Author's note: Alright! Chapter Five! As you probably noticed, I made a cover photo (if you want a better look it's on my Deviantart)! And fortunately, I got more time on my hands! (Thank you summer!) Well, here we go!

Chapter 5: Testing

Levy took Gajeel down the steps to the basement of Fairy Tail. The room had white walls with a light brown wooden frame on the sides. The room was filled with research on The Cure, machines that ran on Lacrima and supplies to keep The Guild running. Most of the supplies were barrels of alcohol for Cana. Cana always had that bad drinking habit. About 30% of The Guild's liquor budget went down her throat. But after The Virus; that 30% turned into 50%. Evergreen and Lisanna were working with a few machines, testing out a few theories they had come up with about The Virus but nothing seemed to be working.

"I just don't get." Evergreen sighed "No matter how many theories we test, they just don't seem to be working." Lisanna looked at Evergreen and smiled.

"Well, from what big sis told me, Levy brought back a zombie with her. And he's willing to help out."

"A zombie? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not from what I heard. Apparently he took a liking to Levy."

"And he's here to save the day!" Levy added in happily. The two women looked and noticed Levy entering the room with Gajeel tailing behind. Although they wouldn't admit it, it looked like something was on Levy's mind. The girls studied the zombie before pulling a chair over and he sat in the chair.

"Gajeel," Levy began "I have to head home for a little bit, I'll be back as soon as possible." She turned away when she felt Gajeel's hand grab her wrist. She looked back and noticed his face had a look of concern.

"Don't worry." she insisted "I'll be back soon; Evergreen and Lisanna will take good care of you. I promise." She walked away and up the stairs. She took the secret passage to Fairy Hills and soon arrived back in her room. It was a stressful 24 hours and she needed a nice hot shower. She stripped herself of her hunting clothes and turned on her shower. While the hot water rained down on her she let out a deep sigh that let her rain down her stress.

Great, this is just what I need. She thought a zombified Dragon Slayer declaring me as his Mate. He's nice and all but I don't know if I can handle this. Levy already had enough stress on her plate. She was leading the Fairy Tail mages into finding The Cure. She's the one who does the research endlessly. Yes, the others did their share of work but it was mostly to help Levy find this cure. She let out another sigh and began to remember a happier time in Fairy Tail. When there were no worries of a Zombie Attack, no necessary Hunting Trips, no zombies or Blood Moons. Just a time of happiness. She remembered how she would hang out with Jet, Droy, Lucy and one person. One person she couldn't remember. She liked that person a lot, but she couldn't remember him, her? No, it was a he. No doubt about it. She forced herself a smile and took a few deep breaths. I can handle one more thing on my plate. She told herself I'm a Fairy Tail mage after all. Levy turned the water off and dried up when she was finished and dressed herself in a yellow sundress with white roman style sandals and her yellow hairband with flowers on it. She took the tunnel again to Fairy Tail and soon arrived at Fairy Tail where she asked Mira for a nice hot breakfast.

"So Levy….." Mira began "you and a zombie, huh?" Levy blushed.

"K-knock it off!" she squealed "I-I didn't expect something like that to happen ok!" Levy ate her breakfast in a happy bliss while she read her book. Everything was going great until Jet and Droy walked over to her.

"Hi guys!" she smiled.

"Levy," Jet said sternly "we need to talk." Levy looked at her teammates with confusion.

"What's wrong?"

"Levy," Droy began "we want that zombie gone." Levy's smile turned into a frown in a matter of seconds.

"I can't get rid of him guys." She retorted "He's here helping us and I promised him he can stay with me as thank-"

"Then break your promise!" Jet screamed "We don't want some brainless zombie in our guild that could break you in a matter of-"

"Gajeel would never do such a thing!" Levy screamed. The whole room grew silent.

"You named that monstrosity?!" Jet replied.

"I didn't name him; he told me that was his name! And he's not a brainless zombie either! He can understand me… well, mostly. But he's here on his own will, even if I did want him gone, he wouldn't go that easily!" She gave Jet and Droy a very nasty glare. "I can't believe you guys have so little faith in me." They looked at her in shock.

"Levy! We have plenty of faith in you, it's just we don't trust that zombie-"

"Having no trust in him shows me you have little faith in me. He saved my life! I owe him a debt!" There was a moment of silence until Juvia walked in the room.

"Levy-Chan!" Juvia replied "Juvia is glad to have found you." Levy smiled.

"Hi Juvia," Levy replied "Is everything ok?"

"Juvia wanted to let Levy-Chan know that they need her down at the lab." Levy looked at Juvia with questioning eyes.

"Is Gajeel finished testing?" she asked.

"No," Juvia replied "Gajeel was getting his blood tested and he seems to of freaked out. Juvia came up here to get Levy-Chan to calm him down!" Levy's face turned into a look of horror.

"Was I right?" Jet asked.

"Shut up Jet." Levy sighed. She ran down to the basement and found Gajeel hissing at Evergreen and Lisanna who were trying to take a blood test. Suddenly, his hissing stopped when he took a whiff of the air. He could tell Levy was in the room. He looked at the bookworm and smiled.

"Mine!" he screamed, and literally tackled Levy to the floor. He nuzzled against Levy and kissed her cheek several times.

"Wow," Lisanna giggled "Mira-nee was right, this zombie really does seem to like you." Levy blushed at the statement and began to get up from the floor.

"Ok Gajeel," Levy began in a calm tone "Evergreen and Lisanna want a few vials of your blood. I'll stay by your side for this so you can keep calm." She sat Gajeel down in his chair again while the other two girls took his left arm and began to clean it with the alcohol wipes. "You can squeeze my hand if it hurts." Then again with all those piercings this is probably nothing. She thought. Evergreen took the needle and stuck it into the vein on his left arm; blood began to draw out of the needle and soon was put into vials. Lisanna took all the vials and stored the extras into a cooler while some went in to a machine for testing.

"Any results from other tests?" Levy asked. Lisanna shook her head.

"We did a couple of brain scans after you left, they should be done in a hour." said Evergreen. Levy smiled. One hunting trip going wrong ended up in receiving months or years' worth of research that could create a cure in a matter of days.

After Gajeel's tests were finished, Levy took Gajeel upstairs to get something to eat and get Gajeel some iron to munch on. From what Levy learned from Natsu, since he's an Iron Dragon Slayer, he needs iron for energy. This explained all the iron around the abandoned apartment. Mira placed a smoothie near Levy and some iron for Gajeel who immediately gobbled it down like it would be his last meal. An hour later, Evergreen walked up from the stairs and handed Levy Gajeel's test results. She studied them with wide eyes until she finished the papers.

"Incredible!" Levy exclaimed. A small crowd began to form around her.

"Well, what does it say?" Gray asked.

"According to Gajeel's brain scan results, The Virus had an effect on his speech pattern as well as his personality. Not only that but it worked a bit with his memory. This is amazing! Were actually getting to see what a Virus victim brain scans looks like!" Levy continued to look at the paper, studying it over and over again.

"What else does it say?" asked Lucy.

"It seems he's one of the first victims. It looks like he was there the moment The Virus spread. And I was correct on two different saliva's."

"What about his blood results?"

"It's going to take a few days for the results to come back." Levy shook her head "The reason is because were pin-pointing The Virus in his blood and try to find out what's the main cause of it."

"You've done great Levy." smiled Makarov "With this information; we will have a cure in no time!" The guild cheered at this revelation and began to party like there was no tomorrow. Gajeel looked around the guild with wonder. It looked to Levy he was never in this type of scenery or even into a place like Fairy Tail. The Party atmosphere eventually began to die down and around sunset, people began to take the secret tunnels home.

"Come on Gajeel," Levy said "Let's head home." Levy guided Gajeel to the secret tunnel and they walked their way to Fairy Hills. This was the first time a zombie ever entered the tunnels. They arrived at Fairy Hills and soon entered Levy's apartment.

"Here we are!" she told Gajeel. Gajeel entered the room and began to wander around the room. He sniffed the air and knew right away; it smells just like her. "I'm going to take a shower and get changed. I'll be back soon." She grabbed a pair of pajamas and left for her bathroom. She showered again so she could let today's dirt wash away. When she finished, she changed into her pajamas and walked out of the bathroom. She was surprised to find Gajeel climbing some of her bookshelves to either check out her room from above or to look at a book that caught his interest. He stopped mid-climb when he noticed Levy enter the room.

"Mine!" he yelled again. He dashed off the bookshelf and tackled her to the ground. He kissed her senseless at that point. "Mine!" Levy looked at him for a moment.

"Can you say anything besides 'Mine'?" Levy asked.

"Sh-shrimp." He suddenly said. Levy's eyes widened. Was he hungry for seafood or something? "My shrimp!" he began to kiss Levy senseless again.

Oh great.Levy thought now I have a nickname. While he continued to show his affections Levy suddenly stopped him and asked "Do you want to take a shower?" The zombie looked at Levy and nodded. Seeming to understand what she just said. He got up and soon left for the bathroom. Closing the door behind him and soon, Levy could hear the shower running. Well, at least he can bathe. She thought. Maybe Gajeel actually bathing might make him more tolerable. She grabbed herself a cup of cocoa and a book she was currently reading. She headed straight for her bed and began to read the book. Soon, she became oblivious to the world around her. Gajeel left the shower and noticed her sitting in her bed and reading. He climbed up right next to her and began to try to get the Solid Script Mage's attention. Soon, he decided to snatch the book from her. That got her out of her trance.

"Gajeel!" she squeaked.

"Gihihi." he laughed. She managed to grab the book from him and mark where she left off. Gajeel then grabbed the bookworm and smothered her with affection.. His horrible scent was gone by now; replace with a fresh clean scent and iron. Levy could actually tolerate him now. When he finished smothering her with affection, Levy grabbed the book and continued to read. Five minutes into her reading, she felt like she was being watched. She looked to her right and noticed Gajeel watching her read. He seemed to of enjoyed this.

"Do you want me to read to you Gajeel?" Levy asked the zombie Dragon Slayer. He gave her a nod. Levy placed a bookmark where she left off and began from the beginning of the book. She read to him while he watched with most interest. After about five chapters of the book, Levy soon heard snoring. Gajeel fell asleep. Levy placed another bookmark so she knew where she left off with him and put some of the blankets over him. She studied the zombie's features while he slept. He was actually a pretty handsome guy. His piercings seemed to of complimented his appearance instead of ruin it. She gently took her hand and stroked his cheek while he slept. This had to be one of the only times she seen Gajeel look so peaceful in their 24 hours together. Levy began to think about Gajeel before he became a zombie. He must have made some girl happy... had he? Was that girl still around? Or was she... No, Levy couldn't think like that. And neither did she want to.

She turned off the light on her nightstand and snuggled into her bed. She was happy to be in her own bed again. Right when sleep was about to cast it's spell on her; a question came into her mind that made her wide awake. She wanted to ask Gajeel this question but instead asked herself this question.

Gajeel, what are we going to do with you on The Blood Moon?