Hey everyone! So I got a chapter with 3000 words out before school starts again. This semester's going to be rough so I'll write when I can and hopefully get a chapter out sometime in September. There's a plot twist in this that I had a lot of fun writing and *spoilers* there's character development. And more Nalu of course. Anyways enjoy.

So far, the experimenting was uneventful. For the first few days it had been Zeref holed up with Lucy, Natsu, and Happy in his lab trying to find treatments that would make the END genes dormant and ineffective. Natsu hadn't really sensed a change of personality aside from his temper getting less predictive. Zeref said it was because he didn't have any exposure to situations that would trigger bloodlust. In that case, it was probably even better that he had stayed behind and hadn't gone back to Magnolia. He didn't want to unintentionally destroy Fairy Tail Headquarters. Or his mansion. Or his car.

~POV Change to Lucy's~

Lucy and Happy had been taking everything well. They had been hanging out at the pool and Lucy had been spending time reading the copious amounts of books and material that Zeref had accumulated over the years. Then they had long in-depth conversations about books, characters, science, and history. He hadn't spoken with anyone from Fairy Tail since they left for fear that they'd get an idea to do something stupid like trying to kill Zeref in the middle of this. Natsu hated to think that he had actually been less stressed out since the others left. He was reminded of his childhood. For obvious reasons he didn't remember his parents' death, but his childhood with Zeref had been good. Even his relationship with Zeref was better. If Zeref did any of his other work, he kept it well concealed. From what he had seen, Zeref was telling the truth when he said that he hadn't ordered Tartaros to do the things that they had done. It seemed that Zeref was content to sell drugs, not kidnap and torture people.

The only thing that had shaken things up was one night at dinner, Zeref had broken the silence. "I've learned that your father is coming to visit me in a few days time," he told Lucy. Lucy had frozen, her fork halfway to her mouth with salad. A single piece of lettuce dropped to her plate.

"What?" she shrieked. Natsu and Happy winced at the high pitch.

"I can ask him to cancel it if you wish," Zeref said. It seemed to Natsu that Zeref had grown fond of Lucy. Zeref had told him that he enjoyed having someone around who was willing to discuss books and philosophical things with him.

"No, no he can come," Lucy said quickly. "Just tell me when he's about to show up."

"I will say that I have reason to believe he has been going behind my back," Zeref continued. "My deal with you still stands."

"What deal?" Natsu demanded. He didn't know what Zeref was talking about.

"It's not important Natsu," Lucy rushed to say. "He just wanted me to think about getting revenge on my dad."

"And you didn't think to mention that to me?" Natsu felt his temper flare and he wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the fact that Lucy had lied to him when she said that they had talked about nothing the first few days they were here.

"It wasn't important Natsu," Lucy repeated. "Besides, it was something I haven't really been thinking about." She turned back to Zeref. "What exactly has my father been doing?"

"Trying to turn some allies against me," he replied. "He hasn't succeeded of course but it's the thought that counts. The fact that he thinks he can turn against me and try to dispose of me to further his business is laughable."

"But that's the kind of thing he would do," Lucy agreed.

"Lucy out of curiosity who did he want you to marry when you initially ran away?" Natsu asked. Lucy frowned and closed her eyes in what Natsu came to recognize as one of her concentrating faces.

"Something about Grimoire Heart," she said. "I think a few days before he had been talking to someone who's name started with a 'z'? I didn't care enough to find out and I didn't think it was important," she explained.

"Zancrow," Natsu and Zeref said in unison, both with sneers on their faces and their voices filled with disgust. "You dodged a bullet with that," Natsu continued. "He's a bastard."

"You've met him before?" Lucy asked.

"I fought with him a few times. He hadn't lost to anyone before and when I beat him he threw a temper tantrum and tried to burn the building down around both of us," Natsu recalled.

"He's Grimoire Heart's resident pyromaniac," Zeref said wryly.

"As opposed to Natsu being Fairy Tail's," Happy responded.

"Exactly," Zeref agreed. Natsu rolled his eyes. Zeref and Happy had bonded as well.

"He also isn't attractive. At all," Natsu said. Zeref and Happy both snickered.

"Is that just according to you or to other people as well?" Lucy questioned, a teasing tone in her voice.

"No other people have said that too," Natsu sniffed. "Why are you taking his side and not mine?"

"When did this devolve into picking sides?" Lucy defended.

"Maybe I can ask someone I know for help," Zeref mused, almost to himself. "There is a person I know who's just as smart as I am. Maybe even more." Natsu snorted.

"How much pride did that take you to admit?" he taunted. Zeref glared and rolled his eyes.

"I'll talk to them in the morning," Zeref decided. "Does anyone want dessert?" Natsu shot up and grinned. "That hasn't changed at least."

"Did Natsu devour food when he was younger too?" Happy asked, eager for more stories of Natsu's childhood.

"He hid candy in his room. One of the only reasons I found out was because there was a chocolate stain on one of his pillows. When he was outside I went in and poked around. I think I found almost ten big chocolate bars hidden in drawers, under pillows, and somehow under your mattress." Natsu didn't say anything as he went and retrieved a strawberry shortcake from the fridge.

"He's lying. There were only five," Natsu countered as he sat down and cut himself a giant slice of the cake. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"You can cut me a slice of cake too," Lucy chided. Natsu muttered something in a different language but whatever he said made Zeref smile. They ate the cake in relative silence. When Zeref was done, he pushed his chair back and stood up.

"My spies will keep me updated on when your father is coming and when he'll get here," he said. "Try not to get too stressed about it. He can't do anything to you here. And if he did, Natsu would react instantly and I would ask him to leave." Natsu saw Lucy visibly relax. Natsu wasn't entirely happy that Zeref predicted how he would react but then he wondered why he wasn't surprised. Zeref was a drama queen.

"I think I'm going to go swimming," Natsu said after Zeref left.

"I'll go with you," Lucy agreed and they both stood up to go to their own rooms.

Lucy was reluctant to say that so far, the stay was relaxing in a way. While Zeref and Natsu were in the lab, when Lucy wasn't with them, she was reading and slowly working her way through Zeref's library, which contained physical books and hundreds more books on computers and tablets. When Zeref and Natsu would come back up, she and Zeref would talk and debate whatever she was reading about while Natsu was scarfing down everything in sight. She could tell that Natsu was more relaxed without the rest of their friends around. Probably because he didn't have to worry about hiding anything or lying about his past. Lucy wouldn't interrogate him, if he wanted to talk to her he would. She changed into a swimsuit and wrapped a towel around herself.

When she got outside, the sky was dark, stars were in the sky, and Natsu was swimming laps. The pool was lit up bright blue and Happy was kicking his paws in the water. Lucy dipped a toe in and recoiled. "Is the heating not on?"

"You don't need heating, it feels amazing," Natsu replied. "Just jump in!" Lucy made her way to the stairs and slowly put one foot in. Natsu rolled his eyes and shot over to her. He scooped Lucy up bridal-style and took a running-jump into the pool.

"Natsu Dragneel!" Lucy yelled and tried to splash him with water. He just dodged her attacks while laughing like a maniac. He dove under the water for her feet, grabbed one of her ankles, and yanked her under. "What the hell?" Lucy jumped on his back and tried to force his head under the water. Natsu laughed and a bubble rose to the surface of the water from it. He resurfaced laughing.

"You're not getting anywhere with this Luce," Natsu taunted as he swam backwards away from her. Lucy followed and he launched himself at her and pinned her to the side of the pool. "Got you." Lucy glared and splashed water in his face. Natsu blinked several times but his position didn't change.

"I hate you Natsu Dragneel," Lucy whispered. Natsu kissed her nose.

"I don't believe that."

"You don't have to."

"You're in love," Happy teased. Natsu groaned and rested his forehead on Lucy's. Lucy took the opportunity to splash more water in his face. Happy flew over and sat himself down on Natsu's head.

"Get off me furball," Natsu whined, but Lucy and Happy knew that he meant nothing by it. Lucy wasn't sure how long they spent outside but when they went back in, a lot of the lights were out. Lucy wanted to shower, but Natsu was whining and just pulled her into his room and they collapsed on the bed together, Happy lying between them.

Two days later, Zeref had news that her father would arrive later in the day. "I'm unsure for how long he'll be staying," Natsu's brother admitted. "I hope just as much as you do that this meeting is short. I'm not fond of him either." Lucy laughed nervously at that. "Lucy, no harm will come to you, I swear. He doesn't even have to know you're here." Lucy could see that he was genuine when he said it. Natsu wasn't calling him out on anything which was reassuring. She doubted Natsu would let anything happen to her regardless. Lucy picked at her breakfast and was tense the entire day. Natsu did his best to distract her and even brought her a stack of at least ten books that she hadn't read yet. Happy brought her a fish which she talked him into keeping. Eating raw fish wasn't really her thing and she didn't want to make it one. A little past two in the afternoon Zeref stopped by and told her that her father would be arriving within in the hour. He hesitantly gave her permission to watch the entire exchange through the security cameras. Lucy had said that she would only if Natsu was with her. Zeref had been reluctant.

"What could we possibly do even if we went through security footage?" Lucy had asked. "We can't contact anyone, and we wouldn't benefit from trying to steal information from you." Zeref had seen her logic and showed her to the room. It was a smaller version of a conference room. There was a soft leather chair parked in front of a wall that showed videos from every camera in the house. Zeref left them and Natsu let Lucy have the chair. Happy perched on Lucy's head.

When Lucy's father first showed up on the video feed, Natsu gripped the back of the chair so hard his knuckles were white. "I want to kill him," Natsu muttered. "He looks stupid." He had let his beard grow longer but he didn't look any worse for wear. He was wearing a fitted black suit and black slacks. Natsu scowled at his shoes.

"It's a pleasure to see you again Jude," Zeref said pleasantly.

"He can't stand him," Natsu murmured. "You can see it in his eyes." Natsu zoomed in on Zeref's expression and saw that his eyes had turned a shade of dark red. "If he gets angry or mad, he gets red eyes, literally."

"You've done very well for yourself in Alvarez," Lucy's father said just as mildly. Zeref stepped to the side and held the door open.

"Please, come in." Lucy had learned to identify Zeref's expressions and right now the one he was wearing was a mask to hide frustration. Her father didn't know Zeref very well so the eye color change was probably lost on him. They passed through the kitchen to Zeref's office and Zeref asked if he wanted anything to drink.

"Do you think he would poison him?" Lucy asked.

"Only if you asked him to," Natsu answered, not taking his eyes off the screen. "It could get complicated for him if he does." Jude refused anything politely. They made their way to Zeref's office. The two sat down and stared at each other like they were sizing each other up.

"Now what do you want to talk about?" As dialogue started Natsu and Lucy quieted down. Jude said something to the effect of expanding business and investing new opportunities.

"He's not buying it," Natsu muttered.

"Zeref's too smart to," Lucy agreed. Both of them perked up when Fairy Tail was mentioned.

"Have you heard anything new about Fairy Tail?" Lucy grabbed Natsu's hand and squeezed tightly.

"Do you think Zeref will betray us?" Happy asked.

"I really fucking hope not," Natsu said.

"You never seemed particularly interested in Fairy Tail's affairs Jude," Zeref replied. "Although I heard that after they defeated Tartaros you weren't happy."

"Would you have been?" Jude demanded.

"I didn't order their, ah, actions so it didn't particularly bother me," Zeref shrugged it off. "Why would you have been so upset if I wasn't?"

"He's going to explode in about five seconds," Lucy said grimly.

"Zeref can handle him," Natsu reassured. Sure enough, Jude slammed his hand on the table and stood up. He towered over Zeref who just looked up at him, completely serene, without a care in the world.

"My daughter ran off and joined them." He spat the word out as if just referring to Fairy Tail was disgusting to him. "You have to know where she is."

"Your family problems have nothing to do with me," Zeref replied evenly.

"Where is she?" he demanded. Lucy stood up and Happy jumped off her head.

"I'm going up there," Lucy decided. "I need to face him and deal with it. Maybe if I put an end to this he'll lay off."

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Natsu reminded. Lucy shook her head. "Ok then. I'm going with you." Lucy smiled tentatively and Natsu grabbed her hand. He gave her a short kiss before they left the security room. When they got closer to Zeref's office, they heard Jude Heartfilia's raised voice and Zeref's calm voice responding. Lucy rapped on the door and it slid open. Lucy hesitantly poked her head in.

"Hi Zeref," she said quietly.

"Lucy, I'm glad you decided to join us," Zeref told her. "We were just talking about you."

"We know," Natsu informed his older brother, stepping into sight behind Lucy.

"You!" Jude roared.

"If you make one move towards her I'm afraid you'll regret it," Zeref warned in a still-pleasant voice. "Sit down." There was an authority in Zeref's voice that hadn't been there before. Jude sat down. It warmed Lucy's heart to see that Zeref was defending her. Whether the reasons behind it were completely benevolent was questionable but it still made her feel good. Natsu gripped her hand in reassurance.

"How have you been Father?" Lucy asked, taking care to make her voice as detached as possible.

"You're coming back with me," he said. "And you can marry Zancrow and then everything will be fine." Natsu didn't bother to hide his disgust when her father mentioned her would-be fiancé.

"Why?" Lucy asked softly. "He's with Grimoire Heart." Her father turned towards Natsu.

"This is your fault!" Natsu raised an eyebrow.

"It ain't my fault that you were so terrible to her she ran away," Natsu snapped.

"Listen, boy," the words were snarled out. "She is my daughter—"

"She is right here!" Lucy said loudly, glaring at her father. "Stop talking about me as if I can't think for myself. Running away was the best thing I had ever done and I know Mom would have supported my decision. She would be furious if she knew what you were doing to me."

"How dare you speak of her," Jude spat. He stood up and lunged for Lucy but was stopped when two things happened. The first was that Natsu grabbed his wrist. The second was that Zeref pulled out a pistol and held it to Jude's forehead.

"Sit. Down. Do not make me repeat myself again," Zeref commanded.

"You know I'm right," Lucy muttered. Suddenly Natsu hissed and he was clutching the side of his head.

"Fuck," he murmured.

"Natsu, maybe you should leave," Zeref said, concern evident in his voice. Lucy went up to him and grabbed his cheeks.

"It's ok Natsu, you don't need to get angry," Lucy soothed. She kissed him softly and she felt the tension drain from him. Natsu dropped his head to her shoulder.

"Maybe we should continue this later tonight," Zeref suggested. "I think all of us need to cool down."

"No, no I'm fine," Natsu said. "Really." Zeref didn't seem convinced but he acquiesced.

"I'm not leaving with you…" Lucy hesitated on what she wanted to call him. He certainly didn't feel fatherly, or even familial in the slightest. "Jude." The room was silent.

"What did you just call me?" Jude's calm voice betrayed the fact that he was furious.

Lucy summoned her courage and said "Fairy Tail is my family now." Jude hit the desk so hard the palm of his hand was red.

"You are my daughter!"

"I stopped being your daughter when you saw me as nothing more than a pawn for you to grow your business, which I didn't even know about," Lucy ranted. "I stopped being your daughter when you would lock me in my room for asking questions or speaking out of turn. I'm not going back with you. Ever."

Jude stood up. "I think I need to talk to my daughter alone." Natsu snorted.

"Yeah like that's gonna happen. Listen, the day I found her she had a bruise on her face from where you hit her. There's no way in hell I'm leaving the two of you alone," Natsu argued. Zeref casually picked up the gun he had laying on the table and aimed at Jude.

"Say the word Lucy," Zeref told her, "and I'll follow through on the deal that I made you."

"What is he talking about?" Lucy could see that Jude was starting to get legitimately concerned that he might not make it out of Alvarez in one piece, if he left alive at all.

"No," Lucy said softly, Jude looked relieved.

"See, you're a Heartfilia after all," he said with a forced laugh, trying to play his gratitude off.

"I have another idea," Lucy said, and she felt an almost sadistic glee in how Jude's face fell. Lucy gestured Natsu closer as she went up to Zeref and whispered "it'd be more fitting if all of his businesses died instead."

I hope y'all enjoyed. Your reviews make me happy. Try to guess the person who Zeref's referring to in the first part of the chapter ^_^