5...
Mayday
Code that indicates a firefighter is lost, missing or requires immediate assistance..
Natsu turned the familiar hallways of the precinct. It was almost sad how well he knew this building. Even sadder was the fact that it hadn't changed much in almost seven years. Some of the older detectives were a little greyer, while others were gone and replaced by youthful faces.
During his time as Salamander, they had suspected him many times of being an arsonist. He lost count of how many times he had been dragged into these halls for questioning. Back then he thought it was a game, taunting and teasing cops until they were red in the face and ready to blow. His anger at the force had never dwindled, and only seemed to intensify the older he became.
Which made it even stranger that he was here voluntarily.
He navigated hallways with an expertise that would make rookie beat cops jealous. It was weird going through the main desk and filling out a name tag and actually waiting around to be allowed onto the floor.
So now he was slapping a sticker name tag on his chest, decorated with flames and sideways looking dragon trying to eat the words 'Hi my name is-'.
When he finally arrived on the right floor by using the stairs, to avoid the cops piling in the elevator, he reached the bullpen, barely able to hold back a cringe. The sight of rows upon rows of desks aligned into uniform perfection made him wanted to run over and flip over every last flawless stack of paper they had.
He was here for a reason, and he wasn't about to be chased out by a bunch of badges and guns.
Directing himself towards a familiar black head of hair, Natsu dropped down behind the frigid detective and the blond criminal he was processing. He looked seconds from pulling a chunk of hair out, because Jackal did not seem interested in letting loose any information.
"What is your legal name," Gray gritted out. So focused was he, Gray didn't even notice how Natsu flopped behind him in Lucy's wheeling chair. His stomach flipped uncomfortably as it always did whenever he sat in something that moved under its own power.
"It's Jackie," Natsu drawled, "But he hates it because it makes him sound like some Juniper Lee school girl. That's his last name by the way: Juniper."
Gray's answering grunt caught Natsu's attention and since the man hadn't told him to fuck off, Natsu figured he was welcome to stay for the time being. Catching Jackal must have put the frigid bastard in a good mood.
"Can I talk to you?" asked Natsu, leaning back in Lucy's chair enough to drop his booted heels on the edge of her desk.
"Do you have to? I'm busy trying to type up a report and figure out where this crazy bastard hid the rest of his stash," Gray muttered, "One arsonist was bad enough, but now I'm dealing with two."
Jackal was busy growling over being ignored by the two men, clearly not used to being dismissed. As explosive as he was, no doubt he was used to being the center of attention. However that was difficult when Natsu was in the room.
"Salamander," He spoke up, "You- "
Natsu raised a hand and sushed him, "Yeah yeah, you're a badass that should be feared. Got it. Mommy and daddy are having a conversation so why don't you sit in your high chair like a good boy?"
He pointed at Gray, "You're mommy."
"Of course I am," Gray growled, back at him, "I have to deal with you acting like an infant every five minutes, so that sounds about right."
"You-" Jackal snarled, and cut off with a squeak when Gray impatiently turned the handcuffed criminal around to face into the corner.
"You've got five minutes, Nats-" Gray's eyes fastened onto the sticker on Natsu's chest, his jaw dropping open at what Natsu had scribbled down. Natsu didn't resist the wide smirk that consumed his face.
'Hi my name is… Salamander!' Complete with fire breathing dragons and explosions in the background. The lady at the front desk insisted he write a normal one after taking the sharpie away from him like he was a five year old, but he swiped the masterpiece he created before she could throw it away.
"Alright you crazy bastard, you get ten," Gray allowed, seemingly a little fascinated by Natsu's ballsy move.
Surprised by his leniency, Natsu grinned at Gray and nodded, the tension coiling in his chest a nervous weight.
"It's about Lucy."
"I figured," Gray clicked his pen, his thumb pressing down on the spring in what was clearly a habit. A hell of an annoying one at that. Natsu's eyes fastened to the rapidly clicking pen, the desire to fling it out of the closest window rising in him.
Or maybe toss it in a coffee pot and have the jerk fish it out. The pen looked as expensive and nice as Lucy's did.
No Natsu, he scolded himself, Focus. Piss Gray off later.
"Look, this thing in our past, it's gotta stop. We're just feeding it a whole lot of hate so it festers into something ugly," Natsu jerked his thumb to his chest as he gestured between them, "I know I fucked up, we've got a lot of bad blood between us."
"But Lucy doesn't have anything to do with that," Natsu's favored Gray a firm look, "I'm serious about this - about her. She makes me crazy."
He lifted a shoulder and glanced at Gray, "Maybe you were right before. Maybe I was a monster, but I'm not one anymore."
"If there's one thing you know about me," He slammed his feet off Lucy's desk and twisted in the chair to thrust his hand out to Gray, "Is that the people I care about always come first."
Gray studied Natsu's hand, the pen frozen in his hand. His expression was shrouded, but Natsu thought he saw a flicker of indecision cross Gray's face for a moment. After a tense moment, he nodded and reached out to grasp Natsu's hand.
"Alright, I'm not her keeper. If she wants your stupid ass, she can have it," Gray nodded, but not without his fair share of reluctance, "Just don't fuck it up, you dumb bastard. And don't get it twisted, this doesn't mean you and I are good - just that I'll tolerate your stupid face hanging around."
A victorious smile flashed over Natsu's face, the weight he had been carrying around lifting off his shoulders for a precious few seconds. Good enough for him.
At least until the eavesdropping little shit that was Jackal decided to speak up.
"Oho," The man laughed viciously, "So the blond bimbo was Salamander's girlfriend?"
The man's wild cackling filled the precinct, drawing the attention of everyone nearby. Clearly he was tired of being ignored. It caused Gray to scowl and drag his chair back over towards him.
"Hey, watch your mouth. That's my partner you're talking about," Gray growled at him, ignoring the livid expression on Natsu's face.
Jackal just shook his head and waved a cuffed hand, "No, no, you don't get it! This is perfect! The Salamander's girlfriend is a detective!"
He shook his head, "I thought it was suspicious for a babe like that to hook up with a loser like Salamander, but this makes everything even better!"
"I was happy when that bitch arrested me," Jackal sneered at Natsu, whose expression had fallen from one of anger, to one of slow trepidation. Gray, who hadn't caught on, was scowling back at the bomber without understanding.
"And why would you be happy about that?"
"After Salamander here was punk enough to come to my house, I had him followed by one of my boys," Jackal leaned in to Gray's space, golden eyes glittering with a vicious light. It was predatory and blood thirsty, enough that the detective felt an air of unease.
"Let me tell you a riddle," purred the criminal. Despite being locked in cuffs, he wore his manacles as if they were fine watches, like he was precisely where he wanted to be. As if he were in perfect control of the situation, "What's the one thing bombers can do that arsonists can't?"
Natsu's face drained of color and he surged to his feet, the answer springing to his mind. How could he have been so much of an idiot? High on a perceived victory, Natsu had gone straight to Lucy's house after his confrontation with Jackal.
His missing stash, Everlue, and the amount of raw material he bought.
Lucy's chair clattered to the floor from the force he used to stand up. He paid no attention to it, or the deafening silence that followed. He stared at Jackal in dawning horror and grabbed the man by the collar, lifting him off his chair.
"Natsu!" Gray shouted sharply and dropped his hands on Natsu's wrists to wrestle Jackal from his grip. He also rose as he realized something had set him off.
"If you did anything-!" Natsu roared, shaking Jackal up to his eyelevel.
"Natsu! Let him go!" Gray shouted back
"You know what, I think I'll give the answer to our dear little detective here," Jackal jingled his manacled wrists. His head rolled back on his shoulders, a maddening cackle tearing from his throat, "He seems a bit on the slow side doesn't he?"
Gray's teeth bared in an angry scowl, but not one with an expression of true concern, "Natsu, what is he talking about. What can a bomber do that an arsonist can't?"
A ragged breath tore from Natsu's lungs. He was staring at Jackal's smirking face and his grip went slack, dropping him in a heap on the floor. He felt nausea roll in his stomach as tense heat flooded through his lungs. It filled him with something dark, something ugly. And the last time he felt like this was when he thought he had lost everything in his life. Because this time, he was certain he would.
He took a shaky breath, his eyes flashing towards Gray as he answered the riddle.
"Be in two places at once."
"Fool me once - shame on you,"Jackal smirked from his spot where he was laying on the floor. Natsu had to resist the urge to drive his foot into the criminal's side. But only because he had far more important things to worry about now.
"Better hurry. It's been a little over an hour, hasn't it? The show should be starting any moment now," Jackal laughed, "It was a nice little place, wasn't it?"
Gray snapped into action as he threw his pen on the desk and scrambled for his keys, "Levy put him in holding! I need patrol cars to set up a three block perimeter around Detective Heartfilia's building!"
Immediately the precinct, which had fallen silent from Natsu's outburst despite the occasional ringing phone, jumped into action. If Natsu wasn't so horrified, he might have been a little impressed by their coordination. Gray jerked his thumb as voices reported 'We have a possible bomb!' to the local cops already out in the area.
"Natsu come with me, we're getting her out of there," Gray growled, heading towards the door with the other right at his heels.
They both prayed they weren't too late as they all but sprinted to Gray's car. Natsu didn't waste any time swinging into the passenger seat while Gray hit the sirens. Immediately Natsu's stomach lurched to his throat when Gray fishtailed of the parking garage and began to peel out to Lucy's place.
It wasn't far.
They could make it.
HA YOU THOUGHT WE WERE DONE? PSSSH. Not yet.
Also on Tumblr, we've announced there will be a sequel to Trial by Fire. It is a yet unnamed story that continues the adventures and some of the threads we set up in this story but didn't fully explore.
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