A/N: Here's a slightly longer chapter. (Let me know if you guys want me to keep making them longer.) Enjoy, minna ^-^

Chapter Six

They crept through the hallway and back towards the main room, which was the only way to get back outside. Lucy and Erza were leading, considering Lyon and Gray were busy holding up Natsu. When they came to the door leading into the large open room, Lucy peered through the little square of glass and gave a thumbs up. "All clear. Let's move."

They pushed through the door and made their way to the other side safely, breathing sighs of relief when they were safely through the door. Next was the series of turns that would take them back to the door they'd entered through, and Lucy—the one with the best memory—took the lead.

Finally, they rounded a corner and saw the door at the end of the long hallway. Relieved smiles were shared through the group as they started the final stretch towards safety. However, luck was not on their side. When they were halfway to the door, a shout rang out behind them, and Gray could hear guns being pulled out. "Run!" he yelled, and everyone started sprinting towards the door.

Bullets peppered the area around them, and Gray and Lyon were lagging a few steps behind Lucy and Erza, considering they had Natsu's extra weight between them. But it looked like they would make it; the door was only a few feet away now, and Lucy was reaching for the handle to shove it open. "Almost there! Almost— Ugh!" A bullet hit the back of Gray's left leg and he stumbled. Lyon shot a quick look over at him but Gray waved him on, shouting, "I'm fine! Go, go, go!"

Lucy threw open the door and they were racing out into the sunlight. Lyon slammed the door behind them and Erza hurried to slide a board over the handle. It shook as the people on the other side tried to open it, but the group wasted no time sticking around to see if it would hold. They took off running in the direction of the Outpost, Erza and Lucy shooting any Zs that came their way.

Gray's leg felt like it was on fire now, but he said nothing; he had to get his friends to safety before he could worry about himself.

After running for what felt like hours but must've only been five minutes, they stopped to catch their breath, hiding out in the abandoned shell of a laundromat. Lucy's back hit the wall and she took deep breaths, sliding down to a crouch against the wall. Erza joined her, unstrapping a water bottle from her pack and handing it to the blonde, who took it gratefully.

Lyon and Gray set Natsu down carefully on top of two old dryers, using them as a makeshift bed. Gray, in a moment of kindness, grabbed an extra T-shirt from his pack and balled it up, carefully placing it under Natsu's head as a lame attempt at a pillow. He sighed and fell back against the wall, crossing his arms and glancing out the window to make sure they weren't being pursued. He wanted to sit, but he figured if he did, he wouldn't be able to get up again.

"We can't stay here long," Erza said, mustering a groan from the group.

Lucy sighed and stood, unstrapping her pack and walking over to Natsu's prone form. "We should try and bandage him up a little before we keep walking. I have a T-shirt we can use as a towel to get some of this blood off."

Gray nodded, unslouching from his place against the wall and walking over to stand next to her. "Good idea. Lyon, help me out, would ya?"

Lyon grunted an affirmation and walked over to stand beside Gray, who was attempting to get Natsu's blood-stained shirt off. "Fuck. I think we might have to cut it off," Lyon commented, seeing his brother struggling with the shirt, which was stuck to Natsu, almost like a second skin.

Sighing in defeat, Gray slid his knife out of its sheath on his leg and started cutting a line down the middle of the shirt until it was completely open in the center, almost like a jacket. "Hold him up, will you?" he asked Lyon, who obliged. "Damn," he huffed, grunting as he tried to lift Natsu's upper half so Gray could get the shirt off. "He's fuckin' heavy."

"Don't complain."

Finally, Gray managed to get the shirt off, tossing it on the floor in disgust. "Okay, got that shirt, Lucy?" She nodded and pulled out a black shirt from her pack, folding it into a rough square before handing it to Gray. "Here," she said, passing over her water-bottle as well. "Douse it with this first."

The wet T-shirt did well to mop up the blood, but what was hidden underneath was less than pretty. Cuts covered his skin like patchwork, most of them shallow and short, but some long and deep. Gray growled in anger as he noticed that some patches of skin were missing; torn off. Lucy held a hand to her mouth, letting out a muffled sob. Erza was quick to hug the blonde, attempting to offer comfort as she led her away, towards the corner of the room where she could calm down.

Lyon wrinkled his nose but was otherwise fine as he helped Gray clean and dress the cuts on his front. When they were finished, Lyon eyed Natsu with a determined look in his eyes. "Okay, we've gotta flip 'im." Gray cracked his knuckles and nodded. "You take his left, I'll take his right."

After several moments of cursing and heavy breathing, they got him onto his back, and Gray gasped when he saw it. It was clear of smaller cuts; in fact, there was only one. It was a long diagonal slash from his shoulder all the way to his hip. It was deep and a dark, angry red, still trickling blood down his back.

"Well shit," Lyon deadpanned.

Nodding grimly, Gray tried to hold back his anger as he cleaned the cut, then bandaged it. Damn them to hell. I'll kill each and every one. He wanted to do a better job, at least clean it with Hydrogen Peroxide and put on some Neosporin, but he knew they had already stayed there too long, and they were sitting ducks so close to the warehouse.

Taking the shirt from under Natsu's head, he shook it out and had Lyon hold Natsu up again as he carefully slid it over his head and across his torso, careful not to brush against his bandaged cuts. "Let's go," he said once he was finished, wiping his hands off on his jeans and tossing Lucy's shirt into the corner with Natsu's soiled one. "I don't want to stay here any longer then we have to."

A crowd was waiting behind the gates when they arrived, and as soon as everyone saw the team running up, they were thrown open and people rushed forwards to help. Stronger arms gripped Natsu, and Gray really didn't want to let the sakura-haired boy out of his sight, but he knew his arms couldn't hold out for much longer, anyway, so he let them take him, vowing to visit the infirmary first thing after everything settled down. First, of course, they had to give their report to Makarov.

So the four followed him to his office, and as soon as the door closed, he was upon them. Lucy and Erza gave him the cameras full of pictures they'd taken, and he slowly clicked through them. "These are good shots, girls."

Lucy grinned. "Yeah. We even managed to get some shots of the people when we were hiding behind the boxes." Gray turned surprised eyes towards her and asked, "Really? Did you get a shot of the two guys walking out from the hallway we were in?"

Lucy frowned. "Um, I think so, but I'm not..." She trailed off seeing as Gray was already snatching the camera from Makarov, flipping through the pictures until he landed on one of two men. Only their chests and faces were visible, considering Lucy had been crouched behind boxes when the photo was taken, but it didn't matter; a face was all Gray needed.

He focused on the first man, the one on the right, but wrote him off, considering he looked about thirty. The next one sent a chill down Gray's spine. He fit the age, alright; he couldn't have been more than nineteen or twenty. He had long, dark ebony hair, but his eyes were what scared Gray the most. They were a deep, violent crimson, and the irises lacked any life. They seemed dead; emotionless. If Gray didn't know better, he'd say they belonged to a Z.

Gray narrowed his eyes. That's the one. That's the one that hurt Natsu. That's the one I'm going to kill. Tucking the camera into his bag, Gray stared straight at Makarov, daring him to object. He stood and walked towards the door, hands in his pockets. "Don't worry," he said over his shoulder with a smile, "I'll get this back to you. I just need it for a while."

As soon as Gray had deposited all his gear in his room, he turned to the matter of his leg. The thing was, Sky didn't know he'd left on the mission yet, considering she only heard things when news was brought in with the infirmary patients. And seeing as how Natsu had just been deposited there, Gray was sure she was ready to kill him, or at least follow through on the promise to re-break his foot. She hated when he disobeyed her orders, and she'd be extra pissed if she found out he got shot, too.

Gray sighed. Okay. I'll wrap up the gunshot wound myself, and then go see Natsu. Wendy'll never even know.

He nodded once to himself and carefully slid off his jeans to check out the damage, wincing as the rough fabric slid over the bullet wound on his calf. He groaned as he noticed that there was no exit wound, which meant the bullet was still in his leg. He knew what he had to do. It would hurt like a bitch, but it was the only thing he could do.

Sighing and taking out his knife, he gritted his teeth in anticipation of the pain. Then he carefully dug the tip into the hole, biting down hard on his lip and tasting blood. Finally, he felt metal hit metal, and carefully dug the bullet out with the tip of the knife. It came free with a jerk and skittered across the floor, spinning in a circle and trailing blood across the wood.

"Son of a bitch," he swore, dropping the knife on the floor and letting out the breath he'd been holding. He took a deep breath and assessed the hole. It wasn't as clean as it had been, and the bullet dislodging had caused it to start bleeding again. Gray cursed and limped to the bathroom, sitting on the edge of the tub and pressing a cloth against it. He still had to clean it, though, so he grabbed his water bottle and a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide. "Okay," he said to himself, "this is going to hurt a lot, but you can handle it."

He gripped the bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide and gulped, squeezing his eyes shut as he poured a little over the wound. "SHIT, SHIT, I CAN'T HANDLE IT, NOPE, NOPE, NOPE." He stopped pouring and opened his eyes to see the wound fizzing white and gritted his teeth, flipping the cap on. "Good enough. Totally good enough. Yep."

After he had bandaged it up—no Neosporin, unfortunately; it was rare and Wendy had all of it—Gray felt slightly better and slipped on a pair of cargo pants, changed his shirt, and slipped on his shoes, ready to go visit Natsu.