Hello and welcome back to 'Sleepy's Emo Corner'. This story was written for my NaNoWrioMo 50,000 Smuts challenge and happiness does not dwell here. This chapter is just a prologue of sorts, hope you enjoy

Cold steel kept me in place but still I struggled against it. My shoulders burned from where they had been forced behind my back, my legs cramped from being on my knees for so long and my throat felt raw from screaming in vein against the gag wrapped around my mouth. I needed to break free, I needed to get out and get to her. I could hear her screams of agony from the next room and I struggled harder, feeling helpless and sick to my stomach.

We had been on a simple mission – find, demobilise, contain – against an easy opponent when everything had gone horribly wrong. Maka suddenly sensed a witch's soul nearby and before I could react I was hit with a spell that made it impossible for me to transform into my Weapon Form. I was already feeling pretty powerless after that – if I couldn't transform then I couldn't protect her from whatever was about to come – but then we were both hit from behind with spells that knocked us out.

When I had awoken I was chained up in a dank and gloomy basement, stripped of my jacket and shirt, and Maka was nowhere to be seen. I heard her screaming from another room somewhere nearby and had begun my struggle to break free from my bonds. Pulling against the chains around my shoulders was agony but I ignored the burning shooting down my arms and kept trying. My only thought being getting free and getting to Maka. I had tried to transform at least part of myself into Weapon Form but I was still under the spell that had hit me earlier. I struggled harder.

"Struggle all you want," a female voice cooed in my ear. "it won't do you any good. These chains were designed specifically to hold you and keep you in your human form for as long as I need you here."

I turned sharply, my neck clicking from inactivity, to see Medusa grinning manically at me. Fuck! I should have known that psychopath would be behind this. Even as she was now – in the body of a child – she was still scary as hell and completely insane. She reached out and ran a hand over the scar on my chest, chuckling darkly, before reaching up to pull the gag out of my mouth.

"Where's Maka?" I snarled as soon as my mouth was free.

"I wouldn't worry about your little Meister," she said smoothly. "I believe Dr Stein is taking care of her as we speak." More of Maka's screams filled the air and I began trying once again to break out of the chains holding me.

"What did you do to him?" I asked angrily. I knew Stein was always a bit of a nut-job but he was a DWMA teacher and wouldn't do this to Maka without Medusa having some kind of mental control over him.

"Oh nothing," she smirked. "I just unlocked his inner madness. Now there's nothing holding him back from doing whatever he likes to whoever he likes."

"No!" I cried as I heard Maka scream again. Knowing Stein I could only imagine what horrific things he was doing to her. Medusa stroked my cheek in a mock gesture of soothing.

"Don't worry," she cooed. "you'll get her back in one piece. I've made sure of that."

"What did you do to her?" I demanded. She pulled away from me, laughing.

"I made sure that no scar would mar that perfect skin of hers and she will look exactly the same when the good Doctor is done with her." she replied.

"You're sick."

"Would you really have wanted her back without it?" she asked. "Are you sure you would have wanted to have to see the scars and known that you couldn't do anything to protect her?" I snapped and lurched as far forward as my bonds would let me.

"I swear to god when I get out of this I'll kill you, you fucking cu…" The gag was forced back into my mouth before I could finish. Medusa's eyes hardened as she grinned again. She drew her hand up before the back of it connected with my face, the sting resonating. I grunted, the force knocking me slightly but the chains keeping me in place.

"And now you get to listen to the rest of her screams until he's done with her." she laughed heartlessly. "The both of you will pay for attempting to foil my plans and trapping me in this body." She stalked away, towards the sound of Maka's screams and I began struggling against the chains again.

"Soul!" Maka's screams filled my ears and I felt my stomach tighten. "Help me!"

"Maka…" I screamed against the gag, desperate to get to her.

I awoke with a start, breathing heavily and drenched in cold sweat. I raised my hand to my head, panting and looked around. It took me a good few minutes to work out that I was in my room, in bed and that it had all just been a nightmare. I placed my head in my hands once my breathing had returned to normal and tried to hold it together.

Ever since that night when Medusa captured us and left Stein to torture her, both Maka and I have had terrible nightmares about it. Hers were much worse than mine. When we were finally rescued by Kid and Black*Star we didn't have a lot of chances to fully recover from it before we were thrown straight into the battle against Arachnophobia and The Keshin. Throughout that entire ordeal Maka barely slept, opting for staying awake until her body forced her to in order to stave off the nightmares.

Once it was all over we had both received counselling for it and were diagnosed with PTSD. Missions and classes were called off for the both of us for a while and Stein decided that it was best for him to keep his distance from both of us for a couple of months. I didn't feel as if I deserved such treatment – Maka was the one who had been tortured all night, I had just listened and been unable to do anything.

I heard a scream from Maka's room and I jumped out of bed, my heart pounding as I ran over to her room. Ever since that night I had been more determined than ever to protect her and keep her safe. I hadn't been able to that night and I couldn't let her go through anything like that again. I wrenched open the door of her room and saw her sitting up in bed, hands clutching her hair as she fought to catch her breath.

"Maka!" I cried as I burst in. She looked up at me and in the dim light from the streetlights outside I could see tear tracks running down her face. I went over to her bed, sitting down next to her. I wanted to pull her to me and hold her tightly but I could see she was shaking and I didn't want to startle her. Tentatively I reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Soul…" she said softly. I could hear the crack in her voice as she tried to hold back her tears but it didn't work. Fresh tears made their way down her cheeks and she flung herself into my arms, hugging me tightly as if she'd never let go, and cried into my t-shirt. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close, pressing my lips to her forehead and stroking her hair soothingly.

"It's ok," I whispered. "I have them too." But it wasn't ok; it was never going to be ok.