Chapter 3
That night, Lucy laid in her big cushy bed, with Plue cuddled to her side. Her mind replayed over the events that had happened earlier that night. Sighing, Lucy threw her arm over her eyes.
"Luce, what happened. You just disappeared. One day we were fine, and the next you were gone. Where did you go for 4 years?
Lucy stared, she couldn't move, her heart was pounding. She opened her mouth to say something, but Natsu backed away, throwing his arms behind his head, laughing. Lucy huffed, crossing her arms in front of her.
"Calm down Luce, I just wanted to stop by and bring the information for our next case to review before tomorrow". Natsu had said, turning to where he had been sitting, and pulling out a file. He set it down on the counter, and proceeded to pull his jacket on.
"See ya tomorrow Luce" Natsu said nonchalantly, turning to walk to the door to her apartment. Before he opened the door, he paused, and turned his head back to look at Lucy.
"By the way, I like the pajamas" He said, a smirk on his face. Lucy's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, Natsu had slipped out into the hallway.
Turning on her side, Lucy rearranged her pillow so it was more comfortable under her head. She seriously had to get it together. She was over Natsu. She was… wasn't she? Lucy shook her head, to clear the thoughts from her mind. Natsu was her partner now, so she had better just get used to it.
The next morning, Lucy found herself in the passenger's seat of a black Suburban. Driving, to her chagrin, was Natsu. Between them was an awkward silence Lucy had no clue how to break. Only the sounds of the road, and passing cars filled the silence in the car. From the minute Lucy had met Natsu that morning for briefing, there was no sign of the man she had seen in her apartment last night. He had been all straight-laced and serious.
Glancing over at Natsu, Lucy bit her lip. While Natus had been her best friend for most of her life, she had no clue who he was anymore. Last night, his normal flirty self was present, but there was no trace of that now. Lucy bit her lip, and looked back out the passenger's side window.
They were headed to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Magnolia. Makarov had gotten several tips of Phantom Lord activity there. Lucy and Natsu were assigned on a reconnaissance mission, to gather intel and watch what was going on in the warehouse. This was to be an intelligence gathering mission only, and Lucy and Natsu had been given orders to not make any sort of move against Phantom unless stated by Makarov. As much as Lucy detested these types of missions, she really had no choice. She guessed this was Makarov's revenge for her going against mission orders so many times.
Outside, Lucy saw the "Thank you for visiting Magnolia" sign, which meant they were leaving the city. From what the file had said, the warehouse was ten miles outside of Magnolia, hidden near the base of one of the mountains.
"10 miles out" Natsu said, hand over his ear, where his comms set was. Lucy heard his voice in her ear as well.
"Proceed as planned, everything looks clear" Levy's voice said into her ear. Lucy rolled her eyes. She knew Levy was secretly happy that Lucy was being forced to partner with Natsu, her best friend was always getting on her case about her going off on her own.
"Do you remember the plan?" Natsu finally said, glancing over at where Lucy was sitting. Lucy turned to look at him. "Of course I do, I have done these types of missions before, believe it or not" She said, letting a look of incredulity come over her face. Natsu glanced at her again, his face confused. "I know, in fact I know you are ranked number 2 in Fairy Tail's database" Natsu said, looking back to the road.
"Yeah?" Lucy questioned, raising her eyebrow at him. "And what are you? Last?" She retorted. At this the grin of the Natsu she remembered spread across his face.
"I'm number 1" He said.
Lucy's jaw dropped. "No way!" She gasped, sitting up straight. Natsu took one look at her and burst out laughing.
"Stop laughing! It isn't funny!" Lucy burst out, whacking Natsu's arm. "Come on, it's kinda funny" Natsu said. Lucy glared at her pink haired partner, and crossed her arms, sitting back in the seat. "Nope, not at all" She declared. Natsu opened his mouth to say something else, but Levy's voice in their ear interrupted him.
"You guys are one mile out, there should be some bushes on the right in 400 feet. Hide the car there and continue on foot to the warehouse" Levy instructed.
"Got it" Natsu said, steering the car into the ditch. Once he and Lucy had hid the car, they grabbed their gear and set off in the direction Levy instructed them to go.
They didn't dare drive any closer to the base, reports had stated that cameras were installed in the woods, and heat sensors were placed all around the compound. Due to that, Natsu and Lucy were to hike through the woods to the compound, wearing heat repelling suits, specifically designed by Gajeel, which would let them get close to the warehouse without being detected by the heat sensors. It was a humid day out, and the suit that Lucy was wearing did nothing to help. Throwing her hair up, Lucy looked to where Natsu was ahead of her. He was poking around the trees, making sure there were no cameras or traps. While Levy's directions took them around many of the cameras and traps, they could never be too safe. Lucy huffed, Natsu was taking control of the mission. Lucy wasn't weak, she had just taken down 10 grown men the day before!
Deep in thought, Lucy didn't notice a root on the ground until her foot had caught it, and she pitched forward towards the ground. In a split second, Natsu had turned around and caught her. Lucy gasped as his arms slid around her, pulling her upright. Leaving his arms around her, Natsu looked down.
"Better watch where you're going"
Lucy shoved his arms away. "Shut up, I just wasn't paying attention". Natsu let out a laugh, "Is that so?" Rolling her eyes, Lucy shoved past him and kept walking. "Come on, let's keep going". Behind her, Natsu shrugged, followed along.
Lucy picked her way through the trees and brush slowly, pushing the branches aside so she could slide underneath them. Her and Natsu had been walking for about an hour now, though according to what Levy said, they were getting close. The ground had started to get steeper, the closer they got, and Lucy had started to use the trees surrounding her to pull herself up. Natsu, ahead of her, reached back a hand, which she grudgingly took. He pulled her forward, next to him, and they both looked down at the building below.
"Levy, we have eyes" Lucy said quietly.
"Good, get a little closer, but do not initiate any contact, you guys are here for information gathering only" Levy commanded. Lucy bit her lip. "10/4" She said. Looking up to Natsu, Lucy gestured towards the compound below and said, "Shall we?". Natsu nodded, and together they started to descend the steep hill. They made their way close, to where some bushes growing, next to the building. Sitting down next to Natsu, Lucy pulled out a pair of binoculars, and a small gun. She pointed the gun through the window, and shot. The bullet went through and landed on the opposite wall. The gun was another of Gajeel's inventions, and it contained a microphone, so Lucy and Natsu would be able to hear and record what was being said in the warehouse.
Beside her, Natsu pulled out a camera from his backpack and started to take pictures of the warehouse, where all the cameras were located, as well as any ways that could be utilized to get into the building undetected. From what Lucy could see, the warehouse was empty at the moment, but the tip Makarov had gotten from an undercover operative stated that a deal was going to go down today. Lucy swung her binoculars towards the road that lead to the warehouse. In a cloud of dust, Lucy spotted two white vans and a black sportscar heading towards them.
"Natsu, look" Lucy whispered, pointing to the cars. "Incoming". Natsu glanced over and whispered back, "Stay low, they shouldn't be able to stop us from where they are". Lucy nodded in agreement and moved the lay on her stomach, her binoculars still able to get a clear view through the bushes. The vans pulled to a stop in front of the warehouse, and Lucy saw eight armed guards hop out of the vans. Two reached in and grabbed something, and from where she and Natsu were hiding, she could hear screams. Lucy tensed as the men dragged out a woman, with a sack over her head. She was kicking and trying to fight, but they had tied her arms together behind her back. Natsu sensed Lucy's tension, and laid a hand on her arm to calm her. Lucy grit her teeth, hands gripping her binoculars tightly, turning her fingers white. However, she heard Natsu gasp when a man stepped out of the sportscar.
"What is it?" Lucy whispered, turning her head to look at her partner.
"That's Jose Porla, he's the leader of Phantom Lord" Natsu whispered back. "I thought this was going to be a drug deal or something, but if he's here, something big is about to go down" He continued. He lifted his camera, and snapped a few pictures of Jose, and the rest of the people accompanying him. Lucy felt her stomach curl with unease. In her earpiece, she heard a door slam, and the men dragging the girl into the room. Lucy and Natsu moved to the side a couple yards, so they could look into the room.
Through her binoculars, Lucy could see that they had tied the woman up to a chair in the middle of the room, and Jose was standing in front of her. He nodded to the men who stood behind the chair, and one reached forward to pull the sack off of her head.
Lucy gasped, almost dropping her binoculars.
When the sack was lifted off, she saw a tumble of blue hair fall out.
They had Juvia.
She heard Natsu take a sharp intake of breath. "Damn it!" He spat.
"Natsu, we have to do something" Lucy pleaded, getting ready to launch herself up and over the bushes. But, before she had a chance to do anything, Natsu grabbed her arm.
"We were told not to make any moves without calling in first, I don't like this either, but orders are orders" He hissed, pulling Lucy back down. Lucy pulled her arm out of his grasp, but stayed where she was, as Natsu radioed in and filled Levy in on what was happening.
"Stay there, I am requesting backup, don't move and don't engage" Levy's voice ordered.
"Hurry" Lucy said, looking to where Jose was talking to Juvia.
"When he found out about Gajeel, I thought we had gotten rid of the mole, but when I found out his partner was also from Fairy Tail, I decided it was about time I sent Makarov a message" Lucy heard Jose drawl.
"What do you want?" She heard Juvia spit back at Jose.
At this, Jose laughed. "Nothing, my darling, I'm just going to use you to prove a point to your foolish Director. Nobody messes with Phantom Lord"
While he was talking, Jose stepped closer to Juvia, and bent over, so his face was right in front of Juvias.
"I'm sorry, my darling, but I don't think you will live through this" He drawled. Lucy saw Juvia spit at Jose, and Jose stepping back, furiously wiping off his face with his arm.
"So be it" Jose said, and nodded to one of the guards, who stepped forward and punched Juvia in the side of her face, causing her chair to tip to the side, but the guard grabbed her hair and hauled her back upright. He punched over and over, and with each of Juvia's screams, Lucy fought the need to get up and sprint in here. Natsu still had a hand on her arm, his grip growing tighter, and she heard him growl. He gripped even tighter, causing Lucy to wince. Natsu noticed, and hastily let go of her arm.
Through the window, Lucy saw the guard, who was standing in front of a bleeding and bruised Juvia, pulled out a knife. Lucy's eyes widened as he went forward make a cut on her shoulder. Juvia's scream pierced the calm of the forest. The guard then reared back and dug the knife into her side.
As he pulled the knife out, Lucy lept up. She was done waiting, she couldn't watch this happen to her friend any longer. She heard Natsu yell her name, and try to grab her, but she was already over the bushes and sprinting to the window. Lucy dove through the window, using her binoculars to break the glass. She tucked and rolled across the ground, coming up by the guard and Juvia. He had pulled out the knife and was swinging towards Juvia again. Gritting her teeth, Lucy dove in between them, and tried to grab the knife. She bit back a scream as the knife stabbed into her side, but she yanked it out, and swung her foot up and roundhouse kicked the guard, knocking him out cold. In the side of her vision, Lucy saw Natsu burst through the window as well, shouting into his comm set as he started towards the guards that were approaching Lucy.
Grunting, Lucy grabbed the knife that was lodged into her side, and pulled it out. She then put her hands up, still holding the knife, and rushed at the guards that were rushing at her. These were trained soldiers, with more skill than the men that she had fought before, so Lucy knew she couldn't let her guard down. She ducked the first punch of a guard, and swung her knife at his side.. As he stumbled back in pain, Lucy popped back up and kicked him, as he fell to the side, Lucy grabbed his arm, and turned, throwing the weight of the man into the other guard that had rushed up. Distracted by the other guard, Lucy rushed forwards and ran up the unconscious guard's back to flip over the guard and land behind hi. She put him in a headlock,and pressed a certain spot in his neck. She felt him grow limp, and dropped him. Smiling, she silently thanked Gildarts for teaching pressure points so extensively in his classes. Across the room, Natsu had taken out two guards, and was fighting two more. Lucy ran over, ignoring the way her side burned with each step.
Natsu had punched one guard, and as the guard reeled back, Lucy swung her leg around and her foot connected with his temple, sending him flying into the wall. The other guard grabbed her from behind, but Lucy grabbed his arms, and bent forward, sending him over her head, onto the ground, where Natsu leaped onto him, throwing punches until he didn't move anymore.
Lucy swung her head around, looking for Jose, and the rest of the guards, and saw them running out the door they entered in.
"Natsu, Jose is getting away!" She yelled, running after the men.
"Lucy, wait!" Natsu yelled, but Lucy had already reached the doorway, when the door in front of her exploded, sending her flying back.
Lucy hit the ground, and everything turned black for a few seconds. When she came to, she heard Natsu yelling her name, and through the smoke, saw him rush towards her, his face covered in soot. Her ears were ringing, and her vision was swimming.
"Juvia.." Lucy croaked, trying to sit up, but her arms couldn't support her.
"She's okay, she's okay" Natsu breathed, throwing himself on the ground beside her, and pulling Lucy onto his lap. Lucy hissed, when his hand touched her side, and she saw his hand come away covered in blood.
"I'm sorry, I made a mess of things" Lucy breathed, trying to laugh, but coughing instead.
"No, they were going to kill Juvia, you did nothing wrong" Natsu said, brushing her hair out of her face. Lucy smiled a small smile, and the last thing she saw before everything went black was Natsu's face.
Sorry it's a little late, things became a little crazy the past few days, with moving back and starting work for the summer! Anyways, here's the next chapter, so enjoy! Also thank you for everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited
Sonchia