Dad!

The pale sunshine peered through the tightly closed blinds.

Dad!

He stirred in his bed, groaning as he scowled in his sleep.

Daddy!

The pictures rolled inside his head like some sadistic movie, the memories tearing through his brain as though his conscience wanted him to suffer.

Dad!

He slipped and fell into an endless black void, grasping at the empty air for the help that would not come.

"DAD!"

Levi jolted up, his dreaming ceasing for the time being.  He sat up in his bed, the sheets strewn everywhere and thrown in every direction.  His pale forehead was creased and beaded with cold sweat, his chiseled bare torso heaving as his eyes flashed back and forth, searching for someone who was not there.

Finally realizing the difference between dream and reality, Levi steadied his breathing and rubbed his face in his hand.  He groaned, for the migraine in his head had made an appearance once more.  He tossed in his bed and reached over to his nightstand, pulling out the drawer to reveal a nearly empty translucent orange bottle.  He twisted the white cap and violently shook out a few pills, plopping it into his mouth and taking huge gulps of water from the bottle that rested upon the stand.

After draining the water bottle, Levi swiped his eyes with the back of his hand, his breathing now level as he stared down at his lap.  His hands were shaking, so much that the plastic bottle trembled along with his fingers.  He allowed a few tears to splatter onto the plastic, clenching his jaw in fury as he scrunched up the bottle.  He glared down at the thing for a minute, his teeth bared like some kind of beast.

Levi sat there, hunched over as his back rose and fell with the rhythmic samba of his breathing, the morning doves cooing outside and the hushed whistle of wind grazing against his bedroom window.

Eventually however, Levi moaned in protest and got up to ready himself.  He brushed and flossed his teeth, washing his face thoroughly, and combing his hair so the part sat just slightly off from the center.  He slipped into some jeans, not even bothering with a shirt as he strolled into the kitchen, opening the white fridge door to look for something to eat.

"Eggs, cheese, vegetables..." he mumbled, his eyes narrowed to their normal stoic, almost hostile demeanor.  He sighed.  "Omelettes it is, I guess..."

He oiled up a pan and fired up the gas stove to high, beating a few eggs along with a splash of milk and a dash of oregano in a separate bowl.  He poured the egg mixture into the pan,  poking it occasionally with a spatula in his hand.  He added some shredded cheese once the egg foundation seemed secure, along with the leftover sautéd mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, spinach, along with some freshly minced garlic into the pan.  He folded the omelette over and pressed down on the whole dish, making the pan sizzle with a deliciously delightful sound.

As he waited for the cheese to melt and for the vegetables to warm up, Levi leaned against a nearby counter, scratching instinctively on an old scar slashing across his left shoulder.  His sparkling but yet somewhat dull iron eyes stared out into some place out of reach within reality, his thin lips slightly parted and releasing wispy breaths as his nails scraped against his skin.

Snapping out of the odd trance, Levi gripped the handle of the pan and shook it back and forth, grabbing a clean plate with his other hand and flipping the omelette onto its shiny porcelain surface.

He left the pan there to cool down, snatching a fork from a draw and seating himself down at a table for one, set right in front of the television a few steps from the kitchen.  He plopped down onto the wooden seat, raising his arms to stretch his aching but extremely toned muscles.  He let out a grunt as his body strained, closing his eyes as he twisted his neck around, resulting in chains of pops ringing through the empty apartment.

He sighed as he released his arms, smacking his lips slightly as his half-opened groggy eyes scanned the room for a particular object.  He spotted the remote on the armrest of his rather small couch; he snatched it within an instant, settling back into his seat to click on the screen.

The news channel was on its weather report as of the moment, so Levi watched half-heartedly as he sliced a piece of omelette from his place, eating the chunk with eagerness.

The high today was forty-eight degrees Fahrenheit with the low being thirty-three degrees.  Partly clouded skies with a sixty-percent chance of rain added to the broadcast, and the stupid map with the whirling colors covered the television screen; apparently it was a map of precipitation patterns of the week.

Levi scoffed, continuing to scoop the omelette pieces into his waiting mouth.  The news was always so boring anyways; he just needed to know the temperature and whether it was going to rain or not.  Otherwise, he was set to go.

After finishing his breakfast, washing it down with a tall glass of water, he scrubbed the dishes scrupulously so they gleamed with a certain shine.  He then placed them on the drying rack and swerved around on his heel, exiting the kitchen in a hasty-like manner.

Seeing the temperature forecast for the day, Levi decided to slip on a plain black knitted sweater; the weather always reached the high anyways, so he might as well dress for the high.  Taking one last look in the mirror to rearrange some hairs upon his head and to apply eye drops, Levi stormed out of his apartment with his coat draped over his arm, his keys jingling on their black lanyard, and his cell phone tucked away in his back pocket.

He reached his car and started the engine, backing out of the parking lot and towards town.  All the while, he sat in his vehicle in silence, not bothering to turn on the heater even though the temperature was nearing thirty-seven degrees outside; his neglected radio sat there in the frosty air, not to have been awakened since his father was arrested six years ago.

His father always gave him tracks to listen to in the car, and often times, when he would ride in the car with Levi to visit his late mother, who back then was still alive, in the hospital, Kenny would turn up the radio to a soft rock station; a genre of music he adored.

Whenever a favored artist would appear on the station, Kenny would turn up the volume a little bit more and lip sync to the music, huffing soft breaths as he smirked, gazing outside to the passing city as Levi drove him to the Trost Hospital of Cancer.

He always said that he and Mrs. Ackerman used to sing together to this type of music in the car, far before Levi was even born.  He said that the music soothed him, and it fit into any occasion really.  Kenny insisted that Levi sing with him, to which the angry youngster would scowl and bark him off, only for his father laugh and pat him on the head, saying how much of a brat he really was.

In the end though, Levi really did adore his father.  He set him on a pedestal as a role model, an ideal being, because he always saw some kindness shine in his eyes no matter how tough the situation would be.

That was, until Kenny was arrested and tried for first-degree murder on that fateful day...six years ago.  Levi could see it, when Kenny was being taken away, the way his eyes lacked that light it always had.  That was when he knew that insanity had taken his beloved father.

After being proven mentally unstable, Kenny was relieved from the death penalty, to which Levi had mixed feelings about.  Instead, he was sent to prison for life without any chance of parole, and Levi was left to care for his dying mother.

With the news of her beloved husband's actions and arrest, Mrs. Ackerman fell deeper and deeper into the illness.  It wasn't long before she took her last breath, whispering to her son that she loved his father no matter what, and she never did stop loving him.  She knew that the old him was still inside, and she would be waiting for him in the heavens once his time would also come.

Thus, a twenty-four year old Levi Ackerman was left alone in this world, with no family to stay with, and with no friends to trust.  He only indulged in his work, and his work became his life.  Ever since the day his father was taken away, the person who showed him that light could be seen in any sort of situation, Levi's attempts to become more positive ceased to even exist as a mere idea any longer.  He was a machine, someone to drive and someone to program, to control completely without his consent whatsoever.

And he was okay with that.

As long as he was kept occupied and as long as he was kept sane by the amount of work that busied his tragically scarred mental, Levi was completely alright with the idea of him being used as a pawn.

"People were meant to be used, anyways," Levi muttered, the soft hum of his car muffling his ears.  "We're nothing but pawns out in the real world, and there's no such thing as true light.  The happiness we seek is just an illusion; and that illusion succumbs us until the end of time."

Levi's icy glare stabbed anyone who dared to peek inside his windshield, a scowl fixated on his brow and a frown curled down on his lips.  He was headed somewhere in particular, that was for sure, but specifically where he was going was a complete mystery in itself.

He passed through the city of Trost, seeing the people inside it walk in huddled groups on the sidewalk, trying to bundle up and face the harsh wind that swept through the streets.  Levi, though, drove past all of that without a glance to the side, his eyes focused on the horizon in front of him, where the countryside lay.

He eventually stopped to the side of the road, a random turnout to the lane, where a low-maintained dirt trail lead deep into the meadows that surrounded the city of Trost.  Levi parked his car, locking the doors behind him as he began walking the trail, his body wrapped in his coat and his hands stuffed in its pockets.  All the while, his face remained plain and cold as the wind nipped at his pale cheeks.

After a few miles of walking, the clouds shielding the sun from the earth down below, the man reached a massive oak tree.  It was impressive to look at all by itself, considering it was the only tree within a few hundred miles of the area; but what was the most interesting about the tree wasn't its height, but its base.

Down at the base of the trunk lay a gravestone, letters carved into the smooth face and set neatly into the firm ground.

Mrs. Olivia Penelope Lynn-Ackerman

Beloved Mother and Wife

Levi stood over the stone for a little while, staring down at it with a straight face, his lips pressed into a line.  It didn't take very long until he sat down in the grass, picking at the vegetation and nipping flower stalks from their roots.  He fumbled with them, his heart feeling empty as he spoke.

"Hey Ma," Levi murmured, blinking his eyes at the tiny flower stalks in his fingers.  "I'm sorry I haven't visited you in a while; I'm all caught up with work most of the time."  He glanced at the grave, only to quickly flicker his eyes back to his hands.  "But as I promised, I found time to visit; I'll always find time to visit, you know."

Levi twiddled with his fingers, snapping off more flower stalks from the fertile ground.

"Things are getting pretty weird over at the agency, Ma.  I'm assigned to an X File this time.  I think this one will be the toughest case of all, to be honest.  After six years of inactivity, this person just decides to go out killing again.  That's why Chief gave me the case...

        "Well...me and this one other person. A girl from TPrep.  She's the valedictorian, see.  So Erwin has a lot of expectations set on her shoulders. She still has a lot to learn, obviously, since Erwin paired her up with me.  But I just don't know if I'm compatible with people enough to work with her in a case; especially this case."

...

"It's been six years now, right Ma?  Well, it feels like it's been a hundred; every day drags on like I'm shackled down, and work forces me to pull all-nighters to finish the cases as soon as I can.  It's been six years since Pa was arrested, and it's been six years since you left this world to wait for him in another.  In a way, I'm happy that you died, Ma.  It's not like I'm glad you're gone or anything, no; I miss you so much, Ma.  I miss you a lot.  But the thing is, I'm glad you don't have to live in this world where you would suffer, knowing that Pa is in prison for the things he's done.  I know that you love him a lot, Ma.  And I'm happy that you don't have to suffer with me."

Levi fidgeted around with his fingers even more, the stalks of the tiny flowers still in his grasp.

"I'm really scared, Ma," he murmured.  "I'm scared out of my wits, actually.  I don't know what's going to happen to Pa, and I'm scared that he's going to snap out of his insanity one day and wonder why he's in a prison cell.  I'm scared for him and his safety, Ma.  Even though he did all of those things...

        "I'm still scared for his well being."

He ceased to fiddle his hands, now staring directly at the flat stone.

"I've been having nightmares also, Ma.  Did you have any nightmares when Pa had been arrested? I think you did; I think we all did, really.  What he did to those people were brutal and...savage.  Unhuman-like.  I don't know how he brought himself to do those things, Ma...

        "Why...

        "Why did he have to do those things, Ma...?"

Levi bit his quivering lip and bent over his curled up knees, sobbing into his jeans as he held a sort of object on his finger.  He kept on asking "why, why, why..." and how their beloved Kenny could do such a thing and leave them.  He didn't understand why insanity could be so cruel and take someone he loved so much away from him; and he didn't understand why cancer had to take the only other person left on this earth for him.  Sickness had given him grief, and sickness had stolen the things most important to him in this world.

In the end, he sat there for five hours, rambling on about random things in life, catching his mother up on the things he had experienced in the time he had not visited her.  Once the sun threatened to sink below the horizon, he got up, brushed the grass from his jeans and wiped his eyes with his knitted sleeve, kissing his fingertips and pressing them onto the face of the glossy stone.  He spoke a soft farewell to his mother before turning around to leave.

The sun was just beginning to set, and he would make it back to his car by the time night fell.  He had to get back to his apartment anyways; he had work tomorrow, and it would be the start of the most complicated case he would ever have to solve.

He trekked through the dirt trail quite slowly, staring down at the ground as he stuffed his hands back into his pockets, leaving the giant oak where his dead mother lay, a handmade crown of small white flowers encircling the beloved word Mother.