8 MONTHS AND 2 DAYS AWAY
"Damn, that shit head's here already?" Gajeel muttered as he sipped his morning coffee. They all turned their heads towards the thing that caught the bigger man's attention and saw Duke Everloo waving down with about a dozen or more women around him. They were in front of the hotel they were staying and the whole squad watched as they all went in.
"Careful, Gajeel." Mira smiled, her eyes on the pile of paperwork in front of her. "He might be rotten to the core but he's still a Duke who holds more power than the likes of us ever could."
"Yeah, power that he clearly doesn't deserve." Gajeel scoffed and drained the rest of the mug's content down his system. "I'm kinda hoping that Dragneel here screwed up this time so that dick gets the treatment he deserves."
"You mean some blood?" Jellal piped in, a manila envelope in his hand as he was passing through the bullpen on the way to the precinct's archives. "I don't think anybody would be pleased with that. Natsu will definitely lose his job and the royal family, although not very fond of the Duke, will still induce some kind of punishment to the whole squad and I'm pretty sure there will be backlash from the people because it's a major event for everybody."
Natsu stared at the pardoned convict whose words were too eloquent for someone who once committed crime after crime.
"I agree with the man." They all turned their heads to Gray who had been silent until now. "If something were to happen to the Duke, there's a great possibility that it will affect the pageant negatively. Nobody wants that when everybody pretty much gathered here for the goddamned event like its the Olympics or something."
"For once, you're clearly making sense." Natsu barked and whacked Gray's back, making him sputter with the sudden lack of air.
"Why, you piece of-" Gray started, standing up from his seat before Laxus cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.
"I just got a report from one of the uniformed officers saying one of the women went missing. It hasn't been twenty-four hours yet so we can't really tell if she went missing or is just out on a walk but it's better to be prepared." Laxus turned to Gray and Natsu who stopped their bickering mid-way to listen to the Sergeant. "You're requested at the hotel and you're to stay there until this whole thing is done. The Duke requested a detective just in case anything goes wrong. Gray's assigned to the Duke himself so there's no change in that. Natsu, you're to stay with a few uniformed officers and take action."
The two nodded their heads and picked up their things, their bodies moving way ahead of their minds out of instinct and practice.
"How long has she been missing?" Natsu asked as he fastened his holster around his shoulders and shoving his gun inside.
"About eight hours now."
"Where did they see her last?" Gray asked, his hands already jiggling their car's keys and threw them to Natsu's direction.
"I don't have access to that information."
"What do you mean?" Natsu asked and followed Gray as they crossed the bullpen. "You're the freaking sergeant."
"I know. As dumb as it sounds, it seems that they were too shaken up that the girls are refusing to talk."
"What a load of bull." Natsu scoffed and pressed the elevator button down.
When they arrived at the hotel, Natsu realized how it wasn't a load of bull. What he thought was a simple case of missing person turned into a whole crime scene.
The moment he parked the car, Natsu and Gray were greeted by a frantic newbie who hastily explained the whole situation to them as he led them to the room of the woman who went missing or more accurately, kidnapped.
They looked at the mess of a room and turned to stare at each other and without a word, had a silent agreement that this was not a mere case of kidnapping. A pink and white glittering gown was left to scatter its intricate details on the floor and boxes of expensive jewelries littered the carpet by the vanity mirror. The bed remained unmade and looked messier than after a night of fooling around.
"Preserve the evidence." Gray muttered to one senior uniformed officer.
"I'm afraid it's not as fresh as we want it to be, detective. It wasn't reported as soon as the crime happened."
"When did they figure out she was missing?" Natsu asked, looking around for something that might serve as a leading clue.
"About thirty minutes ago."
"Sounds pretty fresh to me."
"The news might be, detective." The officer said and motioned to the room. "But this room isn't."
"Have you checked the cameras?" Gray said, pointing to the CCTV cameras installed at every end of the long hallway.
"Yes, detective. She was last seen entering her room eight hours ago."
"So we're supposed to assume she's been missing for the past eight hours?"
The senior officer nodded his head and thanked the two before entering the room to bag any evidence along with other officers.
"Let's talk to the women." Natsu suggested and Gray nodded his head without a word and headed to where the event manager was.
It's been an hour and they've talked to three women who came from different places and they all said one thing; they don't have a clue about what happened. Which to Natsu, smelled fishier than that of Happy's three year old rotten fish. There's no way they wouldn't know anything when Natsu saw the lot of them through the camera footage hanging out just before they all went in their respective rooms.
Natsu was getting tired of dealing with the 'nope, no clue' bullshit the women seemed to be on until the fourth one. She had golden hair and the usual physique of someone who has been through tons of beauty pageants but her most striking feature was the fear written in her eyes, so clear that if Natsu were asked to describe it, he would say that it was like that of a freshly opened bottle of Coke when you suddenly plunge three whole Mentos candies inside; overflowing and seemingly endless.
When she sat down, the duo knew that she saw something that she probably hoped she hadn't.
"Good day, miss. You are here because we were hoping you witnessed anything that could be of help with the sudden disappearance of Miss Clarice Chang." Gray started, his words smoothly flowing out of his mouth thanks to years of experience.
"C-can you assure me we're not being bugged?" Her voice was so low and full of nervousness that Natsu felt sicken to his gut. Just what on earth happened?
"Yes, it's only us. Rest assured." Gray answered the woman. "Do you mind giving us your name?"
The blonde-haired girl shook her head and finally met their eyes. "Kate. Kate Fleming."
Ever since meeting Lucy and being so close to her it feels like he can't live without her presence, women-related cases had always bothered Natsu. Normally, he couldn't care less about a case as long as it spelled fun and dangerous but now that he found someone he wants to protect with all he's got, he isn't as thrilled to tackle these kind of cases anymore.
The idea that it might be Lucy sitting here in front of him right now, scared out of her wits and shivering out of the fear of being hurt by a force she doesn't even understand sends a chilling vibe down his spine. He gulped and focused on the woman's blue eyes; her only feature that was clearly different from Lucy's to get himself to stop imagining his best friend in the woman's shoes.
"Can you tell us what happened?"
"When we came to Crocus for the pageant, we were asked to sign a contract. This, I didn't find anything weird about but then they took another contract and gave us a minute or so to look it over and sign. They were so hasty about it that I found it suspicious." The woman started, her words fluently flowing out of her mouth but her hands were too all over the place; a clear sign of agitation. Lucy used to do it whenever she was stuck on a particular scene in her novel. "The girl who went missing wanted out of the competition because she wanted to tend to her father back at Lily City but when the Duke heard of it, he summoned her to his chambers an hour before dinner."
"Did you see her enter the Duke's room?" Natsu asked.
"Yes,"
"What was she wearing?"
"I assume she wasn't given much time to get properly dressed because she was only wearing a bathrobe."
Gray nodded his head, his hand furiously taking as much notes as he can.
"I don't understand, though." Kate continues on her own. "It might not have anything to do with the Duke but it's weird that when the dinner was over and we were all supposed to be inside our rooms, two men knocked in her room after her stylist went inside. I thought it was just her staff calling for security but now that she went missing, I'm not very sure of anything anymore."
Natsu, who was beginning to get affected by the girl's anxiousness, reached out and placed his larger hands above the woman's and let them hover there, not really touching her. When she lifted her hands to his, he clasped hers in a firm grip and pulled it towards him gently. "You don't have to be so afraid, we're here." His voice was raspy with how low he said it, hoping to bring some kind of comfort to her situation.
"T-thank you," The girl said, a dust of pink gracing her features and making Natsu smile with relief.
Natsu lowered their hands and placed hers back in the table while he went back to fiddling with the pink pen he stole from Lucy.
"Do you still remember what the men looked like?" Gray asked.
"Of course." Kate nodded before she pointed to one of the guards outside. "They're wearing the exact same uniform as all the other guards."
Natsu nodded, "Was there anything in particular that could set them apart?"
The blonde-haired woman stayed silent for a few seconds, pondering and giving her best to remember anything that could serve as a lead for the investigation. Just when Natsu was about to tell her that it's fine, her face brightens up in recognition.
"There was some sort of symbol or something on one of the guard's heel, though I can't really remember how it looked like."
Gray suddenly fumbled through his phone before shoving the screen in front of the poor woman's face. "Was this it?"
Natsu craned to look and saw that Gray was showing her Avatar's logo.
"No," The woman shook her head. "I think there were two boxes atop sticks."
Natsu's eyes widened and he snatched Gray's phone before showing her another symbol of one of the most infamous terrorists that defile the nation; Tartaros. "Is this it?"
Natsu didn't think what he was expecting nor what he wanted to hear but the woman's next words were definitely not it. "Yes, that's it!"
Between the two of them, Gray was the first one to get his shit together. He grabbed his phone from Natsu and shoved in back inside his pocket before continuing the investigation.
"You mentioned something about a second contract. Can you tell us anything about that?"
The woman pouted, her nervousness slowly dissipating. "I don't really remember much, only that there was a company name of some sort at the very top."
"Do you remember it?"
She tipped her head to the side, her eyes furrowed in concentration before her eyes lit up and she snapped her fingers and pointed to Natsu. "It was Avala?"
Natsu furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before it dawned on him; "Avatar?"
The woman's glee made the pits of Natsu's stomach drop to nothingness. "Yes!"
"What the heck was that all about?" Gray spat as they drove back to the precinct after interviewing half of the contestants.
"What?" Natsu asked, his focus on the road in front of him and trying not to lose his mind over the fact that there's a possibility that the Duke is involved with both Avatar and Tartaros. Seriously though, two big names from one case?
"The hand holding? The comforting? The I'm here for you? What the fuck, dude!" Gray shouted, clearly making the scene a bit too exaggerated. "That was hella unprofessional. Besides, I thought you liked Lucy!"
Natsu spared him a quick glance, his face silently asking Gray what kind absurdity was he saying. "I couldn't get over the fact that she looked too much like Lucy and it pained me to look at her when she was so scared."
"So she looked like Lucy so you decided to touch her hand?!"
"No, dude! It bothered me to no end that there's a possibility that Lucy could be the one who's going through that!" Natsu raised his voice as if it would make the man see sense. "Besides, can we focus on the problem? Avatar and Tartaros might be involved in this."
When Gray stayed silent, Natsu looked at him and before he could ask him what was wrong now, the man looked out the window. "Leave the report to me. You're too bothered right now. You should see Lucy, make sure she's safe and get your fucking brain to calm down."
Natsu returned his focus to the road in front of him, gripping the steering wheel a bit tighter than necessary. "Thanks, man."
He saw Gray nod through his peripheral vision, "Just drop me off at the precinct then you can go."
"Natsu!" The man looked up from the picture frame he's been holding for the past few minutes to be greeted by Lucy's surprised face.
She flipped the switch on, the lights being called to life and drive the darkness out. "What are you doing here?"
"I live in the same building." Natsu dead-panned.
Lucy raised her eyebrows at him and her eyes widened in silent sarcasm. "I meant what are you doing inside my room. We're not supposed to see each other until Thursday."
"I know," Natsu said, setting the frame down on her coffee table and turning the television on for some white noise.
Natsu saw Lucy furrow her eyebrows at how he's acting and she approached him, sitting beside him and bringing her legs close to her body and wrapping her arms around it. "I'm worried about you, Natsu. I got a call from Gray and he told me you needed to talk to me."
He looked away from the television and stared at Lucy's face. Her eyebrows were furrowed with worry and her jaw was set and clenched. She clearly looked bothered about him but his mind was too fuzzy that his mind kept on thinking about the similarities Lucy had with the scared beauty contestant and it bothered him to no end.
The way she seemed to be pulling herself in, the way she was biting her lips and the insides of her mouth. Good God, she looked too much like the woman from earlier and it made him think; is there going to be a day when he won't be able to protect her?
He's leaving in less than half a year. Fuck.
Lucy turned her head to the picture frame that Natsu was staring at just a few minutes ago with such concentration. "What were you doing with my prom picture?"
"Lucy," Natsu said, turning his whole body to face his best friend. He spread his arms and she wrapped her arms around him without any questions. "I'm scared of losing you."
Natsu heard Lucy's sharp intake of breath and decided to tell her what's been bothering him instead of loitering around like some idiot. "A girl from the pageant went missing today and we're assigned to the case. The missing woman's gown that was on the floor reminded me of the prom dress you wore and the first thing that came over me was the thought of you being the kidnapped person even though I knew in the back of my mind that there's no way that's possible because you're a writer, not a contestant. But still, it took me all I had not to run away from there and check on you. "
"It's okay, Natsu. I'm okay, I'm safe here." Lucy calmly ran her hand down his back, sending delightful shivers down his spine. "And besides, I believe in you. You can do this."
Natsu tightened his grip on Lucy's body, pulling her closer to him she was practically straddling him. "No, you don't understand. The worst was, we were interrogating one of the contestants and she looked too much like you. She was so scared Luce, it took all of me not to storm out of there and beat the living shit out of the person who put her through so much pain.
He buried his face in her golden locks. "And I kept imagining you in her shoes. My mind kept seeing you in front of me, shivering in fear of something you have no control over. My fucking brain kept messing with me."
Natsu felt himself shake with how upset he was. "I don't think I can do this.", he said. For the first time in his life, he thought he could not get through a case. He couldn't care less about the felony bet he had with Gray now.
He just wanted to stay here and make sure Lucy was safe with him.
Lucy pulled away from him and placed her hand over his cheek, him leaning on instinct. She gave him the warmest smile she had that assured him she was going to be fine. "I believe in you. Ever since that day you gave me back my manuscript. I believe in you and I will never stop."
Natsu found himself nodding in agreement. "There's a possibility that the Duke and Avatar is involved in this. Please do not go anywhere near him or this pageant."
Lucy remained silent and motionless for a second before she slowly nodded her head and went back to hugging him.
"Promise me, please."
"Okay." Lucy silently said, her voice still too low for him to hear but he trusted her and he hoped that would be enough.
His mind was too filled with the possibility of Lucy being kidnapped or being so scared beyond belief that she would stutter and look at him with such fear-filled eyes that he didn't take into account the fact that Lucy was a writer.
And writers always do their jobs no matter what. Even with the risk of them losing their lives.
"By the way, did I tell you that I just saw one of my childhood friends again! Turns out, he's a firefighter!" Lucy suddenly said, clearly trying to lighten up the mood.
"Oh yeah? You didn't tell me about you attending a reunion party though." Natsu laughed, already feeling a bit better.
"Because I didn't, silly!" She laughed, smacking his arm and kinda looking drunk. "I saw him while I was covering that fire at the fifth!"
It was the third day of the pageant and their evidence was spoiling by the minute. Currently, Gray was called back to the precinct to handle the report while Natsu stayed behind.
"What's going on?" Natsu asked one of the uniformed officers as they assisted a group of reporters with heavy-looking cameras slung around their necks.
"They were invited to do a cover for their respective companies about the pageant." Answered the one who was leading the group. "They're to do it in a single spot but some big shots are gonna be doing one on one interview with the Duke."
Natsu nodded his head and let them all pass through. Then, he tapped the officer who was lagging behind. "When's this supposed one on one interview?"
"Right now." The officer replied, pointing to the room the Duke was currently in. "You're presence is requested there."
"Why?" Natsu's brows raised. Isn't he supposed to be guarding the girls?
"Detective Fullbuster is inside the interview hall already."
Understanding, Natsu opened the door and took the seat nearest to the Duke's temporary office. It seemed that the interview was already ongoing so he decided it was best not to barge in mid-interview. The door was slightly ajar, a precaution for the safety of both the Duke and the interviewer.
He craned his neck to listen or even catch a tiny glimpse of the situation. Instead, the first thing that hit him was the scent of Lucy's perfume; vanilla and honey. Furrowing his brows, he stood to confirm whether or not Lucy was the one interviewing the Duke but decided against it. He can't be rude in front of the interviewer when they was diligently doing their job.
Besides, there's no way Lucy would conduct the interview. She promised. Her, beyond anyone, treasured her promises. He should be able to trust her enough that she wouldn't do anything as dumb as to interview the one person who could possibly be the reason why Avatar has inside information about everything.
Looking around the room, there were three other uniformed officers lounging around the couch, talking amongst themselves. Feeling on the edge, he decided that small talk should at least help ease his mind for a while.
"Which magazine company is it this time?" Natsu asked no one in particular.
"It's Fiore Tomorrow, detective."
Natsu's eyes widened. At the moment, a glass shattered inside the Duke's office, making all four of them turn their attention to the closed room. Natsu moved his legs on instinct, slamming the door open to see the one person he didn't want to see, her eyes fuming with pure rage.
"Lucy!" Natsu could feel rage and heartbreak flow within his veins. Rage, for whatever the Duke has done to Lucy and heartbreak because of Lucy's betrayal. He was about to grab her away from the Duke when she shrugged off his hand and raised her arm to point at the Duke.
"How dare you!" Lucy exclaimed, her brows furrowed in anger. Her stance showed the countless defense lessons she had with Natsu, left leg forward and hands raised to chin level without putting any stress to it by clenching.
Natsu couldn't move from his spot on the floor. He was in too much shock from what he just saw. He had always been a brat to everyone, more so to Lucy which resulted in him always being on the receiving end of her anger and of course, kicks. But this was different from the anger he had always seen that frequently painted her face when he was being an idiot.
When she was angry at him, there was frustration but there was also warmth swimming in her face. But now, now she was scary. Scarier than Erza when the redhead is on her period. Lucy's finger was shaking, her eyes widened and nostrils flared.
He didn't like the look she was sporting now. He didn't like what it did to her gentle face. And most of all, he didn't like how she was like this because of the person he was protecting.
"Ma'am, please calm down." One of the uniformed officers pleaded, slowly approaching Lucy. Then he pulled her away from the Duke and pushed her to Natsu's side where she was warmly welcomed. Natsu spread his arms and took her in but she didn't spare him a single glance, her glare sending daggers towards one person alone.
Feeling safe that Lucy was finally in his arms, he turned to look at the Duke and his eyes widened. There was reddening in his cheek that was surely going to bruise and he was hastily checking his mouth for something. Natsu looked around and saw what the Duke might have been looking for; two teeth that got thrown all the way to the floor by the window.
"Did you just elbow the Duke?" Natsu asked Lucy, trying to make sense of the situation.
"Yeah, he approached me out of the blue and started touching places shouldn't be." Lucy breathed, starting to calm down. She released a breath before pushing Natsu away. "Look, I'm sorry I broke my promise but I didn't want you to worry and Jason already left this in my care months ago. You have to understand that I can't just suddenly say no just because it's supposedly dangerous."
Natsu nodded his head. "I understand." He pulled Lucy again for a hug, burying his face against her golden locks. "Care to tell me what happened?"
Lucy nodded her head and pulled away. "We were just talking about the contestants when he suddenly told me that he's seen my pictures in the magazine and was actually considering me but I said no. Then, he suddenly stood up and approached me. He even had the audacity to run his hands against my leg."
Natsu turned his head to the Duke. He was being helped up by two uniformed officers while the other remaining officer was standing guard against the door. "Call Gray, tell him there's an incident."
It's been three days since the incident with the Duke. Thankfully, they were smart enough to immediately install surveillance cameras the second they were given the permission from the Royal family. Through it, they were able to instantly confirm what happened and since Lucy told everything right, it was as smooth as a windless sea.
The pageant remained unaffected much to everybody's relief, when the Princess herself decided to take over the matter, letting the police do their job without needing to worry about crowd management. The real trouble came when interrogation started. During the first day, Natsu and Gray handled it while everybody stood beyond the glass to observe. When the Duke wouldn't say anything about what happened with the pageant and would even deny harassing Lucy, Erza stepped up.
The moment Erza sat down, brandished her baton, and fixed the stubborn Duke with a glare before uttering two words; "Tell me.", the Duke had fessed up. But then trouble came again when Erza asked him about the missing girl and his connection with Avatar.
"I've got nothing to do with that." The Duke said, sitting back on his chair nonchalantly.
"Ah, of course. I don't think you'd have the brains to deliver such an eloquent plan."
"Watch what you're saying, you're talking to a Duke!"
"A former Duke. Now, you're just a citizen, Everloo." Jellal, waving a piece of paper in the air. "They just denounced you. Now tell us everything."
The Duke's round face reddened, making him look like a human plum. He smacked his fist against the metal table. "There's no way that's true!"
"I have no reason to lie."
"Then all the more reason for me to shut my trap!" The Duke exclaimed, huffing and puffing like a fat train.
Erza smirked, sitting back against the cold metal of her chair and crossing her arms. "So you do know."
The Duke's eyes widened in realization. Damn that blue-haired convict for riling him up. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down.
Before the Duke could utter another word, the door opened and in came Princess Hisui. Erza and Jellal stood up and bowed to greet her. Offering her seat, the Princess sat down on one of the metal chairs of the interrogation room.
"What's this I hear about my denouncing?" The Duke spat, uncaring that the Princess clearly held more power than he ever could.
"I was able to stop Father from it." The Princess calmly stated, her words void of any emotion but her eyes were swimming in anger. "However, if you do not tell these people of your wrongdoings and connection to the terrorists, I am to make sure you would gladly accept a simple denouncing."
Gulping, the Duke started to sweat on his seat across from the Princess before he turned to Erza and Jellal who were silently standing between the green haired heiress. "Fine, I'll talk."
While the interrogation took place at the room, Gray and Natsu were called out of the room and inside the Captain's office. "Good work on the case, boys." The small man greeted them.
"We're nowhere near done, gramps." Natsu muttered, feeling a bit ashamed of himself for no reason.
"We're transferring the case to Jellal's capable hands. You are to focus on your mission with Gajeel that will be in a few months." The Captain said, not giving them a room for complaints or objections.
"I'm not directly involved in the mission, Captain, can I stay?" Gray begged.
"You're doing it with Jellal, actually."
"No fair!" Natsu whined. "This is still connected to the mission somehow, gramps! The Duke could have some kind of connection with Avatar and Tartaros!"
"I know but the planning and preparation for the mission is still full of holes, isn't it?" The much older man argued, making Natsu shut up. "Take care of that first, that takes first precedence above anything else."
"Fine," the pink-haired man could only agree with the Captain's words. "But you'll still let us in on everything!"
"That is without question. We're hoping this case will help give us more information about your mission so of course you will all be updated." The Captain promised before they were kicked out of the room.
A/N: It's been a while, thanks to the people who're giving me a chance! Currently, the whole world is facing a crisis that could be easily prevented if we just stay calm, hygienic, and smart. From everything that I've read about NCOV-19; I would like to remind you some stuff.
a. Keep your hands clean and away from your face. SANITIZE!
b. Remain inside unless you really need to and if you do, make sure you're keeping yourself protected. If you're thinking about going somewhere for fun because you're feeling well, stop. Just, stop. You may not get the virus or feel the it inside you yet but you may infect other people and sick, older people are more prone to death. Not young people. So stop being selfish :)
c. Listen to the authorities! It's not the time for your rebellious sides to get out. Stop yolo-ing. lol
d. If you're going to the groceries, STOP hoarding! You're not helping anyone, including yourself. You're depriving others of things that they need as well. If you hoard, you're not helping mitigate or stop the spread of the virus.
e. Keep calm and read reliable news! :) Stop spreading fake news.
Keep safe everyone! I'm praying for all of y'alls safety and health. May this chapter bring you at least an atomic amount of comfort.