Gajeel paled at the sight of his daughter unconscious and ghost white. His heart sped up as he quickly took command over the upset room. "Jet, yer the fastest, get a doctor. Droy, ya know Levy like the back of yer hand, find her. You, pinkie and the stripper, clear off the bed, fast. Meredy, I need ya to get my medical files from the glove compartment. I'll take Kat."
The group split apart, each member bolting in different directions as soon as they were given a task. The brawlers had the bed clean in seconds, Meredy appeared to blur past them, slipping the child into her father's arms and disappearing from the room, Jet and Droy hot on her heels. Rogue blinked slowly as he stepped up to his older brother. "Think it's the same thing as you?"
"Yea. I can hope and pray not, but sadly, I know the signs. High pain tolerance, independent nature, red eyes, passing out. She's more like me than I thought." The mountainous man sighed, "bet you anything, Levy will shoot in here with a small syringe. She'll tell the doctor it's a pre-existing medical problem the child's had since she was two. I should have known."
"Gajeel!" Levy's voice came from behind the man. Turning around, his suspicions were confirmed as the blunette held a shot of swirling silver. "I—."
"Don't Lev, it's okay. I know. She inherited it from me after all." Gajeel sighed. He laid his daughter down on the bed, taking the needle gently from her mother's hands. "The neck or the arm, Shrimp?"
"Neck." Levy spoke slowly, watching with a heavy heart as Gajeel gently injected the silvery goo into his daughter's main artery. Her breath caught in her throat. Why did the ones she loved so much feel like a fading flame all of a sudden?
"Gajeel?" Natsu spoke quietly, trying not to wake the child in front of him. "What is that gunk and why does she need it?"
"Shut up, flame-brain. Can't you read the room. Now is not—" Gray started only to be cut off by Gajeel.
"It's liquid iron. My daughter, as well as myself and my brother, has a very rare disease. We have a severe iron deficiency, our bodies do not take it in from food or drink like yours, instead we have to inject it straight into our bloodlines either in our arm, if type A, like Rogue. The neck of type B. Type A, while severe and inconvenient to daily life, is not life threatening and easily manageable. Type B is the opposite. It's an unpredictable and extremely dangerous condition in which the body immediately uses up all its iron and send the patient into a coma like unconsciousness. It is fatal and barely manageable. I, as well as Bellakatra, belong to this type. I carry a fully stocked kit of liquid iron filled syringes at all times. I'm sure Levy has the same for our child. Once we get things settled down, I'll get a special set of dog tags made up for her. They'll hold her full name, date of birth, blood type and instructions on iron injections. Just like mine and Rogue's. Meredy, sadly, if you ever conceive via my brother, your kids will likely have a type of this disease. It's passed through the male genetics." Gajeel sighed. "She'll sleep it off for the next day or two, depending on the intensity of the deficiency."
"You know a lot about the Metalicana syndrome. Did you do a lot of research?" A new voice rung out, turning the attention of the room from the unconscious child to the elderly woman in a white lab coat. Her pink hair wound into a tight bun and her eyes full of what appeared to be hatred, the woman stood tall and proud beside a skittish looking Jet. "However, I am curious on how one researches such a new disease and all its qualities. There's only five documented cases in the world."
"Three of which are in this room." Gajeel sighed again. "Gajeel Redfox, this is my younger brother, Rogue, and my daughter, Bellakatra."
"Redfox? Then are you perhaps related to–."
"First documented diseased, Metalicana Redfox." Gajeel interrupted. "Yes. Metalicana was my father."
"Your family are the only known carriers of the disease. It dies when your bloodline ends." The doctor stated. "It's passed along from father to child. Your daughter is effected by it but won't pass it along to her kids. So long as you or your brother never have sons, the disease dies when your daughters do. Having said that, you are not responsible for this disease. Do not blame yourself, do not fear having sons, do not fear bringing children into this world."
"Excuse me, Doctor, but you seem to know a lot about the disease yourself," Rogue chimed in.
"My name is Porlyusica Dreyer, I'm your niece's personal physician. My grandson suffers from a unique disease himself, so I offered to take on Kat's case in an effort to save both of them." The elderly woman snapped. "Not that it's any of your business."
"Dr. Dreyer, please don't snap at my brother, he means you no trouble. We just want to keep Kat safe. That's all." Gajeel spoke, sending his brother a well aimed glare. "Ma'am, will my daughter have to inject herself for the rest of her life?"
As the boys spoke with the doctor, Levy sat holding her unconscious daughter. Her mind had begun to wander as she listened half heartedly to the conversation. Looking around the room, Levy's large brown eyes fell on Meredy's bright green ones, instantly recognizing the look of panic within them. "Meredy, sweetie, will you walk with me to the cafeteria? I'm still weak and haven't ate today. Droy, can you sit with Kat while her father talks to Porlyusica, please?"
"Yea, of course, Levy. You girls go get food. Bring me back something sweet though, okay?" Droy smiled at the tiny woman as she took the young pinkette by the arm and turned to leave.
"Meredy," Levy spoke once the girls had turned the corner, out of sight and earshot of the men in the hospital room. "What's wrong, and don't say nothing. I won't believe that."
"Oh, God, Levy, I'm scared!" The young woman whimpered, her eyes quickly filling with tears. She came to a stop as she reached a shaky hand towards her bag. The girl's hands shook harder as she tried to unzip the small, pink bag designed to look like gameboy.
Levy watched Meredy with growing concern. The women had known each other for years, Meredy being the sister of Levy and Gajeel's close friend Juvia Lockser. When Juvia and Meredy lost their parents to a car accident, Levy was only fifteen. Juvia, who was sixteen, had fought hard to gain the right to live and raise her sister on her own, working two jobs and going to school just to keep her sister with her. Levy often gave up her own paycheck to help the teen buy food or clothes for the small child. She would even babysit Meredy for free. Meredy had eventually come to see Levy as another sister as well as a best friend. The two had always been close. Levy had vanished just after the then eleven year old Rogue had come clean about his feelings for the small pinkette, leaving the child feeling betrayed and hurt. The woman never quit worrying and often missed the girl, however, regularly calling Juvia to check on not just Meredy, but the Redfox boys as well, Juvia never giving more than a vague update on health and success. "Meredy, take a deep breath and calmly open your bag. You're okay. Everything is fine. I'm right here."
The teen sighed, taking a deep breath. Slowly she opened the bag, pulling out a small white and pink stick. The older girl instantly recognized the item, quickly pulling the pinkette into a tight hug. "Levy, what do I do?"
Rogue watched, silent as a shadow, frozen in place around the corner from the two embracing women. Shortly after the two had left, Kat had woken up, having made a rather speedy recovery. Gajeel, upon seeing how scared the child looked, had sent Rogue to get Levy. The black haired boy had just turned the corner when her overheard his girlfriend telling the sickly woman that she was scared. Concerned for his love, the teen did what any worried young man would. He hid, eavesdropping on the conversation and watching from behind the wall. His heart pounding hard in his chest as Meredy pulled out the one item that scared him most right then. "Levy, what do I do?"
The simple question shocked Rogue back into his body, causing the boy to bolt back to the hospital room. He ran through the halls of the bleached white building picking up speed before slamming into the door behind which stood his big brother. Panicked and unsure what to do with the information he overheard, he grabbed the large, heavily pierced man by the arm and yanked him from the room, closing the door quickly behind them. Once out in the hall again, Rogue began to pace, running his hands through his hair and breathing heavy.
"Rogue." The boy looked up at his brother, tears in his eyes. Gajeel's deep voice was strong but gentle as he watched his young brother panic. "What's wrong?"
"What the fuck am I going to do?" Rogue fell to the ground. Gajeel raised a studded eyebrow at the boy's dramatic appearance and waited for an explanation. The teen took a deep breath, "Meredy's pregnant. I think Levy's the only one she's told. Gajeel, what do I do? What if it's a boy? What if she wants an abortion? What if the child got hurt when we were fighting off the wolf? Or during the explosion? All the stress and excitement, isn't that bad for a pregnant woman? Oh god, she carried Kat! Was it too much weight? And all the running? Oh fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
"Rogue, shut up. Everything will be fine. You need to get it together. If Meredy told Levy first, she's scared. That means you need to get yer ass together so when she does tell you, you can be the strength she needs. So stop yet cryin' and man up. Yer a Redfox for fucks sake. Yer gonna be a father to that kid no matter what and yer gonna do it right. I'll be here if ya need help. But for now, wait til Meredy decides to tell you and in the mean time, take her out, spoil her rotten, and go find that girl the best ring we can afford. Yer gonna do what I never got to and marry her before that baby is born. Got it?"
"Got it. Thanks, Gajeel." Rogue said, instantly calming down. "So, who tells Mom about the kids?"
"Don't remind me. Though, I'm not as worried about telling Mom as I am about telling Wendy and Carla." Gajeel laughed as he thought about his sister. Two years younger than Rogue, sixteen year old Wendy was as sweet as she was innocent, while Carla was strict and loyal. Half of the set of twins, Wendy was the younger of the two girls and took after their father, having type A of the disease like Rogue. Carla, the older twin, took after their mother and was the only one out of the four to not have a variation of the syndrome named after their father. A kind hearted girl who dreamed of being a doctor like their mother, Grandeeney, Wendy was easily excited about things like this, while Carla would be highly disappointed in both for having kids so young, both having become fathers before their twenty first birthday, though Gajeel was only a few months shy at the time of Kat's birth. The strict looking white haired girl would disapprove even more on finding out she was an aunt six years after the birth of her niece. "You know, those three are gonna use our balls for keychains after this!"
Meredy stood shaking as Levy held her. The pink haired teen had only found out about her growing child that morning and she was three times more terrified now. She had known about the disease shared within the Redfox family since she was young, having watched Rogue inject himself almost daily. She was seven when she saw Gajeel collapse for the first time, frozen in fear as Levy plunged the swirling syringe into his neck. She knew the disease was hard to live with, but her love for Rogue made it worth it to her. Now that the life of her own child could be effected by it, her fear was almost paralyzingly strong. "Levy, what do I tell Rogue? Should I tell him? Should I even have this baby?"
"Meredina Nicole Lockser, how dare you even consider giving up on that baby before you've even considered talking to Rogue! You were there the day Gajeel found out about Kat, you remember the way he looked, how he reacted? The pain in his eyes? Do you want Rogue to go through the same? No. Of course not. You love him, right? Then I suggest you act like the woman I know you are, be the mother I know you will be, and tell that boy about his kid. Your sister did not fight for custody of you just for you to run from the same privilege of raising a child. I hurt my family by keeping Bellakatra to myself. Don't follow in my footsteps. March your ass back to that room, back to that boy, and you tell him your a mother. You give him the chance I never gave Gajeel. Now!"
"Um, yes Ma'am, but won't it look suspicious if we don't return together with food?" Meredy smiled at the woman who was more family than she realized. The pink haired teen had come to see Levy as an adoptive mother. More so than she'd seen her sister as. Juvia was always gone, at work or school, leaving Meredy to grow up under Levy's watchful eye until the blue haired girl had vanished without so much as a goodbye. The blunette had been there to help with homework, bought Meredy pads when she had her first period, explained sex, relationships, feelings, and even what having a job was like. Levy had given Meredy chores, her first job as a dog walker, her first cell phone, her first crazy hair cut, her first pet, and was there on every birthday, for every recital, for parent/teacher conferences, and more. Meredy slid her arm into Levy's and pulled the other girl down the hall to the cafeteria, grabbing a handful of sandwiches, a few slices of cake, some cookies, juice boxes and some soda.
They returned to the room to find six grown men playing make believe with a still weak Kat. The scene was enough to melt even the coldest heart. Gajeel knelt beside his daughter like a knight as Rogue places a paper crown on her tiny head. Jet lay at the foot of her bed like a watch dog while Droy attempted to juggle little foam balls as a court Jester. Natsu must have pissed the child off for he lay pretending to be dead on the floor near by as Gray knelt to the other side of the girl, clearly her favorite out of the two, as she had made him a knight like her father. Kat grinned as she looked up at her mother, "Mommy!"