Carla was up at seven the next morning and Eren, smelling coffee, begrudgingly got up too. Carla and Mikasa were in the kitchen. Carla was making eggs and Mikasa was trying to explain why there was no sausage or bacon in the house.
"Good morning!" Carla said. "Did you know that Levi was Jewish?"
"Yeah." Eren yawned and tried to scratch his junk without either Mikasa or his mother seeing.
"How do you like your eggs, darling?" Carla asked Mikasa, trying to distract her from her son who was scratching his junk right in the middle of the living room. "Runny?"
Mikasa made an adorable scrunchie face. "No! Eren, can I watch Brave?"
"No TV before school." Eren said. He wasn't sure what Levi's policy was but his decision sounded responsible. Mikasa didn't comment but climbed up on her chair at the table. It must have been the right thing to say.
They ate eggs and sliced tomatoes (Mikasa wanted grits—something Levi learned to eat from his mother—but neither Carla nor Eren knew what they were,) and listened to Mikasa chatter about her teacher, her friends, and her schoolwork.
At 7:17 a firm knock sounded on the door.
Eren's and Carla's gazes met.
"Who could that be before 7:30 in the morning?" Carla said.
"Levi? Maybe he forgot his key," Eren said. "He wasn't supposed to be home so early."
Before either of them could stop her, Mikasa jumped down from the table and ran to the door, deftly unlocking it and throwing it open.
A man stood there, not Levi, and no one either adult recognized. He peered down at Mikasa. "Well, hello sweetie. What's yer name?"
Carla gasped and Eren hurried to grab Mikasa. He picked the little girl up bodily and backed away from the stranger, a thunderous frown on his face. "Who the hell are you?" Eren asked. "You don't talk to somebody else's kid!"
The man was tall, over six feet easily, and dressed in a long black leather coat and a wide brimmed black hat. He grinned; a horrible, wide, predatory grin.
Eren handed Mikasa back to his mother. "Go upstairs. Take 'Kasa"
"But the eggs."
"Forget the eggs, mom! Go upstairs."
The man blatantly watched Carla's ass as she went up the stairs. Eren's hands clenched into fists. "Y'know, I don't give a shit who you are. What do you want?"
The man scratched his day old stubble and looked Eren up and down. "A scrapper, eh? I don' wanna fight, son. Is this Levi's house? That's Levi's kid, I'd bet. Looks just like 'im."
"Who's asking?"
"I thought you didn't give a shit who I was?" The man took off his hat and Eren realised that he superficially resembled Levi; pale skin, sharp features, pitch black hair, grey eyes. "Why are you and the broad in Levi's house? Is that Levi's ol' lady?"
Eren was bouncing on his toes. "That's my mom and that's my kid."
The man digested this information, seemingly unperturbed at Eren's aggressive stance. The man had to be in his 50s, though he had aged badly, but he clearly wasn't threatened by Eren.
"That ain't your kid unless you're the one fuckin' my nephew." The man replaced his hat. "Little shit would always fuck anything with a pulse."
Eren's fists dropped slightly. "You're Levi's uncle?"
"The one and only. Listen, son, it's great talkin' to ya and all, but is Levi here?"
"No. He's away on business. Come back later. Or never."
The man laughed then, a phlegmy sound. "On business? What business has Levi ever been in but mine?"
Eren pulled his phone out of his back pocket. "I'll prove it. I'll call him." He turned away as he dialled, not wanting the man to see Levi's number.
Levi, who was the only one up, was standing morosely at the coffee vending machine down the hall from Hange's hospital room, looking at the options. His back hurt from sleeping in the recliner and he was in a bad mood because of it. The vending machine was about a hundred years old and the coffee varieties were: Black, sugar, cream, and cream and sugar. No tea. No decaf. No hot chocolate. He punched cream and sugar and his phone buzzed insistently.
"What the fuck? It's not even eight o'clock … Hello? Eren?! Is Mikasa OK?"
"Hey, Levi, Listen … 'Kasa's just fine. There's a guy here …"
"A guy?" Levi could feel the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
"Yeah. Tall, old, dressed all in black, weird hat. He says you're in business with him."
"Was," the man said over Eren's shoulder, "And can be again! I'm here to talk to him about a job."
"KENNY!" Levi roared, causing Eren to have to pull the phone away from his ear. He gingerly pulled the phone back in. "Is everything OK?"
"Put him on the fucking phone," Levi ground out.
Eren handed the tall man, Kenny, the phone.
"Hey, brat, how's—" Kenny frowned. "No, now don't be like that."
Eren could hear the low notes of Levi's voice. Not raised any more, just dangerously quiet.
"Get out of my house," Levi said.
"No, now don't be like that."
"Fuck you, Kenny. You have no right to be in my house with my daughter. Get out now."
"Can't a darling uncle visit his nephew and grand-niece?"
"Fuck, no. If I had a darling uncle then maybe, but all I've got is a fucking killer and a criminal.'
Kenny's voice changed. It went from wheedling to hard and cold. "Don't be throwin' around the words 'killer' and 'criminal', boy. If I'm a criminal then you are, too."
"You're right Kenny. I was a criminal, but never again. Now get the fuck out."
"At least listen to this sweet job …"
"No. Go away. Get the fuck out of my house. I never want to see or hear from you again."
There was a silence and Eren watched tensely as Kenny stared at the rug, his lips pursed. The phone was quiet. Was Levi still on the line? Kenny still held it to his ear. What had Kenny meant when he said Levi was a criminal?
Abruptly, Kenny's eyes, a darker grey than Levi's, flickered up to him. They turned speculative.
"So who's this hot young thing you got here at the house, brat? You two fuckin'?"
The phone erupted and Eren could hear Levi's voice, raised now.
"Your 'friend', eh?" Kenny stepped closer to Eren, who backpedaled and ran up against the couch. "He's not too friendly but he's so pretty."
"I swear to god Kenny, you lay a finger on him and I will fucking kill you." Levi was gripping his phone so tightly that he was surprised it didn't break. He began to jog down the hallway toward Hange's room.
"Aww, I ain't gonna hurt him any …"
"Kenny, I swear to christ …" Levi disconnected and burst into Hange's hospital room, making Moblit jump. "I gotta go."
Hange seemed completely unperturbed. "OK, is everything alright?"
Levi shot her a look as he went out the door and said one word: "Kenny."
Levi put the Cadillac in the wind and the big V-8 engine happily pushed the car over 100mph on the highway as he sprinted toward home.