Sorry this is a day late, but we have officially hit 10 chappies! Holy Mavis! That's awesome! I want to thank you, my readers, for sticking with me this far! So, without further delay, here's the next chappie of "Hey There!"

Hey There… Ch. 10

The next three weeks went by without much incidence, unless you count the brawls Gray and Natsu got into and the fits Lucy gave Natsu about barging in on her or being her personal slave driver when they worked out together… Lucy had mildly improved her hand to hand combat skill, and her magical stamina was gradually improving thanks to her time spent with Levy at the guild pool.

"Levy-chan!" Lucy gasped as she sent Aquarius back into the spirit world and collapsed in an exhausted heap. "I think I'm done for today. Between you and Natsu, I barely have enough strength to make it through the day!"

"My dear Lucy," Cana purred as she appeared seemingly out of nowhere to throw an arm around the blonde wizard's shoulders. "When you say things like that, people might get the wrong idea about you and Natsu… What exactly are you doing that takes so much of your strength?"

"I'm just training with Natsu in the mornings!" Lucy defended as she fought (and failed) to keep a blush from rising onto her cheeks.

"From the looks of things, it seems like it's a little more than that," Cana smirked as she gave Lucy a good once-over. "Honestly I can't say I'm surprised. I figured Natsu would be holding out for a bombshell, but you just take it to the next level. You've got a good personality, a rare form of magic, and a body that most women would kill for."

"What're ya all talkin' about?" a familiar voice asked and the pinkette in question casually strolled into the pool area. "I thought I heard my name."

"Perfect timing Natsu! We were just discussing you and Lucy's-"

"Nothing!" Lucy bit out as she slapped a hand over the brunette's mouth. "We weren't talking about anything! Cana was just asking a question about my magic and I was answering her when you walked in!"

"If you say so," Natsu said with a raised eyebrow and crossed his arm over his well-muscled, bare chest. Lucy took the time to notice that he was wearing nothing but black swim trunks with a flame design on one of the pants legs and his scarf tied around his head. "Where's your new spirit Luce? I wanna fight it!"

"Sorry Natsu, I just sent her back to the spirit world for the day…"

"That's too bad," Natsu said as he moved closer to the blonde to stand right next to her. "Guess that means I'll have to take you on instead!" Natsu said mischievously while scooping up the tired celestial mage and tossing her into the pool.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried as her head broke the surface of the water. "Why would you do that?!"

"Because it looked fun," Natsu smirked and then cannon balled into the water right next to her. The forgotten brunette and bluenette exchanged knowing looks and giggled as they watched the pair play in the water.

"I think they like each other," Levy grinned.

"Mira is going to love this," Cana murmured as she whipped out her phone and started snapping pictures of the oblivious pair. "This'll be great blackmail…"

Lucy was taking a stroll down to the market with Natsu when she heard a shriek of terror.

"Oh my Mavis! Somebody call 911!" Lucy and Natsu exchanged looks of concern and then bolted off in the direction of the scream. They rounded a corner of a building to find a crowd that was progressively getting larger.

"I'm going to push to the front and see what's going on. Lucy, stay behind me just in case." Natsu murmured as he waded through the mass of people. When he pushed to the front, he felt his mouth go dry as he clenched his fists hard enough to make his knuckles turn white. He was about to turn around to keep Lucy from seeing but as he spun on his heel, he directly faced Lucy's stare of utter disbelief and horror.

"Levy-chan," Lucy choked out as her legs threatened to collapse underneath her weight. Just as she started to fall, Natsu threw an arm around her waist and stabilized her.

"Damn. They got Jet and Droy too…" the pinkette bit out as he got his cell out of his pocket to make a call. "Erza? Yeah, it's me. You and ice prick need to get your asses over here on the double. Phantom struck again and this time, it's not pretty. Tell Gramps too; he'll probably want to start planning our next move… Right, we're about two blocks from the small farmer's market on Main and 34th. Team Shadow Gear is strung up like a group of war criminals on display. Seriously, call in Wendy and Porlyusica from the hospital; they're going to need it." Natsu ended the call with an unsteady breath and shifted so that he could face Lucy. "I know you want to get them down, but we don't know what kind of injuries they have and if we jostle 'em too much, we might do more harm than good…"

"O-okay," Lucy shakily replied as she fought back tears. Who could do that to sweet little Levy? She didn't know Jet or Droy that well, but from what she'd seen from them, they were kind and very protective of their blue haired teammate.

"C'mon, let's get you outta here," Natsu murmured and all but carried her from the scene. As they reached the back fringe of the crowd, Natsu spotted Erza and Gray sprinting towards them.

"I'm assuming they're in front of the crowd?" Gray panted as he tried to see over the sea of people.

"I think this calls for some crowd control," Erza growled, having arrived in a police uniform with a bullhorn. "Alright folks! Nothing to see here! Move away from the crime scene so that the medical teams can get through," Erza bellowed through the bullhorn as she started pushing people out of her way. Moments later, Lucy heard sirens approaching and could only guess that the ambulance had arrived to get the mutilated trio down.

"Everybody out of the way!" an older, pink haired woman yelled angrily as she started parting the crowd of people to get to the victims.

"Please move so that we can get the stretchers in!" Lucy heard a familiar young voice shout and saw Wendy coming through with the rest of the EMTs to take care of the situation.

"Wendy is an EMT?" Lucy breathed in awe as she saw the young bluenette spring into action with a practiced professional ease that had to have come with at least a few months of experience under her belt.

"Yeah, Porlyusica, the pink haired old woman that you saw breaking through the crowd first, is who is mentoring her and was also the one who got her the job. Wendy has really improved her skills since she has joined this team…" Natsu trailed off and looked down at a tear stained Lucy. "Let's get you back to the guild eh? I think we've spent enough time here as it is…" Without a word, Lucy jerkily bobbed her head to show her agreement and the two mages went back to the guild to decompress.

"How unmanly!" an enormous white haired brute known as Elfman roared as he punched a wall. "How dare they string up our comrades like they are criminals?! Phantom Lord has gone too far this time!"

There were furious shouts of agreement and the overall mood in the guild hall was a stifling angry one.

"Damn those Phantom losers for picking on Levy!" Cana grumbled as she slammed down a keg of booze. "After I finish this keg, I'm going to drink another barrel and go show those bastards what happens when they mess with Fairy Tail." Lucy sweat dropped at the brunette's last comment. It was weird to see Natsu and Gray agree on something, and if the murderous looks they were giving the table they were sitting at were any indication, they were itching for a beat down.

"My children!" Makarov yelled over the noise of the hall and everyone immediately fell silent, awaiting the verdict. "I think you all will agree with me when I say that this has gone far enough! I was willing to turn a blind eye to the various scuffles that most of you have had in the past few months, but when those bastards decided to ambush my children and hospitalize them, they awakened the sleeping dragon. It is time we mount a counter attack and I am currently forming a strategy. I will let you know through Mira where everyone will be stationed and how this will go down. I am tired of these Phantoms thinking that they can just march right in and take what is ours."

They shouts of agreement were deafening and Lucy grimly nodded. Even though she hadn't been a part of Fairy Tail for very long, she couldn't just stand by and watch as her friends were brutally injured. After the master had finished his speech, the guild members dispersed to prepare for battle, and Lucy was no exception.

"Hey Luce," Natsu spoke softly as he entered the blonde's bedroom through the window. Lucy didn't even bother to get mad about it because she was quite happy to see him. "I'm sorry that I dragged you into all this. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to leave-"

"Natsu, you don't have to apologize for anything," Lucy said as she curtailed Natsu's sentence. "I'm honestly really glad you brought me here and I can't think of a place that I'd rather be than right here at Fairy Tail." Lucy smiled before her face contorted into a frown. "I'm just angry that these Phantom Lord people think that it's okay to try to take out a business rival by stooping to ambushes and public humiliation; that's just not professional if they think that those methods are okay."

"Don't worry Luce; when the Magic Council gets wind of this, if there is a Phantom Lord guild left standing, they will answer legally for their actions. I just don't think that Fairy Tail will be as merciful. I know you probably don't feel comfortable about fighting on the front lines yet, but I'm gonna look out for ya Luce and you're going to watch my back. When we get a hold of those bastards, they're not going to know what hit them," Natsu said fiercely as he punched a flaming fist into his palm.

"I'm all fired up," Lucy joked and Natsu broke into a face-splitting grin and punched the air enthusiastically.

"That's the spirit Luce! Well, I'm going to go prep for our guild raid. You wanna meet in the guild hall in about two hours?"

"Sure," Lucy agreed and watched as the pink haired male leapt onto her window sill.

"See ya then Luce!" Natsu cheerily waved and then dropped down to his apartment window.

Lucy let out a deep breath as she flopped down onto her bed. I've gotten into some pretty serious stuff Lucy thought to herself with a chuckle. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything though… Lucy decided to close her eyes and rest up before it was time to meet up with Natsu.

The blonde slept soundly for about an hour until she was rudely awoken by having water thrown upon her. Lucy tried to shriek in protest, but realized that her entire body was trapped in a sphere of water.

"This is the woman we're looking for," a somber looking blue haired woman dressed in all blue murmured.

"C'est magnifique!" a man dressed in a brown suit with a monocle exclaimed in a heavy French accent. The man then slowly paced around the orb of water, watching Lucy struggle with muffled screams until she became unconscious from the lack of air. Witnessing this, the woman released the water surrounding the blonde and slung the unconscious woman over her shoulders.

"We've captured one Lucy Heartfilia as requested," the bluenette spoke into a hidden microphone.

"Oui!" the monocle man exclaimed again, this time into his own mic. "Proceeding to pick up. Juvia and I will meet up at the checkpoint." The intruders then jumped out of Lucy's window and off to the agreed upon place.

"What's taking Luce so long?" Natsu groaned as he rested his head on the table.

"Maybe she was doing something weird and lost track of time?" Happy suggested as he floated around his pink haired companion.

"She's really good about being on time though," Natsu muttered as he frowned at the table.

"Oi flame brain!" Gray shouted at Natsu as he walked towards the table the pinkette was sitting at. "Where's Lucy? I thought she'd be down here with you going over plans of attack…"

"That's what I thought too ice princess, but she's now 30 minutes late than what time we originally agreed upon meeting at down here…" Natsu trailed off in thought. He was about to comment further when he saw Mira running towards them.

"Natsu!" the white haired woman cried in a panic and Natsu bolted upright; not liking her tone at all.

"I can't find Lucy anywhere! I knocked on her door and she didn't answer; it's still locked, but I think something is wrong-"

The rest of Mirajane's concerns fell upon deaf ears as both Gray and Natsu sprinted up the stairs to Lucy's apartment. Gray pounded on the door and when neither of them heard any movement on the other side, Natsu kicked down the door and started searching the small apartment.

"Someone's been here," Natsu growled like an enraged animal as he picked up on the scent of two strangers.

"And from the looks of things, they weren't friendly," Gray grimly added as he pointed to the water all over Lucy's bedroom and the signs of struggle.

"That is it!" Natsu hissed in fury and briefly ignited and extinguished his fists. "I'm going to burn whoever thought they could take MY partner and get away with it. I'm going to start tracking the scent before the trail goes cold, and don't you DARE tell me otherwise Gray," Natsu spat as he surveyed the room once more. Gray stared at his comrade in shock; Natsu NEVER used his name unless he was deathly serious.

"Okay, but use your phone to keep us updated," the black haired male replied and watched as the livid fire mage leapt out of the bedroom window and onto the rooftop adjacent to the building. Gray sighed and ran a hand through his unkempt hair before he decided that he needed to tell the guild about what he and Natsu just discovered. "Mavis," Gray muttered under his breath, "I hope Phantom Lord is prepared to deal with an enraged dragon slayer…"

The 10th chappie is down! Just so you guys know, I'm not even close to being done with this story yet; we don't even know the real bad guy! Enter the Phantom Fairies! Woo! I personally hated it when Gajeel beat team Shadow Gear to a bloody pulp and then Juvia and Sol kidnapped Lucy, although I never disliked Juvia or Gajeel… Even when I was first introduced to them in this franchise, I didn't loathe them for what they did to poor Levy and Lucy. I guess I was just hoping that they were following orders that they couldn't refuse… And now Natsu is now beyond pissed! Stay tuned for an all-out fit of dragon rage!

A very special thank you to Animallover, Cat, Alyss Hatter, and fanficlove2014 for your lovely reviews! Thank you so very much and you guys are extra awesome!