Natsu was a Dragneel. As such, he was prepared for a lot of situations.

This particular situation was decidedly not one of them. He stared at the message in the shared document he had with his brother. No. No fucking way. Never in a million years. Not possible. And no matter how many times he tried to will the message to just disappear, he still saw the black letters there in size eleven Arial font, the cursor blinking back at him as Zeref waited for his response.

The demon would like you both to join us today. S.

Natsu cursed whatever god had saddled him with this because he knew he couldn't get out of it. He also knew that going along would mean bloody suicide. In order to survive an S-class mission, members had to be completely in tune with one another, they had to know how to read each other's expressions and mannerisms to know when shit was gonna hit the fan, to be able to protect each other to the best of their ability. He might have shared that with Zeref when Igneel was still around, but they'd long since stopped going on missions together and while Natsu would give his life for Zeref, he didn't know whether or not Zeref had kept up his training, he knew damn well Acnologia wouldn't step in to aid him if it became necessary, and the worst part of it all was the subtle implication of his brother's message. Both. The message asked for them both.

He had known bringing Gray along for the bank heist was a mistake. He'd fucking told Mirajane he wasn't ready, and Gray had surprised him and followed his lead the entire time, but while the whole thing was a stunt to impress Acnologia, the fucker was either a little too impressed, or he was skeptical because of how soon Natsu had taken Gray outside of the walls and now they were completely screwed because while Natsu had fought with Zeref for years and seen Acnologia fight enough times to know not to interfere no matter what he saw, he had no idea how Gray worked on missions where the aim was to kill. Gray was an assassin and the only point of reference for that kind of mission Natsu had was the one where he himself was the target.

He'd only gotten maybe five minutes of a fight with Gray and that told him exactly nothing. He didn't even know if Gray had ever worked with a partner before. Had he worked with Sting? With the other operatives? He came to the complex alone. Did that mean he always worked alone? How many people had he killed? How did he kill his targets? How long did he take to process new information and form plans based on that? What were his methods? Preferred weapons? Hell, Natsu didn't even know if Acnologia would allow Gray to use a weapon or if he would leave that up to Natsu as a test, in which case Natsu would have to give Gray a weapon or risk Acnologia questioning his trust in the operative he'd supposedly broken.

He didn't know a fucking thing about Gray. Now he would have to trust the man with his life and ask Gray to trust him with the same amount. He'd just started flirting back with Gray and now he had to ask the operative to fight for him, risk his life for him, kill for him. Somehow, he didn't think a rival mafia gang territory in a neighboring city would make for a very romantic atmosphere. He'd already been informed of Zeref's priority mission, it was the reason they'd needed extra funding, to pay off spies, sources, to send aspiring members to kill third-rate dealers hired by the enemies and set fires to their homes to distract the police department of the area, to infiltrate their headquarters with enough explosives to destroy them from the inside and set up a bomb that would detonate as soon as Zeref and Acnologia made it out. It was the sort of job that had been coming for months. The kind of mission that would require the involvement of at least half their members and three of their elite. Natsu hadn't been placed in those plans because Zeref didn't know whether or not he would make it back from the bank heist completely uninjured and he hadn't wanted to risk needing a replacement at the last minute. If Natsu had known that Acnologia's look of begrudging approval would entail this, he would have shot himself in the arm to prevent it.

He knew he couldn't use Gray's gunshot wound as an excuse to get him out of it. It would be interpreted as mercy and that was something he couldn't afford to show if he wanted to keep Gray from Acnologia. Even if they didn't… get involved, Natsu still owed Gray Romeo's life. Gray had given him a way out for the first time in five years, some goddamn breathing room when it felt like the stress of everything might strangle him in his sleep. An S-class mission was practically a suicide mission for anyone under the Hellfire Elite. Even Elite members were known to die in them. Or at least come back with severe wounds. Natsu couldn't hope to protect himself, Gray, and watch Zeref's back, which meant he would have to trust Gray to protect him as he focused on Gray and he would be forced to trust Acnologia with his brother's life. That grated on his last nerve, because while he knew that Acnologia would never let anyone put a scratch on Zeref's head, it didn't mean he liked seeing what could be interpreted as a violent level of affection between them. Natsu was sure that affection had to be one-sided. There was no way a monster, a demon, was capable of affection. Acnologia was just trying to protect his own position. Natsu also refused to believe that Zeref could feel anything more than mere affection for Acnologia, because the thought that his brother might love that monster made Natsu's skin crawl and Zeref had never even said that he loved Mavis out loud, so surely Acnologia wasn't worthy of hearing that string of words. Surely. Not when even Mavis hadn't heard them.

Natsu sighed, his frustration palpable. Once again, he felt like a cornered animal with no options. It was do what Acnologia had oh-so-kindly requested, or deal with the consequences. He deleted Zeref's message to let him know that he'd seen it and typed a message of his own.

Understood.

A request from Acnologia was practically the same as a request from Zeref these days and nobody said no to the head of Hellfire.

Natsu saw the words being deleted and closed the document, logging out of his email. He got up, stepped out of his room, and headed down to see Gray. The mission was that night, so he wanted to discuss it with Gray before Zeref called them in to discuss the technicalities of the outing…. Outing. The word made Natsu pause outside of the door to Gray's cell. They would be outside the walls. If Natsu left one remote behind and the other got damaged during the mission, Gray could escape. If Natsu was injured just badly enough, it might be believable that Gray was taken by traffickers. Acnologia would search for a few weeks then write him off as dead meat. It could be a way for Gray to get out and back to Snowden without causing Natsu's death. Natsu might have gone through with it without a second of hesitation, but now a sinking feeling started in the pit of his stomach and he found himself grimacing at the turn of his own thoughts. His… attraction… to Gray wasn't a good reason to hold him back. Natsu already knew that Sting, an assassin in his own right, was on his side. If there was a window of opportunity to get Gray out of the hot seat, Natsu had to take it, regardless of the fact that he wouldn't be able to see him again. Emotions might have helped keep Hellfire strong when Igneel was around, but now they only made members weak and disposable.

He gritted his teeth and came to a decision. He would get Gray to safety tonight. He wouldn't get another opportunity like this soon. Delaying just because of his interest in the assassin wasn't an option. He stepped inside the room and Gray gave him a winning bright smile that faded as soon as he saw the kicked puppy look on Natsu's face.

"What is it?" Straight to the point. Gray had learned that if he didn't speak up, Natsu wouldn't get straight to it. He wasn't like Lyon or Sting or Rogue and definitely nothing like Silver. They knew that Gray didn't do much small talk. If he could avoid talking entirely, he did. Natsu was… different. Natsu took every conversation as an opportunity to learn more about people, to make them laugh. So far, Gray had actually enjoyed their little talks because Natsu was flustered so easily and watching some legendary mobster blush the same shade as his hair did wonders for Gray's confidence. Gray knew that now wasn't the time for trying to get into the youngest Dragneel's pants. Natsu looked worried, frustrated, but most of all disappointed and Gray wasn't going to waste time on small talk. If something happened and Natsu had come to see him, then it involved him somehow and he needed that information now.

Natsu hid his face in his scarf. He did that when he was nervous, when he was flustered, when he was upset. It was his defense mechanism and while it usually made Gray feel like he had the upper hand, now it made him tense in apprehension.

"I found a way to get you out."

Gray blinked. He felt his chest constricting and he waited for Natsu to look at him so he could figure out just what the fuck was going on, but Natsu just sat in front of him, business as usual, with the small discrepancy of refusing to meet his eyes.

"What?" he asked, because he couldn't have heard that right. Because Natsu had said he needed time. Because Gray couldn't leave before securing a position in Hellfire. Because his objective had changed and he needed to bring a head back to Snowden or deal with the fallout of his first failure. Because Acnologia was still breathing and the words Natsu had just said were idiotic.

"Acnologia expects me to bring you on an S-class mission. It's dangerous, practically suicidal and I can say you were kidnapped," Natsu started, his words rushed as if he was trying to get them all out before he ran out of air, "You can escape and in a few weeks Acnologia will assume you're dead, so-"

"And what makes you think," Gray interrupted him, his hands balled into fists, his body angling closer, so close he was breathing in the scent of Natsu, cinnamon and something sweet, his voice low and furious, "That I want to leave, Natsu?"

Green eyes snapped up to stare at Gray. He should have been staring incredulously because Gray had just said he wanted to stay and that alone was enough to make his pulse race with hope, a fact that probably should have worried him more, but instead Natsu was staring at Gray in a mix of awe and pure want because up until now, he hadn't heard Gray say his name and hearing it for the first time in a harsh, heated reprimand, his face so nearby, his stare so intense and angry, Natsu couldn't help himself. He leaned in closer, his lips just a breath away from Gray's, looking up to see dark midnight blue eyes widening and then their pupils dilating, a tongue coming out to lick at such a pretty bottom lip, and then-

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Natsu!"

Natsu jumped back and turned to see what looked like a downright painful scowl on Laxus' face.

He faced Laxus with a scowl of his own.

"Fuck off, Laxus." He'd been about to kiss Gray. He'd been attracted to the operative the moment he laid eyes on him in the reflection of his computer screen and he'd been about to kiss him and the blonde had ruined it. Natsu was not in the mood to deal with his shit today.

Laxus' face tightened in anger and he shut his eyes, breathing deeply to calm himself, something Natsu knew for a fact he'd learned from Freed. Freed was way more subtle about it.

He opened his eyes and glared at Natsu.

"How exactly are you going to explain to Acnologia that your 'retribution' involves turning the operative into your personal fucktoy?" he asked, a harsh whisper through gritted teeth that made Natsu flinch, color rising to his face that he ignored.

Then he was glaring, green eyes narrowed in a look of defiance Laxus wouldn't be able to fry out. "Acnologia isn't going to find out," he replied, his jaw clenching so hard Gray thought he might crack a tooth or something. He noted gleefully that Natsu hadn't denied the sexual aspect of their involvement. They hadn't fucked yet, but Gray didn't think he'd be kept waiting much longer if Natsu was going head to head with Laxus over him. Laxus opened his mouth, but Natsu wasn't done speaking, "Just like Acnologia didn't find out about you."

Laxus froze, eyes narrowed and disbelieving. It was an empty threat and they both knew it. Natsu would never put Freed in harm's way. It wasn't the threat itself that had Laxus stop in his tracks, but the fact that Natsu dared to say it out loud, the one thing he'd never mentioned, never put into words even though Laxus knew that Natsu had known it from the beginning. He knew Natsu wouldn't go through with it, but the mention of what he had with Freed, the thought of Freed and the terror he'd felt when Acnologia had threatened to send him to the traffickers… Laxus couldn't risk it, couldn't fight to make Natsu see sense because given the choice between protecting Natsu and protecting Freed, there was no choice at all.

All he could do was look at the prisoner, the shock collar on his neck that still marked him as someone under Natsu's control, not someone that stood at his side of his own free will, something he thought Natsu was forgetting, and then meet a green-eyed stare once more and say, "I hope he's worth all this."

Natsu tore his eyes away, shame coursing through him at how far he'd gone, but he couldn't back down now. "What did you come here for?"

Laxus flung a paper note at him. "Instructions from Zeref. He and his demon will meet your there."

Natsu picked the note off the floor beside him and turned away, the sound of the door shutting making him let out a breath of relief.

A cold touch on his cheek made him look up, Gray's eyes lingering on his lips, Gray's hand caressing his cheek, his thumb tracing over Natsu's cheekbone making him blush a bright red, but he didn't pull away.

But Gray didn't look at his lips for long. Midnight blue eyes met his own with a fierce challenging look that Natsu couldn't turn from. "Don't make decisions for me, Natsu."

And Natsu felt like he was melting at the way Gray pronounced his name, as if Natsu was something that was his to command and his alone, regardless of the collar that rested on his neck.

"I thought you wanted to escape," Natsu replied softly, his mind still struggling to comprehend why Gray would want to stay, even if a part of him was insanely pleased at the thought.

"I did," Gray told him honestly. He'd simply thought of a better option.

Natsu laughed at how straightforward Gray was, how he didn't circle around the truth like most of the people Natsu talked to, how he didn't force him to read between the lines and make his own assumptions.

"What changed your mind?" he asked. He wanted to hear that Gray was choosing to prolong his stay for his friends. He wanted to hear Gray was choosing to remain in Hellfire to help murder Acnologia. But what he wanted to hear more than those options, was what he was sure Gray would never say, what Natsu was sure couldn't be the reason because Gray would have to be crazy to say-

"You." It wasn't a lie. I wasn't the whole truth either. Gray knew he was staying for a shot at Acnologia's head. Natsu was just the first step towards that goal. That and Gray wanted him. He wanted to fuck him into the wall. He wanted to watch Natsu fall apart beneath him and scream his name like a desperate prayer as his vision went white and his body spasmed in Gray's hold. He knew he'd said the right thing when Natsu's eyes widened and shot up to look for any trace of a lie in his face. Natsu was fairly easy to read when his guard wasn't up and Gray let his face redden in mock embarrassment at his admission before clearing his throat and asking what the instructions were.

Natsu's shocked expression morphed into a soft smile that did weird unexpected things to Gray's chest and soon they were going over every aspect of the plan, which direction they would enter from and how they would keep an eye on each other, at which point Gray had to stop because-

"I don't need to be protected."

Natsu sighed. That sentence told him a lot more about Gray than he thought the man intended. It meant Gray always worked alone, was a much more experienced killer than Natsu would have assumed if he was so confident in his abilities, and he'd probably had a shit childhood. Adults who'd been protected well as children didn't feel the need to assert their independence quite as vehemently. Then again, Natsu figured anyone who was actually successful in the darker side of the business had to have been through their own personal hell at some point to endure it, so he couldn't say he was surprised.

"I didn't say you needed protecting," Natsu tried.

"You implied it," Gray shot back.

"People have died on these missions before," Natsu insisted, voice growing louder.

Gray's volume increased in response, "I'm not them."

Natsu's mind flashed with memories of Igneel. Of Mavis. Of Lisanna. Of everyone else he'd failed to save. "I won't lose anyone else!" he shouted, his breaths coming fast and his fists clenched at his sides, dread rising in him in thin waves of smoke as he saw realization cross Gray's face which soon melted into something cold that promised pain and Natsu knew that whatever Gray said next was something they would both regret.

"I'm not yours to lose." Gray knew he fucked up the moment he heard the words out loud. He knew it because Natsu didn't leave immediately, but he leaned further away from Gray, the first move of retreat and it stung. It wasn't supposed to make Gray feel anything other than disappointment in himself for a setback, and instead it felt like a slap to the face. He'd fucked up just when he'd gotten Natsu to get closer to him and now the pinkette had his face buried in his scarf again to hide what he was feeling from Gray and Gray wanted to take it back, to lie, but lying to Natsu was becoming a difficult thing. He could tell the man half-truths but an outright lie was hard to get past his lips. He wasn't Natsu's to lose. Couldn't be. Maybe he could pretend. Hell, if Natsu wasn't a Snowden target, Gray might have wanted to be. But in his line of work he couldn't afford attachments like that and this was a sharp reminder to himself that he needed to think of this game with Natsu as just that. A game. A strategy. Nothing more. So in the interest of keeping the game going… "Yet," he added.

Natsu showed a brief hesitation before looking up into midnight eyes again and asking, "Yet?"

Gray didn't hesitate. He mirrored the motion Natsu had made the previous night, reaching out, taking a tan hand in his, and lightly pressing his lips to the back of it, slow and lingering where Natsu had rushed through it. He looked up into light green depths that were staring at him in wide admiration. "Yet," he confirmed. He couldn't let himself fall for a member of Hellfire, much less an inheritor, but Natsu didn't have to know that.

Natsu's smile could light up even the darkest of places on the face of the earth. Gray tried to make himself believe that it wasn't anything special. Tried and failed.

Natsu didn't think for a second that Gray would have given up on his loyalties so easily. He didn't think Gray was staying solely for him, nor did he think that Gray actually believed himself when he said he would be Natsu's to lose. He knew Gray was trying to lie. What made Natsu smile, wasn't hearing the words, but seeing the way Gray looked at him as he said the words, as if he was trying to convince himself he didn't mean them. It meant Natsu had a chance, a real chance, at making them something real. He was aware it was a stupid thing to want. But Gray could piss him off with one word and calm him down with a single touch. Gray could give him a single look and make Natsu want to rip off his clothes right then and there and then turn away from him and make Natsu feel lost. Gray was the most untameable person Natsu encountered and he was the only one who really knew it in the complex. Gray was beautiful and Natsu wanted him all to himself. He just wanted to wait until Acnologia was dead. With the demon gone, Natsu could restore his father's empire into something that Snowden might accept an allegiance with. Then Natsu could date Gray properly without worrying about whether or not one of them would die because of it. That was what Natsu wanted. Except Gray kept testing his self-restraint every time he leaned in close and licked his lips and made it seem like he'd want nothing more in those moments than to strip him down and take him. And Natsu hadn't missed the way Gray's eyes darkened when he said Natsu's name. He'd seen the way Natsu reacted and he would be using that to just torture Natsu. Natsu missed being called warden. At least then he could control himself. Gray saying his name just wasn't fair.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and started unlocking the chains. It was getting late. They would have to leave soon. Gray hated the chains with a passion. The complex was surrounded. The vents were bolted down. There was a shock collar on his neck. He could only hope that this 'S-class' mission would prove his 'loyalty' to Hellfire's Salamander so that he could get a room like Sting and Rogue. His cell was becoming a tiresome thing to look at, just four dark walls and shit lighting. It resembled a room he didn't want to remember. That made him pleased for each of these surprise outings.

Within the hour Natsu and Gray were at the location Zeref ordered.

Acnologia stared Gray down intently, Zeref watched Acnologia because he knew that his demon didn't get along with his brother and this had been Acnologia's idea, a sort of truce between him and Hellfire's Salamander. Natsu's success in taming an operative of his own had sparked Acnologia's interest and Zeref was apprehensive, but also hopeful that this would be the first step towards cooperation between the two.

Gray kept his gaze locked on Natsu. He took one look at his surroundings and then his eyes went right back to his former target. It wouldn't hurt to show his 'loyalty.' As far as the others knew, Natsu had broken him, which meant the one that Gray would be expected to follow through fire was Natsu, not Zeref, not The Ghost Mercenary.

The car Zeref and Acnologia used had the door to the driver's side open. They waited. The police scanner started going off about three fires in the city, all within five minutes of each other. It would be hard to miss the pattern. Then a fourth was reported. A fifth. Calls about a sixth and seventh fire. A bomb threat at a hospital. The sound of sirens went off in the distance.

Acnologia almost smiled.

Zeref handed Natsu a bag and then both Acnologia and Zeref disappeared behind the building, headed toward the other exits. Zeref and Acnologia would kill anyone trying to use the back exits and clear the north wing where most of the fighters would be. Natsu was supposed to clear the bottom floor and the basement, as well as set up the bomb so that within five minutes it would go off and obliterate the foundation, turning their entire infrastructure into rubble on fire. Gray was supposed to find his way onto the roof and strategically wipe out the upper floors starting from the south end each time so that if anyone tried to run, they would end up in the north wing and meet their end with either a bullet or a blade. Sting and Rogue were set up on the roof of a building facing the east exit, ready to shoot at anyone who might make it out. Freed had already disabled their security system and Laxus was sitting at the bottom of the fire escape, smoking a cigar as he waited for fuckers to just try making it past him, gun loaded and ready. Where the rest of the building had five floors, the north wing only had three, making it so that the strongest of the men could escape in case of an emergency, letting them be closer to the exits, but that would be entirely useless with Acnologia and Zeref zeroing in on them. Eat or be eaten and Acnologia was hungry.

As soon as Zeref and his demon were out of sight, Gray made his way forward, ready to climb up the side of the fire escape on the west end when a hand closed over his wrist. Gray turned to look at the faint shade of pink dusting over tan cheeks and waited for whatever Natsu was going to say.

"Just… be careful," came the small, seemingly insignificant request, and then Natsu was disappearing into the front of the building, the sound of gunfire muffled by the thick walls.

Gray felt his heartbeat pick up the pace and he felt so stupid for it. All the man had said was 'be careful.' That was it. It wasn't important. It wasn't meaningful. But a small voice in his head called out liar and Gray remembered that the last person to actually say those words to him was Ultear. Right before the incident. The day before she died. He felt his eyes watering and forced himself forward toward the west end. Being around Natsu was like playing with fire, he had to be careful or he would get burned. Laxus glared at him and Gray very deliberately ignored him and made his way up the fire escape. He got to the roof, snapped the neck of the guy guarding the stairwell instead of using the gun because the building might filter the noise out but firing a gun with nothing but air around would cause someone to call the cops and they couldn't afford that so early, and made his way down to the highest floor, locking the door behind him. He wouldn't be using that exit.

He didn't like to stick around after killing someone, mostly because usually it took time for them to actually die and he didn't want to see the process. Contrary to what most people assumed, usually snapping someone's neck didn't automatically kill them. There were still about three minutes left where the person was perfectly aware of the pain filling their senses, the fact that their body wasn't quite right anymore, the knowledge that they were suffocating because the broken bones were obstructing their airway before they finally, painfully, died. Gray didn't like watching that realization cross their faces.

Natsu had just taken out three armed men at the entrance, though one of them had managed to shoot at him and graze the side of his thigh, it was just a scratch. He'd shot one of those guys in the face, so… it was safe to say he was the victor in that particular confrontation.

He was just about to focus on clearing out the first floor when he heard gunshots being fired above. Several of them. He tensed. Men started rushing out from behind boxes of shipments and Natsu aimed and fired consistently, leaping out of the way, dropping down when someone came at him and turning around to shoot the back of the guy's head, turning right back around to face the barrel of a gun, dropping just a second before a finger clamped down on the trigger hitting nothing but empty air as Natsu raised his arm, quickly firing a shot under the man's jaw and watching the top of his head blow off, a mess of blood coating the ceiling. Disgusting. And something Natsu didn't have time for. He ran up the metal stairs to his left toward the sound of gunfire. Zeref had a silencer on his weapon. Acnologia didn't like using guns. That and neither of them were supposed to be in the south side of the building. Either Gray was firing his gun more times than he had bullets to back up his shots for, or all of those bullets were being aimed at him and Natsu found himself deviating from the plan and going up instead of down.

He held his gun in front of himself, taking out five guys before they could get in his way. Kill first, ask questions later. Things might have been different once. They might have tried negotiating with the new blood. Now death was the first and only choice and Natsu could still hear gun beings fired above. He felt dread clawing at his skin and he climbed up a second set of stairs, only to freeze at the sight of Gray, two guns stuffed into his belt, using a blade to slice someone's throat open above him, his left hand crushing a man's windpipe as the man lay trapped beneath him. There was so much blood, so many dead bodies, and as soon as the first guy dropped, Gray dropped the blade and wrapped both hands around the first guy's neck, the vein from the tattooed arm rising against his skin with the force he was putting into the kill. Then one of the supposed dead bodies from down the hall was raising its arm. Natsu couldn't tell if it was a woman or a man with how badly the person's face was shredded, but they had one eye trained on Gray, one hand still clutching a gun, finger on the trigger and Natsu felt like it was happening in slow motion. He called out Gray's name, ran forward and knocked Gray completely down, the bullet just missing them as Natsu shot an arm up in front of his line of sight and aimed for the person's single unharmed eye, watching it widen in fear as he took the shot.

Gray had just felt a pulse shorten out beneath his fingertips when he heard Natsu shouting his name, when he saw the dragon running toward him, an expression of desperation and possessiveness painted over his features, when he felt the wind being knocked out of him and saw a gun held in Natsu's grip and only had a split second to wonder why did his voice make me calm? before Natsu was firing and Gray saw a lethal, vicious look in those pale green depths that he'd never thought he would see in another person. It was the look of someone who took people's lives repeatedly because a murderer was who he was raised to become, because he'd never had a choice, because he'd been born into the life, a look Gray had only ever seen in the mirror. The look of someone who killed because doing anything else was never an option he was given. Gray found himself breathing harshly because Natsu's body was over his own, closing him in, and it was this moment that made Gray realize… Natsu was beautiful. Natsu was perfect. Natsu was the kind of person who never had a choice, the kind of person that could understand Gray, that wouldn't judge him, that wouldn't run away once he knew who Gray really was and Gray had never wanted anyone more in his life.

Natsu felt like he could breathe again when he saw the body fall the rest of the way and he gave Gray his brightest smile, only to have it fade at the awestruck gaze he was receiving. Something about the way Gray was looking at him, like if he was shocked about something that he hadn't noticed before, like he was afraid to breathe lest it make Natsu move away… and suddenly Natsu realized just what position they were in, that Gray's hands were on his hips as if they were-

Natsu yelped and fell back in his attempt to move away and Gray smiled a tiny smile that Natsu was too flustered to notice.

Natsu wiped the blood that had gotten on his hands on the thigh area of his cargo pants before he tugged his scarf up over the lower half of his face nervously. There was a time and place for everything. This was sure as fuck not the place and nowhere near the time to be worrying about his interest in Gray. He'd already deviated from the plan and he didn't regret it, seeing as Gray could have been killed, but that didn't mean he didn't realize that Gray had him acting differently.

Gray snapped out of his onslaught of admiration for his… mission partner? Keeper? Ex-target? He didn't know what to call Natsu anymore. Natsu was just… Natsu. His warden. The thought made him fight back a smile. Still, as much as he enjoyed seeing Natsu in action, one thing was nagging at him.

"You weren't supposed to be on the third floor," he reprimanded.

Natsu grinned. "You almost got shot."

"And you haven't set up the bomb," he shot back.

Natsu's smile became soft as he went down the stairs, increasing his pace because he knew Gray was right and if anyone managed to call for help they were running out of time. Still he answered, "I had to make sure you made it through the five floors with only fifteen bullets."

Gray had run out of bullets. But he'd murdered another guy and taken his gun as well, then run out a second time and finally got fed up enough to fight someone in hand-to-hand combat and used their own blade against them. It was a pretty blade, with a dark black handle and a carving in the silver. He hadn't known of someone trying to shoot at him until after he'd been hypnotized by the look in the dragon's eyes. He picked off the gun from one of the bodies Natsu had left at the bottom of the second stairwell and checked the clip. He needed to stay focused. He'd worry about… whatever he and Natsu were at another time. Seven bullets left. That was fine. Manageable.

They'd just reached the second floor when Gray heard the sound of a bone snapping, grabbed Natsu's wrist and shoved him behind a pile of shipment crates, covering his mouth with his hand and looking past the crate to assess the threat level. What he saw made his eyes widen. Natsu was about to protest the sudden treatment when he saw the look in Gray's eyes and turned his head to look through the thin space between drug shipments.

What the fuck was Acnologia doing on the south end of the second floor? Then Natsu saw what made the demon leave his designated area. A man was trying to crawl away from Acnologia as the twin blades cut slices into his back, the blood pouring down his sides and staining his shirt, his jaw hanging off of his face at an awkward angle that Natsu knew wasn't reparable. He must have gone head to head with the former mercenary and realized he was out of his league when Acnologia broke his jaw. And then he'd tried to run and that was something Acnologia wouldn't allow, wouldn't respect. He would see the man as a coward who wouldn't at least face his death with dignity and proceed to slice his skin open. Natsu watched as Acnologia got fed up with his prey, taking a fistful of the man's light brown hair and yanking backward, the man's jaw wide open and swinging back and forth as a gurgling screech emanated from low in his throat, Acnologia becoming annoyed and knocking the guy head into the huge wooden shipment boxes at his side repeatedly. Natsu watched as Acnologia threw the helplessly defeated man on the floor, his back hitting the ground, breaths coming out in low wheezes that signalled internal bleeding, as a single long, curved blade stabbed into the bottom of his abdomen, rising beneath the skin and gutting him, Acnologia's eyes trained on the sight, a glint of amusement glowing in golden hazel depths, even as his face remained impassive.

Natsu let his gaze turn back to Gray, only to regret it as he saw the horror flashing in deep midnight blues. The sound of a gunshot made his attention snap back to where Acnologia stood, a dead body at his feet with a hole in its eye, a scowl on Acnologia's face. And Natsu knew what had happened immediately. Acnologia didn't like to use guns.

Natsu waited and, just as he'd known it would happen, Zeref stepped into view as Acnologia shot him an annoyed look. Natsu tensed. He didn't think Acnologia would hurt Zeref but the man was hostile and Natsu didn't trust him no matter how many times Zeref told him Acnologia was trustworthy. Natsu raised his gun and pointed it, knowing he couldn't shoot unless Acnologia did something out of line or Zeref might retaliate. Natsu didn't know where his brother's loyalty lay anymore. Then Zeref was brushing a hand through Acnologia's hair and Natsu felt bile rising in his throat.

Zeref allowed his hand to remain in his lover's hair. He was always taken aback by how soft it was in spite of the spiky, untameable appearance. He carded his fingers through it, the tip of his index finger brushing against the scalp and the tension seemed to roll off of his demon in waves. Zeref bit back a smile. It was always like this. A single touch and Acnologia would calm down and look at him like the world was his to command. Like Acnologia, wild and dangerous, exotic and fatal, beautiful in a way Zeref could never have imagined someone could be, was his to command. Zeref tugged the man down by dark blue locks of hair, it was no secret that Acnologia was a bit taller than him, and their lips crashed together, fast and violent and just what they both needed.

Zeref's gun was still in his hand, his finger still on the trigger, and Acnologia trusted him not to accidentally kill one of them because Zeref was so familiar with his weapon that it felt like an extension of his body and Acnologia had seen him maintain his control too many times to count. He prided himself on being the only one Zeref let himself loosen his control with, the only one who got to see Zeref become an entirely different person, something delicately intricate that could shatter under the right circumstances, but like a true dragon, would always rise again. Zeref was a bred and born executioner, the only man with the kind of strength that could match him, the kind of person that once they set their eyes on someone they wanted eliminated, it meant that person was as good as dead. Zeref killed with precision, without hesitation, with finesse and his eyes sparked with a tiny flare of life whenever he did, a life that had been all but gone when Acnologia first spoke to him, a life that he saw returning into obsidian depths a little more every day. His angel. His very own angel of death. Zeref deserved everything, and through blood and screams and tears, wars if they proved necessary, Acnologia would make him a king. A god among men. No one else understood him. Zeref understood completely. No one else mattered.

"Why'd you stop my fun?" he asked as Zeref pulled back, hand still entwined in his hair.

"Am I to assume I'm less interesting than a third-rate corpse?" came the question.

Acnologia shoved Zeref against the same shipment boxes he'd smashed the guy's head against earlier, lifting him up by his thighs and pressing their bodies together. "Never," he growled, leaning in close to breathe in the same air as his equal, "You fucking tease."

Zeref's expression gave nothing away. It was one of the things about him that made Acnologia entirely obsessed, addicted. Zeref could be the world's greatest liar if he tried, his poker face had no tell. But then the words he chose to speak out loud always gave away what he was feeling because he didn't bother to hide it, never needed to because he was strong enough to handle anyone who dared to threaten him.

"You enjoy me this way," he breathed, and Acnologia crushed their mouths together, because they didn't do soft and slow, they were far too violent, far too impatient after waiting so long to find someone to match them.

There was the sound of footsteps going up the stairwell from where they'd just come from and Acnologia pulled away grinning, the sort of smile he didn't let anyone but Zeref see and Zeref smiled softly in response and on the far side of the room where neither of them knew two people were watching them, Natsu had never felt such intense disgust.

He couldn't understand how his brother could believe Acnologia felt anything for him. He couldn't understand how Zeref could watch the man beating someone who was as good as dead past the point of hopelessness and still touch him let alone kiss him.

He pulled what appeared to be a frozen-in-shock Gray toward the lower stairwell and ran as soon as he realized Acnologia and Zeref were headed in the opposite direction. They could be shocked and disgusted later, they still had a job to do.

Gray followed Natsu in silence until they reached the basement stairwell and Gray shoved Natsu aside and went in first, making the pinkette scowl behind his scarf. It was dark in the stairwell and just as Gray reached the bottom step, Natsu made a strangled sound and Gray turned to see someone dropping down from above, thighs wrapped around Natsu's head as the guy tried to get a hold of a tan jaw to break it. Gray saw the moment the man gave up the task and took out a knife. He raised his gun and shot into the man's chest three bullets in quick succession. Natsu fell to the floor gasping and the man fell, leaking blood from all three bullet wounds and the side of his mouth, eyes wide open as he made small whimpering sounds that failed to become full breaths. Gray realized he wasn't dead yet, and took a vindictive pleasure in shooting the guy's crotch, watching as a spastic jolt went through his entire body and tears ran down his face. Gray shrugged. At least he would die in pain.

Natsu tried to go into the basement first and Gray knocked him right back to the ground so that he could make sure there were no people ready to jump out of random hiding places. Natsu glared at him once he nodded toward him, but set to building the bomb anyway.

Gray watched Natsu for the five minutes it took him. The bag he'd received from Zeref came packed with blocks of C4, so as long as Natsu set up the detonator correctly, the entire structure would collapse and an entire city would look to get their drug supply elsewhere. From Hellfire. Gray watched Natsu work intently, looking for any mistakes in his set up and saw none. He wanted to smile. The look of concentration, of lethal intent not by choice but by tradition. The look Gray recognized only from mirrors. He didn't know how to deal with it. He just knew he didn't want Natsu to die. Natsu connected the last wire and then they both heard just how prevalent the silence was. There were no gunshots above. There were no screams. Neither of them heard the sounds of snapping bones. They both knew what it meant. Acnologia and Zeref were done. It also meant that by now at least fifteen minutes had passed and if anyone had called the police force, they were on their way. Natsu set the timer for the bomb to three minutes, grabbed Gray's hand and ran up to the main floor, letting Gray's hand go just before they got to the front exit, knowing that Zeref and Acnologia would be there, trusting Gray to follow him without even thinking of the remote in his pocket.

Natsu ran across the street, Gray following his lead, both of them jumping into the car. Natsu saw Zeref driving off once he caught sight of him, and he turned the car on and pulled away from the curve too, the sounds of sirens coming closer.

Gray felt someone's stare and turned his head to see Lyon standing on the corner right by the building. He felt shards of ice flowing in his veins and yelled out, "Run," watching as Lyon took off after their car, just far enough and then the building was exploding behind him and Gray was letting out a breath of relief at the sight of Lyon alive and unharmed by the blast. Then he felt dread creeping into the edges of his mind because Lyon had run toward the car. Lyon had assumed Gray needed help. Lyon had an eye for detail. He'd probably seen the fucking shock collar and drawn his own conclusions. Shit.

Lyon turned to see the building going up in flames, or at least what remained of it. His thoughts were running a mile a minute. Silver was right, that fucking asshole. He'd said the arson cases were an obvious distraction and that this happening right after Hellfire was accused of robbing a bank was no coincidence. He'd called Lyon and told him of certain suspicions he had, that the youngest Dragneel was going to be involved somehow and that Snowden's Ice Prince would be with him. Lyon had scoffed and resisted the urge to call his superior a moron. Now, it was clear that Silver knew more than he let on. Gray had been wearing a shock collar. That was one bit of information the kid had kept to himself. Those fuckers had him captive and The Salamander had branded his prodigy as a traitor just to manipulate Snowden. Lyon called the one person he always dreaded calling.

"Have you changed your mind?"

Lyon gritted his teeth. He hadn't agreed to Silver's plans. He had wanted to avoid a war because he didn't have enough information. He hadn't known what Gray's plans were, whether or not he was safe. Now he knew Gray was being held against his will. Romeo might have had faith in Hellfire's precious little Salamander. Lyon had no such faith.

"I'm in."

There was a long silence. Lyon could practically hear the pleased smirk on the other end of the line. It made him want to punch Silver's smug face, because he knew the man would never have suggested what he was planning if Gray had been the only missing operative. But then again, at least Silver never held Gray against his will. Pick the lesser of two evils.

"I'll get the kid ready." Lyon hoped they wouldn't be too late. They had a dragon inheritor to kill.