To Kill A Heart
chapter two: codename
"Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander, at your service. You left the window open."
"The fuck." Lucy cursed absently, causing the so called Salamander to chuckle, lifting an eyebrow at her.
"Lucy, your manners." Jude warned, before narrowing his eyes at the man.
When Lucy eyed him better, she discovered her father was hiding behind the couch like it was a fortress. She rolled her eyes, before focusing them again on the main problem.
Natsu put the papers down and walked over to them, a sly grin as he watched the main head of a famous company squirm on fear, and his daughter to glare at him.
At least this time he didn't have to take care of a crying ten years old.
He put his hands on his pocket, eyeing his job better. Her long, blonde hair was tied up on a side ponytail, and her fingers were covered in recent ink, which told him that she was, in fact, the author of the cheesy novel he was reading just now.
When he was standing right in front of them, he was surprised to see the girl was still holding his gaze, her lips pursing together. She had a fierce gaze, much to his joy.
"Who are you?" she repeated her father's words, a rather menacing tone on her voice.
He resisted the urge to chuckle. Ah, he had the feeling he would enjoy this work, even if bodyguarding was something he despised. He didn't know why the Old Man always recommended him.
"I'm Natsu Dragneel," he repeated.
"How can we be sure?" the girl asked.
"If it wasn't me, you'd already be dead bodies," he said.
He saw doubt in her eyes, but at the end she seemed to accept his words, and she sighed.
"You're right, I guess." she said. "But show me your badge."
Shrugging his shoulders in defeat, he took out his Fairy Tail card and gave it to her. He eyed the man at her side curiously.
"Jude Heartfilia?" he asked.
The man gulped and nodded, still kind of hiding behind the couch. Natsu really tried to bit back his laughter, but he couldn't help an amusing snort.
"Dad," the girl nudged Jude on his ribs. "I think he says the truth."
Jude blinked at her, and then at him, and then he cleared his throat in a lame attempt to sound professional, even in his pose.
"Welcome to our house, Mister Dragneel." Jude said. "That was fast. As expected of Fairy Tail."
"Thanks," Natsu said, but his eyes were fixed on her. She slowly returned him his badge, and he put it back on his pocket.
"She's my daughter Lucy," Jude said. "She's the one you have to look after."
He gave her a mischievous smirk, "Nice to meet you, my lady."
Lucy sent him a hard glare. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Dragneel."
It sounded so different when she said it. He liked it.
Jude Heartfilia finally stood up, fixing his tie. He extended his hand in greeting, and Natsu shook it strongly. "I'm glad you came. I'm worried about her safety."
Natsu nodded, "Yeah, I heard. Tartaros, right?"
"Yes."
"Ah, you got yourself a pretty bad enemy, Old Man," Natsu said. "Those guys are tough."
"O-Old Man?" Jude asked, blinking.
"What do you know about them?" Lucy asked, frowning.
Natsu shoot her a smug smirk, "I killed one of them long ago. He put up a good fight."
He noticed how she suddenly went pale, her eyes a little scared of him. He decided to ignore her reaction, since it was pretty common on people that weren't into the business.
Being a hitman, he'd seen more blood than she would ever do.
"I… see." Jude said. "Well, then I think I made the right choice at hiring you. Thanks for coming."
"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome," Natsu dismissed him, his gaze fixed on her. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to her on private."
"What for?" The Heartfilia's asked at the same time.
Natsu rolled his eyes. "Hey, I can't work with so little trust. And I need to talk to her because she is the one I'm gonna protect. I need to point some important things so it goes easier for both of us."
Lucy took a deep breath, before giving a reassuring smile to her father. "It's okay dad, he's right. Let's let him do his work."
"Okay, call me if you need anything." Jude said, slowly walking out of his room.
When the doors closed behind him, Lucy turned around to face the smirking man on front of her. Much to her surprise, he didn't look old, as she expected from a bodyguard, but she guessed it was better this way, since he should have more physical strength and ability.
"Just how old are you?" she asked. At least she wanted to know something about him if he was going to be around.
He chuckled. "Nineteen, but close to my twenties."
"What?" she asked, shocked. "But you're too-"
"Young? Yeah, I get that a lot. But what's the problem with it?"
"Uh…" Lucy wondered too. "I guess it's no problem."
"Great. I think I can work with you." he winked at her.
Unsure of how to take his actions and words, Lucy changed the subject.
"So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Oh yeah," he said, apparently remembering what he came for. "I need to give you some instructions if I'm doing this job."
"Like what?"
"Give me your phone."
"What? No!" Lucy protested, unconsciously putting her hand over her jean pocket, where she had her cell phone.
Natsu crossed his arms, probably a little annoyed at her childish attitude, but she couldn't help it. "My lady, give me your phone." His tone didn't leave room for any questioning.
Reluctantly, Lucy handed him the object, watching with a frown as he unlocked it.
"Don't call me that." Lucy said.
"Call you what?" he asked, not looking at her.
"My lady."
"I have to be formal," he said. "Or Gramps will kill me."
"You called the head of one of the most importants companies Old Man," Lucy reminded him. "I can't see any formalities right there."
He blinked at her. "Fair enough. What do you want me to call you?"
"Just Lucy." she said.
"Okay, Just Lucy," he grinned. "Here you have."
Lucy frowned at him before grabbing her phone back and looking at the possible changes he may have done. "What did you do?"
"Hey, calm down, I didn't look through your conversations with your boyfriend-"
"I don't have a boyfriend."
"- I just added my own phone number, just in case. If you think something's off, or someone is looking weirdly at you, call me. You just have to press number one."
She scrolled down in her list of contacts, "Really? You added yourself like Best Hitman of the world?"
He grinned like a kid, "Yeah."
"What kind of professional are you?" Lucy rolled her eyes. He wasn't exactly the definition of safety for that matter.
"The best." he said. "Now, we need codenames for each other, and for your Old Man. Nobody has to know I'm working for you."
"Why?" Lucy asked curiously.
"Ah, Lucy, you really don't want more enemies smelling your tail, don't you?" he said. "Now, your codename will be Weirdo. Your father will be Crux."
"What? Why?" Lucy asked, her pride a little hurt. He was the weird one here…
"Because you're weird," he grinned brightly at her. And for a moment, she couldn't breathe. Maybe she really was a weirdo…
She pouted. "Fine. What will be yours?"
"Pick one,"
Taken aback, she thought, but nothing came to her mind. She looked at his pink hair, but the glare he gave her when she did told her she better not mention anything about it.
"Ah… isn't Salamander already your codename?" she asked.
"No, that's more of a nickname someone gave me. Still, that's worldwide know, so I suggest you pick another." he said.
"Uh… Happy?" she said ashamed.
Natsu laughed at her for a couple of minutes where Lucy watched him with flaming cheeks. She was never good with picking up names for stuff.
"Now, that's what I call a coincidence," Natsu said, finally calming down. "My cat's name is Happy too."
"You have a cat named Happy?" Lucy said, giggling behind her fist.
"Look who's laughing," Natsu said.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Dragneel," Lucy apologized, even if she still had a big smile on her face. "But it's not fair, if your codename is your pet's name, then I want my pet's name for me too."
"What would be it?" Natsu raised his eyebrow.
"Plue."
"And that's…"
"My dog. He's a pug." Lucy stated proudly.
"Okay, you'll have two codenames then." Natsu finished, rather amused.
"Hey! That's unfair." Lucy protested.
"On the other hand," Natsu ignored her. "How many of your friends know that you're the daughter of Jude Heartfilia?"
Lucy pursed her lips. She didn't see why he'd ask that, but she answered nonetheless. "Only one. Levy McGarden."
Natsu raised his eyebrows, secretly analyzing her. "Really? Well, that makes things a lot easier."
Without another word, he turned around, already dialing on his phone. He put it near his ear, and said. "Hi -oh shit Gajeel, why did you pick up?"
Lucy watched him confused as he listened to that Gajeel speak on the other line.
"Urgh. Don't care. I'm with the Heartfilia's. Give me a report about Levy McGarden, a friend of the daughter. Investigate her and give me a report."
Lucy watched as he hang up when the other man was speaking. Furious, she walked up to him and grabbed his arm. The look he gave her almost made her back up. Almost.
"What are you going to do with Levy?" she asked. "She has nothing to do with this."
"Listen here, Lucy," he said, gently freeing himself from her grip. "My job is to make sure you're okay no matter what. That means both physically and mentally. I'm just preparing to avoid any mental damage."
Lucy gulped, her eyes glued to the floor. She'd never thought about it that way. If something ever happened to Levy because of her fault… Lucy wouldn't be able to take it.
"Oh…" she murmured.
"Another question," Natsu said, walking around her room, his piercing eyes scanning every spot. "Do you have a personal chauffeur?"
"Yes," Lucy said, frowning. Him and his weird questions were making her head ache.
"Who's him?" Natsu asked, turning to her.
"He's been working here since I was little. His name is Everlue."
"Everlue." Natsu repeated, as if savoring the taste of the word on his lips. "From now on, I'll be your driver."
"What? But we can't just fire him. He has a family… I think." Lucy said. She was glad he'd come to her rescue, but she wouldn't let him change everything so easily. It was still her life.
Natsu rolled his eyes. "Fine. But I'll be with you every time you get on the car, got it?"
"Wh-"
"No questions. It would be so easy for Tartaros to catch you in a car. It can be simple kidnapping, a casual car accident, a bomb… whatever." he said it so casually, it send shivers through Lucy's spine. For a moment she'd forgot he still was a murderer, a hitman.
He knew what he was talking about. He may have done all of those things too…
"Okay…" Lucy mumbled.
"Talking about it," Natsu said, his hands in his pockets. "You have to tell me wherever you go too. I need to know it. And none of the silly drama of 'he's taking it too serious, he's so possessive, let me be' because the last girl that said so ended up dead." For a moment, Lucy thought she'd seen a flash of something in his eyes, but it vanished as soon as it came.
"I'm here to work, not to get in your pants, like she said." Natsu rolled his eyes. "Stupid girl."
"Okay…" Lucy nodded.
"Last thing," Natsu said, standing on front of her window. "If you keep forgetting to close them, you're done."
"Ah… okay." Lucy said. All that information would have to wait until it sank into her. It was just too much to assimilate in such a short time.
Her family was on danger. Heck, even Levy could be on danger. Her life was being threatened by some guys that liked to call themselves Tartaros. The best hitman on the world was in her room trying to play bodyguard, and he was going to call her Weirdo/Plue.
"Any questions?" Natsu asked, looking at her.
"Oh.. lots of them, actually." Lucy admitted.
Natsu smiled. "Well, we have plenty of time until my partners gather up more information, but I'll answer what I can."
"Want some tea, Mr. Dragneel?" Lucy offered. It was the least she could do.
"Yeah, and cookies would be great too."
Word Count= 2178. Thank you so much for your lovely reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying this story as much as I do, it makes me really happy! I'd love to hear your opinion in this chapter, hope it didn't let you down!
Shouts outs to: Jozanimelover - LitheMaidenOfDeath - CastielOfHell - esefani36 - laelucilfer - NightLocker - NaLu x Buckets - Hugs42morgan - Moonlight Meow - MehKitty - SingingAngel327 - esmeraldasalaices - Ayden-Cross-1307.
