Chapter 92:

"Ya really ain't lost yer touch at all, have ya, lad?" Hajime laughed, gently easing Gajeel's knife away from where it was poised at his neck, "That almost had my name on it."

"Fucks sakes, Hajime!" Gajeel growled, pushing him into the seat across from him even as the man chuckled, "I thought ya were someone out ta kill me!"

"I told ya I'd be droppin' by, didn't I?"

"Droppin' by, Hajime. Like springin' by for lunch or some shit not followin' me 'round a town I don' even live in!"

"Wasn't sure ye'd be wantin' me intrudin' on yer little love nest," he smiled coyly and Gajeel rolled his eyes in response, "'Sides, I needed ta be out this way, anyhows. Had ta check somethin' out."

The train blew it's last sound that meant it was ready to embark and Gajeel began digging into his pack for peppermint leaves. Hajime lit a cigarette and offered one to the iron dragon. He declined with noticeable hesitance, and mumbled about trying to cut back.

"What's all this then?" Hajime had reached out and grabbed his journal, an odd smile coming to his mouth.

"Put it down, old man, it'll give ya a heart attack."

"Poetry?"

"Why d'ya sound so surprised? It ain't like you didn't know I write."

"Well yeah but..." Gajeel cast him a curious glance and smirked at how the man raised his eyebrows at what he was reading, "I'm gonna be honest, lad, I don't even know what half this is sayin'."

Gajeel popped some leaves in his mouth just as the train lurched forward, "And here you struck me as the kind a' guy who reads a lot in his retirement."

"Labels maybe," he muttered in an unamused tone, "I run a bar not a library."

"What's that old sayin'? The teacher becomes the student?"

"Yer a little full 'o yourself, ain't ya, lad?" Hajime's lip quirked slightly in a smirk, "I'd be the last shred of truth in the lost myth of true love?"

Gajeel snatched it out of his hands as he fell into a fit of laughter. He growled through the burn in his ears.

"That man a yers is really good for ya, huh? Goin' ta therapy, even got ya cuttin' out the smokes... yer on your way ta becomin' a right member of society. Never thought I'd see the day."

"Ah, you're just sore it was Laxus that finally got to me and not you, old man," he grumbled.

"Ain't that it, then," he wiped a tear from his eye as he chuckled. To be honest, Gajeel didn't really mind. It had been a long time since he'd enjoyed Hajime's laughter. It was warm and nostalgic, reminding him of times when he was a lot younger and there was far less gray peppering the old man's dreads. But even still, he realized that despite Hajime's light-hearted banter, there had to be something else going on.

He settled back into his seat, pretending the nausea wasn't threatening to make him spill the coffee he'd had earlier, "Somethin' tells me you didn't track me down to read poems and talk about my boyfriend."

"Aw... it can't just be simple, can it?" Hajime's good humor fizzled and he seemed thoughtful. He took a puff of his cigarette and took a moment to taste it before letting the smoke fade from his nose and between his teeth, "Did ya hear about Ezal?"

"Ezal?" Gajeel asked, "What about him?"

"I guess they found him floatin' upside down in the sea shortly after the prison riot. They're thinkin' the lad might've tried to escape an'... well, he wasn't a swimmer."

"Fuck..." Gajeel wasn't sure why but his chest felt tight. He gritted his teeth for a minute, and thought about the last time he'd seen him, "He was young, wasn't he?"

"Ye... I figured you two lads had probably gotten close with him bein' around the prison and all. I'm a little surprised ya hadn't already heard."

"Nah, I... I don't remember..." Gajeel hesitated. How long had it been since he'd last seen Ezal? It had been when he'd taken the Phantom Riser mission but... it seemed like he should have seen him since then. He furrowed his brow as he tried to think, filtering through blurry memories of prison violence, "I don't remember seein' him around the prison."

"Ah... well..." Hajime shrugged, showing his hands in his loss of words, "What about Krew? You heard from him since you been outta the pen?"

"Krew? No. But I heard he gave Laxus a hand in trying to get me out. Guess I should probably track him down... give him my thanks," at that, Hajime's cobalt eyes turned hard with concern. He let out a deep sigh, filling the cabin with smoke. Gajeel felt the hairs on his arms prickle, "What happened to Krew, Hajime?"

"I don't really know," he admitted solemnly, "A few weeks back we hooked up. He was followin' a trail out in the flatlands..."

"The flatlands? By the border? But that's all desert."

"There are a couple towns here and there. Sturdy folk, out there. First Nations people. The type of people who really know the dirt they're livin' on."

"Right, yeah..."

For some reason, Gajeel's first thought was of Davian, or more specifically, his bronze skin and how even under his glamour it was still his color. It had never occurred to Gajeel that he could be one of the First Nations, but the fact that Krew had headed out towards the flatlands... well, Krew was a lot of things, the least of which being that he was chary. He didn't strike off after a lead unless he'd done a reasonable bit of making sure it was worth following up on. And there was something about the desert, or the thought of it, that made the hair on the back of his neck stand. It was familiar, wasn't it?

"You gotta look in yer eye, lad..." Hajime's voice held both caution and intrigue, "Watcha thinkin'?"

"Why was Krew headed towards the flatlands?" Gajeel demanded.

"Well, uh... lookin' fer that Father fella, I'd imagine," he mused, his silvery eyes looking him over.

There was that itch again that something was wrong. And if he felt like something was wrong, then something was wrong. Wasn't that what he'd learned so far when dealing with Chameleons? He had good instincts; he knew by now that he needed to trust them. And now, they were telling him that he was missing something, or even worse, forgetting something.

"Why in the hell would he do that?" a cool thing that wasn't quite dread was seeping into his bloodstream. He started regretting not taking that cigarette.

"He was lookin' ta help ya outta jail, lad. Apparently, he thinks yer a decent guy... for some reason."

"Well...!" Gajeel spluttered, "Tell him to stop! He's gonna get himself killed!"

"That's the thing, lad, I can't get a hold of him,"

Ice flushed through his veins, "Goddammit..."

"Now, don't go there. Krew has done this type 'a thing before. Sometimes the man just goes off the grid..."

Gajeel gave him a hard look, "Yeah, Hajime? Then why're ya here, then?"

"Well, lad, I just wanted ta talk some things over with ya... get a feel for what we're dealin' with. Now, a while ago ya asked me ta look inta these things and then ya told me to pull out. I did, but I'm sort of in the position ta be doin' some more helpin' if it called for it... and I'm thinkin' that might be the case."

"I can't ask you to do that, Hajime. Krew already might be dead..."

"Krew ain't dead, lad."

I ain't gonna let your death be because of me, Hajime."

"Maybe I ain't doin' it fer you," he snapped through the smoke in his mouth, "You ain't the only life at stake in all this, lad."

Gajeel growled and tried to ignore how Hajime literally jumped at the sound. He really shouldn't have been getting so angry. Hajime was just trying to help. And the man wasn't wrong, Gajeel's life wasn't the only one at stake. With Krew missing, he was running short on resources. He let out a resigned sigh and crossed his arms. He didn't want to admit that he needed help, that he was all dead ends and couldn't find a way to get past them, but Hajime was staring him down with those icy eyes after seeking him out. It was hard to turn him away, especially when he started itching at the scar on his neck.

"What about Lorelai? What about your daughter?"

"They're both safe. Ain't no one gonna be gettin' to where they're at, and I pray for the sorry son of a bitch that tries."

"You been keepin' up with Sal, then?" Gajeel smirked, albeit sardonically.

"He's a good man when he ain't in the business of smugglin' drugs... and from what I hear he doesn't do much a' that anymore."

"Your wife must really hate me."

"At least she keeps good company," Hajime chuckled and then set his shoulders a little straighter, "So, ya gonna bring me up to speed, lad?"

Gajeel huffed, "I ain't got much to bring ya up on."

"Every little bit helps."

"It's just hard, y'see. These things, they fuck with people's heads," he growled, "There have been a few times I've thought something only for it to be wrong."

"I think that happens to everyone, lad... age and all."

"I'm serious, Hajime," Gajeel insisted, centering his gaze on him, "They make you see things, think things... I have a good memory, Hajime, but I'm still fucking up stupid shit..."

"I don't know what yer meanin', son."

"Ok, ok... first thing, I guess..." he started, "Someone that wasn't Davian or Bianca or Kahli let me out of my cell."

"At Ember Island?"

"No, when I was-" he stuttered to a halt, took a breath, continued, "-kidnapped. When I was kidnapped. Laxus came into my cell, the cell was locked, someone unlocked the cell and then led me to Bianca."

"Coulda been a slip," Hajime said slowly, evenly, like maybe he was thinking really hard about what Gajeel had just said, "And well... you're a helluvah tracker, lad,"

"There was someone else there, Hajime, and they led me to Bianca."

"I hear ya, lad, I just don't think..." he stopped himself and seemed to lean back in his seat a little. Gajeel watched those icy eyes as they traced over his face, taking in just how serious he was.

"Gods alive... you think I'm crazy."

"I'm not sayin' yer crazy..." he hesitated and then took in a steadying breath, "Someone let ya out. This Kahli person, who is he and how do ya know it wasn't him?"

"He was a chameleon that was following before I went to prison. But he didn't... feel... the same... as the other one."

Hajime frowned, "They didn't feel the same."

"Hear me out, right? So, in the... in Bianca's... place, whatever, I felt angry and I felt bloodthirsty and I kept thinking that I needed more... more blood..."

"It was a bad time for you, lad..." Hajime said gently.

"He was in my head," Gajeel insisted, his chest getting tighter, "Hajime, it wasn't all me."

"I understand what you're thinkin' but, Gajeel, people snap and that ain't your fault... Have ya mentioned some of this stuff to your therapist?"

"Don't you dare fucking discount me just because I'm in therapy, Kaiyu," Gajeel snarled dangerously. Hajime raised his hands as if he were trying to stop him, or maybe just quiet him down.

"Now, there ain't no need to be throwin' 'round last names. I ain't discounting ya lad but ya gotta give me facts. We can't figure nothin' out on bad feelings and memory lapse. You're an ex-merc, you know how we work."

"Fine, Hajime, facts. The, the thing that led me to Bianca had a lab coat on similar to hers... and a it had thing for blood..." Gajeel winced as he thought about it, remembering that strange desire and how it had pervaded his thoughts, "Blood, a lot of blood... did something..."

"That ain't much in the way of a person, lad."

"Neither Ceatus nor Bianca would look me in the eyes when they died, they were looking at whoever else was there. I know they did."

"What else was behind ya when you killed them, lad?" Hajime asked nervously, and when Gajeel shook his head slowly he clicked his teeth, "The door, Gajeel. Their way out. They looked past ya at the door. Or, hell, Laxus was there, wasn't he? What makes ya think they weren't lookin' at him?"

"I know what I know, Hajime."

"Gajeel, it's coincidence," he dropped his voice to a harsh whisper, "You killed 'em and no one faults ya for that. It's ok if ya feel guilty fer doin' it. But this? This is you makin' excuses for doin' what you did. And ya don't need to."

"I'm not making excuses, Hajime," Gajeel hissed back, heat spidering through his chest, "There was someone else there! And he was in my head!"

"Then tell me somethin' believable lad. I wanna give ya the benefit of the doubt, but you don't exactly sound like a full set."

Gajeel clenched his fist and rubbed his face into his palm, "Ok, Hajime. Facts."

"Facts," he affirmed quietly.

"Facts..." Gajeel growled, throwing his mind to something, anything that might make sense, "Facts... Ezal couldn't swim."

"...what?"

"You said it, Hajime, Ezal couldn't swim. Why in the hell was he tryin' to swim?"

Why did this seem familiar? Ezal and things that didn't make sense... why did it seem familiar? Fuck, he was right there, wasn't he?

"Gajeel, this has nothing to do with..."

"Hajime, it took the ferry an hour to get to Ember Island. How fast does your average ferry go? It's not like that's just your leisurely swim across the pond, Hajime. Why in the hell would a man who doesn't know how to swim try to swim to the mainland?"

"I've heard of smarter people doin' dumber shit than that."

"That doesn't make sense, Hajime!" Gajeel's voice hitched up in its desperation.

"What're you tryin' to say lad? That Ezal was murdered? At the prison? By the same people after you? To what end, lad?"

"I... I don't know."

"None of this is fact, Gajeel. Please, kid, you gotta listen to yourself..."

"Hajime, they're orchestrating things against me! What the hell was the Unaven murder about? Or Bianca?"

"You killed Bianca, lad."

"That's what I thought, Hajime, but sometimes I don't fucking know anymore!"

The train pitched and Gajeel had to take a minute to clutch at his seat and stare at the ground. Hajime waited patiently for him to wind himself down, to take deep, measured breaths, relax his muscles. They were both silent for a while, Hajime smoking quietly and Gajeel trying to deescalate himself. When he was finally able to look up at Hajime, the ex-merc smiled at him sympathetically.

"Feelin' better?"

"Listen, Hajime," Gajeel took a steadying breath, "Before I came back, right when I was let out of prison, Laxus and I stayed in a safe house for a little while. The Major swung by and was talkin' to Laxus about Bianca, sayin' that what happened to me wasn't what we thought it was..."

"What did you think it was?" he asked calmly, staring at him with precision and stoic observance.

Gajeel knew he was trying to be impassive and show whatever it was that the iron dragon was about to say wouldn't make him squeamish, but Gajeel found he wasn't quite able to meet his eyes. He felt jittery again, anxious, like needed to do something with his hands so he didn't have to look at Hajime and see his expression. He took to flipping his pen over his thumb and pretending it had nothing to do with the turn in their conversation.

"Well, uh, you know that I go inta heat sometimes... and I make... venom?"

He felt rather than saw Hajime's nod.

"I thought she wanted that to make a potion... kinda like a drug? For her clientele."

"Given her occupation, I'm inclined to agree," he replied evenly.

"I know..." he said a little helplessly, "...but Davian was telling Laxus he thinks there's more to it, that when he started digging into the case, there were things that didn't add up. He was talking about what Bianca was researching, that it wasn't just venom, and that she'd write about her kind and Father. He doesn't think Father wants me for revenge, he thinks it's something else."

"I hear what yer sayin', lad, don't get me wrong. But, Davian, well, not ta be soundin'... you know..." Gajeel raised an eyebrow. Hajime gestured vaguely with his cigarette, "He is one of them, ain't he? What's to say he ain't coverin' for 'em? He did a good number on yer case."

"I don't think he works for Father. The way he's been handlin' Bianca's case, he acts like he's looking for something he doesn't have the answers to. And it seems like maybe Father is after him as well... or that's what he thinks."

"Well, if that's true, why ain't ya talkin' to him about all this? He's got the case file, hasn't he? And the resources to look deep into it with little pushback. That's a mighty good connection to have, there, Gajeel..." at Gajeel's hesitance, Hajime gave him an unamused look, "You threatened to kill 'im, didn't ye?"

Gajeel crossed his arms and sniffed, trying not to look as stupid as he felt. Hajime, as keen as he was to Gajeel's temper and witness to it, didn't miss a beat.

"You ain't changed much since you was between hay and grass, have ya? What 'ave I told ya about burnin' valuable bridges, ya temperamental ass?"

"What the fuck was I supposed to do? The bastard is bad news."

"I hate ta break it to ya lad, but ye ain't exactly shrouded in white, yourself."

"Oh, fuck off-"

"Belay that!" Hajime snapped, "It ain't like you ta let yer emotions get the better of a job, and I'll be damned if ya start now."

"How can I help it, Hajime?" Gajeel snarled, "If it were Lorelai, you'd be the same way."

Hajime's eyes widened, "What in the hell does that mean?"

"Laxus is close to the bastard. It's like they made friends while I was in prison or something..."

"Are you tellin' me you did it because yer fuckin' jealous?"

"I did it because that fucker was after me, is close to someone after me, and will use someone I care about to get to me. I ain't lettin' him stay close to Laxus if I can help it."

"I ain't sayin' ya can't be worried, but that godforsaken temper will be the end of ye! He could have been a way to figure out who this Father guy is and why he's after ya but now ya have ta run circles to do that very same thing!"

"Guess that means we better track down Krew," Gajeel stated tersely, all bristled and refusing to admit Hajime was right. He could feel the older man's harsh look, the disapproval falling off of him in waves. He gave a not-quite-disgusted scoff as he breathed a cloud of acrid smoke into the air.

"What else ya got, then?" he asked, still rigid, still angry, but not letting it get to him the same was Gajeel did.

Gajeel let out a tense sigh, "They're man-eaters."

"Well, we knew that."

"And religious."

"Knew that, too."

"That right?" Gajeel asked, raising an eyebrow at him, "And how exactly did you find that out?"

"Krew found it, actually. Said there was a wacko who killed himself, was sayin' that the lizard people make sacrifices to Father and that they were after him."

"Really? How'd he die?"

"Jumped."

"That'd be my choice."

"At least it's sudden. There are definitely worse ways ta go..." Hajime affirmed, rubbing at his neck.

Gajeel furrowed his brow a bit. Sacrifices to Father? That was oddly familiar, and he was starting to get sick of things oddly familiar. Actually, hadn't Davian said something about a ritual? The memory was strangely foggy and he had to close his eyes and concentrate to remember, but yes, yes Davian had said something about a ritual. A ritual where Davian had to eat a human to kill the part of himself that was human, and he was scared to do it. But with a propensity for human flesh, just the smell of blood turned him into something quite different than he was familiar with. Even the couple of times he'd questioned him, Davian had this sort of cool air about him, like he was secure in the thought that he was control. That wasn't quite how he was that night, was it?

His mind sort of began to spin. It was like he was looking at a puzzle that had been dumped on the floor. He had all of these pieces but none of them were in the right place. How in the hell was he supposed to figure it out at just a glance? How was he supposed to tell what he had and what he didn't have? It was infuriating.

"Ya ok, Gajeel?"

"I think... Father wants me for a ritual," Gajeel said at last, drawing his eyes to Hajime's as he turned the idea over in his head, "Davian said he was supposed to participate in a ritual and he didn't do it. I don't know why, but he said it scared him. What if Father wants me for a ritual?"

He flipped to the last page of his notebook. Hajime looked more than a little alarmed to see him tapping restlessly at the page before him, searching for answers in the gaps between lines.

"Ya know, the Major, he's covered in all these scars..." he started charting out some of the symbols he'd seen, which hadn't been many, just what Gajeel had seen peeking out from under his short-sleeved shirt. He sort of shook his head as he stared, "It's similar to Draconic... and once, when I was with him, this sort of shadow descended on the place and sucked the light out of the house. There was this voice, and I heard him use it in the courtyard during the prison riot..."

Hajime was looking at him long and hard, concern breaking across his clay-tan features, "Whatcha sayin', lad?"

"I don't think Davian is a mage. There ain't nothin' about him that's magic... and that means he's gotta get this energy from somewhere else," he murmured, "How strong is this Father person, if It can give Its magic to all of Its kids?"

"That's an interesting thought, ain't it?" Hajime's voice had dropped as he ruminated on Gajeel's words, "That's Old Magic, ain't it? The kind of stuff you don't fuck around with... like Dragon Slaying Magic."

"Mh... yanno I heard a voice once comin' from that dark stuff. It said I see you..."

"Well, that don't make sense, does it?" Gajeel looked at him and the sharp way his mouth was turning down. His black eyebrows were pulled low on his forehead as he thought, "If he could see ya, why wouldn't he just come get ya? 'Less there was someone else he was seein'?"

Gajeel shook his head, something like panic making his mouth taste like lead, "No... no, that's impossible. I did everything I could to make sure Laxus wasn't tied to me in that case. There's no way he..."

Hajime's eyes were hesitant and his words soft, "But ya said yerself, lad, he's gotten real close to Davian."

The air left Gajeel's lungs like he'd just been hit. Iron frothed in his stomach, "I knew I shoulda killed that bastard when I had the chance..."

"Now, now, it's just a thought. And besides, he's still valuable. Killin' him will do more harm than good... and I think you and I can both agree that Laxus wouldn't be too quick on forgiving you if ya went through with it."

"If something happens to him, Hajime-"

"And ain't nothin' happened, not yet," he silenced him, "First things first, we need ta figure out about this, this religion. Figure out about what ritual, if any, this Father might want you for. Then we can focus on tracking him down."

"It."

"It?"

"Davian and his kin call Father It."

"Ah hell... that don't bode well."

Gajeel chuckled and shot him a sly look, "Superstitious, old man?"

"Say what you want about me," he muttered, fidgeting a bit with one of his dreads, "but I ain't got experience killin' gods, Gajeel, only men."

"Ah, gods are easy, Hajime. All ya gotta do is make 'em bleed. Everything else follows after."

"You say that like ya got know it."

Gajeel smirked, "Ask me who would look me in the eye when I landed a hit on Jose."

"If I remember right, he put you in the hospital."

"Sure as hell did, but that wasn't what mattered. What mattered was the fact that he could still bleed..." Gajeel grinned, flashing his canines in a way that made Hajime uncomfortable, "Because bleeding means ya ain't a god, yer a man. And what was it you said you had experience killin', again, ex-Titan?"

"Those are some mighty big words, boy."

"Whoever this bastard is, they're threatening everything I care about. The question isn't if I get my hands on It anymore, Hajime, it's when." A dark sneer crept across Gajeel's lips, "Therapy is gettin' me cocky, again."

"Ain't that a dangerous thing," Hajime muttered, snuffing his cigarette on his boot.

Author's Notes:

I'm back and little better armed than last update! Since FF isn't kind to links when you post them, you'll have to hop over to my AO3, but I've gotten a few sources to check out if you want to support the BLM movement and don't have a lot of money/time to do so. Notably, a few YouTube channels that are pledging all of their add revenue to BLM.

To everyone protesting, you're fighting the good fight. Make sure you have good people who know where you are and what you're doing. The change has only just started, don't lose your fire. Remember your rights, stay safe. To everyone having those difficult conversations with friends and family, keep up the good work. It's very, very hard to convince someone that just because they're not a card-carrying member of the KKK it doesn't mean they're inherently not racist. I was raised by my conservative grandparents, whom I love dearly, but I did have to tell if my son comes back from their house saying racist crap, he's not allowed back there. (We've had this conversation about transphobic rhetoric as well, and my sibling is trans, so you can imagine I get HOT.)

And intermingled in all of that: Happy Pride Month! It's sort of being pushed to the side this year, and I think most of us are ok with that. People of color, particularly African Americans, were instrumental and fighting for the rights we have today. Stand up for those who stood up for us.

I wish you all well, beautiful beans. I worry for everyone. Please be safe.

-StevMarie