#oh also levi got caught in a bear trap and shot in the head and had glass thrown at him and fell off of some stairs into the bear trap

[casually-salad]

yaaaay the leaves are starting to fall down!!! its finally fall >u<

[sunflowerheartwriting]

Escape 19

Ah! I love a tortured Gajeel! Sorry not sorry! You can read more here at FF.net! 

Hearing my phone ring in my pocket and feeling the vibrations on my ankle, made my heart dropped into the blue balls that were forming. Mentally kicking myself for not putting it on silent, I reluctantly pulled away from Levy. Those honey brown eyes were filled with love and affection, and that smile, oh god that smile. It was taunting and teasing and swollen slightly from our kissing.

I don’t deserve this, I know I don’t deserve this or her. She’s too good for me and I don’t deserve to be loved, but oh, how I want everything she has to offer.

When I picked up the phone, as I pulled my pants back up, I felt my heart falling apart in my chest.

“Gajeel, whatever you do, don’t go to the meet-up point. It’s a trap and your success of coming out alive is not good. You need to think of another plan.”

Panic flooded through me as I took a quick glance at the beautiful woman that was still sitting on the desk. I knew from the very beginning that I’ll probably get hurt or possibility die, but I didn’t bet on letting my feelings take over. How can such a small woman invade so much of me and change me?

Quickly concealing, pulling my emotionless mask back on, I asked, “Why do you think that?”

“We have a bug. Someone is playing us and the police. Whoever it is tipped off the little meeting you’re going to have tomorrow to the local police and they plan to ambush all of you. It is not safe. Where are you?”

“I’m with Levy, we’re-“ I tried to explain, but was interrupted by a booming voice on the other side of the phone.

“YOU’RE WITH LEVY?! I THOUGHT I INSTRUCTED YOU TO LEAVE HER AS SOON AS YOU COULD??!! WHY DIDN’T YOU LEAVE HER WITH HER FRIEND CANA?”

Struck by confusion, I stated, “I’m sorry, she insisted on coming and was being really stubborn about the entire situation. How do you know all of this anyway? I didn’t tell you about Cana.”

He started to argue back, but went deathly quiet on the line when I started questioning him further. “You know what, a lot of things don’t make sense. Like you knowing about her, what she looks like, her likes and dislikes, her friends, where she lives, where she went to school. Everything about her really. Are you some kind of weird stalker old man?” My temper was starting flare due to his constant silence but I was more afraid that he hung up on me, because he too have a temper. But even so, if this old man is some kind of creepy pervert, I would protect Levy with all I have, but as soon as he started talking again, the pieces were coming together.

“Gajeel…….there’s something, I actually…….-“

“Spit it out!” I growled distancing myself more from Levy. As the conversation drudged on she looked more and more concerned. She couldn’t really hear me because I tried my best to whisper, but my body language was a dead giveaway of someone’s that’s really irritated.

“Has she ever talked about a man that left her, breaking her heart when she was a kid?”

“Yea, her gramps, why would…..no fuckin’ way! NO FUCKIN WAY!!” I yelled coming to a slow conclusion.

“Yes. Look, we’ve been talking on the phone for way too long. Meet me at the old train station in about an hour and trash this phone in the process. I’ll give you a new one.” He said before hanging up abruptly.

I was left standing there, staring at the phone in my hand in daze of confusion, understanding and acceptance. I didn’t clearly understand why he never told me in the beginning, but I can assume why he didn’t. With our job, you have to completely distance yourself from your relatives so you won’t drag them into the mess. Rogue is with me, because we have no one else. It’s just me and him and I would rather die than let him be put into someone else’s home I don’t know. So, I can completely understand why this is coming up now and lord help me be able to ease her into all of this.

The truth is finally going to come out. All of it.

“Gajeel?” her sweet voice caressed my ears, causing me to face the little woman that was standing behind me with her head tilted to the side in confusion. “Is everything ok?”

“Um, yea.  We have to go now! Pack everything you can, I’ll clean up the mess I made.” I stated hurrying over to the desk, to pick up the papers I knocked on the floor and she did the same without hesitation.

We cleaned up the basement to how it was before, and took the hobo bag full of things from my apartment, along with a book-bag of stuff for her. Stealthily, we made our way out of the bookstore and to the car.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she directed me to the old train station that’s on the other side of town, a few miles away from the bustling city.

“I’ll tell you when we get to where we’re headed. It’s too much to tell you right now, and I think you may want to hear it from who we’re meeting.” I said resting my hand on her hand, interlacing our fingers together.

She shot me a big smile, content with waiting until we got the train station. Smiling back, I tried to hold back my frown. When she finds out…..I don’t know how she would react but I hope she doesn’t blame me.

Ugh, this is a bunch of bullshit…I shouldn’t have even went to her in the beginning. I should’ve found someone else to look after Rogue. But then again, Levy was more trustworthy than anyone I could even hope to find in that situation.

Running a frustrated hand through my hair, I pondered different outcomes of this meet-up and the trap I’m going to walk into no matter how many ways I try to think of a way out.

---------------------------------------

Arriving at the old abandoned train station, I parked discreetly in between two old rusty train carts. You could smell oil, rust and dirt from the wind constantly mixing the scents together. The sun was starting to rise, making me wish I was taking Levy on a nice date, instead of reuniting her with her not-so-dead grandfather.

“Who are we meeting?” Levy asked holding onto my arm for support as we walked carefully through the rough terrain that was littered with rocks and patchy grass.

“It’s better if you see yourself, instead of me telling you.”                                

“Why can’t you just-“

“Look, we’re here.” I interrupted, leading her unto the old train station platform. You could see a small man in a suit, relaxing on one of the two benches with his arm slung over the back of the bench. He was looking off into the distance, as if waiting for his long lost love to be on the next train.

When he heard our footsteps approaching, he turned to face us, causing Levy to gasp. Her hands flew up to her mouth, as she shook her head slowly.

Standing up slowly, the short old man shot her a nervous smile. “Levy, oh my sweet Levy.” He said slowly approaching us as if not to scare her away, but I don’t think that was working.

“No��.no…..you can’t be….” She choked out, as tears started to pour down her face in waves of unrelenting emotion. She backed away, with every step he took forward with his arms wide, hoping for an embrace. “Gajeel, what is this? Some sort of sick trick? Do you really not want me here with you?” she asked going stiff in her place.

Blinking in pure confusion, I did not think that this was how she was going to react. Shaking my head I said, “No! It’s him. It’s the truth Le-“

“Blue bird, it’s really me.” Makarov said, causing Levy eyes to grow wide. Her breathing grew heavier turning into panting and her eyes frantically looked around. “Gajeel, she’s going to run.”

“How do you know-SHIT!” I cursed as I saw a flash of blue leave my sight. Taking off after her, I was impressed by her speed, but pushed that to the back of my mind until I caught her. She used the rocky terrain, old train carts, and small spaces to help her escape, but knowing her, I knew the best way to get around to her.

Running around an old service building, I caught her as she was rounding the corner. She ran into me, knocking us down into the dirt as I wrapped myself around her, to take the blunt of the fall.

I grunted as a few blunt rocks dug into my back and head, while also trying to contain the squirming woman on top of me.

“LET ME GO!! I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE! GAJEEL!! LET ME GO!” She bellowed, flailing her limbs around, trying to escape my bear hug.

“Not until you calm down.” I barked flipping her onto the ground to pin her down. Tears were still falling, as so many emotions filled her eyes. So many that I couldn’t even decipher what she was thinking. “Please, calm down.”

When she stopped squirming, I stood us both up, with my hands tightly holding her hips, just in case she decided to bolt again. But instead I got a barraged of punches, as she pounding my chest with her tiny fists, sobbing.

“You knew didn’t you? You knew this entire time, you big liar!” she cried out hitting me with one more punch that actually made me cough from the contact.

“That actually hurt a little shorty, but no. I didn’t find out until he called me. I’m sorry, you had to find out this way. But I promise you, that I really didn’t know that he was your gramps.”

“Liar…” she said weakly as I cupped her face with my hands, wiping the tears away with my thumbs.

“I’m not lying.” I said looking into those honey eyes, wanting to take away all her pain, but all I could do was, kiss her.

Kissing her softly, I felt her body relax against mine, tasting the saltiness of her tears and pain. Her hands remained on my chest, grabbing at the fabric of my shirt and my hands remained on her face, trying to give her all of my love and care into one simple action.

Hearing someone clear their throat, made us part ways, quickly looking at the old man that had a quirked eyebrow and a knowing smile on his face that made me want to punch him.

“I think we should move inside before anyone gets suspicious,” he said holding his hands behind his back as he turned towards the old service building.

Holding Levy’s shaky hand, we followed Makarov into a dusty office, where I know he placed three chairs in a triangle facing each other, so we could talk. We let Levy sit down first before taking our seats.

He took a deep breath before speaking, “I know this is a lot all at one time. I know I have a lot of explaining to do and I’m sorry.” He said shakily. I’ve never seen him so nervous before and it was actually good to see the big boss all shaken for once.

“Gr...Gramps, how are you still alive? We thought you were dead.”

“We will get to that, but right now, there’s more pressing matters.”

“No! I want to know the truth, now. I think I’ve earned that.” She glared crossing her arms in frustration.

“She’s gotta point, old man.” I said, earning a glare from him, while trying to hold back a smile.

He let out a gust of air, before starting his story. He talked about how he works for a secret division in connection with the FBI and CIA, and how his last job was just a trap to pull him back into the life he thought he left. They called on him, wanting him to train some new recruits, but once the top dogs knew he was back for a few weeks, they threatened him. Threatened to hurt his family, unless he continues to work for them. Ever since then, he’s been working his way up the latter, to get rid of the corruption that’s within the system. By the end of the talk, Levy seemed to become more and more understanding and contemplating something. As if connecting the dots of some grand scheme in her head.

“So, let me guess, you’re an agent too.” She asked looking at me for confirmation.

I nodded my head, and gramps added, “Gajeel is one of our top undercover agents. He was sent here to get into the operation that José was running and shut it down.”

“But that all went to shit when someone decided to kill a crap ton of people, and put everything on me.” I scoffed leaning back in my chair, crossing my arms frustratingly over my chest.

“So, you’re not the bad guy.” She stated as if it was a rhetorical question.

Gramps took her hands into his, smiling up at her. “No, he’s not the bad guy, but you knew that already, didn’t you?”

She nodded her head, shooting him a calm smile, as they both stood to embrace each other tightly. “I’ve missed you so much, gramps.” She whispered, as fresh tears slid down her cheeks.

They held each other for a while, whispering and giggling to each other, phrases I couldn’t understand and was ok with not knowing. When they separated, we got down to business.

“Gajeel, you have to cancel your meeting and Levy, you have to come with me.”

“You of all people, know I can’t cancel. Set-up or not, I have to go. He’s expecting me to be there, and if I don’t show up, it’ll be bad for all of us. I worked really hard on this operation and I’ll be damned if all my hard work go to waste.”

“I don’t care how tough you think you are Gajeel, you have to back out. You’ve done your job and as your boss, I’m saying your job is complete.”

“Complete! What do-“ I was to ready rant, when I was stopped by my phone once again vibrating in my pocket.

Makarov’s face twisted in irritation, “I thought I told you to trash that phone.”

“Yea, yea, I know. I was going to toss it, as soon as I got the new one.” I stated before picking it up. I knew the number right away, knowing it was José calling to confirm our meet-up time and to also try to sike me out.

“What do you want, José?” I asked hoping he could hear how annoyed I was to get his call.

“Well, hello there Gajeel. How’s your day going?” He asked with his sinister smile seeping through the phone. My senses kicked into full gear, alarming me that something was wrong.

“What do you want?” I growled out.

He chuckled, “I’m just making sure you’ll show up tomorrow. I also have a little initiative just in case, you choose to bring some of your FBI buddies to ambush me.”

Going stock still, I felt my heart drop on to the floor and panic tingle every nerve of my body. How did he find out? HOW?

Looking over to the old man, I knew he could read that something was definitely wrong. Putting José on speaker phone, I continued to speak. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh, don’t play coy with me, Special Secret Agent Gajeel Redfox. I know everything! I know every little detail about your silly operation to shut me down!” He barked into the phone. “I also know it wasn’t you that killed those dock workers, but it was you that left my girls and drugs for the police to find. But even though I know this, you’ll still meet me and you’ll be pinned for my entire operation. I mean, the police do think you’re behind everything, so why not?”

“And, what’s stopping me from not turning you in, instead of being your little escape goat.” I seethed.

He laughed harder, before saying, “I was hoping you would ask.” I heard him snap his fingers and muffled noises, as if something was being dragged into his presence. “Remove the gags.” He commanded.

What was heard next caused my heart to drop into my feet. When the gags were removed, two distinct voices were heard. “You son of a bitch! I swear I will end you if you touch one hair on that kids head!!” Cana roared while light whimpering from a child caused me to go into autopilot.

“José, I swear if you even think of touching either of them, I’ll-“ I roared but was interrupted by the tsking sound he was making with his mouth.

“Oh, Gajeel, don’t be so hasty to threaten when I have your child’s life in my hands. If you’re just one minute late, I would not hesitate to kill both of them. So I expect to see you at 6 am, and try to get some sleep, ok.” He spoke before hanging up.

Anger was seeping through every pore of my body as I squeezed the phone so hard it burst into a thousand pieces as I crushed it within my palm. My vision became red as I growled in anger ready to find that son of a bitch now and kill him where he stood. Feeling a shaky hand lightly touch the fist that was balled up tightly by my side, I looked down to see a shaky Levy looking up at me with deep sorrowful eyes. “I-I’m sorry, t-this is all my fault.” She cried.

It hurt me to see her cry so much in one day much less within a short amount of time and it hurt more that she blamed herself for our predicament. Quickly grabbing her and wrapping myself around her as she sobbed into my chest, I shushed her words of doubt as I stroked her hair.

“I cannot back out now gramps, they have Rogue and Cana. I hate to say it, but I’m going to need Levy’s brain with this one. I promise she will not come with me, but I do need her help.” I spoke softly, hoping Makarov would give me permission to once again take his granddaughter on another dangerous quest.

He pondered my request for a few minutes before sighing deeply, nodding his head. “Alright, but let me at least help you with somewhere to stay until morning. Then me and you will have something important to talk about later.” He said his eyes shifting to Levy who was still clinging to me, her sobbing slowing down to little sniffles. I knew what he meant and was slightly nervous at the prospective of that conversation.