"And once again we lost most of the money due to damages." Lucy whimpered as Team Natsu had been forced to walk home without any money to spare for a train ride home. Much to Natsu's joy.

"Honestly! I can't believe how much damage you all caused!" Carla hmmfed crossing her little arms. "It wasn't even supposed to be such a difficult mission but somehow you four managed to destroy two churches, a town hall and practically an entire town square!" Lucy noticed Carla excluded Wendy in her scolding.

"Now, now Carla, to be fair we did manage to hold back a little better this time." Wendy smiled while grimacing.

Lucy winced while Natsu laughed. Erza smacked Natsu on the back of the head.

"You need to learn not to go overboard." Although, as Lucy recalled, Erza was no better than him during their mission. She remembered her unleashing a sky full of swords because a spider had crawled on top of her hand.

"Eh no big deal, we'll get em next time." Grey placed his hands on the back of his head, looking relaxed about the whole thing.

"Oh yeah? I remember most of the damages being made by you snowflake." Natsu cocked a mocking eyebrow at the nonchalant ice wizard. He was the main reason why the town square was destroyed. Grey scowled at Natsu and elbowed him roughly.

"Water under the bridge man!"

"Hey! I see Mongolia up ahead!" Happy chirped happily.

"Finally! I thought my legs were gonna fall off!" Lucy grinned at their beloved hometown. It took them two weeks to head out, complete the job and then head back in. Needless to say Lucy was missing home.

However as they got closer to the town signs of destruction were everywhere. Turning the once flourishing city into something out of a dystopia.

"What happened here? Did a storm or something cause this?" Wendy looked around worried as the team walked down the street.

"No." Natsu scowled, clenching a fist. "Those are battle damages- someone fought here in town… and by the looks of it, someone pretty strong at that."

"It looks too excessive though…" Lucy looked at destroyed buildings and crater sized holes in the road. The rubble didn't look like accidental damages like her team usually caused. All the damages… they looked intentional…

Grey stood up from examining a spot where a restaurant had once sat.

"We should hurry up and head to the guildhall. Maybe Gramps can fill us in on what exactly happened here."

Lucy nodded as their group quickened their pace. She noticed people hiding in their homes looking wearily at the group as they passed by. Hardly anyone was walking out in the streets like they were afraid of something.

Lucy gasped at the sight before them. The guildhall, or what was left of it actually, was barely standing. It's pathetic state ruined to even worse tatters.

"Did someone attack the guild?" Lucy froze remembering back when Phantom Lord had destroyed them. Natsu growled and bursted through the remains of the front doors.

"HEY GRAMPS, WHATS THE BIG IDEA?!" Their guildmates looked up as Natsu yelled at the top of his lungs. Once they saw Lucy though several of them let out cries of joy.

"Look! It's Lucy!"

"Thank God! This nightmare will finally end!"

"I've never been happier to see Team Natsu before!"

"What a relief!"

Lucy flinched at the unexpected welcome home.

"Huh? What's going on?" Lucy suddenly felt nervously.

Master Makarov came rushing into the room with a stern looking man in tow. He wore Magic Council clothes.

"There you children are!" Makarov stood in front of them now. "I'll explain everything later."

"But first, Lucy Heartfilia, you're going to have to come with me for now." The council man adjusted his glasses.

"What?!"

"But why?" What could the magic Council want with her? What did she do? The man ignored her and began to escort her out.

"I'll explain everything to you on our way over but right now you need to come with me immediately."

"Hold on!" Natsu wedged himself between his best friend and the impatient Council Mage.

"Lucy's ain't going anywhere until we get some answers." Natsu glared threatenly at the man.

"Natsu. That's enough! We will explain later but right now it's of the utmost importance that we do as Mr. Zzzz says." Makarov barked at Natsu who held his stance.

"It must be serious. I'll go with Lucy." Erza stepped forward. Grey and Wendy agreed.

"Look I don't care who comes along, just as long as Miss Heartfilia comes with me now."

"Uh- ok! Don't worry I'll come with!" Lucy reassured the man as he led the way.

"You know who Sting Eucliffe is?" The council man walked briskly.

"Yes…" Alarmed Lucy began imagining the worst. He only spoke a few words and she already didn't like where this conversation was going.

"Does he have anything to do with why the town's been destroyed?" Erza followed along behind them.

"Yes."

"That bastard! I'm gonna burn him until he's nothing but ashes left!" Natsu's fists lit on fire with anger.

"Do you all know that Lucy is his mate?" The council man didn't look back at any of them as they trekked through the forest.

"Yeah, none of us wanted to believe it though." Grey eyed the cave they were approaching warily.

"Well Sting had gone to visit Lucy again a couple of days after your group left for a mission. only to find she wasn't there at Fairytail. This freaked him out and he went on a rampage looking for Lucy, he was practically desperate to find her." Lucy began to sweat nervously, he did what now?! All because she wasn't home??

The council man glanced over at Lucy.

"Apparently he 'missed' you." He commented dryly. The man led the small group into a dimly lit cave.

"After we finally managed to restrain him, courtesy of his partner Rouge, we put Magic cuffs on him. Sting's powers are connected to the light and therefore we thought it wise to keep him in the dark for a little while. Now watch your step, it'll get darker here soon."

Lucy's skin crawled when she heard the low and threatening growels that emitted through the darkness. She held out a hand and followed the wall of the cave to prevent herself from falling. She could feel Natsu step in front of her protectively as they got closer. The heat of his fire began to pulse as he seemed to growl back at the holy dragon slayer. The growling suddenly stopped and the sounds of chains began to clang and pull taught.

"LUCY." Sting's voice was rough and desperate. Lucy could faintly see the outline of Sting as he was chained to a wall in the cave. He reached his arms out towards her in vain, almost choking himself as he pulled against the restraints.

"S-Sting?".

"It should be safe to light the room now that she's here." The council Mage spoke to no one in particular. His voice echoed through the room as he held out a light source. Lucy gasped when she saw Sting's condition. His clothes were tattered and his hair was a mess. He looked like he had been run over by a train. The whole situation frightened her. It was creepy down here, and Sting looked like a wild animal. His eyes looked sharp and cold… he barely looked human.

Lucy couldn't help but take a step forward but Natsu quickly put an arm in front of her to stop her. Upon seeing Natsu, Sting's relieved face quickly darkened. His eyes turned murderous.

"Lucy." Sting didn't break away from Natsu's challenging glare. "Come here…" His voice rumbled low and intimidating. Lucy's hair stood on end. He wasn't asking her. It was an order.

"Is it safe to have Lucy here?" Wendy whimpered with concern. Being a dragon slayer herself she didn't like the idea of turning into whatever it was Sting became.

"He won't hurt his mate." A voice spoke from the darkness and out of the shadows Rouge made his presence known. "Lucy will be safe with Sting. I fear the disastrous results that would occur if she was away from his side any longer. With you here he can fight against his dragons instincts and we can get him lucid again."

Rouge looked exhausted, it was clear he was put in charge of keeping his partner in check. He went over to the council man and began quietly giving him a brief report on Sting's status.

Steeling herself Lucy took a deep breath and gently pushed aside Natsu's arm breaking his concentration.

"It's alright Natsu." She gave her best friend a determined look. Natsu fought against the will to stop her as she slowly approached Sting. He trusted her. He didn't trust Sting.

"Be careful Lucy." Erza warned as Grey watched on eyebrows knitted together with concern. Happy and Carla's fur stood on end involentarly.

Sting's focus was entirely on the blonde mage. His eyes filled with adoration as he studied her face, making Lucy blush self consciousnessly. Once she got close enough Sting yanked her towards himself and backed up against the wall, away from the group of people that watched his moves like a hawk. Erza held a tight grip to Natsu's shoulder before he could react in any way.

Sitting on the floor Sting hugged her tightly, taking in deep breaths as he inhaled her scent. His body trembled as he held her. She's finally here. Not wanting to let her go again he focused on listening to her rapidly beating heart.

"H-hey! There… Sting." Lucy felt incredibly awkward as he embraced her affectionly. She could feel her guild mates bore their eyes through her skull. Watching their every move. "How ya feeling?" She winced really? He's obviously not ok! And you ask "how ya feeling?"?!

"Why didn't you tell me you had left?" Sting's voice was raspy, his hurt tone only made her guilt weigh heavier. "When I went to see you again you weren't there. I thought… I thought the worst- I didn't know what happened to you. I was so worried. I didn't know if I'd see you again." Sting broke into a soft sob as he buried his face into Lucy's neck.

Shame flooded Lucy's face and she looked down at Sting's trembling body. He was clearly a skilled fighter… but right now he looked so incredibly vulnerable...She did this. Lucy wrapped her arms around Sting's shoulders and gave him a reassuring hug. This is her fault. Lucy didn't know a single thing about Sting… but it upset her to see how broken-hearted he was because of her. She was so selfish… she was only worried about her own feelings. She didn't even think about how Sting felt about all of this.

"I'm sorry… I." Lucy hesitated trying to form her sentences carefully. "I felt overwhelmed and wanted some time to think… about you a-and me.."

Erza frowned at the Celestial mage. She didn't like how Lucy blamed herself for Sting's condition. It wasn't her fault he was clingy.

"So I decided to go on a mission with my friends… and I'm so sorry." Lucy began to cry the stress and fears she's been keeping pent up for the past two weeks began to spill out of her.

Natsu clenched his jaw. It sounded like Lucy was sorry for spending time with her Nakama. Like she was apologizing for spending time with him. He could only glare at the rocky floor of the cave, he didn't want to see the two wizards sharing such an intimate looking moment.

The Council Mage turned to team Natsu as Rouge watched his partner carefully. Seeing him so…. weak was shocking. Rouge wasn't sure Sting even knew the meaning of the word.

"Before we were able to subdue Mr. Eucliffe the city was already in shambles. Luckily for magnolia Fairytail and some other nearby guilds were able to keep the citizens safe… however I can't say the same for the buildings." The council Mage spoke softly to the group as to not disturb the crying couple.

Wendy sighed in relief. Sounds like there were no casualties, surprising given the state of the town.

"That sounds like Fairytail." Grey sighed running a hand over his face.

"So what happens now?" Ezra asked softly, her face marred with concern.

"The Magic council will put Sting Eucliffe on trial, however considering his background and reputation…" the man adjusted his glasses "they may rule in favor of 'moment of insanity'. He'll most likely get a slap on the wrist."

"How can you say that?!" Carla asked puzzled. "He destroyed our town and ruined lots of homes! His actions are inexcusable."

"When sting went on a rampage, it was like he wasn't in control of himself anymore." Rouge answered calmly. "The first few days Sting was separated from Lucy he couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. He refused to go on missions and he'd wander around aimlessly. He was like a ghost."

Natsu quietly studied Rouge as he spoke. He was completely different from his partner in almost every way but somehow still carried that same arrogant aura. Maybe all Sabertooth members were like this. But… there was something about them… Natsu didn't know what it was, he didn't trust them.

"Finally against our Master's wishes, he came all the way to Fairytail to find Lucy again." Rouge's face soured at the memory. He was forced to travel all the way after the lovesick fool, like a measly babysitter.

"According to eyewitness reports Sting looked… off…" the Council man glanced at the chained up dragon slayer and celestial wizard. They were speaking quietly to each other. "When he found out Lucy had left

Fairytail to go on a mission he snapped. Took off to follow her but ended coming back to Fairytail once the trail got cold. The more days that past the more agitated he became. Nobody could reason with the fool."

"Maybe… Sting's dragon instincts were being provoked due to Lucy's absence." Wendy offered.

"That would make sense." Rouge thought for a moment. "once he got to a certain point, Sting was constantly walking around in his Dragon force mode."

"Dragon force?" Natsu's face darkened. "I've been able to enter dragon force myself but not willingly. So you're saying Sting was just walking around like that?"

"This is more serious than we thought." Grey scowled. "So what should we do now? Weekly visits or something?"

"I don't think you understand just what it means to be a dragon's mate." Rouge crossed his arms bitterly. "We're talking about them living together as soon as physically possible. For both their sakes as well as the sake of innocent bystanders."

"You're forgetting one thing mr doom and gloom" Natsu growled at Rouge, trying hard to keep his voice down. "We're humans, we ain't animals and we sure as hell ain't dragons."

Rouge stared back at Natsu evenly, his face masked and emotionless.

Lucy was stoking Sting's hair as he rested his head on her lap. All of the exhaustion finally caught up to him and he had fallen asleep. Sting still hugged her torso tightly, as though he was afraid Lucy would disappear if he let her go.

Her bottom lip felt sore as she continued to bite it worriedly. She couldn't quite make out what her friends and the two men were talking about but they looked grave or solem. She made eye contact with the council mage who took note of Sting's sleeping form.

Quietly he walked over to Lucy and kneeled down infront of her. He opened a punch that rested on his hip and pulled out a syringe.

"Don't worry about this, it's just to ensure that he stays asleep a little while longer." The man injected the sternum into the sleeping dragon slayer. "Come on- we need to head to the council, your Masters are already there waiting to discuss the situation."