Ahh, already to chapter 10?! Oh boy.

*100 Jewels is approximately 1 USD (or .88 EUR). 1,250,000 Jewels equates to around 12,500 USD (11,000 EUR).

chapter 10: prescribed burn plan

definition:

This provides the prescribed fire burn boss information needed to implement an individual prescribed fire project.

Lucy did her best to recall her "detective face", the one that made her look stony and impassive, because she didn't want him to see how disappointed she was. And here she'd honestly thought that he might help her out of the goodness of his heart…

She didn't know why she'd thought he would.

"MPD is offering to pay you a fee for your services," she told him and the stupid grin began to wane–as though…he hadn't expected her to give a serious answer. "That includes the consultation from yesterday, any from here on out, and the work you'll be doing in the future." When he didn't say anything, she added, "If you're worried about the sum, it's pretty hefty. Personally, I think it's a good deal."

The snort that came from him almost startled her. "You're offering to pay me?" He sounded…shellshocked.

"Well," Lucy shrugged her shoulders, still standing in front of him, "you need some source of income, right?"

For a moment, Natsu was silent, as if considering her words. His green eyes, fringed by dark pink lashes bore into her, and all of the sudden, she felt…stifled. Holding his stare was nearly impossible, she thought, when she wasn't in the interrogation room.

Thankfully, he was the one who broke eye-contact when he closed his eyes. "Yeah," he chuckled out, "I guess I do. Would you believe me if I said that not even strip joints'll hire ex-felons?"

Lucy felt herself flush to the roots of her hair.

Because she couldn't help herself–she imagined him at said strip joints, rippling muscles, tattoos, and all. Nearly naked, clinging to a pole, and dressed in mere scraps of leather as other people–women and men–tucked bills into various body parts.

Her stomach clenched.

"That's…that's beside the point," she managed to say without sounding too strangled.

"Really? I'll take your word for it, detective." Natsu's devilish grin was back, and more than likely, he'd known exactly what she'd been thinking. But, instead of saying anything, he dug his hand into one of his many pockets and withdrew his lighter. "So," he said, flipping the cap open, "whaddaya need me for?"

His calloused thumb rolled over the spark wheel, not yet forcefully enough to produce a flame, but just enough to create a spark.

Lucy eyed his innate ministrations with no small amount of fascination. "Well, that," she surmised, gesturing to his lighter.

Two pink brows rose as Natsu glanced down at the lighter in his hand. "This?" he mumbled, lifting his gaze to meet hers. "As in…you want me to start fires?" The tone of his voice changed a little, his happy-go-lucky facade dimming just in the slightest.

All too suddenly, he looked wary.

"Under strict supervision," Lucy told him sternly, shaking a finger at him. "We need to flush Jackal out, and you said the best way to do that would be to "blow things up". You'll be working undercover for the MPD, setting fires to old buildings in Jackal's turf. I'll be with you each time, however, to ensure that - "

"No."

His refusal was so sudden and unexpected that at first, Lucy thought she hadn't heard right.

"I'm sorry?" She pegged Natsu with a curious stare, watching as his thumb stroked over the wheel on his lighter again and again.

He ignited a small flame, gazing into it briefly, before slamming the cap down and smothering it. "No," he repeated, glancing at her.

Lucy felt her mouth part slightly.

She hadn't expected him to just outright refuse. That was twice in one night that she'd been proved wrong when concerning him, she noticed with no small amount of dissatisfaction. Maybe this would prevent her from assuming things in the future.

"Would you mind telling me why?" she asked after a much-needed pause. "We're offering to pay you…"

A harsh laugh burst from his throat, effectively startling her. "It ain't about the money," Natsu scoffed in a low voice. "Trust me, that ain't it. Mind telling me why you need me and specifically me?"

She almost rolled her eyes–she'd already explained this once to Gray. Though, she supposed that Gray was harder to convince than Natsu.

"Because of your past," Lucy said honestly, seeing the way his tan face hardened. "It would take someone from the precinct too long to develop the necessary connections in the arson world. Not to mention, you're already on Jackal's radar, and then there's the fact that you're…" she stopped herself there, biting down harshly on her lower lip.

She'd almost slipped up and said more than she'd meant to, or meant at all.

Natsu, though, seemed to put the pieces together just fine. "I'm expendable, detective. Go ahead, you can say it," he mused, strangely humored by that.

"That's not what I… I mean, I don't think of you as…" she spluttered, her cool cop attitude faltering.

In the interrogation room, she was in charge and controlled the conversation…but outside of it? Outside of it, she couldn't seem to keep her poker face–at least when it came to Natsu. And he seemed to take enjoyment out of it.

Coughing to regain her composure, Lucy said seriously, "No one is expendable. Not even you."

Natsu leaned back into her leather couch, propping his ankle on his knee with a smug grin.

And it was then that she realized, he'd been joking with her. Teasing her. Again.

"I'm glad you think so highly of me," he mused, lips curved upwards and giving a quick flash of white teeth. "So, that's why you need me, huh? I'm the best of the best, making it fast and easy for MPD."

Lucy puckered her lips. She couldn't believe she'd opened herself up to his teasing again.

"Well, that's one way of putting it," she assented after a small pause. "You're probably our best shot at capturing Jackal. So, yes, we could use your help… I could use your help." The last part was muttered under her breath, a thought she'd unconsciously said aloud.

And once she realized what she'd done, she wished she could take it back.

The last thing she needed to do was bare her vulnerabilities to him. He seemed to find them just fine on his own.

"Well, when you put it like that…" Natsu hummed, throwing one forearm behind his pink head, his bicep pulling tight in a way that made her mouth water. "I still owe you for those dinners, right? And you said money…which I could use…" He turned the lighter in his other hand over, rubbing his fingers along the smooth edges as a line formed in his brow.

She blinked.

Was he…changing his mind?

His green eyes narrowed at the lighter, as if searching for answers, and then he heaved a great sigh. "Ah, whatever," he grumbled as he straightened on her couch and ruffled his own hair. "Ain't hard falling into old habits I guess. And you'll be paying me to do it–that'll be a first," he snorted.

"Wait, wait," Lucy stammered, holding out a palm, "are you saying you'll do it?"

"I'm considering it." He cocked his head to the side, his heated eyes roaming over her body, and Lucy was suddenly very aware that she was dressed in a thin t-shirt and shorts. A toothy grin greeted her, as though he'd read her thoughts, and he said, "I'll do it on two conditions. First, I wanna know how much I'm getting paid for this."

Of course he did, Lucy thought as she crossed her arms over her chest–like she was defending herself from his penetrating stare.

"MPD is prepared to offer you 250,000 Jewels for each consultation and 500,000 for assisting in the arrest of Jackal. So far," she said, "that sums up to 1,250,000 Jewels*."

Gray would probably bite her head off for offering Natsu so much money, but, she was free to negotiate on behalf of the MPD as her work contract dictated. As long as MPD could afford to pay Natsu, they would–and Lord knew MPD could afford to pay Natsu such a sum many times over.

Natsu whistled lowly. "Not bad. Less than what I used to get back in the old days, but not bad," he admitted with a nod. "Okay, and my second condition?" His devilish grin reappeared, teeth flashing and eyes darkening. "I wanna hear you say please, detective."

Lucy almost choked on her own spit.

He wanted her to what? Say please?

"…You want me to beg for your help," she surmised after collecting herself, brown eyes narrowing to slits and a hard frown twisting her mouth. "You want me to get on my knees and grovel for help from the almighty Natsu Dragneel," she all but growled, and at the same time, lowered herself to her knees in front of him as he sat on her couch.

At the sight, Natsu's tan face lost color.

His lips pulled tight over his teeth as his grin dissolved. "Hey, detective, I was just kidding," he muttered, eyebrows slanting over his eyes. "The last thing I wanna hear is someone begging for my help…"

Hearing the strange note in his voice, Lucy slowly rose, her frown still intact.

"Well then, don't tell people to do something that you don't actually want them to do," she lectured and pointed a slim finger at him.

"Roger." He brought his hand to his forehead in a mock salute, his lips twitching in renewed amusement. "Now, you gonna tell me what I gotta do? Or are you gonna turn a dangerous criminal like me loose on the streets?" One of his brows arched in a challenging manner.

It seemed as though her arsonist for hire was back to his happy-go-lucky self. He was going to help her.

If all went well, this would be the case to really make her career, put her name out there. And if all didn't go well, and Natsu for some reason or another failed to help MPD arrest Jackal, then she'd be on the chopping block along with her job.

MPD didn't want to feel like their money was going to waste.

"Oh, I won't be turning you out on your own," Lucy said as she sat next to him on the couch. It was plenty big enough for the two of them to both sit without letting their body parts touch, but he refused to scoot over, and thus their thighs brushed. "Remember," she coughed, shifting her legs, "I'll be supervising all of the fires for MPD. You'll have to take me with you."

Next to her, Natsu's face pinched in a frown. "Well, that'll ruin your plan right there. Jackal sees me with a cop, then it's all over, detective," he reasoned, still clutching his lighter.

That was a very good point, Lucy would give him that.

"So then I won't be a cop." She shrugged.

The look he flung her was one of pure confusion, both brows rising. "What, you're gonna pose as my girlfriend again or something?"

"Sure, why not?"

Natsu reeled back so fast that for a moment, she thought he'd been physically shocked. Both of his feet smacked onto her floor as his hands fell into his lap and his jaw went slack.

Seeing his flabbergasted appearance, Lucy elaborated. "I mean, he already thinks I'm your girlfriend, right?"

Jackal had already seen them out in public together once, and had even assumed a relationship. Considering that, her posing as Natsu's girlfriend seemed almost…logical. If not practical.

"So then we should play off that," she continued. "He won't suspect anything if he sees us together, and I can keep an eye on you for MPD."

Natsu leaned back into the leather couch, running his tongue over his teeth contemplatively. He crossed his arms over his thick chest. "And what does your pal Mr. Frostbite think of this plan, hm?"

"He's threatened to disembowel you if you touch me," admitted Lucy, feeling a small grin pulling at her mouth.

"I'd like to see him try," Natsu huffed.

Lucy's head fell to the side, a strand of blonde hair falling into her eyes.

There was this…tension between Natsu and Gray–tension that went a lot deeper than simple testosterone. She had the distinct feeling that the two had had run-ins in the past, probably bad ones; and she was hardly ever wrong about 'distinct feelings'.

Whatever had happened between them, it had been bad enough for these negative feelings to last for many years.

She would have to ask Gray about it later; if he chose to be cooperative, that was.

"Anyway," she cleared her throat to draw Natsu's attention, "let's get down to the details, shall we?"

Natsu's grin was her only confirmation.

As the hours ticked by and she explained her plan to him, bit by bit, Lucy came to understand that arson was…tricky. Complicated, even. There were so many little steps before the actual lighting of the fire–including researching the building and the materials and mixing the accelerant.

The accelerant alone was enough to make her head hurt.

Certain chemicals, when mixed together, created different reactions when set on fire. There were slow-burners and flash-bangs, and ones in the middle that she couldn't even remember. Some combinations created interesting colors, or smells, and some were downright deadly. But Natsu told her about them all, a silly smile lighting up his face–he enjoyed sharing this with her, she realized after a little while.

He enjoyed having someone to talk to about his interests. About what he was good at.

And at that moment, he seemed like a child. A bumbling child unsure of how to teach a new friend, but was happy to do so nonetheless.

More than once, he stopped and asked, "You got all that, detective?" with this serious frown that made her want to laugh.

To strangers, his frown was probably scary. They saw the hint of his tattoos, the mean-looking bar in his left ear, and his gruff exterior–adding a frown to the mix definitely made him look intimidating.

But…his appearance didn't scare her at all.

He was a burnt marshmallow, just like Gray.

"I've got it, I've got it," she told him numerous times. "What comes next?"

He talked to her for hours, using his hands to demonstrate various explosions. When that wasn't enough, he snatched the napkins from her coffee table and a pencil and began sketching various diagrams for her. He drew out different styles of blazes for her in incredible detail and with a patience she hadn't expected from him.

It was well past eleven by the time he wore himself out; he'd been talking for close to three hours straight. And the only reason he stopped was because his throat began to ache from talking so long.

Lucy brought him a glass of water from her kitchen, and when she returned, she found him sitting on the couch with Happy in his lap. Natsu's big, gruff hands were incredibly gentle as they smoothed over Happy's soft blue fur. The look of unguarded wonder on Natsu's face was priceless when Happy began to purr and knead his paws into Natsu's cargos.

It was like he was…shocked that Happy liked him.

Then again, he probably hadn't had pets growing up, Lucy told herself as she brought him the glass of water.

When she set it on the coffee table, he glanced up at her with a smile that nearly rocked her back.

Usually, his smiles were full of snark and crude humor and dark things. But the one he gave her now was pure…light. There was no heat to it, no sexual pull, it was just a simple happy smile.

He looked rather handsome like that, she decided.

"Okay, so let's go through the plan one more time," she sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Natsu's own nose wrinkled, but he nodded.

First, they would set fire to an old MPD building on the outskirts of Magnolia. A building that wasn't in use but was still viewed, by the public, as something of importance to MPD. Nothing would send a message to the crime world like burning a police building to the ground, Natsu cackled.

Their next target would be a string of old brownstone houses downtown. Natsu had assured her many times that there were no people living in them any longer–not even squatters. And they would double check before hand, as he had insisted rather forcefully, much to her surprise.

Finally, they'd hit the abandoned strip mall.

That was the one, Natsu told her, that would draw the attention of potential clients and Jackal alike. It was big, it was public, and it was smack in the middle of Jackal's territory. Lucy had to admit, it was a good plan. A costly plan, but a good one.

"Overall," Lucy mumbled around a yawn at close to one AM, "we want to attract the attention of one of Jackal's clients. If we can get a client to ask for your services over Jackal's, then he should panic. Like you said, he'll start thinking with his ego instead of his brain." When Natsu didn't say anything, not even a grunt, Lucy sent him an annoyed, "Natsu, are you listening - "

And she felt her breath catch in her throat.

He was…asleep on her couch. With his head tipped back and resting against the couch, his long legs splayed outward haphazardly, and hands draped over the blue cat sleeping on his stomach. His mouth was parted, just a little, releasing a small snore and, if her tired eyes weren't playing tricks on her, a trickle of drool.

Adorable was the only word that came to mind, she thought with a chuckle. And, rather than disturbing him, she found herself fetching him a fluffy pink blanket from her linen closet.

When she returned, he hadn't budged even an inch. She tossed the blanket over him and Happy, who stirred and let out a loud purring meow before settling.

"Mm," Natsu groaned, snatching the blanket. "Thanks, Luce…" he murmured, and she couldn't tell if he was asleep or not.

Luce?

Lucy felt her heart stutter in her chest. Since when had he decided he could call her that? Was that what he called her in his mind?

Or…maybe it was just because he was half-asleep. A slip of the tongue, she wondered.

Either way, she found herself sitting next to him on the couch, staring at him with puzzlement. She just…couldn't figure him out. He tried to put up this jokester front, but underneath, there was something…sad, something dark and troubled.

She could see it on his face when his mask cracked.

Maybe that was why she liked him, she thought–they had that in common.

Lucy soon fell prey to her comfortable leather couch, the warmth of the blanket, and the smoky scent of the man sleeping next to her. She didn't even realize she'd fallen asleep, her head resting against something warm and firm, until a muttered curse sounded in her ear at close to four in the morning.

"Ah, shit…" came a sleep-roughened voice as something that had been resting on her head suddenly lifted.

Her head was jostled as its firm resting place slid away, making her whine.

"Shit," the voice repeated, this time more strained. "Sorry, sorry, sorry…" it whispered as warm hands propped her head up, repositioning it on something soft and familiar.

A pillow?

Lucy frowned into her fluffy blanket. She'd liked the other thing better.

"Didn't mean for this to be a sleepover, detective. Got my own place to get back to…"

Various rustling noises met her ears, the sounds of someone stumbling around in the darkness of a still unfamiliar environment. Eventually, those sounds ceased and she heard her front door open, inviting in a warm summer breeze.

Lucy, suddenly missing her company, snuggled into the blanket and pillow that still carried a comforting scent. A breathy, "Bye…" tumbled from her lips afterwards.

And, just before she fell into sleep again, she could have sworn she heard an echoing reply.

"Bye, Luce…"

Ohoho, sleepovers already? Warning, be prepared for some angst and man-pain next chapter, stay tuned!

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