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Chapter 20: A Plan of Attack

Lucy

It didn't take long before I became comfortable around Gray again. He had that sort of effect on me. Whenever he was around, I always felt calm and collected. He was my partner in crime for everything, even if most of it was for show. There is always a time when the show stops becoming a show and starts becoming real.

Just like old times, Gray and I walked together, whispering quietly to each other as we made our way to the table. Juvia was trailing behind us somewhere and I wanted to thank her, but I was too engulfed in what Gray was saying to me. After the attack, Gray found out what his parents had been up to. He agreed to take over both corporations, but he made it clear that once the police found me and brought me home, he would step down and hand Heartfilia Corp back to its rightful heir.

Two weeks after the attack, the police gave up the mission to find me, deeming that I was probably already dead. Gray had insisted that I couldn't be dead because if they had wanted me dead, they could have simply killed me during the attack. The police refused to investigate further, so Gray started using the new resources he had to try and find out more about the Dragon Slayer Gang. He had found several cases in the town of Magnolia that could be linked to the gang, so he traveled there alone.

There, he met a young cop in training, Cana, who showed him everything she knew about the cases. She was the only cop in the city who was looking into the matter because everyone else had either been payed off, or were too scared to go after the Gang. With Cana's information and Gray's resources, they started developing a plan to infiltrate the gang.

However, Cana had been captured a week later and Gray was left alone in Magnolia. One night, he was walking back to his hotel in Magnolia when he was ambushed by two men. One blond with a scar over his eyebrow and one with black hair like a curtain over his eyes with a scar across his nose. The two captured him and blindfolded him. They brought him here and Zeref had started torturing him for information about an undercover alliance started my Gray's parents to overthrow the gang.

"Sting and Rogue." I said as we sat down. Lisanna and Yukino looked over at us with interest. "They're the ones who captured you. They're two of Natsu's advisors." Gray stared at me intently.

"Lucy, how much do you know about this place?" I looked him right in the eye and pursed my lips.

"I know enough." I deadpanned. Gray smirked and nodded. He looked around the table at all the slaves looking back at him. He looked at Juvia and Milliana and then back to me.

"Then I guess we need a plan of attack. I know you, Lucy. Do you have an escape plan?" he asked, grinning at me. I looked around the table at everyone who was looking at me. Milliana was giving me a pitiful look while Mira was giving me an assuring one. Escape. It was a word that I had long since forgotten. I couldn't remember how long it had been since I thought about escape. I looked back and Gray and gave him a short nod. I had a plan.

"There's a window on the second floor hallway. It's not guarded or watched. It's far enough up that no one will suspect us of escaping, but it's low enough that if we fall, we won't get injured too badly. All we need is a rope." Gray nodded.

"Okay great, so we have an escape window. Now all we need is a direction to run in and a place to go. Also, we can't have everyone escape at the same time. It'll be too noticeable if we all leave at the same time. There should be two or three people. I vote that the people who've been here the longest go, because they need to see the light of day." Gray said generously. Kinana suddenly spoke up. I realized that this had been only the second time that I had ever heard her speak.

"No, Gray, I disagree. If one of us goes, then there is a chance that the police won't believe us. They have either been paid off or they won't care. Either way, someone known in the world should go. I think you and Lucy should escape and come back for us." Gray stared at her while I cast my eyes to the floor. I was secretly praying that I would be the one to escape. I couldn't bare being here any longer. I knew that was selfish of me and I knew that I should be like Gray and want other people to go, but he hadn't been here for long. He didn't know what it was like…

"No, I shouldn't go." Gray said solemnly. "I just got here, it's not fair to those who have been here for years. Lucy, you should go and alert the authorities. They'll believe you. But someone else should go with you." I jerked my head up and gave Gray a sharp look.

"I'm not leaving without you. No way in hell." I reached over and grasped Gray's hand. He looked down at my hand and laced his fingers in between mine, smiling softly. I gazed into his cool blue eyes and felt my heart flutter slightly.

"I'll go." I turned my head sharply to see that Juvia had spoken up. "All three of us will go. I'm the only roaming slave which means that I don't need an excuse to be by that window. I can get the sheets for rope and I can take Gray so he won't get lost. In this way, I can give the authorities more Intel about this place and both of you can make sure that we get enough people to attack this place and bring it down for good." Gray looked at Juvia and then back at me and gave me a short nod.

"Okay, so we have our people. Now we just need to have a destination."

"Magnolia." I said without hesitation. The table's attention was turned back to me as I cleared my throat. "My first day here, I was snooping around in Natsu's room and I found that this mansion is only a few miles away from the city. If we run straight through the thicket, we're bound to find it. Then we can head back to where you were staying, get all your stuff and go straight to the authorities in Konzern City. They owe a lot to my father so it shouldn't be a problem to get them on board."

"Magnolia is just north of here." Everyone turned abruptly to the new voice at the head of the table. Cana grinned down at us with a drink in her hand. She smirked at Gray and winked, causing him to blush slightly. Now, she was only in a blue bra and brown leather pants. Her scars on her stomach and back were on display for everyone to see. "Hatching an escape plan, I see. Can I help?" she plopped down next to Juvia who shifted away slightly.

"You know how to get to Magnolia from here?" Gray asked. She shrugged.

"More or less. I know that we are located about ten miles south of the city. If you head straight north, you should get to the city in two or three hours. That is, if you're willing to run the whole way." She deadpanned, taking a long swig from her drink. I eyed the bottle she was holding and wondered if it was really just water in there.

"We'll have the thicket to hide us if we need it." Gray said. He rubbed his hands together and smiled. "Alright, let's get down to the nitty gritty details."

"First of all, I don't think we should leave right away." Juvia said. "They are going to be watching us. Especially you, Gray. They want to make sure that you stay in check. So I propose that we leave in five days." I nodded as they others agreed. Gray clasped his hands in front of him and frowned.

"I can't have a pristine record, though. If I'm too good, they'll be suspicious. I need to have at least one outbreak. Something where they'll punish me enough that it'll look like I've been broken." My head snapped to his and I stared at him in shock. Cana grinned.

"I can help you there, big boy. No one knows how to start a ruckus more than me." Gray smiled. Before he could accept her offer, I grabbed his shoulder and forced him to look at me.

"No, Gray, are you crazy? They won't just punish you, they'll kill you. They have no reason to keep us alive anymore. If we step out of line, they will kill us. This escape plan is our only option, we have to take it and you can't mess it up. I won't let you die while you're here. I survived this far and I'm not going to let it go to waste." Gray grasped my hand and lifted it to his lips. He placed a soft hiss on my fingers and I sighed, tears welling up in my eyes.

"They won't kill me. They can't. Don't worry, I'll be okay. You'll just have to trust me, alright?" I shook my head, but his cool blue eyes were firm. There was something else I wasn't getting. Something that he wasn't telling me. I stared into his eyes and saw someone desperate but determined. I realized that maybe Gray wasn't as helpless as I thought he would be. Maybe he had a plan. I trusted him. Whatever he was planning, I'd be ready.

"Okay… okay." I said quietly. Gray smiled and pulled me into a hug. I sighed into his warm chest and tried not to move too much because I knew he was still injured.

"Well, as much as I'm enjoying this little PDA session. I think it's about time that Gray and I discuss what our plan of attack is." Cana said sarcastically. I smiled and pulled away as gray chuckled. He stood up with her, wincing slightly, and squeezed my hand one more time before following Cana out of the slave hall. I took in a sharp breath as my lips started trembling.

"I-I think I'm going to lock myself in my room. I don't trust myself not to go down and try to stop him again." I said quietly. Juvia stood up with me.

"I'll walk you there." She said kindly. I smiled at her gratefully and followed her out of the hall, trying not to think about the amount of torture that Gray was about to be put under. All for me. All because I wanted to get out of here and I wanted to leave before I'd have to face Natsu again.

I guess it wouldn't matter, now. I would have to face the music sooner or later.

Juvia left me inside my rooms with the assurance that she would look after Gray. She had already healed him once, I wasn't worried about her skills. I was more worried about the number of injuries he was going to sustain from this. Gray was resilient, I knew that much. He could take any punch they could dish out. I'd seen him train before. I wasn't allowed to train myself because I was a lady, but that didn't stop me from observing.

One of Gray's main strengths in a fight was his defense. When I watched him in hand-to-hand combat, he was agile and nimble on his feet and ended up beginning the fight bobbing and weaving his opponent's strikes. When he found and opening, he attacked swiftly and severely. He rarely ever got hit, but when he did, it would just get brushed off and he would head back into the fight at full strength.

Sometimes I wished my father had trained me to fight. Maybe I would have escaped earlier if I knew. Maybe I wouldn't have been taken advantage of so quickly if I could defend myself.

I was sitting on my bed with my door locked when I heard Natsu walk in. My ears perked and I stiffened, but I did not face the door. I heard him scuffle around and pause, probably looking at the note I had ripped up that morning. I heard him step to my door and my lips pursed as I heard him knock timidly.

"Lucy?" I didn't reply. I clenched my fists and prayed that he would just leave me alone. I really couldn't handle this right now.

"Butter—Lucy, please talk to me. I know you're upset, but we need to figure this out." I narrowed my eyes and curled my lip as the doorknob shook. "Come on, open the door, I know you're in there." I shook my head. I would not allow him to coax me back into his good graces. Everything that came out of his mouth was a lie as far as I was concerned. No way in hell was I going to allow him to look at me the same way again.

"I'm going to break down this door. I'm serious, Lucy, open the door now." His timid tone abruptly changed into a cold and angry lash. My head shifted and I frowned. I was so sick of his bi-polar attitude. One minute he was caring for me and smiling at me like I was a delicate flower, the next he was throwing me aside like a piece of garbage. It was too much for me. I was so done. I stood up, anger boiling within me. I wanted him to know just how much I hated him now. This would be the last time I ever spoke to him. I prepared myself and walked to the door.

"One—two—" He started counting and I opened the door, glaring up into his yellow-green pools. I noticed then how bad he looked. There were dark bags under his eyes and his hair was disheveled even more than usual. His scarf was ripped and there was a thin cut on his chin. He had been in a fight. And from the looks of it, he'd lost. I was about to ask if he was okay when I caught myself. I didn't care if he was okay or not. He could be dying for all I care.

"Okay look, Lucy. I know you're angry with me and you have every right to be. I know what I did was harsh and I'm sorry, but you stepped out of line. I told you to drop it, but you didn't trust me and you had to go off on your own. If I hadn't held you the way I did, Zeref would have killed both of you. I'm sorry I hit you and roughed you up but it had to be done. You went too far this time, Lucy. This kind of insubordination can't be taken lightly." He ran his fingers through his hair as I stared at him in disbelief.

"You think I'm angry with you for hitting me?" I whispered slowly. Natsu looked down at me in confusion.

"You're not mad because of that?" I wanted to punch him in the mouth.

"How about the fact that you lied to me? How about when you ripped my world apart? How about when you made me believe that I everything I stood for had been a lie? How about when you touched me and cherished me and then threw me aside like it all meant nothing? You are a coward, Natsu Dragneel, and if you ever come near me again, I will not stop fighting you. I will keep being insubordinate and I will keep on giving you hell until one day, you'll have to kill me." I hissed thoroughly before attempting to slam the door in his face.

Unfortunately for me, his hand was there, blocking the door.

"Wait, Lucy, you don't understand. I was trying to protect you. It was better that you thought there was nothing left for you so you didn't try to escape. If you knew that your fiancé was still looking for you, you would have done everything to get back to him. I lied to you to protect you."

"Oh yeah, I feel so protected!" I snapped, stepping backwards as he walked in the room.

"Lucy—" He tried to grab my arm but I shifted out of his reach, pushing him away.

"Get away from me, don't touch me. I never want you to touch me again. I know I mean nothing to you, so just leave me alone!"

"What do you mean you don't mean anything to me? Lucy I gave up most of my lifestyle for you! I'd never had a slave in my life and then I picked you to protect you from others. I tried to keep you away from Zeref's wrath to protect you, but you wouldn't hear for it. I tried to keep you from a false reality that you would create for yourself. Of course, I care about you, Lucy! How can I not care?" he bellowed, throwing his arms up in the air. I turned away, tears forming in my eyes.

"Then you should have helped me escape. You should have let me leave. If you truly cared, you wouldn't have kissed me and then threw me under the bus." I croaked out. Natsu froze, staring intently at me before sighing and speaking softly.

"I never meant to hurt you, Lucy." He whispered silently. I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms, letting some of my tears fall.

"Well, you did." I spat bitterly. He sighed and looked down.

"How do I make it better?" He asked humbly. I looked up at him and let my eyes trace over his figure. Just being in his presence was making me feel so conflicted and confused. He was the bad guy, the person who put me in this mess and yet here he was, arguing that it had all been to protect me. I didn't know what to think anymore.

"Leave me alone." I whispered. "Please." He sighed in frustration but obeyed my wishes and walked back through the door. He paused before shutting it, looked back over at me.

"Don't think that kiss didn't mean anything, Lucy." He said gingerly. "I haven't stopped thinking about it since the minute it happened."

So yeah... that happened.

Anyway, next update probably won't be for a little while. Exams are next week and then I'm heading to visit my grandparents for Christmasbreak. I'll to write as much as I can, but no guarantees for a quick update. Have a great Christmas! or Hanukkah! or quanza! Or whatever it is you celebrate!