And now for my first story upon this glorious site. This pairing will consist of Cobra and Lucy, so if that is not something that you do not like I merely ask you to skip over this story. For any others who enjoy this pair as much as I, I do hope that it is to your liking. Feel free to leave a review about what you think, and I will try to reply as I can.

Disclaimer: in no way, shape, or form do I have any connection with Fairy Tail. Enjoy!

Touch Of Fear

Chapter 1

The cold steel from the shackles bit deeply into Cobra's skin as he tried to yank himself free. All the while snarling and growling at the men who were standing in the room, laughing at him as he fought to get to the woman across from him.

Her body was trembling, no doubt do to the cold water that they had poured on her nude body. Bruises were already beginning to form, and he hated how deep and dark most of them were getting. Not to mention the small, bleeding lacerations that they had places upon her skin with small knives. Yet, even through all this torture, Lucy Heartfilia still had a fire burning in her eyes and was doing her best to keep him calm. She was trying to make sure that he stayed level headed, even though she was the one receiving the torture. Hell, she was even encouraging them to step up their game! Just so that they would leave him be. Just so he wouldn't have to feel like he was back in that damn tower. So he didn't have to face torture.

Torture that should have been placed upon him from the start! She had done nothing but tag along for this mission! Which had turned out to be nothing more than a setup to ambush and capture him. To use his sound and dragon slayer abilities for dark purposes. Yet, he just had to say that she could tag along, merely because she had gotten so far under his skin that he could no longer could say no to her. Now...Now, because of his own weakness, she was being tortured because they knew they could control him through her!

"Are you ready to obey, Dragon Slayer?" The purring voice was enough to make his skin crawl. A snarl ripped from his throat as he found the man with shocking violet hair and emerald eyes, the man who was the mastermind behind all of this. Cobra gave him a glare that should have very well put him in the grave, but only caused a smirk to appear on his thin lips as he strolled toward Lucy. Earning another growl from Cobra as he tracked the man's movements, hating everything about him. His dark emerald eyes that held madness within their depths, short violet hair that was slicked back, slim face that always seemed to wear a smirk, and expensive clothing that spoke of wealth and power. What the hell did this man want with him!? What was his plans for Lucy!?

"I must say, for a lowly man such as yourself, you do have exquisite taste in women. Why, I've never seen such a fine beauty before." Cobra even hated his voice! A gentle purr that held nothing but a mocking tone. It grated on his nerves, and he wanted nothing more than to tear the man's vocal cords out and shove them up his ass!

"You really think Cobra is so weak that he'd bow to you over something like this. We're both Fairy Tail, it'll take more than this for either one of us to give you what you want." Those fierce words coming from her soft lips had him fighting back a whimper. He wanted to cave, he wished to cave! Because he knew that if he did, she would be safe. That they would leave her alone! She knew the same, but by saying, that she wasn't allowing him to take that route. He wasn't about to humiliate her like that. She was fighting the only way she could at the moment, just so they couldn't get control over him! Her beautiful, harmonious soul was telling him all, how she wished to protect him, to keep him from whatever this man had planned...and it was tearing him up inside.

He was suppose to be protecting her, and yet here she was, protecting him! From what he could tell, there was no way out of this situation without one of them caving. They weren't interested in her magical abilities, and had merely slapped some low brand, anti-magical cuffs on her wrists before stripping her and pinning her to the wall. Him on the other hand, they had chained him down like a beast, just a measly five feet away from her, and put him in a situation where he didn't know what to do.

They had demanded that he leave Fairy Tail, and become a lakey for them. To obey their every order, or else there would be severe consequences. He had took the bait like a foolish idiot! The moment he had told them to bring their worse...He hadn't expected them to aim it at Lucy! They had first started with small nicks and cuts on her skin, and while she had kept a blank face through it, her soul had shouted her pain and fear. It had coiled his stomach, and caused his dragon side to rise until he could only growl and roar at them. At the moment, he was going on nothing but pure, dragon instinct. It was the first time he had ever tasted this raw power, this feeling of pure hate, this feeling of...fear!

Yes, he knew that he was afraid. However, that fear wasn't directed toward himself, or what might happen to him. No, he was afraid of what else they could, or would do, to Lucy. Over the time since he had joined Fairy Tail after his pardon, the woman had come to mean something far greater to him than he had thought anyone possible. At first he had merely thought that it was just her nature to draw people in like that, but then he realized that he had fallen for her at some point. Always wanting to see her smiling, laughing, and just being so lively. He had been willing to go to the ends of Earthland just for her, so why was it she was in this kind of situation because of him! He would never want something like this for her!

"Well, I guess that maybe you don't care for her as much as I thought. Let's see...Should I let my men have their way with her? Keep her for myself? Or maybe I could end her suffering right now? What say you, Dragon Slayer?" Those words caused him to stare up at him, his glare strong enough that the man with the violet hair finally flinched. An uncertain expression finally passing over his face as Cobra relaxed his muscles, and actually managed to get to his feet even though nearly every part of his body was in shackles. Keeping the man's gaze, he finally found his voice. Just barely hearing his own words as his anger rushed through him. He knew he was close to snapping, but he didn't think he could hold himself back any longer.

"If you, or any of your men, approach her again. Nothing in Earthland, Heaven above, or even Hell below will stop me from tearing each and every one of you apart. I will show no mercy, and will not stop until I know for sure that each and every one of you is dead. Now, release her." He kept the man's gaze during the silence, his muscles slowly tensing as his body braced himself for anything that this dark mage might have planned. While his face was once again void of any emotion, his soul however was giving plenty away. He was thinking of the ways to start breaking Cobra without involving Lucy, and that was all that Cobra could ask for. If he could somehow get her out of harms way, then he would worry about getting himself out. However, she came first.

"My, my. It seems that I was mistaken." Those words chilled him to the bone as the violet haired man smiled, his emerald eyes slitting like a cats just before it pounced on its prey. Cobra could only watch as he let out a chuckle before pulling a dagger from underneat his jacket, the blade shiney and clean. The man inspected it for a moment, before flicking his wrist and suddenly holding it poised just before Lucy's throat. Cobra practically felt his heart jump into his throat, before he released a deep, dangerous growl and began straining against his restraints once more.

"So, this little mage does mean a lot to you. Well then, maybe you should start listening to me, or else we'll start doing much worse things to her. All the while making you watch. Or perhaps...Yes, now that's a lovely thought!" The sudden victorious cry from the man had him stilling, not liking how his eyes widened with a crazed expression. Narrowing his gaze, Cobra looked into the man's soul, before feeling his eye widen as the cruel, warbled sounding soul gave away his idea.

"There is always one way to break a person completely! Take away the one thing that they hold dear, make it to where they can never have it again, and they will shatter from the inside out. Especially when they believe that it's their fault! So, Mister Dragon Slayer, do me a favor. Start breaking yourself for me!" He shouted, before spinning and grabbing a handful of Lucy's hair. Cobra didn't know what it was. He wasn't sure if it was Lucy's mixed cry of surprise and fear. The fact that the man had dared touch Lucy after his warning. Or watching the blade that the man held start arching toward Lucy's exposed neck. He wasn't sure what it was, all he knew was that he felt something snap within him...

Cobra shot upward in bed, hand grabbing at his chest as his fear seemed to paralyze his lungs. His breaths coming out shallow and harsh as he fought back the shivers trying to consume his body. His eye darted around his surroundings, trying to piece where he was at in his frantic mind. Trying to recall the last thing he remembered!

At the image of a blade swinging toward Lucy's exposed throat, he felt his chest constrict before hissing out a breath of air. What had happened after that!? Where was Lucy!? Where was he!?

He was trying to claw his way through his rising panic and fear when he finally heard it. Just a slow, steady melody, but one too familiar for him to not know who it belonged to. Snapping his eye back open, he looked to his right and stared at the thin curtain that was separating him from the person who held the soul.

Gritting his teeth against the pain that was consuming his body, he slid from the bed and ripped the curtain aside. Finding himself falling to his knees as his enegry drained from him in relief. There, on a second bed, was Lucy. She was bandaged up and looking worse for wear, but from the state of her soul, he knew that she was alive.

Still, swallowing, he reached out a trembling hand and placed two fingers on her wrist. Keeping completely still until he felt it, the steady beating of her pulse beneath his fingertips. Releasing a heavy sigh, and finally feeling some of his panic and fear recide, he pressed his forehead against the matress that she laid upon. His body still trembling as he tried to recall what happened after he lost control.

Looking down at his body, he blinked as he finally took notice that a good portion of him was bandaged. Even more so than Lucy. The white material was wrapped around his ankles up to his calfs, around his stomach, his chest, biceps, wrists, hands, and he even felt the slightly itchy material around his neck. What the hell had happened!?

"C..Cobra.." The soft sigh of his name caused his head to snap up and stare at Lucy, who had shifted in her unconscious state, and looked to be troubled. Focusing on her soul, he felt his stomach coil as he detected the sound of fear in the harmonious song that emitted from her. Without thinking, he carefully slid next to her in the bed, and took her hand in his. Brushing his thumb over the bandages that wrapped around her wrist and knuckles, once again wondering just what had happened to them.

"I'm here, Bright Eyes. I don't know what happened, but we're safe." He whispered, relaxing as her soul seemed to quiet down some before she moved closer to the heat of his body. He knew that any other time he would have felt uncomfortable at the closeness, but at this point he was thankful for it.

Carefully wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her to rest against his chest, nuzzling his nose into her hair and breathing in her soothing scent of vanilla and strawberries. Even allowing his eye to close as he felt his body begin to relax, fatigue and stress finally catching up to him. Resisting the comforting lull of sleep, he focused his listening ability around them, and only once did he realize where they were, did he allow unconsciousness to take him. He knew that they were safe, for somehow, they had ended back up in Fairy Tail. He would question the others later. At the moment, he just wished to stay by Lucy's side to ensure that nothing more happened to her.