Levy McGarden loved cars. She loved cars as much as she loved books, though she would never say such a thing out loud. It might have been because her brother, Jellal, loved cars and ran the best crew in the country or it might have been because her father had always been set dead against the idea of his little girl becoming a tomboy. Most likely it was because Levy's mother had died when she was too young to remember and, as her father buried himself into his work - completely ignoring his two children, Jellal became her surrogate parent.

Whatever the reason, Levy McGarden had a fascination with cars that went back as far as she could remember. After their father had died and Jellal, who had turned eighteen only a few months before, gained custody of his fourteen year old sister, that fascination turned into an obsession rivaled only by her love for books.

Which leads us to today...

A young girl wandered through the street cars, her blue hair pulled back into a loose bun. Where she walked people stopped and stared for a moment. Dressed in a long black skirt and a long sleeved orange shirt with a decorative skull on the front, she stuck out in a world of short tops and shorter bottoms. No one said a word about her attire, however, when they caught sight of the angry red-head that kept pace with her.

Erza Scarlet was easily the fiercest and most feared driver this side of the country. No one dare to approach her unless they knew her, and even then it was dicey. Not to mention the fact that everyone know that she was Jellal's girlfriend. Which must have made the bluenette walking with her Jellal's little sister, Levy. No one really knew the girl, but everyone knew that Jellal had a little sister that he was extremely overprotective of.

Levy skipped through the crowd, completely unaware of the stares she was attracting as she talked with Erza.

"I can't believe Jellal actually let me come to an actual street race," She said excitedly as they approached his vehicle.

"I can't either," Erza said, annoyance tinging her voice.

In her opinion the sixteen year old was still too young to be there.

"Lev!" A pink-haired teen called, popping up from under the car they were walking by.

"Natsu!" Levy hugged her best friend's boyfriend in surprise before looking around for the blonde that was always only a few steps behind him.

Natsu laughed, "Lucy's in the car, making sure everything's in order. She should be out soon."

As if discussing the blonde summoned her, out stepped a tall, busty blonde with warm chocolate eyes. Levy looked at her best friend, a little surprised to see her wearing white denim hot pants with a low cut light blue crop top, which was way more revealing than Lucy's already skimpy attire that she normally wore.

"Levy!" Lucy hugged her best friend before turning to look at Erza. "Where's Gray and Jellal?"

Erza pointed over to her black 1969 Camaro SS where the two were sitting, both leaning in to look at what was under the hood. Next to it sat Levy's burnt orange 1969 Road Runner. Technically, it was hers anyways, but Jellal steadfastly refused to let her drive it unless either Natsu or himself were with her. She sighed as she made her way over to the cars, Gray and Jellal watching impatiently.

"What took you guys so long?" Jellal asked as Natsu and Lucy pulled up behind the two girls, grinning broadly.

"Levy had to see all of the cars," Erza sighed.

The tiny bluenette nodded her agreement.

"Jellal, you have to win," Levy announced. "There's so many pretty cars out there. Do you think you can get the pinks on at least one?"

The boy in question laughed and ruffled his little sister's hair, "If we race for pinks - of course, I'll win. No doubt about it, lil' sis."

Levy grinned brightly at her brother as another car pulled up to theirs. She turned to see Droy and Jet pop out of either side, grinning at her. She sighed inwardly, while she loved everyone on her brother's crew, Jet and Droy drove her a little crazy. The boys were her age and inseparable, but both had confessed to being in love with her, which always made things awkward between the three of them. She had no interest in either of them, especially after seeing how they drove. Droy was a cautious but slow driver, no good for racing but great for directing and helping fix cars. Jet was the opposite, he drove fast but recklessly and never seemed to mind that he went through cars faster than he went through women.

She loved them both to pieces, but could never consider them as anything more than friends. They, however, refused to accept that for an answer and constantly competed for her attention.

"Levy!"

"Levster!"

She sighed, already with the nicknames.

"Hey guys," She forced a smile and a wave as Lucy sat beside her, winking at the two boys who immediately blushed and turned away.

Levy rolled her eyes at her best friend. The girl was incorrigible flirt and Levy couldn't imagine how she and Natsu survived. The pink-haired boy never seemed to mind when Lucy hit on other guys, which Levy supposed just went to show how much the two trusted each other. Examining them it was easy to see why they trusted each other as well as they did. Each and every scar on their bodies had a matching one on their partner with a story to go with it. They had saved each other so many times that if they were to work together without the trust they had then they probably would be dead.

Still, as Levy watched Lucy drape an arm around Gray, the bluenette couldn't help but wonder exactly how far Lucy could take her flirting before Natsu snapped. Levy shivered, hoping that she would never find out. Natsu sat on Lucy's other side, one arm wrap firmly around the girl's waist. Levy was distracted from her thoughts as a new car pulled up close to theirs and her jaw dropped. Sitting beside her Road Runner was a 2001 BMW M3 Coupe. While the car didn't seem like much, and was definitely an import, Levy had read all about it and knew that it was considered one of the fastest cars outside of America. She couldn't help but stare as a tall man with long dark hair stepped out.

"You Fernandes?" He glared at Jellal.

The blue-haired boy nodded once, causing Levy to look between the two.

The stranger grinned as he looked around, "Fullbuster, Heartphilia, Dragneel, Jet and Droy - I heard you two are inseparable, Scarlet." He fixed his gaze on Levy, cocking his head to one side as he studied her. "You must be McGarden."

The crew turned as one and glared at the man. Few people knew that her and Jellal didn't share the same last name. Though they had the same mother rumor had it that their fathers were different, though neither of them could confirm that, since Jellal only remembered ever having the father they shared, but the theory had stuck since they didn't share a common surname.

"And who are you?" Erza demanded, already on her feet, her hand at her waist where her concealed weapon rested.

The man smirked and Levy blushed, realizing for the first time how hot the man looked with his wild hair and red eyes.

"Gajeel. Gajeel Redfox, and I want to race. For the Road Runner."