The cold of morning had settled across the Legion base and into the bones of its inhabitants.

There was an emptiness in the echoes of the stone halls. Everyone went about their chores, as they did every day. Eren and Jean fed the horses, their usual banter fallen silent. Mikasa sat silently, staring at the same page of the maneuver book over and over again, unable to comprehend. Armin worked quietly alongside Hanji, who had little to say even when they went over the basic concepts of Titan biology.

Levi walked along the beds of the infirmary, forcing himself not to limp. His ankle wasn't broken, it was just sprained. If that reckless girl would just listen instead of jumping headlong into anything that brat was involved in, this never would have happened in the first place. He hadn't seen much of either of them in the last few weeks. The entire Survey Corps was a disaster ever since Hanji had taken over as commander when Erwin was taken into custody by the military police. He sneered at the thought. The least the royal government could have done when they forced him to take a higher leadership role was promote him, but instead he was stuck as a corporal.

Whoever thought Hanji was the best choice to lead this group had something seriously wrong with them. It wasn't that he wanted the job – what he wanted was Erwin back where he belonged – but Hanji would get everyone killed with her Titan-loving nonsense.

That is, everyone who wasn't dead already.

Levi cracked his neck, shrugging the thought off. He couldn't afford to think about that. With Erwin gone, someone had to see to it that discipline didn't disappear, and it wasn't going to be four-eyes. He reached a gloved hand out and ran two fingers along a mantlepiece, making a disgusted grimace at the dust that appeared. Two weeks and everything was already going to hell.

He found his way into the dining area just as Hanji and Armin walked in. The rising sun was lifting spirits a bit, but the specters of their losses were far from gone. He took a cup of coffee and sat down, removing his jacket and giving the room a bored glance. Nothing of note was happening – Eren and Jean were arguing again, Mikasa was watching them carefully, Sasha was perched like a bird eating everything in sight. Levi didn't care, as long as they weren't making a mess or killing one another.

He was startled by Hanji slamming herself down across from him.

"Levi, guess what?"

"No."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Killjoy. I just got a message from Central; they're sending someone down. They're going to work with you and Yeager."

"No." Levi didn't even look at her. "Tell Central I don't give a shit about their help. If they want to help me, they can get Erwin out of jail so I don't have to handle these greenhorns screwing up our system."

"Well, it's really not up to me, Corporal Grumpy." Hanji replied. "She should be here any minute. They sent a runner ahead to give us fair warning, but you're going to have to deal with it."

The sound of someone dismounting and tying their horse echoed from outside.

"Tch. I don't need help with Yeager."

"She's from the Military Police, Levi." Hanji gave him the most stern look she could manage. "Please at least pretend to care."

"Oh, like I need some coddled pencil-pusher from the interior to help handle a titan. I have everything covered. If he screws up, I cut him out. Does Central really think I can't handle one titan? I have a higher kill count than anyone else in the army, let alone our division. She's probably never even seen one in the flesh."

There was a clang as someone dropped a pair of personal knives on the table.

"I'm not here to help you, Corporal." Levi glanced up. "I'm here to help JYeager."

She was small, tiny even. She couldn't have been more than seven years younger than him, judging from her rank, but she looked about thirteen. Her blonde hair was bobbed and spotless as her uniform. She refused to look at either Levi or Hanji, instead choosing to examine her perfectly manicured nails with a look of disdain.

"Well excuse me if I don't want help from the Military Police." Levi snarled. Hanji gave him a warning look. "Who the hell are you to think you can handle titans better than me?"

"My name is Lydia Montgomery." She flicked a piece of dirt out from under one nail. "You can call me Corporal. What I think about your ability to handle titans is inconsequential. Apparently, Central thinks you need help."

"Well then, they should have sent someone who knew what they were doing."

Lydia looked up, matching Levi's glare with a look of boredom. "I made it to second in my trainee class. I'm proficient. I'm not even here to fight titans."

"Right. You used all your training and fire to defend humanity and threw it into living as far away from the titans as you possibly could. Really brave there, Lydia."

Her stare turned icy. "It's Corporal Montgomery to you, Levi. And you're exactly right. Why would I throw away a perfectly good life in order to stare down some monster for what, bragging rights? You people haven't gotten anywhere in years. In fact, since Jaeger plugged that hole,you're back to where you started – nowhere at all." She went back to staring at her nails. "I never felt like being someone's lunch."

Hanji cleared her throat. "So, Montgomery, what exactly are you here to do?"

"I'm going to be training Jaeger to control his emotions and through that, his transformation." Lydia looked up at Hanji. "I actually won't be needing Corporal Levi's help, so if you could ask him to kindly fuck off, that would be great."

Levi's muscles tensed. "He's my soldier. They're my squad. Whatever you do with them, I have the final say."

"I don't take orders from a sewer rat." Lydia spat.

Levi slammed his hands on the table, jumping to his feet. Hanji grabbed his wrist. "Okay, I think that's enough. Corporal Levi, how about you go practice 3D maneuvering with Ackerman and Kirstein and I'll introduce Corporal Montgomery to Yeager."

Levi balled up his fists and cracked his neck. Before he could walk past her, she grabbed his upper arm. "I'm going to say this only once, Heichou," she hissed. "My job is to read people and manipulate them. If you even think about crossing me, I'll tell Central Yeager's not worth our time. You want to keep your kid alive, you do what I say."

Levi jerked his arm out of her grip and stormed over to Mikasa's table. "Ackerman. Kirstein. Outside. Now."

He didn't need this. He wouldn't put up with this. If Hanji thought he was going to deal with that bitch, she was about to get a serious shock.

Hello! First story after a five-year hiatus! Please let me know what you think. I appreciate every one of you!