#comwws

“The thing is fucking cursed. That’s the only answer,” Zeke said as he sat across from Mikasa. 

The dive bar they found themselves in was fairly full tonight. Zeke wouldn’t swear that Mikasa used magic to get them a booth but that was the only explanation. If she had, it clearly hadn’t been enough to send out any sort of beacon considering they were still here.

Eren was currently hustling pool to get them a little extra money. 

“You’re probably right. Fuck,” Mikasa muttered before she took a swig of her beer.

“WHOA! She swears! She drinks! What is she doing dating my uncool brother?” Zeke teased.

“You’ve heard me swear before.” 

“Yes, when you get injured or you’re fighting. Not just in normal conversation.”

Mikasa rolled her eyes, “and your brother dumped me. You were there.” 

“Ah. Yes, my idiot brother dumped the only woman who could handle the truth about us. But what is your story, Ackerman?”

Mikasa looked at him confused. She still wasn’t used to him calling her by her real last name. “I already told you. My parents got killed by the same type of thing your stepmom did. Not much else to say.”

“Do you know why they killed your parents?” 

Mikasa shook her head.

“Interesting.”

“I told you, I don’t know much about my mom’s other life.” 

“Huh. Still too cool to be dating my brother.” 

Mikasa rolled her eyes again before she took another drink of her beer. She looked over at the pool table where Eren was playing. 

“Any chance you can improve his odds?” Zeke smirked.

Mikasa sighed, “I can do elemental things.”

“That’s not a no. Oh come on, do a little bit that won’t send up a beacon. You know you want to…”

Mikasa rolled her eyes again. “You’re a bad influence.” 

“No, I’m just bored. Besides, I’m kind of curious about what you can do that doesn’t tell everyone your location.” 

Mikasa sighed before closing her eyes to focus.

Elemental control was something Mikasa could do but it wasn’t as easy as it used to be. 

She took a deep breath in. She could feel all the air around her. The warm air coming out of the vents, the draft coming in from a small crack in the window, the breathing of the people in the bar. 

Mikasa opened her eyes as she focused on the balls on the pool table. Lucky for Eren, it was right under a heating vent.

As she exhaled, the man Eren was playing against lined up his shot. He hit the ball. Mikasa reached her hand out. The ball skipped off the table and hit the floor. 

Mikasa lowered her hand with a smile.

Zeke choked on his beer as he laughed. 

Mikasa joined his laughter. 

Eren looked over at their table with a raised eyebrow. 

“See? That was fun, right?” Zeke asked as he laughed. 

“It was okay. I haven’t done anything like that in years.”

“Alright, you said there is a case here, right?” 

Mikasa nodded as she pulled out her phone. “Man’s heart was ripped out which you would think equals werewolf but no. There’s this sighting of bigfoot. Normal, right? Until you look at the picture and see bigfoot is in a hula skirt.” 

“Wait, what?” Zeke said as he took her phone from her.

“I showed it to Eren earlier. That’s not all. There’s a frat boy who swears he was abducted by aliens and they made him slow dance with them.” 

Zeke scrolled through the screenshots in Mikasa’s phone. “Oh, yeah that’s weird. They’ve never had anything like this before?”

“Bigfoot, yes. There’s a whole festival here in Springfield but not in a hula skirt and not in the middle of the Springfield University campus.” 

“Huh. Alright. So after tonight, we start. But first…” Zeke looked over his shoulder at the pretty blonde girl who was staring at him.

“Go on,” Mikasa said. 

“You’re the best," Zeke slid out of the booth.

"Wait, leave me the Impala keys!"

Zeke nodded as he dropped the keys on the table before heading off in the direction of the blonde.

Mikasa shook her head as she slid the keys across the table to then put them in her pocket. 

Being around Zeke was pretty nice. He was a halfway decent guy. He was sort of like the big brother Mikasa had always wanted but never had. 

Mikasa sipped her beer as she smiled to herself. 

It wasn't all bad hunting again. 

She was making a difference. Well, trying to at least but it was the trying that counted.

She only wished she could find the Colt. There was something in her head that told her if she could find the Colt, maybe Eren would….

Mikasa pushed the thought away. 

She couldn't dare to focus on her relationship with Eren. They were friends now at least. It still hurts. The things he'd said were like a splinter that the body had just accepted for skin to grow over. 

"What the fuck was that analogy?" She muttered to herself. 

She was not herself tonight. She didn't know why. She would have never used magic so carelessly. 

She looked over at Eren to see him gripping the side of his head as he walked away from the pool table. 

Mikasa wasn't the only one to notice. Zeke made his way over to his little brother, abandoning the blonde girl. 

"It's nothing. Just another…."Eren trailed off as blood dripped from his nose. 

Mikasa stood up from the table and made her way over to Eren and Zeke. 

"We should go back to the motel," Mikasa said. 

Zeke nodded. 

"I swear I'm fine," Eren said as he still held onto his head. 

"Liar. Come on," Zeke reached over and grabbed a napkin which he handed to Eren. 

Eren wiped the blood from his nose. 

Mikasa felt the need to touch him. She didn't know why. Maybe it was the bond between them from the deal. 

Or maybe she was just as desperately in love with him as she always had been. 

Mikasa grabbed onto his jacket sleeve. 

Eren didn't pull away. In fact, he seemed to lean into her more as they walked. When they reached the Impala, Mikasa let go of Eren's sleeve once he was by the passenger door. She handed the keys to Zeke before slipping into the backseat. 

"What was the vision this time?" Zeke asked as he started to drive. 

"Fire and.....that can’t be right. Don't know where or how. Just fire....and a memory," Eren said as he leaned up against the window of the passenger seat. 

"You know I wish these visions were a little more helpful. Winning lottery numbers. Horse race outcomes. But no. Instead, you get visions that don't even give us a location."

“Trust me, it’s not something I’m thrilled about,” Eren muttered under his breath. 

They pulled into the shady motel that they had checked into earlier. The room was the same as every motel they stayed at. Outdated 70s wallpaper, crappy coffee maker, but it felt more like home than anything else they had.

Eren like the world was spinning out of control as he got out of the Impala. 

Both Zeke and Mikasa were at his side, holding him up. Had he slumped over? He hadn’t even noticed. 

They helped him into the motel room. 

“Get him on the bed,” Mikasa said as she held onto Eren. 

Zeke nodded as they both maneuvered Eren onto the bed. 

“Guys, I’m fine,” Eren protested. 

“Liar,” Zeke said as he stepped away. 

“Should I heal him?”

“I don’t need healing. Save your life force,” Eren protested. “Just need to rest for a moment.” 

Mikasa nodded before looking over at Zeke. 

Zeke shrugged before collapsing on the open bed. 

"I'll take the couch tonight," Mikasa said.

Some places didn't have three beds so they had a rotation going on. Mikasa truly didn't mind it. She also was the shorter of the three of them. Though Mikasa was above average height for a woman, Zeke and Eren were freakishly tall. It did make her laugh when they had to sleep on the couch. 

Mikasa began writing down all the information they had in her journal. She had taken to writing one now. 

Zeke sat on the bed, flipping through his dad's old journal. 

"Well, if dad encountered a Bigfoot, he didn’t write it in here," Zeke scoffed.

"It can't actually be a Bigfoot, right?" Eren asked while staring at the ceiling. 

"I just found out fairies were real a few months ago. Nothing would surprise me."

Mikasa began searching things on her phone to see if she could get any more information on the victims and to see if there were any more deaths. 

“Huh, looks like a professor committed suicide on campus,” Mikasa said as she swiped through the article. 

“When?” Zeke asked as he sat up. 

“Literally an hour ago, the article says that he was found in his office in room 669. That building will be shut down for the next week.”

“Eren gets vision, a dude ends up dead.” 

“Hey, I didn’t see him dying. I saw….I saw mom,” Eren confessed.

Mikasa looked up from her phone and over at Zeke. 

“Carla?” Zeke asked as he stood up.

Eren nodded, “I…I saw her. She was talking to someone and crying. I couldn’t see the person’s face. She was about our age. I….I don’t know what else. I couldn’t hear what they were saying.” 

“So you’ve gone from seeing the future to seeing the past.” 

“I guess? I don’t know. It’s stupid forget I mentioned it.”

Zeke walked over and sat down on the edge of Eren’s bed. “Hey. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m just trying to understand what the hell is going on with you. I’m not Dad.” 

“I know…it’s just…..he’s still in my head, you know? A monster is a monster and maybe I’m one too.” 

“You’re not a monster, Eren,” Mikasa said as she closed the journal. “If it helps, you don’t seem anything but human to me.” 

“Is there a difference?” Eren asked as he sat up. 

“Sometimes. If you were fae, I’d know. Demon possession is a little harder for me to figure out sometimes. Normal fae can tell from an aura. I just haven’t really been trained in it. There’s something that radiates in me when I see another fae. It’s like…a tug.” 

“So what about humans?” 

“Nothing, really,” Mikasa said with a shrug. 

“So basically, unless it’s fae, you’re useless,” Zeke teased her. 

“I can still kick your ass,” Mikasa rolled her eyes. 

“I do not doubt that for a minute. So what do you think is going on here?” 

“Not a clue. I’ve got bigfoot and aliens and now a professor…. This is too weird. Even for us.” 

“Investigate first thing in the morning?” 

Mikasa nodded.

—-------------

Mikasa strolled in front of Eren and Zeke as they made their way across campus. 

“I’ll take the sorority. You two go play FBI and see what happened to the professor,” Mikasa said as she turned away from the brothers. 

"Get me some phone numbers! Show them a picture of me! You want me to send you one?" Zeke called to her. 

Mikasa ignored him as she continued to walk away. 

“Why does she get to interview the hot chicks?” Zeke groaned.

“Because you will get distracted. Then someone else will die. Come on,” Eren said as he steered Zeke to the building where the professor died.

They flashed their badges as they walked into the crime scene. Most, it was just getting cleaned. It had been a cut and dry case. 

Eren pulled out his EMF detector. 

“Anything?” Zeke asked.

Eren shook his head. 

“So not a ghost. Maybe they all just took some really good acid.” 

Eren rolled his eyes. He looked down at the desk. There were articles that looked like the professor had written about the haunting of this very college. Eren picked one of them up and looked over at Zeke. 

The articles talked about how ghosts were fake and the university had come up with the story to bring more students in. 

There were also a lot of candy wrappers on the desk. 

"Zeke, take a look at this."

Zeke walked over and took the paper from his brother. 

"Professor writes this and then commits suicide? What are you thinking? University took him out?"

"I don't know. Just seems weird that he dies in the room of the ghost he disproved existed. We should head back to the Impala and see if Mikasa found anything out."

"You mean to see how many phone numbers she got me," Zeke smirked. 

—---

Mikasa was sitting on the hood of the Impala with her phone out.  Eren couldn’t help but notice how she had pushed the sleeve of her suit jacket up leaving her tattoo out on display. 

“So? How many hot sorority girl numbers did you get me?” Zeke smirked.

Mikasa rolled her eyes. “None but the guy with the heart missing was dating the president of alpha…whatever. I don’t remember the exact name. Also, the alien guy had been trying to disprove the existence of aliens.” 

“That’s interesting. The professor was trying to disprove hauntings and he was killed in his office that was supposedly haunted,” Eren said as he sat down next to her.

“Sounds like they got their just deserts to me,” Zeke said as he leaned against the side of the Impala. “Any ideas on what did this?” 

Mikasa shook her head. “Trying to see what I could find on my phone. Nothing yet. I called Levi and Hange. They said they’d look into the lore and call one of us back.” 

“Well, you know what that means….” Zeke trailed off. 

“Do you literally only have one thought in that head of yours?” Eren asked. 

“Three: booze, sex, and my car. Now get off my car because you two are going back to the motel while I go visit that bar again.” 

Mikasa rolled her eyes. 

“This is why I never invited him to Stanford,” Eren remarked to Mikasa. 

“Because I would have stolen your girl,” Zeke smirked at Mikasa.

“Not in this life or the next,” Mikasa replied as she got into the back of the Impala.

—-------

Zeke sent his location as he planned to make a stop before meeting some girl for the night.

“Surprisingly, he’s in a house and not the sorority,” Eren laughed before he took another bite of the Chinese take out Mikasa had ordered for them. 

“He’s ridiculous. Has he always been like this?” Mikasa said as she looked up from her computer.

“Always. He always had a partner in high school.” 

“And you didn’t?” 

Eren shook his head, “I told you…”

“I know.” 

Mikasa went back to eating. It was still awkward. Eren wanted it to be back to normal but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen. 

“Do you….you….?” 

Mikasa looked up again. 

He gulped. He quickly decided to change what he was going to say. 

"I mean.....have you ever used your powers to help me win anything else?" Eren asked as he looked down at his food.

Mikasa laughed as she put the spoon up to her mouth. She shook her head. 

"So why did you?" 

Mikasa sighed before shrugging. 

"Oh come on. You can tell me. It's because my brother asked, right? And I get it. He's been okay with you from the start. If you're interested in Zeke, you don't have to worry about me getting in the way."

Mikasa nearly choked on her food. "Zeke?  No. He's the annoying older brother I always wanted but never got."

They both pretended to feel the relief that washed over them. 

It wasn’t a moment later that Zeke busted into the hotel room. He was covered head to toe in glitter.

“Which one of you did it?” Zeke asked as he pointed at Eren and Mikasa.

“What happened to you?” Eren asked as he laughed. 

“Oh don’t play dumb. One of you filled Baby’s vents with glitter so when I turned on the heat, I ended up like this.”

“You were with us the whole time,” Eren defended. 

“Not her,” Zeke said as he pointed to Mikasa.

“Because I just carry around a bunch of glitter,” Mikasa replied before rolling her eyes. 

“I don’t know! You could have summoned it!” 

“Oh yes. I forgot. The five elements: earth, water, air, fire, and glitter. How could I forget?” Mikasa replied as she stood up from the couch. “If I wanted to prank you, it wouldn’t be with glitter and you would never know it was me.” 

“Are you sure you didn’t piss someone off?” Eren asked. 

“I don’t think so. I’m going to go take a shower,” Zeke muttered as he made his way to the bathroom. 

Mikasa looked over at Eren. 

“I think I’ll look into the case more,” Eren said.

Mikasa nodded.

Eren opened his laptop. As soon as he entered his password, the sound of moaning filled the room.

“They’re hot. They’re single. They’re waiting for you. Stay on the video call for hot singles in your area,” a voice said over the continued sound of moaning. 

Eren slammed his laptop shut. “Are you using my computer for porn again?!” he yelled as he made his way over to the bathroom door. 

“Why would I need porn when people are throwing themselves at me?!” Zeke yelled back.

“Well, someone did!”

Mikasa shook her head. Clearly, Zeke and Eren had pissed someone off. 

“Whatever. I’ll just use my phone,” Eren said as he walked back over to the table and sat down. 

Mikasa continued to eat and write the case down in her notebook. 

There was something they were missing.

Mikasa could feel it. 

But what was it?

She kept looking over the clues again and again.

Ten minutes later, a scream came from the bathroom.

“EREN!” Zeke roared as he came out of the bathroom in only his bo3xers. 

Zeke’s blonde hair had been turned bright blue. 

“What? I didn’t do it!” Eren said as he threw his hands up. “I haven’t pranked you since high school.”

Mikasa took this time to slip into the bathroom with her backpack to change.

“Or it's you and Mikasa,” Zeke said as he crossed his arms across his chest. 

“I’m telling you. It’s not us.” 

A very pissed off Mikasa stormed out of the bathroom. “Where are my clothes? These are not my clothes,” Mikasa said as threw lacey lingerie at Zeke and Eren. Next she was chunking leather pants at them followed by high heels that they quickly dodge. “I don’t want to be apart of your stupid prank war!” 

“Too late! Because you had to be the one to put the glitter in Baby!” Zeke yelled. 

“Oh right! Because that’s my master plan!” 

“You’re helping Eren!” 

“Just like you’re watching porn on my computer!” Eren yelled next. 

“Why would I watch it on your computer when I have a smartphone?” 

“I don’t know!”

“And how are my clothes my size? You two clearly did this!” Mikasa argued.

The three kept arguing about who was pranking who which led to Eren and Zeke wrestling on the floor again while Mikasa kept throwing the clothes at them. The clothes seemed never ending as every time Mikasa reached into the bag, more appeared much to her dismay. Mikasa pulled another pair of leather pants out and hit Zeke with it.

That was when Levi and Hange walked in. 

“I….”Hange trailed off as they cocked their head to the side. “Should we come back?”

“HEY! BRATS!” Levi yelled.

The other three froze. 

“It’s a trickster,” he informed them. 

“What’s a trickster?” Zeke asked, still covered in the lingerie and his hands on Eren’s shoulders.

Eren was laying on the floor pushing his brother back while Mikasa was just standing there holding the leather pants.

“They live for chaos. They come in different forms. Ever hear of Loki?” Levi asked.

“From the Marvel movies?” Zeke asked as he stood up. 

“Sure. They’re strong. Kind of like demigods. They like taking down people. Knocking them down a peg. That’s what they live for. You must be close to whoever it is.”

Zeke offered a hand to Eren and pulled him to his feet. 

“They can make anything seem as real as you and me. Then they vanish,” Hange explained. 

“As soon as we saw how powerful the people were who were being killed and how, we knew what it was. We came to tell you and help. Looks like they know you’re here already,” Levi said gesturing to the three of them. 

Mikasa dropped the leather pants that she had been hitting Zeke with to the floor. “It took my clothes,” she muttered. 

“And dyed my hair blue and filled Baby with glitter,” Zeke muttered. 

“Porn on my computer,” Eren explained. 

Eren’s phone went off. The ringtone had been changed to someone moaning. 

Hange started laughing. “The trickster knows what you are and who you are. Who’s on the phone?” 

“I don’t know,” Eren said as he held the phone up. “Unknown number.” 

“Answer it,” Levi said. 

Eren pressed answer on his phone. 

“Well, well. Eren Jaeger,” a familiar voice filled the motel room. 

The hair on the back of Mikasa’s neck stood up. 

Yellow Eyes. 

“I heard you were in town and decided you needed a reminder. Tricksters don’t like to share but with a few….convincing moments, they’ll tell you the truth,” the voice continued.

“Yellow eyes,” Zeke said. 

“Goodnight,” the voice said as smoke began to fill the room. 

Mikasa screamed as Hange hit the floor. 

Levi fell next followed by Zeke and Eren.

Mikasa was the only one left. She tried to pull Eren to his feet again but she was too weak.

Her fae side was fighting whatever gas was leaked into the room.

She saw someone come in as she fell to the ground. She wasn’t completely out yet.

Yellow Eyes were all that glowed through the smoke.

He walked straight for Eren, not bothering to pay any attention to anyone else in the room. He scooped Eren up and began to carry him out of the room. 

“Eren,” Mikasa muttered as her eyesight began to fade. 

Levi Ackerman was a man of many hats. He took care of many hunters. Whether it was pretending it was to be someone’s boss or doing research for them while they were on the road. 

“Agent Willis speaking,” Levi said into one of his many phones that he had hanging on the wall behind his desk. “Yes, I have sent Agent Plat and Agent Page to check your case. I don’t care if you don’t think this isn’t a case for the FBI. We’re the FBI. We decide what case is ours. If they say they need to dig up a grave, let them!” Levi hung up the phone.

Another phone rang. 

This time it was his cellphone

Levi sighed before he answered. “What have you got, Porco?”

Mikasa was hanging up pictures on the large blank wall in the living room. 

“No, Porco. Vampires don’t do that. Call the FBI and tell them,” Levi sighed as he hung up the phone. 

Levi’s FBI phone on the wall rang. With another sigh, he answered it.

“Agent Willis speaking. NO! Not me, Porco! The real FBI! How are you still alive?” Levi hung up that phone.

Mikasa choked on a laugh.

Hange entered the house.

“Oh, good. You’re home. I need help burying a body,” Hange said as they turned around and walked out.

“Never a dull moment,” Levi said as he stood up.

Mikasa turned her focus back to her wall.

She was missing something. 

Zeke came into the living room. 

“Figure it out yet?” he asked as he sat down on the couch.

"No, there's too many loose ends. It goes from one hunter to the next or it never leaves. I don't know. The more journals I read, the less I know. Any luck on Eren's visions?" Mikasa asked as she tacked another journal entry to the floor. 

"Nothing. Is it possibly something from you?"

Mikasa shook her head. "We already went over this."

A shirtless Eren entered the room. 

"Yeah, Zeke. It's not Mikasa," Eren replied as he pulled his shirt on. 

Mikasa was openly staring for a moment. 

Zeke cleared his throat before standing up. 

"I'm going…..somewhere that's not here," he exited into the kitchen.  

Mikasa snapped her gaze back to the wall of evidence before Eren could see. Her cheeks went flush as she found herself embarrassed about the whole thing. 

They hadn't talked about what had happened. 

Why should they?

They spoke a little more but not much. 

It has been awkward when she woke up in the back of the Impala with Eren. 

But it was nice too. 

It was almost like things were back to normal. 

Then she saw Eren's mark on his shoulder.

It wasn't back to normal.

It would never go back to normal. 

Yet the feelings were still there. 

He wanted to be friends.

"Your hair looks nice," he said simply. 

Mikasa looked over at him. "Thanks."

Now it was more awkward but Mikasa didn't leave. So maybe Eren would count this one as a win. 

He began to study the journal entries on the wall.

He noticed a pair of initials on several. 

"Who is E.S?" Eren asked. 

"Erwin Smith. He's the contact Petra gave me. Apparently he's a known owner of the Colt."

"So why aren’t we contacting him?”

“Levi won’t talk about it.”

“Because Levi doesn’t like to talk about Erwin,” Hange replied as they came back into the house from burying the body out back.

“Why not?” Zeke asked as he walked back into the room.

“Come on, Levi. Give them the backstory!” Hange teased.

Levi rolled his eyes. “Erwin blames me for losing his arm and his dad.”

“What happened? I mean come on, you can’t say that and not give the whole backstory,” Zeke prodded.

“Ghouls. He lost his arm and his dad to ghouls. I misidentified them. I was new at being in charge. Kenny was recently dead. We don’t speak anymore.”

“But you could…”Hange reminded him.

“Or you three idiots could go see him and deal with it,” Levi said pointing to Zeke, Eren, and Mikasa. 

“I resent being grouped with these two as an idiot,” Zeke replied.

Eren and Mikasa shared a look before Eren tackled Zeke to the ground. 

“Get off of me!” Zeke yelled.

“No! I’m tired of you calling me an idiot!” Eren yelled back as the two brothers wrestled on the floor.

“Should I….?” Mikasa trailed off as she watched Zeke try to put Eren into a chokehold.

“No, just ignore them. It’s what I do,” Levi sighed as he sat down at his desk.

Mikasa watched as the two brothers continued to fight on the living room floor. 

Levi’s phone labeled Health Department went off.

-------------

Mikasa was sound asleep in the back of the Impala as Zeke drove. 

“So what’s the plan once we get the Colt?” Eren asked as he leaned against the window. 

“We start looking for demonic omens like dad did and take the son of bitch down,” Zeke replied simply.

“Then what? Our whole lives have been about tracking this demon down. Once that’s over, what do we do? I tried being normal and we both know how well that worked out.”

“I don’t know, Eren. I don’t know what comes next. For me, I’m going to keep taking down whatever monsters get in my way.”

Eren sighed before he looked back at Mikasa. She was stretched out on the backseat, asleep. He thought about taking his jacket off and throwing it over Mikasa. He thought better of it. 

“Maybe we can help her next. Find out why she’s being tracked. I think there’s more to it than even she knows,” Zeke remarked.

Eren turned back around. “I’m worried about her.”

“Oh? So you’re willing to finally admit you were in the wrong and she’s not some monster? You do realize dad brainwashed us, right?” 

“How do you deal with it?”

“Deal with what? Dad being a piece of shit? Alcohol. Sex. Rock and Roll,” Zeke smirked as he gestured to the radio that was gently playing in the background.

“Because that’s healthy.” 

“Never said it was healthy. You asked and I answered.” 

Eren shook his head and looked out the window.

--------------

When they arrived at Erwin Smith’s home, something was off.

The door was wide open.

“Smell that?” Eren asked.

“Sulfur,” Mikasa replied as her wings came out of her back.

Zeke pulled the demon killing knife from his back pocket. 

Eren pulled his gun from his belt. It wouldn’t kill but it would slow them down. 

“I’ll go first,” Zeke said but Mikasa put her arm out and shook her head. 

Zeke and Eren didn’t argue. 

Mikasa stepped into the room.

Blood covered the ground.

Petra’s body was the first they saw in the foyer. 

“Petra,” Mikasa said as she reached down and checked for a pulse. Petra’s body was cold. 

“Someone else got to her,” Zeke said as he moved around Petra’s body. 

A blonde man with only one arm was face down in the living room. 

“I’m guessing that’s Erwin,” Zeke said. 

“If the Colt was here…”Eren trailed off as he followed. 

“It’s gone now,” Mikasa finished. “We should salt and burn. Call Levi, tell him what we found.” 

“She was your friend, right?” Eren asked. 

Mikasa nodded. “Not the first friend who I’ve lost, not the last.”  She moved out of the living and exited the house.

------------

Levi had expected the phone call that Erwin had died one day or another.

Back in the day, they had been friends.

Good friends.

Best friends.

Erwin helped Levi understand the life that he had been born into. Levi hadn’t wanted to help hunters. He had never wanted to be a hunter. It had taken his mom away, later the same would happen to his uncle. Then it would fall on Levi to be there, the research expert. The one who they called when they got into trouble. 

Erwin had helped. 

Through Erwin, Levi met Grisha, giving him two adopted kids he loved more than anything. 

Then it had happened. 

The ghoul incident. 

Erwin losted his arm and his father. 

Maybe Erwin didn’t blame him. 

Maybe Levi just blamed himself.

It wasn’t something Levi could make peace with and now he never would.

Hange had gone out on their own hunt, leaving Levi alone in the house.

Levi wasn’t one to feel lonely but tonight, he did. 

Tonight, he drank too much whiskey because tonight, he would grieve a relationship that ended far too soon. One that could never be saved or mended now. 

Tonight, he mourned.

Lawrence, Kansas

22 years ago

Grisha Jaeger was enjoying a peaceful night at home. His second wife slept soundly upstairs. He looked over at the picture of his first wife on the wall.

Dina had died four years ago of cancer.

It had been hard for Grisha. He had to deal with the loss of his wife along with raising his son by himself. Being a single parent wasn’t easy.

But then Carla came into his life.

Carla had treated Zeke like he was her own. She absolutely loved the boy.

Now they had a son of their own.

Grisha drifted off to sleep as the tv played.

What felt like a few moments later, a scream came from upstairs, waking Grisha. He made his way towards the direction he had heard the scream. The nursey, Eren's room. He leaned over Eren’s crib, where the baby boy was crying.

“You’re okay. Where’s your mom?” Grisha asked.

A drop of blood landed on his arm.

He looked up to see Carla pinned to the ceiling.

“Carla?” he asked, confused by what was happening.

Fire sprung from Carla’s chest, filling the room.

“CARLA!” Grisha yelled before scooping up Eren from the crib.

“Daddy, what’s wrong?” Zeke asked as he came into the baby’s room.

Grisha handed him Eren.

“Take your brother outside as fast as you can and don’t look back! Go! Now, Zeke! Listen to me!” Grisha yelled.

He wasn’t giving up on Carla.

He would save her somehow.

But in the end, he didn’t.

Grisha didn’t know but the events of that night had long been put into place.

A moment frozen in time, the beginning of something much bigger than he could possibly understand.

Grisha sat in the driver's seat of his car, Zeke in the passenger with Eren in his arms. They watched as the firemen tried to put out the fire.

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Stanford University

Present Day-October 31st, Sunday

A picture of Carla and Grisha sat in the living room of Eren Jaeger’s small apartment that he shared with his current girlfriend Mikasa Ackerman.

“So you’re not going to call your dad and tell him how you scored on the MCAT?” she asked as she pulled on her nurse’s costume.

“No, he won’t care,” Eren asked as he shook his head at her. “Why are you wearing that?”

“It’s Halloween! Who are you going as?”

“A psychopath, they look like everyone else,” he scoffed as he crossed his arms across his chest. “Besides, you know I hate Halloween.”

“You never told me why. I guess that’s a part of the Eren Jaeger mystery. You know if this is ever going anywhere, you’re going to have to open up.”

"After my interview Friday, I'll tell you everything. I promise," he said as he ran a hand through her long brunette hair.

"Why don't I believe that?" She asked him.

"Let's skip the party. Stay in tonight."

"Eren, come on. Floch will be waiting for us. You know how he gets."

Eren sighed as he pulled on his jacket. "Fine," he muttered as he walked towards the door.

She slipped her hand into his. "Just a few drinks and then I promise, you can take this costume off with your teeth."

"I'll be holding you to that. You know...have you ever thought of being a nurse because of this costume.."

Mikasa gave Eren a playful shove.

"SHOTS! SHOTS!" Floch screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Why did I let you talk me into this?" Eren muttered.

"Because you got a 522 on the MCAT! There's no way Stanford's Medical School is not going to take you," Mikasa said as she leaned into Eren's embrace. "Your interview Friday is just a formality. We both know that."

"You can't be sure of that," Eren said as he rolled his eyes.

"So I'm gonna go home with Hitch. You two...nice costume Mikasa...go play doctor," a drunk Floch remarked.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Eren said before he patted Floch on the back.

"He is going to pass out as soon as he gets in her apartment," Mikasa replied.

"Probably."

"Let's go home, Halloween hater," Mikasa smiled as she took his hand into hers again.

It was around midnight when Eren got out of the shower. He walked into the bedroom and pulled on a pair of sweatpants pants.

Mikasa was sound asleep in bed.

Eren didn’t know how he had gotten so lucky with her. He worried about telling her the truth. My family fights demons, werewolves, and the forces of darkness didn’t have a good ring to it. She’d think he was crazy or worse.

He heard a noise coming from the kitchen.

Eren ready himself for whatever was in the kitchen. He took quiet steps. Damn, he hoped it wasn’t a ghost. He hated dealing with them.

No, whatever this was had a corporeal form.

Eren attacked and made every hit. The problem was the thing hit back.

What could it possibly be?

Vampire?

Maybe it was just a break in.

Either way, it wasn’t leaving alive.

Eren tackled it to the ground, one hand holding both of the man’s wrists about his head while the other went for the throat.

“Whoa, easy there, tiger,” Zeke’s voice cut through.

“Zeke? What the fuck? I almost killed you!” he said as he released Zeke’s hands and throats.

“I let you win.”

The lights turned on to reveal Zeke.

“Everything okay?” Mikasa asked as she stepped into the kitchen, wearing a tight fitting shirt that had the logo for the anime Sailor Moon and very short black shorts.

“Mikasa, this is Zeke. Zeke, this is my girlfriend Mikasa.”

“Mikasa, hey. Has anyone ever told you that you’re out of my brother’s league? Because you are. I,on the other hand….”

“Alright, asshole. Knock it off,” Eren said before shoving Zeke.

“I’ll go put some clothes on,” Mikasa said as she started to leave the room.

“No, don’t. You should stay this way. Sailor Moon is a classic, right, Eren?”

“Ignore him, I do,” Eren said before making his way over to Mikasa and wrapping his arm around her.

“Anyway, I need to borrow your boyfriend for a moment. Very private family stuff, you know? I’m sure you understand,” Zeke said.

“No, anything you have to say to her, you can say to me,” Eren stated.

“Okay. Well, Dad hasn’t been home in a few days,” Zeke explained.

“So what? He’s probably getting drunk on Jim, Jack, and Jose. He’ll stumble in drunk like he always does.”

“Dad's on a hunting trip. And he hasn't been home in a few days.”

“Mikasa, can you excuse us?” Eren said before taking his brother by the arm and dragging him outside. “Why are you here? I told you I was done hunting.”

“Because I have no one else to go to. Are you coming with me or not?”

“I’m not coming with you. I swore I wasn’t hunting anymore and I meant it. Do you not think about the way we grew up? When I was a kid, I told Dad was afraid of the dark and what did he do? He gave a nine year old a shotgun!”

“What was he supposed to do?” Zeke asked as he crossed his arms across his chest. “Tell you not to be afraid? We know what’s out there in the dark!”

“That’s exactly what he was supposed to do! The way we grew up...after Mom died...Dad’s obsession with the thing that killed her. It’s not normal. None of this is normal!” Eren exclaimed before running his hand through his hair. “And we can’t find it! So we kill everything we can find instead.”

“And we save people!” Zeke argued.

“Okay but do you think Mom would want this?”

“I don’t know because I got to lose my mom twice.”

Eren looked down.

He knew losing his mother had been hard but Zeke had to go through it twice.

“What are you going to do? Live some apple pie life?” Zeke asked before crossing his arms across his chest.

“Yeah, a safe life.”

“Dad’s in trouble. I can feel it. I can’t do this alone,” Zeke pleaded.

“Yeah, you can.”

“Well, how about I don’t want to?”

Eren sighed, “what was he hunting?”

Zeke walked over to the black 1967 Chevy Impala and popped the trunk. He then opened the spot where the spare tire was supposed to be. Inside was a variety of weapons. Swords, guns, syringes, machetes, a toolbox, rock salt, knives, bows, and arrows were just among a few of the things that one could see when the trunk was open.

“Let’s see..” Zeke said as he dug around.

“Wait, why weren’t you with Dad?” Eren asked as he peered over into the trunk.

“Because I had my own hunt,” Zeke answered, still digging around.

“By yourself?”

“I’m twenty-six!” Zeke exclaimed. “Oh! There it is!” He pulled out a file folder and papers. “So going back twenty years, Dad found this pattern. Men driving this strip of the highway, keep going missing.”

“Okay, so?”

“And this I get this voicemail,” Zeke said as he pulled his phone out and put it on speaker. Grisha’s voice played.

“ Zeke...something big is starting to happen...I need to try and figure out what's going on. It may... Be very careful, Zeke. We're all in danger .”

“EVP is on that,” Eren pointed out.

“Kind of like riding a bike, right?”

Eren rolled his eyes. “So what does it say?”

“It’s a woman saying can never go home.”

“Never go home?”

“Yeah. Look, in three years, I’ve never bothered you. Never asked you for anything. But Eren, I need you for this.”

Eren threw his arms before sighing. “Fine. I have to be back by Friday though,”

“Why Friday?” Zeke asked before he closed the trunk.

“Job interview.”

“For what?” Zeke asked before they headed back into Eren’s apartment.

“Medical school,” Eren stated.

“Medical school?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, fine. I’ll bring you back in time for your interview.”

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Mikasa hadn’t been thrilled about Eren leaving. No matter how many times he reassured her. He promised that he would explain everything after the interview. So Eren and Zeke went on their hunt. Their father was nowhere to be seen. They did, however, save people from a woman in white and find their father’s journal.

All that was left was to return Eren home.

Eren saw how Zeke wanted him to return to hunting.

But Eren couldn’t.

Eren wanted a safe, normal life. He had already been shopping for a ring for Mikasa. He knew he wanted to make her his wife. But first, he had to tell her everything which he would right after his interview. Hopefully she still wanted to be with him after that.

They returned to Eren’s apartment on Thursday.

Eren had just got inside. He laid down on his bed and suddenly, there was a drop of blood from the ceiling.

Eren Jaeger saw his dad for the first time in three years. Eren reached for him but it was too late.

Then the fire was everywhere. It was inescapable.  

Then Eren saw something.

A demon with Yellow Eyes was right there.

“NO!” Eren screamed as he got out of bed.

Another demon with black eyes appeared, he grabbed a hold of Eren, burning his flesh. The fight with the black eyed demon began.

Just then Mikasa rushed into the apartment, ready to take on whatever.

Eren couldn’t lose her. He prepared himself.

“Mikasa! Get out of here!” he yelled as he continued to wrestle with the black eyed demon.

But what Eren hadn't prepared himself for was the green glow of Mikasa's eyes or the black feathered wings that sprouted from her back.

"I thought your kind was all dead," the Yellow Eyed demon teased.

"No."

"What host do you have? What is your real name?"

"I don’t need a host. This body is mine."

"You fell. Wait much longer and your eyes will be black."

“Didn’t fall either. I'm not an angel,” Mikasa replied.

Zeke rushed into the apartment.

“We need to get out of here!” Zeke yelled as the fire raged. The fire was beginning to surround them .

“Well, my time is up. See you around, boys,” The Yellow Eyed demon said before disappearing.

Mikasa pulled out a knife from seemingly nowhere that neither Eren or Zeke had seen before.

She plunged it into the black eyed demon's chest. He let go of Eren, throwing Eren to the floor before the demon burst into flames.

"We should get out of here," Mikasa said. Her wings went back into her body, leaving two slits in the back of her shirt.

“Great, any idea how? We’re kind of surrounded,” Zeke pointed out the fire all around them.

Mikasa closed her eyes. The fire began to part.

“Go!” Mikasa yelled.

Eren was frozen until Zeke dragged him out. Mikasa followed them out.

Eren didn’t understand what was happening.

What was Mikasa?

“Eren, you got burnt,” Zeke pointed out.

There were singe marks on his arm where the demon had been holding him. He hadn’t even felt it. Mikasa reached out. Her eyes glowed again. Eren’s arm was healed. Not only that, it was as if the burn had never occurred.

Then Mikasa collapsed to the ground.

Zeke picked Mikasa up and put her in the backseat of the car. He walked around to the trunk and pulled out a pair of special handcuffs. There were devil traps engraved in both of them.

“Just in case,” Zeke said as he attached them to each of Mikasa’s arms. “Come on, let’s take her to Levi’s. If we drive through the night and into tomorrow, we’ll make it to Levi’s before you know it.”

Twenty five hours later, they arrived at Levi’s house in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Mikasa hadn’t even stirred the whole time that they had been driving.

Eren didn’t speak hardly at all. Zeke had let him take over the driving while he slept but even then, Eren hadn’t said much.

Levi was like a second father to Zeke and Eren. When Grisha had days he spent drunk, Levi had taken care of the two of them. Levi was a hunter just like them. He had lost someone he loved too. That was the way most people entered life. Something awful happened to someone they loved.

Zeke had carried Mikasa into Levi’s house. She stirred in Zeke’s arms.

“Oh. Hey, Sleeping Beauty,” Zeke said before he put her down on the couch.

“This her?” Levi asked. Zeke had sent a text to Levi explaining everything to him.

“This is her,” Eren replied as he crossed his arms across his chest.

“Alright, let’s see what you are,” Levi said before splashing holy water in Mikasa’s face.

She didn’t even move.

“So she’s not a demon,” Levi replied. He pulled out a silver knife from his pocket and cut Mikasa’s arm. “Not a Revenant or a shapeshifter either.”

Mikasa’s cut began to heal.

“Oh, that’s interesting,” Levi noted.

“So you’re not human?” Zeke asked.

“No, I’m not,” Mikasa said before she looked down.

"What are you?" Zeke asked.

"A demi fae," Mikasa explained.

"What the fuck is that? I've never even heard of this. Levi, have you heard of this?" Eren asked.

"It means she's half fairy, half human. A cousin of mine was said to have had a baby with a fairy. They both were killed and the baby went missing. I just thought they were crazy and wanted out of the family business. That's you, isn't it?"

Mikasa didn't answer.

"Interesting. I didn't think it was real. What’s your name?" Levi asked before he sat down at his desk.

“Mikasa Ackerman was my name. I’ve been going by Mikasa Zoe.”

"You lied to me!" Eren shouted at Mikasa.

"I had to! People were looking for me! I didn't know you were a hunter. I just wanted to be normal for a bit," Mikasa muttered before looking down.

"So how do we kill her?" Eren asked.

Mikasa was hurt.

"We're not going to kill her, Eren. She saved both of our lives. Besides, she doesn't even seem evil," Zeke tried to reason with his brother.

"She lied to me for three years. She’s not human. That makes her a monster! Isn’t that what Dad taught us? Didn’t you want me back in this life? So here I am. She’s just another job. Another monster, right?” Eren asked.

"I didn't know you were a hunter like me! I didn't know you had a yellow eyed demon after you! I just wanted to be normal! I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for wings or my parents to be killed by demons. I didn't ask for anything. You don’t understand what I risked by using my power like that! It sent up a beacon! I was going to tell you when the time was right. I was going to tell you after your interview."

"So that’s what you were disappearing to do all the time? Hunting? Whatever. You got on me for not telling you about my past. I guess we're both even now. Thanks for saving my dad by the way," Eren stormed off and slammed the door as he left Levi's house.

Zeke and Levi both looked over at her. Zeke walked over as he pulled a key out of his pocket. He unlocked the handcuffs as he took them off of her.

"Now what?" she asked as she stood up.

"What was that knife you killed the demon with?" Zeke asked her.

Mikasa waved her hand and the knife appeared.

"It's a demon killing knife. I took it off a witch who was working for a demon. It's charmed to show up when I call for it," she informed Zeke before handing the blade over to him.

"I'm guessing it kills you too?" Levi asked.

Mikasa shrugged. "I don't know. Haven't tried it."

"Could I wield one of these?" Zeke asked as he examined it.

Mikasa nodded again.

"You don't happen to have a spare?"

Mikasa shook her head. Zeke handed the blade over to Levi.

"Can we summon it?" Levi asked.

Mikasa shook her head again.

"Did you become mute all of sudden?" Levi asked as he tossed the knife up and down.  

She shook her again before speaking. "No, I just...I'm not sure what you're going to do. And if I die, I'd rather die with dignity."

"We're not going to kill you. You're clearly not evil. Can I see your wings?" Levi asked as he handed the knife back.

Mikasa took it before waving her hand again. The blade disappeared. She closed her eyes and two black feathered wings popped out of Mikasa's back.

"Can you fly?" Levi asked.

"Not in the way you think. I can fly short distances. Anything else requires teleportation that only fairies can use. Flying also makes me sick because of being half human,” Mikasa explained.

"What good are wings if not for flying?" Zeke asked.

"It's a curse for those who are half human. A reminder that we should not be."

"Interesting," Zeke remarked.

"If you have no more questions, I should leave," Mikasa said as she stood up.

"Why? It's not going to be safe out there. You did just say you put a beacon on yourself. Besides, these two could use a healer on their side. You said you're a hunter too? Just not in the traditional sense? Well, my house is open to hunters. So sit your ass down on the couch over there. Eren will get over it," Levi told her as he motioned to the couch again.

Mikasa allowed her wing to fold back up before she sat down.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t save your dad,” Mikasa said to Zeke. “It was too late by the time I got there.”

“It’s not your fault. We knew that was a possibility. My stepmom, Eren’s mom, died the same way. Did he feel any pain?” Zeke asked her before he sat down in one of the mix matched chairs in Levi’s living room.

Mikasa shook her head. “He was dead before he was on the ceiling.”

“That’s why you said it was too late. What do you know about yellow eyes in a demon?” Levi asked as he pulled out a notebook from his desk.

“Not much. I know they exist. There are four of them. If you’re going after them,” Mikasa stopped speaking and waved her hand. The knife appeared again. “You’ll need this. You’d have better luck though if you can find The Colt. Good luck though.”

“What’s the Colt?” Zeke asked as he took the knife from Mikasa.

“A legend. It’s said that Samuel Colt created a gun that has thirteen original bullets that can kill anything. It’s not real. There’s no proof of it. Besides, who knows how many bullets are around?” Levi said as he wrote something down in the notebook.

“It’s real. And you can make more bullets. You just have to know how,” Mikasa explained.

“And you do?” Zeke asked.

Mikasa shook her head. “No, but the person who raised me does. They’re a hunter too.”

“Wait, you said you used the last name Zoe. Is Hange Zoe the one who raised you?” Levi asked as he dropped his pen.

Mikasa nodded.

“Zeke, go get your brother calmed down. She’s not evil at all,” Levi said before he stood up.

“Wait, you still thought I was evil?” Mikasa said as she watched Levi.

“Always a chance,” Levi replied as he exited the room.

“To be fair, I didn’t think you were evil,” Zeke said as he flashed her a smile. “My brother’s a dumbass but he’ll come around.”

Mikasa nodded but she had a sinking feeling that Eren wouldn’t come around.

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Eren laid in the back of the Impala.

Mikasa wasn’t human.

That made her a monster.

It was that simple.

His father had even said it was that simple.

Then there was the whole thing about fairies being real. Just what he needed. Why couldn’t things be simple?

He hated to think he had been spending the last three years of his life with a monster.

But the way that Mikasa had looked at him.

The fear that she had had in her eyes when she looked at him was something that would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life.

Eren wasn’t allowing himself to feel the pain from Grisha’s death.

He had finally seen his dad.

Three years later and the last thing Grisha had said to him was ‘don’t come back’. Eren had hoped that he would have found him with Zeke. Then maybe Grisha’s last words wouldn’t have haunted him.

“She’s pretty upset, just so you know,” Zeke said as he pulled out a cigarette while leaning up against the Impala. He lit one as he looked at Eren, still laying in the backseat.

“Good,” Eren said before looking away.

“Eren, you know Dad did really lov..”

“Can we not? I don’t want to hear the ‘Dad always loved you’ speech right now. The last words he’ll ever say to me were ‘don’t come back’. Then I see him on the ceiling of my apartment and find out that my girlfriend is part fairy. So spare me,” Eren said before he sat up.

Zeke took a drag from his cigarette. “And how would you have reacted if you would have known about Mikasa? Probably the same.”

“How are you so fine with all of this?” Eren asked as he threw his hands up in the air.

“Because at nine years old I saw the woman who raised me like I was her own on the ceiling of my little brother’s bedroom. I saw her, Eren. It’s implanted in my brain. It’ll never leave. Sometimes at night, I’ll look up and I still see her there. So trust me when I say I get what you’re feeling with Dad. Because I miss Mom too. Because I feel it too. But you’re right. Dad was awful to both of us. He raised us to be mirror images of himself of the hatred he felt. But we don’t have to do that,” Zeke said before taking another drag of his cigarette.

“What do we do now?” Eren asked as he got out of the Impala.

“Well, I think we go do what Dad taught us to do. We track down that Yellow Eyed Demon and we kill him. In the meantime, we take down any monster we can find. Hunting things, saving people. We take over the family business,” Zeke said as he walked around to the trunk. He opened the trunk and then the spare tire area. He pulled out their father’s journal before handing it over to Eren.