Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, or any of it's characters. All rights belong to Hiro Mashima.

I don't even know where to begin with an apology, so I'll just say I'm sorry, and I love you guys. You've all been wonderful and I hope this starts to make up for my more than a year long absence :/ I'm horrible, and I know it. But please, enjoy the chapter.

"Gahhh!" Juvia screamed, flinging spray after spray of boiling water at the two women she had immediately branded as love rivals.

After she and Gray arrived through the tunnel Virgo had easily dug, Juvia had engaged in a fight with the two women while Laxus took advantage of the distraction and knocked out his only remaining opponent and the rest just idly watched. It was a nice reprieve before the upcoming battle.

Gajeel's opponent was half laying on the ground by Gajeel's feet while Gray lightly but consistently punched him in the head every time he looked in Juvia's direction.

Virgo was standing by in case one of the exceeds ran out of power and she was required to make a quick catch. Natsu stood beside her, an eye twitching in annoyance since Juvia had taken over his only opponents. As they stood there, Virgo winced suddenly, dropping to one knee.

"Maid lady!" Natsu exclaimed, instantly kneeling in front of the pink haired spirit. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Virgo forced through clenched teeth. "I think I'll be going now though. Princess is currently engaged in battle and I am drawing on her magic. She needs her strength and sadly I can only rely on hers so I must go now. I'm sorry, punishment will have to wait. Please take care of Mistress Lucy."

Natsu reached forwards to catch her as she fell forwards into her previously made hole but she shimmered and faded into light pink sparkles as she touched his hands.

"What just happened to the pink-haired chick?" Laxus' voice called from the other side of the room.

"Nothing, she's right there." Gray laughed, pointing to Natsu's hunched form and sending a slightly harder punch towards Gajeel's opponent. This punch seemed to be just the thing needed to take the man over the edge as his head suddenly lolled to the side and his eyes rolled up, revealing the whites while his body slumped completely into the ground.

Gray glanced towards Natsu, surprised when no retort was sent his way. He was even more surprised when he saw Natsu stalking towards his currently unsuspecting earlier attackers.

"Hey, what are you-oomph?" Gray cried, falling backwards as one of the women was thrown at him by Natsu. The fire mage glared at the woman left on his side of the room with murderous intent.

"Sorry." He muttered, not sounding the least bit apologetic as he sent a swift punch to her jaw. The woman shrieked in fear but the sound was quickly cut off as her eyes rolled back in her head and she slithered to the floor, unconscious.

The other woman quickly followed suit as Juvia charged over and backhanded the woman for supposedly "attempting to touch Juvia's precious Gray-Sama right before Juvia's eyes". She then dragged the unconscious woman off of Gray's inert body and threw her unceremoniously to the dirt floor.

"What's up with that flame brain?" Gray shouted in annoyance as Juvia -apparently too steamed to realize that Gray was willingly letting her touch him- helped him up.

Natsu didn't respond at first, merely motioning for Charle and Pantherlily to come down with their 'passengers'. Once on solid ground the exceeds released the spell giving themselves wings and sighed gratefully, stretching their tired shoulders.

"Natsu?" Wendy asked worriedly, placing a small hand on his tensed arm. He glanced down at the sole female dragon slayer and exhaled slowly.

"Lucy might be in trouble. Which means she's here. Which means-"

"Nothing." Gray butted in, his expression serious. "We can't just barge in there, the others need to be alerted and ready to go."

"I know," Natsu bit out, reaching out a hand and jerking Warren's sleeve. "but they're already on their way, right Warren?" Warren's eyes widened in realization and he froze for a moment as he conveyed Natsu's message.

Laxus and Gajeel smirked, chuckling lightly. They both nodded at Natsu, their expressions showing that they were proud to call him a guildmate and fellow dragon slayer. Natsu acknowledged the nod, but was too tense to offer anything in return.

"Right Natsu." Warren's voice sounded in all of their heads and Natsu breathed a sigh of relief while Gray rolled his eyes, a small smirk on his face.

"I'll go first, everybody give me a minute once I go in. Gray, you like surprises so you can choose when to jump out. Yell something original." Gray snorted at Natsu's instructions but everyone could tell he was already thinking of something catchy yet cool. All the others in the room seemed to accept Natsu's decision and nodded in agreement, even Gajeel and Laxus.

"Yosh, let's go." Natsu cheered, a smile on his face despite the gleam of worry shadowing his onyx eyes.

(^.^) (^.^)

"Where should we put the stamp?" Ritou drawled, casually scanning Lucy's body. Mirajane had cleverly concealed Lucy's pink stamp earlier with a simple take over spell so now Lucy was stampless and it was time to fix that. The man from earlier was standing a few feet away, holding a stamper threateningly in one hand.

Lucy shrank back in disgust, mentally calling Ivan all the names in the book. The bastard had almost let her choke to death, and now he was letting his men treat her this way? Oh hell no!

"How 'bout I give myself the stamp?" Lucy drawled back, feeling less like a target when some men dropped their attention in disinterest.

"No way, it's more fun this way." Ritou laughed, instantly reclaiming the guilds attention. Ivan stood in the corner, silently perusing Lucy's generously proportioned chest and hips. Lucy noticed and attempted to cover her chest with her arms, which only made it worse. "So what'll it be?" He asked lazily, his piercing blue eyes dancing in twisted pleasure.

"Get her ass!" Some men shouted while others argued about how her stomach or chest would be better.

"Everywhere?" Akia offered, sitting on a bench near Ritou. Nodding thoughtfully, Ritou returned his full attention to Lucy and smirked cruelly as he slowly advanced with the stamper raised.

Her chocolate coloured eyes wide with fear and disgust, Lucy backed up while Happy stepped in front of her and hissed threateningly. Ritou glanced down and slowly lifted a booted foot to kick the blue cat but Lucy lunged forwards, scooping up the cat and taking the kick to her side. Huffing at the sharp impact, Lucy rolled to the left and jumped up on her feet, keeping Happy cradled close to her chest.

"Hiding yourself with that pathetic flea bag won't stop me." Ritou laughed, kicking a foot towards her ankles. Lucy jumped, pushing herself backwards and landing on top of the closest table.

There was a handful of men at the table and they whistled appreciatively, reaching out for her legs. She bent slightly at the knees and waited until they were really close before launching herself upwards and jumping over Ritou.

He turned around, staring at her curiously. "Don't you want the stamp?"

Lucy glared at him, attempting to appear mildly annoyed. He just laughed and continued his advance, this time pushing a table towards her. The table jumped forwards with surprising speed and Lucy dropped Happy to safety just as it slammed into her thighs, pinning her between itself and another table.

A hand grabbed her side, tugging her backwards. Lucy squealed in pain as that was where she had been kicked and roughly slapped the arm belonging to the hand away, pushing the table forward just far enough for her to squeeze out.

By the time she was free, Ritou was right in front of her and he grinned, staring lecherously down her tank top. She jerked back, kicking up at the same time and smiling victoriously as the stamper did just as she expected, went flying.

What she wasn't expecting however, was for Ritou to grab her leg and pull her towards himself. She squeaked as her hips suddenly made contact with his and she twisted sharply, throwing them both off balance but succeeding in breaking his hold on her.

Ritou landed on the floor with a thud, and glared over at the blonde. "Bitch." He growled, pushing himself up. Lucy scrabbled backwards, pulling herself up while trying to avoid the now pissed off male.

A couple other males in the room booed Ritou as they all doubled their efforts at trying to catch Lucy, yet still remained seated with lazy grins. One particularly tall man stuck out his leg, cursing and roughly grabbing Lucy's arm as she narrowly avoided the new obstacle.

The sudden pull on her arm jerked Lucy backwards and she grunted in pain as her back slammed into the wooden table the man was sitting at. Ritou arrived a mere second later, sliding up between Lucy's flailing legs as her arms were pinned by the man responsible for her take down.

"Where was it supposed to go?" Ritou asked, once again confident since Lucy couldn't fight back. "Oh, that's right." His one hand pushed up her tank, the other one reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a curved dagger. Lucy's eyes widened in shock and she cursed herself for trembling as fear overtook her.

"What? You were the one who got rid of the stamper, remember? Although, I suppose I like this way better." He laughed, pressing the tip of the dagger into the tender flesh of her stomach. A small drop of blood pooled around the tip and she couldn't help the whimper that escaped. With her arms pinned and her keys and whip at her waist, she was defenceless.

Ritou seemed to know this and laughed, taunting her as he idly traced patterns on her stomach with the blade, pressing hard enough to leave thin cuts and blood trails everywhere the cool metal touched.

Lucy struggled to contain her cries of pain as he pressed a little harder with each new pattern.

Out of the corner of her eye Lucy saw Happy preparing to launch himself at Ritou from under the closest table and suddenly the pressure on her stomach and the hands on her wrists disappeared and she gasped as both of her captors fell backwards, grunting in pain. Ritou landed harshly on his back just a few feet away while the other man lay unconscious, bent backwards over the bench with his head resting against the floor.

A man, her saviour in place of Happy, stood with his back to her at the end of the table, the only protection between Ritou and herself.

"Thank you..." She mumbled, sitting up and straightening out her clothes. Jingling metal was the only sound in the room as Lucy slid off the table, her keys swinging gently with the movement. Everybody else in the room was silent, watching Lucy and the man curiously. Getting a bit curious herself, Lucy glanced over at her saviour.

His clothes were plain black and his feet were bare, like hers. The only colour in his outfit came from the red strip of fabric tied around his right arm and his head of unruly pink hair. Wait, pink hair?

"Natsu?" She gasped, her eyes widening in shock and relief.

"Hey Luce." He greeted, turning his head to flash her a quick smile. Happy purred in excitement and ran out from under the table they were standing beside, his fur fluffed out and his ears back. Stretching out a leg, Lucy ran her foot down Happy's back in an attempt to calm him.

Loud laughter came from in front of them and the three snapped their attention to the amused looking Ritou.

"You're not mad, Salamander?" Ritou grinned, his eyes glinting as if he were hiding a huge secret.

"Of course not," Natsu agreed, cracking his knuckles. "I'm pissed. In fact, I'm all fired up." The whole guild began to grin then and shoved themselves to their feet. If there was going to be a fight, they weren't getting left out.

"What about Blondie over there? She came here looking for a fun time, can't I give it to her?" Ritou chuckled, perusing Lucy's body with his startling blue eyes. Lucy snorted in contempt, braver now that Natsu was with her.

"No thanks, I think I'll pass." Ritou's eyes hardened at her words and he lurched to his feet, glaring straight at the celestial mage. She glared back, standing her ground but shifting slightly so that she was behind Natsu just enough to provide the illusion of safety.

"You'll pass?" Ritou's tone was half incredulous, half pissed off. "I don't think so." Starting towards Lucy, Ritou attempted to push past Natsu but the fire mage held his ground, pushing the earth mage backwards instead.

"You're not touching her," He snarled, pressing his left hand protectively against Lucy's stomach, mindful of the cuts, "unless you can get through me first." Onyx eyes burning with rage he lit up his right hand, holding it out threateningly.

"Tch, get through him? Easy, but try getting through me." A voice called down and Lucy started in surprise as Gray landed beside Natsu, his hands splayed in front of his stomach as he prepared to attack.

"Not very fancy," Lucy heard Natsu mutter and Gray rolled his eyes in annoyance. Before the ice mage could come up with a retort though, another voice called out.

"Or us." The owner of this voice was easily recognizable to Lucy as the object of her best friend's affections landed on the table behind her, grinning madly. "Sup, Bunny Girl?" Lucy laughed as, one by one, more of her friends dropped down. Eventually she was surrounded and she grinned, giggling wildly.

Ritou's voice cut through her happiness like a knife. "Just nine people? We have a whole guild." "Ahem." Someone snorted behind Ritou and he whirled around, staring in surprise as the exceeds did what they did best, Happy dropping his act to participate as they rose up on their hind legs, popped out their wings, and, in Pantherlily's case, grew larger and more muscled than Ritou himself.

But, instead of being worried or afraid, Ritou laughed. "Cats? Three cats and a handful of mages against Raven Tail? Ha, don't underestimate us!"

"We wouldn't dare." Erza's voice rang out, loud and void of any emotion as the doors to the guild slammed open, revealing the frightening Titania and the whole of Fairy Tail behind her. An armoured hand rested on the hilt of her sword and she smirked slightly. "Back up's here."

(^.^) (^.^)

Porlyusica's red eyes snapped open, her ears pricked as she sat up in the chair she had been resting in. Something had woken her up, some sort of sound. Through the window the sky was blurry, meaning it was raining.

Was that the sound? The healer wondered, standing up and stretching as far as her old bones would allow. A few pops and cracks later and she was standing as straight as she ever would.

Reaching down to smooth out her dress, the healer froze as a light tapping came from the front door. Not a tapping like a knock, but more of a metallic sound. Somewhat like the sound of a lock being tested.

Porlyusica froze, listening more intently. The doors to Fairy Tail had been locked as none of the mages would be coming around until all was said and done with Raven Tail so nobody should be anywhere near Magnolia, let alone the guild. Plus, anyone who was around would know that the guild was temporarily closed. That meant someone not belonging to Fairy Tail was most likely attempting to get in.

It was silent for a moment and then the sound began again, this time louder and more persistent. There was no doubt about it, someone was trying to break into Fairy Tail.

Now, Porlyusica hated humans, but she felt an obligation to all the Fairy Tail brats so instead of escaping and saving herself just in case there were multiple wizards stronger than her, she heaved a sigh and silently made her way to Levy's side.

Levy murmured unintelligibly as Porlyusica's aged hand gently shook her shoulder in an attempt to wake the petite mage.

A thump from the doors quickened Porlyusica's hand and Levy moaned in displeasure. However, Levy managed to stay completely unconscious, despite Porlyusica's best attempts. The elder apothecary mage almost tore her hair out in frustration.

What was she supposed to do if Levy didn't wake up? Carry her? Yeah, right.

Porlyusica's red gaze snapped to the door to the infirmary. The thumps from the front door seemed to be getting louder and matched themselves to her frantic heartbeat.

Carry the tiny human it was.

With a muffled grunt Porlyusica threw the petite blunette over her aged shoulder, quickly hobbling over to the bathroom where she shoved all of the recently used items into the cupboard beneath the sink.

No one needed to find out that they had been there within the last few hours.

Speaking of which, she immediately hobbled back to the infirmary, snatched Levy's bag and used blanket from the bed, and slid the used dishes out an open window and into a bush. She closed the window right after, locking it tightly. Now, with the room looking completely untouched, they could escape, hopefully before anyone got in.

With a quick breath to brace herself, Porlyusica tossed her medicine satchel over her unoccupied shoulder and ran from the infirmary and up the stairs as fast as her aged legs would carry her. Taking a quick right at the top of the stairs, Porlyusica entered Makarov's large office, closing the door quietly behind herself. It would be completely counterproductive to alert the new threats of their presence now that they were so close to escape.

Gently setting Levy and her things down in the chair behind Makarov's desk, Porlyusica began frantically sifting through the numerous drawers full of miscellaneous items. Her hand brushed over a crack in the bottom of the third drawer and she froze, gingerly poking around the crack with a finger. When she had almost given up she pressed a spot about 7 inches from the bottom underneath a couple of bills from the council.

Silently, a board in the wall behind the desk popped out roughly an inch. Porlyusica sighed in relief, pushing the board to the right and waiting as a three foot wide gap appeared. Though the inside was dark, making it impossible to see anything, Porlyusica knew that the gap led to a tunnel that would take them down beneath the guild and out to the edge of the forest. From there it was roughly a mile to Porlyusica's gnarled tree home.

"Levy, get up now or you'll never see Gajeel again." The healer hissed, more urgent now that safety was so close. The blunette huffed in her sleep, eyes slowly opening at the mention of her boyfriend. As soon as Levy was coherent enough to pay attention Porlyusica placed a finger against her lips in a silent plea to remain quiet and motioned for her to go into the narrow tunnel.

Her hazel eyes burning in question Levy did as she was told, carrying her bag and blanket as she slowly shuffled forwards into the darkness. Porlyusica pushed Levy faster, whispering that she would be just a moment. Levy nodded numbly, unaware of the danger and yet feeling absolutely terrified. Her tired, aching limbs followed her commands, dragging her forwards into the darkness as she found herself on a downwards slope.

Moments later Levy felt a hand grab her shoulder and would have screamed had another hand not immediately clamped over her mouth. The hands were rough and bony but warm and gentle on her face. Porlyusica.

"Someone was trying to get in. They definitely weren't part of you fairies so be quiet and hurry." The aged healer gasped, her raspy voice weary. Levy nodded and Porlyusica removed her hands. Glancing back quickly Levy was surprised that no light came from where the opening was. She hadn't walked that far, had she?

"I put the chair back in place and opened the window, closing the panel behind me. They will think we left through the window." Porlyusica whispered, turning Levy's head so it faced forwards once more. She had also closed the drawer but Levy didn't need to know how to open the secret door. Well, to be fair Levy wasn't supposed to find out about it in general. Only Makarov, Mirajane and the aged healer herself knew and that was how it was supposed to remain.

Stumbling over a root, Levy quickly righted herself and continued on at a slightly faster pace as Porlyusica pressed her hand against the small of Levy's back.

"Hurry, Levy, or I can't guarantee we'll make it." Porlyusica whispered, and for the first time in her life Levy was truly terrified, since she now had a child to look out for. Clutching her stomach tightly, Levy shuffled along as quickly as she could, praying to Mavis that they'd be okay.

So, erm, was that sort of worth it? No? Didn't think so. *hangs head in shame* I'm already working on the next one though, and my computer is fixed and hooked up, so no more hiatuses. At least, not without prior warning.