*August's POV*
The smell of barbecue sauce and the whispers of strangers filled the air around me as Laxus leaned forward, fixing me with a gaze that reminded me of his grandfather.
I still had no idea exactly how much the master had told him about Violet and I. Perhaps he had only been encouraged to talk to me as Gajeel had, and had yet to discover why I had been sent to Fairy Tail. I hoped that wasn't the case. As worried as I'd been that he already knew about us, I didn't want to be the one to tell him.
"So," he said, wiping his mouth with one of the many napkins that had come with the food. "You know why I asked you here?"
My mouth went dry. "No." technically it was the truth. If he didn't know, and I didn't tell him, what would happen?
His eyes narrowed, I got the feeling he didn't believe me. So maybe he did know then.
"But you have a guess right."
I knew the answer he wanted, the only question was whether or not it was smart to give it to him.
"Yes." I said carefully.
"Well let's hear it then."
I took a deep breath. At this rate it might be possible to dance around the real problem for sometime. But a glance at the heaping piles of food still waiting in front of Laxus didn't give me much hope that I could make it the whole night. At this point I was only procrastinating the inevitable. But that didn't mean I was going to stop.
"Because the master told you to." I answered, only realizing after it was too late that Gajeel hadn't liked that answer too much when I gave it to him only a few days before.
Laxus laughed, the sound was deep and rich, but it didn't soothe my nerves.
"Well you are right about that one kid."
I forced myself not to react to the title.
"I tell you what," he took a large bite, "If you're not gonna get this ball rolling I'll do the honors for ya."
He looked up at me, waiting for a reaction. When I didn't give one he moved on anyway. "Normally I don't like it when people come into my guild trying to start shit, but I'll make an exception for you."
So he did know then. My mind started racing, looking for ways out now that I had all the details.
"But only if you start talking," he added.
Well that limited my options. I needed to stay on Laxus's good side, because of his influence at Fairy Tail of course, but more pressingly because of his rippling muscles.
"What do you want me to talk about?" I asked.
My fear showed more than I wanted it to.
Laxus smiled.
What I really wanted to know was exactly how much the master had already told him, but I knew better than to ask. He was probably going to be comparing stories to make sure things lined up. I couldn't lie.
But that didn't mean I had to tell all.
"Let's start with the name of your old guild." he said.
I noticed he said old guild. Did that mean he understood that there was no way we could go back there? That was a good thing right? Unless I was reading too far into it.
"Justice Valkyrie." I said.
He nodded, "I've heard of them a couple times." he said, "rumors here and there. Where's the guild hall?"
His attention seemed to be on his food, the conversation casual. But I could see the way his body was tense. I knew what it was like to gather entail though conversation. He wasn't fooling me.
"We don't have one." I said. I had already told the master as such. "There's four different compounds that we rotate between. Right now they're all up north."
"And what happens to the basses you're not using?"
I hadn't thought of explaining this to the master, and he never asked for any information that I hadn't willingly given. "Higher ranking members watch over them, keep them hidden."
"Does anyone else go there?"
"Above my pay grade." I shrugged. "Me and Violet were still doing grunt work." other than being in Takashi's program, there was nothing special about us.
"How far above your pay grade?"
I shrugged. Getting promoted hadn't been something that was on my mind until recently. This didn't seem to satisfy him, so I gave more information rather than an answer. "We were going to move up after this job," I said, then as an afterthought, "if we had finished it."
He nodded slowly, and I realized that I had moved the conversation closer to its end point. The thing that he really wanted to know, how close he had gotten to really running Fairy Tail.
"Describe the job."
I took a deep breath, telling myself that this was no big deal. It's just a debrief. I told myself, it's just information.
"It was harder than anything we'd done before." I said, "by a lot. We'd done deep cover a few times, but never with such a big kill list, and never against other magic users."
He nodded, and I assumed he had already known this as well.
"So why did you take it then."
I stared at him.
"We didn't have a choice."
"Then what made you stop."
I only became more confused. Had the master left that part out too? Or was he getting off on making me say it.
"We got caught," I said, "obviously."
If he noticed my sass he didn't acknowledge it.
"By Natsu."
"That's right."
"And if you hadn't been...would you have kept going?"
I realized that this was the question the whole night had been leading up to. The one thing that he, and the master really wanted to know.
"There's no way we could have beat him." I said, though I knew it wasn't exactly true. I still didn't know exactly what Violet had done out in those woods, but clearly she hadn't given up without a fight. And even then...if we hadn't been rushed by Takashi, we could have found a less direct way to take care of them, explosives and poisons could have been on the table.
"No matter what we did it would have failed." I said. An outright lie. There were plenty of scenarios that ended with five dead fairies, even now, there were ways that we could get the job done...if we really wanted to.
"And if you could have killed us…" he said, "if it was easy, would you have stopped?"
I stared at him. His face gave nothing away, but his question both accepted my lie and forced me to give the answer he wanted anyway. My finger curled under the table. He was using the same tactics I had been taught.
If this had been an easy job, if Takashi hadn't pressed us...would I have stopped? With the fear of our old master, and the promise of a promotion on the horizon. I knew my answer. I knew Laxus wouldn't like it.
But then...Violet.
I had the same training she did. We both had the same empty promises echoing around our heads. It was better to die than to give up. And she would have. She would have fought Natsu until there was nothing left in her. But somehow, she had let him win. She had accepted her first defeat.
I wasn't sure that she ever could have killed them, even if it was all she wanted, I didn't think she could. And if Violet refused to go on...then despite my lack of remorse…
"No." I said, "I couldn't have actually done it." because she wouldn't want me to.
Laxus smiled. He believed my half truth had no caveats.
"Well then," he said, "I don't really see what all the fuss is about."
I opened my mouth only to close it again. "You're-you're not angry." it was a realization as much as a question.
"Do you want me to be?"
I didn't know what to say. A part of me kind of did want some kind of reaction.
"Look," Laxus said, tuning serious again, "If you're not planning on going around killing people, then that's great. The two of you have only really started one fight, and as far as I can tell your little friend got a hell of a lot more than she gave. That's more than I can say." he looked away for a moment, and I wondered if he realized I knew what he was referring to. "The way I see it, you're all paid up."
I blinked. I had been planning on using my help in avoiding Justice Valkyrie as my penance. I had been counting on it… but if I didn't need to then...did that mean I was dragging Fairy Tail into something that wasn't their fight.
"Then why is the Master still helping hide form them," I said, "If we don't owe each other anything..."
I had been meaning to check him in a lie, but instead his smile widened.
"I said you're all paid up," he said, "doesn't account for that old guild of yours. Something tells me you and Violet have years of shit that needs pay back."
I stared at him, but it only seemed to amuse him.
"You wanna destroy them don't you?" he asked.
The glint in his eye was half fairy mischief and half burning rage. Two things that I had grown familiar with, but not often seen together. Before me was a man who had turned his past mistakes into a fierce love for his family, blood tied and otherwise. He wasn't telling me to forgive and forget. He wasn't telling me that the anger I held in my heart was wrong, but giving me a place to direct it.
"Yes." I said, voicing it for the first time, "I want them to pay."
He smiled. "Then let's fuck them up."
