Chapter 81

"What are we even doing here?" Jet grumbled as he sipped at his beer, trying to ignore the bar fight going on behind them.

"Getting a drink, I thought." Droy sighed into his own drink. "Drowning in sorrows?"

"No, I mean here. Magnolia." Jet corrected with a huff. "Why are we even here? We're clearly not needed anymore. The Don would probably like us to leave, anyways."

"But... Levy." Droy frowned. They were staying for Levy's sake... or so he thought. Did Jet not think she was important anymore?

"We don't even get to be in the same room with her." Jet scoffed at that. "What's the point in staying for someone we can't even be friends with anymore? Face it, Droy, we're not wanted here. Nobody trusts us! We can't even find jobs to do to gain their trust, because the Don hates us... which means they all hate us. We might as well just leave." He said bitterly before returning to his drink. Droy just sulked in silence. It was true. They couldn't even find work in the family, because Gajeel's distrust of them had spread down the ranks to even the lowest level captains. They couldn't help the family, even if they wanted to. So what was the point in staying?

The two men sat there in silence, sulking over their predicament... wondering what their next move should be. Stay with the family... or leave?

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear... I might have an interesting proposal for you guys..."

"Boss." Natsu called out as he caught Gajeel heading back to his suite for the day. Gajeel turned and raised a studded brow at Natsu as he came closer. "Boss, Droy's at the gate, begging to see you. He said he won't leave until he talks to you."

"He's gonna get the same answer he always does." Gajeel scoffed, turning and continuing on his way back to his room. He had to give Jet and Droy one thing: they were persistent. But he'd had a long day and certainly did not want to deal with them right now. Not to mention, Levy was waiting on him, likely with dinner ready. "Tell him I said no. This ain't worth my time."

"But, boss... he's... he's acting strange. I don't think he wants to talk about Levy." Natsu followed him with a frown. "I saw him, boss. He's frantic out there." This made Gajeel pause and give him a curious look.

"If it were Jet that wouldn't be weird... but yer sure this is Droy?"

"I'm positive." Natsu nodded. "Just Droy. There's no sign of Jet. And I got a bad feeling as soon as I saw him. I think something's happened." Gajeel thought on this for a moment before giving a heavy sigh. Natsu had a bad feeling about this, and Droy was acting out of the ordinary. It would be best if he saw him and figured out what the hell was going on.

"Alright, send him to my office. And have Lily tell Levy I'm gonna be late to dinner." He sighed, heading back toward his office. Natsu nodded and took off running for the gate. A few minutes later found Gajeel sitting at his desk, staring at a very nervous Droy, who was twisting his hands nervously. "Spit it out, Droy. Why did ya need to see me?" Gajeel sighed.

"I, well... boss, I think we found the serial killer." Droy admitted, earning wide eyes from Gajeel. And then his eyes narrowed at Droy.

"Tell me everything."

"I might have an interesting proposal for you guys." The words had both Jet and Droy turning around with raised brows. They were surprised to find a young, rather effeminate, man standing behind them with an easygoing smile on his face. Shaggy black hair with white accents framed his face, but Droy felt a chill go through him when he noticed the man's eyes. They were nearly solid black, and he felt like the man was peering into his soul.

"What kind of proposal?" Jet sounded intrigued, and Droy glanced at him warily. Why would he be interested in what this stranger had to say?

"You seem... bitter towards a certain group, one we should not name in public. One that practically rules this city." the man grinned knowingly at them, making it clear that he knew who they worked for. "You can't find work with them, because you are hated. You're going to run out of money eventually, and then what? Starve? Will you just leave Magnolia? They don't like defectors very much. You know they'll track you down." The man shook his head wryly. "But I have a solution for you. A way to make money and ruffle their feathers a bit in revenge. And they'll never know it was you."

"What are you getting at?" Droy asked hesitantly, but Jet had caught on.

"Are you... offering us a job?" he asked, watching as the man grinned widely at him.

"I am, indeed. Nothing big, really. I just need information. But the pay... well, that will be worth your while." He paused and looked between them with a grin. "Interested?"

"I told him I would think about it, but I'm just a grunt. Not good with information." Droy admitted to Gajeel. "But Jet... he went with him to learn more. He's still there. I came over here as fast as I could."

"Jet went with him?" Gajeel growled, clenching his fists angrily. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. Jet had valuable information on the family, from guard rotations to where he and Levy laid their heads. He knew the kind of weapons they had, and a rough estimate of how many guards were in the mansion at any given time. If Jet betrayed them...

"It's not what you think!" Droy protested, catching on to the Don's line of thinking. "Boss, I know him better than anyone! Sure, he's bitter... but not that bitter! And we both care so much for Levy. We'd never put her in any kind of danger."

"How do I know he's not betrayed us?" Gajeel growled, glaring sharply at Droy. "He has motive! He has information! And now he has a chance!"

"And he's not stupid!" Droy countered. "I was with him, Boss. He knew I was going to come here right away. Why would he still agree, if he knew I'd tell you what he was doing? He's not betraying us. He's getting information!" This made Gajeel pause for a moment. He thought on this with a scowl. Droy did have a point. Jet and Droy were so close. They knew each other well enough to know how the other would react in situations like this. Jet would surely know Droy would come right away to tell him what was going on. He would be apprehended the instant he was spotted by a Fairy Tail member, and brought before Gajeel and likely killed. Letting Droy leave that bar alive would have been a huge mistake if he really wanted to betray Fairy Tail. But he let Droy leave, and didn't even hint that Droy had intention to and would even be able to talk to Gajeel. Droy left that bar, and the mystery man just thought he was a wimp... and not a threat.

"I'm still doubtful, but... that makes sense." Gajeel sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm still going to issue an order to have him captured on sight. Not killed. We need to know any information he gets." He sighed, watching as relief filled Droy's eyes. But then Gajeel narrowed his eyes at him with a serious glare again. "Don't be breathing easy just yet. Yer a suspect, too. And if I find out either one of ya betrayed Fairy Tail..." he growled out angrily at Droy, "your relationship to my wife won't mean a damn thing. I will kill you."

"I... I understand." Droy gulped with a shaky nod. "I swear, boss... we'd never hurt Levy in any way, and hurting Fairy Tail hurts Levy. We... we know that."

"Good. But yer still gonna be watched." Gajeel sighed, pressing a button on his office phone. A page. Natsu entered the room a few seconds later and gave a polite nod to the Don. "Take him to the safe house and wait there. Take a small squad of men with ya, too, and keep a close eye on him. And spread this order. I want Jet brought before me the instant he's seen. Alive, got it?" Gajeel commanded.

"Yes, boss." Natsu nodded firmly, gesturing for Droy to come with him. Gajeel's voice stopped Droy at the door.

"I really hope yer right, Droy. Levy would hate me if I had ta kill you guys." Gajeel sighed heavily. "Don't make me do that to her."

"We won't. I swear we won't." Droy promised. The don remained silent after that, and Droy followed Natsu out of the office.

Gajeel sat there alone, for a while, trying to figure out how he was going to explain this to his wife. He wasn't even sure he should tell her what was going on yet. She didn't need this kind of stress while she was so heavily pregnant. He worried she might be sent into an early labor if Jet and Droy really did end up being traitors. But she would be angry if she found out he hid this from her.

Gajeel sighed heavily and stood up to leave his office. He was going to tell her. Everything. As gently as possible. Because she deserved to know. But he would also tell her, once again, that he would do anything to protect her and their baby girl...

...even kill her friends, if he had to.

He just prayed it wouldn't come to that.

So I got a few more chapters made out, not many but enough to post another one for you guys. Yay! I might not post on Thursday, as I'm still trying to catch up, but you will at the very least be getting weekly updates for now.

Anyways, please, please tell me what you think! I really do read every single comment and I love hearing from my readers. All the positive feedback makes me gush and blush and squeal and just feel really fucking happy. Idk what it is but reading all these lovely comments gives me some kind of high and it makes me feel important lol. Plus your opinions really matter to me, and your reactions really do help shape this story in a lot of ways. I would have ended this story by now if not for the inspiration and feedback I've gotten from my lovely fans! Love you guys!

Okay, sappy time over. Sorry, I'm just in a great mood today haha.

Anyways, thank you so much for reading!

As always,

-Nerdy12