Lucy had so much on her mind that she had forgotten what was waiting for her when she got home. Police had swarmed the property, sirens bathing the walls in red and blue. Two men at the door IDed her when she walked up, and then escorted her inside directly to her father's office.

When her father saw her, he ran over and hugged her strongly. "Oh, my Lucky Lucy! Thank God you're back." He released her to look at the police behind her. "Thank you, officers. Please keep me updated on whatever you may find." The doors behind them shut, and Jude went and sank down in his office chair.

"Father? What's going on?" Lucy didn't have to fake confusion; her father hated the police, and couldn't afford the law poking around his affairs. Her father lifted the arm off his eyes and folded his hands on his desk.

"My dear, I'm sorry to tell you this, but that delinquent Salamander has gone missing from Hargeon Penitentiary. I've been in contact with the warden, and she assures me that she has no idea how he could have escaped. I know you must be frightened, but don't worry. I'm doing everything in my power to find him."

Lucy only stood there. How could she be so stupid? She had walked Natsu out of the prison not five hours ago. But her father took her silence for fear. He got up and walked up to her, putting his hands on her shoulders as if to comfort her. "My Lucky Lucy, please don't worry." Lucy almost laughed at how earnest he looked. "I may hire you a guard as we speak; I'm going down to the station in two days. Until then, I want you to stay in the house. I can't risk losing you again."

'Yeah, because I know all of your business now,' Lucy thought absently, more worried about her house arrest. She had to get to the pub tomorrow, to make sure Natsu was okay after whatever had been wrong earlier. She swallowed, deciding to test her father's faith in her. "Father, I don't think you need to worry about me going out. I've taken self-defense classes since the incident a few years ago, and I'm confident I can at least hold my own until help arrives. Don't stress about me, too, with all you've got going on." 'Just let me fade to the background, like old times.'

Jude smiled at her gently. "My dear daughter, I will always worry about you. But I won't keep you in the house if you wish it." Lucy smiled gratefully, unsure how to process the emotions his words gave her. "Now, I have work to do, so go get some rest." He kissed her forehead, and he couldn't see Lucy's cringe. "Good night, dear." He left her to leave, walking back to his desk without a second glance.

/

Lucy was shrugging on her jean jacket the next morning when the door to her office burst open. She tugged her hair out of the top and turned around to see Jacob, who was both fuming and triumphant. He held a paper in his hand, and he was so excited that he forgot to style his hair. Lucy noted that he looked kind of cute with bedhead, then wanted to die because she thought that.

"What do you want, Jacob?" She walked past him out the door, too busy with getting to the pub to properly pay him any attention. But she heard him shuffling behind her as she walked through the hallways, almost eagerly.

"Your Salamander surfaced again. Fresh out of the slammer and he's already calling attention to himself." Lucy froze at that, turning around and snatching the paper out of Jacob's hands. It was an article from this morning, a picture of a badly beaten man lying next to an ambulance. Lucy scanned the page briefly. The title read ANOTHER VICTIM—HAS THE MONSTER RETURNED? and continued to point out that after more than a year of relative silence, the urban legend seems to have surfaced once again, and the usual garbage about the police searching for him. Lucy struggled to look indifferent, as she knew Jacob was analyzing her every breath, and crumpled up the article into her jacket pocket.

"So what, Jacob? From what I remember about that guy this is no surprise." She turned back around and continued walking, and was proud to hear a sputter of indignation.

"What do you mean 'so what'? You were obsessed with this guy a year ago and now you don't care? That's not how it works!" He sounded so outraged that Lucy wanted to laugh. Jacob had absolutely no faith in her because he thought she was just a ditzy blonde with no business skills. He thought she was throwing away her father's legacy. Which was true, but Lucy had to act like he was a supremacist jerk who doubted her because she was a girl.

It was hard, leading a double life.

"Yes, Jacob, when I was seventeen and rebellious I was fond of him. But now I'm almost twenty trying to learn how to head my father's company, so I have more pressing things on my mind. Like trying to change people's minds about my competency." She shot him a pointed look, and he had the decency to look ashamed. "Now I really have to go. I'll see you later in my office when you undoubtedly try to undermine me—"

"Okay, I get it." Lucy froze at the emotion in his voice. He seemed almost sincere, and she turned around. "It's just, I've been bred for this my whole life, and you just wake up one day and decide you want to do it, too. It's kind of infuriating, you know?" Lucy blinked at him; she hadn't thought of that, at all. He wasn't looking at her. "So, I'm sorry, but I hope you can at least understand."

Lucy took a deep breath, and turned fully around. She ran through all the possibilities of what a friendship with Jacob would mean. He wouldn't help her in her overthrow, that's for sure. But she could learn more information with his trust. She searched his blue eyes for any deceit, anything at all she distrusted. But she found nothing. So she extended her hand.

"I do understand, Jacob. And I'm sorry that my ambition seemed like a whim to you. But…partners?" He looked down at her hand, then smiled. Not in trust, or even happily. But it was goodnatured, and Lucy would take it.

"Partners, Lucy."