The angry sound of the surf is comforting as Maka exits the convention hall walking out to the end of the driveway. The sweeping lights of a car make her pause as she reaches the corner and she stands there waiting for the car to go around. After a thought, she tucks her purse under her arm more securely, bracing for a continuation of the argument if it is Soul. But as she rounds on the car her stomach drops, because it isn't him.

It's much worse.

The smooth hum of the sporty bright red BMW's passenger window as it rolls down grates on her nerves. She doesn't need this shit. "Well, well, well-" Deciding not to wait, Maka turns towards the ship and starts walking. Unfortunately, the car turns and follows after "-Looks like hell has frozen over so you're hoofing it."

"Get lost, Bale." As if anything could make this day worse at this point. But then, the skies open up, Maka stops with a sudden flinch when a fat raindrop makes contact with her forehead. Just fucking perfect. Jaw clenched tight, she draws a deep breath through her nose and keeps walking.

Next to her, Noah keeps pace. "Awwh, c'mon you stubborn mule-" He leans over the passenger seat to pop the door open "-Get in. I'll give you a lift back to the ship," he snickers.

Maka grinds to a halt in disbelief, "What?" Glaring at the open door, and then at Bale. "I wouldn't want to taint your perfect record- you don't need to go out of your way for me."

"I'm not, actually," he quips back, laughing as if the situation is amusing as hell. "It's on the way. You coming?" A handful of droplets splatter against the windshield and pearl up on the Rain X. "You've got two seconds," he says, feigned generosity waning.

Maka glowers at him for the full first one as she goes over her options. The way she sees it, she can either ride with this donkey, walk and get soaked, or hail an Uber and pray that Soul doesn't come out while she's waiting and getting rained on. For once, and possibly the only time in known history, Bale is the lesser of the evils. Damn it all- so she reaches out and grabs the handle to get in.

Soul increases the pressure on Starinsky's windpipe as he leans in, gripping the collar of the obscenely loud Hawaiian shirt hard, cutting the guys air supply by half. "I'm not going to repeat myself." His voice is steel on flint.

He knows he'd never have gotten the jump on Starinsky if he'd broadcast his intentions, the guy probably out matches him but his rage and the growing fear gnawing at the door of the black room fuel him.

For his part, Starinksy levels him with a frigid, electric blue stare even as he's losing oxygen. "She left!" he wheezes. "I offered her a ride, but she's stubborn. I don't know where she is!"

Soul doesn't let off the pressure- best case scenario, at this moment, Maka's gone back to his place to get her things, which means she's safe. He's going to have to wait until he has the warrant before he can track her down and mend the damage he's done.

Which leaves Bale. Soul hasn't seen him since Star-boy here blew his cover out of the water. His grip on the shirt tightens. "Where's Bale?"

"He's gone- had plans tonight. What's it to you?" he chokes out.

"Fuck!" Soul growls, looking over his shoulder. "Back on the ship?"

"Fuck if I know!" The moment Soul's grip loosens, Starinsky twists his collar out of his grip, and sucks down a few breaths before he puffs up. "What the fuck's your problem Eater?"

Soul digs his credentials out of his jacket pocket and slams the badge on the wall next to Starinsky's head. "You, you fucking dip shit. The name's Evans and you fucking know it. Thanks for blowing my cover to kingdom come, asshole."

The cogs are clicking in his head as he reads the situation. "Fuck me-" The remaining color drains from Starinsky's face, only to be replaced by a splotchy redness as he stares at the DEA credentials. "Son of a bitch-" He looks up at Soul meeting his stony stare "-I swear I had no idea."

"That was the fucking point, idiot," Soul growls stuffing the ID back into the pocket. "Now where the fuck's Bale headed?"

"Probably the ship- wait! Holy shit, Bale's involved with drugs?!" he splutters.

"Yeah, he is," Soul says, glad he doesn't have to spell it out for him. "I need to get into the NSF. I can't afford to wait on the warrant, not after your big mouth, he's probably on his way to move the black blood tonight."

The last of Soul's suspicion evaporates as Starinsky's eyes go nuclear. "That motherfucker has heroin in my shop!"

The guy is too intense to be able to fake that level of surprise dishonestly. But just to be sure- "So, when did you give Bale the combination to your stateroom safe?" Soul asks.

"Last deployment- wait a minute." His eyes narrow looking at Soul carefully. "How'd you know he has the combination to my safe?"

Soul's lips curl into a wide grin. "'Cause he left me a gift there- the key to my stateroom. Which explains why it was the only thing in your safe."

Starinsky clearly isn't daft and his face goes into raging bull comprehension. "That sack of shit's trying to set me up?!"

"Looks that way," Soul says, and a part of him gets why Maka is friends with him.

"I'm going to kill him-"

"Stand in line!" He cuts him off, because Soul doesn't have time for this. "I need those codes." But, Starinsky is shaking his head and Soul tries to quell the rising frustration.

"No can do, bro-ham-" Soul stiffens "- Easy Quantum of Solace, I can't give them to you, but I can go with you."

Soul's chin jerks towards the doors- "Works for me." He doesn't bother looking back to see if Starinsky is following, he's already hit the auto start on the Hellcat before he's even crossed the lobby.

Maka considers throwing up over the smooth leather if Bale doesn't stop regaling her with the sordid details of his latest conquest. Lord, she should have walked. Thankfully they've pulled into the parking lot alongside the pier, and the rain has moved on. Maka goes for the handle the moment Bale kills the ignition. "Thanks." The word is drawn out and awkward due to an intense dislike of her fellow officer and her inability to be rude. The next few words she utters almost stick in her throat. "I owe you."

Bale must have an idea of what that costs her- being indebted to him- and it's clearly making his day even better. "Stop it, DCA, I'm going to get diabetes," he whines.

"Drop dead, Noah." Maka slams the door intending to leave him behind, but he's already halfway out of the car, it locks with a flash of the headlights.

His throaty laugh fills the air next to her as he falls into step beside her. "There's the spitfire bitch I've come to loathe." Maka increases her pace annoyed with his tone, but he won't let her go. He's back to cloying smoothness as he keeps talking. "Cut me some slack- don't you want to save some of that fire for Mr. Evans?"

"What…?" Maka stutter steps just shy of the guard rack and slows down to a near halt.

"So, you've known who he is all along?" His dead brown gaze somehow intensifies, and Maka feels a chill go down her spine. "I'm a little disappointed, I figured no one would ever be good enough. Or are you just sleeping your way to the top?" The lecherous grin he cracks falls miles short of his eyes.

"Excuse me? I…" For the first time since she's interacted with him, she's unable to take the bait. Maka flashes her military ID to the guard in the shack on autopilot trying to pull herself together as the Petty Officer salutes them through. While attempting to think of a way around this very serious problem. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Whatever else has happened, she would never blow Soul's cover.

"Really?" His eyebrows go up, but it isn't in a gesture of surprise. "Guess that means you missed Starinsky's extremely loud announcement." He's goading her, has to be. There's no way Benji would've blown Soul's cover unless- unless... A ringing is filling her head, Star would never… he wouldn't...

"It's probably a good thing you're not in the loop," Noah says, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his dress trousers.

They've reached the base of the brow, and Maka's head is still reeling from the implications of Starinsky's alleged betrayal. Her head refuses to believe it as she tries to shake it off. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she says, flatly. There's something itching at the back of her mind.

They're on the ladder when Bale's hand closes roughly on her arm. "I'm talking about your boyfriend's real job, Maka," he hisses, his voice full of venom.

"Let me go." A bubble of panic blooms in her stomach as she fails to wrench her arm from his vice like grip. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

There's an eerie light in those cold, dead eyes as he looks up the ladder, and says, "Taking care of loose ends."

The itch she couldn't place her finger on comes into laser focus a second too late. "Son of a bitch- it's you."

His face breaks into a nasty grin, and she's close enough to smell the chewing tobacco that fills his bottom lip. "Ding, ding, ding- we've a winner. Took you long enough Albarn, I was starting to think that big ol' brain of yours wasn't working anymore."

"Fuck you." Panic is replaced by dread when Maka looks up to see that the quarterdeck is lit but empty. The Officer of the Deck must have been in the shack with the Petty Officer. Her breath hisses when Bale digs his thumb into her elbow.

"Does it hurt?" His nasty grin widens. "Good. Listen up, smile pretty at the Officer of the Deck and check aboard as if nothing's wrong, alright?" Something hard digs into her side. "I'd hate to have to go through you to shoot the Office of the Watch- so don't get any ideas- ya get me?"

Hindsight you bitch, Maka thinks. "I always knew you were a snake, Noah." Maka's hiss turns into a grunt as Bale shoves what can only be the barrel of a gun further into her waist. And with two innocent sailors lives on the line, Maka isn't going to give him a reason. "Yeah- I got you."

"Ever the perfect sailor, always following orders."

When the opportunity arises, she's going to stomp his ugly grin into oblivion with the heel of her boot.

What's she supposed to do until then? It's not like she's going to sit on her hands until help comes- if it comes. This situation makes walking out on Soul look like an emotional temper tantrum. He probably thinks she's gone to his place to pick up her things. Still, though, she has to do something- but what?

"Oi- there!" Starinsky bellows, barely audible over the whine of the supercharger, pointing out a red BMW in the lot. "That's his car."

Soul acknowledges this by drifting into a parking spot alongside of it and then kills the idling growl of the Hellcat. From the jacket pocket he pulls out his badge and then digs out his Glock from the boot holster, popping the magazine to check the rounds out of habit, not necessity.

"You're packin'?" Starinsky says, eyeing the gun thoughtfully.

Soul looks across at his passenger with a grim nod. "Yeah."

"Maks know about that?" The tone is thoughtful.

"Yeah." The gun is returned to his boot before he gets out.

"And you still didn't tell her about your dad?" Soul grunts as the lieutenant sighs "-Bruh, you have some serious thrill issues, don't you?"

Soul gives a non-committal jerk of the head as he pulls his ship's badge out of Eater's wallet and then slams his door shut, locking it with a chirp of the horn. "Hey-" He waits until he's got Starinsky's attention "- Not a word about any of this unless I give it." He doesn't need this situation spiraling out of control before it's absolutely necessary.

"Copy that," Starinsky says face grim, and Soul will hold him to it. They flash their credentials and continue on. "You know, when this is over, you need to come clean and give Maka the rest of that explanation- and you best not withhold those three words she needs to hear."

What? Soul's steps falter as he turns to Starinksy, face reduced to shock.

"Please-" The guy is smirking at his dumbstruck expression "-It's so obvious. I know Maka- look, she wouldn't be nearly this worked up about things if she wasn't stupid in love with you." He waves him up the brow ladder before he falls in step behind. "Not even the ocean makes her eyes light up the way they do when she's around you."

Oh man, that last sentiment shouldn't make him feel as good as it does, but, fuck, it does. Starinsky's words have the stupid G on grandstand mode swelling with hope. If he and Maka can overcome his stupidity then maybe they can overcome anything.

At the last possible second, when he reaches the top of the brow ladder, Soul remembers he doesn't have to face the rear of the ship to salute, since the colors come down at sunset; there's no flag to honor.

"Ma'am, request permission to come aboard." Starinsky turns saluting Lieutenant Nygus.

"Permission granted-" The woman salutes, and waves Starinsky aboard. "How was the hail and farewell?" she asks.

"It was, uh, great." Soul watches Starinsky grin but doesn't miss the red tinge of his ears. "Hey Mira, any chance Noah's still aboard?"

Lieutenant Nygus's face goes grim for a fleeting moment- it isn't lost on Soul that the women of the ship do not like the man- but she nods. "Sure, unless he left by the Midships brow. I can call down and check if you'd like?"

Starinsky holds up his hands. "Nah- I'll do it. Thanks."

Soul follows the two officers to the shack but hangs back as they enter so he can look at the chain of command board, something he's actively avoided his entire detail. There he is, dear ol' dad. Not that anyone would be able to tell with the full beard obscuring his face, but it's there in the eyes, maybe, if you're looking for it. He turns away as Starinsky exits the shack.

"Hey. So, he's still aboard but not in his stateroom, I phoned down. Figured you wouldn't want me to try the NSF," he says, doing his best to be helpful.

"Good call," Soul says approvingly, but then something catches his eye as Star's hand goes to stuff something into his pocket. "Woah, wait up-" Soul tugs his hand back out "-you mind?"

His heart skips a beat only to start pounding hard with shock as he pulls out Maka's necklace. The jade heart dangling in front of his face. After last night and most of this morning, he'd recognize it anywhere, even blindfolded, given how much time it had spent in his actual hands. His head is abuzz with the implications.

Okay, okay, he forces air deep into his lungs in an attempt to reign in the anxiety. So she's aboard- that doesn't mean she's with Bale. "Where'd you get that?"

"Chill-" Starinsky gives him a weird head shake. "It was caught on a platform. Lieutenant Nygus asked if I could drop it by Medical. Liz must've dropped when she came aboard tonight."

"That's not Liz's." A wave of goosebumps ghost over his skin, every alarm now going off in his head. "It's Maka's."

"No, it isn't." Both men turn to face the tall proud black woman who rejoins them. "I asked her before she and Bale headed inside. Maka said it wasn't hers, but that she'd seen it on Dr. Thompson."

"FUCK!" He and Starinsky curse in unison.

Soul reacts first pulling out his badge shoving it at a startled Lieutenant Nygus. "Special Agent Soul Evans, DEA. Secure the ship. Do not let Lieutenant Bale leave." He whips out the cell and curses when the signal is too weak, he's losing precious seconds as he tears out his card and scrawls Kilik's extension by memory, presses this into Lieutenant Nygus's hand. "Call this number- Kilik Rung- tell him I need back up now!"

"Awwh fuck! We can't even call a security alert-" Starinsky says as he stuffs Maka's necklace into his pocket starting to move "-Bale knows the procedure. I'm gonna contact the Command Duty Officer personally- he'll open the weapons locker." His face is set with grim determination.

"The codes!" Soul says, stopping him short.

This time Starinsky doesn't hesitate, he repeats the number twice, slowly until Soul has it. Only then does he tear off in the direction of the NSF with a silent prayer on his lips.

Maka grits her teeth as she shoves another package of Black Blood into the dark carryall bag. "You're not going to get away with it," she spits. But with a gun pointed to her head, fear is lapping at the edges of her heart- she isn't sure where to draw courage from- the mental closet she'd normally stuff these feelings into is vibrating. What do I do?

A part of her feels like a receiver switching from station to station trying to find the right frequency through all the static, and then her ears pop, the ringing tinnitus is gone replaced by-

Please please please- just hang on, Maka- I'm on my way!

Maka's body stiffens because she could've sworn she'd just heard Soul, in her mind as clear as if he were standing next to her. What the hell- what's he doing in her head?

I don't know- just focus- look for an opening. Maka- you're the bravest woman I know- I've seen you stare death in the face!

A warm swelling fills her, it's like the sensation she gets when she listens to Vivaldi, even though she doesn't understand any of it. A single sustained note that helps her draw courage. And she wants to turn, to search for him, because his voice is resonating that clearly.

That's it- she's hallucinating now, perfect. Because the idea of Soul being in her mind is absolutely ludicrous.

"Of course I am." Bale's barking laughter, cuts across her thoughts and makes her angry. "I'll be so far south by morning your boy toy's gonna need Duolingo's crash course in Spanish. Only, he'll be too busy to follow since he'll be looking for you." His pistol is jammed roughly into her back. "Move it, I've got a plane to catch so I can order my tequila sunrise."

It aggravates her, Bale telling her what to do. But Maka yanks another package as Soul's amused laughter fills her mind.

Pendejo- I'm fluent. Hold up...slow down- A mumbled word like 'angel', but he's still going- I need him to get mad. When he does, he's going to make a mistake- create an opening. Be ready to take it!

She has so many questions- Why Soul's voice? For one thing, she's not even sure what that first word he used even means. Whatever her subconscious is doing, it's working. She's slowed down out of confusion and takes her time reaching for the next package. Her racing mind is catching up, thinking- okay… make Bale mad?

There's the ghost of a smile on her face, yeah, she can do that! Soul- nooo, her subconscious- is right. She'll move as fast as molasses in January. Except what bothers her most though, now with the sound of his voice fresh in her head, is that it amplifies the fact she wasn't there for him when he needed her. When Benji blew his cover.

Maka don't- don't go there. It doesn't matter. All that matters now is that you get through this.

It matters though. Instead of giving him a chance to explain, she'd wrapped her hurt feelings around herself like self-righteous armor and has refused to listen. It's exactly what she'd done to Papa all those years, and he'd been the only who'd cared enough to try and explain what had happened and he was the one who stayed, who took responsibility for her-

Maka sucks in a shocked breath as Bale smacks her upside the head, hard. "I said, move it!"

Her jaw strains with the force of her clenching muscles and picks up another kilo or was it unit? At the moment, unable to recall what Soul called them and begrudgingly places it in the bag as slowly as possible.

Unit. Okay, you need to start chafing him, slowly so he doesn't suspect, until you have him by the short hairs. You've got this- I've seen you bust some balls, Angel.

Angel? Was that what he mumbled earlier- she can almost see his eyebrow waggle- lord her imagination is really getting away from her. Maka adjusts the unit carefully sliding it to the side of her stack. "Well, since I'm not going anywhere, tell me Noah- why'd you do it? Entitlement issues- pissed off Uncle Sam never validated your superior intellect?" She's made sure her tone indicates she's less than impressed. "Is being stuck on a repair ship so far beneath you- you're this resentful about not being assigned to an aircraft carrier?"

She bites back her fury as his hand smacks her head again, harder this time.

In her head, Soul's voice is livid. I'm going to fucking kill him!

"That a yes?" she asks, wincing. "Damn, must run in your family given your last name and all-"

"Shut your fucking mouth, bitch!"

The burst of laughter surprises her but she dutifully pulls out the last unit of heroin out of the box. "Are you serious, 'bitch'? With a gun to my head that's the best you've got-" she sighs, heavily "- can't say I'm surprised. You don't perform well under pressure, do you?"

This time the painful grunt is involuntary when Bale uses the butt of his gun to whale on her head. Motherfucker- Her head is pounding in time with the screaming of her nerves.

The rest of her anger is drowned out by Soul's raging madness- Goddamnit, I'mma strangle him with my bare hands!

"Are you mad? It's like you want me to fucking kill you," Bale snarls, smacking her again.

Maybe the madness is gripping her a little, Maka smiles widely at Bale, and she can taste blood in her mouth. She has no intention of dying here or anywhere else for that matter. Still, it's working though, Bale's getting mad. Only, not mad enough. Not yet.

The giddy laughter that bubbles from her is slightly deranged. "You're not going to kill me, Noah- you don't have the balls. You didn't have the balls to pull Crona off of that transformer! You didn't have the balls to start CPR! You've never had the balls to admit you fucking froze! You're a sack of shit that lives for bullying others. You find their weaknesses and exploit them to your advantage- you don't scare me!" Her head lolls to the side, face split wide in a gruesome smile with the force of her giggles. "You're so terrified of anyone finding out that you're just as scared as the rest of us, all you can do is pretend to be something you're not."

Madness or no, she knows she's cut to the quick when she sees the shadow of his hand on the bulkhead across from his desk. But she can't move... not yet... timing is crucial...

Now!

Her hands tighten like vices on the handles of the bag and Maka spins hard using the momentum to swing the bag around as she springs up aiming for his face. Bale's grunt of surprise is reward enough as the bag whumps hard into the side of his head. There's a clank of metal on metal as the gun flies out of his hand crashing into the bulkhead on the far side of the office. Taking full advantage of his shock, Maka grabs his shoulders using them as leverage to ram her knee forcefully into his groin. He goes down in a heap, moaning and clutching at himself as he thrashes in pain.

RUN! Get out of there!

Maka wastes no time vaulting over the desk to claw at the lever of the watertight door. She needs to get someone down here to arrest him. But it feels like a nightmare, one where her legs are sluggish and she can't run, waiting for the electronic locks to release. They never do.

The air is knocked out of her lungs as Bale slams bodily into her. His hand fists into her hair yanking it back so hard she feels as if her neck will snap. What he does next makes that feel like a mild discomfort, as he uses her hair as leverage to slam her head into the watertight door. In the recesses of her mind, she thinks it's possible the forklift would have hurt less. Stars explode all around her vision as he continues to slam her into the door again and again.

It stops as suddenly as it starts. But she's dazed, her head still echoes with the force of the blows, Maka tries blinking hard to clear her mind but she's falling into the abyss. She's barely cognisant of the fact he's peeled her off the door, and then her world tilts on its axis as he uses her hair to slam her backwards to the deck. Moaning, Maka know's she's lost her mind when the electronic buzz of the door finally comes.

The madness takes over, swallowing her whole, she knows she's crazy now. Because, not only can she hear Soul, she sees him too. "I"m sorry Soul- I tried," she whispers to the darkness.

The element of surprise vanishes with the buzz of the maglocks. Only by the time he's shoved the watertight door open to see Bale about to slam Maka's head to the deck, he doesn't care. Sheer, maddening rage carries him through.

He's across the space before Bale has even turned his head. Roaring with fury as his hand slams into Bale's neck, ripping him off of her and slamming him into the nearest desk so he can pummel him.

No one will ever touch Maka like that, ever again! His hands close on Bale's shirt and Soul bodily tosses him over the desk. The man hits the wall with a satisfactory thud while Soul vaults the desk for another round. He never hears the buzz of the electronic locks, and by the time Starinsky reaches him, it takes the lieutenant and two other sailors to pull Soul off of Bale's limp body.

The maddening blood lust doesn't subside when he straightens either, he has to walk away or he's going to kill him. Bale moans from the deck, sliding a hand under the desk. Soul whirls slamming a boot on to his wrist, his Glock is in his hands and he leans over jamming it into Bale's temple. "Give me a fucking reason!"

He doesn't- the lieutenant drops whatever's in his hand with a pathetic whimper. Starinsky snakes his hand under the desk retrieving the pistol.

Soul turns his back on Bale and his moaning, sliding over the desk to get to Maka. His stomach drops at the sight of her pale face, the only color to be found is from the bruises that are blooming over her forehead. He lifts her gently, hot tears scorching his face and he doesn't care who sees. Soul cradles her to his chest gently. " Star-" his voice is hoarse as he turns to find Starinsky "-Call Liz, tell her I'm coming. Keep this bastard here until Kilik gets here- don't let anyone touch anything."

Starinsky nods grimly grabbing the nearest phone. "You got it, Soul."

"Jeezus-fuck! I'm running-" Liz drops the phone not even bothering to return it to the receiver as she tears out of the wardroom heading straight for Medical. All rational thought is trumped by the echoes of Starinsky's voice and his tone, one she's never heard him use but recognizes as fear.

Fear for Maka.

Rounding the corner she runs straight into something tall- solid and living. Her hands tear at the obstruction unseeing, manners be damned as she yells, "Move!"

When that doesn't work the Brooklyn kicks in and she flattens the muscle into the bulkhead as she careens past.

There's a sharp 'ooomph' followed by a resonant. "Oye me- canija!"

Liz is functioning on a one track mind- get to Maka! If anyone else gets in her way they'll suffer the same fate- if they're lucky!

The hinges of the Medical door protest loudly as Liz slams it open. Inside the medical corpsman points her to exam room one. The hinges of the exam room door endure similar abuse.

"Oh my god, Maka!" The words come out before Liz can think to hold them back. She rounds on Soul will all of her formidable fury- "What the hell did you do to her?!"

Maka groans from the exam table, fighting the feeling of drowning underwater, trying to see through the haze to ascertain what's going on. Liz can't possibly think Soul would do this to her? But through the black, she manages to make out Liz's face aflame in rage. She does.

Maka has to say something because Soul isn't even defending himself. Her voice is hoarse and it feels as if she's swallowed thorns. "No- not him."

Liz ignores the denial and points angrily at the door- "Out!"

Her fingers are searching for his, they're stiff when she finds them gripping the table and she squeezes with the little strength she has left. "I'll explain. It's okay."

His gaze softens as he lowers himself to ask, "You sure?"

She can barely hum, but manages. Only then does he step away, and clearly he's not sold on the idea.

Liz is already running her hands over Maka's body, before the door shuts, carefully checking her for broken bones. Maka is mostly certain she doesn't have any. though a few bruises feel like they could be. She hisses when Liz finds a particularly tender one.

The tall blond is wiping angrily at the tears as she reaches for her stethoscope. "Maka, baby girl, I'm so, so sorry."

"I'll live," Maka says, attempting humor, in spite of the pain, she grabs Liz's hand and squeezes it. "Listen Linda-" oh boy, breathing isn't fun "-it wasn't Soul. He didn't do this."

The tall doctor sob laughs at their stupid joke. "I don't understand, Star said-"

"I don't care- it wasn't Soul. It was Bale."

"Bale? All those times…you said..." Her blue eyed gaze goes mournful as her hand reaches out gingerly. "Your face…"

"Fucker thought my head was a basketball," Maka says barely able to swallow around the pain in her throat, knowing Liz is going to feel the guilt for having said he wasn't a threat. They both were duped. "Did you even wait for the whole story?" she asks, but if Liz's flushing face is any indication- "You didn't, did you." Maka tries to laugh but her lungs spasm as she tries to suppress a cough, and ends up groaning instead.

"Got it- just- not another word. Let me finish this," Liz tells her, face cooling as she refocuses on her exam in earnest.

Soul is putting in a lot of mileage in the narrow passageway outside of the exam room. Anxiety asking every few seconds, What's taking so long?! He checks the face of the Montblanc, it feels like the hundredth time he's reached this end of the passageway. Ears itching and straining for the slightest noise, and he spins when he hears the door open.

Kilik- damn!

"Nice to see you too, mamón!" His partner scoffs at his lack of enthusiasm at his arrival.

Now isn't the time so Soul cuts him off with a glare. "Shut it!"

They've been friends for a long time, Kilik doesn't push. "Lo siento." He scrubs a hand through his shoulder length braids. "Is she- is she okay?"

"I don't know," Soul says, his cheeks puffed out with the breath he's holding only to let it out slowly. He needs something to keep his mind busy, anything to give his anxiety a different bone to gnaw on. "What do you have?"

Adjusting his black frames, Kilik gives him a crooked grin. "Te digo la neta- Bale's homeboy's aren't as loyal as that güey thought. As soon as Kim showed up with the warrant, one of them started serenading and didn't quit till the end. Como lo veo, they weighted the heroin and dropped it off the side of the pier before they pulled into Korea. There a diver snagged it and stashed it in his gear until he could pass it off to his buddies in engineering-"

"So it was stowed in the coolant valve?!" Soul cuts in- Maka's hypothesis right on the money.

"Así es," Kilik says with a snap of his fingers.

Even though his stress is high, Soul cracks a wide grin. "Marie have any openings in the budget for recruits?"

"If we get rid of you." His partner returns the smile. "Oye pero, we're still waiting on the statement from the guy in engineering. Uberías visto la cara que hizo- when he found out the outside of the package was radioactive, diria que sí. He started asking to see the doctors, seeing as he'd handled it himself, however briefly." Kilik lets out a low whistle accompanied by a grim smile. "Pobre carajo, if he is contaminated- el mismo se chingo."

Soul grins, but the nervous energy building up in his legs make him want to keep pacing. Just then, the exam door opens and Liz pokes her head out to wave him in. Thank you baby Jesus.

He only manages one step in her direction before his shoulder gets slapped by a dumbstruck Kilik. Soul's sure he's never seen Liz blush, and he doesn't miss the way she smiles before she ducks back behind the door. Soul grins, shoving off his friend with a forearm. "Vete, cabron- I'll introduce you later." He doesn't wait for an answer as he strides to the exam room.

Liz steps away from the table when he enters. "Hey- she's going to be okay. I am going to keep her aboard tonight so I can keep an eye on her-" she isn't asking "-but, we can discuss that when I return, Mr. Evans." It's clear that Liz has a few things on her mind she wants straightened out. Fine by him, Soul doesn't care, he'll tell her his whole life story if she gives him a few minutes alone with Maka.

The door is already closing behind her, when he turns back to the exam table.

There lies his heart. She's so pale- where she isn't purple- that the words stick in his throat. Instead he crosses over to her, slipping his hand into hers, cupping her face gently with the other smoothing his thumb over her cheek and brings her knuckles to his lips. Goddamnit- Starinsky really should've let him whale on Bale just a bit longer.

And then it no longer matters because, Maka smiles. It takes everything he has not to scoop her up and rush her out of here, off the ship back home. His heart is hers, she may as well have everything else that goes with it- if she wants it.

He's still warring with the anxiety though, because he doesn't deserve her- not after everything that's happened to her- not after he didn't fully confide in her when she'd already given him her trust. The emotions are threatening to strangle him. "Maka- I'm so sorry. I-"

"Shhh." Small, warm fingers still his lips while Maka shakes her head. "I know. It doesn't matter, anymore."

He kisses those fingers bringing the hand down squeezing it gently. "It does, though- only I'm not sure where to start. Part of it was orders- no one was supposed to know about my father because of the case. But- but, that isn't the whole truth."

Below the hospital bed, the bouncing of his leg increases until he takes a deep breath and lets it out. What he wants to say, needs to say comes out ever so slowly. "The truth is Maka- I was scared... terrified really. By the time I realized how out of my depth I was with you, I'd gotten to know you well enough to know you weren't going to put up with my stupid prejudice about the Navy. I knew it'd never be within my rights to ask you to give that up." Not that he would ever ask her to. Realization of the why washes over him like a wave, he's gone through a paradigm shift without even realizing, irrevocably altered. "It's just, I'm not strong enough to give you up either."

"Oh?" The lashes are dusting the freckles on her cheeks, she doesn't ask it but the question is there written on her face all the same, Why not?

"Because-" Soul doesn't want to imagine a world where he doesn't get to look into those beautiful green eyes. Eyes that, even through his fear, inspire the courage to say, "I love you, Maka."

Maka draws in a long, shaky breath, and exhales it even more slowly. Soul watches the green glisten as brightly as the hair slipping through his fingers. "It's probably a good thing, I love you too, then."

"Yeah?" he asks, committing her beauty to long term memory, basking in the glow of her words. It doesn't matter that Starinsky had already told him, it's something he'd needed to hear from her lips.

"A little-" His growl cuts her off, but the kiss he gives her is soft, an attempt to pour his soul into hers, and when he pulls away she's as breathless as he is. "-Okay, a lot. Wanna get married?"

Soul goes still, welded to the spot, unsure if he heard her correctly. "Did you just say what I think you just said?"

From the exam table, Maka's face blooms into a spectacular shade of rose, and the freckles turn into constellations bridging her nose. Eyes wide like a doe in headlights, her hand flies to the side of her head tenderly touching. And with his soul resonating with hers the flamboyant music in his head is deafening, unadulterated jubilation in G major, because Maka thinks she's said something stupid.

Her embarrassment becomes even more clear when he sees her trying to swallow a lump in her throat, the welling tears suspended in her eyes wavering. "I'm so sorry- I shouldn't've- so stupid- You just said you can't do Navy," she groans, thinking she's misunderstood, probably because of how poorly he worded his feelings about the Navy.

"Maka." Soul takes her face in his hands until she opens her eyes. "Yes, I'll marry you," he says, grinning like a fool. "I just- here I was thinking I might have to convince you, but you're way ahead of me." He takes a deep breath, captivated by her shock at his words. "I never thought I'd be able to live with the Navy- but then I met you and discovered you're what I can't live without." She hiccups and it makes her suspended tears tremble. "Can you promise me one little thing? Just please don't ever ask me to join the Navy Wives Club."

She laughs as her tears finally spill over. "I don't think they've called it that for a very long time- years, maybe." Her hands cover his and she squeezes. "I promise to never ask you to."

"Good." He can taste her joy mixed with the salt of her tears. "'Cause I'm not stupid enough to turn down a lifetime with the hottest woman on the high seas, who pilots ships better than any man I've met, and can hand me my ass." He dips to kiss under her jaw, delighting in her little gasp. "Hellcat one minute only to blush the next-" as her cheeks do just that. "Thinks my kisses rate a twenty." His eyebrows waggle for emphasis. Poor Maka gasps and tries to get an angry line of sight on the door, clearly set on going after Liz. "She didn't say anything," he whispers going straight for honesty, "I sort of listened in- sorry."

She blinks, but then starts giggling.

Soul takes both her hands in his bringing them to his lips as he leans in, face far more serious now. "Maka- for the record, I never made that bet with Bale. He did that all on his own."

"I know," she says, cheeks burning again this time with embarrassment. "I knew it two seconds after I stormed off. I should've gone back to tell you, it's just, I'm… stubborn..."

"Yeah you are-" His head is bobbing "-but I don't care." Soul gathers her up off the exam table and into his arms hugging her gently, burying his face into her hair. He feels her arms around him, and they both shudder.

"Soul, can I ask you something?" She draws away from him with an odd expression.

"Anything, Angel." Her green eyes lock in on his with such a look that he starts to back pedal. "Sorry, I- Dios mio," he prays silently.

"Wait- So you do speak Spanish?" Maka's head turns in the direction of the NSF. "Huh."

It hurts him to see her like this. The stitches that were meant to come out Monday now freshly re-sutured. "Fuck, I'll never forgive myself for not being there when you needed me."

Maka pushes back in his arms, giving him a look that says the complete opposite. "But- you were." His face scrunches in his confusion except Maka only smiles, nodding in earnest. "I don't know how it happened. Maybe the fear of never getting to see you again- of not telling you that I love you triggered my mind- but it's like I was filled with this music- and your voice."

His heart is bursting with the sound of her song as he takes her face in his hands, smiling from ear to ear. "I love you, Lieutenant Maka Albarn. I love you."

A thought rocks him like a bolt of lighting- Icarus was forever altered by touching the sun. Yes he caught fire, bathing the earth in blinding light, but it was the ocean that tempered him when he crashed back to the seas.

Maka's hands bring his face to her lips, she's the one that anchors him in the moment, and he knows he'll follow her guiding starlight anywhere.

FIN!

ummmm these are the definitions that I've gleaned through the ages- uh, who knows how much Spanish slang has changed in the past few years.

Glossary:

Pendejo: idiot, fucktwat- comes to mind… whoops sorry y'all.

Oye me- canija: um...more of a cry of surprise when an angry woman bodily slams you into a bulkhead….canija is actually like- tiny angry person (feminine).

Mamón: sort of like 'fucker' in this useage...asshat...eh, literal, sucker

Lo siento: I are sorry…. I'm sorry, of course. (When the writer takes liberties with the English language…)

Te digo la neta: something to the effect of "I'll tell you the truth" "The crux of the matter…"

Güey: asshole, punk

Como lo veo: The way I see it… or rather Kilik sees it... ;)

Así es: That's how it is or that's right

Oye pero: Wait but

Deberías visto la cara que hizo: You should've seen the face he made

diria que sí: I'd say so

Pobre carajo: poor fucker

El mismo se chingo: well, he brought it upon himself. Or, more literal: he fucked himself.

Vete, cabron: go away fucker or go away asshole (meant lovingly of course in this situation)

Dios mio: my God, like as is ohmigod.

a/n: This is it. This is the final chapter of my Soul Eater/ For His Eyes Only AU. I want to thank the following sweet betas for everything they did for me- Infantblue, Macabre Mermaid, Professor Maka, and The-Brightest-Fell, these ladies are all super talented in their own right and have given so much of their time to make sure this turned out as polished as it is. This story also means so much to me- I first read For His Eyes Only as a high school junior and the story stuck with me for years. I hunted for it all last fall and finally found it about a year ago. It's got some problems but it also had good bones and that's the only reason the AU is as good as it is.