Disclaimer: Mashima-dono owns Fairy Tail minna!
Warnings: Violence, Language, Rape, Shounen-ai
He was cold; colder than he had ever felt in his life. Although his temperature was naturally lower than a normal person, he could still feel the chill deep within his bones. His body was trembling from anxiety and pain; his head throbbed as blood poured down the side of his face and coated his alabaster skin with a thick layer of red. He hissed silently as he curled in upon himself and tried to remember how he had ended up in his new 'home'.
He considered himself to be strong, but that was until he met them and realized just how wrong he was. His shirt was gone, as expected (though not because of his habit), and countless bruises and cuts decorated his pale skin like a painted canvas. He probably would've been able to escape if it weren't for a thick chain wrapped tightly around his ankles. He couldn't do much if he was chained to the floor; it would be more convenient if the chains didn't prevent him from using his magic either…
For the first time in many years he felt alone; all he wanted was to go back to Fairy Tail and be with his friends… his family. His heart throbbed in his chest as he thought of his eccentric family; he missed them all. He missed Cana's uncontrollable drinking, Lucy's attitude, Erza's frightening demeanor, and Mirajane's smile. But surprisingly, most of all, he missed his pink haired dragon slayer. He had so much to tell him, so much he wanted to do. He wanted to thank him for being his best friend and rival, he wanted to tell him how important he was to the guild and to himself… he wanted to tell him that he would always love him… but now he might never even know.
The sound of footsteps suddenly echoed around him and their voices were getting closer; they were getting louder. He wrapped his arms tightly around himself as his captor's oppressive magic floated into his 'room'. He didn't know how much longer he would be able to last against this man's magic and that's what truly scared him.
"Natsu…" His weak voice echoed hopelessly, "Please…save me."
FTFTFTFT
For the first time since the Fairy Tail guild had situated itself in Magnolia; it was silent. The sound of partying, shouting, cursing, and fighting were absent from daily life. All that remained was the oppressive silence that swallowed ever member of Fairy Tail like a virus. Cana wasn't drinking; her barrel was just lying unused in between her legs as she stared blankly at the table that resided in the middle of the hall. Mira was cleaning the counter, a tight smile on her pale face as she tried to interact with the other members and get at least one of them to say something; anything. Even so, she knew that it was going to be impossible; one of their family was missing and no one knew where he went or if he was hurt. But she knew, along with everyone else, that no matter how quiet they all seemed; no one could be worse than Natsu.
He was sitting at the 'designated' table for Team Natsu; not a sound has escaped his lips since the day Gray Fullbuster was determined to be missing…that was three weeks ago. His tanned hands were clutched tightly to his white pants and his head was bent down so that his spiky pink hair covered his onyx coloured eyes. His body was shaking as he tried to reign in his anguish and anger; the last thing he needed to do was blow up the guild hall. It was proving to be hard to do so; his heart was nearly breaking at the seams. Gray had always been beside him, be it that they're fighting as rivals or completing missions as team mates or even just chilling at the guild as best friends; Natsu just felt so…empty… without the ice mage around.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when a warm hand was placed gently on the dragon slayer's shoulder. He raised his head and his eyes landed on his newest friend and celestial mage Lucy Heartfilia. The blonde was shaking almost as much as he was and she had dark bags under her eyes; they all did. Everyone has been trying so hard to find the wayward ice mage with no luck whatsoever. The Thunder Tribe weren't having any luck finding him and they are one of the strongest teams in Fairy Tail.
"We'll find him Natsu."
Natsu wanted to nod his head; he knew that she not only said that for him, but for herself as well. He just couldn't get himself to do it anymore…whatever faith and determination he had the beginning was slowly starting to disappear.
"I hope so Lucy…"
Suddenly a hand came crashing down on the top of his head making a curse escape from his mouth as he toppled out of the chair. He rubbed his bruised head rhythmically as he stared up at his attacker only to see that it was none other than Erza Scarlet. He was about to yell at her for hitting him when he saw the dark expression on her face. Her bottom lip was quivering with barely supressed emotion and her dark brown eyes were shadowed by her long, fiery red hair.
"How dare you?!" She hissed, "How dare you act as if you're going to give up?!"
Natsu clenched his fists at his sides and gritted his teeth angrily,
"That's…"
Erza didn't have anything of it; she reached down and grabbed the front of his vest so that they were practically nose to nose. He was faintly aware of the other guild members gathering around them and someone (most likely Lucy, Wendy or Happy) trying to convince the great Titania to let him go. However, all he could stare at were the tears that were slowly starting to make their way down her cheeks. He wrapped his arms around the woman he considered his older sister and hugged her tightly. Sometimes he forgot that Gray and Erza were together a lot longer before he himself had joined Fairy Tail; Gray, no matter how falsely boisterous or awkwardly silent, was the one who first broke through Erza's armoured heart.
"We'll find him," Natsu felt himself repeating Lucy's words, "No matter how long we'll have to look, we'll find him; we have to."
She reached out to him and placed her hand around his. He felt her squeeze his hand reassuringly which he did in return as they got to their feet. He had finally realized that he wasn't the only one who was worried, everyone was. Fairy Tail just wouldn't be the same without the ice mage's cocky and silently supportive presence. He turned towards his guild mates only to see that a new sense of determination had sprouted on each and every one of their faces; they were going to stop at nothing to bring their ice mage home.
Suddenly, a minty scent wafted through the guild causing Natsu's heart to stop beating. His eyes shifted around the guild hall anxiously before turning on his heel and running toward the front doors. He could hear his family's confused voices calling after him as he left; but he couldn't stop…it's been so long since he smelt that particular scent; the scent of pine trees and minty leaves. He hastily pushed the door open and ran down the almost empty street; the minty smell immediately strengthened…that could only mean…
"Natsu!" Lucy ran up to him, "What the hell has gotten into you?! You just ran out of the guild…"
"I can smell him," He supressed his anxiety and excitement.
"WHAT?!" Lucy gasped as one of her hands covered her mouth.
Natsu ignored her as he tried to pinpoint where the scent was coming from,
"Gather as much of the guild as you can. I'm going to go ahead to see if I can find him; make sure you bring Gajeel and Wendy with you. I don't know what condition he'll be in and they'll also be able to follow his scent so you can catch up with me."
The blonde mage's honey brown eyes widened as she tried to retain the information. She nodded her head quickly before running back to the guild. Natsu took off down the street following Gray's comforting scent as fast as he possibly could.
I'm coming Gray, just hold on a little longer!
FTFTFTFT
Gray didn't know how long he had been imprisoned, but he knew that it has been a long time. His stomach no longer growled with hunger, but frequently ached with unbearable pain. He could hardly distinguish his own skin anymore; he just saw blood and bruises. His head was rested in his forearms, his dark hair covering his deep blue eyes as tears threatened to fall. He had never felt so weak in his life; not even when he was a little boy in the presence of Deliora. At that time, he wasn't strong enough to fight back; now, he should've been able to defeat them…instead he just found out how weak he truly was.
The sound of metal scratching against metal caused his head to snap up. He immediately tried to back himself into the corner of the room so he could hide from his captors. The chains around his ankles kept him from going very far, but he was going to try; like hell he wasn't going to fight in any way he possibly could…even if the only thing he was capable of doing was being defiant.
The metal gates of his prison were thrown open; the sharp sound of the doors hitting the concrete walls resounded in his ears. His eyes widened fearfully as a large, burly man entered the prison and smiled down at his captive sadistically. He wasn't the one who had magic, but he was just as terrifying as his leader. His beefy face was marred with countless scars and his demon black eyes laughed at him as he cowered in fear.
He tried to avoid him as the man's large hand reached out and latched itself around Gray's neck, forcibly lifting him from the ground. The chains chewed against his ankles as he struggled against his captor's grasp; the smell of alcohol and sex wafted off the man causing Gray to cringe. The man laughed and threw Gray to the ground, his ribs cracking painfully as he bounced off the floor; another broken rib to add to his collection.
"So beautiful," The man whispered huskily.
Gray nearly froze while he tried to push himself into a sitting position. He started to back away from the man as his looming figure got closer and closer to him once more. His sore ribs and torn muscles burned from the exertion, but his fear began to numb the pain.
"Shadowsky said that I shouldn't touch the merchandise," The man laughed quietly; his dark eyes shining dangerously, "After all, a prized, virgin specimen such as yourself could go for a lot of jewel; but you're so tantalizing, it's hard to resist."
The weak ice mage's ice widened dramatically as the man's words sunk in to his exhausted and pain-filled brain. His heart dropped into his stomach as he continued to move away from the large man; he couldn't let that happen…he just couldn't.
"No," He whispered pleadingly for the first time since he was eight, "Please don't."
The man smirked as he advanced on the damaged ice mage; revelling in the fear that swallowed the mage's eyes. He once again reached out and grabbed Gray by his hair and brought him up so that they were eye level once more. Gray tried to move his head out of the way, but the grip around his neck tightened causing him to grasp at the hand holding him up and try and gasp for air.
He couldn't stop the man when he smashed his calloused lips against the ice mage's lips and forced his tongue into Gray's mouth exploring the mysterious, cold cavern. Gray uncharacteristically whimpered as he struggled in the man's grip. The man's tongue was about to run along the top of his mouth when he bit down on the man's tongue; suddenly, he falling to the floor. Gray wrapped his arm around his ribs and hissed; he backed into the corner of the room again and stared up at the man fearlessly. The man roared in pain as blood dripped out of the corner of his mouth. He growled as he wiped the blood away with the back of his hand and glared down at the severely beaten ice mage; a sadistic gleam apparent in his obsidian eyes.
"You want to play rough; I'll show you how to play rough."
In the blink of an eye, the man dove at Gray and wrapped his arms tightly around his waist. The ice mage nearly threw up from the pain caused by the man's large arms squeezing his broken ribs. Despite the pain, Gray tried to break free; squirming and kicking anywhere he could reach so that he could get himself away from his captor. Gray's spine suddenly went rigid when without warning the man shoved his hand down the front of Gray's pants. A gasp escaped Gray's mouth as he still futilely struggled against the larger man's grasp. The man started sucking on Gray's neck as he fondled the younger boy reluctantly rendering him under submission.
"Stop," He rasped, "Please stop, I don't want this."
"Don't say that," The man chuckled as he squeezed Gray's half-erect member, "It's obvious that you do."
The ice mage tried to squirm away from the touch which only prompted the man to throw Gray onto his stomach, effectively knocking the air out of his lungs. Before Gray could react, his pants were being ripped down his body, exposing his backside. His heart pounded rapidly in his chest as fear and despair started to claw relentlessly against his insides. As a last attempt he tried to crawl away but the man already had a tight grip on his hips preventing him from moving even an inch. Gray closed his eyes as tears escaped from underneath his dark lashes and splashed onto the cold, cement floor.
"Don't worry," The man whispered in his ear, "It will only hurt a little bit."
I'm sorry Natsu… I wasn't strong enough…
That was the last coherent thought he had before the man plunged himself into Gray. His back instantaneously arched spastically as the thick intruder pushed through his rings of muscle. He tried to move his body away but all he could do was sit back and feel as his insides tore open and blood running down his pale thighs as his opening was continuously assaulted. It didn't take long for tears to run down his cheeks as his hoarse screams engulfed the small room and mingled harmoniously with the man's laughter.
"STOP!" He cried.
The man ignored him and grabbed Gray's sides tighter, thrusting deeper within the pleading boy; moving the pale and broken body so harshly that Gray's face was being peeled by the harsh cement. After what was an eternity of pain and an eternity of hell, the man came deep inside of the young ice mage and smiled when he was satisfied. He roughly pulled himself out of Gray's entrance sending another wave of pain and basically shoved the limp body away from him. Gray remained on his stomach, dry tear tracks mingling on his heavily scraped face. The man chuckled and leant down by his head; pulling the young ice mage closer so that they were nose to nose once more.
"I'll be back soon my bearer and then we can pick up where we left off."
The man crashed his lips against Gray's again and shoved his tongue into his mouth once more. Gray didn't react in any way; he didn't fight him off and he didn't scream...he just continued to stare past the man blankly, not seeing anything at all. The man removed his mouth off the mage's and smiled triumphantly when he saw his new doll lying broken on the floor.
FTFTFTFT
Natsu stared up at the decrepit building standing across from him as he hid in the nearby treeline. He had followed Gray's scent to the outskirts of Magnolia, just near the forest. The dragon slayer's stomach tightened as a sense of dread quickly swallowed his entire being. He didn't know what state Gray was going to be in, but after three weeks he probably didn't look too good. For the first time in his life, Natsu quietly made his way to the building only to see a handful of men standing around the building with magic guns strapped firmly at their hips.
"Shit." He muttered.
He ran behind the large house and silently jumped onto the roof as if he were a cat. Luckily, the men around the house didn't notice his presence even in the slightest. Natsu lay on his stomach and hung his head over the edge of the roof to look for an alternate entrance. Natsu winced when the roof groaned under his weight; Lucy was right, he had to lay off the fifth serving of dinner. The pink haired mage sighed when none of the guards showed any indication of his presence and continued to search; he immediately found a window right beneath him.
He silently opened the window and swung himself inside; landing carefully on the tips of his toes. Natsu listened intently for any signs that he was heard and released his breath when he realized that he was fine. He glanced around his surroundings and noticed that the room he was standing in was used fairly often. A bottle of liquor and a sandwich lay on a table closest to the fireplace with files upon files scattered throughout the room. He approached the desk in the middle of the room apprehensively and began to search through the files for some sort of clue about the people who managed to take Gray away. The exhibitionist ice mage was strong (no matter how often he tried to deny it) and it wouldn't have been easy to take him down. However, the files only seemed to contain lists of names and a certain amount of jewels beside each name.
He raised an eyebrow in confusion and scanned through the list. He was surprised to find that he actually recognized some of the names from various guilds around Fiore; like Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale. When Natsu got to the end of the list he found Gray's name without a price beside it. His attention wandered over to the table again and his eyes drifted to a file with Gray's name on it. Natsu picked it up and opened it slowly; his mouth dropped open when he saw what was inside.
Gray's entire life history, even from before he met Ur, was compiled into this little folder. All the missions he was on, his past with Deliora, past relationships and sexual relationships; he wasn't surprised to see that the ice mage didn't have any sexual experience. Despite being an exhibitionist, Gray was fairly shy and was awkward around girls (as he didn't know how to handle them); hell, he just wasn't all too comfortable with people to begin with. Out of curiosity, he reached for another folder with a random name on it and looked at it. Like Gray, this person had no sexual relationships; as Natsu looked through other folders he saw that the other people didn't have sexual relationships either. Natsu's inner flame began to flicker angrily as he realized started to piece together what this house was hiding.
Before Natsu's flames could get out of control, Gray's minty scent wafted towards him once more. Natsu ran out of the room; his speed quickening when the scent of blood started to permeate the minty smell as well. Natsu was so distracted that he almost didn't hear the sounds of footsteps coming at him. At the last second he dove into a corridor and pressed himself into the shadows. A large man walked past Natsu with a satisfied smirk on his face; he didn't even know the bastard, but he already wanted to beat the shit out of him. What troubled Natsu the most about the man though was that some of Gray's scent was on him.
The pinkette waited for the man to stagger away before he slid out of his hiding place and continued on his mission. Natsu ran down three flights of stairs until he found himself in the basement. The basement was freezing; he almost couldn't even stand how cold it was… that made his heart sink into his stomach. The dragon slayer walked around the basement looking for Gray when he stumbled upon a barred metal door. Natsu glanced inside and saw Gray's head; he hastily threw open the door and ran in as fast as he could.
The ice mage's name was on the tip of his tongue when he stopped in his tracks; frozen. His widened fearfully as his eyes fell on Gray for the first time in three weeks. His body was covered in red bloody scars and bruises; his oddly pale skin was barely distinguishable. What was even worse was that Natsu could see the outlines of Gray's hipbones and could count every rib perfectly. Natsu's eyebrows furrowed when he noticed the strange hand shaped bruises wrapped around Gray's waist and the torn and bloody figure of his face.
Gray stared blankly ahead, his deep blue eyes completely devoid of life; it was like he hadn't even realized that the pinkette was there. Natsu's eyes trailed over his best friend's body and noticed that Gray's pants and boxers were around his ankles; stopped from leaving his limbs by the thick chains imprisoning him. Natsu would've thought that it was a failed stripping attempt if it weren't for him seeing Gray's raw and bloody backside; clear liquid and red still dripping down his thighs.
The man that carried Gray's scent immediately flashed across Natsu's mind and anger pulsed throughout him. He could feel his fire magic straining against his body; trying with all its might to break out and kick that rapist's ass for ever laying his hand on his nakama…his family…his everything. Natsu supressed his instinct for once in his life and focused all his attention on Gray; he's the one who needed him right now. He exhaled and walked towards Gray cautiously; dropping onto the cement floor so that his knees rested in the ice mage's line of sight. Before Natsu moved a muscle, Gray flinched and tried to back away from the pinkette; fear and pain evident on his once strong face.
"Please, no more." Tears gathered at the corner of Gray's eyes, "No more."
Natsu flinched from the distressed and broken tone of his friend before slowly lifting his hand. His hand was about an inch away from the ice mage's head when the raven gave a strangled, almost silent scream, and tried to move away from his hand. Gray tried to curl himself into a protective position, only to have his weakened and injured body utterly betray him.
"Don't touch me! Please don't hurt me anymore!"
Natsu could feel his own tears gathering in the corner of his eyes as he stared at the shell of his best friend; it made him wonder if there was anything left of him to save. Natsu was pulled out of his ramblings by the sound of explosions erupting from outside, but he drowned them out. He knew that it was the rest of his family; they could handle what was going on outside. He kept all his attention on Gray; he was the one who needed him most. The dragon slayer reached his hand out again and gently placed it on Gray's frozen and battered cheekbones. He used his thumb to wipe the tears off his friend's cheeks and cupped his face earnestly,
"You're going to be okay," Natsu whispered; his voice cracking slightly, "I'm not going to let them hurt you anymore."
Gray's exhausted deep blue eyes faintly cleared as he gazed into the onyx eyes of the dragon slayer. The raven's pale shoulders started to shake with suppressed sobs as he tried vainly to lift a hand and touch the warm hand that was pressed against his face.
"N-Natsu?" Gray's voice broke.
The pinkette kept eye contact with the raven and tried to nod his head encouragingly; tears starting to slip down his tanned cheeks,
"Yeah Gray, it's me…I'm going to get you out of here, I promise; do you hear me?"
There was a beat of silence when without warning Gray weakly launched himself into Natsu's arms and grasped onto the back of Natsu's black vest desperately. His battered face pressed against the crook of Natsu's neck as tears rained down into the scaled design of the pinkette's most precious item. The dragon slayer carefully wrapped his arms around the ice mage and rocked him back and forth; whispering everything and nothing into the ice mage's ears. The black haired teen clung to Natsu's heat in attempts to sooth his broken and defiled body; he needed to know that Natsu was actually there.
"Gray…" Natsu whispered.
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to get those chains off your ankles; it might hurt a little and you're going to have to let me go for a minute."
Gray nodded his head hesitantly and let go of Natsu. Having no strength of his own to hold himself up, he laid his head on the cold ground. Gray could faintly feel heat near his ankles, but he was so out of it that he didn't even feel the burn. He felt weight fall off his ankles and he felt his pants being pulled up his bruised legs. He ignored the pain by drowning himself in the now existent presence of his ice magic.
As quickly as the pain was there, it was gone and Natsu's warm arms were wrapped around him once more. Natsu gently lifted Gray off the ground and carried him bridal style. Gray grunted in pain at the movement and clung desperately to Natsu's white scarf. The two teens escaped the house and ran into the chaos outside.
The Fairy Tail members cheered at the sight of them and immediately swarmed them. According to Erza, one of the heads of the operation Yakumo had escaped during the battle. Natsu's temper flared causing more heat to envelope Gray. Normally the heat would annoy Gray, but thanks to this familiar heat and familiar heart beat beating alongside his, he knew that he was safe.
tbc
REVISED CHAPTER MINNA! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!