"So Maka, how has your week been?" Dr. Marie was once again dressed in bright yellow clothes with her eye patch solidly in place. This week she had added a little bit of black in her outfit with stripes of it on her pants. Maka was again on her spot on the couch. She had discovered the fringes of one of the pillows felt nice twirled around her fingers.
"My week had been good." Maka replied. "I finished paperwork faster than I expected." Maka was still proud of herself for blazing through the paperwork. Her thoughts then turned to her new partner and a frown replaced the smile.
"Something wrong Maka?" Marie asked. She noted something down in her new journal.
"No, nothing. I just met my new partner today." Maka replied. She didn't really want to talk about this but she knew better than to keep anything from the psychiatrist. As much as Marie wanted Maka to like her, Maka knew it was her job and if anything seemed off in their visits, the doctor could yank Maka off the force.
"Oh, how are you feeling about that?" Marie asked, poised to jot down as much as she could. This wasn't lost on Maka.
"I haven't had time to formulate anything." She spat out. "I just met him fifteen minutes before coming here." Marie still wrote a couple of lines in her journal.
"I said I wanted to talk about your mother today, Maka. And I still do," the psychiatrist said. Maka sighed. It could be worse.
"When you think of your mother, what is the first memory that comes to mind?" Marie asked. Maka sat and thought for a second. The first memory that comes to mind? That would be her parents fighting. Why couldn't the psych ask about her favorite memory? That one was easier to talk about.
"The first memory? That would be my parents fighting when I was little." Maka replied.
"Oh?" Maries eyebrows shot up. "Tell me about that memory. Why they were fighting?"
"Well," Maka began. "It was my eighth birthday and I wanted a party. My mama planned for weeks to make is special and my papa didn't help at all. On the day of the party, my papa disappeared early in the day. My mama was sad but she kept going with party preparations and set everything up outside. All my friends and their parents came over and the party was fun. But after the cake was cut, my papa came back. I didn't know what was wrong with him at the time but he was stumbling and ended up falling over into a table of food and knocked it over. A woman came running around the fence, apologizing profusely. She said that he had run out of the club and came straight over here. She just kept apologizing over and over. My mama sat there as still as a rock. Eventually she smiled and asked the woman to bring him back to the club. She laughed as she said that they should lock him away next time. The woman from the club laughed and dragged my papa out. Everyone left pretty much immediately. Mama just cried and cried while she was picking everything up. She made me my favorite dinner that night, tucked me in, and told me she loved me. That was the last time I saw her. The next day, my papa was back home in his bed and my mama was gone."
Maka sat with her fingers wrapped in the fringe of the throw pillow she clutched close to her. She hadn't even noticed hugging it while she was telling her story. It always hurt to talk about the day her mother left. She never celebrated another birthday after that either.
"How do you feel about that day Maka?" Marie asked, her voice was soft but her eyes were piercing. She locked eyes with Maka's green ones and it's like the psychiatrist could see into Maka's soul.
"It still hurts," Maka whispered. Eighteen years later and Maka still felt like the little eight year old girl who woke up and couldn't find her mother. "I couldn't find my mama." Marie nodded.
"Are you angry about that?" She asked. Maka's eyes left the doctors.
"Angry at my papa." Maka spat as she glared at a spot to the left of the doctors foot.
"Why?" Marie prodded. She noted the flash in Maka's eyes as she heard the question.
"Because it's his fault!" Maka exclaimed. "If he hadn't gone out cheating and lying, mama wouldn't have left." Marie sighed and wrote in her journal once more before closing it.
"Thank you Maka." She said, getting up from here chair across from the couch Maka sat on. "Our time is up, but you've done well today. Thank you for talking about that with me. I'll see you next week." Maka stood up from the couch. She didn't respond to the doctor. She was still thinking about their conversation. There was one question she found herself asking time and time again, usually when her birthday came around. Why hadn't her mother taken her when she left? Why had her mother left eight year old Maka with a womanizing, lying, cheater or a man? Maka pulled on her jacket and walked out to her car without saying anything to Marie, too lost in her own thoughts. Marie just sighed as she watched the young woman. She opened up her journal and wrote a little bit more before going to greet her next client with a large smile.
Three days into their partnership and Maka didn't hate Soul. Yet. As soon as Maka got back from the psychiatrists that first day they had picked up a series of murders that all had the same MO. All of the victims were tall women with long dark brown hair and bright brown eyes. They were found in the same park near the shopping district of Death City with their hands and feet bound. There was no sign of sexual assault and the bodies had been tortured. By talking to the families of the victims they discovered all three women were regulars at one gym near their homes. A man at the gym had recently been dumped by his long term lover for a girl who looked like the victims. He suffered a mental breakdown and started to lash out at women fitting that description. Maka and Soul had made the connection and were able to stop him in time before he killed again. Maka had been impressed by the way Soul focused on the case and stopped to think before doing anything rash. There was even one point where Maka had gotten confused and Soul was able to figure out the next step. She didn't want to, but she thanked him for guidance at that part. Perhaps this partnership would work out.
"Chief!" Maka said as she burst through the doors of the chief's office. "I have the pap-"
"MAKA-CHAN!" The redheaded man in the room launched himself at the young detective. His crushing embrace effectively silenced her words and her arms were pinned to her sides, disabling her getaway method. Soul, standing next to Maka was completely caught off guard. He grabbed the folder out of her hands, placed it deliberately on the chief's desk, and hauled the man clinging to his partner by the collar of his jacket. The man made to jump back on Maka but Soul held him firmly back. Maka just ignored the man.
"Why is he here?" she directed her question to Sid.
"There have been three murders in connection with the gang Kishin." Sid explained. "The commissioner is here to talk about the case."
"Maka-chan! Papa is so happy to see you!" the redheaded man still held back by Soul exclaimed. Soul's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. Maka however, was at the end of her rope. She grabbed a police procedure book off of Sid's desk and brought it crashing down on her father's head. He was out cold by the time he hit the floor.
"Sir, we don't handle gang killings." Maka sighed, still refusing to acknowledge the man unconscious on the floor.
"We do when it's the gang being killed." Sid explained. "Since you two are here, and you have no active cases, I'm putting you on it as lead." Maka was excited. First a not-shitty partner, now a high-profile case. This week was looking up.
"However," Sid continued, fixing Maka first, then Soul with a piercing stare. "I expect the entire force to help out here." Both young detectives realized how serious he was.
"Yes sir," they both chorused. Stepping over the redheaded man still unconscious on the floor, they headed back to their desks to start pulling the information together.
"One more thing," Sid yelled to them as they headed out. "Head down to the coroner to get his reports. He hasn't sent them up yet."
"Yes sir," they both repeated. The two brand new partners grabbed their coats and headed off, down to the coroners.
