How the Mighty Fall (in Love)- Year 851

Levi found himself sat across from Lena's father once more. He realised it was probably an unhealthy obsession by now, and perhaps a little strange that he found comfort in talking to someone with the same deep brown eyes as his dead girlfriend, but Levi knew most of his life was a psychological mess. What was another problem to add to his diagnosis?

"Falke," Lena's father replied, smiling slightly. "Tha's my name."

"Levi," Levi replied, "though you probably already knew that. It's good to meet you."

"Good to meet ya. What can I do for ya?"

"I have some questions," Levi deliberately left the statement hanging in the air and watched as Falke raised his thick brows slowly.

"Forgive me, Corporal, I know that the Command'r trusts ya. But I don't know how much I can tell ya."

"Everything. I've scattered the guards."

"Quite some power ya got." Falke nodded, folding his hands into his lap. He seemed to consider the matter, lowering his gaze to his lap. "Erwin told me ta trust ya," he finally conceded. "so, I will."

Levi leaned forward. He hadn't entirely expected Falke to talk to him. He'd considered heartlessly bargaining information about his children for the information. In the end, he knew he'd lose Erwin's trust if he did such a thing. And he'd probably lose a bit of his humanity, too. His moral conundrum was to lie or tell the truth – he didn't know which was worse but telling the truth could break this man down. He was supposed to be their ally – Levi had no reason to start torturing him. He'd suffered enough.

"Start with yer questions then, Levi."

"What was it you found out? What's the information the MP are after you for? Why are you stuck in here?"

"Well now," Falke chuckled softly, his face showing the lines of age under humoured eyes, "yer don't beat around the bush. If you want that story, I'll have to warn ya. It's a long one."

"I've got time," Levi shrugged. Usually, he'd ask for the quick answer and demand nothing less. Every story could be summed up into a few lines. It was only narcissistic imbeciles that drew out important information for the sake of drama. He had time for this man, though, all the time in the world.

"We used teh keep doves," Falke began, and immediately Levi recognised that this was indeed going to be a long story. "Not fer selling, like the rest of our animals. Keepin' doves was a hobby of mine. When I was a young un', we had a few in the garden I used to feed. Eventually, they sort of became pets and the whole family would come down to feed every day. In the mornings, Lena and I would go out and spread the seed for em. First, it was about 3 or 4. By the time I had children of my own, we had a few generations of doves livin' with us. A flock of 12."

Levi let him continue uninterrupted, envisioning the image of young Lena stumbling around the neighbourhood, throwing seeds with the clumsy palms of a toddler. Behind her, Falke followed with that soft smile on his face. Even the image of Luca was tranquil, normal.

"When I started to investigate the Wall, and life outside of it," his tone lowered, drawing Levi in with intrigue, "I began to send the doves out. I trained them to go searching for stuff and bring back items. Some would go away for a couple a' days. Some, a couple a' months. Eventually, one came back with a flower I'd never seen before. Humans have investigated every inch of this land within the walls, so it must'a come from outside of it. That was fascinating to me, so I began to document everything they brought back and rewarded them more for longer journeys. The further I could make the doves go, the better. Next, they brought back something strange." His eyes creased, like he was trying to recall the detail of the object now. "It was about the size of the tip of my index finger. It was made from a metal I've never seen before. It was bronze coloured and had rusted quite a bit. The inside was empty. I tested for chemicals inside but I'm no scientist, just an old man with a curiosity. Along the bottom was a print. There was lettering I couldn't read, too."

Levi nodded, following as best he could the description his head, painting it. "I couldn't figure out what it was for. It had been made for purpose, not one I'd ever seen inside the walls."

"Then it must have come from outside of the walls?" Levi asked. This was interesting, certainly, yet he knew there must be something more. Erwin wouldn't lock a man in here away from the MP for the sake of an empty piece of metal. It didn't mean anything on its own.

"Exactly. A few days before the wall fell, another dove I had sent returned." Falke paused, hesitating. It looked like he didn't want to continue. His gaze flickered to the corridor behind Levi, as though checking it was indeed empty. Levi waited, patiently. The man had nothing to lose by telling him. He'd already gone so far. He'd committed to this story. With uncertainty in his tone, he carried on. "I'd sent it many months ago. It had been gone so long I had almost forgotten, even though at the time I was worried that I had cursed my family. If the MP found out I'd tried this, I knew all of us would be killed – even though the little un's didn't know anything about what I was doing. Attached to the dove's leg was a note I'd written. Just somethin' simple. 'Hello, is there anyone out there', kind of thing. I explained that the note came from inside the walls and we were looking to find other humans."

"That's insane!" Levi spluttered, unable to remain silent any longer. "Humans? Outside the walls? The titans would have eaten them."

Falke looked downcast and disappointed, like the words were spoken by an ignorant child. "The dove returned," he continued, "with a reply."

The Chemicals Keeping Us Together- Present Day

LEVI-

"Call Hanji," I repeated. I began to walk to the door, trying my best to keep out the drunken sway from each step. I felt so unsteady on my feet, the world in front of my eyes wouldn't stop changing between realities.

In my hands I could feel that bastard's neck and I was squeezing it tight. I wanted him to die. I wanted to feel the life drain out of him and watch the glint in his eyes to fade slowly, painfully slowly. I looked down at my palm, sweat dribbling off my chin. Lena caught my arm.

"Do you want to go home?"

"I … can't drive," I panted. The only way out of this was to play this as an illness. I was sick, I had a fever – I was not imagining myself strangling her brother. Lena had to think I was just ill.

Another flash of images brought me to my knees, a wave of sickness twisting my stomach. My hand covered my mouth as bile stung my throat. I couldn't control this. She had to call Hanji. Hanji had to help me.

"Call Hanji!" I snapped at Lena, who was trying to encourage me to lie down.

"It's ringing, it's ringing," she replied as I continued to resist her. "Please, sit!"

"I'm going to the car," I said sternly, catching her eyes. She understood and although I knew she didn't like it, she reluctantly agreed.

"Lena, dear, bring him inside. We'll get a cool towel for his forehead."
"We're not staying," Lena snapped, viciously. I could tell she was still upset. Her fingernails briefly dug into my skin. With her help, I was on my feet again. "Can you make it?" She whispered. I nodded, finding just enough strength to walk on. "Hanji? It's me, Lena."

Relief flooded through me. The door to her mother's apartment closed and immediately I felt more in control. For one, the audience I'd had was now shut away and two, the photograph seemed further from my grasp. With it, Luca's bloodied face began to fade. I vaguely heard Lena mutter something angrily at the lift as we made for the stairs, taking the steps with caution.

"He suddenly became ill," Lena explained down the microphone and I could just about make out shitty-glasses responding. "He hasn't told me what?"

"Ignore her," I interrupted. "Put me on."

"He says to put you on," Lena said into the phone. After a pause, she looked at me. "She says not to."

"That fucking crazy lunatic," I cursed, reaching for the phone. Lena allowed me to pinch the device from her grasp without a complaint. "That's not helping," I spat to Hanji. This wasn't an argument I wanted to have right now. I just needed something to put me back in control as quick as possible. If not, she needed to take me away until I was back to my usual self. She had always helped me before. I had to lean on her one more time.

"You have to tell her, Levi," her voice was a crackle of worry and stubbornness.

"Please, Hanji, not now."

"If it's not now, then next time. And next time might be more dangerous."

"I can control this-,"

"You can't." Her words made me stagger and Lena had to catch me. She wrapped her arm around my waist, straining under the weight. We took a brief pause on the stairs to allow me to catch my breath. Hanji remained silent on the line.

"Levi," Lena's eyes were wet with tears that threatened to leak. "Can you tell me what's wrong? Do we need to go to hospital?"

"It's just a fever," I explained, voice cracking. I reached up to her eyes and carefully wiped away one of the tears that had spilled down her cheeks. "No need to worry so much."

"You're hiding something."

"I'm not hiding anything. Come on, let's keep going."

"I don't want to-," she shook her head, sniffling. In my ear, Hanji chirped up again.

"Tell her."

"You're not being fucking helpful, shitty-glasses!" I snapped, hanging up immediately and wondering who next I could call. I tapped in Erwin's number … but paused. I knew he'd say the same as Hanji. More than that, he was away with work today and unlikely to be able to drop everything to come drag my sorry backside back to my apartment. I had one other idea.

"… hello?" the voice said, hesitantly. "Eren speaking?"

LENA –

The man in my arms was completely unlike himself. His legs trembled like a foal, his weight heavy on my side so that I had to stagger to keep us both upright. Although his face had always been pale, now it was a doll-like porcelain white and there was a sheen of sweat over his eyes. Even when he looked at me, something about his stare seemed distant. It wasn't just a fever, I could tell. More so, I could tell this had happened before by the way that he called Hanji and asked her to help him. My mind was a car crash, trying to decipher his end of the conversation. What did he mean by, 'I can control this'?

We managed to get to the ground floor and began the short walk to the car. He was fumbling for his keys in his pocket.

"You're not driving," I insisted.

"I know, I'm just going to lie down in the back for a while."

"Good. Who was the person you called after Hanji?"

"A friend," Levi swung open the back door and clambered inside. He lay facing the seats, already closing his eyes. "He's going to meet us here."

"I can drive us to your apartment, why is he coming?"

"He just … can help."

"Levi, please just-,"

"Would you mind running … to grab some ibuprofen?"

"Ibuprofen?"

"To get rid of this headache."

"I'm not leaving you here."

"Eren is on his way."

"I'm not leaving you here." I repeated. Levi didn't argue as his eyes were already fluttering closed. He breathed deeply, brow furrowed tightly. He looked pained. I thought about going back to our apartment to grab some medical supplies – I didn't. I reasoned with myself that I wasn't going back because I didn't know what Levi needed. He said it was a fever; I didn't believe him. A part of me knew I wasn't going back inside for selfish reasons.

I shook them out of my head and decided to wait for Eren to arrive.

I'd nearly gnawed off my entire hand in the ten minutes or so it took for the young man I assumed to be Eren to pull up. He was with someone else - a black-haired female driving. She struck me as almost a female Levi – the same surly expression, dark hair, pale skin, and as she ducked out of the car, I could follow the ridge of her biceps through her long-sleeved top. Neither of them appeared how I expected Levi's friends to look. I hadn't been surprised by Hanji and Erwin as both of them had been around Levi's age and suitably eccentric. These two just looked like kids. They must have recognised the car as they immediately came over.

"Eren?" I asked.

"Is Levi with you?" He jogged over and immediately spotted the body in the back seats. "Did he collapse?"

"Not quite, nearly. We managed to get him to the car."

"What happened before?"

"He was," I thought back. My memories were blurred with the anger I'd felt only seconds before Levi's turn. I hadn't been paying him any attention until then. I only noticed when I heard his hitched breathing. He clutched his heart so tightly that his knuckles whitened. "He said it was a fever."

"Did he see anyone new? Or seem preoccupied by something?" At my puzzled expression, Eren wafted his hands. "Sorry, sorry. Weird questions. I'm Eren." He extended his hand. "And this is my sister, Mikasa."

I took his hand and felt a flash, like white lightning scorching my temples. I snapped my hand away. He jumped back as well.

"What's the matter, Eren?" Mikasa stepped between us. Eren was blinking in surprise. I suddenly felt sick.

"What was that?" I gasped, digging my fingernails into my scalp. A pained whine left my lips. Levi was trying to sit up in the car. "No, no, no," I breathed. My heart was racing. "What's happening?" Eren moved to help me but Mikasa placed a hand on his chest to stop him. I had a volcanic eruption of hot emotions pouring through me, images of fear and dread melting my forehead. Unexpectedly, a bout of claustrophobia hit me, and it was like the whole world wasn't big enough – something was surrounding me on all sides, closing in. "Why can't I breathe?" I panted. "Why can't I breathe?"

"Lena, Lena," Levi was beside me, "calm down. Come on, deep breaths."

"What's happening?" The periphery of my vision blurred, and I could tell I was hyperventilating. Not enough oxygen was reaching my head. I was going to collapse. I was going down.