ONE ʙʏ ONE

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Levi was shoved into the office by Erwin. The raven shot a glare at the brute before looking over at the manic girl smiling at them. 

"Levi," Hange sang, "I know Eren means...a lot to you; however, we can't go around killing people willy nilly."

The perky ponytailed girl stood and took out her phone. Hange pulled up an article reading about the Ral family. Petra's body was too badly burned to get any leads to a case, and her parents had died the same night in an 'accidental' car crash–on a road nowhere near their regular route. Levi read over the news report as Hange returned to her desk. 

She had been able to break into the police database and followed it for the past few days. Everything was fine until she read a document that startled her.

"Levi, they're going to investigate you sometime soon," Hange warned. "Petra's bite mark is on your hand, and if they match it to her dental work, you might as well kiss your life with Eren goodbye."

"Hange had to kill two other innocent people to buy you time," Erwin explained. 

Levi tossed the device back to Hange and scoffed, "Then do what you always do. Fix it."

Erwin started to chastise him, but Hange raised a hand to stop him. Though she would've preferred for Levi to not kill anyone, Hange knew there was no chance in reasoning with him. She hated it, but she had no choice but to blackmail him.

"Levi, if you kill another student at this high school, I'll make sure Eren will be the first to know." Hange threatened. 

Levi was taken back, never have been blackmailed by his friends. Even though they never got along, they were a trio and had been for as long as he could remember. But a little threat couldn't stop him. 

"You know," Levi began, "you two are my ride or die. If you don't ride with me, you'll die with me. All three of us have committed a crime punishable by the death sentence."

Hange chuckled lowly, "You're right, but what's worse? Losing your life or losing Eren."

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Eren was hiding in the corner he and Levi usually stayed in, silently on his phone. Luckily, he wasn't there alone. He had bumped into Armin and had the teen tag along. The two of them were in their own world until someone came and knocked on a shelf. 

"Mind if I come in?" Marco beamed. 

Armin and Eren glanced at each other worriedly before gesturing for him to come into their hidey-hole. The freckled kid sat on a bean bag and started small talk for a while. Once things seemed comfortable Marco finally pointed out the elephant in the room.

"So, about Jean," Marco shyly mentioned, "he's awake and walking, believe it or not. And he wanted me to tell you something."

Eren shrugged, "Okay, what's up?"

"He wants me to say that he's really sorry, for everything. And he knows the way he treated you was terrible, but he was hoping to start over and be friends." 

As Marco finished, Armin gave Eren a wide-eyed look that said 'this is so wrong'. Levi and Eren were the ones to put him in that state; however, here Marco was–saying that Jean wanted to be friends. 

Marco continued, nervously biting the inside of his cheek, "Um, don't feel like you have to, but if you want to see him for yourself, he'd really like to see you today. I'm visiting him after school, so if you'd like to join me, feel free."

Armin shook his head at Eren lightly, but the brunette ignored him and agreed, "Sounds like a plan! See you after school, Marco."

Marco and Eren stood to shake hands before the teen left for his own group. Armin silently glared at Eren for a few minutes before the bright-eyed boy sighed. 

"I know it's wrong," Eren clarified, taking out his phone, "but come on! This is too good to miss–having my bully apologize to me after me being the one to break him."

Armin corrected hesitantly, "You mean after Levi."

Eren waved his friend away as he texted Levi the change in plans. Strangely, he didn't get his usual immediate response.

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Hange locked the cuffs tightly around Levi's struggling wrist. Erwin, though had taken a kick to the gut, was able to pin Levi down to the floor long enough for Hange to trap him. The raven yanked at the chains, but they weren't budging. He sat helplessly cuffed to a water pipe in the boiler room.

"What the hell is this?" Levi growled, trying to lunge at Erwin. 

The brute pushed him back and scoffed, "Rehab."

Hange ordered Erwin to wait outside. After he left, the girl crouched down to Levi's level. She calmly dictated, "Levi, you're gonna stay in this closet for a few hours or until you calm down."

"No."

"Yes." Hange shot back. "You're not going to see Eren, and you're not going to talk to him."

She reached into Levi's pocket and pulled out his phone. The screen lit up, revealing Eren's message. 

Hange disclosed, "He's going with Marco to see Jean after school, so you won't have to worry about giving him a ride." She stood and moved towards the door. 

"I'm sorry, but you're becoming too dangerous." 

Hange slammed the door shut and locked it, leaving a mortified Levi cuffed to a pipe. He struggled for what seemed like forever before noticing the bruising he was causing on his wrist. Levi took deep breaths and assured himself that Hange would let him out sooner or later. In the meantime, he sat and thought about all the ways he was going to torcher the horse face.

"Eren, Eren," Levi breathlessly ranted. "You better be good, or I swear-"

He suddenly let out a maniacal laugh as his head flooded with everything that could take his Eren away. With a sudden rush of adrenaline, Levi heaved at the cuffs, hearing a faint click in the lock.

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HmMmMmMm

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