AN: I haven't really decided how I'm gonna do this, but this will probably be a scene between Erik and Macbeth. Probably. I'll do my best. It won't be half as long as the last chapter, though, and it might be my last update for a bit, as school starts next Thursday at eight in the morning. Yes, really.

Story the Fifth: Silence

The good thing about spending time with Macbeth, Erik thought, was that he neither had to talk or listen. Macbeth spent most of his time asleep, and it took a whole damn lot to wake him up. Even when he was awake, he rarely spoke. Erik quite liked that. Macbeth was not the type of person who wanted to have a conversation, and that was nice.

So, when Jellal had picked out their next target (their fifth mission as a team, and, hopefully, the third not to end in disaster) and decided to break the group into pairs, Erik picked Macbeth. Not that there was really any other option, of course, as Merudy and Sorano – being the only girls – picked each other by default, and Richard and Sawyer made a surprisingly good team. Jellal himself was not partnered with anyone, for two reasons. One, there were an odd number of people, and two, he was stronger than the other six combined.

The four teams (if Jellal himself counted as a 'team') had split up to surround the Dark Guild they planned to destroy, with Merudy and Sorano in the most conspicuous location, as they looked the most normal (at least, with their cloaks on), Richard and Sawyer in the least conspicuous, as they looked the least normal (even with their cloaks on), and Erik and Macbeth in the most awkward – the sewer.

Well, in all honesty, it wasn't really a sewer. They were underneath the Dark Guild (the name of which Erik could not remember, though he would later swear up and down that it was "Troll Fetish" when telling the story to Kinana), in a place that was probably supposed to be a basement. It didn't look like a basement, though, unless 'basement' was equivalent to 'loads of dead rats'.

"Dark Guilds today don't have any class," Macbeth grumbled, nudging a dead rat with his toe. Erik glanced at his partner, surprised. Macbeth usually only spoke when he was spoken to (or when he was tormenting someone). "The Oración Seis at least had a house."

Really? They heard Jellal telepathically, as he wasn't actually there at the moment. I seem to remember a cave.

"Right, and you're know for your memory," Erik snapped. "Besides, that was only while we were lookin' for Nirvana."

If you say so, his boss replied, sounding skeptical. Anyway, be on your guard. I don't want to make a move until we know for sure that there aren't any innocents in there. Erik snorted.

"Oh, like Fairy Tail never caused any collateral damage," Erik began. Before he could continue, Macbeth placed a hand over his mouth.

"There's someone coming," he hissed.

How did you notice before Erik? Jellal wondered.

"You were distracting him," Macbeth replied. "Now shut up unless you have something important to say." The two felt the mental link recede, and Erik groaned.

"He's gonna lecture us later," he mumbled through Macbeth's hand.

"He'll lecture you," Macbeth corrected. "After all this, I'm going to sleep."

When the door to the makeshift basement opened, Macbeth trapped the person in an illusion and Erik knocked him out. They forgot, however, to catch him when he fell, and someone heard the noise. All hell broke loose, but no civilians were harmed, and, somehow, no one died. Jellal did indeed only lecture Erik, but he got back at Macbeth too, using Merudy's Sensory Link to give him a sugar high. For a while, they ended up using the Dark Guild's base as their own, until Sorano found out about the dead rats and made them leave.

AN: I don't know is this is what you wanted, my friend, but it's what I got. Sorry it's not longer, though. It really should say something if Richard and Sawyer both outrank Macbeth in physical weirdness. Maybe he should have teamed up with the girls and Erik with Jellal… Nah, that wouldn't work. Macbeth isn't gossip-y enough, and Erik and Jellal would be too busy taunting each other about Kinana and Erza. Oh, and Sorano isn't scared of rats or dead things or anything like that. She just doesn't like it when she glares at something and it doesn't run away. See you next time!