Part VII
Lucy watched as the white haired girl ravenously devoured the plate in front of her, a small smile on her lips. They were both sitting at the table in the kitchen of the small apartment, curtesy of Lucy's dad's money providing it for her.
"It's always amusing to watch you eat," said the blonde woman, and Yukino blushed, no longer stuffing her face with food.
"I'm sorry," mumbled the girl, swallowing the food in her mouth. "I just missed eating good food, and I haven't eaten this in years. They also fed us very little, something about keeping us in shape for the clients. En plus, c'est délicieux!"
"It's okay, eat at your heart's content then."
Yukino shot her a grateful look, and went back to eating. In the few weeks she had been with Lucy, she had changed a lot, going from a very scared and paranoid young girl to a much livelier person. Even the smallest things made her happy, and Lucy realized that they probably didn't allow her to do much when she was part of the ring.
Today was a special day for both of them, as Lucy had to make a very important decision concerning the white haired woman. She had even made her favourite plate for her, a French recipe called Hachis Parmentier. Yukino had mentioned that when she was living with her sister in France, there was this little restaurant across the street to their little apartment where they used to get the best comfort food. The owner had been a close friend to them, and the specific plate had been Yukino's favourite food.
Lucy would lie if she said that she hadn't missed French food either. Her mother had had a great love for cooking, and because the woman was French, she used to make all those fancy plates they didn't have in Magnolia for a younger Lucy who greatly admired her mother's talent. Her father however was another story. He wasn't very accepting of his wife dirtying her hands in the kitchen, and always argued with her about it, saying that they didn't hire cooks in the mansion for nothing, and claiming that it was the helps' duty.
"Merci beaucoup pour la bouffe, this brings back so many memories," said Yukino, smiling into the now empty plate and snapping Lucy out of her reverie. "It was absolutely delicious. Where did you learn how to make it?"
"I did while I was in France when I was a teenager," explained Lucy, standing up to pick up the plates and placing them in the sink. She then turned around, and leaned against the counter to face the other occupant of the room. "My guardian was a terrible cook, and I had to learn how to make food. French cuisine is my favourite, it reminds me of my mother."
"It is quite delicious," nodded Yukino. "My sister was the one to make food for us, I didn't have time to learn before…you know."
Lucy's eyes darkened, and she stared at the suddenly gloomy woman with understanding. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Yukino hesitantly nodded, fiddling with her fingers. "It's nothing, really. It's just that I miss her, you know? Even if we were forced to do things against our will, Sorano had been a constant in my life that kept me grounded and sane. Even if I was being used by more men than I could count, she used to tell me that everything would be fine and that we would get out of there. Now she's gone, and I don't feel like myself without her being around. I just wish that she would have been able to taste freedom again like I did."
"She cared about you a lot, and I'm sure that she would be happy to know that you're safe," smiled Lucy reassuringly.
"She would," smiled the white haired woman. "She did everything for me, and now, she even d-died to make sure I was safe. When we were sneaking out of the club, they noticed we were missing way too soon. They cornered us in a park a few kilometers away from the club, and Sorano pushed me into the water before I could even protest. The last thing I saw was two men grabbing her, and then everything went black before I woke up here."
Lucy could see her eyes fill with tears, and felt her heart sink at the sight. The other woman was heartbroken about her sister's sacrifice, and Lucy wanted to comfort the girl, and tell her that everything would be fine, but that would be a lie. Yukino wouldn't be safe forever if she stayed with her, and Lucy feared the worst for the woman.
She simply walked towards her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, which resulted in the white haired woman giving her a thankful look.
"I know that she had wanted you to be safe and free," started Lucy, walking away to sit on the chair across from Yukino, "and I fear that it won't be the case for too long."
Yukino looked alarmed for a second, fear gracing her traits. "What do you mean? Is someone after us?"
"Possibly," admitted Lucy with a heavy sigh. "Remember the information you gave me about Grimoire Heart? Well I decided to follow up on it, and I went there to investigate-"
"You went to look for Aquarius?" she cut her off.
"Yes. I wanted to see if she was with that group of women. But I needed to know when they would bring them to that specific club since you told me that they changed the location very frequently. So I pretended I was a client who wanted to sell my women to the owner, and he revealed when the next sale would be."
"That was last week wasn't it?" asked Yukino. "When you were gone until morning?"
"Yes," she nodded. "I sneaked inside and found the group of women there. Aquarius unfortunately wasn't with them, but I managed to help the women I found by calling the police- well, the FBI to be precise."
Yukino beamed at the revelation, happy tears falling down her face, alarming Lucy who suddenly leaned against the table to reach for the other woman's hand.
"Are you okay Yukino? Is something wrong?" she inquired worriedly, clutching her hand in hers.
"No," she denied, wiping the moisture from her cheeks. "I'm just so glad that you did that for them, they deserve so much better."
Lucy sighed in relief, smiling bashfully. "I did what I thought was right. I admit that I initially did it to distract the guards, but when I saw the women, and how they were treated, I just had to get someone to help them."
"Most of them start really young, Sorano and I were," admitted Yukino. "Why is that a threat to our safety?"
"I heard the owner talking to someone on the phone, and he mentioned a "blonde woman", and I knew that he was talking about me," she explained. "Other people from their little operation know that I had promised them merchandise, and probably have an idea that I was the one behind what happened last week. I bet that they're looking for me right now, and I fear that they might find me sooner rather than later. It's not going to be pretty, especially considering the history I have with them."
Yukino looked at her in confusion. "What history?"
"Nothing for you to worry about," Lucy said, shrugging it off. "What's important here is that I need to get you to safety. I can't have you dragged into this again when you've just come out of it."
"Then…what's going to happen to me? Can't I just stay with you?" pleaded Yukino. "I can still help you!"
Lucy smiled softly. "I can't do that to you, you're not living the life you should be. This is not freedom, you would have to constantly look over your shoulder with me."
"Who's going to keep me safe if not you? Who's going to keep you safe now?"
"I know who can help you," stated Lucy. "If there's a place where you can sleep without a worry, it would be under witness protection. I'm going to take you to the FBI, and they can help you as much as you can help them. As for me, I still have some things to do."
"But if they find you, you know what they will do to you," whispered Yukino.
"It's a risk I have to take. I won't be at peace until I find her," explained the blonde haired woman.
The white haired woman bit her lip, looking down in confliction. On one hand, she understood where Lucy was coming from. If Sorano had been alive, she would have gone after her as well, but at the same time, it was highly dangerous, and she was attached to the blonde woman who had saved her.
"I understand. Juste…fais attention," she told her.
"Je ferai de mon mieux," smiled Lucy. "The same goes for you. If anything's wrong, go to the pink haired agent, you can trust him."
"You know him?" wondered Yukino. "Is he a friend of yours?"
Lucy was silent for a few moments, before she slowly acquiesced. "Something like that."
-: :-
Wearing sunglasses and hiding in the shadows, Lucy watched as Yukino made her way towards the towering building. She nodded slightly as Yukino turned her head to give her one last hesitant look, before she opened the door to the FBI headquarters and went inside. She knew that the white haired woman wouldn't make it far before she would be intercepted by an agent, so Lucy quickly walked back to her car before they would search the surroundings for her.
Salamander knew that Yukino was hiding with her, and would instantly know that she was the one who brought her there. She was a bit apprehensive about him now that he knew who she was. Back when he had said Aquarius' name, she had been too troubled to comprehend it, but while she was lying on her bed at night, she had jumped up in both horror and surprise upon realizing that he shouldn't have known that, unless he was aware of her real identity. She only hoped that he only knew her by her alias, Lucy Céleste, and not by her real name.
The drive back to her house wasn't long, a mere fifteen minutes during which she drove through the small streets to avoid traffic, and to avoid any cops watching the streets. She had bought the used car from a man that she had paid double the price to avoid the paperwork. It was already enough that she had to use a fake license to drive, she didn't want to bring more legalities into her already far too chaotic life.
She parked it next to the small building where her apartment was, and exited the car to walk towards her home. She lived on the second floor of the building, which she was thankful for because it helped when she had been injured and unable to climb too many stairs.
When she reached her door, she took out her key and put it in the keyhole, before suddenly freezing in her spot when she noticed something out of the ordinary; the small thread that she always put between the door and the door-frame was not there. She looked at her feet, and saw that it was on the ground, which was not normal. She always made sure to leave it there in case someone broke into her apartment. Her door was also locked, which meant what whoever had passed by was still inside her apartment.
She quickly drew out her gun, and placed it close to her ear before slowly turning the handle, silently sneaking inside, and locking the door behind her. Nothing seemed out of place in the dining room, and Lucy kept walking, entering the kitchen and looking around for any sign of the intruder. When everything was clear, she turned around, but was suddenly stopped when a hand covered her mouth, and an arm grabbed her around the waist.
Going into defense mode, she jabbed the intruder in the gut with her elbow, forcing them to release their hold on her waist, and she quickly removed the hand covering her mouth to turn around. The person was a tall man that she did not recognize, and who seemed menacing with the gun and the knife he held at his side.
When he was about to spring into action, she kicked him in the gut, pushing into the skin with her foot, and he stumbled back and hit the wall. The man clearly wasn't alone, because someone hit her in the back, and she fell into her kitchen table, noisily dragging it across the ground, and dropped her gun on the floor. She saw the man bring his fist down into her head from the corner of her eye, and she rolled on the table to avoid it. She quickly stood up, and punched him in the face, and he fell down. The other one reached behind her and grabbed her hair, putting an arm around her shoulders. She bit the skin of his forearm, making him cry out in pain, and pushed him backwards with her body until his head hit the metallic handle of the fridge, making him release the blonde woman. She turned around and grabbed his face, bringing his head forwards and then shoved it repeatedly into the handle until he lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
She smiled in triumph, before she heard the other man stand up. She looked on the ground for her gun, and noticed that it was on the other side of the table. Her eyes met the assailant's, and she realized that he had noticed her gaze fall upon the weapon. She hastily sprung forwards to reach it, running around the table, and jumped to grab it when a foot collided with her side, and she collapsed on the ground, groaning in pain and holding her side and praying that he hadn't broken anything.
Still on the floor, she slipped her legs underneath the man's, throwing him failing on the ground with a yelp, and stood up with difficulty due to the searing pain at her side. The man, who had caught himself before hitting the ground, faced her with a dark grin on his face, and grabbed the knife at his side. He lunged at her with the sharp end, and she quickly avoided it by tipping her upper body backwards, but he repeated the action as Lucy kept jumping back to avoid getting cut. Her leg hit something on the floor, and her attention shifted for a second to the object that she recognized as being her gun.
It was a grave mistake, because before she knew it, the knife in the man's hand found itself embedded deep into her shoulder. She cried in pain, stumbling backwards and away from the man who was still holding the weapon's handle, and it inched out of her body. Blood immediately started pouring out of the wound, sign of its deepness, and Lucy pressed on it with her hand to minimize the flow.
The man was watching her with a sickeningly proud grin, the blood trickling down from the knife in his hand.
"Looks like it's over for you, darling," he snickered.
She cast a glance at the floor, and saw her gun that she had previously kicked. It was too far from her, and she swore under her breath.
"Don't even think about it," he warned her, taking his own gun from the waistband of his trousers and pointing it at her. "Take another step and you're dead."
"What do you want?" she hissed out. "Do you want money? I don't have any money on me."
"Don't play dumb," he smiled, walking closer to her. "You know why we're here. Boss wasn't too pleased with losing some of his ladies and losing his favourite club. He wants to know who's the stupid lady who dared doing that to him."
"I don't know what you're talking about," she grunted, wincing at the pain.
"Where are the ladies you promised, by the way?" he asked, trailing a finger down her cheek. "Maybe he would spare your life if you gave them to us."
"Fuck you," she spat out, inching away from his hand.
"Maybe I'll do that," he grinned, his hand running down her neck, and stopping a centimeter from her breast. "Once boss is done with you, he'd be happy to give you away. We'll take turns fucking you in every single hole, we'll rip you apart and assault you like the dirty whore you are."
Lucy shivered in both disgust and fear, looking at him with wide eyes and undisguised fierceness. "Typical of pigs like you to be satisfied with the leftovers," she sneered.
His eyes suddenly darkened, his expression morphing into anger, and he grabbed her hair with his fist, roughly tipping her head backwards.
"You bitch," he bellowed. "You should be glad that I'm not beating you to a pulp right now. You're lucky boss likes them pretty, and that I can't damage that hot body of yours. But after he's done with you, I can do whatever I want to this pretty little face."
Lucy yanked her head forwards, groaning as a few hairs were ripped out of her scalp due to his grip on her strands, and hit him square in the forehead. He hissed in pain, releasing her, and Lucy kicked him between the legs. He doubled over, falling into ground in a mess of pitiful groans and moans, and Lucy jumped for her gun. She snatched it and turned around to point it at him, but he already had his pointing at her.
"Drop it, or I'll shoot you," he groaned out, clearly still in pain.
"Your boss wouldn't be happy if that happened," she snapped back.
"Casualties," he replied. "So what are you choosing?"
"I'd rather die than go with you," she said, bringing the gun in front of her face to point it at the man on the ground, and his eyes darkened, as he pressed on the trigger.
Lucy quickly closed her eyes, but was surprised when the gun didn't go off after a few seconds. She tentatively opened her eyes, and saw that the man had passed out on the ground, his head turned to the side as if someone had kicked him. Next to him stood another man that she instantly recognised.
"Natsu," she mumbled in a haze. "How the hell did you get into my house? I locked the door."
"I climbed through the window," he replied, his gaze locked into the man on the floor to make sure that he was really unconscious.
He kicked the man's gun away from him, and walked towards her to kneel in front of her, his worried eyes immediately looking into hers.
"Shit, you're hurt," he mumbled, his eyes drifting towards her shoulder.
"I'll be fine," she replied, pulling herself up.
"You should probably not move too much," he warned her, putting a hand on her uninjured shoulder to stop her from moving.
"I told you, it's nothing. Besides, how did you find me?" she asked.
"I followed you after you dropped Yukino at the office," he replied, watching her carefully.
"Holy shit, I didn't know you had a twin," she mumbled.
"A twin?" he exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"
Lucy smiled at him, her vision getting blurry, and the number of Natsu's multiplying in front of her eyes. The last thing she saw were his lips moving, calling her name, before everything went black.
-: :-
Lucy slowly opened her eyes, and instantly regretted it when she felt the searing pain in her shoulder. She groaned out, the brightness of the room blinding her, before she slowly blinked to get used to the light. She sat up on the comfortable bed, looking around the room, before realizing that she wasn't in her house, nor was she at the hospital. She was in someone's room, and that someone was very messy judging by the clothes on the floor and the junk covering every surface in the room.
The door swung opened, and a pink head peeked inside. Her favourite agent instantly smiled when he saw that she was awake, and his grin only widened when he noticed her confused expression.
"You're awake, that's good," he said, entering the room and walking towards her.
"Yeah, I wish I weren't," she grumbled, the pain in her shoulder ever-so present. "Where am I?"
"In my room," he simply replied.
"…Why am I in your room, agent?" she asked.
"Because you needed to rest," he said, sitting on the bed next to her. "How do you feel?"
"Like I've been stabbed in the shoulder," she retorted, and he laughed.
She couldn't help but stare at him, and at the way his whole face lit up with joy as he laughed, and she smiled in amusement.
"I'm glad my misery pleases you," she told him.
He instantly stopped laughing, and looked at her. "Come on," he whined. "You know it's not like that."
"Yeah, sure," she smiled, looking down at her lap.
She suddenly realized that she wasn't wearing her clothes, but a male shirt that she assumed was Natsu's.
"Did you change my clothes?"
"Well, yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, and Lucy would lie if she didn't find it absolutely adorable. "I had to take off your shirt to clean the wound. Plus, it was all bloodied and ripped. I swear I didn't look or anything-"
"You already saw me naked," she cut him off, and he turned beet red. "You don't have to be embarrassed about it."
"Yeah, sorry," he mumbled out, suddenly turning serious. "What happened at your house?"
"Hades' men, he sent them after me," she responded, thinking back to the events. "Why am I in your house?"
"I don't think you would have liked to go to the hospital and then taken for questioning," he said.
"I though you would have arrested me," she said, looking at him. "But instead, you saved me and then you patched me up."
"I wasn't going to let you bleed out on your kitchen floor," he shrugged. "Plus, you helped us last time. I figured that I owed you."
"I didn't do that to help you," she said. "I did it for these women, they deserve better."
"I agree," he nodded, getting up from the bed. "I'll give you some clothes to change into. I bet you're hungry, and we have a lot to talk about."
"Yeah, I kind of am," she admitted, smiling shyly.
He nodded, walking to his closet to grab a shirt and some shorts, and put them on the bed for her to change into. He quickly walked out of the room to allow her to do so, and Lucy stood up with some difficulty, and removed her pants and Natsu's shirt. There was a bandage tightly wrapped around her shoulder. The work was slightly clumsy, but it did the job.
When she was done putting on the clothes he gave her, she exited the room, and walked through the house, observing her surroundings. She passed by the kitchen and found him standing in front of the coffee machine, and she hesitantly walked inside, and awkwardly stood in front of the table.
"Why don't you sit, I'll get you something to eat. Do you want coffee?" he said, his back to her.
"Uh, yeah, that would be nice," she replied, sitting down.
He grabbed a mug and filled it, before walking towards her and putting it on the table in front of her. She thanked him, grabbing the mug and taking a sip, sighing in content as the hot bitter liquid coated her tongue. Soon enough, Natsu had put a plate of food in front of her that she ate quickly, due to being really hungry, and leaned back on her chair. Natsu had been silent the whole time, watching her eat and sipping his own coffee.
"Thank you," she told him.
"It's nothing," he replied, looking at her with intimidating intensity.
Lucy nervously shifted in her seat, but refused to look away. They sat in the kitchen, staring at each other, and she felt like it was a competition to see who would back down first. She watched as he brought the cup in his hand to his mouth and took a sip, before he noisily put it on the table, and finally opened his mouth.
"So, Lucy Heartfilia huh? It's nice to finally meet you."
(A huge thank you to lkityan for the artwork for the the story! Such amazing talent and I am in awe!)
Translation:
"En plus, c'est délicieux!" - "Plus, it's delicious!"
"Merci beaucoup pour la bouffe" - "Thanks a lot for the food"
"Juste...fais attention" - "Just...Be careful"
"Je ferai de mon mieux" - "I'll do my best"
Hello guys, how's everyone?
I'm feeling absolutely fucking great! The morning after I put the last chapter out, I woke up to some amazing feedback from all of you! And then I went and saw Civil War (which was absolutely amazing, and I cried for Bucky, so much. Please tell me I'm not the only one? My poor husband- I'm getting off track here), AND Gajevy is canon!? How much better could things be?
I'm so glad you all seem to like this, considering it was just supposed to be 5 parts, but the support was overwhelming, and I'm really glad! I have come back to writing only two months ago or so, and had lost my passion for it for years. But the fact that you guys like my writing makes me really giddy, considering I had only recently started writing in English, and I feel like I can once again write with the same passion I used to have ( I don't think I'll ever write in French again unfortunately).
I really wanted to write some Lucy action, and the long overdue confrontation between Natsu and Lucy is finally happening!
I asked if you guys wanted another smut, and obviously, y'all a bunch of huge perverts looking for action ;) There will indeed be another smut (or two, who knows), in the following chapters!
Anyhow, I hope you all liked this chapter! And as usual, leave some feedback!
Thanks to Emmy-300, FairyDemonDust, sthokatrina, Tabasco-Devil, TaylorNReed, abbeyotaku, MarSofTheGalaxies, Purtisharma5, Senbei x Cup Ramen, , lkityan, .3, NaLuFTfanatic, quite-a-riot, Olly B, BakaFangirl, Min-chan17, NatsuLucy4ev3r for commenting, as well as many other guests. Y'all keep me going!