Lucy had followed Levy back to her station at the island counter right in front of the kitchen. The blonde sat on a nearby barstool slightly slouched over her half empty, spicy fruit punch while Levy returned behind the counter – watching Lucy closely.

"What?" she spat.

Lucy simply sat there silently, smiling expectantly at the girl. Her mysterious smile subtly unnerved Levy, but the blunette made sure not to let any actions of hers to give it away. She was acting like she knew some sort of big important secret that Levy didn't.

"Please go away," Levy shooed with a flippant hand wave. She plopped herself on the ground, untying her roller skates and flinging them about carelessly somewhere around her. Once her shoes were off, Levy pulled out the notebook she was doing her 'homework' in earlier and with a pencil started furiously scribbling something down.

Lucy squinted to try and decipher some of the words on the page, but she only understood a few phrases that didn't make sense to her. "Hey Levy, whatcha' writing?"

The blunette rolled over from her stomach to her back, kicking up her knees to use as a rest for her book and continued writing.

"Awwwww, now I can't see anything," the blonde whined.

Levy suppressed an eyeroll.

That was the point.

Continuing to scribble ferociously into her notebook, Levy decided that ignoring the blonde was the best method of getting her to go away. Why couldn't she just understand that she was done toying with their group, so she had no longer had use for them?

The blunette felt disgust washing over her as she looked up once more at Lucy's inquisitive brown eyes.

Nothing bugged Levy more than a dumb test subject who didn't know its place.


Roller Skating Rink Madness Pt. 2


Panic attacks.

They weren't exactly the most fun things to have, especially in the bathroom of a cheesy, overcrowded family bowling alley by yourself.

The cramped restroom windows gave in no light from the outside. The faucet leaked eerily from beyond the stall doors. With the bathroom door locked, she slouched against the tile walls by the sink in front of the mirror.

Finally alone.

Hugging her knees to her chest Juvia stared off in silence for a long while. She'd been gripping her arms so tightly, that even through her sweater, she knew she was leaving small crescent moon marks from her nails. Her mind took to racing.

He was probably right about her, all along. She would never be able to function in normal society. Why was she trying to fool herself that she could lead this farce of a life again?

Her breathing became more and more labored.

When did his voice become so prevalent in her mind? Whenever it was quiet and she thought she was all alone, there he was… starkly to remind her how much of a farce the life she was living truly was.

She hated this. She hated herself.

It was only a hat. It was only hair. So why in the hell was she reacting like this?!

She clenched her fingers even tighter.

Was she overreacting? Probably. Why couldn't she just live a normal life like the others? Why couldn't she just enjoy going to a simple pizza parlor without being on the verge of a mental breakdown over her hair being uncovered?

Was she truly doomed to eventually fall back into the snares of her old life? One that had nothing to offer Juvia other than fear, depression… and abuse?

She felt hot, salty ears burn in her eyes. Her eyes were getting misty and her vision blurry. She suddenly slapped her palms forcefully on the side of her face in order to stop herself from crying… but not before a few stray tears rolled down her cheek.

No.

She needed to stop. She was working herself up and she needed to calm down. After a few slow, shaky breaths, the fog in her mind started to dissipate.

Good.

Now that she was thinking properly, she realized that she desperately wanted to get out of there. There was only one problem with her wish. She didn't want to go home by herself. Marcus' surprisingly was pretty far away from school, which was the usual distance she was used to walking home by herself. As a matter of fact, Marcus' was actually on the edge of town. Another damning fact was the fact that she was wearing the school's uniform, which would only make her a moving target walking home alone at night.

No. If she came with the others, she was going to leave with the others. That way she wouldn't be the only one walking home in her school uniform. When she was finished sorting out her thoughts, she took a deep breath, tucked her hair back in her cap, and got up from the toilet bowl that she was aimlessly occupying for that copious amount of time.

"Well you certainly took your time in there."

Juvia was caught flagrantly off guard for the second time that night as she came face to face with Natsu, once she stepped out the bathroom. She did her best to hide how startled she was when she closed the door behind her.

"I've been waiting out here for almost an hour," he continued, not noting his friend's reactions at all.

Juvia was still speechless, as his presence alone left her at a loss for words.

"I brought you some skates."

Juvia snapped out of her reverie at that one. She looked astonishingly at the pair of roller skates he was holding out for her. They were white and glossy, obviously brand new, and had the Marcus' logo imprinted on the side. Judging by his demeanor, Juvia could tell Natsu wasn't making any sort of suggestion. He was telling her to take the shoes and put them on.

Like a mute puppy, she took the rented shoes and followed him to the roller arena to put them on.


"McGarden!" a man shouted. "Take these to table 7," and with that he retreated back into the kitchen.

Bursting from the double doors of the back was a silver cart tray with a pan of steaming hot pizza, and the bottom row of the cart held a tray of glasses filled with ice cold drinks. The man in the apron and chef's hat looked around the immediate vicinity, and after seeing the other two waitresses on the floor taking orders, he shouted out Levy's name.

Levy felt a vein tick in her forehead. That old geezer didn't even see her, how the hell did he know she was nearby? Well regardless, Levy didn't bother to move a muscle. After a few minutes had passed, the pizza just sat there, growing colder and colder. She was probably going to get scolded for slacking off again, but honestly, she'd had more than enough of her share of work for the day. She was drained... mentally.

After a few minutes of her writing and reflecting with no sounds from the blonde Fairy Tail girl, Levy's curiosity finally got the better of her and she quickly peaked up. Lucy was gone.

She scrounged herself up quickly, looking around the countertop to see if maybe she just relocated, but all Levy saw were the customers waiting on the line to be served by the cashier, and the few who were loitering about eating or changing shoes. Again, no Lucy.

Resigning to the fact that Lucy was now out of her hair, Levy reclined again on the ground picking up her book and pencil when…

"HEY!"

Levy shook like a baby's rattle; startled, causing her to leave a haphazard line in her notes. Leaning over the counter with stern blue eyes and shiny black hair was her fellow waitress.

"Good God Jess!" Levy rang out in annoyance. "You frantic maniac, what's your problem?"

Ignoring Levy's insult, she continued. "Why is there a stranger serving food to one of your tables?"

"What?"

Jessica turned around and pointed an unimpressed thumb at one of the tables.

Levy's jaw almost dropped.

There's no way… it couldn't be… could it?

She quickly whipped her head around to the front of the kitchen to see if the tray of food that Chef put out was still there, and lo and behold, it was gone.

What the hell was she doing?!

"Anyway," Jessica continued, shifting her weight off the counter. "I've got to go, but you better get that sorted out before the boss sees." And with that, she was gone.

Levy watched Lucy carefully from behind the counter. Why did she think she could just take Levy's order and serve it herself just because Levy wasn't moving? Granted, Levy probably wasn't going to get up to serve them anyways…

Table 7 was actually a booth situated along the wall separated the pizza parlor from the arcade, and since it situated by the wall, it wasn't as well-lit as the other tables and the open booths on the other side.

Seated at the table where a bunch of guys wearing letterman jackets, talking and eating. She couldn't tell for sure from where she was standing, but Levy was fairly confident that the logo on the arms of their jackets was the insignia for Magnolia University, the local university for Magnolia of course.

Unfortunately for the blonde, the group of college football players were shameless, their eyes immediately latched onto Lucy's figure in her sailor girl uniform when she came into view. Even after giving them their food and drinks, the group's blatant hitting on the high schooler didn't stop there.

Levy sighed again in exasperation as she turned around to return to her lounging.

Not her problem.

She saw them say something to her, gesturing to her school uniform. They probably guessed that she didn't work there because of her clothes. One of the guys, his long black hair in a bun gently touched her forearm, visibly making her uncomfortable, as he gestured to his friends. The blonde awkwardly seemed to decline, trying to gently pry away from the stranger's invading limbs. Another boy sitting adjacent from him said something else to her with a greasy smile on his face. Levy closed her eyes and sunk back to under the counter.

Not. Her. Problem.

She decided to distract herself by writing in her notebook some more. She wasn't able to get very far again before curiosity eclipsed her and she got up to check the table again. This time when she looked, the boys had apparently ditched the bout of the food on the table. They made their way to the exit with Lucy in tow, their towering bodies surrounding her and caging her in. This time it was obvious she was struggling now, with the poor blonde trying her hardest to get free.

They realized she didn't work there because of the uniform and invited her to go get a drink with them. Even with Lucy's girlish protesting, they still held her by her arms and started to drag her out the building.

It was loud, dark and hectic that night as new customers were still coming in droves. Nobody suspected, or even noticed something was amiss with Lucy and the boys.

Lucy was really about to be taken away.

That is, until Levy popped up right in their path.

"Excuse me gentlemen," She said calmly. Her arms were locked behind her back, a nonchalant expression on her face. Lucy's glassy eyes lit up at the sight of the waitress.

"Um, sorry but we're kind of in the middle of something here," the blonde holding Lucy stated. His remark was followed by a boorish chuckle by one of the guys around him.

Levy stroked her chin with her fingers, nodding her head seemingly in understanding. "Oh yes, of course I wouldn't want to disturb you," she continued. "It's just… well, have you good fellows happened to have seen Levy McGarden?"

Everyone, including Lucy, looked at her in confusion. The leader of the pack, the one holding Lucy by the forearm, knotted his eyebrows in thought. Then, he smiled, believing that he caught on to Levy's plan and wasn't going to fall for her trick.

"Yeah," he said with a snide, lifting Lucy's arm a little. "We were all just about to go somewhere. To get to know each other better."

Levy widened her eyes to appear like an awestruck child. "Really? Wow, that sounds like fun!" She finished with a finger on her chin. "And would you say that Levy McGarden offered these services to you?"

"Oh yeah, she was a sweet little waitress. Smiling, giggling, the whole bit."

Levy nodded again, a frozen smile on her face. She and the boy engaged in a heated stare off before he broke away first. "Well, if you'd move out the way half pint…"

"Excuse me fellas."

All parties turned around to see four police officers. They were holding some knapsacks and backpacks in their hands. Immediately, the boys got defensive, raising their hands when the police asked them to; Lucy completely forgotten in the process, thus giving her a chance to slip away.

"Hey, what's going on her we didn't do anything illegal?!" one of them asked as they were being patted down by the police.

"Sir, we got a call about some stolen property in the amount of a couple thousand dollars. We found this property in your bags," the officer finished holding up their belongings and then the DJing equipment for the bowling alley in their other hand.

"What?! But we didn't steal anything, I swear to Mavis!"

"That's enough sonny," the officer continued, gesturing for him to turn around. "I'm going to have to place you under arrest." All four of the guys started to resist, insisting that they did nothing wrong. The officers subdued them soon enough though.

The blonde boy, the one who Levy was talking with, was trying his darndest to figure out why those things were in their bags. While he was on the ground, being handcuffed and told his rights, he looked up and made eye contact with a bored looking Levy, who had a taller, scared looking blonde cowering behind her. That's when he realized it.

"It was her!" He started to shout. "She did this!" He screamed hysterically.

Levy jammed her pinky finger into her ear and pulled it out finding a bit of earwax. She made a lazy mental note to use Q-tips later. Although, she was pretty sure she didn't have any Q-tips in her house. She supposed she was going to have to buy some. But where was she going to find Q-tips after she got off from work? She supposed she could stop to a gas station, but that would mean going out of her way to find one…

He continued to accuse her, as her mind bounced sporadically from topic to topic, already bored with the university boys.

"Miss?" the officer on top of him snapped Levy out of her trance. He apparently was going to confirm whether the boy's claims were true or not.

"Huh? Oh, you mean the stereo systems in their bags? Yeah, how did those get in there I wonder?"

She placed her fingers on her chin and widened her eyes, feigning innocence. The boy on the ground couldn't believe his eyes. They widened to the size of saucers.

"Alright son you're coming with us," the officer continued, dragging him and his friends out through the back entrance.

Levy was a cold, maniacal woman. She knew it… and she embraced it fully.

She shot the boy a wicked smile as he was being ushered away, seemingly one that told him she won.

Checkmate.

When they were gone, Lucy couldn't contain her join, as she extended her arms out fully and leapt on Levy's tinier frame. "My hero!" She cried.

Levy tried to tell her to stop, but it was too late. Levy lost her balance on her skates with Lucy's weight and momentum, causing them both to slip and fall backwards. They both groaned from the pain and after a few seconds, Levy sat upright rubbing her back – annoyed.

"Ow, that hurt… I'm sorry," Lucy whined. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah sure, I'll live," Levy said. Leaving no room for further conversation, Levy struggled to get back on her skates and scoot away.

Lucy grabbed her by the frills of her dress. "Wait! I wanted to say thank you…"

Levy yanked her dress away, turning to her angrily. "First of all, don't thank me. You shouldn't have been there in the first place, waiting tables is my job," she bent down and held her by the shoulders. "You're an idiot for getting yourself in that situation in the first place. I mean, how stupid can you be?! What did you think would happen if those goons took you?" She sighed and murmured something under her breath along the lines of "geez, you're even crazier than I am."

"But you came and saved me right!" Lucy remarked happily. "Since you saved me… does that make us friends? Or did you save me… because you thought saving me would secure my friendship?"

"Oh please," Levy scoffed. "Do you think I'm that demented where I wouldn't help somebody out unless I was getting something out of it?"

Which in… she was.

Levy only saved the blonde because she was one of her precious new test subjects, but Levy opted to keep that part to herself.

"Of course not!" Lucy beamed at her. Her faith in her was blind. She was too trusting; naïve. Fine then. If she was painting out Levy to be her hero, Levy was going to use that to the fullest. Levy smiled fully back.

"Let's be friends!"

Levy was so looking forward to this.


Juvia found out for the first time that she's a terrible skater. While Natsu too had never touched a pair of skates in his life, he was circling the rink like a professional in no time. He watched her in wonder as she struggled to stay upright without rolling backwards and falling. Just when she thought she finally had her balance, another skater zipped by unexpectedly and bumped into her shoulder, causing her to spiral in a circle and fall unceremoniously on her back. Natsu didn't hesitate to burst out into laughter and a few nearby stragglers joined in on the merriment.

"D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-don't mock me!" Juvia stuttered embarrassedly. Instead of trying to stand back up, she did the less dignifying thing and crawled over to the barricade before getting up again.

She was getting in the way of many people as there was lots of yelling for her to get out the way and people almost tripping over her. It was very humiliating. A miserable expression took over her face. She stopped short at a pair of legs blocking her path. It was Natsu with an outstretched hand and an amused smile. Juvia considered taking it but she shrunk her hand back after a second thought. It confused him as she shuffled herself upright using the wall, but he didn't say anything.

She eventually settled for shuffling against the railing to get the hang of not falling. Natsu settled for gliding slowly beside her.

"Do your shoes fit?" Natsu asked. "I rented them in Lucy's shoe size since I was expecting her to want to join me."

"No, the shoes fit."

"I see… I was hoping that maybe the wrong shoe size would be the reason for your terrible skating-"

He couldn't finish his sentence before a snicker come out of his mouth. She turned and scowled terribly at him. He couldn't help it though. He found it to be so amusing – the usually introverted and frigid girl, flailing around so miserably on a pair of skates.

"Hey, so I have a question for you," Juvia started She was slowly getting the hang of not falling. "Why did you decide to do this for me?"

Drifting along beside her he took a moment before he answered. "I guess… it's because I know what it's like to be having a bad day. And then to add people in the mix who won't make it better."

The last part of his statement made Juvia's antenna stand up. She eyed him suspiciously.

Natsu continued.

"I mean, I don't even know how I'd react if someone tried that same stunt and just yank my scarf off of me."

The blunette's eyes widened. She suddenly realized that Natsu made the connection in his mind that her hat held the same sentimental value to her as his scarf did to him… which it did not. And it was so comical to her that she could almost let out a laugh... almost. Instead she settled for a smiling snort.

Yep. That totally sounds like something Natsu would think.

"Hey what's so funny?" He asked looking at her laughter in confusion. The glee on her face was an expression so foreign to him he couldn't help but stare. After a while he couldn't help but join in the laughter too.

After that, they spent the next hour circling the rink in roller skates. Natsu's latent skill was so impressive that he caught the attention of the DJ who let him have a spotlight. The skaters all looked at him in awe. Natsu took a moment from basking in his limelight to skate back and give Juvia some advice.

"You know it's okay to mess up sometimes right?" he started. "You can relax a little Lockser. Your uptightness is starting to affect my shine."

His words struck a certain chord in her, she just didn't know whether it was good or bad. Regardless, watching the other skaters have fun, and in particularly watching Natsu, whom she's aptly considered him an idiot in her mind, start something the same time as her, but master it before her made her sick to her stomach. It lit a fire within her to give it her all, and within her whole don't-let-Natsu-upstage-me attitude, she didn't even realize the part where she started to have genuine fun. Sure, she fell on her ass a bunch more times, and Natsu didn't fail to make a laughingstock of her each and every time – but she felt his easygoingness begin to rub off on her. She was… she was actually starting to enjoy herself. She couldn't suppress the smile that broke on her face that time, as it was evident for all to see. Natsu, again, couldn't help but stare.

He didn't even realize that he needed this as much as she did.

"Gross, stop making that face." Juvia sneered at his staring.

"Huh? What face?"

"You look like… never mind."

Small silence.

"You know Dragneel, just because we're here… together and whatnot doesn't make us friends. I know that." She finished solemnly. "So don't go thinking I'm acting overly chummy."

Natsu said nothing but slowly nodded. And it was in that moment he started to realize the two of them had a lot more in common than he initially thought. That was exactly something he would've said in her shoes. Except it sounded surprisingly lonely coming out of her mouth.

Was that how he used to sound too?


A few hours well at Marcus' Entertainment Palace barely felt like one. Time really does fly when you're having fun. Lisanna and Gray were the first ones ready to call it a night, mostly due to Lisanna's curfew. They spent their time in the arcade area challenging each other to different games, taking selfies and stealing kisses. You know, couple-y stuff.

They circled back to the dining area with sweat glistening off their skin, hand in hand and both a little breathless, with Lisanna's phone pulled out, texting the rest of their group. "I wonder what they're all doing?"

She didn't have to wonder long, when Gray who was staring dead behind her, signaled for her to turn around and see what he was gawking at. Lo and behold, it was Loke, with his tongue shoved down the throat of a brunette girl with her hair in pigtails and wearing an orange dress.

The two of them continued to stare, Gray, in amusement, and Lisanna just gawking.

An amused smirk tugged at Gray's lips as he raised his eyebrow in curiosity. "You think they ever need to come up for air?"

Lisanna didn't answer, but while they were watching their friend's intense make-out session, the girl ended up catching the couple staring at her and awkwardly ended up cutting it short, blushing in embarrassment. Loke appeared confused, obviously wanting to know why she was shying away, that is, until she pointed towards them and Loke looked behind him with realization hitting his features.

"Wait a minute, is that a waitress?" Lisanna asked incredulously.

"Well that's one way to entertain yourself, I guess." Gray murmured.

The rest of the two's exchange seemed to be Loke trying to assure her of something but the waitress too self-conscious to continue. She seemed to be standing her ground… until she wasn't. Loke finally walked away with a huge grin on his face and the waitress' number in his phone.

"Is this all you do for fun?" Gray teased when his friend was near enough, but Loke ignored his question.

"You guys couldn't have picked a better time to come sneaking up on me?!"

"Hi to you too Loke," Lisanna mused dryly. "And the answer to your question is no. Sorry Cinderella, the clock's struck midnight." She patted his cheeks affectionately.

He swatted her hands off of him and clicked his tongue. Lisanna smiled and held onto Gray's arm as the silence took over. After a few seconds, Loke gasped.

"Is that a hickey on your neck?!"

Lisanna immediately turned red, while Gray froze in his seat.

"So I can't have a good time but you guys can?!"

"Hey, nobody said that!" Lisanna rebutted.

And thus, the two proceeded to go back and forth. Gray sat there silently, wishing the Earth would open up and swallow him whole.

It wasn't long before Natsu, Juvia and then Lucy all appeared making everyone present and accounted for. They left with Loke and Lisanna still going back and forth, Lucy more giddy than usual, Natsu, annoyed that he found Lucy taking a nap behind the counters with that foul waitress Levy, and Juvia quietly observing it all. As always, she found there was never a dull moment with them.


When Juvia walked inside her home, she met Brenda's shoes by the door and heard the faint sound of the TV blaring from the woman's bedroom. She must've been sleeping. Juvia flipped on the lights illuminating the pitch-black living room. It was only a little after 8 o'clock when they left from Marcus' which wasn't so bad curfew wise, but it was terrible for Juvia because the sky was eerily dark… and she had to walk home alone from the last bus stop.

Brenda obviously didn't have these concerns for Juvia because when she texted her adopted mother where she was going that afternoon, Brenda was more than happy for her to go. In fact, she urged the blunette to stay out for as long as she wanted, and unlike Lisanna's parents she didn't give her a curfew. Brenda must've thought getting out and doing something would've been good for the girl, which in hindsight it was, but Juvia still thought it was irresponsible not to have a curfew. Still, Brenda must've either been super lax, or just knew Juvia well enough, to know that Juvia was trustworthy, and was probably going to give herself a curfew since she didn't like being out much anyway. Juvia was willing to bet on the latter.

"Brenda?" Juvia gingerly knocked on Brenda's door, seeing as it was cracked, she walked inside to greet her adopted mother. She met the TV broadcasting in the dark to an empty room and the bed with ruffled sheets. "Brenda?" Juvia called again. She walked over to her bathroom door knocking on it. "Brenda?"

That's strange. Brenda was home. Whenever she left and came back, she would always leave her shoes by the door, and plus Brenda was a neat freak, she would never leave the house with the TV on and bed undone without compulsively turning it off and making it up. Juvia checked the other bathroom. She wasn't in the living room or kitchen, Juvia just came out of those. Could she have been in Juvia's room? Brenda's admitted to falling asleep in there because she said it smelt just like Juvia.

"Brenda?" Juvia asked again, flipping on the light switch to her room. Before her brain could properly handle and acknowledge what she was looking at, a man put his fingers to his lips and shushed her.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," his gruff voice hushed. "We don't want to wake her now do we?"

The intruder used his tan fingers to brush the side of Brenda's face, who was laying with eyes closed and breathing softly in the bed beside him. Juvia's heart jumped in her chest and she couldn't help the disgust that visibly manifested on her face when he touched her. Her throat was dryer than the Sahara. He was holding… no, his arm was a big, sharp metal sword that he was holding to Brenda's neck – poised to end her life with one quick thrust. For Juvia, nothing and everything was going through her mind at the same time, but one thing was certain, she was stunned mute. The pierced intruder on the nightstand took delight in seeing the pale teenager sweat.

Shit.

Juvia was mentally spewing out all the curse words in her arsenal while her eyes darted instinctively around the room, evaluating her surroundings.

How could she have been so fucking careless?! How did she not see this coming? Shit!

As far as she could tell, there was nobody else there. Wait, there was no way… it couldn't be… could it? As if he was reading her mind, he clarified. "Don't bother looking for anyone else." His grin was larger than life. "I'm the only one in this house."

Juvia said nothing and kept completely still, betraying nothing with her face. He was bluffing. He had to be. There was no way that if Jose was really coming after her, he was just going to send a single person. He knew Juvia better than anybody to know that, that wouldn't work… unless Jose truly trusted him.

If that were the case, and this wild haired man really was the lone person sent on this mission… just how strong was he?

A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead just thinking about it.

"I know that you knocked her unconscious," Juvia said plainly, referring to the current hostage. "So you can stop pretending that she's sleeping now."

The invader let out a surprised laugh out into the night air. Juvia stared blankly at him, patiently waiting for him to finish.

"Perceptive as always Water Woman!" He wiped a tear from his eye. "And here I thought I hid it well."

Juvia analyzed him. He didn't wear clothes that would help with stealth and allow him to blend in with the night, in fact, his outfit was quite flamboyant. That told Juvia he wasn't the type to care about the tiny details about the job, whether it was done properly or not, as long as it was done. Next was his demeanor. He seemed very relaxed, even going so far as to let out a big yawn, using his free hand to cover his mouth. Juvia felt disrespected. He was toying with her. Despite his perceived arrogance he was no slouch. However the hell he was able to follow her so well, this whole time, without her being able to physically detect him was a testament alone to his abilities. Based on appearances, he seemed rugged and unrefined in his approach, and a person like that would be easy to take down.

But Juvia knew better.

She was able to detect bloodlust better than most, and despite his casual aura Juvia could tell he wouldn't hesitate to slit Brenda's throat, as gruesome as that was. She knew that… because in his position she would do the same thing. That's just how they were trained.

That's how she was trained.

She could try to attack him and pin him down, but that would be risky and stupid. He didn't seem to have a gun or anything of the sort, because for starters if he had a gun he would've used that as the weapon holding Brenda hostage. No, it seemed that his only weapon was himself.

Which would make fighting back stupid. Juvia was unarmed herself and from the looks of it, if the captor could morph his hands into steel, she was willing to bet he could do it for the rest of his body too.

No. She had no other choice but to negotiate with him using wits and tact. The guy seemed flimsy. Like at any second if he got bored he would kill Brenda anyway. Well, actually, that's not giving him enough credit. He's smarter than that. He knows he needs his hostage alive, but of course, that's only conditionally.

"What's the matter Phantom Woman?!" he snarked. "You and I both know that you've lost this one. And while, I'd… love to go at it with Phantom's best… I've got direct orders. So why don't you just save us all the time and give it up already?"

No. No. No! Anything but that!

"How did you find me?" she asked. She was stalling. She needed a little more time to think of a solution. One where they both could get out of this mess.

"It wasn't exactly difficult for anybody with half a brain to figure out," he sneered. "All you did was switch towns and moved away. You didn't change your name or anything. One thing I will give you though, Fairy Tail was an interesting choice. I mean, hiding in plain sight, at the school of the sworn nemesis of Master Jose? Bravo. Nobody else seriously considered it because it was too absurd."

Her room was a mess. It usually was and it drove Brenda crazy. Juvia was more or less fine with it though. She considered it her controlled chaos. She checked the dresser that was by the door for anything that could help her. Discreetly she felt the surface with her hand behind her back, watching the man intently. Marker, books, sugar packets. No.

A lamp. Baby powder.

Her mind was racing a mile a minute with ways in which to use these things to get him away from Brenda.

"I wouldn't try anything if I were you," he said and then he lifted Brenda's unconscious body from under the covers and held her by her neck against his chest, intimately pressing his blade against her jugular.

Juvia gasped.

No…

She dropped the things in her hand. If she really wanted to, she could still find ways to incapacitate him, but everything from this point on was a gamble with Brenda's life. That was just one risk that she was not willing to take. Slowly, she placed her hands forward so that he could see them.

"I… surrender," she whispered.

There was a pregnant silence.

"You analyzed the situation objectively, searching for every possible solution and realized that the only way to get your adopted mother out of this alive was to give in." He seemed impressed. "Any other idiot would've tried to attack me, find some way to get the woman without knowing anything about my powers and then I would've had to kill her… which wouldn't have been fun for either of us really." He cast a wishful glance at the sky before a manic smile spread across his face. "I can't wait until the day comes that I finally get to crush you, S-class." Looking pointedly at her, he stuck out his long pierced tongue making it appear as if he was going to lick Brenda on the side of her face, but then he diverted at the last second and licked at his sword. Juvia wanted to scream. He was still fucking with her and he could tell, he was getting to her clear as day. It was all in her microreactions.

"What do you want?" Juvia spat at him.

His face broke out into an ear-splitting grin.

"Gi-hi."