Soul jolted upright when he realized he had been nodding off at the computer. They had been at the library for almost two hours and he was already bored. Maka wouldn't let him take any naps until the bulk of their research was done. Instead he was at a computer looking up maps of the area for them to save and print.

Maka walked over with her arms full. She had a laptop, a clear plastic bag with several memory sticks, a small pile of books, and assorted stationary. "Okay Soul, I'm going to need you to reach into my pocket, there is a key and a print card. Follow me to unlock the study room for me. Then you can use the print card to print us some maps."

"Uh. Which pocket?" he said standing up.

"Front right…other right."

"This would be easier if your pants weren't so damn tight," he replied wiggling his fingers into her pockets to fish out the key and card.

She temporarily looked a little hurt before she abruptly turned on her heels to lead him to their study room. "Want me to help you carry anything?" He asked rushing to fall into step behind her.

"Nope. Just get the door," she replied as they came upon a door with a plaque numbered 112. He looked through the small window in the door as he jiggled the lock open.

"After you," he said as he pulled the door open for her.

"Thanks, no shoo. Go print," she said sounding pretty annoyed with him.

"Yeah, yeah," he was about to leave when a thought crossed his mind. "You know, I didn't mean anything by the pants comment right?" He said aloud, unsure if that's what had annoyed her so much.

"Yeah…it's just I thought these jeans looked good. That is…until you said something anyways. And with wearing a sweater zipped to my chin to hide all the bruises, I just feel extra un-pretty." It was hard for her to make such an admission, she didn't like appearing weak or self-conscious.

She narrowed her eyes as Soul pointedly looked her up and down. He stopped when his eyes met hers. "They do look good," he said with a straight face before abruptly turning away to go print.

Maka hoped he turned away fast enough to miss the blush as it crept into her cheeks. He allowed himself a small smile as he walked away, having in fact seen her face start to redden. Soul liked that he had that effect on her, however he was not pleased that she was made to feel self-conscious in the first place.

In the short time it took him to print the maps she had requested, Maka had spread out all the things she had gathered on the table in their sparsely decorated study room.

"How did you move in so fast?" He said staring at Maka's spread of reading material.

"Me, plus a library, equals happy. This is my house Soul," she said spreading her arms.

Soul bit down the urge to laugh, "Nerd."

"I embrace my nerdiness. Now sit down and embrace yours. I've got a surprise for you when we're done with our research," she said pointing at a chair as she shoved a spiral notebook and a stack of textbooks at him.

"Those are history books, updated four years ago. Start from 2014, two years before we…left."

"You want me to take notes professor?" He said raising his eyebrows at her as he picked up the first book.

"Yes please. And anymore disruptions to the class and you get detention."

Part of him wanted to keep teasing her but she had already ducked behind the laptop and was typing away furiously. He figured interrupting for one last punch line was not worth a textbook shaped dent in his skull.

After what felt like the entire morning Maka interrupted Soul's nap. "Wake up useless," she said as she kicked his chair.

"Oi."

"Ughh. I'm not useless…bully."

"Okay, so you first, what did you find out?" She looked at him expectantly.

"Well…This Doctor Stein fellow we saw on TV, he used to be Head of the Department of Scientific Exploration and Discovery for the last democratically elected government of the North Americas. He committed some ridiculous experiment that nearly caused world war three. It was some chemical-biological test thing that got him into trouble. But basically when he was demonstrating some of his recent finding at a summit meeting, between the governments of the United States, Canada, and Greenland, something went wrong. They were meeting to discuss environmental issues and also planning to form the coalition government that would unite North America against…well, everyone else. Whatever Doctor Stein was doing accidentally detonated, and all those potential leaders disappeared. Then some young intern in the Department of National Security rose through the ranks and immediately took over. She was working pretty closely associated with the head of the department so she was there at the summit meeting, and yet somehow she wasn't hit by whatever happened. She took the lead, got the situation under control, and for some reason, somehow she ended up being the only governing body for all of North America. The doctor disappeared, and yeah. Here we are the United Republic for a Utopian North America."

Maka stared back at him, her eyes wide, and her lips in a tight line.

"What?" Soul asked.

"I'm surprised that one, you put that together so coherently even though you mostly napped, and two, how are you not more freaked out?"

"I don't know…it doesn't really seem like the world is that different?"

"She's a dictator…you know that right?"

"I do now…"

"The creepy alley man, he said she has a bounty out for people like us," Maka said quietly.

"Oh," said Soul lamely.

"Yeah. Anyways. This Doctor Stein guy has a different story but it's really hard to find any information on his life since the disaster. He only really turns up in old newspapers. He started off as being this amazing environmental scientist. And then the disaster, the one for which he has taken all the blame. After that he's just painted out to be a quack. He's reported to still be in hiding. I don't know how he still looks so young in that video clip we saw on the news the other day but, apparently he's still alive and hiding somewhere. After skimming the audio from all his leaked videos I know that essentially he wants time travellers, like ourselves, to find a way to prove that we are from fifty years back, and also that we somehow are connected to someone else that we landed in this time with.

Then we find a city center, like this one, so we can find the nearest of his safe houses. In his published papers he left some clues on how to find these places."

"How the actual hell are we going to do that!?" Soul said, clearly upset.

"Lucky for you, you're allied with a nerd," she smiled at him.

"You've already figured it out haven't you?"

"I just may have."

"Well spill it then," he said sounding increasingly agitated.

"Not here you weenie. When we get back to the hotel," she said, starting to stack books into neat piles.

"Well hold up, what's my surprise then?"

"Oh right! Oka, why don't you take these books back to the desk, then I'll be all set up."

He stood up and stretched before picking up the assorted library materials. Maka remained seated in front of the laptop clicking away. He left the room and headed to the front desk. He pushed the pile across the desk to a very perky blonde librarian as she very deliberately up and down. He felt the heat rise to his cheeks as she finally addressed him directly, "Interesting reading choices. Are you here with the pretty blonde girl with the big, green eyes then?"

"Yes…why?" he asked slowly. He felt immediately on edge from the librarian's questions and attentiveness.

"Just checking. She was the one that asked for my help to find all this stuff."

"Oh right, yeah," he said gruffly. He was about to walk away when the librarian grabbed his hand.

"You may find this helpful. By the way, my name is Marie," she said all of it very quickly and quietly as he felt her press a small card into his palm.

Soul was temporarily stunned before he managed to clear his throat and respond, "Uhm. Thank you."

She immediately dropped his hand, gave him a small smile, and went to minding the piles of books and things on her desk. Soul rushed back to the study room to tell Maka what had happened. He found her still seated in front of the laptop but now she had a pair of earbuds on the table next to her.

"Maka, did you say much to the librarian about what we're here for?"

"Well I didn't tell her what we needed anything for, but I did need her helping in finding a lot of this stuff. That and the thumb drives with archived newspapers are kept behind the desk."

Soul nodded thoughtfully, "She gave me this. And it was kind of weird." He dropped the little business card onto the table. They both looked at it for a moment.

"Oh. This is great. I only had some hunches before but this, if this means what I think it does then I know where we should go next."

"Ohhh…kaayy," Soul said slowly. He kept looking at the card wondering how the hell she knew what to do based on the little business card. It was a business card for The Gallow's Pub, the place they had dinner at the night before. The front featured a scroll with the bar's name and a little cartoon of a hanged man holding a full mug of beer. In the corner was a little information that he read aloud, "Tom Lurney, Owner, Manager." He didn't bother reading the phone number or address aloud to Maka.

"Shh. We'll talk later. And maybe visit the librarian on the way out. So now, your surprise! Ta da!" She gestured at the computer and ear buds.

He cocked an eyebrow at her as he stuffed the business card into his pocket.

"This," she gestured at the at the computer screen, "Is an online music database. You can search and listen to any song ever that been recorded."

"Any song?"

"Yup, so show me what you got Evans."

He sat at the chair next to her and pulled the laptop towards himself. He searched his mind hard, trying to pull a name or lyric out of the dark well of his hidden memories. He heard some tunes and melodies, and after a moment of Maka impatiently tapping her foot a name came to his mind. He typed it into the search bar."

After a moment the screen lit up with dozens of songs organized by album. He clicked the first one that really jumped at him.

"Here we go," he said excitedly putting an earbud in and handing one to Maka. They had to lean towards each other to keep the earbuds from yanking out of their ears. A deep, dark guitar riff buzzed through the earbud and Soul found that he felt almost euphoric. The loud fast-paced vocals started and Soul found himself mouthing along, not missing a single word.

Maka looked at her friend in wonder as she watched him close his eyes and mouth every single word to the song. She smiled as he started to nod his head along to the beat and play an imaginary set of drums. When the song was over he came out of his trance. He looked over at her and when he saw she was watching he blushed.

"What?" He said.

"You're a little rock star huh?" She kept grinning as frowned at her.

"I didn't think you were watching me…weirdo," he looked away from her feeling warm in the face.

She nudged him a little, "Hey bub, it's cool. I liked the song, and I am really glad you're enjoying yourself."

He turned back to her. "Fine fine. I appreciate you bothered to do this, so thanks," he mumbled.

She nodded, "So more music or what?"

He flashed her a grin before returning to the computer, "Oh I know. You'll like this one even better." He picked one that was equally angsty as the first, but much less aggressive. The track also had a female guest vocalist that complimented the lead singers deeper, darker vibes.

He looked over at Maka as the track started up and she smiled at him. He turned back to the computer and his mind relaxed as he enjoyed the music, but once the chorus hit something exploded in his mind.

He found himself looking on what he found to be a familiar scene. It was what he recognized to be his old bedroom, the song from the library study room still playing around him but coming from a little stereo on his bedside table. His eyes landed, and settled on the grim vision in front of him. He saw his himself, from the past, curled on his side on the bed. He didn't have much time to take in the posters on the walls because he was drawn to watching what his old self was doing.

He watched as past Soul sat up and opened a drawer in the bedside table. He pulled out a letter and a small black pocketknife. He carefully placed the letter on the table and heaved a heavy sigh.

Future Soul watched with increasing horror as past Soul opened the knife and dragged it heavily across first one wrist, then the other. Past Soul grimaced then sighed a deep relieved sigh, a sigh as deep as his cuts. Upon closer inspection Soul recalled that these were the deepest cuts he'd ever made. He realized he was watching his own deliberate suicide. Realization made way for recollection and Soul remembered his final moments as he watched them play out for the second time. Unsure of what to do in the meantime Soul just watched himself sink into the bed, both Souls watched as the blood surged forward and soaked into the mattress. Tears drenched the pillow and Soul just waited as the clock on the wall ticked on loudly and the mattress grew increasingly redder, while Soul got paler and limper. As his old self's breathing slowed, he grew morbidly curious and approached the bed. It was as strange as it was entrancing to watch himself slowly, yet peacefully die. As the final breaths were shuddering out of him Soul stared, he was so enthralled by being very much alive, while watching his own final breaths. When the clock stopped ticking and the music stopped suddenly he almost didn't notice. After a few seconds of deafening silence Soul noticed that everything had stopped, he didn't have time for much else because there was a sudden pop as the air in the room expanded violently. Soul instinctively covered his face as the glass shattered out of his window and any loose objects on the dresser and bedside table were thrown across the room. When he opened his eyes the first thing he saw was that past Soul was gone. He looked around the room and the more he saw the more it looked like a scene from a horror film. From the shattered glass, to the things strewn across the room, and finally to the blood drenched, empty bed, it was all terrifying.

The sound of footsteps quietly approaching pulled Soul from the gruesome sights before him.

"Soul?" his brother called softly through the door. He knew this had all long since passed but it felt quite nice to hear Wes' voice again. With the jiggling of the doorknob Soul was reminded of what his brother would see if he walked into his old room right now.

"Oh no."

"Soul, I know you tell me over and over not to barge into your room but I heard some loud noises up here and I wanna make sure you're okay."

"Soul?" More doorknob jiggling.

Soul could feel his dread increasing with every passing second.

"That's it, I'm coming in," Wes said, concern coloring his voice.

"Fuck," Soul whispered, as Wes picked the lock and shouldered the door open. He waited and watched as Wes' eyes moved across the room to settle on the blood drenched bed.

Wes' mouth gaped open in horror but no sounds came out as he ran over to the bed. He clutched the soaked sheets and started sobbing. "Soul?"

"I'm okay Wes I promise," Soul said as he felt the tears well up in his eyes. He knew calling out to him was futile, but he couldn't help it. Just standing there watching the scene unfold, tore strips off of Soul's heart. The weight of what he had inflicted on his brother in a previous lifetime threatened to crush him as he dropped to his knees and cried with his whole body. Why couldn't he leave this awful nightmare? Why was he forced to watch all of this happen, if it were a memory he should've left with his body a while ago.

As he watched Wes shake and sob, he grieved for his sad past, his old self's pain, and for what he had consequently done to his brother. As he sat there sobbing he thought he heard someone other than Wes calling his name. He held his breath trying to be as silent as possible to listen for his name. Just as he thought he had imagined it he heard it again. It sounded like Maka.

When Soul collapsed Maka wasn't sure what to do. She realized this must be Soul experiencing an intense memory, just like she had the night before. She rushed to lock the door then hit the light on their study room, hoping no one would look through the window, and even if they did, they'd just see the light from the laptop. She then carefully lowered Soul's shivering body to the floor so he wouldn't fall out of his chair. She sat on the floor with Soul and cradled his lanky form as best she could.

"Soul, come back," she said quietly. He felt clammy and his soft white hair was sticking to his forehead. She pushed it out of his eyes. She watched anxiously as his jaw clenched and unclenched. He looked more pale than usual, even to the point of being sickly in the bluish light of the computer.

If this is what Soul dealt with every time she got hit by the memory train, then she wanted to thank him for staying with her. It was scary, and stressful, and she didn't like it. The connection she normally felt with him seemed tangled while he was out like this. Maka recalled being able to hear Soul's voice in her memories when he called to her to come back so she tried to do the same. She repeated his name quietly as she rocked herself a little. When it felt like a long time had passed she began to sound a bit more frantic. It took a lot for her to stay quiet. His cheeks were wet with tears and it made her really worry. She couldn't see the clock in the dark room but it felt like it had been almost fifteen minutes. "Soul," she said urgently as she could in a whisper. She felt like she was about to really lose it when he started to move.

"Soul?"

"Ughh," he opened his eyes and pressed a hand to his forehead. That was the first time he personally experienced what he had seen Maka go through before. He looked up into her face, much like he had when he woke up the first time a few days ago in the desert. He felt the sobs welling up in his chest, but he did his best to stop them, he didn't want to worry Maka anymore, or for her to see him crying. "Thanks Maka. I didn't know how I was going to get back. I really, did not want to stay there," he choked out as new tears threatened to streak his face. His head was throbbing and his heart hurt. He felt sore and tired, and the memory of the last time he cut himself burned his wrists.

"I was really scared you weren't going to come back…but I am really glad you did," Maka replied quietly.

"I wouldn't ditch you here anyways. It's a library, you might never leave," he joked.

She gave him a small smile, "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah…but can we go back to the hotel?" He asked in a small voice. He moved to sit up a little. "I don't know how you function after these things, I feel like shit."

"Mhmm," she replied, still holding on to him. She was still feeling a little shakey and didn't want to let yet. Standing up without falling over did not feel like an option yet.

"Are you okay Maka?" He said as he tried to sit up again. That was when he noticed she was shivering a little.

She nodded, "Yeah, that just sucked. I don't really know how, but I could tell you were gone. Like…your body was here, but you were gone, for a while too."

"I guess I was in a sense. But you called me back. I heard you while I was in that memory."

"I was trying to call you back so that makes sense. Any time I've been in a memory I hear your voice. I think it's what brings me back. Is that the way it happened for you?"

"It does," he started. "I never really thought to ask you when you've gone. I just break down and panic," he smiled a bit and shrugged apologetically.

"I panicked too, so don't feel bad. It's all pretty fucked up…So what was the memory?"

"Uhm, I don't think you really wanna hear it. Interestingly though, I did see the moment time stopped for me. My last moments in the past…and then some actually. Maka, this wasn't just a memory. I saw some of what happened after I left, so they're more than just memories. They have to be."

"That must be why it feels like you're gone. Mentally you went back in time," she replied thoughtfully.

"I don't care for that," he said with a shudder.

"Soul," she looked at him intently. "I think I can handle it. Please tell me, we're in this pretty deep, and I would like to know about your past," she said carefully.

Soul sighed heavily before responding, " Please don't let it change how you think of me. I like how you see me now."

"You're ridiculous. First of all, I know you now, the way you are. And whatever happened is a part of who you are now. Whatever it was, baring kicking puppies or something, I'm sure we'll be fine."

"And?" he inquired.

"And what?"

"You said first of all, which implies a second of all, so what else?"

"Well, I don't know. We're partners now, in a sense. I rely on you and I don't think that will change," she shrugged.

Soul tried not to smile. He was pleased with her response, but given what he was about to admit, smiling would be an inappropriate response. But he was happy he could trust her.

"Well, I was trying to kill myself. I probably would have succeeded too, but that's when time stopped and my body just disappeared. I was there in my bed listening to music, same stuff I was playing for you actually, and I guess that day was just the last straw. I just laid in my bed, playing my favourite music, and I uhh, I slit my wrists. I watched as I bled out, and I think just as I was about to die time literally stopped. And then poof, my body disappeared from the bed."

He looked at Maka and she met his gaze with an even stare. "I'm glad you failed."

This time he allowed himself a small smile, "Me too."

She smiled back before continuing, "So what did you see that you don't think you should have?"

"Wes came to check on me. He found an empty, blood-soaked bed, and my room was messed up. No body though. He broke down… and it kind of broke me. I know on some level it's good I have a fresh start now, but after seeing that…I hurt him and I don't feel good about it."

"Don't beat yourself up. Whatever happened has happened for a reason. You're hear now, and we have no choice but to carry on. It was so long ago and maybe he was hurt and scared, but I'm sure to some degree he moved on."

"Think we could try to find him?" Soul asked tentatively.

"Of course. First let's find the Doctor's safe house, and then we'll figure out what we can do," she was surprised that he felt like he had to ask.

They sat there quietly for a moment. The way they were on the floor, Maka still cradling him, she could feel his hear beat. He cleared his throat in the silence and she became keenly aware that she was still holding onto him tightly in her lap. She dropped her arms. "Sorry," she said quietly.

He laughed and winked, "Don't be."

She rolled her eyes at him as he stood up, "Easy there Casanova."

He laughed again as he stretched and she flicked the light back on. "God damn woman, my eyes."

"Had to happen eventually," she moved to pack up the laptop. Out of the corner of her vision she saw Soul run his fingers across the puckered line on one of his wrists. She turned to him and gently pulled his arm forward towards her. She ran her fingers across the deepest, newest cuts, "Look, they're already healed shut, soon they'll start to fade."

"Amazing what fifty years can do," he gave an uncomfortable chuckle.

"Seriously. Although it is kind of weird they healed shut without stitches. Even though your body was suspended and forced through time."

"Like I said, fifty years –"

"Oh my gosh Soul, you know what I mean."

"I know I know, you're right about everything. I shouldn't dwell. It was at least fifty years ago, everyone else is either dead or over it. I'm pretty over it too. It just made me realize how much I miss Wes."

She punched him in the shoulder, "Big sap. We'll find out what happened to him."

"Ruthless Maka," he said rubbing the sore spot on his shoulder.

"You can take it," she said while scooping the remaining library supplies into her arms.

Soul opened the door for her and hit the light as they left. He followed Maka to the front desk where a different librarian was seated typing away at a computer.

"Excuse me," Maka said as she placed her armful carefully on the desk. "Is the blonde librarian still here?"

"Marie? No she left a few minutes ago. Do you want me to leave a message for her?" The woman behind the desk asked.

"Oh no that's okay thank you, we'll come back another time," she replied politely.

They walked out of the library together. As they fell into step together Maka linked her arm through his. Soul was okay with it, but a little surprised. He raised a thick white eyebrow at her questioningly when she looked up at him.

"It was a rough morning okay?"

It occurred to her that maybe she felt like she had to coddle him, or be extra nice because of what they had found out about his past. "I told you not to treat me differently because of my past," he said as he took his arm back. When he saw the hurt look on her face he immediately regretted his choice.

"It' not that you idiot. I've been through one of those memory trips before and it was crap. I felt sluggish afterwards both times. I just thought it might help a little, more balanced or something," she replied without looking at him.

"Oh. Okay, thanks," he hadn't expected her response and he could kick himself for accusing her of being anything but supportive. He offered her his arm to make up for being a dick. She glared at him but didn't accept.

"You're fine," she said sulkily.