dinner with the dragneels

Ⅵ

"did gajeel tell you anything about where was going?" gray barked. juvia's car was trailing behind them. she had paused to kick her former teammates out.

"levy said they were going to the café off of hydrangea street. the one that just opened up," wendy said, popping another troia mint in her mouth and handing natsu a mint as well.

"i know the place. how many speeding laws are we breaking today?" gray asked erza, his eyes glued to the windshield.

"as many as it takes," erza said through gritted teeth. something told lucy that she was usually a stickler for the rules, but this was clearly an exception.

"hold on," gray warned before speeding up significantly. lucy slammed against her seat and bit down on the inside of her cheek.

she hadn't known levy for very long, but she had seemed kind and bookish and pretty and just the kind of mellow person that gajeel needed to keep him grounded. she grit her teeth. she hadn't known gajeel for very long either, but she was not going to let a bunch of d-list gang weirdos take his future away from him.

natsu looked sick. lucy couldn't tell whether it was because of the car or because of the sickening events that had just taken place. "you good?"

natsu's jaw clenched. "fine."

"...if you say so."

gray swerved down hydrangea street, narrowly missing a few pedestrians, and screeched to a stop. "out. now."

"you don't have to tell me twice," natsu grumbled, throwing the door open. there was a crowd around the café, and police tape was plastered across the entrance.

lucy approached a bystander while the others hung back. "what happened here?"

"no one knows for sure, but they found two people unconscious in the café," the bystander replied, fingers fidgeting nervously. "apparently it's one of those dragneel kids. they're hurt enough, but they should be fine with time."

natsu's vision went red with rage. "i'm going to rip the heads off of those phantom lord idiots. i'll take that guy's other eye out. i'll slam their heads into the pavement and-"

"natsu, please, wait," wendy whispered. she gripped his arm, and natsu could feel her shaking. he softened, just a little. "just- don't do it without me, okay?"

natsu cursed himself in his head. this must've been harder for her than it ever could've been for him. "wouldn't dream of it."

he waited for her face to light up again. it didn't happen. her bright smile had vanished, leaving a vacant, somber look that was so unlike wendy that he felt like crying.

"one of them are awake!" a bystander called, and wendy and natsu rushed forward.

it was gajeel, rubbing his head and cradling a still unconscious levy in his arms. "she's okay," he said. "she'll be okay."

the bystanders scattered as lucy shooed them off. "i know him! he needs some space, alright?"

"it- it wasn't anyone i knew," gajeel managed when the crowd dispersed at last. "they hired some new goons. but they left in a rush saying they had a car to track down."

"then we already took them down," gray said.

"you... did..?" levy stirred and opened her eyes. "that's-"

"hey, careful, don't move too much," gajeel warned in a soft voice.

"no, no, i'm fine," levy assured them, gently untangling herself from gajeel. "really. a glass of water and a few bandages and i'll be up again."