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Levi had never experienced guilt before. It was new. It was foreign. It sent the strangest feeling throughout his entire body, his heart sinking in a way completely unfamiliar. Every sob that wracked Eren's fragile form was an uncomfortable shiver down the demon's spine.

He didn't like it one bit.

"H-How . . . why?"

The sniffle caused the strangest ache in Levi's chest, and he pushed it down immediately.

"You wanted to survive, didn't you?" he responded with his typical collected calm. "I had no other choice."

"You could have warned me," Eren whispered, voice so faint and quiet a human wouldn't have picked it up. "You could have, at least."

"Eren - "

The raise in the angel's voice was so sudden Levi flinched. "You could have asked before ruining my life, you monster!"

Never before had words stung so harshly. He'd been called so much worse, been cursed and abused for smaller mistakes. And yet shame still flooded Levi's body, coursing through his veins and mingling with the guilt. What was he supposed to do? Let the kid die? Be held responsible for the loss of an innocent? Possibly allow war to break out? But now that pure soul wasn't pure. It was like a spilled inkwell, a mistake that could have been avoided, and was now slowly seeping into the white parchment and ruining the blank canvas.

When those teal eyes turned towards him, Levi could see it for an instant. Those two pinpricks on Eren's neck, the mating mark, before it became invisible when the brunet's head lowered. The lust that still swirled in those green depths. The fire, the anger - a manifestation of Levi's own sins that seeped through their now unbreakable bond.

What had he been thinking?

"I - I'm sorry," came a flustered, hoarse whimper before Levi could get out his own pathetic apology. Eren sounded frightened and confused, a downplay on the emotions that no doubt threatened to overwhelm him. "I've never yelled at anyone before."

"It's all right," Levi responded instantly. Why wouldn't that guilt go away? "Are you, though? I shouldn't have done that."

"You saved my life." The angel ignored Levi's offered hand as he gathered himself and stood. There were trails down Eren's cheeks and his eyes were red from crying when he finally looked back at Levi, but there was no hate in green depths. "So I don't hate you. I . . . I've never experienced that kind of anger before. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Levi told him. "It's normal. That would be my fault."

There was no rebuttal; it was Levi's fault. But Eren only bit his lip and lowered his gaze in response, not agreeing either. A long silence followed Levi's words, and finally, after what felt like years waiting, the demon cleared his throat.

"I suppose I should take you home now," he said rather awkwardly into the silence, and Eren nodded numbly.

"Please, if you would."

They started to walk, the desolate city completely silent around them. Eren was quiet compared to his state of panic, when he'd done nothing but talk. Levi wanted to do or say something, to make the young angel speak or smile, to fix this silence. Eren wasn't meant to be reserved. Innocents were fun and outgoing creatures, and while Eren had been tainted, he hadn't quite changed yet. He was only upset.

Only. So why couldn't Levi shake off how guilty that distress made him feel?

He knew the answer. The bond. The bond he had created. The bond they would never be able to destroy.

They held the silence, the route a blur. Levi paid no attention to the scenery around them as it changed, overwhelmed by the thoughts and emotions seeping through the bond. He was so focused on the confusion and stress tugging at him that when he felt the light magic tingle through his spine he found himself backpedaling and letting out a wild snarl, fear sparking in his heart. Fear? Eren's, he discovered, when a small whimper reached his ears. An angel's response to a startled, defensive demon.

"I-Is something here?" the brunet managed in a high stammer, beautiful eyes darting around suspiciously. Levi internally berated himself, forcing his muscles to relax as he walked forward again.

"Nothing that threatens you." This time, when he stepped through the barrier, he didn't let it ruffle him. "Me, however . . . let's just hope they don't kill me for bringing you."

Eren didn't even seem to notice the border of angel magic when he passed through it. It struck Levi as strange. Shouldn't the brunet be relaxing? Instead, he still looked terrified.

"Who would kill you? Why?"

Doubt mingled in, creating a hysterical mess of emotions that swelled and overwhelmed Levi, intense enough he had to stop walking. It was too much for the demon to handle. These emotions, these sensations. Feeling. It was so foreign, and as he fought to keep standing, wave after wave of countless emotions - terror, betrayal, suspicion, hatred - slamming into him, he decided he definitely did not like these feelings.

"Where are you taking me? I thought we were going to a portal back home!"

Anger. That vehement anger that angels weren't supposed to experience - not pure ones. Not ones like Eren. Eren was special; his name was known among demons, associated with a harsh warning not to touch him, or they would be punished horribly. He was son to God himself. To hurt him guaranteed war.

"I trusted you! I trusted you, you monster! I should have known!"

Hadn't Eren called him that already? A few minutes prior? Half an hour? Several? He didn't know. He couldn't think over the insecurities being forced on him. It was so hard to stay calm, to focus on evening his breaths and counting slowly, when the angel's anger threatened to consume them both. Eren didn't know how it was affecting him, didn't realize his newfound emotions were influencing Levi's. Didn't realize the danger it put them both in.

"Eren!" shouted an unfamiliar voice. "Stand back!"

A newfound panic consumed Levi at the openly hostile force approaching, and realized it was his own. He tried to back away, tried to distance himself from the angel. Just when had he fallen to his knees? He had no recollection of sliding to the ground, yet here he was, on all fours in the dirty street. But it didn't matter - what mattered was getting away, because that threat was perceiving him as a threat, and he knew that if he fought back, he would die.

"Marco?" came Eren's shocked tone. "Marco, what are you doing here? What are you - "

Panic from both sides of the bond clawed at Levi's chest, and he forced open eyes he didn't realize he'd closed. Two figures stood a mere few feet away, the one that wasn't Eren approaching threateningly. Levi scrambled back on all fours, a feral, wary growl rumbling deep in his throat.

He could feel his muscles burning and skin itching, and the terror only intensified. Not now, fuck, not now! Why now?! Levi had always been able to control his panic responses, control the automatic instinct to transform, but double the fight or flight urge took more will to control than he had.

"Eren, get back! Let me handle this!"

Levi reckoned he must have been a terrifying sight; spaded tail thrashing about wildly, fangs bared in a defensive snarl, skin rippling as fur and feathers threatened to burst forth. Eren's fear came crashing into him even worse than before, but that was the least of Levi's concerns. The unfamiliar angel - the gatekeeper, he was called - was raising his staff.

"Don't - " Levi managed in a hiss. "I'm not - !"

Then, without warning, Marco slammed the end of the staff on the asphalt with brutal force.

Pain, a fierce pain that resonated through the demon's body. The shockwave of magic cracked the street and slammed into Levi, sending him flying from his hunched position into one of the dilapidated brick buildings lining the streets. There was a sickening crack, and Levi curled in on himself with a weak moan. The burning in his veins was gone, replaced by the horrible pulsing pain.

"Stay down!" the gatekeeper ordered.

What the hell did that kid think Levi was doing? He wasn't going anywhere - everything hurt too much. At least the transformation had stopped; if the ravenet had turned, he had no doubt he would have been killed.

"Is - is he dead?" Eren asked quietly, and Levi couldn't describe the emotion transferring through the mark.

"He isn't," Marco replied, then commanded, "Hands where I can see them."

Levi made the effort to roll onto his back, hissing sharply as the pain spiked, and raising his hands in the air obediently as a symbol of surrender. Surrender, Levi internally scoffed. I was already surrendering. He kept his eyes closed as the angel approached, and felt the polished brass end of the staff poke at his chest.

"What were you doing with Eren?"

The demon cracked one eye open, taking in the sight of the gatekeeper. A patch covered his right eye, and his left wing was folded to his back, pure white and glistening in the light. The mangled mess that used to be his right wing was curled protectively under the left. Levi exhaled slowly and let his head fall back against the pavement.

"I was returning him, you dense motherfucker." A harsh jab at his ribs had him hissing defensively. "The fuck is wrong with you?!"

"Watch your tongue," Marco said calmly, delivering another jab with the pole. "Now, what do you mean, returning?"

"Do I look like an idiot to you?" Smack. "Stop doing that!"

"Marco, please - " Eren tried to intervene, but Marco ignored him.

"Answer my question."

"I was trying to, you dumb fucking cripple! Is your brain as impaired as your wing?"

That hit a nerve. The gatekeeper's knuckles turned white, and the next jab was aimed at his stomach, earning a groan. "Answer. Me."

"Do I look like a fucking idiot to you?" Levi snarled, baring his fangs as he rolled onto all fours, glaring harshly up at the angel. Marco took a step back and raised his staff in warning as the demon rocked back on his knees, kneeling now.

"Stay back!"

"Do you really fucking think I'd just prance in here with this little shit at the risk of losing my life if I had the intention of hurting him? Here, in an area crawling with your kind, where I can't even use my power to its full potential?"

"Then what are you here for?" Marco demanded. "Why haven't you hurt him?"

Levi pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. "Oh my fucking god. God!" He raised his hands to the sky, calling out derisively, "Your little angels have the mental capacity of a fucking peanut! Make better ones!"

His skull throbbed as Marco hit him over the head with his staff. "Do not mock the Lord!"

"Marco - " Eren tried again, once ahead gone unheard.

"He's not my Lord," Levi responded in a vehement hiss, "and He never will be. But that magical man in the sky is Eren's Lord, and I respect that. He's an innocent, and we're not supposed to touch him. Which is why I came to return him, before you fucking attacked me, you blind, useless, pathetic son of a - "

"Enough," Marco intercepted. "I don't understand why a demon would return one of our own, but I'll be taking you both. I'm sure God will appreciate your actions."

"There's these things called laws of war," Levi grumbled, bristling at the sarcasm. "And common fucking decency. We're not all like the shitty rogues you find here on the surface."

Another dull thwack on the head, and Levi swiped irritably at the staff as it was yanked out of his reach. "Silence," Marco ordered. He reached into thin air with one hand as if he was grabbing something. His hand disappeared from sight, and suddenly, it was visible again, and he was holding a length of thick, silver threaded rope. "I'm going to have to ask you to hold out your wrists, demon."

"I have a name," Levi hissed, eyeing the rope wearily. "And you're dumber than I thought if you think I'm getting anywhere near that shit."

"Demon - "

"His name is Levi," Eren interrupted loudly, furious at this point. "And there is absolutely no reason to tie him up! Especially not with silver!"

Marco turned to him with a patient smile. Speaking slowly and gently, as if talking to a child, he replied, "Levi is a threat, and we need to detain him to make sure he doesn't cause trouble."

"He's done nothing to you!" Eren nearly screamed, his face turning red, angered at the treatment he was receiving.

"He is a hostile force - "

Eren immediately shoved him, and the war-torn angel stumbled. "Hostile? Hostile?!" He shoved Marco again, looking absolutely livid. "He saved me! And you - you just - you attacked him, without any warning! Without asking any questions!"

"He could have hurt you - "

"But he didn't! And he didn't hurt you, either!" Another shove, and Marco was on the ground. "I'm the hostile one here, Marco! Why aren't you detaining me?!"

Levi was looking on with curiosity and satisfaction as Marco stumbled over his words. "Well - I - you're an angel, so - "

"So you're judging him for being something he has no choice in being?" Eren spat. "What kind of angel are you?"

The shock melted from Marco's face at the harsh jab, replaced with something inscrutable. He gathered himself, rising to his feet. "A cautious one," he said simply. His back turned to the other two, he continued, "Now, if you're done with your fit, follow me. His Holiness has been worried sick about you."

Shaking with rage at the way Marco spoke to him, Eren was tempted to attack. Levi could see it in the way his fists and jaw clenched, could feel it through the half-formed bond. Hastily, the demon stood, knowing it was a bad idea for his new angel friend to start a real altercation, but a sharp pain in his abdomen had him hissing sharply. It was surprising how quickly Eren spun around, anger melting into concern.

"Levi!" The young angel was by his side in a moment. It was cute, the way he reached out to steady the ravenet, concerned about the safety of someone he should have hated. "Did he hurt you? I swear, I will ruin him - "

Levi shooed his worries away. "I was just caught by surprise. I'll be fine in a few moments." It was true - now that he had pinpointed the pain, it wouldn't take long for his magic to mend any injuries, considering he wasn't using any of it.

"Come on," Marco barked impatiently, and the two began to follow him, though admittedly at a slower pace than necessary. It seemed they were both determined to be as annoying as possible.

"Where do you reckon he's taking us?" Levi asked, trying not to show his nerves. He hadn't expected to be recruited into some meeting. When Eren bit his lip, looking concerned, the demon had to fight to keep it off his own features.

"I reckon . . . probably to meet my father."