Chapter 23: Removing Rose Tinted Glasses

3rd POV

"So let me get this straight, Lucy was… has been… kidnapped," Mira gasped, covering her mouth in shock and worry.

"Yeah," Gajeel grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration. All his hopes had been centered at Fairy Tail being the culprit, because if he was really honest with himself, it was all he had to go off of. Lucy is like a ray of sunshine, always smiling, always kind, always forgiving; they were the only people he knew of that would commit such an act against her.

But now, it was crystal clear to him that they weren't the ones; none of them have the brains to do it anyways, he inwardly snarled. So now, Gajeel was back to square one, with no leads or possible suspect and his Bunnygirl far from reach, much to his fury. Pantherlily placed his paw on his partners shoulder, instantly relaxing Gajeel's angered, stiffened shoulders.

"Was there any evidence or leads left behind at the… crime scene," Mira asked, stuttering near the end; she didn't even want to think about any crime being committed to her good friend. She crossed her arms, trying to focus on the task on hand, and not on the image that kept popping up in her paranoid, worried state; that of which included Lucy crying, begging to the heavens for her friends to come save her. No, Mira shook her head forcefully, I need to get a hold of myself; Lucy needs me, just as I need Lucy to be strong enough to last until Gajeel, Lily, and I find her.

Lily sighed from his spot on his partner's arm. "No; it's all very mysterious. She went missing from our apartment; that much we know, but neither I nor Gajeel were there. The only thing left behind that we believe to have belonged to Lucy is some… blood, on the doorsill. The door was left wide open and undisturbed." A growl slipped past Gajeel's lips as his pupils narrowed into animalistic slits; just at the mention of Lucy's blood coating the framing of the door got Gajeel's inner dragon into a growling frenzy, clawing to get out and wreak havoc.

"Gajeel," the white haired girl asserted strongly, admiringly holding her cool when he cocked his head her way, oozing lethal intent. "The more you lose your cool the longer it's going to take to find and save Lucy, and the longer we take may prove to be harmful to her wellbeing… Look, Gajeel, I know you're hurting, and that you're missing Lucy. So am I, but I want to find my best friend and your girlfriend, not a body." In an instant, Gajeel's whole demeanor changed, going from lethal to defeated. His eyes back to normal, but downcast, letting out a long sigh. Losing Lucy was obviously hitting him hard, and Mira perfectly understood why.

No one knew much of Gajeel's life before he joined Fairy Tail; they knew he had joined Phantom Lord and that he too had been raised by a dragon that was like a father to him, but other than that is seemed that for much the dragon slayers life he was pretty much lonely. Lucy had been the first person to become seriously close to Gajeel in all of his life, other than his dragon. Mira could see, as clear as day, just how significant the celestial mage was to the iron dragon slayer, which made her more determined to find and save her sister in all but blood.

"You're right," Gajeel grumbled, ignoring the fact that this was the first time he's ever admitted out loud that he was wrong.

Mira patted his arm, smiling at Lily when the exceed gave her an appreciative nod. "Alright let's go over everything we know. So you said the door was wide open when you got back, did it look like it was just opened or like someone barged in?"

"Like it was just opened, there were no cracks or bent hinges to suggest otherwise." Lily piped in.

"So, that means whoever did this just went to the door and knocked on it, and Lucy had opened it. This someone, or someone's, probably looked non-suspicious, or non-threatening as well." Mira continued, rubbing her pale skinned chin in consideration.

"They must have also been watching us," Gajeel jumped in. "They came when Bunny was all alone and they knew she was at our place, which means they were watching, waiting for Lily and I to leave to strike. They knew it would not only be difficult to fight one mage, but two mages and an exceed would have been too much."

"Which means it was more than likely just one person who did this. One person has no chance fighting against the three of you, but has chance against just one person. And if this was done by multiple people, there would be a higher chance of them succeeding in going against all three of you, and it would've been smarter for them to do so. Think about it, any person could see how you, Lucy, and Lily would go to the ends of the world to find each other. It would've been better to just take all three of you so that there are no loose ends. So it's definitely just one person who did this." Mira concluded.

"But that still leaves us with who in the hell did this!?" Gajeel exclaimed angrily.

"I'm not sure this might help, but I have a gut feeling that something that happened on yours and Lucy's recent mission might give us some clues. Gajeel, was there anything that happened or any person that you came across that had seemed sketchy, suspicious, or maybe a tad too interested in Lucy?" Pantherlily asked, turning his calculating eyes towards the iron dragon slayer.

"I think you're onto to something, but before you answer Gajeel, I want you to focus on what your inner dragon is telling you, or what he might have felt was a bit too strange on the mission. Your inner dragon is a like an actual creature, it would be able to sense lethal or otherwise unkind intent, he may have picked up on something you didn't," Mira inquired, ignoring Lily's shocked glance her way as black haired man shut his eyes, breathing deeply as he focused on his inner dragon and what struck him wrong on their job request. Lily was surprised that the white haired beauty knew about Gajeel's inner dragon. It was not common knowledge that dragon slayers had inner, animalistic parts of themselves, which was called "inner dragons." They were basically just a part of a dragon slayers mind, but were more… intense and acted more creature-like that like a regular human. But Mira, being a "she-demon" herself, knew all about it, having an inner demon which was a lot like having an inner dragon.

After a long pause, Gajeel opened his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh. "There was one time where I felt there was something fucked up going on, but I ignored it… But after feeling my inner, I think I was right to be suspicious."

"What happened?" Both Mira and Lily jumped in.

"When Lucy and I were heading to our destination, we had to share a compartment with some guy named Daniel. There was something… wrong about the guy's whole demeanor, and he was extremely interested in Bunnygirl the whole time, always watching her. I sensed the fury waving off of him every time Bunny touched me, and it was always directed at me. He caused even my inner dragon to be on edge."

"Do you remember what he looked like or what he smelled like-"

"Oh course, Lily, you amazing genius!" The white haired girl exclaimed, interrupting Lily. "Why didn't I think of this before, you have an extraordinary sense of smell, right Gajeel? Did you smell anything at the apartment that didn't smell like Lucy, a smell that might've felt familiar yet not quite?"

"No I was too… urm," Gajeel grumbled hesitantly. After coming home to find his Bunny gone with blood on the door, all the pierced man had seen was red, storming over to the only people he thought could do this without taking a single moment to think rationally. Now he felt a tad embarrassed that he had acted like some rash, hot headed dragon, like he had acted like Natsu of all people.

"Well then, lets head back to your apartment, if what I think is right, then we should back to the train station and find the train you and Lucy, and find more information about this Daniel character."

"I agree, it's a good plan, and it's the best lead we have," Lily piped in.

Gajeel nodded, and while he would never admit it out loud, he was a bit… touched that he had these two people supporting him through this, keeping him mind focused on the goal. Hold on my Bunny, I'll be with you shortly, and I'm going to show whoever took you why you don't mess with Black Steel Gajeel, He thought darkly to himself, feeling a sense of evil amusement at the thought of beating this mystery person to a bloodied pulp.

3rd POV

With a pained, scared gasp, Lucy jerked up with a start, her chocolate eyes wide and jumping from place to place. As her eyes took in everything, Lucy fearfully scurried backwards, her back spine something metal very hard, her feet getting caught up in the mass of blankets that were suddenly on her legs. The blonde beauty winced at the pain echoing through her spine; she could already feel the bruising forming onto her back.

"You must be careful, my love."

The sudden voice caused Lucy's entire body to jerk again, this time away from where the familiar, slimy voice came from. Her terrified and confused doe-like eyes rested on the owner of the monstrous voice that now haunted her subconscious, finding Zayn leaning against the wall with what appeared to be a worried look in his eyes; though Lucy wasn't all that convinced, a monster doesn't feel sympathy. "Your back must be exceedingly aching now; I do not want you harmed in any way, my precious love." He continued, taking long strides towards the blonde, who cowered away from him in return.

Instead of answering him, Lucy looked down with furrowed brows, finding a thick, mattress under her body, with multiple blankets and comforters covering her legs, that all rested on the an actual bed frame. It must have been the bed's head frame that I had rammed into, Lucy cringed, rubbing the sore spots forming on her back. Her eyes then jumped around, remembering in her cell there had been no luxurious bed; she wasn't in her old cell anymore that was for sure. Instead she found herself in an actual bedroom, designed in only dreary dark reds and blacks.

"Where am I? " Lucy whispered under her breath, terrified at the thought of why might this horrible monster would put her in a bedroom. The explanation she could think of, was that he was trying to enact Stockholm Syndrome on her.

Zayn sighed, setting himself on the other side of the bed from Lucy, either oblivious or ignoring the dark look she gave him as he did so. It seemed even her fiery spirit out won her fear in this scenario. "I am sorry my dear, it seems I've made a grievous mistake. I should have instantly given you a nice room to rest in and get used to this new relationship, not throw you away in that horrible cell. Will you forgive me," he asked leaning forward to rest his palm against her cheek. She winced at the touch, but didn't push his hand away; she had no idea what the man was fully capable of, and was terrified at any wrong move might mean a death sentence to either her or one of her friends.

"How could I forgive a horrible monster who kidnapped me from the man I love, from my friends and family, and is holding me hostage…" She whispered furiously.

Zayn simply sighed again, though he thankfully released her cheek. "I see, you will come around soon, but until then my love, enjoy your time in your new room, soon to be our room. I don't wish to scare you away, which is why I'll be staying in another room temporarily until you have grown more comfortable with this new situation. If you grow hungry or are in need anything else, ring this bell here and I shall come. There are a few books in here to keep you company while I am away, but I will try to visit as often as I can, my sweet," Zayn cooed, as if his words were comforting, which to Lucy, they were anything but that.

With that the monster left the blonde behind, shutting the door soundly behind him. Only then did Lucy see the shackles hanging off of all four of her limbs, making sure she went no farther than two feet from the bed. With an overwhelming feeling of defeat, Lucy collapsed against the mountain of pillows, crying profusely, soaking the velvet pillow covers with her tears. The blonde allowed herself to cry, promising herself that this would be the last time, and then she would focus solely on escaping once again.

To be continued…

A/N: Sorry (again) for the late update, I recently got a job and they have me working a lot of hours. Though in January I should be able to have more time (no promises) because we are really slow during that time and its actually hard for my co-workers and I to get hours so yeah I will try to get this story updated again before the end of January! Thank you all for the favorites, follows, and reviews!

To LePengwen: Hey hope you enjoy the update, and they're already starting a search for Lucy! Lets just say the train station will be the key to it all…

To HCookie: Yes, hopefully I'll be able to get another chapter out! Thank you for your patience haha!

To tt the white wolf: You can ship whoever! I admit I do like NaLu, and I'm actually starting to come around a bit to GaLe, I still have GaLu as my favorite!:)

To Myth Magky Fae: Haha I think its common sense to keep your mouth shut when a man who's a dragon slayer is on a war path haha!

To ctkatieq99: Thank you, hope you enjoy the update!

To SailorTardis498: Thank you, I've been trying to show all sides to Gajeel that we don't get to see the anime, like when he's happy, embarrassed, angry, and such, I'm glad you've been liking it.

To Fairys4life: Sorry for the late update, please enjoy!