Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin.
Chapter Eleven
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Underground District~February 12, 844
No matter how many times it happened, Levi Ackerman was positive that he would never get used to seeing his little sister in her 3D Maneuver Gear. It had been three years since Levi and Farlan taught Mikasa and Isabel how to use it, and two since they had first accompanied the men on a stealing job. In that time, the girls had practiced so much that their skill was equal or near equal to the rest of the group.
He knew this, and he also knew that it should be enough to calm his concerns for their safety. But even as more and more time passed, the clench of fear that he felt whenever he realized that he would have to bring Mikasa along on a stealing trip had not lessened in intensity even the slightest bit. He had spent the past nine years of his life protecting her, so placing her in even possible harm's way- even under every condition that suggested otherwise- gradually twisted a knife into the carefully guarded fortress of his heart.
Normally, although he couldn't fully push the notion away, Levi could force himself to ignore it for a little while, at least while they were in the midst of stealing. However, the level of intensity required for the task they were about to partake in was so much greater that even thinking about it left Levi completely terrified for Mikasa's safety.
But what was even worse was that he knew there was nothing he could do.
He had been skeptical about accepting the deal from the very beginning. There was no way he was putting his family into a situation that dangerous... even the promise of a large sum of money didn't sway him. Looking back, Levi wished that he had just walked away and been done with it.
But of course he hadn't. He, Farlan, and Isabel had stayed to hear that their "employer" had already taken their partner Jan to a hospital on the surface. That had grabbed Levi's attention, but was not enough to convince him. After all, the aboveground scums had done that without consulting them, so they couldn't very well expect anything in return. And Levi couldn't get an image of Mikasa's face whenever she was terrified out of his head for long enough to consider agreeing.
Then the merchant had dropped his trump card. Levi was certain that he had never wanted to kill anyone more than he had this man.
Maybe he was being unreasonable. Levi knew that this was certainly possible, and not horribly unlikely. Maybe the Survey Corps would've come for them anyway; they certainly had escaped the pathetic excuses of Military Police soldiers often enough to draw attention from further up. But it was easy to blame the man who told them.
No matter if Levi, Farlan, and Isabel agreed or declined, their target would still make contact. As soon as he heard this, Levi had made his decision. For if they would be in danger either way, accepting the offer was the only way they could protect themselves even a little bit.
Levi had spent nine years keeping Mikasa safe. And he absolutely refused to let anything happen to her now.
These events remained only too present in his mind as Levi stood on the roof of an office building near the city square. Farlan, Isabel, and Mikasa, all in their 3DMG, crouched beside him as the four of them stalked the movement of a supply wagon on the streets below.
The situation was so familiar that if he tried, Levi could almost convince himself that they were back at Mikasa and Isabel's first stealing job, two years prior. Even the tight grip of Mikasa's hand in his felt familiar. Only now, Jan was missing, up at a surface hospital, instead of with them like he belonged. And two years ago, Levi would not be squeezing his sister's hand as hard as she was squeezing his.
Mikasa hadn't gone to the meeting with the merchant with the other three; Levi still tried to keep her as hidden as possible. So, he had only given her a basic rundown on their job, telling her what they needed to accomplish and what she in particular had to do (which was just to stick close behind him unless they were chased by the Survey Corps). He had never outright said that they were in danger no matter what happened, but Mikasa was remarkably perceptive for her age. If the death grip she had on his hand was any indication, she at least had some idea of the gravity of the situation.
With a little shake and a squeeze of his sister's hand, Levi forced himself out of the past to analyze their present situation. It was essential that he made the right call here; slipping would put not only himself, but the rest of his family in danger.
The cart continued to roll slowly down the streets, more merchants gathering around to unload it. Finally, Levi made a decision and signaled to the other three. Grabbing his triggers, he shot off the roof towards the cart, Farlan, Isabel, and Mikasa hot on his trail.
At first, everything went well. They were able to knock over the cart and get away before anyone on the street could even see what happened. As they were soaring away, Isabel in her triumph began shouting taunts at the merchants and Military Police, Mikasa giggling along from her side. Even though he scolded them when they tried to engage him, Levi felt a balloon of happiness swell within him. If the Survey Corps was going to make their appearance, it would be now... and there was no sign of them yet.
And then it all fell to pieces.
Looking back, Levi realized that he really should've known... and everything that happened from that moment on was completely his fault.
It was a punishment, wasn't it? It had been years since Levi thought of his life before Mikasa, Farlan, and Isabel; years since thinking of the miserable time he had spent with Kenny. But, he realized, he should've known that it would come back to haunt him eventually.
Kenny had taught Levi how to be tough and survive in the Underground. He had of course needed those skills to provide for himself and Mikasa before meeting Farlan, but gradually, he had begun to forget them as his new life introduced a completely different set of skills to master.
But this was where his carelessness finally mattered. Levi should've known better; he should've been able to prevent this, and honestly, that was what killed him the most.
Of course it was Mikasa who first noticed, and of course she could not immediately tell that something was wrong.
The four of them were rounding a corner, to begin to trace back to their home, when Levi's little sister happened to look behind them. He turned sharply at her gasp as she shouted, "Onii-san! The Military Police are following us!"
Her large grey eyes were full of fear, and Levi realized that this was the first time that she had even been pursued while out on a raid. He wasn't naïve enough to vow for it to be her last, but Levi did promise himself that no matter how many times she went out, the Military Police would not hurt her.
Quickly, he bid Farlan, Isabel, and Mikasa to go on ahead, the twenty-five-year-old and the twenty-year-old sheltering the nine-year-old. Meanwhile, Levi shot his triggers into the nearest wall, pushed against it, and launched back to get a good look at their pursuers.
What he saw made his heart stop in his chest. Blue and white crisscrossing wings, green cloaks... it was the Survey Corps.
The aboveground merchant was right. And Levi, Farlan, Isabel, and Mikasa were in more danger than they ever had been in their lives.
The relieved look on Mikasa's face when Levi returned almost broke him, but he was determined, for now, to be calm. Over the years, he had had more practice at building up his emotionless façade, and he was sure none of his terror showed on his face as he announced, "It's the Survey Corps!"
It was not a skill carried to the other three, for Farlan and Isabel paled drastically and tears began to pool in Mikasa's eyes as she looked to Levi helplessly. His gut twisted and he panicked for a second before regaining control of his emotions. This was not the time to hesitate and be weak. The others' lives depended on it; his baby sister's life depended on it, and he was not going to let them down.
Luckily, he and the older two had already prepared a backup plan in case something like this happened, and even more luckily, they had had the time to explain it to Mikasa. It only took a nod to Farlan to put it into place. He nodded back before turning to the other two, but Levi didn't miss the way the older man's eyes widened when the two of them met gazes. Levi cursed himself. Apparently his emotions weren't as well hidden as he thought.
A large part of the tension Levi carried in his chest alleviated, though, when Farlan, Isabel, and Mikasa shot down side alleys at the next intersection. Farlan shot to the left, and Isabel to the right, Mikasa following behind the second-in-command. Their plan was for Farlan to find a safe place to hide Mikasa, then continue onwards until they had lost the Survey Corps. Only once it was safe would the other three return for her. Levi, Farlan, and to some extent Isabel were no strangers to having to make quick getaways, but Levi would sooner turn himself in voluntarily than let the military capture his little sister.
He looked back for a brief instant to see two of the cloaked soldiers fly off after the other three. Levi's gut twisted again at that, but he managed to relax himself slightly by reminding himself that most of them had stayed following him like he wanted, and only one soldier had chased Farlan and Mikasa. He hoped that that was because they hadn't noticed the small girl, not that they thought it would only take one man to restrain the two of them.
Once he was certain that the others had left, Levi sped up, firing his triggers into buildings more and more insistently. It occurred to him that doing so was a waste of gas, but he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment.
He tried to ignore it, but as the chase continued, Levi felt his heart pound more and more rapidly in his chest. True, he was no stranger to being pursued, but this wasn't like all the other times something had gone wrong. Only as he pushed towards an abandoned building to attempt to lose the Survey Corps did Levi fully comprehend just what was at stake.
This time- unlike every other before it- Levi and Farlan and even Isabel weren't the only ones in danger. No, this time Mikasa's life was threatened as well. This alone would've brought the twenty-three-year-old a fair amount of panic, for his sister did not deserve to suffer any more than she already had in her brief nine years of living for crimes that she hadn't even committed. But to make matters worse, they weren't even being chased by the Military Police, whom Levi would've been confident in his ability to outpace. No, they had to be up against the Survey Corps, the soldiers who used 3DMG every day against the Titans.
If anyone would ever be able to capture Levi, Farlan, Isabel, and Mikasa, it was the group of hooded soldiers on his tail right now. And Levi was determined, in a way that he had never been about anything before, that that would not happen.
Levi knew better than to risk looking back as he launched through a window of an empty, abandoned building and began racing through the interior. It was the best thing he could think of to do, for the soldiers chasing him were probably used to operating their 3DMG across wide open spaces to reach the heights of Titans. They wouldn't know what to do going through such a small space, he reasoned.
Internally, Levi knew that he couldn't have been in the building for more than a minute or two, but it felt like much longer. As he raced desperately away from the soldiers, his mind couldn't help but return to the others, probably terrified in trying to evade people who actually knew how to use Maneuver Gear, or already captured. A hot stab of guilt pierced him like a needle as he remembered his twentieth birthday, on Christmas 840. His siblings had just gotten for him their fourth set of gear, and Levi had decided... he had decided...
No, he told himself firmly, gritting his teeth. You can't. Everything's going to be all right. It will. If he wanted to get out of this alive, Levi couldn't allow himself to be distracted now.
When he finally jumped through a window on the other side of the building and was not immediately ambushed by the cloaked figures, the tight ball of anxiety in his chest relaxed. For a moment, he was convinced that he had done it... until he noticed a small green speck out of the corner of his eye, and the next thing he knew, one of the soldiers was hurtling towards him, and Levi had to use all his remarkable skills to get out of the way with barely a second to spare.
Quickly, he shot through the top level of another building, his heart now pounding harder than it ever had, even more so than when he had woken up on that morning nine years ago and noticed that his mother's skin no longer felt warm. How had they been able to follow him? That should've lost them completely! The young man's desperation was reaching new heights, because he had never before seen someone that talented, and he had no other option than to lose him, or else Mikasa-
A sickening crash terrified Levi out of his thoughts, and the next thing he knew, a heavy weight was slammed down on him and he stared up at the vicious face of a man with blond hair as the two them crashed through the building, falling into a stack of supplies on the road below.
His heart and chest seized when Levi realized that he was all but caught, but then he thought of Mikasa's face when she had noticed that they were being followed and flipped off the ground onto his feet, just in time for the soldier to charge at him.
Blades. That was the first thing Levi noticed. His opponent had blades, long and flexible ones that had been missing from all four pairs of his group's gear. All Levi had was his knife, but he drew it anyway, because this man had never known what it was like to fight hand-to-hand, and Levi had to beat him, because if he didn't, who knew what would happen to him, and Farlan, and Isabel, and sweet, innocent, baby Mikasa?
Levi's sheer panic and desperation fueled him, and despite his violent shaking, he was quickly able to knock one of his opponent's blades off into the air. For a moment, a shining ray of hope prevailed, and he went in to stab, thinking maybe, just maybe, he would be fortunate just this once and escape unharmed... but then a second green cloak swooped down out of nowhere.
They made eye contact for a horrible second, Levi and the new man. He remembered blond hair and blue eyes and bushy eyebrows and thinking that never had anyone been so unattractive. In that brief moment, as the second man glared at him, just as determined to kill Levi as Levi was to kill him, his decision, his promise crept back into his head, and no. He pushed it aside. He couldn't worry about that yet. He couldn't. There was no proof, no proof that the soldiers had captured anyone but he, no proof that the others were in danger and that Levi had written his own undoing.
He battled with the other soldier, too, but just for a moment. He was ashamed of himself, but Levi's panic clouded his vision and slowed his movements so drastically that it only took seconds before the new man had him shoved against the wall, his blade pressed against Levi's neck.
In all twenty-three years of his life in the Underground, Levi had never been beaten this hopelessly, and his chest seized before beginning to spasm due to the sheer and overwhelming panic that he could feel lighting fire to every nerve in his body. He kept a death glare firmly on his face however, determined to keep the soldier oblivious to his feelings. After all that he had lost, Levi was determined not to give his opponent that.
Their eye contact lasted longer this time. For almost ten seconds, Levi and his captor remained motionless except for the fierce glares on both their faces. It was just enough time for the past seven years of his life to flash through his mind, and for the first time, Levi was able to trace the path of broken branches. Able to see each and every mistake, all of the seemingly infinite things he had done wrong to lead him here.
Finally, Farlan, Isabel, and Mikasa's faces flashed through his mind, all of them desperate and hopeless, and Levi's eyes narrowed and he began pushing back against the soldier... until he spoke.
"Stop it. Take a look around you." The other man's voice was threatening and gravelly, and Levi was tempted to ignore him, but he knew better.
Still straining against the blade pushing against his throat, Levi slowly slid his eyes to the right... only to see something that stopped his heart in his chest.
Farlan and Isabel were being led around the corner by two of the other Survey Corps soldiers, both of their hands restrained behind their backs. Isabel was kicking and struggling against the girl holding her, but both she and Farlan stopped in shock when they caught sight of Levi pressed against the wall.
His vision was going black in a way Levi hadn't felt since he had passed out from hunger years ago. Every inch of his body was trembling, and he could finally feel himself slipping off the mental edge that he'd been teetering on for twenty-three years. Christmas came back and blasted him with full force, and he could remember crisply every single word he had thought and spoken.
Levi had been worried that he had gotten too attached to Farlan and Isabel. Knowing the Underground, he was certain that it was only a matter of time before they got caught in a way they couldn't escape from... and Levi was terrified that it would be because of him.
And yet, he had somehow convinced himself to push it all aside. That he was strong enough to protect all four of them. Just because he didn't want to be alone any more.
Looking back on it now, where he was literally cornered against a wall and his two adopted family members were being restrained for crimes he had forced them to commit, Levi had never hated anyone more than he had hated himself at that moment. Not the merchant who had offered them this job in the first place, not even the filthy soldier whose blade he was currently at the mercy of.
How could he have convinced himself to forget? How had twenty years of everything he had ever learned from surviving and making his way in the Underground be destroyed in a single second, swept aside by nothing more than the bright gray of his little sister's eyes? How could he have possibly been so selfish to subject them to this; a future that was destined to crash and burn and destroy them all?
And now there was nothing he could do. Now, he and the only people in the entire world who he loved were at the mercy of cruel animals who cared nothing for their safety or happiness... and he could do nothing but grin and bear it.
Slowly, with more reluctance than he had ever felt before in his life, Levi uncurled his fingers from his knife, letting it fall to the ground with a clatter. The soldier released him, and Levi forced himself to stand tall on his heavily shaking legs, his vision burning red when his captor praised him for his quick judgement.
The young man felt his panic escalate even further when he was forced down onto his knees beside Farlan, his hands pulled behind his back and roughly handcuffed. He was determined to avoid his companion's gazes, for the sake of maintaining his slowly crumbling stoical façade, until he looked out of the corner of his eye and saw that Farlan was staring at him unwaveringly.
His hands twisting, Levi eyed his companion out of the corner of his eye, turning his head as little as he could. Farlan's ice-blue eyes were wide and clouded with panic. When he saw that he had Levi's attention, he mouthed out the unmistakable word of Mikasa.
Levi's eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat. Quickly, he scanned his eyes around the small square they were being detained in.
He wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or petrified, but Levi's breathing hitched and his heart skipped a beat when he noticed that his baby sister was nowhere to be found.
They hadn't caught Mikasa. She was still out there, hopefully hiding where Farlan had put her and not out searching for them. Maybe if he and the others were killed, she would be all right. She knew how to use her Maneuver Gear well enough to survive on her own, at least for a little while. And they had already saved up a significant amount of money towards getting passage to the surface; it could be enough if she was the only one using it. She would be alright... Levi hoped.
The soldier that had pinned Levi stood before the three of them as they knelt on the ground in the mud. He loomed over them threateningly, and Levi kept his gaze fixed firmly upon the ground, as if his secret would be revealed if the Survey Corps soldiers looked into his eyes. His mind was now stuck on an endless loop of Mikasa, Mikasa, Mikasa, and his body was trembling slightly, out of fear for what would happen to them as well as his sister.
His slight hope that maybe things would be okay didn't last very long.
The tall soldier began to question Levi, Farlan, and Isabel. Levi took the lead by keeping his head down and ignoring everything the man said, and his companions followed in suit. He was too absorbed with trying to come up with some way to escape and get to Mikasa to pay attention to the others very well. As a result, he missed one of the female soldiers scan their group, nod to another soldier, and dash off the way they had come.
Levi was finally forced to lift his gaze when the lead soldier stepped up so that they were only a meter apart. He leveled the taller man with a fierce glare, still trying to hide the way his heart was still pounding fiercely.
"You're their leader, right?" his captor asked. "Were you trained in the military?"
At this, Levi's glare grew a little less tense as anger was able to temporarily overwhelm his terror. Who did this man think he was? How would Levi have been able to be trained in the military?
He made no move to answer, and he and the green-cloaked soldier simply stared at each other for several moments.
Everything in the next instant seemed to happen at the exact same time.
The soldier that had first pursued Levi grabbed a fistful of his hair, presumably to shove his head into the puddle at his feet, but before he could, there was commotion from the corner of the alley, where Farlan and Isabel had been dragged in earlier.
All three of them as well as the soldiers turned to look in the direction of the commotion. Levi's heart froze for the millionth time that day when he heard screams that sounded eerily familiar, but the panic crashed down on him like a tidal wave when he finally caught sight of what was happening.
The female solder that had brought in Isabel was back... but she was not alone.
Squirming desperately in her arms, screaming and kicking and crying to get away, was Mikasa.
Rage tore through Levi, annihilating every nerve in his body with a white-hot pain. He couldn't help but fold over on himself, mouth opened in a silent scream to the pavement. Hot tears pricked at his eyes, and he desperately shoved them back as his body began trembling and his breathing quickened into spasmodic bursts.
They'd caught Mikasa. His baby sister. His last hope, the only thing keeping him from surrendering completely into the pit of despair at being captured, was gone. What was he supposed to do now? Levi had promised himself that he would always protect Mikasa... and now he had subjected her to a fate he couldn't even begin to imagine.
His instincts were screaming at him to get up and run for her, because maybe if he did, everything would somehow be okay, for Levi had always felt safer with his little sister in his arms. And despite everything, despite that he was handcuffed on the ground at a soldier's feet, he still believed that he could protect her.
But of course he couldn't. Because although he still didn't know just what their captors wanted with them, he knew that if they saw him break down, they would be sure to exploit it.
The soldier restraining Mikasa walked her over to where Levi, Farlan, and Isabel were kneeling, stopping beside the soldier questioning Levi. His sister's eyes immediately found his, wide and fearful. But, and this killed Levi the most, they were also resigned. The three of them had explained to her that if they were captured, she would have to pretend to be unaffected by anything she saw happen to any of the others.
"Squad Leader Erwin," the woman said, "This girl was with them earlier. We caught her trying to fly away. She knows how to use 3D Maneuver Gear also, at least as well as a new recruit."
The other soldier, Erwin, looked curiously at his comrade, then Mikasa in front of her, then to Levi, Farlan, and Isabel. Mikasa whimpered when his harsh gaze fell on her, but could do nothing further, for her hands were also behind her back. She also shot a quick, desperate glance to Levi before catching herself and looking away, which only strengthened the ache in his heart.
When Erwin made eye contact with Levi, he hurried to cram his emotions back down, but apparently the blond soldier had seen something there that wasn't completely hidden. He immediately turned away, walking so that he stood directly in front of Mikasa. The girl shrunk farther upon herself at that, and Levi felt his hands shaking in his need to free himself.
"What's your name?" Erwin asked Mikasa, his gravelly voice a minuscule amount lighter. It was not enough to not scare her though, for the nine-year-old whimpered but didn't speak.
Perhaps that wasn't thankfully, though, for Erwin's next actions caused Levi to immediately retract his statement. The soldier looked to Levi, then back at Mikasa, then took another step toward her and reached out. Internally, he cursed himself for letting his captor figure out that they had a connection. The cursing itself, though, was abruptly cut off at the man's next actions.
He reached a hand into Mikasa's sleek, shoulder-length black hair, and yanked on it, pulling her out of the female soldier's arms so that she was standing in front of him, knees half buckled.
If he had seen red before, this was an overwhelming descent of fire that lit his very bones to flames. Levi grit his teeth down on his tongue to keep from screaming out, and not even a second later, his mouth was filled with the bitter tang of blood. He bent double on the ground, his entire body trembling so heavily that it took all his effort to remain up straight.
The small yelp that came from his sister's mouth at this was almost more than Levi could handle, and he was sure that if she had actually screamed, he would've fallen apart completely.
"I'll ask again," Erwin's disgusting voice pierced like a knife through the blanket of pain consuming Levi. "What is your name?"
Levi looked up to see his sister whimper when her hair was yanked again. His fists curled tighter at the tears in her eyes. She kept her eyes fixed firmly on Levi's, and must've read there that it was too late for their refusal to matter, for a moment later she whispered, "M-Mikasa."
Their captor kept his hard eyes on Mikasa after she had spoken, and Levi's vision began to turn black around the edges in his fury. But his questioning wasn't done.
"Where did you learn to use 3D Maneuver Gear, Mikasa?" he spat to the nine-year-old who had been returned to be restrained by the female soldier. Mikasa whimpered, clearly still hesitant to disobey Levi when he had told her to be silent, despite that she had already revealed her name. A small bit of his anger was diverted towards himself. How could he order her through so much pain?
But before the soldier could torture Mikasa any further, Farlan in his fury spoke up.
"Not from anyone! We learnt it by ourselves!" His blue eyes were just as hard as Erwin's as the man diverted his focus to Levi's second-in-command.
"Self-taught, you say?" he answered skeptically. "I don't buy it."
Farlan's eyes narrowed as he shouted back, "It's just so we're able to rise even a bit in this dirty garbage place! People who're used to sunlight like you guys won't understand!"
Once Farlan finished his sentence, Isabel chimed in with, "That's enough! Let Mikasa go! Don't be all cocky just because you're soldiers!"
For a second after his adopted family spoke, Levi was able to temporarily divert his attention from his pale and shaking sister to mentally curse the other two for being so stupid. Getting mad the person who was restraining them would not benefit their situation in the slightest.
Erwin stared between Farlan, Isabel, Levi, and Mikasa pensively for a few moments before nodding to his female comrade. She released Mikasa, who without any support, crumpled to the ground, curling up with her arms restrained behind her back and sobbing. Levi's body twitched and he almost couldn't stop himself from bolting towards her. He felt the tears he was pushing back grow more insistent against his eyes and tried breathing deeply to calm himself.
All his efforts were immediately rendered moot, however, when Erwin stepped forward and knelt across from him. Levi was so shocked- and revolted- that he forgot to be as angry... for a minute anyway.
"My name is Erwin Smith," he said, voice no longer so harsh. "And yours is?"
He couldn't help but hesitate before responding, "Levi."
"Levi..." The twenty-three-year-old's lip curled when he heard his name from that bastard's mouth. "Why don't we make a deal?"
Levi's eyes narrowed as he responded skeptically, "A deal?", but what Erwin said in response was something he never could have expected.
"I will let your crimes go unpunished," he said. "In return, lend me your strength. Join the Survey Corps."
Levi's eyes widened and he blinked in surprise, although the glare remained firmly on his face. From the corner of his vision, he could see Farlan and Isabel start too, and he heard Mikasa's gasp. Join the Survey Corps? "And if I refuse?" he questioned, chest clenching in fear of the answer.
Sure enough, Erwin did not even miss a beat before responding, "The Military Police will have you. Considering all your crimes, you and your friends won't be treated very nicely." The soldier stood up, and from a few paces away, turned back to face Levi as he finished with, "Choose whichever you prefer."
Levi was frozen. He would not join the Survey Corps. If the soldiers he saw before him were any indication, all of them there were condescending and probably didn't even know how to use 3DMG or clean things properly. Levi would rather stab himself with a rusty knife than spend time with people like that.
But at the same time... his eyes found the wide, panicked ones of Mikasa, who was still lying curled up on herself in the mud. It was his fault that she was like this. He had failed at protecting her. He had failed at the only job he had had that ever mattered.
If he refused to join the Survey Corps; if he turned them over to the Military Police, what would happen to her? Levi had no doubt that he, Farlan, and Isabel would be punished severely for their crimes, if not killed. But Mikasa was only nine years old. Would they be so heartless as to subject her to the same fate?
With a shake of his head and angry clench of his chest, Levi pushed that question aside. Of course they would be.
But what if he accepted Erwin's offer? The four of them would survive, at least. He couldn't begin to predict what their lives would be like after that, but they wouldn't be killed, and that was something, right? Levi had never seen a Titan, but he had been able to evade (well, nearly evade, but he ignored that) two people who had trained for years to kill them.
Yes, Levi, Farlan, and Isabel could stand on their own against Titans. Of that, he was certain.
And of Mikasa? Again, he was unsure how she would fair by them joining the military. Surely she was too young to fight, but it wouldn't make sense for them to kill her, right? She could remain behind whenever the rest of the Survey Corps went outside to kill the Titans. It would be much like their lives in the Underground, he reasoned, except that they would be fighting for reasons other than to get food.
All of this raced through Levi's mind in the span of a few seconds. When he looked up, glare still firmly in place despite his trembling body, Erwin was watching him expectantly.
"Fine," he spat, and could hear the other three gasp. Spitting on the ground and flicking the hair out of his eyes, Levi leveled his captor with his most furious glare yet. "I'll join the Survey Corps."
Erwin was positively beaming.
The soldiers unbound Levi, Farlan, Isabel, and Mikasa. As soon as his hands were free, Levi gave up on concealing anything and raced for his sister, enveloping her in his arms. She clung to him more desperately than she ever had in her life, and Levi's tears finally began leaking down his face and his shaking grew overwhelming.
The two of them sat there for what felt like hours, Levi cursing himself mentally as he tried unsuccessfully to control the hitching and spasming of his chest. Would he regret this choice?
When he finally looked up, Levi immediately noticed Erwin staring down at him, arms crossed and a curious expression on his face. Levi couldn't help but reflexively pull Mikasa closer.
After another second of observation, their captor spoke up. "The two of you look very similar. Are you related?"
Levi froze. He didn't want to tell him. He still did not trust any of these people the slightest bit. But... he needed to get near them, and apparently they wanted him. Maybe they'd be willing to compromise.
"Yes," he answered extremely hesitantly. "... Siblings."
Erwin's eyes widened, and a pit of fear clenched in Levi's gut as he turned back to his fellow soldiers. Levi watched petrified from the ground, his arms tight around Mikasa, as the four others conversed.
Eventually, Erwin parted and walked back over to Levi and Mikasa, looking not only at them, but also to Farlan and Isabel. His eyes had softened, in an attempt to look sympathetic that made Levi want to punch him in the face and run off with Mikasa and hide forever.
"Levi..." Erwin began. "Your sister is younger than twelve, correct?"
Slowly, with wide eyes, Levi nodded.
Another sympathetic look. "On the surface, children have to be twelve to join the military. I'm sorry, but Mikasa will be unable to accompany you and your friends into the Survey Corps. You will have to part ways."
For a horrible, sickening moment, Levi's world stood still. Then, it erupted with an overwhelming cacophony of sound. Isabel's frantic screams and Mikasa's desperate sobbing both piled atop Levi as his rage finally blinded him and he collapsed to the ground with one single piercing cry.
A/N: Hello everyone! Obviously, I was not able to get this chapter out before September. Instead, I just had my first midterm on Wednesday, so I... celebrated? mourned? that fact by writing all but the first thousand words of the most recent chapter of this story (not this chapter, chapter nineteen), in about three days. But anyway, this and the next chapter are two parts of the same event, and they are my absolute favorite parts of the story so far! As you can probably tell from this chapter, I plan to take much of the dialogue directly from the anime and manga, but I will be fusing the two canons together and altering them both. I'm sure that doesn't make a whole lot of sense right now, but we're about to head into the events of No Regrets and then after that season one of the actual show, and I hope you guys like the way Levi and Mikasa being siblings changes canon!
Thanks to MidKnight Karina, Faiika, RachelGarfield12, Leia1998, manticore-gurl071134, and for reviewing chapter 10!
