Chapter 24: Desperation

3rd POV

With her knees tucked under her chin, and with a mass of pillows and sheets surrounding her like a cocoon, Lucy sat there, her chocolate eyes, which we usually filled with happiness and kindness, stared dully ahead, her body stuck in the same position it had been for hours now, almost as if her body had rooted that way. Time seemed to pass oddly without a window and having no access to the outside world; it felt like days had passed but in reality, it had only been hours, at least according to the clock ticking on the wall.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The celestial mage flinched, her toes spasming for a second due to her stiff position, never shifting or moving a muscle for hours seemed to make her body desperate for any movement, even if it was involuntary.

Throughout all the hours she stayed stuck like that, she found herself unable to think of anything else but the most important people in her life. Like a broken record, the same thoughts kept appearing through her mind: Gajeel… my spirit friends… Pantherlily… Mira…

Lucy sighed, rubbing her smooth cheek against her blanketed knee, moving for the first time in what felt like an eternity. I hope everyone is doing okay… I know Gajeel, Mira, and Lily can take care of themselves, but I worry about my spirit friends, they can't control if someone takes them, at least Loke can force himself to the human world, and I could count on him to protect them long enough for me to get back to them… but I just can't help but worry. They're basically the family I never had and always wanted… Gosh I miss them so much!

Lucy swallowed thickly, a bit choked up at the thoughts of the spirits that had basically been her surrogate family being taken away and abused by some cruel master who cared not for them.

The blonde mage jolted slightly at the sound of a door creaking open, sounding rather loud compared to the fact that all she's heard for hours was that darn ticking clock. "Love? Are you awake my darling," Zayn asked, stepping into the room. Lucy clenched her eyes close tightly as she burrowed her face into her thighs, as if ignoring him would make the monster disappear.

"Oh, Lucy. You don't look so good, are you feeling a bit under the weather," the man cooed, disgust filling Lucy at his "loving" tone. Her muscles locked stiffly as she felt the bed dip, which could only mean one thing-

Lucy leapt back fiercely, her eyes glaring with a fiery passion at the man as he removed his palm away from the nape of her neck calmly, undisturbed by the disgusted and furious look he was receiving from her in reply. Though the blonde felt a bit satisfied when she noticed the hint of annoyance lurking in his lethal eyes, though her disgust outweighed any satisfaction she felt.

She loathed his touch, it felt as if a hundred hissing beetles were crawling over her skin; she only wanted Gajeel's rough but gentle touch, his calloused hands, and his thick fingers. "You know, you're quite adorable when you pretend to be mad, love," he smiled pleasantly, "anyways, it does feel like you might be coming down with something, and it's probably due to the fact that you've been stuck inside for days. However I can't let you outside till I know I can trust you not to be hasty; you're home now, away from the idiotic dragon. You're safe. Just… let me take care of you my darling."

Lucy stayed quiet for a few moments in shock, trying to grasp the deranged man's words; was he really that delusional? "You know what I think? I think you're a delusional, crazy, monster! I love Gajeel-"

A sharp crack echoed in the tense room, just as the blonde's head was sent flying to the side, a angry red mark adorning her cheek. "I will not stand to hear you say his name, much less, to hear you spout such lies!" The monster of a man boomed, and against her strong-will, Lucy cowered slightly, her wide doe-like chocolate orbs watching Zayn cautiously. She felt his powerful fingers grip her jaw hard enough to bruise and Lucy winced as he forced her head up, causing their eyes to connect.

Fear enveloped Lucy as she stared in Zayn's furious gaze, his eyes glowing dangerously. After a few moments, in which the celestial mage feared she might've just pushed the monster over the edge, she watched as his eyes softened, though she could still see the anger residing in his orbs.

Zayn sighed deeply, a guilty look plastered on his face. "I'm sorry my darling, I lost my temper, I didn't mean to harm you," he muttered softly, cupping her stinging cheek, ignoring the way she winced under his touch. Lucy narrowed her eyes defiantly at him, she would not be moved by his false apologies, they obviously fake despite how genuine he tried to make them seem, besides, it seemed like no matter what he did to her, she would still fight against him. Even if the monster struck fear into her heart.

Zayn gave her one last parting smile before leaving the room. The second the door shut, Lucy let out a frustrated, ear piercing scream, slamming her shackled fists against the cushy mattress. She ignored the fact that her chocolate eyes watered, ignoring the pain blooming on her cheek and along her jaw line.

3rd POV

"I wish to speak to a manager," Mira said the employee kindly, a wide smile on her face in hopes to put the poor employee at ease, who was currently cowering away from the murderous look adorning Gajeel's face. The white haired mage lightly elbowed the dragon slayer, but Gajeel merely huffed in irritation, sending a sharp look Mira's way.

"M-may I as-ask why, miss," the employee whimpered, his eyes flashing from Mira's kind look to Gajeel's lethal one.

"Our friend has recently gone missing, and we believe the suspect was on the train with her when she and her partner had gone on a trip recently. And as mages from Fairy Tail, we have a right to look into such records when it concerns one of our family members," the white haired mage continued on, deluding the fact that technically Lucy wasn't part of the guild any more, which wouldn't have given them the right to request such a thing. Though Mira was sure after a glance at the iron dragon slayer, the manager would be on his/her knees trying to desperately please the man in hopes he wouldn't rip them into tiny pieces and eat them for dinner.

"A-alright, l-l-let me just c-call my manager," the employee nodded shakily, grabbing a communication orb and going to the back room, most likely so that they couldn't hear him cry to his manager about getting here soon because a mage and a deadly man are here to talk to him/her.

A couple moments later the employee came back out. "M-my man-anager will be r-right here, s-she's c-currently helping another employee w-with a pr-problem on t-the East Side St-station."

"Thank you," Mira grinned, sharply elbowing the scowling Gajeel again, who grumbled out a mediocre "thanks." He grunted unhappily, arms crossed across his puffed out chest, impatiently tapping his foot. He stopped tapping as Lily placed a paw against his shoulder in a comforting manner, but the black haired man still remained tense.

Mate… Need… his inner dragon faintly mumbled, so softly that Gajeel almost didn't hear it. Gajeel ignored his inner's confusing words at the moment, instead focusing on an approaching employee that was most likely the manager. A strong-looking woman who looked like she didn't take anyone's crap, with her lips were pursed, her arms crossed, and her strides long and powerful.

"Are these the mages wishing to speak with me?" She asked her employee, rolling her eyes as the employee shakily nodded.

"So what's going on, what did you wish to speak to me about?"

"A friend of ours has recently been abducted, and we believe it was someone she had met here on these very trains when she and her partner had gone on a job request. And as mages of Fairy Tail, and her being a part of the family, we are in our right to look into the customer registry… Please may we look into the registry?" Mira pleaded kindly to the manager.

"Look I know the laws with this, unless she's a member of the guild, you have no right to look into my records, even if she's the guild masters wife. Unless you provide substantial evidence that your missing friend is still part of the guild, I don't have to give you any of my records." The manager stated back, cocking an unimpressed eyebrow at them. Mira sighed, knowing that the woman had unintentionally let out a can of worms.

As if on cue, a growl rumbled through the air, sending shivers down everyone's spine as Gajeel stalked forward, grabbing the manager by her collar and lifting her up to his eye level. "Listen here, a young woman has gone missing, my bunny, and you're wasting our time. Are you that low of a human that you're not willin' to help a missing girl to get home? Now you're going to give us those records, or else all the newspapers in all of Fiore are going to suddenly receive a random note, saying, let's say… how the train system were not compliant in trying to help an abduction case… that they could care less about helping a poor, missing girl."

The managers eyes were still narrowed, though her throat bobbed as she gulped, and Gajeel could smell the fear waving off of her; he admit she was doing a good job at masking the terror she truly felt. After a couple tense moments of silence with Mira staring neutral and unmoved by his show of aggression, Lily shaking his head shamefully at his partners actions, and the male employee flinching at the scene before him, the manager finally caved, her eyes dropping to look at her feet as her shaky hands tried to push him away.

"Follow me, I'll take you all to where we keep our records, including our customer registry," she stated. There was a noticeable drop in the confidence that she had been showing earlier compared to how she was now, and the employee looked absolutely gob smacked at her unusual behavior.

Gajeel smirked, following after the tense manager, while Mira followed shortly behind with an impassive look on her face. Mira was slightly angry at the manager wasting precious time to find her blonde friend by being incompliant, even though she was against Gajeels method.

Once the stern woman brought them back into one of the backrooms of the train station, Gajeel whipped out a piece of paper and shoved it against her chest. "I need to see the records of receipts for this particular trip," he commanded, glaring down at the stiff woman as she accepted the piece of paper without a word, and started to flip through her piles of records.

"Here are all the records of all the people that bought tickets for that trip." The manager stated with a hard edge to her voice, though she was smart enough to keep her voice barely about a whisper, especially after risking a quick look to the furious black haired man. "Is there a specific name you are looking for?"

"First name Dan," Gajeel snarled, his inner dragon snarling along with him. He couldn't help the fury that rose in his chest when he thought of that male that so obviously flirted with his Bunnygirl. That little cretin was practically undressing her with his eyes, his thoughts growled, and Gajeel clenched his fists in an vain attempt to keep from having another outburst.

The manager sighed furiously but started searching through all the papers without a word, annoyed that she would have to look through every single paper in her large pile since they were sorted by last name. After a good while of looking the manager sighed. "There was no person named Dan who got a ticket for that specific trip." Pantherlily frowned, a thoughtful look crossing his face.

"Then whoever you met on that train definitely has something to do with Lucy, after all, why would you lie about your name to a couple of strangers that you'll probably never see again?" Mira questioned rhetorically. Gajeel growled lowly but nodded in agreement.

"Who was the person that worked the ticket stand that day, if you don't mind," Lily questioned politely. "Maybe he or she might remember him if you describe him to them." Gajeel nodded to his exceed, agreeing with his partner.

"Unless they bought it the day before, the employee working the stand that day was Jorge." The manager state after a quick glance at her employee files. "We only allow customers to buy tickets one day in advance, never sooner than that." She explained.

"Is Jorge working here today, or is he off?" Mira asked.

"He has the day off… but I can give you his address," The manager stated reluctantly, a deep scowl on her face, though too afraid to face the irate dragon slayer.

"Thank you for your help," Mira smiled after accepting the address from a reluctant manager; a smile that didn't reach her usually perky eyes. The white haired girl then nodded towards Lily and Gajeel. "Let's head towards Jorge's house then."

To be continued…

A/N: Sorry it's been a while, life, of course, has been a little busy. I've graduated, been busy with my job, and I recently have started dating so yeah life been a little hectic. Thank you all for your patience!

To SailorTardis498: Yes and now I'm back again lol. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

To Summer Nickels: Thank you, please enjoy this update!

To Guest: Yeah I'm sorry it's been a while, please enjoy the update!