Freefall
by. Poisoned Scarlet
11a
It came with a knock to the door.
Maka prodded Soul with her foot, not removing her eyes from her book, and after much prodding and a threat to crack his skull open, Soul heaved himself off the couch and answered the door.
That resulted in a shout of alarm; the sound of bodies tumbling to the floor strung along with the familiar sounds of a fight.
"What the—!" Maka noticed their uniform first: a severe blue with polished black boots to match and the glint of a police badge on their right breast. She knew something horrible had just happened when they tackled him to the ground. "Soul, what's going on? Hey! What are you doing with Soul—?"
"Ma'am, back away, please. We've been looking for this felon for the past few years now—and I'll add 'resisting an officer' to the list if he doesn't calm down this instant." He was blonde and pale; with calm, blue, eyes that deceived and a fake smile to match. He pushed her back when she reached out for Soul, her eyes springing with tears as thoughts of never seeing him again crowded her mind.
"Soul—!"
"Ma'am, please stay back—!"
"Maka, stay back! Don't get involved!" Soul ordered, wincing when the second officer kneed his side and harshly ordered him to lay still. "Maka!"
"Ma'am." The first officer, the one with lying eyes, firmly repeated.
"He's a wanted felon? What are you talking about? He – he's always been with me! You have the wrong guy!" Maka insisted, biting her lip when Soul was picked off the floor and shoved against the wall. The second officer and Soul exchanged withering looks; biting words, but she couldn't hear them over the pound of her heart. "There's no way he..."
"We received a tip of who robbed all those jewelry stores all those years ago from an anonymous source. We put the pieces together from there." Law informed crisply, smiling at her shock. His hand gripped the cross that hung off his neck fondly. "He may be clean now, but he wasn't when he was younger. I've got a big file on this boy. You wouldn't believe what he has done in a span of three years."
"He..." Maka was at a loss for words, staring at Soul. "He..."
He did not look at her.
Maka clenched her fists. "...You have no evidence aside from that tip that Soul was the one who did it! You have no right to barge into our home like this and arrest him!"
"He's innocent until proven guilty, yes." Law agreed, and Maka pressed her lips together to restrain herself from snarling out something uncalled for. This was a delicate situation that needed to be handled professionally, she rationalized. "He'll be taken to the station downtown for interrogation and, depending on what we get, he may spend a few days in jail. Court will decide his fate, however."
Maka sucked in a breath, stomach dropping at the thought of Soul never seeing daylight again.
"Bring him down!" Law ordered. His partner nodded eagerly. "It was a pleasure to meet you, miss." He directed to Maka, with a nod of his head. But she hardly reacted, watching him leave without another word to either of them.
"C'mon, Soul Eater." The second officer sneered, with a cruel grin. "You'll love prison - everyone is so nice there."
"Call Nygus!" Soul shouted at Maka before Law's partner could drag him down to the vehicle. He was cuffed, roughly yanked up by the collar of his shirt but his eyes never left hers. "NOW MAKA!"
"Pipe down, Eater!"
"Shut the fuck up, Gopher, and let me outta' these things!" Soul snarled.
Gopher grinned. "Not happening."
"Maka!" Soul snapped her out of her daze.
Maka rushed to her room when Gopher shoved Soul out, leading him downstairs. Her shaky hands fumbled for his cellphone, running down his long list of contacts until she found her number. She called, taking deep breaths, her heart lurching out of her chest, and when Nygus answered she burst into a torrent of choked words and panicked whimpers.
"I need you to calm down, Maka. Calm down, it'll be okay. What is the officers name?"
Maka breathed in controlled breaths. "What?"
"Don't blank on me, Maka, not now! What is the officers name?"
"His badge says Law."
"Are they still there?"
"Yeah, they're – they're loading him up in the car! Nygus, please, is there—?" Maka cut herself off, grinding her teeth in an effort to control the panic that was rapidly taking over her.
"I'll handle it. Don't let them leave – hurry, pass the phone to Law! Tell him it's me, Nygus! Go!"
And she did, running down the stairs and bursting out into the sidewalk. Soul was pressed over the hood of the car, legs spread, being patted down by the scrawny-looking officer whose name she believed was Gopher. Law rose a brow at her and curiously looked at the cell phone when she approached him and handed it to him.
"Hello?" Justin Law answered, curiously. His brows rose the slightest bit, his eyes darting back to Maka's distraught ones. He turned and walked down the sidewalk, preferring some privacy as he sorted this mess out. Maka watched Soul tilt his head to look at Law, a frown on his lips but looking no more perturbed than before.
How could he be so calm? Maka thought, wringing her hands. How could he act so indifferently when he could be facing life in prison for the crimes he committed in his youth? For things that someone – someone Maka was sure she knew – had tattled on him for? She could taste resentment on her tongue at the thought of that blond-haired, hardheaded and unrelenting, idiot.
"Alright!" Justin cheerfully called attention, handing the cellphone back to Maka. "Let 'em go, Gopher, he's as innocent as this young lady here says he is!"
Maka stared, bewildered, as Gopher pouted but released Soul from the metal cuffs.
He snatched his hands back, sending Gopher a nasty look. "Any tighter, dumbass?"
"Don't try me, Eater." Gopher sneered, sticking his nose in the air loftily. "You're just lucky your girlfriend had enough sense in her to call up Nygus before we took you away. I would've loved to see your ass rot in a cell."
"Fuck you, at least my girlfriend went to college." Soul ignored his affronted gape, moving away from him to stand beside Maka. He grasped her hand in his reassuringly.
Justin Law's lips quirked into a smile at the warming sight, coughing when he caught Soul's threatening look.
"Well," Justin cleared his throat, diffusing some of the tension. "You lucked out today, Soul. It is my mission to take the guilty to face righteous punishment, as you know—!"
"Don't start, Justin." Soul groaned. Maka let his hand go and took a step back, still digesting what had just happened. "Seriously, I nearly got thrown in jail, I'm not in the mood for your preaching."
Justin huffed but conceded. "Very well. I hope to never see you again – actually, we won't be seeing you again. You see, Nygus is quite frightening when I mess with her pups. She has the most colorful imagination, wouldn't you agree?"
"Yeah." Soul muttered. "She's a piece of work, alright."
"Mr. Law! May we be on our way? We just got a call from the station! There is a robbery taking place near Crow Avenue!" Gopher shouted, tone a tad too cheerful.
"Kiss ass," Soul mumbled under his breath, smirking when Gopher shot him a nasty look; as if having heard his comment.
"Ah! Yes! There is crime to fight! Justice to serve! I must be on my way now, children!" Justin bellowed, finger pointed at the sky dramatically. "So long, Soul Eater Evans, and goodbye to you, ma'am!" Justin politely smiled at Maka, who managed a smile of her own. "Pardon my rude mannerism earlier – it's my job, you know."
"Yes, I understand. It was nice meeting you, Officer Law." Maka smiled wearily, waving as Justin sprinted back to his car and drove forward without any regard to his partner, who nearly tumbled out of the passenger side door in his attempt to shut it.
Soul heaved a sigh, turning to his girlfriend. "Maka—!"
"We need to talk." Maka hissed, emerald eyes flaming. She growled through her teeth: "Now."
It took everything in Soul not to drop to his knees and beg for mercy.
11b
Soul scowled up at the ceiling, watching car headlights dance on the plaster. The springs in the couch hurt his back. His neck was beginning to ache from resting on the armrest so long. The flimsy blanket Maka had shoved in his hand before storming to her room hardly offered any warmth but it was the only thing Maka had been willing to give him when he asked.
He'd been afraid to ask for more.
She was livid.
He hadn't seen her this pissed since, well, he couldn't remember: he'd never pissed her off this badly before.
Going to sleep angry was not healthy but there wasn't much he could do to diffuse her rage. They had spoken a lot after they returned to their apartment, mainly about his past life as a gang member and its repercussions, and their voices had raised more than once. He had been on the verge of walking out on her at one point. But, thankfully, she wrapped it up with an icy stare that left him cold and stormed to her bedroom for the evening.
He shifted on the couch, sighing.
He had his own bedroom, actually. There was no reason to sleep on the couch. She had emptied out her desk and other such furniture to convert her study into a bedroom again. But he had been crashing in her bed more often than naught and sleeping in his own bedroom felt foreign and strange. Plus, he wouldn't be able to sleep knowing she was crying in her pillow out of rage, sadness, shock, who knew? He could hear her sniffling, though.
He groaned, slinging an arm over his eyes.
How uncool, to be thrown out of his element so easily by one girl.
"Damn it..." He was rather annoyed to admit it, but he didn't know how to handle these sorts of situations. Whenever he had gotten in fights with his past girlfriends, he'd never dwell on it. He'd shrug it off, continue living his life, until they came crawling back to him and mumbled their apologies. He'd apologize, too, rather breezily at that, and a break up would follow soon after because of his frigidness.
But it was different now – it was always different with Maka. She made things difficult without even trying. Unable to take his conflicting thoughts, Soul threw the blanket off his body and took his phone out from his jeans pocket. He carefully padded to the front door, opening it as quietly as he could and closing it just as silently. The hall was deprived of anything living; the lights dim and the moonlight casting long shadows of other buildings through the fire escape down the hall.
"Hey, Nygus? It's Soul." He muttered, sighing heavily. He didn't think he'd ever be the one to call her for help, but...
"It's one in the morning on a Thursday. Lemme' guess – you finally pissed her off? What she do, kick you to the couch or something?"
When Soul didn't answer, glaring holes at the wall across from him, he dropped his phone to his side when Nygus burst out laughing on the other line. He pinched the bridge of his nose, ground his teeth to reign in his temper at his friends laughter.
"Now that's funny – cool guy Evans isn't so cool anymore, huh?"
"I'm hanging up—!"
"No, c'mon, Soul, take a joke, would you? Fine, I'll be serious. What'd you do? I'll see what I can do from there."
After a seconds pause, Soul told her. He edited out a few insults he'd thrown at Maka – the nasty remarks she'd thrown back at him in reply – but he had a feeling Nygus knew what had transpired between them anyway. She was perceptive that way, and it was that perception that had saved their asses more than once.
"Hmm...well, that ain't good. But this situation was something outta' your control – you did what you had to do to survive when you were younger, and there's nothing you can do to change that now. But think of the bright side: at least you never killed anyone. She would've probably kicked you out if you had."
The thought disturbed him more than it should have. "Yeah, well, can't say the same for 'Star." He dropped his eyes at the thought. Black Star handled the assassinations, he coordinated them. He sat back in his leather chair, sipping his coffee, while his friend, with bloodlust in his eyes and a wicked grin on his face, stole the lives of anyone unfortunate enough to end up in the black list. "But she knows I organized them. I told her."
"How'd she take it?"
Soul grimaced. "That was the last thing I said before she locked herself up in her room. Even if I didn't kill anyone personally, I still have blood on my hands."
"I can't say you didn't have a choice but you did see the wrong in your ways. It's better than us – we haven't learned one bit, even after being thrown in prison for our sins." Nygus chuckled, somewhat bitterly. "You got out of the business before it could suck you in forever, Soul, I'm sure she'll see that in time. She's just angry right now, and anger blinds you from many things."
Soul slid down the wall, resting an arm over his drawn up knee. He could go for a cigarette at the moment but he had given up that habit shortly after he began seeing Maka at the club every weekend. Smokers breath was certainly not cool.
"Give her some time to cool off. When she's level again, talk to her. Don't let her come to you, Soul, this is serious. The crimes you committed when you were in high school could land you life."
"You think I don't know that?"
Nygus continued gently: "When she looks calm, talk to her. Get her to understand you're outta' the business. She's a nice girl, unlike the others. I actually like her, for one."
"...Yeah, alright, I got it." Soul mumbled. She was more than a nice girl: she was amazing, and he certainly did not want to lose something that felt so real to him. "Thanks, Nygus."
"Anytime. Now, go get some sleep! There's no use losing sleep over this – you'll need all the energy you can get tomorrow. First day after a big fight is the worst. You should know, you got the shit beaten outta' you a lot when you were a shrimp."
Soul let his head bump against the wall, resisting a groan. He knew that: Maka would likely give him the cold shoulder all day and refuse to even look at him, knowing his luck. He could only hope she wouldn't hold him in contempt for too long.
"Yeah, whatever. Night, mummy face."
"G'night, shark boy."
He smiled faintly, dropping the phone from his ear when he heard the dial tone.
Tomorrow would be a long day.
A/N: I say my updating schedule can go put a bullet through its head. I'll just update whenever I feel like it, and recently I have been in the mood to write. A result of that is getting way ahead in my current stories, this one included. So maybe I'll update daily, just like I did with Quicksand.
No promises, though, finals are coming up and I'll have to cram for that x3
But once it's summer vacation... you'll get sick of hearing about me, I promise.
Scarlett.