First posted on the SNK kink meme, the prompt was for a Modern AU where Eren is a vigilante hunted down by the police. The prompt requested that the victims are displayed in public and that Eren's friends know about it. I'm still debating just how many should know.
Disclaimer: I do not own, I do not make any profit
This, Jean Kirstein thought darkly, is why I should have never agreed to take this case.
The detective stared up at the body, already unusual since bodies tend to be lying down on the ground or floor. When there is no life holding those bodies upright, they fell over anywhere, face-down, on their back, on their sides; Jean had seen bodies in various positions and different stages of decay, and since taking the case the presentation of the bodies had taken a turn for the unique, but this one really took the cake.
There was a shuddering breath beside him, Jean turned to see Detective Marco Bodt staring up at the body with wide eyes. He sighed, "Marco?"
Marco continued to stare.
"Marco!"
The taller jerked, refocusing his gaze on Jean. Jean winced at the look, the other looked sick, not just at the gruesome display in front of them but the stark reminder of what humans were capable of, the capacity for cruelty and insult. Jean knew that when they began investigating the victim's background they will find the victim perhaps just capable of the same cruelty, and when they examine the body they will find burn marks on the back of the victim's neck.
It was the vigilante again, putting his victims on a public display for everyone to see.
There were many names, but the police simply called him the vigilante. He hunted down the murderers and rapists and child traffickers that the police couldn't catch, killing them as brutally as possible before leaving them out for the police to find. The killer was becoming more confident, the displays more over the top. Look at this, pay attention, see what I see: these are not humans, these people deserve death.
"Marco, why don't you talk to the witness? The one who found the body?"
Marco nodded, moving off as if in a daze. As he turned, his profile to Jean, a breeze pushed back his dark hair and revealed the eye patch underneath. Jean didn't flinch, but he was reminded again why he didn't go over Marco's head and remove him from the case, or from detective altogether, despite everything and everyone telling him otherwise.
"He can't see from his left eye…"
"How can he use a gun anymore?"
"He won't be able to pursue a running suspect…"
"Detective!"
"Yes?" Jean turned to see a uniformed officer approaching him. Sasha Brown had not tried for detective, although she was more then qualified. Perhaps she was planning to get in later, when the vigilante wasn't dominating the news. She was accompanied by two men, civilian dressed, but Jean noticed the badges, and they weren't local.
"Detective Kirstein, I am Agent Erwin Smith, FBI."
"The commander himself," Jean had heard of the famous FBI agent and the nickname he was often addressed as. It said something, that the higher ups managed to get The Commander for this case. The older man had military experience, had served overseas and been a ranking officer before an injury had him discharged. By reputation Erwin was a cold individual, and he didn't extend his hand for a handshake, instead opting to stand beside the detective and look up at the body with him.
"What have we got?"
"A display like this? The vigilante, unless we have to deal with a copycat on top of this."
The victim was a young man strung upside down, feet and arms positioned in a mockery of the Nazi symbols the victim had tattooed onto skin. The skin itself was discoloured, ugly purples and greens, knowing the vigilante it would not just be mere bruising. If the victim wasn't already in the system, Jean could guess they would find a criminal background, perhaps in hate crimes. Whoever did this was meticulous, the body was strung by wires that were attached to a street lamp and the nearby fence and buildings. It was also in an old area of town where there were no security cameras, and largely abandoned except by the addicts and drunks; hardly reliable witnesses.
Erwin was thinking the same thing, judging by the way his eyes swept over the neighbourhood. "How many victims is this now?"
"Does it matter?" The other FBI agents muttered, staring at the body in disgust. Levi Ackerman, a man just as famous as Erwin for being a little too intense, a little too dark…and probably the highest number of police abuse accusations. "It's another dead guy who probably deserves to get capital punishment, but it's sickening what he had to go through. Whoever put this guy through hell needs to be taken down a peg to show he's not above the laws."
If even Levi, the guy who probably had more kill records than any other officer in the last decade, disapproved it meant he was going to take this seriously. Erwin Smith and Levi Ackerman were high profile individuals, they had taken down many mass murderers and serial killers and was probably just what the vigilante case needed now.
Four years, for four years the vigilante had been at large, hunting down criminals and displaying their bodies like art pieces. The longer they failed to catch him the more confident he became, and the more gruesome his bodies. This latest victim was nothing, just a body hanging oddly, other victims had been discovered with their bodies rearranged and twisted, limbs broken and reattached. Jean had taken the case when he was young and cocky, confident that he could succeed where the previous detectives had failed, he only needed to see the photos and the first body to realize his mistake.
He's been on the case for months now, and like the previous detectives before him, had nothing to show for it. Days chasing false leads, nights dreaming of bodies, and photos of the crime scenes followed him from office to home. If it wasn't for Marco with his encouraging words and reminders to eat, Jean was sure he would have already snapped. Not just the investigation, perhaps the FBI was also what he needed, to finally close the case.
Forensics were moving around the body, after everything was photographed and documented they would be bringing it down and shipping it back to the lab. Uniformed officers were standing by yellow tape, trying to stop curious spectators from getting too close.
Others were already moving about, the FBI agents already taking over the operation and delegating tasks. As the detective on the case Jean knew he should probably stick around, but the agents seemed busy and knowing the two they had probably read all of Jean's reports on their way here. He would probably be better off going at the station, updating his files and ready to get the report from the coroner.
"Oi, you running off already?"
"What are you doing here?" Even before he finished asking the question Jean knew the answer. Turning, he saw Eren Yeager standing beside him, looking boyish and young. Eren gave a casual wave around the neighborhood.
"Translating, of course, yea the caller spoke English but in this neighborhood? Better to get a fluent speaker in case a witness comes up." Despite not being a cop Eren spoke several languages and thus did a lot of interviews and interrogations, he knew as much about the cases as many of the officers. "I asked around, but given it's the vigilante case, again no one seemed to have seen anything. A guy gets hung by several wires in a public area but no one sees anything, figures. Anyhow, are you going back to the station?"
"FBI seems to running the show now."
"So they're finally here?" Eren looked over to where the two men were in deep discussion over something. "Maybe it'll spice things up a bit."
Jean grimaced, "What, the vigilante not interesting enough?"
"Jean, you look at the body and tell me it's as interesting as when the vigilante first appeared, I think even he's getting bored. You're getting bored, if you're not even bothering to get involved with how the FBI may muck things up around here."
"Bored isn't exactly what I'll call this."
"Sounds exactly what it is let."
"Let me ask you a personal question, are you always this bloodthirsty?"
"Who's always this bloodthirsty?" Levi asked, and the two almost jumped, they hadn't noticed the newcomer approaching them. The agent's eyes narrowed, looking over at Eren, "Who are you?"
"Eren Yeager, sir," the younger straightened.
"Am I supposed to know that name?" Levi snapped.
"I'm a translator, sir."
"In other words, he's not really a cop," Jean added helpfully.
Eren gave him a furious look, while Levi snorted. "Figures, but we'll need a translator around this area; anything new to report?"
"Nothing, sir."
"Kirstein, head back to the station, see what mark our killer had branded on our victim this time."
Normally Jean would bristle at taking orders from FBI, but today he simply nodded, "Yes, sir."
"Back to the station, Jean?" It was the same question but this time there was a strange lilt in Eren's voice, and Jean froze. "It doesn't seem like you, didn't you used to always complain that cops shouldn't be stuck in offices but out there chasing leads?"
Too late Jean remembered that Eren, bloodthirsty individual that he is, was a fan of Levi's work and he had just undermined Eren in front of his idol. Eren, for all his lightness, did not forgive easily, and his next question was as effective as punching him in the gut.
"Let me ask you a personal question, you chased hard and you caught that other serial killer, the Minotaur. Officially his body toll was at fifteen, but to the courts there was a sweet sixteen on the victim list, the one who got away." Eren's smile was malicious, "Which number do you count on the Minotaur's list?"
Jean couldn't breath, already it seemed like there were lights flashing in his eyes and death metal music pounding in his ears. He was running, going from chasing to being chased, trying to escape just trying to breath except there was a heavy body crushing over his…
"Fifteen," Jean croaked, and he was vaguely aware that Levi was watching him.
"Are you sure?" Eren asked, and Jean didn't bother to argue. He stumbled a step before he was hurrying away, praying he wouldn't start vomiting. Eren continued to watch him, even as Levi turned away to deal with the vigilante case again. The agent wasn't the only one who witnessed the little confrontation.
"Was that really necessary?" Sasha hissed as she dragged Eren aside. "That was a really low blow."
"He deserved it," was Eren's emotionless reply.
"I don't care who started it, we don't want to reopen that can of worms again. Leave the Minotaur in the past, the last thing we want are the police or FBI reopening that case. Armin will be upset with you if Jean has to start his appointments again."
"Armin's a police-appointed psychiatrist," Eren pointed out reasonably. "He's tougher than he looks."
"I like Armin as my friend, not as my psychiatrist," Sasha countered. "It's very disconcerting, sitting in front of Armin and telling him about my last gunfight, and being told that if I didn't succeed in killing someone to try, try again."
If you got this far, tell me what you think in your review! It's the only way I know if someone's reading