By the time we got home, I wasn't sure who had spent more time in the lead nor even really who won. If you counted the winner as to who reached the rooftop first, it had been me. I had pulled ahead right at the end with a bubbling sort of laughter passing through my lips. But if you counted the winner as to who reached the door first, it would go to Levi, because he dropped down from the rooftop with ease to open the door for us, letting me through first.

If you ask me, I counted the winner as who stepped through the doorway first and into our home, meaning it was me. And anyway... I won two out of three of those thresholds, which meant I was the overall winner. So.

Regardless, when the door was closed behind us, Farlan greeted us from the couch. "You were gone for a while," he said cheekily. "Naughty business?"

"Absolutely not," I said, rolling my eyes. "Is that all you think about?"

Farlan pouted dramatically, jutting his bottom lip out in a distinctly childish, yet incredibly funny, way. "I get lonely."

That got a laugh out of me and I shook my head incredulously at him. I knew he was joking, and I knew he was just trying to get a reaction out of us, but it worked on me, anyway. "You're ridiculous."

When Levi started to undo the belts and straps and began taking the gear and harness off, I followed suit. Unhooking the gear itself was easy enough, for they were hooked to the belts in a rather straightforward way. The only challenge doing that was removing the gear set behind me and doing it in a way that wouldn't let them tangle impossibly. I set the pieces down gently, but peeked over often to see how Levi was doing it.

He started on the harness and straps and I followed suit... or tried to, anyway. My uncertainty in doing this and how to do it must have shown on my face because Farlan chuckled. "Start from the top," he told me, but did not stand to help or further guide me. When he'd come inside, he had put his gear away already. "That's the easiest way."

I loosened the strap across my chest and from there I could shimmy my shoulders out of the harness, but after that, I was lost again. Levi slowed in his movements, and upon noticing my hesitation to go any further, began putting the straps about his hips and legs back on. "Watch," he said simply, and I did.

"Thank you," I said gratefully as I followed his example. I finally was able to step out of the gear - after having to take my shoes off, a step I had forgotten about - and held the tangled mass in front of me, grimacing. "How do I..."

"Don't ball them up," Farlan told me. "I made that mistake once. When I did, the next time we tried getting the gear on for a job, all the straps were tangled together."

Levi gathered his gear into his arms and headed to a small closet. "He's forgetting to mention that we missed a job because of that shit. We lost hundreds that day."

"Whatever," Farlan muttered defensively. "We made that money back, didn't we? We just got an unintentional day off. I thought it was fine."

"You put us a day behind schedule," Levi said. "And yet you haven't gotten us any closer to making that day up."

"Well," Farlan said with a smile. Levi had opened the closet and inside were several hooks modified to hold the gear. "I feel like Amaya's plan more than made up for it."

"Amaya's plan," Levi reminded him as he hung his straps up, then set the pieces of the gear down neatly in a box set on the floor. "Not yours."

When he was done putting his things away, Levi turned and reached for mine. I hadn't been expecting it, but I let him take the harness and belts away from me. Levi set them on an unused set of hooks and I watched over his shoulder as he did so I could figure out how to do it on my own. He then took the metal boxes, the fan mechanism, and all that was left.

"Thank you," I said gratefully.

"Hey," Farlan said, clearly offended. "How come you never put my gear away for me?"

Levi glanced sidelong at him, then at me, then back to Farlan. "You're not a woman."

Farlan scoffed. "What, are you a lady's man or something now?"

"No," Levi responded evenly, calmly. "I was just raised to respect them." He sent a pointed look at me. "Should they deserve it."

I smiled, taking that to mean that I did deserve it, and something about that meant a lot to me... perhaps due in part because of his clearly high standards? I really didn't know what it was. But I did turn and smile placatingly at Farlan who was still clearly feeling like he was getting the short end of the stick, here.

"Shall I make tea for everyone?"

I received two very different reactions, one happy, and one still rather stony though still agreeable. But still, it warmed my heart to know that I really was part of their group now. Their "gang", as Farlan called it, but in the same way... I was now in their family, and I was here to stay.

I'd already lost one family. I wasn't going to lose another one.

—

Weeks Later:

The gear set about our hips clanked with each step we took as we walked down the street. We took up nearly the entire middle of the street, gear and all, even walking as closely as we were together. We were, right now, in one of the small neighborhoods that bordered our own, not to cause trouble, just because we were on the way to a job and were heading to meet one of our contacts.

I couldn't believe that at one point - for damn near my entire life, even - that I never knew what it was like to feel so powerful, because walking between these two men, my two partners, and leading them down this street by only a single pace, I felt extremely powerful. Never had I felt stronger in my life, with Farlan and Levi flanking me on either side.

I could feel the weight of so many looks at us, at me. These past few weeks have brought so many changes not only to myself, but to us as a group. We'd all only grown closer and over the past couple of months, not only had I grown to trust these men, but they had grown to trust me, completely and wholly.

Additionally, my work with the gear had improved as I used it more consistently and as soon as I was able to reliably use it, I had started going on jobs with them. Later, I had started to introduce my own contacts to them, increasing our area of effect and making sure that we always had something to do, someone to help, money to make.

I grew stronger. I grew more confident. I grew... I just grew. And I could safely say that now, I truly did feel like I was part of their family. We bickered and teased each other yet worked together all the same. It'd been a while since I had felt this way, and goodness, I had missed it.

At first, I'd been skeptical in trusting them so readily, but I figured I was a pretty good judge of character and I hadn't detected even a hint that they weren't being truthful or trustworthy. Then, I was skeptical in how quickly I grew to trust them, but at even the thought that I should pull back and take it more slowly, my heart would ache and I decided against it, each and every time.

And I was so, so glad for that.

Something about this, no. Something about them persuaded me to stay. The three of us now worked together in unison perfectly. I knew how they worked, and they knew how I worked. What they were strong in, perhaps I lacked, but they worked with me to improve. And in the same way, what I excelled at, maybe Farlan wasn't great at it but I helped him through it, and the same went for Levi.

Our styles, our personalities, our mindsets all fit together and they worked and it was wonderful. It was hard work, yes, but it was so worth it. Goodness, these two men had been strangers not terribly long ago but they had - unintentionally or not - squeezed their ways into my heart. There was a fine balance between us, and I was so incredibly grateful for both of them.

A truly unbreakable bond... that's what we had. And I knew that right now, as we walked down the street that we commanded a silent sort of respect from the people we passed. It wasn't a bad thing, no. Ever since the Military Police had changed management and had started harassing people instead of helping them, trust in them fractured completely and the little people, those the MP's were supposed to protect, could no longer go to them for help.

Instead... they had us, I suppose.

The people looked to us in so many of their darkest hours, and we looked back, each and every single time. We chose, probably stupidly, to antagonize those soldiers as much as we could. The soldiers knew us now by face, that was for sure, even the new ones that I hadn't grown up around.

Those that did know me before, and therefore knew me by name, would make it known that they did whenever they chased after us. They'd call after me, try to bring El into it, and more. It was awful. Their mind games... the fact that they thought it would work on me was incredibly funny.

Regardless... they were never able to catch us. Sometimes, as many as a dozen of them would chase after us at a time, but we always remained just out of reach. We had the skill and speed to outpace them, and the deep-set knowledge of the ins and outs of the city that allowed us to outsmart them.

How the most proficient, highly-trained soldiers the military had to offer couldn't catch a couple of street rats was beyond me.

It was strange to flee from those who used to watch me when I was a young child. The things I had learned about each and every single of them...

I knew about Reyes' life above ground, about how he had married when he was young and started his own business to try to make money to support a family but it went under only months later and so he left for the military to have a sure stream of income.

I knew that Masie's parents had not wanted her and she grew up feeling unwanted, and so she joined the military to make them proud but even graduating at the top of her class was not enough for them.

I learned that when Elwin first arrived at the base, he had been incredibly shy and hadn't spoken to anyone aside from when he needed to until he met Ellie. I had heard so many stories about him, my father, the soldier with a golden heart who had saved me and brought me into his family so readily.

Now, I was hunted by the very people who had helped raise me.

But considering what I was doing then, and what I was doing now, I wouldn't have it any other way. My life had been tumultuous and difficult but now I was doing such incredible things. I was helping people, I was in a wonderful family, and I had never felt more free in my life.

I found people I trusted with my life, those who wouldn't abandon me when things get tough, which they assuredly would.

The three of us were stronger than anything that would challenge us. We were strong individually, but much stronger when together.

As we walked, I lifted my chin up higher, holding my smile back as best I could. Without slowing my pace, I looked over one shoulder to nod to Farlan, then turned to look at Levi with a wide, confident smile. "Let's go."

Without needing further instruction, the three of us broke into a run. After several paces to build up speed, I leapt into the air and the two men followed, a single pace behind, following me into the sky.

We were the high-rollers of the underground city. It was a nickname that we had heard but didn't comment on... not publicly, anyway. But that was our title, given to us by the people and not one would shake easily, not that we would want to. We were the high-rollers, as the people needed us to be, and there was no one who would dare try to take that title from us.

But I certainly invite them to try.

—

Weeks Later:

The sound of Farlan's laughter was a joy to hear, and it would've made me smile if it hadn't been an innocent comment of mine that had made him laugh so boisterously.

"What?" I muttered, my tone laced with my embarrassment. Saying something was only supplementary evidence to the fact that I was flustered. It was written all over my face and in my embarrassment my cheeks were surely flushed red.

The three of us were at the kitchen table, spending this evening like so many others: talking, swapping stories and enjoying each other's company with only the candle burning in the middle of the table keeping time. There was warm tea in our cups with half a pot left set on the counter behind me.

The conversation had been rather calm, until I brought up... what the hell had I brought up again? Oh, I'd gotten seen by the MP's on the way home today and something about that had made him laugh.

"Nothing, Amaya," he said. "I saw you on my way home from the markets."

"That's where I'd been coming from," I said. "What the hell were you doing there?"

"I got what was on the list," Farlan said, referring to the list we kept in the kitchen that would list what we were nearly out of.

"No way," I gaped at him. "You're kidding. That's what I'd been doing when they saw me."

"You two are idiots," Levi sighed as we all pieced together what had happened.

A distinct pinch in my brow displayed my frustration just as one reached Farlan's face. "Not me," I argued, glancing at Levi. "Just Farlan. I told you two this morning where I was going."

"You can't tell me things before I have breakfast," Farlan countered. "I was paying more attention to my food! I wasn't even really awake yet!"

"And that's my problem? When the list wasn't on the counter, because I'd taken it with me, what the hell did you think it meant?"

"I don't know," he muttered, all traces of amusement in his voice gone. What he'd been laughing about was now long forgotten as we glared at each other.

"You wasted money buying shit I had already bought?!"

"You forgot that I can't be held responsible for what is said to me within the first hour of me being awake?"

"You're both ridiculous," Levi said. "Shut up about it before I get a headache."

I huffed and leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. "Fine."

Farlan huffed and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "Fine."

Levi lifted his cup of tea towards his lips, taking a slow and indulgent sip in his usual way of holding the cup around the rim. I looked over at Levi as Farlan's anger simmered within him. Levi caught my gaze when he lowered the cup and set it on the table again. "How long did it take you to lose them?"

"I was by the delivery district," I said, recalling it well, "which is a part of the city I'm not too familiar with so it took a little longer than normal, especially since I didn't have my gear on."

"Amaya," Levi said with a certain level of mischief in his tone, which already set me on edge, "if you're having an off day, just say so. We get it; sometimes you get weighed down by shit."

The first half of what he said had me smiling, because it was almost sweet. It felt like an invitation to be more vulnerable around him, almost, and to ask for their help if I needed it - not that I felt like I couldn't do that already - but then it took a turn for the sarcastic and he made one of his infamous constipation jokes.

Wonderful.

What a man.

Farlan laughed, and with a shake of my head I laughed as well. The ghost of a self-satisfied smirk appeared on Levi's lips, one that he tried to hide by taking another sip of his tea in a very cute way.

No, not cute.

Where had that come from?

To distract myself from the thought, and the panic rising in my throat that I had dared to think that he was cute, I cleared my throat and got to speaking again. "You're such a child, Levi," I said. "Honestly. I thought you were a grown man, and here you are making jokes about defecation."

"Big word," Farlan mused quietly.

"You two are the ones who laughed at it," he said, as though it was our fault.

"Honestly," I said, shaking my head. "The company I keep."

"You love us, really," Farlan said in a sickly sweet, sing-song kind of way.

I scoffed playfully. "Right."

He wasn't wrong. Of course he wasn't. It was hard not to love these two, truthfully. They were like family to me and even in the relatively short time I've been with them, we had a bond that could never be broken; that was something in my heart that I knew to be true.

So sure, Farlan was right.

That didn't mean I would say as much, though.

—

A few days later, I found myself - once more, and stupidly so, because of what happened last time - running errands. This time, I hadn't been out buying groceries but Farlan had accidentally torn the sleeve of one of his shirts and didn't know how to fix it and nowhere in the house did they have a needle or thread nor anything else to sew it, so I offered to teach him to fix such things.

As such, someone had to buy what was necessary for it, so naturally I elected to do it. We'd had a job this morning and it had gone off without a hitch and we had made a sizable sum of money from it. But for as neatly as it had been done, with all three of us working perfectly together, something like a well-oiled machine with all its parts working together, I still had a lot of energy left so I figured this would be a good way to expend it.

Maybe. I don't know, maybe I'd go and get into some more trouble later for the hell of it.

Only, it seemed that trouble was intent on finding me.

I was just turning a corner, my simple bag of goods set in the crook of my arm when I heard the sudden sound of gear. At first, I was confused, for how hadn't I heard it previously? But before I could shrug it off or start to search for the source of the sound, it had found me.

And by it had found me, as soon as I turned the corner the fucker ran into me, bowling me over and knocking me to the dirt. "Ow, shit," I muttered before my instincts took over and I looked up to see who had the audacity to knock me over.

For fuck's sake, of all men-

"Amaya," Levi said, clearly just as surprised to see me.

"Good afternoon," I muttered. I shook my head with disbelief and gathered my purchases back into the bag they'd been unceremoniously flung from when I was tossed to my ass. "We need to stop meeting like this."

"No shit," he said, reaching a hand towards me. I let him help me up and only when I was standing did he glance over his shoulder. He must have been satisfied with how far ahead of his pursuers he was, because he looked back at me. "The hell are you doing here, anyway?"

"I bought a sewing kit," I explained, lifting the bag slightly. "Farlan doesn't know how to mend his own shirt, so I'm going to teach him."

"Good luck," Levi said. "Stay out of sight for a minute."

"Why? Got some MP's on your ass?"

He clicked his tongue irritably. "Not by choice."

"Get going," I said to him.

"Take the long way home," he said. "Just in case."

"Meet you there," I called to him as he started running, just enough to gain speed to leap into the air and fly off. Soon enough, I could hear the sound of several different sets of gear and soon enough after that, I could see them. There were six of them.

"Damn, Levi," I said to myself. "The hell did you do? Plan another heist without me?"

No matter. We all knew how easy it was to outrun and outmaneuver and outsmart any group of MP's - especially if you're Levi - but if I could make it a little easier on him, then I would. Besides... This would be fun. Perhaps it was just the kind of fun I'd been searching for.

I did not do as Levi asked. I did not stay out of sight, despite knowing damn well that most of the policemen knew me by name and by face. I did not take the long way home, despite knowing that if even six MP's were on the lookout for Levi, they likely weren't the only ones.

No, I stayed where I was, fighting back a smile as I eyed the building across the street. It was abandoned and I'd passed through there the other day when fleeing the Military Police, so I knew the general layout. But goodness, I fled from those numbskulls quite a bit, didn't I?

And to think, I used to avoid them as best I could. I just wasn't afraid of them anymore. I had a way to spite them, to be a thorn in their side, yet too to fight back. And it was fun. Was it vindictive? Sure. Was it petty? More than probably. But damn, if it wasn't fun.

"Sorry, dad," I said as my eyes followed the movements of the soldiers flying far above my head, now. "Look away for a few minutes." I let them zip over my head before letting out a low whistle, catching the attention of the last two of the formation. "Don't you idiots ever learn? You haven't caught him yet, but you still try so hard."

I crossed my arms over my chest as the two soldiers looked at each other, then at me, then back to each other, perched against the side of a building. "You know him or something?"

"Oh," I chimed. "You must be new. Pleasure to meet you."

They looked... bewildered. They shared another look, and it looked like one said something to the other, but the words were far too hushed for me to hear it.

"Goodness," I said. "You look confused."

"You... We were warned about you," one said. "You're a thief."

"I knew I recognized you," the other said. "You're in that little gang, aren't you? We're taking you in. You're under arrest."

I smiled. "You're certainly welcome to try."

And then I ran. They were quick to set after me, and the thrill of the chase took over my body immediately, filling me with energy and flooding my veins with adrenaline. I took off across the street, entering the building not through the door for surely it was locked, but through one of the windows.

It had been cracked open previously, so I leapt up, caught the top of the windowsill in hand, and stung inside. In this way, I was able to take off running immediately through the darkened, decrepit building. These were young soldiers, newly assigned here from the surface. I wouldn't be surprised if they were fresh out of training, young fledgling cadets newly graduated and with so much potential... only to be thrown here.

I turned down a hallway, knowing that the soldiers were hot on my heels and that there was a stairwell at the end. That was all I needed to know, at least for now, but of course it wasn't all that I knew, and a plan was formulating in my mind.

I took the stairs two at a time and when I reached the second story landing, I rounded the corner and continued to run, dashing back towards the front of the house and towards a large room. Through the doorway into it I ran, then ducked behind the door, holding the knob in hand. I waited for the first soldier to run through, then waited for the second one to just start through the doorway before I slammed it shut. The resounding thud of a distinctly man-sized body slamming into the door made me laugh and I could hear him collapse just outside this room. Guess I did it at the right time, then.

"Just you and me," I said, just as the first soldier - the one still conscious - realized where I was. "Finally realized where I was, hm?"

"You-!"

"How's your hand-to-hand combat?"

"What?"

I didn't answer him back, not with words. I only ran up to him, going for a punch that he started to react to only to feint and drop to a crouch, swinging my leg out to sweep his feet out from underneath him. He fell with a strangled oof and I laughed openly.

"You're worse than I thought," I tutted disappointedly. "I thought you needed to be good at hand-to-hand combat to graduate. Was I wrong?"

"You bitch," he muttered, clearly having been winded from the move. "I heard about you. You're Amaya, ain't you?"

"Depends," I said, setting a foot on his chest to keep him down. "What have you heard? Only good things, I hope."

"I heard Elwin, your good-for-nothing adoptive father died uselessly," he spat out, "which was no different than how he lived."

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear," I said evenly, reaching down with one arm to reach into my boot. My fingers found purchase against the wooden handle of my knife and I slid the blade out slowly, carefully. I spun it across my thumb, letting it fall back into my palm. When the blade was pressed against his neck, digging into his skin, I spoke. "Keep his name out of your mouth or you'll lose your tongue. And if you speak ill of him again, you'll lose your vocal cords. Do you understand?"

"Yes," he only barely managed to say with my foot pressed firmly against his sternum.

"Good," I said softly. "Don't bother standing up for a while. I can't promise I won't draw blood if you come after me."

He swallowed, hard. I stepped over him and opened the door, letting the body still leaning against it fall into the room. I stepped over him as well, stalling only to look over my shoulder at the soldier still laying there, too terrified to move. His eyes were wide as he regarded me.

"Keep in mind," I said slowly, "that so long as you keep making the lives of the citizens hell, we're only going to keep doing what we're doing. You will always face resistance from us. I promise you that."

I took another step, but faltered once more, speaking quietly so the words only reached my ears. "And I promise you that my good-for-nothing father would never have supported such a disgusting regime."

—

"There," I said, finalizing the last stitch. I checked that it was set and done and perfect, snipped the end of the thread, and then lifted Farlan's shirt to present it to him.

"All set?"

"Mm-hm," I hummed happily. "All set."

"Well, how about that," Farlan said, accepting the shirt and bringing it to his lap. He ran his index finger against the stitches delicately, a warm smile overtaking his lips when he looked up to meet my gaze. "Thanks, Amaya."

"No problem," I said with a smile of my own. "But next time I tell you that I'm going to teach you something, maybe give it more of a shot before giving up."

"I don't have the skill, patience, nor hands steady enough to do this kind of work," Farlan said, and for the most part it sounded honest. But there was a sly smile on his lips, one that he tried to hide.

"Uh huh," I muttered, unconvinced. "But yet you've told me that you're a sharpshooter if only you could get your hands on a firearm."

"Yeah," Farlan said, confidence bubbling up in his voice now. "And I meant it."

"You're ridiculous," I said with a laugh. "Absolutely ridiculous."

"So are you," said Levi, leaving the kitchen now and looking directly at me. There was a pot of tea in his hands that he set on the living room table just before Farlan and myself, with three cups balanced on a tray in his other hand. Wordlessly, without even explaining why I was ridiculous, his eyes narrowed at me, and I would probably feel guilty if I had any idea what the hell it was I had done.

When the pot was set down on the table, the tray followed. Farlan reached for his teacup, and I started to reach for my own but Levi set his hand over it, halting my movements inadvertently. "What's wrong?"

Pitched over the table as he was, his eyes were intently looking into my own, searching for something I felt unseen. What could he possibly be looking for? Had I done something wrong? I couldn't think of anything that he could possibly have been upset with me for!

"When I was being chased today after bumping into you," he said evenly, his intonation holding to it a forced sense of calm, "how many were after me?"

"Four," I answered right away, and the look I got in response let me know that I was in trouble. And then I remembered, but it was too late, because Levi had already started speaking again.

Yeah. I was in trouble. I was in deep, deep shit.

"There should have been six," he said. "There were six at the start, yet it appeared that two of them saw something more interesting."

I didn't reply. It was clear what had happened, even to Farlan who was only just now finding out about it. I simply met his gaze evenly. I felt a twinge of nerves grasp my belly, not because I was scared of him, but it was something else. We were partners, so I valued his opinion, but surely he wouldn't think less of me or reprimand me too harshly over something like this, right?

Why... Why was I so concerned with what he thought of me? Some rogue part of my mind remembered my flub before, about how I had somehow found an expression of his cute. But no, that was a one-time thing, this was because we would be working together for the foreseeable future and so what he thought of me as a person, fighter, and partner mattered to me, and that was all.

Right?

I didn't know the answer to that and for whatever reason that had me more nervous than anything else.

"You should've just gone home," Levi said sternly. He uncovered my cup with his hand, opting instead to stand up straight and cross them over his chest. It was likely meant to be a standoffish sort of gesture, one maybe meant to intimidate me, but it didn't work, because...

Because...

Goodness.

It was standoffish, but not because he was angry with me. It wasn't anger in his eyes, no. It was concern that had been etched into his eyes. I peered curiously at him, wondering for a moment what he was concerned about but the answer was obvious.

He'd been concerned about me.

"You were in trouble," I told him after a quiet moment.

"I was in no more trouble than we usually get into," he argued. "I was handling them just fine."

"I wasn't going to leave you with all of them," I countered. "Six against one is unfair, no matter who you are."

"I had gear on, and you did not," Levi said, his eyes narrowing. "When I realized I had lost two, I looped back around to check on you and you or them were anywhere to be seen. I thought they arrested you, Amaya. Do you not understand that?"

"I understand that perfectly well," I told him. "But I wanted to help."

"I don't think you understand at all," Levi snapped. "If we get caught, with the crimes we've committed they've got reason to execute us on sight. I thought they had you killed."

I looked down and away. The weight of his gaze was too heavy right now. Actually, the tension between us felt like a physical weight added to the room, to the very air we were supposed to be breathing in, and it appeared to have hit Farlan the hardest who had been looking between us meaningfully, trying to piece together what exactly had transpired today.

Farlan took his cup, cleared his throat and opened his mouth as though to say something, but closed it right away, deciding against it. I couldn't blame him. If I wasn't part of this conversation, I'm sure it would have been strange to spectate.

My eyes didn't follow his movement, but I could see in my periphery that he stood and walked to his room, silently excusing himself from the situation. I wish I could do the same... run away from this conversation. But even if I did want to run, I also wanted to say. Such a contradiction, and yet while my mind wanted to flee because this was a difficult thing to hear, my heart wanted me to stay.

He'd thought I'd gotten caught and consequently killed.

I could just see it now, a man on a mission for proof of something he had a gut feeling happened but there was no proof for. My heart hurt to consider it.

"What I did was impulsive," I said quietly, still refusing to meet his gaze for fear of what I might see. "I know that. But I don't care who is after you, I'm going to help you."

"Even if I didn't need it."

"Especially then," I explained. "I don't want you to get blindsided by something out of your control. If I can even give you slightly more of a chance of making it out alright, I'll do it."

He seemed to consider that for a moment, or at least use the moment to try to detect any hint of a lie in my face. When finally I met his eyes, there was a certainty in my heart that I hoped he could see in my eyes. Because I did care about him. If something happened to him, I would be upset. And I absolutely wanted to help him. I truly did.

I didn't know to what extent it reached, but it was there. It was as scary as it was comforting but no longer was I nervous.

"Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why do something so stupid?"

"To help you," I said surely. "I'm sorry. I never meant to worry you. In your position... I probably would have assumed the worst, too."

Levi seemed to deflate a little, then rounded the table to lower himself to sit beside me on the couch. He reached for my cup and took it carefully into his hands before holding it out to me. I looked into his eyes, finding them to be focused instead on the tea in my cup instead of me.

He lifted the cup up slightly, as though I couldn't see it, and so I took it into my own hands. With how he was holding it, it was hard not to graze my fingertips against his but it was much harder not to show any reaction to the brief contact on my face. The feeling had sent a jolt of electricity down my spine, but I did what I could to hide it.

I busied myself by taking a sip of the tea. "It's good," I said when I lowered it from my lips. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," he muttered quietly.

"And if I want to mention it?"

He clicked his tongue, clearly growing annoyed and yet he didn't tell me off sternly as he would Farlan when he was peeved. Rather, he only said, "Don't be a brat."

I tutted quietly, holding my cup in both hands to allow it to warm my palms. "You need to come up with a better nickname for me."

Hell, he almost looked offended by my words when they registered in his head. "Why should I?"

"You're a clever man," I said. "Surely you can come up with something better than calling me a brat?"

"It gets a reaction like this every single time I say it," he said in a rather self-assured sort of way. "Why change it?"

"With logic like that, I can't help but agree," I said playfully, meaning of course that I absolutely did not agree.

"Oh, good," Levi said. "Guess you're stuck with it, then."

"For how long?"

"For however long I'm stuck with your stupid ass," he responded snarkily.

A smug little smile found its way to my lips. What came to my mind, it was stupid. It was assuredly a strange thing to say and it was definitely stupid. Very stupid. And yet my mouth opened and I spoke before my brain could stop it.

"That could be forever," I said, my smile only growing when he grew visibly flustered at the implications of my words. "Be careful what you wish for."

—

Weeks Later:

There was a gentle knock on my door, pulling me from my thoughts, from what I had been reading. I ignored the knock. It was probably Farlan to deliver the freshly laundered clothes... then again, that would assume that he had done it, which I was sure he hadn't.

Still, I ignored the knock. I was seated on my bed in the center of the mattress, my back to the door and with a small, leather-bound notebook in my hands. The book was small enough to fit across one palm but it was so full of stories and wonder and love, so much love.

It'd been a long day, but I found solace in the peace and quiet for now. It was nearing an acceptable hour to head to sleep, anyway. A few more pages, maybe, and then I'd try to get some shuteye.

There was another knock on the door. Goddesses, he was insistent today. "Go away, Farlan," I called. "I'm not helping you with the laundry again."

"I'll choose not to be offended by that," came Levi's voice, and at that I sat up a little straighter and immediately felt sheepish. Oops.

"Sorry," I called back through the door. "Thought you were a pest."

"Uh huh."

Then, silence.

"Did you want to come in?"

The door opened and I could see his shadow get cast on the wall before me, the result of the usual candlelight of the living room finding its way into my room, clashing with the sole candle I had lit on my nightstand. I turned my head to look over my shoulder, watching as he carefully balanced a tray on one palm while his other hand closed the door gently behind him. When he felt the weight of my gaze on his profile, he glanced sidelong at me.

"Did you need something?"

"Is something wrong?"

We spoke at the same time and I laughed sheepishly once more.

"Sorry," I said, just as he mumbled out his own form of apology. I nodded towards the tray in his hands. "Is that tea?"

Of course it was, I knew the aroma. Light, airy, floral. It was black tea, Levi's favorite, and one that was steadily becoming one of my own, if only because of the frequency we had it. It was his favorite, and Farlan had settled into drinking it regularly as well, so who was I to tell them no, I didn't want it? I'd have to make it myself, which would be a hassle. I liked the tea anyway, so it worked out at any rate.

Still, it was strange to have it brought to me.

Levi caught the secondary meaning in my question. I wasn't really just asking if it was tea that he had brought; I wasn't stupid, I knew what it was. No, I was asking a question within a question. What I wanted to know was why he brought it in the first place.

"You aren't sick, are you?"

"No," I answered. "Why?"

He was quiet, for a moment, and I searched his eyes for a sign of anything distinguishable. "You didn't come out for tea this evening."

"Oh," I said, my heart unintentionally fluttering. I smiled, twisting a little to see him better. "I didn't realize you'd been waiting up on me."

"I wasn't," he protested immediately.

"Sorry to worry you," I said sweetly, a little smugly.

"You didn't," he protested again.

"Is that why you brought tea in?"

"I can dump it all out if you keep it up."

"What a waste of good tea," I tutted playfully. "And after you worked so hard to make it. You wouldn't dare."

He gestured with a slight movement of his head towards the book in my hands. "Must be an interesting read. You've been in here for hours."

"Has it really been...?" I sighed, supposing it must have been that long, especially judging how much of my candle had burned away. "Ah, well, I find it interesting anyway." I let it close, setting it in one palm. "It was Caden's. He wrote about his days in it. Hell, he wrote about everything in here."

"Caden," he repeated. "Your brother."

"Mm-hm."

"How old was he?"

"No older than eight when he was killed," I answered softly, my heart twinging painfully at the thought. I closed my eyes, facing away from him. "It's awful, isn't it? Here I am, twenty-four, and his life was stolen from him before he could even hit nine."

I could hear the slight creak in the floorboards as he shifted his weight, and then I could feel it when he sat on the bed next to me. I opened my eyes but still didn't turn to regard him.

"I never even figured out who killed him," I went on to say. "And El, too."

"Do you want to?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "I just don't know. It's strange, I... I want to find them and know why they did it but how can I look into the eyes of someone who could kill a child? A child?"

"No amount of money is worth that," Levi said, surprising me that he chose to speak at all. I finally allowed myself to look at him, only to find that he was already looking at me. I started slightly, the intensity of his gaze startling me.

I don't really know why I kept going, but I did. "After losing my family," I said quietly, "I wasn't going great. So just... I know I already thanked you for allowing me to stay here, but it's not just about having a place to stay or having consistent work and not having to worry about food. It's more than that. I know I've only been here for a few months, and I can only hope I've been doing my fair share around here, but I want you to know that I am so, so grateful to you and Farlan. I feel like I'm in a family again."

"I'm... glad to have you here," he said, and I smiled. For a moment, I thought that my smile flustered him entirely, but I figured out that it wasn't because of my face, it was because he realized what he said. He had said that he was glad. Not Farlan. Not that they were glad. He was.

"I'm glad to be here, too," I replied quietly. "And... I'm glad that you're glad."

His eyes widened and I don't know exactly why, but I felt a strange form of satisfaction in being able to get such a reaction out of him. "Why?"

I nearly laughed aloud at such a silly question. "Because you could very easily kick me the hell out," I explained. "My first few days here, I was scared of pissing you off because I knew you wouldn't hesitate to kick my ass to the curb."

A thoughtful sort of noise escaped him. "Farlan does stupid shit all the time, but he's still here."

"True," I said, considering it.

"You're one of us now," Levi assured me. "We don't abandon each other, and we will not abandon you." Then he shrugged, and immediately I knew he was about to say something snarky or sarcastic. "So long as you don't try to slit my throat in my sleep, we shouldn't have any problems."

I couldn't help it. I laughed openly, appalled even at the idea. "Noted," I said, a warm smile overtaking my face. "Oh, you know, from that day we met when you knocked me over, Caden wrote about it."

I looked down at the journal and began skimming through the pages, searching through his chicken-scratch to find the right entry. When I found it, I leaned a little closer to let him see it, without realizing that he had done the same. I said nothing of it, and neither did he, but now I was forced to not react to his shoulder brushing against mine.

"Look," I said quietly, pointing to the entry. He did look, yes, but there was a defined pinch in his brow. "It might be hard to read," I said sheepishly. "His handwriting was messy, I know. I never got around to working with him to make it neater," I admitted.

"It's not that," he muttered quietly, so quietly that I nearly missed it. He glanced over his shoulder and I did too, only to realize that he was making sure the door was closed. Only when his eyes returned to the pages did he speak.

"Oh," I murmured, recognizing the unfocused, sort of glazed look in his eyes. I recognized it when Caden didn't know, either. It was the look of someone looking at something that they felt they should know how to understand but just don't. "You don't know how to read, do you, Levi?"

"Not well," he said. "Only letters and short words. Things I had to figure out."

I let that sink in for a moment, but didn't dare let the silence grow too long. "I taught Caden, you know. If you like, I can teach you."

His eyes found mine. Once more, he seemed to be looking for something. A tell, perhaps, or any sign that I wasn't being truthful, or disingenuine, or that I would use this against him.

"Knowing the letters will make it a lot easier from the start," I said. "But even if you didn't, I think you're smart enough to breeze through it." I adjusted to get comfier on the bed, sitting cross-legged. "I don't have any other books, but if you want, we can start now, with this?"

"Why are you doing this?"

It was a good question. "Well," I said, the words coming to mind as I spoke them, "I meant it when I said that I wanted to help you two in any way that I could. That includes you, you know. And if this helps, then..."

"Why are you helping? You don't owe us anything. You don't owe me anything."

"I just want to," I said honestly. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes."

I shook my head with disbelief. "Fine, I'm doing it so I can call in a favor with you later down the road. How about that?"

"Now you sound like you belong down here," he said, making me laugh.

"Oh, hush," I said playfully. "Now, shall we get started?"