Thank you all who informed me that CAF was being posted on theangryninja's account on Wattpad! It has since been removed :D It does get to me a little when I learn someone has stolen my work(s). Kinda makes me wanna stop posting and take down my accounts. But I'm too stubborn for that :P


Chapter 36

Natsu is currently walking down the hallway, the door to Lucy's apartment in sight. There is a certain skip in his step since he is eager to his Luce again after the last time they saw each other in person. He knows why she did what she did, but he knows that are better together.

Gemi and Mini are trailing behind him since they are still keeping tabs on him.

Not bothering to knock, Natsu opens up the door and strolls inside. "Lu–" He stops talking when he spots Capricorn alone in the family room.

Capricorn seems highly surprised to see Natsu, not so much Gemi and Mini. "What are you doing here?" he inquires, lowering his cell phone to simply hold it at his right side.

Natsu grins. "I'm meeting Luce!"

"What? Why?"

"Luce had called me when she was at the park. We made up."

"They're back together!" Gemi and Mini cheer in unison. They had seen Natsu in a curled-up-on-his-bed-and-not-moving state. He only acted different when Lucy's ringtone had started going off. He would have answered it sooner if he did not accidently drop his phone onto the floor in his scramble to answer the call.

"Aquarius and Scorpio did mention that she was on the phone," Capricorn comments. "It must have been with you."

"Yep! So where is she?" An idea comes to Natsu. "Oh, maybe she's in the shower–"

"People are attempting to figure out Miss Lucy's location as we speak," Capricorn interrupts, not meaning to be rude.

Natsu blinks. "Huh?"

"Did something happen–" Gemi starts.

"To Miss Lucy?" Mini finishes.

Capricorn looks at Natsu as he speaks. "Miss Lucy wanted to go jogging, but wanted to go alone. I had Aquarius and Scorpio secretly follow to ensure her safety. They said that when Miss Lucy finished running, she made a phone call. Paparazzi somehow found her, and we believe they were informed of her whereabouts."

Natsu does not like where this story is going.

"In attempts to allow Miss Lucy to escape, Aquarius and Scorpio held off the paparazzi. A white, four-door car had been parked and ready nearby. The driver was waiting and flagged her down. For an unknown reason, Miss Lucy willing got inside."

"Does anyone know–" Mini starts.

"Who the driver is?" Gemi finishes.

"The photos the paparazzi took had filled in what Aquarius and Scorpio did not see happen," Capricorn responds. "We have since identified the kidnapper as Daphne. She and Jude were supposed to have a business partnership together, but he turned her down. He believed that she would not make it in the long wrong after he thought things over."

Natsu is trying to find the sliver of silver lining in this situation. "So we know about the kidnapper. Great. Do we know where they are now?"

"Not at the moment," Capricorn replies.

"Can't you, like, use Luce's phone to track her down?" Natsu asks, the desperation easily heard in his voice.

Capricorn shakes his head. "The signal is being blocked. We have no means of tracking Miss Lucy and Daphne down as of now."

No. Natsu is the one who had an X drawn over him in a photo. Not Lucy. This cannot be happening to her. She cannot be missing.

Are the apartment walls closing in on him? Does the room feel hotter?

Natsu jumps a little when Capricorn places a hand on his shoulder. He did not even notice Capricorn walk towards him.

"That does not mean that we will not find them." Capricorn offers a little smile of assurance. "Miss Lucy will come home."

x-X-x (POV change) x-X-x

When Lucy comes to, she feels all fuzzy and heavy. She is trying to remember why she feels like this when she recalls what had happened. She bolts upright into a sitting position and looks around. Her eyes grow wide as she takes in her surroundings.

The square white room is small and compact with not much too it. Three of the walls are normal while the remaining one has a giant glass window and a solid metal door. Lucy is sitting on some giant pillow that might as well be a large dog bed. The only other object in the room is a bucket in the opposite corner from her. She can only guess the purpose of that…

Lucy feels like some animal at an exhibit. She is on display for whoever looks through the glass.

Finding her land legs, Lucy stumbles towards the door and tries the handle only to find it is locked. She pounds a fist against is in frustration.

Over speakers, Daphne's voice sounds from all around the room. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!"

Morning? Is it really morning? Has Lucy been out for that long?

"Did you really think that I would leave the door unlocked for you?" Daphne chuckles.

Lucy merely steps back and looks around in attempts to locate Daphne. She stops as she watches Daphne approaches her from the other side of the glass.

"Aww, am I getting the silent treatment?" Daphne inquires.

Lucy only glares.

"Don't give me that look!" She gasps at an idea. "Oh, I know what will cheer you up! Yes, I do! It's time for story time on why things are the way they are now!"

Lucy mentally groans. It is time for the bad guy's monologue…

"I happened to have an injury and was at the hospital for treatment. There was a pink-haired guy there, and he being loud and demanding to know about his girlfriend named Lucy. I tried ignoring him the best that I could. Then, low and behold, there was a blonde girl with Capricorn. Now, I know Capricorn because of Jude, and the fact the two are normally around each other. So it wasn't hard to figure out who that Lucy was.

"It's known that Jude has a daughter named Lucy, but she hasn't been in the public eye for years. Around the time of her mother's death in fact. Speaking of Layla, you look just like her. There's no denying that. Anyways, slight plot twist, Jude's daughter has been very public. She's just been using a different name…"

So it had been easy enough for Daphne to piece together that Lucy Heartfilia and Ashley are the same person. She found the connection, and then made is public for everyone to know.

"The moment I saw you in the hospital was when I hatched my plan. I knew the pictures would get to you. It had been a crack in your privacy. It was moments you shared with people that you believed nobody was paying attention to."

"So why target Natsu?" Lucy demands, speaking for the first time.

"All of the pictures with and of him were just to mess with you. Especially the one with that red X over him. Of course, people believed that he was more of a target than you. You did, too! And to even sweeten the deal, I paid a guy to scare your boyfriend. Although, he had a little too much fun with that knife of his. But I did all of that to cause some disturbance and weaken your state of being!" A malicious grin spreads across Daphne's face. "The target the entire time has been"-she points a finger directly at Lucy-"you! Miss Lucy Heartfilia!"

It had been a trick. Lucy had been worrying about Natsu for nothing. She should have worried about herself more. "You kidnapped me. Good for you. So what now?"

Daphne wags a finger. "I doubt that anybody will find us. This is my lab and it's a secret one." She crosses his arms under her chest, looking smug and pleased with herself. "You don't even know where we are!"

Lucy will not give in and give her the satisfaction she wants. So she changes the topic. "Did you tip off the paparazzi about me being at the park?"

"Bingo! They caused the distraction I needed. And you trusted me since I mentioned Capricorn's name. It all worked out perfectly! Even better than I calculated actually!"

"So it's safe to say that you were the unknown person who discovered my identity."

"Exposing Ashley as Lucy Heartfilia only jacked up your price!"

Lucy feels left out of the loop. "Price? What price?"

"Oh, I haven't even told you why I kidnapped you in the first place! I should have given that back story first I suppose."

Lucy is already tired of all the talking Daphne has been doing. She will rather hear silence than listen to her blab.

"I need money for research and creating my inventions. Jude was supposed to loan me money after doing business with me. On the day the deal was supposed to go down, he said that he didn't want to partner with me anymore. He didn't even say why! I vowed to make him pay and I'm going to do just that!"

"I doubt that my father with pay a ransom for me–"

Interrupting Lucy, Daphne starts laughing. "Who said anything about ransoming you to him?"

Dread washes over Lucy.

Daphne's eyes are practically sparkling. "I already have other buyers lined up for you! The highest one gets the blonde prize!"


A/N: Yay for bad guy monologue and dialogue! So that's how things are pieced together!


AshnMarley: She's been fun to write so far :D But now you know some pieces to the puzzle that's been happening to Lucy! And thank you about Elvina! Things are coming along, but I still hafta finish writing certain chapters…

Tigergirlarrow: Which is why I ended up with Daphne! Peeps were guessing dark guilds or like Jose!

Fairy Tail Lover: Aww, thank you so very much :D It's been fun to use Daphne so far, rather than a dark guild or Jose like I have in the past :P

Clue132: Omg, a writing senpai! I'm honored :D Ink and Icing will be the next FT work that I post! :D

Anon: Aquarius and Scorpio were busy with the paps and couldn't get to Lucy in time though. Valid reason :P But Nanny Capricorn and Nanny Natsu are on the case! Haha, at least you learned your lesson XD #teamprotectlucy2k16

Deedee: AWW, THANK YOU SO MUCH :D

LovelyLady: Hate is a strong word :P

Bigfan: I must say, not a fun review to wake up to :P But thank you for informing me about that! I do have a Wattpad account, but I need to cross post my past/completed/longer works on there…

Bella rose: Not a fun review to wake up to :P But thank you for informing me about that! I do have a Wattpad account, but I need to cross post my past/completed/longer works on there…

Guest: Aww, thank you so very much! That makes me happy that you think that of my work! More to come for CAF for sure :D