Sorry it took so long to get this up. Anyways, here it is, hope you enjoy.

Chapter 12: Taken

"I'm not worried about the unknown. Every time you have been placed in an impossible position, we always figure out a way. This is no different Natsu. Except this time, we will both be side by side the entire time." Mirajane offered happily. "Together, we can get through this."

"I'm not just worried about that. One of the mages we fought against today knew about your pregnancy and said they were going to come after you. I'm worried I can't protect you." Natsu admitted.

Natsu shook his head at the mission in his hands. He reread it again to make sure he had read it right. Tossing the sheet of paper on the table he looked over at his Exceed friend sitting across from him. "That's the fifth one this week!" Natsu cried out throwing his hands in the air. "How many people out there know about us being pregnant?! What does it even matter that we are?"

Even after he said it, Natsu knew it would only take one or two people that knew to spread the word. Once gossip got a foothold it would not take very long before everyone knew about it. In fact it seemed that everyone had already figured it out. After the first mission had come in requesting Mirajane personally, Natsu had thought nothing of it and they had gone. It was supposed to be a simple job, hunting down a petty thief that liked to target beautiful women.

He had been wrong; it had all been a ploy to get the two of them to show up. There had been no thief. The noble that had put out the mission merely wanted Mirajane to show up so he could see for himself and ask if she was in fact pregnant. It became obvious that the man was in love with Mirajane, or at least the Mirajane that the public saw. The noble had been outraged to find out that it was the truth.

If Mirajane hadn't grabbed ahold of Natsu in time, Natsu would have beaten him within an inch of his life. The two mages had left without another word, not even worried about the payment they had been promised for the false mission. Ever since then, Natsu knew that Mirajane had been hiding these jobs from him, stashing them away before he would notice them. If it weren't for Happy, he would never have known that there was more than the first mission.

The jobs were getting bolder, all but saying what they really wanted to say. "Did you find us a mission?" Mirajane asked, suddenly appearing behind Natsu. The Dragon Slayer jumped unconsciously and looked over his shoulder at his wife. It had been just over a month since they had found out and she still wasn't showing any outward signs of being pregnant, but Natsu could feel it within her. He knew, she knew, the guild knew. It was all that mattered to him.

"Yeah." He said bitterly, flinching at the tone in his own voice. Snatching the mission flier from the table he handed it over to her.

Mirajane sighed and shook her head upon seeing what the mission was. "I thought I hid this from you, how do you keep finding them? Besides, why do you want to do this, you know what they want."

Natsu nodded slowly, indicating he knew what the job really meant. "I want to finish this; these people that take these jobs out are just as bad as the ones that threaten to take our child away. We need to end this. Make an announcement, whatever, as long as these people go away, I don't care how we do it." Pushing himself out of the seat he grabbed happy under his arm and took Mirajane's hand with his free hand and pulled her along with him over to where Kinana was wiping down the counter. "Hey Kinana, we are going to take this job."

Kinana stashed her rag in the front of her apron and took the mission from Mirajane with a smile. "Just give me one minute to put this into the log…" She said, pulling out a large book from under the counter. True to her word, it only took but a moment to sign off on the mission before she handed the flier back to the trio. "Have a safe trip, and Natsu, please don't destroy any more towns… It's more work than you know to keep you out of prison."

Natsu smiled brightly, taking it as a compliment. "No promises this time. This time it's justified." Turning, the three left the guild hall, leaving a Kinana to stand there confused. Looking down at the job she had written down her eyes grew. As fast as her legs would take her, she ran off to the master's office and kicked the door open. Makarov popped up from his chair, wiping away the drool that had started to fall while he slept. "What's wrong with you! Can't you let an old man sleep?"

"Sorry for the intrusion sir, but this is important." Kinana said quickly as she dropped the book down on the table to point at the name of the requester for the job Natsu had just taken. "I don't think he knows who he is headed towards, should we warn him?"

Makarov shut the book and smiled. "Don't worry about Natsu, he'll be alright."

Kinana looked questioningly at Master Makarov. "He took Mirajane with him, I don't want something to happen just because she's pregnant. I know she is strong and everything…. But I can't help but worry."

Makarov shook his head over at his waitress. "I don't see anyone ever getting between Natsu and his child. If they need any help, they will come to us. Trust them otherwise." Kinana nodded and left the room to return to her work.

Mirajane smiled down at her husband and ran her fingers through his hair. Though he hated the train, his motion sickness always rearing up whenever he set foot on the contraption, she enjoyed the small trips they took between their missions. It gave her a chance to see the parts of him that he didn't like to show. Everyone knew about his weakness, in fact the entire continent seemed to know about Dragon Slayers and their weakness for transportation.

A gentle chime sounded overhead to indicate they were approaching their destination, spurring Mirajane to shake Natsu and Happy. "Come on, we have to go. We might as well get this over with." Leaving a gentle kiss on his forehead, Mirajane shook him again, earning a displeased moan.

"Just leave him here. It'll go a lot smoother if we just go the two of us." Happy offered. He jumped off Natsu's chest and stretched his arms, his wings popping out of his back as he took flight.

Mirajane giggled to herself at the thought of Natsu lying on the train for the next few hours while she took care of the mission on her own. "I think you're right Happy. He needs to understand that just because people want to know about the pregnancy that it doesn't mean they are going to do something besides rant."

Happy landed on Mirajane's shoulder and raised a fist in triumph. "Aye! If something does happen, I'll protect you!" Mirajane smiled and laughed as she stood up, careful to not drop Natsu's head too hard on the bench they had been sitting on. As soon as they stopped Mirajane grabbed her small pack and left the train with Happy, leaving Natsu behind on the train.

Mirajane stood to watch the train slowly depart before it began to pick up speed, carrying off her Dragon Slayer into the distance. "Poor Natsu." She whispered, somewhat regretting that she put him through more of his sickness. Shaking the thought from her mind she turned and slung her pack over her shoulder and started down the street, digging the flier from her pack to get the address.

In almost no time at all, Mirajane stood in front of the large mansion that matched up with the address. Knocking on the door, Mirajane hugged Happy with one arm, petting his fur gently. Almost as soon as she was done knocking, a butler appeared at the door, cracking it open just enough to get a glimpse of who it was. "Miss Mirajane!" He shouted ripping the door open all the way. "We are so glad you have come, please come inside."

Mirajane smiled ever so slightly and stepped inside. "Would you be so kind as to tell me what you need me for? The only description in your mission flier was that you required my assistance to get rid of an unwanted guest." Happy jumped out of her arms and proceeded to walk ahead of her, staring in awe at the art laid out along the walls. "Happy." Mirajane called down to him, gesturing up towards herself. "Stick close and don't touch anything."

Happy jerked upright and looked up into Mirajane's glare nervously. "Aye Mira, I won't touch anything!"

Satisfied that Happy wouldn't do anything, Mirajane turned back to the butler and followed him down the long hallway. "But of course Miss, we needed you specifically because this fellow seems to have some kind of ties with you. You are all he talks about, so we thought if you came here, maybe you could get him to leave."

Mirajane frowned and clenched her pack a little tighter. "Who exactly is this, and why couldn't you just call the town guard to come get them for you?" Her suspicion suddenly rose as the butler smiled to himself. It was gone so fast that she couldn't be sure she saw it, but it served as a reminder to keep her eyes open to their surroundings.

"Master said that it would be better this way. In fact, I believe it is better that you have come alone, your husband would have made things worse." The butler explained, waving his hand in the air before stopping at a door. "One moment Miss, let me make sure the master is ready to meet with you." He knocked quietly before cracking the door open. "Master, Miss Mirajane is here. Would you wish for her to come in first or to simply get started with the job?"

"Nonsense, bring here in here!" Called a jovial voice. The butler opened the door the rest of the way and gestured with an outstretched arm and a bow that she was to enter. The man that greeted her appeared to be about sixty years old and greatly overweight. "What a pleasure to finally meet you Mirajane. Thank you for coming all the way out here. I am the head of this house, Kai Cruze. I take it Gerard told you about the mission we have for you?"

Mirajane curtsied at the edge of the desk at the exact moment Happy landed on her shoulder. "Aye, we are to get rid of some unwanted guest, right?" Happy asked curiously.

"What? No, my son wished to meet you and your husband. He has always had a fascination with mages and when we heard the most joyous news of your pregnancy, he wished to ask you about the odds of you conceiving a mage of your own." Kai said cocking his head to the side. "What was this about getting rid of some unwanted guest?"

Mirajane produced the flier and handed it over to the gentleman. "It says here that you require me for getting rid of some unwanted guest from your household." She explained, holding back her confusion and resentment at the real reason for the mission.

Kai looked over the flier and slid it back over to her. "I didn't put this out. It doesn't even have my name on it, see here… Coldak. It has my address, but that isn't me." He explained. "I guess it really doesn't matter how you got here, as long as you and your husband are here. Speaking of which, where is the notorious Salamander anyways? I figured with you being pregnant, he would want to be with you at all times."

Mirajane shook her head. "He isn't here mister Cruze, he is still on the train. We didn't know the real reason you wanted us here. Are you sure you put in the mission yourself?"

"No, I had my butler Gerard put it in. I was sure he put down the real reason." Kai said standing up and walking to the door. "Kai, come in here for a moment would you?" Kai left the door open before returning to his desk, gesturing for Mirajane to have a seat. Gerard appeared almost immedietaly.

"What can I do for you master? Shall she start on the mission?" Gerard asked with a bow.

"Later." Mirajane said, cutting Kai off before he could speak. "Why did you tell me I was here to get rid of an unwanted guest? Why did you lie to me?" Mirajane folded her arms across her chest, her voice low and sinister.

"Oh my, now I can see why everyone calls you a demon. I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about though miss. I did not lie; you are here to get rid of an unwanted guest." Gerard said cocking his head to the side with a smile.

"She is here to speak with my son, nothing more. Explain yourself Gerard." Kai said harshly.

Gerard waved his hand dismissively. "Exactly what I'm talking about. We called you here to get rid of an unwanted guest. With Cruze here asking questions, I guess it's two guests we need to get rid of." He said with a sigh. Mirajane jumped to her feet and quickly brought out her Satan Soul, dropping into a fighting stance. "That won't be necessary Mirajane; you could very well sleep through all of this. Why don't we proceed then?" Spreading his arms wide, Gerard snapped his fingers and a staff appeared out of the air.

"Sir, you need to get off. This is the third time you have ridden back and forth. If you wish to continue to ride, you need to pay for another ticket." Natsu flinched and groaned. Through sheer willpower, Natsu pushed himself into a sitting position and turned to look at the attendant. "Where are the two that I was with?" He asked.

"They got off about two hours ago. You yourself should head out too. You do not look very well sir." The attendant said with a weak smile. "We've just arrived."

Natsu jumped out of the seat and immediately fell to a knee with a groan. He shrugged off the attendants help with a grunt and made his way to the door, using the wall as support. "Thanks, I appreciate you waking me." He mumbled before all but falling out the door. Energy flowed through him once again.

Letting out a low growl, Natsu sniffed the air. "It's faint… but it's there…" He whispered to himself before setting off in the direction of his beloved. He only stopped when he reached the end of the trail. Standing in front of the mansion he could only suspect that she had gone inside. Reaching his hand to pound on the door, Natsu stopped and took a deep breath. One breath turned into three before he could get ahold of his nerves enough to gently knock on the door.

Despite his need to find his wife, he didn't want to burst into someone's home and make a fool of himself. He had incurred her wrath before and didn't want to make her look bad just because he had been nervous to the point that he would destroy something.

Just as he was about to knock again a butler showed up. "Can I help you sir? Oh! Forgive me sir Dragneel. I did not recognize you. How may I be of service?" Gerard asked opening the door fully.

"I'm here for the mission you have sent us." Natsu said, biting back his anger.

Gerard cocked his head to the side as if confused. "Has something gone wrong with the payment? Your wife left here not just an hour ago. She finished the job quite fast if I must say so."

Natsu's eyes narrowed and he took a step forward. "I know she's here. I don't know what you have done, but I am not leaving without her."

Gerard stepped back and covered his heart, feigning insult. "Sir, I do believe you are mistaken. You are free to come in and have a look about if you so wish it." He offered stepping back again and offering Natsu a path to enter the mansion. Natsu glared at the man, bearing his teeth at the butler.

Natsu scanned the entrance hall and sniffed the air a couple of times. He could smell her everywhere, but it was faint. As if she had already left. "Did she tell you where she was going?" Natsu asked.

"But of course! She claimed she was headed to see they mayor about an increase in thieves and bandits in the area. That was who we needed her to get rid of you see. We had a band of thieves that kept showing up unwanted. She took care of them without any trouble." Gerard said happily, clasping his hands in front of him while he followed Natsu around the building while he searched.

Natsu stopped in front of a wall, Mirajane's scent stronger there. Almost as if she were still there, but upon putting his hand on it, Natsu could tell that there was nothing behind it but stone. "As you say, she isn't here." Natsu said suddenly, spinning around and heading out the main door without a glance back. "I will take my leave. Have a pleasant evening."

Gerard shut the door behind Natsu and smiled at the heavy wooden door. "What a fool." He turned and walked back down the hall to where Natsu had stood just moments before. He ran his own hand along the wall. "So close, yet unknowingly so far from you." He said sadistically. "Your child will fetch a large sum. Rumor has it that it will be a Dragon Slayer like its father. I hope for your sake it is. We won't have to kill you afterwards if it is. We can use you to breed more."

Mirajane glared through the spell at the mage that held her hostage. 'Natsu will find me.' She thought to herself. 'He won't give up until he does.'

As always, R & R please.