Hello! I apologize for the long absence, it has been a very crazy last few months for me. I found this chapter really hard to write, for some reason Erza just doesn't flow for me. Hopefully its not too dry! But I am going to make up for it with the next chapter.

As always, I do not own Fairy Tail, it belongs to Hiro Mashima and I thank him for it's use in my own creative expressions *bows*

Erza fidgeted as she sat in the backseat of the rented black town car while it headed downtown to the fundraiser. She would have been more comfortable in her own car or a regular taxi but it wouldn't look right to be in an evening dress and arrive in something like that. The windows were tinted but she could still clearly see the bright lights outside flickering by, the city was always beautiful but at night it sparkled like thousands of stars. Erza wasn't really sure what to expect tonight, she had never been to an event like this before so she had decided to just bring the essentials; lipstick, compact, wallet and ID badge, cellphone, pepper spray, hand-held tazer, handcuffs and her small off duty service gun. She had it all expertly packed in her small black sparkly clutch handbag that matched her dress and shoes, no one would know by looking at her that she was that prepared, which was what she was counting on.

She felt the car slow down and looked out to see that they were only about a block away from the Castle, the big stone building in the middle of downtown Fiore that was over a hundred years old and was often the venue for fundraisers and parties like this. It had been built by one of the city's founders, Elias Fiore and it was not long after that the city had been named in his honor when he was elected as the first mayor. A member of the Fiore family had been in office ever since, a tradition that lasted more than a century before two years ago when a virtually unknown young man started gaining political popularity at an unheard-of rate.

In the election that followed it was a narrow victory for Mayor Fernandez, but the win had made history none the less. The man had no known political background, came from poor beginnings and had alleged family ties to organized crime but managed to topple one of the oldest and riches dynasties in the city. Naturally political chaos had followed once he was raised into office as those who had enjoyed their unquestioned and complacent power where suddenly having to take responsibility for their present and past actions. Mayor Fernandez had run on a platform of government transparency and accountability, he said that those in power had gone too long without thinking of the people they were supposed to be working for. His views were greatly ignored and not taken seriously by City Hall until it became clear in the ballot counting that he was not just a minor irritation as originally thought. F

iore's sixth Mayor, Toma E. Fiore had been defeated from re-election by just twelve ballots and all his requests for a recount and probe into the results were denied. Disgraced and publically humiliated as the first member of the Fiore family to lose an election, he was sitting on the sidelines waiting out the next two years when there would be another vote and this time he would make sure not to underestimate his opponent. In the meantime the Fiore family still did their part in community philanthropy by organizing fundraisers like this one, building back up their credibility one publicity event at a time.

Erza thought back to what the Mayor had said in his office early, that he knew he was under surveillance from an outside source. If there was chance of regaining his office any sooner Erza knew that Fiore would jump at the chance to take it. It was a minor miracle that nothing had been uncovered already, but the Mayor had his own friends in high and low places, his cover story was flawless and shatterproof.

"We are here, ma'am." She heard the driver from the front seat. She winced slightly at the title, it made her feel old to be called ma'am but she knew he was just being polite. "Let me get the door for you."

"No need, thank-you." Erza replied quickly as she slid over to the passenger's side door and opened it herself. She got up without wrinkling her dress too much and handed the driver a $20 tip.

"Thank-you," she repeated. The driver nodded his thanks and she slammed the door shut lightly before he moved away so the next car could pull up. Erza quickly gathered her dress and stepped gingerly on the black plush carpet that led to the Castle's open doorway, there were TV and newspaper cameras littered along the sides but she knew they would not be interested in talking to her. She walked up the small set of stairs and went through the doors into the brightly lit foyer where she was greeted by a smiling usher that offered to take her coat and bag.

"Thank-you," she handed over the black wrap from around her shoulders but kept a hold of her purse.

"Name?" The young man asked and Erza noticed that he had a clipboard with a list of guests on it.

"Detective Erza Scarlet, Magnolia Major Crimes Unit," she replied.

He looked at his board and checked something off. "Come with me ma'am." There was that word again, she would have preferred Detective but it was to be expected. The boy led her down and hallway and through an open doorway into the large ballroom, the sight of it nearly took Erza's breath away. She had been here before as a visitor, the Castle was mainly used as a historical site and museum where school children and tourists could visit and read about Fiore's founding history. But this was different than seeing a nearly empty room; light twinkled from dozens of chandeliers dangling from the high ceiling, banners and wall-hangings in the FPD colors were dotted along the walls.

The attendees were equally as impressive, men in tight fitting black suits and ladies in dresses in all colors of the rainbow. Erza herself had settled on classic black; the dress had a modest sweetheart neckline, flared at the hips until ending about mid-calf with lace around the bottom hemline and inch wide sleeves. Compared to some of the other ladies she felt underdressed, but it was the best she could have done with only a few hours warning and a police officer's salary. At least in her shorter dress she could show off her shoes, gladiator style stiletto three inch heels which could double as a weapon if she needed them too. She had kept her hair, makeup and jewelry modest as well; small pearl earrings with a matching necklace and her long red mane in a simple bun. Erza knew that she wasn't as dazzling as some of the other ladies present, but she was classic, elegant and tasteful. The man eventually led Erza to a round table where a few other guests were already seated, including her Captain.

"Here you are ma'am." He bowed his head slightly and then disappeared into the crowd.

"Detective Scarlett," Lahar greeted her by standing and pulling out her chair gallantly. "I'm glad you could join us."

"Thank you," she murmured as she sat down. "I haven't missed anything yet have I?" Erza knew that she had made it to the Castle on time but getting out of the car and to the table had taken a little while.

"You are right on time Detective; I believe they are just showing everyone to their seats." It was another officer that spoke, one she didn't know by name but she thought he was the Captain of the Cyber Crimes Division in Oak. "But it seems we are still a few shy of a full table ourselves…" He motioned to the empty chairs; the table had been set for seven. Only one other chair was occupied and Erza assumed he was one of the Oak Captain's Detectives, but that made her wonder who the other three chairs were for.

"Here you are Councilman." She looked up as another usher was showing someone to the seat across from her and Lahar. The man nodded his thanks before sitting down and Erza had to fight to keep her face neutral when she recognized Magnolia District Councilman Purehito. It surprised her that they would seat the elected official for Magnolia at the same table as who lower level FPD Captains and their detectives, especially at such small tables.

He exchanged greetings with the men and nodded towards Erza. "It seems they are going for a more intimate seating arrangement this year," he remarked, not sounding pleased about it.

"It just means that we get to know our fellow city workers better, you know, in the spirit of civic unity," the Oak Captain answered, if he was put off by the Councilman's tone it didn't show. "Lahar was just telling me how crime in Magnolia has gone down the last three quarters in a row. I wish we had those kind of results in Oak, let me tell you…"

Purehito gave Lahar a passing glace that might have been respect on someone else but it came across as contempt on him. "That is true; Captain Lahar has done great things at the Magnolia Precinct. We are very lucky to have such a dedicated and attentive officer."

Erza glanced at her Captain, Lahar's eyes were half hidden behind his clear rimmed glasses but she could see a light blush on his high boned cheeks. "Councilman, you are too kind," he replied while adjusting his glasses tensely. "But there is still much more work to be done."

Before Purehito could reply a voice came over the sound system. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you could please take your seats we will begin tonight's program momentarily."

Almost at the same moment still another usher appeared at their table with the last two guests for their table, Erza had to stifle a groan when she saw who it was that would be sitting with them.

"Detective Scarlett! It is a pleasure seeing you again so soon!" Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki was dressed in his immaculate white suit and light blue tie with a red rose on the lapel, his longer orange hair styled to perfection. He held out his hand expectantly and Erza knew she couldn't get away with not greeting him properly twice in one day so he gave him hers and tolerated it as he gallantly kissed the top of her hand.

"Mr. Vandalay Kotobuki," she replied with a terse smile. "It's nice to see you again as well."

There was another round of handshakes and head nods as Ichiya and his companion sat down and filled their table.

"Where is your boss this evening?" The councilman asked with mild curiosity. "I would expect Bob to show up at a big event like this."

"Unfortunately he could not make it this evening," Ichiya answered with a flourish. "But Ren here was kind enough to accompany me on such short notice." The other man had dark skin, hair and eyes with a permanent scowl on his face. Instead of a suit he was dressed in a brown sports jacket with matching pants and an orange dress shirt open at the collar, he looked like he would rather be anywhere but here.

Servers came around offering drinks of any variety but Erza choose ice water garnished with lemon, alcohol didn't really bring out the best parts of her personality.

"I must also apologize for the delay," Ichiya told Erza once they had all been served. "But the show cannot go on without its two stars."

Erza was about to ask him what he meant when a hush came over the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you could please take your seats, drinks are being served. May I present to you your Host and Hostess for the evening, from Channel 7 News, Mr. Hibiki Lates and his lovely co-achor, Miss Jenny Realight." Applause and cheers came from the crowd as the two news anchors took the stage near the front of the room.

"Good evening everyone," Hibiki Lates addressed the crowd once it had settled down, as host of the most watched news slot in town he was a very popular local celebrity. Erza could see why, he was very handsome in his black tuxedo and his charismatic personality was definitely coming out. "We are honored to be here tonight and do our part to raise funds for the Fiore Police Department and the many programs that it provides."

"We at Channel 7 News greatly appreciate all the hard work that is put into organizing events such as this and we ask that you give a round of applause for all the volunteers," Jenny cut in. She was dressed in a dazzling floor length strapless sky blue ball gown with glittery beading all across the bodice; her long blonde hair was piled on top of her head in flowing ringlets down her shoulders. "And the Fiore family for sponsoring tonight's auction." There was another round of loud applause and cheers.

"Aren't they amazing up there?" Ichiya whispered to Erza with pride. "What you would expect from the faces of Blue Pegasus."

Blue Pegasus Communications was the largest multi-media corporation in the city; it owned not only the local news channels but also the newspaper and several magazines, Ichiya was the company's CFO and number two. Erza had to admit that the pair up on the stage were impressive, their strong rapport was obvious and they looked completely at ease in front of the crowd. Even though she wasn't into reading all the gossip columns or tabloids but she did know that there was a rumor going around that Jenny and Hibiki were more than just co-anchors.

Erza watched as the auction finally got underway. The first big item was a romantic getaway for two for three days in Tenrou Island's most expensive and exclusive resort. The bidding started at $500 and it ended up going for more than $5000 in the end, definitely not someone living on a cop's salary could afford something like that Erza thought to herself. Next was a limited edition copy of some artist's painting donated by the Fiore art museum. After that it was a complete spa day package valued at close to a thousand dollars, Erza's hand itched to place a bid but once again it went way out of her price range.

Most people believed because of her competitive and driven nature that she wasn't into girlie things like fashion or beauty, but the truth was that Erza really enjoyed being a woman, as long as it didn't undermine her position as a police officer. She especially liked shoes. The auction went on with more elaborate and expensive items, every once and awhile the crowd would cheer after a long bidding war or when a large donation was made. It was nearing an hour after they started the auction and Erza could tell that the other guests were starting to get restless, they would have to take a break soon.

"And finally the last item up for auction before we take our intermission, Jenny, why don't you do the honors of this one?" Hibiki asked his co-hostess with a grin.

"Oh course!" She replied with a sparkling smile. "Our last item up for auction, well, it isn't really an item at all but it's an opportunity to see what a day in the life of one of our fine Fiore Police Officers is like. Item number 24 in our program tonight is the privilege to ride along for one full day with a member of Fiore's Police Department, Detective Erza Scarlett from the Magnolia Major Crimes Division!"

Erza felt shock replacing the boredom radiating up her body as people started whispering or turning in their chairs to glance at her. She looked at Captain Lahar, wondering if he was the person responsible for this and why he wouldn't warn her before-hand but there was as much surprise in his face as in everyone else's. So it wasn't his doing then, but somebody had done it.

"Oh, Detective Scarlett is here with us tonight?" Jenny looked at her through the still whispering crowd. "Come up here Detective and join us for the bidding!"

Erza gulped, it was the last thing she wanted to do, but everyone was still looking in her direction so she very well could not escape now. Erza stood up and walked with dignity to the stage and one of the ushers from before helped her up the stairs courteously. Once up there she could see everyone, about 150 guests and servers flittering around the large room. She spotted her table near the back and a few familiar faces sitting at others, but one face in particular was staring at her with great intensity. Mayor Fernandez was sitting at the head table, of course, with Toma Fiore and his daughter Hisui, Chief of Police Arcadios and Police Commissioner Darton. She could imagine the level of awkwardness that he would have been facing the entire evening and it probably hadn't put him in a very good mood.

"Now that Detective Scarlett has joined us, why don't we start the bidding at $250? Can I get $250 for a day with Detective Scarlett?"

Ichiya nearly bounded on top of his chair in order for his hand to be seen. "I do! I do!"

Erza inwardly groaned but made sure that it never reached her face, it could be worse though, at least Ichiya she knew she could handle.

"$250 for Mr. Vandalay Kotobuki in the back, can I get $300? Does anyone want to bid $300?"

"I do." Former Mayor Fiore raised his hand. "In fact, I bid $500 for a day with the lovely Detective."

There were a few gasps, claps and cheers. Erza was surprised because Ichiya's bid she could understand but Fiore could shadow any senior officer he wanted, no questions asked, so why would he be bidding on her? Only one face didn't look happy at the unexpected turn of events, Mayor Fernandez was peering at his former opponent like he was also trying to figure out what he was doing.

"I bid $1000!" Ichiya exclaimed from the back, more cheers and gasps.

"$1500," Fiore countered.

"$2000!"

"$2500."

"$3000!"

The cheering at stopped but whispers had started again and everyone was watching the unassisted bidding war with open mouths, everyone except the mayor.

"$3500."

"$4000!"

"$4500."

"$5000!"

Erza couldn't help but wonder how far it was going to go; surely it wasn't worth that amount of money to spend a day with her.

"Ten thousand dollars." A new bidder stood up in his chair. "I bid ten thousand dollars," Mayor Fernandez's voice was solemn enough to shock silence in everyone.

Jenny was the first to regain her composure. "Ten thousand dollars for a day with the lovely Detective Scarlett of Magnolia! Going once," she looked around the room but no one was saying anything now. "Going twice." Even Ichiya knew to be silent. "And sold to Mayor Siegrain Fernandez! Congratulations!" There were cheers and clapping as the Mayor sat down again.

"That concludes the first half of our charity auction." Hibiki stood forward. "There is a light lunch and refreshments at the back table for everyone and we will start again in half an hour, please enjoy!"

Erza was escorted off the stage by an usher and led back to her table, only her Captain was still seated as everyone else had gone in search of food.

"Detective," he greeted her as she sat back down. "I had no idea how that happened Erza, I'm sorry."

"It's ok," Erza reassured him. "I'm sure it was some kind of mistake." She knew that wasn't true, that it wasn't a mistake, somebody had elaborately planned this out and things had gone the way they had expected.

"Well, if you will excuse me." Captain Lahar stood up and made his way over to the food. Erza was also hungry but she wanted to wait until it was a little less crowded, she wasn't in a social mood all of a sudden. Erza reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone, the sound was shut off but it was still turned on. Gray had sent her a text that he needed to talk to her asap but that was her only message, she had at least another hour here until she would be able to call him back. A shadow came over the table an Erza looked up to see the Mayor standing in front of her holding something on a plate.

"What are you doing?" She asked him so quietly that it was nearly a whisper.

"I brought you some cake…" He sat down in Ichiya's chair and placed a plate of white strawberry cake in front of her. Erza's stomach growling just looking at the beautiful piece of baking, it was one of her most favorite things in the whole entire world.

"You shouldn't be here," she murmured again. "What if somebody sees you?"

"They will all think that we are making arrangements about our ride-along date." Jellal's hair was jelled back and he was in a sharp black tuxedo with a silk red tie. The sight of him made Erza's heart rate speed up a couple beats a second but she pushed it down so that it wouldn't show.

"It's not a date," she muttered. "It was a trap, and you fell right into in."

"So be it, eat your cake."

Erza picked up her fork angrily and cut into the white frosting. "It is a big deal." She lifted a piece to her mouth, it tasted like heaven. "I don't have any connections to Siegrain Fernandez, and if people start digging into my past they will find a connection to Jellal Fernandez. You know? Your dead felon brother. Ten thousand dollars! What were you thinking?" Erza scraped her fork on the empty plate and realized that her cake was gone, she wanted more, a lot more.

"I don't know," Jellal countered, looking around the room to see if anyone was watching them. "Let me worry about that. Why are you even here? I told you what was going to happen with that case, you should be out there working on it."

"I had no choice, I was ordered to come here and now I know why. Gray is on it." Erza glanced at the large ordinate clock on the far wall. They only had fifteen minutes left of their intermission and she needed to use the bathroom and get some more cake. "I you will excuse me, I have to use the ladies' room."

She got up from the table and quickly scurried over to the washroom. Thankfully it was empty in there and so she had a chance to do her business and think. She didn't know who was pulling the strings but somebody wanted to exploit the potential relationship she had with the Mayor, but she didn't know if it was because of politics or something else. Erza went up to one of the elegant marble sinks and washed her hands with the fragrant foamy soap, they even had real towels for drying. She was just about to leave when the door opened and Hisui Fiore walked in. She was wearing a tight mermaid style dress in a sparkling teal green, it matched her hair that was pulled into an elegant updo dusted with glitter. Real diamonds were at her ears and throat and when she saw Erza her face broke out into a big smile.

"Detective Scarlett," she exclaimed. "Congratulations on your bid, it was wonderful for the charity."

Her glee surprised Erza and it took her a second to think of a proper response. "Thank-you Miss Fiore, I'm happy to help out the department and the programs."

"Of course, I hope you are enjoying the evening as well."

Erza did not really want to stand there and make nice in the bathroom with the former Mayor's daughter, but like everything else about tonight there was no escape. "Yes, everything has been great, thanks. If you will excuse me." She moved past the young woman to the door.

"We will talk later Detective," Hisui answered with a wink and a grin.

Erza went back out into the main ball room; she was going to need a lot of cake to improve her mood.