AN: Sorry about the missed date on Saturday. I will warn you that I am busy right now (from my job) and can't update twice a week any more. Not really sure about what the new schedule will be. I don't want to make any promises about when I can update (at least for the next couple of weeks). Hopefully, I can do better in the future. Be sure to read the Bonus short after the comments.

Chapter 23 Trail of blood

People say a mother whose child is in danger, can do inhuman feats.

Unfortunately for Jacob, Lucy's paternal instincts kicked in a second after he shot the lion. He had not realized the girl considered the animal, her child. Running high on adrenalin, she elbowed Jacob out of the way with her good arm, kicking him in the groin when he refused to move. His body successfully hitting the ground, allowing her a clear path. She barely spared him a glance as he wheezily mocked her.

Trembling, she knelt. Her hands tried to apply pressure to the wound, remembering the action worked when she shot Happy. Loke's breath was labored with a gurgling noise as if he was drowning. Blood gushed from his neck as she held her breath, feeling as if stealing air would hurt him more.

"Baby, I know it hurts."

She moved one hand to traced his snout. He pushed weakly against her hand, coating his nose with the fresh, red blood that now stained her hands. Tears threatened to fall as he rotated to nuzzle her hands, purring out weakly. Lucy cringed as his movement caused a new trail of liquid to run down her arm. The forlorn girl wanted to scream and curse instead of crying, but she held on to her emotions. She had to be strong for him.

Struggling heavily, Loke tried to stand. The blonde buried her face in his mane to stop him, catching a whiff of his scent. It stunk like a musty wild animal, but it was her baby's scent. Lucy couldn't get enough of it as memories flooded her. Of course the smell was a bit different now, being mixed with the metallic of his blood.

Lucy rubbed her face gently, feeling the wetness of the fur on her cheek. The texture absorbing the tears that now fell freely. The salty, water from her eyes ran down mingling with the blood of the wound. She tried to keep calm, but the pressure of her hands went slack. It was hard to maintain control. Lucy was strong enough to keep fighting someone to the death, but her heart broke at his pain. All she could see was blood.

His blood.

In her vision.

On her hands.

Everywhere red.

Don't shoot him, Laxus! He's just a baby!" Lucy bawled as she sprinted toward Laxus, trying to heist the small cub from him. Laxus easily pushed her back. He threw the animal in the dirt while loading his shotgun. The cub yowled in pain while looking at Lucy with betrayed eyes. She had only just found the cute, hungry thing when her cousin had snatched it from her.

Lucy jumped over the animal concealing him with her body as Laxus held up his gun.

He snapped, "Lucy! He's a lion!"

"But he's an innocent baby!"

"That will grow up to be a man-eating killer."

"No he won't! I will teach him to be good. And if he is bad. Then I will kill him." Lucy promised.

Aggravated, Laxus turned to Sting, "You talk to her. You seem to be able to reason with her."

The blonde boy shrugged, "I think you should let her keep it." He smiled at Lucy before turning a glare to Laxus as the other man's temper hit an all time high. Lucy frowned knowing Sting's words were meant to rile his brother more than help her.

"He's an animal! Not a human. Lucy step away! Sting, wipe that damn smirk off your face! That's why you never get to make any decisions on the ranch! So childish." Laxus barked.

Sting didn't give an inch. He merely walked away with a small wave, "Maybe I could make better decisions if a dick wasn't controlling everything around him."

Laxus stomped furiously in the house. Lucy used the opportunity to cuddle the animal to her chest. Laxus then stomped back out, bringing Mira outside over his shoulder. "Tell them Mira. Tell them I have to kill it." He sat her down. She slapped the back of Laxus's head before saying, "I think Lucy should keep him."

Laxus threw his hands up as he shouted, "My whole family is against me." The cub gnawing on her hand, making the lightening scar twitch on Laxus' face. He threatened the pair, "One toe, paw, or claw out of line, Lucy. And he's gone."

"He'll be an angel. I swear." She squealed in happiness as she tackled Laxus to the ground. The lion cub howled being squashed between the two causing him to whine.

Loke closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath. Bloody hands fisted at Lucy's mouth as she gave a heart-wrenching scream, remembering her mother's body lying in front of her as a child.

"Don't die Loke!" Lucy can't think as someone pulled her away, snapping her back to the present. Breath, she prayed before biting bitterly at her assailant, "Touch me and I will mount your jewels on a cacti!"

Jacob snorted, "I would like to see you try with that broken arm."

At first, Lucy tried to fight but she was tired – physically, mentally, emotionally. Worse, Loke was dying because of her.

Because she was stupid enough to wait outside for Natsu without telling anyone.

For falling asleep.

For being too weak not to get captured…

…and not to escape.

"Loke, you taught me respo..." Lucy screamed as Jacob slung her over his shoulder, causing her arm to hit his body in just the right way. The pain was unbearable. Biting her bottom lip, the girl continued, "My dad never let me keep a pet as a child, but you were more than a pet! When Laxus let me keep you… You were my baby. I don't know what compelled me to save you on that day. You were such a young cub that maybe I saw myself in you. All alone in the world. Live for me Loke!"

Jacob dumped her body across his horse.

Lucy continued to whisper even though she was too far away to be heard anymore, "Maybe we were kindred beings, since that is how I felt most of my life. I wanted to give you a second chance at life. And I want you to live now. I don't want anyone else to die because of me."

She closed her eyes and let her spirit drift to the memories of long ago, into the pools of her own imagination, as someone climbed behind her. Her dreams picturing a fantasy world where she was strong enough to save those that she loved with her own power.

It was mid-morning when a bleary-eyed Natsu road into Love and Lucky. Tired, he let out a long, exasperated sigh. His back ached, and the next time he saw Gildarts he would punch that damn smirk off the old pervert's face.

He along with five of the fort's best men had spent the entire night chasing slave smugglers halfway around the county. Where was Gildarts during this time? Missing in action, much to Natsu's irritation. Their mighty leader was most likely sleeping in the comfort of his own home. Cana probably made him a fine dinner. He probably went to bed with two women on each arm, leaving Natsu to do all his dirty work.

The prick.

Still, the group managed to round up most of the human traffickers. Only a handful would remain, scattered loosely around, most likely hiding, until the heat died. Due to Natsu's impressive display of single-handedly taking down half of the outlaws and wounding their leader, the ranger had made many friends. Natsu didn't have many male friends. Most of his army buddies had lost contact with him after leaving the military. It was nice working as a team with trained professionals again. The guys offered him quarters at the fort as a reward, but he had declined with the excuse of wanting to be home.

Home.

It was weird that at some point in the privacy of his own thoughts, he had started calling Love and Lucky that. Fact is, after Igneel died, he never thought of his family's house as his own home. Rogue's antisocial nature made him hard to live with, and Zeref was always gone to the capital.

And it didn't hurt to have a pretty blonde waiting there.

Swatting a fly buzzing around his shoulder, Natsu suddenly grinned at the idea of telling Lucy about the night. She would get a kick out of his adventure - maybe even berate him for not taking her with him. Of course, he wouldn't be able to yarn a tale with the talent she could, but he could entice her nevertheless. The man knew what buttons to push to get a reaction from the female rancher, and he knew she desperately wanted an adventure.

"NATSU!" a voice yelled to him, as he headed toward the barn. Turning Pantherlily, he aimed toward the porch where Mira was waving frantically with her shotgun. She set the weapon down before running toward him. Afraid she would spook the horse, he jumped off to meet her halfway.

"I have been watching from my scope. Hoping you would return… Soon. I ran… down the stairs before Elfman could stop me." Mira panted, brushing perspiration off her neck.

To the pink haired man, Mira didn't look good. Were pregnant women suppose to sweat that much? Her face was almost as white as her hair with dark bags under her eyes that made her seem rather like a raccoon.

"Hey are you ok?" He left his arms open in case the girl was to swoon on him. A thud in the distance had them both glancing toward the door as Elfman launched himself out of the house, racing toward them.

The white haired girl shook her head, "Don't worry about me. You need to worry about Lucy. And Levy."

"What about Lucy?" Natsu asked sharply, fear clawing at his gut. Mira did have a knack for theatrics but doubted she would be this stressed if she was pushing some hidden agenda. Her agitation made a deep sense of foreboding wash over him.

At that moment, Elfman arrived to reply, "She's missing."

Natsu seized Mira's shoulders. "What do you mean she's missing?"

"Watch yourself!" Elfman snapped, forcefully pushing his way between the ranger and his sister. Natsu snapped his neck around, glaring the man. Letting Mira go, he took an aggressive step toward her brother with a slightly raised fist. Mira squealed. Natsu realized what he was doing and immediately backed up.

"Talk." Natsu commanded, folding his arms to keep himself from reacting too fast.

"Nobody slept in her bed. Levy found it this morning. Loke went berserk. We searched and now Levy and Loke are missing too."

Natsu swallowed hard to moisten his scratchy throat. His tiredness vanishing. "Are they still looking? I can join." He felt like crap for having snapped on Mira and Elfman. His lips trembled with barely contained fury at the thought of someone snatching Lucy and Levy.

"No. Sting, Jellal, and Elfman search the outer land. When Levy disappeared, the boys tried to follow her, but they couldn't stay on her trail. We found Lucy's broken lantern. Loke must have tracked her scent from there."

When Mira told where Lucy's lantern had been found, the world literally darkened around Natsu.

"No, I have a reason to stay up. You promised you wouldn't stop practicing sparring with me until you thought I was ready to go toe to toe with you. That means no matter how tired I am tonight. No matter what time you come in at… I will wait for you out in the field."

Raw, black rage built up inside him until he had to back up even further away from the siblings. She had told him that so sweetly through the door before he left with Leutinant Mest. It had made him smile to know that she considered their time so important.

He wrenched his face away to stare in the distance. She must have been caught waiting for him for their nightly lessons. The fury dying almost instantly when he realized that what Lucy had told him ended up happening.

"I don't want to be fearful every time I wander the streets alone. Jacob and Cain catching me in town emphasized a fear I already had. That's a fear... I have had since I was a child." Lucy had paused before telling him her shocking childhood, "My mother died when I was really small. We were kidnapped. In trying to fight off our attackers, she was shot. My dad was such a rich man. He attracted enemies but also people who were envious of his wealth. A servant named Zoledo conspired with mercenaries to steal the Heartfilia fortune. who did it even though he regretted the whole time of killing my mother, eventually hanging himself. My father didn't even pay the ransom to the bandits, so distraught over my mother's death."

"How did you survive?"

"I tricked my captor into letting me go to the bathroom. Thankfully my mother's servants never stopped trying to find me. Learning to fight makes me think that when the time comes, I will be too weak to do anything and will only survive on God's good graces. This might be fun, but in a real situation I would be too weak to defend myself."

"The point of learning to fight isn't to fear an opponent coming."

"I don't know if you know what it is like to lose a battle, but I hate being at the mercy of someone. That's probably why I slowly started to hate my father for controlling me." She had said. "Because in the end, it's up to me to get myself out because nobody would probably come for me."

"I would come for you." Natsu had found himself declaring. His lips moving faster than his brain. He had laughed awkwardly as Lucy observed him sadly. Shaking her head, she replied in a bittersweet way, "Guess that would be true now, but after Happy is well. You're going to leave. So I need to know how to take care of myself. Besides I feel something bad will happen soon. It's in the air, and I want to be prepared."

Natsu didn't think he could talk. Her words choked him. The ranger remembered Lucy sweetly smiling as she told him that he would leave - her eyes very sad. Then her determination to fight whatever troubles she predicted would happen. His teeth gritted together in a ferocious growl. He hadn't realized it then but with that statement, the girl had destroyed any defense he had against her. He would travel to the ends of the world to save her. He wasn't going to let anyone take her life away.

Startled he hissed at the surprising contact of something soft touching his cheek. Natsu peered into blue eyes inches away from his face. Mira had apparently snuck up on him.

"We are all worried about Lucy. While we do want to find her, there is a more pressing issue."

"What?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"Laxus, Jellal, Sting are prepared for blood. They suspect Phantom S are involved. That's where they are right now, confronting Irene, Erza, and Cobra. I don't want to lose my family. Don't get distracted. Please, you have to save them. You are a law man… DO SOMETHING! I don't want to lose my family!" Mira grabbed his face before he pried her fingers from his skin.

Natsu rubbed his head in agitation. He wanted to look for Lucy, but he had to go knock a few heads first. Turning to leave, he asked, "If I can leave now, can I intercept them?"

The lady rubbed her stomach before answering, she winced.

"Hey are you… alright?" Natsu questioned awkwardly, remembering what Lucy had said about Mira's pains. He felt like crap for grabbing her earlier. He shouldn't have flown off the handle, but sometimes his anger got the best of him. Eflman worriedly placed his hands around her shoulders as well.

"I'm fi…"

The white haired matron of the ranch crumpled to the floor. Elfman caught her before she landed on her stomach.

He helped her into Elfman's arms, careful of the baby.

She declined their help, "I'm fine."

"No you need a doctor." Elfman argued.

"I said I was fine." She argued before muttering under her breath. "It's just from all the stress around here lately.

Natsu shot her brother a telling face. The other man nodded before saying, "I can take Mira to town. You head to Phantom S. We don't need a war on our hands."

"You think you can get her in a wagon?"

"I can try." Elfman answered as Mira slapped the back of his head.

"Maybe I can intercept Laxus. But if Phantom S had anything to do with kidnapping Levy and Lucy. I will personally see to all their asses being arrested." His stomach churned as he thought about something worse happening to the girls. He promised then and there if they were hurt, he would return it ten-fold to their abductors.

And if they died, whoever killed them would die too. While he didn't like killing anyone, he didn't have a problem with ending someone who was pure evil. Maybe he would take it up with God one day, but he had his own sense of justice. It's what got him through the war.

Being a ranger in Alvarez might have earned him the name Salamander after his father, but there was a name he was known of in Fiore. A name that was uniquely his own for all the people he killed...

E.N.D.

Next chapter: Standoff at Phantom S

Juvia is my spirit animal: HoooHooo! You are right! It's not creepy at all! We never see anyone that is another med tech. Everyone in the world is a nurse and thinks you are a nurse because nobody every understands what a med tech is. Going to have to talk to you some more. On this…

FriendlyAnon: Oh no! Don't be heartbroken! That's an order :) You may not like this chapter but read the bonus chapter Our lawman is definitely getting some much needed attention for the next few chapters. Along with the other sexy males.

NaluFTFantaic: Sting is such a dweeb. He has been so much fun to write.

4EvrDorkly17: As always…. Your excitement is always fun to read. Glad you liked the chapter. I am not sure if I do have a heart. It might be three sizes too small. It grew some this chapter.

JadeDragonXx: Badass Levy is bae ^_^

Silver light of the dawn: Now this makes me just feel bad that I posted late.

GajevyNalu4life: I knew you would be back for this chapter.

Sarara1.8: The fun starts now.

Saranau34: Was. Thinking. The. Same. Thing. If someone you loved was in danger, than the logical choice would be the easiest, and the thinking would come later.

SheWhoShips: Thanks so much. I do try to balance the characters. And I will try to throw some Miraxus in just for you since I loved your comment. And strangely only two people commented on the Sting ship part. That's totally ok because I haven't even begun my Sting subplot yet.

SingingAngel327: We aren't out of the woods yet. Make sure you read the bonus.

Guest: Thanks!

Lodemai04: Thanks! Strong women is what I aim for! It's actually really hard to balance strength with weakness in a female character, especially romance theme. People want to see the protective side of a male character, but they don't want the female to be a damsel in distress. So being able to make the females strong then pushing them into situations where the need someone taxes my brain.

Queenie: I use to always read fanfics before a test. It brought me good luck. So sending luck your way.

JC: YAY! YOU'RE BACK! Missed your reviews.

HammyJessa: You and SheWhoShips have both voted for StingYu.

Bonus Story:

Through waves of pain, Loke heard his mistress scream. It was the only sound that was audible. He tried moving toward it, knowing she was summoning him. He owed his life to her, and it was his duty to protect her. The lion couldn't bare the terror and pain in her voice.

Those men were dangerous.

They would hurt her.

He pushed through his unconscious state to blink at the sun so high in the sky. A moment of panic set in as all of the pain hit him anew. The lion raised up with fire twisting along his neck and down his belly. Growling softly, he tried to see where the humans were, but they were gone. Ignoring his wounds, he began to walk.

Then fell.

Loke almost faints from the exhilaration, knowing he can't save them - his mistress and the little mistress. The area was dusty with only faint traces of their scent. He would never catch up to them.

Much less fight.

Limping, he turned in the direction of his home. His nerves were raw, unsure if he could make the long, grueling journey back home.

He didn't care.

He knew the only chance for them to be saved was either the blue haired man with the tattoo on his face or the demon-man with the tasty hat. The humans could use Loke's trail to find the girls.

Unbeknown to him, his trail was being followed by predators attracted by his wounds.