Chapter 16
Heading back to Magnolia, Jellal was driving when Gray spoke up. "Natsu isn't gonna like this" "Psh, you think! Gray" Erza said irritated. "Easy you two, let's just get the information back to Natsu first of all" said Jellal. "Do you think Natsu would burn it?" Gray asked. "Yes" they answered with no hesitation. "They let out the man who attacked Lucy, anyone connected to that, there's no way he's going to let them get away. No matter what the rest of us say." Assured Jellal. "Were you lying when you said to let Natsu handle it Gray? Since u just asked that" said Erza. "Nope I meant every word I said. Natsu may not have all the connections that Zeref does but he's powerful in his right and nothing tips him over the edge more than someone attacking Lucy. That guy is screwed" he answered. "I just hope he doesn't take the rage out on us" said Jellal as the others nodded in agreement. Getting to the house a while later, they all gradually approached the door as Natsu opened it. "Hey guys" he greeted friendly. "Hey" they replied as Natsu let them in. Lucy and Layla were sitting on the couch as they turned on the couch. "Hey!" they said cheerfully. "Hey ladies" greeted Gray. "Did you guys find anything?" Natsu said serious. "Hmm hmm" said Gray as they looked at him and Lucy. "Layla, stay here baby" said Lucy as she got up off the couch. "Okay mommy" she said simply.
Walking over to the counter, Lucy and Natsu stood behind it and and leaned over as the others took a seat. "What did you find?" asked Lucy. "Well you guys aren't going to like it" "Just tell us" said Natsu. "You were right and that is where Zeref was being kept." "Okay..did you find out how he got out?" asked Lucy. "Yep we did…and this where you aren't going to like it" said Jellal with a slight nervousness. Grabbing Natsu's hand and squeezing it, Lucy looked at them and said in an assuring voice "you guys can tell us, how did he get out?" "Apparently somebody has powerful strings and found out where he was..they used them to pay the man in charge and let Zeref out" he answered. They all looked at Natsu who had gone completely silent. Gripping his hand harder, Lucy nervously said "Natsu?" Taking his hand out of hers, he got up and walked towards the front door. "Don't let Lucy out of your sight" he said hard as he walked out and slammed the door. "Ummmm" said Gray. "Not good" said Erza and Jellal as Lucy stood there looking at the front door. "Natsu" she thought knowing he wasn't alright. They heard his car start up as they raced to the window to see it take off in a cloud of dust. "He is pissed off" said Gray. "Where is he going?" "Take my word on this Lucy, you don't want to know" urged Jellal. "Come on guys, let's all join Layla" said Erza. "Okay" they all replied as they went with her to the couch. "Natsu, please be careful. Don't lose control" thought Lucy. Gripping his wheel as hard as he could, Natsu slammed his foot on the gas.
"Fucking slimeball, money shouldn't have been enough to let that psychopath out" he thought as his rage kept building as he drove. Getting there, he pressed hard on the brakes as he jumped out to meet the helicopter that was waiting. "Thank you Erza" he thought as he climbed in. "Go down" he ordered as the pilot obeyed and took them down. "Clear out for now , but don't go far" said Natsu as he hopped out. The helicopter lifted back up into the sky but at a distance Natsu could signal the pilot to come back down. Focusing on the door, he kicked it open. He walked furiously through the building as he saw a door that said warden. Charging towards it he jumped and kicked it in as the man yelled in fear as Natsu walked in. His eyes had a crazed look as he turned towards the man. "You know who I am" The man rapidly nodded his head "Then you already know why I'm here" he said as he grabbed the man and threw him across the room as the man yelled. "You are responsible for everything that's happened..and for that, your not getting out of here alive" The man tried to scramble to his feet but Natsu standing right in front of him punched him right in his stomach bringing him back down.
Holding him down with his foot, Natsu began punching his face. "YOU ARE THE REASON LUCY IS TORMENTED! YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER LET HIM GET RELEASED!" he kept punching until Lucy came to his mind as he stopped mid punch. Closing his eyes, he focused on her face as he let out a deep breath and opened his eyes looking down at the man he had just beat to a pulp. Quickly his eyes darted around the room looking for rope or something to tie him down. Leaving the room, confident that the man wouldn't be able to get up, he walked until he found a door that said maintenance and pulled it open finding rope. Grabbing it, he walked back and yanked the guy off the floor. Putting him back in the chair, he wasted no time as he tied him up. "Ppppplleeease" the man begged. "You should have never let him out. For that, you die" Natsu said vindictive as he grabbed the shot gun he saw in the corner and walked out as the man screamed for his life. Natsu found the engineering room where some gas cans were sitting. He poured them all over and out the doorway, surprisingly saw a pack of matches as he grabbed them and walked out the door.
Standing at the edge, he raised an arm for the helicopter to come down. After a few seconds, he lit the match and set it down as the flames went shooting up. Getting into the helicopter, he said, "fly above it but don't leave just yet" The pilot did as order as Natsu watched the building in flames. Aiming the shot gun, he shot directly into the middle of it as it exploded. Holding no emotion in his voice Natsu said "let's go" as the helicopter lifted him up and back to where his car was as he jumped out and got in. Getting back to the house, he walked in where everyone looked as Lucy came running as she put her arms around his neck as he hugged her with one arm. "Well?" said Erza. "It's done" he said flatly as Lucy put a hand to his face bringing it down to her. "Natsu" she said softly as she rubbed his cheek. Grabbing ahold of her fingers, he squeezed them delicately "I'm alright Lucy" Looking into his eyes, she saw them softening as he kissed her palm. "There you are" said Lucy. Natsu smiled as he looked at her. "I didn't go anywhere Luce, I never will as long as I have you." "Well I'm not going anywhere so I'll always be here to pull you back to me" she told him confidently. "What happened Natsu?" Jellal asked. Getting his attention, he looked towards Jellal and said, "I burnt the place to the ground" "Was there anyone else inside?" "I don't know, and I don't really care if I'm honest." Natsu said blunt. "What do you want us to do now?" asked Erza.
He stood there for a moment trying to decide. "Did that weasel tell you guys anything else before you left?" he asked. " He said that Zeref was after Evelyn and that's why he got out" said Gray before anyone else could answer. Pondering after a minute, Natsu said groaning " As much as I detest saying this and believe me I really do, we need to find Evelyn to make sure she stays gone. I have a bad feeling if those two find each other then we are in for a whole lotta shit coming our way." "Are you afraid?" Erza asked straight forward. Lucy looked at his face immediately and saw in his eyes what he wouldn't say out loud. She saw fear but it wasn't completely overtaking him. He looked at her acknowledging that he knew what she was seeing. Putting an arm around Lucy's shoulder while she hugged his waist, Natsu answered "am I afraid? yes but not of them. I am afraid of what they will do to everything if they get together. Our way of living will be done. As for the two of them personally, no they don't scare me a bit.
She made sure of that when I was a kid." "Natsu…" said Lucy, she knew he was hiding something but didn't want to say it in front of the others. " For now, go back to the base, see what you can find on her and report back to me" Natsu ordered. "Yes sir" they answered as they all waved and walked out the door. "Daddy!" said Layla who had been quiet the whole time. "Hey baby girl" he greeted happily as he picked her up. She put her arms around his neck as he squeezed her tightly. "Daddy is the man and evil lady going to come after us?" she asked surprising the two of them but quickly shook that off. "Should have known she was listening" thought Lucy. "No Layla, I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen" said Natsu firmly as he set her back down on the floor. "I know" she said as she went back to the the floor in front of the couch to play. "Natsu, what didn't you want the others to know?" she asked. "You caught that huh?" he said as she raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah yeah, as well I know you, you know me" he chuckled as Lucy looked him with longing eyes for him to answer. "I'm afraid of what they will do to you Lucy. Not physically because over my dead body will I let that happen again but mentally, emotionally…Luce I don't want them to destroy you anymore than they already have. That bastard somehow found out about your attacks" She got ready to say something then closed her mouth. She couldn't tell him she wouldn't be afraid. "Natsu, I.." He could just by looking at her she was getting frustrated at herself.
Grabbing her hand, she looked up at him as he said "Lucy, whether I am afraid or not , I will not ,absolutely will not! Let them touch you, okay? I promise" Hugging him, she said sincerely "you don't have to promise anything my love" Sighing, he wrapped his arms around her snuggling her into him as he closed his eyes and rested his head on top of hers. They stayed that way until "mommy! daddy!" pulled them out of their moment. "Parent duties calling" she told him warmly as she started blushing as he looked at her with an equal warm smile as he touched her cheek. "Hey!" Layla called again as they both laughed and walked over so she could play with them. A couple hours went by before Natsu was playing horsey with Layla on his back-making Lucy laugh when his phone went off. "Oh, gotta let me up Layla. Daddy's phone is going off" he said lightly as Layla said, "oh man!" as she jumped off. "Wanna go next mommy!?" she said quickly "Ha, I don't think mommy can go as fast as I can" he teased as the girls smiled "You wanna bet!?"she taunted as he chuckled and answered his phone. "What's up Erza?" he said lightly. "You all need to come here now" Erza said immediately. "What's up?" he asked serious as he motioned for Lucy and Layla to stop playing. "Get on the couch baby" she whispered quickly as she walked over to Natsu to listen. "What's the news?" he asked. "Not something I want to tell you over the phone. You need to come here now" she urged strongly. "Alright, we'll be there soon" said Natsu as he hung up. "What's wrong?" asked Lucy. "We gotta go to the base now, Erza has something she needs to tell us" "What about Layla?" "She's coming with us, come on Layla, grab your shoes sweetheart" he said mildly serious. Layla got up and did what he said as she put on her boots as did Lucy grabbing Layla's backpack of activities. He quickly ushered them out the door as he grabbed his keys and locked the door behind them.
Grabbing Layla's hand , he quickly got walked them to the car as Lucy said "Natsu! What is wrong?" "I don't know but the tone in Erza's voice def implied it isn't good what she has to say" he told her as he buckled Layla into her seat and got to the front. Starting up the car, Layla said "where are we going daddy?" " Your going to mommy and daddy's work place Layla. You can't wander in this place though okay?" "Natsu's she's five. You can't expect her to sit still with how much activity there is there" she said quietly facing him. "She'll be fine Luce. We shouldn't' be there long and that's why you grabbed the backpack. We just need to see what Erza wouldn't tell us on the phone. Looking at from behind her seat she said "Layla baby , you really need to listen to me and daddy when we go in there understand?" "Yes mommy" she replied as Lucy smiled and turned back around in her seat as her smile turned to worry. Seeing her face, Natsu grabbed her hand and squeezed causing her to look at him. "It will be okay Luce. Whatever it is, we will work through it." He said comfortingly. "Yeah" she agreed as they pulled up to the base.
Quickly getting out of the car, they walked straight through where Lucy had Layla sit at a table and pull stuff from her backpack while Natsu dared anyone to something about his kid but everyone had wised up since their meeting with Lucy for the first time. Lucy quickly went back over to Natsu where the others were waiting for them. "What did you find out?" Natsu asked as they all had grim expressions. "What is it?" went Lucy and Natsu in unison freaking out over their faces. "Evelyn." Natsu's face dropped to a hard glare as he bitterly said "what about her?" "Some of our sources outside, I'm not even sure how they found this information but it turns out that she ..well she was in the same place as Zeref" explained Erza with some regret. "What?"went both of them. "She was in there!?, how the fuck did we not know about this" exclaimed Natsu. "We need to find her..NOW..i want to make sure that bitch is in the ground" he said aggressively. "Didn't you blow up the building?, I can't see how anyone would have survived" said Jellal.
"Ha, that bitch doesn't know how to die. She's like a fucking cockroach and just keeps showing up" "Fucking whore" Lucy said quietly but got everyone's attention at how bitter and vengeful she sounded. "Lucy?, baby?" said Natsu slightly concerned. Shaking in rage, she said "those scars will never leave Layla's back because of her. Our daughter will have that reminder for the rest of her life. If she is still alive, let her come near me. I'll make her regret what she did" Putting his hands on her shoulders, Natsu calmly said "baby you need to calm down. This isn't you okay?" "What!, I'm not allowed to get angry!" she snapped at him. "No Lucy, of course not. You can get angry but this, how your acting right now, that isn't you and you know it. Baby..you are terrified of Zeref. You need to calm down…now" he said firmly. "Leave that to me. You know I will make them pay for everything ten times over" assured Natsu. Natsu looked in her eyes for a sign that she understood as she let out a breath and nodded her head understanding.
"Okay so where's the first place we should look?" she asked him.
His phone went off before he could answer as he looked around confused. "Everyone I would call is already here so whose calling me?" he thought as he picked it up. "Hello? "Hello Natsu" He wasn't surprised as he flatly said "Evelyn. I knew a fucking bug like you wouldn't die" "I missed you too" she said with sarcasm. "Cut the crap, where the hell are you?" "Look outside" she said as they all followed Natsu outside including Layla. They darted their heads in all different directions looking around when something landed in front of them. All their eyes widened as Natsu shouted "GET DOWN!" he dove for Lucy and Layla as they dropped to the ground as he shielded them while everyone dived for a corner as the grenade that landed in front of them went off. The front of the buildings in front of them came down and crumbled as part of the front covering of the mafia crumbled as pieces came down. "Are you two alright?" he asked them as they nodded their heads. He got up off them and to his feet as he yelled "you guys okay?!" "yeah" they all answered as they shakily got to their feet. "The hell was that?" "Give you one guess" Natsu said angrily as he looked forward making the others face the same and felt the same. They saw Evelyn and Zeref walking down the street together as Natsu said quickly "Lucy, get behind me now!" She did as he said making sure Layla was between them as she put her hands on the back of his shoulders. Zeref looked right at her and smiled as she started shaking behind Natsu.
Throwing his arms behind him to protect them, he watched as Zeref said "hello Lucy" "Shut your damn mouth" Natsu snapped outraged that he had the nerve to say anything to Lucy. "You stay the fuck away from them" he growled as the others got into defensive positions. Looking around, neither Evelyn or Zeref showed a sign of fear at all as Natsu called for the other mafia members to help and surrounded the two of them. "So this is the magnolia mafia your father was in charge of" said Evelyn with disgust. "Yes and now I am" said Natsu. "Poor taste in leaders" remarked Zeref. "I didn't ask for your opinion you bastard..and I'm done talking." "Are you?" Evelyn said with an evil smirk. "yes" Looking around at everyone he ordered "ATTACK NOW!" as they went forward and men out of nowhere came towards them shielding Evelyn and Zeref. "Great, fucking goon squad" said Gray. "Just deal with it Gray" said Erza. "Natsu, protect the girls" insisted Jellal Natsu backed the girls up against a wall as Zeref came walking towards them. Natsu felt Lucy's entire body quiver as she rapidly shook her head. "Stay here baby" he said firmly as Lucy held tight to Layla as they slowly sank themselves to the floor. "You dare to even speak her name" threatened Natsu holding no emotion except pure rage and hatred. "Your gonna pay FOR ALL OF IT!"he screamed as he launched at Zeref with his fists as he grabbed onto Natsu's wrist and threw him to the ground. "Natsu!" yelled Lucy as he got back up and avoided Zeref's fist coming at him.
They went back and forth as Lucy watched in horror that as many hits as Natsu got in, Zeref got in just as many and they were harder. Evelyn stood watching everything as the mafia charged at her guards with their guns. Erza and Jellal were charging through the guys they were facing helping Gray with the number he was tackling on his own. "Is she just standing there!?" said Jellal as he saw Evelyn through the fighting. "She thinks she's too noble to dirty her hands" said Erza. "It doesn't matter, just keep your eyes on the damn fight!" snapped Gray as he was punching his way through. They were all battered and bruised and kept going as Lucy kept herself fixed on Natsu. His lip was bleeding, his cheeks were marked up. Lucy knew he would fight until his last breath and had all the confidence in him but wasn't sure how long his body would keep holding up from the punches he kept getting. "Natsu." She called out as he fiercely kept fighting. Her eyes went back and forth between them as her fear grew. She had no idea Zeref could keep up with Natsu as well as he had. Zeref wrenched his arm back and landed a hard punch on Natsu's face knocking him to the ground. "NATSU!" she screamed as her and Layla ran over to him and threw themselves over him. "Wwwhat are you doing Lu..cy?" Natsu asked weakly.
Snapping her head up at Zeref, despite her fear as strong as she could she said "Stay away from him you son of a bitch" "Ohhh, confident are we?" he said cocky as he reached down and before Lucy or Natsu could do anything, he grabbed her by the throat. "Mommy!" she said in terror as he smiled as he strangled her holding her up as she kicked at him but he held her out of reach of his body. She looked at him horrified as she looked at Layla. "LUCY!' cried the others but they couldn't get to her. They all panicked as they heard a gunshot as Natsu collapsed dropping the gun he had in his pocket. "Daddy!" Layla yelled as she saw him passed out. Releasing Lucy, she fell to the ground as she grabbed at her throat and scrambled over to Natsu clinging to him. "ZEREF" Evelyn screeched as Zeref clung to his chest where he had been shot."I'll bbbbe bfffine" he stuttered as he started falling as Evelyn grabbed him before he hit the ground. "EVERYBODY MOVE!" she ordered loudly to her men as they all backed off the mafia and retreated. Clear of everyone, Erza and the others ran and surrounded Lucy, Layla and Natsu shielding them as they all glared at Evelyn.
"You will still never share my last name you tramp" she insulted to Lucy as she slowly disappeared into the dust that was around them. Sighing out of fear and relief, she laid against Natsu's chest putting an arm over him. Getting to their level, Gray gently put a hand on her shoulder and said "are you okay?" she nodded as she looked at Natsu and rubbed his cheek delicately. "Mommy" Layla said soft whisper like. Reaching for her hand, Lucy said "I'm alright baby girl" and smiled at her. "Let's get him inside" said Erza as Lucy got herself and Layla off him while Erza and Jellal carefully lifted him up and put an arm over each of their shoulders carrying him inside. "The rest of you go home" she ordered as the other mafia members nodded their heads and took off. Setting him down on one of the tables, they all gave him space as Lucy and Layla came over and grabbed each of his hands and squeezed. "You did good daddy" Layla said quietly. Lucy nodded in agreement as she ran her hand through his hair.
She saw his lip was still bleeding and went to grab a towel. She started wiping it as she felt her hand grabbed when Natsu slowly opened his eyes. "Hhhey" he said with a grin making Lucy shake her head amused. "You damn hothead" she teased as he chuckled squeezing hers and Layla's hands. "Daddy" she said happily as she hugged his chest. "Hey Layla. I'm fine baby dragon. Don't be scared" he said calmly as he rubbed her cheek. "you're a dumbass you know that" said Erza. "Yeah, tell me something I don't know" he joked as he laid there injured. "What happened?" he asked. They looked grim as he looked at them. "Erza?" "They got away Natsu" she answered. Sitting up immediately, he looked intensely at them and said "this isn't over" He looked at Lucy who was holding Layla. "Don't worry Lucy, we are going to get them back and the next time they are not going to make it out alive" he said firmly as the others nodded in agreement.
I have another one so i hope you guys really like this one, there's more. Please leave reviews and I also have these on wattpad as well. Please pass it along if you want.