Thank you so much for all the incredible feedback for the last chapter! We received so many heartfelt reviews that absolutely blew us away. Just wow. It's awesome to know that people are taking the rime to really sit down and analyze this story and point out specific parts that they liked. Wow! Thank you! We hope you enjoy this chapter!
It's very fitting with all the gajevy we've been getting in canon for the past couple weeks *sobs*
We're diving back into Gajeel's head for a bit. Hold onto your butts! And we hope you enjoy the parallels and the angst...
rated: M (heavy violence, language, and blood)
summary: In a world of underground fighting only the strong survive, abiding by the rules of kill or be killed. In the Ring, a feeble emotion like hope is all it takes to destroy you. And yet it exists– and those who hold onto it play a dangerous game. But once you enter into the Ring, it will never let you go.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Saved by the Bell
when a round ends, saving a hurt fighter that was on the verge of being knocked out
Something was not right at all.
Gajeel straightened his holster as he neared the Hackmobile. Levy hadn't answered his regular check-up call. And even if she had complained that every ten minutes was stretching it, he knew she wouldn't unnecessarily worry him.
And with the people they were dealing with, worrying him was not a good idea. Levy was the one who'd come to him for help - so she knew better than to keep him waiting. If she had a heart attack when he came knocking, it would serve her right for scaring him out of his mind.
He crept closer to the van, his natural caution flaring to life when he heard how unnaturally quiet it was. His caution went out the window, however, when he rounded the vehicle and noticed the smashed doors thrown open wildly.
Pulling his gun, Gajeel sprinted the last few steps - and pointed it at nothing.
The back of the van was completely empty.
All that was left behind was a mess of trashed equipment and evidence of an obvious struggle.
"Fuck!" he hissed as his blood ran cold. "Fuck fuck fuck!"
How had this happened in just under twenty minutes? Panic was squeezing at Gajeel's heart, making it hard for him to breathe, much less think. How many times had he stayed up at night, thinking this very thing could happen? The ring had taken most of his life, as well as the things he considered precious to him. It took every ounce of his academy training and Erza's rigorous lessons for him to remember where he was and what to do.
He reached for his phone, punching Juvia's number without looking and holding his phone up to his ear. Gajeel kept his gun up, his eyes skating around his surroundings.
His partner picked up on the first ring.
"We've been made," Gajeel growled without introduction.
Juvia gasped sharply over the receiver.
This was an unsanctioned operation, so it was just him and Juvia. His captain had told him not to pursue the case any further until they could take the next steps with Major Crimes, but that didn't mean he was going to leave the girls on their own. Their vigilante crime was going to get them killed, and now Gajeel was certain he had a reason to worry. When he explained the situation to his partner, Juvia agreed to help him without question.
Now Levy was in serious trouble, which meant Lucy was too.
"Juvia is looking at the cameras in the nearby area." The sound of tapping from Juvia's laptop in her car six blocks down reached him over the phone. "There is movement on the west side of the building, Juvia will meet you there," she said urgently.
That was close.
Gajeel hung up without a word of goodbye, cramming it back into his pocket and sprinting where Juvia directed him. He had gotten halfway there when he heard the dull thumps of meaty fists hitting flesh, keen senses picking up soft whimpers.
He turned the corner, freezing at the sight which greeted him.
Three men were gathered around Levy's small frame, a nail buried deep in the palm of her left hand. Tears trickled down her cheeks and Gajeel felt something burn, crackling in the back of his head when he realized she was partially crucified to the tree digging into her back.
Her shirt was ripped open down the center, long strings of cuts and slices along her abdomen in a symbol that burned into the back of his mind. Phantom.
The men laughed between them, ignoring Levy's quiet pleas for them to stop. Her sweet face was bruised and battered, even as she bravely tried to tug her right hand away from the grasp of the man lifting it up to the tree to join her left.
They were making her into an example.
Almost without even realizing, Gajeel's weapon rose to shoot the man holding Levy's hand in the arm. The man dropped with a scream, but Gajeel stalked forward. Red fury enveloped his senses like a haze, twisting his face into a mask of predatory rage. The gun shook in his hands, even as the gathered men whipped around towards Gajeel to draw their weapons.
"Wait- is that Black Steel?" one whispered, recognizing Gajeel's face faster than the other three.
"No...no way," stammered the second as he struggled to yank his own gun from the back of his jeans. His whole body was trembling, face ashen. "You're supposed to be dead - "
Gajeel fired.
The bullet whizzed through the air, sinking into the man's thigh, and he went down howling.
To the one standing, the sight of his comrades rolling around on the ground and the smell of gunpowder and blood were enough to finally startle him into action. He trained his gun on Gajeel with shaky aim, eyes wild with fear as he backed frantically out of close range. The way he assumed that distance would keep him safer...was almost childish.
Quickly, methodically, Gajeel pumped two lead rounds into him. His shoulder and hip - incredibly painful, and nearly impossible to run away.
The two others, however, had stood back up and didn't waste their time. They fired. But their aim was skewed by their pained trembling and the bullets met dirt and brick. One came insanely close to skimming Levy's calf and Gajeel's nostrils flared.
They'd made her suffer enough.
He stalked forward, gun steady and true, menace rolling off of him in waves. Again, the two from Phantom fired - and, again, they both missed. Gajeel clipped them both in under thirty seconds, nailing one dangerously close to his groin. Both toppled to the ground, losing their weapons, and their hoarse screams filled the dusty air.
It wasn't enough to satisfy Gajeel's bloodlust, but it would have to do for now he told himself. Levy was more important than wasting his time on -
And that was when he noticed the bloodied pocket knife laying on the ground next to one of the writhing bodies.
Its owner, having been shot in the thigh twice, was too busy holding his wounds and panicking to notice the knife. But Gajeel saw it, saw the blood on it...and his mind went blank.
The next thing he knew, he was on top of the man, gun clattering to the ground. Gajeel sunk his fist into the thug's gut, relishing in his choking gasps. But it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. He delivered a well-aimed blow to the man's side and felt the fragile bones crack under the pressure of his iron-like knuckles.
Two broken ribs.
Still not enough.
The man was shrieking his pain, flailing helplessly. Begging, even, with bloody lips. But his pleas fell on deaf ears as Gajeel coldly and calculatingly located his gun again.
He held the man's arm against the ground, pressing the muzzle of his weapon into the sweaty, bloody palm...and fired point-blank.
It would hurt a lot more than a nail.
But, then again, he deserved a lot more than a nail through his hand.
And yet, Levy's pained whimpers echoed endlessly in Gajeel's ears. The sound tore out his heart, made him want to be sick. And it filled him with anger - an anger so strong and potent, the kind that he hadn't felt in a very long time.
So he gave in.
He pummeled the man beneath him with hard, vicious fists. There was no other room for thought besides pain...Gajeel wanted to inflict pain. And lots of it. He enjoyed the man's screaming and his pleads for mercy.
He could lose himself in this, Gajeel realized. But at this point...he didn't give a fuck. All that mattered...was that this bastard had laid his hands on Levy. Sweet, innocent Levy...who brought him donuts and coffee and smiled at him when others wouldn't. Levy, who'd come to him for help, trusted him to keep her safe, and he hadn't been able to do anything.
His ray of sunshine.
And he'd failed her.
When hands landed on Gajeel's shoulders, he threw them off with a snarl that was so animal-like he almost shocked himself. When they came back, pulling and tugging with persistence, a voice came with them.
"Gajeel! Gajeel, let go of him!"
Juvia. His partner.
Like a wave of cold water, her presence washed over him. Dousing his rage and bringing him back to sanity. Her small hands pushed on his shoulders again and this time, he let her move him.
Because when he glanced down, the man underneath him wasn't moving. He'd stopped screaming and begging.
The silence was deafening.
Juvia lifted Gajeel to his feet with no small amount of effort, huffing. Her blue eyes were big and wide as she took in his appearance, filling with concern as she blinked at his large hands smothered in sticky red. But, when she looked back up at him, she didn't say anything.
Instead, she cleared her throat. "Juvia has apprehended the suspects," she murmured, nodding to the other two men behind her.
They were still lying on the ground, their hands pulled behind their backs and cuffed. They were wounded and bleeding...but they were alive. And that was more than they could say for the third man who'd owned the pocket knife.
Juvia knelt by the man, who resembled a pile of ground beef, and inspected him carefully. "He's breathing," she announced after a long moment. "But barely. He will need medical treatment."
Thank god.
Gajeel swallowed, muttering his thanks in a grave voice, before turning to Levy. He hadn't gone back on his word and become a killer again - the close call, though, made Gajeel's blood run cold. Because if left alone...he would have killed that man.
And that was the last shit Levy needed to see.
She was slumped against the the brick wall now and wrapped in Juvia's jacket. Juvia must have freed, moved, and checked on her, and Gajeel knew he'd have to thank his partner for that later.
Levy's eyes were hazy, barely tracking over Gajeel as he approached her carefully. She had suffered a blow to the head at some point and it seemed she was having a hard time focusing on him. Levy reached out for him, heedless of the blood coating his hands and splattered on his shirt.
Gajeel took her hand in his, so small and battered. Her fingers twisted in his, squeezing with an urgency she tried to convey to him. He was surprised she even had the strength to do that considering the torture she had gone through.
Still, even witnessing the carnage that just unfolded in front of her, Levy looked unafraid. Distantly, he could hear Juvia behind him, speaking with dispatch to get a unit over along with an ambulance.
She opened her mouth, whispering something so quietly he had to lean in to catch.
"L-Lu is still in there..." Levy's eyes were swollen from tears, trying to portray the intensity of their situation.
Gajeel's heart stopped as he remembered she was around as well. Swearing, he jolted back up to his feet and grabbed at his discarded gun. He shouldered it, straightening out to give Levy a firm look.
"I'll find her."
This time he would keep his promise.
"Go!" Juvia was already busy tying the thugs to the tree Levy had been nailed to. "Juvia will bring Levy and the van around to meet you!"
Not needing another word of permission, and grateful his partner still had faith in him despite his slip, Gajeel took off. Who knew if he would even be in time? It had been so long, and he had lost track of time when he was beating on that thug for hurting Levy.
If he did make it in time, it would take a miracle.
And Gajeel didn't believe in fucking fairy tales.
But he wasn't going to let Lucy die in some gutter. Not while he was still alive.
- : : -
"Drop the gun and step away from the girl, Spriggan, or the next one goes in your head!"
Natsu's eyes were wide at the sight of a looming figure standing at the mouth of the alleyway. He was familiar, and as he stepped into the light he realized why: it was a face from a fight five years ago.
And he was supposed to be dead.
"Black Steel," Natsu breathed, thinking for sure he was hallucinating. The mixture of pain and blood-loss could affect the head, he was certainly dreaming.
Black Steel was supposed to be long dead. Dragged out of the ring after his fight with Natsu when he'd lost. Natsu never saw him again, but everyone knew what happened to the fighters who had to be dragged out of the arena. Those men had guns.
And sometimes, they heard the shots.
How had he survived?
Black Steel was splattered in blood, looking like he had gone through a small version of hell just on his way to the alley. His gun was raised, a single pistol against many angry thugs and Zeref.
"Ah, a day full of familiar faces..." Zeref did not sound amused, instead his face was grounded in cold anger. The gun in his hand didn't move, as if he knew he had a bargaining tool and was fully intending to use it. "It seems Master Jose lied when he said he dealt with you all those years ago."
Natsu didn't miss the way Black Steel flinched at the mention of his old Master.
Zeref's eyes drew back towards Lucy. "I have a feeling this woman was responsible for your rescue back then too. Just how long have you been searching for my brother?" he asked her.
Natsu's stomach twisted at the question, but Lucy kept her mouth shut, her eyes locked instead on Black Steel.
"Gajeel," she whispered, "what're you doing here? Levy...is she - "
The man's hands tightened around his gun, red eyes not budging from Zeref. "She'll live - and don't think we won't talk about you goin' behind my back later."
Hope flared up in Natsu at the conviction in his voice - that there was gonna be a later.
Still… Zeref had Lucy at gunpoint.
Black Steel couldn't win this one on his own.
He needed back-up, and it looked like the only one available to take that position was Natsu himself. Zeref's attention was on the newcomer; he had to use the element of surprise to his advantage.
In slow motion, he propped himself up on his elbows, preparing his body to launch right from where he was crouching. Scanning his surroundings, he realized now, with everybody's eyes trained on Gajeel as he loudly threatened Zeref, was his time to strike.
His body protested with every miniscule movement, but he pulled through by sheer willpower alone. He risked a short glance at Lucy, locking eyes with her for a short, torturous second. This second was all it took to fuel him.
Natsu propelled his body forward, surprised his feet didn't cave beneath him when they hit the ground. The men holding him stumbled backwards in surprise, shouting, and trying furiously to grab ahold of him again as he slipped just out of their reach. The sounds were enough for Zeref to spin around.
Just one more leap.
Zeref tore his gun around, and Natsu had just enough time to be relieved Lucy was safe before the shot went off.
For the fraction of a second, he thought he was dead.
Then the world started spinning again, bringing with it a stinging pain on his right cheek.
Natsu crashed into the man he had once called a brother, tackling him down for the second time that day. Blood dripped from his cheek onto Zeref's, but Natsu's blurring vision did not keep him from slamming a fist into his face.
His mouth was full of blood, the tangy, disgusting taste wanting to make him gag. He sent a drizzle of blood raining all over Zeref's face as he coughed, trying to keep his mouth shut. His face was burning.
But so was his rage, and he refused to drop dead now.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew Black Steel had not stood still, and the sounds of shots and brawling registered faintly in his dazed mind.
Lucy!
His head shot up, searching her out in the small chaos. A mistake, of course. Zeref was on top of him before he knew it, legs pinning him down in a death grip as he reached for the gun he had dropped. If Natsu had had any shred of doubt left about his intentions, they were as clear as day now: Zeref would kill him without batting an eyelash.
But for once, just one time in his damned, wretched life, luck was on his side.
Zeref jerked above him, the force of the bullet digging into his shoulder almost toppling him over Natsu. Grunting, the latter pushed him off, just in time to see a van screech to a halt at the entrance to the narrow alley.
"Natsu!" This was Lucy's voice.
Dazed, he looked up, finding her at last. She stood behind Gajeel, a slivered slice of wood (a broken broomstick, perhaps?) in one hand and Happy, wrapped into a rag, in the other.
What was she trying to tell him? He tried to concentrate on her through the red fog in his mind, blinking against the fatigue weighing his eyelids down. He had to get to Lucy.
He had to get to her, and everything would be fine.
But his body wouldn't react.
He heard Zeref breathing flatly beside him, just as immobilized as he was.
His eyes fixed on a person exiting the van, pistol raised.
From then on, everything was a blur as he blacked in and out of consciousness.
Someone tugged at his shoulders, frantically pulling at his body. Did they not realize he was too heavy to carry? Did they not realize he was tired?
Doors slammed shut behind him. Natsu jerked, fearing for a moment he had been locked away again. Was Lucy dead?
Someone was holding his hand, whispering his name.
He liked that voice.
It felt safe.
He felt like he was floating, carried along by a wild, unsteady torrent.
A familiar sound reached him amidst all the confusion and uncertainty, the greeting of an old friend he would recognize anywhere. His hand tugged into dirty fur.
People kept saying his name. There was so much noise.
He could let go now, right? He was safe?
A light touch brushed across his face, a presence settling beside him, enveloping him, soft and warm and light. He experienced a weird moment of dejá-vu, but couldn't quite place it.
Yes, Natsu decided. He was safe.
Natsu's been rescued! But...at what cost? Surely, the adventure is nowhere close to being over.
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Next time! Chapter 19: Shadowboxing
With this, ACT ONE has finished. This story will continue with ACT TWO this time next week!