Hey guys! I'm so so sorry I didn't update. The camp I did barely gave me anytime to write, let alone upload stuff. I hope you guys can forgive me, but hopefully nalu week kind of made up for it. Anyways, enjoy!

"What's wrong Lucy?" Natsu asked as he was reclining in his seat. "You've been quiet." The blonde stayed silent and leaned her forehead against the cool window. "Lucy, c'mon talk.

"Did you have to inject them with those trackers?" she asked, still avoiding eye contact with him.

"This again?" he sighed heavily and resisted the urge to his head on the dashboard. "It's so we know if they stir up more trouble. They're nothing but a safety precaution."

"But they're still people!"

"People who could kill others unchecked," he argued back. "Believe me when I say I wouldn't do it if I didn't think it was necessary." The bitter way he said it made Lucy pause. She remembered Levy mentioning that Natsu didn't like hurting people that much but he would if push came to shove.

"If they're in prisons though-"

"You're so naïve! Just because you think prisons are supposed to be secure doesn't mean they are. Especially with all of the technology, hacking has become easier as has infiltration. The trackers are just incase so we can find them and capture them before they hurt anyone or do any damage. They're not bad." The two fell silent as Happy was sleeping happily in the back seat.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions," Lucy said softly and Natsu glanced at her.

"All of us earned our express ticket to hell years ago. I'm not too concerned about it anymore. Besides if our reasons are justified does it even matter?" Lucy had no response to that and the rest of the car ride was silent. When they pulled up to Natsu's mansion they went their separate ways. Lucy went straight to bed while Natsu went to a room Lucy hadn't seen yet, Evelyn's room. Natsu had given his adopted little sister one of the most beautiful bedrooms in the house. She had painted the walls a light blue and there was a large glass door covered by flowing, thin white curtains that lead out to a balcony. A dark wood bed was pressed against the center of the left wall with a small night table to the right and paper lanterns of different heights hanging above it. On the wall above the bed was a calming green, blue, and purple painting of a tranquil lake. On the opposite wall was a desk and to the left of the door was a large walk-in closet.

"I'm sorry Evie," he murmured as he collapsed on the light green and white quilt on the bed. On the nightstand was a picture that Natsu had almost forgotten about. He had Evelyn up in the air, spinning around. An exhilarated grin was on her face, a mischievous one on Natsu's. Both of their dark eyes had been shining with happiness and love. Evelyn's original eye color was blue, but she decided she wanted it changed so she looked more like her new brother. Staring at the picture Natsu felt tears fill his eyes as he thought of the sort of hell his angelic sister was going through at that moment. In retaliation Natsu punched the wall, making sure not to crack it.

"Natsu," Happy called as he stuck his head into the room. "Are you ok?"

"What kind of an older brother am I?" Natsu laughed bitterly. "I couldn't even keep her safe. I broke my promise." A soft paw was placed on Natsu's knee.

"We didn't know. I'm sure if you had, this wouldn't have happened," Happy did his best to console his friend but Natsu showed no signs of acknowledging what the Exceed had just said. With a soft goodnight, Happy walked out of the room leaving Natsu alone in the room. He flicked the lights off and buried his nose in her blankets. Evelyn's scent of pine and campfire smoke still lingered on her furniture. With no one around, he let his emotions run wild and he cried and cried and cried until he fell asleep.

Natsu woke up to the sound of the door sliding open. "Natsu?" He lifted his head and looked towards the door. Lucy stood there, a look of concern on her face. "Are you ok?" He didn't say anything. Instead he just rolled over to stare at the ceiling. Lucy was concerned. He hadn't been downstairs or in his office when she had woken up and he was always up before her. She and Happy had wandered around the mansion trying to find him until they had entered this room. Natsu's eyes were red and puffy, like he'd recently been crying. "Who does this room belong to?" The blonde's brown eyes fell on the picture to the side of the bed. The same girl in the picture in Natsu's office was in another picture here too. Instead of the two standing side by side, the girl was being spun around in the air by Natsu.

"Evelyn came here when she was nine. I didn't know who she was or where she came from. All she had was her name and the clothes on her back. I needed company so I took her in." He released a shaky breath and Natsu felt tears start to prick his eyes just thinking about how happy she had been when he had introduced himself. She had said that she had been alone for weeks and that she had to stop by his house and look at the flowers in the garden. When he offered her a place to live a grin almost as bright as his lit up her face and she eagerly accepted his offer. Evelyn had fit right in at Fairy Tail when he took her the next day. Everyone had welcomed her with open arms and she embraced the new family saying that she had never had a true one before. "She was kidnapped a couple of months ago. Nobody's seen her since."

"Do you have an idea of who took her?" Natsu sighed and looked away from his guest. How was he supposed to tell her that Jude Heartfilia, her father, was their prime suspect? From what their strategist, Mavis Vermillion, said was that he needed some sort of leverage or a bargaining chip. Or maybe it was just because he was a sadist; he had hurt his only living family member left after all.

"No," Natsu lied. "There are too many people who would love to have a member of Fairy Tail as their captive. "We've made a lot of enemies."

"Do you want breakfast or-"

"No, we'll go to Fairy Tail for breakfast. Let me get ready first. Hey Lucy?"

"Yeah?" she turned around as she stood in the doorway to leave.

"Thank you." He didn't offer any explanation of show any facial expression but she could tell from his voice that he genuinely appreciated her just being there.

"You're welcome," she smiled. Maybe this morning had been the beginning of them becoming better friends. Either way, it felt good to be appreciated for once. She hadn't been given that sense of validity since her mother had died. Natsu's words of gratitude had made her feel warm, a feeling that she wanted to stay forever.

Natsu on the other hand had been, and still was, beating himself up for letting her get taken in the first place. He knew he should have been with her when she went exploring Crocus by herself. He remembered getting the news from Jellal's group. While everyone was horrified, Natsu had felt physically sick. He remembered going home to a house that seemed cold without Evelyn's laughter ringing through the halls. That was the first time he had cried in years. He had fallen into a deep depression after that, spending his time locked up in his house, crying, and occasionally taking razors to his wrists. It was only when Erza had broken into his house and dragged him back to Fairy Tail that he began to feel better, little by little. He still had slumps, like last night, but it had gotten better. Now all of their allies were looking for his adopted sister and that filled him with some hope. Besides, Evelyn was tough, he just had to have faith in her strength.

"Natsu?" Lucy called and he got shook himself out of his stupor.

"Yeah, I'll be down soon," he replied. He quickly threw on a nondescript gray sweatshirt and black sweatpants before joining the blonde downstairs. "Ok, I'm ready to go."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I just need to have a fight with the Ice Princess and then I'll feel better," he reassured Lucy, which wasn't a lie. Getting in a fight with Gray was probably the best thing for him right now. If he couldn't take out that frustration on himself, then he'd just take it out on somebody else. Besides, Gray probably had done something to warrant such an act.

As soon as the car was parked in the underground parking garage, Natsu stormed up to the lounge and immediately made a beeline for his long-time rival. Natsu greeted the black-haired teen with a strong punch to the face.

"What the fuck was that for charcoal breath?" Gray snapped as he tenderly pressed at the sensitive area on his cheek. That was going to leave a bruise.

"That was for two weeks ago when you stole my food!" Natsu yelled back. That event had happened, however.

"It was a damn accident!"

"Well I don't care!" With no other words the two got into a fistfight.

"Hey Mira," Lucy said as she took her place next to Lisanna who was watching the unfolding brawl with interest. "Hello Lisanna."

"Hello Lucy, how are you today?" Mira asked, her younger sister still somewhat absorbed in the fight.

"I'm ok…" she hesitated, wondering if she could tell Mirajane about what happened that morning. "I'm not sure Natsu is though," she dropped her voice to a whisper to avoid being overheard.

"Was it something to do with Evelyn?" Lisanna questioned, already knowing the response. Lucy nodded her head and the two Strauss sisters sighed.

"Can you tell me more about her? Natsu was pretty vague about it."

"Evie was great; she and Natsu had similar personalities. Both of them were energetic and always up for a good fight. Natsu had trained her well, she could even hold her own against Gray if she really wanted to," Lisanna described. "The day she went missing was terrible for all of us."

"We're still looking for her though," Mirajane added brightly. "Hibiki, you know the hacker from Pegasus, has tapped into every possible video camera in the whole country. He and Warren generally work together on this kind of thing."

"Isn't Minerva from Saber and Lyon working on it too?" Lisanna asked and her sister shook her head.

"Surprisingly, Rogue is working on it instead of Minerva, but that might just be because Evie was an adopted cousin. Lyon is working on it, but not as actively as the others."

"Mira, can I get a strawberry milkshake? I need something to cheer me up after this?" Lucy requested and Lisanna nodded her head in agreement.

"The usual for me too Sis," Lisanna ordered and her older sister grinned.

"Coming right up!" she chirped just as a loud voice thundered, "what is the meaning of this?"

"Oh shit," Lucy heard Natsu whisper under his breath since the room had gone quiet almost as soon as the redhead entered through the doors. "Nothing Erza, we were just playing around. You know, some lighthearted rough play?" Natsu and Gray were sweating when Natsu tried to talk them out of getting beaten up.

"Even sometimes the best of friends fight," Erza conceded with a small smile and walked away towards the bar. The two friends sighed in relief and slipped out of the room. "Some strawberry cake if you don't mind Mirajane," she sighed. "Jellal had troubling news."

"How is he?" Mira asked knowingly, a sly look in her bright blue eyes. Lucy leaned over to whisper in Lisanna's ear.

"Are the two of them dating?" The white-haired girl giggled in response and shook her head.

"Not that we know of, but everyone in Crime Sorciere thinks they are."

"What is it?" Mirajane asked as she brought out the cake that Erza was always craving.

"Something I want to discuss with Natsu first before anyone else hears about it," Erza answered mysteriously. "If you don't mind I'm going to go up and speak with him now."

"Good luck," the three girls remaining at the bar chorused.

Natsu was in his office scanning through reports that Fairy Tail members had sent in when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in. Oh, hi Erza. I didn't expect to see you here. Do you mind if I have a bite of your cake?" When he was answered with a death glare he backed off. "So what do you want?"

"Jellal told me he heard news about Evelyn," she stated bluntly and Natsu went into a state of shock. Evelyn…she's still alive! He thought and a wide grin spread across his face.

"Do you know where?" he demanded.

"Jellal told me that Ultear heard that she was being kept somewhere in Hargeon. He narrowed it down to a couple of buildings, all of which are headquarters for gangs. Two of which owe their allegiance to the Heartfilias."

"That bastard," Natsu growled. He stood up with enough force to send his chair flying back into the wall.

"We can't do anything rash yet," Erza chastised. "You know that. Call the others up and we can come up with a plan from there."

Meanwhile down in the lounge a certain bluenette came rushing through the doors yelling "I'm back my darling Gray!"

"That's Juvia," Mirajane pointed out to Lucy and she remembered what Natsu had said the night before about how she was infatuated with Gray. "She's in love with Gray; it was a love at first sight thing."

"Oh hi Juvia," Gray greeted her as she sat next to him. "How was the job?"

"I already sent in the information to Natsu but Akane was only a branch, it wasn't the actual center. I think the real business is based in Alvarez but they have their operations here." Gray's eyebrows drew together.

"That's…interesting. What made you think that?"

"I was able to hack into their system for a short amount of time and most of the codes and orders came from a source that's not from anywhere in Fiore, let alone Ishgar." She paused for a minute her eyes scanning the room. "Who is she?" Juvia asked pointing to the newest member of Fairy Tail.

"That's Lucy Heartfilia. She ran into one of our operations so Natsu took her in. She joined a week ago." Juvia sniffed in response.

"Is she a potential love rival?" the girl asked, warily eyeing the blonde who was still chatting at the bar with Mira and Lisanna.

"What? No! She's not!" Gray exclaimed so everyone in the lounge stared at him before turning back to their conversations. Before they could continue, a ringing sound was coming from the wall. Gajeel, being the closest one to the screen tapped the accept button.

"I need Gajeel, Gray, Lucy, and Wendy to come up to the observation floor now," Natsu ordered. "It's an emergency; I have Sting and Rogue on the phone there too so for the love of Mavis hurry up." With that he hung up and the four selected people glanced at each other and shrugged.

When they reached the observation room, sure enough, Sting and Rogue's faces were floating in the air due to a projected hologram. "Finally, what took you guys so long?" Natsu sighed impatiently.

"It ain't our fault the elevators are slow as shit," Gajeel whined and Natsu resisted the urge to punch him in the face.

"If I find that you changed the music to fucking jazz again, I will murder you," Natsu threatened before clearing his throat. "Anyway, Erza came to tell me something important. Erza would you like to-" The redhead cut him off before he could finish his statement.

"Jellal told me that he heard a rumor about where Evelyn might be or where she had been." There were gasps from everybody in the room. Natsu had his hands balled up into fists so he could resist the urge to punch something, or someone. "Either way it's a lead. Ultear heard that she was being kept somewhere in Hargeon, all at gangs' headquarters. All of them seem to be under the control of a group under the Balam Alliance or a," she paused trying to find the right word to not let Lucy know that her father was involved in this. "…benefactor of sorts. You all know who I'm referring to?" Everybody except for Lucy nodded their heads.

"Wait, who is this benefactor?" Lucy asked and five pairs of eyes landed on Natsu.

"I'll tell you later Lucy," Natsu promised her before turning back to the matter at hand. "Now, any suggestions on how we should do this? Sting? Rogue?"

"I wouldn't go rushing in immediately," Rogue advised. "Scout out the areas first and confirm that this is a legitimate lead. Then we'll need to figure out the systems and –"

"We don't have time for this!" Natsu yelled, slamming his hand down on the giant interactive map of Fiore. "She could be dying!"

"Natsu, all of us want to get her back, don't make it sound like the rest of us don't care," Sting snapped at his cousin. "But we need to follow Rogue's advice and plan this out, whether you want to or not." Natsu looked like he was about to retort but Erza gave him a look that said argue back and you're dead so he instantly shut up.

"Alright," he relented crossing his arms over his chest and trying to hide the sneer on his face. "What brilliant plan do you geniuses have?"

So Juvia's been introduced in the story. I know some people, most people, write her in third person but I'm used to the dub I never really was exposed to that, except through the manga but...she doesn't show up that often. See you guys later!