END GAME

Chapter 8: Tell Me

Levi dropped to his knees beside Eren, the Glock slipping from his hand and clattering to the ground beside him. Bandages, I need bandages. He began working on the clasps holding the vest in placing with one hand, the other delving into his pockets in search of his knife. The vest, the bottom of which had been grazed by the bullet and was already becoming stained with darkness, came away after a fierce tug. Levi tossed it carelessly to the side and grabbed a fistful of Eren's white shirt, where the growing crimson stain had yet to spread.

He dug the tip of the knife into the fabric and began to slice thin but long strips away as quickly as he dared to. The knife was dropped back onto the ground once he had cut away six or seven strips. Levi slapped them together in a crisscrossed pattern, folding the edges over each other. It wasn't the neatest makeshift bandage he had made, but hopefully it would be enough to slow the blood flow. He pulled Eren's shirt away from the wound, the blood making it cling to his skin.

Levi slapped the pad over the bullet hole and leaned into his, pressing hard against wound. Eren was unconscious, his chest heaving in short, rapid gasps and his eyes flickering madly beneath his lids. He was unlikely to wake up for a while, which made it easier to apply the pressure without worrying that it would cause more pain. Either way, the shock would probably prevent him from feeling any pain if he did happen to wake up. Levi's eyes made their way back down to the bandage.

Blood was beginning to ooze through the cotton strips, squeezed out from the pressure and collecting on his hands before droplets began to roll down his hands before falling to the concrete below. Levi pressed against the wound harder. As far as he could tell, Eren had been hit in a non-vital area, but there was no way of knowing whether or not the bullet had already passed through without rolling him over to check, which wouldn't be the smartest of moves to make. Levi glanced up and down the alleyway; no one in sight. He pulled one hand away and leaned on Eren as much as he dared with one hand.

Paying no mind to the blood coating his hand, Levi searched his pockets for his phone. He placed a hand over the last pocket and realization hit him, bringing with it desolation and anger. His phone was lying on his desk back at the station, forgotten in their haste. Damn it! Now is not the time for this to be happening! Eren could die right here, right now, and Levi was helpless, too afraid to move Eren, too afraid to leave him there.

The soft thump of footsteps brought his head whipping up, the gun coming up with it. Levi's finger tensed on the trigger before it relaxed and he set the gun down again to press his hand back against the bandage. The familiar blonde hair, filled with a slight coating of ash, was recognizable, even at a distance. Irvin faltered in his steps towards them as he took in the scene before he broke into a jog, quickly covering the distance with his long legs. "You're going to get a bullet through your head one day if you keep creeping up on people," Levi muttered. "Get your phone and call for some paramedics."

His arm jerked as a hand clamped around his bare forearm, hot and sticky with blood. Levi looked back at Eren. The other man's eyes were emerald pits of raw terror, panic, and agony. "No hospitals…" Eren gasped, his fingers clenching tight around Levi's arm, his knuckles going white and his arm trembling. "I can't go… don't take me." Levi's eyes widened for a moment, his face going slack with confusion before it hardened. He pulled the arm Eren didn't have a death grip on away from the bandage and clenched his fist into a tight fist.

"Sorry Eren," he muttered before hitting the brown-haired boy square in the jaw. Something small and white flew from his mouth, skittering across the ground with the sound of a small pebble; a tooth. Great, that's yet another thing I can apologize for later. Eren went limp beneath him, his hand falling away as he slipped back into unconsciousness. Levi glanced back up at Irvin, "Now is typically the time when people start calling the hospital."

Irvin held his hands up in a gesture of helplessness, an apologetic look on his face. "I can't do that Levi. Under no circumstances can he go to the hospital. He needs Zoe."

Hanji was probably the only person who would have reigned in all questions when they brought Eren in, unconscious and still bleeding. She got right to work, kicking both Irvin and Levi out so that she and Moblit could perform their first operation on a live patient, something she was woefully unprepared for. She had no anesthesia, she had no practice with live patients, who could suddenly, especially in this case, sit up mid-surgery, she didn't have medication to combat the shock, and she didn't have any equipment for a blood transfusion. It was better than the threatened alternative, which was Irvin handcuffing him to a pipe at the warehouses so that he could take Eren to Zoe.

All in all, none of it did anything to quell the crushing tide of guilt that threatened to drag him under. Standing in the hall outside of the morgue certainly did nothing to help his mood. Levi tapped his foot, arms crossed and eyes fixed on Irvin in a furious glare that would send most people the other way on a good day. Irvin stared back, acclimated to Levi's mood swings and anger. Irvin had once commented that Levi reminded him of magma; deceptively slow at times with his anger, but destroying everything in his path when he desired revenge or something of the like. "Now Irvin, do you care to explain why we couldn't take Eren to a hospital? You know, they're those places with the doctors and the sophisticated medicines that we go to when we get really hurt or sick."

Irvin sighed and his hand made its way to the back of his neck, an uncomfortable look crossing his face. He was visibly warring with himself, the conflict evident on his normally collected face. "I can't do that Levi," he said after an extended period of time. "Eren… it's something that's best heard directly from him. It's a long story, one he was barely comfortable telling me even after three years of our acquaintance."

Levi flung his hands into the air, exasperation leaking into every movement, "Oh really? And what am I supposed to tell Mikasa or Armin? Do you want me to tell them that their best friend is being operated on by a crazy woman who cuts dead bodies up for the hell of it? And need I even mention how I managed to get him shot while he was with me? I'm sure that would go over wonderfully."

Levi waited for Irvin to form a response for several moments. When the blonde man failed to do so, Levi spun around and stormed away, glaring furiously at the walls. He needed a cigarette and he needed it now. He made his way past the front area and out onto the street where he leaned against the brick wall of the building and fished a cigarette from his pockets. The taste of mint flowed onto his tongue, mixing with the scent of ash and smoke left behind from the fire.

He could still see the columns in the distance. They were thinner and lighter now than they had been before. The firefighters must have finally gotten the blaze under control. The fire had begun what, an hour ago? It was found to be close to finished. As soon as the fire was confirmed to be completely out they would send teams through the wreckage, searching for anything that could hint as to why they had begun to burn and what the bags Marion had been carrying contained. Marion himself had been picked up by Mike and Nanaba, who had taken him to another morgue. Neither officer had suspected a thing when Irvin had radioed them to inform them that they were chasing a second suspect; a second suspect that didn't even exist. Levi couldn't help but wonder how much Irvin, or even Hanji, were hiding about this situation. He felt so behind, so in the dark about everything and it was starting to drive him insane.

Levi lingered outside of the morgue, light gray smoke passing his lips and minty scent mingling with the acrid tang of smoke that filled the air as he watched people mill about. They walked around, confused and afraid, but still capable of ignoring the events of that morning and carrying on with their lives, as if nothing was wrong. Although to them there probably wasn't anything wrong, not yet anyways. The sky slowly began to darken, orange, gold, and red creeping up into the western horizon as the rest of the sky began to shift. The sky was clear; maybe the stars would be visible tonight.

Levi sighed and dropped the last cigarette butt down to the ground, grinding it out with his heel before he straightened up and opened the morgue door again. It was time to find out whether or not there was another dead body inside or not.

The pain was unbelievable at first; a burning sensation that filled him gut that went on relentlessly. It hadn't been so bad at first, especially while his mind had still been numb and uncomprehending of the events that had occurred mere moments before. It was when he regained consciousness while Zoe and Moblit were hovering above him, masks over their mouths, their gloves hands bloody and holding sharp utensils, and a blinding white light shining straight into his eyes. He could feel Zoe poking around in him, the icy touch of metal on his burning skin, the shifting of the bullet, the sheer agony that every moment brought. He was almost certain that Moblit had been forced to hold down his kicking at screaming body before he lapsed back into unconsciousness at some point or another.

He opened his eyes again to a dim and unfamiliar ceiling. There was a soft, fleecy blanket covering his bare torso and boxer-clad legs. The room bore the faint scent of lemon cleaner, the soft and comforting scent of lavender, and the sharp but not unpleasant scent of tea. The scents were subtle, tickling at his nose and sharpening the focus of his sleep bleary mind. Where the hell am I? And who changed my clothes…? Eren shifted slowly, working his elbow beneath him as he slowly straightened up, propping himself up with his elbow. The gradual movement brought a groan pushing past his lips as the dull ache in his side instantly magnified. It might have felt fine while lying down but damn it hurt like hell.

A book closed with a snap and Eren slowly turned his head, blinking several times before his eyes focused on the person in the chair to his right. Levi sat in a black leather chair, one ankle resting on top of his knee, a book resting on his lap. He had changed from earlier, from the clothes he had been wearing when they were at the warehouses, switching to a long sleeved gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black pants. Eren could understand why, considering the other clothes probably reeked of smoke and most likely had blood on them. Levi looked at him, his gaze showing no emotion, his posture stiff and refined.

"So… you're finally awake I see." Eren nodded and opened his mouth to reply but only a slight rasp came forth. Levi stood wordlessly, placed the book on the end table, and disappeared from Eren's line of sight. Eren pushed himself further up on the couch he was lying on till he could rest his head on the armrest. He had just closed his eye when Levi returned, tapping his shoulder gently and holding a glass of ice-filled water in his hand. Eren took it gratefully and drank deeply, relishing in each drop as it reached his parched throat. "How's your mouth?"

Eren cocked his head to the side, a confused look cropping up on his face. He ran his tongue around in his mouth; there was no taste of blood, no gaps in his teeth, nothing. "What's wrong with my mouth?"

Levi raised an eyebrow, a fleeting look of confusion whipping across his face. "Open your mouth," he commanded as he turned the light on the end table on. Eren complied, opening his mouth and holding still as Levi's fingers grasped his chin gently, turning his head back and forth as he examined it. Levi pulled away after a few moments, the spots here his fingers had been staying warm for a few moments longer as he sat down once more. "I punched you, remember? You lost a tooth… but none are missing…"

Eren swallowed nervously and pulled the blanket up in front of his face, hiding both the flush that was beginning to smolder across his face and the nervous grimace that was slowly starting to tug his mouth down. "Ah… about that…"

Levi glanced at him, "Eren, I need an explanation. Irvin wouldn't tell me why we couldn't take you to the hospital. He said you'd have to tell me. So tell me Eren, what the fuck is going on?" Eren tried to swallow but his throat dry once more, this time it was from anxiety. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, unsure of what to say. "Come on you idiot, I haven't got all of eternity to hear this if you're actually going to say anything." Eren nodded and swallowed once more.

"I… it's a long story…" Levi nodded but remained silent. Eren glanced up at the man before he turned his head so he could stare at the ceiling. Maybe that way he could pretend he was just talking to himself, telling himself everything that had ever happened. Maybe he could pretend that there was no one else in the room to hear it, no one else to know it. But someone else would know it, and that thought alone terrified Eren more than he thought it could. He took a deep, calming breath and let it out slowly.

He could tell Levi. He could tell Levi right now, every single thing that he could remember. How long had he been wishing, hoping, for someone else to come along to hear his story? So why could he not tell it now? Was he too afraid of Levi's judgement? Probably. Was he afraid of what might happen? Definitely. It had been hard enough telling Irvin but now... he barely knew Levi. He knew nothing of his past. All he knew was that he was a bad-tempered neat freak. It shouldn't have even been an option to tell him. Eren's hands clenched together, his nails digging into his palms. His mind was in a turmoil; tell him, don't tell him, trust him, don't trust him. He was confused. He was terrified. He was so closed off from other people, so used to throwing up a facade that he wasn't sure he could tear it down again. He wasn't sure he could let someone else in.

"I haven't got all night Eren. Either tell me or don't, it's your choice. Eren let out a shuddering breath and raked his fingers through his hair. This is where I could really use a coin flip and leave everything to chance. But maybe, just maybe, it would help. Maybe telling someone would alleviate some of the strange guilt, frustration, and confusion that had been building up within, burning to be released. He didn't know, not anymore. I'll... I'll tell him... His voice was soft and unsure, each word shaking with uncertainty and fear. It grew no stronger as he continued to speak, staying quiet and wavering in his unease.

"I don't remember much of my childhood. The doctors said that it was a side effect of trauma, although they're still unsure of what caused it. I can remember pieces of it though, the things that really impacted me. The first thing you have to know is that my mother, Carla Jäeger, was a photographer and my father, Grisha Jäeger, was a children's doctor. They met in 1984, five years before I was born. I know they told me at one point or another how they met, how they fell in love, I just can't remember it, not anymore. Mikasa might, but you'd have to ask her. They eventually married and settled down in Shiganshina.

"I was born an only child, although I think they considered having another child when I was still young, I'm not sure. You'd probably remember my father when he helped find a cure for that epidemic in 1995. I remember him giving all of us injections for it. He always gave me my shots at home. I guess since he was a doctor he was allowed to do that. It was 1997 when he took me to go meet Mikasa. She lived in another part of the Shiganshina District, up by the hills close to the edge. I think it was late summer when we went to go visit. I think that my father was going to give her an injection for the flu but I don't recall.

"When we got there… it was a bloodbath… Mikasa's parents had been brutally murdered. Her father was lying just inside the doorway on his back. Her mother was by the table, clutching a knitting needle, like she had meant for it to be a weapon against their attackers. We couldn't find Mikasa anywhere. My father told me to go outside and stay put while he called the police and made sure whether Mikasa's parents were alive or not. I found boot prints while I was outside – three sets. Believe it or not, I was a bigger idiot back then. I decided to go after them.

"I think it was night when I found them, three men in a wooden cabin out in the woods with Mikasa in the center of the room, shell-shocked and her hands bound together. I'm not sure how, but I managed to get inside and steal a knife from the kitchen. The entire place was dark and the entire house creaked around me… it was hard to stay quiet. I can remember bursting into the room and stabbing one of the men in the throat. I can remember his blood splashing over me and I remember how good it felt to have revenge for Mikasa, even though I barely knew her at the time. I stabbed the other man in the heart and began to free Mikasa.

"I completely forgot about the third man. He came in after I had cut Mikasa's hands free and he lifted me up against the wall. He was trying to strangle me. I remember screaming at Mikasa to fight and she picked up the knife I had dropped and buried it into the man's back. Only later did I find out everything – they had raped her, beaten her, and planned to later sell her on the black market as a child sex slave. I told the authorities that I had been kidnapped while I was waiting outside and Mikasa backed my story up. She came to join our family soon after.

"The next couple of years I barely remember. When I was eleven, things… things changed. My mother died, killed in a hit-and-run. They think it was a drunk driver, but they can't be sure. The only thing left at the scene other than my mom's totaled car and her body was a note left under the wipers, on the backside of a coupon for some flower shop. All it said was 'I'm sorry.'

"My father… he was strange after that. He would disappear for hours at a time with no explanation. He would return later, a strange look in his eyes. During that time, he… he began to change. He stopped being the calm, kind father and doctor everyone once knew and became angry and delusional. I think my mother's death really messed him up. Those last few days though… I barely remember them. Most of what I know comes in bits and pieces. The rest, others have told me.

"My father took me somewhere. I don't recall exactly where, but I think it might have been a forest. He told me he was giving me one last shot, tears in his eyes. I can remember trying to fight him off. He looked deranged. After that, everything became a haze of incoherent sights and sounds – nothing made sense. I came to about a week later in a hospital. Mikasa said that they had found me wandering in the forest after having been missing for four days. She told me that our house had burned down, our father inside of it. We couldn't even hold a burial, as all that was left was ash for the most part. There might have been a bone from his pinky finger.

"We went to live with Armin's grandfather after that for about four years before he had a heart attack. It was around that time that I discovered something fundamental had changed with me… I had… accidentally cut myself on a knife. When I went to rinse the blood from it, I saw the skin heal back, the wound close up. Within what might have been thirty to forty seconds, I went from having a large cut on my palm to nothing at all. Not even a scar was left."

Eren trailed off, finished with his story, silent tears dripping down his face. He pressed the heels of his hands against his face and rubbed furiously; trying to get rid of the tears and trying to get rid of the confused anguish that still lingered after so long. There was so much he didn't know, so much he wished he knew. It infuriated him that he couldn't see his own memories clear, seeing them through a haze of static instead for the most part. It infuriated him that he was crying, so visibly weak but unable to stop, unable to really care at the moment.

He glanced up at Levi, who was staring stone-faced beyond him, his face a blank mask that was utterly unreadable. He watched Levi for a long time, watching the man stare at the wall as he processed everything Eren had told him. It took a long time for Levi to finally focus on him. "So… you're technically a murderer?"

Eren hesitantly nodded, "Irvin… he always suspected that I hadn't been kidnapped, that I had sought them out. I told him the truth a while ago about that. He swore he wouldn't tell anyone, and as far as I know, he's kept that promise."

"And you heal extraordinarily fast. What, do you grow your limbs back like a damn lizard? Gross," Levi said with a roll of his slate gray eyes. Eren nodded in response. "Then those bandages from the other week from your tripping incident… Are those all healed up?" Eren nodded mutely, his eyes still fixed on Levi. He had no clue as to what Levi was thinking, what he was planning on doing. For all Eren knew, he could have been wondering how to kill someone as seemingly immortal as he was. "Do Mikasa and Armin know?" Eren nodded once again, the obvious answer to such a question.

"Great," he muttered, "I've got a kid who hunted three murders down and murdered them, is amnesiac, injected with God knows what, oh, and did I mention he has freaky healing abilities? How lovely. Well then, that'll make things a little easier to explain to your friends." Levi stood with a sigh and rolled his neck around, his face twisted into a thoughtful expression. "You'll have to stay here tonight, mainly because the chances of me driving you to your apartment at two A.M. are about as likely to happen as the chances of having Hanji suddenly give up her obsession with bodies and the dissection of such. Give me a minute and I'll get you another blanket or two."

Eren watched as Levi disappeared into what he could probably safely assume was Levi's apartment. The apartment was quiet except for his breaths and the sound of Levi rustling around in his room. Levi emerged after a few moments, his bare feet quiet against the polish floorboards. He had changed, having shed his gray shirt and black pants in favor of a loose white short sleeved shirt and gray sweats. Levi had two blankets and a pillow stack up in one hand, which he quietly handed to Eren. "If you get up during the night, wake me up. Insanely fast healer or not, you just had someone pull a bullet from your side, and if you tear your stitches, I'm not guaranteeing I'll help patch you up again. Turn the light out whenever you go to sleep."

Levi spun around and marched away from Eren. Eren watched him go, his eyes trained on the other man's back. More specifically, they were trained on the pale white shoulder that the loose shirt half-exposed. Eren let out a heavy sigh and crammed the pillow beneath his head, spreading the extra covers out the best that he could before stretching up and turning the switch of the lamp. He was plunged into darkness with a click and Eren let his head sink into the pillow that smelled strongly of lemons, lavender, and Levi.

The antechamber was dark, lit only by a few lanterns, something that was outdated but convenient when lights could not risk being turned on. Lights would only draw unwanted attention. A man sat in a chair, the high back stretching a foot or so above his head, edged with gold that glimmered in the flickering lamplight. "Have the bodies been burned?"

A girl kneeling ten or fifteen feet away nodded, her eyes fixed upon the ground. "Yes, my lord. All three bodies have been burned. The others are currently acquiring Marion's body. They will return shortly with it."

The man's lips pulled back in a snarl. "Get rid of that useless man. He could have killed the subject. He should be thankful he's dead already, otherwise… well, let's just say that his last days would have been spent in agony." A smirk crept up on the man's face, deranged and sadistic. "Are we ready for the next stage of the plan?"

"Yes, my lord. We are awaiting your command to begin."

The man nodded and leaned back in the chair, tapped the arm for several moments, stretching out the silence between the girl's words and his response. "We are nearly ready…" he murmured, gazing something beyond the girl."The plan will begin soon, very soon… And when it begins, none shall live without fear of us and our divine wrath!" His brow furrowed, a sadistic glint entering his eyes, his face made up of sharp angles and hard planes.

"Let the end game begin."

Chapter 8: End

And the plot is further thickened. Somewhat. I guess. Anyways: yes, no Levi past. Yet. I'm saving that for later. But at least you got Eren's, right? Mm, I'm procrastinating on writing any sex scenes (having neglected to write one... ever) but there might be one in the next chapter. Might. I'm not positive quite just yet. Sorry I did not upload earlier, I was attempting to slog through math I didn't understand! Anyways, to the charming reviewers:

LiveInTheMomentx: No worries, it was fine~ And I'd like to hear some of your theories sometime; I wonder what they're like...
calleyrose: A little bit of push, more subconscious really. I have a massive push or two planned though. One will come into play very soon... Hopefully. And cliff hangers are the best, no?
Aohmine: Your reaction... I'm sorry but that's just hilarious. And thanks so much. You're just too sweet for any words.
Pinkuto: Yeah, I think I smell a bit of fluff to, just a touch. And I shall!
layer14: Very easily, and yes, it's for the story. But don't worry, there's more reason to panic later on.
blackirishawk: He needs to be wrapped in bubble wrap methinks.
ichiruzuka: I actually have a sadistic tendency to kill main characters off... Heh, heh, heh...