As promised here is the next chapter! Here we see Natsu's reaction and the story takes a giant leap forward. Please leave a review when you finish reading and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 11

Natsu's heart dropped like a stone. Lucy looked up and saw the hurt and disappointment in his eyes and while she would be happy about that later when she looked back on this memory, she was afraid now. She didn't want him to hate her. You see, over the time they'd spent together, she'd realized she was falling for the rose haired Dragon Slayer. She put her small hand over his big one, gripping it hard. "I don't want to Natsu! My father arranged the whole thing and he's making me go along with it! And the man I'm supposed to marry is… well he's just as bad as my dad. He is the son of the gang lord that rivals my father. I met him today and… he is mean and he doesn't try to hide it behind a façade of gentlemanliness." Natsu listened and her words calmed him a bit. Then he heard her describe the man to him and he grabbed her upper arm, about to ask her if she was being serious. He couldn't let her marry anyone, but especially not another gang lord.

Lucy winced when he grabbed her. He noticed and dropped his hand lower, shoving her sleeve up. The fabric had hidden the finger-print bruises on her arm. Lucy had kind of hoped he wouldn't discover those, afraid of what he would do. He looked at them, a quiet rage building in his eyes. He glanced once at her face to confirm what he'd already guessed. They sat frozen for a minute, the only noise was Happy sniffling at the situation. Then Natsu crushed her to his chest in a hug. Lucy was surprised, that was not the reaction she'd been expecting. He buried his face in her hair and said, "I will not let you marry that man. And he won't ever lay a finger on you again after what he's done." Lucy felt fresh tears coming and let them fall. Her hands fisted in his vest as she buried her head into his chest. "I don't wanna marry him Natsu. I wanna stay with you! And the rest of the guild!" she sobbed.

Natsu felt his heart lift when she said she wanted to stay with him. He gripped the girl in his arms, never wanting to let her go. "Then stay with me. You can come to the guild with me Lucy. I know the Master will understand. You've done enough for us by being a spy. Nobody will be upset if you stop now and come to the guild." He whispered to her. She stopped crying and pulled back, searching his features for signs that he was lying. She couldn't find any. Her arms moved to wrap around his neck and she said, "I think it's time I do that Natsu." This time Natsu pulled away and looked down at the blond who was still beautiful even when she had a tear-streaked face. "Do you need time to get everything in order?" he asked. Lucy thought about it and nodded. "I should make sure I have everything and then I can leave with Wendy when she goes back." She said.

Natsu took a breath, he did still have to tell her what he came to tell her. "I have a mission that might take up most of this week but if I'm not back when you get to the guild tell them to hold the party 'til I am ok? I promise I'll be back to welcome you with the rest of them." Lucy nodded. Things were looking up now that there was a way out of her situation. The rest of the night went like it usually did. Natsu fell asleep with an exhausted Lucy in his arms.

Lucy waved goodbye to Natsu and Happy as the made their way out of her window and snuck into the forest. She'd given Natsu some information to bring back to the guild about an attack on the Porla family. She had just heard about it the day before and didn't want to wait for Wendy to come and write it out. She figured that since Natsu would stop at the guild before going on his mission, he could just tell them about it. Charle flew in a few moments later and her next day started.

Two days later, Wendy came to visit. All went well. She learned from Wendy that Natsu had left on his mission and taken Erza and Gray with him. It sounded, from the way Wendy told it, that Natsu had more been forced to take Erza and Gray. Lucy didn't blame him. She was also afraid of Erza and knew that if Erza had suggested it, it would be smarter to just go with what she'd suggested. Wendy was just leaving. She turned to wave to Lucy one last time when she noticed the butler of the house approach her and touch her elbow quietly. Lucy lowered her arm and turned to him. That was the last thing Wendy saw before turning around and skipping back to the guild with Levy. It seemed inconsequential to her at the time but it was the start of something terrible.

Lucy turned as Samuel gained her attention. "What is it Samuel?" she asked. Samuel bowed but Lucy had turned to see if she could wave again at Wendy and so she didn't see him bow. "Your father would like to see you. He would like to discuss something with you." He said. Lucy sighed, "Probably about the marriage." Samuel didn't reply, just turned away and began to lead the way inside the house. Lucy followed slowly and they went into her father's office. The door closed behind her but Samuel remained inside. This was strange but it didn't cross Lucy's mind because she was too concerned about the marriage. "Lucy." Her father said to snap his daughter out of her thoughts. He was incensed. She was the mole and he hadn't wanted to believe it. But they had gotten word that FairyTail knew about the fake attack on the Porla family. There was undeniable proof that the mole was Lucy and she was using the girl Wendy to get her information to FairyTail. "Lucy there is something you should know." He started, his voice betraying nothing.

"Our family is invested in more than just the business. I have wanted to leave you as well off as you can be and I have done everything in my power to make sure that you want for nothing. And so I have invested in everything the makes any kind of money. One of those things was… well running the streets." He continued. Lucy's face also didn't betray anything other than innocent attention. "I will pass down the entire business to you and your husband after you are married. So you can imagine it greatly surprised me when I learned you were betraying the family." Now Lucy's face drained of all color. "I-I don't know what you're talking about." She said quietly, though she knew it was of no use. "Oh you do. And I fell right for it for a while there. And then Samuel told me of his suspicions. I still did not want to believe that family of mine would try to undermine my efforts. Especially since I am doing everything for you."

Lucy had heard enough. "For me? You think I would ever thank you for killing people? Ruining their lives just because you want more money! I will never be in charge of anything like that! I gave that information to FairyTail because I knew they could stop you. Why would you ever do anything like this? Mother would never have approved!" she exclaimed. "That is enough!" Jude Heartfilia roared, making his daughter flinch. "I have given you everything you ever wanted and this is how you thank me?" Lucy felt huge tears rolling down her face. "All I ever wanted was to be loved Father! Mama did that! She loved me but you ignored the fact that I was ever alive. Sure, I got lots of clothes and I could have what I wanted but you won't even let me have friends my own age! I wanted you to be proud of me Father! Couldn't you at least have done that?" she yelled.

The next thing she knew she was flying across the room and her head was spinning. Her father had just slapped her harder than she'd ever been hit in her life. He glared at her, his full rage now evident on his face. "You disgust me." He said. He motioned to Samuel. Samuel grabbed her roughly by the arm and hauled her to her feet. Jude Heartfilia turned away from his daughter and said, "I will let Samuel deal with you." Lucy could feel his iron grip tighten on her arm but her other hand flashed to her keys. Samuel was fast but not fast enough. Lucy had managed to grab one random key off of her ring before the rest were snatched away and tossed across the room. Samuel knew she had one key and tried to wrench it from her grasp. When that didn't work, he dragged her out of the room by her hair and began to beat her. He knew if she was too weak she couldn't summon one of her spirits. Lucy screamed as she felt her nose break. She knew she had to summon the spirit. And so, in one valiant effort, she wrenched away from Samuel and screamed, "OPEN GATE OF THE LION! LEO!"

Loke sprang through the gate. "Don't worry princess! I'll take care of him!" he said. "No!" she yelled, one hand over her nose in agony. "Get my keys from my father and get help. Please Loke! You're my only hope now!" she said. She could see Samuel getting closer and knew she was running out of time. Luckily, Loke followed her orders, though he did manage to slow Samuel down a bit by punching him in the gut. Samuel was a hard man so the punch only slowed his pace, it did nothing to his resolve. Lucy had one final second. And she used it as wisely as she could. "CHARLE!" The white cat, who had been waiting for Lucy in her room, heard the call and the panicked sound of her voice and knew something terrible had happened. She bolted out of the room and used her own max speed to rush towards FairyTail.

By then it was too late for Lucy. Samuel caught up with her and she could run no more. He dragged her, kicking and screaming, down many flights of stairs until he reached a dungeon. He brought her to his favorite room and chained her so that she was hanging down from the wall. He surveyed her chained body and a grim smile cast a creepy light upon his features. "I'm going to enjoy playing with you Lucy Heartfilia."

Oh my! Now what will happen to poor Lucy? And with some of the guild's strongest members gone? And what is Samuel planning for Lucy? Do you honestly think it will be fun? I can't wait to find out what happens...! Oh, wait... I have to write what happens... I promise the next chapter will be good! I'm already working on it so it might be out earlier than the deadline. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I shall see you all later!

Love to all my readers,

CC22