A/N: Hey guys. I wanna take a sec to give big hugs to everyone who's supported this piece of work thus far and those who've yet to give it in the future. I'm truly touched by the kind reviews and how excited you guys are in them, lol.
Special shout out to the latest Guest reviewer and silent reader for the support! I wish there was a way I could chat with u guys directly but since I can't, I'll have to make do with author notes.
Guest: In answer to your question, the only reason Sierra allows Levi to share the same room with her is a) he has to keep his distance-hence the chair/bed arrangement, b) they share a mutual understanding, and c) he's the only man she trusts on a base level, not on an emotional one as of yet, but as you "sniffed out", lol something does need to give and that'll happen later down the road. And I'm glad you're enjoying the flashbacks. They're some of my favorite scenes to write even though they're sad and disturbing. I think Isyama would be proud.
silent reader: Aww I'm glad u asked about Frei. He'll be back. He was only meant to accompany Sierra to Stohess but since you're wondering where he's at he'll make a surprise appearance. You're right though. He's the sweet, shy kid who's eager to please and up for anything. Helps bring some much-needed balance to a cast hardened by war and death.
Oh. Before I forget. The plot will be manga/anime compliant and will contain SPOILERS for Season 2. The source material stays the same but I'll be taking some creative liberties in regards to my OCs. And since the animators changed some things from the manga and Isyama considering them canon-see the city fight between Annie and Eren-I'll do my best to adhere to canon but I might deviate from time to time, just to keep things exciting.
With that said, enjoy and don't forget to leave a review! :)
Stohess - morning
Sierra slowly blinked herself awake and glanced over to the chair by the open window where a certain black-haired man had made himself comfortable while she grabbed a few hours of sleep.
It was empty.
She yawned stretching her arms. He hardly ever sleeps and it's not like we left Erwin's office on the best note. Even so the need for company on Levi's part overrode any traces of anger lingering in her system. She'd walked over to the bed and crashed gratefully on the mattress fully clothed, not bothering to remove her boots. A creak of wood was the only indication that Levi had taken his place in the chair, humming softly after she warned him not to stare at her while she was asleep.
That had been six hours ago.
Crap! I was supposed to be at the wall by now!
Throwing on her ODM gear and tan jacket over her clothes, she finger combed her hair into some semblance of decency as she sped walked towards the damage site. Not caring if anyone found fault with her disheveled appearance.
Ten minutes of hard walking brought her to the battle site. Large holes gouged into the smooth granite surface where Annie's titan fingers had gouged in her desperate bid for escaping Eren's wrath and the Scouts' impending interrogation. A giant patchwork screen blocked a particularly enormous section of damage. Curious she race-walked up the stone steps to the top of the wall to get a closer look.
She barely cleared the last stair when further down the rampart she spotted a familiar raven undercut and a flash of greasy tied back brunette hair and glasses. Levi turned to face her, his irritated expression practically screaming you're late.
A tall elderly man wearing the black robes and gold necklace of the Wall Cult stood before Hange and Levi as they inspected the damaged wall. She recoginzed him as the main pastor of the cultist church right in the center of town that had been demolished by Annie when Eren sailed her several blocks with a single punch.
"Sierra you're just in time!" Light flashed off Hange's spectacles as she waved to her colleague.
"No she's not." Levi deadpanned, earning a death glare from the younger woman.
"Yer fault for not wakin' me up, bastard."
Levi didn't even blink.
"Not my problem. I ain't yer father. So suck it up."
She bared her teeth, clenching her fists. Hating this man's ability to get under her skin like no other and she would allow nobody else to get remotely close in doing so.
"Believe me," she said walking to the lip of the rampart to get a better look at the giant patchwork screen hastily covering the massive hole Annie created. The image of him eating Petra out in the old castle's supply room surged to the forefront of her mind, his bare back revealed in all its muscular glory. "No one excels at that exercise better than you do."
Levi cocked his head, not liking the tone or the implications behind that testy statement. What the hell's she tryin' ta say to me?
Hange cleared her throat bringing the bickering to a halt. "Stop it. Both of you." Her glasses flashed again and Sierra knew that was their only warning before things got physical. "We're here to make sure the wall is stable. We can't afford to lose another barrier to the titans. Although it's strange. Mikasa Ackerman was out here early this morning and she said she saw a colossal titan's face within the wall."
Sierra stared at the crazy woman for a few seconds. Stupefied. Trying to keep shock from telegraphing on her face.
"Come again, hag?" Silver eyes narrowed as their owner dragged them from Hange's face to the sweating priest who cringed from her probing gaze. "Cause I thought you just said there was a damned titan in the walls."
"It's true. The entire wall system is comprised of titans." The more the elderly priest talked the more agitated he became. "They can never see the sunlight! It'd be total devastation."
Hange had pushed her glasses up on her forehead and stood with her arms straight down her sides, but now she turned her full attention to the elitist old man. "We need to talk."
"About what?"
Sierra watched her peer begin to interrogate the cult leader with her arms crossed, hip canted slightly to the side. Her lids settled at half-mast over her arctic silver eyes, giving the appearance of falling asleep but that was deceptive. Her ears were tuned into the conversation taking place before her, ready to capture any vital intelligence Nick would cough up.
"What is that titan? Why is there a titan inside the wall in the first place? And..."
The titan researcher paused to let the weight of the words sink in. Sierra waited, tense with anticipation. Any second this pansy would cave and then the real fun would start.
"Why have you people kept quiet about it this whole time?"
The grey-haired priest remained silent.
"I'd like you to answer these questions."
The pastor fixed his muddy brown eyes on the stones.
"I can't."
Huh?
"Whaddya mean can't old man?" Furious, she let a thread of anger seep into her alto tones. "Yer seriously gonna stand there and do nothin'?"
Instead of answering her question the old pastor launched into a tirade against Hange.
"I'm a very busy man. My church and followers are in utter chaos right now. Not to mention the damages you insolents caused...I expect full recompense. And thanks to your actions last night the holy wall is subject to breach! Now please. Let me down from the wall."
Hange's shoulders stiffened at the priest's words then before Sierra could blink she seized him roughly by the collar and whipped the terrified man dangerously close to the edge of the walkway.
"Would you like to be left off right here?"
"Squad Leader! What're you doing?!" Moblit reached out a pleading hand towards his boss. Has she lost her mind?! They'll hang her if she kills the Pastor in broad daylight. There's too many witnesses!
Levi folded his arms across his strong chest, grey eyes flickering with a slightly amused light. It was clear to Sierra the man was preparing to enjoy his friend's 'questioning' methods of the cruel and sadistic nature.
Her favorite kind.
Heh, lookit this retard. Not so tough when he's not hiding inside that cute little shrine he calls a church now is he?
"What?! You knew about this the whole time?! What else has the Cult been hiding?!" The crazed scientist hoisted Nick even higher into the air by his collar. "You'd better start talking!"
"I-I'm sorry-I can't!" The pastor wheezed for breath, bony hands desperately clamped around Hange's strong wrists. "Please! Lemme go!"
"Not until you tell us everything." Sierra interjected. Internally she was reeling. Titans in the walls. Oh my God. What's next? This small tidbit was alarming. It changed everything. Nothing was safe. The walls could very well be turned against them-a thought that sent a chill rippling through her soul-and then humanity would be annihilated. There's gotta be a reason why they were raised to begin with. There just HAS to be. If this was the case...then humanity's time was shorter than ever. And if Wall Maria isn't plugged soon, then we're well and truly screwed.
"She's right. Now isn't the time to clam up!" A frantic note crept into Hange's tone. "If there's any information that can help save humanity you need to tell us!"
Nick frantically grasped at Hange's strong wrists, his defiance growing.
"I cannot tell! I'm sorry! Kill me if you must, but know this. I am merely a lowlife clinging to God in order to survive. If you can't get someone like me to talk...rest assured you won't get someone who is much stronger in the faith to tell you either, no matter what form of torture you put them through. We shall carry our mission out to the very end! You're being ridiculous!"
Steel entered Hange's voice. "Ridiculous? It's you who's being ridiculous here. Now I see the reason your sect has been the most vocal against reinforcing the walls and the building of an underground tunnel. It's because of what we see in that gap isn't it? You're committing a deadly offense! And you're committing a deadly sin against humanity by stepping on its right to life!"
Man jest make it easy on yerself and cough it up, Sierra thought observing Nick's resistance to Hange's onslaught. It's only gonna get worse. But a small part of her couldn't help but be impressed. Another man would've caved by now. Not this guy. Hmmm. If he won't talk and Leonhart won't talk then we're obviously onto something big here. Somethin' they don't want us to know about.
"You really want me to let go?"
Sweat ran in profuse streams down Nick's head and face, soaking his robes. He spread his arms wide.
"Yes! Let go now!"
Without warning Hange threw Nick back onto the rampart where he pressed his forehead onto the smooth granite, panting heavily with nearly getting dropped 100 feet to his death. She sat down, legs dangling over the edge, grinning to herself.
"Heh, just kidding."
Sierra turned and began walking towards the stairs in the direction of the mess hall, her stomach growling. She sensed Levi following suit. Since nobody was on patrol, the rest of the ramparts were deserted.
Sure didn't look like you were kidding hag. Titans in the walls. My God. What've we stumbled into?
Halfway down the steps she stopped. Braced a hand against the unmarred grey stone. Her thoughts raced as she tried to wrap her stunned brain around this startling discovery. Her palms started sweating in spite of the mild weather. A sensation she stopped experiencing after her first expedition.
The walls are titans. Titans are walls. Titans are humans. But humans can be much worse than titans. Titans everywhere. This makes no sense-
"Hey."
Levi halted five steps above the younger woman, calling to her as quietly as his deep baritone would allow.
Sierra slowly blinked out of her dazed stupor. Instead of jumping, she turned her brilliant reddish-blond head slighly in his direction.
"What the hell's goin' on man?" Her voice was just as quiet as if she didn't want to disturb the colossal titans slumbering within the dull granite slabs. "Bad enough we got regular titans, now humans can shift into them and now this thing with the walls just now? I don't like this. The walls could be used as a weapon against us. Nobody's ready for it."
"Don't be afraid. We'll figure this out." Even as he spoke, her words sent an icy tremor to the center of his gut. None of this telegraphed over his face. He needed to be strong.
"I'm not. But seriously, I hope yer right. For humanity's sake."
He descended a stair. Only four separated him from her back.
"Don't worry. Hange and I will drag answers outta that geezer." He took another step down, ready to retreat should she say the word. But to his surprise Sierra didn't move. In the ten years he'd known the deadly woman, this was the closest he'd ever gotten. "Trust me. If it's one thing we're good at it's torture."
Sierra felt the short man getting closer. Invading her personal space. Her mind screamed at her to run but she refused to give into the old fear. Tough it out. You can trust him. It's Levi for God's sake.
"I don't doubt your skills Levi. Nobody does. We're gonna need 'em." Said man's black boot scraped the stone a mere two steps away then stopped. Apparently he believed he was too close for comfort and decided not to press his luck. She felt an odd mixture of relief and disappointment.
"Yers ain't nothin' ta laugh at either," Levi's street accent added spice to complement his filthy mouth, and it never failed to make her day. The ex-thug was secretly amazed she'd let him get within arms reach. "Matter of fact we'll be countin' on you to do a lot of the heavy cutting until this damn leg heals."
Just then her stomach grumbled loudly. She winced.
"Hungry?"
She craned her neck to face him a devious smirk playing across her lips. "Race ya to the mess hall, bastard."
"I ain't running on this bum leg, she-wolf." He cursed a foul river through his mind at the ruined moment. "I need it better not more broken."
"Then hop, old man."
Snickering she ran lightly on her toes down the remaining stairs with Levi staring after her retreating back, mouth slightly agape before his lips curled into the world's tiniest smile.
"Yeah that's right!" He shouted as he used the wall to hob-skip his way down, being careful not to put too much pressure on his uninjured leg. "Ya better pray I don't catch ya girl!"
Not breaking stride, she gave him a sarcastic wave over her shoulder and continued on towards the mess to fill her belly with much needed food.
She had a feeling everyone would be sleeping a lot less and getting little to no food in the days to come. But for now, she'd enjoy the luxury of a full meal.
Pushing Levi's buttons was just a bonus.
TBC...
