Alright bottom line to the creation of this story: Pacific Rim is one of my favorite movie, I ship Ereri really hard and so does my best friend and her 21st birthday is coming up, so why not start writing a fanfic to go with the horde of birthday presents I will be getting/making her? Glitter and rainbows everywhere. If Riren/Ereri or any of the other ships mentioned are not your thing, please do not send the hate mail because it is disrespectful for hating on someone's ship just for the lolz and you feel like kicking the shipper in the teeth.
WARNING: will contain character death, potty mouth Levi which was necessary, eventual doing the deed and some sad past and mushy shit. SPOILERS ARE IN THIS FOR BOTH THE MOVIE AND SNK VERSE.
Also: Although Isayama said Hange was a non-binary character, I will be referring Hange as a woman in this story for various reasons.
First chapter is written in both Levi's POV and third person.
Enjoy loves~
Chapter 1: Breach
Chicago: July 15, 2013
Everyone thought space would be the only place mankind could never fully explore due to its vastness. It was because of that reason many believed that there was other life, somewhere up in the stars, waiting to be discovered. As the great James Tiberius Kirk once said: Space the final frontier.
What a load of bull shit that was. I never enjoyed the topic of space. All it was hot air and moving rocks. I never once thought life could exist in the vast void that people find so fucking fascinating. Turns out, I was right…because it didn't exist up in the sky. They came from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
A fissure on the bottom of the ocean floor, what is now called The Breach, ended up becoming a portal to another dimension, almost like a cheesy Sci-Fi movie plot. I remember being sixteen years old when the first monster, dubbed Kaiju, laid waste to the city of San Francisco. By the time it was put down, three fucking cities had been demolished and thousands of lives were lost. Six months after that, another attack happened to Tokyo, followed by the two more until people realized: This shit wasn't over.
The world decided to get over their petty differences and pool together resources to develop a way to fight back. One mad man suggested the idea that changed everything: to fight monsters, we must create monsters. Thus, the Titan program was born, but not without its difficulties. The neural load that helped control a Titan turned out to be too much for one single pilot. To fix this issue, two pilots were added, one controlled the left hemisphere and the other controlled the right one. In order to do so they had to be drift compatible, meaning they could synch their brains together and fight as one. In the year 2015, the first fully operational Titan was completed and synced with two pilots.
That was the year we started winning.
We started kicking ass, and the Titan academy opened up for pilot candidates. Soon enough, pilots began to turn into celebrities, the military equivalents of rock stars. People turned the ideas of Kaijus into stupid things like toys, and world leaders used the war as propaganda for funding. People forgot what it was like to be afraid and continued with their lives.
What a fucking mistake that was.
January 1st, 2025: Sitka, Alaska
The smell of oil, sweat and just plain filth hung in the air as construction workers powered through the day to work on the "Military Police: Wall of Life", and plan to build a wall around the world that protected the inland from Kaiju attacks should the Titan Program fail. Though Wall of Life was a cliché name, the head military leaders thought the people needed a cliché name of hope during the hard times of the Kaiju war. On top of a steel beam, a man put a stop to his welding to remove his helmet. Grey eyes scanned the construction site with disinterest. Glancing down at his soot and oil covered gloved hands, his face grew into a disgusted grimace.
"Fucking disgusting." He muttered before decided it was time for a much needed break.
Levi Ackerman, employee of the Wall of Life campaign, gathered his tools and slid down the ladder that was conveniently placed by his beam. He never liked construction work, it was always filthy and full of disease, though not nearly as much as the slums in cities decimated by Kaiju battles. There was also The Military Police, whom Levi had little respect for because they were "Spineless ass wipes who shit on people's feelings." The only reason the wall's building plan had been approved was because the military had second guessed the probability of the Titan Program actually lasting forever and as a result, the funding was cut off, forcing what little remained of the Titans to begin relocation to the Bay of Hong Kong for deactivation.
Despite the downsides, Levi was fine with working on a wall instead of doing anything with the Titan Program like the Survey Corps. He didn't want anything to do with that branch of the army…never again.
Levi walked towards a large pipe and sat down, sighing as he removed the soiled gloves before taking out a granola bar and munching absentmindedly on it. A fellow worker, Marlow Levi thinks his name is, walks by him.
"Afternoon, Leon." He said to Levi as he passes.
Ah that's right. Five years of working on this damn thing and I forget I'm under the alias Leon.
He nodded his head towards him and continues to eat his bar until it is gone. He stares blankly for a while until he caught murmurs coming from the main entrance, the only area with a working TV.
"I can't believe this."
"It just broke through without a problem."
"Then what the fuck is the point of finishing this damn wall?!"
That caught Levi's attention. Getting up from his break spot, he walked over to the TV, not really surprised by what he was seeing. A category IV Kaiju, dubbed Mutavore by the Military, had broken through the Sydney Coastal Wall. Thankfully a Titan, Stryker Eureka, was still in the vicinity when the attack happened. Levi watched as the scene was replayed on the small screen, then a brief segment with words from the pilots.
"The city is just lucky we were still here to kill the bastard. The people upstairs don't know a damn thing about pilots, sending us to Hong Kong."
"We're just glad not many casualties occurred today, though I feel remorse for the families who have lost loved ones today."
Levi raised a brow at the odd choice for pilots. One looked like the face you'd see on the face of a billboard promoting the Catholic Church or something like that. The other one was a two toned brunet that seemed to rub Levi the wrong way, even though he had never met the guy before. The brunet, now seeing his name Jean Kirstein appear at the bottom of the screen, grabbed the reporter's mic before smirking at the camera.
"The only reason the big wigs are pulling the plug on the Titan program is cause of crap pilots. Here's what I say: Build your damn wall if you want, but just like today, it won't stop a Kaiju. Stryker is the fastest Titan out here, and we aren't going to go down so easily. "
Ah that was what bugged Levi. The kid practically oozed arrogance, something Levi was not too fond of. Growing bored of the news feed and seeing how everyone had stopped working on the wall after the incident, Levi decided to step outside for a smoke. Pulling his last pack out, he opened to pick one of the cancer enducing sticks and lit it, breathing in the fumes while looking at his shoes and sighing.
"Fucking knew the wall would be a bust." He muttered under his breath.
"You know, smoking isn't healthy for you."
Grey eyes rose from the ground to briefly meet a pair of bright, blue eyes before he shifted them back down to his shoes.
"Mind your own fucking business." He replied.
Levi heard blue eyes clear his throat before he spoke once more.
"Are you Leon Kennedy?"
This time, Levi fully raised his head up to see all of his company. He was slightly taller than Levi, a good six inches at least, though he looked like he was in his mid-twenties. His blond hair was pulled up into a partial ponytail. A crisp, clean baby blue button up shirt could be seen peeking from underneath the black overcoat. Black pants and black dress shoes were paired with the outfit. Levi finished taking in the stranger before he met his eyes again.
"Depends on whose asking." He replied, taking another drag of his cigarette.
The kid straightened "My name is Amin Arlert, I'm with the Survey Corps Titan program. Commander Erwin gave me orders to come find you and ask that you come out of retirement, sir. We have an urgent mis-"
Levi cut him off mid-sentence "Look kid, I think you have the wrong person," he threw his cigarette on the ground before stepping on it "Also: I don't have time to hear your Survey Corps bullshit propaganda right now. I have work to do, so tell your commander to fuck off."
The raven turned to leave when another, deeper voice made him freeze.
"Now that was plain rude, Levi, or do I call you Leon now?"
God must really fucking hate me he thought before turning to meet the owner with a fearsome glare.
"The fuck are you doing here, eyebrows?"
Erwin Smith, Commander of the Survey Corps and former Titan pilot. He was "an inspiration to people everywhere"…yeah right. He was more like an old man with a stick up his ass. And that old man was currently sitting on a pile of discarded tires. His blue eyes, dulled from seeing the horrors of the war against the Kaijus, bore into Levi, before softening and smiling.
"Glad to see somethings haven't changed. Although, I was serious about the name. Am I to refer to you as Leon or-?"
"Cut the crap Smith. Tell me why you and your blond look-a-like minion are here."
Levi saw the slightly confused look on the younger's face and the amusement leave from Erwin's.
"We need you to come back Levi."
Levi scoffed at the man "Are you fucking serious? You came all the way from, what China, to fucking Alaska to ask me to come back? Wait no, the bigger question is how the fuck did you find me?"
"I won't deny, you were extremely difficult to keep track of. Thankfully I had Doctors Zoë and Arlert here to help me."
Levi looked back at the blond, who was now standing with his hand behind his back in a way a subordinate would when in front of his superiors. That kid's a doctor? Tch, then he must be a mini Erwin.
"Whatever, now answer my second question: What the fuck do you want?" He growled as Erwin stood from his makeshift seat and strode over to Levi.
"Like Arlert said, we need you to come out of early retirement Levi. We have an important mission that will change this war for the good."
Cold eyes calculated Erwin's face before they widened slightly "You're going for The Breach again."
Erwin nodded and Armin took a step towards the pairing
"We believe we have found a way to close-"
"Close the portal forever blah, blah, blah. Listen, we have tried multiple times for The Breach, nothing has even come close toworking, Erwin..." Levi looked to Armin "Besides, Rogue was practically destroyed, I ain't piloting any of those fancy new shit Titans you have now, they'd just slow me down."
"With all due respect, sir, I'd appreciate you not interrupting me for once. It's, you know, rude."
Levi raised an eyebrow before looking back over to Erwin, who was smirking slightly at the younger man's words.
"Huh…you've got guts kid. Alright, what do you have to say then?"
"Thank you. As I was saying, there is a reason we came to you. For the past six months, I have been helping Commander Erwin here with repairing a certain Titan…one you may seem familiar with."
"…there's no way…she was torn apart."
Armin smirked "Nothing stays broken when my team gets involved."
"So you got Rogue fixed up, big whoop. Still doesn't answer my question on why you need me, surely you have other 'respectable' pilots like that lovely Kirstein."
"Ah that would be the issue…all of the pilots we have were trained for the newer models….I do not like saying this, but you are the only Mark Three pilot left." Blue eyes softened "I would not have recommended you if it was not necessary, Captain Levi."
Levi studied the blond before he started walking to a nearby wall and leaned on it. He pulled out one more cigarette and lit it as well, taking in a long drag before opening his mouth to let the smoke out and speak once more
"Okay, you have valid reasons for choosing me, but I can't come back, not after what happened in Anchorage. I was still attached to Church when Knife Head tore through the haul, Smith. I felt every damn thing, both their feelings and the pain that flashed through them before I watched them get ripped away. I'm not letting someone else inside my head like that, not again."
Armin's shoulders sagged with disappointment as he watched Levi snub out the cigarette and turn to Smith.
"As much as your face annoys me Smith….it was good to see you. Thanks for the visit."
Erwin stayed silent as Levi walked away from the blonds back towards the entrance. Armin watched, his despair growing as the only chance for his project to be complete slipped away. I'm sorry guys… guess our dreams were for naught. When he was a few feet away from the arch way, Erwin's booming voice reached Levi's ears once more, slightly startling Armin.
"Captain Levi."
Levi froze. He hadn't been called that in years, not since…
"Haven't you heard, Captain Levi?" he heard Erwin call before he cleared his throat
"Heard what, caterpillarbrows?"
"The world is ending…so how would you rather die? Here, wasting your life on a broken, meaningless project?!" Erwin threw his hand and gestured to the wall "Or would you rather go out killing Kaijus in a Titan and make Church proud?!"
Levi straightened his back at those words. Armin looked back and forth between his commanding officer and the former pilot. Levi didn't move for several minutes, and Armin's hopes continued to die when suddenly the raven turned around and marched back towards them, head hung. As soon as he was in front of the two he raised his head and Armin's eyes widened.
Erwin smirked down at his old friend, he knew he had gotten Levi. Armin felt his hopes begin to rise as Levi's eyes were narrowed at the two, but not out of hate. He was all too familiar with that look, it was a look of a person who had a promise to fulfill, promise that could go as far as the person having to take their own life. He knew this look because he had seen it before, but they eyes were a bright green instead of grey. Levi continued to glare at them before he smirked.
"Alright I know you shits didn't drive here. Where the hell is that fancy helicopter you brought?"
Okay kiddies that's the end of Chapter 1! Reviews are welcomed and so are the faves!
Next Chapter preview:
"Captain Levi, this is Mikasa Ackerman and Eren Yeager, two of our finest."
"He's shorter than I imagined."
"He was 2,500 tons of awesome."