AN: Wow thank you all so much for the follows, favorites and reviews! We've read through each one and I'm really glad that you've all enjoyed it so far! I'm sorry this part took longer than I expected... ended up getting sidetracked by other things aahhh

Anyways enjoy this next chapter! I'm going to try and update this every 5-10 days as a rough estimate. Thank you all again! We look forward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter too ~

Warnings: Graphic depictions of blood, violence, character death, and potentially male/male

Extended Summary: Eren is a serial killer who's enjoyed the sight of blood since he killed 2 men when he was nine and saved Mikasa and, eventually, Armin. Nothing special since then, just your typical murders with Mikasa and Armin disposing the bodies, hiding evidence and sending the cops off their trails. That is, until he gets bored and starts setting the murders up. Making a game out of it. Enter special agents Levi and Irwin, the FBI's best for the job. It's a game of hide and seek against the killer, who's under their nose the entire time. A battle of wits to the end in a game of hide and seek.

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.o0o.

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Trost Outskirts

Military Training Base

7:54, October 2013

Special Agent Levi

...

Petra was the one to run back to them after ignoring the order to detain the crowd. She was the one to practically scream and panic and trip back towards the FBI agents, out of breath and pale and shaky. She was the one to shout that there was blood everywhere. So much writing in blood and oh god she was feeling sick.

Levi hadn't moved. He watched her panic and watched the crowd start to do the same. That was really a given, considering the officer was having a complete hysterical panic attack at his feet. It was pathetic. What was even worse was they'd lost half of the people who were observing them like damn sheep from beyond the fence. Those were important. They were all potentials at this point.

Levi scanned the crowd again. More importantly, the kid from the very back of the crowd was gone. Just fucking fantastic.

"Are you done glaring at the bystanders?" Irwin's voice. Levi didn't even bother to turn.

"No. Did Auruo get his fucking job done before Petra caused them to run?"

"Partially. There was about half he didn't get actual pictures of. Halfway through he switched from a camera to video, so we should at least have a glimpse of everyone who was here."

He felt his shoulders relax. Just a bit, but enough. "Better than nothing. So what the hell was she sobbing about anyways?"

"Normal field agents completely skipped the supply shed set up a ways away from where the body was left. No one bothered to check it, but looks like the killer left something else there. I haven't taken a look at it myself... but officer Zakarius filled me in," Irwin led the way towards the new find. The dust kicked up into the air from both of their steps, causing a murky filter over their vision. Levi frowned.

"And?"

Irwin shook his head. He pulled out another set of gloves and tossed them to Levi, who slipped them over his hands without even thinking. Irwin did the same. "It's not pretty."

"Well of course it's not," the shorter sneered. He stepped around the corner and passed another group of field agents. Minor positions. Useless. They nodded in mock respect and moved out of the way.

The FBI agents stopped at the metal back of the shed. It took a second for the scene to sink in and for Levi to mutter every curse word he knew under his breath.

Blood everywhere was an understatement. The entire metal back of the shed was covered in a layer of it. Not just splotches, it was like someone took a paint roller and made sure it looked professional. There were spaces left untouched in the middle, however, where a word was left silver. With the shed at six and a half feet tall, Levi had to tilt his head up to see the other phrase left under the larger one.

"Have pictures been taken?"

"They got on it as soon as officer Ral found it," Irwin replied. Quietly so only Levi could hear. The latter nodded and knelt to examine the bottom of the shed.

"How the fuck did they manage to not notice a shit ton of blood left behind?"

"Trost's officers don't really have to deal with murder this often. In fact, this is probably the first big one they've ever had."

"Well someone better fire them. Protocol means looking everywhere around the scene and a given amount around the body. Not find the body and golly damn gee look we're free," he snarled. His fingers brushed against the bottom of the metal, against the blood that continued right to the dirt. It was dry, surprisingly. Whoever did this wanted it covered completely. Neatly. They didn't like to leave mistakes it seemed. Irwin stepped behind him and ran a gloved hand up the red wall.

He pulled it away. It was completely red. "Still wet."

"Not too surprising. After all, look how much there is. It'd take a miracle to have it all dry by the time the police would get here. However," Levi trailed off. He took the tactical knife out of his back pocket. With a flick the blade was out; he scraped the point across the dried out blood at the bottom of the shed. A flake fell off and he took a bag out of his vest pocket. He slipped it in and handed it to Irwin.

"This is older," he stated. "Give it to one of the idiots standing around to put it with the body. We'll compare it with the fresh sample."

"Don't you find it odd though?"

Levi raised his head at the question. "Find what odd?"

"How much blood is here. If you think about it, this would take a lot. Perhaps not a full gallon of blood but..."

"More than what out victim showed missing." Levi finished.

Irwin nodded stiffly, and then, "Our victim showed none missing."

"So another then?"

"Maybe, or maybe we're missing something about the body. Hanji'll look over it and tell us." Levi said. He bent down, something caught in the corner of his eye. Another group of letters smaller than the bigger word. They seemed to have been written in with a finger... Or a paintbrush, perhaps?

But there hasn't been a paintbrush found. Yet... The strokes do seem to have a bristle-like texture to them. Perhaps the killer took the instrument with them? Unless it could be in the shed...

He stood up and nearly into Irwin. The taller of the two was looking at the word haphazardly scrawled on the top of the wall. Large, it was hard to miss. Levi could take a guess that it had the bristle-like textures too.

"It says... Dix?" Irwin tried. He frowned, trying to understand what it meant.

"It means ten in french," Levi replied. He bent down to the smaller words again and let them roll off of his tongue. "and down here it says 'tu es lui'. Roughly translates to 'You're it.'"

Does he see this as a game? Is that what the killer is trying to say? That we're going to start playing tag with him?

Irwin's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Why would he use french?"

"Not sure. Vic wasn't french, was he?"

"Reports didn't have anything in it." Irwin sighed.

Then why french? Is his next victim going to be french? Was his last?

"Get Hanji on call and tell her to run the blood samples as soon as she gets them. Tell her to let the others look at the body before she does. The blood is more important at this point."

"Think you found something?"

Levi pushed off the ground. He took a few steps back to look at the entire thing, then stepped around to the shed's door. At the bottom of it by the hinge there was a small bulge. "Just a hunch."

He pulled the bottom corner of the door, thankful it was made of cheap, pliable tin. Out rolled a decent sized paintbrush. One of those fan-like ones. The bristles were completely straight and covered in a dark red. He slipped it into another evidence bag and stood up.

"Do me a favor. Have someone look over this again while we meet with Hanji, would you? Get pictures or whatever the hell they have that'll work. Just make sure it's detailed." Levi sighed. This was dragging on more than he wanted to and a meeting with her wasn't going to help his shitty mood any.

Irwin seemed to get that though. He also seemed to get the fact that Levi didn't really want to interact with any of the working officers right now, accounting the fact he didn't pay attention to the list of who was working and therefore their names. He clapped the shorter's shoulder. "I'll tell Zakarius and meet you at the car."

Levi didn't say anything in reply. He just straightened his shoulders and walked back across the scene; past where the body had been removed and out of the entry gate.

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.o0o.

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It took nearly three hours of sitting at the bureau before Hanji showed up to get them. Bouncing all over the place with that stupid ass grin on her face, she was as chipper as always. Laughing, grinning and just being so fucking obnoxious talking about the blood samples and the condition of the body and how it was something she had never seen before.

Levi wanted to rip his hair out after he ripped her throat out.

"-but it's weird!" She was laughing now and spinning in her chair. "you would think that there wouldn't be a difference!"

"That's fucking wonderful," he snarled. "but do you think we can get on with this?"

She made a face akin to a pout. "Well someone's impatient today. Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"Hanji I'm warning you-"

"I know, I know," She sighed dramatically and pushed herself out of the chair. "You'll kill me and feed my arm to my corpse or something like that. But really Levi, this is crazy."

"If you told us by now instead of rambling on about how wonderful it is, I'd believe it."

"What he's trying to say is, if you wouldn't mind," Irwin put his hand on Levi's shoulder, more as a motion to keep the other from killing the woman who was still grinning. "please elaborate on what you found."

"Well for starters, agent Smith," Hanji turned to her desk. There was a manilla envelope with a blue highlighter dash in the corner that she grabbed. As soon as she opened it, Levi could catch a glimpse of the photos from the crime scene. She took out a paper with a chart printed on it and put it on the lab table. "this is the first thing that caught my attention."

"The blood." Levi noted. He picked up the chart. It didn't make much sense, considering it was made using the woman's ways, but nonetheless there was one thing that was obvious about it.

Hanji nodded in approval. "That's right. There are two different blood types, completely distinct from each other. Michael Grimes, the victim, was a type A. The majority of the shed wall was covered in a type O, oddly enough. That blood belongs to someone named Felix Bourgston."

Irwin grabbed the paper from Levi. "Any connection between him and Grimes?"

Hanji shook her head. "Not entirely. As far as I know, Bourgston is still alive. The blood our killer used was donated blood, it seems. Unless Bourgston has gone missing in the hours between you two looking at the body and the last death."

"Is it possible?"

"Possible yes," she replied. "but, Levi, do you know who Felix Bourgston is?"

He shook his head. A quick motion. The DNA specialist nodded in return.

"He's an old case from Stohess, before you and Smith here joined the force - which is probably why you've never really heard of him," she cleared her throat and handed a different folder to the two. This one had a pink dash at the top. "Felix was infamous for a while. He's a rapist who recently got on parole. He hasn't committed a crime in years and has had some of our men keeping a close watch on him. He donates blood, has a wife and kid - the typical apple pie life type of deal now."

"Wife?" Levi asked.

"Married to her for four years. Her name is Mira, she's a teacher at the elementary school there."

Levi felt a chill run down his spine. That bracelet was hers then. It had to be hers.

"The bracelet was confirmed to be hers. Her fingerprints were on it. That adds her as a suspect, huh." Hanji assured Levi with the first part. He felt his nails dig into his hand in return.

"Where is she now?" Irwin threw in.

"We've sent agent Moses to find her. He'll be bringing her back here for questioning, then passing her off to someone who can keep an eye on her and keep her safe."

So she's not out of the woods yet, Levi frowned. He forced his hand to relax before he made himself bleed. It wasn't easy. It was already starting to feel like this killer was playing with them.

"What about Felix?" he asked.

"No one knows where he is. There hasn't been a sign of him in the past couple of days, actually." Hanji pushed her glasses farther up her nose. Her hands folded on top of each other on the table. Her serious mode, as the two called it.

And serious it was. Completely serious with what came out of her mouth next. "The dried blood at the bottom of the shed did belong to Michael Grimes. You couldn't tell at the crime scene, but there was a cut on his arm. Not a lot of blood was drained from the body it seems. Maybe a pint or half of one, but nothing over the top. Whatever the killer had in mind it seems they changed their way of thinking halfway through."

Irwin flipped through the file on Grimes, looking for the page about the body. As soon as he found it he pointed at the pictures from the morgue. "They left bruises on the torso, though. They didn't try to hide that. How come?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "No idea. Maybe the killer decided to mix it up? It's not uncommon for a murder victim to have bruising on their body. Perhaps cutting the arm came after beating the man senseless. Either way, the killer had enough decency to suture the wound and dress it to look like it didn't exist."

"He didn't inject anything else into the bloodstream?" Levi asked. This entire meeting was starting to piss him off more and more.

"Tests came back clear. He just took a little bit, covered the wound, and left the body."

No progress, he narrowed his eyes. "Was your team able to figure out where he was killed?"

"They're not even sure. Half of the reports from the soil say that there's a good chance he was killed there, but-"

"There aren't any buts, Hanji."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," she groaned. "but half of the reports also say he was killed somewhere else. We just can't tell right now! Whoever this guy is knows what he's doing, Levi. He's done this before and I don't think he's going to stop. I think this is the start of whatever sick game he has in mind."

He pinched the bridge of his nose like it'd fight off the headache all of this was causing.

"I've got someone else running all of the soil samples again and more in depth this time. I'll let you know if we get anything new that'll help us."

Levi scoffed. "Have any good news while we're sitting here?"

"They've got one man in for questioning. Bertholdt Fubar. He was supposed to be on morning guard at the military base around the time of the murder. I'll give you a call when they actually start the interrogation."

"Fine." He sighed. He pushed himself away from the lab table with more force than necessary and walked out towards the door. This was all a waste of time. Nothing was coming back right. Nothing. Too many possibilities, too many variables and not enough solid evidence. And now, some girl could be in a lot of trouble.

"He's in the worst mood I've seen in a while," Hanji mumbled. Irwin hummed in agreement. He offered his hand to the DNA specialist and a terse smile.

"He's just getting used to being on a case that challenges him. He's probably irritated that out killer is putting up a fight and making it difficult."

"That's a crude way of putting it."

Irwin shook her hand as a goodbye, the blazer to his suit draped over his arm. "But it's the truth. It's either that...or a lack of caffeine."

Hanji's laughter rang in the office behind him as he shut the door and joined Levi back in the wing's lobby.

"What's she having a fieldtrip about?"

Irwin shrugged. "Who knows. Let's get something to eat before we head back to the crime scene, yeah?"

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.o0o.

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Downtown Trost

Lawson's Food, Roast

15:45, October 2013

Eren Jaeger

...

Time was passing slowly today, he had realized. More so than usual. It wasn't that he liked feeling like he had more time, it was just the fact that it was taking so long for something new to happen.

After they'd left the crime scene, they'd gone back to the house. Mikasa chided him the entire way on how dangerous it was for him to show up, and Armin helped. Together they had run circles around him; telling him he was going to get caught...how stupid this was... how he needed to stop... this was going too far already.

And he had just sighed and continued to stare out the apartment window while they both left for wherever. The silence had been nice. It had given him time to think about the morning, and about what he'd do next.

He'd set up a clue for them. The blood belonging to Felix and the small message. He'd left two, actually, counting the bracelet. They'd just have to piece everything together and think hard about what it'd mean. It wasn't just for that death, though. It was for the next and the rest to come. This one had been a test to see what they could do. If the two new cops could figure it out and impress Eren, he'd step his game up and make them struggle after him.

It would be fun.

But that fun will have to wait, Eren frowned. There was a buzzing from behind him and he turned to deal with the coffee machine's whining. Actual work came first to earn money and observe. Actual work was his chance to figure out where everyone else stood.

Eren took the coffee pot and moved its contents into two cups. Add sugar as soon as that was done, a little bit of creamer, and hit the bell at the counter. Two orders done.

"Thanks Eren," the girl smiled and took both cups.

"No problem Sasha. Just don't tell Jean about the discount."

She laughed. "Why not?"

"He'd throw a fit," Connie threw in. Another regular at this place.

The other person behind the coffee stand's counter turned to look at all three of them. He rolled his eyes and tried not to smile. "Come on guys, be nice."

Connie laughed. He shook his head and grinned. "Don't defend him! He has it comin', you know."

Marco just sighed and went back to cleaning the house cups.

The days he worked here were usually like this; dappled with the regulars that visited and the store's clerks that wandered over during break. Set in the middle of the store, it was a small coffee shop but nothing to look over nonetheless. Good service with a smile, it was known for. And Eren was a large contributor to that. Even when Jean decided to act like a dick, he still smiled. Work did that to him. It made him seem social. A good person. Even if it was all an act.

"Who has it coming?" There was a scoff and the sound of one of the chairs sliding against the floor. Speak of the devil, Eren smirked.

"No one." Marco sighed. "Break?"

"Late lunch break. Whoever was in charge of stock messed up big time."

"And how does it feel to be surrounded by vegetables for hours upon end?" Sasha teased. Jean stuck his tongue out like a kid and took the coffee that Marco offered him.

"Wonderful. The potatoes are fuckin great at listening."

"Oh I bet," Eren threw in. "They love hearing about your problems, don't they?"

"No one asked you Jaeger."

He laughed and watched Jean drink the coffee and make small talk with the other two customers. He watched Marco take the seat across from Jean and pay attention to every word. He observed and took note of how everyone acted.

This is why he loved this job.

"-they said he was killed."

"Huh?" Sasha asked. "The thief that's been going around?"

Jean folded his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "Found out at the training base today. On Bertholdt's watch."

"No way," Sasha gasped. "Do you think he's gonna be a suspect then?"

"Probably, I mean, he was supposed to be on patrol then."

This is what he wanted. Eren stepped around the counter to join the rest of the group, leaning against the glass case for the pastries. "He'd at least be considered as a suspect, may be taken in for questioning, but it's Bertholdt. Do you really think he'd have anything to do with it?" he asked.

"Well with as much as he sweats," Jean sneered, "it wouldn't be too hard to pin him as suspicious."

"But suspicion and actually being an accomplice or anything along those lines is different. They'll probably ask him to provide an alibi, check it, then let him go. He'll probably stop here later tonight to check in like always." Eren shrugged.

"You seem to know a lot about this stuff, Eren." Sasha pointed out. Eren laughed the comment off. He didn't even freeze.

"I read a lot of mystery books in my spare time." he grinned. Played it off smoothly and watched her nod in response. It was too easy and they were too trusting.

The mood was shattered, though. Everyone fell down into silence when one of the two cops that showed up cleared their throat. Eren nearly grinned and lost it there. It was them. The tall blonde one and the shorter black haired one. Eren was taller than him, he realized, when he moved away from the pastry stand.

"Want to order something?" Eren asked. Service with a smile.

The shorter of the two looked at him with the same cold eyes from earlier. The corner of his mouth twitched, probably in annoyance, and he nodded. Eren practically ran behind the counter and waved Marco off when he stood up to help.

"What can I get you two?"

"I'm not having anything, thank you." The taller of the two chuckled. He grabbed the plastic container out of the other's hands. Chinese food, if Eren's guess was right. "I'm going to go pay, Levi. Just meet me outside when you're done."

'Levi' nodded stiffly. He looked back at Eren with a frown. "Black, two packets of sugar, cinnamon, and milk."

Eren's smile turned into a grin. When the FBI agent tried to hand him the money, Eren waved it off.

"On the house since you're doing so much to help us already." he said gracefully in return. It was the least he could do. This was his thank you for learning the man's name. Those eyes narrowed, but Eren could see his shoulders visibly relax.

"I expect it done quickly."

"Will do, sir." He shot back. One last smile before setting to work.

During the time it took for the coffee to brew, part of him was hoping that the officer would notice who he was. He was hoping that the agent would realize he left the crime scene and would need to talk to him more. Then Eren would be able to observe the man, see how he acted. See how much they had figured out about the case already. Yet the other part of him hoped that he wouldn't, so he wouldn't have to deal with a scene and be forced to think too much and get out of potentially being dragged to the station.

It was honestly nice just watching.

"You look tired," Eren said, leaning against the back counter. The coffee was almost done, but it still gave him enough time to poke at the officer.

Levi glared and his mouth turned down in a frown. "Unlike you, some of us have actual work."

Eren chuckled. The coffee machine whined and he did the same thing as earlier. He poured the coffee into one of the to-go cups; added the milk, sugar and cinnamon, then handed it off to the frowning man with another smile. "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

Levi clicked his tongue in return. "Then act like it instead of socializing on the clock. Clean the counter off or some shit, there's fingerprints all over it."

Eren bowed his head as Levi turned to leave. He watched the officer take a quick drink, then a longer one when he deemed the coffee was well made. The blonde one from before was already walking back past the stand and out the automatic doors to the parking lot.

"Thank you for stopping by!" Marco was the one to shout that out. The officer didn't give them another glance. He just walked away and after the other officer.

Eren's phone buzzed. A text message. Everything's set up.

He untied the apron and grinned. This was going to perfectly. "Marco, I'm leaving for the day. Mikasa just sent me a text, I've gotta go." he shouted over the counter. Marco waved. Just like Sasha and Connie. Jean gave a quick nod.

Eren threw his apron into his bag under the counter and slung it over his shoulder. He had five minutes roughly to leave out the other door. He had roughly five minutes before the call was placed for the second body being found.

He had roughly three before that FBI agent recognized him from earlier and came running back in the building.

Eren shoved his phone back in his pocket and set off towards the back exit. Right as he reached the back of the store he looked back. Those cold grey eyes were standing back by the coffee shop, scanning. Looking for Eren. Looking for the boy who keeps disappearing.

And disappearing I'll continue to do, Eren chuckled. The back door swung open with a scan of his ID card, and he stepped out into the afternoon heat.

It's time to get ready.