*** Another cute little Fairy Tail short story. Enjoy, guys :D

Type: Assassin AU

Theme: She is a renowned assassin under the alias 'Angel'; he is the son of the wealthiest man in the world, and he's also her target. When Lucy 'Angel' Heartfilia, the #1 assassin in the underground, gets on a flight to New York, getting ready for a job, the last thing she expects is to run into the very person she's been sent to kill: Natsu Dragneel, son of Igneel Dragneel, the world's most successful business man. And she certainly wasn't expecting to be stuck sitting next to him on a plane for five hours.

Why didn't he understand? Why did he not want to live in a world without her; a lowly assassin with a troubled past that made a living as a killer? Why did he have to make saying goodbye so hard? And why did she want to stay with him?

Maybe the world hadn't been kind to her, but it was only now - with the cold barrel of a gun pressed against her temple - that she realized she didn't want to leave it yet. She wanted to stay and see what happened between her and Natsu; she wanted to clean up her act, try to be a decent person; and most of all, she wanted to repent for all those people she had killed. It would take years, but she was willing to do it. But no. The world didn't care how sorry she was.

Pairings: NaLu (Natsu x Lucy.)

The Angel Stalks the Dragon

"The flight from Los Angeles, California to New York City, New York will now be boarding. Please step forward."

Lucy cursed and stood from the table she had been sitting at in a nearby Starbucks and fumbled with her suitcase, throwing out the last measly bites of her blueberry scone. Sure, she was a high-class assassin, but she was still a teenage girl, and tended to be extremely forgetful and clumsy at times. Usually she was only graceful holding a gun, if she was honest with herself.

Fumbling for her ticket, which was stuck deep in the pocket of her red trench-coat, the wheel of Lucy's suitcase caught on the tile and she tripped, her ticket sliding across the floor to slide to a stop against the wall.

"Last call for boarders for the five-thirty flight from Los Angeles to New York City. I repeat: Last call for boarders for the five-thirty flight from Los Angeles to New York City."

"No, no, no!" Lucy grabbed her boarding pass and picked up her suitcase, half running half limping to the gate. She hurriedly handed the flight attendant her ticket and raced down the gray walkway, whirl-winding into the plane and taking a deep breath as she scanned the seat numbers. Nine, she counted silently in her head. Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen. Ah! Fourteen! She glanced down at her paper to be sure. Seat F, row fourteen. Awesome.

Lucy put her small suitcase in the bin above her row and slid in, buckling the weird plane seat-belt and pulling a paperback out of her coat pocket, flipping open to her bookmarked page as the flight attendants at the front and back of the plane droned on about safety issues that Lucy had heard about a hundred times.

"Gatsby, huh?"

Lucy jumped, almost dropping her book, fumbling with it for a startling second before regaining her grip on the pages, breathing a sigh of relief. Looking up, she almost dropped the book anyway. There, standing before her very eyes, was Natsu Dragneel, the very person the agency was sending her after right now. Only, he was supposed to be at his father's home in New York, not here, in LA. What the hell was he doing there?!

"Um, yes," Lucy said nonchalantly, deciding the best decision was to play it cool. "The very same."

Natsu sat down beside her, his pink hair shining in the dim light shining through the plane windows. Great, Lucy thought sarcastically, catching sight of the seat number on his boarding pass. Out of all the seats he could've gotten, he got the one right next to mine. Ugh. Loke's gonna pay for not telling me about this!

"So, you reading it for the first time?" Natsu asked, resting a long arm on the back of his seat. Lucy shook her head. "No. More like the sixtieth."

"Ah," Natsu said appreciatively. "A fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald, huh?"

Lucy tried not to roll her eyes at his obvious flirting. He totally looked up that line. "Yes. Are you?"

"Yep," Natsu said, making Lucy groan inwardly. He was obviously- "This Side of Paradise is one of my favorites."

Surprised, Lucy blinked, bookmarking her page with a finger and glancing over at him. "Really?" she questioned, stunned at the fact that this guy might actually read Fitzgerald. "A bit depressing, isn't it?"

Natsu shrugged. "Yeah, but it's... real, ya know? I like that he's always so bold in his way of telling the truth."

Lucy nodded, feeling a traitorous, amused smile cross her face. "Absolutely right," she agreed, bookmarking her page for real as she felt the plane jerk to a start. Beside her, Natsu hurriedly buckled his seat-belt, looking slightly pale. She would've asked him is he was okay if she didn't have to kill him in approximately six hours. Dammit, she would literally kill Loke for this!

Oh, screw it. "Are you feeling alright?" Lucy asked, gritting her teeth. She was an assassin, for God's sake: she should've killed her social graces long ago.

"Fine," Natsu said, not sounding fine at all. "I'm just... slightly afraid of flying, is all. Nothing big."

Great, Lucy thought, sighing inwardly. The son of the most powerful man in the world is afraid of airplanes. And I'm stuck on a flight with him for five hours.

Lucy sighed and glanced out the window as the plane launched into the sky, making her feel weightless for a split second. Beside her, Natsu was gripping the armrests of his chair and taking deep breaths. This is going to be a long flight, Lucy thought, gritting her teeth.

Three hours later...

Natsu squeezed his eyes shut tightly beside Lucy, and Lucy had to admit even she was feeling a bit scared. It was around eight o'clock, but you couldn't tell that because the sky was as black as night, rain pounding against the sides of the plane and harsh wind howling, shaking them around like they were in a roller-coaster. People were praying and babies were crying, and Natsu was squeezing the hell out of the armrests. Lucy was not having a good flight.

The bumps intensified and Natsu wrapped his fingers tightly with Lucy's, making her jump. She glanced over to find him pale as a ghost, and taking panicked breaths. Lucy gulped, not willing to admit that she squeezed his fingers back slightly. She wasn't afraid of flying, but she sure as hell was afraid of crashing. The rain seemed to swell outside, and the plane tipped hard to the side, and Lucy let out a frantic squeak as the people in the plane panicked, screams filling the aisles. She really thought they were going to crash, but then the plane leveled, and the wind seemed to pound less on the metal body of the plane.

Sweat ran down Natsu's face, and Lucy wiped her own sweating forehead with the back of her free hand, Natsu still holding her hand left in a death-grip. The captain came over the intercom, announcing that they were through the worst of the storm and that they would be arriving at the New York City airport in two hours. Lucy closed her eyes, taking a deep, relieved breath through her nose. Loke was so going to get in when she got back.

Slowly, Lucy opened her eyes and sighed, settling back against the seat. She was okay. She would arrive safely at the airport, and then... Then what? She glanced over at Natsu, who was resting his head against the back of the seat, taking deep breaths. She sighed. Lucy didn't want to kill him now that she'd met him. He wasn't a bad person; his father was. Why did he have to be punished for his dad's actions? But Lucy couldn't just come back without doing the job, could she? Could she kill Mr. Dragneel himself?

Well, she supposed it wouldn't hurt to try. And Natsu's life would be spared. Lucy felt a little absurd, though. Feeling so sentimental for a stranger she'd met on a plane three hours earlier? What was she thinking? Warm breath hit Lucy's neck, and something soft brushed against her cheek, a gentle weight pressing down on her left shoulder. She glanced down to see Natsu's head resting on her shoulder. She sucked in a breath and eyed his hair. It was sakura pink, and looked soft, sticking up in spikes like waves on his head.

She found herself reaching out to touch it, and it was as soft as she'd thought. Lucy was just leaning her nose down to take a tentative whiff of what smelled like marshmallows when there was a sudden bump of turbulence. Natsu started, bringing his head up straight into her chin. "OW!" Lucy's head banged back against the window and she cursed, holding a hand to her sore head as Natsu blinked at her curiously.

"Uh, sorry..." He trailed off, and Lucy realized he didn't even know her name. "Lucy," she told him, still holding a hand to the swelling bump on her head. Natsu gave her a small smile. "I'm Natsu. Also, are you okay?" He held out a hand and turned her head, wincing when he saw the bump. "Sorry. I guess that was my fault."

Lucy waved him away. "I'm okay. We're both guilty." Natsu sat back, leaning an arm on the back of his seat. Lucy glanced at his sharp jawline, tracing it up to his sparkling onyx eyes. What am I doing? Lucy shook her head and cleared her throat, looking out at the gray sky, rain still leaving streaks against the window. We're strangers, she scolded herself. Sure, he's attractive, but I was ready and willing to kill him a few hours ago!

"Lucy? You sure you're okay?"

Lucy jerked out of her stupor and glanced over at him, smiling hesitantly. "Huh? Oh, yes. I'm fine."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Right. Well, we're almost there."

Lucy nodded. "Of course. Right." She sat back in her seat and glanced out the window again. She was quite aware that Natsu was still holding her hand, and his palm was warm against hers, like she had her hand held out in front of a fireplace. It was an odd feeling. Holding hands with a stranger, that is. But... it was also nice. Really nice. But, Lucy reasoned with herself. You're an assassin: He's the son of a business mogul. It's just not in the cards, even if he is interested in you.

The pilot came on to tell them to buckle their seat-belts for the landing, and Lucy bit her lip, her emotions and brain warring wildly inside of her. On the one hand, her assassin training and lessons at keeping away her emotions told her to get the job done, no matter what, and on the other, her heart was telling her to spare him and just see what happened. There was no clear option with no consequences.

The plane touched down with a jolt, sending a faint tremor up Lucy's leg. As the people unbuckled their seat-belts and stepped out into the aisle, Lucy let Natsu step up first and reached for the overhead compartment. When it clicked open, the bag, which must've been dislodged during the turbulence, tumbled down, and Lucy threw up her hands, getting ready to screech. But nothing hit her. Cautiously, Lucy opened one eye to see that Natsu had caught her suitcase easily, and was holding it out to her, grinning. "T-thanks," she muttered, embarrassed. Heading towards the front of the plane with Natsu on her tail, Lucy rolled her bag behind her, heading towards the nearest Starbucks to call Loke and rant.

The one thing she hadn't planned on was Natsu following her, which he did. When Lucy sat down, Natsu took the seat across from her. She was about to ask him what he was doing when she noticed all the other seats were full. Sighing, Lucy pulled out her phone, deciding that texting Loke would have to do.

What the hell? she texted. Dragneel Jr. in LA? WTF happened? What's status on job now?

Setting down her phone, Lucy noticed Natsu glancing down at his own screen, frowning as he typed. Lucy discreetly straightened and caught sight of the text he'd just received, and his reply. When will you be here? You're seventeen, Natsu! I shouldn't have to look after you like you're a toddler! someone had texted. On my way. Sorry, Natsu had texted back. He slammed his phone down, tugging a hand through his hair.

"Um, you okay?" Lucy asked, glancing at the phone. Natsu shook his head. "Ugh, my father's just being an asshole, as always."

"Oh," Lucy said, surprised. "You two don't get along well?"

Natsu snorted. "Get along? I hate him."

Lucy pursed her lips. "Hm. Well, maybe you should hire an assassin."

"Maybe I should."

Lucy smiled. "You're lucky I am one."

Natsu gave her a blank look before laughing slightly, rolling his eyes. "Ha ha. Very funny."

At Lucy's serious gaze, Natsu stiffened slightly and glanced around, leaning forward. "You're serious?" he whispered. Lucy nodded, meeting his gaze evenly. Natsu paled. "Holy- You- Oh, my God."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes. Do you want to kill you father, or not?"

Natsu paled. "I didn't mean it! I- I wouldn't..." He trailed off, his brow furrowing, as if he were thinking. Lucy smiled, knowing that perhaps the trip hadn't been useless after all.

Several hours later...

Lucy stood in front of Igneel Dragneel, holding her injured arm tightly to her chest and grimacing as the red-haired man gripped her roughly by the hair. "You insolent bitch," he spat. "To think you would make an attempt on my life, corrupting my only son in the process?! You'll pay for this."

"G-get away from her!" Natsu yelled weakly from where he was slumped against the wall, where his father had thrown him only moments ago. Lucy turned her tear-filled eyes to him, begging him silently to let her die with some dignity. Why didn't he understand? Why did he not want to live in a world without her; a lowly assassin with a troubled past that made a living as a killer? Why did he have to make saying goodbye so hard? And why did she want to stay with him?

Igneel lifted a gun, clicking a single bullet into place, and Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, preparing herself for what was coming. Maybe the world hadn't been kind to her, but it was only now - with the cold barrel of a gun pressed against her temple - that she realized she didn't want to leave it yet. She wanted to stay and see what happened between her and Natsu; she wanted to clean up her act, try to be a decent person; and most of all, she wanted to repent for all those people she had killed. It would take years, but she was willing to do it. But no. The world didn't care how sorry she was.

Lucy heard the trigger begin to click. "NO!" Natsu shouted, and Lucy felt herself wrenched hard to the side, rolling head over heels and ending up trapped under Natsu's bulk. "Shit!" she cursed, sitting up frantically, her eyes flying over every inch of him to check for a bullet hole. "Are you shot? God, tell me you're not shot! Natsu!"

"I'm fine," he huffed, standing and pulling her to her feet. Igneel was behind them, reaching down for his gun, which Natsu must have knocked out of his hand. "We have to go: Now!" He pulled her to her feet and they ran, Igneel firing panicked shots after them, missing every time. Somehow, they made it to the docks that bordered the lake the Dragneels owned, and Natsu hurriedly untied a boat, throwing Lucy in ahead of him and turning the key. The motor spluttered to life, and Natsu pulled them away from land. Shots rang out behind them, and Natsu cursed and ducked as he steered, aiming for the other side of the lake. Suddenly, the mansion behind them exploded in a bright flash of fire and sound, and the two teens breathed sighs of relief.

"The explosives finally went off," Lucy said, setting her head back against the boat's side. "We're safe. We're going to make it."

"Of course, we're fugitives now, aren't we?" Natsu said, attempting a light laugh. "Our life's going to be interesting for a while."

"Don't worry," Lucy said, smiling out at the lake. "I'm an assassin, remember? I've always got a backup plan."