"Whoever's making that noise, could you shut the fuck up. I'm trying to sleep." A small rustling sounded and a dipping in the mattress indicated that someone was slipping under his bed covers.

Feeling a bubble of rage growing inside him, Cobra leapt from his sleeping position and pounced on whoever dared to crawl into his bed. The only people in the room with him were three guys so whoever was stupid enough to get into his bed would be getting a smack.

"You wouldn't sneak into a Pythons nest so why is it okay to sneak into my-"

His voice cut off as he looked down at his prey. Blonde hair, twinkling brown eyes. Killer smile.

"Lucy?"

A soft giggle left her lips as she lifted her hand to caress his scarred cheek. "Hey trouble, did you miss me?"

His heart pounded painfully in his chest after not seeing her beautiful face for such a long time. "H-how are you here? I thought-" Pressing her finger against his lips to silence him, she lifted her head upwards and pressed her lips against his. "You need to save me. Wake up."

His body arched up from his bed and collided with something solid. Cobra fell back against his pillow, groaning in pain at the impact. Another person was moaning also, clearly Cobra's skull was a lot more solid than theirs.

'It was just a dream, it felt so real.'

He could feel the warmth of her lips on his, he could smell her delectable scent. He missed her so much, it was sending him crazy. Looking at Natsu, who had clearly been leaning over him while he was asleep, he rolled his one good eye and growled at the pink haired dragon slayer.

"What the fuck were you doing on my bed peeking at me? Ever hear of personal space? Fucking weirdo."

'Being with this imbecile isn't helping my mental health either.'

"You were making weird noises, I was just checking that you were okay." Natsu held his hand against his red forehead, it was already turning into a bruise from the solid headbutt Cobra had landed on him.

'Serves him right.'

Looking at the clock hanging on the wall, Cobra sprung into action and leapt off the bed. They were late for meeting Kinana. 'Shit we need to go.'

"Why didn't you wake me? We're so fucking late." As he yanked on his boots, Cobra noted the absence of Laxus and Gajeel. Their beds were empty and their belongings gone. The fire dragon slayer scratched his head, looking extremely guilty.

"They thought it would be best if they went to go and meet Kinana instead of all of us going together. Gajeel thought they would stick out more if all four of us went. I tried to argue it but they left before I could get a word in. So I tried to wake you up and then all of that happened." He shrugged his shoulders and let out a short laugh.

"It's been a pretty bad morning so far, I hope it's going better for them."

"They left without us? Are you shitting me? They don't know what to expect when they go to the meeting point. Those idiots. C'mon we need to go, now."

Grabbing his lacrima, Cobra sent a pulse of magic into it and prayed that Kinana answered and that she and the two idiots were okay. What he saw on the crystal was even better though.

"Erik, is that you?"

'Am I dreaming again, this is just cruel.'

"Lucy this has to be a dream, this is Kinana's lacrima and you're being held captive by my old guild. Please wake me up again." She frowned deeply through the screen and scoffed. "Is that all you have to say? No how are you Lucy, I miss you Lucy. You know what, screw you Erik, screw you."

'That is definitely something my Lucy would say and not a dream version of her.'

"Is it really you?" He said, almost scared of the answer.

"Yes yes it's me. Look I'm still being held captive but Kinana got this lacrima thrown through my window last night, almost taking my head off when it came flying through the glass but still. She recorded a message on it that said for me to wait for you to call, this isn't my lacrima so obviously it won't let me use it."

"I'm so glad you're safe. Have they hurt you? Have you hurt them? Please say you've hurt them." Lucy's eyebrow raised up and she grinned widely. "I may have given a few kicks here and there. Anyway, just listen. The reason they've kidnapped me is because they need me to power up this old machine that they want to use to gatecrash Crocus. I don't know all the details but from what I have managed to find out, it sounds like real bad news."

Cobra racked his brain for what machine they could be wanting to use. He came up with nothing, it wasn't something the Oracion Seis knew about when he was still a member of the guild.

"Stop trying to figure out what it is because you won't be able to. Midnight said that he bought the information off someone. You guys need to get here soon though, I don't need to consent to giving my celestial power to the machine." Cobra's face drained of all color as he listened to what the love of his life was saying.

"It will steal my life force along with my magic. I hate to say this Erik but you need to come save me. I need you."

"Where are you now?" Is all he could muster out. He would run to wherever they were keeping her if he had to, losing Lucy was not an option. It never was.

"I can hear someone coming. They've moved me again so I'm not sure this time. I think I'm near Crocus from some of the landmarks I saw but it's way on the outskirts. We're in an abandoned factory." Her face looked away from the lacrima screen to glance at something in the room she was being kept in.

Now that she had exposed the side of her face, Cobra could clearly see a large blue bruise covering the entirety of her left cheek.

"Lucy who did that to your face? Was it him?" She didn't look back at the screen but dropped the lacrima between her legs, making the screen go black. He would've thought it had been disconnected but he could still feel the magic energy pulsing through the crystal and his sensitive hearing could pick up on Lucy's heavy breathing.

Cobra glanced sideways at Natsu who had surprisingly kept quiet for the entirety of the call, he was pressing his lips firmly together as he tried his best to keep quiet.

'At least he has some brains and knows when to keep his big mouth shut.'

Focusing his ears on the sounds coming from the lacrima, Cobra could hear the chambers of a lock being turned and a door handle being used. What he heard next, made his blood boil.

"Hello my beautiful princess. How did you sleep after our little talk? Are you going to play nice now or do you need another bout of spanking to teach you some manners?"

Cobra expected a snarky reply from his girlfriend but she sounded beaten down and obedient. "I'll be good."

'What the hell has he done to her? She sounds broken.'

It angered him to hear Lucy so placid. But no matter the anger he felt, he needed to keep quiet. Lucy knew that Midnight was a loud mouth and if she kept Cobra on the line, he might reveal some important information as to where they were or what his plans were. There was nothing more Midnight liked to do than boast.

"Good, this pleases me. You and little angel needn't try to pull a little stunt like that again. You don't want to end up like her do you? It's because of you that I had to pluck her of her wings and leave her to the vultures." Cobra could hear Lucy let out a short growl at his words and smiled. She was still somewhat there.

'Had Angel tried to help Lucy and got punished for it?'

Cobra couldn't imagine her doing such a thing, she was a cold hearted bitch that thought of nothing but herself. There was no way she would do something so unselfish with no gain.

"We'll be leaving in the morning sweetheart, try and get some sleep. You'll need all of your energy for tomorrow when we awaken Echion." As Midnight's steps withdrew and disappeared out of the room. Cobra's heart sunk down to the floor.

Echion. That was bad news.

"Hey, I love you idiot. I will see you again. Bye." Lucy's hushed voice calmed him down as he felt the lacrima disconnect. He needed to stay calm and he needed to get to her now.

"I'll call Laxus and Gajeel, let them know that we've spoken to Lucy and see if they got anymore information off Kinana." Natsu shocked Cobra with his level headedness, he wasn't as much of an idiot as he seemed. When it came down to it, he could think logically and make decisions. It was a relief to have him act like this rather than his usual self.

When it came down to Lucy, it seemed like nobody liked to piss around. The look on Natsu's face told him that this wasn't a game to him and rescuing Lucy was all that was running through his mind.

"Right, I'll go pay the person downstairs for the room and get us a carriage." Natsu's face turned a sickly color at the mention of being on a mode of transportation. "Pull it together you idiot, call them, now."

'That was too close. If Midnight's hand had gone any further down my thigh he would've felt the lacrima. He's so disgusting.'

His touch made her feel sick but he had gotten her down to the point of exhaustion. She hadn't eaten in days and the amount of beatings she had been subjected to was beyond count. Without her celestial keys, she was useless.

Her physical strength was now all but gone. She could only fight so much. Kinana had given her a lifeline by getting someone to throw her lacrima though the window of the house Lucy was being kept in.

Kinana did the only thing she could do, which was give her the means of getting in to contact with Cobra. Risking her life to try and save her was pointless, that would have only resulted in Kinana getting injured or worse.

What had shocked Lucy the most though was her visit from one of the members of the Oracion Seis late last night. Angel had snuck into her room, covered in nasty injuries caused by Midnight. Her fellow celestial mage had offered her assistance.

"I can't watch this happen to you, I don't want this on my conscience." She had flicked her pale hair over her shoulder and examined her nails. "Besides I owe Cobra a favor. Get out of here." Lucy had almost made it off the compound but Midnight and Racer got to her before she could. That resulted in Angel and her getting the living shit beaten out of them and the change in location. She hadn't seen the female member of the Oracion Seis since.

Lucy had regained consciousness halfway through the journey but still feigned sleep. She kept peeking through half lidded eyes to try and absorb any and all memorable landmarks that she could see for when Cobra rang her, which she had faith that he would. The lacrima was safely tucked inside the waistband of her trousers that she was wearing all the way until she had been chucked into her new room.

Now, after that conversation with Cobra, she felt so much better about everything and ready to face whatever they wanted to throw at her. She was ready.

"Psst, Lucy. We're here to rescue you." Lucy whipped her head around but saw nothing but darkness. 'That sounded like Gajeel.'

Lying down on her bed, she settled on the fact that sleep deprivation was making her go crazy and make her hear people's voices.

"Oi Bunny this is no time to be napping, get over here so we can get the fuck out of here."