Author's Note: Hey, sorry for the wait! I'm trying to upload these chapters on a monthly basis, but sometimes other things take precedence. One thing I have done is finally make an AO3 account since I know readers these days are generally split between here and there now. FFnet will always remain home base for me, however, assuming this website stays up and running, and I'll definitely be posting chapters here first. I'll gradually be cross-posting my works from here onto that site as well.

Thanks for your comments! As always, they are appreciated.

Dumb boiz coming thru

To say he was angry was an understatement. He had the right to go to Cedar Town, having found the location of the docking on his own, but no matter what he did, Erza stood in his way. Natsu had fought her. And lost, both verbally and physically. As much as he hated to admit it, she was too strong.

He nursed his black eye at the table in the library as yukino sat nearby reading books for her last lesson with Mira. She had kindly offered earlier to allow him to write another letter to Lucy, but what could he say? He wasn't on his way to save her; instead he had to stay here and rely on Gray to do that. That thought that he couldn't do anything himself drove him crazy.

"Gray-sama will succeed, Natsu-sama," Yukino said as she looked up from her book. "He's very strong and reliable. Don't worry."

Her reassurance was not comforting, though he appreciated it. Sitting and waiting definitely weren't on his list of skills, but he was doing his best. Natsu folded his arms beneath him and lay his head down. He'd barely settled when Macao burst into the room, eyes wild with panic.

"Outside! Outside now!" he shouted, then ran back the way he came.

Natsu exchanged a glance with Yukino before the two bolted upright and headed for the door. He looked down upon the landing and saw several of his guildmates flooding towards the guild entrance. Following the crowd, what he saw was nothing he could've expected.

Pinned to the tree out front were Levy, Jet, and Droy. All three of them looked like they had sustained serious injuries as they hung unconsciously from their shackles on the tree. Just below them, there were words carved into the bark of the trunk with the outline of a skull next to them.

"NOSY FAIRIES GET THEIR WINGS CLIPPED"

Branded by HawkofNavarre

Chapter 10

Brotherhood

The mood had been sombre since Team Shadow Gear had been found on the tree out front. Natsu had lost his focus entirely, alternating between fretting over what had happened on Gray's end and feeling all-consuming anger over the attack on his friends. He was not the only one who felt immediately compelled to retaliate against the offending party—Elfman had eagerly agreed with that sentiment and so had Laxus, which was a big deal considering the leader's grandson rarely so riled up on behalf of the guild-but while they were basically jumping out of their seats to attack, Makarov remained stern and logical.

"But we know who it is!" Laxus argued as the more experienced mages of Fairy Tail sat in the library around the conference table. He was out of his seat, looking like he wanted to lunge over the table and punch some sense into his own grandfather. "I don't see why we're just sitting on our asses! They're the ones who declared war on us!"

Makarov trained a particularly heated glare upon his own kin. "Quit letting the blood rush to your head. I'm as angry as you are, but we don't just go around starting fights with other guilds. If this was an incident by one rogue member of Phantom Lord, I'd be the one responsible for starting a war."

"From the consistency of the injuries, it looks like the work of a single person," Mira said from beside their Master. She held herself, glancing miserably down at the table. "Whoever attacked them was incredibly strong and cruel."

"They were sending a message," Erza replied, her voice even in contrast to her clenched fist shaking on the table. "It was laid out for us clear as day. Levy got caught up in Phantom Lord's business and they didn't like whatever it was."

Natsu's brain promptly reeled from that information. He'd been out and about on his own for the last week, but before that, he'd been helping Levy with her research when she'd had that revelation about Lucy's last name being Heartfilia. Ever since he'd been forced back into keeping a low profile, he saw Levy borderline obsessed with figuring out how to get in touch with the company head. He hadn't seen her for a couple of days prior, but now it appeared that she'd gone into the field with her search along with Jet and Droy.

"Levy was looking into the Heartfilia family," he said as eyes around the room were drawn to him. "I dunno what that has to do with..."

He paused, eyes widening briefly before they settled into a glare at nobody in particular. At first, he hadn't been able to see any connection, but now it was there right in front of him. While Fairy Tail was generally friendly towards other guilds, Phantom Lord had never been particularly amicable in return. The only thing Natsu had even known about them before he found that bottled letter was their name and location of their headquarters. Only Makarov had had any contact with them before that because of council meetings, but there hadn't been one of those in a while. That left only one person in the guild that had a connection to Phantom Lord.

"Natsu-sama, please don't."

The dragon slayer glanced down at the small hand curled into his, barely feeling her soft skin against his own calloused palm. Yukino's brow was furrowed as she stepped closer to him.

"I know what you're thinking. It's wrong. I know it is," she told him. He wanted to demand how she could possibly know, but he was too angry to even get the words out. "Please, don't do anything."

Natsu could not answer her pleas when there was nothing else that made sense. If he'd been the one to go on this mission, maybe this wouldn't have happened—there wouldn't have been a slip up or whatever led to this. How could he not do anything? Three of his friends had been badly injured and were lying in the infirmary right now. Someone had to pay.

However, before he could react, Cana peeked in through the door. "Oh, there you all are. Mira, we need some help with Gray."

Gray. The name struck him like spurs and Natsu headed for the door, ignoring Yukino's calls after him. He shoved past a disgruntled Cana and descended the stairs into the foyer where both Max and Elfman were loosely supporting the ice mage. Storming towards the other man, he had every intention of accepting all the consequence that came with fault until he heard Cana screaming at him from above. He paused to look at her.

"He has a concussion, you idiot! Now isn't the time for petty fighting!" she yelled, leaning over the railing.

Before he could respond, a sharp pain cracked across his face and sent him hurtling into one of the tables. At first, the only thing Natsu registered was how much his cheek throbbed; it'd been a while since anyone had hit him that hard. He sat up slowly as his vision readjusted, inadvertently splintering a stray plank of wood that was underneath him. Gray was standing a few strides away with his fist still outstretched, evidently having wrestled himself away from his stewards. His eyes were darting around frantically like he couldn't quite focus.

"You stupid bastard!" Gray shouted, looking almost crazed. He was already moving forward again to where Natsu was on the floor.

Natsu slowly pulled himself onto his knees using a broken chair as a crutch. His hand closed tightly around the top of the frame, glowering at his fast-approaching guildmate as he flung the piece of furniture. It had the desired effect, Gray shielding himself before it hit and allowing Natsu to throw himself at the other man with a roar.

There wasn't any strategy to any of this. He just wanted to beat the shit out of Gray. Everything was his fault! He was the reason Natsu couldn't do anything to help Lucy and he was the reason their friends got hurt. The one clean punch to Gray's face he got before the ice mage brought his arms up for protection wasn't satisfying enough.

It wasn't so much a fight as it was a wrestling match. Eventually, Gray caught his wrist in one hand and punched Natsu so hard that for a moment, there was only darkness. The next instant, he found himself against a table with Gray holding him there by the vest. He moved his head out of instinct, barely avoiding the fist that crashed through the table.

Natsu rolled to the side and slipped out of his vest as he steadied himself. The room felt a bit like it was tilting, but he'd fought through worse. His body was burning and the metallic taste in his mouth only spurred him on. He wiped the liquid from his mouth with the back of his wrist as Gray turned to charge him again.

There was fire at his fingertips as he prepared to absorb the blow when Erza grabbed onto Gray's arm. Her presence always meant the fight was over, but Natsu was nowhere near done with it. However, it was Gray who surprised everyone—Erza included—by shoving his senior aside and barreling straight into Natsu's gut.

He felt the wind knocked out of him for a second. More kitchen furniture snapped beneath him before Natsu found his breath and swung back. The gratifying feeling of knuckles meeting bone only lasted until he got knocked in the face again. He put more force into his next blow and the one he received in return seemed to hurt just as much. That was as dedicated as it got. Get hit, hit harder, and try to knock the other guy out. He wouldn't lose. Everything was Gray's fault. He was going to pay. He was going to p—

Natsu was thrown off when his next wild swing met only air and he was tumbling over from the momentum of his own punch. His vision blurred as he stared at the boards of the floor, beads of red dripping down to join old beer stains on the floor. It was a mesmerizing sight for a brief moment before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. Natsu turned over a little clumsily to return to battle. His eyes focused on the split image of Gray and he wondered which one he should attack.

"This is ridiculous," Erza said from where she was standing over Gray, having dragged him back. The man appeared to be trying to stand but was failing miserably.

"He... He's gonna get what's comin' to 'im," the Grays replied, words slurring. Their eyes were half-lidded as they swiped at the ground for some sort of leverage.

There was a fogginess in Natsu's brain that he ignored as he rose to one knee with great effort. As long as he could stand, he could still fight. "I'm gonna...kick your ass."

"No you won't!" a cheerful voice assured him before Mirajane leaned over into his sightline with a smile. She tapped him on the forehead. "Go to sleep."

And just like that, he did.

Natsu learned a long time ago not to question it every time he woke up in the infirmary. He skipped right past the confusion and tried to remember how he had ended up here in the first place. There'd been...a lot of punching, or so he thought. The details were a little fuzzy.

He sat up, wincing. His head was throbbing and his jaw felt sore, but staying in bed wasn't something he did. Turning to get up, he found his rival lying in the adjacent bed and everything came rushing back to him in an instant.

"Calm your tits."

Cana was leaning against the wall on the far end of the room, a bottle of beer in hand. Having been more occupied with his memories and Gray, Natsu hadn't noticed her there at all. Light was flooding in through the window beside her, refracting off the empty bottles sitting on the sill. Their presence suggested that she'd been for at least a while.

"Porlyusica said you'd probably wake up soon, so I figured I'd stick around so you wouldn't go apeshit when you woke up," she explained before she took another swig of beer. As she swallowed, she made a refreshed sigh. "Boredom drinking is the best."

He pulled off his covers, ready to get up. "Whatever..."

"Ah, ah, ah!" She jumped in front of his bed with a frown, waggling her finger. "You aren't going anywhere. You need to rest and you need to listen to what I'm about to tell you."

Natsu shrugged, glaring. "It's not like I can beat Gray up while he's unconscious anyway."

She scoffed. "Oh, is that what you were trying to do earlier? You two looked like kids in an after-school brawl. Not a speck of magic, but you still managed to do a number on each other," Cana replied. She downed the rest of her beer and casually walked over to place it on the ledge with the other bottles. "We heard what happened on the way back, so before you jump to anymore conclusions, we need to set something else straight. Our mission to save Lucy failed."

The words rang loudly in his ears, nearly having forgotten that was what Gray was supposed to be doing yesterday. Lucy was a part of this whole thing too and he felt incredibly guilty that he'd allowed himself to put her plight out of mind. Of course, that didn't compare to hearing that the help he'd promised her had been no help at all.

"And," Cana continued pointedly, "like I said, you're not going apeshit on me. Listen carefully. Our mission failed because of you."

He looked at her quizzically. "Huh? Me?"

"That's right, and you would've known that if you'd just sat still long enough for the briefing," she explained tersely. "Gray walked into an ambush that was set up because you basically went and screamed Bora's name all around town."

...Wait, what?

"And you know what else? Because of that ambush, Gray's cover got blown, so congratulations on fucking up our only connection to Bora."

...What?

"You brought this mission to the guild, but all you've been doing ever since then is bitch and moan about how you don't get to do anything. We have no more leads to go on, so I guess you got what you wanted. Go rescue that girl yourself."

Cana strode across the room to the door and let it slam behind her. It was quiet, but what surrounded him was not silence at all. Her voice washed over his mind again and again like a broken record. The mission failed because of you. It was a set up because you—you got what you wanted.

Go rescue that girl yourself.

And that was it. Natsu had known from the beginning that he didn't have the resources or knowledge to find someone he'd only known through handwriting, and that was why he'd brought that letter to his guild. However, when it came down to it, he'd been the most useless one of all.

Yukino had been the one to figure out how to get in contact with Lucy and she was the only one who could. Levy had discovered Bora's connection to Juvia and realized Lucy's relation to the Heartfilia family. Gray had been the one to build a solid enough relationship with Juvia that she got in touch with her boyfriend for him. He couldn't have pulled off any of that, loathe as he was to admit that about Gray's part in this.

It was just...he was the one who'd found the letter. Why couldn't he do anything for her?

A small groan came from his left and Natsu glanced over to see Gray placing a hand on his head, though his eyes were still shut. The two of them had been rivals ever since they were children and never quite saw eye to eye. Their approach to missions were as similar as their respective elemental affinities. Gray liked things done quietly and cleanly, even if things took a little longer. Natsu had no such patience; he just walked straight up to the problem and punched it in the face, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. People generally frowned upon that, but he ignored them because it always worked. It had never occurred to him to expect a different outcome.

Losing...was not something he was afraid of, at least if it only affected himself. Because of his carelessness, Lucy's life was still on the line. He'd been selfish and arrogant. If Igneel were around, he would've kicked Natsu in his already throbbing head.

"Ugh..." The ice mage rolled over, blinking like it was a lot of effort. "Why'd they put me next to you?"

Natsu said nothing at the spiteful tone. He couldn't defend himself when he deserved all the blame he'd been putting on Gray. Thinking he hadn't been doing anything, believing he'd sold out Levy and the others... Yeah, he was an idiot. When Gray had been the one to attack him first, there'd been a touch of confusion, but the eagerness to fight overrode it. His anger all made sense now.

"I screwed up," Natsu said, his voice quiet and a little hoarse.

"Yeah, you did." Gray covered his eyes with an arm.

He swallowed. "Cana told me."

"Good."

A silence as heavy as the feeling in his chest filled the room. He could leave the room altogether, but that was a coward's way out. He knew he should apologize for making a mess of things, but saying something like that to Gray didn't feel right. Instead, he let the awkward silence drag on as he struggled to figure out what to say next.

"Remember that time Erza made us go on that mission together? The one with the counterfeit jewels?" Gray asked abruptly.

Oh yes he did. That one really brought him back. Two years had passed since the mission in question, but it was one that Natsu remembered well. While some people in the guild liked to team up for their missions, that was neither Gray or Natsu's style. Happy always came with him, but that was different because they were basically one person. That time in particular, Erza had deemed it necessary that they work together to complete the mission properly. Gray's ability to replicate any object was to be used to copy the key to the counterfeiters' main vault which they could hand off to Erza while they tracked the criminals. Their other job was to follow the counterfeiters to the place they were actually making the money, find the plates they were using, and melt them into useless scrap metal. That, of course, was Natsu's expertise. It all made perfect sense on paper until you put the two of them together. Needless to say, the mission had gone on with a lot of reluctance.

"Erza almost killed us, but we got it done," Natsu replied with a brief nod.

"We got it done," he agreed, "but the whole thing was a disaster."

Natsu snickered. "You put ice down my shirt when we went to find the vault key."

"'Cause you're an asshole."

"So are you, bastard."

Gray was grinning as he sat up, leaning an arm against his leg. "At least I didn't puke all over myself."

Scowling, Natsu recalled the events which occurred after they'd found the vault key. Gray left a copy of the key for Erza, along with few unconscious bodies that weren't part of the plan (which they later got a massive ass-whooping for), and they tailed the leader of the operation. As it had turned out, the group had run things out of a train car for both convenience and discretion. It'd also resulted in Natsu never even leaving his seat on the train.

"I should've aimed for you," Natsu retorted humourlessly.

"You were so sick, you couldn't even stand up." There was no amusement on Gray's anymore, staring at the dragon slayer pointedly. "I tried to wait for you, but you just kept throwing up, so even you thought it was a better idea for me to go alone at one point."

He closed his eyes for a moment, understanding what Gray was trying to say. No matter how much he and Gray butted heads, they always respected each other enough to trust that the other one would do the job right. They were both powerful and capable mages (though he would never admit that to Gray out loud)—there was no reason for either of them to fail at whatever mission they had at the time, but at some point, his need to feel useful for the girl that had asked for his help had overtaken the trust that he had in his guild mate. He felt all sorts of idiotic at that revelation. That was the unspoken rule in Fairy Tail: you could trust any one of your guild members with your life because they were your family.

"I remember," Natsu replied. "You got the plates and dragged me off the train before anyone noticed."

The other man snorted. "Yeah. If you were functional, you probably would've blown up half the train."

Ten minutes ago, he probably would've had a nasty response to that quip, but right now, Natsu felt resigned to his own mistakes. "Guess it's a good thing it was you, then."

Gray didn't capitalize on the comment either. Instead, the room filled with silence again, unspoken words hanging heavily in the air. Natsu rubbed at his temples in an attempt to calm his throbbing head. He didn't know how to help Lucy anymore. He didn't know if he'd messed up all the chances he had to make things right for her. In the end, all he could do was write a stupid letter—one that he couldn't even send to her himself.

"I don't know if I'll ever get her to trust me again." Gray's voice cut into his thoughts and Natsu glanced over to see that the ice mage had returned to lying on his back, hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. There was no need for him to specify the person he was talking about.

Natsu mimicked Gray's position, glaring at the ceiling. "Does it matter? They attacked our friends," he said, feeling slightly heated again.

"I know that," Gray replied in annoyance, but his tone softened as he continued. "It's just...she's not a bad person."

"I don't think most people are."

He closed his eyes, wondering briefly about what kind of person Juvia was that she had earned this level of acknowledgement from Gray. Under no circumstance had Natsu ever expected to be lying down, talking to his long-time friend and rival about girls. This was about as close to sentimental that they were ever going to get.

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Natsu asked as he glanced over at the other bed. No anger or accusations. He simply wanted to know.

"Because she's not a bad person. She's good," Gray said, clutching the sheets so hard that his knuckles were turning white. "She tries hard for someone who doesn't give a shit about her and doesn't even expect anything in return. That's someone who's too good."

And then he understood. Gray had gotten in too deep the same way Natsu had. There had to be at least some level of concern for a mage to have when working a mission, otherwise it would result in complete and utter failure. Sometimes Natsu cared a little more than others, but this time, he was in too deep. After only a few weeks, Gray was just as far gone. All thoughts that Gray's progress with Juvia had been at a standstill were completely banished. If anything, his relationship with the Phantom Lord girl had been speeding up the process of finding Lucy.

"What about you then?" Gray asked suddenly, catching Natsu off-guard. "You're the one who brought us this mess in the first place. Why do you care about a girl you've never even seen before?"

He stared for a second, dumbfounded. Blinking, his mind started turning onto subjects it hadn't gone to before. The obvious answer was that it was because she was a person who needed his help, but at this point, it went beyond that. Natsu's need to come to her rescue had worsened with every message exchanged between them. Right now, she didn't feel like a stranger anymore; she felt like another friend.

"She's blonde," he said firmly.

"What?"

"I haven't seen her before, but she's blonde," Natsu replied, "and her eyes are brown. She told me so."

"…Uh huh…?"

"And I don't know her, but I know that she needs our help," he continued as he spun himself over the side of the bed. Despite the raging headache, Natsu suddenly wanted to run to every dock in Fiore to check for Lucy. This time, however, the lesson had been learned and it was time he started exercising a bit more impulse control. He slumped over to support his arms on his knees instead. "She…" He remembered her keys clanking against the bottom of the bottle. He remembered the first overjoyed message he ever received from her in return. "…she cares about her friends more than anything. She's afraid, but she's fighting because she has to. And she saves her energy everyday just so she can talk to me.

"She's…lonely," Natsu concluded, his voice carrying in the silence of the room. "Nobody should feel alone."

Gray readjusted himself, turning away from the dragon slayer. "Then let's save her. And let's not fuck it up."

That was the end of the conversation, he knew, because he and Gray had reached an understanding. Both of them had been a little selfish, keeping their own interests at the forefront of their priorities, but now it was time to put aside their egos and save a girl whose life was on the line. Natsu was done being stupid. While there was no way of knowing whether Gray would able to salvage his connection with Juvia, he was going to have faith Gray would try.

And him? The idiot that had ultimately foiled their own rescue mission? Natsu went to stand, intending to head back to the library. He was going to do the only thing he could do. It was time to find a pen and a new sheet of paper.