Cadet Corps Barracks- Year 847

Christmas Eve

Sierra woke to a raging blizzard outside her window. The barracks' parade ground along with every surface was blanketed with a thick, fluffy layer of snow. A rare sight in the southern parts. Which was why any time she had time off, she went north.

Where the mountains were. She found she could breathe easier there. Someday she hoped to visit more ranges whenever the titans were purged from the earth and humans could roam free again.

Leave was available but she was saving hers up. Most of the soldiers were spending the holidays with their families and friends in the surrounding districts and rural villages. So that left the barracks fairly deserted, which suited the reclusive woman just fine.

Sierra covered her eyes with a hand, staring out at the driving snowflakes.

It's not like I can pop in after six years and say, 'Hey guys! It's me yer long lost daughter come back from the dead. Let's all sit around the tree and swap stories of how I was brutally raped repeatedly by a bunch of sex perverts for four years straight. One pedophilic bastard-who was a dirty cop-had six men hold me down while some butcher cut me open and ripped my five month old son out of my womb then sewed me shut and left me to die. All cause he couldn't risk losing his job or letting his wife find out he'd gotten a minor pregnant. Oh and let's not forget the part where I seduced said monster, cut off his dick and shoved it down his throat. Poor thing couldn't handle how big it was so he started choking on blood and his own semen but not before he bled to death via the gaping hole in his crotch. He got off easy, considering what he took from me. So anyways. How's life treating you?'

She scoffed. Screw that. It's better they don't know I'm alive. They've moved on. Better for everyone involved, especially for me. I don't have to deal with feelings, emotions or anything that requires me to be human-

A light series of taps brought her out of her mental stupor.

"Yeah? Who is it?"

"It's us. Open the damned door and let us in already. We're freezing our asses off."

Sierra stared stupidly at the wooden door unable to believe who was speaking.

"Levi?" She managed to croak.

An impatient snort sounded from the other side. "Who else would it be, you moron."

She scrambled to find some clothes, feeling her eye twitch and a vein appear on her temple. Her quick temper flared sending a scalding hot verbal arrow through the thick wood.

"Shut up bastard! You can stay there until I'm decent."

Serves the shrimp right, Sierra thought darkly as she pulled on a dark red shirt and black pants.

"Captain please! Don't antagonize her. We'll be ice statues by the time she's done." Petra scolded.

Wait. She's here too?

Shoving her feet into a pair of thick wool socks Sierra strode over and flung the door open.

"Get in."

The two wasted no time obeying. Levi looked with distaste as him and his secret girlfriend-well since she put two and two together during her last visit to the castle but as yet did not have visual proof, not so much-stomped the snow off their boots and shook it from their clothes.

Sierra noted his discomfort and quirked an amused brow.

"Relax Levi. It's just water."

He huffed but to his credit, didn't press the matter.

"So the boys decided to bail?"

Petra nodded as she drifted over to break out the kettle from Sierra's sparsely stocked cupboards to brew fresh coffee.

"Yeah. Gunther went to spend Christmas with his girlfriend. Oluo's with his family and Eld went to celebrate with his parents."

Thank God, she thought. Having Levi in her quarters was work enough. She didn't feel like entertaining the other three men despite being on decent terms with Eld and Gunther, it was that obnoxious poser Oluo she couldn't stand. Usually he'd make some stupid boast and the few times he made that mistake in her presence, she wound up breaking a few bones, nearly ending his career before he wised up. From then on, all it took to shut him down was a well-placed glare.

Several hours later Petra announced it was time for presents. The tiny woman pulled a tiny, square box out of her pocket and slid it across the table.

"Here ya go Major. I had it specially made for you in Sina."

Sierra cocked her head at the small package. Curious, she opened it.

Inside the rich blue velvet lining was a simple silver ring, its feathery texture designed to mimic the Wings they wore on their jackets. She immediately tried to slide it onto her right ring finger but it didn't quite fit.

She glared at the petite ginger. Trust Ral to get her something girly and completely useless.

"What the hell Ral? It doesn't work."

She smiled.

"Try your pointer, ma'am."

She did and to her surprise, it worked like a charm. Not too tight or too loose.

"Hm. Not bad. But...why?"

The older woman blinked, confused by her superior's question.

"Why?"

She let out an annoyed sigh, gesturing impatiently with her hand. "What possessed the two of ya to crash my day off?"

The table was silent for a few awkward moments. Levi sat there, at a complete loss of what to say. Petra chewed her lip before answering.

"I don't think people should be alone. Especially around the holidays."

Stohess - present day - Erwin's temporary office

Sierra and Levi strode past the MP holding the door open to their boss' erstaz office. The iceman himself sat behind a desk with his square chin propped on his laced fingers, elbows firmly planted on the polished wood finish. Two chairs faced the desk.

"If you need anything please don't hesitate to call, sir." The MP screwed up his face. Not bothering to hide his disgust. "For the record Commander, you will answer for the damages and high death toll you caused here someday."

"A fact I'm very well aware of soldier. Now if you'll excuse us..."

"Right."

Once the man closed the door Erwin gestured for his elite officers to sit and cleared his throat.

"All right Sierra. It's time I let you in on what's been going on the last several months. I apologize for not telling you sooner, but we'll need your skills in the coming days."

She crossed well-toned arms across her chest. "Fine. But look, iceman. No more secrets, lies or hush-hush agendas. If ya want my help, you better keep me in the loop." The short woman pinned him with a challenging stare. "Cause yanno, withholding stuff worked out so well for us last time."

Erwin remained impassive. Sierra barely restrained the urge to leap onto the desk and deliver a heavy punch between the man's eyes. Just for the sake of changing the smooth, implacable surface of his face.

"Exactly." She glanced over at the implied threat lurking in Levi's deep voice. "I don't want any more unnecessary deaths than there already is."

She turned back to face her boss, the sense of calm washing over her body that she only associated with her and Levi being on the same page. It was uncanny how in sync their minds and beliefs were, something that didn't go unnoticed by their peers and the rank-and-file. Unlike Petra, she actually understood the ex-thug on a base, instinctual level only those who were tainted by the underworld could relate to. Maybe not on an emotional level-that required her to be vulnerable, a state she never wanted to be put into again-but she got him in ways most could only dream of. Like his bitter hatred of the titans and not running from the sadistic, bloodthirsty monster banging on the walls of his compact frame, begging to be unleashed. Levi at his core was an extremely vicious, unhinged individual who-thanks to decades of military training-was forced to keep his violent tendencies in check...but recent events theatened to change all that.

Sitting less than a foot away from this seething volcano, Sierra sensed he was getting ready to snap off the lock and let his inner beast loose. An enraged Levi was like pissing off the reaper. It never ended well for the intended target.

"I've read Hange's field report, Levi." Erwin said, unfazed as he always was in the face of his right hand's emotional response. "In the state she's in now, Annie Leonhart has been rendered useless to us in terms of gathering information. So in spite of Eren subduing her, we still don't know her motives or who she's working with. As I told the Mayor earlier, it's our turn to attack the titans within our walls and I intend to follow through with that plan, regardless of risks. We can't afford to play it safe anymore. Not if we want to survive as a race."

Sierra shifted slightly in her seat.

"Whoa. Slow down there, Erwin. Before you start gettin' crazy, ya owe me answers on titan shifting. I ain't goin' into this blind." Like the others were and it wound up getting them killed. I refuse to become a sacrificial pawn in this bastard's game. It was also one of the reasons she didn't care to be in his presence unless she was submitting a report. He might've plucked her from the belly of the beast-and was a fairly decent guy-but there was something creepy about this man that set her on edge despite the fact he didn't condone abuse of any shape or form.

So she'd made up her mind long ago, that she preferred Levi's company over her boss'. A fact the big iceman didn't seem bothered with at all.

Unblinking ice blues locked briefly with hers before he gave the short-tempered woman a brief nod, a rare sign of acquiescence. "Very well. Since I pulled you into this mess, you deserve full disclosure on what's been going on. Here's what we do know. As of several months ago, the Colossal Titan breached the outer gate of the Trost District letting the titans in." He leaned forward on his nestled hands, his implacable gaze turning graver. "No civilians were lost, but the casualties we and the Garrison Corps sustained in resealing the hole were well over 1000 people. Cadet Jaeger used his titan form to seal the breach but before that he attacked his friend Mikasa Ackerman and almost killed her."

Sierra raised an eyebrow. "And I'm supposed to care about this...why?"

"Because in terms of combat skills she's worth 100 soldiers," Levi interjected. "As much as I dislike the brat and broke my leg to save her selfish ass, she's the one the others depend on to do the most death-defying stuff they're incapable of doing themselves."

"See, now that's the problem Levi." Sierra twisted in her chair. "Yer both an army of one. Which is fine and all...but in the end it fosters an unhealthy dose of laziness and dependence on everyone else's part. And don't get me started on your habit of treating your people like liabilities. Like they're so far beneath your superior skills that ya can't trust them to do their job. I swear to God," she said fixing him with a frozen glare, "-if ya ever try pulling that crap with me, I will personally hand deliver your ass to the infirmary myself. And as for the Jaeger kid, did ya really expect him to act when up till then he had no say over his own mind? Ya can't suppress someone's will then click off the leash. Your squad talked him down but that's because they had more control over their choices, not to mention a greater allowance of free will. So honestly, don't load the blame just on the kid when EVERYONE was at fault."

Normally, if someone other than this woman talked to him like this, he'd waste no time dealing out creative forms of punishment. Whatever his whim dictated that's what it would be. But she wasn't an unruly cadet. She was the damned Titan Ripper for God's sake. Much as it pained him to admit, as warm and sweet as Petra had been, not even she dared to speak to him at his level: blunt words and harsh actions. When he met Sierra for the first time standing before the 94th Training Squad he was struck by the lack of stars in her eyes. The sight of a thirteen year old girl looking at him with an adult awareness rarely seen in kids her age had been a startling change. The dark-haired man recalled his head dipping slightly without his consent toward her, an unconscious gesture of acknowledgement he reserved for those he respected the most.

God help him. He liked her ballsy attitude back then and in his mind, it'd only grown better with age.

So he raised his eyebrow, accepting her challenge.

"I'd like ta see you try that out."

The sound of Erwin clearing his throat cut off their spat.

"That's enough you two. We've got a lot of work to do and I need all hands on deck." He slid a tawny leather bound book across the sleek oaken desktop towards Sierra. "Here's Hange's report. It'll tell you everything you need to know about the Female Titan's special abilities. The cocoon you saw earlier is the same material she used to harden parts of her body. While it's a formidable skill, it is severly limited. However the damage she caused with it...well, you've read the report."

She nodded absently stroking the journal's spine.

"Oh and one more thing. Both you and Levi will accompany Hange when she inspects the wall to assess the damages."

Levi flattened his lips into a severe slash. "Please tell me you're joking."

His boss didn't miss a beat.

"I never joke with something this big. All you and Ms. Wolf need to do is be extra sets of eyes. The more eyewitnesses the more accurate the details. Get some rest. I'm counting on the both of you."

TBC...

Yay! I'm finally getting to the good parts! Love and hugs to everyone who's faved/followed and reviewed.

On a side note: Levi and Sierra. Having to work together. And share space. At the same time. This should be fun, lol. :)