Time Changes Everything

Issues

   Lucy felt the pain before she woke up. It was as if her body was thrown through the shredder. Her muscles ached as she lay still in the uncomfortable bed. When she opened her eyes, she found one of them was covered by some gauze. Reaching up with one of her hands, she felt her face, frowning as she didn't feel any patch covering her left eye. Her fingers met scarred skin and a hollowed out hole where her eye should be. Her chest froze up when she felt the emptiness of her socket, her breath coming out in quick pants. Her lungs seemed as if they couldn't get enough oxygen. The sound of muffled voices couldn't quite reach her ears as they pounded in time with her rapid heartbeat. 

   She freaked when a hand clamped down onto her shoulder and held her in place. Tears blurred her vision and her single eye flew to a blurry face. The small woman in her view had blue hair and a concerned look on her face, making the blonde pause. Where was she? She thought she was still back with that monster. Her dark eye was still burned into her vision as she stood over top of her a crazed grin on her face as she backed away and a large man took her spot. Whimpers slipped past her lips as she curled up on herself, hiding as much of her skin as she could. She was lost in the horrid memories that threatened to tear her apart. 

   The weight on her shoulder only made her panic worse and she started thrashing against the hold on her. The voices picked up again, seemingly arguing with one another, but Lucy wasn't listening. She was still there, in chains on the table as they dug into her skin over and over again. She was never awake when the large man came in, but she could feel the left over damage when she woke up. The pain in her abdomen was a clear reminder as she flailed about. When the weight lifted from her shoulders, the blonde strengthened her resolve and cracked an eye open.

   The image in front of her was still blurry and out of focus, but she could make out multiple sets of faces, each of them seemed to be worried. When her vision cleared, she could make out where she was. The scents in the room should've been obvious enough, but with those cuffs on for so long, cutting herself from her magic, she forgot about it entirely. Scenting the air, her body instantly relaxed as she recognized just where she was. The faces of Laxus, his team, Wendy, and Cobra came into view as she shifted on her spot on the bed. Tears blurred her vision as she sat up, wrapping her arms around the young dragon slayer, muttering her gratitude under her breath. 

   Wendy patted the broken girl on her shoulder, afraid if she were to touch her again it would send her into another attack. When the blonde pulled away and faced the remaining people in the room, she offered them a weak smile, holding her arms out wide for more hugs. Laxus immediately took up residence in her hold, his own tears clouding his vision. 

   "Gods Lucy, you scared the shit out of me. You are never leaving my sight." Laxus crushed the blonde to him, his arms securing her to him. 

   Lucy had to fight back the urge to shove herself out of his hold as she returned the hug easily. They stayed like that for awhile before Laxus pulled away and Bickslow took up residence in her hold. 

   "Nice to see you doin good Cheerleader. Don't ya go pulling something like that again alright?" The seith mage patted the girl on the head before he pulled away, letting Evergreen and Freed take up the spot he left. 

   "It's nice to see you're doing well Miss Lucy, we were all worried." Freed smiled down at the girl as Evergreen enveloped the blonde in a hug, her shoulders shaking as tears slipped down her face.

   "I don't know what I would've done without you Lucy, you're the closest thing I have to a sister and I really don't wanna lose that." Evergreen pulled away, drying her eyes on the tissue that Freed handed to her. 

   Lucy smiled at all of them before her eye landed on the still silent slayer that was standing a ways away from her. Her smile fell before she could help herself, the hurt from the days prior bubbling to the surface. Lucy pulled her gaze from him, her voice sounding broken and choppy as she spoke.

   "I'm so sorry I worried all of you. I didn't mean for this to happen." Lucy flushed under their gaze, hating the way that it seemed to set her blood ablaze. 

   They all nodded their heads, easily accepting her apology and saying that it was their job to worry. The only one who stayed silent through it all was Cobra, who stayed off to the side the entire time.

   He wasn't sure what was wrong with him. That was his perfect chance to make it up to her and he just stared at her as if she had three heads. He couldn't for the life of him make up what his feelings were at the moment. Judging by the was Laxus was currently staring him down, he too realized that he had made a mistake. Growling, Cobra made his way for the door, only to stop when Laxus blocked his path. The two had gotten the attention of the entire room. 

   "You need to get your thoughts in order before you come around here again, ya got that? Your scent in making my nose itch." Laxus ordered him, watching as the shorter male just glared at him before shouldering his way out the door and into the guild hall. 

   Cobra didn't want to be here any longer. The atmosphere felt too hot, too heavy as he made his way through the large fight that was going on. A weight on his arm had him pausing in his path however. Glaring down at the offending appendage that was connected to that girl that wouldn't leave him be, he wretched his arm out of her grip. The female just grabbed him again, pulling lightly on him and telling him that she wanted to go sit down with him and chat. Cobra growled at the girl, hoping to get the point across that he wasn't in the mood for talking but she insisted, yanking on his hand when he wouldn't budge. 

   By now the fight had slowed and a few mages were now watching to see what would happen. Cobra fought the urge to poison the girl and simply grabbed a hold of her wrist instead. The small whine that slipped from her lips had a small smirk spreading across his face. He tore her arm away from his, enjoying as a small cry of pain burst from her as he tossed her to the side. No one seemed to want to step in to stop him as he made his way over to the fallen girl. He crouched down next to her, his smirk still in place as he whispered into her ear. 

   "I don't know who you think you are, but there's no way that I'll let you control me. If you want to keep your body parts attached I highly suggest getting out of here and never coming back, ya hear?" Cobra hissed, poison dripping from his canines and onto her cheek. 

   The girl just nodded her head up and down rapidly, her eyes wide as she stood on shaky legs before high tailing it out of here. Glad that she was now gone and hopefully out of his life, he continued on his path to the doors, blissfully unaware of the amount of people who were watching him as he passed. Guild mates cleared a path for him as he stalked out of the door, his hands in his pockets as he strolled out with his small smirk still in place. 

   He would deal with his issues later.