Credence – 1:00 AM

Sal tapped on the holographic display of the watch-like tac-com strapped to his left arm under his black hooded jacket, syncing his microphone, earpieces, and contacts and setting them to record. Once he was done, he looked up at the woman beside him as she turned her hair black and shortened it to a bob cut with Transformation magic. "All set, Celeste?"

"I'm almost done, Sal." Celeste replied as she glanced at the silver-haired and silver-eyed man. She adjusted the harness around her chest and placed her rifle on her back, attaching it to the harness with the inbuilt magnetic coupling.

"Feeling alright?"

"Calm and refreshed." Celeste giggled playfully. She checked over her equipment one last time then gave the man the thumbs up. "I'm good to go."

"You're recording?" Sal quickly checked his own gear over one last time before lifting his hood over his head.

"Yeah. Do you want to do the honours?"

"This is Agent Salamander, operating alongside Agent Celeste. We're beginning the mission to infiltrate the Credence Centre for Microbiological and Biochemical Research – henceforth called 'the Lab' – located in Credence, Bosco. Time is one-oh-four AM. We have already undertaken surveillance of the Lab as well as Rottem Valley and have reason to believe that the Lab is developing a new strain of Anthrax to be weaponised by Bosco and sleeper cells under their control in potential international incidents. Our goal is to investigate the Lab to find evidence of the creation of this or any other Bioweapon and plant a backdoor into their local server. Have I forgotten anything?"

"I don't believe so." Celeste replied with another quick glance with her yellow cat-like eyes as she lifted her hood over her head and pulled up her neck gaiter to cover the lower portion of her face. Both of them were wearing dark clothing that hugged their bodies and hid their identities just in case their transformation magic got jammed by an MSF generator.

"Ah, rules of engagement." Sal clicked his fingers and pointed a gloved hand to the weapons on the busty woman's body. "We're allowed lethal force but only as a last resort. Unless our lives are in danger, we must ensure that no one is killed or critically wounded. H.M.'s orders."

"Then let's make sure that it doesn't come to that." Celeste drew her Ruger 57 and checked the chamber and magazine, nodding gently. "I'm good to go."

"So am I, let's head over." Sal replied as he placed his hand on her back, but as he turned his eyes away from the beautiful woman, he slid his hand down onto her arse and gave it a hearty squeeze. His vision was filled with flashes of white as they moved from rooftop to rooftop until the arrived on the rooftop of the Lab. He stepped forward and tapped on his tac-com, ordering the Spyders that they had planted during their recon to kill the camera feeds. "Gas the guards."

"On it." Celeste replied. While the man worked on the cameras, she reached into one of her pouches and began sending primed gas grenades into the security rooms.

While Celeste was working on the security guards, Sal stepped around to the front of the rooftop access door. It had an electronic lock and a keypad on the frame beside the door to prevent entry into the third floor. He tapped on his tac-com and placed his gloved hand over the keypad, using it to trigger the electronic lock and open the door. "We're in."

"All of the security operators have been put to sleep." Celeste reported quietly. She drew her pistol and walked up to the man's back and placed her gloved hand on his shoulder to let him know she was ready to proceed.

"Go and remove the evidence and then meet back up with me. We can't afford to leave any trace that we were here." Sal ordered quietly with a glance over his shoulder. With a nod, the woman vanished and he pushed into the building. As the agent moved down the stairwell, he drew his pistol and held it at the ready.

He came out into a hallway on the third floor and was met with a line of sealed and airlocked labs with cation signs beside the doors, thankfully the building was a ghost-town so he didn't have to be too cautious as he moved about the floor. These were the biolabs where they were working on the biological weapons. Sal switched on his night-vision and peered into the dimly lit labs in search of any evidence that they could record.

Celeste silently popped into existence beside the man and leaned against the window, her black eyebrows rising slowly. "Looks fairly normal when I get my eyes on it. Pity it isn't safe to go in there."

"I had an idea." Sal glanced at the woman and pointed to one of the pouches sat on her hips. "Send some Spyders into the labs and get them to sweep the area for us then post up in a corner or something where they can hear and see what goes on in here. They'll send the results to us and allow us to have a live feed of what goes on in here."

"Right." Celeste slipped her hand into the pouch and began depositing the Spyder inside the biolabs. "It seems rather barren up here."

"Yeah, I'm picking up on maybe a dozen or more people. I was expecting more myself. Fucking ghost town."

"Maybe they're out at the valley?"

"Possibly." Sal turned and rested his back against the window. "We didn't check this place out at night so we don't know for sure how many people are meant to be here."

"There are test subjects below us but I don't know if they're dead or just sleeping."

"One is dead, four are alive."

"Hm." Celeste lifted her head slightly then turned her attention to the man. "There are cells for twelve, so they might just be out collecting more test subjects."

"We'll check out the cells before heading over to the server building. Maybe we'll find a clue there."

Celeste took her hand from her pouch and tapped on her tac-com once more to issue commands to the Spyders. "Alright. They're all set. I've got them set to probe the dishes and shit then they'll tuck themselves away in some nooks to maintain surveillance."

"Let's continue on then." Sal pushed off the wall and lightly slapped the woman's arse as he passed by.

"Mm!" Celeste muffled her moan through sealed lips and she smiled beneath the gaiter. "I hope we get to go on more missions together after this."

"I bet you do." Sal chuckled quietly and he winked back at her.

"Maybe the next one will be a little less risky. I'd honestly feel safer with bullets flying at me than this crap."

"You and me both."

As the agents descended to the second floor, they passed by cells both empty or filled with a body on a barely comfortable slab. Thankfully, this part of the Lab was safe to enter. Sal quickly hacked the electronic lock and pushed into one of the labs with a living specimen, his gun at the ready.

"Should we try and wake her?" Celeste asked quietly as she peered into the hermetically sealed cell at the woman in a hospital gown.

"No." Sal replied firmly. "I don't want any witnesses, even if they're test subjects. We can't risk them trying to sell us out for their freedom."

"I mean… I don't exactly like it, but we don't really have a choice, do we?" The woman murmured and she backed away from the glass. She rifled through the documentation, getting her eyes onto each sheet but not really reading it beyond a quick skim as they could review the footage later.

"Figures…" Sal muttered before holding out some documents for Celeste to look at. "Her details; came from The Valley and has been here for a few days now. Records say that she's being used to test Specimen D26. Symptoms match with Anthrax exposure but it seems to be more aggressive."

"Pity we can't shut this place down."

"H.M. would probably want to take a diplomatic route first and if that fails, they'll send in a black-ops team. Probably won't be our company though, there are more suitable companies for that kind of task."

"Risky business, given State Security seems to be fairly active in Credence." Celeste put the documents back where she had found them and shifted her attention to Traverse to check on their surroundings. "We better get a move on. I think a patrol is about to hit this hallway. They're just passing the intersection with the hallway leading to the server building, do you want me to put us behind them?"

"I'd have preferred saving your stamina but if we can't sneak past then yeah, let's drop in behind them." Sal quickly placed the test subject's records back into the draw and grabbed the woman's arm. With a flash of white, he was met with the backs of four guards who were quietly talking as they walked away from the two agents. "Let's move before they look back."

Celeste took the man's hand and quietly ran down the enclosed bridge connecting the main and sub building. She looked around using her sixth sense and thankfully it seemed that no one had bothered to check on the security rooms and that the operator for this section was still unconscious. Glancing back at the man, she quietly asked, "Do you think they'll trigger the alarm if they find a guard sleeping at their desk?"

"Depends on if they find more than one. I think we'll get out once we confirm that the bug is working." Sal replied and he moved past the woman, quickly hacking the electronic locks blocking them from the server room. "It's going to be very cold in there and likely have temperature sensors so if you're coming in with me, then you're going to need to stay close because I won't be able to heat the air."

"Okay, I'll try and hold out as long as I can… You may need my help anyway since I'm smaller than you and I can worm my body into places you can't."

Sal nodded and slowly opened the door, glancing around the room as his breath began coming out as fog. There were a few cameras and thermal sensors mounted onto the corners of the room. "Shit. If these things are on their own circuit, then we might trigger an alarm… We're going to have to do this the quick and dirty way and hopefully get out before they come here."

"We might be in luck. Remember how this section had its own security room? The Spyders should have already taken care of the system here. I doubt those sensors have an automatic alarm; they'd have triggered it when you poked your head around. So, I think there might be a light flashing in that security room there." Celeste pointed to the nearby checkpoint, drawing the man's attention. "Want me to take a look?"

"Make it quick then meet me in here." Sal ordered, sparing the woman a glance as she turned and hurried away. His gaze lingered on her arse but he quickly tore it away and entered the server room. The Faraday cage inside the room was locked with a mechanical lock, child's play for him as all he needed to do was command it to open with Macro and he could access the server towers.

"There was a flashing light. I overrode it and switched it into maintenance mode so we shouldn't have any issues working in there beside the cold."

"Understood." Sal glanced at the doorway and then back to one of the towers. Since they were all likely linked, he'd only have to put the physical backdoor – a hardware trojan that'll link to an outside module via a relay placed outside the cage – onto one tower but he had a few more just in case. He carefully removed one of the access panels and slid out one of the server trays. After a little bit of poking around the mess of computer parts, Sal found where he was supposed to plug in the device and quickly closed up the tower. He picked another tower at random and installed a second, then continued until five had been set up. "I'm done with the backdoors. I just need to install the in-line relay outside this cage and then we can jet. It'll send the data back home without any input."

"There's an access panel in here that has cabling running through it from the server room, looks like the wires for the access points in the labs. You might be able to splice it into the system from it."

"Good. I'll be right there." Sal locked up the cage and closed up the server room. He ran to the security room but slowed as he quietly entered it to the sound of a snoring man slumped over at his desk. Celeste waved him over and pointed to the metal panel right next to her.

"I don't think we'll need tools to remove it…" Celeste crouched down and fiddled with the hatch before carefully opening it. The panel groaned softly and the woman's attention snapped to the man but her caution was waved away by the man.

"Don't worry about him. That drug will be in his system for a few hours so he'll be pretty out of it even if he does wake up. It'll give me enough time to put him back under with Macro."

"Alright." Celeste put the hatch up the rest of the way and used Traverse to trace the cables and find the right one. "Hand me that relay. I'm going to try and clamp it a little past the hatch so it'll be harder to find." The cat-eyed woman held out her left hand as she snaked her right through the narrow gap under the floor. She pushed in until she was almost shoulder deep and once Sal had given her the relay, she sent it to her right hand and clamped it down around one of the server cables. A notification popped up on her contact's display, notifying her of a positive connection and she smiled to herself and carefully withdrew her arm. "We're good."

"Looks like they're talking." Sal added as he began to fiddle with his tac-com's holographic display. "Alright, backdoors are active and access is being routed through a maze of networks. Should be good to go. Data access, check, sample access, check from both the Spyders and the Dragonfly-"

"You know, they call them Spyders, so I think they should call the Dragonfly the DragonSpy." Celeste cut in with a playful joke as she lightly nudged the man with her elbow.

"That doesn't work as well as Spider and Spyder. Anyway; investigate Rottem Valley, check, undetected and no casualties, check. It's a successful mission so far, so close up the hatch and we'll head back to the room."

"Alright." Celeste carefully closed up the access panel and placed her hand on the man's chest. "You're certain we're done?"

"No point heading to the first floor, and we've already got Spyders on the trucks from the basement. We've only left Spyders and the hacking hardware behind, which is necessary. So yeah, we're good to go."

"Off to Never Never Land." Celeste pulled the man through the upper dimension and moved along the rooftops until they were kneeling on the bed inside their suite.

"Just to reiterate." Sal said as he lowered his hood and neck gaiter. "This is Agent Salamander and Agent Celeste reporting the completion of our assigned mission with the tasks; Retrieve data from the server, completed by providing real-time remote access; Collect samples of whatever they're working on, completed by sampling dead bodies at Rottem Valley using the prototype Dragonfly Drone as well as Spyders inside The Lab; and confirm whether they're using refugees as test subjects, completed by investigating Rottem Valley as well as checking test subject records inside The Lab. Additionally, we have set up Spyders in strategic locations to act as surveillance cameras to record what goes on within The Lab. Celeste and I will stay undercover for a few days to round out our 'vacation' before departing for home. Agent Salamander, signing off."

As soon as they had ended their recordings and stored their gear and clothing with Requip, they returned to their Natsu Drake and Lucinda Hart covers and Lucy spread out atop the bed, yawning softly. "Bed time, finally."

"Not just yet, for me at least." Natsu gave the beautiful blonde a gentle kiss before he crawled off the bed in just his black boxers and made his way to the sitting room where he took a seat on the couch and brought out his laptop. Lucy followed after him and sat down beside the man, dressed only in the pale-yellow lace underwear that she had on underneath her gear. "I'm going to send off the mission recording to HQ now so we're free to relax."

"I think we should get out of the country as soon as possible. How soon do you think we can organise a flight out?"

"Ah, what time is it now…" Natsu glanced down at the time on the computer. "We can probably get one out in maybe an hour or two. We can get tickets on the next flight at the airport. We won't get anything fancy like we did on the way over, but we'd get out of Bosco quickly."

"Maybe you should book online then, and try to get something like we had on the way over." Lucy looked at the man with hope-filled eyes.

"You just want to fuck on the plane."

"Guilty~." The blonde purred playfully. "Granted, we can do that in the toilets but I'd rather do it in the suites on the way over. It's a little more dignified."

"Alright, alright." Natsu chuckled lightly and he brought the woman onto his lap. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek then sent off their recordings to HQ. Once completed, he began browsing flights from Credence International back to Magnolia International. "Looks like we've got a Fiore Airways flight leaving at eight in the morning, three free spots in first-class."

"Book it." Lucy urged quickly. She carefully turned on the man's lap and straddled him but even though she was in the mood, she just hugged him tightly and was relishing his warmth.

"One second… and… done." Natsu closed the laptop and sent it away. He carried the woman back to the bed and laid down with her in his arms. "Let's get a couple of hours of sleep then get a move on. I don't want to linger too long here."

Lucy quickly set an alarm on her phone for five in the morning and settled into the man's embrace.


5:40 AM

Natsu pressed his hand against the windows and removed the cursed barriers that prevented eavesdropping on their room. They were in the final stages of cleaning the suite of any and all evidence that they had been there.

"I'm all done, Darling." Lucy said as she brought their luggage out of the bedroom. "I hope mother is okay…"

"They said the injuries weren't too bad but her leg with have to have a cast put on it." Natsu reached out and ran a soothing hand through the woman's sandy-blonde hair. "She got t-boned by a larger car, so she's lucky she got off with minimal injuries."

"I wouldn't call a broken leg minimal, Natsu." Lucy fried back heatedly, her eyes flashing.

"Lucinda, she's in good hands. They would've told us if it was worse than that." Natsu brought the woman in closer and placed a kiss on her forehead. "We should leave soon so we can make the flight back home. It should allow us to make it back in time, don't worry." This was their cover for leaving the vacation early; a family member being hospitalised and for Lucy to be agitated and worried. Due to the ease that she switches between their life and the life of the Heartfilia Heiress, he had faith that she could play the role perfectly. He gently cupped her chin and raised her head, placing another kiss on her lips.

Lucy leaned into the kiss a little before stepping back and handing the man his suitcase. "Then can we get a move on, please?"

"I just need to grab the keys and we can head down." Natsu made his way to the entrance and grabbed the room keys from the glass bowl beside the door. He locked the door behind them and led the way to the elevator. Lucy had remained visibly worried and agitated in the elevator and he gently took her hand, giving her a reassuring squeeze and the woman hugged his arm.

The lobby had a small amount of people both booking in and out of the hotel, talking with either a tired-looking greenette woman who must have been at the end of her shift or a brunette man who seemed refreshed and had a steaming cup of coffee next to him. After a brief wait in the small line, the agents were seen by the tired woman.

"Hello and welcome to the Haligtree Hotel. How may I help you?" The woman droned as she raised her eyes to the couple but she quickly pepped up at the sight of the rugged-looking man, not even noticing the irritated blonde who started to give her a malevolent glare. She did notice the room keys in his hand and she immediately asked, "Are you ending your stay with us, Sir?"

"Yes, unfortunately we've had a family member end up in hospital and are heading home early." Natsu placed the keys down on the woman's desk with a glum smile. "Room 1019, under the name Natsu Drake."

"One moment, Mister Drake." The woman took a small check-out book from under the desk and placed it down in front of the man. "Please fill this out and I'll update our system." Once the man had filled out the book, the greenette put the keys back into the case and returned to her desk with a sympathetic smile. "I hope the family member makes a swift recovery, Mister Drake."

"Thank you." Natsu gave the receptionist a polite nod and made his way to the elevator that went down to the garage.

"I don't think she even noticed that I was on your arm…" Lucy murmured softly, looking up at the man with surprise. Once inside the elevator, she hit the button for the garage and let out a gentle sigh. There were a few people mingling around in the garage which caused her to narrow her eyes and look up at the pinkette.

"Don't worry about it." Natsu chuckled softly. The elevator dinged and the doors parted way for them. As they crossed the underground garage to their rental car, he sensed sixteen people turn their attention onto them and they began to slowly encircle them. He unlocked their car and opened the hatch, placing their luggage into the back of the car.

"Uhh, N-Natsu?" Lucy put on a timid aura as she pressed up against the man, looking worriedly at the men around them, all of whom were dressed in onyx military-style uniforms.

"Can I help you all… Officers?" Natsu asked hesitantly as he cautiously brought Lucy between him and the car, shielding her protectively. The woman turned and snaked her arms around his waist, pulling herself close to the man's body and hiding herself within his jacket.

"We're with State Security, we'd like to ask you two a few questions, Mister Natsu Drake and Miss Lucinda Hart." A gruff-looking man with a scarred face informed the couple as he took an ID from his pocket and presented it. "Call me Wilford. We can talk here or you can come with us to the District Headquarters."

"Here is fine. I'd rather not risk missing our flight home." Natsu replied slowly as he placed a hand on top of Lucy's head, stroking it gently as he said, "It's okay, this probably won't take long, we'll be able to catch the flight back home and see your mother."

"Normally, we wouldn't have this many people for something like this but we noticed some unusual occurrences."

"Do you mind if my fiancée sits in the car? She's a bit stressed out due to her mother ending up in hospital."

"Unfortunately, I'll need to ask her a few questions too." Wilford replied sternly and he placed his ID back into his breast pocket. "If you fail to answer our questions here then we'll be forced to bring you in for further questioning."

"I understand."

"We'll start simple; where are you two from?"

"Magnolia, Fiore." Natsu replied and Lucy nodded against his chest, quietly repeating the man's words.

"Speak up, woman."

"Magnolia, Fiore, same as Natsu." Lucy replied louder and she hesitantly peeked out from the man's jacket. "It's where we live, where he works and I study too."

"And you two live together?"

"Yes. Lucinda moved in with me almost a year ago while we were dating."

"You're very calm, Mister Drake. Going by your build, you must work some kind of security job?"

"A security consultant specialising in physical security for a firm in Magnolia. In my off-hours, I teach self-defence classes."

"And Miss Hart, you said you study?"

"Yes. I'm studying architecture at Magnolia's Sylvia University. We decided to come here because of it, so I could see Bosco's architecture."

"Hm, very well." Wilford raised his piercing gaze from the sandy-blonde woman to the red-eyed pinkette. "Now, Mister Drake. Considering your job as a security consultant, am I to understand that you would've noticed the various surveillance equipment used in Bosco to ensure our nation's safety and security?"

"Yes. And yes, I did notice that our suite had such equipment. I took it upon myself to find all of them and disable them so that Lucinda and I could enjoy our vacation, and that our private moments remain just that."

"Wait, wait, wait…" Lucy looked up at the man, her cheeks rapidly tinting pink as a hint of panic entered her voice. "Are you telling me that people were watching us having sex…?"

"They would have if I didn't deal with the surveillance equipment. No one would've seen us, Luce." Natsu quietly reassured the woman though he was surprised at how she could blush on command. He levelled his gaze on the State Security Officer and narrowed his eyes slowly. "I'm sure you would understand my concern, right? Not wanting my fiancée to be seen in a compromising position by whoever and however many might've been watching us. Call me protective, but I don't want her to be seen like that by anyone but me."

"Tampering with surveillance equipment, while not explicitly a crime, is incredibly suspect." Wilford calmly informed the man but he lowered his gaze to the blonde once more before turning his attention back to the man. "However, given your background and her reaction, it seems that there is some merit to your words. Can you explain why our teams couldn't receive audio from external microphones directed at your windows?"

"Ultrasonic emitters that I placed on the corners of the windows. They would've cancelled out any vibrations from us talking. I keep a few on-hand for business trips that take me outside of the country, used them out of force of habit. Of course, I don't leave them on the windows permanently as I take them off when we left the suite. Understand that I must keep all details on my various consultations as private as possible for my clients' own security, and that is a measure that is taken to ensure that I can't be recorded with a laser microphone."

"Hm. You were booked into the hotel for a minimum period of two weeks. Can you tell me why you're leaving so suddenly?"

"Lucinda's mother is in the hospital after being in a car crash. So, we're rushing back to Magnolia to see her. I'm sure it's nothing too serious but-"

"Natsu, she's got a broken arm and leg! And who knows what else could've been discovered since!" Lucy piped up. "She could've hit her head or got whiplash!"

"As you can see, she's in a bit of a stressful state…" Natsu returned to soothingly running his hand through Lucy's hair. "We decided that it would be best for us to end our vacation early and go to her mother."

"Yes, my wife was the same when my father-in-law was hospitalised while we were on the other side of the country." Wilford nodded slowly. He quickly gestured to his fellow officers and they began to disperse. "I'll let you two off with a warning this time so you don't miss your flight. But be mindful that other officers might not be as lenient as I have been."

"Thank you, Wilford."

"Enjoy your flight, Mister Drake, Miss Hart." Leaving them with those final words, Wilford turned and made his way back to his blacked-out sedan parked nearby.

"Fuck me…" Natsu murmured quietly and he slowly closed the back of the hatchback. "That was close… Can you see any signs of tampering with the car?"

"No." Lucy replied softly and she shakily made her way to the front passenger seat. Once Natsu was inside and they had left the underground garage, she dropped the act and asked, "Is that a normal response, that many officers?"

"For those secret police, I would've expected half of that. They knew something was up and brought extra people just in case. I wouldn't say that we're completely clear, not until we're in the air, but we seemed to have shaken them off us for the most part." Natsu glanced up to his rear-view mirror, checking for the State Security cars. "There aren't any other scents in the car, so I don't think they have been inside here and turned on the recording software. We should turn it back on when we get to the airport so nothing looks out of place."

"That was more stressful than I was expecting." Lucy admitted.

"You did good, I'm proud of you." Natsu smiled and he gently patted her thigh. "You actually shocked me with how authentic you made it."

"I wasn't about to risk being kidnapped and turned into some rich fucker's sex slave. It almost happened once back when you saved me, I'm not letting it almost happen again." Lucy snarled and she leaned over to rest her head against the man's arm. "You're the only person I want inside me. I won't let anyone else lay their hands on me."

"I'd say they'd have to go through me first, but I can't protect you when you're on jobs alone. All I can say is that if anyone does hurt you that way, then I'd track them down and torture the fuck out of them before I kill them."

"I'll do my best to avoid getting into that situation. Thankfully, Traverse will come in handy if it does come to pass."

The drive to the airport was tense after their run-in with Bosco's State Security and the two agents maintained a careful lookout for any tails. As they pulled into the airport's grounds, Lucy quickly patched into the car's computer systems and reactivated the surveillance systems that she had disabled when they picked up the car. Once they were parked outside the terminal, they dropped off the keys at the rental booth and joined the line for outgoing flights.

Lucy returned to her slightly irritated and hurried demeanour and she tapped her foot quickly but quietly as she waited for the line to thin out. They showed their electronic tickets to the woman sat behind the desk and received physical flight tickets. It wasn't until they had stepped foot onto the plane that she took down the façade and smiled at Natsu, murmuring to him, "Seems like we're in the clear."

"Yeah." Natsu entered the small first-class room and lowered the divider so he could share with Lucy then pulled out the bed. "We've got some time before we get into the air so we should try and relax."

"Natsu~," Lucy whispered as she crawled across the bed to the man, giving him a vulpine smile as she pulled him down and straddled his lap. "I'm feeling a little wound-up after everything, wanna help me blow off some stress?"

"Try not to disturb the stewardesses, will you?" Natsu grinned at the blonde and he pulled her into a deep kiss.


Fairy Tail HQ – Magnolia, Fiore – 11:30 AM

Natsu stepped out of the Taxi Cab and made his way through the front door alongside Lucy who was back to her normal luxurious long blonde hair which swayed freely behind her with each bouncy step. While both agents wanted to get home and relax, they had to report to the Director and the Queen. They were greeted by staff and operatives as well as other agents as they made their way up though the building and to the Director's Office.

"Hey, Charlette." The pinkette waved to the woman sat near the doors to the office. "Is the old man in?"

"No, he's talking a little bit of a break – Doctor's orders. But he left his grandson in charge while he's away." Makarov's secretary replied as she lifted her gaze from the computer in front of her to the two agents. "You can head in and see him now as he's free. And welcome home, you two."

"Thank you." Natsu gave the woman a quick nod before entering the office. Laxus was sat behind the desk opposite the door and was reading something on one of the monitors but he looked up when Natsu and Lucy entered. "Hey, Sparky. The old man doing alright?"

"Yeah." Laxus leaned back in the chair and gestured to the chairs across the desk, silently offering his fellow agents a seat. "Porlyusica put him on some bedrest after a routine check-up. Nothing major but he is getting on in his years. So, while he's resting, I'm the Acting Director."

"I'm guessing that you've been made aware of our mission then?" Lucy asked curiously as she took one of the offered seats and she crossed her legs. "The reason we have been out of the country?"

"Yes. I was brought up to speed on it. I was just finishing up reading the report that you sent through during the night." Laxus waved his hand to one of his screens. "Any hiccups?"

"Had a little run-in with SecPol on our way out of the country but we managed to talk our way out of it." Natsu replied and he took the remaining free seat. "I wanted to drop by HQ and give my report in person. Can you get the Queen on the line? Might as well kill two birds with one stone."

"Alright, give me a second." The blonde man typed up and sent off a quick message to the Queen and turned his attention back to the agents as he waited for a reply. He noticed the rings on their left hands and he quirked an eyebrow. "Did you two get engaged while you were over there?"

"Hm?" Lucy blinked rapidly then glanced down at her hand and over to Natsu's, a blush slowly forming on her cheeks and words began to spill from her mouth, "No. It was part of our cover. We were an engaged couple on a vacation as a celebration. The rings came from Hisui. I guess we just forgot they were there since we never removed them-" Thankfully, Lucy's rambling was cut short by a ping and the TV to her right lit up and displayed her friend's face.

"How did it go?" Hisui asked, immediately getting down to business.

"We avoided conflict as asked." Natsu started while rising from his chair and standing at attention to the monarch. "I'll start with the refugees at Rottem Valley; they're being used as test subjects and the bodies are being dumped in a mass grave on the edge of the settlement. We were able to recover samples from these bodies and found that they had been exposed to a modified strain of Anthrax. That night, we infiltrated The Lab and took a look at some of the documentation which corroborated our findings. We would've checked the biolab itself but I deemed it too unsafe as I didn't want to risk exposure and become Patient Zero for some bioweapon. The servers have been bugged and you'll have access full access to everything in there soon, and we also planted surveillance drones throughout The Lab as well as inside the transport vehicles. Full recordings from the drone as well as from ourselves during the infiltration will be sent to you once Sparky over there signs off on it. As we were leaving, we had a brief run-in with State Security who had approached us with sixteen men. They cited our cover IDs and asked us a few questions but we managed to talk our way out of the situation."

"I'm almost done going through those recordings and the report." Laxus chimed in, giving the greenette a casual wave. "But as usual, everything is order so you'll have it soon."

"Good. Well done, Mr Dragneel. You too, Lucy." Hisui nodded slowly and gave her friend a quick smile before she turned her attention to Laxus. "Payment will be made to the usual account, and I will throw in a bonus for these two due to their diligence in avoiding conflict that could have and likely would have led to an international incident."

"Happy to have been of service, Ma'am." Natsu bowed his head slightly.

"Once my people have access to the data, we will go over what will need to be done and proceed from there." Hisui sat back in her chair and smiled at the agents. "Thank you for the report. Send that data over once it is ready."

"Will do, Ma'am." Laxus nodded. After Hisui closed the call from her side, he turned to the two agents as Natsu took his seat again. "As Hisui said, good work you two. Working in another nation is never easy but you two pulled it off quite well. I don't have anything lined up for either of you, so you're free to head home or stick around here for a bit."

"Is Mavis in?" Lucy asked quickly.

"No. She's over at Nevermore with Zeref, interviewing our two prospective agents."

"Then I think I'll head home for the day. I was hoping to do some training with her in my ear for when I'm on solo missions."

"We'll need to drop off our gear at the armoury and R&D before we head out, Lucy." Natsu reminded the beautiful blonde. "Plus, neither of us have a car available since we were picked up from our house."

"I'll let you two go and sort yourselves out. I've got to get back to your report and get it sent over to the Queen." Laxus leaned forward and returned his attention to his screens. "Your mission payment and bonus will be sent over when it comes through."

"Alright." Lucy rose to her feet and led the way out of the office before turning to Natsu once they were a little way down the hall. "Hand me your gear, I'll go and sort that out and come find you after."

"I'll head down to the motor pool and check in with Ashlyn, see how my cars are coming along." Natsu handed over his rifle as well as the gadgets and watch-like tac-com. Once she had everything mission-related, he left her with a quick kiss on the lips but as he pulled back, Lucy pushed forward and gave him another, more passionate kiss.

"I love you, Darling." Lucy whispered with a playful smile. After one last and quick kiss, she hurried away, giggling softly to herself as she could feel the man's longing eyes glued to her.

"Vixen." Natsu called out playfully to the woman's back, earning a beautiful burst of laughter from the blonde as she turned back and poked her tongue out at him.

Tearing his eyes way from his partner, he made his way down to the motor pool where he was met with loud music and chatter mixed with the sounds of power tools and the heavy scent of oil, fuel and exhaust which was being drawn out by the ventilation system. He couldn't see the Head Mechanic anywhere around the workshop so he stopped a passing mechanic and asked, "Hey, where's Ash?"

"In her office." The man replied, shifting the box in his hands so he could point to the agent in the right direction. "She's working on CAD stuff."

"Thanks." Natsu gave the man a quick wave and headed to the offices. He found Ashlyn sat at her desk with a steaming cup of coffee beside her and a few holographic miniatures projected above her desk; the NSX and the shell of the Black Mamba. "How's things going?"

"Hm?" Ashlyn turned on her chair and grinned at the sight of the pinkette. Her overalls were tied off at her hips, leaving her upper body bare save for a white tube-top with the Fairy Tail logo on the left breast. "Ah, you're back. Job go alright?"

"Smooth as butter." Natsu walked over to the desk and gestured to the holograms with a wave of his hand. "What's with these?"

"After thinking things over, I decided on keeping the Black Mamba as it is." Ashlyn pinched the shell of the Hemi 'Cuda and expanded it. "But I did have my boys completely strip it down and do some 3D scans of it. I'm going to remake the body and all the panels out of a 50-50 carbon fibre/aramid weave. I'm going to use metal matrix composites throughout the car to keep the weight down and take advantage of the perks of using those materials. Same the NSX's new engine and drivetrain to balance out the added weight of the electric motors and battery. I've got the eggheads in R&D helping me with those too."

"So where are the cars at?"

"Raven, the NSX is still on a lift with the drivetrain out while I design a new one but the Black Mamba is back in one piece and ready to be driven. It's under one of the covers over there in the workshop – keys are inside." Ashlyn rose from her seat and pointed out of the window to a nearby Cuda-shaped cover. "I've reigned in my creative madness a bit and have been brainstorming what to do with the engines, so I'll let you know what I finally come up with when I get there. I'm thinking of going camless on both engines and using solenoids along with hydraulic valve dampeners instead of springs to reduce the risk of valve float. I'm going to dry sump both engines as well to further reduce the overall size, which is going to be useful for that NSX if I go for the 4.8 litre V8 idea though I might still need to shrink the displacement depending on size constraints but if I go with an electric supercharger instead of a mechanical one or turbos then I'll have even more room to work with, plus it pairs well with the electric motors. Hence the scan of that car projected over there – it allows me to see it completely, even up to full scale."

"Give me a call once it's all done and I'll bring the Cuda back."

"Will you want both of the cars?" Ashlyn asked as she returned to her seat and looked up at the pinkette.

"Yeah. In the short time I was driving the NSX, I found that I liked it but the Cuda is definitely more practical thanks to the size of the boot."

"Alright." Ashlyn adjusted her tube-top and sat back with her arms behind her head. "I'll probably finish up the NSX first since the BM2 will need to be built from scratch which means raw mats and jigs, etcetera. So, I'll call you once she's done. Don't worry about bringing the Cuda in until her replacement is done. Do you have a colour in mind?"

"How about we make it contrast the Black Mamba and go for a white colour, with a name like Snow White?"

"Sounds like Frosty's new nickname to me." Ash laughed but she wrote down the suggestion regardless.

"Heh, maybe I'll make him change it if he agrees to another bet." Natsu cackled deviously. "But still, I reckon it'd be a cool idea for the cars, like the Black Mamba reborn as Snow White."

"Leave it with me and I'll have some speed shapes done up with some whites and pearls to work out where I'll go with it."

"Right." Natsu waved as he made his way out of the office but he was stopped at the door when Ashlyn called out to him.

"Did you and blondie get engaged?" Ashlyn asked with a Cheshire grin as she eyed the ring glittering on the man's tanned skin.

"Ah," Natsu glanced at his hand the casually held it up for the mechanic to look at before slipping both hands into his pockets. "Not really. It was part of our covers for the job; we were engaged. The rings themselves were a gift from the Queen."

The woman noticed that the man made no move to remove the ring and she grinned but she kept it to herself. "Right, right. Well, I won't keep you any longer and I've got to get back to these designs."

While Natsu made his way to the Black Mamba, he sent off a quick text to Lucy to tell her to meet him in the parking garage when she was done. He pulled off the cover and stored it on the nearby shelf and got into the car. The keys had been left on top of the dash so he quickly turned on the car and it started first try. Nothing sounded off and everything seemed to be exactly as he had left it. He drove over to the vehicle elevator and took it to the garage, rolling out of it just as Lucy popped into existence just off to the side of the doors.

"You got your girl back?" Lucy asked as she slid into the car and put on her seatbelt.

"Apparently Ash wants to create a version 2 from scratch. So, she pulled this one apart, scanned it all and then put it back together. The other car is still off the road until she finishes her modifications."

"What about the police?" Lucy quickly leaned over and stole a kiss from the man before settling in for the trip home.

"They can try." Natsu took the car up onto the road and drove back to their house in a comfortable silence but both of them were clearly eager to finally be able to sleep in their own bed. As they neared the house, Natsu noticed a small white Honda EK9 Civic parked in the driveway behind where Lucy's S2000 sat inside the garage. With the press of a button on the remote clipped to the rear-view mirror, the garage opened and Natsu parked inside.

"That must be Wendy's car, right?" Lucy asked curiously as she looked over her shoulder at the rather inconspicuous car but thanks to being around Natsu, she knew it was more than what met the eye even though it had no means of telling what the car was beyond the red Honda badges.

"She might be a little cutie but she's quite the hellion when she gets fired up. That's a Type R N1, a spicy little thing that loves to scream just as much as you do."

"Is she cuter than me?" Lucy asked playfully as she leaned in closer to the man.

"A different type of cute. You're the kind of cute that I want to pin to the bed and turn into a hot mess."

The blonde giggled, satisfied with the man's answer, and she got out of the car. As she reached for the doorknob, the door leading into the house flew open and would have hit her square in the face had she not blinked back a metre. "Woah there."

"Ah, sorry." Wendy gave the blonde an apologetic bow before dashing over to Natsu and leaping into his arms. "Natsu!"

"Hey there, Wendy." Natsu chuckled at the young woman's eagerness to see him and he gently pat her back. "How have you been?"

"Neck-deep in study but it's alright." Wendy smiled up at the man but a scent on him caught her attention and she gently sniffed the air before turning to the blonde with curious eyes. "Is this your girlfriend? Wait… is that a ring?"

Lucy bashfully slipped her left hand behind her back as she smiled warmly at the younger woman. "Yes. Natsu and I are dating. I'm Lucy Heartfilia. Welcome to our house, Wendy. Natsu said you had an Exceed with you?"

Wendy turned and bowed to the woman once again. "It's nice to meet you, Lucy. And yeah, Carla is sharing a room with me but right now she's at school with Happy."

"I hope they're getting along." Natsu remarked as he made his way into the house and up to his bedroom with both women following close behind.

"Ah… about that…" Wendy hesitated but she was doing her best to suppress a fit of giggles. "He's head over heels for her but she's being her usual tsundere self. I think it was love at first sight."

"He did seem really eager to meet her when we told him about you two." Natsu chuckled. He brought out his suitcase and began unpacking his clothes alongside Lucy. "Were you able to get a place at the hospital attached to where we work?"

"Yes. I'm helping Doctor Porlyusica starting next week." Wendy replied happily and she sat on the edge of the bed while she watched the couple unpack their bags. "Thank you for allowing me to live here."

Natsu gave the woman a quick smile and ruffled her hair. "I consider you family, Wendy. You're always welcome in my home."

Lucy's stomach grumbled quietly from within the walk-in wardrobe and to her embarrassment, both Dragon Slayers turned to look at her. "Wendy, have you had anything for lunch yet? I just remembered that Natsu and I never had breakfast…"

"No, I haven't." Wendy shook her head gently. "I had breakfast with Happy and Carla before school. Since I don't start until next week, I took them to school and have just been lazing around and playing on Happy's console."

"I don't know about you, Lucy, but since we just got home, I think I'd rather make something instead of going to a café." Natsu gave the woman a kiss on the cheek and he lifted their suitcases up to the top of the wardrobe.

"I don't mind waiting a little longer for food, so how about we make some quiches?" Lucy suggested as she loosely wrapped her arms around the man's neck and gave him an adoring smile.

"Sounds good to me." Natsu replied and he flashed the blonde a carefree grin as he swept her off her feet and carried her down to the kitchen with Wendy right behind them.


Going to end this here. In hindsight I could've easily put that Lab segment in the previous chapter and made this one lean more into the run-in with Bosco's secret police; like have them be taken in for questioning, put into separate interrogation chambers, and so on.

Regardless, I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, I'll see you all in the next one.