Levi
He was standing there silently, looking at the glass door that led to one of the hospital rooms. Levi could see the short nurse bustling around two sleeping figures. Both Hanji and Erwin didn't regain consciousness yet. It was late, their families were here before to visit them, but the time for visiting was over. A policeman who had to be here for security was sitting on one of the chairs right in front of the room. He nodded when he saw Levi, obviously he must had known him.
The nurse finally left the room and gave Levi not a friendly look.
"What are you doing here? Patients cannot be visited at this hour, please come tomorrow" Then the woman turned to the officer on duty. "Don't let him in".
After saying this, the nurse walked over to the nurses room and disappeared inside.
Levi glanced at the man. The other policeman just waved his hand at him.
"Just do it quick".
Ackerman stepped past him and entered the room. His ears were immediately struck by the loud noises made by all the devices his friends were plugged into. He moved forward on soft legs. He gently pressed his lips together as he saw the sleeping faces of the two detectives he cared about.
Hanji looked like a mummy. Her head was wrapped in bandages, with particular emphasis on the left eye. Levi had learned earlier that the shard of glass hurt her right in the eyelid . Besides, she had a few broken ribs and a concussion. After a long rest she should be fine... Although, she will probably look at the world with one eye from now.
Levi moved his gaze at Erwin. The man looked worse, he was bruised and slightly burned in many places. His right arm, which he tried to protect himself from the explosion, suffered the worst, it got hit and crushed. At first, the doctors wanted to amputate his arm, due to the extensive injuries. Fortunately, the arm was saved, although the question was whether Erwin would ever regain feeling in it. Nobody knew that.
Ackerman perched on the edge of the bed where Smith was sleeping. He reached for the man's good hand and squeezed it tenderly. He looked at the quiet, pale face, feeling like the despair was tearing him apart.
"Please, wake up" He whispered without taking his eyes from closed eyelids. "You can't leave me alone with all this mess. I know you probably want to see Mike again, but... I'm not letting you do this. I can't do it without you".
Levi gripped the man's hand tighter. Either it was only his imagination, or Erwin slightly returned the gesture. Ackerman looked at his face quickly, but nothing changed on it, it still seemed just as still and quiet as before.
The man sighed and got up from the bed when he suddenly heard a whisper:
"Levi?".
He turned around and saw one eye, looking at him. Hanji was just trying to sit up.
"Han! Don't move, you shouldn't get up...".
Levi quickly approached her and grabbed her shoulders to calm her down. The woman looked around anxiously as if she didn't know where she was. It took a moment for her to take a deep breath, only then the woman's body relaxed a little.
"Are we in the hospital?".
"Yes. They brought you today".
"And Erwin...?".
"He's right here" Levi replied, pointing to the sleeping man. "He's… in pretty bad shape, but he'll get well soon, for sure. We have to wait for him to wake up",
"Oh. Okay..." Hanji whispered back, then looked around again. "My glasses, can you pass them to me? I can't see anything... What happened to my eye?".
The woman reached for the bandage on her eyelid. Levi quickly took her by the hand.
"You shouldn't be touching this. A shard of glass hurt you there. I don't know what the predictions are, but… Well, it doesn't look too good". Levi put Hanji's hand on her stomach, but didn't take his hand away. -"But the most important thing is that you are alive. That you both live. Do you remember what happened?".
"We got into your car" The woman said after a moment. Her voice was very quiet, as if she didn't have the strength to speak louder. "We were going to interrogate Xavier, as we do every day. We stopped to buy a coffee, we barely got out of the car and then… It was like... The world exploded".
Hanji closed a good eye and sighed heavily. Levi was holding her by the hand, tenderly entwined their fingers together.
"Someone must have planted explosives in my car. Fortunately, you two weren't inside when it was activated" Ackerman said, frowning. "That fucking bomb was meant for me".
"I guess we both know who is responsible for this..." Hanji opened her eye and looked at her friend. "But hey, don't blame yourself. We couldn't predict that Grisha would declare war".
Levi was silent. He knew Hanji was right, but the guilt was stronger. He wanted to change the subject.
"We'll check everything, don't worry. We'll tie it with him eventually. Now you should rest" Ackerman said, standing up and reaching for the comforter to cover Hanji with it. "I'll visit you tomorrow".
"Thanks. You also have to rest, Levi. You know, to have the strength to catch criminals".
"I will" Ackerman got up to leave, but still looked at his friend. "Hey... You didn't tell us that you and that bartender are a thing. He called me today".
"Oh..." Hanji's lips twitched into a slight smile. She looked as if some of her strength had returned to her. "There was no time, I couldn't find the right moment. Because of the fact that only the bad things have been happening lately, I totally forgot about the good ones".
When Levi got on the motorcycle a moment later, he was still thinking about Zoe's words. She was right.
There were too many bad things happening recently.
Eren
He set the empty glass on the table and looked around the spacious room. It was filled with smartly dressed people talking to each other and slowly sipping alcohol. The women wore evening dresses, while the men had suits in all possible shades of black and navy blue, though sometimes an unusual color appeared among them. Waiters bustled around in the crowd, offering the glasses and tasty-looking snacks.
As for Eren, he wore a long-sleeved black shirt and elegant black pants. The new leather boots gleamed in the glow of the lights. He tied his long brown hair at the top. He looked all grown-up and extremely chic.
He spotted Grisha talking to several men who were probably politicians of some sort. Carla was right next to him. She found time in her busy schedule to accompany her husband to the charity banquet that evening. Well, there was a reason he needed her now, he was desperately lacking new allies. Tybur's two sons declared open war against him, joining forces with Willy's sister, who also demanded the revenge for her brother's death. It didn't look good.
As for Carla, she managed the family's hotel chain on a daily basis. Both she and Grisha were dressed in white, the man's favorite color. His father wore a two-piece suit, and Carla had opted that night for a long, flowing dress with a scarf tied around the neck.
The woman must have felt his gaze on her as she looked into his eyes. She gave him a brief smile, then returned to talking to the men.
Eren bit his lip. She wasn't a bad mother, but she was completely absorbed in the life Grisha had chosen for them. This arrangement suited her, all that luxury and wealth. Eren knew she wouldn't trade this life for any other. It wasn't even about the affection or love for his father, Eren knew that both Grisha and Carla had been cheating on each other at every turn, but their relationship continued. Their business connected them, they needed each other.
Zeke stood a short distance away, sipping a drink with Porco, Marcel, and Pieck. Annie and Ymir were standing against the wall, talking to each other.
Eren looked in another direction and saw Mikasa. The girl was sitting on the sofa and looked a little confused. The reason must have been the man who sat next to her, apparently disturbing her with his presence.
Eren frowned and walked towards them.
"Is everything okay?" The boy asked, stopping in front of his friend. The stranger looked up at him, clearly a little surprised. He was young, though definitely older than him and Mikasa. He had a small scar on his cheek. Eren looked at him, eyes narrowed dangerously.
"We're just talking" The stranger replied, rising from the sofa.
"I think the conversation is over" Eren muttered, clenching his fists lightly. The man said nothing more, just snorted and disappeared into the crowd.
Eren sit down next to Mikasa and looked at her worriedly.
"Are you okay? What did he want?" The boy asked, leaning towards his friend.
"I don't even know. First, he wanted to bring me a drink, so I told him I don't drink alcohol. Then he said that we could do something else. Just some jerk" Mikasa sighed, then looked at Eren. "Thanks for coming, though I could have managed on my own.".
"I don't doubt. By the way, you look really beautiful" Eren confessed, looking at the girl. Today Mikasa was wearing a long dark blue dress that uncovered her shoulders and she had braided her black hair at the top. Her red lips formed a gentle smile. "Though I know you'd rather be somewhere quieter now."
"That's true. You know, you look pretty good too" Mikasa nudged Eren with her shoulder. "I like the way you tie your hair. I still can't believe they are so long, longer than mine...".
Eren laughed softly.
"Yes, who would have thought" The boy added, then asked a little quieter: "How are you holding up lately?"
Mikasa shrugged. With Eren, she didn't have to pretend she didn't know what he was talking about.
"It depends on the day. I still can't believe your father really let me drive the car on my own".
"Yes... It's really unlike him" The boy noted, frowning slightly. "You should be careful, especially with the Tyburs".
"I know. I am. I always take with myself that gift from you" Mikasa said, looking at Eren and blinking her long eyelashes.
"That's good to hear. Besides, are you okay?" Yaeger wanted to know.
"Yes, you could say that, given the circumstances".
"For sure?" Eren moved a little closer to his friend, lowering his voice. "I feel like you don't tell me everything".
"Yeah? And do you tell me about everything?" Mikasa asked. They stared at each other for a moment.
"Here are my kids!" They suddenly heard a woman's voice above them. Eren and Mikasa looked up to see Carla. The woman grinned as she walked around the furniture and stopped in front of the sofa. "I'm looking at you and I can't believe how much you have grown up".
"Well, that's the way it is…" Eren muttered with a shrug. Carla studied him for a moment intently.
"Haven't you thought about finally getting your hair cut? It's too long. You would look much more manly with short ones" Mrs. Yaeger said, squinting her eyes and smiled.
"I like it that way" Mikasa confessed, getting up from her seat. "Excuse me, I have to go to the toilet".
"Oh, we can go together!" Carla called, then took Mikasa by the arm. "We didn't have a chance to talk, it will be the perfect moment".
"Yhm... Yeah..." Mikasa looked at Eren for help, but the boy just shrugged, unable to do anything else. He watched the two women disappear into the crowd. He sat lost in thought for a moment. Suddenly Zeke and the Gaillard brothers approached him.
"Eren, here you are! Hold on" His brother handed him a bottle of vodka while saying that, and then fell down on the empty seat. "If some waiter would ask, you didn't see anything. Bottoms up!".
"When will this boring banquet end..." Marcel groaned, also sitting down next to Eren. Porco stood in front of them, his arms crossed over his chest and smiling wryly.
"It will be over soon. Zeke promised we would go to some more interesting place. You know, to meet some ladies" Replied the younger Gaillard.
Eren sighed inwardly, then took a few sips of the alcohol, that instantly burned in his throat. He swallowed it and handed the bottle back to Zeke.
"Today I'm in a great mood!" His older brother exclaimed, also drinking alcohol. "If it goes well, we'll have some good news soon".
"What news? What's happening?" Eren asked, watching Zeke drink vodka. After a while the bottle was pressed into his hand again.
"You'll see" Zeke replied, his glasses twinkling in the glare of the chandelier. "It'll be a surprise".
Eren frowned, but couldn't ask for more as the men changed the subject. The boy took another drink, then pushed the alcohol toward Zeke. At one point he noticed Carla talking to Grisha and laughing at some joke. He frowned. Something was not right...
"Have you seen Mikasa somewhere?" He asked, looking around.
"Luckily not" Zeke confessed as he finished the vodka and tucked the bottle under the sofa cushion.
"She should be back by now... Excuse me for a moment".
"Hey, Eren, where are you going?".
The boy got up from his seat, he felt the sudden anxiety. He pushed his way through the crowd and stopped in front of his mother. Carla was reaching for a treat from the tray one of the waiters was holding in front of her.
"Where is Mikasa? She was with you" Eren wanted to know. Carla already had flushes on her cheeks, just as Grisha she didn't deny herself alcohol.
"Oh yeah, a man came up to her and they started talking, so I left them alone. It's that age, son" Carla chuckled softly, then reached for another snack.
Eren widened his eyes. He quickly passed Carla and began shoving his way towards the toilets. However, as he had expected, Mikasa was no longer here. The boy moved quickly down the corridor, looking around in fear. It was his fault, if anything happened, he would be responsible… He heard quick steps behind him.
"Eren, wait for us!" Zeke called.
The boy suddenly froze in place. In the dark part of the corridor, he spotted the man he had seen earlier. He was just pressing a girl in a long blue dress against the wall. Eren couldn't see her face, but he recognized Mikasa from a distance. The boy walked quickly towards them, but didn't have time to do anything as the stranger was pushed away. The girl punched him in the face and then kicked him in the groin. The man squealed in pain and turned away. When he met Eren's gaze, he immediately started running in the other direction.
Eren wanted to go after him, but Mikasa was more important. He quickly approached the girl, trying to spot any wound on her face or body.
"Are you all right?" The boy asked, touching her shoulders.
Mikasa was breathing fast with nervousness, but aside from a few strands of hair sticking out of her hairstyle, she looked fine. She took a deep breath.
"Yeah, thanks. That's why I don't like places like that" Mikasa said and smoothed her dress. Zeke and the Gaillard brothers approached them. "You never know who you will come across".
"Someone was hitting on you?" Marcel wanted to know.
"Have you had a good look at him?" Porco asked, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. "We could teach him a lesson".
"He had a strange scar on his face... But it's fine, really" Mikasa sighed, then took Eren's arm. "I think it will be a long time before he accosts anyone again".
"Yeah, he looked very surprised after you hit him" Eren replied with a slight smile.
"Yeah, that was cool" Zeke admitted. Everyone looked at him in surprise, so he quickly cleared his throat and turned around. "Are we going back? I need to get drunk".
He started in that direction, and the rest of them followed.
As the banquet was drawing to a close, Eren and his companions slipped out the back door. Most of them were already heavily drunk, except of course for the drivers.
Zeke suddenly walked over to Eren and put his arm around his neck. Then he turned to Annie and Pieck:
"Girls, take Mikasa home, we still have to show Eren something!" Yaeger exclaimed.
"With pleasure. I want to lay down in my bed as soon as possible… " Pieck muttered, then showed Mikasa the way to their car. Annie was moving in that direction as well.
Mikasa turned to Eren. She smiled gently at him, then followed the women.
Eren watched her for a moment. He silently agreed with Pieck, he would also like to hug his face against the pillow as soon as possible, he had to wait a little longer for that. His head was heavy with the liquor he had drunk. In the end, whether he wanted to or not, he went the other way. Zeke, Gaillards and Ymir walked alongside him. Porco was whistling softly.
"What's going on? What do you want to show me?" Eren asked. Nobody answered him.
Eventually they came to the two cars they had parked here before. Only then Eren realized what Zeke meant. There were two of Grisha's bodyguards standing by the cars, whose names he didn't remember. They were holding a young man by the arms. Eren only recognized him after a moment. He had an ugly scar on his left cheek. He was already beaten up and didn't look entirely conscious. When a crowd of people stopped in front of him, he woke up. He widened his eyes and tried to escape, but the men held him tight.
"Let me go! What is going on?" He called loudly, still trying to break out.
"Eren, do you recognize this guy?" Zeke asked, leaning on his younger brother's shoulder. "It's that asshole who wanted to assault Mikasa. Do you want to tell him something?".
Eren felt a little dizzy. Was it the fault of alcohol or was it the stress? He didn't want to get involved in anything, especially when he saw the stranger's terrified face.
"You wanted to hurt our friend, didn't you?" Marcel asked, coming closer to the man. "You have to respect women".
Eren felt Zeke lightly pushed him forward. The boy took a few steps towards the stranger. Eren had him at his fingertips.
"I didn't do anything!" The stranger howled, eyes widening. "She seemed willing, that's all! She shouldn't dress so provocative. What was she counting on?".
Eren flinched at the words the man blurted out. The stranger must have regretted them right away, as he must have noticed the change in the boy's face.
"I mean... Such women are just asking for it..." The man tried to explain himself. "You're men, you know that!".
"Ekhm" Ymir interrupted, lifting the corner of her mouth. "If I were you, I'd shut up already".
"It's just... I mean..." The man began, but didn't finish as Eren lunged at him. All the tension he had felt for several weeks, the uncertainty, the fear for friends, all the anger, all the emotions that had accumulated in him finally found an outlet. He heard a strange buzzing noise in his ears. Everything swirled before his eyes. However, he was conscious enough to be able to clench his fists with all his strength and to punch the kneeling man in the face.
"Yes, Eren! Hit him again!" It had to be Zeke. His shouting seemed to come from far away, from another world, but he achieved his goal. Zeke's shouting made Eren's movements stronger and stronger.
The stranger fell to the ground. The bodyguards no longer needed to hold him down. Zeke sent them away, they walked towards the building.
The man with the scar started call out something, maybe he was asking for mercy, but Eren couldn't hear him, the buzzing in his ears was muting almost all the other sounds. He kneeled and bent over the man, then hit him again. He felt something wet on his hands. Was it raining?
Zeke continued to make encouraging cheers.
It seemed that everything was going well, his brother was proud of him.
That's what it was supposed to look, right? He couldn't let Zeke think that he had any doubts, that he was weak… That he wasn't involved in the family business, he had to protect his people.
Both Erwin, Hanji and Levi would certainly agreed with that and praised him for his commitment, for being so diligent.
Eren's eyes widened suddenly.
Levi...
No. Something was wrong. If Levi saw him right now… He certainly wouldn't like the sight.
The boy hesitated and suddenly felt someone grabbed his arm and pulled him backwards.
"Fucking shit, that's enough!" Ymir exclaimed, dragging Eren away from the barely breathing, beaten-up man, who was laying on the ground. She looked at Zeke angrily. "What the fuck, Yaeger? Do you want him to kill this guy?".
"Come on, there's always the first time" Zeke shrugged. "You sound like you were innocent yourself".
Ymir shook her head, then started toward one of the vehicles.
"Hey, where're you going? What about us?" Porco called after her.
"I don't give a fuck. You all will fit in one car".
The woman got into her car and drove away.
Eren heard it all almost like through a fog. After a moment, when he got his senses back, he looked in horror at the man he had just beaten up. The man was breathing heavily, so he was alive, Eren had no doubt about it, but the stranger's face looked like it was massacred. The boy felt his hands tremble. He couldn't believe it was his doing.
"Well, it looks like we have to use one car" Zeke sighed, then nodded to Eren and the Gaillard brothers. All four of them got into one vehicle. Marcel took the wheel, Zeke right next to him. Eren and Porco took their seats in the back.
As the car started moving, Zeke reached for a pack of cigarettes and offered them to the others. Only Porco accepted the offer and inhaled the smoke after a while.
"Zeke, what about that surprise, anyway?" Porco asked suddenly as they pulled out of the parking lot.
"Oh, right! Exactly!" Zeke reached into his pocket and took his cell phone. "There should be something on the internet already... Oh, oh, of course. Behold!".
Porco took over Zeke's phone. He glanced at the display and raised his eyebrows. After a while, he nodded appreciatively.
"Wow, I'm impressed, truly".
Gaillard handed the phone to Eren. It took the boy a moment to realize what was happening, he was too absorbed by his own thoughts. He reached for the cell phone, though he was about to regret it.
He saw the phone's display and the headline of an article on the local news portal. "Two detectives from the drug enforcement department in a hospital in serious condition. An accident or a terrorist attack?".
The boy didn't have time to read anything else because Zeke took his phone to show it to Marcel.
He didn't widen his eyes, didn't clench his fists. If a careful observer were watching him now, he wouldn't have noticed any change in his face. It wasn't that he didn't care, he just couldn't believe what he just read. His brain refused to accept these facts, it was too much for him.
Was it true? Was his father involved in this? Which two detectives were hurt?
Eren felt his heart speed up with panic. It couldn't be true...
"Nobody will connect us with this?" Marcel asked suddenly. There was a hint of unease in his voice.
"Relax, father has a plan. Recently, he has finally started to make good decisions" Zeke sighed, then put the phone in his pocket. Finally he looked back at Eren and Porco. "So, are we going to some club now? Little brother?".
"You go without me" Eren muttered suddenly. "Marcel, you can stop here, I'll walk".
Zeke narrowed his eyes.
"What?".
"I'm staying with Armin today, I'll take the subway from here" The boy explained. "I feel like I'm about to puke, so I'd rather get some air".
"Are you serious?".
Marcel just stopped at a red light next to the sidewalk. Eren didn't wait any longer, he opened the door and got out of the car. Zeke shook his head in disbelief.
"Eren, what are you..." The man began to speak, but Marcel grabbed his arm.
"Let him be".
Eren heard nothing else, he slammed the door behind him, then hurried away. He walked on without looking back. He saw the dark car started and soon disappeared around the corner.
Only then did the information he had just learned hit him.
Two agents were badly injured. They were in the hospital...
He had no idea what exactly happened, but it definitely wasn't anything good. What should he do now? He had his regular cell phone with him, not that other one he got from Levi.
What if Levi was hurt?
Eren felt the fear paralyze him. He couldn't even imagine it.
One good side of his condition was that he suddenly sobered up a little. The dizziness caused by the drinking was over. The boy reached up to the collar of his shirt and undid the top two buttons, then took a deep breath. He needed to calm down, panic couldn't help him.
He started walking fast. He chose the opposite direction to where Armin's apartment was.