Chapter 16

The tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a butter knife. Gray and Natsu both stared at the phone that was now sitting on the table. Not even a minute ago they'd ended a call with the don, who had called with news about the Phantom Lord family. This... this was not good news. No, it was far from good. Phantom Lord had gathered their strength back much, much faster than they had planned, and the don had reports that they were going to target Gajeel full force. To make matters worse... Natsu and Gray had no idea where Gajeel was!

Of all the times for him to ditch them, it had to be now, when Phantom Lord was after him! Sure, Gajeel could handle himself, but even he was only human. He could get overwhelmed by numbers, someone could get the jump on him, or they could even use Levy against him. Natsu looked at Gray who looked back at him. They both nodded in unison. They needed to go out and find Gajeel and Levy. Right now.

The sudden ringing of the phone startled both men, who jumped nearly five feet away from the table. Gray was the one to step forward and answer with a tense 'hello.' Immediately he relaxed and let out a huge sigh of relief. "Boss, where are you?" Natsu also let out a loud sigh, hearing that it was Gajeel on the other end. "You guys went that far out? Yea, give us a few. We'll pick you guys up." He hung up the phone and turned to Natsu. "They're two towns over and his phone died. Let's go pick them up and tell them what the Don said."

Levy paled as Gray told her the news. They were in Natsu's car, riding back to the beach house, and Levy had been relieved to finally be going back. She was exhausted after walking around all day, but she'd had a lot of fun with Gajeel. And her good mood flew out the window as soon as Gray told them he got a call from the don about Phantom Lord. Gajeel's mood, too, soured at this, but he remained silent and let Gray finish.

"Any word on if they're aware of my location?" Gajeel asked once silence fell on the car.

"The boss didn't say. He told us to warn you, and it sounded like it might be a possibility." Gray answered.

"They recovered far too quickly." Gajeel growled. "It's suspicious."

"They're stronger, too, boss." Natsu commented. "All our spies have either been found and eliminated, or forced to withdraw before getting any information."

"I smell a rat." Gajeel scowled. He glanced at Levy and noticed how pale she was. He knew she still had occasional nightmares about that day. She was surely worried about a repeat. He pulled her from her seat to sit on his lap, and he wrapped his arms around her firmly yet gently. His silent promise to her that he would protect her. She relaxed slightly, but still worried her lip between her teeth as she listened to the conversation.

"If you think there's a rat, the boss probably does, too." Natsu said as he stopped the car at a stop sign. "It does seem likely, given how fast they recovered and how strong they are now. But our family is so loyal. Who would do such a thing?"

"There are always traitors, no matter how loyal a family may be." Gajeel grumbled, remembering a time when his father had told him that, as well.

"Wise words." Levy mumbled, looking up at her boyfriend. "It's sad that they're true."

"Indeed, it is, Miss Levy." Gray nodded from the passenger seat. "If you can't trust family... who can you trust?"

Another chapter for you guys. Just a short one to get the ball going for the next phase of the story.

Can you guys guess who the traitor is? There's a few hints in this chapter, and let's just say something similar happened in the anime (not 100% though). Should be enough of a hint for you. Let me know if you got it ;D

Thanks for reading, like always!

-Everythingnerd12