Author's Note: I know life and what not is a good excuse to why I update late but I just want to say I'm sorry. Anyways, like always, thank you for waiting patiently for me to update. If you're also following my other NatZa AU story, Everything's Fine Right?, I'm still trying to make the chapter, other than that the bonus chapter I promised for it is almost done.

One more thing before the story starts, I might make another Natza AU story. So stay tuned for that. All I'm going to say is it's going to be much different than this one and my other AU story. And now for story time…


Levy didn't hesitate to open the door for the gentlemen. "Please come in." She waved them in.

Both agents Freed and Bickslow entered, scanning and processing her apartment. Like most apartments, her house consisted of a conjoined room between the kitchen and living room; her living room had the usual stuff such as a couch, smaller single seat couch, a rather nice HDTV, a coffee table where most of Levy's cosmetics and such laid on and a small desk where her vase filled with various flowers laid. "Neat apartment." The blue haired agent complimented the scenery.

"Oh, ugh, thanks," she closed and locked the door. "Please, seat."

Both men took and occupied the larger of the couches where Levy took the smaller one. "Going somewhere I presume?" Freed noticed the young bluenette looked rather stunning; her hair was made into a small side ponytail, and wore a vibrant black dress that went down towards her knees and dark pants underneath.

"Yeah, but I have enough time for you guys." She moved a bit of her hair from her face.

"Then we won't waste our tim-"

"You're hot." Bickslow interrupted Freed mid-sentence, while intently staring at the petite girl from his seat.

"E-Excuse me?" She couldn't believe that the other agent just blurted that out, making her slightly blush.

"Oh for God sakes…" Freed face palmed at his partner's rude compliment.

"What? One of us was thinking it." Bickslow didn't regret his statement.

"That doesn't mean you have to blurt it out like that!" Freed turned to look at his partner, lecturing him on his manners.

"It's okay," Levy didn't mind the compliment. In fact, it made her feel rather reassured with how she looked. "You can continue where he cut you off."

"Hmm," Freed gave him one last glare before diverting his attention back at the dashing petite. "As I was saying, we just have a few questions to ask, so we won't waste our time."

Questions? About what? She raised an eyebrow but quickly ceased it and nodded, allowing the agent to proceed. "May I ask what's this all about?"

"Is about the case you're working on," he took out his phone from his front jacket pocket. From where she sat, she could come to the conclusion that the long green haired agent kept his notes on his phone. "The City of Magnolia vs. Natsu Dragneel case." He said, leaving his phone on her coffee desk.

"What about it?" She raised her left eyebrow, curious to know why the Secret Service is showing some interest in the case.

"We're just here to clarify some things," Freed explained the situation. "Is it true that you and him were in foster care?"

"Yes," she calmly answered the first question. "We helped each other through a lot wince we were both 8. He was like the brother I've always wanted." She further explained her response. "Is it a crime to help someone you consider a brother?" Her attention went towards the other agent who seems to be writing on a small notepad.

"Ugh, no. Just clarifying the nature of your relationship with him," Freed justified his intentions. "Ok, now back in late March of 2003, both of you were adopted by a man named Igneel of the Seventh Dragon-kin, were you not?"

"Yes." She continued to answer his question, at the same time, wondering where the agent is leading her to.

"Now, out of the both of you, who had the better relationship with Igneel?" A small grin appeared on Freed's face.

"He did." She didn't hesitate to tell the truth. Although, she did love her father, but when it came down to agreeing with one another, they were at each other's throats.

"I presume you're talking about Natsu, right?" He just wanted to make sure before Bickslow wrote it down on his small notepad.

"Yes." She clarified.

"Was your relationship with your father strained during the fire that burned down everything in your household back in 2004?" His questions now seemed more of an interrogation.

"He knew it wasn't Natsu's or my fault," her tension now showed when she placed her arms across her chest. "I don't know where you're going with this but, if you want me to kick you out of my apartment, I surely can." She glared at both men though her intimidation didn't scare either men. "Tread lightly with your next question."

"R-Right, I'm sorry for the personal question," Freed swallowed some of his own saliva, apologizing for his assumption. "One last thing befo-"

"Are you going out on a date tonight?" Bickslow once again started with his abrasive comments.

"What I do with my time is rather personal," she was still able to tolerate the agent's rude behavior. "Any ruder things to say?"

"You have a nice a-"

"Shut. Up." Freed elbowed Bickslow right in his stomach, stopping from saying his next inappropriate thing. "I'm sorry Ms. McGarden. I guess we can do this another time."

"Maybe next time we meet, your friend has better manners," she got up from her chair, walking past them towards the door. "And I hope you have better questions than the ones you've said today."

"Right," both men got up from the couch. Bickslow held on to his stomach, trying to hold on to his injury he had received from his partner, while Freed, taking lead, went towards Levy to say their goodbyes. "Well it has been a rather nice evening Ms. McGarden."

"That's an understatement," she said while she saw both men walk out of the apartment. "Well goodbye Agent Justine and Agent Nomad."

"Goo-" Levy slammed the door shut, cutting Freed off. "-dbye…" His farewells ceased and diverted his rather unpleasant attention towards his partner. "What the hell was that back there?" He tried not to raise his voice at him.

"I can't help it, she was hot," Bickslow scratched behind his ear while biting his lower lip. "What?" Bickslow was bothered by Freed's ice cold glare.

"We had one job, and somehow you managed to fuck it up for the both of us," Freed's nostrils flared up. "You do realize the boss is going to-"

"I'll take that risk," Bickslow cut him short as he walked down the stairs passively. "Come on, we still have to question a few other people."

"Stop cutting me off, you asshat." Freed lightly smacked the back of Bickslow's head.

"Ow."

Back inside Levy's apartment, she was still near her door, eavesdropping onto their conversation 'til they finally took off. "Finally." She was relieved, exhaling out her stress.

She went and took a seat on her bigger couch, lying down and covering her eyes with her left arm. The nerve of those guys… She was in her thoughts. Bringing up old shit… And the other guy with the strange tattoo calls himself an agent!? So goddamn rude!

She continued to lose herself in her thoughts. Is he right though? Freed's question about her and her dad's relationship still lingered in her head. Is that when we really strained our relationship? She sighed, still having her arm reside on her forehead.

RING! She felt and heard her phone.

Levy took out her phone which laid dormant in her pocket. "Must be a text from Mirajane." She said to herself. She pressed the power button, turning on the screen to see her notifications. "What the…?" A certain symbol didn't show on her phone. "I could've sworn…"

RING! She realized that it wasn't her phone, considering she held it in her hand as the vibrant alarm was heard, but from where?

She turned to her right and saw that Freed's phone was still on her coffee desk where he put it when he began his set of questions. "Oh shit." She cursed underneath her breath, realizing the agent left his phone at her apartment.

RING! Another notification was heard.

Dammit man, you would think a Secret Service Agent would remember to put his phone back in his pocket… Honestly, at this point, Levy could hardly believe that both men were part of one of the most discrete agencies in the country.

RING! Once again, the phone vibrated with another notification.

Hmm… She was rather curious to see what messages the agent could be receiving. An angry girlfriend? Possibly an angry wife? The possibilities were endless to the lawyer. Well, here goes nothing.

She picked up the phone. She brought the phone near her face and turned on its screen. WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING YOUR TEXTS!? She read the latest message, from a girl named Evergreen it seems. She put her finger on the screen, sliding it from left to right. Luckily, the man's phone didn't need any type of passcode. Guess I'm lucky… hehehe.

Let's see what we have… She held the phone with her right hand while hiding her evil but innocent grin with her left hand.

It didn't seem the conversation between the two wasn't long, in a few seconds, Levy had already reached the peak of the conversation.

Are you still following the two snoopy lawyers? Sent by Evergreen, on November 12, 2015.

It is our job isn't it? Sent by Freed, on the same day.

Don't fuck up this task, okay? And don't give me a smartass reply or I'll bash in your head! Sent by Evergreen.

We won't. The last reply on that day.

Huh, those bastards have been spying on me and Gajeel!? A vein popped up from above her left eyebrow, rustled up a bit at the information she was receiving. When I see those bastards one more time, I'm gonna choke the living shit out of them… She scrolled down.

Next time, we use an actual human tongue to send a message to those pesky lawyers! Sent by Evergreen, on November 15, 2016.

I guess, but who's tongue were we going to use? The last person we killed was already decomposing back in the abandoned building we left him in. Sent by Freed on the same day.

At this point, I don't care which poor sod dies, we need to protect this agency from becoming exposed. Sent by Evergreen.

Is that why that Erza chick and Natsu fellow is taking the fall for our guys? Sent by Freed.

Yes. The last reply on that day.

Levy almost dropped the phone as she read the messages, her hand shook as each message surprised her. These assholes sent the cows tongue to my house!? She put her right hand over her mouth, silencing her gasps. And they framed Natsu and that chick from the case Gajeel is working on?

THUMP! THUMP! A loud knock on Levy's door interrupted her from her thoughts. "Ms. McGarden? Are you still there?" The tone of the voice, no doubt it was Freed. "I seem to have misplaced my phone, and I was wondering if I can check your apartment once more to see if I left it there."

She got off from her couch and quietly reached towards the coat racket. Crap, if he finds out I read his messages, no doubt they'll kill me!

"Oh come on Freed, she probably already left to wherever she went to," Bickslow tried persuading his partner to leave it at rest. "Come on let's go."

"Wait," Freed put his hand over Bickslow's mouth. From the look on his partner's face, he could see that the green haired man may have heard something. "I think she opened her window."

"Now why would she open her window…" Bickslow threw the man's hand off his mouth.

"You don't think…?" Freed turned to look at Bickslow, hoping the male bluenette understood where he was going with.

"I don't know what you're implying, mate." He raised an eyebrow.

"The phone!" He yelled at his partner. "She could've gone through the messages!"

"Oh!" Bickslow soon understood what he meant by that. Without much more to think of, Bickslow instantly kicked in the door, breaking its doorknob and its typical chain lock.

"Ms. McGarden?" Freed and Bickslow slowly walked in. The first thing they notice was the apartment's window was open.

"There's no way she could've escaped from the window!" Bickslow said. "We're what? Almost 10 floors up, and last time I checked there was no emergency stairs on this side of the building."

"There's the phone!" Freed quickly went towards the coffee desk. "No… no…. NO!"

"What's wrong?" Bickslow asked as he heard Freed's cries.

"She took the goddamn sim card!" Freed threw the room across the apartment. "Now she has the messages from me and the boss!"

"Ah shit!" Bickslow put his hand over his forehead, wiping away the sweat that started to drip.

THUD! A loud bang was heard. Freed turned around and saw Bickslow falling to the floor, knocked out. "Oh cra-" Levy threw her weapon at the long green haired man, right at his face. He was now a victim of the same hammer that struck his partner in the head, falling on the floor knocked out.

"Learn Judo he said," Levy clapped and patted away the dirt and dust that the hammer had. "I was gonna need it, he said." She muttered a few words her father had told her. "Well, a goddamn hammer works just as great as a form of defense!"

She ran out of her apartment, leaving the 2 whatever they were on the ground they stood knocked out on.

She made her way outside of the apartment complex, finally reaching sidewalk. Gotta keep running! She continued to run on the icy and snowy sidewalk, dodging every pedestrian that was in her way.

In less than 5 minutes, she was already more than 3 blocks away from her apartment. Can't… stop… need to… continue to… run… Exhausted from running, she heavily inhaled and exhaled as she ran. Suddenly, the ice she was running on made her slip, stopping her. SHIT! She closed her eyes, hoping the impact of the concrete floor wouldn't hurt much.

"OW!" Instead of feeling the cold floor, she tripped and fell on a mysterious person that was in her way. "Hey, watch where you're going!"

"S-Sorry," she opened her eyes and the mysterious person wasn't so mysterious. "Gajeel?"

"Huh? Oh it's you shrimp." He looked down and saw the petite girl on him.

"What did you call me?"


Author's Note: Hope you like this chapter. As I was saying before, I'm making a new AU Nerza/Natza story. Still in the process of making it, but hopefully it's as good as my other 2 AUs. Not sure what I'm going to call it yet but please stay tune. Still debating whether to call it Dark Rose or The Heartless.

Hopefully my next update doesn't take longer than this one, so yeah.

One more thing, by the end of this week, (hopefully) my other Natza story, Chasing Scarlet, would be updated as well the bonus chapter for Everything's Fine Right.

That's it now, so see you guys later. And sorry to leave it at a cliffhanger again.