Title: Shots Fired

Pairing: NaLu

Prompt: NaLu Angst Week 2018 - Insanity

Rating: M;

None of these characters are owned by me, they are all owned by the wonderful Hiro Mashima!

A/N:

Sometimes writing is a struggle today is one of those times since I start back to Starcrossed tomorrow haha the struggle is real fam

Insane. This was the definition of insane. Lucy toyed with the knife in her hands as she stared through the skylights and straight into the bedroom of a man. Who even had skylights in their ceiling? Was he just a cocky asshole, or did he just like them? Personally, the idea annoyed her to no end. That wasn't a surprise since she did most of her work in the cloak of night, and most of her rest came during the day. If she slept at all.

"Are ya going to keep broodin' up there or do ya want some coffee?" the voice startled her causing a near fall to her death. She'd been wrapped in her anger of skylights and allowed herself a moment of weakness.

"Why would I do that?" she called down to him. She was hired to kill him, and Lucy never failed an assignment. Not even that one history essay that she also threatened to shove down her 6th grade teacher's throat.

"Ya don't have to. But you've been sitting there for an hour looking like some dirty thief. People are gonna start calling the cops. This isn't the east side." He wasn't wrong. This was a slightly classier neighborhood. Though, that was unsurprising since the man below her was none other than Natsu Dragneel, the son of the head of one of the most terrifying local crime mobs. The blonde herself was just a mercenary. She liked money, and paying rent, so why not do a trade. She had an unfortunate set of skills, and they had the cash. Win-win. Lucy's father had been the head of the Heartfilia Konzern and had decidedly forced her to learn skills more befitting of a murderer than an heiress.

She'd always had a natural talent for rage induced freak outs, and the training just solidified her skill to channel those episodes into something far more useful. Surely, there were better ways she could live she just didn't care to find them.

"Why not." She was here to kill him. The closer she got the better the shot, she figured. She leapt from the top of the building and onto his balcony with a soft thud. Tonight, had been a scouting night but if she was close enough to get the deed done now then it probably didn't matter much.

"So, do you look into the rooms of guys you don't know often, or just the ones you're supposed to kill?" she wasn't sure she could make a recovery from an accusation like that. While it was correct she couldn't have been that obvi—

She literally just spent an hour staring at him through a window while fiddling with a knife. Literally, what other excuse could there be for that. Deflect, she decided.

"Drat. You caught me. I'm a stalker with a penchant for cute men with pink hair and abs." she sighed in defeat while shaking her head. Even though it had been two hours since her last caffeine fix when he brought the coffee to her she still waited patiently with the mug in her hand. She wouldn't take the first sip. It would be survival of the fittest. From the looks of his toned body she felt he might've actually been the fittest in the room.

A soft mewl caught her attention, and she turned to stare at what appeared to be a blue cat with a fish hanging from it's mouth. She stared in shock, and wonder, while she watched him trot off and throw the fish on the couch. What an… interesting creature.

"Don't." his voice was sharp, but that held no effect on her.

"Why is it blue?" she questioned still eyeing the cat with astonishment.

"He. His name is Happy. He's blue because he's blue." He'd replaced the chipper demeanor from earlier with one befitting of the man who held the title 'E.N.D'. This man was supposedly a demon in the field, and if the tone he gave her was just the top of the barrel she wondered what the bottom would be like.

"I'm a mercenary, not a monster." She said simply before bringing her eyes back to him. His eyes caught hers immediately. She froze on the spot as she watched the man before her. He had a primal look in his eyes, and not like the ones she'd seen from men she'd seduced to get them alone for the purpose of their death. No, this was one that reminded her of her father. The ice emanating from just his gaze was one that promised the end. Perhaps that was why he was called E.N.D.

Natsu took stock of the girl as she eyed him warily. Many female assassins had come to his home previously, but none of them were like her. He'd watched her out of the corner of his eye for an entire hour. She'd spent 95% of it arguing with herself about what show to watch when she got home, and then the other 5% actually watching him. Either she was underestimating him, or she hadn't even wanted the job in the first place.

"A mercenary? I thought you were just a stalker who liked my pink hair and my abs?" he was teasing her, he realized. Natsu Dragneel did not tease. In the first place, he didn't even bother with women. They were annoying, and if he got too close they'd call him drunk. His mind did a flashback to the night prior when his childhood friend Erza had called him out of the blue with enough alcohol in her system to kill a horse. Jellal had assured her safety before Natsu hung up, but that didn't mean Natsu hadn't been worried. He didn't feel like dealing with that for some stranger.

"Can't I be both? I am a stalker AND a mercenary." They were nearly the same thing so he supposed she wasn't wrong, but that didn't make him happy about it.

"And here I thought I was special." She laughed. It was a laugh he could get used to hearing. It was soft, and Natsu didn't have soft things in his life; except for Happy. Speaking of, the cat was eyeing the blonde curiously. Curiosity killed the cat held quite a different meaning here.

"Ha—" he hadn't even gotten the words from his mouth before the blue furball had launched itself right up on the counter, and the little shit even began to sniff her coffee. Sniffing her drink held no meaning to him, but if she hurt his cat she'd be nothing but blood splatter.

Lucy, as chill as she tried to appear, in the midst of her target immediately panicked. She moved from the counter and crossed over near the coffee pot. She set the mug down before approaching Happy and skritching behind his ears. He liked that apparently since his purring shook his body and was loud enough that she felt like it was echoing the entire room. She let out a breath of relief until she saw Natsu's position. He was poised like a tiger ready to strike, and boy did his eyes emanate death. She supposed she should call it a night.

And she did. He made no move to attack her, and she made delicate movements to the balcony she'd entered from. A tight grip on the railing was all she needed to throw herself into the alleyway, and then she was moving with a speed she didn't know she possessed. Still, he wouldn't follow. Lucy Heartfilia took pride in her instincts, but she still couldn't stop moving. Blood pounded in her head and her limbs screamed at her to never stop.

Lucy Heartfilia prided herself in her instincts. And her instincts told her to run.

She kept still, this time her body hidden behind a brick chimney. It was a shade of midnight black like her closest friend's hair. She was whole-heartedly considering bringing Gray into this, but that would cut deep into her profit. She also wanted the glory of being E.N.D's killer. It would bring in more jobs than she could physically handle. She nibbled her bottom lip as a feeling of excitement rushed through her body.

"Care for another cup?" his voice sounded into the dark, and she wondered if he'd seen her arrive or if he was just that attuned to his surroundings. She sank further into the shadows. Her blonde hair had always done wonders when seduction was an option, but she had always struggled with stealth missions. Especially now as the moonlight shone bright off her pale locks. She wondered if she'd look good as a brunette.

"Not gonna come down?" why'd he want her to? She may still be considered an heiress, but she wasn't stupid. She wasn't some trophy woman hanging on the arm of some boring man. She'd never fall for some stupid ploy.

"Huh? Weird. My instincts are never wrong." He was mumbling to himself. He'd thought she was there, but he could have been wrong. Though, Natsu Dragneel was never wrong. He was the son of the great Igneel, and as such his training was second to none. Still, he could have sworn he saw strands of gold on the roof across from him just as he had the night she'd first joined him for coffee.

He'd scared her then. Maybe 'scared' was the wrong word, but she'd retreated under his gaze. He'd been absolutely sure of her intent to harm Happy, until after she'd left and he took a moment to actually consider the scenario. Mercenary for hire joins him for a cup of coffee – likely intending to catch an opening or study his movements – but she never takes a sip of the drink offered. Which he realized made sense. Mercenary hired to specifically kill him doesn't take a single drink of the coffee offered to her by her target. Her target is him, the local mob boss' son with specific training, and his reputation on the streets is one of incredible violence. She thought he'd try to poison her.

A fair thought when he went over the scenario in his head. However, that hadn't really bothered him. It's just that she'd abruptly moved from Happy, but then returned without cup in hand. He hadn't quite noticed it then since he was under the impression that she'd harm anything to get at him. Except, her coffee. The missing link. Happy had gotten too close to the coffee, and she'd panicked because she thought it was poisoned.

"I'm a mercenary, not a monster." Her words had repeated in his mind. She said that, but her face for a moment flickered to something darker. Perhaps, he'd imagined it but honestly he figured she was just a moment away from destroying something – anything.

Lucy wasn't coming out of the shadows tonight, and she guessed she'd have to bring Gray in, but how she'd get him in was a different story. He did work undercover in a strip club for his current job, and she'd bet an entire mission's worth of money that she could hire a show. The only issue was E.N.D himself. She wasn't sure she could take him alone, but she was damn sure Gray would have a little trouble without a place to hide his weapon properly.

She shoved the thought aside for now. It would just have to wait for a bit while she studied. After all, she may not be as physically strong as other mercenaries, but she was intelligent. And damn if she didn't know how to make a situation work for her.

It was another night with a missing blonde, Natsu mused. Or so he'd originally thought. He knew she was lurking in the night, and he was almost certain that yesterday she'd brought a friend. Yet, she still wasn't taking this seriously. Her argument with her friend was nearly the same as the one she'd had with herself. They were arguing the semantics of which character of a show had the better power. It boiled down to some thunder guy named Laxus, and a man who could control the Earth itself. He learned after a rough screaming match that the man they decided to fold and choose was the former: Laxus. He still thought Jura had potential. That was the exact moment he'd decided to watch the show.

He'd barely caught the name in their screaming match, and he was currently binge watching it with the full intent of finishing the series to its current episode. Fuck, it was a damn good series. The sound of his porch door creaking open caused a smirk to grace his lips. Not that he didn't have a reason for watching it in full view under his skylights.

"Finally gonna join me for that coffee?" he'd been waiting for her the entire time. He'd lured her here with something she was familiar with, and he'd hoped to at least apologize.

"You wish." Natsu Dragneel hadn't realized how much he'd wanted to hear her voice until that moment. He felt like he'd missed out on something the entire time she was gone.

"Then, why are ya here?" There were a million different answers that Lucy could give, but none were satisfactory.

'I've come to kill you.' Was one.

The other was rather devastating.

She'd spent so much time watching him that she came to like him. He seemed like a good guy who loved his cat, and simply wanted to live by himself. She'd watched his movements when he fought every assassin sent his way. She'd watched the demeanor of E.N.D become the demeanor of plain old Natsu at the end of every fight. He was like a different person when it came down to it.

They both were. Heiress Lucy Heartfilia the mercenary, and Heir of The Mob Natsu Dragneel had their own goals. Lucy who wanted to fall in love, and get married. Lucy who wanted to leave this life behind. Natsu who seemed to want to live in peace with his blue cat without having to worry about dying. They all had a wish, but there was no genie in a bottle for something like this.

"I have a penchant for men with pink hair and abs." was all she said. She came around the couch to plop down beside him. Other than curling her knees to her chest she wasn't really making any moves, but he didn't think she even would. He hoped she wouldn't anyway.

There was a loud mewl to Lucy's right, and he knew it was that damn cat again.

Lucy shifted her position to being cross-legged instead of curled up to allow Happy a place to rest. The blue cat had readily accepted her into his life and she was hoping the pinkette would too. She let her mind trail aimlessly in thought as she stroked the small cat's body without any ill intentions.

In the end, she'd turned down the job to kill E.N.D even though the money was enough to let her retire on some island in the middle of the ocean. Tenrou was mostly empty besides a few tourists here or there, and she felt comforted by the idea of an empty land to live out her days. Alas, her retirement would have to wait.

Natsu himself wasn't worried about his predicament. He had two things to be happy about. One: his cat had taken a liking to the girl who'd considered murdering him. Two: the girl who'd considered murdering him was sitting on his couch watching her favorite show with him. He hadn't realized he'd wanted this scenario until he was in it.

"Oh? So maybe I am special?" he was teasing her now. He'd gone back to teasing, and the blonde was giggling. This one wasn't soft, it was a little loud, and sometimes it would mimic the sound of hiccups. He wanted to hear more of it.

"Who knows? What if I come across someone else with pink hair and abs?" it wouldn't be unheard of in a party town like this, but that didn't matter because none of them would be him. The idiot who argued with his own cat about feeding schedules and had ultimately lost. That had been her favorite scene.

"Damn. I guess I'd hafta kill him." He said it so nonchalant that Lucy snorted before shaking her head in exasperation.

"You can't kill everyone with pink hair, Natsu." He could. He wouldn't, but he could.

"Was that a challenge?" Natsu was more than aware that it wasn't, but he was enjoying their conversation. It had a similar feeling to the first night they'd met. It was comfortable.

"You know it wasn't." still light-hearted banter. They were becoming quick friends it appeared. She couldn't be happier than this moment as she stroked the soft fur of the sleeping cat cradled in her lap. It reminded her of the blanket her mother had gotten her when she was born, and the memory pricked at her heart.

She traced from his little pink nose to the top of his fragile skull. Honestly, if someone touched this furball she'd have to kill them mercilessly. Slender fingers traced circles before moving to his little ears. She rubbed one gently between her index finger and her thumb. The ears twitched relentlessly until she let go, and the cat gave an angry growl.

"How ferocious." She mused before returning to the basic motions of petting an animal in a state of sleep. Soft enough to enjoy it, but not hard enough to wake it. The only issue now was that she couldn't move until he left. Pet rules.

"Oh you don't know the half of it. The little shit scratched me the other day when I didn't pour his food fast enough." She'd seen that from the roof. It'd been hilarious, and she'd laughed so hard she woke the neighbors.

"Oh? Who's a good kitty?" she was using the pet voice on him now, "You are. You're a good kitty." She gave him an extra good chin rub before letting the cat be.

"Ya know.. You know my name, but I don't know yours." He was feeling out what he could get away with here. He wanted to know more about the elusive mercenary dressed in all black.

"It's Lucy. Just Lucy." No last name, he noticed. But not for the normal reasons a specialist hid their name. From the expression in her eyes there was nothing but fleeting hatred, and what was obviously a break down waiting to happen.

"Okay, Just Luigi." She whipped around so fast with a look of disgust on her face.

"It's Lucy! L-U-C-Y." he was nearly laughing as she spelled out her own damn name. This woman was stubborn. He liked that. He liked a lot of things about her. Her laugh. The way she played with Happy. Her hair shining in the moonlight. The way she was decked in black, but he was so certain her closet was full of bright colors. They had to be just as bright as she was when she joked with him. When he looked at her all he could see was a normal life in a normal town with a normal house and his blue cat. They'd be surrounded by sunflowers the shade of her hair, and they'd never have to face another assassin again.

That wasn't in either of their deck of cards. They both had too many red stains on their bodies for there to be any other option for them. What would they put on their resumes anyway?

'Mercenary – xx years – will work for money'

'Mob boss' son – 21 years – will also work for money'

Neither of them were exactly qualified for what was considered acceptable to society. It was at that moment that Natsu Dragneel's brain halted. He'd been thinking in terms of a future with this girl. The girl he barely knew who had spoken to him all of two times. Somehow, that really didn't bother him much. It was the connotations behind the thoughts that had forced him to a stop, and caused him to panic. He wanted a future with her that included white picket fences, and stupid PTA meetings at a stupid high school.

"Natsu. We've got company." Her voice snapped him out of it, and he stood quickly. His eyes seemed to haze over, and what had previously been a deep shade of forest green was now a dark onyx. She'd seen both of those looks. She'd seen the tender glances to the roof she sat upon, and the murderous rage that came to be when his homestead was threatened. Right now, she missed that shade of emerald that had comforted her when she'd come to his side tonight. Green meant safety, and midnight meant something wicked this way comes.

She recognized that this was not the best time to be quoting Macbeth, but honestly it felt right and she was not ashamed. Men came crashing through the skylights – those damned skylights – and she jumped out of the way falling glass with Happy in tow. He was hissing, and struggling to get free of her grip.

"Oh? A girl and a cat? This will be easier than I thought." Lucy grit her teeth, and backed up slowly. There was a bedroom door behind her, and if she could just get this damn cat behind it they'd be fine.

It took a lot of struggling, and Natsu wailing on the assailants with bloodied fists clenched before she finally shoved the cat in the room. She was cursing the fur ball internally, because goddamnit why couldn't it just go behind the door? Regardless, she was free to join in the mostly finished escapade in front of her. Natsu was down to the last guy, and she was ready to pounce once the opportunity arose. Mostly, she just wanted to hit something. She had been in such a calm state before they'd come crashing through the glass.

She'd been thinking of him. His hair was bright pink – her favorite color if she was being honest – and he had abnormally long canines which had made her uncomfortable at first, but then she found they were kinda cute. Especially, when he smiled. When he smiled it was like the sun was shining, except she didn't hate these rays. She loved them. It made her think of what normal would be like. Would normal be a small home in some small town in the prairies? Would normal be waking up at 10 a.m. and not being exhausted from watching people from the roof tops? Would normal be waking up to snoring, and pink hair shoved into her neck with a blue cat trying to suffocate her? Would normal be eating breakfast with a certain pinkette shoveling food down his throat because he was late for work again?

What would normal be? She didn't know how families worked, but she wanted stupid high schools, and PTA meetings with hotheaded soccer moms. She wanted all of that. So when she saw the red dot on his back she was moving before she'd even realized what was happening. Her hand reached out, and her voice screamed out a warning that she couldn't hear. It was all drowned out by the pounding of her heart so loud in her chest, and the adrenaline rushing through her veins.

So, she dove.

He was turning as fast as he could, because maybe that meant he'd be quick enough to move out of the way if he could catch the trajectory. The sound of the gun cracked in the air, and glass shattered as the bullet came crashing through his happy ending. Just like that her body fell to the ground with a deafening thud, and it wasn't long before blood filled the space around her like a lake. If he could find the wound maybe he could stop the bleeding. He could still save their future.

"No. No. No. No. No. Please no." he whispered over, and over again like he was saying a prayer to something – anything – that would hear his pleas. He'd never been so desperate for a fairy tale ending until he'd met her. He thought anything was possible as long as they were together.

The bullet was lodged deep into her back, and it was not a through and through no matter how much he wished it was.

"C'mon Luce, ya gotta stay with me here." She was in and out of consciousness, and could barely catch his words. He was fighting her death like he'd fought Happy. It was a losing battle just like then. Her hand twitched, and she barely had the energy to lift just a single limb. She persevered, and her fingers grazed his cheek. A hand gripped hers tightly as a signal that they were there. That everything would be alright.

It wouldn't be. There was no genie in a bottle to keep her from leaving him. Her eyes flickered open, and finally she was able to see him. It was for a fleeting moment, but still the smile that graced her lips was the happiest he'd ever seen. But he didn't want that under these circumstances. He'd wanted that in their stupid house, in their stupid town, at a stupid PTA meeting.

Lucy was merely happy that he was okay, and hopefully unhurt. Most of all, his eyes were the color of leaves in the spring. She was leaving the world in his arms, and that was enough for her. Even if she'd wanted their future she was okay with being the past if it meant he'd live.

They were insane after all to think that after all this time they could live a normal, happy life.

A/N:

Shout out goes to all of the lovely peeps who commented on my last chapter. Y'all get all my love tbh

I just like the feeling of instant gratification bc im garbage

welcome to my ted talk:

SazHearT, and Lady Of The Sphinx

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT GOES TO MY COWORKER CHRIS WHO READS MY FANFICTIONS AND CONSISTENTLY GIVES ME FEEDBACK AND I HELLA APPRECIATE THAT ALSO RAMON, MATT, AND MICHAEL BC I CONSISTENTLY SHOVE MY WRITING DOWN THEIR THROATS AND THEY STILL LOVE ME ANYWAY