Gerard was walking down the streets of Magnolia, his head still pounding from the fight that had taken place in FTH. He was dizzy, barely able to walk in a straight line. He held his hand on his side as he slowly walked. He himself didn't know where he was going and he knew that in a matter of moments the authorities would be searching the whole town for him.

Gerard noticed an ambulance drive right passed him. He remembered how he had gotten away: he had woken up, all battered and bruised, covered in blood that wasn't his. He tilted his head to see Natsu laying on the ground in a pool of blood. Mirajane shouting at the phone, calling an ambulance while Erza was trying to keep Natsu awake. Gerard took that moment while both girls were preoccupied to slip out through the school's back.

'Salamander..' he screamed in his mind, 'I'll get you back for this day.. I swear..!'

He turned to the park, walking by a river, barely conscious. He walked like that for over twenty minutes, but finally his body gave in, he lost control and fell in the river, slowly sinking to the bottom.

'This time I really will die, huh..' he thought as he closed his eyes and slowly drifted down, losing consciousness.

Suddenly, a hand gripped him by his hoodie and dragged him out of the water. He was out cold.

"Fuck's sake, Gerard!" The man who pulled him out exclaimed as he stood up, "You're fucking useless!"

The man wore a sleeveless black vest and yellow pants with black stripes. His hair was in two colors, black and white. Black on the front and white on the back. He had black eyeliner and his lips were purple. It was easy to mistake him for a woman from his face.

"What did you expect?" another person said. This one had dark-red hair and a white coat with a black tee and black pants. He had a tattoo of a snake on his neck. "He was up against brother-Natsu after all." he smiled.

"Don't call him that, dumbass" the goth-like figure pouted, "He ain't our brother anymore." he added, his expression changing to a frown.

"Even if he isn't, he still hasn't lost his touch. " The other person said as he slowly observed Gerard, "I didn't think he'd get him this bad, though." He added.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Said a third person as he slowly came towards them. "Get that weakling off the ground and let's go! The boss said he'd be waiting." He had long, pointy blond hair and red eyes. His face was covered with a grin of a mad man.

"What's that jackass doing, anyway? Shouldn't he be here?" The goth asked as he slowly got Gerard up, throwing Gerard's hand on his shoulder.

"He's with the two new guys." The blond one stated, "Apparently, they both challenged him to a fight." he said while laughing.

"The two who replaced Salamander and Frost, right?" he asked again.

"Who else?"

"Hmm.. That reminds me, " the goth's eyes lit up, "I heard Frost was still staying in this town, why not pay him a visit?" he said with a grin on his face.

"Don't be stupid!" The dark-red haired man replied, "You know the boss will kill you if he finds out."

"Gah" he groaned, "Fuck him then."

"It's gonna get real fun real soon anyway." The blond added, his expression changed and he punched the unconscious Gerard in the face, "I wonder what boss wants with this one though." he said while glaring at Gerard.

"Beats me." the goth replied as the three started walking.

Erza was in the hospital, her bruises were being taken care of by a nurse. Suddenly Gray busted open the door and shouted:

"What happened? Where the hell is Natsu?"

"Calm down, Gray!" Erza shouted as Lucy stormed in, "He's being taken care of by the doctors." she answered, quieter this time.

"What happened..?" Lucy asked her, tears forming in her eyes.

Erza only frowned. The nurse left and after a brief pause Erza explained what had happened and who Gerard was. She couldn't explain what happened before Natsu got shot because she didn't know herself, she couldn't remember.

"Natsu.. was shot..?" Lucy asked with a shivering voice as she started crying. Gray clenched his fists, his body shaking from anger, his eyes wide open, but he didn't say a word.

Suddenly, a doctor entered the room, he had a sad, worried expression on his face.

"Your friend, Natsu Dragneel.." he started, "He needs surgery." he said.

"Well then get on with it!" Gray shouted.

The doctor sighed as he continued, "We will, but I must warn you, " he turned to Erza, "The boy has lost too much blood, we're not sure if he's going to make it."

As those words were said, everyone's expressions had changed. It was like something had been ripped out of them. After a brief pause, Gray spoke: "What are his chances?" his hair was covering his eyes.

"They're not slim," The doctor replied, "It's fifty-fifty. The bullet is still stuck in his shoulder, and it will fracture when we remove it, and if he's unlucky, the pieces of it might travel through his body, shredding his organs." he added.

Gray grabbed the doctor by his lab coat and backed him to a wall, "You're telling us to trust luck here!" He shouted.

"Calm down, sir!" the doctor ordered, "We're doing the best we can!" He shouted back.

Gray wanted to punch the doctor in front of him, but he couldn't. He couldn't muster the strength after hearing what he just did. "Save him, please." he whispered as he slowly removed his hands.

The man nodded and quietly exited the room.

As the doctor closed the door, he noticed a short old man near the door who had been listening to the whole exchange, "Aren't you going to go in?" he asked.

"Not yet." The old man replied, "I need to make a phone call." he smiled.

When the doctor was finally out of sight, he pulled out his phone and put it near his ear.

The person picked up:

"Yes? Makarov? What is it?"

"Natsu's in the hospital." Makarov said, bluntly, he noticed that the man on the other side of the line had gasped.

"W-what did you say? What happened?" The man shouted.

"Calm down," the old man said, quietly, "He's been shot."

"W-wha-.. how the hell can you tell me to be calm when my-"

"I said calm down!" Makarov shouted, interrupting the man, "The doctors said he'd be fine." he lied.

He heard a sigh of relief, "Thank God.. But Makarov, what happened?"

Makarov explained what happened, he had heard the details from Mirajane.

After hearing the story, the man didn't know what to say.

"They're exactly like you and June. " Makarov said while smiling

The man sighed: "I was afraid of that." and after a brief pause, he asked "So I take it he'll be needing money for medical expenses, medicine and stuff, right?"

"And his allowance." Makarov added.

"Ugh.. fine." he groaned, "I've got to get back to work, I'll send you the money later this evening." he added.

"Make sure you do."

"And Makarov.. please, take care of him."

After those words, the old man only smiled. "I will." he said as he hung up and entered the room where Erza, Gray and Lucy were.

"Principal!" Erza exclaimed.

"I heard the details from Mira" he said, "Where's Gerard?"

Erza frowned. "I don't know, he probably woke up when we were taking care of Natsu.." she said, a slight sound of fear in her voice.

Makarov didn't say anything. He just stood there, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He was too worried about Natsu to try and find the one who had hurt them so much.

"Old man.. Natsu.." Gray muttered.

"I know, I heard you and the doctor." He said, "We can just hope." he added with a frown.

About an hour later, a nurse ran into the room. "The surgery was a success!" she exclaimed.

Everyone shared a sigh of relief when they heard those words. Erza's eyes started tearing up. 'Natsu.. Thank God you're okay' she thought while smiling.

"Where is he?" Makarov asked the nurse.

"He's in the next ward." she said, "He's still asleep though and we don't know when he'll wake up, but you can visit him." the nurse smiled as Erza stood up, walking out of the room. She wanted to see Natsu as soon as possible.

She opened the door to the next ward, and what she saw made her smile and blush. Natsu was sleeping. He didn't have a care for the world. It was as if nothing happened, and this was his usual sleeping routine. She walked to his bed and gripped his hand, tears flowing down her cheeks. 'Thank you, Natsu.. For what you did.. And for staying alive.'

Gray, Lucy and Makarov walked in and examined him. Makarov smiled, but Lucy started to cry at the sight of Natsu's bandaged shoulder and leg which were in casts. But those weren't the tears of sorrow, they were the tears of joy. Joy, that Natsu was alive and safe.

"You put us through a lot, you damned pointy-eyed bastard." Gray muttered, he held his hand on his eyes, trying to stop the tears from flowing out.

Natsu snored and they couldn't help but laugh.

'Yeah.. They really are like you and June, old friend' Makarov smiled as he saw Erza's face.

Natsu woke up. It was night. He looked around, and noticed that he was in the hospital. He slowly got up, feeling something warm on his right hand. He turned to see Erza, leaning on his bed, sleeping. Her hand held his. He couldn't help but blush and think how cute her sleeping face was. He noticed her wearing his black hoodie and headphones, which were still playing some song he couldn't remember the name of.

"Erza.." he muttered while looking at her, freeing his hand from hers and caressing her scarlet hair. "I'm glad you're safe." he said with a smile of relief on his face.

He slowly leant back on his bed, taking her hand, but before falling asleep, he heard her mutter his name, which made him happy.

'She's dreaming about me now, huh..' he thought, 'I hope it's naughty' he chuckled as his eyes closed, making him enter dream land.

He woke up again the next morning. He slowly got up, noticing that both his arm and leg were in a cast. 'Gildarts is gonna kill me..!' he thought while sweatdropping.

He looked around. There was no one in his room. He checked the clock near his bed, it was 10.40 'Everyone would be in school right now' he smiled.

He turned to the table beside his bed, which had a vase full of red roses on it. 'Only Lucy would give a guy roses..' he sighed, 'and this much!'

Suddenly, the ward's door opened, and he saw a certain redhead enter the room, she held a cup of coffee and was talking to someone:

"I know he's a lazy-ass, but.." her sentence was cut short when she saw that Natsu was up, "Natsu!" She shrieked as she dropped the mug and ran towards him. Her hands around his neck, she started crying. "I'm so glad you're okay.." she sobbed.

"You should worry about yourself, how long have you been here, anyway?" he asked her, worried.

"She's been here the whole time you've been having your beauty sleep, dumbass." Gray said while entering the room, he was smiling.

"Nice to see you too, droopy-eyes." Natsu retorted, though he was also smiling.

"Natsu.." Erza muttered as she got back from him, "I'm sorry for what happened.." she was interrupted by Natsu, who hugged her.

"Don't worry about it, it wasn't your fault" he said. His words were kind, they shook Erza's heart. She only smiled while crying on his shoulders.

"Now you've gone and made her cry. " Gray sighed, Natsu only chuckled.

During that moment of happiness, Natsu couldn't help but remember what Gerard had said. 'That name.. Midnight..' it was gnawing at Natsu. He knew that they would show up eventually, but he was still hoping that day would never come. He wanted to talk to Gray, but he wouldn't ruin this moment he had with her, being this close to her. It was all he ever wanted.