Ok, Ok, Thanks to Kso12 I feel a little bad about giving such a short chapter. Here is the rest of what I had originally written with that but as you can see it is a really really really LONG chapter that I could not break up any other way without leaving in a much bigger cliff hanger than before.
As for jumping back and forth from the police officers to the detective agency, there is a reason that they are working separately. It was hinted a little bit in the second chapter that there was a falling out between some of the "Fairies" (which assume is all the characters that are members of Fairy Tail in the manga). It will be explained better later on, but a *spoiler* is that Laxus and Natsu used to be cops as well, but they left police work for personal reasons, started the Agency and then acquired Gajeel, Wendy, Cobra and the "twins" (which as you probably guessed are Sting and Rogue) over the last few years. Those that stayed with the police (Gray, Erza, a few others that will be revealed later) think that they have been sort of abandoned by the members that left and that being detectives but not cops makes them into sort of vigilantes. So they don't work together but they also are not against each other, its a complicated relationship to say the least and as I said it will be touched on in much greater detail further into the story.
Levy sat on her couch with her knees tucked up to her chest and slowly rocked back and forth. The movement was supposed to have a calming effect on her but she thought it probably just made her look even crazier than she felt. It was about mid-morning and the sun was streaming through the small windows brightly but Levy didn't even notice the gorgeous day it was outside. Lucy's alarm clock had woken them both up this morning at 7 am sharp, still cuddled together on the couch with Plue sandwiched between them. Lucy immediately declared that she was staying home from work to go down to the police station with Levy to turn herself in as a witness to the shooting. As much as Levy wanted to, she realized that she couldn't let Lucy get any more involved that she was already, it was her problem and she had to take care of it herself. Lucy had been even more stubborn than usual until there was an unexpected phone call from her crazy boss to change his morning coffee order.
"You have to go to work now," Levy tried reasoning with her. "If you don't show up he will definitely be pissed." Lucy was slowing changing her mind, she knew that they both depended on her job in order to make rent and she wouldn't likely find another one easily.
"Ok, I will go," she finally replied. "But if anything happens make sure you call me, I'll tell everyone my grandmother died or something." Levy rolled her eyes and she ushered Lucy towards the door, picking up Plue along the way and placing him in her arms.
"Don't forget your dog and I don't think they will fall for that one. I am pretty sure everyone one at work knows that neither of us have any family."
Lucy sighed, "I guess that is true, well make something up. Make you sure you call me, promise?"
"I promise," Levy assured her, "Go to work." She shut and locked the door, listening as she heard Lucy make her way to the stairs, no elevators here. As soon as she knew Lucy had exited the building she threw herself back onto the couch and had stayed there thinking. She wasn't nearly as brave as she had seemed to convince Lucy she was, in reality she was terrified to go to the police station by herself or even leave the comforting safety of the small apartment. She sat there for over an hour thinking about what she should do next.
The "right" thing to do would be to go to the police, but she didn't trust them, they had failed her before and she didn't know if the same thing would happen this time. But on the other hand, she was also afraid that the shooter would be looking for her and wasn't it their job to protect people in that situation? She didn't have anyone one else she could ask to help her, only Lucy and she refused to drag her any further into this than she had to.
Finally Levy made herself move off the couch and into her bedroom, getting dressed in the first thing that she pulled out of her closet. She moved to the bathroom and contemplated her hair, she hadn't dried it the night before and sleeping on it had made the blue shoulder length waves stick out in every direction. She realized at that moment that she didn't have her headband and searched for it in the pile of clothes she had shed quickly the night before in order to get into the shower. Even now touching them felt kinda yucky, like they were proof that everything last night in that alley had happened, it wasn't just a bad dream that she could wake up from if she only tried hard enough. Not finding it there, she decided to check her satchel in the off chance that she had stuffed it in there without remembering. She upended it on the small kitchen table and numerous random items came bouncing out, but her head band was not one of them.
Her eyes filled up with tears again and she tried to blink them away, feeling silly, it was only an accessory, it had no real value or purpose except to hold her hair back. But at the same time losing it made her feel even worse about the situation, like the clothes on the floor it was a reminder that as much as she wanted to she couldn't just forget about what had happened. Quickly before she lost her resolve again she started tossing things back into her bag, not really looking or caring what she shoved into it. She grabbed an old sweater off a hook by the door and pulled it over her head, then placed the satchel over her shoulder and faced the doorway. You can do this, she told herself, you have to do this.
She unlocked the door and pulled it open abruptly, but just as she was about to take a step out into the hall she saw that there had been somebody standing on the other side with their arm raised like they were just about to knock. They stared dumbly at each other for a second in surprise and then recognition hit; it was the dark haired man from last night! Gajeel realized it at the same time as Levy and was almost too slow to throw his foot in the doorway before she tried to slam it shut. Levy pushed on the door with her entire body but it wasn't closing. "Go away!" She yelled at the door. "Leave me alone, I will call the police!" Gajeel knew he could have easily kicked open the door, or push his way inside, but he didn't want to frighten the girl any more than he had already.
"I don't want to hurt you," he answered back, as calmly as he could make himself sound. "I need to talk to you about last night."
Levy tried to move his foot out with her own while still pushing on the door, but she knew she wouldn't be able to budge him. "I have nothing to say, I didn't see anything. Now leave me alone!" She threw her leg back and kicked his foot hard. She heard a yelp of surprise and pain but the foot did not move an inch.
"Quit hitting me will you?! I saved your life last night, you could at least be a little bit more grateful!" She threw her leg back again for another kick but this time Gajeel was anticipating it. "Oh no you don't." At just the right moment when Levy was off balance he pushed his way through the door, hard enough to send Levy falling backwards on her butt in surprise. "Ouch!"
Levy looked up at the tall looming figure standing in front of her and felt her mouth go dry. He was even scarier in the daylight, shaggy black hair, black clothes, piercings on his face and intense red eyes. She started to scoot backwards away from him but hit the hallway wall almost immediately, with no other options she opened her mouth wide to scream.
"Don't do that either!" The tall man was quick; he clamped one hand over her mouth and picked her right up in the air with the other like she weighed nothing at all. Levy struggled, trying to scream even though she knew she wouldn't be heard with her mouth covered.
"Stop that! Please, I wanna help you!" Levy tried to kick and flail her arms around but she was fighting way out of her weight class. The big man carried her into the living room and dumped her on the couch, kneeling down on one knee beside it and keeping his hand in position so she wouldn't be heard while holding her down by the shoulders with the other.
"If you don't quit that," he warned, leaning closer to face while she was sprawled on the couch helpless. "I'm gonna stun gun you and carry you out drooling and flopping around like a fish." Levy stopped fighting but continued to stare at him with wide and wild eyes. "Or," the man continued after a moment's pause. "We can walk out of here calmly without you messing your pants. It's your choice, kid." They stared at each other again for another long minute while Levy thought about her options. Finally she lifted one of her small hands to his large one that was still holding the bottom half of her face and tried to pull it off without success
"Are you going to scream?" Gajeel asked her quietly, holding steady until he got an answer. She shook her head as much as his grip would allow and only after a slight hesitation he removed his hand.
He watched her swallow hard and bite her bottom lip. "Would I really mess my pants?"
He blinked in surprise; he was expecting her to start crying hysterically or beg him not to kill her, not a question like that. "It happens," he replied evenly, still looking her right in the eyes. He could almost see her filing that information away in the good-to-know portion of the brain and not for the first time he wondered who exactly this girl was.
"Are you going to kill me?" Was the next question, she spoke almost too quietly for him to hear it.
"I knew that was coming," he muttered almost to himself. "No, I'm not going to hurt you."
"Then why are you here?" Gajeel realized he was still holding her down with one hand and withdrew it quickly. "I'm here to help you because of what happened yesterday," he repeated.
She narrowed her eyes and her expression went fierce, "Are you a cop?"
"Pfft," Gajeel snorted. "No I ain't a cop, do I look like a cop to you?" He regretted the harsh tone of the words as soon as they left his mouth, being yelled at was just what the girl needed to become uncooperative again, but she surprised him yet again.
"Well then if you aren't a cop then who the hell are you?" She shouted back at him and lifted herself up from the horizontal position on the couch. He started to answer her, but she kept on going. "How are you going to help me? Who were those people yesterday? Why was that guy shot? Is he dead? Are they going to kill me?" Levy didn't know why she kept babbling questions but once she started she couldn't make herself stop and she was getting louder and more hysterical sounding along the way. The man's hand once again shot out like flash and covered her open mouth in mid-sentence.
"Just shut up for a second," Gajeel growled.
Levy angrily started clawing at his hand with her own until he removed it. "Stop doing that!"
"Well quit making so much noise then." They glared at each other before Gajeel stuck out his hand in greeting. "Gajeel Redfox," he introduced himself gruffly, Levy was startled but quick to respond. "Levy McGarden," she quickly grasped his much larger hand and let it go like it was on fire.
Gajeel stood up from where he had been crouching down by the couch and offered her his hand again to help her stand. Levy stared at it for a split second before taking it again and squeaked in surprise when he lifted her completely off the couch and onto her feet with just one pull. She sent him another dirty look while she rubbed her sore arm that felt like it might have been pulled out of the socket but he was not paying attention to her anymore. He was looking around the small living room and kitchen like he was trying to study and assess it at the same time. Levy grimaced slightly, two girls living together and neither of them being that much of a neat freak meant that their apartment was usually a bit of a wreck. It was clean, for the most part, but various books, clothes and junk was littered over the rooms and over their sparse furniture.
Gajeel walked over to the patio sliding window that led out onto their small deck and pulled it open it. Of course it wasn't locked, they almost never remembered to check and being on the second floor they didn't think anyone would be interested in going to a lot of trouble to break into a cheap apartment. Besides, they had nothing to steal.
"Are all the windows in this place unlocked?" He was scowling at her in almost disgust which made Levy's ire rise.
"I don't know, probably," was her curt reply. "You told me who you are, but you haven't told me what you want and why the hell you broke into my apartment."
Gajeel slammed the glass door shut and locked it. "I didn't break in, you let me in." He moved out of the living room back into the hallway towards the bathroom and bedrooms.
"I didn't let you in, I tried to shut the door in your face," Levy followed him down the hall to the bathroom. "That still doesn't explain what you're doing here and what it is you are looking for."
He just glanced at the bathroom before moving on, apparently the assortment of clothes and feminine hygiene products didn't hold his interest. Lucy's bedroom door was shut but Levy's was half opened from her haste to leave earlier so he pushed towards it.
"Hey!" She tried to grab the back of his black jacket to hold him back when she realized his intent. "That's my bedroom! Who said you could go into my bedroom?!" She couldn't even slow him down and ended up getting dragged into the small room. Her blush deepened as he gazed around the small room, it was cluttered with books on every available surface but Gajeel seemed to take it all in at once. "Looks like the bookstore," she heard him mutter before walking across the room in two strides and closing the wide open window.
"Bookstore? You went to my job?!" Levy was stunned, there didn't seem to be any part of her life that this guy hadn't stomped all over. He moved to walk out of the room but Levy was still standing in front of the door and spread her arms out in a useless attempt to block his way. Gajeel stopped short when he saw her and sighed. "Move," he was getting tired of fighting and manhandling her every step of the way.
"No," she stuck out her chin and tried to stand a little taller, her arms still outstretched. Levy wasn't stupid, she knew he could flick her away like an annoying fly, but he looked more annoyed than angry at her attempts to keep him in the room. "Tell me what you want and how you know where I live, where I work?" Gajeel lifted a hand to his head and rubbed his temple, he could feel a headache coming on. He had been hoping that he could intimidate her enough to come with him to the office before having to answer any of the important questions, now he was beginning to see that would nearly impossible. "I work for a private investigation agency," he started carefully, not wanting to tell her too much too soon. "The guy last night who got shot, he is- or was, a case of mine. That's why I was following him."Gajeel met her gaze with serious eyes. "I'm here because you might be in danger and one of my partners wants to talk to you about what you saw." He didn't want to mention that he and potentially the killer had tracked her down through her work. He watched as his words sunk in and as her eyes grew wider her arms lowered and she teetered a little on her feet.
"Hey now!" He reached out and caught her just before she fainted, he lifted her up gently and laid her out on her bed. Then he snuck out of the room and tried the closed door, it was another girls' bedroom and he assumed she was the other name on the power bill, Lucy something or another. A small desk took up most of the space besides the single bed and it was covered with half written scraps of paper, but a quick glance at the window told him that it was at least closed and locked. He looked in on the girl but she was still out cold on the bed, he wondered if the shock of hearing she was in danger was what really got to her or if it was something else. One minute she had been fiercely fighting him off with her sassy questions and attitude, the next she was down for the count. He looked around the common rooms again but knew that there was nothing left for him to find out.
The thought of taking the girl with him right now while she was out of it was looking more appealing than waiting to convince her to come with him after she woke up. He walked back into the hallway and his foot hit something on the ground, looking down he found the girl's purse, although it looked more like a schoolbag. He picked it up carefully so that he didn't tip it over and searched inside until he found a set of keys, then without thinking about it he tossed the bag over his shoulder. Gajeel Redfox wearing a ladies purse… Cobra's voice was in his head and he looked at the bag in sudden horror, he ripped it off his shoulder and quickly went to the bedroom and the sleeping girl. He lifted her against his shoulder like she was a child and stuffed the bag between their bodies and out of sight.
He managed to lock the apartment up with one hand and made his way down the hallway and stairs as fast as he dared without waking her up. The last thing he needed was one of her neighbours seeing them and stopping to investigate, or worse, report him to the cops for a potential kidnapping. He made it to his truck without incident and loaded her into the passenger seat, doing up her seatbelt and placing her purse on her lap. Gajeel was amazed that she was still passed out and with a stab on concern he checked her pulse, it was steady and normal. He hastily got into the driver's side and backed out of the parking lot, eager to make it back into the office so that he could update Laxus with all the new information. He turned onto one of the main streets and glanced over at the sleeping girl. She looked very small and innocent but he hadn't forgotten how hard she could swing that bag of hers or a well-placed kick. Gajeel reached to his side and hit the auto locks twice on the door, he wasn't taking any chances on this one running, he had a feeling she would be crazy enough to bail out of a moving vehicle if the mood struck her.
There you go! They finally meet again, I hope I did an ok job breaking up the paragraphs and I apologize for making it such a long chapter but I couldn't find a way to split it in half. Enjoy!