DRAGNEEL COMPOUND
Natsu sat on his chair, one hand rested on the armchair and the other rubbing the side of his neck. He didn’t sleep well last night. None of them did. After Lucy walked out, she didn’t come back to the room anymore. He wasn’t in the mood to go to work and neither was she.
The dark brown painted door of his office slowly opened.
Natsu stood up as Lucy entered and closed the door quietly behind her.
She went closer to his desk with her eyes on the floor.
“Hey…umm” she started as she turned to face him, “I’m…I’m sorry about last night. I didn’t mean to shout at you”
The sound of her voice was gentle and soft. Natsu gradually shook his head sideways.
“It’s okay, baby. It was just a misunderstanding” he said.
Then silence came again.
He slowly walked towards her and gently touched her cheek where he hit her.
“Does it… does it still hurt?” he asked, inspecting the area if it left a bruise. It was slightly purple, just a faint shade. Natsu let out a guilty sigh. He never wanted to hurt her.
“No…not anymore” she said slightly shaking her head before speaking again, “I…I need to talk to you”.
“What is it?” he asked.
Before Lucy could start, the door opened. Revealing Erza together with Laxus, Gray, Gajeel and Loki. Laxus was dragging a suspicious looking man by the shirt.
“Natsu, we got you one of ‘em just like you asked-“ Erza started as they entered the room, not expecting Lucy to be there. She immediately zipped her mouth when she saw her.
“Who’s he?” Lucy asked them as she eyed the man.
Natsu gave them a look, as if telling them not to screw up. Erza could hear Gajeel clear his throat at the back and notice Gray as he adjusted his necktie, like he needed some air.
“He’s a- a thief. We found him lurking in the compound,” Loki answered coolly, covering up for Erza.
Lucy slowly nodded her head, completely buying it.
“I’ll have to take care of this guy first, is that okay?” Natsu whispered in her ear, making her turn back to him.
“Okay. I’ll be in the bedroom.” She answered.
Natsu turned to Loki, giving him a nod, signaling him to escort her out of the room. So he did.
“Nice bitch you got there.”
Lucy heard the man say as she and Loki left the room. A loud slap and a thud came after that.
.
.
“Leave the wife out of this. Or do you really want to die that badly?”
Erza said as she looked at the man crawling on the floor. He got a hard backhand slap from Natsu, the force was enough to get him on his knees and loose a tooth.
All of them circled him, ready to snap if he did anything funny.
“I’m not particularly in the mood to play games right now. So don’t push me” Natsu said calmly, turning his back on the man.
“What do you want?” the man asked shakily.
“Simple. Tell me who you work for.” He replied.
The man’s face turned pale. More fear appeared on his face.
“I-I can’t do that! He’ll kill me!”
“And you think I won’t?” Natsu said, his back still facing the man.
“…If…If I tell you would you let me go?”
Natsu finally turned to the man.
“Yes” he answered simply, his face void of any emotion.
The man gave him a look, doubting if he really would get out alive.
“Nura. I don’t know what he looks like but that’s what they call him” the man said.
Natsu let out a sigh, his suspicion was confirmed.
“I knew it.” He said, not surprised.
“Now you know…so-so let me go”
Natsu gave the man a bored stare and turned to Erza. Understanding what he meant, she swiftly pulled a gun tucked in the holster underneath her dark blue blazer. She aimed the gun at the man, the tip touching the side of his head.
“W-Wait! We had a deal!” the man shouted.
Erza was about to pull the trigger when the door opened.
“Well, what do we have here?” Zeref said as he looked at the crime scene that was about to happen.
“Nura was behind all the bullshit” Natsu turned to his brother.
“Mhm…I thought so, too” Zeref agreed as he walked closer to Natsu, “The sound of a gunshot would surely frighten Lucy. Besides, I know you two have matters to discuss, why don’t you leave him to me?” he continued with an innocent smile, “We’ll give him a good beating.”
Hearing this, Natsu decided to let his brother take over. He gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving the room.
“Thank the heavens, man. I thought I was a goner,” the man said with a nervous chuckle, “thanks for saving me.”
“Saving you?” Zeref said as he turned his attention to the one on the floor.
His smile was no more. What replaced it was an expression that even the family don’t get to see very often. It was like he was a different person with a different personality. Like the sweet Zeref was replaced by a wicked one.
“What I meant was to beat you up ‘til you die.”
