Salt and the smell of rotting seaweed lingered on the air, brought to Natsu's nose by a warm fall breeze. Soon it would turn cold, but for now, he was comfortable standing on the balcony without shoes on his feet, and the white shirt he wore open all the way, suspenders pushed down so they hung loosely at his hips.

He puffed on the cigarette smouldering between his fingers and blew out a long line of smoke, blurring out the room beyond the glass door. Not that he could see inside anyway, no lights were on and the moon was bright enough only to show him his reflection. The man that looked back was in need of a shave, a haircut, a hair dye, (his dark roots were coming out, making him look more and more like Zeref's brother) and had bruises on his neck left behind by a mouth that was more insistent than he imagined. His eyes were tired and sad still. He felt Happy's absence and the absence of the Den keenly. It had been weeks. Weeks and weeks. Too long.

And he'd stay longer if she asked, that was demonstrably true.

As true as the ache to go home. Visit Happy's grave. Say his sorry's. Think about what the hell happened and why.

The door slid open, blurring his image, and Lucy stepped out. Her hair was tousled gold, a tangled knot on her left shoulder that still managed to look soft, her skin was flushed rose pink, luminous against the black of her silk nighty. She was beautiful. The kind of beautiful that left a hollow low in his belly. She looked at him, eyes as wide as Bambi's, mouth generous. Her lips still looked used. He wanted to use them again. Again and again. She looked at him hesitantly. It still wasn't easy. He didn't know if it would ever be. He didn't know if it ever should be.

She still cried when she thought she was alone.

She still got nervous when he was a little too crass.

And he…

He still hesitated when he touched her, thinking first, I want this, and then, I shouldn't. Want was a heavy hitter. It won out time and time again, even when he screwed down his courage and grabbed the keys for the coupe, thinking he'd finally agitate the gravel and head back home. He'd always take that one last look back and cave or she'd call his name and his resolve would dissolve. He didn't think it was anything as sweet as love that kept him there.

He liked it when she sighed. He liked it when she'd tangle her fingers in his hair. He liked it when she'd lie flat on her back and all of her generous curves would be on display. He liked it when she was brave and got on top. And he liked it when she asked for something different and he did it from behind. But that didn't change who they were. That didn't make her less afraid of him. And it shouldn't, either.

"What are you thinking?" Lucy's voice was hoarse from use.

"I don't know." Natsu held out his hand. She looked at it and wavered before she took his fingers and allowed him to pull her in. He thought she liked this. The fear, the uncertainty he offered, the freedom. She liked feeling like she had control, though there was none to be found. He was a wildcard to her life of order. Or... her old life of order.

Maybe that means now you're nothing special at all. Maybe you're just another joker in a deck full of them. One last rebellion for Princess Lucy.

He tugged her in close to his chest and listened to her breath come out in a weak and nervous puff and knew he was more than that. What the hell that meant, he had no idea. But...

He bent and kissed her, knowing full well she didn't like the taste of cigarettes on his tongue but not caring much. She seemed to enjoy it. The dislike, that was. It was the juxtaposition she needed to make this... whatever they were doing in this small beach house, complete. If everything they did was at odds, then everything was in harmony.

He didn't understand it either.

He didn't understand why her back bowed and she moaned. He didn't understand why her arms wrapped around his neck. He didn't understand why he couldn't help but drop his cigarette to the sandy balcony and find her hips, her ribs, her full breasts and squeeze hard enough to make her sob but never hard enough to bruise.

It was odd. She was scared of him almost all of the time, except for when they were like this. She knew him like this, maybe? Natsu was as glad as he was disappointed. It made finding his prejudice so very, very hard.

Tonight he tried something different. Something scandalous that prim Lucy Heartfilia would hate. And love, too. Tonight he slipped his fingers beneath the shoulder straps of her nighty and tugged them down. She didn't protest until he was taking her arms from around his neck and rolling the fabric to the hard nubs capping her breasts. Then she took her mouth away from his and looked down.

"What are you doing?"

He kissed her chin, her jaw, her neck, and gathered her ear lobe onto his tongue. "I want to see you."

"Come inside." She grabbed his wrists, not stopping his caressing, but hindering it.

"No." Natsu tucked his thumbs into the fabric of her nighty and pushed it down in a smooth motion, making her breasts spill out.

Lucy gasped in a surprised breath. "Natsu."She tried to pull the fabric up; he wouldn't let her. So she shimmied closer, pressing her body against his so no one could see a damned thing, though there was no one around to look.

"We're alone." He grabbed her behind next and squeezed. She whimpered a little more frantically than usual. With such little effort, Natsu was stiff. He kissed her shoulder and used his hold on her to pull her closer. She felt him pressing into her hips and breathed heavier like he hoped she would.

He liked this.

He liked it too much.

It was easy to forget about everything.

He sucked the skin at her shoulder.

Lucy's whisper was more of a moan as she asked, "No one's out here?"

"No." There was another beach house not so far away, but the couple that had been renting it packed up and left as soon as fall arrived.

Her fingers dug into the waistband of his pants. "You promise?"

Good hell. He wouldn't say anything other than, "Yes," now.

Lucy let all of the air go out of her lungs and stepped back from him, breaking his hold on her. There, wind and pale moonlight streaming through her hair, skating on her skin, she took the fabric of her nighty and started shimmying, doing a small dance to get her full hips out of their confines. It took some work, she was just as generous now as she had been when he'd crawled in through her window and sat on her bed, taking in what luxury had given her.

He was glad for the effort she put in. The fabric came away and fell to the sand-dusted balcony and she was all there for him to see. It looked like she wanted to wrap her arms around her body; being nude in the open like this, even if it was nighttime, and even if they were alone, wasn't something that came easily to her. She did not, finding some iron somewhere. Natsu was sure his complete inability to look away from her had something to do with that. Between his legs ached. His fingers pricked, wanting to touch her.

He waited. Waited and waited for her to come to him. She did. He wasn't the only one seemingly completely unable to stop himself.

Lucy reached beneath Natsu's shirt and tickled his skin, feeling old scars, skimming between his pectorals. Her nails were still long and shaped, though she'd long ago chipped the nail polish away. She came up, up, up his chest to his neck, and then to his cheeks, holding him still and kissing him thoroughly enough, he felt stupid. Her mouth tasted sticky sweet, grapes on the precipice of sweet-rot.

She seemed content there, trapping him in place, kissing him breathless, so Natsu did the work she was not, undoing the button of his pants and pushing them down just enough to pull himself out. Lucy shimmied into him, trapping his erection against the cool skin at her belly. She purred. The sultry vocalization turned into a husky yelp when Natsu reversed their positions, ducked and lifted her up by the legs, pushing her into the metal railing lining the balcony. It probably wasn't comfortable. He was past the point of caring. Apparently, Lucy was, too, because she said nothing, just locked her arms around his throat, her legs around his hips, and returned to kissing him, pausing only to gasp when he slid inside of her.

Natsu stared at the raftered ceiling, listening to his own heart slowly, slowly winding down. Beside him, Lucy was already asleep. Her back was turned and her gold hair was fanned out on the pillow. It smelled like sweet-clover. He looked at her, imagining what end there was in sight. What future. People were looking for her. The police. The media. Lawyers. They wanted her home safe. They wanted her to claim the Heartfilia mansion, they wanted her to sign papers and collect her father's ashes. They wanted answers.

And Lucy… it seemed like the only thing she wanted to do was ignore it all. Find anonymity. Start over as someone new.

Zeref's words rang through his head. 'We'll treat her like one of us, she'll be family if that's what you want.'

He didn't know what the hell he wanted. He never did. Or what Lucy wanted, for that matter. Would she be satisfied returning to the Den and living amongst a band of criminals? Criminals that stole her from her life and twisted everything around? Or maybe she'd go back to the way everything was before and find that cop and live out a white-picket fantasy.

It didn't take long for him to realize he was afraid to broach the subject. Just in case she said something he didn't like and this short respite was ripped away, just when he was starting to relax.

The phone beside the bed shrilled, making Natsu jolt. It took it falling into silence and starting again for him to roll over and grab the receiver from the cradle.

"Yeah?"

"Natsu." On the other end of the line, Zeref sounded strained.

"What's wrong?"

"You gotta come home. I need you here."

Just like that, his blood was back to roaring in his ears. "What's going on?"

"Got some new competition in town and they don't play nice. They snatched Carla up while she was visiting with Happy and sent me her head as a warning."

"She's dead?"

"You know a girl that can stand to be without her head?"

Natsu forgave his shortness. "I'll be there."

"You're a good brother, Natsu."

No. If he was, he would have been there already. But instead, he was playing house. "Stay out of the fire for a few days."

He hung up without waiting for a reply and threw the blankets off. He was hopping into his jeans when he realized Lucy was sitting up and looking at him in the dark.

"You're leaving?"

He didn't look at her as he said, "I have to go back to Magnolia," thinking it'd be easier that way. "There's trouble."

"…Oh."

He opened his mouth to tell her to stay here and instead said, "Zeref said if you want, you can be part of the family."

She didn't say anything.

He hurried after that, throwing his shirt on over his shoulders, tearing one of the drapes off of the sliding glass door to use as a bag of sorts to throw in all the clothes he'd accumulated over the last month. He moved quickly, never slowing to look at her, otherwise, he'd be tempted to say something else stupid. It was over his shoulder and the deuce coupe's keys were in his hand in minutes.

Lucy's voice stopped him from slipping out without a goodbye. "Do you want me to come?"

Yes. And no. "It's going to be dangerous. Things aren't good."

Instead of deterring her, she stood and started to dress. "The only time I've ever had control was when I was in danger."

A/N: Thank you for reading. There is a sequel of sorts called Speed the Collapse. It's set in the same universe with many of the same faces. You'd honour me if you checked it out.