A/N - I thought of the first line of this right away this morning and had to write it down. Thought it would stay lighthearted, but it kinda went a bit darker. Oops.

Team Natsu's Brilliant Plan

By Genavere

Of all of the dumbest of dumb ideas Team Natsu had devised over the countless missions, this had to be the dumbest of the dumb, Lucy decided with a huff.

When they took on the job to find the headquarters of a thieves group, they thought it would be easy. Natsu sniffs them out, they go in and destroy everything like normal, and boom. Done. A simple job where they did not have to worry about what they destroyed—a key fact for them to get the full 500,000 jewel that Lucy desperately needed for rent.

Only issue, the thieves were smart. They used smell neutralizing sprays that hid them from even Natsu's capabilities. And tracking them without scent was near impossible with them using teleportation devices to lose anyone on their trail.

So they went back to the planning board. What was the best way for them to track the thieves without being noticed and through their defenses? She had just been ready to suggest using a tracking lacrima, like a normal person would, but Happy had opened his annoying mouth before her.

"We could sneak Lucy on a wagon!" He covered his mouth to hide the evil grin she knew was there.

"How would that help anything?" Ever shirtless, Gray sat back, annoyed at having to sit next to Natsu after they had already been itching to fight someone all day.

"Natsu can sniff out Lucy anywhere," Happy said with cheerful glee. "We set up bait with her in it and he can smell her!"

"You're dead, cat!" Lucy lunged at him as he flew behind Natsu. "Are you saying I smell bad?!"

"Natsu! Save me! Lucy is being mean again!"

"Once I skin you alive, we will see how mean I am!" She pushed herself on the table and glared at the blue ball of fur hiding.

All eyes moved up to look at her.

Gray let out a short snort. "Nice thong you got there, Lucy"

"T-that's how you wear those!?" Erza's entire face went red as she stared under Lucy's rather short skirt.

She quickly pushed the back of her skirt down and dropped back down into her chair. Face red with embarrassment and head ducked down. "You guys are cruel…"

Not liking the idea of Gray getting a look up his partner's skirt, Natsu dropped his fist on the table. "I can do it. Lucy's smell is one of a kind, there is no where I couldn't find her!"

Erza frowned, back to thinking over the plan and not how a certain male she knew would react to seeing her in a pair of underwear like that. "It could work. Every time we have needed to track her down, Natsu has come in handy in locating her."

"Come on," Lucy said, a whine in her voice. "Why can't we just—"

"Then it's settled!" Natsu cut her off, eager to show he could find her anywhere. "Just you watch, this will be awesome!"

Awesome had not taken into account that they would search the contents of the wagon after a couple teleports. It had not taken in the face that the heavy bags they put her under had limited any chance of fighting back she had. And it definitely did not take into account that they would tie her up and throw her in a tiny box with neutralizing lacrimas!

It was stupid. The plan, the way her skirt rode up and exposed her butt cheeks to the cool spheres around her, and the way she could not get out of the ropes binding her. The rough material rubbed against her skin with every sway and bump the cart went over, and with the cover on the box, sweat drenched her skin and stung the wounds. The worst part, besides her wrists tied behind her back and rope around her ankles and knees, but they had decided to use the rope as a gag, too. They had wrapped it around her head three times, layering it inside of her open mouth.

Drool and tears pooled around her cheek and in her hair. Each sway made her feel like her cheeks were going to be split open from the corners of her mouth. Everything hurt. From her cramped muscles, and raw skin.

Dumbest of all dumb plans, she repeated to herself.

Through her tears, she tried again to glance through the cracks of the crate they threw her in. The bags she had been hidden under had been stacked around her jail now, as it had been earlier. Taking a gasp of air, she tried to fight the lightheadedness, or was it dizziness, she wondered She really did not know anymore. It was impossible to tell what time it was or how long she had been locked away. Before she had been found, it had only been about an hour since she had climbed into the cart.

Natsu had grabbed her arm before she could pull her other leg over the back. His intense stare held her attention and caught her breath as she waited. Lips connected with hers in a fierce battle they both partook in, tongues battled back and forth, and she could not stop the moan he pulled from her.

When he drew back, he took in a long breath through his nose and caught her eyes again. "I will find you, Luce. Trust me."

A soft smile tugged at her lips. "I've trusted you the moment I met you."

His hand tangled in her hair as he stole her breath with another kiss before dropping down. "See you soon!"

See you soon…the words echoed in her mind in a delirious haze. She really should have mentioned the tracker before she got all embarrassed. The only reason she had worn the thong was to get Natsu hot and bothered during the battle. Since they did not have to worry about destroying the place, she had thought it would be fun.

And the sex afterwards would have been amazing.

Now she could only wonder what he would be feeling at that moment. Could he still catch her scent? Would they be able to find her with these lacrimas around her? Maybe she had ruined their effect with the pool of sweat she felt around herself. Let them smell her now, she huffed passed the rope.

Something caught her attention. Through the fog, she tried to figure out what had happened that seemed different. Nothing around her, no, but something.

The air was still hot and thin, made heavier with each forced breath she took and the sweat coating her. No additional light came through. If anything, it seemed darker than before. Everything seemed still besides the voices outside. Wait, still?

Her eyes snapped open. They had stopped! Had they finally reached their hideout?

The cart jolted again and a whimper left her as the ropes dug deeper into her skin. Muted voices echoed outside her crate. She tried desperately to understand what they said, but her body had enough.

It was too hot. She craved even a drop of water on her thick tongue. Every muscle had begun to seize from her cramped position. All she wanted was Natsu and her friends. To be found and released. Dumb or not, they were her family.

Another jolt to the cart brought a choked sob from her throat. Exhaustion swept over her as the last of her enemy escaped with the cry. If she could fall asleep, maybe when she woke she could breathe again and stretch out her legs.

Fluttering, something told her eyes to fight to stay open. It made no sense to fight it. Every part of her body craved to rest, had for a long time. Maybe it had been hours since she had been tied up.

More voices echoed around the cart. Wood scraped against wood, fabric dragged across the floor. Then the cover to her crate was ripped off.

"We found her! Bring water!"

"Shit, Luce!" Arms gathered her up. A burst of refreshing cool air brought goosebumps and made the hairs on her body rise. Pressure from the ropes disappeared, but heaven came when water touched her chapped lips.

Unknown strength rushed up as she grabbed the jug at her lips and began to pour as much of the delicious liquid as she could into her mouth. Each mouthful euphoric. Then it disappeared from her grasp and she cried out. Strong arms held her back.

"Calm down, Luce, if you drink too much you will throw up!"

That voice…it settled her and she leaned into his warm body. "Natsu…"

"I'm here," he whispered, kissing her head. "I told you I'd find you."

She grunted, suddenly annoyed at the whole situation again. "Dumbest of dumb."

For some reason, she knew he had that cheeky grin plastered on his face. "Can't say you are wrong there."

She tried to look up at him, but exhaustion won out. He would have to wait till she woke up to be glared at.

A thumb ran over her cheek and she winced at the pain there. Natsu must have said something that she missed since Erza answered something he asked.

"Rope burns. Without Wendy, we will need to treat them as best as we can and replace the bandages each night until we can get to the guild again. We should head back now so we can get on the last train to Magnolia."

No quips of arguing came from the dragon slayer as she felt herself be picked up. Her head fell on his shoulder and gave a sigh. Lips pressed against her forehead.

"Don't worry, Luce, we'll get you home. I promise."

A/N - Towards the end, I did have to push through to get this done. Not cause I was not interested in it, but because I am hitting the tired point of my meds. I just want to sleep all the time, but I am determined to get to 28 days! Depending on the next couple of prompts, they might be shorter ones, but we will see.

Hope you enjoyed!