First of all thank you for everyone who reviewed, favorite or alerted this story throughout these nine chapters. You guys are awesome.

Thank you to SaNTorYu_ZoRo, Medley_Nightfallen, undisi, the_TumTum_tree, MewAqua1, ZombieGirl, julioanima for reviewing chapter 8!

"Master I would like to ask for permission to know what was going on during these past couple weeks concerning Gajeel"

Erza stared at Makarov in the eye and kept her face free from any emotions. She wanted to know what occurred these past weeks. If she wanted to one day be the master of Fairy Tail she had to be sure that she knew about her guild members.

She admitted that at first she was upset that she was left out of what was occurring but now she had the urge to confront what was going on for the sake of the guild.

Makarov looked at the young woman in front of him. He desperately wanted to tell her the events that occurred in these past few weeks but his shame of his choices kept him silent.

"I'm sorry but I will have to say no. Please just understand that what happened with Gajeel, I never want to reoccur with any other guild members"

With a nod signifying he was done talking he dismissed her.

Erza walked out of Makarov's office, her brain trying to piece what might have happened. Walking towards the main hall, she was aware that the usual loud hall was silent. She quickly sped her way towards the railing of the second floor so she could see what was going on.

~00~

The Fairy Tail guild was known for its rowdy parties and celebrations. Music could be heard from miles and didn't stop till morning; the townspeople would defend that statement. Fairy Tail was never quiet, there was always noise coming from the guild.

With this reputation, Gajeel was shocked to say the least when he opened the doors to the guild.

Silence. They say it's golden. Well right now Gajeel would kick anyone's ass who said this because he doubted that they knew how it felt to silence an entire guild. The seconds of silence seemed like hours and Gajeel felt dread fulfill him.

He stood at the entrance of the guild and his plan of barging in and not giving a fuck who stared at him crumbled. He stared back at the hundreds of eyes that stared at him. He tried to walk to a vacant table but to his horror he found that he was unable to move.

Thankfully Lily felt his distress and he carefully nudged his healthy leg towards the table. Thankfully the nudge made him remember how to use his legs. He turned and was going to walk when someone started yelling his name. He barely turned around when he was embraced. He grunted as the person accidently nudged his sore torso.

"Gajeel-kun. Gajeel-kun is finally back. Juvia was so..." Gajeel stared down at Juvia who looked like she was about to burst into tears.

He gave her a smile and awkwardly tried to gain his balance back. Noticing his unbalance she helped him head over to a vacant table and she sat down next to him. Thankfully by the time they sat down, a buzz of conversations broke the silence.

He was going to start a conversation with Juvia but he noticed his bandage on his face was becoming loose. Also it was starting to burn like hell. He quickly smelled out Wendy and Charle who were sitting in a vacant table. He got up and gestured towards the two to Lily. The exceed merely nodded his head and started to walk towards the bar to grab some food. He noticed Juvia didn't mind being left alone as her eyes trailed down Gray's naked torso.

Walking to Wendy he noticed that a certain blue-headed mage was walking in his direction. She was walking with her nose in a book and before he knew it he saw her leg trip over a chair. He tried to catch her but his leg slowed him down. He quickly walked to her so he could at least help her up.

"Shit" He mumbled. He was going to offer his hand to the fallen mage but stopped when two pairs of hands hauled her up.

"Hey man next time watch where you're going" Someone yelled at him.

"No, it wasn't like that" Levy tried to argue but the two members didn't listen to her and instead glared at Gajeel for his actions.

Gajeel didn't say anything despite the insult that was at the tip of his tongue. He decided to turn to instead walk towards Wendy. A hand stopped him and he turned to the person who wanted to continue to piss him off. He was startled to see a grinning Natsu beside him, and his hand on his shoulder was actually a sign of support.

"Ah Gajeel didn't push Levy, the chair is the bastard who tripped her. Right Levy" Natsu turned to the mage who looked relieved that someone had actually seen the truth.

"My foot caught the leg of the chair" Levy nervously laughed.

The people who confronted Gajeel looked away and made lame excuses to go back to their tables. Gajeel couldn't help but grin at the turn of the situation. He looked at Levy and realized that she was staring at him intently. He raised his eyebrow at her but she quickly looked the other way. She smiled at the two dragon slayers and sped off.

"Man you sure know how to make a grand entrance huh" Natsu laughed while slapping Gajeel's back. "Man you look like shit, what happened to you"

Gajeel couldn't help but smirk at Natsu, that blunt bastard. "A mission didn't go as planned and..." Gajeel stopped talking when Natsu grabbed his arm and dragged him to the bar. He quickly ordered two drinks. "Here it's on me, welcome back"

When the drinks were placed in front of them, Gajeel gladly took it and took a large gulp of the alcoholic drink.

"I like to heat my drinks, it taste awesome when it's steaming hot" Natsu commented mostly to himself. He drew flames and quickly put it underneath the drink. He watched in fascination as the drink began to steam. "Mirajane gave me my own fireproof cup, see it doesn't get damaged" Natsu raised the mug to Gajeel's face so he could see.

The mug to his face, Gajeel's stomach dropped when he saw a red flamed hand by the side of his face. The smell of burnt skin accompanied by the agonizing pain of the heat contacting with flesh attacked his senses.

Before he could even stop himself, his healthy arm now coated with iron punched Natsu in the face. The alcoholic drink in Natsu's hand flew up and hit Gajeel in the face. Natsu hit the wall with a crash but luckily landed on his feet when he fell to the floor. His eyes were wide with confusion since he knew the fellow dragon slayer would never throw such a cheap shot if he was looking to start a fight for fun.

He looked at the iron dragon slayer and saw something unusual. There was fear in his eyes. Genuine fear. Before he could stare to long he noticed that the bandage that was on Gajeel's face start to fall. The entire guild was watching them, not knowing if they were just goofing off or if it was serious.

Natsu sensing something was wrong decided to act. "Can't put anything past you huh Gajeel. Come on I'll buy you another drink and I promise I won't do anything to it"

The guild seemed to buy the act and the audience they attracted looked away. Since Natsu was still keeping up the act, all he could do was watch.

He saw that Mirajane was about to run towards the dragon slayer, her eyes locked on the bandage that was slowing slipping off. He watched as Gajeel looked at his reflection that showed in one of the wine glasses. He saw the man's face fall. Something was wrong, he didn't know what but he knew he had to do something.

Thinking on his feet Natsu did what he did best. He started a bar fight with whoever was closest to him, which happened to be Gray who was walking towards the bar. With a joyous laugh he tackled the ice mage and declared that the brawl had started. Of course the usual rowdy members quickly joined the fight and Natsu was grateful for that. He at least hoped he did enough to help Gajeel, it freaked him out that Gajeel could actually express fear.

The guild members' attention was towards the main show of the large brawl in the middle of the hall. They didn't see the sideshow that was being placed in the back of the guild. They didn't see the struggling dragon slayer who was trying to get out of the grasp of Mirajane. Before Lily or Juvia could go over to help him, he ran out of the guild.

Gajeel didn't stop running until his still healing leg's pain finally reached his adrenaline filled mind. He didn't know how far he had run but he could tell that the guild was a long way behind. Now that he was still, the sight of what was underneath the bandage came to his mind. Just seeing it in the wine bottle's reflection was enough to want to scratch his eyes out. Just thinking about it made his stomach hurt.

He pressed a hand over his mouth to try to muffle a gag. He couldn't hold it back though and he threw up his stomach contents followed by several dry heaves. He had to fully see it, he had to see what the sick bastard did to him.

With a shaky hand, he rested it on his cheek and quickly ripped the gauze off. His hand still trembling he traced the burn. He clenched his jaw as his fingers traced the Raven guild symbol. He never felt so god damn weak.

Ivan that bastard. That bastard not only tortured him for weeks but he marked him. The burn would heal but he was sure that a scar would be there. Now he understood why Lily warned him not to look at them.

Wait…them.

His chest. Fuck his chest, was it there too?

Gajeel ran to a nearby river and he quickly tore off his shirt. He hesitated to rip off the bandage that was wrapped around his chest.

No he had to see if it was there too.

Clenching on them tightly, he feverishly ripped them off. The bandages fell to the floor, and Gajeel went to the river to look at his reflection.

A carving, this time. The still healing skin from the knife's incision made his skin puffy and the symbol seemed to lift off his chest with pride.

It was worse than the burn.

Gajeel stared at his reflection, his mind shutting down. He couldn't have this on his body. He wasn't going to have these symbols on his body. He didn't want to remember his mistakes.

Raising his hand Gajeel coated his hand into iron scales.

He had to get rid of these reminders.

Gajeel made the point of his fingers into one jagged steel blade.

Taking a deep breath, Gajeel calmly raised his hand to his face.

~~222~~

Gajeel came back to consciousness when he heard someone calling his voice. He strained to listen to the calls.

"Gajeel-kun" A feminine voice called. "Please answer, Juvia is worried. Don't make Juvia worry, because she doesn't want to worry anymore"

Gajeel remained silent and watched Juvia run by the river. The girl was in tears and she was growing frantic by the moment.

"Juvia" Gajeel tried to say but stopped as that bitter taste of blood seeped into his mouth.

Though it was quiet, Juvia heard the call. She turned to the sound and her face paled at the sight of her friend. He was leaning on a tree, his torso and face covered in blood. She looked down at his hand and her mouth fell when she saw the bloodied hand that was currently formed into a knife.

"Oh no, Gajeel –Kun what did you do" Juvia whispered. She took careful steps toward him but once she realized he wouldn't fight her she quickly ran to his side.

She stared at the sight of her broken friend who was currently dripping with blood. She felt bile rise in her throat when she looked at his chest and cheek. It looked like a layer of skin had been peeled off and now blood covered the areas.

"Juvia is sorry, she is so sorry" She whispered before she broke down and started to cry.

"Why are you apologizing" Gajeel mumbled. He still didn't look at her; he just stared off straight ahead.

"Juvia knew you were feeling isolated but she didn't try to help you. Juvia should have been there for you but she was too caught up with her love Gray-sama. Juvia is sorry, she is so sorry that she was a horrible friend to Gajeel-kun" Juvia cried out. She fell to her knees and before she could stop herself a cloud started to form above her.

Before rain could fall, a hand grasped her arm. She looked up to see that Gajeel finally met eye contact with her. He gave her half a smile, since the other side of his face was covered in blood.

Gajeel was forgiving her.

Juvia smiled back despite the tears that still ran down her face. Brushing her tears away she quickly tried to help her friend. Using her magic abilities she carried some water from the river. Being as gentle as possible she began to wash the blood off his face and chest. She winced when she saw the tattered flesh that the knife had skinned off. She hoped that Wendy would come by real soon.

Washing away the blood, Juvia realized just how pale Gajeel had become. Before she could voice her concerns he looked up at her and grumbled "Thanks Juvia" After he voiced his appreciation, his eyes rolled in the back of his head.

Opening his eyes Gajeel realized that he was inside now. Was he back in the guild? Gajeel looked around the room and when he finally recognized where he was relief flooded him. He was at his apartment, on his mattress.

Trying to get up, he winced when his chest flared with pain. With a grunt he laid back down, hoping that the pain would subside. Though he was in pain, Gajeel felt better than he had in weeks. Like a weight had been lifted off his chest.

Speaking of chest, he tried to recall the past events involving his chest and face, Gajeel hesitantly felt his face. There was now a bandage where the symbol once was. Probably Wendy's doing. Before he could feel his chest, Lily finally announced his presence. "You just couldn't wait for Porlyusica's herbs huh"

"It just probably would've left a scar, my way was better" Gajeel mumbled. He didn't feel like talking at the moment. All he wanted was get some decent metal to eat and some alcohol to help with his current headache. Unfortunately Lily had other plans.

"Gajeel I have to ask you a question"

Gajeel grunted in response.

"Why did you choose to go on that mission?"

Lily saw Gajeel grow tense at the question. Gajeel didn't say anything for a while but taking a deep breath he decided to tell Lily the truth. He had been a great partner and friend especially these past weeks and deserved to know the truth.

"I chose the mission because I was tired " He began.

"Tired of what" Lily asked.

"Of being alone" Gajeel confessed quietly. Lily tried to conceal his surprise at the answer. "As much as I hated these weak idiots and their dumbass values I couldn't help but want to join this guild. Just for once I wanted to be in a guild where I wasn't hated; I wasn't feared…..I was just accepted. When I first became a member of this guild I was surprised. It was fucking shocking to see guild members actually be friends instead of just waiting for a moment to defeat one another when someone showed a sign of weakness.

I wasn't trusted when I got here, according to a lot of people I was still an enemy. So when Master gave me an option to take that mission to be a double agent, I took it. With that mission, I was gaining trust with the master. But the guild members were a little more difficult. Even when Laxus betrayed the guild the guild forgave him. But when it comes to me, I have to take a dangerous mission just to prove that I'm trustworthy. Fucking assholes some of these guild members are"

"So why do you stay"

"I've met a couple of people that are worth staying here and protecting. Also the two other dragon slayers all in one guild, it's kinda weird. Like we were drawn to this guild just so we can figure out what happened on that day"

"What day"

Gajeel didn't feel like digging that far into past so he instead chose to stay quiet. Lily picked up the refusal and changed the topic.

"So tell me, do you think things have changed since you joined Fairy Tail till now" He asked.

Gajeel was silent for a second before answering "I don't know. All I know is that now that those symbols are gone, I can now forget all these past few weeks. In about a week we will start training again.

Lily rolled his eyes at the answer. He was sure that there were a couple of guild members who still didn't like Gajeel's presence but the majority of the guild had all accepted the dragon slayer as a fellow member.

Lily was also bothered by how fast Gajeel seemed to have gotten over his captivity with Ivan. He was sure the iron dragon slayer still had a lot to say but knowing him he wouldn't voice any of it. He instead would grow stronger at this experience, cause that's what kind of person he was. He knew that dumbass to well.

"Hey I made a sequel to Best Friend when I was captured, you wanna hear it"

Well shit that was unexpected.

Walking out of the guild after grabbing lunch Gajeel and Lily stopped when a distinct voice called after him. "Gajeel. Hey wait up"

He froze for a second and quickly looked at Lily hoping for some advice. The exceed merely shrugged his shoulders and stared back at him. Sighing, Gajeel turned around and waited for the person to catch up to them.

Levy stopped running and stopped when she reached the dragon-slayer. He couldn't help but notice that she kept a good distance between them. He felt her eyes roam his body and she lingered at the thick bandage on his face. He leaned heavily on one of the crutches and waited for her to say something.

Levy looked down at the floor and stared at her shoes. "I can take your meals to you" She finally blurted out. "You know that way you don't have to walk back and forth to the guild three times a day" She waited for an answer but was greeted to silence.

"Um, I just thought because of your leg-"

"Fine, just leave them on the doorstep" Gajeel cut her off. Giving a nod he turned around and headed to his apartment. Lily rolled his eyes at the dragon-slayers actions, since it was clear that he harbored feelings for Levy. With a sigh, Lily decided that he shouldn't interfere with Gajeel's decision of avoiding Levy. He was sure with time, the hardheaded dragon slayer would realize his feelings for her and hopefully he would act on them.

The following weeks Gajeel woke up each morning to three large packages of food on his doorstep. There was enough food for both him and Lily and usually there were leftovers. Gajeel soon began gaining weight and the unhealthy 'starving' look was soon fading away. He wasted no time in gaining the muscle he had lost over the time. Now that his haunting look was going away Gajeel decided to take a step forward.

The following morning when he heard footsteps coming towards his door he acted quickly. Opening the door he came face to face with Levy. She drew back a little but after recovering from her surprise she took a step forward.

"Here you go" She held the food out to the dragon-slayer and waited for him to take it. When he made no movement to get the food she became puzzled. Taking a deep breath Gajeel decided to act.

"Would you like to come in and eat breakfast with us?"

There was no response. He stared at Levy and he saw that she was staring at the floor. She was clearly thinking if she should stay or not. Gajeel hoped she would. He wanted to completely rebuild this bridge with Levy.

"Umm I actually have plans right now" Levy said under her breath. She didn't know what made her lie.

Though Gajeel would never admit to anyone, he was disappointed at the answer. He took the food from Levy and waited for her to actually make eye contact with him. Feeling his stare she hesitantly looked up and met his gaze. She had trouble to keep her mouth from falling in surprise. There in front of her was Gajeel genuinely smiling at her.

"Maybe next time then" He said gently. He didn't want it to sound like an order or worse a threat. He was relieved that he didn't scare her since she just returned the smile and nodded. He couldn't help but see some color rise in her face.

Shit he hoped that she wasn't getting sick. He would feel like shit if she was working herself too hard by bringing his food every day. The packages were pretty heavy since it seemed Mirajane was making it her life goal in making sure that Gajeel got plenty of food.

"Hey are you feeling alright" Gajeel asked.

Levy now avoided eye contact and looked everywhere but Gajeel. "Yeah I'm fine. Oh I almost forgot to tell you. Four weeks from now there is going to be a special announcement from the Master. Be sure you're there. I mean if you can make it. I'm sure I can tell Master that you can't make-

"Whoa, calm down that sounds fine. Me and Lily will be there" Gajeel said. He once again gave her a smile which sent more color to her face making it turn red. "Thanks for all of this Levy, you helped a lot" Patting the boxes of food he said "But I think this is the last time I'm going to eat at home. We're going to start going back to the guild"

"We're" Levy repeated. Was he saying he wanted to spend time with her once he returned back to the guild? A small smile came on Levy's face.

"Yeah me and Lily"

The smile disappeared and Levy felt disappointment flood her.

"Alright, see you later. Don't want to be late for your plans" Gajeel said before he closed the door. He stood by the door, the urge to invite Levy again on the tip of his tongue. 'She already said no don't be so pathetic' He thought to himself.

Levy stood outside the door, even though it was closed and Gajeel had already said goodbye. She tried to tell her legs to walk but she couldn't….no she didn't want to go away. The fear she had when Gajeel invited her for breakfast was gone and now she regretted saying no. Maybe she could say that her plans were canceled and she was able to have breakfast now.

Gajeel waited by the door and was confused that Levy was still standing outside. Was she ok? He reached for the doorknob.

Levy raised her clenched fist so she can knock on the door.

Gajeel turned the doorknob but hesitated. What if she was just frozen in fear? Was she still scared of him? Well only one way to find out.

Levy stopped her fist from knocking the door and quickly ran down the stairs. She ran to Fairy Hills where she hoped she could understand these feelings that were currently consuming her.

He turned the doorknob and opened the door. He was greeted to an empty doorstep. He turned to the right and saw a small blue headed mage running.

Fuck, she was still scared of him.

Levy ran to Fairy Hills and locked herself up in her room. Clutching a pillow she buried her face in it and screamed. She regretted so many things and it was barely morning. She did know that she had feelings for Gajeel. She wasn't that stubborn in denying them. But she didn't know what to do with them.

"If only something happened where he and I would have to spend time together" Levy mumbled to herself. There was also a mission, but he was still healing. "There has to be something where he and I could get closer" she whispered.

Levy was in awe. Her name had been called. HER NAME! She still couldn't believe that she been chosen to be a candidate for S-mage exam. Though she was still in awe she was not oblivious to her two partners that were at the moment bickering with one another about who was going to be Levy's partner.

Levy didn't voice her opinion but she already had a person in mind to be her partner.

Gajeel and Lily were staring at the list of names that Makarov announced. Each one of these persons had a chance to now be a S-class mage.

Gajeel was disappointed that his name hadn't been called to be a candidate. He looked up to Master Makarov and saw that the man was clearly not looking in his direction. It was a slap in the face at best. He had risked his life to help Makarov and yet he didn't even qualify to be a candidate.

The feeling of disappointment was quickly fading and was being replaced with rage. It had taken him a while to finally get his health completely back. Why the fuck wasn't he picked to be a candidate. He wanted to know at least why.

"Make the best of this situation Gajeel" Lily said gently. He felt the anger coming from the dragon slayer and he didn't want him to do something that he might regret.

"How the fuck am I going to make the best of this situation" Gajeel growled.

"You wanted to prove everyone that you are now a Fairy Tail guild member right. Well here's your chance"

"I don't know if you noticed but my name is not on the fuc-"

"Each candidate can have a partner" Lily cut him off. He turned around and nodded his head at Levy who was sitting still. "Here's your chance. Kill two birds with one stone. Show everyone that you do belong here….. and have some time with her" Lily said with a grin.

Gajeel glared at Lily but saw that he was only telling the truth. With one last glare he turned and walked towards Levy.

"Beware of those two idiots" Lily called after him.

Gajeel turned around and said with a malicious grin "Don't worry I won't give her a choice, I will be her partner"

Lily shook his head but watched as the dragon slayer approached the small mage. The whispering of Gajeel's disappearance had ceased long ago and everything seemed ok. He hoped this S-class trial worked in the benefit for the dragon-slayer.

That kid deserved a break and it looked like only a few people would give it to him. Lily's top priority would make sure that Gajeel would never have to go through that kind of mission again.

He didn't even care if the Makarov requested him. That sick bastard Ivan would never hurt his partner again.

~~I~~~~~

Ivan watched the dragon slayer and exceed walk through the town. He now understood why Gajeel was not crawling to his feet begging for his forgiveness. The enchantments he placed on the Raven symbols on Gajeel's body were gone. The boy must've done something drastic in order to get rid of those symbols since he made sure no herbs or healing magic could take it off. He hadn't taken note of iron dragon magic; he honestly thought that the man would be too depressed to even think of using his magic.

Staring at the dragon slayer, Ivan realized that he had underestimated the boy. With a smile to his face, Ivan realized that Gajeel was a wonderful addition to his guild. He wondered how long he would have to wait till Gajeel returned to his guild.

No matter he thought. If Gajeel wouldn't come to him he would simply go to Gajeel.

What's this! Possibly a sequel. It's all up to you guys. Since this is the last chapter please everybody review and give me your thoughts and opinions. I love hearing them. That goes for you lurkers in the dark too.

Well I hope everyone enjoyed this fic! Because I know I did. Alright please review and thank you everyone for reading Please let me in. Hopefully the title makes sense now.