'What the hell?'

Once my arms had healed completely, I had returned to the guild and I was greeted by a giant web chart floating in the air. Everyone was surrounding it, studying it as if for a test. I walked a little closer, trying to go by unnoticed, to see what the subject of the chart was.

The first three names I saw, in the middle of the giant circle, were Oración Seis, Grimoire Heart, and Tartaros.

My eyes widened, I spun on my heel, and 'noped' my way out of there, heading straight for the job board. I recognized all three names as highly influential Dark Guilds. No way was I going to get involved in that right now! I wasn't sure what was going on, but I wanted no part of it.

I scanned about the request board in my usual manner, searching for stealth and discretion type jobs.

"Hey, Jeanne! How you doing?"

I turned around, and saw Levy, beaming brightly, skip towards me, Jet and Droy close behind. The two guys looked a little surprised at their friend's actions towards me. I had to say, I was a bit surprised, as well. While Levy and I had never avoided each other, we also never sought each other out. So, what changed…?

Oh. Right, she saw me flip out and nearly destroy a citizen. So, why is she coming now? This made no sense! Wouldn't anyone normally avoid me like the plague after that?

Wait, this is Fairy Tail… What defines normal here?

"I'm doing well, Levy," I smiled. "How 'bout you guys?"

"Well enough," Levy answered for them all. "We just decided that we're due for a job by now. But didn't you just come back from one?"

I shrugged. "It's been three days. Bellamy and Aubin sometimes come up short in house payments, so I just want to make sure that we're settled for the month. Besides," I added, turning back to the board, "if I stay in the house too long, Bay tries to use me as a model for his sculpting, and I don't really care for that."

"Wait a sec," Jet interrupted. "Who's 'Bay?'"

"My brother, Bellamy. He's an artist," I explained with pride.

The two young men snickered. "An artist?" Droy echoed with a small sneer. "What kind of a profession is that?"

I saw Levy look mortified out of the corner of my eye, but I paid no mind. At that moment, I zeroed in on the fool who had insulted my brother.

'Don't do anything you'll regret, Jeanne,' I reminded myself. 'Just because they've seen you defend someone, doesn't mean you can do what you did to Haley to them. Think first.'

"One that requires great practice, discipline, and dedication," I replied, cooly. "I'd like to see you try to recreate what he has done. You'd be surprised what some of his works have given us. And before you ask, Aubin is a story-teller. And if you dare say anything negative about that," I continued, stepping a bit closer to the two, "then I pray that he doesn't hear about it and retaliate against you. He could put the fear of the gods into your souls."

With a final warning glare, I turned back to the job board. Levy looked at her friends reproachfully, and I heard Jet mutter, "Note to self, don't badmouth the de'Vajells, ever."

"Damn right," I added, glancing back. "How about you just don't bad-mouth anyone, ever? The world has enough assholes to deal with. Don't add to their numbers."

'Ack! Too much! Too much! Get out of Nee-san mode, and shut up!'

"So," I began, looking at Levy and hoping that this transition was smooth enough, "do you know what's going on over there?" I nodded toward the group of mages gathered near the chart.

"Not really," Levy answered. "Mira-san was just explaining Dark Guild stuff to Lu-chan. Turns out, quite a few dark guilds we've already eliminated were under the influence of Oración Seis. I don't know what that means for us."

"Hmm," I hummed. Was something big about to happen? Probably. Was I going to be a part of it?

Hell, to the No.

A request caught my eye, asking to retrieve a stolen heirloom. I snatched it up and looked it over. They knew the general area where the thieves were hiding, but were unable to retrieve it themselves. They could not go to the local police for various reasons, hence the discretion. Easy-peasy stuff, nothing I hadn't done before. Could take me anywhere from four to ten days, depending on how quickly I find the robbing bastards.

Master's voice suddenly boomed across the room from the entry. "About the Oración Seis," he began. Everyone snapped their heads to face the little man. "We're going to take them down."

My jaw dropped. As did every other jaw in the guild. Take down the Oración Seis? Was Master for real?! Yeah, it's only six of them, and we're over one hundred, but come on! There had to be a reason that there was only six!

"Oh, welcome back, Master," Mira greeted cheerfully.

"Master," said Erza, "what exactly is this about?"

"At the regular meeting a few days ago, the Oración Seis came up on the agenda. They seem to be up to something. It was decided that this development cannot be ignored, and a guild must be sent to eliminate them."

Gray sighed and lifted a hand to his head. "And you just had to go draw the losing card as usual, huh?"

Juvia's eyes widened and she whipped her head between Gray and Makarov. "Fairy Tail is taking up this responsibility?" she asked.

Master shook his head, and I nearly sighed a breath of relief. "Not quite," he began. "The enemy is simply too large for that. If we went alone, we would simply end up as the targets for the Balam Alliance's wrath. As such, we will form an alliance of our own."

Everyone's interest was peaked. Which guilds would be chosen to form this temporary alliance?

Makarov continued. "Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Cait Shelter. Each of these guilds are to select a number of members, and those members will join forces to face the enemy."

"Hold on," Lucy piped up, a little fearfully, "we're dealing with just six people, right? What kind of monsters are these guys?"

I frowned. 'Monstrous enough that I will have no part of this,' I thought, glancing back to my paper.

"Scary," Levy whispered. "To think that we're going to undertake such a dangerous task."

'"We?" Nu-uh, sister! I'm not doing shit.

...Oh, wait, royal we. Right.'

"Will you take part, Jeanne?" Levy asked me.

I let my hand fall to my side. "No!" I answered incredulously. "Why on earth would I do this?"

Levy looked surprised. "Well, why not? Couldn't you do-?"

"What, Levy? What can I do against a guild that supports a third of the Underworld, yet holds only six people?" I shook my head. "I know my limits, and I know that I am not strong enough to go against a foe as great as that. Even if it's in a group, I would only slow people down. Especially since I've never participated in a team before."

"Yeah, why is that?" Jet asked. "Seems to me Concealing magic would be highly coveted in jobs."

I raised a brow. "And how many jobs have you guys taken that didn't involve bashing someone's face in?"

"A lot, actually," Droy answered.

"We do a lot of translating quests," Levy explained. "Not many people can do those, so they're pretty easy to snatch."

I looked toward the two guys. 'That must get real boring real fast.'

"And how often does staying hidden factor into these jobs?"

The members of Shadow Gear all glanced at each other, before admitting, "Not very…"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, figured. I don't fight, I'm a freakin' cat burglar. It's not a very honorable thing, huh? Honestly, the only way I feel good about this is that I'm undoing what scum has done and making the families happy."

The other three once again looked at each other. "Well," Droy began, "isn't that enough?"

I smiled. "Yeah. Fortunately, it is."

Levy nodded with determination. "Jeanne, take a job with us sometime! I'm sure we can find something that would utilize all our skills."

I was taken aback. She… seriously wanted me to join her for a job? I glanced at the boys, and they were both wearing big smiles, as if absolutely okay with the idea.

"Sure, I'd like that," I grinned. "But, after this one, 'kay?"

"Of course, we don't want to take that away from you," Levy answered with a teasing smile.

I looked around at the guild. It looked like Master had chosen Erza and company to take on this mission.

'Of freakin' course.'

"Mira, I'm taking this job!" I called out.

A/N: Just a simple little one-shot saying that Jeanne will not take part in the Nirvana arc. She's not quite at the level of major missions yet. I guess it also tells you that Levy is going to be on the lookout for her a little more often now, too. And it also just hammers the fact that she tolerates no form of bullying ever, especially to her family. As if that wasn't obvious. ;P

Anyhoo, I'm sorry it's so short, and kinda pointless, but hey, it's something, right? And you know what arc comes after Nirvana?
I got plans for that one... }:)