Chapter 37
Gajeel walked into the guild hall around lunch.
Levy not being around, but her lapdogs there, was a really strange feeling.
The two boys actually looked at him and sighed.
He went up to the bar, expecting to see Lisanna, but instead came to face Mira.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
"It's my job."
Gajell growled. "I mean where is Levy? You were with her."
Mira laughed. "Oh, she found what she wanted and is on the train back." She lowered her voice so that he had to lean in. "I was with Laxus since Rai took her the rest of the way. When he came back saying she was headed back, I had hoped to meet her back here, but her train doesn't come in for another hour."
Gajeel frowned as he leaned back to look at the clock above the door to the kitchen.
"I suppose someone should be there to meet her." Mira shrugged.
He got her meaning loud and clear.
A real love would be at the platform waiting on her.
He headed back for the doors and Pantherlily flew to rest on his shoulder as he headed for the station.
It wasn't too far away, but he slowed his pace to that of Levy just to see how long she would take.
"You going to find Levy?" Lily asked.
"Mira says she's coming in shortly on the train." Gajeel said.
They were quiet for a moment.
It was Gajeel who broke the silence.
"Mira smell off to you?" He asked.
Lily seemed to think.
"Yes, now that you mention it. Perhaps she acquired a new Demon form?"
"Nah, but it is familiar." Gajeel scowled and people kept out of his way.
It was an unconscious thing.
He never did it when he walked with Levy.
He brushed off that thought.
"It's Laxus." He said as they came to the station.
"Where?" Lily moved to look.
"No, on Mira. It's his scent. They Bonded." He grinned. He finally had some real dirt on the Lightning Dragon Slayer.
He walked inside and Lily flew up to sit on a rafter for a better view of the three platforms Magnolia had.
Gajeel stood where he could see most of the platforms.
xXx
Lily was honestly puzzled over why it mattered to Gajeel if Mira 'Bonded' with this Laxus.
Having never met the man, he had nothing to go on.
Mira had tried to explain and all he got from her was a bit of absentminded admiration.
He'd gotten more from the other full-time members.
On all the top tier Guild Members.
Gildarts, Mistogan as the rest of Fairy Tail had seen him before the Edolas Incident, and Laxus.
Gildarts was a respected father figure of the guild, who had a tendency to break things with his Magic and so he took long trips away from the guild.
Mistogan had kept an air of mystery around him that most everyone had seemed to hate, but he had pulled through for them on multiple occasions. For instance, taking out all of Phantom Lords minor guilds and collecting Makarov's Magic when it had been released from him involuntarily. He was proud of the boy he'd saved so many years ago.
This Laxus was considered a powerful member of the guild, but nearly everyone had some reason to fear him and his team, who Lily had been able to meet. Laxus seemed to be a rough, arrogant, for lack of better words: a real bastard to be around. Apparently, Natsu just believed he was misunderstood. Mira seemed to like him and Gajeel didn't seem to fear him, so it left Lily to wonder what the man was really like.
He sighed as a train headed out, leaving the station empty for a moment.
He looked down at Gajeel.
Perhaps the reason Gajeel did not fear him was because Gajeel himself was a bit of a monster still.
He'd always be a monster when it came to protecting what he cared for. Which extended to the Guild as a whole, himself, and on the top of the pyramid, miss Levy.
Lily looked out as a new train came in.
It pulled to a stop and he waited as people flooded off.
He had yet to see that admirable flash of blue hair.
Just as Gajeel looked to be disappointed, he caught sight of something astounding.
It looked like Levy carrying a child of about Romeo's age.
He frowned as Gajeel picked up the scent of his Mate.
xXx
Gajeel slid through the crowed like a shark through water as he finally caught Levy's scent.
He was in front of her, picking her up before he even realized she held a child.
He set her back down as she kissed his cheek.
He frowned at the child.
"Gajeel, this is Drake." Levy said.
The boy looked at him warily before looking down at the ground and snuggling closer to Levy.
He was far too big and Levy was too small to be carrying him.
Gajeel picked him up by his collar.
He sniffed at him.
He had a metal scent, but then, a slightly earthy scent as well.
The metal was familiar.
Like Metalicana.
Had his father had other children while he'd disappeared?
He scowled.
The boy seemed to sense his irritation and swiped with...jeweled claws?
Gajeel dropped him before reaching out to snatch his arm and hold up the small hand.
His nails were iron like Gajeel could do, but covered in small opal shards like diamond dust.
"Please let our son go." He heard a voice.
Gajeel looked up as a man almost like himself climbed off the train, followed by a red-haired woman.
Not Metalicana. He sighed inwardly.
Levy moved to stand beside him.
"Morte, this is Gajeel." She said to the other man. She held his hand. Insurance for him to not run away. "Gajeel, this is your cousin Morte and his wife Shuri."
Gajeel couldn't believe it.
She had found family. He knew he had some out there, but never expected them to be so close all this time.
He wasn't quite sure how to feel.
Happy she was back, annoyed that he'd had family so close for so long, even more pissed off that he had never searched...
xXx
Levy watched for his reaction to having family.
It was a mix of anger and relief for a moment before settling on anger.
He glared at them.
Shuri kept her eyes averted from his.
Morte stared him down.
It was he who broke the silence.
"You look so much like uncle Meta." Morte said.
Gajeel scoffed. He let go of Drake and turned towards the entrance to the station.
"Levy, Lily, lets go work."
"Gajeel, don't be so mean to them. They're your family." Levy said.
He growled. But he did turn back.
"You...can come to our house." Gajeel said grudgingly.
Levy slipped her hand into his as he turned back for the entrance.
She motioned for Morte and his family to follow.
Lily flew down from his high observation point and landed so that he was hanging over her shoulder.
"It's nice to see you back safe and sound."
"Likewise Lily." Levy reached to touch his head.
She looked at Gajeel as he led the way back to their house.
They came to the corner of the wall and Drake reached up to touch the metal.
It shimmered under his fingers as a warning that it held magic for defense.
"This is a technique Meta taught me." Morte said as he observed the winding, almost whimsical splay of silver against dark stone blocks. "But I never thought it could be used on such an expansive project."
"It wraps around the wall and touches each brick to triple reinforce the shields I put up." Gajeel sounded gruff to her.
She realized why as she watched him touch the gate and Morte and Shuri gasped at the dragons retracting their claws for him and pushing the doors open.
Gajeel wasn't used to being around family that was actually related to him.
xXx
Morte couldn't believe the sheer size of the place.
If the wall was anything to go by, Gajeel had power here. His land was much bigger than the paltry shop they had lived above.
"I take it being in a guild earns a lot of money?" Shuri gave a hesitant laugh.
Gajeel scoffed.
"We do make a lot, but Gajeel doesn't take any of the money he earns in Fairy Tail. He's just rich from selling the metals he creates in practice and investing that money wisely." Levy said.
Morte was even more shocked at the house.
It was huge!
He'd been in human form so long that something like this felt large to him.
Granted he wasn't as big as Metalicana or his own father due to his mixed blood, but he would have still felt small next to this house.
As Gajeel merely pushed the doors opened, he realized that his cousin had put up barriers on the house as well.
"When did you shield the house?" Levy asked him.
"The day you left." Gajeel said. "I was bored."
"This is amazing." Shuri said as she looked at the entry.
"You are welcome to stay here for a while. As long as you like." Levy said. "It's close enough to town that I'm sure a small shop could be set up nearby."
"There is actually enough room on the land outside the gate." Gajeel mumbled.
"You'd let us stay here?" Morte looked at them both.
Levy nodded and Gajeel shrugged.
He couldn't help himself as he stepped forward and pulled his cousin into a hug.
The younger man didn't seem to know what to do.
He realized that having uncle Meta leave him so young had seriously screwed up his sense of relation.
Miss Levy was a godsend. He was learning how to interact with other people. This Fairy Tail guild was doing wonders on him as well if the stories could be believed.
That Gajeel had once been a member to a Dark Guild as a young teen. That when he'd left it in ruins after they insulted his Dragon heritage, he joined Phantom Lord. And the horror stories that had been passed to his ears about his cousin in that guild...made him shudder internally even now.
He let go of his cousin.
"Lily will show you guys around. Feel free to pick a room upstairs as your own." Gajeel said as he stepped back.
He had hesitantly hugged him back at the end, which was improvement to Morte.
xXx
Gajeel watched Lily and Shuri head for the stairs with Drake in tow.
"I...I know it seems very rude to ask this, but I'm a father and you'll understand it when you have kids." Morte said.
Gajeel looked warily at him as he felt Levy hold his hand again.
"How many of the rumors that I've heard of Black Steel Gajeel are true?" Morte asked.
Gajeel winced. He had never really told Levy all of it either.
Levy squeezed his hand and he started for the living room.
He'd gone with Lily to get real furniture for the house yesterday.
She leaned against him in her appreciation of his effort.
The light brown leather went well with her plans of decorating. He'd known that from Lily telling him how she had talked about wanting to decorate a house she owned.
They tried to fill her dreams as they had shopped.
He sat on the couch and pulled away from her as she curled up beside him.
Showing him support in the unspoken way.
Gajeel waited until Morte was sitting before he spoke.
"More of them are true than I'd like to have."
"And the ones concerning females and children?"
Gajell huffed a laugh. "Those are false enough. I never once hurt a child on purpose with the exception of one brat who had a death wish. Ryos ended up on the better side of life when I was done with that little shit." He sighed. "As for my supposed 'rape' of women, those are just vicious lies from jealous men."
He felt Levy reach for his hand.
"I never hurt any female before the incident with Lucy and Levy."
"Lucy?"
"One of the girls in our guild." Levy said.
"But he hurt you as well?" Gajeel hung his head at Morte's words.
Levy rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand.
"Gajeel didn't really hurt Lucy. Even she'll admit that the hit he did is nothing compared to the fights in the guild all the time." Levy said.
"And you? He hurt you?" Morte asked.
Gajeel sighed. "I was not in a good mindset at the time." Levy squeezed his hand.
"He didn't hurt me really. It was more just my teammates."
"And yet you love him?" Morte asked.
"I know I did some horrible shit okay? Is that what you're after? You think I'd hurt your family too?" Gajeel brushed her hand away and stood up. He started for the door before either of them could stop him, storming out past Shuri and Drake.
xXx
Levy sighed as she watched him leave.
"Gajeel is a good man. He just had a really hard time with people, being different." Levy said as she stood up.
Morte looked sad.
"I didn't mean to make him so angry, but..."
"I know, you need to know what kind of man will be around your family." Levy nodded. "But he never really did anything to me. Gajeel has protected me from the moment I saw him wrecking my guild. He even gave me this jacket."
Levy loved his jacket and the protective Magic in the blue silver studs.
No one bothered her in this jacket.
"He protected me from my own partner by putting himself in danger, while we were enemies. And again from a fellow 'Slayer' to keep me safe. Laxus put enough Lightning through his body that it's a wonder Gajeel ever survived even being a Dragon. Natsu would have died and I always thought he was strong." Levy said. "Believe me. So long as you treat Gajeel with love and kindness, he might very well lay his own life on the line for you."
Morte nodded and she started to follow her Mate.
She left the family deciding on whether they wanted to stay or not.
Levy made her way out to the garage covered in metal.
She had a feeling Gajeel had created it while she was gone as well.
Just how 'bored' had he been? Was he afraid she might not come back?
After only three days?
She pushed on the door and found him sitting in the dark.
The faint flash of light from the door before it closed helped her see long enough to make her way to him.
Gajeel hadn't even looked up at her.
She pulled out her miniature pen and scribbled a word of Glow.
It was dim, lighting up the room in a soft glow that wouldn't hurt his eyes.
She saw Gajeel slowly tilt his head back to look up at her.
He looked so hurt and scared.
He was afraid his family would turn and leave just like his father.
Levy could just feel his fears along their Bond.
xXx
Gajeel hadn't looked up when she opened the door because he'd been afraid that if he had, he'd break down.
He knew there was something wrong with him.
Always, he'd known.
His childhood had been hell with all the fear and anger at him for being a freak.
His father had been distant even as he'd been loving.
And he had just felt natural causing pain to other people in rival guilds. Joining Phantom Lord had been his choice because he'd felt comfortable there.
Until he met Juvia and she showed him he wasn't alone.
He was by far the only one tormented as a child for Magic that was out of control.
Whose family had abandoned them.
Who wanted to hurt everyone who hurt them.
And then he saw Levy. Months before the attack.
She had been so full of light that even when not directed at him, he'd been blinded.
Since that day, he'd thought twice about whether hurting others was to get back at his memories or if it was just because he was violent.
Then the incident happened and he realized he was just violent.
Part of him had been afraid of being close to Levy, but his Dragon refused to be away from its Mate. Now he just wondered when she would leave him too.
He stared up at her, lit by the faint glow of her Word.
She stood over his stretched out legs.
He looked similar to when Makarov had found him. Depressed and angry.
Gajeel was startled as she settled herself on his lap and leaned into him with her breath against his neck.
She moved his hands to wrap around her.
"You're safe with me." She said softly.
He felt himself laugh even as his barrier started to break inside and he cried.
He'd held in his fears for so long. It was a wonder he hadn't become as cold as the metal he ate.
He wrapped his arms around her tighter.
Gajeel buried his face in her soft blue hair. "Don't..." He started.
He couldn't finish. Couldn't express that fear to her.
She settled in close to him and he savored the feel of her against him.
Here, in the gentle glow of her Word, he felt safe from judgement. Safe from the fears he hid.
He nuzzled her neck and felt her heat against him.
"Love me Levy." He mumbled as he kissed the sensitive skin at the juncture of her neck and shoulder.
xXx
Levy wasn't sure what he had intended to say before, but as he broke down, she found herself wanting to comfort him.
He was so strong that it hurt to see him break.
She shivered at the touch of his lips and the heat in his request.
Her fingers threaded into his mane of thick black hair and he took that as a sign of surrender.
He came to his feet quite gracefully for holding someone.
As she felt him sit in a chair and arrange her to straddle his lap, her Word started to fade.
It hadn't been intended to last for long. But it plunged them into darkness.
It heightened her other senses.
The slide of her jacket as he took it off and draped it over the chair was slow and easy.
He wasn't rushing.
She wanted to keep it that way.
She moved her hands down to his chest and eased his shirt up and over his head to fall beside the chair onto a low table.
Gajeel growled as he pulled her head down to kiss her.
His fangs brushed her lip as he nipped it and then soothed it with his tongue.
Levy felt him methodically strip her and put everything on the table before he touched her.
As she couldn't see anything, she had no idea his hand was cold metal scales and claws until he brushed the backs of two claws against her core.
She gasped.
"Gajeel..." She started.
"Yes?" He didn't let his sharp claws hurt her in the least as he used his other hand to cup her breast.
She held her hands still against his stomach as he leaned to put his mouth on the breast he wasn't toying with.
In the dark, she could hear the faint sound of his claws scraping together as they teased her nether.
It drove every sane thought she'd had out of her head as she focused on trying to feel what he was doing in order to anticipate what was next.
His body became covered in metal scales under her fingers as she felt how hard he was under his pants.
She tried to think as she reached for his belt.
He let her undo it and his pants before edging up to help her push them down his hips.
The feel of him still wearing his pants was somehow erotic.
Was she too young to fully know true erotic sensation? Probably.
Did she care? Not really.
xXx
Gajeel felt her hands caress him gently, almost reverently, as if the opportunity to touch him was something to be savored.
Levy always made him feel like he could be a better man. He didn't feel nearly as hateful about the world since he'd met her. Nor as violent towards people in general.
Some people, he still wanted to kill. But that was reserved for people as bad towards Fairy Tail as he had once been.
She had become his world.
Not a sun, because while she was radiant, she was reserved in her true brilliance.
One had to actually be in her atmosphere to truly appreciate the beauty she was.
She tasted sweet, like the sugar scrub body wash she made herself. With a slight hint of citrus?
He frowned as he pulled back from worshipping her.
"Did you put something fruity in your scrub this time?" He asked.
"Hmm? Orange and lemon peel. Is it bad?" Levy held her hands up to sniff her own skin.
He licked the inside of her wrist.
"I like it. You taste edible." He growled. "Like a lemon cookie."
"So the Metal Dragon has a sweet tooth?"
"As bad as Erza." He admitted.
"Do you like mint?"
"Bit harsh to my nose, but I suppose in small measures." He used his hands to pull her into position.
She reached to feel him going into her.
It was an amazing feeling.
He loved how hot she was with him.
No one else should ever see this side of her.
He'd kill them.
Her heartbeat was erratic as he helped her come.
The tightness caused him to growl as he nipped at her shoulder and then a particular pulse from her had him groaning as he let his head fall back onto the chair.
She lay against him, weak and sated.
He pulled her jacket to cover them both, glad she had done nothing to it but hem the sleeves and bottom edge.
He kissed her again before letting himself come down from his high.
They'd have to go back in eventually.
Gajeel savored the moment of peace with her.