Eren rushed out of school, basically sprinting towards his mother's car - he couldn't wait to go home and call Mikasa to check on her.
"Bye Eren! See you tomorrow!" Armin waves at his brunette friend "Make sure to call me if you want to hang out later!". Eren isn't really paying attention, instead focusing on his mother, who he has never seen so crestfallen - something wasn't right. Normally his instincts weren't the safest thing to rely on, but this time he could feel literal alarms going off in his head.
"Mom! Everything ok? Are you ok?" the boy immediately fires off the moment he climbs in the front seat of the red car.
Carla can only look at her son, taking deep breaths before replying. "Eren, something has happened, and I need you to remain calm, ok? The more you get agitated the more it's going to be difficult for you to handle"
"Mom, what...happened?" The brunette feels those alarm bells ringing even louder in his ears, every moment that's not spent in explaining only succeeding in making him worry more and more.
"Something happened at the Ackerman's house, Eren. Someone...killed both parents, and apparently kidnapped Mikasa - Levi is fine, he wasn't home when that happened. Right now he's staying at his girlfriend's house, but it may happen that he will come and stay with us for a while"
Eren's expression doesn't change at all, remaining frozen, as if someone pressed pause on his life. He understands the words, what his mom just said, but he is having trouble adjusting to it. "Eren? Did you understand what I said?", his mother tries to make him acknowledge that he understood, but he still has that blank expression on his face.
He's remembering all the fun times he had with Levi's parents, all the laughter, the jokes that his dad used to say, the words of encouragement that his mother always had for him when he and Mikasa fought and didn't know how to say sorry, I'll never see them again...it was a weird thought to have for a 14 year old, and Eren was stuck on that line like a broke record.
Suddenly he thinks of Mikasa. His mom didn't say that they found her dead too, right? So that was a good thing! They'll find her no problem! At least, that's what that cop said that day that the police had a show and tell at his school - If you have any serious problems, I guarantee you that the police can help you with that - and I never get back on my words. Eren had been impressed with that charming smile and captivating eyes that screamed confidence. That's right! If the police was behind it, they'll find Mikasa!
With a strained smile on his face, he lets out in his most convincing "I'm ok" voice, "The police are on it, right? The said that they will he-help solve our problems so, so, t-they w-will fu-fuh- get M-Mikasa back, right? That's what they do, right?"
Carla doesn't know what to say - she was expecting anything other than whatever reaction was this - he is probably trying to hold it together and not cry, almost, he still couldn't manage to hold back all the tears. But she doesn't want him to hold too much hope, because if, god how she hates that word, they couldn't find her, the reality of the situation would be crashing down on him harder than if she were to make him understand the situation now.
"Eren. There's no guarantee that they'll find her - Levi arrived at-" she stops talking to choke back a sob "his home quite a bit after they...those people got Mikasa, and so we still don't know where they could be. I need you to understand that, ok? It's a horrible thing to say, and I'm not telling you to give up hope,but to view this on a more realistic scale, Eren."
The boy doesn't reply immediately, choosing to keep up his facade - so he decides to just look at his mother and utters "I can't think that way...they have to get her back..."
By the time they arrive home, Eren has already cried for roughly the entire journey, even though he was trying to not make a sound, probably to not worry his mother.
Carla was at a loss for words - she had prepared herself for all the ways her son could react that a piece of news like that, crying constantly, endless rage, hell, she even thought about what do do in case he would be completely broken, like Levi. But she doesnt know what to do with a hopeful Eren. On one hand, she understands how he feels, to leave such a big part of his life up to chance and that feeling of being powerless didn't help.
"Eren, do you want anything to eat? A snack?"
"No thank you mom - do you think it would be ok if we were to see Levi?"
"Maybe it's better if we leave him be for the first few days, he still blames himself for what happened because he arrived later than what he had agreed on, even though if he had arrived on time, gah, don't want to think about that - but maybe in a few days we can go see him, ok?"
The almost too small to notice nod coming from the boy succeeds in making Carla want to cry.
*following weeks*
It's been a couple of weeks since Mikasa got kidnapped, and the raven has lost all will to keep going. She has a permanent red spot on both her cheeks, and her lips keep getting injured with every slap.
Every day they put her in that room with Elena and the man, she didn't know his name, and they followed the same routine: the man would take off his pants and relax on the sofa, and Elena would try to convince the girl to "start licking, beautiful" - she hated that nickname, she knew that that woman was calling her beautiful on purpose to mock her - since she keeps on refusing to service that man, they have denied her to clean herself, basic hygiene becoming a privilege to be earned rather than a right to have.
Mikasa has never given in though, always ending up cleaning the place - but she hated that as well, everyone going out of their way to make the experience as unbearable as possible, from leaving all sorts of weird stinky fluids on almost every surface, to, and this was the most recent development, groping her any time they wanted. She wanted to shove those hands away, breaking fingers any way she can, but she also knows that they would torture her.
One night, she had tried to escape, managing to go as far as outside and start running towards any direction, but they had caught her immediately after. The amount and force of slaps and punches would always work as deterrent for any attempt to fight back.
"Remember, beautiful - we're not going to kill you, that would be such a waste in your case, but we don't have any obligation to not hurt you - there are plenty of ways we can hurt you that won't leave significant damage to your body, so don't be smart and try to run away again, otherwise the punishment will be way worse"
And so Mikasa would just wait it out, kneeling in front of the man in that white room, hope that they wouldn't hurt her, until theyr grew bored and just throw at her face a rag to clean with.
Her only thoughts at night, curled up on a dirty mattress, no blanket available to her, was about her family - she would have nightmares about their death constantly, not dreaming vivid scenes but rather sounds, those horrible sounds that she was cursed with knowing, the gunshot, the twisting of the leg, and the noise of bones twisting, breaking beyond repair.
Ironically, she prefers to have those nightmares than normal dreams - once she had dreamt about her having fun with her family, Levi making fun of her, Eren playing with her, Mrs Jeager making sure she knew that she was always welcome if she wanted to spend the night - the realisation that it was just a dream hurt so much more than she imagined.
"Come on beautiful, we don't have all day, just give it a try - you'll maybe find that you actually are quite good at it, go on and try, think of it as a lollipop", the honeyed voice, close to her ear, is pushing her face closer and closer to the man's body part. Thankfully, they never forced her to, but every day she would experience more force and have to struggle more to avoid any sort of contact. The raven doesn't think that she'll be lucky enough to avoid it forever.
"You know what, beautiful? You've been nothing but an ungrateful brat" - at that specific word, Mikasa tries her best to not cry out, to leave her face empty of all expressions, the image of Levi flashing in front of her -" We've been nothing but patient with you, basically almost spoon feeding you, but if you decide that you're going to be a cold bitch about all of this, I guess that it's time to stop with the niceties"
Suddenly Mikasa is thrown on the floor, head hitting the ground and causing the world around her to spin endlessly - the woman is lifting her up, holding her head still, and dragging her towards the man. "In this new home of yours, you have to do something,beautiful, and if you're too weak to stand up and face reality, well, guess that we have to help you out - so open your mouth and start licking, beautiful"
Levi is sitting on Petra's bed, her bedroom neatly tied up, with the girl sitting down next to him with a hot bowl of soup. "Levi? Are you hungry?". The only response is just silence. Levi hasn't been able to function properly for weeks now, just barely eating and drinking enough to not get sick - and while Petra is doing her best, she has to admit that taking care of someone so broken is a huge task for an 18 year old, and she wonders how to breach this subject with him - she doesn't want to hurt him more than he already is.
"I have to make a phone call, I will just leave this here ok?" Petra says, putting down the bowl into the nightstand next to the bed, no acknowledgement coming from the boy - she just barely manages to get out of the room before letting out some sobs, her mind being overwhelmed with just how unresponsive Levi has become - she immediately feels shame in that thought - What I'm feeling is nothing next to what Levi is probably feeling, I can't be this selfish about these things - she knows that Levi wouldn't want her mentally stability to start declining as well, but just the thought of making him go away this soon just plain hurts the girl.
"Hey Petra, can we talk?" her father is standing in the doorway, his face betraying worry for the girl - "We know that Levi is going through a very dark phase in his life, but you have to look out also for your own health - you can't keep this bottled up, or it's going to blow up in both your faces and leave more hurt - I think it's time to call Mrs Jeager, and let Levi stay at hers. If you want I can talk to Levi and tell him this"
Immediately the girl shakes her head, replying to her father - "No dad, I still want to talk to him, I need to be the one to say this, I don't want him to think that I'm tired of him - I'll call Carla right now"
"Ok Petra - just know that if you jeed help with anything, me and your mother will always be here to help you, ok?". Both people walk towards each other and the man encapsulates Petra in a bear hug, allowing her to just cry for a moment, to let her emotions loose.
"Levi?" - at the sudden broken voice, his eyes shoot up, looking at his girlfriend's face, tear streaks evident in her face, immediately making him worry if she received just some awful news from the police - "What happened? Did the police say anything? What's going on?"
"Nothing happened! We still have no news about anything, I just...we need to talk - You know that I care about you so much, right? And every moment that I see you so broken...I-" tears started to fall down the girl's face- "I...can't keep seeing you like this...I don't know what to do anymore!"
It is as if someone just slapped Levi hard - Why is she crying...what's going on..."What do you mean you don't know what to do? You- You don't have to do anything! Don't take my burdens! Just...relax..." Levi didn't know what to do either. Suddenly he understands - I've just been so broken that I failed to at least help her cope, instead just not even attempting to talk - I can imagine how it must've been difficult to deal with me...
Levi gets up, and hugs his girlfriend, letting her cry on his shoulder, reassuring her that everything was going to work out in the end - "I'm sorry Petra...I haven't taken into account how weird and difficult it would be for us to suddenly live together, while I am in this situation...I'm going to call Mrs Jeager, see if I can crash at her place for a while, ok?"
Petra just cries harder, ashamed that she's the one who needs comforting right now instead of the other way around - "I don't want you to think that I don't want you around...I..."
"I'll never think that - it's just a new situation, and I am not helping it...I- I just miss my family...it hurts"
For a while, neither teen said anything, just leaning on each other, letting the other know that it was ok to cry.
Eren is in his room, laying on his bed, dutifully doing his homework - for a while he spent his days locked in his room, not wanting to see anyone.
Weeks had passed since the kidnapping, and Eren had fallen into a deep depression - the thought of his best friend being gone, and the realisation that the police might not be able to find her taking a toll on his mental state.
At school it wasn't better - the entire class not wanting to hang around with anyone, instead spending their lunch breaks sitting at their desks.
The news of Mikasa's kidnapping came after a few days, and every kid was shocked - they too, like Eren, at first relied on the police force. But as the days went by, with no improvement, that encouraging thought began to wilt away, leaving behind just stone cold reality - that they may never see their friend again.
"Eren? Could you come downstairs please?"
When Eren steps into the kitchen, he notices Levi there, who is trying to at least attempt a small smile - "Hey, Eren, how...how are you? It looks like I'll be staying with you for a while - I hope that's ok"
"Nonsense, you're more than welcome here! Just make yourself comfortable, and don't hesitate to help yourself to anything we have, ok? You're basically fa-" Carla manages to stop herself from finishing that sentence, even though everyone knows what she was about to say - "Sorry, that was careless of me...the point is that, you don't have to feel like you're intruding"
"Thanks Mrs Jeager, I truly appreciate this - I'll make sure to help you out with some chores-"
"Absolutely not! You're staying here to relax and clear your mind - you can repay us by feeling better"