Soo many lovely revieeews! Thaaank you! Here goes my rambling...

To the first guest, thank you so much for saying that you liked the villain - I always find 'evil' people without a reason behind their actions boring and I'm really glad you liked it! And so much, too; I get giddy just rereading your review!

Mitzy, sorry for the lack of Jerza but I didn't want to just have all the issue-solving to have happened in the background. And thanks for replying to my question - brain is on the job!

Somnolent Sushi Roll, sweet Somnolent Sushi Roll, I love your reviews. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the chapter and letting me know how you had to laugh and that the comedy and action mix was not out of place! Thank you so much for the encouraging and don't apologise for posting twice - twice as much for me to fuel my writing with! :D

Frangellica, (I still love your pen-name) thank you so much for such a detailed and long review! And very good ideas, one of them sparked up in Author-San's mind immediately!

Mikasa-Chan, you even wrote two, thank you so much for so much enthusiasm and also for answering to my question! Also, your question will be mentioned again, not to worry.

And finally thanks to the last guest, taking the time and letting me know that the chapter was good despite the lack of Jerza and also for mentioning the prompt. I'll be sure to see to that :) Being all cute and gross xD love the way you write reviews!

Anyhoot, I hope you'll enjoy (somehow)!

Erza felt her feet itch with impatience. She wanted to pace but she still felt more than sore, her feet included. She traced the now mostly closed but still furrowed trenches along her wrists. They wound all the way around her torso, her legs, her arms and neck. She wondered how long it would take them to heal completely, though she dearly hoped for Wendy to be of further help. She had to – Jellal was due that day. Would he not show up at the house, she would set out to find him.

And he would not take her injuries lightly.

With a long sigh, Erza sank down into their mattress. Everything was dark and quiet, the night still and dry for once. She wished for him to be there, to be able to hold on to him and find the long-desired sleep in peace. She had hardly slept for the past two nights, knowing that if he could not stick to their arrangement, she would have to venture out and search for him.

Her body still screamed with protests at her every move, the mere thought of getting up seeming out of reach. She laid down instead.

Their tormentor had been given to the local police. His own invention of fabric that sealed magic was keeping him in check. The entire town was practically in custody, at least the quarter, patrols and strict check-ups luring out henchmen and other criminals to follow in the man's footsteps.

Beneath that secretive hatch – smartly covered in a dump and the smelliest food and trash to mask the scent from curious Dragon Slayer noses – had been a sort of dungeon. Inside, more than just a few renowned mages had been shackled up, then connected and drained with the rumoured OE-plug. Both Meredy and Ichiya had been among the captives, now resting up in the infirmary of Fairy Tail to slowly recover from a major Magic Deficiency Disease. Porlyusica was with them and Erza wondered whether to tell Jellal right away upon his return or to let him sleep first. Knowing him, he would need it.

With that knowledge, however, it was also clear that he had waltzed right into a trap but she believed in him. He would return – he had to.

Erza turned onto her side, hissing in pain. Not that any other position was less agonising. She waited for as long as her exhaustion allowed, finally unable to keep her eyes open and her mind from drifting into a tick void of nothingness. Sleep tried to drown her and her body gladly let itself be swallowed, thoughts following shortly.

It was hardly an hour later when she flinched back awake. The lock had clicked.

Erza held her breath. Her burnt side still felt as if on fire, stinging less severely when she sat up. The front door fell shut and feet stumbled, then dragged across the cold stone. Before she had troubled herself out of bed, the bathroom door closed.

She flopped back down. Taking a few breaths, Erza forced herself to get up anyway. She turned on the lights to find Jellal's boots scattered in the hall towards the bathroom. Her darkly rimmed eyes widened when she spotted the dapples of blood on the floor. She harked when there came a thump from the other side of the wall, sending her already accelerating heartbeat racing.

Without knocking, she stormed into the bathroom.

"Jellal?" Erza called, flicking the light on. She gasped when she caught sight of him. Having slumped against the wall, Jellal had slid down, a trail of blood going down the wall as broad as his back. "Jellal!" She exclaimed, crashing onto her knees in front of him. His eyes were closed, his breathing rasping and his face splattered with the same dark red his clothes were soaked in. He looked utterly exhausted.

"Jellal," she tried again, shoving herself between his legs, cupping his face with both hands. Opening his eyes, his head fell into her palms, a tried smile slowly edging onto his lips.

"Erza," he croaked, though with affection, as if seeing her simply made his day, no matter what his condition was.

"Jellal, you're hurt," she rushed, brushing blood from his cheeks with her thumbs. One hand wandered to the back of his head, fortunately finding it to be clean, then travelled down to his back, dripping with blood a moment after. She made quick work of unbuttoning his coat.

"Don't worry," he cawed in a quiet voice, "most of it isn't mine," he assured. His eyes looked already far away, on their way to much-needed slumber, but they remained open, steadily watching her face, her eyes, her brows that knitted together in concern.

Hastily but with great care, Erza went on to slide the buttons through the holes of his shirt when his hand came up – sluggish like every single one of his moves – resting on her arm to stop her.

"I can take care of it," he said, "you look tired, you should go to bed," Jellal offered. With an unbelieving huff, Erza courtly declined. She would never be able to sleep with such stress, anyway, fleetly finishing with his shirt, then moving on to his belt and trousers. Jellal let her, probably too tired and perhaps still too lost in his own head, his mission and maybe wondering about hers. If so, he did not show it, not asking while she tossed his clothes into the bathtub where they flooded the drain in red.

He was covered in drying up mud and blood, his hair damp from rain she assumed to have surprised him on his way home. With her hands still bloody, one dripping onto him and the floor, Erza heaved herself back up. She rinsed her hands in the sink, not taking her time to dry them, going to rummage for bandages in the cupboard.

Jellal groaned, sitting up. He turned away and she took the invitation to sit behind him. It was hard to inspect his back as it was dark red and sticky and wet with blood. With water and a towel, she finally saw three long gashes going all the way from his shoulder blade down to the small of his back in a diagonal line. They seeped with fresh blood, the floor already a mess, so she decided for him to join his clothes in the tub.

"What happened?" She asked for the first time, noticing to only have started wondering just then, too. She knew that the second they would collapse onto their bed, they would fall asleep, their usually offset rhythm falling into step.

"It was a trap," Jellal said, hissing through gritted teeth when the icy water hit his back. She switched it to warm but by the time the temperature adapted, everything was rinsed off already. She turned it back off.

"But you were prepared,"

"I was," he retold, "there was no trace of her magic anywhere, it was rather obvious," he hoarsely explained. Erza listened with her mind slowly clouding and de-clouding, his own following suit, judging by the heaviness of his eyelids and the slurring of his voice. "They had set up an electric trap which ended up to come in very handy when taking care of that," he lifted one arm with a grimace, pointing at the claw marks down his back.

Erza patted them with a fresh towel, then covered everything in compresses. They got stained with fresh blood immediately but nothing leaked so she left them that way.

"We found Meredy," she said when he sighed so deeply, she knew he was restless despite his exhaustion. Jellal sat up straight on the rim of the bathtub, wincing at the pain it caused.

"You did?"

"Yes," Erza reached around him to gradually wrap his torso up in gauze. "She really was captured by that man – he also had Ichiya and several others – but we brought everyone back to Fairy Tail. Porlyusica is with them. She says they have Magic Deficiency but it should all be fine soon," she reassured, trying to sound as convinced and hopeful as possible. He took another moment to digest her words.

"At Fairy Tail?" He finally spoke up.

"We will visit her tomorrow," Erza quickly said. She knew he wanted to make sure himself that his guildmate was alright, which was okay, but he needed to rest, too. That, and his voice had darkened scarily, telling her more about his thoughts than he probably knew.

She finished with his torso, drying him off. Then she proceeded with his hands and arms, cleaning, padding and bandaging them. Unsettled, she watched his weary expression where his eyes glowered at nothing in particular. There was, however, no sign of him trying to get up yet, which she was grateful for.

"Thank you," Jellal said then. His shoulders relaxed as he returned to the present. She mirrored his smile with an honestly relieved one. "What would I be without you?" He turned, kissing the back of her hand, then her palm and lower arm.

"Richer, for sure," she shot a grin but he did not laugh. His eyes had grown in size, staring down. Drilling into the marks along her wrist. "Oh, it's-" Erza swallowed when he shoved up her sleeve despite her soothing. "It's nothing much, Wendy already saw to it," she wanted to play the purposely hidden wounds down of which he found more and more.

"Was that him, too?" Jellal asked and she felt her stomach drop.

"He's behind bars now, don't worry," Erza gently brushed him off, then pulled her sleeves back down. "Come on," she stood to elude any more surveying, "tomorrow, alright?" She asked. Picking up the towels, she threw everything into the bathtub, helping him out. His legs shook, though they were merely strained and not injured to her relief.

Unsatisfied but without complaints, Jellal did as he was told. He did not bother with more than a change of underwear and left out a meal and brushing his teeth altogether. The mattress sighed alongside them as they sank into it.

"I missed you," Jellal said while jadedly scooting closer. Erza smiled to herself, snuggling up, pushing her head beneath his chin.

"I missed you, too," she kissed his throat where her face squished into. His arms encircled her back, tightening. "A lot,"

"I was worried about you," he continued, hands stroking along her spine. "I couldn't stop thinking about you," Jellal murmured, "I'm so glad to be home with you," his voice slowed, trudging. Carefully, maybe even absently, Erza pondered, his hands found the hem of her shirt. Fingertips explored the warmth of her skin, trailing until coming across more and more furrows. He stiffened.

"These are also…?" he breathed, the hint of a growl rumbling in his throat. She knew he had his eyes closed, feeling his exhausted body relax without his consent, allowing her to be calm as well.

"Tomorrow, my love," Erza whispered. She slid her own hands up to his shoulders, rubbing over his shoulder blades and to his upper arms, his muscles' tension lifting ever so slightly. Not that he would cease to fiercely cling to her but that was nothing out of the ordinary, even while asleep.

"If I get to that… bastard, I'd…" Jellal's breathing deepened. "I'll…" he drifted off even before her and Erza was glad about that. God knew what would have happened should he have found out about all of her marks, if he would have been there, too, and if he would have had the energy to stand and fight.

The next morning came too soon for her taste and Erza panicked when noticing to be alone.

Erza's legs burnt despite the cold air that bit into them like tiny needles as she ran. Their previous mission's target location was by far less spooky by daylight, though not any more appealing. The streets were mostly empty but she guessed the people to have gathered at the noisy spectacle she was headed for. The blinding light could be seen from several streets away, the thuds resembling explosions, rather than impacts.

She understood now how the man's trap had worked so well. With a Magical Vehicle depleting her already drained reserves of magic energy this much already, she could perfectly imagine how Meteor must have utterly knocked Jellal out back then.

Only now, he was the one knocking out.

With burning lungs and heavy breathing, Erza finally reached her aim. She barged through the aghast and scared crowd that had clustered in the shadows of the buildings around. There was no room for a gasp but her hammering heart leapt up into her throat.

Jellal's hair was a mess, as were his clothes. His eyes glowered with wild rage, gruesomely fixating his victim that he hurled across the paved street. The cruel man was nothing but a heap of cracked bones, it seemed, limply flung into another wall. Next to it, there was the gaping hole of his former cell where he had been broken out of against his will.

It was like a light show. It was hard to see anything for longer than a moment, Jellal's magic so garish, it left white spots all across her only slowly clearing vision. Erza hurried, ignoring her pain and tiredness.

"Jellal!" She exclaimed. She had no mind to wonder whether it would be a bad idea to call his name out loud. His attention was not caught, anyway. He rampaged on, completely mad with fury, perhaps neither hearing nor seeing her. She remembered Gray's hushed words then, about how her beloved had nearly murdered someone in his last fit of uncontrolled wrath. She summoned a sword.

Mere metres away from him now, Erza dashed forward. The sky had opened up, stars gleaming threateningly. Jellal thrust his hand forward, fingers spread, the other striking up to clash down for his devastating spell. Erza shouted his name but he did not hear. She huffed with effort as she spun, kicking his stomach hard, sending him tumbling backwards.

Jellal's bare feet scraped across the street, his stance still wide, his balance nearly undisrupted. Without wasting a millisecond, Erza lunged her sword, the anticipated defensive light attack deflected. She flung herself onto him and he groaned when his back roughly hit the asphalt. Her blade crushed the ground, impaling his sleeve and pinning his arm down while her knee captured the other one.

Out of breath and completely out of ideas, Erza followed him into insanity, bending down and smashing her lips onto his. He choked, his abdomen beneath her convulsing, arms and legs twitching with the sudden change of sensations. They were both running hot and cold, their bodies bitten with frost while their insides churned and boiled, lungs ablaze.

Slowly, his limbs slackened. Unable not to pull away and grasp for breath, Erza released his lips but not his face, cupping it in both of her trembling hands. His chest rocked her up and down with heavy breaths, rasped and quick. Blinking her eyes open, she saw his gaze return for the first time. He stared for moments to pass, hearts drumming in unison.

"Erza…" Jellal wheezed. His arms came up, the secured one ripping away at the fabric of his shirt, desperate to hold her. He wound them around her waist, to her back, as much as he could reach from where he laid, water standing in his eyes.

"It's alright now, everything's fine," Erza whispered urgently. She ran a hand up through his hair. She could not release him if he was not back completely; if she did not know him to be predictable. To be hers to read and persuade. To be hers at all. Return to her. And then back home.

"But your skin-"

"Will be just fine," she interrupted. "It's fine, it's over, let it be," she went on, practically singing it into his ear, his mouth, claiming it again until he responded the way he did when self-aware and focusing on nothing but them and how to treat his love.

"There they are!" A voice startled them. Erza glanced around before freeing Jellal, helping him up, remaining in front of him. Her eyes flashed from the police officer to a group of in white cloaked men. They stared right back, separating to reveal a shorter figure with the head of a frog. Then another one.

"Why, who have we here?" The purple one sneered. Erza noted his gaze to go past her, a grin forming.

"This is a misunderstanding. We apologise for any inconveniences and will naturally pay for the damage caused," she raised her voice clearly above the Council men's muttering. The frog creature seemed unimpressed. He twitched his head to the side, sending his guards to surround the couple.

"I know you," the scornful figure neared them only slightly, remaining at a safe distance. "But we have no business with you, Fairy Tail Wizard," he scoffed.

"Whatever your orders are, let me assure you that everything is under control," she tried again to send them away.

"Erza, don't," Jellal hushed from behind. He put his hand on her arm but she did not turn away from the curious face that eyed them deviously.

"Stay out of this, woman," the purple frog said, enticing anger to rise within her.

"Nadal, she's-" the other frog fleetly lowered his voice next to his superior, being brushed off immediately.

"I know and I don't care. I came here for one thing and not even Erza Scarlet can defy the will of the Magic Council." Nadal's broad mouth pulled up into a wide smirk of spitefulness. Erza's guts twisted at that, her heart hammering against her ribcage. She balled her fists, wanting to hold on to her beloved's even more but nothing prepared her for what she was about to hear.

"Jellal Fernandes," Nadal grinned in creepy triumph, lifting his chin, "you are under arrest."