a/n: It has recently been brought to my attention that I have problems with punctuation, and I really tried to clean it up some but I just got back from skiing and am completely worn out so let me know.

This chapter is dedicated to amnaK96

Right after Erza pulled the fire alarm, she went to find Gray. Now her and the raven-haired boy hadn't really defined their relationship yet, but he was still most definitely the person she wanted to see at the moment. After seeing Jellal, she needed somebody who she could absolutely trust to help her.

The students were rather fast at getting out of bed and she had to push back several boys in her quest to get to his room.

He was only just leaving when she spotted him. He looked confused at the sight of her as if he expected her to be somewhere else.

"Erza?"

"I need you to help me with something," she said quickly and quietly. "There is a fight going on, in the forest right now, and I don't think the headmaster can win—"

"Against who?"

"Jellal," she said quickly, "There's really no time to explain, but he's like an ex—sort of." Gray only looked more confused, and she grabbed at his hand tugging him after her. "We don't have time!" she shrieked at him impatiently.

The alarms suddenly went silent, the quiet was heavy, loud if silence could be considered loud. Then the explosions went off.

They shook the entire school, sending Erza careening into Gray, and screams echoed from all around them as the sprinklers went off drenching everything in sight.

"We need to go now!" she yelled. Gray seemed to wake up from his previous stupor.

"Follow me," he directed her, taking her hand again and pulling her after him. She was close behind, her brown eyes fixated on the back of his head. She was trying not to think about who could've died in those explosions.

They took the route Erza had followed that night into the river, sticking to the shadows, going stock-still and holding their breath if anyone came near. It wasn't long before they reached a small ground level window, and were able to climb out of it and on to the ground.

"We need to go now," she said, pointing to the dark copse of trees. "There really isn't any time to waste."

"But what about the others—"

"Gray," she turned around to face him, her face desperate. "I think Jellal is the reason all of this is happening. If we take him down, maybe the others will be saved." Gray seemed hesitant, his siblings were in the building, but Erza had already turned back towards the trees and he knew he couldn't let her go in alone.

He jogged after her. "Fine," he said, and then thought of something, "but once we make it through this, I'm taking you out to dinner." He could practically feel Erza's blush.

"I'll take you up on that offer Fullbuster," she replied, and that only propelled them to run faster. The sooner they could take down this 'Jellal' guy, the better.

They could hear the booms from where they were, the earthly shakes that were coming from ahead not behind. What they were about to walk into, Erza didn't know, but it couldn't be good.

"Who is this Jellal guy, anyways?" Gray asked from behind her.

"I told you, he's like an ex," she said, not really wanting to go into details.

"Bullshit. You need to tell me Erza," there was a sense of urgency, "I seriously just left my siblings behind in a building that's exploding to follow you."

"Jellal was the reason I couldn't run away with you before—he's the reason I'm still living with Zero, the reason for all my misery and pain, and he's someone you do not want to cross."

"But we're about to cross him anyways," he said, and she nodded.

"We don't have a choice," she pointed out, "It's either do this or let a whole lot of innocent people die."

They were about to reach the clearing; Erza could feel it in her bones—when Gray's fingers closed around her wrist.

"Could we die doing this?" he asked, and she decided to be honest with him, and nodded. He then yanked her towards him, and kissed her. The kiss wasn't exactly practical, they had much better things they could be doing, but she couldn't find it in her to push him away, but drew him closer, intensifying the kiss.

"You know that I love you when I kiss you even when you have nasty morning breath," Gray said, and she laughed, before stiffening. Love?

She wasn't sure what she going to say, seriously who says that in the middle of a battle, when a lightning bolt struck down, not five feet from where they were standing. It caused both of them to jump, shrieking, when she realized that the fight had drawn closer to them.

"Come on," she said, drawing him after her.

She knew the battle was close, but she didn't think it would be right in front of them.

It was clearly an intense battle, and she couldn't tell who was winning. Silently she yanked Gray down so he was crouching beside her, and they watched as Jellal and Laxus walked in careful slow circles around each other, waiting for the other to attack first. It was something she only thought happened in movies, and was surprised to see it being enacted in real life.

"You were on our side Jellal," Laxus said, his voice rough as if he'd just been panting.

"I still want to be," Jellal said back softly, "but what can I say? I was meant to be bad. I'm already damned." He suddenly laughed, and the laugh raised the hairs on the back of Erza's neck, "So what does it matter if I do this?"

He raised his arms, and Laxus went into a fighting position, but he couldn't stop Jellal like that, he was going to kill him.

"Stop!" Erza screamed, releasing Gray's hand and jumping in-between the two men. Both looked shocked to see her, standing with no weapon, still in her pajamas, her scarlet hair flying about her face, her arms outstretched as if to shield Laxus.

"Erza," Jellal snarled, but something in his eyes flickered—desire? "This is not something that concerns you, get out of the way."

"So you can kill him?" Erza's voice didn't shake as it might once have as she stared down her past. "Well you'll have to get through me first."

"And me," Gray said, stepping out of the shadows, and standing in front of Erza. "What kind of hellish ex-boyfriend must you be?"

"So you're prepared to protect her with your life?" Jellal asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes," Gray said, without preamble. His voice was solid, sure, and Erza's heart beat faster, she did appreciate but—

"Let's test that theory," Jellal said, and raised his arm.

"NO!" Erza screamed, but Gray shoved her back as a ray of golden light struck him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. "GRAY!"

She turned around; ready to yell at Laxus to run, but the blonde haired man was gone.

"LAXUS?!" she screamed, but only silence answered her.

"Now time to finish you off," Jellal's look was half crazed as he bent over Gray, raising his hand to deliver the final blow. Erza ran hard at him, knocking him sideways with her body, and then they were rolling on the ground, a tangle of limbs and fists.

He didn't seem to want to use his magic this close, it would probably hurt him as well. She raised her fist and punched him, but that gave him the momentum to roll on top of her, pressing her into the ground with his body.

"Did you know, I really loved you once?" he asked her, his breath tickling her face, his tattoo bright in the darkness. "You made me see the error of my ways, you made me what I am."

"Then I created a monster," she said, her eyes narrowing.

"Not all sins can be erased Erza," he whispered softly, "and you're such a big problem to the Duchess—she'll let Meredy go if I kill you."

"Who's Meredy?" she asked shakily.

"Someone you've met before," he breathed, "but of course you don't remember anything do you—" he broke off, and started a different sentence. "It's such a shame too, before this whole thing happened I think I was just plucking up the courage to kiss you again."

"Like I would've ever felt anything for you," Erza spat. He smiled then, as if it amused him.

"Oh but you do," he whispered, "You know that you love me Erza, even if your memory is gone." He leaned down, about to kiss her again, but she lifted her leg and kicked him right in the one place you should never kick a guy. He rolled off of her with a groan and she stepped over him, her foot raised.

"This is the difference between you and I," she said quietly, "I'm just going to knock you out. You were going to kill me." She didn't watch him closely enough, and his hand managed to snake around her ankle and yank her off her feet. He rolled on top of her again, pinning her arms above her head.

"You and I are exactly the same," he whispered, and then kissed her. He was not warm like Gray, but cold, and it almost felt slimy. She choked, and he pulled back, something like hurt in his eyes.

"Do not even try to do that again," she snarled, "or I will kill you if it's the last thing I do."

"I suppose it's time for me to kill you now," he said, and he almost sounded upset.

"Jellal!" a deep male voice sounded from above, from the everywhere and nowhere at once, as if it belonged to no body at all, "you need to take them both to the room. The Duchess needs to make sure all the threats are eradicated." Jellal raised his fist, and that was the last thing Erza saw before everything went black.

"Erza Scarlet and Gray Fullbuster have been collected," said the voice.