I know I suck and I'm sorry it took so long to update. Good news my new year's resolution is to finish this story! I will try to update regularly until it's finished...try!

Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed and favorited this story while I was away! I really appreciate it!

Erik POV

The incessant beeping was killing me. Actually, every little noise in this god-forsaken place was slowly driving me crazy. How anyone could rest in such a loud place was beyond me. With the constant disturbances, whispered questions and confused looks it was a wonder Magnolia's hospital was able to heal anyone. The knocking on the door and jiggling of the handle as they tried to open the door I had just blocked after the nurse left a minute ago, only compounded my thoughts.

"What now?" I said angrily.

"Um… sorry. I'm from the lab and I-"

"Forget it. You've poked her eight times already and neither one of you have gotten a fucking drop of blood. Send that nurse back in here to put in a line or whatever cause that's the only way the lab will be getting blood from her." The sniffles from the other side of the door did nothing to change my mind. I half listened as the nurse sent the failure of a vampire away with strict orders to not send anyone else.

A soft knock came a second later. "Erik. You can't keep blocking the door, what if she codes again? The delay could cause her, her life." Begrudgingly I stood up to remove the barricade. "Thank you. Now about the labs we need-"

"Like I told the vampire, put a line in or whatever you call it. Or call Wendy to draw the fucking blood, but they are not to come back in here digging for blood." Like everyone else the nurse cowered away from me and agreed to my demands before backing out of the room.

At first, they hadn't taken me seriously when I threatened to poison the last person who went against my or Wendy's instructions. But after that little fucktard had come into the room to remove some of the burnt flesh on Lucy's arms, when Wendy had expressly told everyone that they'd heal in time with the ointment she left behind, and that removing the flesh would only cause her pain and delay the healing; they had all learned that Wendy nor I was to be ignored. The thought made me smile. Remembering how the mini dragon created a tornado that destroyed said person's automobile, right after he had gotten out had been priceless. It only got better when he needed to be admitted just down the hall for arsenic poisoning, something this hospital was incapable of treating because they had never encountered the poison before, let alone detect it. If it hadn't been for Makarov talking me down the fucktard would have died and I wouldn't have minded one bit.

A different kind of beeping rang in the room as the lacrima tv lit up to reveal a tired looking Natsu. "How's she doing?" He asked earnestly. It was the same every day. He'd call at 7 in the morning and 7 at night inquiring on Lucy's status, but he had yet to come in to visit her. The last time he saw her was the day he came running into the guild, out of breath with the clock spirit strapped to his back with the use of his scarf. He had ignored everyone's concerned questions and nearly crushed Wendy with the Horologium as he shoved him into Wendy's startled hands demanding she heal Lucy. The next moment Horologium apologized and disappeared, leaving a charred, bleeding Lucy on the ground. As Wendy's healing glow surrounded Lucy, Natsu passed out and that's when I learned what led to that moment.

-flash back-

"The King is keeping me here, just long enough for you to find Wendy-san. Please Natsu… I don't think we have much time." Horologium said with a sad look as he moved his hand and came away with blood.

Lucy's blood was slowly beginning to seep from the bottom seam of Horologium's door as she lost more and more blood.

"Lucy…" Natsu whispered, placing his hand to rest on the glass as he listened to the slow beating of her heart. It had started beating slower from when he had first found her, and its stuttering rhythm terrified him. "I'll get you to Wendy and you'll be alright." He promised, resting his hand on the glass separating Natsu from his best friend.

Grunting, he lifted Horologium only for the clock to slip through his fingers. Horologium was coated in Lucy's blood, making it impossible to keep ahold of. After several more attempts Natsu frantically looked around the rubble for something to help carry Horologium but came up empty. Looking down in frustration, something caught his eye drawing his attention to his scarf that was still firmly wrapped around his neck. Without hesitation Natsu unwound it and made a make-shift sling, tying the spirit to his back. It wasn't the most comfortable set up but Natsu hunched over and endured it as he began his trek through the rubble. Looking at the smoking buildings and trees Natsu tried to make out where he was relative to where they had initially appeared but found nothing.

"Natsu, this way." Whirling around with flames surrounding his fist, Natsu was shocked to find Pixus sitting on a nearby branch. "The portal is this way." Without another word the spirit flew deep into the forest, leading him to a shimmering black portal that was hidden in a hollowed-out tree trunk before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Pressed for time as more of Lucy's blood soaked through his scarf and into his clothes Natsu passed through the portal relieved when he saw that it had taken him to the entrance of the Black Forest, they had explored just hours ago.

With all of their supplies destroyed Natsu had no choice but to commandeer the nearest vehicle. Standing in the middle of the road with blood dripping into a pool at his feet was a surprisingly effective way to stop traffic. Once the first one stopped, Lucy's spirits quickly helped the driver and his passenger out of their seats before shoving Natsu and Lucy in the back.

Powered by the Spirit King himself, Loke drove like Edo-Natsu, weaving between the other drivers and sometimes off-roading it when something slowed them down. By the time Magnolia came into view both Loke and Horologium were noticeably worn out. Loke made short work of Magnolia's roads and skidded to a stop mere inches from Fairy Tail's doors.

Natsu having fared well with the transportation, too worried over his best friend's life to get sick during the ride, sprang out of the vehicle and blasted the guild doors open screaming for Wendy.

-end flashback-

"She would be a hell of a lot better if you'd get your sorry ass over here and hold her hand." I growled, finally deciding a month was enough of this nonsense. "She needs her best friend here, not off galivanting around Fiore."

"We've been over this. When she wakes up what do you think she'll want to do? Rest like any normal person would? No. She needs to save her spirits, her family, and I'm going to help her as much as I can so she doesn't kill herself doing it when she wakes up. Once she sets her mind to do something, she always gets it done. And now that Yukino's other spirit has been abducted there's no way she'll just lay there and do nothing. Even if it'll mean putting herself at risk!"

Damn it I knew he was right, but I also knew that if Luce woke up and realized that Flame Brain hadn't visited her at least one she would be hurt and worried if he was mad at her. "As much as I hate to say it you're right, but you know her, she needs her friends to at least show they care. Imagine what she'll think when she wakes up and her best friend isn't here."

"Listen here you Poison Prick she knows I'm always here for her, she'll understand when she knows what I've been doing while she has been healing. Don't try to trick me into coming back so you can go out and kick their ass without me!"

Why is Natsu yelling? Can't he tell I'm trying to sleep here?

At the sound of the voice I'd come to know and love I whipped my head around to see Lucy still unconscious. This had been the first time in the past month I'd heard anything from her. Occasionally she'd move her hand or kick erratically but that was all.

"Natsu, say something else!" I said earnestly, listening intently for Lucy's thoughts.

"What the hell are you on about now? I'll come back when I've found out who's caused her all this pain. Your nagging..." His voice faded as I heard Lucy once more.

Come back? Where did he go? Aren't we supposed to be going to the Blac-! Oh Mavis! The explosion, my keys! Are they okay? Loke!

"Cobra? What's that face for, is she alright? Don't ignore me, what the hell is going on? Co-"

"Natsu I've got to go." I said distractedly, hanging up on his protests as he asked about Lucy and quickly dialing the worn-out Wendy.

Lucy began flailing in bed as if trying to get up, but she had soft restraints keeping her from accidentally pulling out the tubing that had helped her breathe for the past month. Pressing the call light, I summoned her nurse.

"She's waking up." I pointed out while moving out of the way so they could check for themselves.

"Wendy, you need to get here now. She's waking up."

"I'm already on my way." She said breathlessly. "Loke found me and told me about 5 minutes ago. I'll be there in 10 minutes. Don't let those doctors do anything, especially extubate her. We don't know if she's strong enough to breathe on her own yet. The repairs I did to her lungs might not hold for long. I need to check her before we try anything!" For someone so small she was a feisty when it came to caring for Lucy.

The lacrima screen was black for a second before Natsu called me back, probably furious about me hanging up on him and concerned that something was happening with Luce. Good, maybe that would get him to bring his ass to the hospital to visit her.

Lucy POV

What's happening? Where am I? Natsu why are you yelling? I groggily thought as I tried to bring my hand up to my face only to be denied. My arm wouldn't move more than an inch off the bed before something pulled it back down.

"Shh Lucy it's okay. You're alright." Erik whispered calmly while squeezing my hand. "You're in the Magnolia hospital. You can't move because you're in restraints to keep you from pulling out the tube that's in your throat. They had to put it in when your throat started closing up from all of the smoke inhalation."

I scrunched my nose in discontent as I tried to respond. My keys? I thought hoping Erik could hear me. I wanted to see his face, look around the room we were in but my eyes felt like they were glued shut.

"They're fine... Sending them to the Sprit World saved them. It wasn't a normal explosion, if you had held onto them, they would have been destroyed. Luce, you could have died, if you hadn't encased yourself in water and if Horologium hadn't scooped you up when he did the flames would have killed you... No don't try to speak yet, the tube has to stay in until Wendy gets here."

Can you hear me?

"Yeah Luce. Your emotions are going crazy it's a wonder I couldn't hear you earlier."

Is Natsu okay? I didn't see him when the explosion happened. Please tell me he survived!

"He's fine, hardly a scratch on him. His fight took him somewhere safe from the explosion. You're the only one who got caught in it, some of your friends went back to check for any of the mages you defeated but they didn't find any trace of them."

Oh, that's good... Erik, I'm so tired and everything aches.

"Your injuries are...extensive Luce. It's okay to be tired and you'll be sore for a while. Why don't you try to get some more rest before Wendy gets here in a few minutes."

That sounds wonderful. Love you. I felt at peace knowing those I loved we're safe, and that Erik was watching over me. Just as I was drifting back to sleep a door slammed into the wall.

"Erik, we need to talk!"

I tried to fight my body's need for sleep and stay awake to hear what the person had to say but it was a losing battle as the voices faded to nothing.

Erik POV

I stared at Soranao, annoyed that she felt that should could just barge into Lucy's room. Despite the glare I gave her she advanced, quickly checking over my shoulder to see if Lucy was awake. "She's, out right?" She asked breathlessly.

"What does it matter? Whatever you have to say to me, I'll just turn around and tell her when she wakes up." I grumbled.

"Not this! If we're going to do this, we can't risk anyone knowing or we're dead the instant we approach them." When she kept staring at Lucy in question, I reassured her that she had passed out again. "Good. You remember those guys we consulted about the Clock, well one of them apparently jumped ship and joined a dark guild that made a pact with Tartarus. They were given the task to hunt down celestial mages, kill them and take their keys. So, I dug around and found that at least 5 other celestial mages have gone missing or turned up dead in the last year, when I looked further back that number tripled. So, it's quite possible that Yukino and Lucy are the last ones in Fiore who still have keys." She paused letting that tidbit sink in.

Holy shit! There were hundreds of keys out there and the majority of them had been destroyed or taken without anyone the wiser. "How did none of the other spirits realize what was happening and tell Lucy or Yukino?"

"The spirits both of them have contracts with probably have no clue what's happening. They've constantly been busy helping with battles, living their own lives and it's not like every spirit interacts with each other. That'd be like asking us to stay in contact with everyone we know on a daily basis. For them time works differently, they can go years or decades without talking to each other and it'll be just a blink of an eye for them since they're immortal." She said with an eyeroll. "And if the King hasn't informed them of what's happening then its more than likely those keys haven't been destroyed yet and they're waiting for the right time to do it. It makes sense, to take out the stronger spirits first while they can so when the time comes to destroy the rest no one is left to stand in their way."

"This is great information and all but do we know where they are, why they're doing this. You know all the important stuff? And why can't Lucy or anyone else know about this?" I asked crossly. At this point she avoided making eye contact and looked at the ground. That didn't stop me from hearing her thoughts though. "Are you fucking serious Sorano? How the hell do you expect me to betray her like that!?"

"Damn it, Cobra stop reading me! I knew you wouldn't like it but it's necessary! In order to get more information out of them we need to join them. My contact remembers me from our old days, but I don't trust him to not kill me since I practiced celestial magic before. I need you to come with so we can figure this shit out and get my sister's keys back. So, as a show of faith we each need to bring them a key." She held up a hand as my mouth fell open ready to protest. "I've got it covered already. They were going to be presents to Yukino… but with everything that's happened I haven't had a chance to give them to her." As she spoke, she rummaged in her bag and pulled out three silver keys. "They'll hate us, but not as much as they would if it was one of their keys. It's something at least. Cobra, we have to do something. Yukino is inconsolable, Lucy nearly died, and will be out of commission for some time. This is how we help them. Infiltrate the dark guild, get their plans, liberate the stolen keys and kill everyone associated with the plan so it won't happen again." She said firmly as if trying to convince herself as well. The sounds outside of the room grew louder as people began approaching the door. Looking freaked out she thought the rest of her pitch to me.

If we tell them we risk our guilds and might lose the ability to infiltrate the dark guild. We can't wait, otherwise they'll be even more suspicious. It was a pain coming up with a logical reason for us joining Fairy Tail and Sabertooth... Oh, you'll also have to lose that mark of yours, I've already removed mine. Her eyes drifted the her forearm where the Sabertooth symbol had been. If you won't go with me, I'll do it alone, but we have a higher chance of success if you join me. We could be in and out in days with your ability, depending on how big the guild is.

Right as she finished, I heard light footsteps running down the hallway outside, along with a voice demanding that they let her through or else. For any other person her size that threat wouldn't have held much weight but for Wendy it worked wonders and it was silent outside except for the sound of the staffs' breath and her hurried footsteps.

"Cobra, I'm here!" Wendy said, panting as she accidentally knocked Sorano off balance as the door flew open. "Sorry, Sorano I didn't know you were here!" Helping the older woman off the ground distractedly, Wendy focused on Lucy. "Good, no one touched her. Did she say anything to you, well not speak but mentally? Is she freaking out? Are there any areas I should be focusing on to make her more comfortable?"

Cobra, I'm staying at the inn down the street, Admiral's Pike, room 305. I leave tomorrow morning at 0400 sharp. Please think about it. Sorano pleaded, pushing through the hospital staff that were standing outside the door.

Focusing on Wendy as she began examining Luce, I answered every question to the best of my ability and watched anxiously wondering if Luce would be waking up again.

"Hmm that's weird. Her lungs haven't fully healed yet, and I don't think I can do anything else for them. They've gotten a little better over time but she still has a while to go before she can be extubated. Maybe a week or two? Have they been applying the healing ointment as directed?"

"I've been doing the ointment like you said, they only come in here if absolutely necessary. I swear they're all waiting to take credit for when she wakes up, or they just want to kick us out worried that the hospital will be a target while she's here. Hey Wendy, can you stay with her? I need to check on some things." I asked already inching towards the door since I knew she had been planning on watching Lucy for the next few hours in case she woke up again.

"Yeah no problem. Do what you have to do I'll let you know if anything changes."

Nodding at her I stormed out of the room and down the hallway. The pathway clearing as the staff and family members sensed I wasn't in the best of moods.

How can Sorano expect me to willing hand over keys, even if they weren't Lucy's keys, she'd still feel betrayed and hate me for it. But if we could do it and bring them back without any being destroyed, she'd be none the wiser... Shit! Was a really thinking of going through with this? I walked aimlessly as I thought about what the right decision would be. I could tell someone so Fairy Tail and Lucy wouldn't hate me if things went wrong, I could let Sorano go by herself like she was prepared to do. But if the dark guild had spies in town, they might find out that we know, and knowing Sorano she'd go in then fuck something up and get herself killed. Fuck there really was no right answer.

I closed my eyes and tilted my head up towards the breeze, sighing heavily. For Lucy I could do it. But I risk losing her, would she even let me explain when I came back? Would she understand I did it for her? I imagined her bleeding as she fell out of her spirit the day Natsu brought her home and my resolve solidified. Even if I did lose her in the process of infiltrating the dark guild it would be worth it. To have her safe was worth it. To have her heart not break with each spirit that disappeared would be worth it.

Mind made up I headed towards the guild to seek out the few people I trusted enough to keep her safe while I was gone.

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