"That's all we know." Laxus said, leaning on the desk in his Grandfathers office.
Team Natsu and the Rainjinshuu along with Levy were all crowded into the room and Natsu started to rise angrily but Erza slammed him back into his chair not even looking at him.
"I want to be part of the investigation." She said firmly.
"That's a given my dear, you're all in here because we are going to put these two teams on finding who is responsible for what happened and catching them." Makarov said.
"I wish to start…once I've seen Bickslow…" Erza said a little brokenly. She was utterly torn, half of her wanted to run down the evil people who had done this, who had injured Gajeel and Bickslow, setting such an insidious trap clearly meant for whoever was investigating the attack on the book store.
The other half wanted to crawl onto the infirmary bed, gather Bickslow against her and not leave him for a moment, needing reassurance he really would be ok, needing to hear his heart beating, hold his hand, be there when he woke up…if he woke up.
The poison laced through the whole explosion had been meant to kill anyone who survived it and it had hit Bickslow hard, he'd begun having seizures on the way back to the guild, and blood had come from his mouth and nose. The Gods were watchful though. Cobra had returned from his mission just that morning, and was in the guild hall when they brought Bickslow in, right now he was working with Porlyusica and Wendy to create an antidote.
Gajeel had been spared, Bickslow stepping in front of him before the blast had shielded the Iron Dragon, whose scales would not have been enough protection against it.
Freed had gathered the babies, they were sluggish, but the fact they were moving was a good sign, it meant they had not been cut off from Bickslows magic, that he was at least strong enough that they were not just little lifeless tiki dolls.
"That will be fine Erza, why don't you go up now you can catch up with your team at the site of the explosion as soon as Cobra can go and make sure it's safe, the local authorities have closed the park and blocked off all access to the area until he can do that." Makarov said and Erza nodded, spinning on her heel and hurrying from the office, by the time she hit the stairs to the infirmary she was running.
She almost bowled Cobra over as she came to the door to the infirmary. "Easy woman, shit slow the fuck down there are sick people around ya know?" He snapped at her but when he saw her eyes he stepped back "I got the antidote figured out, he's gonna be ok, breathing good and not bleeding internally anymore." He said, scratching the back of his head looking over his shoulder back toward where Bickslow lay in one of the beds.
Cobra got along pretty well with the Seith, he couldn't read the man, soul mage, it made sense, and he kind of enjoyed being around someone as easy going and a little unhinged as the man was while not having to deal with the constant chatter from what he bet was a chaotic soul.
He cursed though when the fucking warrior woman threw her arms around him. "Thank you Erik." She said, and the smell of her tears kept him from saying what he wanted to, choosing instead to firmly remove her arms from around him and push her toward the Seith "Yeah, go see your man."
She gave him a grateful smile and he rolled his eye turning and hurrying down the steps, he needed to go check the area where this shit had gone down.
When he opened Master Makarovs door he winced at the crowd of chaotic souls in the room. "Yeah I'm ready to head over there, Bix is gonna be ok, figured the shit out." He said, anxious to see just what the scene looked like. He'd had a go at the stuff Bix had collected before the blast, the mix of poison with an explosive agent had been something else, smelled horrid but it had given him one fucking hell of a nice high so he handled Lucys hug pretty well in spite of already having been hugged by Wendy, Levy and the fucking redhead. His personal bubble was being seriously assaulted but if he could get a few more whiffs of that stuff? He wouldn't fucking care.
He wasn't sure how happy he was to be heading out with the large group of mages, but if he could get his hands on more of whatever that shit was…it was worth the trouble, that was poison on the next level and he was still trying to identify it.
Once Cobra declared the area safe and unhappily told them he couldn't find any traces of the poison anywhere the two teams went to work and all three Dragon Slayers found and started after the trail that was likely the one Gajeel had said he'd found.
Cobra said he could scent bits of the poison and once he'd described the scent to Natsu and Laxus, they both honed in on it as well. Once they were moving Laxus felt marginally better, like everyone else, he wanted to lay a great deal of pain on the mages who had done this.
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Levy was curled up on the bed on Gajeels uninjured side, the Dragon Slayer had been ordered to remain in the infirmary for the night even though his ribs were knitted and would heal well, he couldn't go home until the following day and Porlyusica had ordered him, once he was home, to stay there for 2 weeks, no jobs and he wasn't allowed to even visit the guild hall for the first week, she wanted him to rest.
The couple looked serene. Levy wrapped in Gajeels arms, Lily curled up asleep on the pillow by his head. Erza would have loved nothing more than to climb into the bed with Bickslow but he was covered in bandages, his shoulder, chest and left thigh all snuggly bound.
Had Laxus not reacted like he had, snatching Wendy up and flying to the spot it was likely Bickslow would have lost too much blood, been too weak to fight the poison until the antidote had been found. The broken bones had been knitted, the wounds had been healed and the burns across his back were healed as well but his body would need some time to recover, and he hadn't woke up yet, though Porlyusica said sleep was the best thing for him anyway.
So Erza didn't want to disturb him, and she'd never been in this position before. She had been at the bedside of many injured friends over the years, had laid in the bed herself too many times to count, but Bickslow was more than a friend.
He meant more.
She needed him, needed to see his smile, his eyes always so full of amusement and mischief, needed to hear his endless jokes, puns, banter with others including her that was always fearlessly precise and sometimes brutally honest.
She wanted to be in his arms, needed to be. He'd become like air to her, made her feel happy, comfortable in her own skin, like she wasn't just some armor clad sexless warrior but a beautiful woman…his woman.
She was too, it was all she wanted to be was his, and she wanted him to be hers so badly.
"He's out of danger now." Wendy said, coming and sitting by his feet.
Erza smiled warmly at the girl "Thank you Wendy, you saved his life." She hugged the girl and Wendy smiled.
"Laxus got me there in time." She looked down at Bickslow "He's such a good person, he saved Gajeel from taking the full force of the explosion, cost himself a lot of injury doing it too."
"Fuckin idiot, I have scales, I'm an Iron Dragon Slayer, he should have just got his ass out the other door." Gajeel growled from a couple beds over.
"Then you both would have been burned and poisoned, I couldn't have saved you both." Wendy said flatly.
Gajeel snorted and Levy tightened her arms around the mans neck, making him unable to hold on to his anger. He wasn't mad at Bickslow, he knew what had happened, knew Wendy was right too and it pissed him off.
He should have recognized the odd timer on that fucking bomb but it wasn't rhythmic, and he'd been distracted by the horrid stench that had burned his nose and skin.
Because he let that distract him, he and Bickslow were both hurt and Bickslow had damn near died.
He wanted, no, needed to catch the bastards that did it, needed to make their bones break like Bickslows had, like his had. He wouldn't kill them, he didn't do that anymore….much…but he would hurt them…badly.
Assholes had made him make Levy cry. Between that and what had happened to Bickslow and the book store owner? Porlyusica could shove her restrictions up her wrinkled ass, when he got out of the infirmary his ass was going hunting.
Erza shared Gajeels burning need to exact revenge on the people who had done this. Brushing locks of dark blue hair from Bickslows face she leaned over him and kissed him, bent by his ear.
"I will make them pay…my love." She whispered, not noticing Gajeels eyes snapping over at her. She rose and smiled at the couple. "I am going to join the others since Bix is safe now. Get better soon Gajeel. Levy I'm sure will be certain you do."
Nodding to them and giving Bickslow one last look, she spun and hurried from the room.
Levy blinked after her "I think she's falling for him." She said with a faint smile. "No shrimp, she fell, she's in love with him, just whispered to him, called him her love. Also promised she'd make who had hurt him pay." His grin turned nasty "bastards have no idea what they did to themselves." Leaning back he pulled Levy over him and down for a long kiss making her blush.
Maybe he didn't need to worry, even he didn't want to be in Titanias way when she went on the warpath and that little thing she'd just whispered to the Seith mage pretty much told him that was exactly what was gonna happen.
So he could relax, heal, and enjoy Levys extra attention for as long as he could milk it.
"Oh good Gods, in here? You know Bickslow is only ten feet away and I was next to your head Gajeel." Lily complained as Gajeel continued his assault on Levys lips.
"So get out, Bix is out for a while and my mate…needs comforting." He smirked up at Levy who blushed. Lily rolled his eyes "Well I see you're feeling much better so I'll go down and get some dinner while you…comfort…each other."
"Really Gajeel?" Levy teased, giving the smiling man a coy smile of her own, settling over his hips she could feel that he meant what he was saying.
"Anyone could walk in…Wendy for Gods sake." She protested as his hands massaged her ass. "Makes it more fun…" Gajeel grinned then sat up, almost regretting it as a wave of pain washed over him, yeah, even knitted broken bones still hurt.
He managed to hide it well though, and was soon herding Levy into one of the private rooms kept for very sick patients, locking the door he laid back on the bed and pulled her down with him.
"How about it shrimp?" He smiled and Levy grinned, undoing his belt and the front of his pants, they were already pretty shredded anyway, she would need to go get him a change of clothes before taking him home tomarrow.
It probably wasn't smart, but feeling him like this, so vibrant and alive after seeing him flirt with death, laying unmoving on the ground a few hours earlier, she really did need this kind of comforting, and he knew it, needed it too.
She rolled her head back then and a hand closed over her breast, thumb making circles over the peak.
"That's my shrimp…" Gajeel sighed as she rolled her hips against him. She pulled his erection free of his clothes and pulling her panties aside, sank herself onto him. There wasn't time for much play, he didn't have the energy for it and even with the door locked half the wall was frosted glass behind her, nobody could look in and see details but it would be obvious what they were doing.
Gajeel threw his head back groaning as Levys body took him in, soft clenches closing on him as she reacted, adjusted to his size and he squeezed his eyes shut "Fu…fuck Levy…so fuckin tight…" when she moved he had to grasp the side of the bed, when he tried to lift his hips to meet her the pain almost blinded him.
Levy smiled, bracing her hands on his chest well above his injuries, she saw him pay for trying to move, so she moved harder, starting to bounce herself on top of him and it was the right thing to do.
His other hand shot to her waist and he kept her steady, crimson eyes on hers. She took up a hard pace quickly, he felt so good, his grunts and moans, deep rumbling growls always drove her mad with need.
He was able to keep himself from moving much but with a lot of effort and when Levy shifted, bringing her feet under her on either side of his hips she was able to drastically increase how hard and fast she could move and Gajeels reaction was swift.
"Shit!..." He ground out. He wanted to ram himself up into her but he couldn't move, the pain from his ribs was too much but dear god when she had shifted it had changed his angle and suddenly he was plunged deeper into her and her speed increased, the force she came back down with did too and he felt his end rapidly approaching but knew hers was as well.
The bond between them shared their pleasure so the higher one went, the higher the other did as well so when Levy came, Gajeel did as well and Levy had to fight not to just collapse on him like she normally would, instead just adjusting her legs so one hung down off the side of the bed with his softening member still buried deep inside her.
"Holy shit Levy…that was…hot as hell." He panted, hating his ribs right now but that had been well worth the pain.
She slid off of him, tucking him back into his pants and closing them and his belt before settling down beside him. "I love you Gajeel." She breathed out happily.
"Love you too Shrimp." He grinned, hugging her to him.
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Erza glared at Cobra, eyes narrowed sword firmly pointed toward him. "I see no reason I should hang back, if the party we are after is among these hills I intend to find them and bring them to justice after they feel my blade." She snapped.
"You're fuckin nuts. I'm not leading you to them, Laxus said to wait and we're fucking waiting!" Cobra snapped. He was the only one that could track the wizards because of the poison laced into the trail that would have hurt the other slayers but just succeeded in giving Cobra an endless buzz of energy. Clearly these mages didn't know Fairy Tail had a Poison Dragon Slayer, their work was set up though to cause the others serious harm.
"They hurt Bickslow." She said in a low voice. Cobra rolled his eye "They also hurt Gajeel and a bunch of business owners, doesn't mean I'm breaking from the plan Titania."
She loved the Seith mage, he got it, hell it was the only thing running through the womans soul was how much Bix meant to her and how she owed this to him because of all she'd put him through.
"Just hold your tits, you'll be fucking your boyfriend again in no time." He sneered. He had no problem dodging her, she was too emotional to even try to be subtle and he heard her intentions long before she acted on them. That was how Laxus found the pair, Cobra grinning a bit maniacally while Erza tried to land a hit on him with her sword.
"Erza! What the fuck are you doing?!" He yelled over her and Cobra ongoing exchange of insults.
Erza stopped but her eyes stayed on Cobra, narrowed and furious. "Trying to find the responsible mages." She replied.
"By killing Cobra?" Laxus asked incredulously. She glared at him now "By continuing the pursuit of them before the trail goes cold Laxus, waiting will only give them a chance to escape."
Laxus stood his ground as the glaring knight approached him. Gramps had her in line, he'd have to learn how to control her if he had any hope of controlling the rest of Fairy Tail.
"They aren't running Erza, they're leading us around likely toward traps and you won't help Bickslow by hurting his friend, our guildmate, our Nakama who is here just trying to help!" Her glare didn't falter.
"If they are leading us around then we need to overtake them and destroy them, the longer we take the more likely there will be others injured or worse." She snapped.
Others were approaching now, Lucy, Gray, Freed and Natsu.
"We're at a disadvantage because Bickslows out of commission, he could track them from the air visually, we're limited to scent trail and only Cobra can safely follow it because they're lacing it with poison, so if the rest of us breathe it too deep, we'll end up back in the infirmary." Laxus said, glancing down when Lucy came up beside him.
He was uncomfortable having her out here, wanted her back at the guild, but she'd refused and he couldn't come up with a good enough reason to override her choice.
"Pfft, you're all morons." Cobra snapped, turning on his heel and heading off "This way kiddies, best fan out and watch for traps."
As soon as they left the main road the traps began to appear. Cobra found the first one easily enough, tripped it with a stick and watched barbs on spring loaded poles shoot up from the ground dripping with a goo similar to the first one but a different color and, after giving it a quick lick the Poison slayer grinned.
"Straight up neuro toxin, really strong one too, have you down in seconds, tastes like fuckin heaven." He said, plucking several of the barbs free, dropping one into a jar held out by Lucy then using the others like lollipops.
He was getting excited, whoever was making these poisons was good, they were powerful, incredibly well formulated, on a level he himself operated at.
"Alchemist…we gotta be chasin an Alchemist, normal poison mages can't produce stuff this sophisticated or customized to take down mages like these things are. This shit would seriously fuck up someone like you Freed." He said offhandedly. Freed swallowed, watching the slayer licking the stuff off a fresh barb having tossed the one he'd cleaned off aside.
Whoever it was was sure as hell giving Cobra some spectacular rushes of energy with their work. The Slayer was absolutely high as a fucking kite, body buzzing with power, magic humming in his body ramped up as high as it could go.
Erza spotted the next one, Cobra a little distracted by his treat and she grabbed his coat and yanked him to a stop before he stepped into it. He gave her a nasty look but watched while she tripped the trap by tossing a dagger into it.
Everyone but Cobra rushed backwards away as poison gas spewed out of tubes hidden in the ground. Cobra took a few sniffs, shaking his head, eye taking in a bright gleam as he inhaled deeply, sucking every particle from the air and cackling with the giddy rush it gave him.
"Fuck, we need to get to fighting soon, I'm so high if I don't get to beat the fuck out of someone soon I'm just gonna cum in my pants." He snickered. Laxus rolled his eyes and Lucy made a disgusted face but Cobra didn't notice, too absorbed with getting to the next "treat"
This one though called into play some of the other skills of whoever they were chasing, acidic, and apparently needing only the barest amount of friction to combust the next trap was tripped by Laxus after everyone backed off a good bit.
The waving of a plant, leaves scraping on the bark of a tree, was all it took and the acidic gas that was eating through the plant life erupted into acrid greenish flames.
Natsu grinned, moving forward but Gray clapped a hand on his shouldr. "Pretty sure those aren't normal flames Natsu…you sure they're ok for you?" He asked seriously.
Natsu grinned his usual cocky grin "Fire is fire, Cobra can't have all the fun!" He shouted but when he sucked in the first lick of it he gagged and Cobra rolled his eye, pushing past the gagging retching Fire Slayer to the flames.
"This is gonna suck, you owe me ash for brains." He said, grabbing up a burning stick and sucking in the fiery poison mixture. His eye watered, he coughed, but he felt it, the poison pumping into him, the lacrima converting it, the anitidote pumping out. He snatched a jar from Lucy and blew into it, the vapor was greenish gold and he clapped the jar over Natsus nose and mouth, punching him in the back to get him to suck it in hard.
"Anyone else wanna try to do what I do I'm gonna let you fuckin die." He snapped, leading them around the fire and leaving it to burn, it wasn't consuming fresh plants or life, it remained where the gas had been and did not expand, was already burning itself out.
"So the goo Bix recovered from the bookstore was an explosive poison, first one I've ever seen, that shit back there, combustion poison, whoever we're following is a serious asshole." He commented.
"Levy is trying to find out who it could be creating these things. " Lucy said.
They went on for several hours, well into the night before they found themselves looking at all too familiar bars with poisoned barbs sticking out of them.
"Fuck." Cobra hissed. "He led us in a circle." Erza sighed. It was dark, their hunt had gone from dangerous to suicidal.
"Get us back to the road Cobra, no point continuing in the dark, we'll take up again at first light." Laxus said.
"This sucks! We should just burn through the area, vaporize the assholes!" Natsu snarled.
"And risk possibly igniting traps, explosive poisons and god knows what else? No, dying isn't on my to do list tonight Natsu." Gray said
"No but Cana sure is." Natsu snickered.
"Least I know what to do with my woman." Gray shot back.
"Hey! I know what to do with Lissana, watch your mouth stripper." Natsu growled.
"Yeah I'm sure she really gets off to old maid and fishing." Gray snapped. Cobra even snorted at that one and Natsu tackled the ice mage.
"Shit…really? Erza you get Natsu, I'll get Gray." Lucy sighed and the two women started trying to get in between the two fighting mages or at least herd their rolling brawl toward the road. Erza was frustrated, angry, and had no patience though and after a couple of normal tries, resorted to violence, belting Natsu in the back of the head with her sword hilt.
The Fire Dragon Slayer went down like a brick.
Gray stood over him, laughing.
"Gray, you're bare ass naked." Laxus dead panned and Gray cursed, looking around for his clothes uselessly, Erza shoved him toward the road after Cobra who was snickering ahead of them.
"Wait! Erza! At least let me find my boxers!" Gray protested. The re-quip mage shoved him again "Move it, I want to get back to the guild and check on Bickslow, you can get spare clothes back at the guild." She snapped.
"I'm not walking into town like this! I'll get arrested!" Gray objected.
"Should have thought of that before you decided to get naked with Salamander." Cobra called.
"Watch it bleach breath!" Gray snarled.
Lucy started to pull Virgos key out but Laxus took her hand and smirked at her, shaking his head and she hid her giggle behind her hand, leaving her keys alone and squeezing her mates hand in wicked understanding.
Gray trying to use his team mates as cover Freed finally took pity on him and handed over his jacket, earning a frown from Laxus that he pretended he didn't notice.
Returning to the guild defeated for the night wasn't a feeling any of them liked but when Erza came into the infirmary to find Bickslow sitting up playing cards with Wendy she forgot all about her bitter disappointment.
Rushing over she started to throw her arms around him but Wendys hiss of warning stopped her, Bickslow though reached out and pulled her down into his lap, enveloping her in a warm hug and she leaned into him, greedily seeking his lips for a long kiss that left Wendy blushing and giggling.
"I'll be back to check on you in a bit." She told Bix, rising and leaving the couple alone.
When he pulled back Bix was smiling "So how goes the hunt?" He asked her. She frowned and he chuckled "Can't save the world in a day Amazon, but you could sure help me feel better by turning a little…maybe wrap those legs around me, just don't squeeze…" he chuckled "Don't need any more broken ribs just yet."
She was fully sitting on his bandaged thigh and squeaked when she realized it, turning so she could straddle him on the bed and wrapping her arms around him, pushing him back onto the pillows and kissing him.
He kissed her back, moaning softly and only wincing slightly when she shifted and her armor pressed over his bandaged shoulder.
The kiss deepened and she was pushing her hands into his hair when she accidentally rested her arms on his shoulders and pressed in drawing a shudder and a hiss of pain out of him.
Jerking back she stammered apologies and scrambled off of the bed but he caught her wrist and pulled her back so she was sitting next to him, adjusted himself so he was sitting back against the headboard of the bed then pulled her between his spread legs so she could lean back against his chest.
His arms closed around her and she felt him kiss her hair and sighed.
"This is gonna be challenging for a little bit. Next time we hug I need to think more about that chest plate of yours." He chuckled, rubbing his shoulder.
She smiled "I'll re-quip into softer things before I hug you again."
"Better yet just re-quip yourself naked and make my day." He whispered by her ear and she laughed, leaning her head back and sighing when he dipped his head and kissed her. They hadn't caught the men responsible, but Bickslow was joking, playful, and would recover so she was going to be ok too, she would just inflict immense pain on the culprits, not pure death now.