Drowning in Darkness~[Levi Ackerman x OC]

Chapter 15: Comrades

Adeline shifted uneasily on her feet as she stood on the other side of the door to Erwin's office. Her stomach tightened as her mind ran through everything that he could possibly be wanting to talk to her about, and each one of them pointed to something that she would rather not think about; her past. 

Erwin probably knew more about her childhood than Adeline did. She had done her best to wipe it all from her memories, made a conscious effort to forget everything, but Erwin had studied her case thoroughly, and had likely memorized every horrid thing she had done to survive. It was his job, after all. 

She gave herself one more moment of hesitation before raising her fist and knocking on the door. 

Erwin opened it a second later, his thick eyebrows rising in surprise as he looked down at her. He stepped back to allow her to enter.

"What, are you expecting someone else?" she teased lightly as walked through the threshold, swallowing her nerves as she swept her eyes around the familiar space.

The floors were polished and the shelves were dusted, but his large desk was cluttered with maps and documents and other files. A chalkboard was hung on one of the walls, loose scribbles written on the surface about formation ideas, and a map that depicted every inch of the small world they were contained to took up most of the space behind his desk. 

"Of course not," Erwin replied. He shut the door behind him as Adeline settled down onto one of the plush armchairs tucked away in the corner of his office. He made his way over to a cabinet, and Adeline watched his back as he pulled two glasses and a bottle of liquor from the shelf. 

Adeline quirked a brow. If alcohol was needed for their conversation, it would be worse than she thought. 

Erwin poured them both a generous amount before passing one of the glasses off to her, and then he sat in the chair across from her and rubbed at his jaw for a moment. 

"Just spit it out, Erwin," Adeline said. She raised the glass to her lips and didn't flinch as the liquid lit a path from her tongue to her stomach, instead letting her shoulders relax as the liquor warmed her belly. 

He followed her lead and downed the contents of his glass in a single swallow. "Your brother has broken out of prison, Adeline. We currently have no leads or witnesses willing to come forward, and as such, we have no clue as to his location."

Adeline stiffened, her hand tightening around her glass so much that she wondered if it would shatter in her palm. "When?"

Guilt flashed in his eyes. "About a week ago."

Her hand traced the scars on her face absentmindedly. Her skin crawled with unease, the tattoo on her back that she had gotten when she was a child burning with the urge to slip back into the Underground and take care of her unfinished business. 

That being said, she wasn't exactly surprised that her brother had escaped. When she made the deal that sold him out, she knew that the only way to stop would be to execute him, and Shadis and the other higher-ups didn't take her advice; she was honestly surprised that it had taken him this long to break out of his concrete cell. 

"We knew this would happen," she said, choosing her words carefully. A headache came upon her suddenly, and she didn't know if it was from her concussion or the bad news. 

Erwin tilted his head to study her. "Yes, I suppose that you're right. Nevertheless, I have people searching for him as we speak--"

"Don't be stupid, Erwin. We both know that's only a waste of resources. If Jeremiah doesn't want to be found, then he won't be."

Adeline's brother had so many connections, so many friends that owed him favors that he would be able to hide in the shadows for a long, long time. 

Erwin grabbed the bottle from his desk and refilled his glass, passing it off to Adeline once he was finished. "Do you think he'll come for you?"