Chapter Text
The next few days passed slowly, as if running underwater.
To say things were hard was as much as an understatement as could be expected. Getting up in the morning, dragging your drained body out of bed, it was almost impossible.
You didn't know how to handle yourself, really. How to continue. How to live, when your entire family was now no more. Your extended family was a picture you had never been a part of- you didn't even know if they were alive. For all you knew, you were the only living L/n. The last one. You really were forever alone.
You filled your days with funeral plannings- concerning the mind that wouldn't quieten down, that wouldn't stop mourning, with questions such as what colour to put your dead mother into to bury her. Whether to make it an open or closed casket (closed, undoubtably. You couldn't stand one more moment staring at the ash-black face). Gone was the woman who spent her entire life caring for you. Now, you cared for the plans encompassing the processes for labelling her as dead.
You despised the processes. The planning. How was it that the most concerned people were for you, the most effort anyone went to to care for you, was made only at your death? How ironic. How ironic she brought you into this world, and now you were taking her from it. Because really, to be the one advising those people in suits, tiptoeing around you as if a shattered vase with shards pointed to cut, it was as if killing her a second time.
You'd seen her body plenty of times. It was... strange, viewing the corpse of a woman you loved so dearly, burned and charred. You couldn't stop staring at her eyes. Her chest. Slipping your hand to her neck to check her pulse when you were sure no one was watching. It was as if, if she hadn't yet gone into the ground, there was still a chance she was still alive. Somehow...somehow, she could open her eyes again.
You were met, as expected, with nothing. No movement, no pulse. But as you turned away, you always swore you saw her eyes open. At least...you thought you did. You would turn back to her, your heart pounding, but she would say nothing. Lie there still, unmoving. But maybe...maybe you were wrong. Maybe she was still there.
There was something wrong with you. You knew it. You knew, your mother was gone. You knew. But some part of you still couldn't believe it was real. You would wake up and forget for a moment she was gone, opening her contact to ask how she was- only to be met with your unanswered texts from the night the burning house took your mother from you.
Things never really went back to the way they were for you and Levi. You both danced around the topic as you did for Brenda's death.
Through it all, despite everything, Levi's instinct was to help you. He couldn't protect you from what had happened, and there was no way to change it... so he made sure you knew he was there.
It was strange to have someone care that much. To have someone so silent, saying barely more than a sentence to you some days, become the reason you hadn't fallen apart. You realised, impossibly, that he was the reason you kept getting out of bed. Seeing him awake already, hearing him working, it forced you to get up. To keep going. And really, that was what you needed. It was all you needed.
Even through the absences of his words, he said more than you could ever have wanted to hear. Especially now.
Most days, you woke up to find your work finished, the paperwork signed and neatly stacked on your desk. You'd see his bed made, and for a moment, when that wave of sorrow came crashing down on you, it was easier to distract yourself. Somehow.
But it was those days where you opened your eyes after restlessly shifting throughout the entire night, and couldn't avoid the hit of her loss, that were unbearable. You tried to avoid sleeping, too afraid of what it would bring. Too afraid of having to see her face. But you could never tell if staying awake was any better.
Everything you had; it was in that house. Everything familiar replica. Photos of your father...Dylan...your brother, and your mother. It was all in there. And now, it was gone. The photos you relied on to remember what the most precious members of your life looked like, they had slipped out of your life, just as they themselves did. All that was left was the ghost of their faces, blurring and shifting the more years passed. Sometimes you would attempt to picture your father, or your brother, and there was simply nothing. Just a blank abyss where they once filled your life. You didn't want that for your mother. You didn't want that.
But you knew you'd forget her eventually. You'd forget the gentle touch of her fingers, the soft smile that comforted you every time you stepped out of your room. Those nights sitting on the couch, or those times she'd slept in your room with you when the anxiety was so unbearable your mind wouldn't let you sleep. You'd forget everything.
It hurt. It hurt so badly.
You couldn't explain what this felt like. How could anyone really explain it?
That funny feeling, when you realised you were alone. You could see them everywhere, and yet nowhere at all. Their pictures are old memories, and you can't help but imagine all they've missed. You think of the time you spent with them, and all you feel is regret. Those moments with them suddenly become meaningless. All the time you could have spent with them, and yet you didn't. Now you would do anything just to see them. Just to see your mothers face. To thank her for what she did for you. Because you loved her, with everything you had in you.
And you missed her. Gosh, you missed her. So, so much.
But no matter how deep that hole in your chest went, that ache in your heart, it would never leave. Time couldn't be reversed. She was gone, and that was final.
~
Levi left early. You didn't know where he'd gone, just that for once, you'd been able to sleep. That was different. Levi must have let you sleep in; maybe he had noticed you crying last night.
You found yourself scoffing. It was Levi. Of course he'd noticed.
You waited for the weight of it all to hit you as it always did, so painful it almost knocked you off your feet. But you tried to find something to be happy about...at least for a small moment.
You stepped out of the room and walked to the kitchen. The cold tiles stung your feet in the beginning, though you became accustomed to it quickly. The apartment was empty, holding the souls of all who'd lived there, the memories of their experiences scattered throughout the rooms. It was a peculiar thought, that someone could have undergone a life, made memories, loved or grieved, right here in this place, the place you now stood. Lifetimes apart, but still somehow the same. Connected just by this building.
The sun was shining as a sliver of light, creeping into the room like a fog, hidden behind the curtains. You pulled them back, blinking a few times as your eyes registered the light. Your world was in pieces and still, the sun continued to rise. The world kept spinning.
You bathed in the sunlight for a moment, allowing its warmth to seep into your skin. You left the window open, moving to the coffee machine by the sink. It was quiet there, alone, like in your apartment back home. But you found that now, you liked the quiet. You liked the peace it brought.
You made your coffee and leaned back against the bench. Took a sip. For the first time in a while, you were feeling alive again. You almost felt like an actual person. You let your eyes drift across the walls to the table, and noticed the paperwork piled beside Levi's closed computer. Warrants, supports of fact and evidence. Witness statements... 'murder boards' on a miniature scale. You thought back to the times over these past few days Levi had done your work for you, as if attempting to ease the burden of the pain somehow. Sure, you'd never let your grief interrupt your work, and you'd managed to tune the sorrow out if you'd ever had to leave the apartment, but back here, you found it harder to be yourself. You lied to him every day, putting up a facade to disguise the extent of your feelings.
But you remembered, he wasn't here now. Which was why you walked to the table and picked the stack of papers off the wooden rectangle, like wind blowing autumn leaves off the trees. You left the room, taking your coffee and the papers with you. To the study.
~
You weren't sure what time it was when Levi got back, but it was late. You were still in the study, the remnants of beverages displayed on the desk; countless cups scattered, empty, across the wood. You'd been working for as long as you could think back into that day. You weren't sure how many times you'd even left the room. But the good news was, there were only a few pages left in that colossal stack of papers.
You heard his steps up to the front door. For all his silence, you still found yourself able to hear him. You heard the distant closing; opened your ears to the sounds of his presence, despite his nonexistent words. Nothing to tie him to the man that was Levi Ackerman- hell, it could be a complete stranger for all you knew- but also somehow everything. You knew each other.
You continued on the work, eyes drifting across photos, papers, reports... invisible links emerging in your mind like the spreading of a wildfire, only to dim the second a new piece of evidence snuffed it out. You shifted through papers, rearranging photos to try and depict the picture. Maybe something was there. Maybe you could see something amongst this.... nothing.
You took a deep breath. The sound echoed through the empty room, and you felt your shoulders lower. You rested your elbow on the desk, placing your head against your knuckle. There could be something in these leads, or maybe nothing. But was that something? Did that sentence mean anything? Did his face look slightly off? Why did he use past tense rather than present tense? Why-
Someone was watching you.
You tilted your head up, finding refuge in the eyes that currently watched you by the door. You hadn't even heard him come in.
"Hey," you said, the words slipping past your lips and breaking the silence.
He didn't speak for a small moment. You saw his gaze shift from your face to the papers in front of you.
"You're still here," Levi stated. He walked into the room, finding that point beside you and standing there. "Anything?"
You sighed, pushing off the desk to lean back on your chair. It let out a soft creak as you did so, and you tilted your head back with a sigh. "Absolutely....nothing."
Levi scoffed. He altered his line of sight, and it met once again the stack of papers sitting beside you. Signed, written and answered. His papers.
You saw the way his eyebrows furrowed, a frown creasing his features.
"...I was bored," came your answer.
All it earned was a sharp glance. "Right," he replied, his voice nonchalant. And yet, there was a hint of gratefulness there too.
He looked down at the papers. Picked one up, skimming through the words with a critical eye. You grabbed your pen, returning to the white canvass in front of you. However, it was snatched from your hand as quickly as it was taken. It was your turn to frown, and you followed the thief as they lifted the pen into the air and held it. Levi crossed his arms over his chest.
"You need to stop." Were his only words.
Something in your body stilled, as if subconsciously released at the recognition of your lengthy work. You tended not to realise the extent of your exhaustion- that was, until it hit you. You leaned back in your chair, your hands falling into your lap- as if shielding yourself from the scrutiny of his gaze. "Huh?" you spoke softly, your voice practically breathless.
And his eyes remained on you, his face blank. His head was tilted down, the intensity of his jawline sparking a curiosity as to why he even carried a knife at all. The pen was still clasped in his right fist, crossed under his arm. His shirt bunched at the bent joints. "You heard me."
While you felt the reason, the logic which you so desperately ignored, your eyes lifted to the ceiling, flicking in a circle. The pointed line of sight focusing on the paper in front of you. "Okay," you began, though the hint of hesitancy told that you would rather do anything but. "but, I might be onto something here."
You lifted your hand, gently grasping what looked to be a map. "Look, the-"
"Y/n."
You ignored him. "Levi, he's in Melbourne here. And yet, two days later he's nowhere to be found, and an extremely similar lookalike shows up in-"
"Quiet."
Oh.
His voice was firm. Serious. He wasn't kidding.
You stopped talking, and slowly looked up. The narrowed slits of his pupils were glancing glaring down at you as if you were a bug in his teacup. You focused your attention on his eyes, and for a moment it was as if the two of you were arguing. Silently protesting, challenging the other to continue. Despite how much you hated to be wrong- and quite frankly, how little you were- you knew he was right. You hadn't eaten. You hadn't been outside. You'd barely stopped to grant yourself a break. Moreover, this occurrence was not irregular; this was daily.
You broke his gaze to check the time.
"12:47." Came Levi's deep voice, before you could even check. As if anticipating your movements, analysing as his eyes surveyed yours. You hated that he could do that, and so easily.
The man leaned against the desk, sitting on its edge beside you. His expression was unwavering, his tone a mixture of irritation and concern. "Are you trying to work yourself to death, brat?"
You were drawn back to his gaze, looking up; unsure of how to answer. He stood above you, his arms still crossed over his chest. You knew, you couldn't win this one.
"Fine," you mumbled grudgingly, and turned your head away. "Fine. You win."
Levi's face morphed slightly at that, that fierce determination and the look that gave him his reputation leaving his face. He uncrossed his arms and dropped the pen back onto the desk. It hit it with a small thud, as if a judge's hammer sentencing the last of this silent debate.
You leaned back in your chair, and your head hit the headrest with a muted thump. You blew a puff of air from your mouth, closing your eyes as you felt the tension leaving your shoulders...arms...neck...
Levi pushed off the desk and made his way over to the window. Those long fingers brushed the curtain aside, gazing out into the darkness. The moon was hidden behind the clouds, afraid to light up this world that was so full of pain. Yet, it kept coming, didn't it?
You opened your eyes and stared at the roof for a moment. "Where did you go all day?" you asked, eyeing a crack in the roof.
Levi turned, fixing his gaze on your face. "Out," he replied, his voice lacking any sort of depth or emotion.
You let out a weak chuckle. "You're real descriptive, you know that?"
Levi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "It didn't lead anywhere. There's no point reporting it."
Nodding, you pushed off the table, spinning in the chair once. You raised your arms above your head, stretching, and a strained sigh slipped past your lips as you did so. The chair spun once more, only to suddenly be stopped, movement immediately ceasing as if an animal hiding from prey. You looked to your side, and there he was. Holding onto the top of the chair with one hand, the veins in his hand visible as it tensed. You laughed weakly, once.
"You haven't changed, huh?" you said.
Levi raised an eyebrow, his head cocked to the side in a silent but unanswerable question. "And why should I?" His smooth, monotone voice sent ripples through your body. "Someone needs to keep you in check."
You rolled your eyes...or at least, you thought you did. It was possible you only did it mentally. You stood, stretching your arms over your head. You heard small cracks along your back as you straightened up, sighing softly.
"If I'm having a break," you began, turning to face Levi as your arms dropped to your side, "then...you'd better too."
Levi's eyes focused on you. He had stepped back, silently. Like the silent weapon he was so well known to be. "Hm?" he questioned, as if a quiet hum.
"Take a break too," you said, looking at him.
Still, hidden in your eyes, he saw the weariness you were trying to conceal. He saw the mourning, that steady sadness you had been hiding since the day your mother died. Pretending for him, pretending for the world...pretending for yourself. He knew it was pointless to argue. Knew you were too tired to argue, to drained from the grief, despite how much you tried to pretend you weren't.
"Alright," Levi crossed his arms over his chest. "So, what do you suggest we do?"
You thought for a moment. A memory flashed into your mind, something you hadn't remembered for what seemed like years. Your eyes lit up with the idea, and you moved to the desk again. Levi raised an eyebrow as you picked up the map amongst the scattered papers, holding it up to the light. "What street are we on?" you asked, eyes drifting over the various routes and landmarks as if a puzzle.
Levi scoffed. Typical that you didn't know. "Warren," was his reply.
You lifted a finger and followed it along your street. Levi saw the smile slowly cover your face, and this time it reached your eyes. Genuine.
He paused for a moment. He'd gotten so used to the smile you gave him to fake your pain, it was a breath of fresh air to see your actual one. He missed it.
You lifted your head. For the first time in a while, something new and adventurous rested in your eyes. "I know a place."
~
The world was sleeping, but the sky was alive.
Stars danced across the dark blue abyss above the two of you, the wind brushing by as if the warmth of a mother's lullaby. In that silence, broken only by the occasional pattering of footsteps onto the pavement, the two of you found more peace than you could afford in the busyness of the day.
Levi's hands were in his pockets. You had your arms crossed over your chest, warming your fingertips with the heat. You walked close, side by side, as if neither of you could comprehend the possibility of being too far apart. Despite the potential threats that lay all around you, the two of you kept your gaze ahead, rather than to the darkness behind.
You tilted your head up, eyes on the stars once again. Peace was written on your face like an author's masterpiece.
"The sky is perfect," you spoke, your voice merging with the quiet ambience of the outside world as if it belonged there. You had always felt at home in nature, after all.
Levi kept his body turned to face ahead, though his gaze shifted to your face. His eyes drifted over your features, illuminated by the moonlight. He saw you as if viewing you for the first time. Noticed that mark he hadn't noticed before; saw the scar that left him wondering how much he didn't know about you. Maybe he wanted to learn more.
His eyes were on the world ahead before you had even felt the intensity of his gaze. "Is it?" he replied, his voice lacking variance.
You nodded.
"Perfect for what?"
You looked over at him. "For where we're going."
Levi raised an eyebrow curiously. "Right. And I should trust you because...?"
You nudged him with your elbow, chuckling slightly. You dropped your hands to your side. Your hand brushed Levi's, concealed in the fabric of his pocket, and he couldn't ignore what that small touch did to him.
The two of you continued to walk, comforted by each other's silence. Your hands occasionally bumped against each other, though neither one of you could seem to care enough to move them away. For that moment, you were back in the police force in your home, and not thousands of miles away, separated from now all the people you knew. On the last night of work before the Christmas break, standing at the back with Levi while the rest continued their drunk antics ahead. Just...silent. Walking together. You didn't need to say anything with him. Didn't need to pretend. And for once, that was okay.
It wasn't long before you reached the place. You paused at a wall, reaching up into the night sky. Blocking your path. Levi cast you a glance, but you seemed to know what to do. You scaled the wall, your hand drifting over the cracks and crevasses as if a part of the brick itself. And then you stopped. Pushed your hand on the vines that covered the wall- except, your hand passed through them. You lifted them aside, revealing a staircase.
Huh.
Levi's eyes drifted to meet yours. And you were smiling.
Only slightly, like the action took too much strength. But it was there. And it was real. The fist genuine smile he had seen on your face in days.
"Come on," you said, and disappeared into the vines, removing all traces of yourself from the world outside; morphed into that darkness in the way he was so used to.
Levi paused outside the entrance. He did it in an attempt to convince himself he wouldn't have easily followed you into that darkness, that he wouldn't give his trust so freely to someone like you. But really? He'd have followed you anywhere.
Levi pushed them aside, shaking his hands with a scowl at the touch of the damp greenery. He saw you disappear at the top of the stairs- saw your hair follow your body behind the cool brick, some slotted into the wall while others cracked and crumbled alongside it. He found his eyes drifting over those bricks. He wondered.... wondered at how something- or someone- could remain standing, could remain alive and well, while the other broke and crumbled into the dust beside them. Returning to the ground from whence it came.
Those bricks were built from nothing but clay and concrete, collecting weight and substance as their creator molded them in the way they saw fit. And there they remained, years passing alongside each breath, like the leaves on the pavement driven away by the winter breeze. Until finally, they began to fade. The strength left, and the foundation of so many things, the reinforcer, began its slow descent back to the materials it was born out of.
Just like humans. For we were born from the dust, and dust we are. And to the dust we shall return.
Levi's train of thought crashed in the dark descent of his mind. He heard your voice ahead, calling him. He saw the bright moonlight above him, lighting his path and guiding his steps. And he followed your voice up the staircase.
There was a ledge at the top of the stairs, a lookout. Uninhabited, unoccupied- it looked as if it hadn't been used in years.
Levi's footsteps faltered.
You turned; your feet impossibly silent against the cold material beneath your feet. Your lips curled into a smile.
It was so beautiful.
The moon shone its light onto the city, the blue glow emerging from behind the clouds, challenging them to break its light. The city lights scattered across those dark buildings filled with so many lives, or so few. Up there, from that lookout, you felt you were in the sky. Looking below at the inhabitants, seeing the lives of hundreds of people through something as simple as a distant yellow glow from their windows.
Levi shifted, his eyes following the horizon. The view of the city was the peace of falling autumn leaves. It was the wind dancing through vivid flowers, hitting the two of you with strength, however, not enough to chill. It was- quite simply- magnificent.
You walked to the edge, your clothes shuffling as you sat down. You pulled one knee to your chest, holding it there, and looked out. "Told you it would be worth it," your voice broke the silence, and Levi tore his eyes away from the city to your seated figure.
His steps echoed on the ground as he walked closer. He stopped beside you, turning again to look out at the city. "Sure," Levi replied, but you heard the softness he made no attempt to hide. "Whatever you say."
You looked up at him, the small smile still across your face. Levi met your gaze and, rolling his eyes, he sat down beside you. And for once, something in the raging storm inside him stilled, quieting the worries tangled in his mind. Something similar to peace washed over him, sitting there beside you, watching the lights dance across the black and grey canvas below.
"How did you find this place?" you heard him say, his voice quiet.
You shifted slightly. "My mother," you spoke after a moment, your voice dulcet. Caught in the corner of your eye, you saw his head tilt in your direction. "She found it. Showed it to me when I was younger. We had been coming here ever since."
The silence stretched on between you. Levi debated his reply, eventually settling on a low, "...pretty good find."
The ghost of a smile twitched at your lips. You chuckled. "Why do you sound so surprised?"
Levi pulled one of his knees to his chest, holding it there. He looked out at the city, those eyes that seemed permanently narrowed, somehow fainter. Even just for a moment. "What?" he replied, his voice accusatory. "I didn't expect it. Is that such a horrible thing?"
You shrugged. "Sorry." Facing the view once again, you took a hushed sigh. "I was simply curious."
Silence encompassed the both of you like a blanket- the familiar refuge of what the two of you had always shared: a silent comfort amongst the world that struggled to hold the voices of so many.
"Something's obviously very wrong," Levi spoke eventually, breaking the silence. "You didn't even accompany that with an eye roll...or a scoff."
Your laughter echoed across the rooftop. You nudged him with your foot, dangling them both over the edge. Neither one of you seemed bothered by the dark expanse beneath you, nor the pain you'd most certainly feel would either of you fall. "Careful," you replied. "I could push you off."
All it took was a turn of his head. For his cold eyes to meet yours, finding shelter in your gaze. Piercing. Intimidating.
"Could you?" he replied, his voice somehow an octave lower (and deeper).
The gaze was broken as you turned your head. "I would," you mumbled, earning an amused scoff beside you.
The wind picked up. You spotted the trees along the line which merged into the horizon, and those solitary ones that stood tall amongst the brick of this concrete city. The desperate attempt to preserve the nature despite at the same moment digging up what remained. Those trees were a stark contradiction- clearly purposefully planted, out of place. Yet they earnestly tried to merge into the background. It was almost...like you.
You didn't hear Levi speak again, not for a while. Nor did you. But he stayed beside you. The silence stretched on but with it came no ounce of unease- rather, the warmth he omitted which drew you closer. An inch every cutting blow of the night air. Until space between your arms was void.
He didn't tense. Didn't move. Not even when you felt your eyelids begin to grow heavy, the weeks of sleep dept racked up in your mental expanse knocking on your door. Not when your head tilted to the side as if testing shark infested waters with a stick. But when your head met his shoulder, he didn't resist. In fact, he welcomed it.
It stayed that way, and for a while that was all it had to be. Just you, Y/n L/n, and Levi Ackerman. Closer than ever before- and not merely physically. Your head on his shoulder, the one he was acutely aware of throughout the entire ordeal as he enforced the removal of any tenseness in his muscles. Anything to make you more comfortable.
He wasn't quite sure why he welcomed it. Call it sympathy, pity- the rare moment where he longed for the closeness of physical touch. But when it came to you... it was different. It was always different. And that? That was terrifying.
By the time he could reason with himself, when he could wonder anything besides the gentleness of your head on him, he heard the familiar pattern of breathing which alerted him that you had fallen asleep. He couldn't wake you then- who would? Wake a grieving daughter up when it was the first night you were able to sleep without tossing and turning countlessly beforehand? Levi was a cold man, but not that cold. Besides, he liked the feel of having you beside him.
He tried not to look down at you, because he didn't know if he would be able to handle seeing your sleeping face. You sounded so peaceful- and throughout the day, all the both of you did was lie. He wasn't sure if he could handle seeing that level of vulnerability on your body. So he didn't. He let you rest, while the city lights shone like a marvelous mystery below.
Maybe one day he'd be able to view you properly. Without the thought that, at his touch, he'd lose the closest he'd ever had to a friend.
~
Someone was speaking. And, more concerningly, someone was touching you.
You woke with a jolt, blinking quickly as you tried to adjust to what you expected to be the light. Your hand was reaching for the knife strapped to your calve before you even registered it- but a hand paused that action. You knew that touch, however.
Your gaze shifted upwards- straight into Levi's grey irises. He turned his head as you met his eyes, and switched his hand from grabbing yours to holding your arm. Tugging you up, but he was silent. The voices weren't coming from his mouth.
You sat up quickly, running a hand through your hair. How long were you out? What time was it? Your eyes switched to the sky- still dark. Stars were blocked by the grey clouds.
You opened your mouth as Levi shifted to the edge, crouched on his knees. "What-"
"Shh," he murmured, but his voice was sharp. He kept his eyes down at whatever it was that had caught his attention, and pointed once.
You kept low to the ground, moving over to him. As you did, you felt something shift on you.
You gazed down, and realised only at that moment that some form of fabric rested over your shoulders. Then, your heart jumped.
It was Levi's jacket.
You didn't even have time to consider what that action meant- especially due to his obsessional actions when it came to hygiene. You pulled it tighter over yourself as you looked at him, seeing the long-sleeved shirt tight around his arms, the only thing now covering him. You shifted closer, swallowing once as you forced your mind to stay on task.
Two people stood below you, in the alleyway you hadn't even noticed was there. You looked once at Levi, but his gaze was solely below. His expression was tense, a muscle in his jaw clenched tight.
You joined his line of sight- realising what had made him so taunt. There stood Annie. Beside her, a man much taller leaned against the wall, hastily clipped brown hair hidden under a woolen beanie. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest, an eyebrow raised. From the amused look on his face and the weariness Annie held as a result of that demeanor, he almost looked the way Cardan used to.
You couldn't see their mouths moving in the darkness, but you could hear the words forming in the silence of the night. The wind carried it higher, the emptiness of the alleyway providing the perfect opportunity for their voices to reach your ears. You heard "Leneck" once, thrown by Annie as if a curse. It shut the man up instantly.
This time, Levi did meet your gaze. Matt Leneck. You'd found him.
"...staying longer, correct?" came Annie's clear voice, bound by her indifference.
Matt replied with a mocking huff, and you could practically see the simper that would have decorated his face. "What, you want to know me better?"
You were surprised Annie hadn't hit him yet. Perhaps the sound of such impact would have alerted the street.
"You want to end up like the others?" she replied, her voice so quiet you had to strain to hear it.
The others. Reiner and Bertholdt, you assumed.
Annie pushed off the wall, taking one step closer. Her arms crossed over her chest. "Then stop screwing around."
Matt replied, but this time you heard nothing. You attempted moving closer, but you couldn't afford to allow them to see you. Not here. If they ran now, you'd never find them again.
By the time you could hear Matt's voice, Annie was walking away. "Two more weeks," he called after her, cupping his hands over his mouth. Luckily for you. "I'm staying two more weeks."
You did manage to see the shake of Annie's head as she disappeared around a corner. The chuckle as Matt turned the opposite way, slipping his hands into his pockets.
At their exits, you took a breath, standing. Levi pulled himself up, his sharp eyes moving to you as he lifted his chin. You bit the inside of your cheek, your hair reminding you of its presence as the draft pushed it aside.
"Two weeks," you mirrored Matt's words.
You looked up, to where Levi was already gazing at you. With the smallest, barely noticeable shake of his head, he turned. Faced the city one last time, as if the view itself brought the same painful reminder that for the two of you, peace was never a possibility.
The next time you saw yourself in the reflection of his eyes, his gaze was set.
"Two weeks to find him."