Sorry for the wait. Only a few more chapters to go before I wrap this case up. Hope you enjoy this one (sorry it's not my best work/hasn't had any proper editing) and thanks for the reviews/favorites/follows!
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima
It wasn't long before the police and medical vehicles showed up. They surrounded the whole block and then some with their numbers. Armed officers were the first to enter Lucy's apartment, followed by a team of EMTs, all of which hurried to the side of the attacker. They quickly pulled out their medical kits to try and stop the bleeding, after an officer had removed the gun from his limp hand. The man had already lost a significant amount of blood during the wait of their arrival, making his normally tan skin look ghostly pale. His consciousness slipped in and out as they moved him onto a stretcher. As the EMTs carted him past the still-shaken Lucy and out of the apartment, the man spat several slurred words in her direction.
"My prayer could'unt be answer'ed." He repeated over and over.
The gibberish made no sense to Lucy, it only frightened her more. Trembling, she inched closer to Natsu beside her. Though as soon as the other police had arrived he had stopped hugging her, he still stayed within an arms length of her at all times. His presence was reassuring, giving her strength to hold back her tears. As the man passed by, Natsu protectively turned his body ever so slightly in front of her, as though he was shielding her from the man's hazy black gaze. He loomed closer to her until the man had been completely taken out of eye-sight.
"That scared me..."
"Just ignore him." A steely, yet feminine voice behind them said. It startled Lucy, making her realize that she had actually said her fears aloud. She quickly turned around and found the source of the voice. Sergeant Scarlet, or Erza as Natsu called her, approached them. Her fiery red hair laid loosely over her shoulders, standing out against the gray fabric of her fitted suit jacket. Lucy had only briefly met Erza a few times before and her shockingly red tresses still struck her like it had the first time.
"I'm just glad he's gone," Lucy murmured.
Erza gave a empathetic smile before her demeanor became serious. "Lucy," she said, "I know you've been through a lot tonight but we have to take you into the station for some questioning." Lucy was taken back by surprise at first but nodded her head in understanding. Victims often remembered things the better right after a traumatic event while it was still fresh in their mind, making it the best time to interrogate them. She knew that well enough. She just never thought she would be one of those victims.
"Come on, I'll take you in my car." Erza directed, beginning to walk away.
Lucy didn't move, instead casting a worried glance to Natsu. He shared the look but gave her a small smile as if to say it was okay. "I'll meet you there," He said. Lucy seemed to study him before hesitantly nodding, then quickly turning away to catch up with Erza.
As soon she was out of sight, the smile dropped from his face. He looked around Lucy's once homely apartment, now disheveled and invaded. From across the room he saw the large blood stain left behind on the formerly pristine carpet. His hand began to shake and he tightly clenched it into a first to steady it. An anger welled up inside him, yet Natsu couldn't bring himself to be outwardly upset. Instead he breathed a heavy sigh, turning away from the offensive blotch and headed out to leave. He had had enough of today, even though it was just beginning.
"Do you remember him saying anything else to you?"
Lucy looked up from her hands to meet Gray's eyes. Slowly she shook her head. "No, just that his boss wasn't happy with me."
"Did he say why?" Gray questioned further, leaning closer into the table.
"The only reason he really gave was that I..." Her voice trailed off as her eyes suddenly grew wide in realization, as though she had remembered something forgotten. "That I figured out something important in the case!"
Intrigued Erza, sitting beside Gray, sat up straighter. She tilted her head to the side. "And what was that?"
"Is it what you called me over to talk about earlier?" All eyes in the interrogation room turned to the door and were met with Natsu. Something fluttered up inside Lucy at the sight of him but she pushed it aside, giving a swift nod yes. "Alright then, let's hear it." He prompted, taking a seat beside the other two.
Lucy sucked in a deep breath before speaking. "Well you see, at the paper after lunch, I heard a couple of my coworkers talking. They were discussing Jellal Fernandes's retrial." Upon hearing the name, Erza stiffened in her seat but didn't speak. The action went completely missed by the others as Lucy continued. "It reminded me of an article I read some time back, about how Brain had fought the allegations against Jellal. Back when I read it, I thought it was really odd that someone without any connection the man would fight it so hard."
"That was four years ago though, if I'm not mistaken. What makes you think he's even connected to the case now?" Gray asked, sounding doubtful.
"It didn't seem important to the case to me either." Lucy admitted, then smirked. "That is, until one of the ladies said that Jellal stood to inherit the Fernandes Chemical company, if he were to be released from prison."
"You mean...?"
"Wait, there's more," Lucy interrupted Gray, leaning into the table. "I did some more digging and turns out, the number one person behind the push for the retrial and the one who brought it up again at all, was Brain."
Both Erza and Natsu stiffened this time. "Wendy..." Natsu thought worriedly, his mind flashing back to the court summons letter his little sister had received. He grit his teeth. Brain better not pull his little sister into this too or there would be hell to pay.
"If Jellal were to be released, he could very well work right along side Brain to make those chemical weapons." Gray mused aloud, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "But even if Brain did help get him out, would that really be enough for him to go along with his plans?"
Lucy opened her mouth to reply but was cut off when Erza, who up until this point had remained silent, spoke. "He will help him." All eyes turned to her as she repeated the sentence, "Without a doubt, he will help him."
"Why would he do that?" Gray inquired.
Erza looked down, averting their gazes before she sighed and looked up again. There was a subtle painful look in her eyes as she replied. "Because Brain saved his life."
Silence filled the room, the words giving a heavy feel to the air. Erza sighed once more, the others hesitant on what to say. "But it doesn't matter as to why Jellal would, just that he would follow along with whatever Brain has planned without question." She continued with a heavy tone. "Before we even get to that point, however, we need to find a way to stop Brain's plans. As it stands now, even with all this, it's not enough evidence to link Brain to the murders or treason."
"Let alone to get a warrant to search for the weapons and get any proof they even exist." Gray added with a frown, slouching in his seat.
"But there is so much against him! Can't we just convict him somehow?" Asked Lucy frantically.
Erza shook her head. "It's just not enough."
Lucy looked helplessly between the three, her eyes landing on Natsu. She gave him a pleading look but he simply shook his head as well. Even though they knew Brain was guilty, there was nothing they could do.
Lucy ran a tired hand across her face. She was sitting at one of the benches in the nearly vacant police station lobby, a cup of untouched coffee in hand. It had been a long day and now it was close to ten o'clock, at least. She thought back forlornly to the pizza she bought hours ago, probably still laying tipped over in her front hall. She laughed spitefully, her earlier hunger completely gone. All she wanted was to was crawl into her bed and completely forget about this day. But to be perfectly honest, she didn't want to return to her apartment. The whole place was tainted in her eyes now and she doubted that it would ever feel quite the same again.
As she weighed the options of sleeping arrangements for herself and Plue that night, a hand gently grasped onto her shoulder. She instantly jumped, startled by the touch. The cup of now cold coffee nearly spilled all over her skirt but thankfully she was able to save it in time. Her eyes shot up angrily at the perpetrator and was relieved to see that it was Natsu, her annoyance instantly fading.
"Sorry," he said as he sat down beside her. In his own hands he held a mug with the same bitter coffee in it, only his was steaming hot. He took a careful sip of his drink before turning to her. "How are you holding up?"
Lucy sighed, looking down at her lap. "Tired but better than earlier," she replied in a joking tone, though there was no joy there.
Natsu frown and didn't say anything in response, instead studying her face. Her eyes were still red from crying and there were dark circles below them. Her hair was also disheveled, having fallen out of the neat bun it was in that morning. He thought back to the lunch they had together. It all seemed so far away now. He wished he could go back to the moment and redo everything that had happened since then.
"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you." Lucy suddenly said, bringing him out of this thoughts.
Natsu's brows furrowed together. "What are you talking about?" He asked confused.
"About not getting more into the case, you warned me and I didn't listen. For that, I'm sorry." Lucy replied, her voice low. He could see that there were tears in her eyes again.
"Lucy..." He breathed. His heart clenched tightly at the sight of her tears again.
She dabbed the corners of her eyes, wiping some of the droplets away before they could fall. "If I had listened to you," she continued, her voice growing quieter with each word, "then maybe he wouldn't of..." Her voice trailed off into nothing.
Setting his coffee down beside him, Natsu turned to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Listen to me, Lucy." He said firmly."What happened today was not your fault. That bastard could have attacked you at any time, not just because of what you discovered today."
She shook her head. "But-"
"No 'buts.'" Natsu cut her off before she could protest. "Whether you listened to me or not, you are in no way responsible for any of what happened, Luce. Understood?"
Lucy's lower lip shook as she nodded, a few of the tears she tried to hold back falling down her face. "Understood."
Natsu gave her a warm smile, wiping one of the tears off her cheek with his thumb. "Good." He said before abruptly standing up, grabbing her hand to pull her up with him. "Now c'mon, it's late. I'm sure you'll want to pick up Plue from your place first, right?"
Lucy gave him a confused look as she stumbled to her feet. "First?" She questioned, tilting her head. "Where am I going after?"
"My place, of course." Natsu stated matter-of-factly.
"Your place?!" Lucy exclaimed, her eyes wide and a blush spreading across her face.
"Yeah, you don't want to stay at your place after all and I don't mind sleeping on the couch now and then." Natsu explained. He grabbed his mug from the bench before beginning to drag her towards the exit.
How did he...? Lucy silently wondered before brushing the thought aside and allowing herself to be pulled away by him without protest. He just did and that's all that mattered.
