Chapter 9

"Look, shrimp, as far as I know, they only knew where you lived." Gajeel informed Levy as he drove her to the hospital for her first day back after her week-long break. Her apartment was still being renovated because of the fire, and it seemed she would be living with Gajeel for quite a while. "But I've also made sure to have some people keeping an eye out for you at work. If they see anything suspicious they'll call me, and you've got that phone in case you feel unsafe."

"Hospital security is pretty strong. I'm not too worried." Levy gave a small smile to her... boyfriend. It was so weird to think of him like that. They were dating now, and she just really didn't know how to act. She hadn't dated anyone since high school, for crying out loud. She supposed she should just act like she always had around him, but that was easier said than done, sometimes.

"Well, just in case. Call me if you're worried for any reason whatsoever." Gajeel looked at her pointedly. She just nodded as he pulled up to the maternity ward. She went to get out, but he kept the door locked. "Oi." He got her attention. "No more of these 16 hour shifts, and I want you to take a day off every three days." he insisted firmly.

"But, Gajeel... we're understaffed..."

"That's no reason to overwork yourself." He rolled his eyes. "I will pick you up at six; you'd better be clocked out by then. I'll come in there and carry your ass out if I have to." He warned with a grin now. Levy huffed lightly.

"Fine. I will work on the schedule today. I'm sure Wendy won't mind getting a few more hours." Levy sighed. Gajeel just grinned and unlocked the door to let her out, but not before placing a light kiss on her lips.

"Have a good day, shorty." He chuckled at her blush. "Remember. Six." And then he drove off. Levy watched him leave, trying to calm the blush on her cheeks. Then she turned and headed into work. She had two deliveries today... she doubted she'd be out by six, but there was no way Gajeel was going to pull her away from a birthing mother. She'd just like to see him try. He'd end up on his ass. Levy could be... protective, of her patients.

"You're doing wonderful. Just breathe." Levy said reassuringly to the pained woman that was giving birth. She was actually quite glad she wasn't doing the delivery this time. It was Wendy's patient, and the first set of triplets she'd ever delivered. Rightfully so, Wendy was nervous, and had asked Levy to be there to supervise and take charge if anything went wrong. Since Wendy was only a year out of med school, Levy agreed. It was her job as lead physician to make sure everything went smoothly.

Luckily, this birth was going quite well. One baby had already been born, and they were working on the other two. Still, there was always a chance of complications. Especially in multiple pregnancies. Wendy was right to be anxious, but so far she was perfectly calm and handling things very well. Another cry filled the air, and they gave the mother a chance to breathe for a second as Wendy tended to the second baby.

"Another beautiful baby boy." Wendy told the panting mother and nervous father as she handed the baby off to be cleaned. "One more left, ma'am. Take a deep breath and push for me, okay?"

Twenty minutes later and Wendy and Levy were cleaning up. The exhausted mother held two baby boys in her arms, and the father held a beautiful baby girl. Wendy went about tending to the babies, giving them each a quick checkup, before seeing to the mother. Levy smiled, proud of how far Wendy had come.

"Dr. McGarden, someone's asking for you." A nurse stuck her head in the room, surprising Levy. She glanced at the clock. It was only four thirty. Gajeel wouldn't be there until six, and she didn't have anymore appointments for the day. She wasn't expecting any visitors, either.

"Did you get a name?" Levy questioned, and the nurse shook her head.

"It's a pretty big guy. He just said he knew you and needed to see you right away." Maybe it was Gajeel? He'd come to pick her up super early, then. Levy shrugged and made sure Wendy was okay before she left to see her visitor.

"Breaking news. There's an ongoing hostage situation at Magnolia Memorial Hospital. Not even half an hour ago, and armed man managed to slip past security and get into the Maternity ward, where he then took lead physician, Levy McGarden, hostage and ordered the remaining occupants of the wing to evacuate. Officials are trying to get through to the assailant and..."

Gajeel spit out his coffee at hearing this. He stood up quickly from the booth he was in, threw down a twenty on the table, and then ran out of the restaurant. He pulled out his cell as he hurried to his car, calling the man he knew was supposed to be watching his girl while she was at work.

"Boss! I'm so sorry! The cops are everywhere and they were keeping a close eye on everyone." the man apologized extensively. "I just barely got away to take this call."

"I'm on my way. What's the situation?" Gajeel demanded as he finally reached his car. He got in and drove like a maniac towards the hospital.

"Far as I can tell, your girl was told she had a visitor. Some big guy. Soon as she saw him he grabbed her and pulled out a gun. Ordered everyone out of the wing or he would kill her. Doctors, nurses, patients, even the newborn babies, he wanted them all out. The cops showed up not two minutes later and surrounded the place." the man explained. "It sounds like a guy from Phantom. He's probably trying to lure you, boss."

"Sounds like it." Gajeel growled. "Oi, since you're clearly away from the cops now, call my old man. I'm on my way." He hung up on the guy and focused on driving. He made it to the hospital in record time and grabbed his gun, making sure it was loaded. Hang on, shrimp. I'm on my way.

Meanwhile, inside the hospital, Levy was glaring at the man who was holding her hostage. This man was certainly not Gajeel. Levy should have called Gajeel the instant she questioned the appearance of a visitor. The best case scenario was that it was Gajeel, and he would tell her that. If not, he would have been on his way. Now she had no idea if he even knew what was going on. Even she wasn't so certain.

It was all rather blurry, because it happened so fast. Someone was waiting for her in her office. The instant she walked into the office, she was pulled into an iron grip and a gun was pressed against her temple. The man shouted out orders to everyone nearby. Get everyone in this wing out. Now. Or he would kill her and then go after the babies. There was a panic as everyone rushed to clear the wing. Mothers in labor and newborn babies were wheeled out of the wing and taken to the opposite end of the building. Everyone else hurried outside. Levy was left alone with this strange man.

He was certainly a big man, like the nurse said, but not big as in muscular. Big as in tall. Really tall. He was skinny, as well, but for a skinny man he was very strong. He had black hair with a red tint that fell down to his shoulders, green eyes that had a sick gleam in them, and a creepy thin mustache on his face. To top it all off, he was wearing black lipstick, of all things. He wore a black and white suit, but he also had on a dark purple tie and a purple fedora. He gave off a very creepy vibe, and Levy was positively terrified.

"Now, now, Levy-sama." he practically purred and it made her want to gag. "No need to be afraid. So long as your little pet dragon comes calling, you'll be perfectly fine. I could really care less about you. It's your protector I'm after."

"G-Gajeel?" Levy's eyes widened. This man was after Gajeel, and he was using her as bait. This was all her fault. She should have called Gajeel from the start; then none of this would have happened. "Why... why do you want Gajeel?"

"Why else? He's the bane of my existence. Constantly going after my men and keeping my family out of a city that was originally ours." The man scoffed. "I want his head." Then Levy noticed something, a strange symbol tattooed on his neck. This man... oh, no. This man was from Phantom Lord.

"You... your gang set my apartment on fire..." Levy realized. The man just grinned at her.

"Ah, yes. So we did." the man chuckled. "You see, you kept one of my men from doing their job and he got quite angry with you. He was supposed to just kidnap you and scare you a little, but he got pretty pissed when you weren't in your apartment." he shrugged like it was no big deal. Then we found out about you dating the infamous Black Steel Gajeel, and I decided it would be better to use you to our advantage." he gave her that creepy grin again as he waved his gun around. "Hence why you're now in this situation."

"Boss, the dragon is in the building." a voice came from a walkie talkie at the man's hip.

"Good, good." The man laughed merrily at this. He turned to Levy with a sadistic grin. "Get on your knees and put your hands behind your head." He motioned to a spot in the middle of the hallway. Levy glared at him and he aimed his gun at her. "Now." She had no choice. She moved to the middle of the hallway and got on her knees, putting her hands behind her head. Not even five seconds later, Gajeel came running into the hall, his own gun drawn.

"Jose. Figured it was you." Gajeel growled as he glared at the man. He looked Levy over, checking for any injuries, and was relieved to find that she was okay. But she wasn't out of danger just yet. Jose was a dangerous man. He could change his mood and his mind in a split second. He knew he would have told Levy that he wouldn't hurt her, so long as Gajeel showed up. But that was a flat out lie. If he managed to somehow take out Gajeel, Levy would be next.

"Ah, how lovely to see you again, Gajeel-san." Jose sang sweetly. It made Gajeel want to gag. "I'm so glad you took my invitation."

"Cut the crap. Let Levy go." Gajeel glared. Jose only chuckled and cocked the gun aimed at Levy's head. Levy flinched at the sound and looked up at Gajeel with terrified eyes.

"You know too well, that's not how this works, Gajeel-san." Jose grinned, his voice no longer sweet. "Now, if you would kindly drop your gun, maybe I will let this little doll go. Maybe."

"You and I both know that's a lie. She has nothing to do with this. Just let her go and face me like a man."

"Tsk. Tsk." Jose chuckled darkly. "You either do as I say or this young lady will certainly never leave this hospital alive. Now... put down your gun." He said firmly, his voice dark and terrifying. Gajeel glared at him for a long moment before slowly placing his gun on the ground. He stood back up and held his hands behind his head the same way Levy was doing. "Now, kick it down the hall and get on your knees." Jose demanded. Gajeel growled, but complied, sending his gun several feet down the adjacent hall before lowering to his knees. He locked eyes with Levy's terrified ones. She saw how calm he was as he stared into her eyes. He glanced up at Jose and then back to her, and his eyes hardened. He was trying to tell her something, but she didn't know what. His eyes flickered to Jose again, and Levy suddenly realized what he wanted her to do.

Jose, meanwhile, was cackling like a maniac. "Yes, wonderful! I am the only man alive who has gotten Black Steel Gajeel to drop his gun! Me!" Jose laughed. His concentration was no longer on Levy, but on Gajeel. Levy waited for an opening, her eyes filling with determination. There! Jose's grip on his gun loosened from all his laughter. Levy attacked, spinning around quickly and grabbing the gun before he knew what was happening. She aimed it at Jose, but she froze when she saw he was just grinning at her. "Oho? This one has some fire in her." He chuckled, glancing at Gajeel to make sure he didn't move while he dealt with the misbehaving hostage. "What are you going to do, little girl? Shoot me? You don't have it in you." he started laughing again. Levy just shook. He was right. This was her first time even holding a gun, let alone threatening someone with it. And she was a doctor. She saved lives, brought lives into the world. She didn't take them! She couldn't! So she sat there, shaking in fear, keeping the gun aimed at Jose while knowing she would never shoot it. Jose just grinned and reached for the gun, knowing she was harmless like this.

"Go on, little girl. Do it. Now's your only chance." Jose's chuckle was dark and dangerous. Levy knew that if he got his gun back, she'd never see the light of day again. She willed herself to pull the trigger. "You won't do it. You can't do it." Jose laughed cruelly.

His hand closed around the gun and Levy shut her eyes in fear. A shot rang out, echoing in the empty halls. Levy's eyes snapped open, widening in shock as she looked up at Jose, who was falling back to the ground, blood spraying out of the bullet wound in his forehead. Levy found herself covered in blood as she watched on in horror. Had she... had she done this?

"You don't ever have to do something like that, Levy." Gajeel's voice came from behind her. "That's why I'm here." Levy turned around to find Gajeel on his feet, his gun back in his hand. He'd gone after his gun when Jose was distracted, and he'd managed to kill him at the last second. A moment longer, Jose would have turned the gun on Levy and killed her without a second thought.

Levy stared at him a second longer before she dropped the gun and ran to him, finally letting her tears fall. He pulled her into his arms and held the frightened woman close as she cried into his chest. He should have never left her alone, not until the threat from Phantom Lord was past. If only he'd sent her to work with a body guard, or even if he'd just gone to work with her. None of this would have happened. He wouldn't have had to kill someone in front of her. He could have prevented the nightmares he was sure she would have for weeks to come.

He failed as her protector by even letting her be in this situation.

And she was clinging to him for dear life and thanking him over and over for saving her. He didn't deserve her. He was just glad she was alright. He vowed to never let something like this happen again. Levy was not leaving his side again.

Wow, this was a really long chapter. Yay, action and yay happy ending to the chapter. I honestly almost made it a cliffhanger haha. But that would have been mean.

Anyways, tell me what you think, my lovelies.

Thanks for Reading!

-Everythingnerd12