~Big Brothers~

Chapter 1

Wendy didn't like the room she was in. The walls were all made out of larges stones, the floor was concrete, and the only window in the room was tiny and had prison bars over it. It was dark and cold, and she could hear the drunken laughter of the men who put her in this small hole through the thick metal door. The little girl gave a hard tug on the long chain that connected her left ankle to the back wall. It rattled, but didn't break. She continued tugging on the stubborn piece of metal until one of men banged on the door, and yelled at her to be quiet. Childishly, and knowing the unnamed man couldn't see her, Wendy stuck out her tongue, yanking the chain that connected to her wrists to just annoy the people outside.

The little girl sat down and brought her legs to her chest, wrapping her arms around them to try and keep warm. Her thoughts drifted to Romeo and Charlie, and the grip around her legs tighten as the memory of what led to her being locked in this place came through her brain. Charlie's order of her favorite tea got held up in a nearby town, and no one could get the right part to fix the truck for at least a week. Not happy about it in the least, Charlie went to go get it with Wendy following to make sure no one ended up facing the white Exceed's wrath. Romeo, who just happened to be sitting next to Wendy at the time, also went with them in case they needed help carrying something.

The young dragon slayer giggled a little bit at the thought of her crush. 'He's so sweet and kind. And very cute too.' He was pink faced when he asked if he could come too, and his smile –as cliché as it sounded- brighten the whole room when Charlie gave him permission. The three of them, after about two hours, were back in the forest surrounding Magnolia, heading back to the guild with the large crate being carried by Wendy and Romeo. Charlie was helping balance her order by flying under the box and pushing it upwards. Mindless chatter and loud laughter, primary from the two children, helped keep the trip eventful.

Then everything went wrong. A group of about twenty men- the sick, twisted people that were separated from her by the door- jumped them as they were about a mile away from the outskirts of town. The three startled Fairy Tail members fought, but there was just too many of them. A distracted Wendy was injected from behind with something that drained her magic and strength completely, while Charlie was shot through a wing and a leg. The only female dragon slayer cradled her cat to her chest as she stared with hard, scared eyes, her back pressed against a tree, at the snickering men.

Romeo, having seen Wendy go down, ran towards her. The little girl smiled as she remembered what he said to her as he stood in front of her, shaking with the tumbling purple flames licking his hands- 'I may not be able to use my magic very well yet, but I promise I will protect you.' He fought back hard. The boy burned, kicked, punched, and bit the men, who went from laughing at the little boy's obvious fear to snarling at his stubbornness. But, despite his stubbornness and bravery, Romeo couldn't hold them off forever, and eventually they knocked him down. As some kicked Romeo (anger bubbled in her chest; they were harming what was hers), others came and ripped and tossed Charlie away from Wendy, who was pulled by the hair and thrown over the shoulder of one of the men.

The little girl scratched, kicked, bit, and yelled as the men, with her unwilling in tow, started to run away, leaving Romeo and Charlie at the scene of the crime. And that must have been hours ago. 'I wonder if they got back to guild?' thought Wendy as her eyes became watery at the other, much worse option that came though her head. The mage looked up as the door opened and a man, who she realized was the one who carried her, came in, a plate in his hand. Gracelessly, he dropped it at her feet, causing some the unidentifiable mush to splatter onto the floor. "Here."

"I don't want it."

The man crouched down, after muttering something about dealing with brats and how he hated it, and said, "Listen well. I personally don't give a sorry damn about your well being. But if you aren't in perfect health, than we won't get paid as much for you."

Wendy glared and asked, "You kidnapped me because someone paid you to?" The man nodded and added, "Hasn't paid us yet, but he will when he gets you. Said something about wanting a dragon slayer for a pet. We knew we didn't a chance in hell in taking down one of the other six, so that just left you. Still couldn't take you fair and square since you have all that fancy magic, so the guy gave us the drug that we put in you. He mentioned that it would last for at least a couple of days, but by then you'll be in his possession. Anyways-", the male stood up and started to walk out, "just eat your damn food and stay quiet." The door slammed behind him, and Wendy could hear the locks click.

Picking up the food, she threw it at the door in retaliation and yelled out, "Just you wait! The others dragon slayers and the rest of Fairy Tail will come soon and get me! And you'll be sorry!" The spirited girl pulled on her chain repeatedly, hard enough that her knuckles turned white. Tearing off a piece of her now dirty dress to wrap around her now bleeding fingers, she started to reflect on her life. 'So much has changed.'

She went from being with Grandeeney to traveling with Jellal/Mystogan. Her home went from Cat Shelter to Fairy Tail. And she went from being a lonely dragon slayer to being one of seven. A smile crossed her face as she thought about the others.

When she found out that Natsu was going to be part of the alliance, Wendy raised her hand to represent Cat Shelter before Master even finished talking. The purpose of the mission didn't register in her mind at that moment- here was a chance to meet another dragon slayer, someone with magic like hers, and she was going to take it. She wasn't disappointed- Natsu was hyper, funny, strong, and protective. After finding out the truth about her former guild, he took her aside because he knew that she lost her guild on top of losing her mother figure and needed some way of letting it out. The man had just let her hug him and cry under the shadow of night.

Then she met Gajeel. Tall, dark, scary looking at first glance, but she knew he was kind. A couple of days after joining Fairy Tail, a couple of teenage girls were picking on her. For whatever reason, Wendy never knew. When they were starting to mock her about being an orphan, out of nowhere, Gajeel appeared. He placed Wendy up on his shoulders, and told the surprised girls to shut up with a harsh snarl. After watching the teenagers run away, he looked up at her and told her that there's nothing wrong with being an orphan. She smiled and nodded, and for the rest of the day, Wendy just got to sit on his shoulders and fully explore the town with him as her commentary. They never told anyone about that day- it was their little secret.

Rogue and Sting came back from a mission soon after. The blonde was all smiles when they met, and the quieter partner gave a small smile as they shook hands. Lector and Frosch were quite cute and friendly, automatically becoming friends with Happy and Charlie (though the latter didn't express it openly). Sting always invited her over to where he was sitting to talk, no matter who else was sitting with him. Rogue would take Wendy out with him and Frosch when they went to do shopping, stating that she was more easy to be out with than Sting and Lector despite their objections.

Master Makarov announced, quite out of nowhere, that Laxus would be returning to the guild soon. As cheers rose up in the room, Wendy tugged on Natsu's vest and asked who Laxus was. Excitingly, he explained but then whispered in her ear that he was one of them. As the doors opened and the blonde got tackled, Wendy hid behind a pillar to just watch for now. He wasn't as gruff and arrogant as Natsu described, but more light hearted. Then again, he was in exile. The little girl didn't have a chance to speak to the man alone because, throughout the day, there was always a group of people around him. But as night came and everyone was busy drinking and partying, Wendy walked up to Laxus and introduced herself.

They started talking well into the night, first about the guild and then on to other topics that she couldn't remember. Wendy doesn't remember what happened next, but, then thing she knew, she woke up in Laxus's bed with his coat covering both her and Charlie. The confused little girl walked out of that room, the coat still around her and dragging on the floor, to find Laxus cooking breakfast. Apparently she fell asleep and Laxus, not quite trusting her well being to a pack of drunks, grabbed her and a sleepy Charlie and took them back to his place. He gave them his coat because they started to shiver when he dropped them off in his bed, and he slept on the coach which was a size too small for him. She smiled, thanked him, and started to help him, never revealing to any other members that what Laxus did. It was hers and Charlie's memory.

Cobra walked through the guild's door one day with Master Makarov, claiming that he was only joining so he could be with Cuberos, known now as Kinana. Despite knowing that he was in Oracion Seis, Wendy really couldn't find a reason to be cold towards him. She has heard bits and pieces of the Tower of Heaven from Erza, when she was having a nightmare and was talking in her sleep. So Wendy took it upon herself to get the mage to open up to the others, besides Kinana. Surprising it didn't take very long- the little girl supposed that being used as a slave, left for dead by his former guild, and being locked up alone in prison made the man feel lonely. Cobra wasn't bad to be around; he was very affectionate towards Kinana, at least in private when there wasn't a crowd, and he was amazing story teller. In a little corner, hidden from the view of others, he would sit and spin a tale just for Wendy's and Kinana's ears to hear.

Wendy bit her lip as she started to remember all the little moments she has had with them. The special little things they did just for her. She curled up into a ball, her eyes watery, and whisper, "I want my big brothers…"

She jumped as an explosion went off somewhere in the outside. The door in front of her was ripped open and a different man came running in. He was bleeding from a wound on the right side of his head, and his hands were slightly burned. More explosions went off as he unlocked the chain around her ankle and roughly tucked her under his arm. He ran out of the room as another explosion went off again, sounding closer this time. Smoke started to irritate her nose, making her unable to smell anything but it. The man kept muttering, "I have to get out…I'll be rich….I just need to sell this brat"

'This brat won't be going down so easily' thought Wendy as she roughly bit into the man's side. With an unmanly shriek, the man dropped the girl who landed on her feet and started to run. She didn't know where she was going; she only knew that she had to find a way out. And fast, since she could hear the man started to yell and to chase after her.

Her legs were wobbly from being inactive for so long but she forced them to keep running. The little girl kept running even when the man started to throw small needles into her feet. Wendy tried to find a little bit of magic she could use, but apparently the food man was right about the drug. Suddenly, a much larger needle imbedded itself into her left thigh. Hissing, the youngest dragon slayer crashed into the floor, knocking her head hard enough to start bleeding. Looking over her shoulder, she stared with scared eyes as the man came huffing and puffing towards her.

"I got you now, you stupid little girl!"

Just then, an explosion happened behind her. As the dust and smoke settled, the man just stood there, sweating fat bullets and trembling. Deep, inhuman growls came behind her. Before she could look behind her, the chain between her wrists was ripped apart, happening so fast that she could only see a tan and black blur. Pieces of cloth were quickly wrapped around her feet and thigh, and she could see something soft being wrapped around her head. An arm shot under her knees while its twin wrapped around her middle, then lifted her effortlessly. Wendy could now finally see who her savior was. 'Or', Wendy thought as her eyes widen and her head turned from side to side as her sense of smell finally started to work properly, 'my SAVIORS.'