AN: So sorry that this chapter is late! I was experiencing some serious writers block, and then when I finally came up with something I had no time to write it.

Thanks to everyone who favorited, followed, reviewed and read my fic. 3


Sting POV

Watching Rogue storm down the road while muttering to himself was getting old fast. He hadn't said a single word to anyone but himself for the past hour. He's completely lost it.

During the past hour I had to put some distance between us because of his uncontrolled magic. At first it had just surrounded the immediate area around his body, but over the past house it had grown and was now surrounding a foot in every direction. If we or anyone else got too close I knew he'd accidentally hurt us. My attempts at getting him to calm down hadn't worked and at this point I was thinking up ways that I could knock him out so his magic would stop flaring.

I was discussing my ideas with Lector when I felt the load in my arms get lighter. Looking at the area where two exceeds used to be I was horrified to see Frosch slowly making her way to Rogue. It got worse when Lector jumped out of my arms to get her back without success. Reaching for them I shouted "Frosch, Lector don't get near him!"

Something in my voice must have reached Rogue because he stopped walking and looked behind him. When he saw Frosch quicken her pace to run to him he released a tiny smile and bent down with his arms out, ready to pick her up. The minute he saw how his arms were covered in shadows he looked troubled and reigned in his magic just in time for Fro to hop into his arms unharmed.

Releasing a breath I didn't know I had held I walked up to Lector and picked him up before I continued to Rogue. I watched as Frosch patted his cheek before snuggling down in his arms before promptly falling asleep.

Looking back up at Rogue I saw him glaring daggers at me. "Why didn't you tell me my magic was flaring up?" He asked annoyed and pissed off.

I stared at him in disbelief. "You…I… arghh! I tried you idiot! For the last hour I've been throwing rocks at your head, hitting you with my magic and spraying you with water but you kept on going as if nothing that happened.

"Listen Blondie will be fine. It's not like she knows the details of the mission or who to ask for when she gets there… what's with that look?" I asked when I saw Rogue grimace. "She doesn't know the details… right Rogue?"

He put his head down as he answered, speaking almost too quiet for me to hear. "She may have taken the request with her because I accidentally left it in her room before we went down to get some food."

"God damn it Rogue! I gave that to you to hold onto. All the mayor knows is that two mages will be there with the request in hand. Minerva was getting impatient with us and didn't want to keep the client waiting any longer so she told him that she was sending the mages out by the end of the week. She didn't know if you would have gotten yourself off your ass by then so she didn't know who was going to go for sure. That's why she signed had to sign the fucking paper, to let the mayor know that they were sent by her." Releasing a big sigh I hung my head and prayed that Blondie wouldn't do anything stupid. "Great, now we have to hurry up and get there. If I had known we were leaving today I would have packed my lacrima so we could contact the mayor, but nooo you have to storm out of the fucking guild with no provisions and nothing packed. Let's hope she doesn't try anything stupid, like taking the mission herself."

"She wouldn't do that. Plus the mayor is expecting two mages, not one…you don't think she'd really be that careless right?" Rogue asked as he picked up his pace so we were jogging instead of walking.

"I don't know Rogue, you're the one that knows her the most. Do you think she'd do something that stupid? Thinking about it now, if she is anything like the rest of her team, then we are in trouble… They run head first into dangerous situations without a thought to their safety. And considering how upset she was I don't think she will be thinking clearly.

"Kind of like you… You've been on a rampage ever since you left the guild. Muttering to yourself like a lunatic and letting your magic run amuck. Plus you left Frosch alone at the guild without a word, something you've never done before. If you, the most in control person I know can't keep it together I don't think she will be much better." I said solemnly as I put a hand on his shoulder in sympathy.

"You know I think you're wrong about her. She has more control than that. She won't take on the wyverns by herself let alone the dragon. Especially when the doctor ordered her to no use her magic for the time being so she could refill her reserves… at least I hope." As he spoke he went from jogging to running, completely contradicting his statement.

Great by the time we get there we are going to be exhausted from all this running.

We continued to run for another hour before he slowed down to a jog. But by the sound of his heart beat I could tell he couldn't keep this up for the two hours we had left of our journey. Even though the thought of it made me sick I knew the only way we could get there in time to help Blondie out was to take some mode of transportation. By the green tinge to Rogue's face I could tell he had the same idea.

Making a pit stop in town we checked the train's schedule and bought the tickets for the train that would arrive in 15 minutes. We quickly ran into the station's store and picked up a few supplies and snacks and then sat down on the nearest bench and rested our tired legs.

"You remember that girl I told you about when we first met?" Rogue quietly asked, as he handed Frosch and Lector a fish to munch on.

Thinking back to that conversation I smirked. "You mean the one that you've had a crush on for the past seven, almost eight, years? The one you have spent all this time trying to find with no luck? What about her?"

"I think Lucy's that girl." I scoffed at that.

"Are you sure that's not just wishful thinking? I mean what are the odds that after all these years you'd literally find her in your backyard?" Yup, he's definitely losing it.

"No, seriously. Think about it for a moment." He said as he started counting on his fingers how she fit the bill for his mystery crush. "She's blonde. She belongs to the same guild. She is defiant. And she is the same age, well not if you include the seven years that she disappeared for. Plus her disappearance could be why I never found her after I quit the guild and stopped running from the old members of Phantom Lord. It would also explain why I was so protective of her from the start."

"I think that is a big stretch Rogue. Why would the girl who was beaten and tortured, not to mention kidnapped by Black Steel Gajeel and the Rain Woman, Juvia stay at the same guild as them, with the constant reminder of what had happened to her." Cutting him off before he could speak I continued. "And there has to be more than one blonde girl in Fairy Tail, she can't be the only one. You just want her to be the one so you can stop looking for her and know that she is alright and fulfill your promise to her that she doesn't even know about."

I could tell that Rogue didn't want to believe me when I said she couldn't be the girl. He had been searching for her for so long and I thought it was time for him to give her up, especially since he seemed to like Lucy so much.

"I guess you're right, it is a stretch, but there is no harm in asking Lucy when we catch up to her." Musing out loud he asked. "Do you think she's mad at me for ignoring her?"

"Nah, knowing how you two gravitate towards each other you'll be holding hands in no time, once we are done with the mission. Can you really blame her for not telling us about her guild, it's got to be hard coming back after seven years to find everything changed, and new guilds formed that you know nothing about." I said as I packed up our stuff into our new bags and stood up. "Come on we gotta go save Blondie."

Lucy POV

Climbing out of the second floor window hadn't been easy. But luckily I had planned ahead and made it a hell of a lot easier than it could have been. When I had first woken up in this room I hadn't known if I could trust Sabertooth so I took precautions. In addition to not revealing my guild affiliation I planned an escape route just in case I needed it and I'm glad I did.

Even though Rogue and Sting weren't keeping me here against my will, I knew I needed to leave as quickly and quietly as I could so I could make it to Kenji before them. They wanted to keep me from an important part of finding Polaris and avenging my mother's death. I knew they weren't doing it intentionally, but the fact that Sting refused to let me join them for their stupid mission was ridiculous. I needed to meet with that dragon and collect his or her key. Yes I know that Sting was right in some aspect of his refusal to let me go, but I never said I wanted to fight. I would have been perfectly content to let them defeat the wyverns until they had deemed it safe enough for me to approach the dragon. But nooo, Sting just had to imply that I wasn't strong enough for the mission and that I shouldn't be using my magic. Bah! If he had bothered to ask I could have told him that I could use my magic, doctor be damned. I felt my magical reserves filling as I had sat there listening to him berate me and as I walked away from their guild. It had to be because of the powers I had absorbed in the clock. I wasn't too sure, but I knew I was recovering surprisingly fast.

Although Rogue hadn't said anything during Sting's tirade I knew he agreed. Ever since I let it slip that I belonged to Fairy Tail he had been ignoring me, and not meeting my eyes. Any attempt I made to tell him that I was going to tell him about Fairy Tail when things had calmed down was dismissed, as if I had ever lied to him. I knew I had inadvertently hurt him, but he had done the same when I saw him nod when Sting was speaking to me. They both thought I was weak, too weak to be of any help on the mission, and that's why I left without a word.

"Both of them can go drown for all I care. I'll show them that they were wrong about me"

"Uh… ca… can I help you miss?"

I hadn't realized I had made it to the train station until I heard the man's voice. Shaking my previous thoughts away I looked at the ticket master and smiled.

"Yes, I'd like one, one-way ticket to Kenji please." After I had paid for the ticket I immediately entered the waiting train. Luckily I had gotten here when I did because the next one to Kenji wouldn't be here for another hour. Finding a seat was tedious. My choices were creepy old men who leared at me, or crying babies, neither one I wanted to deal with at this moment. Moving to the very back of the train I found a semi-isolated seat that only had one other person near it.

When I sat down I threw my bag down on the seat next to me and used it as a pillow. I knew that I should stay up to make a plan but I was exhausted and just wanted to take a nap. Before the train departed I was out, drifting into a restless sleep.

"NOW ARRIVING AT KENJI STATION. PLEASE COLLECT YOUR BELONGINGS AND WAIT FOR THE TRAIN TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP BEFORE EXITING. THANK YOU AND WE HOPE YOU HAVE A NICE DAY."

That loud, obnoxious voice blaring over the intercom was not how I had wanted to be woken up, but I had no say in the matter. I swear if there weren't witnesses I'd smash that thing to bits.

Ever since that dream I had with Pegasus I'd been sleeping restlessly, as if he was trying to tell me not to let my guard down. I don't think he understood that I needed sleep to function. If he wanted me to stay alert I needed to get enough rest so I could do so. Giving my cheeks a couple of slaps I tried to wake myself up enough to gather my belongings.

Running my hand over my keys I learned that it had taken two hours to get here, meaning I was at least two hours ahead of the Dragon Slayers, maybe three. Leaving me with plenty of time to come up with a plan and execute it.

Making sure I had everything I swung my bag onto my back and stood up to stretch before the train came to a completely stop. Walking around the station I found the map of the town and found the quickest route to the mayor's house. As I walked there I made a mental note to visit the magic shop that was right next to the station. I didn't have enough time to go there now because I knew I only had so much time before those pesky slayers arrived.

I was thankful that they would probably try to walk here before they ultimately decided that they needed to take a train or rent a car. That at least gave me a couple of hours, head start.

Reaching the front of a lavish two story home I knocked on the door using the ornate door knocker and waited for someone to answer. I could hear footsteps as they reached the other side of the door and looked though the peep hole as the spoke.

"What business do you have with the mayor?" She said in a gruff voice

"I'm here to take care of the den of wyver-. What...?" I gasped out as the door suddenly opened and I was dragged into the house, with a hand over my mouth.

"Shhh we don't want to alarm the residents of the town. They believe that it's just a band of bandits that are stealing their valuables and eating the livestock. Follow me, I'll take you to the mayor's office" she said still whispering and dragging me along.

One look at her had me thinking of the first time I had seen Virgo. Pulling at my arm I tried to get the maid to release her grip on me so I could walk at me own pace. "Uh can I have my arm back please?" I asked strained.

She didn't acknowledge that I had spoken to her and continued to weave in and out of the hallways and doors until we reached one that she didn't barge into but stopped and knocked politely all the while straightening out her clothes as best she could with one hand.

"ENTER" was shouted from within the room, the voice sounded very weary and angry at the same time. When the door opened it revealed a man that had his head in his hands and was pulling what little hair he had left. For the mayor of the town and resident of such a extravagant home he did not look the part. His once finely pressed clothes were wrinkled and crooked, as if he had been sleeping in them for the past week and if I wasn't mistaken there were tear streaks running down his face. Even though he had bid us enter he looked surprised to see us there staring at him. Looking at me her quickly stood up with his hand out to me. "Thank God! I thought Sabertooth would never send their mages." As if looking for someone else he looked behind me. "You're not from Sabertooth are you?" dejectedly he released my hand only to move back behind his desk and slump back into his chair to resume his previous position.

I don't know what came over me but the words just spewed out of my mouth without any thought to the consequences. "Sabertooth! Yes I come from Sabertooth. My…uh partner is off arranging accommodations for us and getting the lay of the land." It's not all a lie at least… oh Mavis, what did I just get myself into?


AN: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. =]

Sabrina huish: Thanks!

whitelion20202: I'm just happy that there are those people who like it now! If others want to read it will just be icing on an already perfect cake. ;)

Lil Scarlett:You have to wait a little bit more but I promise he/she is coming soon. =] Glad you loved the chapter!

BronzeDove: Thanks! I know Dragon Slayers, they can be such a pain. ;)

GemNika: Thanks! I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get up, life got away from me. XD

artisofthemind: Thanks and will do! =]

Jui-Imouto-Chan: I think she is already in trouble. lol