A/N: Alright, everyone. This is going to be my attempt at a GaLu (AU) where Lucy joins Phantom Lord instead of Fairy Tail. Obviously, there will be some changes to the main story, like where she gets certain keys and all that, along with her being slightly ooc (hello, confident and snarky Lucy) but I hope you enjoy it regardless! Wish me luck!

(I don't own Fairy Tail…)

Lucy sighed heavily as she trekked through the forest, using a long gnarled walking stick that was similar to the one that Bero, her Celestial magic tutor while she lived with her father, used to poke and prod at the surrounding greenery. As she pushed through yet another thicket of thorny bushes, wincing lightly when they dragged across her creamy thighs and made faint scratches on her skin, Lucy finally saw the bright, cloudless summer sky gleaming above her. She came upon a small clearing just before the town that lay ahead of her, and sat down on the lush green grass to take a small sip of water and rest her weary bones. "Oak Town," she said with a smile. "Looks like I might get a chance to join a guild today."

She had always wanted to join Fairy Tail, ever since she saw an article about their crazy antics in a newspaper that her father hadn't gotten a chance to hide from her, but had decided it would be smarter to stop at each guild along the way from the Heartfilia Konzern to Magnolia—where Fairy Tail was allegedly located—and see if she might prefer to join another guild. She had a good bit of money that she had taken from her father's estate, but she knew it wouldn't last forever. She needed a place to live, and hardly had more than the clothes on her back and the small bag she had been able to take with her. If she didn't like the guild she joined, she could always just move on and go after her dream of joining Fairy Tail anyway. It had already been several months since she left her father's estate, having run away in the middle of the night, but Lucy had spent the majority of that time sight-seeing and spending her nights under the stars; she only spent one night a week in a hotel so she could get a nice hot bath and sleep in a bed for a change, so that she could save as much money as possible until she found a way to make more.

After several minutes of basking in the warm sunlight and light breeze that brushed through her hair, Lucy stood up with renewed determination gleaming in her eyes. She made her way through the town, asking people along the way how to get to the closest guild, Phantom Lord. They didn't exactly have the best reputation when it came to things like being merciful or kind, but they were very well-known for getting the job done no matter what. 'I might not entirely agree with the rumors of how they do things, but I want to help people. It doesn't matter what guild I'm in, as long as I can use my magic without worrying about being judged for it.' Lucy hoped she wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb, since she was still trying to get used to the freedom that she had made for herself by running away. Every once in a while her demeanor would revert back to that of an heiress, as if it was her natural state of being, and Lucy had to remind herself that she didn't need to hide who she was any longer.

"It's right around this corner, dear," an elderly woman with a red scarf tied around her head to contain her frizzy gray hair said. "I don't know why such a young and sweet thing like you would be looking for them, but that's where they are."

Lucy smiled warmly down at the woman, clasping her hands together in front of her chest excitedly, and said, "I'm hoping they'll let me join their guild!"

The woman took a small step back, shock clearly written across her face, "W-Well, then. If that's what you think is best, dear child. Please be safe."

Lucy tilted her head to the side in confusion as the older woman made a hasty retreat, and just before she turned the corner, she saw a small magic shop. With a wide and hopeful smile, Lucy walked in, and hearing a jingling, looked up to see a small bell alerting the owner to her entrance. "Hello, sir," Lucy said with a grin, "Do you happen to have any Celestial Spirit keys?"

"Oh, a Celestial mage?" the shopkeeper asked with an intrigued grin, pushing his chin-length auburn hair away from his face to show a pair of brilliant sky-blue eyes and pale skin that was blotted with freckles. "We don't get many of you anymore."

Lucy blushed and nodded, "Yes, my mom was one and gave her keys to me when she passed. I'm hoping to eventually own all of the Zodiac keys! It would be wonderful to have so many friends if I had their keys!" Lucy paused in her rant and blushed a deeper shade of red, smiling sheepishly, "I'm sorry, I tend to ramble when it comes to them."

"What is your name, dear?" he asked.

"Lucy, sir!" she chirped. When the man put a hand across the counter, she immediately grasped it and gave him a firm and confident handshake.

"Malthus. Nice to meet you, Lucy!" he said warmly. "I don't mind the rambling; it's nice to hear someone talking about Spirits like they're more than a possession. An old family friend was a Celestial mage like you, and he felt the same way as you do. He wasn't very powerful, but he treasured all of the keys he had as if they were his family."

Lucy's grin widened and her eyes twinkled with delight. "See? I knew I wasn't the only one!"

Malthus' laugh was light-hearted, and then he glanced around the store to make sure no other customers were inside. Once he assured they were alone, he reached under the counter and pulled out an old wooden box from the bottom of a large stack of papers. He placed it on the counter, putting a finger to his lips to tell Lucy to stay silent, then opened it and watched her jaw drop and her eyes go wide. "He wanted me to give these to someone that would treat them right," he whispered. "I've only got one key that's for sale, but it's not more of a companion Spirit so no one really grabs it when they're in the market for keys."

"Wow," Lucy whispered in awe. There, nestled in the green velvet lining of the wooden box on the counter, were three Zodiac keys: the Maiden, Virgo; the Golden Bull, Taurus; and the Archer, Sagittarius. "Whoever gets these keys would be lucky to have them."

"Then it looks like this is your lucky day, Lucy," Malthus said as he pushed the box towards the young blonde. "Uncle Bero would be happy to know that there's someone like you with his keys. Please take them."

'BERO?!' Lucy screeched internally, 'Maybe it's just a coincidence. He never had any keys when he was teaching me.' "A-Are you sure? I could buy them from you," she said, looking back up to Malthus with a sweet smile.

"No no, they're a gift."

"Then how much for the key you have for sale?" Lucy asked.

Malthus pulled out the small silver key and said, "For someone like you? 10,000 Jewels."

Lucy smiled at the little silver key and said, "It's a deal." Once she handed him the money, Malthus gave her the three golden keys along with the silver and bid her a good day as she left, putting the keys on her key ring until she had a chance to make contracts with them. Once she was outside of the small magic shop, the day seemed to hold even more promise than before, and Lucy hummed softly while she made her way to the place she hoped would become her new home.

Gajeel wasn't in the mood to deal with anything that day. His latest mission had been far too simple, with the guild he had been ordered to take out not having a single mage that was capable of withstanding more than a couple of hits from him before collapsing. The pay was decent, and there wasn't anything on the request about letting them live, so he ended up not having to deal with any Rune Knights either. He made his way through town, scowling at the few people that didn't jump out of his way fast enough, and even letting out a low growl to ward off and scare smaller children to tears. 'Hey, gotta find something to pass the time.' What he really wanted, more than anything, was a fight with someone that could handle it and maybe even give him a challenge. It wasn't likely, unless he ran into an S-Class mage from some other guild and could goad them into a sparring match, but the last time he'd done that the piss-ant had run home crying, and he'd been forced to listen to a lecture from Master Jose about 'proper etiquette concerning other guilds' or some other bullshit.

The bustling noises of the streets were starting to grate on his nerves, and the smells wafting from each of the shops he passed wasn't helping. Sure, there was the scent of a bakery or restaurant while they prepared food for their patrons, but his Dragon Slayer abilities also allowed him to smell (and regretfully hear) the guy in the back of that restaurant taking a massive shit. Wholly unpleasant, even if he was just passing through. He made the last turn before he reached the guild, and actually paused for a moment when he found a new scent that seemed to call to him. It smelled like sugar and almonds, sweet and delectable as a whole, but there was some sort of humanistic undertone to it that let him know it was actually a person and not someone's dessert. 'Damn, that smells good,' he thought as he took a deep whiff of the air, filtering out everything else around him to pinpoint where the scent was coming from. It seemed to linger in front of and around the piddly little magic shop, but he was able to tell that it was headed down the road in the direction of the guild. 'Shit, that'll make it easier to find out who the fuck this is.'

Gajeel's pace quickened as he got closer to the guild, and finally it was just him and one other person on the street walking towards Phantom Lord. His eyes raked over the voluptuous curves of the blonde in front of him, and he raised a pierced eyebrow while he took in everything he could. A pair of knee-high brown boots covered the lower halves of her slender legs, and his eyes drank in the creamy expanse that was bared before noticing how short her blue pleated skirt was, barely covering her ass and sitting dangerously low on her perfectly flared hips. 'Gotta be a hooker,' he thought with disdain, though he couldn't help but notice how his mouth watered just a little when he saw the small dimples on her bare lower back as her hips swayed with each step, and how small her waist was in comparison to everything else. Her arms were petite, holding no form of muscle whatsoever, but with how dainty her wrists were, Gajeel could instantly picture pinning her to a wall with only one hand to hold them both in place. She had what looked like a black vest on and he could just barely see the size of her chest while she walked as it was mostly blocked by her arms. Long blonde hair blocked his view of her face, but he was able to hear a soft tune being hummed as if the woman didn't have a care in the world along with a faint jingling sound of small bits of metal clanging deliciously against themselves. 'Sounds like gold and silver... I could go for a little snack.'

The blonde's steps slowed just as she reached the doors of the guild, and he growled as he got closer, warning her to get the hell out of his way. Regardless of what she looked or smelled like, he wasn't in the mood even for a quick fuck right then. All he wanted to do was get inside and get his hands on some metal so he could ignore everything else around him. She didn't seem to hear him, and instead turned slightly to smile up at the sign for the guild. "Get the fuck outta the way," he sneered as he shouldered past her, knocking her almost completely off her feet—which was a slight surprise that she hadn't actually fallen over.

"Hey, watch where you're going, asshole!" Lucy shouted as the raven-haired man pushed past her and opened the guild doors. The faint noises coming from inside seemed to have been put on mute when the rest of the guild members heard her, and she scowled at the guy's long head of hair when he stopped dead in his tracks.

Gajeel grinned sadistically and slowly turned around to show this chick just who she was messing with. He couldn't smell an ounce of fear wafting from her, only anger and excitement—though he would have preferred some form of arousal, he could tell that the excitement was most likely from being here at the guild. His red eyes bored into her large chocolate brown orbs and he let out a low growl before saying, "What did ya say to me?"

Lucy sneered and stalked toward the man, silently wondering just why he had so many piercings across his eyebrows, nose, chin, ears, and arms. Once she was directly in front of him, Lucy's sneer turned into an entirely innocent smile while she looked up at him. "I said," she answered in a condescending tone, "Watch. Where. You're. Going. Asshole." Lucy had spent enough time away from her father's home to realize that people were willing to walk all over you to get what they wanted, and she refused to stand by and let someone try and intimidate her. 'This might not be the best first impression for this guild,' she thought, 'But I'm not gonna let this guy off the hook so easily.'

Gajeel leaned down to put his face right in front of hers, listening to the quiet murmurs of the other guild members while they watched the small blonde standing up to him and bared his pointed teeth in a shark-like grin. "I don't take orders from hookers," he ground out.

"Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not a hooker. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to speak with your guildmaster," Lucy replied before sidestepping around him and walking further into the still silent guild. She kept an ear out for what the crude man was going to do, and felt a sense of pride swelling within her that her heartbeat hadn't gone haywire during that off-putting confrontation.

Gajeel growled and spun on his heel, then grabbed the petite blonde roughly and spun her to face him. She glared defiantly at him, a fire burning in her eyes, but she made no move to say anything else. She wasn't afraid of him, and that was something he couldn't understand. No, instead of fear wafting off her like it should be, there was only anger and annoyance. He wrapped one hand around her throat and lifted her off the ground, laughing when she clawed at his hands as he started constricting her airways. Gajeel caught a glimpse of Master Jose standing upstairs, watching them, so he decided to play nice… for now. He leaned in to whisper in her ear, loud enough for only her to hear him, and said, "Don't mistake this for kindness. If I get a chance, I'll make sure ya regret talking back to me, got it Blondie?"

Even though Lucy couldn't breathe, as soon as the man pulled back to look into her eyes, she saw just how much joy he was getting from treating her like a piece of garbage. She tensed her muscles and swung her right fist as hard as she could at his face, and when he took the bait of her distraction, Lucy's foot shot out to kick him in the stomach with enough force to knock the wind out of him. Sadly, the kick to his apparently well-stacked abs hurt her ankle, but she wasn't going to let him know that. His grip loosened on her neck, and Lucy was able to pry herself free and fall to her hands and knees on the ground, coughing and sucking in as much air as possible.

'Well, that was unexpected,' Gajeel thought, 'Chick's got some power in her legs.' Deciding he'd had enough social interactions for the day, Gajeel glowered at the blonde as she slowly rose to her feet, then he glanced up at the second floor where Master Jose was and gave him a brief nod before he turned and stalked past her and went to his table already piled with metal. He roughly sat down on the bench and got to his meal, ignoring everyone else in the room.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at the man as he walked past her, and kept her face neutral to hide her shock and horror when he started eating metal like it was the most normal thing in the world. She turned to face the bar and kept her steps even, although her ankle was already starting to throb and she was sure she had sprained it from kicking him. Once she was at the bar, Lucy smiled kindly at the bartender, and said, "Hey, would it be possible for me to speak with your guildmaster?"

"Why?" the gruff, bald man asked.

"Because I'm interested in joining this guild," Lucy answered, completely undisturbed by his lack of hospitality.

"Why?"

She raised an eyebrow at him and said, "Because I'm a mage, and want to join the guild."

"Why?"

She slowly leaned forward, her face hardening with her growing impatience, and glared at the bald barkeep when his eyes landed on her cleavage and never left. "My eyes are up here, you ass!" she shouted. When his gaze flickered back to hers for a moment before returning to her chest, Lucy lost it. "Can I speak to your guildmaster or not?"

"Why?" he asked absently, drooling over the creamy mounds he was getting an eyeful of.

"THAT'S IT!" she shouted, roughly grabbing his face with one hand and pinching his cheek until her nails dug into his flesh, forcing him to meet her gaze. "Stop staring at my tits and go get your goddamn guildmaster or I'm gonna show you a world of pain you little shit!" Lucy watched his face drain of colour, and pushed him away from her with all the force she possessed, then plopped herself down on a barstool while he scrambled to his feet and ran up to the second floor. 'Honestly, how hard is it to do something so simple?! Maybe it wasn't such a good idea coming to this guild… It looks like I'm the only girl here.'

Jose watched with amusement as the feisty blonde woman waited for him at the bar. He'd heard the interaction between her and Black Steel Gajeel, and had made his way to the balcony to see what would happen. He was impressed that she hadn't backed down from the Iron Dragon Slayer, but she also seemed to have some form of intelligence since she didn't challenge him directly. She appeared to be tactful, and downright vicious when necessary, but he could tell that she was still very young and very innocent. 'She wants to join this guild,' he mused, then looked over at Gajeel who was still chomping away on his scrap metal. 'Gajeel seems to approve.' Things could have gone sour for the blonde had she not handled herself the way she did, and apparently fighting against Gajeel even a little bit had garnered some form of respect from the anti-social Slayer. Slowly, Jose made his way down the stairs and stood off to the side of the blonde girl, and that was when he saw her keys. 'Oh, a Celestial mage… This could be interesting. If she gets enough keys and works hard, she could be more powerful than even the Element Four.'

Lucy felt a new set of eyes boring into her and slowly turned to see a tall, pale man with long red hair walking towards her from the stairs. He wore a ridiculous stereotypical wizarding hat in purple that had a Phantom Lord emblem on the front, a matching purple cloak with the Ten Wizard Saints crest pinning the collar together, and what looked like bat wings protruding from the back of his cloak. Based on the reactions of those around her, this had to be the guildmaster. Just before he was standing next to her, Lucy stood up from her seat, gave him her usual radiant smile, and bowed slightly. "Hello, Master. My name is Lucy," she said.

"I've been informed you would like to join my guild," Master Jose said with a wicked grin.

Lucy's smile widened and she nodded emphatically. Deciding to elaborate a little more, she said, "I was planning on joining Fairy Tail, but decided that I should check out other guilds first to make sure I was making the right decision."

"I see," Jose said softly while he appraised her yet again. He stood there for a moment, taking in how scantily clad she was, how she somehow still seemed to ooze innocence even with how little she wore, the determination in her eyes while she spoke, and her confidence while her unwavering gaze met his. Even while she stared into his eyes, which was something that most of the members of his guild wouldn't dare to do, he could see that she was both respectful and submissive to his position of authority. He could also tell that she was telling him the truth with her reason for wanting to join his guild—after years of practice, it was extraordinarily difficult to get a lie past him. "Very well, Lucy. Please follow me."

Gajeel watched the blonde girl jump up and down excitedly, her anger at both himself and the idiot behind the bar instantly disappearing while she spoke with Jose and turning into downright giddiness when he led her up the stairs to get her guild mark. 'Looks like a fuckin' bunny hopping around like that,' he thought while he chuckled darkly and took another bite of metal. He took another deep whiff of her scent as she disappeared upstairs, wondering just how she could smell so sweet like that and why it made him want to chase her down right then, but he shook away any wayward thoughts when he heard the pattering of rain outside. Gajeel rolled his eyes and thought, 'Looks like the Rain Woman's back… Goddamnit, I'm gonna be stuck inside all fucking day to stay dry… This is bullshit.'

"Um, Master?" Lucy said softly as they made their way to his office.

"Yes?"

"I'd like to apologize. I'm sure I didn't exactly make the best first impression by entering your guild that way and arguing with two members in the span of five minutes," Lucy said sheepishly.

Jose chuckled and shook his head, then put a hand lightly on her shoulder and said, "There is no need to apologize. The members of this guild are ruthless when it comes to sniffing out weaknesses, and your interaction with one of our strongest members has probably saved you quite a bit of hassle."

"S-Strongest… members?" Lucy winced.

"Yes, Gajeel Redfox is one of our five S-Class mages. No one else would dare to stand up to him the way you did," Jose said as he watched her from the corner of his eye. He could see that she was ashamed, uncomfortable, and confused. What struck him as interesting was the triumphant gleam in her eyes as a small smirk graced her lips.

"Well, while I feel bad for acting that way, I guess it can't be helped," Lucy said with a shrug. "Thank you, Master."

After a minute of him searching through his desk while she filled out the required paperwork for the Magic Council's records, Jose found the guild stamp. "Where and what colour, Lucy?" Jose asked while he held the stamp in his hand.

"Hmmm," Lucy hummed then grinned and pointed to her taut, bared stomach between her bountiful chest and navel. "Right here, in dark red." 'Dark red?' she wondered, 'My favourite colour's pink… Why would I choose that? Oh well, maybe it'll make me seem less like a dumb blonde.'

Jose watched with wide eyes as Lucy stretched her back and pulled her shirt up just a little bit higher, apparently completely oblivious to how her breasts practically spilled from her top. As quickly as he could manage without seeming like a total pervert, Jose gave her the guild mark in dark red and sent her on her way. He gave her an explanation of job requests, where to find them and who to give the information to—which was the idiot at the bar—and which ones were S-Class (that she would only be able to take if she got an S-Class mage to go with her). After explaining that there was an age-old rivalry between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail, and a few stretched truths about how the Fairies operated, Jose patted her on the back and assured her that she had made the right choice in joining them. He explained that unless a request specifically said that someone had to be brought in alive, she wouldn't be held responsible for their deaths, or the deaths of anyone that interfered with her mission, in the event of 'an accident.' He watched Lucy cringe at the thought of killing someone, and wondered how long it would take her to finally do it and come to terms with it.

Once Lucy left the guildmaster's office, she walked down to the request board but didn't see anything that she was comfortable taking on her own just yet. 'Maybe I should wait it out a couple of days and get a feel for the guild itself, then I can take a job.' Having made her decision, she turned to see the doors of the guild open and a beautiful woman with blue hair in a long blue coat walking inside with a pink umbrella. The woman shook her umbrella out in the entrance, and Lucy saw that it was pouring outside, then closed it and went to silently sit at a table on the second floor. Shrugging off how distant everyone in the guild seemed to be, Lucy went back over to the bar and smiled at the same bald barkeep from before. When he started sweating while looking directly into her eyes, Lucy said, "You know, I never caught your name."

"T-T-Tom," he stuttered, hoping she wasn't going to manhandle him again.

"Well, Tom. I'm Lucy," she said happily. "Are there any training grounds around here?"

"Yeah, but it's occupied right now," Tom said quickly while he glanced at the now-empty table that still had a pile of metal on it and then to a hallway that led out back.

"Oh," Lucy said, "Well, when will it be free?" When Tom didn't answer her, just kept looking over at the hallway, Lucy rolled her eyes and got up. 'Guess I'll just figure it out myself.' She waved to Tom as she walked out and through the hallway, and when she came to a single door at the end of it, Lucy shrugged and opened it to see a vast stadium behind the guildhall. There was a track, training dummies all over the place, several sets of bleachers, a pool, and even some insane looking jungle gym. In the middle of all of it, was a shirtless and heavily muscled man with long black hair that was beating a training dummy senseless. Lucy quietly made her way over to one of the bleachers and watched in awe as his muscles rippled and contracted with each and every hit. She felt a strange warmth spreading low in her belly as the sunlight that was peeking through ominous gray clouds made his sweat-coated skin glisten. Each move he made was perfectly calculated, and the muted grunts of exertion had Lucy's inner author taking furious notes for inspiration later on. His face was hidden the entire time and the piercings on his arms were blurred with the speed of his jabs, however, she found it odd that he wasn't using any of his magic from what she could tell.

Gajeel smirked when he smelled the blonde walking into the training area, and wondered why she was just sitting there. He had decided that he needed to get some of his pent up energy out, so once he'd finished with his meal, he came outside to work on his hand-to-hand skills. Luckily, the Rain Woman was far enough away from the training grounds that her constant gloomy bullshit didn't literally rain on his parade. He hardly got the chance to use his Dragon Slayer magic during a fight, and after having destroyed nearly half of the training grounds while practicing on his roar, Master Jose had told him to work on his magic elsewhere. Once the dummy was completely destroyed, Gajeel sighed and turned to see the blonde waiting patiently while she watched him walk over to her. There was a flicker of surprise that crossed her face before it shut down into a neutral mask, and he completely ignored her while he took large gulps of the water jug he had brought outside with him.

"Hey, I don't mean to bother you," Lucy started, figuring she might as well try and be social with the guy since they were in the same guild now, "But I was wondering when you would be finished."

Gajeel raised one pierced eyebrow at her while he continued guzzling water, then said, "Gonna be a while."

"Oh," Lucy sighed. "Well, will you be taking a break soon? I don't need the grounds for long. Just a few minutes to make some contracts."

"Sure, whatever," Gajeel muttered while he sat down and wiped the sweat from his brow. 'Make contracts, huh?' He watched her get off the bleacher and walk into the middle of the field—his eyes trained on her swaying hips and a part of his brain wished that a breeze would blow past and ruffle her skirt just a little—then take a gold key from the ring on her belt. 'The fuck is that?'

"I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O Spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Gate of the Maiden, I open thee! Virgo!" Lucy chanted, swiping the first golden key through the air. She watched in awe as the ground rumbled beneath her feet and a beautiful pink-haired woman in a maid outfit broke free from the ground with chains dangling from her wrists.

Virgo stood in front of her newest owner and bowed low as she spoke. "How may I serve you, Master?"

"Please, there's no need for that," Lucy said quickly.

Virgo stood up, her face blank, and said, "Punishment?"

"What?! NO!" Lucy screeched. "You don't need to call me Master, Virgo. I'd like for us to be friends though. You can call me anything else, but please… not Master."

'What the fuck is this?' Gajeel thought while he watched the blonde. There had been a brilliant flash of golden light once that magic circle appeared in front of her key, and then there was a maid bowing in front of her. He listened to the conversation between the two women, utterly confused as to what was going on. 'Contracts, Master, punishment… What the hell?'

"Princess, then," Virgo said.

Lucy sighed and quickly arranged Virgo's contract, then dismissed her. Replacing Virgo's key, she pulled out the next golden one. "I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O Spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Gate of the Golden Bull, I open thee! Taurus!" The ground rumbled beneath her feet again and a massive bull wearing a pair of dark blue hot pants with an enormous battle-axe strapped to his back appeared, mooing loudly and flexing every muscle he could. "Hello, Taurus. My name's Lucy. Would you like to make a contract with me?" Lucy asked sweetly.

Hearts instantly appeared in Taurus' eyes while he looked at the buxom blonde in front of him. "I'd love to make a contract with you, Luuucy!" he shouted. "I'll protect that beautiful body!"

Now Gajeel had officially moved from confused to flabbergasted, though his face never showed more than boredom. First, the girl has a maid, then the pink-haired chick disappears in a burst of fucking sparkles. Now she's got a huge bull that's hitting on her, and all she was doing was smiling like it wasn't a big deal. 'What in the mother fuck is going on?!' He watched the blonde—'What was her name again?' he thought, 'Fuck it… She's Bunny Girl. That's what she gets for hopping around like a psycho,'—write down a few notes in a small notebook before the bull disappeared in the same glittery mess that the maid had.

"I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O Spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Gate of the Archer, I open thee! Sagittarius!"

'Really? A dude in a horse costume…' Gajeel rolled his eyes and leaned back while she did the exact same thing with the cosplaying weirdo, and then, yet again, he disappeared with a flash of golden sparkles. As Gajeel stood up, assuming that Bunny Girl was finished with whatever the hell she was doing, and ready to get back to venting out his frustration—and now his utter confusion—he saw her pull a silver key from the key ring at her hip.

Lucy saw the pierced man coming closer, so she said, "This is the last one." She took a deep breath, centering herself as she prepared to summon her little silver key. "I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O Spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Gate of Canis Minor, I open thee! Nikora!" Lucy called, summoning the last Spirit she needed to make a contract with. When the small Spirit appeared, looking almost exactly like a snowman even though Lucy knew he was a dog, she squealed excitedly and pulled him into her arms while she jumped up and down.

"Punn punnn!"

"Okay, seriously what the fuck is that?" Gajeel asked once Lucy had talked with the creepy snowman with legs.

Plue, having gained a new name from his Master, hid behind her legs and started shaking and whimpering. "Aw, it's okay Plue!" Lucy turned to glare at the raven-haired man and said, "There's no need to scare him, jackass!"

Gajeel chuckled and leaned down, grinning widely at the little thing. He growled and watched it start shaking uncontrollably, then snapped his jaws in a feigned bite. When it fainted and disappeared with a small puff of smoke, he laughed and said, "I don't know what that was, but it's a fuckin' pussy."

Lucy was burning with unbridled rage at how this guy had mistreated her Spirit, and her fists clenched while she tried to contain herself. She lifted a hand and roughly poked him in the chest, then yelled, "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but that's no way to treat a Celestial Spirit!"

Gajeel sneered at her, growling in warning, and quickly pulled her small hand away from him while his other shot up to clamp around her chin. He took a step closer, taking a deep whiff of her scent and still not smelling any fear from her even when he towered over her. "You've got quite the mouth on ya," he said with a wicked grin, "Wonder what else it can do aside from talk."

Lucy quickly spat in his face, feeling slightly vindicated at the rage that poured from him while her phlegmy saliva trailed slowly down his cheek.

"Too bad I like my bitches to swallow," Gajeel sneered, tightening his grip on her chin.

"Too bad you have to force them," Lucy shot back as she looked into those ruby red eyes with utter disgust. When she tried to lift her other arm to smack him, the man quickly spun her around and pulled her trapped hand up the center of her back until she felt like the shoulder was being dislocated. She fought the bile that rose in her throat when he pressed himself tightly against her back and instead head-butted him as hard as she could.

Gajeel laughed wildly when he didn't move an inch, but felt her wobble unsteadily in his grasp. He wiped the spit from his face and grabbed her blonde locks, jerking her head to the side and stretching her neck out in front of his dangerously sharp teeth. "Lemme give ya a little lesson, Bunny Girl," he said while his lips hovered over her ear and his hot breath danced across her flesh. "Don't fuck with me and you'll live. Got it?"

"I don't even know who you are," she said with venom in her voice while she tried to reorient herself. 'What's his head made out of, metal?!'

Gajeel chuckled and tightened his hold on her arm, putting just a little more pressure on the joints to see if she would cry out. "Black Steel Gajeel, Iron Dragon Slayer. I'm being generous here, since Master seems to like ya and it's still your first day. Next time you piss me off, I'll break ya in two."

"Oh, so I got under your skin earlier," Lucy taunted, wincing when he growled and pulled on her arm and hair again, "What's the matter, can't take it when someone talks back to you?" She fought the tremor that wanted to run through her when she heard him let out another growl and his teeth—'Why are they so sharp?!' she screeched internally—started dragging over the skin of her neck like a predator that was toying with its prey. She noticed his teeth felt just like the thorns she had pushed through while she made her way out of the forest earlier that day.

"Ya better watch it," Gajeel seethed. He pulled the hand that was gripping her hair away and held it in front of her face while he transformed one finger into an iron knife, lightly dragging it down her cheek and leaving a faint pink line in its wake. "Learn your place or—"

"Or what, you're going to cut me?" Lucy asked with a derisive snort. "Please, you would have done it already if that's what you were pla—"

Gajeel grinned when he pressed the knife into her more firmly and dragged it across her chest just over her heart, watching as a small rivulet of blood slowly leaked from the wound. He pulled the knife up so she could see her own blood dripping off it, then said, "Don't test me. I won't hesitate to kill you."

Lucy nearly lost her balance when he let her arm go and took a step back, then she turned around to glare at him again. 'There's no way I could take someone like him in a fist-fight,' she thought. Sure, she had been training so that she could live on her own without worrying about being attacked, but she was already feeling pretty drained from summoning three Zodiacs and keeping them out long enough to make their contracts. "You're a fucking asshole, you know that?" she said while she shouldered past him and stormed back inside.

"And you're lucky all I did was cut you a little," Gajeel growled even though she couldn't hear him. He turned back to the training dummies and sighed before he started back up on his hand-to-hand training, thoughts of the feisty blonde running through his head as he pictured her face on the dummies while he pounded them into small splinters.

Lucy found a bathroom in the guild and quickly ran a paper towel under some water, then started to clean the wound Gajeel had left on her chest. There were marks around her wrist and chin where his fingers had pressed into her flesh, and she fought back the angry tears that threatened to well in her eyes. 'Not here. I won't let anyone see me as a crybaby. Not anymore.' She had spent enough of her life crying over every little thing, especially when her father started to ignore her, and then just to try to get attention. She wasn't going to be that weak person, not now that she was free. Lucy finally staunched the blood flow on her chest, noticing that the cut wasn't nearly as bad as she had thought, then turned on the faucet and splashed some water on her face. When she felt the smallest bit refreshed, Lucy gave her reflection the best smile she could muster and took a deep breath, then left the guild completely to go and find herself a place to live. 'I'm taking a mission tomorrow,' she thought, 'I need to take care of myself and get some space from that Gajeel guy.'

Lucy smiled up at the guild doors, holding Plue tightly in her arms before finally dismissing him. She had summoned him after she'd found a decent apartment only a few blocks away, and apologized for the way Gajeel had acted. She said that she didn't know the man at all, but had already had an argument with him, so she would make sure to keep Plue away from the guy until she knew whether or not he could be trusted. Lucy pushed the door to the guild open and walked right up to the bar, taking a seat with a smile on her face. "Hey, Tom," she said happily when the barkeep came from the back room.

"Lucy," he said in response. "Need something?"

"Hmm… Smoothie?"

"Strawberry or blueberry?"

"Ooh, strawberry!" Lucy said excitedly, gaining a small chuckle out of the bald man before he started making her drink. Once it was in front of her, Lucy took a sip and sighed. "Thanks, Tom. Just what I needed." 'Let's see, I'll need to take a mission. Hopefully I can find something that I'll be able to do on my own, since I still haven't spoken to anyone in this guild yet. I mean, it's all guys except for me and that woman I saw yesterday, and almost all of them have been staring at me like a piece of meat.' Lucy really wasn't looking forward to trying to find someone to partner up with if the mission called for it, but she would do what needed to be done for the sake of their job.

Once she was finished, she put the Jewels for her drink down on the bar and smiled at Tom when he promptly came by to take the money and her empty cup, then she went over to the board and looked through the requests. There weren't many for her to choose from that she felt were within her power to complete alone, and they were all relatively low when it came to the reward. The board seemed to be organized by reward amount, with the highest paying jobs at the top, descending to the ones that seemed to have been sitting for quite some time with only one or two thousand Jewels as a reward. Finally, one request caught her eye:

Please help. Ancient tome lost in mines, needs to be recovered and translated.
Reward: 50,000 Jewels.

Lucy read the description a few times, then saw that the mission was in the next town over. It shouldn't be too difficult to complete, and she was pretty sure she could translate an ancient text with ease. What was even better was that it would leave her with 10,000 Jewels after her rent was paid, so she would be able to start building her savings back up. After having decided she would do it, Lucy took the mission over to Tom and had it signed off, then made her way to her place to pack for the next few days.

"Oh, come ON!" Lucy screamed at the mage she was facing off against in the dank, dark mines she had found the book in. Of course, the mission couldn't have been as simple as walking in and picking up the book, then taking it back to translate it. No, there just had to be some sick pervert that kept intentionally cutting her clothes every time he sent out a magic blast, leering at her when more and more of her skin was exposed, that had already found the book and wanted to take the reward for himself. "This is just ridiculous!"

"What's ridiculous is that you're still talking," the blue-haired man said with a sneer. He dodged the attack from the large bull that the blonde woman had summoned, barely missing the blade of the axe as it whizzed by.

Lucy crouched low, not caring if he could see her underwear since her skirt was nearly in tatters as it was. She pulled out the whip she had bought at a shop a few weeks before and quickly snapped it. "Give me the fucking book!" she shouted. She lashed out with her whip, grinning when it caught his torso and a thick stream of blood flowed freely and soaked into his shirt.

"You bitch!" he shouted, dropping the book and holding tightly to his ribs.

"Get him, Taurus!" Lucy yelled while she rushed forward. She lashed out with her whip again to try to push the man further away, but she stopped dead in her tracks when Taurus yelled out in agony.

"Sorry, Luuuucy!" Taurus yelled while he disappeared, holding a wound in his side from a sneak attack that the enemy had used. Of course, Taurus had been slightly distracted by the amount of skin Lucy was currently showing, so maybe it wasn't that hard to get a hit on him right then.

Lucy's distraction ended up costing her, since the blue-haired man used it to close the distance between them and tackled her to the ground. His hand lifted high and he relentlessly pummelled her with everything he had, laughing wildly as blow after blow landed on her face and torso.

Lucy's vision was beginning to blur as pain shot through her. She was in utter agony as each hit connected with her body. She bucked under the man and was finally able to knock him off her. Once she was on her feet again, Lucy dove to the side when he lunged at her, and rose up on one knee while she summoned Virgo.

"Punishment, Princess?" Virgo asked as she assessed the situation.

"No, Virgo. I need you to make the ground unstable over there," Lucy said while glancing off to the side, "So he'll fall into a pit when I knock him down. Then take that book on the ground to the Spirit World."

Virgo nodded and disappeared underground, quickly digging the pit where Lucy had indicated until there was less than half a foot of earth between herself and the surface. Once her task was complete, Virgo grabbed the book and disappeared back to the Spirit World, telling Lucy that everything was ready.

Lucy had been dodging the man's attacks for a few minutes while she tried to buy time for Virgo, and when she felt Virgo's key warming up, she lashed out at him with her whip to start moving him closer to where the pit was. She winced and grunted in pain when he sent a volley of black and red magic blasts at her, each of them slicing into her flesh and causing a deep burn to spread through her. Still, she didn't relent in her own attacks, and when he was almost in place she shored up the last of her strength and lashed out. With her aim true, Lucy watched with some small bit of sadistic pleasure as her whip connected with his face and knocked him to the ground. The force of his fall caused the unstable ground to give way beneath him, and she slowly walked over to peer down at the now unconscious mage with several bones protruding at odd angles from his arms and one of his legs, and a large pool of blood slowly gathering on the floor of the pit from a deeper gash in his forehead. She cringed when she realized that he probably wouldn't live much longer, but there wasn't a thing she could do.

Lucy was overwhelmed with guilt as she slowly and carefully made her way out of the mine, feeling utterly disgusting every time the sting of dirt caused more pain to radiate through her injuries. She was walking away from someone that needed help, and she was going to let him die. It was her fault that he was in that pit. It was her fault that he'd hit his head and broke several bones in his body. At the same time, there was only so much she could do when it came down to it: he was her enemy, and she was on a mission. It was her job to bring this book back to the client, and Master Jose had made it very clear that conflicting emotions in situations like these needed to be cast aside for the sake of the guild's reputation. She had to finish the job, no matter what; other people's lives were inconsequential if they opposed her. That was the Phantom Lord way.

It took an hour to get from the mine back to the client's house, and she ignored the frightened stares of the man and his servants when they took in her tattered clothes, bruised and bloodied body, and the way she carefully limped over to the desk they directed her to. Once she was sitting down, Lucy felt a small pull on her magic, and Virgo appeared with the book in her hands.

"Should I bandage your wounds, Princess?" Virgo asked, her voice showing the barest hint of her worry for her Master.

"Later, Virgo. I want to finish this job and turn it in at the guild. I'll summon you when I'm home. Thank you," Lucy said with a pained smile as she started flipping through the pages of the book. It took her twelve hours of nonstop translating to finally finish. She handed the pages she'd written to the client after he gave her the reward, not willing to risk getting screwed over in the event that he would refuse to pay her once he had what he wanted. She waved off his offer of giving her a place to stay for the night, since it was already nearing five in the morning and she hadn't slept, and started making her way back to the guild.

By the time she got back to Oak Town, it was nearing noon and Lucy was practically dead on her feet with exhaustion. She was covered in cuts and deep blackened bruises; her breath was laboured with a sharp pain piercing her side with every inhale, and she felt absolutely wretched when she realized just how much dirt was caked on her. She took a look at her clothes, unable to really find it in her to care about what she looked like but still curious to see how much damage her wardrobe had taken, and winced. Her light blue tank top was being held up by only the barest remnants of one strap, the majority of it and her bra beneath haven been disintegrated. The bottoms of her breasts felt a chill as a small wind whipped past her, and that was when Lucy realized that the only form of decency she had right then was that her nipples were covered. Her khaki mini-skirt hadn't fared much better, but at least her panties had made it through unscathed—most likely because they were hardly more than a thin triangle of lacy material. The belt that held her keys and whip was fine, with only dirt and a few light singe marks covering it, and it helped to hold up the tattered remains of her skirt that was hanging in loose strips over her most intimate of places. The last block on her walk to the guild had Lucy sighing in relief when dark storm clouds rolled over the sky, blotting out the stifling summer heat and letting a torrent of rain down on top of her. "Thank you," she said wearily to the sky. "I've never been happier to see rain in my whole life."

It took everything in her to pry open the doors to the guild, and she ignored the lecherous catcalls of her guild mates while she trudged up to the bar. She checked in with Tom, recounting her mission with as little detail as possible, then sat on a bar stool while he made her a strawberry smoothie. 'I haven't eaten since yesterday,' she realized. 'I'll just have a smoothie here to get a little more energy, then eat after Virgo bandages me up.'

"Ya look like shit," Gajeel laughed from his place on the second floor.

"At least I can clean up," Lucy grumbled at him with a sneer. "What's your excuse?" She was so not in the mood to deal with him right now.

Gajeel raised an eyebrow at her, then dropped from the balcony to glare at her. He'd caught her scent as she got closer to the guild, even through the rain that Juvia brought with her everywhere she went, and had kept an eye on the doors to see with a small amount of interest how her first mission went. Needless to say he was surprised that she had come to this shithole of a guild at all with the way she looked—her clothes practically torn to shreds and leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination, cuts and bruises all over her body, and what he could only assume was dirt dripping down her form from head to toe in small muddy rivers from the rain—and Gajeel couldn't help but want to take a jab at her for it. Chicks loved making sure they looked good, and maybe he could get a rise out of her just for some entertainment. 'Maybe I can make her cry,' he thought while a dark grin spread across his face. "Figured some prissy bitch like you would have been able to handle a mission," he retorted. "What's the matter, couldn't cut it?"

"I don't know," Lucy said with a sigh, turning her attention to Gajeel and returning his glare with a rivalling degree of hatred. "Why don't you ask the guy I left in the mine? If you're fast enough, he might still be alive when you get there."

Gajeel raised an eyebrow at her. That was definitely not the response he was expecting, but he didn't want to give up so easily. "Can't believe you left someone to die like that," he said softly while he leaned into her. "It must just eat you up inside, looking at his broken body and knowing it's all your fault. Wonder if he had a family that he was trying to feed, maybe that's why he was doing it."

"He got what he deserved," Lucy spat, turning her face until her nose was almost touching Gajeel's, her breath mixing with his while her rage started to seep into her veins. "No one attacks my Spirits and gets away with it. He was in my way, and I had a job to do." She turned back to her smoothie and grumbled, "Besides, he's the dumbass that fell into the trap I set up. If he'd listened to what I told Virgo, he would have known that I had her dig under the ground to weaken it so that when I pushed him over he'd fall into the pit…"

"If it was so easy then why are you fucked up?" Gajeel asked with a derisive snort.

"Because that son-of-a-bitch kept intentionally slashing at my clothes." She paused when she saw Gajeel taking in just how she looked and rolled her eyes while she drank her smoothie. "Men, you're all the same, 'Oh look, boobs!'"

"Tch, I don't give a fuck if you're walking around here naked," Gajeel growled, "I don't go for skanks."

"Well, I don't go for needle-dicked bastards that overcompensate, so I guess we're both in luck," Lucy said while she gave Gajeel a pointed look, smirking when he bared his teeth at her. Once her smoothie was done, Lucy motioned for Tom and handed her money to him before he walked away with the empty glass, then she turned and slowly got off the barstool, unintentionally brushing her breasts against Gajeel's toned stomach. "It's been fun, maybe next time you'll actually be able to insult me instead of whatever that shit was."

Gajeel growled low in his throat, the sound echoing off the barren walls of the guild, as he watched Bunny Girl leave with a distinct stiffness to her gait and a limp. It had taken everything in him to hold back from punching her right then, but Master Jose had been watching from the balcony and Gajeel knew that he didn't want to hear another lecture about beating up female guild members. When he heard one of the men in the back of the guild snickering about what happened, Gajeel took long strides to reach the little shit and dragged him outside by his collar so he could beat some sense into someone.

"Gajeel," Jose called out in the morning from the balcony, his voice just loud enough for the Dragon Slayer to hear. When gleaming and dangerous red eyes shot up to him, Jose motioned for the raven-haired mage to come up the stairs. "We need to talk."

Gajeel sneered and took another bite of his metal before he stood up and stalked up the stairs. He walked silently until he reached Master Jose's office, then stood in front of the man's desk with his arms crossed over his chest.

"It seems you've taken a liking to our new Celestial mage," Jose mused as he leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together. When Gajeel snorted and rolled his eyes, Jose continued. "There's no point in denying it since you still haven't beaten her to a pulp for how she talks to you. Juvia informs me that she was out in the training grounds with you and came back with a cut on her first day here?"

"That Rain Woman needs to keep her goddamn eyes on her own business," Gajeel muttered. 'A Celestial mage, huh? So that's what she was doing—making contracts with new Spirits.' "What do ya want?"

"I want you to keep an eye on our newest member," Jose said. "She's still wet behind the ears, and needs someone to train her properly."

"You can't be fucking serious," Gajeel growled, "I ain't a babysitter."

Jose scowled and leaned forward, pushing a paper across his desk for Gajeel to read. "No, but her magic can become extraordinarily powerful if properly honed. You are capable of doing just that. If not to increase the power of our guild, then consider it as a means of venting your frustrations: you'll have someone to beat up while she's in training." He paused while Gajeel leaned forward and read over the paper. "Don't kill her, don't let her get killed. She's very useful, indeed."

Gajeel stood there and waited for Jose to continue, wondering why the Master had showed him Bunny Girl's file. 'Lucy Heartfilia. Why does that sound familiar?' When Jose said no more, he asked, "Useful how?"

"All in due time, Gajeel. Now, why don't you two go on a mission and get better acquainted?" Jose said with a sickly sweet smile. "Gain her trust. Make sure she's loyal to our guild and ours alone. We'll need her power in the future."

"I'm sure she's doing just fine," Gajeel grunted. "She left a guy for dead on her first mission."

Jose smiled and nodded. He remembered hearing about her first mission a few days after she had returned when he had called her into his office to find out why the client was making sure she was alright. She had apparently left them with a bittersweet taste in their mouths: while she'd accomplished the goal, both finding the tome and translating it in record time, she had also returned to their home practically naked because she didn't try to clean herself up before heading back. Jose liked her determination to finish the job, but he'd had to tell her that her appearance to the clients was just as important. Being bruised and cut up was one thing, but not changing her clothes and at least attempting at being presentable made the guild look bad. In the three months since Lucy had joined, Jose could see her potential just waiting to be fulfilled, and he was ecstatic that she took to the ways of his guild with no questions. She was a fast learner, and instantly molded herself to the rules he gave her or any corrections he made to the way she handled herself. "While that is true, she also comes back to the guild nearly unconscious from every mission she goes on. Lucy gets results, but she's far too weak to represent our guild in this fashion."

"So kick her ass to the curb!"

Jose glowered at Gajeel and shook his head slowly. "Train her and make her more powerful. You're the only one she even tolerates a conversation with anyway, not that your constant bickering could even be considered a conversation by normal standards."

Gajeel raised an eyebrow in confusion but otherwise said nothing.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Jose chuckled. "Last week one of the men tried to hit on her before she left on a mission, and she ended up breaking his jaw when she kicked him."

"I ain't gonna hit on her. Dumb blondes aren't really my style," Gajeel retorted. 'How in the hell did we get into this conversation to begin with?!'

"True, but you actually argue with her instead of ignoring her or beating her senseless."

"That's 'cos ya kept hounding me about beating up the chicks in the guild."

Jose rolled his eyes, then stood up and crossed his own arms while his magic leaked from him. "Gajeel, this is an order. You will train her, and make sure her loyalties lie with us. Now go take her on a mission and find out what needs work. I don't want to see either of you for at least a month."

Gajeel sneered, letting out a small growl as he turned around and stalked out of the office. He was loyal to his guild and definitely loyal to Jose for taking him in after Metallicana left, but that didn't mean he was going to jump for joy when he was ordered to act as a blonde bimbo's babysitter. He went over to the S-Class mission board and scanned through everything there. Finally, he settled on some town that was plagued with monsters and paid a million Jewels. It was something he could easily do on his own, so the addition of Bunny Girl wouldn't hinder him from getting the job done. If anything, he could see just what she was capable of first. If Jose wanted her to be trained, Gajeel was going to train her—he didn't like it, but he would do it on Master's orders.

Gajeel had already gotten the mission signed off on, with both his and the blonde's names assigned to it. The idiotic barkeep had nearly choked on his own spit when he heard that Gajeel was taking someone on a mission with him, and the guy's eyes nearly bugged out when he said it was the blonde. Now, Gajeel was leaning against the railing of the second floor balcony, intently watching her while she drank down a strawberry smoothie. Her outfit was different today; somehow more revealing than the day before, with a white off-the-shoulder peasant top that reached just under her breasts and had a small red rose pattern running across the top hem, a black mini-skirt, and black ankle-high combat boots. To the untrained eye, Bunny Girl was oblivious to everything around her, but Gajeel noticed a fair amount of tension in her that showed she was ready to spring into action should the need arise; she was aware of everything around her. When her eyes seemed to glaze over, he could see an almost imperceptible shift of her head while she listened in on someone else's conversation. When her eyes focused again, they would quickly scan the room before settling on her drink.

Gajeel's brow furrowed when he saw her starting to mouth something, tapping her fingers lightly on the warped wood of the bar. As he focused on her plump lips, he could finally make out what she was silently saying, "Five, four, three, two, one.' A fight broke out in the far corner of the room, and Gajeel watched her sit utterly still with a smug smirk on her face while chairs roughly scraped across the floor and glass shattered, the noises only overshadowed by the shocked yells coming from some other guild members. That look let him know she had heard the argument two of the men were having, and suddenly everything made sense. Bunny Girl heard the stirrings of their argument and focused in on it, once she had heard enough she took a quick survey of her surroundings, then started counting down until the fight broke out. She didn't flinch at all when a glass mug shattered while it hit the bar right next to her, and it was almost as if there was nothing that could come close to touching her.

Lucy hummed softly, tuning out the raucous yells of the men that were fighting while keeping her ear trained for anything that might come her way. She'd felt the pair of blood red eyes on her from the moment she stepped in the guild, but Lucy just ignored them. She wasn't going to stoop to trying to get back at him for his recent jabs at her, and decided the best thing to do was act like he didn't exist. It didn't take long for her to realize there was a presence behind her, and Lucy slowly turned around to look up into those same red eyes that had practically been boring a hole right through her a few moments ago. "Yes?" she asked, letting him see just how distasteful she found his presence.

"We're taking a mission," Gajeel grunted, "Master's orders."

"Me… and you," Lucy snorted, rolling her eyes before she turned back to her drink. "Yeah, right."

"No, Bunny Girl… You, Santa Claus, and the fucking Tooth Fairy," Gajeel retorted. "Get your shit and meet me outside in an hour. We'll be gone for a month."

"But—"

"No arguments," Gajeel growled, "Master's orders. You do what he says, regardless of whether ya like it. Got it?"

Lucy sighed and nodded. Gajeel had a point. She knew that he would never willingly partner with her for a mission, so it had to be on Master Jose's orders that they were working together. The only question was why he wanted them to work together in the first place. "Where's the mission at?"

"Waas Forest. We're cutting through the mountains. Now shut the fuck up and get your shit," Gajeel growled, rolling his eyes at all her pesky questions. Turning on his heel, Gajeel left the guild to head to his place and get what he needed. It took an hour to make the trek to his meager apartment, gather his belongings, and get back to the guild. Once he rounded the corner, he was surprised to see the blonde leaning against the wall outside of the guild with no suitcase or bag, and sucking on a lollipop while she held onto the weird snowman Spirit who had a lollipop of his own. 'Shit, her mouth looks good sucking on that…' He had definitely taken notice of her body the past few months, but every time she opened her mouth, all he wanted to do what seal it shut with an iron trap. There was no way he could get past that shitty attitude of hers long enough to fuck her senseless, so Gajeel didn't even entertain the thought while he studiously ignored the way her cheeks hollowed out and how her tongue flattened over the red ball of the lollipop before swirling around and popping it back into her mouth. Nope, he ignored every bit of it.

Lucy looked up and saw Gajeel coming closer, so she said goodbye to Plue and turned to look at the grumpy Slayer. "Ready, Metalface?" she asked around the cherry lollipop.

"Where's yer shit?" Gajeel asked when he was in front of her.

Lucy pulled the lollipop out of her mouth with a light pop, and smiled. 'I should try to at least get along with him,' she thought with a sigh. 'We're going to be stuck with each other for a month, after all.' "Virgo can hold items for me in the Spirit World, so she's holding onto my stuff until I need it." She paused for a moment, then said, "I can have her hold onto your stuff too, if you want."

Gajeel raised an eyebrow at her, seemingly appraising her statement. Not having to carry a month's worth of supplies would be useful, especially when it came to trekking through the mountains, but he didn't trust anyone to begin with. There was no guarantee he'd get his shit back, and he didn't know what to make of the girl in front of him. The first time they met, she had yelled at him, wasn't afraid of him in the slightest, and actually landed a solid kick to his gut. Then in the training grounds, she was polite and almost shy until after her Spirit disappeared, that was when she became fiery again—instantly going on the offense while she berated him, even going so far as to spit on him and throw in a measly hit to his forehead with her own head. It had been three whole months of her flip-flopping between being civil one minute and a downright bitch from hell the next. It seemed that now she was back to being nice. "Whatever," he grumbled, deciding that he was going to have to play nice as well to follow Jose's orders and get her to trust him. 'This is gonna be a long fucking month… Why do I have to do this shit?'

Lucy smiled warmly at Gajeel, then pulled out Virgo's key and quickly summoned her.

"Punishment, Princess?" Virgo asked with a bow.

"No, no punishment. Could you please hold onto Gajeel's belongings until he needs them later on?" Lucy asked hopefully.

"Of course. Will that be all, Princess?" Virgo said while she put a shackled hand out to take Gajeel's bag. As soon as Lucy said she didn't need anything else, Virgo bowed again and disappeared with the Iron Dragon Slayer's bag.

Gajeel watched the short interaction between Bunny Girl and her Spirit in silence.

"Well, lead the way. I have no clue how to get to the mountains from here," Lucy said.

"Whatever, Bunny Girl."

Lucy huffed as she walked next to Gajeel. "Seriously, you're still calling me that?"

"Stop jumping around like a cracked out rabbit that's jonesing for a fix and I'll stop calling ya that," Gajeel answered.

"I do not do that. Clearly you need to get your eyes checked."

Gajeel glanced over at Lucy then smirked. 'Time to start fucking with her.' "Don't need 'em checked, I can see the flower pattern on your bra from here."

Lucy rolled her eyes and pulled the lollipop from her mouth then said, "Stop staring at my tits you perv."

"Stop flaunting 'em for everyone to see. Trust me; your tits do absolutely nothing for me."

"Probably because you'd rather get fucked in the ass, you big ol' sewer grate," Lucy grumbled, her forced good mood deflating and giving way to her intense irritation that always seemed to surface around Gajeel.

"Did you just call me gay?"

"No, I called you a sewer grate," Lucy answered haughtily, pointing her red lollipop at him, "I insinuated that you were a bottom, a catcher, a pole smoker. You know… You like to bite the pillow, have your peanut butter stirred, and your favourite hobby is letting guys get to fifth base with you."

"Better watch that mouth, Bunny Girl," Gajeel growled in agitation, a migraine starting to form already, "I might just have to teach ya a lesson."

"Pfft, please," Lucy snorted, "I haven't found a guy yet that can even come close to pleasing me. I doubt you're any different."

"Hotdog down a hallway, huh?" Gajeel said with a smirk, "Probably can't feel a thing since your shit's just flappin' in the wind."

"I wouldn't fuck you for practice."

"I think I hear an echo… close your legs and try again."

"Eat a dick."

"Hey, not my fault you're a cum dumpster."

"You're just mad that you're a two-pump chump."

"Cum-guzzling gutter slut."

"Man, I bet you were up all night working on that one."

"I'd slap you but I don't want slut on my hands."

"I'm not saying I hate you, but if you were on fire I'd pull out the marshmallows."

"Go make me a sandwich."

"I don't make cock-meat sandwiches," Lucy shot back. "That's your forte."

"I'm so close to donkey punching you right now," Gajeel growled.

"Since when are you into donkeys?! Nasty bitch," Lucy taunted. She could tell that she was walking a very thin line with Gajeel, but she honestly couldn't help herself. The only enjoyment she got out of her days was while she was either working on her novel or trying to piss of the ornery Dragon Slayer. "Remind me to never take you to a petting zoo."

Gajeel snarled at Lucy, scaring the people walking by them then picked up his pace. 'Don't kill her, don't kill her, don't kill her.' He repeated it like a mantra, again and again until he had completely drowned out anything she was trying to say while he stalked towards the forest that led to the mountains.

After several hours of walking in complete silence, Lucy's good mood started to return. She wasn't really enjoying how fast she had to walk to keep up with Gajeel, but the leaves were just beginning to turn into the most beautiful shades of orange and red as autumn had rolled in not a week prior, and the light breeze that whipped through her hair had her sighing contentedly. Lucy glanced over at the man she was taking a mission with, and for the first time in a long while found herself appreciating just how strong his jaw was, how the harsh angles of his face actually added to his attractiveness and intimidating presence, and the way the piercings she could see in his profile glinted in the speckled light from the trees above them. It was just too bad he was a raging asshole every time his mouth opened.

"The fuck you lookin' at?" Gajeel growled, never taking his eyes away from the path they were walking on. 'This month can't be over soon enough. I'm gonna kill her if she starts that shit up again.'

"Just wondering why Master sent us on a mission together," Lucy said while she turned to look back at the path. "It's not like you and I are the best of friends."

"Says I'm supposed to train you," Gajeel answered.

"Train me? Why?"

"Because he's tired of you making us look like a bunch of pussies when ya get your ass kicked on a mission."

Lucy frowned and stayed silent for a minute, then said, "I thought I was doing pretty well… I always get the job done."

Gajeel snorted and said, "Yeah, but you're weak as hell. He says I'm supposed to train you and we can't come back for at least a month."

Lucy rolled her eyes and sighed. "Why not someone else. You know, someone I can actually stand to be around?"

Gajeel shrugged. "Apparently I'm the one he wants to do it." He glanced at her and grinned darkly while he added, "Plus, I get to kick your ass with his permission while you're in training."

"Greeeeaaat," Lucy said sarcastically. "So, I'm assuming our conversation earlier was just some foreplay then? Had to make sure I pissed you off enough so you can kill me when no one will hear my screams?" Lucy crossed her arms under her chest, completely unaware of how much she pushed her breasts together or the way that Gajeel's mouth instinctually watered when he saw it, then grumbled, "Fucking sadist."

"I'm under strict orders not to kill you," Gajeel answered while he tore his gaze away from her chest, "Be glad. I'd do it in a fuckin' heartbeat."

The pair stopped long enough for Lucy to summon Virgo so she could give them something to eat for lunch, and then they continued walking while they ate in complete silence. "How long will it be until we get to the mountains?" Lucy asked as she finished the last bite of her sandwich.

"Should be there by nightfall," Gajeel said gruffly. "We'll camp at the base for the night then start back up in the morning."

Lucy nodded, then asked, "How long will it take to get through the mountains?"

Gajeel rolled his eyes and said, "A week, maybe more. Depends on how much ya slow me down."

Lucy sighed. "So, when does my training start?"

Gajeel stopped walking completely and glared at her while she turned around. "Right now. We're gonna work on your shutting yer goddamn trap for more than five seconds. Every time you make a peep, you'll have extra exercises added to your workout."

"Workout?" Lucy asked.

"That's a mile of nonstop running," Gajeel said with a wicked grin. "You need to work out, otherwise your stamina, strength, and dexterity will be shit—pretty much like they are now. Then there's your magic…"

"Watch what you say about my Spirits, you sack of shit," Lucy warned, her eyes glinting with malice.

"Now you get to run two miles carrying fifty pounds of my iron," Gajeel retorted as they started walking again. "You need to meditate at least an hour every day to work on expanding your magic."

Lucy sighed and nodded, finally giving up on fighting with him just so she wouldn't have to deal with more crap. If Master Jose wanted her to get stronger because she was shaming the guild, then she would do it. She didn't understand why he wanted Gajeel of all people to train her, but there wasn't anything that could be done about it now. 'This is gonna be a really long month,' she thought grimly.

So, what did you guys think of the first chapter?! It was hard to try and get Gajeel to be more Phantomy and less Fairy-ish, and for Lucy to be such a bitch to him constantly, but I think I managed alright.

Also, huge shout-out to LittlePrincessNana and leoslady4ever for letting me bounce ideas off of you. Some of my favourite ladies in the world right there.

Review, Follow, Favourite! I love you guys. ~~GemNika.

This chapter has been updated with the help of Danni1496 as a glorious beta. (3.1.15) I will post a note when each subsequent chapter has been updated at the end just like this one, so keep an eye out! :D I love you, Danni!