Title: Past Hauntings

Rating: T

By: ToastWeaselofDOOM

Summary: AU. Franken Stein has everything. A wonderful wife, a house, and a respectable job. But this could all change when a mistake he made fifteen years ago comes back to haunt him.

Warning: As this is an AU, character's might be a tad OOC in order to fit into society and general living. I've tried to fit their abilities into the story best as I could, but there is always a few people who freak over these things, so I warn you now. I repeated, CHARACTERS MIGHT BE A BIT OOC. This also contains a bunch of my favourite pairings including (but not limited to) SteinMarie, SteinMedusa, SoulMaka, MarieSteinMedusa, etc etc. My beta(s) are very busy and can't beta everything on time all the time, so sometimes chapters will be published unbeta'd.

If you have a problem with one or more of these pairings, or with it the characters being OOC, or with it not being beta'd, I'm implore you, DO NOT FLAME ME IF YOU CONTINUE ON AND READ THIS. It will have been your fault for not reading my warnings and A/N before you read. Thank you! ^^

A/N: Oh god. This chapter. You guys might want tissues, specially towards the end. I apparently made Kit cry, and while she is sick, that is not a good thing. I'M SORRY, KIT. DX IFEELSOBADOMG.;;; Just warning people, after this chapter....it's gonna get darker, and it's gonna get darker FAST. Action starts next chapter! Whoo!~ Enjoy people!

THIS CHAPTER WAS BETA'D by ~Desert(dot)Moon. Luffs, hun!

Chapter 13

Stein noticed her expression immediately as she walked into the kitchen an hour or so later. "Chrona," he said calmly as she stood uneasily by the counter, "is something wrong?"

His daughter's expression was one of deep guilt and apprehension as she muttered with downcast eyes, "No, sir."

The doctor sighed and pushed his glasses up to pinch the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. She was hiding something; he knew it. He had a hunch what it was, too. "Please don't lie to me, Chrona."

"I-I'm not."

"Oh really?"

Chrona nodded hesitantly. "I-I'm not h-hiding a-anything."

Stein frowned; he didn't want to push her so he let it slide. "Alright." Marie breezed into the kitchen minutes later.

"Chrona, wash up for dinner, sweetheart," she said cheerfully. The girl obeyed. Stein sighed. There was a long way to go.

Maka noticed, too. The next day was the day scheduled for PE and the class was outside. It was a warm day, nearly eighty degree Fahrenheit, and the sun beat down on the student mercilessly. Chrona wore her new hoodie zipped up over her newer gym uniform, hiding her arms and their newest decorations from view.

"Aren't you hot?" Maka asked as they watched Soul and Black*Star race around the track, the blue-haired teen sans a shirt. "I mean, it's almost eighty!"

Chrona shook her head, although secretly she felt like she was about to faint from heat-stroke. "N-No, I'm fine."

Twenty minutes of excruciating heat later, the teacher allowed the students to go inside to shower and change. The pink-haired teenager was careful not to let her self-inflicted injuries show as she undressed to shower and clothe herself again. She could handle (barely) the fact she was naked in front of many girls she did not know. However, she knew she couldn't handle if one of them saw her cuts and pointed them out.

The bell rang for lunch and Chrona waited for Maka to finish showering and changing. Her friend joined her several minutes later, fully clothed and ash-blonde hair drip-drying. "C'mon, Soul is saving us seats in the cafeteria!" She unthinkingly grabbed Chrona's arm, the same one the pink-haired girl had cut open the night before.

Chrona cried out in pain when the pressure from Maka's hand touched her wounds. Maka stopped and looked back at her. "Chrona, what's wrong?"

The pink-haired girl realized she'd made a mistake and tried to recover from it. "I—I accidently cut my arm last night . . . on a bunch of glass . . . It hurt when you touched it . . ."

"Is that why you wore your sweater during gym?" Maka asked, looking concerned. Chrona nodded miserably. "Can I see it?"

The girl hesitated. "Well . . ."

"More importantly, did you bandage it?" Maka gave her a critical look. Chrona shook her head. "You live with a doctor! He could have fixed it easily!"

"I didn't want to bother him with it," Chrona muttered.

Maka sighed. "Come with me." The blonde teenager took hold of the arm that wasn't injured and led Chrona from the locker rooms and down the hallway. The stopped in front of a door labeled 'Dispensary' and Maka opened the door before shepherding Chrona inside.

"Nygus-sensei, are you here?"

"One moment." A woman with dark skin and braided hair, the same woman who had given Chrona her schedule the day before, walked from the back room. "Yes, what can I do for you and your friend, Maka?"

"Chrona accidently cut herself," Maka informed the nurse. "She needs it bandaged."

Nygus nodded. "Sit down at the table. Where's the injury?"

"M-My arm. . ."

"Alright. Sit while I get supplies." Chrona sat down hesitantly while Maka stayed standing. Nygus came back with some disinfectant wash, gauze, and medical tape.

"Roll up your sleeve."

"B-But—"

"Roll up your sleeve." Chrona's grey eyes darted around before she hesitant pulled her sleeve up to reveal the lacerations. If Nygus was surprised by the extent of the damage, she kept quiet. Maka, however, had no such restraint.

"Ohmigosh, Chrona!" the blonde gasped. "Some of those are really deep! You should have told Stein-hakase!" The pink-haired teenager mumbled something.

"This was accidental, you say?" Nygus looked skeptical. Chrona nodded, and she raised a dark eyebrow. "Really." The nurse swapped the swatch of crisscrossing cuts with antiseptic. While Chrona was still reeling from the stinging sensation, taped gauze onto the slashes and wrapped it with cloth bandages.

"You should clean and bandage cuts and other wounds immediately after obtaining them," the dark-skinned woman told her sternly. "It prevents infection. Now, the two of you go eat lunch. Have a good day."

Chrona tugged her sleeve over her arm and muttered, "Thank you," before Maka dragged her from the room.

When Chrona and Marie returned home that day, they found Stein sitting at the kitchen counter.

"Franken, you're home early!" Marie exclaimed. Chrona slunk to her room while Marie kissed her husband. After the couple parted, Marie lowered her voice and said, "Franken, Mira told me at lunch that Chrona—"

"—has cut herself, I know." The doctor finished her sentence for her. "Nygus called me at work."

"Is that why you're home early?"

Stein shook his head. "No, Kami is still convinced I work myself too hard. When I finished my work, she made me go home."

Marie laughed. "That sounds like Kami . . . but what are we going to do about Chrona?"

"I . . . don't know."

"Do you want me to talk to her?" his wife asked. Stein nodded and Marie smiled. "Alright then. I'll start dinner afterwards." Stein nodded again, and Marie gave him a swift kiss before heading down the main hallway.

She knocked on the door to Chrona's room, calling, "Chrona, can I come in?"

There was silence, then, "Y-Yeah . . ."

Marie pushed the door open to find the pink-haired teenager sitting on the bed. She was hugging a pillow tightly and had her knees drawn up to her chest. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

Chrona nodded slightly. "I'm fine."

Marie entered the room and closed the door behind her before sitting on the bed next to her. "Sweetheart, Nygus-sensei told me something today."

Chrona froze. "Uh . . . Uh h-huh . . ." She did her best to make her voice not shake.

"Do you know what she told me?"

"N-No . . ."

"She said you came to the Dispensary with Maka . . . with self-inflicted injuries. Is that true?"

The teenager shook her head. "N-No! I just f-fell, and cut my a-arm!"

Marie reached over and brushed Chrona's cheek gently with her hand. "Don't lie, Chrona. You are much too beautiful to lie. Franken and I already know about what you do to your body."

The girl flinched slightly at Marie's chest and hung her head. When she spoke, it could barely be heard. "I'm sorry."

Marie was silent then asked, "Can I ask you why you cut yourself?"

"I . . . I don't know how to deal with anything," Chrona whispered. "It's so different and I'm scared and I don't know how to deal with anything and—and—" Her words stopped abruptly as emotions took over and tears started to fall.

The blonde-haired teacher took the teenager into her arms and comforted her like she had Chrona's first day with them. "Shh, shh, shh. It's all right, sweetie, it's all right . . . It's fine . . . shhh. . ." She rubbed Chrona's back comfortingly.

"It's gonna be alright," Marie continued. "Franken and I are here, and so are Maka, and her friends . . . your new friends. I know it's probably way different here in Death City than in Los Angelos, but that's no reason for you to hurt yourself. We all want the best for you. We want you to be happy . . .

"So if you feel that you need to cut, talk to us. It'll make you feel better. I promise."

Chrona nodded from where she had her face buried in Marie's shoulder. "O-O-O-O-k-k-kay."

"You can always come talk to me," Marie said, continuing to rub the teenager's back as she calmed down. "Even during class. If you need to talk, just drop by. I'll make time. Alright?" Chrona nodded.

Marie pushed Chrona back and brushed one of the teenager's choppy bangs behind her ear. "You're a beautiful girl, Chrona. Beautiful people don't lie.

Chrona blushed. "I'm not beautiful at all," she muttered. "I'm definitely not as pretty as you, Miss Marie."

The golden-haired woman's exposed eye softened and she smiled. "You're a sweet girl."

"T-Thank you." Chrona fiddled anxiously with her sleeve.

"Can I see?" Marie asked, gesturing at Chrona's arm. The teenager pulled up her sleeve.

"Nygus-sensei covered it," she muttered, undoing the wrapping. When the bandages fell off the gauze removed, angry red cuts stood out against Chrona's pale skin. Marie made a 'tsk'ing noise.

"Oh, Chrona. . ." Marie pressed her lips to the teenager's forehead, causing her to squirm. "Do they hurt?"

"Only when touched."

"Poor thing." Marie gave her a sympathetic look. "Go get Franken to wrap it up again with clean bandages, alright?"

Chrona nodded. "Okay." Marie smiled and stood, brushing off her skirt as she did so.

"C'mon, sweetheart. He's in the kitchen." Once again, the teenager nodded as she followed Marie from the room.

Once in the kitchen, Chrona shuffled over to her father, who was typing something up on his laptop. "Um . . . Stein-hakase?"

The doctor looked up form his computer. "Yes, Chrona?"

"M-My . . . My arm . . . um . . . could you bandage it?"

Stein looked slightly surprised, but hid it quickly. "I can." He stood and retrieved the first aid kit from the cupboard. "Sit down, Chrona."

His daughter sat, and Stein pulled bandages from the kit. He sat as well and slid his daughter's sleeve up her arm. He rummaged in the box for a minute before pulling out a bottle of disinfectant. He swabbed her arm before wrapping the bandages around it.

He taped the cloth in place and with a sense of finality said, "There you are."

"Th-Thank you," Chrona mumbled, pulling her sleeve over her new bandages.

"You're welcome." Stein put the kit away and returned to his laptop; he had work to do. His daughter watched his work for several minutes before slinking back to her room to do homework.