Stein knew that emotions led to weakness. That they led to problems. That was the reason why he kept them under a tight rein; emotions led to madness, without fail.
He could feel the madness well up as he saw Marie transform only to slam against the wall a second later in her human form, her head snapping back and slamming into it hard even as William leveled the gun at Stein himself.
Red was blossoming against Marie's pale skin. The woman was sliding down the wall, a trail of the same red following her downward descent. She was crumpling against the base of the wall, her breathing ragged and he could see tears falling, muffled sobs escaping her as she clutched her hand over the wound in her chest. The man with the gun was standing between him and Marie.
Someone was standing between him and the source of his madness. The woman that could drive him to it without his consent. The woman that would pull him from it every time, not knowing that she was partially the cause. The man with the gun was blocking his way to her, and the red was leaking from her slowly, the sobs fading.
He took a step towards her and the gun cocked back, another shot ready to fly. "You took Fanny from me, you sick bastard! You're no son of mine!"
Stein ignored the man and moved towards Marie, calling her name. She lifted her head and he saw the blood on her lips. Her eye was unfocused and she blinked as she tried to push herself into a sitting position only to crumple again. Stein darted forward and the gun rang out again. A foot away from his head a beaker shattered and Stein stopped, turning to face the old man.
"You have what, 6 more bullets? You shot a defenseless woman. You just attempted to shoot me. Do you think that you'll be able to fire them all before I tear you to pieces?" A hysterical giggle slipped from Stein's throat as he rushed at the man.
The man fired desperately, all of them missing the incoming scientist before the gun went flying from William's grasp. Stein's hand slammed into the man's stomach and sent him crashing into the wall. The man hit hard and collapsed to the ground unconscious. Stein took a step toward him with a sadistic grin covering his face when a weak cough reminded him of his surroundings.
He was at Marie's side a second later, his lab coat off and balled up against the gunshot wound in her chest, his hand pressing against the exit wound on her back. She moaned weakly as Stein gathered her up in his arms, rushing her back to the lab, her head lolling against his chest in a terrible mockery of the previous night when he had carried the death scythe to bed.
His skilled hands removed Marie's shirt, examining the entrance wound as she moaned softly in pain even while unconscious. A moment later he was injecting an anesthetic into the area around the wound, making sure that his lab coat was now balled up against the exit wound on her back.
"Marie, hold on. Please." Stein's voice was low as he carefully worked on the wound, making sure her airways weren't obstructed at all before checking to see if the chest wound was a sucking chest wound. It was. Carefully covering the wound with a sterile occlusive dressing he prepped quickly for the surgery that was necessary.
Her vitals were lower than he would normally want in a patient that he was prepping for surgery, but he didn't have a choice. As he held the scalpel in his hands and took a deep breath to steady himself, a breathing tube already in place in Marie's throat and sedatives rushing through it, he heard the click of the hammer of a gun.
William was behind him, the gun held to his head.
"You're a fool." Stein growled out, continuing the surgery that would stabilize Marie. "You could have left; you could have fled and disappeared. It might have prolonged your miserable life."
There was a hollow click as William pulled the trigger, then the sound of the gun hitting the ground. A thud followed it a moment later.
Marie awoke to a searing pain in her chest and back. She was aware of IVs in both of her arms and something cool touching her hand. She blinked her eyes open to find Stein asleep beside the bed, his hand wrapped around hers.
It took her a moment to realize that there was blood under his fingernails. Memories rushed back suddenly and she froze, her breath catching painfully in her throat.
"Fr-Franken?" She stammered out and the scientist opened his eyes almost immediately.
"Marie, you're awake. That's good," he said, standing to his feet. She could hear the bones in his back crack as he did. "How is the pain level?"
She lied. "It's fine."
He just smirked down at her and walked off, retrieving a syringe that he slid into her IV line and injected. A moment later relief rushed through her aching body, and she couldn't stop the sigh of relief.
"That's what I thought," he murmured quietly as he turned away from her. She brought a trembling hand up to pull back the gown she was in and look at the wound.
It was covered with white gauze, completely concealing whatever was underneath it. She winced a bit as she shifted; feeling what had to be the same gauze on her back.
"I tried not to leave a scar. Unfortunately, that required using small stitches, which required more of them. While the scarring will be less, I'm afraid that the removal will be a little more unpleasant." Stein said.
"Franken…"
"Yes, Marie?"
She was silent for a second. "There's blood underneath your fingernails…"
A smirk crossed the scientist's face. "Yes, it appears that there is." He stood then and walked over to the sink, carefully washing and cleaning his hands.
A/N: Ut-oh. I think that someone may have made a mistake. Perhaps… a fatal one? William Stein; currently MIA.
I don't own Soul Eater.