Natsu awoke the next morning to light taps on his shoulder. He groaned in protest, but sat up on the couch nonetheless. While rubbing his eyes, he looked up at the softly smiling face of Lucy, who was standing beside the couch.
"G'mornin'" he slurred, waving a hand at her sleepily.
"Good morning. Would you like some breakfast before we head to the station?"
Natsu immediately shot to his feet and ran to her kitchen. "Hell yeah!"
Lucy walked after him, giggling.
When she joined him in the kitchen, she saw that he had opened her fridge and was staring at its contents.
"Lucy, we have a problem."
Lucy made eye contact with him as he turned around and furrowed her brows in worry. "What do you mean? What's wrong?"
Natsu's face was completely serious, which only served to make Lucy more worried.
"You have no bacon."
Lucy deadpanned and stared at Natsu blankly. "Seriously? That's the problem?"
"Yes! Bacon is essential to any good breakfast!" Natsu exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.
Lucy giggled and shook her head at him. "Well, I'm sorry. I haven't been able to go grocery shopping recently, but when I do, I promise I'll get some bacon."
Natsu nodded, satisfied with her answer and then turned back to the fridge. "So, what are we gonna make?"
"We? You know how to cook?" Lucy asked incredulously, coming to stand next to him.
"Of course I do. I live alone, I had to learn. But I'm way better at grilling meat than anything else."
Lucy hummed in understanding and then reached into the fridge to pull out the eggs. "Well, I'm in a scrambled eggs and pancakes mood. What do you think?"
"Sounds good to me."
While they got started on making breakfast together, Lucy couldn't help but glance at him occasionally. For one, he was shirtless and that alone was enough to look at him. He was very muscular and it was easy to tell that he worked out often. But, she was also looking as if to make sure he was still there. She still had trouble processing the fact that he came to her apartment at three in the morning, hours before he even had to be awake, just because she was crying when she called him.
"Lucy?"
Lucy snapped out of her thoughts and turned to look at Natsu, who was suddenly standing right next to her, leaning down to look her in the eye, a concerned look on his face.
"Huh?"
"Are you alright? You spaced out for a second there."
Lucy blushed and waved her hand in front of her face. "Yes, of course, I'm fine. Let's eat."
After they finished eating, Natsu and Lucy went to the department in Natsu's car to pick up the case file for the fire. When they had done so, Natsu drove them to the fire station to meet with the investigators.
One of the engines was parked in the driveway and in the process of being cleaned. Natsu parked on the curb and led Lucy inside. They walked through the garage to a door.
When they arrived, Natsu turned to Lucy. "She's a bit scary and can be overwhelming sometimes. You've been warned."
With that, Natsu knocked once and, without waiting for a response, walked into the office. Lucy followed after him and was surprised to see no one at the desk. She turned to Natsu and noticed his furrowed brow.
"That's odd. We agreed to meet at 8." Natsu checked his watch. "She should be here."
"She is."
Natsu and Lucy both jumped and spun to face the door. There stood the most formidable looking woman Lucy had ever seen. Shocking red hair to her waist and hands on her hips, Erza Scarlet was staring at them with an interested but demanding expression.
Natsu put his hand over his heart. "Jesus, Erza. You scared the crap out of me."
Erza raised a brow. "Apologies. I wasn't expecting you to be here on time. You're normally ten minutes late."
Natsu pouted. "Nuh-uh."
Lucy giggle and raised a hand. "That would be my doing. I try to keep him punctual. I'm Lucy Heartfilia, by the way. I'm shadowing Natsu for my new book."
Erza smiled at her. "Hello, Miss Heartfilia. My name is Erza Scarlet. I am a fan of your series. I can't wait to read the new one."
"Please, just call me Lucy. We may be seeing a lot of each other." Lucy shook Erza's hand and returned the smile.
"Then Erza will do for me. Now, Natsu, I assume you are here about the fire that claimed three lives." Erza walked around her desk to take a seat.
Natsu nodded and sat in one of the two chairs in front of her, Lucy claiming the other. "Yeah. I just need to know if the fire was accidental or arson. Since you were called in, I'm assuming someone set the place on fire."
Erza nodded grimly. "Indeed. There were traces of an accelerant, though we don't know what yet. The lab is still testing it. Also, the three people, they were not killed accidentally. The room they were in was locked from the outside and there were no windows."
Natsu scowled and Lucy gasped, putting her hand over her mouth.
Erza shuffled through some papers on her desk and then frowned. "I seem to have left the case file in my car. I will return momentarily."
After Erza had left the room, Lucy laced her fingers in her lap and looked at them. She glanced up at Natsu then back down at her hands.
"Hey, Natsu?"
Natsu turned to her, raising a brow at her timidness. "What's up?"
"I just...wanted to thank you. For last night. I really appreciate you...helping me...with everything."
Natsu smiled gently at her. "Of course. Though, I really wish you had told me about those nightmares sooner. I understand why you didn't."
Lucy looked up at him, noticing that his voice had gained a sort of far off sound. He was staring at the wall behind Lucy, his eyes unfocused. Lucy furrowed her brow in concern.
"Natsu, are you okay?"
Natsu shook his head as though clearing it and smiled at her again. "I'll tell you some other time, Luce."
Lucy had just nodded at him when the door to the office opened. Erza walked in, though not alone. She was followed by a man who looked like a pin cushion. He had long black hair and so many piercings, Lucy rethought her view of what is possible.
"Lucy, this is my lieutenant, Gajeel Redfox. Gajeel, this is Lucy Heartfilia. She's shadowing Natsu for her new book." Erza sat down at her desk again, Gajeel standing next to her.
Gajeel nodded to Lucy, who nodded back.
"Now, where were we? Right. The room was completely sealed. However, the fire began outside of it. Which is strange to me," Erza explained, looking to the others in the room for input.
Surprisingly for Erza, Lucy was the one who responded. "Well, it makes sense if the killers goal was to scare them. Lock them in a room with no way out and start a fire. They see smoke coming in and feel the knob get hot. It would be terrifying to know you were going to burn to death and there is nothing you can do."
Erza and Gajeel looked to Lucy with shock written on their faces.
Natsu chuckled. "She does research for her books. She knows how psychos think, just like we do. Though, this is only her second real world application."
Lucy made a noise of disagreement and turned to Natsu indignantly. "Third if you count the stalker."
Natsu scoffed. "You can't count him."
"Why not?"
"Because, you weren't trying to get inside his head, I was. You were trying to stay alive."
"That counts as application!"
"No it doesn't! We're talking about how psychos think, not trying not to die! There's a difference!"
Lucy contemplated this and shrugged. "I guess you're right. Anyway, the locked room thing makes sense to me."
When the two turned back to the arson investigators, they were surprised to see both looking at them with amusement written on their faces.
"Are you two done bickering like married couple?" Gajeel grumbled, smirking when Natsu and Lucy's face erupted in a fierce blush.
"Shut it, metal face. Come on, Lucy. Let's go check out the crime scene. I'll tell Gray to meet us there." Natsu stood up and opened the door for Lucy to go by.
Before she left, Lucy gave Erza and Gajeel a smile and thanked them for their help. Then she walked past Natsu and led the way to his car.
