The first thing Zoë became aware of after the world had stilled was the sound of Levi's heartbeat at her ear. Lub dub, lub dub, lub dub...

She took a deep breath. They were no longer falling. And he still held her pressed against his body like… pfft. The weird fluttering in her heart stopped when she realized how futile - no, stupid! - that would be in case of real danger. A Titan would just get a bonus, two tasty humans for the cost of one.

Idiot.

The next thought that took root in her head was we're rid of our hats after all which was accompanied by the strongest need to giggle.

Then she realized that they had landed on something extremely malodorous.

Which revealed itself to be a garbage dump when she opened her eyes. Remarkable. Their buddies would howl with laughter if she told them.

Levi groaned, stopping her strange train of thought.

"Are you hurt?" Zoë asked, pushing herself up so she could have a look at him. His eyes were closed. His cheek showed a coloring bruise from where she had hit him earlier. But no blood was dripping from his mouth. That was generally a good sign.

She touched his face. He groaned some more and his eyelids fluttered.

"Say something!" she demanded and slapped him gently, left and right, suddenly a bit worried. He had amazing reflexes but she had fallen on top of him both times and even though he had stuffed his fake belly with clothes and other soft things, broken bones was the least she expected him to have.

"Can't… move…," he pressed out.

Oh shit.

"Is it your spine?" she spluttered, starting to run through scenarios in your head what that meant - humanity was fucked! - how to get him to a hospital above grounds without causing too much of a problem for him - incognito? She could lie about his identity and…

"No, you are sitting on my legs, you stupid cow," Levi growled and opened his eyes to give her a signature death stare.

Oups.

Zoë scrambled to the side, which instantly caused the pile they were on to become unstable, shift and...

... they were sliding again. More gently and slowly this time, but down a stinky, sticky heap of rotting waste, which carried them to a narrow alley between two tall houses, where three scrawny children stood awaiting the end of their descent.

"Hi!" Zoë smiled at them and tried to get up, slipped in the muck and fell back down hard. There were broken roof tiles scattered everywhere, she noticed. And their hats! They were waiting for them too. The urge to laugh was back. It was too comical.

"I don't believe this," Levi muttered, his nostrils flaring in anger and disgust. "Oh wait, no, I do. It's exactly what I should have expected."

He was pointedly not looking in her direction when he got to his feet. So he was fine? All the better.

"What were you doing on the garbage heap?" the smallest boy wanted to know, scrunching up his dirty face into a suspicious grimace.

"That stuff grown-ups do, of course," the tallest girl knew. She wore a tattered skirt with at least twenty pockets and had two thin, long braids. Hair color indeterminable.

"They fell from the roof, I saw them!" the third boy was picking his nose. The three heads looked up, then back down, eyes narrowing on them suspiciously.

Grumbling something, Levi pulled a coin from his pocket.

"Here," he dropped it into the girl's ready hand, "give this to the owner of this house. It will cover the cost for repairing the roof with some extra for you."

The girl inspected the coin from all sides, then nodded as she let it disappear into one of her pockets.

"What were you doing on the roof?" she demanded to know. "Something perverted?"

"That normally requires undressing," Levi told her down his nose. "Do we look undressed to you, brat?"

The girl looked them over. "No, but why are you dressed like this? You look silly."

Undeniably so. Levi's belly was dislodged, his brown suit was splotchy, his spectacles askew, the grey paint they had used on his hair gone in parts. Zoë looked down at herself: Not much better. And her hair had come partially undone.

"It's a disguise," Zoë explained, righting her glasses and getting to her feet. Honesty was the best way of communication with children, wasn't it? Or maybe not. The children looked thoroughly unconvinced, worse: suspicious.

"Should we get the authorities?" the smallest boy whispered loudly. "They are lying. Thieves, maybe."

"Could they be fugitives?" The second boy sounded excited at the thought.

"There could be a reward!" the girl jubilated.

"Yes!" the other two screamed, turning their big eyes on them again.

Levi exhaled angrily. "Who runs things around here?" he asked, whisking another coin from his pocket.

"Renzo," all three said without a moment of hesitation, hands outstretched.

Levi scowled.

"You know who that is?" Zoë asked the obvious, but Levi was still busy ignoring her.

"Are you from above grounds?" the middle boy wanted to know from her. "Your skin looks so smooth."

"Did you fall down the stairs?" the tiny one bent forward, his mouth open.

"Yes," Zoë sighed, "silly, isn't it."

"Woah!" their eyes grew a little rounder. "And you didn't die!"

"Do you need a guide?" the girl asked eagerly, "I'm one of the best!"

Levi looked her up and down. "How much?"

"A Shilling!"

"That much, huh."

"Well, I'm really good!" she bristled.

Was that a smile tugging at Levi's lips?! Zoë bent forward to see the rare phenomenon but he pointedly turned his back on her.

"Very well then," he addressed the girl, "we want to go to The Merry Widow. Back alley ways will do nicely. And I do have a few questions while we're on the way..."

"Don't forget your hat!" Zoë called, but he had already walked away pretending very hard she did not exist. Fine. Let's see how long he would keep this up...

###

The girl did a good job. Levi would have chosen the same alleys back when he had still walked the streets and not used the rooftops, or later the vertical maneuvering equipment, to get around town.

Their guide also made sure nobody accosted them, which was more than he had hoped for. So they had really made it down here without being spotted by the Military Police - Levi was sure of that because they always operated on blunt force and not stealth, meaning they would have tried to arrest them already had they known who they were. Whether anybody else had noticed his arrival… he could not be sure yet.

"Are you limping?"

Zoë had sneaked up on him while he had been watching rooftops for lookouts. He could barely stand the stench from his own clothes and now he found it difficult not to retch when hers assaulted his nose in addition.

"Fuck off," Levi growled. He felt bruised to his bones, of course he was limping. Hanji was a walking disaster and whoever was with her got drawn into the whirlwind of destruction around her. He should have known better than to have her climb that wall. Of course she would fall, what else. A miracle she hadn't broken all her bones.

He huffed and stomped forward angrily, carefully hiding the limp that his body tried to force on him, gritting his teeth from the pain instead.

"No need to play tough," she informed him amiably, still right behind him like she was glued to him. "I'm amazed you're walking at all."

Levi pressed his lips together to keep himself from screaming at her.

"So you cannot help it," she imitated his grim voice from earlier, "you have to save me? That's really cute, Levi."

Cute! She would call this cute?! It was one of the most vexing things ever, this weird protective instinct!

He swiveled around to yell after all but when he saw the mischief in her eyes he just pressed his lips together even harder. No way he would give her the satisfaction of losing his cool.

"You're like a tiny bodyguard," she smiled sweetly, the eyes behind her glasses shining with mirth, "throwing yourself into danger for me. I'm moved. Seriously… I am."

She held his battered hat in his direction. Levi snatched it from her hand and rammed it on his head without a word of thanks.

"A limping imp," she mused, chuckling. "Get it? L-IMP-ing!"

Har har, how fucking funny. He turned around and continued walking. She was just trying to rile him up, of course. And as always, she was succeeding.

Pushing her annoying presence from his mind with an effort, Levi paid more attention to their surroundings again. He'd been gone for months. Everything was familiar - sights, smell, and especially the filth - and yet, Renzo was in charge around here? He wasn't quite sure what it meant only that it gave him a strange feeling of not-quite-right. Renzo had never shown much interest in the Church family business. Had he not declared himself an artist several years back?

Well, at least he had a name and someone he could meet.

All in all, it took them about an hour to reach the hotel with the name "Zur fröhlichen Witwe" with one short detour towards the end to organize a new set of clothes for both of them, tightly wrapped in oil cloth so they wouldn't start smelling too. Serviceable pants and a shirt for him, though the fabric was a bit rough, and a dress for Zoë. A dress! It was payback. Only she didn't know that yet, busy as she was gawking at everything around her, not paying any attention to him and the children. She would throw a fit once she saw and he was looking forward to that with mounting glee.

The hotel "Zur fröhlichen Witwe" was by far the best hotel in the underground city, meaning an acceptable level of cleanliness including a money back guarantee in case of bed bugs. But even better than that, Levi felt an almost bodily hunger to use them, the hotel had bathing facilities! The miracle of functioning plumbing was assured by substantive investments from businessmen above ground. That they only invested in facilities they would use themselves instead of helping the families down here more generally was a vexatious topic for another day.

"Here we are, sir," the girl said proudly and pointed a finger at the white building. Levi nodded and paid the girl, adding a bit extra and giving the two boys a coin each too.

"Call us if you need us again!" the girl still held out her hand.

"What's your name then?" Levi asked, ignoring it.

"Esmelda!" the girl exclaimed, patting her own chest. "Everybody knows me around here! Just call and I'll come right away."

"Is that a specialty of yours?" Zoë asked, watching the three kids disappear around a corner. "Using children for your strange plans?"

Ignoring her was still his best strategy and he only wanted to think of that bath he was about to take anyway. He pushed open the door and entered the hotel. It was several shades darker inside, with only a single oil lamp sputtering on the elevated front desk. The man who was looking in their direction from the deep shadows had very little hair on his head but a lot sticking out from his ears and didn't bat an eyelid despite the stench they brought with them. Discreet, as to be expected from such an establishment. Levi's mood lifted further. There were only a few minutes between him and his bath now.

"We require two rooms," Levi said, pulling out the fattest of his purses and letting it fall on the wood suggestively.

"I am very sorry, sir, we only have one left. And only because someone had to leave at short notice."

Levi rattled the purse. "I wish for two rooms."

"Really sorry, sir," the patron wrung his meaty hands in honest distress, "I really have only one left!"

"Should we go to a different establishment?" Zoë suggested. Did she sound tired? Levi threw her a look. She looked a little pale. Had she hurt herself? Maybe he should have checked.

"This is the only acceptable one, believe me," he remembered too late that he was still ignoring her and focused his attention on the owner again. "You seem well booked."

"It's the time of the year," the man answered, somewhat evasively.

It had to be some kind of illegal gaming tournament, Levi surmised from his reaction. Which surprised him, given Erwin's information about the worsening security situation down here. Well. It explained why the MPs were testier than usual.

"It is a very fine room, sir," the proprietor said, "very cozy. The bed is large and very clean. I assure you that…"

"We take it," Levi interrupted him whatever the assurance. Sharing a room with Hanji wasn't an ideal situation but one room was better than no room and he didn't need a bed anyway. Any chair would do for him.

"Is the bathing facility booked right now?" Levi asked when the proprietor handed him the keys.

"No, sir," the owner's right eye twitched a little in appreciation of their wish to bath, "it's all yours."

Their designated room was at the very top, right under the roof. The room was on the small side, with a large double bed taking almost the entire space. No armchair. Well, no matter. He could sit anywhere and nap, even on the floor.

Zoë stood in the door behind him and blinked when he turned around to check why she was so quiet.

"What kind of establishment did you say this was?"

"An establishment that has clean linens and plumbing," Levi grumbled. "It's where the rich nobs come to. There's no better one."

"There are cherubs on the tapestry."

"So?"

"They're… hmm," she squinted.

Frowning, Levi stepped closer to study the tapestry. Ah. The all male cherubs who brandished huge erections were engaged in rather explicit activities. He shrugged. "Don't look if you don't like it."

"I didn't say I didn't like it," she murmured, "I was just wondering."

She brushed past him and staggered towards the bed.

"Don't sit down!" he yelled, grabbing her arm to prevent her from dirtying the clean sheets. "You're filthy!"

"Even I agree, you freak," she didn't only sound tired, she also looked tired, Levi realized. Maybe it was the air? He knew that people fell ill from it, though not normally that quickly.

"They have a bathtub here," he explained, "I'll go first. We can change into new clothes afterwards and if you want to rest then, do. You can wait outside until I'm done. But not in here."

The bathroom was two floors down. After leaving Zoë standing in the corridor, looking like a weird scarecrow with strings of hair hanging down from the disintegrating hairdo, Levi undressed, threw his filthy clothes into the bin in the corner and filled the tub with deliciously hot water and some of the fragrant oils from the colorful bottles on display.

Too hot, he realized when he put a hand in.

He filled in some cold water too, growing increasingly impatient, finally climbing in and … ahhh. Levi groaned from the pleasure. His muscles unknotted one by one as he sunk in deeper.

Heavenly.

Or… it should have been. But something gnawed at the corners of his mind, soon beginning to fill a pool of anxiety deep in his belly as he washed his hair with the bar of fragrant soap.

Zoë shouldn't be standing out there for everyone to see. This hotel was frequented by people who might recognize her, just like that Treibel guy had recognized her. They would not be up yet, it was barely noon, but soon…

Levi slid down until he was fully submerged.

Should he have asked her about sharing a room with him? A gentleman would have. But he wasn't a gentleman. Not that it meant anything in the military, but they were not exactly here on a military mission and it wasn't like he didn't feel stirred by her in those ways… he pushed those thoughts from his mind. It wasn't like he was a slave to baser instincts either. It was unproblematic since she would be on the bed and he would be nowhere near her. More thoughts to push aside. He swore. He felt untypically uneasy, that was the problem. Should he be surprised? It was this place, of course. And the feeling that coming back here was a mistake. Deep down, he feared that this place wouldn't ever want to let him go again. Gutter rats had no place outside. They belonged down here. In the filthy. The dark. The hopelessness...

A loud banging sound made him jerk up, spluttering water.

It was Zoë, standing in front of him with both hands at her hips, the door wide open behind her.

"What is taking you so long?" she chided him with a deep frown. "You egoistical swine! Your groans of pleasure are torture!"

"Out!" he yelled. "Ever heard of privacy, shitty glasses?!"

"No," now she grinned, narrowing her eyes to slits and very clearly ogling him shamelessly though she probably couldn't see much from where she stood. "I don't know what that is. I just know I want to take a fucking bath too and you are taking much too long."

Levi stared back at her. She didn't budge an inch.

Fine.

There was only one way of dealing with Zoë Hange. If you couldn't ignore her, you had to take her head on.

He jumped her in a flash of movement, splattering water everywhere. She was much too surprised to do more than utter a small surprised sound before, splash, he had thrown her into the bathtub, filthy clothes and all, used water or not.

"Here we go," he looked down at her viciously. "Your bath."

"You…"

He knelt down on the wet tiles behind her and pressed her head down before she could get back her bearing.

"Quiet, you annoying woman."

He let her go and she came up, spluttering insults.

"You tiny maggot, you will pay for this!"

"Oh yeah? I will?"

One more dunking.

"All these months I've been telling you to take a fucking bath," he growled into her ear when next she came up for air, "and the one time I want to indulge a little you cannot wait to finally have one?"

More insults from her and attempts to sit up. He just pressed her down again. Her hair had come loose fully now, floating on the water like a strange brown water plant. Levi grabbed the bar of soap and when her head came back up, he started lathering her hair with it with firm, rhythmic movements.

"This," he growled. "I've been wanting to do this ever since laying eyes on you. How can anyone's hair look like this?"

"Fuck, Levi," she groaned, arching her back a little.

Ignoring her as best he could, he washed the soap from her head with fresh water. Not resisting anymore, was she? One more time. More soap. More kneading of her scalp. It wasn't gentle. It was needed.

Needy…?

He realized he wanted to do this all day.

He realized the door still stood open. That he was naked.

He realized she had gone still in the bathtub, breathing fast.

"Hmmmm," she sighed, her eyes closed. "Levi…"

It dawned on Levi then, admittedly a little late, that this was a very bad idea. He could see her perky erect nipples through the wet fabric of her shirt. His body reacted eagerly.

Hell.

He did the only thing that was sensible.

Grabbing a towel and slinging it around his midriff, he ran from the wet, steamy room and slammed the door shut behind him.