-Continuously humming a theme song from a kid's show because I am an adult-

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=xxx=

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Gajeel searched through the cabinets of the bathroom frantically, picking up bottles and reading them before dropping them onto the counter and getting the next one. His expression serious and determined slowly lessened and grew to a more irritated and worried one as he cleaned out the whole shelf of prescription medication, gripping the edge of the cabinet with tight hands.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Gajeel growled under his breath as he fished through the fallen ones on the counter to make sure he didn't miss it. "You gotta be freakin' kidding me!"

It was Wednesday and his father still hasn't come back from the race on Saturday, making Gajeel's anxiety to rise just a bit when no word on the voice mailbox came through at any clue of Metalicana's existence. Gajeel called himself and Juvia in to the school, lying with the excuse that she wasn't feeling well and their parents had to go to work, he came to the realization that his sister had ran out of her epilepsy pills.

Whenever Juvia was running out, she would tell Metalicana who would pick them up right away. From what she told Gajeel when questioned, Juvia told their dad before he left for the race.

Being underage and no idea where his father was, Gajeel searched the whole house for any backup meds or any substitute. Alas, whatever he found were strong painkillers, ibuprofen or digestive correction; literally nothing to help with the seven year old's condition of seizures.

Gajeel had called whatever bars he knew his father would visit, or even establishments he knew he would hang out with friends before going to the races through the phonebook. No one recalled ever seeing Metalicana on Saturday or in the past few weeks, but Gajeel never said a word to Juvia…

It was only going to be the matter of time when Juvia's body will react to the sudden break from medication, the school to become suspicious of his absences and possible authorities coming to their doorstep. Things were not looking good.

He was really tempted to smash the cabinet to pieces until the phone snapped him out of it. Leaving the bathroom and to the living room, he found Juvia coloring in one of her coloring books with crayons on the floor, completely unaware of what was happening or choosing to ignore it. Dropping himself on the couch, Gajeel listened to the phone ring and let Juvia show him her colored page of a dinosaur.

Juvia seemed to have stopped pestering Gajeel about their father, saying that 'he must be having a sleepover with Uncle Iggy or some friends! It's too bad we don't know the numbers or Juvia would share her candy with them all'. The machine beeped, letting him know that a message was being recorded.

"Metalicana."

Gajeel's head turned to the machine, his attention solely on the man's irritated, aged voice. "It's Jose, Metalicana. It's a few days past the date you were suppose to pay me back, idiot," it said with a exhale. "Ya know I don't mind lending you money for your kid's hospital visits, but I'm getting really pissed off that you haven't came in to pay me back or even bothered to call me!

"If you get this message, I want you to either call back or come by the Phantom Lord bar. I'm running out of patience and I need my cash, Metalicana," the voice bit out before hanging up without saying goodbye. Gajeel sat there for a moment with his mind processing everything while Juvia's head tilt at the side in confusion.

"Who was that, Nii-chan?" she asked.

=xxx=

Gajeel pounded his hand as hard as he could on the metal door, his other hand carefully holding Juvia's smaller one while she held the umbrella over both of them from the pouring rain. It took a while for him to figure out the alleys and junkyards to get to the crummy-looking bar in the afternoon in the rain, all while carrying his sister on his shoulders so she wouldn't get wet; the torn page from the phonebook and a poorly written name made by one of Juvia's crayons in his pocket, he stood tall and serious as he waited for someone to open up.

The slot startled Juvia a little bit as sunglasses peered at them. "We don't accept fake IDs, kid," the voice said rather monotoned. "Sorry, but you're going to have to look at another bar or get someone to buy for you."

"I'm looking for Jose," Gajeel stated firmly.

The man on the other side was silent for a moment, yet Gajeel had no patience standing in the rain. "He called my house earlier, asking for my old man, Metalicana. I'm his son and I want to speak to Jose," Gajeel said seriously. "Is he here or not?"

"You're Metalicana's kid?"

Gajeel rolled his eyes while a distant rumble of thunder could be heard. Juvia became distracted by the noise and looked behind her shoulder. "Look, it's raining out here and I ain't gonna have my sister catch a cold because you stare off into fuckin' space. Is Jose here or not? I ain't got all day to play twenty questions!" he snapped. It was obvious that the man couldn't see Juvia, but then he paid more attention and saw the top of her yellow raincoat hat. "Ya gonna open the door or not?"

"Shit, you're his kid alright."

The metal door opened, revealing a massive sized man with a hat and sunglasses on inside the dim-lit building. Gajeel huffed in annoyance at the man's sudden change of behavior as he picked up Juvia, telling her to close the umbrella while they entered through the doorway. The bar wasn't busy, but the stench of alcohol stung both of their noses as Juvia closed the umbrella and then tucked her face into Gajeel's hood to mask the odor.

"S-sorry about that. I didn't realize that there w-was a little girl out there," the man's voice began to crack, making Gajeel take a step away from him with his baby sister in his hold, cradling her away as far as he would from him. "Uhh, wait here and I'll get Jose for ya."

Gajeel then found himself sitting at one of the table booths with Juvia nestled to his side, her damp hair against his arm, sleepy looking as he stared intently at the man with black hair pulled into a ponytail and ugly eyebrows looking straight back at him with an unamused look on his face.

"I'm Jose Porla," the man introduced himself slowly and crossed his arms. "Aria told me that you're Metalicana's son? I can definitely see the resemblance between you two. How is your old man?"

"I wouldn't be here talking to you if I knew," Gajeel snorted. When Jose blinked in utter confusion, he responded by leaning on the table. It didn't really bother Juvia when he did that, instead sitting up straight and yawned. "When was the last time you heard from him?"

Jose's face scrunched for a moment before looking to the dozing child with a raised brow. "You mean you don't know where your dad is? When was the last time -?"

"He hasn't been back since Saturday and no one knows where he is," Gajeel interrupted him. "You're probably the last person who has spoken to him, right?"

"I spoke to him on Saturday on the phone. He was at a race God knows somewhere, but that doesn't mean I know where he is, brat," Jose's eyes narrowed. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"May Juvia ask where the bathroom is, please?" the tiny voice peeped in and both guys looked to see Juvia looking between them shyly.

Jose blinked and pointed over to under the staircase beside the bar counter. "Over there, kiddo…"

Gajeel easily picked up Juvia and set her on her feet, watching her carefully as she strolled over to the women's bathroom and closed the door. He ignored Jose's sniff and watched around the bar for any drunks who may have been watching them or his little sister moving around.

"I take it the little one doesn't know much? Your dad occasionally works for me when he needs money for some medical bill or whatever. We're strictly business partners, so I don't know much about his personal life other than he needed cash for the children hospital," Jose explained in a low voice so no one would turn heads their way. "He'd do these drug runs for me while my two guys are handling other works, or he'll race for me - Don't give me that look, you seem like a smart kid. You know your dad isn't everyone's superhero."

It was true, but Gajeel would really give a shit less about that. Jose seemed to know that as well and continued on. "Anyway, yeah, I spoke to your pops on Saturday about seeing me after the race 'bout my money, but he never showed. He owes me a few thousand from past bills he borrowed from me, kid, I ain't gonna lie."

"So you don't know where he is," Gajeel said flatly.

"Nope. Doesn't your mother know you're skipping school? You're gonna get in trouble being in a place like this, if you ask me," Jose rubbed his temples. "I'll give you and your sis chocolate milk or water, but you can't be hanging here for long. Your mother wouldn't you want you two in a place like this."

"My ma is dead. I'm taking care of my sister."

"Well, how grown up of you," Jose sighed, unimpressed. "How old are you anyway? You gotta be at least seventeen or something."

"Fourteen. My sister just turned seven a while ago," Gajeel stated with crossed arms. Jose seemed surprised by this, probably due to his early growth spirt making look older than he actually is. "Besides that, it doesn't look like my dad is coming back."

Jose seemed to know what the kid was thinking, frowning at the invisible message that Metalicana could very much likely be long gone. As sad as the possibility may be, the gang boss didn't want to voice it outloud to such a young kid and have the news be told to the littler one; he didn't like kids that much, but recalling how Metalicana's muscles relaxed once handed the wad of cash for a hospital bill made Jose feel depressed. It wasn't going to look good for these two kids once they go back home...

At the age of fourteen, however, Gajeel Redfox struck a deal with Jose Porla that kept him and his step sister together and bring in bank to the Phantom Lord gang. As much as it pained Gajeel to think of the outcome of his father and having to hold Juvia as she cried herself to sleep nearly every night onwards until she calmed down, he wasn't going to give in to being separated from the only family he had left.

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Ride 'em Hard

Chapter Fifteen

Gajeel sat on the chair with his feet on the table as Makarov sat in the other with Silver standing behind him for extra precautions. After what he had done to the Fairy Tail S-Class racer upon entering the room, Gajeel really couldn't blame the dark haired man wanting to keep an extra pair of eyes on him while Juvia and Gray sat on the bench outside the room to give them space. It took a while for him and Juvia to let go of each other, yet Juvia became dizzy from crying and Gray offered to take her and get water, which Gajeel eventually allowed once Juvia agreed to take a minute outside the sterile room, leaving him with the chief and gang boss of a rivaling party.

"Gajeel, you don't have to talk if you don't want to," Makarov spoke after a minute or so of annoying silence. "But I have a few questions, if you will be willing to hear me out of it."

The criminal kept his eyes on his wrapped arm, but he didn't reject the idea. For as long as he can remember, Makarov was always more tolerable than Jose whenever he visited the bar or ran into him at the races. Of course Gajeel would consider his questions compared to Gray or the chief, even though both of them seem to be pretty careful and treat Juvia like a damsel. Shrugging his good shoulder, Gajeel closed his eyes and waited.

"Do you know who you are working for, son?" Makarov asked. "Have you heard of Acnologia or Zancrow before..?"

The latter name made Gajeel suddenly snicker under his breath, and both Silver and Makarov looked to each other at his reaction. "That old geezer Zancrow had everything comin' to him when I got my hands on that son of a bitch."

Makarov remained calm as he went on. "So I take it that it was Phantom Lord who took him out a while back?"

"If it wasn't on the news, I take it that ya got your information from the opposite lines, old man," Gajeel retorted with a huff, kicking back further on his chair. "Look, I don't know who I was officially working for when we were hired by the man, but he obviously liked to keep himself out of the spotlight whenever he had his boytoy Hades call us at ungodly hours."

"Who is Hades?" Silver asked with furrowed brows.

Gajeel picked at his teeth boredly. "Some pirate who was BFFs with Jose back in the day, or somethin'. Don't know much about him either, but he played messenger boy for whoever his boss is."

"But you killed Zancrow," Silver pressed. "You know who he was, right?"

Gajeel didn't answer the officer, behaving like a sassy brat as he checked his nails with an obvious look on his face. Makarov sighed with a smile when Silver scoffed in disbelief and waved his hand at him.

"You know me, Makarov, I hold grudges to those who have wronged me or my family in the past," Gajeel said coolly and closed his eyes. "If you can, get me a copy of the CSI photos, will ya? I wanna see how the work turned out."

"How do you know Zancrow, boy?" Makarov asked slowly, hoping to not anger the man across the table.

"The fucker bothered my old man once upon a time. He'd stalk me and Juvia when we were kids and my dad would give him a piece of his mind every time he would show up. It'd leave him paranoid for a few days too, staying up all night with a gun in each hand so Juvia and I would sleep," Gajeel said. "He was a disgusting man and had everything coming from what I've also caught on TV back then, so I personally don't think Mr. Slick needs to add that to my record."

Makarov ignored Silver's irritated echo of the given nickname, nodding to him. "Do you think you may have been working for Acnologia by any chance, Gajeel?"

"I figured the possibility, but I really have no idea at this point," Gajeel exhaled. "We were called sayin' we had to take out Zancrow, so we did as we were told. That was the only hit-and-run we've ever gotten from Hades though. If I was working for Acnologia, I'd give Hades a piece of my mind personally about hiding that asshat Zancrow. Besides, Acnologia is a particular guy when it comes to business."

"Are you saying that this isn't your first time killing someone?" Silver breathed. When no response came in the next few heartbeats, he threw his hands in the air and gruffed out in annoyance. "Unbelievable. Makarov, you seriously expect me to treat this man like he was one of your own? I don't see anyone from Fairy Tail willing to kill - a mobster or not - right off the bat!"

"Consider it something you can relate to, when you're called into work and you only want to stay home with your family," Makarov suggested. "Not everyone is so different, once you think about it. Gajeel is really no different from you when it comes to working at late hours, am I correct, Silver?"

"You can't expect me to be buddy-cop with him!"

"Then, it's a good thing you're not on the clock, hm?" Makarov did his cheesy grin under his mustache. Remembering his current availability, Silver ran his hand through his hair and groaned. "Now, stop being a whiny piss-baby and let me do the talking. Gajeel isn't from your side of the street."

Gajeel snickered without looking at the two men and Silver's eyes narrowed at him, making Makarov sigh. "Gajeel, please behave, my boy. You're still within a police station, may I remind you."

"Yeah, yeah," Gajeel snorted before forcing himself to calm down. "So, you guys are on the hunt for Acnologia, I'm guessing, considering Fullbuster actually walks in here like he owned the place… You guys some kind've of secret club?"

"We have already explained it to your sister," Makarov said. "If you and Silver want to try and get along for me, then maybe he can tell you the whole shebang. He's already pals with Juvia."

Gajeel glanced to the two men with an unamused look in his eye. "Juvia ain't gonna have any problems about this whole 'shebang' you're talking about, is she?"

"Of course not. Only this man here knows what's really going on and he knows what can happen if he messes up," Makarov promised. "Juvia is in very safe hands with us, we promise. Her injuries have been taken cared of and she's healing very well."

"Good, then there's no problem," Gajeel nodded approvingly. The man kicked his legs off of the table and sat up, facing the two men properly with his elbows on the table. "What else do you and Captain Bacon want to know?"

"C-..? Captain Bacon?" Silver wheezed, trying his best to stay still while Makarov and Gajeel remained calm.

Makarov smiled appreciatively and tilt his head to the side. "I always knew you were a good kid, Gajeel! Welcome to Fairy Tail."

"I don't want a jacket, thank you very much," Gajeel said bitterly. "No stickers either."

Makarov chuckled. "Alright. Now, where were we…"

=xxx=

Erza Scarlet Fernandes was confused.

Sitting at the end of Mirajane's bar, helping herself to a smoothie that her best friend made with all the best fruits the redhead adored (not to mention a tiny, tiny hint of cheesecake for a little extra love), Erza sipped through the straw slowly as she watched a familiar blonde woman on top of the hood of a Mitsubishi Lancer.

Something was off about the blonde woman, Erza noticed from feet away. Ever since Lucy and Natsu finished taking care of Makarov's ride, Lucy stayed dutifully on top of Natsu's car patiently while he worked underneath and in Erza's observational view. Erza's eyes squinted carefully at the young woman, seeing how Lucy had a silly grin on her face and a healthy flush to her cheeks. She looked relaxed, but there was something about it that didn't make sense…

Watching Natsu jerk under the car and push himself out, everyone looked to see Natsu's face with a oil stain under his nose, nearly resembling a mustache a drunken idiot would have drawn on his passed out body. Erza watched as Lucy looked down to her partner groaning in annoyance and pout her way, she burst into the most angelic laughter Erza has ever heard from the new kid of the gang.

'Oh, there it is,' Erza's eyes narrowed with a little twitch.

"Erza-chan," Mirajane sang as she came down the stairs that held Makarov's office. Laxus followed dutifully behind his fiancee as they made their way to the bar, making Erza spin around on her stool to face her friend. "What's got your attention, hm?"

"Nothing," Erza said in a monotone.

Mirajane giggled and shook her head, not even trying to pester the redhead into properly answering her question. "Alright, if you say so," she sighed with a smile. Holding up her hands, Mirajane displayed a file with a red stamp on it with the gang's insignia. "Anyway, before you go off and cuddle with Jellal, Makarov called and wanted your team to look over this file for future races."

Taking the file, Erza flipped through it and instantly recognized the content. "These are criminal records of everyone outside of Fairy Tail."

Mirajane nodded, still smiling. "Master Makarov wants you all to study the racers who are attending in the races more than usual," she explained. "Also, he would like us to keep tally of who actually races."

"Did he find something?" Erza asked. "I haven't seen him this afternoon."

Laxus was the one to answer. "Apparently Fullbuster called his old man in when he found out that Redfox was locked at his station. He brought Juvia over there, or something."

Erza blinked, utterly surprised. "You serious?"

Mirajane nodded. "Don't worry about it. Gray got a busted lip when Gajeel saw him, but Juvia stopped him from making too much of a mess. If I'm quoting this correctly, I believe Master Makarov said that 'it was like Juvia would raise hell. She probably got it from her mother's side of the family, no?' Or something along the lines."

"That's about right, Mira," Laxus agreed.

"Doesn't surprise me that Gray went with…" Erza mumbled under her breath, shaking her head.

"Anyway, they're getting more information about what happened and something about our special quest with Acnologia, so he would like all S-class racers to touch up on their history on everyone," Mirajane explained further. "He's not saying exactly who, but I'm sure he trusts you guys to figure out who to watch out for."

"Did he say what's gonna happen to Gajeel?" Erza tilt her head.

"Levy was in the office with us, as requested by Master himself," Mirajane pressed a finger to her lip. "I'm sure they'll figure something out, but he asked Laxus-kun and I to give you the file ASAP."

"I see. Thank you very much, Mira," Erza smiled to her friend. "I'll handle the rest of this from here," she pointedly fanned herself with the file, making Mirajane grin before looping her arm with Laxus' strong bicep. Watching her friends stroll away to the collected cars, where the older gang members were conversing about tires, Erza exhaled coolly before spinning in her stool one more time to see Natsu trying to scrub the oil off of his face and Lucy still giggling.

"Lucy! Natsu! C'mon over here," Erza called in a strong voice, startling Lucy instantly.

Natsu dorkily got up from his board, never stopping the scrubbing of his face as Lucy hopped off the car to follow her partner over to the bar. Erza was unfazed when Natsu stubbed his foot against Azlack's toolbox and stoppled back into a stroll while Lucy sighed, swinging the rag he was using over his shoulder.

Erza's fingers drummed the file patiently until Natsu and Lucy stood infront of her. Holding out the file specifically to the pink haired man, she kept still on her spot. "Master Makarov wants you to reread all of these criminal files for the next races, count heads on whoever is participating and take note, Natsu," she explained.

Natsu took the file with his cleaner hand and made a face. "Ahh? But I read these not that long ago!" he whined.

"You're the one out of all of us who retains the least amount of information, which is why I'm making you read it first," Erza said seriously, tapping a finger to the file and pushing it closer to his chest. "Study it over and over, Natsu. Take notes with blue ink if you have to, I'm gonna be quizzing you on this later."

"Really!" Natsu nearly cried, his eyes filling with tears that won't shed.

Erza nodded. "Get started. The sooner you start, the sooner you can stop," she said. "And don't even think about hiding from me like last time, boy. You know I always find you."

Natsu sighed deeply and slouched his shoulders. "Fine," he groaned. "Come on, Luce, I gonna need some help."

"Nah-ah," Erza crossed her arms. "Lucy is going to hang out with me for a while while you study. You get distracted too easily, now get going to your apartment."

Natsu did a childish stomp before painfully making his way to the elevator, all while Lucy watched with a apologetic gaze and a small smile on her face. Once Natsu entered the car and the door closed, Lucy looked back to Erza and offered a more friendly smile.

"Now what, Erza?" Lucy said all-too-chirpy.

Erza smiled maturely as she got up from her spot, beckoning Lucy to follow her as she made her way to her designated parking spot, where she shared with her husband and a large toolbox. It wasn't as grand or organized like Levy's auto-station, but it was secluded and alone from the rest of the whole garage area. Erza's Toyota Supra sat naked from all of its exterior decorations next to Jellal's Dodge Charger, some tools sitting around and some empty plastic cups that held either water or a carbonated drink.

"So what's up, Erza?" Lucy asked, unsure of the redhead's plan on bringing her here to this area. She watched as Erza casually hopped to the hood of her ride and made room for Lucy, patting the space to silently ask her to join. Lucy swallowed as she raised one knee upward and balanced herself on the hood with her hands.

"I want you to be honest with me, Lucy," Erza said sweetly. "Are you and Natsu using protection?"

THUMP!

Erza looked over the edge of her car to see Lucy lying back on the cemented floor, her face pale and hands twitching in horror. The redhead blinked in confusion as the blonde stuttered hard, her hips jerking.

"W-w-wha-what?" Lucy wheezed harshly.

Erza tilt her head to the side. "Are you alright, Lucy? You didn't hurt your head, did you -?"

"You're asking if I'm using what?" Lucy shrieked, sitting up so fast that Erza nearly bonked her forehead with the other.

"Protection," Erza said slowly, wondering if Lucy heard her wrong. "Like condoms, birth control or even -"

"Y-you think Natsu and...Natsu and I are..?" Lucy breathed thickly and swallowed back tears. Climbing up to hang on the car, Lucy's eyes flashed with horror and shock. "What on earth made you think we w-were...you know, doing the thing?"

"You mean sex -" Lucy's hand covered Erza's mouth quickly. "Mmmph?"

"Natsu and I are not doing the thing!" Lucy said through clenched teeth, growling with unshed tears in her eyes. "We are not!"

Erza blinked before carefully removing the blonde's hand from her mouth. "Lucy, it's perfectly fine to talk about it. You're at that age where it's normal to have or not to have sex, really," Erza shrugged. "You don't need to worry about talking about that stuff - especially with me, since it's either me or Mira who give the talk to all of the others."

Lucy's face reddened even deeper as she shook her head frantically. "I-I have no intentions on having the talk with you, Erza!" she peeped. "N-Not that I wouldn't like to have you talk to me about it - I'm s-sure you're pretty w-well informed with all this...sex talk, but I can promise you that I am not having sex with anyone!"

"It's not with anyone, it's with Natsu," Erza said plain as day, nearly making Lucy slam her head on the hood of the car. "Or...I suppose you're actually not having it. With Natsu, I guess."

"You're killing me Erza…"

"I've just noticed that you were behaving differently," Erza shrugged with a small smile on her face, finally seeing the humor in all of this. When Lucy stiffened in shock at the observation, Erza laughed lightly and pat Lucy's flushed cheeks a bit too hard, making her wince at the contact. "You have that fluttery look in your eye after something dreamy happens between you and a lover, and you and Natsu are pretty close."

"Ahh...wha…?" Lucy's face smushed in Erza's hands, making her speech a bit flustered. "I-I mean...we did. W-we did do something, but it wasn't that. When we were under the car together, we kinda k-kissed."

"Oh… Ohhh," Erza grinned all too naughtily for Lucy's liking, making the blonde flush deeper when the woman hauled her closer and snuggled their cheeks together. "So you kissed, hm? I'm sure such a sweet, innocent Lucy can't keep it bottled up inside, huh?"

"W-what?" Lucy spluttered.

Erza laughed joyfully and pinched Lucy's cheek. "C'mon, sweetheart, tell me about your first kiss!"

"How could you think this was my first kiss?" Lucy snapped, completely offended by Erza's claim.

"Honey," Erza deadpanned to her seriously. "If you think any experienced woman would fidget around like she had a dirty little secret, it wouldn't be about her first kiss." Lucy's heart nearly stopped at what she was suggesting, considering her earlier talk of what she thought was going on between her and Natsu. "And, of course, I'm sure you haven't had a lot of boyfriends or hookups, considering your background. No judgement there, Lucy, you know I love you."

"Oh my God…"

=xxx=

Lucy entered her shared apartment later on that night, considering that there wasn't a race she and Natsu were assigned to for the night. After helping Cana and her father prep their car and Mirajane pick out a pair of shoes for her night out at the tracks with Laxus (even though her fiance stated she wasn't even going to be leaving the car anyway, damn it), Lucy bid everyone else a good night and hurried to the elevator. It was really to get Erza to miss her when she finished decorating her car for the night before she were to leave the team out for the race, not wanting to resume the conversation that was forced upon her that she snuck away from with the excuse she needed to use the restroom.

Lucy Heartfilia was more than willing to admit that she sucked at direct conversations that were about her personal business.

Closing the door behind her, Lucy turned around to see Natsu's body sprawled on the floor of the living room and different papers and files scattered everywhere. Smiling, Lucy shook her head at the sight and removed her shoes before going over to his body holding up a sheet of paper above his face.

"I'm home, Natsu," she announced casually, noticing the deep concentration on his face: narrowed eyes burning holes at the paper, mouth in a deep frown with puffed cheeks and a twitch in his brow. Yeah, he was studying.

"Mrrhrr," Natsu grunted out, not looking away from the file as she plopped down beside him cross-legged.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked him with a smile.

Without looking away from the paper, Natsu made another grunting noise of approval for her presence. Lucy giggled and limped forward, burying her face on his rock hard abdomen and sighed. His tank smelled like car oil and metal, making Lucy's cheeks flush at the familiar yet comfortable scent she has grown used to for the past few months. Turning her cheek and nuzzling gently, Lucy closed her eyes and let a tiny smile sneak on her lips.

Natsu noticed her behavior, glancing down her way before putting the paper down carefully. His hand gently rest atop of her blonde hair, coaxing her brown eyes to open just a tiny bit. He gave her his dorky smile at the odd angle from the floor yet he definitely didn't show how straining it was on his neck.

"So what did you do with Erza? If she kept you around for so long, it had to be something important, right?"

Lucy's face went beet red, her face frowning. Suddenly, she shoved her face into his abs, trying to bury herself and making muffled shrieking noises; apparently it made him ticklish as he jerked for a second and sat up, catching her head from rolling off his stomach.

"What happened, Luce?" Natsu panicked, feeling her yelling against his stomach harder. "You're not hurt, are you?"

She shook her head against his stomach, eventually peeling her face away to reveal tears falling down her cheeks and the most ridiculous grin on her face. Natsu blinked in confusion before resuming his panicked reaction by holding her face with both hands.

"Luce, speak to me! You're not drunk, are you?" he sobbed in worry, his eyes shining with worried tears. "I told Lisanna to not give you the cinnamon vodka! I know it tastes like pie and all that, but you can't stop having it with ice cream!"

"Moron!" Lucy laughed hard as she pressed her palm against his face, forcing him to straighten and make a gurgling noise. "I'm not drunk, you'd smell the alcohol!"

"Why are you crying!" Natsu nearly shouted in horror. "You're crying! What did Erza do to you, you poor soul?"

"Y-you wouldn't believe it," Lucy began laughing again, her chuckles snorting every once in awhile before she caught her breath for a moment. "Oh Jesus, Natsu, I was freaking out so bad. You wouldn't b-believe what happened after you left!"

Natsu appeared to be waiting for her to continue, only to have her laugh again and fall backwards on the floor. "Christ! I can't believe it actually happened, gah!" she shrilled with amusement, covering her mouth with both of her hands.

"What is it?" Natsu whined. "Luuuce, please tell meee!"

"Okay, okay," Lucy breathed deeply, her cheeks bright red from laughing so hard as she helped herself into a sitting position. "Okay, so after you left, Erza took me to her corner of the garage…"

"Oh shit, that sounds more serious than funny," Natsu paled a bit.

Lucy waved her hands. "No, it wasn't! So Erza takes me there, right? I thought she was going to give me a special job, but she wanted to give me the freakin' talk!"

Waiting for his reaction, Lucy went silent with a happy grin on her face. Once a minute or two passed, Lucy looked to Natsu to see him staring at her with absolute confusion.

"Natsu?"

"And?" he pressed on, making her blink. "Talk about what?"

The blonde woman felt like a gong echoed inside her head, making her lip twitch as she furrowed her brows at him. "The talk. You know, the talk?"

"I'm not following, Lucy. Is this some kind of girl code, or something -?"

"The sex talk, Natsu! Tell me you've had the sex talk, right?"

It took Natsu another few long seconds before it finally clicked, making his eyes round like plates and ears going a little bit pink as he let out a long 'Ohh!' to confirm he was on the right track. Lucy nearly facepalmed herself when Natsu began fidgeting in his spot on the floor.

"Yeah, so Erza thought that you and I were doing some explicit things," Lucy went on with a sigh, holding her face now in embarrassment. "Really, it's funny when you think about it after a while."

"Why did she think we were doing the...diddly?" Natsu used a censored word that nearly made Lucy keel over in horror - and she thought she came up with horrible make-up words for sexual content!

"Oh my God... She said I had a look on my face, or something," she blurted out with a facepalm. "Like, I guess my face looked like I was way too happy than normal, so she just assumed it was -"

"Wait, wait," Natsu shushed her by covering her mouth with both hands, making her blink then narrow her eyes at him at being interrupted. "You looked way too happy? From kissing?"

Lucy tugged his hands away from her mouth, taking a breath. "Yeah, if you were listening to me, Erza said I -"

"I didn't see it!"

Lucy blinked at him in confusion before narrowing her eyes. "What do you mean you didn't see? There was nothing to see, Natsu."

"Of course there was!" Natsu whined with a pouting lip. "If Erza were to notice something, then it had to be important to see! Erza just doesn't notice anything, Luce, you gotta realize that."

Both stared at each other for a while until Natsu's whining expression changed. It was weird to Lucy seeing his brows from a furrow to rise on his forehead, his eyes that were once upset suddenly sparkle; even his pouting lips turned into the biggest, most stupid, snarky grin that she has ever seen from him.

Then, it clicked.

"Natsu," she warned stiffly, yet her body defied her tone as she tried to lean away from his approaching figure. "Natsu, don't you -."

"You liiike my kisses, Lucy," Natsu snickered naughtily. "You also said we would 'argue' about you trying to tempt me, remember?"

"Shut up, Natsu," Lucy peeped as she readied to smack his head, but he easily caught her wrist before it would even touch his cheek. "Natsu!"

"I really wanna see the face Erza was talkin' about," he purred, his eyes flashing fire as he set a determined gaze that made her heart pound hard and her cheeks flush. "Obviously you have been thinking about what we did under the car, huh?"

"I-i-it was just a kiss, you m-moron!" Lucy stuttered, wriggling on her butt to give them space.

"Erza didn't take it that way," Natsu wiggled his brow as he got on his knees and Lucy just knew what he was thinking as he shook his butt just the littlest bit.

"Oh no you don't -!"

"PUCKER UP, LUCE! HERE COMES THE COOTIE MONSTER!"

Levy stopped when she heard a hard collision beside her, lifting her head head from her cell phone to look at Natsu's decorated door. Blinking, Levy barely heard the scrambling on the other side and Lucy's shrilling cry before a distinct thump! of Natsu's head getting whacked was heard.

The mechanic decided that, considering Lucy had smacked Natsu, it wasn't anything to be worried about - but she will pester the blonde later for whatever was going on. Continuing on down the hallway towards the elevator, Levy had just finished working with Lisanna on assorting outfits from her collection of clothes to share with Juvia.

As much as Cana obsessed with dressing her cousin up like a doll, Juvia still lacked proper clothes such as sweaters that would fit her and tank tops that she knew her racing relative prefered wearing in general. Since Cana lacked less revealing and skimpy tops or even owned a sweat that didn't have the sleeves ripped from it, Lisanna found her collection of clothes she was going to donate and offered Levy to peek through to see if Juvia would consider any to keep - Lisanna was a bit larger than Juvia, but Levy could tell that her cousin would be comfortable and work the size decently.

Remembering that Gray and Juvia would be making their way back from the police station (Makarov was going to be dropped off after filling out papers for Gajeel, in secrecy), Levy left Lisanna's apartment to go make her way down to the garage and wait for their arrival.

Recalling how she screamed pure joy at hearing her boyfriend's voice through the phone, Levy grinned sheepishly to herself as she pressed the button on the elevator. She felt herself ready to sleep for a whole day knowing that both of her favorite people in the world were still living and breathing just fine.

She nearly began crying in Makarov's office earlier hearing him talk to her directly, as he usually did when he was ready to be scolded. It was when Gajeel told her to quit the waterworks that she laughed joyfully and openly said that she wished Gajeel was here so she would punch him and kiss him, all while Mirajane and Laxus, and whoever was in the lockup room heard.

'However Juju-chan already beat me to the punch, a kiss will have to settle for later,' she reminded herself at how Gajeel groaned and mentioned the said blue haired racer is already causing bruises on his face and chest. Grinning, Levy held her phone to her chest at how alive he sounded.

Speaking over the phone in Makarov's office for a good few hours, Levy worked with Makarov, Gajeel, Juvia and Officer Fullbuster on what was going to happen next. As much as it was going to be rather difficult with the two S-Class Phantom Lords now knowing what was happening on both ends of the good guys and bad guys, they seemed willing to accept deals and results like any other business deal or conversation they would have back at the bar…

All that Levy would think about now is that Gajeel and Juvia were closer to her than before. No more sneaking out into a different city to enjoy private, intimate times with her lover from her gang; no longer would Levy need to rely on being driven to the tracks to see her cousin's smile and look her over to see if she was doing well. Sure, it was still a major adjustment to what was happening in the now, but this was more of a dream come true to Levy McGarden.

Of all the horrible things that happened to her while she was in college, being arrested and disowned by her very own father, Levy honestly thought that she wouldn't feel the comfort of family like she once thought she had in her possession.

But now, it was better than what Levy had before any of that happened.

Levy McGarden was happy and no one was going to take that away from her.

Riding the elevator down, Levy read the text she received from Mirajane of Porlyusica coming to do a check-up on Juvia. Even the mention of the scary old woman didn't take the big grin off her face as she replied to Mirajane with approval and maybe too many emojis of hearts and smiley faces.

Levy knew from that moment on that, no matter what was going to happen next in her chapter, she was going to be ready for it with her own armor and sword at hand.

Because, if anything she learned from her beloved cousin and darling boyfriend over the years, is that Levy is a stronger woman than she was before.

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=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - I personally can see Levy being a fanatic with texting and all the weird emojis she can find.