Nygus shook her head as she walked out of the dispensary a few hours later. Stein was asleep, sitting against the wall, his head leaning back against it. 'I suppose I wasn't plain enough about him going home and getting sleep.' She thought, a small smile crossing her face as she kicked Stein's hip. The meister's eyes popped open and were unfocused for a moment.
"Any change?" Stein asked as he cranked the screw in his head a couple times.
"None, he's unconscious, his temperature is maintaining. The interrogation team hasn't gotten anything out the witch yet. If nothing has changed in the morning, we're going to try cutting the ice, and if that doesn't work, we'll try something akin to a torch to melt it. Until then, Franken, go home and get some sleep." Nygus said, blocking the entrance to the dispensary as the man stood.
"At least let me check on him before I go." Stein said, standing in front of her.
"If I let you back in the dispensary, you're not going to be willing to leave, and we both know it. Just go home."
Stein stood, eyeing the weapon for a moment before turning on his heel and walking off. "Let me know if there are any changes, Mira."
"I will, Franken."
A buzzing pulled the scientist from his sleep on the couch. He blinked and almost yelled for Marie to answer the phone before the last week's memories crashed down over him. He grabbed the phone almost violently and growled out, "Yes?"
"Stein, Spirit is asking for you."
The phone hit the ground as the scientist rushed out of the lab and towards Shibusen.
Spirit was sitting up in bed, the ice shard almost completely melted away when Stein came into the room. He stood in the doorway, almost feeling awkward as he looked at the group of people surrounding the now conscious death scythe's bed.
Spirit smiled at him though, and Stein smirked when he realized that even though almost off the other blankets had been removed from Spirit's bed his lab coat was still spread out over the man. Stein caught Nygus' arm as she started to move past him and she looked up at him, dark circles visible even under her eyes.
"The interrogation team broke her, but not before they had a casualty. Shinigami-sama wants to talk to you after you speak with Spirit." Nygus inclined her head towards the death scythe and the people that had been gathered around him parted and left the room as Stein approached.
"Senpai." Stein's voice was quiet and he sat on one of the empty seats beside the bed, his hands resting in his lap.
"Hey, Stein. Nygus said she had to threaten you to get you to leave," Spirit joked out, pushing himself into a better sitting position and winced a bit as he did so.
"I couldn't leave a patient." Stein said, looking at the streaks of frost still covering the death scythe's chest.
"Yeah, Nygus said you stayed until she made you leave. You didn't have to do that, Stein." Spirit said as he turned his head to look at the scientist.
Stein just smirked. "I know that I didn't, though I could hardly observe your condition properly from the lab."
Spirit gave a small chuckle that turned into a yawn, and the man tilted his head way from Stein as he did so, his neck stretching as he raised his hand to cover his mouth. "I know Nygus said I was unconscious for a while, but I don't feel like I've slept much."
Stein furrowed his forehead and focused on Spirit's soul. It still looked like it was encased in ice, and if anything, the cage was stronger than it had been. He watched as the ice melted and the cage grew stronger, if only by a miniscule amount. Spirit was still talking, but Stein wasn't paying attention, he was just watching the spell that was wrapped around Spirit's body weaken as the one around his soul strengthened.
"Stein?" Spirit's hand weakly caught Stein's arm and the scientist blinked back into focus. "Hey, Stein?" Spirit repeated.
"Senpai, I have to talk to Shinigami-sama." Stein stood brusquely, leaving the room as Spirit watched in disbelief.
"Stein?" Spirit's voice reminded him of the pleading way Marie had called to him a few days before she had been taken, and the scientist froze in the door.
A few long strides took him back to Spirit's side, his hand wrapping around the death scythe's tie while his other leaned on the bed as he pushed Spirit against the wall. The death scythe's eyes opened wide as Stein's lips pressed against his, a small gasp of surprise escaping him.
Spirit tasted cold. His lips were still nearly frozen, and the gasp that ran along Stein's lips was colder than it should be, but Stein ignored that. He just leaned against the man, deepening the kiss, his eyes slipping closed as he felt Spirit's hand rest on his back. They opened again when he felt resistance and with a start realized that Spirit was leaning forward and kissing him back.
"Ahem." The cough was gentle, but definitely a reminder that they were in a public place. "Franken, Shinigami-sama is wanting to speak to you." Mira Nygus' voice was quiet, and when the meister and weapon turned to look at her she was trying hard to suppress a smile.
"Yes… thank you Mira." Stein said as he stood from the bed, Spirit's hand only reluctantly slipping from the meister's back.
A glance at Spirit's soul calmed Stein a bit. The cage that was encompassing the weapon's soul was weaker. A sly smirk slipped across the scientist's face as he walked onward to the meeting with Shinigami-sama.
He wasn't quick enough to miss Nygus' comment to Spirit. "I thought that you liked girls, Death Scythe."
"Oh shut up, Nygus," his weapon responded.
"Shinigami-sama, I was told that you wanted to speak with me." Stein said during his bow to the reaper.
"Ah yes, Stein-kun! I wanted to let you know what we had learned from the Witch Auril!" Shinigami-sama's voice was too hyper and happy for the scientist and he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Well?" Stein asked after a moment.
"Well what?"
Stein sighed. "You were going to tell me about Witch Auril."
"Oh yes! She planned on using a mimesis of you to infiltrate the academy." There was a moment of silence.
"And Marie?"
Shinigami-sama's voice was sad. "The witch referred to her as 'collateral damage' and a 'casualty of war', I'm sorry. It seems… she was in the wrong place at the wrong time… according to the witch, if she can be trusted, Marie was supposed to be kept alive…" The skull shaped mask drilled into Stein's eyes. "They were going to trade her for you."
"Why me?"
"Outcast, loner, hermit." The words evoked no reaction from the scientist. "You were an easy target for them to replace… any personality deviations would be easily explained by a drop into madness… I am truly sorry for Marie, my condolences, Stein-kun."
Stein just sighed. "There was a casualty."
"Yes, the Internal Affairs agent that replaced BJ was killed by another spell, this one residual magic on her person."
"What caused her to release the spell on Senpai?" Stein asked curiously.
The shape of Shinigami-sama's mask changed slightly, looking both terrifying and humorous at once. "She was given an option. Life in prison should she remove the spell, or I would destroy every last trace of her soul. She readily agreed."
Stein couldn't help the smirk that crossed his lips. "Did you find out any of the specifics of her plan, Shinigami-sama?"
"Yes, actually we did." The shinigami said, and Stein waited patiently for the answer.
A/N: I am evil, yes. Get it out, rant if you want. I hope that you're still enjoying this. I don't own Soul Eater.