Brrrrrrrrrr... its -50 degrees Celsius were I live with the windchill. What better way to keep out of the cold than to sit and work on a fanfic!
As always, I do not own the characters of Fairy Tail, they belong to Hiro Mashima and I thank him for their use in my own creative expressions *bows*
Levy was having the strangest dream… Her body felt like it was floating and flashes of light lit up her closed eyes. She couldn't remember falling asleep on the couch but she must have, it's the only place she could think of falling sleeping seated. Then her memories started to become clear and it was like being hit in the head with a sledge hammer, her eyes shot open and she looked around in a panic when she didn't recognize where she was. It wasn't a dream, she realized, I am moving… She whipped her head to the left and saw the dark haired man, Gajeel, he had called himself, was driving.
"Where am I?" She asked through dry lips, her tongue felt fuzzy and she could feel drool leaking out of the side of her mouth. She remembered his threat of a stun gun and dragging her out like a dead fish with messed pants. "Did you zap me?!" She asked in horror as she struggled to feel whether or not his threat had come true.
"Relax," he had on large dark lens reflective sunglasses so she couldn't tell if he was directly looking at her or not. "I didn't hit you with the stun gun, you fainted."
Relief flooded into her but it was almost instantly replaced by anger. "How did I get here? Where are we going?" She glanced out her side window to try and pick out a familiar landmark. She knew they were still in Magnolia and the street looked somewhat familiar but she couldn't place it off the top of her head.
"I told you right before you keeled over, one of my partners wants to talk to you," he answered as if that should tell her everything she needed to know. "Has anyone ever told you that you ask a lot of questions?" He turned off the main road and into an alleyway, passing a few half empty lots before turning again into a small parking lot behind a brick building. He parked between a black car and a motorcycle and then turned the engine off; they sat there in silence, each waiting for the other to speak.
"We better go in," Gajeel said finally and he opened the truck door and got out in a fluid moment. Levy was surprised when he made his way around and opened her door for her as well, he didn't seem to be much of the gentlemanly type to her.
"Thank-you," she climbed out of the truck carefully, it was higher than any other vehicle she had ridden in before. The grunted in response and then surprised her again by placing his hand on her elbow and guiding her to the back door of the building. He tried the doorknob and it was thankfully unlocked, it usually was during the daytime when they were all coming in and out from various errands but he was grateful he didn't have to dig out his keys. The girl had slung her purse over her shoulder, probably more out of habit than consciously, but didn't remark on the fact that he hadn't forgotten to take it along. He held the door open for her, another chivalrous act that seemed out of character, and then pulled it shut firmly behind them.
When they hit the main office he felt all eyes in the room on them, but he had been expecting that. Along with Wendy, who he knew would be here at this time, Cobra was back and he had a rough looking Natsu with him. The other man was the same age as Gajeel at 26, but he had a face that made him look years younger except for when he was angry. His pink hair was a tangle of shaggy bed head and his clothes looked like he had slept in them, but his black eyes shone with cheerfulness.
"Gajeel, what's up man?" He moved from where he had been standing in front of Wendy's desk and extended his fist in Gajeel's direction. Gajeel lifted his right fist and bumped his knuckled against Natsu's lightly in greeting; although their relationship was mostly rivalry, there was still enough mutual respect that they usually did the pleasantries at least in public.
"Busy morning," Gajeel replied cryptically. "Is Laxus still in his office?" He asked Wendy.
Wendy tore her gaze away from Levy for a minute and glanced down at her phone; one of the lights on top was glowing red. "He is on the phone but if you can wait I will let you know when he gets off."
Gajeel nodded and then turned to Levy, "You can sit if you want." He motioned to the chairs across the room, empty except for Cobra who was in his usual seat.
"Umm…" Levy had been studying the room and the people in it cautiously; with the exception of the girl behind the desk they all looked as formidable as the man beside her. "I think I'll stand, thanks."
Levy was aware that everyone in the room bedsides Gajeel was staring at her and not even trying to hide it. The gaze from the red haired man seated at the back of the room was especially unnerving, even with just one eye.
"Umm, Gajeel..." The small blue haired girl from behind the desk finally broke the silence. "You should introduce us to your friend."
Gajeel mumbled under his breath and looked at the wall, then down to the floor, anywhere but at Levy directly. "What?" The red haired man at the back called. "I couldn't hear you."
Gajeel made a growling noise in the back of his throat and glared directly at Cobra. "Everyone, this is Levy."
The blue haired girl waved at Levy from behind her desk. "I'm Wendy, nice to meet you! This is Natsu and that is Cobra, they work with Gajeel." She motioned to the pink haired man by the desk and then the spooky man seated in the back of the room. Natsu gave her a wide smile, which fit his boyish and dishevelled appearance and made him more like a man-child than a professional detective. Cobra on the other hand she could see lurking around in dark alleys at night. Like Gajeel, he emitted a subconscious sense of danger although with Cobra there was also an undercurrent of malice, Levy had to suppress a shiver as she felt him give her a long gaze.
Just then a door opened from behind her and Levy startled, she unknowingly grabbed onto Gajeel's forearm with both hands but he didn't notice as his attention was focused on the blonde giant that emerged from the doorway. Not only was he taller than the other men in the room, he looked like he had at least 20 pounds more of solid muscle in his shoulders and broad arms alone. She met his eyes and her heart skipped a few beats, his angular face was attractive, even with the sharp lightning bolt scar and the dark stare that was trying to pierce right through her. Levy swallowed hard and tried to shrink next to Gajeel's much longer frame, squeezing his arm tighter with almost bloodless fingers. Had she been able to move beyond that she might have bolted for the door, or even a window, but she was frozen and trying to hide behind someone she had feared just as equally only a few hours before. The blonde man and Gajeel exchanged a look and then he turned his head towards the door he had just come through. "My office."
Levy didn't know if it was a request or an order, but Gajeel moved to follow him and pulled her along. The room was small but neat, with a large desk taking up most of the space and a tall filing cabinet in the farthest corner; it had no windows and made Levy think about a cave.
"Please have a seat, Miss…?" The blonde man sat down behind the desk and motioned to the chairs in front of it.
"Levy," Levy whispered, but she was so quiet that she didn't know if he heard her.
Gajeel cleared his throat awkwardly. "Laxus, this is Levy McGarden, the woman from the alley last night."
"My name is Laxus Dreyar, pleasure to meet you Miss McGarden. I'm sorry it was because of such unfortunate circumstances but we need your help."
Levy was still standing next to Gajeel who was leaning against the closed door; she wanted to take his offer to sit but didn't know if she could move without stumbling over her own feet. "I will try…" she answered, still almost too soft for them to hear.
Laxus nodded. "Would you like a bottle of water before we start?"
"Yes, please."
He took an unopened bottle of water out of one of his desk drawers and handed it out to her. Levy swallowed and took a cautious step forward, by the time she reached the bottle she was right next to a chair as well. "Thank you," she murmured and sat down.
"So, Miss McGarden," Laxus started but Levy stopped him before he could finish his sentence, feeling bolder now. "Please, call me Levy."
The large man smiled. "Levy then, can you tell me why you were in the alley last night?"
"I was taking out the garbage from the bookstore."
"Did you notice anything different about the alley? Did you see anyone strange hanging around?"
Levy shook her head. "No, it wasn't until that guy ran over me that I knew that anyone else was there." She was fiddling with the bottle of water nervously, twisting her fist around the cap but not hard enough to break the seal.
"What do you remember about the guy?"
Levy thought hard before answering. "It all happened so fast, all I remember is that he was big and dark, and he pretty much ran me over and then kept going. He spilled my bag all over the ground so I was too busy picking up my things to notice him, until that other guy came."
"The other guy?"
"Yeah, the guy on the motorcycle, I heard it first and I looked up and he just shot the man who ran me over. I was so scared, I couldn't do anything." Thinking about it made Levy's heart start to pound in her chest, she tried breathing deeply to calm it down.
Laxus thought for a moment before asking the next question. "Was the man that ran into you holding anything?"
Levy thought it was kind of an odd thing to ask. "I don't know," she admitted. "Like I said, it happened so fast and I didn't see him until I was on the ground and then again when he was shot." Levy felt useless, her answers didn't feel helpful at all.
"And after the man was shot," Laxus continued. "What do you remember about the guy on the motorcycle?"
Levy tried to remember, even though there was a part of her brain that didn't really want to cooperate. "I saw the man get shot and then the motorcycle driver looked over at me, or at least I think he did, he was wearing a big helmet." A chill went through Levy and she suppressed a shiver, she really didn't want to remember the next part. "He pointed his gun in my direction and I thought he was going to sh-sh-shoot me." Levy's voice broke slightly as she recalled the fear that she had felt.
"Stop," Laxus was still looking at her with hard eyes but his face had softened just slightly with concern. "Have a drink, you don't have to keep going until you're ready."
Levy jerked her head in a slight nod and tried to crack her bottle open but her hands were shaking too bad. She felt somebody move behind her and she jumped a little in her chair, she had forgotten about Gajeel standing by the door and now he had moved to right beside her. The big man reached down and carefully took the bottle from her trembling hands, with a quick flick of his wrist he broke it open and then gave it back to her. "Th-thanks." She took another breath and then a sip of water; she managed to swallow it without spilling any even though her hand was still not completely steady. Gajeel didn't move back to the wall, instead he took the seat next to her with a gruff reply of "No problem".
It took another minute before she trusted herself enough to continue. "The next thing I remember is Gajeel knocking me down behind the dumpster before he could shoot at us. Then… I guess I was in shock, I wasn't thinking right." She had gotten to the part where she had hit Gajeel with her purse, twice. She was looking at the floor so she missed the twitch across Laxus' mouth and Gajeel's grimace.
"What did you do after you left the alley?" Laxus seemed ok with letting that part of the story slide.
"I ran home," Levy said simply. "I locked myself in and then nearly hit my roommate with an umbrella when she came home later." It sounded almost funny out loud, her obvious overreactions to the fear she had felt.
Laxus gazed at her for a long moment before speaking. "Tell me about yourself," he asked, to Levy's surprise. "Only with what you are comfortable with," he added, probably sensing her hesitation.
"I'm, ah, 23?" Levy's cheeks started to burn a bit, now that she was done with the scary parts it all seemed so embarrassing.
"Have you always lived in Magnolia?"
"Oh yes," Levy was starting to feel comfortable again. "I grew up here, on Fairy Street actually." That got a reaction out of both of them, Laxus more than Gajeel, his eyebrows rose and he looked surprised.
"Really? Where on Fairy? If you don't mind me asking."
"No, it's ok. I grew up around Fairy and Violet, way down in the south end."
"Ah," Laxus replied. "I know that area well; I grew up on Fairy too but further north by Tail. It's interesting that I've never seen you around before, my wife and I still live in the area."
"Well I haven't lived on Fairy Street for over five years, ever since my parents died." Levy clamped her mouth shut, she hadn't meant to say that but something about the way Laxus spoke about Fairy Street made him seem less scary and more relatable.
"I'm sorry for your loss." Was his reply and Levy gave him a small smile, not trusting herself to answer. Levy stole a look at Gajeel when Laxus glanced down and scribbled something on a pad of paper in front of him and caught him looking at her curiously. He turned away when she met his gaze and shifted in his seat with a grunt.
"Umm..." she continued, looking back at Laxus. "What is going to happen now?" She was both anxious and scared to hear their answer. Gajeel had said they wanted to help her because she could be in danger but now that they had the information they needed, would they still want to? They might just let her go and then she could go to the police like she had originally planned.
Laxus and Gajeel traded a look. "I need to speak to Gajeel privately," Laxus got up from his seat and came around the desk to her chair. "But if you could wait in the main office, I promise you that we will figure this all out." Levy stood and let him usher her to the door, he opened it and pushed her gently outside.
"Wendy," Laxus turned to the girl still seated behind her desk. "Can you keep Levy company for a few minutes please?" The pink haired guy, Natsu, was no longer in the room, but the scarier Cobra was still lounging in one of the guest chairs. Laxus returned to his office and Levy stood there nervously, unsure of what she should do now.
What are they going to do? Guess you will have to keep reading to find out!