KEY:

"Other People's Thoughts"

"The third?!" Gajeel was saying, furiously, as Wendy and the others rushed into the house. It looked like a fight had occurred, but there didn't seem to be any of Etherios's men left. "Why didn't you call me? I would have—"

"You would have rushed right home," Regin nodded, her fiery curls bouncing, "that's exactly why. They weren't a problem, so I didn't need to worry you with it. We had it handled."

"Where's the old man?" Gajeel asked, looking around.

The woman chuckled. "I shoved him down into the panic shelter when I heard those men approaching the house. He's more trouble than they were!"

"Now, pixie, that's not quite fair." A man even larger than Gajeel appeared from another room, his short black hair sticking up all over his head, probably from being pulled out of bed so early in the morning. He still wore sleep pants and a grey t-shirt, but his smile was warm. When he met Wendy's eyes, his crimson ones sparkled and his smile broadened. "Is that my little Wendy?"

He held out his arms, and she immediately rushed into them, hugging her uncle tightly. "It's good to see you, Uncle Metalicanna."

"And Natsu!" her uncle chuckled, pulling him into the hug. "It's been almost 4 years since you came to visit!"

"Says the one who skipped the last family meeting," Natsu smirked.

"I told pixie to apologize for me," Metalicanna smiled, releasing them to ruffle Gajeel's hair, "and Gajeel too."

"Dad!" Gajeel complained, and Wendy didn't miss the glance he shot at Levy when she giggled.His parents didn't miss it, either. The bluenette was suddenly pulled between the two of them, Regin squishing Levy's face between her hands and examining her.

"She's lovely, Gaj!" Regin cooed.

"She'll make a perfect Redfox!" Metalicanna nodded, to which both Levy and Gajeel's faces threatened to turn the color of Regin's hair.

Natsu snickered as Gajeel cursed at them both in Russian.

"While I hate to interrupt," Erza smirked, "there are things we'd like to discuss with you while we're here."

Regin and Metalicanna released Levy and turned to her, growing serious.

"Of course," Regin said. "I assume it's about the men who attacked us?"

"Yes," Jellal told her. "They are part of an organization known as END. Their leader, Etherios, possesses special powers like your son, and like the rest of us," he motioned around the room. "And because they have been sought out by Etherios, and have denied his request to join him, he will be coming after you in order to use you as leverage against them. Most of their parents are on their way to our current safe house in Italy, with Cana's parents. Etherios cut off communication with you, so we came to ensure your safety and to send you to Italy to meet with the others."

"Won't you be coming with us?" Metalicanna asked, frowning at Gajeel.

He shook his head. "We couldn't contact Lucy's sister, either," he answered, "and she doesn't have gifts like we do, so she's in danger."

"What are you doing still here then?" Regin asked, shooing them all towards the doors. "Get going! Metalicanna and I can get ourselves to Italy; you all go make sure that girl is alright."

"See you in a couple days," Gajeel told her as they made their way to the SUV. "Sure you'll be alright?"

Regin kissed him on the cheek, giving him a wink. "We'll be fine, Gaj. You go now. See you in Italy."Stay safe, Wendy, Metalicanna and Regin both thought, smiling at her as she was ushered into the SUV.

The next several minutes passed by in a flurry of activity. Once again, they all made their way back to the jet, and were back in the air in no time. After that, it was just waiting until they arrived in Oklahoma. It would be nearly dusk when they arrived, thanks to the large time difference. When was the last time I got some sleep? Wendy thought to herself. It was back in Italy, before they began traveling around to get everyone's families. The lack-of-sleep was finally getting to her, and it was hard to keep her eyes open.

"Get some sleep, Wen," Gajeel told her, pulling her against his side. "You look exhausted."

"So do you," she chuckled, knowing from reading his thoughts that he was. She knew he had been too worried about Metalicanna and Regin to sleep on the flight to Russia.

"Hey," Gajeel whispered, shaking her gently. She opened her eyes. I must have fallen asleep. "We're here."

"Lucy, you're up front with me," Jellal said as they made their way to the SUV. "I'll need you to direct the way."

"Michelle, please be alright," Lucy's thoughts were easy to read, even without Wendy's gift. She could tell the blonde was growing more and more worried about her sister with every passing minute.Jellal sped through the country, taking them farther and farther away from any nearby towns. Wendy could see smoke every now and then in the distance. Lucy had told her Oklahoma got wildfires, so that's probably what it was.

"Down this lane," Lucy said, pointing to the left, where a small dirt path was barely visible. Jellal turned onto it, never slowing down as he continued driving. "The ranch is about a mile down the lane. It's the only thing this leads to, so you'll know when we're there."

Everyone grew silent as the house came into view. Lucy's mind was filled with worry, her thoughts on 

her sister's safety, praying she was alright.

"Alright," Jellal said, flipping off the headlights as he approached the house slowly, "we're going to go inside in the same order as we did Gajeel's house. We—"

"No," Lucy snapped, frowning at him, "I'm going in with you. She's my little sister. I'm not about to sit in the car while you go in without me. No way."

"I'll stay in the car," Levy offered, before Jellal could object.

"Fine," Jellal sighed, "Lucy goes, and Levy stays. Once again, we'll give Wendy a shout when we have the all-clear. It's an in-and-out operation. Get Michelle, get back to the SUV. Then we can head back to Italy to rendezvous with the others."

When Jellal parked the car, Lucy frowned. "That's not right," she said, her eyebrows pulling together in the middle with worry.

"What's not?" Natsu asked.

"There aren't any lights on. It's only eight; Michelle should be outside with the horses."

"I'm sure it's nothing—" Natsu began, but was cut off when Lucy opened the car door.

"The door is broken," she gasped, rushing towards the house as Jellal and Erza commanded her to stop.

"Shit," Natsu cursed, jumping out and running after her.

Jellal and Erza gave up, going with the two of them, to which everyone else followed suit.

"Michelle!" Lucy called through the silent house.

Wendy noticed as she entered the house that the door had in fact been nearly torn off its hinges, meaning someone had already been there. By the state of the overturned kitchen table and dishes littering the floor, Wendy guessed it was Etherios's men.

"Damn it!" Lucy shouted, tears filling her eyes. "Jellal, we have to do something! If they took Michelle—"

"LUCY!!" Came a shriek from outside. "Lucy, help me!!"

"Michelle!" Lucy was running through the house and out the back door before anyone could stop her. Wendy could feel the fear through her thoughts. Lucy's weren't the only thoughts she could hear, however.

"Lucy, wait!" Wendy called, running after her. "It's a...trap," she trailed off as they entered the large back yard. A young woman who looked a lot like Lucy was being held by a large man. She had rope around her wrists, and tears were running down her cheeks. She was also covered in scrapes and bruises, so Wendy guessed she had put up a good fight before they caught her.

"Lucy!!" Michelle cried, spotting her big sister.

"Michelle!" Lucy shouted. Fury flashed in her brown eyes, and the ground began shaking around their feet.

"Get them," one of the men commanded. Wendy counted there were only six of them. Most likely, they hadn't been planning on a group as large as theirs to come retrieve Michelle, and probably not as quickly as they had.

Vines wrapped around the man's legs who held Michelle, and he was jerked away from her, the vines dragging him across the ground with ease. Lucy immediately went to her sister as the rest of Etherios's men came after the others. Jellal and Erza each went after one of the men, Gajeel and Levy went after another, Juvia and Cana went after a third, and Natsu followed Lucy to Michelle, holding off the fourth.

Wendy wanted to help, but she knew the others would focus more on trying to protect her than they would fighting, s she stayed back. I wish I had more useful powers! She thought, watching as the others fought. Sure, she knew martial arts, but she didn't think that would matter much against someone with special abilities. Etherios's men were powerful, she could tell. One of them easily went up against a pair from their group, and her friends seemed to be struggling slightly.

"Wait a minute," she mumbled, recounting the fighting groups. She gasped, realizing the fifth man, the one Lucy had used her vines against, was nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, she had noticed a little too late.

Arms went around her, strapping her in a steel-like grip. She cried out in surprise, fighting against him.

"Wendy!" Gajeel shouted, slamming his opponent on the ground, knocking him out, before running to her."Stop right there," the man holder her growled, pressing something sharp into the skin of her neck. She glanced over and saw that it was his hand. It looked like some sort of animal's paw, the sharp claws poised at her neck, ready to strike. She whimpered after reading his thoughts, knowing very well what he planned to do to her if anyone tried to approach or attack. The rest of her friends defeated the other men, and they all rushed to Gajeel and Levy's sides.

"Your allies are defeated," Jellal said, stepping closer, "it's over. Let the girl go. You aren't going to accomplish anything by harming her."

"That so?" He growled back. "Master Etherios has no use for weaklings like this one, so he won't mind if I kill her. And if I can be defeated so easily by the likes of you, I deserve the same fate as her." He pressed his claws into her skin.

Wendy tried to stop the pained cry that escaped her, but she couldn't hold it back. She could feel blood trickling down her neck, and she knew he was going to go through with his gruesome thoughts. He's going to rip out my throat. Just like an animal. There were really people like this out there? They had special powers like her and her friends, but they would use them to hurt people?

"Wendy!" Natsu stepped beside Gajeel, his onyx eyes bright with fear as he looked at her. She tried to look brave, but she couldn't quite manage it. Not with everyone's thoughts racing unhindered through her mind.

"Don't even try it," the man snarled when Cana made an attempt to control his shadow. "I can rip out her jugular before it touches me." The woman immediately froze, as did the others who were trying to come up with a way of sneaking up on him to free her.

"Wendy, it's going to be alright," Natsu told her, taking a step forward, slightly raising his hands. 

"You're going to be fine."

Something in his expression changed as he spoke, and Wendy knew immediately what he was trying to do. His mind was clear, no thoughts at all to distract him as he concentrated on the man holding 

Wendy. "Natsu, don't—"

"It's alright," he said, quietly.

"Whatever you're trying, it isn't going to—" The man let out a curse, and Wendy felt his body stiffen.

She looked into Natsu's eyes, and he gave her a sad smile. He clenched his hands as if grabbing something, and moved his arms apart.

The man holding her released his grip, and the claws in her neck were pulled away. She collapsed to the ground, crawling quickly away from him and into Gajeel's arms.

Taking the chance, Jellal and Erza attacked. Natsu sank to his knees, sweat beading on his forehead. 

"You ok?" He asked, looking at her.

She nodded, unable to keep the tears from her eyes as she read his thoughts. "Natsu..."

{SO THIS HAPPENED. BE PREPARED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!!!!}