A/N: Okay, back on track here. Thanks so much to everyone who has been following along and reviewing! I hope you dig this one, too :)

And be sure to check out the other participants like ImpracticalDemon and MWolfe13, they've got some good stuff going on!

Day 6: Weakness

Puddles were forming in the mud around him when Gray woke up to Natsu shouting in his ear. Gray rolled to sit up as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. It was pouring. The rain had plastered Natsu's spiky pink hair to his skull, and the water seeped into Gray's boxers where he was still sitting. He idly wondered where his pants were. Then, his attention was redirected to Natsu who was still yelling, but Gray only heard static until Natsu grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently while yelling, "… … Lucy?!"

Gray shot to his feet looking around wildly.

"Where's Lucy?" Gray yelled.

"That's what I'm asking you, ice freak!" Natsu yelled back. The two were in the process of literally bumping heads when Erza appeared and pulled them apart.

"Natsu, have you located Lucy?"

"No! I just found the ice princess here unconscious. What the hell happened?"

Gray glanced between his two friends as he desperately tried to remember what had brought him here. They had come to Shirotsume to investigate the disappearance of some young women. Gray had been sticking close to his girlfriend because the mission flyer said the kidnappers seemed to like blondes. They were searching a tip from a local when…

Gray collapsed back to the ground.

"Gray, what is it?" Erza asked.

"They took Lucy. There were four mages. I recognized two of them." He put his head in his hands. "This is all my fault."

Lucy glared at the purple-haired woman sitting at the table across from her. An opulent chandelier hung over the large table. At least, it had once been opulent. Now, several crystals were missing, and the hooks were coming out of the ceiling so it hung at an angle. The table and chairs had been fine once, too. Now, the table was scuffed; one leg was missing so the whole thing was propped up with a crate. The stuffing of the chairs had been attacked my moths and who knows what else.

A scratched silver plate heaped with food sat in front of Lucy. The woman across from her ate daintily. She finally glanced up at Lucy and smiled at the blonde's angry look.

"Aren't you going to eat, Miss Heartfilia?" She asked.

"That's a little difficult without the use of my hands," Lucy sneered. She pulled against her bonds for emphasis so that her chair shook but the ropes around her hands held.

"Well, we tried to be civil and let you use your hands, but you just had to reach for those beautiful baubles on your belt."

"They are not baubles!" Lucy said indignantly.

"Oh, I know very well what they are, Miss Heartfilia." The two women stared at each other as tension ate up the room. It was finally broken by the entrance of a teenage boy.

"Aunt Anya, Red is back," he said.

"Thank you, Jace," Anya said. "I'll be with him in a moment."

The boy nodded and scurried out of sight again. Anya set down her silverware and removed the napkin from her lap before standing. Her evening gown reminded Lucy of the woman's beauty; both were worn and tattered at the edges, though Anya couldn't have been much older than Lucy.

"Well, please enjoy the rest of your meal, Miss Heartfilia. I'll be back shortly." She strolled from the room.

Lucy frowned after her before trying in earnest to get free of her bindings. She finally gave up on trying to wiggle out of the ropes and just tried to maneuver her hands enough to reach her keys. They were still attached to her hip, and she didn't think the ropes were magic-cancelling. Of course, that begged the question of why Loke hadn't opened his own gate. She called to him under her breath multiple times until Anya came in for their "dinner." But the lion spirit had never appeared.

She had nearly squirmed enough to touch the cold edge of a key with her fingertip when a snicker from the doorway brought her head up sharply. Her neck complained at the sudden movement. A man with bright red hair spiked around his face stood leaning against the door frame. He chuckled again and snapped his fingers. The weight of Lucy's keys disappeared from her hip as the ring appeared in his palm.

"I told Anya to take these from you just in case you proved more… flexible than she suspected," he said. His oddly pitched voice grated on her eardrums. Lucy just lifted her chin and gave him her best disdainful look. He merely laughed again.

"Look down all you want, Miss Heartfilia," he said. "I can't say that I blame you given the current state of our manor. Rather dismal place isn't it?"

He glanced around the shabby dining room, and Lucy couldn't help letting her eyes wander, too. It made her sad on some level, but only because it reminded her that her own childhood home was likely falling into similar disrepair. She was trying to save up the money to buy it back from the debt collectors before some other rich businessman decided to purchase it, not that it seemed likely anyone else would want it.

"It was beautiful so few years ago," he continued. Lucy's gaze snapped back to him as his voice softened. "Eight years, I would say. Yes, eight years ago we were happy. Until your little boyfriend came along."

His voice turned feral at the end, but Anya appeared before he could continue.

"Enough, Red," she said. "We'll have our revenge on Fullbuster soon."

"It's been a long time coming," Red snarled, but then his features smoothed out into an off-putting smile. "I take it the preparations are complete?"

Anya nodded.

"Take her to the sitting room," Anya said. "A lady should greet her beloved in the proper setting after all."

Before Lucy could demand to know what the hell was going on, the world winked into darkness for an instant before she found herself sitting on an uncomfortable sofa. The room was gray from the daylight attempting to penetrate the moth-eaten curtains. Dust motes floated in the stray bits of light that made it through tears in the curtains. Lucy shrieked as something with too many legs crawled onto her thigh. She hopped up and danced around as she tried to shake the thing off. Red laughed from where he lounged in an armchair by the empty fireplace.

"You know, you could just sell this place and live somewhere nicer," Lucy said. She glanced back at the sofa and opted to not sit back down on the spider's home.

"You're assuming we own the manor," Red said quietly.

"You don't?" Lucy asked. Then, she shook her head and continued, "Nevermind. I really don't care. Just tell me what the hell is going on. And what does Gray have to do with anything?"

Red's hand clenched into a fist around her keys, but he didn't respond. Lucy sighed. Whatever was going to happen, they clearly weren't going to make the wait comfortable for her. She just hoped her team didn't fall into whatever trap this odd group had laid out for them. Not that she was really worried. Team Natsu had a habit of making their enemies pay for their transgressions, with interest. The four mages had gotten the drop on her and Gray, but it wasn't likely to happen again.

"What do you mean this is your fault?" Natsu growled. Gray stared at the ground for a minute before replying.

"8 years ago, just before we went to Tenrou for the trials, I took a job to investigate suspicious disappearances in this town. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner; it's basically the same reason we're here now. First it was just household pets, but overtime, kids started going missing. My investigation led me to the leader of the local business guild. His manor is just outside of town. At first, I didn't really believe he had anything to do with it. He seemed like a normal man with a nice family. His wife had recently passed away, but his kids seemed well cared for."

Gray heaved a sigh and rubbed his face as he gathered the courage to continue. The mission had given him nightmares right up until Acnologia gave him something else to plague his dreams.

"I don't like thinking about it, so I'll give you the short version: he was using old books on forbidden magic to try to bring his wife back. The rituals involved animal sacrifice to complete."

"Then why the missing kids?" Erza said.

"The animals were to bring her back… The kids were to keep her alive. The amount of blood in his basement was… Well, I've still never seen anything like it."

Natsu looked a bit green around the gills, and Erza paled significantly.

"I turned the man in, but first I had to defeat the monster that used to be his wife. I froze her in a block of ice, and I smashed her… it… into a million pieces."

There was silence for a few minutes until Natsu gripped his head and yelled in annoyance.

"And what does this have to do with Lucy being kidnapped again?"

"I told you, I recognized two of the mages. They're older now, but I'll never forget the look on that girl's face when I killed her mother." Gray clenched his fists in his lap. He yelped when Erza reached down and yanked him to his feet.

"You did not kill his mother," Erza said. "You killed a creature created by forbidden magic. I am sorry that the child had to see it. I doubt she understood. But that is not your fault."

She clapped him on the shoulder hard enough to knock him back to the ground.

"Now, where would they have taken Lucy?"

"I don't—," Gray stopped. "The manor. They would take her to the manor."

"Then, let's go get our Lucy back," Erza said. Natsu pumped a fire-lit fist in the air.

"I'm all fired up now!"

Lucy eventually sat back down on the edge of the sofa. She had considered the floor as a viable alternative, but she was pretty sure she'd seen a roach in the gloom of the tattered carpet. Red hadn't moved from his position in the arm chair. She thought he might have fallen asleep.

The silence shattered around them as something crashed through a window in the room across the hall. Anya screamed commands over her shoulder as she dashed into the den.

"Take her somewhere else while we subdue the fire mage and the requip mage," Anya ordered. Red instantly appeared at Lucy's side, yanking her to her feet by her arm. She hadn't had a chance to regain her balance before the den dissolved around them and she found herself stumbling into a damp stone wall. Red disappeared again.

Lucy tried to gather her bearings, but there was no light at all. She leaned against the wall and began feeling her way along the ledge. She cursed aloud as her hip colliding with the sharp edge of some furniture, probably a table or desk. She gripped the edge of the table/desk while she waited for the pain to subside. Lucy strained to hear anything that was happening in the house. At least, she assumed she was still in the house. The only sound to reach her was the faint dripping of something in the walls.

An eternity seemed to pass as she waited. She finally began moving again as she looked for a door in the dark. Just as she reached a piece of wall that seemed to be wood rather than wet stone, she heard footsteps clattering towards her. She leapt back from the door moments before it was flung open. Lucy blinked in the sudden light as a figure lunged for her. Another figure barreled down the stairs after the first. Lucy nearly sobbed in relief as her eyes adjusted to see Gray framed in the doorway. Then, the first figure pulled sharply on her arms, wrenching her backwards.

Gray froze as Anya whipped out a foot-long blade and brought it to Lucy's throat. Lucy instantly stopped struggling, and she looked like she was even trying not to breathe.

"Give it up, Anya. You've already lost," Gray said, though he made no moves towards her.

"Well, Gray Fullbuster, I must say I underestimated your friends. A mistake to be sure, but nothing that is irreparable. After all, I still have my trump card."

Lucy whimpered as Anya tightened her one-handed grip on the blonde's bound hands.

"Your one weakness. We waited so long to find it. So many nights watching you. First we thought of your guild, but we knew we couldn't take on all of Fairy Tail, not after the display at the Grand Magic Games. But finally we found it, the one thing you care about more than yourself. Her."

Lucy whimpered again as the blade nicked her skin.

"Leave Lucy out of this," Gray said. His voice was low as though he was speaking to a wounded animal. "I'm the person you want. Fight me one-on-one. No one will interfere, and you can try to take your misguided revenge."

Anya laughed. It was a shrill sound skirting the edge of madness, and Lucy thought her ears might start bleeding if it continued for long.

"As fitting as it would be to kill you here, in the very room where you murdered my mother, your death was never the plan."

Anya's arm moved suddenly. Gray shouted and thrust both hands in front of him. Lucy screamed in terror, but the sound cut off abruptly as she tumbled into darkness and cold.

I didn't know what else to do. There wasn't time.

We know. Don't worry.

But what if—

Stop. She'll wake when she's ready.

Lucy frowned as she tried to open her eyes. There was something heavy draped over her, and her thoughts seemed sluggish. A warm weight pressed on her forehead, and she wanted it off, but her arms didn't seem to be responding. Giving up on her limbs, Lucy focused all of her willpower on one eyelid. It slowly rose, and then tried to shut again as the dim light hit her pupil. Lucy fought the urge and forced the eyelid wider until she could make out an all too familiar room at the guild and a much more welcome head of black hair lying on the bed nearby.

"Gray?" Lucy said. The sound came out far quieter than she expected. His head shot up so she could see his face. He jumped up from his chair and leaned over to wrap his arms around her. She tried to hug him back, but her arms were still being obstinate. He finally pulled back enough to look in her eyes.

"How are you feeling?"

"Cold," she finally said.

"Okay, I'll have Natsu come be your space heater again. We weren't sure how much heat was too much while you were unconscious, so we've been having him come lie down with you in increments."

She tried to reach out to draw him back before he could run off to get their teammate, but a cold shiver was the only thing her body managed. Her teeth were chattering by the time Natsu came in. He instantly crawled into the bed with her and wrapped his arms around her shaking form. Gray went to sit down in the chair again.

"Y-y-you sh-should climb u-up h-here, t-t-too," Lucy stuttered through her chattering teeth.

"I'll probably just make you colder, Lucy," he said. She shook her head, and the heating pad tumbled off her forehead to land on Natsu's face.

"Y-y-you always k-keep m-me w-w-warm," she said. Gray frowned for a moment as he thought but then he nodded and climbed onto the narrow bed. Natsu moved his arm so Gray could find a place to get comfortable as they cocooned her with their body heat. Lucy's chattering slowly died down as she fell asleep. Several moments passed in silence as Gray gazed at Lucy, and Natsu tried to give him as much privacy as possible while sharing a bed.

"I'm so sorry, Lucy," Gray murmured.

"It wasn't your fault, Gray," Natsu said. "Lucy will know that."

"How is this not my fault, Natsu?" Gray whisper-yelled. "I'm the reason she was captured. I'm the reason she almost got her throat slit open. And I'm the reason she's recovering from hypothermia!"

"You had to freeze me, didn't you?" Lucy's quiet whisper stopped Natsu's next angry retort.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were sleeping," Gray said quietly.

"One side of me started burning up while the other felt like it was being frozen solid," Lucy said with a shadow of her usual giggle. "If you guys are going to help me get better, you've gotta try to stay close to the same temperature."

"I'm so sorry, Lucy," Gray said. She knew he didn't just mean for the current temperature issue, so she leaned her head over so her forehead rested against his.

"I know, Gray. Natsu's right. It's not your fault. You saved me," she whispered. She leaned forward just a bit more and laid her lips against his for a moment before settling her head back on the pillow. "Thank you."

He still felt responsible for her ending up in the situation in the first place, but at least she would be okay. Now that she had woken up, he was sure that everything was going to be fine. He sighed and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Anya had been a crazy, revenge-driven individual, but she had been right about one thing, the blonde woman in his arms was his weakness. But she was a weakness that he would protect at all costs and never doubt the worth of keeping her by his side.