Author's Note: Despite my better judgement of waiting to post this, a lot of people who read A Mating Season Love Spell were hoping for LaxLu. I hate to be one to disappoint, so I decided to go ahead and post this. Again, against my better judgement of waiting. Just add this to the list of fics I have t finish eventually. 8')

This is a SLOW BURN fic. Meaning there's no IMMEDIATE love shit happening. It will pick up along the way and will grow, but it's not going to be any sort of immediate action. I hope this works for you guys and hope you like this fic.

"Natsu, what the hell are you doing?!"

"I said get back!"

Lucy blanched at her pink haired best friend that jumped out in front of her. What was, at first, a good idea… No longer quite seemed that way. Sure, going on missions with the whole of Team Natsu is fun, but she only needed ten thousand more to make her rent. Natsu and Happy were still in the guild, where Erza and Gray were not. It seemed like a good idea to ask him on a small mission like this- this vulcan clearing mission- and just do something between them again. Just like old times.

But, again, at the first sign of danger- no matter how mild- he rushed in to save her. This is the very thing that aggravated her about the team as a whole. It wasn't until the year Fairy Tail disbanded that Lucy was able to get actual training in. Every time, every mission, it's 'save Lucy, oh no Lucy's in trouble, she can't handle lifting a finger to help herself'!

...Okay maybe that last part was an exaggeration, but it was truly how Lucy felt they looked at her. Anger boiled in her stomach at his insinuation. The back of his head was a sight she had etched into her memory, and she felt it high time to stand beside him instead of behind him.

With her whip still in hand, she stepped to the side. Now, she was outside of Natsu's 'protective area', as she's previously called it. "I'M NOT WEAK, NATSU, I CAN FIGHT THESE FUCKERS!"

A low, threatening growl left her pink haired partner. "I SAID GET BACK!"

She stopped, her eyes wide as she looked back at his face. Rage, hatred and something that seemed akin to despair were found in his eyes, giving them a haunted look. A fire dragon's roar left him, but she could see it very clearly now.

The shaking of his hands, the minor tremble in his biceps, the tenseness in his back. She could see the haunted gaze, the tears lining those onyx eyes he was trying to blink away. In fact, Lucy was almost certain that those flames on his fists were flickering. This wasn't about her being weak, this was about something more than that. Something she didn't know about until he punched away another vulcan.

"I CAN'T LOSE YOU AGAIN!"

Then, it clicked.

The Grand Magic Games. The war with Alvarez. She was even positive that the war with Tartaros also played a part in this. It wasn't about her strength, it was about her life. He couldn't unsee future Lucy's death, he couldn't unfeel the burning rage from when Dimaria almost killed her… He couldn't unfeel the loss of his father, making him all the more fiercely protective of her. He didn't want to lose another person so important in his life.

Lucy took a step back, giving a slight nod.

"Alright."

This was definitely not a good thing. Where they were previously partners with all the world's trust in one another, over time that had changed. One step at a time, they had gotten off course. Lucy watched numbly as Natsu fired off punch after punch, threw vulcan after vulcan away. This job was easy, too easy. Lucy could have taken it alone… But she wanted to go with Natsu and Happy again.

Her eyes glanced to the sky, where Happy was holding the pendant these vulcan stole. Clear out the vulcans. Retrieve the ruby pendant. Fifty thousand jewel.

It sounded easy- hell, it was easy…

The last vulcan fell within seconds. Natsu turned back to her, his eyes wild. The bags there seemed more pronounced now that she knew what to look for. He grabbed her arms, his tight, burning and bruising grip clenching onto her biceps. She winced, knowing there would either be a burn or a bruise there later.

"When I say get back, you get the hell back," he snapped angrily. He was too concerned about her safety to even the smallest thing. It haunted him in the worst ways. "When we're on the field, you stay behind me."

"That's not what partners do," Lucy whispered back, her brown eyes misting with tears. "I have your back, you have mine."

He shook his head, the burning growing hotter. His lip curled into a bit of a snarl, though she knew he was trying to get her to understand. He was probably getting frustrated with both himself and how she kept fighting what he was saying. "Not anymore. You can't fight."

Now that struck a chord.

A bad one.

"What the hell do you mean," she started in a soft yet demanding tone, "I can't fight?"

He finally let go of her, his arms going up in exaggeration. "Do you really need me to point out every time you've almost died?! Do I need to spell out every instance of you getting kidnapped?!"

Happy, sensing the tension building between the two, descended. "Um, guys-"

"You know damn well that's out of my control! They're not after me, they're after my magic!" She let her own snarl out, completely ignored Happy, and stepped closer to Natsu. "None of those were my goddamn fault! I survived, I learned and I fucking grew!"

"Apparently not!" Natsu shouted back, getting in her face the same way she was getting in his. "You can't take a goddamn order even if it means you staying safe!"

"NATSU, THEY'RE JUST FUCKING VULCAN!" Lucy yelled.

"THEY STILL COULD HAVE HURT YOU!" He grabbed her jaw with both hands, forcing her to look up and lock eyes with him. His eyes were steeled, though the embers of anger were still burning within. His voice lowered to a dangerous tone. "When we fight, you listen to me. You don't question it. You don't defy it. You. Listen."

Her eyes narrowed back and she lowered her voice in kind. "I've never been one to roll over for any damn person."

"That's why you keep getting in these fucking situations, Lucy," he growled out, his grip on her jaw getting tighter and hotter. One of her brown eyes closed in pain, but she made a point to keep the other open to glare him down. "Be a good little girl and listen and you'll be safer."

Happy nudged Natsu's arm. "Natsu, let her go, there's a-"

But neither mage was paying attention to him. She bared her teeth in a snarl at her partner. "Over my dead body."

"Natsu, Lucy, we need to move-"

"Goddamnit, Luce!" Natsu let go of her, took a step back and ran a hand through his hair. "All they have to do is get your fucking keys and you're screwed!"

"NATSU! LUCY!"

"WHAT?!" Both mages snapped, turning their heads to look at Happy.

They saw the massive arm of the fire bear high in the air, the very danger Happy was trying to warn them about. But they noticed it too late. The bear swiped at them both. Natsu instinctively jumped back, but was still caught by the tips of it's claws and jostled backwards, where when Lucy tried to jump back, she caught the full force. The burning paw caught her waist, her center of gravity, and it's powerful swipe had her airborne.

"LUCY!"

Happy couldn't even match the speed in which she was flung at. She felt her blood pouring from the gashes that accompanied the fire bear's paw print scorched into her side. Burns and bruises from her jaw and her biceps had her entire body throbbing at this point. Lucy wasn't aware of how high or fast she was thrown, but she couldn't even keep her eyes opened.

This had no good ending.

Summoning a spirit in the air was a bad idea as none of them would be able to help. Gemini was her best bet, taking Happy's form, but if Happy couldn't keep up and hadn't caught her yet then it was pointless. She sent a small prayer to any gods that were listening, sent a small plea to her keys in hopes that they could come the moment she was getting too close to the ground, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

It hurt to breathe in. Was she so high up that there was a lack of oxygen or did she have a broken rib from the bear?

She surmised that they must have woken it with their loud arguing, since they typically stayed away from humans. Natsu was going to blame her for this again. He didn't trust her and the bruises on her jaw and arms confirmed that the trust she held in him had been broken as well. He was trying to keep her safe, but hurt her in the process.

The direction of the winds passing her changed. She was plummeting now.

One final plea to her keys.

Lucy twisted the best she could to prevent severe damage.

The impact sounded, a loud smack accompanied by a loud crack. Pain rocketed through her left arm and her shoulder. Her head hit, and blackness immediately consumed her.

Freed came out of his tent, looking over the group. Evergreen was sitting on a stone just outside of her own tent, filing her nails to keep herself busy. Bickslow had just thrown another log onto the bonfire the tents were surrounding, staring into the dancing flames blankly. Laxus sat on the ground next to the seith mage, sound pods around his neck and arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were closed, leading the green haired man to believe him deep in thought.

The group was a two days walk away from the guild, on their way to the requested mission. Six wyvern had not only been spotted, but had been terrorizing a town bordering the mountain range. From what they knew, it looked like a mother and five younglings, but they weren't entirely sure. Still, the Thunder God Tribe accepted the request.

They were close to their first stop in Margaret Town for immediate supplies to last them the hike. There was small talk of stopping by Lamia Scale, though they weren't sure if they'd have the time to or not. Freed took his seat on a stone similar to the one Evergreen was sitting on. The sun hadn't fully set yet, casting an orange glow through the trees.

Laxus' head snapped up, the sudden movement alerting everyone.

"What's up, boss man?" Bickslow asked curiously.

Storm blue eyes narrowed to the area behind Evergreen. "Something's coming."

A chill raced up Freed and Evergreen's spines when Bickslow activated his magic to scan for souls. It wasn't a lack of trust, it was the dark feeling of his magic that caused the reaction. Laxus didn't seem to care, though. Well, not until Bickslow stood abruptly, ripping his visor off of his head. "That ain't just anything, that's a spirit."

Ever tilted her head. "..As in a ghost?"

"No," he shook his head. "Cheerleader's magic. Celestial spirit."

Laxus was on his feet in a flash, his back ramrod straight. "So it's either Blondie or it's the quiet one from Sabertooth."

"It's Cheerleader, alright. They're underground right now, but they're closing in fast."

Freed furrowed his brows. "If it is Miss Lucy, why would she be underground?"

"We can also ask why she'd be coming towards us, too," the fairy mage commented as she put her nail file away. "Something must be wrong."

"Yeah, I'm betting on it. I don't see Cheerleader's soul, but I see her spirit. Somethin' ain't right."

The ground rumbled just a bit before it burst, flinging rock and dirt everywhere when the Maid Spirit came up. "Fairy Tail?"

The group nodded.

Virgo, closest to Laxus, passed Lucy's keyring to him. "Please hold these."

Evergreen stood abruptly, her deep brown eyes wide in panic. "Where is Lucy?"

The maid bowed once and left in a puff of shimmer.

Everyone looked to the keys in Laxus' hand. Bickslow felt his heart clench tight, the feeling of dread washing over them unlike any they had felt before. This couldn't mean what they anticipated it did. It just couldn't. Lucy couldn't be dead.

Laxus felt his world darken. She was gone.

Before the assumption could fully sink in, before despair set and before anyone could say anything else, another flash of shimmer happened near Laxus. This was a familiar face, a familiar pair of blue sunglasses. And, in his arms, was a broken and bloody Lucy.

"The fuck happened to her?!" Laxus shouted. He reigned himself in enough to immediately start barking orders. "Ever, grab the health kit. Bicks, the extra tent. Freed, run and get more water." One at a time, the three nodded and took off to do their assigned task as quickly as possible. At least it wasn't as bad as they had assumed.

Loke, holding Lucy's unconscious form in his arms, nodded to Laxus. "Thank you."

"Anything for family," he grunted, offering to take the blonde off of his hands. Reluctantly and with great hesitation, Loke finally passed her to his arms. "We're stopping by Margaret Town tomorrow. Wendy's there with Chelia preparing for their town's festival."

The lion crumpled where he stood, sitting down in a heap. "She'll live then. Thank the stars," he whispered out, his distraught emotion finally coming out.

Laxus had to give it to him- he could be very calm and collected in the face of danger, as he just was, if he wanted. It was better than he could ever do. Looking down at the beautiful blonde in his arms, he took stock of the things he could see. Blood still coming from her left side, her left arm bent in places it shouldn't bend at, burns at her arms and her jaw… Burns the shape of hands.

He let out a low growl, having an assumption of his own.

Looking over at the lion who seemed to be trying to calm down from his earlier (well concealed) panic, Laxus nodded to his tent. "There's a few water bottles in there. Unopened. Grab you one and relax, tell me what happened."

Loke watched the look in Laxus' eye warily, but conceded. It was fierce, but in the protective sense. Angry in the revenge sense. And there was something else Loke very easily identified, though he wasn't sure if Laxus knew yet. Still, he nodded.

"It's because she was ten thousand short on rent. She needed another job," he started, pausing only to go into Laxus' tent and come back with two waters. One for himself and the other for the lightning mage. "Gray and Erza were gone from the guild, so she was looking for something small and easy. Got nostalgic when she saw a vulcan clearout, since that was the first time she and Natsu worked together. Shit went downhill from there."

Bickslow could easily hear the conversation since he was putting the tent up right behind Loke. Ever, too, since she was only stepping into her tent for their first aid kit. Freed, however, took their emergency jug and left into the woods to refill it at the river nearby.

"I can spy on Lucy and see what's happening, feel her emotions, but I can't hear what's being said. So the moment she felt defiant, I peeked. I usually respect her privacy, but she felt… Wronged."

Laxus nodded but gave him a look. "Ever, I'll hold her while you tend to her side."

The brunette nodded, opened the box to get the rubbing alcohol and gauze out, and took a seat in front of the lightning slayer.

After another nod to Loke, he continued. "I can only assume they fought. She felt understanding, he grabbed her arms, she felt saddened, he said something and that sadness turned to anger. He stepped way, threw his arms up, she got in his face. He got in hers back, grabbed her jaw, they went at it more. He backed away, Happy yelled to get their attention. Before they could move, a fire bear had swung at her."

"Fire bear?" Laxus asked. "They don't attack humans."

Loke nodded. "They woke it with their fighting."

The slayer nodded in understanding. "So that's where the gashes came from, right?"

Again, the spirit nodded. "I don't know what was said, but Lucy was hurt by it. Then the bear launched her with such.. Such force that Happy couldn't catch her mid air. She was flying too fast. We couldn't… We couldn't do anything." A shaky inhale was heard from the spirit. "I thought she was going to die. Out of instinct, I opened my gate but before I went through, I realized I couldn't do anything…"

Laxus' brow furrowed and he looked down at Ever. The woman had lifted the blonde's top enough to tend to the gashes at her side. Being a fire bear, the claws had gashed her wide open but cauterized part of the wounds. Mentally, the slayer wondered if Wendy would be able to prevent a scar since it was already cauterized partially.

He looked back to the spirit though. "If she landed, she would have died. There's more."

Loke nodded. I was about to close my gate, resign myself to this fate, but Aries threw me to the side and jumped out of my gate faster than I could blink." The spirit chuckled sadly at this. "She always shocks me."

"What do you mean?"

Ever cut in this time. "Aries is the pink haired, very shy and timid one. The one that's always apologizing." Her hands were, as gently as possible, patting at the wounds to clean them. "She doesn't typically do anything unless explicitly told to do so by Lucy. We've had enough girls' nights at the guild and at Fairy Hills for me to know Aries well enough."

Laxus and Loke both blinked at the woman's knowledge on the ram spirit, but it only caused a wide (but still sad) smile on Loke's face and the ghost of a grin on Laxus'.

"Yeah, exactly.. She can't open her own gate, only three of us can. Virgo- the maid you just saw, Capricorn- though he doesn't because he claims its disrespectful, and myself. So with my gate opened, Aries took her chance and vaulted through it. Virgo was right behind her. Usually there's laws against that… But…"

Freed was now coming up on the clearing, noticing the stiff silence almost immediately. Though curious as to what's been spoken before he arrived, he decided to just jump in now and get details from Ever later. He sat the jug near Ever, but sat back on his own stone. Privacy was key, as is personal space. Especially to Laxus.

"Lucy is the only mage in history to have the Celestial King's favor."

That one line alone shocked everyone there. On one hand, they could easily believe it because of how kind, open and bright she is. On the other, it was startling to know that she was the only mage.

Loke snorted a short laugh. "Yeah. She forced the king to show up when I almost died, won his favor and forced him to rewrite some ancient laws. She's saved countless spirits, helped the souls of many people, he threw her a party when you all escaped the seven year bubble… She summoned him during tartaros. She's one of five mages before her to have seen his face, and the only one to have won his favor like she did. So he disregarded the law and kept my gate open with his power."

Laxus looked down at the unconscious blonde's face, noting that she looked like a scarred, sleeping angel. He shoved the thought away quickly, though, and looked back to the spirit. "So Aries… She's the one with the wool, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. She was able to build up enough wool on the ground to keep Lucy from dying, but with how hard she impacted, it still destroyed her arm and knocked her out. Virgo set out to find the nearest ally who wasn't Natsu, and found you guys."

"How far was she thrown?" Bickslow asked as he joined the fray around the bonfire.

Leo looked up in thought and shrugged. "Virgo said she landed about a half day's walk from here, and four times that from where Lucy and Natsu had originally been."

Ever gave a snort of genuine disgust. "Laying his hands on her like that… I oughta kick his ass myself, the disgusting swine."

Laxus rolled his eyes. "He's still family. I'd kick his ass, too, but we don't have the full story yet."

Seeing the confusion on Freed's face, Bickslow held up one finger, indicating that he'd fill the rune mage in on the situation in a moment. His red eyes shot over to Laxus. "True there, boss… But think about that. What the hell would give reason to burn her like that? Ever's got a point… We'll see what she wants and what she says before jumping to kick his ass."

A nod from the thunder god was the immediate response. "Freed? Call Wendy before it gets too late. Let her know we'll be stopping by tomorrow. The sooner we turn in, the sooner we can get her healed."

Evergreen sighed but nodded. "Will you hold her so I can gauze her up in the meantime?"