Chapter 6

Rogue awoke to the sounds of a groggy Sting sleepwalking around the campfire. Well it was mostly sleep walking. Sting was practically already awake. "Aren't you ever going to sleep?" Sting grumbled looking a crossed the fire as the sun behind them barely rose.

"I am. When I find her."

"You almost sound obsessive."

"...I won't argue with your point."

"Have you tried tracing any of the leads yet?"

"I haven't found anything." Rogue sighed, reluctantly, as he stared towards his "twin" dragon slayer as that man smiled digging around for something in his pocket. "I remembered this after everyone was out last night. I wasn't stupid enough to go looking without any leads you know." Sting grumbled as Rogue rolled his eyes, in a Rogue-like fashion, quiet but not unnoticed. Rogue went to reach for it as Sting snatched it away. "I'll tell you in the morning, but first you have to go to sleep. Just once, I know you, you look like you haven't slept in days." Sting grumbled looking at him suspiciously. "I used to. Now I just use those wasted hours looking for her." Rogue said flipping over and staring up at the stars, he could almost, just almost trace out Levy's face within the stars. "Sleep. You won't even see her if you're looking at the back of your eyelids now would you?" Sting grumbled as Rogue nodded. Nothing would happen. Sting was on lookout. It was his turn. He could trust in his partner, just like-before it had all happened-when everything was "But looking at the insane madness swirling around inside my own ahead I just-". Rogue felt his heavy eyelids close on their own slowly memories, visions, dreams and possibly hallucinations from lack of sleep rushing back to him.

Pictures and images only an insane person would understand that he clearly didn't passed threw his exhausted head. The idea of finding a unicorn which wasn't as strange as it sounded since he was indeed raised by a dragon, the random colors that shifted in his eyes, and then oh...the situation that he dreaded...already resurfacing from the insanity that formed its way in each night beneath his eyelids. Not something that was insane that his brain was trying to conjure up to fight the exhaustion. Fighting exhaustion with insanity that was a laugh. But the problem with the final door that he had to open...not a door of insanity or wild dreams that he would never conjure up while he was awake, what a joke, only if...not this door...this door was a door of a memory sitting there in the back of his mind. Like a predator in the wait for their prey. Waiting patiently, constantly there, and would eventually get what they were looking for. The door swung itself open. That stupid door that he could never ever hold shut no matter how much mental strength he put into it. Gajeel's screaming echoed thru.

"What do you mean I haven't been looking for her? She saved all our lives! She saved my sorry ass! Of course I've been looking for her every single night and day!" Gajeel's looked desperate as if something even he wasn't understanding was brimming underneath his own orbs. Rogue understood what this meant. It wasn't that simple. It wasn't as simple as Gajeel's saying that she had saved them all. He could smell her on him. She had kissed him. Something so passionate or intimated. Had happened with Gajeel. He curled his fist. It made him sick. Sick with rage. He wanted to just reach over to Gajeel, simply for that smell upon his lips, and-

Rogue let out a breath wiping his eyes open. Surely that next thought. He couldn't hear it. He didn't want to hear it. The murderous intent that was lingering around the corner. The possessiveness that echoed in his bones. "I won't turn into someone...someone like that man." Rogue whispered to himself feeling the sweat echo on the traces of his face and down his back. He couldn't...he didn't want to. Become that man. The one who had engaged in the Grand Magic Games. The one who had overflowed the place momentarily with death and other things unsightly. Rogue pulled himself up, everyone in the camp already asleep, as he trudged to the nearby water source. Splashing himself in the face several times until he finally acknowledge the blonde blob that was shimmering behind him within the water. "What?" He asked as Sting looked at him a face that would've been something of bemusement before meeting the "other" type of guild now gone and filled with blue pools of worry within his eyes. "Rogue are you going to be okay?" Sting asked seeming appalled as Rogue checked over Sting's head for horns. Oh gosh. How the insanity felt getting to him. To the point he couldn't understand if he was awake or asleep anymore. Being awake. Both a relief and a nightmare. HIS nightmare. Nothing inside his head could this insanity conjure up that was different from having this girl, this blue headed fairy, by his side. That would surely relieve even the tiniest bit of the insanity that was threatening to overwhelm him, Rogue splashed water in his face once again, no he wasn't insane. Exhausted. Not insane. He would not become the man who had stood in the center of dying people...utterly laughing his heart out. This was just exhaustion speaking tempting his mind with strange thoughts. "Rogue?" Sting called again as Rogue nodded through the bubbling water.

"I'm fine, Sting, give me a moment." He said underneath the water as the White Dragon Slayer Twin gave an exasperated sigh. "Don't drown yourself." Sting said almost half serious as he walked back to the camp before anything too weird could happen back at the camp. Which it was already too late for that as Gray and Juvia seemed to be deep into a heated talking with each other while Gray, poorly, attempted to brush her off. Simply because he couldn't it was obvious how he felt. Annoyingly obvious.

There wasn't time for that. Rogue pulled his dripping wet hair out of the water heading back towards the camp. Only to find an even weirder sight than what Sting was supposed to be stopping. Sting was antagonizing both of the FairyTail mages, teasing Juvia out of pure fun, and possibly teasing Gray who was sitting indian style his leg continuously twitching attempting to not be obvious as he was while watching as Sting had his arm wrapped around Juvia's shoulders. Sting was probably the next Loke playboy in the making, or at least a fill in while he was out fulfilling his duties as a celestial spirit to Lucy, cooing words that he had picked up from his travels in her ear as she blushed fiercely trying to come up with a reply.

"Juvia, Juvia only likes Gra-"

"Enough already! I can't let anyone from another guild have her! She's FairyTail's!"

"What if I joined?"

"You can't just go and do that! You're the leader of SaberTooth!"

"Well I-"

"Sting stop teasing her." Rogue sighed walking back as Sting looked in between embarrassed and shrugging. "Just trying to motivate Gray to be more of a man." Sting teased as Gray attempted to not turn a shade of red and come up with an argument in return.

"Last night, you promised those papers." Rogue outheld a hand waiting for Sting to drop the papers in his hand. "After you promise to not kill me over holding out on you." Sting mumbled casually as a scene played in the back of Rogue's mind. The himself from the future...had claimed to have killed Sting. Was this the reason? Were they already on the wrong course? Rogue shook his head. No, they had solved whatever that was that lay ahead. Rogue shook those away, Sting was simply saying something trying to lighten the mood. Something friends, brothers, would say to each other under normal circumstances. And to them? This was a normal circumstance. Not for long at least. "I got myself a lead while you were sleeping last night on the papers I picked up from FairyTail." Sting said triumphantly as Rogue felt questions surface immediately. When had Sting made time to go to FairyTail? What kind of lead? Was it false hope? Would it help? "And what exactly is it?" Rogue asked crossing his legs as he sat down on a log waiting for what would probably be a painfully long explanation of the "brave Sting and his exploits".

"I made a trip to FairyTail to ask about this lady...the lady that Mard Geer had called Veronica. And low and behold that the master there did actually have records on her."

Rogue flinched, visibly flinched, this was the first time he had heard such a thing.

"And for the final piece!" Sting puffed his chest out as if he were a triumphant lion.

"The next town saw her pass through recently."