When I came to my senses, I opened my eyes and saw a woman.

All dressed in white, I could have sworn she was an angel. But I was very much alive. My vison was a bit hazy though. I watched the figure of the woman's body go from one place to another, setting things inside a cart that she pushed around. I blinked a couple of times to see clearly again and I raised my left hand toward my face to look at it. I noticed an intravenous tube pricking under the skin of my wrist as it transferred clear fluid into my body. I was in the hospital.

When I tried to sit up, agonizing pain jabbed straight into my stomach and kept me restricted. I took a few breaths to soothe myself and tried again. Only, a hand was placed on my chest. "Try to relax," Said a man. He was dressed in white as well, and had a stethoscope hanging off his shoulders. "You're still recovering." I fluttered my eyelids again to focus on his face and touched my head. There were bandages on my forehead. "Why am I here…?" I questioned, my voice barley above a whisper.

"There was an accident," The doctor responded as he used the stethoscope to listen to my heartbeat. "T-boned and went airborne. You're lucky to be alive." The man grinned at me and finished checking on me. I saw the same woman with the cart again, but she left the room with it. I wondered what was in there. The memory of the accident was vivid; it happened so quickly that I still had to comprehend what was going on. "Levi Ackerman, is it?" The doctor caught my attention and I turned to him again. I nodded and he wrote something down on a small notepad. He smiled again. "I figured it was you."

"What… what do you mean?"

He ignored me. "A couple of wounds, bruises and a concussion are the only things you have to recover from. Other than that, you'll live."

"Hanji," I immediately recalled that my wife sat beside me in the car. I was concerned for her health. "Where's Hanji? Is she alright?"

"Who?" The doctor tilted his head with confusion. The same woman who was dressed in white pushed the door open and walked right into the room. Instead of a cart, a metal tray was in her hands. "My wife," I repeated myself as the nurse set it down on the table beside the bed. "I want to see her."

The doctor sifted through his notes and shook his head as if there was a problem. "I don't understand."

"Do you… not know what that means?" I asked him, a bit irritated.

"Levi… you don't have a wife."

I felt my soul leaving my body. I automatically didn't trust this guy. "No. You're bullshitting me, aren't you? Let me see her." I tried to sit myself up again, ignoring the pain this time, but the nurse forced me down. "You must relax," The woman told me with a gentle voice. "It'll all be over soon."

That only made it worse. "What will? What are you going to do to me?" I responded, and struggled to sit up despite her holding me down. She was strong, but I was stronger. The doctor went to the door and called for more nurses. Three more people in white swarmed in the room and aided the woman. Two people on each side of the bed grabbed my arms and legs and held me against my will. I struggled to be free of their grasp, except it only made the pain in my body grow stronger. "Let me go!" I yelled. "Let me see her!"

The doctor walked over to the table where the tray was and picked up the syringe laying on it. It had a yellowish liquid inside of it already. The nurses moved aside while holding me down and allowed the doctor to come near me with the syringe in his hands. I observed his eyes. He wasn't genuine anymore. He wasn't trustworthy anymore. His expression was apathetic and petrifying with sadistic intentions and desires. "Where is Hanji?! Let me go!" I continued to scream at the top of my lungs.

"Like I said, Mr. Ackerman. You don't have a wife. You're delusional and this is perfectly normal for cases like yours." The doctor moved my short sleeve out of the way to make my skin bare. He wiped my upper arm clean with a damp cloth and prepared to use the syringe on me. I didn't know what was inside that thing, nor did I want to know. Something was going on. I did not want to be a part of it.

"Don't fucking touch me!" I demanded, and jerked my arm away from him. However, a nurse jumped on the bed and used his body to restrain me. I felt his knees sinking into my stomach and the pain was unbearable, but I did everything I could to fight through it. He even held my head downwards so that I couldn't budge. I flinched when the doctor stuck the needle into my arm and slowly injected the liquid into my body. "Don't be scared. It'll be over soon. I promise." The doctor told me and yanked it out.

"What are you doing to me?" I asked repeatedly as the doctor left the room. The nurses continued to hold me down as the male nurse got off me. It didn't take long for me to lose my sense of touch. I was drowsy and I did not have any strength left to lift my arm. The nurses finally let me go as everything went numb. "I… I want to see her… let me go…" I could hardly speak.

Time was in slow motion. Heavily sedated, I could only watch the ceiling move upwards. To the nurses pushing me down the hallway, I was perfectly calm and tranquil. But they didn't know how much I wanted to remove them from existence. I only wanted answers, but no one would give it to me. The doctor didn't make any sense when he told me that I was not married. I wasn't crazy. I was far from it. She was sitting right next to me when the accident happened. However, if Hanji and I weren't even married to begin with, then what was the ceremony for? Why was I matched with her?

I felt a bump as I was pushed over a threshold. The ceiling was completely different as it had strange light fixtures hanging from it. I heard the nurses being told what to do by other doctors but I couldn't make out what they were saying due to whatever they gave me. Suddenly, I felt my body being lifted and they propped me onto a metal table. Someone moved a surgical light over my head and I was blinded. "What is happening…?" I asked, trying to fight through my sedation.

"Don't worry, Mr. Ackerman," A woman answered. "We have to perform an emergency operation."

"Why?" I tried to sit up but the woman refused to let me look around. Instead, she held my head. "Look at me. Ignore them," She told me. "You'll be alright."

"Tell me… tell me the truth."

"It'll only take an hour. If you're scared, I'm right here to talk with you."

"What about Hanji?"

"Didn't the doctor tell you? You don't have a wife."

"You're lying."

The woman chuckled. "There's nothing to lie about. Everything will be fine." She smiled and stroked my hair. In the background, I heard buzzing sounds and something was being sharpened. A nurse whispered something in the woman's ear, and she nodded. "Ok, Levi," She began. "It's time to sleep."

The drug in my body was wearing off. "Don't touch me, you bitch!"

"Calm down. We are going to begin the procedure. Anything you want to say to me before we start?"

I widened my eyes and quickly turned my head. The nurses were setting up some type of machine with four different substances inside of it. Next to it was an object that was horrifyingly similar to an incubator. I connected the dots. "Holy shit. You're going to kill me…"

"Do not think of it that way." The woman told me.

I shook my head. I was still dizzied from the drug, but I was aware of my surroundings. "You're using Hanji to make children, aren't you? And when you're done with me, you're going to kill me, aren't you?"

"Please stop asking so many questions." The woman slammed me downwards as a nurse approached me with a mask used for chemicals. In just a mere moment, I thought of my mother. If she knew what was happening, she'd be devastated. I remembered how she told me to never make the same mistakes that she made. I never asked for any of it, but it was only a matter of time before society came after me. She would be so disappointed in me. I failed her.

Before the nurse could cover my face with the mask, I watched him drop to the floor immediately after a loud bang startled everyone in the room. When I sat up, all the nurses and doctors dropped dead one by one, blood pooling under them. I turned my head to find the exit. A person whose face was hidden beneath a white mask lowered their gun and approached me. I didn't say anything, for the person carefully took the needles out of my arm for me. When they were done, they pulled the mask off. "Hey, Big Brother!"

"Isabel?!" I yelled. My cousin- her out of all people- literally killed multiple people in a matter of seconds. "What are you doing here?!"

"Saving your ass!" Isabel responded with a smile. She took out her gun again when she heard the door open and rapidly shot whoever walked in. I was taken aback, for this wasn't the cousin I knew. Isabel grabbed my arm. "Can you walk?"

I blinked. "I don't fucking know! I was nearly killed!"

"You can walk. Come on!"

"No. I'm not leaving with you."

Isabel raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to see your wife?"

I couldn't be more confused. The doctor told me that I didn't have a wife at all. I deserved an explanation.

Isabel became impatient. "Look, unless you want to die here, come with me. We have Hanji. They were just trying to scare you. I will answer whatever it is you want me to answer. Just please do me a favor and stop being stubborn." She held out her hand and I hesitated to take it. I hopped off the operating table and stumbled. I felt better, but the drug inside me continued to linger, and Isabel laughed at me for how stupid I looked.

Isabel led the way while keeping her guard up. I was still in pain from the accident but that wasn't my main concern anymore. No matter how old she was, Isabel would always be a kid to me. A kid who murdered a whole room full of people… and who also saved my life. I wondered how she found me and managed to do such a thing. Perhaps it she was returning the favor for all the times I had to save her ass from getting into trouble. Although Isabel was tough to work with… she was a good kid at heart. Back then, whenever she was around, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

But this day wasn't bright at all. Isabel continued to lead me down the hallway filled with dead bodies sprawled out on the floor. The more bodies we walked past, the more convinced I became that she was a ninja. Eventually, we made it to an isolated area, and I followed Isabel towards the door at the end of it. "Here we are!" She announced her presence the moment she entered inside. A man with long, messy brown hair stood beside the hospital bed where Hanji was laying. I immediately went up to see her. "Hanji! It's me! Are you ok?" I waited for a response, but her eyes were closed. Her glasses were gone. There were bandages wrapped around her left eye and had cuts all over her arms.

"She's unconscious," The man said without any emotion, and I looked up at him. Furious, I sped over to him and grabbed his shoulders. "What did you do to her?!"

"Whoa, hold up a minute!" Isabel went in between us. "If it wasn't for him, she'd be dead! Same goes for you!"

"She's right, you know." The man added.

I backed away. "And who the hell might you be?"

"Someone who has known you ever since you both got married." The man walked over to the window and watched the outside world. I didn't trust him, but something told me to at least listen to him. "You… you know who I am?"

"Yes." He glanced at me with his emerald green eyes. "I'm Eren. To you, that name means nothing. But it is I who has been trying to protect you all these years."

When he paused, I turned to Hanji. "I noticed."

"Levi, do you know why your father was so wealthy?" Eren then asked.

How did he know? I wanted to ask, but it was better that I didn't. I surprisingly couldn't think of anything. "I never knew."

"Do you remember how on the news, the population suddenly dropped in hundreds because of some 'sickness?'" Eren faced me this time. I nodded my head, but Isabel frowned at me. "It was a lie." she said.

"What? No, that can't be-"

Eren cut me off. "The population never suffered a sickness. And if there ever was a sickness, it was wiped out in a couple of days." He walked up to me with a serious face. "Your father worked for the government. He managed the murdering of all the poor people that lived in Downtown to "clean up" society, and covered the massacre up with fake news about a mall shooting. That's why that place is in horrible shape. This process happened for so many years that the population went down in large numbers. Your father, as well as our current mayor, wanted only the rich to live. The 25 and Older law was intended for the wealthy to raise money off us and force them to repopulate; another reason why Downtown is in horrible shape."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. But I wasn't surprised, either; my father had always been secretive. Most of my time was spent with my mother as well, so I never knew what he truly did for a living. "If that's true," I began. "What does it have to do with us?"

"I don't know." Eren simply answered. He turned towards my wife again and gently placed his hand on her forehead. "That's something we can't tell you. Perhaps you did something they did not like."

I figured it was. "Then why did you save us?"

"Because I run a secret organization that protects the poor from being killed and the Matched from being 'punished.' Isabel begged me to look after you and your wife. So, we located your phone and Isabel managed to find you at the mall… of course, disguised as an average person. So be grateful for that."

"It's true," Isabel blurted, although feeling guilty for spying on me. "I don't have a husband. Or kids. Sorry, Big Brother."

It didn't matter. She saved my life, after all. I was just concerned for our safety, knowing the truth about the government's secrets. It made me sick knowing what they do to the underprivileged. I was almost ashamed of myself, because all I did was run away with my father's savings instead of trying to stop him. "He's probably making me suffer for 'ruining' his life." I told them. "I don't know what else to do at this point."

"That's why we're here," Eren explained. "If you come with us, we will protect you and Hanji. You won't have to worry about them trying to murder you."

"Yeah! It would be fun having you around again! Just like old times!" Isabel giggled.

I scoffed at her, but it really would be nice to have family around again. Unexpectedly, I realized that Hanji was moving her head. I quickly went beside her and took her hand. "Hanji? It's me."

My wife opened her eye like she was seeing the world for the first time. Her pupil locked in place with mine as if she's never seen me in her entire life. "Levi…?"

"I'm here," I reassured her.

Something was different about her eyes. They didn't sparkle anymore. Despite having worse injuries than I, she remembered everything. "They were going to kill me…"

"I know. They tried to kill me also." I stood up and showed her the two people who saved our lives. "But this is Eren. And you remember Isabel, right? They saved us and are going to protect us from now on. I'll explain the details later."

"I just want to go home." Hanji was on the verge of tears. She was sick of all the bullshit going on.

"Yeah, me too."

"We should go," Eren then said after looking out the window. "The others are here to pick us up. Since you two are injured, we'll bring you both home to recover and guard your house for now until we find room for you. That'll give us more time to plan." He told Isabel to bring in a wheelchair for Hanji while he helped her sit up. I didn't understand what he meant with that last sentence, so I asked him. "Plan for what?"

Eren asked Hanji if she could stand up, and she did. Isabel came back in and allowed my wife to sit on the wheelchair by herself. Before he left the room to guide us, he turned to me with a cold, unsympathetic stare. "I am going to assassinate the mayor, who is responsible for everything."

"Assassinate the mayor," I took it all in.

"Yup. Oh, and one more thing."

"Oh?"

"If you do end up staying with us…" Eren said, "There's a chance you might see your mother again."