PART I – Resolution

Chapter X – Red flag

"Ah, my daughter,ʺ he said. ʺEighteen, and already youʹve been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardians will ever see.ʺ He paused. ʺI couldnʹt be prouder."
― Richelle Mead, Last Sacrifice

...LUCY...

Lucy kept quiet and observed her surroundings with calm, emotionless eyes. She was kneeling on the concrete floor, wrists tied in her back. Laxus was sitting in front of her on a wooden box, elbows on his knees, chin on his fists, staring at her.

"How in the world did you get here?" he asked.

Lucy shrugged. Shouldn't she be the one to ask questions here?

"I already told you. One of your accomplices knocked me out and took me here," she answered.

The lieutenant sighed and glared at the commander when he heard him snicker.

"Man, you're the worst villain I've ever seen," Natsu mocked him. "The thought never occurred to you that organized crime was supposed to be organized?"

The lieutenant was probably killing him in a hundred different ways in his head.

"You were supposed to be alone," he retorted.

"And you were supposed to be a good person," the commander rumbled. "We trusted you."

Lucy's eyes went from the commander to the lieutenant and observed his reaction. Natsu was right, Laxus was a devoted officer. His betrayal made no sense. Lucy frowned, something was amiss. Laxus snickered and arched a brow at Natsu.

"Are you trying to make me cry?" he asked. "I didn't know you were such a sensitive wuss."

The commander growled and pulled on his chains. His hands were tied in his back with large chains around a massive pillar. The lieutenant really didn't want him to free himself.

"Aren't you at least going to explain yourself?"

Laxus turned surprised eyes to Lucy, as if he had forgotten about her. It was true that she wasn't supposed to be there, though. The lieutenant smiled and stood up, brushing the dust off his pants with his hands.

"No," he said, "I have nothing to tell you. I have some things to do now, so I'll leave you alone for a moment. Don't try anything stupid."

He turned his back to them without waiting for an answer and walked away. The abandoned warehouse was large and dark, so they quickly lost sight of the blonde officer, but they did hear the sound of the door opening and closing behind him. Lucy turned her head to look at the commander with very unimpressed eyes.

"'We go down, we find the guys with the guns, we take the guns and we kick their asses,'" she quoted. "That really was a brilliant idea."

The commander smirked at her and did something Lucy assumed was a shrug, but it wasn't easy to say with his arms tightly tied around that pillar.

"You didn't stop me from trying," he countered. "Admit it, you wanted to do it too."

Lucy tried her best, but couldn't hold back the amused smile that quickly stretched her lips.

"I was just obeying my officer," she retorted. "This is entirely your fault."

Far from looking guilty, Natsu smiled and his eyes started to search the room for God knew what.

"Says the one who disobeyed when I told everyone to go back to the main building," he snickered.

"You did? How strange, I didn't hear you..."

The commander's smirk widened and he started to squirm energetically. Lucy frowned and looked around to make sure that no one was here.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

The commander continued to do whatever he was doing for a few more seconds before raising his eyes to look at her with a victorious look. A second later, he brought both arms in front of him and jumped back to his feet.

"You thought I was going to sit here forever?" he bragged. "I'm getting out of here."

Lucy ignored his bragging since he was her best hope of leaving the building at the moment.

"Awesome!" she agreed. "I think the van's still outside, we can take it and go back to..."

"We?" Natsu interrupted. "I don't know if I'll take you with me considering your earlier mean words. I'm hurt, you know? I don't think you deserve my help."

Lucy arched a brow and sent him a very cocky smile, not the kind of smile someone in her position was supposed to display.

"And you'll have to explain to Erza why you left me behind and ran away," she reminded him. "I'd much rather be in my shoes than yours in that case."

The commander laughed out loud and Lucy was worried the noise would alert someone, but no one came. He crouched in front of her and untied her wrists in a few seconds.

"You're right," he agreed. "I'll allow you to come, then. I hope you're aware of your luck."

"Yes, yes," Lucy sang.

They both stood up and quickly walked toward the same door Laxus had used to leave a few minutes earlier, trying to be as silent as humanly possible.

...LOKE...

Loke was officially scared of Levy. This small, discreet girl had forced the lock of the lieutenant-colonel's office door and was using his computer – the password having been a mere formality – to hack into the police's computer system. She was currently using their software to find the van that Luc – or whatever her real name was – had tried to neutralize. Gajeel was leaning on the desk beside her, he smirked when he noticed Loke's impressed look. It took her twelve minutes to succeed. All the while, Gray guarded the door.

"They're in the abandoned Industrial Zone of the Northern Suburbs," she said. "In a back alley behind the old Aeronautical construction warehouse."

"Are you sure?"

She arched a cocky brow at Loke and smirked.

"I'm pretty skilled when it comes to this kind of things," she assured. "I know they're here."

"Guys, hurry up," Gray said, "some guys are gathering somewhere near, I can hear them."

Loke nodded and stood back up.

"Alright, let's go."

"Wait," Levy called, sounding a bit confused. "The van moved."

She drummed her fingers on the keyboard and squinted her eyes at the screen.

"Maybe they took the van and escaped without our help," Gajeel suggested, "I told you they were tough."

"I don' think so," Levy countered. "The van has been abandoned in a lake..."

"Guys," Gray called again, "the noises are growing louder."

"So what?" Gajeel ignored his friend guarding the door. "Knowing them, they fought while driving and ended up leaving the road..."

"Gajeel," Levy called sternly, "if they're in the van now, and it's very possible that they are, they're drowning."

Loke cursed and turned around to run out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Gray asked, sounding weary.

"Do you even have to ask?" the redhead growled. "I'm going there."

Gray sighed and Gajeel glared at him.

"Why? To save them? We need about half an hour to get there. We won't make it in time."

Loke threw his hands in the air in exasperation and pointed at the screen.

"What am I supposed to do then!?" he roared. "I can't stay here doing nothing while she might be drowning!"

Gajeel frowned.

"She?" he repeated.

Loke realized his mistake, but was luckily in a state of agitation that kind of justified such a mistake.

"Are you seriously correcting my grammar now?"

"He's right," Gray agreed. "We have to do something right now."

Gajeel crossed his arms over his chest and smirked at them.

"And if you'd just let me talk," he sang, "then I could tell you about my skills as a helicopter pilot and about how the Academy has a helicopter on the roof of the main building."

Loke and Gray stared at him with wide eyes, not daring to ask, but having clearly understood what their friend meant. Levy smirked as well, as if her boyfriend's skills were some kind of big secret she knew all along. Which they were.

"We'll be there in five minutes if you move your asses."

...LUCY...

The van wasn't there anymore. They searched the whole Zone and found no vehicle in working order. Lucy glared at her commander and he raised both hands in front of him in defense.

"It's not my fault that they took the van," he claimed.

The recruit sighed, it wouldn't help them to regret the decisions they took to get where they were. While she was searching the dark alley for something that could help them in any way, Lucy felt a cold drop of water land on the tip of her nose. She lifted her head to look at the cloudy sky as another drop landed under her right eye.

"There," Natsu suddenly said.

Lucy's eyes fell back on him to see him pointing at something behind her. She turned around and squinted her eyes to distinguish something despite the darkness. She gulped when she recognized the dark thing that was laid against the wall.

"It looks very old," she noted, "it might be dangerous. Can you even drive that?"

She heard the man's snickers and glared at him when she understood that he was making fun of her.

"If I didn't know you any better, I'd say that you're scared," he smirked.

Lucy smirked back and crossed her arms above her chest.

"I just don't trust you to keep us safe on such a machine," she retorted. "I'd rather be the one to drive."

The commander cocked an eyebrow at her and pointed back at the large motorcycle.

"You can drive this?" he asked, sounding very dubious.

"Probably much better than you," she confirmed.

He snorted and started walking toward the bike.

"No way," he protested, "I'm the commander, I drive."

"Are we really going to argue about this now?" she sighed, running after him.

He snorted again and glanced at her over his shoulder.

"No," he said, "because I said I'd drive and you have to obey your officer."

"That's tyranny," Lucy accused.

"Absolutely," he confirmed. "Now, be quiet and come here."

She pouted as she straddled the bike behind the commander and put her hands on his shoulders. She felt them shake lightly when he laughed.

"Don't be shy," he snickered and grabbed her arms to wrap them around his waist. "We don't want you falling off the bike on the way, do we?"

Lucy shook her head, but didn't speak, afraid that he would hear her embarrassment in her voice. Natsu smirked with renewed vigour and started the engine.

"Good," he said, "now, hold on tight."

She did as she was told – not to unwillingly, she had to admit – and glanced at the door to make sure that no one was coming after them. She frowned when the door remained close. It was so weird... Laxus knew just how dangerous Natsu was, he had to know that mere chains wouldn't be enough to hold him prisoner. But he still left them alone, with no guards around, as if begging them to escape.

"Where are we going?" she asked when the bike started to move.

The commander shrugged.

"Away," he answered. "Something's wrong with this setup and I don't want to stay to figure it out."

So, he had noticed it too.

"Are we going back to the Academy?"

The sound of her voice was starting to get lost in the wind furiously howling around them with the speed of the motorcycle. She was worried that he wouldn't hear her, but the commander shook his head as he took a turn to the left and emerged in a broader street.

"No," he shouted for her to hear him, "it might be a trap. We're going to make sure we lose them in the city before going back."

The rain started to fall much harder and the commander had no choice but to slow down, which annoyed him greatly if the contraction of his muscles was anything to go by. They quickly left the Industrial Zone and Lucy was greatly bothered by their lack of pursuers. Everything was going way too easily. Natsu quickly got annoyed by the slowness of their progression and rolled over a puddle when he sped up. The motorcycle skidded on the wet concrete and Lucy tightened her hold on his waist when she saw the ground approach a bit too quickly. Fortunately, Natsu managed to control the vehicle and even seemed to be having fun since he didn't slow down after that. She felt the muscles in his back relax and allowed herself to ease up as well. It was still raining heavily and it was much darker around them now that they were out of the Zone since they were no street lights anymore.

"We're nearing the Expressway," she heard Natsu yell over his shoulder, "we'll be at the Academy soon!"

She nodded against his back, her arms still tightly wrapped around him. Suddenly, the motorbike hit a pothole, resulting in Lucy's forehead bumping into the back of Natsu's head and her chest firmly crashing into his back.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "I hadn't seen it..."

She pushed herself off his back as soon as the bike was steady again, praying that he hadn't noticed the strange bumps on her chest that definitely were not supposed to be here.

"It's fine..."

She lifted her eyes when she noticed that the motorcycle had stopped moving once again and frowned. Something was obstructing the road where they were supposed to reach the Expressway. Suddenly, Lucy felt all of Natsu's muscles contract and she squealed – in a very unmanly way – when the commander made the bike spin around, making the motor roar.

"Hold on tight," he ordered Lucy, "we're going to escape very quickly."

Lucy didn't even hesitate, what good would protecting her secret do her if she wasn't alive to save her father? She pressed herself completely against his back and closed her eyes when the motorcycle front wheel rose in the air, trying to stay immobile. The commander drove very fast and ignored every safety rule Lucy had ever heard of. She didn't know who they were escaping from, she still couldn't see anyone after them. That's when she heard the bang. Deafening, percussive, awfully familiar. The commander dangerously tilted the bike to turn left without slowing down too much and sped up even more when they were back to a relatively normal position. Lucy heard a loud crack somewhere behind them and there suddenly was bright light everywhere around them. She turned her head to glance over her shoulder.

"Fuck," she cursed.

So this was why they had no problem getting out of the warehouse... A huge, black all-terrain car was chasing them. It hit a garbage dumpster with great force and turned left right after them, making the motor roar furiously in its attempt to catch up with them. The commander accelerated as well and Lucy didn't care about the wet concrete anymore, they needed to lose them right away. The driver of the large car honked with great enthusiasm when Natsu abruptly turned right to enter a very narrow alley, so narrow that Lucy's knees scraped the wall. They exited the alley in less than ten seconds and the commander drove even faster so they could reach the main road that would lead them to the High Bridge. This was the fastest way to go back to the Academy, Lucy assumed the commander decided that it was too dangerous to try and lose their pursuers in the town.

A few seconds after they exited the alley, Lucy heard another loud bang. But this time, the bullet hit the target. The blonde recruit yelled in pain and buried her face in the commander's nape to keep herself from letting go of his waist and nursing her injured arm. She felt the muscles of the commander move while he was trying to see what happened and tightened her grip on his shirt to make him understand she wanted him to focus on driving. The motorcycle sped up even more and Lucy felt as if they were floating. When the pain receded, she glanced at the injured spot on her arm and frowned at the small dart that was planted there. She hadn't really been shot, it was just a training dart. They had some at the Academy and used them to get used to the pain of being shot without actually suffering any damage. She ripped it off and put it in the pocket of her jacket.

The following second, the black car hit the back wheel. The roads being soaking wet, the motorcycle staggered dangerously and skidded until it fell brutally and ejected its occupants. Lucy hissed when she felt her knees and elbows scrape against the concrete. Fortunately, and despite their important speed, her head wasn't hit and she managed to stand back up. She looked up and saw the High Bridge, they were so fucking close! The commander was still kneeling, a hand on his forehead and trying to keep his balance. He had probably hit his head while falling. Lucy didn't even hesitate before running toward him. She kneeled beside him and tried to move his hand away to check his wounds, but he didn't let her.

"Go hide," he ordered her, "the headlights are facing the other way, you still have time. Go hide before they turn around."

Lucy glanced over her shoulder and saw that they indeed had enough time to hide.

"Yes," she agreed.

She wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tried to push him up, but he stopped her once again. She squinted her eyes at him and he shook his head.

"Go hide without me," he said, "I'll distract them."

She obviously refused and was about to argue when they heard the car turn around and Natsu pushed her down the grassy slope that led to the river under the High Bridge.

...GRAY...

Why in the world had he agreed to do this? Gray sighed as he heard his friends curse and punch on the metal door of the helicopter. Gajeel said he could pilot the thing, but he couldn't even open it! Beside him, Cana snickered and he glared at her.

"What was the point of asking me to steal the key to the rooftop if you guys can't leave it anyway..."

"Why are you asking me?" Gray retorted. "There are so many weak points to this plan, I don't even know where to start."

"It will be funnier this way," Loke grinned, walking with them with his hands in his pockets.

Gray frowned and tilted his head to see what was happening near the helicopter. Gajeel was already inside.

"He finally opened it," Gray snorted, "better late than never."

Loke laughed and shook his head.

"Levy opened it," he corrected. "We're probably going to die before reaching the right place."

"That's reassuring..."

The door behind them was slammed shut and they flinched, turning around to stare at a silhouette hidden in darkness. They couldn't see who the person was and the rain wasn't helping either. Gray squinted his eyes at the newcomer and gulped when he recognized them. Loke, Levy and Cana all froze as well.

"I was wondering why you all left," he sang, "but it turned out you were already on the move."

A flash of lightning illuminated their surroundings and they all recognized the man without a doubt. He was smiling at them, hands in his pockets.

"You are pretty sharp," he admitted, "but you're really slow. You should have left when you had the time to do so."

Cana crossed her arms over her chest and took a few steps forward to go stand in front of the man. She glared at him when he smiled at her.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Gildarts grinned and patted her head affectionately.

"What?" he laughed. "Can't a father stop his daughter from getting involved in troublesome matters?"

His face suddenly became very serious and he stared at each of them, one after the other.

"Sorry guys, but we're not done with Natsu yet, you're not leaving this place."

Gajeel was still inside the helicopter, but Gray was sure he could see his hands moving behind his back: don't move, stay there. Something told him that Gildarts wasn't only stopping them because they were leaving without permission.

"We know where they are," he said, "we're going to fetch them."

Gildarts shook his head, smiling apologetically.

"No, you're not."

He shrugged his coat off, not minding the heavily pouring rain in the slightest, and stretched his arms.

"You're going back inside to wait in your rooms," he explained, "even if I have to force you back inside."

Gray glanced at Loke, he looked furious, and at Levy. The petite girl looked horrified. Cana didn't look too confident either.

"Stop joking, old man," she scolded him, sounding wary, "we don't have the time..."

"I won't say it a third time," Gildarts interrupted her, "get back inside."

His face was hard and cold. Gray believed him when he said he would force them back inside if he had to. He sighed and turned around to face Loke. He pointed three fingers at Loke and nodded while pointing his thumb at himself before clenching his fist: You leave with three [persons], I stay and play bait. He knew Loke would be the only one to understand this since the code had been invented by Luc. Loke glared at him and shook his head furiously. Gray's jaw contracted. They didn't have time to argue about this. Loke knew just how strong he was, he had seen him fight for real when they were out of the Academy for the weekend. He obviously wasn't strong enough to defeat Gildarts, but he would hold him back. If it was to get his friends back, he was fine with having a few bones broken.

"Hey, hey," a deep voice suddenly sang right beside his ear, "don't turn your back on your opponent..."

Gray recognized Gildarts' voice before he even got to turn around and started to panic, expecting a blow for good measure, but it never came. The large body of the officer stopped moving completely and Gray saw a thin flash of silver against his neck.

"I could say the same thing to you, lieutenant-colonel."

Gray's eyes widened when he recognized the voice of the knife holder. Her blue hair flying madly around her face because of the strong wind, her deep blue eyes sending daggers at the officer, her arm calm and steady despite the rain and the blade that was starting to open a slight cut in the skin. The young man smirked, feeling kind of proud, for some reason.

"Juvia won't let you harm him," she declared.

...LAXUS...

Laxus sighed when he came back to the warehouse and found it empty. He checked his watch, they had escaped in less than ten minutes. The real thing was starting now. The fact that the recruit was there too slightly changed their plans, but it didn't matter. He took his phone out of his pocket and called Jellal.

"Yes?"

"They got out," he grumbled.

"… Already? Fine... I'm on my way, check the area in the mean time."

"No need," Laxus retorted, "they're already far from here."

"How do you know?"

"It's Natsu we're talking about. He's already far away."

Laxus heard his interlocutor sigh and nervously pace.

"Take the car," Jellal said. "Tell me when you found them."

Laxus sighed, failing to see why they were keeping this on, it obviously was pointless.

"Man, I think we can stop now," he said, "he was more than competent..."

"The contract says that we have to stop him from going back," Jellal reminded him, "we have to chase him."

"Such a pain..."

The blonde man heard his interlocutor snicker in agreement and Laxus promised to let him know when he found them before hanging up.

The car was parked in a small garage in the back of the warehouse. It was a large all-terrain vehicle that would definitely be very useful if he wanted to catch up with the crazy commander. He found the woman that was working with Jellal as his sniper near the garage and motioned for her to move.

"You," he said, "come with me."

She glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"My name's not ''you''," she retorted. "Call me by name properly if you don't want me to throw my dagger at your thick skull. And don't order me around, I don't work for you."

Laxus gritted his teeth, trying his best not to piss her off too much.

"Fine," he spat, "stay here and I'll tell Jellal that you refused to come with me when I left to chase our target."

She snickered.

"You're useless to the point that you need me to catch one man?"

"There's a sniper with him," he growled.

The woman lifted an eyebrow, she was finally getting interested in what he was saying. He sighed and clenched his fists. He couldn't believe he was actually going to say this...

"Please, Bisca, come with me."

The green haired woman smirked and grabbed her rifle.

"Sure."

...LUCY...

Lucy hit her head on a rock when falling down the slope and cursed when she checked her forehead with her fingers: she was bleeding. She luckily managed to stand up without much difficulty and climbed the slope back up. She stayed near the bridge to stay hidden in the shadows and crawled when she reached the top of the slope, trying to be invisible. It was still raining heavily and the area wasn't efficiently illuminated so it was hard to see, but Lucy did manage to find the commander. And her eyes widened considerably when she did. A woman with long, green hair was lying on the grass near her, unconscious. There was a handgun near her hand. Natsu was panting heavily, barely standing, beaten up. The lieutenant was facing him, a gun pointed toward his head.

"Jellal was right," she heard Laxus say, "we were right to chase after you."

The commander growled lowly. He looked like a half dead wolf.

"What did you do to me?" he groaned.

Laxus shrugged and pointed at the unconscious woman.

"She shot you a Neutralizing Dart before you knocked her out," he explained. "I'm amazed that you're still standing. Now, it's time to end the game."

He lifted his arm to point the gun at the commander's head once more when Lucy ran out of her hiding spot and grabbed the handgun. Laxus turned around abruptly when he saw her, but she was already pointing her gun at him.

"Put that down, recruit," he ordered. "If you shoot, I shoot too. And believe me, you'll die for sure."

Lucy glanced at the commander, he looked tired, but not defeated. He was shaking his head at her, not willing to risk her life to save his. She snorted and shook her head.

"I won't live long anyway."

She shot. A red flag came out of the gun.

"What the..."

Another car came to park beside Laxus' and Jellal got out, walking toward them with his hands in his pockets, not bothering to try and look surprised.

"Ah, I see that the test is over," he smiled. "Good job, everyone! Why is Bisca sleeping?"

oOo

A helicopter soon arrived on the scene and everyone watched, dumbfounded, as Levy ran out of it and jumped into the blonde recruit's arms, crying. Following her, Loke, Gray and Gajeel glared at Laxus and Jellal. Lucy had to admit that everything that happened after that was quite fuzzy. Makarov called them and ordered everyone to come back to the Academy, where they headed straight for his office. There, they were explained that the kidnapping was only a test for Natsu and his recruits. The commander was supposed to show them that he was still competent enough to be part of the Elite Squad while the recruits were to obey the other officers' orders without panicking. Lucy listened to the general's explanation. He had answers for each of their questions. Jellal and Bisca were independent agents, hired for the occasion, Laxus and Gildarts had been asked to cooperate, everything had been part of the test. And yet, she didn't believe a word he said. The real purpose of this test was being kept secret, she was sure of it.

"Though," the general laughed, "I have to admit that I hadn't expected one of the recruits to be taken along with Natsu! Why did you do such a thing, child?"

Lucy shrugged and averted her eyes. She had an idea about the reason of her reckless actions when it came to the commander, but it was stupid so she ignored it.

"Well," the general went on, "someone did something even more unexpected. Right, mister Fullbuster?"

Lucy glanced at her friend. He was blushing and staring at the wooden floor.

"Miss Lockser threatened to slice the lieutenant-colonel's throat if he tried to hurt him," Loke explained her.

"Wow..."

Gray glared at them when they started to laugh and Makarov kicked them all out. The officers stayed in the office to talk a bit more about the test and in the corridor, the recruits continued to tease Gray.

"She's really crazy about you," Lucy laughed.

"Says the one who shot an officer to save the commander," he retorted. "And he even warned you that he'd kill you if you shot."

"But he didn't," she noted.

Gray stopped walking and stared at her intently. He was dead serious.

"You didn't know that this was all a test, did you? You shot, knowing that you'd probably die. Don't ever do that again, got it?"

Lucy stared at him with wide eyes, since when was he the kind of guy to openly express his feelings? The door of the office opened once again and Lucy forgot to answer Gray when she saw the commander walk out. He found her right away and briefly glanced at her friends before focusing back on her. For a moment, she thought he was going to talk to her, but he just nodded at her and ruffled her hair when he walked past her. Loke smirked at her and she glared at him.

"What?"

"Nothing," he laughed, "you did shoot an officer, risking your life, to save him. I guess it's normal that he'd be grateful."

"Nah, dude," Gray protested, "Natsu never shows affection to anybody, not even to girls. What did you do to him?"

Lucy then remembered that Gray was with Natsu when they went to the club and almost asked him why he was close enough to the commander to hang out with him, but managed to shut up. She wasn't supposed to know about Gray being there with Natsu.

"Yeah," Loke agreed, "your cousin is acting weird lately."

Lucy froze. What?

"His cousin?" she repeated.

Gray glared at Loke and the latter suddenly shut his mouth, not looking amused anymore. Gray sighed and shook his head.

"It's a bit complicated," he said, "I'll explain later. Juvia asked me to meet her and I'm already late..."

"You think that's a..."

"Luc," Loke interrupted her. "He's busy, let him go. And we have to talk, too."

Lucy hesitated, but still nodded at Gray. He promised to eat with them and left, almost running. Lucy watched him leave and would have smiled had the circumstances been different. But Loke was looking at her with his hard gaze and she knew he was expecting her to tell him everything. She followed him in silence and they sat on her bed after making sure that no one could hear them.

"My name," she started, "is Lucy Heartfilia, daughter of the traitor, Jude Heartfilia."

Loke listened to her with impassive eyes even as she told him that her father had been imprisoned for a false accusation.

"Even I don't know the real reason of his imprisonment," she admitted, "I was only five years old when it happened. But I know that what happened the night they came to arrest him wasn't normal. I did some research and I found that my father was being kept in the Pandemonium."

Loke frowned.

"Seriously? I thought it was a myth..."

The Pandemonium was a secret prison where political opposants were being held and tortured. Until the day they died.

"It's not," Lucy assured. "And I'm going to infiltrate it and get him out."

Loke froze and stared at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Do you even have a start of a plan to get there without being killed?" he asked. "And that's only one of the million questions I have."

Lucy smirked.

"The only jail guards allowed to work in the Pandemonium are all members of an Elite Squad."

"That's why you absolutely want to join the Squad? That's far too dangerous, I'm amazed that you're still alive. You have to leave the Academy and run away from this country."

Lucy's smile softened and she moved closer to Loke, who looked more distressed than ever. She took his hand and squeezed it gently.

"He's my only family," she explained. "They took everything and everyone else away from me. He's my only reason to keep living."

"Your only reason..."

Lucy recognized the hurt in his eyes and it pained her to know that she was the source of it, but she didn't want to lie anymore. Though, she had to admit that, lately, she was starting to think that living with those guys, Loke and the others, wasn't all that bad.

"How did you know that I'm actually a girl?"

Her friend smirked and pointed to the door.

"I was right outside when you spoke with Erza on the first night," he admitted. "I eavesdropped."

So, he knew from the beginning and played dumb the whole time?

"Why did you play along?"

He shrugged and smiled playfully.

"I was hoping to catch you naked in the bathroom some day!"

End of chapter 10

Sorry for the long wait, but I'm finally back! Also, next chapter will be better than this one, I'm already onto it!

Once again, thank you very much to everyone who favorited/followed the story and sent reviews, you guys are awesome!

I have to warn you that I most probably won't be able to post anything until the 20th of July, because of work, sorry about that. But I will definitely come back with an awesome chapter, I promise!

Note: Don't forget that this is a fiction, I invented everything for the sake of my story.

See you soon!

Preview

''Hello Little Bird

I've been thinking of what to say to you for the last few weeks, ever since I found you. I'm actually quite moved, you see? I've been looking for you for years, Little Bird. I missed you greatly. I'm pleased to see that you look a lot like your mother, a true beauty. Your father would be so proud to see what you've become, that's if he was by your side. And if he still had his eyes.

Don't worry, Little Bird, I didn't tell the others that I found you. I'll come to you personally very soon. Look forward to it.

Yours, truly.

K''