Bickslow wasn't allowed to go home yet so Erza went to the house and got him a change of clothes, gathered up the little lacrima set from her room along with the movie player and went back to the guild.
Without a word she shoved a second bed up against the one Bickslow was in, set the lacrima screen and player up and curled up with him. There wasn't a question for her about where she would sleep that night, she was already past the point where she slept well without him next to her. She'd reached it probably the third night they had slept together.
She blamed the hugs, Mira had been right about his hugs.
Wendy said nothing, came to check on Bickslow before she was going to go home, found them watching movies and ended up curled up next to Erza watching with them. Mira brought dinner up for them, which Bickslow was very grateful of, he hadn't eaten anything the whole day and was starved. Mira stood, watching the movie they were watching for a few minutes just standing, then she finally pulled a chair over and sat, reaching over to steal a few French fries from Wendys plate.
A short time later Lucy and Laxus came up to check on Bickslow. "What are you watching?" Lucy asked "Guardians of the Galaxy. The Racoon is my hero." Bix replied. Laxus pulled a bed closer and within minutes he and Lucy were curled up, enjoying the movie.
By the time the movie ended the infirmary had almost filled up. At some point someone had brought in more movies and they were soon engrossed in another. Freed, Evergreen, Elfman, Natsu and Lissana all having pulled chairs or beds around.
Mira brought up a tray full of drinks for everyone and a massive bowl of popcorn and Makarov commented that he was going to see about getting a large lacrima screen put up in the infirmary.
The group watched movies well into the night. Mira was the one who finally shut things off, smiling over all of her sleeping guildmates all gathered around Bickslow and Erza as she dimmed the lights and made sure everyone had blankets over them before crawling into a bed herself.
Bickslow woke to the hustle and bustle of his guildmates all waking, Mira bringing up trays loaded with food and pots of coffee. Erza stirred slowly tucked up against him still and he smiled. The Rainjinshuu had gathered for him, but everyone else he knew was there because of her.
He wasn't the only one who loved her.
His chest and shoulder still ached pretty painfully, Wendy eased it as much as she could but he'd been hurt pretty bad, was lucky to be alive, his healing was going to take a bit even with all of the magical help.
"When can he go home?" Laxus asked, The Lightning Slayer was laying back on the bed next to Bickslows, Lucy still asleep at his side.
"Probably today, but he should rest, no strenuous exercise for at least a week, no jobs for two weeks after that." Wendy said firmly.
Laxus frowned. "What if he's riding his totems? No walking or anything?" He hated, absolutely hated the idea of pulled Bickslow out to help with their search for the dark mages but Bickslows ability to track dark magic and do so from the air was beyond important. He didn't want another day spent bungling around in the woods dodging traps, it was too damn dangerous.
"One more day of rest and I'd say he could do it but no fighting, his injuries need time to heal before he starts straining his body." Wendy replied, she understood Laxus' pushing, knew why he was.
"It's too dangerous." Erza said firmly. She'd heard him even though he'd tried to keep his voice low.
Laxus heaved a sigh "Erza, Bix can SEE magic trails left by Dark Mages, the residue they leave behind lasts for days, wind rain storms have no effect, even raging fires, we've had him track dark mages through forest fires before. The trail left behind scent wise can be messed with, but not the one Bix can see." He told her.
She jerked her head around looking at Bickslow who smiled and shrugged. "Dark magic causes the soul to sort of…slough off, like this dust gets scraped from it and is left behind, the more a mage uses, the more they give in to evil, the brighter the trail because the more the soul…weeps. You could say I can see a souls tears, and those take a long time to fade and leave a trail no mage can hide."
She blinked at him with wide eyes. "Don't look at me like I'm a freak Amazon…I may be one but the look still makes my ass twitch." He chuckled.
"I don't think you're a freak at all, that's an amazing gift." Erza said quietly. Bix hugged her to him again and she smiled, there was a lot to be said for being doted on. She doubted she would ever really get enough of it.
"So tomarrow I'll take the babies up and track our targets but today I'm supposed to rest, can I do that at home? Much as I love it here at the guild and all? I'd like some quiet and my bed is a lot more comfortable than this one." He grinned.
"Yeah, we'll all take the day off, I'll tell gramps the plan and take Lucy home too, it would be nice to have a quiet day at home for once." Laxus agreed. He moved past Bickslows bed, leaving him to cuddle with Erza, something he still was a little stunned to actually SEE, and to see Erza so clearly enjoying it.
He wanted to find Gramps, tell him the plan then get Lucy and go home. The first part of that went fine, the second part? Not as much.
Lucy had been swept over to a table with Mira Freed and Levy and he caught sight of all of the wedding books and rolled his eyes. He'd had no idea a wedding, a simple one they were having at the Guild, could require so much intense research and planning, but then, this was Lucy, and she'd made Levy her maid of honor.
He'd sat down with Freed a few times now for his end of things but Freed was gleefully handling things with his usual precision, that the man was now spending so much time with the women pouring over wedding plans really shouldn't have surprised him.
"Hey Blondie, can I steal you?" He asked as he came to the table. "You can take her, we've got things figured out for now." Levy said. Lucy and Laxus had so little free time together it was down right upsetting at times. Levy had noticed it, so had Mira, in fact, the pair were planning to talk to the master about it as soon as they got the couple out of the way.
"Will we be going out again soon to search?" Freed asked.
Laxus shook his head. "No, we're going to wait until tomarrow. Bickslow can track the fuckers better and safer than we can with the poison crap involved like it is. Wendy says he's good to fly and scout for us as long he doesn't do anything else so we're giving him the rest Wendy says he needs and taking today off."
Lucy nodded, she was glad Bickslow was going to be all right, but she doubted anyone would really relax knowing those mages were out there.
"You two go get some rest then, shoo!" Levy grinned, waving her hands at them. Laxus slid an arm around Lucy and the couple walked from the guild, turning down the lane that would take them out to the edge of town where their house was.
"Did you see Erza with Bickslow last night? I don't think I'm going to be maintaining their counselling sessions much longer, or at least I hope not!" Lucy smiled up at Laxus and he nodded, he'd seen it, it was hard to miss.
"You think they'll decide to stay married then? Never thought I would ever see Bix get married…but then I never thought I'd see the fucker in a wedding dress either." He snickered.
"And a Tiara, don't forget that, took me ten minutes to get that out of his hair!" Lucy giggled, but then sobered. "I never saw I'd ever see Erza happy like that, I've seen her happy but I've watched her suffering, pining away over Jellal for so long…I almost thought she would live her whole life out that way."
Laxus nodded, hugging her into his side. "Our friends will work things out but you know what I really want?" He asked her. She shook her head, blonde hair swaying in the pale light of the winter morning.
"To get some time with you, finally, away from the guild and everyone else." He told her and she smiled up at him.
"Yeah, I get to where I kind of forget what your kisses feel like, I'm just wasting away from neglect." She meant it as a joke but Laxus frowned.
They had gotten past the houses of the town and their house was just ahead now. The beautiful two story with its wrap around porch nestled among the trees was such a comfortable home, Lucy really did love it. She'd love it more when they got the big tub installed that was like the one at Bickslows house. No…she corrected herself with a smile, Bickslow and Erzas house.
Laxus turned to her, pulling her into his arms, lifting her right up of the ground so her face was even with his and she giggled when he did.
"I don't want you to ever feel neglected." He said quietly and Lucy just melted, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him, smirking inwardly when she drew a familiar rumble from him.
"Mmm, well, there's the kiss, now I need to remember what the rest of you feels like." She grinned and he kissed her roughly then growling against her mouth and making her laugh as he crushed her against him and started walking to the house still kissing her breathless.
He smelled it almost too late.
The scent came and because he was distracted, kissing Lucy and thinking about what he was going to do with her as soon as he got her inside the house it didn't register right away.
The fact that it did, that he caught it, recognized it, and reacted by backpedaling and starting to gather his magic, lightning crackling around them both, Lucy crying out in confusion, his teleport didn't quite have time to form enough to get them away though before the house exploded.
They were thrown, Laxus holding Lucy as tightly as he could, the shockwave, the debris, all of it was partly shielded by the forming lightning around them that deflected a good part of it, but ultimately it shattered his spell.
That Lucys back had been to the house still when it exploded because Laxus had been carrying her pressed against him had left all but what wasn't covered by his arms open for the debris, poison and fire.
It took him a couple of minutes to recover himself enough, it had almost knocked him out, but he'd held onto consciousness and wasn't even aware of his own bleeding arms as he rushed to his mate who lay so horrifyingly like Bickslow had been just the day before.
He drew his magic in, ignoring what it cost him, huddling around her gingerly, careful of her obvious injuries including the two large chunks of glass sticking out of her back. Lightning gathered again, brilliant, powerful, and when it flashed the thunderclap it left behind finally toppled a few of the trees that had not been fully knocked down by the explosion.
Everyone in the guild hall had gotten up at the sound, the ground had shaken, another explosion. Some were starting to run to windows others heading for the doors to look outside and try to find the origin when there was a huge flash of lightning in the center of the hall and with a crack of thunder, suddenly Laxus and Lucy were both on the floor. Laxus bent over Lucy, blood running from his ravaged arms, his eyes wide and frantic.
Wendy flew from the barstool she was perched on enjoying a milkshake, rushing to the bloody couple, eyes huge. "Freed get Laxus!" She screamed sliding to the ground beside Lucys motionless form "Get Porlyusica and Cobra!" She cried as her eyes ran rapidly over Lucy.
"I'm right here…shit." Cobra jumped down from the second floor and Makarov shouted up the stairs behind the bar for Porlyusica who was up in the infirmary looking over Bickslow before he could go home.
"Cobra get this glass." Wendy was saying and both winced when they heard the deadly rumble from Laxus as Freed was trying to pull him back to give Wendy room.
The lightning slayers stormy eyes were on Cobra who returned his glare coldly. "Your mate stinks of the same fucking poison that almost killed Bix and so do you Sparky, get your shit together and don't you dare try to stop me from helping." He snapped.
Ignoring Laxus glare and reaching down to grab on to one of the large pieces of glass, pulling it clear as Wendys hands closed over the wound. Gods she had just recovered from yesterday, Wendy clenched her teeth, praying she had the strength to heal Lucy enough and also help Laxus' arms.
Porlyusica was there though, kneeling in front of Laxus, already yanking chunks of wood and glass from the mans arms and hissing as the poison on him burned her skin and nostrils.
"Everyone stay back, they're both covered in that damn poison!" She shouted.
"I got it.." Cobra stood, hauling in a deep breathe, reveling in the sudden rush as traces of the acrid fumes of the poison were pulled in, his body already knew this poison, and flooded his lungs with the vaporous antidote before he released a shimmering cloud of it from his mouth, showering Lucy, Laxus, Wendy, Freed and Porlyusica with it.
Laxus groaned, the moment the vapor hit his skin his pain eased but only the burning sick feeling, his eyes remained on Lucy, watching it settle over her, watching Wendy pull the other chunk of grass out and press a hand over the wound.
Once the immediate issues were addressed several guildmates hurried forward, Natsu, Freed, Elfman and Gray all crowded in to help get Laxus and Lucy upstairs. Erzas eyes flew wide in horror as they came in and laid Lucy face down on a bed, Wendy trading patients with Porlyusica so Laxus' wounds could be closed and Porlyusica could work on the arduous task of getting Lucys remaining injuries cleaned and dressed.
"The house exploded as we were walking up to it…I didn't catch the scent in time…" Laxus breathed raggedly.
"Boss…don't…fuck, Gajeel and I didn't catch a fucking timer and shit the floor I was standing on was vibrating under my feet and we didn't piece shit together fast enough, don't blame yourself." Bix said quickly, recognizing the self incrimination he saw all over his friends face.
"They…they did this…they must be stopped…" Erza snarled, she looked up and met Natsus eyes and he nodded at her, his onyx eyes narrowing. She felt a hand on her arm and turning red eyes met hers "Not without me Amazon…" Bickslow said firmly, knowing exactly what the woman was thinking.
He slid from his bed, already wearing the clothes Erza had brought him and followed her, Natsu, Gray and Cobra falling in behind them.
There wasn't going to be any more waiting. Laxus was no longer in command, Erza was. She wasn't going to let caution hold her back from destroying the people doing this.
Makarov was at the door and he met the eyes of his children, his heart ached seeing his grandson just about completely unhinged by the state Lucy was in, and Lucy… Bickslow was still a walking bundle of bandages, though his clothes hid a lot of them now Makarov knew at least his Seith mage really should not be standing before him right now, but he also knew the need.
He turned, leading the determined young mages down the stairs into the guild hall where every face was on them with fury and determination burning.
"My children, Fairy Tail is going to war. I want every mage recalled, I want everyone here at the guild hall immediately!" He shouted and people started moving to get to com lacrimas and start calling the guild together.
Makarov turned to Erza "Take Bickslow, Cobra, Natsu and whoever else you feel you can use and find who did these things Erza, find them. Call when you locate them and all of Fairy Tail will come to your side."
Erza bowed grimly "We will find them Master."
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A/N I know we started out so light hearted, but you know...plot happens. Thank you guys, I've said before this Fic would have been done at chapter 4 if you hadn't reviewed and said you wanted more...I hope everyone is enjoying it!...Special shouts to CoS, Sassy,Grim, J.D. Illustre, Kura, Roses and so many others who have made this fic keep growing. Y'all know from FD I listen and take your comments and suggestions to heart. The Gjevy was for those who asked for it (I'd had no plans of putting anything special for that couple in here but you Gajeel/Levy fans are just ravenous sheesh!) Many thanks to all of you! The story continues...DESNA