A/N - I have officially decided this will be eleven chapters!

Natsu was startled awake from his drug-induced doze by the sound of Tony storming down the stairs. He still felt fuzzy and detached from the pain - the painkillers were clearly still in his system - which meant that only a relatively short time could have passed. Blearily, he blinked up at Tony. It was kind of hard to get his eyes to focus properly, but he could tell that Tony looked mad.

"What…?"

"Gray is even worse on painkillers," Tony snarled, then paused and took a deep breath. He blew it out angrily, shaking his head. "One of his bodyguards is leaving, and they wanted to know if you could take his place."

A sudden, heart-wrenching wave of longing broke through the stupor in Natsu's mind. He would give just about anything to be with Gray, and he knew Gray was feeling the same way.

"He froze," Tony said, still sounding furious. "I had to feed him lines so he didn't expose us right then and there, and he still ended up volunteering Erza Scarlet for the job."

For a second, Natsu was relieved. Gray and Erza had always been close, and she was a pretty smart lady. Erza would know something was wrong with him, because she always did.

And then, Natsu remembered that Gray wasn't supposed to have anything wrong with him, and that Natsu was supposed to be on a job, and that Erza being involved was potentially very bad.

"Oh," Natsu managed. He supposed if Gray were acting higher than Natsu was, that was a problem after all. Natsu was feeling pretty damn high. But it was infinitely better than the piercing pain in his leg, and he had to imagine it was better for Gray too.

"If your boyfriend was better at acting, you'd be able to keep these," Tony snarled. Then, he reached out and grabbed the bottle of pain pills from the spot where he'd left them within Natsu's reach.

Natsu frowned. The fear of losing the painkillers, and going back to the excruciating pain he'd been in before, was dulled by the drugs themselves. But still. He knew he would much, much rather be high than in pain. Also, he was rather indignant about the insult to Gray's acting skills. Maybe this guy should try acting like everything was normal while he had a broken leg, and see how he liked it.

"But-" Natsu managed.

"No more painkillers for you."

Natsu closed his eyes softly. He had no idea how long it had been since he'd taken his first dose of painkillers. But he doubted there was more than two hours at the outside edge until they wore off, and then he'd be back to being in so much pain he could hardly eat or sleep or think. And worse, Gray would be too.

"But-"

Natsu felt like crying. But that would make Gray cry too, and if there was anyone around, that might land them both in even more trouble. So Natsu just swallowed hard, and managed to drag his eyes open again.

Tony was already retreating up the stairs. Clearly, he had no further interest in listening to Natsu, and the painkillers were not up for negotiation.

Natsu leaned his head back against the wall and shut his eyes again. He'd been in so much pain before getting the medication that he figured this would be his last chance for a while to actually get some rest. He couldn't waste it - if he ended up too tired, that would probably affect Gray as well. The best thing he could do right now was try to make sure his own physical needs were taken care of as best as he could, so he wouldn't be making things even harder on Gray.

All he could do was try to get some sleep and wait for this to be over.

Gray lay back in the uncomfortable, Natsu-less safehouse bed and tried not to move too much. The painkillers had started to wear off a few hours before, and now the last effects were finally fading. Gray was back to dealing with the agonizing pain from before, which meant, of course, that Natsu was too. And that was all his fault.

Gray hadn't really understood much of what was going on when he'd been under the effects of the painkillers, but he vaguely remembered Tony promising that he would pay for the Erza debacle later. That wasn't exactly fair, since Gray had barely even been able to remember his own name. As he'd started to come down from the painkillers, his dread over the impending arrival of Erza began to grow steadily. He did love Erza, and he did desperately want to see her, but he did not want to lie to her. And he didn't think he could stand to see her face when he disappointed her.

But, unsurprisingly, none of that mattered to Tony. Gray could only assume that he'd taken away Natsu's painkillers to make Gray pay like he'd promised, and there wasn't going to be anything Gray could say to make him give them back.

Gray. Tony's voice echoed in his head, and Gray shot to his feet in surprise. I told you to say exactly what I told you. What about that was hard for you to understand? Erza is not part of the plan.

Gray cringed, wishing he could turn the clock back a few hours and stop himself before he ruined everything. He knew it would be futile to ask, but he still had to try.

I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to say Erza. Please, give Natsu back the pills-

We're long past the point of that. A shudder went down Gray's spine at the finality of Tony's words, but he wasn't going to give up so easily. When his leg threatened to give out, he steadied himself on the wall.

But-

Tony cut across him without any hesitation whatsoever. Do not, under any circumstances, disobey me again. Do you need a reminder of what I can do to your boyfriend?

Suddenly, it felt hard to breathe. No, please. Please don't hurt him anymore, I swear, I-I'll do better… Gray knew he was begging, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Please, no.

It wasn't a rhetorical question.

A starburst of pain exploded in Gray's leg, and he was falling. He couldn't catch his breath, and the pain was overwhelming, making every nerve in his body sing with it. The tiny part of his brain that was still cognizant informed him that Tony had probably just kicked Natsu in the broken leg.

Before Gray could do anything with that information, before he could even feel guilty, the pain crested higher. Gray's pain tolerance had always been lower than the Dragon Slayer's. He hit the floor, and the world went black.

Erza had arrived at Lahar and Doranbolt's safehouse as soon as she physically could. Even so, the whole thing had been so unexpected that it had taken a little over three hours to go from being contacted to walking in the door of the safehouse, and every one of those seconds had hurt.

She'd been relaxing in her room when Mira had come and found her, saying she'd been contacted by Doranbolt and he had something urgent to tell her. Erza hadn't been sure what this could possibly be about - she didn't often receive urgent calls from Doranbolt. But she'd left her room, gone down to the Guild Hall, and taken Mira's lacrima into the backroom.

They'd told her about Gray's stint in witness protection, which Erza hadn't known about. Everyone in Fairy Tail was under the impression that Natsu and Gray were on a job together, and while she supposed it made sense that the Magic Council was trying to keep this entire situation as quiet as possible, it was still alarming to hear that Gray was potentially in danger.

And worse, Doranbolt was worried there was something even more nefarious happening. Gray had been stressed when he'd arrived at the safehouse, obviously, but for the past several days Doranbolt said he'd been acting much stranger. He clearly wasn't going to tell them what was going on, but Doranbolt was leaving to try to investigate the situation, and maybe figure out what was happening to Gray. They were still worried about his safety, and wanted to make sure he was still properly protected, but Doranbolt also wanted Erza to come and see if she could pry into Gray a little further, and get any additional sense as to what might be wrong.

A lot of what Doranbolt said had gone in one ear and out the other for Erza. All she really understood was that Gray might be in trouble, and that she was needed. So she had scribbled down the address on a scrap piece of paper, packed her things, and headed out.

Lahar had met Erza at the train station. He'd asked her if she had any more questions about what she was supposed to be doing, but honestly, Erza didn't even really understand what she didn't know, let alone what she might need to. All she knew was that she needed to see Gray as soon as possible.

It felt like it had been an eternity by the time she finally arrived at the safehouse. Lahar had showed her to her room. Erza had really wanted to see Gray before unpacking, but she knew she had too much luggage for that to be practical, and she didn't want to block the hallway. Lahar had left her alone to set up her room, and Erza had been just starting to get organized when she had heard a heavy thud from up above her.

Erza had, of course, asked for the layout of the safehouse as soon as she arrived. She would never have achieved S Class without learning to prepare for anything, and one of those things was the possibility of attack from any angle. Besides, she had wanted to know where the kitchen was.

The sound had come from Gray's room, she was sure of it. Almost without thinking, she requipped into her armor, sword in her hand. Whatever was happening to Gray, she would defeat it.

Erza charged up the stairs. If there was an intruder, she was probably giving away her presence with the clanking of armor, but she thought she was probably fast enough that it wouldn't matter. She would not give them time to get away.

As she crested the landing, she saw Lahar approaching from the other end of the hallway. They met at the doorway to Gray's room, and Erza shoved down the urge to kick it open. It was more than likely that Gray had just dropped something, and if he was already acting strangely Erza didn't want to alarm him by kicking his door down with swords drawn. Besides, knowing Gray, he was probably naked, and Erza didn't feel the need to see that. By now, he'd probably heard the commotion and he would have had time to put something on.

"What was that?" Lahar asked, looking startled.

"I don't know. I just arrived as well."

"Oh. Uh, I suppose I should check on him…." Lahar reached for the doorknob, but Erza held up her hand.

"Wait." If there was an intruder, Erza knew that she would be perfectly capable of handling them on her own. And if it was just Gray, she figured he probably wouldn't want a Rune Knight barging in on him. "I think…if he has been acting strangely, perhaps I should go in by myself. He might be more likely to talk to me. Alone."

"Alright," Lahar said, pushing his glasses up his nose and backing away. "That's probably for the best. I'm not sure he and I get on very well…."

Erza didn't bother to reassure him, since that was almost certainly true, and instead, she carefully turned the doorknob and slipped into Gray's room.

There was no sign of an intruder, or of any displaced furniture. Erza frowned, letting her armor and sword vanish as she walked a little further into the room. She turned on the lights, and gasped as she saw Gray sprawled out on the floor, half-concealed by the bed.

"Gray!" Erza dropped to her knees beside him, heart in her throat as she grabbed his wrist to take his pulse. He was on his side, one arm pinned beneath him, hair scattered over his face. But he was alive - she could feel his pulse beneath her fingers, and now that she was watching, she could see his breath stirring his bangs that had fallen against his lips.

"Gray, what happened?" Erza asked, turning his face towards her. As her fingers touched his cheek, he groaned slightly.

"I-" He blinked sluggishly at her. He seemed to be trying to look around, but was too weak to move his head. Erza went to help him sit up, but then thought better of it - he looked so weak that she honestly thought there was a chance he would simply pass out again if she tried to get him vertical.

"You're on the ground," Erza informed him. She thought that would be readily apparent, but he still looked so confused that she just wasn't sure. She was suddenly glad she'd come in here alone - Gray certainly wouldn't want Lahar to see him like this, and she still didn't even know what had happened. "Are you alright?"

"Erza?" he whispered. His eyelids fluttered, and he made a vague motion as if to try to get up. To Erza's surprise, his face immediately tensed like he was in pain. He stopped moving.

"Gray?" Erza asked sharply. "Are you hurt?"

He completely ignored her. "I…I passed out?" he asked.

"I think so," she said. "I found you like this. Do you remember what happened?"

"Is everything alright in there?" Lahar yelled from just outside the door.

"Fine!" Erza called back. She knew Gray well enough that there was nothing Lahar could do to improve the situation right now. She would fill him in later. "You can go!"

To her relief, he didn't argue, and she thought she could hear the vague sound of his footsteps making his way down the hall. She turned her attention back to Gray.

"You need to talk to me," she said. "What's going on?"

There was a long silence, where Gray seemed to be struggling to gather his thoughts. Finally, he made a low, uncomfortable sound in his throat. "Ngh. I think I just…haven't been eating enough."

Honestly, he didn't look like he'd been eating enough. He looked…pretty rough, if she was being honest. He was pale, with dark circles under his eyes, and his hair looked unwashed. She didn't think he'd lost weight, necessarily, but there was something almost fragile-looking about his appearance, like a strong wind could have sent him to the ground. He still didn't seem like he'd fully woken up yet, which was…concerning, to say the least. She still wasn't convinced he wasn't injured. She wasn't surprised that Lahar and Doranbolt had figured there was something wrong with him.

"You…you don't look like you've been eating enough," Erza finally said. She hesitated. "Is there…something wrong?"

Gray shook his head slightly. "Nervous about the trial. S-sorry."

"Well…let's try and get you something to eat."

Gray just blinked at her, still looking confused and half-asleep. When she mentioned eating, he frowned slightly, as if he were nauseous.

"I'll make you my renowned pasta sauce," Erza promised with a smile. She hadn't made that particular dish in a long time, but when they'd been children, it had been one of Gray's favorites. He used to eat it even if he was avoiding other food, and Erza hoped that that still held true. "Sound good?"

Gray gave a tentative nod, returning her smile with one of his own. Lahar and Doranbolt certainly wouldn't have been able to see through it, but Erza knew that expression. The smile didn't reach his eyes. It was the one he used when something was wrong, but he wanted to reassure the people around him that he was okay.

It didn't fool Erza for a moment. Whatever was going on with him, it wasn't simply that he was nervous about the trial, or that he missed Natsu. Gray simply didn't care enough about trials or justice to be nervous about this one, and while she was sure he missed Natsu, it wasn't like Gray to go without food or sleep for that. There was something more at stake here, but Erza had no idea what it could be.

She would just have to watch him closely in order to find out. Erza had been hoping Gray would confide in her, but he was holding something back. Hopefully, with a little time and patience, he would remember that he trusted her, and he'd let her in. Perhaps after he'd gotten some food in his stomach, he would relax. She would push a little further then.

"Alright," Erza said gently. "Let's get you fed."

She rose to her feet, extending her hand out to Gray. He took it, and she closed her hand around his wrist and hauled him to his feet. The sudden motion made him go a shade paler, and automatically, she gripped his arm to steady him.

Erza knew that she needed to let go of him, or he would probably end up pushing her away, but she couldn't stop seeing the slight fragility to his frame. It was worse now that he was standing - he was holding himself delicately, as if one wrong move might snap him in half, and she thought she could see a very slight tremble in his shoulders and arms.

Erza started walking towards the kitchen, as slowly as she felt was reasonable. She didn't let go of Gray's arm, unable to shake the feeling that he would fall. With every step, she expected him to shove her off, but he never did. In fact, he almost leaned closer to her, uncharacteristically accepting her help.

Generally, Erza hated to admit a fear of anything, but Gray was really starting to worry her. Could he be sick? Could someone have done something to him without anyone else noticing? It wasn't like him to be this weak and frail.

Erza finally arrived at the safehouse kitchen, Gray stumbling along beside her. There was a table with four chairs, and she pulled one out and pushed him lightly into it. He didn't protest, which was also a little strange. Instead, he seemed relieved to sit down.

Erza started going through Lahar and Doranbolt's fridge. They'd told her that anything they had in the safehouse was hers to use, thankfully. She'd brought some food of her own too, but that was mostly cakes and sweets, and it wouldn't be very helpful with getting Gray back on his feet.

The fridge wasn't very well-stocked - they didn't have exactly what she would need, unsurprisingly. But she found pasta in the pantry, and a can of tomato sauce, a few neglected-looking spices…. She was pretty sure she would be able to make something work. She started looking for pots and pans, cooking on autopilot while she watched Gray out of the corner of her eye. He had slumped into the back of the chair, like he didn't trust his own muscles to hold him in a sitting position, and he was watching her work with dull, tired eyes.

"How have your last few days been?" Erza asked. "Aside from the…from being nervous about the trial?"
She wasn't sure exactly how to approach this with him, since it was clear the trial wasn't really at the root of whatever was going on. But maybe if she played along with his story, she would be able to get more information out of him.

"Fine," he said. His expression didn't change. "B-boring."

"Have you spoken much to Lahar and Doranbolt?"

His gaze seemed to slide away from her - she could tell she was losing his attention. "Some."

Lahar and Doranbolt always seemed to spearhead such absurd conversations - there must be more to it than that. But Gray clearly didn't want to talk. She let him sit in silence for a minute as she boiled water and added salt.

"Have you been able to talk to Natsu much?"

She caught a very slight stiffening of his shoulders out of the corner of her eye. Not enough to press him on, but…it was there. "N-not really," Gray managed. "A little. Sometimes."

"How has he been? I saw him a day or two ago in the Guild Hall, but I know he left on a job. I haven't seen him since then."

"He's…um…he misses me."

Erza smiled, the expression only half-forced. "He always does. I'm surprised he went on a job alone. I was shocked when he wasn't hanging around the Guild Hall, annoying the rest of us and looking for company."

Was it her imagination, or had Gray flinched slightly? By the time she turned to look at him, his expression had smoothed, and he just looked tired again.

"He took the job so he could have something to do," Gray said.

Something about this seemed off to Erza. Gray had always enjoyed taking the odd job alone, but it wasn't as like Natsu to do so, especially one that was overnight. Left to his own devices, the Dragon Slayer would get lonely fast, and Erza wasn't sure she'd ever seen Natsu take a job without at least Happy for company.

Maybe that had something to do with how Gray was acting? It might have nothing to do with the trial at all, but just some kind of relationship tension that Erza didn't understand. But if that was the case, then why wouldn't he just tell Erza?

For a moment, Erza wished they were children again, so she could just pull out her sword and threaten to stab him if he didn't disclose his secrets. But that wasn't the relationship they had anymore, not really. It had taken a while, years almost, but Erza knew she had gained Gray's trust. Besides, right now, Gray looked delicate enough that Erza feared any added stress from her would make him crumble. It was maddening, and every passing second made her worry grow, but she knew she had no choice but to be patient.