Levi had left Eren in the capable care of Mikasa and Annie while he drove home to shower and pick up some fresh clothes. He caught sight of himself in the rear-view mirror, the bags under his eyes more profound and dark than ever. For a split second, Levi wished it had been him in the coma, if only for a good night's sleep. He pulled up to his apartment, where he and Eren had lived prior to the accident, but something was slightly wrong. Levi's eyes darted quickly to the window of the apartment. After staring for a few seconds, Levi dismissed his thoughts. He got out of the car, but something in him forced him to keep his key between his fingers. He ascended the stairs to his apartment and pushed the door open quietly. The beige painted hallway with a brown kick at the top and bottom opened to him, decorated with Levi's paintings and photos of him and Eren together, some with them and Mikasa and Annie, one of Eren and Armin in school, and a couple of Levi and his friends. He approached the bedroom, where the bed lay still unmade from the day of the accident. Levi and Eren had been late for work, having been at Levi's friend Hanji's wedding the night before. Hungover, tired and groggy, they hadn't noticed the time and woke up over an hour late. Levi called in to let his boss at the art gallery know he'd be later than usual but on time for the Kume Keiichiro exhibition. Eren worked at a coffee shop to get through university, as he studied architecture. To avoid further lateness, Eren told Levi to take the car as he had plans to have lunch with Kalura, Mikasa and Annie. He'd be able to meet Mikasa and Annie at the shop, where Kalura could pick them up. They were on their way to a restaurant in Trost when the accident happened. A Range Rover had run a red light and smashed into Kalura's side of the car. Annie said she'd seen the car coming, but couldn't get her seatbelt off to protect anyone but Mikasa. The impact killed Kalura on the spot, and caused Eren to hit his head off of the window next to him, causing his coma. Mikasa broke her arm in six places and Annie, being furthest from the impact, escaped serious harm.

The room still smelled like Eren, but mostly it was a stale smell. Levi opened the window inset in the rightmost sunset orange wall. Gazing at every picture of Eren's smiling face in the hallway, he made his way to the living room, and heard the sound of a cup being placed on a saucer.

In the armchair in the middle of the beige room, sat a man wearing a tweed suit. His dark hair was long, reaching towards his shoulders, and his grey eyes looked towards Levi. The expectant smile he'd been wearing turned into a frown.

"Levi," said Doctor Grisha Yeager, his voice sounding let down. "I'm sorry, I helped myself to some tea." He took another sip of tea from the china set Levi had managed to scrape enough together to buy when he was a child. Levi balled his fist.

"What are you doing here?" Levi spat. "You disappeared, Eren, Kalura and Mikasa believed you'd been kidnapped or were missing, but I knew better. I knew you'd just abandoned them for yourself, you selfish-"

Grisha calmly raised his hand and stopped him. "Don't be so insolent, Levi. I have my reasons for having to leave, and I implore you to remain calm. I cannot tell you why I left, but you must understand that there was a genuine need for me to leave. I had to protect Kalura, Eren and Mikasa."

"You didn't do a brilliant job, now did you?"

Grisha's eyes widened slightly. "What do you mean, Levi?"

"You honestly don't know?" Levi calmed down slightly. How could Grisha not know? Kalura's death was in papers and on news websites. "Kalura's dead. She had a car accident."

Grisha dropped the cup he was holding, and it shattered against the laminate flooring, spilling Levi's tea across it.

"You're paying for the cup." Levi muttered.

"She's...dead? How can this be?" Grisha's face was wet with tears.

For a second, Levi felt genuine sympathy for the man who abandoned the love of his life, his son and daughter.

"Kalura died not knowing if you were dead or alive," Levi said, his true emotions coming through. He wanted Grisha to suffer for the pain he'd put Eren, Kalura and Mikasa through. Eren and Kalura kept up hope that he was still alive for some time, but Mikasa was hit harder by it. In her heart, she believed he was gone, and she was familiar with that type of pain.

"You made Mikasa feel as if she'd lost a third parent. I don't care what reasons you had, nothing could be worth abandoning your family the way you did."

Grisha sat silently, tears covering his face.

"Is the great genius, Dr Grisha Yeager, lost for words for the first time in his life?" Levi's voice was gaining volume.

"What about Eren?" Grisha whispered.

Levi sat on the couch across from Grisha. He was suddenly aware of how exhausted he was. "Eren's been in a coma for the past four weeks since the accident. They think he might not make it." A single tear fell from Levi's thin eyes.

Grisha's body became wracked with silent sobs. Levi looked away. Much as he viewed the man with contempt, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"I'm sorry I came," Grisha muttered between sobs. "I meant to see Eren, to pass along a message. It seems it doesn't matter much now."

"There's nothing you could say," Levi growled. "After what you've done, I don't think there's anything here for you anymore. Not from Eren, not from Mikasa."

"Can you at least tell them I'm alive, once Eren wakes up? I won't come back unless they want me to, here's a number they can call if they think they could forgive me."

Levi glanced at the card with Grisha's number. "Fine. But don't expect me to put it lightly."

Grisha stood from the armchair he sat on, thanked Levi and gave him the money for the cup. He gave Levi treble the cup's worth, but Levi wasn't going to complain.

"One more thing, Levi," Grisha said, slightly breathless from crying, "could you ask your friend Armin to cease his efforts to search for me? I'm afraid he could be in danger if he continues."

"What? What danger? What are you involved in, Yeager?" Levi's anger increased with the volume of his voice. "If this puts Eren, Mikasa or any of us in any danger, I will hunt you down and kill you myself."

Grisha bowed his head to Levi and left.

Levi lay on the couch and fell asleep almost instantly.