So a Guest-babeh asked me to explain Gajeel and Juvia's age? Gajeel is seven years older than Juvia in this story, making him 27 when she's 20. Hope this helps you out a little bit!

Be sure to Review, Follow, Favorite or stay beautiful!

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Ride 'em Hard

Chapter Nineteen

Lucy comfortably snuggled her cheek against the soft blue hair of her friend Juvia Lockser, who had her head resting on Mirajane's counter with her arms being used as a makeshift pillow and her hands curling in comfort at the cuddling sensation the blonde was giving her. It was obvious that the Phantom Lord woman was tired, seeing the light purple shadows under her eyes and how pink her nose was from constant rubbing and blowing her nose with tissues. When Lucy came down to help herself to one of Mirajane's coffee creations to perk herself more for the noon day, she couldn't help but remain there with Juvia as she waited for some breakfast to be brought out to her.

Seeing Gray coming into the area made Lucy smile, seeing the small patches of bandages and carefully applied cloths to his naked torso that was so obviously done by Juvia herself from last night. Gray glanced towards the two girls at the bar and Lucy waved in greeting, but made no move to try and pester the napping one. When Lucy pointed silently to Juvia's head, Gray shook his own with a half-smile and held his hands up in surrender before going on towards where Gildarts and Cana were having their breakfast with Erza. Lucy smiled and returned to her seat and carefully pet the top of Juvia's hair.

"Gray is awake, Juvia-chan," Lucy whispered to her, seeing how Juvia's lips twitched and her cheeks went pink. "You wanna go see him?"

Juvia buried her face into the crook of her arm. She was wearing one of Cana's huge black hoodies and black shorts, so the extra cloth of the sleeves made it possible to hide her own face.

"No, thank you," Juvia said softly. "Juvia thinks she bothered Gray-sama enough."

"I don't think he minds it as much as you think," Lucy told her happily, seeing Mirajane holding the curtain open from the kitchen to let Lisanna out with two plates. "What do you say, Lisanna-chan?"

The short haired woman grinned as Lucy pointed between the snoozing racer and the dark haired one getting into his morning argument with Cana. "I think so," she sang as she set the plates on the counter infront of the two women. "He was pretty persistent when I tried to get Juvia to bed last night at my place. He wanted to make sure she was okay. Isn't that sweet?"

Lisanna lightly ruffled Juvia's head, making her groan airly, giggling and kissing her head. "Head up, Juvia-chan. I made you eggs and potatoes with extra love."

Heaving a sigh, Juvia slouched upward with sore eyes yet a strong smile on her lips. "Thank you, Lisanna-chan."

"And yours, Lucy-chan," Lisanna winked to the blonde, who giggled in return, "also has extra love and sugar!"

Lucy chuckled happily and took a fork from the platinum blonde. "Thanks, Lisanna-chan. You're the best."

"I know!" the answered cheerfully and went back into the kitchen to her older sister, ready to help prepare for the rest of the breakfast that the gang members will want as soon as the first grumble of their stomachs emerge.

Both girls dug into their breakfast, Juvia a bit more slower to chew and swallow while Lucy nearly became halfway done with her plate by the time Juvia was finishing up her eggs. Lucy knew that Juvia had cried a lot yesterday, as she overheard Natsu and Gray talking last night after they were cleaned up from the brawl; that Gajeel had said some triggering things to Juvia of a promise they made to each other after they lost their father at such a young age, and Gajeel basically crushed it and threw it in her face.

From what she heard Gray tell her boyfriend, that he doesn't believe that Gajeel meant it and that he was just trying to keep Juvia safe from doing anything dangerous that may come with Trinity Raven. Obviously seeing the damage that was done to both Phantom Lord members weeks ago, Lucy couldn't really blame Gajeel for being super paranoid for his sister's safety. Still, he didn't have to make Juvia cry so much that it made her feel so horrible right now…

Lucy still had yet to see Levy, too, and she wondered if her other blue haired friend was doing the same as her cousin. Glancing over to the familiar sound of Levy's door opening, Lucy restrained herself from calling her over as soon as she saw the petite mechanic.

Dressed in her favorite robe and her usual steel-toe boots, Levy made her way to the bar. Her short hair was a mess and she looked a bit tired, but not the same tired that Juvia was showing on her face; something more content, like every little thing was pieced together the way it should be and Levy was okay with it in the end of it all. Seeing Lucy look her way, Levy smiled softly and glanced to Juvia, who still had her back turned to her and was still eating.

Coming towards the two girls, Levy slipped her arms behind Juvia and hugged her. Resting her cheek against Juvia's back and sighing, Levy cuddled her cousin. "Ju...ju...chan…" she whispered slowly in each syllable to her.

"Mmm," Juvia mumbled as she shoved another forkful of food into her mouth, but not behaving rudely to Levy, who seem to understand the behavior much more better than most people.

Levy said something in Russian that Lucy didn't understand - as usual, but it seemed to perk Juvia's attitude as she straightened from her slouched position and turned in her stool towards her cousin. Lucy watched as Juvia abandoned her half-eaten breakfast and got up from her seat, making her way cautiously to the mechanic area and behind the brick wall.

Lucy saw Levy hop on Juvia's spot and take her fork, picking out a piece of potato with a pretty content look on her face. "Uhm...Levy-chan?"

"Yes, Lu-chan," Levy sang softly as she nibbled on her cousin's food without a care.

"Is…" the blonde trailed off and pointed towards where Juvia disappeared, making Levy smile softly as she turned back to her food.

"It's fine. Gajeel-kun and I talked last night and made up, and he said he's ready to talk with Ju-chan about what happened last night," Levy explained quietly. "I made sure he would do it today and get it over with, knowing how he is. Ju-chan, not someone I would worry about when it comes to forgiveness, that's for sure."

"I don't want to sound nosy or anything, but whenever you all talk in Russian, I get worried. Just like when I saw Juvia cry, I got really worried…"

"It's fine, Lu-chan. It's sweet enough that you care so much about us," Levy explained to her. "That really means a lot to me and Juvia-chan, and Gajeel-kun, too, if you wanted to know."

"Are you sure?"

"We're tough people, Lu-chan," Levy winked playfully, forcing Lucy to smile a little bit by her upbeat attitude. "Don't think you can hurt our feelings or bother us for just worrying. We're all like that one way or another."

"So things are okay now..?" Lucy asked hopefully and smiled when Levy nodded. "Oh, that's so good to hear."

Juvia stuck her head inside Levy's room, eyes scanning the large, lumpy mass that laid under her cousin's blankets. Long, spiky black hair sprouted on the pillow and large feet stuck out at the other end upside down, giving her the result that Gajeel was on his stomach.

Good.

It only took her three large steps before she sprung herself and slammed herself atop of him, making him grunt lowly at the collision with all her weight. Scrambling on his back, Juvia situated herself so her back was on him, facing the ceiling and dramatically dropping her arms out and releasing a sigh.

It took a moment for Gajeel to speak up first, and Juvia waited patiently for him to muster up the courage.

"Hey, squirt," he mumbled, turning his head to the side to breath better.

Juvia closed her eyes and took a breath. "Nii-chan is an assface," she stated matter-of-factly to him.

"The biggest assface known to mankind," he agreed with her. "You should definitely beat the shit out of me and rearrange my face."

"Juvia found a crowbar in Levy-chan's workspace, for starters," she crossed her arms and wiggled herself to be more comfortable against his muscular back. "But, Juvia has yet to find a long enough pole to shove so far up your butt, you could taste it."

They laid there for a moment in silence. Juvia felt Gajeel take a large inhaled breath, lifting and lowering her with ease. "I'm sorry about what I said last night, kid. I shouldn't have said that to you, it was wrong."

"It was false," she told him in a venomous tone.

"You can't -"

He grunted when she smacked his side rather sharply. Despite the blanket cushioning it just a little bit, Juvia always had a knack of posing her hand properly to make sure he felt it, that was for sure. "No, you listen to Juvia, Nii-chan. You and I both promised each other that we would have each other's backs, no matter what," she told him sharply. "Ever since Daddy left and we went to the bar, you told Juvia that you would never leave her like they did; that, no matter what kind of problem you were in, you wouldn't leave me out of it.

"How many times have we gotten into deep shit and both made it out just fine, huh?" she asked him. "No matter how dangerous or how bad it was, we always got each other out of there some way or another…"

Gajeel paused for a beat, his body feeling like it was deflating. "That time when Totomaru and I got stuck for ransom all those years back, you did something I would have never wanted you to do for me."

"You weren't there, and we all knew the consequences if we didn't do something soon," Juvia reminded him. "Besides, it wasn't that horrible for Juvia's part. Juvia was okay."

"You laid in bed for three days, you moron! You didn't talk, you didn't eat!" Gajeel growled. "You weren't okay, fuck that shit! You were just a kid, for God's sake!"

"Juvia was sixteen or seventeen, and very well educated before she went in for the deal. Jose made sure that Juvia had all she needed and even tried to talk her out of it."

"Fuckin' idiot did a splendid job. Lettin' my kid sister get fucked by a perverted dickhead like that, I should have castrated Jose when I first got home," Gajeel ranted lowly.

"Yet, Nii-chan and Toto-sensei came home, like you promised. And Juvia is pretty certain she has done her part of the promise, like Nii-chan wanted her to."

Gajeel sighed and glanced over his shoulder. "Sometimes I question why…"

"We grew up too fast? We went down the road that no one should ever go?" she listed off some suggestions. "The fact that we're the only ones left for each other, and we're scared shitless of when death actually catches up to us?"

"I just don't want you to feel responsible if anything were to happen, kid," Gajeel confessed. "You're all I got and I don't want you to end up seeing what it's like behind bars, what it's like to be those prostitutes or dealers with no way outta there…"

"Juvia knows, but Juvia is not a desperate woman. Juvia isn't afraid of the world or what it throws at her."

"Don't I know that shit already," Gajeel chuckled quietly, making Juvia smile a little bit. "I'm just sayin' this, but I swear I'm not planning on doing any stupid shit alone for a long while, but if something were to happen…"

Juvia rolled to look at him, and his gaze at her was honest and sincere. "I love ya, kid. And I swear I will go tooth and nail to make sure my baby sister stays happy, even if I end up dead. I want you to have a chance to live your dream."

A wet smile and a glow in her eyes, Juvia held back her tears as she snuggled her head on his shoulder and clung to the blanket. "Juvia loves Nii-chan very much, and she wants you to know that she wants the same for you and Levy-chan…"

"'Kay…" Gajeel mumbled rather quietly, and Juvia could just tell he was trying to hide the incoming blush on his face by burying it into Levy's pillow.

"Juvia wants Nii-chan and Levy-chan to have a nice wedding, with Nii-chan in a good suit and his hair all done nice," she went on in a joyous tone of voice. "Levy in a pretty wedding dress with flowers, with or without a big belly."

"Big belly?" Gajeel gawked at her with confusion.

"Well, Juvia won't know if Levy-chan will be having a baby at the time or not."

"What the fuck, kid!" Gajeel panicked and Juvia hid her grin. "I ain't that careless, you know that shit!"

"Juvia wants to be an auntie someday, though, Nii-chan," Juvia shrugged, a large grin on her face. "And knowing how my side of the family works, Juvia is pretty certain that Levy's cute genetics will make sure your children will be precious and make all the other parents jealous."

"You'd love whatever kid I make, you doofus," Gajeel growled.

"Yeah, even if it ends up being a buff baby with a flat ass, Juvia will love Nii-chan and Levy-chan's baby."

"I DON'T HAVE A FLAT ASS!"

"Gajeel-kun, you kinda do have a flat ass," Levy's voice came into the conversation as both siblings turned their heads to see the mechanic entering her room, a big, loving smile on her face. Juvia chanted as she used her feet to tap on his rear, emphasising how flat his bottom actually was. Snickering at how her boyfriend grumbled in defeat, Levy approached the bed and looked at the position her cousin was in atop of Gajeel.

"So? What's the final verdict, Ju-chan?" she asked, patting the small portion of Juvia's exposed belly.

"Nii-chan is forgiven after Juvia kicks his ass in the gym," the racer announced, making Gajeel blink.

"Wait, y'all got a gym?"

Lucy easily dodged the incoming hit downward, using her gloved fists to perform a fake uppercut towards Natsu's chin to distract him. When it worked, seeing how his body shifted its weight to one leg only, Lucy brought her opposite leg up and aimed to his side, knocking him backwards with the strength in her leg.

Jumping ontop of Natsu, Lucy pinned him still with one gloved hand to his throat and the other recoiled and ready to strike. Natsu blinked and regained himself and realized what had happened, suddenly breaking into a huge smile and his eyes sparkling up to her.

"That was great, Luce! You totally handed my ass to me!" he cheered, wiggling underneath her in his victory dance.

It was her turn to smile proudly, giggling. "I did, didn't I?"

"I'm proud of ya, Lucy. You learned pretty fast, that's for sure." Natsu opened his arms to her, smiling when she exhaled in relief, dropping her upper body to rest on him. Strong arms carefully wrapping around her, Lucy smiled brightly at the feeling of his heartbeat pounding against her cheek.

The gym was empty except for them. Erza and Jellal were in here earlier and helped Natsu give Lucy pointers for the human body (where is a pressure point, what's best to hit from which angle, etc) and did their own coupling exercises that Lucy more than once found herself watching in awe at how much in sync the married couple were. A couple of times, Lucy tripped and fell flat on her back, or the one time when Natsu accidentally hit Lucy on the arm - it was nowhere near as hard or painful for him to apologize twenty times, but that never stopped him.

Noticing how distracting the two were with Natsu's lesson, Erza dragged her husband out after a few rounds of sparring with each other, briefly telling the two young adults that they hope to hear about Lucy's progress during dinner. It made Lucy focus more after that, yet it still took another few hours for her to even land a hit on him until now.

Tilting her chin up, she pressed a kiss to his cheek before snuggling back into his neck. "I had a pretty great teacher to show me, anyway. I can't take all the credit," she said simply, closing her eyes. "I still think I'm going to need you to watch my back, though. I don't think I can take on anyone else besides you right now...especially Erza or Juvia."

"Well, they're a higher level than you, but you're working your way up there!" Natsu told her with no hesitation, making Lucy pale a bit at the little imaginative scenario of going against Erza and Juvia in a "friendly" spar match. "We can have Laxus try, since I know for sure that he wouldn't do much to hurt you. He's actually a big softie."

"I think I rather have you as a partner for a while longer, thanks," Lucy rolled her eyes to a close, huffing at his attempt to pair her up with someone who can easily crush her with just his pinky.

"Why, so you can have me all to yourself?" Natsu teased her lightly. "Seriously, Luce. You would get sick of me pretty easily with how rough I get; all sweaty and stuff, it probably grosses you out when I work out too hard."

Lucy's brown eyes snapping open, her cheeks reddening into a shade that rivaled Erza's bloody hair. Trying her best to keep herself calm, Lucy bit her lip and shrugged…

No, it didn't gross her out. On the contrary, Lucy herself would admit that she found Natsu pretty distracting here and there by doing nothing but what he promised to teach her.

Seeing Natsu out of breath was pretty nice, if she was being honest. As well as how his pinkish hair stuck to his forehead and cheekbones whenever he sweated all over his body; his face, neck and chest easily glistened in the light of the gym, and Lucy couldn't help but admit her own fault of being distracted by that kind of content. Not to mention that her boyfriend's body was rather ripped to a point that she wondered if he ever considered being one of those models for those overly-expensive clothing stores.

Feeling his hands grip her shoulders, Lucy peeped when she was lifted up and hovered over him as he basically scanned her face with squinted eyes. She could feel her face burning brighter as she covered her eyes with both hands.

"Wha-what are you looking at," she stuttered in a high pitched voice.

Peeking through her fingers, Lucy felt her heart soar when he smirked, a devilish chuckle rumbling his chest. "The hell are you laughing at, huh?" she demanded.

"You can't hide anything from me, Lucy. I can see it on your face that you're not sick of me, huh?" Natsu raised his brows at her, snickering more when she squealed when he hugged her and rolled so he was on top. "Now that I think of it, you do pay attention to specific things when I was teaching you about the weak spots."

Pinching her red cheek, Natsu grinned bigger. "Like what you see, Luce? Ya know, I normally have to charge people for lookin' too long, but I can negotiate with ya since you're pretty."

"Oh, like you're all innocent," Lucy puffed her cheeks in anger, making him blink. "You heard me, I've seen you checking out my butt here and there, buster. Even Cana pointed it out the other day when I was helping Mirajane when she spilled on the counter and I reached for a towel!"

As Lucy told the story, the more pink in the cheeks he got and Lucy's smile of victory came into view. "See? Not looking so good now, huh?"

Natsu blinked and suddenly relaxed, shrugging his shoulders. "Actually, I think everything is lookin' pretty good as of right now."

"What?"

"I mean, I always feel better working out for a few hours and all that," Natsu casually rolled his head boredly. "Honestly, I could probably do it all day, but seeing where we both are right now; I basically have my hot girlfriend, a bit worn out but still full of her sassiness, and, well…"

Looking pointedly to their position, both Natsu and Lucy stood still for a moment to realize that their position was rather interesting. Natsu cleared his throat, snapping Lucy's attention back to him as he nervously half-grinned. "I ain't complaining 'bout it, but…"

"Oh, you perv!" Lucy shrieked into laughter and smacked him on the head, her cheeks probably even more red than before, but who cared? "Who taught you that, huh? Was it Cana?"

"She has told me that I should make things more interesting for us, whatever that means," he confessed to her and scratched his head rather confused. "Sometimes I think girls speak a whole different language that I can't get a dictionary on."

"Oh god," Lucy whined as she covered her face. Natsu blinked at her change of behavior. "I can't believe it!"

"You know what she meant by that, Luce?" Natsu asked and the blonde simply shook her head. "Uhm, m'kay. Won't ask based off of your expression, I guess."

"I'll tell you about it...later, okay? When we're not so, you know, like this," Lucy waved her hands in the general direction of their position, her face contorted into a half-amused half-irritated way.

Natsu realized how really close they were and began to fuss. His eyes wide, he began to stutter in worry. "Oh shit, I'm sorry! Sh-should I get off, or roll off? Jesus, what am I doing!"

"No, no, no," Lucy shushed him and tugged on his nose, a easy smile on her face. "You're fine like this, Natsu. I don't mind you being like this with me, okay? Don't worry."

"Oh, oh," Natsu sighed in relief and bowed his head. "I didn't want you to get uncomfortable, Lucy. I'm not forcing myself, or anything, but I can definitely move -!"

Her hand tangling in his hair, Lucy pulled him down to kiss him on the lips with they puckered at his speech. She smiled into the kiss when he made a curious noise, only to hum against her lips and returned it rather enthusiastic.

Natsu carefully deepened the kiss by tilting his head, and Lucy couldn't help but relax when his hand held her cheek and the other on her waist, holding careful yet firm. Her arm went around his back and held onto his damp tank, sighing when some of his weight eventually rest on her lower body. Feeling his warmth radiating off of him as his tongue shyly slipped into her mouth and she returned the favor and raised her hips against his.

His chest pressed against hers, Lucy nearly felt ready to wrap her legs around him when -

"Lucy-chan, Natsu! You two need to - OH JESUS!"

Both Natsu and Lucy yanked their heads away from each other, popping their tongue back into their mouths and refraining from screaming as Lisanna crouched down at the entrance of the gym, covering her whole head with her arms.

"L-L-Lisanna..!" Natsu choked as he slowly turned his head, lip and brow twitching in horror to the short haired woman. "Whadda...heya!"

"I didn't see anything! I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone would ever need to knock in the gym, oh my god," Lisanna waved her hands, eyes still closed tight. "Oh jeez, it's like walking in on Elfy-nii with Ever-chan, ew, ew!"

"Lisanna!" Natsu cried out. "What d'ya want with us? Spill it, woman!"

"Master Makarov wants all S-Class racers in his office for an important meeting - Nee-chan and everyone else is waiting for you, I'm sorry!" Lisanna whimpered, peeking one eye open. "I didn't mean to interrupt you two. I can tell them to wait if…"

"NO!" both Natsu and Lucy shook their heads and scrambled up to their feet. Natsu practically jumped over the rope and ran out of the gym, leaving Lucy to try and get through the ropes as Lisanna ran over to help her.

"I'm so sorry, Lucy-chan," Lisanna apologized to her friend, pulling the rope downward so she could slide out and balance properly. "To be real with you, I never thought I would walk into Natsu making out with a girl…"

Lucy's face set fire. "N-no, it's okay. We weren't paying attention at all, you know?"

"Are you sure? 'Cause I probably should have known better since you two are dating, and all that," Lisanna nervously fidgeted when Lucy looked her way as they went to exit the gym. Knowing that Natsu was way far ahead of them, Lucy didn't bother to try and run like he did.

"Lisanna-chan, we're friends right?" Lucy grabbed the platinum blonde's shoulders and forced them to make eye contact, even though they were both embarrassed. When Lisanna nodded without hesitation, Lucy grinned. "Then, you don't need to worry; accidents happen all the time, okay? I'm not mad at you, so please don't think too hard about it."

"Okay…"

"Good, then we're all fine!" Lucy chirped as she took Lisanna's arm and looped it with hers.

Continuing on with their walk to Makarov's office, Lisanna glanced to Lucy. "Hey, Lucy-chan, are you busy after the meeting, with however long it's going to take?"

"I don't think so," Lucy answered casually. "Why, you want some help with dinner preparations with Mira-chan?"

"That, and I also would like to talk to you about something," Lisanna tilt her head down and Lucy blinked.

"About what?" Lucy asked.

Popping her head back up, Lisanna had a devilish smile that was nearly identical to her older sister, and Lucy knew for a fact that she was in for trouble. "I wanna hear about all the juicy stuff you and Natsu have been getting into. Really, I had bets placed that Natsu is a really bad kisser, but seeing how you two were swapping saliva -!"

"LISANNA!" Lucy cried out and her friend laughed hard.

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Erza glanced around the small office that was more or less cramped beyond capacity. She, Mirajane and Jellal sat on the loveseat cramped together, yet she managed just fine being in the middle; Laxus stood by the couch while Gray, Lucy and Natsu sat on the other couch - Gray and Natsu bickering with each other of taking up too much space then the other, while Lucy rolls her eyes. Gajeel had given up the chair by Makarov's desk for Juvia, who sat more politely with her hands on her lap and ankles crossed. Gajeel leaned his back against the wall beside his little sister, and Erza could feel a swell of joy inside her chest to see that the two were on good terms again.

Makarov opened the door of the office and entered, kicking the door closed gently before going over to his handy desk and propping himself up on the plush chair he was very fond of. Looking around the room, he counted to see everyone he asked for present, including the two step-siblings by his side, smiling to them in greeting. Juvia perked a cute smile while Gajeel remained bored, but the redheaded woman couldn't blame him.

"I got off the phone with Jose not too long ago, and I told him everything that has happened within the last few days," Makarov confessed to the group. "Including everything that Fairy Tail is and all that junk."

"What!" Gajeel smacked skull against the wall, making some of the hanged pictures clatter but not fall.

Makarov raised a hand to silence him politely. "I've known Jose for a long time, even shared a cell back in the day. I'll admit, the dumbass wasn't too happy about it, but I managed to shut him up.

"We discussed about his current location, and everyone is safe at Aria's place, and he wanted me to tell you two that the trip over went smoothly," he added on and Juvia released a breath quietly. "The Phantom Lord bar is officially closed down and Jose wanted me to tell you two that the gang is, as of today, disbanded to keep you and the other kids safe from being hunted under Phantom Lord's name.

"As that being said, Jose wants us to find out why Trinity Raven targeted you," he old man said with sudden seriousness and the two followed with his tone. "If you will allow it, I would like to have you two join Fairy Tail."

Gajeel was quick to react. "What's the benefit for us to join, when we can get our own problems solved?"

"Nii-chan," Juvia scolded in a hiss and smacked his stomach. Gajeel only winced a little bit at the attack, but did his best not to show it, even though the sound of it made it seem like it stung pretty bad.

"I'm so glad you asked that, boy," Makarov chuckled with absolute amusement. "Working for Fairy Tail, you get to start cleaning your criminal record and get into less trouble for whatever you've done."

"Criminal record?" Juvia raised a brow and Makarov nodded.

"That's the main trick of Fairy Tail," Makarov used his pointer fingers and brought them together. "Once you have given yourself to me for whatever it is we're doing, we return the favor by giving money and taking off chunks of whatever the government has you filed under: Even if it's little-by-little, it would come to an end of that you haven't done anything wrong in the first place."

Gajeel and Juvia looked to each other and the blue haired woman seemed to have asked him something in Russian, Erza guessed. Gajeel made a noise and responded with a shrug of his shoulders and verbally. Makarov waited patiently while the rest of the racers glanced to each other when the two seem to have a quick conversation, Juvia poking Gajeel's side and he twitched.

Juvia smiled to Makarov kindly. "Juvia and Nii-chan would be more than happy to discuss further negotiations about joining Fairy Tail," she stated, causing everyone but the two men react with a choked noise and exclamations. "But, we would be happy to work alongside with you for the time being, until then."

"Excellent," Makarov praised happily and patted Juvia's hand carefully. "We can discuss this later on, if you don't mind, but now it's time to get into absolute business."

Erza's face scrunched as she tilt her head. "What are you talking about, Master?" she asked him seriously.

"The HQ isn't doing anything in regards to what we can guess is Acnologia's work within the city," he answered. "We're going to take matters in our own hands, with or without their permission, because I ain't going to risk any of my kids getting killed out there.

"Now that Juvia and Gajeel will be helping us, I want to establish an S-Class job to get in deep of the root of this giant ass mess," Makarov said sternly. "Don't worry about the police or the big shots getting in our way, I want you all to do whatever you need to and get whoever is trying to own these street a piece of our mind. The more we wait, the more people are going to get hurt."

"To do that, you gotta get to Hades," Gajeel told him with a raised studded brow. "How do you think ya gonna do that?"

"It would be through Trinity Raven, wouldn't it?" Mirajane piped in in realization. Tapping a fist to her palm, her blue eyes widened. "Yeah, because it looks like they work for Hades. And, if they work for Hades, then that means they work for Acnologia; we just gotta get them to come to us where they're vulnerable and pounce on them!"

"How would that work?" Gray frowned deeper.

"Because Trinity Raven takes on whatever they want, they won't listen to their boss about what races they can and can't take," Erza said. "Now that I think of it, they've always joined races whenever large payment is involved."

"Then we gotta set a race for them to join and nab them!" Natsu perked brightly.

"Not possible," Makarov shook his head and Natsu deflated. "If I were to go to John and organized a race, he would have to reveal who is wanting to hire. He won't lie for us, and he's nowhere near our ally party."

"Hey, squirt," Gajeel grunted for his little sister's attention, making the woman look up to him. Quirking a brow, Gajeel made a jazz finger motion with his hand before tucking it back and Juvia gasped in realization.

"Juvia can do it!"

"Do what?" Laxus scrunched his face at them. "What are you two thinking."

"Juvia can get someone to make a race for us to get Trinity Raven in and race them purposely win the race for us," Juvia explained with a big grin. "Juvia knows someone on the outside who can help us."

"Oh," Makarov blinked. "Then, we can call them to arrange it for us without spilling the beans, right?"

Juvia bit her lip. "Ahm, it's not that easy, Master Makarov. Juvia will need to go to them first, if she were to even get their attention…"

"Do you know where they would be?" Makarov asked and Juvia nodded confidently. Erza watched as the old man smiled somewhat proudly to her as Gajeel seemed to grow a bit more interested in the situation. "Then we can leave it to Juvia-chan to get the race going for us, while we get all of our cars ready and inside of it all."

"I think I can help out with that," Gajeel snickered and all eyes turned to him. "Ya want cars to get funky for when we race and kick Trinity Raven in the ass? I got the stuff to help with that that can upgrade most of the cars in this garage. Phantom Lord has a storage unit outside of the city where we keep the proper tools and shit, so only we can get into it."

"What's wrong with our cars?" Natsu snapped with an irritated look on his face.

"Your piece of shit is fine, Salamander, but everyone else's isn't," Gajeel growled back and the two men somehow found themselves nose-to-nose. "As much as it fuckin' pains me to say that, but not everyone else has the tune up it needs, incase we need to make a getaway if something goes wrong with the plan. Ya wanna get your sorry asses out of there, if it comes to that.

"Besides, might as well move most of our shit here anyway, since you want us in," he finished and ignored how Juvia gasped in delight and hugged him around his waist, snuggling her cheek against his rock-hard side.

"How soon can you get ahold of the people, Juvia-dear?" Makarov asked and Juvia thought it over while still hugging Gajeel.

"If Juvia could, she can get to them tomorrow night around midnight," she thought outloud before nodding. "Yes, Juvia can get to them by midnight tomorrow, if she may borrow a ride…"

"We can arrange that for you, and Gajeel has my car as well for his own project," Makarov told her. "I want all of you, and this includes everyone, to report back to me on whatever happens; down to the last detail of what you had to eat, what color eyeshadow you picked out and don't leave anything out. I'll call when I need to to keep on track on you guys, but I better expect an answer.

"Erza, Gray, Natsu and Lucy, I want you guys to keep Juvia with you guys, no matter where you're going. Be her escorts to when she goes and gets the race established and keep her in your sight whenever you guys go out. Understood?" Makarov looked to the three sitting on the couch and his grandson. "Laxus, Jellal and Mira, I would like you three to go with Gajeel to the storage unit and help him with the remainder of the bar and keep him company. Keep a lookout for any clues and keep in contact with Erza as well."

"What about the big bosses?" Lucy asked next.

"If you can excuse my language, my dear, this about the time I say 'fuck the big bosses'," Makarov shrugged with a smile. Lucy popped a hand to her mouth to suppress a giggle as Natsu jumped up from his spot on the couch and began cheering.

"Fuck yeah!"

"Natsu, sit your ass down!" Makarov snapped, prompting Natsu to freeze with his rear in Gray's face. The dark haired racer literally kicked his friend to the rug, only for him to scramble back onto the couch and half-laying on Lucy's lap. The blonde blushed hard and shoved his head a bit further away from her breasts. "When I say that, I mean do it with style, not just go and wreck the city. Capeesh?"

"Yes," Natsu mumbled.

"And that goes for all of you," Makarov scanned the office with a raised brow. "We can't have the FBI gettin' in our case, you understand? I can talk my way through the cops to a certain extent, but please be wary of what you do in general."

"Yes, sir!" everyone chanted.

=xxx=

Erza went over to where the younger adults stood with Juvia by Levy's workshop, going over what she would need tomorrow as Gajeel was chatting with Levy for a brief moment not too far away.

"If you would like to accompany Juvia to see her friends, she will need you to dress up a little bit," Juvia said pointedly. "Dress shirts, nice pants and dresses would be most appropriate, if you possess those items. Please be sure to be clean as well, and don't smell like gas or oil."

"Where are we goin' that we need to dress up?" Natsu grunted with narrowed eyes. "Is it a five-star restaurant, and can we get some grub while we're there?"

Juvia smiled nervously and Erza blinked. "Not exactly, but there is food you can get on Juvia's tab," she suggested to him.

Lucy rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's happy-go-lucky grin. "That won't be necessary, Juvia-chan. Natsu will have the boss running for your money, if had that okay from you."

Juvia tilt her head cutely to Lucy. "But does Lucy-chan have something she can wear? Juvia can ask Nii-chan to go pick up a dress Juvia got as a present; it should fit Lucy-chan, but may need some adjustments."

"No, thank you. I already got something from Mira-san that I can use for the occasion," Lucy shook her head politely. "It doesn't have to be that fancy, does it?"

"Of course not, but they do appreciate it if you look nice." Juvia glanced shyly to Erza and smiled. "Does Erza-san have something?"

Joy bubbled in Erza's chest, and she was certain it showed on her face. "There's a purple dress I bought that I've been dying to try out. You're giving me an opportunity, Juvia, so I owe you."

"So Juvia can ride with Erza-san again?" the blue haired woman perked. "Juvia really loves your car!"

Erza proudly nodded and smirked. "Of course. Anyone who is a fan of my work can certainly have a ride." The redheaded woman didn't miss how Gray's whole body seemed to slouch at Juvia's sudden request, but she couldn't help but find it simply amusing of how the man obviously didn't like it. "Do you think leaving around eleven would be okay with you, Juvia?"

"Oh, yes," Juvia nodded. "It won't take long to get there, and Juvia can put the address in the GPS, if that works better for Erza-san."

"That's all okay with me."

"So, where are we going?" Gray finally piped in and Juvia spun her head to look at him. He looked crabby, but Erza was certain that the young woman would take it the wrong way. "Don't see why we have to dress up for someone, if they're your friends, right?"

Juvia's cheeks tinted a little as she appeared to come to realize something. "O-oh, uhm, Gray-sama doesn't h-have to go, if he doesn't want to," she explained in a soft voice.

"We're escorting ya. Gramp's order," Gray raised a brow. "What if these guys try to take ya, or something?"

"They wouldn't, trust Juvia," she answered rather confidently, and Erza wanted to hear the backstory of her tone. "It won't be much of a hassle for you four anyway, just leave it to Juvia to get the race for you."

"Ahh, I want some action!" Natsu whined and Lucy pulled on his ear to silence him. "Juvia-chaaan, not fair!"

"Juvia will see what she can do for you, Natsu-san," Juvia fondly smiled, seeming to escape Gray's question, even when he tried to speak up. "Please, excuse Juvia. She would like to Cana-chan about something that she can probably use for tomorrow. Oh, and please don't bring any weapons along, we won't be needing them."

"That's even more unfair!" Natsu cried out as Juvia slipped between Lucy and Erza, calling out to Cana, who came from the elevator, looking recently bathed from the locker room. Natsu casually leaned his weight on Lucy, who didn't seem to be bothered by it while Gray watched Juvia leave.

"Would you rather help Gajeel pack the last of the bar, Natsu?" Erza asked the whiney racer with an easy smile, making him freeze in fear. When Natsu shook his head, Erza smiled bigger and as menacing as possible. "Okay, then don't complain about anything. Got it, Natsu?"

"Yes, ma'am," Natsu peeped and Lucy sighed with a smile.

"C'mon, you dork," Lucy slid from under him and hugged his arm. "I gotta help Lisanna-chan with dinner and you need to clean the bathroom, remember? Don't use too much bleach this time, okay?"

"Doesn't look like it's clean unless I use a lot," Natsu grumbled as he allowed Lucy haul him to the elevator, where Cana and Juvia strolled away, chatting animatedly.

Erza glanced to the remaining racer, who noticed and snapped his head away in a instant. "Don't be so grouchy, Gray. At least something is starting to happen around here," she attempted to cheer him up. "How many times have I heard you and Natsu complain about having nothing cool to do except drug-run breaks and catching a thief here and there?"

"Whatever," Gray sniffed. "Still seems like going to the Phantom bar and having Makarov chit-chat with Jose, if ya ask me. Just have to actually look nice this time."

"Well, I didn't. So buck up or I'll fix your face for you, kid," Erza told him honestly and strolled away, leaving the racer to snort yet not retaliate at her.

Going over to where Jellal was conversing with Laxus, a conversation ending just in time for her to approach her husband and hug him from behind, she waved goodbye to the engaged couple as they departed. Jellal carefully ran his hands over Erza's crossed arms around his waist before turning around.

Erza smiled gently as Jellal tucked a lock of her long bangs behind her ear. "We're going to go with Gajeel to the bar and the storage unit around nine in the morning tomorrow, so we have time before it gets dark out."

"I'm not used to having you leave bed that early," she confessed to him with a sigh and he nodded in understanding. "Talk about taking a change of speed, huh. I've never seen Master Makarov behave that way before about anything…"

"He's certainly has come to a few things in mind, that's for sure," Jellal huffed. "He probably didn't want to talk about it infront of the kids, but who knows. Best to just let him handle things until he's ready, I suppose."

"Mm." Erza rest her head against her husband's toned shoulder, her hands holding onto his shirt as he rocked them side-to-side affectionately. "What do you think is going to happen around here, Jellal…"

"I don't see the future, Erza," Jellal chuckled. "But, hopefully, it's going to be good things and put an end to something terrible."

Erza closed her eyes and sighed, making Jellal slow to a stop and tilt her chin up to look at him. "Are you okay, honey?" Jellal asked her softly, an encouraging, trusting smile on his face as he poked the corner of her lip gently. "Tell me."

"Just sad memories," she answered with a light shrug. "Nothing important."

Jellal frowned when she tucked her head back under his chin, holding on to him a bit tighter than before and closing her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her head softly.

"It's important, Erza. Don't try to act like it's not, because it never was," he told her in a quiet voice. "Are you afraid?"

"I'm not afraid, Jellal," she answered in a much more quieter tone. "I'm worried. About everyone: the kids, the families...I'm worried about us. It doesn't set well inside, Jellal."

"Hey, hey," he whispered, "don't go thinking like that, Erza. You're fine, everyone is fine. Nothing bad is going to happen to any of us, not when Fairy Tail is together. You know that."

Erza nodded and took a deep breath. "Still, I can't help but feel like something big is going to happen. What if one of the kids get hurt, or someone tries to kill them? Gajeel and Juvia already had that coming to them, and from what we saw that night, I do not want that to happen again."

"Then, we won't let it happen."

Pulling her head back to look at him with round eyes, Jellal gave her an honest grin and pecked her forehead with a kiss. "We basically trained these kids everything we know, and we've been through hell and back, haven't we? Fairy Tail isn't weak, and we sure as hell aren't going to let anyone think otherwise," he told her. "If something comes to that one of us needs a helping hand, we got plenty of others to back us up. Have faith in our family, Erza."

A sniffle and a wet smile, Erza gripped his chin and wiggled his jaw affectionately. "I hate it when you sound so serious like that. Ya sound like some kind of character in a movie, before a big storm happens."

"You know what else the character does before a storm? Especially when he has a very, very attractive and loving wife in his arms?" Jellal smirked and waggled his brow, making his wife go beat red in the face. "You know what helps me fall asleep at night, babe. Mind helping me out so I can get up in the morning?"

"Oh my god," Erza began laughing and hide her face in Jellal's neck when he chuckled. "You're so lucky I love you, you know that?"

"Why ya married me, right?"

"Sure, keep telling yourself that, bigshot," Erza grinned before going to her toes to press a kiss to his lips, making sure to add pressure before letting go. Taking his hand, Erza led him out of their spot.

Passing by Gajeel and Levy, who noticed the married couple coming, Erza winked to them. "Gajeel, make sure my husband doesn't cause too much trouble for you while he's in your care, okay? If he does, let me know and I'll take care of it."

Watching as Jellal was willingly dragged to the elevator, Gajeel's eyes narrowed as Levy giggled. "The hell was that about?"

"Don't think too much, Gajeel," Levy laughed and hugged her boyfriend's strong arm and rubbed her temple against him. "It'll keep you up all night, then you'll be grouchy tomorrow."

He snorted. "I can get away without sleep once in a while," he stated with a smug pride look in his eyes.

"Not here you're not," Levy warned him. "Remember, you're under my roof now, mister, and no way is anyone missing out on catching Z's on my watch."

"Someone's bossy tonight," Gajeel pointed out with amusement and Levy lifted her chin.

"Well, someone has to be when I'm your girlfriend. Like it or not, you're stuck with me."

Lifting the arm she glued herself to, Gajeel snickered at her shy peep and brought her leveled with his face. "Wouldn't want it much different, I'll give ya that, shrimp," he chuckled before popping a soundly kiss to her mouth, making her squeal.

"G-Gajeel-kun, put me down!"

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=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - So I'mma do something that's kinda fun for next chapter? Hope you'll stay tuned and leave a Review. I love hearing from all my babehz!

Stay sexy, my friends.