Author's Note: Here's the third chapter up, and I hope you all enjoy. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Whisper, your welcome. I try to respond to all reviews.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Fairy Tail.

It had been a week since Gray found Natsu in such a poor condition, and, other than his healed wounds, there really wasn't much improvement. Gray was beyond worried for his old friend. Natsu had always been so resilient he'd expected him to bounce back a little by now, but he didn't see any trace of the old Natsu in this shell of a body that sat quietly in his room all day. This Natsu was nothing like the old one, and Gray didn't know what to do for him.

Neither of the two were sleeping. Natsu had nightmares every night. If his thrashing around didn't wake Gray up, his screams did. Gray spent most of his nights trying to calm Natsu down. He considered it a good night if he could get Natsu back to sleep in under an hour, but most nights he had to spend hours calming him down. When Gray had brought Natsu in to his room and placed him in his bed, he'd thought nothing of it. It wasn't the first time the two had shared a bed. Sometimes on missions they would share if they didn't have the money for two rooms and the team had to bunk together. Natsu's loud snoring and thrashing around had always been annoying and caused them to bicker, but it had never been that big of a deal.

Now, Gray was wishing he could find Natsu another place to sleep. He knew he had to keep Natsu in his room for protection, but he'd thought about getting the flame-brain a cot. Sure, it would take up all his floor space, but at least it would cease the growing awkwardness that sharing a bed had become. Natsu only seemed to calm down with the aid of physical contact. Most nights now Gray ended up spooned against Natsu, his arms wrapped tight around the fire mage. It was the only way to get Natsu to sleep after his nightmares, but it posed a few problems for Gray. The biggest issue was his tendency to wake up with an erection in the morning. No big deal when he woke up alone, but embarrassing when he woke up pressed against Natsu. The bigger concern for that issue was that if Natsu ever noticed he might get scared and freak out. Gray made sure to untangle himself from Natsu before he woke up.

Mostly, though it was just awkward for Gray. The two of them had always been rivals. If Natsu was himself right now he'd be outraged to wake up in Gray's arms. Gray worried that when Natsu bounced back, he refused to think if, that Natsu would be ashamed of himself. He knew that Natsu would hate him for treating him like he was fragile, but at the moment that was all Gray could do. So he didn't protest when Natsu curled up against his chest at night after a nightmare. He just pulled him in tighter and whispered soothing words into his ear until the pinkette fell back to sleep.

Still, the sleeping was the last of his concerns. Natsu still wasn't eating much. Gray brought him three meals a day, but Natsu never seemed to show much interest in whatever Gray brought him. Half the time Gray had to force feed him. At one point he'd even stooped to begging. In the end he always managed to get Natsu to take a few bites out of something, but his lack of an appetite disturbed Gray more than anything else. The Natsu he'd known would eat practically anything. Gray had expected Natsu to be thrilled with the prospect of having regular meals again, but that just hadn't been the case. It was very frustrating for Gray. The day after the healer had saved Natsu, Gray used his maker magic to create a scale so he could weigh Natsu. He'd known the boy had lost quite a bit of weight since being held prisoner, but he'd been shocked when the scale read 122 pounds.

He knew Natsu weighed in at 165 pounds at his peak. That meant he'd lost over forty pounds. Gray had weighed Natsu every day after that. Once in the morning and again at night. In one week he'd only managed to gain back two pounds. Gray was beyond frustrated. He didn't know how to get Natsu interested in food again. He'd even tried to get the flame-brain to eat some fire from a candlestick, but Natsu hadn't even looked directly at the flame. And this led to a different issue entirely.

Natsu hadn't used his magic once since he'd been with Gray. It had taken a bit for Gray to notice but the extra towels in his laundry basket. Natsu had never used towels. He'd always just used his flames to dry off. Now, it wasn't dangerous for a wizard to not use his magic, but Gray new from experience that it was uncomfortable. Magic flowed through their veins like blood. It pulsed. It wanted to be used. It was rare for a wizard to ignore that urge. And it was very chilling that Natsu, of all people, had stopped using it. Gray didn't know if there was a problem that was preventing Natsu from using it, or if Natsu was just choosing not to use it. He supposed he could just ask, but Natsu wasn't talking. He hadn't said a word since he told Gray that Lucy and Happy are dead.

Gray had tried continually throughout the week to get the fire mage talking. He'd spouted on about old missions and memories of their old guild. Nothing. He asked Natsu what he'd done in the past year. Nothing. In desperation, he even told Natsu some of the things he'd done since Fairy Tail disbanded. That time he wasn't surprised when he didn't get any response. All day Natsu sat in bed only getting up to use the bathroom. When Gray gave up getting a response out of him he'd spend the day going over paperwork for the guild and subtly watching Natsu.

Today though, Gray couldn't focus on the paperwork. He sighed and tossed his pen aside and then looked back at Natsu. The flame-brain was staring ahead blankly, not seeming to be seeing anything. Gray sighed walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. "Natsu," he said. Natsu didn't even turn his head towards him. Gray sighed again, but pushed on. "Natsu, I'm going into town." That got a reaction, but not one that Gray had hoped for. Natsu turned towards him, eyes widening in fear. His whole body was trembling as he shook his head back and forth, a silent pleading for Gray not to go.

"Hey! Hey!" Gray cried gripping onto Natsu's shoulders, trying to calm him down. "No one's going to get in here. I'll freeze the lock shut behind me. You'll be safe. But I have to go into town. I need to get a few supplies for the guild, and…I was going to get you some clothes of your own so you don't have to borrow mine every day." He watched as Natsu slowly calmed down, but the pinkette still looked nervous. Gray was worried about leaving now. What if Natsu had a panic attack while he was gone? What if he used his magic to knock down the door and try and come after him? If Natsu got out of the room he'd fall into the hands of Gray's guild mates. The thought made Gray shudder. He couldn't leave Natsu without making sure the boy would be okay.

"Natsu, I need to know you'll be okay here alone," Gray said. "I'll be back in three hours. I want you to stay right here, okay? No leaving this bed. Do you understand?" He waited for a few seconds before Natsu nodded his head. Gray smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder, before standing up and gathering his jewels. He looked back at Natsu before leaving the room. "I'll only be gone a couple of hours." Still, he couldn't help but feel guilty as he froze the lock and walked out of the guild, the picture of Natsu staring anxiously after him fresh in his mind.

Three hours later Gray had the supplies he needed and the clothes for Natsu. Both had taken more time than he'd anticipated and he was already going to be back later than he'd promised Natsu, but there was something else he really wanted to get done. He bit his lip and debated over it. He didn't expect the task would take long, and it would be for Natsu's benefit, but he was worried about Natsu being alone for so long. Finally, though, he decided to go ahead with his plans. He didn't know when he'd be able to head into town again, and he wanted to get this done. It was important. Gray walked hurriedly through town, until he came upon a brick building. The building held office spaces for lawyers and accountants and such like that. There was also a private investigator the held an office in the building. That's who Gray had come to see.

He walked into the building and read a sign to determine what office number he needed to go to. His eyes landed on the PI's name quickly, Frank Kent: Office 224B. He rushed up the stairs. Frank Kent had quite the reputation as a private investigator. He always closed his cases. Of course, it helped that he was a wizard. He used telepathy magic, similar to Warren, but unlike Warren, Frank needed to have physical contact with something belonging to the person whose mind he was trying to read. His ability came in handy for his line of work, and Gray was positive that he'd be able to hunt Lucy and Happy down.

Gray quickly reached Frank Kent's office and knocked on the door. "Come in," a deep voice called. Gray pushed open the door and stepped into the office, his eyes immediately landing on the PI. Frank Kent was an intimidating looking man. He was a big man, broad shouldered and muscular. And tall on top of it. He looked too big to be allowed. His greying, blonde hair reached his shoulders. He had a square jaw, covered in a permanent five o'clock shadow. He had stern grey eyes. His nose had obviously been broken more than once. Gray suddenly felt a little nervous under the private investigator's searching stare.

"Are you just going to stand there and ogle at me or did you come here for a reason?" Frank asked impatiently.

Gray gulped an immediately sat down in the chair across from Frank. "I'm looking for someone," he said.

Frank snorted. "Yeah? Ain't we all," he replied taking out a pocket knife and using it to scrape dirt from beneath his nails.

Gray watched the knife nervously as he continued. "Actually, I'm looking for two people," Gray corrected himself.

Frank looked up at him. "You gonna tell me who, kid?" he asked putting his pocket knife away.

"What? Oh yeah," Gray replied rushing to pull a picture he'd stuffed into his pocket earlier out, and then handing it to Frank. "The girl's name is Lucy Heartfilia. The cat is Happy."

Frank inspected the picture carefully. "I don't suppose you have anything that belongs to them on you?" he questioned. "This picture is yours. It's your thoughts I'm reading right now. You came to me because you're doubting your own judgement."

Gray frowned. "I came to you because I want to show an old friend of mine that his friends are fine," he retorted.

Frank chuckled darkly. "You keep telling yourself that," he said, and then tucked the photo of Happy and Lucy into a desk drawer. "I'll track your old friends down. I have a flat fee of 150 jewels. The rest is an hourly charge of 45 jewels. I'll keep track of the hours. Don't worry about a mileage fee. I ain't here to suck people dry like some of the lawyers in this building. I'll call you once a week with updates."

Gray nodded his agreement and handed over the flat fee and a piece of paper with his lacrima communicator's number on it. "Thank you," he replied and stood to get up.

Frank nodded his head. "You better get back to your boy," he told Gray. "I could tell by your thoughts that you're worried about him." Gray didn't respond, just rushed out of the building and back to his guild.

Gray handed the supplies over to Master Arlock before rushing back to his room, fully aware that he'd been gone for four hours. He quickly unfroze the lock and burst into his room only to find Natsu in a full blown panic attack. The fire mage was curled into fetal position on the bed, trembling violently. Gray could hear his struggled gasps for air. "Shit!" he hissed throwing the bags of clothes down on the floor and rushing to Natsu's aid. He pulled the fire mage into a sitting position and held onto both sides of his face, forcing the pinkette to look at him.

"Natsu, calm down. I'm back," Gray said. "You're okay! You're okay!"

"You-You said thr-three hours," Natsu cried choking on too much air.

"I know. I'm sorry. I had to make an extra stop," Gray explained pulling Natsu into a hug, and running a hand soothingly up and down his back. "I'm sorry."

"I-I didn't know where you w-were or if you were c-coming back," Natsu sniffed, still struggling to breathe.

Gray smiled gently at those words. He pushed Natsu back so he could look into his eyes. "I'll always come back," he promised. Natsu calmed down enough so he could breathe again. "Are you alright now?" Natsu nodded his head. "Okay. Then I'm just gonna put your clothes away." Gray cleared the top drawer of the dresser for Natsu's new clothes, before turning back to the flame-brain, who'd gone back to staring emptily at the wall. Gray walked back towards him and sat next to him.

"I hired a private investigator to find Happy and Lucy," Gray said watching Natsu closely. He sighed when he saw a tear drop and begin to trickle down the fire mage's cheek. "Oh Natsu." He pulled Natsu into his arms brushed a hand through the spiky pink locks. "It's gonna be okay. He'll find Happy and Lucy."

Natsu shook his head. "No he won't," he cried. "Luce and Happy are both dead."

"They're not!" Gray cried frustrated. "Natsu, I watched them walk out of the old guild hall. They're fine." Natsu just shook his head again, and Gray felt a spark of anger flash over him. He pushed Natsu away harshly. A surprised Natsu stared up at him in surprise.

"Why do you believe Jerome over me?!" Gray yelled angrily. "Why would I lie to you? Dammit, Natsu, we were comrades!"

To his shock Natsu's face twisted into a scowl. "Were is the key word in that sentence," he spat. "The Gray I know wouldn't have joined a dark guild. Ever."

Gray's anger faded away in his shock, and his shoulders slumped in shame. "It's not as simple as that," he replied quietly. "I didn't join this guild because I worship Zeref."

"Then why did you join?" Natsu asked.

Gray's eyes hardened. "For revenge," he answered.

Natsu's eyes widened. "I don't get it," he replied.

Gray sighed. "Natsu, Zeref's demon Deliora killed my family. It killed my entire town," Gray said. "Delioa's the reason my master, Ur, is gone. And then my father got reincarnated into a zombie by the Tartarus Guild."

"I know all that," Natsu replied.

"Yeah? Well then I don't see what's there to not understand," Gray retorted.

"That except for the thing with your dad, that all happened years ago, and you never wanted to join a dark guild for revenge before," Natsu said. "What changed?"

"My magic," Gray replied. "My father gave me his devil slaying magic so I could defeat Zeref's most dangerous demon, E.N.D."

"But even Igneel couldn't defeat E.N.D," Natsu pointed out.

"With all respect to Igneel," Gray said, "he just didn't have the right type of magic. Devil slaying magic is designed to kill demons. As far as I know, I'm the only one who can take this demon down. And I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

Natsu stared at him for a few moments before rolling over to face away from him. "You really have changed," he replied. Gray frowned and looked down at bedspread. Natsu was right. He had changed. But he had to if he wanted to defeat E.N.D. He got up from the bed and went back to his paperwork. He took one last glance at Natsu, whose back was towards him, before picking up where he left off.