BROKEN AND BRUISED

CHAPTER 2

Sunrays shone from the curtain and showered the sleeping blonde with warm and soft light. The blonde groaned and started stirring until she felt a sickening feeling and bolted straight to the bathroom. It has been going like this for a week, every day she throws up, she started to look thinner because she was barely eating, and paler.

A knock was heard coming from her living room, she shouted a coming, and rinsed her mouth then went and opened the door.

"You look like shit Bunny."

"And good morning to you too Gaj."

He growled at her while walking past her and into the kitchen. A week passed by and he still hasn't approved of the nickname.

"Are you gonna come to the guild today?" he asked, it has been a while since she went to the guild, every day she would wake up worse than the day before so he hadn't let her out of her apartment and begged her to go to the doctor but never once had she accepted.

"I don't think I can handle goi-", thump.

"Bunny?" no answer.

He rushed back to the living room to find Lucy on the floor out cold. He grabbed her and started shaking her "Bunny, hey Bunny wake up. Shit!" he picked her up, grabbed her keys and bolted out the door shutting it behind him.

He ran straight to a doctor he got to know, one who lived in the forest. As he ran the people stared at him weirdly and made a path for him once they saw he was carrying someone.

Once he reached the cabin he knocked on her door.

"Go away!"

"Old hag I need your help here." Pounded Gajeel on her door.

She opened it ready to smack the intruder with her broom, until she saw the girl in his arms and made way to him.

"Put her on the bed over there." She ordered him and he laid the blonde gently on the bed.

"What happened?" she asked while she went to check the blonde's pulse.

"We were talking normally and then suddenly she blacked out." He breathed, he would not admit to anyone but he was worried sick.

"And you haven't noticed the fact that she is pale and unhealthy thin?!" snapped the old pink haired woman glaring at the iron dragon slayer.

"I did and I begged her to see a doctor but she wouldn't accept."

She averted her glare from him and back to the blonde her gaze softened. As she ran tests on the blonde, the slayer sat back and didn't say anything.

When she finished, Porlyusica turned to the slayer and muttered "Well congratulations your girlfriend seems pregnant."

Gajeel fell from his chair at that comment "W-what? Are you sure?" he stammered.

"Are you doubting my medical abilities you imbecile dragon?" the old woman snarled at him.

"No, no, it's just she's not my girlfriend, and I am not the father." The words rushed out of Gajeel' mouth.

"Hmm, okay well the baby is feeding off of her magical containers and because she is not getting rest nor eating well, her containers are not filling up."

"So all she needs is food and rest? But she wasn't able to get nutriments because she keeps throwing up her food."

"I will give her some vitamins and herbs that will help her rest. Now grab her and get out of here, your smell is disturbing." Growled Porlyusica.

"But the vitamins…"

"I will get them for you."

Gajeel went and picked Lucy up, then headed for the door. He waited for the old hag to come back. He heard footsteps behind him and turned "Tell her to come see me every first Monday of the month, and if anything happens to come to me." She handed him a basket which he took and kicked him out of her house.

Once he reached her house, he set her on her bed and went to prepare her some food before the door flew open and in barreled team Natsu ready to kill.

"What happened to Luce?" screeched Natsu.

"Shut up you idiot she is sleeping." Whispered angrily Gajeel.

"What are you doing here Gajeel?" questioned Titania.

The rest of the team looked at him up and down, and Gajeel felt as if he was being accused of something, his day was so messed up and he really could not handle her crazy team at the moment.

"He helped me." Rasped a voice from behind them.

They all turned to see Lucy sitting upright on her bed, she looked tired and ready to sleep, but she still managed to smile at them, a small smile that they all were relieved to see, but a tinge of sadness lingered in it that only one person was able to notice.

"I blacked out and he was near, so he must have sensed it and helped me." She assured them.

"Oh" Natsu looked at Gajeel "Thanks man." He smiled goofily at him.

"Right… look Bunny needs to rest so you guys can check up on her tomorrow." He tried to kick them out politely, this week with Lucy surely turned him soft.

"But wait you are going to stay here?" Erza narrowed her eyes at him "Alone with her?"

"Erza-"

"What is your point Scarlet?" growled Gajeel.

"I mean-"

"Erza" Lucy raised her voice "He is helping me and was there with me at the doctor's place, so that's why he is staying."

They send him glances that promised pain if he did anything wrong and then left.

"It's amazing." He smirked bitterly.

"What is?" questioned the blonde.

"How they talk people into family and forgiveness while they can't even do that."

"That's not true." She quickly said, she didn't like how they treated him tonight but surely they forgave him. It was just because they were worried about her.

"It's true for everyone but you and a few Bunny." He walked into her kitchen leaving her alone with her thoughts.

"No you're wrong, it's not true for me." Lucy whispered "Because I still haven't forgiven what he did, nor did I forget."

"But you will." He said.

"And so will they." She looked up at him through misty eyes. She sniffled and asked "So what happened?"

"Why don't you tell me?" he sat in front of her.

"Hmm, what are you talking about?" she looked at him confused.

"Why did you refuse to go see a doctor? Why weren't you taking care of yourself properly? Now I know that you weren't able to eat, even more the reason to go to a doctor."

She lowered her head and her bangs covered her face.

Gajeel waited for her to answer and then his eyes averted to the floor and he mumbled "Because you already knew. You knew what was going on with you." He sighed and put his head in his hands.

"If I went to a doctor's" he looked at her "Then it's true" a splash of water fell on her hand "The fact that I'm pregnant becomes a reality that right now is so hard for me to confront."

And this night, Gajeel held her like he did all the other nights she cried herself to sleep the past week.

The next morning, Gajeel woke up, went and prepared a breakfast for Lucy, wrote her a note, and then left her apartment.

The blonde woke up to an empty house, so she got up and headed for the bathroom, on her way there she noticed the breakfast and the note, so she went and read its contents:

Bunny, eat and take the vitamins, I will be back later today.

Of course he would make her food and leave a note, because that is just the Gajeel she knows. She but not the others.

She showered and ate her food, then she took the medicine and brewed some herbs to drink. Surprisingly today she is feeling better, so maybe she will go to the guild.

She got up and threw on some normal clothes, then left.

Walking beside the canal she had the idea of jumping on it, but then remembered that she was pregnant and she couldn't do that. She has to start being careful. Because she decided that even though she is a mess right now, the baby did nothing wrong, it wasn't the baby's fault.

She reached the guild and the door slammed open revealing a pink haired dragon slayer running to greet her. Just before he reached her, he readied himself to tackle her to the ground but an iron club in the back stopped him.

"Watch it Pyro she is still sick." Growled Gajeel behind him, he then went and greeted the blonde.

"What are you doing?" he asked sincerely worried while Natsu looked confused as ever.

"I felt better so I decided to come and maybe pick a small job."

Natsu perked up at the word job and he was up on his feet in no time, "Yo Luce you wanna go on a mission?"

"Um Natsu I want a small job, nothing too big or dangerous." The blonde looked petrified at the thought of going with Natsu on a mission.

"She is coming with me salamander so deal with it, come on Bunny I already got a job."

He led her on the road leaving behind him a dejected pink haired dragon slayer.

"Sorry Natsu, maybe another time." Smiled the blonde reassuringly.

"Yeah sure." He smiled goofily back at her and then went inside the guild.

Once they were a safe distance away, the iron dragon slayer stopped and turned to face her "Listen I know that this is hard for you, but seriously what are you going to do about jobs?"

The blonde sighed and looked at him "I don't know, I guess take small peaceful jobs."

"So no team Natsu missions." He stated and continued walking.

"Wait what?! But they are my team." She followed after him.

"Also the most destructive team this city has ever known."

Lucy pondered his idea to find it made perfect sense, but then these people are her nakama, even though she hasn't been treating them properly.

"You are right, plus I need to start saving money for the baby, and how am I supposed to pay rent if I can't go on missions anymore? On good paying missions? Oh my god what am I supposed to do? Gajeel how am I supposed to take care of two people if I can barely take care of one?" Lucy panicked and started hyperventilating.

"Okay Bunny calm down I will help you. For somewhere to stay I have the perfect place for you, just calm down and take deep breaths." He assured her while rubbing circles on her back.

The blonde took a few deep breaths and calmed down. She needed to think clearly, and she did just that then turned to Gajeel.

"Okay I will work my ass off these two coming months, I shouldn't be showing, and maybe then I will…" Lucy trailed off and her gaze distanced.

"Maybe you will…?"

"Take a leave absence." She admitted.

The slayer was taken aback, and he wanted to disagree with her but he couldn't, because to an extent he understood what she meant by it.

"How long?"

"Three to four years." She said gazing at the streets in front of them.

"The time will cover the birth of the baby and you taking care of him." He walked next to her.

"That's the plan." She sighed.

"I will help you."

She stopped walking and her gaze locked on his "You don't have to, you already did more than enough, and if you are worried about what you did to me back at-"

"That's not it!" he snapped "My dragon chose you as kin Lucy, no scratch that, the both of us did, and that means you are like a sister to me now, so I will help you anytime you need me too, and even if you didn't I will."

Lucy didn't know what to say, so she did the only thing she could think of, she hugged him tight.

"Damn it Bunny you and your hugs." Gajeel glared at the people that were staring at them.

"Shut it, you said I was your sister so that gives me the right since we are family."

Gajeel pondered her words, it was true he now had a real family, for dragons it was different and the same goes for the slayers, having a kin is similar to having a blood family, and now he had one, so ever so slowly, he raised his hands and returned the hug, this time ignoring the stares they were getting.

They broke apart and Gajeel looked at Lucy to see her beaming, maybe having this family was important for the both of them.

XXX

"Gaj where are we going?" asked the blonde, they were now traveling through the woods, Gajeel said something about a surprise.

"We are going home."

"Huh? What do you mean-" she gasped, the sight that greeted her was breathtaking. A small wooden cabin sat at the middle of a clearing and behind it was a lake.

"You like it?" he inquired.

"It's beautiful."

She looked at him "Is this where you live?"

"No this is where you do."

She looked at him with big eyes "No Gaj I couldn't possibly-"

"I bought this cabin a while ago, and I never stepped foot in it. It's sad to be left alone like that don't you think? Listen up Bunny, I really want to help you so just accept it."

Her eyes misted, her lip quivered, and before Gajeel can register what is happening, he was tackled to the ground by a crying blonde.

"God Gaj I wouldn't know what to do without you." The blonde cried harder.

"You and your hormones…" snickered Gajeel.

The blonde chuckled "You wanted to help, you just said so like 5 minutes ago."

"I did didn't I?" he smirked "Damn Bunny you sure have gotten heavier."

The blonde got up slowly off of him and glared at him "Redfox!"

Oh he knew this look, he was getting a Lucy kick to oblivion.

"Come on let's head inside."

That seemed to calm her down and she beamed at him. Following Gajeel in the house, the blonde was floored with the homey feeling this house gave off, and she just fell right in love.

The small kitchen that had all the necessities and a bar counter, a backdoor was to the left that led to a small garden, a wooden swing was placed in the middle of it. At the center of the cabin was a living room made of fluffy couches and a fireplace, a bookcase was set to the back of the wall that Lucy was going to examine later, next to it was the stairs that led to the second floor. A master bedroom with a private bathroom and a walk in closet, and a guestroom with a small bathroom attached to it, Lucy already started imagining how she was going to change in the house, but one thought still bothered her.

"Gaj where will you be staying?" the blonde asked.

"At Fairy Hills."

The blonde's face fell "Are you not going to stay with me?"

"Listen up Bunny, I really don't want to make you uncomfortable-"

"Nonsense Gaj, I literally feel the safest with you, I don't mind, in fact I would love to."

Gajeel couldn't describe what he was feeling after hearing her words, he felt so happy that she approved, maybe his dragon took her approval as in an approval of being a kin, and he liked that very much, so of course he accepted to stay with her, and together they worked on making the cabin clean and polished. Lucy called out Virgo to help them clean while Gajeel did all the heavy lifting.

XXX

"Are you sure about this?" asked Gajeel, he wanted to make sure she was set on her mind, that she wasn't having any second thoughts.

"Yes Gajeel, I have to do this." The blonde glanced at the slayer and gave him a firm nod. Gajeel believed her, but he also knew this was going to be hard on her, leaving her family for years is not going to be easy, but he understood why she needed to do this.

"Okay, I am with you Bunny."

"I know you are Gaj." She hugged him, and he hugged her back.

Right now they were on their way to the guild, and Lucy was ready to confront Makarov about her request of leave absence, and she was quite nervous. Just as she opened the guild doors with Gajeel beside her, she was called with her team to the master's office.

She snuck a look at Gajeel to see him going to sit with Levy, but somehow he sensed she was looking at him because he waved at her without looking her direction, and she was appreciative of this little display of support, so she gathered her courage and went up to the office.

At the door, her team was waiting for her,

"Hey Luce, yesterday I went to your apartment but you weren't there. In fact it was empty and it didn't smell like you at all." Natsu all but rushed the words out of his mouth, he felt that Lucy was hiding something from them and he didn't like that one bit.

"Ah, yes…" she was not ready for this, she hadn't told her team about her moving out of the apartment, she took the time they went on a weeklong mission to move out. Now that she was face to face with Natsu she didn't know what to say at all. Just as she was about to say something, the guild master's door opened and the master stood in front of them.

"Are you waiting for an invitation?" he asked and the brats could easily see he was agitated and that did not bode well, this meant whatever this was, it was dangerous, and if it was dangerous for the team, then it was for the baby and Lucy dreaded that. Only if she was earlier to take her leave absence.

The team went in behind the master and the door was closed shut.

Half an hour later…

The blonde and her team walked out and she was on the verge of tears, she rushed past her team, grabbed Gajeel and rushed out of the guild. Gajeel wanted to protest and stop her but the smell of salt in the air refrained him from doing so, so he just let her drag him to the park where she stopped to catch her breath.

"What's wrong Bunny?" he asked, he was very worried of her wellbeing, and he doesn't know much about pregnancy and such but he damn well knew that wasn't healthy for the baby.

"I was chosen on a dangerous job."

He sucked in a breath, "what about?"

She explained to him how there was an alliance between three guild to stop the oracion seis, and when he heard the name he snapped. Gajeel heard of these people before, he did when he was working with Jose, and he didn't want her anywhere near them.

"What if I volunteered to go in your place?"

"And how will we explain this to master?"

He sighed, he didn't like this one bit, but he knew he didn't have a say in this, the master already took this decision and if he went to volunteer in her stead then they would have to explain why and Lucy didn't want the old man to know of what his grandson did, he already has a bad health.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I guess go with it, the money is good and I will make sure to stay close with the team so if anything happens I will be somewhere safe."

"When do you leave?"

"A week from now."

He nodded "Good, we start training tomorrow."

The blonde took a step back "T-training?"

"Yes, I am not gonna send you with salamander and let you be, he could be more fucking dangerous than them with his stupidity."

Lucy wanted to defend her nakama, but he knew he had a point, for with Natsu it always resulted in burnt clothes and destroyed buildings, so she can understand his concern. Concern, it's been a long time since she was cared for like that, it reminded her of her mother and she unconsciously hugged Gajeel.

"What now?" he asked as he hugged her back, she nuzzled in his embrace and breathed out a nothing. He was already used to her hugs and he'd be damned to admit that he actually loved her hugs, but these two didn't know that a little bluenette was watching them, quietly sniffling as she held her hand to her mouth, before looking away and walking off in another direction.

Ever since he first joined, she along with a few others welcomed him back. And after spending some time with him, she developed a tiny crush on him, and now to see him hugging her best friend broke her, she should have been smarter, her friend was a beautiful girl, and even though she feels self-conscious about her body, her friend didn't know how beautiful she is, and that made Levy a bit jealous, because she hated the thought that everything is going well with Lucy's life and she is left all alone, always in the shadows of another person and now when Gajeel gave her attention, she thought that maybe someone will notice her, but then his attention was ripped away from her to Lucy, and that made her a bit mad, but she couldn't help herself, no matter if Jet and Droy were with her, no matter if they smothered her with kindness, she only wanted one slayer's attention and she wasn't getting it.

Soon Lucy and Gajeel broke apart after Lucy was better, and decided to go eat.

XXX

"I am fucking done." Breathed out Lucy as she laid on top of the grass, enjoying the feel of the sun, and the smell of roses.

"Oi Bunny, get up, break is over."

Of course he had to ruin it. All morning long Lucy has been a training slave for Gajeel, because whenever she disagreed to do something he would make her run another lap across the huge field next to their house.

"I don't wanna." She whined.

He got closer to her and put his hand around his ear "What's that? Someone eager to ran another lap?"

She bolted upright and glared at him "You are evil!"

"Tell me something I don't know Bunny."

And so they continued training another hour before they finished for today and Lucy dreaded the other days she has to go through this.

As she was walking back, she was alone because Gajeel got called for from the master. The field was a bit far to their cabin, she heard a slight movement from behind her and she turned quickly only to find nothing, so she continued walking. Another noise and while turning back she caught the sight of someone behind a tree a bit far from her, she walked over there and stopped to take in the sight in front of her.

XXX

He was running from the magic council, he couldn't be caught, not right now, they were very close to their destination, but his stupid ass had to go bang the girl he saw with purple hair. And then all shit went down from there, the girl turned out to be a trainee for the magic rune knights, who was sent on a mission to seduce him and take his attention off as they stationed themselves to catch him.

And at this moment he thanked every deity there is for his magic power, for her soul turned thousand shades darker from her original lively one when they got the signal to move in on him, he fought them brutally, but they still managed to land a few strong hits on him, and the wound he got from the light magic ball this girl sent at him was now gushing with blood. So he sought out the woods to escape them but now he couldn't go on much longer, and he hated the thought that this was how he was going to die. He sat under a tree and waited for his time to come 'Nice going Cobra, dying because of a girl you wanted to bang, that turned out to be a trainee for the rune knights. Seriously these days they wonder why we don't trust anybody.' His eyelids started to seem heavy and started to close. Just before they did, he made out the shape of a person coming closer to him.

He tried to move away, to open his eyes and run from here, he couldn't handle being kept captive again, but a delicate hand on his bicep stopped him from moving, and the calmest voice said to him "Don't worry, I got you."

All he could think about before he blacked out 'Are you an actual angel?'

Lucy did not see this coming, the man was on the verge of death and he was mumbling something about how he almost banged a purple haired girl.

She got close to him and he seemed afraid so she did the only thing she thought of, she put her hand on his to give comfort and talked to him. When he blacked out, she called out Loke and together they got the man to the cabin, Lucy didn't know why but she felt safe around him.

Loke put him on the sofa before going back to his world so that Vigo can come and help Lucy bandage the man up. After they tended to his wounds they changed his clothes and laid him back on the sofa with a blanket draped over him. Lucy thanked Virgo for her help and the maid bowed before disappearing back to her world, Lucy then got up and took a communication lacrima Gaj brought her, and she ringed him.

"Is something wrong Bunny? And who the hell is that behind you?"

So she relayed to Gaj what happened and how she saw this man on her walk back home through the woods.

"You are way too kind for your own good woman! What if he was a criminal and when he wakes up he kills you?" Gajeel snapped at her.

Lucy knew he was right, but even if he was a criminal, he has the right to live. "So what Gaj, he deserves to live, I couldn't have left him to death, plus I don't know I don't feel like he is dangerous."

"You don't feel like he is dangerous?" he looked at her weirdly.

"Yes, it's kinda like how I felt about you. I don't know just hurry back home and be safe."

She shut it off and turned to the man, she brushed his hair from his forehead "Just what happened to you?" she whispered.