A/N: Here's another chapter lovelies! Remember to let me know what you think down in the review section, and look forward to a ton of cliffhangers, because I love you all c:
Chapter Fifteen
The room they were in now appeared to be a lobby, and it was crisp, clean, and immaculate, but empty. Natsu immediately felt nervous, and glanced around warily. "Should there be... people around?"
"Yeah," Gray said slowly. "Especially considering they just shot at us."
Lucy hoisted her gun and glanced around. "It doesn't matter. We need to find them, and get out."
Ultear nodded in agreement. "Let's split up. Lucy, Erza, you guys come with me. We'll check this floor. Natsu, Gray, you guys go up the stairs and clear the second, got it?"
"Got it," Gray said, and he started towards the stairs. Natsu walked a few steps behind him, clutching his gun tightly. He had the feeling that they were being watched somehow, and he picked up his pace to stick close to Gray. They went into the stairwell and started up the steps, their footsteps echoing all around them in the enclosed space.
When they reached the second floor, they exited the stairwell and Gray took the lead, his gun up as he crept down the hallway. The second floor was simply an interlocking set of hallways, with empty compartments by the doors that used to hold name plaques, so Natsu guessed it was an old office building.
His feelings of unease only grew when they entered an open area filled with crates. It was presumably where the desks and office cubes used to be, but now that was all gone and stacks of boxes filled the space. They were about two steps past the door-frame when Natsu saw two men entering from another direction. He quickly grabbed Gray and ran behind the stacks of boxes.
They cautiously peeked their heads out just slightly in order to be able to see, and listened to the men's conversation.
"Do you think they're here yet?"
"Yeah, I bet they are. Zeref's men were watching them earlier. I heard that kid with the pink hair came back. Surprised me, though. Thought he would've learned from last time."
The other man shrugged. "Eh, he's just stubborn, I bet. Anyway, what are the orders for tonight, anyway?"
"Apprehend the girls and leave the boys to Zeref."
"Ah. Probably wants personal revenge for last time."
"Probably, but I wonder—" By then they had passed by, and Natsu could no longer hear what they were saying. He turned to Gray, whose fists were clenched. A look of murderous intent crossed his face before he stood and started back the way that had come. "C'mon. We're going to get the girls, then we're going to the top floor. I bet that's where that bastard is hiding out."
"Okay," Natsu said uneasily. "But doesn't this all feel a little... strange? I mean, those guys said that Zeref or whoever's men were watching us earlier."
"Well we'll just have to find them and shoot them, won't we?" Gray retorted, pulling Natsu towards the stairwell. "C'mon, before they come back."
Gray pulled Natsu towards the stairwell, and took the steps two at a time until they reached the main floor. It was still empty and quiet, but this time Gray knew that it wasn't natural quiet. He tilted his head to the side and listened intently for any sound. For several seconds there was nothing except the sound of him and Natsu breathing, but then there was a slight shuffling, so quiet he almost didn't catch it.
His gun was up and he had fired a bullet before a second had passed. There was a grunt and a body hitting the floor, and then Gray heard the sound of a trigger being pulled. He did a somersault across the ground and aimed his gun at the now visible guard. He shot and missed by about two centimeters. Before the other man could shoot again, though, a bullet went through his head and he collapsed.
Gray, now on one knee, turned to see Natsu, his gun still raised.
"Thanks," he breathed. Natsu shrugged. "Don't mention it."
Suddenly, a shout came from a nearby room, and Gray quickly got to his feet and ran towards it. Inside, chaos was raging. Ultear and Lucy were trading shots with two men on the other side of the room, and Erza sat behind them, unconscious. Gray and Natsu quickly took care of the two men before gathering with the girls.
"What happened?" Gray asked, gesturing at Erza with concern.
"She got shot in the side. It's pretty bad. I think one of us needs to take her back."
Gray's brain immediately jumped to the one person he wanted out of there. "Natsu, you take her."
Natsu shook his head. "No. Lucy can take her."
"He's right," Ultear said, giving Gray a look. "We need a doctor here. Lucy, can you take her?"
Lucy nodded, picking up Erza and slinging her over her back. "Yeah. I'll be back."
As she made for the door, Gray cursed under his breath. Idiot. Why won't you just go back?
"Let's head for the top floor," Ultear said, jolting Gray out of his thoughts.
"We were already planning on it," Gray grumbled, heading for the stairs.
Ultear walked ahead of him and took the lead, and all three of them climbed the stairs in silence.
On the eighteenth flight of stairs, Natsu had to stop to gather his breath. His lungs and legs were on fire, and he couldn't believe Gray and Ultear weren't tired yet. "How many floors are there?" he asked exasperatedly.
"Probably about thirty," Gray responded, "so get walking."
By the time they reached the top floor, Natsu was half-dead. When they exited the stairwell, his heavy breaths were the only thing that filled the silence. "Stop breathing so loudly, would you?" Gray hissed. "They'll hear it!"
"Sorry," Natsu panted, and he closed his mouth and tried to even out his breaths.
The top floor was full of maze-like hallways, and it seemed to stretch out in every direction. "We're going to have to split up," Ultear said. "Natsu, you go left, Gray, you go right, and I'll go straight. Meet back here, or call for the others if anything happens. Got it?"
There were choruses of "Got it," before Ultear nodded and sprinted off in her direction. Natsu was turning when Gray called out to him. "Natsu, wait."
He turned to face him, raising an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Just— Something Ultear told me earlier is getting to me, and I need— I need to tell you something."
"What?" Natsu asked, confused as Gray took several steps forward until they were only an inch apart.
Gray took a deep breath. "Just— You better come back safe, okay?!" He grabbed Natsu by the front of the shirt, kissed him, turned, and sprinted down the hallway. Natsu stood still for several seconds, stunned. Did he just— Did we just— What...?
Natsu shook himself out of his stupor and turned around. I can't think of this now, no matter how much I want to. I need to focus on the mission and actually get back safe so I can confront that jerk.
He walked down the hallway he was assigned with his gun up, his heart still hammering in his ears. He searched the hallway for rooms, but the only rooms seemed to be at the very end. There was one door in the middle, and one directly to the left. Natsu took the one to the left, pressing his ear against it. He didn't hear any voices, so he cautiously opened the door and stepped inside.
It was full of whiteboards, all covered in scrawled notes, drawings, and papers. Natsu couldn't understand a word of it, so he set his eyes on the desk in the middle of the room instead. He went over to it and poked around. The surface was covered in notebooks, and Natsu swiped a few and stuck them in his bag, just in case they contained anything important.
Next he searched through the drawers. One contained nothing but pens and pencils, and the rest contained equally useless items. The last one, though, was full of vials of strange pink liquid, in a small black box. Natsu put the lid on the box and threw that in his bag as well, figuring Wendy would know what it was. And hey, if it was medicine, they could use it.
Natsu shut the drawer and went around the desk, turning to the door, only to see a boy with black hair and cold, onyx eyes standing there, staring at him. He froze. "Oh shit."
The boy smiled at him. "Well, well, well, look what we have here."
Natsu pulled out his gun, but the boy was faster. He had a pistol out and aimed at Natsu's head before he could even reach for the trigger. "Ah, ah, ah, none of that. Drop it and kick it over."
Gritting his teeth, Natsu dropped his gun and kicked it across, where the boy kicked it back to the door. "You probably don't remember me, do you? After all, the light was shining in your eyes."
Natsu froze, his nightmares replaying in his head. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his eyes widened slightly. Those... weren't just dreams.
"Come with me," the boy said, jerking the gun to the side to indicate Natsu moving. Natsu walked over to him slowly, eyeing his gun and thinking about making a grab for it.
"Don't even think about it," the boy said, opening the door and shoving Natsu out in front of him. Natsu cursed. Shit, shit, shit, how am I supposed to get out of this?!
Gray's hallway ended in a single door, but all the room contained was a few desks and a filing cabinet. Dissapointed and slightly pissed, Gray turned back around and stormed back towards the hallway, intending to head Ul's way. However, as he was ducking into the hallway, he spotted Natsu walking forwards. Natsu didn't see him, and Gray was about to call out to him when he noticed the boy standing behind Natsu, holding a gun to his back.
Pressing himself flat into an alcove containing old drinking fountains that no longer worked, he ducked his head out to watch as the boy prodded Natsu forward adn they started down the middle hallway. Recognition sparked in Gray's mind, and his hands clenched into fists. It was him. It was the boy from the photo that he'd seen; the one responsible for torturing Natsu.
No, no, no, no. How could that idiot let himself be caught again?! What am I supposed to do?! Ul is down there. Maybe she can jump him and knock him out...
As soon as the boy disappeared from sight, Gray ducked back into the hallway and pressed himself to the wall, walking all the way to the edge and peering around the corner. The hallway made a left, and Gray waited for them to duck around the corner before he followed after them, his gun up and ready. He would shoot the boy now, but in a hallway, there was the risk of it ricocheting and hitting Natsu, or the boy's finger would hit the trigger before he went down. Or Gray could miss.
Anyway, the odds were stacked against him, so his only choice was to follow them.
The hallway ended in a single door, just like his, and the boy opened it before shoving Natsu in ahead of him and closing the door. Gray made a mad sprint for the door, pressing his ear against it as soon as he reached it. There was a muffled shout, and a clatter. Gray grinned and opened the door, assuming Ul had just umped the boy.
Unfortunately, all he saw was Ul and Natsu against the wall, Ul's gun under the boy's foot. Gray whipped his gun up but the boy quickly turned his gun and shot Gray in the hand. Gray let out a shout and dropped the gun, which the boy quickly snatched. He smirked at him. "Well, look at this. I've got all three of you, weaponless and defenseless."
He waved Gray over to the wall, and he walked over, glaring daggers at the boy and clutching his bleeding hand.
Well shit, this did not pan out as I expected.
A/N: Yes, they finally kissed! Well, kinda... And another cliffhanger. Anyway, guys, just wait, 'cause things are picking up! There will be a lot more action (of both kinds c;) in the next few chapters, so stay tuned!