Gajeel's POV

Training was over.

We had three hours until we were meant to meet with Phantom Lorde. Some of us were eating, mainly Natsu and Erza, and some of us were just talking to each other; exchanging tactics, talking about diversions and distractions, etcetera.

I was one of the few people sitting by themselves. No one came over to me and for that I thanked them silently. I needed time to think about the past few weeks, about how one person had changed the way I think and act. Sure I found her through Makarov and knew all about her, but I never expected this. I never expected to become someone who truly cared for others and their safety.

To be honest I did believe that I would turn out like those old guys in films who look back at their life and realise how lonely they were, and how much they wanted to change the past.

My hands ached slightly but not as badly as they hurt after the first day of training. Wendy stuck to first aid and often had to bandage my hands because apparently punching walls can injure you.

I checked my watch again, still three hours.

"Gajeel?" I turned to see Makarov, "don't beat yourself up about any of this. None of us knew what would happen, in all seriousness we hoped that your fake marriage would turn into a real one... It's a shame that this happened."

"All because I-,"

"What did I literally just say." Makarov glared at me. "It's not your fault, we should've been more careful since we knew about Phantom Lorde."

"... I guess."

The old man sighed and sat down beside me, he looked around and smiled. "Everyone here is for yours and Levy's sake, whatever you do don't make them waste their time."

He patted me on the back then wandered away humming a repetitive tune. After letting out a sigh, I stood up and wandered around thinking about what was yet to come.

***

Levy worked at a cafe called Fairy Tail, notorious for being the best cafe in Magnolia and possibly Fiore. Some people mistook it for a bar due to the amount of alcohol it sells but no, it's a cafe. Normal people would just go there for a drink or some food, maybe karaoke night. However, for people like me it was completely different.

After midnight, that's when I would go.

"Gajeel my boy, why do you look so down today?" A drunk Makarov asked me.

"Eh, my old man won't hand the company down to me."

"Did he find out about your gang?"

"Even if he did, he wouldn't care."

"Then why won't he hand it down to you?"

"Apparently, I haven't done anything on my own. I've always had help from someone and until I can prove that I'm capable of doing things on my own he won't hand it over!" I growled. The old codger just cackled and smacked his hand down on the table.

"Igneel's the same with Natsu boy!" He managed to croak out. "Do you know what you should do to prove to him that you can do something by yourself?"

"Heck! The stuff he listed would take me ages to accomplish!"

"Like what?"

"One was to join the company from the bottom and gain my way to the top, that would take me a couple of years at best! Another was to start my own business and when it was powerful enough to rival Redfox Inc. he would allow me to merge the two companies. That'll take even longer!"

"Anything else which isn't impossible?"

"Not really, oh but get this..." I looked the old man straight in the eye, "He said that if I get married that he'd give the company immediately. How unrealistic is that? Find a good wife whilst he's still alive? As if."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I doubt any woman wants to be married to a gang leader, even if he does have a lot of money."

"You need a woman who's smart-,"

"Yes."

"-who's kind-,"

"I guess."

"-and who can put up with you."

"Exactly. But that's impossible."

"I have a candidate."

"Really Makarov?!" I looked at him, mouth agape. "That was way too fast."

"Be warned, she's a waitress here. But she has no idea about what happens after midnight."

"A waitress who isn't in Fairy Tail?"

"Not that part, no. She only wished to work for her money, she cared about her studies and her opinions have not changed, yet she is still family." Makarov took another swig of his beer. "Levy McGarden, I'll give you information tomorrow. Extremely smart and I think it'd be good for the both of you."

"Be good for the both of us? What do you mean?"

"She needs to see reality and so do you. She can't keep hiding behind her books and you can't keep hiding behind your looks.... Hey that rhymed!" Then he went into another one of his laughing fits.

"Give me information on her tomorrow."

"Consider it done..." He managed to say between breaths.

***

"If only I'd never asked for her. If only I'd manned up and did what my father primarily suggested." Whacking myself with words wouldn't help, the only thing I could do was to go and fight Phantom Lorde and get Levy back.

"Gajeel!" I turned to see an overly happy Wendy with Romeo. "Gajeel! We have news!"

"What type of news!"

"Everyone is leaving now! But it's not just us!" Romeo answered.

"Come on!" They both yelled, dragging me along with them.

"What are you guys, ten?!"

"Sixteen!" They snapped.

"Close enough!" I shook their hands off of me and continued to run alongside them both. "What do you mean by 'it's not just us'?"

"You'll see when we get outside. This way, Mavis said to get out from the main entrance." Wendy said, turning down a corridor which lead towards the main hall and entrance. "By the way Romeo, if you get hurt just find me as soon as you can; I'm the main medic and can help you okay?"

"Sure thing."

When we got outside, I was surprised to see someone who I never thought I'd see at the Fairy Tail second base.

"Rogue?"

"Hm?" My cousin turned around and smiled when he saw me. "Hey Gajeel, I hear you've got some trouble?"

"How did you find out? What are you doing here?"

"Your friends can be convincing, so we're here to help you."

"We?"

Then I realised, it wasn't just Rogue. The entire Sabertooth gang was here, some were speaking with Fairy Tail members whereas some of them were talking amongst themselves and practising fighting moves. Minerva and Yukino were discussing something with Lucy and Erza and Sting was talking to Natsu.

"Why?" I looked Rogue in the eye. "Why are you helping me? Last time I checked with Sabertooth, you guys wanted something from Dragneel and I doubt that your whole gang was okay with this."

"Family, and my friends are family. When I told them what Makarov told me, that my cousin's wife was in danger, I had to come and help. She was so nice and even if she isn't your real wife, she was definitely making you change for the better." He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Sure some of the guys weren't happy about me wanting to assist Fairy Tail, but then they've helped us before. Besides, this is a good chance to build up the trust the gangs have. Am I right?"

"I guess so Rogue." Grinning, we shook hands. "Glad to have you helping me."

"No problem, now..." With his right hand, he punched the palm of his left hand. "Let's go kick some Phantom Lorde ass."

***

Levy's POV

"Can you hear us properly?"

"Yes."

"Good. It appears that it was a less serious case." The man in front of me wrote something down on his clipboard.

"Can I please ask, what am I doing here?" I asked, looking around the white room.

"Of course, you suffered a terrible crash. This is a private recovery room, you don't need to worry about anything. You're perfectly safe here."

"Okay." Sinking back into the white bed, I closed my eyes and was met by the same fuzziness I had endured for ... "How long have I been asleep?"

"Only a week, you're very lucky Miss McGarden. Some people are asleep for much longer than you. You are one of those people who suffered so much trauma from the accident that you're body just fell into a comatose state."

A week. The fuzziness had gone on for a week.

"One second Miss McGarden, I need to speak with one of my colleagues."

"Don't mind me, I'll just wait here."

The man got up from his seat and took his phone out from his pocket. He walked towards the door then dialled a number into the number pad. Once he had done so, he put the phone to his ear and waited for a response.

"Yes it's me. She's woken up." There must have been a response because the man spoke again. "Of course. I trust that he believed everything Sol told him? Glad to hear it, as long as he's angry and we can show her what he is truly capable of then our plan will succeed."

 I wonder who he's talking about, I mean... he said something about someone waking up. Is he talking about me? Probably, he did say 'she'.

After ending his conversation, the man turned back to face me. "Do you remember anything at all?"

"Bits and pieces, I remember a girl called Lucy and another girl called Mira-Jane... Also another girl with blue hair." I racked my mind for anything else. "My name is Levy McGarden, I know my date of birth, who my parents were, where I work... F... Fairy Tail Cafe and Bar."

"Excellent! At this rate you'll make a great recovery."

"Um, do you know what the time is? I need to call my workplace and tell them what's happened." I didn't know if I had asked for time off or if my workplace knew about the accident. In case that I hadn't told them, I wanted to double check.

"Don't worry Miss McGarden, they know about your accident and have given you time off." The man sat down in the seat beside my bed. "The time is five o'clock in the afternoon. Do you think you'll be well enough to get up in two hours?"

"I hope so," I replied. "I don't like having to lie down in bed for long, especially when I've been in bed for the past week."

"Good."

"Am I at the Magnolia Hospital right now?"

"No Miss McGarden, you're in a different hospital. You don't need to worry about names for now, you should be leaving tomorrow if you feel well enough."

"R-Really?"

"That does depend if you feel well enough to get up later on."

"Can I go for a walk now if I feel well?"

"No." He shook his head. "There is an event later we would like everyone to participate in, so no one can wander around until everything is ready and perfect."

"Oh, alright then doctor."

"I'm not a doctor Miss, I just own this place."

"What is your name then? I'm sorry for not asking earlier but-,"

"Don't worry about apologising, I didn't think you'd even ask for my name. I thought you'd just focus on recovering whatever memories you could." After standing up and straightening out his clothing he smiled and said. "My name is Josef."

***

Author's POV

Soon after his chat with Levy, Josef left the white room and came into a grey hallway. It didn't take much effort to make the spare room look like a hospital room, but it did take some effort to get Levy into the room. In the hallway he was met by Sol.

"I take it that they're definitely coming?"

"Oui monsieur! I doubt that Redfox would want to leave his wife alone with us."

"And did they believe the electrotherapy story you told them?"

"I may have slipped it into a conversation we had and angered him more."

"You've done well Sol. Now we just need to make Mrs Redfox believe that he is a monster, keep calling her Miss McGarden to prevent her from remembering everything."

"Of course Josef."

"Then when his father denies him the company due to his horrible failure with his wife, that's when we will steal Redfox Inc. from right beneath their fingers."

"This is what he gets for leaving us." Sol grinned.

"This is what happens to people who disgrace Phantom Lorde's evil name."

HEY GUYS~!  

I'm continuing this version of the story, I just tweaked some things and viola! Here is a story I can work with!! Thank you to everyone who commented on the last update, your thoughts and words were so kind! I'm so happy to have such supportive readers!

So here is an update!

OHC