Andromeda's Gambit

Chapter 3: Supernova

Before I could even process the fact that my co-escapee had just leveled an entire watchtower, Natsu grabbed my hand and pulled me into a dark shadowed area, pressing his body close to mine and I tried not to get offended at the invasion of personal space. I was going to ask why, but then I heard urgent footsteps pass the area where Natsu had launched his assault on the tower.

"What. The. Hell. Were. You. Thinking," I breathed out in choppy fragments, glaring at the dark shadow hovering over me with as much intensity as possible.

"If it's a government building, then there's always something worth blowing up, and when it blows up, then we can start opening doors without you being all scared we're gonna get caught because they're too busy trying to put out the fire or escape," he said simply.

I flicked him on the forehead. "That's not what I was saying!"

"Ow," he groaned, rubbing the injured area.

"I was trying to say they would have to have fire escape maps located everywhere and we could probably find the storage room where my stuff was there," I explained.

"Well, why didn't you say so?"

How was it possible such an infuriating man existed?

"Besides, it involved fire anyway, so it's practically the same thing."

"No, there was no fire in my plan," I groaned. "Wait, why are you on top of me?"

"In case bad guys come over this way to get to the outpost, we can be hiding from them since you're all about this sneaky-sneak stuff."

"Just… back up a bit," I sighed in annoyance and pushed him off me. "Let's just stop arguing and get out of here before anything else happens."

"Alright, alright, we're going," he said in a normal voice, and started walking back towards the main pathway.

The facility was not particularly complicated, but the issue was knowing what lied behind the doors. It was a jail so it was probably primarily cells, but I didn't want to face it if it was one door leading to a nest of guards. Though I suppose Natsu's 'quick' and impulsive thinking had dispersed the majority of them to the tower which was still burning, it was likely there were a few stragglers left behind trying to make sure none of the prisoners tried anything funny.

I briefly wondered how intense that fireball had to have been for it to have been still burning, and then realization dawned on me. Wait a minute - he had fire in his hand!

"Wait, Natsu. How did you make that fireball happen?"

"I can't tell someone in jail!"

"You're in jail!" I almost screeched, remembering to lower my voice at the last moment.

"Well, when we're both not in jail, then I'll tell ya but not a moment before," he said.

I almost began a frenzied rebuttal at how ridiculous he was being when he jerked his thumb towards the wall.

"Is this that map thing?"

"Oh, yeah," I shook my head and ran over to examine it quickly. It looked older than dirt, and as I scanned the complex in an attempt to get my bearings. There was no indication on the map anywhere of where we were, and like hell if I knew where we had started. Why hadn't I thought of this idea sooner? Then I would have tried to figure out where we were when we left the holding area; then again, Natsu hadn't exactly let me in on his intent to recover whatever the heck it was, so how was I supposed to know I should start looking for maps and location markers. Wait – was that a…. it was! A faded red mark indicating a current position. Yes! Now to find where my stuff was. But alas, there was definitely no flashing sign with, "Prisoner's Stuff Is Here." Rats.

I sighed in frustration then looked over to see my 'partner in crime,' and made sure he wasn't staging Phase 2 of Operation Burn the Whole Place Down Even Though We're Still Inside.

Natsu was leaning against the wall, and if I had to guess he was probably admiring his handiwork. There was a loud commotion coming from the opposite side of the complex. While I didn't necessarily agree with his methods, at least he was right in saying we didn't have to sneak around as much anymore.

His head rolled over to look at me and he asked, "Find it yet?"

"No," I admitted, then I snapped my attention back to the map. Think, Lucy, think. Some of these were bad criminals with dangerous weapons and stuff, so it had to be somewhere secure, meaning it would be on an inside room/wall with respect to the outside perimeter. Plus, it should probably be nowhere near the cells because they wouldn't want to make it too easy for some psycho to get his stuff back.

I traced my finger along the faded page, squinting my eyes for any kind of hint or clue as to where it would… jackpot!

"There." I jabbed my finger into the wall. "Let's go!"

It turned out the storage facility was on the ground floor, next to the main guard security point. The good news was that Natsu's pyrotechnics, if you will, had distracted most of the guards. The bad news was it hadn't distracted all of the guards.

I came to a screeching halt when I noticed there were two armed guards blocking the entrance and ducked into a shadowed corner, dragging Natsu with me. Crap. What next? I rolled my head around the corner to peek and see if there was anyway around them. Part of me already knew it wouldn't, or it else it would defeat the purpose of "secure storage," but I was hoping anyway.

"What gives?" he asked a little impatiently.

"There's guards there," I whispered, moving my head back so he could take a look. "Doesn't look like there's a way around them either."

"Heh," he chuckled. I couldn't hear it, but I just knew there was a grin that had to take up his entire face. "Wait here."

"No, wait! Natsu, don't do something stupid. Just wait here a minute and let me think," I whined. Maybe we should have just left, and I should have cut my ties with that stupid sphere and told Natsu to go kick rocks. It wasn't worth my life trying to get his stuff back, was it? But as I quickly learned, when Natsu was involved in things, my brain had a tendency to shut off.

When I went to re-address the problem at hand, I realized there was a new person approaching the two-man security checkpoint. A very familiar looking person. Wait a minute…

"Natsu," I whispered in aggravation. What the heck was he doing? I told him to wait!

He waved a hand back at me as if I was annoying him or breaking his concentration while he hugged the shadows and wall. I saw him pick up a small pebble on the ground, not moving his head an inch as he skipped it along the floor opposite the direction we were.

"I'll go check it out," one of the guards huffed, disappearing from my line of sight rather quickly, then called out. "Probably a stupid bird or something, but I'll make sure."

I couldn't see his face but I just knew there was a smirk. Arrogant, cocky jerk.

The next few movements were so fast it was practically a blur. He jumped out of the shadows and sprinted towards the remaining guard by the secured storage area, slide tackling him to the ground and then elbowing him in the back of the head before he could make a big ruckus. The other guard must have been out of earshot because he didn't return.

"Hey!" Natsu called quietly, waving me over with the unconscious guard at his feet. "C'mon, Weirdo."

"Don't whisper yell at me," I whisper yelled back (the irony wasn't lost on me). I crept through the shadows, muttering to myself about how it was I seemed to always get mixed up with strange men - though none were stranger than Natsu.

Natsu had already started dragging the guard towards the secure storage area by his arms like a sack of old potatoes, and I came around and started searching the sides and pockets of the guard.

"You pervert," he spoke in shock.

"What are you talking about?" I looked up at Natsu in confusion.

"Trying to cop a feel on an unconscious guy," he shook his head. "I'm disappointed in you, Lucy."

My eye had to have been twitching and I'm not entirely sure how I didn't scream, "I'm looking for the key, not trying to molest him." There was no doubt about it - this guy was definitely a few cards short of a deck.

"Well how was I supposed to know that?" he shrugged.

"Because the door is locked?" I pointed, making a face. "How else would we get in there except with keys?"

"I was planning on unlocking it with his head," Natsu said plainly.

"I… am not even surprised," I exhaled, finally locating the key. This whole breakout was quickly becoming more stressful than the freaking arrest itself! "Just cool your jets, okay? Haven't you ever heard of the expression, 'Discretion is the better part of valor?'"

"No," he answered. "It sounds like something weirdos or old people would say."

"Well, excuse me," I snapped defensively, thrusting the key in the lock and turning it with a bit of struggle. I pushed the heavy door open as quickly as I could and Natsu dragged his fallen foe into the room with us, then dropped him like a sack of potatoes on the ground.

"So what are we looking for?"

"I'll let you know when I find it; in the meantime, I think you should look for your stuff, too," Natsu explained, pulling boxes out and rummaging through them. Apparently he wasn't particularly concerned with whatever kind of disaster he left in his wake, because there was practically a trail of 'breadcrumbs' following him to his current location made up of strewn articles of clothing, weapons, books, journals, wallets, and other personal items.

"It would go faster if we were both looking for each other's things," I said, starting to look through boxes and cabinets on a different section of the storage room. "For example, my stuff is a brown leather satchel with the initials L.H. on it, and it has some journals and books in it, and also a holosphere."

"Okay, I'll let you know if I find it," he said. And that was it.

"Don't you want me to help you look?"

"Nah, I got it," Natsu replied. Ugh. Men.

"So why do you have a holosphere?" he asked.

I suddenly felt defensive. "I, uh, I found it."

"Strange thing to have," he commented. "Where'd you find it?"

"In Hargeon; why do you care?"

"Just making conversation," he said. "Why are you- oh, I think I found your bag."

"Really?" I almost squealed, barreling around the corner of the aisle to find him turning through the pages of my journal. "Kya! What are you doing!?"

"You have some dirty thoughts, Lucy. I knew you were a pervert," he chuckled, turning a page.

"Give that back!" I snatched it out of his hand and popped him on the head with it. "You don't just go reading through someone's stuff!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," he held his hands up defensively. It was strange; I had barely known him for a few hours and yet it felt like I had known him my entire life. It was both comforting and unnerving. Was I too trusting of this strange fellow with pink hair? Truth be told, I hadn't even been able to take a good look at his face yet either.

I snatched my belongings back from Natsu and started checking through the contents of my bag while he resumed his quest for whatever it was he wanted to find. The sphere was still there, thankfully. I apparently had become invested in its affairs, probably due to a combination of spending both 9,500 jewel and the government being so keen on what information was on it. I figured it just had some recording of a kid's birthday from a long time ago, but now I was wondering if there was something more secretive on there. I still hadn't solved the mystery of how I was going to get the information off, but I definitely wasn't going to solve it inside a jail, so best to get out now, and then chart my next course of action later.

"Let's hurry up and find your stuff so we can get out of here," I said quickly, throwing the satchel over my shoulder.

"Hey! We've got prisoners missing! Throw up a Code Red!" one of the guards shouted across the courtyard. "Check the perimeter and see if anyone else is missing and then do a sweep!"

One of these days, I'll learn to keep my big mouth shut.

"Time to go!" I shouted.

"I haven't found it yet," Natsu said. "Just keep 'em busy, okay?"

"With what!? It's not like we ended up in the armory or anything!"

His disembodied voice sounded like it was attached to a pair of shrugging shoulders, "I have faith!"

Great. Just freaking great. Lord of the Flame was busy looking for some mystery possession and I was left to fend off the jailhouse guard. I began to wonder who I had pissed off in a past life to end up here.

My train of thought was interrupted when I realized I was face to face with a guard.

"What are you-" he started to spit out and without hesitating, I charged at him and knocked him right into the wall.

He must have not been expecting the reaction about as just as much as I wasn't expecting my reaction because he thudded into the wall silently. My preemptive strike was short lived, however, because the next thing I knew, he had recovered and grabbed me by my hair.

"Ow, ow," I groaned, using my hand to search around for anything. I guess he had shoved me next to a desk or table of some sort, because as my fingers suddenly wrapped around a lamp and I picked it up and swung it as hard as I could at his lead. The guard let go of me and I thudded to the ground as he started clutching his head, groaning in pain.

"Any day now, Natsu," I huffed impatiently, trying to pick myself up before he recovered. Unfortunately, I was not fast enough. The guard came charging at me again and in a last ditch effort to get the KO, I kicked at him with as much force as I could muster right in the family jewels.

He gasped, his eyes bulging as he toppled over, clutching himself tightly and gasping for air. At least that'd keep him quiet for a bit.

"NATSU!"

"Got it!" he cried triumphantly, rounding the corner with something clutched in his hand. Was that a... scarf!?

"You were looking for a fashion accessory!?" I screeched.

"It's not a fashion accessory, it's an article of clothing," he countered, winding it around his neck.

"Whatever, we have bigger problems!" I said, pointing at the door where there was a pileup of guards in the courtyard. "Mr. Shove n' Stuff here is down for the count I think, but we can't take all of those guys."

"Now begins Phase 2 of Operation Freedom."

"Which is?"

"You might want to barricade the door," he said and an orange glow appeared in his hand, illuminating his toothy grin. In the other hand, was a huge fire extinguisher.

Posted: 10/27/2015

A/N: Updates come early! I'm a little bit ahead in writing the story, so I figured I'd spread the wealth and try not to drag out this fic as long as possible. It's kind of a cliffhanger, but I think it's made up by the fact it's a slightly longer chapter AND next chapter is even longer. So, what do you think? Leave a review and let me know. Things are just getting "fired" up in AG. ;) Thanks to those who have reviewed, favorited, and/or alerted the fic so far. Feel free to ask any questions; I don't mind clarifying as long as it's not spoilery and I love reading theories you guys have.