed, a quite strong exceed. He waited and waited, as he needed to leave his message at the right time, when their guards were down. Unfortunately for him, their guards were never down, making things a little more tedious, but doable, nonetheless.

Axos was smart. Quite possibly the smartest attacker they've had. Sure, he's made a few miscalculations, like that sword for example, but who didn't? He knew how to trace someone down, how to learn everything about them, their deepest fears and their biggest weaknesses, all without leaving his chair. He had pawns to do his dirty work for him. Only this time, he had to do all the finding out, himself. He clenched his fist in frustration. He should have just done this on his own from the beginning. It wasn't a problem, but it annoyed him that his two goons were useless. He supposed they weren't all that useless, after all, they got him the location of the guild, however, he could have done that himself. 'I guess that's why their necks are broken,' he chuckled to himself, taking a drag from his cigar.

Right now, he knew the dragon slayer would send the girl away after finding his message, and that's exactly what he wanted. He knew of the blonde, he also knew of the fire dragon slayer, and he knew that the blue-haired witch spent a lot of her time with them. He figured while the iron dragon slayer and the exceed searched the area surrounding their home, he would go for the girls, but didn't anticipate the pink-haired idiot to be there. Not only was he there, but he had also just mated with the blonde, making the situation a little hairy.

Axos knew the dangers of going after the mate of a dragon, and if the fire dragon was anywhere near as aggressive as the iron dragon, there would be a problem. 'Fuck…' All he wanted to do was separate the script bitch and the iron douche, and his plan worked… halfway. He took another long drag of his cigar and tossed it to the ground. He knew he had a limited amount of time before the pain-in-his-ass iron dragon would realize he wasn't there and would make his way to the girl. He carefully rethought his plans and contemplated his next move.

"He's not here!" An exasperated Gajeel said. Thankfully, Axos hadn't destroyed their hut, but since he knew where they lived, they had to move again, which sucked. They'd gotten really lucky finding that hut and didn't think they'd ever find another one like it.

"Fuck that," Gajeel said out loud.

"What?" Lily looked at him, confused.

"He's not running us out of our home. We worked too hard to find this."

"Well, we're most likely going to have to find a larger space some time to accommodate for the child," Lily said.

Gajeel hadn't considered that, though the cat was right. The damn cat was always right. There wasn't enough space in their room for a crib or anything like that. Plus, he was sure his Shrimp would love a room to read in.

Gajeel took a minute to think for a bit, wondering why Axos hadn't burned the hut as well. What was he trying to do? What was his message? He suddenly was picked up from the ground and being flown away by Pantherlily.

"Oi! What the hell, cat?!"

"We need to go to Lucy's. I have a feeling he was trying to separate you two."

Gajeel was livid. It only made sense that he would do that. Axos knew he couldn't get to Levy if Gajeel was around, and he knew that the slayer would most likely not let her fight in combat, but rather send her someplace else.

"What a jag-off!" Natsu said after Levy finished venting.

"He only wants to keep me safe," Levy said.

"Yeah, well, I don't know why you expect smart decisions from a sack of old bolts. The safest place for you to be is with him!"

Levy was confused but then realized, with some thought, that he was right. Gajeel would literally tear him a new one if he even came close, but maybe, just maybe, Axos had a chance at her if they were separated.

"We should go," Levy said, standing up quickly.

"Go where?" Lucy asked.

"Anywhere. I'm sure Gajeel will find us, but wherever we go, we need to bring Natsu." Levy was sad that she had to drag her friends into her mess, but whether she brought them into it or not, they were Fairy Tail, and they were going to back her up regardless.

Axos was too smart to put himself in a situation like that. For now, he would have to retreat. It sounded a lot better than experiencing the wrath of two dragon slayers. He stayed in the trees and watched as the three left the building.

"Oh?" He smirked. "Feeling adventurous, are we?"

If he could somehow get the fire dragon far enough away from them, he could snatch the pregnant witch right up and snap her neck right there. He felt he was fast enough to get away before the slayers could get to him.

The three walked unknowingly toward him, and he watched, waiting for the perfect moment to attack. As he was perched in the tree plotting her demise, he forgot one major thing.

"Hey," Natsu stopped, sniffing the air. "Do you guys feel that?" He looked up in the trees and spotted Axos. They locked eyes for half a second before he seemingly disappeared, the presence Natsu felt, gone.

"Where is he?" Levy said, ready to fight.

"Calm down, killer."

Levy turned around, hearing the sound of her mate's voice.

"Gajeel!" She ran into his arms, tears falling from her face. "I was so worried about you!"

"It's alright, Shrimp. He's gone, for now."

"Levy, are you alright?" Lily asked.

"I'm fine," she said, suddenly holding her stomach.

"Levy!" Gajeel was in her face before her name finished rolling off his tongue.

"I'm sure it's ok, just a cramp," she said, almost doubling over from pain.

Not thinking twice, Gajeel had her in his arms speeding toward Porlyusica's.