Chapter 18

Levy felt like she was floating, gently floating down a peaceful river, surrounded by warm arms and a masculine scent. Oh, it was so soothing, so relaxing to her. She snuggled further into the warmth surrounding her, breathing deeply to inhale that scent that she knew she knew but she could not place. Mavis, it was nice. She just wanted to stay this way and enjoy these feelings forever. But it ended far too soon. The warm arms and the comforting scent left her, and she felt a cooler, though much softer, surface against her back. The contrast was enough to bring her half-awake brain to consciousness, and she slowly opened her eyes. She looked up at Gajeel as he pulled a blanket up to her chin. It took her a moment to realize she was in a bedroom, though it was one she'd never been in before. She tried to think of where she was, and her memories slowly returned to her. That's right... they'd left the beach house very early in the morning, perhaps around 2 a.m., and she'd fallen asleep during the last stretch back to Magnolia. She remembered Gajeel saying something about them going to the Don's mansion, instead of Gajeel's house. Was that where she was?

"You're awake, shrimp?" Gajeel's voice was a quiet whisper as he looked down at her. She nodded slowly.

"Where are we?" she asked softly.

"My old man's home." he said as he sat down on the bed beside her. He placed a hand on her face, rubbing at her cheek with his thumb. "I gotta go talk with him, shrimp. Go back to sleep, and I should be back before you wake up again."

"What about..." he silenced her by pressing his thumb against her lips. He saw the bit of fear in her eyes and knew what she was worried about. There was a rat in the family, and they were after Gajeel. They might very well attack Levy to get to him.

"You're safe here. Only a handful of people are allowed in this place, and nobody knows that we came back." he assured her. "You'll be safe while I'm gone. Besides, I got Salamander guarding yer room til I come back." This put her at ease and she relaxed. Gajeel leaned down and gave her a chaste kiss before standing up. She noticed, then, that he was back in his typical work suit once more, his hair slicked back and pulled into a pony tail behind him. She kind of missed seeing him with his hair down and in normal clothes, even though the suit was very flattering on him. He looked wilder with his hair down, but much more natural. "Get some sleep, shrimp. I'll be back in a little while."

"Okay. Good night." Levy said around a yawn, already feeling drowsiness catch up to her again. He gave her a charming grin and turned to walk out of the room. She was asleep again before the door closed.

"Boy." Don Metallicana greeted his son when he stepped into the office. The don was irritated with him for coming back to Magnolia, Gajeel knew, but he didn't give a damn. The family mansion was the safest place for Levy to be, even with a rat in the family, and Gajeel was determined to keep her safe. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of the hospital incident. Mavis, Levy still had nightmares about that.

"Pops." Gajeel responded. He knew they weren't going to talk about his return. It was done now, after all, and moving anywhere else so soon would be more than a big tip for Phantom Lord. They would be watching him closely now that he was back in the city. They would know if he left the city again, and exactly where he went.

"How's your woman handling this?" Metallicana sighed. "Last I remembered, she was still quite scared of Phantom Lord."

"Un." Gajeel plopped down in a chair with a heavy sigh. "She's putting on a brave face, but she's scared. Hasn't left my side since we found out." He didn't need to talk to Levy to know that she was rather terrified. It was understandable, after the incident at the hospital. The only reason she wasn't glued to his side right now was because she trusted Natsu to keep her safe in Gajeel's place while he was gone. Gajeel also knew she was upset about having to be protected. She confided in him that she wished she was strong, like he was. Then she wouldn't need protection, and maybe she wouldn't be so afraid. She'd even asked him to teach her how to protect herself. He was more than willing to teach her, of course, but he'd also made sure she knew that he liked her just the way she was. The sweet little doctor that loved babies and hated violence. She needed to know how to protect herself, yes, but he would still protect her with his life before she needed to use those skills.

"She's really god for you, you know that, boy?" Metallicana gave a wry grin to his son. "Determined, temperamental, loyal... sweet, caring, smart. She balances you out and compliments you all at once." he chuckled. Gajeel just smirked. He knew his old man practically loved Levy like a daughter already. It wasn't hard to love someone like her, after all, but Gajeel was glad he at least had his father's blessing, unspoken though it may be.

"Pops, I want her to stay in the mansion til this is all over. She's safer here than anywhere else." Gajeel said now. The don just nodded his consent. "I also want Gray and Natsu stationed here as her guards at all times."

"Why those two?"

"They knew her and she knows them." Gajeel shrugged. "Plus, I trust them." He knew neither one was the rat, and neither were their wives. They were far too loyal to the family.

"Very well." the don consented. Then he turned to his computer and pulled up an image before turning the screen to his son. Gajeel narrowed his eyes at what he saw. The beach house, the one they were just at, was in flames. It reminded Gajeel of when Phantom Lord set a fire in Levy's apartment. "I was going to scold you for acting rashly and coming back so soon... but I got this image only ten minutes ago." The don shook his head with a weary sigh. "No doubt, it's Phantom Lord's work."

"Yeah. They did the exact same thing to Levy's apartment." Gajeel scowled. Now he was incredibly glad he'd made everyone leave this morning, and return to Magnolia.

"There's also this." The don clicked a button and pulled up another picture. One that made Gajeel growl in rage. It was a picture of a picture that had been stapled to the front door of the beach house and halfway burnt from the fire. A picture of Levy in the middle of changing her clothes. The picture was burnt too much, but it was obvious she was topless at the very least. It was obviously taken through the window of the beach house.

"They're going to target her." Gajeel growled, standing up and pacing in the office. This was the last thing he wanted for her. He was fine if they were just going after him, but if they so much as looked at Levy he was going to destroy them. And it was obvious from that last picture... they'd looked. And, more than that, they threatened. "They're all dead."

"Couldn't agree more." The don nodded. "But you have to cool off, brat. Don't go rushing at them with a hot head." Gajeel just growled, clenching his fist. He wanted to go out, find the first Phantom Lord thug he could, and give them a slow, agonizing death. But his old man was right. He needed to calm down and go about this rationally. "Look, I've got a meeting with Makarov tomorrow. Just him. Can't trust anyone else until we find the rat, but we're going to come up with a plan to flush the rat out." Metallicana told him as he began to calm down a bit. "Come to the meeting. We'll go from there. Til then, go keep your girl safe." Gajeel took a deep breath, held it, and let it out before nodding. He could do that. He could be patient for a little bit. And Levy would be safest at his side, at least for now.

"Alright." Gajeel nodded again. He glanced at his father and left, walking back to the room he'd left Levy in. His old room.

Levy was still asleep when he quietly entered the room. He couldn't help but stop at the door just to look at her for a moment. She was so beautiful, sleeping peacefully on his bed. She wasn't sprawled out like she usually was. No, this time she was lying on her side, cuddling a pillow in her arms. Her wavy blue hair framed her face, her long dark eye lashes fluttered softly on her cheeks, and her mouth was slightly parted, her cute pink lips plump and firm. Gajeel found himself slightly envious of the pillow she cuddled. Without a second thought he stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed with her. He pulled the pillow from her arms and grinned when she instantly reached out for him. His arm was captured by her smaller arms, and a small smile formed on her lips as she rubbed her cheek against his biceps. Gajeel just smirked and wrapped his free arm around her waist, pulling her closer. He buried his nose in her hair and breathed in her scent, forgetting about his anger the moment her sweet scent filled his nose. He could worry about Phantom Lord later. Right now, he just needed this. He needed Levy.

Kind of a sweet chapter, I think :) I'm so glad I had time to update again. But I have two papers and a speech due next week so... might not be able to update for a little while.

Please tell me what you think! I love reviews!

Thanks for Reading!

-Everythingnerd12