Disclaimer: I own none of the characters!

Note: Sorry if this chapter is boring. ;^; Promise it gets interesting though 3

Eren rubbed his head and the freshly placed bandages under his dark hair. He was still sore but he was back in the city; and that he was thankful for. He slid back in his chair, looking down at his phone. Someone had let him borrow a charger. He had called Armin—because calling Mikasa would have caused her some true mental anguish—to tell him exactly where he was.

He held that note in his hand, looking it over. Reading over the words as if they contained some hidden message. He ran his thumb over the name, over and over again.

Levi.

That was his name. Why did he even bother to give his name? Wasn't that dangerous? Or did Levi think Eren was too stupid to pick up on that?

"Hey Eren!" chimed in a pleased voice. Eren looked up as the doctor walked over, waving a hand to him. She slapped his arm with her clipboard. "How are you feeling, kiddo?"

"Ow…," Eren muttered, rubbing his arm. "I'm fine, Dr. Zoe."

Dr. Hanji Zoe flopped down into the chair next to him. She stretched out her long legs and patted Eren on the head. He winced again.

"I called Commissioner Smith earlier. To let him know where you were," Dr. Zoe said. "He didn't seem too impressed. But I don't think coffee runs are supposed to end in gunfights, either."

Eren scrunched up his nose and she laughed.

"He wasn't that upset. You'll be fine. You should take it easy though. You took a pretty hard blow to the head. And be sure to drink some water; you were dehydrated."

Eren nodded. Dr. Zoe raised an eyebrow and pointed to the note in his hands.

"What's that?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Eren said. He crumpled the paper up and shoved it in his pocket. "Just a reminder."

Dr. Zoe adjusted her glasses. "Reminder. Of course. If you say so."

Eren felt her tense up a little. She saw that note—he was sure of it.

"Your phone is ringing, kid."

Eren looked up at her and then down to his phone. He grabbed it quickly and answered.

"H-Hello?"

"Eren!" It was a frantic Armin on the other end. "Eren, are you okay? We're here."

"I'll be right out," Eren said. He hung up and unplugged his phone. He turned to the little girl sitting across from him and told her thank you, handing the charger back. He then looked back to Dr. Zoe.

"Leaving?"

"Uh…yes," Eren said. "Thank you, Dr. Zoe, for everything."

Dr. Zoe stood and smiled. She slapped Eren on the shoulder and shook him a little.

"It's no problem, Eren. But be sure to take care of yourself, okay? Don't make hospital visits a regular thing."

Eren nodded as she let him go. He rubbed his numbed shoulder and walked to the sliding doors. Dr. Zoe's grip was as hard as her head-pats. Soreness started to sink back in to Eren's body just after a few minutes with her.

He walked outside and looked around briefly before getting attacked. Mikasa threw her arms around him, patting his hair and holding him close. She pulled away to cup his face and look him over.

"Are you okay? Is anything broken? Eren, what happened?"

"I'm fine, Mikasa!" Eren snapped. "I'm not a baby!"

Armin ran up to them, panting a little. He grabbed Eren by the arm.

"Are you okay?" Armin asked. "Is anything broken? What happened to you?"

"I'm fine! It's not that bad," Eren hissed. "Can we leave now? I'd love to get back to work."

"No," Mikasa said. "What did the doctor say? What all do you need to take care of?"

"Nothing," Eren said. "I'll be fine. It's not that serious. She just said to take it easy."

"Is that all? I know how you are, Eren. You barely listen. You won't do what you're told."

Armin chuckled a little. He placed his hands on their shoulders.

"Let's talk this over on the way back to the department," he said softly. "Eren can rest and tell you everything, Mikasa. And in the a/c, too. It's pretty hot out."

Mikasa took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She slowly nodded.

"Fine," she said. She grabbed Eren by the arm. "Let's go."

Eren was thankful to get back to the office. It was cool and his desk was there. His safe-spot-desk where there were no crazy Levis to attack him. He slipped into his chair, ignoring Jean's questioning gaze.

He had told everything to Mikasa and Armin. Everything. Ever little detail he could remember—from the stench in the alleyway to the texture on Levi's shirt. But sharing it with anyone was else was out of the question. Especially that stupid horse-face staring at him.

"What?"

"What happened?!" Jean snapped. "You go out for coffee and return home with bandages on your head? What the hell happened to you?"

"Nothing happened."

"Don't give me that bullshit," Jean said. "You were gone for three hours and you went to the hospital. Stop being so modest."

Eren rolled his eyes and returned to his paperwork. He ignored Jean's constant bickering and question pushing. Mikasa was glaring at him from her desk and was almost to her feet when a small blonde girl ran over to Eren.

"What's up, Krista?" he asked.

"Um…Mr. Smith..," she said softly. She looked to Jean and Mikasa and leaned in so that only Eren could hear. "He would like to have a word with you. Would you go to his office?"

Eren nodded. "Sure thing."

He rose from his chair and looked over at Mikasa. She was waiting, definitely waiting, for an explanation. Eren gripped the edge of his desk.

"I'm fine," he said. "Stop worrying."

He ran off before she could verbally question him. He walked over to Irwin's office door and knocked before letting himself in.

Commissioner Irwin was sitting at his desk, a coffee in his hand. His coat was thrown over the back of his chair and the sleeves of his shirt were pushed up his arms, bunching around his forearms. He looked up at Eren and smiled, sitting back in his chair. He gestured with a hand to the chair in front of the desk.

"Have a seat."

Eren nodded and quickly sat down. He balled his hands at his knees, sitting up straight. He felt nervous. Unexplainably nervous. He knew what Irwin wanted to know but how would he go about saying it? He didn't want to sound like a complete failure. What if he got demoted? What if he ended up as a permanent errand boy?

No, he even failed at that. Eren swallowed hard.

"So, Eren, why don't you tell me about your adventure?"

"There's…nothing really to tell sir. Or talk about. It was just an accident."

"Ending up in Rose Hospital on your first day of work is something to talk about, Jaeger," Irwin said. His tone was firm. "That's a rare occasion. Now, whatever you tell me isn't going to leave the office. I'm not going to go blab to everyone about what happened. Talk."

Eren grumbled and took a breath. "Sir…I'm not incompetent. I swear I'm not. I'm really good and I passed all—"

"Eren, calm down," Irwin said. "I'm not going to fire you. I just want to know what happened to one of my new recruits."

Eren's breathing was ragged. He took another breath and nodded.

"O-Okay…," he said. "I went to get coffee, like you said. And then I took…a shortcut down this alley. I saw…Sir, someone was killed."

Irwin's expression changed. He furrowed his brows and laced his fingers together at his mouth. He leaned forward.

"Someone was killed?"

Eren nodded. "There was this short guy. His name was Levi. He did it, sir. He killed a man in cold-blood. Just…right there…without…," Eren's hands started to shake as he spoke. He recalled the scene; it was still so vivid.

Levi's cold expression. The vibrant red of the blood on the ground. The way the man slumped against the wall and went limp. And then the second shooting; its muffled noise by the silencer on the barrel. More blood…

"You look pale."

Eren raised his eyes to Irwin's and shook his head.

"I'm fine, sir," Eren said firmly. "I'm fine. But after that, Levi attacked me. And after he did…I went unconscious. I think he knocked me out…"

Eren ran his hand through his hair, feeling the bandage around his head. He watched Irwin closely. The man was still sitting calmly, his head on his hands. The watch on his wrist flickered in the light. Eren watched his hands more than his blue eyes; he was almost too intimidated to look Irwin in the face. He even noticed, on Irwin's right arm, what seemed to be the end of a tattoo. It was partially hidden by the sleeve of his shirt; something that seemed like the pointed ends of wings. Eren kept his eyes down, locked on the tattoo, avoiding Irwin's intense gaze.

The Commissioner suddenly shifted, however, sitting back in his chair again.

"It sounds like he did," Irwin said. He casually tugged the sleeves of his shirt down and Eren looked back up at him. "Which is unfortunate. Don't worry about this, Eren. I'll see to it that he's tracked and taken care of."

"Alright, sir. Umm…do you need…help finding him? Identifying him? I can assist. I know what he looks like!"

Irwin shook his head. "No, that's not necessary."

Eren sank back again. He nodded slowly.

"But I do think that you should consider taking the rest of the day off. You should go home, get some rest. Take care of yourself. Come back on Thursday and rested; ready to work."

"No! Sir, I'm fine. I can work. I can't miss a day of work!"

"Eren, I understand that you're eager to work. And that you're excited to be in the field. But you have your entire life to do this. Right now, you need to take care of yourself. A day of work isn't worth your health. I like your enthusiasm. It's promising. But please, rest first. Take tomorrow off. Come back. It's one day."

Eren opened and closed his mouth, attempting to protest. Irwin shook his head.

"Commander's orders."

And with that, Eren gave up on his argument and accepted his day off.

Watching Mikasa and Armin leave bright and early the next day was awful. Eren was up and awake. He put on his uniform and had his badge ready. Even his gun had been polished and placed in its holster. He watched them leave through the front window. He placed a hand to the glass and rubbed his nose with his other arm.

He was homebound. He had no choice. He was stuck; he was having to stay home to get rest and see his family off to work. He walked back to his room, slowly peeling his clothes off. There was no point in staying in his uniform when he wasn't going to work.

He exchanged his clothes for a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and made his way to the living room.

He shared the small house with Armin and Mikasa—it was nothing spectacular. Three rooms with two bathrooms, a sitting area and a kitchen- dining room. There was a garage and the three of them shared a car; seeing as they all worked together they did not find it necessary to have extra car payments.

Eren shuffled into the kitchen, carrying the coffee mugs Mikasa and Armin had used. His mug was still full. He didn't have to quickly drink his coffee and rush to get dressed. In fact, he really didn't need coffee at all.

He washed up the remaining dishes, dried them and even put them away. He went back to his room and folded his clothes, putting them back in the closet. He shared a room with Armin so that Mikasa could have her own space. Neither of them really cared but Eren was getting tired of stepping over books Armin kept out.

Eren grabbed the blanket off his bed and stalked to the sofa, flipping on the television. He curled up, watching cartoon reruns for what felt like hours until he started to feel hungry. He looked at his phone, checking the time, and crawled from his blanket mess, back to the kitchen.

His stomach grumbled and he groaned. He couldn't cook; that was Armin's job. Everything they had, had to be cooked. So Eren grabbed his shoes and his keys, making his way out the door. The bus station was not too far away. There was a small café he had gone to with Mikasa and Armin multiple times that was a few miles away.

He took the bus and watched the buildings pass by. They lived away from the Las Vegas strip, away from the grand hotels and casinos. The traffic was bearable away from those crowded streets. But even where he was, he could see the tops of the hotels in the distance.

The bus stopped and Eren got off, walking the rest of the way to the café. He walked through the parking lot, his eyes trailing off to a sleek, black sports car.

"Whoa…," Eren muttered. "I wonder who drives that."

He pushed the door open and walked up to the counter. He looked over the menu and started to order when a black suit caught his eye. He grew rigid and narrowed his green eyes, slamming his money on the counter to pay.

Black hair, shaved short in the back. A black suit, this time a deep blue shirt instead of red. Cold grey eyes behind a pair of silver frames.

The woman at the counter handed Eren a number with a silver holder. He grabbed it and stormed across the sitting area, pushing chairs out of his way. He sat down roughly in the booth, across from the man, and slammed his number down with enough to rattle the table.

He took a deep breath as those cold eyes looked up at him.

Levi removed his glasses and sat his book down, placing a marker in the pages.

"May I help you, Jaeger?"