"WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?" you demanded.

Levi's eyes widened to a look of concern. He removes his hands from yours and turns away from you, breaking eye contact. As he began to speak you detected a faint tremble in his voice.

"In order to answer that…I must first tell you the truth…about myself."

"Many years ago when I was still just a brat myself having just turned fourteen, I ran with a street gang in the city's Underground. The side of the city hidden within the cracks in the walls. Much like the world thriving with life you find under an upturned stone. Far from the sun's reach, creatures slithered and slimed their way through existence, feeding off the most unfortunate of society like worms in a corpse. We took what we wanted and stole what we needed to survive. We lived like vermin, feared and unwanted…fighting with other vermin for the rights to steal in certain territory. It was a dangerous and violent way of life, even for the ones who came out on top. Things changed however when my companions and I got our hands on 3D maneuver gear. Over time our way of life became much easier…but of course using them came with high stakes. We became somewhat famous for our new brand of crime. We were near impossible to catch. The world was ours for the taking if we so wished. But it wasn't to last. The Military Police eventually caught us. If it hadn't been Erwin who caught us that day, our fates would have turned out much differently. He gave me a choice. If I rejected his option of putting my skills to work in the Survey Corp, he would've handed both me and my accomplices over to the judge to decide what to do with us. Either way it was a death sentence practically, but at least in the Survey Corp, I could still use the maneuver gear. In order to preserve us all I chose the military, knowing my two companions would follow. I could at least give us all a fighting chance. That is right up until they were killed in action sometime after that. I never wished for such a fate for either of them. But in the end, they were given the same choice as me and went with it. They were the closest thing I ever had to family. I never trusted anyone growing up until I met them. We shared more in common than I did with my own folks. We were children lost in a world filled with unspeakable cruelty. In such a corrupt short lived existence, trust is a rare gift to find. It takes years to build and seconds to lose."

Levi's attention is drawn down to your hands clasping at the pocket watch so tightly your knuckles had turned white. He could see you trembling. Inside your heart was pounding away as the cogs in your mind were spinning in reaction to every word of his story. He looks at your face hoping to register some form of reaction. Finally you turned your back to him and took a few steps away…

"Tell me what that has to do…with you having this?" you uttered coldly.

Levi fell silent. You gritted your teeth to suppress the tremor rumbling under your skin, your mouth was dry and your heartbeat quickened as your breathing deepened. Levi's silence was too much for you. You were terrified of the possible connection that had presented itself. The very suspicion you felt burned away in the back of your throat. Was the man you'd spent your entire career modeling yourself on none other than the sole offender who had set off the domino trial of misfortune that paved your life? You could stay silent no longer.

"ANSWER ME DAMN IT!…WAS IT YOU?...Were you the one who killed my father?...LEVI!?..."

"…I am."

"..."

All ability to speak left you. Every word evaporated into the air around you with every trembling breath that poured from your lips. Your throat, dry a bone, closed up as if ensnared in a wire trap. Your heart sank deep down like a weight on your stomach. You felt nauseous as it burned and bubbled away like molten lead.

"…I know this is hurting you…but…you…you need to hear this…Your father…in his youth…was something of genius. He put his talents towards the efforts of the Underground for many years. As a result of his works, he made his fair share of allies…as well as many enemies. One day he just upped and vanished without a trace. His rare talent made easy work of disappearing into thin air just like that, especially as the Underground has eyes everywhere, peering through every crack and stalking every shadow. He was discovered several years later under a new identity. He'd abandoned his criminal profession after getting his lover pregnant in the hopes of raising a family in safety away from the dirge of society. One of his old enemies learned of this and began plans to exact revenge; a man named Rothschild...my gang…was the one he hired to spy on him. We tracked him down and monitored him, memorised his daily routines and reported all we discovered. From what times he ate, slept and worked, right down to what stories he read to his children night after night. However, your father was keen and it didn't take long for him to catch onto us. He caught one of my companions and interrogated her. In exchange for letting her go and the safety of his family, we cut a deal. He agreed to pay us double what our client was offering if we worked for him instead. It may have just been an arrangement but…he was too kind for his own good. For the first time in years, someone talked to us and treated us like we were children…and not like the scumbags society had come to fear us as. He once said to us,

"I hope you find your way out of that hellhole life and make something of yourselves someday."

It was such a peaceful evening when that day finally came. All you could hear was the evensong of the birds. I could never recall ever seeing the twilight glow so fiercely red before. At about that time every day, you'd be making your way over to the store and wait for him to close up, so you could go home together."

"...yes...I'd always go over to the shop and help him close up. Then we'd walk home together. This time was different...just as Father was putting everything away...someone burst through the door in a state of urgency. I'd seen them a few times…hanging around the store. I always thought it was odd how they always wore a hood that obscured their faces. They'd talk with Father like they were friends or something." You uttered quietly.

"You were such a tiny little thing back then. Those big doe eyes…with that look like butter wouldn't melt…never seen without that watch you have there."

"So…that was you? You were that one guy who I'd see hanging around the store every day?...I asked Father why you were always there and he'd always say he was looking after a stray…I didn't understand what he meant…but…I think I get it now…he was always kind to the homeless kids in our neighborhood." You uttered quietly as you stared blankly at the pocket watch cradled in your hands.

"I arrived just in time to warn your father that Rothschild was on the move. That's when he locked you in the storage room. And sure enough he came, draped in a hood, wearing the devil's grin…Your father was a sight to see in that fight….You'd never think someone so gentle and calm could make such easy use of a screwdriver…His eyes...and the fluidity in his motions burned with a controlled fury. He gave it his all right up until the very end…He was fast...but Rothschild was faster..."

Levi's leather gloves creaked as he curled his fingers into fists. His eyes obscured through his hair as he hung head. His cloudy breathes sharpened swirling in the cold night air. It agitated his dry nervous throat as he coughed lightly and cleared his throat.

"Damn this cold." He muttered.

You rolled your eyes to the side where Levi was sat, still pressing your teeth together to conceal the anxious chattering of your teeth.

"You said he hired you to protect him...why weren't you fighting beside him?"

"He told me to guard the door like my life depended on it...He was right…because Rothschild had it in for me and my gang. After all, we betrayed him and started working for your father. I think...he knew he was going to lose that fight...I was the last line of defense...The second he fell, Rothschild set his sights on me and fled. I gave chase...believing that if I didn't do something at that very moment...he would only come back...not only for you and your family…but…mine as well. I…I killed two men that day…one too kind for his own good…the other to correct the horrendous mistake I made."

"Why would you put something so important on the line if you knew what he was capable of?"

"...because…there are things in this world...that are worth risking your life for."

"So...now you know...the reason why your father died was because I helped that damned son of a bitch…It was years before I saw you again. After your father's death, you and your brother disappeared…until that night in the rain when you ran into me. I recognised you instantly. Those big eyes staring back up at me…and…that pocket watch you always carried around with you. There was no mistaking it. Something in me wanted to speak to you that night. I wanted to tell you everything that had happened…and that I made sure that…your father's enemy…was never coming back for you. But fate would deny me as I found you at the worst possible moment as I was making a getaway from the police. I left you there and hid in the shadows until the coast was clear. By that time you were gone. All I had left of you was the pocket watch. I thought maybe you lied to them because you recognised me from way back then…but seeing you cowering in fear at the sight of me…you couldn't have. For years I held onto it. A reminder of unfinished business that I knew one day I was going to have to face. It was shortly after that I got my ass arrested and thrown into the frontlines with the rest of the Survey Corp. A whole five years later, we would meet again. You'd just graduated from the academy and you and your pitiful handful of classmates were lined up for your first roll call at Survey HQ. The second I saw you standing there in line with the others my heart nearly stopped. The girl I once protected was ready and willing to die for her country…I felt as if my efforts in preserving your life were being thrown back in my face. I wanted to believe that you went on living a full and happy life. Grow up, find a good man, have a few kids…But oh no…not you. From that day onward you haunted me. Drifting in and out of my life, through such brief encounters…and you…you never had a single clue…it was me the entire time. Your reason for being here at all…was all because of me…it…was some divine punishment for assisting in your father's death. Being forced to watch on as my salvation in preserving your life for him…as you readied yourself to throw away the second chance he'd given you."