TO MY READERS: Hello again, everyone! So since I'm officially out of my summer classes and on vacation, I am going to make sure to have as many chapters written ahead of time as humanly possible. I thank you all for your patience and I hope you will stick around for the rest of this story because I can promise much more to come. But without further ado, here is the fourth chapter of Mission Impossible!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN any of the characters or places mentioned in this story. It all belongs to the original creator, Hiro Mashima.

Four

Natsu had been up most of the night making sure everything was set for the infiltration of The Pegasus shipment. That morning he was exhausted and ready to collapse from the moment he took a seat at his desk. Refusing to give in to his drowsiness, he got up and made a fresh pot of coffee so his to-go cup would always be full.

It was about eight o'clock and Natsu wanted to go over some things he had been investigating concerning Zeref's whereabouts. There had been a few sightings of him in different parts of Fiore but there were never any details about how he arrived or left the various locations. When his brother moved around, he did so extremely vigilantly. Getting caught meant the end of everything he had built over the years.

However, a few other sightings caught Natsu's interest as he had been looking up information pertaining to Zeref. A mysterious blonde girl had been spotted with the same men who escorted Zeref around. She always wore incredibly expensive-looking attire and was at almost every social gathering of any rich, influential person in Fiore. Making connections—though somewhat far-fetched—Natsu had decided to do a little research on the blonde girl.

Through the facial recognition device programmed into every detective's work laptop, Natsu was able to identify her as Lucy Heartfilia; heiress to the Heartfilia Konzern in Acalypha. From what Natsu knew of the town Lucy grew up in, it was pretty close to Magnolia. But if she was a native to Acalypha, what was she doing with Zeref's men in various towns all over the kingdom? As he dug deeper, Natsu found out there was never a missing person report filed. Did her parents know she was roaming around the kingdom with men associated with the most dangerous and infamous criminal in all of Fiore?

It bewildered him, but when he looked at the clock on his desk he realized he was going to be late for the briefing if he didn't leave his office. Gathering up his notes, Natsu headed out the door with his coffee gripped tightly in his hand. As he walked down the hallway towards the meeting room, he noticed Gray was still in his office typing something up. Natsu caught his eye and Gray motioned for him to wait as he finished up his notes and scrambled for his things. Natsu took a gulp of the hot, tasty coffee while Gray hustled out of his room and walked across the room to stand with him.

"Good morning," Gray nodded, shuffling his files, papers, and notebooks as he and Natsu continued to the meeting room. Taking a good look at his friend, Gray noticed how lacking in stamina Natsu appeared to be. His heart dropped.

"Have you been sleeping, Natsu?" he asked, dead-panned.

"Huh?" he replied, still chugging his coffee.

"You know, sleep? The necessary human function we all do at the end of a long day?" Natsu sighed as he lowered his coffee cup.

"What are you getting at here, Gray?" he groaned.

"We're not even two weeks into the investigation and I can already tell you're not taking care of yourself."

"C'mon, Gray…" Natsu began.

"No, you're gonna listen to me!" Gray said, gripping Natsu's arm and yanking him back. "You're our leader. You have to be an example for everyone else on this team. If you keep coming into work like this, Erza will start noticing and take over!" Natsu narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"Gray, what are you not telling me?" he demanded. Gray huffed and scratched the back of his neck.

"Erza wanted me to keep it under wraps but I guess it's out now," he mumbled. "She wants me to keep a close eye on you. Apparently, she thinks we're good friends and she wants me to check in with her about how you're doing. She knew going into this putting you as the leader would be hard on you but she also knew you're the only person close enough to the case to possibly seal it up. She trusts you but she doesn't wanna have to be worried about you every day while we're doing this investigation. You get me?"

Natsu breathed deeply, contemplating everything Gray just confessed to him. He figured Erza would be watching him throughout the investigation. On other cases he was known for losing sleep or forgetting to eat because he got so wrapped up in bringing criminals to justice. He just wanted to make the kingdom a better place, where no little kid had to live even a short life of crime in order to get by.

"Yeah, I hear ya, Gray," Natsu replied. "I'm doing fine, though. Honest."

"Oh, really?" Gray challenged. "If I took that coffee away from you right now, would you be able to function for the rest of the day without a nap?" Natsu chuckled and shook his head.

"You're not that cruel," he joked. Gray smiled but placed a hand on Natsu's shoulder, looking at him again with concern.

"I'm serious, though, man. If I see you slipping, I gotta tell Erza or she'll have both our asses," he whispered. "Just take care of yourself. You're a full grown man, I'm sure you can do it." Natsu smirked and pushed Gray's hand off him.

"Shut up," he laughed.

"Gentlemen." At the sound of the Captain, Gray and Natsu stood ridged when they saw Erza leaning out of the meeting room with an expectant gaze. "Whenever it suits you both." The two friends hustled into the room, Gray taking a seat next to his partner Juvia and Natsu coming to stand in front of everyone.

"Good morning," he began, placing his folders and notepad down as well as his coffee cup. Everyone gave their greeting except for Gray who simply nodded in reply. "Today, as I'm sure you're all aware, will lead to the night when we infiltrate the docking of The Pegasus. I can assure both of our leaders a lot of time and manpower has gone into the planning of this mission so I can assure you, there will be no errors." Natsu turned to Erza and Gildarts who were seated on his right in chairs.

"This shipment will most likely come into Hargeon by twelve-thirty or one o'clock in the morning. It seems like a very broad timeframe but it's the only guess we have since Zancrow doesn't seem to know much else. Once the docks close and the employees have gone home—that's at twelve-fifteen—we'll roll in and stake it out. We'll have to be quick. Zancrow also doesn't know when his faction leader will arrive with her men to unload the ship so getting our weapons and settling into our positions as fast as possible is key here. If we don't everything done in time, we run the risk of getting caught.

"Levy and Gajeel, were you able to find anything out about this ship we should know now?" Natsu asked, turning the spotlight on one of his individual teams.

"Well, if there's anything good, we certainly weren't able to find it," Gajeel muttered, leaning back in his chair and spinning it side to side. "There's hardly any tracking information on this damn boat and if a tracking or part number had to be entered, it was just some bullshit formality in order to get the ship in." Levy sighed as she spread out her formal findings.

"What Gajeel meant to say is that this ship basically doesn't exist. There are no records to arrivals or departures on any shipment schedules in all of Fiore. But what we can tell, from some security footage I was able to dig up, is that it's only docked for about twenty minutes," she explained. "May I, Natsu?" He nodded and gestured for Levy to take control of the computer which was still hooked up to the projector. After some clicks of a few buttons, Levy pulled up a grainy video from a dock in Oak Town. The time, date, and location were listed in big white letters at the bottom right corner of the video but since it was so dark, making things out proved difficult.

"This was the only evidence Gajeel and I found of The Pegasus docking anywhere in Fiore. This took place in Oak Town three months ago if the timing and dating are legit. The Pegasus came and went in twenty minutes and the people taking in the cargo only stayed an extra minute or two to pack all of it and get away. Once Zancrow's faction and its leader arrive as well as the ship, we'll have very limited time to strike," Levy concluded.

"Thank you, Detective McGarden," Natsu nodded. Levy nodded and headed back to her seat, blushing as Gajeel grinned at her and chuckled his strange laugh.

"Now, I have enlisted the help of half of the police officers in our department to join us on the stakeout tonight," Natsu began again. "I would like all of us to convene back here at midnight exactly and then we will arrive for at least twelve-fifteen by car. By that time, the dockworkers will have left and closed it down although I have gotten in touch owner of the docks and he'll leave the gates opened for us. However, once we arrive, it's critical we lock the gates after we've settled ourselves. Leaving them unlocked will create suspicion once Zancrow's faction and their leader get there. I'll leave Captain Scarlet in charge of that." Natsu paused and looked to Erza who nodded.

"For the rest of today, I suggest everyone do some simple desk work and that you all head home after lunch. It'll be a short workday since we'll be coming back for midnight. Get some sleep, eat, and prepare yourself. It won't be an easy stakeout. These people will put up a hell of a fight so I don't want anyone coming to this too groggy to hold a gun." Natsu found himself glancing at Gray who gave him a knowing look. Natsu narrowed his eyes in reply.

"Alright, I suppose that's enough torture this early in the morning," Erza said, standing up from her seat to come next to Natsu. "Are there any questions?" Erza and Natsu scanned the room but no one seemed confused. Tonight would be their first real strike against Zeref and Natsu couldn't deny his excitement. They could end up being the first detectives in Magnolia's history to bring the infamous Zeref Dragneel to justice, tonight being their first step.

"Excellent. You may all return to your work and please, as Natsu instructed, take it easy today. We need everyone on the top of their game tonight, understand?" Natsu's team nodded in reply and Erza smiled, gesturing for them to leave. As Natsu gathered up his things, he heard someone clear their throat. He turned around and saw Gildarts still sitting in the corner, obviously upset.

"Oh, Gildarts," Natsu smiled. "How've you been?" Gildarts smirked grimly and looked up at Natsu, his arms crossed over his chest.

"If you knew what was going on right now, you would already know the answer to that question," he grumbled. Natsu stared at Gildarts, confused.

"What do you mean? What's going on right now?" Gildarts sighed and stood up.

"They're reconsidering my position here at the department," he said.

"What?" Natsu asked, still not understanding what Gildarts was trying to say.

"Jesus, Natsu, I might be fired! Do I have to spell it out for you?!"

"Wait, what?! Why?! Why now?" Natsu demanded, shocked by the news. Gildarts sighed and rubbed his scruffy cheeks.

"Erza had to report what happened to Zancrow. Not only was he threatening to say something anyways, but she had to say something or risk her own position." Natsu's eyes widened. The last time he and his team saw Zancrow he was suffering from some pretty bad beatings. The conversation Gildarts and Erza were having before everyone entered Zancrow's cell must've been about what happened to their prisoner.

Gildarts had beaten Zancrow senseless in order to get information out him. And now he was suffering the repercussions.

"But…why would Erza rat you out like that?!" Gildarts rolled his eyes.

"Because she's the captain, Natsu. She can't just overlook something like that. It's inmate abuse and it's against the law. If Erza hadn't reported it to begin with, she would be in more trouble than me right now. And I don't blame her. I should've controlled myself." Gildarts muttered the last sentence to himself, clenching his fists so hard his knuckles were turning white.

"But he wasn't cooperating. How else were we supposed to get anything out of him?"

"There are other, legal methods I could have used to get him to talk. I just decided my fists were the best way and now I'm suffering the repercussions."

"They can't fire you! You've put twenty years into this place and you've helped to close so many cases!" Gildarts shook his head.

"My record here as a law enforcer has nothing to do with it, Natsu. They have strict rules us officers and detectives need to follow. And besides, they're simply looking over the situation. It's not like they've made a decision yet," he said, trying to reassure Natsu. "At least that's what I try to tell myself." There was a pause before Natsu asked another question.

"Does Cana know?" Gildarts sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't wanna say anything to her unless I know more. Plus this case is so big I don't want this to distract her. And you know Cana. She'll go busting down everyone's door to try and change their minds," he said with a laugh.

"Then why tell me?" Again, Gildarts sighed

"You're the leader of this case and you have to learn to set an example. I can already tell just by looking ya haven't been sleeping." Natsu huffed in frustration. "Look, Natsu, you and me, we're a lot alike and we both tend to lose our tempers. I happened to and it might just cost me my job. I hope I haven't upset you too much with this, but control is something we both need to work on. You get what I'm saying?"

Natsu nodded and smiled. He had been aggravated hearing the same speech twice from two different people but he knew they meant well. No one wanted to see him fail or get hurt. As difficult as the case might get, Natsu knew he needed to take care of himself. His health was more important to everyone around him than any investigation.

"Anyways," Gildarts said, patting Natsu on the back, "I also wanted to tell you you've done good so far. I really think you might be the one to close this case for good." Natsu's eyes widened in surprise. "And I don't just say that to anyone." Leaving Natsu with a wink, Gildarts walked out of the meeting room and towards Erza's office.

Filled with a new sense of confidence and excitement, Natsu charged out the door and into his own post. Opening the first file in his pile, Natsu stared at the blurry picture of Lucy Heartfilia he had printed from one of the surveillance videos that captured her.

"Alright, Ms. Heartfilia," Natsu smiled to himself as he opened his computer. "What's your story?"

Lucy wandered around the girls' hall, trying to find Mirajane's room. Elfman had asked she bring her some new clothes and some birth control. When she had taken the extra supplies from the last truck of supplies, she hadn't gotten the chance to find Mirajane and give her the special things she'd put aside just for her. At last, she'd found Elfman in the common area and had him give her Mirajane's room number.

The rest of Zeref's girls had their own rooms to stay in. They weren't terrible but they also weren't very homey. There was no way for the occupants to decorate them or anything since nothing frivolous ever came in with the monthly shipments unless Lucy or Zeref requested them. But if she ever did, she would have to explain to him why she had given it away. It wasn't looked down upon by Zeref for Lucy to act as a mother for the other girls but she didn't see why he needed to know in the first place. She liked having a small sense of freedom.

Finally, after walking for what seemed like ages, Lucy came up to room fifty-seven. Holding Mirajane's things in a small plastic bag, Lucy knocked on the door silently at first, not wanting to wake the other girls. It was late afternoon but sometimes sleeping was the only relief anyone could get from the nightmare they were all living.

When it took too long for the door to open, Lucy knocked again a little more heavily. She heard footsteps on the other side, but when the person appeared in the threshold, it wasn't Mirajane. It was her sister, Lisanna.

"Oh, Your Majesty!" Lisanna gasped, curtsying. Lucy's cheeks turned bright red and shook her head.

"Please, don't do that!" she replied, gesturing wildly for Lisanna to straighten up.

"I'm sorry," Lisanna said, appearing frightened. She was worried she had upset Zeref's Queen.

"I'm not mad, I just don't like it when people do that unless I can't tell them to not do it," Lucy said awkwardly. "Can I come in?"

"Of course!" Lisanna said, a smile returning to her face. "It's nice to see a familiar face." Once Lucy had sat down on one of the beds, she placed the plastic bag on the other bed to her left. When Mirajane, Lisanna, and Elfman were recruited by Zeref's men, Lucy helped convince Zeref to let the two sisters stay in the same room together. Lisanna was the youngest of the three and with Mirajane being the oldest, she wanted to be close to her baby sister through everything. Lucy assumed everything she helped Mirajane take from the shipment, half went to Lisanna.

"Is Mirajane not here?" Lucy asked.

"Actually, she isn't. Were you looking for her? I'm not sure where she could be but I'm sure she'll be back soon," Lisanna answered, leaning against the wall. As Lucy got a better look at her, she noticed how skinny and pale Lisanna was. But in all fairness, pretty much all the girls were skinny. As long as they were healthy and could "perform," there was never any cause for worry. Lucy contemplated on whether or not she should wait for Mirajane to return but she didn't want Zeref to come searching for her.

"Thank you, but I think I should be getting back," Lucy said, standing again. She pointed to the bag on Mirajane's bed and Lisanna stared at it with wide eyes. "There's some extra birth control pills in there as well as some clothes. I only just got the chance to bring it to you and your sister. I'm sorry it took so long."

Suddenly, Lisanna bolted up from the wall and wrapped Lucy in a tight hug. She gave a small yelp in surprise. For someone so small, she could sure squeeze the life out of someone. Expecting the embrace to last only a minute, Lucy was stunned to hear Lisanna sniffle and feel her body quiver against hers.

"Thank you, Lucy," she sobbed. Overcome with an urge to cry with the girl, Lucy returned to hug and held on to Lisanna as if she would float away otherwise. Feeling Lucy's arms around her, Lisanna continued to cry but only for another minute. Having let out all the tears she dared to, she released Lucy and faced her with only pink cheeks and wet eyes as evidence of her breakdown.

"Thank you," she said again. Lucy smiled and headed towards the door.

On her way back to Zeref's room, Lucy felt her heart and stomach sink. The further she walked away from Mirajane and Lisanna's room, the more she wished she had stayed. Maybe they could have talked for a while, snagged a few drinks together and gotten drunk enough that they could smile and laugh like they weren't living in hell. The sadness hit her all at once and unexpectedly and she couldn't make it go away. She couldn't escape the misery and dread of living another day as Zeref's Queen or as a murderer. And what was she doing it for? Or, to be more precise, who was she doing it for?

Mother and father, she answered.

Unbeknownst to her at the time, the Heartfilia fortune had been suffering greatly when Lucy had turned sixteen. At that time, Zeref was still working his way up to the top but Jude had taken a large loan out from a former crime lord. Once Zeref took over, he met with Jude to collect the money he owed, knowing full well he didn't have it. Having played right into his hand, Zeref put a gun to Layla Heartfilia's head and demanded the money then and there or to hand Lucy over once she turned twenty-one.

Appalled and frightened for his wife's life, Jude tried to reason with Zeref: if he was willing to wait five years for Lucy to come of age, why couldn't he wait a few more months for the money. Of course, Zeref didn't give away his full plan. Lucy was leverage against Jude: Zeref wanted the entire Heartfilia fortune, not just the money Jude owed back. He would keep Lucy and slowly suck the life out of the Heartfilia name by threatening Lucy's life whenever Jude tried to back his way out of the deal.

But he still wanted the whole fortune. And the only way to that was with Lucy as his wife and with her parents dead.

However, when Lucy was told the details of all this the day she was taken by Zeref's men, she knew what she must do. She would play along as Zeref's personal sex slave and as an assassin but she made him promise to leave her parents alone until the day she said: "I do." Deep down she knew his word might be an empty promise, but then she gave her word that as long as her parents continued to live a long life she would still marry him. If he should kill him, she would resist him until he would eventually kill her and the family fortune would be lost forever.

If Lucy didn't hold up her end of the bargain, she knew her parents would meet their maker. And she wouldn't let that happen if she could help it.

Trapped in her thoughts, Lucy didn't even hear the telltale moans from outside Zeref's room. Opening the door and walking right in, she was stunned to see Mirajane on top of him, mid-hump.

"Oh god!" she exclaimed, stumbling to get out of the room. But she hadn't been quick enough. Zeref noticed her and pushed himself up on his elbows, Mirajane still straddling him.

"Lucy, my love, you're just in time!" he smiled, his eyes twinkling with lust.

"I'm so sorry, Zeref," Lucy stuttered, gripping the doorknob. "I'll just slip right out."

"No, no, don't be silly! Join us!" Locking eyes with Mirajane, Lucy saw how disgusted she was with Zeref. Now he was suggesting a threesome. Swallowing hard, Lucy stayed in front of the door to see if Zeref would change his mind.

"I don't want to ask again," he said, his tone stern. Releasing her grip on the door, Lucy realized her hand was shaking. Knowing there was no other way out of the situation, she slowly made her way up to bed, stripping along the way.

Turning on her sex appeal, Lucy batted her eyes and bared herself in front of Zeref and Mirajane who had carefully climbed off him. Already figuring out what he wanted, Lucy kneeled in front of Mirajane on the bed and kissed her lightly on the lips at first, flashing her a look that asked if she was okay with it. When she gave a slight nod in reply, Lucy pressed deeper into her, cupping her breasts. Opening one eye and narrowing it to Zeref, she saw him watching them intently, totally aroused.

Biting Mirajane's lip and pulling away from her, Lucy crawled her way towards Zeref. Mirajane followed suit and they both began kissing, licking, and sucking his body. Fortunately for both girls, Zeref made most of the noise and he kept his eyes closed so Lucy and Mirajane only had to pretend for short moments that they were enjoying any of it.

After what felt like hours, Zeref violently yanked Lucy and Mirajane off of him and threw them both down on the bed. He started with Mirajane by grabbing her breasts and humping her wildly, finishing off by pressing himself into her. Lucy was forced to watch the whole thing and saw how hard it was for Mirajane to fake her enjoyment. When he was done with her, he ripped himself out of Mirajane and hopped over to Lucy. She expected him to do it right away but he just stared at her for a moment as if he were thinking about something.

"Mirajane," he said, stroking Lucy's sides, "you may leave." Glad for the dismissal, Mirajane grabbed her skimpy, tattered dress and threw it over her as she hustled out of the room. When the door closed behind her, Zeref bent down and kissed Lucy hard, sticking his tongue down her throat. She wanted to gag but she returned his kiss by running her fingers through his hair and pulling him closer.

Then, he started into her, softly at first but going in harder and harder with each thrust. Fortunately, he closed his eyes and tilted his head up at the ceiling so Lucy could drop her facade. She kept her arms at her side and prayed it would be over as quickly as he had been with Mirajane, but she found out she was in no such luck. Zeref took his time, humping and pressing into her like he never wanted it to end. He squeezed breasts so hard she knew she would have his fingers embedded in her skin for days.

Finally, he thrusted himself even deeper into her than Lucy thought possible and moaned as his orgasm finished. Suddenly exhausted, he pulled out of her and fell on her left side, smiling.

"That was amazing," he whispered to her, twirling a piece of Lucy's hair as he stared at her with sleepy eyes. "You were amazing," he said, kissing her again. Lucy smiled and batted her eyes, waiting for him to fall asleep so she could slink into the bathroom and take a shower.

"You're not upset with me for screwing Mirajane, are you?" he asked, noting her silence.

"No, of course not," she replied. "I understand." Zeref smiled lethargically and kissed Lucy's cheek, rolling over to fall asleep.

As Lucy listened to Zeref's breathing become more steady, the tears she tried to contain gradually filled her eyes and fell down her face. Still naked, Lucy placed her cold, shaking hands on her throbbing, lower abdomen and raised her head to look at her breasts. Sure enough, there were five red marks splayed around her areolae. Eventually, the red marks would turn into full-fledged bruises and, though temporary, the bruises would still be blemishes she wouldn't be able to wash off.