A/N: Here I am again updating this story. This story is going to be my main focus for the time being. So if any of you read my other on going NaLu story Back to You then just know it will be a minute until I update that one. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy this update.
(This chapter will actually be all in Natsu's POV)
"What is all that noise?" Lisanna asked. She was referring to all the noise coming from outside where the other members of the gang were hanging.
"Don't worry, babe. They are just messing around," I smiled at her before kissing her. In truth, I knew what they were doing outside. Gray and Gajeel were setting her house up so they could set it ablaze. Not a plan that I really approved of, but they were dead set on it. I pulled away quickly as my kisses with Lisanna had become dull, and luckily this would be the last night of them.
"Can you believe we are graduating tomorrow? Our future is-" but Lisanna was cut off as Mirajane burst in to the room, a worried look on her face.
"The house has caught fire! Lis, come with me to wake our parents and Elfman. Natsu, if you could be a dear and call 911?" Mirajane hurried out of the room with Lisanna in tow. I waited a few moments before making my to Lisanna's closet. Rummaging past the boxes and clothed, I found the safe where she kept the drug money and her stash. I had memorized the code long ago, so cracking it open was no problem. I coughed slightly as smoke began to trickle in to the room. I quickly grabbed the cash and as much of her stash as I could stuff in my pockets. I quickly bolted out the back door to where the other guys were waiting. Wasting no time, we took off down the sidewalk.
"Natsu? Natsu, come back!" I heard Lisanna calling out to me as we ran. I didn't look back as the guys and I disappeared in to the night.
"Are you okay?" My eyes shot open as I found myself in my office, Lucy standing on the other side of my desk. I shook my head as I realized I had fallen asleep.
"Yeah, just a bad dream," I said, shaking myself awake. It had been years since that dream had plagued my mind. Why did it start again? Could it have to do with happened at the hospital yesterday?
"Not surprising, you've barely slept since we got back early this morning," Lucy noted, gesturing to the heavy bags under my eyes.
"Did you need something?" I asked. I really had no interest in seeing her after I had discovered that she and Erza had tricked me.
"Gajeel sent me to get an assignment," Lucy gave me a bored expression.
"Just tell him that I want you to head to the same place, same stuff," I replied. Lucy nodded as she exited my office. I relaxed a bit once she was out of the room. I still needed to think of something to make her pay for deceiving me. I was still standing by my decision to not use her father as leverage, so I had to think of something else. That's when it clicked in my head. There was only one person that Lucy and I had in common, someone that was plaguing my thoughts. Lisanna Strauss, the bane of my criminal resolve. Lucy had to be using her as a contact, and who better to use than my former mentor, ex-girlfriend and rival drug lord. Maybe it was time to finish an old job. And perhaps losing a friend would be sufficient punishment.
"Gray! Gajeel!" I shouted out the open door. Soon, both black haired men entered.
"Yes sir?" Gray asked, crossing his arms.
"We are headed to the Strauss house. It is time to take care of Lisanna once and for all," I said. Gray and Gajeel both looked at each other before turning to me with small grins on their face. I took their expressions as agreement.
"Arm up and meet me at the van in 5 minutes," The men nodded as they headed back down to the weapons locker. I opened the bottom drawer on my desk, pulling out both my revolver and my silenced pistol. Making sure each was fully loaded, I strapped each of them to my side. Throwing on my boots, I grabbed the keys to the van and headed down to the alley behind the warehouse. Gray and Gajeel were already waiting for me, a pistol strapped to Gray's side and a shotgun strapped to Gajeel's back.
"Let's go," I said. Gajeel hopped in the back while Gray took the passenger seat next to me. We sped off down the alley and took off down the main road that led to the cul-de-sac where the old Strauss house sat.
"Did you bring bulletproof vests?" I looked at Gajeel through my rearview mirror. The man nodded, holding up three vests. I nodded as we continued down the road.
"Who thought we would be going after Lisanna again after all this time," Gray said as we continued driving.
"She is a threat to our operation. She must be eliminated," I said. This was part of the reason I was going after but the other was because of Lucy. Not that I would let the guys know that however.
"Here we are," I said as we pulled up in front of the scorched mansion. We got out, taking a quick look around to make sure no one was around to witness what was going to happen. Once we determined the coast was clear, we threw on our vests.
"Move out," I said. Gray and Gajeel headed for the back as I took the front. The fire had taken most of the house, only parts of the main living room still stood and of course the basement which is where Lisanna and whatever existed of her gang would be holed up. Making my way into the living room, I made sure to walk as quietly as I could as to not alert anyone. As I continued through the living room, I began to recall old memories of being here. Like when Lisanna and I had first kissed, and when we had discussed our plans for the future. I shook these thoughts from my head. I was a different man now. I had gone too far down this road to turn back. I looked up to see Gray and Gajeel approaching me from the back entryway. As we neared the basement stairs, we heard a few voices below.
"Make this quick and easy. No survivors," I said. Gray and Gajeel nodded as they headed for the stairs. They stopped however when a voice spoke up from below.
"Who's there?" A man's voice rang up the stairs. Gajeel unstrapped the shotgun from his back while Gray readied his pistol. I placed my hand on the revolver strapped to my side. From the corner of my eye, I saw a man coming from the back entryway where Gray and Gajeel had come from. With adept quickness, I whipped the revolver from my belt and pulled the trigger, the bullet hitting the man straight in the forehead. As he fell to the ground, Gray hurried over and grabbed the man's discarded gun.
"Here they come," I said as I heard rustling in the basement. Footsteps began racing up the stairs as three figures emerged, followed by none other than Lisanna. Our eyes locked for a brief moment before I took cover as they began firing. Gajeel quickly dispatched two of the men with his shotgun while Gray took out the other. Now it was just Lisanna, a pistol cupped in her hands as she faced us.
"How ironic that it would be you three," Lisanna said, glaring at me in particular.
"Time to finish an old job," I said, aiming the revolver at her. Both of our fingers moved for the triggers, but we stopped as we heard the wailing of sirens in the distance. And they were drawing closer.
"Shit, one of the neighbors must have alerted the cops," Gray said.
"Might want to be a bit faster next time," Lisanna said. I pulled the triggered, but she ducked out of the way. As I lined up my next shot, she sprinted towards me and tackled me to the ground, knocking the revolver from my hand.
"Make one move and he dies," Lisanna held her gun to my head as she looked at Gray and Gajeel. They both looked at me for a second before lowering their weapons. Lisanna smiled in triumph as she hopped off of me and disappeared out the back entryway.
"Damn it," I said, picking myself up off the floor. We once again heard the sirens approaching so we sped out of the house towards the van. Hopping inside, we took off down the road and quickly turned down a side road. As we did, we saw the lights of two police cars in the rearview, heading into the cul-de-sac we had just fled.
"Well played Lisanna, well played," I muttered to myself as we headed back to the warehouse.
We had gotten back to the warehouse an hour ago, and Gray had suggested we have a warehouse party to celebrate our recent income successes. I was not in the party mood, but perhaps some drinks and company would help take my mind off everything. I ran to the liquor store and grabbed as many cases of beer and bottles of vodka as I could. While I was gone, Gray and Gajeel set up some speakers and some couches and tables for people to relax. Soon, the party was in full swing. Gray and Gajeel were having a drinking contest while Sting was challenging Loke to arm wrestling. Lucy was chatting with Minerva and Juvia while Lyon was arguing with Cobra about something. Some of the others were just idly standing and smoking, but they were hardly around these days so I hadn't bothered to remember their names. As the night went on, I drank more and more, a took a ton of hits from this bong that Gray had brought. Feeling a little overwhelmed, I stepped outside for a cigarette. I smiled slightly as I sat by the water, watching the moon reflect off the sea. I marveled the sight.
"His warehouse is having a party and the boss is outside moping?" I turned as I saw Lucy approaching, a beer in hand.
"Planning to get drunk and pass out here again?" I teased her as she sat down next to me.
"This is actually the same one I have been sipping all night, smartass," Lucy retorted as she took another small sip.
"Did you miss me so much you had to come see me?" I chuckled at the disgusted look on Lucy's face.
"Ew, no. I just needed to get away for a moment. Parties aren't really my thing," Lucy said, setting her beer to the side.
"You and me both," I took another drag off my cigarette. I don't know if it was the mixture of drugs and alcohol in my system, or the fact that I felt like utter shit after what happened at the hospital yesterday but I suddenly felt the need to admit something.
"I only came with you to the hospital to learn where your father was to use him as leverage against you," I saw Lucy's eyes widen as shock and anger filled her gaze. She was about to reply, but I stopped her.
"But after I heard what you and your father said about me, I realized that was wrong," Lucy's gaze softened a bit as I continued. I don't know why I had the urge to go on, but I did nonetheless.
"You see, I already destroyed one family. When I was five, I was thrown in to some shitty boy's orphanage when my father abandoned me. The staff liked me, but the other boys always teased me for my pink hair and about how I wasn't wanted by my father," Lucy's eyes never left me as I opened up to her. I couldn't explain the urge to get all this stuff off my chest, especially to her.
"I never did well in school. I was bullied there as well and I never made any friends. I could never get jobs and I was completely alone. But my freshman year, I met this girl selling drugs in the park named Lisanna," I saw Lucy's eyes widen slightly as I said her name.
"We started talking and smoking together and we eventually became best friends. As time passed, I began having feelings for her and so I asked her out towards the end of our junior year. The following summer, we began to expand our operation and began making a real profit. It wasn't a life I wanted, but after all the screw ups in my life, I was happy that I was doing something successfully," I continued on with my story. Lucy's gaze never leaving me, nodding as if she understood. Why did I keep feeling the need to open up to her? I sighed as I gave up on trying to come up with reasons. The mixture of substances in my body had killed my ability to give a shit right now.
"As our senior year flew by, we began talking about settling down in the future and getting a place of our own. I was ecstatic because I was finally happy. I was making good money and I was in love, or so I had thought at the time. The guys in the gang began to prefer me over Lisanna and they started telling me about how Lisanna was cheating on me and how she was planning on getting rid of me. I didn't believe it at first, I mean how could I? Lisanna was my first girlfriend and I was totally in love. But as time went on, Lisanna began acting odd around me so I started believing what the guys were telling me. They told me I needed to dispose of Lisanna before she did me, and then we could go and start our own operation somewhere else. So, the guys and I came up with a plan and it was a terrible one," I let out a deep breath as I was about to finish my story. I had never admitted this stuff out loud before. I guess that is why alcohol is called liquid courage. I was about to admit a series of crime to this girl. But I guess that didn't matter, she was a cop and already knew everything else I had done.
"What happened?" Lucy asked, seemingly interested in my story. Perhaps the bit of alcohol she had drank was just enough to break that barrier of dislike she had for me. It seemed that she and I could only get along when we both had been drinking.
"The night before graduation, we had a group meeting at Lisanna's house when her family was asleep. After we finished, I was spending some alone time with Lisanna while the other guys said they were going out for a cigarette. In reality, they were dousing her house in gasoline, preparing to set it ablaze. Eventually Mirajane, her older sister, came running in saying that the house was on fire and that Lisanna needed to come with her to wake their family. As they were gone, I raided Lisanna's safe and took all of the money we had gained from selling and whatever I could get from her stash. Me and the other guys ran from the house that night as Lisanna called after me. That was the last time I ever saw her. We sold the rest of the stash and eventually set up our operation here at this abandoned warehouse," I took another deep breath as my story came to a close. I noticed that I felt strangely better, as if some weight had been pulled from my shoulders.
"Wow…," Lucy spoke after I had finished. She probably thought I was even worse person now. But what she thought of me really didn't matter. I knew that I had to get that off my chest, or else that stupid dream would keep occurring and I would never be able to move past everything.
"I still regret it, you know?" Lucy looked at me with surprise.
"That is why I couldn't bring myself to do that with your father. I know that you and I aren't friends or anything, but I couldn't bring myself to destroy another family. He called me kind, which no one has ever done before. And he seems like a good guy," I said. Lucy nodded her agreement.
"A life of crime is never what I wanted. I still don't want it. But it is the only thing I have ever been good at. And I have gone too far down this road to come back," I took a sip of my beer as I flicked my finished cigarette to the side.
"You're right," I looked at Lucy, tilting my head to the side.
"My father is a good man, and he is a good judge of character. So perhaps, he was right about you," My breath hitched in my throat as Lucy spoke. I remained silent as I let her continue.
"I still think you are an annoying, smug, egotistical asshole, but perhaps underneath it all, you really aren't such a bad guy," Lucy said, giving me a small smile. My eyes widened as she smiled. Unlike all the other smiles she had given me, this was the first one that seemed sincere. Another person thought I wasn't a bad guy? And a cop, someone who was duty bound to bring me down, of all people. My body began to move on it's own as I reached my arms out and pulled Lucy in to a tight hug. I closed my eyes as I rested my face in to her shoulder, trying to fight back the tears welling behind my eyelids. Talking about my past was always the hardest thing for me, and it was even harder when someone deduced I was a decent person after hearing it. I guess it is true what they say; life is always easier after you let yourself come undone.
"Uh Natsu, what are you doing?" My eyes opened as Lucy' voice snapped me back to reality. I let go suddenly, standing up as I brushes my jeans off.
"Sorry," I said quickly before turning back to head inside. Why had I just hugged her? Hell, why had I just spilled my life story? What the fuck was happening to me? I pushed past everyone as I made my way to my private room in the back of the warehouse. Tearing off my clothes, I walked over to the bathroom that we had installed off the side of my room a few months ago. After a sharing a rundown bathroom with like thirty other people, I had decided I needed my own. I hopped in the shower, making the water as hot as I could make it. I leaned towards the wall, extending my arms to support myself as I stared at the floor. The hot water ran down my bare skin, soothing the dull ache in my body. What was happening to me? My life had been fine, the thoughts of Lisanna hadn't plagued me in months and I was making a decent living. Then this girl comes, this undercover cop shows up and she begins to drive me apart. I suddenly find myself opening up my regrets on my criminal life and my thoughts on Lisanna had come back to haunt me. Even with terrible intentions, this girl and her father had called me a good man. I had just spilled my past out to this girl and I had even hugged her for fuck's sake! It was the alcohol and drugs right? It had to be. This girl wasn't my friend. I didn't care about her right? I was going to destroy her just like I had originally planned. But something told me this was no longer possible. I ran my fingers through my wet hair as I continued to stare at the floor. What kind of spell was this girl putting over me that was making me revert to my old self? What was so special about her? She was rude to me, always throwing me snarky and sarcastic replies and always rolling her eyes at me. She was here for one reason and that was to ruin my entire operation. She had deceived me from the very beginning and she was still deceiving me even after I had discovered her secret. So again, what made her so fucking special? I needed to stay focused and continue on with my plan to break her. I wasn't going to let this girl's fake compliments and false sincerity distract me from what I needed to do. I was Natsu Dragneel, the most powerful drug lord in all of Fiore and it was time I started acting like it. Turning off the water, I dried myself off as I stepped out of the shower. Throwing on some sweats and not bothering about a shirt, I plopped on my bed. Closing my eyes, I told myself that tomorrow would be a new day and soon, I would break that girl like I had intended.
I awoke to a knocking on my door. I glanced at my phone, seeing it was 10:45am. Damn, I had slept 11 hours? I must have needed it.
"Who is it?" I called out as I grabbed a sleeveless shirt from the clothing rack in the corner.
"It's Gajeel sir. Sliding on my sandals, I walked over the door and opened it.
"Layla is in your office, she wanted to speak to you," Gajeel said. Vague memories of last night filled my head. She probably wanted to talk about my abruptly hugging her, which I still didn't fully understand myself.
"Perfect. I have a few things I need to say to her too," I said, marching past Gajeel. He shot me a confused glance as I passed, but didn't say anything as I walked away. As I said, he wasn't a man for questions which is why he was my favorite person here. As I entered my office, my eyes narrowed as I stared at the back of Lucy's head. Time to get things back to normal. She turned as she heard me approach.
"Morning," She said dryly.
"Morning," I echoed her greeting, my tone as empty as hers. The air was definitely heavier between us today.
"I wanted to talk to you about yesterday," Lucy said as I took a seat at my desk.
"Same here," I replied, propping my feet up on my desk.
"Look, I am not too happy about your intentions with my father but I am glad that you decided against it," She began. She stopped for a moment, considering her words.
"Go on," I said, looking at her.
"Obviously you were somewhat drunk and needed to clear your mind but I just wanted to tell you that nothing has changed between us. We aren't friends and I don't ever want you to hug me again," My eyes widened a bit. Was this girl a mind reader? Because I had been thinking the same exact thing.
"Don't hold your breath. I know we aren't friends and I was just in my head last night. You just happened to be the person present at the time," I said, crossing my arms.
"Glad we are at an understanding then," She said, a trace of sarcasm in her tone.
"Good. Now did you need something important?" I stared at her with a bored expression. She shook her head as she exited my office. Even though we both meant what we had said, I felt that things between us had changed slightly.
A/N: Aw Natsu and his painful past. I just want to hug him xc but anyway hope you guys enjoyed. Tried to make this chapter a little longer since the last few chapters have been relatively short. Drop a review and tell me your thoughts! Thanks for reading! See you guys soon for the next one!
