Totomaru slowly started to regain consciousness, no idea how long he'd been out, only knowing he had been captured by his enemy. They had him restrained on a table, wrists and body bound, while his hands balled into fists. He still had on the oxygen mask, but was still pretty disoriented, only seeing fuzzy blobs he guessed were his captures, as well as hearing part of a conversation. But with him still coming out of his haze, he could only make out some of the words. The figure in gold and purple was upset, mentioning something about people not lasting too long, and one he was speaking with only held up his hands in defense.

"-need to find them! They're not communicating, and it's been hours, Demolisher! They're partners don't hold back. They could be in danger."

"She told me that they'd be fine, that we needed to secure the area, and to make sure you were okay. I made a decision, and I chose to trust her judgement."

"But you outrank her, now her little boyfriend might well kill her this time! Neither of them is answering their comms, yet you expect me to believe they're gonna be okay!"

"Raijin, calm down, he's awake," Carpentress said, making the three of them turn their attention to the man on the table, still hazy-eyed, but partially paying attention.

Laxus left, hoping he hadn't said too much in front of him, not quite sure how much he had heard. Gildarts came closer to Totomaru, removing the oxygen mask and bringing his face really close. He and Laki were on either side of him, checking his vitals, making sure he was really stable. They both still had on their gear, but had taken off Totomaru's mask, they pretended not to know who he was though, trying to be as discreet as possible. Laki asked him how he was feeling, only getting a halfhearted shrug in return. Gildarts asked what he and his friends were doing out there and why they attacked, receiving silence as his answer. Gildarts tried to lighten the mood, always thinking of himself as the good cop, he started talking about how they could work together if they're after the same thing, and then they could all be friends in the end. This made Totomaru shake his head, still giving the silent treatment. The Laki spoke up, telling him that they couldn't contact their friends in the mine, and that maybe his friends were lost too; trying to appeal to the empathetic side of him, but it didn't work. He only retorted with a scoff, he wasn't going to give everything out just because he didn't know where his team was, they could handle things themselves. Totomaru just sat quietly, he'd be there a while; his identity was exposed, and although they acted as if they'd never seen him before, it was only a matter of time. Going back to when Gajeel and Juvia were dropped off at home, it meant that at least a few of them were aware of who they truly were in their average lives. Then he thought of what the purple guy said, something about a boyfriend; from the context of the conversation, he was talking about someone in the mine, but to mention being killed, he had to have been referring to the one Gajeel had mentioned choking. But boyfriend, did that imply what he thought it did…if so, he couldn't spring it onto his team, nor let the enemy know that he knew.

Down in the mine, however, all four teens had been knocked unconscious from their fall, landing in the caves that mine had been built into. It was an embarrassing sight, how they landed. Gray had landed on Juvia, pretty much making her a pillow while she was out. And Gajeel had landed on Levy, they were out too, but it was probably going to hurt when she woke up. Juvia woke first, a ringing in her ears, and weight on her body. She looked, seeing her adversary on top of her, sleeping soundly. It annoyed her to no end, the fact that a man other than her Gray was using her body as a bed. She pushed him off, screaming at him as he awakened. This made Gajeel and Levy come too as well. He was internally questioning why he was laying on something soft and squishy, and that's when Levy let out her own embarrassed squeal, making Gajeel quickly remove himself from her, blushing ever so slightly while she turned around and wrapped her arms around her chest. It didn't matter to her right now that he was in fact her boyfriend, this wasn't the right time or place. Both parties stood up, inspecting their surroundings while trying to get their bearings. They had fallen into a cavern, the only light coming from Gray and Levy's headlamps. Levy looked around for any sort of exit aside from the way they fell in, seeing one entryway across the dark cave they were in. Gray went ahead to try his communication device, managing to get in contact with Laxus finally. He got an earful, then reassuring him that they were okay, and looking for a way out, telling Laxus they should meet up at the cave entrance. As he kept talking to him, he could faintly hear Levy speaking to Gajeel and Juvia about an action plan of what they should do.

"Who died and made you leader?"

"No one, I just thought we could throw out ideas on how we can leave this place." Levy replied to Gajeel, not enjoying his tone.

"Honestly, as long as I can get out of here, I don't care what we do." Juvia sighed and sat down, watching them both.

"I say we climb back up there from where we came, it's easier."

"The wall is probably unstable, who knows, the minute we get up there, it could collapse some more." She kept her voice calm as she made her way to the entryway, Gray following after her.

"I say we listen to Artificer, and it'd be better if we stick together, make a little truce not to fight. Y'know?"

"I second that truce Freezer Burn." Levy said this, making Juvia get up, walking after them with Gajeel in tow.

However, he wasn't happy that his idea was essentially cast to the side. He walked ahead of everyone and gently pushed Levy against the rock wall closest to her, stopping the rest of the group as they looked on. His hand planted on the wall, keeping her in place, and the closeness of their faces reminded Levy of all the books she'd read. And she would've thought this was hot too, if Gajeel hadn't been in villain mode and actively threatening her.

"We might have a truce right now, but the minute we get out of here, things are going right back to how they were, and I won't hesitate if you get in my way." Gajeel's voice was low and rough, just like the male leads in Levy's books, oh if only he wasn't speaking threats right now.

Levy just nodded in response, no way was she going to try using her voice, not when it would probably crack. He moved out of the way, and they started their trek through the cave. She led the pack, Gajeel behind her, followed by Juvia and then Gray. Not that he didn't trust that they'd hold the truce, but he knew villains rarely honored anything. Laxus had told him that it was fairly early in the afternoon, so despite the cave benign dark, they technically still had a bit of daylight to burn. He found out they also captured Totomaru but made sure he wasn't aware that they knew who he was. Gray could only think of this whole situation being a mess, if they even slipped up once, it could jeopardize what they had all worked so hard for, having a seemingly normal life. He then noticed Juvia trying to hide a limp in front of him, he didn't want to bring attention to it, so he just started talking to her.

"Sorry I landed on you before. You alright?"

"I'm fine." She wasn't in the talking mood obviously.

"You know, us being stuck down here reminds me of that movie where the women are trapped in the cave and-"

"Yes, I know of The Descent. Maybe you should stop talking, just in case we find out cave monsters exist." Juvia rolled her eyes, still trying to hide her limp. Her leg was sore, but nothing felt broken.

Gray only sighed, being reminded that this wasn't his Juvia. He looked ahead to see Gajeel, eyes glued in front of him as he followed behind Levy, who he knew as Artificer. He had questioned himself earlier, thinking of what he'd do if they met again. He still wasn't apologizing for what he did, but he at least wanted her to know he didn't have hard feelings about what the other guy did. He pushed it from his mind however, just trying to focus on the task at hand: find a lacrima and get out of this cave.

It was late in the evening at camp now, the sun was gone, and their little guest hadn't said a peep, nor was he eating. Every single one of them tried to offer him food, but he only shook his head. Laxus was annoyed already, having two of his members absent and now dealing with a kid on hunger strike, and this is why he didn't plan on having his own kids, he had enough to deal with now. It didn't really matter to him if the kid was going to eat or not, there wasn't any info to get out of him either. What really bothered him was what would happen when they left and let him go free. It'd be weird to keep prisoners, being good guys and all, but letting him go would lead to more problems in the future; and yet, this was just a kid he was talking about, someone who probably wasn't doing this because he wanted to. Gildarts had tried all day to be good cop, now it was his turn to play bad cop. Laxus had years of practice, antagonizing both Natsu and Gray; they were so easy, and the boy under his care was just like them. He walked in where the teenager was being held, still restrained. Laxus knew it might take a bit, so he brought a chair, and a little food, enough for him and Totomaru. Laxus sat down, in his chair, looking right at Totomaru, and started eating, saying nothing. He was chewing loudly, being as obnoxious as possible, that's when Totomaru's stomach made a loud growl.

"You hungry? I'll share what I brought with me." Laxus spoke in between bites.

Nothing, he said nothing.

"You know, you should eat something, kid. You're what, fifteen, you barely hit your growth spurt. Besides, if you don't talk, we could always just torture you." Laxus was bluffing, but he produced sparks from his hands to sell it.

"You think I believe that? If you were into torture, you'd have let guy suffocate me earlier. And ninja train to not need food anyway, so you can't bribe me." Everything was going fine for him until his stomach growled again.

"Listen, we know where our friends are, but not your little group. Maybe they pulverized 'em, I know I would. It'd be good payback from the museum."

"That reminds me, how did you all know where we lived?" Totomaru turned the tables.

"We didn't, maybe Iron Giant and Water Nymph were sleepwalking home. I am curious though, what are you after this time?" He rolled his eyes and looked at him.

"That's classified information."

"Oh really, then maybe I'll get it out of ya." Laxus acted cruelly, but he wasn't about to torture this kid, neither was he going to let him starve.

Totomaru tried to prepare himself, he wasn't afraid of this guy, but he wasn't sure what to expect of him as of yet. He expected a shock, but the only thing that came was a forceful grabbing of his face. With both hands on his face, one was gripped on his chin and the other grabbed his cheekbones, forcing his mouth open. Laxus maneuvered one of hands so that his fingers were jabbed into the boy's cheeks, making it painful for him to even try closing his mouth. With his other free hand, he grabbed some of the food he bought, and force fed it down Totomaru's throat. He tried his best not to be too rough or else he'd puke, but he didn't want him spitting it out. It wasn't anything too solid, it was applesauce with a bit of protein powder mixed in. Freed had told him years ago that it was a good thing to eat in case one of them was to hurt to properly eat. Since then, he always had a batch on hand during overnight missions; making and even eating it brought back fond memories of his time with the Thunder Legion. Totomaru was probably more surprised at this action than if had just been fried by electricity. The young man tried his best to swallow what he could while the older guy kept feeding him. It wasn't too long of an ordeal, but he felt way too full now.

"Now that you've eaten, maybe you'll talk."

"Never!" Totomaru was panting at this point, trying to regain his composure. This was gonna be a long night.

Back in the caves, no one really knew what time it was, they just knew they were tired. Juvia, still trying to hide her limp, suggested they make camp soon, just saying she was exhausted from how heavy Freezer Burn had been. They stopped around a small opening, it wasn't too far from the exit, but it was still probably over an hour away, and leaving the cave at night could bring more problems. This was a good place to take shelter, safe from the elements, fairly dry, and offered some warmth. They were in a wider part of the cave, still the only light coming from the headlamps. Levy crafted some wood and a lighter so they could make some sort of fire for the night. She really wished Natsu were here right now, he could light the wood and that'd be it. Levy liked using her powers, but she still never built up enough energy to not be tired after prolonged use. Earlier she had to craft rope and harnesses for Gajeel and Juvia to use when they reached a ledge, knowing that would help them get out. She was grateful however, that the two of them weren't trying to fight them now, though still being quite cold. As she got the fire going, she noticed Gray speaking to Juvia, despite being incognito, he still tried to act like a caring boyfriend. She didn't really want to eavesdrop, but she could see him motioning to Juvia's leg, her face turning downward, before she slowly nodded. Then Gray formed a ball of ice in his hand and started rubbing it on her leg. Letting out a soft gasp from the chill, she insisted she could do it herself and slowly went back to being cold to him like before. Gajeel was just sitting there, thinking of how lousy it was being stuck in a cave like this when he wished he could be out with his girlfriend, if she wasn't out of town too of course. He was slightly annoyed by it, being around these two other mutants, making him go into his steel form subconsciously, just slightly on edge. This made Juvia a bit concerned for her friend and ally, if he was nervous about anything, they needed to address it.

"Kurogane, is everything alright? You're in your steel mode."

"Oh, huh, yeah. I'm fine." Gajeel had reverted to his normal form.

"You sure?" Gray asked, leaning against the cave wall as he stared at the ceiling.

"Yeah, I'm just peachy keen. You all just bother me. This is the second time in months that we ran into you, just a little fishy that it's all near Magnolia. Now you've got more hands on deck too, making it a little easier to try subduing us."

Levy scoffed, "Us meeting was a coincidence, both at the museum and now. Besides, it's not like we know why you're here anyway."

"We're here for -" Juvia started but was interrupted by Gajeel.

"That's not necessary Rainwoman, I don't trust ya as far as I can throw ya. And you know Pipsqueak, that's pretty far." Gajeel was still pretty annoyed, referring to the girl known as Artificer as Pipsqueak.

Rolling her eyes, Levy realized that even if he was being rude and antagonistic, Gajeel was the same man she was dating.

"Why did you guys even steal that book to begin with?" Gray asked, now sitting next to Levy, but between her and Gajeel.

"To sell." Juvia blurted, not looking up from icing her leg.

Gajeel's jaw went slack, no way was she just giving up the information to them.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, we put it back. We don't steal things, especially to sell." Gray looked at Gajeel, knowing that he would question what they did with the book.

Gajeel nodded and looked off to the side in silence. Gray signed and took a little bit of food out of his pouch. The emergency food he packed consisted of two protein bars and the protein, applesauce mixture. He rarely packed water since he could just suck on the ice he made. As he ate his protein mixture, he could the stomachs of both Gajeel and Juvia, he sighed. He tried offering one of the bars to Gajeel, but he strongly refused, his girlfriend however, eagerly took it, even saying the words thank you quietly before she started eating it. Gray was happy that at least someone was a fan of his kindness.

Gajeel only refused his kindness because of their fight, how would he trust a person who up to this point was against him. And although Rainwoman seemed fine with them, she wasn't the one overthinking about how they knew where their home was. His stomach rumbled again, but instead of the snowman offering him food, it was the one he now dubbed, Pipsqueak. He declined again, but she insisted, forcibly placing the protein bar in his hand as she herself was eating the same thing her comrade ate. He was a little curious about the concoction, questioning her about it. She told him it was like a family recipe, used only if the person was in a real pickle, easy on the stomach and full of protein. She didn't tell him what it was, but he could only guess by the looks of it, that it was baby food. He started eating the bar she handed to him, it didn't taste like poison, so he figured it was okay. The fire was low, and he only assumed how late it was at this point. Rainwoman had started nodding off, when the snowman asked Artificer, who he would still be calling Pipsqueak, if she could make a pillow and mattress for her. She sighed in response and stood up, walking behind Juvia; but instead of a pillow and mattress, she made a few blankets, enough for everyone to sleep on and under. She handed two to Juvia, two to her friend, and then two to Gajeel. He took them tentatively, still unsure how to take their kindness. As Juvia started laying out her covers, Gray gently took them from her.

"Let me do that, just relax." He placed one blanket on the ground motioning her to sit on it before he draped the other one over her.

"Thank you, Freezer Burn. You've been very kind, but can you please stop flirting with me?" Juvia said with a half-smile.

"Wait, what?" Gray was taken aback, he didn't see what he was doing as flirting, but then again, he is used to being her boyfriend.

"Yes, you've been flirting with me since we've been down here. I'm flattered, but it would never work out between, besides, I'm already in a committed relationship with the man of my dreams." She let out a long sigh as she thought of her sweet, and handsome Gray.

Gray turned around a bit sad before Levy came next to him and whispered in his ear, "At least she's loyal."

This didn't make him feel any better though, so he made his little makeshift bed and sat on it, he made it next to Juvia's, it was just out of convenience, however. He offered to keep watch, but Levy had assured him that she could keep watch, knowing he needed to rest. She was right, Gajeel had knocked him out, he was sore, too, but he could only imagine how much pain she was in, not just physically either. Of course, revealing themselves would muddy their relationships, but at least her boyfriend wouldn't be hitting on her; but even then, that might end the relationship in general. Juvia was already sound asleep when he felt himself drifting off too. This left Levy and Gajeel, she told him he could rest, and that she could keep watch, he just shrugged and turned to the side. Levy had the idea that if she kept watch, she could look for any lacrima in the cave when everyone went to sleep. There wasn't a good way to gauge if Gajeel was truly sleeping however; she remembered one of their dates to the park.

They went on a fairly warm day, at around noon when the sun was the highest. Gajeel wanted to do a solo date, growing tired of having either Natsu or Gray cramping his style or interjecting their own views of how a date should go. Sure, they'd been dating their girlfriend's longer than he had, but felt like they'd just give him lousy advice. Levy didn't mind a solo date either, finding it nice to have it be just them, at least for a few hours. It was to be a small picnic date, each of them making cute little snacks to bring the other. Levy made some finger sandwiches and fruit salad with a few berries, mangos, and pomegranate arils. She had asked Gajeel to make a dish, but he wasn't much of a cook, so he said he'd just pick something up instead. Each of them would bring two drinks, their own pick and enough to share with the other. Levy bought two glasses of peach soda, it was orange in color though. But Gajeel was a bit more metal, bringing flavored water in an aluminum can; it had a skull on it too, making it look like it wasn't water.

When they met at the park, Levy had already chosen a spot, sitting on top of a blue gingham picnic blanket. She was wearing jean shorts and an off shoulder red top with long sleeves. Gajeel was wearing black shorts, a forest green muscle tee and a red headband. Levy had brought her food in a cute woven picnic basket, and Gajeel brought his in a paper bag from the store he went to. He had gone to a local pastry shop and bought two blueberry entremets and some assorted macarons for them to share. They both shared what they had brought, having a good time just talking and eating. Once done, Gajeel laid down on the blanket, soaking in the sun and relaxing, feeling a little sleepy. Levy had thought he had actually fallen asleep, but he was only messing with her, starting to make snoring sounds when she tried to get him up.

And like that, faint snoring sounds took her from her thoughts. She waited a little while longer before standing up, finding her device to look for readings. She had almost forgotten their original mission thanks to their significant others crashing the party. The device showed that there must be lacrima close by, so she started her trek to find it, using her powers to drop little objects to mark the area she'd been in to come back. When she was fat enough away from the sleeping group, she tried contacting Laxus.

"Raijin, are you still awake?" She spoke into her communicator.

"Yep, took you long enough. Everything okay down there? It took him a few seconds to reply, but he had been waiting for her to check in with him.

"Yeah, I'm looking for the lacrima right now. Everyone else is asleep, so it gives me some time to work." She said, rounding a corner, making the readings go up.

"Just be careful alright, I know your location, but I'm not there to help. Best I can do is wait at the cave exit for you. There's still a bit of ways to the end."

"I know, I looked at the map. How're things up there?"

"Caught that pyromaniac, he's a hard nut to crack. I didn't torture him or get violent though, wish I could though…anyway, you get any info from the water nymph and your boyfriend?"

"Kind of, they were trying to steal the book last time to sell it. But we have no idea what they're doing here now. I'm going to assume they're after lacrima as well since they came straight for the mine. And I'm guessing they're gonna sell these too." She sighed, walking along before hearing moving water.

She looked near her feet and noticed a leave pool of water, it was moving out from the cave. The water itself was glowing, with orbs the size of her hands underneath it's surface. Lacrima, she'd found them. Forming a bag with her hands, she reached into the water, grabbing one. It was translucent yellow, glowing from the inside out. She went on inspecting the crystal in her hands when she heard a voice, not Laxus' and coming from behind her in the cavern.

"So, this is what you were looking for. Glad I didn't really go to sleep. I knew it was odd for a little thing like you to suggest keeping watch." It was Gajeel, he was in full steel mode, walking up to her with a grin on his face.

Levy looked at him, a bit scared now, thinking of what happened at the museum. Instead of fighting, she wanted to rationalize with him.

"Th-there's no need for us to fight, there's enough to go around okay. We just need a few specimens to study…so you can take a few of these." She wasn't super confident in how she said it.

"Huh, didn't expect that, but I guess I'm glad that I don't have to fight someone who's a lot weaker than me." He came closer to where she was, looking down at her bag.

"Oh, I'll make you one." She held out her hands and materialized a bag for him to use. Taking it, he started filling it up with as many as he could, there had to be hundreds in the water.

"Who were you talking to before? That lighting guy?"

"Oh, Raijin, yeah. He's the team leader."

"Hm, he your boyfriend or something?" Gajeel asked while filling his bag to the brim.

"Nope. And it's none of your business either." She got a little attitude, it was deja vu. No way did he ask her in both regular and villain mode, if she had been dating Laxus.

"Geez, that's a touchy subject."

"Well excuse me for being a little defensive against the guy who tried to kill me." She finished filling her own bag and stood up.

"You did get in my way, and it's not like I really tried to. You're so tiny, everything I do might cause bad damage. But it makes you feel any better, it's been weighing on my mind. Thief is one thing, killer is another. But it doesn't mean I'm not going to try beating you in a fight." He stood up too, looking at her, there was no way of knowing what the girl in front of him looked like under the mask, nor what she thought of what he said.

She shrugged, walking away from him and following the markers she had dropped on the way here. They both walked back in silence, it still being weird since they had gotten a little friendly while grabbing lacrima. Then it dawned on him, he had to ask her.

"How did you all know where we lived?" He blurted, making the girl in front of him turn around, confused.

"What are you talking about Kurogane?" She knew what he was talking about, but she couldn't explain it.

"Rainwoman and I woke up at home. Totomaru said we were left at the doorstep. So how do you know?"

"I don't even know what you're talking about. I didn't even wake up until the next day. Or did you forget that you choked me out with a devilish grin on your face."

Gajeel looked away, feeling guilty. "Sorry, I just. I just want to keep work and personal life separate." Ironically, it was too late for that, and Artificer knew this.

"Even though we're on different sides Mr. Black Steel, we aren't the type to go after people unprovoked. Although I don't know who you are under that mask, I promise you, none of us will go after you or Rainwoman, especially in your daily lives outside of your bad deeds. Even if Raijin knows who you are, you have nothing to fear." Levy lied, she hated doing that, but she was telling the truth partially. They'd never go after them, never.

It made Gajeel feel a bit better, but it was no guarantee that she was telling the truth. Despite his side gig and the dangers, it could lead to, he wanted to keep Levy safe, he couldn't bear the idea of her knowing what he used his powers for. She was so innocent and saw the good in everyone, so if she knew the truth, she might not see good in him any longer, or worse, hate him all together. The girl before him sounded sincere, so he only hoped that she truly was. When they got back to camp, they noticed their companions were actually cuddling. It was cute, but uncomfortable considering they weren't friends. So, Levy pulled them apart a little so it wouldn't be a mess once they woke up. Getting in her makeshift bed, she rolled over, getting to sleep shortly after.

—

There was a chill in the air the next morning. Although it protected the elements, it didn't protect them from the cold weather of Autumn. Thankfully they all woke up in their own areas, and not cuddled against each other. Levy woke first, but only because Laxus had been yelling at her for a good two minutes to wake up, she really wished he had a snooze button. The minute she got up, she started cleaning her little bed, Gajeel turned his head, looking at her. She questioned if he'd been awake this whole time, thinking of the night before, but he shook his head no. It was pretty uncomfortable to sleep in their masks. During the night, Gajeel had to lift his a little to breathe better, doing the same to Juvia. He assumed the other two had some sort of device for breathing in their own masks. As he started clearing his own bed away, he heard Juvia start mumbling in her sleep, he couldn't hear it clearly, but it was probably about Gray; so, he walked over carefully, and lightly tapped on her face until she woke up. Freezer Burn woke up last, all the shuffling disturbed his slumber, but he knew he needed to get up. Artificer had made them all little backpacks to hold their bedding, telling Kurogane and Rainwoman that they could keep them for emergencies. It really touched Juvia, that despite the fact that they were going to be enemies after leaving the cave, they were shown such kindness. This wouldn't last long however, as soon as they would leave this place, it would be back to status quo. They would become enemies once more if they had another run in.

As they reached the light on the outside of the cave, Raijin was already standing there, Totomaru standing next to him with restraints on. Before they left, he had put Totomaru's mask back on, saying he didn't want to cause a rift between him and his friends. Totomaru was surprised by it, and though he didn't take kindly to anything the man in front of him did, he expected him to be cruel or force information out of him. The man known as Raijin seemed to be menacing, but in actuality, he was just like the rest of his crew, generally kind, in his own sort of way.

Both parties stood before each other, Raijin letting his captive go along with his friends. As they parted ways, Kurogane glanced back towards Artificer, the person he almost killed, the one who showed him kindness despite that. He could tell they were the good guys, unlike himself and his team. But it made me wonder if they could potentially leave Jose and join them. He wouldn't tell Jose about this and told his companions not to say anything either. Despite Totomaru's distaste for the man, he was decently loyal, but he knew that telling him would cause problems, especially with the hunch he had about the other group.

Raijin asked for any information about why they were there. Levy said they were there for the same reason, but different motives. He wasn't surprised when he heard that she helped her boyfriend collect the lacrima, but it did bother him that if she didn't play her cards right, they'd have ended up with a repeat of the museum. Levy also made a joke about how Juvia was loyal to Gray, even if she didn't know he was standing right in front of her. It lightened the mood a little bit, but Gray wasn't too happy being the butt of the joke. When they would return home, they needed to get the lacrima to Makarov for a few tests and examinations, others would be sent off for more extensive research.