Chapter 2

Frosch tried to stare Lector down but he was tired and disappointed, so he left it at, "I can't tell you."

"What do you mean you can't tell me?" Lector blinked in surprise, "We're best friends aren't we?"

Frosch nodded, he was about ready to cry. This wasn't how it was supposed to go at all, everyone was unhappy, and he'd gotten Happy involved without even talking to him. Scratch that he was going to cry.

"Hey, don't cry!" Lector quickly moved to give Frosch a hug, "You don't have to tell me anything, okay?"

"It's not that!" Frosch wailed, "I made everything worse."

Lector looked at him for a moment and groaned, "Frosch, I keep telling you to leave it alone. They'll figure it out eventually."

"I just want them to be happy," Frosch sniffled, and Lector hugged him again.

"I know," Lector grabbed Frosch's hand and pulled him gently towards Rogue's room, "Come on, let's go to bed. Things will look better in the morning."

O-o

Sting had been hard at work in his office all morning. If there was one thing he hated about being a Guild Master, it was that there was always paperwork to get done. His mages were fairly responsible, he could only shudder at the amount of paperwork someone like Makarov had to deal with regularly.

He'd been thankful to see that both Rogue and Rufus had pitched in while he was gone, but there was a rather large pile still to be done, and today's batch hadn't even been delivered yet. Sting had just placed his head down on his desk for a brief rest when there was a knock on his door, and with a groan, he recognized Minerva's scent. She came in without waiting for his reply and dumped the daily delivery from the Magic Council on his desk.

"Never ends, huh?" Minerva stepped behind him and massaged his shoulders for a few glorious minutes. She slapped him on his back playfully and smirked, "There, now you can't say I never did anything for ya." She snorted and left him to his devices.

Sting sighed, momentarily refreshed by the massage and opened the container to see the new batch of papers that awaited his inspection. A brightly covered piece of paper caught his attention, and he looked at it first.

Apparently, the Magic Council was ordering a guild exchange to foster better relationships between the guilds after the Grand Magic Games. Sting groaned to himself, no way that was going to go well. He looked down the list to see who Sabertooth had been paired with, not at all surprised to see they had gotten Fairy Tail.

He might as well call Makarov to discuss who they would be sending, at least it was a change from the mounds of paperwork. He got out his lacrima and called the Fairy Tail Guild.

"This is the Fairy Tail Guild," Sting could hear Mirajane Strauss's voice clearly, "How can I help you? Oh, hello Master Sting!"

"Hey, Mira! Is Master Makarov around?" Sting fiddled with the ribbons on his sleeve as he waited for her response.

"Yes, he is!" Mira replied cheerfully, "I'll go find him for you."

"Thanks!"

Master Makarov appeared on the screen, the reddish hue on his cheeks and the slightly tipsy smile on his face letting Sting know the Fairy Tail Master had already begun drinking for the day, "Sting, my boy! How are you?"

"Just fine, sir. How about yourself?"

"Can't complain, the brats have been quieter than usual," Makarov replied, still smiling, "What's this about?"

"I just received a notice from the Council that we have to do an exchange between our guilds for a few days," Sting explained showing Makarov the bright yellow paper.

"Ah yes, must have missed that one," Makarov coughed into his hand and Sting saw the piles of papers on the Master's desk, how the man found anything in that mess Sting couldn't even imagine.

"I assume you'll want the dragon slayers?" Makarov asked.

"I hadn't really thought about it, it might be good to get Minerva in with Erza and Lucy so they can resolve their differences, with maybe Yukino as a buffer," Sting thought out loud, remembering how Minerva had behaved during the Games.

Sting thought it might be good to get Rogue to spend more time with Natsu since he seemed to harbor some dislike for the Fire Dragon Slayer, but he wasn't sure how it would pan out. Maybe if he asked for Gajeel as well? But Natsu and Gajeel were always fighting amongst themselves too. Ugh! Wendy? She might be able to keep Rogue and Natsu in line, that might be good for Frosch also, now that the little guy and Happy were a couple. Sting smiled thinking of how cute the Exceeds must look together.

"That's a good idea, you might want to have them come to you though, Erza is more likely to play nice at another guild. Lucy would probably be fine either way, but to be honest, Minerva will get more support at Sabertooth than here, " Makarov pointed out.

"That's true," Sting bit his lip, there went his plans unless he sent Rogue to Fairy Tail but he wouldn't be able to go himself, he knew his presence would be required to make sure the situation with the female mages didn't get out of hand. "I could send Rufus over with Orga, that way he and Gray could resolve their animosity."

Makarov rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a few minutes, "There's definitely no love lost between those two, I might have to send Natsu out on a job while they're here though."

Sting found the comment odd, but he supposed Natsu was pretty protective of his teammates and Gray and Rufus had not hit it off at all. "Oh speaking of Natsu I hear congratulations are in order."

Makarov laughed until tears ran down his face, "Yeah, it was a long time coming. How did you hear about it?"

"Frosch told us just last night, I have to admit I was a tad surprised that he and Happy hit it off so well, I always thought Happy liked Carla."

"Happy?" Makarov seemed confused, and then a grin slowly widened on his face as if he'd been told the world's greatest joke. "You know what? Why don't we let those two have a chat, I'm sure they must miss each other, they were quite close when Frosch was here."

"Oh, that's a great idea! I'll go get Frosch," Sting said eagerly, wanting to do something nice for Frosch since he'd seemed upset the previous night, plus the idea of the two Exceeds was just too cute.

"Lector, can you go find Frosch?" Sting asked of his Exceed, who'd been sitting watching the conversation with interest.

"Sure thing," Lector set off in search of his friend, excited at the prospect of finding out more about whatever Frosch was up to.

Frosch had been sitting by the guild pool thinking about how he was going to pull his plan off considering how badly it had begun when Lector came to find him.

"Frosch, Sting wants you to come to his office," Lector nudged his friend out of his thoughts.

Frosch looked up at Lector not quite knowing what to make of the Exceed's expression.

"He's got Happy on the lacrima for you," Lector explained and grabbed his friend by the hand trying to urge him to hurry. Frosch got the message, and they both flew towards the guild master's office. He was both excited and dreading the talk he knew he'd have to have with Happy, but there was no denying he would need his help.

O-o

Happy had been sitting at his team's table getting ready to eat the fish Mira had just placed in front of him when he heard Master Makarov calling for him. There was something in the old man's voice that decidedly made him nervous, but he couldn't quite place what it was.

"Happy, you have a call on the lacrima from Sabertooth," Master Makarov called out in what would seem to be a sweet old man voice to anyone who wasn't aware that the guild master was incapable of such a tone.

With a sinking feeling Happy left his fish behind and began to fly up to the guild master's office and that's when the old man dropped his facade and showed his true evil colors. "Natsu, Gray, Erza and Lucy, I think you might be interested in this as well."

Makarov could not contain his laughter any longer, and Happy sincerely hoped he choked on it. Still, he couldn't ignore an order from his Master, so with an even worse feeling than before he stoically made his way to the lacrima in the old man's office, his team following. He could almost feel the curiosity in their stares.

On the screen in front of him stood Frosch, and it didn't take much for Happy to figure out that things had not gone the way Frosch had hoped. Happy put his head down for a moment expecting the worst. He took a deep breath and asked, "What happened?"

He didn't see anyone else in the office, so he assumed that unlike his guildmates and Master the Sabertooth master had a concept of privacy clearly lacking in the Fairy Tail Guild.

"Fro's sorry!" Frosch began and burst into tears causing his team members to aww over him.

"What did you do?" Happy groaned, already getting the sense that this was going to go badly for him.

"Fro tried to tell Rogue what you said, but he wouldn't understand," Frosch started quietly, and then while looking down at Sting's desk, he added, "So Fro told him Happy was his boyfriend."

There was a tremendous burst of laughter behind Happy as his team reacted to Frosch's words, but Happy was not amused in any way.

"You told him what?!" Happy yelled and then instantly felt terrible when he saw it only made Frosch cry harder, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled, but you should have talked to me first. I never agreed to that, why didn't you say Lector?"

"I know!" Frosch wailed, "But Lector would never have gone along with it."

"Frosch," Happy whined, "I just got Carla to believe it was all a trick."

"Let me get this straight, " Natsu spoke up, and Happy immediately knew he was doomed, "Are you trying to get Sting and Rogue together?"

Frosch nodded eagerly.

Once again a crowd of awww could be heard from Happy's team.

"Happy, you have to do this, your friend needs you," Natsu appealed, excited by the prospect of getting his two friends together, "And it's for a good cause."

"Fairy Tail wizards don't back away from a challenge just because it's difficult or uncomfortable, plus you shouldn't deny a friend," Erza was quick to remind him.

"He looooooooooooooooooooooooooves you," Lucy couldn't help but tease, and of course Happy could say nothing as his own words were used against him.

"Happy, if it weren't for you, Natsu and I would probably still be trying to kill each other," Gray reminded him, "If you can help do the same for them, I promise you I will get you the biggest fish I can find."

Happy turned around and looked at Gray and then at Natsu as they sat next to each other holding hands. He couldn't help but smile at the two men, and he made his decision.

"Ugh, fine. Just remember your promise," Happy finally responded, "What do I have to do?"

o-o

Lector walked away from behind the door having heard every word. He felt a bit bad that Frosch hadn't thought he'd go along with his ploy, but Lector had to admit that he probably wouldn't have. Frosch's heart was in the right place, but Lector just didn't think they should get involved in Sting and Rogue's affairs.

Lector did hope that things worked out the way that Frosch wanted, he knew Sting loved Rogue, but he also knew that his partner wasn't sure Rogue returned his feelings. Rogue was too good at hiding his emotions and sent out mixed signals at best. Lector knew the truth, of course, but Sting wasn't going to just take his word for it.

He did feel that things were going to come to a head soon, especially if the biggest obstacle to Rogue confessing his feelings was already involved in another relationship. Lector had never quite understood how Rogue had taken Sting's admiration, and okay, hero worship of Natsu and turned it into romantic interest. He sighed, humans made everything so complicated.

He found Sting in the kitchen, as usual, snacking on some sweets Minerva had baked. Rogue had apparently taken a job early in the morning and was not expected to return until later in the day. Sting had been disappointed, but he was never one to mope or stay still for long. "Hey Lector, wanna go out for a walk or something?"

Lector agreed eagerly and the two of them, along with Yukino, went off for a walk around town.

O-o

"Wait, you're saying that Rogue thinks that Sting has a thing for me?" Natsu laughed incredulously as they made their way to the Sabertooth guild, "That's ridiculous!"

"Not so ridiculous, Flame-Brain, " Gray confided, "I thought the same."

"Seriously?"

Gray nodded sheepishly. Natsu laughed again but grabbed his boyfriend's hand and squeezed it.

"The only thing Sting wants from me is a good fight," Natsu assured Gray, "Do you have the paper from Gramps?"

"I thought you had it," Gray shrugged his shoulders and looked to Erza who shook her head. They all looked at Lucy. "No one asked me to grab it," she looked through the contents of her bag. "I have a paper," she offered the paper to Erza who had Natsu lean forward as she used his back as a makeshift desk to write a message with the pen that Lucy had also found.

"What did you write?" Lucy asked.

"The message isn't what's important," Erza reminded her, "How are you doing, Happy?"

"Just great," Happy muttered already thinking of the teasing he was going to get from Lector.

"Okay remember, we all need to be on our best behavior," Erza lectured, "Natsu and Gray, no fighting. Happy do whatever Frosch needs. Lucy, no matter what Minerva says or does, don't take the bait."

"What about you?" Natsu challenged, annoyed at her bossy tone.

Erza raised her eyebrows dangerously and countered, "What about me?"

"Relax, it'll be fine," Gray assured her, "You do realize this isn't an actual mission, right?"

"Of course," Erza asserted, "I just want everything to go well."

They walked in silence for the next mile or so until Lucy pointed out a familiar figure walking ahead of them, "Hey, isn't that Rogue?"

The group hurried to catch up with the dragon slayer who seemed not to have noticed their presence.

"Hey, Rogue!" They greeted the dragon slayer, but he didn't answer, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. He didn't acknowledge them in any way until Lucy tapped him on the shoulder. Rogue seemed startled by their presence but gave them a timid smile.

"Oh, hey," He gave them a sparse wave, "What brings you here?"

"Master Makarov sent us with a message for Sting," Erza explained smoothly, quickly waving the paper in Rogue's face, "Are you headed back to Sabertooth? We'll be glad for the company."

"Yes, of course," Rogue bowed slightly, but he didn't seem enthused. They continued their walk dispensing pleasantries, but Rogue's attention seemed to be taken up with observing Happy.

Gray nudged Natsu and gave him a meaningful glance, Natsu looked at him confused, and when Gray started to whisper something in his ear, Natsu shook his head at him and pointed to Rogue's ears.

Gray nodded in understanding and put his arm around Natsu's shoulders, grabbing Natsu's arm and placing it around his waist. Natsu adjusted himself to Gray's pace, but Rogue wasn't paying any attention to them. They finally reached the Sabertooth guild hall and were about to make their way inside when Rogue reached out to Happy.

"Happy, can I talk to you for a moment?" Everyone waited outside, so Rogue added, "In private?"

Happy looked to Natsu for help, and the dragon slayer walked to his Exceed's side while the others went inside.

Rogue wanted to protest, but he knew if Natsu had singled Frosch out, he would have done the same, so he made no comment. Instead, he walked them over to where there were some benches and sat down, the other two joining him.

"Frosch told me you had gotten...closer during his visit, " Rogue announced, "I just want to make sure that he doesn't get hurt."

Happy nodded, still looking a bit fearful even though Natsu was petting him. Rogue was thankful to see Natsu had chosen to stay silent instead of resorting to his usual brashness. He was surprised when Happy stood up from Natsu's lap and walked the short distance over to him and climbed into his lap.

"I'd never hurt Frosch," Happy said earnestly, looking into Rogue's eyes, "He's my friend."

"Alright then, " Rogue smiled at the blue Exceed, and he petted his head gently, "I'll hold you to that."

He glanced over at Natsu who looked like he wanted to say something but when he remained silent Rogue got up and adjusted his clothes. "We should go inside."

Natsu and Happy glanced at each other and followed Rogue inside.

O-o

"What are you guys doing here!" Sting greeted the Fairy Tail mages excitedly as they walked through the door. He'd thought he'd smelled Rogue and Natsu as well, but they were nowhere to be found, and that made him decidedly nervous.

Erza shoved a piece of paper in his hand and muttered something about Master Makarov sending them with a message. Sting opened the folded paper to see something scrawled in unreadable penmanship. He immediately recognized it as Erza's from the letter she'd sent them about Minerva right before Tartaros. He stared uncomprehendingly at Erza, who was trying to mouth something to him, but his attention was diverted by Natsu, Rogue and Happy entering the guild.

Sting searched their expressions, trying to figure out what had kept them outside, but nothing jumped out at him. He watched with interest as Natsu made his way over to Gray, who immediately wrapped his arms around the dragon slayer. He could hear Gray asking Natsu how it had gone and Natsu whispering something in his ear that made the ice mage laugh.

Sting shook his head and watched the two rivals again to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Natsu and Gray were a thing now? And Happy and Frosch? He quickly looked over to Erza and Lucy but didn't sense any change in their relationship at all.

Natsu leaned up and kissed Gray and Sting couldn't keep the grin off his face. He felt someone staring at him and caught Rogue's gaze. He gave his friend a tentative wave, and Rogue came over to him.

"Are you okay?" Rogue asked low enough only Sting would be able to hear.

Sting didn't understand what he meant or why he sounded so concerned. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Rogue gestured at Natsu and Gray who were still talking in the corner, their body language markedly changed since the last time he'd seen them. Sting followed his gaze and smiled, "Don't they look happy?" Sting asked wistfully.

"You're not upset?"

Sting snorted, "Of course not, to be honest, I'm more concerned as to why they're here." He showed Rogue the piece of paper Erza had handed him, and they both chuckled.

"I think maybe they just brought Happy over to see Frosch and needed an excuse."

"Oh yeah, about that, I meant to ask you, are you okay?" Sting placed his hand on Rogue's shoulder, "You didn't seem very happy about it last night."

"It was unexpected, but he looks happy doesn't he?"

Sting agreed, and they both watched Frosch laugh as he talked to Happy, at one point giving him a big hug. The two Exceeds were as adorable together as Sting had imagined and he had to force himself to look away so he could focus on Rogue. Sting had never seen his friend ever look so sad before.

"You've still got me, you know," Sting told him matter-of-factly.

"I know," Rogue gazed at Sting, trying to hide his yearning behind banter, "Can't really remember a time you weren't there."

Sting smiled as he realized it was the same for him. "Can you imagine what Jiemma would have done if he'd caught two guys kissing in his guild?" Sting joked even as Rogue tensed up.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Sting could almost feel the wall that Rogue had just put up between them.

"Nothing."

There was something in Rogue's voice that finally got through to Sting as nothing else had before. It was like the fog had been lifted from his eyes and he could finally see what had been in front of him all along.

He quickly began piecing things together, Rogue's animosity towards Natsu, his concern about how Sting would take the news that Natsu and Gray were a couple, even his lackluster response to Frosch's news. Not to mention all the things that Rogue did for him regularly. Seriously, who enjoys doing hours of paperwork?

Now that he realized all these things, Sting understood just how much of an idiot he'd been, pining for someone who had been broadcasting his feelings for him in his own way, all this time. He knew that part of it was due to the hostile environment they'd been forced to live in for so long, making them all terrified to show anything that might be considered a weakness, but they had managed to free themselves from those chains.

Sting knew there was a chance he was wrong, but he let the love and hope that filled the room fuel him into making a decision. He would give voice to his own feelings once and for all, and hope for the best. If he ended up being wrong, it would be embarrassing as hell, but he was confident that his and Rogue's friendship was strong enough to get past it.

"Rogue, Jiemma is gone, and he's never coming back," Sting reminded him, "We took him out, and now we can live our lives however we want. Just like them." He pointed at the Fairy Tail mages who were mingling with the other Sabertooth members, although it was obvious that there was still some tension remaining from the Games. "We've earned that right."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm just going to be honest," Sting declared, too caught up in his words to notice the room had gone eerily quiet, "I'm not interested in Natsu, I never have been, at least not in that way."

Sting gestured at Natsu and Gray who were standing hand in hand next to Orga, "I want to have what they have with you, and I've hoped for the longest time that you might feel the same way. But if I'm wrong then just tell me that, and we can get past it."

"I'm just tired of this dance," Sting revealed, "If two Exceeds can find their way to each other why can't we?"

Sting looked at Rogue expectantly, and this time he did notice the quiet, his nerves became frayed even though he was getting many encouraging looks from his friends. He saw Frosch watching them with interest as he held on to both Happy and Lector's hands in nervous anticipation.

"I — it's just a lot to take in all of a sudden," Rogue replied, feeling uncomfortable being the center of attention. He realized he hadn't answered the question when he saw Sting's disappointed expression. He hurried to respond, "I — I do feel the same way."

He was rewarded with the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen on Sting's face.

"Well okay then, that wasn't so hard was it?" Sting teased, grabbing Rogue's hand in his and pulling him in for a hug. Rogue put his arms around Sting tentatively, they'd hugged plenty of times before but usually as a way to comfort the other, never just to feel each other's touch. It felt nice, like every nerve ending in his body was lighting up.

Rogue wanted to continue to touch, to feel Sting against him and it gave him an assertiveness he'd always been hesitant to express in anything other than a fight. Rogue moved his head away from Sting's shoulder and gazed into the face he'd loved for so many years. Rogue leaned forward, finally able to taste Sting's lips with his own. He could feel Sting smiling against his kiss and couldn't help but to respond in kind before parting.

There was much cheering as cries of Fucking finally were heard from many a Sabertooth mage. Frosch was jumping up and down and dragging Happy and Lector with him.

Minutes later booze was flowing from everyone's mugs as they celebrated. Sting raised his mug in a toast, "To Frosch, for having the courage to be himself and inspiring us to get our sorry asses in order!"

"Hear, hear!" Everyone cheered for Frosch and instead of making the Exceed proud, he burst into tears. Even though he was happy it had worked out the way he wanted, it made him feel uncomfortable that his actions had been based on a lie. Happy was quick to comfort him, understanding how he felt, although it hadn't bothered him all that much.

"Frosch, what's wrong?" Rogue asked worriedly.

"Fro lied!" Frosch wailed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Fro only likes Happy as a friend," Frosch confessed, "Fro, only pretended to try to get Rogue and Sting together."

"Where would you get that idea?" Rogue asked, even though he knew exactly where it had come from. He glared at Happy.

"I may have done something similar to Natsu," Happy confessed edging his way towards his dragon slayer, seeking protection from the rage he could see growing in Rogue's red eyes.

"Let it go," Sting advised, "It all worked out in the end, I'm certainly not complaining about the results. As far as I'm concerned, Frosch and Happy are heroes!"

Frosch gazed up at Rogue, looking forlorn and the dragon slayer knew Sting was right. He'd save the lecture on lying for another day. He picked up his Exceed and gave him a big hug before whispering, "Thank you, Frosch."

A/N: This was a really fun story to write, I hope you enjoyed it! I tend to try to avoid writing the Exceeds as much as possible, but they kind of grew on me in this one.