Hours later, Lucy was in a much too crowded bar with Cana. Both women had consumed a number of drinks, Cana because she was Cana, and Lucy because all Cana wanted to talk about was figuring out Lucy's type. This form of torture was only second to Mira and her matchmaking.

"That one?" Cana nodded toward a guy.

"No."

"That one?"

"No."

"That one?"

"Mavis, no," Lucy said.

Exasperated, Cana sighed, leaning back and picking up her drink, "Well, I don't know what you're into. I'm starting to question that you're straight, with Gray walking around naked all the time. How are you not taking advantage of that?"

"Uh.." Lucy faltered, thankfully unnoticed by Cana as she continued to ramble. The truth was that Lucy already had taken advantage of that. More than once. Gray and Lucy had found themselves attracted to each other early on in their friendship. They started a habit of hooking up after particularly long or challenging jobs, or when Natsu wasn't around. Eventually, they stopped, not wanting to screw up the team. They were great friends and the sex was amazing, but it hadn't been a romantic attraction. However, occasionally they still fell into old habits. That ice mage could be very persuasive.

"At least you had some sense to try for Natsu." Lucy's attention snapped back at his name. Cana was still rambling. "I'd have gone for either of them by now, but didn't want to step in your territory."

"They're not my..."

"Although that kid is as dense as a rock." Cana said with a tip of her already empty drink for emphasis.

"Well, he isn't completely dense," Lucy bitterly muttered to herself.

"What?" Cana said, leaning forward. Sure, now she pays attention.

The piercing look from the card mage suggested she was more sober than Lucy thought, which means lying wasn't going to be an option. "Last night… Natsu and I… we kissed. But he stopped suddenly and today..."

"Tche," Cana said, rolling her eyes, sitting back again and setting down her drink, "Boys are stupid, Lucy."

"Excuse me, ladies," they found themselves interrupted by an attractive brunette. Cana smiled mischievously, leaning forward as she pushed her cleavage toward the newcomer, while Lucy just smiled.

"I hope you don't mind the interruption, but my friend and I over there were hoping you girls would dance with us." He motioned to a guy with jet black hair, who joined them at the table, smiling at Lucy.

"I don…" Lucy began.

"Of course we will," Cana said, interrupting her and grabbing her by the wrist. She pulled Lucy off her chair, toward the black-haired man, as she hopped off her own. Cana fingered the buttons on the shirt of the brunette as she coyly looked up. "Just one, though."

He smiled as he guided Cana toward the floor. The black-haired man, Eren as she found out, offered his hand to Lucy. They followed behind, snaking their way into the crowd of people on the floor.

One dance turned into two, and then three. Looking over, Lucy noticed Cana and her man were quite caught up in each other. Lucy hadn't caught his name. She looked back up at Eren. He was nice, and cute, but Lucy just didn't find herself in the mood for this after a multi-hour interrogation. She felt arms wrap around her from behind and found Cana's face hovering next to hers. Eren backed up a bit, giving the girls room to talk.

"I think I'm going home with him, are you going to be okay?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine, you go," she said as she waved Cana off. Truth is, she was ready to leave. She didn't know if it was the dancing or what, but the alcohol was suddenly hitting her hard.

"What about your friend over there, huh?" Cana said suggestively.

"Nah uh," Lucy laughed as she shook her head, "You worry about you."

Cana rolled her eyes in disappointment before heading back to her waiting date. As soon as Cana was out of sight, Lucy took the opportunity to thank Eren for the dancing and say goodbye. She didn't want to lead him on all night, as he was probably looking for something she wasn't interested in giving. He offered to walk her home, but she knew what that lead to. That was the biggest cause of most of her and Gray's relapses.

The fresh, cool air kindly assaulted her skin as she stepped out of the bar. Standing outside on the sidewalk, she looked around. Mavis, it was hard to tell which direction was which at night. Recognizing the canal in the distance, she headed south down the street. She judged it was pretty late from the darkness, the streets fairly quiet. It was that time between normal people going to bed and the bars closing, so there weren't a lot of people outside.

Humming to herself, she passed quiet houses as she walked. Just as she passed an alley, an arm shot out, pulling her into the darkness.

"Hey!" she protested, but the grip tightened. She looked up to find a man, dirty-looking and clearly intoxicated.

"Where are you going at this time of night, girly?" his voice was rough.

"Let me go," she said as she yanked her arm back, the quick movement plus the alcohol jolted her vision, leaving her unsteady. Damnit Cana.

The man just laughed. "It's dangerous to be walking alone in the dark, don't you know?" he said as he started to back her into a wall. Even drunk, Lucy knew she didn't like the tone of his voice. She started to raise her arm again to push back toward the man.

Suddenly, there was another person in the alley. A hand shot out of nowhere, grabbing onto the man's arm. Lucy looked up and saw flashing eyes and a gleaming snarl. She recognized his blonde hair instantly.

Sting.

"Yes, it's very dangerous," the words slipped out from behind the snarl slowly, dripping with menace. The man released her arm quickly and Sting inserted himself between him and Lucy, gently but assertively. The man eyed Sting for a moment, like he was sizing up the fight.

"I don't think that's a fight you want," said Sting, his voice hard. This was nothing like the goofy light mage she knew. The man's eyes flashed to his guild mark, then widened. Sting released the man's arm and he fell back, rubbing where the slayer's grip had been. The man looked at Sting one more time, swore, and took off the other direction. Lucy saw the edge of Sting's face from behind. His threatening scowl looked dangerous, accented by the warning glint in his eyes. As the man retreated into the darkness, his face softened and he turned to Lucy, eyeing her condition.

His obvious sweep of her body caused her to blush, even though she knew he was just checking that she was okay. Damn this alcohol.

"What an unexpected pleasure running into you tonight, Lucy" he said, all traces of the previous aggression gone as a coy smile crossed his face.

"Thanks," she said as she stumbled backward to put a little more space between them. "I had it under control, though, but thank you." She straightened out her skirt over her legs as she tried to make herself seem more sober.

He chuckled. "Under normal circumstances, probably, but you seem a bit... impaired," he said gently, as he turned to lean against the alley wall.

She looked away, not correcting him, eyeing the direction she needed to get going.

"Let me walk you home, for tonight. Natsu would kill me if I let you wander like this," he said, eyes surprisingly soft.

She snorted, Natsu probably didn't care at all what she was doing tonight.

He raised an eyebrow at her response, but said nothing.

She looked at him as he stood there, waiting for her consent. What harm could it do anyway, it would be nice to have someone to talk to on the way home. Sighing, she nodded, "Alright, let's go."

He smiled, and it was dazzling. Lucy felt herself caught off guard for a moment before turning and heading onto the street, Sting following behind. Ugh, it must be the alcohol.

Behave, she thought to herself.

Lucy walked, not very gracefully, home as Sting strolled beside her with his hands in his pockets. She observed him as they walked. He wasn't bad on the eyes. Well, that was a lie, he was flat out attractive. What was with these dragon slayers and wearing vests that showed off their abs?

She covertly watched his flex as they walked, not paying attention to her own feet as she tripped over a loose stone. All she saw was the road slip out from beneath her as the canal seemed to rush up toward her.

A strong hand grabbed on to her arm and she found herself righted again. "Careful there," he smiled as he released her arm.

She blushed, "Sorry, thanks. Long night I guess." Graceful, Lucy.

"You know, if I had known you were a fan of late night walks, I would frequent this part of town more often," he said, a hint of a grin on his lips.

"I was out having drinks with Cana tonight, but sh... I decided to go home early," she said, not wanting to out her friend.

"Mmm," he mused, "That's the card mage, right?"

Lucy nodded.

"Any special occasion?" Lucy looked forward, not replying as she ignored his gaze. His stupid, brown eyed gaze. "I see," he chuckled.

"What about you?" she redirected, "What are you doing out here this late?"

"Ah," he said as he turned his eyes back ahead, "Taking over Sabertooth can be a lot of work sometimes. It's nice to be alone with your thoughts. Keeps me sane," he grinned as he looked back at her again. That grin.

"That's debatable, all you slayers are a bit crazy," Lucy said teasingly.

His genuine laugh pierced the quiet of the night, "I suppose that's true. Rogue is probably the most normal of us all. Or your Wendy, of course."

Finally, they turn down Lucy's street. Sting looked around at the quiet canal row, seemingly in approval. "This is a nice place."

She nodded as she walked up her step and fumbled with her key. She was about to open it, when she turned and realized Sting hadn't followed. He was hanging back, still smiling.

"Uh, thanks, Sting," she said as she gave him a small smile. Even if she was embarrassed, she couldn't deny he was quite helpful tonight.

"Goodnight, Lucy. Maybe next time you go walking alone at night, why don't you let someone know?"

She scoffed, "I told you I could handle it." Adding a little more flirty sass than she intended. Damnit Lucy. Mavis, was she flirting? Were they flirting?

"Of course," he nodded gracefully and turned, walking away. She could have sworn he was chuckling.

"Bastard," she muttered as she turned the lock. Arrogant dragon slayers.

"Sting brought you home?" Levy gasped as Lucy tried to shush her.

"Yes, now quiet," she said, eyeing the bar where the meddlesome, blue-eyed demoness was chatting with Erza.

"Did he come in?" Levy asked, quieter this time.

"No, of course not," Lucy shook her head.

"Why not? Didn't you want him to?" Levy smiled. "You admitted he's attractive."

The doors burst open and Natsu and Happy flew in, Natsu plopping down at the table.

"I'm starvinggg," whined the fire mage.

"Why don't you go home and get something to eat? It was nice and quiet here last night with you gone," Gray quipped toward Natsu as he found a place across from Lucy.

"You-" Natsu began, but before a fight could break out, Makarov interrupted them.

"LISTEN UP, BRATS," his voice boomed from the second floor. "All missions for the next few days will have to wait, by orders of the Council."

"What?" Quiet murmurs echoed around the hall. Fairy Tail and the Council had always had a... strenuous relationship.

"Instead, all guild members that are in town will be required to attend an intraguild cooperation gala the Council will be holding as they gather for their meeting this month."

Groans were heard all around.

"Now, now, it's only one night and all of you will be on your best behavior," Makarov said sternly. Erza was nodding enthusiastically.

"The real reasoning behind this invitation is that it's actually a job itself. The council has been receiving threats they believe could be credible and are hosting this Gala after their meeting as an excuse to gather you mages without being suspicious. They refuse to buckle to threats, so they are continuing on with their meeting as planned. While you are attending, you will be expected to keep an eye on the Council members and for any possible threat. However, this is a proper Gala, so everyone needs a partner. Pair up, the Gala is next Saturday and I don't want to hear a complaint from any of you brats."

Gray looked over the moment Makarov was done talking, trying to steal Lucy before the water mage made it across the room.

"Luce, you and me!" Natsu interrupted him as he slung an arm around her shoulder. Gray shot daggers from across the table as he turned to find Erza, but instead found an enthusiastic Juvia in front of him.

Natsu cackled as Gray groaned.

She wasn't exactly happy either, Lucy thought to herself. Natsu was acting like nothing had happened.

"Levy!" shouts from the two men, Jet and Droy, exploded as they both jumped up from their table to make their way to hers. Suddenly, a hulking figure was standing behind Levy, arms crossed, red eyes flashing at the men, who both quickly found something else more important to do.

"I guess I can be your partner, Shrimp," the figure said.

"Uh- okay, sure, Gajeel," the little bluenette as she looked up at him.

"I don't like to dance," he grunted, looking at the ceiling.

"That's okay," she said quietly, hiding a smile.

"I'll pick you up," and then he was gone, leaving a blushing mage at the table.