~Standard disclaimer applied~

Revised version ~ 10/14/15

Chapter Two

~Normal point of view~

The only thing you heard were the doors opening as Lucy left Fairy Tail, it stayed that way until Erza finally broke the silence.

"What kind of job did she take?" Erza whispered as Mira handed the redhead the job request, as Erza looked over the job her eyes widened. "Lucy can't handle this on her own she will get hurt or end up dead! This is too much for her to go alone!" As Erza started yelling at the barmaid the guild doors opened again revealing their local ice mage.

"Well this place sure is quiet today, what the hell happened?" Gray stopped for a moment looking the guild over. "Where's Lucy? I was thinking even though I just got back shouldn't we be going on a mission soon. Lucy's rent is due sometime next week right?" As Gray continued looking through guild his eyes stopping on Natsu and Lisanna.

He didn't give it much thought at first until he seen they were holding hands and sitting a little too close for friends. It pissed him off. Lucy was like his little sister and she really loved Natsu he could tell from the way she brightened up around the pink head moron. So without much thought Gray started walking towards the pair wanting some answers as to what the hell they were doing.

"What are ya doing flame brain and where is Lucy? I don't think she would be too happy if she seen you and Lisanna like this." Gray snarled at Natsu and sent a glare towards Lisanna.

"Well it isn't any of your business snowflake!" Natsu countered standing up from the table.

"Why you-"

"That's enough!" Erza roared bashing both of their heads together before dropping them to the floor, taking a deep breath she enlightened Gray on the events that transpired this morning.

Gray's mouth dropped when Erza filled him in on what happened. He couldn't help but think that Natsu was a sorry bastard, what the hell what he thinking leaving Lucy like that. What about our team or Lucy for that matter, she wouldn't want to work on the same team if Lisanna was there. Things couldn't just continue on like everything was normal. Lucy loved Natsu, it had always been Natsu for her. Does he not understand that? Hell the least Natsu could've done was try to talk with Lucy about his feelings for Lisanna before just breaking everything off the way he did. At least then Lucy could try to deal with her feelings without feeling completely betrayed.

"You dumb ass!" Gray yelled at Natsu, "What the hell were you thinking, do you have any idea how Lucy must be feeling now?" Before Natsu could give his answer Gray turned towards the exit of the guild.

He had to go find Lucy and make sure she was going to be okay. Plus he couldn't let her go on that job alone she would get hurt. Not that she was weak or anything because Lucy was pretty strong and she was probably one of the smartest people in Fairy Tail. Still with her mind and heart an emotional mess Gray didn't think she would be able to concentrate on the mission very long before her mind wandered. Gray could see the blonde's apartment and didn't realize he had started running. He wanted to get to her before she took off on that job by herself. Arriving at the front door Gray realized it wasn't completely shut so he pushed the door opened releived to hear the blonde inside moving around in the small apartment.

"Hey Lucy," He called out so she would know he was there. "Look Natsu is a dumb ass but you shouldn't take on a risky job by yourself. Let me go with you as backup just to be safe." Gray walked through the apartment trying to locate her, once he entered her room he saw she had a suitcase on her bed packed and ready to go. "Lucy I-"

"Gray please don't start." She whispered looking out the window. "I need to do this alone, I don't want any company either. I have depended on Team Natsu for too long and need to learn how to take care of myself on missions. Besides Gray you just got home from your solo mission you need a break otherwise you'll only injure yourself." She looked at him a smile gracing her lips, "Just go back to the guild Gray I'll be fine." Lucy picked up her suitcase and walked past Gray to the door of her apartment.

"What about our team Lucy? It's not complete without you." Gray turned to look at her as she dropped her hand from the luggage.

"Gray I'm no longer a member of Team Natsu." She paused for a moment not wanting her voice to betray how she really felt. "Lisanna will be taking my place on the team." Even though she tried to keep it together her voice still cracked. "I don't want to be on a team where I'm just second best anyway." She regained her composure and opened the door and descended down the stairs leaving Gray standing alone in the small apartment.

Not knowing what else to do Gray left the blonde's apartment and decided to return to the guild. He was a raging mess right now and the only thing he could think of was beating the crap out of Natsu because all of this was his fault. Why did the pink idiot ask Lucy out if he really didn't care for her? Why not just start dating Lisanna to begin with? So many questions racked through his brain all demanding answers. As Gray entered the guild again his eyes instantly found the fire mage, walking straight up to him he sent a icy punch into the dragon slayer's stomach feeling a little satisfied as he fell the floor.

"If anything happens to her I will murder you." He seethed glaring at the flame idiot clutching his stomach before walking in the direction of Erza to fill her in on what happened with Lucy.

Lucy stepped off the train into Hargeon Town, the place she first met Natsu and Happy, hreat just what she needed a trip down memory lane. She strolled through the town deciding she needed to get a hotel room first. The job request she grabbed was to take down a group of thugs that kept causing problems for the towns' people. Not many people could use magic in Hargeon so the reward was higher than it should be, 350,000 jewels. Not that she was complaining after all she needed it so she could pay her rent plus do a little bit of shopping.

Lucy made her way through the town towards the hotel she stayed in the last time she had been here. Checking in she got the key to her room and settled in before going after the group of thugs. Flopping down on the bed Lucy went through all the information that she already had. The mayor said that they had a base in one of the abandoned warehouses near the port. There hasn't been any prove that they could use magic but they seemed to be pretty capable without it. In a way Lucy was nervous, this way her first solo job ever and she wasn't someone who had brute strength. Her power had always been her intelligence and quick thinking. She could devise a plan of action no problem but this time she would be carrying out by herself. She wouldn't have someone there to save her should she fail. Shaking her head trying to rid herself from her own horrid thoughts of how everything could go so wrong, Lucy got up from the bed and decided to go out and collect some much needed information.

Going out into the town Lucy started by asking people she would casually pass on the streets as she made her way towards some of the shops the group had robbed. Most people told her things she already knew. They were thugs, they couldn't use any magic that they knew of, they were holed up in some abandoned warehouse. Nothing really helpful but still Lucy simply nodded and thanked them for their time. So far gathering intel wasn't going well for her so with a sigh Lucy entered the last shop that had seen the destruction of the group terrorizing the town. It was a small shop that had been completely demolition by the gang. Lucy couldn't even tell what might have been sold in it prior to the attack. Looking for the shop keeper Lucy found an elderly man shaking slightly as he tried cleaning up the small shop.

"Oh they's a strong bunch of rowdy men missy. Are you sures' you can handle them all by yerselfs?" The old man questioned as he swept his shop. Lucy told the elder man thanks and wished him luck with the repairs his little shop needed and walked back to her hotel.

Back in her hotel room Lucy decided she needed to wait until it was dark then she would go out and observe the group of men for herself. She needed to know what she was going up against, her team well ex team weren't here so there wouldn't be any rushing in full throttle into the unknown. Laying back on the bed she closed her eyes. Memories of yesterday invaded her mind like the plague, it was hard to believe that in less then twenty-four hours her life was what she thought had been perfect.

"I guess I learned my lesson about playing with fire." She said to herself, it's amazing how easy it is to break something in mere seconds that you worked months to build up. Seconds was all it took to break her. "Stop stinging so much." She touched where her heart is, it was no good though the pain was still there. Why did it have to hurt so much? Grabbing a pillow she buried her face in it and began to cry once again. She tried to tell herself to get a grip on her emotions, that she had a job to do and shouldn't be wasting anymore time thinking of that stupid lizard. It was no use though she only cried harder wanting the pain to just go away.

"I could make the pain disappear if you like princess." Echoing through the room was a man's voice. Lucy jump out of bed and gazed at the man sitting on the ledge of the window.

"Who the hell are you?" She snarled at the man reaching for her keys only to realized she had removed her belt and set it with her other things that her across the room.

He let out a mischievous laugh before he climbed into the room. Who was this guy? Lucy knew she had to either fight the man or run. She had to do something other than standing there. He continued walking towards her and Lucy tied to beckon her feet to move but it was no use her brain wouldn't comply with her simple order. Besides it was already too late, he was standing right in front of her.

XXX

Well I'm trying to make the chapters a bit longer then the original without changing the story too much. I did change it from so many point of views to help balance the story and help with the overall flow. Well for any new people reading sorry for the cliff hanger. I'll be uploading a few chapters at a time since this is a re-write to sort out all that is wrong with the original. Hopefully I'll be able to update again in the next few weeks.

Thanks for all the support and to my lovely readers that have been here since the beginning a big thanks for always being patient with me!

~KimmyyCubb~