Enemies

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"Right. I've hired an additional four security guards to help man the outside limits and an additional four men to be placed in the crowd. Most of them are from the Twilight Ogre Guild and we've worked with them before. But there was one hire from out of town, a man named," Freed flipped his papers to refresh his memory on the name, "Gajeel Redfox from Oak Town."

Laxus bolted upright. "What did you say his name was?"

"Gajeel?" Freed repeated with a questioning look.

Laxus leaned back in his chair. "Looking forward to meeting this Gajeel Redfox," he said with a bit of a sneer.

. . .

Gajeel let out an audible growl, causing the people on the street around him to jump and move quickly out of his way. Lucy's scent was all over this fucking town but he couldn't pin point it exactly. It was as if she had been running around the place since she got here and while his senses were good, they weren't fucking inhuman.

Somewhere in the distance a clock tower rang out, letting him know that it was midnight. He clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to let the anger pass through him as he realized he needed to give up the search. He'd been awake for far too long now between driving to Lucy's Estate and then making his way here. If he was going to be any good at tomorrow's job request, he'd need some sleep.

Turning around, he made his way back to a small inn he saw during his search, intent on renting a bed and hopefully getting some rest.

. . .

The train pulled up to the station and Kageyama instantly hated the scenery.

"And just when I thought your face couldn't turn into any more of a scowl, I'm proven wrong," Sue mocked him.

He narrowed his eyes at his teammate and let his shadow extend out towards her just enough for her to notice. "Watch it," he seethed back at her. Weakness was not tolerated in Phantom Lord and letting someone get away with teasing you, that was weakness.

"Cool it, you two," Boze said under his breath. "Let's try not to make a scene. No need to get people looking at us when our job is to retrieve such sensitive cargo."

Kageyama rolled his eyes. He couldn't quite remember why he thought it was a good idea to bring these two along. He needed Gajeel and his nose to search out Lucy. As soon as he was able to meet back up with the Iron Slayer, he would find some way to ditch his two teammates.

"Come on," the shadow mage said as he grabbed his small duffle bag and made his way off the train.

"How are we supposed to find Gajeel? This town is huge. He could be anywhere," Sue complained.

"Don't be an idiot. He took that job for the block party tonight. Let's just find somewhere to wait out the time," Kageyama responded.

The team members nodded and the three of them made their way towards town, intent on finding some place to crash.

. . .

Lucy groaned as the light from her window filled her entire apartment. Perhaps those pink curtains had been a bad idea afterall. They didn't really block any of the light, which made it hard to sleep.

She rolled over and sighed. She certainly felt better, but she was certain she would have been able to sleep more if the room had been darker. Maybe it was a good thing though, her clothes felt stifling on her body and her feet were starting to itch because she still had her shoes on.

Lucy thought back to yesterday and what she could remember of its events. Making a phone call to Spetto, running into Laxus, waking up with Cana and being informed that Laxus had purposefully knocked her out and brought her to her apartment. She shook her head. Her new life was off to an awfully strange start.

In that moment, she couldn't help but think back to her old life and the events that had brought her to this point. The Iron Dragonslayer was fresh on her mind. She wondered if she had never met him whether she would have had the courage—or really just even a reason—for leaving the Estate. Her heart twinged as she thought about the big man. She didn't fully understand it, but she knew that they were connected somehow now and she hoped that he wouldn't be too hurt when he went back to the Estate to find her gone.

Somehow she vowed that she would find a way to contact him and let him know where she was when things calmed down. But with Jose being his Guild Master, she couldn't risk reaching out to him now. Instinctively she knew it might put the both of them in very real danger.

Stretching her arms up over her head, she finally pushed herself out of bed. Kicking off her clothes and shoes she decided to run herself a hot bath. Lucy looked at the clock in her kitchen and her eyes widened slightly. It was already well past one o'clock. That block party started in the early evening and Cana said she would be back to pick her up before it started. Something about not wanting to have to wait in lines or whatever. It didn't leave Lucy all that much time to get ready.

. . .

Gajeel stayed quiet as he laid in the bed of his hotel room. It was several doors down but the smells and sound were unmistakeable. Three members of his Guild, Kageyama, Boze and Sue, had entered the room and were talking quietly to themselves.

"I don't see the harm in going out into town just a bit,"Sue said.

"This isn't a field trip,"Kageyama responded. Gajeel could tell he was annoyed. "We're here to find Gajeel and then get going on finding the girl. Shop on your own time."

Gajeel's eyes widened at that. So the three of them were here to collect him? And find a girl? He squeezed his red eyes shut. There was no question that they meant Lucy. So Jose had gone back to the Estate and found her missing and sent Kageyama after her. Gajeel had been right to find an excuse to leave when he did then. Unfortunately, it seems as if the boy couldn't handle the job on his own.

"Fuck," Gajeel cursed under his breath. This was not what he needed. He looked at his watch. 2pm. He had two hours before he had to report for the start of the block party. He briefly considered just not showing for the job, but he couldn't risk it. The whole town apparently came out for this event and Gajeel was banking on Lucy showing too. If the three were out there looking for him, they could just as easily spot her, and that would have disastrous consequences.

This evening was going to be a lot more difficult than Gajeel had hoped for.

. . .

His plan was simple but he knew it would be difficult to execute, with a lot of it depending on luck. But he needed to get to Lucy first if she showed up to tonight's party. Given that this party drove people out of their homes in great numbers, he guessed that she would be here.

When he showed up at the appointed time, he checked in with the green haired mage who was entirely too uptight and was told which area he'd be patrolling. Thankfully he was being placed outside, which gave him a better shot at catching Lucy when she arrived.

An itch between the back of his shoulder blades had him turning around and locking eyes with a rather large, blond man. He knew of him, Laxus Dreyar, resident playboy of Fairy Tail. According to Gajeel's intelligence, the man was some sort of faux dragon slayer, having been implanted with something that gave him the same abilities and scent.

The iron slayer had to stop himself from growling at the man. Gajeel was of course in the midst of the Mating ritual with Lucy, having not finalized it before she ran away from the Estate. With her missing and him basically in heat, his protective instincts were in overdrive, especially when being approached by another male.

Laxus sensed it as soon as he went near the man. Freed had notified him when Gajeel had arrived as promised and put him at a post that was as far away from the main crowd as possible. If Laxus wanted to confront the man, he wanted to be able to do it with as few people around as possible. But for right now, he had no reason to approach him, it would only raise suspicion and the slayer was clearly on edge. No, instead, he would just watch from behind. He nodded at Gajeel, as if to indicate he was just doing rounds on his men and the man seemed to calm, but only slightly.

Laxus walked off, intent on coming back on a regular basis to keep eyes on his new hire.

. . .

"Come on, Luce!" Cana exclaimed as she dragged Lucy along the side streets of Magnolia. "I know a back way in to the block party so we don't have to wait in line with everyone else."

"Yeah but don't we need wristbands or something?" Lucy asked as she tried not to trip over herself.

Cana raised up two yellow wristbands with a smile. "It helps to have connections. Got these off Laxus a week or so ago. We're all set!"

Lucy smiled. Cana certainly did have her finger on the party pulse well in advance of everyone else. "But we gotta hurry," Cana said. "Otherwise they'll have one of the bouncers stationed there and he'll make us go around."

"Okay okay," Lucy huffed, increasing her speed to follow the brunette a bit better. After another few minutes of light jogging, the pair made it to wear Cana was hoping to slip through but one of the staff was already there patrolling.

"Awe damn," Cana cursed when she saw the bouncer. "I wonder if I can convince him to let us in. Luce, you up for a little strip teasing with me?" she said with an elbow the blonde's side but Lucy had all but frozen. "What's gotten into you?" the brunette asked but Lucy couldn't hear her.

Her gaze was fixed on the man she'd been dreaming about nonstop since their last encounter at the Estate. She ran forward and Cana hissed, trying to grab her hand but missing. "Gajeel!" Lucy exclaimed as she ran up to the man.

Gajeel could sense Lucy's scent increasing until he heard her voice. He turned around to see his Mate running at him and he all but grinned. She jumped into his arms as he lifted her up and pressed his lips against hers. His hands moved against her body on instinct and she moaned at the contact, as she did the same to him.

"Well that was unexpected," Cana said, slipping one of the wristbands on. "But good job, Luce! Way to go for it!" she said as she walked past, slipping the other wristband into Lucy's pocket while she was still tangled up with the bouncer.

"I'll see you in there Luce," Cana yelled back as she ran past the pair. Gajeel didn't even notice the card mage, he was so caught up in the woman who currently had her legs wrapped around him.

In her haste to get inside the party without being seen, Cana very nearly ran right into Laxus. She tripped over where the man had been hiding and winced as she prepared to hit the floor. But the lightning slayer caught her just in time and set her right. "Uh hey Laxus. Thanks for the wristbands."

Laxus narrowed his eyes at her. "Yeah, but I told you to come in the main entrance with everyone else so we could get an accurate count."

"Yeah, I did. I was just checking out what was going on over here, that's all," she lied.

Laxus rolled his eyes. "Just go," he said. He had bigger things to worry about than his fuck-buddies antics. "Wait," he said, grabbing her wrist lightly to stop her. "I gave you two bands. Is there someone else that snuck in."

Cana grinned. "Yeah, but Lucy's currently busy with your new hired hand."

"What?" Laxus almost growled.

"Nice job, by the way. I love that you're trying to give us girls some more variety. Anyways, bye!" Cana said as she pulled her wrist free and ran off to the party.

Laxus hurried over to where he'd stationed Gajeel and true to Cana's word, he found Lucy wrapped around him with the man's tongue down her throat. He hesitated momentarily. If what Freed said was right, this woman was his Mate. And while he'd said he would back off for now, that didn't mean he wanted his Mate running off with another dragon slayer.

He let out a warning growl and Gajeel sensed it, immediately putting Lucy down and pulling her behind him. He turned to face Laxus and took a protective stance. "I don't know why you're threatening me and my Mate, man," he growled back. "But you sure got some balls."

"You'reMate?" Laxus was confused. Why was Gajeel saying that Lucy was his Mate? Freed was sure that Lucy belonged with him. "She belongs with me!" he yelled back, taking his own fighting stance.

Gajeel turned to look at Lucy briefly and she shook her head. That was all the information Gajeel needed. "You're confused," he said, baring his fangs slightly. "She's not your Mate. What you're feeling is the Conquest."

Laxus furrowed his brow. The Conquest? Freed had never mentioned that to him. But before he had the chance to make up his mind on how he was going to proceed, a man appeared between the two of them. Laxus' eyes widened. He never missed anyone's approach but he'd somehow missed this man's scent until he was right on top of him.

"As cute as this little conversation is, it appears like you and me need to have a little chat, Black Steel," Kageyama said as tendrils of shadow danced off his body.

"Shit," Gajeel cursed as he looked behind him to see two of Kageyama's teammates. They were blocked in. "Play along," he whispered to Lucy under his breath.

She nodded her head, trusting in her Mate but entirely uncertain of what was happening. "What are you doing here, Kageyama?" Gajeel seethed.

"Looking for you, actually," the young man said with a bored expression. He looked over his nails before adding, "Ever since a certain princess went missing, the Master sent me out to find her. But I knew I couldn't go it alone so I came looking for my partner."

"We're not partners," Gajeel spat. How much had he seen, he wondered. The iron slayer kicked himself internally for being so careless about his relationship with Lucy. He'd just had no control over it. But if Kageyama saw them together, then there was about to be a lot more trouble.

Kageyama shrugged. "Whatever you say. But imagine my surprise to find that you've already located the girl. Great job, Gajeel." He turned towards Laxus and added, "Do we need to dispose of him?"

Gajeel breathed a sigh of relief. So Kageyama hadn't seen anything compromising. "No, he was just leaving," he said through gritted teeth.

"If you think you're taking Lucy with you—" Laxus started but Lucy interrupted him.

"It's okay, Laxus. What he says is true. I'm engaged to their Guild Master. I'll go with them." The blond gave her a confused look. Lucy hoped she could convince the man to back down.

Laxus didn't understand. Lucy was engaged to Jose Porla? But she'd been kissing Gajeel just a minute ago and he was claiming she was his Mate. This entire situation was fucked up. He looked between Gajeel, Kageyama and the two other mages behind the pair and realized pretty quickly that he was outnumbered.

"Do whatever the fuck you want," Laxus said, relaxing his body from his fighting stance and turning around to leave.

Kageyama turned to look at Gajeel. "You're just going to let the bastard leave? After seeing us?"

Gajeel gave him a tired look. "Don't be a fucking idiot. We came here for her and we've got her. No reason to cause a scene. Can't you sense that guy's power? He wields lightning. Neither of us would have made it through a fight with him.

Gajeel was right. The iron slayer was highly conductive and Kageyama, while not susceptible to physical attacks, energy attacks wreaked havoc on his shadows. "Let's go then," the man agreed. "We've got a hotel room back by the station. We can stay there for the night and then catch the train back tomorrow."

Gajeel shook his head. "They'll be looking for us if we stay in town. We've got to leave tonight," he said.

"Who?" Kageyama asked.

"Who else, her new Guild," Gajeel said, holding Lucy's hand up so that the man could see her pink stamp.

"Shit," Kageyama said upon seeing the mark. "Those fuckers are crazy. I don't wanna deal with them."

"Then we've gotta move out now. Go get your shit from your room and meet me at the edge of town."

Kageyama looked between Lucy and Gajeel. "Are you sure you can handle her on your own."

Gajeel growled and lunged at the man, grabbing the scruff of his shirt. "Call me incompetent again, I fucking dare you," he seethed.

Kageyama put his hands up in surrender and Gajeel let go of him roughly. "Alright. We'll meet you at the opposite side of the train tracks in thirty minutes." And with that, the three of them ran off towards the motel.

Gajeel quickly turned back to Lucy. "Is there anyone here that will protect you?" Lucy was stunned but Gajeel shook her lightly. "There's no time for you to be freezing up. Think, Lucy. Who can you run to?"

Lucy shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She winced. Gajeel wasn't going to like it, but it might work. "Laxus. He thinks I'm his Mate. If I asked him to protect me, I think he would."

Gajeel growled. "The man wants you as his Conquest. I can't let you go to him."

"His what?" Lucy asked.

"His Conquest. It's what happens to rival slayers when a Mating is initiated. They steal other Mates to create a brood." His eyes were blood red and Lucy could see just how frustrated he was.

She hesitated. "Gajeel, I'm strong," she said, looking at him in the eyes. "I won't let him take away what we have. I can explain it to him." She looked sad. "And I'm afraid it's the only choice we've got."

Gajeel sighed feeling entirely defeated. He wanted to scream his rage but he knew he had to keep it together. The most difficult part was yet to come. "Fine. Then go. I promise I'll be back for you."

Lucy leaned in to kiss him briefly before breaking off at a sprint towards where Laxus had gone.

Gajeel growled as he watched her leave before forcing himself to turn in the opposite direction.

END CHAPTER 11

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OOPS sorry this update took so long! Here have an extra long chapter to make up for it! Love you all!