Natsu didn't have too much luck looking for Tartaros' headquarters, what he did find though was Marde and a man, that he later learned was Franmalth, meeting up. He had seen the two of them when he had been scouting out the buildings. He had hid behind a wall and had been able to record a part of their conversation on his phone.

It wasn't much though; he himself had barely been able to hear them talk so he was sure the recording was any better. At least he had been smart enough to take a picture of the two before he had started recording. He figured with both a picture and recorded evidence of the meetup that would be enough to keep Marde from claiming it was forged. While it wasn't enough to convict Marde of much it was something that could help convince a jury that he had a part in the gang.

By the time he had finished scouting out the buildings and writing his report for Makarov it was late. Taking out his phone he considered whether he should call Lucy or not. While talking on the phone was quicker, the two of them were able to piece things together much better when speaking face to face. He had made up his mind a few seconds later, pushing the call button he waited for Lucy to pick up.

"Hey Heartfilia" Natsu said when he heard her pick-up. "I was wondering if you wanted to meet up at the diner?"

"Sure" Lucy said. "I was just about to call you and ask you that. I have some stuff I want to share with you that would be better to show in person."

"Okay, great" Natsu said as he got up from the chair. "I'll meet you there."

"See you there" Lucy said before she hung up.

/

The two of them met up at the diner and sat down it what was slowly becoming "their booth." After the two had ordered they began to talk about their findings.

"So, I was able to at least narrow down where Tartaros is located and maybe where Jackal is at least building his bombs" Natsu said. "The bomb from last night matches up with the ones used in the old bombing case. I also have a name for Jackal now, Jeremy Nico. He was the suspect in some old bombings but he disappeared before he could be questioned."

"Well wouldn't that probably mean that he was the bomber?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah normally that's a big flashing sign but no one can be sure until he is questioned and such. Plus one of his friends ended up filing a missing person's report on him so it just kind of ended badly" Natsu said as he took his phone out of his pocket. "Now moving on from Jackal, I found something that could probably be held against Marde." Sliding open his phone, he brought up the picture of Marde and Franmalth.

"Who's the other guy?" Lucy asked, pointing at the screen.

"Franmalth, Tartaros' informant and spy" Natsu said as he exited out of the photo and went over to his recording. "I was able to somewhat record their conversation but I'm sure it's mainly static."

"Well let's hear it" Lucy said, leaning more across the table in hopes she would be able to hear the recording better.

Clicking play the two of them listened to the recording. Just like Natsu had predicted they could hardly hear anything, almost every word was muffled or just some sort of awkward static. The few words they even managed to hear and make out just sounded like a string of random words "…is onto…find…. can about…going…target…someone…do away…everything I…..to do this."

"That doesn't make much sense" Lucy said, leaning back into her seat.

"If you put the words together you can kind of figure out what he might have been saying" Natsu said. "Since I barely heard anything they said myself I'm kind of in the dark, so the best way to figure it out is to piece all the words together."

"Okay" Lucy said. "Well he said something about a target and to do away with something so maybe he was talking about how he's going to strike back against Jackal tonight."

"That's a good theory" Natsu said as he took a napkin out of the dispenser. Taking out a pen he began to write. "But then they also talked someone being onto something, maybe they've figured out we're investigating them?"

"True" Lucy said as she rested her chin on her hand. "It seems like Marde was telling him to look into something for him, maybe something to do with Jackal or about the attacks against him last night."

"That would make sense" Natsu said, tapping his fingers against the table. "Still that's only speculation, there's not much that could be really used against him in court, hell this probably wouldn't be enough to even get an arrest warrant."

"So what you're saying is that this won't be very helpful?" Lucy asked.

"Pretty much" Natsu said with a sigh before turning his attention to her. "So what have you found?"

"Oh, well you see, I did a little bit of snooping" Lucy said with an apologetic smile, she figures Natsu might not be too happy about her little excursion so the best time to start apologizing is before she even tells him what she did.

"What kind of snooping?" Natsu asked with a raised brow, a look of concern beginning to show on his face.

"The kind where you look through someone's personal processions to find anything that can be held against them" Lucy said, avoiding eye contact.

"Heartfilia!" Natsu exclaimed jumping up from his seat causing the other patrons to turn their attention to him. Smiling sheepishly he slid back to his seat before turning back to her. "What exactly did you do?" he whisper yelled.

"I went to city hall and peeked around Marde's office" Lucy said. "The door was unlocked and I knocked before I went in. You should be happy since I was able to find more evidence then you that points to Marde hanging around a gang."

"What did you find?" Natsu asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I found a very interesting email" Lucy said as she brought up the photo of it on her phone.

Natsu looked it over before looking back up at her. "Please tell me you didn't hack into his computer to get this."

"No it wasn't locked or anything" Lucy said as she swiped to the next picture, the one of the gun. "And I also found something interesting in a hidden panel in his desk." Showing him the picture of the gun she watched as his eyes widen before narrowing again.

"I'll write down the serial number and see who the gun is registered to" Natsu said. "If it's his there's not too much we can do. I mean I'm sure he shouldn't have a gun at city hall but if we did get a search warrant and found it then maybe the most he'd get is a warning to never bring one into city hall again."

"Okay but this would be enough to get a search warrant for his office?" Lucy asked.

Nodding, Natsu said "Yes, I suppose but so what?"

"So what? We might be able to find more stuff in his office" Lucy said. "He had a bunch of bookcases and they all had panels in them, what if he has more hidden panels in his office. For all we know he might be holding drugs or weapons in his office for the gang since they've had so many raids recently. Hiding some of their products, or whatever they call them, in city hall is almost laughable. It's hiding what the enemy wants right under their nose. It might be a smart move to keep their products safe until they can sell or ship them."

"While that is a good idea, there's no way Marde would be able to hide all their drugs in there" Natsu said. "It be too risky."

"Then they would only hold a little in there but enough that if they got raided they'd have a backup supply to sell" Lucy said. "It sounds like a smart idea to me."

"Okay then" Natsu said as he began to write on the napkin again. "So I'm looking up a serial number for a gun and applying for a search warrant for Marde's office. Looks like we're getting closer and closer to piecing this all together Heartfilia."

"It's been pretty fun truthfully" Lucy said with a small smile. "It's been kind of fun working with you, it'll be boring when I have to go back to examining age old remains."

"I agree Heartfilia, it hasn't been half bad having someone to bounce ideas off of, I won't know what to do on my next case. I might be calling you to try and get some ideas" Natsu said with a small laugh as their food came out. "So is there anything else you did today that was probably illegal that I should know about?"

"Nothing illegal" Lucy said. "But I did kind of run into Marde during my snooping."

Natsu seemed to freeze when he heard that, staring at her with wide eyes he asked "Where exactly did this run-in happen?"

"As I was leaving his office" Lucy squeaked as she waited for however Natsu would react, she was hoping he wouldn't implode but who knows.

"Wait, so if I understand you correctly, Marde saw you leaving his office?" Natsu asked as his lips tightened into a straight line.

"Yes" Lucy said. "But I think I had a pretty good lie for why I was in his office though."

"Still this is a boss of drug ring that we're talking about here. He is definitely going to be suspicious and considering I've seen your lying first hand I know you probably weren't all that convincing" Natsu said as he began to think of all the possible scenarios that could happen now. If Marde did suspect Lucy of something then he would surely try and get all the information he could on her. Maybe she was even the person he had requested Franmalth to look into. This was bad very bad.

"Don't worry Natsu" Lucy said, bringing Natsu back from his thoughts. "I'm sure we'll be locking Marde up soon along with Jackal and once their gone I should be safe, right?"

"Yeah" Natsu said with a sign and even though his brain was telling him no, he agreed with her. "You're right. We don't have too much to pin Marde down as the leader of Tartaros but we do definitely have enough to pin him down for conspiring with Tartaros. So now all we need to do is get enough for an arrest warrant and from there we can get a confession."

"How can you be so sure you'll get one when you bring him in?" Lucy asked as she began to eat her food.

"I know a good interrogator, she'll crack him before he can even get a lawyer in there with him" Natsu said with a smirk, once he's able to bring Marde in the politician was in for a rude awakening. "I guess I should hurry up and catch her up on this case so she can actually do it for me."

"Honesty" Lucy said with a shake of her head. "What would you do if you aren't able to convince this person to interrogate Marde for you?"

"Oh trust me, I have some good bribe material that will definitely sway her to do it" Natsu said with a smirk.

"Do I wanna know?"

"No probably not."

/

Natsu had managed to convince Lucy that he had needed to walk home with her just to be safe. Similar to the night before it wasn't awkward, they even made some small talk as they walked. Once they had reached Lucy's apartment he had told, probably sounding like an overly worried parent, to make sure her door and windows were locked.

After their goodbyes he headed home. He was worried about Lucy and felt it weighing on his conscious that he had left her alone. Though it's not like anyone who worked for Marde could move through objects, so as long as Lucy made sure everything was locked she should be fine. But that didn't mean that someone could pick a lock and get in.

For a few seconds he considered turning back and offering to spend the night or something just to make sure, but he felt that he'd be overreacting. Lucy seemed to think that she had been able to convince Marde she was only in his office looking for a file her father had asked her to get him. But still the guilt and worry gnawed at the back of his mind, not that he could do anything about it.

Getting to his apartment door he stood outside of it for a few seconds to gather his thoughts. Digging out his key he unlocked the door and opened it. Pushing the door behind him he hadn't even closed it yet when Happy came running at him, hissing with his fur standing up.

"Happy" Natsu said as he looked down at the frightened cat that was cowering at his ankles. "What the hell scared you?" Turning on the lights as he kicked the door shut with his foot he looked up and felt his blood run cold as his heart seemed to stop beating, he was looking at what, or rather who, had scared Happy. He was grabbing for the gun he always kept holstered to his belt as the man began to talk.

"Hello brother, it has been quite some time seen we've last talked don't you think?" Zeref asked as his usual sadistic smile crossed his face.

Pointing the gun directly at Zeref Natsu did his best to keep his voice steady. "What the hell are you doing here and how the hell did you even get in?" Natsu asked as he stared at the man in front of him who was a sitting in one of Natsu's chairs as if he was stopping by for tea and a chat.

Zeref seems entirely unfazed by the gun as if Natsu was pointing a banana at him. His smile grew wider as he said "I stopped by for a nice chat, we haven't talked in so long and I've missed you. On how I got in it would seem that your bedroom window's lock is loose, you should really tighten it up I wouldn't want something bad to happen to you."

"I didn't realize you cared that much" Natsu said not even trying to bite back any sarcasm in his voice.

"Oh but of course I do, you're my one and only little brother. Why wouldn't I care about you?" Zeref asked as he crossed his legs. "You're important to me and I would really hate for you to get hurt. I never did like how you became a law enforcement pawn, an FBI agent of all things! But I supported you even if it meant you leaving your family."

"What family?" Natsu practically spat. "Igneel died about eight years ago, he was my only family."

"Natsu don't do this" Zeref said as he placed his hand over his heart. "We're family and I wish you would accept that, after everything I've done for you to make sure you would have a normal life, everything I do is to keep you safe."

"Ha" Natsu said as he couldn't stop the angry laughter that was bubbling up from his throat. "That's a real laugh, you control almost every gang within the entire state hell even some out of state, if anything your putting me in more danger by continuing to act like we're brothers."

"Because we are Natsu" Zeref said with a sigh as if they were trying to reason with a child. "We share DNA, same mother and father, we are one hundred percent family. You are my only real family left Natsu, and I don't want to see the people I love die again."

"Talk to me again maybe when you're behind bars" Natsu growled as he considered just pulling the trigger, any other person would. Hell he'd be considered practically a hero if he killed the ultimate gang boss or whatever they were calling him now.

"I know you won't shoot Natsu" Zeref said coolly as he got up from the chair and walked over until the barrel of the gun was pressed to his chest. "Even though you stubbornly deny that we're brothers, you'd never be able to shoot me. That's why I haven't taken the gun away from you."

"Who says I won't?" Natsu hissed.

"You know I'm not very happy about how one of my gang's is in a quarrel among themselves, as if they are school children. But even if they are school children, they're dangerous. Natsu, you're in over your head and as your brother I suggest you back out of this fight now before you get hurt."

"You know nothing about me; I'm handling this investigation perfectly fine. It's not up to you, one of the people I should be arresting might I add, to decide what situation I'm in" Natsu said, tightening his grip on the gun.

"So that's how you're going to be" Zeref said. "You know, I've been watching you since you've started this little investigation of yours to keep an eye on you of course. That nice looking blonde girl you've been working with, oh what's her name?"

Natsu could feel himself beginning to shake, he could deal with Zeref being a creep and watching him but watching the people around him was crossing the line.

"Lucy right?" Zeref asked as he raised his eyebrow as if he was teasing Natsu, egging him to continue this conversation until Zeref got something he wanted.

"Leave her out of this" Natsu snarled. "You can fuck with me but you leave her the hell out of this sick little game of yours!"

"Oooo touchy I see" Zeref said, teasing heavy in his voice. "What is your relationship with that girl huh? I don't know if it be a good idea to get together with someone like her. The two of you are so different, until you were adopted by Igneel you lived on the streets with me, struggling to live, but she came from a nice cushy home. The two of you are practically different species. You're too dark, too damaged to be with someone that hasn't been touched by that kind of darkness, someone who'd never be able to understand what you've gone through. Lucy Heartfilia-"

"How do you know her last name?" Natsu asked, cutting him off.

"Well you do only call her by it" Zeref said with a simple shrug. "Now as I was saying-"

"You also knew she came from a wealthy family and that I only call her by her last name" Natsu said as he pressed the gun harder into Zeref's chest. "How the hell do you know so much, have you been stalking us or something?"

"Or something" Zeref says simply. "I had someone look into her once I learned her first name. There are a lot of people in this city with the name Lucy but only one is a forensic anthropologist."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Natsu asked hatred filling his voice. "If you cared about me so much you would just leave me alone."

"Natsu, everything I do is to help you" Zeref said, again with the vague answers of his. "Just like the reason I came to see you tonight. I have a little warning for you Natsu; it's not only me who knows about your little blonde friend. Jackal and Marde know all about her and are out for her head, all for different reasons of course."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Natsu said as he felt fear ripping through his veins.

"Marde wants Lucy dead because she went snooping through his personal belongings and found something she shouldn't have. Jackal wants her dead because he found out you're sticking your nose where he doesn't want it and the best way to draw you out is to kill someone close to you, some messed up logic he has, no?" Zeref said his whole tone still mild and pleasant as if he wasn't telling Natsu that someone was out for his partner's life.

"How the hell would you know this?" Natsu asked hoping this was one of Zeref's elaborate and sick jokes.

"They are a part of one of my gang's, I do try and keep a close eye on all of them" Zeref said idly. "What's truly unfortunate is that if you continue down this path Natsu I won't be able to keep protecting you. My powers only goes so far and we can't have people getting suspicious now can we? I will give you one more little tidbit, if you want your friend to be alive to see tomorrow you might want to leave to go check on her."

"Wait, they're planning on killing her tonight?!" Natsu asked as he began to feel his hand shake, he needed to get out of here now and check on Lucy even if she ended thinking he was paranoid or something, he needed to check on her.

"Of course" Zeref said. "Why wait?"

"I swear" Natsu hissed as he drew the gun back from Zeref. Turning away from the man he ran to his door.

"You know Natsu" Zeref said just as Natsu opened the door. "You're always welcomed back, to me, to your family. All you have to do is say the word and we can be together again, just like when we were younger."

"Like I said Zeref" Natsu growled. "We aren't family." Running out the door he slammed it behind him. Taking the stairs two at a time he was practically sprinting down the street towards Lucy's apartment, praying the whole way that she would be fine when he got there.