I'm a procrastinator. Not even with writing, with publishing.

Please enjoy this, I'm not making any promises on the next one, but I WILL finish this.

Just some Fairy Tail dramatics for everyone.

Protect.

Laxus' heart was pumping. Faster than it ever had. And as he stretched his neck, looking over the wall he was hiding behind, he raised his gun, resting the barrel on the top of it. When he saw the enemy, he tracked them, watching them; analysing their movements so he could make the perfect shot. And when they moved slightly to the left, their heart in his view, Laxus aimed at the vital organ.

And then he pulled the trigger.

There was a scream that pierced air, more of a shout as his enemy fell to the ground.

"LAXUS THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Natsu tried rubbing off the orange paint on his chest plate. "You caught me off guard!"

"DON'T CHEAT, NATSU! YOU LOST, GET OVER IT!"

"NEVER!" And then Natsu was charging for him. But Laxus had a Lucy to protect, so he re-aimed, and held the trigger, splattering Natsu with an array of orange and yellow. And then Gray was charging towards him, and Laxus shouted a battle cry, shooting him on his chest and arms.

Before he even called over his shoulder, Gajeel was by his side, aiming with him as they began shooting the other team.

"Go, baby!" Laxus smirked, sparing a glance over his shoulder at where Lucy was calmly sitting, waiting to be taken to the other teams base: Levy. "Come on Gaj, you gotta go get Levy!"

"I'm a little busy, Bunny!" He yelled back, taking aim as he shot at Loke, who tucked and rolled behind an empty tank, his gun peaking around the side as he shot at them. Erza rolled onto the scene, lifting her gun and shooting at Mira, who was now standing on top of the wall Gajeel and Laxus were shooting from.

"Back down, Scarlet." There was a deathly calmness that came with Mira's normally sweet and bubbly voice – one that dared no one to move.

Erza stood, her hair in a ponytail as it swayed behind her, "I would consider your next move very carefully, demon." She took the twin machine guns, aiming at Mira.

"TAKE COVER!" Laxus ducked behind the wall, Gajeel at his side. They prepared themselves as best as they could, but still, all he could hear was gunfire.

The banging and pooping stopped, Mira was falling backwards, off the wall and landing on the ground, thudding as she lay still. Laxus looked at her stomach and chest, covered with blue and green paint. "I-I'm sorry," her eyes closed and no more movement came from her.

Laxus risked a glance over the wall, watching Erza drag herself by her arms. She rolled over, and Laxus saw the orange spot on her heart. Then the red-head stopped moving. Gajeel jumped over the wall, aiming his gun at Cana. Loke squeezed his trigger, and Gajeel fell lifeless to the ground.

"Shit," Cana stalked her way towards him, and Laxus hopped over the wall, both of them face to face with each other.

"Any last words, Dreyer?" Laxus smirked. If their plan had gone accordingly then he would be fine.

"Drunk, three o'clock!"

Cana barely had time to frown before an orange splotch appeared on her right shoulder, then her left, and finally on her heart. As Cana fell to the ground, Evergreen, Freed, and Bickslow were at his side. He smirked when Jet and Droy announced themselves.

"Easy kill, don't you think?" he mumbled. His team nodded.

Jet and Droy lifted their guns, shooting at them, Evergreen and Bickslow raised their guns as well, shooting back just as fiercely. And before they even blinked, all four shooters dropped. Freed and Laxus stared at each other, unsure of what happened.

Then Freed dropped, and Laxus searched for where the bullet came from.

Hiding on top of the roof of one of the crumpled buildings, he found the source of the bullets.

"I'll admit, I completely forgot about you two." His voice was raised, still not quite yelling.

"How did you forget about the most accurate and best shot?" Bisca asked, smirking.

"Or the consecutive six year tournament winner?" Alzack spoke, kneeling next to his wife.

Laxus smirked, "I thought you'd be at home with the ankle biter."

"Adults need to have fun too, Laxus." Alzack narrowed his eyes.

"And now it's time for your fun to end." Bisca readjusted her gun.

"Touché." Laxus lifted his gun.

He had to be tactical, because Bisca was the best shot, but Alzack was the best player. It would be smart to kill Bisca on the first shot, she was better at long distance than Alzack, but her husband was exceptional with moving targets. Either way, Laxus knew his time was coming to an end.

But if he could manage to kill both of them…

Laxus lifted his gun higher, moving his face closer to the sights. Then when seeing the couple to do the same, he narrowed in on Alzack. Then when Bisca's pinky twitched, something she always did before shooting, he moved his gun and squeezed the trigger, hitting her straight in the heart.

He watched Alzack's eyes widen, and then the father pulled the trigger, and Laxus felt the shot hit him in the right shoulder.

Fuck…

Then, as Alzack went to re-aim, Laxus lifted his gun, too late to stop the shot from Alzack that hit him directly in the stomach, then the heart. And with his last dying breath, Laxus squeezed the trigger, watching as the light around him dimmed, only just seeing Alzack hit the ground.

I'm sorry Lucy.

Then Laxus let his eyes close.

Lucy stood, her eyes dark; unforgiving. She walked towards her husband, taking the handgun she had strapped to her thigh. Holding it in front of her, just as Laxus had shown her. She moved towards him, bending down and placing a kiss on his forehead. Then, she kept moving. Towards the other base protector.

Levy.

When they saw each other, it was as Lucy came around the first bend; where Erza had fallen, the redhead still laying lifeless. They both paused, their guns lowered. Then they glared at each other with as much ferocity and hatred as they could muster.

"My husband is dead." Levy said at once.

Lucy narrowed her eyes, "Only because your team killed him."

"Well, maybe if your husband had his back like he said he would, we wouldn't be standing here." Levy crossed her arms, "Would we?"

"Don't act like you're the only one that's lost something." Lucy kept her arms at her side, clenching the hand that was wrapped around her paintball gun.

"There needs to be a winner." Levy raised her chin, "And I will avenge Gajeel."

"And I will avenge my team."

It was a classic Mexican standoff. Both just standing, facing off against each other. Neither of them moved, but Levy uncrossed her arms, her gun much the same as Lucy's. After minutes of painful glaring, Lucy lifted her gun quicker than Levy could have ever seen and pulled the trigger.

Watching as Levy fell to the ground.

Lucy turned around, dropped her gun, and walked away.

"That was the most dramatic thing I've ever been part of." Lucy shook her head, buckling her seatbelt as Laxus laughed, "You guys do that every time it's your birthday?"

Laxus nodded, turning right, "Tradition is tradition."

"Who used to be the base?"

Laxus smirked, "Gajeel,"

Lucy blinked. Then she shook her head, laughing, "You made Levy and Gajeel face off every year?" still she was laughing, and Laxus found himself grinning just hearing it, "How the hell did you manage that?"

"Well," he cleared his throat, grinning at the memory. "The first year, I was seventeen, and they had just started dating." He thought back frowning, "And Gajeel did something stupid, I don't know what, I think he ruined one of her books."

Lucy nodded, giggling, "Certainly sounds like something he'd do."

Laxus laughed, "Well, whatever it was, Levy was fucking pissed. And so when I asked who wanted to be base players, she volunteered her and Gajeel," Laxus was cut off by Lucy's abrupt laughter. Laughing at her laughter, he continued, "The standoff must've lasted less than five seconds until Gajeel was laying on the ground."

Lucy shook her head, "I had no idea that Levy was so ruthless."

Laxus looked at her, a tired expression on his face. "She's not, trust me. The year after that, they finally fucked in the days coming up to it," He shook his head slightly, wetting his lips. "We had to lay in th heat for three hours while they both cried – literally cried – over who was gonna die."

Lucy felt her lips twitching; she looked at Laxus, that tired expression still on his face as they waited at a red light. "Wait, you're serious?"

He nodded, "You always knew how the relationship was going by how long it took for one of them to get shot and who was getting shot."

"So Gajeel's actually shot Levy before."

Laxus nodded, "Once."

Lucy turned to him, "Elaborate."

Laxus grinned, "Gajeel once again did something stupid,"

"Shocker," Lucy said sarcastically.

"So out of spite, Levy got a tattoo from the company Gajeel used to work at." Laxus sighed, "Let's just say that he didn't exactly quit on good terms."

"Did Levy know this?"

"Yeah, that's why she did it, she knew it was the easiest way to piss him off, show him that she wasn't going to tolerate his bullshit, and fucking props to her."

Lucy sat silently, watching as Laxus grinned.

"Takes a lot of fucking courage to stand up to Gajeel."

"So where is this tattoo?"

Laxus smirked, "Well originally it was just on her back. I'm pretty sure she got a shrimp too." He laughed, and Lucy was caught off guard by it. "Then Gajeel did a cover-up, turned it into an awesome fucking dragon. Easily the best work he's ever done."

"It seems I need to see this tattoo."

She faced forward, her eyes drifting back to him, watching and listening as he hummed the song on the radio. He looked so peaceful in that moment, so content.

"Hey, Laxus," he hummed, his eyes meeting hers before they drifted back to the road. "I think I might be in lo–" before she could finish, the car behind them slammed into them, sending her flying forward, smacking her head on the glove compartment.

"Ah, fucker," groaning, Lucy looked up at Laxus, who was clutching his nose, having smacked it on the steering wheel.

"You good?" he asked, his voice muffled. "Oh shit, babe, you're bleeding."

Frowning, Lucy swiped a hand across her forehead, "For fuck sake." Glaring at the car behind them through the mirror, Lucy opened the car door, a terrifying glare present on her face.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" she yelled, catching the driver off guard. They got out of their car, much shorter than herself. "Oh, of course," she laughed bitterly, "Lord Tumbleton," she sneered, and in a mocking voice she continued. "Head of the Tumbleton Corporation, how have you been today?" Not waiting for him to respond, she kept speaking, "Well I know I've personally had better days, you know – ones that don't involve getting into a crash because some little bitch baby forgot their booster seat and couldn't see over the wheel."

"M-Miss Heartfilia," he stammered, his mouth dropping ever so slightly.

Lucy laughed, "I think you need to go and apologise to my fiancé, because you just cut off a very important conversation."

Astonishingly, Lord Tumbleton looked at Laxus and apologised, stammering his words. And Laxus nodded dumbly, unsure of what to do in this situation – completely baffled by his wife's antics.

Lucy nodded her head in satisfaction, once more fixing her glare on Lord Tumbleton. "I expect that the damages will be covered by you." Waving her hand, Lucy turned and walked back to the car. "Good day, Mr Tumbleton."

Nodding, she slammed the door shut, looking at Laxus and exhaling, her shoulders relaxing.

"And this important conversation?" Laxus asked, starting the car up again.

Lucy felt her eyes widen, "Oh," watching the light turn green, she pursed her lips, "Yeah, well, I think I might be in love with you." she kept her eyes forward, her cheeks stained with colour.

"Oh." Was all Laxus said.

Lucy nodded once, "Yeah."

Laxus kept his eyes on the road, and honestly, Lucy wanted Lord Tumbleton to hit the back of the car again, just so she could hit her face on the glove compartment again.

"Well that's that." she coughed. "So, uh…"

"You know I think it's a good thing." Laxus said abnormally quick pace. He was blushing slightly, something Lucy didn't think she'd ever actually see. "Because I love you too."

And when Lucy looked at him, he was staring intensely at the road, his cheeks tinted a little bit more. "You ASS!" she was grinning, and when he saw her smile – after looking at her with wide and confused eyes – he visibly relaxed. "You made me think that I was in some heated unrequited love situation!"

And Laxus laughed, his deep throaty chuckle resonating through the small confines of the car. And Lucy was momentarily stunned, because there was something in the way that his eyes lit up that was truly mesmerising. And Lucy knew that she would live for as long as he wanted if that light was still there.

"I guess I should really be thanking Lord Tumbleton." She mumbled. Because really, if she hadn't kindly told him to fuck off, then she wouldn't be sitting in this car right now. And if she weren't sitting in this car at this moment in time, she didn't think she would be able to live. Because in the year that they had been married, Lucy hadn't ever been happier.

"What did you say?" Laxus asked.

Lucy sighed, "I just really hate Lord Tumbleton, that's all."

And as she studied his face, Lucy felt herself loving him even more.