Chapter Six:

Erza had returned home early that morning. The sun had just started to rise, but it was hard to see past the rain clouds that made everything overcast. After dropping off her luggage at her apartment and feeling grateful that it hadn't started to rain yet, she ventured over to the guild hall intent on wolfing down a big breakfast. She was famished and the idea of pancakes and breakfast pastries was decidedly appealing.

There weren't too many people inside the hall at that early morning, but she did recognize one familiar face. After gathering her tray she sat across from Gray.

"Erza, welcome back," Gray said. He was lounging in his chair, fully dressed, so he must have been fairly calm.

"Good morning, Gray. Anything happen while I was gone?" She began stabbing and slicing her pancake and shoveling it into her mouth. It needed syrup. She reached across the table and poured half the bottle onto the pancakes. She took another bite. 'Much better,' she thought.

"Actually, Lucy and I were planning to take a fairly complicated job, but were wanting to wait for you to return. We want you to come with us," Gray said. He seemed to be fascinating by her breakfast. "That's an awful lot of syrup," he commented.

"I have a sweet tooth," Erza replied.

"If you're not careful you won't have any teeth if you keep eating like that," he murmured.

Erza ignored the comment and stabbed her fork extra forcefully against her plate. "What sort of job? What does Natsu think?"

"That's the thing. We weren't planning to bring Natsu along," Gray said.

"Why not? We're Team Natsu. That seems rather silly."

"He and Lucy aren't on the best of terms. And I'd like to finish a job without having to pay for reparations for the damage he and I are sure to cause."

Gray and Natsu and their collateral damage did tend to be rather expensive. "You and he are never on good terms, what should it matter if he's having a problem with Lucy? He should just apologize to her and we'll be fine," Erza said. She set aside her fork and started for her assortment of pastries. "Unless Lucy wronged him. If that's the case he should still apologize. It's always the man's fault."

"Right, well, it's not that they had a fight per say. It's just awkward. Natsu proposed to Lisanna and didn't tell anyone. Lucy was upset that he kept the engagement secret," Gray explained.

Erza dropped her pastry. Natsu was engaged? "He did not ask my permission," she said looking toward the door to the guild hall expecting to see the pink-haired brat stroll right in.

"Technically, he doesn't owe any of us an apology. He doesn't need our permission," Gray pointed out.

Erza glared back at him. She disagreed with that assessment. "Such decisions affect all of us. We're a team. We need to know these things." She cleaned her hands on her napkin and then reached up to straighten her hair and she pulled out a long dagger. How did that get up there? She must have left it there after a recent requip. She needed to be more careful about such things. "We'll sort that later. Tell me of this job request. Is it S class? You and Lucy are capable of doing jobs on your own - even S class. You were promoted to that rank and I know you've done restaurant work together before."

"We've done a few more jobs that than. There was a demolition job the other day and then we were the entertainment at a wedding last night," Gray said ticking off the jobs on his fingers.

"You've been busy," Erza said frowning. She hadn't been gone that long. "Okay, fine, tell me about the complicated job."

"There's a town about a week's travel from here on foot, but only a couple of days by train. The town authorities are stumped. The contractor just had the grand opening of his new casino resort, but it seems to be haunted and there have been numerous disappearances. He wants us to investigate and discover if its an elaborate scam or if the place is really haunted."

"We aren't ghost busters," Erza said. Her requip magic worked well on physical beings, but she didn't know if she'd be much use against spiritual enemies. "Lucy is definitely the right person for the job with her being a spirit mage and her keys."

"I don't think that both Natsu and I should both go for numerous reasons. The main one is you know how destructive we are when we're both there. That casino would be a pile of rubble by the time we're done," Gray said. "The contractor wants us to clear the way so he can have his business operating. He doesn't want it destroyed."

He wasn't wrong on that account. Still, Erza would have felt better going into an extended mission with her whole team. "We're the strongest team in Fairy Tail, but I agree. The two of you together would probably destroy the place." She tapped her nails on the table thoughtfully. "Still, we need another teammate for a job like this. Someone who is discreet and yet powerful."

"I'll do it," a familiar baritone voice said behind her.

Gray looked up with surprise clearly etched on his face. At least Erza wasn't the only one not to notice the man sneak up behind them. It made sense with his magic that he could approach them without sound. She glanced around and could see that everyone else in the guild hall was sound asleep.

"What are you doing here?" Erza asked. She wasn't surprised when Jellal sat next to her uninvited. He was wearing the garb of Mystigan, his features hidden behind his mask. "If you're going to be in character you're supposed to go about unseen."

Jellal gestured with his hands toward all the sleeping occupants in the guild hall. "Only you two are seeing me."

Gray recovered from his shock. The entire Team Natsu knew that Mystogan and Jellal were one and the same. "That would be great!" He looked imploringly at Erza. "He's an ideal choice, Erza. And he won't destroy half the place. His Meteor spell would be powerful against either a physical or a spiritual threat."

Erza really wanted to strangle Gray, but he made a good point. She would need to put her personal feelings aside for the good of Fairy Tail. "What happened to your guild Crime Sorciere?"

"We disbanded. This is my guild. I can show you my Fairy Tail tattoo if you'd like."

"I'd like to see it," Gray said. Erza glanced across at him to scold him, but held her tongue. Apparently, the tension between her and Jellal was so great that it was affecting her teammate because he was now shirtless.

Jellal pulled down his shirt front at the collar and showed the bold tattoo over his heart for a brief moment.

"I'm coming too!" Natsu called storming into the guild hall. It was still practically empty inside , but there were a few other mages at some further tables though they were all rendered unconscious by Jellal's spell.

Erza turned to see the Salamander mage striding toward their table. "Natsu, what are you talking about?"

Natsu pointed at them. "You. You're planning to go on that job with Lucy. I'm going too. We're a team."

"We need to blend in at the casino," Gray said calmly. "The contractor requested that we keep our presence quiet. He suggested we appear as couples there to enjoy the facilities."

"Fine, I'll pretend to be in a relationship with Lucy," Natsu said folding his arms over his chest.

Happy flew into the hall, wings beating frantically. He landed on Natsu's shoulders and started to pant. "Why is everyone asleep?"

"Here, have a fish," Jellal said handing a fish seemingly out of nowhere to the blue cat.

"The hell you will! We don't need you on this job, Natsu!" Gray said as he rose to his feet and knocked over his chair. His whole body was encased in a thin sheet of ice.

"Sit down, both of you," Erza ordered. "If you two both come you'll fight and destroy the place. We can't have that."

"We won't fight," Natsu argued.

"Oh we most certainly will," Gray said. He picked up his chair and sat in it, the sheet of ice around him shattered and fell to the floor.

"I'll follow after you," Natsu warned.

"Fine, if we're going to do this then you can come, but you have to bring Lisanna. We have to keep it looking like we're coupled off. I heard you were engaged so it should look fairly natural for you to act the part," Erza said. She poked Natsu hard in the chest. "And next time you should ask for my permission first before you propose to someone!" She then turned her glare toward Jellal. "I suppose you can come too then. You'll be responsible for keeping these two from going at each other. Do you think you can handle that?"

"I am one of the Ten Wizard Saints," Jellal said.

"Is that a yes?" Erza asked. Even she had trouble managing the rivalry between Gray and Natsu. Lucy was able to keep them at bay most days, but even with the two girls working together the ice and fire mages tended to cause a lot of destruction when they worked together.

"I'll do my best," Jellal promised.

Erza's appetite had vanished. There was too much testosterone at her table and too much blue-haired former loves. "Fine, I'm going to see Lucy then," Erza said. She needed to find out what was happening to her team. And she wasn't going to get any proper answers from those boys. She didn't have far to go, the door to the guild hall opened and Lucy started to cross the thresh hold. "You're coming with me," Erza said grabbing the blond's elbow.

"Um, okay. Welcome back, Erza." Lucy looked past Erza's shoulder. "Why is everyone asleep?"

"Never mind that," Erza said pulling Lucy along with her down the street.

"Did Gray get a chance to talk with you?" Lucy asked with a bright, nervous smile.

"Yes, and now we need to talk. Do you have cake at your apartment?"

"No, but we can stop by the bakery if you want."

"Oh, we're definitely stopping by the bakery," Erza decided.

OoO

Lucy bought a few slices of cheesecake for her and Erza. After the generous tip at the wedding she'd had enough money to pay her rent for that month and the next month, plus more to spare. She could afford a couple of cheesecakes. Besides, her friend looked stressed and the best way to deal with a stressed Erza was with sweet foods. Lucy didn't get a good look at who was at the table with Erza, but she could guess that it was Gray and Natsu. She wasn't sure who the other guy was as he was facing the other way and wearing a traveling cloak. However, seeing as everyone else in the guild hall was asleep she could guess that it might have been Mystogan - or rather Jellal as Mystogan.

"You okay?" Lucy asked. They were sitting at the little dining table in her apartment. She had a few bites of her cheesecake. Erza was already on her second slice. Requiping must burn a lot of calories. There was no way Lucy would have been able to eat that much and keep her figure.

"What's going on? I was only gone for a week, maybe two. What's happened?" Erza asked pointing her fork at Lucy in accusation.

Lucy probably should not have feel threatened by a fork full of cheesecake, but since Erza was the wielder of said fork she felt terrified. "Well, Natsu and Lisanna are engaged. And Gray and I started dating, sort of, and Juvia went away with Lyon on a Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale joint job."

"You're dating Gray?"

"Sort of, it started off as a way to protect ourselves. Make Juvia leave him alone and I was having a hard time dealing with Natsu. And then it didn't seem like we were pretending to be in a relationship, but maybe we really were," Lucy explained. She rubbed her forehead and fought a smile. "He's pretty cute and very sweet. I didn't see it before. Well, I knew he was hot of course, who doesn't? He walks around half-naked most of the time, but..."

"Lucy! Focus!" Erza interrupted. "Okay, fine, I can deal with that. I like you and I like Gray and Natsu can be an idiot. Does Lisanna know that she's engaged to Natsu?" Erza asked.

"I would hope so," Lucy said. Though it was possible that Natsu hadn't actually asked the poor girl. He wasn't known for thinking things through and tended to be headstrong. "More importantly, did Gray talk to you about the job?"

"Yes, he did. And then Jellal showed up and asked to join us."

"What? Jellal is here?" Lucy shoved her cheesecake aside only to see Erza snatch it up and start to eat it. "He must have just gotten here." That did explain the sleeping mages and the mysteriously cloaked figure from earlier.

"And he's a member," Erza said with her mouth full. She tapped her chest on the left. "Has a Fairy Tail guild tattoo right here."

"I would say that if the council found out we'd be in trouble, but there isn't a council any more. He's a good guy now, right? When he did all those bad things he was possessed by a dark spirit. What's the problem?" Lucy would have thought that Erza would be thrilled to have her old friend back and especially to have him present for a team-up.

Erza set her fork carefully on the edge of the empty plate. She'd just scarfed down two and a half slices of cheese cake. Lucy's stomach was churning for her. "He has a fiancé," Erza said. Her dark eyes looked so sad.

"Maybe he lied," Lucy said. "Or maybe they broke things off. He's here, isn't he? And he wants to join us on this job? We could use his help. He'd be a lot better strategically than Natsu and less destructive."

"If Jellal is going to be there I want Natsu there too. I don't know what's going on with you two exactly, but Natsu really wants to be there. He doesn't want you going on a job like this without him," Erza said.

Lucy would do her best to set aside her hurt feelings. Natsu was still her friend. He was her first friend in Fairy Tail and he was her teammate. Maybe this job would help them move beyond their jealousy. She'd have to learn to share him with Lisanna and Natsu would have to share her with Gray.

"What thoughts are going through your head?" Erza asked.

"I'm just wondering how we're going to pull this off without demolishing the casino," Lucy said. There was a bright flash of lightning and the lights in Lucy's apartment flickered. A rumble of thunder followed shortly after. "It sure has been raining a lot lately."

"That is unusual," Erza agreed. She stood and stretched. "Thank you for the cheesecake. I'm going home to start packing again. I have a lot of laundry to deal with."

Lucy wasn't surprised. She'd seen the massive amounts that Erza packed for their trips. But considering that she could requip and change her outfit at will it seemed a bit silly for her to do laundry. However, she wasn't about to question Erza.

OoO

"Why are you so determined to come?" Gray asked Natsu. "And could you please wake everyone up? If you're a true member of Fairy Tail its unnecessary for you to do this," he said to Jellal.

"You're right, I'm just trying to stay in character," Jellal said. He took out one of his staffs and mumbled a soft spell. The other guild members started to wake up and resume their conversations. None of them paid any heed to their table.

"I need to go. I'm Lucy's partner," Natsu said. "We're Lucy's partners," he added when Happy glared at him past the half-eaten fish in his mouth. "I don't care if we're fighting or not, she's my responsibility."

"You don't trust that I can keep her safe?" Gray challenged. His fists were started to become coated in a sheath of ice as his anger rose and his body temperature began to fall.

"If it's something weird then it usually involves someone wanting Lucy and her keys. She's an unique mage with powers that involve the spiritual universe. I would feel more comfortable if we're both there," Natsu said.

"That's reasonable," Gray said. He was surprised that Natsu had such a good point. It did seem to happen that anytime they had an unusual job that nine times out of ten that there would be someone intent on capturing Lucy once they discovered her powers. "So you're fine that she and I are dating?"

"No, but it doesn't matter," Natsu said slumping into the chair next to Jellal. He folded his arms over his chest. "And if the only way Erza will let me come is if I bring Lisanna then I will. I want them to get along."

"Erza and Lisanna?" Jellal asked.

"No, Lucy and Lisanna. It's important that they get along," Natsu said. He leaned across the table and stared directly at Gray. "If you make Lucy happy, I'm glad. She's my best friend aside from Happy and maybe I should have told her that I was planning to be engaged to Lisanna, but it was weird. So I didn't tell her before."

"She's trying to give you space," Gray explained. "So that you can have a happy and healthy relationship with Lisanna."

"Then why is she dating you now?"

"You and Lucy are dating?" Jellal asked.

"It's new," Gray told him. "It just sort of happened."

"Things don't just sort of happen," Natsu said quietly.

A rumble of thunder interrupted their conversation. "Another storm? It doesn't normally rain this often this time of year," Gray said.

"It is odd. I encountered more rain as of late on my travels too," Jellal said.

"It would have been handy to have Juvia with us," Natsu said.

Gray didn't say anything. He was glad to not have Juvia around. He could stand the rain if it meant he'd have some peace. "All right, so we're all going on this job. I want to leave tomorrow first thing in the morning. Start packing. We'll meet here for breakfast then head out to the train station."

"The train?" Natsu asked, his face already green from anticipated motion-sickness.

"It's a two day train ride or a seven day walk," Gray said. "If you want to come, you're going to have to ride the train." He turned to Jellal. "I'm going to head back to the library after breakfast. Lucy and I planned to look through some books on the area we're going to and do some research. You interested in joining us?"

"Sure, I don't exactly have any place else to go," Jellal agreed.

"Hey, what about me?" Natsu demanded.

"You want to spend the next few hours at the library reading?" Gray asked.

"Well, no, not especially," Natsu said. "Fine, I'll see you in the morning. Remind Lucy to bring her super fast reader glasses. She can read through an entire novel in minutes with them."

"I'll do that," Gray agreed. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad having the entire Team Natsu working on the job. He'd just have to be the mature one and not let Natsu rile him up. Hopefully, they could get through the work without destroying the casino.

A/N: What do you guys think? Do you think the casino can survive Gray and Natsu? Will there be any cheesecake left in the city after Erza is forced to work with Jellal? Will the library hold any clues as to the troubles at the casino? Tune in next month and maybe you'll find out!