Chapter 68

It was just another typical day. Gajeel was busy in the office, looking over reports and financial statements. Levy was off work today, and spending her time in the library. She'd gone to lunch with Metalicana, who was greatly enjoying retirement. It was a time of peace, but the guards were still diligently training in the courtyard, and there were constant patrols of the grounds. Everything was quiet and safe. Just as it should be.

"Boss, Bixlow is here." Natsu said as he poked his head into the Don's office. Gajeel looked up from the reports he was reviewing and nodded at Natsu.

"Bring him here. Get Levy, too."

"Right-o." Natsu grinned and gave a two-finger salute before hurrying off. Levy arrived first, having run into Natsu in the hall on her way back from the library. Shortly after, Bixlow walked into the office with his usual grin and a large bag in his hand.

"Ya called, boss?" he slender tattoo artist grinned with his tongue hanging out to show his Fairy Tail symbol. Gajeel smirked at the eccentric man. He never changed.

"I need a touch-up on my back, and the shrimp's been thinkin of gettin a new tattoo. She wanted yer opinion on some designs." Gajeel explained, leaning back in his chair and looking to his wife. Bixlow grinned and addressed Levy first.

"Well, Mrs. Boss, let's see what you got."

"I, um, was thinking of doing something to honor my parents." Levy blushed and held out her notebook she'd been drawing designs in for a few weeks now. Bixlow looked over them with serious eyes, getting into business mode. Sure, having fun and goofing off was his thing. But he was an artist and he took his job seriously. He wanted to make sure Levy got something she wanted, and she would be happy with forever.

"These are a great start. Where would ya like it to be?" he asked her.

"Um, my ankle if I go with one of the small designs. My thigh for a bigger one." she answered quietly, watching as Bixlow thought over the designs and locations.

"Shrimp, ya know it's gonna hurt on yer thigh, right?" Gajeel pointed out to his wife, who pouted at him.

"I can handle it." she said firmly, earning chuckles from the men.

"I like your spirit, Mrs. Boss." Bixlow grinned. "Now, if ya don't mind, can I take this notebook? I'll draw up some nice designs based off what ya got here and come back." Levy nodded to his request and he looked to Gajeel. "Let's see what ya got fer me, boss." Gajeel had already unbuttoned his shirt at this point. He shrugged out of it, then turned to sit backwards in his seat. Bixlow leaned in close to look over the ferocious dragon he'd tattooed on Gajeel years ago. He spotted the issue with it instantly, and he grinned at Levy. "The missus likes it rough, eh? Couple of scratches back here, boss." he laughed as Levy turned several shades of red.

"Figured there would be some." Gajeel chuckled, knowing his wife's face must be a sight to see right now. It was her own fault, really, scratching him up like he was a scratching post. Sometimes she even drew blood, and that left visible marks on his tattoo that stayed. "Honestly, just thought the color was fadin a bit."

"Yeah, it's a bit faded. Yer gettin too much sun, boss." Bixlow shook his head in amusement. Of course Gajeel didn't get that tanned look naturally. He trained topless in the courtyard frequently to get that nice tan of his. And all that sun was bad for his tattoo. "Good thing I thought to bring my equipment today. Let's get started, boss."

The touch up was taking a while. Of course it would. Gajeel's tattoo was huge; it covered his entire back. And Bixlow was basically redoing it, going over every inch of it to give it fresh ink. Gajeel sat backwards in his office chair, resting his chin on his arms which were crossed over the top of the chair. Levy had moved to sit at his desk, and she was holding up documents for him to read while Bixlow worked his magic on his back.

"Put that one in the sign pile, shrimp." Gajeel said to his wife. He'd sign it later, when he could move.

"That's the last of them." Levy hummed. Most of the documents had been financial statements or reports from Fairy Tail's businesses. Quite boring to read, in her opinion, but necessary to get them done and signed quickly. "What do you usually do when you finish the reports?"

"Head to the gym, usually." Gajeel told his wife with a small smile. "Two hours a day. Old man will usually join me for a match in the boxing ring."

"Every day?" Levy asked in awe. She really didn't know her husband's schedule all that well, it seemed. She usually left him to his work and tried not to bother him. But he got two hours in the middle of the day to go work out?

"Gotta keep in shape somehow." Gajeel chuckled. "I know ya like the results, shrimp." he winked at her, loving the cute blush that came to her cheeks. True, she did drool over his physique, even to this day. "This ain't natural, ya know."

"Not on you, boss." Bixlow commented. "But your father? I think he was born with a six pack. I've never seen him do more than spar with you, even when we were kids."

"Nah, he works out. Just hides the fact that he ain't perfect." Gajeel laughed. Bixlow, of course, grew up in the family and had been one of Gajeel's friends growing up. He was one of the only kids his age, after all, and mafia brats had to stick together. Him, Bixlow, and Laxus wreaked havoc on the family in the early days, and Natsu and Gray did the same a few years later.

The silence returned but it was peaceful enough. Just the soft whir of the machine Bixlow was using. It was, surprisingly, Bixlow who broke the silence this time.

"Boss." Gajeel grunted to say he was listening. "Lisanna told me about what happened. Ya know, with her siblings."

"Oh, did she?" Gajeel raised a brow, looking at his wife who had looked up from her book at Bixlow's words. "What did she say?"

"Just told me what happened, really." Bixlow hummed. "But... she said somethin I didn't like. She said she was goin ta ask you to kill her... if her siblings refused ta join." Levy gasped in shock at that. Gajeel hadn't told her that at all.

"She said the same thing to me." Gajeel confirmed.

"Would you have done it?" Bixlow was unusually serious, and he'd even paused his work to ask this question. Gajeel clenched his jaw a bit. He could see where this was going.

"Bixlow, I'm gonna tell ya somethin I ain't told anyone before." Gajeel broached the topic cautiously. "And if ya tell a soul, I'll slit yer throat."

"Okay..." Bixlow voiced warily.

"The night we saved her, if she'd refused to join... I wouldn't have been able to pull the trigger." Gajeel admitted to the surprise of both his wife and Bixlow. Gajeel was notorious for getting the job done no matter what, and silencing all threats. But he wouldn't have been able to silence Lisanna? "She's so small and innocent and she had so much bad shit happen to her. I just... couldn't do it. Not then. Not to her."

"And... now?" Bixlow questioned.

"If she'd have asked me to... I woulda hated it, and it would have been the hardest thing I've ever done in my life... but I would have respected her decision." Gajeel answered truthfully. "I wouldn't have let anyone else do it, either. Her blood would be entirely on my hands, and trust me I would hate myself for it. I would hate myself for the rest of my life. But as the Don... that's my responsibility. My burden."

All was silent after Gajeel finished speaking. Levy's eyes were full of tears as she realized just how much something like that would have affected her husband. He was always like steel to her. Strong, unyielding, unbreakable. But even he had a soft spot. For her, of course... but also for the whole family. Having to kill a precious family member, especially someone as sweet and innocent as Lisanna... it would have really messed him up inside. Bixlow was silent as he contemplated the Don's words. After a long silence, he started the machine up and continued working.

"I'm glad her siblings joined." Bixlow finally voiced after a good while. "Because if you'd killed Lisanna... you would have had to kill me, too." The hidden meaning in his words hung in the air, and it wasn't hard for the Redfoxes to piece it together.

Bixlow was in love with Lisanna... and willing to die for her. When had this happened? The Redfoxes rarely saw Lisanna or Bixlow, aside from recently. They must have hit it off that day Levy got her tattoo. Levy remembered seeing them talking, and Lisanna was even blushing a bit at one point. Had they been dating since then?

"Pretty sure you'd be fucked up big time if that happened." Bixlow continued with a dry chuckle. They were good friends, after all. Not the closest friends, but close enough that Bixlow's death would really affect Gajeel, especially if he was the one to pull the trigger.

Gajeel just gave a small, humorless laugh and a sad, empty smile. "Yer probably right, but..." he took a deep breath and looked to his wife. "I got a family to protect... and a wife that needs me. I'd bounce back." His empty smile turned into a soft, genuine one.

"It takes an awful lot to break steel, ya know."

First things first: I probably won't have time to update on Thursday. Sorry guys! Next: I know that's probably not realistic for a touch-up tattoo, no need to correct me or anything. Finally: no, wait... that's it. haha.

Thanks for reading, guys! Please, please leave a comment! I want ten per chapter and right now I'm about 50 comments behind! I miss hearing from my readers, and for those of you that faithfully comment... thank you! I really do appreciate it. It makes my day to see how my story makes you all feel.

Thanks, again.

-Nerdy12