Maka sat on her couch with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. She was still wearing Souls sweatshirt. She hadn't realized she walked out with it earlier and there was no harm in continuing to wear it. It was very comfortable and Maka thought the burnt orange color went well with her Merlot couch. Also, she could pull her knees up under the sweatshirt and sort of..cuddle in it. The warmth and softness helped comfort her some.

She really was trying to think about her fears. No one would ever say Maka Albarn didn't do her homework. She thought more about her mother and her father. She was ready to admit that she was afraid of ever ending up like her parents. She remembered the fighting. Always fighting. Maka could remember her mother crying. Every time her father didn't come home for dinner, Kami Albarn's mouth would tighten as she pressed her lips together. Maka remembered her mothers fake smile and the way she's viciously stab at dinner when they ate together, her fathers plate untouched by always made. Maka remembered how her mother would tuck her into bed with promises of a great tomorrow then go sit in the living room waiting for her father to come home. Maka would often get up as a little girl and watch from the stairs when her father did arrive. Always stumbling through the door with a goofy smile that would fall as soon as the man saw his wife in the chair. Then the soft voice of Kami would glide across the room and there would be tears in the mans eyes. His shoulders would slump and his voice would wobble back to his wife. Always excuses and pleas; always met with an ice cold stone wall.

Little Maka knew it was wrong. She knew there was no happiness in her house when both parents were home. She was happy when it was just her and her mother. So why did her mother leave? Why did her mother leave her with her father?! He was the cause of the unhappiness so why did Maka have to stay with him!? Why didn't her mother take her along? It was a question Maka had asked herself a lot. Why did her mother abandon her? She had barely heard from her in so long. Even when she did it was just brief, five minute phone calls where Maka learned nothing about her mother.

Maka was startled out of her musings by a knock on her door. No one visited her. Grabbing her service pistol out of her bag, Maka made her way to the side of her door.

"Who is it?" She called out, leaning up against the wall.

"It's me, Soul." Maka straightened and looked out the peephole and indeed there stood her partner with a brown take out bag in his hands. Maka quickly stowed her pistol and unlocked the door, opening it up and inviting Soul in.

"What's in the bag?" She asked, closing the door behind Soul and locking it up again.

"Chinese." Soul replied, watching her keenly. "Bad neighborhood?" he asked, gesturing to her locking the door.

"Oh no," Maka replied. "Just a precaution. Kitchen is this way." She headed off into her apartment, walking silently in bare feet. Soul followed dutifully.

"I grabbed you some sweet and sour chicken, green beans, and stir fry," Soul said as Maka handed him a plate. He was rewarded with a bright smile. "I got myself some Territory shrimp with the veg and stir fry as well if you want that instead." The smile disappeared.

"No thank you!" Maka exclaimed, shielding her plate from Soul as though he would force the swap. "I hate fish!" Soul laughed and did indeed try to sneak a shrimp on to her plate. Maka shrieked and ran laughing into the living room. Soul followed her slowly and watched a second as Maka set her plate on her coffee table, settled on the couch, then jumped up with a concerned look, and dashed back into the kitchen without a word. She returned as Soul was settling in on the couch with his plate; carrying two glasses of water.

"I hope water's okay," Maka said as she resettled back into the couch, passing a glass to Soul. He took it wordlessly and just nodded, trusting that Maka would understand. She did.

"What brings you over?" Maka wondered, taking a bite of her chicken. None of her other partners had ever come visit.

"I found the church." Soul answered through a mouthful of shrimp. "Plus I couldn't miss an opportunity to see you in those shorts." Maka nearly dropped her plate. True her shorts were a bit short. But they were standard women's gym shorts! They were appropriate! Especially for wearing around the house.

"I..these...you!" Maka sputtered. "These are perfectly acceptable clothing for wearing around the house! They may be short but that's for maneuverability!" Maka was standing now, plate deposited safely on the coffee table. She tugged at the bottom of her sweatshirt, bringing it down by only milometers. Soul sat calmly on the couch, casually eating his shrimp, watching Maka get redder.

"What maneuverability do you need here?" He snorted, refilling his fork. Maka's mouth dropped open in shock. She grabbed the nearest book, a nice heavy dictionary, and chucked it at Soul. She was pleased to see it connect hard to his shoulder. How could he?! He came in to her home, made himself comfortable on her couch, and made quips about her body! Men were all the same; they were only concerned with a women's body. Maka stalked off to the kitchen with her glass of water. It was full, but she was going to refill it anyway.

"Hey, hey," Soul had followed Maka into the kitchen. "I didn't mean to offend. I was just a bit shocked by the shorts. They're..uh...short." Soul hadn't been able to look Maka in the eye since entering the room. He was looking just about anywhere that wasn't her. And he was blushing? Maka never thought her legs would make a man blush.

"Whatever," Maka barked. She had finished refilling her full water glass. "What's this about finding the church?" Maka headed back into the living room where her Chinese goodness was growing cold. She would forget about the shorts comment for now if Soul could get back to the case. Maka watched him closely as he followed her into the living room. He still wasn't looking anywhere near her. He focused mostly on his feet. He walked around the far side of the coffee table and sank into the couch, staring at the ceiling as he did so. Before he picked up his plate, he grabbed a folder off a side table that Maka hadn't noticed he put down. He handed it to her, then picked up his plate and started eating again, still not looking at Maka.

Maka opened the folder while she was eating. Thankfully there were no crime scene pictures and Maka's dinner was still happily sitting in her tummy. There was however, a wonderful map that pointed out the two possible churches.

"Hey, there are two churches. I thought you said there was one." Maka munched on her green beans. The churches were close to each other at least. It wouldn't be hard to stake them out. Well one was a church and the other was technically a basilica. St. Patrick's Church and Santa Mario Novella Basilica. Both serving the populations that lived near the area. Lots of Catholics, and lots of Italian immigrants. They appeared back to back on the map with one alley way separating them.

"Maybe we can set up in this alleyway here." Maka pointed it out on the map. "It'll watch the back doors of both churches. If we get cameras facing the fronts, it should leave us in prime position to move in case something goes down." Maka figured most people engaging in criminal activities in a church would use the back entrance.

"We should check if there are also any side entrances." Soul stated. His blush had disappeared. Maka was almost sad to see it go. He was staring intently at the map as though ordering it to reveal its secrets. Maka used this to observe her partner. It had only been a week but he had proven himself to be calm, reliable, and hard working. She wasn't overly fond of his comment about her legs, but she kind of enjoyed that she had that effect on him. He had seemed more nervous in his awkward flirting rather than cocky so she didn't mind it so much. It was a confidence boost, she had to admit, to have an attractive man flirt with her.

A couple hours later both Maka and Soul had finished their dinner, plates had been stacked off to the side. They focused intently the photos of the churches and the maps of the surrounding areas. They had decided on where to set up their surveillance stations, where the best place to set cameras would be. Apparently, when Soul was with Homicide he had worked a few surveillance ops. Maka had worked less than him but still insisted on being the lead.

"Just trust me Maka" Soul sighed. They had been arguing about it for the past fifteen minutes. "I've done this before. I know how to set it up, organize it, and get it all together." Soul ran a hand through his messy hair.

"I can do it just as well as you can," Maka huffed. "Besides, I have the time to get it together." She drew her legs up under the hoodie she still hadn't taken off.

"What do you mean 'you have the time'?" Soul asked incredulously. "We work the same hours!" Maka shrank back a little at his tone. What was he trying to insinuate?

"You're probably busy going out and doing young single man things!" Maka was positively bristling. She didn't want to know what, or who, Soul did on his time off. Well, she did want to know a little. But she didn't like that she wanted to know!

"Not too much of that. Sometimes Black-Star comes over and we play video games." Soul responded. "No clubbing, no one night stands, no gallivanting with the nonexistent girlfriend." He cracked a large smile, having correctly guessed what Maka was insinuating.

"Well," Maka blushed and couldn't face Soul at this point. "I don't want this to cut into your time with the Great Idiot Black-Star. I don't mind doing it." She couldn't help but feel a little happy that Soul had said 'nonexistent girlfriend'. She kept telling herself she liked it because it meant he could focus more on their work.

"Maka," Soul began, "I want to do it. With you." Maka paled and went wide eyed.

"I want to work on this together." Soul continued. "We're partners and we'll be working it together so lets plan it together." Soul finished and looked Maka dead in the eyes. Maka's heart was beating a little faster than she expected.

"Yea sure, lets plan this together" Maka didn't trust herself to think too hard about why her heart was beating or why his eyes seemed to look too far into her for her comfort.

"Good." Soul said, slouching back into the couch. "Wanna watch some TV?" He had picked up the remote, probably expecting to keep it and have control. Nu-uh. Maka reached over and snatched it out of his hands before he could blink.

"I pick!" She chirped. She was going to push these feelings and thoughts to the back of her mind and zone out on terrible comedy/action movies. Soul just smiled and sunk further back into the couch, one armed draped over the back, the other resting on the armrest holding his glass of water. Maka sank back into the couch after settling on a movie. She was already feeling better.