I think I can safely assume that we all love Levi here, so I thought I'd mention that I published a little oneshot about his past in the Underground—when he was 10, 15, and 20 years old. It's called "Home Is Where the Dark Is" and it's a standalone work, so it's not part of this series. Though it probably goes without saying that it's all the same Levi to me.

Enough said. Let's focus on this one... :)

Chapter 31: Scarlet Night

The rushing of the river and the muffled sounds from within the factories—grinding and hissing and clanking and groaning—competed with the whir of their gears as well as the hum of the airship high up. Cloaked in the darkness of the night, the five soldiers soared down, landing on the roof of the highest building nearby. Still, Levi was well aware that they'd have to move swiftly to avoid being spotted. The question wasn't if, but when; it was a race against the clock. As long as they were inside and everything outside stayed quiet, the airship would be waiting directly above the river, out of reach of the industrial area's streetlights. It was the best they could do; still, a dark hulk was blotting out a patch of the starry night sky. Only when necessary would Hange decide to get closer to the facility. Should the airship be shot down—with her, Onyankopon, and Sasha waiting inside—they'd probably all be fucked, and Armin could celebrate his promotion.

They arrived on the high, flat roof of the facility, stopping at the edge of the building's rear. Levi searched Nora's gaze for the first time since exiting the airship. And only because he had to.

She nodded at him, readying herself. Shooting her hooks into the brick beneath her feet. His pulse picked up slightly, his muscles tensing in anticipation.

He lifted his hand, counting down with his fingers.

Three… two… one.

The two of them jumped in unison—right above the sentries guarding the entrance below. One clean slash across their throats, and they were eliminated without making more than a gurgling sound.

Seconds later, their three comrades followed. Connie's expression was grim as he took in the dead men. Varis and Rob weren't quite as composed, eyes wide like saucers, faces pale underneath the lamplight. Probably their first corpses. They kept it together, though, while Levi quickly procured a set of keys from one of the bodies, unlocking the door. And they kept it together as they helped drag the bodies inside. Not a great solution, but arguably better than leaving them lying at their posts, bloody and limp.

Levi took stock of his surroundings. So far, it was just like the floor plan they had all memorised—the plan that included a marked path and potential escape routes that would hopefully turn out to be correct, as well. The hall they were standing in was modest, unlit in the dead of night. High ceiling. Glass doors led into equally dark, but spacious corridors. All in all, the inside of the building didn't make a much friendlier impression than the outside. Narrow windows—latticed on the outside, no curtains or blinds—let in small, rectangular patches of moonlight. From what he could see in the very sparse lighting, different shades of grey dominated the facility inside and out. The floors were smooth, sprinkled grey stone, the walls a dirty-looking off-white colour.

They hurried through the left-hand corridor, their steps light, counting the doors they passed on their way. They stopped at what should be the entrance to the staircase.

It was. He couldn't help but be mildly surprised; strangely enough, he was somewhat hesitant to trust Eren ever since the brat had pissed off.

They descended, down and down and down, deeper than he would have expected. Better have high, sturdy ceilings in a basement designed for titan experiments, he figured. Perfect for keeping them contained in case of accidental transformations.

"Not a single soul, so far," Connie mumbled when they reached the underground corridors, a notch louder than necessary. "Maybe we're getting lucky, for once."

"Keep it down," Levi hissed. He couldn't trust the peace. Not with two corpses with slit throats by the back entrance.

The wall lamps were lit down here, delivering dim light that could not vanquish the shadows in between. But it was a sign of someone's presence. Working.

Finally, they halted in front of a sizable steel door blocking their way. It was on the floor plan, alright, but not exactly what they had expected; it made the entrance look like a joke.

A sign hung next to it: 'Off limits to unauthorised personnel!'

"That looks promising," Nora whispered.

Levi glanced at her sidelong. Despite her little quip, her posture did not suggest ease in the slightest; her jaw was set, back rigid. Not exactly calm, but composed and focused and ready. He recognised it in her face, the cool glint in her dark eyes. Her battle mode. Levi felt his own facial muscles relax somewhat—he hadn't noticed how tense he'd been, himself. Keeping his mind sharp and alert came naturally to him, but it was suddenly even easier.

Nora tried the door handle, nodding as she found it locked. He tried the keys he'd stolen, also with no success, as expected.

"It looks so sturdy," Connie murmured, disquieted.

"Should we use explosives, Captain?" Rob whispered, even quieter than Nora and Connie.

Levi considered the door.

Should be doable.

"I'm gonna kick it in. It's not as loud as blowing it up."

"Come on," Nora said, shaking her head at him. "Not even you could possibly—"

The first kick—aimed just below the lock—silenced her. The shitty door shuddered, but didn't give.

It took two more before it burst open. Which meant two more somewhat noisy bangs. Not ideal.

Now they should really hurry.

He turned to his comrades, intending to signal them to press onwards, and found three faces gaping at him; but Nora's gaze was, at most, mildly bewildered.

"Of course," she whispered, giving a half-shrug. "My mistake."

#

They entered the scientist's office with their guns raised.

Doctor Hakim Ayad shot up from his seat, chair tipping over and clattering to the floor. His black hair was in disarray, wild dark eyes flitting from one intruder to the next, taking in their faces, their uniforms, their gear.

Impossibly, his eyes went even wider. "Devils," he said, though there was barely any fear detectable in his expression, no anger, and—most disconcerting—no hate. As he lifted his arms over his head in surrender, he only looked startled. Awed, almost.

Why wasn't the crackpot quaking in his boots? And here Levi had thought he couldn't get any more suspicious of a Marleyan titan scientist.

His thought process was reflected in Nora's face: brows arched, head cocked at the man. "If you scream or put up a fight, we'll shoot you," she told him politely, gun pointed at his head.

"I assumed that much," he said with a faint, unfamiliar accent. "But may I inquire what you want here? I believe I can't be of assistance otherwise."

Alright, the guy would be a major pain in the ass. "We're here for you, smartass." Levi lowered his gun.

The doc had the nerve to shrug, arms still raised. "I better come willingly, then."

"A sensible decision," Levi said. Not that the man's word meant more than jack shit.

"That was easy." Nora narrowed her eyes at their captive. "What's next? You offering us a cuppa?"

He shrugged again. "I'm in no hurry to die."

That was settled, then. Time to do a quick sweep before they scrammed. Three soldiers pointing guns at the madman were enough, so Levi caught Nora's gaze, tipped his chin towards the desk. She immediately went to work, riffling through papers, rummaging around in Ayad's bag. Research shit in Marleyan script was Nora's metier.

"Do you have titan serums here?" Levi asked, eyes skimming the room—and fastening on a cupboard with a padlock.

"In my office?" The dickhead chuckled. "No. But I could show you to them, if you want. They're in the lab all the way on the opposite side of the building. A few colleagues should be working there right now. It's usually guarded, too." His exaggeratedly friendly tone made it evident that he did not expect them to take him up on the kind offer.

Levi thought of the two dead sentries dumped in that vestibule they'd come from.

They'd have to get the serums another time, from somewhere else. The Marleyan military was bound to have some in their bases.

Not that they planned to pull a stunt like this again anytime soon. Put their lack of serums on the list of problems for which they had no solutions, yet.

Levi was about to inspect the cupboard when Nora spoke behind him. "These look important." She was studying some documents on the desk, eyes moving rapidly from side to side, brows furrowed. "I'll put them to the ones in his bag." Looking at the scientist, she said, "You'll take it with you."

He nodded. "I'd rather not leave all my work here, anyway." His lips thinned then, eyes becoming unfocused, contemplative. Levi was about to force the bastard to spill whatever he was withholding when he said, "In the cupboard you seem curious about is some research I don't want to part with."

He probably hadn't been lying about the titan serums, then. Levi reached for the handle.

"Don't you need the combination?" asked the doc, mild puzzlement in his voice.

Levi tore the door open one-handed, the padlock snapping. "No."

For a moment, nothing but silence came from the strangest, cockiest captive he'd ever had the displeasure to deal with. "Ackerman," Ayad murmured then. "And here I thought this was a suicide mission."

Levi spun around, right as Nora stopped what she was doing to stare at the man, lips parted. So did the other three, their guns still at the ready.

The asshole seemed to know a thing or two, at least. Levi swiftly recovered from his momentary surprise; it wasn't that astonishing, he supposed. Marley was well aware of his and Mikasa's existence, so an expert in titan science should be able to recognise it quickly.

"Might still become one, old man," Levi said, disregarding the fact that the scientist couldn't be more than a dozen years or so older than him. Mid-forties was ancient from a Scout's perspective, after all.

"Very true," the scientist said solemnly. And, pointing at the cupboard with the index finger of one lifted hand, added, "Lowest shelf, the stack in the right corner."

#

They made it to the staircase without any incident, Ayad in their midst, bag slung over his shoulder, hands cuffed behind his back. He hadn't given them any trouble, so far, but went with them like a well-trained dog. The guns probably helped.

This was going off without a hitch. It was really fucking unsettling. The tension in Levi's body, the cold focus, that instinctive readiness, did not lessen for a second.

They were almost at the top of the stairs when the ruckus started.

Shouting from above. Rapidly approaching footsteps.

Dammit. Fuck his instincts.

"Shit," Nora and Connie said at the same time.

Levi stopped in his tracks. Listening, mind running two miles a minute.

There was only one solution, and it sucked, Survey Corps style. They were cornered like rats, and they had to brute-force their way out of here.

He made up his mind, facing his comrades. "Most of them are coming from the left, where we broke in. Give me a ten seconds head start. I'll take out as many as I can so you don't have them all hot on your heels. You'll go right, take the other exit."

They had to get the doc out of here, and for that, his soldiers had to survive. Confronting the bulk of their enemies on his own was their best bet; he couldn't protect all of them at once from bullets spraying all over the place, but he could watch out for himself, cut and shoot his way through.

He glanced at each of his soldiers in turn as they gave him their "Yes, sir"—barring one. Nora stayed silent; he met her wide, disbelieving eyes for less than a second because he couldn't stand it any longer. Still, that short glimpse was already enough to read her thoughts from her face. Or maybe they were partly his own.

You want to split up? Again? Do you remember what happened last time?

He really didn't need that shit right now, couldn't dwell on what might happen next. There was no way to know, but this was the best option.

Levi grabbed the door handle.

"Promise me you'll make it back!" she cried out before he could open the door. "Promise."

This demand was a first. It made no sense, and she knew it. I can't promise that, and neither can you, he almost said—but stopped short at the look on her face. Naked panic.

They had no time. She needed to stay focused and take lead in his absence, not distract herself with pointless worrying about him. She should worry about herself. She had to stay alive.

After only the shortest hesitation, he gave the necessary answer. "Fine, brat, I promise." He watched the worst of the tension drain from her features, watched her stubborn determination resurface. Good. "And now we get the fuck out of here."

"Yes, sir," Nora said, and after one last, hard look, he turned and was out the door.

###

Nora and her comrades raised their guns, readying themselves. She squinted at the scientist—who finally looked thoroughly alarmed.

"Try to run or delay us and you won't make it any farther than two steps before we kill you." She was only about eighty percent sure she meant it, but that wasn't important. It was only important that he thought she meant it. "And I bet my arse they'll shoot you anyway, if you give them the chance." They wouldn't risk losing a valuable researcher to Paradis, after all, and they might even suspect him to be a traitor. At the very least, he could easily end up as collateral damage.

Ayad seemed to have come to the same conclusion. He gave a jerky nod, features tight.

Rapid gunfire sounded to their left, just above their heads. It went on and on and on.

Levi. Her heart was rampaging in her chest, and she felt sick and cold.

But she was ready, because she had to be. How else were they supposed to survive? How else was she supposed to see him again?

Ten seconds were up. She nodded at the small group—Connie with her at the front, Rob and Varis behind the scientist—and pushed open the door.

They made it to the corner of the building without encountering a single soldier.

And from there, all hell broke loose.

###

The Marleyan soldiers didn't know exactly which way the intruders had taken, and that was their saving grace. Hopefully. Sure, them charging at him from different directions—each side corridor a potential threat—wasn't ideal, but Levi'd rather deal with that than having to take them on all at once. The nearby base they must be coming from was larger than he had hoped.

That was what he got from hoping.

He didn't stop moving for even one second. Everything else had fallen away, nothing mattered but this crucial moment, each of his senses zoned in on his opponents.

He engaged his gear whenever possible in the spacious main corridor. His anchors sank into building and flesh alike. He cut through necks and bodies as he forged ahead, utilising the floor and the walls and the ceiling and everything in between, painting the corridors with blood. For each soldier he took out, two seemed to follow the very next instant. While he killed one, others would shoot. He couldn't allow himself to overlook a single one. Over the ceaseless barrage of gunfire, he couldn't rely on his hearing to detect those outside of his field of vision.

They were good shots, but he was fast. He had to keep moving. He pushed off the soldier he'd just stabbed, turning mid-air, narrowly avoiding two bullets.

Fucking hell. What a stressful, shitty mess. Of course, this day had to go down the goddamn toilet.

A split-second thought as he rounded a corner, and then he was all sharp and clear focus again.

Don't you dare not make it out after I went through all that trouble.

###

The Marleyan soldiers closed in on them from corridors on the right and from the front, cutting off their escape route. Seven or so.

Connie swore. Behind them, Rob and Varis shouted something. It barely registered. The Scouts fanned out, opening fire. Within a second, so did their enemies—but not before two had fallen.

The crack of shot after shot after shot reverberated through the enclosed space, deafening Nora, the volume decreasing with each bullet fired. As much as possible, the Scouts kept shielding Ayad with their bodies as they fought.

One by one, the soldiers fell, front and right. Faster than they were replenished by the reinforcements trickling in at a steady pace. Nora did not keep count of how many of them she killed in the chaos, and how many her comrades. It was impossible. It was irrelevant. They had to get out of here.

She remained at the head of their little formation. She could take a shot and keep walking and fighting.

At last, the chaos died down, the noise died down, or so she assumed with her ringing ears. It couldn't have been more than a minute or two.

The smell of gunpowder saturated the air, mixing with the metallic tang of fresh blood.

They regrouped, the wall at their back. Eyes darting left and right while they reloaded. Now, she counted. Fourteen bodies on the floor.

Nora surveyed her comrades, the doctor. Connie's expression was dark, chest heaving. It felt a bit like looking in a mirror. Varis and Rob were clutching their guns, faces as greyish white as the wall behind them. Ayad was trembling and close to hyperventilating.

All of them were alive, seemed unhurt.

"You good, Doctor Ayad?" Nora asked. He was whom they'd come here for, after all.

He jumped, maybe at her mention of his name, maybe because he was chock full of adrenaline. "Right as rain," he said, voice brittle.

"Brilliant." Her tone was flat. Her brain was strangely detached from the turmoil in her body, and it was for the best.

"Let's go," she said. "The exit's not far."

As they went, they had to be careful not to slip on the puddles of blood slowly spreading on the floor, merging to form crimson pools.

"Damn, I can't wait to finally get outside," Connie whined. "I want to go home."

"Same here," Varis mumbled.

"Stop yammering and stay focused," Rob said—quiet, shy Rob—even though his voice was a little unsteady. For a split second, Nora felt a weak urge to smile, never mind their current predicament. Always interesting what massacres brought out in different people.

Footsteps, again. Shit. And here she had dared hope they'd taken out all on their side.

They shot the first two the moment they rounded the corner. Three followed, all at once. She took a step to the right while she aimed, covering Ayad. Connie took out one, she another—and the third took his one-second chance. Fiery pain exploded in her left shoulder.

One of her comrades shot him the following instant.

Nora gasped. She doubled over, clawing her right hand into her thigh, gritting her teeth. The pain dulled within seconds. Inconsequential. She could still focus, no problem; they were so fucking close. Better her than anyone else here. Yes, she couldn't use her left arm right now—some nerves must have been destroyed—but it was healing, the steam already fogging up the left corner of her vision. Until then—a matter of a minute or two, most likely—she still had her right hand.

She straightened, trying to wave the steam away. Useless. It would be annoying for a bit.

"You are—"

Nora cut off Ayad's incredulous voice. "The exit is right there." And she and Connie started for the vestibule with its glass panes, his hand already reaching for the door handle. Her heart leapt. So close.

Movement in the corner of her eye. She stopped, turned, lifted her gun. A shot split the air, harsh against her ear drums. Beside her, Connie crumpled like a marionette whose strings had been cut. In that same second, Nora fired. The soldier—a lone straggler at the far end of the corridor—fell. The bullet had struck him square in the chest.

She didn't scream Connie's name like her comrades did, their voices muffled by a strange buzzing in her ears. Only dropped to her knees, searching for a wound with frantic eyes and frantic hands.

And found it as she gingerly moved his head, her shaking fingers at his jaw.

A small, round wound by his right temple. At the back left side of his head, a jagged, gaping hole where bone should be. Revealing a fleshy, scarlet mess. Mostly scarlet; blood and something she didn't want to think about gushing out. Connie's bright eyes were wide open, dull and empty.

No. This couldn't be right. This time, she'd been there, right there. This hadn't just happened. There must be a way to undo this. Just a few seconds. Just a few damned seconds.

An agonizing sob was wedged in her chest, stuck, mute. An iron fist crushed her insides. She blinked and blinked and blinked until she could see again.

He was gone. He was gone, and there was no time. More enemies could be on them each second. Levi and Hange depended on her.

They were still out there.

We are still on a mission. This is not over. You have to pull yourself together, he had said, back then. I need you to stay alive, do you understand?

"Let's get out of here," Nora said, and it felt loud and shrill, but she couldn't hear it.

They burst into the vestibule. She paused with her hand on the handle of the exit door, their path out of this hell.

This might just be the most dangerous part. The perfect place for an ambush.

"They'll probably be waiting outside. Be ready. We'll shoot those in immediate range and engage ODM gear as soon as possible. Stay behind me."

"Yes, Vice-Captain," Rob and Varis said with one voice.

Crouching beside the entrance to shield her body, heart racing, she pushed the door open, guns ready.

The dull bangs of distant gunfire cut through the night. Not a single soldier waited for them outside. Not a single soldier standing, anyway.

The facility's grounds were littered with corpses, lying in their own pools of blood. The airship was close by, hovering above the neighbouring building.

Oh thank fuck.

"Sasha came through for us! Let's go!"

They ran outside, and then, finally, Nora was flying again, dashing up the wall surrounding the facility's grounds, followed by two comrades carrying a scientist between them. Away from this nightmare.

Hange was waiting for her.

Levi was waiting for her.

#

"Shit, but what a relief!" Hange shouted the moment Nora and her small group set foot on the airship. She grabbed Nora's wrist and pulled her farther in. "The soldiers were all but pouring in from the nearby base in the southwest. And here we were hoping they'd take longer to react. How'd you manage to get out of there?"

"Levi, and guns," Nora said, distracted, looking around with a sinking feeling in her chest.

He wasn't here. Yet.

Sasha turned, crouching by the open door with her rifle. "Where's Connie? Is he with the captain?"

The name was like a punch to her stomach. Staring at the floor without seeing, Nora only shook her head, unable to speak all of a sudden. Her throat had constricted so badly it was hard to breathe.

"What happened?" Sasha's voice was high, alarmed, disbelieving. "Where is he?"

"It happened inside," Rob said shakily.

Seconds of silence. Nora forced herself to look up, to not hide from Sasha's pain. Which was why she witnessed the moment all hope left Sasha's eyes. "Are you—"

"We saw it, Sasha. I'm so sorry." Varis's lower lip was quivering, eyes glassy.

"He stood right next to me," Nora whispered because she could still barely believe it, that unfathomable powerlessness pressing down on her lungs, making it almost impossible to speak. But Sasha heard.

Her features contorted. She folded in on herself, her rifle clattering to the floor next to her knees as she started sobbing. No, wailing.

Nora pressed the fingers of one hand against her eyes, her body shaking in tandem with the rise and fall of the gut-wrenching sounds Sasha was making.

When she blinked her eyes open, finally trusting herself not to cry or puke, Hange was gazing at her with a strange mixture of grief and reluctance. Her eyes were damp, the lines around her mouth tense, corners pointing down.

"Where's Levi, Nora?"

Breathe. Breathe. "We had to split up. We got more or less surrounded, and he fought the majority of them off so we could get away in the opposite direction." Her recount was clipped, terse, factual. "He should be here soon."

From the bench furthest from the entrance, hands still cuffed, Ayad chimed in. "I highly doubt he will. Most likely, he never made it out of the facility. That base they were coming from is roughly seventy soldiers strong. Some were on our side of the building, some more outside, but all the rest were on his—"

"Shut up. You don't know him." Before she knew it, Nora had her gun levelled at his chest. Her panic was instant, overpowering, almost crushing her chest.

The scientist made eye contact with the barrel, calm and assessing. "You won't shoot me, not after going to such lengths to retrieve me."

"I can still break your nose," Nora spat and turned his back to him. She had neither the patience for nor the interest in more verbal exchanges with the git right now. To Hange, she said, "We have some time to wait, right?" As if there was more than one answer she'd accept.

"For as long as no reinforcements arrive, yes. Y'all already took care of most of them. I'll handle the rest." She walked over to Sasha, squeezing her shoulder. Then, Hange took the rifle and Sasha's position.

Sasha was still weeping, her face smeared with tears and snot, but her wails had reduced to quiet sobs.

Nora took a cautious look over Hange's shoulder. The few enemies outside the building that were still left standing tried to shoot the airship, but it was no use. Their guns were not made for long distances, and neither were the bullets made for penetrating the airship's sturdy hull.

Soon, the last of the gunshots died down.

And Nora waited and waited, pacing by the door, her heart pounding just as brutally as it had inside the facility. Again and again, her mind was running through the facts, over what she did know. It was better than driving herself crazy by obsessing over the unknown. The what-ifs.

She did know that Levi had probably made good use of the high ceiling—by far not as high as in the basement, but still—and engaged his ODM gear wherever suitable. Made him an even more difficult and unpredictable target, made it easier for him to cut them down, and fast. She and her comrades, on the other hand, hadn't used the gear inside because they'd had to protect their captive. And they did not have Levi's speed and agility.

But most importantly, he'd said he'd make it back.

He didn't lie—not ever. If he promised, he must believe he could do it. And if there was only one person she trusted implicitly, it was him.

It was right then that she saw it: a lone figure soaring through the night, landing on the nearest rooftop. The silhouette unmistakable. Relief washed over her so acutely that she almost dropped to the floor, her limbs weak all of a sudden. A moment later, his anchors sank into the wood log attached beneath the gondola, and Nora took a step back, clearing the entrance.

Levi appeared in the doorframe, his dark shape blurring with the night sky. He braced one hand against the frame, taking an unsteady step in.

Levi, unsteady.

Immediately, she knew.

Something was wrong, very wrong.

Iciness spread from her chest to her limbs as she reached for his shoulders. "Are you—" He collapsed against her, his full weight unsupported, and they went down before she knew what was happening, her knees colliding hard with the floor. Then Hange was there, helping her get him off her—he was so limp and heavy—laying him on his back.

And Nora got her first good look at him.

The left side of Levi's head was covered in blood, down to his neck, soaking the collar of his uniform. More blood was streaming from a small, circular wound on the upper right side of his abdomen, already staining the floor. Around the wound, a generous patch of his black uniform looked even blacker, felt warm and wet. Nora's erratic hands came away stained crimson.

The hard floor beneath her seemed to give. For a brief moment, her vision lost all focus, leaving only red.

Not him.

No sound would escape, even as her lips mouthed the words.

"Shit!" Hange's voice right next to her ear—too high, too loud, too real—cut her like a knife. "He's been shot!"