Chapter 74

"Levy, wait up!" Levy paused at hearing some familiar voices calling out to her. Lily heard them, too, of course, and quickly pulled Levy behind him, keeping her safely between his massive form and the wall behind her. He leveled a steely glare at the two men approaching.

"Jet, Droy, I told you to leave her alone." Lily scolded. He knew very well as to why Gajeel didn't want them around her, and he agreed with that decision. He knew they wouldn't hurt her, but he had a responsibility to keep them away from his charge. They'd been warned before, and it was starting to annoy him. He'd have to take drastic measures soon enough if they didn't stop.

"Please, Lily, it's been months..." Droy begged.

"We just want to talk." Jet added.

"Then talk to the don first." Lily stood firm, crossing him arms as he stared down at them. "Now leave before I make you. I won't be nice about it, either."

"Lily..." Levy protested his harshness, but he turned a firm but not unkind gaze to her.

"I'm sorry, Levy, but I agree with your husband on this one. I'm not letting them talk to you until Gajeel approves." he said firmly.

"But-"

"It's okay, Levy." Jet sighed softly. "We... we get it. We fucked up."

"Language." Lily's scolding went ignored.

"We'll... try again, with the boss. Stay well, Levy." Droy added. Levy peeked around Lily and watched as they sulked off down the hall. They were headed for Gajeel's office. Again. To try and plead their case. Again.

Gajeel no longer trusted them. Well, he trusted that they were too scared and too stupid to betray Fairy Tail. And he knew deep down that they would never physically harm his wife. But since it was discovered what Brain had wanted from Levy... and the fact that they would have contributed to Levy's pain and demise was realized... well, he just couldn't trust them anymore. He could barely stand to look at them, even. They were lucky they were still considered part of Fairy Tail after all that.

But they'd lost his trust and any respect he'd had for them. Gajeel didn't want them anywhere near his wife until they earned that privilege. As such, he'd told Lily to keep them far away from Levy at all times. It was the first time Gajeel had actually outright ordered Lily to do anything. Lily had always done his job without being told, watching diligently over little Levy and protecting her with his life. Even with this... had he known the circumstances around this order before being told, he would have kept Jet and Droy away from her without even being ordered to.

Needless to say, Lily was quite disappointed with the boys. To stoop so low as to use an innocent girl like that, just to hold a dying family together... to put her in a position where it was almost certain she would die... to be so weak and poor at leading that they needed a mascot that way... it had Lily seething with anger and disgust. He knew they were better than that. He knew their parents would have raised them better, taught them to be better leaders, taught them better morals. They were so much better than that, yet they stooped so low just to keep the family together. It disgusted him.

And he was more than happy to keep them far, far away from Levy.

"No." Gajeel's voice was cold and firm, and he didn't even look up from the document he was reviewing. The two men seated in front of his desk withered in defeat. Rejected yet again.

"Please, there's gotta be something we can do to change your mind." Jet begged the don.

"Surely we can regain your trust somehow." Droy added desperately.

"Good luck with that." Gajeel scoffed, grabbing his pen to sign the document in his hand.

"What do you mean by that?" Jet questioned warily, not liking his tone at all. Gajeel finally looked at them, his eyes serious and cold.

"I just don't see how yer gonna regain my trust." he said firmly, looking between the two. He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms as he looked between them. "Tell me. What do you actually do for Fairy Tail?" he asked them.

"W-well, we maintain communications with Fairy Tail members that were once in the McGarden family." Droy supplied cautiously.

"Right..." Gajeel drawled out. "You used to do that, anyways. During that whole transition phase. But that's ancient history now, and everything's fully integrated." he waved it off with a roll of the eyes. "What do you do now?" he pressed. Jet and Droy looked to each other, but neither had any clue how to respond. Silence filled the office. "That's what I thought."

"W-well, it's not like we were told to do anything else." Jet protested, but Gajeel leveled him with a cold glare.

"What, ya think that's how a family works? Ya do one job, then get ta sit back and relax while everyone else works? Any considerate member in a family would be asking if there's anything they can do ta help out." Gajeel explained firmly. "Fairy Tail ain't about giving and receiving orders. Everything we do is for the family's benefit. Helpful members get promoted, earn trust. Lazy nobodies get tossed to the side and aren't trusted with shit." he paused to let them contemplate his words. "You wanna earn my trust? Fine. Try it. I don't see it happening but, by all means, prove me wrong. Til then? Well, ya wanted an order, so here's one. Heed it well." he leveled them with an icy cold glare. "Stay the hell away from my wife."

Chief of Police Erza Scarlet was nearly to the Don's office when the door opened and two dejected-looking men scurried out like the devil was on their heels. She paused and watched them hurry down the hall, a perfect crimson eyebrow raised with curiosity. What was that about? No matter, she was here on urgent business. She marched on to the Don's office, giving a swift rap of her knuckles to the door. Gajeel's utterly annoyed voice told whoever was outside to go away.

"It's very time sensitive." Erza insisted, knowing that the sound of her voice alone would tell him how important this was. She couldn't risk her career and her freedom by being seen at a mafia family's headquarters for any small reason, after all.

"Come in." Gajeel sighed heavily, knowing he was about to have to deal with another headache today. Erza opened the door and headed inside, finding the Don rubbing at his temples with an annoyed grimace on his face.

"Bad day?" she questioned, taking a seat across from him.

"It was fine til I had to deal with those two idiots." Gajeel grumbled, taking a deep breath before looking to Erza. "And yer just gonna make this headache worse, aren't ya?" he didn't wait for her to answer. "Alright, tell me what's goin on. Must be big for you to see me in person."

"It is." Erza nodded tensely, holding out a small, sealed manila envelope. "We have a problem... boss."

See? I didn't forget about Jet and Droy. They're just kinda... being punished. Don't worry, though, things will get better, just be patient.

Anyways, I'm posting this tonight (Wednesday) cause I work all day tomorrow and thought I should be nice for once haha. You're welcome for the early update. I might post on Sunday, too, for the same reason regarding Monday. But then everything should go back to normal.

I got some big things planned for the next several chapters. Y'all should be excited. Wink, wink

Anywho! Thanks for reading, like always!

-Nerdy12