3rd Person POV

The sun had began to set and the dark blue night started to set in as the small red hatchback came to a stop. Lucy stepped out first and stretched her arms as she let out a small groan.

"What a trip~" Lucy commented as she looked up at the hospital in front of her. Natsu stepped out of the car with his usual scowl and closed the door shut.

"Culver City Hospital," Natsu said as he stood beside Lucy.

Lucy turned to Natsu and leaned her head against her arm, "You should have told me we were going to California, I would have brought my bikini,"

Natsu grinned, a small blush coming to his face as he turned away from her but his scowl soon returned, "Dammit... focus..."

Natsu shook his head, "Maybe you should wait in the car,"

"Why? Don't you want to introduce your father to your girlfriend?" Lucy's eyes sparkled at the pinkette.

Those words made Natsu jump and his eyes darted at her, "Girlfriend?! But we are just colleagues-."

"We've made out more than once now, haven't we?" Lucy shrugged her shoulders and walked ahead, Natsu nearly jumped out of his socks as he reluctantly followed her.

"Ugh, that's not the same... you're talking about an entire relationship here," Natsu rubbed the back of his neck, "But now is not the time to talk about that, so can you please just wait in the car-"

"And I'm certain that you like me more than just a colleague, don't you? Maybe more than a friend even," Lucy turned around and pushed the pinkette against the wall.

A passerby exited the hospital, raised a brow at the two then continued on their way to the car park. Natsu sighed as he watched passerby leave and turned his eyes back to the somewhat, intimidating blonde.

"Listen, Luce, right now isn't the time for any of this, my Dad..." Natsu leaned off the wall which made Lucy take a step back to give him some room to move, "Luce, my dad is just on another level, okay? So if you're going to come, could you please... just... not say anything?"

Lucy raised a brow in confusion as Natsu began to act a little odd...? But she soon smiled and nodded.

"Alright, just follow me and say nothing, seriously," Natsu let out a sigh as he fixed his shirt.

They entered through the automatic doors and made their way to the receptionist at the desk, confirmed the information they requested and made their way to the fourth floor where Natsu and Lucy stood before a doctor who was just coming out of the room.

"Ah, Mr Dragneel! So glad you made it," The Doctor said as he held his checkboard under his arm.

"Is he dead yet?" Natsu asked, not beating around the bush with pointless conversation.

"Uh, no, which is surprising for someone his age! You should be happy that you have such a strong father," The Doctor smiled happily on Natsu's behalf, but the pinkette just turned his head to the side for a bit.

"Dammit," Natsu muttered, which made Lucy stare at him with a concerned brow raised.

"We advise a bit more rest before he can fully get up and work. We contacted Professor Dragneel and he asked that you be the one to pick him up." The Doctor told the pinkette who just stared down at his feet.

Lucy listened intently to the conversation as Natsu began to start acting weird, now she was starting to worry about him.

The Doctor patted him on the shoulder, "Be grateful, not a lot of people get to experience a loved one survive cancer,"

"Yeah, whatever," Natsu grumbled and scratched the back of his head as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Professor Dragneel? An uncle, maybe?" Lucy folded her arms and stared at Natsu who turned to face her, he almost forgot she was there.

"Maybe," Natsu said, quickly waving that topic away.

The worst was yet to come.

Natsu pushed the door gently and made his way in, Lucy following close behind him as they entered the double-bed room. And there they saw the man whom Natsu called Father, the man that brought him up in the world.

He was on the floor, in the middle of doing a few pushups, his arms flexing with each drop. Once he noticed Natsu and Lucy enter the room, he did one last pushup and stood to his feet.

Natsu's father was tall, almost about 6'2ft with wide shoulders, firm arms, and a tough scowl. Lucy stared intently then glanced at Natsu to make a comparison; their tough onyx eyes and their glare were almost the same.

He turned around and let out a large sigh once he saw Natsu and remained near the window as he glared at Natsu who just glared back.

"Dad," Natsu whispered. He felt as if his soul stopped him from saying it any louder and pulled back at the words that left his mouth.

The door behind them swung shut. Lucy remained quiet and felt the intensity in this room right now, she could've sworn that this intensity made the door close.

Natsu had not seen his father in years after admitting him to the hospital, he was expecting him to look extremely weak. Even though the two had hardships in their relationship, Natsu had always seen his father as a pillar, a mountain that no one could move or get around.

And it seems that he was right.

His father took a deep breath in and curved his brows into a strong yet intimidating frown, "What? Do you want to fight?"

Natsu felt uncomfortable where he stood and glanced away from his father's stare. He looked at Lucy from the corner of his eye and saw her looking up at him, he could see on her face that she was confused.

"What kind of relationship do these two share? This is far from a regular father and son relationship," Lucy thought.

Natsu cleared his throat, "Sorry, Da-."

"Have some respect, boy," His father furrowed his brows and clenched his fists a bit.

Seeing this, Natsu straightened up.

"Sorry Sir," Natsu corrected himself, he could feel every ounce of pride fill him up at this moment. But this wasn't a normal day at the office where Natsu was having battling stares with Erza, this was his father.

Igneel Dragneel.

A fierce man who has been having conflicts with his flesh and blood, Natsu. Igneel was just like Natsu, except he was far more brutal in his way of thinking, even when taking on a hauling job, he would go to the oil rig sites on weekends and work throughout the days then get back on the road to haul again.

The two were the same:

- Prideful.

- Straightforward.

- Ferocious.

- Strong.

- Goal-oriented.

This was the human male that taught Natsu how a man should be, how a man should think, and how to ignore the outside world.

Much of that didn't have to be taught because Natsu had already inherited it from his father, only Natsu. The two were much alike but they shared terrifying events that created a wedge between the two and even at this moment...

This one moment...

The two couldn't stand each other's presence.

"Tell me, are you still working at that dead-end job that you picked up? What about your Technical studies, have you completed those?" Igneel said with deep and intimidating eyes.

And on beat, Natsu responded, "Yes. And I haven't quite gotten around to those technical stud-"

Igneel groaned with annoyance, bringing his hand to his eyes and rubbing them, "Fuck me, how useless can you fucking be,"

Natsu blankly stared at Igneel, "Sorry Sir-"

"Why are you apologising to me for?! It's your life, Natsu! How can you fuck up our lives and still manage to fuck up your own!" Igneel growled as he looked at Natsu with disgust.

Lucy slightly jumped and remained still, completely confused about everything that was transpiring right now. She looked up at Natsu, she expected him to want to fight back considering any behaviour like this from Loke would totally be unacceptable to Natsu.

But Natsu... didn't fight back. He didn't argue back; he didn't yell, didn't insult, just remained standing in place, his eyes were empty and lost.

He looked exactly like the time that she first saw him.

Lost.

Igneel turned his attention to Lucy and glared at her, "And who the hell are you?"

Lucy gulped.

Despite the ferocious aura this man was giving off, she still stepped forward, "Hi, Mr Dragneel, I am Lucy Heartfilia. It's nice to meet the man who raised the hardworking Natsu,"

Natsu's breath was caught in his throat as he stared at Lucy with furrowed brows.

Igneel raised a brow and lightly laughed, "Natsu? Hardworking? Are we talking about this fool or are you talking about someone else?"

Natsu waved his hands frantically in front of him as he turned to his father, "Don't mind her, Si-"

Igneel glared at Natsu once and the pinkette remained quiet, "Zip it, but you blondie, keep talking,"

Natsu just hoped Lucy would backtrack and not speak but Lucy didn't catch on, because, to her, she believed she was doing Natsu a huge favour by telling his father the actual truth about what Natsu has achieved so far.

She believed that she understood the relationship between the two. It was only a first glance sort of understanding but she's been in enough situations like this to be able to help Natsu out.

All he needed was a good wingman.

"Natsu is the most hardworking person in our office," Lucy stepped forward with a bright tint of red on her cheeks.

She was so happy to stand up for Natsu at this moment.

"Watch me, Natsu. I'll show you that I'm the right person for you," She thought as she continued.

Igneel's glare decreased in intensity, "Office? Hardworking?"

"Yep! I am his colleague, we both work at Fairy Tail Corp," Lucy said happily, noticing the man starting to grow more relaxed.

Igneel let out a sigh and grinned, his sharp teeth gritting against each other as he walked towards Natsu and rested his strong hand on his shoulder, "Fairy Tail Corporation, huh? You never told me that you worked at one of the biggest corporations in the world,"

Lucy smiled contently as she watched how impressed Igneel was, but her face fell when she saw Natsu not smile once, in fact, he looked to be...

Afraid.

Igneel held Natsu's shoulder tightly and grinned, "Your brother would be proud to hear this. Now, make sure to get all my bags, alright? I'm about ready to get out of this hell hole,"

Igneel walked beside Lucy, resting a hand on her shoulder, "Please, tell me more about yourself, Lucy. Are you Natsu's girlfriend?"

Lucy walked beside Igneel and blushed at Igneel's question. What a treat it would be to hear Natsu ask her out, "Something like that. But, shhh, it's a secret~"

"Ho, ho, ho, alright, I won't tell," Igneel laughed loudly as he and the blonde continued to speak amongst one another.

Natsu walked behind them, carrying his father's bags with gritted teeth and crumpled brows. And as Lucy and Igneel began to speak more, it became more about Natsu than anything else.

Just him.

It always has been about him when it comes to his father.

As the two howled in laughter, Igneel glanced over his shoulder at Natsu with eyes that pierced the pinkette's very soul, it made Natsu tremble and the pinkette was embarrassed to admit that he was somewhat... no, totally afraid of his father.

Some men grow up with no respect for their fathers, but a few men grow up fearing their fathers and unfortunately, to hide that fear, all they can do is force a smile and run away from that fear.

Natsu could proudly say that he wasn't afraid of most things and people...

Erza? Pssh.

Loke? Please.

Gray on a bad day? Whatever.

But his father and Professor Dragneel... were the only men that scared Natsu shitless.

All he wanted to do was run away, but in his case, he was like a fly caught up in a web...

Just waiting to be devoured.

To Be Continued