Chapter Text
Mikasa was running as fast as she could, her lungs burning with exertion as she sprinted down the street. When she reached the corner she risked a look back, stealing a quick glance over her shoulder.
They were coming, gaining on her. And they were armed.
Cursing, she rounded the corner and renewed her break-neck pace, her quads burning as she pushed them to their limits. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had to run flat out, and her body wasn’t used to the strain.
And to make matters worse, the drugs still coursing through her system were only heightening the strain, making it incredibly difficult to move and focus.
But she couldn’t stop. If she stopped, she was dead. So she ran and ran, winding through the city streets in a desperate attempt to shake her attackers.
She thought she’d lost them when the crack of gunfire drew her attention. Gasping, she reflexively shielded herself as a bullet impacted a shop window to her left. She whipped around, her eyes furtively scanning the street for a sign of the shooter.
She saw him just in time. He was approaching from the opposite side of the street, and Mikasa ducked and rolled as he took another shot at her.
But she was a hair too slow, and she gasped in pain as the bullet grazed her leg, slicing into the skin of her upper thigh. She fell hard, clutching at the wound.
I have to get out of here, she thought, her mind a whir of panic. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she forced herself to her feet and broke into the fastest run she could muster, ignoring the way her leg throbbed with each stride.
She veered down an alley a few yards shy of the nearest intersection, her breath coming in short gasps. Despite how badly she was struggling, she kept running, racing down the alley and turning onto a side street, intentionally avoiding all of the main roads. She knew didn’t have much time left; if she couldn’t shake her pursuers soon, her leg would be the least of her worries.
She had nearly made it to the end of another side street when the purr of an engine reached her ears. Mikasa twirled around, squinting against the sudden blinding light as a pair of headlights drew near. For a second she was afraid it was one of them, but the driver didn't seem to be intentionally trying to run her down.
Taking a wild chance, Mikasa leapt into the middle of the road and waved her arms above her head. “Hey!” She yelled. “Stop! Please!”
The car didn’t slow down.
**
Levi flicked through the stations on the radio, his scowl deepening as each new disappointing tune blasted through his speakers. Finally, he shut it off, preferring the quiet to the awful noise that was somehow viewed as music by the majority of the population. It was late, he was tired, and the last thing he wanted was some pop culture shit stuck in his head while he endured another lonely night.
Taking a shortcut, he turned down a side street, cutting the turn sharply just because he could. That was the nice thing about German cars—they handled like a dream. It was a small pleasure, but small pleasures were all he had left to enjoy these days.
Sighing, he reached over and rummaged in the glove compartment for his cigarettes, momentarily taking his eyes off the road.
“Gotcha,” he muttered as his hand closed around the familiar shape of the carton. He tossed it onto the passenger seat and closed the glove compartment, turning his attention back to the road.
“Fuck!” He hollered as he saw the girl waving wildly in the glare of his headlights. He slammed on the breaks, nearly stalling his car as he screeched to a halt mere inches from her, his tires burning rubber on the road behind him. If he’d reacted any slower he would’ve killed her.
For a suspended moment, Levi just stared at her as she stood there. Her chest was heaving and her wide, dark eyes were locked onto his through the glass of the windshield. Her leg was bleeding and she had a couple of nasty scratches on her face, and Levi imagined there were probably more hidden beneath what was left of her ratty clothing.
Apparently unfazed by the fact that he'd nearly run her over, the girl hobbled around to his passenger door and knocked on the window. “Please,” she managed between shaky breaths. "You have to help me.”
Levi pressed his lips into a hard line. She’s probably some strung out junkie- might even be dangerous.
There was no point in taking the risk.
Decision made, Levi broke eye contact without saying a word, and then he depressed the gas pedal with more force than necessary, leaving her there in the middle of the street.
He tried not to look back, but some sick part of him couldn’t help it and he found himself watching her shrinking figure in his rear view mirror. She looked pathetic and helpless, just standing there staring after him, arms hanging limply at her sides.
“I’m done with this,” he said aloud. “Done.” She’s not my problem.
He was still repeating that line to himself and staring in the rear view when he saw the men come sprinting into the alley. They were heading for the girl, guns in hand.
Surprised, Levi stopped the car, his eyes widening. It was one thing to leave some junkie to come down off of a bad trip, but it was a whole other thing to let a girl get shot to death while he watched. He was heartless, but he wasn’t a complete monster.
So prove it, some inner voice taunted him.
With a curse, Levi threw the car in reverse, zipping back towards the girl.
She jumped aside as he reached her, and he quickly leaned over and flung the passenger door open, keeping one eye glued to the beefy man barreling towards them. They didn’t have much time.
“Get in,” he barked.
He didn’t have to ask twice. The girl launched herself into the car, slamming the door shut behind her.
“Buckle up.”
Revving the engine, Levi once again burned rubber as he tore off down the narrow street, cringing when he heard one of the men fire his gun at them. The first bullet missed them but the second took out Levi's right mirror, shattering the glass on impact.
Furious, Levi weaved on the road even as he increased his speed, making the car a harder mark to hit. When they reached the end of the street he veered left, running through a stoplight and speeding the wrong way down a one-way street, exiting onto a larger avenue and following it for a few blocks before finally turning into a convenience store parking lot when he was certain they had no tails. He flicked the headlights off and pulled into a space that was partially blocked from view of the main road—just to be safe.
And then he listened.
Everything was quiet.
Satisfied that they were alone, Levi took a second to calm himself down. One of his hands was still holding the steering wheel in a death grip, the other clutching the stick shift. He relaxed his grip slowly - finger by finger - as his pulse slowed, and then he engaged the parking brake and leaned back in his seat, letting out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
Finally, he looked over at the girl.
She was fading in and out, her eyelids fluttering as she fought to stay conscious. Perspiration dotted her forehead, and the wound on her leg was soaking into the fabric of her jeans and bleeding into his leather upholstery.
If she hadn’t been in such bad shape he would’ve throttled her.
“Hey.” He snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Can you hear me?”
Her voice was thin as a reed. “Yes.”
That was a good sign. He reached over her and again opened the glove compartment, this time searching for the wad of spare bills he kept there in case of emergency. “What’s your name?” He asked as he palmed the money.
“Mi...na. My name…is Mina.”
He tucked the money into his pocket. “All right. Mina, I need you to listen. I’m going to go inside and get some things for your leg. Stay here, don’t move, and keep yourself awake. I’d take you straight to the hospital, but you won’t make it there, not bleeding the way you are.”
She grabbed his arm, her grip surprisingly strong for someone who looked like she was halfway to the grave.
“No hospital,” she murmured. Her dark eyes were full of fear. “They’ll find me there. Please don’t…just leave me here.”
What the hell kind of trouble is this girl in? “If I leave you here you’re going to die.”
“I’ll take the risk.”
Levi felt his brows reach his hairline in disbelief, and he took a closer look at his passenger.
She was in bad shape - that was for damn sure - but now he looked beyond the cuts and bruises. There was resilience in her dark eyes and the hard set of her jaw, strength in the cut muscles of her arms, stubbornness in the way she refused to succumb to unconsciousness. Whatever else she was, this girl was a fighter.
And that was something he could respect.
“All right,” he yielded. “No hospital.” He opened his door and took the keys. “I’ll be back in a minute. Try not to die.”
Without waiting for a reply, he slammed the door, hit the locks, and headed for the store.
I’ll help her tonight, and then she’s on her own. She’s not my problem. I said I was done with this life, and I meant it. I'm fucking done.
Of course, he’d been saying that for seven years, and here he was. Still in the game. Living proof that once you're in, you're in for good. Kenny had tried to tell him that, once, had tried to ingrain in him the truth that there was no way out of this life.
But his alcoholic uncle had been wrong; there was a way out. And Levi planned to take it.
He pulled open the door of the convenience store, ignoring the ding of the bell and the call of the cashier asking him if he was looking for anything in particular, and he walked towards the aisle boasting "FIRST AID", his black mood getting blacker.
Today I help the girl, and tomorrow I get out. Simple as that.
Right. As if anything in his life ever went as planned.