Gray put his money down on the tavern counter and wandered over to a table with the slush he'd ordered. He'd just completed an easy solo mission by capturing a few thugs and turning them over to the authorities, and on his way back, he'd heard a rumor about a dragon and stopped to investigate. Now, he was going to meet up with this Daphne person before heading back to Magnolia. He took the first sip of his slush and was just beginning to study the other people in the pub when a familiar name caught his ears.

"I'm looking for Natsu Dragneel, do you know where I can find him?" a woman in a white lab coat was asking a table across the room.

"Sure don't, pretty lady, but you found someone better," one of the men said in a loud, slightly slurred voice.

"Hey, I'd say you found 2 or 3 better," one of his friends joked, and the rest laughed. Then a third man, the one sitting closest to her, reached for her arm.

"Why don't you join us, pretty lady?" asked the one who was holding her by the arm.

Daphne grinned. "Hai-hai-hai, I'm sure the three of you would love to hear about Metamo-chan!" she said, reaching into her bag.

"I'm sure we would. She a friend of yours?" the leader asked as Daphne pulled out three wobbly brownish popsicle things with legs.

Before Daphne could say anything, a hand landed heavly on the guy's shoulder and he twisted to see a dark-haired young man in a white coat towering above him.

"The lady asked you a simple question," Gray said in a firm voice.

"What business is it of yours?" the man demanded.

Instead of answering, Gray began to send ice out from his fingertips to form a ring around the man's neck. As soon as his friends saw what was happening, they jumped back from the table.

"Oh shit, a wizard!" one of them shouted.

Gray smirked as the man nearest to him also jumped away. He'd just had time to complete a fairly solid "collar" of ice, and the man was already shivering as he clawed at it and cursed at Gray.

"Get lost," the ice user ordered them, then set his own slush on the table and joined Daphne.

"I was about to make some sales," she informed him with an accusing pout, then seemed to change her mind. She beamed. "Hai-haaiii! But maybe you'd be interested in my Metamo-chan? Have you heard about my amazing breakthrough with this fantastically delicious diet food and that's why you sent them away? So you could buy my entire stock for yourself?" she prattled enthusiastically.

"Um…nooo," he said, eyeing the odd popsicle-lizard thing she thrust into his hand, and Daphne eyed him.

"Then why did you spoil my sales opportunity?" she asked, serious once again.

"I can't stand guys like that. They give the rest of us a bad reputation."

"So you tried to freeze him solid?"

Gray smirked. "Nah, he'll be fine. That collar will melt off of him in a couple hours."

"So you're not actually interested in my Metamo-chan?" she asked with a dramatic air of suspicion. "Why not?"

Gray blinked and glanced at the jiggly brown thing he was still holding and tried to think of a polite way to change the subject. This woman was already annoying, but he had to find out what kind of monstrosity (other than these "metamo" sticks) she was working on.

"I'm gonna go with…" he hesitantly poked one of the little feet sticking out of the popsicle, and it wobbled around. These little feet... oh man, they're gross looking. "Let's say it's for the love of shoes."

Daphne cocked an eyebrow at him, clearly not catching his meaning. It was time to change the subject before he offended his mark.

"I know Natsu," he said, laying the snack gingerly on the table and pushing it aside. "I want to know what you want him for. I'm the one you talked to this morning about meeting up here."

"Gray Fullbuster?" she asked. "Hai-hai-hai! Excellent! I'm so glad I've found someone who appreciates the value of research! I know you'll be as excited as I am about my invention…"

Gray sat back and listened to her for the next twenty minutes. She carelessly explained everything about her Dragonoid scheme, from the reasons she'd developed it to the lizardmen that had been her original prototypes to the reason she needed Natsu as the power source. Apparently the thing would only be a "real" dragon if it was charged with true dragon magic.

And she'd heard about a Dragon Slayer named Natsu Dragneel who had incredible strength, so she had set her sights on him.

As she talked about her reasons for developing the dragonoid, a memory surfaced in Gray's mind from the time he'd followed Natsu to the City without Sound. He visualized all the tricks and abilities she talked about programming into her creation, and when he did the math in his head, he realized she must have been working on this for years. She really was the person Natsu had promised to defeat so that the people in that city could be free from the curse.

As she explained that she needed a Dragon Slayer to actually be inside the thing to power it, he'd asked her if that could be dangerous, and she'd over-confidently and condescendingly described the data she'd already collected about the levels of Natsu's power. They were way, way too low to be accurate when Natsu really got fired up, and Gray suppressed a smirk.

"And what if he's stronger than you think?"

"Well, he'd be able to take over control of my Dragonoid from the inside, and if my calculations were waaaaay off, it might even go Kaboom!" She waved the empty Metamo-chan stick that was still in her hand. "But there's no need to worry about that," she grinned around a mouthful of brown jiggle. "I've built in a fail-safe command protocol to adapt to up to 20% more energy than I've calculated."

20 percent? One-fifth again as much power as you've predicted? Gray stared at her. You'd need to allow for 200 percent of the numbers you've been telling me, once Natsu really gets going, he thought. Maybe even more.

All her prattling and babbling and—much to his chagrin—flirting, and she'd just given her enemy the key to defeat her before she could even pick a fight. She was self-centered and cocky about both her appearance and her intelligence, but her mouth was apparently her weakness.

However, he couldn't dismiss everything else she'd been saying. She was dangerous because she actually had something to be cocky about.

A plan began to form.

It crossed Gray's mind to let the opportunity pass—he could report her to the authorities, or at least warn Natsu and the other Dragon Slayers about her, and then it wouldn't even be possible for her monstrosity to power up.

He dismissed the idea almost as soon as it occurred to him for several reasons: Natsu had made a promise, and here was his chance to finally keep it after all these years. Those people were depending on him, and he was making Fairy Tail look bad by letting so much time pass without even checking into the matter.

There was also the fact that if she was intelligent to get this far with her invention, there was no guarantee that she couldn't recalibrate it to another kind of power after she got bored of searching for Natsu, and then it might not have this perfect weakness.

And there was always the chance that Natsu would fall into one of her traps eventually even if he did have a warning, because the idiot was just careless like that. Or that she'd set her sights on one of the other Dragon Slayers.

Daphne finally stopped talking as Gray reached the bottom of his slush, and she leaned forward across the table. The gleam in her eyes confirmed what he had to do, whether he liked it or not.

He would act on his own plan.

"So, about Natsu Dragneel. I want to know where he is."

Gray leaned forward to match her position and gave a dark smile. "I'll do better than that," he said.

"Oh?"

"I'll fight for you. You give me the chance to kick that fire-breathing bastard's ass once and for all, and I'll put him right where you want him."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Daphne asked, picking up the brown wobble-legged snack Gray had put down earlier and sticking it in her mouth.

You ask that now, after you already told me everything? Gray scoffed inwardly at her arrogant foolishness.

"I've been waiting for an opportunity like this," he told her in a low voice. "Natsu Dragneel…he's been humiliating me for years. He's the exact opposite of me in every way, and everyone loves him for it. It makes me hate him."

"Go on...?"

Gray took a deep breath and locked eyes with the mad scientist. "You give me the chance to kill him…" he smirked in the way he knew women liked and tried to ignore the uncomfortable chill that ran down his spine, "and I'd never be able to thank you enough."

He thought about the way he was already leading her on, and what his friends would say. But it wasn't like he was going to break her heart—at least not over himself. That wouldn't be possible. He had every intention of breaking her heart where the dragonoid monster was concerned, though.

He saw her face heat up, and he held her gaze a little longer. In the half hour he'd been talking with her, he'd realized he was actually repulsed by the woman, but he would be out of her reach long before the time came to act on the desires he was falsely implying. He hoped.

Daphne's calculating stare slowly melted into a disconcerting grin.

It was cold, what he was going to do to his team and his guild. For a while, he'd be an enemy.

Natsu's enemy. Erza's enemy. Lucy's enemy, and Happy's, and Juvia's, and the whole guild. He was going to intentionally make them think he was a traitor. Actually, truth be told, he was going to actually BE a traitor, because he was going to hand Natsu over to a mad scientist on a silver platter.

But he was an Ice Mage, after all. Cold was something he could do. And he was a Fairy Tail wizard, so his plan wouldn't fail. He trusted his guild to trust him enough to search for his reasoning, and when they found it, they'd understand.

. . .

"I love it when my research goes this smoothly!" Daphne exclaimed from her desk. She pushed back from it in her roller chair and spun to face Gray where he was reclining on the couch with a magazine. "I've just gathered some really juicy information…" she scooted her chair over to hover over her new partner in crime, "about some of those people you hate so much."

Gray lowered his magazine. He really wasn't sure he wanted to know, but after all, he was in this for them. He should know what they'd be up against. And besides, she clearly expected a reaction from him. "Oh?" he asked.

"I've had my spies watching them. It seems like a few of them are getting ready to go on a job soon! Like maybe that blonde teammate of yours with the big boobs, and the blue-haired girl."

Juvia? Going on a job with Lucy? No, I don't think Juvia likes Lucy enough for that…good grief that woman is confusing. Levy? Probably not; she has her own team. Probably Wendy. That would make more sense. They're probably encouraging her to go with someone for her first job.

"Just the two of them?"

"I was surprised too. It's a good thing Natsu doesn't seem to be planning to go with them. It's still too soon to spring the trap on him, so we need him to stick around for a couple more days. Although I'd definitely prefer if that red-headed teammate of yours went," she mused.

"Erza?"

"Hai-haaiii. I haven't gathered many statistics on her, but everyone seems to regard her as one of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards."

"Well-" Gray almost let the word 'duh' slip out before he remembered he wasn't supposed to have any respect for anyone in his guild anymore. He corrected himself, "Well, yeah. She is actually pretty strong—one of only 3 S-class wizards in the whole guild, other than the Master. And the other two…well, one got expelled, and the other is never around."

Daphne's eyes widened behind her large spectacles, and she spun her chair back to her desk and began typing madly into her keyboard. "So she's essentially the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail?"

Gray considered for a moment. He was definitely terrified of Erza, but he knew that if Natsu really got serious against her, she might not actually be the strongest. But Natsu would never truly go all-out against another Fairy Tail wizard—it just wasn't in him. And Mirajane had her ridiculously powerful demonic form, but she hadn't used it in years except for that one battle where Elfman was seriously injured. And Gray himself was not to be taken lightly, nor were Lucy or Gajeel or Macao or Elfman or Cana or a lot of the others. But none of them had ever beat Erza.

So, functionally, the answer was yes, Erza was indeed the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail, not counting the Master.

But would he be betraying Erza if he told Daphne that? Erza never seemed to balk at the title, and…an idea tugged at Gray's mind. He hadn't been able to leave Daphne's lair in her Hidden hotel because he couldn't risk losing her trust at this stage of the game, so he hadn't had the chance to communicate with anyone. He probably wouldn't get a chance to do so until after all was said and done.

"I guess she is," he answered casually. "Actually, she could be a really good test for your…uh, what were they called?"

Daphne spun back until she was almost nose to nose with Gray, eyes wide. "My lizardmen?"

Gray made an effort not to recoil from Daphne's close proximity. "Yeah, those. They're going to play a big part in the battle later, right?"

"Hai-hai-hai! I see!" She spun back once again to her computer, and Gray blinked. He was getting dizzy just watching all that spinning. "If I can test one of them against the strongest wizard in the guild, then I can be that much more prepared when the time comes to send them out for real!"

And Erza can have a warning that something is going on, and a sneak peek at your creepy lizard soldiers.

Daphne typed for a few more seconds, then more slowly, she turned her chair and scooted it back over to where Gray was now sitting upright on the couch. Gray studied her face carefully—her expression was different now than it had been a minute ago.

Please not that. Please no.

"That's a really good idea," Daphne said. "Thanks. Maybe I really can trust you."

Gray smirked a little. "I've told you from the beginning. I'm just in this for a good fight."

"Hai-hai." She scooted a little closer in her chair and leaned forward ever-so-slightly. "Breakthroughs like this get me really worked up," she said, then glanced down at his mouth.

He frowned, and she blushed. "I can tell," he muttered. Please no. Not yet. It's too soon…I can't handle it. I don't want it. How can I…without…?

"I think I might have to thank you, you know? Not just the other way around," she breathed.

"Nothing's been accomplished yet," he reminded her. He kept himself from backing away from her, but inside he was getting more and more panicky about the shrinking gap between her face and his.

"It's a guaranteed win, with the two of us and my creations. Don't you want to start celebrating?" she asked.

If he could detach his mind, his body actually might have agreed with her. Physically, she was moderately attractive. But she was also evil, and more than a little psychotic. Gray looked down at her lips—they were full, the perfect size for kissing, and shiny with lip gloss.

He reached out and put his hands on her shoulders, stopping her advance. "I do." He leaned in until his mouth was only an inch from hers, then stopped. "But I don't believe in mixing business with pleasure."

Daphne's eyes snapped open as he gently pushed her back and stood up. "Whaaa?" she asked, mouth still open slightly.

"You're on a role and I'd really hate for that to be interrupted," he grinned. "I'm obviously a distraction for you…and you for me." He bent down and planted a lingering kiss on her cheek. "Business first."

As he began to walk away, Daphne jumped to her feet. "Wh-where are you going?!" she demanded.

Gray tossed a wave over his shoulder without looking back at her. He wasn't sure he could keep the mixed emotions out of his expression this time. "Relax, I'm not leaving. I'm just going downstairs. I've got to prepare for this fight too, you know. And by the way, Erza uses requip magic."

Daphne blinked at his back. "Hai-hai…" she murmured, then he was gone and heading downstairs toward the pool, just like he'd said. She sank into her chair and took a moment to pull her thoughts together, then began running simulations.

. . .

Two days later, it was finally time to start his part of the plan. Daphne had gotten as far as she needed to, with him subtly rushing her as much as possible in hopes she'd cut corners and make a mistake. Only time would tell if that had worked, though, and right now it was time for him to finally leave this prison he'd been pretending to enjoy.

It was time to go lay the bait for Natsu.

Daphne was clearly excited. She'd been bouncing around all morning, making last-minute adjustments to her calibrations and babbling about how her dream was finally going to come to fruition and stealing glances at Gray that he was all too aware of.

"So it's time, right?" he asked. "Time to go get Natsu."

"Hai-haaaiii!" She pinned him with a calculating look, one she hadn't used for a couple of days now. "Are you really sure you're up for this? Betraying your guild and your teammates?"

It was a question he'd been asking himself since he'd first come home with her. Truth be told, he was most definitely not up for it, but it had to be done in order to save their lives. Daphne was too damn strong for the guild to defeat without Natsu fighting from the inside, and even postponing this battle a couple of years wouldn't change that. The more he'd reconsidered his decision over the past couple of days, the more certain he was that they couldn't just leave Daphne to her own devices for that very reason.

So instead of answering, Gray stepped toward her. He'd been steeling himself for this moment in addition to the moment when he would actually face Natsu. It wouldn't do to let her doubt his intentions; she might get suspicious and add some booby-trap or failsafe while he was gone, and then all his work to stroke her ego would be meaningless. She couldn't be allowed to lose her over-confidence; it was the only thing that was going to allow Fairy Tail to defeat her.

She'd made a couple of advances on him since that first one, and each time he'd gently stopped her, kissed her cheek, and set her back to working. But he could tell she was getting tired of his tactics and frustrated with his apparent lack of real interest in her. So….now this.

He put his hands on her upper arms, causing her to blink and look between his hands and his face, then guided her in a semi-circle until her back was against the wall. Then one of his hands released her arm and slid up her neck, and she swallowed. He looked down to her lips, which were already slightly open, and he could feel her heart speeding up. He forced himself to smirk. So this is what it feels like to play a player, he thought as she closed her eyes. But it was all for the sake of his act.

Here was the true beginning of his betrayal of Fairy Tail. He kissed her deeply, not because his mind wanted to, but because he needed her to believe it. He shut his mind down, picturing another face and letting his instincts temporarily take over. He felt her melt in his arms; she slipped her arms up around his neck.

For once he was glad he hadn't stripped, or he'd be feeling her lab coat sleeves against the skin of his neck. He kissed her for another few seconds, then broke away breathing almost as hard as she was.

After all, he was still male.

He used his own natural reaction to his advantage by letting her see the heat in his eyes. If she was like most women in this, she'd interpret his lust as genuine love. Her face turned bright pink, and he held her gaze as he stepped toward the door.

"I'll be back. Expect Natsu first, just like we planned."

"Hai," she breathed, then he was out the door and trying to shake the moment out of his head.

. . .

Stepping up to fight Natsu was one of the easier parts of his plan. He'd faced off against the fire user so many times before, it almost felt natural to walk in the door and reveal his presence by raining down ice shards.

Sauntering over to Daphne, though, and letting her rest her arm on his shoulder in a public display of affection…that was much harder. The way the blasted woman touched his face in front of all his friends…why the hell wasn't Natsu realizing that Gray was hiding something? He'd never let any girl get so close to him in front of his friends!

He tried not to wince at Happy's observation of "she lllllikes him!" Obviously, he would have liked to shout. He must have kissed her with a little too much enthusiasm earlier if she thought this kind of thing was suddenly appropriate.

"Gray, what's the meaning of this?!"

Gray took a deep breath and hid it with a grin. Ridiculous romances aside, Natsu was finally realizing the situation. The indignation in his voice was good to hear—if Natsu had sounded hurt this early in the game, Gray might not have been able to carry through with his plan. He'd counted on Natsu reacting like this, so he said the line he'd rehearsed in his head so many times.

"Natsu… We've gone at it a whole bunch of times, haven't we? I was thinking… Maybe it's time we finally settled this, once and for all."

"What the hell are you saying?"

"Until now, I've been bringing myself down to your level. But I'm sick of it. I'm going to do things my own way. I'm not sticking with you anymore," Gray informed him, his insides feeling a little colder than usual. It was uncomfortable.

"Gray…" He heard Happy say, but he ignored the cat just as he'd planned. He also ignored Wendy and Carla—they weren't supposed to be here. Bastard, what were you thinking, bringing a little girl into a potentially dangerous situation? He had to keep Daphne from finding out that Wendy was a Dragon Slayer too. She had as much heart as Natsu, but nowhere near the strength. How can I get Wendy out of harm's way?

"Hai-haaaiiii, just as you heard. Gray Fullbuster is mine," he heard Daphne say, and his thoughts derailed.

Hers. Owned by the mad scientist.

What if they believed her?

Grey smirked to keep himself from shuddering. He'd let her keep thinking that for a while longer. She'd find out eventually that she was being played, but he still had another phase of the game to complete before he could let anyone in on the truth.

Right now, he had to kick Natsu's ass in order to save it.

It wouldn't be easy. He'd already realized that he'd have to go all out against his best friend/greatest rival, and even then, he wasn't sure he could defeat Natsu. He'd no doubt take at least as much damage as he inflicted on the Dragon Slayer, but to save Magnolia, he'd even sacrifice his own life (which he might well be doing if his plan went sideways). But there was no way he could hope to beat Daphne and her insane machine on his own. Even the whole guild working together probably wouldn't be able to. Only a Dragon Slayer with as much power and heart as Natsu could defeat Daphne's monstrosity, and if Natsu wasn't at the right place at the right time, then Magnolia and Fairy Tail were both doomed.

His only chance at getting Natsu into a positon to save the city was to use their friendship. Their teamwork, as often as not, was all about competition. He'd back Natsu up right until his dying breath, and he knew Natsu would never leave him behind in a battle unless it was to work toward a common goal. They were strong individually, but together…only Erza could ever hope to defeat them if they really got going, just like only Erza could separate them when they were really at each other's throats.

What came of that friendship/rivalry, though, was an intricate knowledge of how to really push Natsu's buttons, and a trust that Natsu would hold back, just a tiny bit, for the sake of their friendship. Even if it really truly looked like Gray was betraying him and genuinely trying to kill him, as long as Gray didn't attack anyone else, then Natsu wouldn't finish him. Natsu would demand the truth, and wouldn't allow Gray to die until he'd found it.

Erza might. But he'd worry about her later.

Daphne's next words pulled Gray back to the present. "I want that Dragon Slayer. Crush him."

He could actually look forward to this fight. It wasn't something he was proud to be doing, but he needed to seem like he was enjoying it, and the best way to give that impression was probably to actually allow himself to enjoy it a little bit. Natsu would be too, he was sure—the idiot loved fighting. It was probably why the two of them could actually rely on each other so heavily in a true battle. They practiced on each other so much that each knew every nuance of the other's battle style.

He traded banter a little bit with Natsu, still ignoring Happy's inane comments and questions, and tried to figure out how to get Wendy to safety. Completely out of other ideas, he took his stance. If he couldn't protect Wendy, he could probably get Natsu to do it.

Gray locked eyes with Natsu and let his hands chill the air in the whole room by several degrees, very suddenly. It was an opening move he reserved for boss fights, and having been in several of them with his teammates at his side, he knew Natsu would recognize it.

"Stand back, Wendy. He's being serious."

THANK you! he wanted to shout at Natsu, already exasperated from how long it had taken the fire user to realize Wendy was in danger here.

Gray needed to get Natsu away from here so they could both really let loose. He listened impatiently to more comments from Wendy and the cats, then decided he couldn't take much more of the chatter. "Ice Make Lance!" he said, announcing his first true attack.

"Wait, isn't he a fake?" Carla asked, and Gray winced inwardly. He'd considered that they might think this. "Something like this happened before!"

"That's right!" Happy agreed. "There's something different about Gray this time…"

"Something different? Like what?" Wendy looked confused.

"Um…" As Happy tried to pin down the answer, Gray wasn't sure whether to be more nervous or more at ease.

During his time with Daphne in her imaginary hotel-prison, he hadn't stripped even once, not even to sleep. It was something he did when he was comfortable, around friends. But the mad scientist was not a friend, and he was alone here except for her all-too-watchful eyes. He would be back with his guild soon, he prayed, but for the time being, he'd actually been too tense to feel comfortable in just his skin.

But now they were here. Natsu, Happy, and two other Fairy Tail members. Daphne wouldn't make any advances during the fight, and his guild needed to know that it was indeed him that was picking the fight. Gray took a deep breath and threw off his shirt and coat. "Let's do this for real already, Natsu," he said, just for something to say.

"He stripped. He really is Gray!" Happy announced a little too happily.

"You bastard…You're seriously going for it?"

Now we're getting somewhere, he thought, relieved to finally be able to fall back on his fighting instincts and blow off some steam. Just to be able to finally do anything was a relief, honestly.

"Here I come, Natsu! Ice Make Battle Axe!" he shouted at the same time Natsu yelled, "Roar of the Fire Dragon!"

. . .

"Neither of their attacks can finish it!" Gray heard Happy say. "At this rate, they'll both use up their energy and collapse!" The ice user clenched his jaw. He wished Happy was wrong, but Natsu was still holding back. Gray couldn't afford to hold back. He needed to finish this. The longer he drew out this fight, the less energy Natsu would have for the fight to come. He was already using every weakness he knew of Natsu's; his clumsiness and lack of planning made him vulnerable to tricks like coating the stairs with slippery ice.

Then Natsu knocked him through a wall (which hurt) and into a pool (which felt really good). He'd made a cage, but he hadn't really expected the cage to hold the dragon slayer for long.

He reminded himself to trash-talk. Everybody—Natsu, Wendy, the cats, and especially Daphne right now—needed to believe he really was in this fight for selfish reasons. He focused on the one small part of the situation he was actually allowing himself to enjoy: the opportunity to test his strength against Natsu, for real, without Erza interfering.

"I always intended to settle things with you one day," he goaded with what he knew was an arrogant grin. "Today's the day!"

. . .

As the fight neared its end, Gray was tired. He and Natsu stood panting, facing off once again. It was almost time for his finishing move…damn he hated to actually defeat Natsu. The guy was one hell of a fighter. It felt wrong to trick him. It was a dirty move, because Natsu was so…so genuine. He wouldn't see this coming.

It was a cold, cold thing to do. He'd never used deception in his fights against Natsu before. But it was the only way to guarantee that Natsu would be captured like he had to be.

He feigned unconsciousness from the moment he landed on his back from Natsu's big fire attack. It wasn't hard; that drive had actually been quite painful. Gray listened to Natsu's usual light gloating; normally, he'd get up about now and start attacking again.

But this was not a normal situation. Gray lay still, flat on his back as Natsu approached, asking if he was alright. Like he didn't consider their friendship over.

Was the bastard trying to make this harder? A little anger or indignation from the betrayed Dragon Slayer would have made it a lot easier to carry out what had to happen next. That naiveté, though…it could get Natsu in trouble someday, but it was also the reason Natsu was the only person capable of stopping Daphne. And that could only be done from inside her monster.

"My bad. I hit you somewhere I shouldn't?" Gray stifled a smirk. They actually had both fought fair, up until now. No back-strikes when the other wasn't expecting it, or hits below the belt. It hadn't been a conscious decision, but Gray hoped it would make this betrayal easier to get past once the fight was over. He let the ice begin to creep out of his fingers toward Natsu's feet.

Then Daphne had done her part, and Natsu was captured. It was done.

"Excellent work, Gray Fullbuster. You get high marks as my assistant."

"Thanks," he grinned, even though his mouth felt dry. Now it was all up to Natsu. Gray's role was finished, except for maintaining the charade until he could return to Fairy Tail to explain the situation. Unfortunately, he was afraid that if Daphne figured out that she was being manipulated, she might find some way to fix the weakness he'd just set Natsu up to exploit, and then Natsu really would die, and everyone else along with him, and it would be Gray's fault.

He had to keep sounding arrogant. "Took a bit of work, though."

Then Happy went and mouthed off about Gray losing the "real" fight, which…well, Happy was right. If he'd fought fair to the end, Natsu probably would have won. But here was an opportunity to send Natsu's sidekick to him, to help encourage him in the coming fight. He grabbed Happy by the scruff of the neck.

"I'll throw you in there too!" he growled, but Daphne stopped him. She didn't want any "impurities" in the mix with Natsu. Damn.

When the blasts started, Daphne and the others started to talk to each other once again, and Gray finally allowed his expression to slip. He could only pray now that he'd done the right thing, because it was too late to change his mind. He tried to see Natsu in the magical pit below, but there was only lightning visible through the small opening. He could hear Natsu screaming, though. Gray's stomach twisted at the sound of what he'd just thrown his friend into.

He would stay close until reinforcements arrived. Natsu was tough, no doubt about it. He would last long enough to fight this thing from the inside, and come out alive. But if something unexpected happened, Fairy Tail needed to be there to pull him out one way or another, and Gray was currently the only one who could get close enough because Daphne still trusted him. He took up his stance on the dragonoid's ugly snout.

Gray just prayed that nothing unexpected happened now. He wasn't strong enough to get Natsu out by himself, but he'd die trying if Natsu couldn't handle this fight. Which meant he had to keep up the lie a little longer, or Daphne would push him out of reach.

. . .

Finally they came. Reinforcements. His guild, swearing to bring him back to the guild. Gray tried not to let his relief show. He had to get out of here and back to the Master to explain everything, but without tipping Daphne off about the plan he'd been working.

Because it wasn't going so well. Why hadn't Natsu already gotten fired up? Why hadn't he destroyed the thing from the inside out yet?

Then Elfman was attacking, and Gray went down easier than he had planned to because of the surprise attack. I guess that's what happens to traitors…nobody but Natsu holds back, he thought as he lost consciousness. I deserve this.

He was aware again when they reached Fairy Tail. His friends were in bad condition…and it was his fault. They must have fought to get him back here.

Gray clenched his fists. What he'd done to them wasn't right. They shouldn't have had to nearly sacrifice themselves to capture and protect him, but his plan had hinged on this. All Fairy Tail wizards would fight for just one Fairy Tail wizard in trouble. They were fighting for Natsu on the surface, but he knew they were also fighting for him, because he'd been in a tight spot too for the past few days. He'd trusted them to do exactly this, but he hadn't counted on it taking so much out of them. Or out of himself, for that matter.

He just had to trust that they'd understand later why he'd had to do it this way.

Then Cana was shaking him, demanding answers, and he didn't fight her off. He deserved all her anger; he'd known it would come and it was his place to bear it the same as it'd been his place to set Natsu up to win this fight.

But Juvia…that insane woman. She still believed in him? Enough to stand up to one of the most senior members of the Guild, even though she herself was still pretty new? She really did have the Fairy Tail heart.

He didn't have time to be sitting around and wallowing in guilt though. Natsu didn't have time for it. Gray reached out and placed his hand on the crazy water-woman's shoulder.

"Juvia…enough."

They felt like they had to escort him, guns at the ready, to the Master. Gray didn't question it; after all, they had no idea yet why he'd done what he'd done.

It was a strange feeling, though, having an armed escort through the main hall of the guild. He'd always moved about freely here; it was his home. He had to trust that it would be again soon…he had to focus. Right now, he had to get to Gramps and explain. Only the old wizard would know what to do from here, since Natsu wasn't yet carrying out his duty.

When they finally left him seated in the Master's office, Gray almost broke down. To finally be able to face Gramps and confess what he'd done, and the reasons he'd done it…it was freeing.

When he finished talking, he waited with his heart in his throat to hear the Master's sentence. He needed to get back out there—he had to go watch Natsu's back! Even if the Master planned to expel him for betraying the guild like this, which Gray doubted would happen, he had to get back out there for the time being.

"I'll give you the plan," Gramps finally said, and Gray's breath caught.

He still trusts me. All this, and he's not even…he's going to tell ME the plan? Not Erza or Cana or Elfman? Then I'm still...

Gray nodded wordlessly. What was there to say? He'd have to apologize to everyone, no doubt, and he'd do that. And there might still be some punishment, but it would come later and wouldn't be anything he couldn't handle, like expulsion. For now, Gramps was telling him that he did understand, and maybe even that he'd made the right choice.

. . .

His first personal apology was to Juvia. It wasn't in so many words, really, but she would get his meaning. By asking her to do a Unison Raid with him, he was not only acknowledging her power, but also acknowledging her loyalty to him. After all, there's a reason so few wizards ever do Unison Raids, even though they tend to be so powerful: It's an intimate technique. If one's magic is one's very life and soul, then binding that to another person's life and soul is one of the most intimate moments two wizards can share.

Then there's the actual risk. If the two people involved tried to do different things, it could spiral out of control and cause a lot of damage, or if one threw all their magic into the Raid and the other didn't match it, a Raid could be suicide (or murder, depending on the situation) for the one that trusted too much.

That's why it would only work if she still believed in him, and by even suggesting it, he was telling her that he believed in her. Gray was telling her he trusted her with his very life, and asking her to trust him.

And it worked. HELL YES did it work! They both threw all their power into the Raid, balancing each other perfectly, and then Juvia knew by instinct that she was to provide the material for the attack and Gray would change its form into sharp icicles. Then, together, they guided the falling weapons into the enemies and protected the places where Fairy Tail Wizards were standing.

It was a success!

As soon as the link was broken, Gray took off. Now that he'd apologized to Juvia and protected all their other friends from the Lizardmen, he had to get back to saving Natsu.

Which, ironically, meant picking another fight with Squinty-Eyes. This one was much more of their usual bickering, though, and Gray found comfort in the familiarity of it—things were almost back to normal.

. . .

Finally everything was over. Finally, Fairy Tail was almost back to normal.

Gray nodded to Erza and Lucy and gestured with his eyes to Natsu. The three of them were sitting at the same table in the guild's main hall, but only Erza and Lucy seemed to notice his approach.

Lucy glanced at the two mugs he held and caught on immediately; Erza looked between him and Natsu for a moment, then nodded subtly. She allowed Lucy to pull her away from the table with some comment about needing an opinion on an outfit.

It had been two days since the defeat of the Dragonoid. Gray had formally apologized to everyone in the guild except Natsu, whom he'd been putting off until last.

He'd given Jet and Droy some tips about wooing women (independently, and playing to each of their strengths); he'd gone a couple of rounds in the sparring area with Elfman and Macao and been thoroughly pounded—taking his punishment "like a man," as Elfman said; he'd made an ice sword for Erza and had Levy cast a spell on it to keep it from ever melting. (Erza had accepted it only as a gift from a friend, not as an apology—she'd taken it upon herself to smack him around for leaving them out of the loop, and only accepted his spoken apology afterwards.) He'd taken Wendy and Carla out for ice cream, given Happy a big fish, spent some time helping Mira at the bar, tipped Levy off to the incoming "wooing" efforts from Jet and Droy, and given Gajeel a tip about where lots of stray cats liked to hang out down by the docks.

But he'd had no idea how to apologize to Natsu. The fire user was the last one left, though, so he figured he'd start with a pint and go from there.

Gray slid into the bench vacated by the two girls and placed one of the mugs in front of Natsu, who was still giving him the cold shoulder. He glared at Gray.

"Gray! Did you bring me any more fish?" Happy asked cheerfully from Natsu's side.

Gray gave half a chuckle. "Nope, sorry," he answered, and Happy's face fell.

After a few long seconds of awkward silence, Gray decided to just plunge forward.

"I'm sorry," he said stiffly.

"For what?" Natsu prompted, stubborn.

Gray fought the urge to clench his jaw. The bastard really was trying to be as difficult as possible, but in all fairness, Gray had truly betrayed him into a position where he could have been killed.

"For selling you out to that mad scientist."

Natsu nodded regally.

"And?"

Gray stared at him. "And…for…not finding a way to tell you the plan sooner?"

Natsu nodded again, arms still crossed over his chest. "And?"

"There is no other 'and,' flame-brain! I'm trying to apologize for real, and you're being an ass!"

The Dragon Slayer finally snapped out of his dignified act. "You could have told me something was up!"

"What do you think I was trying to do when I kept saying the same things over and over and telling you I didn't even have a reason!?"

"I mean right from the start! When you first came to tell me there was a tip about a dragon!"

"No I couldn't! You suck at pretending anything!"

"Well you should have done it better! Then I wouldn't have had to sit through that nasty Metamo-chan speech!""

Now both boys were standing, forehead to forehead over the table. "You should have remembered your promise! If you had, this whole freaking thing wouldn't have happened!" Gray shouted.

Natsu lunged over the table, taking Gray to the ground with him. "Oh yeah? If you'd straight up told me what was going on, I wouldn't have—"

He was interrupted by a punch from Gray. "And you think that speech was nasty? I actually had to kiss that insane woman!" (Across the room, Juvia burst into tears. "Gray-samaaaaaaaa!")

At that, Natsu actually stalled his punch a little. "You kissed her? Gross, man."

"You llllliked her!" Happy interjected, and Gray shuddered.

"Not even close," Gray answered, then took a solid hit in the stomach. "And I only did it so I could save your sorry ass…"

"That doesn't even make sense!"

Then the two were rolling between the tables like normal, trading blows and insults, and people lifted their feet and held their drinks out of the way as they passed.

Erza and Lucy stepped out of the wings to see the fight, and Cana joined them. Erza sighed. "I guess I should go break them up…"

Cana shook her head. "Nah, don't bother." She picked up the two forgotten mugs of ale. "They need this." She drained first one mug, then the other.

Erza crossed her arms in front of her. It looked like she might even be smiling a little. "I'll give them 5 minutes," she said.

Happy chimed in over Cana's shoulder. "Aren't you just saying that because you wanted to drink their ale?"

Lucy just grinned as a table got knocked over across the room.