A/N: So, I've been experimenting with some new pairings, and I have to admit I quite like this one.

Stein/Marie will forever be my OTP, I promise you that, but there's nothing wrong with shaking things up a bit, if only for a single one-shot.

And the headcanon for this story is that (at the very least) Spirit and Marie went to grade school together before going to Shibusen together.

"He's been fighting with it inside him all this time… there's no way he'd give in now."

"So why are you?!"

Just as Spirit Albarn was about to take a step outside of the laboratory, the blonde yelled those words at him. It was true – he'd gone missing, and the orders he'd been given by Shinigami-sama were for Marie, and for himself, for that matter, to return to the DWMA and duty as soon as possible.

But he couldn't turn away from the pleading in her voice. It was determination mixed with fear and confusion, all rolled up into one big ball of emotion.

Spirit turned on his heel and his blue eyes stared back at Marie, and her eyes welled with tears.

"Spirit, I… I didn't mean it. I…" Marie trailed off as her words drowned in tears, and Spirit shut the door and walked over to her.

"Come here." he said, quietly, and she walked towards him and fell into his arms. He held her against him tightly and rested his chin on her head, and as her hands snaked around his waist, he realised she couldn't be left alone while she was in this state.

"D'you need me to stay, Marie?" Spirit asked. He felt a nod against his chest and he gently helped Marie over to the couch, where she looked up and him, tears still welled in her uncovered eye. She slid her hand under the band of her eyepatch and removed it, looking up at Spirit who was slightly shocked t her two normal eyes.

"What?" she asked with a tiny laugh and a snivel.

"I've never seen you without your eyepatch. And I've known you since grade school." Spirit said. Marie raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" Marie asked. Spirit nodded.

"Why do you wear it, anyway?" he asked – this was an excellent distraction for the blonde.

"It keeps my wavelength in check. But… seeing as my meister's gone and there's nobody to resonate with…" her head dropped and Spirit's eyes widened. Perhaps it wasn't such a good distraction after all. He reached his hand forward and pulled her head up so he could look at her again. He looked at her closely, his eyes flicking over her whole face.

"Are you okay?" Marie asked. Spirit gave a small smirk.

"It's weird seeing you without the eyepatch. It's kinda like seeing you naked." Spirit said. Marie thwacked him in the arm and he recoiled, poking his tongue out. Marie ran her fingers through her hair and let it tumble over her shoulders and as she stood up she looked back at Spirit.

"Do you want a drink?" Marie asked, walking to a cabinet and pulling out a glass bottle filled with a caramel-coloured liquid.

"You drink?" Spirit asked, removing his jacket, as Marie poured a little bit of the liquid into one glass and downed it in one go. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and turned to Spirit.

"Not usually, no. But something tells me water's not going to get me through tonight." Marie said. Spirit gave a nod of agreement and Marie poured him a drink, taking another one herself and walking back to the couch.

After only a few more drinks, Spirit understood that Marie wasn't lying when she said she didn't drink regularly. He was almost unaffected. She was tipsy – she still knew what she was doing, but she was tipsy.

"I hate the madness. I just… why does it have to be him?" Marie asked, her eyes wide and vulnerable.

"It's a part of him, Marie. You know that." Spirit said. Maire looked at him, swirling the drink in her glass so that it left peaks on the sides.

"I just wish that I could have saved him." Tears welled in Marie's eyes again, and Spirit lurched across, taking her hand.

"It's not your fault, Marie. Stop blaming yourself." Spirit said, fimly.

"Spirit, I can't!" she cried.

"Marie, stop!" he said again, even more firmly this time. Tears ran down Marie's face and she shook her head.

"I can't! It's my fault, Spirit, it's my-"

Spirit pressed his lips to hers and entwined his fingers through her hair and behind her head, pressing her to him. Her hands snaked around his waist, holding and clinging to him like she was his source of life. Her lips parted and his tongue touched her teeth before she pulled back, tears still in her eyes and her fist twisted in Spirit's tie.

"Marie..." he murmured, his head dipped, and she gave a shuddering breath and she pressed her hand to his chest.

"Spirit, I need you." she said, quietly.

"Marie, I…" Spirit stammered. His eyes flicked up to Marie and it was like she was staring right at his soul.

"Please." she whispered. Spirit's eyes darted.

"I need something physical to get me out of my own head, Spirit. I've been there for hours. Please." She was pleading now. He looked down at her and swallowed.

"Once. Once, and when we get Stein back, he can't know." he said, firmly. Marie nodded.

"He can't know." she said, quietly. Spirit nodded and lowered his head to her ear – it was like a contract.

"Never." he whispered, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he pressed his lips to her pulse, feeling the rapid beating of her heart, a strange mix of worry and excitement the cause.

"Spirit…" Marie called quietly, his hands dancing around her hips and torso, her head tipping backwards and her golden hair falling over the edge of the couch.

Zips were unzipped, buckles were unbuckled, clasped were unclasped and the weapons lost themselves in one another, the weapons connected together physically, but through their souls connected by fate and one missing meister.

The moonlight streamed through the window as the weapons ceased their love-making. They wouldn't call it that, but it was a connection that could not be undone, despite their promises to never tell Stein.

A thick, grey blanket covered their frames and they barely fit on the purple couch, but they couldn't move to the bed. It was almost a sacred place – they didn't want to move anything that he'd placed.

Spirit tilted his head down to look at Marie next to him. Her eyes were still red and puffy, and her cheeks were flushed.

"You were thinking about Stein, weren't you?" Spirit asked, his hand resting just underneath Marie's shoulder. She closed her eyes and tilted her head downwards.

"How do you know?" she asked, almost spitefully.

"Because you love him. And it doesn't matter who you're sleeping with – if you love someone, you think about them." Spirit replied. Marie closed her eyes and tears fell again.

"What does it matter? He'll never love me." she replied.

"He already loves you. In his fucked-up little way, he loves you." Spirit told the blonde, pushing her hair behind her ear.

"No, he doesn't." she said, shaking her head Spirit smiled and cradled Marie gently.

"He does. Me? He tolerates me. His students? He's protective of them. But you? He treats you differently. He let you into his home, for a start. What do you think he'd do if I asked him to stay here?" Spirit aside. Marie looked back at him.

"He… I…" Marie began.

"He'd soul-strike me halfway across town, that's what." Spirit began. Marie brought her shoulders up and snivelled.

"I just… I'd give anything for him to show it. And I know that's not fair… he can't." she said, quietly.

"Marie, look around. These purple couches, the stickers, the pot-plants… that's his way of telling you he does love you." Spirit murmured gently. Marie's eyes flicked around the lab and she gave a heaving sigh.

"I guess. I just… why? Why do I love him?" Marie asked. Spirit gave a languishing chuckle and propped one hand behind his head.

"I don't know. I guess you've just always loved him." Spirit replied, dropping his head to her shoulder.

"I'm an idiot." she said, with a tiny laugh. Spirit smiled and dropped a gently kiss on her neck.

"Well, I love you, Marie. Not in a Stein way, but definitely in a very good friends who sometimes need to spank each other way." Spirit told her. Marie glared back at him and shook her head, unable to suppress her smirk.

"I love you too, Spirit." she replied. Spirit took her hand in his own and brought it to his lips before resting it against her stomach.

"We've got to go back to Shinigami-sama sometime. He's going to be grumpy." Spirit said. Marie turned over and buried her head into Spirit's chest.

"I don't want to." Marie murmured. Spirit cradles the back of Marie's head and planted a kiss in her hair.

"It'll be okay, Marie. We'll get him back." Spirit said. Marie looked up at him through teary brown eyes.

"Promise?" she asked, her voice small and pleading.

"I promise. With every fibre of my soul." he replied.

"How much do you remember?" Marie sat across from the recently returned Stein, next to Spirit in the laboratory. Stein shook his head.

"Hardly anything at all. I… I can't believe I caused so much trouble." Stein said, string despondently into his coffee.

"Stein, it's not your fault, man." Spirit said. Marie stood up and walked over to Stein, resting her hand on his back.

"It's not at all, Franken." Marie said, gently. Stein looked up at her with olive eyes and the slightest flicker of humanity emerged in a smile.

"So," he gave a heaving sigh, "what happened while I was gone?" Marie and Spirit looked at one another and shrugged.

"Not much. We helped each other through you being gone." Spirit said. Stein raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Helped?" Stein asked. Spirit and Marie looked at each other with a nod.

"You know. Supported one another. As friends." Spirit said. Stein nodded and his brow furrowed and his forehead crumpled, as if he was experiencing a headache. In reality, he was just trying to say something that may break his guise of pragmatism and show that there was a real person inside.

"I… I-I'm really sorry, you know. I am." His eyes flicked up to Spirit quickly before looking back at Marie, but Spirit knew the message was meant for the hammer and only the hammer. Stein's acknowledgement to Spirit was purely cordial.

"I'd better be off, you two. Stay safe." Spirit stood from his seat and wordlessly left the laboratory. Marie gave him one last, lingering smile before kneeling down next to Stein, kissing him gently on the cheek.

"You know it's okay. It's not your fault." Marie said, gently, She gave his hand a quick squeeze before standing up.

"You should go and lie down." She said. Unusually, Stein did not protest, but stood wordlessly and walked to his bedroom. It would take a while for Stein to return to his usual, unusual self, but he was on his way.

Marie walked to the door to ensure it was locked when she saw the envelope. It was small and white with Marie written on it in large, cursive letters. It was the sort of writing that only came from years of writing love letters, and it was unmistakably Spirit's.

She picked it up and opened the envelope, and as she read the words tears sprung to her eyes.

Marie,

I didn't get a chance to thank you for everything you went through with me in the past few weeks.

Come to think of it, I've never really thanked you for the things you've done for me in the twenty-odd years we've known each other. And I won't go back to grade school (because then I'll have to thank you for taking me to the teacher when I peed my pants and that would be weird) but there are some things I need to thank you for.

Thank you for being there for me whenever I needed it. It was always like you were here, even when you were in Oceania. Thank you.

Thank you for being there when Kami was pregnant with Maka. The shit we went through, the things I told you that I still haven't told anyone else. Thank you.

Thank you for looking after Stein. It kind of makes him sound like my pet hamster or something, but he was my first meister. And as much as I complain about him, he's one of my best friends and if he didn't have you, I don't think he'd survive. Thank you.

Most of all, Marie Mjolnir, thank you for being you. For being that happy, bouncy, smiling ball of sunshine that'll never let anyone down and will always pick anyone up. Thank you for being the woman that you are, the pint-sized embodiment of optimism.

That's all I wanted to say to you, Marie. Thank you.

And if you ever need me again in a 'very good friends who sometimes need to spank each other' way, I'm always around.

Love you lots,
Spirit

Marie clenched the letter in her hand as tears fell on the page, and she folded in up and gently set it down. She walked over to the phone and pressed in a series of numbers, and before long, a voice spoke.

"Hello?" Spirit's voice asked. Marie's voice was small and teary, but she spoke.

"I love you too, Spirit." She said, quietly. The redhead on the other end of the line smiled and responded.

"Good to see you got the letter. I'll see you tomorrow at work." he said simply before hanging up the phone. Marie did the same and she gave a sigh, and her eyes flicked to the open door of Stein's bedroom, where his eyes were gently closed and his chest was moving in shallow breaths. She made her way over to him and sat down on the side of the bed, and she smoothed his hair back around the bolt.

"Marie." He murmured in his sleep, his hand reaching up to hold hers gently. She smiled down at his and tilted ere had to the side.

Spirit was right. She loved Stein more than anything in this world. But that didn't mean that her heart didn't have a special spot reserved for the redhead, the redhead who kept her life bright, even in the darkest days.