The black muscle car ripped down the snowy roads, straining for traction as Agent Salamander chased down the closest van.

"You need to be more careful!" Osprey criticized her fellow agent as they nearly spun out around a corner.

"Do you want to be the one driving in this shit?" The pinkette argued, he gestured angrily at the heavy snow. "Even with snow tyres on, this car is a monster."

"No, Luv, I may have the eyes of a hawk but I can't compare to you when it comes to this."

Sal fumed silently, he could still feel the Sarin damaging his body. His nose was slowly starting to run once more.

The sniper glanced at the man beside her, noticing his returning symptoms. "Is it coming back?"

"Unfortunately, yeah, it is. Can you check the glovebox, there is a Medikit in there."

"You're after another Autoinjector, right?"

"Just get one ready. If my symptoms get too bad then I'll get you to jam it into my leg."

Osprey opened the glove box and started to rummage in the bag.

"Corner." Announced Sal, giving the woman a few seconds of warning to brace herself before he flung the modified Hemi Cuda around the bend.

"Thanks for the heads-up." She replied while straightening back up, she held the device at the ready in her hands.

COMM: "What the hell are you doing Agent Salamander?!" Shouted the Director.

The pinkette grumbled as he yanked the earpieces out from his ears, he glanced at the woman next to him. "You talk to him, I need to focus."

COMM: "Sir, we are pursuing the vans."

COMM: "I can see that. Why?"

COMM: "It was Agent Salamander's call, Sir."

COMM: "Why does that not surprise me? Fine, I'll leave them to you but be aware that the Calico Police Department will still be receiving live tracking data."

COMM: "Copy that, Sir."

Agent Osprey let out a soft sigh, alerting the pinkette. "Sounds like you are done talking, Osprey?"

"Yeah, Luv, police will still be gunning for the vans, but we have the authorisation to continue."

"Speaking of which." Sal nodded up the road from them. "First target is at this intersection."

"It is best that we hit them as quick as possible. Don't stop."

"I wasn't planning on it." The pinkette grinned as the pest control van came into sight quickly.

The van was outlined on their HUDs, marking it as one of their targets.

"I'm going to take it on my side."

"You sure you can handle that?" Osprey glanced at the man as he hit the button to wind down the driver-side window.

"I'm sure." Sal said, his voice full of firm confidence in his ability.

The agent swerved into oncoming traffic, charging up the road as he raced towards the van.

He juggled the controls; shifting gears, yanking the handbrake, and wrenching the steering wheel around.

The monstrous car kicked out its rear end as it came alongside the van, straining for grip as the engine roared furiously.

"Come on, baby! Dance for me!"

The world seemingly slowed for the pink-haired agent as the car hooked around in front of the van.

Facial recognition flashed on his HUD, quickly registering the man driving the van as a member of Eisenwald.

Sal pulled his G20 free of its holster, his eyes not once leaving his target.

The sound of the roaring engine drowned out the two swift, soft clicks from the suppressed Glock.

Two 10mm rounds quickly pierced the windshield of the van, one after the other.

They collided with the driver with a heavy thud, one punching through the man's heart and the other through his head.

With another roar of power, the car lurched forward. The wheels caught traction and guided the car out of the intersection.

"Surprise motherfucker..." Sal placed the pistol back into its holster and wound the window back up. "That's one down. Let's take down the next one."

Osprey tapped her Tac-com, bringing up a holographic map. "Next van is five blocks ahead then hard left. They will be coming towards us."

"Keep an eye on it. Is that map synced with the police transponders?"

The greenette tapped at the device, humming a soft tune as she worked. "There we go, no police in the area just yet."

Sal grumbled and cursed under his breath at the seemingly inept police force. He guided the car through the traffic at high speeds.

Red and blue flashing icons blinked to life on the borders of Osprey's map. They were moving to their next target. "Sal, we have Five-Oh moving on the target."

The car dipped down as Sal slammed his boot on the anchors, swinging the car around the corner. "Alright."

The sound of sirens could faintly be heard over the roaring of the engine as the car powered down the road.

"Should we leave this one?" Sal glanced over at the woman next to him and saw the flashing dots start to swarm the target. "Looks like the cops are all over it."

"Slow down and cruise past, we don't draw unwanted attention. We'll see what the situation is and decide from there."

The man took his foot off the accelerator and hit the toggle switch to quieten the exhaust, he shifted down a few gears to force the car to slow down faster.

"What's your take on this?" Sal glanced at his partner.

They slowly drove past the police, watching as the officers surrounded the van and trained their compact rifles and shotguns at the driver.

"They have this one covered, let's move onto the next one. Demon is trying to talk to you."

"Give me a moment." The pinkette turned down an alleyway to get onto a path to the next van. He placed his earpieces back in once he was back on track.

COMM: "Sal here."

COMM: "You Fucking Asshole!" The woman sighed softly now that she had gotten that out of her system. "I have been monitoring the CCTV and I saw one of the vans pull into an underground car park, it's under a skyscraper. The police aren't anywhere near it."

COMM: "You don't mince words, do you? Alright, mark the priority target on my HUD for me, we'll head to that one ASAP."

Chevrons appeared on the agent's display, guiding him to the next location. "Osprey, better hold on."


Sirens were blaring all around them as Salamander pushed the car to the limits, flying up the hill.

"Dive down the upcoming left, Luv, we have a van running from the cops. If we move fast enough then we should be able to intercept it."

"Gotcha."

Sal raced down the road, following Osprey's directions as they moved to cut off the van. The sound of sirens grew louder and more distorted.

"Damn, how many cops are chasing this van?"

"About a dozen, Luv. I'll take this one." The greenette pulled out her OTs-33 Pernach and cocked it, she set the pistol to full auto and wound down the window.

"Better be quick. I'll be hooking around it and shooting down the way it came."

Osprey turned in the seat, she braced herself as she prepared to take the shot.

"Intersection is coming up in Three… Two… One… GO!"

Osprey fired off a loud burst of bullets from the pistol in the small window of time she had before Sal wenched the car around and shot past the cops.

"I think I got them." She murmured as she looked through the rear window. The van careened off the road and crashed into a building.

"Looks like you did something, if they aren't dead then they'd be on the path."

"Good, the priority target should only be a few blocks away."

COMM: "Hey, M, can you check the map for any other vans that have reached their destination but have no cops around them."

COMM: "Let me get back to you with that. Just focus on the current target."

"Sal..., don't look now but we have police chasing us."

"OH, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" He glanced up into the mirror and spotted four sets of lights. "Four interceptors. Fucking morons."

They rapidly approached the entrance to the underground parking lot. The cops hot on their tail the whole way.

Salamander yanked on the handbrake as he whipped out the tail of the car, flinging it down the ramp into the car park at the very last moment that he could safely do.

He flicked his arm back and shot the catch on the doors, making them come crashing down and preventing the police from following them in.

"That should get them off our back for now."

They cruised into a spot hidden from direct view of the entrance.

"I'll leave it running, we need to get to his van."

Both agents raced out of the car and sprinted for the target lit up on their HUDs. It was by a wall near the elevators of the building.

COMM: "What do you think he is up to?" Sal asked as they moved closer, their pistols drawn and ready to fire.

COMM: "Time to find out, Luv."

They slowed down and pressed against the van. Osprey checked the cabin and turned to the pinkette, shaking her head.

Agent Salamander slipped around to the back of the van, grasping the handle softly as he trains his Glock on the door.

He opened it, slowly and silently, spotting the chemical weapon container instantly.

There were hoses leading out of a side door, they came from the commercial fogging machine.

Sal moved around the back of the van just as Osprey came around the front.

COMM: "They have the fumigator running into this service room."

COMM: "I don't like the look of this, I think that is the ventilation room." Agent Demon informed the duo.

COMM: "Fuck! They are planning on gassing people using the ventilation systems."

The pinkette moved into the room quickly, sweeping his pistol around the room silently.

He spotted the terrorist hooking the pipes up to the intakes of the vents.

Osprey watched as Sal silently strolled up to the man's back and raised his gun up to the back of the man's head.

click

The pinkette holstered his pistol as he turned back to the door, the dead body sprawled out on the vents behind him. "Osprey, disconnect the hoses from the van."

"On it."

COMM: "M, can you forward a message to the Calico Cops: They're hooking up the chemical weapons to building ventilation systems using the fumigation machines in the vans."

The man didn't wait for an answer as he followed the sniper out of the room. He could hear a ratcheting sound, it drew his attention to the doors to the car park.

"They're almost inside." He glanced over at Osprey. "We may have to deal with the cops soon."

The woman ripped the hoses out of the machine then unloaded a burst from her pistol into the fumigator. "That'll prevent anyone from accidentally gassing themselves. Let's go, Luv."

Sal groaned and doubled over, using the van as support. "Damn… I think I need another shot, symptoms are coming back, slowly."

"You look a little pale…"

"Nauseous, it'll pass in a sec."

Shouting could be heard, faintly, it was coming from the entrance. The police had finally gained access to the parking lot.

"Looks like we don't have time for it to pass. Let's get back to the car, Osprey."

"On it."

The two agents sprinted back to their ride, trying to stay out of sight but keeping the momentum up at the same time.

They hurried into their awaiting car and watched as the police fanned out into the underground lot.

COMM: "The police force have been notified, Sal. But I have bad news."

COMM: "What have you got for us, M?"

COMM: "Two things. We have received reports of successful attacks on the nearby structures, the cops were too late in responding to the more critical threats."

COMM: "Fucking Hell… How many vans reached their targets?"

COMM: "Six of them, including the one you just stopped. Unfortunately, the other five managed to deliver their payload."

"GRRAAAHH!" Sal punched the dash in anger, it caved in a little but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed easily.

COMM: "Agent Demon, what was the second piece of news?" Osprey grabbed the Autoinjector and jabbed it into Sal's thigh.

"Oi! Warn me next time!"

COMM: "Calm your temper, Sal. The second piece of news is that the blizzard will be there in less than five minutes. You two should hurry up and get to shelter."

The pinkette sighed, he shook his head to clear his mind. They had saved as many people as they could, it was better than what could have happened.

COMM: "Alright. I'll take us back to the Safe House."

Salamander put the car in gear and quickly took off up the ramp, launching out to the road, startling the police force surrounding the entrance as they soared over their heads.

"They're going to chase us again, Luv."

"I know."

The man shot passed the police cars gathered around the entrance, the engine roaring menacingly as he took off down the road.

A few moments later, the drone of sirens pierced through the air. Sal glanced at the woman next to him. "Took them longer than I was expecting."

Osprey looked over her shoulder and spotted three off the four interceptors that were chasing them before. "Looks like they left one behind."

"Probably to check the van."

"You need to shake them, Luv."

"The snowfall is getting thicker, we'll vanish soon." Sal reached over and flicked a switch, killing all external lights, he flicked another to quieten the exhaust.

The agents didn't have to wait long for visibility to drop enough that the police were forced to break off their pursuit.

Sal turned off the road they were on and headed for the FTA Safe House. "Time to get back."

"Once we get there I want you to use the Auto-Doc. Let me handle the debrief." Osprey gave the man a stern glance, her eyes leaving no room for argument.

"Won't hear any complaints from me, I want to get this toxin out of me as soon as possible."


Natsu parked the car in the garage, next to Bisca's BMW convertible. "Oh, you got the M8 back from Ashlyn."

"Yeah, it was a few days before I came here for my mission. She had to put a new engine in it. Don't ask why." The woman slipped out of the car gracefully and headed for the door. "I'll leave your rifle on the table in the basement."

"Thanks." The pinkette followed her down to the basement and placed what gear he had taken back onto the walls.

"Hey Cherry, Luv, can you put me through to Agent Demon and the Director."

"Right away, Agent Osprey."

Natsu grabbed his railgun sniper and left the basement as the holographic windows extended out of the table.

"Good work out there, both of you." Makarov's voice followed him up the stairs. The old man sounded proud of the work they had done today.

The man ran a hand up his face, he was feeling exhausted and was ready for a long nap. He muttered to himself as he walked to the study. "Cherry, activate the Auto-Doc, I need neurotoxins flushed out of my system."

"Of course, Agent Salamander. Please proceed to the study."

"Already on the way…" He ran a hand through his hair tiredly as he entered the room. Spotting the medical bed sitting in the middle of the room, waiting for him.

"Please remove your clothes and lay down on the bed."

"Yeah yeah, I'm getting there." The man muttered to himself as he started to remove his clothing. "How long is this blizzard forecasted to stick around?"

"Approximately eight hours, Agent Salamander."

"Pity Mr. Freeze isn't here, I bet he would love the snow." He sighed and laid down on the medical bed. "Cherry, let me fall asleep before you begin flushing my system."

"Can do, Agent Salamander."

Cherry waited until her sensors detected that the man had fallen into a deep sleep before activating the Auto-Doc.

Robotic arms extended from the medical machine and rapidly cycled through attachments and functions until it selected the required instruments.

Hypodermic needles pierced the man's skin and started to inject a solution to completely neutralise the toxin and repair any damage caused by it.


Calico Safe House, 2:30pm

Natsu awoke from his slumber with a groan, he slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as movement from the doorway caught his attention.

"You're awake, finally. How are you feeling, Luv?"

"Like shit, but I'll live."

"What went down in that warehouse?" Bisca walked over to the computer desk and picked up the pinkette's clothes, twin G20s and the G29. "Huh, I thought you carried a Glock 20 and a 29, not two G20s."

"After Macao died I decided to start working on my duel wielding again, found that the balance was off with the two different sized ten mils so I kept the 29 as a backup and added a second 20."

"That 29, is that the same one Macao gave you?" The woman walked over to the naked man and placed his clothes down next to him.

"Not that one, though I carry it in his memory. The actual one is in my home." He slid off onto his feet and started putting on his clothes. "As for what went down in the warehouse, it was all going smoothly until I got spotted by Storm. She alerted Black Steel with a shot that just missed me, would have been a warning shot."

"And then?"

"I improvised. Do you know if they have wiped the police records of my car?"

"Yeah, Levy called not long ago, she said it was safe to drive back."

"Good, I'm clean of the toxin so I just want to go home and relax." Natsu finished putting on his clothes and holstering his pistols. "Plus I need to check up on how Lucy is going."

Bisca smiled, happy that he was actually taking his role in training Lucy seriously. "Want something to eat or are you planning on heading out right away?"

"I think I'll head out now, I've got everything stored away in my requip dimension so I won't have to hang around."

"Well, I'll see you back at HQ." She gave the man a friendly wave goodbye as she left the room.

"Thanks for your help with this mission, Bisca, might not have turned out exactly how we wanted it to but in the end, the job is done." Natsu followed her out, he grabbed a can of lemonade from the fridge. "Alright, be seeing you, Biz."

"See you, Luv." She glanced back at him with a smile before heading into the lounge room.


Magnolia, 9:45am

Natsu walked through the halls of the FTA HQ, he was heading to meet up with Lucy in his office while he was on the phone with Zeref.

"Natsu, what do you think of my idea?" The somewhat obnoxious clicking of a pen could be heard alongside Zeref's inquiry.

"Let me get this straight." Natsu nodded his head to a group of Operator Privates that stood at attention and snapped off a salute to the Agent.

"Ease up guys, I don't bite." He chuckled as he walked past, turning his attention back to the phone call. "Anyway, you're telling me that you want to have a little wargame?"

"Yeah, I'll set up one of the large-scale training rooms for something like a Capture-the-Flag style operation. Pairing up Lucy with a few other agents and having them work together to infiltrate a location and retrieve some kind of McGuffin."

"What kind of resistance will they be facing?" The pinkette entered his office and sat at his desk. He reached into a draw by his knee and pull a notepad and a pen free from the clutter.

"I'm thinking a hierarchal structure of hostiles, maybe somewhere around eight elites each with maybe six or seven goons with one leader."

Natsu started writing down notes on his notepad as the door opened. "Will you be handpicking the hostile force?"

The beautiful white-haired handler of Natsu's hummed a soft tune as she closed the door behind her, she glanced at the agent at his desk with a happy smile. "Hiya Hotstuff."

The pinkette's lips curled into a smile as he winked at Mira and watched her flick on the TV onto the news.

"Yes, Natsu, I'll be choosing who she'll be working with and who she'll be facing, it won't be an easy fight for her so you better make sure her training is up to snuff."

"I'll run her through the Killhouse until it is second nature for her. What will the set-up be like?"

The tapping of a keyboard could be heard through the phone. "Hmm. Right. I have a few layouts planned out; a mansion, shopping mall, an office building, plus a few others in mind that I haven't designed just yet."

Natsu's eyes flicked over to Mira as she sat at her desk. "Mira, where is Lucy? She should be here by now."

"She stopped off at the bathroom and told me to go ahead, we were coming here together." She replied, her eyes glued to the TV as she watched the News with great interest.

"Shoot me an email once you have all the details, Zeref, and I'll read over it and sign off on it."

"Already working on it. Talk later."

Natsu took the phone away from his ear as it flashed red, he placed it on the desk and turned to the News. "How many casualties have been announced?"

"Too many… each tower that they had targeted was a residential building, the toxin spread throughout the tower. The current amount is running close seven hundred though they are still making their way through the buildings." Mira sighed and swivelled her chair to face her monitor. "Since the buildings are contaminated, full protective gear is needed to search them, making it slow work."

The pinkette sighed, softly and filled with a touch of grief. "Unfortunately, I got spotted on the way out, we lost valuable time because of it."

A blonde woman crashed through the door, almost sending it flying off the hinges. Her face was red like she sprinted all the way from the bathroom to the office. "Sorry I'm late! Woah... My head is spinning…"

Natsu looked over as Lucy held her head to try and steady it. "That happens when you are still getting used the Enhancements. Speaking of which, how are you feeling?"

"Light, very light." Lucy slowly took her hands from her head and gazed at them. "I was running so fast on the way here, it usually takes me five minutes… it barely even took half of that."

"Careful with it because unless you are like Jet, who can naturally augment himself with speed based magic, you will tire yourself out very quickly if you maintain top speed for too long." Mira informed her as she flicked through a bunch of papers, some containing random doodles that she had drawn.

"That being said, train hard and train often. You'll be able to get the most out of your augmentations that way." The pinkette added as he placed his notepad away from prying eyes and put his boot-clad feet up on the desk, his hands slipping behind his head.

"How so, Sir?"

"Lucy. Stop calling me Sir. Natsu is fine." His eyes narrowed, showing his irritation at the title to the woman as she hid a smirk behind her hand.

"To answer your question." Mira placed the papers aside and stood up from her chair. She dusted off her lap and walked around the desk to the blonde. "Natsu is part of a small group of Agents, he is classed as Hyper Lethal thanks to all of his abilities."

"Mira and Erza both fall into this category too, Mira for her devastating transformations, and Erza for her combat prowess and psionic powers."

"Forgive my wording, Sir." Lucy stifled a giggle as Natsu grumbled under his breath. "But what makes you so special?"

The man sighed and turned to his handler. "Show her my file, the one without black ink. She deserves to know."

"Alright." Mira leant over her desk and opened the top draw. She mumbled to herself as she ran her fingers over the files contained within until she found the one she was after. She spun around and held it out for Lucy "Here it is, take a seat as it is a bit of a read."

"Oh… ok." She looked a little flabbergasted as she took the file from Mira and sat on a nearby couch.

The woman opened the file and finely skimmed her eyes over it, murmuring the contents every so often. "Race: Hybrid…? Human, Etherious, Dragon...?"

Natsu sighed, it hadn't taken her long to find one of his biggest secrets. "Yes, Lucy, I am not wholly human, I was raised by Igneel who is a Fire Dragon though he was disguised as a human."

"Disguised? Fire Dragon?"

"Dragons adopted human Transformation magic as they were being hunted methodically, it was genocide. So they quickly learnt how to fit into human culture, they still exist to this day, walking among humans, the days of their genocide long behind them."

"Seems like even the largest beings have to adapt to survive." Mira turned the TV off as the News was just depressing her. "It's like us mages, while we weren't hunted like the dragons were, magic is seen as very dangerous. Aside from healing magic, that is."

Natsu kept his narrowed eyes set on the blonde woman, gauging her reactions. "This is mainly due to mages being used as shock troopers in militaries worldwide. Mass Media tried to demonised the combat and offensive uses for magic, and though they failed it still had an impact."

Lucy looked up from the file and looked between the two other agents. "Aren't you two wielders of offensive magic?"

"Yes, we are. I use Demon Soul Takeovers, it grants me the powers of the demons that I dominate and then absorb into my body." Mira crossed her arms under her bust as she sat on the edge of the cold, hard desk.

"Whereas I use Fire Dragon magic and Etherious Curses. That's what makes me so dangerous, Lucy, dragon fire is more intense than regular fire but with proper control, it can be used to great effect in both the smallest and largest cases."

"What about your Curses?"

"Most of them are sealed, I can only use an explosive curse right now."

"Sealed?" Lucy turned to Mira, slowly, as her eyebrows rose. "How so?"

"Due to the devastating nature of his curses, Makarov himself needs to authorise the use of them. If it's deemed necessary, Natsu will be given a code phrase given via a special recording in his mark."

"In other words, I don't have access to my full power like the other agents. But I do have both the augmentations from the Enhancement and the ones from my dragon magic too."

Lucy stared at the man, waiting from him to elaborate, her curiosity through the roof.

Natsu sighed and smiled softly. "You know I hate talking about myself, right? It is all in my file but the long and short of it is that I run faster, hit harder and react quicker than any other agent not counting specific magic traits like Jet's speed magic. I also have heightened senses, which helps in combat and stalking targets."

"It basically means he is good at neutralising targets, now throw in the fact that his Enhancement triggered a mutation providing him with accelerated reflexes and you'll get someone who is hard to beat."

"I do have weaknesses through; sensory overload, overwhelming numbers, and well… anything that would kill a normal person anyway. With all my power and skills, a well-placed bullet can still easily take me out."

"Landing that well-placed bullet is a bitch though… Trust me, I have tried during training." Mira smirked, remembering what happened during one of their sparing matches.

Natsu sighed as he ran a hand down his face, he pointed to the model with his thumb. "This bitch pulled a training pistol mid grapple, while I had no protective gear on. She nearly took my eye out..."

Mira giggled uncontrollably, holding her sides to stop herself from falling apart at the deadly look, full of ire, that was being directed at her by the man.

"Anyway. Lucy, I never got to ask before I had to leave for the mission but how did your operation go?"

"Oh. It went well, Doctor Porlyusica told me that there were no complications, my body accepted the Enhancement serum very well. But she said I have to wait a week for my body to adapt and complete the Enhancement naturally, for the mutations to finish."

"Which means your training is on hold for a week, it will be too dangerous to continue during this time, both for you and anyone I put you up against." Natsu brought up a file on his computer. It held Lucy's training plan. He pushed the schedule back to allow for the recovery period dictated by the Doc. "Hey Mira, do you know if Gray and Erza are on a mission?"

"Unless they have been assigned an emergency mission overnight, they should still be here."

"Cool, do either of you have any plans for the next few days?"

Both women shook their head, neither had planned anything besides their beauty sleep. Mira tilted her head curiously at the man. "Why did you want to know?"

"Let's all spend the day at my place, just lounging around and hanging out. Us three, Lis, Erza, and Gray?"

"Sounds like a plan, Sir." A mischievous glint flickered in Lucy's brown eyes at her words, knowing that it gets on his nerves.


Sorry that it has taken forever for me to finish this chapter, I kept finding it hard to just sit down and write the segment after Agent Salamander returned to the HQ. Hope you all like it, feel free to leave a review with any feedback you may have and don't forget to Favourite/Follow if you haven't already. I'll see you all next time (which hopefully will be soon).