Blessed be the Fruit, May the Lord burn this place down ┃a levi ackerman AU

Chapter 1: Blessed be the Fruit

Disclaimers: Considering what the Handmaid's Tale is talking about, expect to have some shocking scenes in this. If you are not sure, please look out for a summary of the show on the internet before reading. This story will contain sensible topics if you are not comfortable with the followings, please don't read this story ♡

"Blessed be the fruit."

"May the Lord open." she responded mechanically, she listened absently to Aunt Olga as she was explaining how exciting it was to be assigned to her first family. Well, 'family' was a weird word to use to describe the home where she was going to live in. Aunt Olga told her it was a high profile Commander, (that's maybe why she chose her, as Olga often said she is quite the 'docile' one) the weird thing is that he didn't have a wife, Gilead only assigned handmaids in families composed of a wife and an husband normally. But the short woman guessed being a high dignitary had its perks.

" Remember, the Commander is inviting you in his home to be his Handmaid, that's an immense privilege! You are going to give him an heir, what a blessed mission to be the vessel that will carry his future son!" said Aunt Olga as she beamed at the red van's ceiling. Crimson curtains prevented the handmaid from seeing where the vehicle was taking her, she wouldn't recognise the street anyway, it was far from the econo-district she lived in... She looked at her laps, the white bonnet on her head hiding her eyes rolling at Olga, she often thought that the older women strangely envied the handmaids, she didn't really know what was to be envied, but nonetheless the van finally stopped and an Eye dressed in black opened the back doors.

The handmaid was now standing at the front door of an old Victorian house, one step behind Aunt Olga. The residence was towering her in an almost menacing way with it's three stories and dark panelling. A Martha opened the dark wooden door and leaded the two of them to the living room. The decor matched the aesthetic of the outside, shades of dark green and brown, varnished wood and velvet fabrics, very old money., the handmaid didn't want to get in trouble so she stopped looking around and kept her head low as she was taught to do, she needed to make good impression, considering his rank in the Sons of Jacob, the Commander probably was attached to protocols.

"Ah! Commander Smith, Blessed be the fruit!" suddenly said Aunt Olga, "May the Lord open" a deep baritone voice said back. "May I present you 'Oferwin', your handmaid." said Olga while pushing the woman in the red dress softly towards the Commander. 'Oferwin', it was her new name now, signifying to the world that she now belonged to Commander Erwin Smith. She didn't dare to look up, only seeing the feet of the man, suddenly an hand went under her chin and lifted her head up. In front of her was a very tall blonde man with blue eyes, he looked quite intimidating and was wearing the black suit of the Sons of Jacob, Oferwin gulped, as the man analyzed her round chocolate eyes and studied her face; her full cheeks reddened against her will, becoming self counscious as the man took a step back and looked at her small and generous figure "She is quite small." said the Commander now looking back at Aunt Olga, Oferwin clenched her fists at the man's words, she was used to being treated like an object since arriving at the Red Center, but it always was difficult to ignore.

The handmaid stopped listening as the Commander and Aunt Olga were talking about her like she was the new couch they wanted to buy for the living room. Suddenly a smaller man with jet black hair entered the room, next to him was the Martha that opened the door earlier. The Commander placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her towards the newcomers, she tensed at the man's touch, "Oferwin, this is my driver 'Levi' and my Martha." The woman looked at the two people in front of her, although much shorter than the Commander, the man was still a bit taller than her, his arms were crossed in front of him, his grey eyes looked bored, he didn't want to be here. As for the Martha, like every woman in Gilead, she was looking at her feet, with this resigned look that the handmaid often saw among the other women at the Red center, her washed out greenish grey uniform made her look invisible, not letting any caracteristic feature stand out. "Under his Eye" quickly muttered Oferwin.

The first few days at the Commander's house went surprisingly fine, the training at the Red Center proved itself to be useful. Most of the time the blonde man was working outside or in his office, so Oferwin rarely had the occasion to talk to him. She spent her days in the kitchen with the Martha, the two of them went along very well, but they both tried to hide it. Gilead is not really found of female friendships, it's probably because they were afraid of what could be said between women, at least that's what an handmaid said back at the Red center. "Can you bring this to Levi?" asked the Martha, she was holding a tray with a cup of tea and an apple on it. The handmaid nodded and went to the garden, the Commander must have come back home, Levi was cleaning the black Range Rover when she stopped in front of him. The slim man took the tray and murmured a 'Thanks', not looking at her the whole time. The woman slightly frowned her eyebrows, since she arrived it seemed like Levi never dared to look at her in the eyes, she wondered if the Commander was one of those men who ordered his male staff to not look at the female staff. The two men seemed relatively close and Levi didn't behave the same way with the Martha, so it definitely wasn't an order from the Commander, maybe he just didn't like to talk with people. Her thoughts were stopped when a red van entered the gate. Aunt Olga came out from the van and headed towards them, a huge grin on her face, Oferwin shivered at the older woman's face, how can a smile be so terrifying?

"Oferwin! How are you? The Commander told me you behaved really well, I'm happy to hear that" said Aunt Olga with her hands wrapped around the handmaid's arms. She didn't let her answer and looked at Levi, "Oh, I didn't see you there, Blessed be the fruit!", Levi looked at her with no emotion on his face, nodded his head slightly and left. Aunt Olga's smile left her lips, the older woman seemed rather taken aback by the man's indifference, she shook her head and looked back at the short woman. "Today is a big day Oferwin, you will have your first Ceremony with the Commander!". The handmaid whole body tensed at the woman's words, she knew it would happen anytime soon, but it still came as a shock to her. Her brain had convinced itself that maybe the Commander would have forgotten for some reasons.

Oferwin was now in the Commander's office, standing behind Aunt Olga, who was sitting on a chair in front of the desk. Levi and the Martha were in front of the handmaid, standing behind the Commander. "Now, normally the Ceremony is between an husband, his wife and his handmaid, but considering the exceptional arrangement here, we have to make some adjustments..." said Aunt Olga, the Commander looked at her with this superiority gaze that men arboured when talking to a woman in Gilead. "Of course, the Ceremony is sacred, and we should try to do it in the most traditional way... Do you have any suggestions, Aunt Olga?" asked Commander Smith. The older woman smiled at the man's words, "I knew you were a fervent follower of the Bible sir, well I suggest your Martha ta-" Olga couldn't finish her idea as she was interrupted by the Commander, "No." simply said the man. Silence fell in the room, you could see that Aunt Olga didn't know if she was allowed to talk back after the sudden interruption. "A Martha's place is in the kitchen, I don't want her in my bed.". Oferwin flinched at the man's words, she tried to meet the Martha's eyes, but she was looking down at the floor. Suddenly the Commander's lips began to form a small smile, "My driver will be perfect for this!", the brown eyed woman immediately looked up at the Commander, forgetting the protocol, she could see Levi was even more shocked than her, and looked at the back of the Commander's head with an almost angry look? "B-but sir, this is a man..." whispered Aunt Olga, the older woman seemed at lost for words, "Levi is very loyal, don't worry Aunt Olga he will be perfect for this, it's not like this man have any feelings after all, he only lives to protect and serve me, he ought me his life..." said Commander Smith with a grin. Levi was now looking at the floor, but his body was tensed, his fists clenched at his sides. The Commander's words signed the end of the conversation, Aunt Olga knew her place and she didn't dare to say a word.