Chapter Two: Young and Bold: Natsu Dragneel

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Everything in life came with a price and why shouldn't it? Being an orphan when he was younger, Natsu quickly learned the price of being without a family. The rosette male was constantly on the run from someone chasing him for stealing something for someone else - running from criminals to help a criminal. Same chaotic routine, if it should even be called that. By the time Natsu was 13, he had an extensive rap sheet ranging in: petty theft down to attempted murder.

Two years later while on a simple theft operation, he was hit over the head with the base of a handgun and lost consciousness when he awoke he found himself in a hospital. A hospital that a no-good low-life like him could only dream of being brought into; from the bed he could see two men talking with the doctor near his room. The elderly man glanced over in his direction as if sensing the rosette's gaze on him; the two men entered his room while the doctor walked in the opposite direction, likely going to check on other patients.

"Dragneel Natsu. Age 15... You've got quite the rap sheet for someone so young," The elderly man spoke earning a sneer from the bandaged teen.

"Feh, its the price I pay for being an orphan," The rosette scoffed as his eyes hardened just like they always did around others.

"No, its not... It the price you paid for being used instead of protected," Cobalt eyes widened at the old man's comment as something seemed to break inside of him - what it was, he had no idea at the time...

"Natsu, the way things are: you'll go to jail until you're 21 once the doctors give the 'okay'-"

"And what the hell does that have anything to do with you two?" Natsu barked, successfully cutting off the other man's statement.

The time the elderly man spoke up: "You have an interesting set of skills, my boy. How would you like to have your rap sheet erased completely, never being used again and to help make sure no one has to have a childhood like you?"

The man's proposal hit a nerve deep inside the young teen, who merely asked: "What's the price for something like that?"

"You die," Cobalt eyes nearly slipped from their sockets but the elderly man continuation put him into deep thought: "Natsu Dragneel, the 15-year-old criminal will die and Natsu Dragneel, the new addition to our organization will be born..."

"I see... so basically my life has to come to an end so I can protect other orphans, is that right? So what does my 'skill set' as you called it have anything to do with that?" The question came out more of a hoarse whisper than anything else but still held the emotional baggage he wanted it to.

"There are too many corrupt people taking advantage of good people... We want to 'take care' of them so we can protect others from suffering. We all have been taken advantage of in the worse ways possible,"

A hollow laugh slipped from Natsu's lip: "I guess you have a new addition then,"

Five years had passed since Gramps, the elderly man, and Gildarts had recruited him into their organization; his skills with fighting with various traditional weapons had greatly improved and he had even picking up martial arts moves from Loki, his first friend and fellow comrade. Loki had been traded around as a sex slave when he was a child and up until his teenage years when he was rescued by Natsu and a few other organization members. Natsu had offered him a chance to possible save other people in his situation; although he had been greatly lectured on doing so, Loki had passed the test for being allowed to join.

After Loki's induction into the group, the rosette followed the rules more closely to avoid being given an earful by not only Gramps but the other higher-ups as well. Walking down the corridors of the second floor, he walks past the large staircase leading to the first floor, through the room where jobs are posted, through the dark room where debriefing is done for larger groups, down another short hallway before Natsu knocks softly on a light oak door. The door clicked, signalling it was okay to enter; poking his rosy head into the room, he glanced around until he saw the girl he was looking for: "Levi, were you able to get the needed info?"

Levi McGarden worked as an info broker for the organization - she and Lucy Heartfilia, another info broker live just beyond the two roomful of books and computers. The petite teen took off her glasses before pinching the bridge of her nose as she sighed, "Yeah... I pulled an all-nighter just to be sure I got it all," then picked up a stack of documents.

"Lapointe, the CEO of Zentopia Medical Insurance has made quite a splash in giving insurance to the poor... Sounds great, right? Not in the slightest. There's a court date set in one month taking ruling over whether Macao Conbolt, a father just barely making the monthly payments should deserve an operation that could save his life-"

"What's wrong with him?" It wasn't until the word 'father' was heard that a personal interest was taken in the job he had grabbed at the beginning of the week.

"He has cancer and unfortunately I can't get anything further information because breaking into a hospital's records are illegal," A light smile spread across Levi's features at the small joke.

"Go on," He instructed her, which she gladly did: "Anyways, I may not have been able to get much information on Macao but I'm sure you're interested to hear that he has a son... About 12 who, if the court rules in favor of Lapointe, will become an orphan shortly after..."

"I need you to get me into the gala he's hosting this weekend and his home address, just in case" Natsu grinned, feeling giddy; he would always admit that the best part of his life nowadays was helping a family out - nothing else could even compare to keeping a child from experiencing the same pain he did growing up.

"And what makes you so damn sure I can get you into a CEO's party that's tonight?"

"Because you're an angel, Levi~"

"And don't forget it, now take me along so you don't make a fool out of yourself in case someone talks to you~" Levi smirked; they both knew he'd have no problem taking her along and hell, she deserved some field work every now and then.

"Of course. Be ready by 4 or I'm leaving without you,"

Once that was settled all that was left was some time to wind-down with Loki and catch up on things until it was time to head out. Loki had mentioned earlier in the week that he was going to ask Lucy out; it was amazing despite the horrible events every one of them had gone through it wasn't long before they were all acting like normal teens would. As three o'clock rolled around, the rosette had to end his conversation with Loki about various things so he could prepare for the mission tonight. Strolling down the stairwell, the teen turned left at the bottom entering a long corridor, which would lead him to the stock of weapons and ammo.

"The usual secondary order, please" Natsu, like many in the organization, had two sets of orders he always requested; his secondary for surveillance (with a possibility of needing force) and his primary for everything else.

"Surveillance, huh? Good luck, Natsu" The girl behind the counter smiled warmly at him as she disappeared around the corner behind her and re-appeared with his order that she carefully placed on the marble counter top.

Next on his to-do list was getting changed; the gala was a black-tie event meaning he would have to take a hot shower in order to stand a chance of taming his wild rose-colored locks underneath a sleek black wig, which he would have to brush out to avoid his act from being seen through.

"Alright, now the accent..." he muttered, standing in front of the mirror wearing only a towel around his waist and a black wig he used for formal surveillance.

"How are you today, sir?" A content smile at his English-speaking skills; he had noticed that English-speaking guest were often highly liked by the female guest so having an alibi always worked in his favor.

"Natsu, you ready?" Levi's voice filled his room making him chuckle as he replied: "Yeah, just let me get some clothes on"

No surprise that she was ready early - she hasn't been out on a mission with anyone in a while; Gajeel, her rumored-boyfriend, had been sent out on a mission months ago and hadn't returned. Skillfully slipping his arms into the sleeves of his white button-up, he slipped on his pants with just as much skill before grabbing his tie and jacket then heading out. As he walked down the staircase right outside his bedroom, he buttoned up his shirt before noticing Levi waiting at the bottom wearing a soft white evening gown with slight beading and ruffle at the top along with slip-on matching heels.

Upon seeing her comrade make his final descent, she smiled before holding out her hand; Natsu chuckled again, handing her his tie before asking if his wig looked alright. The petite info broker worked her magic with his tie as she spoke: "Yes, it looks great~ There all done,"

At the Zentopia Gala

"Ah, Mister Lapointe, I presume" Natsu's English was well-received by the host, who immediately greeted him back: "An American, and who might you be?"

"Doctor Alex Cross"

"Alex Cross, hn" Glancing over at his bodyguard as if to signal him to check the list of guest; sure enough the man beside him nodded his head and their conversation continued: "Well, I never expected an American doctor to come to one of my galas. What brings you here?"

"I heard about your insurance and came as a representative of the hospital I work for," Natsu flashed the man a smile before giving a short bow, "Of course I apologize for talking of business at an event such as this... is there some way we can discuss this at a later time?"

Waving two fingers to his bodyguard, he whispered words assume the other would not understand, "Give this man my business card and then I'll be a step closer to playing god over health insurance,"

A fake oblivious smile was all the undercover rosette could do to keep his cover as the CEO's bodyguard handed him a thick piece of paper before thanking them both and walking away to presumably flirt with a group of girls. With his back turned, he spoke softly so only his microphone could pick it up (and essentially the person on the same frequency): "Did you get all that, Levi? He seems pretty confident about playing god with people's lives,"

"So it seems," a short pause in her response before she talking, "So are you making your move?" She was trained to be able to fit her responses with her comrades within a separate conversation with a guest.

"You bet," Natsu spent much of the gala talking to random guest, careful not to draw attention to himself in doing so.

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Csilla: I nearly died when I saw this was over 1,000 words - hell, was almost 2,000 before the author's note! D: ALL IN ONE FUCKING SHOT!

Next Chapter - Breaking In