A/N: Alright you guys! It was unanimous that I should post another chapter this week in celebration of Valentines Day! In retrospect, I probably should have written some cute, fluffy Middream filler to publish today, but alas. The best I can do is publish the next chronological chapter, which is less than cheery, cute, or fluffy. Still, I hope you all enjoy and continue to follow Midnight on this roller coaster of a journey he's on! And I do try to sprinkle humor into the story when things are too intense, so hopefully the intro gives you a few giggles.

Chapter 26: An Assassin's Guilt

It was another day in the Fairy Tail guild hall. Midnight was asleep on his flying carpet in front of the stage, which seemed to be his favorite spot to be during the hours he wasn't doing chores for the guild. Strange, for a man who wanted peace and quiet so badly, that he actually preferred to be in the chaotic guild hall while he slept.

"Yo, Midnight," Gajeel Redfox walked up to the magic carpet and folded his arms over his chest. "Wake up, I got something to ask you."

Midnight snored in response.

"I wouldn't do it, bubs!" Piper yelled from a table nearby. "Most of the time he ain't too nice when ya wake him up. Trust me, I live with the guy."

"What's he gonna do, throw lipstick at me?" Gajeel scoffed. "Hey, Midnight!" His voice raised. "Wake the hell up!"

"I'm tellin' you's. He's got his magic back now." Piper shrugged and looked back at the cards in his hand. "Hit me," he said to Cana, who was currently the blackjack dealer.

"Did you say Midnight has his powers back?!" Natsu barreled through the crowd, baring canines through his excited grin. "Alright! Now we can have our fight, finally!" He cracked his knuckles. "I wanted to kick this guy's ass on Nirvana but Erza got to have all the fun! Wake up, sleepyhead! Let's go!"

"HEY I WAS HERE FIRST!" Gajeel slammed an iron fist on Natsu's head.

"Ow, that really hurt…" Natsu whined.

"Wake up, man, I wanna talk to you." Gajeel knelt down and poked Midnight's cheek.

"I'll wake him up!" Natsu's fist caught fire and he swung it with a leap toward Midnight's face. There was a metallic whirring sound and Natsu's fire engulfed fist suddenly punched him in his own face, sending him flying into the wall.

"Morning," Gajeel said with a chuckle. Midnight slowly blinked.

"If you don't have a good reason for waking me up, I'll kill you," he said darkly, which just made Gajeel smile wider.

"I actually ain't looking for a fight."

"Oh yeah! Well I am!" Natsu barked from across the room.

"Will you shut up already?!" Gray shouted at him.

"What was that iceboy?"

"You wanna go, firebreather?!"

"Not until you put some clothes on, pervert!"

"That's it!"

A battle broke out behind them. Gajeel and Midnight didn't seem phased at all. This was the norm.

"I heard you make a good cake," Gajeel said, still crouched in front of the carpet.

"…I make a damn good cake," Midnight corrected.

"Think you could whip me up something?" Gajeel asked, hungrily. Midnight's eyes narrowed.

"You woke me up to ask me to bake for you?"

"That a problem?"

Sparks erupted between their eyes, a darkness looming over them. Until Midnight smirked and began to stretch like a cat on his rug. "Not at all."

"Great. Think you can put some metal in it?"

Midnight cocked his head to the side and thought, while running a tongue along his lips. "Iron… Cinnamon… Sage…" He gave a brief nod. "I'll do it. After I make Erza's daily dozen." He yawned.

"Alright!"

"Hey, Midnight," Natsu paused in mid punch. "Could you make something with fire in it?"

"How about a beer cake?" Cana asked.

"Can you make a cake with love?!" Juvia squeaked from where she'd been stalking Gray and Natsu's battle.

"I have a sign-up sheet over here for Midnight's cakes!" Mirajane called from the counter. A line quickly formed.

"Thanks, man," Gajeel stood upright.

"It will come at a price," Midnight said suddenly.

"Oh yeah?" Gajeel raised an eyebrow and his posture became defensive. "What kind of price?"

Midnight averted his gaze with just the hint of a blush. "Teach me… to play guitar." He said, in a mumble so low that only a dragon slayer could hear.

Gajeel laughed out loud. "That's all? You got it! I'll give you some private lessons. Then we'll be bad ass enough to start our own band. We'll call it… Redfox and the Jazzettes!"

"I don't think so."

"Gajeel and the Angst Girl?"

"Are you insulting me?"

The playful arguing continued on—the guild roaring with activity and silliness. That is, until the doors slammed open and Erza Scarlet strode in with a sense of foreboding purpose.

The guild hall was instantly silent. She had that look in her eyes. The serious, "no bull-shit" look. She walked straight forward, members parting to give her a wide berth as she approached the stage.

"Midnight." He voice was stern and commanding. The dark mage visibly shrank as she got closer, remembering all too vividly how he lost to her on Nirvana.

"…Titania." He glared up at her, expression not matching the practically fetal position he was in.

"You will assist me on a job. Right now."

Eyes widened all over the room and whispering broke out.

"Me?" He stared at her, mouth parted in shock.

"Was I not clear?" Her face was as hard as stone. "Where is Dreamer?" She looked at the guild hall members, who immediately, frantically began looking busy.

"Erza, she's getting some rest," Mirajane called back. "You know she—"

"I'm right here." Dreamer's voice interrupted. She stood at the doorway to the east half of the guild. She looked tired but determined.

"I will require your assistance as well. Both of you, come with me." She turned on her heels and started for the door.

Dreamer and Midnight shared a confused look. He opened his mouth to argue but she shook her head. Erza was in no mood for complaints. Dreamer crossed over to the carpet and offered a hand to Midnight. He took it and stood up before shrinking the carpet into a manageable size and tossing it to Gajeel. "Keep this safe for me."

The two wizards quickly followed Erza Sacrlet out the door, with no idea what to expect at this point.

"Excuse me, Erza?" Dreamer spoke up after several minutes of following the clank of Erza's boots on the pavement. "Would you mind telling us what this is about?"

The redhead sighed heavily and did not look back at them. "Fairy Tail received a peculiar job request recently. You see, as a legal guild with standards of employment, there are certain types of requests we do not accept. Levy receives all of the requests made to Fairy Tail and sorts through them before appropriate requests are posted to the job board. Requests that require illegal activity are immediately discarded and never reach the board for consideration."

Dreamer glanced at Midnight, not sure where this was going.

"As Levy was sorting through the requests recently, she came across one that she decided to give to me, rather than discard. This is the request." She stopped walking suddenly and pulled a folded up paper out of her armor. She shoved it into Dreamer's hand, who unfolded it and began to scan it over with her eyes.

"This… is an assassination request."

"Indeed." Erza's face was serious.

Dreamer's heart pounded somewhere in her throat when she looked at the description and sketch of the desired target. With a rock in the pit of her stomach and a knot in her throat, she handed the request to Midnight. He looked it over with wide eyes, hands trembling slightly, as Dreamer recited what she'd just read.

"This is a request for the assassination of the Infamous Night Terror, Midnight of the Oracion Seis."

Erza gave a serious nod. She placed her hands on her hips and looked seriously at Midnight, who was looking both perplexed and frightened.

"The woman who filed this request is a victim of the Oracion Seis." Erza's tone was cold and hard. "Two years ago, her husband was murdered by the Night Terror and she is set on revenge."

"Wait, wait, hold on a second!" Dreamer stepped between Erza and Midnight and looked desperately up at Erza's face. "I still don't understand! Why call us out here? I mean, obviously you're not going to complete this job request, right? It's not like you're going to kill Midnight! …Are you?"

Erza looked away from Dreamer's eyes, aware of the type of magic the emotion mage wielded. Instead, she looked beyond her to Midnight, whose eyes were still glued to the request, breaths shallow.

"Do you remember what I said to you during our battle, Midnight?"

He looked up at her. His lips trembled.

"I told you that in order to become strong, one must first know his weaknesses and then strive to correct them. Have you thought about those words? Have you considered your weaknesses?"

Midnight looked at the ground. He gritted his teeth and when he spoke, it was clear he was forcing himself to sound defiant and strong, despite the emotions stirring within him. "My only weakness is that I underestimated you in battle, Titania."

"I see." Erza turned and began to walk again. "If that is truly what you believe, then you will never become strong. You will never achieve the freedom you seek."

"Erza, please wait!" Dreamer scurried after her and looked nervously at Midnight trudging slowly behind. "What are you going to do?"

"Dreamer, this situation will be very volatile. I will count on you to control it."

"I…" Dreamer sighed in defeat. It seemed Erza wouldn't be giving any more information than that. "I'll do my best." She looked back at Midnight, whose face was carefully guarded now, as it had been after the battle on the rooftops in Rose Garden. He was desperately trying to hide a storm of feelings. Fear and rage… She didn't have to read him to know those were the primary emotions battling for control in his heart.

Several minutes later the group reached Kardia Cathedral. Erza led them along the side, to the fenced graveyard behind it. Dark clouds slowly crept across the sky, obscuring the sun. A fitting setting for a graveyard.

In front of a grave to the left, a woman sat on her knees, crying. Erza motioned for Dreamer and Midnight to stay put, while she approached the woman and gently placed a hand on her back to get her attention.

The woman and Erza exchanged words. Erza's stone cold face was tender when she spoke to the lady. Midnight and Dreamer stood stiff and silent by the gate, not saying a word to one another. After a few moments, the woman stood and wiped her tears away before giving Erza a brief nod. Erza nodded back and then gestured toward the gate. Toward Midnight.

The woman's eyes locked with his. Immediately, tears spilled from her eyes again. She clenched her hands into fists and began to shake. Erza clapped a hand on her shoulder and sent Dreamer a meaningful gaze. Taking the cue, Dreamer stepped forward and met the woman's eyes.

Calm. Safe. Peace.

The woman's shaking subsided, but her hate-filled eyes locked back onto Midnight.

"Y-You caught him," she stuttered. "The Night Terror. It's really him, isn't it?"

"The man you see before you is, in fact, Midnight of the Oracion Seis," Erza confirmed.

Midnight was rooted to the spot. He gazed coldly back into the woman's eyes. His trembling hands were buried in his coat pockets.

"You…" The woman took a step toward him. "You monster! Do you have any idea what you did to this family?! To my husband?! H-How could you? How could anyone kill in cold blood like that?!" Her eyes were full of two years of hate, bitterness, agony.

Midnight stared at her in response, as still and rigid as the headstones around them.

The woman shook violently and pulled a frayed and folded picture out of her pocket. Through sobs she screamed, "Do you remember?! Do you even remember the faces of the ones you've killed?! Do you remember my husband's face?!" She walked two more steps forward and held the picture out to him. A picture of a smiling family. A woman, her husband, their son…

Only now did Midnight's face show emotion. His lips parted, eyes widened at the picture. It seemed he recognized the face of the dead man.

"His name was Alfonzo! He wasn't even one of the smugglers! He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that didn't matter to you, you sadistic demon!"

"Dreamer." Erza commanded, as the woman began to spiral out of control.

"Ma'am…" Dreamer called out to her and the woman glanced at her briefly. Just long enough.

Calm. Calm. Control.

Her teeth clenched and she looked back at Midnight, her face drenched in tears. "My son… He watched you do it. Did you know that?"

Midnight took a step back. A stumble. Like her words carried a physical blow.

"He was hiding in the closet," the woman's voice was low and dripping with the hurt. The uncontrollable pain. The bitterness. "He witnessed the nightmares you forced on Alfonzo… And he watched his own father… j-jump out the window to escape the terror…" She put her face in her hands and choked on sobs.

Dreamer's hands clasped together and tears formed in her own eyes. Her heart broke for this woman's loss.

"My son wasn't so lucky…" She glared at Midnight again. "He can't escape the terror… He has nightmares every night because of what you did! I hate you! You deserve to rot in hell! You deserve to live through that torture every day for the rest of your miserable existence! I hate you, bastard! Murderer!" She started to run at Midnight, who stumbled back against the gate, but Erza's hands gripped the woman's arms.

"You'll do it, won't you?!" The woman shouted desperately at Erza. "You'll turn him in to the Magic Council? They'll rip the magic out of his body and make him suffer!"

Erza's face was firm, but there was brokenness in her eyes as well. "He is being forced to work to atone for his sins," she said, gently.

"That's not enough! It will never be enough!" The woman wept and collapsed to the ground. "Alfonzo…"

Droplets of rain began to fall. The only sounds were the slight drizzle and the hyperventilating sobs from the woman on the graveyard ground. Until…

"Mom?"

A child's voice came from the back door of the church. It was the little boy from the picture. A boy with long black hair and pale skin. A boy stricken to the spot as he took in the scene.

"Blaise, what are you doing here?!" The woman gasped. "Go! You can't—"

But it was too late. Innocent eyes found the man leaning against the gate. They drifted up the cloak, past the fur scarf, the black lips, to the red eyes.

An ear shattering scream pierced the air.

The boy ran to his mother, tripping over headstones, falling on his face but standing up again to run as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Mom! It's the demon! It's him!" He screamed in panicked, choking gurgles.

"Dreamer, is there anything you can do?" Erza demanded.

"I…" Could she? The weight of this emotion was much heavier than her magic could handle. Especially now…

"Blaise?" She called out to him. But the little boy wouldn't look at her. He was staring at Midnight, whose legs couldn't carry his weight anymore. The man had slid down onto the grass. His hands were clasped over his ears, eyes wide and staring back at the child. He looked like a child himself—and Dreamer recognized this stance from his nightmares. The child's scream must have taken him back to a time when screaming was all he knew.

"He's a monster!" the boy screeched. He was so terrified that he clutched his stomach and dry-heaved onto the grass, in his mother's arms.

"Dreamer!" Erza's voice was an order.

Dreamer quickly stepped to the mother and child. She grabbed ahold of the boy's shoulders and made him look at her. "Blaise, you have to look at me. You have to trust me."

She forced as much energy into the magic circles in her eyes as she could, despite the pressure it put on her skull.

Trust. Calm. Safe. Calm. Peace. Trust. Safe, Safe, Safe. Hope. Calm. You're safe. Don't be afraid. He can't hurt you. He won't hurt you. Trust me. Trust us. Safe. Calm. Hope.

She poured her magical energy into him, until the child's breathing evened. His eyes relaxed.

Dreamer panted for breath as a jolt of pain went through her torso and ricocheted in her head, but she kept a warm smile. She looked up at the mother and willed the same emotion on her. You're safe now.

When the boy looked at Midnight again, he was still scared, but also strangely serene, like he was under a spell—because, well he was.

"Why… Why did you kill my dad?"

Midnight rocked where he sat and then pressed his palms on the ground, head lowered, tears dropping onto the grass below him. His body was wracked with sobs, fingernails digging into the soil.

"I was scared!" Midnight cried. He looked up at the boy. His tears left trails of mascara on his cheeks. Eternal sorrow eclipsed his eyes. Fear.

"Y-You were scared?" The boy looked like he couldn't believe his ears.

"I'm sorry…" Midnight wept. His pleading cries filled the graveyard. "I'm so sorry! I can't take it back! I can't take your nightmares away… I didn't mean… I never meant to hurt a child… I… I'm so sorry!" He looked up at the sky, at the rain falling down on them all.

Time stood still. The rain drummed—fingertips on the earth, on the headstones. Tears from the sky fusing with the salty tears flowing from every eye. Even Erza… tears rolling from her one eyes, shoulders shaking. Here in this moment, time meant nothing. Sorrow from the past and present all held the same meaning. All the emptiness, the fear, the hate, the rage, the regret… cracking time around them—splintering rational thought. In what world… In what version of time could a murderer and innocent victim weep together? It was as if the rain and tears wiped away their identities. They were both the victim. They were both frozen in the splintering, fragile wood of time…

Somehow, eventually, time righted itself. Mother and child watched from the headstone of a lost soul as an armored woman led away the ghost who haunted their waking and sleeping hours. Somehow, impossibly, time deposited Midnight, Erza, and Dreamer on a bench in Magnolia in the rain. Time made the moments in the graveyard seem long gone.

"Why, Erza?" Dreamer stared at the other woman through dripping strands of hair. "Why did you do that? Weren't they traumatized enough?"

Erza returned her gaze, scarlet hair drenched flat against her head. "That family needed closure. And Midnight needed to see firsthand the consequences of his sins. The reason he must atone."

Midnight might have been asleep. It was impossible to tell. His eyes were closed, body shivering in the cold rain. He trembled like a leaf in a cruel wind, unable to find solace. He was still lost in time. Lost in fear.

"It was too much…" Dreamer looked compassionately at him. Her fingers rose and combed through his soaked black hair.

"I understand that you have faith in him, Dreamer." Erza clasped her hand on Dreamer's shoulder to get her attention. "However… There are many things he has done which must be accounted for. You must do what's right and allow him to experience the due punishment for his sins, if you ever hope for him to truly be free." The way her brown eyes shimmered with emotion told Dreamer that she was speaking from experience. She empathized with Dreamer's feelings. She too held someone dear to her—someone who needed to atone for his own sins.

"Oh, Erza…" Dreamer cried out and threw her arms around the other woman, and wept against her. Erza hesitated, then returned the embrace.

The three of them remained under a gray, unforgiving sky. Each contemplating life, death, and remorse. The question raining down repeatedly on them.

Jellal… Midnight… People who caused countless lives to be affected, destroyed. People who carved their names on the endless wood of time above a list of their sins.

Is there freedom for those whom have taken the freedom of others?