Getting access to high-stake gambling events in the underground was quite a challenge. With the Military Police going after the better known establishments because the conservative forces in the central government demanded an eradication of sinful temptation, locations had to change frequently, access had to be tightly regulated, and runners dispatched to spread the word mere hours before the doors opened.

It was all part of the excitement of course.

Rich, bored people were all the same, Levi thought, as he swept his eyes over the gathering. Not giving the slightest fuck about the fate of those who struggled with failing crops and threat of starvation, they came here to lose half a fortune without a second thought, saturating the air with their nauseating perfumes, spoiling their valuable silk clothes with sweat.

Tonight's venue wasn't large, but all the more crowded. The air was thick with the smoke from the pipes, making your head swim even if you didn't partake in inhaling the vapor directly. Small red lamps hung from the ceiling at irregular intervals, bathing the room in a dim, ominous light interlaced with shadows that held the promise of exhilarating debauchery.

A selection of card and dice games beckoned. There were only ten tables, but the stakes were dizzyingly high. The only women in the room were Renzo's lures. Annika, who had gotten first pick, had settled for Chemmy.

A good scammer knew how to draw out the inevitable. How to let their prey win, to boost their confidence and then, when they were getting too excited or too confident, how to pluck them slowly, feather by feather or, depending on character, plunge them straight into the pit of doom.

Annika was one of the best. She did nothing by half measures - and when she gambled, it was like she lived for every card she drew, for every dice she rolled alone. She was simply dazzling, the very air around her seemed to caress and covet her. But one thing she had never done was sold her body for money. Even when her breasts had barely started to grow, drooling men had queued up for a favor. Every single bawd in the underground city had tried to force her into the horizontal trade. Levi had sent each and every one of them packing until they had stopped coming.

Everybody who came here knew Annika was not for sale. It was part of her appeal. Hope kept them trying, failure only made them come back for more. Half the men at the table were so smitten with her they paid no attention to him. The other half was trying so hard to impress her they were just as oblivious to anything he did. Good, because his skills were rusty. Had he not hated all of them with a vengeance, Levi could have felt sorry for them. What besotted fools.

Their target - a vain, grey man past his prime who thought it wise to wear expensive rings on his fat fingers when coming to the underground city - was seated on a chair opposite of Annika so that he had full view of her low decolletage. He was winning. His face shone with sweat and excitement and the way he licked his lips suggested he was not only thinking of cards. Annika was down to a few chips, giving them a forlorn stroke from time to time, making the men around the table shudder with desire.

"I'm out of luck tonight," she intoned tearfully, her voice vibrating with a special timber that seemed to drive her admirers nuts.

"I can lend you some money," an eager man with a thick mustache offered. "With no interest! As long as you can continue playing…"

"Me too!" the thin man to his right intoned. "I'll lend you some as well!"

But Annika shook her head slowly to those and other assurances, her large eyes moist with unshed tears. "Maybe another round of drinks to say goodbye?"

Another few digits were added to the men's tabs, because Annika only deserved the best of the best, and more bubbly alcohol flowed down their throats. Everyone looked red in the face now. Levi dealt the cards.

Their target set a large sum on himself. Annika set her remaining chips on the bank.

The bank won.

Fifteen rounds later and Annika had a nice enough stack in front of her again.

"Another round of drinks?" she lisped, hope shining from her eyes. Damn, but she was convincing.

Their target put money on the bank. Player won. Their target put money on a tie - and a tie it was. Annika smiled at him encouragingly. Their target put money on himself. The bank won. Losing, losing, winning. Losing, losing, losing, winning. Losing, losing, losing, losing, winning...

"I need a break," the target suddenly murmured and pushed back his chair with an ugly scraping sound.

Levi stood more upright at the interruption. How much time had passed? It almost felt like he had been shaken from a trance of counting, dealing, shuffling, counting. His head felt strangely light. He needed a break too.

"But…," Annika fluttered her eyelids. In vain.

"Gotta piss," the target hiccuped, swaying on his feet grimacing. "I'll be right back."

"Do we take a break as well?" Annika smiled at the rest of the table though she was clearly not amused. "A few minutes?" The men got up and staggered away, one by one. Some looked almost green in the strange light.

"Fuck," she kicked the table hard, "we were so damn close!"

Levi looked after their retreating prey and shrugged. "I doubt he will be going home already. He'll probably be back."

He looked much more sober suddenly though... Throwing them a burning look, he disappeared through the door. Strange.

"Do you think I have nothing better to do than wait for him to return?" Annika snapped and grabbed a drink to down its contents.

"Yup, about right," Levi mumbled and looked at the pack of cards in his hand. It took much practice to recognize the little marks from a distance. Much and continuing practice. Annika hadn't slacked off, it seemed. Awaiting his return? The thought made him sick.

"Are you upset that I'm working for Renzo?" Annika asked suddenly, getting up to sit on the table near him.

"That would imply I care," Levi fanned out the cards.

Annika tipped on one and he flipped it: The Queen of Hearts. She smiled. It was an old trick they had done together many times.

"You've always cared, that's how stupid you are. But he's not interested in me," she mused. "Not in that way. It's quite strange."

"Pffft," Levi shuffled the cards again. "Those men exist, you know."

And she had no power over these men. Renzo was smart if he knew how to keep her by his side without falling for her wiles. Or he had something with which to keep her in check? Something like this debt he had sprung on Levi, maybe. But did someone who had no emotional attachments even have vulnerabilities?

"Why did you dump me?"

The question was sudden and Annika managed to sound dejected as she posed it. But he wouldn't fall for her tricks ever again. Where she knew to pretend deep emotions came from there was nothing but a charred wasteland.

"Because you are a psychopath," he stressed every word so there could be no misunderstanding between them. "Just like Kenny. You almost destroyed me. Just like Kenny. Every day, I thank my good fortune that I stepped away before you took my humanity from me."

"I can try to do better. For you I would."

Her pout was a dangerous trap. Her strange sincerity would stir a stone. Levi decided it was safer to concentrate on the cards instead of looking at her. "Nobody can escape their true nature, remember?"

Her movement was lightning quick but so was he; he had let down his guard around her once and had learned his lesson. His hand caught her wrist before the small knife could reach his side. The cards scattered, fluttering in the air like strange butterflies for a brief moment.

"I'm going to fucking kill you," she hissed, straining against his grip.

"Keep trying, Anni, keep trying," he whispered into her ear, pressing down hard, his cheek pressed against hers. "But don't dawdle too much. This place makes me sick. I will clean up this debt and then to leave for good."

"You can't. Nobody can."

Levi felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He pressed harder, almost snapping the bone of her wrist until she finally dropped the knife to the floor with a grunt of pain. He kicked it away, far out of reach, watching it glitter before it disappeared in the shadows.

"Something… something's not right," Annika exhaled and sagged against him.

###

The air was so bad in the main room that Zoë immediately started coughing her lungs out. Feeling her already upset stomach revolt against the sickening sweet smell of the smoke that clouded the air, she walked forward, bumping into something fleshy, sweaty and soft that came out of nowhere. Disgust was instantaneous and strong.

"Beg your pardon," the man slurred as he swayed past her.

Someone made a grab for her bottom and pinched, earning himself a hard elbow to the ribs. That was no deterrence for others. Where did all those grabby hands come from? Zoë bashed her elbows and knees into all the body parts she could reach, then straightened, brushing a bit of hair from her face, and put on her glasses that she fished out of her reticule that still dangled from her wrist. Better. She swept her eyes over the milling crowd. Where the fuck was he?

There.

At the very back, Levi stood at one of the gaming tables, intimately hugging Annika.

Right. It wasn't like she hadn't known that there were women who could get every single straight man to lust for her - and women like herself who had to put up with lies that she was 'gorgeous'. Swallowing down her disappointment, she made her way across the room towards the black-clad figure who turned his eyes on her with a frown.

"What are you doing here?" Levi hissed. The usual warm welcome from the biggest abrasive asshole alive, what else.

"I was looking for you," she tried to say but what came out of her mouth sounded strangely slurred.

"You shouldn't be in here," Levi let go of Annika to grab Zoë's arm. "Someone might recognize you. Where's Renzo? He gave me his word he would protect you."

With no support from him, Annika fell forward, off the table and onto the floor. Zoë frowned. That was some effect Levi's hugs had! The room did a sudden lurch and Zoë staggered. Shit.

"Are you drunk, idiot?" Levi asked and peered up into her face, his hands gripping her shoulders so hard it was almost painful.

Drunk? Zoë shook her head. She hadn't drunk much. Some ale. Then some of that bubbly stuff that tickled your nose. A woman got thirsty after all.

"Fuck," Levi swore, throwing a brief look at Annika's motionless body, "we need to get out of here."

"Ah, yes…," Zoë leaned close to him because her voice sounded too soft in her own ears, it wouldn't carry. She had come here to warn Levi after all. "Renzo is… he…"

"I'm taking you outside," Levi murmured. "The air will be marginally better there and you can tell me what's going on."

The blood was pounding in her ears as Levi dragged her across the room towards and out the door, muttering foul curses under his breath.

"This way," he said, steering her to the left, into some kind of corridor with many doors. Once they were alone, he stopped, leaned her against a wall and faced her.

"What's going on, Hanji? Why did Renzo let you go?"

"He left abruptly," Zoë slurred, thinking that Levi looked exceptionally cute with his cheeks slightly reddened and his hair a little messy. "With some guy who burst in."

Levi frowned, then cocked his head to listen. After which he ripped open a door behind them so suddenly Zoë yelped in surprise. A bed was in there. As was a person on that bed. The person was clearly dead, with blood slowly dripping to the floor from a huge, ugly gut wound.

"Oh," Zoë stepped forward to have a closer look. A fascinating wound. Like someone had made it in order for the now dead person to suffer a lot until the end. But Levi grabbed her arm and pulled her back hard, making her protest.

"We better get out."

"But why? This is…"

"... nothing you want to get involved in," he interrupted roughly, rushing to the next door after leaning her against the wall again. Inside the room another dead body greeted them. Now she could smell it. The blood. The guts. It mingled with the already putrid air in the most unpleasant way. Oh shit, she was going to be sick.

And then the commotion started at the other end of the house.

"Make way! Make way in the name of the king!"

Shouts and footsteps, curses and grunts followed that command.

"It's a raid," Levi murmured, his eyes darting left and right as he was looking for a way to escape. "This is a trap."

"There are stairs over there," Zoë pointed.

Levi nodded and started running.

"What… what about Annika?" Zoë called after him.

But Levi had already disappeared up the narrow stairwell.

"Hey! You there!" someone called out from behind Zoë.

She turned and ran. Well, wobbled... before kicking off her stupid shoes to continue after Levi in her stockings. But dammit, she still wobbled. Her legs felt like rubber. She also felt like her stomach was steadily pushing its contents towards her throat.

"Hurry the fuck up," Levi snarled at her and pulled her along roughly.

"Take that off," he briefly stopped on the next landing, pointing at her.

Yes, the dress was in the way, its swinging motions slowing her down.

"There are too many bu…"

Levi grabbed the fabric at her breasts and ripped hard. With success. The green fabric split with a strangely satisfying sound right down the middle. Zoë shrugged out of it, tottering precariously on her feet as she stomped down the silk. The underwear she was wearing didn't exactly cover her well, she noticed.

"Stop! In the name of the king!" someone shouted below.

Pressing his lips together, Levi grabbed her hand again and pulled her forward, then up and up. They heard boots thunder on the stairs behind them.

"You continue until you see a hatch in the roof," Levi ordered her. "Crawl through it, then wait for me."

"What are you…"

"Just go!" he pushed her forward and swiveled around, to face their pursuers.

Zoë thought she'd rather throw up without him looking and continued forward. There were shouts behind her, then the unmistakable thumping sounds of fists hitting flesh. Then the hatch appeared when there were no more stairs. It was rather high up, but she managed to open it after the third try. A small window swung down. She jumped for it and pulled herself upwards, wiggling her body out onto the rooftop.

Where there normally would have been cool night air there was only the stale, warm air of the underground city. Everything stank.

Zoë's stomach cramped and she had to throw up so hard, it felt like her innards were ripped out of her.

She moaned miserably, wiping her mouth with shaking hands.

Another spasm. More vomit.

She felt a presence join her on the rooftop, a familiar shape who took off his dress jacket and draped it over her shoulders, the warmth from his body lingering in it.

"We need to go. Can you walk?"

She nodded though she wasn't sure she could.

Levi took her hand and dragged her forward, first balancing along the gable, then down the tilted side.

"I am sorry," she moaned and was sick again. Everything wavered in front of her eyes.

"I'll get you to shelter," he told her. "But we cannot stop. You know what will happen if the military police apprehend us here."

"Just leave me here," she was shaking all over by now. Court-martial be damned, she couldn't go any further.

"Shut up," he pulled her forward again.

She managed a small jump. They climbed up on another roof and down on the other side. Was this some kind of strange nightmare? There was nothing left inside her stomach and still she retched and retched, her head a bulb of pain.

"What if I get the shits too," she moaned, feeling her stomach turning into liquid fire.

"Then I'll just kill whoever did this to you more slowly," he said.

Two houses further and her legs gave way under her. She was done. She couldn't even push herself upright anymore. Not losing a second, Levi bent down and swept her up into his arms.

"I'm too heavy, don't do this," she struggled feebly, but he just grabbed her more firmly and sped up again.

"I said shut up or I'll gag you."

It occurred to her that she was still wearing an invaluable emerald necklace over barely nothing, which was the most ridiculous thing she had ever done. But laughing hurt her stomach. Her head. Her whole being. Levi's face above her was grim, his jaw set in stone. She put her arms around his neck to take some of the weight off his arms. He looked down at her briefly, with eyes that to her relief were without disdain for her and her stupidity.

"I'm so sorry," she said. Tears seemed too close to finding a way out of her eyes but she wouldn't make an even bigger fool of herself by crying.

"Say that again and I'll drop you," Levi growled.

His balance was amazing, a detached part of her realized when he slid down the side of a roof with her in his arms, no wonder he had mastered their 3D maneuvering gear so quickly. He jumped. She yelped. He jumped again. Now they were on a narrow street. The houses to each side looked like deserted ruins, but the shadows moved like living things. Was she hallucinating?

Levi said something which she didn't catch.

Then, they were inside one of the houses and going down… down a set of stairs with missing pieces. She felt Levi's breath come faster now, his chest rising and falling much more quickly against her side.

And then he staggered into damp blackness, kicked a door shut and dropped her onto something that felt like a pile of rags.

"Bucket," he rasped, kicking something metallic in her direction.

She heard him move, then a light flared up, illuminating his pale face. He lit a candle, held it up high and had a look at their surroundings.

They were in a small room with packed up provisions and weapons on shelves and a mattress on the floor on which she currently lay. It looked like a hide-out of sorts.

The dust was so thick it looked like a blanket.

Levi groaned miserably at the sight.

"Don't worry about it," she said, reaching for the bucket. "It's only dust."

"Not one word," he glared at her. "Just throw up into the bucket and try not to die. I am going to clean now. And when I'm done, I want you to be fast asleep so you won't bother me anymore."

Watching him dust and swipe while muttering curses was strangely soothing. She drank a bit of something he handed her in a bottle, immediately throwing it back up. Neatly into the bucket. He put a rough blanket over her after shaking it out for at least half an hour. It was heavy and made breathing a little difficult, but moving had become an impossibility anyway.

Levi opened the door to the darkness outside.

"Don't go," she murmured, a sudden flare of panic jolting through her.

"I'll be back after cleaning this, you dummy," he grumbled, lifting the bucket for her to see.

And he was, after what seemed too many seconds. Levi put a cool cloth on her forehead and peered into her face intently.

"Why are you not sleeping?"

"I made a big fool out of myself, haven't I?" She had to focus on not crying again.

"Close your eyes," he ordered and took her glasses off her nose carefully, folding them up and putting them into his shirt pocket.

"Please don't leave me," she blurted out, feeling an instant wave of embarrassment at her weakness.

"No more talking," he scolded and lowered himself down to sit on the floor next to her. "Don't worry about a thing. We're safe here for a while."

He took her hand into both of his. His thumb drew slow patterns on her wrist, her palm.

"Sleep now," he whispered. And she did.