Unlike her last birthday, Lucy decided against a club and chose to just have a dinner with her friends; that year had excitement enough for a lifetime, she'd rather have a quieter birthday and it was more than fine with Juvia.

The blunette was rather happy listening to her friends tell stories and laugh while she could feel Gray's arm resting on the chair behind her; he was touching her arm without even realize it, caressing her skin.

One year of his touches and her stomach still filled with butterflies and her heart still beat faster.

Then a thought hit her and she looked in his direction, and he was laughing at something Loke said. He glanced her way and he frowned when noticed her staring at him.

"What?"

Juvia leaned closer to him, Gray's arm moved from the chair to her shoulders and she grabbed his hand and squeezed. "It's been a year."

"Hm?"

"We got together for the first time at Lucy-san's last birthday party. Last year." She smiled and realization dawned in his expression.

"Oh. I didn't realize it." He seemed to think about it. "Are we celebrating it?" Gray wrinkled his nose and she chuckled, knowing he didn't exactly like anniversaries.

"Juvia has no idea." She shrugged. "I never actually got so far into a relationship to know what to do."

Gray looked surprised for a moment. "Holy shit, neither have I."

The blunette laughed at his expression. "With everything that happened this past year, it sure seems more time has gone by, right?"

He snorted and she knew he was thinking about all the troubles they had faced since that first night. "Yeah."

"What should we do?"

Gray's thumb caressed her arm slowly. "I say we go back home and recreate that night. It was quite mind-blowing."

Juvia giggled. "It was, wasn't it?" She looked up, saw him smirking and couldn't help it but to give him a chaste kiss on the lips. "And we said it would just happen once, huh?"

He snorted. "Yeah. 'Cause that happened." Juvia's heart started to beat faster when he smiled at her. "I'm glad it didn't go that way."

"Me too." She whispered. "And if we are going to recreate that night, we should go dance." Juvia pointed to where there were a few couples slow dancing. It wasn't exactly the same type of songs: the ones the year before were upbeat while the one playing was made for slow dance.

"Argh." Gray complained "You know I don't like to dance; last time I only went dancing with you to see if it would take some of the edge off. I almost caved in when we stopped."

"You wanted me." Her smile was predatory when she put a hand on his thigh and started to play with the buttons of his shirt.

Gray took in a sharp breath. "Juvia." He said between gritted teeth when her hand casually went up his thigh and almost touched his groin. "Not here."

She kissed his jaw and whispered, close to his ear: "Let's go dancing." She told him. "After that, Juvia will drag you to a dark corner so we can make out and then we go home. Just like a year ago."

"That is a very good idea." Gray nodded, gulping and quickly getting up from the chair and dragging a giggling Juvia towards the dancing floor, ignoring their friends catcalling them. He put a hand on her lower back, bringing her closer to him. Gray offered his other hand she took it willingly, a hand on his shoulder. After a few moments, he told her: "I'm better at this kind of dance, it appears."

"You haven't step on Juvia's toes yet." She teased him.

"I didn't the last time either." Gray reminded her.

Juvia chuckled. "That was because you mostly stood there and let Juvia put her hands on you while swaying her hips."

"Good times." He smirked when she laughed and Juvia pulled him for a sweet kiss. "If you want, we could go up north for the weekend, just us. I know a place you'd like."

The blunette was surprised with his suggestion, but pleased. "Careful, Gray-sama, you are sounding almost romantic. It's a bit freaky." She teased him.

Gray snorted. "Oh, the horror."

Juvia laughed and Gray smiled her way, making her stomach flutter with butterflies. A little over one year before she had been living for her job, with only one friend to count on and just waiting for the mission that would eventually kill her. She couldn't believe how different her life was; she had a great job, friends, a dog and even a boyfriend.

"I do love you." Juvia told him.

Gray stopped their dance to stare at her for a few moments, looking at her like the first time she told him those words, as if he was wondering if she was telling the truth and why. He said nothing, just cupped her face with one hand and kissed her gently.

By the time the kiss ended, her head was fuzzy with how warm he was, with the buzz of saying those words again and his reaction.

Juvia offered him a smile before she rested her head on his shoulder and they resumed their dance in comfortable silence.

#

Three weeks passed when Gray started to get quiet and sullen. He was having more nightmares than usual to a point where he chose to stay awake, lying next to Juvia and just taking quick naps, which Juvia didn't like at all.

When she confronted him about it, he told her he slept when she wasn't looking, but Juvia knew it wasn't true. A few days later and seeing the bags under his eyes, she had enough of it. That was going to end.

That weekend, after they arrived from getting lunch, Juvia hauled Gray to the bathroom to take a hot shower with her – he was quite enthusiastic in there, he really liked her naked, wet and in the middle of the afternoon.

She dried herself and put on her panties and one of his shirts while Gray chose to just put on his boxers. Juvia walked in his direction and wrapped her arms around his torso from behind, resting her head between his shoulder blades.

"Come to bed." She kissed his shoulder and she felt him chuckle.

"You know I'm going to need a few more minutes to get it up again, Juvia." Gray told her.

Juvia smiled. "Not for that, Juvia is quite sated for now." She let go of him and turned him around to face him. "Juvia will help you relax for a bit." He snorted, but let himself get dragged by Juvia to her bed and sat when she pushed him down. "On your stomach, please."

Gray raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What for?" He asked, but did as he was told.

"A surprise." She smiled and opened the nightstand drawer, to which he scowled.

"Juvia, you know I am up to try almost anything, but I swear to god: if you get that dildo of yours and put it anywhere near my ass, I'm outta here."

The blunette was so surprised with his words it took her a couple of moments to process what she heard. Juvia cleared her throat. "You... found it, huh?"

"Please." Gray scoffed. "The first time I was here I looked for condoms and there it was inside a box. Besides, it's been a year: I'd have found it somehow." He narrowed his eyes. "I mean it, Juvia. I tried that once and it's not my thing."

"No." She rolled her eyes and instead of the dildo Gray thought she was reaching for, she got a bottle of scented oil. "You can relax, Juvia is just going to give you a massage." Usually when she did, he ended up sleepy; he was having problems for so long she was sure he would fall asleep once she was done.

He visibly relaxed when she closed the drawer and Juvia had to fight the urge to roll her eyes again; funny that he had no problem asking her to try it a few times before deciding if she like it or not.

"What did I do to have earned a massage?" Gray asked while Juvia got on the bed, and she arranged herself until she had each knee on a side of his hips. She got some oil on her hand, put the bottle back on the nightstand and put her hands on his back.

"Juvia knows you have been stressed these past couple of days." She started to work his shoulders and Juvia smirked when Gray moaned. "I just want you to relax."

"Hm." It was all he said.

They didn't talk for a couple of minutes, the only sounds inside the room were the occasional moans Gray let out every few moments.

"You have knots all over your back, Gray-sama." Juvia huffed in annoyance, working on a particular difficult spot, and he sighed in contentment when she managed it. "How does it feel?"

"Just keep going." Gray mumbled and she noticed he closed his eyes. Good, it was going according to plan. She kept working down his back to the small of his back and by the time she was done, Gray was snoring softly.

Juvia chuckled when she saw him asleep and kissed his cheek before she got off him. She grabbed a towel from her closet and gently cleaned his back the best she could without waking him up before she finally left the room.

With nothing else to do until Gray woke up, Juvia chose a movie to watch and lied down on the couch. Snowball quickly got on the couch with her human and decided that Juvia's stomach would be great for a nap. Juvia chuckled and petted the dog until she was comfortably asleep.

A second movie was playing when the blunette heard the door to her bedroom open, and then footsteps coming her way.

Juvia almost laughed with the sight of her boyfriend. His hair was a mess, half of his face had clear marks giving away he had been asleep and he was blinking a lot, getting used to the light.

"Holy shit, that was a great nap." His voice was rough. "What year is it?"

Giggling, the blunette answered: "It's been only two hours."

"Hm." It was his answer. Gray then, took Snowball from Juvia's stomach and put her on the floor – the white dog looked at him with betrayal when he took her spot and lied down on top of Juvia. "Sorry, it's my turn." Gray petted the top of Snowball's head before he stopped to get himself comfortable.

Juvia waited with patience as Gray looked for a position and she sighed when he did. His head was between her breasts, his body on top of hers. Juvia had to open her legs to accommodate him better and even if half of his legs were dangling from the armrest, he seemed quite comfortable. The blunette started to run her fingers through his hair, to which he made a content sound.

They stayed in silence for a little while, both staring at the TV without paying too much attention to it.

"I'm glad you slept." Juvia whispered.

Gray snorted. "I passed out."

"Juvia was getting worried." She told him pointedly.

He hesitated for a few seconds. "Tomorrow is the anniversary of my parents' death." Gray told her and Juvia's body tensed. How didn't she made the connection? She forgot about it entirely, but his behavior should've tipped her off.

"I'm sorry, I forgot." Juvia told him.

"It's fine." Gray's arms tightened her around her. "Usually I take a long job during this week, just like last year; it works most of the time. This year I couldn't find any, that's why I didn't sleep and when I did..."

"Nightmares." She completed with a soft voice. "And all I've been doing is trying to make you sleep when you were..." Juvia wanted to hit herself. "Sorry if I said anything-"

"You were just trying to help me." Gray interrupted her. "I should've told you, but it's a delicate topic for me."

"It's alright." Juvia told him. "It's hard to share."

Gray nodded, but otherwise didn't move from his spot on top of her. It took him almost a minute to speak again. "I..." He cleared his throat. "I got used to the nightmares. Twenty years of it, they don't surprise me anymore. But it's different this time." Juvia frowned in confusion but didn't ask anything; he would tell her in his own time. "I had nightmares about you too."

That surprised Juvia. "Me?"

"Somehow you were there and you were dead. With them." Them being his mother and father, she knew. "It makes no sense whatsoever, but there you were, throat slit just like my mother's and eyes open and opaque." He took a deep breath. "I don't ever want to see that."

"Gray-sama." Juvia tried to make him look up at her, but he refused.

"Every time I slept, I had nightmare about my parents and every time, you were there. Sometimes I was too slow back at the Games and you were hit instead. I did the math, Juvia: the bullets didn't hit anything serious in me, but by your height and where I have the scars, it would've hit you on the back of the neck, lugs and heart. You'd been dead before you hit the ground." His voice shook. "I've dealt with their deaths, I can't deal with yours. I... I can't."

"Juvia is alive." She caressed his hair and back, trying to soothe him. She knew too well about the nightmares about the Games because she had a lot of them herself. "Juvia was just within your reach those nights."

"I know." Gray told her. "That's why I didn't sleep. It meant more to stay awake, making sure."

The blunette's heart filled with love for him all over again; it appeared every time she thought she couldn't love him more, she realized she could. And did.

"That's not healthy at all." She told him; and she would know, after he was shot, Juvia had been awake whole nights making sure he was alive.

"Yeah." Gray sighed. "And neither is having nightmares all the time, but here we are."

Juvia snorted and pinched his shoulder, to which he chuckled. "Stop it, this is serious."

"Everything is serious in our lives." Gray shrugged and finally looked up. "But this nap helped, and the massage too. A lot. Feel free to do it any time you want. On the front too and lower."

Rolling her eyes and ignoring his last words, Juvia told him: "You could ask too. Talking about feelings like we are doing is a good thing, remember. This should happen more than once every blue moon." She touched his nose.

Gray widened his eyes, joking. "Let's not get crazy here."

Juvia smiled and put a hand on his jaw. "Juvia means it. If you need my help with anything at all, just tell me."

"I know." He nodded and moved up so he could kiss her lips and then returned to his position on top of her, his head on the crook of her neck. "But right now I think I just need to stay here."

"Alright." She kissed his forehead.

#

Thankfully a few days after their talk, Gray's sleep pattern returned to normal and Juvia could finally breathe in relief. Their routine returned and she was grateful for it.

But of course, things needed to go to shit.

It was a regular morning for the couple; Juvia woke up before Gray and as usual went to take Snowball on her walk. She returned and started on breakfast and Gray came from the bedroom right on time. He hugged her from behind, gave her a kiss on the cheek and they proceeded to eat, chatting about what they were going to do that day.

They showered together, Juvia shampooed his hair and he soaped her breasts enthusiastically (she had to swat his hands when he was getting too into it); she applied her make-up while he shaved and by the time they left her apartment, they were almost late for work but made it in time. Juvia tip-toed and gave him a peck on the lips once they stepped out the elevator and Cana told them to stop being disgusting and go to work.

An hour later, Juvia was looking over a report when a breathless Cana barged in her office, saying they had to go to Magnolia General: Laxus, Freed, Bixlow and Evergreen were there. There had been an attack and a biological weapon was used. Juvia's eyes widened and she grabbed her coat and her purse before running alongside the brunette.

Ten minutes later, they arrived to a Hospital in chaos, ambulances arriving, gurneys everywhere, doctors running, people crying.

It was as if she was back to a war zone from her time in the army.

There were already a crowd from FT there and Juvia recognized Gray's jacket and went straight to him. "Gray-sama." She called and he turned to look at her, he was pale and for a moment she thought the worse. "How are they?"

"We don't know yet. I got here five minutes ago." Gray told her. "There was an explosion at the fish market, apparently it went off earlier than it should, Laxus and his team were in a restaurant a few blocks away, acting as bodyguards. They were one of the first on the scene." Gray's jaw tightened. "There was some sort of biological weapon, they breathed in, but not as much as others. The body count is eighty so far, all people who were right next to it."

Juvia gasped and put a hand over her mouth. "What?"

"The number is probably going up in a few hours." He whispered, looking down. "The doctors are trying their best, but this is chaos."

"Oh, god." Juvia breathed. "How is Master holding up?"

Gray's shoulders dropped. "We're concerned with his heart condition, but Mirajane is with him, keeping an eye."

The blunette nodded. "Has some group taken responsibility?"

"Yes. Tartaros." Gray all but growled. "Guess who they serve?"

"Zeref." Juvia muttered.

"Of course that son of a bitch is behind this." He raised his voice, but only a couple of people looked their way. "Fuck, I want to kill this bastard!"

Juvia stepped closer to her boyfriend and put a hand on his shoulder. "Gray-sama, I know how you feel but we need a plan. We can't go after him guns blazing. We know what he is capable of and he is organized, he is smart and he has means."

"He is not bulletproof." Gray told her.

"No, he is not." Juvia agreed, trying to calm him down. "We work with intel, we need to coordinate and a plan. If we work with chaos, it will only bring more chaos. Too many innocent people died today, we will do our best to no bring that number up, alright? Master will want us to do something, but doing it with our heads hot, won't do anyone good."

Gray looked at her and took a few calming breaths before nodding. "You are right."

"Come on. Let's go see if we can get any more news about what is happening." She suggested, knowing Gray hated to stay still while there was a crisis and he promptly agreed.

An hour later, Polyusca, a doctor and an old friend of Makarov's appeared, taking off her surgical mask. She was an old tall woman with a serious expression.

"Polyusca! Laxus and the others! How bad is it?" Makarov yelled and everyone from FT gathered together, looking for news. "Answer me!"

The doctor looked around at the crowd before settling her eyes on her friend. "They'll... make it." Everyone sighed in relief until she spoke her next words. "But the damage from the substance has clearly taken its toll. To say it's a potent form of poison is an understatement." She sighed, tired. "Even a pinch is fatal in most cases. Whether they'll make a full recovery from this... I cannot say for certain." Her eyes soften while looking at the older man. "Laxus especially... The amount of internal damage he's suffered... by all accounts he shouldn't still be alive."

Juvia looked at Makarov and saw him got even paler and he was shaking with the thought of losing his grandson. His only family left. "Can-" He cleared his throat. "Can I see them? Please."

Polyusca stared at him for a moment before nodding. "I will give you a mask and scrubs. But it has to be quick, they need rest."

"Of course." He nodded and turned around to look at the crowd. "Go home. There's nothing you can do right now." Before anyone could say a thing, he and Polyusca walked away.

No one left.

#

One hundred and three dead.

That was the final count for the first day, there were still more than ten people in the ICU at risk of dying at any second.

Makarov took a long while to return, by then it was already mid-afternoon and he looked ten years older. All the stress taking its toll on him. No one spoke a word when he appeared.

"I told you to go home." He was clearly tired.

"Gramps." Natsu said, from the opposite side of where Makarov stood and anyone could see the pink haired man was furious. "This means war." He was so angry, his face was all red. "Let's go and kick their asses! Every last one of them!"

Natsu actually tried to leave, but was held down.

"Calm down, Natsu!"

"Everyone feels the same way." Max tried to reason.

"Let go of me you bastards..." Natsu growled when Max grabbed his arm and then yanked it off his grasp. "I'll start by whooping your asses first." More people got in front of him and he groaned. Natsu turned around to look at the Master. "Our own people taken down! We can't let something like that slide! We need to beat all their asses to a pulp, asap!"

Makarov sighed, tiredly. "I have no objections to that. But we don't have enough intel."

Erza agreed. "We know neither their objectives, not the location of their headquarters. Even the Council was in the dark regarding such matters."

"That's right, Natsu! How are you going to beat them if you don't even know where they are?" Max asked.

"I'll just beat their location from some scumbags!" Natsu was clearly not thinking straight.

"And... where are these scumbags?"

"The hell if I know!"

"So... where the hell do you plan on going?" Max was clearly exasperated.

"The only thing we know is that they're going after Council members." Lucy said, arms crossed under her breasts and staring at her boyfriend. "Current and former ones."

"So, should we start by heading out the homes of all former members?" Gray asked the blonde.

"But that information is classified... Finding their locations will be problematic to say the least." Macao, an old member of FT interrupted the younger man. "It's a safety protocol so that enemies can't just seek them out for revenge."

"So our hands are tied here...?" Cana asked, passing a hand through her dark hair.

"Nope, not quite." Juvia recognized the voice and was surprised to see Loki there; he usually traveled all around the country, getting intel; he was rarely in Magnolia and never for a long length of time. "I know the locations of the former members. Not all of them, though."

"Loki!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise.

"How would Loki-san know?" Wendy, the innocent girl she was, asked.

"Well, you see..." The orange haired man smirked and winked, to which Wendy became incredibly red.

"From women, I bet." Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Come with me, Loki." Makarov said and Loki nodded. "The rest of you, I know you won't go home if I tell you to and before we decide something, but this is a hospital and we are crowding the waiting room. Go back to Mirajane's bar and I'll meet you there in an hour. Erza, you stay too." Begrudgingly, they accepted Makarov's logic and left. Only Mirajane and Elfman stayed behind, he wouldn't leave without seeing his girlfriend and Mira wouldn't leave yet.

Lisanna opened the bar for them but left the sign as 'Closed' and urged them inside every time a taxi pulled over, trying to get everyone and then serving them drinks while they waited for Makarov's appearance.

Juvia sat next to Levy, who was typing like crazy on her laptop, trying to get as much information as she could about the Councilmen. Gajeel, Natsu and Gray were talking together a few feet away and the three were dead serious, which was unlike them.

When Makarov arrived, but Erza stood by his side and so did Polyusca – Loki slipped in behind them. Juvia remembered Lucy saying the older woman had been a doctor for the navy for years and knew a lot about combat and strategy.

The three of them walked inside the bar purposely, Makarov no longer seemed like an old man afraid of losing his grandson. He looked like a General ready to go to war.

Once they reached the middle of the bar, though, it was Polyusca who spoke.

"From Loki's intel, we know the locations of four former Council members. We'll split into teams and protect them from Tartaros' attacks. They'll be tight lipped but we have to get them to tell us everything they know." She said, her voice stoic. "The locations of the others and why they're being targeted by Tartaros."

Makarov stood on top of a chair, his eyes seemed to burn and his voice carried throughout the whole room. "Our enemy is Tartaros. They're a corner of the Balam Alliance... just like Oración Seis and Grimoire Heart... We've destroyed both of the latter." His voice was so powerful, Juvia remembered exactly why he was their boss. "We shall do the same to Tartaros. Let them rue the day that they made us their enemy! Our comrades were mortally wounded! Their pain amounts to our own!" The crowd cheered. "The blood they bleed, is our own! This pain, this suffering will fuel our fighting spirit to take down our enemies! We are not justice! We move by our own wills! We will put all our bonds and pride on the line and eliminate all our family's enemies!" Everyone agreed.

"I am itching to get my hands in one of them." Gajeel growled and sat next to his girlfriend, Gray walking behind him while Natsu was called by Makarov. "Just one would do for now."

Juvia sighed and took a sip of her drink. "God, how many dead?"

"One hundred and four." Levy said, stopping typing for a moment. "Another woman died half an hour ago."

"Fuck." Juvia whispered. She wasn't one to cuss a lot, but sometimes the situation called for it and that was one of them. "So many people died today."

"Yeah, 'fuck' is right." Gray sat next to her. "I can't believe this is happening." Juvia put a hand on his thigh, but did little to calm him down. "We need to take them all down."

"We will." Juvia assured him. "You heard Master."

"What is their game here?" Gray asked. "What do they want?"

"To create chaos, that's for sure." Gajeel hissed. "We will know more once we talk with the former Councilmen and they finally tell us what the hell they are hiding."

They stayed in silence for a few moments, the only sound coming from Levy's quick fingers, typing. The petite blunette got up and told them she had to meet with Makarov; she grabbed her laptopand Gajeel followed her lead. Juvia watched the couple leave and put a hand on the back of her neck, massaging it; it had been such a long day, sitting and waiting for news and then a decision about what to do. Gray put his hand on top of Juvia's on his thigh and squeezed it. When she looked up to him, he whispered: "We are going home soon."

"I know." She told him, trying to smile.

"I'll go get something for us to eat." He got up.

"Juvia is fine." She shook her head. "She is not hungry."

"We only had breakfast today." Gray reminded her.

"I'm feeling a bit queasy with all that has happened today."

Gray sighed. "Yeah. I'll be right back."

The blunette nodded and watched her boyfriend leave and passed a hand through her hair. All she wanted to do was to get Gray and drag him back to her apartment, take a hot shower and then fall asleep in his arms, both of them safe.

She had a bad feeling she couldn't shake off. From the moment she heard about the attack, she had a heavy weight on her stomach. She could feel something bad was coming.

Gray sat by her side and it took her from her thoughts, startling her. Gray raised an eyebrow at her reaction, she usually was much more on guard than that. "Sorry." He put a glass with juice in front of her and the other in front of himself. "Since we haven't eaten since morning, I didn't want to drink alcohol with an empty stomach."

"Thank you." She kissed his cheek and gave two sips on the juice when Makarov sat across from the young couple and Erza sat next to him.

"Gray. Juvia." The older man greeted them and they greeted him. "I need you two to go North and find one of the Councilmen we know the whereabouts of. His name is Org-Roshi, he was a Councilman until five years ago. I'll send you to protect him, if you agree, that is."

"Of course we agree." Gray said and Juvia nodded in agreement.

Makarov sighed in relief. "Good. You two are a good team. Everyone wants to help, but if we send too many people, we lose the element of surprise." He stared at them. "You know how to be stealthy and you always get yourselves out of a tough situation and we have no idea yet of what to expect when you get there. I'll have Levy send you the information to your email." He eyed them for a few moments. "You will need to be very careful, I have no intention of losing anyone."

"We understand, sir." Juvia told him, kindly.

Gray nodded. "We will leave in the morning, after we go through the information."

"Thank you." Makarov sighed. "Once you arrive and assess the situation, please get in contact with us."

"You got it." Gray said.

"We still have to speak with some others." Erza informed, gently, and got up. "Master."

"Yes, yes." Makarov nodded. "I'll talk with you soon."

"Yes, Master." Juvia agreed and the young couple watched as they left. Once they were out of earshot, the blunette turned to Gray's direction. "Should we go home? We do need to get over the information Levy-san is going to send us."

Gray got up and nodded; watching while Juvia did the same. "I need to go to my apartment to get my best guns. You go to your place and I'll follow you in ten minutes or so." Juvia stepped in front of him and Gray put a hand on her lower back to guide her and the blunette felt better. "Come on."

#

The sky was just starting to get orange with sunlight when Gray and Juvia left Magnolia riding his motorcycle. According to the information they received, they had a long trip on their way; four hours if they were on the speed limit. Most of the way, they stayed in silence, going through what they knew inside their heads. They stopped two times to stretch their legs and Juvia drove for a while to give her boyfriend a break and then switched back.

It was almost noon when Gray spoke: "Heads up, we are arriving. Keep your guard up. You shoot, I drive."

Juvia reached inside her coat for the shoulder holster and grabbed her two guns, feeling it was better to be safe rather than sorry. "Got it."

They rode for a few minutes until she heard Gray gasp. "Holy shit."

Juvia frowned and looked over his shoulder and her eyes widened. From the file Levy sent them, Passiflora was a small village, no more than one hundred people. A place totally under the grid, the perfect place for someone to hide.

They rode through what seemed like the town's main street and both were speechless with what they saw: broken windows, some isolated fires and what shocked them the most, was the number of bodies all over.

"Oh my god." Juvia whispered while Gray navigated through the mess that was the street; bodies and abandoned cars on their way.

"Fuck." Gray whispered back. "Shit, Juvia, guns up. They could be here still." Only then she noticed both her arms were down instead of pointing somewhere.

"Juvia doesn't think they are still here." The blunette answered, but raised the guns either way. "Look at the bodies, they are not fresh killings."

"Either way, don't let your guard down." They rode in silence as he followed the GPS to the Councilman's house.

"Crap." Gray sighed when they finally stopped and Juvia saw why he cussed; the small cottage was torn apart, the door was opened and that was not a good sign. Gray parked the motorcycle and waited for Juvia to come off before he did the same. Just like the blunette had done it a few minutes before, Gray reached inside his jacket to get his two guns from the shoulder holsters. "I go in first, you cover me."

Juvia nodded and followed him inside, her mind focused on protecting him. Once they were there, it wasn't hard to see the cottage was clear of enemies, as it only had three rooms.

The dead body of Org-Roshi, though, was on the ground, next to a bed, his blue eyes wide open, terrified and opaque. Strangely enough, beside the clear stab wounds all over his chest, his hands were cut off and nowhere to be found.

"We're too late." Juvia whispered.

#

"I think I got it, Juvia." Gray called from a corner of the room; they had been searching for cellular reception and it was terrible. "It connected." Juvia went to stay next to him, looking at the phone and trying to fit on the screen.

Makarov answered and he had a scowl on; that was bad. "Gray? Did you find him?"

"We're too late." Gray told him.

His eyes widened. "What? So then Org-Roshi is..."

"Yes... He's gone." Juvia sighed and she saw Macao and Cana behind the older man. "And it looks like someone really went wild here. It's almost too horrible to look at. So many people died."

"Unbelievable." Makarov said under his breath.

"What about Gajeel and the others?" Cana asked.

"And Belnoroshi?" Makarov yelled to another phone and even though they couldn't see the screen, they heard Gajeel's voice answer.

"We're too late." Juvia gasped and grabbed Gray's forearm.

"It doesn't look like there was any violent fighting here," they heard Levy's voice "implying that this as probably an assassination."

"Damn it! If only we were a little earlier..." Gajeel's voice said.

"They got Org-Roshi and even Belno." Cana's voice was tense. "I guess all that's left are the ones Natsu and Elfman headed for, Michello and Yuuri, huh. I'll try to call Lucy once again."

"Two of them are dead?" Juvia whispered to Gray. "What is going on?"

Gray looked to the side to stare at her. "Let's hope we can fine at least one alive to get some facts straight."

"I got Lucy!" Cana exclaimed.

"Finally! It connected!" Lucy's voice could be heard.

"Lucy? What's the situation over there?" Makarov asked.

"Michello is alright. Natsu has seen better days, though." The blonde informed and they could hear Natsu on the background saying it didn't matter, since he won.

"Have you managed to get information from Michello?" Makarov's voice bordered desperation.

"About that..." Lucy hesitated.

Juvia wished she could see what the others were seeing when an unknown voice came from Cana's phone. "White legacy... FACE, I don't know anything... absolutely nothing."

"FACE?" Makarov's expression was of confusion.

"FACE is one of the weapons the Council possesses." The voice Juvia assumed was Michello's came from Cana's phone and Juvia saw Master's eyes widen, her heart started to beat faster, a feel of dread coming over her.

"Huh?" It was Natsu's voice. "Why would the Council need weapons?"

"The Council's various weapons are managed according to their lethality and priority." Michello said and Juvia's grasp on Gray's forearm tightened. "For example, Etherion. That cannon could target a large town and we have them around the world. It has enough power to obliterate a country in mere seconds. To fire it, the approval of nine standing council members and the firing codes of ten seniors are needed."

"So, now that not all the council members are dead, they can't use Etherion anymore?" Jet's voice came from one of the phones.

"So one of their aims was the nullification of Etherion?" They heard Droy's voice.

"Exactly what sort of weapon is face?" Makarov took the phone from Cana and gave the one he had, the one the call Juvia and Gray made, to someone else, who, thankfully, kept it up. "I know you have a duty do keep these secrets, but now is not the time for that!"

Michello stayed in silence for a few moments, but the moment he spoke his next words, ice went down Juvia's spine. "Nuclear bombs. A weapon that could destroy a country if used."

Juvia gasped and put a hand over her mouth, while Gray all but yelled a "What?"

"What a fearsome weapon." Makarov's eyes were wide.

"Where is it?" They heard Natsu yell. "We'll destroy it before they can get their hands on it!"

"I-I don't really know." Michello gasped. "I heard that only three former council members had their prints scanned, but only the former chairman knows where those three were."

"The lives of those three are the keys to the weapon." Wendy's voice was heard from the phone on Makarov's hand.

Gray gritted his teeth. "That's why Tartaros is trying to get the Council."

"On the contrary," Juvia looked up to her boyfriend "Doesn't that mean that they don't need any more information from them? That they already know where FACE is hidden? Org-Roshi-san's hands are missing. It means he was one of them and now Tartaros has his fingerprints." Gray's eyes widened as he made the connection.

"Fuck!" Gajeel said. "If the three that had their prints scanned were found, FACE is going to fall into Tartaros' hands, old man!"

"Hurry and find those two others and protect them!" Makarov yelled at the phone. "You said that the former chairman should know who they are, right?"

"P-probably." Michello answered.

Makarov looked to the other people on the room and yelled: "You guys still haven't found the former Chairman's address? They're probably after him too! Get moving!" Makarov looked around to the three phones with the teams he had sent out. "All of you, come back. Safely."

"Copy that, Master." Gray nodded and finished the call.

Only when they disconnected that Juvia let out a breath she was holding in. "Oh, Gray-sama." She looked at him.

"Let's go." Gray's expression was serious. "We have to go back home."

"We can't let him... them..." She waved towards the dead man on the floor a few meters away.

Gray sighed. "We will stop at a Police Station and tell them we were passing by and found them so they won't stay outside longer than necessary."

"Thank you." Juvia whispered and they walked outside, together.

#

They found a patrol car and told them what they had seen in the village. The Officers' eyes almost came out from their skulls and after taking notes about the motorcycle's license plate and their names, let Gray and Juvia go after seeing their credentials.

They were more than half-way through the path back home when Juvia started to speak. "Gray-sama?" She said through the microphone inside the helmet and heard him hum to let her know he was listening. "Juvia... has a bad feeling about this." She tightened her arms around his torso. "Look at what our enemies did to that town. I'd understand if I was feeling sad... But... It's something different."

Gray didn't say anything at first, just put one hand over hers, that was resting on top of his stomach and he squeezed it. "I'm here with you." She heard him say and his grip around him tightened. "Like always, FT will come out on top. Without fail."

Feeling slightly better, Juvia's only answer was: "Yes, Gray-sama."

#

It was mid-afternoon when they arrived at FT, just to receive an information about how they had no idea where Erza, Mirajane and Natsu were nowhere to be found.

"We went to the ex-Chairman's house, but they were nowhere to be found." Lucy bit her lower lip, nervous about her boyfriend and friends.

"What the hell is going on?" Gray said between gritted teeth and passed a hand through his hair.

"I hope they are alright." Juvia mumbled.

"I am trying to get some information through the dark net. I might have something soon." Levy informed them and returned her attention to her computer.

"I'm also worried about Lisanna and Elfman. We haven't been able to reach them at all." Cana was walking around, nervous.

"Tartaros. Is there really nothing we can do to get our hands on information about their headquarters?" Master spoke so quietly that if Juvia hadn't been standing close to him, she would've missed.

"Juvia will call some of her contacts to see if they have anything." She told the older man and he looked up to her, as if he had forgotten she stood next to him.

"Yes, thank you Juvia-chan." He tried to smile and she did the same before she left to her office to make some calls.

Thirteen phone calls later, Juvia learned nothing new about Tartaros. Every agency she had ties with had about the same information FT had. She was almost getting a headache with the frustration and her stomach protested with hunger and she ate one of the power bars she had in one of her drawers.

Night was falling when Levy called everyone, saying she had information about Tartaros' whereabouts and some other intel. Juvia arrived when she was in the middle of the information. "...ex-Chairman aligned with Tartaros." She was reading from her computer. "It says here that they had two women with them." She gasped and looked up. "I bet it's Erza and Mira!" Her eyes moved as she read more. "And I have an address for their HQ!"

"What?"

"You do?"

"Where?"

"Not too far from here, half an hour drive." Levy told them. "I'll try to get the layout!"

Makarov said, loudly: "Everyone, prepare for an attack. Get your gear and get ready! We are going after Tartaros tonight!"

Juvia, like most of the others nodded and started to prepare. She thought about getting her bulletproof vest at her office and to tell Gray to wear it as well, when there was a commotion by the elevator and heard people whispering.

"Elfman!" She vaguely recognized Jet's voice.

"You're okay after all!" Macao said.

"Hm? Where's Lisanna?" Droy asked.

Juvia couldn't see him yet, but heard Elfman's reply. His voice distant. "Lisanna... got captured." Everyone gasped in surprise.

"No way... Even Lisanna?" Lucy whispered when Juvia finally made her way through the crowd and stood next to the blonde.

"We were also too late to save Yuuri-Roshi." He looked down, ashamed. "I... Even though I was there..."

"It's not your fault." Juvia saw Gray step closer to their friend. "Levy's getting all the information she can get about Tartaros right now."

"Don't worry about Lisanna." Juvia told him. "We'll get her back, of that, you can be certain." Lisanna was a good friend.

"Pathetic." Cana said from a bit behind the crowd and everyone looked surprised. "Your sister gets captured and you come crawling back here without even going after those responsible?"

"Cana-san!" Wendy gasped in horror with Cana's words.

"I-I lost the sight of them." Elfman whispered, and Juvia noticed he seemed nervous, looking around, searching for something. Something was wrong.

"Lost sight? The people that captured Lisanna managed to evade you even though you are one of our best trackers?"

"That's enough, Cana!" Gray raised his voice.

Cana looked at Gray's direction, gritting her teeth. "But, it's just so..."

"I'm sorry..." Elfman all but whined. "I just need to... catch a bit of a rest." He wobbled his way to the bathroom by the back of the building and a heavy silence followed.

"Everyone is really on edge, huh..." Juvia sighed.

"You didn't need to say that stuff!" Gray was clearly mad at Cana, who looked just a little ashamed but hid it well. "It's his sister, Cana! You know that he'd do anything to get her back."

"Shit. Yes, I know he would, Gray!" Cana yelled back at Gray. "That's why I don't understand why he came back and didn't go after those bastards!"

"We don't know what we will do until it happens to us, Cana." Gray told her. "He doesn't know where his sister is so he came home. People do that."

"Don't guilt trip me, Gray." Cana hissed. "I'll go talk to him. Figure out why he's so weird." She said and followed the same way the taller man had gone a minute before.

"Damn it." Gray said under his breath and only calmed down a little when Juvia touched his back. "If we fight between ourselves, anyone can take us down. We need to be united."

"I know." She nodded, and was about to say more when they heard Cana scream for help. They looked at each other, and, just like another handful of people, ran towards the bathroom.

The scene was familiar to Juvia: seeing a friend with a vest with C4 strapped on. The same type Lucy wore months before. So it was Tartaros who did that, probably trying on their defenses.

And now they tried again.

"Get back!" Elfman yelled, moving his arms around. "Don't get in my way!"

"Oi! Elfman!" Cana tried to call him.

Juvia went to the door and yelled: "Code Red! Everyone out, now!"

"What is hap-" Someone tried to ask, but she talked louder.

"Now! Out!" People finally started to move towards the stairs and Juvia returned to the bathroom, where Elfman was telling what happened.

"-they said if I did this, they wouldn't hurt Lisanna!" Elfman yelled. "Go away! I came here to be as far away as possible from everyone else!"

"Shit, Elfman!" Gray yelled. "Those people from Tartaros are the worse. They won't keep their promise!"

"I couldn't take the chance." He was pale and shaking. "Please, leave."

"No one is leaving without you." Cana told him, serious.

"The counter is down to two minutes." Juvia heard Gray say and she looked to the digital count.

"Juvia!" Cana called and the blunette looked in her direction. "That time when Lucy got a vest with a bomb... Was it like this one?" The brunette didn't have to say anything else for Juvia to get her meaning.

"The exact same model." She said and ran to the closest office and looks through the desk drawers until she found scissors and then returned to the bathroom, where Elfman seemed to have stopped talking and Cana, Gray and a few more people.

"Got it!" Juvia stepped closer to them. "Elfman-san! You need to stop moving now!" The white haired man looked at her.

"Just calm down." Cana said. "We are going to help you and Lisanna, okay? I'm sorry for what I said, but you need to calm down now. Juvia did this with Lucy, she can help you and then we will go get Lisanna." She touched his forearm. "Trust me."

The moment he nodded, Juvia went behind him. "Take off your jacket." She said and saw Gray and Cana help him out of the clothes and there they were: the wires. "Orange, red, black, blue and yellow." She whispered to herself, trying to remember the order the best she could. "No, no. It's yellow and blue."

"Juvia..." Gray called her and she snapped out of it.

"It's fine." She looked at the timer. One minute left. "Orange, red, black, yellow and blue." She cut them exactly like Natsu had taught her, the closest she could. "I really hope it's yellow and blue." She whispered and started cutting, she didn't have much time to lose.

Orange. Red. Black. Yellow. Blue

00:43

The timer stopped and she breathed in relief. "It stopped." Her voice shook a bit. "You can take it off, gently." Cana did what she was told and Elfman tried his best to be gently, but he was a very large and clumsy man most of the time, but thankfully they took it off without a problem.

"I'll put it over th-" Cana's voice got interrupted by a beep coming from the vest and everyone looked at it. Juvia's blood ran cold when she read the words on the timer.

It blinked: Not this time. HA HA HA

And it changed to 00:10, then started to count down.

"Out!" Cana yelled, throwing the vest away. "Everyone, run!"

Before she could even think, Cana had grabbed her hand and the four of them were running towards the stairs. Thankfully, most of the people were already going down.

Juvia looked over her shoulder and saw Gray's eyes wide open, their eyes met. A big explosion shook the building, throwing them towards the wall and everything went dark when Juvia hit her head.

#

Ts