Hi everyone! Sorry It's taken so long to put this chapter up but you know how it is. Busy home life and writer's block aren't really conducive to writing fanfiction. But it's here now!

Thank you so much for the well wishers and birthday greetings, and I'm glad so many of you are liking the story. I won't make any promises but hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. I can't believe how many people are following and reviewing. It makes me so happy!

So without further ado...Enjoy chapter 6! xxx

Master Makarov had returned to the hospital almost as soon as he had finished debriefing Team Natsu and the others. He had stood in the doorway for a moment watching his grandson sit vigil over the celestial mage before pulling up a chair and joining him in his watch. An hour later, Ever walked in carrying bags of Lucy's belongings. Laxus barely glanced up at the two mages following her before returning his gaze to the woman in the bed. Erza had taken one look at Lucy's unconscious form before choking on a sob and leaving again, Makarov following Titania to make sure she was okay. Gray had simply stared for a moment, trying to take in just how badly his sister had been hurt. The blood in her apartment was a good indicator but just seeing her, lying frozen on a hospital bed, covered in gauze and plaster, receiving oxygen through a tube; it made everything that much more real. Swallowing heavily, he sat beside Laxus in Master's vacated chair, for once too shocked to strip. After finding no more clues in the apartment, they had agreed to head to the hospital to wait for the Dragon Slayers, hoping they'd have better news. Evergreen had briefly explained that the Raijinshuu had been called instead of Team Natsu on Laxus's request and that they shouldn't question his behaviour in regards to the situation. She had given them a cryptic look to match to the equally cryptic statement and left it at that. As the men sat next to the blonde, Evergreen began unpacking Lucy's things; folding her clothes and placing them in the small chest given for personal belongings, resting her box of letters on the bedside table along with a small selection of books she'd taken from her shelves, putting Lucy's toiletries in the adjoining bathroom and hiding her manuscript in a drawer along with her writing supplies. Freed and Levy still had her keys so once she had finished unpacking, Ever began adjusting the room, too anxious to sit still. She straightened Lucy's blankets and fluffed her pillows as much as she could before taking the hospital standard vase of wilting flowers to get them changed and acquire some sheets for the pull out sofa bed for Laxus. She knew there was no way he was leaving anytime soon and there was no need for him to be uncomfortable. Shortly after she left, Master returned with a red eyed Erza and the four of them sat in silence waiting for any news the Dragon Slayers and Bickslow might bring.

Once Natsu, Gajeel an Bickslow returned, they immediately pulled Makarov out of the room and far enough down the hall to be out of Laxus's hearing range.

"Well brats, did you find anything?" Natsu and Gajeel exchanged strained glances as Bickslow sighed and headed back towards the nurse's station, muttering something about calling Freed. Natsu scratched the back of his head before turning back to master with a sigh of his own.

"Gramps, how good is your control over your magic right now?" Master Makarov began making indignant spluttering noises before Gajeel rolled his eyes and decided to just come out with it.

"It was Ivan." A moment of stunned silence was all they had before the whole of Magnolia was shaking with rage

"WHAT!? THAT BASTARD! HOW DARE HE ATTACK A MEMBER OF MY GUILD! I DON'T CARE IF HE IS MY SON, I'LL KILL HIM!" At this point both Gajeel and Natsu were holding the master down, barely winning against the small man's struggles. They could see him begin to fluctuate between normal and giant and tried to drag him out of the hospital so the building wouldn't be destroyed. Luckily, they were thrown back as purple runes quickly surrounded the Guild Master.

Everyone except Laxus had run out as soon as they felt the building shake and came across the Dragon Slayers panting heavily with exhaustion, Freed, Bickslow and Levy approaching the group and Master Makarov throwing a tantrum within the cage Freed had erected. Erza drew her sword.

"Would someone care to explain what the hell is going on here?" Everyone instinctively took a step back. Even Makarov had stopped his rage fit at the look in Titania's eyes. "I would appreciate if you would stop making a scene in the middle of the hospital. Lucy is recovering. We cannot disrupt her healing with such ruckus!"

"I apologise Erza. I gathered that master has been given the news and I saw need to restrain him from doing any structural damage to the building." Freed said as he quickly undid the runic prison.

"News? As in they found out who…" Evergreen trailed off, not wanting to have to say it again. Gajeel went and stood by Levy who once again had silent tears streaming down her face.

"Yeah, we found the bastard. Bicks got Freed so we can stop Sparkplug from destroying everything when he finds out." Everyone nodded in agreement and let him explain what they'd found. To say the fairies were angry was an understatement: they were out for blood.

It had taken Freed multiple runes to contain Laxus when they told him and over an hour of him in Dragon Force shooting lightning and swearing death upon his father before he could control his magic again. That had been a week ago, and since then Laxus had not left Lucy's side. They'd told the guild and almost immediately the room had been filled with fairies coming to see their Celestial Mage. It was annoying but he had probably less right to be there then they did so he kept quiet. Soon, the guild had stopped visiting and were out hunting down his father to bring him to justice. Only the Raijinshuu, Wendy and Laxus had stayed behind. Ever and Freed brought him food regularly though he didn't eat much and Bickslow took it upon himself to tell him he stunk so that he would at least take showers in the adjoining bathroom if he wasn't going home.

Lucy had been improving slowly. Most of her internal injuries were completely gone and the bruising had begun to fade. The day they finally took her off the oxygen, Laxus felt like crying with relief. He'd finally fallen asleep beside her bed, Lucy's hand clasped to his cheek as it had been anytime he passed out, when he felt slight movement coming from the bed. He tried to ignore it, tried grasping at the remains of his dream but the increase in beeping finally drew him from his slumber. He pushed himself up, yawning as he stretched before looking at the blonde in the bed.

Suddenly, everything froze. She was awake. 'Oh, please don't let this be another dream.' Laxus thought. Over a week had passed with nothing from the Celestial Mage and now, her she was, just staring up at him.

"Lucy?" His voice was still rough with sleep and he briefly thought he saw something flash in her eyes before she opened her mouth and nothing came out. Laxus quickly reached for the jug on the counter and poured her a glass of water. Lifting her the best he could, trying not to aggravate her injuries and wincing at the brief flash of pain that crossed her face, Laxus brought the glass to her lips.

"Small sips. You haven't had anything to eat or drink in a while so go slow." She made a small noise in agreement before slowly draining the glass. Once she was finished, Laxus gently lowered her back down and took his seat again, resisting the urge to take her hand in his as had been the norm whilst she was unconscious. Lucy tried to speak again and cleared her throat as only a croak came out.

"Laxus? What happened?" She watched as he sighed and ran a hand through his already dishevelled hair. He looked rough, as if he hadn't slept in days. There were black bags under his eyes and his face was strained. She had already worked out that she was in the hospital but why was Laxus Dreyar of all people sitting beside her bed, looking more worn then she had ever seen the mighty lightning god.

"Blondie, what was the last thing you remember?" Lucy's brow furrowed as she thought. An echo of the pain from having her magic ripped from her shuddered through her body and she winced as tears welled in her eyes. "Shit! Please don't cry!" Laxus reached forward and grasped her hand as her breathing sped up again. He pushed the button above her bed and whispered soothing words as she spiralled into a panic attack. As she began hyperventilating, memories of what happened to her flooding her mind, the door burst open and in rushed the doctor followed by Wendy, Carla and the Raijinshuu. The doctor quickly moved to check her vitals as Wendy began using her magic, reducing her pain and sending calming waves through her body.

After a few long minutes, Lucy finally calmed down, her heart rate and breathing returning to normal. She gave a small smile to everyone in the room and unconsciously squeezed the hand still holding hers. Laxus felt his heart skip a beat but he only squeezed back, giving her silent reassurance.

"I'm okay now. Sorry."

"There's no need to apologise, Miss Heartfilia. After the trauma you've suffered, it's understandable to feel a little unstable right now." Every eye turned towards the doctor who was currently checking the read out from one of the machines. Once he had the information he needed, he turned to face his patient and gave her a small smile.

"My name is Doctor Ashworth. It's nice to see you're finally awake." He quickly flashed a small light in her eyes and jotted a few things on her clipboard before pulling up a chair and sitting beside the bed. "You were brought into the emergency room just over a week ago, by Mister Dreyar here and immediately taken into surgery for your injuries. Luckily for you, you have a very gifted healer as a friend." Lucy smiled at Wendy as Bickslow ruffled the young mages hair, her face blooming a heavy shade of scarlet.

"Most of your internal wounds were healed by Miss Marvel but you must take it easy in regards to some injuries. You may feel some aches around your ribs where they were broken and still slightly bruised and your shoulder was dislocated. We managed to pop it back into place but it will still be sore for a while. However, your right arm and both your legs suffered some severe breaks. Miss Marvel attempted to heal them but you will still have at least another three weeks of healing in the casts. Magically repairing the bones altogether would have greatly weakened the overall structure of your limbs and made you prone to more breaks and damage in the future." Laxus felt the grip in his hand tighten again and the anxious yet resigned look in her eyes caused his chest to hurt slightly. "For now, I will leave you in the company of your guildmates and I will be back to check on you again in an hour or so."

As Doctor Ashworth left, the Fairy Tail mages took their places in the seats they had claimed over the past week. Wendy climbed gingerly onto the bed by Lucy's legs, careful not to jostle them as Carla sat in her lap. Evergreen fluffed Lucy's pillow before taking a seat on the left, close enough to grab whatever the Celestial mage might need. Freed took his seat next to Laxus and Bickslow dragged the sofa over to the bed before lounging across it, his feet dangling off the edge. Lucy giggled at the sight, wincing briefly at the lingering pain in her ribs.

At the sound of her laugh, five little totems flew in front of her, bobbing up and down as they imitated her giggles. "Well hello there, Babies." She gently lifted her good arm from Laxus's grasp and help her palm out. One of them flew down, a smiling face painted on its little wooden body and landed on her hand, purring as the others whizzed around her head. She laughed at their antics and looked to Bickslow. "Are you doing this?" Bickslow himself looked shocked at their actions and shook his head in a daze before giving her a tongue lolling grin.

"Nah, that's all you Cosplayer." The totems copied his words, chirping "Cosplayer" as they continued their acrobatics. "Never seen them do that to anyone but me before. Must like ya." His grin turned a little lecherous as his gaze lowered. "Of course, who wouldn't with a rack like tha-Ow!"

Lucy watched in amusement as Evergreen wacked him repeatedly with her fan yelling "Pervert" as Wendy giggled behind her hand and Laxus scowled at his friend. Freed just sat there watching the scene with disinterest.

"So," Lucy said as she turned her attention back to the happy face still on her palm, "What's your name?" The room froze at that. None of the Raijinshuu had ever seen anyone ask for the totems names and now that they thought about it, Laxus, Evergreen and Freed didn't even know the names of Bickslow's little menaces. The little dolls began spinning around her, chirping happily, including the one that had just vacated her hand. In turns, they quickly sat on her hand and said their name before taking off again. "Pappa!" "Peppe!" "Pippi!" "Poppo!" "Puppu!"

"It's nice to finally meet you properly." The totems cheered before settling themselves Lucy's pillow, surrounding her head as they all purred. As she looked up she found the room staring at her in shock. "What?" Nobody answered her and Freed cleared his throat to gather her attention.

"Miss Lucy, as the Doctor mentioned, Laxus found and brought you here," This earned Laxus a confused glance from the Blonde, "but we are still in the dark as to what exactly happened. If it is possible, could you tell us what occurred?" Freed inquired. He had promised Master Makarov that he would try and give the searching Fairy Tail mages any clues as soon as he could and this was the best way to do so.

Lucy grimaced and rubbed at her chest remembering her magic being taken, "It's all a bit fuzzy but I remember getting back from the party and this man was in my apartment. He attacked me and took my-"

A sudden thought hit her and she launched herself upwards, ignoring the sharp agony that lanced through her body and the totems that flew away from their resting places around her.

"My keys!" Everyone could see the panic in her eyes and Laxus gently tried to push her back into the bed so she couldn't aggravate her injuries.

"Oi, Blondie. Calm down. Freed's got your keys. They're fine." Laxus held eye contact as he tried to send her silent reassurances. It seemed like it worked as her brown orbs focused on his and slowly lost the crazed fear in them. A clinking noise drew her gaze away from his and Laxus let out a quiet sigh of relief as he let go of her and regained his seat next to her. Freed drew the keys from his pocket and handed them to Lucy.

"There was a spell placed on it but Miss Levy and myself managed to break the seal two days ago. We have not heard from any of your spirits but you should be able to call them out as you did before."

Lucy stared at the small pieces of gold and silver in her hands before bursting into tears. Nobody really knew what to do but Wendy crawled gently up the bed until she could put her arms around her sister figure and bury her head in her neck.

"Cosplayer, what's wrong?" Even Bickslow had sat up from his comfy position in confusion. Why was she crying. She got her keys back, shouldn't she be happy. Through her sobs, Lucy managed to choke out a few words but even Wendy and Laxus with their dragon hearing couldn't catch them.

"What did she say?" Ever asked quietly. Laxus shrugged his shoulders before gently nudging Lucy into speaking.

"Blondie, we didn't catch that."

"I can't call them out! That bastard stole my magic! I can never see my friends again!" With that she fell back into her sobs, her cries echoing in the silent room. Laxus suddenly understood. She knew what the attacker had done, it was why she kept rubbing her chest, the point where a mages magic was generated. The Doctor had told her about her injuries but nobody had mentioned her magic. She must think it was all gone.

"Blo-Lucy. Calm down, you still have your magic." Her eyes shot up to meet his, choking on the sob trying to escape her. "The Old Hag came in to check on you. He took some of your magic but not all of it. Wendy's been monitoring it and your levels should be good as new in a few days. You can still use your keys." Lucy watched Laxus, looking for any hints of deceit but found none. With the pain she felt, she thought he had drained every drop in the attack but if he didn't and Freed and Levy had fixed her keys, then that meant… Quickly sorting through her keys one handed, she finally found what she was looking for.

"Open Gate of the Lion, Leo!"