Isilya sits in her lab, watching five different portals. She has gotten into the habit of leaving some open all of the time. The three that show her the different escape tunnel outdoor entrances and one that shows her the view of the front door. It's still blocked from the inside thanks to Levi, but Isilya keeps an eye on it just in case. The last portal that she has open shows her Levi's view. She had created it on his cloak and it sits invisibly on his shoulder, allowing her to see the world from his perspective. However, currently, Levi's cloak is hanging up somewhere unused.
With a sigh, Isilya stands up and goes to the kitchen to get some tea. She leans against the counter as she heats up some water. While she waits, she finds her thoughts drifting to Levi. He's continued to help her, to train her, to push her to be better. He rescued her and all of the other children from a terrible future and returned them to their normal lives. Yet, he's asked for so little in return. It feels wrong.
Isilya has decided that she trust Levi. He hasn't given her a reason not to, yet. That doesn't mean that she will ever fully let her guard down around him, or anyone, ever again. That's not a part of her plan. However, she was very close when she was sick. Without Levi dropping by to break up Isilya's lab time, she hadn't bothered to pay attention to anything else. She spent that week and a half almost entirely in the lab, eating once a day or less, and she had only taken a nap when she absolutely couldn't keep her eyes open. When Levi finally came by again she had just made a large breakthrough, but she wasn't in a good condition to continue working. He took care of her by forcing her to take care of herself. She appreciated it, but vowed to never let herself get so weak and to never be so reliant on him again.
The kettle whistles, stealing Isilya's attention away from her thoughts. She pours the water into her teacup and smiles when the mixture of smells hit her nose. She grabs the cup and walks back to the lab, humming a tune to herself. It echoes through the empty hall.
Isilya opens the door of the lab and walks over to her desk, sitting down with her teacup in hand. She checks in on each of the portals. Seeing nothing new, she sighs and takes a sip of her tea. She knows that she made it the exact same way that she's seen Levi make it every time after they train, but somehow it doesn't taste the same. Isilya stares up at the portal connected to Levi's cloak. After a few seconds, the image moves. She leans forward, putting her teacup down on the desk.
The image stabilizes slightly. Isilya can see a few strands of Levi's hair on the edge of her view through the portal. He must've put his cloak on. She watches as he opens a door and walks through it, closing it behind him and moving into the street. His arm comes into view as he raises his hood over his head.
The streets are busy as Levi heads into some sort of market. People push to get around one another. Some are bartering for goods, others seem to be yelling, but Isilya can't hear them through the portal. Whatever any of them are saying, Levi ignores them and continues through the crowd. Fewer people go by as he walks through and away from the market area.
Isilya does her best to map the city in her head as Levi twists and turns through alleyways and around buildings. She's sure that he's purposely gone in at least two circles. She begins to worry that he knows she's watching him and that he's trying to confuse her. Another thought strikes her. Maybe he's trying to confuse someone else. Maybe he's being followed.
Biting her bottom lip, Isilya grabs the portal gloves and puts them on, eyes never leaving the portal that shows her Levi's whereabouts. She scouts the area through his point of view. Seeing a tall building ahead of him, she creates a small portal on the side of it. She switches her attention to the new portal, scanning the area for anyone that might be following Levi.
There aren't many people on the street and most of them are walking the opposite way. A couple of people are standing or sitting, sharing whispered words. Nobody pays attention to Levi as he walks past them. However, there are two people moving the same way as him.
Levi continues walking for awhile, then he turns left into another alleyway, quickly dashing around the building. Levi makes three more lefts so he ends up behind where he had started. One of the men turn down the same alleyway Levi had turned into. He hesitates for a moment, then continues walking forward, slower than he was before.
Isilya closes the second portal but opens up two in its place, giving herself a better view of the alleyway from both ends of it. She leans forward, watching the stranger. Her eyes flick back and forth between the portals on the buildings and the portal on Levi's shoulder. This person is obviously following Levi. And Levi seems to know it. Isilya holds her breath, watching the scene play out in front of her.
Levi turns down the alley again, silently following the stranger, hiding in shadows or behind piles of trash when needed. He creeps up behind the stranger, pulling two objects out from pockets inside his cloak. His mouth moves and the stranger turns around, startled. The stranger's mouth moves in a reply and Isilya wishes she had the ability to hear what they were saying. Levi moves his hands slightly, revealing the weapons in his possession. He smirks at the other man, who widens his eyes and shakily backs up, pulling a knife slowly from his own cloak.
Levi holds a knife, her taser, and a slowly growing smirk. Isilya quickly decides that his smirk is the most dangerous of the three. The stranger says something to Levi, raising his knife in response and attempting to act brave. Levi doesn't reply as he walks towards the man.
Isilya watches as Levi raises the taser. He presses the flashlight button twice, making the bright light strobe in the stranger's face. The man raises his arms in an attempt to block out the light. Levi uses the opportunity to rush forward, pushing his blade into the heart of the other man. He stops the strobe with one hand as he twists the blade around with the other. The man's mouth opens and pain flashes across his face. Isilya feels like she can hear his scream through the portal, although she's aware she's just imagining it. As Levi pulls the blade out, the man falls to the ground.
Through the portals she'd set up at the ends of the alleyway, Isilya can see over most of the buildings in the area. She watches as a couple of people a few streets over start heading towards Levi and the stranger. The light. Of course. There's barely any light in the Underground city. Nothing anyone has in this place would be so bright, or so flashy. That, and the scream, have alerted a few curious people. Isilya wants to scream at Levi, to tell him to get out of there. She stays frozen on her chair, eyes wide in horror.
Levi stares down at the man for a moment, then pulls out a handkerchief, wiping the blood off of his blade. He pockets it along with his weapons, glancing one last time at the body on the ground, then disappearing into the shadows of the city.
Isilya quickly closes all of the portals in that area, including the one on Levi's cloak. She leans back in her chair. Her tea sits cold and forgotten on her desk. The gloves rest on her hands, their dull silver glow consistent. Isilya blinks, pulling them off of her and tossing them next to her tea. The glow fades from them as she pushes herself away from the desk. She stares at her own hands, memories of the man she had killed are suddenly pulled out from where she'd locked them away. She reaches up and tangles her hands in her hair, clenching her eyes shut and silently begging for the memories to disappear.
Levi doesn't understand why Isilya has suddenly shut herself off from him. The last few times he's gone to train with her she's made excuses. From being sick, to dealing with 'that time of the month', to her saying that he's done enough to help her and he doesn't owe her anything. He leaves her alone after that, knowing that she's right. He's known it for a while, but for some reason he liked being with Isilya. He's tried to ignore the feeling, but knowing that she's making excuses not to train with him, to eat with him, and to generally see him at all has made him focus on those thoughts.
A lot of people in this world know him. And most of them only know him through rumors and stories. Most of them fear him. But Isilya hasn't heard those stories. She doesn't know what he's had to do to survive in this place.
Levi realizes that she's smart enough to know that he's done some terrible things. She's known that since the day they first met. But she's never brought up his past, never asked where or why he learned to do the things she saw that day. When he's with her, he feels like he's a normal person. Not a murderer, or a thief, or anything bad at all. When he's with her, even in that terrible building, he's just her trainer. Her mentor. Maybe even her friend.
When Levi realizes these things, he does what he usually does. He pushes it to the side. He goes throughout his days just like he did before he met Isilya. But that only works for so long. Eventually, he finds himself walking through the Underground city, heading for Isilya's building. He doesn't consciously realize that's where he's going until he's at one of the tunnel entrances.
Isilya sits on the floor in the corner of her lab, arms around her legs and head buried in her knees. She stares at the floor in-between her legs and lets out a small sigh. She hasn't slept in days.
Isilya picks her head up when she hears someone walking through the hall. Her eyes widen and she pushes herself off of the floor, rushing to her desk and slipping on the gloves. She forms two portals on either end of the hallway and stares at Levi through them. Images of blood and bodies fly through her head and she quickly moves her chair over to the door of the lab, pushing it under the doorknob.
Isilya watches through the portals as Levi approaches her door. His hand reaches for the knob. She holds her breath. Levi pauses, his hand in mid air. He retracts his hand and stares at the door for a moment. He turns away. Isilya watches as he seems to fight with himself. Eventually, he turns back to the door and raises his arm, knocking.
Isilya blinks, surprised. He's never bothered to do that before. Usually he just walks in. She waits, watching him as he stares at the door. After a minute, he raises his fist to knock again, then slowly puts it down. He turns back the way he came and walks to the escape tunnel.
As Isilya watches Levi walk away, she hears Charlie's voice in her head. Thank you, Mr. Levi. If Muma trusts you, then I will, too. Isilya turns to look at the green bear that sits on the corner of her desk. She chews at her bottom lip, looking back and forth between the bear and the portal that shows Levi leaving through a tunnel. She curses under her breath and grabs the cloak Levi gave her, quickly putting it on and throwing the hood over her head, moving the chair from under the doorknob. She throws open the door and runs to the tunnel, following Levi out into the street.
Levi pauses when he hears the tunnel hatch opening and closing. He doesn't bother turning around. He waits for Isilya to say anything, but they both remain silent. Levi's eyes move to the ground in front of him and he takes a breath, continuing to walk away.
"Levi." Isilya's voice is quiet, with a hint of sorrow. Levi pauses again. He realizes that although they've known one another for a few months, she hasn't said his name since the day they met. It makes him think back on the time they've spent together. He isn't sure if he's ever called her by her name. He's always called her brat, or didn't bother with a name at all. Afterall, it's always just the two of them. Who else would he be talking to?
Levi finally turns to look at Isilya. He finds himself wishing that he could hear his name coming from her lips again. She opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. They stare at one another.
"Isilya." Levi responds to her. Her name flows naturally from his tongue, though he's never used it before. After a moment her face breaks into a small smile.
"That's the first time you've actually said my name." Isilya lets out a short chuckle. Levi doesn't know what to say in response. Actually, he doesn't want to say anything at all. He wants to hear her laugh again. He wants her to smile more. He wants to train her and eat with her again as she tells him how her research is going.
But then he reminds himself that she's been avoiding him. And that people will always leave him. He knew this was going to happen. He shouldn't have gotten attached. With that thought, he turns to leave again.
As Levi walks away, he feels Isilya grab his wrist. Her hand is cold. He stops and looks down, seeing that she's still wearing the metallic gloves. Their eyes meet. Isilya doesn't let go of his arm. Both of them struggle to find something to say as they stare at each other, feeling like strangers who know one another too well. Eventually, Isilya glances back at the entrance to the tunnel.
"Tea?" She asks, causing Levi's lip to move up in the smallest smile she's ever seen on any face. But it's enough.