I love, love, love, love this update!! It left me super excited for the next one, I can't wait to see what Gabbie does! Things are getting pretty heated now c:

~Lucy~

I was conscious of the noises around me before my eyes opened. My head was foggy and when I tried to open my eyes I found that I couldn't. The voices I heard sounded like distant audio from a T.V., coming in splotches through my drowsiness.

"...do this?" A female voice asked.

A rougher male voice responded, "Fuck, I don't know. You're the one who's usually in charge of this kind of thing."

The woman responded with a giggle. I lost consciousness completely again, and when I once again became aware, I opened my eyes--although it took some effort. That's when I became intensely aware of my restraints as I was tied to a chair. I could feel the back of it jabbing into the small of my back, the metal material scratching at my skin.

As my eyes adjusted to the bright light of the room I could distinctly see two silhouettes standing before me. One, the man, stood leisurely with his hands in his pockets. He was accompanied by a woman who stood with her arms folded over her rather filled out chest. Seriously, it was almost as large as mine was.

"So, Sleeping Beauty finally decided to wake up," the woman dropped her arms to her hips and I began to recognize the figures.

The man grumbles, "About damn time."

My blood ran cold as I finally realized the people and my stomach began to churn with anxiety. "J-Juvia?! Gray? What's going on?" My confused gaze met their icy glares.

"Undercover work; I do believe you would understand that more than anyone, right Lucy?" Gray smirks slightly and my face burns in embarrassment and anger.

"Who are you working for?" I narrow my eyes. As soon as the question left my lips I already had a sinking suspicion of who it was. I just didn't want to admit it.

"Juvia thinks you're smart enough to figure that one out for herself," my head snapped in Juvia's direction. She was right. It was painfully obvious, we had only one big enemy capable of this. I just wish that it had been someone else, anybody else.

"You," I whisper, "you work for my father?" My heart sunk as I realized what this meant for me, for Natsu and everyone else. Wait, shit! Natsu! My eyes widened as he crossed my mind and my face reddened with anger. "Where's Natsu?!"

Juvia snapped, "He doesn't matter right now." She was wearing an expression I never thought I'd see her wear, and I flinched internally as her icy glare pierced through me.

"He matters more than anything right now! Fuck, I can't believe this! You two―" I stopped myself as my blood ran cold and the blood that had previously rushed to my face drained away. It was a complete juxtaposition from a moment ago, and it wasn't just my blood that ran cold. I could see crystals beginning to form in Gray's palm as the temperature drastically dropped and Juvia took a few powerful steps towards me. She moved so that she was straddling me on the chair and leaned down so that her chest was pressed against mine and her face was almost touching mine. As she sat on my lap she reached her arms around my shoulders as if she were hugging me. She leaned closer into me until our cheeks were touching and I could feel her lips and breath on me.

"You want to know what Juvia thinks? Juvia thinks you're a selfish bitch who threw away the opportunities her father gave her," she hissed as a string of hot water suddenly found its way around my neck. I gasped in pain as the water scalded my neck, causing my face to contort in pain. I attempted to kick my legs and move my arms--both of which were bound. My feet to the chair and my arms behind my back and legs.--but it was futile. They were tied in such a way that it would be impossible to even wiggle them free.

"Opportunities?!" I rasp. "He gave me no such thing!" I suddenly felt a stinging slap across my face and the string of water around my neck tightened and heated up further. My face ached from the slap, but the pressure on my neck and the heat from the water hurt worse. My mouth opened in a silent scream and I angrily jolted against my restraints.

"Juvia has been waiting for this moment," she murmurs in my ear before kissing my cheek. "This is punishment for running, Lucy-san." She looked up at Gray expectantly as she got off of me. The string of water that was once around my neck disbanded and soaked my shirt, further burning my chest. I grit my teeth and choked back a cry of pain. When I opened my eyes she was holding a blade made of ice, and I could feel my body begin to tremble slightly.

She looked at me with a small smile as she traced it lightly over my burnt chest, slowly pushing harder on it until she began slicing though my clothes―and then my skin. I cried out in pain as the sharp blade cut through my now sensitive skin. I balled my fists in anger as she teased me still and walked in circles around me. Suddenly my head was yanked back by my hair, and I could feel the edge of the knife lightly slice across my neck. "You could have saved yourself," she smirks, "but luckily for Juvia, you aren't near as cunning as your father."

She quickly throws my head back down and I nearly bite my tongue. I watched her drop the knife from the corner of my eye and I could hear it shatter as it hit the floor.

"Gray-sama, do you have anything else for Juvia to use? I think she's beginning to like the knife too much," she looks up at him with an adoring smile and in any other situation I would have found it adorable. Now it--in combination with the burns and cuts to my chest and neck--made me want to hurl. I look up and glare at him as his hands began to emit frost.

However, my glare quickly left my face and a look of fear replaced it. "Shit!" I exclaimed quietly and began to wiggle. I could feel my limbs prickle and burn as they grew numb, the ropes that bound them cutting off the circulation. I flexed my fingers and toes but it was pointless.

"Juvia would kill you if Jude-sama didn't request you be left alive for a short time," Juvia's eyes glinted. My mind whirled as I thought about my father. He had set this whole elaborate plan up...to catch me. To keep me from stopping him and his goons.

"People like you are the reason I have to do what I do."

"Oh, shut up. Do you think we actually give a shit?" Gray leaned on the wall after handing his weapon of choice to Juvia.

"Juvia doesn't," she chimed in cheerfully. "And by the time Juvia's finished, Lucy-san won't either." She laughed and lifted the heretics fork up and wrapped it around my neck with a water collar. The fork itself was made of ice, while the collar was just as cold as the ice. "You looked like you could use some ice for those burns."

I watched as she then used her magic to form her own knife, this one sharper than Gray's. She looked my in the eye and smiled before bringing her arm down, the knife stabbing into my thigh. I screamed, the pain in my leg almost unbearable. And on top of that the fork began to dig deeper into me, blood now seeping from my chin and chest. Not to mention the light cut on my neck from earlier. It was still slowly dripping blood, and I wondered how long it would take for me to bleed out.

After that, the only thing that I was able to register was the constant pain I was in. My face was covered in sweat and the occasional cut and my muscles ached from holding up my head for so long. I didn't know how long Juvia's torture had been going on, but I hoped it would end soon. My voice was close to gone and the pain was unbearable.

"Juvia can tell Lucy-san is beginning to wear down. Are you enjoying your punishment so far? Because Juvia knows that she is." She wore an easy going smile as she dug another blade into me. So far I had three sticking out of me on my legs and on my arm. My body was littered with cuts and she had even gauged a small chunk of my flesh out of my chest, leaving my breast slightly mangled. "Maybe Juvia should pay your lover a visit. Juvia thinks you need some time to," She paused as she thought about what to say next, "reflect on your situation."

"No, leave Natsu alone!" I rasped as Gray stood up from where he was sitting and walked to the door. "He's not the one you want!" I shouted--although it came out more as a whisper. I met Gray's eyes as he and Juvia walked out of the door, and I could have swore they shone with guilt, but it was gone as quick as it came and they walked out the door.

Every fiber of my being ached to find Natsu, it was a desperate and gnawing feeling that grew more intense with every passing second. My chest rose and fell with my deep, labored breathing as kept my head up as far as I could. The faint sounds of yelling did nothing to soothe the turmoil, in fact it only elevated my panic.

As the pain began to set in, I swore loudly, tears of frustration and pain spilling from my eyes. They stung slightly as they fell over the smaller of the cuts, making my drive to find Natsu increase ten fold. It was quiet in the room, the only thing to stimulate my senses being Natsu's tortured screams. They only seemed to increase in intensity the more time went on.

I jumped when a sudden eruption of gunshots, screams and tremors rocked the building. I was half asleep and my senses were beginning to dull. I had no idea how much blood had been lost, but I knew that this would most likely be my best chance to escape, but my body refused to move regardless of the binds that had caused my limbs to go numb so long ago. The noises grew closer and I heard loud crashes until suddenly the door flew open so hard it slammed into the wall and bounced back. Using all of my effort I turned my head to see a fuming―literally fuming―Natsu and a flash of Jellal and Erza running past. Relief welled up in my chest and I saw my emotions reflected in his eyes.

"Oh my God," he heaved and I noticed he was breathing heavily. He practically ran towards me in his rush to unbind me and to take off the fork. "Sorry, I'm sorry it hurts Luce," he murmured as I scrunched my face in pain as he worked on melting and evaporating the device that was attached to my neck. As soon as it had been melted he began to work on untying the ropes that bound me to the uncomfortable chair. My limbs had been numb from lack of blood flow and pain for so long I didn't know if they even still worked.

"We..we have to get Juv-via and Gray!" I exclaim as I attempted to get off of the chair. I didn't get far, the numbness and pain making sure of that. Instead I fell into Natsu, the both of us wincing at my impact. His warm arms wrapped around me in a strong embrace, and I wished that I could do the same.

"Erza and the others are already working on them," pain is evident in his tone. My heart broke for him.

"So you know..."

"That they're traitors? Yeah," his tone turned bitter instantaneously.

Guilt washed over me like a tidal wave as the thought that all of this happened because of me. I ran from my father. I became a cop. I came to Fairy Tail. I helped make this happen. "I'm sorry," I said and sighed softly.

I closed my eyes as he brushed my unruly hair out of my face. "Sh, you have nothing to apologize for." Slowly I moved back from him to find myself staring him in the face. My mind flashed back to the day in his kitchen when we stood close like this. My heart began to race as my eyes darted over his features; reading him carefully. Right then I swear he moved forward slightly, almost brushing our noses and--dare I say--lips together. "We should get going, you need medical attention," Natsu suddenly said as he pulled away. As much as I wanted to complain, I couldn't deny that he was right. I was a mess.

"You should get looked at too," I glance at the already formed bruises and cuts his arms and neck. I'm sure there was a lot more, but that was all I could see at the moment. He smiled slightly.

"Don't worry about me. Do you think you can stand?" He questioned.

"I don't know, maybe" my voice is slightly shaky. He carefully gets himself to his feet and he pulled me up along side him. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a ring of keys―my celestial keys.

"Gray 'dropped' these," he winks at me and I smile. He had taken them without the Ice Mage noticing. He then stepped back and I looked at my feet to make sure I didn't lose my footing--seeing as my legs were beginning to prickle awake--when I spotted all too familiar lingerie on the ground. My face immediately flushed and I looked up at Natsu quizzically.

"Why the fuck is that here?!" I exclaimed as best I could.

"This isn't what it looks like.." He says defensively, but I could already make out a sheen of perspiration on his forehead and he was looking anywhere but me.

"Then what is it like, exactly?" My eyes narrow slightly.

"It was out or something when they took you, from your shower I guess! I just...grabbed them," he said with a slightly guilty look.

"What the fuck Natsu! You took them? You should have just left them. I can't believe you've seen my underwear!" I fume in embarrassment, my face now bright red.

"It's not like I've seen you in them, I just held them!" He argued, although I could tell it was more than that. I wasn't about to bring up that can or worms though. I wasn't particularly in the mood.

"That's just as bad!" I wail. "Besides I didn't leave them out after my shower, so they had to dig to find them or something," I run my hand through my hair and I notice Natsu's slightly red and guilty face.

"You didn't," I mutter as the realization dawned on me.

"I was looking around your place just a bit while you showered! I didn't mean to, okay?" He tells me. How the hell could 'not mean to' take my underwear?

"This is great, now you've seen my underwear and have that visual; you're my partner! We work together and you've seen that--oh shit..." Panic settled over me to hide my embarrassment. He couldn't have, could he?

"Luce," Natsu calls my name in a lightly strained voice.

"What?"

He leans in suddenly and whispers in my ear, "At least I didn't see you naked, right?" He murmurs and I go rigid.

"You like doing that to me, don't you?" I scowl slightly and he laughs. It was a nice reprieve from earlier, although I was sure as hell still shaken. I don't know if today was ever going to leave me.

"You mean getting close to you and messing with you?" He raised his eyebrow as he leaned down and picked up my underwear, which I immediately made a grab for, but he stuffed it in his back pocket, eliciting a gasp from me.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" I exclaim in shock and he grabs hold of my waist and turns me to the door.

"I'm your partner, I'm gonna see this kind of thing at some point...right?" He laughs and I quietly begin to walk with his help, my face still bright red as I accepted that fact.

It was a long walk, and by the time we reached the rescue group, my vision was heavily blurred. I remember being swarmed by everyone, their faces paling as they caught sight of my injuries. Natsu had been sure not to remove the blades lest they cause me to bleed out, but there was nothing he could do about the blood that was steadily leaking from the holes the fork had left and my slightly mangled breast. They were the injuries that were bleeding the most, and I wasn't sure I could stay awake any longer. My eyes locked onto Natsu a few times as I tried to keep my focus, and each time I did, my face would redden all over again. But as much as I wanted to be angry about the underwear thing, I had more pressing matters to take care of. Like the fact that I was about to pass out.

It happened all of a sudden, and I could feel Natsu's warm, muscular arms catch me before I hit the floor. "Lucy, God, just hang in there okay?" I could bleakly see his worried face, and I mumbled something along the lines of liking someone. God, I hope I didn't just confess my love, I thought as I finally blacked out.