Warning: This chapter contains depictions of sexual harassment.
Note: Near the end I kind of give up on using the line for dividing points of views, the transitions are too fast. But I think it's fairly obvious who's P.O.V. it is, so I'll probably stop using the little division lines after this chapter.
Natsu froze, growling at the sight. He wanted to fight, to punch them all, but he couldn't drop Lucy, he couldn't leave her side. He turned to try and leave the room, but sure enough, two men had blocked the door behind him.
One had a long nose and and spiked up blond hair and he was holding a knife. The other had a scar covering one eye and messy, reddish-brown hair. But what they looked like didn't matter.
Because they were in his way.
"That's Racer and Cobra." Lucy whispered so quietly that only Natsu's dragon hearing could have picked it up. "They…they tortured me."
Anger flared in Natsu's stomach and bile rose in his throat. He should burn them where they stood, but that would mean letting go of Lucy.
"Move." Natsu demanded. Neither of the men answered. Natsu heard snickering behind him, and turned to face the man, sitting ever so calmly behind his desk.
Jude Heartfilia.
"Well, well," he laughed hysterically, "I knew you mages were stupid, but the odds of you running right to me!" Jude stood up from his chair and clapped slowly. "Truly, hysterical. You brought her right back to me. Thank you, Natsu? Was it?"
Jude approached Natsu slowly, Natsu backed away until he felt the cool touch of Racers knife against his back.
"Nowhere to run, Natsu." Jude sneered. "But, you don't have to die for her, you know." He eyed Lucy as if she were a rat from an alley. It made Natsu even angrier.
"I'll give you a choice." Jude leaned in close to Natsu, his tall form making the shorter boy feel small and weak, he wondered if this was how Lucy felt all the time around him. "Hand Lucy over to me, and I'll let you run back to your little guild, completely unharmed." Jude offered.
"Natsu-" Lucy began, Natsu simply held the girl tighter.
"Not happening." Natsu stated without hesitation.
Jude simply straightened up and laughed again.
"I see you're quite protective over her." He teased, turning to gaze out his large office window. "I'm not sure why, that bitch is bad luck. She is nothing but a nuisance and brings nothing but pain into the lives of those she's associated with."
Natsu felt Lucy tremble in his arms, she buried her face in his vest, and he heard her short, quick breaths. She was barely keeping it together.
"You're wrong!" Natsu shouted. Jude looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at the fire mage. "Luce is…she's amazing! She's not bad luck! And she's brought a lot of happiness into my life and to everyone in the guild! I wouldn't be the same without her! I protect her because I care about her! And there is no way I'm leaving her here with a bastard like you!"
Jude turned to face him again, looking him in the eyes, his sly smile returned.
"You wouldn't leave her here? But, you already have, once, haven't you?"
Natsu felt like he'd been stabbed in the gut. Jude was right. That night, when he'd tried to save her, they'd gotten so close, but in the end he had left her and she'd been tortured for it. Guilt smothered him. The room spun.
"I didn't…it wasn't…" He stammered, as he wondered if it really was all his fault.
"-su. Natsu!" Lucy's voice broke his trance, he looked down to see her gripping his vest and giving him an intense look. "This is not your fault." She stated. Then, she lowered her voice, softening her grip on his vest. "You should go, I'll be okay."
Natsu grew enraged. "Like hell I'm leaving you! Would you quit trying to be the hero and start worrying about yourself for once!"
"I know but I-"
"Lucy! I said we were going home, and I meant we are going home, so quit being weird and be quiet so I can find a way out of this!" He snapped.
A weak but warm smile spread on her face, her eyes grew watery.
'Oh no, please don't cry, please don't cry.' Natsu pleaded in his head. Thankfully, she blinked the water away and nodded happily.
Natsu grinned back.
Jude frowned.
"I must say I'm disappointed in your decision to make things difficult. You have a lot in common with my daughter, it would seem."
"Yeah, Luce can be pretty stubborn." Natsu responded obliviously.
"Natsu!" Lucy whined, weakly hitting his chest. Natsu bit back a laugh. Evan after everything, Lucy was still Lucy.
Apparently, Jude had had enough of the joking around. A deep scowl stained his face.
"I've had enough of this, deal with them." Jude sighed. With a wave of his hand, Racer was on the move. Natsu saw the man shift in his peripheral vision, only for him to seemingly disappear.
'What the hell? He's fast.' Natsu thought. In an instant, Lucy was ripped from Natsu's arms and flung across the room. He heard he scream as she flew and a grunt as she hit the wall, then the floor with a sickening thud, landing with her back to him. Her body went still.
"Lucy! No!" Natsu tried to run to her, but was knocked back into the office doors by a strong blow to the stomach. The wind was knocked out of him.
He fell onto his hands and knees, lighting his fists on fire, he prepared himself for a fight. Looking up, he saw Racer standing a few feet in front of him, leg still raised from kicking him.
"Too slow." Racer taunted with a smile that made Natsu very mad.
Natsu began to rise to his feet, only for Racer to disappear once more.
Natsu attempted to throw a punch, but before he could even pull his arm back, he felt cool metal clamp down on one of his wrists, his arms were brutally yanked behind him, and the metal clamped onto his other wrist, trapping his arms together behind him.
Racer reappeared in front of him, his lips twisted in a confident smirk.
Natsu gazed over his shoulder at the handcuffs restraining him, immediately he summoned flames to melt the metal, but instead of fire licking his skin, the handcuffs began to glow, and Natsu immediately felt an immense amount of his magic drain from his body. He fell to his knees, shocked by the sudden weakness.
"Magic draining cuffs." Racer snickered. "You ain't fighting anyone with those on you"
Natsu tried once more to summon flames, this time with his feet, but the handcuffs stole his magic yet again.
"Dammit." Natsu muttered angrily, looking over at Lucy's crumpled form, still motionless.
"Luce! Get up!" He called to her. Pleading in his head for her to be okay, for her to hold on just a little longer. "Come on Luce, just a hang on a little longer, I'll get us out of here!" He cried, not knowing if she was hearing him or not. Lucy didn't budge. Natsu couldn't even tell if she was breathing, and that was not comforting.
"Aw, how touching," Cobra teased, walking up to Lucy. He crouched next to her, and spoke loudly into her ear, "the prince has come to save his princess."
"Get away from her." Natsu warned, feeling anger building up at Cobra's closeness to Lucy.
"It's really too bad," Cobra whispered, seemingly knowing Natsu's dragon hearing would pick up on it, "that the prince is all tied up." He looked over at Natsu, and, slowly, placed his hand on Lucy's back.
"Don't touch her!" He tried to run to her, to stop Cobra and his filthy hands. Natsu ran fast, but Racer was still faster. Natsu barley ran a foot before he felt a hand on his bound wrists and a cold blade against his throat.
"Try it, dragon boy." Racer threatened, pressing the knife harder to Natsu's skin.
'How do they know about my magic?' He wondered briefly, then he pushed the thoughts aside, deciding it wasn't important right now. Natsu had the idea to melt the knife, but then remember the stupid magic draining cuffs. He cursed loudly. Why hadn't he ran straight to Lucy while he'd had the chance? He was an idiot, and now he was helpless too. He could do nothing but stand and watch as Cobra slowly moved his hand down her back. Tracing circles into the silk of her nightgown.
"STOP IT! GET OFF HER YOU BASTARD!" Natsu screeched desperately, as Cobra's hands traveled, down, down, down. Caressing and tracing a body that was not his to touch. Natsu squirmed as much as he dared, twisted his arms frantically in Racers grip, he felt the knife knick his skin, and tears prick his eyes. A small line of blood dripped down his neck, but he didn't even notice.
"Lucy! WAKE UP!" He screamed. "LEAVE HER ALONE DAMMIT! PLEASE!" He begged and pleaded for Cobra to stop, to take his hands away.
From his desk, Jude watched.
Cobra's hands had made it down to Lucy's hips, then he paused, and took his hands away.
Natsu's body shook with a mixture of relief and rage. Relief that Cobra hadn't gotten far, and rage that Cobra had gotten close in the first place.
"Well would you look at that, the mighty Salamander, begging and pleading, broken down to tears all for some weak little girl."
"Take these handcuffs off me and fight me! You're the real weakling here, you coward!" Natsu challenged Cobra.
"No can do, you're not our problem, what we wan't is the girl and her keys. You just happen to be a pesky obstacle, and a fun toy to mess around with." Cobra shrugged.
Jude cleared his throat, as a reminder he was still here, and to gain everyones attention. Natsu felt sick as he realized he'd been there the whole time, just watching and letting Cobra touch his own daughter.
"If the boy is no use to us Cobra, I would like to dispose of him. Immediately." Jude commanded.
"Of course sir." Cobra said with a bow. Taking on a whole new politeness that hadn't been there seconds before.
"Racer, get rid of him." Cobra instructed.
"All due respect Cobra, but are we positive the boy has no information on the keys or where the girl hid them?" Racer asked Jude.
Natsu tensed. Of course he had information on the keys. He knew exactly where Lucy hid them because she hid them in his pocket.
"Well, quit standing around and find out if he knows anything." Jude ordered.
Racer immediately tightened his grip on his knife. Squeezing Natsu's wrists tight, he jostled the fire mage.
"Spill."
"I don't know anything." Natsu tried to sound calm, but there was a snarl in his voice nonetheless.
"Racer, you've had a knife to his throat for ten minutes now, I'm pretty sure threats and weapons aren't going to work on him." Cobra pointed out.
Natsu clenched his jaw, this couldn't be good.
"What do you suggest we do then?" Racer snapped.
Cobra approached Lucy once again.
Natsu breath caught in his throat, no, not again.
But Cobra didn't go for her body. Instead her grabbed a handful of her hair, and pulled her onto her feet.
Lucy let out a pain filled screech as her hands flew to her scalp.
"Look at that, she's alive." Cobra deadpanned.
"Lucy! Let her go!" Natsu yelled for probably the tenth time.
"Sure thing." Cobra replied, promptly dropping the blonde. She crashed onto her hands and knees with a gasp and whimper of pain.
She was badly hurt, but now Natsu knew she was alive.
"Luce! Hey Luce look at me!" He spoke fast but tried not to be to commanding. He did his best to disguise the panic in his voice.
Lucy's tired eyes met Natsu's. Natsu forced a smile.
"It's gonna be okay. I promise you, we're gonna be okay. I just need you to hold on for me okay? Don't give up!"
Lucy opened her mouth to speak, then her eyes trailed down Natsu's face, stopping on the knife being held to his throat. Her eyes widened in horror.
'Shit, so much for keeping her calm.' Natsu thought worriedly.
Lucy was rudely woken from her unconscious state by the feeling of her scalp lighting on fire. Or, at least thats what it seemed like. She screamed, shutting her eyes tight and scraping at her skull. Her feet kicking the air frantically in search of the ground. She heard someone yell her name, it was a voice she thought she recognized.
Suddenly, the pain on her skull ceased only to be replaced by a horrible sting as her knees and hands smacked into the hard floor. As she collided with the floor, her memories came flooding back. All the torture, all the pain, and Natsu coming to save her.
Natsu. That was the voice she had just heard, and was currently hearing now. She looked up wearily and her eyes met the fierce ones of Natsu's across the room. His face seemed to be the only thing she was able to focus on, the rest of the room was one big blur. Lucy became aware of a terrible pounding in her head.
"…hold on for me okay? Don't give up!" He yelled.
'Why is he so far away?' Lucy wondered. The headache subsided a little bit, and her vision became a bit more focused. Instinctively, her eyes traced him for injuries. She didn't get far before her eyes landed on the glinting dagger being held to his throat.
Her breath caught in her throat, feeling the familiar sensation of panic engulfing her. Natsu could die, and she couldn't even bring herself to stand up. How had this happened? The last thing she remembered was being in his arms… She looked around the room for Jude. Sure enough, there he was, sitting behind his desk, as if nothing unusual were taking place.
Lucy boxed up her emotions, shooting Jude the dirtiest look she could muster.
"Leave him out of this." She snarled, though it was more of a strained whisper. Jude didn't answer, he simply gave a pointed look to the man standing behind Lucy. Lucy looked over her shoulder, and shot Cobra a dirty look as well. Cobra simply snickered and roughly grabbed Lucy's wrists and pulled her onto her feet.
"Tell me this one thing, princess." He gave Lucy a little shove, and laughed as her broken ankle gave out, causing her to clumsily collapse to one side. His grip on her already agitated wrists never weakened. He pulled her up straight again.
"Does this fiery brat have any information on your keys or their whereabouts?"
"He has nothing to do with this." Lucy snapped back.
"Does he know where the keys are? Yes or no?" Cobra was getting more aggravated by Lucy's refusal to cooperate.
"I don't know? Why don't you ask him?" Lucy taunted.
"You little bitch! Racer, do it!" Cobra shouted.
Lucy's head snapped over to Natsu. Racer took the knife away from the fire mages throat, only to raise it, ready to strike.
"No! Don't!" Lucy screeched. But she was too late. With speed impossible to dodge, Racer swung the blade down, stabbing it deep into Natsu's right shoulder blade. Natsu let out a ferocious roar of pain, collapsing to his knees as blood soaked through his vest.
"NATSU!" Lucy screamed out.
"Does he know where the keys are?" Cobra yelled, shaking Lucy more. Racer ripped the knife out of Natsu's shoulder and raised it again.
"NO! He has no idea so please STOP HURTING HIM!" Lucy begged. Shaking in Cobra's grip, trying desperately to get to Natsu.
'Why wasn't he fighting back? Why wasn't he lighting the place on fire?' Lucy's mind raced. It didn't take her long to assume it was the strange glowing cuffs she had gotten a glimpse of.
She had to get those cuffs off. She had to save him. Natsu sat on his knees, staring at the ground and panting.
"Well, you heard the girl. He is of no use to us." Cobra said disinterestedly. "Kill him."
Lucy lost control. As if on auto pilot, she threw her head back, smashing her skull into Cobra's forehead. The shock of it causing him to curse and step back, letting go of her wrists.
She put her arms out to her sides, letting her celestial power flow through her.
"I said…"
Racer brought the knife down. Lucy started to glow.
"…don't TOUCH HIM!" she shouted. A tidal wave of celestial magic shot from her body. Sweeping through the room, throwing Racer from his feet just before the knife made contact with Natsu. Jude and Cobra were also flung across the room, but Natsu was unaffected.
Lucy's surge of power faded as fast as it had come, but rather than feeling drained, she felt energized. She saw Angel's whip she had stolen earlier lying on the floor a few feet away. She ran to grab the whip, then sprinted to Natsu.
She picked up the knife Racer had dropped and smashed it into the loops of the cuffs chains. She twisted with the strength of a beast until the chain popped and the cuffs broke apart.
She heard Natsu take a deep breath as his magic came rushing back. Quickly, he melted off the remains of the chains. She crawled over to sit in front of him. Tears quickly filling her eyes as she looked at him.
She pushed on his good shoulder until he was sitting up straight.
"Lucy…" He smiled and reached out to push a piece of her hair out of her face, but she quickly swatted his hand away.
"Don't move." She commanded. Ripping off his vest, she examined the wound. It was deep, she thought she could see the white of bone. She desperately tied Natsu's vest around the wound, using one hand to press on the fabric in attempt to stop the bleeding. With the other hand, she covered her mouth, both in shock and to contain her want to vomit.
"I'm so sorry, this is my fault." She sobbed. If only she hadn't antagonized Cobra, this wouldn't have happened.
Natsu laughed. "Seriously? You're so weird Luce. I've been through way worse then this little scratch, and look at yourself before you start worrying about me. It's my fault really, I let them get those cuffs on me, and I was completely powerless. You just saved my life."
"It doesn't matter, I'm the one who put your life in danger in the first place." She sobbed loudly, the tears spilling over now, "I'm so sorry!"
Cringing at the sight of her tears, Natsu quickly wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her close to him. He let her head rest on his un-injured shoulder, careful to not get any of his blood on her. She pressed her face into his bare chest, her hands tightly gripped his scarf, which she still wore around her neck, and he gently patted the back of her head until she calmed down.
After a minute or so, her tears dried up. Wordlessly, she uncurled from him and stood up, wobbling a bit on her ankle. Natsu knew she really shouldn't be walking on it. He stood up next to her and gently pulled her arm over his shoulders to support her. She gave a weak smile of gratitude.
They slowly made their way over to Racer, who was unconscious. Natsu gave him a quick, flame-filled fist to the face, just to be sure he stayed knocked out, and Lucy, insisting she could walk fine, dragged him over and dumped him next to Cobra, whom Natsu also gave a swift punch in the face. Just to be safe.
Using Angle's whip, Lucy tied the two tightly together.
"How did they get knocked out so easily?" Lucy thought aloud. Natsu gave her a look of shock.
"What do you mean? Lucy, that burst of magic was one of the most powerful things I've ever felt. It contained a level of magic power almost as strong as one of Erza's attacks. I'm not surprised in the least that that took these bastards out."
"Was it really that strong?" She stared down at her hands and sighed. "I don't even know what I did."
"We can figure it out later, right now we need to get you out of here." Natsu said sternly. Carefully, he stepped in front of her and grabbed her thighs, pulling her onto his back. She let out a little squeak in shock, which Natsu had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at. But he soon felt her arms lazily wrap around his neck, and her body relax and sag in comfort and exhaustion.
Lucy cuddled gratefully into Natsu's familiar warmth. Oh, how she had missed this.
They heard a painful groan come from behind Jude's desk. Lucy went rigid in Natsu's grip. Natsu also went stiff, but with anger, as Jude Heartfilia slowly rose from the behind the desk, rubbing his head.
Natsu growled at the man.
"How did you get through that unharmed?" He asked angrily. That was unfair. Lucy had to go through all of this because of Jude, and he gets away without so much as a bruise? Well, Natsu could fix that. He reluctantly set Lucy back down on her feet. Lighting his fists on fire he stepped towards the man. The fire rising up his arms blazing brighter and bigger with each step he took.
"I should kill you for what you did to her." He growled. To his delight, Jude seemed to quiver in fear at the dark shadow that covered Natsu's face. With a shout, Natsu leapt into the air, smashing his fist into Jude's face. The man flew into a wall, and landed on his butt, clutching his face. Natsu set up for a second punch, but as he began to swing, Lucy ran in between him and Jude. She put her arms out, telling Natsu to stop.
He abruptly stopped his swing, not daring to hurt Lucy.
"What are you doing Luce? I could have hit you!" He shouted worriedly. "Don't tell me you're defending him?"
"Of course I'm not defending him!" She snapped. "Just, let me deal with this? Okay?"
Hesitantly, Natsu nodded. He took a step back, but not too far, so he could still get to Lucy if she needed him.
Lucy approached the badly injured, cowering Jude.
"Hello, Father." She spat. There was so much venom in her voice that Natsu actually felt proud. Lucy took a deep breath, and finally spoke her feelings.
"Originally, I came here telling myself I was doing it to make you happy. I figured if you were happy, you would stay away from Fairy Tail. But I was wrong. Coming back was a bad decision on my part. Because this is the truth, Jude Heartfilia, all the money in the world couldn't buy you happiness. I think I figured that out as a child. Since mom died, this house was hell. I hated every minute of my life I spent here. So when I ran away, I finally found the place where I am truly happy."
She looked back at Natsu and smiled. He beamed back, his pride swelling more.
"And, you know what Jude? I am not going to let you ruin it for me. So I'm warning you. You better not mess with Fairy Tail ever again." Lucy leaned over the man and grabbed his dress shirt collar, crumpling it in her hand. "I don't care that you're my father. If you threaten my friends ever again, we will crush you like any other enemy."
Lucy let go of his shirt and stood up straight, staring down at him.
"It didn't have to be this way you know. We could have talked it out, but not anymore. You hurt me, you tortured me. Who the hell does that to their daughter? And for what? A set of keys? I can't trust you anymore. Especially not after you hurt the people I love."
As she said this, she walked over to Natsu, and to his surprise, she slid her left hand into his right, griping it tightly. She gave Natsu a warm smile. And he felt a weird twisting feeling in his chest. He made a mental note to ask Levy about this feeling later.
Lucy looked over her shoulder at her father.
"I'm done being 'Lucky Lucy Heartfilia'. Now, I'm just Lucy. Lucy of Fairy Tail." As her and Natsu began to walk towards the office doors, Lucy held her right hand thumb and index finger out in the well known sign of Fairy Tail. Though her hand was covered in dirt and blood, her pink guild mark seemed to radiate light and power.
"The people at Fairy Tail treat me like family. Something you never did." She looked forward again, and walked out into the hallway.
Standing in the door frame, still holding Lucy's hand, Natsu looked back, stuck his tongue out at Jude, and slammed the office door shut.
Recognize that great monologue by Lucy? ;)
My sincerest apologies for this chapter being so late! I was away on vacation without service or wifi and when I returned I had piles of school work to catch up on. Hopefully I'll be able to get back into regular updates soon!
I hope this chapter was worth the wait! Jude has finally been dealt with! But what condition will Lucy be in once the adrenaline fades again…?
As usual, thank you to anyone and everyone who has, followed, favourited or left a lovely review, on this story! :)
Check out my Tumblr for updates and info on this pic: a-fairy-tail44 (Any posts will be tagged as #I will go home nalu and #IWGH nalu)
