Archive of Our Own ^beta

There was justice in the world, only not for everyone. Some got it, some didn’t. And sometimes, doing justice with your own hands, or hand, was what had to be done. Was it morally correct? Depends on what counts as morally correct. It also depends on whether you think that retribution is morally excusable in some instances. Such as when justice fails to protect those with no money to pay expensive lawyers to defend them when they're right.

Levi had worked at that factory for 13 years. It was a job. That’s what all his co-workers said when they were fed up with it. The conveyor belt was mind-numbingly boring and messed up with your mind. Sometimes people got yelled at for letting damaged goods pass, because they simply didn’t notice that the item wasn't up to the quality standards of the factory.

Levi’s boyfriend of 15 years worked as a deskman at a small sports centre. He could only do desk jobs ever since he’d had his arm smashed against a ceiling. And he was lucky enough to have escaped with his life and without breaking his neck. He’d put his arm over the railing of an hydraulic scaffolding, that shouldn’t be operating indoors, and the guy responsible for manoeuvring it didn’t notice that he’d pushed it too far up.

Neither Erwin nor Levi nor any of their friends had money to pay for the hot shot lawyer his former boss at the construction company had, and he lost the case. They lied. There were no witnesses. The scaffolding operator was hushed, and Erwin was left with his life, without a job, and with an arm gone. The victorious smile of his former boss etched in both his and Levi’s minds.

The first months were awful, but Levi was there. His love for Erwin was so strong, that he wouldn't let him shut him down. They moved to a smaller flat that they could afford with Levi’s wage. Erwin lost so much weight he needed medical attention, and Levi had to plead with him that he wouldn’t leave him. He’d fucking off himself before leaving him no matter what he did.

“You deserve happiness, Levi. If you find someone who can work, you can have a good life. I can’t work like this, not here,” Erwin cried on his knees, and they cried, together.

They lived in the middle of nowhere, in the countryside. Jobs were scarce and nobody would hire Erwin because he simply couldn't do the jobs that were available. And they couldn’t move to a big city, their living conditions would be even worse, and Levi didn’t want to leave Erwin.

“No, unless you tell me you don’t want me near you anymore, unless you fucking look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t love me anymore, I won’t leave you,” Levi told him and Erwin screamed in agony. Because he couldn’t say that. He couldn’t lie. Levi was his everything. They’d been lovers since they were teens and nobody else had ever been in their lives romantically but one another.

“I want you to be happy!” Erwin yelled.

“THEN MAKE ME HAPPY!” Levi yelled back, crying and gripping his boyfriend’s shoulders, “THEY WON THE CASE BUT I DIDN’T LOSE YOU. I DIDN’T LOSE YOU. THEY’D HAVE SHUT DOWN YOUR LIFE SUPPORT LIKE THEY DID WITH BRANDON IF YOU’D BROKEN YOUR NECK,” Levi yelled, the despair he’d been holding in for those recovery months coming out in bursts as he gripped the man he loved and forced him to look him in the eyes, “WE’RE PISS POOR, BUT WE HAVE EACH OTHER. I WILL DO ANYTHING FOR YOU. I WILL DO ANYTHING TO MAKE YOU HAPPY, ERWIN. ANY FUCKING THING. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!? YOU’RE NOT LESS YOU BECAUSE YOUR ARM IS GONE. YOU'RE THE MAN I LOVE AND WILL ALWAYS LOVE.”

Erwin cried for a long time, gripping Levi with his one arm as Levi held him against himself, holding his life, holding both their lives.

And Levi wasn’t particularly proud of what he did next. In their first weeks after losing the case and getting a fake ‘I’m very sorry, Erwin, but you have to understand’ from Erwin’s former boss. Erwin said he did, but he was so medicated, both he and Levi were, that they let it be.

It didn’t take Levi long to find where Erwin’s former boss lived. He was rich. Rich people lived in big houses. He just had to ask the right people. He trusted some of his co-workers, and he was right to do so, because Erwin’s case was widely known and many working class people felt it was unfair. It radicalised them. So, when Levi asked the right people where he lived, they didn’t ask why he needed that information.

Levi got rid of his and Erwin’s battered down Volvo’s license plates and wasted some of their money making the car silent enough. For several days he got out of their flat early and returned late. It had to be timed.

Until he saw the opportunity one night. He was wearing a bright red winter cap and winter glasses along with a cushion under his seat to appear taller behind the wheel. He saw that man’s wife on the street after she went out at night to get rid of the rubbish and, with eyes glassy, and his heart full of hatred and thirst for revenge, Levi floored it in her direction. He heard her scream, but it didn’t make him feel guilty. He’d heard the love of his life scream so many times and that’s where his guilty emotions were, because nobody else felt anything for him. Because they were nobodys.

He felt her body slam hard against the windscreen of the car and saw her tumble to the side before gripping the gearshift. He wanted to rev back and smash her legs, but he didn’t. He dashed off and when he saw Erwin’s boss and the kids coming out of the house screaming and trying to identify the car he was already too far.

Nobody ever knew it’d been him and he got rid of the car, throwing it into a river and walking home.

News spread and Erwin saw it in the newspaper ‘Monster Hit and Run, Police haven’t identified the culprit’. Levi expected Erwin to be disappointed, horrified, scared, but what he saw was a smile as he read the rest of the article and knew Levi wouldn’t be caught. And he pulled him for a deep kiss on the mouth, one full of fire, like when they were younger and wilder.

“She broke both her arms and smashed her skull,” Erwin said and smiled a little, “that’s enough for me. She’ll need rehab. I hope she meets people like me. I hope she hears them scream and knows the piece of shit she married,” Erwin said and put the newspaper away. Levi hugged him tightly around the neck in silence and they were there hugging, feeling that some form of justice had happened.

“An eye for an eye,” Levi whispered and Erwin nodded, “I thought you’d be mad.”

“I’m not,” Erwin said simply, “she’ll be fine. And I’m fine. I have you.”

And they were happy.

It was true that Levi was never caught and they needed to get another car, a blue Fiat, with many previous owners, in need of TLC, but it’d do. Erwin found a job at the local sports centre and used his employee discount for him and Levi to let off steam after Levi’s workday was over and Erwin’s was, too. They were in their late to mid-thirties, still kicking and strong.

The music that came from the radio that morning was jittery and raspy and Erwin smacked it a couple of times to hear that they’d have rain all day. No problem. Levi would leave Erwin at his workplace and then go to the factory as usual.

As he drove to the factory he had a bad feeling, and felt Erwin’s kiss linger on his lips and temple, heard his whispered ‘take care’ and Levi always took care. The problem was that some people didn’t. The problem, was that that factory had night shifts, it never stopped. The problem was that employees rested very little sometimes.

Levi saw his co-workers clock out as the previous conveyor belt operator turned off the machinery to give it a 30 minutes rest and allow it to be cleaned and checked. 53 days without accidents, the small white board said in red sharpie. Levi got on the conveyor belt and hopped onto it to check the oiling and clean it of any debris.

The problem was that the guy who was turning off the machines was still there after turning them off, and in his tired state, leant against the lever that started it.

All Levi could do was scream when the belt mangled the back his right leg and he jumped along trying to get it to stop, feeling it pierce deep into his flesh and twist it before the guy pulled the lever and stopped the belt, shouting for help when he saw Levi stuck there and ran to him.

Levi’s thigh was a mess of blood and hanging flesh, his bone exposed as he gushed hot red blood onto the floor. The guy pulled off his own sweater to tie a makeshift garrotte around his intact flesh. People screamed in horror as the guy who’d accidentally pushed the lever cried and shook holding Levi.

“I won’t leave you, I won’t, I won’t leave you until the ambulance is here,” he garbled, “I’m so sorry, Levi, so sorry, I’m so…”

They couldn’t pull him him off there because some bits were stabbing his skin, and it’d bleed if they pulled it off. The paramedics arrived soon enough and took it from there. Levi had lost a chunk of flesh but they could save a lot of it because he was muscled. And lucky it hadn’t cut any tendons and that his leg wasn’t broken.

Erwin got a taxi to the hospital as soon as he could and Levi started crying when he saw him. Erwin hugged him tightly with his arm and cried on his shoulder, talking about his bad feeling, that Levi had also kind of had. But the prognosis was good. With rest and a bit of plastic surgery, his leg would be fine. The company’s insurance policy assured all that, and Levi was strong. Three weeks in, he was healthy enough, lucked out on no infections, and was ready for rehab, which he could do at the sports centre.

However, when he showed up for work after he recovered, he was called to his boss’s office and told he no longer had a job. Was given the money he legally owed him from the paid leave, but he was sent home.

“You’re here early,” Erwin said when he met Levi outside, sat inside the car and staring into the crumbling building beside the sports centre, “everything okay?” Erwin asked and Levi returned his kiss, but shook his head.

“I got fired.

“What?”

“He just told me someone else was filling my position, gave me the paid leave money, and sent me home,” Levi said and snorted, “isn’t that great?”

“Levi…” Erwin said when Levi got out of the car. His leg was fine, but it still hurt where he had the small scarred hole, in the back with a bunch of other scars.

“I think I need to use the punching bag today… a lot,” Levi said and pulled his boyfriend’s face down for another kiss, “I won’t take this shit to court, he did all he legally had to do.”

“You got maimed because of his inhumane shifts and lack of care for his workers,” Erwin said loudly, and Levi looked up, seeing the anger flash in his eyes, “that’s not fair.”

“It’s not, but it is what it is. I got some money… I’ll find another job somewhere,” Levi said, and smiled a little, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this angry. Don’t worry about it, alright?”

“You worked for them for 13 years, you had a contract. What he did isn’t legal,” Erwin said, flaring his nostrils, "it's not."

“I know, but we’ll lose again, baby. This time he won’t even need an expensive lawyer. My leg is mostly fine, he paid my leave, and he paid my treatment. Justice is on his side. Nobody will care that I need a job,” Levi said the bile finally dropping out of his tone, “because that’s the way it fucking is.”

Both worked out to the point of exhaustion that evening and needed to stay under the hot shower of the centre for a while. Levi didn’t strain his leg, but it still hurt because the scars pulled, and he was still recovering from them. Erwin helped him apply the scar cream before bed every night.

Erwin kept his job at the centre, and it was enough to keep their small flat, as it’d been when he lost his job and they moved. It was small and dark, but always clean. And it was enough for them and their possessions. They had all they need and they had each other. But they didn't have justice. 

Levi couldn’t find a job no matter how hard he looked and he spent his days learning how to do fancy crochet to sell online, and got some income from that that helped pay the bills. He used his and his boyfriend’s condition to promote his business and the money wasn’t too bad, even though it was below minimum wage.

Erwin was glad he’d found something he enjoyed doing, and made him feel useful, but he wasn’t forgiving Levi’s former boss.

An eye for an eye.

It was his turn to show Levi that he believe in justice, but that the world was corrupt, so justice needed a little push.

Erwin said he was taking a train to go meet his mum that day and took the day off on the pretence that she was ill. Levi was so focused on the crochet sweater he was making, that he forgot that he didn’t have a mother-in-law, and just kissed his boyfriend, telling him to be careful and let him know how everything was.

It was a bit funny, and Erwin couldn't wait for the moment his boyfriend realised he’d lied. Erwin didn’t lie to Levi’s former co-workers when he got to the factory that noon as they were all having lunch after snatching some appropriate attire. He knew which ones had come visit him at the hospital, which ones had gone visit Levi, which ones he could trust.

And he saw the glint of rage in their eyes when they smiled and agreed. It was a lot easier than expected.

The alarm sounded before the most flammable machine exploded and everyone was already outside, safe, watching as the factory was engulfed by fire, high towers of orange flames with blue edges, and their boss screamed.

The workers just watched it burn, silent, and Erwin escaped before he was seen, watching it from afar.

Oh, but indeed, sometimes it was a pleasure to burn.

Erwin had his train ticket as an alibi just in case, and he’d gotten on the train but gotten off at a different station and gotten a taxi back. When he checked his phone he had only one message.

«Your mum has been dead for 34 years»

When Erwin got into the flat he found himself with an armful of boyfriend who kissed him so hard it almost hurt. They didn’t need the news. The flames were visible from their window.

“Nobody got hurt,” Erwin said as he was pulled into the bedroom, and kissed repeatedly on the mouth, the smell of smoke reaching them faintly from afar.

“You lied to me.”

“You would have wanted to help, and I’m the better runner,” Erwin said and smiled as he pushed onto the bed unceremoniously, and Levi crawled onto him, helping him out his sweater and undershirt before pulling off his own.

“I’m hornier than I’ve been in years,” Levi whispered, hoarsely, against his lips, his hands cupping Erwin’s cheeks, “you’re as wild as when we met. Still want to overthrow things.”

“Starting small,” Erwin said against his lips, grinning, his cheeks flushed when Levi turned his attention to his voluptuous chest and sensitive nipples, making him moan in their tiny bedroom, light by the daylight and the fire that still blazed in the distance, “Levi…”

Levi pulled off both their pants and underpants and threw them aside kissing his boyfriend’s stomach and eagerly taking his hardening cock into his mouth, sucking loud, almost desperate, making Erwin arch his back and writhe, moaning loudly and holding his head. “Don’t let me… I’m… I had to walk, tired…”

Levi was on it getting the condom and the lube, unrolling it on his own cock and lubing himself up before fingering Erwin’s beautiful ass with his slippery fingers, teasing him just a little more and making him chuckle.

“I don’t want to come and become a useless limp biscuit,” Erwin moaned as Levi smiled a little and stopped teasing his prostate before kissing him slowly and tenderly on the lips.

“I love you,” he whispered, positioning himself between Erwin’s legs and raising them after sliding his dick halfway into the warmth of Erwin’s glorious ass, “I love you, Erwin. So fucking much.”

“Love you more, Levi,” Erwin moaned when Levi pushed himself all the way in, touching him all around and hitting his prostate on his way in, “Oh fuck… yes, yes, please.”

Levi obeyed gladly and started moving rhythmically in and out of his ass, Erwin’s arm like a vice around his neck as he arched his back and moaned loudly, curling his legs around him. Levi was in a bit of pain on his leg but the pain added to how aroused he was, seeing his man’s hair move with each thrust, the smell of his skin, the smell of his hair, the smell of sex.

Erwin came in heavy spurts between them without needed more stimulation than their bodies against each other and Levi came with a loud moan, deep inside him, into the condom, seeing the same stars he saw in his man’s eyes. He let himself rest on his chest, not minding the mess after pulling out and relished the warmth and the hug.

“You came without being touched.”

“You turned the adrenaline of starting a fire into lust for you,” Erwin whispered, dazed, happy, avenged, “it really was a pleasure to burn.”

“That’s a bad thing in the book, isn’t it?”

“Not here, sometimes it really is a pleasure to burn,” Erwin said and let Levi help him off the bed to go take a shower.

Because sometimes burning meant justice. Justice that people like them couldn’t get any other way. Nobody ever knew it’d been Erwin. He helped himself to a jumpsuit and got a hat. He looked like everyone else. All factory workers look the same in the security cameras. That were mostly rendered useless after getting burnt into a crisp.

That man’s insurance? It only covered part of the damage. But nobody was against Erwin. Some employees turned their notice in not two days after the fire. That man was ruined. And neither Erwin nor Levi felt for him. We only truly feel for people we care about. And the working class doesn’t care for their exploitative, heartless employers. At the first spark, there is a revolution. Bosses are the ones who should be afraid of their employees, not the other way around. It's always an eye for an eye.