Author's Note: Please note that in Canada, the legal age to buy and consume alcohol drinks is Eighteen. I am aware that other countries, the age is different. For my work, I choose to go off of my own country's choice of legal age for Natsu's world.

~.~.~.~

These passed two weeks had to have been the longest in Natsu's most recent memories. Even working for Jude, he'd never had to run around so much! Screw a chicken with their head cut off, he felt like a whole flock of chickens with their heads cut off! With loads of help from Lucy and Levy and a little help from Gajeel, (He'd built two chairs and spent the rest of the time chewing on old scraps of metal that Natsu took from the fire escape along side the building...) his bar was finally complete! Fully stocked with any and all products found online and suggest by an over enthusiastic Brewery Market employee, Natsu felt he was ready to take on any and all alcohol consuming masses. This would be great! If he could just figure out names for his drinks...and shut Gajeel up before things got even worse and awkward...

"Atomic Cat?"

"No. That has no alcohol in it...this is a bar..."

"Crazy Cow?"

"Talking about yourself now, Gajeel?"

A large fist slammed down on the counter, the glasses dancing and clinking against one another as Natsu just stood there and grinned, wiping another glass out with a clean rag. For an hour now, he and Gajeel had been sitting at his new bar with Natsu's laptop while the two tried to compile a list of drinks that could be served at Natsu's bar. At first, it was going great and they'd had a fair sized list. From Bees Knees to Hair of the Dog, Natsu figured it'd be a fun little twist to have silly names for the drinks. The whole – whatever it was Gajeel was doing, started when he finally got sick of the other man eating any and all metal in sight. The very last straw was when Natsu had just finished mixing a perfect Grasshopper when a flake of metal went flying. Though he was using shot glass amounts, the alcohol was still not cheap, damn it!

"Flaming Gorilla?"

"Talking about yourself again, Gajeel?"

Ignoring is friends growl and Levy's surprised gasp, Natsu grinned to Lucy, who'd just stepped up to the counter, a pile of hand written menu's in her hands. As she boosted herself on the counter and Natsu wrapped an arm around her waist to gently pull her on the other side, the two ignored Levy's look of surprise and Gajeel's look of concern masked with mild interest. Natsu knew that look all to well. Once he was alone with Gajeel, he'd get an ear full of something only the metal eating mage knew. Normally on the side that had to listen, he wasn't looking forward to it...

Maybe if I leave more fire escape pieces lying around...?

A gentle poke in the side from Lucy, and his mind was brought back to the present – and his friends looks. Something between he and Lucy had changed since they'd gone mask shopping, that was for certain. As for what it was...well. That was up in the air and in all honesty, Natsu didn't want to delve to deep on what it was right now – it scared the hell out of him to think of bringing Lucy anywhere close to his life, past or present. Just knowing of the coffee speakeasy below his feet felt like the beating of a tell tale heart...it was enough to set him on edge.

No.

The fewer things Lucy knew of that, the better. For her safety as well as his own. For now...

"Fire Hammer drink."

Immediately Natsu's head shot up at the word "fire", ignoring "hammer" and "drink". The look on the barkeeps face changed from mild excitement to very minor rage when the two women started laughing softly.

"He's like a puppy with fire! You should've seen him at dinner last night, it was my turn to cook and when i started the burner – never mind the delicious food I was making – he asked to eat the flames!"

Scratching the back of his head, Natsu burst in to an embarrassed grin at Lucy's sadly true anecdote. In his defence, the flames looked like they'd taste good! He'd never seen a gas stove before, just an electric one! That or his own flames – and...no. Eating his own flames?! He'd may as well eat his own foot! Or elbow! Or ear – at least that way he'd still be able to use his magic and fighting...

"What about Iron Butterfly drink?"

The room seemed to freeze at Levy's voice and knowledge of drinks. Only Gajeel shifted, his elbow falling to rest on the top of her head where she swatted it away halfheartedly. Lucy looked to her friend, mouth gaping open until Natsu tapped it with his finger, grinning. When the blonde closed it, she seemed to find her voice.

"You drink, Levy?! You don't seem the type..."

The little bluenette huffed before smiling to Lucy, a small grin on her lips and mischief in her eyes.

"I've been to my fair share of bars, Lucy! Just because I read a lot and work with rare books, doesn't mean I don't know how to have fun...!"

Natsu grinned and flung a towel at Gajeel when he noticed the other man's look of surprise. Although he'd never admit it, Natsu was mildly surprised at the tiny woman. To admit it though... that would mean giving Gajeel a way out of his situation and it was to amusing to do otherwise!

"Okay, okay, we're trying to think of drink names for our bar!"

A slight shiver flicked down Natsu's spine as he heard Lucy call it "our bar". A few days ago when he'd asked if she would like to work part time at his bar as a waitress, he didn't expect her to jump at the opportunity right away. He was going to give her a couple of weeks to think about it, but next he knew, she'd said yes and called her boss, telling him what he could do with a banana and where...a chill still went down his spine at that image!

"Hanky Panky!"

Natsu's hands froze from the drink he was mixing, a sad attempt at making a Grasshopper. Though he'd been practising for a month now, he'd struck out a few times. At least these three plus Grey deemed his drinks passable. Grey and his cop buddies had started coming by after work for a drink twice a week. Though in thinking, that had only been twice, seeing as the bar was only open a week...

He was jerked out of his reverie at the menu's disappearing, only to appear a second later to whack him upside the head. Not a second later, his dark gaze met Lucy's smiling coffee coloured eyes as she winked before moving to greet their first customers of the night. A group of what looked to be collage boys, five of them, just barely over the age of eighteen. This was a group he knew he would have to watch like a hawk, with Lucy serving. Quickly finishing the order for the drinks, he shot a look to Alzack and Bisca standing by the door, his left shoulder shrugging.

How many?

Quickly, Bisca walked over to the bar, sliding five I. D's across the counter.

"Glasses and Football Jock on the right side of the table are legal. The other three, fake. Alzack confiscated all of them."

With a quick nod, Natsu scooped up the I. Ds, pocketing the two real ones. Jumping over the bar, he tucked his mask in place, scowl straight to the point. Half way there, he met Lucy, gently tapping her hand to signify three were under age. With a nod, she turned back to the bar on Gajeel's end to fill more orders. With the place quickly filling up, they didn't have time for all the staff to pause and deal with the issue. Natsu would deal with it personally.

As he neared the table, he noticed Alzack keeping watch out of the corner of his eye as Bisca went back to her place across from him, both continuing their work.

"...and than she said, she said – dude, what's with the dumb ass mask?"

When the kid cut himself off, his friends all gave him weird looks, the story not making sense. It was than that they noticed Natsu standing there, a feral grin on his face. All five faces went from confusion to Cheshire grins in mere seconds and Natsu couldn't help but grin as he crossed his arms.

"Hello, gentleman! Please allow me to welcome you to Firebrand!"

"Hey, dude...so, as I was saying -"

Sighing internally at their idiocy, Natsu casually reached over with his hand aflame, brushing his forefinger almost lovingly over the two small candles that sat centre table, each in their own glass. Immediately, all eyes were on his now extinguished hand, hidden by his crossed arms.

"As you're well aware, I'm sure – the legal drinking age is eighteen...seeing as you're in here with two adults, I can serve you water, soda beverages, or non alcoholic drinks..."

At this point, he quickly gathered the three glasses of the two that were underage and set the drinks within on fire, burning off the alcohol.

"...I don't serve alcohol to minors."

Natsu casually waved Alzack away when the three stood, their chairs falling down to the floor as they huffed like bulls. He merely smirked and waved Lucy over, eyeing the other two's spilled drinks.

"Could you please get these two law abiding gentleman orders of their drinks again? For the other three...I think they might like some apple juice and an oatmeal cookie."

Scooping up their food order slip, he grinned as the two burst out laughing at their friends, having been caught. Just as Natsu came close to the bar, one had the nerve to burst up again, calling to Natsu over the music and din.

"What about our , bro?!"

Sighing once more internally, a slow grin came to him as he took the cards out of his pocket, flicking them out of his reach.

"You mean these fake pieces of plastic?"

Natsu further grinned as the idiot nodded, reaching again. It took all he had to not burst out laughing when he lit his hand aflame, the cards quickly melting to flecks of plastic. The guys eyes bugged out so large, for a second Natsu could imagine his eyes popping right out of his head.

"Does that answer your question?"

Passing the flecks to the other man, he flicked a towel over his shoulder, turning to head back to his bar and other customers...

"Aaaahhg...sooo tired! It was such a good evening though!"

Groggy eyed and head pounding, Natsu flicked his eyes to the clock, noticing the time. It was five in the morning and the bar had just let out it's last guest, Alzack locking the door while Bisca took a quick look to secure the building and check the bathrooms for stragglers. That done, Lucy, Bisca, Alzack, Gajeel and Natsu all met around a table in the centre of the room, ten small pebble candles their only light. A soft knock on the door had Natsu standing and nodding to Alzack permission to open the door.

"Don't you guys look cheery this morning!"

"Says the lady who got eight hours solid sleep..."

"Stop your grumbling...I brought you coffee and came to drag your lazy butt home!"

Natsu met Lucy's eyes with a tired grin at the sour look settling on Gajeel's face and Levy's words, Gajeel's blush all to noticeable, even in the low light. When he noticed how tired Lucy looked, he took a quick look around. The bar was cleaned, alcohol secured, money in the safe with float ready for the next night. Tables washed, floors swept and mopped and candles all blown out. Natsu had tried to eat the flames, but the wax got in the way...mint and sakura blossom wax was not a good addition to flames!

Fifteen minutes later, after one more quick look over the bar, Natsu shook Lucy awake, trying to ignore the warmth her sleepy eyed look filled him with. Tired right down to the bone, he just wanted to shower and sleep.

"C'mon, Lucy...let's go home..."

Once outside, the cold night air was just bitter enough to wake them the little amount needed to get inside. Natsu had his foot on the first step when he felt a tug against his vest, a second later, a gasp. He was quick to turn, but not quick enough. Just as he took in the sight of Lucy being pressed against a wall by a man he'd never seen before, knife to her throat, hands grabbed him by the wrists and he felt his magic energy slipping away like water through his fingers.

"Hello, Dragneel...Jude sends his regards..."

All the warmth and goodness of this night seemed to chill to ice in his veins, frozen as he gasped for breath. As he turned his head to look towards Lucy, the knife nicked his throat. He could feel the burn and warm sting as the cut bled, but paid no attention to it, eyes locked on Lucy's.

The pain he felt was nothing compared to the pain and confusion he saw in her eyes. At the mention of Jude's greetings to Natsu, her cold anger felt as quick and sharp as if his still beating heart was cut out with the knife held against his throat.

So weak from the drain on his magic energy, he didn't hear the roar of outrage, nor see a gaping hole open up beneath the two men's feet. Only when an iron bar impaled the red brick so close to his face, he felt it graze his cheek did he realize they were being saved...possibly to late for him.

The last thing he heard was Lucy cry out his name as a burning slice across his throat stopped his cry before he could even take a breath.