KTKG Says: I do NOT own Fairy Tail. Wish I did though.

Chapter One

"Let's see what we have here."

Large brown eyes roamed over the huge billboard in front of them, searching for something, anything really, to pop out at them. "Dear Mavis let there be something here…" After another couple of minutes of searching Lucy closed her eyes in frustration and turned away to head to the bar.

Sipping the vanilla shake that Mirajane had made her earlier, she let her mind wander in an attempt to figure out a solution to her current predicament. What would that be you ask? Well, her rent was due, of course, and she had no money.

She sighed and turned her attention back to the board. It wasn't as if she had never been in this situation before. It was almost a regular occurrence for her to not have any money when her rent was due in two weeks. The problem this time around was that there weren't many jobs that she could do by herself. Yes, you heard that right. She needed a job that would pay enough to cover one month's rent that she could complete by herself.

"You doing okay there Lucy?"

She shifted her gaze back towards the bar, her face not completely turning away from the mission board. "I'm fine Mira." She took another long sip of her shake in contemplation. "You don't happen to have any jobs that you haven't posted yet that I could do myself, do you?" Mira's eyes widened a bit. "By yourself? What about your teammates?"

Lucy pushed the now empty glass away from her, bringing her arms to fold in front of her and rest on the bar. "They're all busy. Erza was sent on a mission by Master and Gray is still recovering from his last solo mission." Mira nodded in understanding. "What about Natsu?"

"Natsu's been… busy."

Lucy watched as Mira's eyes travelled to the scene she knew was playing out behind her. She didn't have to turn around to see what caused the barmaid's slightly surprised expression. "Oh, Lucy…"

The blonde had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the slight tone of pity that was laced in Mira's voice. Against her will, her head turned in the direction Mira was looking and a frown spread across her face. Sitting a few feet away was Natsu, laughing and carrying on with none other than Lisanna, Mira's younger sister.

Really, she couldn't fault the pink-haired dragon slayer. From what she had heard, he and Lisanna had been pretty close before she 'died', so of course with her reappearance he would want to spend time catching up with her. The thing was, it was starting to affect Lucy and her rent. She knew it sounded selfish but it was the truth. Not to mention the fact that she maybe, just a little, was starting to miss the idiot. She did, after all, kind of have feelings for him. Even Mira knew that.

She looked back to see said barmaid looking at her with what could only be sympathy in her eyes. Ugh! She didn't need sympathy she needed a job dammit! A huff of frustration left her and Mira finally put down the mug she had been wiping clean. "I don't really have anything for you yet, although there is one job you could do." She reached down to pull out her book of yet to be posted jobs. "Honestly though, I don't really think I want to post it for anyone."

Lucy grasped the piece of paper in her hand and gave it a once over, her cheeks burning as she reached the bottom of the request. "Oh um… yeah. I don't think this one's for me…" She quickly handed the paper back to the older woman who surprisingly didn't place it back in the book.

"I'm going to go ahead and post this, but really, that's all I have for today."

Lucy nodded in understanding, slightly depressed that there was nothing else for her to do. "Thanks anyway Mira." She stood, reaching in her pocket for the few jewels that she owed for her drink. "I'm going to head home. I guess I'll just have to check again tomorrow."

The white-haired woman nodded in response. "I'll keep a look out for something for you."

Lucy nodded in return and waved as she good-bye before leaving out of the guild. She was so lost in thought about her situation that she completely ignored the onyx-colored eyes that followed her on her way out.

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Two days later found Lucy just as jobless as she had been before.

Once again, she was at the bar, this time with a glass of water to accompany her. With the decrease of jobs, Lucy's irritation seemed to increase ten-fold. She was jobless, her reserves were dwindling, and on top of that she had hardly talked to Natsu in almost a week. He hadn't even snuck into her bed once this past week.

She resisted the urge to sigh, as she's been doing quite a bit of it lately. She shouldn't be irritated that the pink-haired idiot hadn't been by in a while, but even she had to admit that it wasn't the same without him around. She kept trying to remind herself that he was catching up with Lisanna, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was starting to get… jealous. Yes she could admit, if only to herself, that she was beginning to feel the green-eyed monster rear it's ugly head. She needed a distraction, and she needed one now.

She turned to glance at the board and frowned instantly. Looks like that distraction wasn't coming any time soon for her as the board was looking pretty empty, save for the job Mira had posted the other day. Her frown deepened even further. If nothing else popped up soon, she was screwed. Erza was still out on her mission and Gray was still in recovery mode. Natsu on the other hand…

"Oi, Luce!"

Her head turned back around so fast that she swore she almost got whiplash. There, standing beside her at the bar was none other than the man that had been plaguing her thoughts lately. Natsu gave her one of his face-splitting grins and Lucy swore her heart stopped for a second. Had it been that long since she's seen it?

"Are you busy?" Instantly, Lucy's spirits started to soar. Was he asking her to go on a job with him? "Lisanna, Happy and I were going fishing. You wanna come?"

The urge to punch him in the face was almost irresistible.

Almost.

"I can't. I uh, have something to do. You guys go ahead and have fun." She was proud of herself for not following through on her urges. The way she was feeling, the last thing she needed was a fishing trip. He gave her a funny look that she couldn't decipher, his coal-colored eyes swirling with something she hadn't seen before. "You sure?" He frowned when she nodded but relented anyway. "Okay. I guess I'll see you later."

She gave into her desire to sigh as Natsu walked away, clearly disappointed, just as she was. Obviously the last thing on that man's mind was doing a job, as well as spending time with just her. Shaking her head, she ignored that last thought as she zeroed in on the request attached to the mission board once again. She was at her wits end and last resort. Looks like she was going to have to take the job. And just what job would that be?

Why, an exotic dancer for a bachelor party.

She knew that Mira had warned her against it. After all, Mira hadn't even wanted to post the thing to begin with, but beggars couldn't be choosers, and she most defiantly was a beggar right now. She was desperate for a job and even she had to admit that it paid rather handsomely. There was a chance that she wouldn't have to pay rent for at least the next three months. That fact alone had her really considering the request.

It wasn't like she didn't qualify for it. She had the body, she knew that, and she knew her face wasn't too hard on the eyes either. She already wore some revealing clothing as it was, and she wasn't afraid to use her sex appeal to her advantage. What she was afraid of, however, was taking her clothes off in front of people. She would have to get over it though, as this was literally her last chance at being able to pay her rent. She really didn't want to be put out on the street.

Oh well. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Looking around with renewed determination, she noticed that the guild was virtually deserted. Everyone of importance to her was either preoccupied or gone. Good. Quickly she stalked up to the mission board and snatched the request down, practically running back to the bar where she slammed it down on the counter, startling Mirajane.

"Mira! I'm taking this job."

Mira took the piece of paper from the blonde and straightened it out, her eyes widening as she got a gander at what it was in her hands. "Lucy!" The blonde cut off anything else the take-over mage was about to say. "Please Mira, I really don't have any choice at this point. It's a valid request after all." The blue-eyed woman wasn't pleased but remained silent nonetheless. "Please Mira…" Somewhere in the back of her mind, Lucy marveled at the fact that she was reduced to begging for a stripper job.

"Oh alright."

Lucy felt like a weight had lifted from her shoulders as the barmaid gave in. She grabbed Mira's hands in her own, practically jumping up and down. "Thank you!" Mirajane however frown, obviously not sharing in Lucy's enthusiasm. "Just promise me that you'll be careful with this. If the client seems shady, you quit, you hear me?"

Lucy nodded. Mirajane still didn't look convinced but went ahead and logged the request in the guild's records anyways. "Alright it's all done. Remember to be careful, alright?"

"I promise." Lucy turned to go but stopped when something occurred to her. "Hey, Mira? Can we keep this just between me and you?" This time, Mira allowed a smile to grace her lips. "Of course. I'll keep my promise if you keep yours." Lucy nodded before turning to head out to her apartment. She had some preparing to do, especially trying to find her nerve to actually go through with the mission.

The eviction warning posted to her door when she arrived home was all the motivation she needed.

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KTKG Says: Okay, so this idea just popped in my head and I decided to run with it. Let me know what you guys think and if I should continue on with it…