Legerdemain
A gun. Her little slivers of glass are no match for a gun. Looking up the arm holding the weapon into the face of a pale man with black hair, black eyes and even black lips, Levy gulps as she freezes in fear. Dark eyes widen with sadistic glee as a long, thin finger moves for the trigger.
"Oi asshole, put the gun down," hissed Gajeel as he rubbed his jaw where Natsu had managed to land a hit earlier, "this is a quiet op. You're gonna bring the cops here and then the data will be lost."
Levy's brown eyes didn't leave the gun as the black turtleneck wearing man sneered in response, intent on disobeying.
"Kurohebi." said Ivan in a dark but authorative tone. That was all it took. With a dissapointed frown, the pale man in black uncocked the hammer but kept it in one hand.
Tears pricking her eyes with stinging salt, Levy sagged against the metal door frame. With no energy left to fight, all she can do is listen.
Glancing at the clock hung over the offices, Gajeel locked gazes with Ivan, "Just seven minutes left. Be patient."
The older man looked over towards his father's office door with a smirk. "The old man?"
Rolling his shoulders, Laxus leaned back against the wall with a bored face.
"Dealt with."
"Good. He can't keep the LH program from me forever."
LH? Levy didn't understand the conversation as she slowly let go of the glass, the sting of the fresh slices in her palms focusing her mind.
"Pops, must you go through such theatrics? Gajeel could have gotten the program within the next week."
The young girl frowned at Laxus' words. Is that why she bumped into Redfox that night? He was sneaking around, trying to find this 'LH' file to steal?
Adjusting the collar of his overcoat, Ivan swaggered towards the main offices where the download is taking place.
"You don't know how long I've been trying to get this program. It can revolutionize the tides...and he wants to squirel it away. Wasting its potential. Probably wants to use it for himself."
Anger bubbled in Levy's chest all over again, but for a different reason. Before it had been because of Natsu, but now? Over the treatment of Headmaster Makarov, the man who took her and her friends in when no one else would bother. His son and grandson, his blood of all people, betrayed him. All this violence over a freaking file? A program?!
"Pathetic," Levy murmured as she raised her head from glaring down at her bleeding hands. At once, the man stopped in his tracks then slowly turned around to look at her. Behind him, Gajeel narrows his red eyes with a dark frown at her.
"What did you say, girl?"
Everyone turned to her but she didn't care, the anger fueling a strength she didn't know she had. Using the metal frame behind her, Levy pulled herself to her feet. Meeting the narrowed black eyes of the bearded man, Levy smiled mirthlessly.
"You are pathetic, hurting the Master in a fit of what? Jealousy? Hate? That program won't make you any better than what you are, a snake not fit to grace this hallway."
From behind her, a red haired woman who had been standing sentry at the entrance shook with rage. Snarling, she grabbed at Levy's hair to slam her head against the metal frame.
"Shut up, blueberry unless you want that pretty face of yours to be ruined beyond repair." the woman whispered, lifting a hand for the dim incandescent light to reflect off a piece of glass. On her other side, a shorter and fatter man with giant chin and blonde hair grabbed her arm to twist it.
For some reason, this didn't scare Levy. She had been beaten and roughed up before, years ago when enrolled in Phantom Institute. Eyes not leaving Ivan's as he prowled towards her, Levy didn't let her strained smile drop.
"If that program is so important, would someone like Redfox really be able to get it so easily? The Master isn't stupid. You're a fool-"
"Silence," Ivan warned as his large paw of a hand swung back, eyes wild with anger and insanity. Licking his lips, Kurohebi raised his gun again.
"-to think you could-"
"Shut up!" roared Ivan as his fist came for her face, Levy not backing down despite her being held immobile. Raising her chin defiantly, she doesn't want to show weakness to these lowlifes.
Suddenly the lights in the entire hallway blow up, fragments of light bulb glass showering all around in the new darkness. Levy clenched her eyes shut, turning her face down to keep the glass pieces away from her face. In the dark, sounds of running feet, flesh hitting flesh with hard thuds and grunts of pain fill the air. A whosh of sound whirls in front of Levy as someone stands before her, then her arms are released. A grunt or shout on either side of her tells Levy that her assailants had been dealt with. Pressing her back against the metal door frame, Levy brings her fists up to defend herself. She hears a chuckle and then with a whoosh, the presence is gone.
"Now!" shouts a breathless but deep voice as two road flares burst on with a scratchy sound of sandpaper on sandpaper and a hiss. The fusees are dropped to the floor by the blur of a running, hooded figure who dissapeares into the shadows around a corner.
Levy blinks in the dim lighting of the hallway at the new amount of dissaray to the already present chaotic situation. Bodies of Kurohebi, the red haired woman and the large chinned man along with others of their group lay on the glass covered floor at her feet. In front of her, standing with their legs braced apart and fists raised are Laxus...and Gajeel. They are facing a bloody covered Ivan who is holding onto a torn up arm, a hostile snarl twisting his lips.
"You-you little bastards!"howled Ivan as he took one step forward, black eyes blazing in fury.
Laxus and Gajeel look at each other once and then each pull back a fist. Levy shifts uncomfortably as their knuckles come a few inches close to her nose before their arms launch themselves into Ivan's face. She winces from the sound of bones breaking, most likely the big jerk's nose crushing under the powerful double strike. The old man goes down with a heavy thud, his bloody face obscured by shadows given off by the red light of the flares.
Lifting a hand to his ear, Gajeel tilts his head as the device in his ear gives a soft beep,"Alright Tomaru, send 'em in."
The whine of a police car and the wail of an ambulence become steadily louder from the parking lot. Levy slides back down the door frame, trembling as the shock from the last couple minutes settle into her nerves. Soon the flashing red and and blue lights of several police cars light up the hallway, headlights glaring through the darkness. In a daze, she watches as uniformed men gather in the what is left of the entryway, the paramedic crew marching in with a red bag plus a stretcher. Not missing a beat, Laxus leads them back to his grandfather's office.
One officer with the badge of Lieutenant strode straight for Gajeel, his scarred face and intent turqoise eyes blank of any emotion. Levy watches as Gajeel offered a hand and the officer grasps it, a smile cracking his face.
"Took you long enough, Redfox. If this drama had gone on any longer..."
"At least it's over now, Gryder."
Nodding, the Lieutenant kneels down to Ivan's side to arrest the unconcious man with a pair of shiny hand cuffs. Over his shoulder, he orders his men to cuff the others. Meanwhile, Levy stares at Redfox who is casually standing there, covered in blood and bruises. This whole time, he had been working with the police? Is he an officer? Is Laxus? So many questions raced through her brain as she stared numbly at him, her brown eyes wide and bewildered.
For the longest moment, those weary looking red eyes return her gaze through the whirl of police activity around them and the only coherent thought in her head is one word, looping over and over again.
Why?
To be continued!
What did you think? This story is a bit dark, graphic with violence and is lacking the fluff but I'm building up to something, I swear! Bear with me, please. Believe me, I don't mean to hurt Levy so much but I have my reasons. As for Gajeel, maybe we'll learn something next chapter. Haven't decided yet. Care to rant and rave in a review? I can take it...I think!
