Gajeel stood leaning against a cold marble pillar inside Saber Tooth's grand conference room listening to Sting rattle on about a case he was in the middle of. Rogue would chime in now and again, usually to correct an exaggerated statement made by Sting.
Gajeel had to cut his little brother some slack, it sounded like he was doing pretty well for himself. Maybe Levy's urges for him to be a bit nicer to Rogue were warranted. Maybe Rogue wasn't that same annoying little brat always trailing after Gajeel like he used to be.
Sting laughed at himself and Gajeel forced a smile. He hadn't heard what the guy had said, he hadn't been paying attention. Instead his eyes were fixed on the slender blue haired girl across the room.
Levy was talking to another young woman with short, white pixie cut hair. They seemed familiar. Levy had given the girl a hug when they first began speaking. She was smiling as if she didn't have a care in the world. No one would believe she was secretly plotting a security breach.
But Levy was a natural with people. Her smile was effortless and it made Gajeel's chest beat hard.
The way she looked tonight... Gajeel could barely contain himself earlier in her apartment. That dress hugged every curve of her thin frame. The low cut top accentuating her small breasts. Her bare shoulders cradling the long line of her exposed neck.
"Right Gajeel?" Sting laughed again, dropping a heavy hand on Gajeel's shoulder and giving it a pat.
"Right," Gajeel forced a halfhearted laugh, not having heard a word of what the man had said.
"Well I gotta go find my girl, catch up with you two later," Sting gave a slight wave as he walked away.
Sting seemed to be a blank space when it came to any of the inner workings of the cybersecurity department. Gajeel was sure he was a dead end. Rogue, however, was much more observant. He may have picked up on something unusual going on, even if he hadn't been told.
Gajeel would see what else he could learn from Rogue before tracking down Minerva.
"So tell me Gajeel," Rogue said seriously, his black hair falling into his eyes, "Why did you really want me to get you a job here?"
Gajeel shifted his gaze away from the beautiful girl and back to his brother.
"Like I said, I needed a job."
"Uh-hu," Rogue nodded skeptically. "Your girl, you didn't mention that she works for Fairy Tail."
Gajeel made no motion of surprise.
"You looked into her?" He asked casually.
"Why wouldn't I?" Rogue said deftly, taking a short sip of his scotch. "I had to look into you anyway- it's part of the hiring process. If she was really your girlfriend, she'd need to get vetted too."
"What's that supposed to mean, 'really' my girlfriend?"
Rogue let out an audible sigh.
"Gajeel, be realistic, there's no way a girl like that would, in her right mind, end up with a guy like you. I figured there had to be something wrong with her, turns out I was sorely mistaken."
"Damn right you were."
"Look, Gajeel," Rogue said, dropping his voice so that he could not be overheard. "If you are up to something, if the two of you are up to something, I don't want anything to do with it. You hear me? I did you a favor, my duty has been served. You're on your own from here out."
Gajeel looked his brother over closely. His calm reserve, his forwardness, it suited him well. He had grown up. And he had grown smart enough not to get mixed up in things he shouldn't.
How exactly Rouge was so sure that Gajeel and Levy were up to something at all was beyond him. Perhaps it was some sort of brotherly intuition. They had known each other most of their lives, after all.
"I'm used to being on my own," Gajeel smirked.
Rogue, however, frowned.
"Gajeel, let me tell you one more thing- that girl?" He pointed across the room to Levy, "She is too good for you. So whatever you think you're doing, you need to cut out the bull shit. Don't fuck things up with this one, okay?"
Something about Rogue's words suddenly pissed Gajeel off. Who the hell was he to say that kind shit to him?
As if he could read Gajeel's thoughts, Rogue gave him a reproachful look. "I know you. You don't get close to people. You don't let people get close to you. This girl? Well, if you can't see the way she keeps looking at you than your blind, brother. Don't lead her on, not if you plan to just walk away like you do to everyone else."
Gajeel's brow bent in a deep frown. Rogue wasn't wrong. That's what pissed Gajeel off the most. He looked back at Levy. As if she could feel his gaze she turned and caught his eye. Her smile flickered as she looked at him. She could tell something was off. She said something to her friend who was now wrapped under Sting's arm and started heading towards them.
"Levy," Rogue greeted when she was close.
"It's nice to see you again Rouge," Levy returned brightly.
"Gajeel," Levy said, turning to him, "Will you dance with me?"
Gajeel scoffed. "I'm not really one much for dancing, shrimp."
"Well," Rogue said with a rare smile, "If my brother here won't dance with you Levy, I'd be happy to take his place."
Rogue held his hand out to Levy and just as she reached out to him Gajeel shot forward, taking her outstretched hand in his.
"On second thought, maybe I will," he said, sweeping her away.
He led her a few steps further into the crowd. Her movements were fluid and easy.
"I thought you didn't know how to dance," she said coyly.
"I never said I didn't know how," he replied.
"Well next time don't take so long to realize when I'm trying to get you on your own."
Gajeel flashed a sly smile. "As your boyfriend I would take that as an invitation."
Levy gave him a flirty grin. "As your girlfriend I would expect you to. But as your partner I should scold you. What I meant was that I needed to talk to you in private, I got some information."
"From that girl you were talking to?"
Levy nodded. "Yukino and I met when we were both interning here. I guess she stayed with the company and got hired on full time. She's pretty high up in her department. I swiped her security card," Levy grinned.
"You crafty minx," Gajeel said, impressed.
"I should be able to get into any of the other computers from her office. The problem is that it's on the opposite side of the facility. We'll have to see about getting one of those tours pretty soon."
"I still need to find Minerva," Gajeel added.
The pair scanned the room as Gajeel led her in a wide turn. One hand cupping the graceful curve of her waist, her small hand wrapped in the other.
"Levy," Gajeel said, turning his eyes back to her. "Why do you like your job so much?"
Levy looked back at him, surprised by the question.
"I don't know, I guess I just really love helping people. Ever since I was a little girl I've always loved reading and learning and I found my niche in computer work. With Fairy Tail I can do all of that and catch the bad guy."
"But why bury yourself in it? It seems like your whole life is your work."
"Well..." Levy said quietly, a light blush rising to her cheeks. "I just don't have much of a social life. I have good friends, but I just get so wrapped up in my job I guess I forget to make time for them. And you were right, what you said that first day, I don't really date. I've met a lot of nice guys but there just always feels like there's something missing."
Gajeel was surprised how candid she was being with him. He pulled her closer as the tempo slowed, sliding his hand to the small of her back.
"Why did you work for people you knew were doing bad things?" She asked quietly.
"Everybody does bad things, who am I to judge?"
"What did they have you doing?"
"Well at Ivan's I was hired on as muscle. A little bit of a body guard, a little bit of investigation. He had me tailing Natsu for a while. That little bastard was on to me the whole time too," Gajeel scoffed.
"But at Phantom..." he continued, "Well things were a little messy there. The lines were blurred. Initially I was a bouncer for the club but it wasn't long before they brought me behind the scenes."
"Phantom was one of the crime families, before they were taken out, right?"
Gajeel nodded wordlessly.
"Was there a lot of violence?" Levy's voice grew softer as she asked the question.
"Yes," he said simply.
"Then why do it?"
Gajeel stayed silent for a while before he finally spoke.
"I grew up in a pretty violent world, it's what I knew. I've been on my own a long time. It made sense to me. I never really questioned it."
Levy leaned her body against him, resting her head on his chest as they swayed.
"I didn't know you'd had such a rough childhood."
"Well I don't really like to talk about it."
It was true. He really didn't like to talk about it. Gajeel didn't even know why he was telling her all this.
Without warning Levy lifted her head up and kissed him on the cheek.
Gajeel looked down, meeting her eyes in surprise.
"What was that for?"
"That, Gajeel, is what girlfriends do when they want to show their boyfriend that they care."
"Levy-" Gajeel started but cut himself short when he caught sight of a dark haired figure making his way across the other side of the room.
"This way," he said quietly, guiding her closer to get a better view.
"What is it?" Levy asked guardedly.
"Son of a bitch," Gajeel muttered under his breath.
"What?" Levy said more urgently.
Gajeel watched as the man came to a sudden stop, he was talking to Minerva.
Gajeel turned with Levy to give her a better view.
"Do you see the guy with the long dark hair talking to Minerva?"
Levy peeked casually over Gajeel's shoulder.
"Yes," she said quietly. "Who is he?"
"That," Gajeel growled, "Is Mard Geer- he's the head of the Tartaros Family."
Levy's eyes went wide in shock.
"Why would he be here now? Wouldn't they want to keep their relationship under wraps?"
"Nothing's ever been pinned on him or on the family directly. There's no reason for him to hide, not really."
"Well then," Levy said with a stern smile, "I guess it's time for you to go say your hello to Minerva."
"I guess so," he said, flashing Levy a wicked grin, "This is gunna be fun."
