Tainted

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

Summary: Levi notices something strange and offers a helping hand.

hugz: Thank you for your prompt! It will be Ch. 90 :)

Levi filled up the mug and placed the beer before the customer, nodding in reply to his thanks. It was a Friday night and he spotted most of the usuals along with a few new faces. His eyes caught a familiar ginger-haired woman. Petra came every week, usually with a group of friends and sometimes by herself. He liked talking to her, she was charming and considerate and definitely one of his favorite patrons.

"Looks like Petra's got a date tonight," Farlan observed, joining him.

"Hmm." Levi eyed the tall, dark-haired man she was sitting with. He was obviously flirting with her and it seemed to be going well.

"By the way, something came up and Erd said he's going to be late by an hour. Can you cover for him until then?"

"Sure."

More patrons came in and Levi became busy trying to serve them. Petra's date came up once to order drinks. Levi forgot about them until he was scanning the bar and caught her with a strange expression on her face.

A woman approached him. "Can I have a round of margaritas?"

He glanced at the table she was gesturing to and nodded, doing a headcount. "No problem. I'll bring them right over." Quickly, he mixed the drinks and carried them over. Something bugged him again when he saw Petra as he passed by their table. After debating it for a second, he went to the couple.

Petra didn't seem her usual self when she looked at him.

The feeling in his gut grew. "You guys good?"

"We're fine," her date said quickly. "Thanks."

"Petra, do you want a Maria's Grace?" Levi asked casually, like he would ask any regular customer if she wanted one of her usual drinks. All the regulars knew Maria's Grace wasn't a real drink. It was a fake drink customers could order if they were in a sticky situation and needed help. Or sometimes an employee might ask it as a way of testing a potentially suspicious situation.

"Yes."

"How do you want it?" Depending on how she answered he'd know how serious it was.

But she seemed to be having a hard time verbalizing what she wanted and shrugged weakly.

That told him all he needed to know. "Alright, one Maria's Grace coming up." Levi found Isabel carrying an order and filled her in.

Her expression darkened before she put on a big smile, doing a sweep of the place and nodding. "I'll let the others know to keep an eye on them," she said under her breath.

Levi pretended to fiddle with the cash register as he noticed Isabel telling Farlan and the others. He also checked on Petra and her date. He seemed to be pushing her to finish her drink. Levi walked over to them and cleared his throat. "Petra, sorry, but there's a problem with your credit card."

"What?"

"Might just be our system being glitchy. Can you come with me to the back really quick? You have a tab with us so we have to get this sorted out," he said, in case her date offered to pay to prevent him from taking her away.

"Of course," Petra said and stood slowly.

"Sorry, but you'll have to stay," he told the man when he stood too. "It's our policy in these situations to only bring the account holder to verify the information. If anything sensitive like the CVV code gets stolen, the customer might come back to sue us because they had been drinking and we allowed a third party to be present. It's nothing personal," he said with a shrug. "Just gotta follow the rules, you know?"

"It's fine," he accepted reluctantly, sitting down.

Levi led her to the back office, helping her once as her balance was off. "Are you feeling alright?" He finally let the concern show on his face, closing the door behind him.

"No...not really," she responded uneasily.

"Just lie down." He helped her to the couch, then grabbed his jacket from the coat stand and laid it over her. "Rest here. I'll be right back."

She grabbed his hand, her grip weak. "Don't go."

"I'm going to lock the door behind me," he assured her. "Farlan and Isabel are the only ones who can come in. It'll only take a minute. I gotta make sure someone's out there helping Gunther until Erd comes in."

Petra nodded and closed her eyes.

Levi found Ilse helping Gunther. He figured either Farlan or Isabel must have sent her over. The smile did not reach Ilse's eyes and she asked, "How is she?"

"Not good."

"He was checking his messages when I walked by," Gunther said, cleaning a glass, not looking at the man they were talking about.

"Make sure he doesn't go to the bathroom." Levi didn't want to give him a chance to get rid of any evidence.

"We know," Gunther replied, inclining his head. "Farlan told us. He's putting up an 'Out of Order' sign on the men's restroom."

"You better go back before he notices you're out here," Ilse suggested and he left.

Petra lifted her head when he joined her, sitting on the table before her.

"Still feeling crappy?" Levi asked and she nodded.

Isabel updated him with a text: Creep's getting antsy. He's asking about Petra and acting nervous.

"It's okay," Levi said to Petra, holding her hand. "You're okay now. I'll be right here."

Isabel sent another text: He's starting to argue with Farlan. Might try to flee soon.

Levi glanced up from his phone to the woman on the couch. Delirious, lethargic, and weak. "Were you feeling sick before you had that drink?"

"No," she mumbled out.

Listening to his gut, he responded to Isabel: Don't let him leave. I'm calling the cops.

Levi's head snapped up when he noticed red hair in his peripheral vision. To his disappointment, it wasn't the woman he was hoping to see. Not that he could blame Petra for not returning.

As grateful as she had been for their timely intervention, the place probably gave her anxiety. While her date had confessed quickly—not that he had much of a choice with a small packet of a known date rape drug in his pocket with his fingerprints on it—he had sullied the bar and made it so she no longer felt safe here. It infuriated Levi further because he, Farlan, and Isabel had worked hard to make it into a successful and comfortable place.

"Can I get a White Russian?"

"Sure th—" He stopped when the familiarity of the voice finally registered and he met her eyes. "Petra. Hey."

"Hi."

"It's good to see you."

"It's good to be back."

"How have you been?"

"Pretty good." Petra shrugged, glancing around. "Honestly, I was pretty scared to come back for a while." The way she said the words seemed like she was disgusted by it.

"No one would blame you. Anyone would be in your shoes. I certainly would."

"Yeah, but if I never came back here it would be kind of like giving that creep power over me, you know? When I thought about it like that it pissed me off and gave me the courage I needed. Nothing like a little anger and indignation to get you back on your feet and give you a boost of courage."

Levi placed the drink before her. "On the house."

"Oh no, c'mon," she protested, "you don't have to. If anything, I should be you giving you a huge tip."

"I'm just glad you're safe."

"Thanks. Can I get tonight's special? I'll be meeting a couple of friends over in our usual corner."

"Of course."

Throughout the night he kept checking in on her. He was glad to see she was having a good time with her friends, laughing and talking as usual.

"Things are back to normal," Farlan said, following his line of sight.

"They are," Levi said with a smile.

"Hey, quit slacking off, you two." Isabel stopped to scold them. "Table four wants two Old Fashions."

"I'm on it."

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