"Did you just kill my boss?"

"Shouldn't you be screaming and calling the cops?"

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest. "I asked first."

"Yeah, well your question is pretty much answered." He mused.

Lucy looked from the strange man down to the lifeless body on the floor. She was fully aware that he wasn't going to let her go without a fight. So, she began to analyze her opponent.

He was tall and lean, he appeared to be the same age, if not a couple years older. Her eyes traveled further down to see squared shoulders and a twirling knife in his left hand. He held most of his weight on his left leg, her best chance was to go for his right. He also had scars on his knuckles, probably from previous fights. She allowed her eyes to travel back up to his face. She watched with amusement as onyx eyes scanned her body. He was experienced.

But probably not as much as her.

She smirked.

"May I ask you what's going through that pretty little head of yours?" His tone was teasing. He was either crazy or didn't take her seriously. She didn't like either of those options though.

"The same thing as you Mr. Murderer." She watched as a smirk slid across his face. This is gonna be a pain in the ass.

In a flash he was making his way over to her. As he threw his hand back, she ducked and elbowed him in the stomach. She attempted to snatch the knife while he was recovering, but Mr. Murderer is faster than she predicted, and pulled the knife back driving the hilt into her shoulder. Stumbling back, Lucy narrowed her eyes at the man across from. With a huff, she made her way to him, effectively dodging the various jabs he sent her way. When she found an opening, she punched him in his gut, only momentarily relishing his satisfying grunt in pain as she took a step back and attempting to knee him in his chest, but before it could connect he caught her knee, pushing it back down. Lucy took several steps back.

They eyed each other for several tense moments. "Here's what's going to happen," he arched a brow. "You're going to let me escape through this conveniently place window, and we're going to forget this happened."

He chuckled. "And what makes you think that?"

"Because you're not going to kill me." Lucy grimaced as that infuriating smirk graced his face again. She'd love nothing more than to blow it to bits.

"Is that so?"

"You're not dumb. You know exactly who I am. And I you… Mr. Dragneel."

He let out a bark of laughter as he groomed his hands through his hair. Suddenly the door burst open revealing several people, all of them had guns pointed at her head. There were two black haired men, one without a shirt and the other had several piercings throughout his body. And two women, one with long beautiful scarlet hair and the other had short white hair. The bastard was stalling for time. She looked around, she was still fairly close to the window and they were only on the second floor, but she doubted she could get out before they get a couple rounds out.

"You mean to tell me some blonde bitch was holding you up this whole time." Lucy decided she didn't like the white-haired woman very much. Natsu simply ignored the woman and held his gaze on Lucy. Suddenly the shirtless man aimed the gun at her hand. She narrowed her eyes, but before Lucy could make a move Natsu held his hand up.

"Let her go," his arched a brow at his monotone voice.

"What the fuck do you mean let her go?" Lucy was still trying to figure out why he had no shirt on.

"I mean let her go." The man grimaced and put his gun down, the rest following. Natsu returned his gaze back to Lucy.

"So, Mr. Mafia Boss is just gonna let me go after witnessing him murder my manager?" Just as she finished, the knife that was in his hand was now in the wall behind her with a thud. When the hell… She brushed her hand on her ear to find blood.

"You seem to have a lot of names for me tonight." Sighing Lucy turned walked over to the knife and pocketed it.

"I have a lot more to, and thanks for the knife. It's my new fav." And with that, she made her leave. Natsu turned back to find everyone staring at him in confusion. The amusement left from his eyes as he walked past them.

"I'll tell you later, but for now clean this mess up." They looked at each other and then back at their boss. He really can be a mystery at times.

Lucy sighed as she shut the door to her apartment. She really has had a long day. This was the end of the first month at her new job at a small coffee shop, and she just witnessed her boss get his throat slit by some mafia boss. She couldn't bring herself to be saddened by his death. He was sexist, and rude, I Natsu hadn't of killed him, she probably would have done it herself.

She threw herself on her couch and closed her eyes. She couldn't seem to get a certain pink haired man out of her mind. She was aware he wasn't going to let her go that easy, she did see him kill someone. She was a liability, and a man like him didn't have room for any of those. He had to have some other motive for this, but she couldn't put her finger on it. All this with the fact that he knows who she is made her a little more than stressed. Just how much does he know about her past? She combed her calloused hands through her hair. Whatever he was planning she had to be ready.

The blonde reached in her pocket and pulled out her new favorite knife. Not many people would call a knife of all things beautiful, but they didn't see what she saw. The knife had a past. The hilt of the knife had small dents in it; he probably knocked two or three dozen people out with it. The blade had scratches on it; some more fresh than others. It had a story that Lucy so desperately wanted to know.

Just like a certain pink haired man.

It's been two weeks since that fateful day.

She was currently looking for a job. Since her boss is now dead and no one took over the business, she was jobless, and worst part was that her rent is do in a week.

She sighed as she closed her laptop and continued her morning routine. She headed back to her bathroom and began brushing her teeth. You've really got yourself in deep shit this time Lucy. She began to regret not befriending any of her co-workers in the short time she spent working there. She had no job, no money, and there was a good chance she'd be getting evicted in a couple weeks.

As she was muddling through what little options she had, the sound of knocking at her door took her out of her stupor. She didn't bother taking the toothbrush out of her mouth, she didn't have to worry about anymore police coming at her door, and her best guess was that it was the rent collector telling them that it's almost that time of the month.

She opened the door and instantly closed it back. She took her toothbrush out her mouth and sighed. "My luck just keeps getting worse and worse," She went back to her bathroom, finished brushing her teeth and washed her face. She'd been up for a while so her hair eventually laid itself back down.

Walking back to the door, she looked through the peephole to see if her unwanted guest had left, and of course, he never left his spot. She cursed her luck for the umpteenth time and opened the door. "What do you want?" Natsu simply raised an eyebrow at her straightforwardness.

"Can I come in?" Lucy rolled her eyes and let him in her apartment. She went to sit on the couch and Natsu decided to stand in the middle of the living room.

"Since you're clearly in a bad mood I'll get straight to the point." He cleared his throat. "You have one of two options," he began, Lucy raised a blonde eyebrow. "You can either join my mafia or let me kill you." Lucy simply gave a quiet 'hm' and leaned back in the couch.

"I didn't think you'd give me an option, being as though killing would be a lot easier for you. But what would a simple blonde who grew up in a privileged home, be able to do for your little gang?" Natsu clicked his tongue and walked around the couch. He glanced at the blonde who was handling the dagger that was originally his.

"This 'simple blonde' held her own in a fight with a trained killer." He mused. " This 'simple blonde' is much more than simple."

"Is that a compliment?" She teased.

"That's not a compliment, it was recognition," Lucy rolled her eyes as she gripped the dagger in her hand. "So, what's it gonna be Lucy." She didn't know what it was, but the way he said her name put her on edge. She looked from the weapon to Natsu and then back at the weapon.

She weighed her options in her head. She could either become a criminal or be killed. Neither of those sounded like luxury but those were her choices. Lucy's already aware that the world is a cruel place, and that it shows mercy to no one. She's seen just how cruel it could be countless times. She knew the things Natsu would make her do are probably things she's done and seen more times than she can count, and she had no problem doing some of those things again. What made her so reluctant was the person giving the orders, something about the pink haired man put Lucy at edge. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that she can never get a good read on him or that everything about him makes her curious to learn more. She sighed, and in the blink of an eye she had the knife pointed at his neck.

He didn't move an inch. She sighed and put the knife back down beside her. "I'm guessing you already know my answer."

"Good, now get your things; You're moving," Lucy shot from the couch and was quickly in front of Natsu.

"Why the hell am I moving?" The pinkette narrowed his onyx eyes.

"Let's just say it makes things easier for me. Now, hurry the fuck up, if you're not ready in twenty minutes I'm dragging your ass out of here." Lucy bit her lip and turned away. She breathed in and out. I'm not gonna let him get to me. She repeated the mantra in her head as she went back to her room to get her clothes and valuables.

"I'll take you to your new place later, but for now I want you to see where you'll be working from now on." The blonde groaned as she continued to look out her window. She still can't believe he made her move. All she could take was some of her clothes and her most valuable things

The blonde knew little things here and there about Natsu, but nothing too detailed. He's been in Magnolia his whole life and at a young age his father just disappeared. After that he was raised by his brother Zeref and a man named Acnologia. Back then they had a small gang called Alvarez, but the gang is now an incredibly strong mafia. He started going on missions and the like for them when he was around 14 if she was correct. He was forced to go on some of the same missions as some of their best hitmen. Some thought that he was sent on some of those missions with the hope of never coming back, but Natsu was stronger than that. After a while he had enough and broke away from Alvarez and made his gang - now mafia - called Fairy Tail. To this day those two groups are at each other's throats as the two most prominent names in Magnolia.

"We're here." Lucy looked from the window and at the small cafe in front of them. She held back from snorting at the obvious name. A small part of her wondered why police failed to find their base after all these years.

"So, I'll be working in a cafe from now on?" Natsu chuckled.

"Yes and no." He said as he opened the door. Lucy looked around the cafe. There were waiters and waitresses scrambling around taking orders and giving people their food, families were there, some just for fun and others for a relative's birthday. All of them oblivious to the fact that this was probably the most dangerous place they could be right now. "Follow me." Lucy nodded and followed, working her way through the abundance of people, all the while wondering where the actual base could be.

She quickly found herself in the kitchen. And almost immediately a busty woman with long white flowing hair at her side. She strongly resembled the other white-haired woman she saw a few weeks ago. She turned from the woman to Natsu.

"Lucy this is Mirajane, but everyone calls her Mira. Mira this is Lucy, she's the newest part of the family." She turned to Mira, who was giving her a wide smile.

"Well I hope you like it here. I'm the head waitress here between... other things." Lucy had a good guess at what 'other things' could be and nodded.

"Come on, you still have to see the base." Natsu said as he went towards the back of the kitchen with Lucy behind him. When they were all the way in the back there was a door that looked like it belonged to a broom closet. When he opened the door, Lucy gave him a skeptical look. It was just that: a broom closet. He chuckled at her ignorance. He bent down and moved some cleaning supplies out the way. And just like that he opened a small door that was hidden beneath it all. He motioned for her to go first. Lucy bit her lip and looked down at trap door. She hesitantly went down the steps. The further she went the brighter it became.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail," He said as they fully descended the stairs. Lucy's eyes widened. She failed to believe how he managed to fit all of this under the small cafe. There were people everywhere. Some were simply relaxing in a lounge area and others were getting ready to go on assignments. It was simply amazing. She looked back at Natsu smirking face and rolled her eyes. At least he had a reason to be cocky this time. "Gray!" Natsu shouted and almost immediately the man she saw a few weeks ago appeared, fully clothed.

"What do you want?"

"Show Lucy around, and when you're done take her to my office," and just like that he was gone. Lucy looked to and raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you have a shirt on a couple seconds ago?" Gray looked from Lucy and down at his bare chest and sighed.

"Yeah, I really don't know how this happens," he said as he began to walk away. "Come on, orders are orders," Lucy nodded and began to follow him.

She quickly found out that the base was huge. It had everything: living quarters, a kitchen, training room, a lounge area, and even an infirmary. She even met some of the people. First, she met the people who were there when she met Natsu. The gruff man with the piercings was Gajeel, the woman with the scarlet hair is Erza, and the woman with the short white hair - who still doesn't like her for some unknown reason - is Lisanna. The tour was now coming to a close and they were approaching their last stop: Natsu's office. "Well it was nice getting to know you Lucy, it's gonna be nice working with ya," Lucy smiled.

"You too Gray, and please put a shirt on," she said as she entered the office. Natsu was sitting at his desk and appeared to be talking to someone on the phone. When her noticed her he abruptly hung up and put his phone face down on the desk.

"So," he began as he stood up and walked around and took a seat on the desk. "How do you like it here."

"It's actually really nice here. I'm almost looking forward to working here, but I do have one requirement," the pinkette crossed his arms over his chest and nodded; silently telling her to continue. She sighed as she lifted up her hand with only her index finger up. "I work alone. No teams. Just me," Natsu uncrossed his arms and sat them on his desk.

"Fine. No teams. Just you." Lucy narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. She hadn't known Natsu for long, but she did know that was definitely too easy.

"That was way too easy, Dragneel," he chuckled and slowly made his way over to her.

"You seem to call me everything but my name," now he was avoiding her question. He was up to something; she just couldn't figure out what.

"I hope that you didn't hope to be getting out of harder assignments with this little, command of yours," Lucy chuckled as she shifted her weight on her left leg.

"I'd never do such a thing, Natsu, in fact I was hoping for quite the opposite,"

"Good," He nodded. He grabbed his keys off of his desk and began walked up to her, and in return she refused to move from her spot. When their chests were touching, he stopped, onyx met honey as they never broke their gaze. Slowly a smirk crawled its way across Natsu's face; Lucy gladly returned his attitude. "You ready to see your new place?" Lucy's breath hitched in her throat as she heard the huskiness in his voice. Which didn't go unnoticed by the pink haired mafia leader. Suddenly she felt the heat that emanated from Natsu.

The man in front of her was dangerous and nothing but trouble. She was aware of this the moment she saw a dead body lying in front of him. He could possibly be the very thing that kills her. And yet she threw caution to the side and decided to join the bastard's mafia. She really was an idiot. Looking back, she probably could've found a way to avoid all of this. Her whole life Lucy was a very calculating person. She always thought of her next move even when she was already aware, she didn't need one, but this man in front of her made her forget all of that. She couldn't help but wonder if she had the same effect on him. Looking at him he seemed unbelievably calm, but she knew she looked the same way. But was his mind going a thousand miles like hers. She knew she'd never know though. Natsu was incredibly hard to read.

Across from her the pinkette was having his own inner turmoil. To say the least he's never met anyone exactly like Lucy. He knows so much about her and yet he doesn't have a fucking clue. It was extremely frustrating to have someone like that working under him. He had, what was most likely the most dangerous women in the world working for him. He really was an idiot. He couldn't figure this woman in front of him out for the life him. The only thing he was sure of was that she knows just how cruel the world can be. He can tell from the mixture of emotions that are constantly in her eyes, the way she analyzed everyone, even if they clearly aren't a threat, and from the blood lust her saw in her eyes the first time they fought.

Maybe they can help each other crawl from the darkness that took them both hostage.

Just a quick re-write. I didn't make any drastic changes, and switched up a couple scenes.