Fairy Tail Delusions of the mind

_Just so you know this is an AU set before present day, I have no idea what the conditions of Bedlam are so I made it up._

_Mentions of mental illnesses, death, and the song 'Hotel California' by The Eagles._

**Delusions of the mind**

She was sleeping now, locked in her cell - yes - but, asleep at least. It seemed those drugs the doctors had given her had helped.

"Tch." A man with long, black hair and piercings scattered around various parts of his body leant casually against the cold, stone wall. He was a prison guard, more than likely, you could tell from his plain black uniform; although it wasn't a prison.

Try Bedlam Hospital.

"Oi, Gajeel! Quit slackin' off! And get me somethin' ta eat!" A boy with pink hair from the cell opposite the one the guard had been thinking about tapped impatiently on the bars.

Gajeel, as the boy had called him, rolled his eyes, that damn Natsu was always hungry.

"Whatever, Flame-brain." He muttered, "Ya ain't gettin' nothin' 'till Mira's cooked so quit yer whinin'!"

"Meanie!" The pinkette jibed, sticking out his bottom lip in a pout. His hand dug deep inside his pocket, taking out his second most treasured item - his first being the scale patterned scarf that was thrown over his shoulders - a red lighter. Having lost interest in poking fun at the guard, he flicked the lighter on, watching with wide, entranced eyes as the flame danced before him. He then began his favourite (and most annoying) game, which consisted of flicking the lighter on and off repeatedly for the next two and a half minutes.

Just as Gajeel thought he was about to scream, a young, white-haired girl came into the hall. Her eyes were light blue and hair cropped short.

"Natsu, someone's waiting for you. They've got a book and a basket with them." She giggled as his eyes lit up, jumping from his bored slouch to shove the lighter back in his pocket.

"Luce is here!" He cheered, grinning a madman's grin.

"Yep! And she brought Happy with her, too!" Lissana, the warden now opening Natsu's cell door, lead the elated boy down the hall, listening quietly as he rambled about his usual blonde-haired visitor.

The girl, Lucy, was an authoress who had begun to write a novel about a young girl in a mental hospital, she came in did some interviews at Beldam and took an immediate liking to Natsu. She now visited almost every day, bringing her cat, Happy, a story book to read and updates on her how her novel was going.

Gajeel shook his head, those two were so in love. Now only if that pyromaniac wasn't such a mentally unstable... _pyromaniac_ then they might've had a better chance.

His father left when he was young, the doctors say that's what caused it; the pyromania, that is. He was young when it happened, Igneel just up and left, so Natsu did the same. He ran away, he was anti-social, skipped school, didn't want to do anything but find his dad. The doctors say that he also had ADHD and that the reason he started the fire wasn't because he _wanted_ to, but because he was bored.

Gajeel groaned, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling, this job was boring when neither of them were awake. When not being tested, the girl in the first cell, Levy, was sweet and kind. She loved to read, study languages, she even taught Gajeel how to speak Latin in his first month. She'd been getting better as well. There were even rumours of her being let out soon.

Then... Then it got bad. She started having nightmares again; she screamed, she attacked, she cried, she even tried to engrave her visions onto her arm with a dinner knife. She's fed through an IV drip now.

The doctors didn't know what she had; Sometimes she screamed about how everyone was against her, she would curl in a ball in the corner of her cell and wouldn't let anyone come near her. Sometimes she'd swear that everyone could hear her thoughts, she'd get scared then. Then, her worst times, the hallucinations. She'd talk to herself, sometimes she'd get violent. She'd hear voices, see things, she'd even feel things. She'd always tell Gajeel that she never really did believe he was real, was he just a delusion of the mind? Or was he really there? She reached out through her cell bars to touch him, but to no avail, sometimes she felt things that weren't really ther

SHe was now on a special pill; it was supposed to stop the visions, the nightmares the hallucinations. But did it? Would it?

There was a pure scream of terror, and Gajeel was yanked from his train of thought.

"What the hell?" He swore under his breath, turning to Levy's cell. She was awake.

She ripped the drip from her arm, tearing it out of her skin and flew at the door. _Crap!_ He'd just remembered as the bars were swung open that he'd forgotten to lock the door. She ran at him, tears streaming down his face.

He was a threat! He was going to hurt her! He was one of _them_. 'Doctors' they called themselves, scientists Levy called them. Gajeel was frozen in shock; he didn't flinch at the murderous glint in her eyes. He didn't shout back at her harsh words. He didn't even attempt to fight back; he just stared blankly at her.

She was on top of him, hands wrapped around his neck, screeching at him.

_"It's coming! They're coming! He is coming! Why doesn't _anyone _believe me!? Zeref... the age of the dragons... It's coming... E... N... D... END will come... And with it... the_ End." Her fingers were still griping tightly to his neck, but she wasn't putting any force into her attack. She just sat there sobbing; the plump droplets slid down her face and splashed onto his torso. She carried on with her crazed mutterings, her frantic gaze boring into his horrified one.

END? What was that? Zeref? The dragon age?

Her murmurs then turned to more frenzied and anxious ramblings then she began to squeeze at his neck, cutting off his breathing and causing him to choke and splutter helplessly. Yet he did nothing, he didn't want to - no wait - he _couldn't_ hurt her. He _wasn't_ like them. He wasn't a 'doctor' he was a guard. _Her _guard. He was supposed to keep her from harm's way.

He waited what seemed like hours, yet only seconds, before _they_ came. Peacekeepers. They tugged her off. Restraining her, holding her still, so another 'doctor' could stab her with a needle. She screamed, staring straight into Gajeel's eyes.

_Help me._

But he couldn't help... He ... couldn't ... he was just a guard.

They told him he could take a few weeks off. So he did. A couple of weeks later he returned, the same ward. Natsu was still there, short attention span and all, yet Levy wasn't.

She was there physically, he could see that, but her eyes were hollow. Her gaze was weak, lazily directed to the same spot on the wall. She didn't eat; the IV drip did that for her. She didn't read, so Gajeel read to her. He hated it, but he swore he'd see a flash of excitement when the plot hit a twist.

He was in so in love. He didn't know if she could love, but if she could... he hoped he'd be the one to love her. So he stayed.

He kept reading, talking, eventually she began to come back.

She was getting better again. She read to herself, she even read to him. She started to learn a new language, Japanese this time. There were rumours of her being let out soon.

Then... She went in for a 'test' as they called it. 'Shock therapy' they called it.

"Don't worry about her, Mr. Redfox, we have perfect statistics. These... Delusions of the mind will be gone and she'll be free to go." He didn't like that scientist. He growled a 'thank you' and stalked off back to his ward. He knew something bad was going to happen.

"Three... two... one... and clear!"

The sound of high voltage electricity. A symphony of horrified yells. One solo that over powered everything else, one scream of agony.

Beep... Beep... Beeeep... Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep...

Ba-du-

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEP-_

He was excused from his job again, something about violence used on the 'doctors'. The darkness crept up on him, he couldn't sleep, didn't eat. He soon went 'mad' too. He found himself back in Bedlam. A guest this time.

He was going over the edge, there she stood in the door way.

'This could be heaven, or this could be hell.' She held a language book in her hand; she was smiling, brown eyes twinkling.

_"You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." _He stood, looming over her.

"We're both stuck here..." He mumbled, turning to squint out of the crack in the stone... He saw the light, outside.

When it came, death would come sweetly to him. He closed his eyes, smiling. _Mirrors on the ceiling... Pink champagne on ice..._

And she said, '_We are all just prisoners here, of our own devise...'_

Last thing he remembers, he was running for the door, he had to find the passage back to the place he was before.

"Relax." Said a cloaked man, "We are programmed to receive. You can check out any time you like, but you just can never leave!"

...

He grinned like a madman... At least he could see her now... Levy.

But it really was just a delusion of the mind.

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**A/N I hope you guys liked it, and sorry for stupid mistakes, I wrote this at 1am so... it's legit.**

**XD Anyways please review!**

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Fairy Tail, Angst, Romance