Erza sharpened her favorite sword until it cut like a razor, and then she sharpened it again. It hadn't really needed to be sharpened, much like her armor hadn't needed to be polished, and her stores of food hadn't needed to be rearranged by order of deliciousness. But she didn't have much else to do.

They were still in the cave that had formerly belonged to the Hydra, ostensibly taking a short break so everyone could recover before pushing onward. In this case, "everyone" meant Gray. The ice wizard had been healed by Wendy, but he still didn't look much better than he had right after the fight with the Hydra. He'd slumped against the back wall of the cave, looking worn out and awfully small, and a few times, Erza had been sure he was about to faint.

He also looked angry. At himself, probably, for holding the rest of the team back. That was ridiculous, of course, but Erza had learned long ago that there was no talking to him when he was like this. The best she could do was pretend to look busy and show him that she, too, appreciated the time they were taking to rest.

Erza was just starting to wonder if she could possibly skin and cook the hydra when a sudden light appeared in the corner of her vision. She whirled around and saw Loke there, looking rather haggard, at least for him. He was pale, eyes bloodshot, suit rumpled.

At first, Erza was confused. Loke had already come to visit them that morning. It was a little hard to tell time in the caves beneath the mountains, but she was pretty sure there was no way a whole day had passed.

Which meant he had come off schedule. Which meant that he had news.

"Jellal?" Erza whispered. She found she couldn't quite get the rest of her question out. Her heart was hammering in her throat. She knew it was unlikely to be news of Jellal - Fairy Tail had a thousand other irons in the fire right now, and it could be important news about any other of them. She was selfish to assume it was news about Jellal. And even if it was, there was no reason at all to assume the news was good.

But Loke nodded, seeming to shake off some of his exhaustion as he did so. His expression was unreadable.

Erza's mouth went dry.

"He's awake," Loke said.

"He's…." Erza had been starting to stand, but the strength went out of her legs and she sagged back to the floor. She realized she was shaking.

"Don't…I don't mean to misrepresent the situation. We're not really sure it's good news. Or at least, we're not really sure how good the news is. I haven't seen him."

"Lucy told you…?"

"She said he was awake, but very frightened. He didn't seem to recognize her. He could move, but he didn't seem able to speak. In the end, they had to calm him down with medication, for everyone's safety. He's asleep again now, and they won't be able to tell much more about how he'll recover until he wakes up." Loke paused. "I know that doesn't sound like very good news, but it's an improvement."

Erza nodded stiffly. It was good news. This morning he'd been asleep, and they weren't even sure if he would wake. Now he was awake, and from what Loke had said, it sounded like he was expected to wake up more. The fact that he might still have brain damage, that he hadn't been able to talk…Erza couldn't think too much about that.

But this time, it was a little harder to turn her thoughts away. She couldn't stop imagining him panicking in the hospital, and worrying about what would happen when he woke up again. She had been terrified that Jellal would pay for Gray's life with his own. Until now, she hadn't really considered that he might pay with his mind.

In a way, that felt almost more cruel. Jellal was utterly brilliant, and even though that got him into almost as much trouble as it solved, Erza couldn't imagine that being taken away. Not on top of everything else.

"Erza."

Erza startled as an ice cold hand fell on her shoulder. Gray knelt heavily beside her, still looking pale and unsteady, but focused on her.

"Jellal's alright," he said simply. "Don't ask me how I know. I just do. But he's gonna be okay."

There was no possible way that Gray could know that. He had the same amount of information as Erza did, and almost certainly less understanding of how brain damage worked. Still, the familiar weight of Gray's hand on her shoulder grounded her long enough to pull her mind away from Jellal. If nothing else, at least for a moment, she'd seen a flash of the Gray she knew and loved.

"You're right," Erza managed, when she was sure her voice would be steady. It had taken her a minute or so, but Gray was still kneeling beside her, watching her solemnly. "This is…good news. Thank you, Gray."

"Course," he said, even flashing her a glimmer of his crooked smile. Then, she watched as he pulled away, visibly tensing as he did. He pushed himself upright, wobbling, but kept his footing.

"I'm ready to keep going."

Gray wasn't ready to keep going. That much was obvious. But the set of his jaw told Erza that there would be no arguing with him, and she understood why. He was thinking about Jellal, and he didn't want to waste whatever sacrifice the older wizard had made. From now on, he would be pushing himself even harder.

Laxus watched as Gray reached down to his injured leg, refreezing the blood inside the cut. That was…gross, even for Laxus. Not that he was planning on admitting it to anybody, but it was also pretty badass. Everyone else was watching on with a mixture of concern and disgust, and Erza reached out to give Gray's back a tentative little pat. Gray just grimaced and forced himself to straighten.

Laxus considered himself well-versed in tough-guy acts, and he had known the ice wizard long enough to be sure that he was putting one on. Not that he wasn't doing a good job. Laxus was sure everyone here knew Gray well enough to recognize the lines of pain around his eyes and the uneasy tightness in his jaw, but hey, a stranger probably would have thought he was doing just fine.

Not for the first time, it hit Laxus that he had really been underestimating Gray. Probably for years. Everything else was slowly peeling away, and it was clear that the kid had a core of steel.

"Can you keep going?" Natsu asked. His face was creased with worry, and it made him look five years older.

"Yeah." Gray took one halting step, then another. He paused for a second, and swallowed hard like he was fighting the urge to be sick. He was limping badly, barely able to put weight on that leg.

"We can slow down," Natsu said earnestly. He looked up at Erza. "Right?"

Erza nodded, but Laxus could tell she was thinking the same thing that he was. No matter how much they slowed down, Gray eventually would not be able to keep going.

But for now, Gray started limping forwards again. Natsu hovered around him anxiously, like he was sure that at any moment, Gray was going to fall.

They made it another ten minutes. Then twenty. Gray's face was set, his eyes blank, and he was shambling forward with the unsteady gait of a zombie. But he was upright. And he was moving.

And then, just like that, he wasn't anymore. The strength seemed to leave all his limbs at once, too suddenly for Natsu to catch him. Gray reeled against the wall of the tunnel. His head was down, and he was panting raggedly. He didn't seem able to put any weight at all on his injured leg anymore, and Laxus was pretty sure that if he didn't have the wall there, he wouldn't still be standing at all.

From where she had been leading the way, Erza stopped and began to turn around. Natsu started forward, joined by Wendy, and Laxus watched as Gray's shoulders tensed up. He turned his face away, and Laxus was pretty sure he was the only one who could see the angry blush starting across his cheekbones.

"Gray," Natsu yelped. His eyes had gone wide and kind of wobbly, a look that Laxus associated with an impending meltdown. This had the potential to get messy.

Usually, Erza could be counted on to defuse situations involving anything like a hysterical Dragon Slayer. Laxus never much minded going on missions with her, since she would take charge of any possible drama, and he could just hang out and blow stuff up. But usually, she hadn't just received concerning news about her husband, and her best friend wasn't dying, and the whole world wasn't maybe about to end.

Laxus sighed. His boyfriend wasn't in danger. Freed was back at Fairy Tail, and the worst risk he was undergoing was probably eye strain from researching too much. Laxus was the person with the least to lose currently, and probably the only one who had his head on even close to straight.

Erza made it back to Gray, looking as exhausted and frazzled as Laxus had expected. "We can-"

Laxus didn't give her time to finish. She was about to suggest they take a break, and in his opinion, that was the last thing they needed. It would just give them all time to wallow in the worst-case scenarios and the what ifs, and that did not seem good. Especially not for Natsu, who was looking (in Laxus's opinion) increasingly fragile.

He shoved his way through the crowd of his worried guildmates, making it to Gray's side before anyone could stop him. "You good, Gray?"

"Huh?" Gray looked up through his hair, dazed and not looking good in the slightest.

"Thought so," Laxus said. Before Gray could resist, he grabbed him by one shoulder and lifted the kid onto his back. "Let's go."

"What?!" Gray squirmed around, trying to let go, but Laxus grabbed his right arm and held him on that way.

"Stay still," Laxus ordered. "Do you wanna keep going or don't you?"

"Put me down!"

"Can you walk?"

There was a short, sullen silence from his back.

"No time to waste," Laxus said. "We're moving."

Laxus started walking, adjusting Gray into a slightly more comfortable position as he did so. Laxus had never carried Gray before, so he wasn't sure how much he normally weighed, but honestly, he was a bit lighter than Laxus would have expected. Laxus had never exactly thought of Gray as small, but now he was wondering if he had lost weight.

The rest of the group fell in behind Laxus. There was an air of confusion and vague acceptance amongst the group. Erza eventually moved forward to take the lead again, and Natsu somewhat reluctantly followed her as Wendy trailed behind.

"This is stupid," Gray muttered. He'd slumped over Laxus's shoulder, which rather undercut his point - Laxus could feel Gray's breath on the side of his neck.

"If you want to try walking again, be my guest. You have three steps to prove you can do it."

"You think I'm weak."

"I don't care if you're weak. I care if you can walk."

"I hate this."

"Shut up, kid. You just had a rough fight, okay? You basically took that thing out single-handedly, and I don't know how that's not enough for you. Just sit tight and take a break."

Gray lapsed into silence. Laxus, who had a long career as an asshole and was pretty much the master of the sullen silence, recognized this for what it was. Gray was still angry.

For a few minutes, Laxus thought about just not saying anything. Erza and Natsu were pretty far ahead, but probably still in earshot. And Gray had looked so exhausted when he'd almost keeled over back there that Laxus honestly wouldn't be surprised if he ended up falling asleep.

But for all the time Laxus had spent with Gray as they'd slowly made their way through the caverns, Laxus didn't think he'd actually had a single real conversation with him. And if he wanted to, this was probably his chance.

"You know, I was sorry to hear you died," Laxus said. "I mean, you were already back by then. But still. That's…that's tough."

"Fuck off."

"What?"

"You heard me," Gray mumbled. He still sounded exhausted, and kind of quiet, but there was an edge to his voice that Laxus hadn't totally expected. "Fuck off."

It was honestly pretty bold of the kid to pull something like that when Laxus could drop him at a moment's notice, and for a second, it shocked Laxus into silence. Only a second, though. "Uhh-"

"You all think I'm gonna die again," Gray said softly. "It's like everyone thinks I'm stupid or something, like I don't notice how everyone is lookin' at me. And you ain't any different."

Laxus wasn't entirely sure what to say, since up until this conversation, he had indeed been operating under the vague assumption that Gray was going to die again. He hadn't really thought about it, or wanted to. But now that Gray himself had said it, Laxus figured that was more or less what he'd been thinking.

"Umm…."

"You think I'm weak," Gray hissed. "You always did. Ever since I was little. Save your breath, 'cause I don't want your stupid pep talk."

Gray was sort of right. Honestly, when he'd joined the guild, Laxus had thought the little punk was all talk. He'd struggled to understand why Natsu hung around him so much, and he hadn't really ever considered Gray to be much of a threat. At least, not to anyone that Laxus would consider worth threatening. The kid had started to come into his own when he got older, sure, but Laxus still hadn't paid him much mind.

Now, he was thinking that he might have underestimated the ice wizard. Gray was stepping up to do something none of the other members of Fairy Tail had been able to pull off, not even Erza. That took a hell of a lot of guts. And, just maybe, Laxus had been kind of unfair to him in the past. He was a big enough person to admit that, at least to himself.

"I don't think you're weak," Laxus told him. He'd kind of intended it to be a throwaway comment, but as he was saying it, he realized that it was true. "I think you're a huge dick. With major anger issues. And kind of a shitty personality. But not weak."

There was sort of a confused, angry silence from Gray.

"Have you considered using that?" Laxus asked.

"Using…what?"

"The anger issues. Just…get pissed off."

Gray laughed, and the sound was full of enough bitterness to give Magnus reason to worry. "I am pissed off."

"Well get more pissed off."

"At…you?"

"No. You know what I mean, Gray." Laxus was silent for a moment - the only person whose feelings he normally knew about were Freed's, and Freed made talking about them almost too easy. "I…don't think you're going to die. You're too stubborn for that."

"Well…."

But Gray trailed off. He didn't seem to have a response to that. Laxus couldn't tell if he felt dismissed, or a little bit bolstered.

They were silent for a couple of minutes, and Laxus found himself tightening his hold on Gray's legs, suddenly irrationally afraid that he'd somehow managed to fall asleep back there. Well, that was for the best, if it was true. He probably really needed sleep. The magical energy Gray was bleeding out just to stay standing at this point…it was the sort of thing that really took it out of a guy. That was what had happened to Jellal, if Laxus had understood correctly. Jellal….

Nah. Laxus probably shouldn't think about Jellal. He hadn't had a chance to visit him, during the handful of days he'd been back at Fairy Tail, and he didn't really understand how the other wizard was doing. Him being awake seemed like it should be a good sign. But if it was, then why was everyone else still acting so worried? That seemed like a bad sign. And Laxus just didn't know enough about comas.

Laxus shook his head slightly. This was a bad line of thought. He couldn't afford to be worried about Jellal right now. There was no more information available about him.

Laxus was finally distracted once and for all by the feeling of something wet on his wrist. It was so unexpected that he almost yanked his hand away, then realized that would surely drop Gray. He looked down, and saw that blood had pooled in the small hollow between his wrist and stomach. He had a split second of confusion, then realized Gray's leg must have started bleeding again.

"Um…Gray?"

"I know, I know," Gray said sullenly. So he hadn't been asleep after all. Or at least, it didn't sound like he had. "Gimme a sec, I'm…."

Gray gathered his strength, and then Laxus felt a line of sharp cold where Gray had refrozen the blood.

He didn't really mean to mention it. He'd pushed Gray enough, and they'd probably talked more about feelings and all that crap in the past ten minutes than they had in the entire time they'd known each other. But all of a sudden, the reality of Gray's situation set in, and Laxus couldn't hold himself back.

"So you got that for the rest of your life, huh? That…really sucks."

Laxus winced as soon as the words were out of his mouth, already wishing that he hadn't said anything. He was searching for some way to take it back when Gray sighed, low and long.

"At least I might get a rest of my life."

For once in his life, Laxus didn't have to be told what was on another person's mind. Even to him, it was pretty obvious that Gray was thinking about, or trying not to think about, the same thing as him.

"It's not your fault," Laxus blurted out before he could stop himself. The surprised silence from his back told him that he'd guessed right. "I mean, aside you and me, he's probably the other most stubborn in the guild. Top three for sure."

"I…."

"We couldn't have done anything to stop him. I mean, you really couldn't have, 'cause you were dead. But, I guess none of us could. He just kind of does whatever he wants, and it sounds like he really wanted to do this. Not even Erza can really get him to drop something once he's got it in his stupid head."

Gray didn't say anything, but that was pretty normal for Gray. Laxus thought the silence was thoughtful, rather than sullen. It was about the best he could have hoped for. Honestly, he was kind of relieved that Gray didn't have a response, because if he did, then Laxus would have to come up with one, and he was running out of comforting words. He wasn't good at this crap.

He waited for Gray's response for a little while longer, then a little more. Eventually, some combination between the rhythm of Gray's breathing and the distribution of his weight across Laxus's shoulders told him that the ice wizard had finally fallen asleep.

After that, Laxus was extra careful to walk steadily and to find the smoothest path down the tunnel. He told himself that it was mostly to keep Gray from waking up and talking to him again, but he knew that wasn't true. Gray deserved a break, even if it was just for a couple hours. Initially, Laxus had planned to carry the ice wizard just until he could walk on his own again, but he didn't mind it all that much. He'd carry Gray as far as he could, and hopefully make his burden a little lighter.