AN: Hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter! Now, this chapter is a little more on the serious end but I promise there will be more puns coming on Natsu's end. Just remember I only own the plot of the story! (I wish I owned Natsu and Lucy too but that will never happen :/ ) Enjoy!


Chapter 2: Natsu, Day 1

Sighing, I rubbed my temple, annoyed at the workers in front of me. My father, Igneel, has been missing for a year now and I had no clues as to where he was. Gray Fullbuster, my right-hand man, along with my Uncle Atlas, was standing beside me telling me again that the searches had turned up with nothing. They had gone past the Pocono mountains all the way up to Boston, Massachusetts, and there was no sign of him. They had even gone down past Virginia Beach, all the way down the coast to Miami, Florida, and nothing.

"One would think that with all the latest home security equipment and tracking devices, we would have been able to find him somewhere," I roared, frustrated at the past few weeks. Pacing back and forth, I came up with a new idea. "Gray, send some people out to the beaches in California. He loves warm weather. Do it now."

"Yes, sir," Gray replied with a bow and a flip of the bird. After he had exited the room I turned to my Uncle, who was obviously waiting to tell me something important if he had stayed quiet the entire time I had thought about how to look for my father next.

"Sir, we need to talk about an important issue." He hesitated for a moment before speaking, "The problem is until we find your father, we are not able to be as productive as we could be because we have no leader and no one to tell us what to do. I would like you to fill your father's role while until he is found. I would much rather answer to you, someone who knows the company, rather than a newcomer who has no idea how to keep our company standing. I know your father has taught you everything you need to know in case of an emergency such as this, so we must keep moving." As he spoke I became more and more irritated. Become my father in role and title? It was absurd. But then again… "Also, if I may, we are currently operating at 39% of our maximum production. If you were to take over his role until his return it could boost our production by 33%. That's almost double our current production rate."

Taking a step back from my desk I wandered over to a window and look out into the backyard of the mansion my father had built. Looking out I noticed a figure in the backyard, and they were stumbling around like a mad person. Turning around to tell Atlas about the figure, I saw he had pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.

"You just need to sign here sir," he said pointing at a line with a small "x" next to it.

Reading the paper I saw it contained everything Atlas had spoken of. Looking back, I saw the figure getting closer and so I quickly signed the paper stating "Well then as your new head of the company I want you to go find whoever that is in the garden and bring them to me," I declared, pointing at the figure.

"Right away, Sir."

After the figure had been captured and taken into custody, I headed down to the interrogation room. Arriving at the room, I found my self-adjusting my suit, getting ready to find out why someone was in my backyard and how they would have gotten in. Walking in I saw a girl sitting on the chair. She had long brown hair, a light blue bikini top, brown capris, and black flip-flops. Sitting down I looked at the girl and watched her brown eyes gaze around the room. She rolled her head and slammed her hands on the table. Finally looking at me, I noticed her eyes drooped and her pupils were constricted.

"Who are you?" I asked the drunken girl.

"Cana Alberona," she responded with a slur.

"And why were you in my backyard? And why are you drunk? It's 4:20 in the afternoon." I inquired.

"I needed something to do, other than just drink of course, and it just so happens I decided to find out who took away MY backyard and replaced a perfectly good ecosystem with a perfectly mowed lawn," she said, obviously a little annoyed.

"Your backyard?"

"Yes, MY backyard. I live in Ashley Court Complexes with my roommates, Lucy Heartfilia and Levy McGarden. Lucy went out on a date with some asshat she doesn't even have any feelings for and Levy is holed up in her room, probably reading another book on astrological patterns or rereading a book on the probability theory. I was bored and I wanted to see who took over our beautiful scenery and made it into a factory for global warming." Her eyes suddenly snapped open wide and looking at me accusingly.

"Excuse me?"

"The Dragneel Corporation took over this land and built mansions on a previous, perfect ecosystem and beautiful backyard view. I wanted to meet the man behind the destruction."

"Sorry to disappoint, but that man vanished a year ago," I said leaning back in my chair, looking down at my hands.

"What do you mean? The whole reason I made a hole in that fence was to be caught and captured by the guy I need to question."

I sighed and stood from my chair. "Well if you find him before me you can ask him your questions and then I'll beat him to a pulp for leaving me behind." I turned to leave and she spoke up.

"Who are you?"

"Natsu."

"Do you want to come to hang out-" suddenly a phone started ringing. Turning around suddenly, I watched her pull a phone out of her pocket and answer the call she had coming in. "Twenty minutes in access spot C." Hanging up she looked at me and said sarcastically "Well I'm sorry, sir, but I'll have to stop the questioning here. Lucy's date has gone sour and she needs a pickup." The look in her eyes differentiated from her tone and I backed away from the girl.

Taken aback at her blunt statement, I looked at her in surprise. "What makes you think I'm letting you out? You were on my property. I should call my bodyguards right now and have you escorted to the county police department. Hell, I should be taking you to the police for public drunkenness."

"Are you really that low you'd take away a girls ability to get out of a bad date? Jeez. Come hang out with us at the Fairy Tail pub tonight, ya don't seem too bad. I'll make sure to give my number to an employee on the way out. Au revoir, Monsieur!" she said with a wave of her hand as she walked out of the room.

Standing in shock, I watch the tenacious girl walk away down the hall. Thinking about her and how she had acted towards me, I realized I had bigger issues. She had a phone on her and could get a signal in the interrogation room. What was that saying about the men who took her into custody? I stormed to my office and turned on the pager "Atlas, my office."

Atlas arrived a little while later and I sat behind my desk, leaning on my hands as I looked at him on the other side. "Sit." I watched as he took a seat on the other side of the desk. "I have some question regarding the girl who was found in the back about a half an hour ago. Who took the girl into custody? She had a phone in the interrogation room plus, she was able to receive and answer a phone call while I was questioning her. Why?"

"A newer member of the organization was out in the gardens when you called in the request so he…took it," He hesitated. "I believe his name was Romeo."

"Oh…" I sighed and banged my head on the table. Romeo was a younger boy, about 17, who used to follow me around when we were younger. His dad Macao, used to be head of security but retired about seven years ago. "Can you get him for me?"

"Understood, Sir." Atlas stood to leave and as he grabbed the door handle there was a knock on the door. Opening the door, revealing a lower level worker named Max.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Mr. Dragneel, but a girl left this paper for you. She said you'd need it soon." He stepped in, and brought the paper over, leaving it on my desk as he let himself out. Picking it up, I folded it and put it in my pocket, intent on tossing it later. I started pacing, trying to think about what I should do with Romeo. I could put him in training. Macao was a great help to my family. Romeo has just been living here with his father. Plus he's been trying to help out and learn about the company. He's never had any type of formal training but since he's been trying so hard we may as well start training him soon. I thought about what to do for another moment and then came up with a decision. My pager rang and Atlas's voice came through the speaker.

"Sir, I have information about Romeo. He will be free from his duties at 17:15 and will report to you at exactly 17:30."

I looked at the clock, it was 16:35. I had a while before Romeo was finished and ready to report. I decided to go for a walk so I walked out to the gardens and inspected the fence where the girl said she entered my gardens. Checking the hole she had made, I paged Atlas and asked him to send security out to fix the fence and repair the security system which was intertwined with the border. I continued to stroll through the garden until 17:25, when I made my way back towards my office. I arrived at my office with 2 minutes to spare. Organizing my notes, I sat down and waited for Romeo to arrive. Then, at exactly 17:30, I heard a knock at the door.

"Come in."

"Sir, you wanted to see me?" Romeo asked hesitantly, fear laced in his voice.

"Yes, I did. Please, have a seat," I said kindly. I watched him scuttle to the seat and sit. "Would you like a drink?" I motioned to the liquid I had on a small end table.

"Just water would be fine, Sir."

Handing him a cup of water, I sat back down and pulled out a few papers. "Romeo, I would like to talk about your position here at the Dragneel Family Corporation. As you well know, your father retired seven years ago and you two have been living here since he first began, back before you were even born. I have noticed that you have been trying to help out around the property but unfortunately, I have also noticed you are unaware of the procedures we have in place to keep this house secure." Romeo hung his head at this. Knowing he had done wrong, and obviously expecting punishment, I continued. "So as you've been such an active helper and ally I would like to offer you a spot in training to become one of our employees. I would like to put you in security like your father was but I didn't know how that sounded to you. If you aren't satisfied with security, I would like you to take an aptitude test to see where you'd be most helpful, but the final decision would be up to you." His head came up suddenly, his eyes wide but happy.

"Thank you so much! I would love to work in security, Sir. I know my dad misses it and I'd love to follow in his footsteps!"

"Then tomorrow morning, at 8:00, report to Sergeant Elfman. He likes to say he's the 'manliest of all'. Why? Who knows, he's probably hit his head one too many times while trying to be a 'man'. Now everything is manly to him. Fuck if I know why but it is. I'm sorry in advance," I stated apologetically. "If you have any questions feel free to ask them but if you have issues with anyone, from here on I can't solve them for you. You're a man now, Romeo, and every man here knows that personal issues need to be left at the door while working. Even the Pervy Popsicle knows any issues he has with me or anyone else have to be left behind while working. Go get some food and rest up for tomorrow. You'll have a work tablet and schedule sent to you by 20:00 tonight."

"Thank you, Sir. I'll do my best to make sure our security is as tight as it can be."

After Romeo had left the room I fell into my seat and took a deep breath. As I sighed I pulled out a paper from my pocket and read it, seeing the words 'Hey sexy ;)' along with a string of numbers below. Dialing the number on my phone I sent a text to the number on the paper. 'Hey, crazy lady, Y'all still going to Fairy Tail tonight?' and waited for a reply. Suddenly a reply popped up.

'Get here soon. Metal prick is starting to sing so Lucy will prob be leaving soon. You should meet her.' Why she wanted me to meet this Luigi chick was still a mystery to me but I decided to leave anyway. Getting to Fairy Tail pretty quick was no issue since it was just a few blocks away. Walking towards the entrance a blonde walked out and bumped into me. She apologized and kept walking. I watched her leave waiting for her to recognize me but she never looked back. Heading in I saw a guy with long dark hair singing horrible music on a stage. Looking around I found Cana sitting with a small blue haired girl. Heading over I sat down across from the tipsy girl, unbuttoning my suit. I cursed myself for not thinking to change before leaving. Suits weren't my thing.

"Heyyyyy! Look who finally showed up! Let me grab you a beer." Cana walked away to the bar to order.

I turned to the girl next to me. "Hello, my name is Natsu. Are you Luigi by any chance?"

The girl laughed. I was confused for a moment before she responded. "You think I'm Lucy? I'm sorry but she just left. That's really funny though. Let me guess, Cana brought you here so you could meet her?"

"Sort of. I kinda took Cana prisoner for trespassing and then she told me to come down. I needed to get out so I took her up on her offer." I said scratching the back of my neck.

"Wait you captured Cana?"

"Long story," Cana interjected, handing me a beer. "So you just missed Lucy, She has an early shift tomorrow so she went home. Turns out the guy tried to make a BIG move and Lucy wasn't comfortable. Now the look on the guys face when Gajeel 'kidnapped her'," She paused for a moment and motioned to the guy on the stage, "Now that was a great sight to see."

I drank my beer as she laughed. "So Metal Face up there helped you guys save her? Doesn't look like much of a savior."

Levy turned to me suddenly. "No, he doesn't. When we first met him he was a total jerk but he actually saved me from guys who were cutting me off from everyone. I had two close friends name Jet and Droy… It turned out they were scaring away anyone who might try to take me away from them. They each wanted me to themselves. But then Gajeel showed up." She continued her explanation with dreamy eyes. "He helped me get those guys away from me and he helped me stand up to them. I still can't thank him enough. He's a great guy." She watched the stage gentle expression.

Gajeel then decided to get off the stage to take a small break. He came over and looked me up and down with squinty eyes. "Shrimp, who is this firecracker? Is he bothering you? I've been itching for a fight all day and I'll take him out if you want." He cracked his knuckles and smiled menacingly.

"Who you calling a firecracker, bolts for brains? If you're looking for a fight I'll gladly give you one. I need a stress reliever and you look like the perfect punching bag," I said laughing with a smirk. I pulled off my suit coat and tossed it on the chair behind me. Gajeel did the same and tossed his hat to Levy, who put it on grinning.

After a few minutes of fighting Levy called out for Gajeel to stop and he immediately dodged my left uppercut and went to see if she need anything. Turning, I noticed her hand resting lightly on his upper arm and she was looking at him softly.

Putting two and two together, I figured out why Levy looked at Gajeel the way she did, I turned back to Cana. "I'm going to go soon. It's been a long day. You made more problems than just breaking the fence in the back, ya drunk. Tell Metal brain over there I expect another round soon." She snickered.

Chugging down another beer, I handed my cup back to the silver-haired waitress behind the bar and left the trio behind to finish their night together.

Back at my house, I was greeted at the door by my cat, Happy. He was a Russian Blue cat who always looked like he was smiling. Picking him up, I carried him to my room and he curled up at the foot of my bed with a fish I had handed him. I looked out my back window and noticed a light on in the apartment complex behind me. That window was always lit up, even early in the morning when everyone else should be asleep. I shrugged it off and got ready for bed, convinced the next day would be more productive than the last.


Thanks for reading! A special shout out goes to my editor, Wynt3rM00n. I hope you guys enjoyed it and feel free to let me know what you think in the reviews or as a PM! Have a good night guys!

~Cal