Hey everybody! This one shot turned short story is coming along well! Thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter. You guys keep me writing.

FYI for anyone that thinks I'm crazy after reading this - Some of the celestial magic stuff at the end of the chapter is completely made up.

Please expect and excuse errors. This just got a quick once over, so I'm sure there are still some errors in there.

Leave a review and let me know what you think!

When the hour deadline Laxus set for arriving at the train station was up, the only person missing from the two team group was Lucy. The one person Laxus wanted to make sure was included on the job hadn't made it on time. Why was she the only person not intimidated by him? Maybe she didn't take him seriously. Maybe she didn't believe he could back up his reputation, so didn't respect him enough to see him as anything more than a guildmate. The thought just pissed Laxus off more and had his mind wondering stupid things like why she wouldn't think he was as tough as people said he was. With each passing second, the dragon slayer's thoughts became more irrational and his frustration increased. Natsu's fidgeting wasn't helping, either.

"Where the hell is Luce?" The pink haired man whined. "I'm ready to get this train ride over with." Just thinking about the trip made his motion sickness kick in.

Noticing the other slayer's sudden nausea, Laxus said, "If you're about to puke, go do it somewhere else. I don't wanna smell that shit."

The sound of running feet slapping the cobblestones drew the group's attention to the road behind them. Lucy was nearly to the platform when the train attendant announced boarding could begin. When she made it to the group, Lucy said breathlessly, "Sorry for being late, guys. Plue started crying because he thought I'd be replacing him with a new pet on this job, so I had to get him to calm down before I sent him back."

Laxus just shook his head at the explanation and boarded the train ahead of everyone else. What a dumb reason for being late. He wondered why the weird looking spirit would think she'd be getting a new pet, but was saved from asking when Bickslow spoke up first.

"Why'd he think that, Cosplayer?" Bickslow asked as he sat down across from Lucy but then scooted over more when Laxus waved him off to take that seat. The guy was acting like such a dick. He hadn't been this bad since before being expelled from Fairy Tail.

Lucy waited while everyone stored their belongings in the overhead bin before answering. She was lucky she didn't have anything to store since Virgo held onto hers. Sprinting to the train station with luggage would not have been easy. When the mayhem died down in the private car, Lucy finally said, "When I told him about a celestial beast tearing up the forest, he thought I planned to bring it back with me. Poor little guy cried for at least ten minutes."

Laxus tuned out their conversation when Bickslow started going on about how his babies did the same thing each time they thought he'd be collecting a new soul. The topic wasn't interesting enough to hold his attention. He was more concerned about the way Natsu sat down close enough to Lucy that their thighs were touching. How close were those two, exactly? He could tell they weren't sleeping together but were they headed that way?

He thought he was doing a good job of covering his building frustration by acting casually but it didn't go unnoticed. It was easy for the Natsu to pick up on the other slayer's darkening mood by the change in his scent, but what he didn't understand was why Laxus was so pissed off. The guy had been pissy all morning and was only getting worse. It wasn't until Gray sat down on Lucy's other side and Laxus let out a quiet growl that Natsu figured it out. Glancing over at Gray and seeing the guy unfazed confirmed Natsu's hunch that the growl was too low for anyone else to hear. So Laxus was into Luce but trying to keep it under wraps? A devious grin formed on Natsu's face when he realized the possibilities of this situation. He might be able to get Laxus angry enough to finally fight him. He'd been itching for a one on one rematch with the lightning slayer since their battle at Kardia Cathedral. This might be exactly what he needed to make that happen.

When a voice over the intercom announced the train would be departing shortly, Natsu looked at Lucy with a pitiful expression and whined, "Luce, you mind if I lay in your lap? We'll be stuck in this moving box of death for six hours and I don't know if I can make it without hurling."

With a bright smile, Lucy patted her legs as she said, "Sure, Natsu. I'm glad you asked this time instead of just flopping down on top of me."

Natsu thanked her and scooted away enough to lay along the bench with his head in Lucy's lap. When his face was finally resting against her bare thighs, he made sure to make eye with Laxus before rolling over and burying his face in Lucy's stomach. Natsu's voice was muffled by her torso when he said, "You mind if I lay this way? It's a lot more comfortable."

Lucy shrugged and started raking her fingers through her partner's hair when the train started moving. She knew the relaxing distraction was usually enough to calm his stomach.

Laxus watched in envy as Natus got comfortable. The train's movement had made the nausea kick in for both slayers, but only the fire breathing idiot found any relief. Such bullshit. It wasn't like Laxus would actually go as far as to lie in Lucy's lap even if she offered, he wasn't a pussy like that and could handle his queasy stomach on his own, but it was the principle. Lucy had said 'this time', meaning today wasn't the first time Natsu laid all over her like this. Why the hell did everyone get to touch her except him?

Stupid Bickslow wasn't helping anything with the way he was giggling under his breath. Laxus knew the other man had figured out why he was so annoyed and was probably enjoying every second of his misery. He let his head fall back against the wall behind him and focused on tuning out the chatter around him. Ever and Erza's conversation about fashion was annoying. Why couldn't they just read like Freed or stare out the window like Gray? At least the damn blue cat hadn't come along.

Laxus focused on breathing deeply to keep his breakfast down while he thought about how to approach this thing with Lucy. He had to turn it around and make her see he was much more than she believed, though, admittedly, he didn't really know what she thought about him. Her opinion must not be a very high one with the way she blew him off so casually.

The job they were on would probably require some fighting, so maybe he'd get a chance to show off his skills. Thinking back over the last few years since she joined the guild, he couldn't think of a time when she would have actually seen him fight with her own two eyes. She's bound to know he's powerful, all the dragon slayers are, but when would she have seen evidence of that firsthand? Everything she knew would be hearsay. No one had seen his fight with Raven Tail during the GMG. She wasn't anywhere near him on Tenrou Island when they fought off Grimoire Heart. Was she even around when he fought Natsu and Gajeel during the Fantasia shit? He couldn't remember, but he was pretty sure she hadn't seen that either. Maybe that was part of the problem. Maybe she thought he was all talk.

Now that he'd sorted out part of the problem in his mind, he tried to focus on relaxing enough to sleep through the rest of the train ride. A quick peek around told him the only other people awake were Freed and Erza. Everyone else was trying to sleep sitting up while slouched in an odd position. All with the exception of fucking Natsu, but Laxus wouldn't let himself get worked up over that again. If things went his way, the idiot wouldn't be all over Lucy on their way back. Glancing at Lucy, he was reminded of how beautiful she was, even if she was snoring a little with the way her head was falling backwards and leaning slightly to the side.

After an eternal six hours, the large group departed the train at the last stop on the line and check into an inn. There were only two rooms available, so each team was stuck bunking in its own room. Laxus had surprised everyone but Natsu and Bickslow by suggesting the group go out for dinner together. Those two knew Laxus didn't have the most innocent of intentions by making the suggestion, but neither chose to bring it up. They just planned to use the opportunity to work on ruining his chances of stealing away their favorite blonde.

Both men wanted to ruin his plans for different reasons, though neither was driven by a romantic interest in Lucy. Natsu just didn't want to lose his partner, simple as that. Being a dragon slayer, Natsu knew how possessive Laxus would become because he was feeling some of that possessiveness himself. He and Lucy had known each other first and she had chosen him as her partner, not Laxus. No one was taking his place. They had a good thing going together. If Laxus were to start dating Lucy, everything would change. Laxus would hog up all Lucy's time and she would stop doing things like cooking for Natsu or letting him sneak into her bed at night.

Bickslow was mostly in it for the entertainment value but also didn't really want to see them get together. He knew firsthand what kind of guy Laxus was and didn't think he'd be good for Cosplayer, unless he wanted something serious with her. No matter how much Lucy joked about it, she really wasn't into one night stands or casual relationships. Her heart got wrapped up in things too easily and she always ended up hurt. Until Laxus made it clear that Lucy would be more than just another notch on his bedpost, Bickslow would continue to get between them.

The two teams found themselves in a casual diner about an hour before it closed. After ordering nearly everything on the menu, they all chatted aimlessly while waiting for the large order to come out. Much to Laxus' frustration, he hadn't been able to sit close enough to Lucy to be part of any conversations with her. Fucking Bickslow and Natsu were on either side of her, all three of them squished into a two person booth, with Gray and Erza facing them. Evergreen had pulled up a chair to sit at the end of their table to continue she and Erza's earlier conversation of fashionable swimwear, leaving Laxus and his loyal follower, Freed, alone at the booth behind Gray and Erza.

Freed's concern for his team leader was growing as the night wore on. Something was bothering the man, but he had yet to give any indication as to what it was. Hoping it wasn't a mistake to do so, Freed asked quietly, "Laxus, is everything alright?"

With his back to the other mages, Laxus didn't notice Gray turn his head slightly to the side to better hear the dragon slayer's answer. He may not have senses like theirs, but Gray paid attention to everything and knew something was up with Laxus. He'd already figured out it had something to do with one of his teammates, he just wasn't sure which one had gained the man's focus.

"Yeah, I'm good." Two waitresses walked out at just that moment with trays full of food, preventing Laxus from having to say anything more on the subject. Or so he thought. As soon as the women returned to the kitchen, Freed pressed on, "Are you sure? I would hate to take a mission fighting off a dangerous beast with you distracted."

"Yes, I'm sure. It's nothing that will get in the way of the completing the mission." Laxus huffed in irritation. He had no idea just how wrong he was.

Picking up on his friend and idol's unwillingness to speak on the subject, Freed let it go. He would just have to keep an eye on this to make sure it didn't get any worse.

Their dinner passed and the group returned to the inn without Laxus making any headway on his plans to find a reason to talk to Lucy. They'd be traveling by foot all day tomorrow, so maybe he'd get a chance then.

Unfortunately for Laxus, he discovered Lucy's favorite mode of transportation when her group traveled by foot was to ride along in a floating clock. There was no way he was talking to her through the clock thing when it announced everything she said loud enough for everyone to hear. It wasn't like he planned to talk about anything private, he really wasn't sure what he wanted to talk about at all, but he didn't want anyone else joining in.

As the day passed without any progress made, Laxus took out his frustrations on any vegetation or wildlife that blocked their path. The only highlight of his day was how impressed Lucy was that he managed to kill a couple of rabbits by shocking them without damaging the surrounding area. Her comment of "Natsu would have killed everything nearby just to get to the rabbits" had him smirking at the smaller man. Though, Freed's over exaggerated praise ruined the moment.

When the group neared the area of forest outside Shirutsome that would soon become a mountainside, they set up camp for the night. It was then that Laxus finally found his opening to talk to Lucy. She volunteered to skin and clean the rabbits because nothing would be left to cook if she let any of her teammates do it. Erza would hack the animals to pieces, Natsu would burn them to ash and Gray would try to freeze the skin off after becoming frustrated with the knife. Coincidentally, Laxus was also his team's designated game preparer. The others were too squeamish. So, he volunteered to go with Lucy to help.

As the two blondes made their way through the forest far enough from the camp to prevent attracting predators, Laxus found himself completely at a loss for words. He wasn't very good at talking to people, much less women who had inadvertently turned him down. It was new territory for him, making it more difficult than usual to find something to talk about.

When they found a small stream, they agreed it would be the best place to complete their task. Laxus jumped right into his half of the work, still trying to figure out how to talk to the blonde woman. Distracted by his thoughts, he didn't notice the look of awe on Lucy's face when he skinned his rabbit in less than a minute. He'd done it enough times that he had it down to an art. It was only after he'd pulled the hide loose that he looked up to see her staring at him with her own rabbit hanging limply from her hand. "How'd you do that so fast? It takes me forever and I always end up hacking away at the skin until it all comes loose."

Gesturing for the rabbit, he said, "Here, I'll show you."

After handing it over, Lucy stepped closer, completely unaware of Laxus' internal celebration over the situation, and watched closely as he made a few quick slices then pulled the hide away in one quick tug. "Wow. That's really impressive."

Smiling brightly at the genuine compliment, Laxus handed the rabbit back and said, "It's really not that hard. I can show you how to finish cleaning it in one quick slice, if you want."

"That sounds great!"

Laxus was shocked that of all things to break the ice between them, it would be the disgusting job of cleaning an animal to be eaten. Teaching Lucy and providing for her, sort of, had his inner dragon purring in delight. Though he never would have expected it to happen this way, the easy conversation flowing between them as they knelt next to the stream was exactly what he'd been hoping for. When they walked back to the two teams' campsite, they were still talking about different ways to prepare rabbit stew. He stuck to his argument that summoning her spirit for the cooking supplies and missing ingredients was taking the easy way out, but he couldn't deny the simple genius of the plan.

The blondes continued their friendly debate over the best method of preparing the stew as Virgo came and left, then as they worked together to start cooking over the fire. Neither noticed the stares they were receiving from three males in the group. Gray walked over to sit next to Natsu and nodded towards the pair cooking as he said, "You seein what I'm seein?"

Natsu nodded with his eyes narrowed, possessive jealousy blooming in his chest. "Yeah and I'm not likin it."

Having overheard the brief exchange, Bickslow felt fairly confident he wouldn't have to put much effort into keeping Lucy away from Laxus. Her teammates would do that part for him. He could just sit back and enjoy the show.

Morning came around quickly and the group set off again to hunt down the beast described in the job request. With two dragon slayers around to do the tracking, the rest of the mages were able to just follow along as the slayers did their thing. Still feeling a sense of accomplishment over the prior night's progress, even if all they did was argue over how to prepare a meal, Laxus was uncharacteristically carefree over his tracking duties. He didn't even care the women of the group were being a little too noisy with their spa day planning. The beast they were tracking had a unique scent, so it was easy enough to single it out from the usual scents associated with a forest.

After walking for about an hour along the scent trail, the beast's smell became more pronounced. They were closing in on it. Noticing a clearing up ahead that looked worn in, Laxus nodded his head in that direction, pointing it out to Natsu. The pink haired man said, "We're getting close."

Sudden noise behind the group made the mages turn around just in time to see a massive creature charging through the forest. It looked vaguely familiar with its round head, cone-like nose and stumpy arms, but it was much taller than any monster the group had seen. It stood nearly twice as tall as any man with short, light blue fur covering its body and dark, scale shaped markings running along its arms. A loud cry left the beast's mouth just before it lunged straight for the blonde Celestial Mage.

Eyes wide in recognition, Lucy stood frozen in her spot while the creature ran towards her. The keening sound coming from the big guy broke the blonde's heart. Though she'd never encountered this creature, she was fairly certain she knew how to take care of the problem. Just as she reached for her key ring, she was shoved to the ground out its path.

Laxus' movement as he rushed to Lucy's side seemed to spur the rest of the group on. They all moved into defensive positions, attacking the beast to keep it from moving in on Lucy. Laxus couldn't believe she'd just stand there while it charged her, but thought maybe she was frozen in fear.

The entire group focused on defending the blonde when it became clear the creature wanted her. Its big, beady eyes rarely left Lucy, who was stuck behind the group and shouting at them not to hurt it. Batting with its short arms and using its cone-like nose to stab at the mages, the creature was able to inch closer and closer to its target. With fat tears rolling down the giant's cheeks, the group's attacks were mostly weak, defensive moves. No one wanted to really hurt the pitiful looking creature.

Noticing the blue giant was closing in on his little sister, Gray turned the ground to ice and created an ice hammer in case it got any closer. With its next step, the creature slipped on the ice and nearly crushed Natsu when it fell on its side. As he jumped out of the way, Natsu shouted, "What the hell, Ice Princess?! You tryna kill me?!"

"No, you idiot. I'm trying to save Lucy!" Gray shouted at Natsu while ignoring Lucy's screeching from behind the rune barrier Freed trapped her in.

While swinging a sword to keep the beast from charging again when it stood to its feet, Erza shouted, "Focus on the fight!"

Laxus directed his team to move into position so they could end this quickly. With Freed's containment runes in place around the monster, Ever and Bickslow took to the air to attack from above while Laxus attacked from the ground. All three attacks unleashed at once, hitting the beast in unison. It cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground where it stopped moving.

Lucy's shouting turned to wails as soon as the blue giant became still. She pounded against the barrier with everything she had, hoping to free herself so she could go to the fallen creature. It didn't take long for her to figure out who the big guy was and, if her teammates had just listened to her, she could have ended this without any fighting. But no one had listened and now there was an innocent, lost creature from the celestial world lying nearly lifeless on the ground.

When Laxus gave his approval, Freed dropped the runes and Lucy ran right to the creature. Lying on its side, Lucy stood about as tall as its head was wide. The blonde knelt down in front of its forehead and began to stroke above its eyes in the same way Plue liked to be rubbed. Sad tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked over his injuries. There were several cuts, burns and bruises all over him from the short battle. "I'm so sorry big guy. They didn't know you weren't trying to hurt me."

"Pun puuun" It whispered as it cracked its eyes open. The familiar way of speaking clued the rest of the mages in on the creature's identity. Guilt wormed its way into their hearts as they watched the blonde comfort it.

"You wanna go home?" Lucy asked as she pulled a key off her ring. When he nodded his big head, Lucy used the key to summon Plue. As soon as he saw his big cousin, the little dog danced around and chattered in delight. The big Plue-lookalike shifted to kneel on the ground and scooped up the smaller dog spirit. Both spirits smiled at each other and carried on a conversation consisting solely of the sound 'pun' in different variations of length and repetition.

A watery smile curved Lucy's lips and her sad tears became happy ones as she listened to the Canis Major and Canis Minor talk to each other. She couldn't understand Plue as well as Natsu but she picked up enough of the conversation to know they'd been separated for a long time. When their chattering died down, Lucy asked Plue, "You think you can show him how to get back home?"

Plue nodded and danced excitedly before the two of them disappeared in a shimmer of sparkles.

When Lucy stood and turned back to face the group of Fairy Tail mages, all traces of her smile were gone. She'd never been so angry at her team. They'd attacked an innocent creature and completely ignored her when she tried to explain he wasn't trying to hurt her. He just wanted to go home. The spirit could tell she was a Celestial Mage and wanted her help. No one listened to her when she tried to explain that to them. Even the entire Thunder God Tribe had ignored her as soon as Laxus attacked. Their team was supposed to be the level-headed one but they'd acted no differently than Team Natsu.

Too angry to even form words for shouting, Lucy turned around and stormed off in the direction they'd come from. They could follow behind or stay there for all she cared. There was no need for her to stay around to explain what just happened. They all knew enough about her magic and spirits to figure it out on their own.

Natsu was the first to break from his guilt-ridden stupor. He took off running as he shouted, "Luce! Wait up!"

Everyone heard her shout, "Leave me alone, Natsu!"

Laxus moved as if to go after her as well but stopped when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked back to see Gray shaking his head before he said, "Let her go. Natsu won't let anything happen to her and she needs some time to cool off." Gray dropped his hand back to his side and added, "If we're lucky, she'll let out all her anger on him before we catch up."

With his enhanced hearing, Laxus could hear Lucy going off on Natsu and was glad for Gray's intervention. If he'd caught up with them, he might have been the one to get Lucy Kicked instead of Natsu. "I hope you're right." The sound of the other dragon slayer's body colliding with a tree spurred Laxus get the group moving.

Gray kept pace with Laxus ahead of everyone as he considered how to approach a subject he wasn't sure he should touch with a ten foot pole. When several minutes passed, he finally decided it'd be best to help the other guy out before he made a bigger mess of things. "She hates being protected and hates being ignored."

"Huh?" Laxus looked at the man next to him, wondering if he'd lost his mind.

"Lucy." Gray said as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "She's going to be pissed at you more than the rest of us since you shoved her out of the way and attacked first."

"Ok? Why the hell are you telling me this?"

Gray shrugged and said, "I'm not blind, man." He walked a few more steps before saying, "This whole thing today will set you back some but it'll be alright if you apologize. Lucy has a big heart and will understand if you explain why you did it."

Laxus didn't say anything, didn't even nod. He just kept walking and thought over what Gray told him. He'd only wanted to keep Lucy safe and hadn't considered she might be the only one equipped to handle the blue giant, even though he'd asked her to come along for that very reason. Simply put, he'd really fucked up today. His head dropped little as he said, "Thanks."

Gray nodded and slowed his pace to fall in step with Erza. He figured Laxus would want some time to think things over. When he'd watched Laxus and Lucy yesterday, he thought it would be bad if they got together, but now he wasn't so sure. Laxus acted protective of Lucy, even if he did it in a way that might ruin his chances with her. Any guy willing to put himself in the path of a raging monster to protect Gray's little sister would get his stamp of approval. Now he just had to help Laxus get back on Lucy's good side.