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. When will they finally win the war?
Rating: M;
None of these characters are owned by me, they are all owned by the wonderful Hiro Mashima!
A/N:
Goodbye cruel world so big hiatus coming up for the heart beats. So i learned that i become bored easily with my writing and i decided to switch up what I do. So im still going to do one shots of the nalu babes but im also going to switch between my long term fics for when i start to find them boring. This also helps to give me time to fine tune some of the bigger details. So! The Heart Beats goes on Hiatus starting today so that it can get a plot clean up and to give myself a break from it. To give you guys a replacement: Old Bullets comes off Hiatus starting today. Thanks for the understanding and see you next update!
"Natsu." Erza's voice cut through the uncomfortable silence with precision. It was an admirable try on the redheads part but Lucy knew her partner and that would not placate him by any means. Though, Erza's idea of placating was mostly threats. And Natsu didn't really take to threats.
"No. I'll kill 'em." his voice was a low rumble as memories flowed through his mind. Flashes of a time that was his worst nightmare. Everything that involved harm to Lucy was his worst nightmare.
"It's not as though killing them would be uncalled for." all three heads turned in tangent as the elevator dinged and the doors shut with the same foul squeaking noise.
"Nice of you to finally join us, popsicle." Natsu's voice was still that deep timbre. The one that chilled Lucy to her core. Sometimes, it was sexy, other times – like now for instance – it had her running her fingers through her hair. She was uncomfortable. He was in a rage and it was her fault.
"Are you okay, Lucy?" the voice was soft as the small girl came out from behind Gray. Wendy, she realized. She was a young girl of 16 years old and had a tendency to join them on odd jobs. She'd insisted on joining the syndicate at a young age but the Master wouldn't have any of it. It took a lot of convincing and Wendy becoming orphaned before he finally brought her in. Still, he wasn't going to send a 16-year-old out to murder someone.
"I'm fine. Are you coming with us for this one?" in Lucy's opinion this mission might be beyond Wendy's expertise. Or that is to say, her age group. Master was very specific about what jobs she joined them on. Suffice to say, with the involvement of Phantom Lord this was going to get ugly.
"Yes! It'll be my first mission in a while but the Master insisted I join." Lucy could take a gander at why. Her healing capabilities. However, if Wendy was joining them then that could only mean one thing: this wasn't frontline work. Boy, Natsu wasn't going to like that news. In fact, she could still feel the seething rage as it came off of him in waves.
"There's no way that Gramps would just let you come with us." Apparently, Natsu hadn't realized the type of mission this was.
"Natsu… this isn't an invasion. It's recon." Gray's voice cut through the tension this time. Maybe he could tell the delicacy of the topic because he hadn't gone for an insult like he normally would have.
"What…?" Natsu recoiled from the dark-haired male. She couldn't tell if the shock was Gray's lack of insult or his disdain at not getting the chance to fight someone. It could have been both.
"No." he stated. It was simple for Natsu: a clear rejection. The plan didn't fit his needs and she knew it. What could she say? With their tragic backstory of course they'd want revenge. Everyone knew why. It was no secret. Still, they opted to pretend it never happened. Mostly because of Natsu and his temper.
"Yes." Erza's voice dug into the silence and forced Natsu to look away from what he considered the biggest threat in the room. He clicked his teeth but seemed to accept the answer. Surely, the idiot was cooking up some stupid plan for revenge. She had to talk him down but she'd worry about that later.
"Hey, flame brain don't go thinkin' of doing something stupid." there he was. Normal Gray finally made his appearance.
"Who said I was, ice princess." he didn't phrase it as a question, more as a statement.
"Everyone in the room knows what you plan to do you shit. You're gonna put us all in danger. Especially, L-" she jumped in and cut Gray off.
"Well, let's stick to a recon mission. I'm alright so it's okay to just follow the master's orders." The blonde put up her hands to push on the pinkette's chest. He was already moving towards Gray in an aggressive manner and Lucy needed them to cut it out and quickly. She needed mission details.
"Ah!" Wendy's voice cut through the fight as though she'd just realized something important. The small girl was smart and had enough skill to protect herself. Plus, she was very small which gave her a one-up on the rest of them.
"So that's why I'm here." she clapped her hands together and nodded, "I promise to help get you what you need." All they needed was proof of the underworld dealings of Phantom Lord for a police take down.
Anxiety tinged in her stomach and scars began to ache with a new kind of intensity. But that didn't worry her. What did was Natsu's silence since Wendy began speaking.
"I'll give the mission details tomorrow morning when we meet again. Everyone has a role to be played perfectly. Including, you Natsu. DO NOT stray from the mission." everyone knew he would but if Erza cemented the danger maybe things would work out.
"I'll be deep in enemy territory, right?" Wendy asked, fear tinging her voice.
"No." Gray answered without hesitation. Lucy began to wonder if he had the details while the rest of them didn't.
"Gray is right. The master would never put you frontline. We'll talk about it in the morning." Erza's voice was soothing, and immediately calmed to young bluenette.
The door to the elevator screeched open as the conversation was ended by Erza. They climbed in and found that the ride was awkwardly silent as the pinkette continued to stew in his rage and Lucy knew she'd be the one calming him down. It was like an unspoken rule.
Natsu stomped through the lobby and down the winding roads to their apartment where he'd inevitably explode. Well, there were two ways this could go. One was funner than the other. She got the feeling this wouldn't be fun.
The apartment door slammed behind them and it was the only time that Lucy had hated walking home. Normally, she loved it, but today… not today.
"Natsu-" she started but his gaze stopped her words. Rage. It was nothing but rage. He plopped down on the couch with a loud thud. It was a rather new couch so it wasn't the same as the worn comfort their old one had held before. It sure would have made less noise.
"Are ya really okay with this?" he knew she wasn't. He just wanted her to admit it.
She hated the idea of going into enemy territory even as recon but hey, the Master knew what he was doing. Probably. At the very least Lucy trusted him, and her team, to get through this alive with minimal injury.
Her lower back ached with a soft pang through her spine. She didn't move to rub it. Not with Natsu watching her every move. His eyes finally softened and he motioned for her to come to him.
"What?" she asked him, staying still. She wasn't sure about moving towards him. Not yet.
"Just come over here." with his arms outstretched he gestured with his hands for her to come to him. This time she did. He seemed insistent and, at the very least, calm. As calm as Natsu could ever be that is.
His hand gripped her upper arm gently and tugged her to him. He held her tightly for a long moment before releasing her back to the comfort of her own space.
"What was that for?"
"My own sanity." his response was short as he began to fight with the coffee machine for another cup of what he called: the fast bean juice. Personally, she didn't think he needed another cup but she wouldn't argue it.
"Another one?" she asked.
"I'm tired." his response was short again.
"Talk to me, Natsu." the blonde wrapped her arms around his abdomen, hugging him from behind. His hands gripped her own while the machine whirred to life and began to splurt the dark liquid into his favorite mug.
The noise it made was disgusting to Lucy but she never bothered to comment on it. Until now that is.
"That noise is-" she began in an attempt to fill the awkward silence that had been created.
"Disgusting. I know you hate it. You hate this mission too, so why do it?" he cut her off this time. Finally, he was speaking to her.
"Because it was assigned to us for a reason. The master would never just do something without considering it first." she tried to reason with him.
"He totally would." the pinkette muttered. To be fair to him, she didn't know the master as well as he did so maybe he was right. Still, something told her he was just mad at everyone and not particularly the master himself.
"Hey, it's okay with me. If it's not okay for you then we don't go." this was her final try. Her last option: let him choose.
"That's not fair." he mumbled, his onyx gaze holding her honey brown. He was right; she was playing dirty.
"Either decision is fine." she reassured him casually.
"We don't go."
A/N:
Thanks to everyone who replied to the first chapter of Old Bullets and I'll see you next update!
Bakers28, Lady Of The Sphinx, stranger1999, Guest, neffateri13