"The doctor said you need to do these stretches everyday," Levi said, wrapping his hand around Petra's and gently bending her arm back at the elbow.
"I know," She grimaces. "But that doesn't mean they don't hurt."
"I know, and I'm sorry." Levi continues to do the stretches. "Just remember: these first few weeks are the shittiest, but they get better. I promise it'll get better."
Petra can't manage her usual smile--now she just focuses on the stretches, and Levi's hand wrapped around her own.
Somehow, with Levi here, everything is a little bit easier.
"Are you ready to do your legs or do you want to take a break?" Levi asks, releasing her arm.
"Let's do it and get it over with." Petra responds. "If we get it all done in one go, it won't take as long and won't hurt as bad."
"Good thinking." Levi goes to the foot of the bed and rolls the off-white blanket over to one side and lifts Petra's ankle with one hand. "Okay, first push on my palm as hard as you can."
Petra does as she's told and obediently pushes her foot against Levi's hand--she strains herself and tries to push harder than before.
"Okay, release pressure." Levi changes his grip and adds, "Now push again... good. I'll start the next stretch, okay?"
Petra nods, moving slowly along with Levi as he bends her leg at the knee.
His movements are gentle, but secure--despite the deep ache, she feels safe with Levi guiding her every movement.
Levi gently puts her leg down, rolls the blanket over to the opposite side, and they repeat the same process with her other leg.
"You did good, darling." Levi mumbles, pulling the covers over both Petra's legs and sitting in the stool beside the bed. "If you'd like, I could get you some ice for your joints, I'm sure we have some and it might help the ache."
"I'm okay, Levi. Thank you." Petra says, mustering a small smile.
They sit in silence for a moment or two before Petra asks, "Levi... how did you manage to get out of the attack unscathed? Our entire squad was slaughtered, but you don't look like you were even in the fight. How did you manage that?"
"According to Erwin, I'm not totally unscathed, but I'm okay." He pauses. "But... it's a long story."
"We have plenty of time," Petra says. "And what do you mean 'not totally unscathed?'"
Levi sighs heavily. "It's complicated. And Erwin is convinced I injured my leg when I fell on a patch of hardened titan skin, and that's thanks to Mikasa talking shit."
"I'm sure she wasn't talking shit. She was probably just worried about you. And what kind of injury?"
"He says I might have a fractured ankle," Levi says, ignoring the growing throb in his leg and instead saying, "But I'm fine."
"Might?" Petra gives a confused look.
"Well, I haven't actually gotten it checked." He says, adding again: "But I'm fine."
"I doubt you're fine, Levi. I know you, and you would say you're fine if your arm had just been ripped off. You refuse to show any kind of pain or sign your human." Petra shakes her head in frustration. "Why won't you accept that you're human?"
Levi sighs heavily from aggravation, running his hand across his face and through his hair.
"Look, it's complicated." He drops his hand. "Hell, I don't even understand it and I'm the one affected!"
"Levi, what are you talking about?" Petra's voice takes a concerned tone. "Your face is all red, you need to calm down. It's okay if you don't wanna tell me if it's that personal, but... with as close as we are, you have got to tell me eventually because I can help you."
"You can't help me," Levi clenches his fists. "Not with this. This is something greater than you or I, something that could very well attract many dangerous people."
Petra pauses before whispering in a breathy voice, "Dangerous people?"
"Thugs, gang members, criminals hired by nobles to do their dirty work." He gnaws at the inside of his cheek before mumbling, "I should know, I was one of them."
"You were what?" Petra gasps, unable to contain her shock. "I don't know much of your past, but..."
Petra suddenly stops speaking, her mouth agape.
They'd become so close, he knew so much about her, and yet she knew practically nothing about him.
She didn't even know his last name.
"Nobody except a few people know my past." He shakes his head, fists still clenched tightly. "It's too dangerous."
"You can tell me," Petra mumbles. "Danger don't mean much to me, or have you forgotten that I am a soldier?"
"I know you're strong, but believe me..." Levi pauses again, his mind slowly filling with memories he wished he could forget. "Even strong people become weak here."
"I don't think there's much left that could take us down." Petra says.
"Maybe you're right," Levi chuckles softly, but the moment of slight joy is dropped in an instant. "But still. This is a world of darkness."
"What is?"
"The Underground." Levi says, his words coming out sharp as steel.
"The... Underground?" Petra cocks her head. She'd heard tales--no, horror stories--of an underground city, the one made of the ruins of a failed evacuation plan. "The Underground... is real?"
"Yes, the Underground is real." Levi muttered. "I grew up there."
"You grew up in the Underground?" Petra asked.
"Yes." He shook his head, memories flooding faster and faster with every passing second. "It was one of the worst times of my life. I would've done anything to get out of that hellhole."
Petra couldn't suppress her curiosity. "What was it like?"
"Filthy." Levi scowled. "There was dirt and grime on every surface, and on every street corner was a painted whore. Brothels and pubs were always in business, and yet the workers lived in poverty. The stairways mocked us--even if you managed to pay the toll, it wouldn't mean shit without papers. You'd just get sent right back down."
"That sounds... horrible." Petra muttered. She looked at Levi, and though he was at her bedside, he wasn't truly there--he was a little boy again, curled in the corner, starving and alone.
Petra reached out to grasp Levi's calloused hand, but he barely responded--he was too far gone.
"Where were your parents during all of this?" Petra asked, and Levi scoffed. A horrifying image crossed her mind, "You weren't alone, were you?"
"My mother died when I was four, and I never knew my father." He pauses. "My mother was a prostitute, and she got knocked up by one of her clients--truly pitiful. A family 'acquaintance'" He stops and scoffs at the word. "Tried to convince her to get rid of me, but my mother was a stubborn woman and refused... maybe the same man is the one who killed her."
"Killed her?" Petra whispered absentmindedly, the shock overcoming her senses.
"Well, if he hadn't given her that disease, she would still be around." Levi sighs. "Or at least I like to think she would."
Disease. Petra thought. An STD, most likely. Most people diagnosed can go on with their normal lives, but without proper treatment, they can be fatal. With the way Levi describes the Underground, a decent doctor was probably non-existent.
"I'm... I'm so sorry, Levi. I never knew, if I would've known, I wouldn't have pushed you--" Petra rambles, but Levi cuts her off.
"Don't apologize." He waves his hand, both in a dismissal of Petra and the memories. He gives a half hearted smile before adding, "Besides, what kinda man would I be if I didn't learn all the shit I did there? I doubt I'd be in the position I am now. I'd be shocked if I was still alive."
Levi spoke confidently now, with the voice of man and the strength of an entire battalion.
No longer was he that frail little boy, huddled in a corner, starving and alone, terrified of his own shadow--he is a captain now.
Levi tells himself this over and over, day and night, but it doesn't stick.
There are horrid moments when he is back in that hellhole, clinging to life as his mother's corpse rots in the bed across the room.
There are moments where he feels the shattered glass in his palm, the warmth of the tea spilling over his fingers as he wept and swore to never break another teacup again.
Hellish moments like these, Levi is no longer Humanity's Strongest.
Moments like these he is again a scared little boy, curled in a corner, starving and alone.