After Levi slammed the door shut so hard it almost jumped out of its hinges, Zoë sat in the rapidly cooling water in her silly disguise and wondered why she felt so insulted.

Levi was a rude asshole. There was nothing new or surprising about that fact. Only someone as insensitive as him would touch her the way he just had - while being naked, mind you! - and then leave her hanging like this. Worse, flee from her sight like she was a leper.

"Asshole," she said out loud.

But hearing this made her realize that calling him names wouldn't fix the weird hurt in her chest. Why did he hate her? Because she got on his nerves like he liked to tell her so frequently? Or because he thought her inept? Below his standards? She knew she wasn't beautiful. Nor was she like a typical woman, she knew plenty of men who were far less manly than herself. But despite all this, there had always been enough men who had shown an interest in her, inside and outside the bedroom. And before Captain Midget the Vexing had crossed her path, she had never had an issue reading the signals they sent about that interest correctly.

Zoë sighed and stood up. Better to let it go. That little weirdo could just go to hell. She would stop being interested in him too. She would stop thinking about that torso, those abs, those arms, those hands. And the lips…

"Fucking handsome shitbag, go to hell," she said and shook herself like a wet dog.

Shedding the drenched clothes and unwrapping the bindings from her breasts brought her some relief. Toweling herself dry, she wondered what she should do next. It would take a while for her clothes to dry… Go up to the room and wrap herself in some bed sheets? She could just lie around and think about all kinds of weird, pointless things.

She snatched up more towels on her way out so she wouldn't have to walk up to their room naked, but quickly realized that someone had put clothes in front of the door. That someone had clearly been Levi because there was a note that said "For Shitty Glasses". What horrible handwriting.

Wait… had she thought these were clothes? No, it was a fucking dress!

"You stupid moron I'm gonna kill you," Zoë seethed as she tried to tie all those strings the right way in vain. A dress! He must have had a good laugh about that! She'd just beat the shit out of him, she decided, as she stormed up the stairs to their room. If he was still here. Which he most likely wasn't. He probably had very urgent business judging from the speed with which…

Levi looked up from cleaning his knife as she barged into the room. He had put on different clothes too: a white shirt, black trousers and a brown vest.

"Do you think this is funny?" she challenged him.

"Not at all," he replied.

"I'm speaking about this… this dress!" she pulled a face, waiting for him to mock her.

"Women wear dresses down here, end of discussion. Save your energy and be quiet if you want to come with me," he shrugged and looked away. "And either wear your hair down or up properly," he added, "not in this weird halfway thing you like to walk around with."

"Like I'm listening to anything you say, you rude grump," she murmured but sat down in front of the tiny vanity table at the wall to try her luck with her hair. "Where are we going?"

He started cleaning his knife again.

"Dickhead," she murmured, shifting her attention back to her hair again. Up properly? What did he know about 'up properly'! Up properly his fucking ass!

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here and rest?" his voice sounded from behind her.

Their eyes met in the mirror. Huh? What new devilry had he cooked up now?

"You look like shit," he explained.

Admittedly, she did feel a little queasy, as if her stomach was having a bad day going on worse. But that was probably just because she had not had anything to eat since early this morning.

"Thanks, you charming midget," she huffed. "Are you trying to insult me again? That won't work anymore. I'm immune now."

Levi frowned like he had no clue what she was talking about. Typical. Didn't mind, didn't care.

"You couldn't leave fast enough earlier," she explained angrily. "Way to make a woman feel good about herself, you asshat."

To her surprise, Levi didn't snap an insult at her in return but turned deeply red instead.

"I shnot irkftk hmmmm," he murmured, looking sheepishly at the floor.

Huh? If she didn't know better she'd have thought that he was embarrassed? Shy, even. Zoë blinked, watching his half averted face in the mirror. No sass. No insults. I'll be damned, she thought. He was shy? Like in… was he inexperienced?! Maybe he had not had a girlfriend before?!

"How old did you say you are?" she asked, suddenly thinking about the possibilities of misjudging severely. Ew, gross.

"I didn't," he looked back up with a frown.

"You only look like a teenager, right? You're not really only fifteen."

"Eat dirt," he twirled his knife in his hand. "I'm not only fifteen. But hurry the fuck up."

Exhaling angrily, she decided to leave her hair down, which was the biggest nuisance because it would whip into her face constantly - but she had no patience for hair on any day and was eager to finally explore the Underground City.

"Where did you say we are going?" she asked and jumped up.

"I didn't," he got up as well and wrinkled his nose at her. "But I'm going to show my face."

"Your face."

"Yes, my face. Are you hard of hearing?"

"You think yourself so handsome people have to be treated to a glimpse of your face?"

His eyebrows moved together into a perfect V. "I want people to recognize me. And I want those who wanted me here to reveal themselves. Got it?"

Ah. Another Levi non-plan that would likely end with them falling down somewhere or getting attacked by knife-wielding criminals. She liked it.

"Alright!" she exclaimed and clapped her hands. "Let's go show your face off!"

And no, she wouldn't add 'beautiful' in her head. Levi was dead to her. So dead. Even if his face was beautiful.

###

Crisis number one averted, Levi thought as they exited the hotel. Zoë was very annoyed with him, which he preferred to wet clothes, perky nipples and sighs of his name from her tantalizing lips. She looked surprisingly good in a dress, even though she had done a horrible job tying it properly. So good he hadn't even felt any real satisfaction at her anger over his choice of clothes for her.

And she was clean. Which meant she smelled very nice. Nothing had ever smelled that way down here. It made him want to press his nose to her neck and breathe in only her.

Ugh.

Levi shook himself and stomped forward. The back of his neck prickled, a sure sign that they were being watched.

Good.

He had no patience for playing games. He wanted to return to their Headquarters as soon as possible. He didn't like to feel like this. Like… like he belonged here and not out there. Like he should stop dreaming silly dreams of freedom, stop yearning to see the vast sky above him during the day, with clouds drifting past on their way to unknown places, with birds flying around with no notion of what pleasure they enjoyed. Like he should stop marveling at the mind-boggling numbers of twinkling stars visible during some nights, stars that could well be other worlds, far, far away.

No.

This place would not have him again.

If he knew one thing, it was how to fight. And fight he would.

###

Zoë's bad mood dissipated within the first seconds of being outside. This underground city stank, but in a most interesting way. Garbage, sewage and something else… something she couldn't quite place but that tickled her nose teasingly, like exotic spices. There were a lot of people walking around, doing all kinds of things. Mostly things people above ground also did, but down here, it definitely looked more interesting. More meaningful. For example, the shoemaker on the next corner - did he only make his strange looking shoes for people in the underground or did he also make them for people above ground? How come he lived here and not up there? She had questions, so many questions! Zoë tried to ask Levi in the beginning - "Hey, Levi, so how does food get down here?" - "Hey, Levi, there's a lot of natural light down here, where does it come from?" - "Hey, Levi, when it rains outside, what happens down here?" - but he didn't listen. He just stomped forward with a grim expression on his face, his hands buried in his trouser pockets, not looking left nor right, never stopping even for a second to wait for her when she examined something of interest.

They got to a much shabbier looking part of town eventually. The stench was stronger here, there were puddles of oily black water everywhere, and people shrinking into the shadows when they passed. Zoë's excitement immediately surged high again when Levi pushed open the door to a tavern. She loved taverns! This one was called "The Bleating Mutton" and was filled with a sizable and fairly rowdy crowd of men.

Which fell dead quiet at the sight of Levi.

Very intrigued about the effect he had on them, Zoë studied the men staring with open mouths as they walked confidently from the door to the bar. They all looked like the kind of men to avoid when walking home alone at night.

"One pint of ale, one cup of tea," Levi flipped a coin to the barkeeper. Very daring to turn his back like that! Zoë decided to watch the men. They were still frozen in what looked like shock.

"Coming right up," the elderly man said, his tongue flicking out nervously as he tried hard not to look at Levi.

"Can we eat something?" Zoë blurted out. Man, she was hungry.

"And two of those fake shepherd's pies," Levi flipped another coin. "Make them warm enough."

Levi sauntered to an empty table. Zoë was quite certain it had not been empty when they had entered. She skipped after him and sat down, suppressing a smile.

"They all know you," she whispered.

"Mhm," Levi answered.

"So you're really famous down here?"

"Mhm," Levi uttered again.

The barkeeper brought over their drinks, smiling at her nervously before scurrying away as quickly as possible.

"Are they afraid of you?"

Levi shrugged.

"Some."

When that was all he seemed willing to share, Zoë began sipping her ale. Not bad! Nice and smooth, not too bitter. She noticed the other customers in the tavern started talking again in low, hushed voices, throwing furtive glances in their direction.

"Who's that Renzo guy the girl mentioned?" Zoë asked Levi. "You know him?"

"Furlan's brother," he replied, picking up his teacup by the rim.

"So he's a friend?"

"I wonder," Levi said quietly.

"Do you think not talking is a good way to fill me in what's going on?"

"Listen, Hanji."

"Yes?"

The innkeeper put two steaming pies in front of them, dropping two spoons as well. Levi pushed his pie in her direction as well.

"You're not eating?" Zoë frowned.

"I'm not hungry," he claimed.

She shrugged and started digging in. Ugh. Strange taste.

"I'm still listening," she said, chewing carefully. There was a lot of very tough stuff in this pie.

He looked at her fully then and she was a little surprised to see a very earnest expression in those usually so stern eyes.

"If I have to fight, I want you to stay back."

"Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm fucking serious," he bent forward. "I brought you here as a witness in case I get into trouble. You will observe and then report everything to Erwin."

"Report to Erwin."

"Stop repeating things I say!"

"You cannot seriously believe I'd let you have all the fun!"

"Erwin needs to know if something happens to me."

"Then you should have waited for his return and gotten his permission, idiot!"

"You know as well as I do that he would never give it."

Good point. Zoë had to agree that Erwin was unlikely to grant any leave of absence to any one of them.

"I refuse to be a mere witness though," she swallowed a piece of something unchewable. "If we fight, I fight with you. Like we do out there. What do we keep telling you? We do this together. You are not alone."

"Pffft," Levi grimaced. "Together? That's the kind of romantic bullshit Erwin keeps sprouting so people join his Loony Squad. Doing things together just means more people dying. It's a cluster risk."

"You joined the Loony Squad too though," she challenged him. "What romantic bullshit did Erwin sprout to convince you?"

"He said, while holding swords to my friends' throats: 'We'll let you off the hook as long as you lend us your strength. Join the Survey Corps! You'll be handed over to the Military Police if you refuse. Considering the length of your rap sheet, the Military Police will make your lives a living hell'".

"Ouch," Zoë pulled a face. That was so Erwin.

"My kind of romantic bullshit," Levi shrugged. "Very convincing."

"So you regret it?"

"No," Levi answered after a tiny pause and sipped some tea. "He showed me the outside world. I rode a horse beyond the walls. That's more than a gutter rat could ever wish for."

"But it's not too bad down here. From what I have seen…"

"You have seen nothing," Levi hissed, his head suddenly very close again. "And I'll make sure it stays like this."

Gosh, his eyes. She had a total thing for his eyes when he glared like this, trying to be intimidating. She dropped her eyes to his lips. Hmmm, and those… Since he was shy, like she had so recently found out, it was on her to show him how it was done.

"Focus, Hanji," he growled. "Don't let down your guard, you shit for brains!"

"Levi!" someone shouted at the entrance, "Levi, you're back!"

Zoë swiveled around but the intruding someone was already upon them, jumping across the table and tackling Levi to the ground along with the chair he sat in. Alarmed, Zoë jumped up to defend him, but Levi did not appear assaulted. He had put his arms around this someone - who was a woman. Where they… were they kissing?!

Before she could ascertain that, the woman pulled on Levi's hand laughing and righted him back up. Long legs, a tiny waist and an impressive bosom. She also had long, auburn hair and was wearing… pantaloons! And a pair of worn black boots. Zoë huffed. Women wore dresses down here? Levi was an evil liar!

"I came immediately when I heard you were back," the mystery woman beamed. "Where were you? I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Above ground," he said, studying this woman's face much too intently for Zoë's liking.

"For that long? You've got to tell me everything about it!"

"I'm…"

"We're just visiting," Zoë interjected.

Burning dark-green eyes moved in her direction, then took in her dress, her face, her hair, all the while radiating hostility in palpable waves. I don't like you either, Zoë thought as she stiffened and restrained a need to bare her teeth.

"Who is this, Levi?" the woman asked snippy.

"Zoë, we work together," Levi brushed down his shirt and vest and fussed with his hair for a second. Yeah, served him right for rolling around on tavern floors with beautiful women! Now he had dirt all over him.

"And you are…?" Zoë asked, mirroring the woman's tone.

"Annika," the woman said. "I'm Annika. But I'm sure Levi must have told you about me. I'm his..."

"I hear Renzo has taken over many districts?" Levi quickly changed the topic. Coward.

"Not a word, Annika, not a word," Zoë smiled toothily.

Oh, but the woman commanded an evil eye that almost put Levi's to shame!

"You're here to escort us?" Levi asked, to again change the topic.

Annika threw Zoë another murderous look. "You. I am here to escort you."

"Us," Levi repeated. "You will escort us."

Take that, you bad mannered floozy! Zoë thought viciously. We come in a pair!

Annika pouted and then shrugged. "Fine. I can't wait to hear about your adventures above ground! Are the houses as fancy as they say? And are the…"

Linking her arms with Levi's, Annika drew him forward and out, not sparing Zoë another look. Flashing everyone a smile and granting them a regal wave, Zoë made sure to follow right behind.