Chapter 43

Levy walked down the mostly empty halls of the mansion with a small smile on her lips, her arms full of books. Oh, she just had to thank the don! He'd so graciously allowed her to borrow any books she wanted from his library. It was a fantastic offer, one she could not refuse, and she'd just spent all day in the library trying to decide what books to take home while Gajeel was working.

"Ah, there you are, little one. Thought you'd disappeared on us." Metallicana's voice pulled her from her happy thoughts. She turned and found him approaching her from a side hall, Gray and Natsu walking behind him. "Where are you heading?"

"Oh. I was going to see if I could find Gajeel." Levy smiled at her future father-in-law. "Do you know where he is?"

"Course I do." the boss confirmed. "Come with us, we are going to him, anyways."

"Er boss... I don't think that's such a good idea..." Gray spoke up, giving Levy a nervous glance. Natsu nodded.

"Yea... you know Metalhead won't want her to see that." the usually cheerful man looked downright worried as soon as the don suggested taking her to Gajeel. Levy fidgeted a bit as she realized he was probably doing something that would scare her if she saw it.

"She needs to be exposed to this stuff, and she's seen worse, already." Metallicana shook his head at the guards before leveling Levy with a firm stare. "You did want to know about what the family does... isn't that right?" his tone suggested that she really really shouldn't nit pick over what she learned. Levy swallowed thickly and nodded. He did have a point, who was she to pick and choose what she learned of the family? The don grinned at her, then.

"Good. Now, come along."

Levy followed the trio down a familiar set of stairs. She knew where they were going. The prisoner cells were down here. She began to wonder exactly what she'd see. She'd already seen Gajeel kill someone down here... how much worse could it get than that? Still, she prepared herself for anything, holding her books tightly to her chest as she strengthened her resolve.

Anguished cries soon reached their ears. Natsu and Gray exchanged worried glances before shooting Levy what she thought were reassuring looks. The don merely continued marching forward, unphased by the sounds. As they came closer, Gajeel's voice could be heard.

"Don't make me repeat myself again." his voice was calm but deadly and dark. It sent a chill down her spine, and she couldn't help but think he'd taken after his father a bit too much. "Tell me what I need to know."

"I've already told you!" the other person shouted before screaming in pain. "The only person who knew anything about him was Cobra! That's all I know, I swear!"

"And where is this Cobra?" Gajeel demanded. Levy swallowed thickly at this. Cobra... he was the one working with Brain. Was... was Gajeel interrogating a Phantom Lord member? Why was there so much screaming? She looked to Gray and Natsu, but they were looking straight ahead again, following the don to the very last holding cell, where Gajeel was locked in with the prisoner.

Levy's eyes went wide when she saw them. Gajeel was in his usual work attire, minus the jacket, and the sleeves of his white dress shirt were rolled up to his elbows. His hair was pulled back out of his face, and he looked cold and cruel as he faced the prisoner, who was chained to the wall and immobilized by straps. Levy recognized the prisoner. He'd been the one to knock her out during the attack on the mansion. He was covered in cuts and bruises and burns of all kinds.

Gajeel didn't even notice the company or, if he did, he surely didn't see Levy. He continued interrogating the man in front of him.

"I said, Where is he?!" Gajeel growled, swinging a hard punch into the man's jaw.

"Fuck if I know!" the man returned with his own growl. "Cobra's a coward, runs at the first sign of danger. He's probably left the country by now."

"Who would know where to find him?" Gajeel demanded of him, but the man just spat at him. He dodged the spit, and the man was rewarded with a harsh blow to the gut. He cried out as the air was knocked from him... and it was enough to make him pass out. Gajeel just snarled in anger. Whatever, at least they had a name now. Cobra.

A light cough got his attention and he looked outside the cell, not surprised to see his old man standing there. Or the dweebs. But his eyes went wide as he saw a mop of blue hair peeking out from behind his father. Levy...

"You old man..." Gajeel growled angrily, marching up to the cell door to glare at his father. "Why the hell did you bring her down here?!" Levy stared at him with wide eyes, not used to seeing him so... so furious. But he looked about ready to kill his own father right now. The don didn't even flinch at his son's anger. He'd been expecting it, of course. Metallicana merely shrugged at his son and gave a cold grin.

"You said she wanted to know about family matters. She's gotta learn somehow." the don told him. "Besides, she's seen you do worse. Ain't that right, young one?" he spoke to Levy, who flinched a bit at being addressed. She gave a timid nod, biting her lip nervously at how angry Gajeel was. She'd only seen him this angry once... when Brain had his hands on her.

"That doesn't mean I want her to see this! Stop interfering, let me teach her how I think is best, old man!" Gajeel snarled angrily, slamming his fist on the cell door. "Dammit, Gray, let me out of here already!"

"Boss, maybe you should calm down a little..." Gray offered, but he was quick to change his mind when Gajeel leveled him with a furious glare. As Gray unlocked the cell, Natsu moved to stand between Gajeel and Metallicana... just in case. It wouldn't be the first time Gajeel lashed out at his father in his anger, after all... and it was his job to protect the don, even from his son.

Natsu and Gray were both surprised when Gajeel bypassed his father and headed straight for Levy. Levy whimpered softly in surprise, dropping her books, as Gajeel scooped her up into his arms and carted her off. He shot his father one last angry glare before he took his frightened fianceè far away from the cells.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Levy." he sighed against her hair when they were halfway across the mansion. "That was somethin I didn't want ya to see yet. That fucking old man..." he ended with an angry growl that had Levy hiding her face in his chest with a soft whimper. He paused when he saw this, and he gently pried her face away so he could look at her. "Hey..." he tried to sound soothing, but he knew he was still too angry to sound remotely gentle. "It's not you, Levy. I swear I ain't the least bit mad at you."

"Promise?" came her timid whimper.

"Baby..." seeing the tears in her eyes really sobered him up. The anger began to fade as he focused on his little fianceè. "I promise, Levy. I ain't mad at you. Never you. You ain't done anything wrong."

"Y-you were so angry..." she whined softly, and Gajeel gave a heavy sigh. He was still angry, furious even. He continued walking with her as he held her close.

"I know, Levy. Just... let me hold you a bit, it's really helping me calm down." he sighed into her hair as she buried her face in his neck again. "I'm sorry I scared you. It's just... that's part of me, part of my life. I have to be that way sometimes. You understand that, right?" he felt her nod against his neck. "You know I should be the last person yer afraid of. I won't ever, ever hurt you, Levy." he swore to her.

"I know." her quiet, muffled voice came. "I'm not... not afraid of you."

"The situation?" Gajeel hummed, carrying her into a very familiar room. "Or just all the anger?"

"The anger, mostly. I've seen you do worse, but you never get that angry." came her soft response. She looked up at him as he sat down with her on a bed, and then she looked around. "Our old... bedroom?"

"Needed to be alone with you." Gajeel sighed. He was still on edge, but having his girl in his arms was doing wonders at cooling his temper. He rested his head on her shoulder as he tried to calm down. He hadn't been this angry with his father in a fucking long time.

"Are you okay?" Levy asked him, voice full of concern. Gajeel shook his head against her with a heavy sigh.

"Had a shit day, didn't get the info I needed, and now my old man's pissin me off." he huffed against her. He sat up with a frustrated growl. "What the hell is with him? Huh? Yea, yer learning about the family. But dammit all, I was trying to keep things at a nice pace for ya so ya wouldn't get overwhelmed. Then he pulls this shit." he flopped back on the bed with a scowl, bringing a startled Levy down with him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"How much did you even see, shrimp? I didn't even hear y'all come in." he sighed against her hair as he held her close.

"Just the end." she told him quietly.

"Good." he sighed, saying nothing more on that. Levy could only guess why. He probably did some really horrible things to that man before they came in. "Are you okay, shrimp?"

"I am now." she nodded against him.

"Good. I just... need to cool down for a while. Let me hold you?"

"You already are." she gave a small giggle, much to his amusement. He kissed her temple with a soft sigh.

"So I am." they went back to a peaceful silence, Gajeel holding Levy close to him, his hand trailing up and down her side as he just enjoyed her company. After a while, he got tired of the silence, so he decided to ask something he'd been meaning to ask for a long time. "I know this is random, shrimp... but I really wanna know. Do you want children someday?"

"T-that is pretty random, Gajeel." she giggled with a cute blush. Then she smiled softly at him. "Yes. Very much so. Maybe three or four of them." Levy sighed as she snuggled against him. "What about you?"

"Ya know... I never cared much for kids. Never saw myself as a father." Gajeel admitted, feeling Levy pout against him sadly. "But then you came along and, fuck, shrimp all I want now, you know aside from marrying ya, is to see a little kid running around with your eyes and my hair. Maybe a few of em. Two, at least." he chuckled softly as Levy blushed a bit. She looked up at him with a huge, happy smile.

"I'd really like that, Gajeel... to have kids with you one day." she told him sweetly. Gajeel just grinned, and Levy quickly found her back pressed into the mattress, her grinning fiancè caging her there with his body.

"Hm, then hows about we get to working on it, shrimp?" he chuckled at her adorable blush. "Fuck, just thinking about you pregnant is getting to me."

"B-but we're not even married yet." Levy protested cutely. Gajeel just laughed.

"Shrimp, is that yer only reason against it?" he chuckled, watching as she nodded with an adorable blush, and then he gave her a wicked grin. "Then there shouldn't be an issue. I never really did care much for social norms, anyways. Now c'mere, gihi."

Haha, hows that for a fun cliff hanger? Did they do it? Did they not? Is there a lemon coming? I don't know, you'll have to see in the next chapter. Muahaha.

Please, I want more comments. Comment on old chapters if you must. I must know what my readers are thinking!

To be honest, if it feels rushed at the end, it was just a bit. Sorry! Ran out of steam.

Thanks for reading, y'all!

-Everythingnerd12