I AM A.L.I.V.E. Yes you READ correctly. GRACE9550 IS BACK. 

omg T.T i feel like a complete douche wtf XD I left you guysssss. I give everyone the right to find out where i live and chew me ._. I am very serious. I have the least idea on how to make it up to you guys wtf. X-X 

Uh....well...for now i should say....

ENJOY THE CHAPTER THAT HAS BEEN DELAYED! T.T 

~Grace

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Chapter 11: A new rival

LUCY'S POV

By the time Erza, Natsu and i got back to the lobby, i saw Gray and Wendy sitting with someone i've never seen before. Of course, i assumed he was the client. His snow white beard and hairless head almost had me distracted.

Meanwhile, Natsu's eyes were fixed on his bald head. I'm sure he's out thinking.

"Good evening." i said. We exchanged greetings, like normal.

"This is not your usual 'fight' and 'find' robbers, or defeat monsters kind of job. It's more complex." he started, his scratchy voice pronouncing every word in a strange way.

"It's perfectly fine." said Erza.

"Then i shall proceed. Actually, to put it simply, i want you all to inflitrate my opponent in business's home, and to find out a few things for me." he said briefly. Gray raised an eyebrow, and i almost did the same.

"So we're spying?" he asked.

"Technically, yes. You see, other lesser rivals in the business world for me have suddenly started collapsing, and the target's company is growing unusually large. I have suspected him of being responsible for the destruction of the others, i also fear for my own." he explained, "Are you still up for it?"

"Well you were right. It definitely is unusual. But a change for once is always the best, right guys?" asked Erza, turning to us.

Gray, Wendy, Happy, Charle and i nodded our heads in agreement. Natsu hadn't responded. Actually, he was fascinated, i guess, by the way the man's head reflected light.

"Natsu?" i asked.

"Damn...." he muttered, "Oh, huh?"

"Are you up for it?"

"Up for what?"

"Nevermind. We'll just take that as a yes."

"Okay, i guess."

"Wonderful! I do appreciate your help, Fairy Tail. Now, will you be able to start tomorrow?" asked the client, handing me a paper with the address of the target and things we had to look out for.

"No problem, sir. Will you please meet us here again in two days time?" asked Erza.

"I shall. Thank you, once again." he replied, standing up and grabbing his briefcase before leaving. I looked at the paper and Erza peered over my shoulders.

"Oh, this isn't far from here!" i exclaimed.

"Yeah, but if this target of ours is a big shot, he'll have a big property, yes? And a big property most likely calls for security, yes? And we can never go in quietly without making a ruckus, yes?" Sighed Gray.

"Well this is a challenge!" exclaimed Wendy.

After things calmed down, the guys and girls separated to go and retire for the night. Erza was paying great attention to see if there would be any ruckus next door, but not a sound was heard.

^^

The next morning, i got up to see only Wendy and Charle in the room, and my guess was that Erza was in the bathroom. Remembering about the job, i sighed and got up, facing the damn sunlight. Even as the snow fell, the sun magically shone. How.

"We're all like vampires in the morning." Said Charle.

"I'm afraid so." I said.

"Are you all ready?" asked a determined voice, as Erza barged through the room door. I sweat-dropped and Wendy was confused.

"I thought you were in the bathroom?" she asked, noticing two heavy masses behind Erza.

"Oh no, i was waking these two up." she replied, throwing Natsu and Gray into the room. They were half-asleep, and Erza started giving them another rough wake-up call. I laughed at how Natsu begged me to stop Erza, but it was quite amusing.

"Lucy-san, please show us the way." said Wendy, as we entered the lobby. We started walking to where we were supposed to go, and oh my gosh, i could have sworn we took the wrong path.

Before us stood a hotel. No, actually, as i looked closer, it was a house. A mansion.

"Damn....we have to infiltrate that?!" exclaimed Gray, as he stared at the security guards who were practically swimming in the property.

"Guess so. Let's turn back guys, we failed! No way we can go sneak in without making noise!" said Happy. I sighed and grabbed Natsu and Gray by the collar who were already walking away. Erza seemed doubtful as well...we always destroy things.

"Oh no you don't. We're doing this." i said, "Keeping the reward in mind."

"Umm, don't you think we should hide somewhere before they spot us outside their gate?" asked Charle. We all jumped behind snow-covered bushes, and at that very moment, a security guard with a rifle walked passed us....

"Okay, we have to break in from the inside. There's no way we can enter with those guys." said Gray.

"Yes, but what if there are cameras inside?" asked Erza.

"You know...Loke said once that he can go unseen under a camera, if he chooses to. I'm not sure about the others, although i prefer him." i said, "Also considering he's a spirit too."

"Fantastic!" exclaimed Happy. I summoned Loke, and he and the boys did their weird handshake and 'wassup man' things.

"At your services." greeted Loke.

"Such a gentleman." i said, "Umm, can you still go past any technological tool? That is, a camera, perhaps?"

"Indeed princess. I'm guessing inside of there?" he asked, oggling the gigantic structure that we were about to enter. I nodded my head. He seemed thoughtful for a while.

"No problem, once i enter, i can search for any guards and guests and deactivate any detection units." said Loke, "And then have you all enter. But how?"

"Virgo!" i exclaimed. I summoned my hole-making spirit. As she greeted me with her 'punishment time?' line, i explained to her the plan and she nodded.

"Okay Virgo, make a hole in a sensible place. Wait for me and then we return here. Right?" said Loke one more time. She nodded and then dug a hole right near Wendy. Loke dived in and we sat down, reviewing the list of things we had to look out for.

A  good few minutes passed, and Loke and Virgo popped back up.

"No signs of any guests or the owners. All systems deactivated. No signs of life appear to be inside, which means, no dogs. All guards were drugged thanks to Virgo getting me something special." explained Loke, laughing at the end where the guards were drugged.

"They'll be out cold for at least ten hours. Human immune systems are weak against the drug." said Virgo.

"You guys are such a big help. Thank you." i said, smiling, and they left. We then proceeded to climbing through the hole Virgo made for us.

It was quite a long way, but then i could see light on the other side. Eagerly, we all lurched forward and found ourselves behind a bookcase. Mentally commending Virgo for putting the hole here, i peeked around the corner.

Erza boldly walked past me, and looked at the list.

"Okay, we have to find things that may seem suspicious against the client." she explained. We broke off and i went into the library.

The library wasn't as big as i thought it would be, but it was good, which meant less space to cover. Walking by the desks and scanning the open books, i squealed when i found a suspicious enough book.

Taking it, i continued my search. After a while, i began to hear strange scraping sounds and small murmurs. I began to fear the worst, but, putting my fear behind me, i traced the sound and looked behind one of the large bookcases.

"AAAGGGGHHH!!!" I yelled, falling backwards.

"AAAAAGGGHHHH!!!" They yelled, as they nearly threw the shelf down.

"What are you doing here?!" i asked Sting and Rogue. They both had relieved looks on their faces. Although, Sting seemed grateful but his friend didn't.

"You're a lifesaver! We were supposed to break in here for a job, but uh...we followed the guy in as security guards, then they figured something was wrong so we had to hide here." explained Sting, resting a hand on my shoulder.

"Did your client happen to be a businessman?" i asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Wow, beautiful and smart." smirked Sting.

"Obviously the girl is saying that they got the same job." muttered Rogue, looking around.

"Where's Frosche and Lector?" i asked.

"They were left outside. We've been in here for a few days, successfully sneaking here and there." sighed Sting, a sad look on his face. I smiled to brighten up the atmopshere.

"Don't worry. Come with me, the rest of my team is here too." i said, "And all systems were shut down."

"Maybe Rogue can go look for them. I want to stay here, with you." said Sting, "I haven't seen you in quite a while."

Feeling uncomfortable, i looked around me, hoping that Team Natsu heard my scream, came to see what's going on and also getting me out of this mess. Thankfully, my prayers were heard and soon enough, everyone ran up to my party.

"What the...." said Gray, trailing off once he sighted the two.

"They got the same job." i said.

"I thought Loke said there were no signs of life?" murmured Erza.

"Oh, that's because this library has a magic field around it preventing others to know what's inside using magic." explained Sting, "Regardless, your chick saved us."

He put his arm around me and Natsu glared daggers at him....Rogue glared daggers at me. What. Did i do him something? Erza coughed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Then we must work with you. Find any suspicious things." she said.

"Oh, i have this book." i said, showing her the heavy book.

"And we found these." said Sting, pulling out rolls of paper. Curious, we unrolled them to find a map, or pyramid of famous business industries and large x's by a few of them. A small circle was around our client.

"This is enough proof. I think this job is complete." said Wendy. We nodded our heads in agreement.

"Time to get out." said Erza, "Sting, Rogue, come on."

Everyone followed the red-haired woman out the library and back to the hole Virgo made. Before we set foot inside, of course, i remembered something.

"We were supposed to sneak in. Won't this hole make an appearance?" i asked.

"Use a mat." said Happy, flying somewhere and dragging a mat behind him. A bright light flooded the room before Loke appeared before us, bowing his head.

"I shall follow you all out. I must activate the systems again." he said.

Everyone was about to enter the hole, when there was  a lot of commotion outside. Car honks echoed and a laughter followed. The knob on the front door twisted and turned, before we realised what was happening.

They came home.

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NEXT CHAPTER: Guilty and successful

PREVIEW: After the job and successfully completing it, Natsu begins to monitor Rogue through out the ride back to Magnolia. Although he felt jealous with Sting flirting with Lucy, he couldn't help but notice that something was off. But what if Rogue is innocent and Natsu is assuming things?