Downstairs and Dead

Chapter One

Winter Season

She stood before the princess in the overlarge study. The lights were dimmed making what might have been a very pleasant place quite ominous. A feeling that wasn't at all helped by the information tucked away in the folder she held, or the rumors she'd heard while wandering around in her early days as a "reporter". (She was technically still a model then, but she was trying!)

It was a bit cliché to talk murder in the dark.

Horror stories around campfires. Well, not campfires. Large desks backed by a flickering fireplace, but horror stories, still. Dead body piled upon dead body, and no one cared.

No. No. Someone cared. But few. Few. Too few. Too few cared when so many had gone; gone never to return.

Damn, her heart hurt.

Solo missions, back when Fairy Tail was still a guild and Lucy was still a member, were not her strong suit. She worked with teams. She thrived on companionship, and worked best as support, but the last few months had seen her working alone more than not, out of necessity. It was like escaping her father all over again... and this would be like going back. Some sort of sick, terrible circle.

Still, she'd become comfortable, if not at all happy, on her own. And the job would be in a place she understood. A place she could dominate. But. But. She didn't want to do it alone. She wouldn't do it alone.

Not murder. Not this. Good, sweet stars, not this.

Eighteen deaths in three years. Same six houses. Same time. Every year. Kept secret; saving face. They were only servants, after all. Common folk. So easily replaceable. How long did it take to train a girl to fold laundry, after all?

Serial killers among the wealthy elite. No. Not murder. Not this.

But someone had to do it – eighteen dead and a new year coming! - and she could be that someone.

But, by the Spirit King himself, she would not do it alone.

"This mission will have to be secret," she told Princess Hisui. "I will need to create some sort of excuse for my boss, and I will need to make sure this stays quiet. If it, if I become too much of a spectacle, it'll scare off the guy until I'm gone and then he'll just come back later in the season, or wait until next year."

"I agree."

She swallowed. "I can't be... I can't be Lucy. Not Lucy Lucy, the Lucy I've been for the last few … well the last several years, I guess. Lucy Heartfelia, my father's daughter." A shudder crawled up her spine, but she tried not to let it show. "I did not want this," she whispered selfishly to herself.

Eighteen people. Eighteen corpses. Selfishness needed to be put away for others.

If the princess heard her, she graciously chose to ignore those words. "You are, I truly believe, my best choice for this job. So I will, of course, give you what you need to make your entrance, and I'll provide you with a cover so that you do not lose your job."

"Your bosses aren't going to take well to you disappearing on them when you've only been there for a handful of months..." she trembled at the deep voice coming from her side, slightly behind. She knew he was there, but he had been so quiet that she'd almost forgotten.

"No," she agreed, "neither will your team be all that pleased that you've disappeared on them once more, but this needs some amount of discretion, and you are already enough of an attention grabber by the simple act of physical existence. We don't need to add three more mages and the paparazzi to the mission."

Laxus snorted in what might have been agreement or might have been derision, who could tell?

"The winter social season starts next week and lasts six weeks. Obviously, if we find the killer before then, we won't have to endure the entire whirl, but assuming we have to attend every function, we will need to be in close quarters for seven weeks, almost two months. Do you think you can stick with me that long?" she turned, finally, away from the princess to look at him and ask him the question she hadn't.

She hadn't even looked at him since he'd arrived at the castle only an hour earlier. Hadn't even acknowledged his presence. Hadn't even wanted to think about him, about him as another Fairy Tail, ex-Fairy Tail, member sharing the same breathing space...

His hair glowed golden in the firelight; his eyes were shadowed. His hands were in his pockets. His feet planted so that she was sure a boar could not overbalance him.

Laxus cleared his throat and Lucy noticed that just as she had avoided looking at him, he was doing equally well at avoiding her. He looked over her head to address his question to the princess, "I still don't get it; why me? Lucy's a given, what with being one of the few people out there who are magicians-slash-heiresses," the heiress snorted, "but me? Why?"

Before the princess could answer, Lucy forced her way into his line of sight to explain. "I chose you. Because, in your own way, you're an heir, too." This time it was the princess who snorted, and Lucy smiled at Laxus's clear annoyance with young royal's unladylike reaction. "Sure, you've mellowed a bit, but if you take away the magic, your little rebellious blow up," he glared, probably at little, "was a lot like other young men dealing with having status but no power. Add that to your expressions," she gestured at his growing frown, "which are suitably condescending. Your time in exile means that now, when you are away from the guild, you are quiet and less likely than others to break things. I can teach you manners and how to dance, but character is harder. Not to mention the fact that I require an escort. Both of us traveling together while being unmarried is bad, of course, but I have no father, brother, uncle, or cousin. I have no male family to change that. Any man I travel with will be a possible romantic connection for me, so it is better that I choose one who is strong and capable in his own way. So the fact that you – thinking practically – have the power to fight is good. You are the best choice."

Her last statement pleased him, though he tried not to let it show.

"And yet, why is a princess even handling this in the first place? When I got your message," he tilted his head to indicate Princess Hisui, "I had to wonder, why not the guard? Or why not a guild?"

Again, Lucy was the one to answer. "Council guard are not the answer here. Too much money and politics are clouding the issue, and local law enforcement, even regional, are too heavily influenced by the power of the families in the region. Added to it, you have one murder per year in each location, and each location is spread out, so to each district it looks like three murders. Only nationally do we see the truth. Only nationally can we get beyond the veil of money and locality and say definitively that there is a serial killer hunting during the regular tour of the winter social season. And only a group as powerful as the royal family could possibly step in and above that power, but..."

Eighteen people! You have to see! It's so... Eighteen! Obviously no one else cares but her, but us!

She did not shout at him. He was asking questions that needed to be asked. She knew that; she did.

"But," the princess agreed, "the royal family can't be seen to interfere overmuch with the public. Especially not with families so heavily invested in business. A country needs money, and unfortunately, that sometimes means even we – I – must make nice with such people. Still, three years is too long for this to be swept under the rug. One year was too long, but I only learned of it last year and had no one to ask. Now, I believe you two are uniquely suited to facing this issue and solving it."

"You know these people?" he asked Lucy.

"I'll know some of them. These parties focus heavily on fostering business relationships, which is code for arraigned marriages. Father was very interested in business relationships. Of course, it's been over eight years since I last attended. The people I knew best will already be married."

"How will that change things for you?"

She sighed, exhausted already, "It'll be complicated. As a single woman, I will be placed with other unmarried men and women, who will likely be the younger siblings of my former contemporaries. Familiar, but not comfortable. In this way, Laxus, you," she turned to the large, muscular, blue-eyed blond, "will do much better than I. On top of there being no bad blood between you and the families, women are drawn to your looks, and men to your fame and strength. The mage who beat Jura of the Ten Wizard Saints? You are exactly the sort of man other men like to claim an acquaintance with, while I left and scorned society, yet retain a positive relationship with our Princess. I wouldn't be surprised if I were outright shunned at the first ball, but they will get used to me again."

"Not sure I could chat up an heiress," Laxus muttered.

Lucy and Princess Hisui laughed together. Loudly. It felt rather good to laugh. She hadn't been laughing much, lately.

"What?!"

"I'm not sure you could chat up anyone. Not that I've spent a lot of time in your company, but I've never once seen you flirt. You're a bit of an egotistical bastard, but it's not from nothing. You just stand there, and they come to you. And that's in bars and guilds! At a manor with girls forced to consider middle-aged men or – if they're lucky – younger men, followed by the rather dull prospect of life as a Lady, you'll be a breath of fresh air. Heck," she grinned, "if Gajeel had better table manners and was capable of going two hours without breaking things, I'd drag him along, too."

She patted his forearm as if he needed comforting. "Lots of girls like a bad boy, Laxus. I'd think you'd know that by now. Girls raised in gilded towers? Stand still, cross your arms like you do, put on that neutral I don't give a crap expression, and they'll tell you absolutely anything we care to know."

The mixture of emotions on his face told her that he was considering being horrified, but instead he decided to be amused. "You're using me for my body, then."

"That's right." She tapped his shoulder, this time, deep in thought, "Mmm, too bad jackets and high collars are the fashion at the moment... just a hint of that tattoo and we could own a few of them." She shared a smirk with the tall man and felt a wave of happiness that almost drove her to her knees in a fit of tears.

Eighteen dead. You can't be happy about this mission.

"And you?" The question was so quickly asked that Lucy suspected Laxus sensed her change in emotion.

"Well, I was in the process of being contracted to one of those middle-aged men, I mentioned. Father only ever considered money, and marrying me to a young heir meant waiting, and that didn't interest him."

"Contracted."

She laughed, but she knew this laugh would sound false to him. "Maybe you never heard, as you were busy running around, being an ass at the time," Princess Hisui coughed, "but the reason Father hired Phantom Lord to abduct me was that the contract was finalized. I could no longer gallivant around the country. I was 'engaged' to Prince Sawalu of the Julenelle. All for a rail line, he was willing to sell me to that disgusting pig of a man. I wasn't surprised. I expected it. Money was the goal, and he had it. None of my other bidders, ah, suitors, were any better. All reasons you will be popular to other ladies of station, Laxus. All things I can go more into detail about later."

The two others stayed silent. Hisui would understand. Her situation was likely similar. Well, a little different, maybe. Politics like hers were separate from money and far more complex, but the contracts and negotiations that were likely going on in preparation for her marriage had to be vast.

Lucy continued. "As my name still has a measure of worth, if only in gossip, I will focus on widowers, I think. No one would want me for their son, but a man who already has a family and is just looking for companionship? And my lack of monetary ambitions is infamous. I would be a safe choice. And, anyway, old men are very free with their words around a pretty young woman."

"Think highly of yourself, don'cha?" he tried to lighten the mood, but her response killed it.

"I was raised to know my value."

"Damn. I already hate this," he grumbled.

"And you don't even know the half of it. On the positive side, the food will be excellent."

He just stared.

"Booze should be good, too," she added. "Top of the line. And flowing freely. I'll see if I can snitch some for a few of our friends." She managed a smile. It too was fake, but she needed to practice.

There would be a lot of fake smiles. Two months. All full of fake smiles and forced laughter. Physical contact with revolting men. Hurtful words spat by women and men, who found her to be too common since leaving her father, to be ignored.

A murderer dancing on a smooth marble floor, a series, weeks of smooth marble floors illuminated by sparkling lights. Would she touch his hand? Or her hand? It could be a her. Not likely, but possible. But if so, would Laxus hold her close and take turns with her around that floor? Would a nineteenth body fall before they discovered the killer and brought closure for the families of the dead?

"So," Princess Hisui looked at the two of them. "You'll take the job?"

"Yes, we will." She turned to her guild(ex, ex!)mate, straining her neck to look up at him. She'd have to remember to stand farther away from him so she didn't have to stretch so much. "Laxus, please come with me. The tour will begin in a week. You need a new wardrobe and years' worth of instruction in a matter of days, so we can't afford to wait."

"I just got into town. I need a room," he told her as they waved goodbye to the princess and slipped out of the study's side door.

Though Lucy was sure his eyesight was far superior to hers in the darkness, she knew her way around. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him left. "If it came to that, I've got a place, but actually, the princess set us up here until we leave."

"Gotta habit for butting her nose in, doesn't she?"

She wasn't sure how Laxus meant that to be taken. Was he making a joke? Criticizing? Coming to a realization? Lucy clutched the folder to her chest and tried not to dig her nails into his skin. "It's because she cares. She cares for us. For Fiore. Her people."

"Just thinking, she reminds me of... I thought she'd fit in well with the rest of..." he coughed and swallowed and stopped talking, and she finally understood what he wasn't saying. What he wasn't sure how to say. How to word it.

Finally understood and finally realized that he was exactly what she wanted him to be when she called for him.

Sad.

Lost.

Confused.

Just like her.

Just like her.

OOOOXOOOO

AN: As I've done before with, say, Hawk, this is sort of a test chapter. I'm not 100% sure of this story. I am a huge LaLu fan, but much more comfortable writing for Gajeel and Levy. Thus why I've only ever written the one LaLu one shot. Still, as I said in the one shot author's note, I've wanted to write a longer LaLu story for a long time, and this is my attempt at that.

Downstairs and Dead, like Hawk or When the Lights Go Out is the sort of story I'm most comfortable telling, which focuses first on plot, and second on romance, though I'm actually trying to push forward their relationship because I've not spent a lot of time working with the two of them.

Unlike When the Lights Go Out, I do have a map for this story, leading to the killer's end game. But, like When the Lights Go Out, anything can change. I've never written in suspense before! I'm hoping to keep things suitably exciting, but I'm not sure I'll do a good job. I'm afraid I'll skew to far to horror. Feel free to let me know when I'm sucking! (But please, no plot suggestions!)