32nd: Wrath
Summary: The wish to take revenge had devoured them before but this time, there was nothing and no one who could stop them.
She slammed her opponent against the wall, grabbing the key card before she waited for her partner to knock their former comrade out. Her white hair gleamed even in the faint light and his black hair shone subtly as well as they silently moved down the hallway. Less than a year ago, they had been members of Sabertooth, the criminal organisation. They had been killers in the name of their boss, in Jiemma's name.
But this had changed. This time, they were here to take revenge for everything Sabertooth had done to them. They were here for payback … for revenge for all the pain and humiliation … and they wouldn't stop until their revenge was complete.
The first few cronies were taken out with ease and by the time they got dangerously close to the master's room, no one had spotted them yet. For a moment, the woman wondered if it was right for her to take revenge like this after all Sabertooth had done for her but then she remembered how cruel the organisation had been to her and her partner and the next guard who got too close to her got a full-blown punch into the stomach.
"It doesn't befits you to be overly excited, Y," the black-haired man stated as they went down the last hallway that separated them from their destination.
"And it's not like you to talk this much, R," she replied as she smirked at him. "It's just … we came too far to let those fools bother us now. I cannot move on without closing the chapter Sabertooth forever," she shrugged. "You haven't forgotten about S either, did you?"
Her partner quietly shook his head as he remembered his slightly arrogant best friend who had always smirked smugly – even in death. This was for Sting – which had been the blonde's full name – and R wouldn't stop at anything to avenge his friend who had been betrayed by his own girlfriend, the daughter of Sabertooth's master. Well, it hadn't ended well for Minerva-sama for she had been killed by a member of Fairy Tail – a rivalling organisation. It had sounded like Fairy Tail's blue-haired assassin hadn't taken it well that Minerva had flirted with another assassin, someone called Gray-sama.
"I thought so," Y said as she turned her attention at the task ahead. "We need to get through Master's newest lapdog to get to master himself," she muttered. "The new R…"
R sighed deeply. "Tsk, master was in such a hurry to replace me…" he muttered.
She looked over her shoulder, remembering the cold and emotionless man she had met when she had first joined Sabertooth, so many years ago. He had changed a lot, especially after Sting's death. She had never seen him this angry before but that night, he had scared her with his angrily burning eyes. She had dragged him away from everything back then and before Sting's body had been cold, they had been hundred miles away – leaving their old identity behind. She had grown after she had abandoned her old organisation. She was less scared of everything and she actually stood up for herself.
She also knew that she had saved his life by taking him away from the organisation and the town because she knew that he would have attacked Jiemma openly – and this would have been his last action. But so, after a year, they had a strategy, a plan.
"Y and the one I replaced…" the man with long blond hair and a mask over his face smirked as he walked down the stairs. "It seems like master was right about you … you really don't know when to stop…"
"You look like a clown, you know that, huh?" R stated drily.
"I've been told so by Fullbuster as well … that was before I beat the hell out of him."
"And seeing that Gray Fullbuster is still alive and well, you failed your duty," Y said as she crossed her arms. "We never failed our duty until that day."
"Technically, it was night when it all went down the drain," R corrected her. "But that isn't of any importance as well. We will take you down and then we will proceed to master dearest to hand in our official resignation."
When they had been still in the same team as Sting, they had been slightly imbalanced. Y, S and R had been all Brain and Bullets with a slight over focus onto the bullets. Sting had been intended to be a field and street man because he had been able to get into every place because of his charm and yet, he had been too much a man of with a gun. This hadn't ended well for him in the end when Minerva-sama had decided to be a bitch and kill him off without a moment of hesitation.
Now, they were better balanced. Y supplied the brains and R had the bullets to back it up.
"Whatever," the new R said as he waited for the incoming attack which was an attack of the man he had taken over for. The true R fisted him straight into the stomach before the elbow came down onto the blond man's head. Y frowned slightly as this display of violence before she tapped her partner's shoulder. "He has been unconscious for two minutes," she stated calmly. "I think that you might want to stop now. We don't have any time to waste."
He nodded as he let go of his defeated successor. "I expected master to get someone who actually can stay conscious for a few moments when he replaced me," he muttered as they walked up the stairs. "I mean … even the fairies stood longer than that…"
"There you see where Sabertooth ended once Minerva and Sting were dead and we left," she shrugged as she kicked open to door to the master's room.
"Y and R – it took you long to return," Jiemma said as he raised his head to look at them. "I was already thinking that you would never come home."
"This is no 'welcome back', master," R spat. "This is a 'goodbye' - forever."
"Why do you always get the awesome lines?" Y snapped at him – a mere second before a shot rang out. In disbelief, she stared at the crimson spot on her white shirt, before she slowly fell back as the red stain grew further and further.
R's world stopped with a screeching noise and his dark eyes seemed to be red as he watched his partner, the reason why he was still alive, lying on the floor, a pool of blood forming around her. Wrath consumed him completely. The last time this had happened, Y had been there. She had held him back. She had taken him away before he had lost his mind completely. This time, she wasn't able to stop him as he unsheathed his katana and attacked his former master. He cursed at the man without really paying attention to his words. The only thing he cared for was to kill the man, to kill him the most painful way possible because this man had killed the woman R loved. Loved? Yes, he came to realise, he loved Y who had been so fragile and breakable when they had first met. He loved the woman who could make him laugh and who had saved his life back then.
"R…" Y chocked out as she coughed up blood. "He … he is already … dead…"
He turned away from the man and walked over to her, both bloodstained. She was stained with her own blood and he was stained with their former master's blood. He sat down before he gathered her injured body in his arms. "I will get you out of here," he promised.
"No," she said as she brushed away the strand of hair that hid his face. "It's too late."
"It's never too late, Y," he replied.
"Yukino," she chocked out. "My name … it is Yukino."
The name revealed a simple fact to R. His partner who had been there for the most important part of his life had been told the same thing as Sting and R: that they weren't allowed – under any circumstances – to reveal their full first name. And since R had been here once before, he knew under which circumstance even rule-obsessed people such as Sting and Yukino would break this rule: when they didn't have to be afraid of punishment anymore, when they knew that this rule couldn't bother them anymore because they would die anyway. And so Yukino – such a pretty name for such a beautiful woman – had broken the rule. She was sure that she would be dead before the hour was over.
"Y-Yukino…" he somehow managed to say as he took a first step towards the door. "Hold on, will you? I know a nurse – she still owes me a favour, I once saved her husband. Hold on, alright? I will get you to her. You will be alright again. I promise."
She shook her head before she kissed his cheek. "Stay strong, dragon," she whispered as her eyes slowly closed. "I won't be able to help you anymore…"
As she fell silent, he nearly panicked but his trembling hand found the pulse on her neck. She was still with him. She was still there. She hadn't gone like Sting had. He kept pressing his jacket onto her wound as he walked out of the headquarters, lucky that all the guards were still out like candles which had been re-enlightened yet.
No matter how this would end, it wouldn't end with Yukino's death. This wasn't how their story was supposed to end. For some strange reason, he had always imagined that they would die together – maybe in a car crash or something like this. A bullet hadn't been part of his equation but then again, he had been the bullets to her brain. Maybe she had known that something like this might happen. Maybe this was the reason why she was so calm.
Natsu was silent, for once. Even Gajeel and Laxus weren't saying anything though it was obvious that the latter was about to say something – probably something rude, knowing him. R stared at his hands which were still bloodstained before he looked at the door.
"If there is someone who can save her, that would be Wendy," Natsu said quietly. "I mean … she even managed to save Laxus' eye back then … that woman is a freaking miracle."
"What else could she be with brothers like us?" Laxus snorted as he touched the scar that marked his face. "Anyway, R, this was foolish of you. I know that you didn't want to join Fairy Tail but we are the Dragon's Children. We could have supported you. To do this on your own – even if it was for Sting – was completely crazy."
"I know that too, now," the black-haired man muttered softly. "How's your girl?"
"Booze chick? She spends the weekend at her parents' cottage with the other girls. You are fucking lucky that Wendy didn't leave with them – little sister had a stomach bug and decided to stay at home," Gajeel shrugged. "Little Laxus seems to be serious about her."
"If I wasn't serious and if I would toy with her heart, either she or her dad would kill me," the blond dragon sighed. "But you and Levy are settling down as well, Gajeel-chan."
"Don't remind me of your creepy father, Laxus," the gruff man said disgusted. "That man is one of the few who actually give me creeps."
"Just like Levy is the only one who can scare you, right?" Natsu grinned as he patted R's shoulder. "Wendy will be able to save your girlfriend. I am sure of this."
Sometimes, R wondered why they could be still friends like this. Sure, they had kind of grown up together because their parents had been friends but when they had been adults, they had joined opposing organisations. Most of them had joined Fairy Tail while he had joined Sabertooth along with Sting who wasn't there anymore. Wendy, cute, innocent little Wendy, was the youngest among them and Gajeel was the oldest. They all shared a sibling-like relationship and sometimes met up for old time's sake.
He was still lost in his thoughts as the door finally opened and 'cute, innocent little Wendy' made her appearance. Her long blue hair was braided and her white coat showed a few bloodstains as her amber eyes burned with wrath.
"You damned idiot!" she screamed as she grabbed his ear and nearly ripped it off. "First you never call for a whole year and suddenly you appear with a nearly dying woman? Are you out of your mind, shadow dragon? You didn't even attend my wedding!"
He shrunk back. No matter how sweet Wendy usually was, she could be extremely intimidating when she wanted to. "I am sorry, sky sorceress," he replied quickly. "How's Yukino?"
"She will make it – but still, how dare you to ignore my birthday and all the other parties I threw for the others?" she hissed as she continued to violate his poor ear. "I really should ask Gajeel-nii to beat you up – even he appeared every time I invited him!"
"Yes, because Levy was scaring him into compliance," R sighed. "Am I right, iron dragon?"
"You have no clue how scary the shrimp gets when she's mad at me," Gajeel muttered.
"Tsk, afraid that you end up in the cat house?" Laxus chuckled.
"Very funny but no," Gajeel said. "And Lily doesn't sleep in a house. He sleeps on the windowsill in our bedroom so he won't get scared when a thunderstorm appears."
R left them to themselves after Laxus and Gajeel engaged a battle which made Wendy slap them both and went on to the guest room where he suspected Yukino to be. His guess was right. She was there, sleeping lightly and awaking when he entered.
"I am still alive," she whispered as she gingerly touched the bandages over her stomach.
"Yes," R agreed. "We don't call Wendy a sorceress for nothing, you see? You will stay alive. You won't leave me the way Sting did."
"Who is Wendy?" she asked. "Your girlfriend? You never mentioned her before…"
He shook his head. "She is a childhood friend of me and Sting," he said as he sat down. "We are in the headquarters of Dragon's Children and she works as a nurse here but she's also an assassin. She owed me a favour and so I called it in. She's quite the miracle worker."
"What will we do now, R?" she asked. "Our revenge is complete…"
"Rogue," he said softly. "My name is Rogue. And I don't know what we will do now … but I guess that we should do it together, alright?"