Brain and Brawn

Chapter Seven: Lily Gets Some Answers

After flying the perimeter of the ruins for a third time Lily sat down on the flat rock beside Levy again. The bookworm was still engrossed in her work. She had made it more than halfway down the first wall and Lily watched her mutter to herself, no doubt in ancient Fiorian. Every now and then her brow would furrow together to signal she hit a snag in her translation but she would go back over her work, erase something, nod, and go back to translating.

"You are allowed a break you know," Lily told her. Levy sat back on her legs and stared at him. "You've been at this for over four hours and haven't taken a break. You've got to be getting a headache or something."

Levy stretched her arms out in front of her and swung them in an arc over her head. "Not really," she shook her head. "I love doing this stuff." She ran her hands over the writing.

"How about you take a break and tell me what you've uncovered so far?" Lily suggested as he pulled some energy bars and bottles of water out of his sack.

Levy crawled over to the Exceed and chugged down the water, just now realizing how thirsty she was. "Well this ruin is actually more like a crypt." She pointed to the partially crumbled buildings. "Apparently ancient Fiorians buried their deceased in buildings with the rest of their ancestors. These buildings were decorated with family heirlooms, priceless artifacts. Now from what I can tell just by looking at them most of these buildings have been picked clean by raiders. However this wall mentions something about a royal crypt. It's no doubt what called the bandits here." She took a breath after not breathing during her explanation. She unwrapped an energy bar and took a bite. "The wall is crumbling a little where I'm at now so it's getting harder to translate."

Lily smiled at the bookworm. "You really are something else Levy," he munched on his energy bar before choosing his next set of questions carefully. "Gajeel likes watching you work."

Levy blushed and coughed as she choked on her energy bar. "What makes you say that?" Her voice went up an octave.

"He has a habit of staring," Lily laughed. "When I was walking the tunnels, anytime I came back this way he was always watching you carefully. He takes all of his jobs seriously but he has a new sense of determination on this job. He doesn't want to fail you."

Levy raised an eyebrow. "Fail me? How would he fail me?"

"He won't admit it but he's scared he will fail at protecting you," Lily shrugged. "It's like he's trying to make up for something."

At that Levy paused in taking a drink. She set her water down and sighed. "I knew it," she whispered. "It's still bothering him."

"What's still bothering him?" Lily asked. Gajeel may not tell him but maybe Levy could inform him of Gajeel's troubled past. "What did he do that was so bad?"

"What has he told you about the war his old guild had with Fairy Tail?" Levy asked.

"Not much really. He said Phantom was hired by Lucy's father to bring her home by any means necessary and that Jose saw it as an opportunity to take Fairy Tail off his list of rivals."

Levy nodded. "That's a small portion of it. Jose had Gajeel destroy the guild hall for him to try and force us to attack but it didn't work. Mira had us all stay with someone else in the guild so no one was alone. We knew Phantom was after something or some one but we didn't know what or who. I was supposed to stay at the girls dorm but I wanted to go out and get some fresh air so I took Jet and Droy with me so I wasn't alone. It wasn't long after we left that we were attacked, by Gajeel."

"Gajeel's master had him attack you?" Lily quietly asked.

Levy shook her head. "No, from what I hear Gajeel attacked us of his own accord when his attack of the guild hall didn't get the reaction Phantom had wanted," she looked down at her hands and rubbed her wrists like they hurt from something. "I don't remember all of it. I just remember him attacking me first, probably because I was the leader of Shadow Gear, and that sent Jet and Droy into a panic. It didn't take him long to knock the guys out and when he was done with them he turned to me again. I tried to fight back but his first attack left me groggy so I was pretty useless. His last hit landed square on my temple and knocked me out. After that I faded in and out. I remember being dragged somewhere. I remember being lifted up and secured in place to something with my arms out like this," she stretched her arms out to mimic the position," and I remember him ripping my jacket open and drawing his guild symbol on my stomach. When he saw that I was starting to come to again he cracked me in the skull again. Fairy Tail found us that morning and I hear that was the breaking point for them. We attacked Phantom directly after that."

Lily stared at Levy with his mouth slightly open. Gajeel, his partner, had beaten Levy unconscious and put her on display for the town to see. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around it. Sure he knew Gajeel was an ass back then but he just couldn't picture him ever laying a harmful finger to the gentle bookworm.

"That explains a lot actually," Lily finally said. "He kept talking about how he can't believe you even wanted be near him after what he did but for now it seems you can tolerate him so he would settle for that. He wouldn't tell me what he did that was so bad but now that I know," he trailed of and shook his head. "I just can't see him like that."

"That's because that wasn't him," Levy quickly said. "He was shrouded in so much darkness from Jose you could almost see it radiating off of him. Sure I was scared at first when Master brought him to the guild and Jet and Droy even attacked him in revenge but Gajeel didn't fight back. The darkness in him was gone and he wanted us to know he wasn't going to hurt anyone so he let them get their vengeance out on him. Eventually Laxus showed up and started beating on Gajeel too but even Jet and Droy said it was too much."

"I hear Laxus was quite the jerk too back then," Lily briefly interupted.

Levy nodded. "He carelessly shot a bolt of lightning at me when we told him to stop and I couldn't move fast enough but Gajeel some how was. He jumped in front of the lightning and took the hit for me," she smiled. "I wasn't afraid of him after that. As he's stayed with the guild I can see how different he is now than who he was then. The darkness is gone and he's now one of my closest friends," Levy laughed and scratched her head. "Some way to meet a friend huh?"

Lily smiled. She was a very forgiving woman. She doesn't see Gajeel for who he was but for who he is now. If only he could get Gajeel to see in himself what he and Levy see in him.

"Just a friend huh?" Lily teased at her.

The book worm shrieked and her face got red. "W-what do you mean?"

Lily sighed. "Oh come on Levy you may be able to fool him and you may even be able to fool yourself but you can't fool me. I saw you two this morning."

"That wasn't what is looked like!" She yelled and waved her hands at him. "I tripped and then he caught me and I slammed into him and we fell. I know it looked bad but I swear that's what happened!"

Well at least I know Gajeel wasn't lying about that part. "That may be how it happened but from what I saw, the way you two were looking at each other, there was something else there."

Levy stared at her feet. "I can't get up the courage to tell him," she whispered. "Every time I think I get brave enough to even hint at it he makes it obvious he doesn't feel the same way."

Lily was about to tell her she was wrong when a loud noise came from outside the cave. The two shared a look and they knew they both had the same thoughts. Gajeel was in a fight with something. They scrambled up and ran for the exit. Lily held out an arm halfway through the tunnel.

"Wait here Levy," he ordered. "If he's still fighting I don't want you involved."

Levy growled at him. "I can fight you know!"

"I'm not saying you can't but it's our job to protect you, Levy, not the other way around," Lily said. Suddenly the fighting stopped and foot steps made their way into the tunnel. Lily drew his sword and stood with it at the ready, making sure he blocked as much of Levy as he could.

A shadow was seen first and then a hooded figure turned the corner. Lily yelled a war cry and attacked the hooded figure. He was blocked by a giant iron sword he knew too well and he immediately lowered his own weapon.

"Gajeel!" He exclaimed. "Damn it don't scare me like that!"

Gajeel dropped the hood on his new cloak and searched for Levy. Both of his partners gasped as they saw his injuries. He smiled at his blue haired bookworm. "I'm so glad you're safe," he quietly said. "See I told ya I'd protect ya Shrimp."

"Gajeel!" Levy's scared cry was last thing he heard as the ground rushed up to him and he blacked out.

Authors Notes: So Gajeel's wounds are a little worse than he thought. The trio make their way to the old archeologist's house in the next chapter and Gajeel has some questions for the old man. But first he needs to be patched up.