Chapter 5

Natsu stormed into the police station, his brain running a thousand miles a second. Gray stood up from his desk, knowing from his partner's face that whatever had happened was serious.

"Natsu, what's wrong?" Gray asked, coming around his desk and putting a hand on Natsu's shoulder.

"That stupid bastard Lapointe kidnapped Lucy!" Natsu shouted, shrugging Gray's hand off and continuing his warpath for the chief's office.

Natsu burst through the door, not bothering to knock. "Gramps!"

"Natsu, slow down man!" Gray yelled, coming into the office right behind his partner. Natsu had stopped dead in his tracks upon entering Makarov's office, his chest heaving with every breath. Gray looked at the chief's desk and was surprised to find the Archbishop of Zentopia in a chair.

Gray barely had time to wrap his arms around Natsu as the pink-haired detective lunged for the cult leader.

"You motherfu-"

"Dude!"

"Dragneel! Contain yourself and tell me what's going on!" Makarov demanded.

"Lucy got kidnapped, that's what happened! By this guy's buddy Lapointe! Where is he?!" Natsu shouted, struggling against Gray's hold on him.

"Natsu, take a breath man! You gotta calm down!"

Natsu whirled on his partner. "Calm down?! You want me to calm down?! My girlfriend just got kidnapped and you want me to calm down?!"

Gray was interrupted from answering by Natsu's phone starting to ring. The detective dug it out of his pocket and answered it, barely glancing at the caller ID. "What do you want, Max? I'm busy!"

"Hi Natsu."

Natsu's mouth fell open, his brain trying to process what he had just heard. "What?"

"Um, hi? Natsu, are you there?" came the confused voice of his beautiful girlfriend.

"Lucy! Where are you? What happened? Are you okay? Tell me where you are, I'm coming!"

Gray scrambled out of the office behind Natsu, snatching his coat off of his chair. "We're coming! I'll drive, Natsu."

The two detectives ran out of the station, leaving a gaping chief and leader of Zentopia behind.


Gray's car squealed to a stop at the train yard office. Both detective's leapt from the car, immediately taking note of the multiple squad cars with flashing lights and the ambulance sitting in the lot not far from them. Natsu's breath got caught in his throat when he recognized Lucy's figure sitting in the back of the ambulance.

"Lucy!" he shouted, making a beeline for the truck.

Lucy glanced up at hearing her name and her face broke into a bright smile as she realized it was Natsu. She stood up in the ambulance, barely able to take one step out of it before she was crushed to her boyfriend's chest in a desperate hug. Natsu released her quickly and started checking her over.

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Why are you in the ambulance? Where's Lapointe? Wh-"

Lucy put a finger on Natsu's lips to stop him. "Hold on Natsu, one question at a time."

"Sorry. Are you okay?"

Lucy nodded. "I'm fine. Just have some burns on my wrists from the rope he tied me up with."

Natsu barely resisted the urge to let out an animalistic growl, grabbing Lucy's hands and noticing her bandaged wrists. He gathered her hands in his again and brought them to his face, kissing her palms. He looked up at her surprised face, unable to stop himself from moving his hands to her neck and pulling her into a breathless kiss.

When they pulled away, Lucy gave Natsu a dazed smile. "God, maybe I should get kidnapped more often.

Natsu chuckled. "Please don't. I think I'd die of a heart attack. Now, where is the bastard who took you? I have a few choice fists for him."

Lucy's smile fell slightly. "Max, Jet, and Droy picked him up. He's in that car over there. Natsu wait!

Lucy grabbed Natsu's arm before he could march over to Max's squad car.

"What, Luce?"

Lucy's hand clenched on Natsu's sleeve. "Please don't leave me. Not yet. Please."

Natsu felt his breath stutter in his chest as he grabbed Lucy up in another hug. "Never. I'll never leave you. I got you, Luce."

Lucy nodded against his chest and felt herself come apart. She began sobbing as the events of the day finally caught up with her. She didn't even notice Gray come up to where she and Natsu were standing, startling slightly when he started talking.

"Hey guys. How's she doing?"

Lucy felt Natsu shrug. "As well as you'd expect," he said, squeezing Lucy tighter.

"I'm fine Gray," Lucy said, her voice muffled against her boyfriend's chest.

"That's good. I'm gonna go back to the station with Lapointe and explain everything to Gramps. Flame Idiot, you take Lucy home. I got this covered. Here," Gray handed Natsu a set of car keys. "You can take my car. Just don't crash it. Give me your keys. I'll use your car tonight."

Natsu nodded, taking the keys and handing over his own. "Thanks Frost Face."

Gray walked back to Max's squad car, climbing in the passenger seat and leaving the scene.

Natsu turned back to Lucy. "Ready to go home?"

Lucy shook her head. "I don't want to go back there tonight. Not aft-Wait! Oh my god Levy! Is she okay?!" Lucy asked frantically, unable to believe she had forgotten about her best friend getting pistol whipped.

Natsu grabbed Lucy's shoulders. "Woah there. She's fine. She has a mild concussion but she's already at home, waiting to hear from you. Here, you can use my phone to call her."

Lucy gave her boyfriend a grateful look and dialed the number.

"Natsu! Did you find her?!" Levy answered on the first ring.

"Levy! It's me! Oh, thank God you're okay."

Natsu put his hand on Lucy's back, guiding her to the car while she spoke to Levy. He opened the passenger door for her and helped her in. Then he moved to the driver side and climbed into the car himself. He started it up and began the short drive home. Since Lucy didn't want to go to her apartment tonight, she could come to his.

Natsu pulled into his lot, parking right in front of his white two story townhome. He did have neighbors on either side, but at nearly midnight, Natsu didn't think they would be awake to ask him any questions. Lucy was still on the phone with Levy and had not yet realized that the car was no longer moving.

"I promise that I'm okay, Levy. Natsu is taking care of me. We're going...um," Lucy finally looked up and took in her surroundings. Her brow furrowed in confusion and she looked over at Natsu. "Where are we?"

Natsu smiled at her. "My place. Figured it was about time I brought you over."

Lucy grinned and relayed this information to Levy.

"Oh good. I'm glad you aren't going home tonight. The police have your place all sealed off anyway and your door is kind of in pieces."

Lucy's smile dropped a little. "Oh yeah. Hey, you didn't happen to tell Michelle about anything that happened today, did you?"

"God, I didn't even think about that! I was so distracted with worrying and getting my head checked out! I feel terrible!"

Lucy shook her hand through the air as though Levy could see her. "No no no! Don't worry about it. It's probably for the best anyway. I'll call her tomorrow and let her know what happened. No need to freak her out at this time of night."

Lucy heard Levy let out a sigh. "Okay. I'm gonna get some sleep now that you're safe and sound. I love you Lu!"

"I love you too Lev! Get some rest. I'll check on you tomorrow!"

Lucy hung up the phone and looked at her boyfriend. He was watching her with a gentle smile on his face. She felt her cheeks heat with a blush and she looked down at her hands, glancing up at him again through her lashes.

"What?"

Natsu shook his head. "Nothing. Just thinking about how beautiful you are and how lucky I am."

Lucy gave him a shy smile and smacked his shoulder. "Shut up. Let's go inside. I wanna see your total bachelor pad."

Natsu chuckled and followed her to the door, excited to show her his space.