Hello again!

So I have decided that I am really going to try and update every Saturday (my time lol). So lets see how this goes! This chapter is a little shorter than the ones I have been doing, but it is full of NaLu fluff as well so hopefully that makes up for it. Thank you too for all the kind comments and message, it really makes me happy to see that so many people enjoy the story.

As always, I do not own Fairy Tail, it belongs to Hiro Mashima and I thank him for its use in my creative expressions *bows*

"So, let me get this straight." Lucy was pacing the bedroom back and forth, Plue, thinking that it was a great game, was right on her heels. Levy had just explained everything that had happened since this morning but she was finding it hard to believe. "The dark, scary guy is the one that was in the alley with you last night?"

"The one that tackled me behind the dumpster and then I hit him with my purse," Levy confirmed.

"And he is a private detective that was following the dead man."

"Right."

"So instead of going to the cops to tell them that you witnessed a murder, you're going to trust these guys to protect us until they figure out who killed that guy. Why?! Why didn't you just go to the cops Levy? They can't stop you."

"I don't know," Levy replied honestly. "I don't know why, but I trust them. They seem like they want to help us."

"I know how you feel about the police," Lucy countered, still pacing the room. "But this is a murder, how do you know that you can trust them?"

"It's just a feeling." Levy knew that she wasn't making a lot of sense, but she didn't know how to explain it better to her. "Lucy, they're from here, I think we have to trust them."

"But that pink haired guy is nuts." Lucy stopped and let out a big sigh. "The best they are going to do is fire me."

Levy grimaced. "I know," she admitted. "I might not be able to go back to the bookstore either." Levy felt sad that she couldn't work for Mr. Crux anymore.

"Ok, how about we give them until Monday. If they can't find the killer by Monday we will sneak out and go to the police. They have to have witness protection or something, besides, it's not like we would be leaving much behind."

Levy thought about it for a minute, but she knew there would be no way of getting around it. "Ok," Levy agreed. "We will stay here for the weekend; if nothing happens then we can go to the police. Deal?"

"Deal." Lucy pulled her phone out of her purse.

"Hey, you heard Laxus, we can't contact anyone."

"I know," the blond answered. "I'm just checking my messages and shutting it off, I don't have my charger with me." She looked down at the phone. "Uh oh."

"What?" Levy asked suspiciously.

"Well, right before all that stuff happened at the salon I got a text from Jet. He saw you in the hallway with that guy and wanted to know who he was. I didn't know what he was talking about and I thought that the killer had found you or something so I never answered, now I have like ten texts from him wondering what is going on. What should I do?"

Levy bit her lip, thinking hard. If they didn't answer him, Jet might do something crazy like report them missing to the police, especially if they didn't come back for a few days.

"Tell him that everything is fine," Levy answered. "And that we went away for the long weekend."

"I don't think he's going to believe me," Lucy replied, typing out the message on her phone.

"If we don't send him anything then he might go to the police."

"Oh, good idea."

"Lucy!"

"Alright, alright," she held up the phone for Levy to see. "I sent the message, now I'm shutting it down." She tossed the phone back in her purse and bent over to kick up her dog. "What should we do now?"

"Go down stairs, maybe watch TV." Levy stood up and they walked out the door and down the stairs together.

"I guess I can close my eyes and pretend that it's a really weird vacation." They went back into the living room and turned on the large TV, Levy found a channel that was playing a rerun of one of their favorite sitcoms but after a few minutes Lucy still couldn't get settled.

"Arg," she sighed and stood back up. "I'm going to snoop around and see if there is something to eat, do you want anything?"

"No thanks, I had, umm, a big lunch."

Lucy went back into the kitchen and opened the fridge, feeling a little weird that she was making herself at home in a complete stranger's house but it was also making her feel kind of bad ass. There was nothing in the fridge that interested her too much, so she went to the nearest cupboard and opened it to find cups and mugs. The next one also held tableware, enough bowls and plates for a party. She was going to try her luck with the next one when she spotted a door in the corner; it looked like it could be a walk in pantry of some sort.

Sure enough, it was a small room with metal shelving that held all kinds of non-perishable food from pasta to canned soup. It wasn't fully stocked, the top two shelves were completely empty, but a fresh looking loaf of bread was right next to a jar of peanut butter that didn't look like it had been sitting there that long either. Lucy quickly decided that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was exactly what she was craving; she got a small plate out of the cupboard and strawberry jelly from the fridge, next she needed to search for a knife. The first two drawers where unsuccessful and she was just about to pull the third when she heard a voice. "It's the next one."

Lucy yelped and turned to find Natsu standing behind her, his shaggy hair wet and sticking up at all angles. He had changed into a tight sleeveless tee-shirt and basketball shorts.

"Where did you come from?!" Lucy gasped in surprise.

"I had to take a shower because I was covered in blood and dog pee." He reached passed her and pulled open the cutlery drawer, took out a butter knife and started making himself a sandwich.

"I thought you guys had all left." Lucy was still trying to calm her racing heart; she was understandably jumpy from the events of the day.

"Naw, Laxus told me to stay here and keep you company." He stuck the peanut butter covered knife in the jelly and scraped a blob onto his bread; he then folded it in half and took a huge mouthful. Lucy grimaced as a giant PB&J droplet fell out of the other end and slid down the back of his hand onto the floor.

"Arf!" Plue came bounding into the kitchen and started licking the mess up excitedly.

"Eck, that's gross." Lucy took a clean knife from the drawer and two pieces of bread from the bag.

"It's great," Natsu answered with his mouth full of sandwich. "He agrees with me." He crouched down and scratched the little dog behind the ears.

"Stop that, you're going to get him all sticky." Lucy finished fixing her sandwich and cut it in half before taking a bite. "What about your hand?"

"Oh, yeah." Natsu stood up and stuffed the rest of his sandwich in his mouth before rummaging around under the kitchen sink. Lucy watched as he pulled out an old fashioned First Aid kit the size of a large shoebox, it was made of white painted metal and had a large red X on the top. He placed it on the counter next to their sandwich mess and licked his sticky fingers before popping open the lid. Lucy finished the first half of her sandwich but instead of eating the second half she was distracted by Natsu trying to bandage his own hand awkwardly.

"Oh, give it here," Lucy couldn't stand it anymore; she took the roll of gauze from him. "Lay your hand down flat." She reached into the First Aid kit and pulled out a disinfectant packet. "You have to clean it first or you will get an infection."

"I just took a shower, ouch!" Natsu mumbled as she wiped down the wound.

"Doesn't matter," she scolded. Lucy placed a clean piece of gauze over his palm and then a sticky square bandage over that. "You don't need to wrap it up, just cover it, don't get it wet though or it will fall off."

Natsu wiggled his fingers and flexed his bandaged hand. "Thanks. I'm Natsu Dragneel by the way." He held out his good hand that was free of jelly residue.

"Lucy Heartifillia." Lucy shook it once and then started cleaning up the wrappers and putting things back in the First Aid kit.

"Thanks again, Luce!" Quick as a flash he snatched the second half of her sandwich and disappeared into the living room with Plue.

"Hey!" Lucy called out, more annoyed by the nickname then the fact he took her food, she put the kit back under the sink and started making herself another sandwich. She would never admit it, but she couldn't help the little smile on her face.

Gajeel wasn't the only one who was having a hard time focusing on a stakeout. Cobra was sitting in his jeep a discreet distance away from the building the suspicious car had driven up to in Northern Clover, it looked like an old warehouse turned storage unit. The car had driven right up to the entrance and two men had gotten out and went into the building but Cobra could not make out any specific details about them because he was too far away.

As soon as it looked like they were going to be in there for a while he had called Wendy with the address so that she could get a background on the building. It had been nearly an hour since then and she not called him back yet, either the office had gotten very busy all of a sudden or she was having problems with the search.

He sent a text to Kinana letting her know that he was going to be late picking her up from the bar, he had been happy that she was scheduled to work the day shift this week because they could take advantage of her free evenings over the long weekend. Now that the case had gone to hell that possibility was probably gone and it annoyed him.

Damn Redfox and his inability to keep one man alive, if he had his way there wouldn't be so much sneaking around and watching. People always gave up information when forced to, but his interrogation methods were frowned upon in a legitimate organization so he was forced to rely on other skill sets. Finally he heard the merry tinkle of his ring tone and he answered it.

"Wendy, have you found something?"

"I'm sorry Cobra, I tried to find out the owners of that warehouse but the information just doesn't exist," the girl replied.

"How is that possible?" Cobra knew that the computer programs that Wendy used to find out information were the best out there and completely up to date, it was rare that she couldn't find anything at all.

"I'm not sure," Wendy sounded saddened. "But I'm going to call the boys and see if they can do better. The last records that I could find were from five years ago and it was sold by a trucking company to a business that doesn't exist either. It must be a dummy corporation for someone but I can't find out who."

"I see." Cobra was disappointed because it meant that he had to stay put until they knew for sure. "Is Laxus back in the office yet?"

"No, he was here right after lunch but he had to leave again, he has his phone now though." Cobra thanked her and then hung up to dial Laxus.

"What did you find out?" The blonde man greeted him.

"Nothing, I just talked to Wendy and she can't find anything information on this place at all, it's like it doesn't even exist. She has the other two on it but it might take some time for them to find anything." There was silence on the line but he knew that Laxus was thinking about his options.

"Well, I need you to work tonight." Those were the words that Cobra has not wanted to hear. "I want you to watch Gramp's house, we have the girl and her roommate stashed there for now and their protection takes priority. Come back into the office and I will let you know the plan, I should be back by the time you make it in."

"Yes, sir." They hung up and Cobra texted Kinana again to meet him at the agency, at least then he could have a little time with his girlfriend.

A man in a black hoodie and jeans watched as the dark green jeep that had been parked outside the warehouse pulled away, he then turned to his companion and nodded. The other man pulled out his cell phone and pushed one on his autodial.

It rang twice before someone picked up the line. "Yes?"

"Sir, I'm calling to report in," the man answered.

"Go ahead."

"We searched the girl's apartment but it wasn't there, we were quite thorough."

"Hmm… And the girl?"

"She wasn't there, sir. After we left her apartment we were followed by a man in a green jeep, one of the Dragons, the ex-Oracion Seis member."

"Boringly predicable," the man on the line droned. "Exactly what I was expecting, are you at the secure location?"

"Yes sir, but he just left."

"Interesting, they must have already found out its untraceable. Good. Come back to the office, the girl must still have it with her, we have to find out where she is."

"Understood." The man disconnected and relayed the message back to his partner. They got into a car that was parked inside the building and exited out of an automatic garage door on the opposite side of the building. To the outside observer it would look like nothing had been moved.

Across town the other man also disconnected his cell phone before putting it back inside his inner jacket pocket. He was currently standing in a waiting room at city hall watching everyone finish up their busy workday, looking forward to going home for the long weekend.

"Sir," a pretty secretary with dark hair popped her head through the doorway. "Councilman Purehito will see you now, if you will come with me." She led him down a hallway and knocked on one of the doors before opening it.

"Councilman, Mr. Zancrow is here to see you."

Dun dun dunnnnnnn...