Stein sat on his knees, her blood soaking into his lab coat and pants, her soul cradled against his chest. He could feel the calming influence of her wavelength even though she was dead.

Dead.

Marie was dead.

All because he hadn't done as she asked and checked the pockets of his lab coats. The same lab coat that he was wearing right now.

He suddenly couldn't bear to wear the item, but he couldn't bring himself to take it off because she had fixed it for him, when he had been too busy with an experiment. Even from where he was sitting he could see the stitching that didn't quite match. Her attempt to fix a hole in it. He forced himself to look away from the awkward stitching and up at her.

Her body still hung on the wall in front of him, the blood oozing from the ragged wound where someone had eviscerated her while she was still alive. Her limp form held his gaze and he was only distantly aware of the sound of sobbing coming from beside him, of the feel of a hand on his shoulder. He looked back down at the soul that he was cradling in his arms, and felt something shift inside him.

"I am going to dissect them all."

He felt the hand on his shoulder tighten as they both heard the door to the room move, the steel creaking on its hinges. Spirit stood, and Stein heard the distinct snick of his blades coming out.

Even with a broken nose, a blackened eye, and missing an arm the imitation from before was on his feet, hysterical laughter pouring from his throat.

"I told you you were too late!"

Spirit was on his feet a second later, a scream tearing from his throat. Stein never moved, just stared at the soul in his arms. The gurgling sound of blood in a windpipe finally made him look over his shoulder.

Spirit stood with the man against the wall, a blade buried in his throat. The man was gurgling and Spirit was screaming, twisting the blade. It was obvious the death scythe was trying to inflict as much pain as he could on the man and Stein shook himself from his agony.

"Senpai!" Stein stood, keeping Marie's soul carefully cradled against his chest even as he darted over to Spirit, his free hand catching the death scythe's shoulder and pulling him back. Spirit's blade disappeared in a flash and he hit his knees.

"We were too late."

Stein sunk to his knees beside the man, staring at the almost decapitated imitation. A second later Spirit's face was pushed against Stein's chest; the man sobbing uncontrollably as Stein carefully slipped Marie's soul into a specially crafted pocket of his lab coat. Hesitant hands touched Spirit's back as Stein felt his own pain resurface. Taking a deep shuddering breath he let his head lean forward so that his cheek rested on the top of Spirit's head; the death scythe's hand curled into the scientist's lab coat, bunching it up between his fingers as he sobbed. Stein's own hands unknowingly balled the death scythe's suit jacket up, forming tight fists.

Stein didn't know how long they stayed like that before Spirit's tears finally ceased. The man suddenly realized where he was and jerked away from Stein. "I'm sorry, Stein."

"We have a job to do, Senpai." Stein said emotionlessly, and stood, extending a hand to the man. Spirit took it and with a glance over his shoulder at Marie's ruined body he followed Stein out of the room and into the complex. Spirit transformed without the need for Stein to ask. The scientist strode through the now empty complex; following the trail of souls that had gathered together in what he surmised was a meeting room.

"Stein, we have to be careful. We have to get her soul to Shinigami-sama." Spirit's voice was broken as it came from the scythe blade.

"We will, Senpai. But first we will destroy this damn place." Stein hefted the scythe onto his shoulder as he came to the shut door.

His wavelength blew it open.

A dozen imitations clogged the room, each smiling at them as they entered. They came from all directions, the women transforming into fractured representations of Marie's weapon from. The males were obviously not very proficient with wielding them, and swung haphazardly at Stein.

Stein just waded into the middle of them, easily deflecting the blows. One witch hunter dispatched of the crowd closest to him, the rest of them suddenly not so eager to fight the scientist and backing away. Stein's laughter cut through the noise before a voice trumped his.

"She warned you, didn't she? She had time to do so. We made sure of that. What took you so long to find her? You were too late." A woman stepped from a hidden alcove, the imitations bowing and scraping as she walked towards the meister and weapon.

Her purple eyes contrasted sharply to her pure white hair and pale features. Thin lips stretched into a smirk as she stopped well out of range of the lethal scythe blade. "Well, what took you so long? Her last thoughts were of you, you know."

Stein screamed out wordlessly, charging the woman. A moment later and his body was covered in frost, his steps slowing so that he stopped, frozen, Spirit's blade inches from the woman's neck.

"Answer us or we'll shatter him. You'll lose your Senpai and that woman in the same day. What. Took. So. Long. We even left you an address." The woman's delicate features curled into a sneer. "Or perhaps you're just not as intelligent as we had thought."

Stein strained against the spell that had frozen his limbs, curses flying from his mouth. The woman just laughed, one fragile looking hand reaching out to tap Spirit's blade.

Spirit screamed, blood erupting from the weapon, and Stein could easily see the crack that ran up the weapon's blade. Her fingernail rested against the blade and she looked at Stein, her face emotionless. "Answer me, Franken Stein."

"You ask a madman to discern reality when you've taken the only tie he has to it," Stein sneered out. "What do you think took so long?"

She laughed coldly, Stein's muscles straining even as she tapped the blade again. Spirit convulsed, but the spell kept him frozen in his weapon form, blood pooling at their feet. She made one mistake though. She left her hand sitting on Spirit's blade.

"I'm sorry, Senpai."

Spirit understood. "Just do it and hurry damn it!"

Stein's wavelength surged through Spirit, causing the scythe to scream in agony. It channeled through Spirit and into the witch, knocking her away from the pair. The spell surrounding them shattered, Spirit flying from Stein's grasp and hitting the ground in a bloody heap. The weapon's eyes were closed, his breathing shallow.

The witch hadn't fared much better, part of the spell's power reverberating into her, her skin frozen and cracked from the force of the blow. Stein staggered to his feet as she did, and before she could regain her senses he slammed into her, forcing his wavelength over her. She screamed, arching against him even as he poured every bit of his energy into maintaining the wavelength that he was coursing through her body.

She hit the ground panting, tears flowing down her face. Stein stood over her, his scalpel already in hand. Twisting the screw in his head he looked down on her, his face an impassive mask even as his eyes rolled wildly around in his sockets.

He knelt over the disoriented witch, his lips stopping right beside her ear. "I'm going to make you pay for everything that you did to Marie. For every cut, for every bruise. You'll live until I feel that you have repaid your debt. Then I may kill you. Though, I don't believe that you can ever pay what you owe for taking Marie away from this world."

She opened her mouth to cast a spell and Stein's scalpel slid into her throat, cutting her vocal cords with a surgeon's precision. He could feel Marie's soul, so close to his own, tempering the bloodlust and pain he felt, blocking the worst of the madness.

The witch hissed at him and he just smiled, his scalpel descending on the woman's eye, and with a few quick cuts, removing it. Blood splattered and she thrashed below him even as he pinned her chest and roughly held her head in place, his scalpel repeating the process. He raised the sharp blade above him, bringing it down towards her when he felt something weakly catch his arm.

"Stein… bring her to justice. Let Shibusen deal with her…" Spirit was swaying, trying to stay on his feet, blood coming from a dozen cuts across his arms, seeping through his shirt. Stein hesitated before slipping the bloody scalpel into his pocket. He looked down at the blinded and silenced witch, and looked up again just in time to catch Spirit as he toppled head first to the ground, blood pooling around him.

Spirit opened his eyes to Shibusen's dispensary. His entire body hurt, and he realized that he was naked from the waist up, just the thin sheet and bandages covering his body. After the cold that he had experienced he felt like he was on fire, and his hands flew up without his consent, plucking at the bandages.

"Senpai, don't." Stein's voice came from beside him, the man's hand catching his own.

"I'm on fire. Stein, it's burning, I'm on fire." Spirit said in rush, managing to hook his finger underneath one of the bandages. Just the slight breeze he felt as he did sent a delicious chill through the man's body.

Stein's hand caught his other hand, holding them together as the scientist called for Nygus. Spirit began to struggle, his eyes opening wide.

"I'm burning!" The death scythe screamed suddenly, yanking his hands from Stein's and ripping one of the bandages off to reveal the stitched skin beneath. A second later a needle slid into the death scythe's neck and Spirit's eyes fluttered shut.

"He just went through a traumatic experience, Stein." Nygus said quietly as she rebandaged the area. "He'll be fine."

The scientist just nodded, concern in his eyes.

Spirit stood next to Stein a few days later as they were lowering the casket into the ground. The ceremony was simple and short, few having time to spend mourning with the events of the world. The kishin was still loose, and even the death of one of Shinigami-sama's death scythes had to be placed on hold for proper mourning.

Stein watched with no expression on his face as the mahogany coffin was lowered into the ground, dirt thrown on it. Spirit stood beside him until the last bit of dirt covered the grave, the other mourners gone.

"We tried, Stein."

The scientist didn't answer; he just stood staring at the grave. Spirit turned to leave and was shocked when Stein's hand snaked out to grab his wrist.

"She deserves a wake." Stein's voice was low, and it allowed for no complaint or discussion. Spirit just shrugged.

"Alright, Stein. Let me go get something, then we'll give her the wake she deserves." Spirit said. Stein's hand released the death scythe's wrist and Spirit walked away from the grave, leaving Stein alone.

The scientist waited until he was certain that Spirit was gone before pulling a small item from his pocket and walking to the grave. He was careful to not disturb the soil more than was necessary, removing a small bit from near the headstone that proclaimed who she was. He slipped the item into the depression and covered it back up before standing.

He walked off then, leaving behind the grave and the small item behind. He caught up to Spirit a little while later, the death scythe returning.

"Stein?" Spirit asked.

The scientist stopped. "Yes, Senpai?"

"I thought you were staying at the grave?"

"Marie isn't there." Stein stated simply. "Now then, she needs a wake."

Spirit perked up a bit. "Yeah, I've made a few calls already. They'll meet us there." Stein nodded, letting the death scythe lead him. Neither man noticed that they were walking a bit closer than was necessary or that, on occasion, their hands would touch briefly on the backswings.

A/N: The ball is rolling. Let's see where we'll go with the next chapter, shall we?

I don't own Soul Eater.