Author's Note: Happy Friday everyone! It's finally the weekend! Hanukkah starts on Sunday, so to those of you who celebrate, enjoy! Anyway, this week's chapter brings part two of Eren's kidnapping. Warning: This chapter contains disturbing content that may upset sensitive readers. I outdid myself since the last chapter, and this one is going to be difficult to stomach for a lot of you. I promise things will get better soon, so please bear with me. I make references to Evanescence and to Levi's past again this chapter, just like the last one. Also, in the third section there is a time skip, the length of which will be made clear next chapter (I've already planned it out). I feel bad for doing such a large time skip, but I don't want to drag out this painful part, and I don't think you guys want that either. That aside, thank you so much for reading, reviewing, following and favoriting. I appreciate everyone who has stuck with me through the hiatus and these harder to read chapters.

...

Eren is awake but lost in thought the next time that the door opens. His body tenses as he hears a set of shoes clack across the floor, coming to a stop beside him.

"Hello, Eren. How are you today?"

"I'm a little tied up at the moment, but otherwise, I'm just plain peachy." Eren sneers, earning a laugh out of his jailer.

"Someone's salty."

"What's it going to be today? Another injection against my will?"

"Nope."

"I knew it- wait, what?"

"No injection. I want to see how your body is reacting the first stages though, so I'm just going to run some quick tests."

"Tests? What kinds of tests? And what does this serum even do anyway?"

"We'll take it slow for the first day. I recommend you take a deep breath." The man replies, purposely ignoring Eren's questions.

Eren does as instructed, and a sharp pain explodes across his forearm as a knife is dragged across the skin. Eren screams, his other hand desperately trying to cover the wound, but the restraints stop him. Eren shivers when he feels liquid run down his arm and onto his hospital gown, undoubtedly staining it with blood. The pain throbs and pulses with his heartbeat, and after a few seconds, the wound begins to burn even more than before. Eren bites his lip to keep from crying out again, and after about thirty-seconds, the pain quickly ebbs away.

"Oh, very good, very good!"

Eren hears the scratching of a pen on paper.

Without any warning, Eren is cut again, this time two cuts criss-crossing on his other arm. Eren bites down on his lip harder, to the point of bleeding, and after the cuts heal, the man beside him clicks his tongue at him.

"Don't bite your lip like that. You could infect the wound, and you wouldn't want the germs to heal up inside it."

Eren's arm is sliced open again, in the same spot as before, and Eren howls in agony, letting his voice be unrestrained. This time, it takes longer for the wound to heal.

"Interesting. Recently regenerated spots don't heal as fast. That's good to know. Now on to the next part of today's tests. Hey, don't cry like that. This is for the sake of the human race."

"Don't say stuff like that so casually, you bast-AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Eren is cut off by the pain of being impaled by the knife.

"I would appreciate it if you would keep your thoughts to yourself."

Eren can do nothing except for scream in agony as he feels his body regenerate, slowly pushing the blade out of his body as the wound closes.

Help! Save me! Anyone!

Before Eren can stop and relax, two more parallel cuts are drawn down his leg, and something is placed onto one of them, and the pain becomes far more great, burning the flesh revealed by cutting his leg open. Eren finds it in him to scream even louder yet, and his voice begins to crack. Both cuts heal, but of course, the one that hurts more takes twice as long as the first.

"Interesting… He can regenerate even if the wound is burned closed… Okay, one more test for today."

Eren braces himself for the coming pain as best he can, squeezing his eyes shut and allowing his tears to roll even faster.

Am I too lost to be saved?

Eren feels a sharp cut go into his upper arm, and then suddenly, his left arm is no longer there. Blood pours from the wound violently, staining everything around it crimson red. Eren's voice breaks immediately, a violent howl suddenly cut short. As he quickly loses blood, his thoughts turn to Levi.

Catch me as I fall

Say you're here and it's all over now

Speaking to the atmosphere

No one's here and I fall into myself

This truth drives me into madness

I know I can stop the pain if I will it all away

If I will it all away…

Everything goes bright white, and Eren slips into a state without pain.

...

After Hanji leaves, Levi sits down on the couch, his head in his hands.

Jeez, I shouldn't have snapped at Hanji like that. I mean, she was not being very sensitive about the whole situation, and one should think that she would know how much he me means to me by now, but I took it too far. I mean, god, I fucking slapped her for suggesting that he could be annoying… And then what she said about his name… Geez, I censor even my thoughts. I hate to admit it, but she's right about me going back down that path of long ago. But I can't forget again. I have to find him. I just have to be more careful this time… Now that I think about it, while I don't know who has him or where he is, I also don't know what is happening to him right now. Just what kind of person is his kidnapper? They've had him for five fucking days now, and there hasn't been any sort of call about a ransom, so they're obviously not keeping him for the money… Even if they were, that is so sick and twisted… Why the hell would someone hire a mafia boss to kidnap an innocent teenager? Shit, I need to distract myself, or I'll do something rash...

Levi goes and changes into some workout clothes, grabs his bag, laces up his sneakers, and drives over to the gym. When he walks in, he is immediately greeted by the gym's owner and the top trainer, Farlan and Isabel.

"Hey, Levi. Long time no see."

"Good to see you, Farlan."

"Hey, Big bro! Wanna spar with me? I've gotten so much stronger since our last match." Isabel exclaims, and Levi purposefully minimizes contact with his green-eyed friend.

"For the thousandth time Isabel, what have I told you about calling me 'big bro?'"

"Sorry! But seriously, come spar me!" Isabel whines.

"Maybe a bit later. I have a workout I want to complete, but maybe after."

"I'll hold you to that, okay?"

"Good luck with your workout, Levi. Feel free to call me over if you need anything."

"Thanks, Farlan."

Levi goes over to his locker, dumps his stuff inside, grabbing only a roll of tape to wrap around his hands. He is very careful and meticulous when wrapping his hands, making sure that the tape is secure so that his hands won't get injured by any of the equipment. Once finished, he deposits the roll back in his locker and scans the gym. It's fairly empty at this hour of the morning, with a few guys over at the weights, and one guy returning to a lesson in the ring with Isabel. Levi decides to start with some simple warm-ups, so he heads over to some mats in the corner and does some quick stretches before jumping into his warm-up routine: one hundred jumping jacks, one hundred push ups, one hundred sit ups, one hundred squats, and five hundred skips on a jump rope, all in a row. Once that is done about forty-five minutes later, Levi is sweating, but hardly sore or tired. He jogs over to his locker, grabs a swig of water from his bottle, then heads over to the punching bags, his target for the day. He goes over to the wall and finds the ultra-heavy weight bag that Farlan keeps around for his toughest members, namely himself, Levi and Isabel, and easily hoists it over his shoulder and takes it over to the stand. He detaches the lighter bag currently there, casually tosses the bag over to the wall where the others sit and hangs up his bag. He takes a deep breath, and then lets the bag have it. He punches and kicks the bag relentlessly, trying out various patterns and quickly picking out a rhythm that suits him and evenly trains each of his limbs. As he wails on the heavy bag, he loses himself in his thoughts.

I'm so frustrated right now with the whole kidnapping situation and the fact that I don't know anything about him and his well being. I swear, when I find this motherfucker who is keeping my green-eyed lover from me, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind. I'm going to give him everything I have. I'll punch him until his nose breaks and then pound it some more. I'll wallop his torso so hard that I bruise his organs and break his ribs. Hell, why should I stop at breaking his ribs? I'll break every bone in his fucking body. I'll make him beg for mercy, but even then, it won't be enough, and I'll break every bone again. When he passes out from the pain, I'll take a moment to recharge so I can do it all again when the bastard wakes up, and I'll keep doing it again and again and again until the bastard doesn't wake up anymore!

"Levi! Stop!" Farlan yells, snapping Levi from his thoughts.

Levi actually looks at the damage he has done. The bag has busted open and spilling sand onto the floor in front of him.

"Sorry, Farlan. I promise I'll buy you a new bag to replace this one."

"I'm less concerned about that, and more concerned about you. Did you not notice that your hands are bleeding?"

Levi looks down at his knuckles, and sure enough, he has worn through the tape, leaving his hands red, raw and bleeding.

"I'll go get you something to wrap those up with. Don't worry about the mess; I'll clean up once you hands are taken care of."

"Thanks, Farlan."

Levi goes back to his locker, trying his best to carefully unwrap the remaining tape around his hands without touching his injuries. He hisses as he pulls some of the tape near his knuckles off, the pain finally starting to register. Farlan beckons to Levi, inviting him back into his small office, and Levi follows, peeling off the last of the tape. Farlan closes the door behind Levi, and he notices Isabel already sitting inside the office, her eyes clearly worried, her hands fiddling with a roll of bandages.

Oh fuck, here we go again…

"Come here, and I'll wrap your hands for you."

"Thanks, Isabel."

The room is quiet as Isabel wraps Levi's hands, and after Isabel has wrapped his left hand and moved on to Levi's right, Farlan finally breaks the silence.

"Are you okay, Levi? You seem… off."

Levi sighs, really not wanting to talk about this again.

"I'm..." Levi starts, but Hanji's words echo in his mind.

"There are people who rely on you and people who care about you. Let us help you. Don't push us away again."

"... just having a difficult time with not knowing anything…"

"What happened?" Isabel asks gently, and Levi looks up in surprise at her. He turns to look at Farlan, who looks equally clueless, and then sighs.

"No one told you? I would have expected Hanji to tell everyone by now…"

"I haven't heard from her since the party about a week ago. What's going on?"

"He… he's been taken, and no one has a lead to where the hell he is, so here I am, helpless and unable to do anything and it hurts!"

"Um, Levi? Who is he?" Isabel asks, her voice quiet, almost inaudible.

Levi looks up to meet her bright green eyes, the ones that remind him so much of Eren, and his remaining resilience breaks. Tears begin to pool but Levi tries to fight them.

Don't cry, be strong! You can't let them see you this way! But her green eyes… Fuck!

"Eren." Levi whispers.

"What?"

"Eren! Eren, Eren, EREN!" Levi cries out, choking on his own tears.

Farlan and Isabel share a look of shock as their leader and forever friend, the one who had always been strong for them, loses his composure and breaks down. They both come in to hug Levi, wrapping their arms protectively around the man that was their anchor as he lets himself be weak. Levi cries his eyes out like a small child, unable to hold in his dam of feelings any longer. Farlan rubs soft circles into Levi's back, and Isabel offers Levi a tissue, which he gratefully takes as he begins to calm down.

"Can I ask one more question?" Isabel asks, her voice quiet.

Levi nods, wiping away the last of his tears.

"If I remember quickly, Eren is your boyfriend, right? Is this the same Eren that you were searching for all those years ago?"

"Yes."

"I know that I'm also speaking for Farlan when I say that if you need our help, we will drop everything and come to you whenever you need us. All you need to do is ask. We will help you for as long as you need us." Isabel vows, and Farlan nods his head, backing up Isabel's words.

"Thank you so much, you guys. It means a lot to me."

Eren quickly loses perception of the passage of time, spending most of his time sleeping between visits from his jailer. The only indication of time's progression is the two meals a day that Eren is force fed. With every passing day, Eren's resistance grows weaker as he learns that cooperation means less pain and more time alone, more time where he can't be hurt by the strange man. Being alone in the dark takes it toll though, and his dreams hit him with greater force than ever before. Before he was taken, Eren had improved a lot, able to accept the dreams as memories and being able to separate the past from the present, but now Eren's condition has gotten worse, death and Titans haunting him in his dreams and while awake, the darkness allowing for Eren's imagination to rule his sanity. After a week, Eren finds himself battling a war on three fronts: his kidnapper, the dreams, and the overwhelming loneliness. The only saving grace, the only salvation for Eren, was Levi. As Eren descended into darkness, Levi was the one who clung onto his last thread of sanity. After three days, Eren regularly began hearing Levi's voice in his head, calming and comforting him. It worked too: Eren began relaxing a little bit more and the dreams were not as gruesome, but even the Levi in his head could not save him whenever he heard the familiar click of the door opening and footsteps approaching him, bringing with them force-feedings, injections, and the torturous tests.

"It's time for the final injection."

It takes a moment for Eren to register the hands undoing his restraints, first his feet, and then his hands. Once free of his binds, Eren is hoisted over his jailer's shoulder and carried out of the room.

"Hey, what are you doing? Where are you taking me? Don't touch me, you bastard!"

"I'm giving you the final injection, but I can't do that here. Settle down and be a good boy and we can get this over with."

Eren still struggles feebly, kicking and pounding on his captor's back, but after being restrained for so long, this simple act quickly tires Eren out. Another door is opened, and Eren is hit by a blast of cold air, making him shiver in his flimsy hospital gown. He hears a single set of footsteps crunching in what sounds like snow, and Eren cries out, realizing the cold truth: that no one is going to come for him. Eren is dropped onto the snowy ground, and the sudden and biting cold makes him cry out.

Is this the end? Now that he's ended his experiments, is he going to kill he and leave my corpse to rot in the snow? I don't want to die like this!

"This injection will block your memory from this point on. That's why explaining things now won't do any good. When the abilities confuse you, let the memories act as your guide."

A hand grips his arm and the all too familiar feeling of the needle pinches his upper arm. The plunger is depressed, and the final injection flows into Eren's veins. The needle is dropped into the snow, and hands go to Eren's blindfold and untie it. Eren blinks his eyes several times, trying to adjust to the blinding light and see his captor's face, so he can serve justice to the one who did this to him.

Eren is only able to catch a glimpse of brown hair and round spectacles as a searing pain takes control of his body, tears blurring his vision. Eren is frozen in place, unable to do anything, as his lanyard is wrapped around his hand, this time with two keys, one the simple key to Levi's apartment, the other an ornate and tarnished key that Eren has never seen before in his life, yet it is eerily familiar. A machine clicks off, and his captor's once deep voice is suddenly natural and familiar, but with everything overwhelming Eren at once, he can't quite determine where he knows the voice from. Eren's vision flickers as memories and reality begin to become one.

"You cannot forget the key. One day you will understand…"

The fire flowing through Eren's veins grows stronger, and he tries desperately to get up and run away from the monster of a man before him, but he can't even get two steps away before the crippling pain grips him so completely that he can do nothing but cry in a heap in the frigid snow.

It can't be-!

A bright flash consumes Eren's vision before the world goes black.