A/N: I do not own Fairy Tail or it's characters.

Chapter 3: Answers Revealed

Levy, Pantherlilly, and Gajeel watched Natsu and sat in silence as they considered the situation before them. After a few minutes the pinkette approached the group and ordered a flaming whisky from Mira. Noticing the stares from the trio of companions he turned to face his once fierce rival. "What?"

"What did Bunny Girl tell you earlier, after she came back from lunch?" The iron mage's voice was as gruff as ever but the younger slayer could tell that something was wrong in his tone.

"She said she has a surprise for me. I'm supposed to meet her later today at the abandoned inn on the edge of town. I wanted to go with her then but she said she had to set up stuff. Why?" Crossing his arms the fire mage looked suspiciously at his no-longer-rival-but-not-quite-friend. HE had not been happy about being separated from his lover, even if it was her idea, and now that he as being questioned about it gave rise to suspicion.

"When we were on our way back to the hall after our book reading you showed up and took Lu-Chan to show her something. Then I went shopping and came back. But the boys say that you haven't left the hall all day so who was that with Lu-Chan?" The script mage began to rub her chin in thought as so mentally reviewed pieces of the mystery surrounding her two friends.

The iron mage leaned in close to the group speaking softly so as to not be overheard. "Thinkin bout it, Bunny Girl's perfume smelled like the stripper did yesterday. And when did those earrings a hers start glowin?"

"Yeh it was pretty rank and you may be right about her earrings too." The raven haired mage's words did not go unheard as he had hoped. "She always wears the same pair and I've never seen them do that before." The pinkett was growing irritated with the situation. 'That WAS Lucy here earlier wasn't it? What if it wasn't her? Is Lucy in trouble? I need to find her…NOW.' Following his internal monologue the younger dragon slayer stormed out the Guild Hall doors without another word.

"Gajeel… is not the purpose of mating marks to show outsiders the connection between a dragon slayer and his mate?" Lilly spoke as quietly as possible, sitting on the bluenette's shoulder with small crossed arms. "When the celestial mage was here there was no reaction to the presence of her mate, they remained completely unchanged. The only reaction I observed was the glowing of the earrings." All three pairs of eyes widened at the cat's words.

"Earlier when Natsu, or maybe not Natsu, took Lu-Chan away I noticed the same thing about her marks. But her earrings haden't been glowing; it was a gem on Natsu's shoulder. I've never seen him wear something like that before so it stuck out to me, but now he doesn't seem to have it." The three armature detectives continued to analyze the facts before

The raven haired elder slayer made a decision. "Somethin's goin on here. I'm gonna follow Salamander, Shrimp you're with me. I don't know what's goin on and I aint letting you outa my sight." The petite Solid Script Mage looked up at her lover with a determined expression and nodded her compliance. After a few steps towards the doors Gajeel turned and gave a not to his Exceed partner. Lilly understood the unspoken instructions and went to find Erza.

It didn't take them long to catch up with an almost jogging Natsu and arrive at their intended destination. "This is the place. She's definitely here somewhere, I can smell her." Wrinkling his nose at the offensive smell, the fire mage caught some movement out of the corner of his eye.

"You're early, and you seem to have brought company. Naughty boy Natsu! This was supposed to be a private surprise, but I guess a few guests couldn't hurt. I was going to bring the two of you here later anyway so I guess this saves me a trip." Winking, the fowl smelling Lucy grabbed Levy by the wrist and began running towards the crumbling Inn door. "Catch us if you can boys!" A voice not belonging to either of their mates echoed from the neglected stone as the two women ran inside before either man could react, sending a shill down both their spines.

"Obvious trap." Gajeel's voice showed no sign of his concern for his mate.

"So? My Lucy is in there somewhere, whoever that girl was she went out of her way to get us here. I'm goin in there." The impatient fire mage stormed to the entrance of the building and sniffed. "Their scents are gone, both of um." Punching a flaming fist into a flaming palm his eyes deepened and his voice took on a serious tone reserved only for important battles. "I'm gonna go find Luce, and whoever brought her here. You get Levy outa here and take care of that fake Lucy." Turning away from the doors he looked at the raven haired man behind him. The iron mage was in visible shock, his jaw nearly on the ground. "What?" The pinkette dropped his arms, looking fully irritated by the others reaction to his incites.

"How the hell did YOU figure that out? You knew it wasn't Bunny Girl this whole time?" Gajeel picked up his jaw as Natsu glared at him.

"You think I wouldn't know my own mate? After what you guys told me it was obvious. I don't know what's goin on but I'm bettin she's in there, so let's go!" Without waiting for a response from the older man the fire mage ran inside feeling a chill wash over him as he passed the threshold.

The Iron Dragon Slayer approached the doorway with no small amount of trepidation. 'What the hell? Even Salamander's scent's gone. This sucks. Shrimp….' With a few more steps the raven haired slayer disappeared behind an unseen barrier into the body of the dilapidated inn.

…With the real Lucy…

"Natsu, what is all this?" The confused blonde began to walk around the room inspecting the care that went into preparing the scene before her. 'There has to be hundreds of candles here. Shure, he could have used his magic to light them but to even think of something so….romantic? It's just so out of character for him. And why here in this eerie building?' Stopping on the far side of the large four poster bed, she reached out to feel the soft fabric.

"I just wanted to do something special for you and I know we won't be interrupted by any unwelcome company if were way out here." He approached the opposite side of the bed as he spoke in a slightly husky voice. The light from the candles caught the shape of a dark blue gem on his shoulder drawing the celestial mage's to how it glowed.

"Since when did you wear jewelry?" The celestial mage pointed to the now glittering item with a look of confusion.

"I thought I would try something different. I wanted to look my best for you." His voice was an octave lower than normal, but over the last few weeks she had learned that it happened a lot when he was 'excited'.

Deciding to just go with it she mounted the plush mattress and began to crawl seductively towards her lover. 'Loke would have popped up by now if anything were wrong, right? Maybe this really is just his way of trying to be sweet.' She crawled slowly and purposefully towards her target.

After crossing the large luxurious breadth of the bed, the beautiful blonde mage kneelt in front of a now smirking Natsu. Reaching up she slowly lowered the zipper of his shirt and pushed it off his well-defined shoulders. He stood almost motionless allowing her to do as she pleased. Leaning forward she began to gently kiss the tanned flesh of his collar bones. She alternated between ghosting her lips over his cool skin and pressing her lips into it and licking wantonly. After tracing the full span of both she pulled back slightly and began to trace her fingertips like feathers over the contours of his impressive physique. Starting with his perfectly sculpted cheek bones down to his jawline, down the line of this neck, over his shoulders, down his arm, lifting his palm to her lips, then back up the arm and down to outline each of his battle won abdominals. She was unable to contain her smile as she explored his body still adjusting to the cool feeling of his skin. 'It's just so weird.'

Pushing the strange sensation of a not warm Natsu to the back of her mind she moved in closer and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him in for a heated kiss. She felt his hands caress her ass as he deepened their connection. Pulling her closer he darted out his tongue to beg admittance to her hot mouth. Entry was granted almost immediately but after a few moments it was quickly withdrawn as the confused woman pulled out of the kiss and looked her mate in the eye. "Are you ok? You're not getting sick or something are you, cause I don't want a cold." The two looked deeply at each other for a few silent moments before the slayer spoke.

"No I feel fine, better than fine actually. Why do you ask Lucy?" Tilting his head and smiling he began to run his hands up and down her back.

"Well, for one thing you're cold. I didn't even know that was possible. For another you're being all romantic with this set up and it's all a little weird coming from you. But mostly it's your kissing." Sitting back on the bed the confused mage looked up at her lover with genuine concern and watched his face remain unchanged as she spoke. "You've never kissed me like that before. You seem… I don't know… different somehow." Closing her eyes, she took a deep calming breath before she opened her eyes and mouth to speak more but stopped when she noticed his gaze was on the entrance to the room and not on her. "What? Is something there?" Suddenly nervous of the decaying edifice she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his waist in comfort.

He laughed a light chuckle and placed a hand on her head and the other on her shoulder. "No, it's nothing" With a seductive look he turned her chin up to face him before continuing. "Just thought I saw a pest, but don't worry they can't get you in here. I promise." Leaning down he recaptured her lips and began to ease her down onto the plush mattress. She could feel his smile as he began to roam her body with his hands.

'I just can't shake this feeling that something isn't right.' Unconsciously responding to her uncertainty she began to gently slow down his motions with her delicate hands. Moving to kiss him more languidly rather than forcefully, and manipulating his hands down from her chest towards her sides. He complied and their ministrations became slow and deliberate. Patience had never been either of their strong suits but Lucy needed to buy time to think. 'Wait, did he call me Lucy? He almost never calls me by my name, epically not when were alone. And what the hell is over there that he's not telling me? He keeps looking up at the door but he swears that is was just a rat or something, ewww rat, gross! Wait, he said they couldn't get in right? Is that the feeling I had earlier? Did he have someone put up runes here? How long has he been planning this…' The celestial mage's thoughts continued to wander as the pair kept up their lingering foreplay.

For his part, Natsu did everything within his power to not laugh as he tasted the mage beneath him with hands and lips. He could tell she was trying to take things slowly and that was just fine by him. In fact, the more they dragged this out the better the payoff would be for him. Every so often he would look up at the entryway and his smile would return making the laughter even harder to suppress.

… Meanwhile…

Levy, fake Lucy, and Gajeel were nowhere to be found as Natsu wandered the maze of hallways in the abandoned inn. After a few minutes of searching he saw light coming from a room up ahead. He heard voices but couldn't make out who they were. 'That's weird, from this distance should be able to hear them easily.' A few more steps put him in a near panic. There in front of his very eyes, in the candle lit room was Lucy. His Lucy, the real Lucy and…HIMSELF! 'What the hell!?' Storming forward with flaming fists he was abruptly stopped by an invisible wall. 'Damn it! Runes!' Slamming his fist against the runes to no avail he let out a deep dragon-like roar only to find that it seemed she could not hear or see him. 'What the hell is going on here? What is HE doing to MY Lucy?' Trying a number of different battle attacks the fire mage realized that not only could the girl in the room not see or hear him but the runes seemed to have surrounded him and were now slowly moving him inside the room closer to the bed where the imposter dare touch his mate.

The fully enraged Natsu began to form scales on his torso and face as he looked the imposter in the eye. "I will rip that smug smirk right off your face when I get out a here. GET AWAY FROM HER!" Flames engulfed the frightful dragon slayer as he watched his lover be defiled by the fake him, his mind racing to find a way to break out of his imprisonment. As he looked around for any clues he noticed a large blue gem lying on the floor with the imposter's shirt. He only noticed it because of its intense glow and as soon as he heard Lucy moan and saw the gem glow brighter. Suddenly, as if they were pieces of a puzzle, all the confusing facts of the last two days fit together made sense. "Shit! Luce! LUCE THAT'S NOT ME! STOP, YOU HAVE TO STOP! HE'S A TASONOSENSHI , HE'S STEALS MAGIC! LUCY!"

A/N: Please R&R. Constructive criticism welcome and encouraged!