They found Boyd at the sheriff's station, an old building that had been converted into something between a headquarters and a jail.
Boyd looked up from a stack of papers as they entered, his expression already weary. The past six months had aged him visibly, some gray in his hair, deeper lines around his eyes, the weight of leadership pressing down on shoulders that had already carried too much, a son, who had cut all relations with him, and finally a wife whom he had let down and was dead all because of him.
"Levi. Ariana." He set down his pen, eyes on Levi for a moment longer. "What's wrong?"
"Something happened in the forest," Levi said, deciding directness was better than dancing around it. "I ran into… something. Someone. A man in yellow."
Boyd's expression didn't change. "Describe him."
So Levi did. The yellow coat. The smile. The way he'd moved, or lack of it. The words he'd spoken. The fact that he'd let Levi walk away when he could have easily killed him.
When he finished, Boyd was quiet for a long moment.
"You're sure he wasn't one of ours?" Boyd asked finally. "Someone from Colony House, maybe? We've had people wearing all kinds of strange clothes, whatever they had when they arrived."
"I'm sure. He took a mace to the shoulder and didn't flinch." Levi's voice was flat. "This wasn't a person. Not a normal one."
"But he talked to you.. During the day. Those things don't do that during the day."
"This one did."
Boyd leaned back in his chair, studying Levi with the careful assessment of someone trying to determine if he was looking at a reliable man or someone having a breakdown.
"Has anyone else seen him?" Boyd asked.
"Not that I know of."
"Has anything else unusual happened?
Boyd's question hung in the air like dust in sunlight.
Levi didn't answer immediately. Partly because he was thinking. Ariana stiffened beside him, waiting, eyes flicking to Levi's hand still twitching faintly by his side.
"…Not in the forest," Levi said finally. "But something's off. I can feel it."
Boyd's jaw tightened. "That's not evidence."
"It's all we ever have in this place," Levi shot back, sharper than he intended, but the tension was crawling up his spine again.
Boyd opened his mouth to respond, but the station lights flickered. Once. Twice. A small electric hiccup. It wasn't unusual; if anything, it was normal. But the timing of it…
Ariana's grip tightened.
The lights steadied a moment later.
Boyd exhaled. "Look. Whatever you saw, whoever he was, we can't jump to conclusions. If things were changing, we'd see signs. Something obvious."
Levi didn't trust his voice enough to answer.
Ariana did. "What Levi saw is enough of a sign."
Boyd hesitated. His eyes darted between them, landing on Ariana for a fraction longer than necessary, something protective there, and afraid. "Just… be careful. Stay close to town. Don't go out alone."
Levi almost laughed.
Ariana nudged him gently with her shoulder. A reminder: breathe.
The three of them walked out of the station together. The sun was still high, warm and bright. A couple of townsfolk chatted near the well. A handful of kids played with a dented soccer ball, their footsteps echoing across cracked pavement. A dog barked somewhere behind the houses.
The world looked painfully normal.
Wait…
A dog?
Ariana linked her arm with his as they left Boyd behind, nudging him softly. "We're not going to spend the rest of the day in panic mode," she said, voice firm but gentle. "You're coming with me."
"Where?"
"Home," she said simply. The word did something strange to him, and he smiled. A picture of the gas station came to his mind.
Ariana locked the door behind them out of habit when they entered, then turned to him. "We need to talk."
Levi stiffened. "Talk or argue?"
Ariana stepped closer, hands sliding up to frame his face again. "Talk," she whispered. "The last time you were shaking this much, you climbed a tree and almost died…"
He didn't argue.
Couldn't.
Levi sat on the edge of the bed because she pushed him there, not forcefully, just with a quiet insistence that made him obey without thinking. Ariana stood in front of him, breathing slowly, her eyes taking him in like she was centering herself. She sat beside him, close enough that their knees touched, but if she felt his tremor, she didn't comment.
"Levi," she murmured, "you can tell me the truth. Are you overwhelmed? Scared? Or are you… excited?"
He swallowed once.
Twice.
"Both."
Her brows pinched. "Why excited?"
"Because it's new," he admitted slowly, the honesty dragging itself out of him like a confession. "We've been stuck in the same nightmare for over a year. Same monsters. Same rules. Same motions. But this, this is different."
Ariana took his hand. "Different is not always good."
"I know." He exhaled softly through his nose. "But it's something. And maybe that means there's a way out."
She leaned into his shoulder. "Or it means things are about to get worse."
"Oh, it is," he whispered.
They sat in silence for a moment. A warm, breathing silence.
"Levi."
Ariana turned her face toward him, eyes soft, completely open. She hesitated for a moment. "Levi… something's been on my mind."
He nodded, bracing himself.
Ariana sat beside him, their legs touching. "The future. Our future. I know this place makes that sound stupid, but I keep thinking about it."
He stayed quiet, letting her continue, because she needed this.
"I think about kids," she admitted, voice barely above a breath.
The question hit him harder than the man in yellow's strike was aiming to.
Levi's heart thudded hard and uneven. "Ariana…"
"I need your truth, Levi."
The words unlocked something in him. Something raw. Something that surprised even him.
"I want kids with you," he said. "A lot of them. As many as you're willing to give me."
Ariana inhaled sharply, eyes softening at the edges. "Really?"
"Really." He tucked a curl behind her ear, a kiss on her chin. "But not here. Not in this nightmare."
She nodded, though sadness clung to the motion.
"And…" Levi hesitated. "I thought maybe… Maybe you were pregnant. You've been tired. And hungrier. And-"
"I'm not," she whispered, placing a hand over his. "I checked. I'm not."
A complicated relief and disappointment twisted together in his chest.
Ariana slid closer, her thigh pressed fully against his now, her forehead nearly touching his. "It scares me. The idea of being pregnant here."
"It scares me too," he murmured.
"Because I don't know what this place would do to a baby," she whispered.
"Or to you," Levi added, voice breaking just slightly. "I can survive anything. But you- if anything happened to you…"
She kissed him to silence that fear, slow and warm, her palm cupping his cheek.
When she pulled back, her voice was steadier. "We'll face it when we have to. Not before."
"Okay…"
Ariana looked at him for a long moment. "Have you noticed how quiet things are? The visions. The hallucinations. The whispers."
"Gone," he confirmed on his side of things as well, excluding the man in yellow.
"I am terrified," she murmured.
Levi hummed instead of answering, hand on her back, rubbing circles in comfort and love.
Ariana kissed him again, deeper this time. Levi's hand slid to her waist.
===
AN: Yo, i'm back and enjoy the two new chapters. I just need to refresh myself and reread this story to see what i had in mind at the time. Also, i have not watched s4 of FROM. Might give it a try. Or not if you guys think it sucked. I'll stick to own my theories and such and finish it myself.