If I asked you to leave me, would you?

Marie looked up at Stein, the scientist standing across the table from her. She sat the knife down that she was using to cut up some vegetables, and gave him her attention, though he had yet to say a word.

Stein's hands twisted in the pockets of his lab coat, the desire to dissect the woman that was standing across from him nearly overwhelming him as she took a step away from the table and moved to go around it. He moved again to put it between them.

"I need you to leave me," he said finally.

"What are you talking about, Franken?" There was clear concern on her face, and he dug his fingers into his side, twisting as he did so.

"You need to leave, Marie, to get out of the lab now!"

She moved to him, and he was so caught up in the desire, the need to dissect her that he didn't move until she was beside him. Her eye was wide and he could see the worry that was wrapped around her soul, he could hear it in the tone of her voice; he couldn't make out the words. Her hand reached out to him, and his lashed out.

He stopped himself less than an inch from her face, his arm trembling from the exertion, the muscles strained. There was fear in her eye as she took a step back and he slumped to the floor.

"Go… now… I don't know how long I can keep myself from it…"

She was on her knees beside him a second later; he could feel the calming influence of her soul, the peace that was always around her. He looked up and met her gaze, but his was caught by the knife on the table behind them.

"Franken, listen to me, focus." Her arm glowed as she sat her hand against his chest. He could feel her wavelength pushing against his, trying to soothe it, but he couldn't drag his gaze away from the knife on the table. He couldn't keep the thoughts of dissection from overwhelming him even with Marie there.

Especially with her there. He couldn't keep from imagining the knife sliding into her skin, of the red blood that would well up from the puncture wound. He shuddered as he imagined the scream that would tear from her throat as he dragged the knife through her body, opening it up for him to see everything that God had hidden from him beneath the casing of her skin.

Giggles poured from his throat as he rose to his feet. She looked at him in concern before realizing the danger that she was in. His long body stretched across the table even as she bolted to her feet and towards the door.

She skidded out of the kitchen, running not towards the front door and the exit, but towards his research lab. Her plan was risky, but it was the best thing she could think of on such short notice. She didn't dare take him into a public place if he had lost it; there was no telling what the meister might do.

Better she die than countless others if her plan didn't work.

She skidded into the room, slamming the door shut behind her. She could hear his giggling laughter trailing through the halls behind her, his running steps echoing. She was at the wall where he stored his medications even as she heard him slam into the door.

The laughter cut off immediately, and the door jumped in its frame again. She found the syringe that he remembered him telling her was for emergencies; it contained a potent tranquilizer. She turned to the door just as his wavelength blew it open and she took a deep breath.

He stood framed in the door way, a sadistic grin on his face, the kitchen knife still clutched in his hand.

"Franken…"

"I'm going to tear you to piece!"

Tears blurred her vision as he came running at her, the knife angled towards her. Her left arm transformed into a hammer, meeting the blade, even as her right arm dove down towards his neck. He was too preoccupied with bringing the knife in another arc towards her to avoid the syringe. He growled as she depressed the plunger, and moved faster than she anticipated.

The knife bit into her side, burying itself almost the handle. She screamed, stumbling backwards as he stood there watching her. She slumped against the wall as he shook his head, his eyes closing and reopening.

"What did you do to me?" he demanded harshly, his words slurring together slightly.

Her fingers wrapped around the blade in her side, wondering if she should leave it in or take it out. He took a step towards her and she opened her mouth to call his name, hoping that he would come to himself, when his hand collided with the knife handle. His wavelength surged through it and Marie screamed before crumpling to the ground.

There was the taste of iron in his mouth. Stein grimaced as he sat upright, his eyes closed against the headache that was causing his entire head to ache. He brought his hand up to rotate the screw when he became aware of the gasping breaths coming from close to him. His eyes flew open and his hand fell from the screw as he saw the source.

Marie lay in a pool of blood, a knife still embedded in her side. She was crumpled against the wall that he was less than two feet from. He knew immediately that he was the cause. There was a syringe lying not far from her that he recognized; he knew then what had caused the taste in his mouth.

She was unconscious, her breath come in short gasps. His hands trembled as he reached out to her, gingerly touching the knife embedded in her side. He knew what knife it was; it was the one that she generally prepared their meals with, one of the only actual knives they owned.

He staggered to his feet, then dropped to his knees beside her and carefully gathered her up in his arms. Her head lolled to the side before he adjusted his grip on her, her head cushioning against his chest. He felt weak and lightheaded as he walked the dozen feet to an operating table, but he forced himself to ignore the after effects of the sedative with a click of the screw in his head.

Two hours later he collapsed against the operating table, Marie breathing steadily and easily.

"You have to leave."

The woman looked up at him from where she lay in bed. "I can't leave."

"It isn't safe for you to stay here anymore, Marie. How much more obvious could that be?"

"And who else would come, Franken? Do you honestly think that anyone else is safer here than I am? Even if you go to Shinigami-sama he'll see that I'm right. I know you, I'm your weapon partner, and I'm not going to leave because of an accident."

"An accident that nearly cost you your life!"

"We just have to be more prepared next time," she said stubbornly.

"There won't be a next time, Marie!"

"That's a positive way to think," she said, a smile suddenly crossing her face. "There won't be a next time, and even if there is, I'll be here to help you through it."

"Or die."

"That's my choice."

Her answer shocked him, and he twisted the screw in his head. "Why? Why would you do something like that?"

"Because I," there was a slight hesitation here, one that Stein caught but didn't understand, "care very much for you."

"You shouldn't," he said bitterly.

"But I do, and I won't let you face this by yourself."

A/N: Think of it as a snippet, a small glimpse into their lives without us. I may add more one shots of this type onto this, and if you have a scene that you would want to see that features Stein and/or Marie's private lives behind the scenes, just let me know :) Not all will be angsty or like this, it'll have a wide variety of scenes.