As Laxus stepped quietly down the tiled hallway he let out a slow exhale. He was starting to feel like he was more stressed than when he had entered the damn place. Now that he thought about it, why was he even following Gajeel? Surely the man would have nothing to do with him now. More than likely he'd already dressed and left. What had he expected? To meet him outside in the bushes like some teenaged couple that couldn't get enough of each other? A casual invite back to his place to finish what they'd started?

Not a snowball's chance in hell.

"What do you want, Salamander?" Gajeel's gruff voice made Laxus freeze.

"Just wanted to know if you were ok. You seemed a little… shaken up."

Laxus felt himself bristle involuntarily. What was that supposed to mean? As quietly as he could, he sneaked behind a row of the lockers, being sure to keep out of sight from both the exit and the two Slayers. He felt silly, acting like an overly-jealous girlfriend eavesdropping on a conversation.

"Eh? I'm fine,"

The shuffle of clothing. The sound of wet feet slapping the floor.

"You know you can't lie to me. Might as well just say what's up,"

"There ain't nothing up."

A long silence. More sounds of clothing sliding against itself.

"I know you've been avoiding Laxus. I've already told you that that's not a very fair thing to do. You know how well it worked last time…"

"Piss off."

"I'm just saying, it didn't keep me away…"

"Yeah? Lucy sure did."

Another long pause.

"He'll dominate you. You can barely keep him away as it is."

"You didn't seem to mind it too much."

Laxus's gut twisted angrily and he felt like he was going to vomit. He felt a stab of pain hit him in the chest. What the hell…?

"You honestly think he's not going to hurt you? He left Mirajane without so much as a thought. He's been that way with everyone he's been with. You're just going to be ok with that? Being used?"

"How's about I make my own fucking decisions and you keep your trap shut about it, eh?"

"Because that's worked out well for you before…"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Salamander?"

"I know about what he did to you."

Silence.

"You can't tell me you're just fine with it. Can he even control himself now?"

Silence.

"Shit, you're not serious. What, was him almost killing you not enough? Him taking advantage of you wasn't enough? Him r-!"

The loud crash of someone hitting the lockers filled the entire room. It bounced of the walls angrily and echoed off the floors and ceilings.

Laxus gritted his teeth. Salamander knew what he'd done? How? Why? What had he done that was so terrible that night that Gajeel wouldn't even let Natsu say it out loud?

"Why don't you just back the fuck off," Gajeel hissed, "I can manage my own problems. Keep your ass out of it."

The release. The sound of a body thumping to the ground.

"Fine. But when he hurts you don't come crying to me… if you even can."

Laxus dodged out of Natsu's line of sight as he marched towards the bath. His scarf was still draped around his shoulders, his pink locks bouncing innocently against his neck. Laxus noticed how his hands were clenched into fists, however, betraying the anger from the conversation he'd been having.

He heard the sound of a locker slamming shut and footsteps retreating outside. As much as Laxus wanted to follow him and demand answers, he couldn't seem to get his feet to move. Natsu's words just kept swirling in his head, critical and accusatory.

"Was him almost killing you not enough?"

He almost killed him. He took advantage of him once and was in the middle of doing it again. He couldn't stop, even when he knew their guildmates were about to walk in on them.

"He'll dominate you."

"You honestly think he's not going to hurt you?"

"Can he even control himself?"

What was wrong with him? What had he done? What was he doing?

He'd practically raped him while he was drunk. He'd beat the shit out of him twice, once almost to death. He couldn't stop himself. He'd become worse than an animal. What had happened to him? Why was this so out of his control? What even was this?

He desperately tried to push the thoughts out of his mind as he dressed. He needed answers. This was it. He was going to find Gajeel, bring up what he'd overheard, and demand the truth. Enough was enough. He was tired of being kept in the dark. Tired of being told what had happened wasn't important. He knew it was a lie and he'd tried his best to accept it anyway but to no avail. He needed to know and his mind and soul would never be satisfied until he did.

He stormed out of the bathhouse and followed Gajeel's dying scent. He'd catch up to him in no time, he'd find out the truth. His gut was twirling in a terrible way that made him want to wretch. He could handle this. Whatever Gajeel said, whatever he did, he could handle it. He took a deep breath, testing the night air on his tongue, and froze.

This smell wasn't Gajeel's.

"Who's there?" Laxus demanded, widening his stance to appear as threatening as possible. Golden bolts arced from his body and attacked the ground angrily, "Show yourself."

"Well I must say, your senses have greatly improved since the first time we met Slayer…" a woman stepped from the shadows, all long black hair and fair skin. A lab coat adorned her shoulders and she had a confidence about her Laxus recognized immediately.

"You…" Laxus growled.

"My name is Bianca and I appreciate that you still remember me. It's touching really,"

He growled, his muscles constricting as they readied to attack…

"Nuh uh," she smiled wickedly, pointing up to a nearby tree, "I brought some friends with me and if you want to keep damage to your little Magnolia minimal, you'll keep that attack of yours to yourself."

Laxus grunted, his eyes picking out a handful of men hidden in trees, all with eyes trained on him. Slowly, reluctantly, he dropped is magical energy.

"Good boy," she smiled, "I have to say, I'm extremely impressed your red-eyed friend survived our last encounter. He was pretty banged up from the… hm… treatment, you gave him. Although, I have to say I was slightly disappointed. I was hoping you'd kill him."

"The hell are you talking about?" Laxus gritted his teeth, clenching his fists to the point his knuckles were white.

"Oh, lovely, don't you remember? It was quite marvelous to watch," her wicked smile widened even more, "I know quite a few people in the market for something like that. Sick twisted people, but large buyers nonetheless."

"You have sick fucks who want to watch someone die?" Laxus growled, desperately trying to keep his magic at bay.

"Not so much that…" she quirked her head to the side, "You seriously don't remember do you? Isn't that hilarious! Heh heh heh… well, it's definately interesting…"

Laxus was so utterly through with the ambiguous answers. Everyone knew. Everyone. Including the deranged woman that had caused everything in the first place. It was everything he could do to keep from letting out a roar and just tackling her to the ground, allowing his fists to figure out the answer. But her armed guard had their sights on Magnolia and he couldn't bring himself to cause innocents harm in his anger. He had to cool down, had to stop the electricity that was lacing down his veins with desperate need to be released on something.

A flick of her wrist sent something small and shining in his direction. His reaction was instant, catching the tiny glass in his clenched fist. He glanced down anxiously at what was resting against his calloused skin. A tiny vile, hardly the length of his thumb, lay in his palm with a strange translucent liquid inside. He steeled his gaze at her, his eyes sparking dangerously.

"What the hell is this?" Laxus growled, the reverberations so low they caused his chest to tremor.

"That little concoction will unlock your darkest memories from the recesses of your mind. You want answers, Slayer?" her coy eyes watched him, taking in his every feature, "Then drink it."

"An why the hell would I do something like that?"

"Because you know well, Slayer, if I wanted to control you I'd already be doing it right now," a grin spread slowly across her features, "I wonder how your reaction will be… or maybe you're one of those sick fucks that would enjoy it?"

She snapped her fingers then and a barrage of magical arrows came soaring after him. He dodged out of the way flawlessly; turning angrily to attack only to find where she and her guard had been was completely devoid of life. She was completely gone. Not even her scent remained to taint the air. There was no evidence she had even been there.

Cautiously, he looked down at the tiny vial in his hands. His stomach twisted as curiosity and dread both tried to pull his insides apart. The answer to all of his questions was resting in his large fingers, looking so innocent as if it wasn't just held by a witch who'd ruined countless boys' lives and caused him to commit some act on Gajeel that he couldn't even mutter.

As he walked home, he couldn't get his heart to quiet.

Finally he had the key.

Now if only he had the balls to drink it.