Natsu's POV
After scoping the area and coming up with an escape plan, we waited for Sabertooth to show up. I held a black case full of ten million jewels. The people backing me up are Erza, Gray and Laxus while Gajeel waits in the getaway car. Every one of us was armed in case anything happened. I also have one of Fairy Tail's best snipers, Alzack, nested on the roof of a nearby warehouse. He has orders to cover us if we need to escape. Hopefully, Lucy's bad feeling is just a bad feeling.
'Ten minutes until Sabertooth gets here' I thought and then my phone rang. 'Levy? Why is she calling me now?' I wondered as I saw the caller ID before picking up. "Hey, you know you shouldn't ring me right before a meeting" I answered. "Lucy's gone!" she shouted over the phone frantically and my eyes widened. Is this the bad feeling Lucy got? I got into full Mafia Boss mode. "Gone?! What do you mean gone?! What happened?!" I shouted through the phone. Everyone with me turned their attention to me, especially Laxus.
"We don't know. Loke took her out to meet a co-worker at Café 7 for an hour but they didn't return. Everyone available searched around Magnolia and found Loke beaten up beside a dumpster behind Dragneel Inc. a few minutes ago but there was no sign of Lucy" Levy reported. Lucy's bad feeling had come to pass.
"Who took her?" I demanded to know. Was it Raven Tail? "Loke's still unconscious. Wendy's he-" she was suddenly interrupted by Laxus. "Did something happen to Lucy?!" he shouted as he stormed up to me. "Tell me!" he demanded as he grabbed my tie and pulled me up to his level. "Looks like you've started the fun without us" a voice spoke up and we turned to see Sting who was smirking. Behind him was Rogue, Minerva, Orga and one woman with short pale blue hair that I didn't recognise.
"We'll discuss this later Laxus" I ordered as I hung up the phone on Levy. I'm sure she'll handle the search for Lucy. She knows the protocol. "But-" Laxus tried to argue but I glared at him. I want to go find Lucy as much as he does but we had to finish this deal first. "Later" I repeated firmly. I could see the indecisiveness in his eyes. Whether to stay in the meeting or to run out and go find her. Luckily, he made the right decision and chose to stay as he let go of my tie.
"Shall we get started?" I asked Sting as I fixed my tie, hoping to finish this as soon as possible. "Of course but first, I want you to meet someone" Sting said and waved over the woman with short pale blue hair. As soon as she stood next to him, he threw an arm over her shoulder. "This is my girlfriend, Yukino. She works at Sorcerer Weekly" he introduced, and his smirk grew.
Suddenly it hit me. 'Loke took her out to meet a co-worker' Levy's voice from our previous conversation spoke inside my head but that wasn't all. 'I overheard my friend from work say she heard from a contact that your mafia and Sabertooth mafia were going to meet tonight.' Lucy's voice spoke in my head from the time when I asked her how she figured out the meeting place from when we first met her. Everything was starting to click into place.
"By the way Natsu, I've found that person I was looking for" he chuckled, referring to the last time we spoke and that was the final nail in the coffin. I growled and glared at him as I clenched my fists. "You kidnapped Lucy" I stated and everyone on my side looked at me shocked. "You've figured it out" Sting smiled deviously like he got the reaction he wanted. This was all a part of his trap.
"You-" "BASTARD!" Laxus interrupted me as he tried charging at him but Gray and Erza held him back. "Give her back Sting" I demanded. "I could...but I won't" he replied with a shrug. He knew he was making me angrier by the second. For his sake, he better not have hurt her. "What are you planning to do with her?" I asked, more like demanded to know. "Well, I was going to hand her over to her father for the reward money but then I found out she joined the Fairy Tail mafia. So, I'm here to make a deal" he explained. I should've known he would try to extort me.
"I'm listening" I said firmly while crossing my arms. Laxus shoved Gray and Erza away as he stepped back. He could tell from my tone of voice that I will handle this and make sure Lucy comes back safely. "Since Raven Tail was offering fifty million for Lucy Heartfilia, how about we make it one hundred million" he said, confidently.
I put my hand up to my chin to think for a moment. The amount of money isn't an issue, but I need to think about all my options. One hundred million would barely make a dent to my finances and I could get that all back within a few months. I would throw away all my money if it means Lucy would come back to me safely. On the other hand, if I rejected the deal and try to rescue her, then we'd have two mafias to fight and casualties on both sides. Not to mention, Lucy would be in the hands of her father which I will not allow. Looks like there's only one clear choice. I'll give Sting what he wants but I'll need time to gather the money.
"I'll agree to your deal but I have one condition" I replied and Sting smirked. "Name it" he replied. "If any harm comes to Lucy, I will only give you half the amount. The same amount Raven Tail promised" I said. This way both parties will get what they want. Sting gets his money and I get Lucy back, hopefully unharmed too. "Sounds fair. Deal" he agreed. "I'll get you your money by tomorrow" I said and then turned around to walk away. Laxus, Gray and Erza followed after me towards the exit. "Same time. Same place" Sting called out before we left.
"Oi Natsu" Laxus stepped in front of me, stopping me once we got to the van. "We're not waiting until tomorrow to rescue Lucy, are we?" he asked, firmly. I understand he's worried about Lucy being captured by Sabertooth and I am too, but my hands are tied. "I don't want Lucy to be with Sabertooth any longer than you do but this was my only option" I replied. He stared at me and I could see he was conflicted. He knows there nothing else we can do about it now. "Argh!" he shouted in frustration as he hit the side of the van with his fist before climbing inside. I swear I'm going to get Sabertooth back for this. We've got a lot of planning to do.