Summary: Natsu and Gray have been forced to complete a quick simple mission together. That is until they are attacked, knocked unconscious and forced to be put on auction for slave owners and crazy scientists. Now they have to stick together for support and strength because if they don't, they may never see their Guild again.

Word Count: 4751

A/N: This is it…the end of this amazing adventure. I'd like to thank each and every person who took the time to read, review, favorite, follow, or just glance at my work. It really means a lot and I am just too thankful for what you all have done for me. I'll get to the mushy gushy stuff at the bottom! Alright! Thanks again for reading everyone! Enjoy!

Warning: cussing is in here (obviously) OH! Blood, not too much. Some spelling/grammar errors if I didn't catch them

Disclaimer: I don't own anything *Tries to think of something funny to write here*

His hand hovered in the air for a second before he brought it back with a sigh. He hadn't thought his deal would go this way, but honestly he couldn't care less. Schiff pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and leaned back in his chair. With a quick push he stood up straight and abandoned the wheelchair to walk up towards Shiro who was now pale from the blood loss.

Schiff kneeled down in his accomplices' blood and studied the ice swords impaling Shiro's body. The craftsmanship was very interesting, not only that but the ice was still present, even with its crafter far away. Schiff poked at the dead carcass of Shiro and found that the man was gripping something. With a crack, Schiff dug into Shiro's clamshell of a fist and fished out a glowing pill. "You dirty bastard," Schiff laughed and stood up. With a snap, Shiro's corpse seemed to instantly rot, leaving nothing behind but melting swords in a yellow puddle. Schiff dug into his coat pocket and brought the object to his ear, "Yes, hello? Put me through the head of the Magic Council, it's urgent." Schiff brought the Devil's pill up to his face and smiled, "Tell them I have what we've been working on."

With a flash of light, he was gone.

She was honestly having the greatest day ever. First, the man she loved had proposed to her, she had bought the last Transit handbag, and now her fiancé was taker her to a Clos Maggiore, a very fancy restaurant. Kamiko gripped onto here fiancés arm tighter as she thought of rubbing this day into Rei's face. She honestly couldn't hold back her excitement as he led her from the train station. She was having a great day – but somehow it was ruined when two men fell in front of her.

She let out a scream when the two fell motionless in front of her. Blood splattering onto her new bag and jacket as the pink head fell backwards, opening up a wound that was dug into his shoulder. She stumbled backwards as her fiancé let go and rushed forward. "Oh my God!" She screamed and looked around at the surprised faces.

"Kamiko," Goro yelled. Her fiancé was kneeling next to the two, his fingers pushing into the raven-haired mans neck whilst his other hand was pressing into the pink haired mans shoulder wound. "Get a hold of yourself and get help!"

She swallowed, looking between the two and shook her head, "Goro…what - what if they're bad people!"

Goro frowned and his face began to redden, "What the hell is wrong with you?" He quickly took off his jacket and covered it over the man with black hair. "It doesn't matter if they're immoral – they're still human, we need to help them!"

Kamiko took a step back and couldn't hold back her disgust, "What the hell's wrong with yo-"

"No," Goro snapped, "what the hell's wrong with you?" He quickly glared daggers at Kamiko, then looked around at the other men and women that stood in shock, "Help!" He called out, "I need someone to go get help!"

A few men and women rushed past Kamiko, while others scurried forward to help Goro and the two unconscious men lying motionless. As people surrounded the unconscious men and her fiancé, Kamiko noticed Guild marks stamped onto the two men, and she couldn't help but hope the two would perish.

Lucy was resting her eyes; next to her was Happy, who hadn't shed a tear in the past 5 months. She had been going in and out of the Guild looking for clues – looking for any type of evidence on where the two had gone. But they had gotten nothing. She looked over at Happy, who was nibbling on a fish. His eyes hadn't been as bright for the past few months. "Hey," she sat up and smiled slightly at the cat, "you want to go search around some more tomorrow?"

"Lucy," Happy muttered in between bites. His voice was distant, and then he looked to the left at the few guild members who had come back to rest, "you're asking stupid questions again."

Lucy stiffened and she threw her fist on top of Happy's head and looked away, "I wasn't asking a stupid question, idiot cat."

Happy quickly covered his head with his paws, "Ow, Lu-"

"Help!" A voice sailed throughout the guildhall and the pair instantly turned around to see a woman standing by the open door. "Help, please." She pointed out the door, her face pale as sweat dripped down her face. "Help, there are – there are two men who are hurt badly with your guild mark."

"What?" Lucy stood quickly, her mind instantly going to…

"Natsu?" Happy called out and quickly dropped his fish.

Edward wasn't one of the best doctors, but he was the worst. He had worked hard to get where he was now and had studied hard in the subject of healing those who were battle worn, so he knew about the human body. But what he was about to experience was far from what he had practiced.

Two men, bot heavily worn down and layered in injures, were quickly rolled into the infirmary, men and women shouting for a doctor – so Edward jumped forward his hand instantly landing on the pink haired man and he looked at a nurse. "Go get another doctor, once I evaluate these two, we may have to get them into surgery right away." The nurse nodded and fled the hall. Edward quickly took the lead, leading the two to a secluded area where he could get them the best care possible. As he ran over their injuries, he noticed the guild mark of Fairy Tail one of the man's shoulder and his mind quickly stopped. "Oh no," Edward looked up, meeting the eyes of another doctor that had shown at his side. "These men," Edward said out loud to whomever, "they're the missing mages."

"What?" The other Doctor asked pushing Edward aside so he could lead the men to a safe area.

"They're the missing men, from Fairy Tail!" Edward looked around, his chest tightening as his anxiety set in, "Get Fairy Tail over here!" A few nurses paused at this command, but Edward figured none of them idolized Fairy Tail as much as he did. "Get Fairy Tail!" He screamed and found a few people jolted before one girl came out of a room and took off. He turned back, noticing the two mages being pulled into a room and he quickly followed them inside. He made a promise to himself that these two would recover.

Happy picked up speed; following the girl that was leading them to the location of his partner. He soon found that they were about to enter into a small infirmary and he swooped down to pick up Lucy, flying towards the doorway. Under his grip, Lucy turned and waved to the girl that led them towards their friends and she quickly said thanks before they disappeared inside. Inside the little infirmary a crowd of people were standing and talking loudly in the waiting area. A man crossing his arms stood glaring daggers at a woman who was begging to keep a ring. His arms were covered in blood, and the woman stomped her foot, a bag splattered in the red substance bounced in her grip. "Goro!" She bawled, "You cant just take things back!"

"Of course I can!" The man shook his head and pointed a finger in her direction, "I saw the real side of you today Kamiko. How can you not care about others well being?"

Happy ignored the rest of their dispute and dispelled his wings. He latched onto Lucy's shoulder watching as she walked away from the arguing couple and into the hallway. From behind a nurse looked up from his papers and shouted at Lucy, "Ma'am! You can't go past here without a doctor!" But Lucy ignored the man and raced down the hallway. Happy and Lucy glanced into each door, finding some people sitting, sleeping or talking with one another. However, they quickly came upon a door that made them both freeze.

Within the room Natsu and Gray laid still, having men and women rush around them, placing instruments on top of them while others began to take blood samples. Lucy took a step back, tears forming, looking more at Natsu's injures. She found multiple bruises littering his body, along with multiple cuts. His nose cut to the side, and his chest was covered in a large welt. Gauze was placed around his shoulder, the injury seemed to already soak through the cotton pad. She then looked past Natsu and onto Gray who seemed just as bad as Natsu. His left arm was being heavily looked over by doctors that muttered about resetting. In some spots, needlepoints seemed round and red, along with cuts and bumps. She was about to look more into both of their injures when a nurse came up and grabbed her arm.

"Ma'am," he said sternly, "You aren't allowed back here without approval. I'm going to have to ask you to go back to the waiting room."

Lucy felt tears race down her face, "Natsu and Gray." She swallowed pulling away from the mans grip, "When – when did they arrive here."

"Ma'am," he muttered, his eyes casting away from hers.

"Tell me," Lucy found her voice shaking, and her anger began to well up. "What happened to them?"

Natsu woke up to people in masks surrounding him. His mind reeled as he punched upward, catching a man off guard. A few people jumped backwards as Natsu sat up, tubes tugging at his arm and face, stopping him suddenly. He swung blindly, thinking Schiff had brought him back, and he called out for Gray.

"Where is he, you bastard," Natsu growled. He looked around, his vision going in and out of focus. His fists ignited and he punched forward, ignoring the shouts and pleas.

"Mr. Natsu, please," a man called out, arms reached around his torsos, pulling him downwards. "I need you to calm down, everything is alright."

"Gray!" Natsu hollered. The forms around him started to fizz into view, but they were still hard to make out. He looked around as people tugged at his arms, forcing him downward, "Let go, you assholes!"

"We're going to have to sedate him," a woman called over the commotion.

The man looked over reluctantly, "He'll be more frightened next time he wakes."

"He's pulling at his stitches, Edward." Another person snapped, "His chest can't take the pressure he's putting on himself – he'll have another collapsed lung."

"Fine," Edward snapped and looked over at Natsu. The two shared a heated scowl before a sedative drug was pushed into his bloodstream and Natsu knew no more.

Lucy placed a gentle hand on top of Natsu's and he closed her eyes. "What happened to you two?" She asked in a low quivering voice. Before she was allowed in his room, she had informed the rest of the guild, who was out patrolling for the two mages. Erza had been up in the mountains, a lead telling them of how a man had seen the two mages working together to fight off a mysterious boogeyman. Juvia, Wendy, and Lyon had all left in a group, retracing Gray and Natsu's footsteps. Their investigation had apparently led them to an underground slave trade for Mages. Half of the Guild jumped onto Juvia, Wendy, and Lyon's investigation, while others traveled in each direction. Other Guilds, in the past months, had joined in the hunt, looking for any signs of Natsu or Gray's existences. Sabertooth, Blue Pegasus, and Lumia Scale, had all been the first ones to jump to their aid when they heard that some of Fairy Tail's top mages were missing.

They have all been searching reluctantly and after a few months went by – with nothing but a rumor of them being sold into slavery, some people started to lose hope. Of course, Erza and Juvia had kicked their asses for thinking such a thing, but Lucy understood those thoughts. She would never forget the week the two were supposed to come back…something seemed off that morning when she woke up. So when Team Natsu, minus the two males, went and investigated the "town", she was surprised to find nothing there – no houses, no people, no town, nothing. She hated feeling so useless.

She leaned forward, cupping Natsu's wilting hand into hers and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "I just need to know," she whispered and prayed the Fire Mage would wake up soon.

Kamiko sat, her legs crossed, in the very uncomfortable hospital chair. She looked around the room, watching as the blond woman – Lucy, she believes – sit quietly with a blue cat in her grasp. She had wanted to leave this God forsaken place for a while; however, her fiancé was persistent about watching over the two men they brought in. It had been a few days since Goro brought the two mages in and he still wanted to come back. She really didn't know who he was anymore.

But as the days passed by, she followed Goro to and from the hospital, trying to convince him he was making a mistake. And she sat there, with him, over the course of the days and watched as new people flooded in. They had all come for the two mages, all from different areas and guilds. One group came in and they seemed quiet different from the rest.

It was about 3 days after arriving at the infirmary, the sky spotless and sun shinning bright. There had been no talk of a storm, but suddenly, outside, clouds rushed in, bringing pouring rain and sparks of lightning. The door spewed open, a woman dressed in blue, somehow dry from the rain, and rushed in, her focus drilled on the front desk. From behind a man with hair as white as untouched snow, and a small child, holding onto another cat, followed the woman inside. She sat up, her surrounding becoming cold and the rain outside spilling buckets. Kamiko looked passed Goro, who had paid little to no attention to the group, and the pain that was laced in the blue woman's voice took Kamiko by surprise. "Juvia is here for Gray-sama," the woman, Juvia, cupped her hands to her chest.

"Gray?" The man at the front desk questioned, then his eyes widened and quickly darkened. "Oh, yes…Mr. Fullbuster."

From down the hallway, the woman, Lucy, rushed forward, her arms thrown out and she smiled with tears in her eyes. "Juvia!"

"Lucy-san," Juvia opened her arms and the two females embraced, each head resting on each other's shoulders.

Lucy looked up, her eyes landing on the man and child. "Lyon, Wendy, Carla, I'm so glad you all came."

"Lucy," Lyon stepped forward, his hand landing on Juvia's shoulder. "What the hell happened? Where are they?"

Lucy looked down; her eyes seemed to swim in a pool of grief. "I don't know. They haven't woken up – except Natsu. He woke up for a minute," Lucy rubbed the palm of her hand into her eye and bit her lip. "He was screaming, and then he asked for Gray. The doctors had to sedate him or else he'd pull open his stiches." She sniffed, looking up at the three quiet Mages, "No one knows what happened to them. Natsu was shot – he was exhausted because he used too much magic. From the looks of it, he and Gray were in a bad fight," Lucy muttered. "Gray was just as bad, and the doctors almost lost him during surgery."

Juvia cupped her mouth, "Gray-sama?"

"Shit," Lyon looked away.

"It's alright now," Lucy swallowed and forced a smile. "Where did you end up with the investigation?"

Lyon sighed, "We couldn't find anything past the trade…a few people spoke of a place along a hilltop, run by a weird science guy, but those were just rumors. Plus we didn't have enough evidence to find out where it was. So we didn't know if it was true or not."

Wendy looked up as her grip on Carla tightened, "We were going to go look into a rumor about them being sold into work slavery – a lot of clues pointed that way. But I guess we weren't fast enough."

Lucy shook her head, "You all did a great job…" She looked past the group and turned to where Goro and Kamiko sat. "Those two found Gray and Natsu."

Kamiko sat back, her eyes widening and she quickly swallowed. Next to her, Goro stood up, his hand rubbing the back of his neck before shaking Lyons hand. Kamiko sat for a second, watching as Goro explained what had happened. She hadn't thought the two mages were that popular. She and Goro had visited the quaint town that the guild Fairy Tail lived in – plus she never paid attention to guilds, so she really hadn't understood why these two meant so much.

Goro looked down, placing his hand on Kamiko's shoulder. "This is Kamiko, she…well she helped in some ways."

Kamiko looked up, her form shrinking under the Mages eyes. "Hello," she muttered and stood.

What happened next surprised her. She instantly stiffened at the odd contact that the girl, Juvia, made. "Juvia must thank you, Kamiko-san." Juvia backed away from the one sided hug and smiled with tears in her eyes. "If you and Goro-san had not helped, Gray-sama and Natsu-san, they wouldn't be under such great care."

"No…no, problem," Kamiko forced a smiled.

Reporters had swarmed the door; photographers look pictures from outside, and nosey bastards attempted to get in for the latest information. Aside from the rude men and women surrounding her destination, Erza was surprised to find flowers of all varieties and handwritten letters lining up at the front entrance. When she entered the front door, she found most of her guild mates sitting in the waiting room. Cana, Lisanna, Macao, and Wakaba all looked up at her entrance, some others turned their heads away. She stood for a moment as she swallowed, taking in their saddened and tired eyes. She stepped forward, rushing to the front and her presences instantly demanded to be heard. "Natsu and Gray," she spoke up and the male nurse looked distantly frightened.

"Um," he stammered, "they're in room 109."

She took off without another thought, the shout from the nurse was heard behind her, but she ignored them as she counted the numbers on the wall. She had showed up a few days after Juvia's team, and had only heard about her two friends appearance a day ago. She had found herself searching up in the mountains, away from contact. But none of that mattered now, what did matter was Natsu and Gray. She quickly came upon the door and rushed inside.

Makarov sat, legs crossed in front of the door, his arms overlapped and eyes closed. However, once Erza entered, slightly frightened at what she would find, Makarov opened his eyes and held the Titanias gaze. His only reply was a sigh, as Erza looked up to find the two mages. "Wha-what," she stumbled over her words, "happened. God, what happened to them?"

The two looked almost like mummies, every inch of their skin was covered in bandages, but the big difference between the two was the tube pushed into Gray's mouth, helping him breath. Makarov shut his eyes for a moment; he opened his mouth for a second, than paused. "They were found at the train station," Makarov mumbled, "the young couple that found the boys, said they appeared out of air. After being taken care of by some of the doctors here, they finally were able to begin their recovery. For how long it will take, I cannot say. Porlyusica arrived yesterday to help with the…problem."

"What," Erza hissed; her eyes growing and anger building. "But how?"

"I do not know," Makarov replied. As he looked up, his eyes flashed and he growled, "but when I find whoever has done this to my children, I will all make them pay, dearly."

Gray couldn't breathe. His eyes shot open and despite his vision being blurred, he could make out the color white. He started to panic, and he choked as his hands flew up to his mouth. But hands wrapped around his arms, pulling them back down and Gray couldn't help but cry out. He closed his eyes, feeling tears sting the corner of his vision and he turned his head from side to side trying to yell. His mind swam with countless possibilities, none of them good, and he kicked out. His limbs were quickly held down, people spoke loudly, but his thoughts of being taken back had overflowed his conscious. Suddenly, something was pulled from his mouth and he inhaled all too quickly. A coughing fit showered over him, pushing on his ribs that still stung from the battle him and Natsu desperately fought. "No," he shouted, pulling at his right arm, as he coughed further, "you can't take us back!" Opening his eyes, Gray tried looking past his blurry vision, "Where's Natsu?" He pulled up with his chest, trying to get free from the objects holding him down. "We – damn it," he flung his head back, "we fought too damn hard, we cant be back! Let me go!" He yelled feeling tears leak down the side of his face, "Please!"

"Gray-sama!"

Gray instantly stiffened recognizing the voice…

"What," he whispered. He blinked desperately, and as his vision cleared, he recognized shapes that, for a second, he thought he would never see again.

"Gray-sama," Juvia held down his right leg. "Please," she said, tears leaking down her face, "please calm down."

"Its alright," a voice spoke from his left, and he saw Erza press lightly on his shoulder.

"You're with us, so don't worry." Lucy was on his right, still holding on tight to his arm.

"We wont let anyone take you, my boy." Makarov stood proudly at the edge of his bed. "No one will touch you two again."

Gray sat back, his throat raw and he inhaled slowly. He opened his mouth, trying to think of something to say, but his mind was foggy and he was still trying to process what was going on. He sat there, watching their faces wash over with relief and he unexpectedly felt something run down his cheek. "You're all," his voice cracked and Gray let his head fall, his hand coming up to cup his eyes. He sniffed, feeling tears run down his face, "You're all here."

Natsu had woken up 3 weeks after they arrived at the hospital. A day before Erza arrived, he heard that Porlyusica had arrived. She had left quickly, arranging a place for the two healing wizards; her reason was because of the stupid humans that worked in the hospital, didn't know what they were doing. For the past two days he's been asleep, then awake, then asleep and so on. It had been weird waking up. He didn't know where he was, but when he finally found Lucy and Happy, the two crying as they leapt into his chest, he couldn't help but hug them back. He was grateful.

So that brought him to today, sitting quietly in the Guilds infirmary, looking quietly out the window. He had woken up less than an hour ago. Gray hadn't woken up though. He was still asleep; he'd been asleep for a while.

Porlyusica had said that Gray suffered horribly from magic depletion, while Natsu suffered from more physical strain. However, as she listed the issues the two had faced, Porlyusica stated that the two went through a great deal of emotional trauma.

"Pft," Natsu said to himself, staring out the window, "no shit." Lucy and Happy had gone back to her apartment late last night; the old man didn't want the two Mages too enclosed as they healed. Now Natsu sat alone, early in the morning with the window open and birds chirping. He stayed focused on the outside world, where trees blew in the distance and people could be heard talking with friends. It was nice. He missed this: the colors, smells, and warmth from the sun. Erza said they'd been missing for more than 5 months, but it sure didn't feel like it. He was glad that shit was over.

Natsu leaned back, his head hitting the soft pink pillowcase.

He glanced over to his left, finding Gray in the same position when he woke up. Natsu looked back up to the ceiling, "I promise," he murmured to himself.

"Promise what," a voice spoke above the tweeting birds.

Natsu looked to his left and found Gray trying to sit up. "Gray," Natsu exhaled in disbelief. He sat up, the sheets gliding off his chest covered in bandages.

"Hey," Gray smiled, his eyes clouded with exhaustion. "Nice to see you awake."

Natsu snorted and he grinned from ear to ear. "Right back at ya, snowflake."

The two sat in silence and for once Natsu didn't want that to change. A few moments went by before Gray looked up, his fight to sit up was won as he leaned against the wall. "Hey, Natsu."

Natsu looked over at Gray from the corner of his eye, "Hm?"

Gray took his eyes off of the ceiling and looked over at Natsu, "Thanks."

"For what?"

Just then the door to their room opened and Gildarts pushed his way into the room. He looked up from the plate of food he had in his hands, and as his eyes met the two resting mages, the loaf of bread in his mouth fell. "Hey!" He cheered loudly, his expression folding into a smile as he scratched the back of his head. "Glad to see you two awake."

Natsu laughed, his expression genuine, "Nice to be awake."

Gildarts smirked as he stepped forward, placing the tray of food on a table. "You two are healing up nicely." He walked forward, a hand landed on Natsu's head and he ruffled the pink locks. His eyes traveled across the Fire Mage's injures then he looked over at Gray. He placed a welcoming hand on the Ice Mage's shoulder before laughing lightly. "I'm glad you boys are alright. You even had me worried," he said with a smile. Going back to his plate of food, Gildarts stuffed the fallen piece of bread in his mouth and turned for the door. "Better tell everyone," his voice was cheerful, but muffled by the food. "They'll wanna know the two rivals are up." With that he turned for the door, kicking it down and a shout of joy was heard a moment later.

"Bet I can still beat him up," Natsu said, quickly turning to Gray.

"As if, ash fer brains," Gray shot back. "But, hey…I promise, too."

Natsu paused for a moment before smiling back.

From outside their door, a large number of footsteps were heard, then the door opened and voices filled the room. Natsu adjusted his position as the group of Fairy Tail mages flooded the room, their voices talking above each other. Gray looked around at the faces that showed nothing but relief and love. Natsu laughed as they all came to a stop, some still outside the door – shouting to get inside. Makarov was in front, his arms cupped behind his back as he looked between the two rivals. "My children," he swallowed and a smile grew upon his lips. "We're so relieved you are alright."

"Of course, we are," Natsu retorted with a smile. "Did you ever doubt it, Old Man?"

Makarov snickered and Erza stepped forward. "We were worried about you two."

"But," Lucy said, watching as Happy crawled over and sat on top of Natsu's lap. "We're happy you're back."

"Aye, sir!" Happy called and hugged onto Natsu, who returned the gesture.

"Well good," Natsu chuckled. Slowly, Gray reached out, his fist coming to a halt between the two beds. Natsu leaned over, his fist slowly coming to a stop in front of Grays. And with a shared grin, the two bumped fists, "I bet I can protect you better, droopy eyes."

Gray leaned back as chuckle filled the room, "You're on, squinty eyes."

A/N: Thank you everyone for your support, it truly means a lot to me. I want to let you know that I wont stop writing for a long time and this story has really shown me how much I can push myself. I know that I need to work on my updating time and overall writing in general – and with that knowledge I will only grow stronger. I do have plans for a future long story that will be coming out soon. It's called A Shared Soul (or 共有魂) cause for some reason I can't keep away from titles written in Japanese! All the details of the story are in my Bio, so please keep your eyes out for it. Then I do have a short story that was prompted to me by the amazing PokeTail, the story should be coming out next weekend! (Unless the Superbowl keeps me away – omg go Broncos!) The story is called State of Being Ill.

And lastly, I will respond to all reviews by PMing your account, I'm sorry if I cant get in touch with you if you don't have one or didn't sign in. One person I know would be JustMe, who I must thank unconditionally for sticking with me and reviewing on each chapter! Thank you so much! I love you so! Thank you!

Not to mention everyone else who has been with me like: FalynELF, SashaMonroe, Anniegirl132, Cristallina, PokeTail, AsDarknessSpreads, DeltaGrayFraza, Lilymoon9, Viperhat, EternalFlame401, MO-5431, Pixilated Pixie Princess, and everyone else! You guys truly helped me with discovering who I want to be, and that's a writer. I want to write for the rest of my life! So thank you everyone, thank you so, so much! I love you all! And finally *drumroll*

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