Disclaimer: Mashima-sensei owns the magical world of Fairy Tail! :)

Warnings: Language, Angst, Fluff, Potential OOC-ness, Slightly AU

"I told you that's impossible," Lyon spat darkly as he brought his hands together once more, "Gray's father is dead."

"Really," The raven haired man scoffed, "I feel quite lively if I do say so myself."

The silverette cursed under his breath prepared to unleash another spell. Natsu felt his blood freeze in his veins as the friendly smile that was once on the stranger's face started to slip. The dragon had seen that expression many times on Gray; it usually meant that his patience was starting to run out or that he was becoming angry. Clearly sensing the change in atmosphere, Gajeel was quick to grab onto one of Lyon's hands and yank it back before he had a chance to complete his spell.

Lyon rounded on the iron dragon slayer,

"Let me go now."

"I'd be stupid to do that," Gajeel's red eyes seared into him warningly, "You can't smell him like I can; he'd squash you like a bug Cool Whip and he'd do it without any effort at all."

"How…" He trailed off as his onyx eyes narrowed into daggers, "What the hell did you just call me?!"

Gajeel scoffed and looked away,

"Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

Natsu felt his shoulders relax as the other ice mage's attention was drawn away from attacking the man in front of them. He had to thank the metal head for doing that later; there was no doubt in his mind that this man standing before them would take out Lyon in a blink of an eye and that said a lot considering how strong the older ice mage was.

Silver Fullbuster…

Natsu stared at the man while he clutched Gray close to his chest. He glanced down at his most important person and felt a twinge of sympathy for his rival/friend/lover(?). His magic had exploded out of him like it did because Gray had discovered that his dead father might just not be so dead. He shifted his gaze to the stranger standing in front of him once more and inhaled again so he could be sure, but he knew that his nose would never fail him.

There was no doubt in his mind that this man was Gray's father; not many things would be able to make his ice mage lose his composure, even if his magic was questionable at the moment. He grimaced briefly as he shifted his balance from his knees to his feet as he wrapped one of his arms underneath Gray's legs and the other around his upper back. He winced from the pain that shot through him as he stood, but he managed to stand with Gray's head resting on his shoulder.

"Natsu," Erza growled warningly as she stomped passed the man and towards the two of them, "Don't strain yourself."

He swallowed thickly as he felt her dark aura; it was as if Silver wasn't even there,

"Uh, I'm okay! Ice Princess may be heavy, but I'm strong enough."

If he was being honest, Gray was actually lighter than what he remembered. He felt the corner of his mouth pull down at the thought; he was willing to bet it was because of the time he spent torturing himself over what happened during that mission. He would have to have a long talk (read loud and boisterous argument) with the droopy eyed bastard when he woke up; he should know better than that.

"If you're positive," Erza nodded her head in understanding as she placed an armoured hand on his shoulder, "Let me know if you need help carrying him."

Natsu chuckled lightly,

"I'm sorry to say it Erza, but it would hurt his pride much more if you were the one to carry him back inside."

The corner of the requip mage's lips lifted,

"You're probably right about that, but the fact of the matter is we have to get both of you back inside; you're not quite strong enough to be roaming around either."

The dragon slayer noted the command rather than suggestion in her tone and nodded his head in forced agreement. He thought that he was more than strong enough to be outside; he had slept long enough goddamnit! He shifted Gray slightly so that the ice mage's nose brushed against the crook of his neck as he and Erza started to make their way passed Silver once more. However, they found themselves delayed by Silver himself as he stood in front of them like an immovable wall.

"Actually, I can't let you do that." He smiled mysteriously.

Natsu narrowed his eyes at the man cautiously,

"Listen, I believe you when you say that you're Gray's dad, but if you think you can stop me from getting the ice princess the help that he needs, you have another thing coming asshole."

Once again, the dragon slayer found himself surprised by the sound of Silver's laughter. He felt a deep growl rumbled in the base of his chest as Erza held her sword at the ready from beside him. From behind the man Gajeel had finally stopped distracting Lyon and had even released the other ice mage's hand so that they could be prepared to attack if it was needed.

"Sorry to break it to you Natsu," Silver laughed, "But my son can't be helped here; this goes beyond the realm of your guild and this town."

Natsu opened his mouth to ask him what the hell he was talking about only to feel another blast of cold explode from the other side of Silver. He could smell the rage coming off Lyon in waves; he was sure that the older male was going to lose it any time now. But there was something else within that scent of rage…a subtle smell that laced itself through Gray's scent when he thought of Deliora.

And it was fear.

"What the hell do you know?!" Lyon demanded as he made his way towards Silver, "As much as you claim it, you're not Gray's father! You wouldn't know what the hell was good for him even if it smacked you in the face."

A dark cloud seemed to descend over the man's face as his fists clenched threateningly at his sides.

"You're beginning to try me Lyon Bastia," Silver growled menacingly, "If you don't back off I'll be forced to put you on ice."

Natsu prepared to hand Gray over to Erza so that he and Gajeel could try and handle the situation when the great Titania herself stepped forward with a menacing gleam in her brown eyes. Natsu closed his eyes as Erza's body was engulfed by a bright red light; her oppressive magic pressing down upon them. He gulped as he realized, even if it was instinctively, what armour she was requipping into.

"That is enough!" She roared as the smoke cleared.

The dragon slayer took a huge step back as Erza seemed to loom over all of them donned in her Purgatory armour; even he knew better than to anger the red head when she was wearing that armour. He shot a glance towards the fighting mages and was relieved to see that Lyon had all but frozen solid from fear while Silver seemed to be looking at her with interest; his deep blue eyes gleaming as he took in her power.

"I'd say it's about time you two stop arguing like a couple of fools, don't you?" She demanded.

Lyon shook his head to get himself out of his stupor,

"You don't underst…"

"Choose your next words carefully Lyon," She warned, "Telling me I don't understand isn't going to change anything; the fact of the matter is we can continue this matter inside where it is warm."

Silver opened his mouth as if he were about to argue with her himself only for her demonized gaze to seemingly bore into his very soul. The older man held his hands up defensively before sweeping his hand towards the front doors of the hospital and moving out of Natsu's way. The dragon slayer watched Silver carefully as he held Gray to his chest and walked passed him silently.

When he reached Lyon, he heard the silverette turn on his heel and follow him. Despite knowing instinctively that the man behind him was Gray's father, he couldn't help but relax a little knowing that Gray's brother was at his back prepared to help them out if Silver tried to do something. Gajeel did the same as Lyon when the dragon slayer neared him and took his place next to Lyon. He kept his ears open for Erza and Silver, but realized that they were moving away from the hospital. He quickly turned on his heel and faced the red head and the stranger.

"Erza!" He called out to her in confusion, "Where are you going?"

The armoured mage paused in her footsteps, but didn't turn to face him:

"I'm bringing this man to the Master; once we've discussed a few things, we'll bring him back here to talk to Gray."

He frowned in confusion,

"What…"

"Natsu," She cut him off, "I'm putting you in charge of Gray; protect him with everything you have."

His heart thudded anxiously and he opened his mouth in order to disagree when a somewhat familiar voice brushed across his mind. He was sure he hadn't heard this voice before, but at the same time he was sure that he did; it was as if he remembered it from a dream…

Please save my student…my son…

He shook the thought out of his head and looked towards the hospital doors once more. It didn't matter who Silver was, Erza was strong enough to handle herself. He was about to shift Gray so that he could grab onto the door handle when an alabaster hand reached out in front of him and yanked the door open for him. He looked behind him to see Lyon with a solemn expression on his face as he held the door.

"C'mon we better get him inside," Lyon mumbled, "I don't like the fact that the frost hasn't receded yet."

It was at that moment that he realized the reason for Lyon Bastia's fear when he was shouting at Silver only seconds before:

Lyon shared the same fear that he did; that Gray did.

He didn't want to lose anyone else that he cared about. And Natsu couldn't blame him in the slightest. Natsu walked through the doors and his skin immediately started to warm from the heat of the lobby. The three men walked in silence as they made their way towards Natsu and Gray's shared room; the tension was so thick that it wouldn't even be cut by Erza's strongest sword.

As the boys got closer to their intended destination, Natsu was starting to feel the exhaustion seep into his bones like a long-forgotten friend. Any energy he received from the adrenaline he had earlier was finally leaving his system and sleep was starting to pull at his consciousness with each step that he took. Without even realizing it, he must have started leaning a little precariously to one side as his shoulder quickly came into contact with Gajeel; who in turn grunted when he felt the dragon slayer's heated skin touching his own.

"Oi Salamander," His gruff voice ground out, "You think you're going to make it back to the room before you pass out or will I have to carry your crippled ass?"

The pinkette scowled up at the older dragon slayer,

"I'm telling you like I told Erza; I am fine…"

A tongue clicking from his other side drew his attention to the similarly scowling ice mage,

"You and my idiot brother really need to invest in a dictionary or something."

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Natsu retorted hotly, "I know more than enough words to insult you both with."

"Oh I'm sure," Lyon stated sarcastically, "But I am more concerned with the fact that you two don't seem to know the definition of the word 'fine'."

Natsu opened his mouth to retort in his defense only to pause when he noticed that the silver haired ice mage was no longer walking and had frozen in the hall as though he had been captured by one of Gray's spells.

"If you were truly as 'fine' as you say you were, you wouldn't be here in the first place. You wouldn't be barely standing only minutes after awakening from an over two month long a coma and struggling to carry my emaciated brother who is being consumed by his very magic in your arms. I don't know what to label you and Gray as at the moment, but I'll tell you right now that you are both far away from fine."

Natsu didn't know what expression he had on his face, but he truly wasn't lingering on it. As a naturally expressive person, he knew that some kind of emotion was bound to be on his face – Gray often teased him about the fact that his face showed people 'how stupid' he was without him having to even open his mouth, the jerk – but the same could not be said for the ice princes of Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale.

Like Gray, Lyon was a person who held his emotions and thoughts close to his chest and also like Gray, if someone wanted to know how Lyon was feeling they just had to watch him perform his ice magic. There was honestly nothing more pure than watching Lyon and Gray create with their ice magic (though he would never say that out loud since it's so embarrassing to admit) because their passion and their love that they tried so hard to keep buried managed to break free.

But standing here in this hospital hallway with Gray in his arms, his frost covered skin touching his heated limbs, with Lyon's onyx eyes boring into his very being as he lectured him on the fact that he and Gray were not taking care of themselves was not something that he would have ever expected to happen.

Standing here in this hall it was clear to see that Lyon Bastia, the ex-cold emperor and Ice Prince of Lamia Scale, cared with every fibre of his being.

Natsu swallowed thickly as he tried to take in that realization.

He was used to looks like this from his family in Fairy Tail, but he never expected to see it from Lyon. Even if he was only experiencing this brand of caring because of his connection to Gray. Because despite all of Lyon and Gray's posturing, he knew that the two ice mages loved each other despite everything that has happened between them.

"Lyon," Natsu finally broke the terse silence that followed the ice mage's statement and swallowed back his instincts and his pride, "You're right."

The silverette's eyes widened comically before a half-hearted smirk formed on his face,

"Did the great Natsu Dragneel actually say that I was right?"

Natsu scowled in annoyance,

"Never mind, I take it back – you're an asshole."

"Sorry, you can't take it back Salamander," Gajeel spoke up with a teasing lilt to his voice, "I stand here as witness to the fact that the great fire dragon slayer of Fairy Tail submitted to Lyon Bastia of Lamia Scale."

"Shut up." Natsu growled in frustration.

The pinkette turned from the two older mages and started off on his trek towards his and Gray's room once more. He could hear the two mages snickering behind him in the background, but he ignored them as he could finally see the room door. He hoped that Wendy, Lucy and Happy were still waiting for them to return so that they could fill them in on what happened and see if Wendy could do something to help out Gray.

However, before he stepped through the door a thought struck him and a smug smile spread across his face; a smile that Lyon and Gajeel would have missed because they were still snickering a few feet behind him.

"Hey Lyon, you must know – 'cause I know Gajeel does since he is a dragon slayer and all – that as a dragon slayer myself I have better senses than you."

"And?" Lyon scoffed as the pair walked up behind, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well I just figured I should let you know that I can hear you flirting with each other just fine even when you're trying to whisper like that – hell, even the smell you two are giving off is giving it away."

Natsu's smile widened when he heard Lyon sputter incoherently from behind him as Gajeel started cursing and hurtling threats at him. Now he knew that his accusations had no true merit as Gajeel was obviously smitten with Levy and Lyon with Juvia, but teasing the two of them was definitely worth it given the circumstances.

The fire dragon slayer's smile slipped a bit as he walked into the hospital room and clutched Gray even closer to his chest; the ice mage's frostbitten nose brushing across his pulse point. The teasing might have seemed misplaced given everything that has been going on, but even this little bit of reprieve was welcome in the face of everything that was bound to come.

FTFTFT

The man tapped his fingers against his throne rhythmically; tendrils of magic lacing between his beating fingers as his thoughts consumed him.

How he had managed to lose track of Silver was beyond him and that oversight could very well lead to his downfall. He should have known that the man would not simply stand by when he realized that his precious son did not actually die in the ruins of Isvan.

He glanced over at the timer that hung in the middle of a magic circle that resided at the center of his cave. The magic circle was shining faintly; a dull power thrumming through it as the sand of the timer slowly trickled to the bottom. If Silver were to interfere, it would truly ruin everything – all the years he has spent on this, all his planning…

No.

Gray Fullbuster was going to become a part of his plan; be it that he has to kill a few ghosts along the way.

TBC

Oh jeez…here's chapter eight…

I am SO SORRY for any inconsistencies that come from this! I wrote most of this two years ago and then some this evening so I am not entirely sure if things will mesh well or not LOL! Either way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter (even if it was most likely not worth how long I made you wait).

Next chapter we'll be seeing what happened with Silver and Erza, as well as see if anyone can figure out what is happening with Gray! Will it be someone from Fairy Tail who figures it out or someone who is reaching out from the great beyond ;)

I love you all so much for all your support and thank you so much for your patience!

SportsnAnimeManiac (aka sktrgrl)