A/N: Hey guys! This is the first edited chapter and I would definitely suggest reading it for two reasons! The plot has slightly changed and the writing is better! Happy readings and please review!

And quick note to NerdyTurtle0599, I apologize for not getting this up yesterday like I said, I just kinda forgot.

Surprise of the Night: Chapter 1

I looked at the time it was already 3:00am. I should have been in bed three hours ago at the latest. While I did have an amazing time with my team I couldn't stand seeing their faces anymore! I've seen their stupid, destructive faces for two week straight on missions and I'd still decided to go have a drink with them (it was actually more like two, or three, or four, ...maybe seven). So while I could still make half of a decent decision and hold down a little bit of the liquor and food, I was going the hell home!

That would be the first and last time I take Erza and Natsu on in a drinking contest. Erza was a drinking demon and Natsu was a lightweight; the dumbass nearly killed me in a fist fight with the wall and I still had yet to figure out how I'd gotten involved. I ended up mumbling some excuse about having to get home to Plue knowing very well he was in the spirit realm and before I could finish my sentence they offering to walk me home.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the rambunctious duo but they were beyond drunk and the last thing I needed was anymore scorch marks on my walls (that I'd already repainted three times since moving in), ice shrapnel in my carpets that wouldn't melt for days, or swords in my walls when the redhead came to get them. She still had yet to get the one deeply embedded in the structure work in my thin walls. The woman was scary enough when sober but after maybe a dozen drinks she was just downright evil. I could swear up and down that she maliciously destroyed things in my house and she'd swear on our friendship that she'd done nothing of the such when sober once more. In other words, me and Erza should have stopped being friends long ago.

I hurriedly left the group, trying to make sense of the blurring and swirling guild ahead of me. My feet were crossing in front of each other as I attempted to make my way to the other end of the bar's countertop where Mira stood. After what felt like a good thirty minutes, I pulled a crumpled, little wad of cash from my pocket haphazardly and continued on my merry drunken way.

I could already feel the beginning of a headache pounding me upside my head with little regard for my plans of tomorrow. I summoned Virgo cursing that damned golden light as it flashed against my already blurred vision.

"Good evening Princess, are you in need of my assistance?" The pinkette asked with that angelic servant tone. I rummaging through the useless, dimmed thoughts in my brain for the reason that I had called her for, trying to ignore that queasy feeling creeping up my stomach.

"Um- Hey Virgo." My slightly slurred voice was none too enthused and my friend must have picked up on it easily. She frowned placing a hand on the base of my neck.

"Princess, are you feeling warm?" I nodded, fully aware and experienced with the warm feeling of alcohol. "Are you aware that your alcohol allows heat to leave your body despite the messages your brain is getting? Your body is below standard human temperatures and it's not safe here in cold weather."

"Yes, I'm aware Virgo." There was a subtle smile on my lips. I couldn't help but enjoy her concern for me. "Would you mind pulling out some stuff for me to take a hot bath when I get home, please?"

"Of course, Princess." She left in that unusually irritating flash of light before returning seconds later to inform me of her completed duties. I thanked her with a hug and a small salute before she was gone again.

~ Time Skip ~

Virgo had gone above and beyond what I had requested from her and Mavis, did I love that woman. The second I walked in through that door, I saw an all out meal on the table beside a shower caddy with lavish soaps and perfumes for a bath. I was able to hold much of that good down with my stomach feeling like a grenade had gone off in my stomach. I shouldn't have waited to start sobering up before I got home; Now having to deal with the beginning of a hangover, I felt like complete and utter shit.

I dragged my ass from the table, with the shower caddy in hand. I peeled the nasty clothes off slowly, feeling like I was being released from a dirty second skin, still covered in the last mission. I turned the water as hot as it could go, which wasn't very hot for 70,000 jewels a month. I felt the welcoming, warm water run over my skin.

The wash cloth laved over my dainty form, reminding me why I was treated as such.

It's been going on since the war with Phantom Lord. When everyone found out that I was the Heartfilia heiress, they unconsciously started treating me like I was this fragile thing that couldn't defend itself. I'd been meaning to bring it up for about a month now. Maybe like two, or three, or four,... alright it's more like seven but I can't bring myself to tell them. Fairy Tail's heart is in the right place despite the overwhelming stupidity. It's not like they were being demeaning, everyone was just… in the way all of the time! Even a in a simple fight, I had to get through Erza, Gray, and Natsu before they could get a single finger on me. Sure, getting beat up was not on my agenda but how the hell was I supposed stronger if I don't fight!?

What seemed to only be a few minutes of contemplating turned into almost an hour. I turned the chilled water off and stepped out onto the fluffy, pink bathroom rug. I wrapped myself in a plush, white towel and made my way into the bedroom, trying to shrug off the undermining feeling of defeat from Fairy Tail. I was getting ready to throw on the clothes Virgo picked out for me when I heard loud pounding on the door. I figured it was a drunk Erza coming to see if I got home safe or coming to get her damn dagger out of my wall (I'm never getting my security deposit back). I stumbled past the furniture in the living room, making my way to the door. The pounding continued and I yelled "I'M COMING, HOLD ON!" When I got to the door it was the last people I expected to be at my door at 5 o'clock in the morning.

A slightly irritated Master Makarov and two members of Oracion Seis.

~General POV~

The blonde stellar mage's eyes widened when she opened the door, hand subconsciously reaching for the keys that weren't on her hip. "May we come in?" asked the short guild master. Lucy gave a questioning look and a slight nod as she moved out of the way for the three guests to come in.

Master slipped past her, and the salt and pepper haired member (she didn't quite remember) but she did very confidently step in front of the dark redhead still wrapped in her fluffy white towel. He stopped almost surprised but kept eye contact with the shorter blonde. Lucy eyed him. Her brown eyes gleamed with uncertainty. The crimson-haired, poison dragon slayer gave a smirk and said "Did you miss me, Blondie?"

She couldn't believe she was about to let this dumbass in her house. "Oh yeah, because I was just dying to hear more blonde nicknames at home from the guy who tried to kill me." She stepped aside, motioning him to go ahead on in. Cobra moved past, brushing past her slightly and feeling a shiver force its way down the length of his spine. What the hell?

He flopped down on the blue furniture in the living room staring at the blonde (whose name he'd long forgotten), wondering what the hell she'd just done to him. Lucy just glared at Cobra trying her hardest not to say something she would regret in front of her Guild Master, took a look at the sleeping Midnight, then turned her attention back to Makarov. Her face deadpanned as she looked at the old man. There was no question she was slightly annoyed by her guild master's sudden intrusion with recent enemies.

Lucy took a deep, long breath before excusing herself from the room to change into her pajamas. It was in the solitude and quiet of her room that she tried her damndest to not cry and scream about having those murderers in her apartment, trying to convince herself that they'd changed. She had managed to draw a very, very fine line between trust of their reformation in prison and murderous caution as she slipped on her her tank top and pajama shorts. She held onto her bedroom door for a long minute, once again trying to regather her thoughts before entering back into the living room. She was going to be okay, right?

"So why are you here with them in the middle of the night?" She didn't hesitate to jump straight into the 'surprise of the night'. Makarov took a long look at his child then sighed.

"You know I would never impose on you, my child, but these two have been released from prison and the magic council wants you to watch over them."

Lucy flopped back on the loveseat she sat on alone with a loud groan that woke the reflector mage. "Maaasstteeeer," She whined, "This is very much imposing! What did I do wrong to get stuck with them!?"

"It's because of your passion for forgiveness, the council has decided that you would be the best person to introduce these two back into society. I also want you to introduce them into the guild."

"There's no way in hell I'm babysitting the two grown ass men that tried to kill my team!" All Lucy heard was complete and utter bullshit. She had a life, she had a family, and she had self-dignity but the magic council chooses to dump the criminals on her!? For one, Erza would have been a better, stronger choice and she can forgive too! Secondly, I'm not as strong! If anything were to happen, I cannot defend myself against them. They will kill me and there was nothing I could do about it. I'm left feeling helpless in my own house...

"I know you can, that's why I agreed to let them be here with you." Makarov replied, stopping her in her rampage. He'd known she'd be sore over the idea but he had never seen the Lucy lash out like that. Cobra, however, seemed pretty amused. He didn't know Blondie had a temper and he would sure as hell have fun poking at her… at least that's what he thought; She'd set him straight tomorrow, no problem.

"Alright," She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes before continuing. She'd only lose her temper again if she looked at the two targets of her anger. "Let's say I take this job, where are they going to stay and what about Team Natsu?"

The elderly man hesitated. "They'll be staying here with you for a year and you are expected to resign from your team for six months." He cautiously studied Lucy's face as it went blank and dark trying to process the new information

"No." She said bluntly not giving it a second thought. "I will not leave my friends for the people who tried to kill them." the irritation now showing in her voice.

"I'm sorry but you do not have a choice in the matter. You will still be able to see you teammates at the guild and go on missions with them one week out of each month, but your duty is now to these two. I'll explain this to Natsu and your team tomorrow. For now, you will spend the next three days laying down the basis of your relationship with Erik and Macbeth before coming back to Fairy Tail." Makarov's voice grew more firm, leaving no space for her argument. He understood where his child was coming from but her mouthing off was beginning to irritate him. He'd given her the mission and now she had to deal with it. Lucy knew she was to do what he said but there was so much more to this than just letting two strangers live with her.

The thought of Natsu struck her; She wouldn't be able to see her best friend as often as she usually did. Lucy heard the seriousness of his tone and doesn't question the final statement on the matter. "Fine" She said after a few moments of contemplating. Makarov dismissed himself, leaving Midnight and Cobra in her hands.

~Cobra POV~

"Alright." the blonde finally says after several moments of silence. "Here are the rules: 1) Stay out of my room unless I say you can come in. 2) Don't wake me up. 3) Stay out of my desk."

'Great, she was already starting off bitchy.' I thought.

I took the time to study her body posture and listen to her thoughts. Blondie kept her legs crossed and her crossed around her bust but she just looked tense altogether. Her thoughts were running rampant as she tried to digest entire situation and figure how it was going to play out. Food bills, rooming, teammates, all the while trying to push her disgust out of mind.

I felt my expression drop when when her thoughts turned to static but the blonde never turned to acknowledge me as to what just happened. What the hell did she just do?

"Cool little mind barrier spell, huh?" She commented nonchalantly, looking a bit cocky. It was short lived when she turned her attention to the half sleeping mage next to me.

I saw her eyes soften when she looked at his face. Almost like she cared about him. My entire body tensed as she walked toward him, forcing every muscle in my body to stay put. She wasn't going to do anything to him, I had to tell myself but that didn't stop my hand from twitching to shove her away from him when she laid a hand to Midnight's shoulder. She only shook him. I felt a slight breath of relief leave my body as she only shook him to wake up. "Wake up. I have a bed you can sleep in if you get off the couch."

Even still, that hadn't completely relaxed me. I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that she was trying to help him despite making it very clear that she wanted nothing to do with us. We both knew her "passion for forgiveness" was a load of utter bullshit, so why was she acting like it was true?

She shook him one more time, a little rougher. This time the Reflector mage's eyes slowly opened with sleep still glazed over them. He looked into her big brown orbs for a few moments then turned towards me with a questioning look. "We're in her house." I said answering his look. He continued to look at me, "She's the one we'll be staying with when we get put into the guild." He turned his attention back to Blondie then stood up. She walked him back to where I hoped was just the guest room.

When she returned she stared at me. 'Why' was all I could manage to ask her.

"What?" she answered.

"Why are you acting like you care?"

"All I did was follow orders because if I had a choice, I wouldn't be in my apartment at all." She shot back calmly, not giving it a second thought. She got up and tried to leave but I needed a real answer. I blocked her path off.

~Lucy POV~

Cobra jumped in front of me and his snake wrapped down his form. When his hands slammed into the wall on either side of my head, the sound thundered like it would have killed me had he hit me. My heart was hammering and stuttering in my ribcage and my breath grew shaky but my stupid pride didn't let me back down. I blame Natsu for my idiocy.

"What's your problem!?" I huffed, trying to comprehend why the man couldn't understand that I wanted nothing extra to do with him. Other than housing him and making sure he was a decent enough human being to be reintroduced to society (which I didn't see possible but that was just my opinion).

He repeated the question in a new way, "What's the real reason?"

"It's called being human not that you would understand." I responded sharply.

"I don't care what your goal is, but you hurt Midnight I hurt you and the rest of your guild." He retorted but I couldn't help but let a huge grin break out across my face. He did have a chance at being human! He had feelings for at least one person on this planet!

"Awe~ You're just looking out for Midnight, that's so cute."

The cutest shade of red appeared across his tan cheeks. Apparently he didn't want to admit it but he actually cared about his partner. I moved closer to him, watching the uncomfortable way he slightly stepped back. I took advantage of it, slipping out from beneath his left arm and around the giant snake.

"It's a long trip from Magnolia Pen, you must be hungry, right?. What do ya want to eat?" I said making my way to the kitchen, still observing the shock in his face. I was just glad I'd gotten a chance to get away. Every inch of my body was begging to get away, begging to escape and I couldn't do anything about it.

"Anything is fine." He muttered under his breath. I made hot apple cider and warmed up some leftover Chinese food. An uncomfortable silence loomed over us as we ate the makeshift dinner. Cobra raised his eyes to meet mine and all I saw was this utter, onyx darkness, wildly shifting and calculating with emotion I couldn't even begin to comprehend. The only way I could describe them was a turbulent winter sky in its deepest, darkest gray of night.

My breath caught in my throat and fear struck through my chest. He was one of the only people I couldn't get a read on when looking at them and the simple thought of… of ignorance was dominating everything I knew about him. What if he hadn't been reformed at the penitentiary? I could feel my heart uncomfortably clench and thump and hammer. I scrambled to gather my dirty glass and carry-out trash and get away from him. I just... I just needed a second to pull myself together again.

"You know what?..." I had to stop to catch my breath, feeling breathless and lightheaded like I was going to have a panic attack or something similar, "You're gonna need pajamas… My friend left some of his pajama pants last time he came over." I quickly shuffled to my room, not waiting for his response.

I shut my door and leaned back against it, breathing heavily. My lungs were burning and my eyes stung with tears. I was scared of him.

My chest heaved as I rummaged through drawers, desperately looking for the clothes Gray had left over hear the last time he'd spent the night. If I could just get my mind off of this I could stop freaking but no matter what I thought of now, him and Midnight would still be in my apartment later. I stopped, tightly gripping the edge of the door, my knuckles a stark white.

I'm going to be okay. I'm going to be okay. I'm going to be okay. I repeated the mantra in my head but it didn't help. I was just going to have to do what I did everyday: Slap a smile on my face and ignore every inch of my being. A piece of me broke when I realized I would never be able to escape this fake feeling in my life.

~Cobra POV~

Lucy came back, her heart pounding against her rib cage like she had locked eyes with a tiger. Her entire body was tense in panic but her face… it was soft and almost kind with a genuine smile. I eyed her, trying to sort through the mixed messages of her form. I suppose she was innocent enough but there was this fierceness to her that I was finding oddly attractive but I couldn't stand it when I was working with Angel.

So what made Lucy any different?

She placed a pair of lounge pants and a black t-shirt on the table beside my food, "When you finish you can just throw the takeout container and the chopstick in the trash and put the glass in the sink. I'm headed to bed, goodnight." She left out the kitchen but that was little more than a haze to me.

Everything stopped. It had been a long time since I'd last heard someone say 'goodnight' but I hadn't expected it to make heart stop for a fucking second. Lucy was playing tricks on me and I didn't fucking like it. My heart was hammering in my chest and I didn't know what she did or when or how but I sure as hell wasn't going to sit there and do nothing about it.

I stood up and walked through the living room, toward where I thought was her room and only found Midnight in the bedroom. I walked back the way I'd came and found her on the couch. What the hell was wrong with me if she was in here fast asleep?

A/N: Hopefully you guys picked up on hints about future chapters some of you have already read! I made a slight difference compared to the original chapter one. If you remember, that chapter ended with Lucy trusting Cobra and falling asleep beside him like an old friend while watching a movie. Well, that was completely unrealistic and I thought fear would be a much better touch than instant friendship. Let me know what you guys thought!

Was this better or worse that the original?

Thanks for any feedback and thanks for reading!