"Speaking of your brother," Gray's voice interjected them, coming back with his coat on, but not zipped this time, "you should probably get back to him, Juvia."

"Juvia is aware of the job, Gray-sama," Juvia pouted to him. "She doesn't need to hear any more of the crap they talk about - Juvia left that to Nii-chan, since he's driving."

"Yeah, but they're going to finish soon and then he'll be looking for ya," Gray reminded her, and the woman sighed in understanding.

"But, Gray-sama..." she whined and Lucy couldn't help but think about how cute she sounded. "Juvia wants Levy-chan to see Nii-chan, too, before we all have to go home!"

"We can hang out some other time, Juju-chan," Levy winked to her cousin. "Don't worry about it this time, m'kay? Do your best tonight, for me - and remember to get enough sleep! You haven't been sleeping well, have you? You look dark under your eyes!"

"It's Juvia's makeup, Levy-chan," Juvia smiled warily, hugging her cousin tightly to her. She was happy when she returned it. Taking a step back, she nodded to Natsu and Lucy and gave them a small wave. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lucy-chan. Don't worry about tonight...you're going to do just great!"

Hurrying off to the lined cars, Juvia was out of ear's reach when Lucy finally popped the question. "So that's Gray's girlfriend? She's very nice!"

"Yeah, I told ya Juvia-chan's the pal!" Natsu grinned to her, finally unwrapping his arm from her shoulder. "And she promised milkshakes... We gotta go get Gramps to hold an appointment soon, before she forgets."

"Juvia never forgets -! Wait! She's not my girlfriend, you asshole!" Gray growled at him. "You askin' for a asskicking?"

"Maybe after the race, Gray!" Natsu stuck out his tongue to him and grasped Lucy's wrist. "Luce and I got a job to do and you don't! Suck on that, ice prick!" He hauled Lucy away and back towards their car, where the drivers were getting into their rides and began to start their engines. The bikers readied themselves, some with a passenger behind them and others without, and Jason stomped his foot on the hood of the convertible to get attention.

"Alriiight! Ya all ready for tonight's race, everybody?" he shouted through the microphone as Lucy and Natsu dropped into their seats, pulling the doors shut. "Make way out of the front line, folks! The train is 'bout to get here!" The driver of the car Jason was standing on slowly went in reverse and pulled them back to the sidelines.

Natsu quickly started the car and amped up the volume of the radio. "Yo Erza!"

"Okay, Natsu," Erza's voice spoke through the speakers, making Lucy's heart start speeding up because this is the time. "You know what to do, right? Follow me and let Jellal onto the train first, and get to the front. Then, Lucy will get on the train with Jellal's help, as promised."

"Got it," both Lucy and Natsu said together.

"On my signal, you cool drivers need to make a break for it, cool?" Jason spoke joyously, throwing his fist up into the air. "Trains come by fast and they sure as hell won't slow down for us!"

"This is it..." Lucy whispered to herself, the corners of her lips twitching with excitement and adrenaline. "My first official race!"

"You're gonna do great, as long as you're careful, Luce," Natsu smiled to her. "Don't forget my present, m'kay? If anyone tries to come after you, and it's not Jellal or Juvia and they look like they're gonna hurt ya, I want you to taze the shit outta them."

"Roger that, captain," Lucy saluted before colliding her palm to his open one, a given gesture of a high-five.

"Be readyyy!" Jason yelled over the sound of engines and cheers of the crowd behind them.

The sound of the megaphone siren went off suddenly, making Lucy jump in her seat as Natsu hit the gas with his right foot, both hands gripping the wheel tightly as all the cars surrounding them kicked up dust and gravel and took off down the lot and into the large ditch and Lucy couldn't help but watch in fascination as everyone outside the car was driving gracefully; the bikers keeping absolutely straight as they sped and weaved through the little openings left in the ditch before pulling back behind Natsu's car.

"It's like I thought," Erza's voice radiated off the radio. "They're waiting for someone to come out to grab the drugs. Natsu, keep an eye on them for me - and don't be shy if they try anything on us, got it?."

Natsu peeked to his rearview mirror sternly, dark eyes returning to snap at the trail ahead of them. "Got it."

Ahead of the packs of cars and motorbikes, Lucy could make out the familiar lights of a train rolling into view. It looked to be a simple traveling train, with all it's lights on in the cars in front. She could see that all their curtains were drawn to a close, frowning at the small idea of probably seeing the thing they were looking for through the windows being terminated in her head.

"That's it over there?" she asked, suddenly regretting at how childish she sounded.

"Yeah, that's it," Jellal answered to her. "We're going to the first car behind the driver, Lucy. There's a gate that we can get on easily and more safely."

The twist of the herd of cars opened into spreaded pairs. Natsu, of course, started to head after Erza's Toyota Supra, and Lucy watched as a black Dodge Challenger Hellcat's window roll down and Juvia's long hair flowed out as the young woman began to climb halfway, sitting on the window.

"Whoa!" Lucy gasped and gripped Natsu's scarf, lightly tugging for his attention. "W-wait, what's Juvia doing?"

"What she usually does," Natsu chuckled, keeping his eyes on the road as he passed the Hellcat, where Juvia raised a hand in the air and summoned a Nissan Silvia, where Lucy could see Sue and and Boze inside. Lucy saw that Juvia has a black backpack on, in contrast to Lucy's pink on, and she could guess that Sue did too, since Boze was the one driving. "They're probably going to try and take off the other drivers by going the opposite way, most likely to throw off Trinity Raven."

"Where are they?" Lucy asked.

"In the back with Blue Pegasus," Erza's voice and Lucy followed and saw a Dodge slowing down behind the motorcycles, who sped up frantically and out of their way. "They're not going to waste time getting onto the train, so there's nothing to worry about."

"They're that bad, huh..." Lucy hummed and sat back in her seat, seeing how Natsu inhaled sharply and had an angry look on his brow.

"They tried killing us last time they participated in a race a month back," Natsu explained briefly. "Gray got a sick scar to prove it. He was just lucky that Mira is taking medical schooling, or he may have been done for."

"What happened?" Lucy gasped, raising a hand to her lips.

"Stabbed twice below his ribs and nearly pierced an artery. He couldn't leave the couch for a good week and Juvia and Totomaru got really worried for him," Natsu rolled up behind Erza's ride that made it to the designated area where they were going to enter. "I remember Gray asking me to visit Juvia and make sure she was okay, and she was upset to hear that he got hurt. She didn't know how bad though, and the fuckin' idiot snuck out before Mira could say so to get a drink!"

"Don't go talking bad about Gray now, Natsu," Erza spoke sternly. Lucy looked up to see Jellal climbing out of the passenger window and onto the hood, making her heart thud against her chest. "You're on the job right now."

Lucy watched as Jellal crawled across Erza's decorated hood, using the armor to set his footing before hooking a leg into the driver's window. She could barely see Erza's hand grip onto Jellal's leg as he professionally hung the upper half of his body out and grasped the bar gate of the walkway. Lucy nearly screamed in shock when Erza let go and Jellal kicked himself off of Erza's car and she sped away from the train while her husband climbed over the gate.

"Oh my God!" Lucy heaved and tightened her hands into shaking fists.

Erza's chuckle made her flush. "Impressed, Lucy?" she asked through the radio. "Okay, Natsu. It's Lucy's turn."

"M'kay, Luce," Natsu nodded once as he made his way up where Jellal was waiting. "You're going to climb over me and go out the window; I'll have a hold on you until Jellal can pick you up, okay?" He glanced to see her still with wide eyes at him.

Swallowing, Lucy nodded to him and proceeded to climb over him when he opened an arm for her, urging her to his lap. She bit her lip as the window rolled down and the gust of speeding wind hit her face. Her chest was hurting now, with her blood pumping and heart hammering. Looking at the distance between the window and Jellal, it looked miles apart...

I don't think I can do this..! her thoughts screamed inside her head.

"Oi, Luce. Look at me," Natsu's breath tickled her neck, making Lucy shiver as she slowly turned her head. His eyes were sharp, but he had a toothy grin on his face.

In that moment, Lucy felt that same fluttering hum in her belly, like when she and Natsu crossed the finish line. That feeling of how everything in Lucy's world was going perfectly, and nothing could stop her from doing the impossible.

"I believe in you, Luce, 'kay?" he told her brightly, his head tilting to the side. "You got this in the bag. I'll be waiting for you out here when you're done, okay? You're gonna be fine, I promise."

Her heart slowed down to a normal rate, and Lucy smiled bravely. "Yeah!" she nodded before grasping the rim of the car, bringing herself out halfway. She could feel Natsu switch arms, wrapping his strong muscles around both of her thighs and holding her in place as she twisted herself around, arms reaching out to the blue-haired man.

Jellal round their arms, gripping her biceps in a vise-like clench. "When I say so, support your feet on these railing and kick yourself up," he instructed in a shout for her to hear, and Lucy gave a curt nod and readied herself, feeling the adrenaline spike through her body and soul.

"Now!"

Natsu let go of Lucy's legs and she slipped out of the window fully and flipped her legs to land her feet on each rail. Lucy could hear Natsu letting out a shout of cheer as his flaming car pulled away from her, and she used her feet to kick hard.

Jellal lifted Lucy over to railing, catching her quick enough to place her gently on her feet. Until she found balance, Lucy let go of the breath she was holding and grinned brightly. Looking over, Lucy saw Natsu giving her a brief thumbs up before speeding off with Erza, and she waved quickly before looking up to Jellal.

"You did good, kid," Jellal nodded with approval. "You ready to get in and get working?"

Lucy's world was lit up with colors and fireworks. Stepping back from Jellal, Lucy held up her fists to her chest. "Let's go!"

With a nod, Jellal grabbed the latch of the car's door and yanked it open, and both of them slipped into the train to obtain their objective.