Whew! Two chapters in one day! Sorry chapter 2 didn't have many LaLu moments, but I promise this one is chock full of 'em!

Anyway, I don't own Fairy Tail.

One day after Natsu and Lisanna had come back from their honeymoon, Lucy walked into the guild only to have Mira waving at her to come to the bar. The take-over mage told Lucy that Master Makarov wanted to see her as soon as possible, so instead of getting her morning smoothie, Lucy climbed the stairs and went down the hall that led to the master's office.

Lucy arrived at the office, but heard some commotion going on behind the closed door. Not wanting to keep the master waiting, Lucy firmly knocked on the door.

"Come in!" the master's voice called out just after the other voice stopped talking. Lucy opened the door to reveal the master sitting behind his desk...and Laxus leaning against the opposite wall, looking more than a little annoyed.

Lucy closed the door behind her. "Mira said you wished to see me, Master?" Lucy inquired of the old man.

"Yes, child. I have a job for you that I think you will be very interested in," he said as he pulled a sheet of paper out of a drawer and handed it to her. "You see, the reward is a silver key and I immediately thought of you when the request came in."

Lucy couldn't help but feel elated at the prospect of gaining a new key. But that elation came crashing down on her when she read through the job request on the sheet of paper.

"But...this is an S-class job..." she said tentatively. The master nodded his head in agreement.

"Yes, the job description is rather vague, but it says that a monster has been attacking and terrorizing the residents of Silverton. Since I don't know any specifics about the monster in question, I made it an S-class mission based off of the reward."

Lucy looked down again at the paper in her hand. Along with the silver key, the sender of the request was offering 200,000 jewels in compensation for their work. It made Lucy wonder all the more what kind of monster Silverton was dealing with. But the offer of the silver key was too tempting, so she found herself nodding.

"Alright, I'll take the job," she said as she looked up at the master. "As soon as Erza gets back from her mission, we'll leave for Silverton."

"I'm afraid that would take too much time, my dear," Master Makarov said. "You see, this request is a rather urgent one, so it should not be delayed any more than necessary. Which is why I suggest you leave tomorrow morning at the latest."

Lucy frowned. "But then..." she trailed off as her gaze finally shifted towards Laxus. He just scowled even more. She was beginning to see what the Master had in mind.

Seeing her glance in Laxus' direction, the master cleared his throat. "Yes, I would like Laxus to go with you on this mission, considering it is an S-class job."

Lucy wanted to argue, insist that anyone but Laxus accompany her, but if it truly was an urgent request she didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. It would take Erza at least another week to get back, and there were no other S-class mages available.

Lucy sighed. "If you think that would be for the best, Master, I'll agree."

"Well I won't," Laxus finally spoke up from the other side of the office.

Makarov turned to the dragon slayer. "There's no other S-class mages available, Laxus. You and Lucy will go together, whether you like it or not."

Laxus' brow furrowed in annoyance. "She'll just get in the way. If she wants the key so bad, I'll take the mission by myself and get it for her!"

Lucy was stunned for a second. Why would Laxus do such a thing for her? But she regained her composure and started to argue with him. "I'm no charity case. I'm going to get that key because I worked for it. I'm not going to accept it just because you hand it over. So either we do this mission together, or not at all!"

Laxus shrugged. "Guess we're not doing it then."

"Oh, yes you are!" Makarov jumped into the conversation to say. "Unless you'd rather stay here at Fairy Tail to do all of the paperwork I've been letting build up for the past week..."

Laxus' eyes nearly fell out of his head, they were so wide. Then his eyes narrowed, "You're bluffing."

"Am I?" Makarov countered, an undeniable glint in his eye. "Go look in your office."

Not believing the old man, Laxus left. Several minutes later, the office door slammed open, revealing an enraged dragon slayer. He walked over to where Lucy was sitting and snatched up the job request she was holding. After staring at it for a few seconds, he crumpled it in his fist and let it fall to the floor.

"Meet me at the train station tomorrow," he growled, not even looking at Lucy. "Don't be late."

With that, he walked out of the room.

Lucy found herself at the train station the next day, waiting for Laxus. She had gotten up earlier than was probably necessary, but she had slept fitfully the previous night. She wasn't even sure why.

Five minutes prior to the train's departure, Laxus finally strolled up to her, carrying a medium-sized bag at his side.

Lucy stood up and held out a ticket to the lightning mage. "I bought you ticket for you," she informed him. Laxus took it with a grunt before getting on the train without so much as another word to her. Lucy followed him with a sigh.

Lucy stowed her bag in the overhead compartment and settled down into her seat. Laxus did the same across the aisle, making himself comfortable in the mostly empty train car. That comfort didn't last long as the train started to move. Lucy looked across the aisle and saw Laxus' face had turned slightly green as the train picked up speed. So he gets motion sick too, huh?

Lucy wanted to feel bad for him, but there was something comical about seeing the strongest mage in Magnolia reduced to miserable sickness from a piece of moving machinery. But Lucy kept her smile to herself and looked out the window.

Three agonizing hours later and the train carrying the two mages arrived in Silverton.

Lucy and Laxus were the only people to depart from the train when they arrived in Silverton. But there were dozens of people waiting for the train on the platform, all of them packed like they were leaving for good. Lucy momentarily got separated from Laxus in the fray, but he wasn't difficult to locate in the crowd. So Lucy pushed her way through until she met Laxus on the other side of the train station, where he barely waited for her before he started walking away.

After catching up to him, Laxus and Lucy made their way over to a hotel to drop off their baggage. The hotel owner only reluctantly gave them two separate rooms, warning them that they could only stay the night since he would be leaving Silverton the next day. After they left the hotel, the two mages made their way over to the home of the mayor.

The mayor himself opened the door, looking frightened out of his wits to see two strangers on his doorstep. It was only after they introduced themselves as Fairy Tail mages that the mayor immediately changed demeanor and ushered them into his home. After settling into the mayor's office, Laxus went ahead and began asking questions, beating Lucy to the punch.

"What can you tell us about this monster that has been attacking the town?" Laxus began.

"No one's really been able to identify the monster," the mayor said, running a hand through his frazzled hair. "You see, it always attacks at night. And the people who witness the attacks have given varying accounts of the creature. Some say it resembles some kind of arachnid, while others say its a snake. There's even a distinct possibility there's more than one monster, though the attacks have always been caused by a lone creature."

"Do you know where these monsters are coming from?" the dragon slayer asked.

"I believe that they are coming from the forest west of here. Most of the eyewitness accounts state that in some form."

After a few more questions, the two mages left the mayor's residence and headed for the forest. The journey was an entirely silent one, and while Lucy wanted to make conversation, she couldn't think of anything to say. That and she had the feeling the dragon slayer at her side wanted to be left alone.

Laxus' superior sense of smell came in handy, saying he could smell something rotting to the north of the forest. Remembering how useful Natsu's sense of smell had been in past missions, Lucy trusted him to lead her to the source.

After trekking through the woods for a solid hour, the duo finally came across a cave.

"It's definitely coming from in there," Laxus said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"Are you sure its the monster's cave? This could just be a bear's den," Lucy commented.

"Have you seen any other animals in the time we've been here, Blondie? It's because the monster ate them all. There are no other predators in this forest. It's definitely the monster's cave," he argued back.

Lucy gave the dragon slayer an irritated look before turning back to the cave. They weren't even sure what they were up against.

Suddenly a chittering sound came in the direction of the cave. Lucy focused her vision and could distinctly see something moving in the darkness. Then something stepped out of the cave and into the light.

It was big. And black. And hairy.

It had a dozen beady black eyes and eight hairy legs. It was close to being five feet tall and twice as wide, officially making it the biggest spider Lucy had ever seen. Some kind of liquid, maybe poison or saliva, dribbled down the spider's fangs as if it was salivating when it looked at the two mages.

Lucy felt a shudder clatter down her spine at the monstrosity before them. Normal-sized spiders, she could handle. But giant ones?

But she shook off her fear and grabbed her whip. "Alright, let's-"

A strong bolt of lightning zipped by her and toward the spider. Something that sounded a lot like a scream of agony came out of the spider as Laxus' lightning bolt electrocuted it for several seconds. Then the spider rolled over, its legs curling inward. It was certainly dead after a bolt like that.

Lucy stood awestruck for a second before turning to the Dragon Slayer angrily.

"Spark Plug!" she exclaimed. Laxus looked at her in surprise, unsure what he did wrong. "We were supposed to work together to bring down that thing!"

Laxus' surprise faded. Instead he gave her a look of indifference as he scoffed. "Does it matter? The monster is dead. Let's just go get our reward."

"But I didn't do anything! I haven't earned my reward! You did all the work!" she yelled as he walked away. She sullenly followed, still intent on giving him a piece of her mind.

Laxus suddenly stopped. He turned back to the cave and waited. Lucy stopped to look at him. She was about to ask what was wrong when he held up a hand, "Listen," he said. Lucy turned to the cave as well.

"Youuuu..." a voice hissed from the dark depths of the cave. The two mages waited, poised to attack. A moment later, a hunched over figure emerged from the cave, clothed in a ratty and tattered robe with a hood shielding most of the person's face from the two blondes.

"You..." the man repeated, lifting a shaky finger to point at the two Fairy Tail mages. "You killed Fangar...my pet..."

"Fangar?" Lucy murmured. She looked at the remains of the giant spider just outside the cave.

"Whyyyy?" the man asked, his whole body shaking with anger.

"Your...pet...as you put it, was attacking the town and eating its citizens," Laxus said in a monotone voice. "It needed to be destroyed."

"My petsss...my friendssss...need to eaaat..." the man slowly hissed.

"Pets? As in," Lucy gulped, taking a half-step back, "more than one?"

The man grinned wickedly, his hood falling back to reveal his gruesome face. His hands began to glow a dark purple color. A chittering sound could be heard from the cave behind him.

"Killll...!" the man shouted. Creatures of different shapes and sizes suddenly emerged from the cave. Spiders, scorpions, and snakes of large proportions skittered and slithered out of the darkness toward the two mages.

"Stay behind me," Laxus told Lucy as he got into a fighting stance, lightning crackling at his fists.

"Yeah right!" Lucy yelled back as she readied a key in her right hand. "Open, Gate of the Archer, Sagittarius!"

A flash of golden light and the archer appeared. "Moshi-moshi!" he said with a salute.

"Shoot the monsters with your arrows, Sagittarius!" Lucy quickly instructed. "Aim for their eyes!"

Lucy turned to Laxus to tell him her game plan, but he was already shooting lightning bolts at the creatures. She huffed but took out her whip to fight the overgrown vermin, pouring her magic into her whip to make it longer.

Laxus and the spirit managed to take the monsters out at a distance, while Lucy kept a few of the creatures immobile long enough for the others to kill them. But no matter how many monsters they killed, more just seemed to come. Lucy eyed the cave the creatures were coming from. Her guess was that the so-called 'master' of the creatures was a mage who could change normal-sized objects and creatures into larger versions of themselves, and probably even command them. She watched the mage as his hands glowed and a spider the side of a large dog grew into existence. The cave the creatures were coming from was probably full of other kinds of vermin, and Lucy didn't want to find out just how many were in the cave. If she could block the cave entrance somehow, the evil mage would eventually run out of 'pets' to send their way.

Lucy cracked her whip to get the monsters to back away from her. Please be big enough, she prayed silently. When she was sure that none of the creatures would attack her in the middle of casting her spell, she raised a single finger in the air.

"Meteor Strike!" she cried out, aiming for the gaping mouth of the cave. The roar of something massive passing quickly through the air sounded out, followed by a crash that rocked Earthland beneath them. When the tremors subsided and the dust cleared, Lucy nearly cried out in joy to see the entrance of the cave blocked by a large meteorite.

"Noooo!" the master of the monsters cried out before falling to his knees. He turned his marred face toward the blonde celestial mage. His hands began to glow again as he pointed in her direction, "Destrooooyyy!" The few monsters that remained suddenly changed direction and skittered toward Lucy. Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy saw Laxus send a bolt toward the rogue mage, causing a yell of distress to leave him as he was being electrocuted.

Lucy kept cracking her whip to keep the creatures at bay; unfortunately, she didn't see the spider that was coming up behind her until Laxus yelled out, "Lucy!"

Lucy turned her head and saw the monstrosity coming for her. Without even thinking, she swiped at it with a kick. She kicked it again where its mouth should have been. Something pierced through the leather of her shoe and into her ankle.

"Ah!" she cried out. A bolt of lightning flew past her head and zapped the spider, sending it sprawling and writhing a few feet away. Lucy immediately fell to the ground, the pain in her foot overwhelming. Then she felt a numbing sensation grow from her foot, up her leg, and spread to the rest of her body.

Oh no, Lucy thought, unable to speak. Though she was completely aware of her surroundings, Lucy's limbs refused to move. Even her eyes refused to blink.

Laxus and Sagittarius finished off the remaining monsters before running over to Lucy.

"Blondie?! Blondie, come on! Talk to me!" Laxus crouched down beside Lucy and started snapping his fingers and waving his hands in front of her motionless eyes. He checked her pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was still alive.

Laxus pulled out a small first aid kit out of his pocket, opened it, and pulled out a vial filled with pink liquid. He uncorked it and brought the vial to Lucy's lips.

"Damn," said as the liquid ran out of her mouth and down the side of her face. Thinking quickly, Laxus poured the rest of the vial's contents into his own mouth. He tilted Lucy's head and opened her mouth before his own lips descended upon hers.

WHAT IS HE-?! Lucy thought in a panic as Laxus' lips touched her own. She felt some kind of liquid enter her mouth and go down her throat. Laxus retracted himself from her prone figure, waiting for the antidote to take effect. Sure enough, Lucy blinked a few times before she turned her head to cough. Laxus breathed a sigh of relief before Lucy sat up and weakly punched him in the chest.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Lucy hoarsely screamed at the dragon slayer as she pushed him away. Laxus looked at her blankly before his expression hardened.

"I'd call it saving your life, Blondie," he said coolly.

"But did you need to kiss me?!"

"It was the only way I could give you the antidote. So it wasn't really a kiss," he suddenly smirked. "Unless you'd like a real one?"

"No!" Lucy turned away from him and sulked. He chuckled at her behavior and packed up the first aid kit.

"Wait here," he said as he stood up. He walked away, making his way through the carnage of the destroyed monsters before reaching the rogue mage he had shocked. He was still unconscious, much to Laxus' relief. The lightning mage picked the old man up and slung him over his shoulder before making his way back to Lucy. When he got back to her, he finally noticed that the man in the horse costume was gone. Lucy must have sent him back to the Celestial World to avoid using up too much magic.

"Right. I don't have anything to tie this guy up with, so we'll have to make it back to town before he wakes up," the dragon slayer told her.

"I can solve that problem," Lucy said, her former anger seeming to have dissipated. She reached for her keys and opened a gate. A pink-haired maid appeared.

"Yes, Princess?" the maid said with a bow to Lucy, who was still sitting on the ground.

"Virgo, can you tie up the unconscious man? Make sure he can't run away or use his magic."

"Of course, Princess," the maid named Virgo got to work as soon as Laxus placed the man on the ground. Soon enough, the man had his arms and legs tied together behind his back, almost trussed up like a turkey.

"I'm not sure the gag was necessary, Virgo, but whatever you think is best," Lucy commented. "Thank you, that'll be all."

The maid bowed once more before disappearing in a flash of golden light. Laxus loaded the unconscious mage onto his shoulder.

"Alright, guess I'll have to carry you both," he said holding a hand out to Lucy. Lucy's eyes widened.

"No, that's okay! I can walk!" she used a nearby tree to lean against as she righted herself, leaning on her good leg. But she nearly fell over as soon as she put weight on her injured foot.

Laxus sighed. "Don't be difficult. It'll take twice as long to get back to town with you limping all the way."

Another flash of golden light appeared and Loke was standing near Lucy. "Perhaps I can be of assistance," the lion said, holding a hand out to Lucy.

It was Lucy's turn to sigh. "Loke."

Laxus eyed the redhead suspiciously, finding his sudden appearance all too timely. But the dragon slayer shrugged and said, "Fine by me. You carry the princess and we'll be on our way."

Lucy was much less argumentative with Loke carrying her, a notion that somewhat irked Laxus.

The sun was almost completely set behind the horizon by the time the group got back to Silverton. Laxus instructed Loke to take Lucy back to the hotel while he took care of the unconscious mage and reported to the mayor. By the time Laxus got back to the hotel, it was already dark. But he got the reward and the rogue mage was off to prison.

He stopped by Lucy's room to give her half of the reward and the silver key. He knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Lucy called out. Laxus opened the door to see Lucy on her bed, tending to her wound.

Laxus closed the door behind him and approached the bed. "I've already talked with the mayor. Here's your share of the reward," he handed her a thick envelope. "The key's in there, too."

Lucy smiled gratefully at the dragon slayer. Working with him hadn't been so bad. "Thank you, Laxus." She returned to cleaning her wound with an antiseptic, but the awkward angle of the wound made it difficult. Laxus sighed.

"Let me help you with that," he said. He lifted Lucy's foot and sat on the bed, placing her foot in his lap.

"It's okay! I can-" one glare from the dragon slayer shut her up and got her to stop wriggling around. Lucy sheepishly allowed Laxus to tend to her puncture wound, finding his touches careful and gentle to her injury. A few minutes later, Laxus got up and placed her now bandaged foot back on the bed.

"Get some sleep. The train leaves at ten tomorrow morning," he said heading for the door.

"Laxus?" Lucy said. Laxus stilled with his hand on the doorknob. He looked at her. "I wanted to apologize for earlier. I understand now you were just trying to help. I'm sorry I yelled at you," Lucy shifted her eyes away and blushed at the memory of Laxus' lips on hers. It wasn't really a kiss, right?

Laxus smiled a little. "Don't worry about it," he said "And that offer for an actual kiss still stands..."

Laxus easily caught the pillow that was thrown at his face. He laughed and tossed it back before leaving the room.

Lucy groaned at his behavior, but smiled in spite of herself.

Morning came the next day. Both mages made it out of the hotel and into the train station right on time. Lucy even managed to make it there without Laxus' help, saying her injured ankle felt much better. The three hour ride home was uneventful, and Laxus managed to make it without getting sick once. As soon as the train rolled into Magnolia, Laxus and Lucy made their way to the guild to report on the mission.

"I'll talk to Gramps about the mission. You go see Wendy about your ankle," Laxus told Lucy as they were walking up to the guild.

"Really? Thanks, Laxus," the celestial mage replied.

As soon as the two blondes entered the guild, a blue blur flew straight into Lucy, making her fall over with a yelp.

"Lucyyyy!" the tearful Exceed snuggled into Lucy's chest. "I missed you!"

Lucy laughed at Happy's antics. "I was only gone for one day, Happy." But she hugged the Exceed close.

"Lucy!" three other voices sounded in unison from a nearby table. Lucy stood up and greeted her team. Natsu began tugging on her arm, leading her back to the table.

"Come on, Lucy! Tell us about your mission!" Natsu begged. Lucy acquiesced after she noticed Laxus making his way toward the second floor, deciding to forgo his suggestion of seeing Wendy right away.

Laxus made his way into his grandfather's office.

"Ah, you're back. Where's Lucy?" Makarov asked right away.

"With her team. You'd think those idiots couldn't function without her," Laxus responded.

"Well, she is a much-loved member of Fairy Tail, after all. But how did the job go?"

"Fine. I'd hardly call it S-class worthy, though," Laxus shrugged. "Which makes me wonder the real reason you insisted I go with her. She could have handled it easily by herself or with her team."

Makarov smiled. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Laxus' eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What are you up to, old man?"

The master waved him off. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with, brat. Now go, I've got work to do."

Laxus eyed the mountain of paperwork on the old man's desk, smirking to himself as he went out the door.

Was Laxus OOC? I'm sorry.

I don't know if Laxus would actually carry around an exact antidote for Lucy's paralysis, but the scene was just begging for an awkward first kiss!

At first I was going to have Laxus be the one to be poisoned, but then I thought "Nah."

Hope you enjoyed!