The element of surprise was not enough to bring down Gajeel Redfox. He had a jaw hard enough to be made of iron and he had a way about him that was too stubborn for his own good. Erza discovered her folly as soon as her punch hit home—she had underestimated him. Her knuckles screamed and split, and though her fist made a satisfying thwump as it connected, the damage done to the perpetrator was less than expected.
Instead of going down as she had planned, Gajeel tongued the fresh hole in his cheek. "That wasn't very wise." Blood stained his teeth, seen as he spoke.
Erza shook off the pain in her hand and swung again. Gajeel took that hit as well, only jolting slightly on impact. Erza's confidence took a massive blow. She did what she could to push back that eroding voice that said she'd bitten off more than she could chew. She moved to hit the man a third time. He grabbed her wrist and pinned her back against the wall so abruptly, her head cracked against the bricks.
"This kind of work leaves a real shitty taste in my mouth, doll," Gajeel said. "But, you had your chance. You just couldn't help yourself, though, could you? Now we have to play by the rules." He tugged her away. "Come on, Monnet's point is real nice by the light of dawn."
Erza's eyes cleared slightly. She found Gray just steps away. He had his gun raised and the hammer cocked back; neither she nor Gajeel had heard it engage. He was opening his mouth to make his threats and take her glory. Erza remembered her own gun tucked into the holster on her leg. Determined to still make things go her way, she forwent talking, lifting her knee and finding the soft spot between Gajeel's legs. He didn't take that hit as well as he did her punches. His face went white; he dropped her arm. Free, Erza hiked up her dress and pulled her gun. Gajeel looked surprised to have the chrome shoved against his cheek.
"We need to talk, Mr. Redfox, and we're doing it on my terms. Get up slowly and start walking." Erza congratulated herself when her command came out strong and sure.
"Fuck, Erza," Gray finally let his presence be known. "As far as subtle goes, you leave a lot to be desired."
"Is this a joke?" Gajeel asked, taking in the two.
"I'm not laughing," Erza said. "Hands on your head, interlock your fingers and get walking."
Gajeel straightened from his injured slump. "You're fucking dreaming; there ain't no way—"
Scuffing at the end of the alley made them all freeze. Erza followed Gajeel's gaze back toward Dutch's Garage and saw a group of approaching men. At the forefront was Laxus Dreyar. She hoped that the light was low enough to hide the specifics of their tangle.
"Thought you were going to drag the dame to Monnet's Point, Gajeel? You know the boss doesn't like messes left on his turf."
Caught, Erza's mouth dried up. Gajeel, seeing she was distracted, swung back around and grabbed her gun. Erza tightened her hold seconds before it was torn from her fingers. A round went off. Down at the end of the alley, Laxus pulled his own piece from his holster while snapping some directions to the men at his side. They fanned out. One-by-one, hammers fell into place.
Chaos descended. Gray shouted commands that buzzed by Erza's ears. Someone at the other end swore. A gun went off, a bullet lodging firmly in the wall behind Gray's head, letting him know in no uncertain terms what everyone thought of his orders. Then the flurry started. Gunshots echoed through the alley, deafening. Bullets tinged off metal and cracked through old windows.
Seeing an opportunity, Erza lifted one leg, teetering in her heels, and kicked out. She got Gajeel in the thigh. He cussed and palmed her entire face and shoved her back toward the wall again. It wasn't a particularly eloquent move, but it did what it was supposed to: send her off balance, make her loosen her hold on the gun. It came out of Erza's fingers just as Gray brought the butt of his gun swinging into Gajeel's temple. The hit connected solidly. Their target would have gone down like a sack of bricks but Gray grabbed him around the chest and held him sort of upright, using him as a shield.
"Car, Erza."
A bullet disintegrated the wall beside Erza's ear. "What?"
"Get the fucking car!" Gray lay down more fire, hitting one silhouetted figure in the leg bad enough that they met the ground.
Erza moved, running as quickly as her heels would allow. Pot holes tried to trip her, she stepped in puddles that splashed brown water in to her shoes and made her feet slip, she did what she could to run a zig zag pattern like the cadet's manual said.
At the alley's edge, she chanced a look over her shoulder and saw Gray had run out of bullets. Now he focused on keeping Redfox in front of him and on backpedaling in her direction. He was twenty feet behind and ahead of him, Laxus and his men were closing fast. Go, go, go. Erza's heart was in her throat. She turned the corner and saw the old sour Tudor shining in the first rays of morning light.
She didn't really register the trek from the side of the mill into the parking lot, into the Tudor's front seat, there was too much adrenaline in her veins for that. The keys were in the ignition. It took her two tries to turn the car over and another three seconds to recall how to pull it into drive. The transmission engaged. She hit the gas so hard, the back end fishtailed. It evened out again, bringing her to the alley's mouth.
Gray was still coming and he still had his prize. He'd resorted to magic, freezing the ground to slow his aggressors with moderate success, two of six were sprawled like toddlers in a skating rink. Erza slammed on the brakes and reached into the backseat. She almost couldn't reach the door handle. She stretched and stretched. By some stroke of luck, her fingers closed around the latch, allowing her to push the squeaky door open in time for Gray to mostly fall back into the seat.
"Drive!"
She didn't need to be told twice. Facing forward again, she jammed on the gas, though Gajeel was still mostly out. Bullets chased them, some pegging off the bumper, some biting into the side panels. Erza ducked low when one found the window frame by her head. She swung out of the parking lot and onto Vanguard Street. In seconds, they were too far away and there were too many obstacles for a continued assault.
In the back seat, Gray grunted and yanked Gajeel the rest of the way in. Wind force pushed the Tudor's door closed. Erza wrenched around, seeing Gray fuss with a pair of handcuffs. They cinched on Gajeel's wrists with finality. "Are you okay?"
Gray said, "Alright. You?"
"I'm okay." She looked back around. "Who's bleeding?" The smell of blood was in the car.
"Keep your eyes on the road," Gray snapped.
Erza looked back around in time to narrowly avoid getting creamed by a pickup. The other driver blared their horn. She looked sheepish but not deterred. "Did you get shot?"
Gray pushed Gajeel to the other side of the backseat and pulled up his pant leg. His calf was bleeding. Someone had grazed him.
"Shit," Erza cursed. "You need to go to the hospital. I'll drop you off and then I'll take the Tudor back to the station. One of the guys there can help me with him and—"
"No."
"No?"
"It's just a scratch."
"You were shot," Erza protested.
Gray reached into the console and grabbed out a wad of takeout napkins. "Got a hair tie?"
"Yeah, but—"
"Give it to me."
She did, the sour look on her face not really going anywhere, especially when she saw what Gray had in mind. "Sticking greasy napkins on your leg and holding it there with a hair tie is not acceptable."
He waved her off. "It is until we get back to my place."
"Why are we going there? We have a criminal; he should go back to the station so we can question him."
"Erza," Gray said with forced patience. "We can't bring him in."
"Why the hell not? Mr. Redfox there is wanted on a ton of charges. Not to mention, he was trying to set Eve Tilm on fire when I interrupted. Chief would reward you for bringing in this scum bag. Don't you want the Christmas bonus, the Good morning Constable Fullbuster, the chance at your own desk in your own office?" Erza barraged.
Ambition warred with conscience. This is Lucy's future we're talking about here. "We gotta play dead on this one."
"Why?"
Gray gave her the runaround. "Just leave it. There are things going on that you don't understand."
Suspicion bloomed. "Are you a dirty cop just like Eve Tilm?"
He screwed up his face. "What?"
"It's true, isn't it? That's why you didn't want to go into the Garage, you were afraid someone would recognize you and blow your cover."
Gray shook his head. "You're wrong, Erza. On a lot of fronts. Eve isn't dirty—"
"I saw him—"
"He's not and neither am I," Gray said with force. Erza substituted talking for scowling. More gently, Gray said, "Please, just trust me. I promise I'm not doing this to pull the wool over your eyes. This is more complex than just a stolen car."
"Tell me."
"I can't."
"Right now, Gray, or I'm taking you into custody, too," Erza said with finality.
"You're kidding, right?" Gray asked. But no, Erza wasn't playing.
"Just take me to my place."
"Not until you tell me what's going on."
Gray sighed. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course."
He thought of her stolen uniform shoved up inside the girls' washroom and thought that yeah, maybe she could. For awhile at least. "I can't tell you the details, but Lucy Heartfilia is trying to get out of Magnolia, away from the Chief. I've—I've been helping her get away. I sent her to the cottage on Rosewood. And from there… I think the Den picked her up again. It was them that stole my cruiser and dumped it in that motel, I'm almost sure of it."
Erza slammed on the breaks, bringing the car to a screeching halt so she could swing around in the driver's seat. "Come again?"
He met her eyes, though he almost felt too ashamed to. "You heard me."
"Why the hell would you help Lucy Heartfilia run away? And why the hell would she want to?"
"That's not my place to say," Gray replied.
"Oh, no." Erza shook her head so hard her scarlet hair whipped in front of her eyes. "If you don't give me a good reason, I really will drag you in and tell the Chief everything I know, Gray—"
Make your stand. With Lucy, or with the Chief and your career. Choosing the right thing had never felt so difficult before. The path Chief Heartfilia laid out for him seemed easy and clear. Being Chief Inspector, he could help a lot of people. Girls like Lucy. Even girls like Erza, who wanted what society told them they couldn't have. The right path, Lucy's path, the one his heart told him to trek, was a little more convoluted and a lot harder. You're going to lose your job. Fuck. "If you have to tell him, I get it. But I can't tell you more than that. Just know that I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for a good reason. Lucy's in trouble here."
Erza stared him down. Gray thought she'd try to bully him again. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to tell her no for a third time if she really started to whittle into him. Saying no to her was hard no matter the circumstance.
"Fine," Erza said at last. "I'm taking you back to your house, but I want in on everything from here on out."
"Erza, please," Gray pleaded. "We would both definitely lose our jobs if anyone were to find out about this—"
"I guess we better keep our mouths closed then." She turned back around and put the car into drive.
Gray wanted to slump into an exhausted heap; he needed to search their prisoner for weapons first.
Outside of Gajeel's old room, Natsu took his hand out of his pocket to push open the door. He hesitated, seeing the blue stain on his fingers: the ink from Lucy's incriminating letter had bled onto his sweaty hand. You could take those letters to the police. You could have Heartfilia arrested. That's the right thing. Or… He could send Heartfilia a letter of his own, get the man to meet him somewhere and put a bullet between his eyes. It was better than what he deserved. Or he could do the logical thing like Zeref wanted and wait. Sit on it. Show Lucy how to fend the man off, cast around their threats and see where the pieces landed.
Frustration was suffocating.
Natsu took a breath, and then another. One more for good luck. Then he pushed open the door. Everything was exactly how he'd left it, right down to Lucy sleeping on the cot. If only she knew she had plenty of time for running while Natsu grappled with her predicament.
He closed the door and was at Lucy's side before he realized he was going there. She breathed softly, one burnt gold lock of hair puffing with every breath exhaled from her garnet-bright lips. Not quite able to help himself, he crouched and used his forefinger to brush the hair back from her face. She was as perfect as the first time he'd seen her with her lightly freckled and rose-kissed cheeks, her fan of inky lashes, her small delicate nose. It was outrageous that she hated the way she looked. That her father made her feel that way.
She twitched some, rolled mostly on her back, then settled again. Natsu released her and checked the silver watch on his wrist. The face was slightly scratched after an altercation he'd had with some bum a few weeks ago, but it was still one of the finest things he owned, next to the single gold stud he had stabbed through his ear.
It was almost six. The sun must have been coming up over the horizon. And he was tired. He didn't think sleep would come easily, though, even after Rogue and Wendy got back and took over and he was able to lie in the cot he had set up just off the distillery room. His thoughts were churning and he was getting eaten up by a sense of urgency. He needed to act. What he wouldn't have given to check out Amber Drive with Rogue.
"What are you doing?"
Natsu looked up and met Lucy's open eyes. He realized then he was very much invading her personal space, crouching there beside her, close enough to feel the warmth from her body. He swallowed, trying to buy some time to compose himself and think of a believable answer.
Lucy clutched the sheet to her chest and inched away from him, a guarded look on her face.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Natsu said at last.
"You're creeping on me."
Well, maybe. Not intentionally, though. "I was just checking to make sure you were okay," Natsu fibbed.
Lucy felt her neck for her keys, obviously doubting him.
Natsu told her what she already knew. "They're still there, as per our agreement."
"Thanks." She was all sarcasm. It didn't take away from her charm.
"You have a nice look to you."
"What?"
Yeah, what as in whatthefuck. Lucy's letter resonated in his head. I look like you and I hate it. It was too late to backtrack, so he ploughed ahead. "I just mean… you don't have to be one of those girls that hates the way you look. You look good. Nice."
She looked at him like he had two heads, and no wonder. Natsu's mouth moved again without his permission. "And, you know, if you had problems, you could find someone to take care of them. Even without the usual means of reimbursement if you find yourself without your fortune."
"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked, not understanding. "Problems?"
"Personal problems. People problems. There are… ways of making those disappear. For good. Without you being indicated. No one would know."
Lucy screwed up her face. "Are you talking about hiring killers?"
Natsu shrugged. "I like to call them problem solvers."
She sputtered. "Is that what you are here in the Den, problem solvers?"
"Sometimes," Natsu said. "I've taken care of a few for the right price."
His words didn't do as he hoped, she didn't relax, she didn't jump at the opportunity, she looked at him in that frightened way she had, the way that made him feel like a devil—like scum. "Why would I ever need something like that?"
Natsu thought of the note weighing heavily in his pocket, of Zeref telling him to be a sympathetic ear. He had a problem, though. It was hard to say, Hey, I invaded your privacy, read your letters to your dead mother, and I know your dad's been taking his woes out on you.'
The words just… got stuck in his throat.
"You're running," he said instead.
"From people that try to kidnap me, I'd hope so."
'He doesn't call me Lucy anymore, not at night.' Natsu shook his head. "You have been even before I climbed through your window and brought you along for the ride."
"That's a leap," Lucy said carefully.
"Is it?" Natsu's heart was beating harder than usual. "You begged my brother not to sell you back, you told me in the tunnels the other day you didn't want to go home. The only people that don't want to go back to their families are those trying to hide from them. You're running, Lucy. You're running from your father."
Maybe she'd come out and say it all on her own, he could act surprised and then…
Her big confession came in the, "Mind your own business," form.
Natsu huffed and wrapped his arms around his knees. His leg gave him a ghost pain, the nerves still raw. That's your body telling you to shut the fuck up. And yet, his goddamn mouth kept moving. "Sometimes things happen and people are ashamed."
Her gaze sharpened. "What?"
"Like Wendy for instance, her story is pretty fucked up, and afterward, she felt worthless."
Lucy's macabre curiosity was automatic; like most, she couldn't seem to help herself from asking, "What happened?"
Natsu explained, "She was eleven when her mother sold her to Jellal for a hit of crack."
Lucy went several shades white. "Why would she sell her daughter? And why did he accept? What use would he have for her?"
Natsu looked at her dryly. "I know you've been pretty sheltered in your mansion there in the Lantana District but I think you know."
"For sex?" Lucy said it like it was a dirty word, and maybe, in this case, it was.
"You got it, doll."
She couldn't speak for several seconds, then spat, "That man sounds horrible."
Natsu shook his head. "He didn't make the trade for sex, Lucy, he got her out of a bad situation and gave her to the Den the next chance he got because he knew her mother was a waste of skin. Wendy was better off with us. Just because we got a rap sheet doesn't mean we're not still people."
Lucy chewed her thumbnail, thoroughly shamed.
"Wendy's mother was found dead from an overdose in the gutter a week later." Natsu finished.
"It's hard to believe someone would do that to their own daughter."
"I'm always surprised what people will do to the ones they love," Natsu said. "Magnolia is a trove of family secrets, really dark stuff. Everyone's got something they think they have to hide, but usually, when you break it down, it's not really worth hiding. As soon as Wendy's secret was blown open, her life got better.
"What about you, Lucy, got anything you want to get off your chest?"
Lucy's honey coloured eyes bore through him. "Are you asking me because you want some ammunition to tear down my father?"
Damn Zeref, chirping in his ear. "I just think we'll trust each other a little more if we share a secret."
She humored him. "I've always wanted to be a writer. You go."
"A worthwhile secret, Lucy."
She pouted out her full bottom lip, looking unintentionally sultry. "What's more worthwhile than my deepest desire?"
"Your deepest fear," he said automatically, bowling over the imagined heat in her voice and the prickly itch on his skin. He was interested in something much darker than that maddening feeling he had when he looked at her. "The thing that makes you want to put Magnolia in the rear-view."
Her lips got tight. "If you're so interested in secrets, you go, Natsu. What have you run from?"
She thought he wouldn't say. Natsu called her bluff. "When me and Zeref were kids, my dad loved his church and his bible and his gun. My mom liked her whisky and her fun. And the neighbour. One day, the old man came home and went upstairs and found them together. I still remember he came into the kitchen calm as you fucking please. Grabbed Mom's butcher knife, carted it upstairs. Zeref and me… we followed him. I don't know why. I wasn't even all that scared. I just remember thinking, Mom's being bad. That's what the old man would say when she'd do something a little sassier than usual. Mom's being bad. He'd usually pat her on the butt and that night they'd fuck like rabid dogs."
He paused for a moment, aligning his thoughts. It'd been a while since he'd taken a trip down this particular lane of memory and the road was bumpier than he'd remembered.
"You don't have to tell me," Lucy said. "I was just—it's none of my business."
Natsu started again. "That day, though. There was something in his eye. Zeref knew. He kept telling the old man to stop. And when he wouldn't, Zeref went back down to the kitchen and grabbed the chef's knife we owned. I remember it had a green handle with score marks in the plastic. Weird what you get stuck on, eh?"
Lucy didn't speak.
"Anyway." There was a tang of fear in Natsu's mouth, one that he hadn't tasted in a long time, even when he was shot in the ribs and Zeref was freaking out, even when Happy was dragged off by that cruiser, even when the police showed up and ruined his home. He swallowed past it to continue speaking. "We got upstairs and there was Mom and the neighbour. By this point, she'd found a housecoat. Her cheeks were red, and wet. She was always really easy to cry. Whenever she hurt her toe or cut her finger or if my dad was a little too sharp with his words.
"Dad didn't say anything to her that day, though, he just went in swinging. The neighbour wasn't his target, he only had eyes for her."
"And?" Lucy's voice was a whisper.
Natsu realized he'd gone quiet. "He killed her and Zeref killed him, the neighbour ran off, called the cops. By the time they showed up, Zeref and I had taken what we could and run off. My brother didn't want to go to jail and I didn't want to end up in a home." He brushed his hands off on his jeans like that would dispel the dregs his memory left behind. "And that's that. My deepest darkest secret."
Lucy surprised him with a suspicious question. "Is that a true story or are you really trying to butter me up to get a story you can use against the cops?"
The outrage was real. Natsu kept it under the guise of cool indifference. It was a long time ago. "I told you, I don't need ammunition to ruin Jude Heartfilia. He's lined the sights up just fine on his own, he just needs someone to pull the trigger."
Weakly, Lucy said, "My father is a good man. He upholds his morals."
"By making everyone around him suffer and feel helpless? Even his family?"
Two days in and Natsu knew plenty well enough what 'Lucy on the verge of tears' looked like. Her chin wobbled. She was soft, easy to bruise, prone to the waterworks. Life was going to chew her up if she didn't toughen up. He almost dug into her just to see her fold. Old habits. "Hey," he said instead. "Forget about it. Listen, Zeref and I were thinking, where can we find your beau?"
Lucy's chin stopped quivering, her uncertainty rearranged itself. "I don't have anyone like that."
"Gray Fullbuster," Natsu clarified. "Owned the cottage you were holing up in. Ring any bells?"
"Yes, but what do you need him for?"
"To talk. I think he can tell me what I want to know—where to find Happy."
Lucy sat up a little straighter, clutching that sheet to her chest all the while. "Gray doesn't know."
"He just doesn't know he knows. He knows the patrol rounds, though, and all the places Heartfilia tell his men to guard. One of those places has Happy inside, I'm sure of it."
Lucy wavered. Then threw down the anchors. "Even if that's true, we'll find another way; I don't want to involve him."
"Lucy—"
"No. If my dad somehow suspects that Gray's helping us… Gray could lose his job or be put in jail."
"Who cares? Happy's life is on the line—"
"You don't know that," Lucy said unconvincingly.
"Fuck, you suck at lying. Just tell me where to find him. Remember our deal? Be amicable. Don't make us find him on our own."
"If I do, you're just going to hurt him," Lucy protested.
As naturally as possible, Natsu said, "I told you, we just want to talk. Remember, the faster we can find Happy, the faster you can keep on running away." Fuck, he felt dirty saying that, knowing what Zeref planned. Your first obligation is to your family, not to this high-society brat. Be cool. It was easier to be reasonable when Zeref was there being reasonable with him.
Lucy wetted her lips. "I really don't think he knows anything."
"Let us be the judge of that. Tell me where to find him."
"Please," Lucy begged.
His first reaction was to bully out of her what she knew. Don't get mad. Don't. Natsu breathed and breathed and breathed until he felt civil enough to say, "Every minute we waste is another minute Happy is out there. Please, Lucy. We need your help."
She didn't soften like he thought she would; Lucy was a whole lot of squish with an iron spine. "Find some other way. I don't want Gray involved."
"You're being stupid."
"I'm being practical. Gray doesn't know anything. My dad doesn't confide in him, he just goes to work and does his job."
"And helps you fly the coop."
"Yes," Lucy said. "Because he's a decent person."
"Give him the chance to be decent again, tell me where to find him so he can tell me where to find Happy."
"He doesn't know," Lucy snapped. "Find another way."
She didn't look down the silk strands to the web's heart. She didn't see how everything could be interconnected. And no amount of bullying was going to make her see it, either. "Is no your final answer?"
"Yes."
"We'll do it my way then." Hearing footsteps, Natsu stood.
Lucy's eyes went wide. "Your way?"
The door opened and Rogue came in. The man looked tired and still wary of Natsu.
"Amber Drive didn't pan out?" Natsu asked.
"All we got out of there was a warehouse of contraband confiscated over the years," Rogue said. "No Happy."
"Interesting that Daddy's keeping contraband, isn't it?" Natsu asked.
"It's got to be an evidence warehouse," Lucy said, loyal to a fault.
Natsu dismissed her explanation, though it was likely true—law abiding Heartfilia probably wouldn't dream of being crooked like that. "What kind of stuff are we talking about?"
"Badly spelled lacrimas mostly," Rogue said. "Some drugs. Stolen tools, counterfeit cash."
"Counterfeit?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah. Really good counterfeit, but it's all fake."
"Huh." Natsu glanced one more time at Lucy. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me where to find Gray Fullbuster?"
Her clenched jaw and drawn in eyebrows said it all.
"Suit yourself. See you in a bit." Natsu smacked Rogue's shoulder on the way out. "Watch her, she's sly."
Living on a farm definitely had its perks. The lack of neighbours, for one. There was no one to see the Tudor pull up the kilometer-long driveway. The old barn, for two. It was as good as a place as any to pull Gajeel inside. No one would hear him tucked in there—hopefully.
"Right up to the barn doors," Gray told Erza over the sound of the Tudor's tires crushing gravel. "Then help me pull this guy in.
Wordlessly, Erza stopped and got out. Her door closing made Gajeel groan. Gray held his breath and clenched his fist, ready to knock the man out again if need be. He didn't come fully around. Erza opened the door, took Gajeel by the arm, and lugged while Gray pushed. Like a sack of bricks, Gajeel fell to the ground. Gray crawled out of the car and wasn't as careful not to step on him as he could have been.
"Get his arm and come on."
Together, they hefted him up.
"I feel like we're breaking the law," Erza said.
"Because we are, Constable Scarlet." He hadn't meant to make her smile. He wasn't sorry when she did, though. It fell away.
"You're sure we're doing the right thing?"
"For now," Gray replied. "Until I figure out how to do it better." Turn Chief Heartfilia in? He wished Lucy would. If she made the call… it would be good for her and good for her father, too. Not in a professional way, no, but in a closure way, in a moral way. He must feel badly. He had to. Up until this, Jude Heartfilia had been a good man.
Pain changes people.
Loss. Loss changed people.
"Gray?"
Gray realized that Erza was waiting for him to open the barn doors. He dug his keys from his pocket and slid the door wide enough that they could fit in. He nodded into the shadowed and cavernous interior. "Over here, on the hay bale. And watch for old farm equipment." It was just light enough to see the forklift sticking out on the old fire engine red tractor his father had built, and the old watering bucket beside it.
Erza, as delicate as ever in her high heels, navigated the area as she did everything: effortlessly. Gray was sure, looking at her in the early morning sunlight that snuck through the gaps in the barn boards, that she was something special.
"What is it?" Erza asked, catching him looking.
"You need to go to work and pretend that everything's fine," Gray scrambled to say.
"And leave you here with him?" Erza asked.
"Yes."
"I want to be involved," she complained. "This is my investigation, too."
"You're not a cop, Erza. You're not. It's too dangerous," Gray said.
"Listen," Erza said with force. "I just stole one of Jellal Fernandez's lackeys. And I did it in style, without getting shot, I might add."
The jibe didn't escape Gray's notice.
"I can do this. I'm going to do this."
"You're going to go to work, Erza. Cop work isn't just about interrogating the bad guys and dodging bullets you know? It's about keeping up appearances. When your shift is done, come here."
She gnawed her lip, putting up a good fight, but Gray knew he had her at 'cop work'. "What if you need me?"
"He's cuffed," Gray said. "He won't be any trouble. But, if I do, the constabulary isn't that far away, you can get here in ten."
"You have extra ammo?"
Gray dropped Gajeel down on the hay bail and went to the far wall where, in the housing his parents used for the Jack Russell's they used to breed, he pulled a shot gun and checked. It was still loaded, and there, down at the bottom of the cannel, he found a box of bullets. "I'm fine. If he starts making trouble, he won't be for long."
Erza came for Gray. She stood close enough to make his skin heat. "What if someone starts asking about you?"
Gray found the dexterity to say, "I'll call in and let the Chief know I'm following a lead on my Tudor. He won't ask questions, he wants everyone tracking Lucy and doesn't care how they do it."
Erza blew out a sigh. Gray felt her breath on his neck. "Is your leg alright?"
He thought about telling her no just to have her fawn over him. His pride wouldn't allow for it. "I'm alright."
Her dark eyes were gold flecked. Being this close, Gray could pick out the delicate shade.
Erza said, "I'll bring you back some stuff to mend it after my shift."
"Thanks."
She smiled. "Thanks for letting me ride shotgun. I had a blast." She kissed his cheek then, a quick peck that left Gray feeling brain dead and useless. And then she was gone.
"I'll see you in a few hours!"
The door closed in her wake, leaving Gray and Gajeel alone.
"We need to figure out where Gray Fullbuster lives," Natsu said, back in Zeref's room once more.
Still half naked, Zeref lifted his head up from his lumpy pillow. "Don't you rest?"
"No." Natsu paced.
"I see you spoke with Rogue then?"
"Yeah. Amber Drive was a bust," Natsu said impatiently. "I need Fullbuster's address. Lucy won't tell me where he lives and it's not like its common knowledge."
"Did you try being nice to her?"
"Of course I was fucking nice to her," Natsu spat. "I said please and everything."
"Yeah, I believe that."
Natsu entertained a violent fantasy. He didn't think Zeref would let him get a hit in, but it was nice to think about.
"You check the phonebook?"
"That was the first place I looked," Natsu said. "No Fullbuster's listed."
Zeref sighed. "Figures. Constabulary makes them take their names out, just in case someone wants to get revenge, you know?"
"Can't imagine why," Natsu said dryly.
"I'll try Jellal. He's got a guy in the constabulary that'll be able to tell us what we want to know."
"Tracking down that lead could take hours," Natsu complained.
"Hours that you could use piling up some Z's," Zeref said.
"I'm not tired."
"Yeah, you used to pull that shit on me all the time when you were a kid." Zeref's smile was affectionate, if not a little barbed. "Didn't work then and it doesn't work now."
"Seriously, I'm not fucking around," Natsu pressed. "I need to know where to find this guy and I need to know today. I'm too jacked up to sleep."
"Yeah, yeah." Zeref reached for the glossy black rotary phone beside his bed and spun in Jellal's number. Natsu listened to it ring and ring. Finally, someone answered.
"Angel, doll—"
The dial tone sounded. Zeref pulled the phone away from his ear and glowered at it.
"That went well I see," Natsu said.
"She's a little tender." He dialed again. This time when Angel answered, it was by calling Zeref a very choice name. He took it in stride. "Now why do you have trouble doing that in the bedroom, huh?"
Another dial tone.
"I love it when she's mean," Zeref confided.
"This is a complete waste of time." Natsu started for the door.
Zeref toned back his smile. "Alright, just wait. I'll stop playing around."
Natsu stopped despite himself. Zeref dialed again. Surprisingly, the phone was answered. Forgoing hello, Zeref said, "I need Jellal. Now."
There was silence while Natsu waited for the dial tone. Then he heard Jellal's voice.
"Cutting in on my favourite girl?" Zeref said by way of hello.
Natsu gave his brother a 'really' look. Zeref ignored him.
"I guess I should be paying her more then, eh?" He sounded glib; Natsu knew that expression on his face, though. Zeref was a little torn up that Angel was looking for work elsewhere. "Listen, that's nice to know, but not why I called. You still have that guy in the constabulary? 'Cause we need the address of one Gray Fullbuster, a constable there."
Jellal said something.
"You're always charging me and I'm always good for it. This time isn't any different. I'll pay for good information."
Natsu strained his hearing to get Jellal's answer and was rewarded by an, 'I'll get him on it.'
Zeref met Natsu's eyes. "ASAP, eh? I'll pay extra. Vale." He hung up the phone and relayed what Natsu already knew. "It's going to take some time. A few hours, tops. He's gotta track the guy down—he works nights."
Natsu sucked on his tooth. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. Now do what I said, get some sleep. You'll be useless without it. When was the last time you went down, eh? Last night? Night before? How are you even still walking after Wendy's healing?"
"I have shit to do," Natsu said. "Happy's counting on me."
"So are the rest of us," Zeref said gently. "Seriously, Natsu. Get some rest. As soon as Jellal gets back to me, I'll give this over to you and you can handle it anyway you want. Dealing with this cop, gloves come off, right? We've earned that. But we gotta do this the smart way."
Natsu exhaled. "Yeah, Zeref. We'll do it the smart way."
"Nothing reckless."
"Nope."
In retrospect, Natsu suspected that breaking into the police station to steal employee information would, in Zeref's books, qualify as 'reckless'. In his own, he tucked it under the banner of 'a calculated challenge.' Never mind the knots twisting in his guts. He didn't need anyone telling him how dangerous it was to be waltzing through the constabulary in broad daylight while impersonating a constable.
In the tinted windows, he made sure that Constable Mines' hat covered his telltale hair, and then checked that his jacket was done up enough to cover the bloodstain to the right of the breast pocket. It needed an adjustment. He paused to fix himself, thinking, just remember, not only will you get what you want, people talk. You're not doing this for nothing. Yeah. He'd get his information faster than he would by going through the usual channels, and… if the other gangs knew he walked right into the constabulary and took what he wanted, well, they'd know that the Den wasn't afraid of the cops. They'd know that the Den was still very much a force not to be trifled with. He repeated the risk-reward again and again.
No one's going to be looking for you here in the constabulary. Not even Heartfilia, if he's around. He won't think you have the balls. Just go.
Natsu pulled his stolen hat lower on his head.
"That suit still doesn't fit you. You look like a fream," said a voice over his shoulder. Natsu looked in the tinted window before he deigned to turn, sure that he was mistaken. He was not.
Zeref came to his side and clapped him on the back. He'd found his own uniform, one that fit his frame fairly well. Somewhere, there was a cop that wasn't going into work that morning.
"What are you doing here?"
Zeref wasn't apologetic. "Making sure that after he lied to my face, my baby brother doesn't become a punching bag for Magnolia's finest."
The door opened and a woman with fiery red hair stepped out. She glanced in their direction only briefly before she moved on, obviously in a rush to get somewhere.
"Zeref, they'll recognize you," Natsu hissed. Every cop in Magnolia knew his brother's face.
"They will if we keep wasting time out here drawing attention. Let's go. I saw the records room last time they arrested me. Don't talk to anyone. Keep your head down. If you catch someone's eye…"
Run and gun. Usually, when that was the law, Natsu wasn't taking on a whole constabulary full of armed cops and he had a Tommy in his hand. Now he had nothing. Nothing except a shitty six shot revolver and his magic. And Zeref's.
Zeref's smile was slightly manic. "Just like old times, right?"
"Right."
"No grievers,"
"No grievers."
