Magnolia Station was as busy as ever when Lucy bought her train ticket. She'd catch the next train to Acalypha, which would arrive in fifteen or so minutes. In the meantime, she plucked a newspaper off the stand and scanned the headline.

"Prison break?" Her brow furrowed, lips pulling into a deep frown as she read the article. Apparently, a few members of the Oracion Seis had managed to escape and were now at large. A sigh escaped her. All that work to put them behind bars, just for them to escape scarcely a month later. At least only a few had escaped and not all of them. Cobra, Midnight, and Racer had broken out, but the other three remained locked away. Personally, that was more than fine with Lucy. She'd have had some serious reconsiderations if Angel had gotten loose. Shaking her head, she replaced the newspaper just as her train pulled into the station. Thanks to the early afternoon time, the train wasn't overly crowded and finding a seat was easy enough. Summoning Plue for company, the blond gazed out the window as the train departed. The ride was unusually quiet; her journeys were usually filled with her teammates noise. At least she didn't have a sick dragon slayer to deal with. Lucy chuckled to herself, then raised an eyebrow at Plue, who seemed interested in something a few cars down. No one was paying her any mind, so Lucy followed the little snowman through the cars until they came to the cargo hold.

"What are you doing?" She asked the Canis Minor spirit as he nosed through some large crates.

"Pun-puuun!"

Lucy tilted her head, wondering what he could have found behind those crates, but stepped forward to have a look anyway. She gasped quietly. A hooded figure was leaned against the crates, out of sight and apparently asleep. Curiosity got the better of her and she moved so that she could peer under the hood. What she saw made her recoil sharply, reeling backwards and landing on her butt with a noticeable thud. The sleeping man sighed softly, but made no other movement. It had to be him, then, to sleep through that. Midnight, of the Oracion Seis, was on this train. Lucy grasped her keys, prepared to call security and see that the reflector mage was returned to his prison cell. However, he shifted in his sleep, causing his hood to drop a little and giving her a moment to examine his face. He looked about as she remembered him; from the two-tone hair to the impeccable make up (once again she felt a pang of jealousy at how well he applied the stuff), but he looked thinner, paler, and the bags under his eyes were noticeable. He looked… Vulnerable. Lucy's hand tightened around her keys for a moment before replacing them on her hip with a slow exhale. She shook her head and reached forward, tugging the hood of the cloak he wore back over his head, hiding his features. Rubbing her temples, she turned on her heel and made her way back to her seat, where she rested her head against the cool glass of the window.

What was I thinking? I should have called security. I should still call security. But I just… Couldn't do it. Cursing her bleeding heart, Lucy crossed her arms and stared out the window, still attempting to come to terms with her decision. She hadn't realized she'd dozed off until the horrible sound of screeching breaks and crumpling metal startled her awake. Wide eyed, she had but a moment to react as the train lurched off the tracks, careening into a gorge in a twisted mess of smoke and iron. Wincing from the impact, Lucy took in her situation. She was unharmed, though a large portion of the ceiling of her car had her barricaded in her seat. "Virgo."

"Princess! Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine, but can you hold my bag in the spirit world? I gotta deal with this."

"Yes, Princess!"

As soon as the maid left, Lucy gripped another key, "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!"

The barricade was no trouble for Taurus, and before long the two were surveying the wreckage.

"Alright, use your ax to break into some of these cars. It's burning up fast, so we need to get everyone out right away!"

The usually perverted bull was quite serious as he swung his ax into the nearest train car, creating an opening.

"Move on to the next one, Taurus, I'll get them out."

As she emerged from the car, having directed all the passengers out first, Lucy glanced at the rest of the train. Much of the crew had taken Taurus' lead and were breaking into the upended cars and ushering people out. Her chocolate brown eyes scanned the train before her brain registered that the cargo hold was a mangled heap of steel. And on fire.

"Oh… Oh, no!" Without much more than a thought, she rushed forward, ignoring the warning cries of those who noticed her. There must have been something explosive in there for it to be burning this fast, Lucy thought as she frantically tried to find a way in. The car had detached from the one in front of it and had been crushed from behind, forcing it up at an angle over the other car. There was a hatch on top of the cargo hold, but the angle was too steep for it to stay open. Still, it was her best shot. Using her whip to fling herself up onto the car, Lucy anchored herself as best she could and pulled on the hatch. Of course, due to the mangled state of the car, the hatch wasn't going to come up easily.

"Come on, come on," Lucy grit her teeth, pushing against the hatch with every muscle she had. Finally, it came loose and she quickly ducked under it, propping it open with her body despite how heavy it was. She had to squint through the smoke, but she eventually found Midnight reflecting a wall of flame and looking frantically for an exit point.

"Midnight!" She screamed his name as loud as she could, hoping he would hear her over the roar of the fire. His head whipped to look at her, and she watched as he pushed back his confusion to make a break for it. Something on the other end of the car caught fire and exploded, causing the whole car to lurch dangerously. On impulse, Lucy unfurled her whip, wrapping it around the unsuspecting reflector mage and hauling him through the hatch. Momentum carried them both off the roof as another explosion knocked the car loose from its temporary mooring. Lucy felt a hand wrap around her arm, pulling her up as the cargo hold began to fall. Not needing further encouragement, Lucy scrambled out of the way as the car came crashing down to the ground. Midnight grabbed her wrist again, dragging her away from the train with an urgency that Lucy knew well enough not to argue with. A yelp escaped her as whatever else was in the hold exploded violently and she and Midnight were both thrown to the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut, preparing to be peppered with fire and shrapnel, but it never came. Cautiously opening one eye, she saw Midnight above her, eyes closed and brow furrowed in concentration. His arms caged her in and were shaking slightly as he maintained a reflective bubble around the both of them. Once the air had gone still, he released a breath and rolled off of her, dispersing his magic. Lucy sat up, taking in the wreckage. Or, what was left of it. The blast had annihilated most of the train, leaving crater where the origin had been. Fire had scorched everything to ash for a good distance… And Midnight had reflected all of it. Lucy turned to glance at the other mage, who was still laying on his back and panting slightly, "Are you alright?"

He cracked one eye open, then the other, before pulling himself into a sitting position. He seemed exhausted, and Lucy wondered how long he'd been keeping the fire at bay before she'd shown up. To answer her question, he nodded at her, but his brows were drawn together in confusion and slight recognition as his crimson eyes bored into hers.

"I… Know you."

His voice was quiet as his eyes mapped her face. Lucy fought back a blush at being started at so intensely, giving him time to come to the realization on his own. His gaze wandered down her body, but was not perverted. Rather, he seemed to be searching her for any clue as to her identity. His eyes locked onto her keys, then trailed her arm to fixate on her hand. More specifically, her guild mark. The effect was instantaneous. Midnight recoiled, eyes narrowing defensively as he put some distance between them. Lucy stayed still, gazing evenly at him, "Thank you. You saved my life during that explosion."

"I suppose that makes us even," he replied, though the wariness hadn't gone from his eyes, "Why?"

"Why?"

"Why'd you help me out of there? How'd you even know I was in there to begin with?"

Lucy shrugged, "What, was I supposed to let you burn to death? Or explode?" She shook her head, "And… My spirit Plue found you sleeping there earlier."

"You could've turned me in."

"I could have. But I didn't."

"I don't understand."

Lucy laughed quietly, giving him a small smile as she got to her feet, "You know… Neither do I."

Midnight raised an eyebrow, clearly not entirely pleased by her response. He got slowly to his feet, but doubled back over immediately with a sharp grunt.

"You're hurt!" Lucy crossed over to him quickly, pulling him back down to the ground. He flinched away from her, but she was too busy with her keys to notice.

"Damn. I've been meaning to have Gemini copy Wendy for her healing, but… Virgo!"

"Punishment, Princess?"

"Not this time. I need you to help me bandage him."

Virgo nodded, "At once, Princess. It seems that he sustained some burns on his side. I'll need to you support him, Princess, while I dress his wounds."

Lucy nodded, moving behind the stunned reflector mage and letting him rest on her lap. Virgo produced an ointment and bandages out of seemingly nowhere before turning her serious gaze to Midnight, "This will sting. Prepare yourself."

Midnight took a deep breath, the nodded. Virgo worked quickly, applying the ointment and bandaging the young man's torso with enviable finesse. Through it all, Midnight had only hissed once as she'd applied the ointment.

"I shall take my leave, Princess," Virgo dismissed herself with a bow. Lucy carefully helped Midnight into a sitting position, "Can you stand?"

He nodded mutely, standing gingerly. Lucy steadied him with her hands lightly on his shoulders as he winced from his injury. Approaching voices caught the celestial mage's attention and she gasped, "Crap. Hurry!" She ushered Midnight behind some rubble, then darted back out to meet the train crew.

"Did everyone make it out?"

"It seems so, miss. Are you alright? You're the mage right? The one with the cow thing?"

Lucy nodded, "Yes, that's right. I'm fine, but do we know what caused the derailment?"

"Someone tampered with the tracks, it looks like. There shouldn't have been anything flammable in cargo, either. We'll be launching a full investigation into this, but for now all the train lines are going to be suspended. They're dispatching vehicles to take everyone into Clover. We'll figure out alternate transport from there. Please reconvene with the other passengers, Miss, it wouldn't do to be left behind."

"Of course. I think I heard some other people that way," Lucy pointed in another direction, "I don't know if they're still there though."

"Thanks for the help, Miss."

"Don't mention it," Lucy smiled, but as soon as they were out of sight, she ran back to where Midnight was. She was surprised to see him in a new cloak, and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Your pink haired spirit brought this."

"Thank goodness for Virgo. Come on, let's get you out of here."

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because I feel like it? Why are you asking so many questions?"

Midnight stopped, regarding her critically from beneath his hood, "Have you forgotten what I was a part of? What I helped do?"

"No. And while the whole Nirvana thing was a horrendous idea, I'm not ready to believe that you're inherently evil, or whatever Era's spouting these days."

"I-"

"You could have let me die in that explosion. You didn't have to shield me too."

"You saved me first. I owed you."

"I don't think a monster would much care for repaying debts. Ergo, you are not a monster," Lucy said simply, "Look. I saw you on the train earlier, just sleeping, not really causing anyone harm. And I don't get the idea that you broke out of prison to commit more Nirvanas. Am I correct?"

Midnight shook his head, "Nirvana was Brain's scheme. The Seis were just the tools he chose to use."

"And what are your plans now?"

"I don't know."

Lucy smiled at him, "Well, the fact that you didn't answer with 'kill everyone' is good enough for me. Far as I'm concerned, you're just a guy trying to get his life back on track. There's no need to bring the council into this, and no need to rat you out. Besides, I'm pretty sure if you hadn't been blocking those flames, that car would have blown up a hell of a lot sooner. So your pretty much saved everyone, if you think about it."

"I don't-"

"Let's at least get to Clover, okay? After that we can go our separate ways and not worry about this any more. But I'm not leaving you out here with that injury."

Midnight sighed slowly, but nodded. He tensed when she moved to support him as the walked, but eventually relaxed when it became evident that he needed to lean on something, at least for now.

"You know, it could be a big boost for your reputation if you turned me in."

"What, do you want to go back to prison?"

Midnight shook his head, "Of course not. I'm just trying to understand why you'd choose to help me instead of claiming the reward from turning me in."

"I did think about it," Lucy admitted, "When I first saw you sleeping there. But I couldn't do it. Even though everything logical in me said that I should, I couldn't. I'm sorry I can't give you a more definitive answer; but I don't fully understand myself. At any rate, there's no point worrying about it now. I've helped you three times now; if I attempted to turn you in at this point, I'd just be seen as an accomplice."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. It was my choice. And I feel like it was the right one. I don't regret not turning you in, and I promise I'll keep you hidden until we split up in Clover."

Midnight scoffed quietly, and she could practically feel him roll his eyes.

"Tell me something. Did Angel break her promises often?"

"What? No. Not unless she absolutely couldn't help it."

Lucy stopped and turned so that she could face him properly, her eyes serious, "Then you know what kind of weight the word of a celestial mage carries. I gave you my promise, and I will keep it."

Midnight stared at her for a moment, lips parted slightly in shock and a light blush across his pale cheeks. He shook his head slightly, clearing his throat, "Thank you. I'll try not to cause you trouble, but if I get caught, you don't know me. I tricked you and you didn't know anything about who I am or what I've done."

"Midnight…"

"If I get caught, I don't want you to get dragged down with me."

"A little late for that. Let's just not get caught."

"Are you always this reckless?"

Lucy smiled slightly, "Hmm, probably? I guess my team's rubbed off on me more than I'd thought. Believe it or not, I'm actually the voice of reason in my group."

"Dear God," Midnight muttered as they approached the other stranded passengers. A thoughtful hum escaped him as he seemed to recall something, "Actually, no. I believe it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Cobra told me about his fight with the fire dragon slayer, and I fought Titania myself. You fairies are batshit."

Lucy laughed, shrugging, "Yeah, we get that a lot. Here, come on," She helped the male onto the awaiting bus and guided him to one of the seats in the back and slipped in next to him. The attendants had said that it would be about a two hour ride into Clover Town. After about fifteen minutes, Lucy turned to her companion, wanting to make conversation, but found him fast asleep. She chuckled quietly, "Why am I even surprised? You were always sleeping…"

Not to mention how exhausted he looked after blocking that explosion. I wonder how much of his magic that actually took. Well, it's not like there's much else to do, so might as well follow his lead on this one.

Lucy ran a finger over Horologium's key, requesting an alarm in an hour and a half, then scooted a little closer to the reflector mage. She was mindful of his injury, but managed to cuddle up to him and rest her head on his shoulder, which she found surprisingly comfortable. As if by instinct, Midnight shifted to rest his own head against hers, a contented sigh escaping him and causing the blond to giggle slightly. As wary and borderline standoffish as he was when he was awake, Midnight was actually kind of adorable when he was sleeping. Not that she'd ever tell him that; he'd probably throw her into a nightmare if she did.