Lucy plopped into the chair across Capricorn apologetically. "Sorry I'm late," she rushed out. "But the good news is that Jacob is kinda maybe starting to trust me."
Capricorn smiled at her over his mug. "That's great, Miss Lucy. Have you learned anything more about your Salamander or his Keeper?"
Lucy puffed out her cheeks. "Yeah, but it's good and bad. I met with the Keeper yesterday afternoon, and got to ask him a few questions. My dad apparently needs Don's network, but I don't know what for. It must be important, though, because he seemed desperate when he would ask me to go over there. As for the Salamander, I'm sure you read the paper this morning." She clenched her teeth; why would Natsu go and beat someone that bad after he just got out?
"Ah, yes." Capricorn nodded sagely. "Don't worry about that. Don just wanted to let everyone know that his pet was back. Did you give him any information at all?" He sounded worried about this particular question.
Lucy smiled proudly. "Yes, but it wasn't true. He wanted to know how I learned so much about him, and I told him that it was from a secret client log my father had left lying around. So no harm done."
Capricorn smiled, relieved. "That's good news; your father doesn't have the kind of practicality to keep records, so that threw off the Keeper for now. But please try to stay away from him. If he speaks with you, I need to know immediately. I'm glad you told me this; we can prepare for any backlash." Lucy blew out a breath. "Is there anything else you need to tell me, Miss Lucy? I have an appointment with Libra to discuss her side of things."
Lucy shook her head, but then remembered something her father said. "Oh! My father is going to assign me another guard." Lucy was going out on a limb now, but she figured the odds were in her favor with what she knew so far. "Do you maybe know anyone that wouldn't…? "
Capricorn smiled humorously. "Restrict your freedom? Yes, I believe I may know someone in the Hargeon police force. I'll have him talk to your father if it comes to that. Though I will warn you, he's quite…friendly." Lucy blinked, wondering what on Earth that meant. Capricorn chuckled at her expression and stood.
"Thank you, Miss Lucy. I'll see you soon." He patted her on the head kindly and walked away, out the door. Lucy smiled, rubbing the spot where he'd touched her. 'Is that what a father is like?' she wondered.
/
"Don, get me a Sprite. Put it on his tab." Lucy rapped the bar top loudly, drawing the barkeep's attention and pointing to the lovestruck drunk next to her. He was back to his dumpy façade, but Lucy caught the glitter in his eyes now, scanning the pub every so often. He smiled thinly and waddled over to get her Sprite. After he slid it to her, she popped the can top and maneuvered her way to the most taboo part of the whole business: the residence hall.
She knocked lightly on the last door on the right, and a minute later she heard the muffled "come in." She crashed on the beanbag right next to the door and looked up at Natsu, who was playing with the lighter from yesterday on the bed. The quiet shink of the flame was comforting in the silence, but Lucy quickly had enough.
"Natsu, what the hell?" He looked over at her, startled. She dug the crumpled article out of her jacket and threw it at him. She saw him read it over, his eyes looking more and more troubled. She slurped her Sprite while he read, and could hardly hide the shit-eating grin she was hiding with her can. She had thought about being mad at him the whole walk here, but she didn't have enough patience or reason to be angry. Not with all she had going on.
He looked over at her, most of his worry disappearing at her expression. He smirked, discarding the article and leaping up off the bed. "What, Luce? Never seen what a champion can do?" He crept over to the beanbag, and Lucy had just enough time to put her drink down before he pounced on her, her limbs spasming as he tickled her. She shrieked at him to stop, but his laughter drowned out her pleas for mercy.
After an eternity, they both lay breathless on the beanbag with Lucy on top of Natsu. She sagged against him, wiggling to get comfy enough to lie down. She put her head down on his collarbone and felt his hands wind into her hair and begin a braid.
"Hey," she murmured. He hummed in acknowledgment. "What was it like? In there." He didn't tense up like she expected him to, or dodge the question. He stayed quiet, though, as if mulling over his words.
"It was awful." Lucy's breath jumped, but he didn't notice. "That warden lady—"
"Libra," Lucy supplied. He laughed.
"Weird name. But yeah, she took an interest in me as soon as I was in there. I beat down all of her guards with my hands behind my back on the way to my first cell. Then the guy in my cell recognized my name and tried to cream me. Didn't end well for him, though." He paused. "Or me."
Lucy shuddered. "Did they…?" She couldn't bring herself to finish the question, but he knew what she meant. He hummed again.
"They tried, at first, with those black sticks and other physical stuff. But it didn't really work with me, so they did something else." Lucy looked up at him questioningly. He smiled sadly. "They would bring me news of you whenever I acted up. They knew someone in your dad's whatever, and they fed the warden information. That helped get me under control pretty fast."
Lucy tried to disguise her hurt. He didn't want to hear anything about her at all? She had missed him constantly. Her hurt must not have been as hidden as she would've liked, though, because Natsu panicked "Not because I didn't want to hear about you! Well, I mean, I didn't, but it hurt too much."
Lucy looked up at him again, confused. He was blushing, which was cute. "They would tell me things like how you were working closely with your father, or going to the pub only to leave like an hour later. Their favorite thing to tell me was how you were always walking around with that Cobeson bastard." His face darkened, and Lucy knew he was mad. She curled into him a little bit more. "The things they told me, brought me back. Separated me from the Salamander. You're the only one to keep that separation in mind anymore.
"Anyway, after they had that all figured out, the warden would call me to her office every few days. I didn't like her all that much, but she was a hell of a smart woman. She figured out what my name meant to those guys pretty quick and used it against them. It was essentially the same deal I have with Don: keep whoever in line and I don't have a problem."
He didn't say anything else, so they just laid in the dark in silence. Lucy tried to squash down the pity welling up within her; it did no one any good. But still, he had gone through all of that while she was busy being defiant. If she had only accepted her role earlier, she might have met Capricorn sooner, might have been able to get him out sooner. 'What if, what if, what if,' swirled around her head.
Finally she gave up, closing her eyes and focusing only on how he was here now. And she wasn't going to give him up again.