Summary: An infection has spread and killed across Fiore. Those who have contracted the illness are sealed off and left to die on their own. Now Gray is sick, first of all, the mages. No one knows what to do. Some people want him killed and burned, others want to research him and the virus, and Fairy Tail just wants to protect what's theirs.

Word Count: 2528

A/N: Took hella long to write this (hence the 3-month gap) and I had half of the story already written out – but I was stuck. I am more than happy with what has been produced. I messaged PokeTail and told her I was going to put this out Wednesday or Friday, but look at this early Monday morning at 1 am! As for the delay, I've dealt with school financial problems, another round of ovarian cysts, family problems and I am leaving for my Grandparents in about 4 hours! Anyway, I love you all. Hope you know that!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone

Warning: I am not a doctor, so if I get things wrong please forgive me. Also, cussing, some minor sickness, and grammar/spelling errors if I did not catch them.

Thank you: PokeTail! Once again! Seriously everyone, if it wasn't for PokeTail, I would have never finished this chapter AND this story wouldn't have more information in it (meaning I'm going to extend it from 5 chapter to 8). Again THANK YOU! *Smothers you in hugs!

Natsu held Gray by the shoulders as he stumbled awake. His eyes glassy while he looked around the camping ground and tried to take in his surroundings. Natsu felt his hands latch more securely around Gray's shaking forearms as the Ice Mage moved around in a disorganized manner. Lucy kneeled in front of Gray, her smile forced as she tried to talk him awake from the unexpected seizer that had shown up suddenly. "Gray," she spoke slowly. Her eyes followed his movements that flowed like water but were odd and quickly tumbled underneath any weight.

He looked up, mouth agape as he looked in her direction. His brows frowned and he swallowed, "Huh…"

"Hey," Natsu shook him slightly, his face twisted in obscure concern. "Are you alright?"

Gray blinked slowly and Lucy bit the inside of her cheek. "Gray," she leaned forward, hand reaching out, "Do you know what happened?"

However, the Ice Mage quickly reeled back, his eyes widening. "N-No," he stumbled and fell backward, but Natsu quickly caught him. "s'hap – s't…"

"Gray," Natsu growled. "You had a fucking seizer." He looked straight into Gray's eyes watching as Gray shifted uncomfortably in his grasp, eyes meeting for a second then shaking off to look upwards at the sky that was still orange from the rising sun. Natsu looked away from Gray and snarled quickly. "Damn."

Lucy pulled her hand backward, tucking it deep in her chest and she looked at Natsu. Her eyes were wide, brown twinkling underneath the tears. "What do we do?"

"I-um," Gray suddenly mumbled in Natsu's arms, shifting up. "H…s – s…" Gray reeled back again, but this time shivered harshly next to Natsu.

The two coherent Mages watched as Gray willingly pushed against Natsu, eyes closing in much-needed comfort.

However, Gray looked up again, this time, his eyes weren't as glassy. "Sorry," he licked his lips, feeling his tongue slap against his teeth and swallowed.

Lucy leaned forward, her smile returning, "No – no." She shook her head and Natsu shifted uncomfortably underneath Gray's clammy weight. "You're fine," Lucy muttered, "how do you feel?"

Gray looked away, his eyes seeming to focus on the smallest of things. "Dizzy," he slurred. For a second everything was quite, but then Gray looked sharply to his left, fixing his eyes on Lucy, "I remember – I remembered, I'm…I'm sick?" He questioned, his features were focused one second and then the next they were slack with exhaustion.

"Obviously," Natsu remarked silently and Lucy shot him a glare.

Gray shifted upward but soon shivered, "No." He shook his head quickly, "No…?"

Lucy shared a confused look with Natsu before she inched forward, "Gray you need to focus, what do you mean you 'remembered'?"

"I'm sick," he stated and his tone for once wasn't strained or drowsy, "I know…why." Though, that didn't last long. The Ice Mage's form slacked, "I, um, I thought – I remembered."

"He's fucking delusional," Natsu growled. Swallowing a lump that had suddenly expanded in his throat, Natsu looked away from Lucy, who kept her concerned attention on Gray. "Where the hell are Erza and Happy?"

Erza walked swiftly through the tall hallways and stared daggers into the back of Doranbolt. The man was too self-riotous for her liking. She felt Happy drift further behind her as she sped up to match Doranbolts' steps. She wanted to force Doranbolt to teleport to Gray, stick a sword against his neck and watch the fear take control of his actions. However, she couldn't jump towards that action. First, that was a rash Natsu idea. Secondly, she would probably wind up getting the whole Guild in trouble. So she had to calmly talk Doranbolt into helping her, and if he wouldn't budge – well, that was something she didn't want to have to face.

"I don't want to put those Mages and others in harm's way," Doranbolt didn't turn as he spoke against her thoughts.

Erza took a quick breath in, "He's the first case. If we can stop it now, before it spreads to more people, maybe find a cure-"

"You don't understand," he glanced behind his shoulder and his strides increased. "If I bring him anywhere near a population, then he may infect the ones around him, bringing the virus home to those of families, of people who are still sticking around thinking they can outlast this virus – they may all die. All because you want to save someone who could easily die out in the forest, far away from civilization."

"But we don't know how the virus acts around Mages," Erza retorted. "What if it can't be transferred?"

Doranbolt turned, his eyes flashing as he glared at Erza who stood tall and firm against his deadly glare. "I would rather risk the life of one, for the sake of thousands."

Erza felt the tips of her mouth drop, "If we try to find a cure-"

"We've been trying."

"And how many have died?" Erza demanded, "If we try a little more-"

"And risk more lives?"

"No," Erza shook her head, "no. We would take precautions."

"People are starting to go crazy," Doranbolt growled. He stopped walking, shoes squeaking against the floor as he spun to face Erza. "Two nights ago a family reported that the father was sick, the night after that, their house was burned to the ground." He tore his eyes away from Erza's and looked at the ground, "Do you know how many children they had? Five. Five fucking kids died that night. They were all so young and died in such a horrendous way."

"We need to work together to help those who are in need," Erza demanded, she then glanced back and found Happy further down the hallway, his wings flapping as he looked out the outsized window. The sun had already risen and Happy blinked sorrowfully. "We can't run away from a problem that can be fixed."

Doranbolt formed a fist, "We aren't running away. I'd rather burn the infected to save as many people in the long run, and if that means letting a Fairy Tail Mage die in the forest as his teammates watch him perish, then so be it."

Gray continued to shake uncontrollably in Natsu's grip. The Fire Mage tightened his hold but otherwise kept his sight forward, listening to birds tweet in the distance, animals hunt around him and Lucy humming softly next to him.

Lucy had been quiet for a while, her eyes stuck on a book she was preoccupied with since sunrise and her voice filling the distressed atmosphere. Ever since Gray had settled down, sleeping calmly next to Natsu, the two decided that the best course of action was to wait patiently.

Alright, fuck it all, that was not Natsu's strong suit or his plan. He hated this, feeling Gray sweat next to him, his temperature high but limbs shaking as if he had just taken an ice bath for the first time. This wasn't Gray, not one bit. Natsu needed to do something, punch someone, burn something – but he couldn't move, couldn't risk leaving Gray or Lucy.

She was just as beat up as Natsu was, but seemed to be taking Gray's sickness not as well as she should be, emotionally that is. She seemed flustered a few minutes after Gray had passed out, but she calmed down, pressing next to Natsu and picking up her book. Speaking of which, she hadn't turned a page in a while.

The Fire Mage looked up into the sky, past the trees and animal life, the sun was about to reach the middle of the sky. Erza was late. "We could have done something different," Natsu muttered more to himself than to Lucy.

However, she looked up, the book falling close without a marker to indicate where she had left off. "What?"

Natsu paused, his jaw clenching. "Something different," he repeated, "we could have done something different."

Lucy's face fell into one of understanding and regret. "Natsu…"

"No," he snapped at himself. "We should have thought this through. We should have thought of a different plan…maybe had Erza use her armor to fly him to safety." Natsu looked up, "Happy could have even grabbed Gray." He bit the inside of his cheek and shut his mouth.

Lucy frowned, "Natsu." Her voice tightened and she grabbed his arm. Her book fell from her lap as she got to her knees and faced him with a stern look. "We did the best we could. At the time, Gray couldn't move without throwing up. Not only that, but it was a two-day hike. And you know what? So what if we messed up," Lucy swallowed thickly, "we don't need to think about our past mistakes – Gray matters right now. And right now, he's sleeping. Not coughing, not throwing up, not seizing. Gray is sleeping," She reached across and held onto Gray's hand. Her eyes began to cloud but determination sliced between the tears and Lucy smiled. "We are doing the best we can and that matters."

Erza latched onto Doranbolts arm. "You aren't listening," she snapped. "We could save so many people," her eyes were dark as she stared into his.

"Yes," he growled, eyes averting her gaze. "But at what cost? So far, Ms. Erza Scarlet, you have tried to talk me into bringing a man infected, with some unknown virus, into an area surrounded by thousands – men, women, children – and for what? To save a low life mage that means nothing to the Council?"

Erza wanted to snap, but her grip only tightened on the mans' arm and he winced faintly. "Gray is a man that has saved my life more than once. He stands up to foes that threaten lives of men, women, and children. He makes people laugh and right now he needs help. I will not turn my back on him – never." She dropped her arm, watching as Doranbolt reach up and rubbed his arm as he cursed softly. "It's my turn to help him, so I am begging you…please, I will do anything to help him."

Doranbolt frowned slightly, his hand still rubbing over where the Titania's grip had been. He watched as she continued to hold his gaze and sighed. "I will go talk to the Magic Council," he muttered. The determination was still evident behind her eyes as he turned and walked away.

Natsu was slipping ever so silently into sleep. His grip was tight around Lucy's hip as she was soundlessly asleep and his other hand rested lightly on top of Gray's shoulder. In the past hour since Lucy talked him out of his rant, he had watched her curl up next to him and Gray sluggishly stop shivering. Now he sat, his back cramping up and arm going numb from Gray's weight pressed against his limb. Natsu's eyes gently fluttered shut.

The First Mage hadn't realized he had fallen asleep until Gray twitched next to him. Natsu blinked awake as he looked towards Gray who was slowly straightening up. "Hey," Natsu yawned, "You're finally up-"

"It hurts…" Gray wept inaudibly.

Natsu sat up, his arm slipping away from Lucy as she woke up, rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hand. Natsu leaned forward, noticing as Gray dug his fingers underneath his stomach. "Gray," he carefully moved forward, but the Ice Mage moaned and his breathing speed up.

"It hurts," he sobbed, this time, eyes closing, limbs shaking. "Why – why does it hurt so much?" Natsu paused. Gray never admitted he was in pain. However, Natsu's thoughts were thrown out the window as Gray leaned forward, his form toppling over as his forehead hit the ground and a pained moan escaped his trembling lips.

"Gray?" Lucy stood up and quickly crashed next to him form. "Gray are you alright?"

Gray rolled to his side, clenching his stomach and then quickly tried to sit up but fell right back down. This time, he screamed.

Natsu reached out, his hands holding onto Grays' arm as the mage tried moving around, his hands still pressed into his stomach. "Gray! Gray, you need to calm down, take deep breathes – or something man, just calm down."

Gray couldn't take a deep breath because it felt as if his stomach was trying to murder him ten times over. Stabbing him repeatedly with a scorched knife, over and over and over and over and –

Natsu grabbed his arm and started talking to him again. However, under all the agony that had jolted him awake, Gray couldn't understand a thing Natsu or Lucy were telling him. He tried to move, to see if a certain type of position would take pressure off of his stomach. But nothing worked and one more stab made his stomach flip and throat burn as bile rushed out of his gut. He felt the stomach bile slide up into his mouth as he coughed up the remaining liquid that had gotten stuck in his throat.

"Gray!" A shout forced the Ice Mages eyes open and he found Natsu shaking him, eyes wide with concern.

"He's throwing up blood," Lucy panicked.

Blood? Gray smacked his lips together and behind the sour flavor of acid, he could taste a slight tang of copper.

"Gray you need to stop freaking out," Natsu snapped.

But Gray already shut his eyes, the pain returning and he dry heaved between each breath. There it was again…Stabbing him, over and over and over and over.

Something was wrong.

"He can't hear us," Natsu growled to himself. Then under the pressure of watching Gray roll into his own vomit and moan in pain, Natsu shut his eyes and tried to think. The Ice Mages eyes were screwed shut, sweat dripped down his forehead and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. "It hurts," Gray cried out.

"What's going on," Lucy shuddered next to him – her confidence seemed to drain out of her as she watched Gray tremble in agony. "This never happened to the other ones infected."

Natsu didn't speak, he didn't dare to. Nothing about this was right – he's been saying this over and over again. Gray wasn't supposed to get sick, he wasn't supposed to sit next to him in need of warmth, he wasn't supposed to be throwing up blood, and he was never one for complaining about pain. Natsu just wanted this all to stop.

He opened his eyes and looked down, hands twisting into his pants as he tried ignoring everything around him. He needed to come up with a plan.

Then as Gray screamed, his nails digging deeper into his stomach, a flash erupted behind them and Natsu held his breath.

"Natsu!" A roar rang across the field as soft paws landed on his shoulder, "hurry!"

"Grab Gray now," a clank of armor vibrated to his left and Natsu looked up to find Erza scooping up Gray. Her face was hard as she ignored the stench that rose off of Gray and didn't flinch as he curled into her chest, vomiting onto her armor. She looked down at Natsu and the Fire Mage realized with new found respect that Doranbolt stood behind them.

A/N: I won't be replying to any reviews this time around, I'm sorry (except for May, who had a very good point). However, if you have an account I will PM you with love for this chapter. Also, if anyone knows of a good Beta, let me know. I'm stuck on my other story and I'm going to start looking for one soon because I feel like I can only get so far on my own (hence this chapter (omg PokeTail is love)). Thanks again everyone!

May- Very, very true, I didn't think about that until I read your review. I did put that in my story, about how thing could have been different. However, if that happened then what's following next wouldn't happen and the story would be…over? Thanks so much for the review!

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