Gray walked in the shadows quickly after whomever was following Juvia, ready to pounce as he got closer to her. Juvia stopped, looking over her shoulder. The man backed against the wall, hidden from her view, then allowed her a decent lead before resuming following her. His hair was bright blue and Gray really couldn't be sure how he thought he was hiding. It stuck out, even against the shadowy alley. Still, he was familiar to Gray somehow. Gray couldn't put a finger on it, but he knew this person. He didn't think Juvia was in any immediate danger.
Juvia crossed the road to a small shop, entering it. The man ducked behind a magazine stand, pretending to look at some magazines, but he could see her clearly through the shop window.
Knowing Juvia was headed back to the hotel, Gray decided he might have to confront the man.
He solidified and approached cautiously. The man's attention was solely on Juvia.
"Wanna tell me why you're tailing my friend, Buddy?" Gray asked in a clear voice.
The man froze, then turned slowly. One side of his face adorned a red tattoo.
"Wanna tell me why you're tailing me?" he shot back.
Gray sighed, "You're tailing my friend. So that's a stupid question. Now who the hell are you?"
The man stood up. He was just as tall as Gray and just as toned. Gray figured if it came to it, it would be a pretty even fight.
"Stand down, Angel," the man said flatly, "I'm not going to hurt her."
Gray's eyes narrowed.
"I work with Gajeel," the man continued, "And he's called for my help."
"Really?" Gray said sarcastically as he sized the man up again, "With what? Stalking single women through the streets of Crocus?"
The man laughed, "You're really going to challenge me?"
"I'm going to ask you one more time first," Gray said, anger edging his voice, "Who…in the hell…are you?"
"My name is Jellal," the man said, offering his hand, "And I suggest if you don't want Juvia to see us that we get off the street. I'm not meeting up with Gajeel tonight. I have a few more things to look after. And now that you're here, I can be on my way."
Gray looked at the extended hand, then back at Jellal's face, "Why in the hell would I trust you? And why are you following Juvia?"
"Simple," Jellal stated, "I've been sent as back up at Gajeel's request. He didn't want Juvia wandering Crocus alone…if I'm lying, you know Gajeel will tear me apart. Now are you going to shake my hand or not?"
Gray glanced back at the extended hand, slowly reaching out for it.
Jellal broke out into a wide grin, "Great. Make sure Juvia gets back to the hotel all right. I'll be around. I'll come talk to all of you when the time is right."
Gray's head was reeling. Jellal had said, 'Stand down, Angel'. That meant Gajeel had something to do with Heaven too. And if Heaven had sent even more reinforcements, that meant the situation was getting entirely out of hand.
He turned to ask another question, then grunted in absolute annoyance. Jellal was gone. Juvia was just coming out of the shop. Flitting back to the shadows, he followed her closely, but he didn't catch sight of Jellal at all on their way back to the hotel.
Juvia arrived back at the hotel at the same time as Gajeel and Levy.
"Hey! How did it go?" Juvia flashed a grin at them, noting their flushed faces.
"Good," Levy told her, "We got some good information today."
"I need you to do me a favour, Juves…I need you to keep Lucy busy for awhile. I need to meet with everyone else."
"I can do that," Juvia agreed, "But Lucy and I don't know each other that well outside of work…how will I get her to come with me?"
"Tell her you need a swimsuit for tonight so we can go to the hot springs tonight," Levy suggested.
Juvia nodded, "Okay…sounds like a plan."
They entered the hotel together. Levy and Juvia said goodbye to Gajeel as he disappeared to his room to clean himself up, then headed for Levy's room, assuming Lucy would probably be there.
The room was completely empty.
"Maybe they're not back yet," Juvia said.
"Maybe," Levy agreed, "But it's getting toward dinnertime…you'd think they'd be back soon."
Juvia closed the door, sitting on Lucy's bed, "Nothing happened in my corner of things," she pouted, "There's no evidence of anything related to Jude Heartfilia's dealings left in Crocus at any of his old locations."
Levy nodded, "I didn't think there would be. Jude's been gone for over a year."
"Gajeel thought it was worth questioning though," Juvia said, "There's a reason behind everything he does."
"He's definitely a good cop," Levy agreed.
Juvia nodded, "Levy, can I ask you something?"
Levy sat on the bed, making direct eye contact with Juvia as she sat across from her.
"Your friend, Gray..."Juvia's voice trailed off.
"He's working this weekend," Levy said, "He's in Human Resources."
"Do you know him fairly well?" Juvia asked.
Levy gave a half-smile, "Yeah. I guess so. He's one of my best friends. He's just gone a lot because of his job."
Juvia nodded, falling silent.
"Juvia?"
"It's fine," Juvia said softly, "I used to have a friend named Gray. I'm thinking about him a lot today. It would have been his 24th birthday."
Levy hugged her, "I'm sorry, Juvia. I'm sure that must be so hard. What do you say after you and Lucy get back from shopping that we girls have fun? Just the three of us?"
Juvia's face lit up, "I think I'd like that!"
Sting and Rogue had both gotten a good look at the man who had managed to best the both of them. They were using the police station sketch artist to narrow down the description so they could try to figure out who he was. Neither had seen the get-away driver.
Erza sat in the shadows, nudging them to remember different details until she was satisfied they had a pretty good depiction. Erza had waited at the hotel for hours before deciding to come and see what Sting and Rogue were doing. She was glad her hunch was right - they were all over this situation now.
The sketch artist leaned back, "Like that?"
"Yes, Reedus!" Sting exclaimed, "That's him!"
Rogue and Sting both bent over, examining the sketch.
"That man gave you both injuries?" Reedus glanced at them incredulously, "Are you sure he's only that tall?"
"Thank you, Reedus," Rogue said pointedly, "Good job!"
Reedus shook his head as he took his art materials. He took the hint and left the room. Sting and Rogue were two of the most decorated cops Magnolia had to offer. Thugs feared them because they knew it was only a matter of time once Sting and Rogue had them in their line of vision before they'd go down for their crimes.
And yet today, they were both a mess. Both of Rogue's eyes had gone black and his nose was crooked. Sting had a nasty lump on his head and a black eye. They weren't exactly proud of what of happened.
"Put it through the face recognition screen," Sting said.
"On it," Rogue informed, scanning the sketch.
They both waited impatiently as the database searched thousands of profiles.
"Gotcha, you bastard," Sting said quietly as a single profile came up, "Samuel Zentopia."
Rogue, Sting and Erza all leaned forward to start reading the information on the page.
Natsu and Lucy were lying in bed after an intense make-out session, cuddling. Natsu's eyes were wide as he stared at the ceiling, in awe of the things he'd just learned.
She giggled, "You look so goofy with that look on your face."
They were both naked from the waist up. She reached for her bra, mimicking Natsu's groan as she put it on.
"We'll find each other later on," she promised, "It's getting close to supper time now. Everyone else will be on their way back."
"But Luceeeee," Natsu whined.
She put her shirt on and leaned back onto his chest, "You're amazing, Natsu. I've never felt so close to anyone before. I can tell you things I've never told another living being, even Levy."
He kissed her forehead, "I need to tell you something too, Luce. I want us to be completely open with each other."
"And that's what's beautiful about us," she replied, "We can tell each other anything."
She sat up on the bed. Natsu sat up as well, facing her.
She handed him his shirt and sat back on the bed to put a bit of distance between them so she could give him her full attention. His abs drove her crazy and she could see another make out session in their future if he didn't put the shirt back on immediately.
"I'm listening," she said softly.
"What I'm about to tell you doesn't change anything," Natsu said slowly, racking his brain for the right words, "I love you. With everything I have. You're the only thing in my life that makes sense. And I'll do everything in my power to make sure we're never separated."
She frowned, "You're scaring me, Natsu...are you still worried about the Dan issue? Are you worried we can't be together?"
Natsu took a deep breath, suddenly unable to speak. He panicked. Lucy looked like she was torn between wanting to cry and wanting to beat the truth out of him.
"Natsu..." she said gently, "Please."
"That's not it at all!" he blurted out, taking her hand, "The Dan thing doesn't make me nervous...it makes me want to protect you even more. There's no chance of me having second thoughts because I'm worried or think we can't be together because of Dan, Luce. I'm not going anywhere. I love you and I need you just as much as I hope you need me."
He paused, letting her see the sincerity in his words.
"So...I'm not sure how to explain it to you other than to tell you straight out. I'm an Ang-"
There was pounding at the door.
Natsu and Lucy glanced at each other. Natsu rose from the bed, peeping through the door hole (which had been explained to him when they'd checked into the hotel. It was a huge game for the first hour for Natsu...trying to peep through the hole to tell who was passing his room at any given time).
"Gajeel," Natsu told her as he opened the door.
"We're going to supper in an hour," Gajeel grunted, peering over Natsu's shoulder to wave at Lucy, "Then hot springs."
"Can we go to the buffet again?" Natsu squealed.
"Yeah...that's the plan," Gajeel said, "See you outside in the hall...ONE HOUR."
Natsu started to close the door again when Juvia and Levy burst it back open.
"I need your help, Lucy!" Juvia exclaimed, "I need a swimsuit for the hot springs tonight! Please -will you come with me? Levy says she can't go because she promised to talk to Gajeel...you're my only hope!"
Lucy glanced to Natsu helplessly and she was dragged to her feet and out of the room.
"Um...Bye Luce," Natsu muttered, "I guess we'll talk later."
Levy plopped down on the bed beside him, "It was a ruse."
"What was?"
"Juvia brought 2 swimsuits. She's getting Lucy out of the way so we Angels can talk."
Natsu looked down at his fingers, still thinking about Lucy and how he had to come clean with her, "Juvia knows we're Angels?"
Levy should her head, correcting him, "Juvia knows we're investigating something."
He nodded, "Okay. Where are we meeting?"
"Gajeel's suite."
Natsu got off the bed and left the room, sighing heavily as he checked to make sure he'd remembered the key this time. The hotel staff were getting ornery with him every time he had to ask to be let back into his room.
"We learned a lot today," Levy said as they knocked on Gajeel's door. He opened it and beckoned them inside. Natsu could sense Gray there, although he knew why he'd have to be in the shadows.
Dan was showing Lucy's face to people on the street again. Samuel waited impatiently inside the gold car, wanting to hit the gas pedal so he just run over the moron. Dan was busy agreeing with some old man that Lucy was very pretty.
Dan petitioned a younger girl, about 16, "Excuse me - have you seen this girl?"
The girl looked at the picture, eyes narrowing, "Nope."
Dan nodded, "Thank you. If you remember, please let me know. She's my little sister."
The girl stalked away quickly.
A man probably in his 40's was walking by. Dan shoved the picture in his face, "Excuse me - have you seen this girl?"
The man reached for the picture, a little surprised when Dan yanked it out of his reach.
"Sorry," Dan apologized, "The picture is precious to me. I don't let anyone hold it. Just look at it please...do you recognize her?"
The man cocked his head, looking into the eyes of the younger Lucy in the picture.
"Yeah," the man said slowly, "I'm pretty sure that's the waitress at 8-Island."
Dan's heart thumped, "Where is that?"
The man pointed down the road a bit, "Turn right at 9th Avenue. Left hand side. About 3 blocks from here."
Dan glanced back at the car victoriously as he strolled to the passenger door.
"There's a restaurant up ahead," he told Samuel, "Lucy's a waitress there."
Samuel tried to start the car. It turned over multiple times, but did not start. He was unimpressed with the crappy car. But it got them back to Magnolia.
"We need new wheels. There's no chance we can make a getaway if we have to in this pile of shit."
"Let's do it after lunch!" Dan was practically salivating, "My Lucy is only 3 blocks away! We have to go to her!"
Samuel lowered his sunglasses, "CAR FIRST!" he insisted, "We can't make a getaway in this pile of shit."
Dan sighed, kicking the dashboard, "You killed a little old lady for this car. The least you could have done was use it for more than 12 hours."
"Oh look who's getting all morally correct on me!" Samuel sneered, "C'mon. Let's go back to the highway. There must be other tourists out there."
"You get a car, I'll go so see my Lucy!" Dan suggested.
"Great idea," Samuel hissed, "Get caught at the restaurant groping the waitress and have no escape plan."
"Fine," Dan conceded, "Let's just hurry up about it."
This time the car started. It back-fired before Samuel finally got it out onto the road, squealing the tires as he did a U-turn and almost side-swiping a family crossing the road. He saw them take out their cell phones to call it in. It didn't matter. This car would disappear into oblivion over the same cliff the other one did in about 30 minutes.
Erza flitted to the forest, letting out a feral roar that shook the trees and made the birds fly upward. She punched a tree angrily, making it fall over.
The situation was far worse than any of them originally thought. There was Laki's assault, yes. The poor girl was still terrified. She was sitting in the police station this morning, still unable to go home due to paralyzing fear. She was waiting for an available cop to drive her home and stay with her.
But Erza had just learned Samuel Zentopia's history. It was long and bloody, dating back to well before Jose Porla was put into jail. At the tender age of 15, he had joined Porla's crime syndicate. Or at least it was the first time he'd been captured on police records. He was used as a drug delivery kid. Often these kids were caught in the crossfire whenever things went down between the police and higher syndicate criminals. By 16, Samuel had killed his first victim. He was tried as a child, since he was not 18 and served 2 years in a penitentiary. At age 20, he was present during a drug raid at Jose Porla's mansion. This was the one that killed multiple people, including a cop. The police knew that Samuel had been present, but could not locate him afterward to arrest him. He went unnoticed for several years after that.
But upon further investigation, Rogue and Sting had noticed a new pattern that had gone largely unnoticed since it was so spread out across Fiore. For the last 5 or 6 years, different towns had reported crimes that were never solved. A missing car...a body on the side of the road...random shootings and/or beatings...the list went on. At multiple locations, Samuel's face had been caught on cameras...never at the scene, but nearby. As Rogue and Sting tried to figure out the pattern, Erza realized that these were the towns that Lucy and Levy must have settled in over the years.
Laki was not their first victim. In fact, the victim count numbered in the 30's or 40's. The deeper Rogue and Sting got into their investigation, the more Erza began to understand just how terrified Lucy and Levy must have been for all these years. And this information only covered Samuel's history. Rogue and Sting didn't know about Dan yet, although she tried multiple times to push them to see his name the odd time it came up in the documents.
Releasing one more cry of anger, Erza furrowed her brow. She was going to find Samuel and Dan if it was the last thing she did. They hadn't returned to the hotel last night, but Erza knew better than to think they were gone. She was beyond angry. They were going to pay for all the people who got injured or died in their wake. And the trend would stop. Erza would make sure of that.
SUPER INTENSE CHAPTER NEXT TIME...MAJOR REVEALS IMMINENT!
Stay tuned :P