This oneshot got requested by a friend! You have to know that I'm roleplaying on tumblr and his (Gajeel) and my (Freed) muse have formed a kinda great brotp bond. So this is how this idea got formed in the first place. Perhaps you can see the potential of this awesome brotp! BD

He heard people say that dying is peaceful. It's like falling into a soft slumber without return to earth, transcending to afterlife where all your loved ones would get reunited with you. A happy end, if you want to call it that.

He heard people say that dying is painful. That it's torture and your last seconds on earth are used to let you pay for all your sins with pain, horrid pain. There's no heaven, there's no hell. There's just a big nothing and you are forever lost.

But he wondered how people could know.

Was that it? Was this how he would die? Gajeel had troubles keeping his eyes open, exhaustion tugging at each of his nerves and it was preventing him from getting up and escaping to somewhere safe. He was lying here, presented on a silver platter for his enemies and it was torture to just wait until death came around the corner.

Death in what shape? A sword rammed right through his heart? Hands that throttled him? A magic spell, a quick death? Or a slow one, filled with anguish? Thinking about it scared him but he didn't want to accept this fear. He couldn't afford it. He had to get up and protect his loved ones!

But in this shape? "Shit…" The dragon slayer hissed, a spark of pain rushing through his body as he tried to move. HIs hand shot to his leg and he had to squeeze his eyes shut as he felt the blood trickle through the fabric of his garments.

A large cut had caused him to fall, his leg bleeding threatingly. What if he was just going to die from blood loss? How would it feel? Was it like getting unconscious, just slower?

No. Not that train of thought again! Gritting his teeth he started another attempt to get up but his entire body felt restrained and in utter anguish. He wasn't sure what exactly had hit him but something told him that it had been more than just a cut from a weapon, making it impossible for him to move properly let alone stand up from the dusted ground.

In the distance he could hear sounds of the on-going battle, fierce voices and ones in pain and it drove him crazy to just lie here and wait for his end.

"Fuck this…" Another hiss slipped between his lips and despair began to claim his mind steadily, his hand clasping his leg and his respiration quickening. Desperately he tried to think of something but nothing would occur to him. Nothing but thoughts that just dragged him deeper into his hole. It was like a curse.

Where was Lily? The two of them had been separated during a fight. He had lost sight of his partner and friend and now he was gone. What if the claws of death had already gotten him? "…no. Not Lily." Not his cat, not his best friend! He was too strong, he was smart and tough. The toughest Exceed he knew! He wouldn't be… No… no!

"I let him down… What kinda partner am I?!" He had dragged him into this. If Lily died, it was his fault! No, Lily wouldn't want him to think this way… Shaking his head Gajeel clenched his free fist and rubbed his mouth. He had to be there for his guild, what kind of weakling would just sit around and… and… die.

Then the image of a petite bluenette came to his mind and it made him stop in his next attempt to get up and rejoin the fight. He could see her so clearly, it was just as if she was standing right in front of him. Levy. She must be with Lily now and they were both fighting. They deserved to live!

…so much more than him. Red eyes widening faintly he froze in his position, the next spark of pain hardly getting noticed by him this time. Perhaps some people had been right and he deserved a slow, painful death… He deserved to think back to all his mistakes, to all his horrible deeds.

People told him that he had changed for the better, but was that really the case? What if he was still a monster, what if he'd always been? And monsters deserved such a torturous death.

"No, fuck that!" Gajeel growled louder than intended, wanting to proceed but the thoughts in his head were so noisy that he was barely able to focus. Voices telling him jsut how cruel he was and that everyone was going to die. They all were dying while he was lying here, tortured to death one by one.

One…by…one…

"No!" The man threw his hands to his head, grabbing it with his eyes closing. Now he wasn't trying to escape his pain, not his position… but himself. His mind, his screaming mind. It was that kind of torture he hated the most, mental one. It was like every single one of his nightmares was becoming real.

'I'm pathetic. I'm so fucking pathetic.'

Did he deserve to live…?

"I'm not goin' to… fuckin' die… Just watch me!" He had to! He had to live on for his comrades, for his… his loved ones.

Perhaps he was going crazy, perhaps he was already mad. Had there been poison on the weapon that struck him, maybe? Was he hallucinating?

Gajeel didn't believe his eyes.

"Gajeel-kun!"

Ju…Juvia. "Juves..?" She was standing there, safe and sound but with an expression drowned in worry. Her beautiful deep eyes were glinting with fear as she looked at him but she wasn't moving. Why wasn't she moving?

The dragon slayer wanted to stand up and reassure her that he was okay. She didn't need to worry! He wasn't going to die! Especially not now that he saw that apparently his guild mates had a chance still, and were alive.

His mouth hung open slightly but even though he yelled her name she didn't move. It was as if she was glued to the spot, her intense gaze resting on him steadily.

"Gajeel-kun!"

Her screams became repetitive and louder with each time, and what had seemed like a relief at first was now getting cruel. She was there, looking at him and screaming and Gajeel didn't know what was going on. He wanted to stand up and run towards her, drag her to somewhere safe, soothe her!

But he couldn't stand up, no matter how much he wanted to.

Tears began to trickle down Juvia's cheeks and witnessing it was like someone thrusted a dagger right through his heart. What was going on?

"Ju…Juvia?"

"GAJEEL-KUN!"

And suddenly there was an ear-splitting scream and everything around him seemed to freeze. No… No, please!

A blade got rammed right through Juvia's back, the scream leaving her mouth. Her eyes had widened and tears were still running across her pale cheeks, her gaze slowly becoming empty. Way too fast, and she fell to the ground. Motionless, eyes remaining opened.

"No…"

Gajeels's breath got caught in his throat and breathing became so much harder. Not because of his own immense pain - oh no, this was forgotten right now - but because Juvia had just been stabbed right in front of his eyes. No! No she couldn't die! She didn't deserve to die! Not Juvia!

"JUVIAAA!"

He couldn't save her. He was lying here, only able to watch her die. He was pathetic, so truly pathetic and now he realized that he did deserve to die! The man hardly noticed that he himself had teared up, the anew try to get up resulting into him punching the ground and breaking down again.

His head was lowered, teeth gritted, fingers clenched and his chest heaving and lowering in sorrow and pain all the same. Why her! Why Juvia!

"I'm so pathetic… I..deserve… nothin' else but death…" He spluttered out weakly, sniffling as everything became too much.

But he didn't realize how close to his end he really was. He didn't realize that his mind had been playing tricks on him again and that Juvia had never been truly a few feet away from him. He didn't realize that enemies were getting closer, ready to strike him down.

"So.. damn… pathetic…"

Only when he reached for his aching and bleeding leg again with a hiss he raised his head and narrowed his eyes, too late realizing that he was in a hopeless situation for good now.

Red eyes widened at the sight of a couple of men running towards him, hardly hearing their determined yells. But then he clenched his teeth again and lowered his head again. He had allowed Juvia die, so his life wasn't worth anything. He couldn't protect anyone. He was just a damn-

And then he thought it was over. Right before his eyes everything seemed to get swallowed by dust as a large explosion went off not too far away from him. It looked like a line, a wall almost, between him and the enemies but other than that all he could see was thick haze.

The loud sound of it covered every other noise and exhausted Gajeel's head dropped to the ground. Now was this how he died? Was this his sign that he was finally leaving this world? Leaving his guild behind?

Maybe… Maybe he would see Juvia… If people who claimed that there was an afterlife were right…

But for some unbeknown reason his end wouldn't come. No darkness. He could still feel, he could still see. Or was he just imagining things?

The haze faded slowly, revealing a clearer view of the field he was lying on. And the clearer his view got the more he could suddenly make out a certain shape.

Gajeel narrowed his eyes and when it dawned on him he could hardly believe it. Was this…? Could he…?

Black boots on a man's feet. One hand of his held a sword gripped, his knuckles white from the strength he was holding it was. Gajeel's gaze wandered further up, resting on the crimson of a familiar coat and then there were long green tresses covering the male's back.

"Freed…?" His voice was so pathetically weak that the dragon slayer wasn't sure if the other man even heard him and he still couldn't quite trust his eyes. No play? Freed was really here? His comrade?

Freed did hear. The sound of Gajeel's voice made him look over his shoulder briefly, greenish blue eyes fierce and facial expression as stern. The rune mage didn't answer right away, instead he looked around in order to check if his explosion had knocked out each of the men that wanted to attack Gajeel.

Only then Gajeel saw the bodies on the ground, some motionless and other twitching every now and then.

Except for one. The dragon slayer's eyes widened and the rune mage's name slipped past his lips for a second time, warning him that there was one left and apparently eager to strike- but Freed had noticed already.

The Raijinshuu's Captain turned to the side, though didn't make a move. Not yet. The foe released a spell but Freed seemed to cut through it with ease. It looked like he was letting the enemy run right towards him, waiting for him - until he was so close and Freed made an incredibly swift move with his sword. "Écriture of Darkness: Destruction!"

The slash hit his enemy right across his chest and a purple powerful shock wave threw him far off, the scream he emitted short and suffocated.

Then Freed sheathed his sword, as calmly as he had been the entire time.

At this point Gajeel's breathing had become even heavier, the blood loss now causing him more troubles. But he realized that, up until now, he had never seen the Raijinshuu's leader fight before. Not seriously, at least. Not really.

Freed's calmness, his cold determination while fighting had a kind of intimidating effect, he had to admit in silence, but he was so incredibly thankful that his guild mate was here.

"Gajeel."

The addressed man looked up once Freed had reached his side. The greenet crouched down and inspected the wound and Gajeel saw a flash of worry in the man's cyan eyes.

"We have to get you away from here."

I know, Gajeel thought and just then the painful realization of Juvia dying hit him again. Tears threatened to well up anew but he tried to stay strong, not wanting to appear weak in front of anyone.

"Gajeel, can you hear me?"

"Yea…" The dragon slayer exhaled and tried to sit up, daring to ask. "The others… Are the others…"

"They are fine," Freed assured him quickly, aware that they mustn't lose any more time. "Are you able to walk?" Although he was able to guess Gajeel's answer.

"I… No." Gajeel looked away, teeth gritting again. How he hated being this weak.

The rune mage nodded and stood up straight, fingers drawing across his own chest. When Gajeel beheld how runic wings appeared on the other man's back he immediately grasped what Freed was planning to do, and hell if he wasn't in such a desperate situation he would never have accepted it!

But he was on the verge of death and… He had let Juvia die already and…

"I'm going to get you to the camp."

Gajeel cast his eyes down in shame and suddenly welling up ire. He had to tell him… "Juvia is… She is…-"

"She is with Lucy and Lisanna. All of them are safe and you are not going to bite the dust."

Gajeel widened his eyes at what he heard. Juvia is…? But how…? He looked up into determined eyes and it was a look that didn't lie. Freed was telling the truth, he could trust him that he did.

When he didn't hear any protest Freed went to stand behind the dragon slayer and locked his arms under Gajeel's and around his chest to hold him as he couldn't carry him on his back. "And I do not want to hear any more self-pity. You are not pathetic Gajeel, and your guild mates need you so I am going to get you somewhere where your wound can be treated and I will not accept any protest."

With the sudden wave of relief and happiness rolling over him, upon hearing that Juvia was alive and he would see her again, he had almost missed what Freed said. He didn't object when he felt how he got lifted off from the ground, more distance getting between him and and the ground as the Captain began to fly. At this point his leg was just hanging off his body, the wind that brushed his wound forcing him to suppress a hiss of ache.

So Freed had… heard his moment of self-pity? Gajeel wasn't going to comment on it, instead kept perfectly quiet. But Freed was right, he knew that. And he respected his words. He respected him.

"Dammit…," Gajeel muttered as anger crawled up once more. How had he gotten into this? One moment of being unattentive and it had almost cost him his life… But Freed had… He had saved it.

After some very brief moments of silence he finally brought himself to express sincere gratitude. It was honest, so very honest, but he was… a little awkward."Thanks, Freed. I owe ya."

"I don't let anyone of my family die," was Freed's brief answer and he didn't stop looking ahead, concentrating on getting his comrade back to the camp to help him. He wasn't out of danger yet.

But these words meant more to the dragon slayer than he would have expected.

Right, Gajeel thought, that is what we do, isn't it? …Protecting each other, live for each other!

And he would live on!