I love Bickslow so very much. I find him fascinating. There just isn't enough love for him, so here's a little diddy for him and Lucy!

As with my current trend, I'm hoping to evoke some major feels, but also wanted to bring back a little romance into my writing. Let's see where that takes us!

Send me reviews on what you thought, or, if there's another Fairy Tail pairing you'd like me to write a oneshot for, I'm always up for new ideas!

Give it up for my beta, C.K.!

The heavy bass of the music pounded through the club. It sent tremors down the spines of the people that were dancing throughout the room, amplifying the atmosphere as they grinded against each other. Everything smelled of sweat and cigarette smoke. Even for a Saturday night, it was extremely crowded. Everyone was taking the opportunity to let loose after a long and stressful week of work. The staff was slammed, with two male and female bartenders working the counter, and a couple of servers working the room while holding trays of shots.

Amongst the cheering party-goers, where the liquor was flowing and spirits were high, there was a single soul who was drowning her sorrows.

With an elbow propped up on the sticky, dark oak bar counter, her cheek propped up on her hand, she swirled what was left of her third glass of cranberry and bourbon. Though in all honesty, it was more bourbon than cranberry.

She took a sip, reveling in the soft burn that trailed down her throat. Her legs, dressed in thigh high black stockings, crossed at the ankles. Due to the height of the bar stool, the black pumps she wore hovered inches off the floor. After a brief moment of consideration, she tilted her head back and downed the rest of the drink. The young woman held up the glass and made eye contact with one of the bartenders, gesturing to indicate her need of a refill.

Somebody dropped onto the stool beside her, angling their body in her direction. Her glass clanked when she placed it on the counter and rolled her eyes. This would hardly be the first guy tonight to hit on her. She began to turn, preparing herself to drop a rejection before returning to her own thoughts, when he caught her off guard.

"I've never seen you in so much black, Cosplayer."

That was not quite the pickup line she was expecting. Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out, before she felt ready to deal with the seith mage. On second thought, the blonde decided to stare at the bartender until he finally found the time to walk over and fix her a new drink. Taking a deep swig, noticing with disappointment that this one wasn't as strong, Lucy twisted in her seat to fully face her guest.

He grinned.

"Now, now, Cosplayer. I might start to think you have to be drunk to talk to me," Bickslow teased.

"Think what you want," she replied with a roll of her eyes. When she took another sip, Lucy looked over the rim to observe her guildmate. He was dressed oddly, for him, mostly because he was wearing normal clothes. A black button up over a pair of blue jeans, though he still had on the usual metal visor over his eyes, his blue-black hair sticking out amongst the straps and buckles that held it in place. The most noticeable thing was the lack of his favorite accessories: the five wooden totems that normally floated around him. She could tell he noticed her stare when his eyes glowed a faint green, and his tongue slipped out of his mouth.

"I will think exactly what I want." Lucy found it amazing how much pervertedness he was able to express with a single phrase. "For now, I'll just think about how sexy you look tonight," he commented, adding on, "not that that's different from any other day." Bickslow leaned against the bar top, catching the female bartender to order a lemon drop.

"As charming as I find you, Bickslow," Lucy said drily, meeting his hidden gaze, "go away." Anticipating a finished conversation, the celestial mage turned on her stool to face the counter and drink in peace. A glass was placed on the bar. Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy watched Bickslow roll up his sleeves before reaching out to grab his drink.

As long as he was quiet, she could forget he was there.

~I~

The senior mage took a long swig of his lemon drop, swirling around the mouthful to savor the tart taste. His eyes shined green as he looked at the ball of light in her chest that normally shimmered with a golden glow, but he was caught off guard by the edge of darkness surrounding it. Bickslow's gut twisted when he caught sight of it.

Gold souls were rare enough, but it took something pretty tragic to introduce shadows into such a soul. His focus narrowed on that bright light until he vaguely noticed someone bumping his shoulder as they passed by, making him spill some of his drink over his hand.

Bickslow grunted and shook off the excess liquid on his hand before licking the back of his hand clean.

A crowded bar. Loud music thrumming through him. Alcohol burning his throat. While seeing the golden girl in a short black dress set a pleasant fire in him, he doubted that getting drunk alone in a club was her usual Saturday night. Bickslow raised his eyes to study the beautiful blonde's profile. Her half-lidded eyes gazed into a red drink. The bob of her throat as she swallowed her liquor.

"What's wrong?" It seemed like a normal thing to ask a guildmate that's obviously upset about something, but he regretted it when she froze. Her breath caught and a hand clutched at her sweater dress by her heart.

"Leave." Lucy's grip on her glass tightened until her knuckles turned white. "Now."

Her voice was flat. Despite the music and people around them, Bickslow felt a blanket of tension evolve between them. Gulping, he held up his hands in surrender. The seith mage picked up his drink and wandered off to the opposite side of the bar. It's not surprising she wouldn't want to spill her guts to him. They aren't exactly close.

For the next hour, Bickslow drank and danced and flirted, enjoying his free night by himself. Or rather, he was trying, but the whole time he kept looking over towards Lucy. Even though they didn't talk much, or ever really, she was still a member of Fairy Tail. Even with a sexy little redhead grinding against him, he couldn't help but watch as his Cosplayer continued to fall into depression.

Bickslow's hands gripped the girl's hips, pressing himself flush against her. They thrusted to the beat of the music, her hands reaching up to curl in his hair. She looked up at him with bright green eyes and a smile on her lips. He smirked back, wagging his tattooed tongue at her. Anything to try and get his mind off of the sad girl at the bar.

Then, despite his intentions, his red eyes wandered back to her. The blonde was now cradling her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking. Bickslow glanced back down to his dance partner, then to Lucy. He closed his eyes, let out a breath, and prayed he didn't regret this.

Bidding an unfortunate goodbye to the red head, Bickslow worked his way through the dance floor and returned to the bar, plopping down on the stool directly beside the distressed blonde. He rapped his knuckles against the wooden countertop.

"Ready to tell me what's wrong?"

"She's gone." Lucy's reply was near unintelligible due to her sobs. Bickslow frowned, wracking his brain to figure out who "she" could be. With no recent deaths or disappearances within the guild, he decided the direct route might be best.

"Who's gone?" Bickslow leaned his elbows against the bar counter, hands clasped. When he turned his head towards her, one of her hands was gripping her dress. "You keep doing that," he commented. She twisted her head and gazed at him with misty brown eyes, confused. He gestured to her hand, which tightened.

Lucy sniffled and straightened up. Wiping away her tears with one hand, she reached into the collar of her dress with the other. Bickslow is man enough to admit that he got a little more interested, but his heart dropped when he saw what she pulled out.

The broken handle of a golden key hanging from a thin, golden chain.

"Isn't that…" The celestial mage nodded at the unfinished question. "But...when? How?" Fresh tears leaked from her eyes, leaving streaks in her already smeared mascara.

"During the attack on Tartaros," she whispered, her voice hoarse and throat sore. Her fingers fiddled with the broken key, the thumb lovingly rubbing along the zodiac symbol. Bickslow's eyes widened.

"But that was almost a year ago," he replied just as quietly. Lucy's breathing faltered, and a short, pained, slightly hysterical, laugh escaped her.

"Exactly one year. Actually." As her eyes darkened, so did the shadows in her soul, and Bickslow's worry for her deepened. Normally, when a soul gains a black edge, it settles and usually fades over time. The fact that her shadows were still fluctuating a year later was cause for concern.

Had she been hiding this the whole time? The seith mage waved someone down and ordered a pair of double shots for the both of them.

"Which one was it?" he asked, placing one of the shots in front of her. She slipped the broken key back under the collar of her dress, feeling its weight fall against her chest. Her fingers gingerly grasped the shot glass of golden liquid.

"It was, um," Lucy paused to throw back the liquor, coughing as the burn of tequila tickled her throat. "It was Aquarius."

"That was..." Bickslow started, going quiet for a moment as he scanned through what he remembered about the various spirits the celestial mage had contracts with, "...the mermaid, right? The one that tried to drown you all the time?"

"Yeah." A shaky hand pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "Aquarius was the first spirit my mother taught me to summon."

Everything around the two Fairy Tail members blurred together as the significance of the situation gripped Bickslow. It suffocated him. Bickslow thought about his souls and the idea of losing even one of his babies filled him with dread.

"I'm sorry," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I understand how hard that must be."

Something snapped within Lucy. She slammed down the shot glass she was holding on the wooden counter and spun around to give Bickslow the nastiest glare she could muster. Fire raged within her eyes as she knocked his hand away.

"No. You don't," she said, her volume rising until she was shouting. "No one understands how hard this is for me!"

"How could they? You never even gave them the chance! Did you even tell your team about this?" he demanded.

She froze. Her teeth were bared, and it was clear that she wanted to continue yelling at him. Continue throwing her anger at someone else, but what could she say? She didn't tell her team. She didn't even tell Natsu. Lucy didn't want their pity. What if they felt guilty? Or worse, what if they didn't? What if they felt like she was justified? Tried to explain that it was okay?

Because it wasn't.

"Get me another drink," she snapped at the bartender. Bickslow awkwardly looked over and asked to make it two.

As Lucy gulped down what looked like a scotch and soda, her steam slowly calming down to a simmer. He tapped his fingers lightly against his glass.

"You know," he started, barely looking at her, "between you and me, I'm probably the only person in the guild who could understand." She snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Doubt it," she snarked, frowning. Her fingers traced shapes in the condensation that layered the outside of her glass. When Bickslow didn't say anything, she tentatively glanced over and paused when she saw the serious set of his mouth. She bit her bottom lip, suddenly unsure. Hesitantly, she muttered, "How could you-"

"You know what I think?" he interrupted. When she remained silent, he gave her an understanding smile. Taking pity on her obvious discomfort for the conversation topic, he said, "I think we could both use another drink."

And another drink they had. And another after that.

It was an unspoken agreement that as long as they kept drinking, then they didn't have to talk about unsavory things. The hours quickly blended together. While Lucy had only wanted a quiet drink alone to sulk in her own misery, she had to admit that having Bickslow around to keep away the darkness was better by far.

He was an annoying pervert, but at least he was funny.

The two mages at the bar laughed so hard that tears were forming in their eyes. A few surrounding people sent them curious glances. The bartenders had a standing order to provide the Fairy Tail mages with new drinks whenever their glasses ran dry. Lucy's cheeks were bright red and even Bickslow had some color in his face.

"...which led us upstairs, and that's how we found the pig in his bed!" the seith mage finished.

"An-and Freed has no idea?" The celestial mage could barely breathe from the laughs that wracked her chest.

"Hell no! He'd kill me if he found out!" Grabbing her hand, Bickslow interlocked their pinkies. His tone turning mock serious. "So you can't tell him," he loudly whispered. Lucy laughed and agreed. "I'm serious. He will literally kill me."

"Okay! Okay! I promise!"

"This is a Thunder Legion Pinkie Swear. You can't break it." He lightly shook their interlocked pinkies to emphasize his drunken point. Her laughs grew stronger, her face turning an even darker shade of crimson. She wobbled their hands side to side and smiled to show her assent.

A comfortable silence fell between them, both fighting the infectious laughter still bubbling up inside them. Their fingers still wrapped around each other's. Lucy gazed at her companion, wishing for a moment that she could properly see his face.

Sliding near the edge of her bar stool, she lifted her free hand towards his visor, not expecting to accidentally slide off the edge. Her shoes hit the floor with a thump, and she stumbled forward, landing against Bickslow's chest with a yelp. His hands grabbed her shoulders to hold her steady. Looking up, even with his visor on, Lucy could tell that he was watching her. Still set on her mission, she once again reached up only to have his hand grab her wrist before she got close to the metal shield.

His jaw clenched, and the hand on her wrist tightened.

She could tell something was wrong, but based on their unspoken rule, she couldn't ask. Instead, Lucy reclaimed her hand and clasped both hands around his.

"Come dance with me," she said, forcing a smile. His body relaxed, and Bickslow slid out of his seat, using Lucy as a crutch to make sure he didn't stumble.

It was well past midnight now, and the bar was in full swing. They worked their way through the crowd, Lucy leading him, never letting go of his hand.

Her hand felt warm and small in his.

The loud music vibrated through them, and several people bumped into them as everybody danced and stumbled around the floor. Lucy stopped in the middle of the floor and turned to face him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and held her other hand. Laughter forced its way out of Lucy when Bickslow began leading her in a waltz fast enough to keep up to beat with the pop song playing. It reminded her of when she taught the guild to dance for the Velveno job...at least until it turned into less of a waltz and more like two drunk people barely able to stand, spinning around completely unaware of the many people they nearly ran into.

Too much spinning was making her fuzzy mind nauseous, so she pulled Bickslow to a stop. Her breathing was staggered as she stared up at her friend. His quick breathing matched hers. Not letting herself think about it, Lucy slowly twirled and pressed her back up to his chest. Compared to the burning furnace of Natsu, the seith mage was a gentle flame. She felt protected instead of overwhelmed.

A hand pressed gently against her belly, his thumb drawing small circles. She allowed herself to lean back into his hold, enjoying the warm, solid body behind her. Despite the fast paced music around them, they softly swayed together. Her head fit comfortably underneath his chin, her fingers shifting to interlock with his.

Bickslow looked down and saw her head tilted back against his shoulder. Her eyes were barely open. He chuckled, and her lips tilted down in a frown at the shaking, and she lightly slapped his hand.

"Stop moving," she muttered. Instead, he patted her cheek.

"Come on. I think it's time to go." Lucy let herself be pushed along as Bickslow walked her through the room, stopping briefly by the bar so he could pay off their tabs. Then they were out the door, where a cold breeze whispered past her face. She forced her eyes open and saw the stone street that she was being led down. All the moving made her dizzy so Lucy pressed her face into Bickslow's shoulder.

If it hadn't been for Bickslow's strong arm around her waist, Lucy wouldn't have been able to take two steps by herself. As it was, she had most of her weight leaning against him, and she had to put a lot of concentration into making sure one foot continued to move in front of the other. Since it was so late, the streets were dark and empty.

They hadn't gone more than a block when the seith mage slowed them to a stop. He held up a bottle of water that he had gotten while he was paying off what had become two exorbitant tabs to Lucy's lips. She whined and sealed her mouth closed causing Bickslow to roll his eyes.

"You have to drink some," he chided. It took a whole minute before the girl, acting like a petulant child, opened her lips and let him pour some water in.

Water that she almost immediately threw back up plus extra. It splattered on the street, but Bickslow thanked Mavis that at least none of it seemed to land on them. He gave her a little more water to swish around and spit. They only got a few steps farther, the music from the bar still audible, when Lucy started to dry heave. Unfortunately, most of the alcohol she'd drank had already been absorbed into her system so there was nothing left to expel to help her feel better.

His hand rubbed her back while he propped her up against his hip to help hold her steady. She coughed, the rough sound clearing out her throat. After he helped straighten her back up, she slumped against him. He wrapped a solid arm around her, rubbing her arm to fight off the goose bumps forming from the chill.

"Bicks," she breathed. "I dun' feel very guhd."

"I know you don't, Cosplayer." They slowly started moving forward again. One of her cold hands floated up to press against her forehead, feeling sweat-dried bangs, in the hopes of soothing her spinning head.

"I wanna sleep."

"Only if you want to feel like shit in the morning," he commented, pausing to offer her more water. "Now drink." Ignoring her groan, he refused to move unless she swallowed some. Her face crinkled at the cold water sliding down her throat, raw from her heaving. "How about we get you home?"

"I don't wanna go home!" Bickslow felt his eye twitch.

"But don't you want to get some sleep?"

"Yes."

"But you don't want to go home."

"Yes."

"Why?" He tried to keep his tone neutral, but his patience with Drunk Lucy was running thin. He had heard that she was hilarious after drinking. Something involving cat noises and scratching? Instead, he got stuck with a sad, whiny Lucy pressing her face into his side.

"Cause that's where they are," she sniffled, her voice muffled by his shirt.

"Your team? I know they break in all the time, but that doesn't mean-"

"No!" she groaned. "My keys." Her misty eyes gazed up at him while she made him stop.

Bickslow's blood ran cold when she moved in front of him and curled her fingers into his shirt. Tears were pooling in her eyes and slipping down her cheeks.

"Please don't make me face them tonight."

I had intended to make this a oneshot, but ended up writing more than expected so it's gonna be extended.

I hope you enjoyed it!

This chapter was a little low on drama, but next chapter should definitely amp it up a bit.