I'm so sorry it has taken me nearly two weeks to get this chapter up. I can only say that I will try to do better in the future. Thanks to all of you beautiful people who continue to follow this story and review. Thank you to all of you who have added my story as a favorite. You have no idea how much that means to me. You all are wonderful.

As always, Fairy Tail and it's characters belong to Hiro Mashima. I own nothing.

CHAPTER 7: OUT OF REACH

Gray's POV

The walk back to the guild was painfully silent. I couldn't seem to find words to express my horror at the sight of Lucy; she was so broken. She had long ago grabbed my heart and wrapped it right up next to hers; I'd never had a sister before, but everything inside me said that I couldn't love one anymore than I did Lucy. It was simply impossible not to love her. We all in the guild had come with baggage, some sadness or pain in our past; we had, most of us, gone a little dark at times. Not Lucy, somehow she took all her hits and still found a reason to smile. It was killing some part of me to realize that this might be one hit that she couldn't come back from unchanged. And there was nothing I could do; there was nothing anyone could do to change what had happened to her. Loke's face had all but said the same thing. He had fought so hard to save her, and I couldn't imagine how it must have felt to be forced to leave her in the midst an attack. It was easy to see that guilt and self-loathing were taking him over, and I hated it for him. I knew he would never have left Lucy to face such a fate if he'd had a choice; I also knew I would be feeling the same way if it was me. I shook my head, wishing this was all some horrible nightmare that I would discard with the rising of the sun. I glanced over at Erza as the guild came into view. I knew she was dreading this as much as I.

I pushed the doors open and we trudged inside to see that all our members were present and looking at us expectantly. I suppose I should have foreseen everyone being there, considering how we had torn out of the building earlier. Gramps pushed through the crowd, his aged face full of worry. "How is she?" he questioned gently. I looked down at the man who'd been like a father to us all these years and suddenly felt like a child far out of his depth. "She's...Gramps she's hurt...so..." I couldn't finish as I sank to the floor and sobbed. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I heard gasps around the guild, but I didn't care who saw my breakdown. I had somehow managed to keep my control at the hospital, but now it completely deserted me. I felt ravaged, utterly torn apart. I sat there heaving as soft arms enveloped me. "Gray-sama..." Juvia whispered. I leaned into her, tears streaming down my face. I was beyond the idea of being embarrassed at the fact that everyone was seeing my upheaval. All I could think of was Lucy lying in that hospital. My mind was destroying me with visions of her calling out to us for help and no one hearing. I wanted to erase them; I wanted them gone so I could breathe again.

I emptied out my anguish into the silence of the guild, and then a hand appeared in front of me. I looked up into Erza's pain-filled eyes and clasped her hand to stand. I nodded briefly to Juvia, then turned to once again to face Gramps. I dried my eyes as Erza shakily answered, "Lucy was a-attacked earlier this evening. We almost...lost her." She voice cracked as her eyes began to well, so I continued, my breath shuddering, "She was beaten...and stabbed...and they aren't sure if she was...if she was.." I simply couldn't bring myself to say such a horrible possibility. It was almost as if I spoke the words, then it would somehow make it so. And I desperately didn't want it to be true; what was already confirmed was too much. I couldn't bear the thought of that bastard taking that away from Lucy too. Erza picked up the story, looking down as her tears fell to the floor, "She was found strung up and...and her clothes were g-gone..." All around us, everyone had the same horrified look of unbelief.

"Who the fuck did that to her?" Gajeel growled, clutching a sobbing Levy to his chest. Her shoulders shook as she whispered, "No...Lu-chan no..." There were murmurs of agreement throughout the guild until the Master held up his hand. "There's more, isn't there?" he questioned. I grit my teeth and nodded, "The bastard carved his name into her leg." Mirajane cried out as she rocked a whimpering Wendy in her arms. Cana was staring at Lucy's usual seat, her hand gripping the counter; Lisanna had buried her face into her brother's chest, while Elfman fought his own tears. Laxus had turned his face away, his jaw clenching tightly, as his Raijinshuu worked to keep their anger in check. "Who found our Lucy?" Gramps asked. I shook my head in confusion and explained, "Rogue Cheney was the one who brought her to the hospital. He saved her life." The master's face jolted, matching everyone else. I couldn't blame them for the shock; I still couldn't believe it. "How can you be sure that Saber isn't the one that did this to her?" Laxus growled viciously, his blue eyes flashing. Erza looked at him, speaking softly "Because Loke told us who it was and because...because she calls for Rogue in her sleep." I nodded my head again in agreement when everyone looked at us in surprise, "She started screaming while we were there and Natsu tried to comfort her, but she freaked out even more. Rogue was the only one that could calm her down."

"Why would she calm down with someone from Sabertooth, but not with her own boyfriend?" astounded, Macao inquired with his arm around his red eyed son Romeo. Gramps answered for us, "She recognizes his voice as belonging to the one who saved her. She feels safe with him. It's simple; in that moment, he could have hurt her if he'd wanted to. She was defenseless; there was nothing she could have done to stop him. But he didn't harm her; he took her to safety." I cleared my throat and added the final bit of information everyone needed to hear, "He's still out there, her attacker. Goes by the name Tatankan Gnaskiyan; he has some sort of limitless summoning magic." Erza noticed Master about to ask for details and finished my thoughts, "He apparently summons massive animals from what Loke and Rogue said; when the creatures are destroyed, the magic energy that created them doesn't just dissipate. It somehow returns to him. So his magic is never actually drained." Gramps' eyes narrowed slightly, "How does Rogue know of this Tatankan's magic?" I shook my head slowly, "He didn't just find her, Gramps. He fought the man to save Lucy. He's the one that told us most of what we know."

Stunned faces stared back at us from all corners; it seemed they were all stuck, as Natsu was, on why. We shocked them all further when we told them of Rogue informing them of his return in the morning and of his plans to track Lucy's attacker in conjunction with our guild. The master rubbed his chin and voiced his thoughts, "It would seem that we owe that man a great deal."

AT THE HOSPITAL

Natsu's POV

I leaned back onto the makeshift bed near Lucy, and released the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Loke had long since returned to the Spirit World, and it was now completely silent in the room. My mind was churning, trying to figure out what had happened, why Lucy had been attacked. I laid there on my side, watching her sleep, her breath easing out through parted lips. She hadn't moved much since everyone else had left, and I was grateful that she didn't seem to be in any pain at the moment. Looking at all the bandages that were visible, I was once again overcome with horror and a tear slipped from my eye. Lucy, what did he do to you? There was a part of me that didn't want to know, a part that believed it would break me to find out. I knew everything about Lucy, how she looked when she cried or when she was afraid, how she sounded when she sobbed or screamed. And I knew that if I ever found out all that she'd been through, I would forever see her pain and agony in my mind. I would never be able to forget. Then again, Lucy had lived through it and here I was being a coward, trying to protect myself from more pain. She doesn't get to forget it, so why am I working so hard to make it easier on myself? I wiped my eyes and rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling. How could something like this happen to Luce? She was one of the most sincere, innocent people he had ever known; she didn't deserve this. No one deserved something so vile, but Lucy...Lucy was forgiving and kind. She wanted good for everyone, even if they had wronged her in the past. She deserved more than anyone else to be happy and safe...

My train of thought shattered with the sound of moaning. I turned to see Lucy's head slowly moving side to side; she was saying something, but I couldn't make it out. "Luce..." I called to her, as I stood up from my place on the bed. Her head started twitching faster, her face scrunching up in fear. "No...no more...please...no more..." she repeated brokenly like a mantra. As I got closer, I could hear her heart beating frantically. I don't think I'd ever heard one beating so fast and it worried me. "Luce, it's me." I tried again to wake her up, as her mutterings got steadily louder. I reached out and gently grasped her hand. Her eyes suddenly flew open. She took one look at me standing so close to her and jerked her hand away from mine. Her face screwed up in terror and she leaned away from me, opening her mouth to whimper, "Don't touch me...don't touch me." I reached out to her again, "Lucy, it's me, Natsu." She shook her head as my hand got closer, then she shrieked, "Nooo! Stop...don't touch me! No no no...stop!" I dropped my hand, tears momentarily clouding my vision. She frantically scanned the room, calling out in a voice filled with desperation, "Rogue!" Not finding who she was looking for, she disintegrated, beginning to hyperventilate. Her wild eyes darted back to me; it was like she'd never seen me before. Her muscles tensed for a moment before she smashed her hands onto the bed and attempted to scoot across the bed to get away from me. As soon as she put her weight on her arms, she fell to the side and shouted in pain. I jumped forward to help her as the door swung open, her doctor and nurses rushing into the room. She was slapping at my hands and hysterically screeching, "Get away! R-Rogue! Help me!" "Hold her down!" Dr. Jerstin shouted. The nurses grabbed her arms and legs, trying as gently as possible to keep her still.

I stood out of the way, using the wall for support, as the doctor pushed a needle into her arm. It took only a few moments for her body to go lax and her screams to fall silent. I watched as Dr. Jerstin checked her over and nodded to the nurses, who then got her settled under her blankets again. It was unnerving to see Lucy calm so soon after being completely uncontrollable. She still had tears trailing down her face. The nurses left the room, leaving the doctor to find out what had happened. I raised my head and he pinned me with a worried look. "What happened here?" he asked quietly. I shook my head and took a breath, "She started moving around and talking in her sleep, so I tried to hold her hand and talk to her to calm her down. She just freaked out. I'm her boyfriend and she didn't even seem to know me." Her doctor nodded, his arms crossed across his chest, "It isn't all that unusual of a reaction for a woman in her position to have Mr..." "Natsu Dragneel" I sighed, "What do you mean a woman in her position? You mean because she was attacked?" Dr. Jerstin's face softened in sympathy and said, "Mr. Dragneel, your girlfriend wasn't just attacked. I'm sorry to say she was raped." My breath caught in my throat as I dropped to my bed. I couldn't speak, my mind consumed with the man's words. I went through everything Lucy said and did; it all made sense now. I pressed a hand into my chest as if that could stop the awful ache in my heart. My eyes overflowed again; it felt like they'd never stop. The doctor laid his hand on my shoulder and spoke gently, "I'll check on her again in a little while." I heard the door open and his footsteps faded off down the hall. And then it hit me. I had saved Lucy time and time again; I'd always been there to rescue her from whatever fate decided to throw at her. I had never failed her...until now. I had failed her. I'm sorry I didn't save you Luce...I'm so damned sorry. I sat there with my head in my hands, and let the tears take me again.

A/N: This chapter had me crying so hard. Gray in particular broke my heart. Nothing like a big brother's love. Next, we go to Rogue and Sting.