True Blood

She leaned across the table to grab the apartment keys when a sudden burst of pain shot through her chest. Erza held in the low groan rumbling in her throat and let out a sigh, a hand massaging her chest. She had spent the last 4 months resting to allow her torn tissues to heal but this was a long road to recovery. It would take another 2 months of physiotherapy and physical evaluation before she would be allowed to start any serious training, let alone return to active duty.

She ran a hand through her crimson locks in frustration. That would add up to around 9 months of being out of action. Apart from the decline in form, her skills would also become rusty. And most importantly, her men needed her. Her country needed her.

But there was nothing she could do. It was essential that she follow the rehabilitation course if she wanted to speed up her recovery. Rushing it would probably only serve to worsen her current situation. That, of course, didn't mean she had to feel happy about the arrangement.

The soldier slammed the door with more force than necessary. And then she took a deep breath.

2 months of rehabilitation with a physiotherapist she had misunderstood and so unwittingly awakened bitter memories for. This was going to be a very, very long 2 months.


Lily took a bite of his muffin, completely baffled as to his friend's current state.

Jellal was pacing the room like a caged tiger, slowly and on edge but with a certain feline grace and strength. He would occasionally stop and stare out the window with a vacant expression, eyes glazed over as if he were delving back into the past.

"You ok, Jellal?"

The man's jaw clenched at the question, the pinch between his eyebrows deepening.

He hadn't thought about Ultear in 3 years. It had taken him one whole year to even stop thinking about her but truth be told, he had never actually gotten over the incident. His feelings had merely been suppressed to the point where it was rendered almost non-existent, almost as if it were all a terrible nightmare. He was in denial and he knew it but it had worked for 3 years. He had moved on, in a manner of speaking, but Erza, – his face darkened at the thought of her – she had managed to undo all his hard work in the space of 1 hour.

Unbelievable.

He stuffed his hands deep into his pockets so that Lily couldn't see them shaking.

"Fine," Jellal finally managed to bite out tersely.

There was nothing he could do but try once more to embark on that painstaking journey to put it all behind him like he had all those years ago and then everything would be fine.

Yes, everything would be fine.


"I know it's all written in the file but protocol dictates that I have to go through it with you again." Jellal said as he sat down opposite to her. "The rehabilitation comes in 3 parts – medical evaluation, which we did yesterday; physical activity and psychosocial support. Physical activity is where you go through exercises under my direct supervision to ensure that your wound doesn't reopen, your tissues don't tear and so that I can monitor your heart, see if the injury has affected it since the bullet was lodged right next to it."

The female nodded stoically and Jellal pushed up his glasses by the bridge. "I'd like for you to do some light running today, some gym work. Then we'll gradually up the work rate with some swimming, boxing and maybe work in some active duty training like firearms training."

He paused. Her upper back was stiff and her face was expressionless. Dressed in her usual green and brown army combat uniform and tan boots, Erza looked every bit the militant – professional, dedicated, serious. And that reminded Jellal of every bit of his past self – the hardened soldier with grim eyes not truly reflecting what he had seen or done, hiding within a broken shell of the man he used to be.

But they were soldiers. They had learned since day one how to distance themselves from the brutality of war, how to separate their emotions from their humanity. They had learned how to do it, but it was in no way easy to do. And in a way, Ultear's death had pulled him off the battlefield but the detachment to his feelings were still buried within, lost in the depths of a never-ending abyss within his long corrupted soul.

He was finally learning to trust himself once more, he was learning to feel again, but his faith had been shaken yesterday, years of hard work undone in a flash and right now, he wasn't quite sure how to cope with it all.

He leant forwards, hands laced together in front of him as he tried to focus at the task at hand once more.

"The last part is the psychosocial support. Some military personnel find it hard to return to active duty after having sustained a serious injury. Some find it hard to cope with the extended leave." Jellal removed his glasses with one hand, the other ruffling his unruly hair. "It is part of my job to make sure that you adjust to your situation and I'm here to provide emotional support, psychological care."

Erza bit back a sigh. She was fine. She didn't need psychological care, especially not from a washed out veteran who had shot his own girlfriend. But she wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, and antagonizing her physiotherapist was not a smart move. So she settled for nodding once more.

Jellal smiled. "Great. Then let's do some light running and gym work now."

The two exited the room and made their way over to the gym next door. The walk was more than a little uncomfortable, with her feeling aggrieved at having to take such a long leave of absence, and with him still wrestling with the haunting memories that Erza had managed to drag up.

There were only a few people working inside the gym. Erza stripped off her uniform top without hesitation, leaving her in her black sports bra. The redhead bounded onto the treadmill lightly and Jellal set the speed and tilt for the machine. She jogged for half an hour without stopping as he adjusted the settings intermittently.

He was a patient man, she thought to herself. Serious about his work too. His eyes never strayed far from the treadmill, only occasionally glancing at her to check her fitness and breathing. They would sometimes fixate on her chest but not in an unpleasant, lecherous way. He was merely searching for signs of fatigue or labored breathing, maybe chest pains, and the knowledge left her feeling a little more comforted, a little more secure that he wasn't just another of those chauvinistic men who thought little of her abilities because of her gender and simply ogled her body as if she were a piece of meat.

She studied him more closely as Jellal led her over to the Butterfly machine. He had just finished watching her run for 30 minutes but there were no signs of boredom, not even the slightest. And now he was focused on her workout, arms folded, eyes unblinking as he jotted down the occasional note on his clipboard.

Her gaze trailed up his strong forearms, taking note of his muscular chest, his broad shoulders, the painful scar across his eye. It was a shame that he had retired from the forces, he was still in his prime at 28 and he would have been a great soldier, a great asset to his country. But then again, she couldn't fault him. What had happened to him was an unspeakable tragedy and she had dredged up the memories. And in that moment, she felt a rare burst of guilt wash over her.

She gasped as a sharp pain struck her chest and Jellal knelt down beside her immediately.

"Stop. Let me check your wound." Warm fingers brushed lightly against the scar just above her breast, prodding at it gently for signs of pain. "Does it hurt?"

She shuddered, flushing a bright red as his hand moved over her breast. "Not right now."

He exhaled and his warm breath caused her to shiver slightly. He must have noticed because he froze.

"Does it hurt?"

"No," Erza ground out between gritted teeth.

Jellal nodded and continued his inspection with a bit more force. She suddenly flinched as he pressed down on a particular spot, face contorting into a grimace. The man straightened up, a serious expression on his face, and opened his mouth to speak but a sudden uproar distracted him.

"Ca-pi-tan!"

"Captain! How're you doin'?"

"There she is!"

"Heya Captain!"

Four men dressed in the same army uniform stormed over to the two of them.

Erza looked surprised. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to see how you were doing!" A blond man boomed loudly, grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm in the middle of a session," Erza muttered, glancing at Jellal.

Jellal waved dismissively. "It's no problem. Let's take a 10 minute break."

He scribbled something down on his notepad and shuffled a little way away in order to grant her some privacy. Looking up, he shot Lily a grin of acknowledgement as the other man passed by with his patient behind him.

"Hey doll face, what's a sweet thing like you doing here?"

Lily looked amused and Jellal turned around incredulously at Lily's patient's question. Erza's face was passive but Jellal could sense the murderous aura radiating from the 4 men standing beside her. He leant against the wall and waited for the scene to unfold in front of his very eyes.

Oh, this man was going to die.

The blond stepped forwards, the air around him crackling wickedly. He stopped in front of the other man, eyeing him with distaste. Green eyes flickered towards the rank insignia and the name patch on the man's chest.

"Sting…" Erza growled warningly.

Sting ignored her, lips curling into a sneer. "Sergeant Major…Cobra, huh. Know your place. This is Captain Knightwalker you're speaking to. Disrespect her again and I'll be reporting this to your captain."

"But she's…"

"Come on Erik," Lily stepped in before the man could dig his own grave any deeper. "Good to see you, Erza."

Erza nodded as the 4 men glowered at Cobra.

"Leave it, Sting," she said in a low voice when her lieutenant made to go after the officer.

"But…"

"Let it go," she sighed.

Sting made a strangled voice in the back of his throat and Erza stood up slowly. "Ok guys, get out of here. I've got work to do."

A chorus of protests sprang up from her men but a look from Erza quelled their complaints.

"Alright, alright." A raven held up his hands in defeat. "See you soon, Cap'n."

The rest of the men filed out, mumbling their goodbyes.

Jellal approached the redhead with a wistful smile. "You have a good group of men under your command."

"I know," Erza said, eyes softening fondly. "They would follow me to hell and back."

He couldn't help but grin. She had obviously earned the respect and loyalty of her soldiers through hard work and sheer determination. Being a woman within the army was difficult, it was still pretty much a male-dominated organization and she would have been met with much skepticism and scorn. To rise to such a high rank and to have a unit like hers, it was a wonderful thing.

Jellal had had good men in his team once. Good, loyal men who had an uncanny sense of teamwork. They had been a good fireteam. But then, they had been assigned to different units and they had never reconvened again.

Laxus had been his rifleman. He had a reckless streak and storming bases were his favorite missions. But then his luck had finally run out one day and he had been killed during a raid gone wrong.

Simon had been his automatic rifleman and he had a knack for providing suppressive fire. He had died providing cover for his team but he had managed to save all 5 men in his unit.

The last of the group was Elfman, the designated grenadier. He had both speed and vision and could anticipate incoming attacks easily. He had died honorably, shielding his charge with his own body when his team had been caught out of position.

Good men, he mused to himself. Good men.

It had been a long time since he had last thought of his old life though. Now all the nostalgia and bittersweet memories were flooding back to him, overwhelming him briefly. And it was all because of the redhead sitting in front of him.

He tapped at the ground with the tip of his boot. Taking a deep breath, he composed himself.

"Ok," Jellal took up a stance, one foot in front of the other, knees bent slightly. "I need you to push me backwards by the shoulder as hard as you can."

She looked at him, confused as to his motive but she complied. She mirrored his stance and pushed as hard as she could. The pain in her chest returned as her muscles strained and she winced.

"Ok, stop. It seems like I've underestimated your injury. We need to start a bit slower. I don't want you to tear anything." Jellal paused for a moment. "We'll do a week of swimming starting tomorrow, see how it goes."

"Ok," she said with a groan, a hand on her chest.

She looked like she wanted to say something more but then she stopped. Jellal looked at her curiously.

"What is it?"

"It's nothing."

He raised an eyebrow. "Come on, you can tell me."

The soldier looked torn but she finally gave in to her curiousity.

"Are you…Faust's son?" Erza asked.

Jellal stiffened.

"What?"

"I think we've actually met at the annual military party 5 years ago," Erza continued. "I remember you vaguely."

"Are you General Faust's son?"

Jellal tore his gaze away from the redhead across the room and smiled at the raven who had approached him.

He gave a nervous chuckle. "Yes. Yes, I am."

"I'm Ultear."

He took her hand in his and placed a chaste kiss on the back.

"I'm Jellal, it's very nice to meet you."

He was surprised to find tears stinging his eyes and he fought to swallow the lump in his throat. Head bowed, eyes downcast, his grip tightened around his clipboard.

"No," he finally choked out. "You must be mistaken. I'll see you tomorrow, Captain."

He turned away quickly and strode out of the gym.

Everything was coming back to him too quickly and it hurt so much.

It hurt so, damn, much.