Welcome Note: Hello and thanks for clicking on this story! This is my first fan fiction here, and I am super excited about it. Before you go on, I'd just like to let you know a few things—the rest will come with the writings. This story is AU and follows a young OC named Caroline and her relationship with Levi Ackerman. The ship is female OC x Levi and I understand if that's not for everybody! It does not directly follow all canon events. Though there will be bloodshed, sexual themes will be heavily hinted at but mostly implied rather than dished out in pornographic detail. For this reason I have rated this story T, since the manga itself is pretty dark. The ship is female OC x Levi and I understand if that's not for everybody! If you could give me a review, it would really help me improve as a writer and give me the motivation to move forward with this story. I hope you enjoy!


Under the cover of stone and dirt, the roads of the underground remained as busy as ever. They were crowded with merchants and workers; laborers and the budding homeless population. The smell was acidic as the thick air clung mercilessly to Caroline's throat with every breath she took. She hated it here, but her father always had business under the inner district—sometimes for days and days at a time. When the child would have to stay with her father in the dismal underground district they would stay in seedy brothels masquerading as inns... everywhere had the same stench. Sweat, blood, urine and every other manner of disgusting fluid seemed to evaporate into the limited oxygen, making every trip something to dread. Even inside the large cart her fathers horses led, with her shirt pulled up over her mouth and nose Caroline was sure she was going to be sick. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Daddy," she called as she opened the small wooden window that opened up to the front of the cart. "Are we almost there?" her small voice carried despite the loud chatter on the street. Dust kicked up by civilians clouded the way, but they had been here so many times she could already point out familiar landmarks and dips in the earthy ceiling above the smog.

"Stop pestering me," her father grunted with annoyance. "Asking me every five minutes isn't going to speed things up." Her father was a middle aged man who had aged far too quickly. Years of working the fields behind wall Maria had left his skin forever leathery and dotted with sunspots. His once ash brown hair had lightened to a salt and pepper grey with a receding hairline that often left people mistaking him for Caroline's grandfather. Caroline was only six after all, and people simply didn't live long enough to wait for children. The young girl was said to be a product of a brothel and harsh blackmail—hardly an intentional offspring. The old man had never had a wife and he even resented being saddled with a whelp. It showed in the way his wrinkles settled into a scowl every time she posed even the slightest inconvenience.

Caroline let out a long sigh and slumped back down onto the bench in disappointment. She didn't mean to bother him with questions, but it seemed like she'd been riding for hours wedged between bags of produce without a chance to stretch her legs. The young girl pulled her skinny legs up to her chest and wrapped a slender arms around them to keep her dress in place as every bump jostled her; adding to the already persistent nausea. It was hard to quell the motion sickness with no windows, but humming a soft tune always seemed to help at least a little.

Finally, the cart stopped in the heart of the city and the doors swung open. Two familiar faces greeted her; the first was a somber man around her father's age who never seemed to smile. His deep tan and brown eyes gave him a warm feel, but still he barely spoke. The mans name was Zachariah. The second was Jimmy—and Caroline absolutely adored him. He was a goofy man with a toothy smile and bright green eyes and he always had a sweet for Caroline. Both of the men were laborers her father hired for too little so they could help him with setting up his stall. Sometimes Caroline would get to stay with Jimmy if Miss Lucas didn't want her spending the night at the brothel.

"Hey kiddo!" he exclaimed as he held out a hand to help her get out of the cart. She took it eagerly and returned his toothy grin with her own—minus one of her little teeth. "Woah! You're missing a tooth!" he bellowed as he picked her up and tossed her up into the air. Her woven sunhat flew from her head and her ashy blonde braids bounced as she laughed and grabbed his arms for support. Sometimes there were things to like about the underground... She liked seeing Jimmy.

"Yep! I pulled it out cause it got looser—and it was wiggly and it bled a LOT," she held out her arms as if to exclaim how long she had to hold a rag to her mouth after tugging out the tooth. Her father didn't care, but she'd been so excited about it. Jimmy set her down as her dad came around the corner and picked up her hat. He brushed off the mud and shook his head with annoyance before putting it back on her head and clapping his hands together.

"Alright, alright, enough—get to work I want this up and running in an hour," he interrupted their fun and gestured for Caroline to get out of the way. He sometimes said 'make yourself scarce' but she understood his passive wave. As Zachariah moved in to start setting up shop, Jimmy slipped a hard candy into Caroline's hand. Quickly, she slipped it into the deep pocket in her dress and fought an excited grin as she took a few steps back to let them work. They weren't the only ones setting up stalls and getting prepared for the day. The streets were busy with merchants and even children that Caroline was too shy to approach, but still she wandered down the road and looked over what the merchants were selling.

So much of the underground was dedicated to much sleazier items. She walked past so many vendors selling knives of various kinds. There was a 'doctor' who sold medicines for joint pain and sleep as well, but Jimmy once told her that it wasn't medicine at all and she should stay away. It wasn't illegal. That happened at night; but it was always dark in the underground. If not for the rays of sun that broke through the cracks in the ceiling there would be no way of knowing that there was a sun at all.

Determined to get away from the crowds, the wide eyed child kept walking with her hand stuffed in her pocket, wrapped around the hard candy. Despite owning farmland, candies were a rarity outside Wall Sina. Jimmy's wife made them out of honey and sugar and they were Caroline's favorite. As she made her way to one of the leaning buildings to sit against it, her eyes caught sight of another child—a boy. He was thin; with bony knees pressed together and long arms crossed around them tightly. It was warm, but the boy was shivering. He didn't have much to keep him warm; only a long shirt that was so loose around him it looked almost like a dress. His messy black hair covered his face but Cara could see tears rolling down his chin. She stared at him, scared to approach a stranger. The little girl knew that these parts weren't safe. Thieves would use distressed women as bait to lure people off the roads—but using a little boy? He sniffled; an ugly, wet sound that came only from somebody who had been sobbing for a long time.

When he looked up, his almond shaped eyes were red and puffy. Clusters of red spots collected around his nose, even as he tried to wipe away the tears. He pulled out a cloth from a small pocket on the shirt and wiped his face—smearing the tears rather than cleaning them up. Caroline decided that his distress was real.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly as she pulled on one messy, ash brown braid. She hindered outside the alley and watched him nervously, expecting him to break down. Instead he buried his face in his arms once again and ignored her completely. He looked about her age—no older than six she was sure. Why was he all alone? "Hey," she murmured as she approached him. He lifted his head and his legs seemed to tense, like he was getting ready to bolt—so she stopped in her tracks. "I'm not gonna hurt you okay?" unconsciously she lowered herself as she spoke softly, not wanting to scare him. "I'm Caroline. I'm six and a half—and I live in the Desdren District." He didn't relax, but people from the underground were like that—always ready for a fight. "What's your name?" her eyes were hopeful, but his response was silence that left her disappointed and awkward; grasping for a way to make him feel better. She didn't know. She'd never met anyone like this before who wouldn't talk, but while she was trying to figure out how to break the silence he finally looked up at her.

"Levi," he said quietly. The sound barely carried over the crowds in the distance. His voice was dry and cracked from his crying, and though she knew she should have been happy he spoke, the sad sound only made her frown deeper with worry. He once again rested his chin on his arms and met her eyes with a defeated expression. No more words left his mouth, but his name was an invitation. Her hand was still wrapped around the candy in her pocket—the decision weighing on her as she took a few steps towards him. After a long moment she sat down next to him and held out the candy for him.

"Here; it's a honey candy." She smiled lightly at him and waited for him to take it, but he seemed too shy. "Take it! It's yummy. My friend gave it to me—but you can have it I guess." He needed it more than she did, even if he wasn't enthusiastic.

"It's bad for your teeth," he said after a long moment. He reached out and closed her hand around the candy before letting his hand fall once again. She looked at him with utter confusion. What gives? She'd never heard a kid shut down candy before. He was weird. "Thank you, though..." his words were softly spoken, and slowly she put the candy back into her pocket

"You're weird," she said—unintentionally blunt. The subtleties of socializing were lost on the six year old girl. She didn't mean it in a bad way and the shabby boy with the missing sweet tooth didn't seem to be offended by her words. He was sad—she didn't know why. "Do... you need help?" She didn't know what she could do, since her father would certainly not help an urchin. She could steal him some food, but if she got caught she'd get whooped so bad she wouldn't be able to play for a week. "My daddy owns a stall. We throw away the vegetables we don't sell before we go up to the surface again. We have potatoes and carrots..." She reached out to rub his shoulder lightly while she spoke. "Are you hungry?" Levi's fists seemed to tighten as an audible growl broke his silence from deep within his stomach. He didn't talk much, but that was enough to motivate her to take a few things. She stood before she spoke and held out her hand with a broad grin. "Come on Levi. Let's get some food."

For a moment she thought he wasn't going to come. By the way he was looking at her, she thought she had pushed him too far. After a moment though, he wiped his sleeve across his face and stood up on his boney legs. They shook under his weight ever so slightly before he stiffened up. He was too skinny, too tired and too sad... All things that she wanted to fix, but had no way to do it. She took his hand in her tight grip and led him down the street, back towards her father's cart. It was all she could do.

He put up some resistance when they drew closer to the crowd. He flinched with every movement around him, much like a beaten dog. Every time she looked back and saw the light hitting him at new angles, she saw new bruises and cuts. Levi was a mess.

"Wait here—" she said as they approached the cart. She left Levi hidden behind a carriage and looked around for her dad. Sometimes he disappeared; left the boys to do the work. For now, that was a good thing. She crawled into the back of the cart while Zach and Jimmy were setting up the stand and took a bundle of carrots and pushed it into her pocket. The leafy tops had to be shoved down as she hopped from the back of the wood. The cart bounced and groaned as she slinked back to Levi. Quickly, she gestured for him to follow him as she dipped down the nearby alley. Her heart was racing and she knew her dad would notice, but she wanted to help the scared boy with the skinny legs and pretty teeth.

"Are you going to get in trouble?" he asked when they slowed. She was surprised he said anything at all, but she shrugged and grinned a rebel smile—a grin of a girl who got away with doing something she probably shouldn't have done.

"Maybe, but I'm hungry too," she lied lightly as she sat down on a discarded crate. Levi shifted, uncomfortable for a moment before he pulled up a barrel and sat on it. Even though the barrel was taller than the crate, Caroline was still taller than him. She hadn't noticed how short he was till he sat beside her. Maybe it was because he didn't eat. She took two carrots out of her pocket and handed one to him. When he took it, he tugged his cloth out and tried to clean the embedded sand off the vegetable. Truth be told, Cara never thought of it. She wiped it off on her dress and took a bite as he worked. "You should eat it. You look like you're gonna blow away."

He didn't look up until he was satisfied with it, but she thought it was entertaining. When he took massive bites, she couldn't help giggling while she watched him stuff his cheeks. Levi was so ravenous he didn't care that she was laughing. The grubby carrot was the best thing he'd had in days.

"Levi, why are you out here all alone?" she asked after a moment. Half of her carrot was hanging from her hand, but he'd finished his so quickly. She pulled out the remaining two and held them out to him so that he could get his fill. Who knew when he'd get to eat again.

"My... mommy got sick," he said after a long moment of thought. He took the carrots hesitantly and looked down at them. Lightly, his legs swayed and his heels kicked back against the barrel. He didn't have anyone to tell, really. It had been three days now... "I can't live at home... I don't think it's home anymore... I don't know what to do." Caroline watched the lump in his throat as he swallowed with a frown as she tried to think of how to help... she couldn't. Even if she and her dad could hide him in the cart, she knew her daddy wouldn't do it. Either way, he didn't have citizenship... She'd seen her fair share of Military Police fights with people who tried to sneak up to the surface.

"I wish I could—" she didn't get a breath out before a voice interrupted her; snapping her out of her empathetic gaze. Her father was storming down the alley.

"What the hell are you doing talking to that street rat Cara!?" As he approached, Levi had some sense to hide the carrots she'd given him, but the partially eaten carrots were still in their hands. "Stealing now are we!? Get over here." He snatched the carrot from Levi's hand before Levi had a chance to stumble his way off the barrel and shrink away from the conflict. Then, her father grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her off the crate.

"Don't hurt her—" Levi's voice was quiet and he did try to help, but he was scared off by a vicious swing. Caroline stumbled and grabbed her dad's arm for support as he dragged her away from Levi, treating him like a flea bitten mutt rather than a person. Caroline would have apologized, but by the time she caught up with what was happening she was already being shoved back into the cart.

"Dad he just needed food!" she explained as he forced her down on the seat. He grabbed her chin and glared at her; voice as sharp as the knives they sold not three stands away.

"We don't feed people who can't afford it. They're the reason this place is a damned hell hole. Don't ever steal food from me again, or you won't eat for a week. Do you understand me?" He was bent over, his grip on her chin tight as ever. She nodded and looked away, rather defeated. She was doing what she thought was right... he needed food, they had food... but no good deed goes unpunished.

Still, she didn't realize the gravity of her actions. She saw it as feeding a hungry kid, but Levi saw it differently. It was an inkling of kindness when the world had turned so dark. It was another handful of days. It was a good deed that would never be forgotten.