Forgive me for taking so long :(
For Soul, the week should have looked like this:
Monday, Eibon at the cottage, dealing with more finicky details before heading off to visit Sheriff Free and get the low-down on how the investigation was moving.
Tuesday, work from home while spending the whole day chewing fingernails to the quick because a million and ten different things could go wrong when your girlfriend is trying to reason with the psycho who stabbed her way too many times.
Wednesday, meet with your boss that you've been avoiding for two consecutive weeks to discuss whether or not you even have a job to keep working on, Eibon or no.
Thursday, if you still have a job, meet with Eibon again for more probably needless fine-tuning. Otherwise, consider farming. Or maybe that deputy thing with Free could actually pay. Or, and this is a pipedream, maybe Maka will give that house-husband thing a shot.
Friday into Saturday, Spirit, because God is not merciful and you were stupid enough to offer him free rein to 'get to know you' like an idiot.
And while Maka apologized profusely, that wasn't really what mattered: Soul just really wanted no more surprises.
Black Star got out of the car first and was in no way surprised when the other doors didn't open. Soul had that forcefield of gloom up since Monday night and it was obvious Maka was trying to just keep it at bay, not exactly fix it. So, instead of shuffling his feet and waiting, Black Star started for the precinct, already feeling blessed to not be stuck in the middle of that car's energy anymore.
"Maka," Soul started but stopped, eyes just focused on her in the rearview.
"Soul…" Maka mimicked.
"I hate this idea." He let the words rush out of his mouth with a painful gust from his lungs.
"I know you do," she murmured back, "but I asked you to trust me."
"Which is why this is the only other thing I'm going to say before we go in there." Soul turned in the seat, the stare of his eyes no longer weakened by just being a reflection but digging into her. "I know whatever it is, this is going to be the right thing to do because that's all you seem to be able to do. So, let's go in there and kick his ass."
Maka laughed softly as she reached out a hand to pat his cheek. "You're ridiculous, you know that?"
He gave her a shrug for an answer before throwing open the door and sliding out into the frigid night air. His breath clouded and he pulled his jacket closer to him, trying to trap the last of the car warmth. Maka joined him, leaning in to give him one last kiss on his cheek that Soul stole instead with his lips, turning his head just at the right moment. "I love you."
She wanted to hold onto every last inch of that joy, use it as an armor to wrap around her to shield what she knew was coming. "I love you, too." Maka grabbed his hand, starting the walk to the door. There were already garbled voices inside, a buzz of different tones all going at once. They opened the door to find a full house, Black Star, Free, and Mifune standing at the holding cells that Giriko skulked in like a wild cat. "Hello, everyone," Maka chimed, instantly seeing Giriko's head snap to attention.
"Ah, Maka, nice to see you. I thought we could all start off in the conference room…" Free let a momentarily glance glide over Giriko before waving the group into a room kitty-corner to the cells.
As they entered the room, Soul couldn't stop himself from standing at the doorway, his eyes burning through the tall, thin glass partition in the door. The way Giriko was staring at Maka was already kick-starting the boiling in his blood and what little hold he had on his cool was waning. But I said what she was doing is right, so I'm going to trust it. Trust her.
Most refused to settle in chairs, taking different stances around the table. Maka stared at Soul's back for a moment, watching him watch the door before turning back to Free. "Is everything ready?"
"Well, obviously we already had cameras set up," Free shrugged. "And I checked with Azusa and we were able to put in audio. I still don't exactly know what you plan on getting him to say. He's stupid, but I'm not sure he's that stupid."
Maka smiled softly, "It makes me sound a little full of myself but I think he'll be stupid enough for me."
Soul grunted from the door, his hands making tight fists as he watched Giriko go back to pacing.
"Look, I don't think he was at Eibon's that day to follow me, I think it was totally unrelated but when he saw me, he had something to turn all his hatred to. We were ruining his boss, his life, and I was to blame for all of it." Maka glanced at Soul again, finding him unmoving except for his shoulders tightening. "And when I got away on Monday, it only increased his bloodlust, that's why he risked going back to Eibon's, getting my address, coming here. That was all a stupid plan, something that I don't think Arachne would have OKed, but if I get him angry enough, goad him enough, I think I can get him to say something about her. I don't think he'll just implicate her on his own, deal or no deal. He has to explode."
"We've got another problem," Black Star grumbled as he motioned towards Free. "This idiot sent Eibon to talk to Arachne." This had Soul turning on his heels, those sternly appraising eyes falling on Free.
"Hey, hey," Free threw up his hands innocently. "I did not order a civilian to try to discuss these goings-on with a suspect. I merely suggested that Eibon talking to Arachne or Mosquito-"
"You remember him, Soul, the guy that stabbed you?" Black Star interjected, nonchalantly waving a hand as Soul grunted in recognition.
"We should really get Maka started!" Free whisked Maka from the table side, avoiding the angry glances from the other two men and the usual look of ennui from his deputy. He leaned in close to her. "You sure you want to do this?"
"Yes," Maka said with all the surety that Free didn't possess. The two of them squeezed past Soul, Maka sending one last feather-light touch to his fingers before easing back into the main room. Maka threw a look over her shoulder, seeing Soul still half in the window in the door, his eyes steadily following the two of them across the room.
"Now, Ms. Albarn, just have a seat and I'll be with you in a few more minutes." Free pulled out the chair next to his desk. He leaned over his computer, checking the set-up. Cameras played back from all angles and the green microphone in the corner let him know that audio was rolling. "I promise you won't have to wait for long."
"Thank you, Sheriff Free." Maka smiled sweetly and Free did everything he could not to shake his head.
He liked this plan about as much as Soul, but at least there was nothing Giriko could do to physically hurt her, that is, as long as she had enough sense to stay away from those bars. And I seriously hope that isn't something I should have warned her about before setting her up out here. Free forced himself not to glance at Giriko, just making the bee-line back to the argument that he was about to get into with the boys.
Maka shifted in the seat, taking off her jacket and draping it over the back of the chair. She wasn't nervous as much as she was calculating. This needed to go right to save them, to get them out of this mess that regardless of all of Soul's hemming and hawing she still felt responsible for.
While she fidgeted, running through the script she'd created in her head, Giriko chuckled from his cell. "What are you even here for?"
"To make sure you don't hurt anyone ever again," Maka tried out an indignant tone and heard exactly what she wanted in return, a scoff from behind her.
"Not interested in anyone but hurting you, you little bitch," his voice was melodious but she could still hear the anger seething underneath.
Maka turned her body, her eyes starting to glisten. "Why me? I know you hate Soul-"
He cut her off with another amused laugh, "That little shit? You think I care about him? Medusa's fuckboy means nothing to me. It's you who had to get in my way. Get in Arachne's way."
"I was doing my job," Maka pleaded. She had to hide the pleasure at the way that brought more color to his neck, a vein started to throb.
"Yeah, spreading your legs to get what you want, taking it away from people who've earned it," he hissed.
She threw all she could into the indignancy, "I didn't-"
"That's what would have happened to you on Monday, you get that?" Giriko grabbed hard at the bars, rattling the sliding door on its hinges. "I was going to catch you, hold you down…"
Maka tried to let the words slip away but plastered a look of utter terror on her face. He feeds off of me being afraid, hurt, that's what he wants, that's what drives him and what makes him run his fucking mouth. He won't stop until I'm ruined, dead, but he doesn't understand that he's doing the same thing to himself in the process. She had to resist taking a look at Soul, knowing his eyes were on her from the window but knowing any lost contact from Giriko might slow the build. "I didn't do anything to you!"
Another pump of blood came to his neck and the muscles strained as he pressed his cheeks to the bars. "Oh, no, princess, you got it the other way around. I didn't do anything to you, and that's all the court's going to prove because Arachne's got all of this taken care of."
"What?" Maka pulled herself to her feet, taking a few calculated steps closer to the bars. He still couldn't reach her, but it put her in the range where maybe he thought he could, and she watched a little pleasure tick at one eye.
"Ask your little boyfriend," He sneered as he tossed his head in the direction of the conference room. "None of us ever go to jail. That's not how this world works, not when you're rich enough, connected enough. Your DA here thinks she's hot shit but Arachne's getting this transferred to the city, to a judge who knows what side he should be on."
He is this stupid, this hungry to scare me. Maka had to bite her lip almost to the point of bleeding to keep from laughing. He'd rather self-destruct than stop trying to hurt me. "She can't do that!" She took one more calculated step, adding to his satisfaction.
"Money's already moved hands, honey," he hissed. "So spill whatever guts you want to tonight but it's not changing anything. End of the week I'll be moved out of this stinking dog's cell. And by the end of the month, I'll have you tied up and fucked until you bleed."
Maka didn't have to feign the sinking feeling of fear because while this had probably been the right nail, the one that would get Arachne as much as it would Giriko, the threat that this was how the world worked, how Soul's old world had worked made her stomach quiver. While she hesitated, his arm shot out. She wasn't surprised by the sound of the door coming quickly on the heels of the movement but instead of one, it was a strange cacophony, not just from the conference room where her head first jerked but then continued behind her. As her head turned to find the second source, the first gunshot fired.
Free had been fruitlessly explaining his motivation for the Eibon and Arachne meet-up when that insufferable little blue-haired man held up a silencing hand.
"You expecting someone else?" Black Star had caught the incoming car out of the corner of his eye and turned his head to the window.
"Maybe Azusa," Free shrugged.
Black Star shook his head. "Man and a woman in the front seat. Maybe a head in the back."
Mifune was next to Black Star in a flash, taking a look outside and then back at free. "It's Eibon and an unidentified."
Soul wasn't tempted in the least to turn, his eyes deftly focused on Maka and her impeccable acting. Or at least I hope that is. Some of that fear looks real to me and I'm trying to tell myself it's just worry on my end but… If he couldn't give his eyes he would at least give his voice. "Black Star, you recognize the woman?"
"Give me a second." Black Star squinted out into the darkness, waiting for the car to hit under the lamp post and illuminate the passenger seat. As the car slid into the parking spot next closest to the front door, there wasn't a doubt in his mind. "Arachne."
"What about that head?" Soul was itching because that fear on Maka's face now was real. There was no way he was misreading it. He already had one hand on the doorknob, turning it.
Black Star watched the door on the driver's side open, a figure in a hat rising from the darkness. That hat wasn't a mistake, obviously obscuring what he wanted to know the most, the line of that face. "Get Maka."
"On it." Soul gave into the push, catapulting himself through the doorway.
Black Star's warning hadn't come soon enough, he knew that, especially as he saw the shit-eating grin as it slipped onto the man's face as he moved through the door. "Fuck." Black Star didn't hesitate and started the sprint for the door.
Free stopped to blink for a moment, absently thinking, Damn, that little guy can run, before having the gunshot sputter him to life. Mifune only had time to glance at him before the second shot rang out and Free motioned him after Black Star. Instead of following, Free rushed for the window and threw it open to the cold night air. It was a quick punch to the screen before he was struggling out, his broad shoulders not exactly made for this kind of extraction. He thudded to the frigid, frozen ground as he heard the third.
Shot number one left blood splattered across Maka's face. Soul could feel a modicum of relief that it wasn't hers, and a second small wave of joy at the fact that now Giriko would never get another putrid word out of his mouth but that was the end of any benevolence in that moment. The only thought left in his mind was that he was too late, that his legs weren't listening, not pulling out all the stops and sprinting him fast enough across the floor. Shot number two he had his arms around her, not concerned by the fact that he was going to fly tackle her into the ground without any temperance of his weight but by the fact that there was a second splatter on her and her eyes were now as big as saucers.
The two of them skidded into the carpet, Maka letting out a sharp cry as Soul's body drove hers into the ground. She was sure a few stitches had popped, the searing sting in her side threatening to grey out her vision but the fear had her all too aware. Soul attempted to press up off of her but failed, only able to roll to the side as the blood started to gush from somewhere between his shoulder and his neck. The trajectory had been strange, coming in from the back of his shoulder but had diagonally moved through his chest, coming out almost on the other side. He wasn't wheezing, a saving grace that must mean lungs and esophagus were intact but the pain was something entirely new.
Maka knew better than to make a sound but she had to bite until her tongue bled to keep anything from braying from her throat. His eyes were open, he was alive, but for the first time, she watched Soul floundering. Shot number three snapped both of them back to attention, even though it seemed that at least that one hadn't been meant for them.
"Nice to see you again, Soul," Mosquito announced to the room. "And Black Star, I missed that time but next shot is for you."
"Thanks for saving it for me," Black Star called from behind one of the desks. He also let out a little whistle, making him almost sound amused at the fun but really he was waiting for Soul's echo.
Soul took a shaking breath, letting out two sharp blasts in return. His hand shot out quickly, grabbing at Maka's wrist, trying to shake her attention from his chest to his eyes. Maka met them and Soul motioned at her then to two desks over. All she could do was shake her head but Soul took another slow breath before letting out a low whisper, "Count to ten and go."
She wanted to shake her head at him again but it was no use, Soul's eyes were already off her. He was trying to roll on his side, getting most of the way there but feeling the greying thoughts lap at the back of his brain. His hand stretched out to her, five fingers, the halfway mark. He whistled weakly again and Maka heard movement and knew she had to move, too.
Another gunshot, but Black Star had now turned the corner, finding himself right at the edge of the saturated carpet. There were a million curses he wanted to fling but he knew better, instead giving Soul a tight frown that spoke more than he could at the moment. He pulled Soul to his chest, letting his lips practically kiss the words to his ear. "Mifune's getting behind him and I don't think Mosquito knows he's there. Last shot was towards me. Don't know where Free is. Maka?" Soul flicked a finger two desks over and Black Star could see just the tips of Maka's feet peeking from the desk. "You're out, huh?"
Soul nodded.
"Fuck. Pressure in five."
Soul barely got his jacket to his mouth in time to bite on the sleeve, the leather taking the brunt of Black Star tamping Soul's shirt into the wound. Neither of them believed that would be enough but at the very least it could give Soul a few more minutes of consciousness, minutes they might need. Black Star was calculating, his hand pressed tightly to Soul's chest as he was plotting the next move, one that hopefully didn't involve his brother bleeding out in his arms when he heard the scuffle start.
Mifune had taken his opening, jumping for Mosquito as he took another step towards the L-shaped line of desks. Black Star felt the desk above them rattle and he instantly started dragging Soul back towards the conference room. "Maka, run!" He bellowed, seeing the feet immediately jump to action, blondie staying smart and moving low. There was no time to look to Mifune, to judge who was winning in the tug of war over Mosquito's gun, just to listen for another crack, knowing his time was either up or this was over. Soul was helping Black Star as best he could, flopping his feet rather than dragging them, his view turned to Maka as she made it to the door.
As the night air hit Maka in the face, so did Free, albeit not very purposefully. "Eibon, grab her. Keep her out here."
Maka was still ready to run but Eibon's soft hands descended on her shoulders and he shrunk to get close to her. "It's alright, Ms. Albarn."
"Soul," she let the whisper barely break her lips as she turned her head back to the door, watching Free walk in without a care in the world.
Because while he was a lawman, Free wasn't above playing dirty. He hadn't been able to swerve from knocking into Maka because he was too busy dragging his own quarry: a frantic Arachne in his arms. For the sake of the cameras, he had plugged the muzzle of his gun against her spine, at least buying himself some plausible deniability if it came to court that he had actually tried out a standoff. Though, to be honest, Free was starting not to actually care if he had his badge at the end of the day, just as long as all these idiot kids got out alright.
Mosquito had finally kicked Mifune off, sending him almost to Free's feet as he entered. He had aimed the gun but faltered, especially as his eyes lifted to Arachne's. "Let go of her," he hissed.
"Let go of him," Free offered back, head nodding towards his deputy. "And wherever the kids are, they go free, too."
"One of the kids is probably dead by now," Mosquito smirked. "Something I've owed him for a while."
Free didn't let it distract him. "Are you going to stop pointing your gun at my deputy or am I going to have to give you some encouragement?" Before even getting a blink for an answer, Free jabbed his gun into Arachne's back as he let her shriek slip through his fingers.
"I'll shoot him," Mosquito answered frankly, eyes suddenly cooling.
"And I'll shoot her. Or, better yet…" Free quickly slipped his hand from Arachne's mouth, letting it come back to push at her shoulder as he cut her legs out from underneath her. It was unfortunate for Mifune he was about to get a rather large bosomed woman to the face, that bastard, but at least it would keep him from getting shot. While Mosquito hesitated - because heaven-forbid you shoot your beloved boss - Free took his shot and then one, sending both into Mosquito's chest right next to his shooting arm. The gun crippled from his hand as Mifune went about the unfair job of wrangling Arachne.
Free dug under the two of them, stealing Mifune's cuffs from his belt before jumping on top of Mosquito, making sure to kick the gun out of the way as he made Mosquito immobile. "Soul?" Free shouted out. "Star?"
"Got him," Black Star grunted as he got to his feet, Soul thrown over his shoulder. "Hospital, now." He wasn't waiting for any agreement, just marching for the door as Soul flopped around. As he broke out into the cold, he caught Maka, pulling her from Eibon. "Come on, blondie, you're driving." Without anymore prompting than that, Maka was digging in Black Star's pocket for the keys.