Mira's feet smacked against the ground as she practically ran from the hospital. Her veins beat with sick excitement but she didn't feel liberated. She didn't feel better. She still felt less without Elfman. She still felt like she failed. Running helped. Cutting in front of a truck at the intersection helped, too. A horn blared; her dark purple scrubs didn't stand out very well in the encroaching darkness. The next intersection she did the same thing. And again as she trekked across a busy road. This time, the car that almost smoked her swerved and pulled a U turn. Mira's heart beat even more frantically and she felt a little bit alive as the Mercedes revved and quickly pulled in to the curb beside her. The door opened and the danger Mira had been flirting with didn't lessen.
"Get in."
Mira looked up and down the road before climbing into the back seat. The door closed behind her and she felt very closed off from the rest of the world. The inside of the car smelled like leather, alcohol, and cigarettes. The only time she'd seen Zeref indulge, things weren't going his way or he had to make decisions that weighed heavily on him.
"I didn't think I'd see you again," Mira said.
Zeref smiled and the car started driving again. "I'd never let you walk off with evidence that could be linked back to me, Mira."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"That I don't trust you. Change." He handed off a bag for her inspection. Inside was a black dress with a low neckline. It was something that she'd choose to wear to entertain Zeref if he was buying.
"I'm not working tonight."
"No, you're not. But you were."
"Are you my alibi?" she asked, understanding.
"Me and about ten other people that saw us come into Red's for dinner."
Mira expelled her breath and started changing there in the back seat. Sometimes, it was awkward, having to kneel and twist to get the dress low where it belonged. The driver kept his eyes on the road and Zeref watched her with the same detached interest he had earlier that day. He was stiff, she could see it through his pants, and Mira thought he would touch her again; she half hoped. He never did and she didn't go looking for it, either.
"Other than that cop that saw you, I think this will be tied up neatly. We can clip that loose end, though."
Of course, his 'guard' told him about Laxus. Mira tasted iron. "He only saw me for a second; he was distracted and barely talked to me."
"Do you like him, Mira?" Zeref's eyes burned through her.
She didn't like to beg. She did it like a champ. "Please don't hurt him."
"You were the one who said you didn't want to be implicated."
"I know, but—"
Zeref's smile got vicious. "Maybe if he keeps his mouth closed I'm kind enough to let him live." It was all about power; he wanted the upper hand and was pleased when he had it. "After all, we have a fall person—"
"You do?" She felt a ridiculous amount of selfish relief and then guilt.
"A convincing one, with a story air-tight, who wants to help."
Mira made herself say the words. "If they're innocent—"
"They're not."
Not. She breathed out and wriggled the dress down around her hips. "Thank you."
"I should be saying the same thing. You scratched out a blight in the Dragneel history and you gave me the opportunity to clear up any bad blood between us." There was a mean glint in his eye and Mira knew she wasn't in on some private joke. That was alright, Zeref could be mean all he liked. She knew how to do this dance.
"About what happened with Acnologia—"
"Don't worry about it anymore, Mira. I know you were doing what was best for your family."
"Exactly."
He smiled. "Natsu told me I was overreacting. He might have been right; it's been stressful lately. Don't forget shoes." He handed her strappy black heels.
While Mira did away with the running shoes and squished her foot into more dress-appropriate attire, she said what she thought her Tante would want her to say. "Somnium has a wide array of pleasures if you care to visit."
"I don't." That was like a slap in the face. Mira took it with a smile that felt colder than ice on her mouth. The car turned onto Somnium's street and Zeref said, "Give me the gun." She took it out of her scrubs' pocket and handed it over. Zeref immediately turned it on her. Mira stared down the barrel with her heart beating hard. The trigger depressed and nothing happened. "I guess Natsu doesn't trust me, either."
It had been Natsu, after all, that had given her only one bullet and told her to be wary of his brother. "Why would he when you prove time and time again you're a motherfucker?"
Zeref leaned in so he was inches from her. "I guess. I suppose if he knows what kind of man I am, nothing I do will ever be a surprise."
She didn't understand what he meant and she didn't want to stick around to ask, either. The car was slowing and Somnium was in sight. The only thing that was wrong with it was that there was an unmarked cruiser parked at the front doors. She knew it was a cop car only because she could see the cage in the back, separating it from the front seat.
"Seems like Somnium has guests." Zeref's tone was full of wry humor as the car rolled to a stop. He faced Mira and his eyes were the blackest things she'd ever seen. "Consider us even. Take care, Mira." His mouth was cold on her cheek. Mira pulled out of his range and exited the car, leaving behind the scrubs and the gun and the devil she dealt with. She felt rusty as she approached Somnium's entrance; or like she was in someone else's body. It was hard going.
The door was unlocked and inside, there was no quiet drone of music that usually played as the bar and bordello got ready for business. Voices were raised; Erza's, Eileen's, and Laxus'. Mira found them at the table beneath the stage. The only ones that didn't seem to have their mouths open were Lisanna and Jellal.
Lisanna looked up when she heard Somnium's door close and Mira realized two things: Lisanna's hands were in cuffs and she'd been crying. "What's happening?" Everyone quieted and faced her but no one volunteered any information. "Someone tell me what's happening. Now," Mira added for emphasis.
Laxus broke the silence spell, though it looked like he spoke around a grapefruit in his throat. "Lisanna says she killed Superintendent Tores, Mira. We're bringing her in for—"
Mira didn't even hear what came next. Suddenly, Zeref's superior attitude made sense. This was how they were even. This was his foolproof fall person. The one other person in the world that would want Superintendent Tores dead as much as she did, for the same reasons. Lisanna had a violent history and it was believable. "No. No, she didn't."
"We're just taking her in for questioning," Jellal spoke in that methodical way he had that Mira thought she liked when she first met him; now it grated on her.
"Let her go right now." Mira crossed Somnium's scuffed floors in her heels and almost twisted her ankle. Handcuffed or not, Lisanna caught her and held her bicep hard.
"Leave it, Mira."
"You're making a mistake," Mira said over her and jerked out of Lisanna's grasp. "It wasn't Lisanna. She was here. I was the one. I was at the hospital. I—"
"She's lying to protect me," Lisanna barked. "She was entertaining Zeref. She said goodbye to me before she left at two. When was Tores killed?"
Mira recovered. "This is a lie. I saw—"
"Enough, Mira." Tante Eileen spoke with vicious authority. "Stop trying to protect her. I approved your visit with Zeref myself."
"What?" Mira squawked.
"I have the paperwork. Zeref paid upfront."
Mira decided then that she hated her. She looked to Erza for help and got only stoicism. Maybe Mira hated her, too. "Erza, please."
Erza took her hand and squeezed it. "Let them take her in for questioning, Mira."
She'd get no quarter there. "Laxus."
He looked disquieted. "It's only questioning. Nothing's going to happen until she signs a confession."
"Come on." Jellal's hand hovered over Lisanna's back. "This way."
Lisanna went without hesitation. Mira growled. "I did it. I'm the one. Arrest me."
Lisanna rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Mira." To Laxus she said, "I hid the gun and the scrubs I used to impersonate a nurse in the bus terminal on Vesper. Locker forty-one. My fingerprints are even on it."
Jellal took out his phone to make the call to get someone over there.
"They were mine!"
No one listened to Mira. She lunged for Jellal and Erza grabbed her arm, catching her up short. When Mira twisted from her grasp, Erza grabbed her again and this time, she took Mira to the ground and kept her there.
It took sneaking enough Valium into Mira's water to fell a small horse to get her to calm down. Erza brought her upstairs and though she was running out of time, Gildarts would show up shortly and take her to the hospital and together, they'd bring Kyouka home, she didn't rush. Mira had stopped crying just a few minutes ago and now she lay on her bed in the Iris room limp and red nosed. Erza combed her fingers through hair so blonde, it was white and kept all of her anger hidden away.
"Do you need anything? Water? Or something to eat?"
"No." Mira shook her head slowly. "But Erza, listen." She'd been saying that for about fifteen minutes. Listen, Erza, you have to listen. "It was me, Erza," Mira said in a monotone voice. "I was the one that shot him. I did it."
Erza said the only thing she could. "I know."
"I want her back."
"I know."
"Now." Her words were whispered with vehemence.
"Shh."
"Why didn't you say something?"
"There wasn't much to say. What could I do?" Erza didn't like to feel helpless; Mira was shoving her into that corner with ease.
"Stop them."
"I couldn't. She had all of the paperwork and Lisanna knew where to find the gun."
Mira growled. "Her and Zeref and Eileen. They all lied. They did it together."
Erza let her fingers brush across Mira's forehead and down her cheek, terminating on her chin. She tipped Mira's head her way. "They're better liars than us." Hopefully, not for long.
"I want her back."
"She won't be where she is for long," Erza promised, even if she had to walk into the prison herself to bust Lisanna out.
Mira's glassy eyes came to hers. "You'll help me?"
"Yes."
For the first time in an hour, Mira looked something other than totally downtrodden. "How do we do it?"
"We play the same game everyone else is, Mira. The long game. Lisanna will go to prison for this. Let her."
"Let her?" Mira repeated.
"Yes. I'm going to fix this. Hear me out," she said when Mira started to argue. "We'll get her the best lawyers. She'll plead insanity and be sent to the asylum. You'll be cleared and when the time is right, we'll lean on every connection we have and we'll get her out."
"How? We don't have those kinds of connections."
"Not yet," Erza said. "But that's going to change. I'm going to fix this," she said again. "I promise, Mira. You have a part to play too, though, okay?"
Mira sat up a little and her hair was a curtain of white-gold. "Which?"
"You can be upset that Lisanna is going to go to prison but stop telling everyone it was you that did it. When enough time passes, you're going to start being yourself again. No more tears for Elfman, no more screaming for Lisanna. You're going to be the girl you were before all of this happened, alright? Because that's the girl that people are going to trust. The ingénue one. That's the one that's going to get to know the right people."
"I don't know if I can be that person," Mira said quietly.
"Don't give me that, of course, you can. We're going to be the new face of Somnium, Mira, you and me, but we can't do what we need to do if you're up here sobbing. I need you to do what you do best. You're going to talk to people and I'll do my job. My mother knows people which means that soon I will, too. We just need some time."
"Lisanna—"
"Can wait for us to do this right," Erza said with finality. "She'll be fine for a few months."
Mira hung onto her words and Erza hoped that she wasn't just bullshitting, that in a few months, she'd build up the contacts needed to fix this. As her mother said, as Tante, it was her job to protect everyone. She kissed Mira's mouth lightly. "You should make nice with Jellal and Laxus, too. You never know when a friend on the MPD will come in handy." She felt so much shrewder then, not the Erza Scarlet that thought she could run from this and outmaneuver it, but someone new, Erza Scarlet, Eileen Belserion's daughter. She could be conniving. She could outfox her mother.
"Laxus—"
Erza was making a career of not letting her speak. "Was only doing his job. Don't blame him, Mira. he didn't want to take her away." She knew Mira knew it, too.
Mira sighed. Erza brushed her hair back again. "Have a bath or something, relax. I'll be home in an hour or two and when I am, we'll spend some time together."
Mira didn't acknowledge her offer; nor did she deny it. Erza left her there and returned to her own room to get ready. Her hair went beneath a short black wig and foundation covered her freckles. Contouring made her face look like someone else's. She dressed in a black pencil skirt and a pink button-down dress shirt. For shoes, she chose a pair of black kitten heels. These were the most respectable clothes she owned; she felt like a fraud.
Her phone hummed and when she checked the message, it was Gildarts saying, Text me a selfie. Make it good and make it quick.'
She didn't give him a hard time like she normally would have, asking things like 'What are you going to do with it?' She just got the job done.
Gildarts texted her back and said, Be there in fifteen.
She finished getting ready and descended the stairs. In Somnium's heart, she didn't seek out her mother to ask about her and Zeref's dirty setup after Eileen promised to keep Lisanna safe. Erza needed some time to calm down and collect herself and figure out how she should pretend to feel. Aloof, seeing things in her mother's light when Eileen fed her the bullshit line of, 'there is no better way to keep everyone safe. Lisanna is in the best place she can be'. There was no reason for Eileen to know that she planned on breaking Lisanna out, either. She'd do things her way and this time, she wouldn't fuck up like she did before. No one was going to get one up on her again.
A silver Lincoln waited for her on the curb. She climbed into the passenger's seat and Gildarts handed her an ID badge with the picture she'd sent to him. Despite how he must have rushed, it looked professional. "Grace Slick?" she read.
"You know, after the singer."
She looked at him dryly. "Did you just rip off Supernatural?"
He shrugged. "Why not have some fun, Tante? Besides, White Rabbit was fucking awesome. Remember you used to bop to it all the time?"
Yeah, sitting up above Somnium, breathing shallowly through her mouth so the cigarette smoke didn't burn her nose too badly while below, men and women drank and did drugs and deals. Great memories. "What does yours say, 'Robert Plant?'"
"Mike Jackson."
"You're so lame."
"Hurtful."
"Drive, Gildarts. How much time do we have?"
"Two hours at most," he said, glancing at the dash and working the car into gear. Before he took his foot off the break he asked, "How did your mother feel about you doing this?"
"She knows, if that's what you're asking," Erza said.
"It's not."
She sighed. "Don't worry, I'm sure she won't blame you for long. You can go back to being her lapdog, taking scraps when he's offered."
He didn't flinch like she hoped, though he did get tart. "You may be Tante now, Erza, but you have a lot to learn. You can get away with talking to me like that but let me give you some advice, treat those under you with respect and you'll never have someone like Kyouka trying to take your feet from under you."
"What's my mother's excuse?" Erza asked as a way to deflect the blame.
Gildarts started to drive. "Who said she needed one?"
The way he said it prompted Erza to ask, "What do you mean?"
He said, "Your mother plays a complex game. I used to keep up with all of her tricks but I lost track a long time ago."
"Are you saying she knew Kyouka was going to betray her?"
"Do you know Eileen Belserion to be ignorant?"
No, not at all. "Why would she…?"
"Capitalize on Kyouka's greed? Upheaval. When all the pieces are thrown into the air they have to land somewhere. Your mother likes to gamble and took her chances letting Kyouka continue. Now you're Tante and Zeref and Acnologia hate each other so much, they're on the brink of war."
Either way she looked at it… "She wins."
"She always wins," Gildarts replied. "now listen up, I've got a crew meeting us to transfer the body. I got the paperwork, you have the smile; show me."
Erza didn't know if he was serious or not until he looked over and waved her on. She tried one that most found charming. Gildarts smiled back. "No wig and you'd look just like her."
"Don't get any ideas," Erza said.
Gildarts curled his lip and got back to business. "Once we have her, you and I are going to escort the transport to our building on Docker. We'll loop around to make sure we weren't followed while they switch vehicles. Everything's good, we'll bring her back to Somnium, hole her up in the basement and voila."
Easy.
"Are you going to tell me what happened to your face?" He'd used cover up to hide a bad bruise and he'd done a pretty good job, too, but Erza knew a thing or two about that move.
"Yeah, your boyfriend."
She frowned. "He's not really."
"Alright, the cop you don't want me to kill thinks he's got a get out of jail free card."
"Because he does," Erza heard herself saying.
Gildarts looked at her reproachfully. "He's the reason we're here—"
"If he didn't want to kill her in cold blood, Gildarts, don't punish him for that. We should be celebrating." She felt very much like the woman her mother wanted her to be then, cold and practical and praising those that were what she could not be. "There aren't enough honest men in the world." Or women for that matter. The population couldn't stand a culling.
Gildarts sighed and Erza knew she'd won.
The mortician was a tall and wiry man with a thin-lipped mouth, sallow skin, and dark hair that seemed like it was perpetually messy. He took Gildarts' paperwork without looking at it and signed release documents. While they waited for the crew to arrive, Gildarts entertained him. He was a talker. Erza walked through the morgue to the sound of his familiar voice. She'd never been in one before and was disgusted by the meaty smell that greeted her now. It reminded her so much of a butcher shop that she wondered if she could ever eat meat again.
Each refrigerator drawer in the wall had a name card jammed into a glass panel on the front. Not every single one was full. She looked for Kyouka's and found it on her second pass. Her stomach rioted when she touched the drawer and imagined pulling it out to see Kyouka's face, ashen in false death. That wasn't the worse of it—imaging what her mother was going to do to Kyouka when she finally woke took that mantle.
The door opened, interrupting her thoughts, and two men came through with a stretcher and a body bag. Erza stepped out of the way as they came to Kyouka's fridge and pulled it out. Though she'd been fearful. she felt almost nothing when she saw Kyouka's bruised lids. Things might be different when she was sitting in Somnium and the odd scream came through the floor. Maybe.
Her phone chimed. Gildarts gave her a filthy look from where he still spoke to the mortician. She ignored his crankiness and checked the text. Can I see you tonight? It's important. Jellal's name made her mouth move into a smile and then back to a frown. She ended up smiling again, though less brightly than before as she texted back, Come by Somnium around twelve.
She got a thumbs up in return and …Gildarts?
You don't have any reason to worry.
The men gathered Kyouka up and stuffed her into the body bag. Erza put her phone back into her purse and followed them out through the back of the hospital.
Erza made Gildarts take her to a coffee shop after so that they were well behind Kyouka's arrival at Somnium. Despite the time she'd given everything to settle, standing out front on Somnium's stoop. she could hear screaming through the walls, very, very faint. It wasn't something that lasted very long. She imagined that on the other side, Kyouka was being pulled into the door behind the bar and being forced into the soundproofed room below.
"Do you know what she's going to do to her?"
"Don't think too much on it, Tante," Gildarts said. "You have people to worry about it for you."
"I do worry, though."
"I guess that's inevitable. You won't always; not all of the work is ugly."
"Just sometimes."
"You do the ugly work and you do it well so you have to do it less," he replied. "When people hear how you handled Kyouka's betrayal, they'll respect you. You'll need that being new."
"Everyone thinks she's dead already." Or they would soon.
"Leave it to me," he said and opened the door.
At midnight on the dot, Jellal checked his hair in his car's rear view one more time before getting out. The man that looked back at him had eyes that had bruises beneath them that a run hadn't fixed—he needed a good night's sleep for that—a cheek swollen from Gildarts' abuse and scruff that needed a good shave. He also had tufts of unruly hair. It was everywhere; he'd forgotten to brush it after his shower. He combed his fingers through it now. it helped very little. His clothes were clean, though, he was dead sober, and he no longer smelled like gun powder and blood and hospitals.
Rain glazed over his overlarge rain jacket as he got out of his car. He didn't bother with the hood; the wet could only help his bad hair. He slicked it all back when it was drenched and got caught preening by Angel, who guarded the front entrance. There was a hollowness to her that Jellal recognized because he saw it in himself and in his partner, too. She'd lost someone close to her.
Despite the melancholy, she looked up at him with a vicious smile and said, "Just roll out of bed, Fernandez?"
"Haven't been, Agria."
"I wish that was the only reason you looked like shit to me but I just fucking hate cops."
"Can I get in or not?"
"Tante Erza said to let you in," she replied. "Gildarts told me he'd like to shoot you on sight."
"Guess it's a good thing that Erza's the boss then, huh?"
"Tante," Angel corrected and Jellal agreed.
"Tante."
Angel stepped aside and Jellal went past her. He felt more nervous now than when he'd hired Erza that first night years ago. Despite his working for a Matriarch of an infamous bordello, Erza had been the first escort he'd ever paid for; the others had come to his bed without coercion. He had no illusions, Erza would never have entertained him if she hadn't needed something from him that night. Now that she had, though, he thought he could get her to come back without the lure of money. Maybe.
Somnium was empty, which was strange for this time of night. He hadn't checked to see if there was an Open sign flashing in the window. Music that poured from the speakers came to an end and everything was silent for an instant. Jellal heard something high and reedy that made his skin lift in goosebumps. He started to follow the sound toward the door behind the bar. Fiona Apple's Criminal came on and drowned out the sound but it was all he could hear.
"Jellal?"
And her voice.
He turned and saw Erza leaning against the bannister up above. Her long red hair was gone and her clothes weren't her usual fare. He left the door behind and ascended the stairs. This close, he realized that her face was different, too. That was makeup; he wasn't sure about her hair yet. Her hand still felt the same closing on his fingers. He followed her down the hall to the door designed with bleeding hearts. Inside the room smelled like perfume and hair product and Erza. She closed the door and locked it before heaving a huge sigh.
"Did anyone give you any trouble?"
"Just Angel, but that's usual." Angel's favourite thing to do was harass the local PD.
"I think she's just sad. Yukino…"
It was Erza that was sad. Jellal understood. Tante Alba had also been sensitive; she didn't like it when people got hurt for her. "I'm sorry, Erza."
"She was nice. A lot nicer than Angel," Erza said with a forced smile. "We'll all get over it."
Everyone had a huge pill to swallow.
"How are you doing?" she asked.
Jellal shrugged. "I have a funeral to plan, I guess. Laxus and I can get some catalogues together and sit down over coffee and gush about which caskets look the best." Like women did on their wedding day.
Erza didn't laugh so he assumed that it was a bad joke. "I have people now that do that kind of stuff if you want help."
He shook his head. "I'd like to do it on my own."
She smiled and it was a limp thing. "That's alright, I have to help Mira with Elfman's."
Jellal knew that they wouldn't be able to avoid the topic of Mira, not for long, but he didn't suspect that they'd get there so soon. "I didn't want to arrest Lisanna but I didn't have a choice, Erza. We found the gun and the scrubs and the hospital cameras were mysteriously out. She knew details about the murder, though, and signed a confession of her own volition."
"As far as any jury will be concerned, she's guilty."
"And what do you think?"
"I think you're trying to pump me for information that I don't have," Erza said decisively.
Jellal sighed. "Sorry."
"Don't be. It's your job." She started looking on her dresser for makeup remover. "Why don't you take off your coat?"
His bulky and soaking wet coat? "I wasn't going to stay for too long, I just wanted to ask you about our Tahoe and…" Erza started unbuttoning her pink shirt and Jellal trailed off.
"You could ask that stuff while you're comfortable," she said. Jellal said nothing. Her fingers stilled on her buttons so she could turn and apply them to Jellal's. How many men had she taken out of a raincoat? Jellal thought he was the only one lame enough to come to her like this. Everyone else would do something with themselves first, make sure that they looked presentable enough for Erza Scarlet.
She didn't give him much time to be embarrassed. His jacket was over his shoulders and Erza was fingering the bulletproof vest he'd donned. "What's this?" There was a smile on her lips.
Jellal looked at her sheepishly. "I didn't know what to expect."
"You're safe here."
"A lawman safe in Somnium. Today feels like a strange day."
"Somnium has a new Matriarch," she said as she released him and went to her dresser. There, she pulled off the wig she'd been wearing and her hair came tumbling out. Jellal didn't realize how scared he'd been that she'd actually cut and dyed it until he saw the scarlet. He sat on her bed and watched her take off her makeup next. Her freckles revealed themselves one at a time. When that was through, she went back to undoing her shirt. The bra she wore was black lace.
"Do you want it?"
"The job?" Erza looked at him through the mirror. "I didn't at first but things are different now."
"Can I keep seeing you?"
She got the same pained expression she always did. "Somnium's Matriarch entertaining an MPD Detective…"
He didn't beg her; actions were much more concise than words. Erza watched him rise and cross to her. Her shoulders were stiff when he took them in his hands and found a spot on her neck to kiss. She didn't push him off. He made his way to her ear, knowing that she liked that.
"You came here about your car?" Erza asked the ceiling.
"It's in one of your factories, Tante, sitting in the loading dock of Six-Twenty Walker." She was leaning into him and he took that as an invitation to grab her. He couldn't decide if he liked the black bra or not. It was a tease. He could see through the thin lace, but not enough.
"I suppose you need it back."
"I'd like it, yes." Jellal left the bra where it was and satisfied himself with filling both hands, letting his other go to her behind. He kissed her neck, an inch closer to her mouth. A shiver moved through her body. Her head tipped, tempting him higher and Jellal was never one to waste an opportunity. Her chin tasted like expensive perfume, her cheek like makeup remover. Her mouth still tasted like the lipstick she'd yet to rub off.
Like last time, she was reluctant to give anything up but he worked her until she didn't really think about what he was doing, touching her to distract from what he was doing with his lips. When he took his mouth from hers, she looked relieved and, desperate to bring things to a place where she thought she had control, she started pulling on the Velcro of his vest.
"My car, Tante," Jellal reminded her.
"We can talk about it later, can't we?"
He asked, "Has it been a long day?" He knew Erza liked to pant her stress away; he just wanted to hear her say it.
"You have no idea."
He took it upon himself to get out of his vest. The undershirt he wore was damp with sweat. That, too, went to the ground and Jellal pulled Erza back in. He gave her a moment and kissed just in front of her ear. "Just one more thing. I won't get shot if I go for it? The Tahoe?"
"I'll have Gildarts bring it to you," she said absently. Her fingers snaked into his hair and she brought him in closer. Her skin was warm and soft and the fabric of her bra scratchy. She was all contradictions, always. He felt the bed at the back of his knees and thought it was a good time to start working on Erza's skirt. He struggled; there were clasps down the back, not a zipper and button. He pulled the fabric up instead and was happier for it. The panties at least weren't booby-trapped. Those came off exactly like he thought they should.
When she was as bare as he cared to make her, Jellal guided her by the waist to the mattress. He knew she liked it on top but she liked it on bottom, too, when she wasn't thinking about things like I need all the control always so no one can do anything terrible to me again. It was a great show of faith that she let him lay her down and it wasn't without issue. She tried twice to adjust their situations. He stroked between her legs and kissed through the material of her bra and Erza forgot to be overly careful. He got her stretching and sweating and sobbing and then he slid into her. She scored his back and he took it as punishment for pushing her. It didn't last long; he found the bud between her legs and she was distracted again. When she came, her cries got loud and her muscles got loose. He kissed her and she kept him there by wrapping her arms around his throat. It was her pleased gasp moaned out on his tongue more than the constant and alluring pulse of her body that had him at the edge and toeing over. He worked his fingers through threads of scarlet silk and buried himself in deep.
They stayed like that for long seconds, Erza's breath breaking across his cheek and her body twitching. Jellal dared to kiss her again and was given her cheek. She was going to make him work for everything. That was alright, he didn't mind. He asked, "Can I see you tomorrow?"
"I'm busy tomorrow," she replied while staring at the ceiling.
He didn't get deterred. "The day after?"
She turned her head back and looked at him. "Jellal…"
"I have a bottle of tequila and I know about this cool old building with a shopping cart that's good for races."
Her mouth quirked. "Don't you need two to race?"
"Show up tomorrow night and I'll show you."
"Don't you work?"
"Technically, I'm still on leave," he said. "Until Captain says otherwise." Meredy said Ultear was getting out of the hospital tomorrow and while he was relieved, he was also terrified of whatever she might have to say when she read the reports. Anything to push off the punishment coming his way. "What do you say?"
She still looked hesitant.
"Well, I'll be there at eleven. If you decide to come, you can bring some limes." He got off of her without kissing her again, though he wanted to.
Erza said only, "Your car will be left at the station."
Jellal dressed, donning his vest last. He wasn't careless. "Thanks."
She didn't respond.
Downstairs, Eileen Belserion stood behind the bar with a glass of something tall and clear. She sucked it back and winced. Jellal focused on the weight of his vest and felt brave enough to ask, "Who do you have screaming in the basement?"
Eileen said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Detective."
"Was I imagining it, then?"
Her smile was sly. "I couldn't say."
That was best, anyway, he decided, he didn't need to think about the why's and the how's, he could focus on the I'm just imagining's and ignore that he heard the impossible when he walked in. He could ignore, too, that he did nothing about it.
"Are you going to be seeing my daughter again, Detective?"
"If she'll agree," Jellal replied.
Eileen said, "I'd be happier if she wouldn't."
"I'm sure you would be, Tante."
"That being said, you're better than the last."
"High praise."
"It is." She swirled her drink. "Am I invited to the funeral?"
"Could I stop you from coming?"
"Not likely," she said. "Tante Alba and I had a mutual respect and I'd like to say goodbye."
"I'll call when I know the details."
She smiled and it was Erza's. "Go on now, before you get yourself into trouble."
"Goodbye, Tante."
"Goodbye, Detective."
The coffee was strong and his grandfather's pipe smelled familiar. Laxus breathed in the stench and spun the corner of his cigarettes around and around, flicking it with his middle finger. His grandfather watched and though he must have been annoyed, he didn't say anything. At one end of the table, Porlyusica was on the phone with the funeral home, on the other, Wendy rubbed some invisible dirt off Sailor Mercury's face, looking miserable.
"I know a guy at a scrap yard," Laxus tried. "He gets old cars in all the time."
Wendy lifted her gaze and turned her mouth down. Laxus knew that look. It wasn't the same car. It wasn't a 1959 pink Cadillac convertible with a 345 V8 horsepower engine that her grandmother gave to her. What the hell did Wendy know, anyway? More than he gave her credit for. Laxus forwent putting his chin in his palm and rested his cheek on the table. It was while he was there, staring at the scarred wood basking in his misery, listening to Porlyusica drone on that he heard a familiar roar. Wendy's eyes came up and locked with Laxus'. He didn't move, not even when he heard the tires on the interlock driveway and the engine die. It was Wendy that got out of her seat first. Laxus got himself up and followed on her heels. He arrived at the doorway just barely before she did and only because he used his long legs to his advantage. He kept the door closed and listened, partially afraid they were about to have an unwanted visitor.
"Hurry," Wendy barked and tried to go around him. Laxus held her off and opened the door. Beyond, the Cadillac sat in the driveway looking unharmed. Wendy escaped his hold and raced out to inspect it. Laxus came slower, surveying the area. A woman with long dark hair on the opposite side of the road caught his eye. She winked and waved and set out on her way. She had a very particular swagger that could only be learned at the hip of a rogue. He started to go after her but stopped when a Charger he knew all too well pulled into his driveway. Jellal got out with a six of Stella Artois and a magnet to pull out the dents; Beau jumped out after him. Beau came for Laxus, did a circle around his legs and then ditched when she saw Wendy. Jellal came slower, eyes on the Cadillac. "I thought I saw that thing cruising around downtown."
"Just arrived."
"Guess it could have worked out worse."
"I haven't checked to see if there're any scratches," Laxus muttered.
"I'm sure if there are, Wendy will let us know." Jellal held up his spoils, "Now's a good time?"
"As good a time as any," Laxus said.
"Where's your grandfather?"
"Inside. Porlyusica's on the phone setting up Ivan's funeral and keeping him company."
"The noise isn't going to bother them?"
Laxus shrugged. "It's been a ghost town here; a bit of noise will do this place good." He took out his key fob and pressed the button that opened his garage door. There his Plymouth sat in all of its dented and broken windshield glory.
"I called the guy to get the windshield done, he's going to be here in twenty," Jellal said.
"Service."
"Yeah." He clapped Laxus on the shoulder as he walked by. "Let's see if we can get your ass print out of it."
The funeral wasn't much of a funeral. The priest Porlyusica had called showed up and said some prayers over an urn and Laxus thought that was more than his father deserved. Jellal was there, so was Wendy and Porlyusica. His grandfather showed after much coercion. Makarov accepted Ivan's role in it all very reluctantly and his death was an even harder pill to swallow. Laxus thought his grandfather still hadn't completely come to terms with it. Maybe that was for the best. Senility came for him more and more in the days to follow. He forgot things like what he'd been saying ten minutes earlier, where he'd put his pills (conveniently, Laxus was sure) and that he wasn't allowed to mindlessly wander the streets.
On the days he remembered his son was dead, he was spitting mad.
Laxus didn't know what to say to make it better so he spent as much time as he could out in the garage doing a massive overhaul of the Plymouth's engine. Today he was changing the spark plugs and wires. Tomorrow, he'd do the belt; he thought he saw some cracks on it that morning when he was getting ready to do an oil change.
He turned the last spark plug, getting it in snugly but not too snugly when the garage door opened. "I'll just be another minute," Laxus said, thinking that it was Porlyusica. She'd called him for dinner a long time ago.
"I think you're okay out here."
The sound of her familiar voice in a place it had never been before jarred him badly enough that when Laxus stood, he cracked his head on the hood of his Plymouth. "Ow, fuck." He rubbed the spot and turned. Mira's smile was half-cocked and didn't reach her eyes, not wholly. She looked a little bit glad to see him but under that was a sadness that was like a mire. He got caught in it like a fly in honey. "How did you get in here?"
"Your grandfather said that I could find you out here."
"I'll have to talk to him about selling me out," Laxus joked.
Mira wasn't in much of a laughing mood. "Do you not want me here?"
"No," Laxus said immediately. "I mean, I do. I'm glad you're here." He chewed his tongue hard after that.
Mira was unmoved by his fumbling-was she glad to hear it? Turned off? Who the fuck knew? She came down the stairs in a pair of shiny black tights and a top redder than sin that the pale skin of her belly peeped out of when she stepped. "I didn't know you did your own work."
Laxus shrugged and hoped that it was nonchalantly. "I like it. Clears my head."
"I've been looking to do that lately."
He wiped his hands on the rag he had draped on his hood and faced her more directly. His skin prickled when she came much closer than he thought she ever would again. "What do you like to do to get your mind off things?"
"That depends." She ran her fingers over the car's frame. "Does it run?"
"Yeah, it should run now." He looked over his shoulder to make sure that all sixteen spark plugs were where they should be. He didn't want to embarrass himself.
"Maybe you could take me for a ride?"
Laxus wondered if he should have thought more about his answer as he closed the hood and opened the passenger's door for her. Mira's heels rap-tap-tapped as she climbed inside. Laxus got in the other side and hit the button for the garage door. It rolled up and he started the engine. "Seatbelt."
She obeyed and watched him work the car into drive. He revved the engine and she smiled. It wasn't without worry yet but he was determined to make it that way. "Where do you want to go?"
"Train tracks," she said. A long and nearly empty stretch of country road. "And I want to go fast."
"That's what this car was built for." He waited until he was pulling onto the road to squeal the tires; he was sure that his grandfather wouldn't appreciate burned rubber on the garage's cement floor. He took the back route to the tracks. It wasn't the fastest way but Mira didn't seem to care. She undid her window and leaned out into the cool spring air.
"Faster."
Laxus put his foot down and the RPM's jumped. The car lurched forward and Mira's laugh was grabbed by the wind.
"Faster."
"Hold on," he said when the dirt road came into view. There was farm field on either side; he used the clear line of sight to check for coming traffic. He saw no one so he slowed just enough that the car wouldn't roll when he came onto the road and then, part way through the turn, gunned it. Mira laughed again and undid her seatbelt. Laxus couldn't catch her scooting up and putting her butt on the sill. He tasted fear and grabbed her leg. Mira peeked beneath the frame and her eyes were bright. "Don't slow down."
"Like hell. Get in here, Mira."
She ignored him. "Go faster." There was a smile on her mouth that was genuine and a spark in her eye. "Come on."
Laxus was afraid for her up there but he was also undeniably thrilled when she smacked her palms on the roof and demanded, "Faster!" one more time. This was the first time he'd ever heard her laugh like this and he wanted to keep the high going. He put his foot down on the gas. She let go of the frame and put her hands in the air, free, and the feeling was catching. Laxus didn't think about his bullet, he didn't think about his grandfather's failing mental state, he didn't think about his partner tangled up with a crime boss's daughter. He didn't think about the Cardinal case and the girls he couldn't save. He thought about nothing but the danger and he loved it. He stomped his foot down again and pushed the car well past what was safe. When they came over the tracks, Mira almost bounced out. Only his hold on her leg kept her in. She swung back in and it wasn't to yell or to get shaky, it was to put her mouth on his neck and her body on his. Laxus almost drove off the road when she grabbed between his legs. He slowed to a reasonable speed when she got his pants undone but never stopped, not until she lifted up again to tell him to pull over.
Cars passed and Mira didn't care; the train rumbled by and drown out her cries. She made Laxus hold her tight enough to bruise and fucked him even after he came, pushing herself and pushing; always pushing the boundaries. She was covered in sweat and Laxus came again before she climbed off of him. Afterward, there were no kisses or gentle touches. No hand holding. In fact, she didn't even say much beyond, "I need to get back to Somnium."
Laxus started the car and drove more reasonably back the way they came. Mira braided her hair in the breeze. In the silence that spun between them, Laxus got it in his head that it was a good idea to ask the question that had plagued him since the day Tores was killed. "Why were you at the hospital that day?"
She looked at him and said candidly, "I wanted to kill the man that killed my brother."
His stomach turned. "What happened?"
Just as straight-faced she said, "I lost my taste for murder and I went out with Zeref."
They fell into silence again and it was almost a relief to pull into Somnium's lot.
Without looking away from the windshield, Mira asked, "Will you come see me tomorrow?"
"I'd like to."
"I'm not working upstairs tomorrow night; Erza said I could try to do the bar if I wanted and I thought why not? Come by near the end of my shift. You can have a drink and then afterward…"
"Alright."
She started to get out. Laxus caught her hand and brought her back. She kissed him and it was like fire, burning him up like birch bark. She was gone just as fast. Laxus watched her twitch into Somnium and pulled away only after the door closed and took her from view.
Lisanna scribbled on a piece of halved bristol board with the green crayon Mira brought in for her. What she was drawing wasn't as beautiful as she could make with pencils and pens. She'd had hers taken away from her, though, for stabbing a boy that looked at her strangely. She didn't regret it as much as she thought she should.
The common room's locked door opened and a woman walked through. Her long dark hair was braided and hung over her shoulder. Her eyes came immediately to Lisanna and stuck. When she walked, it was with grace, her head was held high and her steps elegant, even in the cheap runners Magnolia's Institution for the Criminally Insane gave to them. She made for Lisanna's table without hesitance. That was a change. The first day Lisanna had arrived, she'd had plenty of people come to talk to her; they'd all gone away, though. Afraid. If anyone talked to her now it was wardens or it was Mira when she visited. Every day at eleven. Her sister was a creature of habit.
When she came closer, Lisanna read her nametag. Kagura. She didn't ask if she could sit at Lisanna's table, she just did. "Do you like art?" were the first words spoken between them.
The woman shrugged. "Not pretty art."
Lisanna gave her the crayon rendition of the murder she wished she committed.
"What is it?"
"Blood. Cardinal blood. I think this is how he looked when he bled."
Kagura didn't tell her blood is red and not green. She didn't tell her she was strange, either. She asked, "May I?" and Lisanna nodded. The stiff paper was folded and worked into Kagura's bra and then she was gone again. Lisanna wondered if she'd be back again tomorrow.
Movement near the entrance distracted her. She lifted her gaze and met familiar black eyes and realized that she was wrong; for the first time in years, she had a visitor other than Mira. Natsu smiled just slightly. When she stood and approached him, one of the guards opened the gate and let her out of the common room. Natsu took her hand and it was almost like no time had passed; if only for the murder she saw in his eyes. Natsu was thinking about doing something irrevocable and Lisanna thought she'd never loved him more.