All it took was a simple bat of the eye.
The very world seemed to move so fast for Gray to the point that every time he blunk, he found himself in a different scene at a different time. He was reminded heavily of a character from a book series that he once read what felt in like long time ago that featured magic and wizards and felt that he was beginning to understand what one of the characters, a poor girl who was kidnapped and put under trances on a daily basis, must have gone through. Jenny Weaselie, if he remembered right.
Again, it was a long while since he last read the series.
About 8 years.
Gray last remembered being in the woods. He was holding his lover, surrounded by the others while holding him like a mother would with her child, stroking his face and pushing strands of matted, dirty pink hair out of his face as he hummed a song under his breath, 'Boats and Birds'. Everyone was talking and shouts rang from the E. as Natsu whimpered and clung weakly to Gray with his only good arm.
He blinked.
Gray was surprised to suddenly find himself inside a speeding ambulance. They were racing to the hospital at speeds one didn't think would be possible for an emergency vehicle. He was sitting to one side along with Sting, who's whole body shook with suppressed sobs and his breathes were with shudders and desperate clawing for air as he held Natsu's good arm while one of the EMTs worked frantically over the pinkette's semi-conscious strapped body, hooking him up to various machines to help him breathe and gain essential nutrients while shouting status updates to the other EMT who was driving and repeating the reports to a dashboard scanner system.
He blinked.
He found himself in a hospital room with Sting, fussed over by the most frantic motherly-looking nurse conceivable. He barely registered what was going on as she stripped the both of them down to their birthday suits, which felt surprisingly natural to Gray but Sting didn't share the same enthusiasm as he gave off a rather shrill shriek, blushed bright red and attempted to cover himself before they were both thrown bodily into a a large medical shower stall right into scalding hot water, that somehow didn't burn the flesh right off their bones and were both scoured raw until they were deemed sterile and smelled like the ER themselves. He was then given a dark blue hospital scrub with matching pants and bright white hospital approved shoes to wear along with Natsu's scarf while Sting received a light blue scrub combo with same shoes, since the ER officials deemed it too unsanitary for them to continue wearing what they did, Gray actually understood their logic behind it, and promptly destroyed them. When it came to the welfare of the Natsu's muffler, Gray refused to relinquish fabric and practically screamed in bloody murder as he held one end of it and threatened to skin them alive should they not let go other the other end.
"Okay okay! You can keep it!"
Another thing that seemed to register to Gray's rapidly numbing brain was that Natsu had disappeared once more and was nowhere to be found.
And that was what scared him the most.
"NATSU! WHERE'S NATSU?!"
"Sir! Please calm down!"
"NO!" Gray snarled before snatching a nearby doctor up by the collar of his lab coat before reeling right up into his face and glared daggers at the terrified man.
"Gray! Stop! You're scaring him!" Sting tried reasoning as he attempted to reach out to raven haired man, only to be halted when Gray gave him a rather feral snarl, keeping the blonde in place.
Gray turned his attention back to the whimpering man. "I want answers and I want them now. WHERE IS HE?!"
"I-I-I don't kn-know who-"
"NATSU DRAGNEEL! HE'S 21 YEARS OLD, THIS TALL WITH PINK HAIR AND GOLDEN EYES! HE GOT KIDNAPPED BY SOME PSYCHO, RUN OVER AND WAS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED!" Gray breathed heavily before he continued in a deadly whisper. "Where. Is. He?"
"He-He-He's in Surgery Room 4!" The poor man cowered, holding his hands up in surrender. "L-L-Lane juust rolled hi-him in! He-He ju-ju-just want to-to m-m-make sure he-he's okay!"
Gray snapped his head up to look at the double doors that lead to the Surgery room until his eyes fell upon a light box above the doors that awash in a red light. His grip on the doctor loosened and he felt his frayed nerves relax. Natsu's safe. He was still safe.
He chuckled as his eyes fluttered shut and he released his hold on the doctor's coat. He slowly backed up but surely managed to find a bench and sink down on it as darkness came in swiftly gobbled him up.
When he next opened his eyes, he almost had himself a heart attack.
He didn't know exactly how long he was out, but if he had to guess, it was probably well over a while for he found himself wrapped in a blanket and leaning against Freed, who Gray was really surprised to see that the green haired man didn't seem to mind and was surrounded by almost half of the Fairy tail branch, but that wasn't what got him. What got him was the man who stood, crouching slightly, before him and gently shook him awake.
"Owen-?" He breathed, rubbing his eyes to make sure this wasn't a trick of the light. "Owen Lane?"
Indeed it was Owen Lane who stood before him. He tilted his head to one side with his usual trademark happy-go-lucky smile, faded blue jeans and blue-white long sleeved shirt. He had jaw length choppy dark hair with streaks of blood red and a fringe that covered the left half of his face with a lock of hair that reached down to his chest that was tied up with colorful string, a bead and for some odd reason, two bird feathers. His skin was a sun-kissed tan and when his eyes were ever open, they were described to be the most beautiful shade of green imaginable while his glasses were always worn on the top of his head. Lyon seemed to remember him as he suddenly pulled the man into a tight hug.
"OWEN!" Lyon practically swept the man off his feet. "It's been forever."
"Long time no see, Frostbite." Owen grinned, returning the hug. He glanced briefly back at Gray. "Snowflake."
Gray narrowed his eyes before turning away, huffing and pulling the blanket closer to his body in a child-like manner. " Stupid Hippie..."
Owen chuckled before turning to face a nervous faced Sting who was bit hesitant on whether or not he should interrupt the family-like reunion. He tilted his head to the right slightly, still smiling, that had Sting flush a little in embarrassment.
"My brother..." He breathed after a long while, rubbing his hands nervously as he tried to blink back unshed tears. "Is... Is he- Is he okay?"
That got everyone's attention. Gray shot straight up, onto his feet allowing the blanket to slither off of his body and onto the floor as everyone else stood up in their seats a little straighter or prepared themselves for the worst. He clenched his hands tightly as he steeled himself for answer.
This was it.
The moment of truth.
Owen just smiling was starting to grate on Gray's nerves.
"He's going to be just fine."
There was a brief pause as Owen's message to sink in and when it did, the whole waiting room was alive with a different mixtures of sounds, but they were basically all the same thing; relief. Mirajane, Levy, Juvia and Lucy all burst into tears and held onto each other for support, Gajeel pumped his fist and gave off a genuine smile before it was wiped off and replaced with a sneer when Cana turned to look at him, Loke and Lyon let out cheers. Their boss, Makarov nodded but tears flowed, Freed let out a sigh of relief and clutched his heart while Laxus did the a similar motion as his grandfather; just minus the tears. Erza burst in tears as Jellal held her, trying to console her with tears of his own while Sting pulled the dark haired man into a bone-crushing hug.
"Thank you." Sting whispered. "Thank you so much."
"He's okay?" Gray breathed, a smile slowly growing on his face as tears began to show. "He's really going to be okay?"
Owen nodded. "It's all thanks to Mr. Justine here with his quick thinking and cool head, our little Phoenix might be able to pull off with full recovery without any permanent damage."
Freed, while trying to look proud, a gave a small smile, blushed with embarrassment and tried to shy away as everyone thanked him and congratulated him. Laxus smirked, patting his bashful lover's back gently. Gray approached Owen, almost like he was some skittish animal.
"Am I-" Gray looked to Sting and the others briefly. "I mean- Are WE allowed see him?"
"Sure. But only a few at a time. So I guess you, Sting and these two can come." Owen replied pointing to Laxus and Freed as he moved down the hall with Gray and Sting following him while Laxus and Freed jogged to join them. "But just a small warning though, the poor kid's going to be a little out of it."
"Out of it?" Laxus asked, anger lacing his tone. "Out of it how?"
"He just came out of Intensive Care." Owen explained, sparing them half a glance. "So he's probably still going to be asleep, a warning, he's sleeping off his medications, but I wouldn't put past the little Phoenix that he's actually trying to wake up and fight them that way. We injected a new type of antibiotic and sedative drug into his system in order to get him to relax and clean out an infection he seemed to pick up. We wanted to exam him for any other hidden injury without adding anymore stress or injury to him."
"Hmm," Laxus nodded, temper subsiding. "Alright then."
Owen paused in front of a large door and turned to the four men who halted. "He's right in here. But please keep your voices low, alright?"
They nodded. Owen gave off a small smile as he turned his attention to the door before he slowly turned the handle and pushed the door open and Gray couldn't begin to describe the very feeling he felt the minute his eyes fell upon his boyfriend. So he settled for going to him and grasping his only good hand while being mindful the IVs that were in place and giving it a gentle squeeze, which was given a very weak twitch-like squeeze in return.
"Hey... Babe."
Natsu was looking a little better then he did before he first came to the hospital, his skin was washed clean of the blood, dirt and grime that earlier cover it and showing how pale he seemed to have gotten within the four days he was gone. The clothes he wore previously were taken off, probably suffering the same fate Sting's and Gray's did and replaced with a powder blue hospital gown. His bed was raised to a 45 degree angle allowing him to look like he was sitting a little straighter, chest rising and falling heavily as his head was lying to the left, facing away from Gray and the others, displaying his butterfly stitches and the bandages on his temple and jaw respectively to the viewing pubic. His neck was wrapped in thick bandages and his left arm was in a snow white cast that was help by a dark blue sling and that was all that can be seen since a blinding white blanket covered the rest of his body from view from the chest down while.
"Did he sustain any other injury?" Freed asked, approaching the side Natsu's bed carefully, turning to face the dark haired doctor.
"Other then what you saw, no," Owen sighed, running a hand through his dark hair, smile faltering slightly. "We found bruises, abrasions and few broken bones that confirm his run-in with the car. We also found laceration marks around his ankles, wrists and possibly his neck, suggesting he was restrained. Not from the car. X-rays also show that he had torn a ligament in his left ankle, possibly prior to his hit-and-run."
Owen sighed.
"We also found evidence that he had been, probably prior to the car, sexually assaulted."
Gray didn't look up. "Did you collect it?"
"Collect what?" Owen asked, a little lost.
"DNA." Gray whispered, not believing his luck. "Did you collect a sample of it?"
"Oh... That. Yes, we did." Owen said, comprehension dawning on him. "There's a Vitullo kit waiting for you. Just tell the secretary when you're ready..."
"Thank you." Gray couldn't help the dark smile that was slowly growing on his face. He couldn't wait to nail this bastard.
Personally.
"We also found this."
Everyone blinked and turned their heads to face the now solemn faced man. Dangling from his fingertips was what appeared a small plastic bad filled with at least, two fingertips worth of blood and something small and spotty.
"It was located in the base of neck on the right side- where his shoulder and neck meet."
"What- What is it?" Sting asked, leaning in a little closer.
"Looks to be a strange type of medicine," Laxus muttered, taking the bag from the man and looking it over. "An odd one at that..."
They all moved in a bit closer toward Laxus, eyes never leaving the bag as they continued to study the strange bloody object in the bag while trying to figure it out what it was. They jumped slightly, letting small gasps escape from their lips as it blinked a bright red LED light at them all.
"What the hell kind of medicine blinks?" Laxus demanded.
"It's not medicine," Freed breathed as he craned his head a little closer, eye wide. "It's- It's a chip."
"A chip?" Everyone turned to look at the green haired man, who was hidden behind his hair.
"Like you would find in a cat or a dog- If they ever got lost or stolen and Animal Control just happened to pick them up," Freed explained, not once looking at them and still hanging his head. "This was how many pet owners reunite with their pets."
Freed then looked up, fire blazing in his eyes and startling everyone, even Laxus, with ferocity of his anger. No one in living memory could remember when Freed was last this angry.
"The bastard's tracking Natsu."
"WHAT?!"
Everyone stood ridged and looked straight to the door, as if expecting Natsu's kidnapper to suddenly be standing there. Thankfully, he wasn't but the feeling still remained.
"Is there a way to tell how long ago this was planted?" Freed demanded, striding up to Owen easy and pointed at the chip.
"Unfortunately, no." Owen sighed, shrugging. "The injection site for the chip heals pretty quickly, since a needle is often used as the main choice of placing microchips. So it could have been planted on him an hour ago, yesterday, last week, a month ago... Maybe even a year ago for all we know."
"Wait..." Sting suddenly muttered, catching everyone's attention. "Isn't there a way to back track it?"
"There is." Freed muttered, folding his arms across his chest. "But it can be a little difficult without the proper technology-"
"Or the person-" Gray grinned.
"Lyon." They all said in usion.
"Gray..."
Everyone blinked a very weak voice and turned their attention back to Natsu and were surprised to see the pinkette struggling to open his eyes, eyelids fluttering and brows furrowing in discomfort. Gray and Sting were at his side in a instant.
"I'm right here. I'm right here," Gray whispered, stroking Natsu's face. "Sting's here too."
"Gray- I-I-I- I don't-" Natsu let out a whimper, that could rival a kicked puppy's.
"You don't what, babe?" Gray whispered, worry evident in his voice fingers playing with pink strands. "What's wrong, Baby? You can tell me."
Tears soon appeared on the pinkette's face that almost made Gray want to cry as well. He had a good idea of what might be on Natsu's mind.
"Don't worry, Babe," He whispered. "I won't let him get you. I'm here, Sting's here- We're all here now. He can't hurt you... He can never hurt you."
"No..." Natsu breathed, trembling as strange sounds began to emit from his stomach. "I don't feel good..."
"Wha-"
His question was answered in a fashion that almost spelled of trouble as Natsu suddenly shifted his head to the other side of the bed away from Gray and suddenly threw up whatever contents were in his stomach into the floor. Natsu started shivering, breathing becoming more labored as tears started flowing in thicker torrents and he whimpered.
"That will be the aftereffects of the anesthesia," Owen said with a sympathetic smile as he handed Natsu a large dish, who gripped it weakly. "It causes extreme nausea, dizziness, drowsiness and as you saw, induces vomiting."
"I want Rogue-" Came the child-like sob. "I want Rogue."
"Is Rogue still here?" Sting asked, looking to the hippie.
"Yes, actually." Owen replied. "We planned to keep him another night since he had developed a minor sign of pneumonia this morning."
"Can you bring him here?" Sting asked. He briefly looked over his shoulder just as Natsu began dry heaving, coughing and then crying. "Like, fast?"
"I don't know if you wanna see him right at this moment Sunshine," Owen said, regarding the blonde man with... Fear? "He got a visit from a Miss Yukino Agria, a Mr Rufus Lore and Mr. Makarov Dreyar last night and-"
"JUST DO IT!" Sting roared. "CAN'T YOU SEE THAT MY BABY BROTHER'S IN PAIN AND WANTS TO SEE HIS BROTHER?!"
"Yes but-"
"NOW!"
Owen disappeared rather quickly, to the point many found it hard to believe he was even there in the first place after Sting's outburst. It was a good 15 minutes before Owen returned with the man they sought and by then Natsu had struggled to remain conscious before throwing up more of his stomach contents that were nothing more then thick mucus-like yellow gunk and bursting into tears before calling out to Rogue before passing out but only to wake up and repeat the process. Like a terrified child would for their mother.
"Rogue's coming. Rogue's coming." Sting whispered, brushing a hand through those pink locks as Natsu whimpered and sobbed. "Owen's gone to get him. He'll be here... I promise."
"STING EUCLIFFE!"
It was then Gray understood why Owen was fearful of the idea of bringing Rogue to Sting in the first place. When Owen returned to the room with Rogue, who wore a white hospital gown, robe and matching pants, sporting a bandage wrapped around his forehead, the face he sported shocked them as they couldn't understand why he was looking the way he did;
He looked angry.
And it was directed right at Sting.
SMACK
Rogue's fist found its way in four large strides and connected itself to Sting's face causing the blonde to stagger in place, clutching his cheek before he regarded his husband with a look of hurt across his face before cowering under the gaze that was sent his way. Rogue was a few inches smaller then Sting and yet, he seemed to have no trouble making the blonde trembled and shrink before him. Rogue stood in front of the blonde, breathing heavily with his fist still out in front of him. No one could ever had imagined seeing this coming.
Rogue Cheney-Eucliffe had just punched his own husband.
"You knew..." Rogue finally breathed out, in what felt like a long time. "You knew..."
"Knew what?" Sting whispered, still clutching his face and trembling under the angry gaze his husband shot at him.
"You knew..." He whispered darkly. "You knew that the very man who tormented me- Tormented me for 4 years- 4 fucking years- Was out there- here... For a whole year- With two others- Free..."
"Y-Y-Yes..." Sting whimpered.
"Why?" Rogue asked, hanging his head and allowing his dark hair to cover his face. His fist trembled.
"Why what?" Sting seemed frightened to know the answer. Not that anyone could blame him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Rogue's soft voice demanded harshly. "Why didn't you tell Natsu? Why didn't you tell Fairy Tail?"
"I-I... I-" Sting was at a loss for words. "I-I-I couldn't.. I d-don't..."
Rogue's head shot up, face flushed with anger and tears, raising just his right index finger and jabbing it hard into Sting's chest with every sentence he spoke, causing the blonde to take a step back with each jab.
"YOU KNEW THEY WERE OUT HERE! YOU KNEW THAT THEY ESCAPED! YOU KNEW THAT NATSU AND I HAD A HISTORY WITH TWO OF THEM! YOU KNEW HOW DANGEROUS THEY WERE AND CURRENTLY ARE! YOU KNEW OF THE PROMISED THREAT MONTOYA MADE TOWARD US WHEN YOU FIRST ARRESTED HIM! YOU KNEW STING EUCLIFFE BUT YOU DIDN'T SAY A DAMNED THING! YOU DIDN'T GIVE A DAMN!"
Gray blinked. Natsu had a pre-existing relationship with one of the escaped convicts? If so... Then who? Was one them their guy? Sting seemed to share the same surprised feeling but it was quickly short lived in light of the growing fear he felt from himself and the rage he felt radiating from the dark haired male.
"I couldn't tell anyone anything." Sting replied in defense as his back hit the wall, away from Natsu and toward the door until he slid onto the floor. "The Council made me and the other bosses-"
"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT THE COUNCIL TOLD YOU!" Rogue roared, causing Sting to cower once more without looking behind him, he pointed back toward the bed and the others. "LOOK AROUND YOU STING! LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID! WHAT YOU DID TO THEM! WHAT YOU DID TO NATSU!"
"What I did-" Sting sputtered only to be cut off once more.
"YES YOU! YOU DID THIS TO HIM, NOT GRAY! HE'S NOW GOING TO HAVE TO LIVE WITH THIS, STING! JUST LIKE I DID ONLY MUCH WORSE! HE'S GOING TO WAKE UP, EVERY NIGHT THINKING THAT THIS WAS ALL JUST A NIGHTMARE ONLY TO REALIZE THAT THIS- ALL OF THIS- IT'S REAL! THAT THIS DID HAPPEN!"
Rogue's breathing became shuddery as a sob ripped itself from his throat, tears rolling down his cheeks as his body trembled. He brought both hands to his face and buried his face into them.
"His sense of security... His sense of freedom... His sense of worth... His self-esteem... It's been ripped from him, Sting. It's gone. Shattered. It won't come back- It can't be fixed. It's not like a flesh wound."
"Rogue..." Sting breathed, unsure if he should even stand up. "I-I... I... This- I never meant for this to happen."
"But it did," Rogue answered through sobs. "Montoya made good of his promise after waiting 4 long years, Sting. That- that-"
He looked up at the blonde from his hands.
"The pain, the humiliation, the fear... You can't take it back. You can't just bury it either. I know. I've tried... No matter how hard you wish or try... Once it's has been done, it's been done."
"Rogue- I-I... I'm... I'm so sorry." Sting said, tears on his own face as he finally found the courage to stand up and gathered the dark haired man into an comforting embrace. "I'm so so so very sorry... To all of you-" He looked to each of them before his gaze landed on Gray, who gulped. "Especially you, Gray."
He blinked and felt a warm hand cupping his cheek before he felt his face being turned to face Rogue.
"Just- Just promise me- Give me your word... Me and Natsu... Everyone. That'll you'll tell us if something like this ever happens again... I don't want to hear it come to me last minute from my co-workers or hear about it if someone close to us faces the same ordeal as Natsu did... Or worse." Rogue said sternly while still in tears, leaving no room for objections. "And be damned what the Council could and will do to you or us..."
"I promise." Sting whispered, resting his forehead against Rogue's. "There will be no more secrets. No more. I promise to tell you and Natsu everything. I'll tell each and every guild I know anything and everything the Council tells me. But... But you two will always be the first to know... Always..."
Sting's lips brushed over Rogue's own, his breath ghosting over them before capturing them into a sweet and chaste kiss. More tears escaped Rogue as he seemed to hesitant slightly before sighing and bring his hands up to cup Sting's face returning the kiss. Freed and Owen awed over the sight, while Laxus rolled his eyes and Gray smiled while gently squeezing Natsu's hand.
They broke apart what had to be after a long while, breathing heavily, as Sting pressed his forehead to Rogue's. Rogue whined as he tried to kiss Sting, only to be halted each and every time.
"Natsu needs you, Rogue." Sting breathed. "Go to him."
Rogue blinked several times allowing his vision to clear before he looked over his shoulder to finally get a good look at Natsu, who still on his side slightly, whimpered and had spouts of coughing. Rogue's eyes become large with shock.
"What happened to him?" He breathed as he gingerly walked up to Natsu. "Was this all Montoya?"
"No." Gray said gently stroking Natsu's hand. "Half of it came from a hit and run-"
"HE WAS RUN OVER?!" Rogue asked, whirling around to face Gray. "Was it Montoya? Or- Or the other-"
"Erza."
"Erza?" Rogue asked chuckling weakly. "Oh come now. I know she can be a bit frightening, what with that reckless driving of hers and that equally terrible temper but you can't seriously expect me-"
"It's the truth." Freed whispered, turning his head slightly. "We were out in the Dark Woods with Montoya, when Natsu just popped up out of nowhere, beaten, dirty and disheveled followed by Erza and Jellal no less then 5 minutes later and ran him over-"
"What were you doing in the Dark Woods?" Rogue asked hardly daring to believe such things he was hearing as he turned his attention back to Natsu. "What was Natsu doing in the Dark Woods?"
"We bullied information out of Montoya." Laxus huffed, folding his arms across his chest. "But it seems we might have picked a different case though. We found a human skull and neck pieces- That we thought was Natsu's-"
"He coughed up a pretty convincing story about hanging, mutilating him then dissolving his body in acid and burying the bones in multiple locations..." Gray whispered. "I beat him pretty bad that he was confined here too- But under extreme security."
Rogue shivered.
"But then Natsu showed up and blew Montoya's story out of the water." Freed said. "And when the doctors examined Natsu they found that he was chipped..."
"Chipped?" Rogue repeated, completely lost and yet scared at the same time. "What is 'chipped'?"
"A device used mainly for tracking." Freed snarled darkly. "The bastard's probably injected into his body during his captivity to keep an eye on when and where Natsu was when he wasn't around... Like he was nothing more then cattle."
Rogue's eyes went wide and he looked back to Natsu and was going to ask what would happen only to have it die in his throat when a small but soft cry that sounded akin to a child's entered the tense air. Natsu whined as he opened his eyes weakly and Rogue immediately fell to his side.
"Rogue..."
"I'm right here." Rogue whispered in a motherly tone as he smiled warmly. "What's wrong little dove? Sting tells me you were crying for me-"
"It hurts..." Natsu sobbed, tears flowing down his face. "It really hurts."
"What hurts?" Rogue asked softly as Gray could feel hot tears began to shimmer. "Tell me what hurts..."
"My stomach." He whined. "They-They- The doctors- They gave me really bad medicine. I-I can't stop throwing up..."
Natsu suddenly began heaving and Rogue, sensing what was about to happen, pushed the small bowl toward Natsu's mouth just as Natsu upchucked for what had to be the tenth time.
"It burns." Natsu whimpered. "Make it stop."
"I can't. The medicine is meant to be slept off, Love." Rogue whispered, combing his hand through the pinkette's locks. "You need to sleep."
"But it hurts..." Natsu retorted weakly. "Hurts too much..."
"I know." Rogue whispered brushing pink hair out of Natsu's sweaty and clammy face. "Do you want me to sing our lullaby?"
The whole room went still and all eyes were on Rogue, who seemed to pay little heed to any them. His eyes were only for Natsu.
"The one that you sang..." Natsu breathed. "You sang to us in the Orphanage?"
"Hmm."
"When we were scared... Hurt... Or lonely?"
"The very same, Love."
Natsu gulped. "Please...?"
"Sure... Anything for my baby boy."
Gray was, to say the least, surprised by the scene unfolding before him which was shared with Laxus and Freed. With the fourteen years Gray knew Natsu and six spent dating him, not once had he seen the darked haired male show any kind of tender love and sweet mother-like approaches. Normally when he saw Rogue, the man was stoic and calm, speaking rarely in the face of company, showed no other emotion saved for annoyance and that rare bout of anger. It seemed that Rogue only showed his emotions and motherly side behind the closed doors of his home.
Then Rogue began singing and Gray found himself, along with Freed and Laxus, relaxing under the soothing voice. All tension, fear and anger seemed to melt away from his body and replaced it with the feeling of safety and love.
'Hush now, my little Dragon-
You're safe now, don't you cry-
Sleep while I sing you our melody-
Sleep now and remember this little lullaby-
So we'll always be together even when you dream.'
Soon quiet breathing filled the now silent room as Natsu had finally fallen asleep with unshed tears glittering under the fluorescent light. Rogue smiled before he leaned over placed a gentle kiss to the pinkette's bandaged temple. He turned to look at Sting, who nodded and proceeded to herd everyone out. Gray would have protested but there was something in Rogue's eyes that told him that shouldn't test the waters at the moment and without any resistance, he was silently lead out as Sting closed the door behind them leaving Rogue with Natsu.