Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 6: Unexpected Ally

Natsu woke up once again to the sound of incessant knocking and the loud threats of Erza Scarlet. He looked at the person lying next to him on the bed who although awake refused to move and determined that it must be his turn to get the door. He groaned and forced himself out of the bed and towards the door glaring at Erza as she managed to knock on his head instead of the door. Without even an apology she waltzed into the room followed by Hibiki and Lucy. There were no room service waiters trailing them this time to Natsu's disappointment.

Gray made his way into the bathroom with a change of clothes and locked the door. They could hear the water running as he took a shower.

"Did he get any better last night?", Lucy asked him.

"Not really, he hasn't said very much since we got back.", Natsu replied, "He's just been sulking."

"How come you're handling this so well?", Lucy asked suspiciously.

"Honestly, with that headline, he has it way worse than me.", Natsu shrugged, "Jason basically made everything about him."

He looked at Erza and Hibiki going through his closet and muttered, "Do you really have to do that?"

He received his outfit for the day as an answer and when Gray left the bathroom he went in for his own shower. Once both boys finished getting ready they all left together to get some breakfast and to plan their investigation.

They began by going to the local Rune Knights to ask for information on the investigation. Unfortunately, the Rune Knights refused to share any more than what they already knew. They informed them that they could not share any information on an active investigation unless they had proper authorization from the Magic Council and they would not back down even for Erza.

The hospital was not much better. They claimed that they could not break patient confidentiality. They could only release that information if the patient gave them permission. Hibiki didn't know the names of any of the victims. He told them the Rune Knights had come to the club and shown them pictures when the attacks had happened but had not given them any names and he had not recognized the customers as regulars.

"Alright, I guess I don't really understand how Blue Pegasus works.", Lucy said to Hibiki, "Can you explain it to us?"

"Well, unlike Fairy Tail we're essentially an entertainment guild.", Hibiki replied. "We don't usually take missions like you guys do, although we do have a Request Board and some of our members do prefer doing that. During the day clients come to our club. They usually request one of us to help them with a problem which could turn into a job or just as a kind of escort or companion while they are there. We're also like a regular club. As you already saw we hold events and these are open to the public."

"So you guys don't do any fighting?", Natsu asked in disbelief wondering who would want to join a guild like that.

"Not usually, not unless a customer gets out of line or the Magic Council requests us for something like the Oracion Seis job where we first met."

"So basically we have absolutely nothing to go on?", Gray asked irritably. The magazine was going to be on stands everywhere tomorrow and at this rate they would never catch these people by Friday.

"Natsu why don't you go on ahead to the club and we can see if anyone follows you.", Erza suggested desperate to give Gray something to do so that he would feel like they were accomplishing something.

"Ok, I'm getting hungry anyway.", Natsu agreed and made his way to Blue Pegasus.

He greeted Master Bob and sat down at the bar and ordered some food. He waited patiently and began tapping his fingers on the bar to pass the time. He looked to his left and noticed a girl smiling at him. He returned her smile and turned his attention back to the bar hoping his food would arrive quickly.

"Are you new a new member?", a voice startled him from his left. He turned to look and saw it was the same girl from before who had now moved next to him. She had long white hair and pleasant blue eyes.

"Oh no, I'm just having some lunch.", Natsu replied thinking that after what Hibiki had told him he would only ever join this guild if he wanted to die of boredom.

"Oh, that's too bad. If you were I would have requested you right away."

"Sorry.", he smiled apologetically.

"My name is Suki."

"Natsu.", he nodded at her.

"Buy a girl a drink?", she asked when he had made no attempt to offer.

"Uhm sure. What would you like?", Natsu asked trying to be polite.

Suki gave her order to Bob who nodded and prepared her drink. He brought out Natsu's food and tried to get his attention but failed completely as Natsu was only interested in one thing at the moment. He had expected the girl to go away once she had gotten the drink but instead she began talking to him as he ate. He wasn't really paying attention but didn't want to seem rude so he made noises whenever the was a pause like he did to Lucy. By this point Bob was desperately trying to get his attention and the girl was grabbing on to his arm. He looked down at her hand in surprise wondering how that had happened.

He looked at Bob for help and finally saw him shaking his head at him. Natsu narrowed his eyes trying to understand what the man was trying to tell him. He wiped his face with his napkin and finally noticed the faint writing on it that he had inadvertently just smudged.

W̶̨̡͕̰̞̘̖͇̎ͭ́̕͢͡͞͡aͣ͜͏̸͝҉̶̸̝͎̫͖̠͚́͘͢͟͜t͂̓̄ͪ͊̚͘͟҉̸̴̴̧̛̀̕͝͠͠҉̨͓͎̟̟̱̭̲̱͡c̸̡̨̧̾ͮ͛̽͏̱̞̼̙h̴̷̶̶̨̧̛̛͐̉̏̈ͦ̇̾̊̋͘͢͟͞͝͡͝͠͡҉̸̢̤͇̻̫̻̪ͅ ̷̶̧̡̨̧̛̼̰͒̓̌ͮ̈́́̀͘͡͡o҉͏̵̛͘͞͞͠͠͡҉̷̸̸̛̕̕͢͞͏̶̰̀͢͡ͅū̴́͘͜͟͠͠͡͡͡͏̵̧̧̨̨̛͈̠͈̦͉̘͚́̕͟͟͜͝͞t̷̵̶̡̨̨̢̧̛̯̤̟ͭͩ͒͒͒̆́́́̕̕͘͢͝͠͝͡͝͡ͅ,̸̸̸̡͞͞͏̵̢̛͙̰̮̀̀͟͞͡ ̴̸̸̴̴̸̡ͫ̍̂̑́͟͏̞̀͞͡s̡̢ͫ̂̈́͐ͭ̈ͦ̕̕͘͢͠͏̼̹̭̜ͅh̴̨̨̡̨̡̏̒̏́̀͘͟͟͞҉̷̕͏͏͏̮̜͙̩̥ȩ̷́̕̕͜͡͞͞͏̴̴̧̦͕̦̕͜ ̶̷̸̸̧̨̛ͬ̋͐͛̍̎́́͘͘͟͡͏̬̦̳̘̫̠t̸̶̷̶̷̵̨̛ͭ̄́̚͘͝͠͏̨̨̧̢̬̗̳̙͓̕̕͟͜͜h̨͍̩͔̯̗͇̠̳̆̔͌̕i̸̵̸̶̵̴̶̷̶̡̨̡̨̫̪̋͐ͥ͛̿̀͜͢͜͞͝͞ņ̶̸̴̶̵̷̨̢̔ͪͨͨ̌̽̀͘͢͢͡͞͠҉͎̺k̶̨̇͛͐͆̀́͘͟͡͠s̸̴̡̨̧̛̛ͪͣ̍̎̏̅ͫ͛́̕̕͘͜͠͝͡ͅ ̷̸̶̢̡̃ͪ́́̀͝͠͝͞͏̴̡̮̩͙ȳ̶̴̵͑ͪ̌͆̒ͥ̓ͤ͜͠͡҉͟҉҉͏̨̜oͧu̶̷̵̶̧̡̨̧̟̻̖ͨ͛̈́̉͒̀̓̃ͤ̀͜͝͠'̶̧ͧ̇ͦ͋͛̋̀͌̕̕͢͢͞͠҉̸͜͟͡͠͏̯͜ŕ̷̵̵̴̜̥̲̯̺́͜͟͠͝ȩ̡̈͜͞ ̵̸̸̸̸̢̢̨̛͒̏̆̓͘͢͜͠͠͏̯̱̪̰̖̣̝͡į̴̶̶̵̢̢̡͐ͨ̈́̓̏ͭ̈́́̕͢͜҉̸̲͟n̴̷͐͑̍̌͆̏̕͜͡͡͏̵̷̨̻̦̱̼̗͈͎͎͡ţ̧̨̛̛̮͔̜̫̉̎ͩ̋ͧ̒̀̀ͭ̀̀͝ǫ̸̛̛͕̪̱̥̻͐̄́̿̅ͮ̋͋́́̀̀͜͟ ̴̸̷̢̡̢̛̛̛ͩ́̀͘͟͠͞͠͡͞͡ĥ̴̷ͨ̀҉̴̶̸̶͜͢͟͟͠ę̸̷̧̛ͣ͛͊́͘҉̵̸͘͏̛̥̟͜r̴̸̷̨̡̛͚̜̲ͥͣ́́͘͘͟͞͡͡!̛̃̾ͯ̉̋͏̵̧̨̢̛̛̀́̕̕͘͟͞҉̡̢͘͏!̸̨̛̛̲̪̗̍̄͑̿͛ͥ̉ͩ͢͝͞!̵̴̡̯̝̫̳̆̔ͣ̍ͤͨ͐ͭ̀̀̕̕͜͞ 

̢͠͝͏̶̴̶̧̡̧̛͜͡͠͡͏͕͝

 'The hell?', Natsu thought.

Suki continued to smile at him and was asking him something about their plans for that evening. He was completely lost. What was happening this evening? As far as he knew he had plans with his "boyfriend".

Erza, Hibiki, Lucy and Gray entered the club and headed to the bar to look for Natsu. They had not noticed anyone following him but had spent some time exploring the different streets around the club to familiarize themselves with them. When they saw the girl who was clinging to Natsu three of them were amused by the obvious confusion on the Fire Dragon Slayer's face. The fourth, however found himself not amused at all. Gray was irritated. What was the moron doing? They were supposed to be a couple. If he went around flirting with girls it would break their cover and then they would really not be able to finish the job by Friday.

He made his way over to Natsu and put his arm around the other's waist possessively. He leaned in and kissed Natsu's cheek, which was as far as they had agreed on at this point. He moved over to Natsu's ear and whispered. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be with me remember?"

Natsu shivered a little as he felt the warm air in his ear. He smiled at Gray and spoke through his teeth. "Don't do that again you bastard, it feels weird."

Gray straightened up and sat on Natsu's right side. "I'm sorry I'm late, Flame Muffin."

A loud crash was heard as Bob dropped the glass he had been drying. He apologized and began to clean up the shards of glass from the floor but Natsu was almost certain he heard barely contained laughter.

'Flame Muffin?', Natsu winced at the nickname, 'Has he lost his mind?'

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?", Gray looked at Natsu expectantly.

"Oh yeah.", he chuckled nervously, "This is Suki."

"Hello Suki, nice to meet you.", Gray said politely, "My name is Gray. I'm Natsu's boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?", Suki asked as she looked at Natsu accusingly, "You didn't mention a boyfriend."

Gray made a show of glaring at Natsu just as the girl threw the contents of her drink at the fire mage. She got up and left. Once she had left the club Gray started to laugh.

"You are such an asshole.", Natsu seethed annoyed that his clothes now reeked of alcohol.

"Serves you right for cheating on me.", Gray smirked.

"I wasn't cheating on you, Ice Princess.", Natsu spat out, "I don't even know what happened, I was just trying to eat my food. And you!", Natsu turned on Bob who was still trying to stifle his laughs, "What the hell did you write on this napkin? I couldn't make out a single word."

"Were you doing the thing were you pretend to be listening?", Gray asked knowingly.

Natsu looked sheepish, it was annoying that Gray knew him so well.

"Did you at least learn anything?", Natsu asked as the rest of their group joined them.

"No one followed you here. We took the opportunity to become acquainted with all the surrounding streets.", Erza replied.

They were all frustrated not knowing what to do. Their best chance still seemed to be to attract the attention of whoever was selecting targets. Maybe the magazine would be a blessing in disguise. If the group wanted to strike fear into the gay population what better way to do that than to take down a high profile target.

That thought gave Lucy an idea and she whispered it to Erza. Erza nodded approvingly.

"Why don't you boys go back to the hotel and enjoy your last night of freedom?", Erza suggested, "Starting tomorrow morning you are a couple all the time."

"Sure, I definitely want to get out of these clothes", Natsu wrinkled his nose at the smell of the alcohol.

The two boys left the club and headed back to the hotel. The girls asked Hibiki if he wanted to come with them to the offices of Sorcerer Weekly and he declined. He had work to do in the club.

They found Jason hard at work on next week's issue. He was surprised to see them but he welcomed them with his usual exuberance while motioning for some of his employees to take over his work. He led the two mages to a table and offered them some tea. He looked at Erza and seemed a bit nervous.

"Did Natsu and Gray not like the magazine? Is that why you're here?"

"Well, I won't lie. Gray was not thrilled. I'd recommend staying away from him until Saturday.", Lucy told the reporter.

"That's not why we're here.", Erza assured him.

Jason tried not to look disappointed but failed. He perked up at hearing Erza's words.

"Why are you here then?"

"We were wondering if you had heard anything about attacks on Blue Pegasus customers.", Erza asked.

"I have heard a few things but not enough to be able to report anything. Not that they would let me anyway. That's why I was so excited about Gray and Natsu."

"I don't understand. People are being hurt why wouldn't they want you to report it?", Lucy asked.

"Well, in all honesty Sorcerer Weekly is not the right platform for that type of news but I thought that with the last victim being a mage I could at least get the story out." , Jason replied with a sigh, "The people that were attacked were all gay men. They're a minority that neither the Crown nor the Magic Council are comfortable with. They would rather sweep it under the rug and pretend it's not happening."

"They can get away with that because the victims themselves are too embarrassed to come forward.", Jason continued, "The Rune Knights pretend to investigate to keep Blue Pegasus happy but no progress is ever made."

Both Erza and Lucy were looking at the man in front of them amazed to see how much more mature he had become in their seven year absence.

"The reason I went so over the top with Natsu and Gray is because I was excited to be able to bring two strong mages as role models to a group that so desperately needs them right now. Especially in this town. Natsu and Gray are each amazing in their own right, no one in their right mind would call them pansies or any of the other idiotic names people come up with. On the cover they look fierce, ready to take on anyone who stands in their way. I'm sorry if they were upset, I probably should have run it by them first."

He looked at the two of them suddenly putting the pieces together.

"That's the job you're here on isn't it?", Jason said excitedly, "Cool!"

Erza had her signature death glare already on her face. "You can't write anything about this."

Jason waved his arms in surrender. "I just told you I don't have enough to report on it. I would like to help catch those bastards though and if you succeed I would like an exclusive."

Erza agreed to his terms.

"Jason, are you gay?", Lucy blurted out before realizing what an amazingly personal question that was.

"No, but I don't have to be to know that what is happening is wrong and it needs to be stopped.", Jason said seriously, "I'll be right back."

He walked over to the desk where he had been working when they arrived and opened a drawer. He pulled out a folder and brought it back with him.

"This is all the information I had collected.", Jason handed them the folder, "I hope it helps. If I hear anything else I'll be sure to get it to you at Blue Pegasus."

They thanked the reporter and left the office after Jason made sure to get his picture taken with the two mages. Erza and Lucy made their way back to the hotel to look through the first piece of information they had received since they had begun this job.