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You couldn't do anything else but stare straight ahead. Everything after you cried your eyes out in Levi's arms in the stairwell was a blur to you, and now, somehow you found yourself back in your apartment, sitting in one of the chairs in the dining table just in front of your kitchen, staring dead ahead with your head feeling like a nauseous fog.

You don't think you've ever been as scared for your life as you were today. You could've died, fallen to your death, splattered on the street like a bug, with nobody being able to trace how it happened. You're certain that psycho would've left no trace of him behind and it would've been a mystery.

You shook your head lightly once that thought entered your brain. You keep thinking about what it would've been if you did die, but you didn't. You were alive. Breathing. Conscious. On your own two feet. And it's all because of Levi.

You really don't know how you'll ever repay him. Or what to say to him, for that matter. Not to mention you're all cried out. You're exhausted. You don't have an ounce of energy left in you.

If it hadn't been for him...you have to stop thinking about that. Your arms were enclosed around your body as involuntary chills ran up and down you spine. Now, your own apartment felt foreign and unfamiliar. The silence feels louder than ever.

You know you have people in your life for support for everything going on right now, but...tonight? You were really alone. You felt deserted. Hopeless. The word home doesn't even feel like it applies to this place anymore.

You felt threatened, and not just here. You know you'll feel like that everywhere you go now. It's terrifying. Your old sense of safety is gone, and you just want it back. You hated this. All of it.

Just because you managed to survive this, doesn't mean everything will be fine now. It's quite the opposite actually. What you thought was your place for safety was nothing but an illusion and you couldn't pretend.

You used to think that this is the safest place you could possibly be in, and you couldn't have been more wrong. That psycho found you again in the one place you thought nobody but the people you trusted the most knew about.

It made your heart hurt painfully, because is this the only place that killer knows about? Does he know where you work? Does he know where you run your errands? Does he have information on the people in your life? Hange? Erwin? Levi? Your employees?
Were all of them at risk? How much does he know?

Your head feels like it'll burst any second now. Why have you been so naive? Thinking that it wouldn't escalate the way it did tonight. You were just so shellshocked that you can't register if what happened to you tonight was real.

Being that close to death did some sort of hard reset inside of you and you were struggling to pick yourself back up. To pick up the pieces. As hard as you knew that would be to do.

Could you go to sleep tonight knowing that it could happen again? That the psycho would try his luck again once you were all alone? He knows where you live now and that thought alone made your blood run cold.

He was getting closer and closer without you knowing and you felt like an idiot for not doing anything about it. But could you have known until now? He was right under your nose but if he got this far and you didn't even notice, then could you have controlled any of this? Are there signs you missed? Have you been focusing on the wrong issues?

Was this meant to happen? To open your eyes and see reality? You had been so adamant on wanting to speed things up, doing things outside of going to Nile and Pixis, instead of just waiting for updates from them, that you realized that you haven't been doing enough and you've been careless. You took your eye off the ball, but you can't let it happen again. You're a sitting duck.

You didn't know you were so into your own head that you felt someone's presence get closer behind you, and when they brushed against your arm, you flinched hard and jumped in your seat.

Your head snapped back as your eyes went wide with panic, and you were met with Erwin looking down at you with worried eyes as he put gentle hand on your shoulder. "Hey, hey...it's okay. It's just me," He said softly, moving his hand to be on your upper back as you closed your eyes for a second, taking a breath to calm down.

It was just Erwin. You're safe. You opened your eyes with a soft huff and saw him putting a tea cup and a saucer in front of you as he sat down in the seat next to you.

A few seconds of silence passed as he watched you just stare blankly down at the tea cup in front of you when he couldn't pretend that dead and defeated look in your eyes wasn't tearing at him.

"I got you some tea. Thought it might help," He said carefully, but immediately kicked at himself for stating the obvious. That wasn't helping. Small talk wasn't going to help at all, and neither was sugarcoating or babying you.

After what you just went through, Erwin knew you needed someone to be the ground you need to stand on, but certainly not pretend that what happened didn't occur and that it can be brushed under the rug or try to convince you this would be the last of it.

This was the beginning, if anything, and that was probably a hard pill for you to swallow already. Tonight changed everything permanently, even more than before. This was probably more of a reminder that this isn't something you can run from anymore, and it also wasn't going to resolve itself with comforting and soothing lies to keep you at ease.

Erwin watched as you slowly reached for the tea cup, wrapping your fingers around the handle and gingerly bringing it up to your lips. "Thank you," You managed to muster before taking a sip and Erwin turned his body in the chair to face you completely, resting his forearm on the table for support.

He watched your movements carefully, for any discomfort, as you put the cup back down and let your hands fall to your lap. He nodded silently to your words, knowing that took more than enough out of you.

He had a million questions racing through his head about you, what was going through your head, and if there's anything he could do. He didn't want to upset you more by accidentally saying the wrong thing.

His head was becoming more and more calculated about this, so he knew exactly what to do. He wanted to be there for you as best as he possibly can. This is not something that can be fixed overnight, and it will be a while before you heal from it.

After a few seconds, the best he could come up with was; "Are you sure there's not anything I can do, Y/n? Let's not rule out going to the doctor yet," He offered, and you turned your head to look at him.

Erwin held his breath as he awaited your reaction but his shoulders sank in relief when you smiled gently at him, but he could still see the pain and emptiness behind them.

It didn't quite reach your eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure. There's...other things I need to focus on right now. I just...can't waste any more time. I'm not sure a doctor is what I need right now," You said quietly as your fingers began to trace along the rim of your tea cup and your features creased with conflict, and hearing your response, Erwin's face fell a bit, realizing what you meant.

And that's exactly what he was afraid of. That you would bury yourself into this mess even more and not give yourself a moment to recover for even a second. But even if he wanted to stop you? How could he? If you were stubborn to get any help before, did that change at all after what happened tonight? He couldn't change your mind, could he?

He's trying to rack his brain for ways he could help but he reaches a dead end every time. He doesn't want to bulldoze you with questions, and he's scared he'll do it by accident. Erwin suggested to go to a doctor, but it seems like for the most part, your wounds were internal.

Emotional. Mental. As far as he could see, at least there was no need to check for external injuries, which he was very relieved to see. Though, even if there were no visible injuries, he knows that the psychological ones you were harboring were cutting far deeper and painful than any other physical wound. And that created a void inside him.

Erwin watched as you aimlessly immersed yourself into just staring off space, and he took a moment to turn his head to look back, at the balcony. He suddenly felt cold chills spread across his body when he saw two cut off knots of cloth tied around the railing, blowing in the wind outside.

They looked like they were cut off forcefully based on how jagged the ends looked. Erwin felt his breath get caught in his throat just imagining what kind of situation you must have found yourself in, how you must have felt. It kills him.

He thought he could be fast enough to be there whenever you needed him, but he couldn't even do that. In his eyes, he failed you and he would do everything to make it up to you. He couldn't stand the thought of you suffering the way he knew you did earlier.

Before he could say anything, a voice cut through the deep silence between you and Erwin so both of your heads turned to look at Levi coming from around the corner and over to the dining table where you and Erwin were sitting.

"He's gone. There's nobody else here," Levi said, having come back from doing a thorough search around the apartment and in the hall to make sure that assassin was really gone, but by the looks of it, the moment you and Levi fell down the building, he ran for the hills the first chance he got, leaving no trace behind, as expected.

Your breath hitched when you saw Levi walking over and almost immediately, you looked away and felt your chest tighten. You can't look him in the eye. It's too much for you.

As much as you know Levi wouldn't judge you, especially after what happened in the stairwell and everything he witnessed, you can't help but not be able to make eye contact with him. You let go, you unraveled, and broke down in front of him.

In his arms. You know you shouldn't but you just felt...shame. You needed some time before you could get past this, be comfortable around him again, and you can feel like things go back to normal. 

You just hoped that it happened soon. You really needed him by your side now more than ever. The realization that you didn't want him to stop being your bodyguard and you only said that because of how hurt you were hit you like a truck and you didn't know it then, but now, you regretted every word you said to him when you should've continued to try to get through to him.

Even despite all of this, you still had feelings for him, but you had to continue to keep it hidden. All of this just proved that even the most trivial of issues can pull you two apart and the state of your relationship right now is fragile.

As the two weave through how complicated this case has become, even more than before, it's important to focus on strengthening your trust with each other and know that you can rely on one another and not let unspoken feeling and buried fears pull you apart.

After Levi found you and then bringing the two of you to the stairwell and you let yourself fall apart in front of him, you hoped he knew that you were more serious than you ever have about keeping him in your life, that you didn't mean anything you said, and that you wanted him to stay.

You really didn't know if you could do this without him, and deep down, another part of you knew you didn't just want him around just because of what happened tonight. You care about him.

You really do. You want to help him fight his battles too and make sure he makes it out alive too. Just like he did for you tonight. This whole case just blew wide open and you weren't safe anymore, and you had a feeling that it would be a matter of time before Levi would be targeted too.

You'd be there for him. In the grand scheme of things, it's unfortunate this was what served as your wakeup call. You survived for a reason and now, you wanted to make sure that it all counted.

After what happened, your brain immediately put aside every little petty argument where the two of you just let yourselves go by saying hurtful things neither of you meant in the heat of the moment that concealed the fact that the two of you need each other now more than ever, whether its because of this unspoken connection you felt has only become stronger or because of each other's goals that you have yet to fulfill for each other as part of the agreement.

Up until earlier, neither of you were brave enough to get past your grievances, pride and fears to come to terms with that. You were ready to embrace the fact that you didn't want him to slip away, like he almost did. It was terrifying and you never wanted to feel like that again.

You just hoped he thinks the same and that he's on board to pick things back up and forget everything that happened before; him beginning to push you away back when you went to his office after taking down the thugs, you obliging to what he thought he wanted the next day and treating this as nothing but a professional relationship, then arguing in the car after your double date and at the bar, and then going your separate ways.

Which lead to now. You wanted to start over. From zero. Put every fight and argument in the past, as if it didn't happen. Because holding onto what each other said with resentment, grudges, and guilt is what got you two in this mess in the first place.

You wouldn't let that happen again and you'd hold onto this with both hands, no matter what. You really hoped Levi wanted the same thing you did after this, that the both of you were on the same page.

As Levi got closer to the dining table where you and Erwin were sitting, you couldn't help but just give Levi brief glances, being unable to hold full eye-contact with him. You don't know if he noticed, but you hoped he didn't.

You just needed a couple minutes to let your emotions simmer down. But the one who did was Erwin did. He noticed how fidgety, unsettled and jumpy you'd become the moment Levi came around the corner, but decided not to comment on it, although still wishing he knew what you were thinking in that moment. So, he turned to look at Levi, as well.

"I went to check the door to see if there's anything that explains how he got in here. The electronic lock is broken. He forced himself in," He said with a low exhale, pulling out the chair right across from you and Erwin as he sat himself down.

The moment he said that, you realized that even with the best safety measures, with tools like that lock on your door, did absolutely nothing. He forced himself inside and there was nothing you could've done to prevent it either.

No matter how careful you thought you were, before you could even notice that psycho was in the apartment, he was already inside and you didn't even know until it was too late.

Until he had you right where he wanted you, getting you to come out of your room, and even if you hadn't, you know he would've taken matters into his own hands.

Its like the only comfort you had to keep you in this apartment safe was shattered with so much ease and facility. Everything you thought was enough to keep you safe was an illusion at this point and you keep kicking yourself for it over and over again.

But as Levi said those words, a thought occurred to you. If that man broke your apartment lock so easily and no hesitation break it and come inside to prey on you to come out of your room, that psycho's sinister and gut-wrenching smile flashed in your mind and you felt a shudder go through your body when you remembered and recalled his psychotic laughs as he cut the cloths bit by bit and his grin got bigger the more they ripped.

He was eager to watch you fall to your death, and it was bringing him satisfaction to know he was about to kill you. He found pleasure in watching you thrash, squirm and scream at the top of your lungs, begging to be saved or spared.

You stared down at the table numbly as the memory replayed in your head over and over, and you didn't even try to make it go away. You'll only hurt yourself more trying to push it out when you know that those memories will haunt you forever.

"He was..." You choked as you found your voice and both Erwin and Levi looked at you, each with indecipherable looks on their faces from hearing how small and shaken your voice is, along with how distant and far off your gaze was.

They watched as you swallowed hard and tried to find the best words to express the thoughts running through your head, but nothing seemed good enough, but even so, as concern washed over them and it showed on their faces, they remained quiet and didn't push you.

They didn't want to make this even worse for you. "He was so happy to...to see that I was going to die. He was enjoying it," You said, with a barely audible tone in your voice that made Erwin and Levi go impossibly still. They had no idea what to say to that, but they did feel their blood run cold at your words.

You remembered the way he leaned against the railing and peered down at you with nothing but enjoyment, and how he loved dragging it to see how far he could push you so you only felt fear until you moment you died. Not giving you a single moment of peace whatsoever.

The way his fingers were turning white from how hard he was gripping the metal because the rush of the sight below him was that enticing. He was taking pleasure in your terror and you had a feeling that the sound of his whistling would echo in your ears for a long time and you're not going to be able to do anything about it either.

You knew he was just a hired hitman, sent to take you out by somebody else you haven't been able to figure out yet. Even if it felt like he is, he wasn't the real enemy, but from the look in his eyes and his smile; you could tell he didn't need to have the order sent to kill you to enjoy it. Watching you die would've been pleasure enough.

Levi and Erwin stayed silent as they continued to carefully calculate what they could possibly do or even say to you in that moment. They silently decided that even if you seemed to be finished talking, they wouldn't say anything because they knew that their presence was more than enough and they'd only say something if you allowed it.

They didn't want to trigger anything or hurt you more. The more Levi heard you talk and realized how hollow your words sounds, his eyebrows  furrowed slightly as his stare fixated on you even hard—watching, breaking apart everything about you in front of him.

Your eyes, your body language, your tone. As if it was intel. Anything you could give him that would get him to catch this assassin as soon as possible so you didn't have to live in fear anymore and there wasn't a chance in hell that something like this happened again under his watch. He was more determined than ever. Just thinking about it made it harder to keep his emotions under control for your sake.

Erwin closed his eyes briefly, hiding his baby blue eyes, before he opened them again and his jaw clenched. His knuckles were turning white from how hard he had his hand in a fist, but still not saying a word, especially seeing how he saw that you were taking soft inhales as if preparing yourself to speak again.

Your fingers were tracing invisible shapes along the surface of the wood as your eyes continued to have this distant gaze to them. Your lips parted but nothing came out at first except a shaky exhale.

You closed your eyes, trying to ground yourself and trying to hide the tremble in your hands and the thudding in your chest that you could start to feel in your ears. The one thing that you knew would come back to haunt you started to replay in your head again and it got harder to continue or to even bring it up, but you had to.

"And...then there was that song," You said, feeling like your voice had no strength behind it whatsoever as those soft yet traumatic jazz tunes rang in your ears. It was the background music to your own demise.

That was the song that lured you out of your room in the first place and just recalling how the record spun on your record player flashed in your mind. That song had been the last thing you heard before that psycho snuck up behind you and then everything went black.

You didn't want to continue remembering what happened after that when you woke up either, but it was a consequential line of events that were all connected and you couldn't separate them.

You lightly shook your head and swallowed as you started to fiddle with your fingers. "Just from the look on his face, I could tell that killing me wasn't the only reason he was here. I realized a while ago, during the memorial, that he's just following orders from someone else.

Someone who really wants me dead. But after tonight...I can tell he really enjoys this. Every chance he gets to see me the way he did, to taunt me, he's going to take it. This isn't going to be the last time. I know it, " You said, knowing he'd already failed multiple times before.

The way he escalated it tonight, trapping you like that, proved how desperate he was to fulfill the job assigned to him by someone else. He wanted to kill you but he also wanted to enjoy it.

Savor his success. Levi seemed to know what you were thinking because he subconsciously nodded along and he leaned back in his chair crossing his arms in front of his chest, drumming his fingers on his bicep quietly, contemplating.

He was more focused on this, completely locked in and immersed, more than he had ever been. He wasn't going to let himself get distracted. His goals have expanded from just protecting his tattoo and getting it back.

It was about putting even more of his focus into protecting you and not just because he had to. But because he wanted to. Because he didn't want to ever have to see you like that ever again. You said that this isn't the last time it will happen, but to Levi?

Not if he has anything to do about it. And he will. "Sick bastard probably had that look on his face because he was about to-" Levi started but then cut himself off when he realized what words were about to come out of his mouth.

He couldn't bring himself to say it, or to let you hear it and make you relive it more. The guy had missed so many times in trying to kill you that he resorted to this. Just how desperate was he to get the job done and dispose of you like nothing ever happened?

Erwin caught the way that Levi stopped talking and let his head hand low. The blond raised an eyebrow, already having an idea of what the raven was thinking and what he wanted to say, and he turned to look at you to see if you had caught it too.

He looked in your direction briefly and seeing that your expression hadn't changed and you were still looking far off into the distance, unable to look further into what Levi had been meaning to say.

Erwin turned to look at Levi, crossed his arms and looked at him suspiciously with a small glint in his eyes. From the moment Levi appeared in your life, Erwin had always felt hesitant and not entirely trusting of Levi and recent events didn't reassure him that your bodyguard had good intentions. He was still trying to figure the raven-haired man out.

"Were you going to say something, Levi? Sounds like you know quite a bit with how a murderer thinks," Erwin said bluntly and somehow, that managed to knock you out of your trance and your head darted to Erwin with slightly widened eyes, and then briefly glancing at Levi, who was slowly looking up at staring Erwin down.

The table went silent for a couple seconds. Erwin did not know the supernatural aspects Levi possessed, or the fact that murder is quite literally part of his every day life as a demon, but he also didn't know that you were very much aware of this fact and that is one of the reasons you wanted Levi by your side to take down this assassin.

Despite everything that's happened, you know that Levi has been trying to weave his way through changing the way he uses to operate when he did deals, preyed on humans on the daily to keep himself alive, and most times went after people he thought actually deserved it. Bad people. People who caused harm to society and that he could use their own selfishness and greed against them.

It was very rare he actually went after innocent people, and when he did, it was like that one instance where you witnessed him doing a deal for the first time and he made a deal with that mother whose daughter was very sick, and he recklessly and thoughtlessly did that out of panic for concern of his own life so he wouldn't burst into flames for not doing deals regularly.

When he spoke to that little girl afterwards later that day, after that argument the two of you had and briefly cut things off, he realized he truly needed to change and he has been trying ever since. Trying to repurpose his powers at the very least and not necessarily erase his ways. For you. As hard as it's been.

But despite him truly trying to change, he does know how the mind of a murder works. Because he is one and there's no denying that. He's come to embrace that over 200 years of being alive.

Still, despite all the trouble and hurt he's caused you after promising doing things on your terms, his determination to go about his job differently hasn't change. He'd use it for good. He was sure he could do it now.

He'd use it to protect you like he should have done before. He won't let himself slip again. He wasn't just looking out for his own survival and self-interest, but its somehow shifted into your protection and care.

After Levi said that, your apartment went quiet for a bit. Out of the three people on that table, only one was being kept out of the loop and Erwin probably thought that you had no idea either and were completely gullible about his suspicions towards who Levi really is.

You had to keep your mouth shut, not let him steer towards the direction of finding out Levi's real identity because it had to be kept a secret because the less people know, the better. But apparently, Levi didn't seem to be on the same wavelength as you on this.

"It's not a big deal. I just happen to know how a person like that thinks," Levi said casually and your mouth nearly dropped open as your head snapped to look at your bodyguard.

It's not like Erwin can figure out Levi is a demon just from that, or maybe he could because of how smart and calculating your childhood friend is, but either way that was a hint that was way too blatantly close to his true identity.

You don't know what's going on in Levi's head but you were giving him the benefit of the doubt. He knows what he's doing. Right? You turned your head briefly to look at Erwin narrowing his eyes at your bodyguard, and you knew your friend was wondering what the hell Levi meant by that, increasing his curiosity.

Before the two men in front of you could continue their staring contest, a thought suddenly popped into your head. Your phone. You dropped it somewhere before the assassin gagged you with that cloth and then you woke up on the balcony.

Where is it? Oh, you really hoped that guy didn't take it or take any of your things that he thought could be used to trace your murder if he had been successful. You started to anxiously look back behind your chair, and then toward the area where you remember the psycho caught you and you dropped it.

"My phone. Where is it?" You said out loud, your movements suddenly becoming more frantic in your own chair as you prepare to stand up to look for it when you didn't see your phone on the spot on the floor you thought it would be. But it wasn't.

Levi perked up when he noticed your panic and then he quickly came to your rescue without a second thought. He reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out your phone. He'd found it earlier after the two of you had gotten back to your apartment and he'd been holding onto it since then.

Now he could finally give it back to you. "Here you go," He said softly, and you turned your head and body back around at the sound of Levi's voice and looked down to see that he was extending his hand out to you with your phone in his grasp.

You were a bit stunned for a second, not expecting him to have found it, but you were thankful nonetheless. Your eyes darted back and forth between your phone and him and Levi took your silence with understanding of how unexpected this must be for you.

Despite him saving you and doing the impossible to keep you alive earlier, this still felt very out of character, but you weren't complaining. Levi felt the need to explain himself.

"I, um...I found it on the floor earlier when we came back up," He said and a look of recognition crossed your face. You nodded as your lips twitched into a gentle and thoughtful smile.

Your movements were hesitant but you still reached over to take your phone from Levi's hand, and as small as it was, the moment your fingers brushed against each other, the both of you physically flinched and recoiled from the brief contact.

While Levi crossed his arms and looked away, clearing his throat, you immediately put your focus back on your phone to try and ignore the butterflies swarming your stomach all the while you shifted uncomfortably.

This did not go unnoticed by Erwin either, who managed to catch every flinch, every reaction, and movement you and Levi made with the simplest of gestures you have with each other. It made something inside him stir painfully.

You unlocked your phone and started to head to the first thing you thought to check. You have cameras in your apartment installed when things started to get more heated with this whole assassin problem came up and you wanted to make sure that if anything like this happened, it would be documented.

You just hoped that the guy hadn't tampered with any of them and thought ahead. Though, many things that happened today indicated that he didn't think many things through, like leaving the door wide open for one. It was the sole reason Levi was able to come in and get to you.

Erwin and Levi both watched you carefully as you rifled through your phone and through security footage. You went to the files of the most recently recorded and saved security footage, and nearly sighing in relief when you saw the videos were untouched. You just hoped they were actually intact.

This footage could give you a clear view of what this man looked like and it could show you hints that you might have missed. In the moment you were hanging on the edge of the building, your mind was very selective about the details about this man remained in your brain.

You tapped the first video and turned your phone sideways so that it was in full screen. As the video started playing, you noticed Erwin and Levi leaning forward with curiosity to see. You quickly made it easier for them and adjusted the phone so that you were holding it up at an angle all three of you could watch.

As the three of you observed the footage closely, while Levi's eyes narrowed slightly, Erwin's eyebrows creased together and you leaned in forward just a little bit more, all of you watched as the man effectively broke through the lock of your apartment through the outside.

Your entire body tensed as all of you watched him nonchalantly walked into your apartment with a briefcase in hand. This was before he'd put on the music on the record player and lured you out.

So far, the man has kept his face away from the camera so none of you could get a good look at what he looked like. So far, your mind only had a distorted image of him since you couldn't get a good look at him before.

But all of you watched as he approached your couch and set down his briefcase, opening it and taking out the vinyl record he'd used before to play that dreaded song. But once he did, you felt your heart stop beating for a second as all color drained from your face.

You may not remember much from what he looked like in detail, but the man in that video was not the same one you saw that night when he tried to kill you in that cab. His face was entirely different.

The facial structure was different, the hair was different, and everything about him was entirely different. "It-It's not him," You muttered in horror as you turned your head away from the video and made eye contact with Levi, who had the same perplexed look on his face as you did. Levi knew that wasn't the guy either. He fought him. Face to face. Both of you came to the same realization almost simultaneaously, while Erwin remained clueless.

"Wait. What do you mean it's not him?" Erwin asked with a sense of desperation to try to get into both yours and Levi's heads since both of you seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

His eyes darted back and forth, seeing how both you and your bodyguard seemed to be communicating telepathically or something, speaking with your eyes, wordlessly getting your points across without having to say anything at all.

Levi's fists clenched against the table as his body became rigid, narrowing his eyes further on the video as he started to piece together in his head what this could be about.

"That guy looks nothing like the one that tried to kill you that night," Levi said and you nodded numbly and absentmindedly as your eyes remained locked on the video in front of you. Cold chills suddenly ran up and down your spine as everything started to make sense.

Erwin blinked a couple times and then shook his head, bringing one hand to press against his temple as he tried to get up to speed with you and Levi. "Okay, hold on. Are you saying there's more than-" He started, but then was quickly cut off when Levi's voice interrupted his train of thought.

"Hold on," Levi said, making everyone else at the table go quiet as the raven raised one hand and used his pointer finger to gesture at something in the video he noticed. You and Erwin instantly both leaned closer to see what Levi was pointing to, because judging by the sharp look in your bodyguard's silver eyes, he seemed to have found a goldmine of a clue.

"There. See that?" His voice was low and sharp as you and Erwin focused on what he was referring to. "Scratches. On his neck. I'm not just imagining that, am I?" He pointed out.

You felt your breathing stop for a couple moments after a couple seconds of searching passed and you saw what he was pointing to. He wasn't imagining it. You rewinded the video to get an angle where it showed clearly that behind the collar of his suit, this man had bloody scratches on his neck.

And that's when it hit you. You've seen those scratches before. You definitely have. It was the first thing you noticed when you got into that cab back then, not knowing it was the man who would make your life hell from then on.

Back then, you hadn't thought anything of it until it was too late and he tried his first attempt at killing you, but now it was flashing in your head all over again because you quickly pieced together the fact that the man in the video playing on your phone and that tried to kill you tonight by sending you plummeting to your death, was the same one that tried to kill you on that highway that night too. But what still baffled you was how the same man could look completely different each time.

Different face. Different voice. Different build. Different facial structure. And yet...the same scratches. Now you were more certain than ever that this was the man from the cab, from the acid attack, and tonight. But how?

You still didn't know how. You couldn't wrap your head around it no matter what you did, making your head start to crumble to pieces with confusion.

All you could do now was keep wondering how they could possibly be pulling this off. Makeup? That had to be it, right? It's the only thing that made sense and it's the only thing that could possibly connect all three murder attempts.

It was so simple but its the only logical explanation, right? Your head felt like mush from all this hitting you at once. "Levi," You started, quietly. Levi's head immediately darted to you when he heard how small and panic your voice sounded despite how weak it fell on his ears.

He knew by the look in your ears that you'd connected the dots to something, and he was ready to be all ears. "The cab driver back then also had those scratches. Remember?" You said, your voice coming out nearly as a shudder, and Levi's face quickly shifted into one of remembrance and recognition when he realized what you were trying to say. You didn't need to say anything else, because from what he was hearing, it was the only thing that seems to make any sense now.

"So...he's changing his face?" He said and you felt a lump form in your throat as you nodded and you felt all blood drain from your face when Levi voiced exactly what you'd been thinking about. It felt so much more real to hear it from somebody else.

"Is that why I couldn't find him before?" Levi let slip, not realizing what he said in front of Erwin, referring to the time he was trying to use his powers the other day in your office to picture the face he thought he'd fought face to face on that highway, but he knew it was useless now.

It's not that his powers had been acting up. He wasn't able to find him because the face he saw that night wasn't his real face. Neither was the one from tonight.

You tensed up rigidly when Levi admitted that in front of Erwin, but you just hoped that Levi's were vague enough that your friend assumed that Levi had simply tried to make an investigation of his own with the face thought he'd seen and it didn't work. At least part of that was true.

Not the part that involved Levi's powers, and you hoped Erwin didn't catch on or jump to conclusions just from that. But now wasn't the time to worry about that. You couldn't worry about that right now. But Erwin was thinking about that.

All he could think about is what other instance other than tonight did Levi get a chance to take a closer look at the assassin. He felt out of the loop, knowing he was missing a lot of key details here that you and Levi already know about. What haven't they told him that he was continuing to try and guess to see if he was right?

"What I saw wasn't his real face," He confirmed for you out loud and all you could do was let out a shuddering breath as you let out a shuddering breath and you felt your skin crawl uncomfortably Erwin didn't have the full context, and Levi's words alone made him realize this went so much deeper then he ever knew and what he did know wasn't even the tip of the iceberg.

He was extremely lost and he needed some sort of confirmation that he was hearing things right. He wanted to help. "Could he be changing his face with some sort of disguise? It'd be perfect cover. If he can do that, he could be anyone. Anywhere. At any time," Erwin said, hoping he was finally able to get up to speed and piece this together from what he's heard and you turned your head to look at him with a shaky nod and a horrified gaze that shook every part of his body with concern.

You looked even more scared than before, because you knew this is something you couldn't fight the way you have been if all of this was the case. If he could be anyone, how can you ever feel safe again?

How do you know who you can trust? You tried to hide the way that your body began to tremble with fear and this bombardment of information and realizations, but you weren't as subtle as you thought.

Levi saw it immediately. The subtle shift in your demeanor. And he fought every muscle in his body telling him not to go stand by your side as you seem to be seeing your life flash right before your eyes, and as if it was physically hurting you to remember everything at once as if it was crashing down at you with no warning once everything started to connect.

You let out shaky exhales as you propped up your elbows on the table, lowered your head onto your hand and then combed your hands back through your hair, gripping the ends. He wasn't at a point where he could admit it, but he knew that the sights made his heart twist and it wrecked him completely.

He hated seeing you fall apart, never getting a moment to breathe, to rest, to feel pace. With trauma after trauma. More than anything, he wanted to be the one to take that pain and your problems away, so you'd never have to live in fear again.

He didn't know exactly how he'd do it yet, but he knew for sure that he wouldn't think twice about fulfilling his end of his deal with you no matter what it took. He knows that much. He wasn't supposed to care this much. He didn't think he would. But he was aching.

Levi didn't know how much he was letting his own thoughts translate to his body language. His body was adjusting uncomfortably on his seat, twitching, as if he was itching to get to you, and his eyes were inexplicably soft as he gazed at you and wondered what he could do, not knowing where he stood.

It didn't go unnoticed. Erwin's eyes went from you to Levi, and his baby blue eyes darkened and narrowed when noticing the way Levi seemed to be fighting his own demons to know what would be okay and not okay to do. The look in his eyes wasn't one of a bodyguard, and not one of a friend either.

Erwin had seen that look before. The yearning. The hesitation. That storm behind Levi's striking, gunmetal eyes? Erwin had seen it before. One too many times. He'd worn that look for so long, he thought it belonged to him. But apparently he's met his match. He never thought he'd see the day.

It was a look that didn't exude friendship, that's for sure. It was the look of so much want for someone that Erwin wasn't even sure if Levi was even aware of yet.

But just from that, Erwin decided right then and there that he would set Levi's mind straight if he was planning to try anything funny with you, continue confusing you and playing with your emotions like he's seen him do to you before ever since he came into the picture.

His own feelings aside, Erwin needed to know if Levi was only planning on continuing to toying with you, or if he was serious about you. He could probably fool you, but Levi couldn't fool Erwin even if he tried. He had no intention of being a bystander and letting you get hurt by someone who doesn't know what he wants. Now more than ever, he wouldn't let you get hurt even more.

Erwin cleared his throat and swiftly pushed his chair back, standing up and brushing off his clothes. "Levi. Can I talk to you?" Erwin asked calmly, but his voice was stone cold as nothing but seriousness creeped up on his tone, which Levi very much caught onto.

The raven tore his eyes away from you and looked up at Erwin who looked down at your bodyguard, while Levi remained sitting. Your bodyguard looked back towards you, debating if now should be a good time to leave you by yourself.

But when he looked up at Erwin, he knew that the blond most likely wouldn't take no for an answer either. He would just have to hurry so he could get back to you as quickly as possible. He didn't want to take too long. He didn't want to let your mind spiral with no one to catch you.

So, with a lot of inner debate, Levi simply nods. He takes a brief glance at you and then with a sigh, he stands up and steps away from the table. Erwin started to make his way around the table and then started to head into the guest bedroom where he and Levi could talk in private for a bit and then head back outside.

Levi followed behind Erwin, but not without taking a couple glances back at you. You'd taken your head out of your hands and now you were leaning back against your chair, arms wrapped around your body, while your gaze was set far off into the room but on nothing in particular.

An empty, unmoving and deadened gaze is what it was. It's what made Levi worry more about leaving you by yourself. But he assured himself that no matter what it is that Erwin wants to talk about, he'd be sure to make it quick.

"We'll be right back, y/n," He called out to you and assured you just before him and Erwin reached the room, and as soon as you heard Levi's voice, you turned your head to look at him and a gentle yet pained smile tugged on your lips as you nodded wordlessly. Seeing that made Levi's shoulder sink with relief as his face softened and he turned his head back around to follow Erwin into the guest room.

He felt a little bit better knowing you were giving him the reassurance that you'd be okay for a couple minutes by yourself, even if it was just with a smile.

To you, it made your heart flutter just knowing Levi wanted to make sure you were okay before you were left alone, and that he wanted you to know that he'd come back to be by your side again soon enough.

When Levi turned back around and continued to follow after Erwin, he saw the blond open the door to the guest room and step inside, leaving it open as he walked further inside. Levi slowed in his steps as he walked into the room.

He was about to grab onto the door handle to close the door, but not before he took one last glance at you and he saw you. Sitting down, enclosing yourself in your own body as your head tipped forward and your hair fell forward like a curtain, not wanting anyone to see the facade you put up for Levi fell apart in seconds when you thought both Erwin and your bodyguard were out of sight.

Levi felt that tension in his shoulders rise again. There it is again. The knife twisting in his heart.

That smile seconds ago was just to ease his own worries, while you were still harboring every single one you can't seem to get rid of. Levi exhaled and forced himself to get this over with as quickly as possible, grabbing the door handle and slowly moving the door to close it fully.

But he couldn't. Just as the door was inches away from closing, and your figure outside of the door was getting more and more cut off, Levi stopped his movements abruptly.

He stopped just as the door was left ajar a couple inches away from the doorframe. Just enough to see you still sitting at the table. It wasn't much, but it made him feel closer to you.

He knew you were safe and sound. It put him at ease. He didn't want to let you out of his sight ever again. He exhaled and then repeated that in his head, swearing to himself he'd never fail to protect you again.

Letting go of the door handle, Levi turned around and started to walk further into the room just as Erwin began to speak. The raven observed the blond's stance. He had his arms crossed, rigid and straight posture and stone cold eyes.

Levi raised an eyebrow at what he was seeing in front of him, already preparing himself for the words Erwin wanted to say to him. In his head, he already had a faint idea of what was to come from this. A lecture of sorts it looked like, just from how Erwin presented himself in that moment.

"Levi," Erwin started, his voice even, but his posture stiff. Levi watched him carefully, slipping his hands into his pockets. The room had gone still, almost. Like the calm before a storm, and Erwin's silence only made it worse. He wasn't just looking at Levi. He was assessing him.

He prepared to talk to Levi about everything he's been speculating about from watching him and you from afar, not just from tonight, but ever since the raven came into the picture. Levi straightened after a moment, exhaling through his nose.

He exuded confidence, coolness and certainty in himself, not worried about being swayed by this conversation. "What did you pull me in here for? We can't leave y/n out there too long." He pulled his hands free, out of his pockets, and crossed them over his chest.

That was all the confirmation Erwin needed to continue and his stance shifted a bit, arms crossing, eyes locking onto Levi with some sort of defiance behind them, while Levi stared back blankly, and frankly, slightly amused.

"If you're really that concerned," Erwin started, voice cool yet challenging. "Since you want this to be quick, I'll be blunt," He said, and Levi raised an eyebrow, not at all intimidated by the man in front of him and his words.

He already knew this is where this was going from the moment they walked into the room. "I haven't felt entirely confident in this bodyguard routine. Something's off. Both of you are hiding something, and not just tonight. I've been noticing it for days," Erwin said and Levi bit the inside of his cheek, but other than that, he didn't react much beyond a glint that flashed in his eyes.

But Erwin wasn't wrong. Both of you had been more secretive lately, trying to keep this agreement and his identity under wraps. It was because both you and Levi were entangled in something much bigger than Erwin could even begin to guess.

The less people knew the better, but both you and Levi could tell that it was starting to really bother him not being able to do his part.

Erwin didn't know it but to you, he'd been helping more than he could ever know but Erwin himself thought he could be doing so much more and that he's slacking and isn't doing enough.

Those documents he got for you were a huge help, and he's been a huge help to investigate Zeke from the inside. He thought he could be doing so much more than standing on the sidelines.

More than falling second to Levi. Though, he truly didn't want to think about it like that. This wasn't about him and he knew it.

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