A/N: Ah, sorry it's been so long since my last update! I've been busy writing other scenes for this story as well as chiseling out my idea for my one piece stuff that has not been updated since April! It's quite terrible, really. Well, this chapter is another short one. I promise the next one will be packed full of all kinds of cool stuff to make up for my slack!

Chapter 6

The Brothers Evans

I have to admit, I felt extremely uncomfortable with having to call my brother, late at night, asking to 'pop in for a visit.' I waited as the other line rung a few times, keeping an eye on Maka from her bedroom doorway as she stuffed a few things in a backpack.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Wes. It's Soul."

"Soul? Uh, hey, what do you need?"

I sighed. How the hell was I supposed to explain this? "Uh, well I—we need a place to stay for the night."

" 'We'? You and—"

"Maka, my partner, my . . . meister."

There was an awkward pause. "Her dad's not after you two, is he? Soul, did you get her pregnant?"

"What? No! She's not pregnant!"

Maka looked up from her packing. I couldn't see her face that well, but I knew she had a good, cold glare aimed at me. I could just feel it.

"Look," I trying to stay focused, "we need a place to stay outside the city. Something happened and . . ." I walked away from the doorway into the living room and whispered into the mouth piece so Maka wouldn't hear me, "well Maka's spooked. She got . . . mugged."

"Mugged? Is she ok?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah. I got there just in time before any real damage could be done, but she's pretty upset. I think it'd be best if we just went somewhere else tonight."

"Well, yeah, sure, I guess. I mean, if you guys don't have any other options."

"Thanks, Wes. I really appreciate this."

"Just call when you get here."

"Will do. See ya."

"Bye."

I shoved my phone in my cargo pocket and headed back toward Maka's bedroom. She was sitting on her bed playing with the tassels of her tied fleece throw, you know, the kind you can make on your own by tying all the strips together. She went nuts making those one year for all her Christmas presents. In fact, I had one in my own room, a bright red underside with a music note pattern on top.

"Maka, you ready to go?" I asked her quietly.

Her head jerked up at my voice and she nodded her head slowly. I shouldered my own backpack and soon we were locking up the apartment and getting into the car to head off to Wes's apartment, just outside Las Vegas.

The drive went really smooth, nothing but empty back roads the whole way. Although Maka looked better, that is she had her color back and was coherent, but she tended to space out most of the trip, listening to her iPod and staring out the black-tinted windows.

I tossed my cell to her. "Text Wes, would ya? Tell him we're pulling into Blue Diamond Crossings."

"Ok." Poor girl, she still seemed a little out of it. I glanced over at her as she squinted at the harsh light on the screen. Hopefully she'll be Maka again by morning.

We pulled up to his apartment building and got out, grabbing our back packs and heading up the rod iron stairs to his front door on the second floor.

"Hey, guys," he smiled when he answered the door and let us in. He was in a red silk robe and bare feet.

The apartment was surprisingly . . . low key, for Wes that is. It was smaller than I remember his other apartments being, with a small living room decked in humble furnishings, a dining area at the far end of the room, a kitchen through a doorway off to the right, and a hallway opposite that had two closed doors facing each other and another one at the far end. It surprised me how not flashy and normal the whole set up was. If you knew my brother, you'd be surprised by this too.

"Umm, make yourselves at home . . . Maka, you can sleep in the guest room, just down the hall here." He pointed to the first door on the right in the little hallway. "And Soul can have the pullout couch. I have plenty of blankets and sheets and . . . here, maybe some wine will calm the nerves." Wes then whipped out some wine glasses from the mini bar as well as a bottle of high-end wine.

I have to admit, it was probably the best wine I've tasted in a while, an awkward air surrounded us. Well, it's not like anyone really knew what to say.

"So, Maka, are you alright? Soul said you've been in quite a state since . . . since the incident," Wes said, playing with his wine glass. Maka looked back at me quizzically, probably wondering what I had told him and how much was true. She knows damn well my family has very little understanding of what and who I really am.

"Uh, yeah, I feel a little better," she said, still glancing back at me. "This wine is really good."

"Well thank you, Maka. Yes, it's a high quality Sherry I just bought this weekend."

"Mmmm, and it's calmed my nerves greatly, thank you, Wes." She smiled sweetly and almost did a little curtsey. Leave it to Maka to win over anyone's favor, even my brother's.

"You're very welcome."

"Um, I'm going to get ready for bed, I'm really very tired. Long day you know." She politely handed back her now empty wine glass.

"Oh yes, yes, I understand. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thank you!" Maka smiled wide at Wes, and then she took a quick look back at me before heading to the guest room Wes indicated earlier.

By the time I turned around from watching her leave, Wes had already walked to the far wall and pulled back the blinds to open the sliding doors out onto the balcony. I followed him out there with my wine glass.

It was actually a nice night outside, out where the moon didn't sneer at you and the stars shone brightly on the desert scenery. Wes leaned against the small iron balustrade and lit a cigarette, his gaze toward the bright halo in the distance that must have been Vegas.

He let out a puff of smoke and handed me a cigarette. I took it without a word and let him light it. I rarely ever smoked, mostly because Maka would give me hell for it if it became a serious habit of mine, but as of right now I only did it when offered.

We both leaned on the railing, staring at the stars. "So what's up with the apartment? I half expected some big flashy condo."

Wes chuckled lightly and took another drag. "It's just temporary until I find a better place in Vegas."

"So you playing in Vegas now? Suits you."

"Yes, I'm playing in Vegas. Not everyone in Vegas just wants to gamble and get laid. Some are there for high class entertainment."

"Whatever."

"Well clearly it's more than whatever it is you do."

I sighed in frustration and flicked the ashes off the end of my cig. "You know, Wes, you are such a prick sometimes."

Wes laughed at this and ruffled my hair, "And you, Soul, are such an idiot sometimes."

I shook him off me and took another drag. "I know you don't care much what I do for a 'living' if you could call it that, but I'm happy there, it's good for me."

Wes was quiet a while, puffing on his cig and swishing his wine around in its glass. "It's good for you in some ways, yes. That Maka girl definitely has influence on you."

"Leave Maka out of this," I hissed and took a drink.

"You know, I never could quite understand why you 'paired' up with Maka. Is that what you call it? She's really nothing like you at all. You must really love her."

I choked on the last bit of wine in my glass. "What? What did you just say?"

"Well, it only makes sense that way, Soul. You must really love her to have been so loyal to her all these years. I mean, don't get me wrong, Maka's a nice, smart girl, but she's not what I expected. That's all. I guess it goes with the saying, 'opposites attract.' "

I continued coughing on the wine in the back of my throat. "So you think I love her?" I wheezed.

"Good god, Soul!" Wes exclaimed, slapping me hard on the back. "It's painfully obvious." When I finally stopped choking, he flicked his cigarette from the balcony, drained his glass, and turned to leave, saying, "I'm off to bed."

I remained there on the balcony, still smoking. Was it that painfully obvious?

"S-Soul?"

I looked up from figuring out my bed to see Maka's head poking out of the hallway. "Oh, Maka," I acknowledged.

She slid around the corner and stood at the edge of the pull-out, her tie blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "I-I wanted to say I'm sorry for . . . well, for all of this." She looked down at her toes which started nervously kneading the carpet.

"Maka, it's fine," I sighed. "You don't need to apologize. I just wanted you sage and calm."

I finished laying out the sheets and blankets, then crawled into the pull-out bed. Maka sat down on the opposite edge, then spun herself around so she was facing me cross-legged, blanket wrapped around her like an Indian chieftain.

"Oh go right ahead and make yourself comfortable," I teased.

She rolled her eyes and a smile flicked across her face. "I just feel like I've caused everyone so much trouble . . . like always."

I propped myself up on my elbow. "Maka, how many times do we have to have this argument? You're not troublesome to anyone. We're your friends; we know you'd do the same for any of us."

She was quiet for a little while, deep in thought, playing with a tassel on her blanket. Finally, she said, "I just got scared, I guess. I could always rely on my soul perception, even with soul protect. But this time, it was pretty useless."

"Well, geeze, Maka!" I laughed. "You freak out when you can see someone's soul, and you freak out when you can't see someone's soul . . . would you just make up your mind, you dork?" I reached over and playfully flicked her forehead.

"Ow! Soul!" she yelped, swatting at me with her blanket. After a few misses, I caught it and yanked hard. Maka comically toppled over onto the pillow next to mine.

"You jerk!" This required more swatting at me, with her hands, though, because I still had her blanket held hostage. Finally she managed to wrestle her blanket free and tucked it around herself, making it clear she wasn't going to vacate my bed anytime soon.

"Maka," I said after a while, "we're a team. Whatever we go through, we go through together. Got it? Even if we don't know what we're fighting."

She smiled, making her eyes droop even more, and smiled for the first time I've seen that day. "Got it." Then she placed her hand between our two pillows.

I reached up and placed my own hand over her small, but tough, hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Oh and Soul?" she suddenly asked, squinting at me in the darkness.

"Yeah?"

"I think I found something important in the library today."

"Really? What about?"

"About the randomized waves. We need to. . ." she yawned and pulled her blanket more closely around her, "tell Shinigami-sama."

"Uh huh." I also yawned and closed my eyes. "First thing tomorrow."

Then all I heard was her steady breathing.