If y'all keep guessing plot points in my story I'm going to have to change things up. Lol. But in all seriousness, I like how intuitive everyone is. I try to keep you guys on your toes but I guess I need to up my game. Ok, let's get back to Laxus and Fletcher's fight.

Here is your TRIGGER WARNING for this chapter.

3rd Person POV

This was not good. The fighting had been going on for nearly two days, both mages were tried and running low on magic. And the two men were just outside of Magnolia. If it wasn't raining, Laxus would probably be able to smell Lucy's scent on the wind. But the rain washed every scent away, even with the wind whipping violently around the men.

Both Laxus and Fletcher were covered in cuts, burns, and bruises. Laxus was grateful that his mental wall remained up during the fight or else Fletcher would take him over again.

Fletcher, on the other hand, was aggravated, he couldn't get into Laxus' mind and there was no one close enough to try and make a quick escape. Or is there? Fletcher thought when a branch snapped behind Laxus.

Spinning around Laxus tried to warn the newcomer to run when he saw Fletcher in front of him. "What?" He growled in frustration. He turned around to see that the other Fletcher was gone. An illusion. If so, which one is fake? Fletcher's picked up some new tricks.

"You're going to stop fighting, eh Dreyar?" This Fletcher spoke. "Here I thought the great God of Thunder could tell when he was being used. Guess you're as dumb as you've always been."

Laxus saw red, but he still didn't move. "This is low even for Fletcher. A human shield." Then it hit Laxus. They were too close to Magnolia, where Lucy was. What had Fletcher said before?

"I'll have to go pay a visit to your little blonde. I'll make her think I'm you and do a little of this and a little of that. Just like last time."

"Shit!" Laxus cursed as he ran towards Magnolia. He couldn't be sure how much of a head start Fletcher had.

Lucy finally had enough energy to get up early and workout with Gajeel, and he was giving her hell for missing yesterday. He pushed up harder on all of the exercise equipment that they used for her strength training.

"SCREW YOU!" Lucy shouted as she did another set on the leg press.

"You can do it Bunny!" Gajeel encouraged Lucy as she fought to keep her legs pushing on the weights. "After this, I'll buy you Mira's biggest ice cream sundae." He said as Lucy approached the last few reps.

"You better carry me to my barstool if I can't walk after this!"

"Oh, wow, you guys are still in here?" Gray asked as he and Natsu walked in.

Lucy let out a relieved sigh as she pushed the weights on the final rep and Gajeel quickly turned the machine off.

"Yeah, had to make Bunny do extra today since she decided to skip her workout yesterday." Gajeel came around the side to help Lucy stand and caught her before her wobbly legs gave out on her.

"Yea, and now to Mira's giant ice cream sundae!" Lucy smiled and pointed towards the gym door with a cheer.

As the two left, Gray and Natsu shook their heads, chuckling. "There goes our baby sister."

"Come on, we should get to work," Natsu said heading to the first machine on their circuit.

"So, Lucy what're your plans for the rest of the day?" Mira asked, setting a very large ice cream sundae down in front of Lucy. It was about a foot long with Vanilla, Strawberry and Chocolate ice cream, caramel sauce and hot fudge and two bananas along the side and topped with chopped peanuts on top.

"Probably just go home. Take a nice long bath and maybe read or write some more." Lucy smiled, taking a large bite of the sundae.

"Oh, are you working on a new book?"

"Mmmhmm" Lucy nodded in the bliss of the sweet confection in front of her. "I started on a romance at my editor's request. I've plotted out about a quarter of it yesterday."

"Oh, that great to hea-" Mira stopped short, staring behind Lucy.

"Mira?" She asked and in response, Mira just pointed at the door. Turning towards the guildhall doors Lucy noticed that everyone was staring there and was deadly silent. "Laxus?" She whispered standing up from the barstool. Her legs didn't waiver, the jello feeling long forgotten - as was the ice cream.

"Hey, Blondie," Laxus smirked at her. Next thing he knew Lucy was rushing him and took him down with a bear hug.

"You're back so soon. I didn't think you'd be here already. You made it seem like you'd be gone for months or even years." Lucy had tears in her eyes. She had forgotten they were still in the Guild and no one was supposed to know that they were… dating? She was still confused at the status of their relationship, only because they didn't define it before he left for Hibiscus.

Laxus wrapped his arms around Lucy's small waist, pressing her body against him. "Let's go somewhere we can talk." He whispered into her hair.

Lucy nodded and detangled herself from him to stand and help him up. And the two walked out of the guildhall.

"We're all in agreement that… THAT was not Laxus, right?" Bixslow called from the second balcony railing he was perched on. The was a collective nod and sparse murmuring in agreement.

Outside, onlookers gazed at the blonde couple as they walked hand in hand down the street. The townspeople only saw the happy smile of Lucy's face as she walked with a stranger. No one could recognise the man she walked with but for some reason, he looked familiar. Think the ballroom scene in Swan Lake.

It had stopped raining for a while, so Lucy was able to leisurely walk with Laxus to her apartment. The walk was quiet but she was so happy to see him again. When they finally got inside her apartment, she locked the door and leaning against the door her eyes clouded over with lust. Laxus was here, in front of her and she was going to make up for the lost time.

Laxus was on her the moment he saw the look in her eyes. His kisses were what she craved, however, his lips felt different. His touch wasn't bringing up the desire it usually did. It felt wrong. Lucy was sure her feelings hadn't changed, so when she pulled back to look at his face she saw her Laxus' face but there was something off about it now that she was looking at him up close. She couldn't put her finger on it.

"Laxus, tell me about your mission. Makarov said it was going to be emotionally taxing for you. Is it okay to ask why?" Lucy asked, even though Makarov already told her a few details her gut told her there was more happening than what she could see.

"We'll have time for that later. I just missed you, Blondie. Let's make up for the lost time." He said and pushed his magic into her mind. Once more Lucy's eyes clouded over but not from lust. His mouth was on her once more and his hands roved over her body. Lucy's mind was much more open to the manipulation.

Once he was sure that Lucy was going to only see him as Laxus, Fletcher dropped the illusion magic, opting for full Marrionette magic to keep her sedated. Making sure her mind fully believed she was kissing Laxus and it was just as she remembered.

Laxus had finally made it into town and crashed through the Fairy Tail main doors. "Where's Lucy?" He shouted frantically, his eyes scanning the first floor. Her scent clung to the air but it was starting to stale. She wasn't there. "No," he whispered. He was too late.

"Bossman. She left with someone. She thought it was you." Bixslow said jumping down from the second floor.

"Fletcher." He gritted out.

Mira gasped. Natsu and Gray had a look of horror on their face, they were very aware of how terrible Fletcher is.

"Why didn't any of you stop her?"

"She was gone before we could stop her. It happened so quickly. It was like our limbs were frozen, we couldn't move no matter how much we wanted it." Gajeel said.

"He made me point at him to get Lucy to look at him," Mirajane whispered angrily.

"Evergreen. Freed. Bixslow." Laxus said and stalked out the guild hall as his team scrambled to follow after him.

"We're going to get her back, Laxus," Evergreen said, she put her long hair in a messy bun and took off her glasses. Someone took her maid of honour and there was going to be hell.

"We'll do more than that." Freed added, his eyes holding a malicious glint to them.

By the time they made it to Lucy's apartment across town, Laxus had been hearing the moans for three blocks and when the rest of the Legion heard them, Ever looked like she was going to be sick and Bixslow was close to murder. Freed was surprised by the amount of restraint that Laxus was showing.

Inside, his dragon was whimpering in agony at hearing it's mate moaning his name while someone else was inside her. His chest hurt and to say he was pissed would be an understatement. No one knew Lucy's body the same way Laxus did, and what she liked in bed. If he was lucky Fletcher wouldn't even get her close to climaxing.

"More, please." He heard Lucy beg through the door. It took all his strength to knock on the door.

It got quiet behind the door, and it took a couple of minutes for the lock to click as it unlocked. Lucy opened the door with Fletcher standing behind her with a wicked smirk on and nothing else.

The shock on Lucy's face was real. Laxus was standing outside her door. But wasn't I just fucking him on the kitchen table? She wondered. Looking back to the man behind her, the fog in her mind finally cleared and she saw a stranger naked and his cock stand at attention with her juices dripping off it.

"Wha-" was all Lucy got out before Fletcher bent her forward and slammed his cock back inside her tight cavern.

"That's not me, Lucy." He whispered into her ear, working his magic back into her mind. "There's no one at the door."

Laxus and the Thunder Legion watched in horror as Fletcher fuck Lucy as her eyes glazed over and she didn't see them anymore.

"Star… Please." Laxus quietly begged. "Fight it. Fight him. You're so much stronger than his mind games. Baby, please. Honey."

"Yes, dear?" Lucy whispered as Fletcher closed the door, cutting them off from each other. But for a split second, Laxus knew he got through to her.

He listened to the sound of shuffling feet and waited until they were far enough away before he kicked down the door. "Get off my girl." He growled. Laxus gave Fletcher exactly three seconds to move before he tackled him and teleported them far away from Lucy and Magnolia.

"Lucy!" Evergreen cried and she rushed the younger girl. Ever wrapped Lucy up in a blanket and saw the tears running down Lucy's face.

"Ever," she whispered. "I'm so sorry. I..I-"

"Shhhh. It's alright. It's not your fault. Fletcher did this to you. You are in no way to blame. Laxus knows this. It's okay." Ever quietly reassured her, patting her hair down. Ever was in tears with Lucy and the look she gave the boys meant 'Leave and go help our leader kill the son of a bitch'.

The boys quickly left to go find Laxus. Ever could take care of Lucy just fine. But this was going to take time.

I know. I hate what happened also but it had to. This chapter was very necessary for everyone's character in the long run. Plus I had to show how bad a guy Fletcher really is. And according to himself, this isn't the first time he pretended to be Laxus to get in a girl's bed. I'm sorry if anyone got any flashbacks. I tried to write it in a way to not trigger sexual assault survivors like myself. I did have a hard time writing it still. I'm so sorry to everyone who has been assaulted - and if this chapter gave you flashbacks. I love you all and I hope you find happiness and strength. And may you're abusers burn in the pits of whatever afterlife you believe in.

With Love and Care,

Lullaby