Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.
The tenth!
"blind explosions"
"Yo Maka," her partner's voice crackled in her ear, grainy over the communicator. "You in position?"
The blonde, currently leaning against the concrete wall of the dark warehouse near the back entrance, pressed the tiny button on the device and responded, "Yeah, Soul. Ready?"
"Let's take this bastard down."
Maka stifled a laugh. "Just like all the others."
"Yeah. Standby for the signal."
The young agent took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. This wasn't her first bust, but she could never take the adrenaline rush quite like her partner, who barely even broke a sweat on operations such as this.
She and Soul had been working together for close to three years since she came to the department, and Maka trusted him more than anyone she knew. Despite his nearly constant cool-headed, lazy disposition, Soul had proven himself several times both on the field and off.
They were best friends, and they caught more felons together than anyone else in the unit. The chief couldn't be happier: Because of them, the crime rate in Death City had gone down by nearly seven percent.
But there was always one more out there for them to catch.
The sick son of a bitch that was running the meth market in this part of town had made a huge mistake, one that led to him kidnapping the son of one of the richest men in town and holding him for ransom. Of course, the money had been transferred, despite law enforcement's blatant suggestion not to take the dealer's bait; the druggee's rep was not very honest at all. He had a list of charges that would put him on Most Wanted, including murder and armed robbery.
Soul had been tracking him for longer than Maka had been around, sometimes obsessing over it and pulling the uncommon all-nighter at work, trying to get this bastard off the street. After one of those nights, when Maka entered his office to find him snoring loudly with his head on his desk, she didn't have the heart to wake him up unless she really needed to. All she'd do was leave a steaming cup of coffee next to him, knowing that the overwhelming smell of caffeine would rouse him soon enough anyway.
When the kidnapper had received the money that he'd demanded, he sent the department the victim's location and disappeared off the radar. As usual. Also as normal, Soul and Maka weren't taking any chances with this guy, and were on their toes, expecting the unexpected.
"...All right, the boss gave us the OK. In three. Three..."
"Two..." she echoed. Cocking her gun with a clean snap, she edged closer to the corner.
"One...Go!"
Maka threw herself around the corner, rushing into the darkness towards the door. Soul was already there, and he kicked open the door with one hard kick, his gun pointed into the shadows as he ran inside. She followed him, double checking the little alcoves he had given the once-over.
When they reached another door, just past the construction beams, they paused, one on either side of it. Maka saw Soul's crimson eyes flash in the moonlight shining through the cracked windows far above their heads, his messy silver hair contrasting sharply with the black of his suit. He gave her a swift nod, then practically dented the door with his elbow. It flew open with a bang.
The two of them darted inside, but there was no need for caution. The wealthy man's son, a lanky fifteen-year-old boy, was bound and gagged to a rugged metal chair. Pure, unadulterated relief washed over his face as they entered. Soul halfheartedly put his gun away while Maka ran to pull the gag from the teenager's mouth.
"There's a bomb," he hurriedly gasped, and a look of alarm shot across both agents' faces. "Under the chair."
Maka bent over to look under the boy's restraints and bit her lip. "Soul?"
Her partner crouched down beside her. "Yeah?"
They locked eyes. "There's only a minute left," she said, her green eyes searching his for some inkling as of what to do. Between them, the timer beeped away, seconds sliding past. Soul tore his eyes from hers to look at the tangled mess of wires and sockets. "C-4" was printed on the side of what appeared to be a brown paper box.
"That bastard!" Soul snarled, standing up sharply and running a hair through his hair. "How the hell did he get C-4? That's military issue!"
The boy in the chair began to sob. "I'm going to die here, aren't I?"
Maka crouched down in front of him, looking him straight in the eyes. "No, I'm not gonna let that happen."
Soul was rounding the chair, his eyes following the twisted wires up and around the boy's body. "We can't defuse it."
She looked up at him frantically, and the boy wailed louder. "What?"
He looked away, running his hand through his hair. "The wires are too close to him and the set-up is too complicated for you to figure out," he said, glancing at the amount of time they had left. "Thirty seconds, Maka. We have to get out of here before this place blows to smithereens."
Maka stood up, desperate now. "We can't just--"
Soul grabbed her arm, his face in a stalemate and solidly determined. "We have to get out of here!"
They stared at each other, and the female agent cast a last glance at the poor, wretched teenager sobbing in the chair that was destined to kill him from the start.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. The boy nodded, bowing his head in acceptance of what was fated to come. The helplessness in that gesture broke her street-hardened heart.
"Maka!"
"I know!"
Soul pulled her out of the room roughly, slamming the door behind her as the clock ticked to ten, then nine. Maka didn't say a word as she was dragged quickly back to the entrance of the warehouse, the boy's beaten face imprinted into her mind like a still-steaming brand.
Eight, seven, six.
She couldn't bring herself to tear her eyes from the door they had just closed. When Soul noticed that she was still facing the building he turned back to her, his hand still clutching the crook of her arm.
Five, four, three.
"Maka, come on."
She stared up at the building, knowing that her inability to defuse the bomb had not only cost the richest noble in the city millions of dollars in needless ransom, but his only son.
Two.
Soul yelled at her frantically, screaming at her to move, but she couldn't hear him.
One.
BOOM.
The warehouse exploded like a firework, windows blowing out, sending glass flying around them, causing bricks and cement to come crashing down around them. The blinding flash lit up the dark of the night, smoke billowing into the now-invisible stars. With his eyes shut tight, Soul tackled his frozen partner to the ground, but he was too late.
The damage had been done.
----
When the dust had settled, Soul raised his head, little chunks of concrete tumbling off of his shoulders and head to hit the ground with a few tiny clatters. Coughing, he opened his eyes too look at his partner, pinned beneath him and shielded from most of the rubble.
Her head was tossed to the side, dirt covering her face and her hair a mess on the ground. Quickly, Soul sat up, putting his arms around her and lifting her tiny body up a little bit from the ground. She didn't stir.
God, no.
He shook her lightly, calling her name as a feeling of unease settled into the pit of his stomach. Slowly, her brow furrowed, her hand trembling over her abdomen. Soul grabbed it, squeezing her fingers hard.
"Ugh..."
She was alive. He let out a dark sort of laugh. Opening her eyes, she blinked up at him.
"Jesus, Maka," he snickered. "Don't scare me like that."
Maka said nothing, just stared blankly past him, her lively green eyes distant and dead-looking.
Soul inhaled sharply, the nervousness coming back with a twinge. "Maka?"
She blinked again. That's Soul's voice.
"Maka? Can you hear me?"
Where is he?
Were they trapped under part of the building? What was going on?
She could feel his rough hand on her face, wiping away dust from her cheeks and his arm around her lower back, but she couldn't see him. There was only a stale black. Darkness. With her free hand, she reached out, expecting him to be right in front of her, but he wasn't. Her slender hand dropped to her side.
She felt him tense. "Look at me, Maka."
She turned her head towards the sound of his voice, but saw nothing but pitch-black.
"Soul?"
"What's wrong?" His voice was scared, something that she wasn't used to. It terrified her, and her voice shook.
"Why is it dark?"
He inhaled sharply, glancing up at the full moon above them, shining brightly despite the flumes of smoke still pouring from the building, along with so many stars. The streetlights across the road were glowing their usual yellow. Soul looked back down at the suited woman in his arms.
"Maka," He paused, not sure what to say. "It's...not."
Her clouded green eyes widened, unseeing.
"I...I can't see."
Soul flipped open his phone, pressing the speed-dial in desperation. "Yeah, Agent Evans reporting from 248 Kishin Road. We lost the kid. Agent down, suspect nowhere in sight."
Maka could hear the distorted reply on the other side of the call. "Agent Albarn?"
"Yes. Send back-up."
"Is it serious?"
The silver-haired cop looked into Maka's terrified face, her empty eyes blinking back tears. He'd never seen her so scared.
"I...I don't know."
----
After being carried into an ambulance by none other than Soul himself, Maka's head was pounding, every little sound louder and more confusing with each passing second. Never before had the hospital been so loud, even when Soul had been shot only weeks into their partnership. Then, everything had seemed so quiet, like the world had slowed down just so she could relish in the fact that she could have just gotten her partner killed. That was a long time ago, but it was still stuck in the back of her mind, clear as day. She didn't think she would ever forget it.
Now, Maka squirmed uncomfortably in her bed, the needle in her arm having just been taken out. The doctors had bandaged over her eyes with some kind of gauze pad, so even if she did open her eyes and could miraculously see again, she wouldn't be seeing much.
Her side ached tremendously, but the doctors had promised that it was just a bruise and that she'd be fine within a few hours. However, their little reassurances didn't stop it from hurting like hell. Cautiously, she prodded the spot where all the pain was coming from.
"Ow," she said, wincing violently.
"You shouldn't do that," a deep voice said from the doorway. Her head snapped around to face that direction, forgetting for a moment that she wouldn't be able to see who it was. It didn't matter. She knew that voice.
"Soul?"
"Yeah, it's me."
She heard shuffled footsteps as her partner approached the bed. "What's going on?"
Soul scratched his neck, his eyes glued to the white cloth across her eyes. It was haunting, in a way, like she'd been taken straight out of a horror movie, or been diagnosed with some contagious disease that effected the eyes. "Not much. The chief sorting everything out with the building and the kid and all that. You're getting some time off."
Maka huffed. "I don't want time off. I want my sight back. How long did the doctor say it will take, again?"
"Twenty-four hours," he replied. "And would you stop being such a bad patient?"
"What?" she said, indignant, crossing her arms. "I'm not being a bad patient."
"Really?" Soul asked sarcastically. "Then all that swearing at the staff was you being a goodpatient?"
"I wasn't swearing at them."
"Right."
"They were being unhelpful."
"And you were being a pain in the ass."
Maka ignored him, slapping her arms back down to her sides. "It's so boringhere. It's not like I can watch TV or--"
"Read?" Soul finished for her with a smirk, leaning forward in his chair.
She scowled at him. He knew her too well. "Shut up."
There was a ringing noise from Soul's pocket, the tone she knew he'd set for incoming text messages. Maka turned her head sideways as she heard him flip it open, then sigh.
"What is it?"
Soul rubbed his face with one hand, glancing up at her, still very unnerved by the bandage across her eyes. "The nobleman is causing hell down at the station. They want me there to sort things out. You know, to give them my side of the story and everything."
Maka scratched her arm. "What time is it?"
"Noon."
She groaned. "I want to go home."
Soul stood up, putting his weight on his hands as he leaned over her. Instantly, his partner tensed, turning her blind face in his direction. She wasn't used to him being this close, so close that she could feel his breath on her skin. "You can't right now, Maka."
She scrunched her nose. He chuckled.
"But," he said softly. "I'll get you out of here as soon as I can."
"That's not soon enough," she pouted.
Then, laughing, he stood up straight (Maka felt the mattress under her relax again), and left the room. Maka crossed her arms again, her face splitting into a mischievous grin.
If Soul couldn't get her out of here, then she'd just have to show herself the door.
----
Soul leaned back at his desk, putting his feet us as he finished the last of his paperwork on his knee. The office was quiet, for once, seeing that Black Star and Tsubaki had been placed undercover at a known gangland hotspot.
There was a knock on the door.
"It's open," he called out, not tearing his eyes from the case report he was reluctantly filling out. Oh, the tediousness of being a cop.
It swung open, and Death the Kid entered, clad in his traditional black suit, buttoned neatly.
"Soul," he said, straightening his tie a little bit. He opened his mouth to continue, but the way Soul had thrown his report so carelessly onto his desk distracted him.
"Wh-wha..." he started, his hands coming up of cover his twitching face."What is th-that?"
"Hm?" Noticing Kid's sweaty temple, Soul quickly sat up and straightened the pile of papers, putting it in the corner of his deck. "Nothing. What's going on?"
Kid calmed himself, refolding his cuffs. His little 'attacks' were normal around the station, but no one seemed to mind. Being the chief of police's son and all wasn't the reason he'd become so successful in Death City. His OCD condition solved many cases that would have gone cold without him.
"I think I found something of yours."
Soul looked at him, confused. "What?"
Kid went to the door, opening it again, and there in the doorway stood the other half of the Evans/Albarn partnership, fully clothed in her standard suit jacket and skirt, wearing plain black sunglasses over her bandaged eyes.
The silver-haired cop stood up, rounding his desk to stare at the blonde woman incredulously. "Maka? How the hell did you get out of the hospital?"
Maka stepped forward, forgetting about the threshold and tripping on it, forcing her partner to catch her mid-fall. "I forgot about your screwed-up doorway," she muttered into his arms as he set her back onto her feet. "And anyway, they let me go."
Soul's voice was contradictory. "No, they didn't. They said they were keeping you until tonight."
Maka exhaled sharply through her nose. "I couldn't just lie there all day, Soul, listening to TV!"
"So you forced your way out?"
Kid cleared his throat, getting their attention. "My father said for you to watch over her while you were on desk duty. Oh, and Black Star said he'd be checking in soon, so keep an ear out."
"Okay."
The door snapped shut behind him.
Soul turned back to Maka. "You are unbelievable."
She said nothing, feeling around for the chair she knew was somewhere in front of his desk. When she failed to find it, she crossed her arms indignantly. "Am not. You would have done the same thing."
"I would not."
"No, I take that back. You would have slept all day."
Maka grinned, sensing her partner's scowl before she continued. "Any update on the case?"
"Nope," Soul said, taking her hand and leading her to one of the two chairs in front of his desk before sitting down next to her. "I just filled out the report."
"Can I read it?"
Soul laughed, his face breaking into a huge grin. "How?"
"Oh, right."
They both laughed, and Maka missed seeing his sharp teeth spread in a sharky smile whenever he chuckled. Before she could stop herself, Maka reached up, touching her hand to his face. He froze instantly, the grin fading away from his lips.
"Uh..."
From under her sunglasses, she blushed crimson. "Oh, um, I...just wondered what your face felt like when you, um...smiled."
He blinked. "Oh."
Despite the fact that she couldn't see, something in her soul sparked at that moment, and she was leaning forward, his fingers coming up to touch her jawline as he came closer, his warm breath warming her skin for the second time today and--
The moment was broken as the door flew open and Kid entered, stopping in the doorway. Instinctively, both partners sat up straight, Soul's hand dropping to his side and his neck snapping around to look at the intruder.
"Uh," Kid said loudly, noticing their close proximity. "Am I interrupting something?"
"No," Maka said, clearing her throat. "What's going on?"
"Tsubaki just contacted us."
"Tsubaki?" Soul and Maka repeated in unison, both of their brows furrowing. Black Star was the undercover team's captain and messenger. It was too dangerous a job for anyone else; no one else had his ability to slip in and out undetected, not to mention his speed.
"Black Star's been captured," Kid clarified swiftly. "We need you out here, Soul. Right now."
Soul stood up. "I'll be right there."
Kid nodded, darting back out the door.
Maka sighed. "Guess I can't come with you."
"You think?" Soul replied grimly. "You have to stay here. In this office."
"Alone?" He could practically hear the challenge in his partner's voice.
"Yeah, Maka, alone." He continued, his voice growing darker. This was the one thing he refused to argue with her about. "If Black Star's been compromised, you're in danger too. That gang-leader got a good look at you when you got the team into position, and God knows what he'll do if he finds you."
Maka swallowed. "I can protect myself."
"You're practically blind."
"Temporarily."
"For the next twenty-four hours, you're handicapped," Soul snapped. "You're off duty. You're not going anywhere."
Maka's lip curled, but before she could say anything more, he pulled his iPod out of his pocket, handing it to her along with the over-sized headphones she had so often seen covering one of his ears as they rested around his neck, blasting music so loud she could hear every note. In all the years she'd worked with him, Soul had never let Maka touch his iPod, let alone listen to it.
"Here," he said with a touch of reluctance.
She tilted her head up to where she estimated his face was. He must be desperate.
Soul crouched down so his face was level with hers. "Something to do," he said, his tone pleading. "Just stay here, Maka. Please."
Despite all the little disagreements welling up inside of her, she found herself nodding. "Okay."
Maka could sense his satisfied smirk as he stood up again, glad that she'd finally surrendered. "I've gotta go rescue Black Star's sorry ass again, before he gets himself killed."
There was a creak as he swung open the door, and as he exited, Maka couldn't hold her tongue.
"Be safe."
Soul turned back, pausing, but only slightly. "I'll be back."
And then he was gone, the door closing softly behind him.
"I hope so," Maka muttered to herself, slipping the headphones over her ears and pressing the button she knew to be 'play.'
-----
The station had become quiet, Maka growing drowsy as the hours passed, the day fading away into the deep night. Songs began to replay once, twice, three times, shifting between punk rock, jazz, R&B and a small sample of classical as the woman in the chair drifted in and out of sleep. Soon enough, she fell into slumber once and for all, only to be woken by the sun's heat on her skin, the beams shining through the two large windows.
Yawning, Maka pulled the headphones down from her ears, letting them dangle around her neck as she stretched her arms upwards.
"What time is it?" she breathed, rolling her neck and feeling her vertebrae pop.
No one answered her. Not good.
Where's Soul?
Just then, the door was slowly pushed open, giving out a quiet click as it did. Maka's head snapped up again.
"Soul?"
There were some slow, staggering footsteps, and a grunt as whoever it was sat down in the chair next to her, hissing quietly, as if in pain.
"I'm back."
Maka's heartbeat escalated as she reached toward him, calming slightly when his rough fingers folded over hers. "Are you hurt?"
"Not really," Soul said, but his voice was strained he gripped her hand tighter. "One of those goons blindsided me with a knife, but I'm fine, seriously."
"You don't sound fine," Maka retorted, her hand extending up to touch his face, feeling the coarse texture of stitches. He winced. "Where else did he get you?"
"Just my shoulder."
"And Black Star?"
"He's fine. Finished off the bastard that slashed me before I could shoot him."
Her hand found the beginning of a sling at the base of his neck. "God, Soul, I told you to be safe."
"I'm not dead, am I?"
"No..." His partner trailed off before repeating the question she asked herself earlier. "What time is it?"
Soul glanced at the clock. "About noon."
"I slept that long?"
"Ox said you didn't fall asleep until three a.m."
Her fingers fell away. "It's been twenty-four hours, right?"
"Yeah," Soul breathed. The room felt small, all of a sudden. Before he could stop himself, Soul reached up and slowly took Maka's glasses off her eyes, revealing the white cloth that had bothered him so much previously. Now, though, when he was about to see her eyes again, it seemed sort of...right.
Her lithe fingers gradually peeled the bandage away, trying to dull the pain a little bit. Finally, it was off, and her eyes were visible again, lids covering them as she asked him one final question.
"Soul?"
"Yeah?"
"What if I...What if I can't see anymore?"
Soul leaned closer to her, whispering softly only inches from her face. "Then I'll do everything I can to help you still be my partner."
She smiled slightly. "Does that mean you'll find a way for me to still go out on the field?"
"Maybe."
At this, she laughed, almost inaudibly. "But I'd miss seeing you, you know."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
They fell silent.
"Well," she breathed, taking in a deep breath. "Here goes."
Soul held his breath as Maka's eyes fluttered open, just as green and lively as every, shining in the midday sun. Maka gasped, the darkness that had trapped her gone at last, the color of the world flooding her vision once more. She looked towards the sun and around the office, letting every shade burn itself into her memory forever.
She could see.
"Well?"
Maka turned back to her partner, taking in his pale face, his red eyes, the stitches sown in a jagged line on his left cheek, his worried expression.
"Maka?" he said, his lips barely moving, barely showing the edges of his pointed teeth. Her face split into a huge grin, eyes crinkling with joy.
"I can see," she said, before falling forward, throwing her arms around Soul's neck. He returned her embrace with a tight, one-armed hug, her tiny body fitting against his like a mold. "I can see!"
"Thank God," he replied, his voice raspy in her iron-like hold.
Slowly, she pulled away from him, her face flushing pink with embarrassment. "Sorry."
Soul flashed her a huge grin, and Maka realized with a shock how much she had missed it. He leaned toward her. "Don't be."
Then, their lips met in a quiet kiss, gentle enough to barely be felt, but filled with enough emotion to make static shoot through both of their bodies. Soul smiled against her lips as they parted and rejoined, her fingers tracing his face as he drew her closer with his one arm.
Because God knows what he'd do without her.
An extra long one in return for the three week wait. The theme for this one was "Glasses".
Because I love your thoughts,
-datt