Hellsfire

Chapter Thirteen

It's a normal afternoon. It should be a normal afternoon because it feels like a normal afternoon because the sun is shining in the window and it's warm and the TV is on and Levi and Shep are just hanging around Levi's apartment. Everything is the same, except Levi is sick with anxiety and every time he thinks about the Thing he feels like he's going to be sick.

Levi tries to tear his gaze away from Shep. It's not like Shep is doing anything special. He's just mesmerising in whatever he does. But also this is making Levi's anxiety very difficult to avoid. Because looking at Shep = thinking about the Thing and not looking at Shep = impossible.

Levi...doesn't want to leave Shep. He's been thinking this a lot, but every time he does it, the feeling seeps into him more.

He doesn't have to stay. He can go back now. He remembers the Problem, and he remembers her name and she has to let him back in now that he is about to lose the only friend he's ever had in a very painful way.

But he doesn't want to leave. He's been getting closer to Shep every day and it's been so long and in the grand scheme of things it probably won't matter too much because Levi is old anyway but this is a Right Now feeling. And Right Now it is a feeling that doesn't want to go away.

He has to get back eventually, though. He has to solve The Problem.

Yeah, it took him a while, but he remembers now. All those demons that have been coming for him and other people? They're not supposed to be out at all. They're coming from the Labyrinth which is supposed to be heavily guarded at all times to stop them from getting out.

The Problem is that the Labyrinth, currently, is not heavily guarded at all.

The main problem that made the Problem the Problem was that the Labyrinth was where Hell stuck the demons they didn't want to deal with, and usually that meant the bad ones that kept doing bad things and didn't show any signs of wanting to change or better themselves and so Lucifer would just be like 'fuck it' and send them to the Labyrinth.

Anyway demons keep escaping the Labyrinth or whatever and now it's Levi's problem because they all want to kill him for whatever reason. Probably revenge. Or boredom.

Levi watches Shep again but says nothing. He has to say something soon, or Shep will notice that he's acting weird.

"Are you alright, Levi?"

Levi could tell him. Levi wants to trust Shep but he knows he can't.

"Just tired." He gives a long fake yawn to try to sell the 'tired' thing. It's very fake and Levi doubts Shep believes it but he doesn't pry any further so Levi considers that a success.

God damn it, this whole time he's wanted to leave, this whole time he's wanted to go back and this is his chance to break all his connections to this world and be free but-

He can't. He doesn't want to.

Levi crawls under the hole in the fence and heads into the Gate. He takes a deep breath and prepares himself before going in so he can at least pretend he hasn't been wearing this shirt for a week. Maybe she'll let him back into Hell if he doesn't look like a depressed mess with no life and who is he kidding she's not going to let him back.

He walks into the house, does the thing, and shields his eyes as his vision is once more flooded with white.

"Hi, Edward," he says, putting emphasis on her name to show he's a big boy and he's grown up and he remembers.

"Great," she says, sarcastically. "You've done the bare minimum to get back in. Congratulations."

"Does-"