Lucy and her captor's footsteps rang loudly as both parties raced down the metal steps of the emergency exit staircase and the cold almost-winter weather wasn't helping Lucy's wounds either. Realising that at this rate, with her current physique, she'd be at the losing end, she decided to take the plunge – literally. She jumped off the last flight of stairs and gave herself only one second to recover despite all the pain shooting back and forth her body before pushing forward and into the alley, taking a turn and out of sight. However, her captor was not about to let her get away with it just yet. He immediately jumped off the last flight of stairs too and pressed forward, faster than before.
Taking the same turn, he caught what little blonde hair was lagging behind the girl as she took her next turn and grinned. However, at the next turn, the blonde was nowhere to be seen. Slamming his fist against the brick wall, he looked to the ground and another devilish grin made its way to his face.
Lucy continued running, face turning to look behind her every time she was about to make a turn to make sure the man wasn't on her trail. Her right hand was wrapped around her abdomen while her left holding the now empty bottle of tomato juice. Staggering to another turn, she winced to find a dead end.
Not good...
Lucy's captor continued to weave pass the maze, following the blood trail on the ground from wherever Lucy stalked, slowly gaining on her. Lucy looked around for a way up or around, but up was impossible with her current condition and the brick wall showed no signs of around, and she could turn back now but she had been taking a one way road since the 4th last turn. And worst of all, she could hear fast paced footsteps edging closer to her now.
Extremely, not good...
Her captor made the final turn and stood there for a few seconds before throwing his steel pipe to the ground and letting out an extremely frustrated yell after realising that he had been played; in front of him stood not the bleeding blonde but a dog drenched in tomato juice. From a few blocks down, Lucy and her stellar spirit heard the man's frustrated agony and Lucy quickly grabbed onto the overly pissed spirit who looked like he was more than ready to rip the man to shreds.
"Wait! Stop. I finally got away from him, I don't want to see him anytime soon." She coaxed him.
Before Loke could even say -or shout- his protest, Lucy went limp and he quickly caught her.
"What happened?" Loke asked, more gently now.
"Let's just say I messed with him a little." Lucy explained with a wink.
Loke laughed and picked Lucy up in bridal style.
"Hahaha! That's my girl!"
"But, to make sure I didn't leave my own personal trail of blood, I had to wipe my blood off with this rag that I've randomly picked from the ground." Lucy further elaborated as she held up the cloth she was pressing onto her abdomen.
"We are definitely going to have to bring you to a hospital now." Loke told the blonde as he brought the girl out into the open abandoned streets due to the late hour.
"No. Not the hospital." Lucy stopped him.
Before Loke could argue, Lucy continued. "A clinic. A small one if possible. Not very well known..."
"Porlyusica?" Loke suggested.
"NO!" Lucy immediately shot out only to hold her abdomen in hopes of dulling the pain from the sudden outburst. "Not the guild. I can't go back... just yet."
With the last words rolling off her tongue, she passed out.
3 Hours Earlier
"So... this is the warehouse?" Lucy questioned rhetorically as she glanced at the two-story building in front of her.
However, the moment she stepped into the place, two people suited in complete overalls landed behind her and instantly jabbed her in the pressure point at her neck, knocking her out, but not before she caught sight of the insignia printed on their uniform.
1 Hour Earlier
Lucy slowly opened her eyes to find herself bond to a chair and when she recalled what had happened, immediately started struggling to get out of her binds.
"Sorry lass, but 'at thing ain't comin' off so easily." Her captor told her as he dragged a chair towards the immobilised girl, placing it in front of her to sit there.
"What's this?" Lucy questioned, tone hard despite herself only to earn a laugh from her captor.
"Do you honestly think you're in a position to demand right now?" As soon as the words left his mouth, the man slapped Lucy with the back of his hand, causing her to fall back to the ground. "BECAUSE YOU DON'T!"
Rising from his chair, the man started wiping his hands as though he had just touched something filthy.
"I really hate you mages. Always thinkin' you're the boss of everyone."
With the man's back turned, Lucy attempted to reach her belt for her keys. However, despite reaching them, she couldn't summon any of her spirits.
"Wha-?"
The man started laughing hysterically once more.
"Like 'at handy work? These ropes prevent mages from using their magic. Like a stopper."
Grimacing, Lucy replied sarcastically, "Lovely."
Picking up his metal pipe, the man slowly made his way to the vulnerable girl, causing her to involuntarily shiver in fear.
"Well now, let's get the party started shall we?"
The last thing Lucy saw before passing out, was her captor's stoic mask.
Present
"Lucy?"
Once again, Lucy slowly opened her eyes. Fatigue still riding her body coupled with a numbing sensation. She looked at herself to find herself dressed in a hospital gown and immediately shot up.
"Where am I?!"
"Calm down Lucy."
"Am I in a hospital?!"
"No you're not! Now listen!" Loke finally snapped.
Shocked by her spirit's sudden outburst, she piped down and decided to let the man speak.
"I've brought you to a small 24/7 clinic down town. They said they needed to change you into something loose in order to tend your wounds since their all over your body, thus the gown."
"I see..." Lucy slowly nodded, absorbing what Loke said.
Grabbing her abdomen, Lucy settled into the bed once more. Sighing in relief, Loke picked up a glass of water from the nightstand and handed it to the girl.
"Lucy..." Loke started. "I've been meaning to ask, but what the hell was that back there? Who was that man?"
"I don't know." Came Lucy's honest reply. "However, I do know the people who knocked me out."
"You do?"
"Yeah. Actually, it's more like I know where they came from."
"Do tell."
"Well, back when I was scouring for guilds before I joined FairyTail, I remember reading about a specific guild whose ways are... unique."
"Unique?" Loke parroted.
"Yeah, they are one of the few guilds who would recruit none mages and yet are still able to finish jobs that are usually too tough for normal people. Their methods are to be quick and stealthy. End it before it can even start."
Loke raised an impressed brow.
"That's something, but if that were so, wouldn't they have some sort of reputation? Why haven't I heard of them?"
"Well, it is impressive but not as noticeable compared to how flashy mages complete their jobs so..."
"Speaking of which, what's their guild name?"
Lucy laughed a little to herself before answering.
"The Anonymous."
Back In the Guild
"I bet she's dressed as a maid now, doing undercover work." Natsu guessed.
"Nah, more likely a guy." Gray argued.
"Hmm..." Erza paused as she joined in the guessing game. "Perhaps an animal?"
The two boys and whoever in the vicinity who was within an earshot looked at the girl in disbelief.
"I still think it's a simple recon mission." Mira put her thought out on the table once more only to be waved away by the boys.
"Nah, if it were so simple, the reward wouldn't be 1 million jewels." Gray countered.
Simple for Lucy but impossible for you three... Mira thought to herself before voicing another suggestion. "Well, maybe it's bagged with side quests."
"Like stealing top secret info from top secret camps?" Happy suggested.
"No, more like targeted for an unknown reason and now have to go in hiding." A different voice butted in.
"LUCY!" All of them cried out.
"Back so fast?" Mira asked.
"I can't believe even you can't complete a recon mission." Natsu began in disbelief. Then came his proud grin. "As expected of my partner!"
Socketing the immature brat, Lucy answered Mira.
"Yeah, turns out Natsu was right-"
"I am?" - "He is?"
All four voices spoke at the same time before turning to the said pinkette.
"What?!" The boy screamed, sounding scandalised.
"NO! It's not the maid thing! I meant as in the whole thing being a trap."
"Oh... Wait, WHAT?!" Natsu blurted out.
"Yeah, I only barely managed to get away and I think now they're after me."
Gray suddenly cut in – literally.
"It seems you're right."
A/N: Okay guys, I must say, I'm baffled. I haven't even uploaded my second chapter and within a day I've already got reviews and followers! It's a huge leap compared to my first fic and I gotta tell ya, I'm bloody elated right now XD And thanks to that, I feel obliged to write more and faster for all y'all and I hope that you guys will enjoy the story to come and keep those reviews coming (Can't learn and improve my writing skills if you don't tell me what's wrong) ^^ Cheers.