Alright! Ready to find out what happened to all of our juicy cliffhangers?
Enjoy! Oh, and of course write me a review that will turn into a conversation about something awesome and random...like how delicious grapefruit is to exactly half the population of the world, or why you haven't put on that one pair of fuzzy socks you own in years. Yeah, those things.
But not those things.
You get me.
Also, random comment: HOLY SHIT THIS CHAPTER IS INTERCONNECTED IN TOO MANY PLACES. Like SHIT. It is hard to write that many soul-bonded pairs engaging in fights in that many different locations. SO MUCH TO PAY ATTENTION TO. If you notice something that doesn't jive, PLEASE tell me. I think I caught them all, but damn. Seriously. My brain's all twisty now.
Ok, now you can read the chapter. It's finally ripe. *wipes brow* Man, stalling is hard.
The cool night air surrounded Lucy completely, suspending her in the air for one peaceful millisecond before she slammed into the windowsill she'd been aiming for.
The impact temporarily numbed her forearms, sending spikes of pain into her fingers. Her grip wavered and she started slipping, her feet sliding off the ledge once more. Her big brown eyes shot wide with panic staring into the darkness in front of her and a small strangled noise escaped her throat in her panic.
Just as she was about to slide completely off the window sill, she stretched out her hand into the void in one last ditch effort to save herself...and met soft flesh where she expected bruising wood and stone. Another hand came out of the window, barely visible in the dark, grasping her wrist. With a grunt of effort, and help from Lucy's recovering legs, her body was pulled in through the window by her surprise savior.
They stood together in the darkness for a minute, both breathing hard as they recovered. Lucy wished they were on the other side of the house, where the moon was shining brightly. As it was, she might as well have been standing in a windowless room. She couldn't see a thing.
The sound of objects being shuffled around put her on edge as her savior moved about the room. It became obvious what he was doing when a small light sparked to life from a flashlight in his hands, illuminating the face of a middle-aged man with bright red dyed hair braided into cornrows.
"Cancer! Oh, thank the gods it's you," Lucy exclaimed, relaxing immediately. All of her energy left her as she collapsed onto the Heartfilia manor's sous chef's narrow bed. The fit man in front of her gave her a small smile.
"Miss Lucy, I've known you since you was a baby, I think it's probably alright to start callin' me by Jonah, yeah?" His slight Southern American accent gave him a unique drawl that Lucy had never heard from anyone else. His relaxed way of speaking had calmed her down more than once over the years, though seeing him in his blue striped pajamas instead of his crisp black chef's coat was a bit jarring. But his eyes sharpened in disapproval the next moment. "Now, ya wanna tell me what you was doing out on that ledge in the dark in your nightclothes? You coulda been real hurt if you'da fell!"
Lucy ducked her head a bit. "I know. But I've got to get to my father's study. Tonight."
Jonah Cancer raised an eyebrow at her and crossed his arms over his broad chest. "And the hallways uh y'all's house was out uh order?" he said sarcastically. Lucy gave him a look.
"Yeah, the two armed women guarding my locked door broke them," she fired back. Cancer's shoulders fell at that. He'd hoped his employer was treating his daughter like a human being again, since she'd come back, but it looked like he hadn't changed after all. Layla'd be ashamed. She might have been a bit ruthless when it came to business, but her family had meant everything to her. Still, that was no excuse for a teen-aged girl to be prowling dangerous routes in the dark of night during a blackout.
"Well, Miss Lucy, if it's like that, I'd say ya better take the back way then." He turned with his flashlight, but stopped himself, turning back almost immediately with a scrutinizing look. "But first, put on some pants! Y'aren't decent to be seen right now!" He opened up a drawer and tossed her a pair of pajama pants that matched his, though red with stripes to his blue. She hurriedly pulled on the pants high on her waist, drawing the drawstrings tight and cuffing the bottoms. Cancer nodded in approval and turned back to the second door in his room. He opened it and shone his flashlight into the plain white plastered corridor. It was a far cry from the lavish carpet and molding of the estate's main halls, but it brought a flood of much warmer memories. Lucy had spent most free moments in her childhood running around in the servant's passages of the house. Before her father had amped-up her schooling and Aquarius had begun to accompany her everywhere. Then she'd had to leave the humble maze behind.
Suddenly the air was knocked out of her and Lucy felt like a huge weight was pushing her down. She sagged slightly, leaning against the door jamb as she took as silent a breath as she could.
The blonde fervently hoped Natsu was okay, whatever he was doing.
"Alright Babygirl, you know where you're headed?" Cancer passed her the flashlight and searched her eyes with a concerned expression. Her breathing was more like gasping for a few breaths. "Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself on the window?"
"No. I'm fine. And I think I remember." Lucy looked up at the maker of the best fried chicken she'd ever had and would ever have again and gave him a small smile. "Thank you Cancer."
He reached out an arm and brought her in for a hug like he had when she'd thanked him for sneaking her pastries as a child. "I told ya, call me Jonah."
Lucy chuckled. "Sorry, to me you'll always be Cancer. Jonah's what Mama called you. I haven't done anything to really earn that privilege." She paused, her eyes automatically flitting to the dark window. She couldn't see anything, but somewhere out there was her mother's grave. A pang of guilt went through her that she wouldn't get a chance to pay her respects this trip.
But Mama would understand, right?
As though in answer to her thought, a great boom and sparkling crackle lit the air as a firework went off. Lucy and her confidante both rushed to the window and looked out, seeing the tail end of the sparks dissolving.
"What the hell's happenin' out there?"
"My friends are here to rescue me. Cancer, thanks so much, but I've got to run. I'm on a clock." Lucy turned back to the open doorway and was almost gone when she stopped and turned back. "Bring Mama some flowers for me?"
The red-cornrowed man nodded silently watching the spitting image of Layla Heartfilia the first time he'd seen her close the door softly behind her. He couldn't help but smile. It was nice that she had friends now.
Another firework went off outside his window.
Even if they were completely nuts.
Natsu cursed under his breath. How the hell could a man who'd been shot with a tranquilizer move that fucking quickly?
One second, the little lights outlining the paths in the garden had illuminated him on the ground, the next the lights were gone, the moon had inconveniently gone behind the only fucking cloud in the sky, and a sudden pain and numbness in his arms had caused him to drop the fucking gun, prompting the man on the ground in front of him to spring back up.
Now voices were whispering in his ear through his earbuds, so he pulled the earbud out and blocked it all out. He shook out his arms and widened his stance. A moment of inattention was all it would take to end his life. He knew that all too well.
Natsu could still see the outline of the man in front of him, but his movements were more like a blur. Until the moon came back, he was at a definite disadvantage. Luckily, his instincts kicked in the next moment to barely avoid the foot that came at his face, falling backward, but springing back up on his hands the next instant to deliver a kick of his own. Which connected satisfyingly with his opponent's chest, knocking him onto his back.
Natsu leapt after him, losing years of rigorous boxing training for an instant as he instinctively scrambled to gain the upperhand in a fight to the death. The man rolled, barely getting his head out of the way of Natsu's descending knee. It slammed into the dirt instead, wedging into the soft ground and crushing a once robust flowering plant.
The guard kept on rolling, barely staying a second ahead of Natsu's attempts to grab him.
Natsu spat out another profanity and dove after him, landing on the man's back and getting a secure hold on his neck. His fingers scrambling at the pinkette's corded forearm. He kicked out with his heels, aiming for Natsu's shins. One connected, but he kept his grip stumbling backwards.
The guard took advantage of his misplaced footing and fell back on him, knocking them both to the ground and finally dislodging Natsu's grip. They both wheezed in breath as they got to their feet, hands automatically coming up to guard their faces.
At that moment, a firework went off on the other side of the house, distracting them all.
Then the guard blinked his eyes several times, shaking his head with a look of consternation, before keeling over sideways into a bush. The pinkette froze in place.
"Finally! Those darts sure take a long time to work!" Gray's words pulled Natsu's brain out of battle mode. He dropped his hands and rotated his shoulders, jumping in place a little to try and rid his body of the excess adrenaline flowing through it.
"No kidding. I'm starting to think they were expired or something," he replied, wrinkling his nose and walking cautiously over to the man lying on the ground. He picked up one arm and let it drop. Definitely unconscious then. "Come on, let's cuff him and get him hidden."
Gray started to walk over, his foot hitting something and kicking it a few feet. He bent over to pick it up and found a gun in his hand. Solemnly, he checked to make sure the weapon wasn't cocked and started to tuck it into his waistband, but had a better idea at the last minute.
"Give me his holster before you cuff him."
Natsu looked back at his roommate, one side of the pink-painted pair of handcuffs already locked around their opponent's wrist. He nodded grimly and unbuckled the white harness from around his shoulders, tossing it to Gray. His roommate pulled the earbud out of the way and buckled into the harness, popping the headphone back in. Natsu grabbed the earbud still swinging from the cord attached to his phone and did the same, the slight buzz of white noise the only thing coming through.
When Gray had the gun properly stowed, the two of them carried the man into the brush and cuffed him around a tree.
"Only Erza would have pink handcuffs," Gray commented as they got him into position.
"Better than Loke's."
"No shit."
They turned and started heading toward the house.
But just as they stepped from the brush, Natsu froze, a gun barrel in his face.
One moment of inattention was all it took.
Levy uncurled from her ball on the ground and tried to regulate her breathing. She looked back at what remained of the building behind her. There wasn't much left to it. Natsu had grossly underplayed the amount of destruction his little bombs could enact.
And that had been too close for comfort; literally, the skin on her back felt puckered and itchy from the heat. She rolled over onto her back and just concentrated on breathing again for a moment. After a moment, she realized her earbud had fallen out of her ear and she plucked it from the dirt to put it back in. She was immediately met by whispered frantic words.
"Levy?! Are you ok? Levy! Answer me! Shit, what did you do-"
"Cyan checking in. I'm ok, a little shaken, but ok. How's it going there?"
"Better now. Shut up and get away from the fire, they'll be sending someone soon probably."
"Aye sir," Levy sighed into the phone before dropping her hand back down to her side. He was right. Her part was mostly done, but she really should go back and stay with their bags at the rendezvous point. She groaned as she sat up, he muscles sorer than she expected. Action stars in the movies made it look so easy. Hitting the ground at a full run really took it out of her. She silently apologized to Gajeel in her head. The last thing he needed right now was muscle soreness. Another whisper came over the phone line, female this time.
"First shell is in the air!"
Just as Erza finished speaking, a firework exploded over the house. Levy grinned. So far, everything seemed to be working ok. Barely, in her case, but generally ok.
Then an unfamiliar voice with a heavy accent crackled into her earpiece.
"Well, is not this an interesting développement? We seem to have a little rat problem. Do yourselves a favor and vacate before we call the exterminators, s'il vous plait?"
Silence reigned for a moment before Natsu could be heard over the line.
"Who the fuck is that?"
"Oh, non non non! How rude les petits rats are! But since it would be equally rude to not introduce myself when prompted, you may call me Monsieur S for the short time you will be guests of the Heartfilia estate."
Levy sprang to her feet and started sprinting back to where the group's bags were. She needed her laptop as soon as possible. She knew next to nothing about hacking, but she wasn't going to go down without a fight. With the right search parameters, she had to be able to find a way to boot the nosy French guy out of their call.
Right?
"I'm on it guys!" she panted as she ran. "For now go silent...unless...absolutely...necessary!" Levy clutched her phone in her hand and wheezed in another gasp of precious oxygen. She was seriously out of shape. Definitely time to hit the gym when this was all over.
But for now, she just had to get to her laptop.
Gajeel gritted his teeth and tried to ignore what was happening in his ear. Whatever shit this new player was laying down, Levy could handle it for the time being. He had his own part to play.
He silently crept down the wall of the house, thankful that the porch had a concrete base instead of wood, without the telltale creak. Sneaking up on the guard would be a breeze, especially in the dark.
The static of a radio update sounded from just around the corner and Gajeel paused to hear what they were saying about the blackout.
"Z to V. Something's wrong with the powerstation. H says be on high alert. S tapped into a call between at least four possible assailants…" The voice over the walkie was drowned out as a massive firework went off just over the yard to the far corner of the porch from Gajeel.
Taking his moment, he darted around the side and drew back the iron crowbar he'd brought for just this occasion and smacked the guard firmly in the back of the head with it as he looked at the firework. He went down like a rock, his loose, long black hair splaying out around him. Gajeel shouldered his weapon and looked around to make sure no one had seen him take down the guard. Then he checked his pulse, relieved to find it present and even. Heaving the lean man up onto one of his shoulders, he carried him off the porch, leaning him up against a tree in its shadow.
It was fortuitous that he hadn't moved a moment slower, however, because just as he got behind the tree and unloaded his burden, the back door burst open and a platinum blonde, middle-aged man strode out, taking the porch steps two at a time and making a beeline for the back garden. Gajeel angled his head toward his phone and muttered into it.
"Incoming Gray and Pink." Then, he pulled a pair of handcuffs from the back pocket of his black jeans and proceeded to cuff his prisoner to a section of fence near the tree he'd chosen. He double-checked that the cuffs were secure. They were.
Which was surprising considering they were lined in red fur. But, kinky as shit or not, Loke apparently didn't go for the cheap imitation stuff. He was pretty sure it was even real rabbit fur in the sturdy manacles. He removed twin guns from his opponent's belt holsters and, making sure the safety was on for each, he tucked them into the back of his belt. He wasn't the biggest fan of firearms, but Gray would probably want them.
Picking up the crowbar, Gajeel ran a hand fondly over the chipped paint and remembered Erik handing him the piece of metal after baseball practice years ago.
"Listen, I have no idea what you need a weapon for, but this'll do the trick about 90% of the time," he said fondly, swinging it like a bat. "Just give it back, alright? My dad's gonna wonder where it went soon."
He grinned and spun the handy length of metal expertly through his fingers before silently sneaking back toward the garden with it. Erik's dad never had gotten that crowbar back.
And about half the city of Magnolia had had to replace their mailboxes that year. Until Erza had figured out what trio of boys was destroying them.
Gajeel grinned. That had been a great year.
Suddenly he felt a familiar tingle on his arm. He stepped into the light of the moon and held out his arm to read what Levy had written to him.
He grinned at the message he'd received, tapped his nose three times, and turned around, heading back toward the house.
Erza was getting frustrated.
It seemed like no matter what Mystogan and she did, the man on the porch refused to investigate. They'd started with subtle noises, then whistles from their hiding place in a nearby thicket, but the man remained undeterred.
So they'd gone for the big guns and launched a firework shell right above him. They hadn't needed the slingshot for that, Mystogan's delinquent childhood and mastery of physics combining to aim Natsu's creation perfectly.
But still, nothing.
Erza's blueberry boyfriend could feel her frustration. She practically wiggled with the urge to get up and engage the enemy. He rested a hand on her arm, silently signaling her to wait. As far as he could see, they only had a couple more options. He selected another round black sphere from the pile beside him and lit the wick. Angling the makeshift slingshot carefully, he sent the ball flying. It arched through the air, landing smack dab in front of the porch, beginning to smoke almost as soon as it landed.
Luckily, the wind worked for them and blew the rather large cloud of smoke onto the covered porch and raspy coughing could be heard as a the stoic figure finally moved away from the front door and down the steps, bloodshot eyes scanning the area in between coughs.
And Erza was off like a shot, flipping open two of her switchblades as she sprinted toward the man on the grass. He turned to face her almost immediately, pulling a set of exceptionally sharp looking knives from the inside of his suit jacket and preparing for a head on assault.
But it never came. Instead of engaging him directly, Erza darted around him, reaching out with one arm as she passed in an attempt to slice through the muscle on his bicep. He blocked the strike easily and immediately spun to pursue her trail around the corner of the house.
The minute they both disappeared from view, Mystogan relaxed a little, but couldn't look away from where they'd vanished. Erza was an amazing fighter. She'd shown him that on multiple occasions. But she was going up against a trained professional. Anything could happen.
At which point a small woman wearing nothing but a men's dress shirt burst onto the scene brandishing her firearm. Close behind, pulling his jeans back on, Loke stumbled after her.
"What's going on?" Mystogan could hear his comrade even from where he was. He sounded convincingly confused, and maybe a little drunk. It made the blunette wonder if the guard had had a bottle of something herself or if Loke were just that good an actor.
"Nothing I can't handle gorgeoush," the small woman slurred back at him. "Go back and wait for me!" She turned back to the ginger and grinned. She seemed to forget what she was doing when she saw him standing there shirtless with his jeans undone. Loke smoldered back at her, stalking proudly forward like a lion ready to pounce on his prey.
The woman seemed frozen in her tracks, mesmerized by his movements. Loke made it to her and leaned in, nibbling on her ear and murmuring into her ear. His eyes were hazy as they scanned the edges of the yard, eventually finding Mystogan's. He winked and grabbed a handful of his new lady friend's ass, covered only by his shirt. The gun fell from her fingertips and she jumped on the ginger, his hands barely coming up in time to catch her.
The next thing a stunned and slightly embarrassed Mystogan knew, Loke was carrying his mark back to the guardhouse. He whistled low in appreciation. It wasn't the first time the super senior frat brother had seen his junior housemate in action, but it was certainly the most impressive. The ginger could complain about not having the muscles that Gray or Natsu did, but underneath the false humility, his charm was a true power to be reckoned with.
Mystogan didn't blame Natsu for feeling threatened by the redhead's sudden fascination with his girlfriend, bonded or not. If Loke had shown any genuine interest in Erza romantically, he'd have done more than punch him in the nose. Women had a way of losing their common sense around the playboy. It was almost spooky.
At the thought of Erza, his gaze shot back to the corner where she'd disappeared with the suited man.
Still nothing.
So he waited.
Semi-patiently.
Levy read swiftly, scrolling down the forum she'd found at max speed. Thank god her mobile hotspot still had data on it for the month. There had to be a way to kick the obnoxious Frenchman out of their fucking phone call. There had to be.
And yet, without more experience, she was starting to think maybe there wasn't. At least on her end. Which meant she needed an inside man. Grabbing a pen from her bag, she scribbled out a message to her soulmate on her forearm. An outflowing of condescending French spilled into her ear as she started to type.
I need you to take this guy out from the inside. He's monitoring our call, and we need that line of communication open. He'll be somewhere with light. He'd have to be to have the power to tap our lines. Check the basement for a backup generator maybe. It will be a lot harder to find him after the power comes back on. So hurry. Be careful.
She held her breath and waited, feeling their special signal of acknowledgement as he tapped his nose three times a moment later. Levy grinned. No matter how great Frenchie was, there was no way he could hack a soulbond.
"Vous les Fioréens, vous êtes tous les mêmes. Porcs ignorants. Qu'est-ce que je donnerais pour un adversaire digne de moi. Quelle perte de temps ridicule." The man on the phone line clearly believed that no one would understand what he was saying, merely insulting everyone there to pass the time. The pompous jackass.
Levy seethed. How dare he assume she was ignorant. And after a moment of silence, she couldn't hold it in anymore.
"On t'a bercé trop près du mur ? Le seul cochon ignorant ici, c'est toi. Ton employeur est un connard abject."
Silence fell again, before a delighted condescending chuckle echoed over the line again.
"Quelle surprise! Le rat parle après tout. Dis-moi rat, qu'est-ce que tu fais ici ?"
"Hélas, les rats ne s'expliquent pas devant les porcs. En particulier devant les porcs ignorants." She sniffed as she said it. Honestly, the nerve of that asshole.
The man's condescending tone continued however. "Je me suis peut-être trompé. Ce rat a des airs de lion."
"Non, ne fais pas semblant d'être intelligent maintenant. Je te préfère en cochon," she spat back. She finally seemed to rile him. His tone was harsher, still superior, but with an edge of annoyance in his reply.
"Ou peut-être pas un lion, mais quelque chose de plus petit et plus rusé. Es-tu une belette, ma chère ? Ou peut-être un serpent dans l'herbe ?"
"Si tu dois me coller une étiquette, dis que je suis un hibou : rapide, intelligent et imprévisible." She lightened her tone this time, going for aloof.
He seemed to actually think about that one. Eventually replying in an absentminded mumble. "Non non Non. Je connais un hibou, et tu n'es pas comme lui. Il lui manque ton... attitude."
A trickle of fear made its way down her spine. She didn't like him giving serious thought to what her personality was actually like. Though, she did want to distract him long enough for Gajeel to find him. So she said the first offensive thing that came to mind in a conversation with a douchy Frenchman: "Eh bien, ta mère était un hamster et ton père sentait les baies de sureau!"
"... c'était déplacé, mademoiselle."
All of a sudden, another voice broke into the conversation.
"Will you two shut the fuck up or get off the line? Some of us are trying to fucking concentrate!"
"Well, isn't he rude…" the Frenchman mumbled over the line, in English this time.
"No kidding," Levy responded in kind. "Some people have no respect for the nuance of a proper conversation between enemies, Monsieur S."
"Exactement, mademoiselle Cyan."
As one a chorus of voices responded.
"SHUT UP!"
Gajeel hadn't encountered any issues getting into the house. Apparently once he got passed the back door guard, it was a piece of conveniently bite-sized cake.
The halls were deserted. He wasn't sure if it was because it was night, or because the house was too fucking huge to shelter so few people, but there didn't seem to be a flurry of activity that the power had gone out. Whatever the cause, his presence being discovered didn't seem to be an issue.
No, what was really presenting a problem was figuring out where the fuck to check. Telling him to follow the light was all well and good, but he couldn't see through walls. Or sniff out his prey.
Thankfully, he could see pretty well in the dark, but hell, he hadn't even been able to find a staircase to the basement level yet. If there even was one. Eventually, when he'd wandered most of the first floor without finding a soul, he doubled back to the grand staircase and started up to the next level.
Mostly because it was the only option.
The stairs creaked under his heavy boots and he cringed. Hopefully there were just as few people on the second floor.
As he walked, he listened to Levy and the guy he was looking for banter at each other in some other language. It was just getting really annoying when Natsu broke first and yelled at them to shut up already.
He stopped in place at the end of one hallway, trying to decide which corridor to check next when they started talking again. He couldn't think with their yammering, love of his life or not.
"Shut up!" he growled, hearing several others do the same. But he didn't pay attention to what happened next, because a wall panel right next to him popped open and Lucy fucking Heartfilia herself stuck her head out and looked at him with big eyes, lit up by a flashlight in her hand.
"Gajeel!? Is that you?" she hissed.
"Bunny girl? Whatcha doin' in the wall?!" he shaded his eyes from the suddenly bright beam. Shit. There went his decent night vision for the foreseeable future.
"Staying hidden! Get in here!" Lucy grabbed him by the arm and dragged him through the panel, and into what turned out to be a smaller hallway next to the larger one. What the fuck? Did rich people's hallways need their own fucking smaller hallways now?! He tried to stand all the way up and bumped his head on the ceiling.
Much smaller hallways apparently. What a fucking waste of money.
Lucy's next whispered words shook him out of his thoughts. "Where's everyone else? What are you doing in here?"
"Mystogan is on slingshot duty, Erza, Gray, and Natsu are taking care of the guards, Loke's probably fucking someone, and Levy's arguing with some foreign guy. I'm trying to find him so he'll quit crashing our call and let us get on with the damn rescue."
Lucy just stared at him for a second.
"What? Ya confused about something?" he asked after a second, frustrated. He was trying not to take it out on her, but he did not have time for stupid questions. And the indecipherable conversation in his ear had started up again. Fuck. He just wanted to find the dumbass he assumed was flirting with his girlfriend and knock him satisfyingly unconscious.
"So many things. But they can wait."
Gajeel just shrugged. Someone else could explain it all better to her later.
"Alright Blondie, I need to find the backup generator for this heap of bricks. How do I get to the basement?"
"We don't have one."
"Seriously?! You've got two hallways going the same places, but no basement? What kind of fucking house is this?!"
"An expensive one. Built on bedrock," she replied shortly, starting off down the hallway again, Gajeel following behind. "But you don't want the backup generator, you want the…" Lucy seemed to choke on the word as it came out "p-panic room." He chose to ignore her weird inflection for the moment.
"What? Like in the movie?"
"Uh, maybe? I don't think I've seen that movie."
"Of course you haven't. Come over and we'll watch it the next time Levy barricades herself in the library for an unnecessary research paper," Gajeel grumbled.
"Sounds like a plan. You know, if I manage to escape this hell in one piece that is."
An awkward gap in the conversation hung in the air, the soft patter of their footsteps and the faint sound of snappy French coming from Gajeel's earbud the only sounds in the narrow space.
"So, this panic room, where is it? And why am I looking for it?"
"It's on this floor, but through my father's bedroom. If the power is out and some guy is still doing something with electronics, he's got to be there. It has a separate power supply from the rest of the house. And, conveniently, that's where I'm going now too. If my father is hiding any hard copies of evidence against him, they'll be there."
"Ok. Makes sense to me. But how are we gonna get in? If it's like the movie, then it's made to withstand whatever until the police come right?"
"Well, yeah. It's got walls a foot-and-a-half thick and a biometric lock. Makes it pretty much impenetrable." She sounded faint at the last word. Almost like she was...afraid. Gajeel's brow furrowed. Something wasn't right here. "My fingerprints and retina are keyed into the lock though. I can get in no problem."
"Then what's got you shakin' in your boots?" He wasn't being metaphorical and shit, Lucy had actually started trembling and her steps had slowed to a stop. Okay sorta metaphorical: she wasn't wearing boots, or even shoes.
Actually her whole outfit was pretty odd now that he noticed it. He shrugged it off. Fashion was a mystery to him.
"Getting in isn't the problem. Getting out on the other hand…" Lucy trailed off into a whisper. She had been trying not to think about it. She'd been hoping she'd be lucky and her father's computer in his study would hold what she was looking for. But with the power gone, that place was her only option.
An ironic final check in the game her father had been playing with her life. She had one shot at avoiding checkmate, but it was like marching a pawn right up to his queen and expecting him to just move out of the way so that her little pawn could bring her own queen back to life. A Hail Mary of Hail Marys…
"No problem. We just won't get shut in then." Gajeel hefted the crowbar he carried onto his shoulder and rested a heavy hand on her head, ruffling her hair. But then he tried to stand up again, forgetting the low ceiling and bumped his head again, plaster dust falling into his hair. He growled to himself about idiots who spent money on the wrong shit.
His actions seemed to knock Lucy out of whatever shit she was trapped in and she stumbled forward once more, navigating expertly through the secret corridors of her previous home.
Gajeel followed. Whatever was up with Lucy and this panic room, he hoped she got it figured out pretty damn quick.
"Who are you and why are you here?"
Natsu narrowed his eyes and stared down the barrel of the gun pointed at his head. In some small part of his mind, he realized now was a pretty reasonable time to start freaking out, but he just couldn't seem to work up the panic. He'd been in tighter spots. So he went with his instincts. "None of your fucking business."
The man holding the gun on him said something else then, but he couldn't hear it over the voices chattering in his ear in a language he didn't understand. Holding one hand up in surrender to the guy in front of him, he carefully grabbed his phone from his pocket and yelled into the end.
"Will you two shut the fuck up or get off the line? Some of us are trying to fucking concentrate!"
The chatter stopped replaced by subdued complaining. Natsu ripped the earbud from his ear again. "Gray, can you tell me if something important happens, I can't deal with that shit right now."
"Sure." His roommate stood behind him stiffly. Gray didn't do well when guns were pointed at people he cared about. He'd gotten better at not freaking out around them - it was why he'd taken marksmanship in the first place - but it was taking everything he had to let Natsu handle this with a gun pointed at his head. If only he'd been a little more observant, he'd be the one's holding a gun on someone; which he would much prefer to be the case.
"Ok, so now that you kids have straightened out your plan, please answer my godsdamned question or I'll just shoot you and find out later." The new guard glared at the dark-haired, shirtless man and the shorter black clad one with his head covered by a black stocking cap. He narrowed his eyes as the shorter one stared him down.
Both boys were too young for this kind of life. Yet, neither flinched as he cocked the gun. Odd. And something about the shorter one was familiar. That look in his eye reminded him of…wait. There was no way... "Take off your hat."
Both of the intruders looked confused for a minute, but still refused to do it. Though something else had entered the shorter one's eyes. Mutual recognition. Like they were thinking the same thing.
They'd met before.
Then a light lit up the shorter one's eyes and a grin spread across his face. Without hesitation, he pulled off his hat.
"What the fuck are you-" Gray started.
"Don't worry about it. It's fine," Natsu cut him off.
The man holding the gun knew him the minute he saw the pink hair. Only Igneel's son would be stupid enough to stare down a gunman to hide his distinctive hair. He immediately uncocked his weapon and holstered it with a grin of his own. "Natsu Dragneel! What the hell are you doing way out here?! I haven't seen you since you were this high!" He made a gesture around the area of his chest and reached out to him.
The pinkette grinned back and offered a hand, surprised to be pulled into a hug instead. "You should talk! I'm here to rescue my girlfriend. What are you doing with a group of thugs like this? I thought you were still with the unit."
The blonde man's grin dropped a bit at that, rubbing a hand over his white-blonde hair to vent his embarrassment. "Dishonorable discharge I'm afraid."
Natsu became solemn and said nothing for a moment, recognition dawning eventually.
"Skiadrum?"
"Yeah. Couldn't be helped. We both knew we'd be found out eventually."
"So is ol' Skia joined up with this gang too?"
"Naw. He's home with the boys. Decided it was a good time to get out of the game. But you know me. Fighting's in my blood. Like Igneel's. And I gotta pay the bills somehow."
"Oh yeah, saw Sting a few weeks ago. You know he's going to my school now?"
"No shit. Huh. I had no idea you were at MU now. Wait, you said you were here for your girlfriend? Does that mean you're dating the Heartfilia brat?"
Natsu immediately dropped his smile and growled deep in his throat. "Her name's Lucy."
The blonde man held up his hands in mock surrender, eyebrows mimicking them. "Lucy then."
"Hey, speaking of Lucy, why don't we go finish the fucking job we came for maybe?" Gray snapped. He didn't know what exactly was going on between Natsu and the merc in front of them, but he got the gist. Natsu jumped as though he'd forgotten Gray was even there.
"Oh, hey Gray, this is Weisslogia! He was in dad's unit in the army. And he's one of Sting and Rogue's dads. What are the chances?!"
"Great. Nice. Pleasure to meet you," Gray deadpanned at the merc, who waved in a way that made him look a ridiculous amount like his son. He turned back to Natsu. "Now, do you maybe wanna go rescue your soulmate from her psycho father now, kreten? Or should I just go do it for you while you catch up with your dad's war buddy?"
Natsu frowned at his friend, but said nothing. The douche had a point. He'd gotten distracted.
"Soulmate? What, are you guys engaged or something?" Weisslogia joked.
"It's a long story. I'll tell you later. For now, we've gotta get Lucy away from Jude Heartfilia. Think you can give us a hand?"
Igneel's old sergeant stared seriously into the eyes of his commander's son and saw the same raw determination staring back at him he'd seen on countless missions. He tried to think of what Igneel would do in his situation. Weisslogia'd been payed to provide a service, and in his code of honor that meant something.
But family always came first. And Igneel had been like a brother to him.
So it wasn't really a question.
His mouth curved up into the hint of a smile and he offered a lazy salute. "Alright kid. Let's go get your girl."
Look Mom! No cliffhangers! See, I can finish a chapter without leaving someone in mortal peril! Mostly...Erza's a bit of a mystery after all...hehe
Here's the French conversation between Levy and S (who is definitely Sol, if some of you haven't figured that out yet…) (translation provided by blargolp btw, so a big thanks for your help!)(ok, now I'm just adding parenthesis because I can…):
Sol: You Fioreans are all the same. Ignorant swine. What I would give for a worthy opponent. This is a ridiculous waste of my time.
Levy: Was your cradle rocked too close to the wall? The only ignorant pig here is you. Your employer is an evil prick.
Sol: What a surprise! The rat speaks after all. Tell me rat, why are you here?
Levy: Alas, rats do not explain themselves to swine. Particularly ignorant swine.
Sol: Perhaps I was mistaken. This rat shows signs of being a lion.
Levy: No, don't pretend to be intelligent now. I like you better as a pig.
Sol: Or perhaps not a lion, but something smaller and craftier. Are you a weasel, my dear? Or maybe a snake in the grass?
Levy: If you must label me, then call me an owl: swift, clever, and least expected.
Sol: No, no, no. I know an owl, and you are not like him. He lacks your...attitude.
Levy: Well, your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries! [Reference to Monty Python in the Holy Grail, in case you're not familiar and just think I'm nuts...]
Sol: ...that was uncalled for miss.
References (no, not those things new employers insist on getting and then rarely bother calling, the fun ones!):
Kreten-still means idiot in Croatian
Panic Room-movie starring Jodie Foster and pre-twilight Kristen Stewart in which people break into their new house to get at a stolen fortune and they have to take refuge in the safe room, which would be find except Kristen Stewart is diabetic and needs her insulin! *cue dramatic music* Actually a pretty solid movie. For something starring Kristen Stewart.
And for those wondering who is who in the enemy camp, and haven't picked up on the little subtle things I've been trying to drop every chance I get without being super obvious, here's a quick cheater guide:
Jude's alphabet mercenaries (in alphabetical order for shits and giggles):
B-Brandish (One of Zeref's Spriggan 12 in canon)-guarding Lucy
F-Fukuro (owl man, one of Trinity Raven in the Tower of Heaven Arc in canon)-in the back garden, knocked out by Gray and Natsu
H-has not yet appeared in person, so will not be revealed at this time, though I think you could probably guess it (ssssshhhhhh let me pretend to be mysterious!)
I-Ikaruga (kimono-wearing, one of Trinity Raven in the Tower of Heaven Arc in canon)-guarding Lucy
J-Jacob (one of Zeref's Spriggan 12 in canon)-on the front door, fighting Erza
L-Lamy (a mass produced Etherious demon member of Tartaros in canon)-at the front gate
S-Sol (Earth element of the Element Four from Phantom Lord in canon)-head of tech, currently stationed in the panic room
V-Vidaldus (hair rocker, one of Trinity Raven in the Tower of Heaven Arc in canon)-at the back door, knocked out by Gajeel
W-Weisslogia (White Dragon father of Sting in canon)-backup called to the back garden
Z-Zancrow (one of Grimoire Heart's Seven Kin in canon)