Slowly, everyone got used to the fact that Lucy was dating Bickslow and Bickslow was actually dating someone in general. For the most part, everything was the same as it usually was. Lucy would sit with her team and shake her head at Natsu and Gray's antics and Bickslow would mostly sit with Laxus and the Raijinshuu or Gajeel and Levy (if they decided to sit at separate tables, which by that point was a rare occurrence). Erza was still sending pointed glares towards Bickslow which no one could do anything about, and Mira had stopped fainting whenever she saw the new couple together.

On this particular day, however, Lucy was in fact sitting with Bickslow and the rest of his team, and not to mention Gajeel and Levy. The table was a little crowded.

"And here you all go!" Mira said cheerfully as she placed the new drinks on the table in front of everyone before smiling at Laxus. The guy actually smiled back, too – well, it was a smile by Laxus' standards.

It was at that point Bickslow choked on the drink he'd just picked up because he remembered just what the demon and Dragon Slayer had announced a few weeks earlier over Christmas dinner. With a wide grin, he quickly looked between the two. "Holy shit! I forgot about that!" He couldn't help but cackle.

"The hell are you laughin' about?" Gajeel muttered.

Laxus deftly elbowed the Seith mage in a spot he knew would cause just enough pain for him to shut up but not scream in agony. As much as he loved shocking the guy, he knew if he did so in front of what was technically his girlfriend (or, demon-friend as Laxus liked to put it when Mira wasn't in earshot) then he'd be sleeping on the lounge in his own apartment since Mira supposedly had plans to stay over at Laxus's that night.

But Laxus would be sleeping on his lounge regardless it seemed, since Mira had actually seen him elbow Bickslow, and in her books, shocking was the same as elbowing. "Laxus, that wasn't very nice," the Take Over mage said with a small frown.

"Sorry, de—Mira…" Laxus muttered.

"I can't believe you two are actually together," Bickslow finally said as he clutched his side.

"They're what?" Levy asked, eyes wide as she looked between Laxus and Mira who was grinning sheepishly.

"Since when?" Lucy asked as she put down her glass.

The white-haired woman shrugged as she tucked the serving tray under her arm. "Since the games."

Laxus could only scowl as Mira walked away. It was bad enough that her stupid siblings knew about them, but now his entire team knew, plus Gajeel, and then Lucy and Levy. Laxus had always lived a pretty secretive life, just because he didn't think anyone needed to know every single detail of it. Mira, however, disagreed with his way of living. To Laxus, it was a pain. He could only be glad that the entire guild didn't know… yet.

Lucy looked up from the book she'd been reading with a small yawn, stretching her arms above her head before she looked back down to the table and slammed the book shut.

At the sound, Bickslow turned his head slightly from where he had it resting on his arms. "You leaving?" he slurred, having had a bit too much to drink over the course of the night.

"Yeah." Lucy sighed as she picked up the book and tucked it under her arm. "Catching the first train out in the morning so I want to head home and get some sleep."

"Mm-kay," Bickslow mumbled, sitting up slowly. "Come see me in the morning before you leave."

She walked around the back of the bench slowly as Bickslow turned in his seat to continue facing her. "That will be at six thirty in the morning, Bicks," Lucy giggled.

"I can go back to sleep after."

"If you insist." She leant down over the back of the bench, briefly pressing their lips together before separating as Gajeel made a gagging sound that warranted an elbow from the Script mage. "Alright, gotta go. Love you, Bicks," she said softly.

"Love you too, Cosplayer," Bickslow mumbled as his head went back to the table and Lucy turned to head for the doors.

"It's so disgusting I'm gonna puke," Gajeel muttered.

Lucy yawned as she climbed the steps one at a time to Bickslow's second floor apartment. When the tenant of the apartment next to his locked the door behind himself and passed her in the short hall with a scowl, Lucy could only smile and wave, only just catching the 'I actually got some sleep last night,' the man muttered before he headed down the steps.

Bickslow's apartment was dark as usual. Without thinking, she pushed open the dark curtains in his living room, bathing the room in the early morning light as she looked down at the canal that ran along the back of his building. I wish I had taller windows, she thought before she turned to push open the shutters above the kitchen sink, leaning her hands on the sides as she enjoyed the smell of the freshly baked bread coming from the bakery a few buildings down.

But she wasn't there to enjoy the smell of the freshly baked bread in the mornings. She was there to wake up her boyfriend, as he'd so insisted.

Lucy giggled quietly at the sight of Bickslow sprawled across the bed diagonally, one foot hanging over the side as he lay tangled up amongst the sheets with the duvet half on the floor and half on the bed. It was a miracle he didn't end up waking up like that every time Lucy stayed over, because every time he slept on his own, that's how he'd end up. Always.

She jumped up onto the mattress before moving to seat herself on his back, her knees on either side of his surprisingly narrow waist – well, compared to his shoulders anyway. Bickslow grunted into the pillow at the sudden weight on his back as he slowly opened an eye, squinting as he got used to the light shining through the door from the rest of his apartment.

"Morning, baby," he mumbled, instantly grimacing when he realised he'd let baby slip again. Since he'd starting dating Lucy, he'd paid special attention to the words he used around her and baby was one of them. It was just one of those words he'd always used and no one had ever paid much attention to it. He liked to think of it as his own version of Natsu's 'I'm fired up.'

But there were a few times he'd use it when referring to Lucy and they'd all been when he was half asleep or just waking up. Personally, Bickslow liked it just because it was one of those words he liked to use, but he never really knew that Lucy thought of it. He still preferred Cosplayer over anything and he always would.

"Baby again, huh?" Lucy giggled as she leant forward, folding her arms across the back of his shoulders and resting her chin on them. It was a strangely comfortable position.

"Shut up," he mumbled into the pillow. "You're hurting my back." And she really was. Not because she was heavy, because really, she wasn't. It was just that where she was sitting was really uncomfortable for him. If she'd been sitting slightly higher or lower on his back, it would be fine.

"Aw, am I too heavy for you?"

Bickslow scoffed as he closed his eyes again. "Yes." He knew she wasn't going to take offence to it, so he could get away with it. Well, he hoped, anyway.

Another giggle from the blonde as she sat up slightly, still not moving from her seat. "Maybe that's because there's two people sitting you."

Every single muscle in his body tensed as his eyes shot open again, staring at the blonde on top of him from the corner of his vision. "…What?" he whispered. No… What? No. It's got to be a joke. She has to be messing with me 'cause I messed with her.

Her giggles turned into a full blown laughing fit as she moved to lay on the bed next to him. "Oh god. Calm down," she giggled. "It was a joke." A pretty funny joke if you ask me.

"That was not," Bickslow snaked around her waist to pull her in to his side, moving to kiss her briefly, "a funny joke."

"Yes it was."

"It really wasn't." But he couldn't help but smirk. Partly because it was a little funny if he thought about it. That and he was staring back at the grinning face of his girlfriend. It was kind of hard not to smile. "When do you have to leave?"

"In a few minutes," she said with a small sigh.

"What's the job again?"

"A dark guild that popped up recently. I think the request from the town said they were called something like Svik Thorne Er," Lucy mumbled, resting her head on her folded arms. "I should be back tomorrow or the day after though."

Bickslow furrowed his brow slightly. "I've heard that before," he mumbled. Where have I heard that name before? "Which town?"

An airy laugh left her mouth. "I can't remember the name of it. What's with all the questions?"

"I just want to know where you are in case something happens."

"Bicks, it's a simple job. I'll be fine."

"I know you will be, but just in case," he murmured. "I'd be a pretty shitty boyfriend if I didn't worry about you, especially when you always manage to get hurt somehow."

Lucy scoffed as she sat up slowly. "Okay, not always." Like… ninety-nine percent of the time, somehow. As Bickslow rolled onto his back she reached into her key pouch to find Horologium's key, and with a quiet sigh, she turned back to face Bickslow. "I should probably get going though. Erza wanted us to try and get to the station more than five minutes before the train departs for once."

"Doubt that will happen," Bickslow scoffed as he pushed himself to sit up, rubbing his eyes as he did so. "But seriously, be careful, okay?"

"Bickslow, it's going to be fine," Lucy groaned as she sat up on her knees. "But just for you, I'll be extra careful, alright?"

"Good."

She leant in to press a kiss to his cheek before climbing off the bed. "I'll see you when I get back."

"Mmkay," he mumbled, lying back down again. "I love you, Lucy."

"I love you too, Bicks," she called from down the hall with a smile he couldn't see.

So as Lucy walked through the streets of Magnolia in the crisp winter air, heading for the train station where she'd most likely only find Erza and Gray right until the last minute, Bickslow slowly got comfortable on his bed again.

Ever since she'd mentioned that guild's name, he had an uneasy feeling he couldn't shake. He'd heard it before but he didn't know where, but he also knew there was nothing he could do about that at whatever ungodly hour it was.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes and pulled the blanket over his head in an attempt to make it at least appear like it wasn't morning. He could always ask Freed about it when he eventually woke up again. If anything, the Rune mage would probably tell him it's nothing and Bickslow would be able to put his anxiety down to not wanting Lucy to get hurt (not too much) and him just making things out of nothing.

Yeah, that's what will probably happen.

When Bickslow eventually got to the guild at his usual time of some point after noon, he instantly went searching for Freed. A quick once-over of the hall and he spotted the man at the request board.

Freed turned his head when he saw someone approaching and his focus returned to the almost overflowing board. "Good morning, Bickslow," he murmured. If he wasn't too busy searching for the request he'd seen the day before, he would have at least tried to seem like he was interested in the man's wellbeing.

But Freed had been up all night worrying about what he'd seen on that one job request that he could not find that morning for the life of him. The worst part was that because he'd only glanced at it the day before, he couldn't remember every detail about it, so when he'd stayed up to go over every book he thought would be helpful, he found nothing. He didn't remember enough about it for his books to be of any use, so he just had to hope that the request was still there. Somewhere.

Bickslow folded his arms across his chest as he looked over the requests beside Freed. Maybe one of them they'd be able to do in a day or so, just for something to kill the time with. "Hey, have you heard Svik Thorne Er before?" he asked.

And just like that, Freed's focus on the board was lost as he turned to stare at the Seith mage. "Where did you hear that?" he demanded.

"Lucy mentioned it this morning and—woah, Freed." Bickslow had to take a step back when he turned to look at the Rune mage. He rarely saw the man with a look so determined and honestly chilling. He had his occasionally disturbing grins and he had his focused looks, but this was something else. He almost looked scared to Bickslow. "What's the matter?"

Freed took a steadying breath as he closed his eyes, counting to three in his head. "Bickslow, you've heard those words before, correct?"

"Yeah, that's the thing. Lucy said it was the name of a dark guild that recently popped up so it doesn't make any sense."

When Freed looked down before turning and rushing off towards Levy, Bickslow felt the panic well up inside him. Freed was acting weird and it had something to do with the guild name that he couldn't remember where he'd heard before, and by the looks of it, Freed had heard it before as well.

"Freed, wait!" Bickslow called, running after the man. "Tell me what's going on."

"Be quiet, Bickslow," Freed snapped and it made the Seith mage flinch. Then, turning to Levy when he got to the table, he said, "Levy, I require your assistance. Are you able to translate something for me?"

"Of course," she said with a small smile as she pushed her own books aside and into where Gajeel had his head resting on the table.

So as Freed wrote down the name on a scrap piece of paper, he glanced up at Bickslow. "So I take it Lucy's team took that request?" he asked, and Bickslow nodded. "Did she mention anything else? Where she was going? Anything?"

"I… I don't know… I asked her which town it was in but she said she couldn't remember the name." He had to fold his arms across his chest just to stop his hands from shaking and the need to fidget. "Freed, please tell me what's going on," Bickslow whispered.

With a sigh, Freed turned and motioned for the Seith mage to follow him. "I saw the request yesterday and I remembered seeing something very similar to it once before, a few years before the Tenrou incident, if memory serves me correct," he explained as they walked down the stairs to the basement slowly. "Something about that name is making me anxious. That request should not have been here though. I know that much."

"What do you mean?" Bickslow was on the verge of having a panic attack at that point. If it was making Freed anxious then it was really not good, but he had to remind himself to remain calm. Until he had all of the information, at least.

"I'm not sure myself," Freed mumbled as he moved over to the large communications lacrima, wiping the fine layer of dust from it with his coat sleeve. "Bickslow, would you please go ask Mira if she recorded any details from Team Natsu's job?"

"Uh… Yeah, sure…"

As Bickslow turned to head up the stairs slowly, still trying to tell himself to remain calm, Freed opened a line with the Blue Pegasus Guild Master.

Freed cleared his throat as the bald man appeared on the lacrima. "Good afternoon, Master Bob. It is Freed Justine from Fairy Tail. I hope all is well."

"Why, hello, Freed," the Blue Pegasus Guild Master said as he rested his chin in his hands. "What can I help you with? I trust old Makarov is alright?"

"Makarov is fine, yes. I actually need to talk with one of your members: Hibiki Lates. Is he there? It is a rather urgent matter."

"Hm, I'll just see…" He picked his head up from his hands as he stood up from where he'd been leaning over the bar and Freed shuddered slightly as he closed his eyes, trying to block out the sight. "Hibiki!" Bob shouted.

"Yes, Master?" was heard before all three of the Trimens appeared on the edge of the lacrima's vision before Hibiki moved into the centre and smiled at the image of Freed. "How can I help you, Freed?" he asked politely.

The Rune mage clasped his hands behind his back as he cleared his throat again. "If possible, I need you to find everything you can on Svik Thorne Er using your Archive." He knew there wouldn't be anything in the guild books, but Hibiki's Archive magic was just something else entirely.

Bob's head popped into vision again. "Svik Thorne Er?" he repeated warily.

"Yes, that is correct. I fear one of our teams have been put in grave danger, so Hibiki, if you'd please. I would be ever so grateful and would return the favour whenever I can."

"Of course. Anything for Fairy Tail," Hibiki said with a forced smile, pushing Bob's head out of the way. "I'll get back to you when I have some information. Goodbye for now, Freed."

Freed sighed when the lacrima returned to normal and he could no longer feel his magic powering it. With Hibiki using his Archive and Levy translating it, they should be able to figure it out. All they had to do was find out where they were, and hopefully, everything would be okay and no one would get hurt if they got there in time – especially Lucy.

He knew that something bad was going to happen either way.

When Bickslow came back down with the details on the job Team Natsu had taken, Freed was pacing the area with this fingers under his chin. Mira had made almost a carbon copy of the original request, like she did for every request that anyone took. It was always just a precaution, just in case they should find themselves in trouble and they need help. It rarely happened, but for once Bickslow was honestly glad she'd done it.

The longer he stared at the small map in one corner of it, the more confused he got. There was a small dot with an arrow marked just north of Oak Town. Bickslow had lived in Fiore his entire life and he knew for a fact that there was no town just north of Oak Town.

Not anymore, anyway. Once upon a time though, there had been a town. A small town. So small, it could barely even be called a town. It had been destroyed in some guild war years before Bickslow even existed and the only reason he knew about it was because his father had been involved in the clean-up of it and it was one of those stories he'd always loved hearing about as a kid.

But to that very day, all that remained in that location were the ruins of what was once a small town, and he knew that for a fact because they'd passed through it only a few months prior. There was no possible way that a fully functioning and thriving town could have been built in such a small time frame, so why the hell was there a request coming from what was once called Larch Town?

Freed looked up from his pacing when he heard the heavy steps down the stairs and he rushed over to Bickslow as he held the paper out. He read over every single word on the page once, then again, just to make sure he'd read it right. "Larch Town?" he whispered, briefly looking up to Bickslow who was back to having his arms folded. "This is not good…"

"Freed, for the love of god, please tell me what's going on," Bickslow pleaded slowly, his voice wavering slightly. If Freed was saying it wasn't good, then it really was not good. At all.

"I can't, not yet—"

They both turned as Levy came bounding down the stairs, still with her Gale-Force glasses on. "I've got it!" she said, breathless as she ran up to the two men.

"And? What does it mean?" Freed demanded.

"It's an old language, so it was hard to get the exact translation, but it roughly translates to Thorne's Deceit."

"Thorne?" Bickslow mumbled as he looked back to Freed. "Wasn't there some guy called Thorne in—" And then every shred of colour left his face when he remembered where he'd heard it before. It wasn't just the name of a dark guild – it was the name of a guild that shouldn't exist anymore. "Freed… Please, tell me that's not what this is…" he whispered.

Freed sighed as he walked back over to the lacrima. "I'm still waiting for Hibiki of Blue Pegasus to get back to me with what he can find with his Archive. I'm still not too sure though…" "

"Wait… what's going on?" Levy asked as she looked frantically between the two.

"Something really fucking bad, that's what," Bickslow mumbled as he started pacing the room like Freed had been.

Bickslow knew there had been something about that job when Lucy had mentioned it that morning. He shouldn't have gone back to bed. Instead, he should have gone to the guild or Freed's house. Something. Anything.

Bickslow wasn't worrying for nothing. Far from it.

Once, a few years before the Tenrou incident, Laxus and the Raijinshuu had been planning on taking a request for destroying a dark guild under the name of Svik Thorne Er, but they'd been stopped by Makarov. They hadn't been a guild that could easily be taken down with four people. It would've been a suicide mission had they done that job. They were all masters of deception and trickery, using illusions to lure teams from legal guilds with faked requests from towns that didn't exist and everyone had long since forgotten.

Svik Thorne Er – or Thorne's Deceit – had been destroyed, once, and it had taken the entirety of Blue Pegasus and many of the members of Fairy Tail to do so. The master, Thorne, had been imprisoned and the guild disbanded by force and that was the last anyone had heard of the guild of deceit for a while.

Until that day, that is. Somehow, Thorne's Deceit was back and were back to their old tricks of using towns that no longer exist or never existed to trick mages into believing there's a small dark guild around the area, baiting them into their trap. Whether or not Thorne himself was back at the helm was a mystery, but that's not what terrified Bickslow and Freed the most.

In the seven years that they'd been gone, everyone had improved. Not just those in Fairy Tail or any other legal guilds in Fiore, but those in dark guilds as well. Majority of the original members of Thorne's Deceit had escaped or fled, with only a few getting imprisoned like their master. It was safe to say that those that had fled held a grudge, and if it had taken more than an entire guild to shut them down in the first place, then they were going to be an even tougher opponent now.

But to Bickslow, that wasn't really the most worrisome part. It was that Lucy's team had been the one to get drawn in by the bait, and honestly, Bickslow couldn't be mad, not after his own team had made the same mistake. The only difference was that someone had stopped them before they could leave. Makarov hadn't been there when her team had taken the job so there was nothing anyone could have done unless they'd specifically mentioned what job they were doing, and they hadn't. They hadn't had a reason to.

He could feel his chest tighten as he continued pacing. He couldn't breathe. Lucy was in danger with the rest of her team and there wasn't anything he could do about it – not alone, anyway. He was smart enough to know that running after her and into a trap was not going to end well, and that was even if he managed to even make it out of the guild. Freed would no doubt tell Laxus, and Laxus would tell the master (wherever he was, anyway) but then maybe, just maybe, they'd be able to get there in time to save them.

"Fuck," Bickslow whispered as he bent over slightly, his hands resting on his knees as he tried to steady his breathing, his jaw in a firm line as he stared down at the floor.

"Bickslow? Are you okay?" Levy asked quietly, reaching out to place her hand on the cloak-covered shoulder.

He nodded once. "Yeah, great. Girlfriend's probably going to get herself killed, but great," he snapped sarcastically before dropping his head even more, squeezing his eyes shut. He wasn't ready to have his happiness ripped away from him, not when he'd only just got it back.

"What?" Levy shouted, looking up to Freed who was shaking his head.

"You don't know that for sure, Bickslow," the Rune mage said, turning to look at the lacrima when he saw it flash briefly. "It could just be a prank of some sort."

"Pretty fucking cruel prank if it is," he snapped.

It wasn't Hibiki who appeared when the lacrima finally flickered to show the image, it was Bob again. "Freed? Where's Makarov?" he asked quietly, not a single trace of his usual smile was on his face.

"I'm afraid the master is not here at the moment. Did Hibiki find anything?" Freed replied, folding his arms across his chest.

"Unfortunately, yes. You're aware of their history, correct?" Bob said, glancing behind him to where Hibiki was still scouring his Archive for information. When Freed nodded, he continued, "Thorne was released from prison on good behaviour recently. However, it appears Thorne's Deceit never truly disbanded."

"What do you mean?"

"Thorne has a daughter. She fled following his imprisonment, but recently, there have been sightings of her around Oak Town, sporting the guild crest, no less. It's possible she has been acting master for the reformed Thorne's Deceit since her father was imprisoned."

"Absolutely fucking brilliant," Bickslow spat.

A sorrowful glare from Freed in Bickslow's direction before he turned back to the lacrima. "Master Bob, now if I may ask…" He held up the request in front of the lacrima for the Blue Pegasus master to read. "If this were to have appeared on our request board, it would be correct to assume that Svik Thorne Er have reformed and are back to their old habits?"

Bob squinted as he leant in close, reading over the request in the communications lacrima before sitting back. With a small frown he nodded. "I'm afraid so, Freed. That looks to point at Larch Town, in memory serves me, which would explain the Oak Town sightings."

At that point, Bickslow was unable to listen anymore. If he looked up, he could see Freed's mouth moving and Bob's on the lacrima but he couldn't hear anything. Just silence. Everything was in slow motion, and to Bickslow, it felt like the world as he knew it was crumbling around him.

He could vaguely feel himself falling back to sit on the floor, and then he was sitting with his knees up and his hands clasped behind his head as he looked down at the floor.

Even though he'd already jumped to the conclusion that Thorne's Deceit was back and that Lucy and her team really had walked into a trap, hearing it from someone else just made it much more real. That was the reality. It wasn't just him worrying about her and wanting her to always be safe. The reality was that her team had unwillingly walked into a trap and they wouldn't realise it until it was too late.

Even though he wanted to just go to Larch Town, or what was left of it, he knew he couldn't. There was nothing he could do and he didn't know if that's what was hurting him or it was the fact he'd lose Lucy.