I have no excuses for this fic - it's just pure wish fulfillment on my part. In my defense, who wouldn't like to be carried in a strong female mechanic's arms? I am only human.
"I can't believe I overslept!" Lucy panted, her feet pounding the cobblestones as she sprinted through the streets of Crocus. "I'm gonna miss my train!" Thankfully it was early enough that most of the residents were still at home in their warm beds, and the rest of the visiting guilds weren't in as big of a rush to vacate the city as Lucy was. Or maybe they had just all managed to awaken in time and weren't running pell-mell in the semi-dark down dew-slickened cobblestone roads.
Which proved to be slicker than she had initially assumed, her foot suddenly sliding out from under her. A screech erupted from her lips as she crashed to the ground, landing strangely on her arm. It throbbed where her shoulder hit the cobblestone, and her ankle burned. Fantastic. Even if it was nothing serious, there was no way Lucy was going to be able to make her train after all. Not at the pace her new injuries would force her to adopt.
Using her good arm, Lucy pushed herself into a sitting position. She sighed as she saw the state of her clothes. The road wasn't exactly clean by any means, and the morning dew had turned the grime into mud. Hopefully it was early enough that no one had witnessed the spectacle she'd made of herself.
Well, sitting in the middle of the street wasn't going to get her anywhere fast. With a groan, Lucy gathered her legs under her and made the attempt to stand. Another yelp burst from her lips as pain shot up her leg and she fell back to the ground. Her vision clouded up with bright flashes of light, she furiously blinked back rising tears. "It's not that bad," Lucy wheezed under breath. "One more try." Once again she tried to stand up, only for the pain to rush upwards once more. This time she was ready for it, though, and although a whimper did escape her throat, she managed to stand up. "There. I've had worse."
Determined to make it the train station - maybe she could exchange her ticket for a later one - Lucy hobbled a few steps forward. Greatly favoring her leg, she made it about ten paces from where she initially fell before she called the endeavor quits. Lucy wasn't sure if it was because the injury was worse than she thought, or if she was just used to Wendy healing her all the time, but holy stars above did it hurt. And a headache was starting to bloom in her skull, probably from gritting her teeth too hard and too long. Spotting a bench, Lucy eked out a few more steps from her injured leg before collapsing onto it.
Lucy panted heavily, feeling more cold water seeping into her behind from the wet bench. Wasn't it already July? Why was everything so wet? Exasperation made her burgeoning migraine even worse. Shaking her head, she tried to clear it, only to make the pounding worse. Fantastic. Absolutely fantas-
"Are you alright?" a sweet voice asked, startling Lucy so badly she nearly fell off the bench. Great. Now her chest hurt, too. Adrenaline sparking like lightning in her veins, Lucy twisted to see who had addressed her.
It was a tall woman, with blonde curly hair pulled into a tight ponytail at the top of her head. "Sorry to startle you," the stranger apologized. The expression on the woman's face was warm... unlike her clothing. A light purple sports bra and matching spandex shorts showed off the woman's many assets - her long legs, heavy bust, and magnificent abs.
Realizing she was staring, Lucy felt her ears burn despite the other woman not pointing it out in the slightest. "No, it's okay," she said. "And um... I'm fine."
The other woman gave Lucy a pointed look. "Your ankle looks too red to be 'fine.'"
The heat from Lucy's ears crawled its way over to her cheeks. "I... might have taken a bit of a tumble," she admitted. Was it really that red? Lucy peered down at it. Now that she looked a little closer, it did seem to be swelling spectacularly.
"Mind if I take a seat?" the woman asked, though she had already moved to do so without waiting for Lucy's response.
"Wait-" Lucy tried to warn her, but wasn't swift enough.
Surprise danced across the other woman's face as cold water no doubt sank into her butt as well.
"Sorry," Lucy mumbled. "I was about to warn you, I promise."
The woman let out a light laugh. "Don't worry about it - I should have watched where I sat." She gestured at Lucy's leg. "Is it alright if I take a closer look?"
Lucy's nodded minutely, and the woman gently raised Lucy's leg to her lap. "At first glance, I'd say it's sprained." Then she frowned. "How long ago did this happen?"
Lucy gave her a half-shrug. "Just a couple minutes ago? I was running, and I slipped and fell." Now that she was looking more properly, the woman seemed vaguely familiar to Lucy, and the guild mark on her arm even more so - Blue Pegasus. Lucy wracked her brain tried to put a name to the woman's face but came up empty.
Frown deepening, the Blue Pegasus mage laid cool fingers on the joint. "Does this hurt?" She prodded it gently. When Lucy hissed in pain, she withdrew her hands. "Please tell me you did not try to walk on this."
Sweat ran down Lucy's neck. Whether it was from the pain, the sheer hotness of the woman touching her, or from the warning tone in the woman's voice she wasn't immediately certain. "Um... yes...?" she answered tentatively. Lucy pointed down the street. "Just over there."
The woman stared at her long and hard, and Lucy withered a bit under the harsh gaze. "Is that... bad?" she ventured.
She shook her head slightly. "Yeah, it is, but mostly I just can't believe you managed to get that far with a broken ankle."
"Awesome," wheezed Lucy. No wonder it had hurt so much. "So I'm definitely not making it to the train station. At all."
"Not on this foot, you're not," the woman confirmed. "Can I help you to your guild's inn?" At Lucy's surprised expression, the woman smiled slightly. "I don't forget a face. And your guild mark is very lovely. Your guild has a healer, right?
Lucy held her marked hand close to her chest and tried to calm her raging heartbeat. "Yeah, but she's probably already left on the train that I've probably just missed." Why had Makarov booked her team such an early train?! You'd think that after a dragon invasion and a midnight ball that a girl would be allowed a decent night's sleep, but apparently not! And more to the point, how was it that the rest of her team had managed to make it and hadn't even spared a thought about whether she was coming or not?! It was a role reversal that Lucy definitely did not care for.
"No worries. I think Sherry from Lamia Scale will be at my guild's inn," the woman offered. "And her cousin is a healing mage as well. We'll ask them for help." Gently, she lowered Lucy's leg off her lap and onto the ground. "Here, I'll help you walk."
Accepting the offer, Lucy allowed the other woman to hook an arm around her, only to bite back another yelp of pain as the woman chose the wrong shoulder.
"...Did you hurt this shoulder, too?" the woman questioned, lowering Lucy back onto the bench.
Lucy nodded, furiously trying not to cry. "Yeah. I landed on it. I think it's just wrenched, though."
The other mage contemplated the problem for a moment. Then she shrugged. "Guess it's a princess carry, then."
"...What-wait whoa!" Lucy suddenly found herself airborne, supported only by the other woman's strong arms, and her face eye-level with her impressive chest. "Y-you don't have to carry me!" she squawked in protest, heat consuming her entire face down to the tip of her nose. The tall amazon was carrying her. Princess-style. Holy stars above.
"Don't worry about it," the woman stated, already walking down the road. "You're not heavy, and my guild is just up there."
Lucy clammed up at that, and tried to keep her eyes to herself. Which proved to be too difficult, so instead she just looked up at her savior's face. The Blue Pegasus mage was beautiful, but not wearing any makeup that Lucy could see. Which made sense for an early morning run. There was a slight smattering of freckles across her nose that Lucy found to be incredibly cute, and her eyes were a very pretty light blue.
True to her word, it was a brief journey to the inn Blue Pegasus was using for the duration of the Grand Magic Games. The older woman shouldered the door open with ease.
Only to find the both of them swiftly swarmed by concerned guild members.
"Lucy!" Hibiki Lates exclaimed in immediate recognition, his face bright with genuine delight. "What brings you here? Looking for a bit of fun?"
"H-Hello, Hibiki," Lucy greeted awkwardly. Did the man not notice that his guildmate had her in a princess carry, or what?
"Have you come to join our guild instead, Big Sister?" Eve questioned, blatantly ignoring the fact that he was now older than Lucy.
"I-idiot!" Ren chided Eve, flushing heavily under his tan. "Though I... can't say I would mind if... the lady... came around more often..."
"Some room, please, boys," the woman told them. "As you can see, she's hurt her leg. Ren, can you get Sherry to bring Chelia over? This lady needs some healing."
"Oh, of course. Be right back." The man left for the stairs, confirming the suspicion that his fiancée had indeed spent the night.
Eve also backed down willingly, but Hibiki pouted and remained where he was. "Are you sure you don't need any assistance...?"
"I'm sure she doesn't need your help to change her clothes, Hibiki," the woman said with a pointed look at him. "Let Sherry and Chelia know that she'll be in my room."
Hibiki sighed, and reluctantly stood out of the woman's way. "Sure thing, Jenny."
Wait, Jenny?
The name through Lucy for a loop, and her gaze returned firmly to the model's face. No wonder she had looked familiar to Lucy. Makeup made a scary amount of difference sometimes. Not that Jenny wasn't already gorgeous without it, though.
Lucy gave Hibiki a short wave as Jenny passed him by.
"Visit with us a bit before you leave!" Hibiki urged. "It'll be good to catch up!"
"I'll try."
"You and Hibiki know each other?" Jenny questioned, curious. "Were you a thing in the past?"
Lucy coughed and spluttered at the mere thought of it. "No!" she said, emphatically waving her hand. "I was just a part of the Oracion Seis suppression team from Fairy Tail is all, so I met the Trimens there. We didn't even talk all that much. He's just... uh..." Lucy let out another cough, though this one was born from embarrassment. "They're all just super... friendly."
"Super flirty, you mean. Sorry, it comes with being a member of this guild." Jenny paused in front of a door. "Can you open this for me?"
Reaching out, Lucy turned the door knob, gaining them entrance into the room. "You don't lock your room?"
"The boys know better than to touch my stuff without permission... and so do the women."
Lucy repressed a shudder. It had been brief, but she had seen Jenny's battle form during the Grad Magic Games. And now that she had been carried by said woman for more than a block... yeah, Jenny was not someone to mess with if you weren't as powerful as Mirajane.
Speaking of which... Jenny was nothing like how she'd come across during the tournament - either as a guest or a participant. Was it like the Trimens? A stage persona expected of a member of Blue Pegasus?
Jenny set her down on her bed. "Let me get you something to change into..." She trailed off as she headed for the room's closet. She briefly thumbed through its contents before her face lit up. "Ah ha," she declared as she found what she was looking for. "Luckily for you, I always pack a couple extra sets of clothes, just in case." Turning back, Jenny walked over and handed them to Lucy. "I hope you don't mind that they're my maintenance clothes."
"No, no!" Lucy vehemently protested. "I don't mind at all! I'm just super grateful you're lending me anything at all! Thank you, you've been so nice to me! Honestly, I'm not sure how I can pay you back."
A smirk crawled its way onto Jenny's face. "No, not at all. Just knowing that I've been of help to one of Mirajane's guild mates is enough of a reward for me." Malice dripped off the name of her former opponent.
...Okay, maybe it wasn't entirely a stage persona. Was this part of some elaborate plot to get back at Mirajane for the bet? Was Lucy in danger?
"I'll be right back with an ice pack and some water," Jenny announced, heading for the door. "Be right back."
Lucy choked on her own spit as she caught a glimpse of the humongous wet spot across the back of Jenny's tight shorts as the woman departed.
...No, she was definitely not in danger, she decided. Not from a woman that had willingly sat in cold water for her and had even lent Lucy her own clothes to wear. Lucy's clothes had probably gotten Jenny fairly dirty as well.
Lucy held the soft, off-white and well-worn shirt up to her nose. It smelled of laundry detergent, with a faint trace of oil from the black stains that marred. The old jeans were much the same, with splashes of paint across the thighs and calves of the fabric.
Surprising, just like their owner was proving to be.
Maybe Lucy would take up Hibiki's offer to hang around for a bit after she was healed up, and find out much more about the real Jenny Realight.