Chapter 11: A Golden Key

"So, Lucy."

Lucy looked up cautiously. That was not a promising conversational opener. It usually meant that somebody wanted her to do something. Generally something that she wouldn't enjoy. This was how Natsu had started his pitch for the last job they had gone on together. Lucy had ended up being eaten by a giant fish. A giant fish. Aquarius had been deeply unimpressed when Lucy had managed to summon her. Actually, the only one who had been happy about the situation was Happy. Go figure.

Lyon, Ultear and Gray were all sitting across from her. Lyon had his hands steepled in front of him in that way that always made Lucy think of a master criminal or supervillain. He was the one who had spoken. She didn't like the way they were looking at her.

"Yeees…?" Lucy fidgeted with the edge of her magazine. She was getting a bad feeling about this already.

"On our last job, part of our payment was a gate key…."

Lucy's shoulders relaxed. Oh, good – they just wanted to talk shop. She was, after all, Fairy Tail's only celestial wizard.

"Oh, well, if you want to sell it, the local magic shop will probably give you about seventy-five percent of the market value for it. It depends on the constellation for how much it's worth. Silver keys are fairly hot commodities at the moment, so you might be able to sell it without the middle man if you put up a notice." Lucy cut herself off, hoping she hadn't sounded too business savvy. Nobody knew that she was technically heir to the Heartfilia fortune. She didn't want her years of business lessons to somehow give her away. But then again, she was a celestial wizard – knowing all that shouldn't seem too out of place.

"I don't know about selling it." Ultear's expression was calculating in a worrying way. "I was thinking of perhaps more of a trade."

"A trade?" That didn't sound like the best use of a gate key.

"Yeah, a trade. With you."

Lucy was starting to get suspicious again.

"I've already got plenty of silver keys."

"Whoever said it was silver?" And suddenly Lyon was holding a golden zodiac key between his fingers like a card trick.

They had gotten their hands on Sagittarius's gate key. Lucy wanted to make grabby hands at it and possibly swoon, but she firmly squashed the urge. Well, mostly squashed the urge. Her fingers were still making small, spasming motions in the zodiac key's direction. And she might have dropped her magazine and half-lunged across the table.

"How did you get your hands on a zodiac key?!"

"We went on an S-class job," Gray shrugged as if being awarded golden gate keys was no big deal. Lucy might have whimpered a bit, but then she pulled herself together.

"What kind of trade did you have in mind?"

"We need somebody to run a distraction for our next job – something flashy that'll impress civilians. Instead of cutting you in on the reward, we'll give you the zodiac key." Lyon was doing his evil mastermind face again. Actually, all three of them were doing variations on the evil mastermind face. It was disturbing.

"What's the catch?"

"We're just going to be taking out a gang while you keep their boss and his daughter entertained. He's having a big dinner party and hiring entertainers. We don't want to tip them off by using ice magic in front of them – we're too well known." When Ultear said it like that, it sounded safe and logical, but Lucy was beginning to understand that those two words almost never applied to wizarding jobs.

"You know me and Natsu are a team, right?" Gray's face scrunched up at the mention of Natsu. "Where I go, Natsu and Happy generally end up following."

"You two have worked with Erza, Jellal, and Simon before," Lyon pointed out, "and Natsu is very distracting."

"Yeah, burning buildings are pretty distracting," grumbled Gray. Ultear elbowed him, and he shut up.

"You two can split the entertainers' fee," Ultear offered. "It's being paid up front."

"I don't know," Lucy hedged.

Lyon twirled Sagittarius's gate key between his fingers. It glinted very distractingly in the light.

"How much do you think we could sell this for?" he asked Ultear casually. "A couple of hundred thousand jewel?"

"It's one of only twelve in the entire world. With the right celestial wizard, I think we could name any price we like."

"You're right," Gray agreed. "We might not have to worry about rent for years. Though it's kind of a shame to see it leave the guil-"

"I'll do it!" It took Lucy a second to realize that that really had been her voice that had practically shouted that. Oh, hell. Well, too late to back out now. "I'll do it," she repeated more calmly.

"Excellent," Ultear beamed. "We're catching the 8am train tomorrow morning. Don't be late!"

"We'll give you the key after the job is complete," Lyon assured her, standing up. The golden key had vanished from his hands.

Lucy let her head fall to the table as they left. What was she getting herself into this time? And how was she going to convince Natsu to work with Gray? Those two fought almost every chance they got. But on the plus side – golden zodiac key. Acquiring yet another of the zodiac so soon after Virgo? That was insanely lucky.

"I'm surprised you said yes."

Lucy lifted her head. Erik had sat down across from her. He had one of his usual suspicious green drinks in his hand, and Cubelios was resting her chin on his shoulder.

"They're giving me a zodiac key."

"Mmm, but the boss of the gang they're taking out is Juan Rancho, and he's a notorious perv. Then again, you do have Virgo," he mused. "He'd probably like her."

Lucy let her head drop back to the table again.

Damn it.

"What kind of perv?" she asked half-heartedly. She didn't really want to know, but it was better to be prepared. And if you wanted more information, Erik was generally the best person to ask.

"Whips, chains, and kinky cosplay, from what I hear."

Lucy thunked her head against the table a couple of times.

Damn it, damn it, damn it.

Why did this always happen to her?

A/N: My week has been kinda crazy, so I think I thanked everyone who review the last chapter, but I'm not sure! Just in case I missed someone - thank you all again so much! Reviews and feedback always mean a lot to me, and I am always grateful for every review and PM I receive!