4...
Fire devil.
A small, burning cyclone that results when heated gases from a fire rise and cooler air rushes into the resulting areas of low pressure; usually occurs during forest and brush fires but also in free-burning structural fires.
It was like a lead weight was buried in his chest, choking all the air from his lungs. Nausea unrelated to Gray's frantic driving rolled around in his gut and tugged at his nerves. How could he be so stupid?
Jackal had known about Lucy. He had known about her connection to Natsu and he had practically given him a detailed explanation on how he felt about her. If something happened to her…
If she was hurt in any way.
Natsu would never be able to forgive himself.
"Come on, Lucy," Gray growled into the phone glued to his ear, twisting the wheel of the car through the blaring of the sirens, "Pick up the damn phone!"
Natsu had his ear pressed against the receiver of his terrible phone, grateful he had plugged Lucy's number into the directory the moment he realize she was going to be sticking around. His hand was tight around his archaic phone, the hard plastic biting into his palm and shaking against his white knuckled grip.
Lucy picked up and his heart almost soared in relief.
"Hello?" Her voice buzzed through the ancient speakers.
Natsu laughed, his voice shaky and trembling at the sound of her okay. Oblivious. But fine.
"Thank god," Gray's knuckles were white around his steering wheel, "Tell her to get out of there! Now."
Natsu nodded, his mouth opening to do just that, when a sudden thought flashed in his head.
"Natsu?" Lucy asked, "What's the matter?"
He heard the blowdryer in the background. She had just gotten out of the shower. He imagined her standing on her little flowery carpet in her spacious bathroom. The white gleaming tiles, shining and bright around her like a halo. Hair wet from the shower and floating around her hair from the puffs of warm air from the dryer.
The memory of her calmed him, and his fingers slid into his pocket, grasping hard onto his lighter. He had her with him for now. Her and Igneel.
It was time to protect her.
He withdrew the lighter, flicking it open with his thumb and striking it hard, the flame sparking to life. Staring into it, he let the sound of her voice and Igneel's flame secure him past his panic.
"Lucy, we think Jackal might have placed bombs around your home," He said finally, making a decision he wasn't sure was going to be the right one.
His throat went dry at the sound of Lucy's startled gasp but he swallowed past the anxiety building in his chest. He had to think, he had to try and buy her some time. Lucy was on the third floor of her condo.
Unless Happy could suddenly sprout wings and fly, she wasn't going anywhere once it went up in flames.
Which made his choice even harder.
"I need you to trust me," Natsu stared at his reflection in the window of Gray's car, "get your cat and head to your balcony. Close the door and grab yourself the thickest blanket you have. Wrap it around yourself and get down as low as you can."
"You want her to stay in there?" Gray's voice came tense, low and furious, "Tell her to get the hell out!"
It seemed that Lucy was following the same patterns Gray's were. But despite her reserves, Natsu picked up the sounds of the hair dryer clattering to the floor as she rushed to do as he told her, "But why, I can just - "
Natsu grit his teeth and closed his eyes.
"Just think," He exclaimed, voice rough and strained. Natsu felt like he was moments from jumping out of his fucking seat and sprinting the rest of the way to Lucy's home on foot, "Jackal had a sealed set up on Everlue's place. You make one move to exit your apartment, you'll be right at the center of the blast."
His expression darkened, "I'd be willing to bet he rigged your windows and doors, but there's no way he could have gotten onto your third floor without being noticed."
Gray swore, seeing the sense in Natsu's words. It was an awful lot to hinge on a guess, but it made sense.
"Why else would he risk telling us with enough time to warn her?" Gray slammed his fist against the steering wheel. The horn blared out in his fury, muffled under the wailing siren which drove them forward.
"What makes the balcony safer?" Lucy asked tensely, the sound of fumbling and a drawer being thrown open echoing loud enough for Natsu to hear.
"It's facing the street, Jackal wouldn't be able to get up there to plant the bombs without attracting attention, it's one of the strongest points in a building to stay when you have a fire," Natsu gambled. His teeth grit as his eyes flashed towards the clock on Gray's dash. They were wasting too much precious time, "Lucy, hurry!"
Whether or not Lucy tripped a bomb, it was going off.
"Lucy, do you trust me?"
For a second, Natsu wasn't sure if she was going to respond. The pause was pregnant and heavy. Her breathing ragged and frightened. She was a badass cop, but against a bomb, there was nothing she could do.
He was afraid she would doubt him.
But he knew his relief was palpable when he heard her breathe a quiet, "I do."
He wanted to ask her if she was at the balcony yet. Heart hammering in his chest as if he had run a mile, he listened to the comforting sound of her breathing on the other line. Something so simple as listening to her gave him a jolt of unexpected courage.
"We're coming for you, Lucy, hang tight," He heard her laugh, a shaky, tremulous sound, but one all the same. He savored the sound of it, memorizing the tinkling, quiet notes in his head like it was a favorite song.
"Lucy, I- "
A deafening boom blasted over the speaker, Lucy's scream echoing across it and cutting off whatever he had aimed to say.
They heard the explosion when they were six blocks away.
His thoughts froze with renewed horror, the sound of Lucy's scream echoed in his mind like a skipping disc. Natsu's heart plummeted into the soles of his feet, his eyes flashing up towards the window. There, illuminated by the pitch black of the night sky, a tower of flames erupted.
He remembered a time where such a sight would have brought him a strange sense of comfort. It was terrifying now the sheer amount of fear he held for something he once coveted. Because there was something new about fire that Natsu had never had to worry about.
It could hurt Lucy.
Gray's violent swears rang in Natsu's ear. He didn't think it was possible for him to drive any faster than he already was, but they were positively flying down the road.
The asphalt was devoured under the screeching wheels of Gray's car, and when they pulled up to the building it was already being consumed.
In a second, Natsu was back to that night seven years ago. Once again he was seventeen, listening to the screams of people begging for help as the heat boiled against his skin. Fire, a force of nature that consumed everything, even air, in its wake. Terror from the trauma he could remember, so fresh a reminder with the burning building before him, froze Natsu to his seat.
At least until the memory that he was not alone made his fingers curl. Blood warmed his cheeks, his breath fogging the window before the heat from the building made the outside of the car give off waves.
Lucy was counting on him.
He threw open the door, ignoring Gray's swear as they were met with a violent wall of heated air. Ducking his head down low, Natsu charged in, past the other residents of Lucy's building. If Gray followed him, he didn't know. Natsu frankly didn't care either, feet hammering against what was once polished wood.
The flames were dangerous sure, but when Natsu was greeted by a hallway filled with smoke, it made his stomach flip.
Erza's warning voice sprang into his head.
'All it takes is two lungfuls of smoke to make you pass out,' whispered her voice, 'Three minutes for you to asphyxiate.'
He would have to hurry. Lucy's balcony doors were glass. Hopefully the blanket would be enough to shield her from the blast that was sure to have happened when the explosion went off.
The building was at least a little familiar to Natsu, unlike the last time he went charging into a fire. He avoided the smoke and took the stairs to the right, ignoring every voice in his head that told him that was a bad idea. He knew he had enough time to use the stairs before the supports began to break down. A nice place like Lucy's would be strictly up to code, fire stoppers in the walls to make the stairs last longer.
But once he got to Lucy… He didn't know.
Minutes at best.
When he got to her floor, he dragged the back of his hand against the door, recoiling from the heat boiling on the other side. A wall of flames would be greeting him on the other side of that door the moment he kicked it open. He wouldn't be helping Lucy at all if he fried before he got to her.
"Looking for this!"
Natsu's head whipped over his shoulder, seeing Gray arrive with a fire extinguisher by the nozzle. The detective had discarded his tie and jacket somewhere along the way, leaving himself in just his cotton shirt.
For the first time in his life, Natsu was happy to see Gray. And even happier he had taken a pit stop in the kitchen to grab an extinguisher from under the sink. He just hoped Lucy kept it in good shape.
Smoke was starting to fill the stairwell in a gray haze, but the air was still breathable for the time being. It wouldn't for long though. Especially not when Natsu was about to open a new door for it.
Natsu pointed over to the side of the door, "Stand out of the way! The fire is going to rush in here for oxygen! You're gonna have to beat it back or we're toast!"
Gray nodded, his face grim and serious. Hands twisting at the knobs and keeping the chilly hose at the ready, he signaled to Natsu he was good.
Natsu braced his hands on the door frame, his booted heel lifting to kick the door in next to the burning doorknob. It gave way, and Natsu whipped back around the corner, rolling his shoulders together as a jet of flame rushed out into the hallway.
His back ached from the memory of heat, boiling hot rushing so close to his spine. The scar pulled taut with tension and Natsu held his breath, counting past the sudden, panicked ringing in his ears.
The cool from the extinguisher's foam a second later was a blessing as Gray rushed forward and pushed the flames back. Memories faded with it, and Natsu could breathe again.
Sorta.
Fresh, black billows of smoke filled the ceiling, clinging to walls. Natsu heard Gray coughing as burning paint and chemicals and fiberglass began to try and leach into their lungs.
Natsu's knees hit the ground, fists balling up as he went to remember just where Lucy's room was.
It was like trying to fight against the sun. The heat alone wanted to boil at his skin, but he fought past it despite how taxing it was on his body. Natsu crawled forward, flames licking at what had once been plush carpet and expensive furniture.
Gray was just a pace behind him. Both navigated Lucy's home even despite the screen of smoke obscuring their vision. He twisted around and headed towards the balcony.
He got up onto his feet once he caught sight of the balcony but stayed low. Embers burned around them, gathering and sparking what little hadn't already caught fire.
The sight of Lucy's body lying prone next to the shattered balcony door was enough to make Natsu throw caution to the wind and sprint the rest of the way to her. He dropped down to his knees next to her, ignoring the way they crunched into broken glass. An angry burn was a bright, shiny pink on the back of her right hand, but aside from that she looked alright.
He checked her pulse as he sucked in a lungful of clean air from the outside. Air, their saving grace. Another reason to stick by a balcony in a fire.
"She's alive," Natsu breathed out, his voice shaky.
"The explosion must have just knocked her out," Gray looked equally as relieved.
Puffing out a breath of air, Natsu wiped sweat from his eyes and grime from his face. His eyes dropped to the extinguisher in Gray's hands, "How much is left in that?"
"Not much," Gray said grimly, "I don't suppose we can wait for the fire department up here?"
Natsu eyed the state of Lucy's burning room and shook his head. While it was true, he could hear the wailing of sirens in the distance, Natsu could also hear the telltale creaking of the buildings support beginning to decay.
He had heard that noise before and had been an idiot to ignore it in the past.
"A normal fire maybe, but this was an explosion, this place won't be standing for much longer," Natsu grimaced, bending to pick up Lucy. He hefted her into his arms, but nearly dropped her when angry claws bit into his bicep.
"Ow shit! Happy!"
"Great. The cat made it," Gray grumbled and favored the blue feline with a dry look.
Huh, Happy was a true bro after all by the way he took a swipe at Gray. He was in Lucy's limp arms, bundled in a towel, but was currently clinging into Natsu's arm because his owner could no longer hold him properly. Gray hooked his arms around the cat and lifted him from Natsu
They had to get at least one floor down, preferably out of the building entirely before the ceiling and floor collapsed. By the way it groaned under their weight, Natsu didn't think they had much time left. It was impressive enough that it withstood the force of an explosion.
He tore out strips of the blanket and tied them around his nose and mouth, doing the same for both detectives while Gray tucked Happy further into his towel. Then, together they began to carry Lucy.
Gray cleared a path out with the last of the extinguisher, coughing hard in his makeshift mask before throwing the canister away and helping lift Lucy's shoulders. Happy was passed back over to Natsu, a whining yowl coming from the tiny animal.
Natsu grunted, heat blaring around them. Visibility was so low, he almost couldn't tell which direction the exit was despite having memorized the layout of Lucy's apartment.. His fingers gripped the back of Gray's collar to get his attention. He could feel the way the heat was building.
The sudden rush of air from the balcony, the aerosol cans from Lucy's dozens of haircare products, and the spike of heat. Natsu's stomach clenched as his mind raced to follow the recipe for disaster that was building just behind them.
Happy's claws were buried so firmly into the towel Natsu wrapped him in, he could feel the sharp points catching into his shirt. It went ignored in favor of the desperate situation they found themselves in. Playing hot potato with a frightened cat was the last thing on his mind.
The fire was burning out of control. Who knew for how long. By the way the paint was peeling from the once immaculate walls, Natsu knew it had been long enough. Structural damage wasn't the only thing they had to worry about now.
Heat bubbled around the backs of Natsu's ears and he shoved Gray forward, pushing them both out of the open doorframe and into the smoke filled hallway.
An explosion rattled in a flash of light that illuminated even the thickest streams of smoke for a few seconds. A roar of flames filled the doorframe, scorching the back of Natsu's pants as he shoved the detective out of the way. Happy yowled weakly in his arms as they all crashed into the groaning floor.
"Flashover," Natsu said weakly, his body sheltering Lucy's from the heat. Sweat poured down his back, evaporating into the air almost as soon as it was produced. He was getting dizzy from the fire.
How long had they been in it? Five minutes? Half an hour? Forever? He couldn't tell anymore. He just knew that was probably a good sign for them to get the hell out of there.
They headed towards the stairs, just as the ground in the hallway was smashed into by a flaming beam that toppled from the ceiling. It went from bad to worse.
As they manouvered Lucy down the steps, Natsu supported her shoulders against his chest, his arms crossed under her arms. It was a little easier to breathe the further down they went, even if the heat was still unbearable.
They moved her a bit like she was a piece of furniture, moving down the stairs and twisting around. The ceiling creaked ominously over them. It was like the entire building was trying to warn them their time was up.
Natsu was walking down the last bend, looking behind his shoulder to see how far they had left.
Almost there…
And it was then he realized nothing ever went according to plan. The step he had crossed over was a creaky one. Every time he walked up these stairs, his weight would cause the step to groan. So, not trusting it, Natsu always hopped over it. This time was no exception.
Gray hadn't.
The stair, annoying on a normal day, was trash now. And Grays weight was enough for it, and the adjoining stairs to collapse. Natsu felt a shove as Lucy's whole weight was pushed into his arms. In a split second, he met Gray's eyes as the stairs swallowed him up to the waist.
Natsu went tumbling backwards, landing hard against his back with Lucy crushing the air from his lungs. He coughed as he fell the rest of the ways down the stairs, his head throbbing and stars swimming in his vision.
He looked up the stairs, his breath freezing in his chest at the sight that greeted him. Gray was bent awkwardly in the stairs, a deep gash in his side. Serious enough that the dirty shirt, which had once been white, began to darken rapidly into near black.
"Gray!" Natsu shouted, settling Lucy down on the last floor. The air was cleaner here and while the flames were crawling steadily towards them, they hadn't reached yet. The ceiling gave a loud groan of warning overheard, almost drowning out the sirens outside.
He made a few abortive steps towards Gray, shielding his eyes from the flames and shouldering his way around the destroyed condominium. Embers flashed through the air and Natsu recoiled when he drew closer to Gray. Fire was crawling along the walls, consuming everything it touched.
"Natsu!" The detective shouted, his voice straining as he tried to drag himself out from the splintery prison. His fingers clawed through the boards in a way that was painfully reminiscent.
"Save Lucy!" He bellowed over the roar of the flames.
Natsu crouched over her body, his heart hammering in his chest. It was like his vision tunneled out at those familiar words. At the deadly scenario repeating in almost an eerie fashion. Only this time, he found himself on the other end of those words. He was the one who had to choose who to save.
The decision he thrust upon Jellal so many years ago.
Another Fullbuster trapped in a fire.
"Like HELL!" Natsu shouted back, the fury and pent up rage from that night spilling out in force. No one was getting left behind this time. Not a fucking person was burning. And if the rest of his skin boiled from his body if it meant all of them got out, then that was what he would gladly sacrifice.
Jellal hadn't been given that choice. Natsu couldn't be saved.
Gray could.
The fire from seven years ago wouldn't haunt him any longer.
He charged up the groaning stairs, his hands sliding under Gray's weak arms. A bloody gash had trickled down Gray's forehead, his expression dazed and concussed.
"What're… you doing?" He drived to shove Natsu off him but his attempts were weak at best. "Get to Lucy!"
"And leave her without a partner? I'd never hear the end of that!" Natsu's grip tightened on Gray. He shifted him a bit, seeing the piece of wood embedded in the man's side. At least it was loose, the debris having broken apart. Leaning back and supporting his leg against one of the studs in the torn apart wall, he heaved backwards with all his strength.
"Come on you limp, fucking bastard! Help me!" Natsu's body strained, the dead weight of Gray heavy against his chest and arms. He didn't like how pale it was becoming, and he tugged with the entirety of his weight.
Gray made a soft noise in the back of his throat, his eyes hazy as the lick of flames grew closer and closer.
When it became clear he wasn't moving, Natsu's own strength began to fail. He coughed hard, his eyes darting behind him to see if Lucy was still okay. She looked like she was fine from the fires, and Natsu thought he even saw her lift her head. His breathing was heavy and labored as he tried to think past the haze building in the stairwell.
"You remember when we were kids," Natsu tried, his voice growing hoarse and throaty at the memory he was breaking into. It wasn't something he talked about, the time before Erza and Jellal. When Igneel was still alive and his old neighborhood was full of color because his family was intact. When he was just a brat, living with a single father in a simple brownstone. Next to him another boy his age, just as surely as Natsu but living with a loving mother, a sister and brother.
Gray's foggy attention lifted to Natsu, his eyes flashing both narrowed and confused.
"You remember when we played cops and robbers," Natsu grit his teeth, his arms winding around Gray's body again. Eyes flashing towards the fire and then back to their position where it was creeping around them, "We would fight over who got to be the cop, until Lisanna got between us and made us play princess and knights instead?
A ragged cough escaped Gray's throat, a pulse of blood oozing from his side from the hard movement.
"She always wanted you to be the knight…"
Pleased he was answering, cognizant enough to remember the story, Natsu nodded, "But I always played the dragon."
Gray shook his head, uncomprehending, "What's your point Natsu…?"
"My point, you limp dick bastard," Natsu growled, his fingers tight around the man's shirt. It looked like it had been expensive at one point, "Is that we still have a whole lot of shit we need to get through. You don't get to die. Not without having one last throw down with me!"
"You've got people in your life you care about," Natsu snarled, bending over enough to have his weight on the support beam. Natsu's heavy boot sunk into the splintery wood, groaning under the pressure he applied, "so lets get the hell out of Satan's flaming armpit!"
Whether one of Natsu's insults registered, or Gray's stubborn will to live ignited, it seemed to do the trick. The detective's hands gripped the smouldering stairs on either side of his body and pushed up as hard as he could, nails cracking under the effort used to claw himself back up.
Slowly, Gray's body came loose with the assistance of Natsu.
But it was too late.
Victory was short lived, and a creaking scream echoed overhead. Natsu's body curled forward, his head shooting up just in time to see a massive crack break across the ceiling.
He had enough time to hold his breath before everything collapsed and the flaming support beams came hurtling down towards them. Pain laced against his side and across his right arm, but he didn't have enough time to think about it as he was busy trying to shield Gray from the worst of it.
Terror gripped Natsu at the sight, as black smoke billowed into the room where the hole emerged. It was inescapable, and the ground shook as the ceiling itself fell down around them in a shower of flames.
His vision tunneled out,the rag around his mouth unable to do a thing to stop such thick smoke from filling his lungs. The pathway between them and Lucy was cut off, and strength began to leave Natsu's limbs.
Smoke filled his lungs like sluggish tar.
Gray next to him, had passed out, blood sticky and almost cool against Natsu's burning hands. Natsu swayed, trying to keep his head up when he saw something strange before his fading vision.
Ethereal lights, dancing through the smoke. He thought he heard a voice calling out his name, muffled and distant. The lights got brighter the closer they got to him, cutting through the haze.
Strange, they almost looked like fairies.
Fairies dancing in the smoke.
Oh man, you guys are so funny. I gotta say, your reviews are wonderful. I can't even reply to them all omg.
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