Alright guys! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter in my lil' section. We've got a lot more to go so hang on tight!
Lieutenant.
A company officer who is usually responsible for a single fire company on a single shift; the first in line of company officers, in command when the captain is absent.
Lucy stood in front of an old brownstone, her eyes skimming over the terraced face and the milky windows hidden behind wrought iron bars. She was far away from Strawberry street, that was for sure.
She tugged at the skirt she was wearing, a stark difference from the short heels and professional pantsuits she opted to wear while working. It was a short, navy blue skirt with white daisies printed on it. A white crop top that fell right against her waistline matched her, and she fiddled with the hem as she stood on his stoop.
'Don't be ridiculous,' Lucy chided herself, 'You couldn't have shown up here looking like a cop now could you?'
She had the recording he requested nestled in her purse, her heart hammering in her chest from nerves. Perhaps showing up at his home unannounced wasn't the best of her plans, but she had told him she would drop it off later. He was expecting her.
"It's not like this is a date, this is just business," she told herself, unyielding. There was no way he was going to suck her in again, not with his dark eyes or cunning smile. Or his handsome face, and charming wit.
Or his—
"Business? But that's no fun," A familiar voice cut off her thoughts.
Trepidation and embarrassed horror flooded through Lucy as she turned.
And came face to face with a smirking Natsu.
He leaned against the metal railings of his brownstone, strong arms bracing his weight. The man was a little out of breath, but by the looks of him, he had just come back from jogging.
He wore nothing but a thin, sleeveless shirt, a slick coat of perspiration coating defined arms and across the tattoo curled over his bicep. Loose sweats hung low on his hips, exposing a sliver of wicked skin where his shirt had ridden up.
"My eyes are up here, Luce," came Natsu's purr of amusement.
Face flaming red, her attention snapped upwards towards him, the murderous impulse to kick him in his smug face rising by the moment.
Natsu smirked at Lucy as if he knew where her eyes had been oogling. The old railing groaned under his weight, shaking with movement as he pushed off its support. It was impossible to ignore how little he seemed to care how the rusted, wrought iron lifted from the cement for a frightening second.
His lips twitched upwards, pulling into a bright smile that left her heart backflipping into her stomach.
Focus, Lucy.
"Hello detec- I mean Lucy," His expression was so open in those few moments, she felt like it was a terrible crime for him to always pick fights. Especially with her partner.
"Did you bring it?" The excited glitter in his eyes was dwarfed by the look of pure evil morphing that sweet smile into one of a cunning demon.
Lucy felt sorry for the officers that had to watch Natsu's cellblock. Salamander never left behind evidence after all. No proof of his mischief. If Jackal wasn't such a sleazeball, Lucy almost would have felt sorry for him.
Almost.
"Sure I did, but lets head inside to discuss it," Lucy turned, not missing the way Natsu's eyes dropped down to the bare skin of her legs when she moved up a step. The man made absolutely no attempt to hide his interest or roving eyes.
"My eyes are up here," Lucy mocked, teasing.
It was fascinating to see how his face flushed the same color as his hair.
Natsu's eyes skittered across her and slid off to the side. He jogged up the last couple of steps to stand next to Lucy, a sheen of sweat gleamed over his shoulders and up his neck, more apparent from curve of his defined jaw.
His body looked slack, as if he was relaxed from a good workout, and hopefully feeling better. Lucy wondered if he spent time at the community gym. There were many that were free and open to the public in the downtown area. It made sense Natsu would take advantage of those.
Especially after the burnings she had him do.
Her heart still clenched with guilt when she remembered him setting his first fire after being locked away for so long. How the color had drained from his face or the way his thumb had struck the flint wheel of his lighter over and over and over again before the flame began.
And long since after it.
He looked better now, in control.
For that, Lucy was glad. Although she was worried. For each fire he struck, Natsu seemed a little less affected by whatever illness had struck him that first night. It was behind them now. No more fires needed to be lit, but Natsu had still stuck close to her in the aftermath.
She wasn't an idiot.
What she had driven him to do had taken a toll on him, even if he tried to pretend it hadn't. Guilt swung heavy in her heart as she wondered how she could be so callous as to taunt him with what had once been an addiction.
She moved in behind him as he fit his key into his door and unlocked it, swinging it open and filing in after him.
The inside of his apartment was sweltering but the heat didn't seem to bother him so much. Air conditioning was apparently just a myth for Natsu. She was about to ask him about it, before she realized he probably couldn't afford something like a central air unit. Not even one that was mounted on a window.
Again, guilt pressed into her heart. The conversation with Natsu several nights ago rearing into the back of her mind. How she complained about the wealth she inherited when Natsu scraped by just to have a roof over his head.
She wondered if he thought she was an idiot. The words he told her implied the opposite. He took her seriously, one of the very few who did. There were no dismissive snorts, no eye rolls. Natsu seemed to consider her pain just as important as his own.
'Suffering ain't a contest detective.'
She supposed he was right. It wasn't one she wanted to win.
Unfortunately for Lucy, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. Her thoughts were distracted, so she walked right into Natsu's back. A grunt escaped her and she rubbed her sore nose, wondering why he had stopped moving.
His head swivelled around, a pink brow arched and his nose twitching, "Someone's here."
He said it so low, Lucy almost missed it. She froze, her hand drifting down to the hemline of her skirt. Strapped to her leg was her spare piece.
She was on the job after all. There was no way Lucy was going to go anywhere unarmed, no matter how cute she looked.
Natsu seemed to pick up something he recognized with his unusually sharp hearing. He stiffened and he eyed a bottle of some lemon cleaner by the staircase.
Had someone broken into his house to clean?
Granted the place was dusty and a complete pigsty, but that seemed like unusual dedication for a robber.
"Uh oh," He breathed and gripped Lucy's shoulder, "We should probably go. Like right now."
She took in his pale face and gave him a somewhat alarmed look, "Are you in danger?"
"In a matter of speaking."
He took one creaking step towards the exit and winced, body growing stiff and tense. It was a good thing he froze too, because one second later a broom snapped across the doorframe to prevent Natsu's escape.
It was wielded with the accuracy of a sword, and the sound rang out with a menacing 'CRACK.' At the end of the broom stood a tall red head, her hair tied back in a neat ponytail. Around her waist was a frilly pink apron, and in her other was a spatula.
"Natsu," The woman let out a growl that sent a shudder running up Natsu's spine, "Where do you think you're going? This place is filthy."
"E-Erza," He stammered, green eyes going wide in fear. He took a wide step away from her, as if considering hiding behind Lucy for protection. It was a fact she would have found all too amusing if not for the fact she recognized the woman standing before them.
"Lieutenant Scarlet?" She asked in absolute shock, her jaw dropping at the sight of the firefighter in Natsu's home of all place. The pieces fell into place and she whipped around at Natsu, who looked just as surprised at Lucy.
"This is the Erza from your childhood?" She demanded, whirling around onto Natsu, who looked like escape was the better option of valor in this case, "Why didn't you tell me! She was the first responder on the case!"
Natsu's jaw dropped open and he scoffed, pouting as his arms crossed, "How would I know? This is all news to me! I didn't even know she was a fire fighter."
"Next you'll tell me Jellal is mayor," something in his eyes grew muted as he thought, "I haven't seen either of them in seven years."
Lucy watched as his sadness seemed to wash through him, leaving just as quickly as it came. There wasn't anger, just…
...loneliness from a man that missed his family.
He squinted at Erza, who looked torn between guilt and consideration. Broom resting on her shoulder, one visible eye fixated on Natsu, "Jellal will be back here soon with groceries, and you can ask him what he does then."
Immediately a boyish grin flashed over Natsu's face, all signs of depression gone in an instant. Lucy had seen it before, but never as broad or happy as in that moment. Perhaps at the restaurant when she had bought him food, but Lucy felt like she was seeing an entirely new side to the cocky and sometimes foul mouthed arsonist.
Natsu surprisingly, didn't seem to hold any feelings of ill will towards Erza, or even this Jellal person for what happened. Judging by the wide smile and excited gleam in his eyes, he wasn't even considering it.
Lucy wondered what went on in his head.
"I have to admit, I'm glad to see you, Detective Heartfilia," Erza's eye flashed towards her, finally paying her attention, "On my last call I thought I recognized- "
Her words cut off, as if catching herself.
Confused for a moment, Lucy didn't miss Natsu's wry smirk or the way he walked over to the rickety stairs and plopped down on them, feet spread out wide in front of him. It wasn't until Lucy saw Erza avoiding her gaze, did she realize the redhead was trying to protect Natsu.
"Oh!" Lucy gasped, ignoring Natsu's snort of amusement behind her, "Natsu's been working with the police to catch an arsonist. We're trying to flush him out by making him believe he has competition."
"Competition?" Erza looked torn between relief over Natsu helping the police, and horror over Natsu helping the police. It was hard to judge where exactly she fell on that spectrum. She did not look pleased at all the idea of Natsu lighting fires for the police. But that didn't seem to be the crux of the problem.
"Who could Natsu possibly be competing-" Erza's entire body went very still. So still, Lucy thought she had been turned into stone, "You cannot mean Jackal, Natsu."
Lucy cleared her throat, letting Erza's hard glare draw to her instead. Natsu was busy staring at one of the many cracks in his sheetrock, looking both bored with the direction the conversation was inevitably going. He was scratching the back of an ear and grumbling under his breath.
"We believe Jackal is responsible for the Black Star case you brought to the precincts attention," Lucy cleared her throat. Even being a detective, Erza's steely gaze was just shy of terrifying. There was something inflexible about the firm way she stared Lucy down. Frilly pink apron and spatula aside, the woman was terrifying.
Although Lucy supposed she had to be to keep Natsu in line.
"He moved into other county lines years ago," the red head asked after a moment, her single eye sliding from Lucy to Natsu.
Natsu rolled his shoulders and leaned back into the groaning stairs. They didn't seem to appreciate his added weight, but he rolled his head back to stare up at the ceiling.
"Who knows why the bastard decided to come back," Natsu drawled.
The broom came down across his midsection in a flash of motion, and Lucy was impressed by how fast Erza had moved. Natsu let out a shrieking squeal and flopped over onto his side, wheezing while Erza stood like some kind of avenging angel - not a hair out of place.
Her eyes flashed with a fire of their own and she brandished the broom angrily, "You're an idiot for trying to make him angry, Natsu! Do you want him to burn down your house?"
"Well considering I don't have any insurance, that would be pretty pointless," Natsu's lips curved into a sardonic grin. This time he managed to dive out of the way of the swinging broom by the skin of his teeth, rolling up onto his feet in time to sprint behind Lucy for safety.
"Uh uh, you're on your own with this one," Lucy stared at him and tried to shuffle away, only to have an insistent Natsu scuttle behind her, keeping a Lucy shaped barrier between himself and Erza's wrath.
"Don't be a chicken!"
"Says the woman with a gun!"
And that was the scene Jellal walked in on. He was carrying an impressive haul of groceries, his foot crooked around an open door and staring at the three people circling one another in front of the landing of Natsu's stairs. Natsu was desperately hiding the bulk of himself behind Lucy, who was trying to edge away, Erza's eye focused on Natsu, broom at the ready for the earliest opportunity to swing.
"What's.." Jellal's eyes followed the scene in shock, "What's going on?"
"Grab his ankles, Jellal," Erza ordered without turning to look at him, "Natsu is insistent on being an idiot and is taking the cowardly approach by hiding behind Detective Heartfilia."
"Detective Heartfilia?" Jellal asked, drawing Lucy's attention.
Her eyes flashed towards the new man, the startling head of blue hair that fell in long locks around a handsome face. But what locked her gaze was the swirling red ink printed over an old burn. It was an intricate looking tattoo, and Lucy's breath caught as she realized it was done in the same way Natsu's old scars were covered up.
Had Natsu gotten the idea from Jellal?
Or was it the other way around?
The answer soon became clear when Natsu straightened up, his shocked gaze falling onto the other man's tattoos.
"Jellal, your face."
In his distraction, he didn't notice the broom until it went cracking against the crown of his head and he reared back in pain, cradling his skull.
"It's rude to stare, Natsu!" Erza barked, scowling at him with her one viable eye. She managed to look downright menacing, even with one eye and her frilly pink apron.
"But Jellal…" Natsu looked at a loss for words, his hand burying into pink hair to massage the tender area she had struck. Lucy's eyes followed the movement his fingers took through the rosy locks, tempted to soothe the spot he was nursing.
It went ignored in favor of focusing on the undercurrent of tension radiating between the three of the old friends.
"Natsu, I-"
But he was cut off, a sharp smile flashing over Natsu's face. When Lucy paid closer attention to his smile, she could see the razor-like tension just under his grin. It was a clear sign that he knew whatever Jellal was going to say would be an apology neither would forget. So instead he talked over him, "Wow, you bought a lot of food. Thanks!"
"Wait, Natsu I-" Jellal blinked in confusion, thrown off by Natsu's babbling. His grip on the bags next to him shook, the plastic trembling and rustling into the quiet air.
Natsu cut him off again with a clap to his hands, loudly talking over him as if Jellal hadn't said anything. A thoughtful look clouded his face, "I'm pretty sure my refrigerator works. Well it does most of the time."
Green eyes flickered over to Jellal, and Lucy realized Natsu was daring Jellal to try apologizing again. Smiles of forgiveness filtered over Natsu's face, warm and encouraging to the tattooed man with so much pain in his eyes.
Something uncoiled in Lucy's chest, relaxing over the quiet exchange. It was unspoken, something travelling between the three of them in a language Lucy didn't know. Almost feeling like an intruder on the moment between the family members who had been separated for so long, she took a quiet step back.
She was stopped from venturing too far by a warm pressure on her wrist. Natsu's hand was on skin, tying her to this sense of a family. As if he were inviting her into it. Lucy's heart swelled at the gesture
Having lost her family at a young age, her lungs compressed with emotion. Especially knowing the importance these people had played on Natsu's life.
Jellal looked down, huffing out a quiet breath and a rueful smile crossing his face. He lifted his eyes to Natsu, meeting his gaze with more steadfast and calm confidence Lucy was expecting. She didn't know what she thought, but coming from one of the people who helped raise the spitfire that was Natsu…
She wasn't expecting such a soothing presence.
"Then, I suppose it's time to prepare a meal," Jellal responded finally, shouldering the bags again and heading into the kitchen.
OHOHOHO! As if we could forget Erza and Jellal. Pffff. 'Bout time these losers showed up.
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