Title: Old Bullets
Pairing: NaLu
AU: Crime
Summary: The scar on her back. The brutality of his fists. And a past they cannot seem to escape.
Rating: M;
None of these characters are owned by me, they are all owned by the wonderful Hiro Mashima!
A/N:
It was originally supposed to be a mob au but it ended up crime idk I don't make the rules so this is my slow burn NaLu fanfiction titled Old Bullets. This took like 12 years to write, and then I prolonged the start of this series at least 4 times lmao but here it is. also adult content will be involved but like waaaaay later haha also i updated my name here on ff to reflect my user handle change on tumblr as well thanks for sticking with me and lets have a fun ride :)
Amber eyes examined the ceiling of her bedroom with aimless intensity as her heart pounded so fierce she could hear it rushing behind her ears. Her bed sheets were splayed and a thin layer of sweat gave a sheen on her porcelain skin even in the dark with nothing but a sliver of moonlight entering the room. She was frozen in place; her body refusing to listen to her commands. The blonde gave a soft sigh and figured that she'd be there a while longer. Though, the ceiling was hardly very interesting.
How many nights had she spent examining the four walls of her room? She grunted in aggravation. Above her, the ceiling looked like it was made of crumbled popcorn. Bland, plain white. Clearly not the fun, buttered version you'd buy at the theatre. Though she and Natsu always overdid it and it ended up looking as yellow as the sun. She chuckled, briefly, before her stomach growled in protest.
Food may not have been the best train of thought. Time for something else, she supposed. Her head turned to the bedside table where a digital clock burned her eyes with bright red numbers. 6:07 A.M.
Natsu wouldn't wake for another hour minimum which meant she had at least that long to get her body going again. If he found her like this again he'd end up in a foul mood for days and she honestly didn't want to deal with that. Not this week, anyway. Well, any week really. She really wished he'd stop beating himself up about it but that wasn't exactly the Natsu way of doing things.
In all honesty, she knew he'd never forgive himself. Not ever; even if she was the one who made the choice in the first place. Her fingers twitched, and finally, she clenched her hands a few times. Movement successful. With several moans, she lifted herself from the confines of twisted sheets and made her way across the wooden flooring to the living room.
Her bedroom door clicked shut behind her and she heard Natsu's snoring halt for a few brief moments before starting up again. He was like that. Easily pulled from his sleep at the slightest noise. She remembered one morning where Happy tapped a cup with his paw and it made a clink against a pan on the drying rack next to it. Natsu didn't sleep for the rest of the night. Neither did she.
It wasn't so much that the sound had scared her. The issue was Natsu. All she could hear was the sound of his feet pacing between his bedroom door and her own. It became… irritating to say the least.
Still, a shower would be too much, but so would a cup of coffee. This early in the morning anything she did would be a wake-up call for her two favorite boys. A flash of blue caught her attention before a content, purring Happy rubbed his fluffy little head against her arm. Scratch that. Her other favorite boy. Seemed like her trusty morning pal was already awake.
"Who's a good boy?" she mumbled, making clicking noises against her teeth with a finger tucked under his chin.
"Hopefully, me."
"Do you want a scratch under the chin, too?" she teased, wiggling her fingers at the pinkette, who in turn cringed away from her with his hands up in surrender.
"Woah there. Not all of us like to purr." A personal jab, he realized. Honestly, drunk Lucy was among the top five of women he was afraid of. She was persistent, and forward. Not that being a bit more forward was a bad thing for Lucy but it was certainly bad for him.
"Ouch. That stings." She held her chest in mock hurt, and her brows furrowed. He always thought she had the makings of a perfect actress, and this was where it came out the most. She did occasionally use her skills for work but he rarely got to see it in action. He did the dirty work after all. Not that he minded; he'd prefer to keep her out of harm's way.
He grimaced while she made her way around the kitchen, clanking pans as she dug out their coffee scoop and then the container of Kolger's in the pantry. If she was already started on the caffeine that meant going back to sleep was a no-go. It was barely 6:30 in the morning and it was starting to feel like a very long day.
He groaned in annoyance while trying to rub the sleep from his eyes and hopefully shake the haze from his mind. It wasn't working. He faintly recognized the voice of his partner and her retreating steps. A shower, he realized as he eyed the couch with careful consideration.
A roll of the eyes came from his partner unbeknownst to him as he bumbled to the next best thing to a bed. Lucy decided to leave him there. He needed his beauty sleep just as much as she needed this shower. Her skin was still slick with the lasting remnants of her nightmare and only a good body wash would be able to break through that grime.
"I just don't understand why a shower takes 45 minutes, Luce." And he truly didn't. Shampoo, body wash, done. Easy stuff.
"What do you care? You were snoring away on the couch the entire time."
"Yeah, and now I'm tired 'cause I slept too long." Lucy failed to see how that was her problem.
"Then, set an alarm next time."
"I didn't plan to have a nap on the couch. Ya gotta plan to set an alarm." The blonde shrugged, lifting her travel mug to her lips and taking a swig of the light brown liquid. Natsu hated the way Lucy made her coffee. He took his straight black and essentially like a shot while she took her time and filled it with enough milk to have a full bowl of cereal.
"How can ya even drink that stuff?" calloused fingers rubbed the back of his neck eventually tugging at his hair. Slowly, he switched their positions; putting himself between her and the street. His biggest dislike was being out in the open like this. In their line of work, the normal commute wasn't exactly advised, but Lucy liked it.
Somehow, she enjoyed the sounds of bumper to bumper road rage and the smell of pancakes from the restaurant they walked by every morning. At first, Lucy had been set on their travel to work being 'normal'. At the time she'd moved in with Natsu it was an… adjustment. She wasn't used to the calm environment, and it was hard for her to relax. Luckily, Natsu and Happy were easygoing and patient. Still, she was craving normalcy.
And so, she suggested they walk to work. It was supposed to be just once until Natsu saw how relaxed she'd become from such a simple activity. A basic action like leisurely arriving at work had helped her to adjust and he wanted her to be more comfortable with him. They were going to be living together for the long haul and it'd be easier if they got along with each other.
"Not all of us like to drink a cup full of yuck for breakfast." She muttered under her breath. Before them loomed a large building with 10 floors in plain sight. That didn't include the five floors underground. 'Dreyar Corporations' was plastered above the entrance in a blocky font. It was what you'd expect from the headquarters of a fortune 500 company. Except, it wasn't.
Just like in the stories she read as a child, the company was a front to cover the real nature of their business: crime. They had their fingers dipped in most of the underworld dealings which made them a heavy presence. That also garnered a lot of enemies. This, of course, was the reason for the tense movement of her pink-haired partner. Enemies meant danger outside of an assigned mission and ever since that Natsu had been on edge and certainly more than a little jumpy.
The automated doors slid open with a whirring noise and they were immediately met with the bright smile of the lovely receptionist.
"Hey, Lisanna." The two waved as they passed by. Normally, they'd stop to chat, but they'd been summoned by an early morning text while Lucy was showering. Since it seemed urgent they decided to get right to it.
"Hey, guys! Erza is waiting for you on level four."
"Down or up?" The blonde took a swig of her coffee, finally finishing it off.
"Down. Seems like a big one, too. Stay safe out there." The phone rang loudly to Lisanna's right causing the girl to wave and return to her duties.
"We both had the same drink. Except ya loaded your own with milk. You're lactose intolerant, Luce. Ya know what that means right?" Natsu continued their previous conversation as though it had never been interrupted.
"Of course, I do. But I like dairy, so here we are." She huffed, turning her head away from him and puffing out her cheeks.
"This is almost as bad as the time ya tricked me into bringing nachos home." But was it though? Lucy didn't think so. Besides, it wasn't his body that would be assaulted later. She wouldn't stop, though. It was the price she had to pay. The ding! of the elevator alerted them to their stop on the fourth floor.
They were lucky that there were no stops in between. A loud squealing noise caused the partners to wince until the doors fully opened, and the annoyance ended. Looks like gramps still hadn't gotten the elevator looked at.
"There you are." The redhead looked expectantly from what would normally be considered the living area. Lucy always loved that the basement floors were set up like penthouses. It was cute and functional. Occasionally, when necessary, the suites were used as a sort of safehouse. Spacious, hidden, and under heavy security. It was perfect for members who may have gotten in a little too much trouble.
Mirajane and Lisanna lived on floor 3 until two weeks ago. Lisanna was more than happy to get back to work and gramps was drowning in paperwork with Mirajane in hiding. Luckily, everything was back to normal now.
"What's goin' on?" the pinkette wanted to get to it. He hadn't had a mission in nearly a week and it was making him antsy.
"The master has a mission for us. But, We're still waiting on Gray and Wendy." Which meant Erza wouldn't do the briefing until they both arrived.
"Of course that popsicle would be late." He clicked his teeth while he bounced from foot to foot.
"Natsu, would you sit down. You're making me nervous." Lucy snapped at him, causing him to finally settle down. Briefly. He immediately started pacing. He figured if bouncing was a problem, maybe walking wouldn't be. Lucy must've decided to let it go because she said nothing further and opted to focus directly on their mission leader.
"What's this about?" maybe she could pry answers from the redhead.
"Phantom Lord." Well, she didn't have to pry, but Lucy certainly didn't appreciate the answer. Natsu stopped in his tracks, and she could feel the rage emanating from his body.
A/N:
So here we are, the first chapter of Old Bullets, so its slow but we're still world building and ive got more in store for us here. We're just getting started every one. Alrighty the update schedule hasn't been set yet but im going to hash that out within the next couple of days and then we'll be on regular updates. That's all for now. If you want to keep tabs on the series or get to see excerpts and other NaLu works that I do you can go to my Tumblr: seehunnybeessoar
I do want to just let y'all know that my Tumblr URL has changed since my last posted work
UPDATE:
Thanks to a review by Bakers28 I realized my sleep deprived ass put Phantom Hive instead of Phantom Lord lmao
its been updated since