A/N: Well, I wasn't gonna write a Soul Eater fic. Then I got a little idea that got very out of hand, and here we are. This was inspired by a specific fanart (linked on the AO3 posting of this story). I'm sure the artist intended something totally different than what I did, but...well you'll see hopefully where the inspiration comes in.

I have only seen the anime, so no manga influences on this story whatsoever. This is set after episode 8 but before episode 12, so anywhere in there. The prologue is very short sorry, but chapters average 1K words with the longest at 1.5K and the shortest just under 1K. The story is finished except the last chapter as of this first posting, so updates will be nice and quick.

I don't wanna spoil the story, but the main char in this is Stein. The violence is canon-typical but more descriptive? I'm hoping the story gives off a more suspenseful vibe than anything. This is not intended as a ship fic. And this is canon-compliant. Hope you enjoy.

Grasping for the Wind

Prologue

"I screwed up."

Stein looked at the sterile cart with its neat, tidy rows of instruments and sutures. And for the first time in his life, taking one of the delicate tools in his hand didn't cause his heart to race with excitement.

"I couldn't guard because if I did, Soul would get hurt. And I couldn't attack, because the black blood would harden against them. I was going to run away but...he backed me against the wall. The doors wouldn't open. I..."

"Maka."

"I never should have gone in there! I screwed up!"

"It will be okay, Maka. Once we get back to the DWMA, Stein will patch up Soul. Isn't that right, Stein?"

Stein's fingers tightened on the forceps until his knuckles were white even through his latex glove.

"I screwed up."

"What?" Naigus said, and Stein remembered he wasn't alone.

"Nothing. Sorry," he said, bringing his attention back to the present as the weapon acted as nurse.

He watched as she gently and deftly washed away the seemingly endless red stains, revealing pale skin and torn flesh underneath. Some required a little more effort where the blood had dried, but too much of it was still fresh. He had already administered drugs to help the blood to clot, which he was grateful for the patient's sake had taken quick effect.

He adjusted his gloves as Naigus discarded the third blood-soaked cloth and moistened a fourth. The sight of the injuries as they were being revealed would usually inspire him and drive his curiosity, but this time they only caused him to grimace.

"Surprised to see you scrubbed up," Naigus said, glancing up at him from her task.

"Yes, well. He probably wouldn't want to see his blood all over my clothes afterward."

'He would probably reject my operating, too.'

"Do you mind if I ask...what happened out there?" Naigus said as she dropped yet another blood-soaked cloth in the hazardous waste bin.

Stein wished for a cigarette as he stared at the blood seeping slowly from countless lacerations, some long and some short, but all of them deep. They began neatly just below the collarbone and ended jaggedly below the navel, the entire torso having fallen victim and appearing now as a mutilated mess. There was hardly any white of skin to be seen, the wounds were that dreadful, and Stein grit his teeth as he forced his gaze upward from the red of the bloodied flesh to the red of Spirit's hair, and the pained expression on the face of his unconscious, former partner.

"You heard me," he replied. "I screwed up."