Love Heals All Wounds

Chapter 1: Recollecting

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Finally, the school year was over. Another grueling year of college was over and done with. Ashley Spinelli let out a sigh of relief as the final bell rang. School may have been over but that didn't mean the workload stopped. Spinelli had gotten a summer job like most of the kids but she still had the weekend to hang out with her friends before it was back to the grind.

Her friends were the same ones that she had had ever since elementary.

Gretchen Grundler had grown over the years and stood tall at 5' 10" and was still slim and had gained a nice bust and curves. Gretchen was still considered as the "smart one" even though everyone got good grades. Still obsessed with the sciences, Gretchen was seeking a degree in biology. She still only wore dresses though she did spice it up a bit at times with dresses that shocked even Spinelli.

Spinelli herself had grown over the years, filling out in just the right places. At 5' 6" she wasn't the shortest in the group but she was the slimmest at just 100 lbs. She still stuck with the tough look, as her reputation had followed her even into college. A high ponytail with a few locks to frame her face along with tattered jeans and a tight shirt and jacket was her normal outfit.

Gustav Patton Griswold was still short and small. Only 5' 4" and 140 lbs, Gus would have been regularly picked on if not for Mikey and Vince. He was still the military man of the group and continued to dress like it. Ask him anything about the military and he knew the answer. No one, not even Gretchen, could beat him at military trivia.

Mikey Blumberg was still huge, standing at 6' 5" and weighed near 325 lbs. He played as the center on the school's football team. Despite his size Mikey was still the gentle giant of the group and actively worked in the drama department along with Gus who loved putting on stage battles.

Right behind him was Vince LaSalle, the sporty one of the group. At 6' 2" and 220 lbs he was the most popular guy in school and every girl's dream. Somehow Vince had managed to bag the role of quarterback, get straight A's and still have time for Gretchen, whom he was now dating.

Everyone in the group was pleased that those two had finally gotten together after years of mutual liking and miscommunication; especially Spinelli. As great of a friend Gretchen was, she didn't think she could have taken anymore of Gretchen's dreaming over Vince and listening to Gretchen's hopes, as well as her fears. For years Gretchen had had a crush on Vince but never let it show. Unbeknownst to the girls Vince had taken a liking to Gretchen in 7th grade and never got over it, but he too had never let it show. Fear of rejection on both their parts had kept their friendship from blossoming into love.

Finally Gus, Mikey, and Spinelli just had had enough, the guys had been hearing about Gretchen, and Spinelli about Vince, enough to make them all deaf, so they locked Vince and Gretchen in a room together for a day. Afterwards the two had had to be physically pried off of each other since they were at TJ's pad. Spinelli laughed at the memory of Mikey and Gus gingerly but forcibly unlatching Vince's hold around Gretchen who just stood there all the while blushing madly from being caught in such a compromising position. Both had been half naked when the other three had opened the door on them.

All Spinelli had done was laugh her head off at the struggle that Vince was putting up. She was sure that if TJ had been there he would have been laughing as well. She still missed him, everyone did but Spinelli was sure that she missed him the most. Of the guys he had been the one closest to her and had been somewhat of a leader to the group. Everyone was devastated when he had left; though at the time no one had let it show.

Over the years, though there had been many good times, TJ had slowly drifted away from the group. No one could blame him though; his father had become a drunk and had beaten TJ for a year before his mother had found out and divorced him.

Spinelli was the first one to notice the change in TJ. He acted slower on some days; later Spinelli learned it was on the days after being beaten, that he acted slower. He always tried to pretend that nothing was wrong that year but, it was little things, that only Spinelli seemed to notice, that gave way the fact that something was wrong. Regrettably, TJ had refused to open up about it and Spinelli only found out the reason for his strange behavior the day the beatings stopped.

Being so close to the Detwieller family Spinelli often did things with Mrs. Detwieller since Becky was in college and her own parents were always not home. That day they had gone grocery shopping and as they entered the house, they walked in on Mr. Detwieller landing a blow across TJ's jaw. Both women stood speechless for a moment and their presence went unnoticed.

What happened next was a surprise to everyone. TJ whipped his head back and glared at his father for a moment before launching himself, like a human missile, into his dad's gut making Mr. Detwieller double over and go crashing into what had been the family coffee table.

After that last fight and the divorce TJ just kind of withdrew from the world. He still talked with the group some but through out high school especially their senior year he hung out with them less and less until he didn't hang out with them at all any more. He still talked to Spinelli though, and had gone to the senior dance with her. He had even had the courage to kiss her after the last dance.

Spinelli remembered the night well. She had hoped that TJ would make more moves on her in the future because she had always liked him; even before the whole kissing experiment back in 4th grade. If anything the experiment had made her like him more. But sadly life only got rougher on TJ, which made him withdraw into himself more and more. His dad was killed in a car crash just after they had turned 16. Two years later his mother died in a fire at work. Shortly after turning 18, TJ enlisted in the army and suddenly disappeared from their lives.

At first he would write to them, or more specifically, to Spinelli but gradually he stopped writing, though Spinelli still sent him letters periodically. Last they had heard TJ had been assigned to patrol duty for the 504th Infantry in Iraq.

 The only thing, apart from the obvious danger factor, that had Spinelli worried about TJ was the simple question of why he had left. He had inherited a house as well as the family fortune, which was more then anyone had expected. Insurance policies on his parents added up to half a million dollars alone and he had gotten it all. Counting stocks, bonds and a few other things, TJ was the first millionaire of the group. The only reason that he had gotten it all was because his sister had been raped and killed in her dorm when he was 17.

Perhaps he left to get away from it all, which was what everyone wanted to believe, or it could have been because they had pushed him away. Sometimes when the gang was together they would talk about the old days and notice how the recent past included less and less of TJ, leaving just the five of them. Like the summer before he left they had gone camping at the end of school without him. Afterwards he didn't say anything and disappeared for a week.

Perhaps it wasn't that he had changed so much, as it was that the group didn't know how to cope with the change and had taken the easy way out; simply ignoring him until finally he just left. Though he was kind enough to leave them his house key, the key to the place they all shared over the year as it had enough rooms and was within walking distance of the city college. Even if they had pushed him out, he was still a good friend.

Chapter 2: His Hell

Life was hard to say the least. Enlisted at 18, TJ had survived boot camp as a corporal before he had gotten shipped off to Iraq in the 504th Infantry. They had gotten patrol duty since that was the "easiest and safest" duty for greens. TJ was now only 20 but he had already seen enough killing and done his share to last a lifetime.

TJ sat in his foxhole; the extremists had been pounding what was left of his unit for a few hours now with mortar fire and gunfire. TJ just shut out the noise, as he had learned to do just days after he had started his tour in this hot, war-torn country.

He had been wounded in his first patrol, took a bullet in the left arm. That didn't stop him from killing two men that day. He earned his first Purple Heart on his first day on the job. A few months later his unit was attacked with RPG rounds, TJ remembered hearing the sound of the RPG coming and exploding, killing 10 men he called friends. Under enemy fire TJ had hauled five injured men to safety and managed to kill three of the attackers by the time a nearby patrol came to the rescue. TJ was given the Purple Heart again since he was wounded, as well as the Medal of Honor. In a house raid TJ collected his third Purple Heart as well as his 50th kill. He had gotten promoted to Sergeant for his actions a year ago. As of now, he was a Sergeant First Class of the 504th, which was now one of the bloodiest units in the field having lost over 60% of it's original unit. He was also one of the most decorated men in the entire field with a collection of now five Purple Hearts, three Medals of Honor and one Silver Cross. Each one earned in some combat that he had been forced to take lives in. But as his old Sergeant had said, "This is war boy. Here not only are men made out of boys but heroes are made out of men."

And a hero he was to his men and to the Armed Forces, but a lonely hero. Yes, he had the support of his unit but he had no true friends. Most paid him respect because of who he was; either the Sergeant First Class or a war hero, not TJ, the guy who still retained his title as Crown Prankster Prince and other childhood traits like his belief in justice but no one knew that because no one even bothered to get to know him. Not that TJ could blame them; just too many boys got rotated or killed, most of them no older then him, some even younger.

"SIR! I THINK THEY'RE CHARGING OUR POSITION!" someone yelled at TJ over the sounds of the battle line.

'So it comes down to this?' TJ thought. He had to give them credit; the ambush was a good one. It had demoralized the men and killed a few of them, but a charge on their now well-made positions was simply stupid. It would be bloody on both sides.

"ALL RIGHT BOYS! SHOW THEM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF! FIRE AT WILL!" With that TJ let loose a burst from his MP5-K taking down a man, and bringing his kill tally up to 149. Another made it 150, and another and another. They just kept coming at them. It was then that TJ realized what their purpose was.

'This isn't just an ambush. They mean to kill us all.' TJ spared himself a moment to touch his heart with his hand and then he muttered to himself "Goodbye all. At least I'll make the news" before yelling at his radio man to call for reinforcements again. Just then the heavy machine gunner to his left went down with an AK-47 round in the head, the fool hadn't been wearing his helmet. Taking up the heavy machine gun TJ thought 'If I go down, I go down fighting.' With that TJ set about the task of mowing men down and living just a second longer.

Thanks to Rosie for editing.