Gray hadn't slept at all the night before. He'd gone to visit Erza, and then gone back to his room. He'd had every intention of trying to get some sleep afterwards, he thought, but he'd ended up mostly just sitting on his bed and staring at the wall, thinking of Natsu.

Lahar had come to check on him early that morning, to make sure he was awake and ask if he had any further questions about the process of the trial himself. Erza had come a few minutes later, to try to get him to eat something. Gray had refused - he didn't want to risk throwing up on the witness stand. She'd left him alone to get ready, which is what Gray was supposed to be doing now.

So far, Gray was still in the same clothes from yesterday. He knew he should change. In fact, he'd even brought a button down shirt for the occasion - he had a sense that it was best to look fancy when appearing in front of a court.

But Gray just…couldn't bring himself to get up. The pain in his leg was flaring - he wasn't sure if it had actually gotten worse, or if it was just that after so many long hours of the constant agony in his shin, it was starting to wear him down. The idea of trying to stand on it, even for long enough to change, felt insurmountable. He just didn't have the mental reserves to even attempt to try overcoming the physical pain. He didn't even want to try.

Eventually, he knew he would have to. Erza or Lahar would come and find him, and they would make him get up, and he would have to act as normal as he could. But he wasn't going to do that until they made him. It was all Gray could do to summon the mental energy to stay seated upright in the bed. Just the simple fact that he wasn't lying down, that he'd made it to a sitting position, felt like an accomplishment.

Gray.

Tony's voice appeared in his head, but Gray was too tired even to shudder. It had been at least two days since he'd slept or eaten, and that, combined with the constant agonizing over Natsu, had worn him to the bone. He wasn't even scared anymore.

I'm here.

Gray could tell pretty much instantly that Natsu couldn't hear him this time. As much as he didn't want to admit it, that was almost a relief. He couldn't imagine that he sounded anywhere near normal right now. If Natsu had been listening to the conversation, all Gray would do was worry him more.

You know what you have to do. It wasn't a question. The words rang in Gray's thoughts like an order, and Gray knew he'd follow it. There was no other way out at this point.

Yes. Gray answered simply. He didn't have the energy for anything else - no more begging, or protests, or demands to talk with Natsu. I didn't see Rinel that day. He's not the man they want. It was someone else.

He should feel horrible. Gray hadn't explicitly formulated his false testimony in his mind before now, but it was inescapable. He was about to let a murderer go free, and he knew that he should be absolutely wracked with guilt. But instead, he didn't feel much of anything.

Good. After they release Rinel, you'll be escorted out of the courtroom. We will make sure you're not followed. You'll meet up with him at the back of the courthouse, and he'll bring you to where I have Natsu. We'll do the exchange there, Rinel and I will leave, and all of this will be over.

Got it. "Over" was all Gray wanted. The telepathic connection in his mind cut off, and Gray was left alone again.

Some more time went by, or at least Gray thought it did, before there was a knock at the door. Gray blinked, tearing his gaze away from the wall opposite him.

"...Yeah?"

"It's Erza. Are you ready?"

Slowly, Gray looked down at his wrinkled t-shirt. He didn't know where the button down had gone, and he didn't feel at all capable of finding it. He just wanted to get this over with.

"Yeah," Gray said. He made no move to get up. But he would, he just needed a moment. Natsu's life depended on his ability to stand up and give testimony, and so he would find it in himself to do it.

"Can I come in?"

Gray hesitated. "Yeah."

Erza opened the door. "Gray, we need to…."

She managed to hide the sudden shift in her expression pretty well, but Gray could tell he'd disappointed her. She looked him up and down, her mouth slowly thinning.

"What?" Gray finally asked tiredly.

"You look…this is just…." She paused briefly. "I apologize, but you cannot go to the trial like that."

"Oh." Gray didn't want to argue, but he felt vaguely defeated - of course he couldn't even get ready for the trial right.

"When was the last time you took a bath?"

Gray wrinkled his nose, trying to think back. The idea of a bath had felt overwhelming in the face of the pain from his leg. He knew the heat wouldn't do anything to help, since it wasn't really his pain, and it had just seemed like there were too many steps. He didn't think he'd properly washed himself since before Natsu had been taken, a couple days ago now.

"I don't-"

"We still have some time. You need to get cleaned up before we go to the trial."

"Will we be late?" Gray asked. If he really had to clean up, he wasn't going to protest - washing himself properly seemed like it would take less energy than arguing with Erza about it. But if he was late to the trial, Tony would know. And then…and then….

Gray had spent the last few days carefully not thinking about what Tony actually had the power to do to Natsu. He could kill Natsu, sure, but that would be pretty suspicious, since that would also kill Gray. But much more pressing were his fears of Tony maiming Natsu to punish Gray for even the smallest missteps. He'd broken his leg, which was bad, but that could heal. But if Gray was late to the trial, and Tony thought it would put him at risk…he could cut off one of Natsu's fingers, or take one of his eyes. Something that even a dragon slayer wouldn't be able to bounce back from so easily.

The thought made a sudden swoop of sickness course through Gray.

"We won't be late," Erza assured him, possibly noting the horror on his face. "We can move quickly."

Gray wasn't so sure that he could move quickly, but before he could think of how to say that to Erza, she had a hand around his arm and she was pulling him to his feet. Gray didn't try to stop her. Erza got the things that she wanted, and she was probably right about this anyway. Gray couldn't remember the last time he'd looked in a mirror, but he was sure he wouldn't like what he saw.

Erza towed him out the door, and Gray stumbled along behind her as best he could. She stopped at the door of the bathroom, pushing it open.

"I don't think we have time for you to take a bath," Erza announced, looking at her watch. She sounded annoyed, but Gray could tell that it was more at the timing than it was at him. "Can you just wash your hair in the sink? Quickly?"

Gray nodded, grabbing a bottle of shampoo from the bathtub. He half-expected Erza to stay and watch him to make sure he actually obeyed her, and he was not disappointed. Instead of leaving, Erza leaned against the wall, arms crossed.

The sink water was cold, but Gray preferred that anyway. He stuck his head under the faucet, and to his surprise, it actually felt good. Gray closed his eyes and let the water run through his hair, trying to focus on nothing but the feeling of it against his skin.

"Gray! We need to move quickly!"

Startled, Gray jerked upright, banging his head on the faucet. Spitting out water, he backed away from the sink, heavy wet hair hanging over his eyes.

"I'm sorry." Erza's voice was soft, and Gray felt her hand on his shoulder, guiding his head back under the sink. "I'll do it, alright?"

Gray bowed his head, letting Erza work shampoo through his hair. He thought that he should probably be embarrassed, but it felt good. It had felt impossible to do by himself, but Gray knew he'd feel better when he was clean.

Erza probably knew that too. Gray had upset her by not getting dressed for the trial, but he could tell that had already faded to worry. Last night, he'd been so consumed with allaying her suspicion that he hadn't really appreciated her presence. But now, the trial was so close, and Gray had been acting so suspicious this whole time, and he was pretty sure at this point it was too late for her to actually connect the dots. It was nice to just be taken care of.

"You know…." Erza was beginning to rinse out his hair now, and she sounded serious, and a little hesitant. "If someone is threatening you or Natsu, all of your friends are here for you. None of us would let anything happen. To either of you."

Gray stiffened. She didn't know, did she? If Tony found out that she had suspicions that something had happened to Natsu, that Gray was being blackmailed - Gray didn't even want to think about what might happen to Natsu. His stomach felt heavy, his chest tight.

But Gray…Gray knew that, while he probably wasn't acting completely normal, he hadn't told Erza anything about Natsu. Tony must know that, right? Gray still wasn't exactly sure how Tony was able to watch everything Gray was doing, but he must be able to see it. He couldn't hold what Erza seemed to have figured out on her own against him. Gray was still obeying. He couldn't do anything to Natsu, not so close to the finish line, he wouldn't dare.

Gray swallowed hard.

"I know," Gray managed. "Good…good thing Natsu's on a job. He should be fine."

"Yes," Erza said, and there was something slightly strained in her voice that Gray doubted he would have picked up on if he didn't know her very, very well. "Good thing Natsu's on a job."

Gray took a deep breath. Surely Tony would be reluctant to hurt Natsu now, so close to the trial that it might jeopardize Gray's ability to testify. Not when Gray had so far shown every sign of playing along. But Gray still wasn't sure how far he could push it, not when Natsu lay in the balance.

But he was pretty sure if he didn't clue Erza in to the fact that something was going on, she was never going to forgive him. And anyways, even if Gray did testify, manage to get Natsu back, and keep them both safe, that was going to mean potentially two very dangerous men were walking around free. And it would be all Gray's fault.

It would be much, much better, if Erza realized something bad was happening and fixed it somehow.

"It's just…." Gray's throat seemed to stop working - he took a careful breath and started over. "It's just…I am still a little worried."

"Why?" Erza asked. Her tone of voice didn't change, and her hands didn't stop her gentle motions on Gray's scalp.

"It's just…I know Natsu's on a job now," Gray said delicately. "So right now, he's fine. But they…they know who I am. What if they're waiting for Natsu when he gets back? He could still be in danger."

"Fairy Tail will do everything in our power to protect Natsu," Erza said firmly. "We will be able to keep him safe."

For a split second, Gray thought he was going to cry again. He'd let himself get his hopes up, like an idiot, but Erza wasn't going to be able to sweep in and fix everything. Gray had spent days making this bed, and it was stupid to assume anything was going to change.

"Thanks," Gray whispered. "I know you will."

It didn't take long to finish washing Gray's hair. Honestly, Erza could have gone a little faster, but it seemed like it was relaxing Gray. Some of the tension seemed to leave his shoulders, and his breathing was a bit looser.

Erza wished she could have stood there with him longer, but they really were going to run out of time. Reluctantly, she turned off the faucet, handing him a towel.

"Dry your hair, and we'll get you dressed."

Gray nodded, taking the towel. Sometime during the trip from his bedroom to the bathroom, the shirt he'd been wearing had disappeared, which in this instance was probably a good thing. It meant that there was one less step for Gray to take towards getting ready.

Gray dried his hair, dropping the towel on the floor. Erza debated making him pick it up, but she decided that he was probably dealing with enough right now. She elected to simply leave it there. After all, it wasn't her safe house.

"Okay," Gray said quietly. He still sounded tense, but Erza thought his voice was a little stronger. His color seemed a bit better, too, although it could possibly be that he just looked healthier when he wasn't a mass of tangled hair.

"Let's go," Erza told him. Before they left the bathroom, she quickly smoothed down his hair, letting it fall the way he normally wore it. Some of it would inevitably end up sticking up, but that was alright. That was just Gray.

Gray made a face, pushing at her hand. "Erza…."

"I'm done," Erza promised, shooing him out the door. "Go on."

Gray trudged out the door ahead of her, making his way back towards the bedroom. Erza frowned, watching him as he walked. Was he still limping? Why didn't he want to admit that he'd gotten himself hurt? Gray and Natsu had hurt themselves in endless idiotic ways over the years, and surely Erza couldn't be surprised by anything now.

Erza promised herself that after the trial, when some of the pressure had been taken off Gray, she'd ensure that he got proper care for whatever he'd done to himself this time.

Back in Gray's bedroom, Erza fished out Gray's button down from his luggage and handed it to him. He did it up with fumbling fingers, taking so long that it was all Erza could do not to swoop in and finish up the buttons for him. He still looked a little…scruffy, even with his clean shirt and washed hair. Erza requipped into one of her many outfits with a tie, and then undid it and handed it to him.

He stared at it in relative puzzlement. Erza was pretty sure she had seen him tie a tie before, but maybe someone else had done that for him. Maybe he'd forgotten now that he was so strung out about…whatever. Either way, she didn't think he was going to do it, and she was quite adept at tying ties. She quickly tied it for him, while he stared at her with glassy, unfocused eyes.

"Are you sure you're alright to do this?" she asked. "You seem a little…."

In a quick motion, she laid the back of her hand against his head, feeling for fever. He felt…normal, maybe a little cool, but that was normal for Gray.

"Ugh," he said, pushing at her wrist. "I'm fine. Let's just go."

He started walking out the door of his room, but almost immediately, his foot caught on some microscopic crack, and he stumbled hard. He reached out, presumably in an effort to steady himself on the door, but he probably would have fallen if it weren't for Erza's quick reflexes. She quickly wrapped a hand around his waist, hauling him upright.

She didn't bother asking about the sudden weakness - she knew he wouldn't answer. She had to chalk it up to some combination of not sleeping well and not eating well, at least until after the trial.

After the trial, she was going to get to the bottom of this. She didn't care what it took. She was going to figure out what had happened to Gray, whether he liked it or not. And then, she was going to fix it.

Gray hardly remembered the walk out to the car, which would take him and Erza to the courtroom. He knew he was having trouble walking on his own, and Erza had needed to help him. He knew that was kind of suspicious, but as far as he could tell, he had no more aches and pains than he'd had this morning, so Tony probably hadn't taken it out on Natsu. Maybe he could tell Gray really did need the help.

The ride to the courtroom was mostly silent. If Natsu had been there, it wouldn't have been. Natsu would have been carsick, moaning and whimpering and resting his head on Gray's chest. Gray never could have imagined he would miss that so much. He laid his head against the cool glass of the window and tried not to think about it too much.

"We're here," Erza said, tapping him on the shoulder. She'd sat in the back with Gray during the ride, which was sweet, now that he was thinking about it. He knew that Erza loved driving, and would always prefer if she was the one behind the wheel. She must have been really worried about him in order to let Lahar drive.

Gray tried not to think about how much that meant to him. It would make what he was about to do hurt even more.

Shakily, Gray got out of the car, trying not to lean against it too obviously. Erza and Lahar joined him, and they walked with him into the courtroom. Gray had expected it to be mostly empty, since he couldn't imagine why anyone would want to be in a courtroom unless they absolutely had to be. But most of the seats were already full, presumably with more concerned citizens that Gray was about to disappoint.

"Alright, let's find our seats, Gray," Erza said, placing a hand on his shoulder. In front of her, one of the easily recognizable Magic Council attendants started, turning around.

"Gray? Gray Fullbuster?" he asked, buggy eyes staring directly at Gray.

Listlessly, Gray nodded. "That's me."

"The star witness," the attendant muttered, rubbing his webbed hands together. "Right this way, sir. Your seat is at the front."

Gray nodded, turning to follow the attendant. Erza and Lahar fell into step beside him, and they began to walk up the crowded passage down the middle of the room.

"No, no, not you two. You can find seats…elsewhere. The front of the room is reserved for the witnesses."

Erza's mouth thinned, and Gray figured she was probably struggling between her instinct not to let him out of her sight and her strong respect for the Fiore justice system. Apparently, justice won out, because she sighed and nodded.

"Very well. Gray, we will see you after the trial. Don't worry. I know you'll do well." Taking Lahar by the elbow, she turned around and walked away.

Gray watched her for a second, then followed the attendant towards the front. Realistically, it was better that Erza was far away from him. That way, it might be easier for him to get away after the trial, and meet up with Rinel.

The attendant stopped, indicating an empty bench. Gray nodded, and he was going to slide past him when a webbed hand fell on his shoulder.

"I'll bring you to the stand to give your testimony," the attendant whispered. "After that's done, I'll escort you out the back. You're going to meet with Rinel, and he'll take it from there. Remember what to say."

And with that, he was gone.

Gray dropped heavily onto the wooden bench, heart pounding in his throat. He'd known that this was it, that after today, he would either get Natsu back or lose him forever. But the fact that everything was really coming to a head, right here…it made his breath catch in his throat.

Gray's leg was throbbing and almost burning from the effort of walking to his seat without limping. Gray leaned forward and massaged the area around his knee, as subtly as he could. He knew it wouldn't help, since it wasn't his muscles that were tense or his shin that was swollen. But it was just instinct, and the idea that he was doing something made him feel better at least.

Gray thought about making himself an ice pack, which might actually give him a little relief from the hot aching feeling. But he didn't think there was a way to do that without everyone else in the courtroom noticing.

Maybe Gray should have forced himself to eat something, or get a little sleep. Intellectually, he knew that this was one of the most important moments of his life, and Natsu hung in the balance of his performance. But in practice, he was having trouble staying conscious. The courtroom kept swimming in and out of focus. His head would drop onto his chest, and then he would pull himself upright again with a start. If someone had required him to move, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to. He was even nervous about the eventual walk to the witness stand, although the nerves came in kind of a detached way, like he was watching himself be nervous.

Some amount of time passed, and no one else spoke to him. Eventually, the judge called the court to order, just like in the courtroom dramas he and Natsu had watched on their lacrima. A bunch of other stuff was said, and Gray paid attention for about five seconds before his brain was forced to drift out again.

The thing that he had perhaps known, but still hadn't really expected, was how freaking long everything in the courtroom took to happen. Once everyone was quiet, the judge read a lot of rules that Gray couldn't follow and didn't want to pay attention to. Then, like fifty people had to go up and say their piece. Gray was pretty sure one of these people was the lawyer who was supposed to be representing him, but Lahar had never introduced them so Gray supposed it wasn't important. To be completely honest, he knew nothing about the case aside from his own key testimony. The only reason he really even knew his testimony was so important was because everyone was so worked up about protecting him.

And because Tony had bothered to kidnap Natsu, of course.

Gray had no idea how long this was all going on, but to him, it felt like days. His leg was throbbing, and Natsu wasn't safe yet, and Gray felt like he'd spent a lifetime in this courtroom. He hoped Tony wasn't expecting him to be understanding what was going on. Because he couldn't be.

"Gray Fullbuster?"

There was a tap on his shoulder and Gray started, looking up at the Council frog that had pulled him aside earlier. He jerked his head, nodding towards the front of the courtroom. Gray followed his gaze to the annoyed looking judge, and he realized that this probably wasn't the first time his name had been called.

"Sorry," Gray mumbled to the room at large, pushing himself upright. For a moment, he was legitimately afraid that he would pass out. Black spots crowded his vision, and he had to pause to breathe until they began to clear. He reminded himself firmly that if he passed out, he might as well be killing Natsu.

After a second or two, Gray forced himself to follow the attendant up to the front of the courtroom. Tentatively, he climbed onto the stand, resisting the urge to fidget. He would have been uncomfortable standing in front of the whole courtroom no matter what, but it was dramatically worse knowing what he was about to say.

"We're going to swear you in," the judge told him, and Gray looked down at a large book beside him on the stand. He'd seen this before, in plenty of TV shows. He was supposed to put his hand on the cover and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

And then, he was going to lie. Gray gulped uncomfortably, snatching his hand back from where it had been drifting towards his tie. He knew that compared to perjury, stripping in a courtroom wasn't that bad. Still, he didn't want to make this any worse than it had to be.

Obediently, Gray placed his hand on the book and repeated the judge's words. It was easier if he didn't listen, he found. When he'd finished, the judge nodded, and Gray took his hand off the book as quickly as he could without drawing suspicion.

One of the lawyers stepped up to the front, turning towards the jurors. Gray had seen her talking, and even though he couldn't remember anything she'd said, he was pretty sure she was the lawyer for the prosecution. The one that was relying on Gray's testimony to put Rinel in jail.

She was talking again now, but Gray's brain slid away from the words. They were long, and full of complicated legal terms, and it was all Gray could do to keep himself standing upright.

"Tell me," she said suddenly, turning towards him, and Gray stiffened. "Was this the man you saw leaving Kolten's office?"

She pointed to Gray's left, and his gaze followed her finger to a man in a suit, sitting behind a desk with one of the other lawyers.

It was the first time he'd seen Rinel up close, at least since the initial sighting that led to his testimony. But still, Gray was completely sure he was the same person. It would have been easier if he wasn't sure. But he had a distinctive, broad build, almost like Elfman. Gray remembered the slight thrill of fear from realizing he had been so close to someone not only so dangerous, but so big. He'd taken down plenty of bad guys who were larger than him, but there was something about the biological fear that he was pretty sure it was impossible to shake.

Rinel also had a scar down one side of his face, and the light had been low when Gray first saw him but he still remembered that. It ran from the corner of his eye almost straight down to his jaw, and it was the kind of neat line that Gray knew could only come from a knife.

But the man Gray had seen had hair about the same length as Gray himself, and the man in front of him now had been given a buzz cut. Intellectually, Gray knew he had spent a week in jail, and it made sense that his hair had been cut. But Gray latched onto that. The hair was different, so maybe he could pretend it wasn't certainly the same man. After all, there were lots of giant people with distinctive face scars.

Gray blinked a few times, trying to clear the dimness from his vision. He swallowed hard. "No," he finally whispered.

His voice seemed to have gone at the last second, and he had said it so quietly he didn't think anyone had heard him.

"I'm sorry. You'll have to speak up."

"No," Gray said, a little louder this time. "I haven't seen this man before."

Rinel must have been aware of at least some of the plan from Tony, because he didn't look surprised. He looked like a man who Gray obviously hadn't seen before, because he wasn't the one who committed the murder.

The lawyer opened her mouth to ask another question, but Gray's hearing seemed to have mostly gone. He wouldn't be able to answer the question until she asked multiple times, he didn't think.

And anyways, hadn't he done enough? What more could they need from him? Gray was the only person who'd actually seen the murderer leave the office. He was the one who had called for help. If he could clearly state that he hadn't seen this man before, what more did they want? Rinel couldn't be the murderer, and Gray didn't see any other ways that he could help.

By accident, Gray looked over the crowd of people who were gathered on the benches. Most of them still looked shocked, although a few looked angry.

He hadn't known where Erza was sitting. But he found her towards the back. He didn't want to see her reaction, but she was the only familiar face in this whole room, and she drew his eyes.

She was shocked. More than that, she was horrified. She looked angry, and upset, and…disappointed. Gray wished he hadn't seen her. He wished she wasn't there. He wished he'd just stared at his shoes the way he'd wanted to, instead of having Erza's face seared into the back of his mind forever.

Out of everything, this tipped Gray the closest he'd come to regretting his choice. For a split second, Gray considered taking it back. Right now, he could probably say that he'd been wrong, that Rinel's haircut had thrown him off, and that he was the murderer after all.

Except, of course, he never would. Not when Natsu was being held hostage, somewhere far from Gray, in pain and in danger. Natsu was worth everything to him, apparently including Erza. Gray wasn't that stupid. He knew perfectly well that he had just lost Erza forever.