"Gajeel!!" Levy shouted, rising to catch the falling slayer. She sagged under his weight, sinking to her knees as she gently laid him down. Behind her she could hear Juvia and rouge launch an attack at Ivan, but all her attention was focused on Gajeel and the panicking girl beside her. Levy put pressure on the gaping wound in his stomach, trying in vain to stop the bleeding. Gajeel coughed, blood coating his lips as he shakily lifted his hand to grasp Levys at his mid-section. Levy blinked back tears as she met his hazy crimson eyes as he tried to control his breathing. Avery moved to his other side, tears streaming down her face as she grasped at his free hand. "Get... Get her out of here..." Gajeel choked out before looking over at his daughter.
Avery shook her head as the tears came faster. "I'm not leaving you!" She nearly screamed, her voice cracking on a sob. Gajeel tried to chuckle, only to cough more blood and cringe. "Aint asking... Hatchling..." He was becoming light headed, and his vision was blurry as he tried to focus on Averys tear stained face. Avery shook her head again just before there was a small explosion, and she screamed as something landed beside her. Rouge was on his side, a groaning leaving him as he tried to right himself. Juvia laid beside him, though she was barely conscious . Avery and Levy looked up to see Ivan approaching them, murder on his face. Levy gently grabbed Averys hand, pressing it firmly against Gajeels wound and stood. She positioned herself between Ivan and her group of friends, script pen in hand. Gajeel had begun to panic, the script mage looked even smaller going up against a monster like Ivan, but he couldn't move. Ivan raised his hand, his paper dolls surging up high behind him before diving for them. Avery hid her face in Gajeels chest as Levy wrote out a guard, that was quickly broken by the dolls.
The attack never landed.
An explosion, larger than the first, shook the ceiling as it gave way, a blur of fire and wings raining down on Ivan. Levy looked up to see Happy trailing behind Natsu and Lily, who were now teaming up on Ivan. "Levy!" Happy said cheerily as he flew to her, accepting a hug from the woman. "You guys showed up just in time," she said gratefully. "Don't we always though?" Happy said with a grin before catching site of the down trio. "What happened?" he gasped as he flew beside Avery, who was pressing her shaky hands against Gajeels wound. She thought she was going to be sick as the blood rushed between her fingers. "I-I can't stop the bleeding," she choked, panic thick in her voice.
A hand on her shoulder made her jump, and she looked as Rouge kneeled beside her, removing his coat tearing it. Juvia was starting to come around as well and was carefully picking herself up. Rouge gently shoved Averys hands aside and carefully lifted Gajeel into a sitting position. He cursed, coughing up more blood and gasped in pain. Levy held him as Rouge began wrapping the strips of cloth around him, "Just hang in there Gajeel," Rouge murmured. Avery could only watch them try to save her fathers life as she clung to Happy, who didn't mind the girl using him as comfort. They laid him back down as Juvia rushed to help Natsu finish off Ivan, who was now on his last leg, but Avery could only focus on what was in front of her. "If only Wendy were here," Happy whispered, his ears flat against his head.
Avery frowned slightly as something in the back of her mind tried to move forward. She suddenly gasped, squeezing Happy so hard that he squeeked. Avery released him, reaching for the weight on her belt that she had forgotten about. A small glass bottle with a strengthening rune around it, keeping the glass from shattering. She tried to still her shaking hands as she moved beside Rogue once more, this time giving him a more forceful shove. Gajeels eyes were closed now, his breathing ragged and his face pale as Levy wiped blood from his mouth. The bluenette looked up at the sound of the bottle uncorking, her eyes widening in recognition of Wendys gift.
Levy carefully cradled Gajeels head as Avery handed her the bottle. Levy tipped the bottle so the pink contents fell into Gajeels mouth, causing him to cough slightly before he could swallow. Once he had drank half the contents she handed the bottle back to Avery before settling Gajeels head in her lap. The three of them turned to see Juvia land the finishing blow to Ivan, a boiling water nebula that scorched the very ground around them. After catching their breath, Juvia, Natsu and Lily made their way to their comrades, the black exceed rushing to a still shaking Avery. She hugged the exceed tightly as she started to break down again, it was just too much in one day.
Once again a hand was on her shoulder, and she turned to meet Rouges calm smile and red eyes. Avery released Lily so he could check on his partner before clinging to Rouge, crying as he rubbed gentle circles on her back. "Is it safe to move Gajeel?" Natsu asked, in one of his rare serious moments. "The bleeding has slowed thanks to the potion but he is very weak. On top of the wounds he has poison still in his system. We will have to be very careful moving him," Levy informed as she looked up at him. Natsu looked to Rouge to ask for some help, but Avery had finally lost consciousness from her stress and magic use. "I can carry him," Lily said, shifting into his battle form once more. It took a moment to get Gajeel settled onto the exceeds back, but soon the group was finally leaving the Phantom Lord hideout.
{So this is actually a bit shorter than some of the other chapters. Um, fun fact, the reason Natsu does a dramatic entrance here is because, well, I kinda forgot about him. I was sitting here, wracking my brain on how to get this to go. Talking to Jedi about it and we finally figured it out. Thank you beautiful. Another note! Next chapter will be the last, unless you guys want a handful of one shots. It wont be a whole lot, just a few showing Gajeel and Levy getting together(they would be a little further in the future so like wedding and stuff) and Avery and Rouges relationship maturing (a little bit of teen dating and maybe wedding. Dunno on that one) but I'm leaving it for you guys to decide!!}
