A Dragon to Light the Way

Okay, this is my first Sting x Lucy fanfic so please go easy on me...rated M for later chapters...thought of this a while back ago and just recently finished putting it together and now here it is...please enjoy ;)

Chapter 1

Lucy gave a whimper as pain shot through the burn on her left hip and tightened her hold on the ribs on her right side. Her breathing was shallow, and she was covered in a cold sweat from fever as she stumbled farther away from Magnolia. She was trying to put as much distance between Natsu and herself, since he was the one who had given her these wounds.

She had always thought that when she had started to date Natus she would be the happiest woman in the world, but she had been wrong. At first she had thought it was cute that he was slightly jealous and possessive over her, but then it had turned into abuse. At first it was only verbal abuse, saying that she needed to get stronger. Then he had started going for her self-esteem and looks, making her stay away from the guild by saying that the others were talking bad about her and it was reflecting bad on him. Only now she knew that it was nothing but lies. Everything was nothing but lies.

Then, it had turned into physical violence. Well, mostly threats at first. The swinging back of a fist, but at first it never made contact. It was only a threat, but then it had turned into true abuse. The first time he had struck her was when he had found out that she had left their apartment without telling him. They had gotten in a stupid argument, and when she had stated that he was being stupid by fussing over it, he had pulled his fist back and slammed it into her jaw. She had hit the floor with a mixed cry of pain and surprise. She could only stare up at him as he continued to yell at her, and shuffle back when he took a step toward her.

She had allowed it to go on for two weeks, until this morning she had finally called him out on the abuse and had received the wounds she now had. Still, Loke had sensed what was going on this time, with her having stopped him from intervening at the beginning, but this time he appeared and fought it out with Natsu. Allowing her enough time to grab the bag she had already packed, and head out of town. Knowing that he would first look for her in the guild, and since Loke had did something to his senses, she knew that he wouldn't be able to use his dragon abilities to track her.

A misstep caused her to gasp as the pain in her left hip shot through her leg and caused her to go onto one knee. Gasping hard and trying to keep her nausea at bay, she looked up and glared at the path before her. She had put a lot of distance between herself and the town, and hoped that Natsu hadn't figured out which way to go yet. She knew that she wasn't going to be able to continue on for the night, not with her wounds. Shuffling to the side, she braced herself against a tree and reached for her keys.

"Open, Gate of the Lion. Leo." She whispered, closing her eyes as a golden light surrounded her and soon an all too familiar face was in front of her.

"Lucy." Loke whispered, pain evident in his voice and she looked up at him. He looked completely recovered from his fight with Natsu that morning, and knew that when the spirits returned to the spirit realm it didn't take long for them to heal.

"Sorry to ask you to help me out so soon, Loke." She whispered, watching as a small smile appeared on his face before he offered his hand to her.

"No need to apologize Lucy. This doesn't bother me one bit, although to be honest I really want to go back to Fairy Tail just for a minute and tell them all what Natsu has been doing." He stated, causing her to tense and shake her head.

"No. None of that." She stated, placing her hand in his and allowing him to help her up, and allowing him to bear some of her weight as they continued down the path.

"Would you mind if I ask why?" He stated, causing her to smile slightly and look up at him.

"I'd rather not say." She stated, stumbling beside him as she focused on putting one foot in front of the other. She bit her bottom lip as she heard him sigh and shift her weight at his side slightly before matching her pace better.

"Then we need to focus on getting you someplace safe for the night. Is there any place that you had in mind?" He asked, and she shook her head.

"I just chose a direction and started running. I don't even know what direction I chose, so I have no idea what's ahead." She stated, tightening her hold on him as more pain shot through her hip. Making her want to cry out, but kept quiet so as not to worry Loke.

"Well, if we continue as we are, we'll arrive at Sabertooth in about half an hour." Loke stated, causing her to blink and look up at him in shock. She was heading in Sabertooth's direction!? She swallowed and gave a small sigh. While it wasn't a choice that she wanted, it was better than any other option. Besides, everything was fine between Sabertooth and Fairy Tail now, and hopefully they would help her out without too many questions.

Another misstep on her part caused a cry to escape her lips as she fell to one knee yet again. This time Loke was crouching beside her, looking at her with helplessness in his eyes as he watched her fight back tears and grit her teeth.

"Maybe you should slow down, Lucy. That burn on your hip looks bad, maybe you should treat it first before continuing on." He stated, and she leaned against him as she tried to catch her breath, hating how her body was trembling. Maybe he was right, but for some reason she couldn't think right and everything was starting to get a little fuzzy.

"Lucy? Did you hear me? Lucy?" Loke called, she heard him but for some reason couldn't find the strength to answer him. Instead, she was getting pulled farther and farther into the darkness. She attempted to raise her head, but instead slumped against him as she finally fell into unconsciousness.

"Lucy!?" The shout caused Sting to look up suddenly as the shout reached his sensitive ears, and he glanced at the other three that were walking alongside him.

"Did any of you hear that?" He asked, watching as Rogue gave a nod and Lector looked up at him.

"It sounds like someone needs some help." His little Exceed stated, causing the other Exceed dressed in a frog outfit to raise his hand.

"Fro heard it too." The little cat exclaimed, and Sting glanced down the path they were walking. Giving a small nod, he picked up the pace and soon topped the small hill and stopped as he saw what was beyond it.

Lucy Heartfilia was unconscious, and was being held close by one of her Celestial Spirits, the one he believed was Leo, or better known as Loke. He tensed as he realized that she looked to be badly injured, and quickly jogged toward them.

"Yo! What happened?!" He called, watching as the spirit glanced up sharply, and relaxed as he saw that it wasn't any threat to his key holder.

"It's...Complicated. Can she take shelter at your guild?" Loke asked, and he took one look at him and then to the blonde and gave a nod. Moving closer and crouched down beside them.

"I'll carry her if you want me to?" He stated, watching as he thought for a moment and then gave a nod. Working together, they easily lifted her onto his back and shifted her slightly so there was no pressure on the ribs he felt were broken, and her hip was in a way that it wouldn't be jarred too much when he ran.

"I'm going on ahead. You keep going this way and you'll run into Rogue, Lector, and Frosch, tell them what's happening. I'll get her to the guild so I can start healing her." He stated, ignoring the man's confused look and inhaled slightly. Shifting her once more to ensure that she was comfortable, he took off. Doing his best to make sure that he wasn't jarring her around too much.

Within moments he was at the guild and moving through the halls. Stopping long enough to gain Yukino's attention, and then headed up to the medical room. He eased her onto the first bed, and then glanced over his shoulder as Yukino rushed in.

"Can you change her into a gown, and check for all wounds. Call me back in here when you are done, and I will heal all that I can." He stated, waiting long enough to see her nod and then moved out into the hallway. Relaxing his body, he moved over to a window and opened his mouth slightly like he was inhaling deeply. In truth, he was gaining what little light that was left in the day, knowing that he would want as much as he could get to help Lucy. After he healed what he could, he would have to make sure her spirit told him everything that happened.

Sting stayed out in the hallway for about ten minutes before Yukino came out, looking pale and upset. He knew that it wasn't going to be good when she approached him, and faced her when she was close enough.

"She has a lot of old bruises that looks like someone has been constantly beating her. Right now though, the worst would be the two broken ribs on her right side, and the...the third degree burn on her left hip." She stated, and he nodded as he started for the room.

"Go on downstairs and talk with Rogue to calm yourself. I'll make sure she gets better, alright?" He stated, watching as she didn't even nod but turned and headed for the steps. Bracing himself for the worse, he headed into the room and bit his bottom lip as he saw Lucy Heartfilia, a woman who was so head strong, determined, brilliant, and damn good looking, laying on the bed. She was pale, trembling, and looking like she was in pain. Even more so than when Minerva had giving her a beating, and that was saying something.

Moving closer to the bed, he placed a hand in her forehead and frowned as he realized that she had a hell of a fever. Looking down her body, he mumbled a soft apology and carefully pulled back the covers and lifted her gown until it was slightly above her ribs. Thankful that Yukino figured that he would need to do something like this, and had also slid loose shorts onto her, making sure to keep her left hip exposed while still maintaining her modesty.

He placed one hand on her side with the broken ribs, and the other carefully over the bad burn on her hip. He closed his eyes and focused his light magic on his hands, opening when his hands suddenly became warm and gently pressed onto her wounds. Sending the newly discovered healing magic into her body, and watched as the pain on her face faded, and soon her ribs were healed and the burn wasn't as bad as before. Moving away he knew that he would have to give her a few more treatments for the burn, but it was all he could do for now.

Glancing down at her again, he realized that Yukino wasn't kidding about the older marks that told of beatings. What had him confused, was who in their right mind would beat on Natsu's woman? Also, why the hell wasn't Natsu with her right at that moment? Straightening, he pulled her gown back down, covered her with a light sheet and then left the room so she could get some much needed rest. Knowing that he had done all that he could for the moment, he headed downstairs, and quickly found Loke leaning against the bar. Telling Yukino and Rogue something that seemed to be upsetting both of them greatly. He quickly moved over to join them, and knew that the news wasn't good when they looked at him.

"She'll be fine. I'll have to give her a couple more treatments on the burn, but otherwise her life is in no danger." He stated, watching as relief settled on the Celestial Spirit. He crossed his arms and gave the spirit a pointed look.

"Alright, alright. I know what you want to know. Although, you're not going to like it." Loke stated, easing onto a stool and crossed his arms on the bar.

"As you probably already guessed, she had been beaten badly, in fact she was in an abusive relationship until this morning when she finally ditched him. From what I found out, he has been beating her for the past two weeks, and this morning when he found out she was leaving, he gave her those wounds." Loke stated, and Sting felt anger growing inside of him. Who the hell hit a woman? Especially one that didn't deserve it?

"Alright, I kinda figured that part. Question is, who the hell is 'he'? Also, why didn't she tell Natsu about it?" He stated, wanting to know why the man hadn't protected his woman. Any Dragon slayer knew how valuable a mate was, and Sting knew that if Lucy wasn't already taken he would court her himself. Especially since they seemed more compatible then her and Natsu.

"Because, it was Natsu himself that was abusing her." Loke stated, causing Sting to freeze on the spot and stare at him with a blank face. Natsu was the one abusing her?! A Dragon Slayer was abusing his mate?! Natsu dared to harm someone that he, Sting Eucliff, wanted to make his?! A loud bang snapped him back to reality, and he blinked to ensure that what he was seeing was correct.

It had seemed that his dragon side had become just as angered and shocked as he was by the news given to him. For the bar in front of him was now nothing more than splinters at his feet. He inhaled and closed his eyes. Willing his anger and shock to the side so as not to hunt down the bastard he once looked up to.

"The reason she didn't report it to her guild?" He asked, keeping his eyes closed.

"She hasn't told me." Loke stated, and he opened his eyes to stare at the ground. That right there told him that Natsu had most likely threatened her that she would be hurt more if she told anybody. Meaning that with her running away, the flame dragon slayer would be looking for her.

"I'm going to contact Makarov and tell him. No worries, I'll tell him to keep quiet about it, and that she will be staying in Sabertooth's care until she is ready to face him. I promise you, Loke, no harm will come to her while she stays here." He stated, glancing over to him to see a grateful look in his eyes before he disappeared back into the spirit realm. He then turned on his heels and headed for his office, stopping when a hand settled onto his shoulder.

"You will at least give her some time to adjust before courting her?" Rogue asked, and Sting frowned at him over his shoulder.

"Of course I will. Damn, she just got out of an abusive relationship this morning. I don't want her thinking that everyone she takes a liking to will treat her that way." He stated, brushing the hand off and started back to his office.

"Besides. Right now I just want to ensure that Natsu will be watched closely. That way, should he pick up her trail, we'll know when to expect him." Sting stated, hoping that he would at least have enough time to both train her, and get her used to the idea that he might have to beat Natsu's ass big time. Although, he figured Makarov might beat all of them to that last part, at least, he hoped so.