Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 1: The Job Request

Gray stared in open mouthed surprise at the sharply dressed bald man that walked past him seemingly on his way to see Master Makarov. He got a cup of hot cocoa from Mira and went to join the rest of his team at their regular table.

"Am I crazy or was that Master Bob?", Gray asked still not sure if that man could be the same as the boxer and winged cami wearing Master from Blue Pegasus.

The rest of his team looked at him with interest. They had been examining a job request and had not noticed anyone coming in.

"The weird guy from Blue Pegasus?", Natsu asked with a shudder.

"Which one?", snorted Happy.

"That's not very nice.", Lucy chided them.

"What? The way he looks at me makes me feel weird.", Natsu answered.

"He's not wrong.", Gray agreed with him, "At least he's better than Ichiya."

Natsu and Gray both shuddered at the thought of Ichiya and his special brand of strangeness. Erza looked like she wanted to hide under the table just in case the leader of the Trimens had joined his Master for this rather unusual visit.

"I wonder what he wants with our Master.", Erza looked at the Master's closed door intently. She couldn't remember another time that Master Bob had visited their guild.

xxx

"Bob? What brings you here?", Makarov greeted his old friend. He ushered him into his office and asked Mira to bring them some refreshments. He immediately noticed the clothes his friend was wearing and his serious expression.

"I was just in town and decided to stop by. No special reason.", Bob said unconvincingly. He sat quietly looking at his old friend and wondering whether he really wanted to do this. He knew that he was very upset at the moment and that he might very well regret his actions later.

"Well, it's always good to visit with an old friend. Would you like me to call Goldmine? We could go out for some drinks.". Makarov offered and noting Bob's flinch quickly added, "or we could stay here."

"Maybe later, I don't feel up to keeping up with that wild man.", Bob replied attempting to inject some levity to the conversation.

By this point Makarov's curiosity was killing him. He was also slightly concerned, Bob almost never came to Fairy Tail if he could help it. There was clearly something going on with his friend and he did not know how to get it out of him.

Mira knocked on the door and brought in their refreshments including a bottle of expensive scotch for them to share. She left quickly sensing the mood in the room and closed the door behind her. There was no sense in trying to listen, Freed had placed sound proofing runes around the office years ago.

Makarov poured some scotch for both of them and watched as Bob downed his glass and stared at Makarov. He slammed the glass down on the desk and seemed to make up his mind.

"I was at a funeral today.", Bob began. Makarov made to interrupt but Bob waved him off. "It was for an old friend. We had been friends for over twenty years and now he's gone, just like that."

Makarov refilled his glass and asked casually, "Was he ill?"

Bob grabbed his drink and snorted. "No, he was healthy as an ox. He took very good care of himself."

Bob sniffled and wiped his eyes. Makarov grunted in frustration. He was not a patient man by nature. He wished his friend would just come out and say whatever he was here for so that he could set about trying to fix it.

"He had come to Blue Pegasus a few nights ago to see me and he was attacked after he left the club. Some men used a mazer on him to drain him of his magic and then beat him to death. Witnesses say that they were screaming homophobic slurs at him as they hit him."

"Maki", Bob said with a pained expression, "they killed him because he was gay."

It was Makarov's turn to down his drink. He could see the raw anger in his friend's eyes and it saddened him. Bob had always been a gentle soul, even when they had been in a team together.

"It isn't the first attack that has happened outside of Blue Pegasus, but it's the first one that has resulted in a death. The victims have all been gay or bisexual men, We're not known as a gay bar but we are very accepting and we have good drinks and entertainment."

"I don't want to bury any more of my friends, Maki. I want the attacks to stop. The Rune Knights have been investigating the attacks for weeks now but they haven't gotten anywhere yet."

Bob looked at Makarov with a determined expression.

"Blue Pegasus can't be involved directly. That's why I want to post a job request for Fairy Tail. I will offer whatever reward you think is reasonable. I want you to catch those guys and make them pay for what they have done."

"My mages aren't killers, Bob. You know that. It's not the Fairy Tail way.", Makarov said seriously.

"I don't care what they do as long as the people responsible for this are punished. I'm not sure how they are picking their victims but I think they must have someone inside the club scouting for victims."

"Are you sure this is what your friend would want you to do?"

"He wasn't just my friend Maki, we were partners once. He deserved better than this. Will you do this for me, old friend?"

Makarov thought about the request and he could not bring himself to deny it. "Did you have anyone in mind for this?"

"I was thinking of maybe Natsu and Gray. They're gay aren't they?"

Makarov laughed, "If they are, I don't think they know it yet."

"Oh, I just assumed with all their posturing that they were together.", Bob said feeling a little embarrassed at having made the assumption.

"That doesn't mean they wouldn't take the job if we explained the situation. They might very well be sympathetic. You are aware of how much destruction they are capable of, are you sure you want that at your club?"

"Buildings can be rebuilt, Maki. People's lives are not so easily put back together."

"Alright, tell me everything they need to know."

Makarov and Bob talked about the job request for another fifteen minutes and then moved on to other topics. The Fairy Tail Master could tell that his friend did not wish to be alone so when their conversation began to ebb they went out in search of Goldmine, the Quattro Cerberus Master.

xxx

A/N Ok, I admit the setup is sad but it would have to be something like that to get them to agree, the following chapters should not be. I have a few more chapters already written which I will post once I get a chance to edit them more. Let me know what you think. As always constructive criticism and feedback is appreciated.