"Strawberry dessert for Table 8 Mira!" called out Erza, flicking her dark red pigtails over her shoulder. Mira was in her element at her post behind the dessert bar, already plating up, so Erza stayed for a moment to wait, taking a moment to look back at the café.

It was the tail end of the controlled chaos that was the lunchtime rush, the buzz of happy chatting customers only broken by the occasional clink of cutlery on china. Most of the customers had already been served their meals and were happily indulging in the sweet desserts and pretty drinks that the café was famous for. Erza smiled the satisfied smile of a person almost finished a job well done. They only had about twenty minutes left of their shift before Team Shadowgear and Gajeel and Lily would arrive to take on the afternoon shift, and she was eager to get home to Fairy Hills and soak in the open-air bath. Stockings and heels may be pretty, but after working a busy six-hour shift waiting on tables, her feet ached.

When Master had said he'd finalised a deal with a local theme café to have a Fairytail month, where each team took shifts as wait staff, none of them had realised just how popular it would be. The café was booked out for the next three weeks, and Max had gone to town designing merchandise – coffee mugs, stickers, acrylic standees, keyrings – but they all seemed to be selling. Erza was particularly proud of the fact that her keyrings had already sold out.

Their team seemed to be very popular so far, with Erza and Lucy as waitresses, Happy and Carla as drinks waiters, Natsu as a busboy, Gray on drinks and Wendy on desserts. She had been rostered on desserts the first day, and admittedly that had not gone well; Wendy possessed much more self-control around sweets than she did. And they were all very grateful that the usual kitchen staff took care of the cooked meals – she was sure Natsu being left to his own devices in a kitchen would result in catastrophe.

Poor Wendy had called in sick with a cold today, with Carla staying home too, to keep an eye on her. They were lucky that Mira had happily taken her shift; her experience behind the bar at Fairytail made her a valuable ally on a job like this.

"There, all done", said Mira, adding a sprig of mint as a garnish. Erza drooled a little at the plate decorated with strawberry coulis with three different strawberry themed desserts, including cheesecake.

"No eating until you're on break Erza", she teased, handing over the finished plate.

"I know", Erza grumbled, carefully picking up the plate and placing it on her tray, ready to head back out into the café.

Gray grinned slyly at her, finishing off another icy drink order, frosting the top of the glass carefully.

"I've never known you to be so restrained around cheesecake Erza. Much better than you were the first day." He handed the drink to Happy, who was ready to zoom it over to the waiting customer.

"Yeah, poor Erza" teased Happy, an annoying grin on his face. "Having to look at cheesecake all day and not allowed to eat any! I bet there'll be none left for you!" Happy zoomed out of Erza's attack range quickly, taking the frosted drink with him. He might be cheeky, but he wasn't stupid.

"Don't worry", whispered Mira behind her hand, "I've saved one for you". She winked as Erza headed back out on to the floor, dessert held high on a tray so she wouldn't be tempted, a serene smile on her face as a waft of strawberry scent from the dessert floated down to her.

Natsu grumped his way around, picking up and stacking empty plates on his trolley. He really didn't like this job. He hated his uniform, black shoes, pants, apron and vest over a white shirt. At least they let him keep his scarf. He missed his usual clothes, not only because they were comfortable, but this uniform wasn't flameproof like his trademark pants and jacket, so he had to be careful with his magic. It made him feel agitated and antsy. He couldn't even let off a little steam fighting anyone, and he was stuck inside for hours, picking up after messy customers when they left.

But that wasn't the worst of it. He kept one eye on Lucy at all times as he picked up the dirty dishes and glasses. That uniform they had her in was drawing every pervert's eyes in the place to her; thigh high white beribboned stockings and a tiny strapless black dress with an even tinier apron. It was so short she couldn't even bend down in the thing, but had to bob down, bending her knees a little to place plates on the tables. Watching all the leering looks and crass comments about his partner had him on edge and after five straight days of it, he was almost at his limit.

He could tell Lucy was uncomfortable, and he'd spoken to her about it last night when he'd walked her home, but she'd brushed off his concerns, saying it was probably all in good fun. It didn't seem like she was having fun though. Her smile this week didn't have its usual brilliance, and he could tell she was dreading coming into work here now. Even though she said she didn't want to say anything to Gramps about it, after today, he definitely would.

For instance, those pricks on Table 5 had been leering at her every lunchtime this week, and he'd been watching them get more and more blatant, their comments more personal, especially that prick in the grey pinstriped suit. The table was up the back of the café, a booth with high sides, and they obviously thought they could get away with it.

These bastards needed to be taught how to be respectful, and he was pretty sure his fist in their face would do the job – he'd be happy to do it. He growled under his breath, watching the men on the table cackle as she approached with their order, her tray full of hot coffee. As he heard what they were saying, the air around him shimmered with heat, and his low rumbling growl startled the customers around him. Fuck, this was the last straw. He looked around for Erza, knowing if he went over all by himself, he wouldn't be able to stop himself punching the sick leer off that prick's face. This was gonna end now!

Lucy was not having a good day. It was her fifth lunchtime shift as a waitress, and the same table of guys was back again. They were all business men, dressed in suits, and they seemed to be here every lunch time, and asked for her by name whenever she was working. To put it bluntly, they were a little more 'handsy' than she liked, and it was creeping her out. She didn't mind smiling and flirting a little, understood it was part of the job, but they were taking it too far.

And this uniform she was wearing didn't help. She was very comfortable with her body, and had no problem showing it off thank you very much, but this was a little too much, even for her. They had all given their measurements to Master before the uniforms were ordered, but hers was more than a little on the small side, and she had a feeling that was entirely his fault, dirty old man.

One guy in particular on that table had her feeling very unsure of herself. He was tall and muscular, imposing, his black hair slicked back, his fingers covered in gold rings. His appearance was always impeccable, a crisp snow-white shirt under a dark grey pinstriped suit. He had the air of someone who always got what he wanted, and if it wasn't given freely, he took it. He reminded her of some of her father's business associates, and just looking at him made her skin crawl.

The first day, he had stared at her blatantly, not even trying to hide the leering grin as he took in the soft skin exposed by her uniform. She had to resist using her hands to cover herself; she was Lucy Heartfilia, a mage of Fairytail, and she would not let anyone make her feel small. She had looked him straight back in the eye, her chin pushed out defiantly; that usually worked when she caught someone perving at her on a job, but this man was different. He seemed to take it as a personal challenge.

Now every day he had grown more bold, touches on her hand and arm as she placed plates on the table, whispering his order to force her to lean forward a little so she could hear, saying things about her soft skin, her long legs, her golden hair. She could feel his eyes on her even as she waited on the other tables, and it made her feel vaguely dirtied, even though she had done nothing wrong. His friends seemed to encourage him, laughing yesterday when he had got a small squeak out of her when his hand had brushed the bare skin of her thigh in between her short skirt and thigh high stockings.

She had almost decided to talk to Master about it but had decided against it. They only had two more days of this lunchtime shift left, and then they would be swapping to breakfasts. She could stick it out for two more days. And besides, they were in a crowded café, and Natsu was here with her. Nothing really bad could happen.

She could feel Natsu's eyes watching her as she carried the tray full of coffee over to the table of businessmen. His eyes made her feel the opposite of that creep's. They were full of warmth and support. When he had spoken to her last night about his concerns, it was the happiest she had felt all week, knowing he was watching out for her. She held her head high as she approached the table of business men warily, a fake grin plastered on her face. This was their last order for the day, and then she wouldn't have to come near their table again. And maybe they wouldn't even be here tomorrow, seeing it was the weekend. This might be the last time she ever had to see him. She could do this.

"A tall black for you, sir…", she began, putting the first cup down, trying to stay as far out of hands reach as possible. The man in the pin-striped suit was behind her, and she wanted to get through this as fast as possible. She hadn't counted on him grabbing her around the waist and pulling her sideways onto his lap, her back towards the rest of the cafe.

"So, when do you get off work, sweet cheeks?" he said, one hand gripping her upper thigh, the other running lightly up the side of her breast and latching on to her upper arm. She gasped, struggling to get off his lap, while balancing a tray full of hot coffee in her hands.

"Let go of me you creep!" she hissed, and was mortified when he pulled her closer, feeling his hard erection pushing up underneath the short skirt of her maid's uniform. She balanced the tray on the edge of the table, holding it steady with one hand as she struggled to push the hand squeezing her thigh away with the other.

"Don't be so coy baby", he breathed into her ear, as the other men on the table laughed. "You've been smiling at me all week, flaunting those tits and those creamy thighs of yours. How about we all meet up after work tonight. And wear your uniform. I'm sure we could come up with other services you could provide."

Lucy felt sick. Although she was pretty strong, she was having trouble getting out of this guy's grasp, and the fact that his friends were laughing about her predicament made her feel even more unsafe. She didn't want to cause a scene by using her magic. Her zodiac spirits were not known for their sense of restraint, and she didn't want to damage the place, not when Fairytail was booked on a job here for the next three weeks. It was a chance for everyone in the guild to be doing well-paid safe work, and she didn't want to jeopardise that.

She could feel her keys pulsing against her hip, Loke's especially, and she pushed back against his gate with every ounce of will she could. She could call Natsu or Erza over, but they would probably be worse than Loke. If she diffused the situation peacefully, there'd be no property damage, and no one from Fairytail would lose out. She tried speaking in a loud firm voice.

"Please", she said, pushing at his hand again, "I'm not enjoying this. I don't feel comfortable when you touch me like that. I want you to let me go."

"Oh yeah baby?" he whispered with a leer, his mouth so close that his lips touched her neck. "What if I touched you like this?" She shuddered in revulsion as his hand suddenly slid under her skirt, and she let go of the tray, the hot coffee spilling all over her white stockings, burning her skin. She desperately tried to shift herself away from him, but his grasp on her upper arm was bruising, and he'd wrapped his legs around her calves, locking her in place.

She felt bile rise up in her throat, her heart beating double time as she twisted, trying to get away from those groping fingers that had now slipped in the side of her panties. She wanted to Lucy kick him into oblivion, safe restaurant work be damned, but when his fingers groped and pushed in a place that no man had ever touched before, she froze. "Let me go", she whimpered.

A sudden aura of heat surrounded them. Lucy mentally sighed in relief. She had her back to whatever had the rest of the table gasping in sudden fear, but she would recognise that warmth anywhere.

"Is there a problem here?" a stern female voice asked.

Lucy was pushed unceremoniously to the hard wooden floor, half empty coffee cups clattering and breaking around her, and Natsu was instantly at her side. Lucy could feel heated rage pouring off him and she smelled a faint scent of singed cotton over the spilt coffee. She was amazed that he was actually keeping level headed enough to not be tearing the restaurant apart.

He touched her arm gently. "Are you okay Luce?" his voice gravelly with barely controlled anger. She nodded, keeping her head down, and he helped her to her feet.

"Natsu, take Lucy out to the kitchen and make sure she's alright", said Erza, her voice steely. "I'm just going to have a chat to these customers about Fairytail's policies regarding respect of customer service personnel." There was a bright flash of a summoning circle as she requipped into her Hearts Cruz armour.

Natsu put one arm around Lucy's shoulders and steered her around the tables towards the kitchen, past the customers craning their necks trying to work out what was going on. He paused for a moment to let the rest of the team know what had happened, his arm still curved protectively around her.

Lucy's head hung down, keeping her gaze on Natsu's black shoes. It was so weird seeing him in lace up shoes. She wondered vaguely if they hurt his feet. The crackling sound of ice magic underpinned Natsu's continual low growl as he told them his version of what had happened; Gray was obviously upset also.

"Natsu, take her home. Team Shadowgear will be here any minute for the next shift, we can manage until then" Mira said softly. When Lucy looked up and began to protest, Mira came out from behind the bar to hug her gently.

"Sweetheart it's okay. I want you to go home, we can handle things here. Natsu will stay with you if that's what you want, to make sure you feel safe."

Lucy's brown eyes filled with tears, and her bottom lip trembled a little. "I'm sorry to cause such a bother Mira. I thought I could handle them, we were only on this shift for two more days. I didn't expect any of them to get so…" She could see Gray and Happy looking at her in concern, and she suddenly wanted to be anywhere but here.

Mira smiled sadly. "Please don't apologise. No one should expect that." All five of them looked over towards the booth, where Erza, still wearing her armour, was leaning aggressively over the table, her gauntleted hands on her hips. They could hear a faint whimpering coming from the man who had molested Lucy, and Natsu suddenly sniggered.

"Erza sure has a good imagination. I don't think it's even physically possible for a dick to do that."

"Oh my", Mira smiled behind her hand. "I'd better go check on things to make sure she doesn't take it too far. I'll get the owner and Master down here straight away and we'll sort this out. Take her home Natsu."

Natsu curled his arm around Lucy again. "Tell Master I'm happy to talk to him about what happened. I heard every single thing that sick fucker said today, and all the stuff he's been saying earlier in the week." Lucy shuddered against him, and he looked at her anxiously. They headed out through the kitchen to the staff entrance for the short walk back to Lucy's apartment.

Lucy was silent for the whole walk back, and it had Natsu unsettled. Usually when they walked, she was full of chatter, and though he didn't always listen to every single word she said, he liked it. It was a friendly happy noise, one of the things that made up Lucy. She was quiet sometimes, but that was usually when she was thinking, sitting at her desk to write, and it didn't have the same feel that this silence did.

She still smelt of fear and panic. Even though he'd heard what was being said, he hadn't been able to see exactly what was going on as Lucy's back had been to him while he was looking for Erza. The words and the way the bastard had pulled her onto his lap and gripped her arm were bad enough. He wished he hadn't restrained himself and had broken his nose, scorched him up a little. It would have made him feel a whole lot better, even though it would have caused trouble.

They walked up the stairs and stopped in front of her door.

"Lucy, are you sure you want me to stay? If you'd rather be alone, I'd be happy to…"

"I don't want you to go", said Lucy in a quiet flat voice. She got out her door key with trembling fingers, trying to make it fit in the lock, and startled when he took the key and opened the door himself for her. As soon as the door was closed behind them, Loke appeared in a bright flash of magic, his face frantic.

"Lucy, why wouldn't you let me through! I could have taken him out!"

"Loke", Lucy said softly, "I wasn't sure you or the others would have been able to restrain yourselves; I could feel how angry you were." She sighed, her eyes downward, avoiding Loke's gaze. "Fairytail is working there for the next three weeks. It's safe work for everyone, and it's well paid. I didn't want to take that away from everyone if we damaged the restaurant."

"Why on earth would that matter!?" said Loke, his tone angry. "It's our purpose to protect you, our master, from all harm. What he did was…" Loke swallowed, pacing agitatedly around the coffee table. "Why wouldn't you let us help you?"

Until then, Natsu had been standing in the background quietly, listening to the conversation. At Loke's words, he realised what had happened to Lucy was a lot worse than he thought. The rage that had dulled to a simmer began to rise again, heat rolling off him.

"Loke", he rumbled, his voice dark with anger, "get your ass down there to the café. Mira was gonna call Gramps. I want you to tell him everything that happened. Every single thing that prick did, every time his filthy hands touched her." At his words Lucy whimpered, and he smelt the tang of her tears.

Loke looked back at Lucy uncertainly, before turning back to Natsu. "You promise you'll take care of her?"

"I promise. You know she'll be safe with me."

Loke nodded, then disappeared in a shower of golden light. As soon as he was gone, Lucy's legs folded under her, and she crumpled to the floor, sitting like a puppet with cut strings. After hesitating a moment, Natsu picked her up gently, and carried her over to the sofa, pulling away after placing her down. Her hands clutched at him.

"I don't want you to go", she said in the same flat voice as before. Natsu nodded and sat beside her, his fists clenched, close by but not touching her. He wanted to hug her so badly, push away the stench of her fear combined with the scent of that bastard, and cover her with his own scent, but what he wanted wasn't important right now.

"I'm sorry", said Lucy in a small voice.

"Lucy", he rumbled, "there is nothing at all that you need to apologise for. Nothing!"

"I should have listened to you. Yesterday. When you said you wanted to tell Gramps. I thought about it, I had a bad feeling about that guy, but I didn't want to cause any trouble. I didn't think he would try anything like that." She looked up suddenly, her eyes wide with fear.

"Oh gods Natsu, what if he… what if he finds out where I live? What if he followed me home? I couldn't… I couldn't bear…" Fat tears began to roll down her cheeks, her bottom lip trembling, and Natsu couldn't stand it any longer.

"Lucy, can I hug you? Please?"

Lucy scooted over towards him, her arms open, and he picked her up and put her in his lap, tucking her head under his chin and wrapping his arms around her tightly. She curled herself up into a ball and began sobbing. He rocked her gently, trying to calm her.

"It's okay Luce, it's okay. You're safe here with me. I won't let him near you again. If I even see him near you, I'll incinerate him. You don't have ta worry." Lucy burrowed her face into his chest, her hot tears wetting is shirt, as he continued to rock her.

All his protective feelings were roused, the urge to protect and soothe his precious girl, his partner and friend that he had gradually come to care for deeply, and a deep rumbling vibrated in his chest. He wished he had the courage to tell Lucy exactly how he felt about her, but this was not the time. For now, this was enough.

"Natsu, are you purring?" whispered Lucy, her voice a little broken still from sobbing so hard.

"Uh, yeah?" he said, feeling a little embarrassed. He had never made this sound when holding her before, not when she was awake, anyway. It was a private sound, one reserved for comforting a mate, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to have that conversation with her.

"I like it", she whispered, snuggling her face into his chest. The rumbling sound became louder, and she giggled a little, as Natsu rubbed his cheek into her hair, both of them in no hurry to move.