Previously~

"You're such a wuss, ash brain!" Natsu turned to glare at the owner of the voice and took deep breaths. Makarov shook his head, and motioned for the two to come forward.

"This is Erza Scarlet and Gray Fullbuster; also known as 'Titania' and 'Surge'. They will be assisting you on this case."

Chapter 4

"What?! You can't do this to me Jii-chan! Don't make me work with the stripper!" Natsu whined, grabbing onto the director's leg.

"Come on Natsu, stop being such a baby," Lucy pulled his cheeks, managing to get him off his superior.

"Nice to meet you guys! My name is Lucy Heartifilia, code name 'Celestial'." Lucy greeted them, making them nod in response. Natsu crossed his arms around his chest, and pouted at this.

"Why are you so optimistic Luce? I thought you didn't like to work with people." To Natsu's question, Lucy rolled her eyes.

"I never said I didn't like to work with others. I just said I didn't want to work with you." Beside Lucy, Gray burst out laughing, swinging his arm around her shoulder.

"Lucy was it? I like you already," Lucy blush in response, and Natsu glared at the male.

"Anyways," Lucy spoke up, her blush slowly disappearing. "We should probably give you guys the overview of the case and what Natsu and I have found so far."

They all nodded in agreement and started to walk to the private conference room. Natsu began to walk towards Lucy and Gray, but Erza grabbed his shoulder.

"Natsu, I need to talk to you for a minute," Hesitantly but curious, Natsu nodded his head slowly.

"Natsu," Erza said, causing him to shiver. "I thought you said you didn't want another partner, after..." She trailed off, not wanting to finish, but a look flashed through his eyes.

"I know I said that, but Lucy's just different." Natsu confessed, making Erza's eyes widened.

"How?"

"It's kind of hard for me to describe. She's my best friend and stuff, and she just makes me really happy. Like when she smiles, I smile too. I want to be able to hold her when she's sad, laugh along with her, and protect her no matter what. You know?" Natsu fidgeted in his spot, as Erza have him a soft smile.

"I'm glad you have moved on, Natsu. It sounds like you like Lucy, maybe even love her." Natsu blushed a bit, but hid it under his scarf.

"I-I d-don't l-like her!" Natsu denied instantly, causing Erza to smirk.

"Sure you don't, Natsu." Erza shook her head, an idea popped into her head. "Since you don't like Lucy, I can tell you that I think Lucy and Gray would be an excellent couple. I mean they've just met but they' are already close." Erza casually said while gesturing to the two in front of them. She turned to see his reaction, and an amused smile made it's way onto her lips. His expression had hardened, and his eyes narrowed.

"There's no way Luce would go out with a stripper like him." Natsu spat, glaring at Gray.

"I just met her a couple of days ago, so I can't possibly like her. Besides, I promised myself that I would never fall in love again, after that happened."

Erza opened her mouth to reply to Natsu, but just then her cell phone rang.

"Hello, this is 'Titania' speaking," Her expression immediately got dark, as she glared at the floor. Noticing that Natsu and Erza has stopped Gray and Lucy stopped as well, and walked back to the two.

"Yes, I understand. We'll be there immediately." She said, before hanging up. Erza looked over at Natsu and Gray who merely grunted, finally deciding to follow her. Lucy trailed not far behind the group.

~7~7~7~

"Remind me why I'm stuck going with you again, ice princess." Gray rolled his eyes at his rival, and focused on the road ahead.

"Because Erza said so." Gray looked over a Natsu for a second, before looking back at the road. "And besides, you don't want to argue against Erza's orders, flame-head."

Natsu's face visually paled, as a shiver ran up his spine. He remembered the time when he first met Erza. He had defied her orders, and had ended up in the hospital.

"Yeah, but why couldn't I have gone with Luce?" Natsu whined, surprising Gray a little bit. Gray sighed, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Because Erza decided to have a chat with her." Natsu pouted, and turned the other way, revealing part of his coat. A picture caught Gray's attention, as he stopped at the red light, and snatched the picture from the agent.

When Natsu finally realized what was going on, it was already too late. He gulped, and looked away from Gray. Gray looked at the picture, and smirked at Natsu.

"Man, I always knew you were a pervert, squinty eyes."

"I'm not a pervert, stripper!" Natsu growled back, narrowing his eyes.

"Where did you get a picture of Lucy anyways?" Gray questioned, before a smile appeared on his face. "Unless you're a pervert and a stalker."

"For the last time, I'm not a pervert, nor a stalker!" Natsu yelled, causing other drivers to give odd looks.

"And besides, that's my secret picture of Lucy. I managed to take a picture of her, when she wasn't looking." Natsu avoided Gray's cold stare, as he felt a blush form on his cheeks. It was a rare sight to see, that caused Gray to burst out in laughter.

"Are you blushing?!" Tears leaked form Gray's eyes, as he clutched his gut laughing.

"No! Just... don't tell anyone, or else," Natsu threatened, stopping himself from punching his rival.

"Or else what?"

"Or else I'll tell Juvia in the forensics lab that you like her!" Natsu threatened, causing Gray to shut up immediately. He paled considerably, and he swore his body temperature dropped a few degrees.

"You wouldn't!"

"You want to test that?" Natsu pulled out his phone, and dialed in some numbers. Before he finished dialing all the numbers, Gray grabbed his arm.

"Please, don't call Juvia! I promise not to tell anyone else!" Natsu smirked to himself. He had won this round yet again.

~7~7~7~

"Erza, are you sure it's alright to leave the boys by themselves?"

"Of course it is, Lucy. If they don't behave themselves, then they will receive punishment." Erza pulled out a sword out of nowhere, a deadly aura surrounded her. Lucy shivered, and laughed nervously. Suddenly Erza looked towards Lucy and eyed her for a bit.

"So tell me Lucy, what is your relationship with Natsu?" Lucy choked on her spit, throwing her into a fit of coughs.

"We're just friends." Erza raised an eyebrow, and narrowed her eyes.

"Is that all? You guys are just friends?"

"Yep, we're just friends." Lucy laughed nervously, avoided Erza's heated gaze. Erza looked at her skeptically, before decided to drop the subject.

Realizing that Erza had dropped the subject Lucy let out a sigh of relief. 'We're just friends. Natsu and I are just friends.' Lucy thought, not liking the sound of 'just friends'. She was a bit disappointed inside, but she didn't understand what was wrong with her. 'Why am I disappointed? I just met Natsu days ago, there's no way I could've fallen for him already!' Lucy blushed red at the thought of liking Natsu.

"There's no way I'd fall for a cocky, arrogant, idiot like him." Lucy mumbled, unaware that Erza in the driver seat, had heard every word she said.

Hey guys, how was it? Feel free to favorite, follow, or review!

Sorry for the long update! I had a lot of homework and things going on.

I'd like to give a shout out to jonathan.e. picard for the wonderful ideas!

Edited: 7/20/2015

~Fairy-chan