This chapter goes out to Raphiix3, and all of the wonderful reviewers who have left me heartwarming message. You are all very sweet, and I appreciate every one of you guys who take the time to read. Thank you all for taking the time to read; I put a lot of effort and time into trying to make every chapter work out, and it means a lot to me when I hear that people are enjoying it.

Remember to Review, Follow, Favorite or have a wonderful day. Kitty loves you all and wishes you all to be happy and healthy! Enjoy!

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Ride 'em Hard

Chapter Five

The first train car was empty when Lucy and Jellal entered through. It was some high-class lounging car that would have obviously house a party with champagne, or a group party for a special occasion, no doubt. It was lit with lights and decorated with red velvet couches and trimmings. On top of the couches, on the cushions, where filing boxes stacked with paper and folders. Lucy fixed the straps of her backpack as she went over to one of the couches and looked at the papers.

"What are these?" Lucy asked outloud, glancing over to Jellal scanning the rest of the car before pulling out his small handgun that he kept in his pocket. Lucy was comfortable with Jellal holding the gun or even using it...as long as it didn't hit her, at least.

Jellal looked at the files and shrugged boredly. "Order forms, probably. Drug dealers sometimes do stuff like that...keeps things organized for them," he explained while preparing himself to go towards the back door.

Lucy then peeked at the table next to the couches, seeing three, thick files with a giant red circle marked on the covers. Jellal saw her looking around before smiling to himself. "You're quite a curious one, aren't you?" he teased, causing Lucy to nearly drop one of the files she picked up from the table. "They probably put down the names of their clients and where to deliver them to. It's a very long process and probably very boring for you, Lucy. I wouldn't waste too much time on them."

"You know a lot about this, don't you?" Lucy huffed at his teasing. "It's like you've done stuff like that before."

Jellal chuckled. "Well, yeah, when you're growing up smuggling drugs for the bad guys for the sake of your life, you kinda learn a thing or two about them."

Lucy stilled and stared at Jellal, who seemed unfazed by what he just said. "What?"

Jellal met her stare with a polite smile. "My wife and I were raised in the same gang as kids, and we did jobs that cops wouldn't think children would take part of, like drugs and stuff," he explained briefly. "It wasn't a pretty childhood, I'll be honest, but we definitely got in trouble once we were able to leave together. Makarov found us when we just got out and offered us to join Fairy Tail, and we've been working on our record ever since."

"I'm…"

"Don't worry about it, Lucy," Jellal shook his head. "You gotta learn about some of our bad past sometime, right? You know Mira's and her siblings already. It's not a sensitive topic in Fairy Tail, to be honest…"

"But still, I shouldn't have -!" Lucy turned to face him, instantly red in the face. She shut up when Jellal raised his free hand to her.

"Erza was planning on telling you eventually, since it seems we will be working now and she wants to be honest with you," he smirked. "My wife isn't used to making impressions on people like you, so she would most likely freak out if she tried telling you herself - she'll mess up her words when she gets flustered." Lucy nearly popped when she heard him mutter at how he thought she was simply adorable when he proposed to her. Apparently the strong redhead nearly passed out and went on a one-person-conversation with herself about how she probably wouldn't live up to Jellal's expectations as a wife and all.

Lucy's grip on the files tightened. She never knew the history of Jellal and Erza, only knowing them as very mature and super nice and accepting of her. For her, she felt a little bit guilty that she was given everything anyone could ask for (which she didn't, and that's what drove her to run away), while her new home were much less fortunate.

Jellal was busy trying to peek through the curtain of the exit, seeing that the next car behind them was closed from prying eyes. Readying his gun, the older man with the facial tattoo thought for a quick moment before calling for the blonde to come over.

Lucy obeyed quickly and approached his back, going to her toes to peek over his shoulder. "We're going to head into the next car, and I want you to stay behind me since you don't have a gun," Jellal explained to her, opening the door and entering the passage to the next one. Lucy followed, staying close behind him. "When I say it's clear, then you can -!"

BANG!

Lucy covered her mouth from the scream she was about to let out, and Jellal simply blinked at the noise. Pressing a finger towards his ear, Lucy noticed the earpiece wrapped around the back of his ear - one of those cellphones that stick to your ear - and the blue-haired man nodded before giving Lucy a reassuring smile.

"It's okay," he nodded to her, trying to calm her down. She didn't realize that she was shaking from excitement. Her face was calm, but her eyes and shoulder was tense. "That came from a few cars further down the train. Erza said it was probably Juvia and Sue."

"What was the noise?" Lucy asked in a soft peep, hoping that he heard her.

"Probably a distraction, or they were making their way around," he shrugged, as if it was the most casual thing to ever talk about. "Stay behind me, Lucy."

Lucy did as instructed and watched as Jellal ripped the door open. A muffled shout came from the inside and a quick shot of Jellal's gun made the blonde cover her mouth again before hearing her companion on the inside calling for her. Peeking her head in, Lucy saw a suited man laying on the ground with a shot wound to the shoulder, but passed out.

"Don't worry," Jellal assured her with a hand. The car was filled with boxes and carts with odd characteristics written in black paint. Looking around, Jellal tilt his chin sorely and exhaled. Lucy entered the room, looking around to look at the man exhaling with a gurgle.

"He's passed out," Lucy stated with awe, not minding the little blood coming from his shoulder. Looking up to him, she tilt her head. "You didn't kill him?"

"Don't kill anyone unless they try to kill you first."

"What's the boxes?"

"Cargo, probably," Jellal kicked a corner of one of the stacks of boxes boredly. "Looks Russian, but not what we're looking for. Jason said that the contents would be in bags inside suitcases. Do you see any around?"

"No," Lucy said as she stepped around the unconscious man, glancing around to see if she could spot any suitcase-like material in the cargo hold. With that said, Jellal knelt down and started emptying the man's pockets, only taking the gun that was inside the man's hoister. Lucy watched him leave any money, ID or whatever else that couldn't be used as a weapon before the next door shot open, making them both twist their heads to see two men in the same suit as the one knocked out spotting them. The two security men pulled out their guns and aimed both of them to Lucy and Jellal, making the blonde woman shriek.

Jellal, having kneeled down, was about to bolt up when two loud thunks hit the back of their heads, stunning both men before falling face-first to the floor, where Juvia stood behind with the butts of her guns in the air. Sue was peeking behind her, too, snickering at the two fallen men.

Smiling cutely, the blue-haired woman brought her weapons back to the hoisters attached to her thighs. "That would have been messy, if Juvia didn't make it."

"You go, Juvia-sama!" Sue cheered and hugged the woman from behind with a cheeky grin. "That was so badass! I loved it."

"Hey, Juvia," Jellal nodded in greeting to the waving woman.

"Juvia!" Lucy gasped in shock, seeing how calmly the young woman dealt with the two brutes. She watched as the blue-haired racer crouch down and pick up the two guns the men dropped, looking at them with interest before shoving them into her pockets, like Jellal did a moment ago. "Thank you so much, Juvia! I thought we were gonners for a minute."

"Juvia promised Natsu-san that Lucy-chan would be safe," she responded with a cheeky grin, giving the blonde the peace sign. "And you're Juvia's friend, too, and Juvia doesn't like it when her friends are in danger."

"Juvia-sama is so cool, you have no idea!" Sue cheered with confidence as she gave Juvia room to stand back up. "You should've seen her in the other car, man. She kicked their asses - and I helped! I got a guy right in the kisser!" she clenched her fists, making Lucy notice how she was wearing fingerless gloves with sharp studs on them, a little bit stained. "Did ya hear us, too? Juvia let off one of her sticky bombs to get all the guys over and -!"

"Jellal is wasting his time," Juvia pointed out to the blue-haired man, who was looking to a large crate with large writing. "Those boxes are just food."

"Ahh, then I guess we need to move on," Jellal exhaled, crossing his arms.

"No," Juvia shook her head with a sad frown. "Jellal and Lucy can leave the train now."

Lucy blinked slowly, finally noticing when Sue passed by Juvia to look more into the pockets of the fallen men. The backpacks they were wearing looked stuffed and bulky while the younger woman found bullets and wallets. Juvia used her heeled foot to lightly kick Sue's leg, catching her attention.

"Put that back, Sue-chan," Juvia instructed, making the short-haired woman pout.

"But they have cash in them, Juvia-sama!" Sue whined like a child, and Juvia raised her brow and pointed back to the men and the teen finally complied. "Coulda bought some cool stuff with this, man…"

"They're trash money, and Sue-chan is better than trash," Juvia crossed her arms with a motherly look. Lucy blinked and looked back up to the young woman.

"Juvia, what do you mean we can leave now..?"

"They got the drugs already," Jellal said casually, stepping to Lucy's side. "We have nothing else to do in here."

'That...is somewhat of a disappointment,' Lucy's thoughts sighed in her mind. 'I'm just happy to still be alive at this point, though.'

"Oh...I see," Lucy swallowed and looked down.

"Don't be so glum, Lucy-chan," Juvia's sweet voice caught her attention. "Sue-chan's first job was to help deliver in an underground parking lot, and she believed that there would be gun fighting and all that...but there wasn't. Poor Sue-chan was crabby for a whole week! Wouldn't even eat Juvia's treats."

"Don't go tellin' people about me, Juvia-sama!" Sue blushed darkly, holding her face with both hands.

"If anything, Lucy-chan did a wonderful job so far," Juvia winked, completely ignoring the younger woman's banter to her, even when she stood up and hid her face in her chest. Juvia simply pat Sue's beanie and grinned to her new blonde friend. "Now, we just have to get out of here before everyone wakes up, mm?"

"Do you want to go out our way? It's just in the first car and we haven't been having any trouble up until here" Jellal offered, and he gave a silent response when Juvia shook her head. "Alright, thank you again, Juvia."

"It's no problem, Jellal-san," Juvia cheekily smiled and pulled Sue off of her. "Be careful on the way back, though, Trinity Raven have bikes and cars this time, so there is no telling if they will try and hurt you. They were following close behind Erza-san and Natsu-san when you arrived onto the train when Juvia last saw them."

"Understood," Jellal nodded. "You be careful as well."

Juvia bowed her head and turned at her heels. Sue waved to Lucy in goodbye and followed after the blue-haired woman with a hop in her step, leaving the two Fairy Tail members alone with the unconscious bodies. Lucy flinched when she saw one of the men's foot twitched, making Jellal chuckle and told her it was going to be okay.

Pressing a finger to his earpiece, Jellal waited a second before the other line picked up. "Hey, honey," he said softly, starting to walk back the way they came. Lucy instantly followed him back to the first car and through the entrance they came. "Yes, same place… M'kay."

Lucy's head tilt as she saw Jellal look her way. "Natsu wants to pick you up first, Lucy. Is that alright with you?"

Lucy smiled, somewhat glad at hearing his name. "Sure, no problem."

Jellal smirked and closed the car door, now being in the lounging car that held their way to the exit. Both of them passed the boxes of files and documents over into the opening. Jellal stuck his head out into the gushing wind to see Natsu's car already waiting with the window down. Lucy joined his side and grinned at the sight of Natsu's head sticking out of the car, grinning brightly at the sight of the blonde.

"Hey, Luce!" Natsu cheekily called out. "Come on over. The radio is playing some nice tunes right now!"

Lucy laughed and turned to Jellal. "I'm gonna climb over and hold on to the railing, then I'll go through the driver window, okay? Make sure I don't fall, please."

Jellal nodded and helped Lucy as she hopped over the railing and held her ground from the metal floor. Gripping the railing tightly with both hands, Lucy crouched herself low enough while Jellal gripped her arm. When she turned her head, she was almost nose-to-nose with her partner, who had a cheeky grin.

Natsu stretched out his muscular arm her way, carefully wrapping around her slim waist as she carefully let go one of her hands and gripped the edge of the window. "Good, good," Natsu nodded approvingly when her other hand gripping the railing slid down for her to lean more towards him. Jellal let go of her arm for her to move down far enough. "Keep hold onto the rail and we'll take it nice -!"

A sudden crash hit the back of Natsu's car and Lucy lost her grip on the railing before Jellal could reach her. Natsu held onto Lucy's waist in a vicegrip when the car had to force itself aside and away from the train and she screamed and gripped the window and Natsu's arm for dear life. Looking over, Lucy recognized the old Dodge crashing on Natsu's back fender, keeping up when Natsu twisted the wheel the other way.

"Fuckin' Trinity Raven!" Natsu screamed as he gripped Lucy's pants, trying to pull her in. "Hold on, Lucy! Don't freak out!"

Lucy was frozen solid, eyes shut tight as she gripped tighter to his arm and window. She could feel the grains of dirt hitting her bare legs and feel the vibrations of the car against her body. She wasn't freaking out, but she was really frozen on the spot.

"Lucy. Luce! Come on, Luce, look at me!" Natsu's voice urged her repeatedly, but the blonde shook her head and shut her eyes tighter, feeling tears swell up. "Luce, you're not going to get hurt, I pro -!"

Another blow to the back, making Lucy cry out in shock as Natsu tried to pull her in. Natsu mentally cursed when he saw the Dodge pull itself back and readied to hit again when a Dodge Challenger Hellcat raced up with Juvia on the hood, her blue hair flying from the speed.

Natsu's eyes widened when he saw Gajeel bring the car near the enemy and Juvia leapt from her brother's hood and onto Trinity Raven's car. Natsu could barely make out the blue dynamite stick in her mouth as she slammed her heel into the windshield, shattering it. Pulling the stick out of her mouth, Juvia shoved the stick into the wedge of the hood, making it stuck inside the ledge. With a lighter, Juvia held on tightly while the car swerved left and right, barely hitting Gajeel's ride as she got the wick to light up and spark without failure.

Gajeel made it close enough to his sister for her to jump back over to her original hood. With one hand, Juvia signaled her brother to drive over to Natsu's ride, to the driver's door; the Hellcat driver did as instructed, making their way to Lucy's aid.

Juvia flexibly slipped her body back into the passenger seat halfway, her upper body still hanging out as she reached over and grasped Lucy's hips tightly. Gajeel and Natsu kept at the same speed as the blue-haired woman used her arms to lift Lucy's frozen body up, having Natsu take the chance to grab under Lucy's thigh and pull her inside the car.

Natsu's head snapped to the Hellcat with wide eyes as Juvia saluted brightly before sliding into the car. Gajeel wasn't looking their way as Juvia smiled and rolled up the window, speeding off and making a large 'U' turn, going back to the lot. Behind them, a small explosion occurred from Trinity Raven's car as the enemy ride spun into a ditch. Erza's car sped ahead and honked to Natsu, signaling him to stop the car.

As he did so, all with Lucy trembling in his lap, Natsu slowed the car into a stop by a large pile of boulders, seeing how the train began to disappear around it. Parking the ride, Natsu's arms instantly wrapped around Lucy, his head bowed to see her eyes still shut tight and in a ball.

He wiped off a streak of dirt from her cheek and pushed strands of her now-messy away from her face. "Lucy, you okay there? You're not hurt at all, are you?"

Lucy, still shaking, cracked her eye open. "I'm...inside?"

Natsu couldn't help but crack a grin at her, nodding slowly. "Yeah, you're back in the car with me. You're safe now. Remember when I said you were gonna be alright?"

"I'm alright now," she mumbled, nodding when he fixed her on his lap, carefully sitting her up on his lap and pulled her against him. Running his arms up and down her back, trying to soothe her shakes, Natsu kept the smile on his lips. "How did I get in here?"

"Juvia-chan," Natsu said simply. "I guess you were in shock to realize what happened. That's okay, Luce, don't worry about it."

Lucy's trembling eased, and that fuzzy feeling returned into her belly. Exhaling softly, the blonde tightened her hands in her lap and nodded. "I guess you lost your race and the job, Natsu...and it's my fault for not getting the stuff, right?"

"No, I did win," Natsu grinned brightly, making her brown eyes blink up to him. "I won the fact that you made it back in one piece, Lucy. That's what I cared about most for tonight, silly!"

Lucy sniffed back a half-sob-half-laugh as she wiped the dust from her cheeks and wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck, hiding her face in his scarf as he returned her hug with a grateful chuckle.

"Natsu, is Lucy alright?" Erza's voice came on the radio, sounding urgent and worried and it made Lucy grin a bit bigger. She briefly heard Jellal's voice in the back, making her realize that he made it safely to his wife's side.

Natsu leaned back on his chair and exhaled with a relief. "Yeah, she's just a bit shaken up," he said. "She's fine. Juvia and assbutt helped out getting her in."

"Oh, thank God. I saw Trinity Raven's car get hit with a bomb," Erza sighed gruffly. "Gajeel's car is going back to the lot with the drugs, so we should just get back to the garage and check Lucy over."

"'Kay, Erza," Natsu nodded and switched the station to a pop-oriented tune, one of the songs Lucy would be found humming to herself while she helped cleaned the apartment. Tilting his head down to the blonde, he offered a grin. "How about one of Mira's burgers with some fries, and maybe something for dessert. I'll have you pick out what you want, 'kay, Luce?"

"Can I stay here? I still can't feel my legs too well," Lucy flushed with embarrassment. She really can't feel her legs from the adrenaline, but she didn't want to make Natsu uncomfortable by remaining on his lap the whole ride back.

However, Natsu remained cheery and happy about it. "Sure, not a problem! I think I'll take a drive-thru trip, though. Kinda hungry already."

"But…" Lucy frowned, her brow twitching, "I thought we were gonna get something at Mira's."

"Gotta prepare my stomach for dinner with a snack!" The pink-haired man snickered brightly before readying the engine, shifting gears.

Along the now neon-lit streets of the city, the Dodge Challenger Hellcat sped through the red lights, following Jason's convertible with ease. Ignoring the honks and people screeching at the driver, Gajeel grumbled under his breath while Juvia had her feet on the dashboard, peeking into the backpack with puckered lips. Boze's Nissan Silvia was following them from behind, and Gajeel would peek to the rearview mirror to make sure they were still with them.

Juvia peeked to the driver, her glossy lips curling a little bit into a smile. Closing the backpack and dropping it under her seat, the blue-haired woman poked the man's stiff cheek playfully, her cheeks filling with air.

"Nii-chan," Juvia cooed to him, hearing him grumble again and tilt his head away from her touch. "Nii-chan, don't be so grumpy with Juvia, please. We won the race and got the job, you should be happy!"

"The fuck you made me help out Salamander and that blonde chick for?" Gajeel snapped, making the woman smile bigger and rest her head against her seat. Tangling her fingers through her now-messy hair, she pushed her ruined bangs out of her face. "Ya know I still wanna ram his head with my car, squirt. The hell you make me do!"

"Nii-chan always listens to Juvia. Besides, Juvia made a promise to Natsu-san about making sure his partner wouldn't get hurt," she explained with a pleased look on her face. "Juvia met Lucy-chan before the race, and Juvia likes her already."

"Ya like anyone from that sorry mother fu -!" Gajeel grunted when his step-sister smacked the back of his head, briefly reminding him of using such language about her acquaintances. "Psh! If the chick got her act together, she could've made it back in the car just fine."

"It was her first job, Nii-chan," she pointed out with a happy sigh. "Remember when Juvia had her first job with Nii-chan? When the man hit Juvia to the ground and was about to jump on her with the knife, Nii-chan came and saved Juvia, like a good big brother."

"You blacked out for a few minutes, because the fool hit you on the head, Juvia. That was different," Gajeel grumbled under his breath, not really liking how she was bringing up something he didn't like. "The girl just froze on the spot because of Trinity Raven."

"Either way, Juvia made a promise and she kept to it, like Nii-chan does with Juvia," she sang and sat up on her seat, seeing Jason's ride turning the corner. "And Juvia wanted to get back at them for what they did to Juvia's friends and nearly killing Toto-sensei last year."

Gajeel snorted a chuckle, spinning the wheel to make a sharp turn. "Where'd you put the bomb, squirt?"

"Half of it was able to fit under the hood," Juvia smiled brightly. "Did you see Juvia shatter the window with her heel? Ikagura is sure going to have a bone to pick with us now."

"Good. Bitch needs a taste of her own medicine."

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"You sure you're okay, Lucy?" Lisanna peeked over the bar to try and get a better look at the blonde, who was nibbling her fries between Natsu and Gray. Standing next to Mirajane, the younger sister tried her best to see if she could tell any emotional injuries written in her eyes. "You sure you don't need anything? You don't have any bruises on you, do you?"

"I'm good, thank you," Lucy said softly with a smile on her face. Looking to Lisanna and Mirajane with a smile, Lucy held a fry dipped with ketchup with glee. "Your guys' cooking really hits the spot. Like it erases anything I was worrying about before!"

Mirajane smiled and ran her fingers through Lisanna's short hair. "You see? She's doing just fine."

"I'm sorry about the job though," Lucy confessed, making Natsu turn his eyes with his hands and mouth filled with the burger he was eating. "I should have used the taser you got me, Natsu. And, I should have been quicker to find the drugs."

"Doesn't matter," Gray said on Lucy's other side, chewing on his straw with a bored look as he stared off into the distance. "We should've guessed they were further back in the train anyway. You did good enough just by checking it out anyway."

"And the fact that everything was in Russian was a flaw, too," Makarov's voice came from behind, making Lucy perk up and turn in her stool to see Jellal, Erza and the gang's boss approaching. Erza and Jellal held hands as they stood behind Makarov, who crossed his arms and smiled up to Lucy. "Juvia is quite well known to the Russian language, since her mother is of Russian descent. It would have been her advantage to be able to read anything or overhear the guards talking."

Blinking, Lucy suddenly gasped and reached down for her backpack. Everyone around her blinked in confusion as the young blonde picked up her pink backpack and opened it hastily, digging inside. "I just remembered… In the first car, Jellal and I were surrounded by these files and junk. I saw these specific ones on a table," Lucy blabbered, pulling out three files with red ink splattered on it. Holding it out with both hands to Makarov, Lucy went on. "I figured, you know, they could be useful for something, I guess. I don't know, but I felt like I needed to take them...for something."

Makarov blinked and took the files, opening the one on top to see plenty of words written in cursive Russian, blinding the old man with the scribbles and messy penmanship. Jellal tilt his head and Erza reacted the same as Makarov, jaw dropping at the sight of the messy lettering.

"Levy!" Makarov shouted out and a loud clang of a wrench dropping to the pavement echoed as Levy, now dressed in her sports bra and dirty mechanic pants, ran over. Rubbing the oil off her cheeks with the back of her hand, her sunshine smile lit up the whole bar.

"What's shaking?" Levy smiled, ignoring how Jet and Droy hurried to her side. Makarov held a file paper for her to take, and she gingerly plucked it with her fingertips, looking at it with round eyes and a curious pout.

"Levy, you grew up with Russian in your household, right?" Makarov asked seriously, watching as the young mechanic mumbled under her breath.

"Spoke it, wrote it and read it, sir," Levy sang, but a firm line on her lips brought another note. "However, I can't read cursive handwriting all that well. My parents wrote in print, so it was easier to read for them and me, but I can definitely tell you that these are delivery and stocking papers, and they have specific names and areas on them."

"I see…" Makarov hummed, nodding slowly.

"But, I'm sure I can get the major names off from some of my books," Levy offered, handing the sheet back to the boss. "I do know someone back at the station who took college courses in Russia, maybe they can help you out there?"

"Good thinking, Levy," Makarov smiled. "Thank you for your time. You can return to your project now." The blue-haired mechanic bounced and bolt past her boys, who jerked and followed after her just as quickly, leaving everyone else to look back to the short, old man. "Jellal, do me a favor and call back to the station. Tell 'em we got something they wanna take a look at, and tell them I'm gonna be there in an hour, so have some drinks ready. None of that sweet crap, something spicy."

Jellal nodded and looked to his wife, who smiled and leaned up to her toes to press a brief kiss to his lips before leaving. Erza crossed her arms and smiled to Lucy, who blushed a little when realizing that all of the attention was now back to her; Gray was still chewing on his straw with raised brows, Lisanna and Mirajane looked to her in wonderment and Natsu had that funny grin with his teeth still embedded into the burger.

"Lucy," Makarov caught her attention as she snapped her red face back to the old man, who was grinning ear-to-ear. "I know I said it before, but welcome to Fairy Tail. You're officially one of the gang now, dear. It won't be long until you've received your streetname."

"Streetname?" Lucy gawked with flushed cheeks, her words stuttering.

Swallowing the last of his burger, Natsu nodded next to her. "Yeah, you know how I'm called Salamander?" he grinned and pointed to Mirajane, who giggled shyly. "Mira used to be called the She-Devil, when she raced back in the day." Turning to Erza, Natsu had Lucy follow his gaze to the redhead, who rolled her eyes and shifted her weight to one leg.

"I'm called Titania during races, from tampering with my car's appearance all the time, I suppose," Erza shrugged, trying not to get it all to her head. Mirajane snickered behind Lucy and pointed out how Erza was starting to blush, making the older woman glare back in response. "Anyway, it's usually S-Class drivers who gets names, but you're technically in our ranks, since you're with Natsu."

"What's yours, Gray?" Lucy asked and looked to the dark haired man who, for some reason that Lucy didn't notice, was not stripped of his coat and shirt.

"I go by a lot of names on the streets, but it's originally Ice Mage," Gray finally spoke, sighing tiredly as he asked Lisanna for a refill, and the short haired woman nodded and took his glass. "But everyone calls me Stripper."

"Can't blame them," Lucy smiled, making Gray flinch and everyone else, especially Natsu, laugh hard. Lucy gave Gray a teasing smile and waved her hand. "Don't take it personally, Gray. It's kinda funny when you think about it!"

"I do think about it, and it's not funny!" Gray snapped, leaning back to see Natsu pointing at him and still going at it. "What'cha lookin' at, shitbrain? Ya lookin' for a fight? You still have it from earlier, Natsu!"

"Bring it, popsicle! Give Juvia-chan somethin' to look at next time she sees her boyfriend!" Natsu snickered as he got up from his seat, making Gray jump off his own and Lucy glancing between the two with confusion.

"I ain't her boyfriend!" Gray shouted and tackled Natsu to the tiled ground. Lucy jumped when Natsu hit the ground with his friend, rolling them over to the middle of the garage, both of them kicking and punching each other.

Lucy looked up to the older woman with red hair with a worried gesture to the young men fighting. Erza simply shrugged in response. "Those two will tire themselves out in a minute. Fighting right after eating usually causes stomach aches."

Erza wasn't wrong. After a good ten minutes passed and both young men whacked each other around the stomach area at the same time, both went green in the face and fell over. Lucy was quick to jump to Natsu's aid, and Gray, too, but he seemed to have got himself handled well. Gray waved Lucy off of him and helped himself back up to the bar, ordering for another refill of the drink.

Natsu half-leaned on Lucy, who sighed and helped him over to the elevator. "Tummy hurts now…" he gurgled weakly, and Lucy couldn't help but roll her eyes at his childish whine.

"You're an idiot. Fighting after you just ate?" Lucy chided softly and watched as he stuck himself to the wall when the elevator began moving. Crossing her arms, the blonde sighed again when he slid to the floor. "You got hit in the stomach, Natsu. You're not gonna die."

"I think I'm gonna be sick, Luuuce," Natsu heaved and curled into a ball. Lucy took a step away from him for precaution.

"Jeez, you have abs of steel and you get one hit to the belly, and now you're all weak and whiney," Lucy complained.

Then, like a bubble, Natsu's face returned to normal and looked up to the blonde with a bright smile. "Abs of steel, huh?"

Lucy went absolutely red in the face and didn't hesitate to kick her shoe off to Natsu's face. The pink haired man stiffened from the blow and puffed the shoe off with a red nose. "Oww, that hurt!" Natsu whined and rolled to his back, rubbing his face. "Why'd ya do that, Luce?"

"You seem fine to me, dork!" Lucy huffed and looked away, refusing to let him see how red her cheeks were. Using both hands to cup her cheeks, Lucy ignored Natsu's constant poking on the rest of the ride up to their apartment.

Once getting inside, Lucy felt more relaxed and calm, even though Natsu was still occasionally rubbing his stomach. "I'm going to take a shower," she announced with an exhale. "Still have tons of dirt on me and I feel gross."

"Sure," Natsu nodded before diving to the couch, messing his pile of blankets and pillows to tumble down. Lucy shook her head with a half smile before going to the bathroom to shower. "I call after you, so please don't take all of the hot water, Luce!"

Lucy took a quick and easy shower, not really having a hot one like she originally thought about. Realizing she dealt on the lines between life and death, dirt sticking to your skin and hair like glue and an absolute bitch to wash out; Lucy seemed to have dealt with enough heat for one day, just wanting to cool down and go straight to bed. Combing her hair to a silky shine and dressed in her pajamas, Lucy picked up her mess in the bathroom and head out to slip into the bedroom. The apartment lights were off, and Lucy used the wall to make it to bed, falling face-first into the comfortable mattress and comforter before slipping underneath.

Vaguely hearing the footsteps of Natsu entering the bathroom and turning on the shower next, making Lucy close her eyes slowly and let her head sink further into the pillow. She dozed off on and off, listening to Natsu finish with his clean-up and the recognizable squeak of the couch with the sudden weight, but didn't bother with it at all. Lately, Lucy has been used to living with someone making noises, or even waking her up when she least expects it.

Back at the mansion, the maids and employees would act like cats. Tip-toeing around the whole estate and normally wouldn't converse with the higher ups. A couple, though, like the old maid who would be her personal helper or the butler who would have Lucy help prepare dinner, would talk and make Lucy feel a bit more comfortable in her old home. But, compared with Fairy Tail…

The sound of the bedroom door creaking open, Lucy rolled her eyes and stayed still, hearing the gruff snort when Natsu bonked his foot on the dresser, yet remained asleep. Peeking over the blanket, Lucy watched with amusement as Natsu slept walk around the large bed before plopping to the mattress beside her.

"Natsuuu," Lucy whispered quietly, turning her head and using her foot to nudge his leg. She bit back a snicker when he snorted again and scrambled in his spot.

Natsu's head plopped on the pillow Lucy was half using, burying his face in her damp hair. His muscular arm reached over and wrapped around her blanketed form, pulling her to him and the other arm slipped under her to hold her to him. Lucy didn't mind it, actually curling her form against his warm, hard chest.

"Natsu," Lucy tried again, and instantly felt him exhale in a puff against her head and holding her tighter. She briefly heard him grumble a 'five more minutes' excuse before snuggling his nose to the exposed skin of her neck, making her stiffen.

Feeling her heart rate rise from the contact, Lucy swallowed and shut her eyes when his nose brushed against her skin slowly. She swore under her breath that he was kidding with her again, like back in the elevator, but she knew better. Natsu was very specific when he was dead asleep, how his muscles were relaxed and his low, quiet snore that reminded Lucy of a little puppy she once saw on the internet. Natsu's hold was warm and gentle, and it made that fuzzy feeling inside Lucy's belly return and make her feel blissful.

Closing her eyes, Lucy fell asleep to the feeling of being home.

=xxx=

Juvia Lockser stood beside her brother, with Sue and Boze behind them with their cars parked on either side. The meeting spot Jason had led them too was a parking ramp in the midst of the large city, where it was like a maze to drive through without stopping. The twenty-year old woman glanced around the surrounding area, noticing the lack of light in the fourth level of the ramp, despite having a light placed above them and a door on the wall.

To Juvia, it reminded her of an entrance of the hospital she used to go to constantly as a child with her mother and stepfather.

Feeling a slight nudge to her exposed shoulder, Juvia peeked to her older brother who was noticing her fidget with two black backpacks in her hands. "You okay, kid?"

"Juvia is fine," she nodded with a small smile, using the shoulder he touched to nudge him back. "It's just odd...we've never had to meet employers at such a public place. Even if there is not many lights, Juvia just wonders why we are to meet our client here."

Gajeel crossed his arms and shrugged. "Probably one of those rich people who can hire security to protect their asses. You know, like those James Bond guys, I guess."

"More like the Godfather," Sue snorted behind them, making Juvia giggle and Gajeel to roll his eyes. "Get your movies straight, man."

"How long we gonna wait for Jason to get the man out, huh?" Boze complained. "I'm getting tired, you guys. Toto-sensei is gonna beat my ass, too, if I don't finish my literature homework… Say, Sue..?"

"Do your own goddamn homework, you lazyass," Sue sniffed and turned away from her relative, who pouted down to her.

"You two behave right now," Juvia glanced over her shoulder, seeing that the glass door was showing approaching figures their way. She could see Jason leading in front, blocking out the rest of the faces for her to see from the angle. Once she saw the two straighten their back and put on their business faces, she returned to her own statuesque next to her brother.

Jason had one of his men open the door for him, letting him and three other people out. The two who were following closely behind him were obviously guards dressed in black suits, sunglasses and earpieces as accessories. The man in the middle, though, had a tan face with a gray suit; a long, pale beard that was neatly groomed and an eyepatch over his right eye, he was pretty well-built for his apparent age. In his hand was a silver suitcase.

The blond man who recruits for races beamed to the winners with a weird grin on his face, making Juvia mentally frown at how oblivious he was behaving in front of the employer. "Hey, you cool riders of the night! How y'all doing? Cool? Cool!"

"Cut the shit, Jason," Gajeel snapped in a bark, making it echoe in the parking ramp and Juvia sent a warning glare to him. Once he received the feeling of being targeted by his little sibling, he let out a breath of annoyance. "Where's the money? We ain't got all night, you know."

Jason flinched at Gajeel's voice and turned back to the man with the eyepatch, who walked up and pulled the suitcase to rest flat on his palm. Opening the clasp of the case open, the man with the eyepatch presented the fill of bulks of cash in rubber bands. This seemed to have sparked Gajeel's interest, since he smirked at the sight in front of him.

"This man is not the employer," Juvia spoke out, causing all eyes on him. "Where is the employer?"

The man with the eyepatch smiled at Juvia, who kept her face emotionless and stern. "Very good eye, young lady," he chuckled and shut the case, locking it. Juvia ignored how her brother sniffed in disappointment. "How'd you guess something so little?"

"If you were the employer, you would have made us enter the building and to your office," Juvia said simply, eyeing the two men who were looking at each other with raised brows. "If you were the employer, you would not have met the criminal racers so close to their cars. Even with two guards, there is four of us who are more than armed to take you out."

The bearded man chuckled darkly, passing the suitcase to one of the men who took it and approached Juvia's way. Juvia held out the backpacks in one hand and held out her free hand for the suitcase. The security gave Juvia the suitcase first before taking the bags from her, peeking inside before returning to his spot. Jason watched with fumbling fingers before speaking.

"S-so this is Phantom Lord, sir," Jason announced, gesturing to the four people and two available cars. "Not only did they get the drugs, but they also took down a racer's car with a bomb when they tried to steal the goods."

The man smirked at this, liking the details of that. "You must all be Jose's kids, then? I see. I will be honest, hearing Phantom Lord's name, I figured it'd be a bunch of men and...well, not with fragile-looking women." Juvia heard Sue huffed with frustration, but was glad that she kept quiet. "You may call me Hades. I'm the assistant of the man who asked for the race, and I apologize that he couldn't make it to meet the worthy drivers tonight. He had some issues that needed tending to."

"He a big-buck man, or something?" Gajeel asked with a studded brow raising. He looked to see Juvia situate the suitcase to hold with both hands, probably to refrain from hitting the man who was hoping for an all-man gang. "Or is he too shy to meet people from the street?"

Hades shook his head slowly. "No, but he is completely interested in having you work for him. But, he is a private man, I must say," he said with a stroke of his beard, smirking. "He asked for the strongest of gangs - those who don't just sit there and look nice, you see?"

Reaching into his pocket, Hades pulled out a cellphone in the color of black. It looked to be an older model, but it wasn't any less of the expensive brand from a few years back. Tossing it to Gajeel's way, he waited until the black haired man caught it with one hand and inspected it with boredom. "That is for your boss to have. When my boss has a job, he will call your boss," Hades said.

Gajeel rolled his eyes and pocketed the phone. "Lemme guess, direct line?"

"Ones that will hold no trace when there is a call to be made, Nii-chan," Juvia explained thoroughly, making Hades laugh at Juvia's remark to her brother.

"Smart girl, I see," Hades complimented, but Juvia didn't appreciate it at all. "What are your names? I'm sure people like you would have...interesting ones."

"Gajeel," he replied and jerked his chin to Juvia's way, who remained still as stone. "That's my sister, Juvia. And back there is Sue and Boze," he added with a thumb to the younger ones in the back.

Hades nodded. "I suppose you and your sister are the head drivers Jose talks about once in a while. Him and I go way back, you see. We were once -!"

"Not interested, man," Gajeel interrupted with a roll of his eyes. "Look, we'd love to stay and chat with you and your...models here -" he made the two security men frown and want to speak up, but Gajeel kept his voice strong and louder than their own "- but we got shit to get done before bed. The usual 'your people will call my people' deal, right? Good. Thanks for the cash, goodbye."

With Gajeel's sassy talk ending, the members of Phantom Lord turned around and returned to their rides. Juvia carried the suitcase filled with cash into the passenger seat and waited for her brother to enter and start the engine. Gajeel was the one to lead them out of the ramp and exit the property back into the city, speeding over the limit to head to the path of their home.

Looking down to the silver suitcase, Juvia drummed the tips of her fingers on top. "Juvia doesn't really like Hades."

"Yeah, well, he looks like a fuckin' pirate. A bad one, too," Gajeel snickered, taking a peek to the blue haired woman. "More talk and less bite. I ain't too worried about him, kid."

"Still, giving us the phone to take to Jose," Juvia sighed softly, looking out the window to see passing lights. "How long do you think we will be working for them, Nii-chan?"

"However long it takes for them to run out of money, I guess," Gajeel shrugged. "We've been doing whatever Jason sends out to Jose, so this should be better than rummaging for cash in the streets."

"But we can still race, right?" Juvia pouted to him, making him smirk. "At least a couple, when we have free time. Juvia doesn't want to stay stuck inside the bar all day, Nii-chan."

"Yeah, we can still race, squirt," Gajeel smirked a bit bigger, seeing how stars lit in her eyes and she giggled in her seat. "Just make sure you get enough sleep and eat when I tell you, okay? Don't want you falling asleep on the job, especially if we're making big bucks on this bad boy over here." He tapped the silver case resting on her lap. "We can start getting you the good medication and maybe some better food."

"And pay off Nii-chan's criminal fines?" Juvia looked at him with a pout. "Maybe we can get Nii-chan a bed for our room - you can pick it out!"

"Like hell we got room in that cramped place ya call an apartment. We live right above the bar, Juvia," Gajeel rolled his eyes when she began listing off things like better tools for their garage behind the bar, or fix the crack on the counter for Totomaru, as a gift. "You know we don't have a lot of room, and Sol will just take most of the stuff anyway. Jose and Sol knows how much we are getting paid each time, so it's not going to be too much."

Juvia went quiet, but a small smile remained on her face as she hugged the silver case a bit closer to her. "But just think about it, Nii-chan," she said excitedly. "Juvia and Nii-chan can actually try to afford things now, with the employer being a rich man and all."

"We don't know for sure if he's a rich guy, Juvia," Gajeel reminded her. "He could be a stupid politician trying to cover up his own tracks, and using us to get rid of his past. Maybe he's one of those lawyers who get shitheads like me or anyone else out of prison by giving the cops tons of cash."

"Juvia knows, but it's still money," she nodded softly.

Gajeel looked between her and the road ahead of him a couple times before reaching with his free hand to rest atop soft, wavy blue hair. "Ya remember what color you wanted to paint my room, if we managed to get our own place one day?"

"Warm beige, because Nii-chan always complains how cold it is in our room, back at home," Juvia said. "Nii-chan would also get a new set of tools for his box, and in black color. But, Nii-chan has to share with Juvia when she wants to work on her ride, too."

"That's when I'll get you your own set of tools that aren't rusted or chipped," Gajeel chuckled under his breath, ruffling her hair into a knot. "You'll get your very own toolbox, too, so you won't have to share mine anymore."

"But Juvia likes to share with Nii-chan," she whimpered childishly. "Big one to share both of our tools, then?"

"Why not," Gajeel shrugged, shaking his head at her behavior. After a minute of the good kind of silence, the man with multiple piercings stole a glance to his little sister, seeing how she unconsciously rubbed under her eye. "When we get home, I want you to wash up and get to bed."

"But won't Nii-chan want Juvia to make you something to eat? Juvia doesn't mind staying up a little bit longer to make Nii-chan food," she reminded him, her head resting back on the seat.

"You work tomorrow, kid. Remember?"

"Juvia does not mind."

"But I do," the man shoved his large hand to her face, making the twenty-year old whine at his action. "I'm not that bad at making myself something to eat, kid. Who was the one who made you dinners until you could reach the stove and work the oven?"

"Nii-chan is going to make himself one of his man sandwiches and fall asleep before digesting properly," Juvia stated flatly, her eyes narrowing to the road ahead of them. "Then, Nii-chan is going to wake up when he needs to be ready for work, and have to sit on the toilet until his stomach cramps go away. Juvia will tell you that you weren't being smart, and probably -!"

"I'll have Totomaru make me a fucking salad, okay? How's that? Spinach salad with a little bit of cheese and no dressing. I'll wait for a half hour before going to sleep. Happy?" Gajeel wheezed in his own misery as he listed what he was going to do, since he knows how well his sister could predict what will happen...since he usually did that.

"Juvia is always happy," she perked, smiling widely as her brother groaned. "Nii-chan can practice eating salad when he and Levy-chan finally go on a date someday!"

Gajeel smacked his head on the wheel.

.

.

.

=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - More of the major plots will start hinting soon, but this is technically the beginning of what's going to happen in the story. I'm thinking about making a sequel, but I need to figure out how many more chapters I need to make before saying so. I've figured out about 10-13 more chapters so far?

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