Author's Note

This chapter lives rent free on my mind. I really hope you like it!

I made some character playlists on spotify, you can find the links in the Archive of Our Own version of the fic if you are interested!

"Exiled?" Sophie gasped.

Hange was back at the office, sitting behind the desk. Sophie had returned to the chair on the opposite side of the table. Levi was across the room, leaning next to the window and with his eyes fixed on the view outside. Despite his unbothered presence, Sophie could feel that he was still observant.

"I hope that you are not complaining," remarked Hange

"No, it's just…I expected it to be worse."

"If I'm honest, it was quite a heated discussion," they sighed. "Historia…sorry, The Queen opposes the death penalty, so Zachary and Nile wanted to set an example by imprisoning you for life. Pixis and I were the ones that defended your contributions to Humanity."

Sophie looked away, wondering how to express her appreciation. Despite claiming not to have forgiven her, they had made an effort to defend her against the other Commanders.

"Thank you, Hange," she smiled.

Hange crossed their arms. Sophie's words of gratitude didn't seem to affect them, as they remained with a blank expression. "I didn't do this for you, just so you know."

The room became quiet. Sophie bit her lower lip, wondering what to say next and the consequences of the veredict. She looked at Levi, and despite feeling his gaze on her during her conversation with Hange, he quickly looked away once their eyes met.

"So, what now?" he said, staring at the window again.

Hange adjusted their glasses. "We need to wait for the Queen's ratification. After that, you can return to your residence and pick up your personal effects. You will be in house arrest until we find a place for you, as far away from the Capital as the Walls allow."

The formal tone of Hange made Sophie uncomfortable. Despite their closeness after working together for so long, she had never seen them acting so dutifully. Fulfilling the role of a Commander required a more imposing presence than the one of a scientist. However, she wondered whether her actions had caused such a sudden change.

"How long will I be…away?" she asked.

"Forever," replied Hange without hesitation. Despite having her eyes fixed on the Commander, Sophie could feel Levi wavering in his place. "A contact external to the Military will oversee your transportation. Zachary and the Queen will be the only ones to know your location. Once you get there, there will be no further support from our side; we will forget about you, and you will forget about us." They cleared their throat before continuing, "You will be on your own."

Sophie shrank herself in her seat. Forever. On your own. Those words kept repeating on her mind, merging with the memory of Erwin's discourse at his office. No matter how hard she had tried to find a place to belong to, perhaps she was destined to be on her own.

"I will no longer be a Government officer," she mumbled mostly to herself.

"How you chose to make a living will be entirely up to you. However, if you try to contact anyone from the Government or the Military, you will be imprisoned." Hange cleared their throat and smiled, "I suggest you think of this as a way of starting over."

"I guess that doesn't sound too bad, given the alternative."

"You've gotten way too many second chances at life, Sophie. Try to make this one worth it," replied Hange, indifferent to her light-hearted tone.

She looked to the floor once more, pondering at their words. She had always been recklessly accepting deals, always involving promises of a better life. None of them had delivered, except Levi's. She lifted her head to read out his reaction, but he still faced away from her.

She turned her attention to Hange once more before saying, "I will, and I owe you." Despite the advantages of her verdict, she hadn't been the only one involved, and she needed to know his fate as well. "What about Asbel?"

She immediately felt the tension in the room increase with her question. Levi crossed his arms and grunted while Hange adjusted their glasses. The Commander kept silent, evaluating whether to release the information to her.

"He will be sent to work at the Industrial City." The level of concision in their answer indicated to Sophie that they weren't keen on letting her know his verdict. "Don't worry, you will be safe," they assured her.

She couldn't help but remember her sentence, working for her right to be free after they had captured her in the Underground. For her, it was almost ironic that Asbel would suffer the same fate that had brought her to him.

"Hange…can I ask for one more thing?"

"I don't think you are in a position to ask for anything," they sneered.

"I know, I know. You've helped me a lot already…"

"I told you I didn't do this for you," they interrupted. Hange threw their head back, stretching their neck before asking, "What do you want?"

"I want to see Asbel before I leave," she stated without a doubt.

Within a second of her answer, Levi stomped across the room and exasperated, "Hell no." He stood between Hange and Sophie, looking at the Commander in search of their support. "Hange?"

"Honestly, Sophie?" they sighed. "That's a terrible idea."

Despite Levi's grin of satisfaction, Sophie persisted.

"Please, I need to do this. I need closure."

"Closure? That's not closure." He crossed his arms and shook his head. "That's you trying to have the last word, as always."

"He's right. I don't think you will get anything good out of it." Hange leaned forward before adding, "I'm not only saying this as a Commander but also as your…friend, if you will."

She clenched her jaw, switching her gaze back and forth between them. Even though she knew they were trying to help her, she had already survived without their protection. She wouldn't let them get in the way of what she wanted.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think you two qualify to give relationship advice," said Sophie, lifting an eyebrow as she scanned both officers.

Hange snorted at her comment and their cheeks blushed. Levi looked down, passing a hand through his hair to hide his expression from her.

"Oh really? What are the requirements? Marrying a criminal?" The bluntness of Levi's comment forced Sophie to clench her jaw to contain further retort. "That jerk has been trying to get rid of you for years, and he literally beat you up just hours ago…"

"Don't you think I already know that?" she countered, raising her voice and giving him a menacing look. She shook her head so that the hair strands would cover the distress present in her face. He always had to play the hero as if he knew everything she had dealt with during her marriage. She didn't want protection; she wanted answers.

"Okay, calm down, you two." Hange sighed and looked at her with softness before adding, "Sophie, are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure."

Levi scoffed, "Unbelievable."

Sophie ignored his comment. Hange hid their face between their hands, pondering at the situation.

"Very well, then. I will give you ten minutes with him, supervised. If you do anything out of line, I will send you back to that cell, and your deal will be revoked. Understood?"

"Crystal clear," she replied.

"Levi, you make sure she doesn't do anything stupid," commanded Hange.

"Does this whole damn thing count?" he seethed. Sophie rolled her eyes in response.

"Since when do you talk back to your superiors?" they snapped. The sudden, tense voice of the Commander startled Levi. Sophie could feel in his expression that he was about to say something that would get him in trouble. If anything, she had her experience in the matter and could easily read the signs. She decided to take over the conversation before the tension between the officers increased.

"Leave it, Hange," she interrupted. Sophie looked at Levi and apologized in her head for the words she was about to say, "I don't expect him to understand what it's like to be married."

The keys jingled as Levi introduced them in the lock of the metal gate. They were at the dungeon below the Military HQ. On the other side of that door were the stairs that went down to the cells, down to Asbel. If the circumstances weren't tensing enough for Sophie, the dark and humid atmosphere of the stone-built area was not helping her to calm down either.

There had been no exchange of words between them on the way, only awkward looks. Neither of them wanted to comment on her exile, and even less on what it meant for them. She regretted the harshness of her words and the tricky acts she had displayed at the office. However, she couldn't find the courage to explain them to Levi, and he didn't seem interested in it either.

Levi pulled the gate towards him and the hinges screeched with the motion. Sophie took a deep breath and clenched her fist, encircled by the shackles, to prepare herself to face Asbel. Before she took the first step, Levi put his hand over her shoulder. She slowly turned around to face him, feeling her heart pounding against her chest. They stared at each other in silence, with only the light from the torches to illuminate their faces. She was unable to read anything beyond his cold, composed expression.

"What do you want from him?" he asked with a soft voice.

"I don't know," she replied instinctively. "Answers, I guess."

"What kind of answers?" he inquired. Despite the tension he had shown at the office, there was no judgment or recrimination in his question.

She stared at him, sinking in his eyes as she thought about his question. Like those waves of eagerness that took over her mind, she just felt like she had to see Asbel and prove that she wasn't a coward anymore. She had no other explanation behind her behaviour, yet Levi kept searching for one.

"Don't do that, please," she mumbled, moving away from him. Sophie used her toes to clutch herself to the floor, to avoid falling into his arms once more.

"Do what?" he frowned, letting his hand slip.

"Try to protect me, to understand me…Just don't."

"Why not?"

"It's no use," she said, gently shaking her head. "This is between him and me. I don't need you to save me from it."

He looked away and grunted. Sophie lowered her head, figuring how disappointed he must have felt at her words. Ever since their reunion, he had been by her side for better or worse. His trust in her had been the only reason why she was no longer in a cell, trialed as a criminal of the Military, rather than its martyr.

"Wait here," he commanded. Sophie opened her mouth to replicate, but before she could say anything, he had already crossed to the other side of the gate. He walked towards the empty doorkeeper's post, comprised of a chair and a table. Despite the lack of light present in the area, she distinguished him taking out a handkerchief from his pocket. She heard the water drip as he dipped the piece of fabric in a jar.

He returned to her stand, covering his hand with the wet cloth.

"May I?" he asked.

"What…are you doing?" she blinked, scanning him.

"If you want to stand tall against him or whatever other power play you have in mind, you can't go into that cell with blood splattered all over your face." He took a step forward, lifting his hand before adding, "So, may I?"

"Sure," she replied with a tiny voice.

He put a hand over her shoulder and gently drew her towards him. She startled at his action but did not oppose it. He used his covered finger to softly tap the injury on her right eyebrow with the damp handkerchief. She could feel her cheeks burning in response, and she hoped that the lack of light and bruising hid the evident display of her feelings.

She stared at his careful and dedicated motion. His eyes seemed fixed on her skin, but they would casually intersect with hers. There was no rush or passion in his touch, making it appear more like a duty than an act of kindness.

He pressed her right cheek, and she grunted as she felt the pain expand through her skin.

He quickly moved his fingers away and whispered, "Sorry."

"It's fine. It hurt more when I got it," she chuckled nervously. She turned her head slightly so he could get a better view of the right side of her face. From the corner of her eyes, she continued to contemplate his facial features while he rubbed her nose.

"Levi?" she whispered.

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry."

He frowned while continuing his labor, "What for?"

She looked away, figuring out the right words.

"For what…I asked you to do before." She gulped, remembering their closeness before she asked him to kiss her. "I don't know what I was thinking. I just let myself go."

He moved the hand away from her shoulder to grab her chin. He lifted her head and placed his covered fingers over her lips, tapping them and wiping the blood away. She didn't want to continue talking and interrupt his task. Instead, she accepted his silence. Perhaps he simply wasn't keen on an apology.

Suddenly, he whispered, "You are not in the Capital anymore. You don't need to play mind games with other people or use yourself to trick them."

"You knew…?" Before she could finish the sentence, he turned her head so he could start cleaning the left side.

"That you were testing whether I was saying all those things to have my way with you? Yes," he confessed. He moved some of the hair strands away from her face before passing the handkerchief over her other cheek. "I may not be qualified to give relationship advice, but I'm not as blind as Hange either."

She scoffed, "I guess my charms are not what they used to be."

"It has nothing to do with that. I just know you." He took a step back, sliding his fingers before scanning her face. Sophie looked away, uncomfortable at his words. He shook the cloth with one hand and gently folded it into a square before placing it back into his pocket. He mumbled, "I don't need to be married for that."

Despite the quietness of his voice, she had heard his comment. "I only said it so you would stop arguing with Hange because of me." She imagined herself embracing him and apologizing like she wanted to. He deserved to be taken care of, even if her choice of words back at the office had not been the best. She continued, "You are a soldier, but you don't have to protect everyone at your own expense all the time. You know that, right?"

His expression became more relaxed with her words. "Thank you," he whispered. "But it was still a low blow." Despite his criticism, she distinguished a hint of a smirk on his face.

She felt ashamed of putting him on the spot back at the office, but most of all, she began to doubt whether her visit to Asbel was a good idea. If Levi was so good at reading her, perhaps he was right, and all of that was a mistake.

She shook her head, both to arrange her hair and to forget Levi's disapproval of her actions. Just because he knew her, it didn't mean he knew what was best for her.

"Do you know where my needle is?" she asked him.

"No," he replied, crossing his arms. "Even if I did, I wouldn't give it to you. I've already seen you kill people with that thing."

She smirked, "Yeah, true." She grabbed a hair strand with her handcuffed hands before adding with distress, "I just don't like wearing my hair down."

He sighed, making a gesture with his face. "Turn around," he commanded.

She obediently followed and turned her back, despite not knowing his intentions. She gasped as she felt his hands holding her hair, dividing it into three sections. Her heartbeat raced as he passed his fingers through the strands, combing them in an improvised manner before intertwining the sections between each other.

"How did you learn to braid hair?" she inquired, surprised that a man so detached from the world could know something so feminine.

"Watching."

"Watching…other girls?"

"No," he said before tying another knot. "Back at the den, I watched you braid it before you went to sleep."

"Oh," she realized. Braiding her hair before sleep was an old habit that she had picked up from her mother. For her, it was too engraved in her routine to consider it as a quirk. She gulped, reminiscing his words: I don't want anyone else. "Everything you said back at the office when we were alone…you meant it?"

"Didn't you?" he responded.

Even though she couldn't see his face, she could feel his burning gaze on her. "I did."

He finished the last part of the braid and grabbed her arms to turn her around. She was no longer surprised at his sudden actions and touch. She trusted him.

"There you go, although I'm not sure it will hold without a hair tie," he pointed out. Sophie smirked at his remark. "I'm afraid we don't have a more fashionable wardrobe at the HQ. And these stay in, okay?" he reminded her, shaking the metal chain from her shackles.

She smiled, "Thank you for this."

He scoffed and approached her once more. "You have a point; I have no right to act as your savior. However, I want you to promise me one thing."

"Yes?"

He examined her face and leaned forward before whispering, "Next time you want something from me, you talk to me."

"Will there be a next time?" she countered, batting her eyes.

He wrapped his hands around her arms once more. Her knees weakened with the pierce of his gaze.

She felt his breath on her skin as he advised, "This is not going to go the way you think, Sophie. Please, don't do this." He paused and his pupils flickered in the dark. "I'm begging you."

Her first instinct was to embrace him, grab his hand and escape that dungeon, but that would be the safe route. She didn't want to run away anymore; she would not get her desired closure if she followed Levi. However, nothing guaranteed that talking to Asbel would do so either.

"I've carried these fears and doubts for far too many years. The only way I have of getting rid of them is to face him," she stated.

"And what if that doesn't work?" he asked, worried.

She looked away and bit her lower lip. She had won once against Asbel, but that didn't mean that she had the upper hand. However, she needed to show him that she was more than what he had said at her cell.

"I don't know. I only know that I need to prove to myself that this is truly over." She stared at him with softness before adding, "I can't do that without this. I'm sorry."

Levi moved away and lifted his chin, adopting a military stance once more. "It's your choice, and I won't stop you if you don't ask me to. But I can't promise that I will be there to pick up the broken pieces."

She felt her younger self jump out of her body like a ghost, whispering to her ear the things she wanted to say to the boy from the basement, "Stop me. Grab my hand and tell me that I don't need to do this. Tell me that we can run away together and that the worst thing that would ever happen to us would be my cooking."

Despite how much she wanted to follow her old self's desires, she couldn't keep running away as her mother had. Instead, she scoffed at his remark.

He always had to be the hero, protecting everyone. But she didn't want more heroes claiming to save her from her loneliness; she needed to do that herself.

"Then I guess we will both have to take our chances."