Chance Encounter

What do I do?

(Levi's POV)

10:01 PM.

I sat there on the asphault staring at my phone with wide eyes. I was shocked. My past... was coming back to haunt me. Betrayed friendships... and with someone I can't stand...

And they have Eren.

What is this feeling in my chest...? It's so foreign... I can feel my eyes brimming with tears... what is this? The tears, they're slipping, streaking down my face... I feel terrible... I can't put my finger on it... Is this... true sadness? It must be. I've never felt this way in a long time... The tears, they're falling fast...

I clutched my phone and brought it to my chest, still on my knees. I couldn't take losing him again... but I don't know what I can do... I don't have the money they want, but they'll take me if I go without it... but i can't just blow it off and wait for them to give Eren back... what can I do? I just want to be with Eren...

That's all I want now...

I never knew how much I had until it had slipped from my fingertips.

I slowly stood up, the clock on my phone reading 10:04 PM. '48 hours. That's all I have.'In that message, they mentioned a warehouse. They said I knew what they were talking about. Did I really? A warehouse seems nowhere near familiar...

I sighed, my breath hitching slightly, and started to walk to my porch in the dark and cold. There wasn't any light from streetlamps anymore, only the moon and it's cold glare.

As I walked up the few steps and grasped the door knob, I realized for the first time how much I depended on Eren.

~small timeskip~

I sat on the sofa with my head in my hands. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't remember any abandoned warehouse. I even looked to the darkest depths of my past and found nothing.

I need to think harder...

I have to remember...

For Eren's sake...

(Erwin's POV)

The happy expression on Hanji's face had completley vanished when I spoke of Levi's past. What was so bad that even Hanji lost her happy atitide? I mean, there wasn't anything that leprechaun could hide, right?

Right?

But I had to know. I knew well that Levi wouldn't have the money to pay up, so I had to know everything I could about him.

"Yes, I'm sure. I want to know everything."

And the story began.

"Levi wasn't always coldhearted. He used to be very kind, someone you could never be unhappy around. He could always make you smile with his adorable face and fluffy hair. Even if his eyes were grey, they were anything but dull and emotionless.

I remember his mother and father. They were kind people, they really were. They would do the greatest thing for that boy. Anything he wanted, he got. But he wasn't spoiled in my mind. He was well loved. No one had shown so much compassion for Levi. His parents were his everything, the perfect role model and caregiver. It was the best life a 5 year old could ask for.

But sadly, it all changed one day.

It was raining, and Levi was at home with his his uncle Kenny. Now, Kenny was nothing like Levi's parents. He was a horrible man, one that treated everyone with such vigor that it could make a soldier tremble in his boots, and the words he used could make sailor get red in the face. But for some reason, Levi's parents never let anyone else babysit him.

At the time, Levi was being scolded. It was for no reason, just Kenny yelling at his nephew for no reason other than to make him ffeel worthless. Levi had gone upstairs to cry in his room, but he heard the phone ring. He was going to ignore it, but Kenny yelled 'Get your ass down here and see what this fucker wants!'

And of course, he had to oblige. He would have gotten scolded again or even beaten if he didn't listen to him. Not that his parents would ever know about it.

He dashed downstairs and picked up the ringing house phone, holding it to his ear. He said 'Hello?' with a shaky voice, afraid that Kenny would chatsize him or worse for not being polite.

'Excuse me, is this the Ackerman household?'

'Yes, it is. Why?'

'I wish to inform you that Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman are in critical condition.'

Of course, Levi had no idea what that meant. He didn't want to ask, Kenny, he probably wouldn't have cared. But he knew the person was talking about his parents. But they're okay, he thought. They're on their way home.

He had cut the conversation short and decided to wait for his parents to come home so he could ask them what the strange man had meant.

But they didn't come home that night.

Kenny had been grumbling all night about how he didn't want to have to babysit Levi anymore, so he set out to find his parents, leaving Levi alone at the house.

He didn't come back to the house until the next day, and he hadn't looked like his usual self. He almost looked like he was holding some type of emotion other than anger and frustration, but it was only slight.

The only thing Levi remembers after that is hearing the only words Kenny had ever said that weren't angrily directed at him.

'Damn Kuciel...'

It was the first and only time he had ever heard his mother's first name."

I stood there in shock.

What kind of feelings are Levi hiding from the world?