Chapter 24

Gajeel drew his gun, checking to make sure it was loaded. He glanced over to where Natsu was crouching behind a cluster of large shipment boxes, his gun also drawn. Then he double checked his surroundings. Laxus could have chosen a better place to hide. There were no security cameras, there was only one door to enter or exit out of, and there were far too many places for intruders to hide. Gajeel, at first, thought it was a trap. It was too good, for them. But then, Laxus was never a tactician. He preferred a frontal assault, much like Natsu did. Gajeel was the one with tactics and stealth training. There was more than one reason he was called Black Steel, and one of those reasons was his fondness for blending into the shadows.

Gajeel was still wary. Anything could be a trap, he knew, so he was keeping his guard up. He signaled for Natsu to move in, and the pink haired man nodded. Natsu moved up first, staying well hidden behind boxes and crates. They knew Laxus was in the center of the warehouse with his captive. They could hear the girl sobbing and begging him to stop. It didn't take much speculation to realize what Laxus was doing to the poor girl. A male groan only confirmed this. Gajeel pitied the girl, but her poor fate was not going to distract him from this mission. He hid himself in the shadows and planned to route Laxus when Natsu confronted him.

He nodded at Natsu and held up three fingers, then made a sign for zero. Natsu nodded, and Gajeel moved out. Thirty seconds. That was how long Gajeel had to get into position. He moved quickly but silently. For as large as Gajeel was, his training and experience made him an expert at stealth. Gajeel scowled as he caught glimpses of Laxus, who was heedless of any intruders as he raped his poor hostage. He also noticed dozens of beer cans, and an awful lot of drugs, around Laxus and his hostage. Gajeel got into position and counted down the remaining time. Three... two...

"Laxus!" Natsu emerged from behind a crate, his pistol aimed straight at Laxus' head. Laxus paused his raping of his hostage, and looked up with angry but not surprised eyes.

"Knew they'd send someone soon enough." He growled, standing up and zipping up his pants.

"You're coming with me, Laxus. You're gonna answer for your crimes." Natsu growled angrily. Gajeel knew the kid was furious that Laxus had stooped to raping a hostage. Those were the kinds of things Fairy Tail had put an end to when they kicked out Phantom Lord. Hell, Gajeel was upset, too, but he couldn't afford to lose his cool over it. He knew Natsu understood this, too, and he was glad to see the pyromaniac take in a deep breath to calm himself. "Are you going to come quietly or do I need to shoot something important off, first?" Natsu demanded.

"What? You're all they sent?" Laxus laughed darkly. "Woulda thought I'd be more important than a solo mission."

"Answer me, Laxus." Natsu growled angrily, cocking his gun. Laxus only laughed.

"Why should I? I'm a dead man anyways! Fairy Tail wants me dead, Phantom Lord wants me dead, the cops want me dead! No matter what, I'm dead! So go on, shoot me. See if I give a damn." Laxus laughed cruelly. Natsu wasted no time in firing, aiming for a very, very important place. Even Gajeel grinned when Laxus cried out and feel to his knees, clutching his crotch which was now bleeding profusely. But then he just started laughing again, louder this time, and he drew his own gun, aiming it at his hostage. Gajeel growled. The man was either too high, too drunk, or too crazy to give a damn about his life or anyone else's. His hostage began to scream and try to crawl away, but it was futile with her arms tied as they were.

"Laxus." Natsu growled in warning.

"I wanna shut her up. She's so annoying. Always screaming and crying." Laxus laughed, ignoring Natsu. He was about to pull the trigger when his gun was shot out of his hand. He looked around and growled angrily when he saw Gajeel come out of hiding, his gun now aimed at Laxus' head instead of his hand. "You." his voice dripped with rage. "This is your fault! You just had to find her! That little bitch was my ticket out of this city!"

"Who was?" Gajeel felt like he knew the answer, but he had to ask.

"That little McGarden bitch! Do you know how much Phantom Lord wants her?! I was gonna take her to them, they were gonna pay me and help me out of the country, I was gonna live it rich in fucking Fiji!" Laxus all but snarled as he glared at Gajeel. "But you fucking found her! Right before I was gonna grab her! Phantom Lord was furious with me!"

"So what? You set it up with them to get two bird with one stone? The hospital incident was your doing?" Gajeel growled as he started piecing things together. Laxus knew about Levy before he did. He was going to grab her and hand her over to Phantom Lord in return for money and a way out of the country. Then Gajeel stumbled across her right before Laxus was going to grab her, and he put his protection claim on her. It kept Laxus from going near her without being exposed. So he worked it out with Phantom Lord to get both Gajeel and Levy in the same place, to kill them off together. It was smart and, if it had worked, nobody would have known it was Laxus who planned it all.

"It's not my fault their leader couldn't kill a little girl and her guard dog!" Laxus shouted. "But they took it out on me! ME! Made me give them money to get on their feet again. I only did it so they would finally kill you! This is all your fault, you know!"

"Boss, he's gone crazy. Too many drugs." Natsu spat, noticing the tourniquet still around Laxus' arm. "We should put him out of his misery."

"My old man wants him alive." Gajeel said, glaring at Laxus who had been reduced to crazed laughter. As much as he wanted to kill this man, his old man's orders were clear. With a scowl, Gajeel knocked Laxus out, smacking him in the temple with the butt of his pistol. He set his sites on the hostage now.

The poor girl couldn't have been much older than Levy. She was pretty, Gajeel gave her that, but right now she was covered in cuts and bruises. She was naked from the waist down, and her thighs were bruised and covered with blood. Gajeel felt sick just looking at her, and he pittied the poor girl for getting caught up in all this. He really didn't want to silence her, but that was her choice now. So he kneeled next to the frightened woman.

"You... you saved me." the woman sniffled. "Y-you won't hurt me... will you?"

"That's entirely up to you." Gajeel frowned. Damn, did he hate some parts of his job.

"Gajeel, she's been through enough." Natsu started, feeling sympsthy for the woman. "I don't think she'll rat on us. Can't we just..."

"You know our laws, Salamander." Gajeel reminded him. "I don't like it, either, but we can't just let her go." he turned to the confused and frightened woman. "What's your name?"

"Lisanna." the woman, Lisanna, sniffled.

"Well, Lisanna, I'm sorry about your luck. I want to be able to send you home, like you want, but I can't do that. You've seen too much." Gajeel sighed, watching the fear fill her eyes. "Look, I can only give you two options, little girl. The first option is to come with us and join Fairy Tail. You don't want to know the second option."

"I... those are my only choices?" she cried. Gajeel nodded solemnly. "W-what will happen if I join? I... I've never done anything illegal in my life!"

"You won't have to do anything you might think you'll do." Natsu spoke up. "But you will have to be loyal to us or be silenced. I promise, you will have as much of a normal life as possible." Natsu hated giving these ultimatums, too. He didn't like taking away someone's freedom this way, but it was either them or the family, and the family came first.

"It's just to ensure you don't go running to the cops." Gajeel told her, silently hoping she'd agree. He watched her think about it, but she finally nodded. He let out a silent sigh oof relief. He didn't know what it was about this girl, but he didn't think he would have been able to kill her. Too small and young, like his Levy. "Good choice. Let me cut you free. You'll need to come with us."

He freed her and passed her off to Natsu, who had found her pants. Salamander led her away while Gajeel threw some ropes around Laxus' arms and legs. He hoisted the dead weight over his shoulder and left the warehouse breathing a sigh of relief.

Laxus was taken care of. Now... time to go after Phantom Lord.

-End Chapter-

Hi guys! I tried something new! This is my first time using my phone to update, so sorry if the layout is a little different. Also sorry for spelling. If you guys see a lot of spelling issues could you point them out please? I will go through and fix them if I can.

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