They had parked the car a mile or so away from the nest's location so that the rats wouldn't hear them coming and scatter. Now outside of his car, Natsu didn't have the courage to argue with Lucy about the mission. Though the prickles on the back of his neck had now spread down his back and were driving him crazy.

They had put all of the explosive lacrima into a bag so they could carry them to the nest. Lucy had wordlessly given the bag to Natsu to carry and he felt sure she had done it out of spite. It didn't help his nerves that they were trudging downhill through a grove of thick trees into a deep dark hole.

The villagers had given them some rope so they could lower themselves into the hole and reach the rats nest. Though given what a big deal the villagers were making about the size of the infestation it was likely more appropriate to refer to it as a colony. Just the image of a hoard of rats crawling all over one another made Natsu's skin crawl.

Lucy had explained the plan to him multiple times. They were going to slip in, set the explosives all around the burrow, and then get out before the lacrima detonated. There was a remote detonator on Lucy's wrist that she could use to set the time of the explosion once they had placed the last lacrima. In that time they would get out of range of the blast and, in her own words, "Watch the fireworks."

Natsu stared down into the darkness of the burrow. He crinkled his nose in disgust at the smell that wafted up out of the hole. Feeling nauseous, he swallowed out of fear that he would vomit. Lucy already didn't like him, getting sick at a little smell would only make her think worse of him.

Lucy went down the hole first having secured the rope to a tree. From there Natsu lowered the bag containing the explosives down into the hole as carefully as he could. Just dropping them in would risk cracking one of the Lacrima and setting the whole bag off.

Thankfully the bag reached the floor without incident. Natsu slid down the rope right after it. Unfortunately, he slipped as he reached the end of the rope falling flat on his ass with a squeal. Groaning in pain, he rubbed the sore spot. Hearing a snicker he looked behind him in surprise only to see Lucy walking away with the bag of lacrima in hand.

She couldn't have laughed.

Could she?

Lucy marched through the surprisingly spacious system of tunnels. She could barely contain the eruption of giggles that was threatening to burst out. It had all just been too funny to see. Natsu falling on his ass was funny enough but the weird little noise he made when it happened is what made it hilarious. Even coming from Natsu, it had sounded so unnatural coming from a guy.

But it was imperative that they remained silent. Making too much noise would alert the rats and Lucy didn't want a whole colony coming down on her. Even if one rat was small a whole group of them could cause serious injury to both her and Natsu.

Considering how silently he was following behind her, she was sure that Natsu understood this as well. For a weird moment, she was actually thankful he was such an obedient wet blanket. If he had been the complaining type their whole mission would have ended in failure already.

The musky smell got worse and worse as they continued on. They were surely getting closer to the nest now. She finally came to a momentary stop as the light from the entrance had begun to fade.

"Turn on the light," she whispered.

The cave around her was suddenly illuminated as Natsu turned on the light lacrima they had taken with them from the car. Apparently Natsu kept a good number of different types of lacrima stashed in his car for occasions like this. Another surprising point in his favor.

Didn't stop him from being a dirty coward, though.

If he was only stronger and had more of a backbone Lucy thought she might actually have managed to tolerate him. Might.

With the light illuminating the tunnel Lucy could now see wooden beams holding the walls up. So this tunnel was man-made. Weird. The rats hadn't created this tunnel system, they had simply set their colony up inside of a pre-existing one.

It was possible this could have been an abandoned cellar or even a mine of some kind. But it was strange that the villagers hadn't mentioned it. Knowing that this place had been artificially created ahead of time would have made finding places to place the lacrima a hell of a lot easier. If they had been given a bit of time they could have found a map of the place and just blown all of the entrances. It was too late for that now, though. Instead, she and Natsu would have to find the nest and set the bombs up around the perimeter so that the ceiling would be sure to collapse on top of it.

As they trekked through the tunnels Lucy ignored the disgusting squelching under her feet. She hoped that it was just groundwater but the smell put that idea in serious doubt. The smell and obvious rat feces helped them find the general perimeter of the colony much to her displeasure.

Carefully Lucy placed each lacrima into what looked like weak portions of the wall and activated them. Each time she did so her heart jumped at the steady hum and dull glow the orbs gave off. One bad move with these things would set them off and then both she and Natsu would be hanging out six feet under. They had planted about six lacrima so far and she guessed that they would only need to place one or two more before they had completely encircled the part of the cave that contained the colony.

She had been making a mental note of where they were in the tunnels so that they could retrace their steps to get back to the entrance. Once there Lucy could set the timer on the explosives using the detonator on her wrist, climb out of this stink hole, and get well out of the way of the blast. It was would be easy.

Too easy.

It was all going a bit too smoothly wasn't it? Natsu's words from before were slowly working their way back into her mind. How the villagers had gotten ahold of explosive lacrima and why they had increased the reward so much we're both still things she felt could be explained rationally but… why weren't they doing this themselves? It was certainly safer than getting help from criminals. If the authorities ever found them out they would all be severely punished.

Being a mage may mean execution if caught after the king's ban on magic, but being someone who hired mages was just as bad. The lightest punishment you could get was seizure of all property and imprisonment. And some would consider death far better than that fate.

Her original idea about them just being cowards was beginning to fall apart too. If they were cowardly enough NOT to blow up a colony of rats that threatened their very livelihoods then they couldn't be brave enough to defy the king. As she set the second to the last lacrima into the wall Lucy couldn't help thinking about how it all didn't add up.

Her pride rebelled against her own mind as she shook her head to try and get rid of the irritating thoughts. She could not be wrong. If she was she would never hear the end of it from Natsu. He had likely made all those conclusions out of his own cowardice and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of gloating about it.

The light from the lacrima was beginning to shake, making it hard to see properly.

"Natsu." Lucy hissed looking up at the pink haired boy. Her threat of bodily harm lingered on her lips as she got a good look at his face.

He was staring past her into the darkness with a ghastly look on his face. Eyes dilated, pale as a sheet, and shaking like crazy he clung to the lantern with both hands as he stuttered "L-L-Lucy-san…." he pointed in the direction they came. "Th-there's…. th-there's…."

His reaction was so strong that she felt compelled to slowly turn her head.

Behind her, several pairs of large red eyes stared out of the darkness at them.

Lucy moved backwards towards Natsu as the eyes got closer and closer until their lanterns light exposed the creatures behind them.

Hissing and moving together as a huddled mass of black fur were a group of creatures Lucy could only describe as giant rats. And they were staring at the two mages with eyes filled with feral hunger.

Lucy's hand went instantly to the magic infused whip she kept on her belt ready to defend herself whenever the overgrown rodents decided to lunge. She allowed her eyes to glance behind her at Natsu who hadn't moved an inch and deep into the dark tunnel behind them. There were no rats there as far as she could tell giving them a place to retreat to. But it was also in the opposite direction of the exit.

They were, ironically, trapped like rats.

Natsu stared at the creatures before them as it dawned on him that it was one of these giant rats he had seen digging outside the tavern the night before. If these were the creatures that the villagers had to deal with then it was no wonder they would hire mages to wipe them out. The rats were at least as big as the average dog if not larger. And worse they looked hungry.

"Natsu."

Lucy's voice brought Natsu out of his stupor. She spoke without looking at him and drew something from her hip. "When I give the word I want you to start running okay?"

She sounded so calm and grounded. "Wh-what are you gonna do?"

"Just run deeper into the tunnel," She ordered sternly.

One of the rats hissed and crouched.

Natsu stepped back and whispered, "Y-yes… ma'am…"

The rat pounced straight at Lucy.

A sudden stream of blue light flashed through the dark tunnel and struck the giant rodent sending it flying back into the hoard with a yelp. Loud squeals of terror spread throughout the group as they scrambled back from the bright stream.

The light was so sudden that Natsu had to shade his eyes with his arm.

"NOW!" he heard Lucy scream.

His eyes still dazzled Natsu twisted around a ran deeper into the tunnel. He could hear the squelched footsteps of Lucy as she ran behind him. But behind her, he could hear the shrieking rats following after them.

His heart was beating in his ears as he felt tears stinging his eyes. In a dark moist tunnel devoured by a horde of giant man-eating rats was not how he wanted to die. And the tunnel seemed to go on and on with no end in site. Not even some small corridor they could duck into to escape.

The lantern that Natsu still clung to was the only thing that lit up the path ahead of them and even then it was only by a few feet. That was how he failed to see the path end in a gaping hole until it was too late. Natsu's arms swung wildly as his own momentum sent him tipping over the edge.

Something tugged on the back of his shirt stopping him from toppling over the edge. He peered over his shoulder to see Lucy clinging to his back as she desperately held onto the edge of the opening. His eyes widened at the sight. "L-Lucy-san…"

The moment was short lived as the wall Lucy was clinging to crumbled under her fingers. They both fell into the dark abyss of the hole.

Bright red eyes stopped at the edge and watched them fall.

It was the last thing Natsu saw before a sharp pain to his head made everything go black.

As she came around Lucy Ashley felt something soft and warm underneath her. It was in stark contrast to the damp cold air that surrounded her. Allowing herself to enjoy the warmth for just one moment longer she cracked open her eyes.

She was met with the sight of gray cavern walls which glistened in the dim light. Pushing herself up she looked around until she spotted the lantern with the light lacrima inside. Sighing in relief at the thought of not having to stumble around in the dark she heard a groan from underneath her. Looking down, she saw Natsu laying underneath her his head turning as he let out another pained groan.

He appeared to be semi-conscious and laid flat on his back with her now straddling his chest. It didn't take Lucy long to remember and piece together what had happened. After falling into the hole Natsu must have inadvertently broken her fall.

She bit her lip as she stared down at the pained expression on his face. It was possible he could have been injured in the fall. As he let out another pained moan her heart skipped a beat. "H-hey… are you okay?"

He murmured something in his half-conscious state.

Lucy's brow creased in worry. "What's the matter? Are you hurt?"

Natsu's face scrunched up in discomfort. "So…"

She leaned in closer so she could hear.

"So… so… heavy…."

In a moment Lucy's concern disappeared. She grabbed Natsu by the shirt and shook him violently like a ragdoll. "Wake up you lazy slug before I crush you!"

Natsu's eyes opened slowly. "Where… where am I?"

His sight cleared as he stared into Lucy's rage filled face. Instantly his face paled in fear and he dissolved into tears.

Dropping him Lucy stood up and retrieved the lantern. "You're lucky we're still in dangerous territory you spineless worm."

Natsu sat up but flinched and grabbed his head hissing in pain. He located and nursed a sizable bump that had formed from where his head had made contact with the ground. Blinking he slowly took in their surrounding.

"Looks like the rats didn't follow us down the hole at least." Lucy looked around at the cavern as Natsu pushed himself to his feet. It didn't appear that they were in the tunnels any longer but had instead fallen into some sort of cavern system.

She scanned the area around her until her eyes fell on a very familiar looking bag. Walking over, she opened it and found it contained the last unplanted explosive lacrima. Through some miracle the fall hadn't set it off. She withdrew the lacrima and placed it into the pouch on her belt. It may come in handy later.

Natsu came up next to her and looked up at the hole they had fallen through. He sighed, "W-we really lucked out."

"I'm not sure I'd call nearly falling to our deaths lucky." Lucy snorted.

"B-but," he twiddled his fingers together, "if we hadn't fallen in the rats would've gotten us."

"I guess."

They stood there for a moment unsure of what to do next.

"U-Um L-Lucy-san?" Natsu asked shyly.

"What is it?"

He stood there nervously as he avoided her gaze. "Th-thank y-you."

She blinked at him. "For what?"

"Y-You tried to save me. S-so thanks for that," he smiled at her gratefully.

Despite herself Lucy blushed at the sight of his smile. It was just so different from the arrogant grin she had seen when they had first met. It was much more gentle and sincere.

"D-don't be stupid," she looked away immediately. "I was just making sure the lacrima you were carrying didn't explode. If it did it would've brought the walls down on me."

His face fell. "I-I see."

"Regardless, we've gotta start moving. There's no telling if those rats have some other way down here," she began scanning the walls around them until her eyes landed on an opening. "C'mon," she commanded as she headed for the only exit.

Natsu sheepishly followed after her his head downcast.

Neither of them noticed the shattered remains of the detonator scattered on the caves floor. Or the dim glow of the lacrima that now sat in Lucy's pouch.

((Leave it to a prideful Lucy Ashley to ruin what would have otherwise been a touching moment.

Well it appears that both Natsu and Lucy now know why their job is so strange, or do they? What other mysteries do the two have to uncover, and what about the shattered detonator? How will they complete their mission without it?

NEXT TIME read as Natsu and Lucy find out the true purpose of their mission!

Longest chapter I've made so far I believe, though hopefully I'll manage longer in the future. I hope the story doesn't seem disjointed at all. I wrote this in pieces over the course of a week,

Anyway once again thank you for reading Lean on Me and please review! Feel free to report any typos you find and also share any and all headcanons you might have about Edolas Nalu or the edolas universe in general! And if you like what you've seen so far favorite as well!

I'm hoping to make this a multi-arc story if I can manage. Fingers crossed that my own laziness doesn't ruin me lol.))