Levi's assessment of the situation took up residence on his tired face in the form of a scowl. Not his preferred way to wake up. Cacophony before coffee rubs a guy the wrong way this early in the morning, you know. Not when he's been deep in his cups the night before that; a somewhat effective method, he'd found to wrestle any sleep from his restless mind. Lately, since the battle to reclaim Wall Maria, he's had more and more of these mornings where he needs a few more minutes to bask in the quiet of his liquor-laced mind. The numbness at the start of his day was the only thing that got him through it sometimes.

The problem with being humanity's strongest soldier is you don't get to cry like a bitch or like Eren and Armin. Eren, more so in Levi's opinion. Or scream like a maniac at the skies in an open display of raw emotion to unburden your overflowing soul. Or like Jean and Hanji. Even when life or fate or circumstances, whichever of them is to blame. Let's not forget shitty timing, making that hole in your chest that much bigger. Your shoulders strained that much more under the metaphorical pressure of grief and duties, and everything else that every soldier carries around with him right next to his liquor pouch within arm's reach. Most of the time he really hated his life!

He's tried not to think about Erwin, numbing the pain of his memory one fiery gulp after the other just like he has the others whose lights had extinguished unexpectedly. Yet, the man maintained his dominating presence even in death, refusing to be ignored or forgotten.

That bastard!

Levi's grip tightened at the flash of Erwin's face in his mind. His piercing blue eyes, his laughter in their private times together. The pieces of themselves on display between each other that the outside world was not privy to. He almost shattered the glass bottle. Tiny fissures started appearing near the pads of his fingers accusatory. He felt his teeth grit, clenched against a bite of pain in his gut his liquor confederates failed to quell. His teeth felt like they were locked in a mortal combat power struggle, gritted so hard against one another.

Upper or lower, which ones will be destroyed first?

Stop. he commanded himself, pinching the bridge of his nose. His brows furrowing deeply as his fingers brush his cheeks. They were wet. He didn't even notice. It was as if his body was automatically compensating for the gut-wrenching pain he's been trying to subdue consciously. Eyes closed, Levi attempted to calm down, wiping his face with the back of his hand, noticing the way his vision wavered in the gloom of the autumn morning once he cleared away the evidence of his vulnerability. What's the point of crying for the dead? Will that bring them back to life? They died for what they believed. Died protecting who or what they wanted to protect. Didn't they? Furthermore, in Erwin's case, after sacrificing so many for the dream he didn't live to see it to fruition. What's the point of crying and wallowing in grief's shitty mud because you're the one left in the aftermath of their passing? Levi knew the answers to these truths already. Not for the first time, he's had one-on-one debates with himself about Erwin's death and concluding that he should get over it only to return to the bottle as soon as the pain got too much to bear. Physical pain he could handle. This? This felt like he was getting crushed by a relentless torrent falling on him, bringing him down to one knee.

First deep breaths. Second. Third.

He puts the bottle down on the wooden floor with a soft thud, still boasting of its accomplishment in holding its contents successfully, the quarter that's left from the full dark bottle, despite his crushing efforts, was much more than could be said for its three previous companions. The sun was coming up, and it didn't matter what he felt or what personal demons he just fought with all night. That didn't change the fact that he's still a leader among his men, second in command just under Commander Hanji. His men continue to call him 'Captain' Levi, and he's never seen to correcting them, though technically, his rank is now Corporal. Who gave a shit anyway? It's just a title. As always, he's someone everyone looks up to for leadership, more so than Hanji. He had to be strong for his team. People lived and died based on his decisions.

That penetrating thought made him feel like a hypocrite.

An urgent pounding on his door a second later assisted with his alert state of mind by simultaneously drilling daggers into his skull with each demanding knock. It pulled him from staring into the abyss of guilt and grief his brain had formulated in the quiet ruin of his already ruined morning.

Punishment!

Damn! Having a hangover today, on the morning of a mission at that was careless, and stupid. Sometimes, he could be such an idiot. It made Levi wonder how much of his men's respect he deserves if he's putting shit like this because of his bullshit?

There was a hullabaloo ruckus outside the door comprising of rushing feet with the shouting mouths from his men, their general direction heading down to the cellars. The noise started with the pounding on his door then grew from there. He was the first to be alerted seconds before the news spread to the rest of the squadron.

"Captain Levi," The soldier's urgent voice sounded muffled through the wood barrier of his room, "we have a situation involving Officer Armin Arlert, Sir!"

Levi was already on his feet (still clad in his riding boots and military trousers from the night before.) Yeah, it was that kind of night. Before the soldier on the other side of the door could take another breath to stab his head with. Or use the bottom of his fist to rip him a new asshole via his hangover, Levi threw on his white long-sleeved shirt over his head, no time to tuck it in. And at the fifth deep breath, he readied himself mentally for this shitty morning as he yanks the door open, catching the soldier's hand coming down from its mid-air interrupted knock on wood. He passed the man/boy, a long-legged-fresh-face-idiot, Levi had no intention of using his limited cognatic resources to remember his name.

Red-haired and freckled with deep green eyes like midsummer leaves after a hard rain, the young man came to a respectful salute automatically at his presence, which evaporated when Levi passed him almost at a jog. Sporting a worried expression, the boy prattled through his report as they made their way hurriedly down to the cellar where they were keeping Armin locked down. Levi resisted the urge to throttle the boy or break his jaw to shut him up. After all, the soldier was only doing his duty in reporting to him and this young man needed to know that he could come to his commanding officer without undue tension or expecting cruelty. Bullyism might be some officers' doctrine, but Levi always saw men like those as weak-little-shits ready to turn tail and run as soon as the pressure was on.

That said, could this brat shout any louder? Surely his duties could be a little bit quieter, considering that they were within speaking proximity. A few more deep breaths in and out, and miracle of miracles, the son of a bitch lived to finish his brain pulverizing report without anything broken or injured. Thankfully, Levi's learned to apply strict emotional governance and self-restraint, especially in times like these when his mind was delivering impressive ideas on how to turn Big Mouth's big mouth an unnatural shade of purple.

"I see," was Levi's only spoken words when the boy finished, and they still hurt his head, conversational and short as they were. He quickly gave him an order to be somewhere else as far away from his tender head as possible before he loses his reasoning for self-restraint.

Armin. Levi's thoughts were trying to make sense of what happened last night. Everything last night was just not right.

Eight Hours Before

"The kid's finally lost his shit." Was Captain Levi's assessment of this, call it a situation. It happens when a soldier experiences so much 'till it becomes too much for his mind to handle reality as it is, and he starts developing habits to ease the mental strain. It's a pity, principally for a brilliant mind like Armin's, who matches the best military strategists Paradise Island has ever had the pleasure to have.

If not for their years of experience in the field, Armin's mind would have outmatched Dot Pixies and even Erwin's strategic wits. He ignored the pain of loss associated with Erwin's memory; dive too far into that biting grief or any of the others over his long life, and he'd be deep in his cups from sunup till sundown, pissed-drunk every second to dull that ache. Maybe he would be the one Hanji's looking at for psychiatric evaluation right now. A dangerous liability.

"Armin, that's impossible." Hanji proclaimed, smiling in her disarming way. If you didn't know her, you wouldn't see the crazy genius in Zoe until it was too late. Her one-good-eye probed the blonde kid, and Levi could almost listen to her thoughts from his seat at the table in the main dining area. His legs crossed casually, teacup caged in his hand halfway to his lips, its destination momentarily halted at Armin's delusions.

Hanji must be wetting her pants right now for this opportunity to study a mental breakdown.

The Survey Corp didn't get many of those since the soldiers are more likely to die before they had the time to go insane.

"Cats can't talk, Armin, you dumbass," Jean guffawed. "You got hit in the head while you were lost an hour ago or something?" He doubled over with laughter, slapping his knee. Forget about alcohol! This was too rich, even if it was at the expense of Armin's mental state. Probably the first time since joining the Survey Corp, any of these men had laughed so hard. Their casual expressions were usually stone-faced-grim. The only things that changed in their expressions were the look in their eyes, and the usual faked smiles to belie the tension thrumming through their bones.

"I'm not lying!" the boy insisted, and Levi had just about had enough of this. He was five seconds away from getting up from his chair and chaining the poor bastard up after delivering a few sound beatings. It was an unnecessary distraction, though comedic. He would exercise restraint, of course, unless 'cat boy' became a danger to himself or his squad, then the gloves were off. He is a titan now, after all.

"Armin," Levi said calmly and carefully. "Get rid of the cat,"

He was a cute little thing Levi decided, the cat not Armin, as he eyes the beast more carefully. Golden-eyed with midnight black soft fur, pink paws, and lethal adorability that had even him holding back a sigh. Levi's never considered himself a cat person, but something in the furry beast made him not want to wring its black furry little neck as much of a potential catastrophe as it is. He didn't need one of his men fucking up a mission because a bandit had his pet at gunpoint telling him not to move or Fluffy gets it. The mental image of that cokes a tremble from his bottom lip as he suppresses a smile.

"But Captain Levi," the boy said, a desperate look in his eyes. "You need to believe me, this cat, she talks to me..."

"She?" Levi interrupted, putting down his teacup and fixing his soldier with what he hoped was a serious expression crossed with pity, "so you've checked then?" He pitched humorlessly.

Uproarious laughter erupted thanks to his deadpan input. The members of his squad were getting a kick out of this, as the infectious laughter spread throughout the barracks. Luckily, they were on a mission out in the field at the old mansion and not in the capital. It was a chilly night, and Abnormals were about. He needed his men to stay sharp, and nights like these equaled strong liquor to help ward off the icy fingers of autumn. Similarly, in the capital, Armin would have been decommissioned and placed in a cold, damp cell for a mental evaluation. How's that a path to recovery? It wasn't. As it is, he'll only get the latter and taken off the mission until Hanji says that he's fit for duty again. Then again, Hanji is a nutcase herself, if he was being completely honest. But at least her crazy was known.

"Armin," Mikasa started in her usual monotone voice, putting a hand on his shoulder. She wasn't laughing. That girl never laughs for anything he'd notice. We're more related than I feel comfortable with. Levi mused perplexingly. The Ackermans seem to be a cursed lot by whichever entity is laughing its ass off at our expense with the amount of shit and mud that got shoveled over our heads. Just to see how we'll crawl out of it. He added sagely.

"It's alright, Armin." Mikasa soothed, "it's alright," no doubt she came to the same conclusion Levi had that Armin was going through some form of mental breakdown.

"She said her name," Armin's voice trembled in a compelling whisper, "her name is Shakira," Armin told Mikasa with glossy eyes.

The cat-Shakira, chose that moment to meow as if to saucily punctuate Armin's statement. He had her in his arms, holding out with his hands under her two front legs and away from himself like he was afraid she'll piss on him or something.

"That's an unusual name," Hanji chimed in, tilting her head at the cat. Levi sighed gustily, arching his eyebrows at the weirdness of all of this. The bat shit just got thicker. "Even for a cat. Did you name her, Armin?" Leaning down, Hanji petted the thing's head, which seems to irritate the cat.

"Meow," the cat exclaimed, crossly.

"Easy on the fur, cyclops. That's what she said," Armin translated hesitantly.

"What's a cyclops?" Connie asked mirthfully.

"I don't know," Armin shouted defensively then impatiently, "I'm not making this up!"

"A cyclops is a one-eyed monster," Hanji supplied, looking curiously at the cat.

"Now, how did you know that?" She asked the feline contemplatively with mild accusation in her voice. Golden irises glared back at her.

"Enough of this," Levi's voice spoke quietly and threateningly, entering the melee of jokes and talking, silencing them with a malevolent tone. A collective stare of round scared eyes trained their focus in his direction. He fixed his gaze on Armin, then in slow deliberation pointed at the cat, "get rid of it, that is an order."

Armin swallowed but nodded, about to turn away without another word. He was going to free the thing, but unfortunately for it, it's almost winter. It would freeze to death out here, or Hanji would take it- that might be a worse fate than a case of kitty-hypothermia. The damn thing is a distraction, and Armin seems to be its prime audience member. Levi needed his mind focusing on their mission, not on some stupid cat named Shakira.

Asking him to kill the thing or killing it before the boy might have a negative reaction. The act could break his mind or push him into a stupor. Too much force could break the little bastard's fortitude. Levi's never seen Armin as a strong soldier. He's a brilliant officer for his wits and judgment, and he can carry out an order, don't misunderstand, but severally average or below that in other facets in soldiery.

"How 'bout we allow the cat to stay with Armin for the night?" Hanji suggested, but her tone said she's already at the finish line of this craziness, and everybody else is just taking off. He gave her the look her suggestion deserved, "Oh come on, just look at that face" she cooed annoyingly. 'I'll take her as a research subject."

"What?!" Armin said, sounding scandalized and pulling the cat away from the crazy lady.

"If that cat scratches you and you transform in the middle of this place," Levi said in that same slow, deliberate tone though he felt his calm disposition deserting him rapidly, "killing all of us, I gave you an order Armin!"

"Meooooow," the cat weighed in then hissed nastily.

"Let that whore touch me, Armin, and I will scratch you."

Immediately, Armin dropped the cat as if it had burned him. The thing landed on its feet soundlessly on the wooden floor, but all eyes were on the blond boy covering his mouth as if to take back the words, and it was too late. He looked from the cat to the room filled with his comrades- his very edgy, fickle comrades with a pension for hating titans and killing them, who, seconds ago were laughing their asses off heartily, now turned stone-faced-murderous at the bat of an eye. And why shouldn't they when their resident teen-titan essentially just threatened to kill them all if they touched his cat?

"Lock him down," Levi ordered Mikasa and Jean. There was no mistaking the slow deliberating tone in his voice. There was no arguing or debating, nor negotiation.

"Captain Levi," Armin said, uncovering his mouth shakily and sounding ashamed, eyes shifty, "Commander Hanji, I'm so sorry, I, I don't know what came over me to say that. I don't say those things." He proclaimed innocently, but the trust was gone as mist evaporating in sunlight, leaving only high-strung tension in the room.

Someone chose that exact moment to loose a scream excitedly, which had the effect of pouring more tension in the already tension-filled room, making almost everybody jump and snap.

"It disappeared," Connie exclaimed, eyes wide pointing at the supposed spot responsible for the muttering stream of invectives coming from his comrades, those who didn't invoke deities in colorful blasphemy.

"Th-th-that fucking cat!" he spat stutteringly, "I saw it disappear!"

The cat disappeared seemingly into thin air? Levi was sure his face was wearing the dullest deadpan expression he'd ever worn before.

"It can't just disappear, "Sasha said with a nervous chuckle.

"I'm telling you guys that it did. I was watching it just in case we needed to catch it, and it just..." he gestured with his hands in the air... "poof like smoke only better."

"Better than smoke?" asked Eren skeptically, speaking up from the first time.

"You can smell smoke," Sasha intervened reasonably in this unreasonable conversation, "you can see it too."

"Yeah," Connie chimed back into the conversation enthusiastically, but that...that thing," he was visibly shaking as if he saw the ghost of his childhood bully who had it out for him when it was alive.

"First," Mikasa began, her cool, collected tone playing the voice of reason in the web of strangeness, "it was a talking cat. Now it's a magically disappearing cat?"

"It's a demon cat," Connie declared, sounding like a scared little boy listening to a campfire ghost tale, "It's a fucking demon cat."

Levi rolled his eyes, a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment flooding him. His men, his brave soldiers were all scared shitless of a cat.

"Something is not right here, and it's centered around that cat," Jean said as if no one had noticed, "let's find it and kill it," he decided, and the group agreed.

"Enough!" Levi barked, and the buzzing conversations about ghosts and demons died in their throats.

"Lock Armin in a cell, " Hanji concluded, giving the order to Mikasa and loudmouth Jean, her serious tone undercutting her grin. It was not pleasant to look at.