"Are you okay?" Rea asked worriedly as Levi looked angry.
He was fighting himself not to go there.
It's not your business. It's not your business.
"Yeah." He looked back at her.
It didn't sound okay. They both knew it.
He tried to keep a casual conversation with her, but his gaze kept wandering and he didn't hear a single word she said. She gestured with her head for him to go once she realized it herself.
He nodded gratefully and immediately headed toward them.
"People will get worried. Why didn't you take her to clean up?" Even though he wanted to slap Nat, he successfully controlled himself.
"We're going home," Azra said nervously and walked out. Ash grabbed Natasha's hand and pulled her along.
"I'll take you." Levi walked out with them and took her keys.
He became even angrier when he got into the car and smelled alcohol. When he saw the blood on the steering wheel, he shot her an angry look but said nothing.
When they arrived and got out of the car, Levi grabbed her hand and motioned to the others to go.
She started laughing because she knew a lecture was coming. "I didn't kill anyone," she said tiredly.
She had her back turned to him, so she couldn't see his reaction.
Levi stayed silent for a while to calm down.
"What happened?" He didn't want to attack her immediately when he didn't know what had happened.
She didn't want to show weakness, so she tried to stay calm. "I saw my father."
Suddenly, Levi wasn't as angry anymore.
He realized that the blood on her face was hers.
"Did you fight?" he asked, confused, because it didn't make sense. They have no connection anymore.
She sniffed.
He didn't know exactly what it was, but something told him she hadn't fought.
And once again, he felt helpless like before.
In front of him, he saw a little Natasha, helpless only when it came to her father.
And he turned into a little Levi, helpless when it came to her.
Except he wasn't helpless anymore and he could protect her.
"Why didn't you call me?" he said angrily. "I would have killed him!"
"Yes!" she snapped. "And then what? We would have created a bigger problem." She had a point.
No matter what he is, he is important for this continent.
At least that's what people believed.
That night, he promised himself that he would kill him as soon as he gained some power. He would make sure she was free and safe. He would give her the choice to do whatever she wanted because she had been treated like a weapon her whole life.
"Why didn't you come to me?" he asked quietly, even though he knew it was a shamefully stupid question.
"Why?" She laughed and turned to him. "So you could calm me down?"
"Yes." He said quietly again, and her laughter made him feel uncomfortable even though he knew it was just a facade.
"I'm sick of it, Levi. You and your savior complex are getting on my nerves." She pulled her hand away, and anger could be heard in her voice.
Levi stayed silent and just listened.
"It happened once, once! Why can't you leave me alone?" She started shouting and clenching her fists.
She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. It irritated her even more that he wasn't getting angry and was just listening.
Everything inside her was burning and she wasn't thinking at all. She stepped closer and kissed him.
"I can kiss you again, it won't mean anything either." She said coldly as she moved away from him.
Levi was confused by everything he heard and the kiss, so he just stood there without a word.
"For God's sake! What do I have to do for you to finally leave me alone?!" she shouted because he was silent. She could feel her voice breaking and that she would start crying if she stayed there any longer.
"I won't leave you." he said firmly as he approached her. He could no longer listen to her awful act.
At least he hoped he wasn't wrong and that all of this was just her act to push him away.
"I love you." He tried to grab her hand. It sounded foolish in that moment. Childish.
"You don't love me." she shouted and shook her head.
"You're wrong." he said firmly and grabbed her other hand as well.
"No. Love and pity are two different things." She pointed at him in a threatening way, as if warning him not to play with that. She didn't believe him, but it still managed to touch her a little. One tear betrayed her and fell.
No, there was no more space in her for the words that had been lying there for so long, refusing to leave. They had blended with everything else and became invisible. For some reason, she didn't even want to reveal them.
But there was no more room for pretending and comfort.
"You feel bad because you were the only one who knew everything back then but couldn't help me. You don't love me, you're just trying to make up for it."
"That's not true." Levi still sounded more determined than ever. He didn't allow her words to shake him or make him doubt himself.
Of course, part of it was true.
But he loved her, that was the only thing in this life, in this messed up world, that he was sure about.
And he wouldn't let her push him away so she could destroy herself.
"I don't need help, you can stop." she said calmly and wiped her tears.
"Like hell you don't!" he shouted angrily. He finally snapped.
Her pushing him away had always driven him crazy.
"Then why are you turning into your father?" He let anger speak and regretted it immediately. But spoken words cannot be erased, and even less the feelings they cause.
Natasha shivered when she heard that and felt pain in her chest, as if he had stabbed her.
"I'll kill you!" she shouted and jumped at him. She started hitting him with all her strength while he tried to stop her but couldn't restrain her.
"I'll kill you." she repeated through tears as she pulled out a knife.
The look she gave him scared him.
"Stop." he said when he stopped her hand. The sadness he had seen in her eyes just moments ago was gone and he could see something stronger than anger.
Hatred, stronger than usual.
She kicked him and knocked him to the ground, then jumped on top of him.
He wasn't sure she would stop, she didn't look like she could control herself, but he stopped defending himself.
He thought he deserved it.
Natasha didn't stop.
"Stop!" Ash shouted and grabbed her.
In a second, he saved Levi. If he hadn't shown up in time, Levi would have been dead. At that moment she didn't feel it, but she was forever grateful that he came in time.
Leonardo and Ash were pulling her away from him while Azra helped him get up.
"I'll kill you!" Natasha shouted again while trying to break free and attack him.
None of them understood what was happening, but they were scared.
"Go." Azra said worriedly and pushed him toward the car.
"Calm down." Leo was trying to restrain her.
"Give me that." Ash said angrily and took the knife from her.
"Easy." He held her face to make her look at him.
Natasha stopped struggling but couldn't stop crying as she watched him leave.
She never wanted to hear that, especially not from him.
.
The President smiled proudly after finishing the conversation.
"Why do I feel like you did something?" the man next to him said suspiciously.
"I didn't. I just stimulated her."
"How?" the man asked curiously.
"I made her sad."
.
After Levi left, Natasha stopped resisting and let them take her inside.
"Have you finally lost your mind?" Leo asked flatly, as he was the least surprised and affected by the situation. He had always been distant from everyone in the team.
"You almost killed my brother!" Ash, who was always careful and gentle with her, snapped for the first time and shouted.
Natasha looked at him helplessly, trying to find the right words.
"I love you, but you need to get yourself together. With all the worries and problems we already have, we can't afford a member like that." Azra stood by Ash and also confronted her, but more calmly.
Their words weren't really reaching Natasha at that moment.
"What kind of member?" she asked and smiled ironically.
"A problematic one." Azra said and sat next to her. "You always do whatever you want, you don't think about the consequences." She continued even though it was hard to say that while Natasha was in that state.
"You need to know your limits! You can't kill everyone who annoys you!" Even though he tried, Ash couldn't calm down and kept shouting.
"He told me I'm turning into my father." Natasha shouted. She never intended to say it, but it was stronger than her.
Pain could be heard in her voice, and everyone in the room fell silent.
The situation between her and Levi had already been critical, and they never interfered—this made it even worse.
Natasha never talked about him, but they had figured some things out when they saw her exhausted, crying, bruised.
They knew he drank and treated her and her mother badly, and then brought another woman. That was about it.
"He shouldn't have said that." Ash calmed down and said quietly as she stood in front of him.
"But is that enough reason to kill him?" he asked again, quietly.
"If you knew my father and had to live with him, you would understand." she said quietly, looking him in the eyes, her whole body shaking.
Leonardo was the only one who knew her father because he trained with her under him. Both of them had trauma from that man.
"Come here." He approached her and hugged her while she stood still.
"Leave her alone, damn it." He shot threatening looks at Azra and Ash and took her to her room.
"I'm sure he didn't mean what he said." Leo said when they were alone, and she knew he meant it. He was always honest, even if it sounded harsh.
"He's just angry because of everything you do and because he's forced to watch you like this, without any way to help you." He continued since she stayed silent.
She looked at him, slightly scared, unsure what he meant.
"Nat, do you really think you can hide anything from me? We've known each other since we were kids." He rolled his eyes, thinking she was pretending. He didn't like getting involved in others' lives, but that didn't mean he didn't know what was going on.
"Do you think I'm a bad person?" she asked quietly, embarrassed. Her smile showed helplessness.
"The world turned you into a bad person." Leo stayed true to his honesty even now.
He left the room briefly to get something to calm her down and some water.
"Everyone has their own way of fighting themselves and life." he said when he came back and handed it to her.
She obediently took it and drank.
"I can't support your ways." He took the bottle back and said firmly.
"But if they help you, I can look the other way." He sighed and tried not to think further. "But that doesn't mean others will do the same."
"Thank you." she said sleepily and gave him a sincere smile for the first time.
After calming her down, he had to find Levi because he knew—he could feel that something bad was about to happen.
This time, he had good timing.
He found him in front of her father's house.
He was on his way to kill him.