The constant beeping of the multiple monitors and machines which surrounded and were connected to the unconscious woman rattled in his head. Every noise was just as jarring as the last; those noises and the gentle rise and fall of the woman's chest was all that showed she was alive.

Dr Franken Stein sat next to Marie Mjolnir, her face pale and her eyes closed. She'd been in this state for days. Stein's head dropped slightly and he grabbed the side of the hospital bed. Marie was battered and bruised, but no matter what any doctors did, she didn't wake up. Her condition hadn't worsened nor improved since the day the damage was done.

"Stein, she's going to kill you!" Marie screamed, the gash in her leg bleeding. Ripping off the hem of her skirt, she began to tie it around the wound, still awaiting an answer from Stein.

"I can't let her get away." Stein said, trying to corner the scorpion witch. The witch laughed and rolled her eyes. She jumped in the air and hovered there, still laughing, circling Stein like an insect.

"I can kill you before you kill me." the witch said, deviously. Stein glowered at her and ran towards the wall, jumping up and launching himself for her, his arms out in front of him, soul menace loaded. The witch laughed and simply moved out of his path, watching as he hit the other wall and tumbled down, falling onto the floor. His reserves were running out.

"Alright, alright, this is just tragic. Say goodbye to your little lady friend now, Doctor." the witch laughed. Light reflected off of the blood pouring from Stein's face. Marie snarled and watched in wait as the witch brought herself to the ground. Marie then stood to her feet and charged with all her might, her hands out in front of her.

"I'm not just his little lady friend!" Marie yelled, causing the witch to turn around in shock. She was pretty sure she'd incapacitated the Deathscythe.

"Marie, no!" Stein exclaimed, jumping to his feet, but it was too late. You see, this was a special witch; a soul-consuming witch. Marie delivered an attacking wavelength to the ribcage of the witch. Yes, this wavelength would destroy her, but it would also destroy part of Marie as well.

The witch screamed as the wavelength coursed through her entire body. However, as it did, a black, electric wavelength crawled up Marie's arms, causing her to shriek.

"What is this?" Marie yelled as the witch cackled sadistically. The witch's soul literally exploded, knocking Marie back against the walls of the confine.

"Marie!" Stein yelled, running over to the limp, lifeless Marie. He hovered over her, his face plastered in shock. She was bloodied, and blood was dripping off of his own face.

"Marie?" Stein said, kneeling down and pulling her onto his lap. Her golden eyes failed to open. He could sense her soul, but something wasn't right. He concentrated hard on her soul.

And then he saw it.

"No… Fuck. No, she can't have… No!" Stein exclaimed as the image of Marie's soul was plain in his eyes.

Her soul was fractured; incomplete. It looked almost as if it had disintegrated away; the top quarter of her soul was missing.

Pulling bloodied strands of hair from her face, Stein closed his eyes tight and yelled to anyone that could hear.

"Help! Help!" Stein yelled. Spirit, Azusa, Sid, and Naigus had come along with Marie and Stein on the mission, but they had to keep watch for the witch's forces. After a good 10 minutes of yelling, Sid looked over the edge of the confine, which was deep in the ground.

"Help!" Stein yelled. Sid's eyes widened as he saw Marie.

"Stein, is she alive?" Sid asked.

"I don't know! Her soul... Her soul isn't … Her soul is…" Stein faded out.

"Stein." Spirit said, placing a hand on Stein's shoulder. Stein snapped back to reality but did not speak.

"Stein, come on. You have to eat something." Spirit said.

"Marie's not eaten for days." Stein mumbled.

"She's attached to a drip. And she's unconscious." Spirit said.

"I noticed." Stein muttered.

"Stein, come on. You've sat here for days." Spirit said, concernedly.

"I can't go." Stein said, quietly.

"Stein…" Spirit said.

"I can't go, because if I go, and she dies, then I killed her." Stein snarled. Spirit raised an eyebrow.

"What? Stein, you didn't do this." Spirit said.

"Yes, I did. I couldn't keep myself together, and I'll have fucking killed her!" Stein said, shooting a glare at Spirit.

"Stein, she chose to-" Spirit began, Stein stood up, took Spirit by the tie and shoved him up against the wall.

"She didn't choose to be unconscious for days. I did it." Stein said. Spirit coughed slightly as Stein dropped him to his feet.

"Stein. Marie is a grown woman. And, yes, it's terrible what happened, but she made her own decision." Spirit said. Stein sighed and shook his head.

"I won't have it. I did this. Now, I'd appreciate it if you left." Stein said, taking his seat back next to Marie.

"Stein…" Spirit said, trying to get through to his ex-technician.

"Just go." Stein said, gazing over at Marie's still closed eyes. Spirit sighed and looked on at the shadow of his former meister. He shook his head and walked out of the hospital room, where Azusa was waiting.

"How is she?" Azusa asked, walking alongside Spirit down the corridor. Spirit buried his hands into his pockets.

"Can't you go in there?" Spirit asked, his head down.

"With the way Stein ripped you apart? Imagine what I'll get." Azusa sighed.

"She's not getting much better. And it's tearing him apart, Yumi. It's fucking horrible…It's killing him." Spirit said. He may not have been very fond of Stein, but he could see when he was hurting. Spirit had witnessed most of the few emotional outbursts Stein had ever experienced, and this was, by far, the worst.

"Spirit… I'm sorry. Is she… Is she going to survive?" Azusa asked, her hand wrapped around Spirit's bicep, beginning to tremble at the notion of her best friend dying. Spirit looked down at the sheer terror on Azusa's face, and even ignored the way she was touching him to reassure her.

"They don't know…" Spirit whispered, "They just don't know anything. It's not even her bodily injuries… It's her soul."

"Spirit…" Azusa choked, "They can't let her die."

"She won't die. Stein won't let her die. Not on his watch." Spirit said, trying to calm the younger Deathscythe. He looked back at Marie's hospital room. He thought only one thing.

"You've always come through, and I've believed in you. You may be crazy; I may not trust you, but I've believed in you. Don't prove me wrong now, Stein."

Stein was with Marie the entire day. He'd gotten clearance, as a doctor who was able to keep watch on her soul, and had watched her every single day. That night, something had kept him up. He'd noticed something; a change in her soul.

It was regenerating.

He remembered, clear as day, the damage that had been done to her soul. And it was healing. She was healing herself.

God, this woman was amazing.

"Marie…Marie, come on. Just wake up. You can do this… I know you can do this!" Stein said, clutching onto Marie's hand.

Stein's bloodshot eyes was all that allowed him to see the woman before him. It was now six o' clock in the morning, and all Stein wanted was for Marie to open her eyes. The monitor's incessant beeping was driving Stein mad. Especially considering that there was nobody conscious in the room to drown it out. Stein just needed something; anything. Anything that showed him that he hadn't killed his best friend.

Stein stood up and shook his head. Who was he kidding? Marie wasn't his 'best friend.'

Fucking emotions. Sometimes Stein believed he was better off without them. And, maybe he was. But Mare's wavelength had brought him back from the madness and had brought the damned things with him. They could be so sure yet so fickle at the same time. But the weird feeling Stein got when Marie was around and the pain he was feeling now, knowing that he'd hurt her, had to have a name, right?

He loved her.

He irrevocably, undeniably, god-damn over-the-top, head-over-heels loved her.

"I love her." Stein said to himself.

"Hear that, Marie? I fucking love you. Just… Just wake up… please…" Stein trailed off.

Only Marie Mjolnir could reduce Stein to the state he was in now. It was her smile. It was her eyes. It was her laugh. It was the way that she walked. It was the way that she… moved?

Stein sat on the edge of his seat and took Marie's hand in his. He thought saw it. Was he imagining it?

"Marie…Marie?" Stein asked. He looked down and it happened again. Her fingers tapped lightly against his palm.

"Marie?" Stein asked, nearly trembling. He concentrated on her soul; it had regenerated completely.

"S-S-S…" Marie's lips parted for the first time in days.

"Marie?" Stein choked out, holding her hand tighter. He felt her hand tighten slightly around his. His face was plastered in expectation, just waiting… waiting for those golden eyes to open…

"S-S-Stein." Marie croaked. She hadn't had water for days, and her voice was hoarse.

"Marie." Stein sighed, knowing that Marie was alive. His head dropped once again, though, this time in relief. Marie's eyes opened slightly, and she turned her head gingerly to face Stein. He couldn't help but crack a smile, but felt a completely different emotion bubbling up inside him and spilling out of his eyes. A shock even to him at first, he took off his glasses and wiped away the tears.

"A-Are you crying?" Marie asked. Stein sighed. He'd usually deny it.

"I… I thought you weren't coming back." he choked out.

"Don't cry." Marie said, quietly tightening her hand around Stein's.

"I thought I'd killed you, Marie." Stein confessed.

"I'd die for you, Stein." Marie said.

"That doesn't mean I want you to." Stein said. Marie smiled slightly. She knew that.

"So, what's wrong with me? she asked, hoarsely.

"You've got a couple of broken ribs, so don't try to sit up. But mostly… it's your soul. The witch took some of it." Stein said. Marie gasped slightly.

"My soul?" Marie asked.

"Yes. But… you've repaired it yourself. You've regenerated your own soul." Stein said. Marie sighed slightly.

"Really?" Marie asked.

"Yes." Stein whispered.

"Have I regenerated fully?" Marie asked. He smiled and nodded.

"You have. That's… that's amazing." Stein said. Marie smiled before wincing and coughing slightly.

"Are you alright?" Stein asked.

"My mouth is really dry." Marie rasped. Stein nodded and stood from his seat.

"Give me a second." Stein said, walking away. Marie let go of his hand and watched as he left. His rugged appearance suggested he'd been here most of the time she'd been unconscious. She'd established that she'd been unconscious for nearly a week, judging by the calendar by the bed.

She'd also established that Stein loved her.

She'd been alert for a good few minutes before she'd actually been able to move. First her hearing came back. Then she regained feeling and movement. Marie heard him say it.

Stein walked back into the room with a cup full of ice cubes.

"The nurse said she'll be in to check on you in a minute. She said that you can't have water at the moment. Here." Stein said, placing the ice cubes on the small table next to Marie's bed.

"Do I run it along my lips?" Marie rasped, lifting a heavy arm to grab the ice chips.

"I've got it, Marie. This is doctor stuff. This is my thing." Stein said, taking an ice cube out of the cup. Stein pressed the cube gently against Marie's lips, running it around. Marie moaned, perhaps slightly too pleasurably, and closed her eyes.

"Better?" Stein asked, taking the ice cube off of Marie's lips and placing it back in the cup.

"Thanks, Stein. You… You're amazing." Marie smiled. Stein shook his head.

"I nearly killed you. That's not amazing." Stein said, sadly. The tone of the conversation automatically turned more solemn.

"You didn't kill me. Like I said, I'd die for you. And I put myself in front of that witch; you didn't do a thing wrong." Marie said, quietly.

"But-" Stein said. Marie grabbed his hand.

"I won't have it. Don't say it." Marie said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Why not? I put you at risk, and I-" Stein said. Marie scrunched her fists up and bit the bullet.

She loved him back. And that looked like pretty much the only thing that'd get him out of this self-loathing cycle.

"I love you, you know that?" Marie asked, her eyes fixed upon Stein.

"What?" Stein asked. Tears were now falling from Marie's eyes. She lifted her arm and rested her hand on Stein's cheek, pulling his forehead to press against hers.

"I love you." Marie whispered. Stein closed his eyes and breathed in Marie's scent.

"Why?" Stein asked, quietly.

"Because you've stayed with me. You've willed me on. You've willed me on since the minute I met you. And I love you." Marie said, stroking Stein's cheek with her thumb.

Stein couldn't let that confession hang in the air. He had to man up, face his fears and tell Marie-freakin'-Mjolnir that he loved her. Stein wasn't good at emotions at the best of times, and love… well, love confused even the most experienced of hearts.

"You're my reason to live. You're the only thing that convinces me that this world isn't complete crap. I… I love you, Marie. And, if you'd died, I don't… I don't think I could have…" Stein began, but Marie pulled his lips to connect with hers before he could end the sentence. Stein's hand ran up and behind Marie's head, threading his fingers through her hair. When they broke apart, Marie smiled weakly.

"You saved me." Marie whispered.

"I did not." Stein shook his head.

"Yes, you did. You believed in me. Now, you need to keep doing that." Marie said.

"How?" Stein asked.

"By going home. And getting some rest." Marie smiled.

"I will." Stein said. Marie held Stein's hand.

"You can visit again after you've had a good night's sleep in an actual bed." Marie said. Stein nodded.

"Stay safe." he leant down and whispered into her ear.

"I will." Marie whispered back.

"I'll see you soon." Stein said.

"I know." Marie replied, brushing Stein's hair out of his face.

"You need to shave." Marie smirked. Stein nodded.

"I know." Stein said. Marie lifted her hand and ran a finger along Stein's jaw line.

"Like, really need to shave." Marie said. Stein rolled his eyes. He smirked and rubbed his chin against Marie's cheek.

"Go home!" Marie laughed hoarsely. Stein smirked slightly.

"Alright." Stein said, standing up and letting go of Marie's hand. He walked out of the room and Marie smiled.

It seemed that all she had to do to find love was throw herself in front of a soul consuming witch for a man, who then thought he'd killed her, and wait until she'd been in a coma for near-on a week until she found out that he'd loved her for goodness knows how long. Piece of cake.

Stein walked out of the hospital room and shoved his hands in his pockets. He then proceeded to walk down the corridor. He smirked slightly ho himself in relief.

He'd kept his best friend.

Scratch that.

He'd kept the woman he loved.