The Fragments of Us | Levihan |

|{|}| EIGHT |{|}|

Levi sees Hanji duck.

Hears the gun go off.

His heart lodges in his throat, surroundings bleeding into one another as if watching everything unfold in slow motion...

The bullet whizzes over her head.

Before Levi or Jean can process it, Hanji draws back her fist and slams it into Jean's face, sending him bending over backwards into the air and skidding across the kitchen floor. The rifle flies out of his grasp. At the same time, Marco lets out a ferocious snarl-bark and launches himself at a stupefied Emmanuel—who sits petrified near the open cupboard.

Levi springs into action immediately. He leaps forward and tackles the huge Rottweiler to the ground, using the momentum to wrestle him into a tight chokehold. The creature writhes and thrashes furiously. His jaws clamp down on Levi's forearm, wickedly curved fangs sinking into his skin in a bone-crushing hold. Levi grimaces but manages to keep a firm grip on the watchdog.

"Hey, String Bean! Get off your ass and get moving!" he shouts at Emmanuel, who had been watching the ordeal in blank silence.

"Huh? Oh... right! Right!" The doctor shakes his head, blinking bewilderedly before he's finally able to snap himself out of stupor and rise to his feet.

With his left arm immobilised, Levi seizes the dagger in his mangled hand and smashes its handle into the dog's throat. Marco wheezes out a yowl. His grip on Levi's arm loosens. He wrenches himself free and throws himself on top of the Rottweiler, neutralising him.

"Hanji! The curtain!"

Hanji unhooks a tieback hanging next to the kitchen window and tosses it to him. Levi loops the gilded rope around Marco's collar and ties the other end of the cord to the brass handle of the closet.

"Just a bruised jaw; he should come to in about an hour."

Emmanuel kneels over an unconscious Jean as Hanji binds the Colonel to a table leg with the other tieback. The pair glance up as Levi staggers into the dining room, Marco straining against his makeshift leash.

"Levi... you're bleeding..." Hanji gasps, eyes widened in consternation.

He looks down, perplexed to find rivers of blood streaming out from the huge teeth marks on his forearm. The numbing sensation gives way to a sudden jolt of pain, and his eyes swarm with stars.

Levi drops his weapon and clutches the wound, teeth gritting. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Hanji shoots to her feet, holding his other arm for support. "Emmanuel, take a look at him."

Emmanuel shakes his head and dissents, "We should be getting out of here."

"He's hurt. We can't leave him like this."

"No, Hanji. He's right," winces Levi. "Jean saw you... it isn't safe here."

"We're not going anywhere. And you—" she glowers at Emmanuel "—you're a doctor. Do your damn job and fix him up!"

"He needs urgent medical care, and I don't have my supplies. There's not much we can do for him."

Hanji's glare withers away. "... You've worked with less..." she murmurs, eyes tender and pleading.

The pair hold each other's gazes across the room in silence, an unspoken understanding passing between them. Levi's eyes dart from Hanji to Emmanuel. He wonders what it is that had transpired between them that needs no words spoken aloud. Despite the overwhelming pain in his arm, he feels a twinge of jealousy niggle at his heart.

Emmanuel's eyes are downcast, face weathered with indecision. At last he sighs, lifting his chin in renewed resolution. "... We need to clean the wound and dress it. Get the tap running."