Levi had never been the optimistic kind of guy, not in the slightest. The sole reason for his misanthropic demeanor had been none of anyone's business and he refused to mingle any of his private concerns into his working environment and had been prosperous in that aspect. He hardly spoke about anything other than work.

His master degree in medicine had been his golden ticket into one of the finest hospitals in Trost. As the lucky bastard he was, being well acquainted with the director's eldest son Erwin Smith, it hadn't been much of a challenge to get in. He simply waved his curriculum vitae in front of the old man's nose and he could start the very next morning. It had been five years since.

He strode towards the west wing one cold November morning - his domain, as many of his co-workers nicknamed it. Eight o'clock right on the dot was his usual starting time and with his clean record, Levi made quite the name around Trost's most prominent and thriving hospital, Sina.

There was always a trend in the patients he got, they went from the phantom-pain cases to the terminally ill. He worked all-round, it was a miracle he hadn't collapsed yet. But Levi was a pro, able to separate his personal life from worklife was probably one of his utmost priorities. Just recently he'd managed to cure someone from Thalassemia without relapse, the whole team had been on top of their game from then on and the deaths of many had been prevented for a period of five months.

"Levi! The results of the urine examination are in, Mr Pixis can leave after he's gotten his injections." Hanji Zoe, laborant and Levi's university classmate, ran up to him on his way - shoving her clipboard into his face. "If you could go see him before days end we could have him back home tonight."

With an uninterested glance Levi snatched the clipboard from her hands. Mr Pixis had been around way too long, one of those Munchausen patients. He had been around for months now, presumably ill - little was true though. "Just inject him with the placebo, that'll keep him away from us for a while."

Hanji gave a firm nod, scooping her board from the male's hands. "It's about time he gets out, anyways, are we still on?" There it was, that trademark grin of hers. Levi knew what it meant of course. "You know Petra's coming too."

Petra Ral, ironically enough his fiancée, always accepted Hanji's drinking invitations - to Levi's annoyance. He sighed and stopped in his tracks, they would go separate ways from there on. "Depends on my shift." He replied, hands disappearing in the long white overcoat. "Do take Petra under your wing, I know where to find you."

"Always so uptight, when are you going to start enjoying your life a little?"

Levi sometimes wonder the exact same thing. The answer was simple, though; He was way too devoted to his career that there was no room for mindless shenanigans. "When all my patients get out fully cured." And with that he took his leave, leaving Hanji to watch him go off on his own. He could feel her eyes on his back, a really unpleasant sensation.

After his daily morning routine; a cup of pitch black coffee and the Daily Titan, Levi made his way towards his department. Today's list was packed once again, many of his patients needed their daily check-ups which nurses couldn't just do on their own. But seemingly that wasn't just all, he was assigned a brand new patient as well.

The thing about new patients was that Levi had to put effort in getting to know more about them than just their medical conditions. He had to, what Hanji called, "bond" with them. The chart would tell him the rough details, but to know what more there was to his patients was all up to him to find out.

Eren Jaeger was the name of his brand new patient; a teenager of eighteen, high school senior in Trost High school. The boy came in fidgety, shoulders drooping as he got himself to sit in front of his doctor. Levi studied him as he moved, trying to pinpoint any clear signs of injury of some sort. His chart told him he had been forwarded to him after some continuous headaches and strange nausea.

"So, what's your name kid?" Levi asked, starting off as it was custom. It gave patients a sense of control, eased them a little - well, most of the time that was.

"Eren, sir.. Eren Jaeger." A small smile curled the young boy's lips upward, childish innocence sparkling in his eyes. He surely didn't understand the seriousness of the situation he was currently in and would probably take a moment to actually come to terms with it. Levi had seen many of those cases before.

"And how are we feeling today, Eren?"

"Oh. Well, my head hurts a little but I've grown used to that. I've been throwing up a lot, this morning was the last time."

While the young boy summed up his concerns Levi could already get to a conclusion; yet to get to a full blown and most of all evident conclusion he had to dig a little deeper.

"I'm going to do a small routine check-up now, if you would please underdress and get into the gown." Levi instructed as protocol, pointing at the hospital gown hanging from the toilet door. Once the boy seemed to be finding his way around he left him there to change clothes, retreating to the corridors for a little while.

"So, what did you get?" Erwin had been outside, knowing Levi would be around somewhere. It was hard to read Levi's expressions at times but Erwin had gotten quite skilled. "You don't look so good."

"I'm not certain just yet; most of the symptoms match. His neck looks more swollen than it should but it could as well be minor inflammations." Levi told as he scribbled on the board he held in hand. "If he's unfortunate, non-Hodgkin."

Erwin sighed, scratching the back of his head with a look of concern. "Haven't had those around in a while, you're up for it?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Erwin wanted to answer with one of his motivational speeches - Levi could see that - but was cut off when Eren popped his head around the door, embarrassment painted his face. "S-Sir, I changed."

"Well then, I'll see you later a lunch Erwin. You still owe me coffee." Levi said, getting a comical scoff from Erwin before he slipped back into his office. There he found Eren, standing there in that ugly hospital gown. It honestly was an eyesore and it didn't work on anyone, and literally everybody would feel self conscious in those ugly drapes.

Levi did the mandatory check-up; checking heart rate, reflexes et al. It was when he checked the things he feared he would find he sighed. He could clearly feel the lumps under the surface of the skin. His pits and neck were thick with those and it verified Levi's prior hunch.

As his fingertips brushed along the boy's skin he could feel him flinch, which was common of course. It made him aware that they were in fact still there - still very much alive. There were plenty of things pleasurable than an examination of this kind, even more when the outcome was bad.

"It's a good thing they brought you here kid, I think we've stumbled onto something that will take more than just simple antibiotics."Levi announced, there was just no way around it. As a doctor, surgeon or what ever medical profession; you were always the bringer of bad news.

Eren, clearly shaken from his statement, opened his mouth in order to say something, yet he paused before he actually did. Also something Levi saw often. "Sir.. Is it something bad?"

"I hate beating around the bush so listen closely," Levi returned behind his desk, ticking some boxes on his chart. "Those headaches as well as the nausea, I'm sure you've realised even before you got here that they aren't the usual deal." When Eren nodded in agreement he continued. "But it's the lumps, those around your neck and axilla are the cause of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, I'm about eighty percent positive from what I saw yet to establish if it's the real deal we'll have to make a full-body CT scan."

Apparently his little doctor's talk had gotten a bit out of hand, Eren's expression was one of sheer confusion. "Excuse me sir but what is No-Hopkins Lym.. that Hopkins thing?"

"Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma," Levi corrected. "Is a blood disease, well, really cancer derived from the Lymphocyte."

"Wait.. Cancer?" The news, whether young or old, dropped like a bomb. And so it did for Eren Jaeger. He was perplexed, sitting there twiddling his thumbs out of strain. Yet Levi didn't show any kind of dismay as he looked at him - he'd had many of such cases before, all he could do was to promise recover which was still a gamble.

"It is treatable." Levi added almost immediately, leafing through his documents. "You've come at just the right time before the cancer cells could spread even further, we can actually make sure to protect other vital organs from getting infected. It won't be easy, but there's mostly a fifty percent chance of recovery."

Of course it was a hard one to swallow, though the boy kept himself fairly strong. He looked straight into the doctor's eyes, which made the man a slight bit uncomfortable. Eyes were strong organs, they showed so much more than people ever thought of.. and to Levi they opened his own to new things. This boy was scared, yes, but there was this glow in there - fighter's spirit.

"I guess.. I'll be coming around more often, then?" He said, a rather bitter smile curling his lips. All Levi allowed himself to do was nod in response.

As soon as Eren Jaeger had walked into the hospital he walked back out, yet with a heavy burden causing his shoulders to droop when he went for the exit. Levi watched him go, his parents waiting for him there. He had a lot to explain, normally Levi would be the one informing parents about their childs' illness yet Eren had refused it.

Levi didn't know if he was actually stupid or more likely brave.

That afternoon Levi visited Erwin's office, who often took over for his father to run business as usual. Despite doing his utmost best to keep up his usual attitude Erwin had gotten to him before he could even verbally fight him off.

"I checked the files, he'll be coming 'round again tomorrow, correct?"

Levi let his body sink against the wall, giving him access to look out of the window. The sky was as gloomy as the entire day had been. Normally Levi wouldn't be bothered by it, but today it looked like a bad omen. "I scheduled him for a CT scan in the morning. The sooner we have credible evidence we can start making schedules for treatment."

"You sure you are alright? I could've Nile taking it over?" Erwin offered.

"You think I can't do it?"

Erwin fell silent, to Levi's relief. Sure he knew Erwin went through such effort to make him feel a little better, but was that really what he needed right now? It wasn't about him anyway. He was merely the one trying to find a cure that would fit best to get that damn cancer out of the boy - so he could live life normally again.

But it was only the start of the road. A road that could take years to finally reach the end, but with time being a hard mistress, nothing was certain. Nothing was actually secure.