CHAPTER 13: THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

Historia Riess

Cozy.

Historia never thought she would describe anything in the underground that way, but despite the fact that Patrik's home leaned a little to the left, had nails popping out of the walls, and was constructed of the same mud, brick, and rotted wood as everything else down here, it definitely felt cozy.

Patrik had led her back through the streets of Coldwater, taking her on some routes she recognized until he ducked into a side alley she'd never noticed. Here, in the middle of the district, the buildings were stacked so close together that they appeared to literally be built on top of each other.

They'd walked right past most before coming to Patrick's home and entering.

In the front room, a fire blazed in the hearth, red and orange, lighting the space. A few small wooden chairs arranged themselves neatly before it with a longer bench resting against the wall. The floor was surprisingly decorated in scraps of carpet and mismatched rugs. At one end of the room, a hallway led deeper into the house, while scraps of paper hung along the walls.

Drawings, she realized with a start. They were children's drawings.

The whole place smelled of stew and smoke, a refreshing change from alcohol and sewage stench. It was charming and quirky, much like the man who owned it.

Her feet begged her to go sit in front of the fire, let it warm her over, but she hovered in the doorway. Patrik had already placed Levi down on the bench, where he slumped down until his sweat slicked face lay against the wood. He gave him a small pat, looking around.

"Hey kiddos!" His voice echoed through the hall. "We have guests!"

A crash of sound erupted from above them, and the patter of several small feet came darting across the ceiling and then tumbling down stairs.

Two youthful faces appeared in the hallway, the girl from the bar and another young boy, both bobbing and bouncing with a tornado of energy. They ran upto Patrik, squealing and questioning him at equal rates.

"What happened today sir?"

"Did you fix the bar?"

"When are we going to the surface?"

"Who is that?"

Historia froze, feeling like a thorn in a patch of daisies. The girl pointed a finger at her, youthful features full of suspicion.

Patrik laughed, a sound warmer than the fire. "Oh Naomi, you don't have to worry about her. These are my new friends." He gestured at her and Levi.

Historia's throat tightened at the word friends.

The two youngsters peered at Levi on the bench as if noticing him for the first time.

"Who is this?" The boy sniffed, "Why is he sleeping?"

Patrik lifted the boy into one arm. "He's not feeling well. He's going to stay with us for a little while so he can feel better."

He seemed content with the answer, nodding his round face.

Patrik grinned, turning back to Historia.

"Krista," He smiled. "This is Naomi and Amos. They're siblings. Orphans. Naomi is 12 and Amos is 7. And you two? This is Krista and her friend. Okay?"

The brother and sister nodded their heads earnestly.

"Amos?" Patrik asked, setting the boy down. "Will you go grab a few extra blankets from upstairs? And Naomi. Will you get the medical kit from the kitchen?"

The two children immediately dashed off to their respective locations.

Historia couldn't help but stare at them as they left. Orphans. Siblings. They were exactly who she'd been looking for the whole time! And Patrik…he was so at ease about the whole thing. As if he wanted them to be safe and taken care of.

"Good kids." Patrik said wistfully after them. He glanced at her statue-like self in the doorway. "Please," he gestured with his free hand. "Come in and have a seat. You must be exhausted."

She finally found her voice at that moment.

"Why?" Her choked voice caught with emotion. "Why are you helping them? Us? You have so much—you could lose everything?"

A funny expression crossed the bartender's face, like he had stumbled into the mud only to find a stack of coins buried under his shoe. He turned and busied himself with checking Levi's temperature and pulse.

"I'm not going to lie." He sighed at last. "When you two left my bar burning behind you, I had half a mind to chase you and take you out myself."

Guilt sludged through her mind, gushing like water from a bullet hole in a barrel. "Why didn't you?" Her voice shook.

"I recognized him. Levi." He paused, looking the flushed Captain over. Amos reappeared from the hallway carrying a sloppy pile of blankets that nearly obscured his head.

"I got em!" He said, proudly brandishing the pile, his eager brown eyes peeking over the mass.

Patrik grinned with a fondness that melted her heart. "Thanks buddy." He said, rubbing Amos' dirty blonde hair. He took the pile and set it down on the floor by the bench. "Now, I need your help with one more thing. Will you and Naomi go into the kitchen and find something to eat for lunch? I need to talk to my friend for a few minutes."

"Can we eat the apples?" Amos asked earnestly.

Patrik considered the offer, "Only if you clean the upstairs."

The boy's face fell, but he obediently began trudging towards the hallway. "Okayyyy." He sighed.

Sounds of the boy clambering around for dishes and food could be heard through the passage after a few minutes.

Naomi also returned a moment later, offering a box and a glass of water to Patrik before turning to go and join the clamor in the kitchen.

They were lucky to have such a good home.

"You really should sit down. You look terrible." Patrik said as he began rummaging through the medical box.

Historia looked at him, a thousand questions on the tip of her tongue. But her mouth could only form one.

"Will he be okay?"

The question hung in the air while the kids chatted distantly in the kitchen.

Patrik looked thoughtful.

"Has he been having chills or nightmares?"

"Yes, but he doesn't really sleep. At least, not from what I've seen."

"Sounds about right." He nodded. "I think what we're looking at is an extreme case of PTSD. Not too uncommon among undergrounders, but tie that in with whatever mental damage that comes with fighting titans mixed together with returning underground and you get a delightful trauma sandwich."

Historia stared at the man.

"Err—" His smile faltered at her expression. "What I mean to say is that he probably had an onslaught of symptoms all at once upon coming back here, and his body more or less shut down as a result of it. It doesn't help that he skips sleeping, but unfortunately that's pretty common with people who experience this."

"Will he be okay?" She repeated.

"Probably." Patrik shrugged. "I have medicine I can give him, but in the end, this is something he needs to fight through, and he definitely seems like a fighter."

Historia nodded, looking at the floor.

"Now will you please sit down? Please?"

Patrik's smile won her over this time, and Historia found her feet moving without her knowledge. Her bones screamed at her in relief as she slid into one of the chairs. Her tension melted away like ice. She sighed audibly.

"Yeah that's what I thought." Patrik laughed.

"Thank you." She said pointedly. This man was a buried gem. She could have kissed him if her feet could have held her weight up again.

"You said you recognized Levi?" She brought the conversation back to earlier. "How?"

"Did you ever meet his friend Furlan?" Patrik asked while peeling Levi's hood and scarf off.

Historia shook her head, "No. Levi mentioned him, right before we met you."

"Eh, that's a shame. Furlan was the best of us. The most caring guy you'd meet here." He wet a cloth and laid it on Levi's forehead. "But, he really only had us until he left. Every time he came back, he'd talk about how miserable he was with the thugs he ran with. We told him to leave them, come back. We could have used his help..."

"But?" She prodded.

"But then he met someone named Levi, and his whole life flipped. All of a sudden he was full of life again. He had light in his eyes. He'd talk about living on the surface, like it was an actual possibility!" Patrik glanced up, scanning the room until his eyes landed on a pillow resting on the chair next to her. He reached over, grabbing it.

"I got curious about Levi." He continued, gently lifting the small captain's head and pushing the pillow underneath him. "Furlan never brought anyone home with him to visit. Too dangerous, but I saw them running heists occasionally. It's pretty hard to mistake people with ODM gear down here. I always wished for a chance to meet Levi in person."

Satisfied by his set up, Patrik busied himself by digging through the medical kit. After some consideration, he brought out a few small jars. Historia was too exhausted to do anything but watch as he mixed the contents together in another small jar.

"When I met you two, it was his eyes that gave it away."

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen the look in his eyes before." He threw back at her, propping Levi up with one hand and bringing the mixture to his lips. The Captain coughed against the foreign liquid, but Patirk murmured soft words of encouragement to him. When the mixture was gone, he gave Levi the glass of water, letting him drink it all up and returning his head to the pillow.

"It's a look you know intimately living here. A look that knows hell, and his eyes have seen the depths of it and glared back." He stood and, satisfied with his work, leaned against the wall and turned to her. "But I'm no fool, and it didn't take much to add it all up. This is Captain Levi. And you're Queen Historia, aren't you?"

Historia sighed, leaning forward to bury her face in her hands. "God, is it that obvious?"

Patrik laughed again, slapping his knee. "Ha! I knew it!" He paused, a sheepish grin replacing the laughter. "Well, actually, I was only about 80% sure, but don't tell Len that."

He broke out into another chuckle, so lighthearted. Warmth blanketed her skin, her worry melting, and she couldn't help the smile that graced her lips as a result.

"I won't, but now that you know my secret, tell me about them." She pointed down the hall where Amos and Naomi could still be heard eating and chatting.

"You would want to know about them." Patrik rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Well they aren't mine.

"How did you find them?"

He thought for a moment. "These two were down in the Island. Been there much? Nasty place."

Historia pushed back a shudder. "You found them there?"

"Yep! They were begging for food a few times a week outside this soup shop I pass all the time. Best soup in Coldwater. You need to try it."

"Soup?"

"Yeah!" He grinned. "It's as close to surface quality as you'll find down here—but we're talking about the kids. Sorry. I followed them home one day and saw they were homeless. Brought them back here and was working on sneaking them above ground when you two stumbled into my bar."

Historia's eyes widened. "You were taking them to the surface?"

"Were is the key word there." Patrik's smile faded. "They've double patrols and stair guards since then. It's been impossible to sneak around."

Historia's excitement died down.

"That's my fault too." She grimaced.

He waved a dismissive hand. "You didn't know that would happen. Besides. There's always another way up there."

She nodded, examining her filthy clothes.

After a beat of silence, Patrik spoke up again.

"Hey, don't be so down. I want to show you something. Wait here."

She frowned as he disappeared into the hallway.

His footsteps sounded above her, and after a minute he came running back across the upstairs and down the hall. His grinning face appeared in the entryway, and he was unfolding a large piece of paper in front of her.

"Look at this!"

At first glance, the mixed lines and symbols were a mess of chaos to her eyes. Names were scrawled across dozens of the sections in no discernible pattern. She traced along the vaguely familiar shapes until she realized what it was.

"This is the underground." She stated.

"Sure is!"

"But what are all these symbols?"

"That's where I've found kids. The little cross next to their name means I got them above ground safely."

Historia gasped. There was a cross by every name.

"Patrik this is—there's so many of them!"

"I know." His smile stretched from ear to ear.

"How do you do it?"

"Oh, I've been doing it my whole life. It's what Seth did, and I just carry on the legacy."

"It's amazing!" Historia breathed.

"Thank you." He smirked. "You know, when you two came to me at the bar the other day, I had my doubts. But like I said, I needed to know I could trust you before I was willing to help you."

"And?"

Patrik did a small bow in front of her, folding up the map.

"It would be my honor to help the Queen of the walls with my work."

"Who are you?"

The harsh voice jolted Historia from her sleep. She jerked in her chair, heart leaping.

It took a moment to remember where she was. Low embers of a fire glowed in a hearth. The dull scent of smoke filled her nose. A light snore echoed through the nearly empty room.

That's right.

Patrik's house. But the man was nowhere to be found. Instead, standing in the open doorway was a stranger.

An angry stranger.

Historia pressed herself as far back in her chair as she could, eyes wide.

"Answer me." The man lowered at her, looming in the doorway. In the light from the dying embers she saw his brown hair, short stature, and stack of books folded under his arm. His clothes and hair looked like it had been clean and styled at some point, but had become disheveled, like he'd been shouting in front of a wild crowd…

Oh! \

"Wait!" She held up a non-threatening hand. "You're Patrik's brother Len. Right?"

If possible, his expression grew more suspicious.

"Get the fuck out of my house." His eyes flared.

Panic seized her heart. She stood from her chair, a blanket which she hadn't noticed slumping down in a heap.

"W-wait please! I promise, we aren't here to hurt you." She pleaded as he approached her. He wasn't that much bigger than Patrik, but the rush of anger behind him made him three times as big to her. "Patrik was helping us!"

"US?" He barked, scouring the room. His eyes landed on Levi who was still dozing despite the sudden commotion. The man's eyes widened like he'd just discovered a filthy rat tail in his morning porridge. "What the hell is this?!"

Historia backed up against the bench Levi lay on, gasping when she bumped into it. Her heart leapt to her chest as the man stalked towards her. He bared his teeth, cursing under his breath.

This was it. This was the end.

After everything, she'd be killed by intruding in a madman's house.

A meter away, he reached an arm out to her.

She flinched, hunching protectively over Levi.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's going on?" Patrik's voice boomed from the hallway. Historia looked up to see him, alarm ringing on his face as he entered the room and discovered the chaos.

"WHAT?" Len barked back. His whole body was poised, taut like a catapult waiting to fling his anger at something.

Patrik rushed over and placed himself between Len and Historia. He brought his arms in the air, blocking Len who in turn recoiled in disgust as if Patrik was infected.

"These are my friends. I'm helping them!" The former bartender insisted.

"Shit, of course—of course you fucking are." Len sneered. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Len, just leave them be." Patrik locked eyes with his brother, boring down on him. Historia was impressed. Len looked like he could tear her throat out, and yet, based off Patrik's expression, this was something normal for him. Inconsequential.

"I'm taking care of it." The younger man said, making Len's eyes snap up.

"Like you're taking care of getting rid of those kids?"

Patrick bristled at the comment. "Do we really need to go over this again? I'm working on it. End of story."

"The story has gone on long enough if you ask me, which you didn't."

"Don't flatter yourself into thinking I need your permission."

Len snorted. "That's rich coming from someone who always does whatever the hell suites his fancy."

Patrik narrowed his eyes. "I said I'm taking care of it. And, might I remind you, this isn't your house. You don't get to call the shots."

"You're right. It's Seth's." He waved an angry arm around the room. "And look at the state of it. Two vermin in the living room, two more upstairs, trash on the walls. Oh Seth would be rolling in his grave if he had one!"

"I'm not going to have this argument with you again." Patrik's tone was dangerously low.

"Don't you dare take that tone with me! He meant for his living to go to us. To ME AND YOU. Not the scum from the Island."

"They deserve a better life. Seth would have given them one."

"Well Seth isn't around, is he?"

"And this kind of attitude from you is exactly what got him killed."

Len stumbled back like he'd been slapped. His mouth gaped, searching for something to say.

Patrik immediately slumped, his shoulders losing their tight posture. "I'm sorry." He apologized. "I didn't mean—"

"Don't."

"Len—"

"Save it." The brunette snapped. Historia saw the anger, billowing like a storm behind those brown eyes, but in the midst of the storm, a small flower balked before the wind. He was hurt.

"I'm sorry…" Patrik tried again, appealing to Len's softer side. "It's just...there's been so much bad in the world lately and I'm frustrated. I know you're frustrated too. It's confusing...trying to live every day down here when all the shit from the surface ends up on our tables every day."

Historia pushed away a wave of guilting thoughts, listening as though her life depended on it.

"I don't want to make life harder for you." He continued. "You know that. You know that Len. Right?"

He waited for Len to give an answer, but the other man glared at him with cold eyes and arms crossed.

"Even with everything going on, I need you to trust me."

"Trust you?!" Len exploded, his hot anger making her flinch.

"I know last time didn't work out the way you wanted it to but—"

"The hell it didn't! I'm still cleaning up your messes from last time!" His shouting escalated.

"Len, please," Patrik pled. "I need you to trust me on this one. Don't do something we'll both regret."

Len's eyes burned with hatred and pain. He didn't speak, couldn't speak if she guessed.

Without another word, he turned and stormed out of the house.

The door slammed shut behind him with enough force that the walls shook.

Levi stirred behind her.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, not daring to move and disrupt the void left behind.

Patrik's posture slumped even more as he stared at the shut door. She knew that look. The look of a broken man trying to fix too many people. It crashed down on her all at once and she gushed out her regret

"I'm so sorry." She babbled out. "We shouldn't be here. Len is your family. We'll leave."

Patrik looked at her, shaken out of a daze. "No, no it's not you." He started, then sighed, running a hand over his face. "God, it didn't used to be this bad, but Len has always had this thing about fairness. He had it tough growing up. To him, no one deserves more than he had unless they work for it."

"You don't have to make an excuse for us." She said, her voice a whisper. "We'll go. I can't cause you any more trouble than I already have."

Patrik sighed, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. He didn't speak for a moment, instead, studied the drawings lining the hallways. On a closer inspection, Historia saw that they weren't drawn on paper as she'd suspected. It looked like old newspapers, carefully flattened into drawing sheets.

Each drawing was a mess of scrawled lines and shapes. Even the ones that had more definition lacked any realism.

Of course, none of these kids had teachers or a school to attend. No one would ever teach them to read or write. Patrik himself likely didn't know more than the basics to get by.

"You're welcome to leave." The kind man spoke at last. "I can't and I won't keep you here. But I can tell you're exhausted and neither of you are in good shape to make it through the night." A wry grin spread on his face. "And I did just finish setting up beds for you upstairs."

Historia could only stand, dumbfounded. "I-we-I can't…" She stuttered like a fish out of water. Then, remembering her manners she said, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." He said, voice serious. "I meant what I said before about you. We need you. Your people need you."

"Thank you." Her eyes sparkled. "We, no, I will personally make this up to you."

"It would be much appreciated." He winked.

"Of course!"

Patrik clapped his hands together, rubbing them afterwards. "Well then, let's get you two settled in."

AN:

Yikes Len! Yeah, we're probably going to be seeing him again ;)

But at least Levi and Historia can finally rest for a little while :) :) :)

Also, anyone out there watch the Expanse? Naomi and Amos were definitely named after two of the crew members of the Rocinante! Such a great show for anyone who hasn't seen it. I highly recommend!

I love love love and appreciate all of you that are reading this story! It's kinda been a fought week for me, but every thoughtful comment from y'all has made my day :)
Y'all are wonderful ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
~Gamma