A/N: So I finally wrote this! I was thinking of releasing the Angel AU first 'cause I hated the way this chapter turned out. But oh well, since you guys were the ones who voted, you got to choose. Enjoy~
Disclaimer: Don't own Soul Eater.
"Haha!" A man guffawed and propped his legs on top of an old rusted heater. He wiped away greasy sweat from the rim of his forehead and adjusted his grimy white tie on his neck. "So now whaddya plannin' on doin' with her now?"
Another young man rose from the darkened corner of the other side of the room. "Dunno. I think it'd be a pity to kill 'er now," he drawled. The man on the heater glanced to the shattered window pane and out into the night sky, and the cityscape that beckoned to them from the fourth floor of the empty building they were in. The two men were dressed in slightly dirtied and ruffled white pinstriped suits. One wore a stern face with hollowed cheeks as he walked nervously about the dilapidated room, while the other one donned a cocky smirk with unkempt brown hair and kept his feet on an old heater. They had chosen to stay in an old abandoned room scheduled for demolition with some small windows, to make sure that no one could see them. "Do you really think we should kill her, bauws?"
He scoffed. "Of course we should. Boss'll have our head if we don't get rid of any witnesses."
"Mmph!" The girl who sat in the middle of the room let out a muffled cry of protest through her gag. The man came over to her and loosened the cloth around her mouth.
"Calm down, girlie, We ain't gonna hurt you...yet," he told her.
"Maybe you should just let me go," she offered, scowling at them. She wriggled her hands against the tight knots of the ropes around her wrists hopelessly. The young girl had her hair tied in two limp ash-blonde pigtails on opposite side of her head. She wore a plaid red miniskirt and a yellow sweater vest with a green-and-white striped tie with a white collared shirt underneath. "I won't tell anyone, I swear it."
"Sorry about that, girl, but not after what you've witnessed today," the man on the radiator said. "You're a threat to us now, an' we can't afford that. We hafta make the deal tonight anyways."
The stern-looking older guy frowned. "But do we hafta kill 'er? Can't we jus' drop 'er off over there down near the riverbank? Someone'll find her in the mornin' an' we'll be long gone by then," he said, and the girl nodded furiously at his proposition.
"I second what he said," she said plainly. "Besides, if you kill me, then you'll have more blood on your hands."
He chuckled. "But that doesn't mean you'll forget about every thing you've seen tonight. You shouldn't've been snoopin' around."
"But all I saw you do was sneak into this building and overheard you talking about some deal that's happening tonight!" she said angrily. "S'not like it's anything important!"
"Exactly," he said. "Still makes you a witness. You'll rat on us to the police an' we'll be outta here! Or worse...our bauws finds out..." He shuddered. "Bauws'll have us hanging by our toes if he ever finds out..."
"You mean big boss Al Capone?" she broke in, unimpressed.
"How'd ya know about our bauws?" the burly one with taut jaws said.
"Everyone knows him," she said, rolling her olive-green eyes to the cracked ceiling and back down to the concrete floor. "My Papa worked with him back when he was a street rat."
"Don't'chu talk about our Big Daddy like that!" the cocky guy spat at her. "Or...do ya want us to hand you over to him instead, I'll guarantee he'll make your death much more painful than we can."
"Nah, I'm good here," she shrugged with an even tone.
"Shh!" the big man raised a hand, silencing both of them. "I think they're coming."
The skinnier man rose off of his lounging position. He bent down an picked a business-sized black leather suitcase next to his foot, snapped it open to check its contents, and then closed it again. He glanced up at the sound of echoing footsteps coming from outside of the room in the darkened hallway, and froze. "Get ready. And shut her up, will ya?" His obsequious accomplice followed his orders. He dragged the girl over to where the other man stood.
"What's going on - hmph! " He stuffed the white cloth back in her mouth as they came to the sidelines where the other man was.
The footsteps grew increasingly loud. Through the blackness of the doorframe, two broad-shouldered men wearing black suits with maroon collars and cuffs came in, both holding one pistol in hand. They stepped to the sides, their faces shielded by the shadows, while one other pair of footsteps droned away in the background. The burly man behind her gulped. Suddenly, they halted. The two dark-suited men cocked their guns, which resounded sharply around the room.
The third and final figure emerged through the doorframe, shrouded in darkness. "Do you have the money?" a deep, rumbling voice spoke, smooth and steady. The shining tips of his black shoes could be seen protruding in the small circle of light that shone in the center of the room.
The tall man stepped in front of the girl with the suitcase. "Of course we do. You gots the deed to the house?" he drawled.
The hidden figure finally stepped into the dim white light. His hair color resembled that of a blizzard, contradicting his garnet eyes that glared at the two men. He straightened his pinstriped crimson tie and tucked it into his pure black suit, stuffing his hand into his pocket to take out a crumpled white paper. "Last time I checked, you rats from the Capone family owe me money. You'd better not disappoint me now."
"A'course not, sir. We wouldn't dare trick the Evans family mafia, at all," he said with a mocking tone of innocence. He waved the suitcase in front of him and placed it on the ground in the middle of the lit circle. The albino side-glanced at one of his men and one went over to grab the suitcase.
"Who's this?" he asked, his droopy red gaze falling on the girl.
"An unwanted guest," he replied. "We'll take care of 'er later." The guard rummaged around in the suitcase, and finally closed it.
"The amount's all here, sir," he said, and the albino man nodded.
"This deal's finished. I've given you the land you wanted, and you've given me my money. Now get outta here, go back to being Capone's little bitches," he spat, and the two men sneered at him. They exchanged uneasy glances and started to proceed to the doorway, but the stopped.
"Wuddya want us to do with her?" he asked, and the girl's eyes darted from the albino to the two men.
The white-haired man thought for a moment. "Leave her with me. I'll take care of it."
The two men in white outfits scurried away. The man in the black suit nodded at his men to leave the room. The girl continued to scan his features; they were vaguely familiar to her, like she'd seen then before. When his two bodyguards had exited the room, he reached into his back pocket.
He lifted the shiny and polished black barrel of the pistol and cocked it. The girl whimpered, eyeing with a pleading gaze at the gun as he pointed it at her forehead. "Don't make a noise," he whispered. She squeezed her eyes shut.
He pulled the trigger.
Boom.
A single gunshot rang out into the building, resonating through every hallway and every room.
He set the gun down and blew away the smoke billowing up in small wisps from the hold of the barrel.
"Shush." She opened her eyes, discovering that she was still alive to her surprise. He had aimed the gun at the ceiling right before he shot, creating a small hole in the concrete above. "Now they think you're dead," he told her, bending down to remove her gag.
"Why are you helping me?" she hissed as quietly as she could as he untied her wrists.
He helped her off the ground and smirked, showing off a row of sharp pearly white teeth. "Because I know your Daddy, Maka Albarn." He pulled her off the floor.
"You know Papa?" she asked. So that's why she recognized him. "Wait...you're the head of the Evans mafia, Soul Eater?"
"Correct. And you're a bit too young to be snoopin' around mob business," he quipped.
"I wouldn't be talking. Aren't you a bit too young to be a godfather?" she shot back, wiping off the smirk on his face.
"I'd be careful of what you say, little girlie," he said, twirling the black pistol in his fingers.
She ignored him. "How do you know my father?"
"Your father was a pretty good dealer in my family. What're you doin' here in the first place anyways?" She rubbed her sore and chafed wrists.
"Papa disappeared a few months ago. I've been trying to investigate and find where he is," she told him.
"Oh. That's a pity. I'd be careful around this town, little lady. If someone doesn't want something being dug up - I mean, discovered - he might easily get rid of you," he said, almost without emotion.
"Yeah, ya don't say," she deadpanned.
"You got a death wish, Albarn?"
"Wish or not, I'm here to search for him regardless of getting killed."
"Your wish might just come true," he drawled. "Next time a nice guy like me might not come along."
"Are you implying that I can't take care of myself?" she huffed. "I'll have you know that I've been on my own, living alone ever since Papa left! I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!"
"And so can Al Capone," he shrugged and she glared. "Why didn't you just go off with your mom or somethin'?"
"I...I don't have a mom anymore. She was killed two years ago by a drive-by shoot-up. Some mobs didn't like Papa's way of business, and they wanna keep him silent..." she trailed off, averting her gaze to the floor. "After she died, Papa was the only person I had left."
He frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that. Truly a pity." His words contained no emotions, as if they were reheased lines for a bad play.
She glanced up hopefully. "Do you know anything about my father? What might've happened to him?"
"Sorry, I don't. I would've heard of it," he shrugged.
"Oh...thanks anyways," she said, the hope dissipating in eyes. The swung around and started walking past him and to the exit. "I'll be off now -"
A rough hand clamped on her wrist. "Hold on there. Do you actually think you can just walk away casually like that?" He asked, raising a brow when she tried her tug her hand free. "This is the mafia you're dealing with."
She tried to pull her wrist away, but his hands were like vice grips and his gaze was like solid ice. "What the hell was that for?!" she demanded.
"They don't just let'cha waltz away. Those two guys saw you and they know what you look like. They know your name. And they won't let you roam around the street safely now that they know you're a witness."
"Yeah, so?" she huffed, finally freeing her wrist from his grip.
"So? I faked a kill on you. They think you're dead as of now. So whaddya think they'll do when they see you strolling across the street casually?" he shrugged. "You're dead, and you have to stay like that. The mafia'll never forget your face."
"So...does that mean I can't go home anymore?" she asked, worried. "Does it mean I have to stop school and everything? And what about my friends? They obviously know something's wrong - "
"Think of it this way: I've decided to keep you under the Evans family wing for a while. You'll be protected that way," he continued, ignoring her.
"And what if I don't comply?"
"Ya might as well me dead where you stand," he said, lazily stuffing his hands in his pants pockets. "But if you stay with me, we can make arrangements."
"Stay with a mobster? No thanks," she snorted and shook his hand away and started towards the door again. "I'd never let a crime mutt have me. I can take care of myself."
Soul Eater smirked. "And...maybe we might uncover a bit of your father." His words made her stop cold. "I'm a man of power, ya know."
She swiveled her head around reluctantly. "For how long would I have to stay with you?"
"Dunno. A few months, a year, a week..." He wandered over to her and loomed right behind her. "Besides, I wouldn't mind having your company."
She bit her lip. "...Are you sure you'll help me find Papa? And you'll protect me?"
"Cross my heart, shoot to die," he offered and wide grin and held a hand down for her to shake. "Do we have a deal, Miss Albarn?"
She fully turned to face him. "Fine." She took his hand and shook it slowly.
His grin widened. "Congrats. You've just made a deal with the devil."
A tubby middle-aged man slumped down in his desk chair, giving a gruff sigh, exhaling the thick ashen smoke from his large cigar that hung from his mouth. He rubbed his stubbly mustache that covered a spot of tan skin on his upper lip and took the tip of his hat and tilted it downwards. There was a sudden knock on his office door. "Come in," he snorted, digging the butt of the cigar into an over-filled ash tray.
Two men, one a tall and gruff-looking one, and the other one burly and firm, ran through the doorway, out of breath. "Evenin', Big Daddy," the lanky one drawled.
"How's the deal with Evans," the big man at the desk asked, leaning towards them on his elbows with interest.
"It worked, bauws," the fat one said. "Except fo' one problem, sir."
The boss removed the cigar from his mouth slowly, menacingly. "Whatcha mean?"
"Remember the name 'Albarn?'" He asked.
"Yeah, that old man who used to do business between us and the Evans, what 'bout him?"
"His little daughter is onto us," the tall one said, secretively leaning in. "We saw 'er sneakin' around the building and we caught 'er. We were 'bout to get rid of 'er, but Evans got to 'er first. Dunno if she's dead or not, but if she is it'd be bad if we had someone snoopin' around our secrets. We heard a gun go off when Evans was with 'er, but when we came back to the room there was no body, no blood, no nothin'."
The mob boss thought for a moment, twiddling the cigar around in his fingers. "You know what to do. Get rid of 'er for reals this time."
"But bauws, that means goin' into Evans' territory!"
"Oh, I see. So you'd rather be buried alive under ten tons 'a concrete then, eh?"
"N-No bauws! I'll find her, even if she's dead!"
He smirked. "Good boy. Now get outta here. Bring ya boys over."
"Mamaaa..." the little blonde-haired pigtailed girl swung her mother's arms back and forth while she held onto it.
"Yes, Maka?" The beautiful-looking woman with emeralds for eyes and cascading ash-blond hair that fell to her shoulders swiveled her head down at her little daughter.
"When is Papa gonna come home? He's been gone for too long," the eight-year-old whined, tugging her Mama's arms.
"Don't worry, I think he'll come home soon. Papa's just...he just needed to go on a business trip in Brooklyn for a while, that's all," she reassured her daughter with an unsure smile, but it was enough to satisfy her.
Suddenly, a large black car swerved across a turn and barreled towards them near the sidewalk. Her mother froze upon hearing the squeal of rubber on asphalt, and, with alarmed eyes, watched as the van drove down their street. "Maka, come closer to me," she said to her daughter, struggling to keep her voice even without revealing fear behind its tone.
The van skid to a stop a few feet in front of them. Her mother backed away suddenly, pushing her young daughter behind her back. The girl curiously eyed the vehicle with a tilted head. The door slid open forcefully and two men stood in the opening, holding pistols. Her mother turned to her quickly and shouted, "Run, Maka! Run and don't look back!" She gave her daughter a harsh shove, prying her small hands from her own. "RUN!" It was the last thing she heard as she rushed down the street with her head turned back to look at her mother while the sound of freshly-shot bullets echoed out into the humid afternoon summer air of the city. The concrete where her mother's body had fallen pooled red with blood.
The girl frantically turned the street corner, ducking into a nearby alleyway and nestling herself in between two aluminum trash cans. She curled her knees to her chest and hugged the tightly, and buried her head against her kneecaps, trying to drown out the noise with darkness. Multiple pairs of footsteps stampeded by the sidewalk, guns cocking. "Check the alley here!" A gruff voice barked.
Maka squeezed her legs tighter together upon listening to a single pair of heavy-heeled boots approaching her slowly, cautiously. It was a lone man. When the footsteps had stopped, she glanced up quickly at her pursuer. He was glaring down at her with enflamed garnet eyes, holding a shaky barrel pointed right at her forehead. Charcoal black hair draped over his forehead. He gritted his teeth at the sight of her, his eyes showing a look of digust, yet...restraint at the same time. The girl's olive eyes were tranfixed innocently on him for a moment. The man glared back, holding a finger on the trigger yet refusing to pull it. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He let his arm drop to his sides, clenching the pistol tightly in his hand. "Hey, did ya find her?!" one of the goons shouted to him.
He paused, glancing coldly at her, and then back at the entrance of the alleyway. He shook his head. "No, I didn't," he answered coolly. She watched as he trotted away, leaving her alone in between to garbage cans.
In the distance, there was a loud screech of tires as the engine to a van roared to life and veered away. Maka rose slowly from her hiding place, creeping up to the corner to take a peek outside. Once her young mind had made it out to be safe, she bolted back down the street. Her mother's body lay still against the pavement, a small pond of red pooling around her overturned body.
She screamed for her mother, calling for her to wake up, but she didn't seem to respond on the ground. She wondered why she chose to lay down at such an inappropriate time.
Maka stopped, still watching as her mother was unmoving. She slowed down, her legs were burning and the air was hot and her lungs were screaming for air. "Mama! Mama, wake up! C'mon, Mom!" She stumbled to her mother's body, the underside of her clothing leaking with red fluid. She fell to her knees.
Her mother wasn't sleeping.
She was dead.
Tears welled up as she shook her mother relentlessly, trying to rouse her once more. "Mama! Mama, please!" she begged, tears snaking down her eyes and dripping off the point of her chin. "Mama! Mama..."
Her cries were drowned out by the oncoming wail of an ambulance speeding down their street...
She silently averted her eyes downward to scan the black velvet carpet as the black limo rumbled down the darkened streets of Death City. "And that's how it happened," she finished plainly, replaying the memory just as she had done for the last eight years since that day.
Soul Eater Evans sat across from her, eyeing her carefully, cautiously, with those level ember-red eyes. "I see." He noticed her dreary look, not surprised.
"...Do you know where my father was last?" She asked. "He did a lot of secret missions when he was a young man, which always put him at risk. But he'd always leave a note next to my nightstand to let me know where he was. This time, he didn't leave anything. He left me alone in the house."
"How long has he been gone?" the albino boy asked.
"A few weeks. Papa would never leave for this long without telling me he would, or without giving me a message to let me know he's alright," she said sadly. "I'm really worried about him."
"What was the last deal he made?" he asked, his ember gaze watching her carefully.
"He never tells me what the deals are, he just tells me when and where they are," she answered.
"Maybe he's on an extended trip that he doesn't want you to know about," Soul suggested. "Mob business is strictly surveillanced by the cops. Even though they never manage to get a scratch on us, he might be considered a suspect and he's laying low for a while."
She nodded slowly. "I wish it could be only that. Papa was...an asshole." He perked his brow at her odd statement. "He was a lying, cheating, jerk, even after Mama died. Mama never forgave him. I didn't forgive him, either."
"So why do you still look for him?"
"Well, he's all I have left. I hate him, hate him so much," she said evenly with an undertone of reluctance. "But...he's my father. What else can I do?"
Soul turned his head to the driver. "Kid, how long until we're there?"
The driver, who had sleek black hair with strange white stripes dashing horizontally across half of his head, answered, "We're almost there, boss."
"Good. You'll be safe there. We're in my part of town now, where no other gang members dare enter. It's only a matter of time until - " A gunshot rang out across the street, and the window facing Maka shattered into black fragments.
She looked up, startled as Soul yelled, "Get down!" and dove at her, pushing her to the carpeted limo floor. "Stay low. Don't peek out the window or else you'll get shot. Kid, you okay up there?!" The driver ducked from his seat and out the passenger's side, drawing a pistol from his coat pocket and cocking it.
"I'm fine, sir! I think the Capone gang came back to finish the job," he said, squatting down with his back pressed against the car door. He inched his head over the top of the roof of the car and shot a few rounds. They returned with another volley of bullets.
"Stay here!" Soul barked at Maka, and he whipped his gun from his back pocket and snuck out the car door opposite of hers. He and Kid waited for their attackers to come out from the shadows and the alleys, and they fired randomly across the darkened streets, hoping the trace the source of the bullets.
"What's going on?!" she demanded.
"They know that I didn't kill you," Soul said, reloading his gun. "So now they're back to finish the job." He ducked back down under the car as soon as more shots were fired at them. Maka closed her eyes and cringed as she heard the sickening sound of bullets pelting the side of her door, nearly bursting through the metal frame-work. She crawled to Soul's side a slipped out next to him. "What are you doin'?!" He hissed at her, quickly peeking over to shoot and ducking down out of sight. "I told you it'd be safer inside the car!"
She curled up against the van side next to Soul as soon as she heard the loud bang of some more rounds being fired. "I thought it'd be better out here!"
He sighed. "Fine! Kid, how many do ya think they got over there?!"
Kid shot, and ducked. "Five, maybe more." More rounds emptied out of the enemy guns, pelting the van repeatedly, shattering a glass window above her and showering their heads in fragmented glass.
He bit his lip. "This is bad. We needa escape through one of those alleyways so they can't catch up with us. Let's go. Maka, stay in front of me."
She followed his lead after Soul stood up and sprinted into the nearest narrow pathway between two buildings. The bullets increased as Kid and Maka ran after him, and Kid periodically turned back to shoot at them again.
"Gah! We're gonna lose 'em!" One of them shouted to the others. "Follow 'em!" Just as Kid had predicted, a group of five men ran towards them with their guns ablaze.
"I don't see them anymore!"
"They're in the alleyway! If we lose 'em in Evans territory, we'll never get 'er!" They sprinted, but one bullet shot through the darkness and landed right into the burly man's shoulder. He grunted in pain and fell. His shoulder stained red that seeped through his jacket and spread.
"C'mon, ya useless lunk! After 'em!" His tall leader shouted. The man tried to lift himself up, but fell once more. "Ah, never mind! We'll find 'em ourselves."
Soul grabbed the girl by her arm and dragged her as another round of endless ammunition flew past their bodies and the air above them. "Hurry, or else you're gonna get shot!" Soul barked. A single bullet was fired and echoed across the hall. She stumbled to her knees, her hand still clutching his. "Don't get tired, dammit!" He lugged her limping body and swiveled to the right, into the next pathway.
"It's not that, Soul..." she managed weakly, Kid still ahead of the both of them. "I...I've been shot..."
Soul's eyes widened at her words, and he dared to look back. Right on the bottom left side of her abdomen was a large spot that splotted scarlet through her yellow sweater vest. With her other hand, she was grabbing the wound and trying to prevent more blood from leaking out as they ran. She was gasping for air, but still running. Her cheeks streaked a hue of sickly pink, like she had a fever. "Hold on, then!" Soul lifted her up and slung her over his shoulder. "We're almost to the safe house!" Kid stopped and allowed Soul to run past him, with the girl hanging limply from his shoulder.
"I'll hold them back," he said, his golden eyes flashing with fierceness. Soul nodded at him.
As soon as the bullets that rang out into the air became distant, and the streetlights became more scarce, Soul finally trudged up to a small warehouse that was connected to a larger building in the middle of an abandoned construction site. He swung open the door. Inside was a small cottage and fireplace and stove. "Hey, are you still alive?" He said as he slid her down from his shoulder and onto the bed. She nodded weakly. "Good. Lemme get you fixed up."
Maka was too weak to hold herself upwards. She slumped over on her side. "I can't..." Black dots materialized in her field of vision.
Soul noticed her fall and caught her. Little spots of darkness clouded her vision. "Don't worry, leave the rest to me," he reassured her as she ducked in and out of consciousness, unwilling to close her eyes. "Just hold on."
A/N: Eh, I really didn't like the way I wrote this chapter, but hopefully you guys did. Leave a review please!
Happy 4th of July everyone!
~Amber