Chapter One - The Lion tamer

It was about 7:45am in the Fairy Tail Guild and it was a glorious day in the City of Magnolia!

The sun was slowly rising over the rooftops, casting a pretty orange glow into the windows of its many buildings. The early morning traders had already set up their market stalls on the cobbled streets and were chanting about their wares.

The grandest, most impressive building in the City was its Magical Guild Hall, Fairy Tail.

A place where wizards and mages can get work, make friends and feel at home and loved, when they had lost all else. It was one of the greatest magical guilds in all of Fiore!

Within its walls, this fine morning, Lucy Heartfilia, the busty blonde celestial wizard awaited the arrival of her spirit, Leo, The lion - Or more commonly known in these parts as Loke. The blonde was waiting patiently so they could head off on their mission (Which is kinda regretted agreeing to, since he's always trying to hit on her).

You see, the night before, Lucy made the mistake of making fun of her spirit, and as an apology, Lucy agreed to go on a private mission with him.

She sat at the bar sipping some warm coffee, and nibbled on a fresh blueberry muffin that Mira had just pulled from the oven.

'I probably shouldn't be eating this...'

She thought to herself. She didn't want to gain weight. Her figure had to be perfect for this mission!

'Wait No!' She furiously shook her head trying to erase her thoughts.

Mira interrupted, making her usual assumptions - which are almost always on point.

"Thinking about your date with Loke, huh Lucy?" She winked.

"It's not a date Mira! It's just a mission, and that's all." Lucy looked away, blushing uncontrollably.

"Okay. So you're thinking about your Dat-Err..Mission. Correct?" Mira was holding back a smirk.

Lucy nodded, and looked down at her half eaten muffin, stomach still rumbling.

"I suppose I'm just a bit nervous since it'll just be the two of us...I mean I trust him to protect me, but I don't know if I trust his...charm." She groaned thinking about the night before when he kissed her cheek, then just vanished - Oh yeah, he did that too as punishment!

"I'm sure it will be okay Luce! At least you'll get to keep all the reward money since he doesn't need it! Well, I believe that's what he said last night..." Mira said, comfortingly.

'Ahhh! Yes. I could finally buy that dress!' A big goofy grin spread across her face at the thought of all the reward money.

"Yeah that's right! And hopefully he won't destroy everything like...Natsu...Gray...and... "

Lucy lowered her voice to a whisper

"Erza..."

Mirajane giggled and nodded at her comment.

"Well I guess I'll go ahead and post the jobs for today." She grabbed a stack full of papers and walked to the mission board.

Lucy looked at the clock, it was 7:55am.

"Loke should be here any minute..." She gulped.

It was 7.59am and Mira had just posted the last job request. She stepped back both out of pride and also out of knowledge that if she stays there, there is a chance she'll get knocked down.

"All done!"

Mira said cheerfully.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

That was the noise that proceeded afterwards. The guild board started to be raided. The clock was ticking slowly towards 8am and within a few moments and the board was cleared again with guild members walking around and scraping between themselves. It was utterly savaged within moments!

Lucy hadn't even noticed the crowd of her guild members until she heard Mira shriek and move aside quickly.

She rushed into the crowd and tried to grab a job, but unfortunately the swarm of her fellow guild mates stopped her from doing so. As they scattered, Lucy stumbled to the board and saw a few sorry jobs left. Nothing too spectacular.

"Maid needed? Nah. I think I'll pass on that one..."

Lucy looked down and sighed. She was looking forward to the reward...and oh god that dress. She gritted her teeth trying to figure out what to do.

"I guess there's always next time."

Lucy looked at the clock again. 8:01am.

"Huh? I wonder where Loke is. He's never late."

Suddenly, that faint, alluring smell of aftershave and cologne drifted past Lucy. A smart cuff-linked arm appeared around her shoulder.

"What you staring at?"

The charming lion said casually, looking at the board with her. Loke was in a particularly good mood this morning. He was wearing a brand new, well fitted black Italian suit and his hair was perfectly shaped to accommodate the cute little lion ears poking out the top.

Startled by his presence, Lucy flinched as she saw her spirit, and...oh god did he smell delicious. Gahh no! Not those thoughts again. She stared at him, pouting.

"I'm looking at CRAP. All the good jobs were taken before I could get to them. I'm sorry..."

she shrugged slightly.

"Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait until more are posted huh?"

The lion looked at her with a glint in his eyes. Boy was he on form today.

"I saw the mad rush... Luckily I managed to grab one."

He pulled a page out off his jacket pocket smoothly and placed it in her hands. He smirked proudly at her and looked down at it, curiously. He'd not actually read what it said.. He just blindly grabbed it in the rush.

Lucy's face lit up when she laid eyes on the flyer.

"Ahhh thanks Loke!"

She took the paper and skimmed over it. After reading, she let out a big groan.

The job was to capture four bandits who have been terrorizing a small port town, using charm spells to lure in young girls for their own dark desires and urges!? Eck!

"Just great. This is going to be way too difficult! We can't capture 4 guys at once! And god knows what would happen to me if they caught me!"

The spirit mage frowned, all thoughts of the reward money (and the dress) vanished. Today wasn't her day, though Loke seemed to be in a extremely perky mood, more than usual. Lucy glanced up at Loke, waiting for him to give her some hopefully words.

"Please, with me at your side we'll be unstoppable!" He said confidently, with a little grin creeping across his lips.

"I admit… I didn't look at the page before I grabbed it. But an A class mission will be a piece of Cake!" He laughed.

"You can count on me! Oh and don't worry, I won't let them touch you." The light glinted across his shades as he smiled down at her.

"I don't know Loke...A-Are your sure?" She stared at him, as that big stupid grin spread across his face. She trusted him, she really did, but could they honestly do this by themselves?

"Oh maybe we could bring someone else with! I might have to split the reward, but I'll be okay!" She quickly suggested.

"We'll be fine. I am sure we'll make a great team!" He beamed, waving his hand about.

"We should go catch the train to the town shortly. You going to bring the rest of your breakfast with you?"

He pointed to her half eaten muffin with an even bigger grin. In all honesty, he was just pleased he'd been able to keep his arm around her shoulders this whole time without being swatted away. A slight snigger escaped his lips.

Lucy gave him a half smile, and nodded.

"If you say so!" She glanced over at her half eaten muffin. Her stomach growled loudly. She hoped her spirit didn't hear that... Embarrassed, she shook her head.

"N-no...I'm not hungry anymore." Lucy finally noticed his arm draped around her. Pushing him away she wrinkled her nose, and crossed her arms.

"No funny business okay?"

He held his hands up swiftly in defense,

"No funny business."

He smiled, "But the muffin is coming with us."

He pointed and carefully picked it up, placing it in his palm and carried it behind her.

"Can't have your stomach rumbling whilst fighting bandits-"

He laughed to himself. "-Otherwise I might just have to take you out to dinner myself."

Lucy puffed her cheeks and gave him one last intimidating glare (well she thought it was)

"Ehh?! You heard that?!"

She snatched the muffin from his hands and quickly headed out of the guild, towards the train station.

As they reached the station, Lucy quickly finished her muffin and leaned against a pole, waiting for Loke to purchase their tickets.

"Hurry up Loke!"

He couldn't help but smile continuously. He couldn't tell if it was getting weird or not. He purchased the tickets for the train and walked on over to her.

"We best hurry up, it leaves soon. We're in coach A."

He pointed to the far end coach. Little did Lucy know, he'd brought them a first class ticket. The miracle of being a charmer with 50 extra jewels got him pretty much everything he wanted. He took her arm and lead her to the coach.

Lucy noticed how smiley Loke was and couldn't help but blush. She thought to herself for a moment. 'He is kinda handsome isn't he-ahhh no no Lucy! Stop that!' She couldn't think Loke was handsome. Could she? Nah...it was probably just lack of sleep from the night before.

As he took her arm, oblivious to his charm, she went along with it and followed him onto the train.

"So where exactly are we sitting?"

"I thought you might like a Window seat." He said, helping her up onto the train. As they stepped on, you could instantly tell that this train carriage was fancy and expensive. Their seats were made of a fine red leather, with wooden frame. Their table looked like it was mahogany and was well polished. What made it better was the fact that they got a free pot of tea, served in a fancy silver tea pot!

Astonished by the amazing view of the carriage, Lucy gasped and removed her arm from his, inspecting every inch. She knew what fancy and expensive looked liked since she grew up with money..not too much love though.

"Oh Loke this is amazing! But you didn't have to do this. I swear I'll pay you back after our mission!"

Lucy sat down on the burgundy cushioned seat and let out a sigh of relief.

"Hmm. Is that...tea?" She perked up. Oh how she loved a nice cup of tea.

"You don't need to pay me back, It's my treat." The prince like spirit said happily, observing her interest in the tea.

"Yeah, It is. I love it, so got us a seat with complimentary tea. I think it's British..." He inspected it as he sat down. "Oh, it is. You can smell it." He inhaled its rich aroma. Mmm.

The lion was showing a rather fancy side he'd never shown Lucy before. He realised she had a weird look on her face at his reaction and tried to quickly change the subject.

"Aha... Anyway, the journey should take about an hour."

He was sitting beside her comfortably and poured them both some tea before the train departed. He hoped she didn't think he was a bit of a weirdo for knowing so much about tea. He shrugged it off trying to keep his cool like normal. What a goof.

"Don't argue with me! I'm paying you back!" Lucy protested.

She studied him, noticing he was acting...proper? She raised her eyebrow in suspicion, wondering if this was one of his get lucky tricks. She wasn't about to fall for it! Or maybe he wasn't faking?

"About an hour? Oh okay," she gazed up at Loke. His facial expression was calm. He was handsome. The way his ginger hair fell perfectly. His hazel eyes with the shards of gold that sparkled, making him even more irresistible…

She just couldn't stop staring at him.

The train began to depart, jolting forward, causing Lucy to fall against her partner, as tea spilled down her shirt. "Oh crap!"

Loke put his cup of tea down, "Are you alright?" He took his tie off and let her use it to dab herself down. He felt he'd probably seem a little too forward going straight in there and doing it himself, so he offered it to her cautiously.

"You're not burnt are you?"

Loke's tie was made of a fine red silk. He had gold lion head cuff-links on the sleeves of his high quality Italian suit, woven with fine cotton from the Celestial world.

Lucy cringed from the hot tea spilling on her. "Ahhh! Crap! Yeah I'm okay.." she watched him frantically take his tie off, allowing her to use it to dab her-now stained-white lacy top. The ties fabric felt smooth. Almost like silk-wait...it was silk! Lucy handed him his tie back.

"It's just a little burn. No biggie. I'm gonna have to...uhm...change my shirt." She blushed deeply thinking about having to change in front of him and quickly hid her face.

"I can look away if you want, you can change under my jacket." He removed his jacket and offered it to her. What was this? He's taking his clothes off for Lucy already.

In his mind (his dirty little mind) he had hoped it would eventually be the other way around. Still, the gentleman in him urged him to do so. He was raised a proper gentleman so he will act like one for her. He looked at the tea stains.

"Do you have any clothes to change into?" He asked, tilting his head.

Surprised by his actions, Lucy's eye's widened. He didn't want to watch her?! The girls of the guild always made him out to be some big pervert, too!

"O-oh thank you." She took his fancy jacket and gave him a genuine smile. She liked this side of Loke a lot. Snapping back into reality, she realized she forgot her bag at the guild.

"Damn! I forgot my luggage! How will I brush my hair?!" She smacked her forehead and slumped over. "I'm such an idiot..."

Loke burst into a big grin,

"What would you do without me! Hold on, I'll fix this for you."

He vanished into a flurry of golden light. He then reappeared moments later with a pretty top in his hands - which would easily compliment her current outfit and those big beautiful eyes. Celestial world delights! He also gave her one of the most glorious looking hair brushes the human world may have ever seen. It had little rubies in the back. He didn't see it as anything special. "Here you go! These should do the trick." He said, as he handed them over to his owner.

Lucy always went crazy over celestial clothing and accessories. She shrieked when she saw the top. It was absolutely perfect. And oh god. That brush! It was so glamorous! She ran her fingers across the rubies.

"Loke, you're too kind." She leaned over and hugged him, and surprisingly to Loke, placed a quick peck on his cheek.

Lucy turned around and pulled her bow out, allowing her golden locks to fall down. She then removed her tea stained top, quickly slipping the new one on. It fit her body perfectly. Hugging her curves. And wasn't to tight!

She proceeded to run the beautiful brush through her hair slowly.

Loke had a feeling she'd like them. He almost glowed when she kissed his cheek,

"Aha, it was nothing Lucy." He picked up his tea and sipped from it, trying with every part of his being to look at her, and not stick his pinky finger out as he drank from the cup. GOD ITS HARD. He kept a straight face whilst concentrating,

"Do you like them?" He asked, flicking his eyes back to her.

She finished brushing her hair and turned around. "I love them." She had a different kind of smile. It was brighter than usual. She noticed his pinky twitch and let out a giggle.

"So What do you think fancy butt?"

He looked at her and put the cup down.

"Fancy butt?" He knew exactly what she was talking about. Dammit she saw!

He smiled, "I am glad you like them!"

He looked at her hair and that cheerful smile on her face, and tilted his head happily. "You and I try so hard to look great, only to get it all messed up on a mission. Heh. Figures huh?"

"Yes! Fancy butt!" She smirked at him and grabbed her cup of tea, crossing one leg over the other like a lady. Sipping the tea she closed her eyes savoring the rich taste.

"Ahhh..now that's what I call tea. She used her right hand to push a strand of hair behind her ear and glanced at Loke. "Hmm. I guess we just like to make a fabulous entrance huh?" She laughed.

"I always aim to make a fabulous entrance!" He laughed.

"But it's not that hard being someone who has golden magic, huh?" He smiled, admiring her hair as the light shined over it.

He found himself being lost for a moment, before snapping back to reality.

"-Oh we're almost here!"

She looked out the window of the train, watching the the land fly past. She felt like someone was watching her. "Hm?" She turned back towards Loke who seemed to be in a daze.

Before Lucy could comment he blurted out that they were almost to our destination. "Already? Wow time sure does fly."

The train came to a halt. Lucy sipped the last of her tea and gathered her things. "How much was that reward again?" She walked beside Loke. Feeling safe for the first time in awhile.

Loke held his jacket over his shoulder, having already fixed his tie back in place.

"The reward?" He looked at the page again,

"50,000 Jewel per bandit, Why?" He said like it was nothing. The lions concept of money was shot. He had things that would be expensive in the human world but they were just handed to him in the spirit world.

"5-50,000 JEWELS?! PER BANDIT?! thats..."

Lucy calculated the numbers together and her eyes grew huge.

"That's 200,000 jewels...for all four..." Lucy nearly fell off the train when she realized how much money she would receive.

"Holy...crap..and you said that like it was nothing!" She grabbed Loke's arms and shook him. "YOU'RE TAKING HALF!"

Later...

Lucy walked into a pub in town. She was wearing an emerald green crop top and a skirt short enough for the bandits to notice her. She sipped on a cocktail when she heard a door slam open.

In walked a medium height fat man, only wearing a dirty sweat stained tank and some greasy old jeans. He had a 5 o'clock shadow and a cuban cigar hanging from his mouth.

Lucy wanted to scrunch her nose in disgust, but knew it would foil their plan. Instead she locked eyes with him and winked. The fat man gave her a grinch like grin, bearing his yellow teeth and hobbled towards the busty blonde.

Lucy's lion sat at a table with a pint of ale, waiting to pounce when the time was right. He'd changed into something casual to blend in. His expensive suit would of drawn far too much attention to himself. He sat in his green fluffy jacket and black jeans. He carefully watched from behind Lucy, sipping his ale, noticing a few men leave the bar quietly. They all had the same Tattoo's as the guy chatting Lucy up. He was disgusted by this type of man, he glared from behind his tinted shades.

The man leaned against the bar and smirked at Lucy.

"What's a beautiful girl like you doing here? Don't you know about the bandits? They might getcha!" He spat his words.

Lucy almost gagged when she caught a whiff of his foul breath.

"Oh I'm just on vacation. I wanted to get away. And no need to worry about me sir. I'm tough!" Lucy gave him a halfassed smile, but he fell for it.

The man leaned closer to Lucy, a little bit too close for comfort.

"How about I set you up in my hotel a block away?" This was the perfect opportunity!

"Oh and what's your name little lady?" He gazed over her body licking his lips.

"O-oh my name is...Christie!" This was really happening…

He gave her a smug look.

"And you are?" She tried to say genuinely.

"They call me Sonny."

AHA! So it was him. Lucy followed behind him and glanced over at Loke making eye contact with him and mouthed the words "five minutes."

Loke subtly pulled out a pocket watch and held her to it, he set it for Five minutes. He glanced back down at the ale, nursing it slowly. The lion polished his rings trying not to draw attention to himself. Loke could smell Sonny from where he was sitting, so he dreaded to think what sort of pain Lucy's nose was in. As Lucy slipped away, the lion had finished his drink and had since vacated his seat quietly, sneaking out the back of the bar in the opposite direction to which Lucy left. He had a better idea than looking like he was stalking her.

Lucy followed the man into a small white stoned building. The lights were dim, making it hard to see. The man hobbled behind a wood top desk and pulled out something from one of the draws. To Lucy's ears it sounded like something heavy. She gulped and reached for her whip, ready to spring into action. She could hear her heart pounding.

"If you feel threatened and endangered, you can always speak with me through my key. I'll always do my best to be there. I am your knight in shining Armour!" Loke remembered saying this to Lucy after he first gave her his Key. He smirked slightly as he ran, nimbly across a rooftop. He was hunting...

Lucy eyed the man's every move. Her heart was racing so fast. Whatever he had pulled out was quickly raised to her. It was a a gun. A black powder pistol to be specific.

A sadistic grin grew on Sonny's face.

"Didn't I tell you the bandits would getcha?" He added a wicked laugh.

Lucy tried to stay calm. Her fingers traced her whip.

"Now follow me and you won't get hurt."

She nodded and walked in front of him. She felt the pistol poke her back making her almost shake in fear. 'You've got this Lucy! And besides, Loke told me that if I feel in danger, all I had to do was speak to him through his key.' She couldn't help but smile when she remembered his words. They were so sincere and flowed from his mouth with ease. He really did care about her.

Feeling less threatened - Lucy was pushed into one of the hotel rooms.

It was awful. Dust coated the puke green drapes, and the bed was small - Maybe a full sized mattress that sunk in the middle. The sheets didn't look too clean either and smelt almost as bad as Sonny did.

Sonny cleared his throat and grabbed Lucy by the arm, forcing her to face him.

"Now you're gonna do as I say. Take your clothes off, and lay on the bed." His grip almost crushed Lucy's arm.

She choked at his comment. "S-Sir don't you think what you're doing is...immoral?" She tried to clean convince him to end his terror.

"Ha, immoral you say? I don't give two shits about that. I just know that I am a man with urges. Now do as I said!" He grit his teeth and lifted the gun right to Lucy's heart.

She squeezed a fist letting out a sigh before she began to remove her top. She closed her eyes. and whispered 3 small words. "Love, save me..."

Within an instant, A blinding golden light appeared outside the small shabby window, lighting up the dark, disgusting room. Sonny squinted and went to draw the one moth eaten curtain across.

"Heh, I've Got you..." The lion said into his key, his voice calm, deep and clear.

Loke saw Sonny's fat shadow pass over the window.

"REGULUS BLAST!" He roared causing his light to fill the streets outside, golden light crept through the curtains, getting brighter and brighter.

There was a crumbled yelling noise getting rapidly closer and closer to the window, the light following it extremely fast.

"Lucy, get down!" He demanded through his key.

Lucy saw a flash of golden light appear through the window Sonny was draw too. It was Loke! Oh thank god. She heard him through her key telling her to get down and quickly scrambled over to the bed. It was too late. She heard a shot go off from the pistol.

She landed next to the bed, out of harm's way...but DAMNIT. She felt a pain shoot up her right arm. Looking over she noticed the bullet had grazed her arm. And man did it sting like a bitch! She held her wound and curled up, waiting for Sonny to be blasted away.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The light clashed powerfully with the window, also sending a second bandit into Sonny. He'd been beaten up pretty badly. The blast shot a large hole through the wall.

As the dust cleared, you could see Sonny and another bandit crumpled over the top of him but still conscious (barely), covered in rubble.

Loke glared at them from the opposite roof top. He lowered his palms from there he'd aimed his attack.

"No one touches my lady!"

He leapt down and ran towards the large hole in the wall, his body glowing gold, back into his suit.

Lucy heard the wall explode, and Sonny let out a blood curdling scream. She waited until everything was calm before sitting up and peeking over the bed. Seeing another bandit on top of Sonny. Woah...

Then she heard Loke say "No one touches my lady." Which caused her to blush uncontrollably, forgetting about the pain in her arm.

She pushed herself up just as Loke leaped into the hole in the wall. She was relieved. "Thank you Loke..."

He rushed over to her.

"Are you alright?" He looked her up and down, "I heard a gunshot." He glanced at her arm,

"Man that could've been worse. Stay still a moment."

He took off his tie quickly and used it as a bandage. Man, he was glad he wore ties. Multipurpose uber soft silky ties! This one didn't have tea on it either. It was another silk tie with black tiger stripes this time!

The explosion had caused quite a bit of commotion in the area (but at least it was just one wall he destroyed, and not an entire city, right?)

"I'm alright Loke-." She listened to him ramble on, with worry in his voice. She titled her head and smiled at her spirit as he took his tie off and wrapped it around her wound.

"Hey I said I'm okay."

She placed her hand on his shoulder trying to get his attention. "Well, thanks to you I'm still alive."

She reached her hand up and removed a small piece of drywall from his hair, quickly giving his ear a well deserved scratch.

He smiled at her and tilted his head slightly towards the ear scratch without realizing he was doing it. "Heh, two down..." The two men were groaning, trying to call for back up. Loke sighed and turned his head away from the glorious scratch he was receiving.

"Do you two mind?!"

He raised his fist and sent a quick jolt of Regulus at them, to knock them out. He pursed his lips.

The moment was ruined. Two more men burst through the door and stopped, taking in the scene for a moment.

"W-Who the hell are you!?" The two ugly looking brutes croaked, raising their pistols at Loke and Lucy. Loke stood back in front of Lucy, defending her from them.

Lucy giggled at her spirits reaction. She heard Sonny and the other man groan and just like that, Loke used a quick Regulus beam to knock them out. She saw him tense up.

"Hm? Are you o-"

Before she could finish her sentence the other two bandits busted through the door and Loke stood in front of her, defending her. She looked up at Loke who was still quite tense.

Lucy stepped to the side and closed her eyes, pulling out her whip and snapping it once.

"You shouldn't have interrupted boys."

Lucy drew her hand back and slugged it forward, wrapping it around one of the bandits neck and threw him against the wall. She was actually enjoying that moment with her spirit as well. Lucy smirked as she saw the last bandit try and make a run for it before wrapping her whip around his neck as well. "Tsssh."

Loke blinked at Lucy's fast reaction. To say the least, he was very impressed. He broke into a smirk. Loke walked over to the current tied bandit confidently, tilting his head at him softly.

"In a bit of a pickle aren't you?" He laughed and sent a swift, precise punch right up into his jaw, knocking him back down. He didn't even use any magic that time. It didn't feel right too.

He looked down at the man who was flat on his back, noticing the ruby imprint his ring just left on his jaw. "Oops, Need to be more careful. Might ruin a good ring that way." He chuckled and turned to the guy Lucy slammed into the wall.

"That was some skilled whip use. May I inquire as to how you became so skilled with a whip?" He gave her a slightly, cheeky smirk.

He walked over to the guy whose face slid down the dented wall. He pressed his rather shiny shoe onto his head, and wiggled it around to see if he was conscious.

Lucy pushed her hair back, and was ready to slam this last idiot into the wall, when she noticed Loke stroll over to him, and to her surprise, upper cut him, and knock him out!

Her eyes grew wide. She knew he was strong, but he didn't use magic this time, only his bare hands. Eyeing his every move she noticed the ruby ring on his finger. It was spectacular!

She was soon startled by his words.

"Ahh...Virgo taught me-" She frowned,

"-Get your mind out of the gutter!" She quickly added.

Lucy eyed up her partner, and watched him glide over to the bandit Lucy had thrown into the wall without hesitation. That was the only bandit she had defeated. Lucy pouted, she realized Loke had done all the work. He should get the reward money. Not her.

"Loke, I didn't even do much to help. You did everything. I don't feel right keeping the reward..." Although she really needed it and was gah-gah over that dress, she knew what the right thing to do was.

"What are you talking about? You caught 2 bandits! "

The one under his foot grumbled. He blinked and looked down at him in annoyment. He lowered his voice to him with a glare through his shades.

"Would you do me a favour and knock yourself out please?" He smiled down at him from under his foot.

"Nooo I only defeated one. You knocked out three of them. And ugh! See, mine isn't even knocked out."

Lucy smacked her forehead. She needed to train more. That should have knocked him out. Swiftly she walked over to the bandit, embarrassed and frustrated by her lack of skill she took a deep breath.

"One way or another I'm defeating you." Much to Loke's surprise, she raised her foot and slammed the heel of her boot into the bandits jaw. KOing him.

"Let's get these idiots out of here, collect our reward, and leave before I end up doing this to someone else."

He burst out laughing at the legendary Lucy kick! "Woah!" He stepped back, not wanting to feel it either.

"Nice hit! Alright, lets claim your reward" He beamed as he tossed one on his shoulder and dragged another by the scruff of his neck. "If you tie them up they will be easier to drag to the police station"

Lucy nodded, still very frustrated and proceeded to tie up the remaining idiots and dragged them across the ground.

They soon arrived at the police station. About 6 officers rushed out and took the bandits into custody. The sheriff walked out with a large manila envelope and handed her the reward.

Loke looked at the irritated look on Lucy's face. It was cute. He always thought Lucy looked cute when she got angry. He couldn't help but smile and hold back a gentle laugh. "Good work Lucy!" He walked over to her, "Happy shopping awaits". That charming smile was back on his face, he looked down into her eyes happily. He'd enjoyed his mission alone with Lucy.

"We make a good team you know..." The lion said.

Puzzled, she thought to herself. 'We make a good team?'

They had only been on one so far. So she couldn't make as quick a judgment as he did. "So far we do, but this is only our first mission together. So don't get your hopes up!" she said, walking out in front.

Later...

Lucy plopped down onto the train seat. Her arm was extremely sore, but was now properly sanitized and wrapped in gauze. Her eyes were heavy. All she wanted to do was sleep…

Loke sat beside her sipping on a cup of coffee. He looked over to her and leaned back on the chair, and tilted his head to look at her. "You look sleepy." He said gently.

Lucy yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Extremely tired.." and to Lokes surprise she laid her head against his shoulder. She was mumbling nonsense about the dress, and then closed her eyes smiling. "You're actually quite comfortable Loke..." before he could reply, she was fast asleep…

Loke glanced down at her. He smiled softly.

"Heh. Cute."

He put his arm around her to keep her warm (and because he could) and looked out the window, watching the day slowly turn into night. He was pretty happy. 'Taurus would be so jealous.' He grinned, broadly at the thought. The train journey was a peaceful one.

Lucy woke up in a haze, and a bit grumpy from only sleeping for an hour. She stretched her arms upward, and quickly hopped off the train with Loke. It was night time now. Probably around 9o'clock. The night air was harsh. Lucy shivered from head to toe. She looked up at her partner and gave him a half assed smile.

"I guess we part ways here?"

She pulled out the manila envelope and handed him half the reward.

"And don't argue with me...you deserve it."

He frowned. "Lucy. I don't need money. If I let you keep it, can we do this again sometime?"

He asked, casually wrapping his jacket over her shoulders to warm her up.

"I had fun. All I wanted was to spend time with you not earn money." He smiled warmly at her finally, looking down into her bigs eyes. He was pretty tired himself but the lion, being the endurance master he is, managed to hide it pretty well, or so he thought.

Lucy's eye's grew wide. To think that he risked himself just to spend time with her? She was absolutely speechless for the time being. All she could do was smile.

The way he looked at her and touched her felt natural. It was almost like he loved her-wait...did he?

Her mind was racing after that crazy thought. He couldn't really love her could he?

Immediately she locked eyes with him, noticing how tired he was. She knew he was trying his best not to show it.

But the real question was 'Am I starting to fall for him?' Lucy tried to search for the answer in his eyes.

He tilted his head as she didn't answer him, only stare back. 'Did I say something wrong? This is intense...'

"Come on, I'll walk you home." He was keeping to his promise of no funny business, even if that intense stare just then pushed every urge he had to the limit. Argh today sure was exhausting.

He smiled and popped his arm over her shoulder again, resting it over his jacket. He popped the Manila envelope subtly back in her bag without her noticing.

She lost her train of thought when he offered to walk her home. She wasn't going to argue with him. To say the least she was quite happy that he wanted to.

As he draped his arm over her she leaned in closer, trying to stay warm.

The walk with Loke was peaceful. Neither spoke. The only sound was the satisfying crunch of the leaves below them, a few owls hooting in the distance, and the trickle of a small creek near by.

Loke's heart sank seeing the street appear in-front of him as he walked with her. 'Why doesn't Lucy live further away?'

It's common for people to have awkward silences but this didn't feel awkward at all.

He bit his lip trying not to showing he was breaking into a smirk at the thought. This was nice.

His gaze rolled back to Lucy's head which was resting comfortably on his shoulder. Did Lucy do this as she was just tired or was she finally warming to him? This was it, he couldn't hold the smirk back anymore. It broke across his lips stupidly.

Loke's shades sat in his pocket as it was too dark to wear them, his cotton shirt fitted his torso well, but was dirty from the rubble earlier. With his arm around Lucy, his golden and expensive looking cuff links were visible. The lion heads had tiny ruby eyes, matching his signature ring.

"Home is in sight..."

He said, as her apartment drew closer. The handsome lions voice was quiet and content. It had that low, velvety tone to it as usual.

Lucy frowned at the thought of her destination growing closer. She was so exhausted, but she didn't want this to end. She felt so content.

As they approached her apartment building she looked at Loke through the corner of her eye. She saw a large smirk spread across his face. 'What was that all about?' She wondered.

Lucy stopped walking and nearly choked at the way his words hit her like a brick. She felt a pain in her chest that she couldn't get rid of. Why? Why was she so upset? She was so confused. Just yesterday she was swatting at him to leave her alone, but now she didn't want him to go at all.

She cleared her throat and spoke with a melancholy tone. "Oh yeah... Thanks again Loke..I appreciate your kindness."

She pulled away from him and slipped his jacket off, handed it to him. "G-Goodnight Loke.."

She turned around, and shoved her hands into her pockets, her head still hung down, and she started to walk towards her building. She knew she wouldn't sleep tonight. There was too much on her mind and her stomach had butterflies. She just had to figure out what this feeling was. Never has she felt this way towards anyone. Never..

Loke stood holding his jacket, watching her try and find her keys. She was avoiding him all of a sudden. He tilted his head. Interesting...

He'd restrained this much, he just couldn't help himself anymore. Her lion leaned in from behind, gently tilting her head up. He pressed his lips tenderly onto her skin, and gave her the softest, slightest peck on the back of her neck, just below her ear. His warm breath was a stark contrast against the cold air.

His voice like velvet, gentle and quiet. "Good night, Lucy. I'll see you tomorrow..."

His eyes gazed softly at her as he stood back thinking he'd be swatted for what he'd just done. He slowly began to sparkle and fade away with a satisfied but happy smile.

"Sleep well, Beautiful…" His voice trailed away.

Lucy, who was fumbling for her keys, felt Loke press his lips against the back of her neck. She stiffened. Why was she not angry? She was more aroused than anything. Kyaaa! This is very confusing!

Lucy looked back towards her Lion and spoke with a stutter "P-Perh-haps s-so..." she tried to hide her hot, beet red face. She proceeded to quickly walk up the stairs and into her apartment. As soon as the door closed she pressed her back against the door, letting out a huge sigh. "Oh...my...god." That Loke was such a tease…

After about two hours of pacing back and fourth in her kitchen, Lucy couldn't figure it out!

She slipped her day clothes off and put on something more comfortable. A rosy pink spaghetti strap tank, and some black lace bikini cut panties. Making sure her door and Windows were locked so Natsu couldn't pop up in the morning to interrupt her (or see her half naked), she crawled into bed and snuggled a pillow underneath the covers tightly.

She thought about everything that happened that day. Why couldn't she figure this out? Maybe some sleep would help her process everything better. She closed her eyes, and drifted off into a deep sleep...

Loke let out a soft laugh as he returned back to the spirit world, slowly removing his tie and taking off his cuff links, neatly placing them on the side. "Not long now, Lucy. You'll come around... One day. For now, just get some well deserved sleep."

He strolled across the polished floor of his larger than life celestial room. He removed his suit and tossed it behind him. The lion then flopped back onto the world's most glorious bed and stared at the ceiling, questionably.

He raised his hand and waved it across in-front of him, opening up the ceiling so he could see the sky. His glance was interrupted as he looked at his ring. He blinked and stared at it for a while before taking it off and putting it on the side next to him.

"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy... Who would of thought you could tame a lion?" He grinned, drifting off to sleep.