"You're such a friggen idiot Rogue! What the hell were you thinkin'!?'

"I did what needed to be done." Rogue answered nonchalantly, as if the answer was obvious, so painfully obvious. "There is nothing more to it." He answered simply, scooping the frail-golden blonde into his arms, yanking the frail girl up from the ground, why she so frail? Her hair was soft, softer than Rogue could have anticipated, brushing against his arms, tickling him as he shifted this girl in his arms, holding her tightly around in his arms, one could call it protective but Rogue pushed that thought out of his mind almost instantly; it was tedious to even think about this anymore he concluded.

"This bimbo isn't our problem." Sting roared out, swaying his wrist over the girls direction, looking at her with utmost disgust, almost like she was poison, clinging to his best friend. "Let's take her back to shitty tail and get the fuck outta here." Sting grumbled and Rogue resisted the urge to throttle his friend. "She isn't a dog you moron nor she is a piece of crap we can toss away, she's a human being, a mage, someone you should respect."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, what the fuck do we do with her?" Sting persisted once more, looking over her; she looked pretty beaten up and bruised badly. "I am not too sure; we should probably treat her wounds and contact her guild." Rogue summarized walking his guild. The placed itself was quiet, riddled with a silence that didn't seem like the Sabretooth Guild. It was unsettling to look at, to walk around the empty hallways, but it wasn't surprising. After their timely defeat, the missions stopped flooding the boards, eventually the members deviated to guilds with missions, leaving a few loyal members left.

Rogue placed the girl down onto the bed, lowering her gently to the tidy bed; she shuffled, probably beginning to stir as she rolled around in the bed. "She is beginning to waken." Rogue informed, standing back, allowing the girl to have some room, so she wouldn't be suffocated upon returning to the realm of reality.

"N-natsu! No! Oh god, Levy! Gray!" A rush of names came pouring out at once and Rogue had a hard time comprehending the names, trying to grasp every word as it tumbled from her plump lips. "T-they got them, no, I can't let it happen! I won't!" The words were strained, followed by a hefty heaved gasp. "P-please, help me you have to help me." Lucy cried out, even Sting felt uncomfortable, watching the scene with a pitiful gaze.

"Calm yourself, first, you need to tell us how you got here." Rogue stepped up, he didn't make any attempt to sooth the golden maiden, despite the sympathy panging away at his chest, he wasn't about to step out from his icy shell to shelter the girl.

"I-I- don't remember, all I remember was running, running from him and then I.. saw darkness, I blacked out. Oh Mavis, please forgive me." Lucy curled into a ball, and Rogue shook his head, it was making sense, a fragmented puzzle, but sense nonetheless. "We found you outside of the guild, you collapsed it seems. You're badly beaten. We need to know more." Rogue calmly proposed, walking over to the cabinet, grabbing the first aid kit.

"I.. can't remember, I saw a shadow, it consumed Levy-chan, Natsu.. Gray.. Erza.. it nearly got everyone. It came after me, I ran away so fast. I all I remember I couldn't let the shadow get me, it kept coming." Lucy sobbed out, as she wheezed out the words desperately. "Something that kept telling me if I didn't escape, the others would be doomed, I.. don't know, but I felt like.. if I was captured, I couldn't help the others."

"Not our problem, ship her back to the guild, she was probably drunk off her face." Sting interrupted, waving his hand at the sobbing girl. "It's our problem now; we can't leave here in such a state." Rogue argued, nudging Sting harshly in the ribs, he winced, sighing audibly.

"I wasn't drunk! What I saw was real! Nobody is left! Don't make fun of me!" Lucy shouted out scrambling to her feet, Sting was taken aback by the sudden outburst, she was serious, her eyes were hardened, twisted with emotion storming around in her brown eyes. "I don't know, but I am going to help everyone. So don't make fun of me, lives are at stake, so don't!" Lucy rabbled on, tightening her fists and Sting nodded weakly; how the hell could he refuse her? Not when she was stamping around the place like some child, begging and pleading to be heard, it weakened his resolve, unfortunately.

"Fine you stupid bimbo, we'll help you, but only if you pay us. We ain't cheap or doing any shit for free." Sting answered, the only way he could save his pride and still help, damn crying chicks, lethal weapon of the century, how come nobody figured that out yet? Dumbasses he scowled.

"You'll.. help me?" Lucy was more than just surprised, her jaw was hanging off her face, and she couldn't believe they would help her. She was expecting rejection, the cold shoulder and to be tossed outside, this wasn't the Sabretooth she fought or came to dislike. They were different, more open..? She thought, glancing at them both; Rogue was the same, with slightly longer hair, curling down over his shoulders, but he appeared to be more calm, understanding. Sting, he was just as cocky, careless, vulgar and rude, but he was willing to help, what was that? He actually agreed to help me?

"Do I need to repeat it again stupid? Geeze, you women yap, yap, yap, but never listen!"

Lucy felt herself getting annoyed, a prick of irritation was stabbing away at her chest, but she felt strangely better, not like all her worries were bundled into a ball and fling to the side. However, she felt like she wasn't alone, that her situation, no matter how cloudy, fuzzy it was, she wasn't facing this alone. There were others willing to help her, even if that help wasn't the last she expected or thought of, but it was help.

"If you kids are done, we need to figure out this quickly, if your guild is in peril, time isn't something we can afford to lose." Rogue shook his head, bringing over the first aid kit to the damaged teen, gesturing for her to sit. Lucy obliged, all too willingly as she sat against the bed.

"Is there anything else you can remember? What we have given us so far is vague, not enough to draw any solid conclusions." Rogue unrolled the bandage, beginning the hook it around the scarred wrist; as he out took a few more supplies, dabbing the wound, cleaning away the dirt.

"I remember feeling fear, it wasn't like any other kind I've felt, it was a fear that was forced, suffocating, to the point where I couldn't function. It was overwhelming, I am not too sure how, but every time I tried to remember, something tries to cripple me." Lucy explained, feeling useless once she told the story.

"No matter, you got away, that is more than enough. You did what you could." Rogue encouraged her, while finishing his work on the wrist.

"We are probably dealin' with a strong dude."

"Or woman, gender doesn't have any effect on magical energy, you moron." Rogue correct once he heard Sting pipe up.

"All we know possibly, this is a strong mage, most likely with an affinity of dark magic, something with fears? Or nightmares? With an agenda against Fairy Tail. Why attack Fairy Tail? Why go after them?" Rogue asked out loud, trying to piece together the fuzzy picture.

"Psh, that's like asking, why the hell do we breathe? Shitty tail pissed off a lot of people, trying to narrow down the possibilities would be impossible." Rogue had to agree, but not within that exact wording though. He felt Lucy tense, as he moved onto her legs, delicate slim legs now worn and battered. "We didn't piss off a lot of people, we helped people, Natsu.. he was always helping people. Don't call them shitty." Lucy scolded with a grit of her teeth.

"Regardless, this conversation has reached its limits; we don't know anything else, until we visit your guild, Lucy. From there, we can figure out more." Rogue couldn't offer more than that, without lying or offering false hope, something he detested himself.

"You started this conversation!" Rogue heard, while finishing up the rest of the wounds, tightly wrapped around her limbs, encased in a protective of holding. Rogue nodded once he was satisfied with his work, withdrawing his hands. "I am now ending this topic."

"Thank you to you both, I wouldn't have thought you would help me or even listen to me." Lucy felt tears beginning to well in her eyes once more, exhausted, tired, but she felt reassured, to some extent she could do this. "Both.. of you, I can't thank you enough."

Sting looked surprised, unhinged and scowled. "Whatever, we ain't doing this to help you, we need diamonds."

"We can do what we can, we will help you Lucy, we swear it on the name of our guild to help you." Rogue assured, this wasn't done, neither of them were, whatever this was, whatever this could be.. he would do it, for the sake of everyone standing here right now.

This was just the beginning.

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This is a little less detailed than I would have liked, not too happy with the beginning, but you know what? This story is just for fun, I am not going to stress out over details and all that. So hoped you enjoyed, I promise to keep up with this one. XD

Love

~LH