Long wait, I know. I'm soooo sorry ;.;

But here it finally is, so let's rejoice! (And as if we didn't have enough of that in the fandom lately, it's some delicious angst. Enjoy. :D)

As usual, look out for the next chapter on forgottenwhispersxo's blog!:)

NaLu Tangled AU

tw: violence, blood

A sorrow-stricken atmosphere loomed over the Fairy Tail guild.

In a corner, all the way at the back, a group of girls was pecking at their food. Levy was the first to put her fork down. It hit the table with an audible clank.

"I'm just so- ugh, I'm so upset! Why did this happen?"

With a deep breath, Erza looked up. In her eyes too, there was sadness, but she seemed more composed about it.

"There's nothing we can do as of now. I'm sure Master is doing his very best to better the situation, but we cannot change the fact that Lucy was taken. As much as it grates me."

"I admit, it doesn't sit right with me either."

"Even you, Gray? You interested in her, eh? Too bad, it's obvious that she's interested in-"

"Cana, it's not the time to talk about these things, is it? But while we're at it, has anybody seen him today? It's too calm."

They looked around. It remained quiet in the guild; a depressing silence that hung over the guild mates and made everything seem drab and colourless. The holes in the roof were almost fixed, but where they were still open, dusty rays of sunlight filled the hall.

But the calm wouldn't last long.

The doors of the guild burst open, and in stormed a furious Natsu, with fire in his eyes and Happy hot on his heels.

"When are we leaving?!"

He was met with silence, but it was obvious he would not accept it. He fumed and growled until Makarov decided it was time to silence him - for good, if needed.

"Natsu. Calm down! We cannot rush these things. I understand your anger, but-"

"I'm gonna rescue Lucy! I'm gonna rescue her right now! It's my fault she even got captured, dammit! We have to do something! How can you all be so calm?! They have one of our own!"

"Natsu, I just said, we will retrieve her, so cal-"

"No!"

Then, before he could tear the whole guild apart in his fit of anger, the Master's fist hit him face first, and he fell to the ground unconscious, Lucy's name still on his lips.

Everything hurt.

That was the first realization that surfaced in Lucys foggy conscious. Little by little, more thoughts joined, clearer and each time more demanding. They spoke of fear, of uncertainty and sheer panic.

And then the memories came.

It felt like a wet, cold blanket had been dropped on her mind, and she struggled not to suffocate beneath its weight.

The escape. They had run. He'd told her to hide. Natsu. Where was Natsu?! The woman. The abduction. The key.

Immediately, she wanted to grab it, feel its reassuring weight in her hand, but no matter how many times she ordered her body to move, it did not obey.

Why did it not obey?

She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt so, so heavy. Leaden. There was something hurting her when she moved, something digging painfully into her soft skin.

She tried again, and pain exploded inside her wrists and seared through her, accompanied by a clanking metallic sound. Shackles.

Oh, no. Please no.

Opening her eyes was now no longer a matter of being able to or not – she didn't even want to. Maybe, if she tried hard enough, she could wake up from this nightmare.

Of course she knew she couldn't.

But any faint glimmer of hope, any little fantasy, was better than to even think about what was to happen to her.

Her father had been right. The outside world was not a safe place.

She felt a single tear overflow from her closed eyes and trail down her cheek. It burned. Biting her lip, she tried to hold back more. It was so quiet. There was nothing here.

Lucy was alone.

But the echo of footsteps heading in her direction told her that would not be the case for much longer. Fear won her over now, and she cranked open her eyes, taking in the stone walls of the room that stretched out in front of her.

There was a door at the far end, and the knob was turning now. She held her breath.

She immediately recognized one of the two men as the one who had caught her. The man who had taken her from Fairy Tail. And from Natsu. The blood froze in her veins.

The other looked just as malicious. Clad in a lilac suit that even now made Lucy's fashion sense wail, a moustache that looked equally horrible and the same kind of cruel, cold eyes her capturer regarded her with.

Neither spoke as they entered.

They only came to a halt when there was only a little distance left between them. She was shaking, but hoped they didn't see.

"So this is the Heartfilia brat."

The man she did not know regarded her with dismay.

"And why exactly did she cause you any trouble? That's pathetic of you. Maybe I should have sent someone else"

The other man's eyes squinted for a second, but he did not answer. He stepped closer towards her, anger flaring up in his eyes.

"That reminds me of something…"

He was close now. Too close. All she could see was his face. She smelled his breath as he spoke.

"Now, that…" His eyes moved lower, and for a moment she thought he was looking at her breasts – and it scared her more than she wanted to admit. She felt so utterly helpless. But then his fingers gripped the key dangling from her necklace, and an even worse sort of panic coursed through her.

"I'll take it."

Not her key.

And then it was gone, ripped from her with an ease that should have been impossible. It was not supposed to be this easy. She wanted to fight for this key with her life. She wanted to scratch and claw at his face. But it was too late already.

She could only stare at his back and watch in silent horror as he dropped the key to the ground, only to bring one of his metal boots down on it. Slowly, he turned it left and right, making the material screech as it was dragged along the ground. Then he kicked it into the corner with a laugh.

Lucy sucked in her breath, trying not to scream. It felt like he'd kicked her in the gut instead of the little metallic keepsake.

But then the dark-haired man's eyes fixed themselves on her again, and suddenly she had the foreshadowing feeling that it would be her turn soon enough.

He grinned, then, as she swallowed down her fear, and cocked his head at her. The other man stood behind him silently.

"I'm not scared of you!"

Why did it not even sound convincing to her own ears? She could not grant herself the escape of giving in to her senses and being scared. She couldn't. Even if it meant there would be consequences.

"Eh, Master José. Am I allowed to change that?"

"Go on, Gajeel."

"Not like I'd given a piss about yer answer anyway."

The man called Gajeel huffed, slight amusement underlying his tone. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. He was a predator now, ready to tear his prey apart.

Then, faster than she could register, he was at her side again, landing his fist in her belly. She would have screamed, if only she'd had the air to do so. But there was none. Her lungs were empty, and for a moment everything she could see was white. Then her muscles loosened ever so slightly, and she greedily sucked in all she could get.

But another blow was already on the way, to her face this time, and she felt the skin tear open beneath his knuckles. She'd never felt so much pain in her life before. Not ever. Her body was screaming, wailing, she couldn't remember how to think, and with every hit she wanted to just forget everything around her and give in to her body's pleas. To just make it all go away; to give in to the blackness beckoning in the corners of her blurred vision.

But she didn't submit. She didn't scream.

No matter how much they hurt her, she would not give them the pleasure of breaking her spirit.

She was strong, stronger than they knew, and she would never give up without a fight.

That's what it meant to be a member of Fairy Tail, was it not?

Fairy Tail. Her mind latched on to the words, and she clung to them as she forgot everything around her. She could barely feel his fists anymore. Her body had become numb. Blood was trickling down her left arm, she could feel the viscous fluid making its way down, but the pain had died out.

She couldn't feel anything. She wasn't even connected to her body anymore.

It swung and shook as he hit her, and had it not been for the shakles holding her up, she would have long collapsed. Blood dripped from her lips now too, and she faintly realized it was forming a puddle on the flagstones beneath her.

At some point, he had stopped, but she wasn't sure when. Or why.

Slowly, the pain was coming back into her beaten body, and she wanted to scream, to cry, to relieve her agony somehow. Tears were mixing with the blood on the ground now.

"Not scared, huh? Do ya think I even care 'bout that? The only thing I care about is yer daddy's reward."

Her father. Right. He had done all this. The thought brought more tears to her eyes, and now she sobbed quietly. It was horrible. Everything was horrible.

She was imprisoned again, and it was her father's doing. Why? What had she ever done for him to be so cruel? He had been right. The outside world was not safe. But wasn't it him that made it so?

Lucy ground her teeth.

But she was scared now. Not of Gajeel, not of anyone in this stupid guild, not even of being beaten up like this again.

No, what really scared her, terrified her to no end, was going back to being locked up. To being a nice little doll that had to act when her father pulled the strings.

"Please don't make me go back." she croaked.

Pathetic. She felt so pathetic. But it was the only thing she could think about, even now. Not back. Not to her father, to her tower, to her prison. Anything but that.

Anything.

"Oh, maybe you won't have to. You know, it all depends."

It was the cloaked amn's voice again. He had the be the one who gave the commands.

It depended? On what? She tried to keep up, despite the pain she felt in her head and the blood she tasted on her lips. From time to time, everything went foggy.

"You probably guessed that it was your father who tasked us with bringing you back. But you know, wouldn't it be much more fun to have him at our feet? Maybe we'll do the ordering from now on."

With some last strength – Lucy didn't know where she even got it from – she managed to lift her head. She coughed and spat blood, and it trickled down her chin. Breathe. Focus on breathing.The metallic taste in her throat made her want to gag.

What was the meaning of all this? They wanted… her father? No. Not him. His money.

"Let's see how much your daddy is willing to pay for you. We thought it might be a good icentive. Don't you think?"

For a moment, her vision faded completely, and her head fell back down against her chest. But anger was cursing through her veins now, filling her with another kind of strength.

They had betrayed her father too. They had no honour.

"Damn you."

"Oh? Did you hear that, Gajeel? Sounds like she still has some fight left in her."

"Damn you! You're… pathetic! I'll never give in to you! Just wait… wait until they hear of this! Fairy Tail will not forgive you!"

Her chest was heaving with her efforts; her lungs burned with every word - but she would not back down. Not now. It was all she could do – but she would do it.

It was her own little victory amongst the helplessness.

The cloaked man – what had Gajeel called him? José? - chuckled. With a stroke of his beard, he proceeded towards the door at the far corner of the lithic room.

"I'll leave you two alone now. I'll have Juvia write the letter to the brat's father."

"Not Juvia."

"Eh?"

The man called José turned around. He didn't look like he was offended - he was probably used to this kind of respectless behavior from Gajeel – but he seemed almost curious.

"She's too soft for that kinda stuff. Have someone else write it – dunno, Mel maybe. She'll do a better job."

After a moment's hesitation, his boss nodded.

"Whatever. But Gajeel – make sure you don't become too soft yourself."

And with that, he was gone.

And they were alone again.

"Oh, don't worry 'bout that."

He spat the words out under his breath, and suddenly Lucy felt her grip slip on the last thread of hope she had clung to. She couldn't expect any mercy from him.

Cold eyes fixed themselves on her. She could still see the blood on his knuckles as he flexed his hand. Her blood. How much had she lost? She felt so dizzy.

"He sold ya out, ya know."

What little breath she had withheld in her lungs left her now. Sold her out? Natsu? No.

"What? How did ya think Juvia got ya? He told 'er. Little bribery, that's all it took."

"No…"

"He's a thief – a dirty little criminal. What'd he tell ya 'bout Fairy Tail? That they're righteous? Band of criminals, that's what they all are."

"You… you're lying."

The words hurt her, but she forced them out anyway. Her body shook with pain, she couldn't even lift her head, but she would not let him win. She would not let him take the one thing she believed in even now. The only person she trusted in the whole world at this very moment. He would not let her down. She knew it.

She had to be right.

Natsu would come to save her.

The man called Gajeel started laughing as his fist turned to steel once more.

"He's not coming."

Natsu was running.

If those bastards had really thought they could hold him back, they'd been wrong. Nobody could stop him from rescuing his friend.

His feet had started hurting, but he paid no attention to such trivial matters.

He brought them down against the ground, on and on, towards Phantom Lord's headquarters. He would use his sweat to wipe the floor with the scum there.

"I'm coming, Lucy!"