"dialogue"

'thought'

emphasis

['past']


Morning sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains in the bedroom, casting its shine over the sleeping blonde woman's face. Lucy groaned, scrunching her eyes together in a vain attempt to block out the bright light. She just wanted to sleep; it had been too long since she was a dreamless slumber. Faintly, she could hear the clanking of utensils on pans coming from the first floor kitchen. Even the scent of frying bacon permeated the house, causing Lucy's stomach to growl. 'Right, I haven't eaten since yesterday morning...' As much as she loved Mira's milkshakes, those were not viable options for meal replacement – not that she was trying to lose weight anyway. She sighed as she pushed the covers off of her and swung her feet off the edge of the bed. Still half asleep, she looked around the room. There was no pink-haired Dragon Slayer in her bed, no sign of a blue Exceed rummaging through her belongings. As the fog of sleep slowly dissipated, Lucy finally realized that she wasn't in her apartment.

She knew that she wasn't in some random house; she could see some of her clothes hanging in the open closet. Her keys were placed on the nightstand beside the bed, within easy reach. 'Laxus' house then,' she concluded. 'He knows where to put my keys when I sleep.' Slowly, the events of the previous day began to resurface as her mind woke up. She remembered leaving the guild after talking to Laxus, falling asleep in the clearing, waking up from a nightmare. Her nose scrunched slightly in confusion as she recalled her found her first; Bickslow. Of course, Laxus was right behind him. She remembered the long conversation once they returned to Laxus' house. The one she didn't want to have with anybody yet.

The sudden itching of her legs and arms distracted Lucy from her thoughts. Rubbing her arms to relieve the itch, she stood up and strode to the closet. 'I hate sleeping in grass,' she sighed. 'It never fails to make me itch all over.' Lucy reached into the closet a pulled out a pair of tight pants and a thin sweatshirt. She walked across the hall into the guest bath, locking the door before placing her clothes on the sink counter. Once she had turned the shower on, she stripped the clothes she wore yesterday from her body, allowing the water time to heat up. She loved to take very hot showers, they tended to relax her seemingly constant tension. She retrieved two neatly folded towels from a cabinet and placed them within reach on the toilet. Sticking her hand under the running spray of water, she sighed happily as it was the perfect temperature. Stepping carefully into the tub, she thrust her head under the stream, soaking her head thoroughly before squeezing an ample amount of shampoo on her hand. Since she stayed over often enough, she had taken to keeping extra bottles of her toiletries in the bathroom. She hummed as she lathered the strawberry scented stuff into her hair. After rinsing the suds from her head, she repeated the movement with her conditioner. Twisting her hair into a slight bun, she covered a pouf with her vanilla scented body wash and began rubbing her skin clean. She reveled in the feeling of peace as she performed her shower routine. After rinsing her body and the conditioner from her hair, she turned off the shower.

Pushing the curtain aside, she reached over and grabbed one of the towels she had stacked beside the tub. Drying her face before wrapping it around her hair. The second towel rubbed the excess water from her skin before being wrapped around her body. Her thoughts turned to her how her relationship with Laxus had gone from guildmate to friend to brother. He trusted her so much that she gave her a key to his house – something unheard of for him – and even designated a bedroom just for her. He dubbed it "Blondie's Room" and forbade his team from ever setting foot in it. Before the Fantasia incident, Lucy was sure she would be dead for even knowing where the house was, let alone daring to step foot inside. Heart warming, she tanked the Gods for allowing her to have this relationship with the burly Dragon Slayer. She cherished it just as much as she cherished her spirits.

Over the sound of her brushing her teeth, Lucy heard her name being called from the foot of the stairs.

"Lucy, if you don't hurry you're blonde ass up, I'll eat your breakfast along with mine!"

Lucy smiled, rinsing her mouth and placing her toothbrush in the holder before answering. Cracking the door open, she called back, "You and I both know that you would never do that, Lax. You love me too much to deny me food! Also, you're blond too, idiot!"

She smiled brightly when she heard Laxus returning to the kitchen, grumbling about "annoying little sisters". Rubbing the towel through her hair, Lucy combed her fingers through the golden tresses. She hung the towels up to dry before she went about getting dressed for the day. Slipping into her undergarments, she carefully clasped the chain around her slender neck, the broken key sitting between her breasts. Pushing away her sadness, she quickly pulled on the pants and sweatshirt before running a brush through her wet hair. She could hear Laxus calling her name from the kitchen.

"I'm here, I'm here," she sang, twisting her hair into a long braid to one side of her head. She skipped over to the man standing in front of the stove and pecked his cheek before settling into one of the barstools, waiting patiently for her food.

"You're going to run up my water bill with how long it takes you to shower," he grumbled. He didn't really care about his bills.

Lucy stuck her tongue out at him as he turned and placed a plate in front of her. She inhaled deeply, mouth watering as she looked down at the plate; eggs, bacon, toast, and waffles. Picking up the syrup sitting on the bar, she proceeded to drawn the waffles with the sugary goodness. She was ravenous; not surprising since she hadn't eaten in roughly 24 hours. 'My appetite sure is wonky with that medication.' Suddenly, a large glass of milk was set before her along with a small pill bottle. She smiled up at Laxus and took a break from her breakfast to swallow one of the little white pills.

"So," she said between bites, "What are we doing today?"

"Going to the guild after breakfast. Maybe we'll take a job or something," he shrugged.

"Don't you have a mountain of paperwork to do from Master?" Lucy sniggered when Laxus groaned. She sighed happily, patting her full stomach when she finished her food.

"But before that... Didn't Loke give you something yesterday?" he asked. "I thought I heard him say it was from Aquarius."

Lucy had almost forgotten the letter she received from Loke. 'Out of sight, out of mind.' She stood from her seat and ran upstairs to grab the envelope while Laxus took care of the dishes. When she returned back to the bar, she carefully broke the seal and unfolded the paper inside. She read the words aloud.

[

"Look, you stupid brat."

]

Lucy giggled softly. "Of course that's how she would start a letter for me."

[

'It's so fucking depressing to sense your emotions over the whole affair of breaking my key. Get over it; I'm not fucking dead or anything. Leo is one more of your tears away from forcefully bringing you into the Spirit World to "cheer you up" as he calls it. I willingly sacrificed my key so you could summon Stascheface, so stop acting like it's the end of everything for us. You'll end up coming to the Spirit World for something in the future and you'll be able to see me. Don't act like it'll never happen again. Go find a man to distract you. Oh, also, don't you dare summon Scorpio for the next couple weeks or so, we're going on vacation."

]

"You make it sound so easy, Aquarius," Lucy whispered, refolding the letter and placing it back into the envelope. She set the envelope on the counter and looked up at Laxus, whose eyebrow was raised in question.

"I'm good," she smiled. It was true, Aquarius' letter help qualm some of her negative emotions, but they still nagged at the back of her mind. She slipped off the stool and walked into the entryway, bending down to put her boots on. Straightening, she looked back at Laxus. "Let's go to the guild then, hm?"

Lucy waited on the porch as Laxus put on his shoes and locked the door behind them. The pair walked in silence for a few minutes, before Lucy spoke up.

"You know," she chirped. "Maybe I will find myself a man..."

Laxus scowled. "Fuck no. You're not getting a man until you're at least thirty."

"Aww, big brother Laxus wants to protect his little sister," Lucy cooed, poking him in his side. She laughed when Laxus pushed her hand away. Grinning mischievously, she poked him again... and again... and again. She guessed he had had enough of her shenanigans because he grabbed her by her waist and threw her over his shoulder, still walking toward the guild. Lucy let herself be carried like a sack of potatoes, proud of herself, thinking about her guildmates. She blinked, remembering there was one guildmate in particular that now knew her secret. She tugged on his shirt for his attention. "Lax?"

"Hn?"

"Do you think..." She nibbled on her lower lip nervously. "Do you think Bickslow told anybody about yesterday?"

She could feel the shake of his head. "Nah, he wouldn't tell anybody. I mean, I did threaten him with bodily harm if he did."

"Ever the protector, I see," Lucy mumbled. Despite the reassurance, she was still nervous.

Laxus sighed. He could feel the tension in her body rise, regardless of her efforts to remain calm. With a quick pat to her back, Laxus broken into a run towards the guil, laughing as Lucy spat out sting of curses as she bounced on his shoulder.


Once at the guild, Laxus dumped Lucy onto a stool at the bar and went upstairs to his office to start on the mountain of paperwork left by the Master. Lucy lounged at the bar, sipping a delicious strawberry smoothie – Mira made the best smoothies known to the world – while she watched the Take Over mage wait on the other guild members with the grace of a swan. Fresh in her mind was the conversation – or interrogation, depending on how you look at it – that Lucy had just experienced with the barmaid.

[

"Morning, Mira!" Lucy chirped once she settled on the stool she had been dumped on. "Can I order a strawberry smoothie?"

"No milkshake today, Lucy?" Mira looked up from the crystal clear glass she was currently polishing, smiling beatifically. She set the glass behind the bar and went to the kitchen, her moldic voice reaching Lucy. "Give me one minute!"

Waiting patiently for her smoothie, Lucy turned and observed the others in the guild. She laughed softly as she noticed that most were already drunk, or working their way there. It gave her a sense of relief that her destructive team had yet to arrive. She wasn't sure if she wanted to deal with their antics just yet. It was a great comfort that they had not seen her arrive with Laxus – especially over his shoulder. She didn't notice the Seith mage staring at her from his second floor table.

"Here you go, Lucy!" Mira sat a tall glass, filled with strawberry heaven, in front of the blonde. Lucy thanked the barmaid and took a long draw from the glass, almost moaning at the delicious treat. Mira smirked and folded her arms on the bar top, leaning towards the unsuspecting mage.

"So..." Mira waited for Lucy to look up. "I noticed you come in with Laxus today."

Lucy eyed her friend warily. She knew where this was going. She groaned, "Mira..."

"Well," Mira chirped, "do you like him?"

Lucy silently cursed Laxus for arriving while carrying her over his shoulder. Bastard knew what that would do to the matchmaking barmaid. She grimaced at the feeling of Laxus' amusement tickling into her mind. "Mira, we were just playing around. We bumped into each other on our way to the guild – separate way – and he decided it would be funny to embarrass me. We're just friends, you know that."

"Do I?" Mira appeared completely innocent as she went back to polishing already immaculate glasses.

"Yes," Lucy glared, "you do."

"You two would make adorable blond haired, blue eyed babies!" Mira crooned. "Or brown eyed, either one!"

Lucy's eyes almost bulged out of her head as she almost gagged at the thought of that kind of relationship with Laxus. He was her brother – but, of course, Mira didn't know that, so she really couldn't fault the woman. Still, she need to divert the barmaid's attention quickly, before she passed out with hearts in her eyes while mumbling about blond babies. Her saving grace, the answer to her prayers, Levy and her team walked in.

"Mira, Levy and her boys are here," she mumbled. "You should go take their orders. I'm sure Levy forgot to eat last night when she stayed up all night reading."

Mira ceased her rambling, shooting Lucy a "this is far from over" glare before striding to the Script mage's table.

'That should distract her... For a minute maybe.' Lucy could only hope.

]

"I wonder how she would react if she knew who I really liked," Lucy mumbled. She had figured it out a while back, much to her surprised. At first, Lucy had assumed it was merely curiosity; Seith magic was extremely rare, after all. But, as time went on, she found herself noticing other things aside from his magic. Bickslow wasn't as perverted or crude as he let on; he was actually a very sweet and nice guy. It was obvious – to her at least – that he was just using it as a front, probably to cover up some insecurities he harbored. Lucy wondered if it was his eyes; she doubted anybody in the guild was comfortable seeing them since he could use them to control people. However, Lucy had liked his eyes from the first moment she laid eyes on them – even though their first meeting was while she fought him. It was truly a pity he wore that big hunk of metal over his eyes, obstructing his face. 'And what a handsome face it is...' Yet another aspect of the man that Lucy enjoyed, although it usually brought a slight blush to her cheeks.

Lucy felt something tugging of her shirt, breaking her out of her musings, followed by a sweet voice.

"Aunt Lucy!" Lucy turned and looked down to find Asuka staring up at her with excitement.

Leaning down carefully – it would be awful if she fell off the stool – Lucy lifted Asuka into her lap. She dropped a small kiss on the little girl's hair. "Hello, Asuka. What can Aunt Lucy do for you today?"

Playing with Lucy's braid, the little sharpshooter grinned. "Can I play with one of your spirits today?"

Lucy laughed. Asuka loved to play with her spirits. "Of course, sweetie. Who do you want to play with today?"

Asuka thought for a moment, her adorable face scrunching slightly. "Aquarius!"

Smile faltering slightly, Lucy tensed as it always did when the Water Spirit's name was mentioned. "I'm afraid I can't summon Aquarius right now, honey..."

"Why?" Asuka asked innocently, looking up at the Celestial mage with big doe eyes. It pained Lucy to watch Asuka's excited expression fall.

"Aw, come on, Luigi. What's the harm in summoning the evil mermaid for a cute little girl?" A voice chimed in, an arm being thrown around her shoulders. "Also, can you summon Loke? I wanna fight him!"

Lucy knew that voice from a mile away along with the abnormally warm arm around her shoulder. She turned to look at Natsu's face, wondering how long ago her team had showed up. 'Not too long ago, I guess. Natsu always finds me as soon as he entered the guild hall.' She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and gently shrugged the his arm off her shoulders.

"I can't Natsu, not right now."

"But why not?" he whined. He gestured to Asuka's downcast face with his chin. "Look how sad she is now!"

Lucy cringed; she hated seeing the little girl sad. But, the situation was out of her hands now. She could never summon Aquarius again, but they didn't know that – she didn't want them to know. Shaking her head forcefully, she apologized to Asuka. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Aquarius is on a multiple week date with Scorpio right now. And as for you Natsu, it's Loke's day off." She felt Loke's key heat up at her waist but she ignored it.

"You're no fun, Luigi." Natsu was pouting. That is, until he heard Gray talking about him and then he favored starting a fight with the Ice mage.

Asuka nodded glumly and Lucy gave her head another kiss before she stood the girl on the floor. She watched as Asuka waddled back to her parents, giving them a wave before returning to her smoothie. Except, she had lost interest in her drink. Twirling the straw around in the glass, she cursed when she felt a single tear roll down her cheek.

'And today started off so well,' she sighed. 'I never used to be this much of a crybaby...' Lucy discreetly wiped her cheek, hoping that nobody had noticed. She considered going to Laxus' office, but she didn't want to distract him from the ridiculous amount of paperwork he needed to finish by the end of the week. She couldn't leave the guild, she knew that Laxus didn't want her to be along for a while, given what happened the day before. Left with no alternative, Lucy began to slide off the stool intent on washing her face with cold water when a large hand wrapped itself around her slender wrist.

For a few seconds, she simply stared down at the hand. Slowly, her eyes traveled up the arm connected to it and saw with some surprise – although she shouldn't have been – at the owner of the hand; Bickslow.


Bickslow wasn't sure how he felt about seeing Lucy, given with what he learned last night. He didn't how she should act around her. If he treated her like glass, she would get angry; if he tried to talk to her in front of the whole guild, people would get suspicious. Frustrated, he resigned himself to watching her and going with the flow.

As he walked into the guild, his eyes searched for her. He was relieved to see that she was smiling while talking to Mira and then Asuka, even though the smile didn't reflect in her eyes. He joined Freed and Evergreen at their table on the second floor, his babies hovering around him as he took a seat. Laxus wasn't at the table, but he knew that he was here if Lucy was here. He wondered why he had never noticed that the two were almost always here at the same time. 'Laxus must be doing paperwork.'

When Lucy and Laxus had told him how their relationship was, Bickslow felt a sense of relief. It was immature of him, but he was irritated that he felt there was something more between the two. He ignored his two teammates that had begun arguing beside him in favor of watching the blonde at the bar. He was pleased to see that Lucy's smile turned more genuine when Asuka was in her lap, talking to her. His mouth pulled into a frown when Lucy tense slightly as Natsu threw his arm around her shoulders and said something. It was too bad that Bickslow couldn't hear what they were saying. Standing, ignored by the still arguing Freed and Evergreen, he began to walk down the stairs to the first floor. He paused when he heard his name called by Laxus. He turned to look at the man.

Laxus gestured to Lucy with his chin, "Do me a favor?"

"Sure thing, boss," Bickslow agreed. He would do just about anything for his friend.

"She needs to get out of the guild. I can't take her anywhere because of my stupid grandfather and since you're the only other person that knows what's going on, I want you to take her."

Bickslow blinked, surprised. Laxus trusted him around his little sister? He couldn't lie to himself that it actually made his heart warm to know that. "How do you know she needs to leave?"

"It's a dragon thing." Laxus looked away from him, glancing at Lucy before returning his gaze on Bickslow.

Bickslow watched as Laxus turned around and went back to his office, grumbling about not being able to comfort his sister because of the Master's refusal to do his own paperwork. He turned his gaze back to the blonde sitting at the bar, anger building up inside him when he noticed her subtly wipe her cheek. Anger towards Natsu; he was almost positive that the stupid Dragon Slayer had said something to upset Lucy. Without a second thought, Bickslow descended the stairs two at a time and strode towards Lucy.

He noticed her begin to slide off the stool, probably on her way to wash her face, he figured. To stop her, he wrapped his hand around her wrist gently but forcefully. He began to pull her out of the guild through the rear entrance. "Let's go."

"What?" Lucy let herself be dragged out of the guild. "What are you doing?"

"Laxus told me to take you out of the guild," he told her.

Lucy smiled softly. He always knew when she needed to get away. She allowed Bickslow to guide her through the streets of Magnolia. "Where are we going, then?"

Bickslow glanced back at her, barely slowing down. "The clearing. Nobody will bother you there."

"Except for you, you mean," Lucy laughed.

The pair fell silent as they reached the clearing. Lucy sat cross-legged on the grass while Bickslow sprawled out beside her, his arms tucked beneath his head. Neither spoke, the silence growing the longer they sat.

Bickslow felt uncomfortable with the seemingly oppressive silence and decided to break it first. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Lucy busied herself by picking up on of the little totems and fiddling with it. She avoided look at the man next to her.

"..." She remained silent for a few more minutes. "It's just hard, you know? Knowing I can never summon her again."

Bickslow nodded in understanding. He was sure that he would feel the same way if something ever happened to his babies. "Is that what the kid and the flame retard wanted?"

"Just Asuka. Natsu wanted me to summon Loke."

That confused Bickslow. He knew that Lucy could still summon all her other spirits; he was there when Loke appeared without being called. Not to mention that she had summoned that weird snowman-looking spirit. "Why didn't you summon Loke?"

Lucy fell silent again.

"Lucy?" he prodded. His brown furrowed when Lucy lowered her head, clutching his totem to her chest.

It always surprised Lucy when he used her name – although it made her feel fuzzy inside. She took a deep breath and willed more tears away. She was not going to cry again. It wasn't until she felt the totem she was holding worm its way from her grasp to rub against her cheek that she raised her head and looked him in the eye.

"I don't deserve to summon my spirits anymore. I failed as the Celestial mage when I broke Aquarius' key."

Bickslow noticed her keys began to glow on her hip; he knew that they could sense what she was saying and were trying to comfort her, tell her that was wrong. He watched as she brushed her hand over the keys sadly. "Why do you say that?"

"Because a Celestial mage never breaks a promise," she intoned. "I swore on my mother's grave that I would never hurt my spirits, but I did just that when I used Aquarius' key to summon the Spirit King."

Bickslow could see the tears swimming in her eyes, despite her bland tone. He searched for a way to comfort the woman – which was not easy for him; he had never really comforted anyone before. Slowly, he reached up and removed his helmet, setting it on the grass beside him. He gingerly wrapped his arms around the shaking blonde, drawing her into his arms awkwardly. Bickslow was not accustomed to hugging by any means, but he felt like Lucy needed it. He was surprised when her arms stole around his waist, hands clutching the back of his shirt.

"I've lost my mom twice..." Her voice was muffled against his chest, finally letting the tears roll down her cheeks soaking into the man's shirt. "What am I supposed to do?"

He didn't know what to say to her so he quietly rested his chin atop her head, letting her cry. There was nothing for him to say; he didn't know what it was like to lose a mother. Hell, he didn't even know who his own mother was. All he could do was give her a shoulder to cry on, be someone that let her express her true emotions.

The pair sat for what felt like hours, Lucy's cries eventually subsiding into sniffles. The whole time, the babies surrounded Lucy and nuzzled her face and neck, cooing sadly. Finally, Lucy regained her composure and pushed herself from Bickslow's arms. It embarrassed her to know that she had clung to him like a koala bear.

Bickslow was saddened by the loss of warmth and her arms wrapped around him, but let her go. Seeing her embarrassment and slightly flushed face, he laughed.

"What's so funny?" Lucy glared at him. It faded, however, as she looked up into his uncovered face. She found herself looking into his red eyes and tracing his face tattoo with her gaze; everything that was usually covered by metal. She couldn't stop herself from blurting out, "You have really nice eyes."

"Oh?" Bickslow grinned mischievously, slowly leaning forward until their noses were almost touching. "What else do you like about me, Cosplayer?"

"Wouldn't you like to know..." Lucy ignored the warmth burning her cheeks as she stood up, dusting the grass from her pants. She turned towards the man and held out a hand to help him up. "We better get back before anybody notices that it was you who kidnapped me from the guild."

Bickslow made no move to stand, opting instead to enjoy the annoyed look in her eyes. He watched as Lucy bent over to snatch his helmet off the ground and began walking briskly towards the treeline, his babies following close behind her. "Hey! Give that back!"

Lucy glanced at him, smirking as she held up his helmet, taunting him with it. "You better hurry, Laxus is starting to worry and if he worries too long he gets irritated."

Bickslow finally stood up and caught up to Lucy, not bothering to dust the grass off his clothes. He tried, unsuccessfully, to retrieve his helmet from her grasp. "How do you even know what he's feeling?"

"It's a dragon thing." She winked at the blue haired mage.

Bickslow scowled, confused. "But you're not even a Dragon Slayer."


After several futile attempts to get his helmet back, the two finally reached the doors of the guild. At some point during their walk back, Lucy had slipped her hand into his, while still keep his helmet away from him. Bickslow didn't say anything; he didn't want her to let go of his hand. He liked the way her small hand seemed to fit perfectly in his big one. But that didn't stop him from pulling his hand from hers just before they opened the doors of the hall. It was bad enough that she refused to return his helmet and the entire guild seeing the two holding hands would surely cause a riot.

"Nu-uh. This helmet is mine for a little while longer," she sang, once again moving it from his reach. She grinned triumphantly when Bickslow threw his hands in the air, giving up the fight. She grabbed his hand once more and pushed open the guild doors, dragging him upstairs before anybody noticed them. "I can practically taste Laxus' irritation, let's go, Blue Boy."

'Blue Boy?' Bickslow raised an eyebrow but she ignored him.

She didn't bother to knock when they arrived at Laxus' offie, nonchalantly barging right in. She smiled as Laxus looked up from his work. "I'm back! And in one piece, not a single hair out of place."

"Surprising, given how big of a klutz you are," Laxus teased.

Lucy sat Bickslow's helmet on the desk and crossed her arms over her chest, pouting as the two men snickered at her expense. "This is why you're still single, Laxus. You'd probably insult the poor woman before she even got a word in."

"You're love life isn't so great either, Blondie," he reminded her. He watched, amused, as she bristled and prepare for a nasty retort. Before she could voice it, he continued. "Seriously though, are you okay?"

Lucy's irritation deflated at the soft look in her brother's eyes. "Yeah, I'm better now. Thanks for having Bickslow help."

Bickslow grinned, happy to have been of help to her. His babies flew around the room, cheering, "Help Lucy!"

"Anything for the 'Light of Fairy Tail'," Laxus responded. They both knew that he would do anything for Lucy and vice versa. Sighing, he changed the subject. "You should probably talk to your team. They've been bugging me since you left and honestly, I'm one more demand away from hurting them."

"Well, thank you for reigning yourself in, brother," Lucy laughed. She was definitely not ready to deal with her overbearing team, but Laxus was right. She would have to confront them eventually and there was no time like the present. "You know, I'm surprised Natsu hasn't caught on about the kin thing. You'd think he could smell your scent on me."

Laxus snorted. "That flame retard is so dense I'm surprised he can even smell anything."

Bickslow agreed. He himself didn't even notice the closeness between the two blonds, dragon senses not withstanding, until they had told him. Natsu had no chance of figuring it out on his own.

"He can be perceptive when he wants to be," Lucy sighed. She didn't have much faith in that, though. "Anyway, I'll go talk to them. Maybe I can get away with not telling them anything substantial. No promises, though."

Lucy walked around the large desk and leaned down to give her brother a kiss on his cheek, ruffling his hair the way he always does to her. She snickered at his face; she knew that he liked to keep his macho man aura, especially around his team. Moving around the desk, Lucy paused in front of Bickslow. She could see the wariness in his eyes as she looked at him and she smiled. Standing up on her toes, she brought his head down close enough for her to plant a kiss on his cheek. She didn't give him time to react as she waved at the two on her way out of the room.

Breaking from his stupor after the door shut, Bickslow picked up his helmet and put it on, adjusting it comfortably.

"Coulda left it off, you know," Laxus mentioned. "It's just us in here."

"Yeah, well, she commandeered it the whole way over here," Bickslow explained. "I figured that was long enough without it. Anyway, what's up? You look like you need to talk to me about something."

Laxus leaned back in his chair, scrubbing a hand down his face. "Lucy needs to take a job, whether she wants to or not. She needs the money, and I think it would do her good to actually get out of the city for a bit."

"I thought she went on jobs with you?"

"She does," Laxus nodded. "But she needs to get out of her comfort zone. It's bad enough that she won't even summon her spirits in a fight."

"Okay..." Bickslow wondered where this was going. "What's that got to do with me?"

"Obviously, dumbass, you're going with her." Laxus snorted.

Bickslow was dumbfounded. Nobody in their right mind would allow their sister to go out on a job with him. He thought Laxus would refuse to let her be alone with him for more than a few hours. Yet, here he was, telling Bickslow to go on a mission with Lucy alone. "You want me to take you precious little sister on a job? Where we might be gone for days?"

"Hell, I don't even like her going with her own team. She always ends up hurt, or the entire reward goes to the damage those three idiots cause," he scoffed. "And since I want her to gain back some confidence, I can't go with her. Not that it's an option because the stupid old man keeps dumping his work on me."

"In other words, I'm the lesser of two evils?" Bickslow wasn't really surprised by that. But, that didn't stop the disappointment he felt. "Well, I suppose you'll decimate any and everything if she gets even a single scratch on her. I don't even want to imagine what would happen if she was hurt worse."

Laxus could barely contain the growl rumbling in his chest at the mention of Lucy being hurt. He opened his mouth to speak when Bickslow held up his hands.

"I know, it's a dragon thing." He turned away from Laxus and started for the door.

"Bix," Laxus called behind him, making him pause and turn his head. "If you do anything to hurt her, whether you know it or not, I will now. And you can believe that I won't let you get away with it, no matter how long we've known each other."

Bickslow nodded and opened the door. He looked out of the banister and searched for the blonde, intent on telling her that they were going to take a job together. However, he couldn't seem to find Lucy or her team. Shrugging, he sat down at a table with Freed and Evergreen, deciding to wait until he saw her again. It wasn't as though she had left the guild, he could see Plue sitting on the bar with a lollipop in his mouth.

Not even ten minutes had passed by when Laxus opened his door a little too forcefully. The Dragon Slayer looked straight at Bickslow and nodded. Something was wrong and it had to do with Lucy. Returning the nod, Bickslow got up and began walking down the stairs, Laxus in tow. When he reached the bar, Mirajane simply pointed to one of the many storerooms in the guild. The pair thanked her and stood in front of the door. Bickslow made to open the door but was stopped when Laxus put a hand on his shoulder. Suddenly, Bickslow could hear voices coming from inside the room. He decided to listen before barging in without knowing what was being talked about.


Lucy let out a resigned sigh after closing the door to Laxus' office. She didn't really want to face her team. Briefly, she considered climbing out of the second floor window just to avoid the whole confrontation. But she knew that it would come eventually no matter how many times she tried to avoid it. It really was best to just be done with it, given the opportunity. She summoned Plue as she descended the stairs, cradling him in an attempt to calm her nerves. Unfortunately for Lucy, her team plus Wendy pounced on her before she even reached the bottom of the stairs.

The three mages stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at Lucy with uncharacteristically serious expression – except for Erza, she always looked serious. Lucy cleared her throat delicately.

"Hey, guys," Lucy smiled warmly as best she could.

"Lucy, we would like to speak to you," Erza announced for the trio. "Now."

"Right..." Lucy mumbled, her grip on Plue tightening slightly. "I suppose I've been needing to talk to you guys as well."

Lucy finished walking down the stairs and set off towards the bar. She gently placed Plue atop the wood and fished a lollipop from the pouch on her waist. The little spirit cooed happily when handed the treat. She was about to go sit at a table when she felt a cold hand grip her shoulder and steer her into one of the storerooms behind the bar. Once inside, the three older mages formed a defensive triangle in front of the door. Wendy stood off to the side, worrying her bottom lip and looking at Lucy apologetically.

"So... What's up?" Lucy nibbled on her lower lip, anxious. Gray spoke up first.

"'What's up?'"Gray spat sarcastically. "Lucy, where have you been lately? You don't go on jobs with us anymore, you're barely ever at your apartment. We still see you at the guild, but you're always sitting alone at the bar. What is going on with you?"

Erza nodded in agreement with the Ice mage. "It's unusual for you to act this way."

Lucy hated herself for it, but she had to give her team a half-truth. She just wasn't ready to delve into great detail exactly what was going on for her. Instead, she opted to act like her old self – cheery and selfless. "I've been going through some tough situations lately and I didn't want to bother you all with them."

"Why won't you talk to us, Lucy?" Erza looked worried for her friend. "You know that you can tell us anything."

"It's not really a huge deal," Lucy lied. "It's something that I can sort out on my own and you guys have enough to worry about besides me."

Gray and Erza shared a pointed look before nodding and turning back to Lucy. "Fine. We'll let it go for now. But, answer us one more thing."

Lucy nodded, wary. She had a hunch of what they were about to ask. It appeared that 'Lucky' Lucy Heartfilia was going to have no semblance of luck today.

"Why did Bickslow drag you out of the guild earlier?"

"We're friends. He wanted to show me a key he had found in a shop downtown." Lucy couldn't contain her flinch. Of course they would be the ones to notice that. Why wouldn't the Gods give her a break for once? Before she could respond to their question, Natsu marched up to Lucy and bent over to sniff her neck. She shuddered slightly; he knew she wasn't telling the truth. Begging for a reprieve, Lucy locked eyes with Wendy. Wendy would understand the situation. The Sky Dragon Slayer nodded, letting Lucy know that she knew what was happening. Unfortunately for Lucy, it didn't look as though the young girl was going to have a say in this conversation.

"Why are you lying?" Natsu hissed. He sniffed again and his nostrils flared. "You smell like Bickslow and Laxus."

She could see Erza and Gray's eyes widen. They stared at Lucy in shock; was Natsu kidding? He couldn't be; Dragon Slayer noses were almost never wrong. Their stares turned almost deadly while awaiting the blonde's answer.

"I..." She looked away, unable to meet their eyes. Taking a deep breath, she gave them another pseudo-truth. "Laxus would come visit me in the hospital after my fight with Flare and Minerva during the GMG. We just... Sort of became close after that. I've been hanging out with him lately to get to know him better. Bickslow just kind of came with the package."

"Bullshit," Natsu growled. "You're a forgiving person, Lucy, but I don't believe that you would be close to Laxus. And especially not Bickslow."

Lucy's eyes lit up in anger. They weren't listening to her at all. They immediately dismissed the belief that she could be friends with Laxus and Bickslow because of their own opinions about the two. 'If this is how they want to do this, I'll meet them full force...' She drew her shoulders up confidently and faced her friends. "Look, I understand that you want to know what's going on, especially my friendship with Laxus and Bickslow. But don't you dare tell me what I would and would not do. None of you are my father. Unless, I'm mistaken?"

Gray, Erza, and Natsu all looked at Lucy in disbelief. It stung that Lucy accused them of trying to control her jusut as her father had. But why was Lucy defending the two mages so vehemently? She knew nothing about them! Hell, Bickslow and tried to kill her and Laxus was by no means a charitable guild mate towards her. So what was truly going on?

As fate would have it, the door to the storeroom suddenly swung open and two men stepped inside. Laxus was fuming, it took all of the self control he had not to punch Natsu and Gray into oblivion. Erza would be tougher to handle, but Laxus knew he could find a way. Bickslow, however, seemed impassive. He slowly reached up and removed his helmet. He reveled in the fear and apprehension that flashed in Team Natsu's eyes. But, he ignored the way they looked away from his eyes, favoring to look only at Lucy.

"Come on, Cosplayer. Boss says we're going on a job together," he announced, seemingly unaware of the others in the room. Suddenly, the room snapped into action. The trio turned away from Lucy and planted themselves in defensive positions. Erza had her customary sword re-quipped into her hand, Gray had removed his clothes and stood in his Ice Make position, Natsu's fist lit up. The only member of Team Natsu that didn't react was Wendy. She simply moved to Laxus' side and watched sadly.

"What makes you think we will allow Lucy to leave with you?" Erza snapped, ready to defend her friend.

Bickslow didn't spare so much as a single glance at the redhead. He looked only at Lucy, waiting for her answer.

Lucy didn't even look at her team as she replied. "Sure thing. When do we leave?"

"What?" The three couldn't believe their ears. There was Lucy, ready and willing to go on a job with a person who once tried to kill her. And she didn't even look worried in the slightest.

"Since when do you do what Laxus tells you to do?" Gray snarled. He reached behind him and grabbed Lucy's wrist, intent on leaving the room with her. Natsu and Erza could deal with Laxus and Bickslow.

Gray didn't have a chance to react when he felt a large hand pick him up by the throat, causing him to drop Lucy's wrist. Laxus slammed him none too gently into the wall, growling aggressively. His pupils had transformed into thin slits, reminiscent of a dragon's. Lightning began to spark around his fists. Gray began to sputter for breath, his eyes wide with fear as he looked into Laxus' eyes. He had never seen the Dragon Slayer react like this in his life.

Wendy shook her head disapprovingly. Erza and Natsu watched, dumbfounded, as Lucy calmly walked up to Laxus and placed a gentle hand on his arm.

"Lax," Lucy whispered to her brother. "Let him go... He doesn't want to hurt me. I'm fine, I'm in no danger."

Laxus began to relax as Lucy spoke to him in soothing tones. He released his grip on Gray's neck and watched as the mage landed in a heap before him, coughing to catch his breath.

Lucy placed a hand on Laxus' cheek and turned his head towards her. She looked into his eyes as she calmed him. "It's okay, big brother. You just want to protect me. Breathe deeply, calm yourself."

Laxus closed his eyes as he took deep breaths through his nose and released them through his mouth. Once he felt in control again, he opened his eyes and looked into Lucy's warm brown ones. Unable to help himself, he pulled the young woman into a tight hug, burying his nose in her hair. He always felt the need to remind himself that she was fine whenever he lost his composure like that.

Lucy turned in Laxus' arms to regard her team once more. Erza was frozen, her eyes wider than Lucy had ever seen them before. Natsu, however, was growing angrier. The flames around his fists increased as he looked between Laxus and Bickslow. "Lucy... Is he controlling you?"

Bickslow tensed, not moving a muscle as Natsu's words hit him full force. 'Of course they would think that... Why else would Lucy be around me willingly?' He wasn't overly hurt by the Fire Dragon Slayer's words, he was accustomed to them. He glanced at Lucy and was surprised to see the fire in her eyes.

Furious, Lucy extracted herself from Laxus' hold and marched towards her friends. She lifted Gray from the floor by his necklace.

"Don't you ever insult my brother again," she snarled. "You know nothing about Laxus and never will, because you don't care to know him. Get off your high horse, Gray."

Dropping him back to the ground, Lucy moved to stand in front of Erza. She waited until the Requip mage had unfrozen before addressing her. "I do not need protection. I am not some weak-willed little princess that can't take care of herself. So thanks for the concern about my safety, but I assure you, going on a job with Bickslow will be vastly safer. And you know what? He doesn't coddle me like you do."

Erza's mouth opened and closed mutely. Satisfied, Lucy turned towards her final victim; her supposed best friend. "And you..."

Natsu couldn't help the fear that crawled up his neck at the look in Lucy's eyes. He had never seen her so furious. He whimpered slightly when Lucy snatched his scarf and drug his face in front of hers, their noses almost touching.

"How dare you try to tell me what I feel and what I do? I didn't escape one controlling father to find the same thing in my best friend," she growled between her teeth. It was an actual growl; just like the ones Dragon Slayers often did. "I can't believe that you would even think of the possibility that Bickslow was controlling me. I thought you trusted your comrades. Have I been wrong about you this whole time, Natsu?"

Natsu gulped as he looked into her eyes. "B-But... he tried to kill you, Luce..."

"Yeah? So did Gajeel," she reminded him forcefully. "But I don't see you traipsing around the guild accusing him of trying to hurt his comrades again." Lucy dropped his scarf and pushed herself away from him. Natsu's legs didn't have the strength to hold his body up and he collapsed to the floor. Lucy moved away to stand in front of Bickslow. "I'm going on a job with Bickslow, not because Laxus told me to, but because I want to. Are we clear?"

The blonde didn't even wait for a response as she turned away from her team and grabbed Bickslow's hand, practically dragging him out of the room. Laxus gave the three one last glare before he followed. On her way out, Lucy smiled apologetically at Wendy. 'Poor girl didn't need to be involved... But, maybe she'll explain everything to Natsu's dumb ass.'

Bickslow let himself be dragged out of the room, completely dumbfounded at the way Lucy stood up to her team – stood up for him. People rarely stood up for him, save for his own teammates. The fact that Lucy had become so unbelievably angry at her own team astonished the Seith mage. It was taking a long time to register in his mind that Lucy had defended him.

"... What the hell just happened..." he mumbled lamely. He felt Laxus clap him on the shoulder before returning to his office upstairs, leaving Bickslow in Lucy's care.

Lucy ignored her confused companion, dragging him behind her until she came to a stop in front of the job request board. She scanned the board critically, looking for something doable for the pair and would cover her rent. 'Not that I stay in my own apartment very often anyway...' After a few minutes of her mumbling to herself about "not enough pay" and "too hard for just two people" she finally snatched a flier from the board, scanning the contents carefully. Once done, she nodded and practically shoved the paper in Bickslow's face.

"We're doing this one!"

Bickslow took the paper from her hand and read it aloud.

"In need of mages to assist with the removal of an unknown group of mages in the mines. Location: Clover Town. Reward: 300,000 J. Please see foreman for details."

Shrugging, he handed the flier back to Lucy. "Seems good to me."

"Great, because I wasn't really asking for permission," Lucy replied cheekily. She left him standing at the board as she running to the bar to have Mira log the job in the books. When she returned, she folded the flier and placed it in her pocket for safe keeping. Looking up at him she gave instructions. "Alright, I'm going to my apartment to pack and then I'll stay with Laxus tonight. We're leaving at 8 am tomorrow!"

She practically skipped out of the guild, leaving a very confused Bickslow and some very nosy guild members in her wake. One of his babies relayed the job details to Laxus, so Bickslow was free to leave the guild or stay and risk interrogation from Mirajane. Really, there was no decision to be made. Bickslow quickly waved at Freed and Evergreen who were looking at him with confusion and left the guild, ignoring the hushed comments and questions of the other guild members.

'Well...' he thought to himself, weaving his way through the streets, 'This will be interesting if anything. At least her team won't follow us and try to kill me... Hopefully.'


"... Wendy?"

"Yes, Natsu?"

"Why did Luce call Laxus her brother?"

"... Natsu... did your dragon not tell you about kinship?"

"No, he did. But what's that got to do with it?"

"Laxus and Lucy are kin. That's why Lucy smelled like Laxus."

"Oh... Wendy?"

"Yes?"

"I messed up, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did. But, Lucy will forgive you... Eventually."

"But Laxus won't."

"... Well, I'll be here when you need to be healed."


Chapter 2 rewrite complete! What do you think? It actually turned out longer than the original chapter - which I like. I love long chapters.

BTW, I made a public dropbox of all the original chapters previously uploaded, so go ahead and check that out if it tickles your fancy! I posted the link on my profile AND on my tumblr.

Anyway, let me know what y'all think. I'm always eager for feedback, positive or negative.

Warm regards,

TGTW