Chapter 1: Scarlet

Scarlett Ikoma descended into the dark, dimly lit underground city. Levi Ackerman followed closely behind, each carrying large bags.

"Doctor Ikoma!" a young boy said running towards her. Scarlett's head turned. The boy's eyes seemed gray and sullen.

"Get back, you slug! You're not allowed to ascend the stairs!" a soldier said. He lifted his arm ready to strike him. Scarlett moved quickly grabbing his arm.

"Ha, who are you? Would you dare defy the military-"

"Enough," Levi emerged from the shadows. "She was sent here by the military,"

The man gasped, "You're from the Survey Corps. The Ackerman.."

They walked past as the soldier backed down.

"Doctor Ikoma! My mother…"

"I know, I've got a vaccine. I'll go to her as soon as I can. Captain, find those who were struck with the illness and bring me to their homes… after that I'm setting up hospital at the Inn,"

"Doctor, I've been ordered to stay by your side at all times," Levi replied.

"Damn you, Erwin…" Scarlett muttered.

"Doctor Ikoma!"

Scarlett turned sharply. An engineer, his hands dirtied from work had a scarf tied around half of his head.

"We haven't nearly completed installing the shining orb, half of our engineers are sick,"

"Okay. Bring everyone to the inn. Actually while you're at it tell the city-dwellers as well… I'll work on the lights as soon as I can,"

"Doctor," the little boy tugged on her shirt.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Scarlett said smiling at him as she ran through the city streets.

Levi followed the doctor's bobbing red head as she quickly walked through small alleys and homes. It had already been a week since they'd been underground, and Doctor Ikoma had been working harder than ever. She had just cured a prevelant disease, and was now working on installing the shining orbs in the underground. She continued to head to the center of the city, where a crowd had gathered looking at a new installment of shining orbs. Currently, they were still dark.

"Doc-"

"On it," she said without a second thought.

Levi's eyes widened. She had put on ODM gear. She used it easily, as the maneuver gear seemed to follow each of her actions with ease. Scarlett planted her feet underneath a control box. She quickly adjusted a few loose wires.

"You ready Adam?" she yelled.

"Ready when you are!" he replied.

Scarlett grasped the handle and pushed down. In a matter of seconds, the whole cavern lit up. The people of the city gasped, some started tearing up. Soon, the whole place erupted in applause and shouts of happiness. Levi looked up at Scarlett. She had the biggest smile on her face, and her eyes sparkled with tears.

Scarlett lay on her back, staring at the glittering ceiling. Levi leaned above her. He shoved the nozzle of a water bottle into her mouth. She sat up slowly and continued to drink.

"You passed out," Levi said.

"I figured,"

"I'm taking you to an inn so you can rest,"

"No," she said. Levi eyed her. "I need to get to the surface,"

Scarlett breathed heavily. They had made it to the surface. She felt the sunlight touch her skin. Scarlett loosened her arm off Levi's shoulders.

"...Doctor,"

"It's alright, I can walk on my own. And.. you can call me Scarlett,"

"Alright, Scarlett…"

"You know, I haven't really gotten to know you, considering you've been chasing me around in the underground for a week. Though from what I can tell, you're a bit rough around the edges but at the end of the day you really care about others,"

"Who gave you that idea?" Levi asked.

Scarlett turned her eyes toward the sky. "You grew up there, didn't you?"

Levi remained silent.

Scarlett started to walk to the right. Levi followed, then she stopped abruptly.

"That carriage.." she muttered.

"What is it?" Levi asked.

Scarlett sighed. "I just want to apologize in advance,"

She opened the door and stepped in.

"It's good to see you Scarlett," Erwin said smiling.

Levi and Scarlett sat opposite of Erwin. They seemed to be heading towards the center of the city. Levi's legs were crossed and Scarlett stared out a window.

"Scarlett… there's something important I need you to do,"

She sighed. "What do you want now?"

"We - the Survey Corps - need your engineering skills to build us new weapons,"

Scarlett laughed. "Weapons… weapons to kill, to destroy. I'm a doctor, Erwin. I want to save lives, to help others. If I create the most powerful weapon, able to destroy all titans, in the long run, humans will use it to kill humans. Look at history, it happened once, it'll happen again,"

"If you help me, you will be able to save the countless lives of my men,"

"Your men. Your men? How can you even call them that… they follow you like sheep to the slaughter…"

"Scarlett-"

"You're mad, Erwin. You're created a mountain of dead bodies, just so you can get an inkling of what a titan is,"

"There was a time you and I used to be on the same page. You used to be more sympathetic to the Survey Corps cause,"

"Things changed,"

Erwin paused. "I'm taking you to see the new queen,"

Scarlett didn't respond.

"You really are just a kid," Scarlett said.

"Are you surprised?" Historia asked.

"Ha! Not at all. There's plenty of other things I could be surprised by. For one, humanity's strongest soldier is super short,"
They both laughed. Levi grimaced as he dusted the farm house.

"I like it here. Down to earth. And lots of children too,"

Historia smiled. "Tell me about yourself, Scarlett… Is it alright if I call you that?"
"Of course," Scarlett turned her eyes towards the children.

"I don't have any memories from when I was a young girl. I had no parents, no siblings, no relatives, at least I couldn't remember them. Doctors couldn't explain my condition. After that, I was adopted when I was six. I continued to live in Trost with my brother, and later on we both decided to join the Survey Corps,"

"The Survey Corps?"

Levi paused his excessive cleaning.

"Well, technically I also got my doctorate…"

"So you would work as a medic,"

"Exactly, though almost everyone thought I would become a Captain as soon as I joined,"

"Scarlett, if you were part of the Survey Corps, then why did you leave?"

"At first it wasn't my choice. I was stuck outside the walls for three years,"

Just then the doors burst open. Chickens fluttered away as Hange ceremoniously entered the room.

"HEEEYYYY SCARLETT!"

"Hello Hange," Scarlett muttered.

Hange leaned into her face.

"Can you do it? Pleeeasse?"

"No,"

"Then can I dissect you?!"

"No,"

"Awww, but Scarlett...you know I found Nidavellir some time ago,"

Scarlett gasped. "That place is just from myths!"

Hange shook her head. "The military police hid this place disguising it as a junkyard. I'll tell you where if you let me see them!"

"Well, I can't say no to that offer… but I won't show you them now. Besides, I can do better,"
Scarlett pulled out a worn journal from her bag.

"I did a recent study on them,"

Hange eyes glittered.

"Ohhhhh Scarlett! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'm so excited!"

"You have to promise to take me to Nidavellir, got it?"

"Oh! It's a done deal!"

"Consider this an early birthday present,"

Hange grabbed the journal and started flipping through it.

"I'll take you right away!"

Hange and Scarlett left quickly. Levi's eyes narrowed. Doctor Scarlett Ikoma…. Angel… who are you really?

"She was hiding something," Historia said.

"I know," Levi continued, "her entire life is shrouded in secrecy,"

Nidavellir - The military police disguised Nidavellir as a junkyard. This place held many scrapped inventions but also completed inventions, discarded because they were too ahead of their time. It is told that the strongest metal can only be found here, along with a wealth of material not found anywhere within the walls.

3 hours earlier

" Do you agree then?" Erwin asked. Scarlett continued to look out the carriage window.

Scarlett sighed. "I will. But I will only agree on one condition. Will the Survey Corps plan to retake Wall Maria?"

"Yes,"

"Then I'm asking you not to go,"

Erwin looked down.

"I know you want to go, but you are in no condition to go beyond and retake the walls,"

"You of all people should understand…"

"If I may add," Levi said, "I agree with Scarlett. It's best for you to stay behind and give us your orders from inside the walls,"

Erwin looked down. His face twisted into an expression near agony.

"Alright… I'll stay behind,"

His expression faded leaving his normal, serious visage.

"Scarlett, how long has it been since you've worked on automail?"

"No,"

"What's automail?" Levi asked.

"Mechanized limbs- completely experimental. It hasn't actually worked on anyone,"

"We made a deal, Scarlett,"

"Fine. You need to give me plenty of time though,"

The carriage stopped right in front of a small farm.

"A farm?" Scarlett asked.

"The queen may be a little different than what you'd expect," Erwin said.

Scarlett opened the door of the carriage and put one foot outside the carriage. Erwin put a hand on her shoulder.

"Scarlett," Erwin said. Scarlett didn't face him. "It was good to see you,"

2 weeks later

"As of today, we are ready. The operation to retake Wall Maria will take place two days from now,"

Survey Corps headquarters, Trost District

Erwin walked through the courtyard with Levi. His new automail arm was in place, his metal fingers glittering in the sunlight. Soldiers trained nearby in the woods and checked the ODM gear.

"I still disagree with your decision to lead this mission," Levi stated.

"I know," Erwin said.

"She does also,"

Erwin grimaced. "I know,"

Horses dragged carts which carried green boxes. Scarlett held one on one hand above her head while Eren and Jean trudged slowly trying to keep one aloft.

"Hey, Eren, actually try to carry this thing would you?" Jean said.

"Are you kidding me Jean? You seem like the one not doing any work, horse face!"

"Hey, you two. Be careful, those things can blow the head off a titan, so I wouldn't drop them"

Jean and Eren stopped fighting. Scarlett set down her box in front of Erwin and Levi with ease. She lowered her eyes.

"Hey, doctor! Where-" Eren started.

Scarlett moved quickly grabbing Erwin's head and pinning him to the ground with one arm. Everyone stopped. No one made a sound.

"Leave the cart here. We can take the rest of the cargo to the forest,"

"Yes s-sir, right away sir!" Conny stammered.

"Jeez, Conny. Why are you so up tight?" she replied.

"This is called a thunder spear...currently. These are primarily for fighting the armored titan. They are also probably the most dangerous weapons as well," Scarlett said. She had a thunder spear positioned on her forearm.

"This works just like a spear, though you have to have a good throwing arm. I've added a bit of extra energy to get it moving fast enough so that it'll explode. Unfortunately I didn't get much time to work on more than this prototype, so you have to be extremely careful not to get caught up in the blast,"

Hange appeared in the forest bringing out a large wooden trunk, about 3 meters in diameter. Hange then ran away quickly. "Hange, get away from there!" Scarlett yelled.

"Alright alright!" she yelled back. Scarlett waited a minute or so, then propelled herself using the ODM gear. The Special Ops Squad watched Scarlett shoot the spear, then went backwards hitting a series of triggers on her ODM gear. The spear exploded as wooden splinters shot everywhere. Scarlett returned with a gash in her arm.

"And this is what can happen when you're not careful and too close to the blast. Unfortunately, the impact range is quite large,"
"Um- sir, I mean doctor," Sasha stammered as they walked back to the training grounds.

"Yes, Sasha. Please, call me Scarlett,"

"It's just, your wound… it's not even there anymore,"

Scarlett eyes narrowed. "Well, you know, cold ale really works miracles,"
"What? Don't tell me you poured beer on your wound!"

The rest of the squad laughed. Scarlett patted Sasha's head.

"I like you, potato girl,"
"Hey! How do you know about that!"

Conny and Jean bit their tongues trying not to laugh. Levi oblivious to everything else, looked at her arm. The tear in her shirt was still there, but there was no wound. Scarlett slipped a cloak over herself while the rest of squad continued to laugh. She spotted Levi looking at her.

"You know, Eren… you look absolutely nothing like your father,"

"You knew him?" he asked surprised.

"I studied under him, a long time ago. He was the best medical doctor I've ever met. Taught me everything I knew. He was a strange man, though,"

Eren looked down. Scarlett put her hand on Eren's head.

"I trusted his every word… I suppose that since he trusts you, I probably should too,"

In the distance, Scarlett trained the new recruits how to use a sniper rifle, one of her new weapons. Erwin and Levi sat watching.

"Who is she?" Levi asked.

"Scarlett has a very short list of people she trusts, and until you earn that trust, she won't tell you who she is,"

"Can you at least tell me your relationship to her?" Levi's thin slit eyes looked at Erwin. "Was she your lover?"

Erwin smiled. "Hardly that. I never understood how we even got along together,"

"What do you mean?"

"Her real name is Scarlett Smith. She is my adopted sister,"