When Lucy got home that night, she wanted to go to sleep right away. She was exhausted after running around and having to deal with the insufferable attorney that Jonathan Parks had hired.

Unfortunately, she was reminded of her dinner plans with her sister when she walked through the door and smelled food cooking.

"Michelle, you better be having Josh cook! I'll kick your ass if you ruin my kitchen!"

Michelle's head popped out from the kitchen doorway. "Relax, sis. Josh is cooking. You're late. Is everything alright?"

Lucy sighed as she dropped her stuff on her couch and walked over to her little sister. When she got there, she leaned her head into Michelle's shoulder, taking comfort in her sister wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

"I don't know. I think I'm still trying to process how someone could kill another person."

Lucy felt Michelle nod and tighten her hug.

"It'll be alright. Some people are just bad people."

Lucy sighed again and leaned back to smile at her sister.

"Good thing you're not. I love you, Michelle."

The grin that exploded on Michelle's face was enough to lift Lucy's spirits.

"Aw! I love you too!"

"I love you three!" came a male voice from the kitchen.

Lucy smiled and poked her head through the doorway. "Thanks Josh. Whatcha making?"

"Spaghetti and meatballs. Nothing too fancy."

He turned around and smiled at her. He was tall, compared to Lucy. He stood at 5' 11'', Lucy being a measly 5' 5''. His dark brown hair and emerald green eyes helped to accentuate his tall, dark, and mysterious looks.

"Are you making your special sauce?"

Josh rolled his eyes and turned back to the pot he was stirring. "What else would I make?"

This brought a grin to Lucy's face. "Yay!"

Spending time with her family was a pretty surefire way for Lucy to cheer up. Though, she couldn't help but wonder if Natsu's family would be the same way.

"So," Michelle began when they were all seated at her table, "do you want to talk about it?"

Lucy sighed. "I'm not sure if I'm allowed to. I need to ask Natsu about the rules."

"This Natsu fellow. Is he the same detective that shot that stalker of yours?" Josh inquired, taking a sip of his water.

Lucy nodded and smiled. "Yeah. He saved my life."

Josh scoffed. "Only after endangering it."

Lucy frowned. "That's not true at all!"

"He pointed a gun at you!"

"He pointed a gun at the man with a knife to my throat. There's a big difference."

The table fell silent. Lucy did not like talking about that night. She had occasional nightmares about the cold steel on her skin, or the way her attacker had pulled her against him.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. I just..." Josh said, looked down at his plate.

"It's alright." Lucy sighed again. "Excuse me, I've lost my appetite."

After her family had left, Lucy had taken a shower and gone straight to bed. She had some trouble falling asleep, and even when she did, it was not peaceful.

"She's mine! You can't have her!"

BANG

Lucy jolted awake, gasping and sweating. Her nightmares had never been so vivid before. She felt something land on her hands, which were clutching her sheets, and looked down to see a teardrop. She brought her hand to her face and finally realized that she was crying. Shuddering a breath, she reached for her phone on her nightstand, quickly unlocking it and going to her contacts. She called the only person she could think of to help her with this.

"Lucy? Why are you calling at three in the morning?" came the groggy and sleep laden voice of Detective Dragneel.

"I'm-I'm s-sorry," Lucy gasped.

"Lucy? Is everything okay? Are you crying?" Natsu's voice sounded much more alert than it had.

"I j-just...I c-can't s-sleep."

"Okay. Calm down. It's alright. Do you want me to come over?" Natsu soothed.

"I don't w-want to be a b-bother."

"Don't be stupid. I'll be there in ten," and then the line clicked.

Lucy put her phone back on the nightstand and stood up. She stumbled into the living room, still crying and gasping, and collapsed onto the couch to wait for Natsu. As promised, she heard a knock ten minutes later.

Upon opening the door, Lucy was met with the bare chest of her partner. It faintly registered that he was well muscled and at least a head taller than her before she felt his arms wrap around her.

"Oh, Luce. What's wrong?" he whispered into her ear, rubbing her back as he closed the door and led her back to the couch.

Apparently, Lucy was more vulnerable than she thought she was, as that question caused her to break into sobs.

He began rocking her back and forth, pulling her into his lap. "It's alright. I'm right here. You're okay."

"I ca-can't get i-it out of my h-head," Lucy whimpered.

"What? What's bothering you?"

"That n-n-ight. W-hen the m-man bro-oke in."

Natsu momentarily paused in his rocking when he realized what she was talking about.

"Lucy, how long have you been having nightmares about that?"

"Since it h-happened," she confessed, burying her face in Natsu's neck.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I...I don't know. We w-were busy wi-with the case. Th-they don't happen e-every night."

Natsu sighed and continued rocking. "Well, I guess I should have expected that. What happened was pretty traumatic."

Lucy stayed silent, finding the constant thud of his heartbeat very soothing.

"Luce, do you want me to stay until you fall asleep?"

Lucy tensed and pulled away from him, shaking her head violently. "I don't want to sleep! He'll come back!"

"Okay, okay. Shh. Calm down. He can't hurt you anymore. He's never coming back. I made sure of that," Natsu soothed her, putting his hands on her cheeks and forcing her to make eye contact with him.

"He does come back! With that knife! And those words!"

Natsu shook his head. "It's just a dream, Lucy. He can't hurt you. I won't let him. But you can't stay up all night. It's not good for you."

Lucy whimpered again. "I don't want to. Please, Natsu. Please don't make me sleep," she begged.

Natsu wavered only slightly. "Lucy, you have to sleep. I need you to sleep."

"Please! Please, Natsu!"

Natsu wavered again, but this time he broke. He sighed and dropped his gaze to his lap. "Alright. We can stay up. But you have to sleep tomorrow. Promise me."

Lucy hesitated before nodding her head. "I promise."

Natsu nodded back and moved his hands to stroke up and down her biceps. "Alright. So, what are we doing tonight?"

"Have we been asked to work on any other cases yet?"

Natsu nodded. "There was a fire by the docks that killed three people. I wanted to go talk to the arson investigators in the morning."

Lucy leaned into Natsu's chest and felt his arms wrap around her. "Are you friends with them?"

Natsu shrugged. "I guess. The lead investigator is a bit of a demon when she's mad, and her lieutenant is an asshole, but they're good people. Every now and then we go to a bar, the entire precinct and the fire department, and get drinks."

When he didn't receive an answer from Lucy, Natsu looked down to see that she had fallen asleep. He chuckled at her and listened to her even breathing for a moment. Then, he adjusted her in his arms and lifted her off the couch with him. He took her to her room and tucked her into bed before returning to the couch and laying down to fall asleep.


AN: Hello! I'm finally back from vacation so I figured I would post the next chapter as a kind of celebration. I'll try to get back on schedule. I'm typing new chapters up and my sister is editing them, because she's awesome. Thank you for being patient! Keep up the reviews! See you later!