Chapter 3 Ladies, gentlemen and others!

I have now once again overcome my writers block in a single night and wrote 3/4 of this chapter in the last two hours -.-

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy writing, but when I think ahead in the story and picture all the things that need explaining and all the things I need happening, It just tires me out a bit. I don't know why I do it, but if I don't plan ahead, I might ruin this, so I'll have to live with it.

April is coming closer and closer and I'm super stoked xI

Well, that's all from me now and I hope you enjoy the chapter and drop a review if you feel so inclined.

Disclaimer: Do I really have to do this? Oh alright -.- I do not own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters, all credit goes to their respectful owners. There! Happy?!


A cold chill of air rushed through the room before anyone reacted to what had just conspired.

The guy who had spoken was quite a big fellow. His brown hair was swept away from his face and back into a small ponytail. He had well maintained brown stubble on his sharp chin, while his cheekbones and face had a masculine form. He wore a thick sliver armour around his torso and dark pants to match. At his hip, hung a large sword, fitting for his knight in armour image. His brown eyes searched the room.

On his right side was quite a different man. Smaller then the two, he stood proudly. The man wasn't very tall, but much more muscular then the first. His black hair reached the top of his ears, while his bangs were almost none existent. Instead of armour, this man wore a dim green fabric shirt, but identical dark pants. Despite the outspoken man's foul mood, the shorter one was smiling and looking much like he was enjoying himself.

Behind the two men were a whole group of men, all dressed in horrible yellow suits, a color that did not suit any of them.

Surprisingly it was Mirajane who was the first to act. She had quickly rounded the counter, made her way past Gray and now stood her ground in front of the big leader figure.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, how may I help you?" She asked awfully polite, while smiling her most business-like smile.

"You could fetch your boss, that might be an idea." The smaller of the two strangers said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"There's no reason to be rude Taizou, the girl was trying to be helpful." The more broad looking man scolded his companion slightly.

Not noting the harm in Taizou's voice, Mirajane continued to smile. "May I ask what it is about?"

"Oh right, My Name is Tanarou Hanshin and I'm certain your master will be familiar with my status." The tall one stated rather confidently, while sending Mira going with just a look.

Multiple guild members complained internally, not appreciating how he treated Mirajane.

It didn't take long before Makarov stood in front of the strangers, oddly enough with a smile on his face.

"Tanarou old friend! It's been far too long!" The master exclaimed loudly, while having trouble shaking the man's hand do to his short height.

Tanarou smiled politely as well. "That we can agree upon."

"How's Keir?" Makarov asked, only few knowing who he was referring to.

"He's currently on a mission a little out west, but strong and healthy as always." Tanarou spoke, pride shining through his voice.

Several youngsters had made their way to the scene, Gray being one of them. Feeling a need to vent his anger of the day, he turned to Makarov. "Forgive me for asking master, but who the hell are these guys?"

"Forgive us for coming unannounced, but a situation has arised." Tanarou stated, looking at the master with serious eyes.

"Not at all, it must be serious if you risk coming here." Makarov said, all the while ignoring Gray's question.

"It has come to my attention that some of your young ones has recently been in contact with-" Tanarou started, but got interrupted by Makarov.

"Not here." He whispered and gently took hold of Tanarou's arm, leading him towards the sickbay. He discretely asked Natsu, Erza, Gray, Levy, Gajeel and Lucy to come along quietly. Taizou went along too, for whatever reason. The entire guild followed them with their eyes and Gray was sure that as soon as the door closed behind them, they all fought for a place at the other side, just to listen in.

"These here are the guild members of which I speak?" Tanarou looked around on all the teens' faces, his own features falling a little as he eyed their injuries.

"Indeed they are. Now, what is this situation you speak of?" Makarov's serious eyes were turned to the tall man.

Before Tanarou had a chance of opening his mouth, Gray had swiped past him, setting course for Juvia's resting area. He had a tying knot in his stomach and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He didn't exactly understand this strange feeling of uneasiness, but ignored it none the less as he reached Juvia's bed. She was still fast asleep, but some color had returned to her cheeks, which calmed Gray down immensely.

The others were looking at him, Natsu with a look of confusion, Makarov with one of understanding. Gray didn't care what they thought, which was strange considering all he had done in the past to make sure none of them thought there was anything at all going on between him and the water mage. Now they could think what they wanted, as long as he got to be there for her.

The realization shocked him greatly. Was that what he wanted? To be near Juvia? He had never thought that in the past. Granted him and Juvia hadn't known each other for that long, he still felt oddly protective of her. He had thought her to be annoying and clingy, but experiencing her being gone from his side was too horrible and painful. He had missed her on-comings and rambles in the three or so days she'd been with Neel. The thought of his doppelganger brought anger to his mind. What had he been doing to Juvia in those three days she had been in his custody? How had he made her forget all that's important to her?

"Ah, young love." Tanarou sighed, a small smile housing on his lips. His words brought Gray back to the situation at hand and made him think extra carefully about his previous thoughts.

"No I-" Gray made to deny his statement, but Tanarou held up his hand, successfully silencing the teenager.

"No need to explain, I get it." The broad man said, a shadow of grief washing over his eyes, but gone the next second, making Gray wonder if it had been his imagination.

The ice mage saw no point in arguing, so he let the subject go and looked at Makarov, prompting him to continue his earlier interrogation.

"Tanarou, I got the impression that you were in a hurry." The guild master said, feeling a little bad about rushing his old friend.

"You're right Makarov. As I said, I've heard about your recent incidents down south and I would have come sooner, but it took some time gathering all of my men." Tanarou said, the seriousness shining through again. "Judging from your children's injuries, I have now come to a conclusion. You mustn't engage in combat with this foe any further, you're in over your head this time, old friend."

Makarov seemed confused by Hanshin's words and spoke thereof. "You make no sense, are you warning me?"

"I must Makarov, you don't know what you're getting yourself or your guild members into." Tanarou's voice was deadly serious, enough to send a shiver down both Lucy and Levy's spine.

"What do you know?" The master's voice shifted into a suspicious tone.

"It's classified information, I'm sorry." Tanarou's words clearly angered Makarov, as his eyes shined dangerously.

"One of my children almost died in this clash, I deserve to know who committed this violent act against my guild." The master's voice was as deadly as Tanarou's had been just seconds before, which only served in making all the teens in the room shudder by the tone.

"Didn't you hear him, it's none of your business!" Taizou suddenly said, making all look at him as they had forgotten he was even in the room.

"Taizou-" Tanarou began, but got cut off.

"No Commander, I will not stand for this man being rude and suspicious of you!" Taizou stated and crossed his arms defiantly.

"Stand down, it's an order." The broad man said to his companion.

Taizou, being much unwilling in doing so, cursed under his breath and backed away. "As you wish."

"I'm sorry Makarov, but I really can't tell you this without proper authorization from the counsel." Tanarou continued.

"And I'm sorry for forcing your hand like this, but you owe me, remember?" Makarov was intent on getting his way no matter what, even if it meant calling on this favor now.

"Commander!" Taizou yelled, no longer able to hold his tongue.

"It's alright Taizou." Tanarou assured his second-in-command, not taking his eyes off Makarov. "He's right, I do."

"Very well, I assume you're familiar with a certain dark guild by the name of Codename?" Tanarou sighed, having given up on arguing with the guild master.

Makarov eyes widened in shock, but managed to frown at the same time. "Codename?! You cannot be serious!"

Gray's brain quickly went into overdrive. Who was Codename and why did the master seem so surprised by this name?

"I'm afraid so, we have been investigating them for a while now, but this is the first time they've taken direct action against a guild." Tanarou explained.

"Wait wait wait, so who are you guys again?" Natsu suddenly asked, his face portraying confusion.

"Right I forgot, Natsu, everyone, this is Commander Tanarou Hanshin of The Tenshi Guard, they're an undercover investigation group consisting of non-mages." Makarov announced.

"Almost non-mages, my son Keir was gifted with magical powers at a young age." Tanarou explained, the same pride flowing through his voice as he spoke of his child.

"The Tenshi Guard? Never heard of them." Gajeel stated, looking at Taizou with suspicion.

"The key word being 'undercover'." Taizou smirked back at Gajeel, who cussed under his breath.

"Back on topic, your group of teenagers here, unfortunately came in contact with a few of their members." Tanarou said, eyeing Taizou a glare.

"But they would never let their members roam free, I even heard their master call his members by numbers." Makarov stated, clearly against the whole idea.

Tanarou cleared his throat, making Gajeel and Taizou stop glaring at each other. "Subject 101 was clearly acting on orders."

"Subject 101?" Erza voiced her confusion.

"Oh right, I believe he otherwise goes by the name Neel." Tanarou explained.

Gray sprung to his feet after having kneeled by Juvia's bedside, his head swirling by the mention of that name. "Neel?! He was apart of this dark guild?!" He asked ferociously.

"Wait, how do you know what number he goes by?" Erza asked, still lost.

"I'll get to that. Subject 101 had a strange power, so did all of his companions and we've been trying to figure out how they came in possession of those powers, since they were clearly not magical." Tanarou continued. "It was said that Subject 101's particular power held a strong force over memories and he could manipulate them to his will, making even the best of friends, deadly enemies."

It clicked in gray's mind, so that's how he did it. Neel turned Juvia against him by tampering with her memories of him, making her hate him enough to kill him.

"Through a very detailed investigation, we've deducted that Codename is a very scientific guild." Tanarou stated.

"Scientific?" Lucy asked, her voice small in their company.

"Indeed, a high ranking member of Codename has been tasked with scientifically inducing supernatural powers in ordinary kids and raising them to believe in their cause. Sometimes of course, adults are taken in as well."

Some shifted on their feet in anger. "Kidnapping kids, really?" Natsu sneered.

"Calls himself Creator, a bit arrogant of him really." Taizou said, his smirk coming back full force.

"We believe that Subject 101 used his power on his fellow guild members, making them think that he was the one who granted them their powers and that he was some sort of god." The brown haired man explained.

"But how does this 'Creator' create these powers in children?" Makarov asked.

Tanarou's eyes landed on the master yet again. "That, we do not know."

"Okay, and how do you know all this?" Gray asked, his tone displaying anger, though not at anyone.

"Taizou here," Tanarou held his hand out towards his subordinate, who clearly liked the attention. "Has infiltrated the enemy ranks and gotten himself quite a high role."

"This idiot's a spy?" Gajeel let slip out and judging by his facial expression, that thought had been one he wanted to have kept to himself. Taizou responded to his insult with a death glare, not far from jumping the big teen.

"Within Codename, he goes by Subject 201 and has been feeding us intel for about three years already." Tanarou explained.

"Three years?!" Levy burst out, admiration clear in her tone.

"And counting." Taizou smirked, letting his fingernails brush against his chest arrogantly.

"But why? Why would anyone want to do that?" Erza asked.

"Once again, we come up empty. Even with Taizou in a high position, the master has not told him of his plans, which leads us to wonder why they bothered to pick a fight with you guys." Tanarou answered with a thoughtful look on his face.

"That does seem rather odd." Makarov voiced his thoughts.

"Maybe it was just because Neel knew Juvia personally?" Gray suggested.

"I can't see the master of Codename giving a mere foot soldier free rein because of a personal vendetta, no it must have been something beneficial to him." Tanarou shot down the idea.

A muffled sound rang in the sudden silence of the thoughtful group. Gray snapped his head around, quite possibly injuring his neck in the process, only to see an awakening Juvia in her bed. He quickly rushed to her side once more, unconsciously taking a hold of her hand.

"Gray-sama? Everyone? What's going on?" Her tired voice asked, as all eyes in the room was on her at that moment.

"Don't worry, we were just discussing theories." Gray answered her in a gentle voice, one quite out of character for him.

"Juvia doesn't know these people." She stated, her eyes locked on Tanarou and Taizou.

"I know, but they're here visiting the master." Gray explained calmly, unknowingly to himself, entwining his fingers with hers.

"Let's give them some time alone." Makarov suggested. "We'll continue this in my office."

Gray didn't even notice them leaving, nor did he see Lucy's knowing smile and Gajeel's discrete thumbs up to Juvia. He just smiled and unfortunately got hopefully lost in her deep blue eyes.

Once again he got confused by the feelings rushing up inside him. He had never really felt this way before and when his heartbeat sped up he knew there was no way back. What did he want to do? The protective thoughts circled around in his already full brain. He was well aware that Juvia could take care of herself, she was quite strong on her own and didn't need his protection or monopoly, but he could feel them on the inside of his rip cage, fighting to get out. What would happen if he let them out? Would she be happy or annoyed with him? Why did he feel like this anyway? Never before had he had these feelings and thoughts for Juvia and had found her quite annoying in the past. When had she worked herself under his skin? When had he started to actually like her romantically aggressive attacks?

While this was running through his head, his free hand had traveled to her face, where he brushed a lock of blue hair out of her eyes. A gentle touch, one that made his stomach flip a turn. Her blue orbs were looking at him in confusion, but they held none of the anger he had witnessed two weeks ago. They looked at him with such beauty, he had to avoid her stare, lest he would do something probably immoral. Without noticing, he had leaned down closer to her face, his upper body floating above her's, as she was still fully laying down, only her covers separating them. A small blush formed on her cheekbones when she noticed this fact. His feet were still on the floor, as he sat on the edge of her bed, his body twisted at the hip.

For the second time in his life, Gray felt Juvia's breath on his lips, being only inches apart from making that everlasting connection. Was this it? Did he really want to do this? His mind screamed yes, but his judgement was shaky on the matter. She had closed her eyes, revealing her long lashes and Gray felt an odd need to touch them. He refrained from doing so, but his free hand balled itself into a fist beside her head, as his elbow was the only thing keeping him from falling on top of her. He sighed, as he carefully searched through his brain for reasons not to do it. His thumb caressed her fingers in his hand, an action he was doing unconsciously.

When he came up empty in his search, he sighed once more. He had no reason not to, so what the hack. He started to lean in further, when he got interrupted by an unexpected pain. His forehead was burning in agonizing pain, just as it had been two weeks ago. He tore himself away from Juvia and fell to the floor, where he screamed out in pain. His right elbow complained by the fall, but the pain in his forehead preoccupied his attention so much, he didn't even notice. Juvia had gotten on her feet, flinching a little from the pain in her leg, but she dropped by Gray's side anyway.

"Gray-sama?! What's the matter?!" She screamed too, just to overdo his painful cry. Seeing him in such agony quickly brought tears to her eyes and she proceeded with calling for help, but oddly enough, none came. The reason for this was that, unknown to both of them, Erza had collapsed with the same problem and was also screaming out in pain in the next room.