Levy wiggled out of the skin tight dress she had been trying on and kicked it to the floor. It landed in a heap amongst several other dresses, none of which had been deemed worthy for the Saber Tooth party.

Gajeel would be at her place soon. Levy needed to gear both of them up for the event. She had all of their equipment spread out across her kitchen table.

At the moment, however, she was still puzzling over what to wear.

The operation was right on track. Gajeel's meeting had gone even better than expected.

Minerva had talked about a side project she wanted Gajeel to work on. Levy had listened to the conversation on repeat and agreed- there was something shady about it, which was just what they wanted.

If Minerva was organizing the sale of Lullaby, and using her man power and equipment to distribute it, then that would mean a huge bust for them.

They still hadn't found any sign of Tartaros being involved, but that would be a matter of time. Fairy Tail knew Tartaros was at the center of this case- they just needed proof.

Levy reached deep into her closet and grabbed a yellow cocktail dress. She held it up to the mirror. It would have to do.

She slipped into the form fitting, knee length dress and slid the thin straps over her exposed shoulders. The plunging neckline was edged in a matching color of wispy lace. Embroidered gold flowers cascaded over her hips.

Grabbing a pair of strappy gold heels that she was not looking forward to wearing, she headed to the bathroom to fix her hair.

Gajeel had been maintaining his distance from her. Gone were the innuendos. Gone were the smoldering looks that set her body on fire. At yet still she could not shake Gajeel from her thoughts.

There was a knock at the door as Levy stood trying to tame her blue hair. She sighed in frustration as she tried to finish pinning it up. There was another knock.

"Coming!" She yelled out as she hurried to the door and pulled it open. "You're early, I was just-"

Levy's voice caught in her throat as she took in Gajeel's tall, attractive form. His long hair was pulled back. He wore and olive green suit over a black shirt and tie.

"I was just doing my hair," she finished awkwardly.

Gajeel looked down at her with a hooded expression. "Don't worry about it." Levy caught the faint whiff of sandalwood as he passed her in the narrow hallway. The scent triggered a memory of the last time there were in this hallway together.

"That way," Levy said, following him into the kitchen.

"Are we going to war?" Gajeel laughed as he looked at the spread over the table.

Levy laughed, "I like to cover all my bases."

"I know," he smiled.

God he was handsome.

"Tonight we're both going to have mikes and you'll have a wire again. I also have some equipment in my purse that I'll need in order to get into their computers. Are you carrying?"

Gajeel pattered his suit pocket, "Always."

"Good," she nodded. "There's no way I'm getting in there concealing a weapon," she sighed.

"Do you normally carry?" Gajeel asked, surprised.

"I'm trained to, but no, normally I'm not in a situation where that's ever necessary."

Gajeel nodded in understanding. "Guess that means I'll just have to be your body guard tonight," he grinned.

Levy laughed, "I can take care of myself you know."

At that it was Gajeel who laughed, "Oh I believe it, shrimp."

Levy crossed her arms, already annoyed. "I can," she said seriously.

"I'm not kidding. I sure as hell wouldn't want to mess with you."

Gajeel's sincere grin relaxed her, she smiled shyly. She was used to people underestimating her, but for once he wasn't giving her a hard time.

"Here," she said handing him a small object from the table. "Earpiece," she explained simply. She took the wrist of his right hand and planted a metallic circle under his cufflink. "To turn it on just bring your wrist to your ear- casually, of course. We should be in close proximity most of the evening but I don't want to take any chances."

"Always prepared, aren't you?"

Levy beamed over at him, "That's me."

Gajeel looked over the table.

"You think you're ready for tonight?" He asked quietly.

"Definitely," she said assuredly. "All we need is your wire-"

"No, Levy," Gajeel reached a hand against her bare arm, his tone serious. "I know you're not usually in the field. Are you sure you're up to it?"

Levy looked up at him defiantly. "I just told you I can handle myself."

Gajeel gave her a half smile, "Right." He released her arm.

"Let's get you set up," she said, holding up his wire.

Gajeel nodded, slipping off his jacked and undoing his tie. He unbuttoned his shirt and let it fall open.

Immediately Levy's heart seemed to skip a beat. She moved to attach the device to his chest. Unconsciously her fingers lingered on his skin.

Gajeel put a gentle hand on her wrist. "I think it's good," he said lowly, a dark look in his eyes.

Levy went to pull away, but Gajeel kept her palm to his chest.

"I'm trying Levy," he said looking into her eyes, "I'm trying to keep my distance. But every time you touch me..." He closed his eyes as if taking in the feel of her hand against him. "You're not making this easy on me."

"Maybe it doesn't have to be so hard, Gajeel," she returned quietly. "Maybe this isn't such a terrible idea."

"You don't understand Levy-"

"You're supposed to be my boyfriend tonight, right?" She said with a mischievous smile. His eyes narrowed as he looked back at her. "Well, act like it. Maybe it won't be as bad as you think it will."

Gajeel looked down at her, his gaze searching over her.

"If I were your boyfriend," he said, his free hand rising to trace the line of her shoulder and coming to rest against her neck. "And you looked as beautiful as you do right now," he caressed the length of her neck with his fingertips. "You know what I would do?"

"What?" Levy whispered breathlessly as he pulled her closer to him.

Gajeel made no response. Instead he simply leaned toward her, bringing his lips to meet hers.

The kiss was long and deep. Levy felt herself melt into his strong arms. She slid her hands along the muscles of his bare chest as he cradled her head in his hands. Levy parted her lips, welcoming the feel of his tongue as it slid against hers. Her heart raced. She couldn't breathe, and she didn't care.

Gajeel made a growling noise as he slowly pulled away.

"We've got a party to get to," he said, his voice strained with frustration.

"Right," Levy said, her breath catching in her chest. She let her hands fall away as Gajeel moved to fix his shirt.

Levy tried to refocus on the case, but all she could think about was the electricity in his touch. She hadn't expected him to kiss her again. Then tenderness in his touch was enthralling. She wanted to say something more, but now wasn't the time.

"Okay," she said with a breath, "We need to make sure you talk to Minerva, I'm hoping she will give you a little more information on the job she wants you to do. We'll need to try to interrogate Sting and Rogue too. I would guess they're not involved based on Minerva's comment of wanting to keep things quiet, but they may still know something that will help us."

"And when do we sneak you behind the scenes?" Gajeel asked as he did his tie and slipped his coat on.

"Let's wait a while, circulate and make sure we talk to everyone, then we'll see how the tours work and hopefully I'll be able to get to a computer."

"You got it."

Levy grabbed her small gold purse and the pair headed for the door. As Levy stopped to undo the latch, she felt Gajeel come up behind her, leaning against her, he whispered in her ear.

"Don't think I'll let you go so easily next time, shrimp," she could hear the wolfish grin in his voice. "If my job tonight is to be your boyfriend, I plan to take full advantage of it."

A chill of arousal ran down Levy's spine. She had the sudden urge to turn around and kiss him again, work be damned.

She took yet another audible breath and stepped out into the hallway.

This mission was turning out to be more dangerous than she had ever imagined.