Levy hummed as she shuffled around her small apartment. Her traveling pack sat open on the bed, neatly folded clothes and necessities were piled around it. She dodged a haphazard stack of books to get to her closet. She didn't know why it was taking her so long to pack for this trip. Ha, she thought. Who am I fooling? Of course she knew why. She had been trying on outfit after outfit, with one thought on her mind—one tall, sexy, gruff thought—a thought with red eyes and a cocky smirk. She blushed and smiled to herself in the mirror, holding up a dress she had bought a couple of weeks ago at Lucy's urging. The other Fairy Tail girls weren't blind; they knew how Levy felt about Gajeel. So, they had ganged up on her and dragged her out shopping in Crocus, at every store, and they'd only found one dress—the perfect dress. Before she could change her mind she stripped out of the orange dress she usually wore for missions and slipped into the outfit the girls had bought for her.

The dress was black, with a sweetheart neckline that gave her a chest, and one sleeve that covered her right arm from her wrist to the middle of her upper arm, leaving her shoulder and her left arm free. It had a wide black patent leather belt at her waist. The buckle was beautiful, and, Levy remembered with a grin, made of iron. Shined to perfection, with swirls decorating the metal. It clung to her hips, then flared out a little to an inch above her knees. Overlaying the dress was a shining iron lace. Yes, iron—very finely shaped, beautifully-formed iron. She let out a quick laugh. This was the perfect dress alright. She quickly added the black leather ankle boots with iron chains around the ankles, and a black bandana with the same iron lace to hold back her hair. She took in the whole picture and smiled.

A few years ago, she was a weak, shy, scared little girl. But these last few years, Fairy Tail had been through so much—she had been through so much. She had lost friends, and gained friends, and learned a lot about the world. She had been forced to grow up. She wasn't weak any more. She gave Gajeel and Pantherlily a run for their money in their daily training sessions. She wasn't afraid anymore; she knew what the world could do to her, and she had weathered it. So, now it was time to stop being shy. This job was her idea, and she was going to see it through.

Hastily she packed the rest of her items away, only taking three books with her (one for the job, a translation key she had put together herself, one for the train, and another just in case she lost interest in the second book. Then she took off at a run to the guild hall, already almost an hour late. She hoped Jet and Droy had prepared for the mission like she said to this time.

Gajeel

The Iron Dragon Slayer leaned back against the bar, arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. Most of the other guild members gave him a wide berth; even if they had forgiven him for his time in Phantom Lord, that red glare still made them nervous. He looked at the time and growled; they were late. "She'll be here." The She-Devil said cheerfully, cleaning a glass and giving him a knowing smirk.

"Cht. They better be here soon, or I'll just take on the job without 'em."

"Oh! I should have told you earlier! Jet and Droy aren't going to be here." He turned to glare at Mira, but she just smiled back. "Jet is sick, and Droy is staying behind to take care of him. They said for you and Levy and Lily to go on without them." Gajeel's mind raced. Just…just him and the shrimp, alone together on a job? He would have had a rough enough time keeping space between them with the two idiots there to cockblock him.

The guild hall fell into a hush for a moment, and Gajeel looked up. His eyes went wide, and his mouth fell open as he saw the Shrimp walk confidently into the guild hall. Her eyes scanned the room until they found his. He saw them light up and felt his heart skip a beat as she beamed and made her way to them. Mira hid her smirk behind her hand as she saw Levy wearing that dress the girls had deemed Levy's "Make him beg" dress. Judging by the slack-jawed look on Gajeel's face, it was working. Bribing Jet and Droy to bail on the mission was one thing, but this…Mira could barely believe her shy little Levy had it in her. Every male eye in the room watched Levy as she walked. Every girl in the hall met each other's eyes and grinned as they watched Gajeel react.

She is tryin' ta kill me. Gajeel thought before he pushed himself up off the bar, swallowing and pulling his pack over his shoulders. "You ready, Shrimp?" He winced at the crack in his voice.

"Where's the rest of the team?" Levy asked innocently. She hoped they had done what she said and weren't hiding behind the bar or in Gajeel's backpack or something.

"Accordin' to the She-Devil, they ain't comin'." He jerked a thumb back at Mirajane, who winked at Levy. Levy tried to hide her smile.

"Oh. Okay." Gajeel's brows creased. That was too easy; not even one complaint? "Well, we already told the client we would take the job. I guess you and I will just have to do this. Where is Lily?"

"He'll meet us at the station." Gajeel grunted, struggling to keep his eyes on her face instead of roaming her curves like that dress was telling him too. "Let's go, Shrimp." He ruffled her hair as he passed, and she grinned, nodding and following after him, throwing a glance and a wink in Lucy's direction.

This is going to be fun, she thought smugly.