I do not own anything nor do I make any money from this story. All rights apply.

AU - Set before Tenrou Island. Manga verse – I haven't seen the anime.

YOU ARE FAIRY TAIL

The first bomb had been a surprise. The mayor of Rigana had been explaining the situation when a whistling was heard. Gray remembered looking round for the source when a nearby house exploded. He immediately threw up an ice shield saving them from the heat of the blast. They were still reeling, chocking on dust and smoke when the second one hit. Gray had been knocked back but as he got to his feet he saw Natsu and Happy heading off in the direction of the bombardment while Lucy was half buried under a pile of rubble. He couldn't see the mayor but judging from the last time Gray had seen him, he was likely buried under the rubble. People were running everywhere, screaming in terror as more bombs flew their way.

Now knowing what the whistling was Gray threw an ice shield in the direction of the noise. The bomb hit and exploded against the ice shield without damaging the village further. Gray threw another ice shield as he tried to edge his way to Lucy but people kept bumping into him and getting in his way. The onslaught was relentless as he was forced to throw a third ice shield. The sixth bomb hadn't even landed when he had to make a fourth ice shield. Gray knew he was a fast caster but this was pressing even for him - there appeared to be no end in sight.

And he still didn't know if Lucy was alright.

With a yell of frustration, he created as many ice shields as he could and slotted them together like a shield wall to create one huge ice shield that he thickened and strengthened. He had never done anything like it before and hoped it would work. It took some effort but he managed to stabilise the huge ice shield, protecting the centre of the village.

He knew he couldn't hold it for long – he was counting on Natsu to stop the attack. But as the attack continued he began to wonder what was keeping the Salamander. It had been almost twenty minutes and there was no end in sight. He was no longer aware of what was happening in the village; keeping the shield wall took all his concentration – one moment of flagging and it started to crack. As it was the edges were weakest and bit of flaming debris from the bombs made it through.

Suddenly, Gray heard a different sound clearly over the sound of the explosion – the tinkling of falling ice. The outer edge of the left side was collapsing. Turning his focus to the left, he managed to halt the cracks but he didn't have the magic to repair it. He drew on his anger and bonds of friendship and managed to close the gaps just as a bomb hit it. The ice shield held for that explosion but it shattered as the flames fell down.

By now Gray was panting with exhaustion, his muscles trembled with the effort of holding the shield wall. Then he saw one last bomb – Natsu had finally stopped the bombing. Gray had no breath for words, no will to smile and no energy to frown as the bomb headed his way. He tried to condense shield wall but when he tried to move the ice shields, they shattered. He couldn't hold the shield wall anymore – he was finished. He had scraped the bottom of the barrel for that last bomb – he had nothing left.

It was the last bomb, the shield wall had to hold. It had to hold.

XxX

The cold woke Lucy. It made her shiver. It made her trapped body ache in pain.

Looking round she saw Gray standing a few meters from her under a shower of ice crystals. He looked exhausted but unharmed much to Lucy's delight and annoyance. She was delighted that he was fine but annoyed that she was not. A dull ache ran down her left side and she couldn't use her left arm at all. She had to get help.

"Gray!" she called.

Her voice seemed to shake him out of his stupor and he turned his head to face her. Only his body followed and he crashed to the ground.

"Gray!" she called again but this time in concern. What had he been doing that had drained him of magic so completely? She looked at the falling ice crystals – it must have been something really big. And where were Natsu and Happy? Why weren't they helping Gray? She would have to ask them later but first she had to get herself out from under this rubble.

But all that was forgotten when a heavy black boot came down on her right hand, crushing it into the ground.

She yelled in pain and surprise.

"Shut up, fairy," snarled the man who trod on her hand.

Lucy looked past him to see the village filling with uniformed men, but she didn't recognise their insignia.

"Who are you? What guild are you with?" she demanded. She didn't really want to take her eye off the uniformed men – a group of them were making their way to where Gray lay.

"I am Thornbury and I hate guilds," he said putting more weight onto Lucy's hand. "Especially this one." He twisted his foot a little as if to rub the Fairy Tail mark from her hand.

Lucy gritted her teeth pain but refused to shout out. Instead she turned her attention to the men approaching Gray. One in particular stood out, he was not wearing a uniform.

The man tilted Gray's head from side to side.

"Mentally exhausted and magically drained… He'll do," he said before getting to his feet.

Two waiting two soldiers stepped forward – one took hold of Gray's ankles and the other picked him up under the arms and they carried him off.

"Stop!" screamed Lucy. "Leave him alone."

"I've had enough of you," muttered Thornbury.

Lucy turned to respond but met with a boot to the side of her head and that was the end.

XxX

"Lu~cy."

Lucy blinked.

"Gray…" she murmured.

"Gray!?" questioned Natsu.

Lucy's eyes snapped open, she tried to sit up but she was in too much pain and fell back down.

"Where is Gray anyway – why'd he leave you under that rumble?"

"Natsu," gasped Lucy grabbing his scarf. "They took Gray."

"What – who?" demanded Natsu.

"I don't know, I've never seen them before."

Natsu stood and took a couple of steps back scanning the area. He took a deep breath, frowned and stepped to the side taking another deep breath.

"Nothing," he muttered.

Lucy watched with a sinking heart as Natsu prowled the broken village looking for any sign of Gray or where he had gone. From his demeanour he wasn't finding anything.

After a long moment he stopped and looked back at Lucy.

"There's nothing… I don't know where he's gone."