How far would you go in the name of freedom? How far would you go to get what should be yours?

The truth of the world was only the beginning. Truth isn't clear-cut, black or white. And neither is war.

After Nora and Levi went through living hell - again and again, as is the way of the Scouts - in the pursuit of freedom, finding each other in the process, they are about to face an enemy bigger and more complicated than they could have imagined. If they want to protect what matters most, if they want to live, they must face truths they'd rather not face, and they must decide whom to trust.

Above all, they must fight.


This is the sequel to my story "Once More, with Feeling" which covered seasons 1 - 3. If you are mostly here for the S4 AU and/or the established relationship and don't necessarily want to read about the buildup that brought us here, this can probably be read standalone. I'd recommend reading OMWF first, though, if you're interested. (I guarantee you that the slow burn pays off...)

As I said, this will be an alternate season 4, meaning it will decidedly veer into canon divergence. I'll use and expand on some things of canon and lore, and ignore or change others. Therefore, it won't follow the canon timeline, and the ending will obviously also be different. I'm eager to play with the possibilities the awesome AoT world-building provides.

Regardless if you liked where canon went in S4 or not, as long as you are open to alternate Paths (haha, Paths, get it) or maybe even curious about something new, something different, this might be for you. Oh, and don't forget the romance. I love these characters at least as much as I love this world, and this is a rather self-indulgent hobby, so interactions and relationship development, in general, will always be at the centre.

That said, I do hope you enjoy.

Content Warnings: Violence, blood, gore, character death, smut and steaminess, profanity. All the good stuff, basically.


Chapter 1: Pig Piss


The night was quiet, and nothing interesting was happening.

The steady roll of the tide against the rocky shore was the only sound penetrating through the heavy linen of the tent walls. Nights at the Survey Corps camp at Paradis' southern coast were always quiet. Once they finished supper in the biggest tent—some even went so far as to call it 'mess hall'—the soldiers slowly started retreating to their makeshift sleeping quarters or took their lookout posts.

The much-needed peace and calm would last until sunrise. This had been their routine for several weeks, now; long, busy days at camp interspersed with blissfully quiet nights in which blissfully nothing interesting happened. Nothing of general interest, at least.

Until it did.

The alarm bell sounded, making Nora jump.

"Oh, shit," she said, her heartrate picking up as she froze with Levi's cravat in hand, mere inches of air between their faces. Her wild eyes met his steady greys, the only indicator of his own surprise that he'd become a bit too still, his grip on her tightening for a brief instant.

A second of silent communication passed between them. Something along the lines of 'They are here' and 'Well, fuck.'

"Rude bastards." With a small sigh, Levi slid his hands from Nora's hips to her shirt, deftly buttoning her up again; undoing his work from barely a minute ago with the same efficiency, but lacking enthusiasm. "Took them long enough, though." He plucked the cravat she had just removed from his collar out of her numb fingers and tossed it on the table, not bothering to waste any time with tying it again. Then, he grabbed both their harnesses and handed hers over.

Nora took it in a mechanical manner, swallowing. "I wouldn't have minded them being just a little earlier, either. What did we even remove our gear for?" Her tone was strangely flat, as if all her emotion had got stuck in her tightened throat.

"Better now than later." Despite the statement, Levi didn't look all too pleased at the rude night-time interruption as he fastened the leather straps of his ODM gear with sure, experienced movements.

Nora finished with hers shortly after him. Somehow, their little exchange had helped keeping the faint tremor in her hands in check.

Wrapping their cloaks around their shoulders, they exited the tent and stepped into the noisy, busy night.

Hange joined them halfway to the shore.

"It's happening!" the over-excited commander of the Survey Corps squeaked, before launching into a report, talking so quickly Nora had difficulties understanding everything over the drum of blood in her ears. "Only two modestly sized ships—but they've sent one of them ahead. Seems to be nothing more than a small recon mission; they don't look heavily armed. I've sent most of our men to surround the bay, already, including the rest of the Special Ops squad. That should provide enough firearm backup. Eren's already lying in wait to, well, help them come ashore, so we won't need to bring out the Colossal for now, Nora, but who knows when the next—"

"So what are the three of us gonna do?" Levi interrupted.

The grin appearing on Hange's face had a worrying, maniacal quality. "Why, invite them for tea, of course."

While they were approaching the cliff overlooking the bay at a brisk pace, Nora gathered the unruly, shoulder-length hair framing her face and secured it into a messy, half-up bun at the crown of her head. "In that case, I hope they like tea, in Marley," she remarked.

#

The first, smaller ship was dealt with in a matter of minutes; no casualties, not a single shot fired. The Marleyan soldiers who were, until they agreed to cooperate, prisoners of war, seemed almost glad to be led away at gunpoint from the titan looming over their abandoned ship and staring after them with angry, green eyes.

As a means to easier coerce the approaching ship—with the majority of the fleet's forces and the captain on board—into surrender, one unfortunate soldier of the Marleyan navy was chosen to remain with them, the tip of Levi's sword resting at his back. The only information he provided, quite reluctantly, was his name: Niccolo. Although the handsome young man with his neat, wavy blond hair in his handsome, white uniform—honestly, the soldiers from Marley all looked like uptight bores, Nora thought—was shaking like a leaf, he also wore the look of a cornered animal on his face, and that was rather worrying.

Hange didn't seem to share that sentiment as she greeted the newcomers Eren had carried ashore on their vessel like it was an oversized toy, exhibiting the same enthusiasm she had welcomed Nora into the Scout Regiment with two years ago.

Sometimes Nora wondered how she had ended up becoming such close friends with the most obnoxiously friendly and excitable person she had ever met. But then, so had Levi.

Naturally, Hange's 'invitation' wasn't taken all that well.

"Don't mind me, captain!" Niccolo shouted after Hange had said her part and hooked an arm over his shoulders as if they were old buddies. Again, Nora was reminded of her first day in the Survey Corps—though there hadn't been a thinly veiled threat on her life, of course. Even as Levi wedged his blade more firmly between his shoulder blades, the desperate Marleyan continued, "Just shoot these damned devils!"

Devils. They were probably going to hear that one a lot more often, Nora thought. It would have been disheartening, had she expected anything else.

"Why would you say that, Niccolo?" Hange asked with exaggerated disappointment.

"He's clearly not interested in playing along with your shitty skit," Levi said.

"Listen up, you damned devils," the captain shouted at them from the deck of his ship, still refusing to lower his gun, "Marley isn't interested in hearing from anyone with defiled blood! What makes you think we'd ever sip pig piss with you tarnished bastards?"

"Pig piss?" Nora murmured with barely suppressed outrage just as Levi's expression darkened. "Alright, they're getting the cheap stuff."

Needless to say, things got a bit out of hand, from there. Anger crept into Hange's voice as she made it perfectly clear that the stranded Marleyans didn't have much of a choice on that matter, outnumbered as they were and with a titan glowering at their backs.

All this did nothing to keep the captain from aiming his gun right at Hange, however, getting ready to fire.

Fuck.

She ducked the same instant that Nora jumped her. The crack of a shot cut through the air just as they went down on the rock together, with the smaller but far less breakable woman on top. Before Nora could see what had happened, she was roughly dragged back up at the scruff of her cloak and facing a very angry-looking Levi, the sword in his other hand still pointed at Niccolo's neck. "Have you lost your goddamn mind?" His voice was lowered to an almost-growl, eyes narrowed to slits.

"Never mind that," Hange said as she scrambled to her feet. "He didn't even get to shoot. Look at those mutineers over there."

"Tsk." Levi let go of Nora with a shove. She only took a second to glare at him before her eyes widened in astonishment at the scene playing out on the ship in front of them.

The wilful naval captain was lying face-down on deck in a pool of blood, as abruptly silenced as only people who had got a hole through their head could be. All over the front railing, weapons were dropped from the ship and onto the ground below.

Gun in hand, the tall, blonde woman who had just committed treason and forced her Marleyan comrades to their knees removed her helmet. "Hange," she said in a clear, deep voice, "I'm honoured to receive your invitation. Now how about that tea?"

#

Being not only rather close with the two highest-ranking soldiers of an admittedly slightly chaotic military branch that didn't put too much importance on rank and other formalities, as well as being the senior member of the Survey Corps right after these two, Nora had the privilege of being present while they talked to the peculiar Marleyan soldiers who had surrendered so eagerly.

She might not be captain of a squad, but that was mostly due to the fact she wasn't able to command others all that well while she was sixty metres tall, as well as due to a reluctance on her own part she had a plethora of reasons for.

It had turned out for the best—probably. She certainly had more than enough responsibilities, as it was. Responsibilities no one could take off her, unless she wanted to be eaten. Had it gone any differently, she very likely wouldn't be here, anymore. Aside from her being very much still alive thanks to the man sitting between her and Hange, her current position seemed quite suited for helping out with the Survey Corps' endeavours, so she shouldn't complain. Be it with research, or sarcastic comments, or as a human shield that was rather hard to break.

Or as a literal, walking bomb.

That was what Nora couldn't help thinking about as the two mutineers declaring themselves Anti-Marleyan Volunteers—the tall blonde woman who'd shot her captain, Yelena, and a man with dark brown skin never before seen by the people of the Walls, Onyankopon—readily provided intel on the exact military prowess of Eldia's enemy nation. The numbers were daunting, to say the least. As was the clever technology behind their weapons.

Despite those glaring advantages, Marley had, according to the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers, currently not the means to launch a full-blown attack on Paradis, which was why they had got lucky with only a small survey fleet as their visitors, tonight. So far. Ironically enough, and to Levi's morbid amusement, one reason was the threat posed by the pure titans Marley, themselves, had let loose on their island. The very titans the Scouts had managed to extinguish.

The second reason was that Marley had entered into a war with several other nations. A war that had only been declared because they had attacked Paradis and lost three of their key weapons in the process: the Armoured, the Female, and the Colossal Titan. One killed, one imprisoned and unresponsive, and one eaten.

Now, it was Nora's turn to be darkly amused; talk about repercussions. A small snort escaped her. Under the table, Levi kicked her shin.

At Yelena's shrewd, questioning glance, she quickly explained, "This is better news than expected, from our perspective. Seems to me we might not be the most hated nation, after all."

"Currently, you might come a close second," Onyankopon said, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Yelena's unsettling black eyes remained glued to her face until Hange continued with her endless line of questions.

The news only grew wilder the longer the conversation went on. According to Yelena and Onyankopon, the goal of the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers was to free the Eldian people. And the person at the top, the man who gave them their orders, was no one other than Zeke Jaeger.

Next to Nora, Levi froze, his silver eyes widening a fraction. At the mention of the name, she felt the hate radiating from him in chilling waves.

In stark contrast, a worshipping gleam, frightening in its intensity, had entered Yelena's formerly blank gaze.

Owed to her own, personal experience, Nora knew insanity when she saw it. Hell, she saw it in the russet eyes—well, eye, by now—of her best friend. She saw it every time she looked in a mirror. And she saw it in the man who had upended her very existence the moment he'd become a part of her life, and whom she could, quite unbelievably, call her boyfriend. Theoretically. Not that she ever would, out loud.

All three of them oozed crazy; each their own, particular brand.

So she knew instantly that Yelena was insane. But this wasn't what unsettled her about the tall, blonde woman with her weird, choppy, short haircut. No, it was something else. Because Nora and the two people closest to her weren't just crazy, they were also crazy honest.

And she really couldn't tell if Yelena was.

A secret organisation dedicated to free Eldia out of the goodness of their hearts and a mutual hatred for the war-mongering nation of Marley, no other reason needed. It sounded simple and straightforward, yet things rarely were.

And a powerful shifter, previously thought to be one of their fiercest enemies, as the organisation's leader. It sounded too good to be true.

And if something sounded too good to be true, it probably was.

#

The Survey Corps spent the following night at their re-established base in Shiganshina. After standing abandoned for five years, half the town's population consisted of military. The other half were mainly young people who had survived the harsh existence as fugitives, but never quite found their place in Rose, eager to restore the district that had once been their home. Come morning, the Scouts would hit the road again; given the current events, and what some of their new 'guests' had revealed to them, an assembly would be held at the capital.

Travel-weary and sore—no, she couldn't be really sore, it just felt that way—Nora plopped down on the bed, the sheets fresh and perfectly made from the last time Levi and she had occupied these rooms.

He didn't even reprimand her when she kicked off her boots, deliberately dropping them on the floor next to her. She frowned, watching him put away her shoes together with his own pair, as taciturn as he'd been during the majority of their trip back to the Walls. That was, more than usual; no matter how much she had goaded him with dry remarks or the silliest jokes she could think of—hell, she'd even made Connie laugh, which was never a sign for quality humour—Levi hadn't insulted her more than once or twice all the way back. And now, he still was barely looking at her, even though he usually did so often it regularly drove her out of her skin. His expression was clear of any emotion.

It was so frustrating that it made her want to talk, for a change.

"So…" Nora began, sitting up and dangling her legs over the edge of the mattress. He didn't even spare her a glance as he untied his cravat. "You're still mad at me, huh?"

Thankfully, that was all it took to draw him out. Levi undid the buttons on his collar, glaring at her. "What the hell were you thinking, playing a goddamned human shield, you idiot?" He pushed up the sleeves of his shirt, baring his forearms; a sight that never left her unaffected. One of too many, when it came to him, and not nearly all of them involved various degrees of undress. She wondered if he knew. He certainly didn't seem to be thinking along these lines, now, as he crossed his arms and stared her down with eyes like cold steel.

"I am a human shield, am I not?" Nora reminded him. "I can take a bullet or several, but Hange can't, and not even you could—"

"Not if they blow your brains out. Have you ever considered that?"

"Actually, yes. And I found the risk negligible compared to—"

He clicked his tongue, interrupting her once again. "You're fucking unbelievable. Do you already have a death wish, or what?" Contrary to the fury seething in the air around him, his deep voice had grown dangerously calm. Always a bad sign. The angrier he got, the more he grew quiet.

He stepped closer to the bed, looming over her. The fine hairs on the nape of Nora's neck rose, her pulse quickening. She had to crane her neck to meet his eyes, her expression impatient.

"It was Hange, Levi," she said, struggling to match his quiet tone. "What was I supposed to do?"

Immediately, he provided her with an answer to her rhetorical question. "Stand back and not throw yourself in the line of fire. And that's an order—for all future, similar situations. I don't give a shit if it's Hange, or me, or whoever the fuck else."

Nora lost the battle against her own rising temper, meeting his scowl with a mutinous glare. "Yeah, I can't promise that. Especially if it's Hange or you," she told him, defiant and honest. "I am not easy to kill, anymore. What good is this shit power if you won't let me use it properly?"

He got in her face in the blink of an eye, fists digging into the mattress at either side of her hips. Her breath caught. "I already lost you once," Levi said, startling her into utter stillness. "I'll be damned if I let it happen again because of your sheer, stubborn recklessness." He was so close she could smell the tea in his breath, and the scent of the wilderness outside the Walls that clung to his skin.

Delectable. Outright irresistible. Her anger evaporated as quickly as it had come.

By the Walls, even after all those months, she wanted him so much it was maddening. If it were possible, she would have said it had only got worse. And it didn't help that, very occasionally, he'd say things like that, as if it were nothing, as if it were obvious, catching her off guard.

"I'm sorry. But I think our priorities don't align, here," came her hoarse answer. Nora swallowed to counteract her dry throat, licking her lips.

Levi's tired gaze dropped to her mouth, half concealing the silvery irises behind pitch-black lashes. Permanent bedroom eyes, she had called them once. "So you're disobeying a command from your superior?" The low rumble of his baritone sent shivers over her skin. He leaned in even closer, so close it consumed her entire awareness, until there was nothing left but his breath and lips and eyes and the black strands of hair falling into his forehead, and he absolutely had to kiss her as soon as she'd given an answer, any answer.

"Well, I haven't disobeyed, yet," she breathed, her hands sneaking to his collar.

He withdrew before she made it there, standing up straight, infuriatingly calm and self-possessed, once more. He might as well have dumped a bucket of water over her head. "And you won't, if I can help it."

A few seconds trickled by, in which that teasing, stupidly handsome, domineering bastard simply watched her with a detached expression. Nora was reasonably certain she didn't look detached.

"Just to be clear," she said slowly as his eyes darted to the doorway leading back into the office and she realised he was about to leave, "does that mean you won't sleep with me, tonight?"

"That's right, you shitty brat. I'm still too damn angry." He flashed her a quick scowl and strode towards the open door.

Heat flared in her belly, and lower. Why the hell was this only turning her on further? No, she knew the answer to that one, just as she suspected she knew the real reason for his rebuff. It probably had nothing to do with a grudge, or petty punishment, or him not being in the mood.

She couldn't help the frustrated sigh drawing from her throat. "That makes me want it even more, I'll have you know."

Levi paused beneath the door frame, fingers twitching at his sides.

Oh, he was in a mood, alright.

For a moment, she dared hope he had changed his mind. But then, and without turning back, he said, "Not my fault you're so sick in the head." And he left, the door falling shut behind him.

She flopped back into the pillow. "Coward," she whispered at the ceiling.

Last night, they'd been rudely interrupted and then barely got in an hour's sleep before breakfast. And now, this. What a splendid evening.

"Bloody Marleyans," Nora muttered, throwing an arm over her eyes.

#

Out of spite, Nora put the toothpaste on the wrong shelf in the bathroom cabinet after using it. Petty, yes, but also immensely gratifying. There'd been multiple discussions on that issue, but she had quickly learnt it was best not to try and argue with Levi on matters regarding order and cleanliness.

One had to choose their battles—as demonstrated earlier.

She sighed at her image in the mirror. Still damp from the shower, her hair reached just below her shoulders. It would spring up a bit once it dried, though how exactly it would look she could never predict; her wavy mane seemed to have a mind of its own. At least, it was far easier and quicker to deal with than back when it had reached to her waist.

She took her weekly pill—made of the crushed seeds of a flower that grew in aberrance in the forests of Rose and Maria, and quite effective at preventing contraception—and went to bed, wondering if Levi would give her shit about the toothpaste, come tomorrow.

He probably wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

Weariness won over the unease gnawing at her insides, and Nora dozed off after a while, even though the bed seemed too big and her mind kept drifting to the dozens of Marleyan soldiers they'd put under arrest, who were certainly wishing a gruesome death upon the entire Survey Corps, or every devil on this island, even.

Seamlessly, her jumbled thoughts carried over into a dream, and she saw soldiers in white uniforms at a place she'd never been to, and children with a band around their upper arm, and Zeke Jaeger; all from the perspective of a shy, young boy about to be forced into committing mass murder, and maybe she was that boy, because she remembered being him.

The mattress shifted beneath her, and Nora was herself again, sleepy and heavy-limbed despite her palpitating heart, and then a strong arm wrapped around her waist and she was enveloped in a clean, soapy, male scent that she would recognise anywhere, anytime, always.

When she sank back into sleep this time, it was dreamless.


AN: Nothing is set in stone, but my usual update schedule is every 1-2 weeks, somewhere from Sunday to Tuesday.

As usual, if you like, I'd highly appreciate your reviews. No matter when, no matter which chapters. This is a work in progress, and a quite challenging one at that, for me, and reviews are immensely motivating. Favs/follows, too, by the way. :) It tells me you liked what you read, so I'd appreciate you doing that if you want to.

No matter what, thank you for reading.