Levy sat awkwardly in the back of the surveillance van she and Gajeel has been given for their new operation. She wore a headset as she listened to Gajeel interrogate the same druggy he had apprehended the night before. While Gajeel had turned him over to the cops, the guy only spent the night in jail and was released that morning. He was charged with minor shoplifting, but that was all they could pin on him.
It was a good place to start. But Levy had wanted to do more digging into her leads online before hitting the street. Gajeel, however, seemed to be uneasily deterred.
She sighed to herself as she listened to the man ramble on, not giving them anything new to go on.
Gajeel was intimidating, which Levy didn't like. He was loud, she didn't care for that either. He was smug, and arrogant, and... hot. He was hot. And that unsettled her more than all of his other qualities combined.
The back door of the van swung open and Gajeel climbed inside.
"That got us nowhere," he said gruffly as he took a seat beside her, craning his neck to see what she was doing.
"What's that?" He asked reaching around her. Levy felt his chest lean into her as he pointed to a dot flashing on the screen.
"That's us," She said a bit impatiently. "I set up a map of a two block radius from our location. That," Levy said pointing to another monitor with a hazy, black and white picture, "is the camera at the liquor store across the street. It gave me a clear view into the alley so I could keep an eye on you."
"Nice work, shrimp," Gajeel said in his gruff voice. "Let's follow the kid, see if he meets up with his supplier again. He seemed pretty desperate, I'm sure he'll at least try."
Levy shook her head, "No, we need something more solid than just following him-"
"That's what we're here for," Gajeel said snidely, cutting her off and moving toward the front of the van. Levy followed close behind him.
"Look, we already have his address from the cops. What we need to do is go to his house-"
"What's the point of that?" Gajeel huffed as he turned the key.
"Listen to me!" Levy yelled, her tiny hands turning to fists at her sides.
Gajeel paused, watching her as she climbed awkwardly into the passenger seat.
"If I can get into his computer, I can see exactly who he was getting the drugs from. We don't need him. We go can straight to the source ourselves."
Gajeel's keen eyes looked her over, a sly smile across his lips.
Levy felt nervous under his watchful gaze, but she tried to hide it.
"Nice work," Everything Gajeel said seemed underscored by the way his eyes traveled over her. Something about him made her body respond in a way she wished it wouldn't. His red eyes were piercing and sharp as steel.
"Gimmie the address," he said looking over his shoulder and pulling out into the street.
Levy rolled her eyes. "I already put it into the GPS, just follow the big flashing arrows."
Gajeel grinned. "You don't like me very much do you, shrimp?"
"Would you please stop calling me that?" She snapped back.
Gajeel simply grinned wider.
"Your little Fairy Tail friends didn't have anything nice to say about me, did they?"
"You're part of Fairy Tail now too, Gajeel. You should act more like a team player."
Gajeel shrugged off her words.
"I've never been one much for teams. I'm kinda a solo act."
"Well I can see why," she said crossing her arms and staring away out the window.
Levy didn't know how she was going to make it through this. Between his careless, overbearing attitude and the way she felt like she was melting under the heat of his gaze, she wasn't sure she'd make it out of this investigation in one piece.
Gajeel liked Levy immediately.
He liked the way she looked so focused in those little glasses in the conference room. He liked the snarky attitude she gave him when he was being an ass- which was always, he knew. He liked watching her hips sway as she walked.
But Gajeel needed to retain at least some focus on the case. If he wanted to stick around Fairy Tail, which he wasn't sure he did, he'd have to come out of this case with a gold fucking star.
Gajeel leaned against the water-stained wall of a hallway in a tattered, three story apartment building. The kid from earlier had a studio on the top floor. The place was a shit hole. Gajeel had already seen two rats and the smell of animal feces was heavy in the stagnant air.
Levy was already inside the apartment. Her plan was to locate the computer and put a transmitter or whatever in it so she could access it remotely. Gajeel would rather be the one in there than standing watch, but the girl was right. He didn't know how to do the work, and for her it sounded like second nature.
He peered out a nearby window that gave him a clear view of the street.
The kid was headed into the building.
Gajeel raised his wrist to his mouth. "He's on his way up," he whispered. "Get out of there, now."
"I'm not done yet," he heard Levy's voice in his ear. She had hooked him up with what was basically a high-tech walky-talky.
"You've got ten seconds shrimp," he growled.
The was a silent pause.
"Got it!" Levy squeaked happily. "On my way."
Gajeel waited impatiently by the door. He heard the 'ding' of the elevator as it reached their floor.
Levy emerged and Gajeel all but grabbed her and dragged her towards the opposite end of the hall. He could hear footsteps around the corner, pacing closer every second.
"Fire escape," Gajeel hissed in a hushed voice as he pulled her to the window.
With all his strength Gajeel tried to push the window open, but it wouldn't budge.
"It's sealed shut," Levy's voice was strained with a sudden rush of fear and adrenaline.
He couldn't let the guy recognize him. It would be obvious something was up if he came around the corner and saw the two of them just standing there.
He heard the kid turn the corner.
Keeping his back to their target Gajeel grabbed Levy, spun her around and pulled her towards him. He slid one hand around her narrow waist. The other brushed up her neck and wove into her hair. Leaning towards her, he brought his mouth down to hers.
The kiss shocked him.
He felt a surge of fire in his veins at the touch of her soft lips. He felt her tension ebb as she wrapped her hands up his back, clutching onto his coat, her hips leaning towards him.
Gajeel nearly growled, her reaction was not what he had been expecting. Forgetting why they were there, Gajeel let his tongue brush the line of her lower lip.
Levy's response was immediate, parting her lips for him as he drove his tongue into her mouth. The smell of soap and lavender shampoo overwhelmed him as he kissed her. He let his tongue slide along the length of hers, savoring the taste of her. He released her waist, moving his hand up the bare skin of her neck, feeling her racing pulse under his palm he caressed the line of her jaw with his thumb.
The girl seemed to melt into him. She slid her hands up his back to his shoulders and pulled herself closer to him until her whole body pressed hard against him.
"Get a room," a voice called from down the hall as Gajeel heard a door creek open and then shut again.
Levy immediately pulled away.
It was as if a switch had been flipped. The girl didn't even meet his eye when she spoke.
"We should go," she whispered, brushing past him and heading toward the elevator.
Gajeel stood motionless, his blood still pumping hard, his breathing shallow.
What the fuck just happened?
