Chapter Twenty-Six—Lincoln Morris
*LEMON WARNING*
The shot caused his ears to vibrate. The room was small after all. He'd chosen a spot that had a clear line of sight over the entirety of the street. After watching his main quarry sprint away and knowing damn well that he wasn't an expert enough shooter to snipe her while she ran, Lincoln instead swiveled his sights back onto the two people standing in front of the restaurant.
One he recognized immediately. Squad Leader Mike. Veteran soldier to the scout regiment; second only in fighting expertise to the rapidly ascending Levi Ackerman. The woman next to him was a no name. He didn't recognize her at all. Mike, however…
He was Cora's uncle. He knew that much. His boss had made it abundantly clear to him that his enemies were "Humanity's Strongest" and "The Undying." Still, it didn't change the fact that his joints were starting to freeze and Cora had run away down a back alley the moment she'd left the restaurant. So all that was left were these two...
So be it. I'll bet that bitch'll come running right back if I shoot her uncle in the head.
Gritting his teeth against the cold wind that was hurting his hands despite his gloves, Lincoln leaned further out of the window he'd chosen for his vantage point and took aim at the veteran.
However, just as he squeezed the trigger, he watched as the eyes of the woman next to his target widened.
Dammit! She saw me!
It was too late though. A span of a few milliseconds was all it took. Instead of hitting Mike in the head like he'd planned, Lincoln watched as his bullet lodged in the wall of the restaurant. The woman beside Mike had lunged and somehow managed to push the soldier out of the way but just barely. Consequently though, her heels slipped on the icy street and she hit the ground hard, forehead smacking into the cobblestones, a small geyser of blood coating the icy street by her scalp the moment she hit.
Screams started to ring out. Citizens either scrambled to run indoors or craned their necks to look for the direction of the shooter.
Lincoln swore again. Smoke was still pouring out of the window around him. Dropping beneath the window sill, his back to the wall, he hastily started to reload.
"He's up there!"
"Someone call the military police?!"
Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.
The man struggled to control his breathing as he stuffed the barrel of his rifle.
My position is exposed now! Dammit! How in the hell did that woman notice me? She screwed up everything! Never mind that. My strategy should still work. Calm down. Boss said Preston was the priority. She's the biggest blow to Levi.
Once the rifle was properly reloaded, Lincoln took a moment to calm his breathing. In the distance he could hear the screams of citizens still reeling from the sudden gun shot in the otherwise peaceful city.
Cattle, thought the bitter man as he rose to his knees while simultaneously swinging his rifle back out of the window. He trained his eyes on the alley he'd seen Cora run down only moments earlier.
If everything the boss told me was accurate, she should come around that corner soon….
Sure enough, roughly 30 seconds later, the redheaded woman in the red dress and long black coat burst from around the alley corner, somehow managing to stay upright in her short heeled boots. She stopped only briefly to look down the street to the entrance of the restaurant where Mike was currently kneeling over the still form of Nadia.
Even from his position on the third floor in the adjacent building, Lincoln could see her expression switch from concern to wide-eyed terror. Someone else was yelling and he watched as Cora began to scream out in response.
That's right, bitch. Despair…
Lincoln's eyes narrowed to slits as his trigger finger edged forward.
DIE.
* BANG *
The sound of another bullet ripping through the air permeated the night air of Mitras.
At first, a grin spread over Lincoln's face, but it was halted when he felt a strangely warm sting burning over his hand.
Huh?
The sting started off warm but rapidly turned cold. Wrenching himself backwards into the room, Lincoln dropped his rifle and stared down at his now mutilated right hand. His pointer finger was completely missing, while his middle was hanging by nothing but a thin piece of skin. Blood was gushing onto the wooden floor around him, pooling around his knees.
The panic that he'd managed to withhold earlier started to build under the initial layer of shock. Gasped breaths came out as choked sobs until all Lincoln could hear was agonized screaming. It took him a few seconds to realize that the screams were coming from his own throat.
Struggling to stand, Lincoln fell backwards against a nearby wall before scrambling for the exit. Rifle utterly forgotten, he managed to wrench the door open with his left hand and started stumbling down the hallway, breaths coming out in ragged gasps as fear began to envelop him completely.
Staggering down the stairwell, he finally managed to reach a door that opened up into the back alleyway. Wrenching it open, Lincoln stumbled out into the alley way but hadn't even made it 4 steps when someone with tremendous size slammed him into the opposing wall.
A large hand grasped him around the throat, cutting off his air supply almost completely. Lincoln instinctively grabbed for the throat around his neck and watched in horror as his middle finger finally disconnected and went skittering across the snowy alley, leaving a bloody trail in its wake.
"Where in the hell do you think you're going?" A low voice said near his face. Lincoln forced himself to look away from his bloody appendage laying in the street and struggled to make eye contact with the survey corps giant now pinning him to the wall.
Mike was shuddering with every breath, eyes gleaming with fury as he stared at the assassin in his hands.
"You thought you could just hurt her and then get away with it?"
Terror of a sort he hadn't experienced in years started to flood through Lincoln's young body.
Is this how I die?
For a moment, she couldn't breathe.
In her mind, visions of her uncle lying on the ground lifeless flashed through her mind like some kind of morbid presentation. After rounding the corner, her relief was only short-lived. Mike was kneeling and before him lay Nadia, a spray of blood smearing the snow in front of her body.
"Coral!" her uncle exclaimed, "Watch after Nadia! I'm going after him!"
"Uncle, wait-!" She called, waving frantically to stop her uncle as he took off across the street, but her voice was cut short by the sound of another shot ringing out. Purely out of instinct, she dropped to the ground, hands flying to cover her head as she fell to the slush covered sidewalk.
"Coral!"
She could feel someone's strong arms link around her until suddenly she was pulled into a warm chest. Levi held her possessively to himself with one arm, kneeling in the snow, his dominant hand hastily cocking the pistol he'd pulled from under his jacket. Coral shuddered against him, eyes rapidly darting to and fro to see if there was a second victim. She definitely hadn't felt a shot pierce her...
Levi!
Struggling to pull herself out of his locked embrace, Coral spun around in Levi's arms, hands rapidly grasping for purchase on his shoulders.
"Levi! Are you hit?!"
He stared at her, mild shock on his face as he shook his head, "No. That wasn't the shooter in the building, Coral. Look."
He directed his face behind where they currently sat and Coral's eyes widened in immediate shock as she watched her newest acquaintance Andrew Scaggs swagger out of the alleyway with an almost smug expression on his face, a military issue long rifle held in his hands.
He turned to an MP officer to his left who was still standing in the street blatantly gaping him. Using one hand, Andrew whipped the rifle into the air for the officer to messily catch.
"You might wanna adjust the sights on that hunk o' junk, soldier. I don't remember the last time I missed a shot that badly."
"Y-yessir, Mr. Scaggs..." the young soldier stammered in embarrassment, clutching the rifle to his chest.
Slowly, Coral and Levi rose to their feet.
Coral only bothered examining Andrew a second longer before deciding to revisit this interesting new development later, instead opting to spin on her heel and rush to Nadia who still hadn't stirred yet.
Levi was next to her in a second and together they carefully flipped the woman onto her back. Coral's breath hitched at the sight of the large gash on her forehead that was still bleeding indiscriminately, rapidly forming into a huge purplish knot.
"Levi, please, take care of Nadia. Let me go to Mike."
"There's a hospital not far from here," Andrew piped up from behind the two, "Just head like you're going to the market in-"
"I know where the damn hospital is!" Levi barked at him, easily hoisting Nadia into his arms, "Since I know there's no point in telling you to fuck off, Andrew, you go with her. You're involved in this now anyway. You said you missed earlier. Don't let that son of a bitch you shot get away now."
Turning back to Coral, Levi spoke tersely at her, "Be careful, Preston. I trust you to handle the rest."
Coral briefly nodded her head once in response before sprinting off down the alley she'd just seen her uncle head down. Behind her, she could hear Andrew keeping pace.
It didn't take long to find her uncle. Coral could hear his angry voice reverberating off the city walls before she ever saw him.
"-the hell are you? What the hell do you want?!"
Mike had the suspected shooter pinned to the alley wall, holding him by nothing but his throat. The shooter could barely breathe much less respond. The man was struggling to grasp at the hand around his throat. That was when Coral noticed the bloody smears all over Mike's arm and hand. The shooter was missing the trigger fingers on his right hand.
"Uncle!"
Mike turned to look at Coral and Andrew as they arrived on the scene. In a second, he dropped the shooter to the ground and the young man lay there coughing and gasping.
"Does he have any other weapons?" Coral asked calmly, approaching the spluttering man who she now realized was in fact quite young.
What the fuck? It's just a kid! He's younger than me for crying out loud!
Mike's glare shifted only a fraction as he considered his niece's question, "I...didn't check."
"Don't be sloppy just cause you're emotional, uncle." Coral admonished, kneeling next to the shooter. In a second, she planted one knee in the middle of the kid's back and began to frisk him.
The teenager immediately began to protest, "Get the hell off me! I haven't got any other weapons, okay?! Leave me alone, you bi-ummpph!"
A second later and the kid's face was ground into the street, Coral's hand laced through the hair on the back of his head.
"Children these days have no manners. You really should learn to respect your elders."
Coughing out a mouthful of bloody snow, the boy shifted his head as far as he could so he could glare back at the woman pinning him.
"Piss off! You're not even that much older than me, dumb bitch!"
Utterly unprovoked but curiosity growing rapidly, one of Coral's eyebrows shot up as she inspected the boy under her.
"You seem to know a bit about me, but I can't say I recall ever having the pleasure of meeting you. What's your name, kid?"
The boy only looked away from her, grimacing right before letting out a pained cry as Coral dug her knee even further into his rib cage.
"Listen, brat. I am in a less than stellar mood right now. This weekend was one of my few times to relax. My evening is wrecked, my expensive fucking dress is utterly ruined, one of my close friends is hurt, and these goddamn boots are absolutely killing my feet right now. I wouldn't suggest pissing me off further. Besides, it's just your name, right? It's not like I'm asking for the name of your employer. We will however be getting to that."
The boy only sneered at her, "What the fuck makes you think I'm not just operating on my own?"
"Oh, please. Stupid kid like you sneaking out of the Underground without a pass to try and pull off an assassination? I'm not a fool, kid."
His shocked eyes shifted back up to her immediately, "But—how did you-?"
"I just frisked you, so I know you don't have a pass to be up here, and I'm quite positive you're from the Underground. Despite being such an ambitious little murderer, your body is frail and malnourished. Probably from a lack of nutrition. More than likely you subsist mostly on potatoes. They're the easiest thing to filch off of the vendors underground and they're also easy to cook over a fire barrel, which I'd wager a guess you spend a lot of time sleeping next to due to the burn marks on the bottom of your shoes. I used to wake myself up regularly by accidentally kicking my feet out during the middle of the night during the cold winters. Also, there's a permanent stain on the hem of your pants that has a green tinge to it and a rank odor. I know how bad the canals are about overflowing near the outskirts. I'm also keenly aware of the color of the water and the distinctly disgusting smell it leaves in clothing even after it's been washed. However, judging by your clothing, I sincerely doubt you're living in an environment where your clothes are getting washed regularly anyway. The gangs down there are notorious for enlisting snot nosed brats such as yourself into their ranks. I know because they tried many many times to get me to join them. You get it now, kid? To me, you're already an open book, so...let's try this again, shall we? What's your fuckin' name? Answer me, or those missing fingers are gonna be the absolute last of your problems."
"That actually won't be necessary, Ms. Preston..."
Coral turned her scathing glare over to Andrew who had come much closer while she was talking. The scared MP from earlier had also made an appearance at some point. He and another officer were standing behind Andrew looking almost…subservient?
"Why are you interfering, Scaggs? I know Levi told you to come with me, but—despite my appearance—I actually am not in need of your assistance."
Andrew gave her a genuinely amused smile at that and chuckled slightly, "I assure you, ma'am, I believe you implicitly. Regardless, I thought I should inform you that I'm actually pretty well acquainted with the delinquent you're currently grinding into the street. His name is Lincoln Morris and he's one of the lackeys of a local gang called the Biters that I've been in communication with for the past few years."
"The Biters? Wait...why does that sound so familiar…?" Coral trailed off to herself.
Underneath her knee, Lincoln began to squirm, "What the fuck! Scaggs? As in "One Shot" Scaggs? What the hell are you doing telling this bitch everything?! I thought you and the boss were friends!"
Scaggs let out a rather undignified snort, "There's a lot about life you need to learn, kid. I only work as an information broker now because I'm trying to rid the Underground of diseases like your boss. He's parasitic scum you'd be better off without."
"What the hell do you even know, you bastard!" Lincoln yelled, struggling to lift his head off the street.
In one swift movement, Coral picked the boy up off the ground and had him pinned once more to the wall.
Lincoln cried out as she crushed him against the brick, stars bursting in his vision as Coral twisted his arms behind him. Lincoln knew he was weak at the moment, but the fact that a woman a foot shorter than him had him completely helpless defied all logic.
"Fuckin' hell—w-what the fuck are you? How the hell are you so—ack! Strong!"
Turning to look at the MPs standing behind Andrew, Coral barked at them impatiently, "Oi! I'm assuming you piss pants cadets are here to arrest this kid, right? Hurry the hell up and get over here with some hand cuffs."
The two soldiers actually looked at Andrew first and he nodded his head in affirmation. Coral watched the brief exchange with a strange expression on her face.
Who the hell is this man? Levi sure has some interesting characters in his life. This guy seems to be a lot more influential that I would have ever originally guessed.
While the officers proceeded to arrest Lincoln, Coral turned to her uncle who had been watching the whole scene with a heavy scowl on his face.
"Uncle, let's head to the hospital. Levi should have gotten Nadia checked in by now. We'll finish dealing with that kid tomorrow. This isn't over by a long shot. I'll keep pulling on this line till I eventually pull out the big fish. Mark my words."
Mike nodded, expression still grim.
Coral turned her attention back to the info broker who had his hands jammed in his jacket pockets, watching as the officers loaded Lincoln into a paddy wagon that had parked in the nearby street. Another older MP talked briefly with Andrew before glancing at Coral and Mike with a bitter look on his face before leaving with the wagon.
"Hey, you." Coral called out to Andrew, walking over to where he was watching the wagon leave as she shoved her hands inside her own long trench coat.
"As helpful as you've been, I can't help but feel like all of this is strangely convenient. Not exactly sure what you're playing at here, but if you think either of us or Levi are just going to trust you, then you've got another thing coming. I'll be at that jail tomorrow to question that kid, but he's not the only one I want answers from..."
Scaggs grinned at her and Coral decided she wasn't a fan. It was obvious to her that there were likely many women who'd fallen prey to that charming facade, but to her it was just a devious promise.
It was obvious to her that Scaggs was intelligent. He was the kind of man you could keep as an ally so long as you never let your guard down around him. Nobody from the Underground could possibly have reached such a comfort level with the MPs without broaching shady territory. He didn't strike her as evil necessarily, but there was definitely a self-serving manipulative aura that pulsated off of him that made her nervous in more ways than one.
Just what we needed, another unpredictable variable to add to the equation. Still, I guess I can't help but give him a chance. We probably wouldn't have caught Lincoln without his help...
"I would be more than happy to oblige, Ms. Preston. I was just about to suggest that we all meet up tomorrow anyway. I'm dying to catch up with Levi, and of course I'll be wanting to know any updates on poor Ms. Nadia's condition."
Coral's expression never changed. "Fine then, it's settled. After we're done with that kid, we'll meet you at a nearby bar called The Black Box around noon. You heard of it?"
Andrew's smile only grew, "I have indeed. Now, I must be on my way. I've kept my business associate waiting quite long enough. See you tomorrow, Ms. Preston. I eagerly await our reunion."
Andrew bowed politely once before turning to walk calmly back out to the main street.
Coral and Mike both watched him go, wariness coating both of their features in a thick layer of doubt.
Wait, a second. He called me Ms. Preston. Did Levi tell him my name or-?
"Not sure how I feel about that guy. He doesn't particularly stink, but still..." Mike said quietly after a few moments, nose twitching as he spoke, "Where in the hell did you and Levi find that character anyway?"
Sighing, Coral let her shoulders release slightly, "I have no idea. I found Levi and him talking in the alley behind the restaurant after Levi went after that waiter. This evening has just been...bizarre in more ways than one."
"I'll say," Mike groused, "Let's get going. I want to check on Nadia."
"Right."
Together, the pair began making their way towards the center of Mitras where the hospital was located. Coral had never been there, but she'd seen it many times when they passed it on the way to HQ.
"Uncle, what happened to her, anyway? I heard that gunshot so I came running, but it's obvious that that wound wasn't from a bullet."
Mike grunted in irritation, a wave of guilt washing over him as he recalled the earlier events. "Nadia, she—she pushed me just as that kid pulled the trigger and then ended up slipping. That wound on her head was from where her head hit the street. She's almost certainly got a concussion, but I don't think her injury is life threatening. Still, if it weren't for her, I'd probably be dead. I'm not a hundred percent sure if that kid was aiming for me or her, but I'd be willing to bet it was me. Whoever ordered that waiter to poison our drinks must also be connected to that kid shooter. We're being targeted by someone in the shadows."
Coral felt her brow furrowing at the thought, "Yeah, that much is pretty clear. That kid...Lincoln. It almost seemed like he has some personal grudge against me..."
Mike grunted, "I noticed that as well. You ever met him before?"
Coral shook her head, "Not that I can recall. Granted, there's a whole slew of underground brats I've come into contact with that I would probably never remember. There was something that Scaggs said though. That gang he mentioned...what was it again...The Biters? I'm almost positive I've heard that name before. Still, I don't remember them being around during my Underground days. They must have formed after you showed up to take me away, but that doesn't make any sense. Why would I know their name then? It's not like I kept up with events in the Underground after I left. Hell. I made it a point to forget about the place as much as I could. This whole situation has me lost. Here I was convinced we left loose ends with Tamer, but now I'm not sure. Still, who the fuck else could I have pissed off?"
Mike let out a single dry chuckle, "Well, it's not like you're a stranger to making enemies. When someone displeases you, you never hesitate to tell them exactly what you think. Sometimes I think it's a miracle that you and Levi aren't still trying to kill each other."
Coral smirked despite herself. It ended up being fleeting however as her thoughts continued to analyze the events of the night.
"Another thing that has me confused, uncle. Both of the attempts tonight were...I dunno...sloppy? To use not only an amateur shooter from their gang but also enlist the help of some unrelated waiter. Either we're being majorly underestimated or our enemies were in a rush. It's all I can think of."
Mike grunted, "I think you may be right. Perhaps Lincoln was just supposed to be insurance. They may not have had time to plan for much else."
Coral nodded, stepping aside as a night patrol of military police passed by. Both her and Mike eyed the soldiers warily but kept a steady pace.
Glancing behind her to watch as the group made their way around the corner and disappeared from sight, Coral sighed and turned her face forward once more, noticing belatedly that the lights from the hospital were beginning to swim into view ahead.
"I can't imagine many civilians would have known about mine and Levi's arrival here in town."
"Keyword there being 'civilians,'" Mike grumbled.
Coral could feel her features hardening up once more as she considered the idea that the MPs were once again interfering with the Scouts, "Those damn wall checkpoints. There's no way to avoid the bastards. That's how Tamer caught us last time too. There's too many wild cards inside the military police branch. Too many pocket-lining, scum-sucking, day drinking bastards with too much time and marketable information on their hands. I'd be willing to bet that's why Scaggs is so well embedded in their little hierarchy. He must have bought his way in somehow. Problem is, the MPs don't have allegiance to anyone but themselves."
They were both silent for a while, a heavy feel in the air as they both mused over the dismal state of affairs they now found themselves in.
"You know what, uncle? I think I actually prefer fighting titans to dealing with this bullshit. At least with titans it's obvious who your fucking enemy is and what their motivations are. This in-house squabbling shit though? This is enough to make me want to tear my hair out by the roots."
She could hear her uncle grunt in acknowledgment, "I know what you mean. I've never been particularly good with this type of shit either. I know someone who is though..."
Coral snuck a look at her uncle's stone faced expression, "You want to involve Erwin in this shit too?"
Mike shrugged, "If I know him, he'll get involved no matter what we do anyway. Plus, there's one factor in all of this that we can't ignore."
"What's that?"
"Nadia, Adelaide, Cecilia, and the future of the orphanage. None of us are gonna be able to hang around and protect them 24/7, so we need to find someone who can."
Coral's eyes widened as she considered her uncle's ominous words. The man was right.
This evening's events had made one thing painfully clear. They had some deeply entrenched enemies in this town. Levi had chosen Mitras in an effort to keep the girls as far away from the titans as possible, but in his planning he'd inadvertently placed them in another type of enemy territory altogether. Sure, Erwin had already committed to leaving soldiers at the premises at all times, but would that be enough?
Coral suspected it would not.
As her mind dissected this troubling piece of information, Coral and Mike finally reached the doors of the hospital. After speaking to a girl in the lobby, the two began making their way to the third floor.
"What's the room number she said again?"
"303...down there on the right, I think."
The two soldiers approached the door and gave a brief knock before entering when they heard Levi's annoyed grunt from the other side.
Nadia was in the bed, head thoroughly bandaged and still out like a light, an IV drip hanging to her right. Levi sat near the window, looking out into the streets below.
He turned stoic gray eyes to look at them as they entered, an expectant kind of light gleaming in their depths.
"So?" He asked, allowing the open ended question to hang suspended in the air.
"First, how's Nadia?" Coral asked, walking over to the young woman's bedside. Mike followed, an even darker expression clouding his features as he took in the sight of the injured woman.
"Doc says she'll be fine. There's some swelling near her brain, so he said he wanted to keep her overnight for observation, but he's confident she should wake up soon. They're giving her fluids and some mild pain relievers, but other than that he said she's going to need plenty of rest."
Mike dragged a chair from the corner and promptly sat next to Nadia's bedside, eyes never straying from the still woman.
"Now, what about the shooter? You two did manage to catch him, didn't you?"
Turning her anxious eyes away from her uncle, Coral looked back to Levi, "Yeah, we did. The military police arrested him."
Levi grimaced at the mention of the MPs, "Find out anything useful at least?"
"A little bit. According to your buddy, Scaggs, the shooter is someone he knows. A kid named Lincoln Morris and a member of some gang called the Biters. Ring any bells?"
Levi scowled, brow furrowing as he thought, "Not the name of the shooter, but the gang does…damned if I can remember where I heard that name though."
Coral nodded, "Same. It's like the more I try to think about it, the quicker it slips through my fingers. It's no good dwelling on it though, I suppose. We can just ask Scaggs about it tomorrow."
At that, Levi lifted his head, one eyebrow quirking in confusion, "Tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I asked to meet him after we go talk to the kid in jail."
Levi could only groan, "Tch. Makes sense I suppose. That bastard always did know more than he ever let on."
Eyeing her lover quizzically, Coral couldn't help but smirk slightly at his sour expression, "You're gonna have to explain your background with that man to me at some point, Levi."
Levi glared weakly at her as he rose from his spot in the chair by the window, "Maybe later. Right now though, all I want to do is get back to the orphanage. I want to talk to Erwin."
Coral cursed, "I forgot he's the only one at the estate. You think-?"
Levi waved his hand dismissively, "I'm sure they're fine. After all, it's Erwin we're talking about here. Aside from that, these assassination attempts were rushed amateur garbage, if you didn't already notice. I doubt our enemies have thought that far ahead. At least, not yet..."
Nodding gravely at the thought, Coral turned her attention back to her uncle who hadn't moved, "Uncle, are you-"
"I'm staying here. No way in hell I'm leaving Nadia defenseless overnight in this hospital. I don't think she was their target, but still..."
"Understood. We'll come back to the hospital if you two haven't arrived after our meeting with Scaggs."
Pausing for a moment after Levi had already walked out the door, Coral turned and went back to her uncle before bending over slightly to give the soldier a tight hug.
"Love you, uncle."
Slightly surprised, Mike blinked at his niece before returning the embrace, "Love you too, Coral. You two be safe."
"Always."
/
Levi and Coral made their way back to the orphanage in companionable silence, both soldiers on high alert. They both knew the chances of another attack were slim to none, but instinct forced them to keep a close eye on their surroundings as they made the short trip back.
Upon entering the foyer of the large manor, Coral dead bolted the door behind her before going around the house to check every single entrance.
Meanwhile, Levi went into the living room where Erwin sat pouring over paperwork, small fire still flaring in the hearth.
Coral left it to him to explain the events of the evening, already feeling a deep weariness settling into her bones. Still, she made it a point to scale the stairs and head directly for Nadia's room where the girls slept.
Cracking open the door, Coral slid quietly into the room. Making her way across the room like the shadow girl she used to be in the Underground, Coral approached the crib in the corner of the room and let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as she looked down at the peacefully sleeping form of Adelaide. Directly next to the infant, Coral could just make out the small form of Cecilia bundled up in Nadia's bed, the barely perceptible rise and fall of the blankets informing Coral that the girl was already deep asleep.
Brushing the small child's hair back from her face, Coral placed a small kiss on the girl's forehead before quietly retreating from the room.
Glad that her room was directly adjacent from Nadia's, Coral decided it was time for a shower and bed. Once inside her room, she stripped herself of her now filthy dress, examining the stains and tears covering the bodice and front portion of the skirt with depressed eyes. She figured it was worth finding out if the dress maker could fix it, but another part of her wondered if it was even a worthwhile expenditure.
After all, the one night she was supposed to be able to act like a proper woman and enjoy something as simple as dinner with her lover, she'd still ended up running around getting shot at and cracking skulls.
Am I ever going to get some genuine peace? Are any of us?
Dropping the dress to the tile floor of the bathroom with a disgusted scowl, Coral climbed into the shower where the water was already coming out hot.
At least I'm won't ever have to take a bath in canal water ever again… Coral thought grimly, trying to feel even the least bit positive.
After a few minutes of letting the hot water pour over her head, Coral heard the unmistakable sound of the bedroom door opening. A few moments after that, the bathroom door opened and she couldn't help but smile as the shower door slid back. She didn't even bother turning around as she felt Levi's arms encircle her waist, his nose immediately nuzzling into the crook of her neck with a relieved sigh.
"Fuck, but you fit so well against me, Coral," Levi murmured into her hair, instant goosebumps erupting across her skin.
Coral couldn't help but purr against him, her previous worries and anxiety swirling away down the drain along with the dirt and blood of the day. One of his arms pulled away from her only to return moments later with a warm sudsy cloth. Brushing aside her hair, Levi began scrubbing Coral's back with the rag, allowing the water to wash away the soap before dragging his lips across the newly cleaned skin.
Coral shuddered in pleasure as his breaths ghosted their way across her body, her own breath drawing up short every time he reached a particularly sensitive spot.
Despite how tired she was, her body couldn't help but react when the cloth reached her mid section. Slowly, almost painfully, he began working his way up to the front of her chest. One of his hands slid between the valley of her breasts, ever so slightly brushing her left nipple with his arm as it eventually came to rest on her throat.
Coral's breath hitched as he took a firm grasp of it from behind, being careful not to completely cut off her airways as his other hand continued it's cleaning ministrations.
"Levi..." Coral couldn't help but whimper weakly as he began to press her into the shower wall. Allowing the wash cloth to drop, Levi dragged his right hand lazily down the side of her body, brushing the side of her breast before letting his hand drop to her hip.
Breathing heavily against the shell of her ear, Levi slowly began to splay his hand against her lower abdomen, hovering just over the warmth in her core that he'd steadily been fanning. Coral's faint whimpers and mewls only got worse the further he teased her. Surely this wasn't something any man should be capable of doing to her! Her body was melting against this man and he'd barely even touched her!
Eventually however, she could feel his fingers part the soft curls above her womanhood, his slender middle finger gradually pressing into the sensitive nub above her opening. After waiting a few moments, Levi began to softly circle and push into her sensitive bundle of nerves, his obvious arousal growing even harder against her ass as he slowly began to pick up the pace. Coral thought she might die right then and there, and quite frankly—at that moment—she would have been perfectly okay with that outcome.
It became almost impossible to stay still after that. His gentle application of pressure and the way he kept breathing her name against her ear had Coral squirming against his hold, eyes squinched up in unimaginable pleasure as she felt herself nearing that same blissful peak that only he had ever been able to make her reach before.
Left hand grasping for purchase on the arm that held her neck, Coral struggled to keep her legs from collapsing out from under her as she began to lose her self control. The decrease in oxygen was making her head swim pleasantly, and the pleasure he was cultivating only seemed to increase as she acclimated to the shortness of breath his domineering position had given her.
Levi had her secured snugly however, so even when she finally reached her climax, he was able to pin her even closer to his body as she convulsed, a silent scream breaking from her throat. Before she had a chance to come down completely however, Levi took advantage of the slick explosion of liquid now pooling between her legs to lift her up further into his arms and lodge himself to the hilt inside her still convulsing heat.
She could feel him bury his face in between her shoulder blades as he shuddered, not daring to move as her orgasm threatened to squeeze him into having one as well. After her quaking had abated, Levi slowly began to move, dragging his length out of her in a slow but deliberate rhythm that had Coral whimpering in his grasp once more.
He still had one hand around her throat, while the other one eventually grappled for her right leg, hiking it further up against the shower wall so he could bury himself deeper inside her, a move which had Coral covering her mouth in an effort to bury her screams.
Levi's speed picked up, driving into her with an almost desperate sort of need. Coral felt herself break apart in his hold once more as he thrust into her from the new angle. Slumping in his hold, she could only hang on weakly as he spun her around, once more picking her up to pin her against the shower wall and inserting himself into her heat once more. Barely hanging onto him, Coral watched in utter rapture as Levi began lapping at her breasts, still keeping up his rapidly increasing rhythm.
Dear god! He's can't be human! Coral thought to herself as the man tweaked her nipple with one hand, suckled the other, and continued to pile drive into her.
Her body could only handle so much pleasure. The combination of sensations had her wriggling in his arms once again until finally she could bear it no more.
The third orgasm hit her so hard, stars literally burst across her vision, her strangled scream quickly muffled when Levi grabbed her by the back of her head and buried his tongue in her mouth. It only lasted briefly however, as he was forced to lift her one handed and rapidly pull his cock out of her as his own orgasm erupted. He stroked himself slowly, head buried in Coral's neck as he held her, his seed pulsing out as he quaked against her. They stayed there against the wall for a moment, both panting and weak until eventually Coral made the brave attempt to slide her legs off of his and attempt to stand. Levi helped to brace her as she wobbily made her way back to the shower which had now become considerably colder.
Picking the wash cloth he'd dropped earlier, Coral cleaned off the slickness between her legs as well as some of Levi's semen that hadn't quite missed her before rinsing it out and applying more soap.
She went to hand it back to Levi but he immediately scoffed at her, "Not that one, shitty brat. It's disgusting."
"I rinsed it out!" Coral replied indignantly to which she received a flick on the forehead.
"Just grab me a new one, idiot."
Coral grumbled as she stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in a towel. "Walks into my shower, takes advantage of me, and then has the audacity to complain when I try help him clean up too."
Snatching a wash cloth from the cabinet, Coral returned to the shower, opening the door with as much sass as she could muster. Levi snagged the towel but just as she was about to walk off, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the shower, immediately sticking his head out to press his mouth to hers. He held her there for a few moments, soft lips moving slowly against hers as he teased them apart. He gently bit her bottom lip before swiping his tongue over it to sooth the slight pain he'd brought.
"Shut the hell up, brat. Go to bed. I'll be with you in a second." He whispered in a low sensual voice.
Then he was gone, releasing her from his hold and retreating back into the shower leaving Coral standing there breathless, heart still palpitating irregularly in her chest.
Huffing at his cheap trick, Coral went back to the bedroom and toweled herself off, before putting on her nightgown and crawling into bed. She fell asleep within seconds, a stupid grin on her face.
An alley cat sauntered along the streets, nose prickling as he detected the scent of an incoming human. Ears twitching in annoyance, the feline pounced onto some nearby crates, slinking into the shadow of the boxes, hoping the human wouldn't come his direction. The man however approached the cat's temporary hideout, walking briskly past the boxes as he headed for his destination. The cat—in an act of self preservation—chose to ambush the man who'd come too close, leaping from the shadows with a yowl, clawing briefly at the shocked man's shoulder before pouncing off of him and streaking back in to the shadows.
"What the hell?! Fucking cat!" Scaggs cursed in the alley, briefly pausing to straighten his jacket and calm his wildly beating heart.
"Goddamn animal scared the piss outta me..." He grumbled to himself as he reached for the back door of the meeting point he and his business associate had eventually agreed upon.
The door opened up into a small set of ascending stairs lit up warmly by candle light somewhere further in the recesses of the building. Scaggs ascended the stairs quickly and found himself in a small room with little more than a table and chairs. By the far wall, a tall man in a long black coat that closely resembled his own stood staring out the window, rugged face mostly obscured by a large brimmed hat. A cigar hung lazily out of the man's mouth as he slowly turned his attention away from the window, one hand reaching for the cigar to place it on an ashtray that sat on the table.
"You're late, Scaggs. Started to wonder if your number'd finally come up." The man complained, dragging a chair back before sitting jauntily in it, both feet coming up to sit on top of the table.
Scaggs gave his business associate a weak shrug, "Well, truth is, I ended up running into someone unexpected. I know you said he was in town, but I never figured on finding Levi trying to have a casual night out at a restaurant. Looks like you were right though, the trash didn't get taken out completely. Though, to be quite honest, Kenny, I'm still baffled that you told me about this in the first place. You sure do have a weird way of showing you care about things."
Exhaling a long puff of smoke, Kenny Ackerman looked for all intents and purposes like he was bored out of his mind. Scaggs knew better though.
"I don't care, Scaggs, you dumb bastard. But if anyone is gonna kill that runt, it's gonna be me." Replied Kenny, eyes trained on the far wall as he took another long drag off his cigar.
Scaggs chuckled to himself, moving to take a seat at the table himself, "Whatever you say, Kenny. Whatever you say..."
++OMFG. FINALLY DONE. This one was a doozie, folks. Lemme tell ya. I had some fun though adding in some new non-canon characters into Levi's backstory. The guy is such an enigma, it makes it easy for me to theorize about some of the shit he may have had to deal with. After all, our boy was a crime lord for a good many years before he ever joined the survey corps. It's safe to say both he and Coral could have some big ole skeletons in their closet. Anyway, as usual, sorry for the late post. I at least tried to make it a fairly long one for yall this time though! Thank you to everyone who's stuck with me from this story from the beginning. You all are amazing! And as always, please tell me what you think! I'm dying to get some feedback. :)
-Saber