Chapter 36

Gajeel moved silently through the halls, checking every room diligently in his search for his shrimp. The first wave of Fairy Tail's attack was extremely helpful in drawing most of Phantom Lord's members to the main hall, and Gajeel only had to take out three so far. They never even saw him, and he made sure their bodies were hidden in broom closets or side rooms. He looked at his watch with a scowl. The second wave would start soon, and that would bring more members into the halls. He had to find Levy and find her soon!

He came across a door that was locked, which struck him as odd considering the rest of the rooms were unlocked. Maybe this was where Levy was being held. He easily broke down the door, only to find an empty bedroom with a four poster bed. He was about to leave and continue his search when he spotted something on the dresser. His eyes went wide. That was Levy's headband! Her favorite one, which she always wore with her favorite orange dress. He'd recognize it anywhere! So his shrimp had been here, after all, but where was she now? Why was the door locked if she wasn't here? Unless...

Gajeel saw the open vent within seconds. So... she took a lesson from Lily. He grinned widely at this.

"That's my girl."

Levy winced as the vent pinched her when she tried to open the cover. It was harder to do from inside the air vent, apparently. Giving one last attempt, she managed to pull the grate up and into the vent. She peered down into the hall below, recognizing the stair she'd been led through earlier that day. If she was right, those stairs led to the cells she'd been held in. Making sure the coast was clear, she slowly eased herself out of the vent before free-falling about eight feet to the ground. The landing jarred her a bit but she was none the worse for wear.

She looked around to make sure nobody was nearby, and then she headed down the stairs, moving as quietly as she could. Only to stop and stare in dismay when she reached the bottom and saw the empty cells. Juvia and Lucy were gone! Were they moved? Maybe... Maybe Fairy Tail rescued them, she tried to tell herself. But she had to be certain. She had to be 100% sure that they weren't here before she'd let herself leave. But that meant searching the entire mansion for them. Hopefully the attack was keeping everyone distracted, but what would she do if someone saw her? All she could do was run. But still... she had to try. She wouldn't leave here without knowing her friends were safe!

Determined, she set out into the main mansion... only to get spotted almost immediately.

"Hey! It's that chick!" a man down the hall shouted, and another agreed with him. "Get her!"

Levy started running as fast as she could. She could hear the men running after her. There were at least three, she determined, and they were gaining on her. She took sharp corners, turning down every hallway she could. She had no idea where she was going! She could only hope to lose the men somehow. She turned down another corner, only to be roughly pulled into a side room, a rough calloused hand covering her mouth as a strong arm wrapped around her to keep her still. The men chasing her ran past the room, oblivious to her struggle as she fought against the man who'd grabbed her. Fearing it was a Phantom Lord member, she pulled her hands up to his arm to try to yank his hand away from her mouth so she could bite him... and then she froze. Studs. Yes. Those were metal studs in the man's arm. There was only one man she knew of that had studs in his arms! Tears of relief started to fill her eyes.

"Shhh." his voice came in a very low whisper in her ear. He eased up his iron grip on her when she stopped fighting, and it turned into more of a warm hug from behind. He let go of her mouth in favor of wrapping his other arm around her.

"Gaj..." she choked on a quiet sob as she tried to turn around. He loosened his grip to let her face him, bringing a hand up to wipe away a tear that escaped her eye.

"Shh, it's okay, shrimp." he pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling her flush against him with a strong hug. "I'm so glad you're alright. These bastards are gonna pay for this, trust me."

"H-how did you f-find me...?"

"I was lookin for ya. Cleared out this room and was about to leave when I saw ya running. Figured someone wasn't far behind, and I was right." he buried his nose in her hair with a soft sigh. "I found the room you were in. Found the vent. I'm so proud of you, Lev."

"G-Gajeel... Lucy and Juvia, they're here somewhere..."

"I know. We found 'em. They're with their husbands." he assured her with a light squeeze. The amount of relief she felt when he said this was extraordinary. She leaned against him and buried her face in his chest, thanking Mavis that her friends were safe. "Lev, we gotta move. Second wave is about to hit and it's gonna get real hard to get out of here when that happens." Gajeel transitioned back into work mode, stepping back from her to level her with a hard stare. "I love you, Levy, but I need you to understand that I can only protect you if you listen to me. Don't question me, just do as I say. Okay?" She nodded, wiping her eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pistol, holding it out to her. "I don't want you to have to use this. But if it comes down to it, you need to realize that it's them or us. Okay?"

"Okay." She nodded, shakily taking the gun. He showed her quickly how the safety works, and then he pulled out his own, much larger pistol. He looked over his tiny fiancee, who'd gone through so much and who had changed so much since they met. Hell, she'd changed since the last time he saw her. She would have never accepted that pistol just twenty-four hours ago. She still didn't want it, clearly, but she took it. He spoke the truth when he said he didn't want her to have to use it. He really didn't. But the second wave would happen in just a few minutes, and there was no way to tell what would happen when the second wave hit.

Gajeel put his hand to his ear piece. "Salamander, Ice-head, I got the shrimp. What's the status on phase two?"

"North side, ready to go. Same for the south side." Gray's voice came into his ear. "I'm heading to the West exit, and Natsu is planting the central bomb now. Plan is to meet at the west exit."

"Just finished in the center. Lucy took out some strays. They're starting to fall back, boss." Natsu's voice came then. "Told the second wave to hurry. We need to get out asap."

"Roger. Heading west." Gajeel confirmed, glancing at Levy who was gripping her pistol nervously, keeping it aimed down like he told her. "We gotta hurry, shrimp. You stay on my ass." he told her firmly. She just nodded and watched as he slowly opened the door and peeked out into the hallway. It was clear. He nodded to her once, and hurried into the hall. She followed quickly, keeping up with him as they ran through the empty halls. Around corners they ran. Gajeel pulled her down a smaller hallway, clearly knowing better than she did where they were going. Finally they saw a door leading outside, and Levy felt like they were finally home-free...

And then a large hand came up around her throat, pulling her back against a massive body. She cried out in shock before being silenced as the hand around her neck began to squeeze. "Silence, my dear. I wouldn't want to break that pretty neck of yours." a familiar voice brought frightened tears to her eyes. Gajeel was fast to turn around at the sound of her cry, only to freeze when he saw a very large man who matched Juvia's description of Phantom Lord's new boss.

Brain.

I'm so evil, leaving more cliffhangers. But hey you guys got another update and it was fast this time! Yay!

Please, please, tell me what you think. Give me suggestions. Especially now cause I realize I have an oversight ;o; Look down at the bottom if you want to know what it is. If you want to be blissfully unaware that your lovely author is human, just go on to the next chapter T.T

Anywho, thanks for reading. BTW I have a story idea in progress and would like some opinions on it. If you would like a preview of it, please PM me. Warning, it's a bit controversial and potentially has some triggers...

Ja, matta!

-Everythingnerd12

Sooooo... I... I don't really have a good reason... yet... why Brain wants Levy so much... help T.T