The first thing Lucy noticed when she came to again was the annoyingly bright lights heating up her face. Irritated, she reached up to try and cover her eyes, jumping when the back of her hand smacked into her nose.

She gasped, sitting up all the way. She hadn't gotten to do that in… well, she couldn't remember. Her head whipped back and forth, taking in her surroundings as her breathing increased.

Free. She was free.

The momentary bliss faded as quickly as it had arrived, her eyes settling on the figure in the bed across from her. Sting's face was permanently set in a scowl, his arms crossed as he sat on the bed and continued to study her.

Pity, she was still in Sabertooth. She wished the lot of them had gotten tired of her and simply tossed her out onto the streets. She could be making her way back to her boss by now if that was the case.

Despite herself, she felt her fingers twitch towards her center, barely registering that she still wore the same clothing as before. As her fingers touched her thigh she felt her opposite hand reach over and scratch at her wrist, her jaw clenching as she studied him.

She needed to get out of there.

"Don't do that," he remarked, hopping off the bed to approach. More often than not things seemed to start out like this, with the blond headmaster approaching instead of being within arm's reach. His eyes darted from her wrists to her fingertips which had pushed aside the remainder of her clothing, and she was just about to –

She barely managed to gasp when her fingers rubbed against herself before his eyes widened, moving quick enough to smack her hands away before she got any satisfaction from it. Pouting, she stared up at him, her fingers twitching again. She really needed to get her fix again, on everything.

Lucy wet her lips, hating how dry and cracked they felt. "Why am I here?"

"What, missing the prostitution?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "Or the drugs? Maybe both."

Scowling, she sat up, ignoring the way her body protested. She wanted to rub her muscles but her digits wouldn't work, not until she got a fix the Sabertooth headmaster wasn't willing to give. Eyeing him curiously, she wondered what she needed to do to convince Sting to let her out.

A thought passed through her mind, and she jumped up, almost stumbling out of the bed as she tried to catch her footing. "I gotta go. M-my boss-"

"Can't enter a guild," he said, the tightness in his voice unmistakable. She could feel another blistering headache coming on, and his obvious irritation wouldn't help her out. "He's probably too bloody busy using your housemates for sex to notice you're gone yet."

Lucy snarled, offended. She got in Sting's face, ignoring the way he leaned back from her body. "He'll notice! I'm his favorite."

She could visibly see the disgust dance across his face, the guild master's emotions never disguised. "Why do you sound so proud of that?"

Jutting out her lip, she turned up her nose, gripping the side of the bed when her headache came through again. "I had to work hard to not be forgotten. If you're good it isn't so painful-"

He grasped her chin, studying her before she could finish the sentence. There it was again, that annoyingly terrified look that flittered through his eyes whenever she talked like that. She avoided his gaze, rubbing her fingers gently over his forearm as he kept her facing him.

She assumed he would lecture her some more, maybe even push her away if she kept reaching for him, but her attentions were diverted when he reached into his pocket, producing the one thing she'd been focused on since Sting found her. Eyes lighting up, she lunged for the bag, stumbling when Sting disappeared beside her.

"You don't actually think that I'll give this to you?" he asked, somehow by the other bed again. Was he actually that fast, or were her senses simply that impaired? Sting shook the bag once, the fury in his face surprising. "No wonder you make yourself a slave for this shit. Where did you even get this much of it? You could've overdosed with this stash."

Lucy's eyes widened, lunging towards Sting again. This time she knew it was her reflexes, the dragon slayer's eyebrows rising when he lazily sidestepped her, letting her catch herself on the edge of the bed, her too-thin arms shaking when she tried to hold up her weight.

Her breathing picked up when she started panicking. He would throw it away and all her hard work would be for nothing! She spun to meet his eyes again, her mind already going to her first line of defense. If her spirits refused to help her she still had other means.

"Offer still stands," she purred, running her hands over her hips. He glared at her but didn't move closer, and she grinned when her fingers hooked into the too-big waistband of her shorts, beginning to tug them down. "I promise I'm flexible."

Sting moved again, and she wished she could fully focus on his movements. Suddenly he was in front of her, grasping her wrists to drag the clothing back up her hips before he pushed her to sit down on the bed.

Out of instinct more than anything else, she opened her mouth and closed her eyes, waiting for his next move. So she could tempt him with the right words.

"I don't want anything from you Lucy," he snapped, each word deliberately drawn out. Surprised he wasn't taking advantage she opened her eyes, a frown overtaking her lips. "I want to stop having to hide you in this room like a prisoner because I'm not sure if you're going to bend over for every damn guild member who walks by."

She pouted, tilting her head. "But-"

"No buts," he sighed, holding up his hands. "I'm not playing you or trying to mislead you or whatever. I'm not going to kick you out because you haven't made money for the day by getting fucked against a wall. I'm trying to avoid that actually."

She stilled, drawing her hands into herself as she rubbed her wrists. "But my boss-"

"What boss?" he snapped, shaking his head. "You don't have a damn boss unless you go back, and the way I see it the only reason you have to go back is if you won't kick this addiction problem."

Sting pulled out the bag for emphasis, making Lucy's eyes widen once more. Unless he'd let her slide closer there was no way she could snatch it away. "And if you'd just give me a fucking name of whoever runs that brothel I could take care of your little problem with the so-called boss."

What little color there was in her face disappeared, and he'd barely hidden the bag in his pocket again when she moved, lunging forward to grasp either side of Sting's vest as panic set in. "You can't tell him I'm here! He'll come and he'll kill me! I didn't show up for my shift with him today! You-"

"I don't plan on telling anyone," he assured, placing his hands over her wrists. "The last thing I feel like doing is sending you back to get in trouble. But I need a name or something Lucy."

She shook her head, the panic in her eyes refusing to fade. "No! He'll hurt you all-"

"No one's going to hurt me or anyone else in Sabertooth," he assured, narrowing his eyes. "I'm a damn guild master Lucy, at least let me use my position to help you. Even if I don't know what to do next I'm sure one of the other guilds-"

"No!" she screamed, her hands clenching. "No! Don't tell the others."

Sting hesitated, and she held her breath, imaging that he'd force her to do something in a moment, one way or another. That's what usually happened –

He let go of her wrists and stepped back, and she blinked several times trying to figure out what he was doing. "Fine. Right now I won't tell anyone else outside the guild what is going on, but only if you'll eat something."

Lucy paused, stumped. He wanted her to eat? She licked her lips, thinking back to the last time she'd had a full stomach. Usually she wasn't too worried about food, not when she could get her fix elsewhere, and for a moment she thought this was a strange joke. But meeting Sting's eyes, she could see the sincerity there.

Her eyes refocused on him, on the pocket he'd stuffed the baggie back into. Sting followed her line of gaze, turning his body from her when she didn't answer with a sigh. "You're not getting better lying on that bed, and you desperately need food and a shower. I want you to be able to wander around the guild but I need to know you aren't going to try to leave."

"No promises," she sing-songed, clasping her hands in front of her. All she wanted to do was get out of the guild and go back to her room. She didn't know what would happen but the longer she was away the worse it would be. "I've been gone all night. Boss will not be lenient if I'm gone longer than that."

Sting paused, turning back to fix her with a glare. "All night? Lucy, it's been three days. Four in a couple hours."

She froze, feeling the ground slip out from under her. Days? She supposed she faded in and out a lot, but how could she have been gone for days? He'd have her head. She unclasped her hands, moving to bolt past Sting. He let her go, and she made it all the way to the door before she was stopped, the obstacle refusing to budge.

"Days!?" she screamed, pounding on the door. "How could you keep me here that long! He-he-he…"

Her voice trailed off as she reached for her keys, finding they weren't on her hip. She never took them with when she needed money, but she thought she went back home before Sting stepped in and ruined her life. Spinning around she pointed a finger at him, continuing to pound on the door. "Where are my spirits?!"

"On your key ring in the room I set up for you," Sting replied, the tenseness back in his eyes. "Whatever you were worried about happening after a day will surely be worse now that it's been almost four. Leaving right now, in the middle of the night, and running back there is a very stupid idea. At least eat something."

No matter how she looked at it, her mind told her to go. If she went and did a good enough job, he might give her a little bit of her stash for the next week, but only if she could double the quota. Surely he'd let her work herself raw if she could catch up quick enough.

Meeting Sting's eyes, she knew he wouldn't let her leave without a fight. For one reason or another he wanted her to stay here over going back to her latest residence, and she just couldn't understand why. They barely knew each other and they certainly weren't close. He didn't need to butt into her business so damn much.

Scratching at her wrists, she lifted her chin. She'd need energy to escape. "What do I have to eat?"

"Food," he replied, approaching the door. "Real food. And a decent amount. I shouldn't be able to see so many bones if you're feeding yourself."

He stopped at the door to open it, and Lucy attempted to smirk, reaching towards his pocket none to secretly. Sting caught her hand as he found the key, arching an eyebrow.

"Most of the guild is still out or in their rooms by now. So long as you don't start throwing yourself at people we can get to your room pretty quick. I had Yukino set something out for dinner." He let go of her hand as the door opened, rubbing his face before stepping out. "And do me a favor and don't talk to Dobengal if he's out."

She didn't know what to say to that, eyes widening when he opened the door. He was actually going to let her out after keeping her stuck to the bed for however long? Sure, she knew she was at least better than the previous times she'd woken up, but this seemed like a leap of faith.

Lucy eyed him as they stepped out, briefly forgetting about the stash in his pocket. He'd said little about it, and she wondered when he would bring it up again. Subconsciously she rubbed her arms as she stepped into the hall, the cool air outside the room causing the hairs on her arms to rise.

Why did he trust her so much? Even the boss kept her on a tight leash.

"This way," he said after a moment when she hadn't moved past the white wall. Lucy blinked, digging her nails into her arms as they started walking. She didn't want to let Sting out of her sight, not while he had the stash on him. She'd be foolish to walk away.

Then again, she was foolish to stay too. She needed to go back before she caused any more trouble, but leaving right now seemed like a lot of effort.

Wherever the infirmary was, it seemed to ignore the main meeting area in the build. She could hear plenty of chatter nearby, but they didn't seem to be heading in that direction. Sting didn't glance back at her as they walked, his dragon senses apparently enough for him to rely on. He took her up a flight of stairs, further into the guild, and she was about to protest when he stopped walking, groaning loudly.

"Fucking Dobengal."

"Who?" she asked, the name from earlier popping up again. She vaguely recalled hearing that name during the Grand Magic Games for a brief time, but that was it. "Problem?"

Sting groaned again. "Just stay behind me, and don't engage him. Trust me when I tell you Dobengal doesn't have any money."

He didn't give Lucy a chance to ask about that, stomping away down the hall. Intrigued for the first time she followed silently, momentarily forgetting about her itchy skin and dry lips.

Around the corner there was a guy with dusty brown hair leaning on one of the doors, a black covering obscuring his face from the nose down. His image didn't mean much to her, but she couldn't imagine him being anyone other than Dobengal. Even with half his face covered she could practically feel his smirk under there.

"Pretty sure I gave you one damn job," Sting ground out, glaring at the man. "You don't even live here and you have no business being in the halls up here. Fuck off."

The guy in front of them glared at Sting a moment before shifting his gaze, eyes coming to land on Lucy, briefly taking in her face before letting his gaze wander over her exposed skin.

She almost perked up at that. This she was familiar with and could deal with. Unlike the suffocatingly concerned looks of most of the guild members she'd encountered, Dobengal wanted to drink her in with the same type of lecherous hunger that men usually did when they found her on the streets. Since she hadn't worn a bra when she encountered Sting she was still without one, and in the cool hallway air she could feel her nipples straining against the thin fabric.

I'm not going to kick you out because you haven't made money for the day by getting fucked against a wall.

She wondered Sting would boot her if she did exactly that just to make money off the man before her. She was pretty sure he'd take the bait, and at least she'd have something to bring back for her wasted efforts the last several days.

He finally spoke, clearly doing his best to get on Sting's last nerve. "I just wanted to make sure someone welcomed our newest guest. She hasn't even been properly introduced to the rest of the guild. Maybe we should take her out there right now master."

Sting's brow visibly twitched at the title, barely glancing towards Lucy. He'd made it abundantly clear that he'd seen enough of her and didn't want to see more. "Maybe another time when she's had some rest. Now Dobengal, kindly get out of the dormitories so Lucy can rest."

He looked her over one more time before leaving, and Lucy realized that was the most normal thing to happen to her since arriving. Sting opened the door hastily, practically shoving her in with some sort of explanation that he'd be back later. Lucy wasn't listening though, taking in a room with more furnishings than she'd had in a year.

She frowned when the door clicked shut, expecting Sting to say something more. Apparently other than dropping her off in the room an making sure she ate, he had no other interests in her. She let her mind drift off at that, deciding she could look around the space.

Lucy was bored in her room, and her skin itched something terrible. She'd eaten a fourth of the meal Yukino left there earlier before simply throwing it across the room. She wanted to go exploring but didn't know if she had the energy, and she found the fact that the mages here wanted her to wear something else insulting. Why else would they stock the closet?

She'd already tried to leave twice. Downstairs there were too many mages, and she'd vaguely recognized some of Sting's friends sitting near the doors in case she wanted to be sneaky. She had no idea how long they intended to sit there wasting space, but she'd end up passing out again if they didn't move soon.

Unfortunately, she hadn't found another way out, and after her previous experiences jumping from windows she didn't look forward to trying that again.

She groaned in frustration, her fingers trembling as she tried to decide whether to get herself off or scratch her skin off first. Her mind worked better than it had recently but the urge to do all the same things was still there even as she pushed the useless shirt up and over her breasts again to flick at the skin.

Lucy cried out when her fingers touched the wound on her left breast, surprised it was still tender. Given how many days she'd apparently been there, she thought it would've healed better.

She wasn't even close to finishing anything off when someone rapped loudly on her door, the skin on one of her arms shredded red when she could no longer fight the urge to scratch. She withdrew her other hand from her body as she studied the door, staring at it as she debated if it was worth answering.

This definitely wasn't home. Nobody would bother knocking there.

She didn't bother retrieving the shorts she had kicked off, barely pulling the top down before hopping off the bed, deciding getting up was worthwhile enough to at least see who it was. She got the feeling that if she ignored them they'd just persist.

"Dobengal?" she asked, staring at the man when she opened the door. He'd pulled the face covering down, revealing his lips and the first signs of stubble above his lip. If he was surprised she answered the door mostly naked he didn't let on.

"Blondie," he replied, drinking her in again like he had before. Despite herself she peered out the doorway either direction, expecting Sting to be glowering somewhere down the hall. "Having a bit of fun?"

Lucy shrugged as she started scratching again, her usual flirty attitude outweighed at her need to find her stash. Surely Sting wouldn't throw that much money away? "Maybe."

He smirked, and she didn't flinch when he reached out to start tracing the lines of her underwear. Honestly she barely noticed until his fingers stabbed towards her center. "I figured your skin would all be gone when I came up here. Didn't realize maybe you'd need to take care of something else first."

She squirmed away when he started probing her, attempting to push the garment aside. Bracing her arm against the doorframe, she managed to swat his hand away. "Not without pay."

Lucy wasn't a total moron. She remembered what Sting told her.

Where was he anyway? She figured he would've made another annoying appearance by now.

"I have something better," he reasoned, digging through his pocket to produce a bag. Lucy nearly threw herself at him when he held the item up, the crystal-like substance shining in the light. It was hardly anything, but more than she'd seen since running into Sting. "You tell me what this buys me tonight."

She grinned, feeling more like herself as she grabbed the front of his clothes, dragging him into the room. Some sure was better than nothing.

Sting felt exhausted when he finally managed to disentangle himself from the papers on his desk. He went through this routine every night he could, trying with little headway to clean up more and more of what Jiemma left unfinished.

Things hadn't gone the way they were supposed to. The healer Wendy recommended, Porlyusica, got detained doing something early in the afternoon today and now he wasn't sure if she'd be there tomorrow or not. And after all the time he spent telling Yukino she'd be there earlier today while they traveled.

He rubbed his eyes, hoping Heartfilia hadn't gotten herself into too much trouble while he worked. He'd love to keep pushing the work off for another day, but he'd already done that for nearly four, and there were things that required his attention that couldn't be ignored.

He'd let Rogue and Yukino have most of the evening off, asking if they minded waking up exceptionally early to sit in the main commons and relieve Rufus, Orga, and a rather reluctant Minerva from guarding the doors. He didn't need her escaping.

As Sting approached the stairs, he decided he was sincerely happy he gave Lucy a room only a couple doors down from his own. This would give him the time (he hoped) to try and make sure she didn't tumble back down into addiction-land again. If she could just get her mind clear he was certain her attitude would change.

Patting the same pocket as before, he was glad he'd never taken the baggie out of his vest tonight. At least this way he knew Lucy couldn't find any –

Sting swallowed his words when a blonde head came into view, Lucy's unmistakable dirty locks the first thing he noticed. The second was that she appeared to no longer be bothering with that sad excuse for shorts she'd been sporting for days.

The third was the smell. It probably should've been first, but considering he lived in a guild full of horny teenagers and young adults, he'd gotten good at filtering that smell right out of his head.

But not when it came off her. Not when she should've been resting.

And for fucks sake, it shouldn't smell like him.

Sting stepped up to her in an instant, immediately grabbing her chin to further inspect her eyes. The pupils were blown again, the drugs having a heyday inside her once more.

If he didn't need to deal with Lucy first, he thought he might actually kill Dobengal. How could one man be this much of a dumbass?

Despite himself, he growled. What the fuck was wrong with him? "Lucy," he seethed, grabbing her shoulder as gently as he could, "what did he do to you?"

She blinked, almost like she was seeing him for the first time. "Who?"

"Dobengal," he sneered, glaring up the staircase. Where and how the bastard found a substance to give Lucy it didn't matter. He'd found it, somehow, and unraveled almost four days of weening her off the stuff.

So much for that.

She waved a hand, her eyes looking off someplace. "Dunno… left a while ago."

At a loss of what to say, Sting could only shake his head. She was being, well… creepily calm about this. "Why did you let him in? Christ, don't tell me he broke through the wards-"

"I let him in," she replied, eyes widening gleefully.

"I told you the bastard doesn't have money," he snapped. It sounded awful, but he hoped she didn't spread her legs for that man just out of sheer boredom.

"No, he gave me some stuff," she replied, wiggling her brows like some sort of secret was being shared. "Only a lil' though. That's why I only agreed to blow him."

Sting waved a hand, letting go as he wondered what he could do to make himself completely forget those words. "Don't share that with me."

Lucy shrugged, leaning on the wall. Only then did Sting remember she wasn't wearing any pants, and he let out a frustrated sigh as he glanced at her, noticing a red mark on her leg. He hadn't seen it the first time when he was avoiding looking at her. Now he could see it though, like someone dug their nails into her skin for too long.

Screw it. He wanted her to feel like confined while staying at Sabertooth, but she didn't seem to be up to the task. It hadn't even been a few hours since he left her and she'd already gotten into trouble.

Briefly, he wondered what happened to the locking spell on her door that was supposed to help keep her in. He'd definitely be having a talk with some of his guild mates later.

Enough was enough. He purposely didn't leave her in the infirmary any longer because some of the guild members were creeping around looking for her. He had hoped getting her her own room upstairs would help, especially since no one else except for Rogue slept in this hall. Evidently it wasn't enough.

With a sigh he grasped her hand, tugging her back up the steps. He couldn't smell anyone else nearby and hopefully Dobengal had actually left for the night. He'd have to confront him in the morning but that was a problem for another time.

Why were his guild mates so adamant about ignoring him?

Lucy, for her part, was almost too compliant as he pulled her back up the steps. She didn't fight or argue, the dreamy expression on her face twisting his stomach. She should be more concerned with what was happening, even if he wouldn't actually harm her. At least she should care where he planned to take her.

Sting bypassed the room he'd had set up, deciding that would need to change now that Dobengal wanted to make her door his personal stopping spot when he wanted to get off. He wrinkled his nose, leading her down the hallway until they reached his own room, opening the door with a flick of his wrist.

"Sleep here tonight," he groaned tiredly, nodding his head so she'd enter. He didn't spare her a second glance as she stepped inside, closing and locking the door once more. "I'll be back in the morning!"

Turning on his heel, he went to grab her keys. Until Lucy stopped willingly letting people have a go at her, he needed more eyes. Her spirits, no matter how it pained them, surely wanted to keep her safe more than they wanted to preserve the mental images they had of the mage who controlled their contracts.

He opened the door and sighed. Why didn't she call someone out in the first place? If she had this could've been easily avoided.

A/n: Here's another installment I hope you enjoyed. Lucy will get worse before she gets better, which is usually the path of addiction. I hope to be back soon.

I am going to be asking all the readers of my stories this next question: If I self-published a story on Amazon with an "erotic" theme, would anyone be interested in this? The original work I'm currently working on is very complex, and for a while now I've been debating posting something more fun and daring beforehand. Just looking for some thoughts and input. Thanks everyone!