A/N: So this took a lot longer for me to get up than I'd hoped. Forgive me! :)

Long Road to Ruin
Chapter 2: Rehab

Summary: After a brutal fight that leaves Soul badly injured, meister and weapon must find a way to rebuild together. Soul/Maka
Rated: M

Maka woke with a jerk, sitting up as her sweat-soaked bangs clung to her face. She was breathing hard and she could feel the ache from yesterday's fight in her body. When she glanced at her watch, she saw that it was barely after five. Her sleep throughout the night had been tenuous; just when she fell into a deep sleep, her nightmares startled her back into consciousness.

Over and over again throughout the night, Maka saw Soul's body collapse into the pool of blood at his feet. Saw Elizabeth's bloody face grinning at her, her hand flinging Soul dozens of feet away.

Each time Maka thought she was finally falling into a decent sleep, she would always wake back up with those horrible images planted into her mind like a brand. When she finally woke up around five, she was tired of those dreams, tired of falling asleep only to be jolted back awake.

Sighing, she pushed the covers off and neatly folded them, placing them at the end of the couch on top of the pillow she had borrowed from her father. Spirit had insisted she take his room, but she'd declined, not really wanting to know what had gone on in there. Not that, she was realizing, that it was any of her business, but still. Boundaries.

After going to the bathroom, Maka jotted down a quick note for her father in case he woke up anytime soon, and slipped out of Spirit's apartment.

By the time Maka reached her and Soul's apartment, the sun was just beginning to peak over the tops of Death City's buildings. Squinting as she walked, Maka made her way into their apartment building. Pulling her keys from her jacket pocket, she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Of course she had been in the apartment without Soul before, but this time was different. Then, she'd always known when Soul would be home, walking through the door with a lazy grin, asking whose turn it was to make dinner that night.

But now, now the future was uncertain. Maka didn't know when Soul would be getting home from the hospital, when he would be able to fight again, or if he would even be able to. From what Stein and her father said, it seemed as if it would take a lot for Soul to get back to the point he was at before.

Maka knew she'd be there for every step of the way, would do anything she could to help Soul in any way she could, but it was the uncertainty that frightened her. No one could know what was to come next, but it didn't stop Maka from worrying over it. While in the shower, she broke down, clutching her stomach while her body shook with sobs. The crying subsided and she saw the bruises running down her arms and legs and began to cry again, knowing how much worse Soul's injuries were.

She wished that it had been her to endure Soul's injuries. It destroyed her that she had, yet again, been unable to protect him the way he always protected her. After Soul was rehabilitated (and she told herself that she would do anything she could to make sure that happened), they would train together and grow as a pair.

But in the meantime, whenever she had the time, Maka would train herself building her endurance, her strength, her mind. Sure, she had defeated the kishin but what did that mean now that Soul was once again in the hospital with his life on the line?

Drying herself off, Maka made her way to her room and dressed herself in clean clothes. As she brushed her hair in front of the mirror, Maka frowned at her reflection. Her eyes were swollen and red and her face blotchy. Normally, it wouldn't bother her that much, but she was going to visit Soul soon and she didn't want him to see her that way. It would only make him feel worse, and she would do anything to prevent that.

Dropping some ice into a baggie, Maka held them to her eyes for a few minutes. When she felt she couldn't wait any longer, she dumped the ice down the sink and grabbed her small make-up bag from her room. She didn't usually wear much make-up if any, but did what she could to fix up her face. Her hands shook as she applied eyeliner, and at one point she had to wipe it off and start again.

From the corner of her eye, Maka saw Blair walk into her room, pausing halfway to stretch. "Maaa-kaaa," she said, drawing the girl's name out. Maka turned to look at her, and Blair took the opportunity to jump up on her lap, looking up at her. "You're putting on make-up, Maka. You almost never do that."

Blair squinted her eyes before looking taken aback. "You and Soul didn't come home last night after your mission. What happened?"

Maka petted the top of her head absently. She didn't really want to launch into the story of what had happened yet again, but she knew Blair cared about them and was now worried. Maka gave her the overview.

"How is Soul doing?" she asked hurriedly. Since Maka had known her, Blair didn't seem to worry too much about things, but she was worried now.

"He's in the hospital. I was actually just about to leave to go visit him. Would you like to come too?"

Granted, there were times that Blair embarrassed Maka, particularly when she transformed into her human form and made Soul, and whatever other male was around, bleed profusely from the nose, but Maka cared for her and knew her to be a good companion. She nodded. "Of course you can, Blair."

"Nya!" Blair said, pleased. She leaped off Maka's lap and transformed back into a human, standing in Maka's room wearing little. "Thank you, Maka!" she said before dashing from the room to go get ready.

Before leaving, she filled a bag with some of Soul's things, clothes and toiletries and his mp3 player. She even slipped a few novels into the bag in the hopes that Soul might entertain himself with them while she wasn't there.

Maka was happy to see that Blair dressed herself in clothes appropriate for a hospital, jeans and a casual white blouse with sequins sewn around the neck. It looked quite pretty against the purple hair and curled about her shoulders.

"You ready?" Maka asked. When Blair nodded, Maka turned and locked the apartment behind them.

Together, they walked to a café near Stein's lab and picked up a box of donuts and tray of coffees. Blair had insisted on extra, extra cream in hers, giving the man behind the counter a wink as he bashfully took their order.

Stein answered when Maka knocked, smiling at the two girls like he'd been expecting them. Ushering them inside, Maka saw Soul sitting up in bed, staring off into space. But he seemed to snap to attention when she walked in.

"Maka," he said with a smile as she approached. Blair transformed back into a cat and leap onto Soul's lap. He raised his hand to pet her as she purred on his lap, but never took his eyes off of Maka.

Maka approached, handing over a coffee and setting the package of donuts on the table next to him. "You brought me food," Soul said happily.

Maka saw, by his droopy grin, he was still quite high on pain pills.

"I did," she said, forcing a smile. Really, she just wanted to break down again. He wasn't wearing a shirt and Maka could see his chest wrapped tightly, his old scar from Ragnarok peeking through. His leg was also encased in a thick white cast, bandages were taped over dozens of cuts, and bruises littered his skin. He was still hooked up to machines, tubes sticking out of the veins in the back of his hand.

Soul looked like a mess, but somehow his spirits seemed to be high, though that may have been contributed to the medicine pumps he was hooked up to.

Maka handed Stein a coffee and gave him his selection of donuts, before she turned her attention back to Soul. He devoured three donuts, often missing his mouth and jamming the pastry into his chin or cheek, before turning his attention to his coffee, spilling almost half of it on his bandages. Luckily, the coffee was cool enough by that point not to burn him, though Stein wasn't happy about having to put clean bandages back on him again so soon..

"Hungry?" a voice asked from somewhere behind Maka. She turned and saw Black Star leaning against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. He strutted forward, snatched a cruller from the box, and sat at the foot of Soul's bed.

"Hey, Black Star," Soul said, smirking at his friend. He stretched his fist out and Black Star bumped it, smirking back. "What brings you to these parts?"

"I heard some evil, bloody bitch chewed you up and spat you back out. I had to see if it made you any better looking because you sure couldn't get any worse."

"Always the charmer, aren't you?" Soul replied with mirth.

"Someone has to be because it sure as hell isn't you."

Maka rolled her eyes, but with affection. She knew that, as stupid as it was, this was Black Star's way of coping with what had happened to his best friend. Black Star was a lot to handle at times, but he really cared about his friends and never wanted to see them hurt.

Over the next hour or so, the rest of their friends straggled in to the lab, bringing up chairs around Soul's bed or taking over the empty bed next to his. Word of Soul's injuries must have spread throughout the school as some of the other students from their class showed up throughout the day. Killik and the twins stopped by for almost two hours, bringing with them a bag of candy that Stein told Soul he couldn't eat after having so many donuts. Uncharacteristically, because it wasn't considered cool, Soul had pouted a bit at being denied the candy.

Ox, Kim and Jackie showed up at one point as well, offering their condolences. Though, given the way Ox spent the entire time looking at Kim like a lovesick puppy, Maka surmised he only decided to visit after encountering the girls on their way to the lab. Regardless, Maka was just happy that so many people cared about Soul to show up, concerned about his well-being. Even Marie, Azusa, and Justin stopped in throughout the day, Justin taking his headphones off long enough to snyc up some of own music to Soul's mp3 player.

Over the course of the day, Maka noticed that Soul hardly moved. Even as the rest of them sat around playing cards, Soul declined, seemingly content to just sit there and watch as his friends taunted each other. He'd smiled passively when Kid, who'd ultimately come out the champion of their rummy tournament, forfeited his win because his points totaled an odd number. Maka suspected that Soul's declination of playing was contributed to his inability to use his hands correctly. Maka was one thing, but he didn't want the rest of his friends to see him so helpless.

By the time evening rolled around, their friends had all taken their leave and only Maka remained behind. Stein had even stepped out for a while, but not before administering another dose of pain killers into Soul's system.

"Have you ever noticed how small the arms of a T-Rex are? They're puny!" Soul said, bending his arms at the elbow and holding them close to his body, imitating one. It was the first time he'd been able to move freely without a lot of effort. Maka suspected that it might have something to do with the fresh dose of painkillers administered into his system. "Why do you think that is, Maka?"

Overcome with laughter and momentarily forgetting her concerns, Maka only managed to giggle out an, "I don't know, Soul," before breaking into another fit.

Soul's face became serious, voice sorrowful. "I think it's because they stopped hugging each other, Maka. They stopped hugging each other and evolution took over and soon their arms became short."

"You might just be onto something, Soul," Maka said with a small smile.

"Will you hug me, Maka? I don't want to end up like a T-Rex." He looked really worried as if it was actually a possibility.

"Okay, Soul," Maka said, leaning forward to wrap her arms gingerly around Soul, resting her cheek against his. She felt his arms shakingly go around her, the tube from his iv brushing against her arm. When she began to pull back, Soul inclined his body towards her, brushing his lips against hers.

Gingerly, Maka found herself kissing him back. She wanted it, wanted to kiss him but she didn't want to stress out his already damaged body. After a moment, she pulled back again and he relented, a goofy grin on his face.

"Thank you, Maka," he said quietly, before adding, almost as an afterthought, "I like you so much."

Maka could feel the blush rise on her cheeks. "Sometime when you're not all drugged up, we'll talk about us, okay?"

Soul nodded, clearly content for the time being.

Maka found herself unsure of what to do under Soul's gaze. Sure, he was out of it, but she still felt nervous with his eyes gazing at her so earnestly. "How about I read to you for a little while? Would you like that, Soul?"

Settling down into his pillows, Soul nodded, and Maka grabbed one of the books from the bag she brought with her. Cracking the book open, she flipped through the pages until she found the first one. Resting the book on her lap, she began to read.

Maka was barely a paragraph in when she heard Soul mumble, "You have such a pretty voice."

Feeling herself flush again, Maka raised her eyes to him and smiled slightly before continuing on. By the time Maka reached the end of the second chapter, she saw that Soul was asleep, snoring lightly. She used a scrap of paper to mark her place and laid the book on the nightstand next to Soul's bed.

She placed a small kiss atop his forehead before gathering her things and leaving. When Maka reached the hallway, she saw her father leaning against the wall, apparently waiting for her.

"Hi, Papa," she said.

Spirit smiled down at her, glad that she seemed to be in much better spirits today than she had been the day before. "How's Soul doing?" he asked, falling into step next to his daughter.

"He's a little out of it because of the drugs," she admitted, "but he seems to be doing better. I know he'd be in a lot of pain without the medicine though."

"I'm glad to hear it," he said, wrapping an arm around Maka's shoulders.

"What were you doing out here, Papa?"

"I was going to come to visit, but I heard you talking and didn't want to interrupt," he said, a bit embarrassed. He was still new to the idea that his daughter might soon start dating her weapon.

"Oh, I was just reading to Soul, but he fell asleep."

Despite the fact that Soul was in the hospital and probably wasn't feeling up to much of anything, it reassured Spirit to hear it. He was still having a hard time with Maka potentially dating, even after seeing her kiss Soul yesterday on the battlefield before the boy lost consciousness.

"Would you like to go grab some dinner?"

"You paying?" Maka asked, but she was smiling. It was strange, but she was coming to trust her dad again, and in some ways it really scared her. And as much as Maka loved and respected her mother, she did have to admit that her father was the one that had always been there for her, even if he had his terrible vices, which didn't seem as bad as they'd used to be.

Spirit grinned. "Of course I am, Maka."

Soul stayed in the hospital for nearly two weeks. Most of the time, it was so Stein could keep an eye on the boy, monitoring his progress. Stein had never seen a case quite like Soul's, particularly the last ditch aftershock Elizabeth Bathory had sent through his system. He didn't get this way often, but he felt concerned and still couldn't predict the lasting effects it might have on the boy.

On the third day, Stein began Soul on physical therapy. He'd waited until Maka came by before he set the box of what appeared to children's toys on a tray in his lap.

"What am I supposed to do?" Soul asked, slurring his words some.

Pulling out a yellow box with various shaped cut-outs in it, Stein said simply, "Fill the box with the toys."

Maka saw Soul's face freeze, knowing that if he hadn't been injured, that one of his eyebrow would have raised high into his forehead. "You want me to play with this?"

Stein chuckled. "While I don't think you'll get quite the same thrill out of it a toddler would, essentially yes, I want you to play with it." Stein walked off, saying over his shoulder, "Let me know when you finish it."

"You actually think it's going to take that long?"

"Just let me know when you're done, alright?"

Soul groaned, muttering how uncool it was to play with baby toys.

"Soul," Maka said, standing next to him with her hands on her hips, "don't be that way. If Stein thinks this will help regain full use of your body, then you're going to do it. Got it?"

He glowered up at her, his crimson eyes narrowed. Gingerly, he reached for the first shape, a blue pyramid. His fingers closed around it like a clenched claw, fitting awkwardly over the pyramid. Soul raised his arm to yellow box and attempted to fit the shape into the corresponding hole.

When it didn't go in, Soul attempted to rotate his wrist enough to line up the shape with the hole. Grunting, he tried again with no more success. After several more moments of struggle, Soul finally managed to fit the piece into the hole.

Maka saw that his forehead had broken out into a sweat and that his arms were shaking more than they had been. Reaching for the next piece, a cylinder, he tried again, having much more success with this one. The third shape, a star, proved much more difficult. He made several attempts, unable to get the right angle to fit the shape through. After nearly three minutes of trying, face steadily growing redder, he flung the shape, sweeping the toys off the tray with a taut arm and a frustrated scream.

"Soul! What'd you do that for?" Maka said angrily. It wasn't often she saw Soul become so frustrated, and she'd never seen him quite like this in all the years she'd known him, lived with him, fought with him.

He didn't say anything, just staring into space. Maka knew he was in pain. Stein confirmed Maka's suspicians when he'd said that he wouldn't be allowed to take any pain killers because it would null the results of the therapy. She felt bad, she felt helpless because there was nothing she could really do but pick of the pieces and let him try again.