Chapter 13

Authors Notes:

Ok finally posting something. I had another story intrude on this one's time. Sorry. It wouldnt' leave me alone until I typed it out. So I posted the preview here on just for fun. I'm actually liking it. It's called Summoning the Zenko and is actually mainly about Lisanna, Lucy, Levy, and Cana. Yeah leave it to me to not take a normal approach. I think it's intresting take a look when you get the chance and tell me what you think? Anyway, back to Hawkeye.

Oh yeah and Fairy Tail isnt' mine.

Lucy had freaked out a bit when she glanced over at her passenger and noted his fetal position and the rapid greening not only in his face but also along his colors. Doing a 180 on to the edge of the track leaning over she unbuckled him before jumping out of the car to pull him out. Laying him down onto the ground with as much care as she could given her lack of upper body strength she places his head in her lap.

"Natsu!? What's wrong? Is it something you ate?" she gently touches his cheek with the back of her hand noting his flushed features. Closing her eyes to focus on his vibrations she frowns when she finds that they don't seem...like a 'true' illness. In fact already his energy readings where balancing back out to what was his version of normal. Though his 'fire' was a bit dampened it was now fading back to his healthy colors. She frowns for a moment before she gets a whiff of his spicy scented breath.

Ginger? Wait. No way...

"You have motion sickness..." she whispers in shock. " That's why you always smell like ginger!" Natsu grimaces in faint pain, but not from his stomach but rather his ego. He had not wanted her to find out.

At least not yet, anyway.

So much for being cool and stuff Captain. Now she's going to think your a wuss...

A gentle hand smooths hair out of his face. "Looks like you aren't that infallible as I thought. But I don't get how you can ride a bike but not in a car." Her voice isn't accusing or even mildly judgemental. Opening hesitant eyes up towards her he sees slight bemusement but soft understanding he can't help but trust her for just a moment. Fighting a blush he takes the plunge. "It's why I name my bikes...It helps lower it to more manageable levels. My little sister makes a great drink that works for hours...but I can't ask her to keep making it for me all the time as it takes a while to make and she's got school and stuff."

"The Captain of the feared and infamous Dragonriders has motion sickness." He looks off to shut his eyes, crossing his arms in irritation. But Lucy can tell it's more so at his own perceived weakness than at her.

"Yeah well sorry for being a weak mortal."

She gently turns his head back to her. She blows in his face suddenly causing him to pop his eyes open to look at her in surprise.

"But...if you ask me it's kind of nice. You have a weakness you have found a way to cope with and function to do a job your dedicated to. I dunno...cool." She kisses his forehead, absently noting that he is still abnormally warm. "Just stop being so hard on yourself, and don't say you're not, I can tell. Your doing a better job that you think." she just smiles brightly at him. Suddenly the area lights shut off plunging them into darkness. Natsu starts in surprise and almost jumps up. Lucy, however, had expected this. Lucy keeps a hand pressed to his head to keep him down. "Chill, Since there hasn't been any large moments on the track for over 15 minutes the lights auto shut off. Laxus had them put in as a kind of way of preventing the need for switches. He loved this old place. So do I. But honestly I like it better with the lights out."

"Why?"

"Keep looking up, once your eyes adjust you'll see."

It was a new moon night and after a few seconds faint flickers of light start to spread across the sky. Soon as far as he can see there are twinkles here and there. Though the city was only 10 miles or so away all the very tall trees did a good job of breaking up the ambient light letting a good number of the stars show.

"I'm a sucker for all things related to stars. I almost wanted to become an Astronomer. BUT...I was lazy." she laughs. Natsu picks up her hand from his head and holds it tightly. "Of all the things I could call you...lazy isn't one of them."

"No but I do take the path of least resistance. Which in a sense is laziness." Natsu thinks for a long moment, having long ago recovered his equilibrium but preferring to stay where he was. As long as she's willing to proved a pillow he was willing to relax. "Maybe but how many people who take the path of least resistance own their own business, have a degree and a certification, which might I add you earned when you where 18."

"You competed in international youth martial arts competitions. And I'm sure you have a degree too."

"Mechanical Engineering." He shrugs.

"See!? That is not an easy degree."

"Then we're both special."

"Sweet pickle bus special..."

Natsu laughs gently. "Your as bad as I am about accepting complements." He detects a sudden rise in heat from her upper body and can't help but grin. She really is cute.

"Then let's just be happy that at least one person we know thinks we're awesome and leave it at that? Deal?"

"Deal."

3am

Ok. So that lasted *a lot* longer than she expected.

Not that I'm complaining. Lucy smiles to herself as she realizes that aside from the first consultation that was the first time she and Natsu could freely talk without the worry about Freed overhearing.

He had asked. Both questions actually. The second she wasn't sure he would so soon.

But then I knew he would. I'm never going to hear the end of it from Levy... Lucy stops as she puts her first foot on the steps up to her flat. She pauses.

oh shit... Sighing she just continues the march. No point in putting off the inevitable. Death march...I had hoped I didn't trip her senses...but I did. Dammit. It's too late/early in the night/morning for this.

The instant she opened the door she stared at her couch, where she knew her intruder would be.

"Cana, it is too early in the morning for this."

"Welcome home, Lucy~! Who's the hottie that made this sweet ass Barbeque and since when have you two developed such a close relationship? AND Most importantly: Why didn't you tell me? Hey, you got any beer?" Lucy simply slumps against her closed-door, tired.

Sometimes it really sucked having a Tarot reading Clairvoyant as a future sister-in-law.

That was one load off his chest. she had accepted...they had a little less than 2 weeks to get her ready to go back into the fray of street racing and all under the Fairy Tail banner too. It was great...all was well. He hummed to himself as he opened his apartment door. A whiff of a familiar aftershave causes him to pause.

"Your Late. Come in and close the door. Not good to linger in doorways."

That entirely depends on whether or not you want to deal with the people inside.

"Didn't know I had a meeting,Gramps."

The short gentlemen snorts from his place in Natsu's easy chair. "I hear your working on a new recruit and that it's a woman. Good job. You know I always like to have more eye candy around."

"God, you're a freaking pervert."

"I prefer it to think that I have a healthy appreciation of feminine beauty."

"Call it what you want but I still think you're a letch." There is a snort of laughter. "So, she any good? When do I get to meet her?" Natsu looks over from hanging up his coat and glares. "She's good, and trusts me. If I introduce her to you she'll reconsider the second offer and I don't want to lose that deal either just because you had to mettle. She'll drive for us under our far as bringing her into the fold, she's thinking about it. Her guard dog *is* one of us. He's just gotten comfortable."

Eyes that have seen much in eighty some odd years (he refused to be very specific about his age, even when asked) look sharply at him. "What is this girls name?"

One rose-colored eyebrow lifts in surprise. "Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia."

Voracious laughter suddenly fills the living room.

That girl...she always had the gift Finding the very things I don't want her to and then upon doing so defying all expectations. Not only does Natsu not cause problems he seems just as stable as ever...if not more so. Less bruises that's for sure. This might actually work. So long as...' he pauses and suddenly looks serious. It's more dangerous now. More so than ever before. Maybe it's a good idea to keep more protection around her? At least until all this is cleared up.

"I actually was here to tell you of some serious situations."

"You mean aside from them attempting to flush out sleeper units of N-gage units?"

"Sharper than many would give you credit for, but there is more much more to this plan."

"How big is this?"

"Brain is dead."

Natsu's eyes narrow as that hit home. Brain, the head of one of the smallest but influential gangs, was dead. "But his gang is still making movements. Organized movements. Did someone else move up?"

"It looks like someone else took over them and I'm not really sure the lower members know. Brain was never one to be very close to his members. His way of making sure if they screw up he didn't go down with them. He usually send his orders in round about ways and only every few days. I suppose it wouldn't be hard to eliminate him and take his place with that kind of system."

"That is going to be a head ache for us."

"I want you to find out what you can about this at that race. Some one's trying to stage a gang war to hide something else and I want to know what it is." The old man stands up and begins to pull on his jacket as he walks to the door opening it. Natsu's not far behind to close up after him.

"Yes sir."

"Oh yes, and Natsu?"

"Yeah, Gramps?"

"What size do you think she it?"

"Huh?"

"Cup size, man! Cup Size! I'm trying to keep a record of all the girls in Fairy Tail...Ya know just to get a rough average..."

"You do know that is sexual harassment right? That you could get sued?"

"Well I'm an old man...I gotta get my kicks some how. So...really, C? D? DD? *gasp* E?"Natsu just shuts the door in his face. "Good night Gramps."

"Cana? Does Laxus know your here?"

"Nope, and you'd better be glad about that. He'd want to know why I was here. You know I don't like lying to him and you know what he would do should he have even an inkling on why I'm here." Lucy paled at that. If Freed was over protective Laxus was the equivalent of a mobile jail cell when he wanted to be. Especially If he felt particularly overbearing. After her last boyfriend she's pretty sure he'd make an excuse to come home and stay at her place 'just to spend time with her.' All the while running Natsu off. Though...that might be easier said than done. Still she didn't want those two meeting just yet. "Fine why ARE you here?"

"I had to check up on you...and I did a reading that concerned me. I had a vision that startled me and I had to make sure. I already put my stuff in the spare room."

"Gee make yourself at home."

"I could do that better if I had some booze."

"Cana..."

"I'm going to check up on this boy while Laxus isn't here getting in the way. And I think you would prefer me to him, because I won't cock block." Lucy blushes hotly.

"Yes he is good with his hands and if you play your cards right, you'll find that out first hand."

"C-Cana!?"

"What? Your thinking about it and I'm sure he is too. Your healthy and you look hot in leather. Have you worn leather around him? You need to, makes any girl's rack look amazing."

"I work on cars for a living. Leather and car work don't mix. "

"Who said anything about wearing it to work? Wait, he hangs around during your work hours? And Freed hasn't had kittens yet?"

"Only because it's biologically impossible. But he has attempted to on several occasions."

Cana sits back in thought but then smiles down at the girl she thought of as her sister already. Hugging her tightly. "Your so cute! You came from seeing him just now didn't you? I smell ginger. Not your usual scent. Hmm he had to be really close for it to get on you that bad." Cana's eyes had a sly slant to them as she gazed down at the shorter girl next to her. Lucy blushed softly as she remembered the goodbye hug they'd shared. Though it wasn't anything too intimate the warmth and strength of his form had been comforting and as her senses dulled she had almost felt...normal. Like a normal girl hanging out with a guy that she sorta-kinda-liked-but-couldn't-admit-it-to-anyone-especially-not-him, liked. She had held on just alittle longer than was platonically acceptable but he didn't seem too bothered by it. If he was ok with that she would be too. "Uh...yeah he felt a little under the weather so I helped him out a bit and we hugged."

"Just hugged?"

"Just hugged."

"Well damn. That's anti-climactic. Literally in some cases."

Lucy stands up."*I'm* going to bed. You can stay up if you like, but I still have work in the morning." Cana grins. "Alright, I'll let you go for now. But tomorrow I'm going to see for myself." Silently groaning she trudged into her room knowing that she'll need as much sleep as she can get to help with the forth coming day.