Hi everyone! It's so nice to see a not of familiar names finding this story once again! While it does make me sad to know that some of you spent a long time scouring the site to find this story after it was deleted, it does make me feel a little happy that so many people liked it enough to look for it again. I am sorry I made you all wait so long, but I just wanted it to be the best it possibly could before I posted it on the site again.

This chapter was beta-read by the awesome YungVodkaDikost. Check out her work! It's awesome! :D

WARNING: Rated M for Explicit Graphic Depictions of Violence, Graphic Depiction of Rape/Non-Consensual Sex, Graphic Sex, Graphic Physical and Mental Abuse, and Mental Instability. Please read at your own discretion.

I do not own Fairy Tail; All major characters depicted in this fan created fiction story belong to Hiro Mashima.

CHAPTER 3

The wooden floorboards crackled and groaned as he paced through the guild leaving a trail of fire in his wake. Smoke began to billow while the flames started to rise in the crowded guild hall for the third time that day. The raven haired ice make mage slammed his hands down on the bar while he pushed himself out of his seat to fling himself at the irate Fire Dragon Slayer, effectively tackling him to the ground while Juvia quickly doused the flaming wood floor with her water magic.

"Would you stop tryin' to burn down the guild, you walking fire hazard!?" The ice make mage groaned while he forced himself up from the drenched floor, water dripped from his hair and down his now bare chest.

Huh, when did he take off his shirt?

Gray ignored the water mage's squeals of joy as he picked up his discarded clothing and started to dry his torso. He was starting to get real tired of playing the guild's firefighter today.

The ice make mage definitely wouldn't be lying if he said he was ready for their celestial maiden to come back from her missions. Natsu had been getting on everyone's last damn nerve for the past three days while waiting for her to return home.

Honestly, everyone was worried she wouldn't even have a guild to come back to if she makes the fire breather wait any longer. Natsu was already on the verge of spontaneously combusting and reducing the whole guild to a pile ash the longer he was forced to sit and wait.

"Lucy should have been back by now, I knew it was a stupid idea to let her go by herself, she's my partner and I should be with her!" Natsu whined as he sat cross-legged on the floor and huffed out a stream of smoke from his nose. Gray grit his teeth as he balled his hand into a fist, ready to punch the fire out of the flaming idiot, but an armor-clad hand beat him to it.

Erza pulled Natsu from the ground then sent a punch straight to his gut which succeeded in knocking him out cold. Gray snickered as he watched the redhead drag the slayer to a nearby table and deposit his unconscious body in an empty chair before turning back to Gray with a frown.

"I agree that it's a bit off that Lucy hasn't made it back yet. She should have returned sometime yesterday." Erza's concern was laced within her voice. At the time, the scarlet haired beauty had thought it was a wonderful idea when Lucy brought up going on a couple of easy solo missions so she could pay her rent a few months in advance. She supported her decision and made sure to keep Natsu in line when he kept trying to sneak off to follow her.

The requip user also knew that taking a solo mission would be a great way for Lucy to get some time to herself and out of her room for a change. After all, she was a strong mage and there wasn't a reason not to let her go.

However, Erza was starting to regret not sending Lucy off with at least a mini communication lacrima just in case she did happen to run into trouble. The redhead had figured since the request location wasn't that far from Magnolia, the blonde would be back within two days at most. She had started to worry when the day Lucy was supposed to return had come and passed with no sign of the blonde in sight. Then Erza's worry intensified as every hour passed during day three and Lucy didn't walk through the guild's double doors.

Gray put his hand on Erza's shoulder, bringing her back to reality and away from her distressed thoughts. Though the ice wielder didn't show it the same way, he was just as concerned about Lucy not returning home as the rest of Team Natsu.

The blonde had nestled her way into his heart and claimed a tiny spot just for herself, making Gray think of the celestial mage as a younger sibling. He knew Lucy was perfectly capable of handling herself, as long as she had her spirits by her side. Plus, he trusted Loke to protect her as well.

However, Gray couldn't help the nagging thought that something was very, very wrong. Lucy's behavior had been distant and unsettling the past few weeks leading up until her departure, putting the guild on edge even more so about her delayed return.

Contrary to what Lucy may have thought, Fairy Tail was not as oblivious to her changing personality as she believed. In fact, Erza and Gray were one of the firsts to point out her odd behavior to Master Makarov after they had returned to Magnolia. The guild master had made a point to mention to everyone in the guild that Lucy had experienced a traumatic life-changing event.

Not everyone witnesses themselves die right in front of their very eyes, and that memory will be with their blonde nakama looming over her shoulder for the rest of her life. Master Makarov believed Lucy just needed time to heal and come to terms with her emotional trauma in her own way. If she wanted to tell them what was wrong, she would do so on her own terms.

Even though the master told everyone that the blonde was going through a difficult time in her life, a certain dragon slayer refused to believe that Lucy was anything other than her usual weirdo self. Of course, that's what he thought, until he got a glimpse of Lucy during one of her nightmare induced anxiety attacks.

Natsu had taken it upon himself to sneak into Lucy's apartment one night after they had got back from Crocus. Instead of one of her usual rants about coming into her apartment without permission, she had begun to completely freak out.

It was on that night, the fire dragon slayer really understood just how much emotional damage had been done to his best friend.

The fire mage climbed through the unlocked window of Lucy's apartment just like he used to before they left for the Grand Magic Games. As soon as his feet hit the wood floor Natsu could hear the chaotic rhythm of Lucy's heart beating against her ribcage and could smell the tangy scent of salt in the air.

Was Lucy crying in her sleep? Was she having a bad dream?

Natsu walked the short distance from the window to her bed then kneeled to look at her face. His heart dropped as he noticed the tears slipping past her closed eyes. He watched as the liquid trailed down her cheek to sink into the fabric of her pillow she was resting her head on.

The male reached out to grab her shoulder, determined to wake her up, but as soon as the tips of his fingers brushed her bare flesh of her shoulder, she immediately jumped from the bed and let out a blood-curdling scream.

Lucy's wide eyes, puffy and red from crying, roamed every part of her room before landing on Natsu's still form. His mind went blank as he lost the will to form words; the look of sheer terror had anything he was going to say catch in his throat before they could even leave his mouth. He watched her slowly move backwards until her back was flush against the adjacent wall.

The blonde reached out and fumbled around the top of her desk and grabbed her whip unraveling it with a thump as the tip hit the floor. She was about to lash out at the bewildered fire mage when a bright flash of light indicated one of her spirits had opened a gate on their own.

Natsu watched on in shock and confusion as Loke grabbed Lucy's wrist to keep her from using her whip. She screeched and fought against his hold when he picked her up and moved to sit on the bed, cradling her now sobbing form.

"Shhhhh, Lucy it was just a nightmare, you are safe. No one is trying to hurt you- Natsu for fucks sake, turn on a damn light!" The spirit yelled as he tried to calm the frightened and struggling girl.

The salmon haired male snapped out of his daze then wasted no time as he fumbled to the wall and flipped on the switch. Light immediately flooded the small bedroom causing Lucy blinked back tears. The light stung her sensitive eyes as they tried to adjust to the unwelcome brightness.

Natsu took notice of how her heart beat started to calm, slowly return to its normal rate. What the hell just happened? He had never had Luce react that way to his presence before, If Loke didn't intervene, she would have actually lashed out at him with her whip. Natsu looked from the zodiac leader to the stellar mage's shaking body. She coward into his chest as he rocked her back and forth while stroking her hair in an attempt to sooth her.

"I'm sorry, Luce. I didn't mean to scare ya." Natsu rubbed the back of his neck while he tried to make sense out of what was going on around him. He couldn't help but take in the state of her apartment.

Her clothes, which were usually hanging in her closet or neatly folded in her dresser, were scattered haphazardly across the bedroom floor. Used dishes remained on the kitchen table, counter, and nightstand instead of being washed and put back in their rightful place.

The once tidy and pristine desk that held some of Lucy's most precious treasures was littered with an array of used tissues and loose paper. The fire dragon slayer had never seen her apartment look so messy, if it wasn't for the obvious fact that a woman lived here, Natsu could have mistaken it for his and Happy's own home.

That last thought sent a shiver of disgust down his spine; Yeah, something is definitely wrong with Lucy. Natsu looked back to the bed as he finished scrutinizing everything that was off in the small bedroom.

Natsu couldn't recall ever seeing Lucy look so broken in all the time that he had known her. He felt a sharp pain in his chest as he watched the blonde cling to Loke in desperation as if she was afraid to let go, then he would vanish back into the spirit realm. That dream must have gotten to her pretty bad, Natsu guessed.

"Natsu, can you please leave? I have to make sure my princess gets back to bed, and it could take a while." Loke gave him a pointed look before mouthing 'I'll explain later.' Natsu only nodded and gave his best friend one last look before jumping out of the still open window.

Loke had appeared out of his celestial gate the very next day and pinned Natsu against one of the guild hall pillars in front of everyone, threatening the pinkette that if he ever startled his princess out of one of her nightmares like that ever again he wouldn't stop her from using her whip like he did last night.

When the slayer promised that he wouldn't ever do that again the spirit released him from his hold. He straightened his glasses then explained how Lucy had been having horrible nightmares that were starting to do damage not only emotionally, but physically. The guild listened intently as the lion zodiac carried on, letting the guild know just how severe her trauma was.

Since that night, Natsu had been welcomed into the cruel reality that his best friend was in a state of depression. His mind was opened to the severity of exactly what witnessing her own death did to Lucy.

The fire dragon slayer had been there when Future Rogue was fully intent on killing the present Lucy to keep her from shutting the Eclipse Gate. He had witnessed the blonde's future counterpart jump in front of the future shadow dragon slayer's attack just in time to take the fatal hit for herself, something that shocked everyone that was in the vicinity.

He had an uncomfortable feeling of dread wash over him as he recalled his reaction to future Lucy's death. He couldn't even begin to imagine the sea of emotion his best friend went through as she held her future self's bleeding body during her final moments alive.

No, not Natsu or anyone else in the guild could imagine what it felt like to watch the light slowly dim from in your very own eyes as they slipped from the world of the living. So, it was with that thought in mind that everyone decided to tread lightly on the subject of the Eclipse incident from a few weeks ago while still doing their best to be there and support Lucy without letting on that they knew exactly what was wrong with her.

"Alright brats, listen up! If Lucy does not return in the next day, I will be sending the rest of team Natsu to search for her, but until then, we will have faith that our nakama is safe and just taking her time to recover!" Makarov jumped up on to the bar while addressing his concerned children. He raised a glass in the air as he spoke.

"Fairy Tail will always have faith and trust in theirnakama."

Sun spilled through the slits of the closed blinds of the infirmary windows, waking Yukino from her not so deep sleep. When Rufus had declared the blonde to be in stable condition after checking her over once more, everyone had decided to retreat to their own rooms for the night.

The silver haired mage, however, had decided to spend the night in the infirmary just in case. She was worried their blonde guest might wake up in an unfamiliar place with no one around to help if she needed help going to the bathroom or needed a drink of water. Not only would she be waking up in a different place, she would have a lot of questions for them, as much as they had questions for her.

Rogue had mentioned that he came across the bandits already beaten in a field that looked like it had been destroyed by an invisible force. Even though the silverette didn't say anything about it out loud, she had been wondering if Lucy was the one to take out the entire group of bandits. Something that would be an amazing accomplishment since the mission Rogue took was classified as an S-class request.

Of course, there was a lot of information missing out of the story than just the vague details the shadow dragon slayer gave and the assumptions Yukino had. But still, she couldn't help the itch to learn the truth about what had happened to the bandits and to Lucy.

The silver haired maiden groaned as she felt the familiar pop of her back when she sat up on the infirmary mattress. She stretched her stiff muscles while she kicked her legs off the side of the bed. Though it wasn't terrible, the bed was way too soft for her liking.

She stood letting herself twist around to relieve the tension in her body from the night of rest. Yawning, the silver haired woman shuffled to the infirmary's door leading into the hallway, but stopped right before she went to grab the handle when she heard whispers on the other side of the door. She leaned a little closer trying to decipher who was talking but nearly jumped out of her own skin when she heard someone speak up from behind her.

"It's just Sting and Rufus trying to decide whether or not they should wait until the fairy wakes up to contact Fairy Tail." The ebony haired male said as he emerged from the dark shadow that evaded the sunlight that had been spilling from the windows.

An eyebrow twitched in amusement on the shadow mage's otherwise impassive face as he watched his silver haired guildmate jump. He would never get tired of scaring her. It was way too easy, and it helped to elevate his somewhat agitated mood.

"Rogue! I swear you want to give me a heart attack, why do you always have to sneak up on me like that!?" Yukino struggled to keep her voice down as she gave the shadow dragon slayer a disapproving glare. Even though they had got to know each other a little better since the Grand Magic Games, the silver haired woman still had a hard time deciphering Rogue's personality. He was usually very calm and collected and was never one to jump the gun while on a mission.

Yes, the red-eyed man was definitely an enigma to her, though she was starting to think he really did find it amusing how startled she gets when he sneaks up on her.

The dragon slayer shrugged at Yukino nonchalantly disregarding her reprimand of his reclusive ways. She puffed her cheeks out while she turned her nose up at him before he made his way over to the sleeping occupant of the room. Rogue looked over the blonde's broken form, taking in what a remarkable job their own celestial mage did at cleaning her despite having to be gentle not to jostle her around too much.

It's really quite amazing what a clean washcloth and new clothes could do to a person.

Rogue bent down to scrutinize the blondes' bruised face that was adorned with various small cuts and scrapes. Even with her unique aroma diluted by the alcohol, antiseptics and old blood, it was still compelling him to her, and that irked him in a wrong way.

He didn't have the slightest clue of who she was, except she was Fairy Tail's Celestial mage and Natsu's partner. So why did her scent give him a sense of calm and familiarity that he had never felt before? He didn't get this type of familiarity from her when they had met at the Grand Magic Games, so why now?

Rogue had never had a desire to get close to people. It's just by pure chance that he was able to meet Sting, Lector, and Frosch. Though he didn't mind being around people, he didn't necessarily like being attached to too many people.

Though just because he didn't like being close in an emotional way, didn't mean that he was by any means heartless. When he had felt the pull of her scent lead him down that abandoned pathway, he had been perplexed on exactly who this blonde was. He had thought her scent was just familiar and he had remembered it from the past, he was so caught up in keeping her alive, that he didn't notice that her aroma was creating a pulling effect.

A very, very annoying pulling effect.

So, who exactly was this dirty beat up fairy? And how did she end up on the same pathway just fifteen minutes away from the destroyed field with the beaten criminals? Surely, she couldn't be the one that had taken out the entirety of the bandits?

Thinking back to the Grand Magic Games the shadow dragon slayer vaguely remembered how the blonde fairy had lost her first battle, then in her second match Minerva had beat her to the severity of putting her in the GMG infirmary. So, no, Rogue didn't believe that Lucy was the one to take out the bandits that were considered as an S-class mission.

There was just no way.

Rogue straightened himself and turned away from the sleeping fairy when he heard the soft clicks of a doorknob being turned. The infirmary door swung open to reveal both a bewildered Rufus and a jubilant Sting.

The memory make mage gave Rogue a perplexed sideways glance through his mask as he noticed the proximity between he and his patient while Sting continued to talk in as much of a whisper as he possibly could- which of course wasn't a whisper at all.

"Okay, so we have decided to wait until Blondie here wakes up to contact Fairy Tail, That way we can get some more information from her before we have a guild full of worried Fairies destroying the place." Sting cringed as he said the last part; yeah it would not be good to have the chaotic Fairy Tail mages rampaging through their guild. Rogue only gave an affirmative nod before watching Yukino walk into the hallway to excuse herself to take a shower.

The shadow mage moved further away from the bed when Rufus began to check over the sleeping woman's vitals and her injuries to make sure nothing had changed over the course of the night. Rogue was just about to make his escape back into the shadows to find Frosch when Sting stopped him by giving him a rough pat him on the back.

"So, whatcha' doin' in here, first thing in the morning? We missed ya' for breakfast. Who would have thought you were just visiting our little fairy guest?" The white dragon slayer grinned as he slung his arm over Rogue's shoulder. The ebony haired slayer quickly dislodged Sting's arm before giving him a low growl.

He was seriously not in the mood today for Sting's playful accusations.

"Nothing. I'm going to go find Frosch." Rogue threw up his hand in a lazy dismissal as both Sting and Rufus watched with mild amusement as the darker haired slayer made his exit out of the infirmary.

Rogue sighed in relief when he felt he was far enough away from Rufus and Sting's questioning eyes. He honestly didn't know why he skipped breakfast and went straight to the infirmary to check on the fairy, his actions even baffled his own self-, so he couldn't answer Sting's question.

Rogue glanced back at the door to the infirmary, the same room where all their questions waited to be answered in the form of an unconscious blonde woman.

Why did Rogue have a very strong feeling that things around Sabertooth were going to get a bit more interesting than usual?