Hey Guys!

I know, I'm posting early. I'm not really going to be around this weekend, so I wanted to make sure this got out. I'll definitely make sure that another one comes out around Thanksgiving as a present.

As always, hope you enjoy!

- Singed

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

Laxus was having trouble deciding where to start. There were just so many questions bouncing around in his head and he wasn't even sure if Eric would even answer. It wasn't like the guy even liked any of them. Everyone knew that he'd only joined the guild to be close to Kinana.

Suddenly, Eric sighed and glared up at Laxus. "Listen, I've gotten good at not hearing other people's thoughts, but with yours being so loud it's kind of hard to ignore."

"Well, then maybe you should answer some of my questions."

"I would love to, but seeing as they're constantly changing I can't nail one down. Look, if the mighty Laxus is nervous then maybe you should just start over, like I hadn't said anything. I want to go to bed, but that won't be possible until I shut down some of those concerns of yours."

Laxus nodded and sighed. Pretend that the last minute hadn't just happened. Okay, he could do that. After all, he'd gotten good practice of doing that with Mira. "Hey Eric," Laxus said, settling onto his bed.

"Yeah," the venom dragon slayer answered. He didn't sound too pleased, but at least he was talking.

"I have some questions for you and I need you to shoot straight."

Eric chuckled and he turned to Laxus. "The only thing I can think of that would have you even talking to me right now is a mate problem." Laxus let his face darken and he took a shuttered breath before he nodded. He didn't like that this guy could act so normal, when of course he already knew what was happening. He was also most definitely not used to having to be vulnerable.

"Well, then fire away. I want some sleep."

"When did you know that Kinana was your mate?" Eric thought for a moment before he answered.

"You have to remember that she was always important to me. She was my best friend and my constant companion for years, although she was cursed as a snake. I'm still ashamed that I had no idea that she was actually a girl. I mean, her thoughts were so clear and human, I should have known. Anyway, as I got to know her more and more as a human I knew that my feelings of friendship were still there. However, I knew something was up when I stopped pursuing other women because I was constantly comparing them to her. Then I always had to see her and talk to her and basically became a love sick idiot. I hadn't figured it out at the time of course."

"Yeah, skip the mushy crap and get to the point."

"Shut up, man. Do you want the information or not?"

Laxus was silent and Eric continued. "Anyway, it was perhaps six months back. I gave her some flowers, maybe candy, I don't know. Anyway, she leaned over and kissed my cheek. I remember freezing in shock, before I further surprised myself and her by darting forward and kissing her full out. It wasn't a long kiss, but she pulled away breathless and smiling and I was probably just a shocked fool. In that one moment I knew. My biology was screaming at me and I was listening. I realized that this was what the natural dragon slayers must feel. After that, I was determined to woo her before I married her. The rest you know."

"So it was the kiss then."

"Yeah. It would seem that's another way we're different from the first generation."

"Why do you say that?" Laxus asked.

Eric shrugged. "From something Natsu and Gajeel said one time. I think that the natural dragon slayers have a more gradual fall but the kiss is a confirmation of something they've already figured out. Basically, it's a way for them to make sure that the one they're pursuing is the one for them. For us, it's a start of the knowledge. Until we kiss or are kissed by our mates we're completely ignorant fools to the entire situation." Eric was silent for a moment. "Of course, that's not the part I'm most jealous of."

"What?"

Eric sighed and seemed to be relenting a little. "Okay listen, I figure that you're the only other person who will ever understand this, so I'm going to tell you. For Natsu, Gajeel, Sting, and Rogue, the actual mating part manifests as a pivotal part of their magic and biology."

Laxus snorted. "What's that mean? It sounds like you're reading from a book."

"Yeah, the one Lisanna is writing. I was helping her before Rogue got involved and that's how she worded this whole thing. Anyway, what I'm saying is that for the first generation dragon slayers, their first mating is literally the most important moment of their biology and magic, thus they'd never forget it. However, with us because it's such a magical overload and it is literally changing our biology right then and there to be forever bound bodily and mentally to that one person, we're essentially drunk and have no memory of the event. According to Kinana, it was fantastic, but you couldn't ask me."

"You serious?" Laxus was utterly horrified. If he was going to finally sleep with Mira then he wanted to remember it!

"Yep. I mean, I'm starting to get some of it back, but it's dreamlike and not very clear."

"So what you're saying is that I'll have no memory of my first mating with my life mate."

"Yep. The funny part is that I don't even really remember the end of our wedding. After I thought about it, I think that my magic knew that it'd be soon, so it started the process of changing my biology before we even made it to the bedroom. I think that if the mating drive is triggered for some reason, a dragon slayer may have no memory of that event and the few hours leading up to and after. I once ask Kinana if I acted any different while in this state and she said that I acted slightly drunk, but otherwise, no."

"You've thought a lot about this haven't you?"

"Yeah well, I'm hoping by having my story ready and prepared I can get through this crap earlier than planned and get home to Kinana." Laxus snorted and laid back. He'd never agree with him, but he felt the same. Eric's words had confirmed to him that Mira was his mate and he was determined to get back to her and convince her that she was his mate. He forgot his original idea of finding the scumbag who'd gotten her pregnant and offering him as choice. He'd take care of her and the child she carried. He may not be the father, but he'd raise and love any child that she loved.

"Well," Haja asked Reina and Jegan as they read over some data. The dragon slayers had been under their care for three days and it was going very well.

"We have everything we need. Thanks to Deep Snow's biology magic, my potions, and Berial's brand of link magic we've been able to isolate and capture what we need to immobilize the dragon slayers."

"Excellent! How long do you think this will take them out of commission?"

"It's difficult to say," Jegan said, stepping in. He'd been reading over the data and he sighed. "I'd guess over a week however."

"Perfect. That will give us plenty of time to hide the mates and children. They won't even know where to start."

"No," Reina said, stepping in. "And with this spell, they won't have their usual abilities to rely on for tracking."

Jegan allowed his displeasure to show. "Something wrong?" Haja asked too smugly.

"I just don't understand why we don't just kill them. I mean, we're taking their mates and children, and then killing them when they're no long useful. Not to mention the pain and handicap we're about to inflict. It just seems overly cruel, even for you."

Haja just looked at him as Reina turned her curious gaze over to him as well. Haja might not understand the look, but he did. She'd just realized that what he'd said made a lot of sense. Why not just kill them so there wasn't a chance for them to come back and kill them instead?

"I have my reasons Number Six. You'd best remember that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm letting the other's know that we are clear to take the next step." Haja walked out and Jegan looked at Reina. She in turn glanced over at a small metal box sitting on her desk. It glowed slightly and if anyone had bothered to open it, they'd find a compartment for each dragon slayer.

Lucy cradled Igneel as he looked up at her. It had been three days since Natsu had left and Lucy was ready to be at her own house and with her mate. She missed him. It was crazy how the magic had made her crave him just as much as he craved her. Levy had expressed something similar. Lucy's brows furrowed as she remembered an earlier conversation with Lisanna. She had come by to do her own interviewing with the mates and had given a rather interesting theory.

"You know, it's funny how this magical bond transfer seems to be working."

"The what?" Levy and Lucy had asked.

Lisanna shrugged as she picked up her bag. "It's nothing really, just a theory I have. But, I think that the bond allows for some instinct transferal."

"Meaning what exactly?" Lucy asked.

"Well, ever since both of you've been mated, you've become slightly more assertive and now that the children are born, you can definitely see a difference. Meanwhile, the men might be the more aggressive of the pair, but haven't you noticed that both have become more attuned to other's feelings?" Levy and Lucy just stared at Lisanna, shocked but everything was starting to make sense. Lucy had noticed of course, but she'd just thought that it had been him maturing over the years.

Thinking on it now, hours later, while she nursed Igneel in the middle of the night Lucy realized it wasn't just the empathy. Natsu had already had it, to a degree, but he was also more patient, more articulate with his thoughts and vocabulary, but the most telling of all was his new ability to wait and think before he acted. The most recent example was his ability to reason out the consequences of killing that slime ball Julius. At the time, Lucy had thought that he hadn't killed him because she'd asked him not to, but no, it was more than that. He'd already made the decision to not kill him before she'd even voiced her request.

"Uuuhhhhh," Mira's cry brought Lucy's thoughts back to the present. Looking over at that still sleeping mage, she realized that Mira had cried out in her sleep. It was the middle of the night and Lucy had risen when Igneel cried for his three o'clock feeding. Poor Mira. Laxus needed to get back soon and be a man, as Elfman would say. Of course, if what Mira said was true about her meeting with Laxus, then he was an ignorant jerk, not an intentional one. Mira had discussed it with the others in hopes of forming a plan on how to break the news to Laxus. By the end, everyone agreed that she'd just have to tell him quickly and with no lead ins. Laxus was better to handle when you just shot straight.

"Gray," Juvia whispered as she changed positions while dreaming. That was another thing that had to be fixed, and fast. Seriously, what had gotten into the ice idiot? He'd almost lost her once two years ago and now he was losing her again. He needed to figure this out now, or Juvia was going to be a single mother. Erza, who had decided to stay with them while Jellal was on a mission, shifted in her sleep. She looked troubled, but her troubled expression finally settled and she was peaceful once more. Suddenly feeling exhausted, Lucy put a now sleeping Igneel into his bassinet near her bed and settled in herself.

Drifting off to sleep, Lucy was glad at how relaxed she was feeling. It was as if she had no care in the world. It was nice because it had been years since she'd felt like this without Natsu by her side. But why not, it wasn't like she needed him.

"Something's wrong!" A voice inside her head shouted. Yes, something was wrong. Her eyes snapped open and she realized something. The reason she was feeling so relaxed was that this was a sleeping spell, one to keep her and everyone else asleep through anything. She also realized that she'd felt this spell before, which was also why she could probably fight it now.

"Are you sure that they're asleep?" A gruff male voice said behind her.

"My sleep spells never fail," a voice she was all too familiar with responded. It was Julius. Her heart sped up and it took every ounce of will power to not move or tense. "Well, except on dragon slayers, which is why we waited for Wendy to make her nightly perimeter check and hit her over the head with a shovel. Primitive perhaps, but effective."

"Well, it better not fail now. The boss wants all of the dragon mates and those three brats delivered by tomorrow. Let's just hope we won't have to hurt any of them. That'll be picked up by the dragon slayers." With that, whoever it was stepped next to her and picked up her son. Her son!

Upon hearing and seeing this Lucy burned with a rage she didn't know she possessed. They were talking about abducting them, but most importantly they were talking about abducting her child and then the possibility of harm coming to him. There was no way she was letting that happen.

She jumped up and grabbed her keys and whip. She hit the guy who'd been near her and he fell hard. She then lifted Leo's key when she saw Julius, smirking as he held a knife to Igneel's throat. Her son slept peacefully.

"Julius," the man she'd taken down groaned. "I thought you'd said that no one other than dragon slayers could get out of your sleep spells."

"Unless they've been under their influence before. I'd forgotten that I'd let the Master borrow this particular blend. No worries, she'll cooperate now." He motioned for her keys and the whip. She wasn't going down like this! They'd just talked about needing her son, so there was no way he'd hurt him. She was just about to open Leo's gate when she saw the room clearly for the first time. She saw many people stationed around the room, effectively blocking her exit. She may be able to escape with Igneel, but what of the others? Could she leave them to an unknown fate? No.

The worst part was, she was also not her strongest at the moment. Her magic was coming back day by day, but it took a while for a woman's magic abilities to return to full strength after a pregnancy. She could save herself and Igneel, but not her friends. And what about Levy and her children? She couldn't leave them!

Frustrated out of her mind, Lucy made a choice she'd never made before. Natsu had found her once before thanks to the bond, he could find her again. So, she was going to allow herself to be captured and find a way to weaken and or defeat them from the inside out. She was doing it to protect her friends, but she was also doing it to protect her son. No one was going to find a way to use him. Ever. She held out her keys and her whip. They were taken promptly and Julius motioned to the bed. So, she climbed in and closed her eyes. She allowed herself to be pulled under by the spell and knew that when she awoke she'd bide her time and then create utter chaos.

Natsu and the other dragon slayers were bidding there time. They'd all been ready to rip these scientists apart when Natsu had told them about Julius. They all hated him and none of them were ready to trust an organization that worked with scum like him. However, they had no actual proof and they still had no idea why they wanted them.

"Listen," Laxus finally said, "we'll just have to do some snooping this morning." It was the fourth day and the dragon slayers knew that they had to make their move and soon. For one, tomorrow was the last day, for another, Eric had heard an unguarded thought from Jegan over dinner the night before. Today they were making their move. But what that move was and whom they were targeting, no one knew.

"So what do we do?"

"Well, according to our schedules, our morning is booked, but after lunch we actually have an hour or two to ourselves. That is when we'll strike, unless an opportunity should arise beforehand. Got it?"

They all nodded and made their way down to the lobby. Reina was there and she seemed more chipper than normal, and since her good moods were usually laced with mocking contempt, it was a nice change. Too nice. The researchers were happy about something, so now the dragon slayers were going to need to be extra careful. The morning was going pretty well. The same basic routine, but Natsu and the others noticed that the researchers were jumpy, as if excited or nervous about something. Yeah, Natsu was going to find out what that was and soon.

At lunch, the dragon slayers all agreed to do their own thing. This was their code for snoop until time was up. Natsu and the others raced about, but by the time their hour lunch was up, they hadn't really found anything of use. Natsu was on his way back to the rooms, when he stopped. His instincts were yelling at him again. He opened the nearest closet and waited.

"Well," a familiar voice said, coming closer. "We'll be able to enact the plan today. We won't even need tomorrow. The dragon slayers are ready. We just need to press that button."

"Yes. It was wonderful how smoothly our plans have progressed and by a whole day early. I thought Wendy was going to be more of a problem but…" The voices had moved far enough away, but Natsu didn't need to hear anything more. Something had been done to the girls. They had mentioned Wendy, who was with the mates and it sounded like the researchers had a plan for the dragon slayers. Natsu and the others needed to stop playing the prey and start going on the hunt.

First things first though. Natsu checked down the bond for the first time that day and what he felt made him panic. She wasn't in Magnolia anymore. In fact, she was miles away. Also, she was asleep, but the last thing she experienced had frightened her into a rage. Her mind still raced with the adrenaline.

Natsu shot from the closet with a roar of defiance. The researchers, who had turned the corner by then, came running back to see what the problem was. What they got was the sight of an angry, dragon force dragon slayer, ready to render them limb from limb. It had been Deep Snow and Berial who Natsu had overheard. He had already determined that Berial was more of a threat than Deep Snow, but he couldn't count that guy out either. Better to take them both out together. With no warning, Natsu shot off a dragon roar and was pleased to watch how both of the researchers hit the wall. Berial was up quickly, but Deep Snow took a bit longer. This gave Natsu plenty of time to attack Berial. He continued to push Berial back down the hall, as he punched, kicked, and fire blasted him left and right.

Berial was no novice though and soon he was making his own mark on the dragon slayer. Natsu hardly noticed when Berial got in a few hits though. He was far too concerned with getting out of this place and tracking Lucy down, again. Maybe her complaint of always being the unasked for damsel in distress wasn't just the pregnancy hormones. Finally Natsu punched Berial just right, with the right amount of fire power and the researcher fell and did not get back up. He wasn't dead, but he was out of the fight. Natsu straightened, only to be hit from behind.

"You forgot about me Dragneel, very sloppy." Deep Snow said, approaching the downed dragon slayer.

"And you forgot about us," Sting said shooting off a laser that hit Deep Snow in the chest. Natsu smelled the death instantly. Berial would be getting up at some point, Deep Snow never would.

"You're going to have a time with the council." Natsu said, by way of thanks. Sting snorted.

"Not after I show them these," Laxus held up a folder of papers.

"What is it?"

"Their plans for dragon slayer children." Laxus said, motioning from them to follow. "I'll explain once we're back on the train. However, Natsu, we were having a nice meeting upstairs when we heard your roar and a fight. Mind telling us why you broke with the plan?"

"I overheard those two say something about Wendy being easier to take down than expected." All of the dragon slayers stopped and turned to Natsu, their eyes shining and their scales coming out with the realization of what that meant.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. We need to talk to the guild right away."

"Right," Rogue said, pulling out a communications lacrima. "I'll just…" Suddenly an excruciating pain hit all six dragon slayers at once. If it were to be described, it was like all of them were experiencing the worst sensory overload ever. The loudest noise you've ever heard, coupled with the brightest light, and worst smell and taste. All of them writhed on the floor as Reina, Haja, Jegan, and Julius approached from down the hall.

"Well dragon slayers," Julius said, stepping forward, "you almost won. But we have your mates, all of them, hidden away with your children. Don't worry. Your children will be kept alive. Your mates though, well, they'll be kept for as long as they're useful. Then we will send their pretty little bodies to you in pieces." All of the dragon slayers growled and tried to lunge, but the pain was too great. With smirks of superiority, all of them turned to leave the weakened and beaten dragon slayers to their fates. As Julius passed them, he leaned down to Natsu and whispered.

"I have a special plan for your mate, Dragneel. Just so you're aware." Yep, he was a dead man.