As always Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 2

I will protect you

When the days are cold, and the cards all fold
and the saints we see, are all made of gold.

When your dreams all fail, and the ones we hail
are the worst of all, and the blood's run stale.

I wanna hide the truth, I wanna shelter you
but with the beast inside, there's nowhere we can hide.

No matter what we breed, we still are made of greed
this is my kingdom come, this is my kingdom come.

Demons - Imagine Dragons

Laxus was getting edgy, every time someone mentioned Lucy to him his inner dragon let out a growl. It was getting dark out, and there was still no word about Lucy. Sting and Rouge had called a few hours ago reporting what they had found. Lucy had been in Crocus, but she wasn't there anymore. They had found her scent, along with a few unfamiliar ones, near where her keys had been found and had tracked them to the south east edge of town, where it disappeared. Judging from the tracks they had people waiting for them.

Everyone was back at the guild, everyone except for Makarov. Erza was getting ready to contact him when the doors opened and he strolled in. "Erza," he said in a low voice when the mood of the guild reached him. "What's going on?"

"Master, I'm afraid Lucy is miss-"

"Hello, Fairy Tail!" A voice called out from the lacrima display screen next to the stage. Everyone looked towards the screen and instantly several dark auras appeared around the Guild as they saw Ivan on the screen, Lucy chained up to the wall behind him. "Are you missing something, or should I say someone?" Ivan laughed as most of the guild growled.

"What do you want, Ivan?" Makarov simply asked and Ivan smiled out at everyone.

"It's simple. I want the location to Lumen Histore. You can give it to me now, and she'll stay unharmed, or you ca-"

"Don't give it to him!" Lucy screamed from behind him, and Laxus flinched as his inner dragon roared in his head. "Don't give him anything just because of me."

"Haze, silence her." Ivan ordered, and a black tendril of hair wrapped around Lucy's mouth, silencing her. "As I was saying, if you don't give me the location… well I can't guarantee her safety."

"Ivan, why do you ask for what I cannot possibly give?" Makarov asked his son in a sad voice, and he saw the fury reign in his eyes.

"Maybe this will change your mind, Haze, you can do the honors."

"My pleasure, Master." A female voice purred as the hair unwrapped from Lucy's mouth and formed the symbol of Raven Tail, it hovered over Lucy before it stopped right above her abdomen. Everyone watched with rage filled eyes as it caught fire with black flames, a few people turned away as it was branded into Lucy, a few more covered their ears as her agonized scream pierced the air, but more growled or cried out in rage at the action.

As her scream died down she looked out at everyone and Laxus couldn't even imagine how she must be feeling, and very faintly he heard her whimper before her eyes closed, "someone, please… save me…"

His inner dragon growled at her plea, and as he turned as the connection went dead he put his hands in his pockets and felt the sketches Julie had given him. He took them out and hissed at the first one, a detailed pencil sketch of Lucy chained to the wall, her clothes gone with marks all over her body, the symbol of Raven Tail on her abdomen just where he saw it branded moments before, but it was her eyes that attracted him. The look in them was one of pure rage, as if she was about to shred someone to pieces with her bare hands.

~~ TS two weeks ~~

Lucy awoke numb, she had long since blocked out the pain, and heard a voice in the other room talking.

"She doesn't scream anymore…. She's so boring now…"

That would be Dart, he always found joy in my screams. She thought numbly as she shifted around, trying to generate a bit of warmth, she was so cold, her clothes had long since been burned away by Haze. She could feel a fraction of her magic had returned, nowhere near enough for Urano Metria, but if she had her keys she could summon a few.

"Why did Master and Haze leave me alone, I wonder." He must be talking to himself again. "I hope they left to get food. They let me bite but not eat… I want to eat… she tastes so good."

If he's alone then this might be my only chance. "Dart," Lucy rasped out quietly. "Dart, could you unchain me, just for a bit so I can lay down." Dart poked his head around the entrance.

"I can't, I don't have a key." He stated before he turned away.

"Maybe you could just bite through the chains, or are they too strong for you?" She said with a sigh as she leaned against the wall, and smiled inside when Dart walked into the room, an annoyed look on his face.

"My teeth can bite through anything, I'll show you." He walked over and lifted the chains that were connect to the wall and bit through both of them at once, and Lucy grinned.

"You're an idiot, Dart." She said as she concentrated what was left of her magic into her palms, forming a four-inch orb of condensed magic and shoved it towards him.

"Wha-" Dart looked down just as the sphere collided with him, knocking him backwards into the cave wall, and he slumped to the floor out cold.

I don't have long, but I need something to cover up with. Lucy started into the next room but winced as the chains on her ankles pulled against her as they were still connected to the wall. I wonder if this will work? She had very little of her magic left and she used some of it to form two small orbs, barely an inch each and sent them to either of the chains connected to the wall. With a small blast each chain came free and she moved quickly to the main room. She scanned the room and found a cloak and quickly put it on, not caring that it dragged the ground. She pulled the hood up over her face and ran out the door and into the night, and as she made it to the top of the first hill she saw the familiar lights of Magnolia.

Laxus stood on the edge of town, he had to get out of the guild hall for a bit, clear his head for a while. All of the dragon slayers were searching for Lucy, each of them had their own tie to her, but he had nothing.

You can change that. His inner dragon purred, and he let out a low growl.

Why should I?

Even you know she's the one for you, the one you would die protecting.

No, she is with the flaming idiot, everyone knows that. Fucking prick.

No she isn't, have you even smelled the mating bond between them? He is meant to be with the white haired one, any competent dragon could see that. His inner dragon snorted at him in amusement as he growled at it.

And what makes you think she's my mate, you prick? I don't even know her let alo-

The fact that you're denying it proves it. You've been on edge these two weeks because you have no idea where your mate is, all you know is that she's in danger and you're helpless to find her. You claim to be the strongest dragon slayer but you can't even protect your own mate? And I'm Prick now, I kind of like the name Patrick, or Prick as you like to call me.

ENOUGH! Laxus roared and the dragon snickered in response.

Did I hit a nerve? Maybe instead of arguing with me you should pay attention to your surroundings… With that the dragon went silent.

"Prick," Laxus muttered as he scanned the area, faintly hearing the sound of metal against pavement in the distance. As it got closer he watched a cloaked figure running into town; watched as it tripped, watched as the hood fell back, watched as blond hair matted with blood and dirt tumbled free.

"Lucy!?" He yelled out in surprise and rushed forward to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Laxus…" she rasped as she looked up at him as he cradled her gently in his arms.

"Hey, where have you been? Everyone's been worried about you." He laughed gently as she brushed the hair away from her neck, only to growl a bit as he saw a burn on her neck. It went past the cloak she was wearing, he went to move it, to see the rest of the burn, ignoring her protests as she did so.

As Laxus moved the cloak he froze at what he saw underneath, the blood pounding in his ears as his inner dragon, Prick, roared in rage. Lucy was completely naked save for the chains he could feel on her, and most of what he could see was covered in a rainbow of bruises, burns, bites, blood and dirt. He could feel his canines elongate as his rage started to take over, and a few bolts of lightning shot into the sky as some of his magic escaped.

"What happened to you." He said in a low growl as he took off his own cloak and wrapped her up in it.

"Escaped…" She whispered as he lifted her up.

"How?" He asked as he started to run towards the guild, afraid his magic would go out of control if he tried to lightning travel to the guild.

"Dart… Idiot… then I ran… please..." she whimpered as he looked down he saw head fall back and he barely heard the last few words. "Don't leave me…"

"It's okay Lucy." Laxus whispered as the guild came into view. "You're safe and you're home now."

"Mira!" Laxus yelled as kicked the doors open. "Get Wendy back here now!"

"Laxus, we saw the lightning what happ- Oh no, Lucy! Mavis help us…" Mira muttered as she ran to the comm. lacrima "Take her upstairs to the infirmary, get her cleaned up and don't let anyone in." Mira ordered as she began to call Wendy, and he ran upstairs with Lucy limp in his arms.

The infirmary was empty when he went inside, and he gently placed her down on one of the cots. She looks so fragile…

You could have prevented this, if you would have just figured out she was your mate in time.

Shut the fuck up, Prick. He growled as he walked over to get a bowl of clean and a wash cloth. When he returned he hesitated for a moment, should he let someone else clean Lucy or should he?

Maybe I should take a second look at her to make sure, I only caught a glimpse earlier. He carefully removed both cloaks and let out a low hiss as Prick growled. There was so much blood and dirt covering her he couldn't see all her injuries properly; it was impossible to see if she had any unharmed skin below her neck.

Laxus looked at the cloth and bowl and knew it wouldn't be enough. There has to be a quicker way to get Lucy clean… He looked around and his eyes fell on the door to the bathroom.

"That's perfect." He muttered as he stood and gathered Lucy in his arms and carefully made his way to the bathroom, to the shower. Turning the water on cool he stepped fully clothed into the spray, Lucy still limp in his arms, not caring his favorite boots got ruined. Grabbing the handheld spray off the wall he began to gently rinse all the blood and dirt off of her.

It took almost a half hour to get everything, and when the water finally ran clear he stepped out of the shower and turned off the water. When he exited the room he was surprised to see Gildarts leaning against the door, obviously keeping everyone out.

"I was guarding the door from outside before you went into the shower, and came in here to avoid Mira's questions once you went in. You were in there for quite a while, Laxus, how bad is she?" Gildarts asked as Laxus wrapped Lucy up in his cloak.

"Pretty bad, but she's one hell of a fighter." That is one of the reasons she is meant for you, my ignorant dragon slayer. Shut up! He growled at Prick as he placed her gently down on the cot, and he realized the chains were still on her, and sparks danced on his skin as he hissed. How could I be so stupid and leave these on her…

Gildarts eyes narrowed as he took in the scene before him, Laxus was kneeling before Lucy, obviously pissed at the chains that were still on her that his magic was becoming unstable. "How did you find her?" He asked cautiously, not wanting Laxus to lose his temper.

"Somehow she managed to escape and she made her way to the edge of town, it looked to me she had been running the entire way." He said as he broke the chains with his bare hands, tossing them into a corner. He then picked up the cloak he had found Lucy in and tossed it to Gildarts. "Have Mira put this somewhere for Natsu and Gajeel when they get back. They can use the scent to find the place where they were holding Lucy." Gildarts nodded and turned to leave, but not before looking back to Laxus.

"are you staying here with her?" Laxus nodded to the man. "Good, oh, Mira said to tell you everyone is on their way back, and Wendy is coming as quick as she can, she ran into Chelia in a nearby town, they're both making their way here.

"Thanks, and after Natsu and Gajeel have the scent from that cloak destroy it."

"If we didn't need it I would have Romeo burn it immediately." Gildarts said as he left, and Laxus let out a sigh at the click of the lock.

He looked down at Lucy, who looked so fragile bundled up in his over-sized cloak, and sat on the edge of her cot, placing a hand on her hip.

"Fight, Lucy. I know you're a fighter, I've seen it, I've seen and heard about you fighting against all odds." He felt her tremble as she lay there, so he picked her up and settled her into his lap, wrapping his arms tightly around her as he rested his chin on top of her head.

"There is no need for you to worry anymore, Lucy." Laxus murmured softly as he brushed away her hair, his inner dragon purring. "For as long as you want me to, I will protect you, no matter the cost. I will protect you with my life."

AN- To be honest I didn't really plan to give Laxus an inner dragon, let alone name it, yes it has a weird name. I thought it would he funny to call his inner dragon Prick because it's such a prick, and I figured it would be short for Patrick and I cracked myself up at the thought of Patrick the Magic Dragon. *Puff the Magic Dragon* so it became Prick, short for Patrick. Just read, review and enjoy!