Stein placed both of his hands on Marie's shoulders, pulling the death scythe forward and to his chest. "Marie, there is nothing to be worried about. You ate her soul. It was completely destroyed- you're a death scythe. Nothing can bring back that soul, and there is no part of her left in you. It is a nightmare, nothing more." He wrapped his arms around her back as he continued to whisper. "You went through something very traumatizing that you should never have had to. It's normal to have nightmares. I promise you, there is nothing to worry about. You will not die if you go back to sleep. Laryn is not haunting you."

Stein pulled back from her, looking her square in the face. "I would be able to see her soul if what I said was a lie, Marie." He said gently, his hands on her sides, just above her hips. "Even if I could see her soul, which I cannot, I would protect you from her, Marie." His face was earnest.

She kissed him. Not the kisses that she had given him the night before; or the one where she fed him the jello. This kiss was delicate and sweet and lasted for just a brief moment, and when Marie sat back she kept her eye closed, her cheeks a bright red color.

When she opened them, Stein was gone. The death scythe sighed and staggered to her feet, clutching the towel around herself and took the three unsteady steps that it took to get to the door. She leaned against the door frame for a second, breathing heavy, exhausted with her eye closed. Stein's hand on her shoulder caused her to open her eyes.

"I didn't leave so you could stagger on your own, Marie." He said, guiding her back to sit down on the toilet. He had clothing in his hands, and despite her protests, he began to dress her.

He lacked a bra, but he just shrugged when she brought it up. He had remembered panties, and had managed to find a set of her sleep clothes. He dressed her quickly, but carefully. Before she could object he picked her up and carried her back to her bedroom, laying her down on the bed gently.

"I'll be right back, Marie." Stein returned a few minutes later; he was dressed now, and he had two bowls of broth. Marie felt her stomach rumble. Stein smirked.

"You heard that?" Marie blushed.

"You haven't eaten much in the last four days." He said easily.

"Four?" Marie looked up in surprise.

"You were unconscious for the first two days after we brought you home. I had an IV running to rehydrate you. If you hadn't woke up when you did, I was going to run a feeding tube." He sat down lightly on the edge of her bed, spooning some of the broth out and holding it to her, careful to avoid spilling it on her. "That was, fortunately, unnecessary."

Marie sat up slightly and accepted the bite. Stein chuckled. "Better than jello?" He teased.

"Safer for you!" She retorted as Stein made a face. "I can feed myself, Franken. It's not hot."

Stein hesitated, and then retrieved his forgotten pillow from the floor. Setting it on Marie's lap he then placed the bowl of broth on top of it, handing her the spoon. "Just go slow, and if you feel tired, let me know."

"I'm not broken, Franken!" Marie rolled her eyes.

"No, you're not." He said quietly. "But I intend to keep it that way."

Marie blushed, but took a sip of the broth. Stein picked up the other bowl, eating it quickly. The scientist slid off the bed and resumed his position sitting beside it, his laptop balanced on his knees. Marie ate about half of the bowl before she yawned.

Stein glanced up at her when she did, looking at her curiously. "Getting tired, Marie? I can take the broth if you are."

Marie just shook her head, and took another sip of broth, but couldn't suppress another yawn. Stein stood, deftly removing the broth from the pillow as Marie fell face first towards it. Patting his lab coat's pocket he picked the unconscious death scythe up and gingerly carried her down to the lab.

Stein placed the wires carefully, hooking Marie up to the machine so that he could perform a polysomnography while she slept. An almost tender look passed across his face as he pulled a sheet over her before moving to sit in front of the monitor, reading the results.

He fell asleep; his head pressed against the keyboard as the results ran through, and only woke up when he heard Marie shriek. He moved to her quickly and restrained her to the operating table, a twinge of guilt flaring through him momentarily before his curiosity squashed it.

The readings on the machine were going crazy. Stein watched Marie's soul carefully, studying it for anything that seemed different or off. Anything that wasn't Marie.

"Nothing." He said to himself. "It would seem I was correct- there is nothing rooted to her soul during these episodes. I just have to find a way to convince Marie of that. Nothing else will stop the night terrors." Stein let her sleep through it, guilt flooding through him for doing so- but he needed the data so he could make a proper diagnosis.

'Guilt. How odd that I would feel guilty for this when I had Marie's permission to perform the tests on her.' Stein thought to himself, a cigarette in one hand, Marie's hand in the other. He took a deep drag from the cigarette before blowing the smoke up and into the air, watching as it formed a small skull before dissipating.

"There are other tests you could perform while you're waiting on the results for this one." A voice whispered in the back of his skull, and for one harrowing moment Stein felt the urge to pick up a scalpel and cut into her body, to see how the pain would interact with her sleeping brain and what the results would look like. Gripping her hand, the urge passed and Stein took a deep shuddering breath.

After what seemed like an eternity (but was only about 25 minutes) the night terror subsided, and Marie's breathing slowed, her muscles unclenching. Stein examined the crescent shaped cuts on his hand, left by Marie's nails and stood, moving to disinfect the small scratches. Another scream made him whirl in place.

Marie had obviously slipped from a night terror into a nightmare. While obviously nowhere near as violent as the night terror the nightmare was evident. Marie's body was trembling, and she was covered in a light sheen of sweat. Stein removed the restraints and pulled the woman into his arms, removing the wires from her head as he whispered gently to her.

He picked her up once all of the wires were gone and carried her back to her room, slipping her into bed. Climbing hesitantly into bed beside her Stein wrapped his arms around her and drew her close.

"I'm sorry for putting you through that, Marie." He whispered, kissing her forehead. He held her until he was certain that she was completely asleep before returning to the lab, gathering all of the data that he had collected while she was asleep.

The results were unspectacular. It was obvious that the night terror she had been suffering was either pain and/or fear based. Stein rolled his eyes at the uselessness of the information. All it really did was confirm that she was having night terrors and nightmares, and that they were severe. Stein cursed, knocking the pile of papers off of the desk in his anger.

"I will find a way to help her." He growled.

A/N: I don't own Soul Eater. I hope that you enjoyed the latest installment :3