Twenty minutes later, I found myself standing in the living room of Natsu's condo.
I'd been there before, only a few times, but my visits had been brief. Mainly dropping something off or picking something up, and always I was with Grandine or Cana.
And always, Natsu was there. Now, Natsu was not.
"This is not a good idea," I said to Cana.
Cana and I were the same height, both at five foot six. Cana weighed twenty pounds less than me, mainly because she had much less ass, and one cup size smaller because she had much less boobage.
She had beautiful indigo colored eyes, and thick, dark brown hair that she kept crazy long down her back, like me.
Right now she was wearing a blue bikini top, a brown denim skirt with a dusty pink belt and black strappy heels. We're both thirty years old, with Cana being two weeks older than me.
We'd be seventy and wearing denim skirts and I'm-with-the-band T-shirts. I foresaw this for our future, and even though I thought it was cool, it also kind of scared me.
Cana was talking. "Natsu's out of town. He's not due back for ages. Definitely not tonight. And anyway, no one's crazy enough to break into Natsu's condo."
I considered her words as I looked at Vijeeter.
Vijeeter was having a 'talented artist in a crisis' moment. His eyes were wild and he looked about to bolt. Vijeeter wasn't my favorite person at that particular time. He nearly got me shot, but it wasn't entirely his fault. He didn't shoot at me and he didn't mouth off to the bad guys.
I'd always had trouble with my mouth.
Anyway, he was my friend and I had to keep him safe. That's what friends do. They don't drink so they can drive you home when you're drunk. They like your boyfriends when you're with them and then trash them after you've broken up. And they find you a safe house when people are shooting at you.
And Cana was right, only someone with a death wish would break into Natsu's condo. Even I was having heart palpitations at daring to enter Natsu's lair, worried he'd go all commando if he found us here.
Not only that, it was a secure building and Natsu lived on the top floor, with an unobstructed view of all of Magnolia.
Cana looked between Vijeeter and me. "What's this about?"
"Don't tell her!" Vijeeter shouted.
"I'm not gonna tell her!" I shouted back, beginning to lose patience with him. I forgave myself for losing patience. I figured that happened when you got shot at. I'd never been shot at, but I was always a quick learner.
Cana lifted her brows at me and I gave her my 'later' look.
"I need caffeine," Vijeeter whined and walked to Natsu's couch. It was soft, rich leather and faced an enormous flat-screen TV. Vijeeter threw himself on it and rubbed his temples with his fingers, trying to find his Zen Nirvana without a stainless steel pitcher filled with frothing milk in his hand.
"You don't need caffeine, you need Valium," I said.
"I've got Valium," Cana put in.
Cana could generally find all different kinds of pharmaceuticals, either in her own medicine cabinet or through her network of contacts.
"I don't want Valium. I want to get the bag back from Loke as soon as possible and go to Alverez," Vijeeter said, grabbing the remote and being a bit dramatic.
"He's an artist with an artistic temperament," I explained as I walked Cana to the door.
"He makes coffee," Cana replied.
I ignored that. Cana didn't understand the beauty of coffee. She preferred tequila.
"You sure Natsu isn't gonna come back?"
I didn't want to be caught in Natsu's condo when Natsu didn't know I was here. I hadn't been somewhat successfully avoiding him for ten years only to be found in his condo in the middle of the night, harboring a possible felon who had bad people after him. There was a good possibility Natsu would frown on that.
"He's in Crocus," Cana replied. "I think you should take his bed." Her eyes got big and happy when she said this, and I sighed and rested my shoulder against the wall.
"Maybe you should call him," I suggested.
"He doesn't like to be disturbed when he's out of town on business. Only in emergencies."
"This might count as an emergency," I explained unnecessarily, as I'd called her only twenty minutes ago, hyperventilating and telling her someone had shot at me and Vijeeter and we needed a safe house. Such things didn't happen everyday. In fact, they never happened, at least not to me.
Cana looked through the open plan kitchen to Vijeeter, who'd turned on the TV and was watching the Food Network.
"What bag is he talking about?" Cana whispered.
"I'll explain it later. Just call Natsu and warn him that we're here, just in case."
Cana swung her eyes back to me. "Was a time when you'd live for that kind of 'just in case'."
"I've told you, that time's long gone."
Cana studied me. She'd heard this for ten years and still didn't believe it, the silly, stubborn bimbo.
"Right. I'll call him. Still, I think if he was gonna come home, he'd rather come home to find you in his bed than Vijeeter."
"I'll sleep in the guest room."
"Girl," Cana smiled, "Natsu doesn't have a guest room. That second bedroom is locked up tight and no one gets in there. Gajeel and I call it the Command Center, but no one knows what's in there."
I turned to look at the three closed doors that opened off the hall, and when I turned back Cana had the front door open.
"Later," she punctuated with an eyebrow wiggle, and then she was gone.
I grabbed the door and watched her sashay down the hall.
"Call him!" I shouted.
She gave me the peace sign and got on the elevator.
"She's not gonna call him," I grumbled to the empty hallway.
Cana was right.
I did a wee bit of snooping (as you do). Two doors in Natsu's hall opened, one to the bathroom and one to Natsu's bedroom. The other one was locked up tight.
I even walked along the wraparound balcony to check if I could see in, but the French doors to the second bedroom had curtains and those curtains were firmly closed.
After what seemed like a lifetime of Food Network, I found Vijeeter a pillow and blanket and crawled, bleary-eyed and still a little scared (not only at the nights events but at our accommodations), into Natsu's big bed.
I considered sleeping on the floor, but I was too tired, and anyway, Natsu was busy these days and never in Magnolia unless it was someone's birthday, a holiday, or a weekend the SaberTooth's were playing at home. I'd heard Grandine lamenting that fact so often, if I had a dime for every time she said it, I'd be rich.
I'd taken off my jeans, flip flops, and bra and found a wife beater T-shirt of Natsu's, luckily in the first drawer I opened. I didn't want to be rifling through Natsu's drawers. He might not like it.
I had to borrow Natsu's tee because I was wearing my Guns N' Roses shirt with rhinestones stitched in and they'd snag at the sheets. Not to mention it was one of my favorites and I didn't want it to get misshapen while I slept.
I was not a light sleeper. I slept deep and I moved around a lot, as in a lot. I moved around so much that most of my boyfriends eventually opted for the couch, usually right before they opted for the door.
I tried to sleep in attire that would not get me into trouble during my nocturnal twisting and turning, which usually meant I slept in underpants and nothing else. However, the thought of sleeping in Natsu's bed nearly naked was simply not to be entertained.
I tried not to think of crawling into Natsu's bed at all. It was just a bed. So it was Natsu Dragneels bed. So it kinda smelled like him, like leather, campfire and cinnamon. So what?
The smell and the bed made me feel a little bit like I felt when I touched Joe Perry's chest and I had this niggling inclination to do a little naughty business, but thankfully I fell asleep before I could do anything about it.
The next thing I knew, something was wrapped around my ankle and dragging me down the length of the bed, just like the heroine in a horror movie.
When my knees slammed into the foot board, I whipped around to my back and gave a small yelp. I saw a big shadow looming over me in the dark and I opened my mouth to scream, knowing that whoever had shot at us had found us and this was the end.
My life was over, finished, and I'd never seen Pearl Jam play live.
Before I could scream the hand left my ankle, two hands grabbed at my hips and yanked me out of bed in a way that my back arched painfully. My head snapped back and I swallowed my scream on a surprised gulp.
I was set down on my feet. Both of my wrists were seized and pulled behind my back, making me give a whimper of pain, and I was slammed against a hard body.
"Talk," a deep voice demanded, and I could smell leather, campfire and cinnamon.
It was Natsu.
Shit, shit, shit.
Either I had really bad luck, or Cana set me up.
Maybe Cana and Vijeeter set me up. Cana was really into the sister-in-law thing and maybe she was getting impatient enough to hire someone to shoot at me.
"Two seconds," Natsu warned.
"Natsu, it's me. Lucy."
The hands on my wrists loosened but didn't let go.
"What the fuck?"
I took a deep breath, which pressed my breast further into his chest. This was the closest I'd ever been to him. We were full frontal. Even in the days when I was throwing myself at him I hadn't made it this close.
I hastily explained, "I'm in a bit of a bind and needed somewhere to lay low for the night. Cana let me in."
Natsu took a moment to let this sink in.
"Who's the guy on the couch?"
"Vijeeter, my barista."
"Your what?"
"He makes the coffee at my bookstore."
"Shit."
He hadn't let me go until that point, but he released me, turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Something about the way he did it made me follow him.
When I made it to the living room, Natsu snapped the light on and Vijeeter was lying face down in the middle of the floor. His hands and feet were taped together behind his back with duct tape and there was tape on his mouth.
"Natsu! Mavis! What'd you do to him?" I asked, running forward and going down on my knees by Vijeeter. Vijeeter's eyes were rabid and shifting everywhere as he struggled against the tape.
I couldn't believe it. I hadn't heard a thing. Man, Natsu was good.
Natsu already had his pocketknife out and was cutting through the tape.
"I came home and he was on my couch, you were in my bed. What'd you think I'd do?" Natsu answered as he ripped the tape off Vijeeter's mouth.
"Yeow!" Vijeeter cried.
I sat back, resting my ass on my calves and stared at Natsu.
"Cana didn't call you," I surmised.
"No, Cana didn't call me." Natsu stated.
"I'm gonna kill her." I snapped.
"Mavis, fuck, Christ." Vijeeter said.
Natsu had gone down to a crouch when he'd released Vijeeter, and now he stood, arms crossed on his chest.
"You okay?" I asked Vijeeter, and Vijeeter gave me an 'are you nuts, that lunatic just tied me up with duct tape' look. You would think you couldn't read all that in a look, but trust me, you could.
"What's goin' on?" Natsu asked, surveying us.
It was then I realized I was in a pair of pink lace hipster briefs that showed a good deal of cheek and Natsu's wife beater. Not exactly the attire I wanted to be wearing during this conversation. Not exactly the attire I wanted to be wearing ever in the presence of Natsu.
"I'll go get dressed," I said, standing.
Natsu shook his head.
"You'll talk."
"I need to put on some clothes!"
"What you need to do is tell me what the fuck's goin' on," Natsu countered, and let's just say his tone brooked no argument and his face registered pretty severe unhappiness.
Regardless, I glared at him, just for good measure.
"Mavis, shit, fuck," Vijeeter said, tearing the remnants of tape from his wrists.
I took another deep breath and let go of the glare. It was time to expedite this situation so I could get to my jeans. Generally, I felt naked without my jeans, but at that moment I practically was naked without my jeans.
"Okay, we have a situation here. Vijeeter and I need somewhere to crash for the night and we'll be gone tomorrow."
"Why?" Natsu asked.
"Don't tell him!" Vijeeter cried, looking panicked.
"You talk or you walk," Natsu said.
I looked at Natsu then I looked at Vijeeter.
I'd known Vijeeter for five years. He'd come to parties at my house. We'd gone to concerts together. He was a chill guy. A bit flighty and secretive, and not as mellow as one would expect, considering he was a raging stoner.
I had no idea he had a business on the side. I knew he made great coffee, I knew he thought Jim Morrison was an earthbound God, and I knew he was a stoner.
I looked back at Natsu.
"You have to promise to keep quiet."
"No!" Vijeeter shouted, getting to his feet.
"I don't have to promise anything," Natsu replied.
I did another glance at both of them.
Natsu was being difficult. He was entitled to it. We were in his space without his permission. Vijeeter was also being difficult, but Vijeeter was always difficult. All I could think was I really needed my jeans.
"You can trust him," I told Vijeeter.
Vijeeter was staring at Natsu. He was definitely beyond mellow at this point. Vijeeter had been shot at tonight and then trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, and I'd slept through it.
However, Vijeeter had a lot to worry about. He needed to start making good decisions about who to trust. Vijeeter made a decision, a decision I hoped would take me closer to my jeans.
"He has to promise not to say anything to anyone. This'll all be over tomorrow," Vijeeter announced.
Natsu hadn't uncrossed his arms. Natsu wasn't happy. This wasn't hard to read. Everything about him right now screamed it.
"Can I talk to you a moment?" I asked and then did a wave with my arm and Natsu followed me to the entry hall.
First things first. Since the situation was still not stable and taking the time to dress (thus leaving Vijeeter and Natsu alone) did not seem a smart option, I tried a different tactic in the hopes of covering my ass cheeks.
"Do you have a robe I could borrow?" I asked.
"No," Natsu answered.
"Does that mean you don't have a robe I could borrow or I can't borrow your robe?"
Natsu stared at me some more.
Then he said, "Lucy, start talking."
His patience, it seemed, was wearing thin. I'd have to leave my ass cheeks bared. I told myself this was Natsu. He'd seen me in bikinis in his backyard (and mine, and on a family vacation to Tenrou Island, and the one to Akane Beach). I was far more dressed than a bikini.
I soldiered on. "Okay, the thing is, Vijeeter has a little side business. Someone paid him in something and that something is kind of valuable, as in kind of really valuable. It's also kind of stolen from someone else, and that someone else wants it back."
"Vijeeter gave it to Loke for safekeeping and Vijeeter doesn't have it. Loke's away for a few days, back tomorrow morning. So until he can get it from Loke, we have to lay low."
"Why is this a 'we' situation?" Natsu asked.
"Well, I was kind of with Vijeeter when they came after it," I answered.
"And?" he prompted.
"And like I said, he didn't have it."
"And?"
"And I had a few words with them, in, er. . . Vijeeters defense," I told him.
Loaded and pissed off hesitation, complete with narrowing of eyes, then, "And?"
"And that's when they shot at us and we took off and called Cana."
No verbal comment, but a muscle jerked in Natsu's cheek. I didn't take this as a good sign. Probably, he wasn't so happy I involved his sister in this mess. Probably, he was equally unhappy that I'd now involved him in this mess.
"What is it?" Natsu asked.
"I can't say."
"If you don't say, I'll let him loose."
I shook my head. "He's pretty adamant no one knows."
"I'll escort him out of the building myself."
I looked back in the living room. Vijeeter was peaking around the corner, eavesdropping.
I let out another heavy sigh. "Maybe we should go, get a hotel room."
Vijeeter looked pleased at this announcement. We only had a few hours left to wait. Magnolia was a big city. It'd take longer than a few hours to find us.
"I didn't say I'd let you loose. I said I'd let him loose."
This announcement gave me a start and I turned to Natsu.
"What?"
No answer.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Still no answer.
"What are you gonna do with me?" I kept trying.
"You tell me what this is about, nothing."
"And if I don't tell you?"
"I haven't decided."
"Natsu!"
Natsu's patience ran out. He grabbed my arm, pointed at Vijeeter and said, "You move, you'll regret it," in a way that I figured Vijeeter would do a statue impression until he saw Natsu again.
Then Natsu yanked me into the bedroom, hit the lights and closed the door behind us.
"Ow! You're hurting me!" I pulled my arm free.
"I should turn you over my knee," he snapped.
My mouth dropped open for a moment, then my eyes narrowed. "What did you just say?"
"He has a bag of diamonds and I cannot believe you're caught up in this disaster."
I gasped. "How did you know?"
He didn't answer.
"How did you know?" I said it a lot louder this time.
"You get into bed. I'll go talk to your friend. Tomorrow, I'll take care of the diamonds."
"You can't tell me what to do." Now my voice was a lot louder. I mean, who did he think he was?
He took a step forward and dipped his face to mine so we were nose-to-nose. "You've ignored me for years and now you lay this shit on my doorstep. This is not a good situation, Lucy. This is a total fuckup. You'd do well to do exactly what I tell you, keep your mouth shut and pray that the man who wants those diamonds back is patient enough to wait through the night."
"I have not been ignoring you for years!" Now I was shouting (and lying).
Natsu decided nose-to-nose wasn't good enough and took the last step forward so I could feel his body heat. Which, by the way, was immense.
"Bullshit," he whispered.
Okay, so I'd been trying to ignore him for years, but I didn't actually succeed. I mean, didn't he remember all those Christmases and Thanksgivings?
"I bought you Christmas presents!"
"That doesn't count."
I made a choked sound. "So you're saying you didn't like the Billie Holiday boxed set?"
"I'm sayin' it doesn't count."
"I thought you liked blues!"
He edged in closer, predatory and angry. "Lucy, this isn't something you can cute your way out of."
Okay, so, maybe in the past I'd used my girlie status to cute my way out of things. Numerous things. Most especially using it with Natsu, Gajeel and Igneel. Dad always saw through it.
"Fine!" I stalked to the bed, giving in mainly to get away from him. He was too overpowering at close range. Then I whipped around when I reached the foot of the bed. "What are you gonna do?"
"I'm gonna calm down your friend, make a call that should set some minds at ease, and tomorrow, I'll take him to get the diamonds and make the delivery."
"Well then," I said snottily, the wind out of my sails, "thank you."
Natsu started to turn. He stopped, dropped his head back and looked at the ceiling and then turned around and came back to me. Again, he was so close I could feel his heat.
"Normally I charge five hundred dollars for this."
I sucked in a breath.
"For what?" I asked.
"This go-between shit," Natsu answered.
My eyes rounded in shock. Wow. No wonder he could afford this condo with a view and an office in downtown Magnolia. Not to mention his car. He had a great car. And he still had a bike.
"You do? Why?"
He came closer. So close he was all I could see.
"Because I make this call tonight, that puts me in the middle of this mess, and if tomorrow I don't have the diamonds, then it'll be me they shoot at. I don't like getting shot at."
I shook my head, bit my lip and agreed wholeheartedly. "Me either, it's not very fun."
He didn't move and I realized he expected a different answer. "I don't think Vijeeter has that kind of money," I noted. "You wouldn't consider doing this on, say, a family discount?"
He shook his head. "We're not family."
"I mean you and me," I explained.
"We're not family either."
"Yes we are. Ten years ago you told me I was like your little sister," I reminded him.
He waited a beat. Something dawned on him. I could see the flicker in his eyes as it registered. I didn't understand it, but he did, and whatever it was made his face soften a little from the seriously pissed-off angry look he'd been wearing all night. In fact, he looked almost. . . pleased.
"That was then, this is now." Even his voice was quieter and less hacked off.
"Well, how many hours will this take? It could be thousands of dollars. Vijeeter doesn't have that kind of money, even with his side business."
"It's not Vijeeter who's gonna pay."
My head did an involuntary jerk when I understood what he meant. "I don't have that kind of money."
"You aren't gonna pay me in cash."
My stomach clenched and my heart stopped for a couple of beats. "How am I gonna pay you?" I asked.
"We'll talk about it tomorrow," he didn't exactly answer.
"We'll talk about it now!" I snapped.
"Get in bed, go to sleep," he ordered.
"Quit bossing me around!"
He came closer and I let out a little peep. I couldn't help it. He was pressed up against me, I had nowhere to go and the backs of my knees were up against the footboard. And I've already said Natsu's a seriously scary, badass individual.
"You get in that bed yourself or I tie you to it," he threatened.
His face had gone back to the seriously pissed-off, angry look, and I decided from the hard glittering in his eyes that he was not making an idle threat.
"Okay," I whispered.
Shit, I was such a wuss.