Magnolia Airspace

The Osprey soared through the skies above the city, Agents safely on-board and almost home. "FTA Tower, this is Echo Four Four, we are on final approach, have a medical team waiting for us on the pad."

A red-haired woman stood in the door to the cockpit, she was looking out the windows at the city lights, her professional side slowly ebbing away as her longing for a warm bed and a good night's sleep build.

She turned and made her way towards her pink-haired companion, he was seated opposite their injured friend. "Natsu."

"Hmm?" The man tore his eyes away from the broken body and turned his attention to the woman. "What's up Erza?

"How is Macao?"

"His condition is deteriorating, I've had to sedate him. He woke up not long ago…" He said as he rose from the seat, he ran a tired hand through his pink locks.

"Why didn't you let me know?" She asked, a frown spreading across her face as she glanced down at the heavily wounded agent.

"Sorry, Erz, had my hands full with him." The pinkette replied as he picked up a notepad, it contained written notes that detailed Macao's condition. "When he woke up, all the pain from his injuries hit him like a freight train, had to put him back under before he caused more damage to his already weak body."

"I… didn't hear it…" Erza held her hand out for the notepad, wanting to see how bad it really is. "What happened?"

"Short story is when he woke up, his heart rate went through the roof, he was screaming his lungs out but there was no sound coming out." The man knelt down beside the older male. "He started straining against his restraints, he caused some more damage to himself before I managed to get him to sleep again."

"What kind of damage are we talking about?" The redhead glanced at the third Agent on the aircraft, the raven-haired man sat a little further away and was cleaning his equipment and sorting out the HALO gear.

"Opened up some of the cuts, further damaged the already broken bones, I've had to relocate them again, and he also re-dislocated his shoulder after I had put both it and his hip back into position…" Natsu turned his attention from the man with dark-blue hair and looked up at the other Agent. "He strained his heart even further, I'm afraid that he has damaged it more since it doesn't sound as strong as when we found him."

"Will he make it back to the HQ?" Asked Erza in a morose tone as she placed a hand on the pinkette's shoulder.

"Maybe, we aren't that far away now, but the thing is… how long will he last, even in medical care?" He stood up, his dark-green eyes looking into Erza's brown orbs. "Best case is he comes through and makes a full recovery in maybe a year and that is including rehab. Worse yet is he could be comatose for kami knows how long…"

Erza let out a sad sigh, tears threatening to leak from her eyes as she gently embraced the pinkette in a hug. "And the worst case?"

"That goes without saying Erz…" The man rubbed his hand on her back, trying to soothe her. "The worst case is he dies, either here on the helicopter, on the way to the hospital, or in bed at some time in the near future…"

Thump-thump. Came the gentle sounds of Macao's heart, the pinkette had his ears trained on the soft beats.

"How far out are we?" Natsu asked the woman in his arms.

"A few minutes." She replied, soaking in the warmth of the man, it was helping her soothe her body and mind. "Ten at most until touch down, then we have the short trip into the base with the lift."

Thump-thump.

"Gotcha, let's sit down." The agent said as he gently guided his friend to a seat, letting her keep her arms around him as they sat next to each other.

"Agents, we have received word that a medical team is waiting for us at the bottom of the elevator." The pilot Keira's voice came over the helicopter's PA system. "ETA is roughly 12 minutes."

Thump-thump.

"Copy that Echo Four Four, we are almost home." Natsu replied.

"Good, I'm busting for a piss." Gray called out as he stood and stretched his legs, walking the length of the cabin.

"Open the hatch and piss out the back then." Replied the pinkette as he waved a hand to the end of the Osprey.

"I can wait." The agent said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I need to go but not that badly."

Thump-thump.

"Whatever you say, man."

"Gray, it's probably best if you do it now, better than needing to do it when we are above HQ or going down the elevator. I'd rather not slip on your piss." Erza stated sternly as she let go of the man finally.

"Fine, fine. I guess you are right." He replied as he moved to the rear hatch and opened it.

"I feel sorry for those down on the roads below, might be thinking that it is starting to spit rain." Natsu said with a smirk spread across his face.

The redhead just shrugged at the comment. "He isn't the only one that needs to use the bathroom, but I can wait, it isn't my primary concern right now."

The sound of a zipper reaches their ears, followed by a satisfied groan. "Oi do you two want to come for some takeaway once we land?"

"What kinda food we talking about?" Natsu asked the icy agent.

He looked over his shoulder at the other two agents and shrugged. "I was thinking something like fish and chips or head to a noodle bar."

Thump-thump.

"Five minutes to touchdown." The Pilot announced.

"I haven't had decent fish and chips in a while, let's go have that." Erza replied as she looked at the man's back.

"So it is settled?" Natsu asked as he looked between the scarlet beauty next to him and the raven-haired man at the end of the helicopter.

"Sounds like it, we'll get cleaned up and changed after the debriefing and then head off." The man zipped up his pants and closed the hatch.

…

The next few moments were filled with a comfortable silence, the only sound being that reached Natsu's ears was that of the helicopter, the woman next to him and Gray… "Oh shit…"

The pinkette launched off the seat and went to the injured agent, he put a finger against his jugular and checked for a pulse… he found none… "Fucking Shit!"

"What's wrong Natsu!?" Erza asked as she quickly rose from her seat, her eyes on the older agent.

"His heart stopped, put him on the floor now!" The man ordered as he stepped back, allowing the redhead to use her psionic abilities to move the stretcher to the floor. "Gray get the pilot to get us on the pad ASAP!"

The raven-haired man ran past the duo and made his way up to the front of the helicopter as Natsu started applying CPR, counting in his head and giving the man a breath of air.

"I fucking knew it! I just fucking knew it!" The man called out as he continued to try and revive the agent. "We need Medics to the landing pad right fucking now! Do Not Lower The Fucking Pad!"

There was a light bump, notifying the passengers that the helicopter has landed on the pad.

"Erza, Rear Hatch!" He ordered the redhead as she raced to the back of the Osprey, she hit a button to lower the rear door.

"Medical team on its way Natsu." Mira replied to the agent.

"Are there Defibs on board!?" Natsu shouted down to the cockpit.

"Negative. The doctors just came out of the doors, they'll be here in a few moments." Keira replied through the speakers as she and the co-pilot ran through their checklist for powering down.

"Are you getting anywhere?" Erza asked as she came back to the pinkette and Macao, worry evident in her voice.

"Still no pulse or breathing, I'm doing my best to keep his blood pumping manually and giving him oxygen."

The sound of a gurney reached his ears, making him look past the agent and see doctors by the ramp, he motioned them up frantically. "He is up here!"

Two of the Medics along with Erza and Natsu quickly lift the stretcher and take it to the gurney, Erza requipped it away so Macao laid upon the wheeled hospital stretcher.

"We'll take it from here." One of the Medics says as she strapped a device to his chest and placed a CPR Ventilator in his mouth and they wheel him away quickly.

Gray stepped out of the helicopter and stood with the other two agents as they watch the man disappear into the building, they felt a lurch below them as the elevator starts taking them down into the hanger. "Natsu… what do you think?"

"Guys I'm closing the feeds, I'll see you three in debrief." Mira said to the three agents.

The pinkette didn't respond to the question, causing Gray to move in front of the man and wave a hand in front of him. Gray noticed that the emotion had completely drained from the agent's face, his eyes were cold dark voids.

Natsu reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a cigarette from a packet, he brought it up and placed it in his lips as he lit it with a flame from the end of his finger, his eyes distant as he watched the walls move up past them.

He took a long drag from the cigarette and let it out slowly as his gaze focused on the raven-haired man in front of him.

"Honestly…" He spoke in a dull and cold tone, completely void of emotion. "The man was dead even before we left that place, his body just hadn't let out is all."

Gray ran a hand through his hair, he knew it was the truth but he still didn't like it. After a long pause, he let out a long sigh. "You're right… Gimme one why don't you."

Natsu reached into his pocket and gave the man the requested cigarette, holding out an open hand with a small ball of fire in it for Gray to light it from.

"Thanks." He muttered as he leaned in and used the offered flame. "Romeo… Fuck. Who is going to tell him?"

The pinkette looked between the other two agents before beginning to walk to the edge of the platform. "I will, you two go to the debriefing. Looks like our little dinner date will be cancelled."

"Where are you heading?" Erza asked solemnly, her eyes following the man still covered in dried blood.

"I'll be at the bar tonight, in-house." His voice remained low and monotone as he turned to look over his shoulder at his friends. "Welcome to join me later on, bring blondie, we'll raise our glasses in his memory tonight."

"We'll be there." Gray responded as they watched the man step off the platform right as it sank into place in the ground, his footsteps echoed loudly as the man walked.

"I better go fine Romeo. I'm sure he's somewhere in the facility. Just waiting for Macao to return…" With one last drag, Natsu finished the smoke, he crushed the smouldering remnants in his hand and flicked the snuffed out butt into a nearby bin as he disappeared down the hallway.

The redhead let out a worn-out sigh, she took her eyes off the now long gone agent and turned to the man beside her. "Even I don't need tarot cards to see black clothes and stormy night in our near future."

"What's your plans after this?" Gray asked as he too finished the cigarette and turned to look into the woman's hardened eyes.

"Bathhouse, going to soak for a few hours and hope to hell that I relax, probably see what happens while I am there, if I'm not relaxed then I guess I'll take to the range, unload a box of forty-fives into a target, then go drink myself stupid." She replied as she let her hair down from the bun she had it in, she flicked it over her shoulders and stretched her arms out above her head. "What about you?"

"I'm in a shit mood, so the usual outlet of finding a woman and bedding her is off the list, so I guess a long shower, a burger or two, or a pizza, put on a comedy and then come out and drink myself stupid with you two."

Erza's stomach growled at the mention of food, realisation striking her that she hadn't even eaten before she left her last mission and since she got called out immediately then she hadn't had the opportunity to eat when she got home. "I could go for pizza, want me to make a call to the Café and have two extra-large pizzas be sent to our debriefing?"

"Sounds like a great plan. Well, let's move out…" Gray replied as he set off for the armoury, he couldn't wait to get out of his gear.

Mira walked the silent halls of the underground facility, she had black military boots, a black leather jacket with matching pants, and a white tube top on, her steps echoed down the halls. Her destination was the bar – one of the many recreational facilities within the compound – though while it was normally loud and rowdy, tonight it was sombre. There was no thumping music, no smell of sweat, it was calm and quiet as everyone was mourning their lost brother.

She entered the bar and went over to the bartender, she didn't want anything fancy, no cocktails this time, she needed something hard, some stiff liquor to numb the feelings inside of her. She had seen everything that had happened, saw the moment the life left Macao's body, all through the eyes of Natsu.

She saw how he tried and tried to bring the man back alive, saw every thrust his hands had made against the chest, desperately trying to bring the man back from death's embrace, to claw Macao's life out of the reaper's cold, unyielding grip. But, in the end, the man was beyond saving, the doctors diagnosed him as Dead On Arrival.

"Here you go Mira, it's all on the house tonight, Old Man's orders." The bartender said softly as he handed the woman a glass with a ball of ice in it, along with a full bottle of Jack.

The woman nodded her head in thanks and turned to make her way to a seat, she spotted a pink-haired man, slumped against a table, his only company being a little over half a dozen empty bottles of Whiskey. She made her way over and took one of the seats.

"Anyone home in there?"

The man slowly looked up, half a smoke in his lips as his eyes focused on the woman like an eagle. He sat up with a groan and a small wobble as the smoke fell from his mouth. "Hey Mira… was taking a nap."

"Did you have company?" The white-haired woman asked softly as she gestured to the bottles on the table. "Or have you been drinking alone?"

"Company just turned up." He replied, there was some life in his voice, but it wasn't much, he pointed to the woman in front of him.

"How's the kid?"

Natsu sighed and lifted the bottle in his hand and brought it to his lips, drinking the contents in mouthfuls. "He didn't believe me at first, claimed I was lying."

"Ah…"

"Here I stood, still geared up and covered in blood, I stood in front of his door… and I felt nothing, just emptiness, no remorse, no anger, no pain… nothing."

Mira poured herself a glass of whiskey and settled into her seat. "Tell me how it happened."

"Excuse me, Monsieur Salamander?" Asked a quiet voice.

Natsu looked to his left slowly and saw a green-eyed young woman, her dirty blonde hair was neatly tied up in an elaborate bun behind her head, she was in a maid's outfit and had an empty tray in her hands.

"Hey Genevieve, care for a drink?" The man held out the bottle of Whiskey for her.

"Non, Non, Monsieur Salamander… zat bottle is empty. Shall I get you another and zen maybe we could share it?"

"Ah, thanks."

The maid picked up all the empty bottles and placed them on her tray, she curtsied and gave the pink-haired agent a wink before turning and leaving.

"Hey, who was the maid?"

The two agents turned to the new voice and were greeted with the sight of the trio they were waiting for, plus an extra person.

"That Lucy, was Genevieve. She's a staff member here." Natsu replied to the blonde woman, he wobbled slightly in his seat as his eyes drifted across the four newcomers. "Have a seat you guys. Drinks are free tonight."

"Wha… why?" Asked Lucy as she took the seat to Mira's left, she was surprised that they would put the entire stock up for free.

"Our comrade, our brother, has fallen." Erza informed her as she too took a seat, followed by Gray and a blue-haired teen boy in black jeans and a blue hoodie and beanie.

"It is in this way that we commemorate his memory, tonight we will raise our glasses to Macao Conbolt, our fallen friend who watched over us as we grew up, treating us like his own children." Gray continued on from the redhead, his voice full of sadness as he raised his pint glass full of Stout.

The pinkette turned to the blue-haired boy and nodded over to the bar. "Happy, you can drink with us tonight, go get yourself something."

The teen smiled sadly, showing his feline fangs. "Erza already ordered me something, she said you would say something like that."

"Lucy, Happy and I will be having Port tonight, we have two bottles and three glasses coming."

Natsu closed his eyes and slowly nodded his head at Erza, a small smile spreading across his face. "So Lucy. As has been said. On this long night of solace, we drink to remember a great man, a man who left behind a son, Romeo Conbolt."

The clinking of glass caught his attention as Genevieve brought their drinks over, plus an extra one for herself, she placed the tray in the middle of the round table and took a seat on the pinkette's lap. "Thanks for getting us the drinks Genevieve."

"Of course, Monsieur Salamander, 'old me?"

Natsu snaked an arm around the maid's slim waist as he took a swig from his new bottle of Whiskey, as he brought it to his lips he noticed smudges of wine red lipstick, he saw the same lipstick on the lips of the maid on his lap, he chuckled softly and smirked at the woman. "Couldn't help yourself could you?"

"I don't know what you are talking about Monsieur…" She replied innocently as she sipped her own drink.

"Anyway, Natsu, you were saying about how it went with Romeo." Mira said, refocusing the drunken agent back to the topic of Romeo.

"Ah yeah… There I was in front of his door, he kept calling me a liar, telling me that his dad will be coming down the hall right behind me any moment now." Natsu lit another smoke and brought it to his lips.

"When he came to terms with it he started banging on my chest, I still had my blood-covered gear on… but I couldn't stop the kid, I knew that I deserved it, the kid looked up to me but in the end, I failed him."

"To Romeo." Happy said as he raised his glass, the others followed suit and they all took a sip of their drinks.

"In the end, the poor kid fell to his knees and broke out in tears, I couldn't move, couldn't console him. After a few minutes, I managed to break out of it, took him to one of his friends, got them to organise a sleepover, I think I frighted the other kids." Natsu said, his voice as empty as his eyes.

"Dead eyes and a hollow voice would do that brother, more so since you still had your gear on. While the kids would be used to seeing and hearing stories of us agents, seeing one in the state you were in would definitely shock them."

The group turned to the new voice and saw the older Dragneel, clad in black and with a kind looking blonde, green-eyed woman in a cream-coloured dress on his arm, she came up to his chin in height and had a petite figure but was no less womanly.

Hello Zeref, Mavis, how are you two tonight?" Erza asked politely with a bow of her head.

"We're fine, we just came back from a restaurant. It had great food." Zeref replied to the redhead.

"Ooh, it also had this delicious strawberry cheesecake that you have to try." Mavis added, her eyes sparkling as she remembered the taste fondly, she licked her lips.

"Where is it?" The scarlet-haired woman asked curiously, her interest piqued by the mention of her favourite food.

"In the Ichigo District of Magnolia, the place is called Fujin Raijin."

"I must go there in the near future."

"You two coming to join us?" Natsu asked the duo, only to get a shake of the head from his brother.

"Can't do that tonight Natsu, Mavis has been grilling me hard for all the long nighters that I have been taking." The black-haired Dragneel replied with a small grin and receiving a gasp and a playful smack to the chest from Mavis.

"I do not~, meanie." She pouted up at him but her eyes were full of mirth.

Zeref chuckled softly and gave the woman a warm smile before turning his attention back to his brother. "I promised her that I'll stop staying at my office late, and we agreed to watch a few movies tonight before bed to make up for our absence."

"No problem, make sure you forward me Lucy's." He pointed to the blonde sat at the table. "Training regiment, my private computer so I can study it and make changes if I need to."

"In the morning. See you all tomorrow." Zeref replied as he smiled at the group. Mavis gave them a wave and they left the bar.

"Well… Who's ready to get absolutely smashed?" Gray said as he raised his almost empty pint glass and downed the rest of it.

"For Macao." All the members of the table threw their drinks back and downed the contents, following Gray's example.

One Week Later, Magnolia City

Natsu stood in his bedroom, in his house in the city, and let out a long, tired sigh. The shadows from long nights spent in the throes of a nightmare or hours upon hours of sleeplessness had left their mark upon his face. "Tonight's the night…"

He went into his bathroom and splashed some water on his face to try and make himself seem a little more awake.

"Natsu?" Called a voice in the hallway.

"Yeah Happy, what's up?"

"It's almost time, are you ready?"

"Yeah… almost done here." The pinkette looked up at his reflection through the badly cracked mirror – the result of a punch thrown in anger at the owner of the reflection – a red-eyed man snarling back at him.

"I'm going to have to replace that mirror…" The tired green-eyed man muttered to himself as he went back into the bedroom and threw on a black suit jacket over his tieless black dress shirt.

A flash of light followed quickly by a loud thunderclap lit up the room as Natsu let out a long yawn, he crossed the room and exited into the hallway where Happy was waiting in his human form, his tail was low and his ears folded flat on his head. "We'll be taking the Hemi Cuda, no way am I taking the bike out in this weather, we'll be fucking soaked in seconds and frozen solid by the time we get there."

The transformed exceed followed the pinkette down the hall and stairway and to the attached garage. "It's been a while since you took the Hemi out for a spin, it's bound to turn heads."

"Tonight, that isn't our goal, let's hurry as we better not be late."

"Let's go say our final goodbye then, shall we?"

The two males got into the muscle car and the pinkette started it up, he hit the button for the garage door and drove out slowly once it was up, hitting the button again as he drove out into the pouring rain.

"How gods damn cliché… Fucking rain at a funeral."

"Just like the movies, hey Natsu?"

"Yeah… Just like the movies kiddo."

The man kept the monster of a car quiet as he prowled the streets, making sure the heavily customised twin-turbo Viper V10 engine under the bonnet doesn't rear its head.

There were hardly any cars on the road as the black Cuda drove through the cones of light from the street lamps, the heavy downpour of rain pelting the car as the duo made their way to the location of the funeral in silence.

They pulled into a parking spot next to a red MX-5 and shut the car down, Natsu turned to his companion with a sigh. "Come on kiddo, time to go."

The two guys stepped out of their car into the pouring rain and made their way into the funeral parlour where they meet up with various members of the Agency.

"Ah there you two are, you are almost late." A soft voice called out to them, it was a woman with short white hair.

"Hey Lis, sorry about that but the weather is absolute fuc…"

"Please don't swear in here Natsu, save it for once we are out of the graveyard, don't want to wake any restless souls." Lisanna said quietly, she took his arm in hers and led him to the group he'll be seated with.

"Natsu." A raven-haired man said with a nod at the newcomer.

"Gray." The pinkette gave a nod in greetings back to the man. "Who are we with?"

"Erza, she went to the bathroom, Mira and her brother and sister." He gave a nod to Lisanna who held onto Natsu's arm. "Lucy, she and Mira are with Erza, and we have Romeo…"

"Does he still hate us?"

"I don't know man… he hasn't said a word to Erza and I since that night we brought him back."

Natsu let out a long sigh. "I'll take that as a yes."

Happy gently tugged on Lisanna's black dress, causing her to look over and immediately wrap him up in her arms. "Oh Happy! You look so cute like that, all dressed in a suit, and your transformation magic is coming along very well."

The three missing women exited the toilets and made their way to the table as the others took their seats. Mira smiled at the pinkette but her smile dropped at the sight of the dark shadows under his eyes. "Natsu… if you have been having problems sleeping then you should have come to my place, I'd have been happy to give you a warm body to hold onto."

"I know Mira, maybe after tonight, I'll see if I sleep better if I don't then I'll chat to the Doc and see if she can give me anything."

"And then come to mine, you need your wits about you, not only do you have to start training Lucy but you still are on the active-duty roster. I won't have you being careless on a mission and getting yourself hurt, or worse, not on my watch."

"Yes ma'am." The pinkette replied in a mock military tone as he snapped off a half-hearted but playful salute, with a sigh he sat back in the chair. "Well, looks like the old man is taking the stage."

Romeo took a seat at their table just as Makarov stood upon the stage where the casket rested, the old man let out a sorrowful sigh. "It always pains me when one of my family gets hurt, they come home from a job with cuts, broken bones or bullet wounds…"

The room fell silent as they gave their full attention to their Director. "But when I heard that one of our own had been captured. I gathered together a team of some of our best agents and tasked them to bring our family back home." The old man looked around the room slowly, making eye contact with all. "Our team managed to recover Macao from the facility he was being held at and brought him back. I hoped that it would be all happy faces upon their return… but unfortunately, due to the extensive injuries he had suffered while being held captive."

The man let out a sad sigh and looked over at the fallen agent in the mahogany casket. "Unfortunately his heart gave out moments before the team landed at HQ, they did everything they could to revive the man, but in the end, we lost a member of our family."

"Macao was a great man who was dedicated to his family, he loved them and put them above all else, in his untimely passing he leaves behind his son, Romeo Conbolt, please show our boy kindness and help him through this tough time."

Makarov looked around the room once more and gestured to the open casket. "It is time to say your parting words to our dear member of our family, it isn't mandatory but if you have anything to say or a gift for the passage then now is the time for it."

The old man moved to the casket and used his magic to grow his body to a relatively normal height so he could look his lost family member in the face as he said his parting words, tears rolled down his cheeks as he said his goodbyes to the man.

A line slowly formed going up the stairs, the agents and family members wanting to give their gift and last words to Macao, some people left a farewell card, others a picture of themselves and Macao, and some left a belonging, believing it to be of use in his afterlife.

As the line dwindled, and the final few were left, Romeo had to be led away after he said goodbye as he broke down into tears, Wakaba left his best friend a pack of his own favourite cigars. "I know right now you can't make use of these, but when you get to wherever you are going, light 'em up and remember the good times we had old friend, but save one for me, I'll be seeing you when it's my time to cross over."

Gray moved up to the casket and placed a small Fairy Tail emblem made out of everlasting ice in the casket, he spoke no words as nothing he could say would make things better, it was his duty to bring the man back alive and he had failed.

A teary-eyed Erza followed behind him, she placed down Macao's .357 revolver that was recovered two days after they brought him back. "I'm sorry it had to go this way, we'll take care of Romeo, don't worry."

A few more agents said their goodbyes to their fallen friend until finally Natsu, who was last in line, as he made his way to the casket he slid a hand into a pocket in his suit pants, without saying a word he pulled out a black Zippo lighter with a stylistic painting of a red dragon on it. He gently placed it into the dead man's hand as he looked him in his peaceful face. 'I'm sorry.'

The funeral director came out once everyone was seated, she gently closed the casket up and sealed it shut. "May I have some volunteers to take the casket to the burial site."

Natsu stood up from his seat, quickly followed by Gray, Mira, Erza and Elfman at their table, a few tables over rose a burly blonde man with a lightning scar on his face, it was Laxus.

"We volunteer." They all replied in unison, their eyes on the casket.

"Very well." The funeral director said with a polite nod, she gestured to the casket beside her. "Come take your positions please."

The six agents made their way to the coffin and stood three aside, the woman moved in front of them. "On three, lift and follow me. One, two, three, lift."

The funeral director and the six agents led the way out to the burial site, they walked through the heavy rain as it soaked them to the bone, but they never lost grip of the rails.

The thunder and lightning stirred memories in Natsu's head, memories of booming explosions and tracers flying through the air, the crackling of high powered machinegun fire and the blasts of shotguns, the escorting of the stretcher carrying a fallen friend...

As the Agents walked with the casket, the rest of the funeral-goers moved along the path in front of them, creating two lines bordering the procession, they saluted the Agents as they passed with the precious cargo.

The coffin was placed in the lowering mechanism at the top of the hole as the funeral director stood at the control panel, she waited for everyone to gather around and then started lowering it into the ground.

Those who had flowers with them slowly made their way to the hole, sometimes a single flower was laid in the hole, other times it was a whole bouquet of flowers, the grounds were silent aside from the sound of the raging storm.

The Agents all mourned in their own ways, some cried silent tears, the rain washing the evidence away. Others thought bitter thoughts, they planned on finding those responsible and showing them the pain they felt inside. The rest just gazed emptily into the pit, they weren't without emotion, they just couldn't express it in any way, there were no dark or sad thoughts for these people for they were trapped within their minds, the tragedy that occurred finally hitting home as the casket made contact with its final resting place.

Makarov moved to the funeral director's side, he was back in his natural form as he looked up at the woman. "We'll stay here a little longer dear, you and your boys can take the crane back inside and get out of the cold rain."

"Thank you, sir, may the dead rest peacefully." She gestured to her employees who came and took the crane back into the building.

"And may the living live well." The old man replied to the woman as she nodded respectfully and left the group in peace.

Ten slow minutes passed as the funeral-goers stood in the rain, all finally at peace now that their family has been put to rest.

Laxus moved to his grandfather's side and spoke with a quiet voice in respect for the dead. "So Old Man, do we know who did this?"

"We don't know for certain and I don't want to jump to conclusions Laxus, but while I was reviewing the footage from Natsu's point of view, I heard him say "It reeks of Phantoms." It's no solid evidence so we can't move on it unless we get something more concrete."

Laxus saw the pinkette's ears twitch at the sound of his name, his dangerous red eyes slowly moved up to meet Laxus' own, their demonic glow cutting through the darkness. "So what's the plan?"

"Well Laxus, I've got Levy's team working on collecting information, by any means necessary. It's just a matter of time before we find out who did this, then we just have to plan out a course of action."

"Do you mind if I take my team and go talk to some of our connections, maybe they could know something or other."

"You have my blessings kid, proceed with your mission." Makarov said as he looked up at his grandson.

Well, that is another chapter done, this was a sad one, with Macao losing his life and leaving his family behind.

I was dwelling on this choice for a while, to kill him or not, but given that he had suffered a lot of severe injuries while being tortured for information, I decided that the strain this had on his body should be too much, even for a Fairy Tail Agent who has undergone the Enhancement Process as while it does make them faster, stronger, and more resilient along with being able to heal faster (not in an hour or so but much faster than that of a normal human), I felt that the strain would be too much and cause his heart to give out completely.

If it had been a regular "Enhanced" Interrogation, then Macao would have survived thanks to his training, but whoever did it was an extremely sadistic person who gets off on torture.

I hope you have enjoyed this rather dark and sad chapter… well enjoyed it as much as one can, given that a man died and they held his funeral, but this is the reality of the dark world they live in. Until the next one, peace and chicken grease.