Teamwork

"Lucy," Natsu whined as said blonde attempted to swat him off her shoulder, "Why ya being so mean?"

"You drool in your sleep and this sweater dress was expensive," Lucy huffed while swatting his head away from her shoulder. She ignored his puppy dog eyes by leveling her attention on the ice mage sitting across from them. "What's Lamia Scale like? You said you had family in that guild Gray?"

"Not blood family," Gray sighed, "We just grew up together. Had the same teacher but our styes are different."

"Lamia Scale isn't as tough as Fairy Tail," Natsu chimed in while throwing himself into Lucy's lap. He grinned unapologetically at her blushing face, his head pillowed comfortably in her lap. "Mostly jokes. Usually Lamia Scale doesn't need help with these types of job requests but their ace in the hole is tied up with an equally dangerous mission."

"Ace?"

"He's talking about Jura. A rank 10 mage in a league of his own, like our Master Makarov." Gray filled in, ignoring Natsu's antics with a cool indifference Lucy wished she could pull off. "The guilds been experiencing a bit of a," the dark-haired mage paused, taking his eyes off the window to glance in Lucy's direction before bouncing back to the window.

"What?" Lucy hedged, the silence making her anxious. She'd never been on an official guild request, even though she knew she wasn't officially apart of the guild and was just tagged along because of her knowledge being second to none (except maybe Levy). The silence stretched and Lucy tried to stop her nerves from bubbling over by toying with Natsu's hair. It was softer than she thought and the fire mage didn't look like he was going to complain.

"They're going through a destructive rivalry right now. It's requiring more of their high rank mages to stay close to the guild in Margaret Town." Gray finally finished after a serious look shot from Natsu. "We're meeting up with Lyon at the station in town and then we're heading out another three hours into the mountains. Lyon left his team member Sherry there to protect their research mage so we won't have a lot of time to look around."

"Oh," Lucy sighed. Her eyes drifted back to the window watching the scenery change. Here she'd been hoping to take some time to look around. It wasn't very often she got to leave her business and explore.

"We'll have time to look around for a day after the request is done," Natsu spoke around a wide yawn and lazy stretch. His movement hiked up the hem of her navy-blue cashmere dress and his hair tickled the skin just above her knees. "Don't be sad Luce, Lamia Scale would be happy to show us around after we help them with their mess."

"I think we should talk about expectations," Gray said after a moment, "Lucy hasn't ever worked with us or Fairy Tail before so it wouldn't be fair to assume she'd know what to expect like Levy."

"You don't have to worry about Luce," Natsu grumbled. The pinket rolled onto his side, facing Gray and giving Lucy a moment to breath. He really didn't know the meaning of personal space and the more they were around each other the closer he seemed to stick. Not that she was complaining. "She can handle herself. Besides we already talked about that." Finished on another jaw cracking yawn.

"We talked about it," Gray agreed, "But not with Lucy. Since Levy recommended you in her place and you've accepted there are a few things we should cover. Erza wanted to make sure we told you." That seemed to perk Natsu up. "Firstly, you aren't obligated or expected to fight. You aren't officially a guild member meaning Natsu and I are in charge of not only exterminating the threat to the local research facility that asked for our cooperation but protecting you. You're our responsibility from the moment we step foot in the danger zone. Secondly, you only need to do your best. We aren't expecting you to be able to decipher everything, any contribution is better than none. Lastly you'll of course get a cut of the reward. We'll split it three ways." Gray finished and leaned back further into the cushioned seat at his back. "Now I don't have to worry about Erza murdering me for not being transparent."

"Got it," Lucy responded distractedly, her fingers combing through Natsu's hair as she thought. She'd expected most of that but was surprised they'd be splitting the reward with her equally, not that she was complaining but her job seemed a little less dangerous than theirs. A loud snore from Natsu shook Lucy from her thoughts, she was amazed at his ability to drop off so quickly.

"Thank Mavis for Wendy's motion sickness spell or else this would have been a rough transition for you," Gray grumbled while leaning back and closing his eyes, "He can be such a fucking baby." Lucy didn't have time to ask before he also lapsed into silence; all she could do was stare out the window and watch the world pass her by.

oOo

The meeting with Lyon went exactly as Gray expected. The second the train pulled to a stop at the station the blue-haired mage got ready for the gloating. He'd let Natsu take the lead, watching with amused amazement as his pink haired partner nonchalantly took Lucy's large bag along with his own and exited the train with a cheeky smile, Lucy not far behind after scooping up a very still Plue from under her seat. While the blonde had explained her familiar to him, it always unnerved Gray to see the creature laying around almost lifeless until called to action. Lucy doted on him none the less.

Lyon stood on the platform, a self-righteous smirk on his face. His black eyes noted Natsu impassively, lingered on Lucy and then landed on him and his smile widened. "Gray, looks like you're finally catching up to me."

"Whatever, can we get going?" Gray replied, uninterested in participating in petty squabbling when he just wanted to get on with the mission and collect the promised geode.

"You aren't going to introduce me?"

"You already know Natsu," Gray sighed while gesturing to the blonde at his side, "And this is Lucy. She's agreed to help our guild with the research portion."

"Nice to meet you," Lucy greeted around a bright smile and reached her hand out to Lyon.

"Was an introduction necessary? We've met." Natsu said around an eyeroll while barging between Lucy and Lyon, "Let's go already!"

"I didn't know Fairy Tail had such pretty mages," Lyon ignored Natsu's outburst.

"Lucy isn't apart of the guild," Gray answered, "She owns GEM-N-I along with Levy and has agreed to step in to help with research since Levy is tied up."

"Levy is tied up for once?" Lyon sounded surprised but his black eyes bounced to Lucy before he turned and indicated they follow him to the train stations parking lot, "I wasn't aware she was the Lucy Heartfilia, she doesn't make many public appearances outside of her shop."

"I usually have my hands full," Lucy responded shyly. "Levy suggested this would be a fun change of pace for me and with Natsu practically begging me to come, I couldn't say no." Gray rolled his eyes at Natsu following the conversation with barely contained annoyance.

"You don't say," Lyon mumbled while coming to a stop next to an idling icy white Jeep with thick snow chains around the tires. "It's a three-hour drive to Lamia's research facility, so we can talk on the road. Lucy you can sit up front and let those two idiots sit in the back."

"Nah, Luce is gonna sit in the back with me." Natsu countered as he moved to the trunk to toss their bags in the back before moving to the rear door and opening it wide and holding out his hand to help Lucy climb in, "She's our responsibility during this request, so you don't have to worry about her." Gray knew his expression was the same as Lyon's as they watched Lucy gingerly place her hand in Natsu's and he helped her into the Jeep before sliding in after her. The slam of the door shocked them out of their surprise.

"Well, that's new." Lyon chuckled while smiling at Gray and motioning to the front, "Come on, we got a lot to catch up on."

"Lucky me."

"You can tell me about how you barely managed to pass the ranking exam." Lyon continued, unbothered by Gray's sarcasm. "I bet you pushed yourself a little too hard just to keep up right? You never knew how to take it easy, even when we were kids." Gray decided he'd much rather deal with a nauseous Natsu.

oOo

"Alright lover boy, it's time to pay attention." Gray called back to Natsu who was helping Lucy out of the Jeep. The snow was deeper than what was normal for this time of year, even in the mountains.

"Lover boy?" Natsu and Lyon echoed at the same time a giant boom resonated from the forest behind them.

"What's the plan?" Gray continued, his eyes roaming the area around them.

"Plan?" Natsu mumbled, "We don't usually do plans."

"YOU don't normally do plans," Gray groaned while waving his arms around the area before pointing to the research building twenty feet in behind them, "We need a plan since it isn't just us."

"Well Sherry and I were clearing out the northern and eastern part of the forest," Lyon paused when another loud boom exploded closer, "looks like she's currently clearing out the north. You and Natsu can take the south and west portion. We haven't had time to head that way so you might want to stay alert. We aren't sure how many ice giants are around."

"What about me?" Lucy called out, already starting to shiver in the cold.

"You'll be helping Yuka inside the research facility. Lamia Scale has found a slate written in a language we haven't been able to decipher."

"Yuka?!" Natsu practically growled, "I didn't think he was all that smart."

"He's not but we need his nullification ability considering this artifact has a large and nasty magical aura."

"Nasty?" Lucy piped back in, "Nasty how?"

"Yeah nasty how?" Gray and Natsu parroted, looking annoyed at the new information.

"Mira didn't say anything about a cursed artifact," Natsu mumbled to himself. "Maybe asking Luce to come wasn't the best –" the pinket was cut off as a large creature lumbered from the woods to their right, limping heavily as one leg was partially missing. It's light blue skin, tall stature, and hair fashioned from icicles gave it away.

"Ice giant," Lucy whispered in awe behind them, her back connecting with the Jeep. Natsu was quick to plant himself in front of her, the snow under his feet melting with his rising temperature.

"I'm going to have a talk with Sherry," Lyon griped as he quickly rushed forward. His hands held out wide but low and seeming to turn the same shade as the giant's skin. "She knows better than to leave them alive, even if they are crippled," He continued, picking up speed the closer he got. His hand connected to the giants good leg, below the knee and it immediately iced over; in the same instant Lyon brought his other hand, encased in ice, down hard on the frozen flesh. The giants leg shattered and without missing a beat Lyon's hands were on its face repeating the process. In a matter of seconds, the giant was dead, its head splintered into pieces.

"I didn't think he could move so fast," Lucy whispered. Her hand reaching out to touch Natsu's back through his thin sweatshirt. "I thought you were fast but…he might have you beat."

"He's not faster than I am Luce," Natsu laughed. He moved from in front of her and gestured to the building, "Lets get you inside so we can get to work."

"Can I look at it?" They blonde asked already moving forward, "I've never seen one up close before."

"Another time, it looks like we've got more company," Gray interrupted.