They spent the entire night and the next two days searching for important documents in Hanji's parental home. Busybody Moblit, who came to check on Hanji and found them drinking tea in awkward silence, organized a sizable group of Survey Corps members to help with Erwin's permission.

Levi napped twice, sitting down on one of the backstairs where it was quiet, his head resting against the wall. He didn't dream, which was always a blessing. Maybe because someone put a soft blanket over him both times? Quite foolishly, he hoped it was Hanji, however unlikely that was.

He couldn't stop his eyes from seeking her out whenever she was near but she was completely wrapped up in organizing the search, viewing every single book and document the soldiers brought to the library, then sorting them into messy piles with Moblit's help.

She didn't seem embarrassed or angry about what had happened in the closet, Levi soon concluded. Likely because it didn't matter to her - her life clearly didn't revolve around thinking endlessly about how to get rid of a torturous attraction. He on the other hand was both deeply embarrassed because he had lost his composure and loathing himself because he still couldn't master his impulses.

While searching the house with the others, Levi successfully resisted the urge to clean for an entire day. But when he came across a sizable broom standing at the ready in a dark corner on the second day there was no stopping him anymore. Generally, cleaning helped him get his mind off things. Things such as Hanji standing in front of him in a cramped cupboard, overwhelming his senses. Or possible documents hidden in this house identifying him as a traitor. He couldn't get over feeling increasingly anxious. The longer the search continued, the more afraid he got that they were about to find the confirmation he dreaded. Ackerman slave. Traitor with no choice. An abomination.

He swept the entrance hall and then the main stairs up all the way and down again, earning himself mildly amused looks from the fellow soldiers. Shame Eren and his friends had already left for Trost, Levi thought, glaring up at the cobwebs out of his reach, they had become quite proficient at cleaning under his guidance.

"You'll miss the upcoming mission if you try to clean the entire house," stopping next to him, Theodor Treibel followed Levi's gaze upwards to the ceiling.

Levi was so used to getting snide remarks about his cleaning habits that he barely listened.

"Give this to me," abruptly, Theodor Treibel took the broom from Levi's hands. What the… ? Treibel turned it around and swiped away cobwebs with it, casually showing off his height. Asshole.

"Better," he remarked, appreciating his handiwork. "You'll need help with the rest."

"Don't bother," Levi said gruffly. He was in no mood to spend his time cleaning, which he enjoyed, with Teddybear Treibel hovering near, which he definitely wouldn't enjoy. He and Treibel had established a I-won't-bother-you-if-you-don't-bother-me relationship over the years, not once talking about what had happened in the Underground, which was more than fine with Levi. The less he had to think about it the better and the less he saw of Treibel the better too because seeing him always made him remember going down the stairs with Hanji for the first time - and that opened floodgates of memories he tried to avoid as a general rule.

"I need to talk to you though," Theodor sounded as desperate as he sounded sullen.

This had to be about Annika, Levi guessed, watching Theodor busy himself with opening cupboards to locate more cleaning utensils. Erwin had made Theodor her squad leader in the previous year, likely Erwin's way to dish out some punishment for the part Treibel had played in the Underground uprising. As expected, Treibel and Annika had been at each other's throats constantly, much to the amusement of the rest of the Survey Corps. Quite a sizable group suspected they were banging each other because that much adverse chemistry simply needed that kind of outlet. But rumors had it that Annika had not only kept quiet about her transfer to the MP but had also left without saying goodbye.

"I haven't seen Annika for at least a month," Levi jump-started the conversation when Theodor returned with a bucket, a rag and a dustpan, hoping to end it this way quickly.

"But do you know why she wanted to transfer?" Treibel asked, not in the least deterred. "She must have told you."

Levi shrugged. "No, she didn't. If you think we were close, guess again. My bet is she wanted a change? Annika grows bored quickly."

"Bored?" Treibel looked outraged. "There's nothing boring about the Survey Corps!"

The real reason why she had left, Levi suspected, was Kenny's death. Years ago, Annika had claimed Kenny had sent her to watch Levi so certain people couldn't get their hands on him. He had never been able to confirm this. Given Kenny's recent attempts to kill him, Levi had even more doubts about the truthfulness of that claim. No, Kenny had never given a shit about his nephew's well-being and Annika had just done the sensible thing: gotten out of the hellhole when she had gotten the chance, using Kenny's name to keep Levi interested enough so he wouldn't oppose her military career. Once Kenny had kicked the bucket, that trick had no longer worked. In truth though, Levi had spent little energy on trying to curtail Annika's ambitions: Erwin was impressed with Annika on several levels and whatever Levi said about her was categorically ignored. Since that just showed that Erwin was human, Levi had grudgingly accepted it.

"I think Annika might have talked to our enemies," Theodor blurted out nervously. "Do you think that's possible?"

Levi frowned. "By enemies you mean…?"

"Military police in league with the traitorous nobility," Theodor said stiffly. Levi took a second to recall that Theodor's own family, related by marriage to the Hanges, had also been acquitted of treason and was now living the good life in the country.

"I followed her one night," Theodor added when Levi remained silent.

Levi lifted his eyebrows.

"It's not that I… I just needed to know why she snuck out so often and I…"

"You stalked her," Levi remarked drily. "Classy. You saw her talk to an MP? Likely a lover of hers."

Treibel colored. If he hadn't known better, that would have made Levi suspect that feelings were involved. That said… Treibel's color deepened under Levi's scrutiny. Really? After Annika had tried to kill him? Treibel had lovely scars to show for it..

"Maybe. Yes, maybe," Treibel said, "but… it didn't look like it. More like it was… business."

Huh.

"I found it a little suspicious that she transferred right after the whole mess with Eren in the chapel," Treibel continued.

"You mean to tell me…," that Annika is the one who told people about Eren and his special powers? "...but you guys weren't even there. You had injured your shoulder and you and your entire squad had to stay back just like me when the others retrieved Eren from Bertold and Rainer."

"Yes," Theodor admitted. "But I keep wondering…"

Had they not been careful enough? Hanji and Erwin had been crystal clear about the need for secrecy about Eren's ability to control Titans. However… Levi frowned. They had not fully understood why Eren was so important to the Titan shifters until Rodd Reiss had made his move and had tried to feed him to Krista. So maybe…

"Did you… did you discuss Hanji's theories about Eren with your squad?" Levi asked, feeling a sudden rush of hope.

"No," Theoder shook his head vehemently. "We just discussed how glad we were to have him back...I think."

The pathetic part of him was grasping at straws, Levi realized. Why else would he hope Theodor had slipped up and Annika would be proven a traitor? Then again… if Annika had found out and if she had talked to Kenny like she had claimed… there was their Rodd Reiss connection, plain and simple.

"Did you ever see Annika meet with a tall man with a fedora hat?" Levi asked.

Theodor shook his head again. "No. Just Military Police. I needed to tell someone and you… you know her best so I thought…"

"You hoped I'd tell you she'd never do something like that?" Levi snorted. "Sorry not to be of service. It's entirely possible Annika gave information to the MPs if something was in it for her. Go tell Erwin and ask him what to do about it. I'm busy."

"I'd rather… Erwin isn't… you know, if she's innocent…"

"Then find her and talk to her directly," Levi barked, suddenly very fed up with this conversation, "it's what adults do."

Great advice, he thought as he stomped up the stairs to get away from Treibel, maybe I should follow it myself.

Fittingly, his feet took him to the library, where he found Hanji sitting amidst piles of documents. She was alone, looking completely disheveled. His eyes flitted to the dark bloodstains on the once valuable carpet next to her. Little good it had done them, getting those guards to talk, he thought, flexing his sore knuckles. But of course, Council Hange was too smart to share his secrets with his staff. Levi had thrown them in a dark, smelly room in the basement for the time being, to buy the Corps time for a thorough search. Levi had no illusions, these men would not end up in a prison - it wasn't exactly illegal to enter a house, especially not one that had belonged to your Master before it had become property of the crown. Neither was it illegal for private guards of a noble family to carry firearms. In fact, he half-expected them to file a complaint against the Survey Corps or even more likely, against Levi in person for using violence against them. It would be a hassle, with court hearings and similar shit.

"Oh, hullo," Hanji looked up, her eyes bloodshot, with dark circles underneath them. "It's good you're here, I need to talk to you."

"Have you slept at all, Hanji?" Levi asked with a frown at the sorry sight before him.

"Er…," she scratched her head. "I guess? Haha, you're funny. Trying to lecture people about sleep, haha, catnapper."

She sounded even more deranged than usual. A rush of tenderness almost made him back up. Every time he saw her work herself into a state of exhaustion, kept on her feet solely by her boundless enthusiasm for weird things, he wanted to take her into his arms, put her into bed forcefully, and watch over her sleep.

When Hanji had left the library to go down to the kitchen, Basil had insulted her to rile Levi up. He had called her a whore who earned her keep by opening her legs to whoever was willing to put their dicks in. As the son of a whore, Levi had never accepted the word as an insult - but Basil's disrespect had seriously pissed him off anyway. Breaking all fingers of his right hand had not shut him up though and he had insulted Hanji's looks next. Useless, because Levi knew just how special Hanji was, down to the texture of her skin, but there were always more bones to break in a body so he had continued doing that. At which point one of the younger guards had screamed that he would say anything Levi wanted, anything. Convenient, but Levi wasn't satisfied. Basil had kept his smirk until the very end. Maybe he should have smashed his teeth in first.

"Nobody found the red book you described," Hanji said, using both her hands to push her hair out of her face, "I'm sorry. It's possible my father took it with him. But this..."

She began rummaging around in one of the piles to the right of her.

"... this. Does this look familiar?"

Levi took a step closer to peek at the document she held up. An old drawing of a plant. In the style of the ones Council Hange had always given him to deliver on Hanji's birthdays.

"Yes," Levi admitted.

"They were never from you, those presents, right?"

Levi nodded.

"How silly of me to be moved then," she murmured. Levi felt his ears heat up.

"I never wanted to…" He didn't finish the sentence. He had known very well that he was misleading her, to claim otherwise was a lie. But he had kept quiet, stealing secret pleasure from the way her eyes lit up whenever he gave her a drawing of a frigging plant. Pathetic as fuck. Both of them.

"Did my father tell you what those were? Why he wanted me to have them?"

"No," Levi frowned. Just presents for his daughter, he had thought.

"To taunt me, perhaps," she continued. "I possess forbidden knowledge and you know nothing, that's what he might have thought. Or is this a puzzle of sorts? Maybe the sequence isn't random..." She sighed in frustration. "Look at all those plants and animals I've never seen before. This world outside… how vast do you think it is?"

"We rode ten hours to the South once before we had to turn back," Levi answered, "and saw no end."

Hanji stared at him sullenly. What had he said wrong? She should ask Armin smart questions, not him.

"I'm sorry," he said on impulse. "That I lied to you about the presents."

"Erwin just sent word," she changed the topic, putting the document back onto the pile. "We have to stop this search. He is calling a meeting tonight. I'm assuming..."

The next mission is about to go down. Nothing will be the same after it.

"We're taking all of this material to Headquarters. I would have preferred to find something conclusive…"

"Me too," Levi felt relief that he had not been outed. But it was fleeting.

Hanji stared at him again with eyes that were so tired she was almost cross-eyed. "If you are the one who is responsible for Eren's kidnapping, I swear I'm going to fucking kill you," she told him gravely. "And if I see you behave like a traitor during this upcoming mission, I'm going to shoot you through the head. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Levi answered just as gravely. "and I'll let you do it, Hanji. Gladly."

###

The briefing was even more tedious than briefings usually were. Hanji and the rest of the squad leaders sat around the table with Erwin and regurgitated what they knew for the hundredth time. Eren's father had been a Titan just like Annie, Reiner and Bertolt. He had researched the identity of the royal family to steal the Founder. He had stolen it and given it to his son. Which, Levi thought with a shudder, was a really fucked up thing to do to your ten year old son. Was there a single decent father anywhere?

Basement, basement, basement… he hated how Erwin's took on a crazy gleam at every mention of that place. Hanji wasn't any better: She had donned her military coat and had brushed and bound up her hair, trying to appear in charge of the situation, but her voice was brittle from lack of sleep and Levi was pretty sure that she still couldn't hear well, she turned her head ever so slightly towards whoever was speaking. The consensus was that the basement contained information that had been erased from their memories. Levi shifted uncomfortably in his seat against the wall. Hearing people talk about erasing memories made him queasy - he still had those strange episodes during which everything slipped away from him, time, reality, memories, dreams.

"Our preparations are complete - the operation to take Wall Maria will commence in two days," Erwin concluded, leaning back in his chair. "What's really in the basement? All we need to do is go see for ourselves. Is that not the way of the Survey Corps?"

Excitement swept through the room at the mention of their true calling. Carried away by it, Klaus suggested having meat for dinner when they met up with the squads at Trost. Fucking great idea, let everyone behave like animals before heading out to the slaughtered. Fitting, really.

Levi stayed back as the others made their way out of the room chattering like excited children, roughly shoving the door shut behind them. Erwin looked up sharply at the slam of the door.

"What is it, Levi?"

Did he have to ask? The others were cowards for not addressing the issue.

"It may be too soon for this, but what do you plan to do after retaking Wall Maria? I assume defense would be the next priority, but then what?" Levi started the conversation he knew was not going to end well either way.

"Defense? No. We take out threats. Someone outside the wall seems to want us all to be eaten by Titans. I suppose the basement might tell us more about who exactly that someone is and then... but as I said earlier, further plans will come after we see the basement."

Like Erwin believed in this shit.

"I'm asking because there's a good chance you won't be around by then. You won't be able to move like you used to. Let Hanji lead the mission." Levi watched Erwin touch his arm stump. Yeah, you dickhead, you've lost an arm, have you forgotten? "You'll only slow us down. Stay here and let the good news come to you. We can tell the others I relentlessly talked you into it. Well, that's actually what I intend to do either way."

It was only because Levi genuinely respected… even liked Erwin that this entire mission felt like such a bad idea to him. Any other idiot with a death wish… fine with him. But Erwin… they had come too close to losing him twice before.

"No."

Levi met the Commander's fierce blue eyes. Dust was dancing in the air around him, the evening sun making Erwin's hair glow like molten gold.

"I don't care if I end up dead, Levi. I'll even act as bait. That's why the chain of command is in place. When I die, Hange will take over…"

"But she…"

"Quiet, I'm not done speaking. Hange will take over and another will come after her, that's the way of things. You're right about this being a dangerous operation, but it is also the single most important step for humanity to take. That's why I've gone to such lengths. If I stay behind, the odds of success will plummet."

"Yes, the operation might fail," Levi gave back, "but if it fails and you die on top, think about what will happen. You should use your head from the safety of this very desk. That's the last thing those Titans would want and the best thing you could do for humanity and we can..."

"No, that's not it," Erwin interrupted him. "Our best bet is riding on the success of…"

"Oioioioi! Stop right there, Erwin," Levi took a step forward. "Next time I hear you call that coup d'état that almost cost you your life a success I'm going to break both of your legs. I'll make sure it's a clean break that will heal up nice and easy, but you'll be sobbing in this room while the rest of us are retaking Wall Maria. And you'll dread using the toilet in the meantime."

To Levi's annoyance, Erwin snickered, entirely unimpressed. "That sounds inconvenient. Well, I can't deny that you're right. A wounded soldier should stay off the battlefield. However, I cannot allow myself to sit idly in this room at the moment when the truth of this world is discovered."

"That's what's so important to you?" Levi pressed out. "More important than your legs?

"Yeah."

"More important than humanity's victory?"

"Yes."

So there it was. Erwin Smith, 13th Commander of the Survey Corps cared more about discovering the secrets hidden in the Yeager basement, cared more about finally proving his father's theories right than he cared about the future of mankind.

Oh well. All people live for the same purpose, need something to keep them going. Freedom, the truth… was there a difference? It was just different drugs. He had no right to judge Erwin. And whatever his reasons for riding out, Levi would follow him to hell and back.

"I'll trust your judgment," Levi murmured. Fuck. What will I do after you're gone? I'm too soft to go ahead and really break your legs,

"So Hange found out about you and her father?" Erwin changed the topic. A perceptive bastard, even with only one arm.

"Did she tell you?" Levi bit his lip. "She thinks… she thinks I might have told Reiss about Eren."

"She voiced suspicion about possible treason and asked for my permission to bring one of the confiscated guns with her on the mission."

"Yeah, she threatened to shoot me."

"You should have told her years ago, you idiot," Erwin shook his head. "I told you so."

"It seemed like a good idea not to at the time."

Erwin lifted his eyebrows.

"She would have confronted her father about it and we wouldn't have…"

"Levi," Erwin frowned. "Do you really believe that meager bit of information we got out of your interactions with Council Hange outweighs your relationship with his daughter? She will be your Commander soon. Apologize to her for lying for years. Give her something she needs for her lab. Take her out for drinks once we're back. Get your act together. "

"But maybe… what if she is right? Maybe I don't know… they could have wiped my mind."

Erwin focused his merciless eyes on Levi. "Really?"

"I… I don't know. This Ackerman shit… I don't know what they can do."

"I don't believe it," Erwin wrinkled his nose. "No. It's not possible. You'd kill yourself first. Cut yourself some slack, Levi. You're one of the good guys."

"Do you think it could have been Annika?" Levi asked, watching Erwin's face subtly freeze up.

"Did Treibel talk to you?"

Levi nodded. "He's suspicious because of the timing of her transfer."

"I see," Erwin said. And that was all he said. Well, all of this didn't really matter anymore for the moment, did it. They were leaving. And none of them might make it back.

###

Meat.

The mere glimpse of it on the tables made everyone go berserk. Levi folded his arms, leaned against the wall and watched the spectacle from the shadows. New recruits mingled with old recruits, the latter no doubt sharing horrific tales about past missions, which was routinely scaring the living hell out of anyone who was too cocky. His team looked in its element. Levi was a little surprised how familiar the label "my team" felt. Only serving for four months and already part of Squad Levi, huh. What a bunch of little overachievers.

And there they went. Kirschtein and Eren were exchanging blows already. What was it, only like nine o'clock in the evening? It always ended with bloody noses, these nights before a mission started. It was quasi a tradition and a sure way to relieve some of the tension.

I'm going to wait until Mikasa intervenes, Levi told himself, counting to ten.

But… Mikasa didn't intervene, not after he had counted to ten, to twenty or to thirty. Levi pushed himself off the wall with a frown. Wasn't her darling Eren in need of protection? He was getting a fair share of nasty gut punches from Kirshtein. Yet, she just sat there with a faint smile on her face. Weird.

Levi walked towards the fighting idiots. The crowd parted readily - almost all the young ones were afraid of him. It was good to have a reputation.

"Stop this fucking racket," he growled, kicked Eren in the stomach and rammed his fist into Jean's middle. And down they went like miserable losers. Aha, now Mikasa jumped up to intervene? He threw her a warning look and she backed down, her eyes shooting daggers at him. She had still not forgiven him for beating the crap out of Eren in that courtroom months ago.

"Go to sleep," he told everyone, "after you clean this up."

Not that the brats listened to him. After cleaning diligently, Mikasa, Eren and Armin went outside instead of to bed, to sit down on the torch-illuminated stairs right next to where Levi happened to hover in a dark alley with a tankard of stale ale as company. They didn't notice him and he didn't want them to so he just stayed quiet, hoping they'd leave soon. There was a bit of moaning about being used as a punching bag and then the usual mushy stuff from Eren about friends and being strong together. The boy always carried his heart on his sleeve like this, burning with a passion that Levi found disturbingly creepy. But then Armin started talking about non-Titan stuff, which made Levi's ears perk up because of how the boy's voice took on an almost loving timbre. Apparently, there was a thing called "the ocean" beyond the walls, said to be a salt lake so big merchants could never deplete it. Ocean and desert and ice plains, it all sounded just like bedside stories, but Armin had joined the Survey Corps just to be able to see them one day.

It made Levi feel things. It made him feel a little hollow and a little restless and very much curious. To have a dream like this… I have none. Or is staying alive a dream? What was it that kept him going every day? What is it that you want, Levi?

"Here you are."

Levi's head snapped up. Hanji stood in front of him, her hands on her hips, barely illuminated by the torches on the stairs. Swaying. Drunk. Why was she here?

"Why are you…?" he was about to scramble up but she pushed him back down, sinking down next to him with a small sigh. Great. His nose twitched. She smelled like she had bathed in alcohol.

"I was looking for you. You didn't sit with us at dinner. Why? Stop putting yourself apart all the time. It makes everyone uneasy."

The brats had left, Levi realized. He had been brooding in the dark for quite some time, thinking about an impossible thing called the ocean and a sorry lack of dreams.

"I like to be alone," he grumbled.

"You're part of us," she reprimanded him. "Act like it, soldier."

"You're not my Commander yet," he snapped.

"But I will be," she smiled at him toothily. "I cannot wait to order you around, it must be so much fun."

Humph. He lifted his tankard to bury his face in it, but it was empty.

"Here," Hanji pressed a new one into his hand. "I brought more ale for you."

"Hanji, don't drink so much," Levi said with a frown, "it never ends well."

"Don't tell me how to live my life, asshole," she said and ruffled his hair. She ruffled his frigging hair. Levi jerked back in outrage but Hanji just giggled and then hiccuped.

"You're such a nuisance," Levi wrinkled his nose. "What kind of example are you setting, getting this drunk on the night before we ride out?"

"Is anyone but you here to see it?" she took a large gulp from her tankard, promptly making the hiccups worse.

"Are your ears still hurting?" he asked, remembering his concern from earlier. "You should stay back if they are. A deaf commander is a dead commander."

"Like hell I'm staying back, idiot," she hiccuped. "My ears are fine."

Levi whispered "You're a shithead", then lifted his eyebrows challengingly.

"Whatever," Hanji drawled. "Maybe they're still ringing a little. It's because everyone is so damn noisy all the time."

She sighed, leaning her head against the wall.

"Erm, Hanji," Levi cleared his throat. "I wanted to… I mean… I should have told you about your father. I didn't because Erwin and I…"

"Yeah," she interrupted him sullenly, "Erwin told me about you being a double-spy yesterday. It's okay, I get it. You didn't trust me with this information. It's fine."

"Actually…"

"You're right, it's not fine at all," Hanji's head snapped around, her eyes flashing. "I'm sick and tired of you acting like I've done something wrong. Just fucking tell me what it is. Stop acting out like a child."

"A… child?" Levi frowned angrily. "When have I acted like a child?"

"When you… well… you did…," she frowned too, fumbling for words. "You piss me off. Warm, cold, warm, cold, you're such an asshole all the time, what do you even want from me?"

Not a question to ask me, Hanji, Levi thought, feeling a rush of something dark and needy. Not on a night like this, when they all knew that dying was more likely than staying alive.

"What I want?" he repeated slowly. I could show you right here and now. How much I want you. Would you struggle? Would you let me?

"I want you as a friend, Levi," she exclaimed tearfully. "Can you be my friend?"

He blinked. "A... friend."

"I just can't do this without one. You can be very frank with me and tell me everything I do wrong. You can also occasionally hold me. Like you did in that cupboard. That's fine, friends can do that."

"Can they?" he laughed mirthlessly. Drunk Hanji was a disaster. How did he deserve this?

"Yes," she nodded. "I'm so relieved I've found you. I'm so relieved."

She moved a little closer, her warmth touching the right side of his body, leaving the left strangely deprived.

"As your friend, I need to ask you… are you using protection? I don't want you to get a sexually transmitted disease."

Levi's mind went to places before it returned to a dark alley in which he sat with a very drunk Hanji who stank like a whole tavern and scolded him about personal choices… like her versions of friends apparently did.

"Of course I'm using protection," he grumbled, his face heating up, "do you think I'm keen on siring an army of little Levis?"

Hanji stared at him.

"What?"

"I just imagined a little Levi, all soft and vulnerable and… it's giving me a strange headache," she proclaimed.

"Ah yeah? You're the one giving me a headache, Hanji. How did you even find me?"

"I used my nose," she slurred.

"Your nose."

"Levi scent. I could find you anywhere in the world."

"You're full of shit, I don't believe this," Levi murmured, suppressing a smile.

"I'm so glad you'll be my friend," Hanji hiccuped and put her head on his shoulder. "I missed you so much, Levi, don't you know? Don't you know? Shit, I'm tired."

"Just don't… throw up on me," Levi sat very still with her head on his shoulder, listening to her drunken snores, thinking that he did not want to be her friend.

"I missed you too, Hanji," he whispered, taking her limp warm hand into his. "It's been hell these past years."

He didn't want to be her friend because it wasn't enough, would never be enough. But if it was the one thing he could be to her…?

"I'll be your friend, Hanji. You do need someone to tell you when you're being ridiculous. Commanders often are a little wacko in the head. Just look at Erwin."

A wave of sadness threatened to overwhelm Levi then because there were far too many friends he had lost and far too many friends he would lose in the future.

"I should break your legs too, Hanji," he sighed. "Just stay here and wait for us to return."

"Little scumbag," she murmured, "break a leg yourself."

She pressed his hand firmly before she slipped back into her stinky, drunken slumber and began to drool on Levi's favorite shirt. It was thoroughly disgusting. And still, he sat there half the night, watching her sleep and drool, waiting for a new day that would bring humanity closer to the truth.