…-coughs and dumps chapter-

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Ride 'em Hard

Chapter Fourteen

"What did you do?"

"Look, it's nothing serious, okay? I just figured - Ow, goddammit, Gramps! I didn't do shit!"

"Like hell you didn't do anything!"

Natsu leaned away from Makarov chucking his working boot at Gray, who stood beside him while the familiar face of Silver was leaned against the door of the old man's office with crossed arms. Unlike the usual attire Natsu would see Silver dressed in the daytime, his police uniform and shining badge and cap; he was decorated like an average man who would work in a normal garage in the city, a white t-shirt, worn out jeans and black shoes with steel toes. He had his hair pushed back to reveal a scar be obtained so many years ago and his 'lucky charm' earring dangling from one of his earlobes of a cross.

To Natsu, who has known Gray and his family for many years at this point, he didn't look like he was on police duty. That didn't seem to help though, with Makarov trying to throw a stapler at the son and Silver didn't move to protect his kid - which Natsu can't really blame him, since Gray probably did deserve it.

It wasn't something Natsu was expecting in his normal day at the Fairy Tail garage.

Until Makarov eventually ran out of inexpensive items to throw at the dark haired racer, scratching his mustache furiously and plopping down on his seat. "Swear to God, you never listen to me. When I have specifically said to keep it in the garage, I fucking mean to keep it in the garage! You're lucky that I get along with your father, Gray!"

"The feeling is mutual, Makarov," Silver drawled slowly, sparing a glance to his son straightening up from his hunched position. "If I knew that Makarov had a sworn-to-secrecy policy goin' on right now, I'd be more than happy to take you outside for an ass whooping."

"I can take ya on," Gray sniffed under his breath and rolled his eyes. "S'not important anymore, right? You wanted to know where Gajeel was? Well, I found someone who has eyes and ears inside," he jerked his thumb to his father before looking to him with a sharpened glare. "And you want the man to talk? I got what can make him chat like Natsu after two tequila bottles. Think of it as a win-win deal!"

"Natsu has more brain cells than you do, son!" Makarov snapped, slapping a hand to the desk, making Natsu blink at the comparison.

"Hey, Gramps," Natsu stepped in casually when he noted that the old man couldn't throw anything else in frustration, "you know we can trust Silver, right? It's not like he's going to tattle on the big guys about us. He's off the clock!"

Makarov looked to Silver, who snorted a laugh and shrugged his shoulders. "The possible chance of being promoted to wear a tux all day? Sorry, but Mika was the only one to get me to wear a suit and tie on our wedding day and sworn off from putting on those constricting traps ever again," Silver said. "You know how quick I was to rip off the jacket at the reception, remember, Makarov?"

"Reminds me that you two are related and your habits of stripping off clothes," Makarov huffed before rubbing his forehead. "Seriously, Silver. It's not like I don't trust you, but this is really confidential business within my streets; I don't want to have your men in the streets get involved."

"Then consider it as such, sir," Silver smirked. "Since I have gotten my hands on the whole unit, nothing goes by me without my input if it goes to my guys. Not even the hot gossip of whatever the big shots send me see light of day if I feel like it.

"Besides, I got a feeling that this has something else to do with my son's stupidity in the matter," he went on, ignoring how Gray stiffened and snapped at him. "It's not a thing for him to call my cell at ungodly hours with a proposal for a man held up in my cells. Somethin' I'm missing?"

"Probably the fact that Juvias' here," Natsu blurted out. He flinched at Gray's sudden smack behind his head, rubbing the area with a sigh as Makarov rolled his eyes. Silver, however, looked impassive about this.

"What's here?" Silver raised a brow and tilt his head in curiosity. "Is that the kid's stash or something?"

Makarov sighed and rest his elbows on his desk. "Juvia is the name of his sister."

Silver blinked, now in confusion. "Never seen a record saying he has a sister… Name doesn't sound familiar either, and I know there wasn't any female hits when we looked him up when he checked in."

"Probably because they're not blood-related," Makarov explained. "No, Juvia is technically his step-sister, but I don't think she has ever been cuffed to the point she has a criminal record - she's a bit cleaner than Gajeel when it comes to not getting caught, but I'm sure Gajeel had a part in that too."

"Weird I haven't heard of her."

"Besides that," Gray butt in rather rudely, "Gajeel dropped her off before he disappeared into the city. She was injured and needed medical attention, but she's fine and I'm sure your new inmate would like to know she's alright."

"That ain't all I'm here for?" Silver taunted his son.

Natsu took a turn, guessing his friend's plan from the subtle hints here and there. "Juvia can probably get Gajeel to dish out what happened, and maybe some other details that can have something to do with Acnologia, right?"

"It's a shot," Gray shrugged. "The problem is that Juvia doesn't know about any of this; where Gajeel is or probably about Acnologia."

"If she does, it won't be recorded in my unit, Makarov," Silver pointed out to Makarov as a reminder. "Seriously, we can discuss this later but I'm more curious now on this Juvia girl you got stashed away."

"I warn that Juvia is a bit...stubborn, like Gajeel," Makarov struggled to find the proper word to define how the blue haired woman may react to a policeman in her presence. "She may as well refuse to speak to you."

"We all know I have a way with the ladies," Silver chuckled, some pride in his voice and Gray groaned as Makarov half-smiled warily.

"Juvia isn't just a lady, Silver…"

Lucy was in Gray's apartment with Cana and Juvia in the living room area. She was currently watching Cana help Juvia bend forward on the floor, slowly pushing her back against the other to have Juvia's chest touch the floor with her long legs sticking out in a wide 'V'-shape. Since Juvia was showing signs of becoming fidgety from lack of mobility, Mirajane suggested that the patient/guest did some yoga poses to work her sore muscles; granted of the stitches still on her left leg and visible bruises on her otherwise porcelain skin, Juvia has shown no sign of pain or discomfort of stretching and bending at nearly impossible angles Lucy has ever seen.

"Can you pull Juvia's arms back as well, please?" the Phantom woman asked the brunette, who nodded and carefully held Juvia's back stretched hands and raised them just the littlest bit. "Thank you."

"Hard to believe how flexible you are, babe!" Cana praised cheekily with an exhale, feeling a bit of a strain of hunching over and posed oddly. "And this doesn't hurt at all?"

"With the bruises, Juvia is a bit sore," she replied simply. "But Juvia has been practicing being flexible and some fighting styles since she was a child, so I must be used to it."

"When you feel better, I wanna see how you would go against my boxing skills," Cana snickered and Lucy saw how Juvia's eyes sparkled and agreed with the idea. Folding out of the stretch and having the blue haired woman roll herself upright, Cana sighed and rolled over to the couch Lucy was sitting on. "I swear, you're like silly putty!"

Lucy giggled and grinned to Juvia. "I bet you would have been fantastic at gymnastics, Juvia-chan!"

"Juvia is used to having to scale buildings and defend herself. Gymnastics doesn't sound as exciting unless Juvia can kick someone's ass while she's at it," she shrugged lightly, carefully lifting her left leg to check the light set of bandages where her stitches laid underneath.

"Oh…" Lucy nervously laughed. "Well, there's that too, I suppose…"

"Can I watch you guys exercise today? Juvia would love to see Lucy-chan practicing her kicks and punches with Cana-can, if that is allowed."

"Of course you can! You can be our little cheerleader!" Cana cooed as she eyed Juvia's outfit of a black tank with a silver lipstick print on the front and soft navy shorts - all given by the one and only Cana Alberona. "We just need to get you some pompoms and you're all set."

"We can make them out of newspaper," Lucy joked, rolling her eyes until Cana and Juvia both squealed in delight at the idea, making her face go red in the face. "H-hey, I was kidding!"

The doorknob of the apartment began to make its obvious jingle of being unlocked, Gray's keys clanging together before opening. Lucy was already helping Juvia back on the couch and handing her the blanket she has been sleeping with, since Gray expressed major concerns for the patient to be moving around and doing yoga poses while she still has bandages on (too bad Juvia rarely listens to him); so the girls have been keeping Juvia's yoga sessions secret whenever the racer left his apartment. Juvia has certainly made it known she is gaining a lot more energy and being aware of her surroundings, but it could also be being stuck inside most of the time and getting cabin fever.

"Ahh, well, if it isn't the party pooper!" Cana groaned loudly at her friend as he entered through the doorway, making him halt and send a irritated stare at her. The brunette grinned brightly as she leaned to the side, putting weight between Lucy and Juvia in a cuddling hug and throwing a wink at him. "Just so you know, I'm going to take the babies to the gym later today. Babe isn't gonna participate, so you don't need to mother her! I'll be the best babysitter ever!"

"You can't even take care of a cactus without something horrible happening to it," Gray rolled his eyes as he pushed his door open to reveal three other guests at his tail.

Natsu, with his dorky grin on his face, pushed his way through his friend with a platter with assorted treats doused in chocolate. Sliding to his knees towards Gray's coffee table, setting the plate on top before gracefully bowing and falling to his bottom. "I got Mirajane to break out the little cakes and stuff for you guys! You think you can make me a milkshake sometime when you feel better, Juvia? Ha?"

"Bribing with food, Natsu? Again?" Lucy sighed as she planted the palm of her hand on Natsu's still grinning face and pushed him back, watching as he snickered onto the floor. Looking up to see Makarov with an unknown man by his side, Lucy blinked slowly before offering a small smile, unsure if this new character is someone who she had to pretend to be part of a gang and not. "Hey, Master Makarov... How are you?"

The old man grinned to the blonde and nodded, turning his head to Cana with his friendly posture. "Why don't you, Lucy and Natsu go and see if my car needs tending to, hm?"

Cana blinked in confusion before stealing a glance to the taller man. "What about Juvia?"

"It'll be fine, I promise," he responded cooly, letting the brunette race let out a soft sigh and climb to her feet, hauling Lucy along with her. Cana ignored Lucy's questionable noise as she knelt down and grabbed Natsu by the collar of his jacket and tugged him to follow with half the effort. "Just don't let Natsu play around with my engine, will you? Don't let him touch Levy's tools while he's down there."

"I think you'd like my work, Gramps! Don't be shy!" Natsu said proudly as he hobbled to his feet and excused himself for nearly bumping into Silver's side, escorting the two girls out and closing the door, leaving Juvia inside the room with Gray, Makarov and the man who is a stranger to her.

Blinking a few times, it didn't take long for Juvia to narrow her eyes at the stranger and raise a brow to Gray with a little twitch in the corner of her lip. Despite still trusting her life with her companions, it was still an issue for her to meeting new people within the walls of Fairy Tail. When Levy tried to introduce her cousin to her assistants, Jet and Droy, both men freaked out when she held out to shake her hand. Apparently Juvia left a deep impression on the two mechanics from when she woke up and tried attacking them, saying they think she would be able to kill them.

Well, with that attitude, Juvia wouldn't doubt it for a second.

With this new character, he looked to be observing her and she didn't entirely appreciate that, but she didn't show it. He didn't seem threatening to her, but she had no idea who he was to Fairy Tail.

"Juvia, dear," Makarov asked for her attention and she obeyed, her head moving gracefully to meet the old man's eyes with a somewhat unamused look in her eye. "Don't worry about it, dear. This man is a friend of ours, actually."

The blue haired woman didn't respond and remained looking at the elderly man. Makarov cleared his throat and looked pointedly to Gray, making him sigh and rub the back of his head sourly. Meeting Juvia's eyes rather nervously, Gray cleared his throat before gesturing to the tall man.

"This my dad… He knows where your brother is."

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"So that man was Gray's dad?"

Lucy held onto the wrench as she watched Natsu roll underneath Makarov's car on the board, watching his legs kick a little and a small clang as her partner grunted underneath. Cana was under the hood of the car, checking the oil and pulling out the metal string with a rag, looking pretty bored with her task as she puffed her cheeks.

"Yeah," Natsu cleared his throat from under the car. "He's a cop at a station on the other side of the city, but he's good pals with Gramps. I think Silver's uncle arrested him or something years back, when he was a shit."

"But he knows about everything we are?" Lucy asked as she knelt down beside him, her head tilting in confusion. "He's okay with Gray being...a pretend gangster?"

"Ice princess can't pose as a gangster to save his ass," Natsu snorted as he popped out. Lucy dutifully placed the wrench in his palm and took hold of the couple bolts he traded. "I'm not sure Silver is 'okay' with Gray being undercover, but they don't talk that much," he added on before rolling back under.

"Gray and Silver don't get along that well," Cana pitched in with a sigh as she hauled the small tank of oil to the edge of the hood. "Silver would be working all the time when Gray was growing up, always called in around the clock - the usual cliche of father and son relationship of tension, if you ask me.

"When Gray turned sixteen, he asked to join Makarov, instead of joining the police force like his parents thought he wanted to," Cana shrugged. "Natsu and Gray have known each other through school and hung out a lot as kids, so I guess it was a matter of time before Gray went rebellious and wanted to try and out-rank his old man."

"Is Silver that bad of a guy..?" Lucy peeped under her breath, making Cana cough a laugh.

"No way! That dude is a big softy as my dad!" Cana chuckled. "When Gray was underage, he'd visit to make sure the moron was eating and taking care of himself. Gray was the sort to get himself into trouble in high school - not like Natsu, who could get away with it - and would drive Makarov up a wall with phone calls from school. He was a little shit."

Lucy frowned a little bit at this information. Usually the stories she hears of Fairy Tail's members were more emotional and heart-jerking tales of homelessness, in need of help for survival or being rescued from an unfortunate fate of serving time for the wrong reasons. With Gray, as much as she adores her friend and Natsu's wrestling partner, it seemed there was nothing serious of it…

"Luce, can ya help me out with this?" Natsu's voice caught her attention as she looked to see him rolling out from under the car, scooting a little bit to the side. Silently inviting her to lay down on the wheeled board, Natsu waited until Lucy was able to tuck her long hair into a bun and cautiously settled herself on the space given to her.

Lucy peeped in surprise when Natsu casually shot them underneath the car, overwhelmed by the cramped space and the smell of car oil and gas. She blinked curiously up to the anatomy part of Makarov's car, unable to pinpoint anything with a name let alone its purpose for the vehicle.

"Uhm...Natsu, I don't know anything about cars," Lucy whispered to him regretfully, turning her chin while her brown eyes remained looking to random spots of the car.

"Cana can't hear for shit when we're under the hood, unless we yell," Natsu said in a normal volume, placing a bolt beside him before reaching back up with the wrench in his hand and unscrewing another. "You had a look on your face like you were confused about something. Is it about ice prick and his old man?"

Lucy really couldn't believe Natsu half the time, being able to read her thoughts so well like it was like watching TV or something. Blinking, Lucy swallowed and nodded a little, trying to make herself more comfortable laying on the board. "I just kinda figured Gray would come from a similar background like everyone else, I guess… Hearing that Gray just doesn't get along with his dad sounds kinda, I dunno, selfish?"

"He is kinda selfish, but he has his reasons to joining Fairy Tail," Natsu explained with a shrug. "When I first met him in middle school, he was this crabby good-for-nothing kid who thought his dad didn't care for him or his family. Since my dad was gone by the time I hit that age, I guess Gray thought I was going through the same thing, but I wasn't.

"First time I met his family at his house, his mom was the sweetest chick I could have ever met. She practically treated me like her own kid, actually," Natsu grinned dorkly and Lucy figured he had wonderful stories to tell her about visiting Gray's house as kids. "She'd make big dinners every night and come up with these cool ideas for games at the dinner table and have cool looking desserts. Great lady, honestly. You should meet her sometime!

"Anyway, by the time Gray's old man came home it would be really late and Gray and I would be watching movies or playing video games," Natsu went on casually. "Silver would come by, give Gray attention - and ice princess hated being hugged infront of me, hah! - ask him about his day of what he liked and disliked, all smiles and joking around like a normal parent."

"So it's really just Gray being a brat?" Lucy asked, making Natsu grin bigger.

"Nah, not in my opinion," the racer shook his head and turned to look at her. "If anything, Gray was jealous of his old man and looked up to him to the point that Gray made a goal to become better than Silver."

Lucy looked at Natsu with a flat expression, making him snicker at her reaction. "Silver was a tough-looking man, always in the city's news of how he stopped robberies, murders and other stuff; literally every little kid's hero of a policeman. Gray would see how cool his dad is and every time he went to school, the kids would talk to him all about Silver, Silver, Silver! Oh, how Silver was cool, how strong he was and how Gray should be just like his dad!

"Gray got sick of that really quick, picking fights and getting in trouble in rejection of becoming like his dad and wanting to be better than him," Natsu shrugged with a roll of his eyes. "Despite Silver being a wonderful dad and loving husband, Gray felt bothered how great his dad was and made it his dream to become more cool and badass than Silver could ever be. So, that's basically Gray's story of wanting to be better and not live in his dad's shadow."

"But he doesn't talk to his dad? What about his mom?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Silver and Mika call his cell all the time, to check up on him and probably invite him for dinner, but he never answers," Natsu snorted. "He always wants them to think he's too busy working for the FBI and all that, I guess. He's not a bad guy, but he's an idiot to skip out on a free dinner with his parents. Sometimes they call me and ask if he's still breathing, but they do their best to not try and bother him too much."

"I see…"

Natsu grinned to Lucy and winked. "Not everyone has a sappy-sad story coming to Fairy Tail, Luce. It's really all about what your goal in life is and how Fairy Tail can make you a stronger person inside and out; take you for example!"

"Me?" Lucy peeped with red cheeks, not enjoying how the topic switched to her in a snap.

He nodded, very enthusiastic about it. "When you first came here, you were like 'Ahh! Don't kill me gangsters!', remember?" he chuckled when Lucy smacked his chest with the back of her hand, embarrassed. "You didn't know much about the world of gangs and racing, but now you're becoming this more confident and strong woman that can kick ass when she's in action. You're just an amazing woman that continues to grow and I'm really happy to see that."

Lucy's heart fluttered immensely at his words, pretty sure that her face was bright red as they locked eyes. He wasn't flirting at all, she knew, but this was something that truly made her feel light in the head.

It seemed to be the same for Natsu, realizing what he had said as his cheeks tinted just the littlest bit and his eyes widen. They stared at each other as Lucy swallowed thickly and fiddled with the hem of her blouse nervously.

"R-really..?" she whispered shyly, hearing her heartbeat pounding in her ears. "Y-you really think that about me, Natsu?"

"I think a lot of stuff about you as a person, Luce," Natsu blurted out. "Good things, though. I promise, but yeah."

Lucy couldn't really figure out how it was happening, how the distance between their faces were subtracting slowly and how warm she felt with Natsu's breath fanning her flushed cheeks. His hands were still inside the car but weren't working on the bolts anymore, staying still as their eyes began to close and their lips began to reach each other…

She could barely feel his rough yet really, really warm lips against her glossed ones when a loud bang wracked all around them.

"Oi!" Cana yelled as she opened the hood again, stomping her foot on the ground. "Lucy, girl! What the hell are you doing down there, huh? Who the hell am I gonna talk to about lingerie while I'm forced to pamper Makarov's car?"

Cana wasn't able to see them under there, which was a bonus, unable to see Natsu and Lucy's equally bright red faces as they stared in horror at the brunette's interruption. "What are you two doing down here, huh?" Cana barked impatiently. "You're not sucking each other's faces or anything, are you? Natsu! You better not get oil stuck in Lucy's glorious locks, you hear me?"

"Bah, shove it, Cana!" Natsu huffed out, maintaining his normal voice to the point that Cana actually laughed at his response. "Can ya get me some water or something? It's getting dusty under here!"

"Yeah, sure," Cana drawled. "Anything to delay my portion of the work on here. Lucy, hurry up under there so we can talk about something more amusing, 'kay? Don't make me drag you out by the ankles!"

Lucy and Natsu watched as Cana's decorated feet casually walked off in the direction of Mirajane's bar, leaving the two underneath the car to wait a moment before looking back to each other. Natsu broke into his signature toothy grin as he shrugged, his cheeks still a bit pink as he chuckled nervously.

"I should get ya outta here, Luce. It's actually getting dusty," Natsu said as he set down the wrench and wiped his hands on his shirt, smudging oil and grease uncaringly.

Lucy felt herself panic a little bit, not really thinking as she reached over with one hand and grabbed the side of Natsu's face and turned him back her way. Pressing her mouth against his, she realized she missed her direct target of his puckered face caused by her hold; kissing the corner of his lips, she shut her eyes tight and held still for a good moment with Natsu froze on the spot.

His lips really tasted like cinnamon, but that may be the cause of him taste testing the collected treats he had Mirajane arrange by his request. She briefly recalled him helping himself to a few mini cinnamon cakes that were the size of Lucy's pinky and how she had to smack his hand away before he took his tenth one, telling him not to ruin his dinner. Either way, with his somewhat dry lips against hers, she enjoyed the taste and texture and warm mouth against hers.

Letting go soundly, Lucy looked to Natsu to find his eyes wide as plates, his cheeks bleeding into the cutest shade of red as she watched his throat bob rather attractively. Biting her lip, Lucy quickly concluded that she did something horribly wrong to her partner until his eyes softened with an indescribable emotion sparkling in them, his mouth quirking to a half-grin as a breathy laugh escaped his lips.

She wasn't expecting him to respond by bending his head forward and press a brief but still very warm and inviting kiss under her eye. "Easy there, tiger," he said against her boiling skin affectionately before pulling back. "Don't wanna piss Cana off by tempting me to keep you under here, right?"

Lucy shivered and huffed with a bright smile on her face. "You doorknob," she laughed, tucking her chin to her chest, refusing to see him waggle his brows silly at her. "You're getting ahead of yourself."

"Says the one who grabbed my face, Luce," Natsu shrugged playfully, making her laugh more against his shoulder. "We can argue about that later, right?"

Lucy's chest fluttered in the best way possible. "Yeah."

"Lucy!" Cana whined loudly in the distance of approaching. "Ya better be out of there, or I'm gonna be a very unhappy woman!"

"Nag nag nag," Natsu tsked with a roll of his eyes, making sure Cana could hear her. Lucy covered her mouth with the back of her hand and smacked his chest with her free one. "Why didn't you marry a rich sugar daddy and become one of those housewives on TV, Cana?"

"It's on my bucket list, Salamander!" Cana responded quite honestly, like she wasn't offended.

Natsu shook his head with a half smile before looking back to Lucy. "Can't keep the lady waiting," he shrugged as he reached down to haul them both out back into the real world that remained oblivious of what happened under the car. Lucy truthfully couldn't help but feel on top of the world at this point.

Lucy was at her happiest, and she wouldn't change it for nothing.

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Gray would occasionally glance over to the passenger seat every few seconds to check on the blue haired woman looking out the window. She was given a big, bulky sweatshirt to wear over her shirt that basically went down to her knees and borrowed Lisanna's flat sandals to go out, making her look rather small and fragile looking, but Gray knew better. Her bruised cheek still in his view, Gray could tell that the only reason why she put her hair down was to cover it up a little so there wouldn't be any wandering eyes to their destination.

Juvia's window was pulled up, but she sat the same way the last time she was in Gray's car, back when he raced against Vidaldus for her fate. As familiar it was, she appeared to be different from before as she looked out the window. More tired and deeper in thought.

Following his father's regular car to the station brought back some memories of when he was a smaller kid, and was actually excited to visit his dad at work with his mother. It's been way too long since last time Gray was at the station (for both casual visits and being mistaken for a criminal whenever he was caught by one of his father's cops), but his belly still felt unsettled just by going back to the place he refused to acknowledge once he was old enough to be on his own.

Thinking about how his father interacted with Juvia made him feel worse, now that it came to his mind…

"Hello, Juvia," Silver greeted the seated woman with his trademark grin as he helped himself to a chair across from the coffee table. "My name is Silver."

Juvia's face scrunched with confusion as she looked between the cop and Gray, a brow raised incredulously as she somewhat leaned away from the men in the room. Makarov was quick to usher her to relax in their presence, promising that there was no harm intended towards her.

"You don't need to worry about him, dear," Makarov waved a hand dismissively. "Silver here is actually a friend of mine from way back. He just acts like he's everybody's friend whenever he meets someone new."

"So he's a cop," Juvia finally spoke, her voice flat. Gray stiffened at her tone of voice and was actually willing to warn his father that the woman really didn't seem happy to see either of them now.

Silver actually made a noise of surprise. "How did you figure that? I'm not wearing anything that gives me away, am I?" the man began to look himself over, looking his a badge or anything that might ruin his disguise.

"The way you're sitting is the appearance of someone who is looking for answers, as well as trying to come off as friendly as possible to whoever you're speaking to," she said before narrowing her eyes. "Juvia doesn't care if you're Gray-sama's father or not, you're a cop and Juvia doesn't really appreciate that…"

Silver nonetheless smiled to her. "You're a very smart woman, I see. And you call my son with the '-sama' suffix too? That's something I haven't heard before." Glancing to his son, Silver's dark eyes sparkled rather mischievously. "Son, how come I have never heard of this darling girl? She's quite a gem and I'm sure your mother would have absolute fun inviting her over for dinner."

Gray instantly went red in the face, all while Juvia remained cool and collected, yet she seemed curious of Silver's meaning of his words. "S-she's not part of Fairy Tail, you idiot," Gray growled out at him. "Stop acting so suave!"

"I'm not acting suave!" Silver defended himself, suddenly dropping his elbow to his knee and winked to Juvia. "Unless you want me to, then I can definitely change the game plan."

"What do you want with Juvia?" she demanded in a flat voice. "Gray-sama says you know where my brother is."

"Ah, I do!" Silver remembered with a perk. "Gajeel Redfox, right? He's at my station as we speak, although he's not speaking… Yeah, he's a stubborn one, but my son here says that you'd be able to help me out."

"Juvia doesn't help cops."

"Well, that's the best part, I'm not on duty right now," Silver said cheerfully. "I'm actually here to help you out, as requested from my dorky son to reunite you with your brother."

"What does that have to do with Juvia?" she asked while crossing her arms. "You don't know Juvia or Nii-chan, so why would you want to 'help' only if Gray-sama asked?"

"Because I can tell that you're not like anyone who has ever walked through my station," Silver said pointedly, and Gray remembered very well at how confused he was by his father's tone of voice and how he gave Juvia a real genuine smile. The woman was also a bit taken aback by his comment as well.

"From what I can tell, just like you've proven that you can read people, too," Silver began, "you have been through a whole lot in your life, but you don't hold that against anyone or make it an excuse."

When Juvia didn't answer or made a snarky remark by his charm, Silver grinned. "You really care for those you are close to, both family and friends, and you want them to be happy. You're protective of those who are younger than you or can't stand up for themselves; no matter what's happening to you, you don't stop thinking about them, do you?"

Silver leaned his elbows on his knees, closer to the table as he offered Juvia a sincere and gentle expression. "I don't think you're a bad person, Juvia, and neither is your brother. Although he has a record for some irritating things, I can also tell he's being stubborn because he cares like you do. You two just express it differently."

Juvia glanced down to the table, her face unreadable as she shifted around on her spot on the couch. Gray did his best to not approach her or tell his dad to put a sock in it, standing there uncomfortably as Juvia took in a big breath and exhaled before looking up to Silver.

"Juvia wants to see her brother," she said in a small voice. "Whatever it is you want from Juvia...money for his bail, or whatever - Juvia will take care of it. I want to see Nii-chan."

Silver nodded and got up from his chair. "Then, let's go see him."

Gray hadn't expected Silver to just willingly obey Juvia as her order to see Gajeel, let alone see Makarov nod in approval and began speaking to Juvia as he led her to the bedroom to pick out something warmer to wear and pick out shoes. When he gave his father a look of legit 'what-the-hell?', his father's face actually perked like a struck idiot by Cupid's arrow and rubbed the back of his head.

"She reminds me so much of Mika," Silver whispered with a chuckle. "I couldn't really say no to her, but I bet she has a wonderful smile once she reunited with her brother and I want to see it! Ya picked out quite a gem, son."

Gray took a deep breath noisily, but Juvia remained unfazed by it and kept her eyes outside the window with a tired look. He glanced her way once they reached a red light behind Silver's car and swallowed nervously.

"You cold, Juvia?" he asked in a gruff voice. "Or too warm?"

"Juvia is fine," she said rather plain, making Gray drum his fingers on the steering wheel.

"Not in pain? Your bruises don't hurt, do they?" His face scrunched a bit as he tried to maintain his composure yet wanting to give her distance. He wasn't comfortable with the silence she has been giving him lately today - not counting Lisanna and Levy banning him from the bedroom and Cana kicking him out when she finally came by. But, whenever Gray finally got close enough to Juvia and tried to strike up a conversation, she didn't seem too pleased. "What about the stitches? It's -."

"Gray-sama needs to calm down."

Gray's head snapped her way and stared at her with wide eyes as she slowly blinked and propped her chin on her sleeved hand, looking at him rather calmly. Her loose waves slipped from her shoulders and down the sweatshirt, covering a large portion of her bruised face. "Juvia wants to thank Gray-sama for calling his father about Nii-chan, even though he is a cop…"

"It's not like -."

"And you don't get along with him, which Juvia doesn't understand all that much," she stopped him with a raised brow of pure curiosity. "Not that it is Juvia's business, but Gray-sama is a lot like his son in more ways than one."

Gray's brow twitched in irritation, looking back ahead as the light changed and he continued to follow his father's car. "We're nothing alike, Juvia."

"Of course you two are," Juvia spoke. "You both are determined men who don't like it when Juvia is upset."

"What!" Gray shouted, nearly hitting the brakes in shock. A car behind him honked but he ignored it.

Hearing Juvia's chimey giggle made his heart flutter a little bit, but he didn't dare look to see her teasing smile. Although her laugh was wonderful to hear after the while she's been under his roof, it wasn't in the best interest of the topic of his father and him being alike. "Juvia means it. Juvia could tell that Silver-sama was trying really hard to make Juvia happy when he walked in; he even flirts like you do, Gray-sama!"

"You're giving him a suffix now?" Gray whined with round eyes on the road. "And I don't flirt!"

"Elbow on the table or knee, that small smirk on the face nearly the whole time. Oh yeah, you two flirt the same way. Juvia sees where you got it from," the blue haired woman sang, making Gray's chest twist painfully. He opened his mouth to snap back at her, but it was her happy sigh that made him freeze. "Although Juvia thinks Gray-sama is a much better flirt when it comes to Juvia…"

Gray closed his mouth, feeling himself cooling off a little bit but he was still having a hard time listening to Juvia speak like this.

"But...Silver-sama definitely has class that Gray-sama needs to work on."

The rest of the car ride was Gray trying to explain to Juvia how wrong she was and Juvia backing her case up beautifully. He stole peeks to her blossoming, smiley face now and then, seeing her relax in her seat yet remained hugging her legs and resting her good cheek against her knees as she stuck her tongue out at him. If Gray would have it differently, it would only be that the situation and reason for the ride was going out for something to eat or a road trip; having Juvia's injuries healed and not worried about anything.

Coming up to the parking lot of the police station, Gray noticed the sudden change in Juvia's behavior as she straightened up her back and stared at the familiar insignia of the police logo painted on the window. With barely any cars, Silver and Gray parked next to each other near the entrance and killed the engine. Pulling out his keys, Gray looked to Juvia chewing on her lower lip rather nervously, making him feel something unusual in his chest.

He wanted to hold her and keep her in his arms until she calmed down from her invisible anxiety attack, but this wasn't the time nor the place - as if there will ever be a time for that.

"You're fine, Juvia," he managed to say. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you in there, and neither will my dad and Master Makarov, okay? No one is going to ask questions."

"Juvia doesn't like cops."

"Yeah, well, neither do I," Gray said honestly with a shrug. "One of the reasons why I didn't become one."

Juvia looked at him while he did his smirk and raised a brow at her. A gentle tap to her window caused her to jump a little, seeing Makarov waving cheerfully with Silver at the entrance waiting for them. Gray unlocked the door and Makarov carefully opened it to reveal Juvia from behind the tinted windows.

"Juvia dear, you can put the hood on if it will make you feel better," he suggested kindly. "No one is gonna bother us while I'm here with Silver. They will assume I'm here for business or drinks." The old man snickered joyfully at his little part of the plan as he held the door open for Juvia to come out.

She nodded slowly and slipped the hood up, covering majority of her bruise from prying eyes as she carefully got out. Gray was worried about her legs making it too sore for her to walk, but she managed to make herself independent from assistance with a slight limp and he got himself out of his car and went over to his father.

"Nervous?" Silver said under his breath to him, looking pointedly at Juvia as she stayed by Makarov as he closed the door and spoke to her animatedly.

Gray ran his fingers through his hair coolly. "Not the biggest fan of police stations, let's just say that."

"Makes two kids I know who don't like 'em," Silver sighed before grinning Juvia's way as Makarov escorted her over and opened the door like a true gentleman. Gray didn't have the time to retort to his father as he stole the door from him and somewhat kicked him inside the building by the rear, hearing him chuckle. Gray overheard some of his father's men announce his arrival in surprise, asking what he was doing on his day off and Silver responding to go back to whatever they were doing and ignore that he was here.

Makarov was supportive enough for Juvia to enter through the doorway, straight back and hands gripping the sweatshirt tightly as she went behind Silver and used him to shield as much of herself as possible while the elderly man stood by her side.

"Redfox is still in interrogation room three, right?" Silver asked the receptionist, a older woman with pens in her hair who nodded silently, going back to whatever she was doing on her computer. Gray mentally reminded himself that only Silver has access to the mirror rooms that connected to the cells Gajeel would have been locked in, following ahead of them to Silver's side as Makarov continued to speak to Juvia in a soft voice, as if a security blanket.

Fiddling with the keys he swapped out from his pocket, Silver looked between keycards and actual keys for whichever one would fit to the door they were going to. "I'm gonna let him know he has a visitor. He hasn't spoken a single word since he came in, but I don't really know how he will react if I tell him, since Juvia's whereabouts was meant to be confidential."

"I'll go with you so he knows it's okay," Gray said. "He left her in our care, and he probably knows me best compared to Gramps."

Silver shrugged lightly as he turned his head to see Juvia smiling down to Makarov, who was chuckling lightly and imitating with his hands about a story that was keeping her occupied. Once they came down the eerily-lit hallway that seemed to go on forever, they came down to the end to a halt as Silver finally found the key he was looking for.

"If you don't mind me asking, Juvia, if you can wait here while I go and make sure he's awake?" Silver asked the woman with a grin while he unlocked the door with a keycard, seeing her nod slowly and rocking on her heels. Gray couldn't help but feel a swell of joy that she is excited to see her brother, despite her face purposely tucked into the sweatshirt collar to hide her face.

Gray followed his father through the first doorway that led either through a door to the interrogation room or the mirror room, where you could either be watched or watch whatever happens in the room. With an actual key this time, Silver unlocked the door on the farther right and stuck his head inside before actually entering.

"Hey, Redfox," Silver spoke in his casual voice, putting a hand on his side as his head rocked to the side. Gray couldn't really see past him, being that Silver was as buff as Gildarts and blocked nearly everything he stood by. "How'ya feelin' tonight?"

There was no response, as Gray probably guessed by Gajeel's stubborn behavior and the rumor Laxus spilled the other night of Gajeel refusing to speak at all. From what Silver briefly said in Makarov's office, Gajeel had broken into a jewelry store and appeared to just be waiting for the police to arrive and arrest him for breaking in; he was injured with deep cuts with glass shards in it, so Gray guessed that he must have had a brawl similar to what happened with Juvia's leg or something along the lines.

Silver tried to lighten the mood between him and scratched the back of his head, just like how Gray does when he -! Forget that. Gray silently sneered at his father's back at the thought of how they absolutely could no way be similar with their habits. "Well, I hate being a bother to your downtime, but you have a visitor here to see you."

Gray took that as his cue to pat his father on the back briefly and have him make space for him to pass by and enter the room. It was a fairly normal-looking cell, save for the large wall with the one sided mirror tinted out against the prisoner. There was a folded cot and a table and two chairs on either side of it; there was no toilet or sink, considering that it really wasn't meant to be lived in, but Silver had the room setup to observe Gajeel during his mute and stubborn behavior for safety.

Gajeel was laying in the cot, his right arm bandaged with soft wraps and wearing what looks to be an old shirt from someone that was still a bit too small for Gajeel's size. Rusty-colored eyes instantly snapped to Gray's arrival as he instantly got up from the cot and stared at him with a shocked expression.

"It's nice to see that you're okay, Gaj -!" Gray attempted to make a friendly greeting to the injured man until a collision of a fist impact the right side of his jaw, making Gray's teeth pinch hard on his bottom lip.

Gajeel had used his good arm to wheel back and charge at Gray, hitting him once before ramming his side onto his chest until the collided with the wall nearest to them. The door swung open by Silver's weight from backing away in shock and forcing himself to balance from falling down as Gajeel wrapped his fist in Gray's shirt and lifted him a good inch off the ground. Gray struggled against the hold and saw how much fire was in Gajeel's tired eyes, looking like he had full intent on drawing blood.

"You fucking son of a bitch!" Gajeel roared to the point Gray swore he would breathe fire or rip his throat apart. "I'll fuckin' kill you!"

"It's not like that!" Gray responded quickly, trying to get the man to release him. "You need to calm down, Gajeel!"

"Where is she?" Gajeel snarled deeply. "What happened to my sister, you little -!"

"Nii-chan!"

Blue hair and tiny, pale hands came to Gray and blocked him from Gajeel's view. In an instant, he was dropped to his feet as a sound of a slap echoed in the room, Gajeel staggered back a bit as Juvia held the hand she used to strike in the air. Makarov finally entered through the doorway and looked around, letting out a low whistle before continuing inside towards the table and found himself a seat on one of the chairs by himself. Silver watched the elderly man with large eyes, his lip twitching in disbelief at the ex-gangster's response to the violence that had taken place.

Juvia straightened her back and lowered her hand, her shoulders rising and falling as Gajeel held his face and stared wide eyed at the obviously furious woman. Stomping her stitched leg, Juvia winced from her mistake as she spoke in a tone of voice that Gray had never heard before coming from her.

"You do not behave this way to someone who fucking protected your sister, Gajeel Redfox! If you ever do that again, and I swear to fuckin' Christ I will make sure you can never use your hands ever again!" Juvia stated in a venomous voice, her finger pointing at the fallen man. "Do you understand me?"

Silence stretched on inside the room, not once disturbed by anyone else inside the police station. Slowly, Gajeel collected himself on his knees, his eyes staying locked with Juvia's own as she held her ground like some dominating character that Gray has never seen - but he would tell the sudden change in the air when he barely saw Juvia's shoulders hiccup just the littlest bit.

Juvia's eyes began filling with tears as she kept her angry expression, her lower lip starting to pout and tremble as Gajeel rose to his feet with a only a couple feet between them. It was only another minute for Juvia to start breaking down and burst out a sobbing exhale as she jumped at Gajeel.

He easily caught her with both arms and practically crushed her against him and constricted his large arms around her, her legs folding up for him to catch as he dropped to the floor and held her tightly. Juvia buried her face between his neck and shoulder and some of his messy, black hair, her thin but still strong arms wrapped around his head and tangled her fingers him his hair hard as she cried out in such a broken voice.

"Why did you leave Juvia?" she cried out against his shirt, her tone a bit hard to indicate that she was still angry. "You left Juvia and I didn't know where you went!"

"I know, kid," Gajeel said in a low voice, one hand balancing her against him and the other rubbing her back and hooded head.

"You left Juvia! I hate you, Nii-chan!" Juvia sobbed, one of her hands weakly and shakingly punched his back. "You scared Juvia, you moron! Juvia thought you died!"

"I know. I'm a moron," Gajeel agreed, nodding and accepting every punch she gave him. "I'm sorry, squirt. I'm sorry for everything."

Juvia clung herself as close as she would to her brother, trying to make herself small in his arms while still scolding him in her bossy voice. Both completely ignored the three men remaining in the room, watching as the notorious and dangerous-looking Gajeel Redfox cradle and held Juvia like they were separated for years and years. Gray ran a hand through his hair and took a silent breath to catch himself against the wall, tasting iron on his tongue and touching his bottom lip to find it stained bright red. It wasn't a bad cut or anything in need for medical attention, but he knew for sure that his jaw was going to be absolutely sore in a while. He will have to ask his dad for some ice or a cold canned drink he keeps in his mini fridge in his office (that's always stocked for himself).

"Nii-chan, apologize!" Juvia spluttered through her tears in a thick voice, her face still hiding from the world with the help of the hoodie she wore and her brother's unkempt hair in her way. "You apologize for attacking Gray-sama, Nii-chan. Right now!" she demanded.

And like an obedient man, Gajeel nodded with his cheek against his sister's hood and looked up to Gray. When Gray looked to the Phantom Lord man, he was in disbelief for a moment to see unshed tears in Gajeel's red and sore eyes. The men holding his step-sibling forced himself to clear his throat, all while keeping the crying woman in his arms and opened his mouth.

"I'm...I'm sorry 'bout that," he said rather quietly, but entirely honest with his words. "I thought...you gave her up to the fuzz."

Gray instantly shook his head, quickly regretting it as he held his jaw and sucked on his bottom lip to stop a trickle of blood running down his chin.

To be truthful, Gray was very content with the outcome of the situation. Seeing the woman he really cared about with the only family she had left in this whole world, hugging him and speaking like she usually would to her older brother really brought the real Juvia back. The Juvia Gray was more familiar with; the emotional, living and responsive Juvia that he always wants to see, whether she was crying or laughing at him about his habits being similar to his dad…

Yeah, it was totally worth the punch to his face.

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=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - I know this is a overdue update, but I hope you will forgive me and will leave a Review! I spent nearly everyday of my break working 12 hours and managing the household for my family after that, so I wasn't getting as much free time as I thought.

Please, please Review, Follow, Favorite or whatnot! Remember I love you all and can't wait to see you in the next update (which shouldn't take so long?) Byebye!