Hey guys! Here's a new chapter! And yes, you read the title all right.. about time he showed up :} Not much nalu this chapter, but be ready for a full-on dose in the next one!

A/N: I tried bargaining, but the guy's too pricey.

Pink Is The New Awesome

Lucy silently thanked her ex-tutor Erza for the self-defense lessons she had secretly gone for during her time at the mansion, as she rolled out of the way of a bullet that managed to graze her right calf. She knew that they wouldn't kill her; but that didn't say they wouldn't hurt her. Midnight knew as well as her that Lucy wasn't the type to come easy and would try to escape, and had taken to restraining her movements by getting a shot at her leg. Lucy groaned, her already injured legs screaming, as the crimson liquid seeped out through her skin, sharp pain coursing through her body as she struggled to keep herself up. It was all she could do to keep from howling her lungs out from all the fucking pain and the unfairness of her goddamned life.

Lucy grit her teeth and tried to focus on her surroundings, her vision fading in and out; images of her so-called bodyguards blurring by each passing second. Lucy was physically and mentally exhausted, covered in bruises and unarmed. She mentally cursed herself for not packing her trusty whip or at least her Hello-kitty hockey stick (damn thing was as hard as steel), though she doubted she could do much with any of those considering the situation she was in right now. She wasn't just facing three random people with guns. The Oracion Seis were on a completely different league; and that was what which scared her. Determined or not, she wasn't going to last much longer, even if she didn't put up a fight. Her body was already at its limits. She was drained to the bottom even as she scrambled out of the tunnel- she had absolutely zero chance of getting out of this unscathed.

Absolutely zero. Heh.

Lucy slightly chuckled at her own pun, but quickly sobered up once she registered the scuffle of feet moving around her. Shoving all thoughts to the back of her head, Lucy shook out of her daze, her eyes darting around the room, her gaze coming to a standstill at the displeased look on Midnight's seemingly-lifeless face. His night black lips curled downwards at the corners, pressed into a tight line, but reverting back to the usual obnoxious smirk she had come to hate, as her settled his orbs on something behind her. Before Lucy knew what was going on, rough hands grabbed her by the wrists as her hands were cross-pinned to the small of her back, her throat tightening in agony as cold fingers connected with it, squeezing the air out of her lungs.

Lucy gasped and choked, her pupils widening in terror, as the blonde's dimming eyesight picked up Angel's face, and by the theory of omission she guessed it was Cobra pinning her arms together as if she were a criminal about to get hand-cuffed. Lucy gasped more, struggling to get free, her legs kicking and flinging themselves at her attackers, only to end in vain as she felt her only remaining energy fade away, her eyeballs threatening to roll upwards as Lucy thought how good it would feel just fall unconscious then and there, and let them take her home. Blackness slowly crept into her area of vision, her mind turning blank. This was it for her.

Thoughts plagued her mind like an infection - her father's reaction on her misbehavior and the usual counselling sessions he would send her to after she was punished appropriately. She was never going to see the outside world again, and would probably get married to some sixty-year old pervert the next week. And then, it was all over. Boom.

Hot tears spilled from the collecting pools in her eyelids, as she finally regained her will to force open her eyes.

And she was greeted with tan-brown lips.

Attached to a painfully close face, with long spiky flashes of blood-red hair, purple eyes trained on her.

Cobra.

And he was leaning in to kiss her.

Lucy let out a high-pitched scream, her gaze widening in horror and disgust as she flailed and pushed away from him, catching both him and the other two next to him off guard. Lucy didn't know how long she was on the verge of passing out, but her hands and legs were tied up and she was on the floor. A grey bandanna that was probably tied around her mouth to keep her from screaming, hung loosely around her jaw, pulled down for reasons that made her shudder just to think about.

"Erik, what the actual fuck?!" A voice yelled from her left side, followed by the red-head's tsk, as Lucy quickly realized that she had finally gotten her chance to escape. She lit up and thanked Mavis, her insides filling with hope.

The newly energized blonde squirmed and rammed into the redhead's stomach, causing him to double over in pain, while she regained herself and started sprinting for the exit. Angel screeched and rushed to the collapsed man, while Midnight followed Lucy, silently cursing his impatient, self-centered companion under his breath as he retrieved his pistol and fired at the blonde who was slowly picking up her pace. For a girl who had her hands and legs tied-up, she was moving impressively fast.

The man fired two rounds at her and tsked in annoyance as he clicked his gun for a reload. Lucy's heart pounded at an alarmingly fast rate, as she tried her best to evade the shots, taking notice of the fact that he wasn't aiming for her legs. Lucy gulped, taking in quick gasps of air at every sprint, while her wound reopened and the bottom part of her right leg throbbed in pain as the blood resurfaced. Lucy let out a disgruntled moan, her teeth biting into her lower lip, drawing blood. Distracting herself from the pain in her lower leg, and the fact about what would have happened if she hadn't woke up when she did, Lucy grit her teeth and plunged into the freezingly-cold rotating glass-doors that let in stray beams of light. The doors spun open with an unsatisfying creak as Lucy was welcomed into the night, cold late-night air rushing into her face, as a southward wind ruffled her dirt-covered messy hair and her destroyed clothes. Sighing, she walked forward, lolling over and collapsing on the footpath, as she ungracefully tripped on an out-of-place brick sticking out of the ground just in front of the doorway. Lucy crashed face-first into the ground, her arms scraping all over, an exasperated growl emanating from her throat, as she watched deathly rows of bullets go off by her, followed by the cracking and breaking of glass panels, glass and metal shrapnel raining down on top of her. Lucy shivered. The dreaded sound of footsteps reached Lucy and she arched her body and got up, sharp fragments of construction materials digging into her soft, supple skin.

She blinked back tears. She was hurt, bleeding and terrified. More terrified than she had ever felt in her life. She couldn't say how much she wished her mom was alive. Even if it was for a small second, Lucy just wanted to curl up in her mother's lap and lay there in her warm embrace, her soft smile and her calming words to soothe her and tell her that it was all okay. Lucy had been so broken after her mom died, and her father had nothing for her. Absolutely nothing. Lucy had cried for weeks, while Jude Heartfilia had sat in his study going through files. Fucking files! If only she were alive, she could have stopped all this! Lucy was nothing more than an object to her insane father, and she couldn't believe he had changed so drastically in such a small amount of time. And now, she was most probably going to die because he just had to hire wanted criminals as bodyguards to protect her prized possession of a daughter and keep her from running away from home. Well, thanks a lot, father. Yeah, thanks. A lot.

She couldn't stop the fresh tears that spilled from either sides of her face as she broke, all resistance vanishing from her as she let her tears flow giving in to her fate. Lucy felt her knees buckle, legs shaking and body shivering as she toppled over once again, her legs losing footing at the center of road in front of the construction building as she collapsed onto the tarred surface, the gravel stinging into her skin along with the numerous pieces of metal and glass that had embedded itself onto her hands and legs. "Fuck.." Lucy whimpered, as she heard footsteps approaching her and the cocking of guns.

Silence.

Her heart sped up, fear clawing at her veins. Was she really going to die like this? What had she accomplished in life? What happiness did she experience? She hadn't even had a fucking boyfriend! (Though she would never admit that she was upset about it).

Ugh, Lucy wished they would just get the fuck over with and shoot her already. She had done enough thinking for her brain to short out. Midnight readied his weapon, taking aim as Lucy braced herself.

"Oiii, look out!"

Lucy screamed as the bullet hit her and she felt the sharp agonizing pain thump into her from her outsides as they shot her again and-

Eh?

The blonde blanched at the sudden interruption, as she turned to her left side, eyes finding a flash of very bright light and she squinted her eyes to look at the source. The light seemed to be nearing them as she heard the thrum of an engine trying to come to a halt, but was failing as the screech of brakes indicated that he (she just assumed it was a male) was going too fast. Her eyes and ears strained as some sort of motorcycle hurtled towards them at an impossible rate, the rev of the engine like a chainsaw in Lucy's ears. Lucy regained her senses and opened her mouth to scream, while the man who was on it turned a sharp 90 degree with his bike at the last minute, jumping off his ride as it crashed headfirst into the nearby building, toppled sideways and spun a half-assed circle - the wheels slowly coming to a stop as sparks flew and waves of heat rolled off the vehicle, warming the air around. Lucy tried her best to blink the white spots out of her eyes as she took a moment to calm the pounding of her poor heart, the constant ringing in her ears giving her a pat on the back for not dying due to a biker-induced heart-attack. She panted heavily, her arms and legs still shaking as she turned her attention to the new arrival.

The first thing she noticed about the guy was that he was wearing a slightly-faded white scarf around his neck. The sight interested her somehow, like she had seen it somewhere before, but she shrugged it off and continued to examine him as he stepped forward into the decent lighting provided by the street-lights placed randomly down the streets. He wore a plain black El-Fiore t-shirt above a black base-layer, with black running shorts and glossy orange trainers. His helmet had a few cracks here and there, and though Lucy knew little to nothing about rider life and its glorious peaks, she was pretty sure the helmet was nothing more than crap. It wouldn't even protect him if she aimed a tennis ball at his head.

Just when Lucy thought he couldn't get any weirder than riding over-speed motorcycles without a decent helmet at what looked like two in the morning and almost died crashing it into a building; he burst out laughing.

Laughing.

Lucy gaped at him, her eyes never once leaving the boy, as she tried to make out what exactly was going on in his head. Shouldn't he be trembling in fear and falling to his knees? Shouldn't he go check on his bike and see if it was alright? Were all Eastern guys like this? No, that wouldn't be right; Gray was normal. Where the hell was the normalcy in this situation? And that was when she realized - Heck, normalcy left her life a long time ago. Preferably at the dreaded moment she had decided to crawl into the goddamned tunnel.

However, something about him seemed familiar. His laugh rang in her ears, trying to poke at something deep inside her that was supposed to be there, but had been forgotten or had left her mind like it never existed. There was an air of something to him she couldn't quite make out; she just couldn't seem to put it in words. Like the warm, soothing presence surrounding her when she had sat near the campfire her parents had built on Christmas Eve. The memory warmed her heart, its bitterness slowly seeping into her as she warded it off. This was not the time to go emotional.

Her attention was drawn to him once again as he stopped to catch his breath, turning to her. She slowly inched away, keeping her eyes on the biker as well as the three who seemed to have completely forgotten about her and were looking at the man like he had fallen from the sky or something. They looked like they knew him, but that was impossible since they didn't even know this place existed, right? What had gotten into them? She was beginning to feel nervous.

"You there! You okay?"

Lucy's head swivelled as she searched for the source of the voice that had called out to her, her deep chocolate orbs flickering back to the new guy. Lucy was staggered at his nonchalant attitude like he had not just done what she just saw him do and his motorcycle wasn't smoking and lying sprawled on the asphalt like it had been hit by a truck. His voice held such pure concern for her that cared nothing about what happened to him that made something in her call to him, and she found herself trusting him instantly. It was so, so weird at so many levels that it hurt. Was she really so simple minded? she asked herself. Of course not. She was Lucy Heartfilia, only daughter and heir to the Heartfilia Konzern, one of the richest organizations in the world. She was taught in a way that no other kid was taught, being trained in business deals and tricks and how to make someone dance and play right into her hands. There was no way she was going to trust some random biker guy on the streets just because he asked her if she was okay. She steeled her resolve, her logic dominating her instincts as she gulped and stared at him without breaking eye contact. The Oracion Seis members tsked and she bit her lip in uncertainty as the man proceeded to remove his head-wear, stalking towards her, his features becoming clearer as he came closer.

Lucy saw pink.

At first, she had thought it was a trick of the light, as she had studied in a variety of classes and read in a lot of books, but when he dipped his head lower, her doubts were confirmed. The strange guy really did have pink hair, styled in messy locks, spiked upwards; as to why he had died it pink, Lucy would never know. And since Lucy loved pink, she really didn't want to argue. That didn't necessarily mean she was attracted to him or anything.

Nah.

Her attention was drawn to his face as she involuntarily shifted backwards; when he crouched down to stare at her. She followed his gaze to his eyes - and she was startled by its depth. It was the depth of someone who had experienced more in life than what he was originally letting on, keeping his emotions and outbursts in the background, because he knew nobody in the world gave an ounce of care for what he'd been through. It was the one that Lucy had been wearing since that fateful day her mother departed, the one that her friends and teachers had happily helped her take off. They had sat down and listened to all off her troubles, put up with her tears and let her throw a tantrum or two when she needed to blow off some steam. For that, she loved them, especially Levy, with her being so close to her and always being so cheerful, and she couldn't imagine for the love of God what someone would become without having any kind of support like she did. Lucy mentally slapped herself. She should really get her ranting on control; she didn't know anything about him and was already pinning psychological and emotional distress on the poor guy.

He continued to drill holes in her eyes, finally blinking and raising an eyebrow at her. Lucy knit her brows together, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, as she watched him get back on his feet and turn so he faced the three who were silently watching the show in amusement. He looked a little shocked at first, stepping closer. Lucy found them instantly putting up their guard when he sighed, dropped his helmet onto the asphalt, and faced them again with his gaze more hardened than last time, crossing his arms over chest.

"Erik. Beth. Sorano."

Okay.. what now?

The three tensed as Lucy gasped under her breath, realizing they were the original names of her murder-buddies, and they worked under code-names. Lucy had not a clue in the world as to how and why the boy knew them, but a suspicious feeling took root in her chest, doubting the worst case scenario.

The Oracion Seis were from the Eastern End. That meant she couldn't stay here. They could find her wherever she ran off to. Her face fell, eyes blinking back more tears as they threatened to fall, hopelessness overtaking her.

Midnight sneered as he held his cocked gun to the pinkette's - Eek! Pinkette! Lucy silently squealed - face. "You have no business here, Dragneel. Go the fuck away." Cobra did the same, Angel seeming a little reluctant as she too cocked her gun and raised it to his chest. Lucy swallowed hard. Dragneel was fucked. Whoever he was, he could never fight three people of the Seis and go home alive; even if he had pink hair. There was just no way-

Lucy's eyes blew open wide as the man ducked all three bullets, swiping a leg under him in a flash second when Midnight gasped, jumping back, the gun knocked out of his grip by a well-aimed back-flip. Cobra and Angel cursed and fired rapidly at the pinkette, who grinned like a maniac before letting himself dodge them by crouching and rolling away, arching his back before sprinting back at the white-haired woman and pinning her to the brick-paved footpath. Angel struggled in vain to break free, as Dragneel responded by snatching her pistol away from her iron grasp and aiming at the shocked Midnight, as he heard the reload and cock of a gun behind him.

Lucy gaped at the scene before her. Everything had happened in less than ten seconds, with her barely having time to contemplate at impossible agility with what the pink-haired boy had moved, before focusing her gaze back onto the standoff they had come to. Lucy didn't know why she wasn't running, considering she had been gifted with more than one chance to escape. She quickly found the answer to that though; her arms and legs bruised and bleeding and the fact that she wasn't getting up anytime soon.

Seriously, what was her life anymore?

The blonde should have been disheartened, but something in her couldn't seem to bring itself to care. She just didn't have the energy for sappy stuff anymore, goddammit. To hell with it. She had been on the verge of death moments ago, before Mr. Pink arrived in all his motorcycle-crashing glory. She was ready to accept whatever fate had in store for her; and seeing the pinkette fight her pursuers, (even if it was because they tried to kill him first) Lucy felt a strange sense of safety like he was some sort of miracle sent down to Earth to help her.

And it was becoming increasingly clearer as she fixed her chocolate-brown orbs on the three men who were unmoving, as they stood each other off, gazes sharp and unwavering. The pink-haired Dragneel had Angel pinned to the ground under his legs, one hand gripping her throat while he had a pissed Midnight at gun-point, his fingers ghosting over the trigger, and she took in the defeated form of the man who was gnashing his teeth, trembling in rage. He was so close in firing range that Lucy knew there was no way he would be getting out of there without a bullet in his head, mercenary or not. The only thing keeping Dragneel at bay was the intimidating red-haired man aiming his pistol at the back of his head, with a maniacal look on his face.

Lucy clenched her teeth in anger as she watched Cobra take a step forward, his eyes momentarily flashing over hers, smirking before he turned once again back to the pinkette, pressing the barrel of his gun to the back of his neck. Tch.

"That was very rude of you now, wasn't it? I expected a warmer welcome after seeing you again after all these years now, eh Natsu?"

Natsu?

Yosh, Natsu.

Natsu Dragneel.

Lucy tried her best to keep in her squeals regarding how cool that sounded in her mind. Not only did he ride motorcycles, have pink hair, fight off three members of the Oracion Seis with no warning or weapon, and his name was Natsu Dragneel? And from what she could make out in the dark, he looked pretty ho- NO! No, no no! Bad Lucy. She had already talked about this. Lucy was not attracted to her pink savior. If Lucy could move, she would have slapped herself. Ugh, stupid overthinking mind.

This was not what Natsu had in mind when he kicked up his baby for a night-ride.

Natsu didn't even flinch, gritting his teeth as he felt the cold metal pushing against his nape. He didn't waver; enemies were constantly trying to poke at their opponent's weak point, trying their best to distract them, while searching for an opening to strike or escape.

He couldn't afford to lose his control over the situation, that gave him an advantage over his opposers; and also the reason he was still breathing. Natsu didn't need a strategist to tell him he'd be dead the moment he lets down his guard. If the three people with him were still the people he knew they were, then he knew they won't be going easy on him, much less let him walk away alive.

But that didn't mean Natsu was planning on dying. Nor was he leaving any of these lunatics alone.

Natsu opened his mouth to shout back a retort, when he finally noticed the red-head behind him sneaking glances at the blonde girl he had almost run over with his bike. She was still lying on the ground, staring at him, lips curling in disgust when Erik smirked at her. Why was she still lying there? And moreover, what was she doing with these guys on the streets anyways?

And then it clicked into place.

The bruises and dried blood in which the blonde had been covered in when he approached her, the way she was lying on the road, eyes fearful as they looked up at them, how her expression turned into loathing when Cobra looked at her.

She was being hunted. By these guys.

Natsu clicked his tongue in annoyance as he hardened his gaze on the furious emo in front of him.

"When ya said you had better jobs to do rather than racin round the streets for money, I didn't know ya meant pickin on girls," he scoffed at him, eyes gleaming joyfully as the rise he expected from the noirette taking root in him almost immediately. It had always been his one true weakness; he never seemed to be able to control his anger. Natsu had been unsure if he still had it in him, but his suspicions were confirmed as he took the final step, pushing his luck.

"That's real cheap, man."

Natsu smirked in victory as Macbeth charged at him, the world around him drowning in his rage as he drew back his fist for a punch, while Natsu, swiftly dodging a round of bullets from a rapidly cursing Erik, rolled out from above an unconscious Sorano and away from the range of the raging noirette. He watched in amusement as Macbeth missed, and Erik accidentally firing a volley of shots that came in contact with the unsuspecting man, who roared in pain and collapsed onto the ground next to the white-haired woman, clutching his right arm in a death grip.

"What the fuck, you idiot!" Beth screamed.

"Me? I had him under my control!" the red-head retorted, before the former snatched his sprawled out gun from the pavement, staggering as he scored a clear shot on the retreating pinkette.

Natsu had only one goal in mind while he rushed out from under the commotion, Sorano's gun secured in his pocket, as he rolled till he was in the control range of his bike. He tapped the back of his earpiece, which was well hidden - tucked away in his expanse of vibrant hair - which he knew would trigger an upsurge of smoke to erupt from the exhausts and the installed smoke outlets he had solely engineered onto his ride. He needed to cause a distraction. Natsu smirked as the temperature in the area slightly rose, followed by a beep and an explosion of smoke.

It was at that time he felt something pierce through his right shoulder, nerve-wrecking pain shooting up through his body.

Shit.

He got distracted.

Natsu clamped his hand over the gun-shot wound, the warm blood soaking into his baselayer and spreading onto his shirt, as another volley of shots found purchase all over his upper body. The pain was intense; causing him him to unwillingly let go of his now bleeding lower lip, as he took in a sharp inhale of breath and choked out more blood, his insides churning and breaths becoming more raid. His chest - no, his whole body felt like it was on fire, while being angrily pierced by large needles. Clouds of smoke wafted around him, searing his eyes and cutting off the air supply, his vision blurring around the edges, slightly turning red. He was dimly aware of the gradually advancing footsteps of the ones who had shot him, as well as the strangled cry of someone else, whom he assumed was the blonde, crying out to him.

One whom he didn't even know was crying for him. Worried about him. When she herself couldn't move.

What the fuck was he doing?

Natsu felt like clawing his nerves out from the blinding pain. He slowly felt his control being washed away, and he let his legs give way under him as he fell to his knees.

How could he let these guys beat him so easily?

The pinkette let out a low whine, his thoughts invading his unstable mind as his breaths became shallow, and he started to choke, coughing up blood and saliva. His stomach churned, and he clenched his teeth to keep his frustration at bay, when he registered the distant cocking of a gun. He heard the girl a few feet away from him whimpering as the sounds of footsteps grew closer.

Oh shit.

A sudden sense of renewed energy burst through him, his senses perking up instantly as he realized it wasn't he who they were after in the first place. They were after her, the girl on the road, and seemed to be more intent on going for her, rather than killing him off first. He had also noticed she wasn't shot at any of her vital parts, and that could only mean one thing.

They weren't killing her, they wanted to capture her.

Natsu felt a pang of empathy for the poor blonde girl as his gaze landed on her face, her features scrunched up in fear he recognized ever so immediately. She certainly had a lot on her life, and from what he could see, wherever these guys were planning on taking her wasn't her favorite place. Her chocolate brown eyes flashed towards him, helplessness and need evident in them as Natsu felt all sense of hesitation in him wither away.

The pink-haired man sprang to his feet, shutting off his mind from the mind-numbing pain that rushed through his body as he did so, reaching for the girl, her eyes widening at the sudden gesture. Thankfully the smoke was still around them, cutting off visual contact with the enemy as he latched his hand onto her wrist, gripping her tightly and pulling her to her feet. Natsu almost groaned; she was unbelievably soft in his hands, fragile like a flower.

"W-What are you-" she started but he cut her off, hauled her over his shoulder, trying to ignore the feel of her against him, and bolted to the source of exhaust, his fallen bike. It was not the time for this. He shook his head and turned, so as to look at the girl's face which was an undeniable shade of red. Weird.

"You can't move, right?" she just looked at him blankly, as he voiced his concern, Natsu taking that as a 'yes', his brain going weird again as he took in the sight of her flushed features, her large, chocolate eyes - Holy Mavis, those eyes. Natsu cursed himself, refusing to lead his mind down that tunnel, and focused his attention. Her face showed signs of hesitation, possibly fear, as the red began to fade. Natsu sighed, shaking his head. She was scared.

But so was he.

The blonde seemed to notice, and he saw her take a short gasp of air as her eyes found purchase on his wounds. She quickly jerked her gaze towards his, catching him off guard as he recognized the look in her eyes. He had thought it be apologetic at first, but he could feel the determination filling up her senses and coursing through her veins. She didn't want to hurt him; but at the same time, she knew what she had to do. She wanted to live, and had come to terms with the fact that he was the only way out.

It was sad, and hurt like hell, but it was the damned truth.

And with that he raced to their escape.

Yep..! That's it for now! Sorry for the late upload! You wouldn't believe it, but apparently I forgot I'd uploaded a story on the net! Hell, I even forgot I had a fanfiction account! *evil guy ridiculous laugh* Be sure to let me know what you guys think in the comments.. support a young novelist, would'cha? ~that-one-pizza-guy