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By Millennia2 | Part of the Alone continuity. |
| "I never planned for you to get involved in this. I never planned for you to meet Leah, or to be hunted by the BDA. I just wanted you to have a normal life, away from all this." |
| — Neil to Sierra in Father |
Neil Levin was the leader of the New York Colony in the fanon story Alone.
History[]
Background[]
Neil was born in New York in 1954. He lived in a time where the Airbenders were scattered throughout the city. After the building of the Twin Towers in the seventies, the Airbenders flocked there in the mass employment and established the colony. On the roof of the North Tower whilst learning how to glide, Neil met his future wife.
She helped him after his repeated failures. After looking into each other's eyes, they took to each other instantly and went everywhere together. Three months after they met, they were married in the Trinity Church. Neil gave her everything her heart desired; jewelry, cars, vacations; but the only thing her heart truly craved was a child.
After a few years, nothing had been successful. They found out that she had a condition known as endometriosis. Neil paid top dollar for treatments, but nothing came of it. When they were just about to give up hope, they found out that she was pregnant. She was thrilled at their luck, and even more so when she learned it was a girl.
The girl, named Sierra, was born with no complications and grew up normal and healthy. Neil wanted to raise her in New York to live with the Airbenders, but his wife was apprehensive. She wanted to take her away from the colony and live in safety from the BDA. Neil tried to reason with her that no place was safer than New York, but to no avail.
When Sierra was two, word came that a group of BDA agents was prowling around the city. The current head of the colony, John, sent Neil and his wife to lead a team to eliminate the agents. It was an ambush. The agents, led by Vayu, covered the group in fog and picked them off one by one. Neil stayed with his wife and tried to lead her out of the fog.
When they could see the lights of the city, they thought they were safe. Suddenly she let go of his hand and crashed to the ground with a large cut on her head from an air blade. Neil tried to get her out, but she was too weak to move, and he was being attacked as well. Neil had to leave her behind and left to get help. When they came back, she was already gone.
Neil and Sierra stayed in New York for a few more months, then left just before Sierra's third birthday. They led fake identities to Eureka, California, while they settled in quietly in Alice Springs. Neil bought a mansion in the suburbs and hired a butler, Gerald. The three lived there peacefully for many years, seemingly safe from the BDA.
Then in 1993, the World Trade Center was bombed. The attack was meant to bring the Towers down, but failed to do so. The leaders were fearful of another attack, and they wanted Neil to move back to protect the colony in the case of another attack. Neil refused at first. They pleaded with him to come back, though he kept telling them no.
But just before Sierra's ninth birthday, the BDA did a search of the city for benders. Neil panicked and left for New York on a plane, leaving Sierra with Gerald. No attack came to the city for years. Just when Neil was about to leave, John was killed, leaving Neil with his responsibility as head of the colony.
Reunion with Sierra[]
Word came to the colony that the Avatar was traveling with Sierra and they were headed for New York. Neil sent out a colonist, Keanu, to escort them there and settle them in at the Marriott, located just beneath the World Trade Center. When they arrived, Neil confronted Sierra at the hotel, much to her shock. She treated him coldly and blamed him for abandoning her. When he revealed to her that he was an Airbender, she forced him to leave.
Neil continually tried to reconcile with her, but never could. A few days later, he tried and was let into her room. Sierra asked what had happened to her mother, and Neil told her. Sierra, filled with grief and rage, slammed the door in his face and denounced him as a coward.
Neil came back a few days later and was let in by Sierra, who seemed to have cooled down from their last confrontation. Neil told her why he had left and helped to repair a hand cast the two had made just before he left. When he was done, Sierra let him out of the room calmly and even said bye to him before closing the door. At this point, the two began to mend their relationship, though Sierra was still resentful.
Sierra's Birthday[]
A few months later, Neil coordinated with Leah to help celebrate Sierra's 17th birthday. In the evening, Leah led Sierra to the top of the North Tower. Once there, she blindfolded her and attached her to a glider. When Sierra was aware of what was going on, Leah pushed her off to the Tower. She was met by her father, hovering in a glider below.
Neil pleaded with Sierra to open her eyes and enjoy the experience. After relenting, Neil and Leah helped Sierra fly around the Tower and feel the joy of gliding.
9/11[]
A few days after, Sierra consented to move into her father's apartment. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Neil met Leah in the North Tower and expressed his fear of being with his daughter again. Leah comforted him and set him on his way to meet her. He was sidetracked by a worker in the Tower, saying that Security Command needed to see him.
The worker informed him that a suitcase left behind at an airport and addressed to him was waiting in the command center. It contained only a cell phone and a note with his name on it. The note told Neil to answer the phone at 8:45. When it rang, Neil picked it up and eavesdropped on a conversation between Leah and the Leader; all the while watching Leah on the Tower's security camera.
When the phone call stopped, Neil watched on the camera as a plane collided into the Tower. The explosion traveled down an elevator bank and exploded on Neil's floor, leaving him buried in rubble. Neil tried to break out, but to no avail. He later heard rescuers and yelled for them. When he was finally freed by Don Ruben's son, he was shocked to see Sierra with him.
After scolding her and Ruben Jr. for allowing her to come into the Tower, he relented and escorted her out. At the bottom of the Tower, Neil and Sierra found Leah, having just escaped the rubble of the impact zone. Leah told them everything the Leader had said on the phone. Neil acknowledged that it wasn't over yet, and a few seconds later his suspicions were confirmed when the second plane hit.
Neil and Leah worked to get into the Tower to mount a rescue operation. Sierra was furious however, feeling like she was being abandoned and also feeling fear for her father. Neil promised her that he would come back, then told Leah to escort Sierra to the hotel, get her glider, and meet him in the South Tower. As Leah began to leave, they were met by another colonist named Jon.
Jon informed Neil that the Elite had been spotted in the South Tower just after the plane hit. Neil acknowledged and told Jon to go to the South Tower and wait for him. Behind Sierra's back, he consented that he needed Leah to help them confront the Elite. After Leah and Sierra left, Neil took his own glider and set off to the South Tower.
The fight had already started. Keanu was dueling Kumara while Jon was fighting Vayu. Neil left to help Jon, later having to fight Vayu on his own when Jon was gruesomely decapitated. He fought Vayu and was about to kill him when Kumara intervened, having defeated Keanu. At that moment Morgan and Adam, two more of the Elite, came to the fight and surrounded Neil.
Neil prepared for a last stand when he was saved by Hubert, the concierge at the Marriott and a Firebender. The two went back to back, each of them facing two of the Elite. Leah then arrived and quickly defeated Morgan and Adam. Neil helped to incapacitate them while Hubert fought Kumara and Vayu. After the men were defeated, Neil and Leah moved to confront Vayu.
Vayu, in a moment of surprise, deafened Neil and Leah and prepared to kill them. They were saved by Keanu, who quickly defeated Vayu and allowed Leah to bury him in rubble. With only one Elite left, they ran to Kumara, who had just defeated Hubert with a lightning blast. Hubert, on the verge of death, revealed that Kumara was his long lost daughter.
Lost in the shock that followed, nobody noticed the Leader as he slipped into the impact zone and prepared to kill Neil with a metal spear. Keanu intercepted it, collapsing with death seconds after. Immediately, Neil moved to protect Leah from the Leader. After a confrontation between Kumara and the Leader about Hubert, Hubert and Neil attacked the Leader, Hubert sacrificing his life in the process.
Neil attacked the Leader and yelled for Leah to escape. As Neil was beaten into a corner, Leah intervened and attacked the Leader. Neil struck with an air blade and injured the Leader. With the distraction, he picked up two gliders, handed one to Leah, and they escaped from the Tower. The Leader generated lightning and struck Neil's glider. As Neil fell, the Leader sent a fire blast that Neil's body passed through, incinerating him instantly. The shock of his death led Leah to go into the Avatar State and nearly defeat the Leader, later being defeated herself.
Personality[]
Neil is an exceptionally kind and caring person. He's always looking out for the safety of others, and was willing to put his own life on the line to protect them. However, this obsession for safety often led him to forgo other's feelings or needs. He was willing to abandon and lie to his own daughter to protect her from the BDA. He was also willing to put Leah's life on the line when faced with a fight against the Elite.
Neil, during the reunion with his daughter, was viewed as cowardly. When his wife was dying in an attack and too weak to move, he left her as he was being attacked himself, and left for help. This was counteracted in the 9/11 attack when he was surrounded by the Elite, when he readied himself for a last stand. He also was willing to sacrifice himself to the Leader to save Leah.
Despite his flaws, Neil was shown to just be a selfless man who cared for others, willing to do anything to protect them.
Abilities[]
Neil was an exceptionally powerful Airbender, having risen to leading the colony in the last months of his life. He was shown to be especially gifted in manipulating air currents, enough to pin down adversaries until they could be contained. Neil was also talented in air blasts and gliding. During the first moments of the fight in the South Tower, he single-handedly defeated Vayu in a duel. He also held his own against the Leader for a short time, giving Leah an opportunity to escape.
Production Notes[]
- Neil Levin was based on a real life character of the same name. He was also head of the Port Authority and was killed in the September 11 attacks. Aspects of his appearance, his backstory, and his daughter Sierra have all been added for the story and are fiction.
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