Chapter Ten

Lucy was sitting at one of the tables towards the front of the guildhall with her arms crossed over her chest, one leg crossed over the other and her foot bouncing in irritation. She, Natsu, Levy and Gajeel had been sitting at this table for close to three hours waiting on any kind of news and so far none had come. She was getting really close to ignoring Erza's wishes and going to look for herself, consequences be damned, when two groups came into the guild. The groups that had returned included a very worried looking Happy who raced right past them on his way up to the infirmary. Lucy turned back to his group in confusion to see a white cat in Jet's arms. Carla didn't appear injured, but she was not conscious.

"Oh my god," She exclaimed and stood along with the rest of those at her table. "What happened?"

Natsu took off his scarf and laid it out on the table and Jet gently placed Carla on top of it. "We found her in the woods behind the guild dorm. I think she's the only one anyone has found so far."

"I don't feel any magic coming from her," Natsu whispered.

"Me either," Master Makarov replied.

Happy came down from the infirmary with Porlyusica in tow and landed on the table by Carla's head. Natsu rubbed his friends' head in comfort and Happy gripped his vest tightly in his hands. The healer held her hands over Carla to examine the white Exceed.

"Her magic has been drained similarly to when it happened to her at the Grand Magic Games," She diagnosed. She gently lifted her from the table and turned to head to the infirmary. "Don't worry Happy. She'll be just fine with time and rest."

As she headed for the infirmary with Carla in tow, the other two search teams returned. Every guild member had dejected looks on their faces as they all came back empty handed. Lucy felt a tear trail down her cheek at the realization that ten of their friends were missing. As much as she hated the thought of it she knew what they needed to do.

"Natsu," She turned to him with as much determination in her eyes as she could muster. "We need to let them capture us too."

"What?!" He exclaimed.

"I know it sounds crazy, but if we're all together we might be able to escape together. We can make sure we have one of Warren's lacrima devices with us too so we can give them our location," She pleaded with him and said what she knew he couldn't resist. "I can't keep sitting here doing nothing. We have no idea who did this or where to even look."

He sighed and actually looked like he was going to say no especially since Erza was glaring at him. He didn't want to put Lucy through that again. She was always the one taken and now that they were together, the thought of her being put in harm's way, and intentionally so, was not a solution he wanted to entertain. But at the end of the day he was a man of action and he hated sitting here as much as she did.

"You're not really going to say yes to that crazy idea are you?" Cana asked. "Maybe Carla can tell us something that'll help when she wakes up."

"We can't wait that long. We don't have much choice," He replied and turned to Lucy. He gently gripped her waist. "If we do this you have to promise me you won't do anything stupid. I'm not losing you after everything we've been through."

Lucy chuckled at the irony of him telling her not to do something stupid, but understood his concern. She nodded and gripped his vest. "Right back at ya."

Erza had her arms crossed over her chest, but appeared to be caving to the idea of her entire team being captured. "The only way I agree to this is if we have a solid plan going in."

They spent the rest of the day creating a plan as best as they could with the limited information they had. It was decided that Natsu and Lucy would head back to their house while Gajeel and Levy would still stay at the guild under protection. Lucy called Loke and explained the situation as well and while he expressed his displeasure at their plan he did understand the reason behind it. Natsu was given a communication lacrima that was shoved into his pocket while Warren gave Lucy an earpiece that he'd been working on that might be easier to conceal. Levy pulled Lucy into a tight hug as they made to leave for the night.

"Please be careful Lu," She whispered as tears ran down her cheeks. After another stressful day she looked exhausted and Lucy hoped that didn't mean another sleepless night. "Baby's godmother needs to be alive."

Lucy gasped and smiled at her friend at the silent question that had been asked by her other best friend. "Baby's godmother will come back safe and sound. I promise. You keep my god baby safe ok?"

Pantherlily was saying goodbye to an angry Gajeel as well and was promising to also come back alright. As part of the plan, Lily and Happy would hide in the trees behind Natsu and Lucy's house. They'd keep watch to try and catch a glimpse of the bad guys and would do their best to follow them once they'd been captured too. Erza along with Bickslow and Fried would come by the house the next day to both check to make sure Natsu and Lucy had been taken and to check on the two Exceeds to make sure they didn't have their magic drained like Carla. Both Happy and Lily knew that was a risk, but were willing to do it anyway.

"Come on Luce," Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and tugged her towards the door. "Let's go home before we both change our minds."

She nodded and waved to their guildmates then let him lead her out of the guildhall. They quickly made their way back home and let themselves inside. Natsu pulled his scarf and vest off, but left his pants on while Lucy pulled on shorts and her sleep shirt. They'd all debated this for a while on whether to sleep in their clothes to be prepared, but decided that they didn't want the bad guys to be suspicious of that. Plus, Cana had teasingly reminded Lucy that she didn't wear much normally so shorts and a t-shirt shouldn't be too hard to fight in if needed.

They went about their normal nightly routine and Lucy opted for a braid to keep her hair contained. Natsu was waiting for her in bed and she crawled into his waiting arms. She laid her head against his chest as his arm settled around her back. Natsu pressed a kiss to her forehead and rubbed up and down her back making sure his hand was generating heat too.

"You sure you want to do this?" He asked.

"I hate that I'm always the one to be captured, but I think this is the best plan we have," She looked up at him. "I'm so scared, but I'm also really pissed off. I'd take all of us together against any bad guy any day."

Natsu smirked at the fire in her eyes. He'd definitely rubbed off on her in the time they'd been partners. Going into battle with her at his side was always a good bet in his book. He rolled her onto her back and hovered over her with his hips pressing her into the bed.

"You sound fired up baby," He whispered.

"Oh yea," She whispered huskily as she ran her fingers across his chest and accepted the kiss he pressed to her waiting lips. He pulled her shorts and underwear down her legs while her hands pulled his down as well.

He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and her mouth opened to tangle her tongue with his. He gripped her thigh and hiked it up to wrap around his hip. Natsu could feel her wetness against the tip of his erection which prompted him to reach for his nightstand drawer to grab protection. After covering himself he pressed into her slowly and sealed his lips against her neck. As he began to roll his hips he placed his forehead against hers.

"I love you Lucy," He poured everything he felt for her into each roll of his hips, each kiss to her lips. He believed in them and their power together.

"I love you too Natsu," Lucy gripped his shoulder tightly as her walls started to clench around him.

Natsu let go of her left hip and gripped her hand, threading his fingers through hers where it rested on the pillow beneath her head. He gripped her tight as they both fell over the edge. He'd never felt anything like the way he felt for Lucy before. Each time they made love he felt more and more connected to her down to his soul. As cliché as it sounded. He pulled out and dropped the condom on the floor.

"Natsu," Lucy rolled her eyes.

"I'll get it later," He pulled her as close as he could. "I just want to hold you while I can. Who knows what we're walkin' into tomorrow."

Lucy's scolding died on her lips at that. Instead, she cuddled further into him and soaked up the feel of his arms wrapped around her. They laid that way for a long time until they finally unwound from each other to pull on their clothes again so they wouldn't get captured pantless. They pulled the covers over them with their heads resting next to each other on the pillows and their legs tangled as they both fell into a restless sleep to await kidnap.