Laxus opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. It was light pink, but stained kind of tawny. He figured that was from cigarette smoke; it was on the air, along with a sticky-sweet scent, like pancakes mixed with too much syrup. He inhaled it deeply. His lungs burned. Flashes of his last memories hit him like moth wings.

Choking on water. Drowning. Getting sliced open like a tin can and bleeding everything he had out into Scarlet Lake for its monsters.

Laxus sat up too quickly. The room twirled and his stomach revolted. He leaned over the bed and gagged but there was nothing to come up.

A figure filled the doorway. Shaggy salt and pepper hair, an unruly beard and wide shoulders. Griswold. "You're going to wreck my breakfast if you keep that up."

Laxus wrinkled his nose. "Get that shit out of here."

Griswold stayed where he was. He scraped his fork over his plate, sliding a hunk of pancake through drippy syrup and then shoved it all in his mouth. "How 'oo fweelin', kid?"

"Like I want to hurl." He glared for emphasis.

"You swallowed a lot of water. You were tripping balls when I pulled you up, screaming about monsters, thought you were bleeding to death." He got another piece of pancake onto his fork and gave it the same dousing. "That's a bad ride." He pointed his fork at Laxus, the pancake wobbling dangerously on its end.

Another memory fluttered by, nearly crippling him. Sharp teeth, slit-like eyes, greedy mouths. Mermaids. Laxus examined his chest for damage. There was only Mira's hand mark burned into his flesh. It would probably scar.

Mira.

"Where is she?"

Griswold stuffed another mound of pancakes into his mouth and chewed slowly.

It was torturous to wait. With every passing second, Laxus' anxiety grew until he threw off the blankets despite his sickness and staggered to his feet. Someone (likely Griswold) had stripped him down to his shorts before throwing him into bed, and there was a large bandage covering his side. The place felt hot and stiff.

Laxus took a step forward and went sprawling. He caught himself on the bedside table. A small pink and blue lamp decorated with Pegasus' rocked dangerously.

"Sit down, you fool," Griswold said when he swallowed. "You're going to fall and crack your head open and I'm no nurse."

Laxus ignored him and straightened. He took another step. The room spun, but his legs didn't try to give out, so he kept moving towards the door. Griswold looked on with a disapproving frown. "You're too fucking stubborn for your own good."

Laxus shoved by him and out into the short, off-white hallway. The floor was covered in a taupe-coloured carpet, the walls blank except for one picture of a younger looking Griswold surrounded by a woman and two young children, their hair wispy blonde and long, like their mother's. His family, Laxus realized.

His foot caught on nothing at all and he went lurching forward. A strong hand closed around his shoulder and straightened him before he could meet the ground.

"You're an idiot," Griswold grumbled. "The girl is trying to sleep, and here you are, stumbling around looking for her like some kinda love-sick dog."

Laxus shook him off. "Mira?"

Griswold pushed his shoulder and forced him back into the wall. Laxus' head flared, and his stomach roiled. Griswold scowled mercilessly. "Cut that out, you savage. If you're that hot to trot, she's sleeping in Ella's room there, but don't go screaming down the halls."

"Where?" Laxus said quieter.

Griswold nodded to a room across the hall. The door was open just a crack. Laxus pushed it wide. Mira was on the bed, sleeping, just as Griswold promised, hair strewn over a pink and purple pillowcase, body tucked under a princess-themed blanket. Her shoulder was bandaged; the gauze was dark brown with old blood.

Griswold saw him looking at the wound and whispered, "She was hit by Dee's bullet. It got her good, but I think she'll be alright. I had an old doctor friend come look at you two when I brought you back."

"Thank you."

Griswold took in a deep breath, then backed out of the room. Laxus stumbled the rest of the way to the bed and got down beside Mira, moving painstakingly slow. At some point, someone had helped her dress in a kitten-themed spaghetti-strap nightgown. One of the straps was left off to accommodate her shoulder. Where the bandage didn't cover her was purple and blue, bruised.

The blanket wasn't really big enough to cover both of them completely. Laxus let her keep most of it, sliding his feet and legs in beside hers. He was asleep again in moments.

The smell of frying food brought Mira from a deep, sleepy place. She was starving. And being squished by a large, heavy arm. She turned her face. Laxus was so close to her, all she could see was his stubbly chin. Every time he exhaled, his breath would push her bangs against her forehead until she was itchy.

She readjusted so she could see him better, then ran her fingers through his hair. His face was still bruised from his fight with Griswold, his bottom lip split and his cheek swollen. She let her fingers slide over that, too. Laxus' eyes opened, grey like rain clouds.

Mira smiled. "Hey."

Laxus squeezed the arm thrown around her middle. "How are you feeling?"

Mira did a quick calculation of her state. "A little stiff is all. Griswold's doctor said I'd be okay in a few months if I don't see a healer." It would be nice to see Wendy again, though, so maybe she'd expedite things. "What about you?"

"I'm fine," his eyes flicked left when he lied, always.

"You still feel sick."

"It'll pass." He effectively changed the subject, asking, "What happened to Eli and Natalie? She was shot, wasn't she?"

"She was seen to by a doctor and patched up so she could carry out a very long sentence for a slew of charges." Griswold once more appeared in the doorway.

Laxus gave Griswold an annoyed look and Mira figured he must have at least been feeling alright.

Griswold came all the way into the room and dropped himself down on a pink beanbag chair. "Don't fucking look at me like that, you're the one sleeping in my girl's bed." He puffed on his cigarette and ashed on a small, flower-coated plate.

"Sorry," Mira said. "We'll get up, I'm sure she'll want it back—"

"The dead don't need beds, Snow, just don't be disrespecting it." His voice was matter-of-fact, his face stony like he practiced saying that in the mirror. The dead don't need this, the dead don't need that, we need the dead. Griswold ploughed on. "I arrested Eli and Natalie when you were messing around in that lake."

"Eli just let it happen?" Laxus wondered.

"He was trying to fix up his girl when I got close, putting pressure on her wound and tittering," Griswold said gruffly. "I didn't trust it much, either, though, that's why I used the magic-sealing cuffs on him. Once those suckers go on, nothing's happening here." He tapped his head.

Laxus sat up slowly and scrubbed his face. "Bet he was pissed."

"Mad as a badger. Now they're sitting pretty in the Innisfil jail."

"What about Klaus?" Mira asked. "Did you arrest him too?" She didn't remember much beyond Eli's arrest.

Griswold blew out a thick line of smoke; it billowed against the ceiling. "Not so much. Both he and Natalie's sister were gone when we got to the carriage they planned on using to escape."

Laxus cursed.

Griswold just shrugged. "I don't have too much on Dimaria, and Klaus… he'll turn up, his kind always does."

"Can I see Natalie?" Mira asked before she could think better of it.

Both Laxus and Griswold looked at her. She would not squirm.

"Why would you want to do that?" Griswold said.

"Why not? Do you have a rule against visitors?"

Griswold puffed again on his cigarette. "Yeah, when they've been sleeping with my prisoners. It's going to be hard enough to keep her in there without you mucking about, trying to release her."

Mira scoffed. "Why would I do that?"

"Who knows? Your kind is always a little fucked—"

"That's enough," Laxus interrupted. "She's not going to break her out, right, Mira?"

Mira glared obstinately at Griswold. "I just want to see her. I don't have to explain myself."

"I'm not letting you alone with her," Griswold said. "Next thing I know, those cuffs of hers will be off and you'll all be riding off into the sunset with whatever money they managed to scrounge from Julian's casino."

"Then stay in the damn room." Mira lifted her chin high. "I don't care."

"Fine." Griswold mashed his cigarette out on the plate and stood. "Your clothes are there." He pointed to a tiny chair with yellow flowers embroidered in the cloth, where a pile of unfolded clothes waited. "They're clean. Get dressed and we'll head into the station now." He left without saying another word, the door closing loudly behind him.

Mira wiggled out from beneath Laxus' arm and started the long, painful process of dressing. She kept her back to Laxus in an attempt to discourage any questions, but he didn't need to see her face to ask,

"Why do you want to see her?"

Mira sighed and pushed her loose hair back from her forehead. Her bangs were in the way again, but she'd lost her tie somewhere along the way. "She saved me."

"After she tried to kill you."

That was certainly true. Mira shrugged one shoulder. It made her other one hurt. "She still deserves a thank you."

"Natalie is a manipulative bitch."

She was a lot of things. "You can stay here if you want."

"And let you go on your own? Not a chance." Laxus joined her. He moved faster than she could hope to and once he was dressed, he turned and started to help her, too. Mira let him, grudgingly. He asked, "How does your shoulder feel?"

"Great," she said sarcastically.

"Don't be mad, Mira. We've fucked up enough, and Natalie… she's intense."

She was. Mira took in a deep, deep breath. "I'm not mad," she said when she let it out, "Just cranky." She was hungry, tired, and sore. "And I want to get out of this stupid city. I want to find Lisanna and Elfman, and I—" I want to go home, she thought but didn't say, because Fairy Tail was home, and Fairy Tail was gone.

"You want to just find a shitty little motel with a leaky sink, a creaky bed, weird stains on the floor and zero room service, and you want to crash for a few days?" Laxus supplied.

"Exactly," Mira said. Decadence bred monsters.

"Lucky for you, I know a few dives."

Mira smiled weakly. "I won't ask how."

"And I won't tell you." He grabbed the strap of her nightgown and pulled it off her arm. Mira bent her elbow and helped. Once that was free, Laxus rolled the fabric down over her hips. She had to shimmy to get out of it. Whoever had owned this item before her wasn't as thick as she was in a lot of places.

Laxus' eyes only flicked over her before he helped her into her other dress, holding it open so she could step into it and then sliding it up over her body. She only put one arm in and left the other out. She probably looked stupid but she didn't care. Laxus kissed the corner of her mouth. She turned her face so he had to kiss her completely.

"Are you sure you want to go see her? We can just leave, Mira," Laxus said when he broke away.

Mira plucked fabric of Laxus' shirt. "I don't want to stay long, and we can leave right after." She slipped from his grasp and went to the grape-coloured dresser where she found bobby pins. With Laxus' help, she pinned her bangs back. He left another kiss on her neck when he was through.

"Alright."

Griswold waited just outside when Laxus threw open the door. There was a sour expression resting on his craggy face. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Mira said, and grabbed for Laxus' hand.

The Innisfil Police Station looked like it hadn't had much of an upgrade in three decades, but it was spacious as if it had housed a lot of cops at one point. Now just three sat around the police station.

"Got a couple more for the cells, Grissy?" asked a dark-skinned woman. She sat at her desk, hidden mostly under a mountain of paper.

"Not these two, Becka," Griswold replied. He didn't offer any other explanation, and no one else tried to hinder his movements. Mira followed closely, looking at everything she could: the walls were slate grey, unadorned, the floors plain, white marble tile, the ceiling cathedral-style, dotted with dusty, pollen covered skylights so a little light leaked into the otherwise drab building.

Griswold stopped outside a grey door and produced a key from his pocket. It clicked in the keyhole, then the door slid soundlessly open and revealed the innards of an elevator.

"Get on," Griswold waved them inside then followed. The door closed when he inserted the key again, then he pressed the basement level button and they descended.

"The jail is kept downstairs?" Laxus asked.

"Out of sight, out of mind," Griswold explained. In the dark and dank, where no one could hear angry yells.

Mira worried her fingers in the hem of her dress, uncomfortable.

The elevator ground to a halt. Mira slipped out right on Griswold's heels. The jail was as drab as she expected, with barred cells and plain, concrete floors. No windows, except for one at the very end of the hall. It was small and barred. The overhead lights were fluorescent tubes that hummed loudly.

Mira saw Natalie immediately, leaning casually against the bars inside her cell, playing with a curl of brunette hair. She lifted her head, locked eyes with Griswold, and smiled. "Adam, come to let me loose?"

"Not a chance, snake," Griswold shot back. "You're lucky you're not hanging."

"You don't have anything on me," Natalie replied. "You—" She trailed off when she saw Mira. "Hey, love." She stood up a little straighter. Mira could see it cost her to do even that, the movement pulled her wound taut.

"Why don't you sit down?" Mira asked when she came even with the cell.

Natalie winked. "Then I'd look like every other skid in here and I wouldn't be able to charm the cops into letting me out." But Natalie would stand out anywhere she went, she wouldn't have to try.

"Keep dreaming," Griswold said.

Natalie turned her hazel orbs to Laxus. "Then maybe a dragon slayer will take pity on me, seeing as how I did save his girl."

Laxus' expression curdled. "You tried to kill her."

"Relax, Laxus," Mira tried.

Laxus shook his head and stalked down the hall, leaving Mira, Natalie and Griswold staring awkwardly at each other.

"Your beau's right. I wasn't very good to you. Why are you here, Mira?"

"I don't know," Mira said truthfully. "I guess I just wanted to say thanks, you know, for not letting Dee drown me and stuff." It seemed stupid, considering it was Natalie that put her in that situation in the first place, but she could have walked away. "And… and I know what you meant, earlier, about us being alike."

Natalie's mouth tilted up into a slow smile. "I'm happy to hear you say that."

"But," Mira said, "I would never use that as an excuse to manipulate people. I want you to know where you went wrong, Natalie. You just had to trust us a little more." Natalie tried to turn away. Mira reached out and snatched up her hand. "Try harder to be better."

"When I get out of this dump, I'll take your words into consideration," Natalie said after a moment. "Come see me at Cardinal Sins, okay?"

Griswold snorted. Natalie winked at him and leaned into the bars. Her lips were dry pressing into Mira's cheek. She retreated to the corner of her cell then, where the lights didn't touch her. Their conversation was done.

Mira turned back towards the elevators. Laxus was returning from somewhere down the hallway. Perhaps Eli's cell.

"You kids want to stay a few days?" Griswold asked as he placed his key back into the lock and called the elevator down.

Laxus leaned his shoulder against the wall, looking at Mira. "Do you want another few days of rest?"

"I'm okay to keep going," she said. "We've imposed on you long enough."

"It's no problem," Griswold added.

"Thanks for the offer," Laxus said. "Maybe if we're passing through again…"

"Sure." The doors opened and Griswold stepped inside. Mira and Laxus followed.

"What's going to happen to them from here?" Mira enquired.

"They're waiting for a trial to get their sentences', but after that, they'll probably get sent to work in the mines, if they're caught on murder."

A lifetime of mining in poor conditions in the tundra, with almost no breaks. Mira said, "That will kill them."

"That's the idea, yeah." The doors opened up into the main building and Griswold stepped out, unhindered by his statement. "You need anything else, kid? Money, a ride?"

"I have it figured out," Laxus promised. It was hard to say if he was bothered, either.

"Good, 'cause I got nothing."

Sunlight broke over them when they stepped outside. It was weak and the air was cold but fresh. In it, Mira almost felt human.

A carriage rolled up to the station and a woman in a red and black tunic step out. She had short blonde hair and sleepy hazel eyes. She barely looked at them as she walked past and into the station.

"I'm gonna go home, drink a beer, and forget all this shit ever happened," Griswold was saying. "I wish I could say it's been a pleasure, Laxus, but working with you has been a pain in the dick. Don't quit your day job—police work isn't really your thing."

"It's not really yours, either, old man. Get that retirement."

Griswold just snorted. "The train station is that way," he pointed down the street. "I'm headed the other direction."

"Towards the Black Cat?" Laxus asked.

Griswold was shameless. "There might be some girls there I haven't seen in awhile." He stuck out his hand for Laxus to shake. "Take care. And keep your nose clean, Snow." Griswold let go of Laxus and patted Mira's shoulder too hard, not to be malicious, but because his mind was elsewhere.

Mira forced a smile. "Thanks."

Laxus grabbed her hand and pulled her in the opposite direction. "Hope to see you never," he called back to Griswold but Griswold was already well on his way and didn't respond.

The elevator dinged, pulling Natalie from her reverie. She paused trailing her fingers through her hair and watched the doors slide open. A thin woman slipped through, dappled with blood. It was on her cheek and in her hair. She stopped before Natalie's cell and sighed. "I told you hanging out with that York douche was a waste of your time."

Natalie shrugged. "I was bored, and I had fun while it lasted."

Dimaria held her hand over the lock and allowed her magic to roll out in a controlled burst. The door swung open. "You know that waste of flesh Sander told me Julian had you captive?"

"Is that how he got you to come along?" Natalie wondered. "Julian wouldn't have done anything to hurt me. He was sweet sometimes, in his own way."

"You're an idiot sometimes, Natalie."

Natalie shrugged her off. "Are all those cops upstairs dead?"

Dimaria grabbed Natalie's cuffs and rusted those as well. "I don't like loose ends."

Natalie rose on tiptoe and kissed her sister's cheek. "Can you release Eli as well?"

"Is that your next partner in crime?" Dimaria did not look impressed.

"We have some trouble we want to get into, yeah." Hiding from Dimaria was almost as effective as hiding from Eli. She always seemed to know.

Dimaria crossed her arms. "I can't come bail you out again."

"I'll be fine," Natalie said. "You still have Klaus, right?"

She shrugged. "He was in the carriage when I left, dunno if he's still there."

He would be. That's what kind of man the York name bred. "Come on, let's get Eli," Natalie said buoyantly.

Mira's moroseness came and went in waves. One moment, she was laughing, the next, she was solemn and quiet. Laxus let her brood for all the daylight hours. She had things to work through, and that was fine, so did he. But when they finally settled down in the dumpiest motel they could find, just as he promised, he told her, "She's a criminal, she deserves to be in there."

Mira circled the room, cataloging the dust. "She's not a bad person, she's just messed up."

"She's a bad person."

She was. Mira knew it, too. She chewed the inside of her cheek. "I keep thinking about what she said, when she told me we were just alike. I think she's right."

"Maybe people are scared of your magic in the same way, but you're nothing like her and you never will be, either," Laxus said vehemently.

Mira sighed and started to undo her hair. "What if they die in the mines?"

He didn't know what to say, so he said nothing, which probably wasn't the reassurance she was looking for.

Mira moved like a ghost through the room, trailing from one side to the other, getting ready for sleep. Laxus waited until she needed his help getting undressed, then went to her. He left a trail of goosebumps in his wake, getting her arm out of her dress, and then the rest of her. She had scrapes and bruising here and there, but mostly she was just pale uninterrupted skin. He brushed her lips and cupped her breasts once, then shooed her towards the bed. Mira just stared up at him expectantly, so Laxus got undressed and fell onto the mattress first. It was lumpy, a spring or two broken here and there. The sheets smelled clean, though, and the pillows were decent. Not Gomorrah or Noir decent. But alright.

Mira sidled up beside him and stretched her leg over his middle and he realized she was not going to let him kiss her and go to sleep. He helped her on top. She sat there, perhaps letting her shoulder stop aching, then she touched between her legs with her good hand, just lightly, rubbing and holding his eye, challenging him to challenge her.

He wouldn't. She kept looking at him and it was too intimate, but he couldn't look away, either. Her eyes were like windows to the ocean, a little too stormy to be peaceful, too beautiful to look away from.

"I want to feel you," she told him. Laxus wiggled the blankets out from between them and her skin rested against his. She was hot, and when she slid her centre over his, she was wet, too. Laxus pushed his hips up against her. She moaned and tipped her head back. He was free to look elsewhere. At her skin, raised in goosebumps still, at the peaks of her breasts, hard. He held her hips and helped her move. Her fingers were still doing clever things, making her shiver and gasp. Laxus watched her chest heave and flush, visible even in the moonlight, and knew what was coming.

Mira tried to be quiet, but her orgasms never were. Laxus lifted her up so he could slide inside. His side ached to do it but then it was just softness. Mira did most of the work, rising and falling to her own rhythm, breathing slowly, moving slowly. She cupped his face with her good hand, fingers sliding over his cheek, brushing his lips. He kissed the tips. She continued on her way, down his neck, his shoulders, across his chest. She moved a little faster, her sighs got loud again. Laxus started meeting her thrusts and her sighs turned into cries as she came, bringing him with her.

Mira stayed where she was, letting her breaths turn quiet. Her eyes were back on his again, and again, there was no escape. "I love you," she told him, exhaled on a breath and heavy enough it sunk into his bones.

He let himself smile for the first time all day. "You took so long deciding that, I thought you didn't."

"I knew, I just thought some humility would do you well." She slid off him and went to the washroom. Laxus waited until she was finished then traded places with her. When he retuned to the bed, she was lying flat on her back, staring at the ceiling. Laxus shut off the lights and settled in beside her.

Mira said, "We should be able to reach Melony in a few days. Lisanna and Elfman said they were going into the mountains. They're probably still there."

Laxus edged as close to her as he could without nudging her shoulder. "Sure."

"Then we can go get Freed, Bickslow and Ever."

"Mmm." He didn't relish telling his team how he got his wounds.

Mira dropped a kiss to his chest. "G'night."

Laxus thought he'd said it back, but he was already mostly asleep.

They'd been travelling for two days when their train pulled into the town of Melony. It was small and quaint, with one restaurant, one clothing shop, a shoemaker, and a blacksmith, and way in the mountains, a spa for tourist. That was it, that was all.

They hit the diner first.

Laxus went to the washroom before they sat down to eat, so Mira grabbed a table and picked up a newspaper. There wasn't anything particularly interesting inside, just a few local stories, a dog that saved a boy, a vulcan that'd been terrorizing the neighbouring town, and a ton of ads. Most of them were generic, but one, in particular, caught her eye. It was printed on a thick piece of black paper and said, "The Rouge Casino, where you can explore all of the Cardinal Sins."

Come see me at Cardinal Sins. If she closed her eyes, she could see Natalie's mouth move around the words in her jail cell.

The washroom door banged open and Laxus came out. Mira wavered, then decided to close the paper.

"Anything good in there?" Laxus asked.

"If you want to read how Miss Molly lost Pastor Dave's prize sheep," Mira said sarcastically. Her skin felt too hot, the restaurant too small.

Laxus looked at her quizzically. "You alright?"

Mira smiled. "Fine." It felt forced, but in time, she'd say it and it would be true.

That's all. Finally. I cut out about 50,000 words and it still feels too long but I'm not touching this ever again.

Ryu of Konoha: If you're still reading, thank you for being such a champion of my Noirverse! I know this was your favourite, hopefully I didn't destroy that with my meddling edits. Natalie and I thank you for all your support. Because of this edit, Natalie has a new beginning in my original, Narcissism and Other Sins.

To all my other readers: I mentioned before, I'm quitting fan fiction. If you're interested in supporting me in my original works, you can find me on pat reon as Kaitlin Corvus, or snag my book on Amazon, The Abolition of Caden Hail, or you can hook up with me on my Facebook page, again, Kaitlin Corvus.

It's been a pleasure writing Miraxus for y'all over the last four years. Thanks for reading.