Chapter 26: One of Us

Gajeel had expected to wake up alone. Alright, no – that was a lie. Gajeel hadn't expected to wake up at all. The last thing he remembered was someone blowing a massive fucking hole in his chest that had to have taken out at least one of his lungs, if not more. So, yeah, waking up at all was kind of a surprise.

Peeling open his eyes to find three worried faces hovering over him on top of that was one hell of a shock.

The fact that said three faces belonged to Shorty, Speedy, and Fishtail was almost beyond his brain's ability to comprehend. And to be honest, he still wasn't completely convinced that he wasn't actually dead. Though if Levy was here, that meant that he hadn't ended up in Hell – another surprise.

So, really, Gajeel felt that he was perfectly justified when the first words he managed to wheeze out were,

"Aw, damn it, you're all dead, too?"

Because he'd gotten a massive hole blown in his chest trying to prevent exactly that. The whole point of this had been that they were supposed to live. Shit.

Levy blinked those massive brown eyes at him in confusion, and then she had the nerve to laugh.

"We're not dead, you idiot. You lived."

Gajeel squinted at her, trying to decide if she was lying. Either she had an excellent poker face, or that was the truth. After a moment of consideration, he settled on,

"Huh."

Jet was smirking at him. So was Droy. It was annoying. Why couldn't they go back to them being scared of him and Gajeel not giving a shit about anybody – especially Fairy Tail weaklings? It had been so much easier back then.

And lonelier, a little part of his mind added, but Gajeel valiantly ignored it. It was definitely just whatever drugs they were pumping into his system talking.

"Ya know, I never thought I'd see the day," Droy commented, "when Black Steel Gajeel would pull a self-sacrifice play."

Gajeel scowled at him. The whole point of 'self-sacrifice plays' was that you weren't supposed to live to have to deal with the results.

"Yup," agreed Jet. He was grinning obnoxiously, damn him. "You saved our lives, plus that of our fearless leader here." He patted Levy on the shoulder. Levy beamed. And, oh, that smile. It made his shriveled wreck of a heart wish that he could be a better person.

"And so we've decided," Levy continued, "that we're keeping you."

There was a pause. Gajeel blinked at them owlishly.

"…what?" He must have been hearing the medication again.

Levy's smile just widened further.

"Welcome to Team Shadow Gear! We've already filed the official paperwork with the master."

"…what?"

Jet nudged Levy with his elbow,

"I think you broke him."

She gave Gajeel's arm a pat.

"We could use some muscle on the team. We mostly specialize in creative solutions and research, but you never know what might pop up on a mission. Besides, from what Lily tells me, you're not a half-bad mechanic either." She looked positively smug.

The fuck was wrong with these people?

"But why the hell would you want me?" Then Gajeel blurted out before he could stop himself, "The first time I met you I nearly killed all three of you! Why the hell would you ever consider trusting me?!" They must have him on the good drugs, because he had definitely not meant to say that.

"Well, among other things, you did let Jet and Droy try to beat you up," Levy began flippantly but sobered at the glare Gajeel leveled at her. "You saved our lives. You saved the entire guild. Master Makarov says that you've been acting as a double agent since you joined Fairy Tail. And," she hesitated and looked away, "you died protecting us."

Gajeel's frown became confused.

"What do you mean I died, Shorty? I thought you said I wasn't dead."

"Your heart stopped. Three times." Levy still wasn't looking at him. "I got it restarted the first time, and the doctors said they nearly lost you twice more on the operating table." She bit her lip. Jet and Droy were watching her with concern.

Oh.

"Which shows a truly staggering disregard for your own life," Droy continued before the mood could drop any lower. "Obviously you need teammates to keep an eye on you so something like this doesn't happen again."

"What about Lily?" But the question was half-hearted. Anything to get that look off of Shorty's face.

"Oh, he's already agreed to join, too," Jet informed him cheerfully. "He helped us fill out the paperwork. We had no idea what your home address was."

Gajeel glanced at Levy and sighed. Aw, hell, he'd made worse decisions. Agreeing to join Phantom Lord sprang to mind. There were much worse things he could be doing with his life than spending more time with Lily, Shorty, and these dorks. He rolled his eyes and sighed again.

"Fine. I'll join your damn team."

And just like that, Levy was smiling again. It was a thing of beauty. Gods, he was so screwed.

"Good. Because you didn't really have a choice anyway."

Gajeel gave her a crooked smile – manipulative little bookworm. He could feel his eyelids beginning to pull themselves shut again. Even this short conversation had left him feeling completely drained. Next time he woke up, he was going to be in so much pain – he could already tell – but for now he was able to drift peacefully.

Part of a team… he liked the sound of that.

The trio's voices continued to drift somewhere up above him, but Gajeel couldn't really make out individual words any more.

Part of a team…. That meant…. That meant that he really did belong somewhere. Even after he'd joined Fairy Tail and gotten strangely attached, he'd never quite felt like he belonged there. Not really. But now… it was a nice feeling.

He belonged.

Gajeel drifted off into a peaceful sleep, a small smile pulling up the corners of his mouth and teammates surrounding his bed.

A/N: Thank you again to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! You're all fantastic!

Guest - No, Flare hadn't joined Raven Tail when the last chapter took place. She's either just left her village or just about to. (Canon is a little hazy on things like age and timing for her as far as I can find.) She doesn't currently make an appearance in any future chapters, but in this universe, she ends up joining Mermaid's Heel, since there is no Raven Tail for her to run into any more. Thank you for your review!