Chapter Ten

Cana wrapped her arms around Lucy and was crying before Lucy could even warn the Dragis. They stood back and waited. Lucy reached up and pulled her friend's shoulders back . "We need to get inside."

"Ri…ght." Cana's voice had gotten hung up on the word when she sat the multiple aliens behind her friend. She looked down. "I thought you only collected keys?"

"Shut up and let us in." She said and she stopped. "Natsu, someone should wait for Gajeel."

"I will." Gray said and Lucy nodded and motioned for Cana to go in first. They all headed inside, with Gray waiting at the door. They headed inside and headed towards the back circulation desk. Erza slid off of the desk, her sword lifting and Lucy held her hands up.

"They're friends."

"We don't know…"

"I trust Natsu…please trust him and his people."

"Natsu?" Kinana asked and looked at the aliens over her shoulder.

"Grossu…his name in English is Natsu."

"How are you sure?"

"He has a translation program. All his gesturing at the dorm was to get us to talk to help the program learn English."

"Oh." Kinana looked around. Cana, her, Erza and one other girl had been up when the knock had come. She put her arm around the girl and looked at Erza and then Lucy and again at the aliens. "We'll go check on the others who were sleeping."

"Let them rest." Laxus spoke slowly. "No sense in them being more exhausted than they may already be."

Kiana nodded slowly and she and the other girl headed out of sight. Erza lowered her sword a little and looked at Lucy. Before she could speak a tremor of pain ran along her side and she gasped, leaning against the desk. "Erza!"

Lucy raced forward and grabbed her friend and pushed her hair out of her face. Erza bit her lip and forced herself to stand up. Cana picked up her sword and set it on the desk and shook her head. "You need to let Levy treat that wound."

"We don't have the medicine to spare." Erza shook her head. Lucy swore.

"Zaza, will you stop being so damn stubborn?"

"Says the stubborn ass who hasn't eaten more than 8 day this month." Erza groaned between her teeth. Lucy shook her head and pushed her friend onto the desk. She lifted her shirt and looked away. The bandages were heavily stained. Erza's hand caught her's on the hem of her shirt. "Are you okay? The queen sent you flying pretty good."

"Yeah…the suit absorbed most of the impact." Lucy said and looked over at Cana. "Where's the first aid supplies?"

"The Aerial Silverback sent you flying?" Natsu's voice was low and Lucy froze. Her face scrunching up as she slowly turned to face him. His face was dark, his eyes bright. She had to fight herself not to fidget.

"Well…"

"It's tail caught her in the shoulder." Cana said and Lucy's head whipped around.

"Traitor!" Lucy sneered then shrieked as she was grabbed. She turned her head around and met Natsu's heated gaze.

"Which shoulder?"

"It's fine, if you want to worry about something; Zaza's side is worse."

"Which shoulder?" He asked Cana lifting his gaze off of Lucy. Cana smirked as her friend twisted her head and shook her own while glaring at her.

"Left."

"You bitch." Lucy swore tried to lunge at her but Natsu had too strong of a grip on her. She looked up at him and took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. The longer she had looked at him, the more she realized he wasn't angry. He was concerned.

"If I let you look at it, will you ask Wendy to look at Erza's side?"

"I'll do that anyway. If she'll let me." The girl moved forward and waved at Erza who stared. The blue eyes set in the pale face were framed with silver and blue scales that played up her youthful appearance. "I know I'm young and don't look impressive, but I promise I'm capable of helping if you let me."

"I'd…appreciate it." Erza bit out as a bolt of pain hit her. The young Dragis moved to her side and she felt the air immediately cool. The girl lifted the shirt and touched her side through the bandages. She sniffed and pulled back and looked up at her.

"What happened?"

"A…medium sized gray dragonoid jumped me when I was trying to pick the lock on a door to a shop when I was looking for food." Erza inhaled sharply. "It's claws caught me and I barely made it back to the dorm."

"When was this?" Wendy was quickly unraveling the bandages.

"Four days…maybe five ago?"

"How are you still alive?" Wendy asked, her mouth falling open. Erza stared down at her and the girl shook her head and started to finish unwrapping the badges. "Wha….What happened to the claw marks?"

"Lucy treated me when I got back." Wendy looked over at Lucy.

"Cana cleaned the cuts and I used her favor knife to cauterize the cuts."

"What do you mean? It's not translating." Wendy furrowed her brown.

"I took the knife that's on Zaza's hip, heated it up on our hot plate. When the blade was red, I pressed it against the cut. The hot metal caused the skin and blood vessels to seal."

"Fire to heal? I thought only Natsu would do something that reckless."

"Humans have been using cauterization, fire related treatment, for centuries." Lucy defended herself. She felt Natsu's fingers tighten on her arms and she looked at him. "I haven't done it to myself."

"I want to see your shoulder. Now." He growled out and she reached up and touched the left lapel of her tugged. The Scalut slowly started to peel open. He grabbed the unfurled neck and tugged it faster and she gasped.

"Hey!" He growled as the bruise along her shoulder came into view. She looked down and flinched. Her entire left shoulder and clavicle was angry looking. "Oh that's worse than I thought it would be."

"What were you thinking?" He shouted, his hand letting go of the Scalut and it instantly closed. Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. "You should have told me as soon as I found you that you were injured!"

"It doesn't hurt."

He growled something that didn't translate but judging by the flinches of Sting and Rouge it wasn't just a growl. She put her hands on her hips. "Don't cuss at me! I don't have to tell you everything that happens to me. I'm an adult and am in charge of my own life and welfare."

"You shouldn't be allowed to be in charge of your own life. You've proven you have no self-preservation!"

"I'm sorry, did the Ember Infant just complain that someone else has no sense of self-preservation?" A deep voice asked, it was laced with amusement. Lucy looked over her shoulder and saw Gray appear with Gajeel. Gajeel was taller than Natsu with his long black hair falling wildly down his back He wore white pants; or they used to be white but were now a dingy off-white. Like the other males he didn't wear a shirt; and scales were everywhere along his form. But, unlike the others; he had metal embedded in his skin and looked like dermal piercings.

"Shut up Rust Bucket." Natsu snarled, his eyes never leaving Lucy. She turned back to look at him. "And you should…"

"Don't you dare!" She cut him off her temper rising the same as his. "You do not get to yell at me."

"It seems to be the only way you'll listen!" He shouted back. "You are a fragile female…"

"Ohh bad choice of words." Cana hissed.

"He's dead." Erza grinned and he looked over and heard Gajeel start to chortle. He turned back right as the impact caused him to bend over and his feet left the floor. Lucy grunted as her leg came back to the floor. Natsu was laying on the floor a few feet away on his back.

"Fragile my ass." She snarled. "I ran track, had a golf scholarship and Erza has been personally training me for the last two years."

"Ho ho! The human girl has some power hidden in her thin frame." Sting said and ducked behind Rouge when Lucy threw a book at him. Rouge's shadow came off of the floor and caught it so it wouldn't make too much noise. Sting watched as Lucy glared and he waved shyly at her.

"Lucy, calm down." Levy's voice was laced with humor. "We still need their help."

"Oh they'll help us. One way or another." Lucy snarled as Natsu started to get to his knees. Her friend wrapped her arms around Lucy's waist and looked at her. Lucy sighed and wrapped her arms around her friend. "I'm so glad you made it."

"I promised I'd do my best."

"I know." Levy's voice broke. She pulled back, smiling through her tears. "I shouldn't have worried, you have always been so strong, but I just don't want to lose you too."

"Well, I promise to try and make sure that never happens. Okay?" Lucy wiped at her tears and her friend nodded. "Oh!"

"What?" Lucy turned and pulled Levy over to Laxus. Levy looked up at him and subconsciously slid behind Lucy and looked at him around her. He looked down at her with a hard, unreadable look.

"Laxus, this is Levy. She's the one who managed to grow a garden on the top floor of our dorm. The pink haired idiot mentioned that someone on at the Guild Station would want to work with her on creating a garden there."

"Guild Station?" Levy asked and looked at her friend but Laxus was looking at her. Natsu snarled at the comment about his hair color.

"He did mention you had all had grown many plants. Where are they?"

"They got burnt. An orange fire breather got into the building when raiders attacked it and drove us out."

Laxus growled and Lucy nodded and pulled Levy forward and nodded while talking with her eyes. Her friend looked at the largest Dragis and swallowed, thrusting both arms behind her back and hooking one hand over the other forearm.

"We lost this season's crop. But I managed to grab all of the seed catalogs I'd collected in the past two years. And Lucy and I grabbed cuttings from what we had too. So I should be able to grow another garden if I'm able to replicate the soil, sun and moisture requirements."

"Seriously?" His eyes softened a little and Levy nodded. "That would help us greatly to feed the rest of the survivors."

"What survivors?" Erza tried to get off of the desk but Wendy pressed on her injury and she bit her tongue and fell back with a groan.

"We have been extracting humans from the planet since we arrived." Gray said and stepped around the other Dragis and walked over to Wendy. He leaned down and listened as she spoke and then turned and left. He grabbed Rouge and Sting and the three departed.

"What does he mean by that?" Cana asked and looked down the darkened aisle of shelving they'd walked off down. "That was weirdly ominous to say as he walked off."

"They've been saving humans and getting them off world." Lucy filled in and Laxus' eyes narrowed on her but she didn't notice as she was looking at her friend. "The Guild Station is a large space station where the Dragis and their allies stay off world. The rest of the human survivors are there. But they don't seem to be willing to speak or speak the same language for the translation programs to understand us initially."

"Why are they taking us off world if they're supposed to be friendly?" Cana asked.

"Because the Draconics usually wipe out all life forms in three months. Us surviving for two years is unheard of."

"Dra…what?"

"Draconics is the…official name for dragonoids."

"I like dragonoids better." Erza sniffed and Lucy chuckled and shook her head. She lifted her left hand and held up one finger, her forefinger, and pointed it at Natsu.

"You need to stay over there until you calm down and can apologize for being a controlling jackass."

"Gihihi…blondie is feisty." Gajeel walked over and sniffed at her. She looked at him with a weary expression. His eyes slowly traveled over the Scalut before his eyes shot over at Natsu and then back to her. "If you want, I can give you an upgraded Scalut."

"Fuck off you Metallic Moron." Natsu appeared, pushing Gajeel back a few feet, using his forehead as a battering ram. Lucy's eyes popped open wider and she watched as the two started punching each other with abandon. Levy grasped her arm as they watched.

"Knock it off!" Laxus finally growled and the two separated. Natsu snarled as Gajeel walked around and sat on a table away from them. A grin on his lips. His red eyes slowly went over Lucy and Levy before he winked and looked around the library. Levy shifted and looked at Lucy and then looked at Natsu. He was wiping blood off of his chin. Levy pushed Lucy over and widened her eyes. Lucy rolled hers but her friend pointed. Lucy inched over slowly.

"You okay?"

"Yeah…he punches like a hatchling." Natsu said and shifted on his feet. "Don't let him give you a Scalut."

"Why?"

"It won't be as strong. Just trust me." He said and she thought he was blushing but the lights from the electric lanterns and candles weren't bright enough to see for sure.

"Right." She nodded and pretended to believe that. He shrugged.

"I'm sorry." He sighed. "I shouldn't have called you fragile."

"Or been so bossy."

"Or been so bossy." He conceded. She nodded and put her hands behind her back.

"I'm sorry for kicking you."

"Kiss him and make up!" Cana called out and Lucy spun on her heel and marched over on her while Laxus and Gajeel laughed and Wendy blushed. Lucy was threatening her friend while Levy laughed and shook her head. She looked over at Laxus and cleared her throat.

"There are a lot of books on agriculture and gardening here. Is there anyway to get them to the Guild Station?"

"Of course." He nodded and looked around. "What is this place exactly?"

"It's a library."

"What is a library?" Laxus asked and she stared at him and then blinked and ran her hands down the front of her jeans.

"A library is a building where we store books on this planet. All kinds of books!" She was getting excited. "There are history books, books filled with information about thousands of subjects; like gardening, animal husbandry, zoology, war, electronics, to adventure stories to mystery stories. And here people could check out or borrow books for free. Then they bring their book or books back and check out more. Some even have programs for learning, children entertainment, helping the homeless or illiterate or those in need."

"I think you picked her favorite topic." Gajeel scoffed as Levy took a deep breath. She started to blush and looked at the floor. She missed the frown that Laxus sent at Gajeel who shrugged his shoulders.

"I was in college to get my degree in Library Sciences with a minor in education…before the world went to the dragonoids."

"So this is not the only library on this planet?"

"Oh no! Most cities have their own library and most colleges and universities have their own on their campus as well. Some cities might have multiple. And certain libraries around the world have extremely rare books or scrolls or other historical artifacts."

"Aside from helping Droy with the planting of your planet's seeds; would you be willing to work with our station's archeologists? So they can help preserve your…libraries?"

"Of course. It would be an honor to help in any way I can."

"Chee.." Levy turned and looked at Gajeel.

"What was that sound supposed to mean?"

"Pretty sure your too small for such a task. You are basically the size of a gowlmp."

"A what?" She asked and Wendy huffed a breath and looked over.

"It is a small water dwelling animal on our planet."

"Did you just call me a shrimp?" Levy demanded, her hands on her hip. He shrugged while grinning at her. Lucy and Cana had stopped arguing. They shared a look and made some hand motions that didn't make sense. Erza threw her hands up and the three nodded. Laxus and Natsu watched wearily as Levy stalked over to Gajeel. He slid off of the table and stood over her.

"You are too minuscule to do much. If I had seen you in the wilds, I might have mistaken you for a pet."

"A pet?" She asked and looked over at Lucy and the others and Lucy was laughing. She turned and her fist landed in his gut, and surprised by the attack, it caused him to bend over. She grabbed his shoulders and flipped him to his back, then rolled him onto his stomach and straddled him. She pulled her belt off and wrapped it around his right arm and neck and started to pull. He struggled but couldn't manage to dislodge her.

"What the hell?" Gray's voice made Levy look over; and she loosened her hold just enough for Gajeel to get the belt loose and pulled his arm, forcing the belt out of her hands. She grabbed his hair and yanked, her focus back on him. He snarled but she didn't let go.

"Apologize or Levy is going to rip your hair out. One girl who left the dorm to go to a militant group did so because Levy ripped a bald patch in her hair." Cana stated calmly. Gajeel snarled but stopped resisting.

"I'm sorry for calling ya a pet and a…shrimp."

"Remember this the next time you want to open that big mouth." Levy pushed his head into the musty carpet and climbed over him and picked up her belt. Gray, Sting and Rouge were laughing as he scrambled to his feet. Laxus gave a low growl and he merely glared at her as she pulled her belt through the loops of her jeans.