Natsu flailed uselessly as the man crushed his windpipe in his meaty fist. The whine of the sirens cut through the silence that accompanied a lack of spectators. His breaths were ragged as his opponent slowly applied more pressure, his laughter mixing with the wail of the sound that meant impending doom for Natsu. He could hear Don now, drilling rule number one into him: "If that siren goes off, you run. You don't make friends, you don't mention names, you just don't get caught."

This was the second time he was ignoring that rule, and for the same reason. He could easily let his Salamander instincts take over and leave this hulking moron a twitching mess, but he didn't want to leave Lucy here with him and the police. He had no doubt her father would clear up any charges against her, but he didn't want to put her through that. So he continued to flail as he tried to find a way out before he lost consciousness.

What he didn't expect was for Lucy to climb up into the ring. "Hey!" she screamed, and her voice cracked. "We don't have time for this! We have to get out of here. I don't know about you, but I don't want to get arrested, so put him down!" Her eyes were wide with terror. 'Is she…scared?' He recognized the expression; many of his opponents over the years as they climbed into the ring with him. But where their fearful expressions made him giddy, the fear in Lucy's face made him itchy with anger.

The muscles in the fingers around in his twitched, and Natsu readied himself. Consequences be damned, he wasn't going to put her through this. He never should have brought her into this life; never should have been so selfish as to think she could stay with him.

He never should have believed that the Salamander could be anything more than a monster.

An officer's voice cut through the fuzzy thoughts in Natsu's head. "Any people inside, please come outside in a calm and orderly fashion for detainment." The fingers twitched again, before Natsu was flying through the air. He felt his head thump against hard wood, making the fuzziness in his head worse. His throat felt soar and bruised, and he was struggling to get enough air to see straight.

Cool hands slipped under his arms and around his back, tugging until he was up and leaning on a small frame. He coughed at the movement, and he started massaging his throat to try and get it to work again. He looked down to see Lucy with a look of pure concentration on her face, and he would've laughed had he been able. She looked so—

Her face morphed into pained shock as she was yanked backward, and Natsu went down. He caught himself on his hands, Lucy's struggles igniting every nerve in his body for him to do something. She screamed something, desperate and angry.

Natsu pushed himself to stand, feeling like he was on fire. The bastard was dragging her by her hair, smug at his win. Pushing the feeling in his head aside, he shifted forward to test his balance. Step. Another step. His eyes never moved from Lucy, her eyes both calculating and trusting.

She twisted and turned, pointing out that no one had won the fight, and Natsu felt his brain switch gears. The fight was still going on, and here he was shuffling his feet like a newbie. He did not lose, and he was not going to start now, especially with Lucy's life on the line. He watched that Captain get up in her face, and clenched his fist. The Salamander reared his ugly head, and Natsu gave in.

He saw Lucy start to plunge her heel in the man's torn wrist in slow motion, and figured he would help her. He did a quick overview before deciding snapping the elbow would be the most effective way to finish it. Mimicking Lucy, he aimed his bare heel at the bend of his elbow, the bone giving way with a satisfying crunch. The arm spasmed at the combined attack, sending Lucy flying across the room to collide with a chair. The Captain roared in pain, falling to the floor with his face frozen in a scream.

The cops, having heard the combined pained screams, burst in through the door. Natsu wasted no time in rushing to grab Lucy and running out through the back. He wove through the streets he'd been running his whole life, but this was the first time he had a destination in mind. In the past, he only wanted to protect himself. But tonight, he was running to the one place he knew she'd be okay.

He was panicky by the time they'd reached her front door. Lucy was completely limp in his arms, and her breathing sounded not unlike his from half an hour earlier. He kicked the door a few times as a knock, hoping someone would be awake to open it at this late hour. He didn't want to break in unless he absolutely had to.

Luckily, a small old woman opened the door with wide eyes. Her wrinkly face took in the bloody Natsu holding the precious heiress in his arms, but didn't do anything other than stare. Natsu locked his jaw and shoved past her, knowing Lucy didn't have the time for him to stand around with that grandma. His bare feet slapped against the cold marble as he hurried up the stairs, knowing Lucy's room was somewhere on the third floor by a tree. The little woman hovered behind him, saying things like doctors and hospitals and police. Natsu ignored her and pushed open the door to Lucy's room.

She really needed a smaller house, but he'd table that conversation for later.

"Young man!" The old woman yelled. Natsu laid Lucy down gently before turning around to face her. He recoiled a bit at how angry she looked, and felt his muscles tense in case she tried to attack him. Which was absurd, because she couldn't be three feet tall.

"Who are you? What happened to Miss Lucy? Do you need help? Where has she been? Who did this—?"

Natsu growled at all the questions, and the little woman quieted immediately. The headache from the fight was coming back, and the last thing he wanted was for the police or doctors to come an examine him. "Look, Granny. She needs help, and fast. Have them look at her back. I'll come back when she's feeling better." He turned back around and gave Lucy one last look. Her face was still contorted in pain from the impact, and he felt something shrivel inside him.

Without another look at either her or the woman, he ran and leapt out the window, figuring a bottle of whiskey would make everything right itself.