Chapter 47:

Laxus was stirred from his sleep the next morning by the gentle feel of warm hands slipping across his torso. He yawned and stretched, feeling his bones creak from being in a stiff position all night, and opened his eyes to ebony tangles laying against his chest. Gajeel was leaning on crossed arms, eyes half open and just looking down at him. Laxus glided his hands down to his waist.

"Good morning," he muttered, running his tongue against his teeth as he thought about how bad his breath probably smelled.

Gajeel smirked, "Yer makin' a lazy man outta me."

"Are you sure you weren't just lazy before?" Laxus teased as he quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Lily and I used to get up at dawn every day and train," he hummed, turning his head to glance out the window absentmindedly, "I haven't taken a break for this long… probably ever."

"What could Lily have done to keep you on such a strict regimen, I wonder?"

Gajeel snorted, "I did that long before I met Lily."

"So driven…" Laxus smiled, "Even at Phantom Lord?"

"Especially at Phantom Lord."

"Who would have thought a delinquent would be so regimented."

"Jose ran a tight ship," Gajeel's lip curled upwards with just a touch of malice, "And I was a mercenary… not delinquent."

"I dunno… you seem like a delinquent to me."

Gajeel's smile faded slightly, "I'm a trained killer… not some kid pickpocketing tourists on the street."

"What?" Laxus scoffed playfully, nudging at his hip with his knee, "You're not even scary."

Gajeel clicked his teeth, "Tch, I'm not?"

"Not a bit, Delinquent."

In a quick, fluid motion, Gajeel slipped beneath Laxus's arms, gripped his wrists and pinned them over his head. His smile was milder than Laxus would have thought it should have been, "What about now?"

"Nope."

Gajeel moved smoothly and with grace, like a cat, a master of his body and anything he controlled. His hands brushed down his chest in that tender way Laxus loved, slowly digging more and more pressure into his skin as he worked his way down until angry red streaks slithered from his abs to stop at his hips. Gods alive, he loved the way Gajeel moved when he was trying to look powerful. One calloused hand slipped down to hook onto the crook of Laxus's knee while the other pinned down his hip. His ruby eyes flashed up at him as he dipped down to kiss the soft flesh of his thigh.

"…ok… maybe a little now."

"I don't think I like that nickname," Gajeel mumbled, spiking Laxus's blood as he dug his canine into his pale skin.

"Mmh… you're not doing a good job of convincing me…" Laxus sighed as Gajeel planted another fiery kiss and slithered his tongue out towards his more intimate areas, all the while holding his hips still so he couldn't break free if he wanted to… not that he really wanted to. His stomach bunched and the effects of Gajeel's touches and nips were apparent. He arched his back at the sudden shift in weight when Gajeel slipped his knee over his shoulder and sat back on his heels, leaving Laxus to feel cold and bare under his bloody gaze.

"You're pretty flexible," he observed, his voice barely above a coarse hum.

Laxus leered back up at him, "Mmm… I think your bar is just set low because you suck so bad."

Gajeel raised his studded brows smugly, "You're not in a good position ta be sayin' shit like that…"

He rocked forward on his heels and let the hand that had been holding his hips down slip tantalizingly close his hard-on. He tried to catch a sigh that escaped him as Gajeel straightened out his leg and kissed the side of his knee, then a couple inches above, then farther, all the while rocking slowly forward so he'd have to arch his back and stretch even more to keep from being uncomfortable. His hand danced around his desire, coaxing a frustrated noise from the back of Laxus's throat.

"Fucking…" he lost what he was going to say and Gajeel grinned wickedly as he slithered his tongue up his inner thigh once more, let his cool breath shiver across his sensitive skin, "De… Devil."

He opened his mouth to say something when they both heard a sound from the hall that made them freeze. Gajeel had just enough time to whip his head around when suddenly there were two sharp knocks and the door flew open. Gajeel tensed and Laxus hissed when he dug his claws into the soft of his thigh in a knee-jerk reaction to seeing Bickslow standing, arms-crossed in the doorway.

He grinned like a child who'd just caught his friend sneaking cookies when their mother's back was turned, "Well… I knocked."

"Bickslow!" Freed suddenly came up beside him. "You can't just barge into someone's house and-" he paused, his mouth clamping shut and his face suddenly lighting up like a cherry when he noticed Laxus and Gajeel.

"I hate your friends." Gajeel raged, eyes wild as he yanked from the compromising position and hastily pulled blankets up around their waists.

"That's what I was forgetting…" Laxus purred, not moving from his lounge despite Gajeel's ire, "We're going on a mission today, wanna come?"

The later just seethed as crimson started flecking the skin of his neck and chest. He was so mad he could feel the vein on his forehead starting to swell, "Are you fucking kidding me right now?!"

"It'll be fuuun," Laxus crooned, enjoying Gajeel's discomfort far too much, "Besides, you need to start getting along with the rest of the Raijinshu."

"Yeah, Gajeel…" Bickslow crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame, "We wanna spend some quality time with you."

Gajeel was furious but Laxus could tell he was also sensible. Through gritted teeth he retorted with crisp words, "Just get outta our fuckin' room already!"

"Don't you two know anything about privacy?!" a shrill voice called just as Evergreen came into view. For a moment Laxus thought Gajeel might actually lose it. She spared them her comments, though, and instead grabbed hold of Bickslow's ear and flared her fan in front of Freed's face, smacking him on the forehead to finally bring his attention away from the couple, "It's no wonder no one wants anything to do with you! Get downstairs!"

"Alright! Alright!" Bickslow danced out of her reach and tromped down the stairs as Evergreen dragged Freed after them. She shot Laxus a harsh look just as she started to get out of view, "The train leaves in an hour!"

He snorted and crossed his arms, "Well… that was fun."

Gajeel just gritted his teeth as he stomped across the floor to grab his clothes, his anger still clear on his face. Laxus just sighed and followed him across the room, pulling on his pants and a sweater before stopping the raging man before he could leave in a huff.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," Laxus hummed in his ear, running his hand down the length of his arm before intertwining their fingers, "I won't be upset."

Gajeel audibly exhaled and glanced down at their hands, pausing a moment before finally letting out his tense resignation, "It's fine. Let's get going."

Evergreen was nice enough to tell them that they'd need to pack for a couple days' journey and so the five hurried for the train station and just barely got there in time to board and leave. Freed, Bickslow, and Ever all shared a booth across from Gajeel and Laxus, allowing Gajeel to recline once again against the blonde and settle in for the nauseous journey eastward. It wasn't a long ride and for the most part Gajeel spent his time altering between a semi-delirious doze and irritated silence. Bickslow seemed especially rowdy and it took some chastising from both Freed and Evergreen before he'd finally let Gajeel alone long enough to rest.

"I take it the weekend went well after all." Evergreen's lip quirked up sharply as she spoke; she was sure Gajeel had finally fallen into a deep enough sleep that her words wouldn't bother him. Laxus just grinned smugly.

"We had a good time," he rumbled softly, thumbing at his ring as he spoke.

"That's not an engagement ring, is it?" Freed snapped disapprovingly, "Not that I'd doubt your judgment, Laxus, but…"

"It's not an engagement ring," Laxus assured him flatly, "but he does have one that matches."

"You're going steady? How sweet," Evergreen teased before letting her wicked smile lose a bit of its edge.

"Surprised he actually agreed to come with us?" Laxus took his turn to jeer at her and she huffed but not in a sour way. She flipped open her fan and flipped her wrist dramatically and Laxus could already feel the scandalous comment before she said it.

"And was that what you were doing in the bedroom this morning? Convincing him?"

Laxus felt a shock of heat make his neck feel warm, "Actually, no. I was just trying out a new nickname for Gajeel and he was… giving me feedback."

Freed blanched and Bickslow sniggered as Evergreen fanned herself even faster. It was then that Laxus felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle and looked down to see an agitated Gajeel glaring up at him, his fury only held back by the nausea that would overtake him if he got too riled up. Laxus smirked down at him, feeling very much as if he'd been caught.

"Well… you were," he rumbled down at him, trying to ignore the heat creeping up to his ears.

"Ye tell yer friends everything?" Gajeel snapped, a scowl set firmly across his face.

Laxus couldn't help himself. A wicked grin crept across his face, "I didn't tell them about how you called me a god in bed."

He could see the vein on the side of his neck jump as he clenched and unclenched his jaw. Despite his obvious queasiness and the bashful rose fighting to his cheeks, Gajeel's lip curled slightly and he leaned back away from him, crossing his arms and resting the back of his head against the window in such a way that he'd have to look down his nose in order to meet Laxus's eyes. Laxus regretted the comment before Gajeel even opened his mouth in response.

"Shame that, aye, Fairy? We can talk about the other things I called you too, if you want." his voice was just a salacious growl and as he raised a studded brow in challenge Laxus felt a rush of heat finally overtake his face. Bickslow lost it in a fit of laughter and Freed and Evergreen just sat in stunned silence, unsure how to react to the sudden heat between the two Slayers in such a small space.

"Fucking Devil," Laxus coughed, trying to shake off his own embarrassment. Gajeel grinned triumphantly just in time for the train to shutter in deceleration. The train lulled easily into the station and the five of them filed out quickly. Although on solid ground, Gajeel didn't immediately slide into a lighter mood like Laxus would have thought. Actually, he seemed to be even more tense than before and his eyes darted quickly about him as he took in his surroundings with a look that said he recognized the place he was in but couldn't quite remember how.

"Oi, what exactly is the mission you guys picked, anyway?" Gajeel piped after Ever took pointe and started leading them into town.

"There's a dark guild in the area that needs disbanded," Ever replied tersely from her place in the lead, "Nothing major."

"A dark guild…" Gajeel muttered, still glancing about. Laxus couldn't tell why he was so guarded. There weren't very many people about, and whenever they came near someone they tended to make themselves scarce in one way or another. The houses and shops looked rundown and the whole town seemed to need a fresh coat of paint. It was obvious that this wasn't a place that attracted a lot of money, something that piqued Laxus's interest. For all five of them to go on a mission the reward must have been pretty high. What kind of money did these people have to pull together in order to afford their services?

"What city is this, again?" Gajeel spoke this time even softer than previously and a sudden stillness came to his features as he did so.

Freed glanced over his shoulder at him, "Datura… why?"

Gajeel's eyes widened just slightly but he quickly averted his gaze, "No reason…"

"Eh? Is something wrong?" Laxus pressed, not wanting to put Gajeel on the spot but also wanting to abate whatever worry it was he had before it could take hold.

"No, nothing… I just, uh, don't know if you guys really need me here, is all," he lied horribly. Laxus narrowed his eyes at the raven who just responded by casting his eyes to a nearby alley as if he were interested by something hiding in the midafternoon shadows. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, his eyes widened in a look not too dissimilar to shock, "What the fuck..."

The rest of them stopped and followed his gaze to a large symbol painted in black in the alley. It looked to be an incomplete circle opened upward with a dot in the middle and a tail that came up and circled over itself from arch. Two points stuck out from either side of the tail and they twisted, looking like gnarled demon's horns protruding from the thing, and a line sliced it right down the middle. It was a mockery of the symbol of Phantom Lord, turned upside-down with a line down the middle and larger protruding spikes. When the realization hit him, Laxus was suddenly very aware as to why Gajeel had seemed so shifty as they walked through town.

"I thought Phantom Lord was disbanded?" Freed hummed thoughtfully.

A low growl rumbled in the back of Gajeel's throat and his eyes flashed with outrage, "It was… It is."

"Do you know anything about this?" Laxus took a spot beside him and crossed his arms, trying to wrap his head around what the symbol might mean.

"No… but you can bet I'm gonna find out," his voice and demeanor began to take on a strange serene air but Laxus noticed how tightly Gajeel's fists were clenched and the sudden tang of iron that filled the air. He glanced back at Bix who was eyeing the Iron Dragon intensely but with his helmet on it was impossible to tell what exactly is reaction was. He noticed Laxus's look and discretely shook his head, as if to say he wasn't going to say anything about what he saw. Laxus figured he really didn't need to know; he knew Gajeel well enough by now to understand what this meant to him.

"Well… we're not gonna find anything out standin' around," Laxus sighed, trying to maintain his usual nonchalance, "C'mon, delinquent. Let's find out who posted the mission."

Gajeel didn't respond, just turned slowly to follow. He was right on Laxus's heels with the rest of the Raijinshuu following after. Laxus tilted his head back to glance at him.

"You familiar with this place, then?" he raised an eyebrow at the raven who was trying his best to wrestle down his anger.

"Ye… we used to run this town," he growled, shoving his fists into his pockets, "They paid us for protection and we kept out the nearby dark guild…"

"Do you think maybe the dark guild took over after Phantom left?" Freed offered but Gajeel shook his head.

"We stamped out the last of those bastards months before the war against Fairy Tail. If I had to guess, I'd say a group of Phantom Mages moved in to make easy money," he huffed.

Laxus studied him for a minute. Gajeel was visibly angry, but even deeper than that, he looked guilty. He pulled his jacket collar up as if it would somehow hide his unmistakable features and walked with his eyes to the ground the entire time. Laxus sucked in a deep breath and sighed, causing two ruby eyes to dart his way. He leaned a little closer to Gajeel as he spoke, letting his mouth curl up in a smirk.

"Worried someone you used to know might see those marks I left?" he teased, although he wasn't given the satisfaction of seeing rose creep up the raven's throat. Gajeel just snorted bitterly in reply and turned his attention back to the ground, "I don't see how you could possibly blame yourself for Phantom Lord returning. It ain't exactly like you've been near this place since it disbanded."

"Yer right, I ain't been back," Gajeel growled, not meeting his gaze, "An' I didn't know. That don't mean I wasn't partly responsible."

"And how is that, exactly?"

"How in the hell do you think they got the idea? I highly doubt they just woke up one day an' decided to stroll out to the nearest slum and start roughin' up people for money. Hell, those were some of my first missions…"

Laxus chuckled, "You know, one time when I was a kid, I dared Bix to jump off the top of the guildhall," he glanced back at Bickslow who's mouth stretched into a wide grin at the memory, "And you actually did it, didn't ya?"

"Hell yeah I did!" Bickslow cackled, "Gramps had to take me to the infirmary because I broke my arm."

"Did ya happen to hit yer head on the way down?" Gajeel muttered, shooting him a glare that seemed to pinpoint his chest instead of his actual face.

"You wish," he snapped, although not in bad humor.

"Funny enough, Bix didn't blame me for his broken arm," Laxus hummed, gaining a skeptical look from Gajeel, "Wanna know why?"

"Hmph… why?" Gajeel snuffed, already knowing where Laxus's story was going.

"Because I may have given him the idea but hewas the one that actually hauled his ass up there and jumped,"

"Daring someone to do somethin' stupid is a little different, don't ya think?" the Iron Dragon growled, clearly not having the impromptu pep talk.

Laxus rolled his eyes, "People make their own decisions, Gajeel. You can do and say want you want, but at the end of the day they chose this path for themselves, you didn't make them."

"Oh, Master Makarov! I didn't know you were here!" Evergreen cooed from behind the two.

"I thought your speech was inspirational, Laxus!" Freed piped up, elbowing Ever out of the way, "Spoken like a true leader!"

"Ya hear that? Inspirational," Laxus grinned smugly.

"You Fairies and your inspirational shit."

"You're a Fairy, too, asshole!" Bickslow clapped him on the back roughly and caused the raven to jump, glaring at him the entire time, "So you might as well get used to it."

"Alright boys, break it up. We're here," Evergreen pushed past the four of them to stop in front of a small bakery. The group sauntered into the shabby place and were greeted by the ring of a bell. There was some clamor from the other side of the door directly behind the counter and a voice called out for them to take a seat and he'd be out in just a moment. The booths were worn and many of them had rips in places. Freed and Evergreen took one seat while Bickslow and Gajeel sat at the other. Gajeel sat at the very edge of the seat, arms crossed, with a scowl set across his features, leaning as if just touching Bickslow might cause him to contract some strange disease. Laxus crossed his arms and leaned against the booth, pulling his jacket closer around his shoulders as he waited.

After a few moments of listening to Freed mutter about how the presentation of the little place was drab to say the least, the door swung open and a tall, slender man made his way to the counter. He had bags under his eyes and a nervous look on his face, but he greeted them with a smile that pulled weary wrinkles to scrunch up around his eyes.

"Hello there, I'm Hasso, what can I help you all… with…" his eyes landed squarely on Gajeel and his smile faded just a bit. Laxus could smell the sudden nervous fear in the man fill the air. He glanced down to the raven who eyed the man out of the corner of his eye, stone-faced despite the obvious disquiet.

Without skipping a beat, Evergreen pulled out the flier and slid it across the table, "We're here in response to this request," she stated gently, "You need help getting rid of a dark guild?"

Hasso glanced down at the flier and laughed nervously, "I-I'm not sure what you mean. We didn't post a request… especially not for a dark guild… maybe you're at the wrong place?"

"Is this not your address?" Freed motioned to the meeting point listed and the man seemed to pale slightly.

"I… I don't know how… I'm truly, very sorry… there's been a mistake…"

Just then, a form dashed from behind the counter. A boy not older that seventeen rushed over, "Wait, wait! You're responding to my flier?" he seemed excited and his face was alight as he spoke, "You'll take out the guild?"

Just at a glance Laxus could tell the two were father and son. The boy had the same gaunt features although his hair was a shade darker, no doubt due to the lack of grey that his father was already producing.

"That's right," Laxus stated firmly, before glancing to Hasso, "What can you tell us about it?"

Hasso yanked his son back by the collar, his eyes hard as he spoke more to his son than to the five mages, "No, no! We don't need any help," he glanced nervously towards Gajeel once again, "Thank you, really, but my son is confused. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"I'm not confused, Dad! We need help!"

"No we don't!" his voice held a finality that his son didn't have the courage to contest and his eyes sank to the floor before his father addressed the group again, this time with the same forced smile he'd had before, "I'm so sorry, really, I'm embarrassed. Please forgive him… like I said, he's very confused… I, um, let me, let me get you something… as a token of my appreciation. Yes… um, just-just one moment…"

With that he gripped his son by collar once again and dragged him back to the storeroom behind the counter. Laxus could hear harsh murmurs just barely hushed enough for him to be unable to make them out. No doubt Hasso was berating his son… but why? Laxus turned his gaze to Gajeel who had a puzzled glower set across his face.

"Know him?"

"Hell maybe, I dunno… I don't remember everyone I hit up for chump change," Gajeel growled back.

"Well… he obviously knew you,"

"Yeah and who probably doesn't around this place? Like I said, this used to be one of Phantom's stomping grounds. It ain't exactly like we were hard to miss," he sounded bitter and it grated a little on Laxus's nerves but he didn't say anything about it. Just being here was probably hard for him.

"Well, it really isa waste of time now," Evergreen crossed her arms and Laxus shot her a hard look, "What? It's not like we can take the mission."

"I doubt they'd be able to pay the reward out, anyway," Freed thought out loud, "It's not exactly like this place is into money."

"Aww… Freed… you wouldn't just help these people out of the kindness of your heart?" Bix teased, feigning shock, "I'm surprised by you."

"What? I wasn't saying that! I was merely stating that we wouldn't get paid if we took the mission anyway!"

"How do you know they don't have a savings stockpiled somewhere? Jeez… you think a place is rundown and you won't even give it a chance."

"Give it a chance! Give it a chance!"

Gajeel rolled his eyes as Bickslow's babies swooped down to aid in his mocking. As they bickered, a ringing of the shop bell caught Laxus's attention and he glanced over to the door just as two large, rough-looking guys stalked in. They didn't even regard the visitors as they entered, just immediately stood at the register. Laxus turned to get Gajeel's attention but he noticed his ruby eyes were already trained on the pair. He gently turned his head and rested his chin in the palm of his hand, letting his ebony hair fall down his shoulder so if they glanced his way they'd only get a peek at his face but he'd still be able to observe them at his leisure. Laxus again could taste the sharp tang of iron in the air and briefly wondered if maybe Gajeel recognized them.

One of the men knocked on the counter, "Hasso! Aschwin! Ya got customers waitin'!"

Hasso emerged almost immediately, his face paled and his hands gripping his apron anxiously, "Y-yes sirs… good to-good to see you! How can I-?"

"We're here to collect our fee," the larger of the two stated, leaning onto the counter, "Hurry up, we got places to go."

"I-I yes… yes of course!" he immediately opened the register and began collecting its contents. Laxus began to take a step forward and bumped into Gajeel's leg. He glanced town at the raven who cocked and eyebrow and mouthed 'wait' at him. Laxus took in a breath to calm the buzzing in his veins that was propelling him to action. Freed and Evergreen looked confused, looking at him pointedly for direction when he usually should have been springing to the defense of the man behind the counter.

Laxus just crossed his arms, "We'll see how this plays out." Freed's eyes widened but he didn't say anything and Ever flipped open her fan tersely, attempting to hide her dissatisfaction.

"Oi? What's this?" the shorter man raised his voice. He was slim with short black hair cropped with a side shave, "There's less here than last week! Where's the rest?"

"We-we don't have-don't have-"

"God's alive, Hasso, spit it out!"

"That's it-it… We don't-we don't have any-anymore…"

The larger man scoffed, "You're kidding…"

"Guess we'll just have to report it to Kurogane… he won't be happy. I'd hate to see something bad happen to this place… I personally enjoy family businesses… wasn't this your grandfather's shop too?"

Laxus glanced down to see Gajeel's eyes blazing. He immediately went to stand and Laxus put his hand on his shoulder and somehow Gajeel found a way to stop himself, "Wait."

"K-Kurogane… p-please… I-If you come back-come back tomorrow…"

"No can do, Hasso, you know the rules. We'll make sure the master understands the whole situation…"

Laxus released Gajeel who immediately stormed for the two. Hasso paled and jumped back, causing the two to turn and see what it was that had startled him. The larger man had little time to react before Gajeel punched him square across his jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground. The shorter man's eyes widened in horror and to the surprise of everyone in the shop, Gajeel didn't hit him or even reach for him. He just turned to face him, eyes raging and a sneer slowly spreading across his face.

"Hey there Krew," he crossed his arms and glowered down at him, solidly a head taller than the smaller mage, "Long time no see."

"Gajeel…" his voice caught in his throat as he spoke, "I… yeah… long time…"

"Ya needed ta tell me somethin'?" he leaned downed to eye the shifty man who took an uneasy step back. The larger man struggled up to his feet but before he could make a move, Laxus sent a bolt of lightning flying into leg so he'd falter and fall back to his knees.

"I uh…"

"If ye been throwin' my name around, ya better have a damn good reason."

"We-uh… it wasn't our idea!" he blurted at last and Gajeel's sneer fell away into an annoyed glare.

"It never is with you because yer too stupid ta come up with anythin' on yer own, Krew." Laxus snuffed at his tone of voice. He'd heard him like this before and the memory put a sour taste in his mouth, "Whose idea was it?"

"Li-listen… Gajeel, you know I looked up to you in Phantom Lord, really, but when you left and the Element Four were gone, we had to look after ourselves, yeah? Who would respect us when our top mages were all taken out, eh?" he retreated another step but Gajeel didn't let up, he stepped right along with him, his overbearing presence like a dark cloud closing Krew in.

"Whose idea was it, Krew?" his voice was startlingly even and Laxus could see Krew visibly cringe at his tone, "I'm losing my patience."

"He's the new master, goes by Unaven… he took over after Aria was put in jail… yeah… and he, he came up with the idea that since you never came back it would be easy, right? Since you had so much sway in the community…"

Gajeel cracked. He gripped the man by his throat threw him up against the wall. In an instant Laxus was across the room, grabbing him by his arm in an attempt to stay his hand.

"Gajeel, calm down," Laxus commanded, digging his fingertips into his arm. Gajeel didn't listen, his eyes were centered on Krew with an icy look that told Laxus he was ready to strangle the man to death. He dropped his voice down to a low growl and leaned closer to his ear, "You'll regret it later if you don't, Redfox."

Gajeel's eyes flashed towards the blonde and in the same instant he dropped the man who gasped for breath at their feet.

"I thought I told you not to call me Redfox," Gajeel breathed, almost visibly shaking off the haze of rage that he was fighting through.

Laxus tried to make his voice lighter, "Right… we got what we needed, Delinquent. Time to let the bad guys go."

"And why in the hell would we let them go?" Gajeel growled, barely remaining still as the larger mage grabbed a hold of Krew and the two stumbled out of the shop.

"So we can follow them back to the Dark Guild," Laxus purred. He rested his hand on top of Gajeel's shoulder, "You got a little intense there. You think you can handle this mission with it being so personal?"

Gajeel didn't respond, just closed his eyes and let out a tense breath.

"You… you're him! Black Steel Gajeel!" the boy from before emerged from the back, Aschwin, Laxus remembered. He stared with wide eyes at Gajeel, enamored and in awe of the man before him, "Kurogane."

"I'm retired," Gajeel stated flatly.

"But you're here, you're not with the Phantom Risers?"

"Phantom Risers?" Gajeel sniffed, "What a fucking ridiculous-!"

"No, he's not," Laxus stated, glancing over to Hasso as he spoke, "And it looks like we're taking the mission whether you like it or not."

"But… but no…" Hasso stuttered but Laxus didn't let him finish.

"Doubt this guy's just gonna be ok with them spreadin' his name around like that so we might as well make it a group effort, right guys?"" he glanced over his shoulder to see the Raijinshuu nodding in affirmation, Bickslow with a wide grin plastered across his face.

Freed rose then, still slightly shaken from the whole encounter, "Well… you might as well tell us everything we need to know."

"N-no… No!" Hasso stated firmly, shooting daggers at the mages, "Mages… Mages got us into this mess an' mages-mages will just make it worse!"

"With all due respect-" Ever started but Hasso was finished with the conversation.

"No! We don't-we don't n-need help! Esp-Especially not from m-mages!"

"But Dad," Aschwin put his hand on his father's arm, trying to calm him but immediately gaining a hot glare, "If they can get rid of the Phantom Risers, we don't have to pay them anymore. We can actually make a profit… we can keep the shop and we don't have to be afraid anymore."

"Aschwin, do you-do you know what you've do-done? They'll be-they'll be b-b-back," he jabbed a finger at Gajeel, "because of him. Th-th-they'll burn the place to the-to the-to the-t-t-…" He stamped his foot on the ground as his anger and frustration finally took it's hold over him. He glared at Aschwin and then Gajeel and finally laid his eyes to rest on Laxus, "Get-get out."

"You got it, old man," Gajeel scoffed, gaining a derogatory look from Hasso and a whine of disbelief from Aschwin.

"Wait… you can't. You can't just leave!"

"Pops doesn't want our help and I know better than to stay where I ain't wanted," Gajeel growled, shooting a look to Laxus, "I'm gonna take a walk. 'Meet ya outside."

"Right…" Laxus muttered before glancing at Bickslow who was removing his helmet. Laxus sighed, "Be quick."

Bickslow's eyes lighted up bright green, "Hasso, buddy, you sure there's nothingyou want to tell us about the Dark Guild?"