"Help! Someone help me!" The voice was shrill. Feminine. Familiar?

Dr. Franken Stein pushed the rubble off his chest and stood unsteadily to his feet, cranking the screw in his head backwards.

Marie.

It was Marie's voice.

"Marie! Where are you?" Stein called out, nearly choking on the dust in the air.

"Stein! I can see a large statue! Please, hurry!" Her voice dissolved into a chorus of coughs.

Looking around, Stein pinpointed the statue Marie had mentioned. Focusing was hard, but he eventually picked her soul out and was moving towards her.

"Don't stop talking, Marie. Say something, anything. Tell me about the wedding. The one you want to have."

There was no response.

"Marie! How many guests! Marie!" Stein was at a run now, knowing that there was nothing short of death that would keep Marie quiet when it came to weddings and boyfriends.

His speed was reckless. His fear, real. He knew something was wrong, the bright soul in front of him was fading.

'I can't lose her.'

"Marie! Answer me!" A weak cough was the only answer he got as he dropped to his knees beside the blonde death scythe."Marie, hang on."

He was weak, a fact magnified that he nearly fell as he stood up, Marie cradled in his arms. Leaning against a fallen pillar, he carefully reached up to turn the screw in his head, Marie's breathing becoming more and more shallow as she lay in his arms.

'How? How do I get us out of here? How do I save her?' Stein thought desperately.

And it clicked. With a clank, the screw turned over, and so did his thoughts. He could see it so clearly now, the wavelength of her soul. Closing his eyes for a second he reached out to it, resonating with it, feeling the weakness of it, and trying desperately to share his strength with her.

He was rewarded when he felt her hand lay itself against his chest.

Unwilling to break the resonance, Stein looked up at the pit they were in, following each potential path, trying to find the one that would lead to the way out. It took him a long minute to locate it.

Fifteen minutes later an exhausted Stein climbed out of the pit, Marie draped across his back. Carefully laying her down, Stein stood and looked around them, seeing none of his current teammates. He looked down at Marie, realization dawning.

'We took too long. They had to retreat... they left us for dead.' Stein collapsed beside Marie.

"What do I do now, Marie?" He whispered. "I'm too weak, too injured to carry you. But I can't leave you. I could never do that."

Putting his hand to his side, he withdrew it to see that it was covered in his own blood. Shedding tears he didn't even know he had, he pulled Marie into his arms before unconsciousness claimed him.

"YOU LEFT THEM?" Azusa's voice, normally so calm, held a hint of murder.

"Look, we didn't have a choice. The retreat sounded. We had to-" Sid's face jerked to the side as Azusa slapped him as hard as she could.

"YOU LEFT MARIE. YOU LEFT STEIN." Sid couldn't believe that the normally no-nonsense Death Scythe was crying, openly.

Azusa whirled on her heels, leaving the room.

"Where are you going?" Sid called from behind her.

"Where the hell do you think, Sid? TO GET THEM!"

The door slammed shut.

Azusa slumped against it before opening her eyes to see Spirit Albarn standing in front of her.

"Azusa, I heard. You weren't exactly quiet in there. You don't have to do this alone. Hell, what could you do? You can't exactly pull your own trigger." He put his hands on her shoulders, a smile playing on his lips.

"But you don't have to be alone, Committee."

"Thanks, Spirit. We have to hurry."

"No worries. But we have a small problem." He said as he moved closer, almost close enough to kiss her as he whispered in her ear.

"We're both weapons."

Azusa, having regained some of her composure pushed her glasses back up on her face. "I'm sure we can find a couple of meister's ready and willing to help us."

"Maka. Kid. Black*Star. Thanks." Azusa said over her shoulder.

"If it's to help Ms. Marie and Professor Stein, do you really think we would say no?" Maka asked.

"Yes, we're more than willing to help." Kid replied.

"Yahoo! I don't know why you think that you had to bring the others, but you can always rely on me!" Black*Star shouted.

"We'll be there shortly. Kid, since you're the most used to working with a ranged weapon, you'll be the one laying down cover fire with me if it's necessary. Black*Star will go with Maka and Spirit for close quarters fighting." Azusa pushed her glasses up again. "This may not be so easy, we only have a rough idea of where they went down."

"We'll find them, Committee." Spirit said, resting his hand on her shoulder, which she promptly shrugged off.

Stars crossed Spirit's eyes, "And you'll be working with me, Maaakkkkaaa. My little girl, finally we'll be sharing some bonding time!"

Maka side stepped her father as he came barreling towards her and said, "Sheesh. Have some control."

"We're here." Azusa said.

"Maka, you can sense their souls, can't you?" Kid asked.

"I'm trying, but I'm not getting anything. It's like this place is abandoned." Maka squinted her eyes, looking around her. "Wait, there's something coming from the other side of that pit... It's Professor Stein!"

"And Marie?" Azusa's voice asked from her gun form.

"I... I can't tell..."

It took them another ten minutes to get to the other side of the pit, and none of them could believe the sight.

Leaning, propped up against a pillar, Professor Stein was barely breathing. There was a pool of blood around him, some still seeping from a nasty gash in his side. Laying against his chest, Marie was pale as a ghost, the only thing letting them know that she wasn't dead was Maka's reassurance that she could still see her soul.

"But... they're both close to death... they're souls are so thin and transparent right now..." Maka whispered, still not wanting to believe that the people in front of her were really that badly injured.

"Then we can't waste a second. Let's move!" Spirit called out, his stomach twisted into knots at the sight of his former meister so hurt.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Stein reached out, then felt his arm stop sooner than it should have, someone's hand pushed against his wrist.

"Stein, don't. It's the life support machine, not your alarm." The voice was familiar.

Reaching up tentatively, Stein moved to turn the screw in his head, and couldn't stifle a gasp when the same hand caught his arm again to stop him, then turned the screw for him.

"Again..." Stein managed to croak out, feeling the person oblige, his eyes still closed, the light far too bright.

"Spirit." He opened his eyes, blinding himself.

"Yeah."

"Marie!" Stein felt all of his muscles go rigid, his pains forgotten in a second. "Spirit, where is she?" His hand grasped Spirit's arm.

"Relax, Stein, just look to the right."

Forcing himself to relax, Stein looked to his right and felt tears run down his cheeks in relief. Laying in the next hospital bed over was his beautiful Marie, her soul bright and shining again, though something looked off. Stein just couldn't focus.

"How, Spirit? We were goners."

"You have Committee to thank for that. She slapped Sid when she found out what happened and that they had returned without you. She then organized a rescue party and came to save your ass." The redhead smirked.

"And Marie?"

"Well, from what they tell us, without you she wouldn't have made it. Maka says that it looked like your soul was wrapped around hers. She couldn't explain it."

Stein looked harder at Marie's soul, and found what was off. Along the bottom edge of her soul were stitches... and they formed a heart. Stein started laughing and couldn't stop.

"What's so funny, Stein?"

"Love."

"You must be a little loopy from the medicine yet, Stein." Spirit said shaking his head. "Need another turn to get back to yourself?"

"I can manage." Stein said. "How is she, really?"

"Well. She was awake earlier and asking about you. Told her the same thing I told you, to look over. She cried too."

"Senpai, thank you for making sure we were in the same room."

"It's not him you should be thanking, Stein." Azusa Yumi walked into the room.

"Well, then Committee, thank you. And thank you for coming to get us."

"Never thought I'd hear you say thank you twice in one breath, Stein." Azusa stated, pushing her glasses up. "Spirit, we should get them something to eat and drink. Let him rest a bit."

"Whatever you say, Committee." Both of them left the room, and Stein was left staring over at Marie.

"Marie?" He called out several times before he heard her reply.

"Franken?"

"Marie, you're alright. I thought I had lost you." His voice cracked, emotions he had never been able to understand pressing down on him.

"How, Franken? How did you save me? I know I was dying... I could feel it. I just didn't have the strength to fight it. Then... what did you do, Franken?" She looked at him.

"I don't know what I did. I just resonated our souls and refused to let go... I'm sorry, Marie. I seem to have made a mark on your soul by doing so..." His voice trailed off and he looked away.

"Really?" She asked. "What is it?"

"... A stitched heart." He looked back at her.

She blinked."A... heart?"

"Yes... it's on the bottom, a stitched heart."

"Franken?"

"Marie?

"Thank you."

He released a breath he didn't know he was holding, and turned his head back to look at the ceiling.

"Marie?"

"Yes, Franken?"

"I... I love you."

There was no response from the bed beside him.

Hearing movement he looked back to find Marie staggering towards his bed, her IV following her. His eyes grew wide as she climbed up onto his bed and curled against his side.

"I love you too. I always have." She said as she kissed his cheek.

Stein wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. He smiled as she drifted off to sleep against his side.

Spirit and Azusa just smiled from the other side of the door.

A/N: I enjoyed writing this, though it came out longer than I had thought it would. I don't own Soul Eater or any of its perspective ideas. I may write a second chapter if there is interest.