Title: Friction

Pairing: NaLu

Summary: A simple job meant to take her mind off things, becomes more than Lucy bargained for as she tries to make sense of her feelings for her salmon haired partner.

Rating: M; Mature themes ahead - Ages 18+ only!

None of these characters are owned by me, they are all owned by the wonderful Hiro Mashima!

UPDATE: So, a few things I forgot to mention. One, you can get updates, and sneak peaks of chapters by hitting my blog on Tumblr. My handle is: kurokamine and updates will be tagged under friction. Two, I have made some slight changes (improvements in my opinion) to the chapter. Small pieces here or there. I'd recommend giving it a quick once over if you want to. The update for Chapter 2 will be churned out this upcoming Sunday (unless my job decides to be a twat anyway).

Author's notes:

This is the first chapter of Friction, and I'm happy as all hell to get this out there. So, this series is planned to have a maximum of 5 chapters. It is Rated M for mature. For a few reasons as this chapter just has some mild torture (nothing extremely expletive but just a quick trigger warning). And in later chapters there will be more mature themes. I will be pointing them out at the very beginning of every chapter so that you will know what lies ahead, and can choose if you'd rather stop reading, or skip a chapter.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST: If you are reading my fanfiction then I ABSOLUTELY appreciate, and love you. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this, and I hope you enjoy!

Her cheek rested on slick, jagged rock. Was she on the ground, or leaning against the wall? Every time she was returned to her holding cell it became more difficult to figure out what position she'd woken in. It was cold, and water dripped onto her forehead causing her to jolt in shock. Her throat was raw, and by this point no noise could come from her vocal cords to even make her awakening known. Which was fine by her, the less her captors knew the better. It was dark, not from a lack of lighting, but a lack of vision. It had been several days since her captors had used a light based spell to burn her retinas. Her entire body was numb, save for the random bursts of throbbing from the many deep cuts she had sustained, and any attack it received no longer brought her the same amount of pain as when this had all begun. At this point it was hard to imagine that she didn't have nerve damage. A door screeched open as metal fought against stone.

"I wonder if the little princess has finally given up?" if she could answer it would have been a firm 'no'. Though, she was extremely certain that they already knew of her inability to respond to any questions they may have had surrounding her guild. A hand grabbed her bicep and jerked her to her feet. Her ankles protested causing her to crash to the ground.

Still, she knew it would be another repeat of the day before. They'd drag her there just as they had in the days most recent. At least, the days she remembered. Day, and night, blended together into a seamless string of torment. She'd been relying solely on touch, and what she could hear. Today, she was down to just sound.

"So, tell us, Ms. Lucy Heartfilia." Knowing her full name was useless. She had no family left, and Fairy Tail was completely capable of defending against an intruder.

"The start of the Lumen Histoire was done in your very guild." everyone had heard the stories of the infinite power of Fairy Tail's ultimate weapon.

During the war with Alvarez that very vessel had been destroyed. Though, like any other country, greed never stopped prevailing. A number of reporters, and dark guilds had swarmed like flies to find how to create what was essentially an over powered lacrima. What none of them knew was that the very 1st master of Fairy Tail had become encased in that lacrima, and then through several experiments had become the great power of Lumen Histoire. "We want that power." the male voice darkened, and Lucy shuddered at the stark change in tone. Play time was over.

Her body crashed to the ground with a loud thud, and her entire body seared with pain. Her vocal cords managed a loud 'Agh!', but the was quickly over when her voice box quit vibrating. "You won't have any further chances, bitch."

A shiver ran down her spine. By estimation she'd been here nearly two weeks, and from the sound of his voice, it wouldn't be for much longer. She'd been the weakest link after all. Which isn't saying she was weak by most mage standards, but of the people that knew the secrets of Lumen Histoire she would be considered the least skilled. The original job she had responded to was a simple request to aid in reorganizing a personal library. She had really just been needing a mission for the rest of her rent money, and she hadn't been able to ask Natsu to go with her. Not that it had been Natsu's fault, it had been her without a doubt.

She was worried about how reckless he'd been lately and figured going on a basic job alone would keep him out of trouble. No. That was a lie. She'd been pissed, which seemed stupid to her now, that he'd been throwing himself into danger during every mission. The last one had been what broke the camel's back.

He'd launched himself with his entire body flaming at a large slithering snake that the village had asked them to exterminate. That same snake had its tail raised, and ready to come crashing down on her when that pink menace had come rushing to her rescue. That's what it had truly been about. She had been mad at herself, and projected it onto him. Lucy had been weak, and she had been reckless. When Natsu had thrown himself at that snake with as much force as he could he nearly went cascading off the cliff they'd been fighting on. If she hadn't reacted the way she did he may have been dead. The blonde had just narrowly caught him by the ankle with her whip, and Happy had completed the Natsu Retrieval.

She could still hear his voice when she'd finished yelling at him, "Come on, Luce. We finished the job, and we're all okay. What's the big deal?" the big deal was her. She'd been so angry, and so to keep herself out of trouble she'd chosen an easy job. A simple task. Reorganize a library. She'd spent days in the massive library in her childhood home rearranging by alphabet, by last names of authors, first names of authors, you name a way to organize a library and she could confirm she'd done it.

She had told Mira she'd only be gone a week. Were they looking for her? Of course they were. Natsu would break down every door at every guild to find her. What would he find, she wondered absently as the clink of chains secured to one wrist, and then to the other. She felt her body dangling from what she assumed was the ceiling of the dungeon she'd been dragged to since the beginning. By now she didn't even remember what it looked like. How many more days would this go on? Was it night or day? She wished she knew. What she wouldn't give to feel the rays of the sun scorch her cheeks. What she wouldn't give to feel the cool chill of the night across her goosebump ridden skin while she watched the stars. What she wouldn't give to do it all with him. She'd have to apologize when she got back. While stuck in this prison she'd had time to lament on a few things. Things she needed to tell him.

"Tell us." the crack of the whip sounded, and her skin screamed like it was burned by fire. Her mouth opened as if to scream, but her throat was raw, and no sound would come out. Instead, she gasped for air. She gasped for the wind to reach her lungs, and when it felt like she'd never catch her breath she felt water on her cheeks. Another crack, her entire chest went up in flames. If she could talk, she might have begged. But she'd never tell them how to create Lumen Histoire. What had been the light of her guild was gone, and it never should have existed. Unlimited magical power in the hands of bastards like these could kill thousands. Thousands weighed against her own life. It wasn't a hard choice. Another crack, and her mind went blank.

She came to with the same darkness, but her mind was active. Hazy, but active. There was a rumble that caused her seat to vibrate, and she jerked roughly against her chains. Rumbling? Then, the sound of an explosion. Her heart thundered in her chest, as she could swear she heard the sound of crackling fire. "Na-" her voice faded out, unable to complete her sentence. She willed her entire body to move, even a single limb would do. Nothing. The world went silent. Her lungs burned with every breath in, and she could smell the smoke in the air.

Then, there was a jingle she'd know anywhere. Her keys. Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to spill onto her lap. When had her keys been retrieved? Did her captors have them? Were they going to threaten her spirits? She wouldn't let them. Even if she could she'd never summon a single spirit. Lucy realized at that moment that other than the sounds of explosions, and occasional screams, there were no sounds in the room she was in. Not any belonging to a physical person. Had her captors left?

She hadn't heard them go, but she'd been used to the spaces in memory regarding her captivity. Sometimes, when she came to she'd have new wounds, and they'd be angrier than when they started. The celestial mage would never give them what they wanted. She would never tell a single person the secrets of her guild. Never. Even if she had to die. The crackling was closer now, and her heart filled with hope. Fire.

"Na-" her eyes welled up when the sound of metal chains breaking filled her ears. Her body dropped like a ragdoll, but a hand caught her shoulder, and gripped tightly to keep her from hitting the ground. Her savior knelt to the ground, bringing her down slowly with them to gain leverage, and an arm slinked under her knees. She felt her body being lifted simply from the change in gravity, and that her limbs grew even heavier with her inability to move. "Natsu." her voice barely above a whisper, and tears dripping from her chocolate orbs. All she remembered was the sound of gravel crunching under his feet, and the building exploding into what she hoped was a million tiny pieces.