AOT: Insight

Alive

Eren tried to sleep, knowing he would be up all night. He tossed, turning around in the bed until poor Armin half laid on top of him to hold him still. Eventually, he did manage to get some sleep. Armin woke him a few hours later. They had a quick meal before rushing down to the station.

Using their passes, they found the train they needed, or Armin found it for them. Eren sat leaning back on the nearly empty train. It was several stops away before Armin nudged him. He had dozed a bit. They got off making their way up to the street. Half a block later they caught the last bus that dropped them right outside the construction sight.

"Well, that was convenient." Eren smirked. Armin rolled his eyes in the dark.

Together they walked to the main gate. Armin told the security guy there who they were. A man named Hannes was paged. He was tall, blond but looked like he had the brains of an ant. Armin straightened up under his gaze.

"You the two Pixis sent over?" he asked rolling a toothpick around his mouth.

"Yes sir." Armin nodded.

"Sir, I think I like this kid." Hannes chuckled.

He took them to the main trailer to fill out their paperwork. Once done, he assigned them a radio, baton, a flashlight and keys to be able to check all the areas of the site. Armin was sent to train with another overnight guard, while Eren was taken by Hannes. They walked around checking materials, any place a person could hide, or just talking.

Hannes loved to talk. Not all of it was about work. He did manage to slip in the information Eren needed to know about the job, but the other stuff... Like how he was crushing on this woman who had a young kid. Apparently the father was hardly ever around. Or that Hannes liked to gamble down by the docks. The worst was when Hannes told him, in explicit detail, about the last homeless kid he knew. He taught the boy how to give fellatio. Eren shivered at that.

They reached a cross section. If you turned one way you went down this sort of alley that led to a cliff. The view was amazing over looking the city lights. The other side led to the road. There was a wall between the road and the site, but they had to put up a sign stating what the site was. They heard something rattling then a squeak. More sounds of rattling, something fell. Hannes looked to Eren.

He pointed for the teen to go toward the sign, he turned down the other way. Eren walked, alone, down his row. He was shinning his light around when the battery died. He hit it against his palm. He felt a flicker of something. Turning he looked toward the sign. It was illuminated by lights under it. His vision shifted, just as his radio crackled.

He was looking in a mirror. Those grey eyes were glued to the striking face. The dark hair had an undercut with the top falling down over it. Those eyes! Eren knew them. They haunted his dreams for ten years. He had seen the life shimmering as it began to fade from them. How? How could he be seeing this?

The face was definitely older than it had been the last time he saw it. Eren tried to memorize everything he could about it. Levi? Was he still alive, then? His face was perfect, even if it was scowled in anger right now. Why was he upset? Eren could almost feel how angry the other was.

He blinked. Just like that, the vision ended. He heard Hannes talking to him over the radio. Eren couldn't move. His body felt as if it had been poured into concrete. Levi. All this time, all these years, was he still alive? How had he gotten out of the dirt? Was Eren's father doing things to him?

Panic filled him at that thought. He was terrified that it could be a possibility! He needed to find Levi! He needed to make sure the other wasn't with Eren's family! Eren clutched at his chest. His heart was beating way too fast. He couldn't catch his breath. Tossing his head back he screamed out at the night. He screamed the name that wasn't leaving his head.