Soul Of Steel

AU. Mary Margaret is a single mother struggling with raising a family after her husband is forced to go back to war.

A/N: I'M BACK! THIS JUST JUMPED INTO MY MIND AS I WAS LISTENING TO SOME GOOD COUNTRY MUSIC.

I DON'T OWN THE SHOW. WANT TO DEDICATE THIS TO ALL OF THE AMAZING PEOPLE THAT HAD SUPPORTED MY OTHER OUAT STORY "MISSING SINGNALS" There is one a prequel to this story called "Make it Right" Hope you guys like it!

A/N: Feel in the mood of fluff today so... ENJOY

Kids are as following:

Emma (9)

Michael (5)

Brandon "Bran" (3)

Chapter 10:

"Guess who?" May felt two familiar hands cover her eyes. She turned around to face her boyfriend. Green met blue "Hey beautiful"

"Hi" Mary giggled as he cupped her face in his hands, pulling her closer "How is it going?"

"Well" David said with a charming smirk "I am a little bored of this learning stuff business" He gave her a sweet kiss on the lips "Want to get out of here?"

"No!" She hissed at him. That boy was trouble indeed, she always did things she was not always proud of around him "I can't skip class!"

"Of course you can" David said huskily kissing her again "I am and maybe I will actually do something fun" He kissed her cheek and then the other. "So?" He asked hopefully. A boyish smile on his lips against her skin.

"You are mean!" Mary said "How can I resist that if you are kissing me?

"Come on, don't be such a chicken, No one will know" He said in a playful tone. "We'll run"

"Teachers will" Mary pointed out.

"And you care?" She nodded. "Fine, then I'm gone" And gone he was.

"David?" Ray said as his eyes fluttered open "Welcome back buddy"

"Mr. Nolan" A man with a thick Indian accent spoke "There is nothing for you to worry about, you have been transferred to safety". David couldn't move. Fear flooded his face. He couldn't feel his legs. "You must not try to move"

"What?" He lifted his face a little "What happened?" His voice left him as he read on his friend's friend the answer. No words have been required. "My wife... she..."

"Hold it up Romeo" Ray said "The doctors just wanted to make sure you were okay first"

"Don't" David gasped in pain "Don't call her, I don't want her to worry, she is still pregnant"

"We had to notify someone sir, your state was really critical" The doctor said bluntly "You have been unconscious for almost 10 days" David tried to lift his body again but his hands buckled and gave in. "You have been in observation constantly"

"What's wrong with me?" The panic in his voice couldn't be hidden, both for the picture of Mary's face sick of worry and the fact that he felt as he was just a sack of bones "What..."

"Your back was pretty messed up" Ray told him seriously "They had to operate and..."

"Operate?" David said "What does that mean? That I won't be able to..."

"You are currently sedated" The doctor said pointing at the tubes around him "Your spine did suffer severe damage, but most of it was repaired, however, we are still unsure how your body will heal"

"And I could be paralyzed?" He heard himself say "That is what you are saying?" The doctor nodded. He hit the back his head with the pillow. He suppresed a moan of pain and wanted to scream and cry and curse the world

"I will give you a moment" The doctor bowed and walked out of the room "Excuse me"

"Buddy?" Ray walked closer to the bed, David was still with his eyes closed. "Hey man, look at me"

"Don't give me a pep talk" David spat dryly "Don't tell me all will be okay, cause it won't!"

"I haven't said anything" Ray said calmly "But I am here and I need you to listen to me or I will be mad at you, and let me tell you, I have slept like hell, so you will" David nodded. "The docs said you are really lucky to be alive, you tried to push someone out of the way when the building collapsed and you ended up stuck between to pillars, your back got the worst of it" Ray took a deep breath "And then you had an infenction and since we were in the middle of the dam desert, there wasn't a lot we could do, but they brought you here"

David waited for him to finish "And where exactly is here?"

"England" Ray said. David gave him an amused look "I've told you, you were out for a long time"

"And Mary?" David asked chocking "Did she...?"

"She had the baby, your friend Sean called a couple days ago, he must have connections, cause you were supously called as "Missing in action" Ray said "Smart kid calling all the hospitals" David smiled at himself "He was a healthy boy by the way"

"A boy?" David said in wonderment "She had a boy?"

"Yep" Ray said placing a hand on his shoulder "Emma told Sean to tell you he has blue eyes" His Emma. David chuckled a little "Mary can't fly, but your Mom and Sean were taking the next flight here" A smile formed on his lips "They should arrive tonight, so you are just in right timing buddy"

Two days earlier...

"Anything?" Granny asked Sean and Ashley as she arrived to take the kids home. Sean had used his father's contacts to see if they could call David and tell him about Sebastian but there had yet to be an answer. "I have a bad feeling about this"

"You and me both" Sean said in frustration "They only told me he was stationed near Iraq, but I don't know where"

"I don't even understand the meaning of battles. we would be better off without them.

Sean's phone suddenly beeped. Silence filled the room, Granny and Ashley held their breaths. "Sean?" He was breathless. His heart pounding.

"His unit" Sean's voice left him "There was a bombing"

"A..." Ashley gasped "What did they say?"

"Not much" Sean said worriedly "They said they didn't know all the details"

"You have to call someone!" Ashley said sobbing "Please have your dad call someone!"

"Ashley.." Granny spoke softly rubbing her back "We have to remain calm, we don't want to worry Mary or the kids, Sean please go call your father.." Sean nodded and stepped away "And in the mean time, I will take those children home"

"But.." Ashley argued "Her husband is missing! My friend is missing!" Granny gave her a stern look. The children had arrived. "Kids..."

"What's wrong?" Emma asked. Ashley hoped the kids hadn't heard that last bit "Why are you crying?" Ashley cleaned the tears from her eyes and cructhed down to eye the 4 children. Emma glanced at Alexandra who shrugged.

"Nothing sweetheart" Ashley said "I am just very happy about your baby brother" Emma smiled. They hadn't heard a thing.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Emma beamed at her "And he has blue eyes!" The two adults grinned.

"And is named after my grandaddy!" Michael cut in "And a crab!" Emma shot him a dirty look.

"He should get going now" Granny told them and picked Bran up "It is quite late already"

"Emma?" Ashley grabbed her hand and Alexandra's "Is your grandma with your Mom?" The nine year old nodded covertly "Oh, good"

"Why?" Alexandra asked curiously. Ashley only shrugged. Once the kids were in the car, Granny leaned closer to Ashley.

"Best if you keep me posted and not mention anything to Mary just yet" The older woman said sternly "That poor girl won't be able to cope" Ashley nodded.

"So..." Sean came running to Ashley once she returned inside "I had my dad talk to everyone"

"And..." Ashley's face fell when she caught a glipse of pain in his eyes "The don't know..."

"Not a thing" Sean ran his hand trough his hair in frustration "I don't know what else to do Ash" She touched his cheek sweetly and leaned to hug him "He is my brother, you know, and I just feel so..."

"Powerless?" She said into his shirt.

"Yeah" He agreed. He felt his eyes watered.

"We can't tell Mary" Ashley said breaking from his embrace "She is in a very fragile state and it can only get worse"

"We can't just lie to her" Sean said sadly "She just had his baby!"

"Exactly why we can't say a thing" Ashley smiled "We have to just wait"

"And do what?" Her husband's voice broke. "Keep waiting?"

"And praying" Sean nodded and dialed his phone once more. Waiting and Praying.

I wanted to write more fluff into this but suddenly it just changed completely... Hope you like it!