Chapter 14

The last thing Lucy needed to do was start to panic. She felt her hands shaking, her breath coming fast. Squeezing her eyes shut, Lucy forcefully made herself remember what she had learned at the academy about what to do when finding oneself in an unsavory situation such as the one she was in currently.

The first thing a Fairy Tale operative should do when finding themselves in an unfamiliar environment is to first observe the environment.

"Check" Lucy whispered, having already seen all she could see of the tiny room she was being kept in. With no window, and just a swinging bare lightbulb from the ceiling, there was nothing else to see but the chains that attached her to the floor.

After assessing one's surroundings, make a list of all possessions on one's person.

Lucy didn't have her purse with her, so her gun was not in her possession. She reached to her thigh, and swore. They had taken her knife from her thigh holster. She was still in her evening dress she wore to Jellals, but they had taken her heels off, leaving her feet bare. Blowing a tendril of hair out of her eyes, Lucy smirked.

They hadn't taken the pins out of her hair.

Natsu lay with his head on his arms, he swore he had only wanted to close his eyes for a few minutes, but now the harsh morning light was glaring into his eyelids, making him groan and lift his head up.

"Morning sleepyhead"

Natsu blinked, and looked to see Erza hand him a cup of coffee.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep, sorry" Natsu said, rubbing his eyes and taking the coffee gratefully.

Over in the living room, Juvia and Gray were passed out on the couch, Juvia's head resting on Gray's shoulder. Jellal was talking quietly on the phone in the corner, while Levy and Gajeel sat hunched over computers,

"How's it going guys?" Natsu asks.

"We are getting close, I've never had to follow a vehicle this far, but thankfully Magnolia has cameras everywhere" Levy said, not looking up from her screen.

"Wait, I think I've got it!" Levy gasped, sitting up straight. "Jose's yacht is at the marina over on the north side of Magnolia!

Startled by Levy's outburst, both Gray and Juvia groaned and looked over at the blue haired woman with bleary eyes.

"Come on guys. Let's go get her" Natsu said, already scooping up the keys to his car and heading to the door.

The easy part had been breaking out of the chains that had been used to restrain her. Getting out of the room was going to be slightly harder, but she had a plan. Crouching beside the door,

Lucy yelled.

"Hey! Whoever's out there, I have to go to the bathroom"

She heard a groan, and the sound of a key being shoved into the door. As the door swung open, she popped up and smashed the guy in the back of the head. Without a sound, he fell to the ground, unconscious. Lucy grabbed his arms and dragged him inside, locking him up in the chains she had just been in. Rummaging through his pockets, Lucy grabbed the keys, his keycard, and his gun.

After kicking off her heels, Lucy ran barefooted down the hallway, silent and watchful. Up ahead she heard a few voices approaching. Spotting a janitorial closet to the right, she darted inside, waiting until the voices passed and disappeared down the hallway. Towards her jail cell. She needed to hurry, they would notice the missing guard and in turn notice that she was missing any minute now.

Throwing the closet door open, Lucy abandoned stealth and ran through the maze of halls, until finally she found a door that lead to the deck. Once she stepped through the door, she was greeted with a strong gust of wind, which blew her dress and hair in crazy directions.

"And where do you think you are going young lady" A voice said from behind her.

Whirling around, Lucy found Jose standing in the doorway she had just came through.

"I'm getting out of here" she said, with a forced smirk.

"I wouldn't advise it, you see we just left the port. You have nowhere to go except the water" Jose laughed, walking closer to her. Lucy's eyes quickly darted side to side, only seeing the open sea, Magnolia's port a ways away from the deck of tte yacht. As Jose approached, she inched backward, until her back bumped against the railing.

"Lucy! I'm coming for you!"

With a tiny smile, Lucy swore she heard the voice of her partner in the air, solidifying her decision.

"Bye Jose" Lucy smiled, and threw herself over the edge of the giant yacht, hearing Jose's yell behind her. Squeezing her eyes shut, Lucy braced for impact with the water. With a gigantic splash, Lucy hit the water, suddenly becoming disoriented as the force of the yacht in the water threw her away under the water. Upon impact, the water had knocked the air out of her, and Lucy was unable to move, as her body sunk deeper and deeper, the light above her rippling with the water.

Her lungs screamed and her vision faded.

Natsu

His face flashed in front of her eyes, his pink hair billowing around in the water. Suddenly, she felt arms wrap around her waist and pull her close, legs kicking both of them up to the surface. Finally, their heads had broken the surface. More arms reached down and hauled her up and into a boat.

"Lucy!" She heard someone yell as someone thumped her back. With a cough, Lucy found herself coughing up the water from her lungs. Warm arms wrapped around her until she finally caught her breath, her vision jumping back into focus. She became aware that she was shivering and crying, the tears mixing with the salt water on her face.

"Oh God. Lucy" She heard Natsu say, who wrapped her up in his arms tightly. He was shivering as well.

"Here, get yourselves wrapped up, the wind is cold"

Lucy glanced up at Gray, who had brought over a stack of heavy towels. Behind him, Erza was driving the ship. Levy and Gajeel were close by, and Juvia was helping Natsu wrap Lucy up with multiple towels, trying to protect her from the wind.

"Are you okay, did they hurt you?" Natsu asked, smoothing her hair away from her face. Lucy met his eyes and shook her head.

"No. I'm okay" She said, voice hoarse and cracking. WIth a sigh of relief, Natsu pressed a hard kiss to her forehead. After pulling away he rested his forehead against hers.

"Don't scare me like that again" He whispered.

"I'm sorry, they caught me by surprise" Lucy whispered back with a small laugh.

For the rest of the ride back to shore, Lucy closed her eyes, trying to absorb the heat from Natsu into her frozen limbs. As the boat was pulled in and tied to the dock, Lucy tried to stand, but her legs wobbled and gave out. From beside her, Natsu caught her and lifted her up into his arms.

"I gotcha, Luce" He said, hopping down from the boat and into a warm van. Jellal was seated in the driver's seat. Natsu set Lucy down in the back and slid in beside her, making room for the rest of the group to jump in.

"Some of the new recruits are going to load up the boat, let's get out of here" Levy said, slamming the door shut.

In the front, Jellal nodded and sped off. Erza was on the phone with Makarov, and Gajeel and Levy had their laptops open, having attached a tracker to the yacht and were tracking its location. Feeling safe at last, Lucy allowed herself to close her eyes and lean into Natsu's chest, feeling his arm wrap around her shoulder and his lips press softly against the crown of her head.

After an examination by the Fairy Tail doctor and a long debriefing with Makarov, Lucy finally found herself back at her apartment. She was able to thank everyone after her debriefing. Juvia had tackled her in a hug, pulling away to let Gray kiss her cheek. Erza had clapped a strong hand onto her shoulder and left with Jellal to follow up on a few more leads. After giving Lucy one last hug, Levy and Gajeel headed out as well, looking exhausted.

Natsu had shooed her into the shower as soon as she had gotten back. Feeling dead on her feet, Lucy stood under the warm water, letting it chase away the chill in her bones that hadn't gone away since she had jumped into the water. After she stepped out, she found that Natsu had set out a pair of fluffy pink pajamas and her robe. With a wan smile, she got dressed and walked out to the living room where Natsu was waiting on the couch, petting Plue absentmindedly.

"Hey, feeling better?" Natsu asked, throwing an arm around Lucy's shoulders as she curled up next to him.

Nodding, Lucy replied.

"The shower helped, I don't feel as chilled to the bone as I did earlier"

"Here, let me comb your hair, I know how much you hate combing wet hair" Natsu said, reaching behind her to grab her hairbrush from the table. Lucy turned around and let him run the brush through her hair gently. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Lucy finally spoke.

"Thank you for coming after me" She said, looking down at her hands.

Natsu's hands stilled, a hand on her back nudging her so she would turn back around.

"Always. I'll always come save you" He said, voice firm and eyes sincere as they met hers.

Feeling warmth spread through her chest at his gaze, Lucy tilted her head up and reached up to pull his head down to hers, their lips meeting in a slow kiss. Shifting, Natsu threaded one hand with hers and placed another hand on the back of her neck, pulling her closer as he kissed her back.

For long minutes, their lips moved against each other, both trying to show appreciation and relief with each kiss.

With one final quick peck of Lucy's lips, Natsu pulled away and pushed Lucy's hair away from her face and tucked it behind one ear.

"God I love you" He said, his eyes never leading Lucy's.

Lucy started, but felt her face split into a huge grin. She squeezed his hand tightly. She had imagined him saying these words for years. She had never stopped loving Natsu, and these past few weeks her feelings had only grown stronger.

"I love you too you dork"

With a snort, Natsu pulled Lucy close once more, their noses bumping. When they kissed again, Lucy found that she was no longer cold.