A/N: Here's the next chapter, finally! Sorry it took me so long, but I've been very busy these last few days. (Slightly short chapter. Semi-cliffhanger.)

Chapter Sixteen

Natsu stared down the barrel of the gun, gulping. He'd been held at gun-point before (thrice), so this was nothing new to him, but having someone he cared about there made it a thousand times worse. That's partly why he'd always gone solo; he didn't want anything or anyone to tie him down or hold him back.

But he thought it would be different at the Outpost. He thought they could handle themselves, so it wouldn't hurt to make a couple of allies, if not friends. And he knew they could handle themselves. He scolded himself for believing they couldn't Obviously none of them had expected this to happen.

And it was all Natsu's fault for getting caught in the first place.

The boy slowly moved the gun between the three of them, and his eyes never strayed from them. leaving no chance of escape. "Well, I suppose I should feel honored. To have three great hunters in my tower? Astonishing."

Ultear and Gray shared a glance, and Natsu flicked a look over at them discreetly. Did they have a plan? He hoped so, because he sure didn't.

"Who are you?" Ultear asked, drawing the boy's attention.

"Oh, of course; how rude of me to forget to introduce myself. I am Zeref Black. And of course I already know you three." His cold black eyes turned to Natsu, along with the gun. "Natsu Dragneel, A.K.A. Ten Thousand." The gun turned to Gray. "Gray Fullbuster, A.K.A. Ice." The gun was on Ultear. "And Ultear Fullbuster, A.K.A. Aeona."

Natsu gulped. Was it creepy that he knew all of their names? Definitely. Definitely very creepy.

"Now that we've been introduced, I must get my business out of the way. Macbeth." A man stepped out of the shadows, dressed in all black, a rifle strapped over his back and a pistol at his hip. Zeref gestured at Ultear. "Take the girl to the cells."

Ultear and Gray's eyes locked, and they seemed to have a silent conversation until Gray nodded ever so slightly, and Ultear allowed herself to be dragged away. Natsu turned his attention back to Zeref, who had taken a seat on the edge of the desk that Natsu had only just noticed.

"Now, for you two... Of course I want some payback, so... Perhaps shoot one of you in a vital place? That would be fun, but it does lack flair..."

Gray laughed darkly. "You've really got that whole 'villain monologue' thing down, huh?"

Zeref pointed the gun at him. "Don't make me shoot you. I'm trying to think here."

Gray rolled his eyes as Zeref went back to 'thinking'. Natsu could tell this was going to end badly, no matter what was decided upon...

Gray glanced over at Natsu, who was pale and shaking slightly, almost like a cat in a thunderstorm. He had a plan, of course, but Natsu wasn't aware of it, and he was probably terrified, thinking there was no way out of this. Which there wouldn't have been normally. But, thanks to Makarov, they had an out. All Ul had to do was rescue the prisoners and their plan would be perfect.

But he had to act quickly, while Zeref was distracted. Reaching slowly into his pocket, he pulled out the object Makarov had sent him to the armory to retrieve; a grenade. His fingers closed around it and he took a deep breath. He had to time this perfectly. He'd run all the calculations in his head, and he only had one try to get this perfect.

Here goes, he thought, and pulled the grenade from his pocket. He had pulled the ring out and tossed it before Zeref could full register what was happening. By then his finger was pulling the trigger on panic impulse, and Gray dove, the bullet lodging in the wall where he'd just been. He grabbed Natsu's hand and ran for the door, throwing it open and closing it right as a bullet struck it.

Then they were sprinting full speed down the hallway. About halfway to the stairwell, there was a blast that knocked them off their feet and blew dust all across the hallway. Gray's ears were ringing slightly, and he coughed from the heavy dust in the air. But he knew Zeref had had enough time to get out of the room, too, so he got to his feet, pulled Natsu up, and started running again.

When they were inside the stairwell, he locked the door and leaned against his knees for a second, gasping for air. Natsu stared at him like he was crazy. "Did you just set off a grenade?!"

Gray gave a weak smile. "Yep. Now we should probably start running."

Straightening, Gray started sprinting down the steps, practically throwing himself around the banisters, with Natsu at his heels. Smoke had crept into the stairwell from above, and Gray assumed something had caught on fire in the blast. He held the collar of his shirt over his mouth and nose and instructed Natsu to do the same.

On about the eighteenth floor, the door swung open, and Gray paused frantically, panicking because they were weaponless and defenseless. But then he saw Ultear, and let out a relieved sigh. Behind her followed Lyon, Michelle, and Rogue, and Gray gestured for them to go ahead of him, and soon they were all running down the stairs towards the first floor.

The smoke had cleared by then, so when they reached the door leading out into the first floor, Gray asked, "Anyone got any weapons?"

Ultear smirked and tossed both him and Natsu a pistol. "We knocked out the guards. Turns out they were all carrying a small arsenal, what good it did them."

Gray grinned and pulled back the slide, releasing the chamber round. "Everyone ready?"

There were nods from the group before Gray turned to the door. "Alright. Let's go in with heavy fire." And then he kicked open the door.

As soon as they were through, shots hit the walls and floor around them, and Natsu whipped up his pistol, systematically firing, hitting six guards, one right after another, using only one bullet to down each. By the time they made it to the center of the floor they were back to back in a rough circle, firing off in every direction.

A bullet grazed Natsu's side and he grunted, quickly taking down the guard that had shot at him. They were almost at the door now, and Natsu shot four more men before they were out on the street. Bullets rained from above, and before anyone else could react, Natsu snatched Gray's pistol and stepped out. He took a deep breath, remembering back to what his uncle Atlas had taught him about sharpshooting.

Step one; Focus. Natsu narrowed his eyes. Step two; Breath. He took a deep breath through his nose. Step three; Aim and fire. Natsu's eyes found the snipers and he fired off two shots, one from each gun. The first snipers went down, and Natsu rotated counter-clockwise and fired two more shots, taking down the other two. There were only four left, and he did a somersault across hard asphalt to avoid two bullets before he fired off four quick shots.

The sound of gunfire silenced, and Natsu was left on one knee in the middle of bullet-riddled asphalt, breathing heavily. He stood and looked back at his five companions, who were looking at him, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Gray was the first to break out of the spell, and stalked over, swiping his gun and clobbering Natsu on the back of the head. "Don't steal my gun!"

Natsu rubbed the back of his head and shot a glare at Gray. "Ow!"

"Let's go," Ultear broke in, walking between them and shoving them apart. "Before more of them come after us."

Grumbling under his breath, Natsu followed after her. After a while they fell into a comfortable rhythm, and Natsu listened to the silence around them, looking up at the night sky. It was full of stars, and he smiled faintly. His mother had loved the stars, and she had taught him all the constellations. Even now he could make out Orion and Pegasus, and he felt comforted knowing that the stars were the one thing that would never change, despite what happened to the world.

About a block from the Outpost, they ran into Lucy, and there was a tear-filled reunion before they started on their way again. The world was lit up brightly by the moon, and their way was calm and quiet, unbothered by Zs. Gray found the silence reassuring. Even if Zeref was alive, they had gotten their friends back, and Zeref knew nothing about the Outpost.

And he was sure Makarov would be doubling up the patrols, and increasing and thickening the defenses around the Outpost. Zeref would likely never be able to snatch any of them again. But that didn't necessarily put his worries to rest. Zeref was still a very large threat.

"Hey," Natsu said, making Gray jump, "did any of you guys get our packs on the way out?"

Ultear smirked. "Yep. Found 'em in a pile by the cells and grabbed 'em. Why?"

"I grabbed some stuff from the room I was in. Thought it might be useful."

"I'll give it to Makarov when we get back," Ultear said, and they lapsed into silence again.

When they reached the Outpost, Makarov was waiting at the gate for them, along with Wendy and Erza. Lucy quickly hugged Erza, and Makarov grinned and clapped many of them on the back. They were all rushed down the hallway, which was now silent.

After Ultear had given Makarov the packs and taken Lyon back to his room, and Erza, Lucy, and Michelle had disappeared, Gray headed for the infirmary with Rogue. Inside, Wendy was refreshing an IV bag beside Sting. She quickly hugged them both, and then left to get some food, leaving Gray to watch over her patients for a while.

Rogue quickly sat by Sting, gripping his hand like it was a lifeline, and Gray smiled slightly and sat down at Wendy's desk. He wasn't sure where Natsu had gone, but he wasn't sure he really wanted to find him. After the kiss...

Gray groaned and rested his head on the desk. I can't believe I did that... He's probably freaked out now... Ugh! What am I supposed to do?!

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Maybe I'll just sleep at Lyon's or Ul's tonight...

Natsu waited in Gray's apartment, sitting on the couch with his hands clasped in front of him and his head tilted back to stare at the ceiling. He wanted to confront him, but at the same time, he didn't. But he kissed me, which must mean he likes me... Right...? He wouldn't have if he didn't... Would he?

Closing his eyes, Natsu kicked off his shoes and curled up into a sleeping position. Hopefully I fall asleep before he comes back... Maybe I can deal with this better after I've slept a bit.