Well, I'm back from my absence. Sorry for the wait, but you all know the most common excuses. Just fill those in up here. I APOLOGIZE FOR NOTHING! Seriously, though. I've been super busy. It's no fun.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. I wanted to give you a little different version of my somber kitten in this chapter.

Tragic

Rogue finished tying the white string that connected either side of his long mantle together as he left the locker rooms. Sven had said for him to give Kat some alone time before he set off after her. Surely, three hours was plenty of time. Then again, what did he know? Katja was a total stranger, and she seemed reclusive. How was he supposed to know what a girl like that wanted.

Letting a gust of air leave his lips, Rogue put the lock back on his locker. He might as well go set off after Katja. The guys in the guard had said that she would be the one in the most danger during the games, and Rogue fully knew why.

Nearly two or so years back, the kingdom of Lancet had been ruled by Adamine's regent and a man by the name of Gatlin. Gatlin had a mage perform some spell that permitted Adamine's regent to obey his every order. Thanks to that spell, Gatlin was able to gather a group of mages from around Lancet. Those mages were named Exile, and Katja had been a part of that group.

Rogue had no clue what kind of damage becoming an assassin had put on her mind. Rumors said that she'd started killing around seven years old. A slave overseer had grabbed her bare arm then fell over foaming at the mouth. When there was no other answer but Katja's skin for the sudden death, Gatlin and his father had Katja touch another slave against her will. Sure enough, that slave had died, and her career as an assassin began.

To be killing others at seven years old… Rogue shook his head. Her mind had to be damaged. It was no wonder she was so skittish around people. It was also no wonder people were after her.

Rogue needed to find Katja, but where should he look first?

She seemed like a rather headstrong girl, so Rogue doubted she'd spend too much time moping around. She was probably outside looking for Lucian. At least, that was what Rogue figured he would do if he knew someone was hunting him.

Ambush the ambusher. It made sense to him.

Now, where should he start?

Sadly, Rogue didn't know much about Lucian, so he couldn't think of a place the Moon Magic User could be at. What he did know was Katja. With her skin condition, she should be easy to spot. She had to keep covered, and she would probably avoid crowds. Now, where was a place that wouldn't have a ton of people right now?

The hour was evening, and most people would be going to bars or restaurants at the moment. But, if Katja was hunting for Lucian, she could actually be in one of those places.

"I'm not cut out to be a detective," Rogue groaned as he made his way down the hallways in the vomitorium of the coliseum. He took about three steps down the elegant but simply designed stairway leaving Thor's Field before a dark shadow crossed in front of him.

"That's why I'm here," a masculine voice commented. Two tan hands came up around a hood, and long, sandy blonde hair waved out from a trench coat when Sven unshielded his face. His deep brown eyes were so dark they appeared black, endless. When they met Rogue's eyes, he felt like Kat's younger brother was seeing straight into Rogue's soul.

Sven barely gave Rogue time to think of a response to that. In a slight shifting of movement, the male of the Poison Siblings was standing directly in front of Rogue. "What is your interest in my sister?"

"I-interest?" Rogue stammered, backing up when those black daggers called eyes narrowed on Rogue's face.

"Yes. Interest. What are your plans for my sister?"

"Guard her? I don't know. What am I supposed to say? I barely know the girl."

Pulling down a step, Sven looked Rogue up and down. The Dragon Slayer felt like a bug beneath a microscope while Sven analyzed him. Sven's dark eyes roamed every square inch of skin on Rogue's face before the Poison Mage made some kind of decision. "I see. Are you saying she's not good enough to be attracted to?"

"Wha-what? No! Not at all. I just-er-I—" Rogue's words cut off when Sven's sandy blonde brow rose in question.

"Uh-huh. I see." Sven clucked his long tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Well, at the very least, I can say one thing. You'll never be good enough for my sister." A short, mischievous grin was the last thing Rogue saw before Sven spun on his heel.

He was leaving a stunned silent Rogue behind him before turning around. A long braid was flung out of the back of his trench coat when the assassin glanced back towards Rogue. "Are you going to stand there staring at me, or are we going to find my runaway sister?"

Drumming his fingertips against the bartop, he scanned the crowds. He knew he was being followed, and he was almost certain he knew who was following him: Katja Saab. She was a crafty woman, always able to slip in and out of places unseen. Her body was more like a phantom than a corporeal form, and he was thankful for that.

It made her easier to capture.

Katja was a wallflower. She lingered on the edge of a crowd and barely made much of a statement. Her existence was that of a shadow, and because of that, she wouldn't be missed.

Grabbing his frosted glass, he let a liquid slide between his lips. From his perch on a short stage by the bar, he could see everything. The main entryway was in his direct line of sight. He'd seen people come and go over and over again while his team sat in the bar.

They were celebrating tonight. They'd made it into the top ten, and they were closer to their enemies now more than ever. Some plotted death. Others wanted to see their old nightmares enslaved. Lucian was one headed in the direction of death, but their leader had another idea in mind for the beautiful Katja Saab.

Death was too easy for one like her. It was because of her that he was in this current state. She'd paralyzed him for life. With her lips coated over in that purple poison people often mistook for lipstick, he'd lost more than just the use of his legs. He'd lost his confidence as a person.

He could remember the day so vividly. They'd acted like young lovers, teasing each other and chasing each other. When her purple mouth pressed against his, he was certain that his magic could counteract hers, and it had. It just hadn't lasted. In the span of three seconds, his entire body had fallen to the earth. His body had convulsed. His heart had hammered. Saliva had grown foamy and leaked from his lips. Finally, his heart had stopped. When he'd woken back up, it had been inside of a casket.

He would never forgive her for what she'd done to him, and in the years that he'd spent relearning his own magic, he'd made a vow. He would find Katja, and he would put her through the same hell she put him through. The only issue was keeping Lucian and his pull over the water away from her.

Narrowing his eyes on his second-in-command of the group, the leader watched Lucian. Were anyone to meet him right now, he wouldn't seem like he was hellbent on murdering a woman. He would look like a fun loving kind of guy, not someone who'd been training and strengthening his body to murder the bane of his existence.

That was their entire group. Each person in their team had a grudge against a member of Exile. Their leader and Lucian wanted revenge on Katja. Nari was after Felix. Cadence wanted to see Colin enslaved. Ace wanted Hollis and the Phoenix's father for the destruction wrought years ago. They hadn't come to Lance for the games. They'd come for revenge.

Letting a sigh slide from a mouth that once knew how to control the world, the leader turned towards the entrance of the bar once more. A woman was entering now. She looked like the average punk club kid. Leopard print tank top beneath a worn out cropped vest, metal bangles wrapped over in leather, and a mini skirt so short it was barely legal. The leader of Hidden Mask wouldn't have spared her much of a glance if she didn't look so familiar.

She had the familiar honey brown skin of Katja, and her dark brown hair was pulled up with a band of leather decorated in spikes. Long legs that looked more familiar than foreign were revealed. Their gentle curves ran from combat boots with chains dangling off the side before slipping teasingly beneath that leather micro mini skirt. When the leader let his eyes trail up the leopard spots and to a slender throat shielded in a metal choker, he noted purple lips. Lipstick or poison?

"Stupid girl clothes," Kat hissed, tugging down her too short skirt for what felt like the millionth time tonight. Perhaps it was the knowledge that she wasn't wearing underwear or maybe it was the fact that she was wearing the most scantily clad articles of so called clothing, either way Kat just could not get used to her bare thighs rubbing against each other. Every inch of skin was a potential threat. Gyrating bodies were something to be avoided as Katja tried to make her way towards the bar.

She'd seen Lucian and his band of criminals slip in here earlier. Thanks to strolling by the bars near the docks, Katja had found this hole in the wall place. Upon one glance into the dirty windows, she'd seen familiar silver eyes. Lucian was in there.

Now, Kat just had to figure out how to eavesdrop on them and possibly slip Lucian out the back door. Just a slip of her displayed skin, and she could take her brother's threat out forever. As a matter of fact, she was surprised she hadn't seen any of the former Exile patrol out tonight.

There'd been no close calls after the one she'd almost had with Colin thanks to Ichiro. Sven hadn't been around. Hollis's flames hadn't flickered in the air. Not even a glint of the giant hunk of steel that was Felix's six foot long blade caught Kat's eyes while she was leaving the coliseum. Either they knew where she was or…

Her eyes narrowed.

They might have had Rogue trailing her.

Turning around, Kat quickly surveyed her surroundings. People's shadows danced on the walls of the evening lit building. They played across the hardwood floors her feet were marching atop. She couldn't see a single shadow lying disconnected from its owner. Rogue was either here in body, or his shadow was somewhere she couldn't see.

Humph. He could be wherever he damned well felt like being. No shadowy dragon slayer was going to be able to stop her from making sure her brother was out of harm's way. Besides, Rogue knew the force of her magic. He would do best by not trying to get in her way.

A flippant huff filled the air, and Kat straightened her shoulders. She could handle Rogue if he had the balls to stop her. She had the ovaries to make sure he stayed in his place. Taking a step towards the bar, Katja let her hips roll in that seductive way she caught other women walking.

She was playing a part, and she needed to play it well. Katja was an assassin. Blending with a crowd was just a part of her job.

Taking a spot at the bar, Katja was approached by the bartender in a few short seconds.

"Hey, doll. What will you be having?" broke into the shields her brain put up, and Katja nearly jerked from the barstool.

Drinks? Oh, duh. She was in a bar. Of course, drinks. Chewing on the inside of her lip, Katja's eyes jerked around the room. Thanks to the legal drinking age being bopped to the same age as people could enter the military, Katja was legal. Even so, she'd never drank in her life. Malia had been strongly against it, and Kat rarely ever had time to hang out in bars. She often was at Isaac's right side.

She happily played the role of his secretary when she wasn't doing undercover work. Isaac's mountainous paperwork kept her from going out with the guys like Hollis and Colin. Sven didn't drink, and Felix was often too busy swinging his sword to go out.

Gulping, Katja kept scanning the room before blurting something out. Her eyes locked onto the sign behind the bartender, and she tried to play it cool when she read a brand name off an advertisement.

She was here to find Lucian not get drunk! The silver eyed male had shifted from where she'd first caught sight of him in the window, and now, she'd lost him completely.

When a bottle appeared in front of her, she absentmindedly pressed the bottle to her lips. The dark taste of something touched her tongue. She couldn't describe the combination of darkness and hops as anything good, but it wasn't bad either. Before Katja forgot to pay the bartender, she passed him the coin to pay for the beer, but her hand was met with resistance.

"Don't just grab your booze and leave, doll. I suspect this might be your first time drinking. You just have the first one on the house. Come back when you're finished, and I'll give you something to eat, too," he flirted, even having the audacity to flash her a wink.

Thankful that Catori's gloves kept the bartender from touching her skin, Katja tucked her coin back into a spike studded purse. "Thanks," she muttered, trying to hold back her blushing skin to no avail. No one flirted with her because she kept her skin so well hidden. Perhaps, there was something to letting a little skin show?

Smiling against the rim of her glass bottle, Katja strolled through the bar. A guy was on stage. He sported a white tux and wide brimmed hat. In his grip was a blue and grey, metal guitar vaguely resemblant of a feline. His inspiration much have been a more vintage style of song and dance thanks to the bunnies on stage and the occasional "Shooby do Bop" coming from his vocal chords.

When Katja narrowed her eyes, she couldn't help but question, "Is that Levy and Lucy on stage?" Sure enough, when the bunnies turned around, Katja's lips parted at the sight of the busty blonde and her blue haired counterpart. Their fake rabbit ears flopped this way and that way while they were forced to Ooooh and Ahhh according to the music.

"Katja!" a voice cried out, and Katja's head whipped around to catch sight of Risley. The woman's black head of hair bounced around her body before Kat was snatched up by Risley's reaching hand. Before Kat could leap away from that hand, Risley snagged her vest. "I remember," Risley whispered, leaning into Kat's ear as she hauled the Poison Princess over to a group of either drunk or near drunk mages.

The group wasn't team specific. There were a variety of guild members here. At the largest table in the bar, Cana sat with a barrel of booze between her legs. She was apparently in a drinking contest with Kindred Spirit's Catori Polterom. They slammed shots one after another. Beside them, sat wholesome Beth. Juvia was hanging on Grey's every word as he and Natsu had a heated discussion of something. Their words were so horribly slurred from their drunkenness that Katja was already wishing she had more clothing to cover her body with. A brawl would break out if those two were together.

"Ah! There's the life of the party!" Cana burst out in a massive sigh.

Catori's head popped up from the other side of the woman, and she hooted, "There's my little buddy. Come 'er, and lemme get ya wasted!"

Immediately, Katja tried to take a step backwards, but she was stopped when Risley grabbed her vest. "Come on! We're celebrating our victory. Hey, bartender, give a shot to the first place winner of the Lancet Games!"

A volley of hollers and shouts sounded out around Katja, and she felt all eyes in the room fall upon her. Nervous shivers ran up her spine at all the staring. She felt like she was naked onstage with a spotlight shining down upon her.

She tried to break free of Risley's hold, but the woman wasn't giving her an inch. "I didn't come here to celebrate! I've got a lead that I have to follow," she blurted out, accidentally revealing her intentions in this bar.

She couldn't help it. Her breath was coming fast. Her hands got hot and sweaty. Her chest felt like it was constricting her from all the eyes and the sounds around her. Her frantic mind couldn't focus on a single thing because there were so many things happening in the room from the drunken shouts of cheer to the women dragging her towards the table.

Risley pushed on Kat's back while Catori and Cana yanked her from the sides. She was thrown down onto a seat in no time. The sharp slap of a glass on wood caught her attention, and Katja gaped at the sight of shots lined in front of her. They were all colors of the rainbow.

"To making the top ten!" Cana roared out, thrusting a shot into Kat's hands.

"But I-I can't-I don't—"

"Sure ya do!" Catori chimed in, grabbing Katja's bottle. By the way she easily tossed the bottle end over end towards the bartender, Kat had to question how the bottle had gotten empty so quick. She hadn't drank it all down. Had she?

"Come on, Kitten. On the count of ten!"

"But, I—" Her words died out when everyone looked at her even stopped in his caterwauling to cast her an upturned brow. A knot formed in Kat's throat at all these expectant stares. They wouldn't stop looking at her until she did it. Biting down on the inside of her lip, Katja raised the glass. One shot couldn't hurt. She'd take it then go back to looking for Lucian. With the announcement of her arrival, he wouldn't be leaving until she did.

"Alright then," she resolved. "Just one shot."

It wasn't just one shot. Katja didn't realize that as she stood with Gajeel, Lucy, and Levy on stage. She'd wound up joining the girls in their sexualized costume. Fishnet hose encased her legs, and a glittering red one piece hugged every centimeter of skin that she had. There wasn't a single thing loose as Katja paraded about on stage.

Popping her hip out, Kat snagged Gajeel's mic. She gave a sassy spin before leaping atop a stray chair on stage. The karaoke screen played in front of her eyes as she sang. While Gajeel had his Shooby do Bop. Katja sang a Do Wap Do Wap version of her own song. Her emotions were on an electric high as she played on the wooden stage.

High heels clicked on the stage as she spun and danced. She would have been elegant if her risky leap atop the chair didn't end in a slip. She could feel the wooden legs slipping on the stage, but her reflexes were delayed by the alcohol. Hands didn't reach to save her fall, and she tumbled ass over end to the stage.

But, she didn't stop singing.

The crowd raved as Katja grabbed ahold of the end of the stage. She let her front slide across the floor and kept on singing. Her heels waved behind her, and she let her fingers play across the face of one of the spectators in the crowd.

The sharp scent of burning cigarettes didn't even offend her senses as she tossed the mic back to Gajeel. She was so caught up in the moment, free of inhibitions. Between the sexy clothing and the alcohol, Katja was a force to be reckoned with.

When their on stage time was up, Kat hopped onto her feet and blew kisses to the crowd. Tears ran down her face as she shouted, "Thank you! I love you all!"

"She's going to be so hungover tomorrow," Lucy laughed and grabbed onto Katja.

"No joke. Do you think she'll even be able to get back to the lodge?" Levy asked, grabbing ahold when Kat nearly tottered to the floor again.

"You guys just don't understand how nice you're being," Kitten whimpered. "No one's taken care of me this well since my momma died." Both Lucy and Levy shared a look before setting Katja onto her seat.

Catori and Cana replaced the girls when Gajeel nearly fell from the stage. Their warmth replaced Katja's former dance partners, and the drunken assassin bawled, "You guys are just so nice. You don't understand. Everyone around me dies, but you keep hanging out with me. Why are y'all so nice?"

"So, she's the crying type drunk," Cana snickered. "Maybe, we can get some dirt on the former Exile mages, eh?"

The faces around the table lit up at that idea.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Levy tried to rationalize, but it was too late.

Cana had already pulled a chair up next to Katja. "So, Kitten. Tell me a little bit about Exile? How did all of you get partnered up together? Give us all the dirt you know."

Katja hiccuped before she asked, "Whaddaya wanna know?"

"Tell us about Colin. He's never around for us to talk to like the others."

"Colin?" Katja asked, pulling her head back. Her bleary eyes were scanning the room like she was trying to find the man. When she didn't find him, she slurred, "S'not too much to know about him. He was found by our old master when the master and a couple other nobles visited a brothel."

"A brothel!" the group shrieked back.

Kat waved her hand at them to get them quiet. "Yah. Yah. Colin was born to two nobles, but when they discovered him turning to myst one day, they sold him to some slave traders. He was so handsome that a brothel bought him. He reads PlaySpell so people don't think he's afraid of being touched, but really, he's been hurt sexually by more people than in this bar. He's afraid of being alone with men and doesn't let women touch him either because women were what sold him out. That's why he's never around when there's a big party. There was an old custom that Isaac made illegal where brothels could bring a few courtesans to the parties. That was how Colin was typically picked up for the night. When Gatlin bought him from the brothel, he passed him around from friend to friend. It screwed Colin up so bad that he thought he had to repay any kindness in sexual favors."

The group was quiet as that information passed through their heads. To think that anyone's body had been put under so much torment was sobering. Even so, someone couldn't stop themselves from asking, "What about Felix then?"

"Felix's story ain't half as bad as Colin's. A lot of his problems come from his clan. You see, he came from a northern clan that are called Eisen. They have this ritual where after a certain amount of boys are old enough, they kidnap them and throw them into the river. While the kids are fighting for their lives, the clan moves onto greener pastures. The kids that don't die in the ice cold rivers of the mountain are called Kilnun and are respected members of the clan, but they can't come back to the clan until they're married. So, they live as mercenaries until they find a woman worthy of being a shieldmaiden. Felix had been working for a group of mages that had gathered enough coin to pay for him. Then, he'd gotten captured by the enemy.'

"If you want to know another sad story," Katja continued. "Then, let me tell you about Hollis." Her drunken proclamations filled the table. Noses sniffled, and eyes watered as Katja handed out the most personal information she knew about her teammates.

"Hollis's parents were already bought out by Gatlin and his dad. When Oryan got his wife pregnant, he was promised by the duke that she could go free to live and give birth in a free country. Hollis was still in his mother's womb when the duke changed his mind. Oryan had failed in the mission that would send his wife overseas, so the duke had the ship Hollis's mom was on be attacked by the navy. The intense battle sent her into labor, and she gave birth to Hollis on the deck of the ship. She died giving birth, but the navy soldiers collected Hollis. From then on out, Hollis was used as a pawn for Oryan to keep fighting on Duke Gatlin's side."

A tear ran down Kat's face, and she sniffled against a napkin. "The worst part about all of it is that, the roles eventually got reversed. Before Isaac came around, Oryan had fallen ill and couldn't fight for Gatlin anymore. Gatlin forced Hollis to start working for him, and if Hollis failed a mission or did poorly, they would take it out on his sickly father. The beatings only made his illness worse, and he was on his deathbed for a while. Thanks to Adamine, Urian, and Isaac, they were able to find a mage specializing in healing. Oryan's perfectly fine now, but he still has the whiplash scars to prove the stories. All of us owe our lives to those three slayers. That's why we follow them so closely. Their words are like law to us." She sniffed then ran her pinky nail underneath her long lashes. When she found moisture there, she quickly hid her face behind a napkin.

The faces in front of her were solemn. Juvia had turned to water as she sobbed on Gray's shoulder. Lucy and Levy were hugging each other for comfort. Even Cana was leaned against her barrel while moisture leaked from her eyes.

"Katja!" Natsu cried out. He wrapped his arms around her waist, thankfully not touching any skin. "Everything's okay, Katja. Fairy Tail has you. There's nothing to cry about anymore."

"But, there is!" Katja wailed. "I still can't touch people because of my skin. I'm too scared to go outside or even go swimming because my body's poison will leak into the water. Someone's always trying to touch me, and I almost took out Sting the very first day he came to Lancet. I'm an awful person, and I can't even go outside without killing someone. I'll never be able to have a relationship with anyone because I can't even touch anyone!"

"Oh, Kitten!" the girls around the table cried out.

They looked like they were about to join in on a group hug until a trench coat got draped around Katja's shoulders. "Found you," Sven mentioned, his voice like the call of a reaper.

All eyes jerked in his direction. He and Rogue stood like commentators over a confusing ballgame. While Sven had the passive, disinterested facial expression of a passerby, Rogue looked astonished. His idol was drunk and hanging onto Levy's arm.

Tears ran down his face as he cried, "That's so tragic!"