Chapter Text
JULY
The heavy gray door swung open with a bang. Everyone sitting in the lobby jumped, anxious eyes finding the man glowering in the doorway.
“Which one of you is Jaeger?” the man asked, the harshness of his voice mirrored in his hard glare.
A young man seated in the back row slowly raised his hand.
“Put your hand down, you’re not in kindergarten. Get your ass over here.”
Jaeger stood up quickly and started toward the door. He stumbled and nearly tripped over the row of chairs in front of him.
The man in the doorway rolled his eyes and stepped back to allow Jaeger to pass.
“Third office on the left,” he said, pointing down the hallway.
Obediently, Jaeger moved forward. He twitched as the door slammed, but kept walking.
A girl was crying in the first office he passed. The woman in the second had her elbows propped on her desk, staring intently at the computer monitor.
Jaeger hesitated in front of the third and looked back over his shoulder.
“Go on, we don’t have all day.”
He took a breath and stepped into the small square office, eyes darting around as he made a quick scan of his surroundings.
No one had gone through the trouble of decorating the office. There was a desk, a filing cabinet, and a bookshelf, on which the spines of several volumes stood in perfect order. A corkboard was on the wall behind the desk, neatly arranged papers speared into place with plain white push pins. The only other defining feature of the otherwise blank walls was a cluster of frames hung on the wall to Jaeger’s left. They held some type of certificates; Jaeger didn’t have the opportunity to read them before the man followed him into the office.
“Sit down,” the man snapped, pointing to the single chair aligned forlornly in front of the desk. It was hard plastic supported by short metal legs.
Jaeger sat, reminded of the desks he’d occupied in his school days, while the man circled and sat in his own cushioned desk chair.
There was one detail that Jaeger didn’t fail to miss. On the edge of the desk there was a black plate with a name written in neat gold print: Levi Ackerman.
Levi Ackerman grabbed a file without looking at it, his narrow eyes still on Jaeger.
“Why do you look so confused?” he said. “You’ve been here once already for your intake appointment. What’s your problem?”
“Nothing,” said Jaeger. He averted his eyes and stared down at his knees.
He felt Levi Ackerman’s scowl, but didn’t look up.
Levi flipped open the file and glanced at the information within.
“How do you say your first name?”
“Eren.”
“Why’s it spelled like that?”
“I don’t know. That’s just the way my mom spelled it.”
Levi made a scoffing sound but didn’t comment further.
“Why are you here, Eren Jaeger?”
“You have my file,” said Eren. “You know why I’m here.”
“I know a lot about you,” said Levi, tapping a finger against the pages. “I still want you to answer the question.”
A long moment passed while Eren tried to decide what to say.
“Hey.” Levi slapped a hand against the surface of his desk. “Look at me when I’m talking to you.”
Eren was startled into doing just that. “Assault,” he answered automatically. “That’s why I’m here.”
“Lover’s spat?” said Levi. “Decide your girlfriend needed to learn to keep her mouth shut?”
“No,” said Eren. An edge of defensiveness sharpened his voice like the blade of a knife. “I’d never hurt someone I was dating.”
“So as long as you’re not in a relationship with them it’s not a big deal if you throw a few punches,” said Levi. “At least you have standards.”
Sarcasm dripped from the words like acid.
Eren gritted his teeth and said nothing.
“So who’d you beat up?” said Levi. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “Tell me a story.”
Eren didn’t like the scrutiny at all. He looked over his shoulder at the open doorway. He wasn’t comfortable sitting like that, with his back exposed. It put him on edge, just like the way Levi was watching him put him on edge.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Eren.
“I didn’t ask what you wanted.”
“I don’t care what you asked. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Levi’s glare became hardened steel. He shifted in his chair and rested his arms on the edge of his desk, leaning forward slightly. “If you’re going to bring this attitude into my office,” he said, “then we’re going to have some problems, Jaeger. You’re going to be on probation for a year, whether you like it or not. So I suggest you get the fuck over yourself and do what it takes to stay out of jail. Do you understand that?”
Eren’s blood boiled beneath his skin. He felt like he was gasoline, and someone had just struck a match beneath his chair.
“Yes,” he said through clenched teeth. “I understand.”
“Good.” Levi sat back again. He picked up the file and scanned some of the pages. “Is this your first charge, Jaeger?”
“Yes.”
“Then there’s a small ray of hope waiting for you at the end of your year. If you don’t fuck up you’ll get this wiped off your record and come out with a clean slate. That’s good for you. Violent offenses don’t look good on a background check.”
Eren just nodded.
“Have you been arrested since you were here last month for your intake?”
“No.”
“Has your address or phone number changed?”
“No.”
“Are you working anywhere?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Eren just shrugged. “Haven’t found anything.”
Levi’s stare was as flat as Eren’s file. “Maybe you should try harder,” he said. “If you don’t bring my money every month this isn’t going to go well for you.”
“I have it,” said Eren. He shifted forward and fished for his wallet. When he flipped it open it was devoid of anything except a worn driver’s license and a creased paper. He removed the paper, unfolded it, and slid it across the desk to Levi. “Forty bucks,” he said. “Money order only.”
Levi snatched it up and examined it. “If you don’t have a job where’d you get the money?”
“My sister let me borrow it.”
Levi scoffed. “You’re twenty-four years old, Jaeger. It’s time to grow up and take care of yourself, don’t you think?”
Eren bit down on the inside of his cheek to stop himself from responding.
Levi made some notes in the file, sketched out a receipt, and pushed it toward Eren. “Hold on to that,” he said. “If you don’t have proof of what you paid I can cash this in and put it in my pocket.”
“I think if you were going to do that you wouldn’t mention it.”
“You don’t know me, Jaeger. You don’t know what I might do. I don’t trust you, so it’s best if you don’t trust me, either. That’s the safest thing to do.”
Eren heard footsteps in the hallway and looked over his shoulder again. A tall man in khakis and a button-up strode by, a timid blonde girl trailing along after him.
“Do you have ADD?” said Levi. “You’re having a hard time paying attention.”
Eren forced himself to look back at Levi.
“The rules were explained to you at intake,” said Levi. “Any questions?”
“No. I know what I’m supposed to do.”
“Good,” said Levi. “Pay off all your shit, show up when I tell you to, and don’t get arrested. That’s about it. And for you in particular, watch your attitude when you come here. It’s easier for me to put shitty brats in jail than to have to deal with them. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Since you don’t have a job,” said Levi, reaching for a stack of business cards to his left, “you can’t be picky about when I schedule your appointments.” He flipped open a planner and turned to the first week of August. He sketched Eren’s name onto the page without looking at him, then printed the date on the card. He offered it to Eren with a raised brow. “Be back this day at this time. Don’t be late.”
Eren took the card and glanced down at it. Levi’s name and contact information were centered on the card. Below it his next appointment was written in a neat script.
“Okay,” said Eren.
Levi turned his attention to his computer and started typing. Eren waited for a moment, wondering if that was his dismissal. At length he said, “So I can go now? That’s it?”
“Yeah, that’s it,” said Levi, his eyes still on the screen. “Get out.”
Eren didn’t wait to be told twice. He stood, exited into the hallway, and found that it was much easier to breathe without the sharp edge of Levi’s stare slicing into him.
He was not looking forward to August.