Click, click, click, click.

Click, click, click, click.

Click.

The scientist's eyes opened wide.

Click, click, click, click.

Click, click, click, click.

Click, click, click, click.

He became aware of the sobbing beside him, but couldn't move.

Click, click, click, click.

Click, click, click, click.

Click, click, click, click.

Click, click, click, click.

Click.

He tried desperately to call out Marie's name, but couldn't convince his brain to tell his body what to do, and he lay there, immobile.

Click.

Click.

An electrical jolt shot through his body as the woman lying beside him screamed, clawing at him, her nails drawing blood. He watched unable to move as tears fell down the side of her face from her uncovered eye.

Click, click, click, click.

Click, click, click, click.

Click.

She screamed again and Stein felt his heart twist in worry. He had to wake her, but damnit, he couldn't move. He tried to push his wavelength out to her just to feel it slam against the barrier of her soul; her wavelength too chaotic even for him to resonate with. He struggled again to move, to wake her.

He failed, and Marie screamed a third time, her wavelength compressing and he waited for the transformation. It never came, and Marie collapsed brokenly against the bed, sobbing. He could feel the pain radiating from her tortured body, and he still couldn't move.

Click, click, click, click.

Click, click, click, click.

She reached out to him, desperately. "Help me forget the pain, Franken." She sobbed. He strained with all his might but couldn't even move an inch towards her.

Click, click, click.

Clank.

The screw in his mind finally turned over, and he was free.


Stein woke with Marie trembling in his arms, her breathing ragged. He could feel the scratches she had left on his chest; the salt from her tears burning them. Stein tightened his hold on the woman, pulling her closer to him, and kissed her forehead gently.

"It's a dream, Marie. I'm right here. It's a dream." He whispered to her as he held her, all too aware that waking her from the nightmare would do nothing but make it more vivid. "I'm right here, Marie. I'll be here when you wake up. I'll keep you safe, I promise."

The woman sobbed against him, but didn't wake.


She was in pain, her entire body as mass of it. It had been this way for nearly as long as she could remember, in fact, before the pain started she wasn't even sure who she was. She did know one thing, though.

She was waiting for someone; a man. She didn't know his name or even what he looked like, the pain had stolen those memories long ago. Waiting on him was the only thing that kept her sane, even though her tormentor promised her that no one was coming.

"You know it's the truth, Hammer." The voice came from nowhere- but then again, her tormentor had stopped showing herself ages ago. Himself?

She was no longer certain- the voice was the only indication of gender and it had long ago drained into neutrality that sounded almost like the voice that she no longer allowed herself to use. Tears fell down her right cheek, but not her left, and she wondered briefly at that before the pain lanced through her and took away her ability to think.


Stein held her, whispering to her while she cried against his chest, until she started screaming again. With one swift movement he tilted her face up to him and pushed his lips against hers, his right arm curving around her back.

There was no response. The tears didn't stop; her body didn't calm its trembling or relax. She didn't wake. A curious expression crossed Stein's face as he broke the kiss and he reached out to shake her shoulder.

She still didn't wake. Shaking her harder did nothing but cause her hair to fall into her face and stick to her cheeks with the tears.

"Marie!" He shouted her name as she arched back painfully, a renewed bout of sobs breaking through; Stein could feel the agony rush from her as if it were his own. It took his breath away momentarily.

Sliding out of bed he picked her up and padded naked with her through the hall of his lab to the bathroom, where he turned the water on in the shower, stepping underneath the spray. He flinched at the coldness, but held Marie in his arms, hoping the cold water would shock her awake.

It did.

Marie came back to herself, sputtering and clinging to him, sobbing into his chest.

"Marie, it's alright." He reached down and turned the hot water on, maneuvering to shield her from the cold until the water heated up. She stood with the side of her face pressed against his chest, tears streaming from her good eye. Stein hesitantly brought his arms up around her, holding her loosely.

"Marie, I'm right here. It's alright. It was only a nightmare. You're not alone Marie. You're home, you're safe." He whispered quietly, the mantra calming the woman until she stopped crying.

He stood holding her even after she stopped crying and she made no move to disentangle herself from him.

"I'm sorry, Franken…" She murmured into his chest, looking down.

He tilted her head up to look at him, kissing her forehead lightly. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Marie."


Marie was still too weak to stand for long, and she nearly fell stepping out of the shower. Stein caught her, and helped her to sit on the closed lid of the toilet before grabbing a towel to help her dry off.

"I can dry off myself!" Marie protested, but Stein just shook his head, helping her.

"I'd like to run some tests on you." He said suddenly and Marie looked up at him, her hair hanging loosely around her face. "You've been having nightmares, which in and of itself isn't unusual. I couldn't wake you earlier though."

"So that's why we were in the shower." She said quietly.

Stein nodded before continuing. "They wouldn't be anything invasive- just some scans while you're awake and some while you're asleep. A blood test. Is that alright?"

Marie nodded while Stein wrapped the towel around her shoulders. It was then that she realized they were both naked. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks and she closed her eyes as the memory of the night before rushed back, a small smile tugging at her lips. She sat there reliving it while Stein dried himself off.

Then something he said clicked. "I have to go back to sleep?" She asked in a small voice and Stein pulled the towel away from his face where he was drying off his hair.

"The human body requires it, Marie. You'll have to sooner or later." He watched as the tension in her soul grew. "What's wrong? Marie?"

She felt his hand on her shoulder, but the wracking pain was still fresh in her memory and she trembled remembering it.

"I can't go back to sleep." She whispered miserably, and Stein knelt in front of her as she continued. "If I do, I may never wake up…" Tears fell from her eye again.

"That's nonsense, Marie." He said, his tone meant to be comforting.

"You don't understand!" She met his gaze. "She's waiting for me when I sleep! She's there and has been every time I've gone to sleep!" Marie's voice rose in intensity and she was nearly screaming. "She's going to kill me if I go back to sleep!"

Stein blinked, instinctively recoiling slightly from the enraged woman before his rational mind took over. "Who?"

Marie broke down sobbing, her head tilted down. Her voice was little more than a broken whisper. "Laryn."

"Marie, Laryn is dead. She's gone and you've absorbed her soul." His statement did nothing to calm the woman.

Sitting on the toilet that she had once jokingly told him was the cousin of the one that she had destroyed in the Shibusen's ladies room Marie whispered, fear thick in her voice, "That's the problem, Franken… she's a part of me now…"


A/N: I hope that you've liked the latest installment :) fluffy enough? :D

I don't own Soul Eater.