It was common knowledge among those in the agency that the key to the archives was kept by one person and one person only: BlueSteel's secretary, Laki Olietta.

The only problem was getting the permission to handle it.

Gajeel approached her desk calmly, stopping before the violet-haired girl and clearing his throat.

"Laki." He spoke up.

She pushed her glasses up her nose, looking to face him.

"That's Miss Olietta to you, Agent Redfox."

He sighed.

"Look, I know you're not all that fond of me, and you've got a lot of paperwork to handle, but I just need the key to the archive room. It'll only take you a quick moment."

She crossed her arms.

"Tell me why I'd even consider giving something so important to you."

"Come on, Laki. I don't have time for this. Just give me the damn key." He told her.

"I don't know why everyone here takes so much interest in you. You're not even the best agent here, and you're an asshole." She mentioned, rifling through one of the drawers of her desk.

Finally, she pulled out a key, beginning to hold it out towards Gajeel.

He reached his hand out, ready to take it, but she stopped in midair.

"If I see that you've gone in there and tampered with any of the files, then so help me, I'll have you fired on the spot."

"Wouldn't dream of it." He replied, taking the key straight from her hand.

As Gajeel walked away he could hear her scoff, then quietly returning to her stack of paperwork.

He headed over to the locked door, trying not to draw too much attention to himself.

The last thing he needed was that Salamander tagging along and getting in his way, especially since Gajeel knew the shit-eating grin that would appear on his face once he figured out it was his file he was looking for.

He inserted the key in the lock, turning it with a click.

He placed his hand on the handle, cracking the door open.

The room was dark, and Gajeel quickly reached for the light switch to the side of the door, illuminating the area.

Inside the archive room, there were shelves upon shelves, all stacked up with boxes and books.

This was going to take a lot more digging than he thought.

Well, it wasn't as if he had any missions to attend to.

He had plenty of free time available.

Gajeel walked over to the first shelf, running his fingertips along the spines of the books.

He looked over the dust that had rubbed off.

When was the last time this place was cleaned up?

It clearly hadn't been all that recent, whenever it was.

Gajeel continued to browse the shelves looking for something that might mention some information on Natsu.

He turned to a shelf full of boxes, checking over the labels one by one.

There seemed to be everything from old paperwork to old advertisements from this ruse BlueSteel was pulling.

Still, there was no luck with finding anything on that bastard.

Gajeel turned the corner of the shelf, beginning to look over a new, much more promising, section.

These boxes seemed to have information on the past rankings of BlueSteel, as well as all the agents that held them.

He stopped in his tracks, noticing a box that seemed less worn down and discolored than the others.

This had to be it.

This had to be what he was looking for.

Gajeel was careful as he slid the box off of the shelf, crouching down and setting it onto the floor.

He opened up the top, revealing heaps of files.

There was a familiar face that welcomed him.

He picked up the manila folder, staring at the image.

This was Levy's file.

This was his chance to figure out what she was capable of, and why the boss thought they would be a good match.

Gajeel fiddled with the edges, starting to open up the file.

He halted.

If, by chance, he didn't like what he saw... would he be able to fix it?

What if he became too paranoid over his findings and failed to do his best work?

Right now, he was sure that he could go without her as soon as this whole partnership thing came to an end, but what if he found out that she was better than him?

Maybe he'd even find out that this whole situation was forever... no turning back.

Gajeel returned the folder the box, looking through the rest to sift out Natsu's.

This wasn't the time to open up that Pandora's box.

At the moment, he was only trying to figure out the reason why that pink-haired idiot was still hanging around.

He noticed the unique head of hair through the rest of the file photos, sliding it out from under the large pile.

It had really been buried beneath everything, but all the work of searching had paid off.

Gajeel had found what he was looking for.

He didn't hesitate to open the file, noticing something strange right off the bat.

Natsu had a second photo, much unlike the first.

In fact, it didn't seem like him at all.

His expression was blank and stern, without even a trace of a smile.

His eyes were almost just as emotionless.

Gajeel looked over his information, noticing the date of the pink-haired male's arrival.

He'd been an agent before Gajeel had even come to BlueSteel.

How had he never noticed him at first?

The weirdest part of the file, though, wasn't the strangely serious photo, or the date of Natsu's arrival.

It was the nickname caught on file... something that struck a curiosity in Gajeel.

Natsu Dragneel: The Demon.