Some of these updates will be completed requests, since I have... about 300 to clear out.

I really, really enjoyed this one. Much more than I had expected to. Thanks go to Raijindork for proofreading.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.


Title: No More Field Work

Pairing: Sting x Levy

Requester: anonymous

Prompt: Au


As much as Levy enjoyed her job of translating old texts at the Fiore National Museum, there were parts of her job that she would honestly prefer to avoid whenever possible. She had a list of them, actually, that the museum had agreed to as a condition of her employment.

Scrambling through a dusty, rapidly collapsing tomb full of ancient traps ranked very high on said list. In fact, it held second place of honor on it.

She let out a screech as a stone block narrowly missed her, shattering upon the quivering tiles – which set off another trap, a no-doubt-poisoned dart whizzing over her head so close she felt the breeze in her hair.

"Bet you're glad you're so short now!" her partner on this failure of an assignment declared cheerily.

Behold, the first reason on her list. Sting Eucliffe. Famous in the field for… never leaving the field. His research notes almost required a translator themselves, provided he had bothered to make them in the first place, that is. The museum could not have assigned her a worse partner for her research into the ancient tomb's writings. Sting wasn't much for inaction, and while she had had her back turned, he'd touched something, which had set off the current set of circumstances in which they now found themselves.

"Screw you!" Levy shouted back at her fellow archeologist. "We wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't gotten impatient and waited for me to finish translating, Sting!"

"It was boring! You were taking too long!" he defended himself.

Suddenly, he reached back and grabbed her arm, yanking her forward and off her feet. Colliding bodily with him, they tumbled to the ground.

"What was that for?!" Levy shrieked as soon as they stopped moving.

Sting wordlessly pointed behind her.

Turning to look, Levy paled at the gaping hole in the floor that had opened up behind her. The yawning darkness didn't appear to have a bottom, but Levy was sure that whatever was waiting at it would mean a painful end to her life.

"I think some thanks are in order," Sting stated.

Rolling her eyes, Levy hoisted herself to her feet. "It's still ultimately your fault." She hesitated. "But I guess I can let it slide." Holding out her hand to help him up, she smiled when he grasped it. "Let's get out of here alive, first."

"You'll hear no complaint from me!"

A tell-tale click echoed in the chamber, and the pair froze in their tracks. Glancing down at his other hand, Sting cringed at the depressed stone beneath it. "Well… shit," he muttered.

Levy hated fieldwork. So much.