Maka found herself alone in the showers. Which was nice, she didn't want anyone to see just how exhausted she was from Blackstar's training. She took pride in being the best, acing tests, winning games, excelling physically and academically. And training under Blackstar was no exception, his cocky attitude also made her want to crush any doubts he may have had about her abilities. She turned the water to be fairly hot so as to encourage her muscles not to be too tense or sore from the training. She flexed and relaxed various muscles and watched the water roll off her small, but mighty muscles. She knew she was strong, but she was never able to overcome her demons, all she had ever done was run from them. Successfully for the most part, minus the bittersweet end.

Why did she never fight Tyler back? Come to think of it why did she never fight off her back alley attacker? Soul ran to her rescue, and thankfully so, but what kept her from fighting back? Full out brawling with her fiancée wasn't ideal either, but why did she always just take the beatings? Questions for a psychologist no doubt. Maybe she could ask Dr. Stein? They really should learn more about that mad man, she'd have to tell Soul that. She continued to muse to herself as she lathered up the sweet smelling soap on her body.

She crossed the hall wrapped up in a fluffy towel, steam still rising off of her skin and knocked on her shared bedroom door. "Soul?" There was no answer, but she didn't want to stand mostly nude in the hallway for much longer. "Well, you better be decent I'm coming in," she called as she shouldered open the door. "Oh!" She exclaimed, Soul was still spread out on the floor, eyes closed. For a moment she was concerned, then the silence was interrupted by one small snore. She giggled and quietly shut the door behind her trying not to wake him up, or drop her toiletries, or her towel. Thankfully he was still sound asleep and was not privy to her struggles with entering the room. She unloaded her caddy onto the counter by the vanity and went to the dresser to pick out some clothes. She figured something comfortable would still be ideal, since they still had a game of basketball to play later that evening. She pulled the room divider from against the wall to get dressed behind. She was annoyed that she hadn't noticed it the last time she wanted to get dressed while Soul was napping, but she was grateful to find it now. After getting dressed she checked the time on their digital clock, it was almost dinner and Soul had yet to wash up. She squatted on the floor next to his head and gently shook his shoulder. "Sooouuulllll, nap time is over." His eyes blinked open.

"Maka? How did you get ready so fast? Your showers normally seem to take forever."

"Jeeze, awake for three seconds and you're already judging! Besides, I've got poise I've got grace et cetera is how I am ready so fast."

"More like she makes noise, she's disgrace!" He said laughing as he stood up and stretched.

"Excuse me?" Maka said haughtily.

"Your shirt is inside out Miss Universe," he replied, still chuckling.

She felt the heat of her blush rise to her cheeks. She took a few calming breaths so as to not get angry and yell at Soul for something that really wasn't a big deal…

"Yeah yeah, just go hit the showers so I can fix my shirt chuckles," she said cavalierly trying to overcome her embarrassment.

She saw him bite back a smile as he gathered his shower things. "I'll be back in five, so don't procrastinate fixing your shirt, nerd." And then the door snapped shut behind him.

Maka couldn't find it in herself to be offended at his silly nickname for her anymore. She was actually starting to like it. She quickly flipped her shirt and waited for Soul to finish so they could head over to dinner together.

Soul did his best to wash up quickly so that he wouldn't hold Maka up from dinner. They had made it on time and enjoyed twice-baked potatoes and Cesar salad for dinner. He found himself actually enjoying the dinner conversation too. Now that he had gotten the rhythm of the group's dynamic he found he could chime in and have fun with his new found (albeit forced) friends. With the wrapping up of dinner and chores came the fun. Almost immediately Blackstar began yelling about the crushing defeat anyone on the opposing team would face, his godlike stature, etc. etc. Blackstar led them all through some hallways leading away from the large central room to a large gymnasium with perfectly polished floors. At each end were tall basketball hoops and the floors were marked in the various lines typical of a court used for multiple sports.

"Whoa, all this underground?" Maka said from behind him. No kidding, he thought.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg you know," Liz said, not looking up from the examining of her fingernails. "This is just the top of what is very much like an anthill."

"Alright dweebs, I'm team captain for team number one, obviously the team that will win. Who want's to be team captain number two, obviously the team that will lose."

He looked over to see Blackstar spinning a basketball between his palms.

"I'll be team captain," Maka said with a smirk.

"Jeeze Maka, I know you're an over achiever with book stuff, but you're competitive too? You're smarter than being baited by this mouthpiece aren't you?" Soul said, wondering why Maka was pitting herself against the loudest human he had ever met…ever.

She looked over at him with a fierce glint in her eyes. "If you don't get on this level, I won't pick you for my team pal."

He rolled his eyes in response and just waited for the teams to be formed.

"Rock, paper, scissors for who picks first," Maka said as she held out a palm.

"One…two…three!" Blackstar shouted slamming a fist into his palm to indicate he had chosen rock.

"Sucker! I knew you'd pick the most aggressive one so I picked paper! The most useful one."

"Competitive Maka is a pain in the ass…"Soul grumbled.

"Maaa-kaaa CHOP."

And suddenly he was trying to dislodge a textbook from the back of his head. Maka loomed over him and pried it from his hands. "Watch yourself. You just got yourself out of being picked first by me, now you might end up on his team. Good luck."

And somehow the book was nowhere to be seen.

He was rubbing the sore spot on his skull and picking himself back up again. "Did ANYONE happen to see where she stashes that damn book," he asked while looking around at the group.

Everyone shook their heads while barely suppressing their smiles. Except Blackstar, who was openly mocking him for getting beat up by a girl.

"Alright enough messing around, I choose…Kidd, you're on my team!"

"Alright I want Tsubaki!" Countered Blackstar.

"Liz!"

"Oh no honey, I just did my nails, I'll sit this game out. I'll ref," Liz responded.

"Fine…I guess I will take Soul," Maka said grumpily.

"Patti, that means you're with us," Blackstar said.

So the teams consisted of Maka, Kidd, and Soul playing against Blackstar, Tsubaki, and Patti.

"Maka, your team can be skins, you're too flat for it to matter if you're topless," Blackstar said snickering.

It was almost like Soul could smell a storm brewing, some violent natural disaster, like a tornado, except it was Maka.

"Maka…you okay?" Soul asked tentatively. She was practically vibrating.

"I will be, when we kick his loud, obnoxious, stupid face in…ALRIGHT LET'S PLAY SOME BASKETBALL!"

And so the game began. Maka and Kidd made an amazing team and made some quick work out of several baskets right away. They responded to each other silently and seamlessly on the court. Seeing it gave Soul both a sense of wonder and a knot in his throat that made it hard to swallow. Jealousy or anxiety he could not tell, but they were interesting to watch. Unfortunately for Maka, Tsubaki and Blackstar made an equally smooth team. For every basket Maka or Kidd scored, Blackstar and Tsubaki would closely follow with one of their own. Patti was only a slight hindrance, blocking the wrong person on occasion, she even shot on the wrong basket at least twice! Soul realized he could be the deciding factor in who won the game. He was capable enough that he could probably be an asset to the team, but he was nervous to get in the way of the rhythm that Kidd and Maka had created for themselves…

"Get your head in the game Evans!" Maka said as she wailed the ball at him from across the court. His mind had just been made up for him.

By the second half of the game he was sweating and had exerted much more energy than he was typically willing to put forth. His apathetic approach to life was fading in the presence of Maka just a little more everyday.

If he thought Maka and Kidd were a force to be reckoned with, than he imagined seeing the three of them working together was even more intimidating. This was obvious, as the scowl on Blackstar's face grew deeper and deeper. About an hour and a half after they started, things took a turn for the violent, and fouls were being called rather frequently. However, Liz was rarely actually paying attention so when any player felt as though they had been fouled against they would just yell in futile frustration in Liz's direction and she would wave a dismissive hand while not looking up from her magazine.

It got to the point where Blackstar clotheslined Maka and she flew backwards from the net landing firmly on her hindquarters.

"Alright alright, we're done here," Soul said stepping in before Maka could permanently lodge her secret book into Blackstar's brain.

"Says who?!" Blackstar crowed. "We can still crush you guys, we are only six points behind you can't just end the game before we win."

"No, we're done here Blackstar," Kidd said already lowering himself onto a bench around the side of the gym.

"It is probably a good idea to stop before someone dies," Tsubaki said with a smile.

"Fine," Blackstar grumbled. "But I'll get you next time pigtails."

Maka had a triumphant smile plastered to her face, "We'll see loser."

They all collapsed into assorted places around the gym trying to recover a little from the intense (yet supposedly friendly) game as Marie came around with a tray covered in glasses and a pitcher of water.

After a few weak thank yous Marie left and they all started to regain some of their energy.

"Let's wash up and watch a movie?" Liz suggested.

Everyone agreed and started to pick themselves up from their point of collapse and filed out of the gym, down the hall, and towards the bedrooms.

"And before anyone even starts this fight, let's agree to let Maka pick the movie since her team won," Tsubaki said with as much sternness as she could muster.

"Awwww, but she's a nerd, she will just pick a documentary or something boring," Blackstar whined.

"And you'd just pick an action flick, and Patti would just pick a movie with talking animals, and Liz would just pick a chick flick et cetera et cetera," Kidd said. "We all have preferences, that's why we are taking turns, so quit your whining, you sore loser."

Soul suppressed the bark of laughter threatening to escape as he noted the enraged expression on Blackstar's face.

As they reached the dorm hallway they all peeled off to their separate rooms to grab their belongings before hitting the showers. A short time later they were all seated around the large plush couch waiting for Maka to decide on a movie.

Maka was obviously trying to pick a movie that everyone could enjoy but that proved to be impossible as choice after choice was shut down.

"Don't worry about what anyone else wants Maks, just pick a damn movie."

She threw him a glare before continuing to peruse the extensive movie collection.

"Aha!" she yelled happily pulling a case from the shelf. "Everyone likes Harry Potter, and anyone who doesn't should just keep their mouths shut so they don't lose my respect."

"You would be into Harry Potter," Soul said snickering as she settled onto the couch next to him.

"Are you not?" Maka said looking at him with genuine concern. He briefly recalled a similar conversation they had during one of their long nights chatting in the cemetery so long ago.

"I didn't say that! It just figures that you would be," he said, still laughing a little.

"Just hush you," she said with a pout.

Surprisingly everyone did like Harry Potter as a choice, or they took Maka's threat to heart, either way, it meant that everyone watched the movie peacefully. Well… for the most part anyways, Liz still had to turn away from the final scenes when Voldemort made his appearance. Apparently even those proved to be too much for her.

Soul almost didn't want the movie to end he felt so at peace surrounded by his new friends with Maka leaning into his side, eyes glued to the screen. As the credits were rolling everyone got up and started milling to their rooms among groggy calls of goodnight to one another. Soon it was just him and Maka left to shut things down in the lounge. Maka stood up and stretched as he turned off the television.

"Sooooouuuuul, I'm so tired carry me home!" She collapsed back into the couch.

"You mean literally across the hall?"

"Yes," she pouted.

"You're that tired?" he said, disbelief colouring his tone.

"Yes!"

"So I could just leave you here and you won't move, then I could take up the whole bed?" He teased leaning over her.

She glared up at him from her spot on the couch.

"Come on I'll help you up," he said holding a hand out for her. She rolled her eyes but grabbed on to his hand and accepted the boost upright.

"Can I trust you Soul?" She said with sudden seriousness.

"Uh…yeah?"

"Okay…Trust fall!" She said as she went limp and fell forwards into his chest.

"Ah shit!" He said arms flying up to keep her from hitting the ground.

"Aw, so trustworthy," she said, a mischievous glint to her eyes. "Since we're already here…why not carry your fearless leader to bed? She worked hard to lead us to victory today you know."

He rolled his eyes but adjusted her small form so he could carry her across the hall.

The challenge proved to be hitting the light switch on the way out of the lounge. Thankfully he was able to hit it with an elbow, narrowly avoiding smashing Maka's head into the doorframe.

"Hey man, this is not a dangerous mission, try not to kill me."

"It is not remotely a mission at all, its you being a lazy twit," he said tossing her onto the bed.

"Hey! Could stand to be more gentle don't you think?"

"Would that I could Maks," he said with a grin as he turned on the bedside lamp and turned off the overhead light.

He crawled into his side of the bed and sighed contentedly into his plush pillow. Maka wasn't wrong to be tired, it was a pretty high exertion kind of day. He couldn't even bring himself move once he had settled.

"Ugh, the lamp is on, but I am so comfy," he whined.

Maka giggled. "I'll get it this time, but you owe me," she said as she reached across him and turned off the lamp.

He expected her to roll back to her side of the bed after hitting the light, but he was pleasantly surprised when she skipped the bedtime shenanigans to cuddle against his side.

"Owe you?" He said, grateful the light wouldn't expose his stupid smile. "I literally carried you here."

"That's different," she replied through a large yawn.

"Is it though?" He said mirroring her yawn.

"Yeah," she mumbled.

"How so?" he challenged.

"Well…you see…" she started before falling silent.

"Maka?" he said quietly when she didn't continue.

"Hmm?" she said sleepily.

"You were about to try to make a point?"

Her response came in the form of the deep steady breathing of sleep.

"Goodnight Maka," he whispered before snuggling deeper into his pillow and following suit.

For the next few weeks he found himself settling into their routine really well. Him and Maka would get up every morning, head down for breakfast, train with Blackstar, and carry on. Some days Tsubaki would talk to them about current events, keep them updated, or even go over some of the finer points of the history they missed when travelling through time. Some days they would play basketball, or other sports to kill time in the evenings.

Today however, Soul found himself awake before their alarm and unable to fall back asleep. Today he would be going on his first mission outside of the underground compound. Maka was pretty furious that she couldn't go with him. But it was a small stealth operation to just lift some supplies from a shop in preparation of the larger end goal of bringing down the currently reigning regime. Blackstar had picked him as his partner for this mission, citing his ability to silently "creep around like a weirdo" as an asset for this particular job.

Maka rolled over and looked at him, "You're up early." She reached over him to turn the alarm off before it could ring in three minutes.

"Yeah," he mumbled.

"Nervous?" she inquired.

"I don't know. It'll be kind of weird you know, leaving here without you?"

"It shouldn't be for more than like…two hours," she said patting his arm.

He knew he wasn't scared, and realistically he knew Maka would be safer at their headquarters anyways. But it was hard to imagine doing anything important without Maka as his partner. Also, he hadn't left the compound since they arrived five weeks prior.

"Yeah, you're right. It'll be nothing. We'll grab the supplies we need from the general store, come right back, and fight with Patti over picking a movie blah blah blah."

"Exactly! Now get up and get ready you have a briefing with Marie and Blackstar after breakfast and then we've got more training before you and Blackstar head out."

They weren't leaving to do the job until well into the night. They had to make sure everything was quiet and empty so they could go and return undetected. That meant they still had a full day of training and activities planned and he needed to get ready.

Maka skipped off to the showers and he was quick to follow suit. He shouldered his way into the bathroom only to be greeted by Blackstar loudly.

"DUDE, WHY ARE YOU NAKED?" Soul said clinging to the wall behind him trying to create as much space between him and Blackstar's nude form as possible.

"Well, I'm about to shower so it helps to be naked dumbass."

"Why are you assaulting me naked at the door?!"

"Well I'm just excited about taking you on your first mission. It's a pretty easy one, but it is also important so…what's not to be excited about?"

Soul chuckled despite his discomfort. "Okay man I get it, now hide your junk and get in the shower I think I've seen enough."

"Don't feel inadequate Soul, it's not always the size of the boat, it's also the motion of the ocean dude. Some people are blessed with both mind you…" Blackstar said as he turned around and headed for the showers.

"I sincerely wish I could unsee, and unhear ALL of that Star," Soul mumbled as he followed him to the shower stalls.

The rest of the day flew passed in a bit of a blur and in no time he found himself briefed, and waiting at the exit of the compound next to Blackstar.

They came up through the trap door under the desk in the back of Tom's pub. They arranged the room to look as though they had never been through and then Blackstar undid all the locks on the door to the alley.

Suddenly Soul's face was graced with a cool, fresh breeze.

"Wow," he whispered. "I didn't realize I missed being outside." He added quietly to Blackstar as he followed him out the door.

"Right? Headquarters is great and it has everything, but I miss freedom," Blackstar said quietly leading them down the alley towards the general store they were going to borrow from.

Soul was carrying a wad of cash in his breast pocket to leave behind at the general store. Marie had slipped him some and told him to try to sneak it into the register. They needed the stuff, and they needed to be pretty sneaky about it, but she did not feel good about stealing. Marie used to just buy stuff normally, since people were used to seeing her at the library. Then people questioned why one woman was buying enough food to feed a football team so she could no longer provide a decent amount of supplies. Also, they couldn't actually afford everything completely, and any money they left to compensate for what they took, was never enough to cover full costs.

Their mission was to get camping equipment for when they started to make their way to Medusa's headquarters. They'd have to do a few trips like this to various stores in the area so that their thievery would go unnoticed. This was just the first of several trips to get all the gear they needed to travel to, and infiltrate various Medusa strongholds, and eventually her main headquarters.

He followed Blackstar as they crept quietly down abandoned streets and alleys until they reached a nearby general store. The one they had chosen for their first raid.

Soul crept around the back of the building and knelt next to the basement window. He pulled at it experimentally, hoping it was unlocked and he would have to go through the effort of quietly taking it apart.

"Yes," he said quietly as the window slid open a couple inches.

"Shit," he hissed almost immediately after. The window stopped and wouldn't open more than four inches. He tried to slam it completely open a few times before he gave up to examine the situation. He took a small flashlight from his front pocket and shone it on the window. There was a small piece of wood wedged between the panels to keep the window from opening all the way.

He sighed heavily and laid flat on his stomach as close to the window as he could. Four inches wasn't a lot, but he could easily fit his arm in to try to fish out the wood. He heard a shuffle of footsteps approach him from behind.

"Dude, what's taking you so long," Blackstar said, standing above him.

"Aren't you supposed to play lookout up front?" Soul grunted as he jimmied the piece of wood loose. And slid the window fully open.

"It's like one in the morning, no one is out except for drunks, and they probably won't be out until last call anyways. Also you were taking too long."

"Unexpected hindrance," Soul responded holding the wooden wedge up for Blackstar to see.

"Oh. Well let's make up for lost time now, you're still the one that's gotta get in there dude, hustle."

Soul shrugged and climbed down through the window as quietly and carefully as possible. Once he was stable in the basement storeroom he pulled out his little flashlight and a list of supplies to get.

He rummaged around in the dark, passing things up one at a time to Blackstar who then stashed everything with their two backpacks.

Within twenty minutes Soul found himself shimmying back out the window and strapping his heavy backpack on.

They started walking silently back down the streets to the pub. They had just rounded a corner onto the street the pub was on when Soul saw a face he recognized. He pulled Blackstar back behind the building.

"Shh," he said looking into Blackstar's face intensely.

Surprisingly Blackstar caught on quickly and nodded.

"That is the guy that attacked Maka outside the pub before we joined up with you guys," Soul whispered.

"Do we take him out?" Blackstar asked with a glint in his eyes.

"I don't think we should, we're supposed to be pretty subtle so we can keep doing supply runs like this without being noticed."

"You're right noob. Good call," Blackstar nodded. Then he poked his head around the corner to see if the man was gone. "Is it a big grumpy looking mother fucker wearing a dirty trench coat?"

"Yeah, is he walking away?"

"Nah dude, he's right here," Blackstar said as he dodged a fist that came flying from around the corner.

"So much for subtlety," mumbled Soul as he sprung into action next to Blackstar.

The next few seconds were a blur of activity. Between Soul and Blackstar their sketchy attacker couldn't land a punch or take a break. If he was dodging one of them the other was throwing shots.

"This is the scum that tried to hurt Maka?" Blackstar grunted as he landed a kick to the guy's side.

"Yeah," Soul said, dodging a meaty fist.

"And she couldn't take this guy out? Man I've seen what that chick can do with just a textbook, this guy is a joke!" Blackstar cackled.

"So do we take him out and dispose of a corpse, or do we take him…in?"

"Who says you're taking me anywhere," the goon grunted as he flew at Soul with his arm cocked for a solid punch.

"I do, now bow before your God!" Blackstar said with a smile as he landed a finishing blow to the back of their attacker's head.

The guy dropped like so many sacks of potatoes with a dull thud and a puff of dust floated in the air above him.

"Jeeze Blackstar, did you have to kill him?" Soul asked as he checked for a pulse.

"Yeah man. This guy won't tell us anything useful. Medusa's got a lot of people working under her, but this level of minion doesn't know shit. He's seen our faces so we're better off disposing of his corpse than trying to gather up one of ours."

"Okay... But what do we do with the body?"

"Stein has all sorts of fucked up experiments in that big twisted brain of his, I'm sure he'll make use of this," Blackstar said with a sinister looking smile.

"That's sick," Soul said, disgust colouring his tone.

"The guy's dead anyways, better him than us, that lunatic will do his experiments wit hwhoever he bumps into first once he gets any sort of plans forming," Blackstar said as he turned a sickly pale. So he had been the victim of some that lunatic's sci-fi level of experimentation.

"Crap, so we have to drag this giant dead weight up a street without being noticed, and then all it the way down to headquarters without passing out?" Soul grumbled, his apathy threatening to take over.

"Yep, pick a side, if anyone sees us we're just dragging our drunk buddy to a hotel to pass out for the night."

"Fine," Soul said hoisting the man's left arm over his shoulders and trying to stand upright under the weight.

Luckily they made it up the street without further incident. The trouble started once they entered the back alley door into the back of the pub and locked it behind themselves. The stairs and hallways leading to the main chambers of the compound were narrow and the dead guy was definitely too heavy for just one of them to carry alongside. The hallways definitely did not fit three grown men standing shoulder to shoulder.

"We can just drag him behind us," Blackstar said with a shrug.

"And leave a trail of blood behind us?"

"The dude's wearing a giant leather trench coat, if we each grab a wrist and drag him behind us it'll be fine," Blackstar said with an exasperated sigh.

"Oh," Soul responded. For some reason he had pictured them dragging the body by the feet, leaving the head to bounce off of the concrete steps and a trail of sickening blood and brain matter.

"I don't know why you care so much about a dead guy on the other team," Blackstar grumbled at him as he pulled open the door in the ground and kicked the dead guy in first.

"Uh…I don't. I mean not really, but I haven't really taken part in many murders," Soul responded as he pulled the trap door shut behind the three of them.

"HA," Blackstar let out a bark of laughter before they silently dragged the dead body down the stairs and hallways to the main compound. They got to the large metal door and waited for Stein to let them in. Soul wasn't surprised to find Maka and the others still waiting up for them, all seated around the dining table engaged in assorted activities.

The sound of him and Blackstar entering the room was enough to draw the group's attention, even from the other end of the cavernous room.

"Soul!" Maka said excitedly running across the room to greet him. As she got closer she realized that they were carrying a person between them. Once she was a few feet away from them she asked, "Soul who is that…"

He could see clearly on her face the moment she realized her attacker was suspended between him and Blackstar. "Oh no, what happened?"

"Nothing serious," Blackstar responded.

"I saw him across the street, I didn't think he saw us so we tried to hide away from him, turns out I was wrong. He tried to attack us, but don't worry he didn't stand a chance against Blackstar and I."

"Why is he here though? Is he…"

"Yes yes he's dead. He doesn't really stand a chance against a god like myself you know. And besides I've got a trusty little follower here in your boyfriend," Blackstar said haughtily.

Maka rolled her eyes before responding. "So neither of you is hurt, but this moron is dead?" Soul nodded.

Maka continued, "And now you've decided to bring his corpse back here because…?"

"No body, no murder, no investigation, no problems for us! Besides if Stein gets bored and he needs a guinea pig for his experiments would you rather it be you, or this guy?"

"Ew. Good point. Need any help taking him up to the lab?"

"We got this Maka, thanks though," Soul responded hoisting the arm of the body more securely around his shoulders.

Him and Blackstar continued to walk towards the door on the other side of the table to get the body to Stein.

"Oh by the way guys, Marie is waiting up there to debrief you, and welcome home," Tsubaki said, smiling at them warmly from her place at the table.

"Oh Soul!" Maka called from behind them. "When you get back I have something to show you!"

The weight of the body suddenly wasn't as bad, as he started anticipating what it was that Maka wanted to show him.