Sorry if you guys thought that was the last chapter. This one actually is ha ha.

(also oops; some of you may have read the last chapter before I realized that I had accidentally left my writing notes at the bottom of it when I posted it. It's fixed now though. To those of you who did see just uh ~pretend~ you didn't see them yeah.)

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima

It took her a moment to fully register Natsu's words. When they finally did, a smile crept onto her face as bright as his own. "How?" Lucy asked eagerly, wanting to know every detail.

"Well, almost got him." Natsu clarified, giving a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

Lucy gave him a skeptical look. "What do you mean 'almost?'"

"We found the gun that shot Sorano—ballistics tested and everything, it's a match—but it was wiped clean of fingerprints." Natsu explained, leading them to the couch. He plopped down into the cushions, followed by Lucy.

"But where did you find the gun?" Lucy urged.

Natsu shrugged again. "One of the guys found it stashed in a locker at the factory."

Lucy sighed deeply and held her head in her hands. "How does that even help us; the gun could have been anybodies then."

"That's the fun part though." Natsu said, to which Lucy lifted her head and looked at him hopefully. "The gun is registered to Brain."

Lucy sat up higher, willing the smile off her face and trying to keep the hope down. "Then that means we just need to prove he shot her?"

"Yep." Natsu nodded assuredly.

She could feel the excitement rising but she wouldn't let it just yet. "And the chemical weapons?"

To that, Natsu's expression went from confident looking to completely confused. "You'll have to ask Fullbuster about that; I have no idea."

Lucy gave him a blank stare before sighing again and then allowing herself just a little smile. "It's a start, I guess." She admitted. Then something else came to mind. "Has Brain been apprehended?"

"Oh!" Natsu exclaimed, quickly standing up from the couch. "Yeah, they're taking him to the station now. I figured you'd want to be there when we started questioning him."

Lucy sat up straighter at the prospect of going but hesitated. "Are you sure I'm even allowed to be?" She questioned.

"'course." Natsu said matter-of-factly. Lucy looked at him skeptically and he quickly gave way under her scrutiny. "Well, okay, maybe. But come on, it should be fine!"

Lucy had to repress a third sigh as she got up too and ran to catch up with him as he made his way back out the door.

It didn't take them long to get the station and by the time they did, Erza and the Chief had already begun their questioning of Brain. Just like with Kobura, Gray was waiting for them outside the room. He shortly greeted them before leading them into the room next to one the others were in. In it already was officer Jet, who also greeted them and then motioned for them to be silent. The conversation from the next room could be heard through a speaker and they could see the scene through the one-way mirror.

While the others stood close to the mirror, Lucy edged back more. The second she had seen Brain—the man who had ordered to have her killed—a chill had run down her spine. Even though she knew he couldn't see her, it was difficult to even be in the same building as him.

She suddenly felt a warm hand wrap around her own and give it a squeeze. Her eyes trailed up the arm it connected to and, unsurprisingly enough, found it belonging to Natsu. He gave her a beseeching look, as if to ask if she was alright, and she returned the silent question with a small smile. His touch was reassuring and though she still felt quite uncomfortable being so close to Brain, Lucy felt she could breathe just a little easier now.

Their attention was brought back to the interrogation as Erza slapped a thick file down on the metal table.

"We have quite a few incriminating pieces of evidence against you, Mister Brain." The Chief said, indicating to the file.

A sly smile crept onto Brain's face. "That depends on whose opinion that is."

Erza opened her mouth to retort but the Chief raised his hands to silence her. Instead he spoke, his tone cool and carrying with it a grave air of seriousness. "Mister Brain, let's not beat around the bush on this; these are serious matters."

"I agree." Brain nodded lightly. "My entire empire is on the line here, after all."

The Chief made a gruff sound before sliding the file in front of himself and flipping it open. "Then since we're in agreement, let's begin." Carefully he started listing off all the violations one by one. Brain stayed silent while the Chief spoke but if looking closely enough, you could see the falter in his rich smugness and the ever so slight twitch of his eye the longer he went on. When he had finished, the Chief looked up from the file and tented his hands together.

"How about we discuss the gun?" He offered though his tone made it clear that there was no option for declining. When Brain nodded again, Erza tossed a bullet inside of a plastic bag onto the table and it rolled over in front of Brain. His eyes locked onto the gleaming metal shell and then up to the red head before looking back to the Chief.

"Yes?" He inclined, an eyebrow edging upward.

"This is the bullet used to kill Sorano Aguria."

Brain blinked twice, his brows raising higher with faux interest. "Is that so?"

"That's right. And interestingly enough," the Chief said, leaning forward, "it was shot out of the same gun that is registered under your name."

"I have never shot that gun."

"Oh really? Then mind telling us where you were the night before her death?"

"I was working late that night in my office." Brain answered, slowly and deliberately sounding out each word. "Security records can prove it."

"Hmm." The Chief hummed lowly, then looked down to the file again and pulled out a single slip of paper. "And just what were you, and miss Aguria—we know she was with you, security records show it, just like you said."

"The current project we were working on. She was managing it."

"And this project, it wouldn't happen to do anything with 'Nirvit,' now would it?"

Subtle twitch of the eye again. "No." Brain replied evenly.

The room grew coldly silent and Erza glanced at the Chief out of the corner of her eye. She was about to speak up when the Chief did it again instead. "You know, Mister Brain," he said, tenting his hands once more and looking the man across from him straight in the eye. "Things would be a whole lot easier if you were just honest with us."

Brain gave the Chief a cold stare but his poker face remained unchanged. "I assure you, I'm being completely honest."

The Chief shook his head. "Enough playing games. Want to know something fun about computers, mister Brain?" Brain slowly sat back, something flaring behind his eyes but he gave no answer so the Chief continued. "No matter how much you try to erase or hide the records, we're always able to recover it."

Right on time, Erza plopped another file onto the table. This one was three times the size as the other and its weight shuttered the table as it was set down. The Chief placed his hand on top of the file and patted it twice. He looked at it near lovingly and then back to Brain.

"What's that?" Lucy asked in a whisper from the other side of the glass. Jet shh'd her again but Gray turned to her and grinned.

"Just wait and see," he said with a hint of mirth in his answer.

"We have every piece of information connected to Nirvit in here." The Chief said with another pat of the file. "This thing is chock full of rather intriguing emails back and forth between leaders in Seven. Top this off with the physical chemical weapons we found stowed away in your factory, they're quite incriminating."

This time Brain showed a reaction. His brow was sheen with sweat and he swallowed. "I don't believe I was called in here about any of that." He said, managing to keep his voice even.

"No," the Chief answered. Then he too grinned. "I guess you don't know much about security footage either."

Brain swallowed.

"You probably had someone alter the footage, right? Erase the scene where you shot Miss Aguria." The Cheif went on. "But thankfully for us, even though they did an excellent job, there is always a way to tell if a tape is forged."

"You should probably hire a new cleaning crew, Mister Brain." Erza cut in. The man's panicked eyes drifted to hers. "Turns out they're not very good at getting rid of blood stains from the woven carpets of your office."

Lucy burst out of the court room doors, the cool September air blowing past her as she left the aged building. Her heels clicked on the stairs as she made her way down them, heading towards the parking lot. They sounded like a melody to her ears.

The trial had just ended and Brain had been convicted as guilty. A formal investigation was to be held for the matters concerning the treason but as for the murder of Sorano and the hired hits on Yukino and Richard, Brain was going to be spending a lot of time in prison for that alone.

Lucy didn't restrain the smile she had at the thought of him getting his just desserts for his crimes. She always loved when justice prevailed.

The smile still adorned her face as she slid into the black leather seats of the red car parked right up from. "Good day, detective Natsu Dragneel." She greeted as she buckled herself in.

Natsu flashed her a brilliant grin from the drivers seat and leaned over so their faces were inches apart. "Lucy." She giggled and quickly closed the distance between them.

She supposed she also loved this, too.

...and that's it! Cheesy ending is cheesy but alas. Thank you all so much for reading! I really hope that everything made sense (even just a little) or at the very least, that you enjoyed the story. The sequel probably won't be happening for awhile, as I have quite a few other AUs I'd like to focus on writing/drawing first but hopefully I'll be able to write it one day.

Thank you all again. Peace out.