Part 37
In the Dark

"I'm glad to see you're okay…" Came the distant echo of Levi's voice as he approached Fury, who was currently leaned against a wall outside of Erwin's office as she was waiting for the Commander himself to make an appearance.

Her hooded eyes looked out in the direction of the closing Levi himself, who still wore the attire of casual clothing. She could barely remember the last time she saw him wear anything but his uniform.

"What do you mean by that?" She muttered as her response, retaining her posture of folded arms once she had placed strands of her hair behind her ear. Her expression stoic and continued to lack much of any emotion other than deep thought.

"I mean you did well out there in halting Annie's escape. It was the first time for me in seeing you actually fighting." Levi came to stand next to her. Fury was still his oldest friend after all, despite perhaps the both of them becoming slightly distant, as the years have passed. "Couldn't help but notice you fight… Oddly similar to myself."

Well this caused her face to show some emotion. However, that of worry as her eyes widened slightly. Of course she fought similar to him. The man who passed everything he knew on to Levi was the same man who helped herself to survive. Kenny, of course. Why did he have to linger on her mind once more? Either way, Fury became cautious. Fear still clutched onto her. The fear of losing Levi if she told him now, after all these years, that she was all too familiar with Kenny.

Kenny Ackerman.

She remembered him telling her that Levi was his nephew, so she knew they were related to one another by surname and yet, Levi has always simply told people that his name was just Levi.

More questions.

Was… Levi even aware that he was related to Kenny? If not, this only froze Fury even more when it came to perhaps telling him of her days with Kenny too. How the hell would he take that news? To find out that someone he trusts has always known he still has family out there and yet… never revealed it to him. He'd feel betrayed, for sure. Disappointed. It was a risk Fury never felt the need to take. Kenny was long gone and wherever he was, she held doubt that he'd ever come back now.

"Probably from all the ODM training you and Farlan put me through." A lie. But it was the best she could muster as of now. "So it's only natural that the way you taught me how to handle it rubbed off on me."

Levi blinked as he lowered his head for a moment. "Makes sense. Someone I once knew when I was a kid taught me how to survive in a similar manner to himself. I guess some of that rubbed off on me to."

Despite her eyes softening to the fact that this was a first for Levi to speak of so far back into his past with her, Fury still felt uneasy to the fact that all she could do was play along.

"You've not told me that before. Who… was this man who helped you?"

Levi huffed, raising his head so that his eyes now landed on looking at the ceiling above him. "Ever heard of Kenny the Ripper? They say he killed over 100 MP's back in his early days. It's supposed hearsay, but the man himself is all too real, as well as the rumours that surround his damn name."

"…Kenny...?" Fury croaked, as her throat had become dry and she coughed slightly to clear it, doing her best to maintain her usual demeanour.

"Yeah. He looked out for me as a kid. Taught me all knew. Said he was a friend to my mother but that was about it." Levi shrugged his shoulders. It was clear talking about this was new for him and yet it was also uncomfortable. "Taught me how to hold a knife, taught me how to fight for myself. Bastard just up and left one day. Guess he figured I was ready to live my life on my own. Wasn't long after Kenny left that I met Farlan…"

His mother? Fury frowned. Levi must be talking about Kuchel. Another fact in which Kenny told her about that he was initially down in the Underground to visit his sister. Fury was already aware that was when he found Levi. A scrawny runt she remembered Kenny referring to Levi as. Now this was painful for her as it was for Levi to bring up. Now it was clear Levi had no clue as to what Kenny was to his mother, or to himself. This was a contradiction she was now conflicted by because it was like a circle.

Kenny was truly initially down in the Underground to seek out Fury's parents, Mia and Wilhelm, to kill them as she had learned from Hexis. Kenny only then decided to give Kuchel a visit simply because he was already down there. Fury didn't deem Kenny as a man who would go out of his way to drop in on his sister one day.

Therefore, for Fury, if Kenny hadn't been down there to kill her parents, then he may never have found Levi.

And if Kenny had never found Levi, would he himself be alive today?

"Shit…" Fury hissed as she rubbed her temples, not even realising she said the word aloud due to all of her guilt resurfacing. She refused to feel guilty over Kenny's own actions, but the guilt in still not revealing to Levi of all she knew of the man who was related to him was creeping back to her.

"… What's the matter?" Levi stoically asked her, showing his own concern in his own way.

"I just…" What lie could she muster this time? "I just… don't agree with the fact that this Kenny decided to leave you on your own like that. Down there, of all places."

"Tch." Levi huffed again. "I may not like the man, but I'm glad he did. Hardship has helped me survive this long." Levi then landed his grey orbs onto Fury. "You know, I still don't know much about where you came from."

"I'm no one important…" Fury quickly replied, choosing to avoid his gaze.

"You're the Bloodborn." He corrected, still somewhat staring at her as she sighed. He had such a bad habit in making his points.

"Don't you mean Voodoo Witch?" A small chuckle from deep in her throat was emitted.

"Ah… Eren…" Levi rolled his eyes, now choosing himself to look away. "… That brat."

"It's fine. I mean, back then, before I knew… any of this… I was definitely a nobody."

"So who taught you how to fight? Because that certainly wasn't me."

Crap. Why was he poking at her so much all of a sudden? "I… Picked it up. From … bad people." Technically, she spoke the truth. She didn't at all see Kenny as a good person. Well, not in her eyes anyway. "I was among… bad people for a long time. I honestly don't remember much of my childhood. Other than not knowing my parents and being passed around from family to family like an unwanted dog. I've blocked it out that much; it's all hazy when I try to remember."

Fury began to rub her arms. Today was seemingly a first for them both to speak about their pasts in depth. "I remember being about 18… Got involved with those bad people. Got others to steal from the Merchants down there, then they would use those stolen goods for bribery and blackmail. Or, their favourite, which was to wave some food around in front of your face under the guise of kindness. Soon as you take it, you practically belonged to them. I'm… ashamed to tell you that I got too caught up into that way of life. But as long as I had a roof over my head and stale bread in my stomach, I obliged."

Levi's eyes were slightly widened. For once, he wasn't sure on the choice of words to pick from for a response to that. A part of him wanted to regret asking Fury but at the same time, with those few words, he felt like he knew her much more than previously. "You… Evidently got away from that lifestyle. And I'm… glad that you have. Parading yourself really doesn't suit you at all."

"Yeah…" Fury sighed. She felt her hair fall from being tucked behind her ear. Only this time, she allowed her hair to keep her face hidden. "I went hungry a lot. Bastards had this rule where if we didn't bring back a certain amount of goods at the end of every week, we'd receive a beating or made to go hungry for the weekend." Time to tell another lie to avoid speaking of Kenny's intervention. "Wanting to stand up for myself, I just… started working out when I could. One day, they took it too far and I defended myself. It opened up an opportunity for me to leave and I took it. Wasn't long after I bumped into Farlan and, well, you know the rest…"

"These dirty men…" Levi began, wondering if what he was about to ask would be too far. "What did they make you do personally?"

Fury darted her gaze over at him. Why the hell did he want to know that? The female shrugged. She's already told him… Some truth to her past, was there any point in avoiding the rest? "Are you asking what I think you're asking?" Fury shook her head. "Nothing like that, though there was women working under them who seemed to happily oblige to their wants, but they seemed used to that way of life. No. All I had to do was bring questionable amounts of goods back, just to receive a crumb.

"So even through that, you maintained a strong sense of will." A small corner to Levi's lips curved slightly into what would be a smile for most people. "I can only respect that."

Finally, Erwin had arrived, carrying his reports. As much as Fury was relived to stop talking about her past, she too couldn't help but feel that that within this short period of time, she's become closer to Levi than ever before.
"Fury. Captain Levi." Erwin acknowledged, opening his office door. "Apologies for making you both wait. If you'll follow me, we have much to discuss of being in the dark over the recent revelation of the Walls."

Fury soon followed Erwin into his office as Levi stood in his own space for a brief moment. His shoulders had relaxed slightly. He felt good for talking. To Fury, of all people, who he knew she barely showed any care towards anybody, even himself most of the time. He ran his slim fingers through his silky, raven hair as he sighed upon his relief. Composing himself, he too followed into Erwin's office.

Back to a more serious conversing in which Levi himself was most evidently used to.