Chapter 12

As Tempest was coming to, the first thing she noticed was that she was moving. She was in a vehicle of some sort. Which of course brought on quite a bit of nausea. The second thing she noticed was it was daytime. The sunlight was shining directly on her face. And lastly, she was aware that she was laying across 2 peoples laps. Which made her desire to move, a bit more difficult. She opened her eyes cautiously, afraid of the faces she would find. She was pleasantly surprised. The seat across from her held Bixlow, Freed, and Erza. Natsu was hanging out of the window. Tempest was lying across the laps of Gray and Laxus. Laxus was wrapped in a few bandages, at her feet. Shirtless Gray was holding up her head. She looked directly in his eyes.

"She's awake everyone." Gray stated, drawing everyone's attention. Erza stood, and helped Tempest sit up, with Gray and Laxus' aid. That's when Tempest took in her own condition. Which was pretty rough. Her feet and hands were completely bandaged up to her knees and elbows. She had large bandages across her side for the wound she received from "Asra". She could feel some other bandages under her clothes.

"Sooo... What happened when I passed out?" Tempest asked. She glanced over at Laxus, but he was avoiding her eye contact.

"Well not long after you two set out, we received word from Sabertooth, that someone had sent out a fake job request to make an attempt to kidnap guild members. Same client. So we all headed out to meet you." Erza began.

"We knew Laxus likes to rest before meeting clients, but just in case, I sent my babies out ahead to scan the area once we got here." Bixlow continued

"When the receptionist at the hotel said you hadn't arrived, we came to find you. That's when we first saw the Lightening. When we went to get you, we were met by members of that Black Imp guild." Freed's eyes seemed to brighten as he mentioned Laxus' magic.

"We arrived just in time to see your crazy ass recklessness." Gray finished.

"The client?" Tempest asked.

"He was gone when we got there." Erza grumbled. Tempest dropped her head. They wouldn't have been in this mess if they had gone straight to the hotel, instead of going to the client and taking his "shortcut". Now they were both injured and it was her fault.

"I'm sorry Laxus. I really messed up." She apologized.

"Don't apologize." He chided.

"Don't mind him, he's upset about frying you." Bixlow informed Tempest. "Your hands and feet are pretty burned up. We think that because you're a water dragon, you kind of conducted the electricity, and it increased the damage to your body."

"Conductivity. That's what gave me the idea." Tempest smiled. She shoved an elbow into Laxus' side. "Hey Sparky, it was my idea, I begged you to do it. Stop moping."

"It was an amazing technique. But I think you're lucky to be alive." Gray said somberly. Everyone fell quiet after that. The rest of the ride was silent, and Tempest ended up falling asleep and leaning against Gray.

Sorry for another short chapter. Very early, very long days at work. The Life of an Assistant Manager...If I can post tomorrow, it will probably be short as well. Have a Good Night