It had been a long time since Jellal and Mest had left to retrieve Erza's present, too long. Leo began to get worried as he had trouble to control his own jitters. He could see that Erza herself was beginning to get uncomfortable. He could see her eyes constantly darting to the entrance gates hoping to just get a peek of Jellal. Leo felt troubled as the continued to stand between the two girls. He noticed that Erza was becoming upset, hugging her coat closer to herself. He didn't know if it was because she was cold or because was worried, either way it made him that much more anxious.

Though the girls had been growling and glaring at each other for most of the night. Now the two of them were quiet. Mira had noticed the worry in Erza's eyes as well as she began to grow concerned. Whatever the boys were doing it should not take them this long.

Leo pulled out his cell phone in an attempt to call Jellal to ask him where he was. To his dismay it went straight to voice mail. He sent a text, but he still received no answer. His worries became that much more serious as he wondered just where Jellal and Mest could be.

He saw as Erza's eyes fell back to the entranceway. He couldn't bear it any longer he was getting far too anxious now. He decided that it would be best if he went looking for them to see exactly where they were. Something had to have happened. He knew that there had to be something wrong, they were taking far too long.

"Hey listen Erza," Leo said as he gazed towards the entrance, "I'm going to go look for them will you two be all right?" Erza turned to him, with concern in her eyes. Mira gazed at him to and to his surprise she was worried just as much as Erza was. Both Erza and Mira nodded at him.

With that he left jogging towards the gates passing by the crowd of bystanders who were just returning to their seats after the break. He dodged and weaved his way through until he finally reached the gate. Once he was past there it was a straight shot down the road. He knew the way to the pier and he just knew that it was not only quickest way but it was definitely the way Jellal and Mest would have taken.

As he ran down the road he eventually came to a road that led to the pier. On his way he saw a group of boy coming towards him wearing all black, including four that were wearing black ski masks. The one in the front of the others wasn't wearing a ski mask. He looked familiar but Leo couldn't make out the face from the distance in the dark. He could hear them laughing as they ran towards him.

He wondered who they were but he didn't care he was just interested in finding Jellal. He kept running anyways, he didn't have time to stop and wonder who they were. But as he ran by his eyes fell on the lead boy, the one without the mask. It was Damian. His eyes locked onto the other boys as he carried a wide smirk with him. Neither of them stopped as Damian and the other boys continued to run down the street. Leo's heart began to quicken as he went to a full on sprint down the road.

It wasn't long when he came upon two bodies lying on the street. The light was poor that they looked like two black figures laying in the snow. Leo's heart had completely stopped beating in his chest as his blood ran as cold as the snow. He breathed heavily as he felt a large weight fall onto his shoulders. "No," he panted as he ran towards the nearest body.

When he came upon the first body he saw that it was Mest. The snow around him was completely crimson red with blood as a large gash on the side of his head continued to bleed. "Shit oh no," Leo cried as he fell to his knees "Shit Mest, Mest," Leo wept as his body began to shake. His hands were quivering as tears rolled down his eyes. "No, no, no," he wept.

He could barely see it, but there was a little bit of warm foggy air escaping from Mest's nose. Though it was very faint Leo breathed a sigh of relief. He then ran towards the other boy sliding across the icy snow until he came upon the motionless boy. Jellel laid their flat on his stomach there was blood soaking the snow beneath him as well as his coat. Leo could see he was breathing and fortunately there were no blows to the head that he could see.

Leo didn't waste another second. He immediately pulled out his cell phone and dialed 9-11. He sat there in the freezing snow his phone pressed against his ear. He tried as hard as he could to restrain the tears in his eyes, but he was choking them back. "Hello this is 9-11 what is your emergency?" he heard the operator ask on the other end of the phone.

"Yes I need an ambulance," Leo cried into the phone. His breath had all but left him.

"And what is your location sir?" the operator asked.

"I'm at First and Jefferson on the pier," Leo yelled into the phone.

"And are you the one who's been injured sir?" the operator asked.

"No I'm not just please send the fucking ambulance!" Leo cried into the phone before hanging up. "God damn it," he began to sob uncontrollably. His stomach burned with a fierce pain to the point that he wanted to vomit. "Come on Jellal," he whispered through sobs, "you're going to be fine you hear me? You're going to be fine?"

Later that night Leo sat in the emergency room his mind was disoriented and he was still bewildered about what had happened that night. But what stuck in his mind the most was the wicked smirk. He wondered what Damian was doing there that night. He couldn't believe that it was Damian who did this to Jellal and Mest. He couldn't believe that his old friend could do something so horrible to two boys he used to be friends with. It wasn't possible and no matter how much his mind tried to deny it, Leo knew deep down in his heart it was true.

His heart was torn and his mind was lost. He felt like he was going insane. But from what exactly he couldn't determine. Was it Damian's betrayal? Or was it how he found Jellal and Mest? Both of the boys lying there in the snow bleeding uncontrollably and for all he knew they could be dead right now in that room. He shook his head at the thought, the doctors would have told him by now if they were dead, unless of course they were trying to find a way to tell him.

Leo slapped himself. He had to get rid of the thought. It wasn't going to help him it was only going to make things worse. He sat there his head in his hands. It hurt, his head was aching and throbbing. He felt nauseated as he desperately fought to hold back the urge to vomit at that point. He was sick perhaps he belonged there in that hospital room along side the other two, but he was determined to hold it all back. If he felt this bad he couldn't imagine how Erza was going to react, but then again she didn't see what he saw.

He wondered to himself what exactly he was going to tell the girl when he saw her. If he was honest it could destroy her, but if he just told half of the truth would she become even more enraged and heartbroken when she did find out the truth? So many questions were buzzing through his mind like a hoard of wasps. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't even want to admit that any of this was real and he prayed that he would just wake up in his bed and realize this was all a horrible dream. He begged for it to be a dream, but he knew that it wasn't.

Leo sat there alone waiting for Erza and Mira to show up. The light was bright as it shined off the white and black checkerboard tiled floor. The only other person there was the stewardess working at the front counter. She paid the boy no attention since she was too busy talking on the phone.

Just then he heard the sound of the glass doors sliding open as both Erza and Mira ran inside. Leo stood up to greet them. Without a second's hesitation Erza sprinted up to him devastation filled her eyes. He could see the same look of devastation in Mira's eyes as well.

"Leo are they okay?" Erza asked her eyes began to burst into tears. Leo attempted to place a hand on Erza's shoulder but to his utter shock he saw Mira offer Erza a hug instead. The redhead girl said nothing as she just hugged the white haired girl back.

"I don't know," Leo sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "But it wasn't good. The were in pretty bad shape."

Erza became even more depressed by the news as he could see the pain in her eyes. He felt horrible for telling her, but he knew that she had to know. Mira just seemed to hold onto Erza even tighter. The white haired girl was just as pain struck as Erza but she tried her best to comfort the red head. Leo couldn't stand to see Erza so shook up but he couldn't blame her. He thought of a way to try and make it better.

"Don't worry Erza," I'm sure they'll be fine. "Jellal and Mest have always been tough. They can survive anything."

"What happened?" Erza asked quietly, though it more like a demand than a request. Her eyes were now a mixture of sadness and rage. They fell onto Leo, that hard glare that would normally make any man cringe, but with the pain in her eyes it wasn't nearly as threatening.

"I don't know," Leo said shaking his head. "I just found them lying in the snow bleeding with some pretty bad wounds. I don't know what happened or who did it."

Leo cringed under his own lie. He had already thought it was Damian, once again the other boy's wicked smirk flashed in his mind. He wasn't certain it was Damian, but after everything tonight he just knew that it was not the right time to tell her that. Erza was already dealing with enough.

It was then that a doctor came through the doors walking directly towards them. He was a man roughly in his middle age with a balding head and a black goatee. His baby blue sprugs were covered with blood and his face looked serious. Leo didn't take that as a good sign, but he hoped for the best.

"Are you the boy who called about the other two who were beaten by the pier?" the doctor asked as he came to a stop in front of the three teens. His voice was rough and stale. He sounded droll making Leo fear for the worse. He didn't know what to say but simply nodded his head to give the doctor his answer.

"Well fortunately we were able to stabilize both of them and stop the bleeding," the doctor said calmly. Leo breathed a sigh of relief with Mira, but unfortunately Erza was not convinced by the doctors words. "However," the doctor continued. "They have sustained serious injuries including some internal bleeding and broken bones and ligaments."

"How bad is it?" Erza blurted out. She pulled herself away from Mira who thought about holding her back but opted not to. She knew that Erza was serious as she peered at the doctor.

"I don't know," the doctor sighed shaking his head. "One of the boys has a fractured skull and he's going to need some intense treatment. He should be fine but he won't recover from it for a while. Fortunately there was no damage to the brain so but there was some blood that we needed to drain. Other than that he won't suffer any severe brain injuries."

"That was Mest," Leo said before Erza had the chance to open her mouth. He already knew her question, and he wanted to give her an answer. She wasn't convinced at all though and she didn't show any sign of comfort from his words.

"What about the other boy?" Erza asked quietly.

"His back is severely damaged, some ruptures and tears in the muscles and some blood clot, other than that he should make a full recovery," the doctor assured her. "He suffered some internal bleeding but we were able to stop it just in time before anything serious happened. The boy is tough and he'll be fine," the doctor said offering her a smile. "We gave them some pain killers and medicine so they'll be fine. However, Mest may not be so lucky."

"Well thank you," Erza sighed softly as she took a seat. She sighed leaning her forehead on her hand. She fought hard to control herself, to fight back the tears that were on the verge of coming out.

Mira sat down right next to her taking the red haired girl's hand into her own. Leo was still surprised to see the two girls getting along, it bothered and disturbed him, but at the same time he was thankful. It was nice to see the two of them getting along for once, but it was too bad it came under such dire circumstances. He on the other hand turned his attention back to the doctor.

"So how long do you expect them to be in here?" Leo asked him.

"I don't know that," the doctor said shaking his head. "I don't know how long they'll be unconscious though. It could be a couple of days or it could be tomorrow. I would say that the Jellal boy should wake up by tomorrow if things go well, but I don't know about the other boy."

"How long do you think it will take for Mest to wake up?" Leo asked the doctor.

"It may take days, maybe a week or two," the doctor sighed. "Like I said he didn't suffer any brain damage or any permanent brain injuries thankfully, but a fractured skull is still something that isn't to take likely. I think he should wake up eventually but I don't have an idea what to tell you about that."

"Thank you," Leo said nodding his head as the doctor returned it with one of his own. As the doctor turned around to walk away Leo took a seat next to Erza sighing as he did so.

"If I ever find out whoever did this," Erza growled from underneath her hand, "I'm going to kill them."

Leo eyes' fell on her with worry. He could see that she was serious here eyes fell into a glare. Even Mira looked frightened at the gaze in Erza's eyes. She gazed up to Leo who nodded at her offering her a smile of reassurance. It didn't really quell her but he had never really seen either of them like this before. Erza was never one to get fueled with rage, and Mira was never one to show care or concern for anyone except her own siblings.

Leo's gazed turned away from the two of them. The image of Damian flashed in his mind once again. 'If Damian was behind it then Erza won't be the one to kill him,' Leo thought to himself. 'I'll be the one that's going to kill him.'

Almost on cue he heard the sound of the glass doors sliding as Gildarts and Makarov walked inside. Gildarts saw the three teens and immediately made a bolt right to them.

"Are you three okay?" he asked as he walked over to them. Leo stood up to greet his teacher and mentor as he could see the very stern look on his face.

As soon as Gildarts was near him he pulled Leo in for a tight hug before looking down on the now crying Erza. Mira rubbed her hand and shoulder to calm her down. Gildarts wasn't pleased at all to see her so devastated. "What happened?" he demanded sternly.

"I found Jellal and Mest lying in the snow by the pier," Leo told him.

"I see," Gildarts said as he took a step back.

"And what did the doctors say?" Makarov asked as he slowly walked up next to the other man. Leo peered down at him the old man was serious.

"They said they should be fine," Leo told them. "They suffered some serious injuries, but they should make a full recovery. Nothing fatal but they probably won't be well for a long time."

"I see," Makarov said scratching his chin. "Well I think I will go back and check on them then." Makarov began to make his way towards the entrance of the emergency room.

"Excuse me sir," the desk clerk said standing up. Though she was still on the phone she pressed it against her shoulder. "You can't go back there. That is for patients and doctors only."

"Quiet brat," Makarov snapped as he continued to walk towards the door. The clerk was stunned by the sudden out burst. "I am the principal of Magnolia Academy and those are my students back there. They are my responsibility and so help me if you even try to stop me I will back hand you to next Christmas."

"Holy shit dude," Leo said as he raised his eyebrows. The clerk stood there in shock. Even Erza and Mira were surprised by the principal's sudden outburst. Gildarts just smiled as he watched as the principal disappeared behind the doors.

"Well that's no big surprise," Gildarts chuckled as he crossed his arms across his chest. "There's no stopping the old man once he makes up his mind on something. By the way Leo," Gildarts said as he turned to the boy. "You and I need to have a serious talk."