Jude Heartfillia was working at his computer when his long-lost daughter burst in through the door with a lock in her hand, her gaze murderous. He simply gave her an indifferent look and said, coldly,

"What brings you here, Lucy? I thought you wanted to stay with those common riffraff 'friends' of yours."

"You know why I'm here." Lucy's voice barely contained the rage held within it. "You've crossed the line, Father. Way, way over the line."

"Oh, really? Is this about Jose? Honestly, if you've only found out about him now, I'm surprised at his secrecy. I thought he was an incompetent fool. Turns out you really can't trust appearances."

Lucy snorted. "We found out about Jose months ago. This isn't about him." Her gaze hardened. "And you know it."

"Really? Then, pray tell, what is it that I know?"

"You've really done it now." Lucy fought the urge to lunge at him and choke him to death. Plenty of time for that later, after he admitted it. "Sending Jose to get me was bad enough. Kidnapping Jellal was almost the last straw. But what you've done now is the worst. The absolute worst. How can you even call yourself my father after what you've done?!"

Jude regarded her with interest. "And what have I done?"

"Oh, I'll tell you what you've done." Lucy seethed with anger. "You've tried to take away the one thing that I will never, ever forgive you for taking. The one thing I care about most in the world. My friends!"

Jude laughed, a cold, harsh laugh that almost made Lucy snap. How dare he?

"I have no idea what you're talking about. But what I do know is that you came to me, even though your friend was in critical condition. Natsu, was it? Good job, girl."

Lucy exploded, and a split second later, a lock hit the wall next to Jude's head. It would've hit him, too, but she was too angry to see straight.

"I will kill you." she hissed.

"So you say, but you haven't tried anything yet, now, have you?"

And, as you've probably guessed, this is pretty much just begging for your opponent to attack you. Lucy, as expected, obliged.

But then again, this is Jude we're talking about. He always has an extra ace up his sleeve. And sometimes an extra sleeve as well.

Lucy slammed hard into something invisible that hadn't been there just a second ago. Slamming her fists against the wall, she screamed,

"What did you do?!"

Jude simply smiled and waved as the room around her dissolved. Lucy's eyes widened as she took in her new surroundings, which happened to be… her old room?

"Holographic technology. Not very different from what that boy Sting uses, from what I hear." His smile was infuriating. Extremely. Lucy really wanted to smash it in. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my leave. I have better things to do than wait for you to come back."

"H-How… What… What did you do?!" Lucy yelled. "Let me out!"

"You can just stay in here until I have time for you." Jude walked toward the door, then paused and turned. His eyes glimmered with malice.

"Oh, and Lucy? Make sure to check for bugs the next time you encounter someone like me."

And, as Lucy screamed some unrepeatable things at him, Jude Hearfillia walked out.

xXx

Natsu woke up to an extremely bright light shining right in his eyes.

"OW!" he yelled. "Get that thing away from me! I'm going blind!"

"He's awake!" Wendy's voice squealed. "Natsu's awake!"

"What? Ash Brain's awake?" Gray asked his impossibly annoying voice. Natsu shoved the light, which was held by Sting, out of his face and sat up, scowling.

"What happened?"

A group of worried faces looked back at him. He scanned them for a second, then asked,

"Where's Lucy?"

Silence. Uh-oh. All of Natsu's senses told him that something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

"Lucy! You know, blond, cheerleader-type, lockpick, Lucy? Hello?" he demanded. "Where's Lucy?"

"Um, Natsu?" Wendy's voice was small, scared-sounding. "You don't remember?"

"Uh, I remember Lucy shooting me with a blowgun, if that's what you're asking. So, where is she?"

Gray broke the stunned silence that followed. "What's wrong with you, idiot?! You know Lucy betrayed us! You know she was the traitor! So why're you looking for her?!"

Natsu just stared at him. "Are you stupid?"

This just totally threw Gray off. "What?"

"I said, are you stupid?"

"Uh, Natsu? Are you okay?" Levy asked as Gray muttered,

"I think the poison messed with his head."

Natsu just blinked at them all, wondering if everyone had gotten stupider while he was out.

"Hello?" he said slowly. "Remember the thing Brain was looking for? Telekinesis Backward or something? I think he got off a shot in the explosion that followed, remember?"

Everyone's mouth dropped simultaneously. When did Natsu get smart?! And more importantly, how had none of them realized that except Natsu?!

Gajeel said faintly, "The poison really did mess with his head. He's smarter than us now!"

"We're never going to hear the end of this, are we?" Gray muttered.

"B-But that means… W-We…" Yukino stammered. "It's all my fault! I was the one who found the stupid blowgun! I can't believe this… We have to find Lucy!"

"Yeah." Natsu agreed, eyes narrowed. "So where is she?"

"Uh, Natsu? You're not going to like this, but…" Romeo began nervously.

Three seconds later, Natsu exploded out of the hospital wing, charging down the hall. The rest of the team soon followed.

From inside his room, Laxus watched through bleary eyes.

"The heck?" he muttered. "Geez. These kids are weird."

He rolled over and went back to sleep, unaware of the drama unfolding just nearby…

xXx

In all her life, Lucy had never felt more helpless than she did now. Her friends all thought she was a traitor. She was trapped in the one place she never wanted to see ever again. She didn't have a single lock on her, and her lockpicks were useless against a force field. So Lucy did the only thing left to do. She buried her face in her arms and cried.

Jude Heartfillia had taken everything from her, from her freedom to her own mother. Layla Heartfillia had been heading to Crocus, a nearby city, when she had been killed in a terrible car accident. None of this may have seemed like Jude's fault, but he had been the one who insisted on her going to Crocus that day, for reasons unknown. Lucy blamed him, and his insufferable greed. She'd done some research, and there was an important businessman that Jude wanted to meet with there that day. Because of him, and his stupid needs, her mother was killed. Lucy could never forgive him for that.

And if that weren't bad enough, that was when Jude had started treating Lucy like she was simply an item, free for him to do with as he wished. It hurt, more than it should, because there was no one for Lucy to talk to, being homeschooled and all. This was also Jude's fault, as he claimed that schools were full of junk that would "taint her young mind." She'd been miserable. And it was all his fault.

Lucy was so lost in her misery that she didn't notice the shouts coming from the hallway, or the footsteps stomping their way to her room. She did notice, however, when the door slammed open, hard enough to crack the walls. Her eyes flew open, and she looked up, because there was no way Jude would slam the door that hard.

"Natsu," she choked out, because yup, it really was him, perfectly fine and grinning that trademark grin she'd grown to love so much.

"Hi, Luce!" he chirped. "Need a little help?"

Then Gray, Gray, and Gajeel barged in, running to the battery that powered the generator and disabling it as easily as Einstein could add two plus two. Gajeel even snorted one, saying,

"Geez, who made this thing? It's a piece of junk!"

Levy was the next to fly in, but instead of heading to any power generators, she threw her arms around her best friend, crying,

"Lucy, oh, jellybeans, I'm so sorry, we're all so stupid! I'm sorry, so, so, sorry, we all are, honest! Please, please, forgive us? Please?"

Tears were streaming down Lucy's cheeks now, and she threw her arms around Levy.

"Of course." she whispered, almost too happy to speak. "Of course."

"Hey, can I get in on the hugs?" Sting joked, stepping in, followed by Yukino and Rogue. Lucy's heart swelled as everyone slowly filed into the room, apologizing like crazy, especially Yukino, since she'd found the blowgun. Lucy laughed through her tears, calling out,

"Group hug! Free hugs for everyone!"

She disappeared under a mound of hugs after that statement, all except for Rogue, who was too cool for that, and Gajeel, who wasn't the huggiest person in the world. Finally managing to crawl out from underneath them, she asked,

"So, how'd you all finally figure out that I wasn't guilty? And who's the guilty one?"

"Believe it or not, Natsu figured it out." Erza said. "It was astonishing, to say the least."

"Yeah, everyone's face was like, OMJ." Natsu added. (Oh my jellybeans, for those of you who don't swear by sweets.)

"And as for who did it, well, it was you." Levy added. "But it was Telepathic Reverse. Remember Brain and his crazy operation?"

"Oh!" Lucy cried. "But… how do I get it to stop controlling me?"

Sting stepped forward, brandishing a bottle of gummies. "I found these in Brain's lab while Yukino and I were locked in. It says Telepathic Reverse Cure, think it might work?"

"Only one way to find out." Lucy shrugged, popping an orange flavored one into her mouth. She shivered, dropping the bottle, and Natsu stepped forward, ready to fight – or catch her if she fainted, whatever came first. But Lucy waved him away, and stretched, a big smile lighting up her face. A throbbing pain she'd never noticed before had vanished from the back of her head.

"I never noticed how much it was hurting me. Thanks, Sting."

He caught the bottle she'd tossed to him. "No problem. Actually, Yukino's the one who suggested I take them along, 'cause they might be useful. That was a good idea."

Lucy beamed at the white-haired girl. "Thank you!"

Yukino blushed. "Please don't mention it."

And, with light and happy hearts, they would've gone marching home.

Too bad Jude happened to be standing in the doorway.

I like orange-flavored candy. It's yummy.

Yay, now you know what the Incident is! And I actually couldn't believe no one realized why Lucy shot Natsu… There are some people with really good memories out there, after all.

Oh, well, that's all for now. Sorry if it was a little rushed.

Seeya!

Water, out