It was his decision. He could choose whether to take advantage of Marie or not, in whatever shape or form that may be. Should he dissect her? Yes…he wanted to but not only that…he wanted to satisfy his instinctive male appetite. Yes, Stein had made his decision; he WAS going to experiment on her. He was going to do as he pleased to her body; he would explore every inch of it without discretion. Then after satisfying that half of his desires, he would cut her open and see what the inside of that lovely body looked like.

He stared down at her lower regions…mmmm he could see up the bottom of her dress a bit. How he wanted to be able to see further….he wanted to touch her…

Stein's sadistic toothy smile appeared as he knelt down to be level with her face and cocked his head to the side.

"You look so lovely Marie….I'm sure you'll look even lovelier without those clothes on and your skin sliced open." Stein said. "and now, I will—."

Stein froze…..she was asleep but….

"You're crying….why?" he said in a somewhat spacy and confused tone.

Marie's Dream:

"So….I won't get to see daddy anymore?" a ten year old Marie asked her mother with tear filled eyes and a quivery lip.

"I'm sorry Marie…." Her mother said softly, looking away from her daughter.

"So…daddy…isn't coming home?" Marie asked with her voice cracking even more.

Marie couldn't take it…she knew….she KNEW. She was ten but SHE KNEW….what that stone in front of her meant….a grave…she knew what that was. She could see it had her father's name on it clearly….but why? Why did he have to be him? Why couldn't it be someone else?

"That's right….." Marie's mother answered.

There was a hush, but soon Marie wailed and began to sob uncontrollably as she flung herself into her mother's arms. Marie's mother sank to the ground and held her daughter, crying as well.

"I don't want him to be gone! I want him to come home!" Marie sobbed.

"I'm so sorry…" the blonde woman said, petting her daughters hair.

It had been so confusing to Marie….what had happened? They were at the beach and her mother had been swimming when suddenly she sank beneath the waves. Her father grabbed a float and immediately left for her mother. Marie had felt so helpless standing there on the white sand watching things unfold. Her father left….and her mother came back on the float…alone….

They had recovered his body but Marie didn't see that….her mother wouldn't let her. It took a few days for the funeral to be planned and during that time Marie couldn't help but desperately cling to a hope that her father was just gone for a little while; she knew that wasn't true….

"I'm sorry….I'm sorry…my Marie…" Her mother whispered in tears.

"Mommy….daddy…daddy….I MISS YOU DADDY! I want you to come back! Come back! Come home! You promised you'd kiss me goodbye when I went to the academy! YOU PROMISED!"

Exit Dream:

Stein had stopped; apparently he hadn't been completely swallowed up by the madness because right now all he could do was stare….what happened? Why was Marie crying?

"Come back….come back…" she whispered in her sleep.

Come back? What did that mean?

"I miss you….I miss you so much…." She breathed.

Who did she miss? Why was she missing them?

"Who do you miss?" Stein asked softly.

Marie sniffed loudly as tears continued to flow down her face freely.

"Marie?" Stein asked.

She began to shiver and sniff louder.

"Why did you leave me?" she choked out.

What?

"Marie…" Stein said, continuing to watch her.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye…..didn't get to say goodbye…" she whimpered.

Stein didn't know who this person was, but it was obviously very serious and horribly traumatic for Marie.

"Marie, wake up." Stein said, pressing a hand against her shoulder.

Marie continued to cry; this was horrible.

Stein shook her more firmly. "Marie, wake up." He said a bit more loudly.

She still didn't wake, and her body began to quake uncontrollably…what could he do? This was too much. What now?

Stein did the only thing he could think of at the time; it was almost like instinct and he wondered where the action had come from. He leaned in carefully and pressed his lips against the corner of her mouth.

Having made contact, Stein held it for only a few seconds before regretting the action. He pulled away aggressively and cursed himself. Damnit…he wasn't supposed to feel this way! He was supposed to be rejecting his past feelings for Marie! Now he was….ugh what could he have been thinking?

Stein was torn from his self-scolding when Marie's eye shot open.

"Stein…?" she asked weakly.

She then felt the moisture on her face and wiped it away quickly. Shortly after that, she realized her state of dress and sat up stiffly and attempted to cover herself. It was impossible though. When she pulled the dress up to cover her breasts, it was too short on the bottom, but if she tried to cover her lower regions, it would expose more of her breasts.

Stein wordlessly removed his lab coat and draped it over her shoulders, allowing her to do the rest of the work.

"Thank you…" she said softly.

Stein nodded.

Awkward silence…

"Who did you lose?" Stein asked finally.

"Huh?" Marie asked in confusion.

"You were talking in your sleep. Who did you lose?" Stein asked carefully.

"Stein…." Marie paused.

She wanted to tell him but…

"It's ok." Stein said.

Marie looked at him with confusion.

"You don't have to tell me if you're not ready." Stein said calmly. "There's no reason you should have to."

Marie nodded with a smile. "Thank you." She said kindly.

Stein nodded but he was still inwardly distraught. What could he do? Had he given Marie false hope earlier about their relationship? Had he made her think that he still had remaining feelings?...even if that was true….he just couldn't….ugh was she thinking about being in a relationship with him? And how did he feel about Marie? He was so unsure about everything; his brain was fried for once.

If I can't figure it out, then I will assume that I do not love Marie…not romantically…

At that thought, Stein could have sworn he felt a pain shoot through his chest, but he shoved it aside.

Even if I do love her, we can never be together; a relationship between us is impossible.

When he looked up again, he saw that Marie had a tender smile on her face…one that read…love? No. No, no NO.

"Stein…I didn't say anything before but…well Stein I really think that I still—."

"Don't Marie." Stein said cutting her off.

Marie's eye went wide.

"Don't say anything else…because I don't." Stein said with his bangs covering his eyes. Marie stared on in fearful anticipation. "…because I don't love you. I don't. I don't want a relationship with you…I don't even know what I want. Don't grow attached to someone like me, Marie. I'm not….I don't even know what to think of you. Because I can't figure it out…I don't love you."

Silence…..

The only thing that could be heard was Marie's shallow breathing.

How was she supposed to react to this? This had to be the most heart shattering moment of her life….and it was at the time she needed it least.

(A/N: Oh wow! Stein is really trying hard to keep things under control! But poor Marie is getting torn apart in the process. Ok, I have to say, I think Marie would look incredibly hot as a French maid lol no I'm not a lesbian; I just think Marie is damn adorable. So what will Marie do in her moment of complete despair? She's just woken up from a dream of losing her father AND Stein is going mad AND the kishin has been revived! What is Marie to do? Hehe you will find out in the next chapter! Thanks for reading everyone.)