Gajeel sat outside of his boss's office, waiting to be called in.

His hands shuffled in his pockets nervously.

He'd provided tons of great service, and he was a loyal employee, but Gajeel knew his boss was less predictable than the weather.

For all he knew, he'd be fired within the next hour.

Finally, the door of the office opened, as silent as a ninja.

"Gajeel." He said strictly.

Gajeel gulped.

It was not a good sign to see the boss himself at the door, rather than his secretary.

Still, he stood, following the man inside.

The boss was a stubby little man.

His belly bounced as he walked to his seat, and as he sat, his fingers ran over the dark hairs of his chevron mustache.

"Gajeel." He called again.

"You've been with this agency for quite a while. I know you're loyal, and frankly, I do believe your quite talented in the profession, so explain to me what happened today."

He stared the man straight in the eyes, his posture stiff in his chair.

"W-Well, Sir... to be honest, I don't truly know myself. I guess I got a little too careless, and I wasn't expecting such a large amount of security to be on the scene. I had to make the decision between retrieving the target or getting caught..."

The boss nodded silently for a moment, before leaving the both of them sitting in silence.

Gajeel waited for him to speak up.

He needed something... anything.

"Well, seeing as this little screw up cost us quite a valuable amount of money, I cannot entrust you won't make this mistake again..." The boss explained.

Oh no...

"Am I being fired?!" Gajeel questioned.

"No, Gajeel... you are not being fired. I am simply... providing you a little help."

"Help?! What do you mean?"

Gajeel stared at the little man, confused.

Soon, the door of the office opened, and a blue-haired girl stepped inside the room, closing it behind her.

"This is Agent Levy McGarden. She's only done a few missions or so, but she's quite the smartie. I reckon you two will get along well, as you don't have much of a choice. I'm assigning you as partners."

Partners...

The word wasn't anything special, but to Gajeel, it felt like a bullet to the chest.

"With your inniative and Agent McGarden's brains, you two will be an unstoppable duo! Hell, you'd probably climb your way to the number one spot together!" The boss exclaimed.

Ah yes, the number one spot.

The one Gajeel had been working for on his own...

It declared the best agent of the agency.

"Sir, please! Give me another chance on my own! I won't let you down..." Gajeel pleaded.

He hated the weakness in his tone, but he was desperate.

"My decision is final, Gajeel... Unless you'd like to be fired after all?"

Gajeel's eyes widened at the alternative option, and it seemed the boss got the hint.

"Anyways, I'll give you two some time to get to know each other. Until then, you will be opted out from any missions you're offered. Am I clear?"

Gajeel glared at the top of the girl's head.

"Crystal."