Not This Time

by Rowboat Girlyman 1

When Armin and Mikasa are given the chance to fix the mistakes of the past they will do everything they can to save their friends. Even if they need to abandon their very humanity to do it.

35. Old Memories

Hellooooooo All! My god its been a while and I can only apologise for the delay. Been a busy few months but so much has changed since my last chapter.

Im properly moved into my own house and living on my own now, I submitted my dissertation report (which Im pretty sure I bungled but oh well), the Queen lost her husband (RIP to that crazy old bastard Prince Philip. Man was the whole country's slightly crazied grandpa) and of course AoT ended.
I think we can all agree that the ending sure was ending...

Anyway on to the chapter, I'll explain why it took so long in the notes at the bottom but just know I had to do a lot of replanning to make this work so hopefully it works.

WARNING: This chapter is kinda dark. Probably the darkest I've done so far. Some of the topics discussed/mentioned are not very nice at all and may be a bit uncomfortable, however, most have been shown/implied in-universe but just wanted to give a heads up.

---

A lifetime ago

It was a beautiful summer day. The sun was shining high overhead, bathing the land with its life sustaining warmth. Birds of all different sizes and breeds soared through the cloudless sky above, cawing loudly as they went, free from any earthly bond.

Armin Arlert smiled up at them, squinting in the brilliant light of the sun. He always enjoyed watching the birds as he sat in his favourite spot, underneath the big tree on the hill that overlooked Shiganshina's inner gate.

Across his lap rested his favourite book, left open on his favourite page. The well read lines and illustrations were still just as captivating and awe inspiring as the first time he had opened it.

He could read this one page all day and never grow tired of it.

The ocean. That impossibly large lake of salt water that existed somewhere out there beyond the walls.

Armin let out a wistful sigh, dreaming of the day he would finally see it with his own eyes. What a glorious day that would be.

In that moment, partially lost in his head as his imagination ran wild, Armin was as happy and content as any nine year old could be. Armin had even managed to avoid his bullies on his way here as well!

Everything was great.

Not even the distant sounds of approaching footfalls and panting could ruin his elated mood, because Armin knew exactly who was approaching long before they crested the hill.

Eren always had a knack for finding him, even if he was all the way out here.

Armin's smile widened as he looked down from the vast blue canvas above to greet his best (and only) friend. But just as the top of Eren's head came into view, the brunette looked back over his shoulder as he ran and breathlessly shouted out.

"Come on, Mikasa. Keep up!"

Armin's smile faltered, sliding off his face as if it was never there and he quickly scrambled to hide his book behind his back. He only just managed to shove it out of sight when a girl came running into view a few metres behind Eren, a faded pink dress swishing round her ankles and a familiar red scarf wrapped around her pale slender neck. Eren's scarf.

It was Mikasa Ackerman. Eren's new... friend? Sister? Housemate?

Ever since Eren had first introduced them a fortnight ago, after finding him beaten and bruised in a side street, the girl had been a total mystery to Armin. She was living with the Yeagers for reasons unknown, and followed Eren round like a shadow. Wherever he went, she went. The market, the river, the woods and now even here, to their special spot.

Since that first day Armin could count the number of times he had seen Eren without Mikasa at his side on one hand and still have fingers to spare.

Jealousy. It was an ugly emotion, and one Armin very rarely felt. But Armin could not deny that recently every time he saw Mikasa at Eren's side, he felt that unpleasant twisting sensation in his heart growing just a little bit stronger, slowly but surely eating him up from the inside.

Armin hated it, but he couldn't stop it.

He didn't understand who this strange girl was or why she was trying to monopolise his best friend's time. He didn't understand why Mr and Mrs Yeager - who apart from his Grandpa - were the closest thing to parents Armin still had in his life, had taken her in and not him.

None of it made any sense. Why would they adopt a stranger who was so… so... different from their son?

Where Eren was brash, loud and energetic, she was quiet, cold and reserved. Where Eren wore his heart on his sleeve, happily expressing whatever he was thinking regardless of what others might think, Mikasa rarely spoke even when directly addressed and when she did it always sounded flat and indifferent, like she didn't care about what was being talked about and didn't even bother to hide it.

Armin had always hoped he and Eren would find another friend one day, but Mikasa was not what he had in mind. And from the way she would look at him whenever they crossed paths, Armin got the distinct impression that the feeling was mutual.

"Heya Armin," Eren panted out, quickly crossing the final distance between them before collapsing down beside him, leaning back against the tree. For a brief moment, Armin felt his smile return as their boney shoulders bumped together, relaxing in the other's presence as they had done countless times before. Back when it was just the two of them.

As if picking up on his joyful thoughts, a chill suddenly shot down Armin's spine.

As Mikasa approached, her own steady run dropping to a slow walk, her dark grey eyes narrowed at the sight of him, and where his and Eren's shoulders were touching.

Despite the day's heat, the scarf and the running ascent up the relatively steep hill, Mikasa wasn't panting or sweating like Eren. She wasn't even breathing harder than normal, appearing totally unfazed by the strenuous exercise that would have left most people at least winded and Armin himself sprawled out on the ground, exhausted.

Fighting to stop himself from squirming under the oppressive stare Armin shakily greeted his friend, painfully aware that Mikasa was still looking at them.

"H-hey Eren."

Heedless to Armin's obvious discomfort and the fact Mikasa was just standing there watching like a silent golem, Eren excitedly bounced his hands in his lap as his breathing steadied and came back under control.

"Have you got it?" Eren asked out of nowhere, not bothering to expand on what 'it' was. Armin knew what Eren was asking for, and he could feel it burning against the small of his back.

"G-got w-what?" Armin stammered out, daring to steal a quick glance at the still staring Mikasa. Panic gripped his heart as his Grandpa's warning rang loud in his head. His book was dangerous, illegal even, and it could get the both of them in serious trouble if it was reported. He could only show it to people he trusted.

And while he trusted Eren completely, Armin barely knew Mikasa. He couldn't show it to her! If she found out about the things in his book; the fields of fire and lands of ice and snow, it would be another thing Armin lost between himself and Eren.

"You know what." Eren huffed, oblivious to Armin's fears. "The book! I wanna read about the ocean again."

Armin choked, eyes nearly bulging out their sockets at Eren's unthinking bluntness.

"Eren!" He hissed, noting the tiny tilt of Mikasa's head at the unfamiliar word out of the corner of his eye. Of course she had never heard of the ocean.

"What?" Eren asked, before following Armin's frantic eye movements towards Mikasa. Finally it seemed to click for the brunette, but his reaction was not what Armin had hoped for.

"It's fine Armin." Eren waved off his concerns. "Mikasa's cool, she won't tell anyone. Show her the bit about the ocean as well. I bet she won't believe it at first."

However, before Armin could think of another excuse not to show this strange girl his illegal book, salvation arrived from the most unlikely of sources.

"Eren," Mikasa spoke up for the first time, her voice flat and quiet, partially muffled by the scarf. "Your mother asked us to collect some firewood. We shouldn't delay."

Eren though was not so easily dissuaded, and shook his head.

"She didn't mean right now, Mikasa. Just that we have some for when we head back. We've got hours to kill till then."

Mikasa shifted slightly on the spot but did not respond, something that caused Eren to let out a tired groan.

"Alright fine," He grumbled, blowing out a long breath. "You start looking for some sticks and I'll come help in a minute. Let me catch up with Armin first."

Armin held his breath, hoping Mikasa would agree.

Mikasa's eyes briefly flickered over to him again with an almost suspicious look, before turning back to Eren and giving a tight nod. Then without a sound, she turned and started walking around, looking for usable twigs, branches and bits of bark to take home.

Armin was so relieved to no longer be under the strange girl's piercing gaze that he nearly missed what Eren said next.

"What was that all about?" Eren's face dropped into a frown. "Why didn't you show Mikasa the book?"

"I-I... Grandpa said not to show it to strangers." Armin tried to defend himself, revealing at least part of the reason.

"But Mikasa isn't a stranger," Eren protested, frown deepening but mercifully staying quiet enough so that the still nearby girl couldn't overhear. "You know her. I introduced you two, remember?"

"That's not what I mean, Eren." Armin softly replied, fiddling and picking at his sleeve, seeing the strands of fabric unravelling under his trembling fingers. He was ruining his shirt to avoid ruining his friendship with Eren by blurting out his rather unkind thoughts about his best friend's new companion.

"Then what? What's the problem? You both act so weird around each other. It's really annoying!" Eren didn't let up. It wasn't in his nature to give up so easily.

Armin flinched and stared down at his hands, forcing himself to stop fiddling before he tore a hole straight through his favourite shirt. He couldn't just go to Eren's house anymore and ask Mrs Yeager if she could sew it up again. He had done that the other day with one of his trousers and had to sit at the table while the silent Mikasa watched him the whole time from the stairs, peering through the gaps in the banister.

"She… she doesn't like me, Eren." To distract his idle hands, Armin pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, trying to draw some strength from the movement. "Not many people do. I'm a 'heretic', remember?"

Eren scoffed and shook his head vigorously. "Mikasa's not like those idiots. She doesn't care about that stuff. You just need to talk to her for a bit and get to know her. You'll become great friends, I know it!"

The matter of fact statement nearly made Armin laugh. Him and Mikasa? Friends? Great friends? That would be the day...

"I-I tried that." Armin mumbled into his kneecaps, the words slipping out before he could stop them. "Getting to know her I mean, but it just made everything worse."

"Huh? When? What happened?" The quick fire questions came tumbling out of Eren's mouth.

"Um… last week... when we met up in the market and you started to argue with Mr Hannes… I wanted to ask her about something I read in one of Grandpa's books but she just glared at me and stormed off."

It was impossible to forget the intensity of that glare, and how it had left Armin frozen in fear as Mikasa had grabbed Eren and dragged the protesting boy away from his one sided argument with Hannes. It took a few days before Armin mustered the courage to approach Eren again after that, knowing Mikasa would envitable be close by.

At Armin's confession about his and Mikasa's failed bonding session, Eren's face went through a myriad of emotions; doubt, confusion, anger and frustration, before it settled on one which Eren rarely showed so openly. Or at all to be brutally honest.

Thoughtfulness.

"What... what exactly did you ask her, Armin?" Eren queried, his voice oddly calm and pensive.

"N-nothing bad, I swear." For some reason Eren's tone of voice made Armin feel on edge and defensive, like he had done something wrong. Okay so maybe his question had been a little forward considering how they barely knew each other, but he hadn't meant anything bad by it!

He was just curious.

He'd never met anyone who looked like Mikasa before.

Armin lifted his head from knees to look at Eren and the strange expression (for him) which was still clear on his face. "I-... I just asked Mikasa if she was asian, that was all. I wasn't being rude or anything, it was just that she looks like one of the people described in the book and I thought it would be really cool if she was, and wanted to learn-"

Perhaps fueled by his nervousness, Armin started to ramble, only for it to come to a screeching halt as Eren's hand reached out and tightly clamped over his mouth.

"Mmhen!" Armin yelped, alarmed by the action but Eren's hand remained firmly in place.

"Shhh!" He commanded, the thoughtful expression on his face having changed to a tight grimace as he glanced past Armin's perfectly still body to see if Mikasa had overheard them.

Thankfully she had not, and Eren let out a tiny sigh of relief before letting out a faint curse.

"Shit."

Despite his young age, Eren already had a colourful language, picking up many swear words from the older kids and drunken soldiers he often interacted with. It was something Armin had grown used to (and, to his shame, had caused him to pick up more than a few swear words himself), only this time the curse wasn't one said in anger and frustration, something thrown out during a heated exchange or a fight, but one of sadness and resignation.

"Armin you can't say that to Mikasa, alright? Promise me you wont ask her again. It's important."

Armin didn't understand. He didn't know what he had done wrong. What was so important about that question? Why couldn't he ask Mikasa about it?

"Mmmgh mggh…" Armin paused, realising the futility of trying to speak through Eren's hand, and reached up to pull it away from his mouth.

"B-but why?" He asked, feeling close to tears. "What did I do? I was only asking a question..."

Like he was considering something important, Eren appeared torn before clicking his tongue and letting out another small huff. Then without explanation Eren grabbed Armin's hand and lept back onto his feet, pulling Armin up with him.

"Come with me." Eren quietly instructed before he called out to Mikasa, the sudden and unexpected return to his normal speaking voice made Armin jump. "Hey Mikasa! Me and Armin need to take a wizz, so just wait here and we'll be back in a bit!"

"Eep!" Armin let out a squeak as he was quickly pulled away, barely able to snatch up his book before being dragged by the hand towards a nearby copse of trees.

Mikasa instantly straightened up, dropping the modest bundle of stick she had been gathering, and took a small step forward in pursuit before hesitating. It was clear she was reluctant to let Eren wander off and leave her behind even for a moment, but the mortifying excuse he had given which had reduced Armin to stammering, red faced mess was an effective deterrent.

So while Mikasa's stony gaze continued to track their retreating forms, she did not follow them, affording the two boys the privacy for what she believed was about to occur.

Once the moderately dense foliage of the trees had surrounded them, further dulling the distant sounds of human activity from Shiganshina, Eren let go of Armin's hand and leaned against one of the trees, a solemn look on his face.

"Mikasa doesn't hate you Armin… it's just… that question..."

Eren paused, a scowl forming on his face as he kicked a small stone away into the bushes and took a steadying breath. Armin noticed how Eren's hands balled into fists at his side. They were trembling, not from fear, but barely suppressed anger.

It was starting to scare Armin.

"Swear to me." Eren demanded out of the blue.

"H-huh?" Armin hugged his book to his chest, feeling the old leather that made up the cover pressing into his clammy fingers. He was just as confused and nervous as before, only this time there was a certain weight and forcefulness to Eren's words that frightened him.

"Swear to me that you'll never tell anyone what I'm about to say. Not even your grandpa."

"I-I-..." Armin had never kept a secret from his grandpa before. The only secrets Armin had came from his grandpa's books, so there was nothing to keep from him.

But Armin was nothing if not curious, and desperately wanted to know what was so important about that question and Mikasa that Eren wanted to swear him to secrecy.

He wanted to know.

He needed to know.

"...I swear."

And so on that warm summer's day, standing amidst a copse of trees and bushes, with the faint chirping of birds high overhead, Eren told Armin everything.

Why Mikasa was living with his family.

What had happened to her parents and why her family had been targeted in the first place.

What they had both done to survive.

And how his thoughtless question would have been taken by Mikasa mere weeks after losing everything she had known and loved for that very reason.

It made Armin feel sick to his stomach, and he almost collapsed to his knees, his world view turned on its head. Eren tried to comfort him but Armin was just so overwhelmed by everything he quickly made up some excuse to go home after choking out another reassurance that he wouldn't tell anyone.

Armin didn't get much sleep that night, his mind fixed on topics no nine year old should ever have to think about. He had always known this world was not always a kind place; the loss of his parents, the bullying he went through and the mere existence of man-eating monsters beyond the Wall was proof enough of that but what Eren had told him was a whole new brand of horror. Slavers, human trafficking, murder.

If he had slept, Armin was sure he would have been plagued with nightmares, but those long hours of staring up at his bedroom ceiling with red tearful eyes and a bottomless void where his stomach once was did help him come to a decision.

He didn't know how he was going to make it up to Mikasa, but Armin swore to himself that the next time he saw her he would show her his book and all the wonders it contained that lay beyond the Wall. It was the least he could do to show her that there was more in this world than horror and cruelty.

That there was still something beautiful out there, past these unforgiving walls that imprisoned them all and the monsters which resided on both sides.

Maybe one day the three of them would get to see that beauty with their own eyes.

---

The present

Sinkhole - Wall Sina

The reeling sounds of pulleys and wires filled the air as Levi descended into the sinkhole. He felt that telltale pull in his stomach as his hooks dug into the limestone, slowing his fall and allowing him to land in the basin with textbook grace. His boots practically gliding to a stop over the mossy stones.

Levi straightened up, slotting his gear handles away as he looked around the hole. A faint breath passed through his lips. One he didn't realise he had been holding.

He knew coming down here again would be a strange, likely unwelcome feeling, but that hadn't prepared him for this. The warmth of the sun against his skin, the sounds of water trickling down the exposed rock face. The soft chirping of birds above and the whistling over wind which blew over the opening.

It was like he had been transported a decade into the past, into an old cherished memory. One of the few good ones he had.

He shouldn't have been surprised that nothing had changed since that day. It was a cave system. A decade was nothing for a place like this. The rock he had sat on was still there, smooth and dry, elevated above the others. A perfect place to watch over those important to him while they relaxed in the sunlight they rarely got to see.

Levi stepped forward, something pulling him closer to that rock. Why? What was so important about it? It was just a shitty lump of stone jutting out of the earth. There were dozens like it in this pit alone, so why was he still moving towards this one?

Was he expecting something to happen once he reached it? Was he hoping something would happen?

Hoping for what?

Levi's brief, trace-like walk came to an end when his boot landed in a shallow puddle of water which had formed in a small groove in the rock. The splash echoed round the open cavern, bouncing off the walls before gradually fading into nothingness. Looking down at the once stagnant water, Levi spotted something old and half rotten floating around on the surface, rocking in the waves his foot fall had caused.

Soundlessly, Levi crouched down to pluck the object out, uncaring of how dirty it must be as his fingers curled around it and lifted it from the fetid water.

A feather.

Once upon a time it may have been as white and soft as snow; pure and unspoiled. Beautiful even. Now though, after floating in the filth for Walls know how long, it had been left stained and mouldy, falling apart even as his forefinger gently ran down it's surface.

"One. Two. Three!"

A leap, a fluttering of wings and a cheer.

"See ya birdie! Don't get lost down here again ya hear!"

A wistful sigh as the beating of wings fade away.

"Must be nice to fly around up there like that. Flyin' in the sun…"

"Hey, Big Bro."

"Do you think we'll ever be able to live up there as well?"

Why was it always feathers?

"Yoohoo! Levi!" Hanji shouted down from the lip of the sinkhole, tearing Levi out of the old memory like a slap to the face, jarring him back into reality. "You okay down there?"

The feather crumpled as his hand clenched into fist, then broke apart entirely. Tiny clumps of hair slipped through his fingers only to be taken away by the wind as Levi rose from his kneeling position.

Levi looked up, ignoring the odd tightness in his throat, squinting in the evening sun which still pierced through the forest canopy above, and shouted back.

"I'm fine, foureyes."

"Great! You got me worried there for a moment, going all quiet like that. Thought you slipped and smacked your head or something."

"I'm fine." Levi repeated with a bit more force, brushing the remnants of the feather from his hand. "It's all clear, so get down here."

"Okay, coming down now!"

Once again the sounds of reeling wires and hooks smashing into stone filled the air as the rest of the strike team descended into the pit.

To no one's surprise, least of all his, Ackerman was the first to touch down after the all clear sign was given, landing almost as gracefully as he had, crouched and ready to spring into action. She didn't make a sound as her dark eyes scanned the area.

After her came Arlert, landing a few moments later, back to back with Ackerman with only a small stumble on the slippery stones before steadying himself. Sharp blue eyes peered out between the blond curtains of his hair, darting this way and that.

It only lasted a second but Levi could feel that inexplicable spark of familiarity flaring up again as he watched the two of them. They moved like two parts of a greater whole, seamlessly operating in tandem and covering the other's blind spots as they carried out their own threat assessment, searching for anything he might have missed.

It had taken Levi years to hammer those sort of instincts into his old squad members, and here these two were doing it like second nature.

Old Shadis must have gone all out with training those two. Shame that the others needed a lot more work.

Hanji was next to arrive, mere seconds after Arlert, almost languidly skipping across the stones to a halt as she gazed up at the exposed rock face with a toothy grin, the sunlight glinting off her goggles. For the past few hours she had been regaling everyone with facts about sinkholes, caves and (when they came into view) mountains, telling all within earshot theories about how they were formed and why.

Levi had pretended to ignore that lecture as they marched here, focused on guiding everyone through the interior, but secretly kept one ear open once Hanji got to the part about how sinkholes formed. He hadn't done it for his sake of course, but because he had been asked a question like that once and hadn't known the answer.

It's not like he had any sort of formal education after all. The only thing he had been taught was how to fight and how to survive. Hell, he'd only learnt how to read and write properly a few years after most of the brats in his squ- temporary squad were born.

Perks of the underground...

However, for all the shit he gave her, Levi knew Hanji was smart, really smart. If she said that's how this shitty hole in the ground was formed then that's how it was.

If Isabel was still watching over him, then hopefully she finally got her answer.

The rest of his team's arrival was not so fast or flawless, as they abseiled down the walls with varying degrees of confidence. Both Blouse and Ymir looked rather unsure about going underground as they cautiously dropped the last few metres. Springer and Reiss appeared less fussed about this whole thing, confidently descending into the pit and landing close by the top two graduates of their class. However, as Reiss touched down she stumbled over a small rock and would have fallen onto her hands and knees had Ackerman not caught her by the arm.

Levi absently noted the odd smile the two girls shared as Ackerman helped Reiss back onto her feet, as if the act was some private joke between them, but he dismissed the rogue thought with a mental handwave. After all, they were friends, and there could be any number of inane reasons for that brief exchange, none of which were important right now.

The last two to land were Bott and Kirstein, and the sight of them reminded Levi that he needed to speak to both of them, privately, at some point. He should have done it straight after returning from Orvud but he had been… distracted at the time, foolishly allowing what happened back in the district to fester and go unaddressed.

However, on the surface at least, both of them appeared to be dealing with the situation better than he anticipated. But looks can be deceiving. There was no way of knowing how either of them (or any of the others for that matter) would react if they got in another situation like the alleyway.

Levi had decided to trust his gut instinct about bringing those two along, despite Hanji's quiet reservations. If worse comes to it and they can't handle it, Levi would have them sent back topside in a heartbeat and carry on short-handed. They couldn't afford any dead weight right now.

Now that everyone going into the underground had arrived, Hanji stuck two fingers in her mouth and let out a sharp whistle which carried back up to the surface, where her squad (minus the two who were currently escorting Erwin back to HQ) were waiting. They would be staying up there for now, setting up camp and organising the reinforcements as they arrived.

After a confirmation whistle was sent back, the four remaining members of squad Hanji were gone, retreating back into the woods and leaving the Section Commander, Captain and eight young scouts alone.

"Right, listen up, all of you." Levi instructed as his team formed a semi-circle in front of him. "As soon as we enter the city we are in enemy territory, and until we reach the safe house you are to keep your hood up, head down and gear hidden. You stay in a line and you don't stop moving for any reason. Is that understood?"

A series of nods and affirmations were given, the collective voices echoing round the cavern.

"Good. Now, I want an inventory of all the weapons we have." Levi asked. He knew all of the larger weapons like the rifles had been left with Hanji's squad as they were far too big and conspicuous to smuggle through the underground. Replacement rifles could be easily acquired from the black market once they set up a base if needed, but Levi was currently thinking short term. As in, the walk to the safe house, kind of short term.

And to do that he needed to know what they still had left to work with.

The answer to his request was a dozen knives, two small vials of poison (Levi didn't bother to ask Hanji why she had those or where she got them from, because quite frankly he didn't want to know), five two-shot pistols, Blouse's bow and of course their 3DM gear and spare blades. That would probably be enough for the trek through the city, now he just had to arrange who had what.

"Everyone grab a knife, and put it somewhere easy to reach. Arlert, Reiss, the spares are yours. Strap it to your ankle and hide it in your boots. Hanji you can keep your shitty potions but take this as well." Levi shoved his pistol into Hanji's palm, forcing her to accept it. She looked ready to complain about him labelling her likely homegrown toxins as a potion but Levi powered on before she could start. "Blouse you can keep the bow but make sure it stays hidden. Bott, give your pistol to Ymir, and Springer hand yours over to Ackerman."

The weapons were handed over along with shared looks of bewilderment between the younger scouts at his orders. It hadn't gone unnoticed that with that last swap, all five pistols were held by the women in the group, despite Marco being a better shot than Ymir and Mikasa's propensity for close quarters combat.

It seemed like an odd choice to make to them, but Levi wasn't expecting or planning on the girls using the pistols to start sniping people out of the sky. He had given the guns to them because they would be facing a whole different kind of threat down there, and if brandishing a pistol instead of just a knife prevented them from being cornered and dragged off never to be seen again, then so be it.

The fact he even had to plan for this sort of thing was a stark reminder of how much he despised this godforsaken shithole.

Suppressing his well founded hatred of his place of birth, Levi jabbed a thumb over his shoulder towards the cave system which connected into the underground. "I'll give you all a full rundown later but for now, there is one rule you need to know. None of you are to go anywhere alone. I don't care if you're just going to fetch some water from a well or going to the privy to shit. You leave the safehouse, you bring your weapons and at least one other person with you. This is the only warning you're going to get and if I see any of you out alone, I will break your legs and lock you in a room until we're done, then once we're done here, I'll have you thrown out of the corp for disobeying orders."

Hanji raised a questioning eye at that threat. Not the leg breaking bit of course, as that was one of his go-tos, but at the booting out. Technically, he didn't have that authority, as only the Commander could discharge a soldier, honourably or dishonourably, from the corp. And as far as either Levi or Hanji knew no living scout had been dishonourably discharged in over a decade.

After all, normally when a scout disobeys a direct order, it happens during an expedition, and breaking ranks and doing your own thing out there is an unfailing death sentence.

Here, however, if anyone disobeyed his command, they might survive long enough for Levi to carry out his threat (it wouldn't take much to convince Erwin, especially if they endangered an operation like this). Jail time, fines, convictions, loss of pension and wages, and barred from working with a government organisation ever again. All that and more followed a dishonourable discharge, and it would stick with them and their family name for the rest of their miserable lives, leaving them destitute and alone in this already uncaring world.

Levi was openly telling the young scouts that he would ruin their lives if they broke that rule, and if they were lucky, they'd never find out how much of a mercy that would be compared to the alternative if they wandered off alone.

A memory flash before his eyes. One of disheveled red hair, roughly cut and torn. A face full of cuts and bruises, and a quiet, muffled sobbing from behind a locked door.

Levi's fingers twitched at his sides, nearly curling into fists.

Never again.

If he had to scare and threaten these kids into listening, then so be it. Let them fear him, hate him if they must. It was better than the alternative.

A long awkward silence hung over the group with no one willing to break it, lest they provoke Levi's ire by making light on his threat. It was only when Hanji cleared her throat with a loud, obviously fake cough did the moment come to end.

"So…" Hanji drawled, bringing her hands together in a single clap in an attempt to inject some enthusiasm back into the group. "Shall we get moving? Our comrades aren't going to rescue themselves."

Levi repositioned his hip boxes with an affirmative grunt and drew his cloak closed over them, hiding his gear. The others did the same, again with various degrees of competency and speed.

Many of the recruits were tired from their long march here and it showed in their sluggish moments. With Orvud still on high alert from the day before, they had to use their gear to fly over Wall Sina then complete the rest of the journey on foot, carrying the camping supplies for the above ground team on their backs.

He'd have to give them some time to rest once they reached the safehouse or they'd start to get sloppy and make mistakes. And mistakes were something they couldn't afford.

Hanji stepped over towards him, her own cloak neatly tied around her. With the younger scouts distracted with their final preparations she dipped her head down and murmured a question in his ear.

"We do actually have a safehouse down there, right?"

It was a fair question to ask, especially since he was the one calling all the shots for this mission and had kept fairly tight lipped about the arrangements so far. There weren't many places in the underground that Levi would describe as even remotely safe, even fewer that could adequately shelter eight kids, two adults and a whole plethora of equipment and supplies.

Truthfully there was only one option for them. One place which was fit for purpose. A place which much like the underground itself, Levi never thought he'd see again.

"We do." Levi gave a curt nod before reaching up and pulling his hood up over his head, shrouding his face in shadows.

Hanji blew out a faint sigh of relief. "Well that's one less thing to worry about. Now we just have to find Eren and Petra. Any idea where we should start?"

He didn't have a clue, and that admission tore Levi up inside. The number of hideouts and bolt holes Kenny had in the underground was probably in the hundreds; from tiny, unassuming shacks tucked away in the deepest, darkest alleyway to entire buildings, filled to the rafters with booby traps and hidden weaponry.

And that was just Kenny's personal lairs. Throw in whatever the MPs and cult had as well and trying to find Eren and Petra would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. A haystack filled with shards of glass and razor blades.

They needed to narrow down the search area and fortunately he had a good idea how to do that. Levi had to keep his team small because new faces drew attention in the underground, and a whole gang of heavily armed MPs suddenly turning up and defending a certain area would almost certainly catch the eyes and ears of the city's numerous information brokers.

For this search and rescue mission to be even remotely possible, Levi would have to suck it up and see if his old contact was still active. He might be able to help… for a price.

"There's a few things we need to do before we can start looking. We'll leave the brats at the safehouse for now, give them a chance to rest up."

Hanji raised an eye. "And what will we be doing?"

"We're gonna pay an old friend a visit." Levi turned his head to look directly at his fellow officer. "You wanted a map of the underground, right? Well this is how we're going to get it."

"But I thought there weren't any."

"No official maps." Levi corrected. "There are some unofficial ones, and they won't come cheap, but they'll be better than nothing."

Summed up the whole operation really. Better than nothing.

"Hmm… A map would be good." Hanji mumbled, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "How much are we talking?"

Levi gave a conservative estimate, one which made Hanji balk.

"That's… a lot of money, Levi."

It was, but like most scouts Hanji lived full time on base so apart from the occasional luxury most of her wages had been left unspent for years.

"You get paid more than me, foureyes." Levi pointed out. "And if we make it out of here, just claim it back from Erwin. He won't care as long as we succeed."

"Barely." Hanji scoffed, but reached down to and patted the pouch of coins on her belt. "Fine, but I hope you brought some money as well, otherwise we're gonna starve once we run out of rations."

It wouldn't be the first time Levi went hungry in the underground. But if they conserved their food supplies properly they could operate for about a week on the rations they brought with them, and if they somehow hadn't found Eren and Petra in that time (and were still alive) they could always just raid one of the merchant's warehouses for supplies. Not a first for him either.

Admittedly that probably wasn't the skill set Erwin had in mind for the 104th when he made Levi their Captain but necessity is king in the end.

As Levi went to reply that they would manage even with their limited funds, a faint cough drew their attention away from each other and back to the now ready and awaiting recruits.

"Oops," Hanji whispered, a sly grin on her face. "Looks like our kids are waiting for us."

Choosing to ignore the remark about 'their kids' for his own sanity, Levi tsked and regarded his clearly anxious and nervous team carefully. They were all packed and ready to go, gear stached, weapons hidden, and cloaks tightly wrapped, yet they just awkwardly stood there, waiting and staring at him expectantly. Levi held their collective gaze and stared back until Hanji lightly nudged him with her elbow.

'Inspire them.' He could see the request in Hanji's eyes. 'You've used the stick, now offer the carrot.'

She wanted him to give some moving speech to motivate the kids for this mission. That's what Erwin would do. Fiery words and power rhetoric about humanity and the future, to spur his soldiers into feats of valor and heroism in the shadow of death.

But that wasn't Levi. He was a man of few words; ever blunt, and straight to the point. To him the 'carrot' was the brats getting their friend back, and humanity not going extinct when Braun and Hoover returned. What words could be more motivating than that?

Hanji nudged him again, only this time it was far less subtle. More of a shove really.

'Tsk. Fine.' Levi nearly rolled his eyes as he opened his mouth to speak.

If Hanji was expecting some grand spectacle that would make its way into the history books, then she would be sorely disappointed.

"This is the most important mission of your lives." Levi flatly stated, his gaze passing from person to person, looking them dead in the eye. "If we fail here, and Braun and Hoover return, it means death for all of us. You, me, Eren and Petra. Everyone you've ever known or loved, everyone you ever walked past on the street. It's all on us."

Shoulders slumped, expressions went slack and eyes fluttered shut in silent prayers. If they weren't frightened and nervous enough before, they were now.

Levi could feel the dirty look Hanji was shooting him, but he wasn't finished.

"And I picked you for this mission knowing that fact. Not because you were the only ones available, but because Erwin truly believes you can handle it. When he assigned you to me, he claimed it was because you lot had potential, more so than the other brats that signed up." Levi paused, folding his arms over his chest and giving the visibly confused recruits a moment to process the offhand acknowledgement.

Before their faces could brighten too much and give him a headache, Levi shrugged, almost dismissively. "Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. Either way this is your chance to prove it."

With that, Levi abruptly turned on the spot and strode towards the cave mouth, with a final parting remark thrown casually over his shoulder at the still stunned recruits.

"Don't let me down."

---

The Underground City

The underground city, Armin realised, was a lot like visiting Marley for the first time. Bewildering, exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure.

He had heard plenty about this place before, having read about it in books and reports during his old life. He had seen the statistics and heard the stories and rumours, but none of that could have prepared him for the sheer mind boggling scale of this underground metropolis.

The pungent mix of smells, the hot stale air, and the ceaseless thrum of noise from the tens of thousands of residents crammed down in this cistern. He doubted there was anything quite like this anywhere else on earth. It was truly unique.

But, much like Marley and the world beyond the seas, the underground was a twisted version of his childhood dream. Tainted with the cruel realities of life.

Everywhere he looked, every street corner, every alleyway, every nook and cranny which had been carved out in between haphazardly stacked buildings, Armin saw crime, poverty, and terrible suffering.

He saw horribly thin and gaunt faced children darting from alleyway to alleyway, skittish and jumpy, fleeing back into the darkness whenever he looked their way. He saw men and women of all ages begging on the streets, the threadbare rags they wore failing to hide their boney limbs and crooked, misshapen legs.

Rickets, Armin recalled, thinking back to one of the modern medical books the anti-marleyan volunteers had brought with them. The constant lack of sunlight and poor nutrition had weakened their bones and muscles until they could no longer stand under their own weight.

How many people down here were similarly afflicted with the disorder, trapped on the ground, unable to move with no hope of support or medical assistance?

Hundreds?

Thousands?

It was a horrible thought, and as if the sight of countless people, countless children, wasting away before his very eyes wasn't bad enough, somewhere in the middle of this nightmarish labyrinth was Eren, held in the clutches of a psychotic murderer and a despotic shadow King who was out for blood.

It was a situation Armin held himself entirely responsible for and it weighed heavy on him. He had no way of knowing what condition Eren would be in when they found him or how high the butcher's bill would be to successfully rescue him.

An all out assault against the interior squad with their anti-personnel gear would be a brutal and bloody affair, even more so than last time. This wasn't the crystal cave, open and devoid of non-combatants. This was the underground city, the interior squad's playground where most of them had cut their teeth and been transformed from standard MPs into ruthless killers at Kenny's own hand.

If they brought the strength of the corp to bear, casualties would be inevitable and there was little he could do to stop that. If necessary, Mikasa and himself could take a few shots to protect their friends, even if it ousted them as shifters, but there were limits to their healing abilities. Without being connected to their Titans as Reiner had been back in Shiganshina, they probably wouldn't survive having their heads blown off.

It wasn't a theory Armin wanted to put to the test, especially when it came with the added risk of them losing control in the heat of the moment and accidently shifting. It might not be so bad for Mikasa, with there being plenty of clearance for a standard 15m Titan form down here but his Titan was another case entirely.

Armin tried not to picture how utterly devastating his transformation would be in this vast yet still enclosed space. The explosion that often came with his shift was cataclysmic at the best of times, but it would almost certainly bring the entire cave system crashing down upon them if it went off down here.

There was a reason why most shifters developed a healthy fear of being underground, especially the holders of the Colossal…

It was amid his silent ruminations about the risks of this rescue mission when a familiar, ever welcome voice spoke up from his side, drawing him out of his downward spiral.

"You're thinking about something." Mikasa commented, keeping her voice low and eyes fixed forward, maintaining her eagle eyed vigilance over the backs of their friends, even as she struck up a conversation.

Her unwavering diligence and tactical attentiveness would never cease to amaze him.

It was also the reason for their position at the back of the column, snaking its way through the city. It hadn't been planned or discussed with Levi or anyone else, they had just naturally gravitated towards the rear as they made their way towards the safehouse. From here they could watch their friend's backs and ensure no one fell behind or was being followed.

It was a decision that had already paid dividends a few blocks back, when they noticed a hooded man who appeared to be shadowing Sasha. Of course, there was a chance he had just been an ordinary man going about his business with nothing untowards in his intentions, but they were in no mood to take chances. They were not losing another friend down here, and the fact it was Sasha of all people he was hovering near made them even more defensive.

With a few subtle gestures signally their plan, Mikasa had quietly slipped in behind the man and took him out, quickly and decisively, with a tap on the shoulder to throw him off guard then delivering a knocking out blow in the eloquent form of an elbow to the temple. They had left the possible stalker slumped over in a doorway and rejoined the column before anyone had even realised they were gone.

With their friends still blissfully unaware of their protective actions, Armin turned to look up at Mikasa. A few strands of hair slipped from his hood and fell across his face, tickling his nose and mouth. The bothersome sensation reminded Armin how he was long overdue a trim, and that his hair had now reached that stage where it frequently got in the way.

Next time they had a minute to relax, he'd have to ask Mikasa if she wouldn't mind going over the unruly locks with a pair of scissors, like they used to do. In the meantime he could always borrow another hair tie from Sasha just to keep it off his face.

Armin gave a feeble shrug as he replied to Mikasa's observation, blowing those loose strands away from his mouth.

"Just weighing our options." He kept his voice low, mindful about being overheard by the stream of civilians who passed them on this busy street. "I'm worried, Mikasa. There's so many unknowns down here that whatever we do it's going to be incredibly risky and not to mention dangerous."

Armin saw the corner of Mikasa's mouth twitch.

"It always is but that's never stopped us before, has it?" She retorted, cutting to the undeniable truth of the matter. They were scouts of the survey corps, everything they did was dangerous.

The stakes were painfully high on this mission, that much was true, but they had faced situations like this before. Faced and overcome.

Armin decided it was best not to dwell on the human cost each of those 'impossible victories' had entailed and instead nodded along with what Mikasa had said.

"You're right. I'm just... overthinking everything again. Sorry."

Armin wrung his hands under his cloak, feeling them brush against the pistol attached to his belt. He wasn't supposed to have it thanks to Levi's reshuffle, but Mikasa had subtly passed it to him once they exited the caves into the city. Knowing her as well as he did, Armin offered only a token resistance to the move before relenting to that silent stare and accepted Connie's pistol.

He would have passed the gun onto its original owner had it not been for all the questions that would inevitably arise from such an act.

Armin's uncertain fidgeting hadn't gone unnoticed by Mikasa, nor his choice of words, both of which had caused a small frown to break out across her face. Slowing her steady stride, Mikasa reached out an arm from the folds of her cloak and placed her hand on Armin's shoulder with a gentle squeeze.

With how high strung Armin felt in that moment, the unexpected physical contact should have made him jump but it didn't. Quite the opposite in fact, as he felt himself relaxing into the touch.

"You don't have to apologise for thinking things through, Armin." Mikasa said softly, turning her head so dark grey could meet ocean blue. "It's who you are, and it's the only reason we've made it this far. If you didn't, we wouldn't get those crazy last minute plans when we need them most."

Armin could feel the growing warmth in his chest starting to creep into his face as Mikasa reinforced her words with another comforting squeeze, knowing exactly what he needed to hear.

"You don't need to worry, Armin. We're going to find him. You know we will. However long it takes, whatever we have to do, we will find him and bring him back to us. And we'll do it while keeping everyone else safe as well. We're not going to fail again. Not now."

Strangely, the possibility of simply not finding Eren had never crossed Armin's mind. In fact the moment the MP had uttered Eren's rough location in that barn any such doubts had been wiped away in their entirety. If they had a location, they could - would - get Eren back.

No, his concerns since that moment had been on what or who they might lose in the process. When Reiner and Bertholdt had kidnapped Eren on Wall Rose, they had lost Hannes to get Eren back. In Liberio it had been Sasha.

But if Mikasa truly believed they could do this without losing anyone else they cared about, that they could take down Rod and Kenny, scatter the interior squad and rescue their missing friend, then so would he.

He had to believe in something.

"R-right. We can do this. We will." He corrected, a small resolute smile on his face as a revitalised sense of determination filled him.

"Thanks for setting me straight." Armin finished as he allowed one of his hands to slip from his cloak and reached up to rest it on top of Mikasa's own lingering hand. It was a slightly awkward position to be in physically, seeing how they were still slowly walking side by side down a busy street but neither of them seemed to mind. It felt right and that's all that mattered.

"Anytime." Mikasa said softly, sharing his smile.

The small moment between, pleasant as it was, didn't last as the stark reality of life in the underground reasserted itself. They had already walked past at least a dozen heated arguments and shouting matches on their journey through the city, and the growing quarrel between several men up ahead was nothing new to the scouts. They thought nothing of it, until one of the men threw a punch.

It was sloppy and crude, but a punch is still a punch, and the wide arch swing it took into the other man's face still knocked him on his arse. There was a beat of stunned silence between the squabbling men as they processed what just happened, before the fallen man's compatriot returned the favour with a bellowed curse. And like that, a bare knuckled brawl broke out in the middle of the street, cutting the scout column in half as the passing civilians stopped and crowded around the fight to jeer and watch.

Most of their friends were safely on the other side of the now block street with Levi and Hanji, but just like themselves, both Connie and Jean had been cut off and pushed back by the increasingly fervent spectators.

Armin and Mikasa broke apart, their self appointed duty overriding everything else.

"I've got Connie." Armin stated as his keen eyes locked onto the bewildered, short-haired teen, already planning out the quickest route to him and then the best way to reunite with the others.

Without pause, Mikasa gave a sharp nod, already moving towards Jean before he could get further turned around and lost in the swelling crowd.

It was going to be a long day at this rate.

---

After what must have been a further hour of walking (and fortunately with no more incidents like the possible stalker or street fight), Captain Levi finally called for a stop after they had passed under a narrow brick archway into a small courtyard. As the scouts looked around the seemingly deserted square, Levi took a sharp right and walked up a small external stairway, before stopping at an unremarkable wooden door.

Instead of trying the handle like most people would, Levi let out a faint huff and twisted on the balls of feet to face the wall which lined the edge of the stairs, and started running a hand across the individual bricks as if searching for something.

At the base of the stairs the rest of the strike team including Hanji shared looks of confusion at the Captain's strange behaviour.

"Is… is he okay?" Sasha whispered, wondering why Humanity's strongest was groping a wall.

"Y-yeah... I'm sure he's fine. You know Levi, always on the ball..." Hanji's awkward smile and stilted reply wasn't exactly convincing, and Ymir made sure she knew that.

"Wanna say that with any less confidence?" The taller girl grumbled as she rubbed her upper arm, eyes darting around the area from one shadowy corner to another.

On top of stairs Levi's searching hand came to an abrupt halt on a partially cracked brick. Using the small cracks as finger holds, Levi grabbed the brick and with a wordless grunt, pulled the semi-loose brick straight out of the wall in a cloud of crumbling mortar dust, revealing a small cubbyhole containing a single rusting key.

Fishing it out and blowing away the cobwebs encasing it, Levi replaced the brick and turned back to the door, key in hand. The lock was stiff and made a horrible scraping sound as Levi twisted the key round, unlocking the door which swung inwards under his guiding hand.

"Wait there." Levi instructed, sparing them a quick glance before stiffly moving through the threshold into the building. He made no move to grab one of his swords as he dipped from sight to scout the place out.

More looks were shared between the 104th and Hanji as the seconds ticked by, a tense air of silence enveloping them as they waited for Levi's return or for a sign something bad had happened. When the unbearable silence hit the two minute mark, Mikasa could wait no longer and took a step forwards onto the stairs. If something had happened then she was the best person to deal with the unknown threat. However, as she took her second step up, hand already resting on her sword hilt, Levi finally returned, leaning out of the doorway, blinking more than usual.

"Come on." He said, voice oddly tight.

Mikasa scrutinised Levi's face as she led the group up the stairs, grip still lingering on her blade. There was definitely something up with him, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. The stiffness of his stance, tightly pressed lips, clipped voice and rather pronounced blinking, like he had something in his eye.

If Mikasa didn't know any better, she would say Levi looked uncomfortable, but it was impossible to tell because the moment he caught her looking his expression hardened like stone.

Reaching the top of the stairs and coming to stop eye level with the Captain, Mikasa got her first proper look into the place they would be staying in when she glanced over his shoulder. eye level with the older man.

Her initial reaction was one of mild shock at just how dirty it was and the sheer amount of dust which was visible to the naked eye. It was everywhere. The floor, tables, the kitchen work tops along the far wall. Even the small settee and armchair which sat in the middle of the room were covered in a thick layer of the stuff.

Her nose wrinkled at the faint smell of rot and decay drifting through the open door, a clear sign that whatever this place was it hadn't been lived in a long, long time.

"What is this place?" Mikasa asked, exhaling out her nose in an attempt to dispel the scent.

"A safehouse. Were you expecting a luxury hotel or something?" Levi bitingly replied, having picked up on her surprise at the room's condition.

Annoyed, Mikasa pursed her lips. It had been a perfectly valid question to ask, but if Levi was insisting on being an arse about it then fine. She could give as good as she got.

Opening her mouth to deliver an equally cutting remark, Mikasa found the wind taken out of her sails when Ymir spoke up from behind, her annoying, snarky voice drawing the attention of the corps's two strongest soldiers away from each other and onto her instead.

"Oi, scarfy. Get a move on, there's a line formin' here." Ymir gestured over her shoulder at the row of sheepish looking scouts who had been stopped mid-climb by their small standoff.

Quickly realising that getting her friends - and Ymir - safely inside was far more important than getting a minor verbal victory over the Captain, Mikasa decided to be the bigger person and ignored the remark as she turned back and strode past Levi into the mysterious safehouse.

There would be plenty of chances to get back at him once the others were safe.

With the path now clear, it didn't take long for everyone else to join her in what was clearly the living room of the house, trying not to cough too much at all the dust that had been kicked up by their entrance. Hanji let out a low whistle while Jean and Connie stifled a few choking coughs. To their right Historia waved a hand in front of her face, blowing the free floating dust away from her easily irritated eyes.

While everyone else expressed their shock and disbelief, with stunned silences and wide eyes, Ymir had started loudly commenting on the mess almost as soon as she entered, asking if it was too late to go back to 'shitting in the woods'. She was ignored by the rest for the most part, having grown used to her tactless self. Levi, however, wasn't feeling so forgiving.

"Ymir." The Captain called out, pulling the door shut behind him with an audible click. "Shut the fuck up."

While his voice didn't raise in anger, there was a particular sharpness to it that caused Ymir to flinch as her mouth snapped shut and her shoulders curled in, defensively. She might have been one of the few people brave (or stupid) enough to purposely provoke Mikasa on numerous occasions, not even Ymir had the guts to do the same thing to Captain Levi. Not to his face anyway.

Connie coughed into his hand again, both from the swirling dust and from squishing down an amused snort at Ymir's humbling, but quickly looked down at his feet when Levi's gaze turned on him.

"Grow up. Both of you." The warning rang out as Levi stalked past them, still lingering by the outer wall as he circled around the bewildered group of scouts, seemingly reluctant to move any deeper into the room again. He came to a stop by a cupboard before addressing the group once more.

"This is where we'll be staying until further notice, so get used to it. Apart from the front door the only way out is through the hatch on the roof, but that stays shut at all times unless it's an emergency. As for sleeping arrangements there's only a few rooms upstairs so unless you want to sleep on the floor you'll have to share. You can decide between yourselves, because I really don't care who you sleep with as long as you stay focused." Levi's gaze lingered on Historia and Ymir for a moment, levelling the couple a rather pointed look before moving on. "Hanji and I will take the room at the end, so leave that one."

With a quick tug, Levi pulled open the stiff cupboard door, revealing a frankly disturbing number of dusty brooms, empty buckets and other cleaning equipment neatly stacked on shelves. There were a handful of groans from the already exhausted 104th at the sight, knowing full well what came next.

"You can get some sleep once you've cleaned this place up. I expect everything to be spotless by the time we return or else I'll be waking you all up to do it again." Levi warned as he reached into the cupboard, pulled out two broomsticks, and tossed them one towards Marco, who caught it with fumbling hands, and the other towards Mikasa.

Mikasa didn't even blink at the broom rushing towards her, and made no move to catch it. Instead, she leaned to the side, allowing the broomstick to fly right past her and smack Ymir square in the chest with a meaty thwack. A sharp string of curses erupted at her back but Mikasa ignored it in favour of narrowing her eyes at what Levi had said.

'Return? Return from what?'

Her confusion was echoed verbally by Jean. "You're leaving?! But what about the mission? I thought-"

"This is part of the mission. A part you don't need to be involved in yet." Levi firmly countered, booking no further room to argue. "Hanji and I will be back in a few hours, so stay put, clean up and don't do anything stupid. Ackerman, Arlert, you're in charge till then. Got it?"

Armin didn't look too happy with that decision and Mikasa wanted to protest. Vehemently so in fact. The idea of just staying here, cleaning, while Levi went out looking for Eren or whatever it was he was planning on doing didn't sit right with them at all. But they had also served under Levi for long enough to know he wasn't about to change his mind and arguing with him would only result in them being ignored and sidelined in future when it came to decision making. That was a situation they couldn't afford to be in.

Mikasa let out a calming breath. Levi wasn't going to find and rescue Eren without them, not in one afternoon. This was going to take time, and they had to prepare for that. If that meant staying here and setting up a habitable base of operations then so be.

So, reluctantly, they both nodded, acknowledging the command and accepting the responsibility it entailed.

"Good." Levi said before turning to the others and jerking his head back towards the open cupboard. "The rest of you get to work."

The two officers stuck around for a few more minutes, checking over their gear one last time and dumping their backpacks in the room they would be sharing. They were gone not long after that, heading out the door for destinations unknown. Hanji at least stopped to say goodbye, telling them to stay safe and be careful, while Levi had just grunted out some vague warning about finding any dirt before quickly marching out the door.

Even Hanji had been surprised at the abruptness of his exit, and rushed outside as to not be left behind, leaving the 104th to their daunting chore.

That was how Sasha found herself, ten minutes later, wiping away what must have been a decade's worth of dust off the kitchen table with a damp cloth. It was tiring, boring work that caused her already heavy arms to go numb from the repetitive action. At least she had Connie's off-tune humming to listen to as he scrubbed down the nearby counters.

She recognised it as one of the marching songs from bootcamp - the rude one about the Sina bride - and was about to join in with her own offbeat verse when she spotted something on the table just where her cleaning rag had passed over.

Squinting at it in the dull light of the nearby candle, Sasha scrubbed that spot again, cleaning away yet more dust to make sure she wasn't just seeing things.

"What the… Hey Con, come have a look at this." She blurted out, blindly reaching out behind until she caught hold of Connie's shirt and dragged him over.

"H-Hey! Watch it-" Connie protested, but stopped when Sasha pointed at the table, drawing his eyes towards her discovery.

"Oh." Connie blinked down at it a few times before looking back up at his best friend. "Did you do that?"

"No! It was already there. I just found it beneath all this crap." Sasha gestured with the dirty rag at the rest of the table, as if Connie was somehow unaware of the dust.

"Huh, weird." Connie muttered, tracing a finger over what had caught her eye; three letters which had been carved into the wooden surface. They were small and close together, no bigger than an inch or two and no more than a finger's width apart, but the weirdest thing about them was how each letter had been carved slightly differently to the last, as if done by multiple people.

"I… L… F… ILF?" Connie read aloud, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean? Is that even a word?"

After another quick wipe of the tabletop and finding no more letters underneath the thick layer of dust, Sasha shrugged, stumped. "I-I dunno. Maybe it's one of those… those... gah, what's the word… ah, acornim! Maybe it's one of those acornim thingies, like 3DMG?"

Connie looked up and down, his face slowly turning red as he mumbled out a reply. "I don't think that's how it's pronounced. But if it is something like that then the only one I can think of is..."

Not quite meeting her eyes, Connie mouthed a certain phrase, which resulted in Sasha's own face colouring to match as she stomped on his foot to make him stop.

"No, stupid, not that one! A proper phrase. Like somethin' Armin would know."

"I'm pretty sure Armin knows that one." Connie grumbled, wincing as he rubbed his sore foot, regretting having taken off his boots. "It could just be some random markings, Sash. It might not mean anything. Don't get worked up about it."

"But-"

Sasha paused, chewing her lip. There was a good chance Connie was right about that, and she really didn't want to call Armin over just to end up looking like an idiot. Of course she knew that he would happily come over and help if she asked, and wouldn't be mean if it did turn out to be nothing like Connie suspected but it would still be embarrassing.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Sasha sighed, her shoulders sagging somewhat in defeat. She should leave the investigation stuff for the smart people.

After all it was just some random carving in an obviously long abandoned house.

What could one possibly learn from that?

---

Underground City - Fritz Ward - Southern Quarter

Some time later

The Titan's Tooth.

It was an interesting name for a bar, and one impossible to miss thanks to the painted bright red sign affixed to the front of the three story building. It was nestled between a modest warehouse and one of the countless awe inspiring pillars of rock that reached up to the sparking cave roof high above their heads.

Compared to pretty much everything else down here, the bar was shockingly well maintained to Hanji's eyes, and with the sole exception of those damn cult churches, it was probably the only large structure she had seen today that wouldn't be condemned as a safety hazard if it were located in one of the districts. Even the numerous stained glass windows were clean and intact, allowing the warm orange glow to shine onto the street and draw in thirsty punters like moths to a flame. And drawing them in it did, judging from the number of drunkards milling about as the two scout officers made their way towards the establishment's front door.

Levi had been adamant that he would do the talking once they were inside, something Hanji had agreed to without much argument. She was smart enough to know when to take a step back.

"You still got your gun?" Levi asked her out the corner of his mouth as they approached the heavy wooden door which made up the entranceway. Hanji nodded, her hand instinctively brushing over the unfamiliar weight of the pistol hidden in her trouser pocket.

"Am I going to need it?" She asked, mildly concerned.

The grunting reply Levi gave as they sidestepped a swaying drunkard wasn't particularly reassuring. "Just keep your eyes open, it's been a long time since I was last here. You still got the money?"

Seeing her small nod, Levi held out his hand, expectantly. With only a small degree of hesitation, Hanji fished the pouch containing almost three months worth of wages out of her cloak before handing it over to Levi who then swiftly attached it to his own belt.

"Don't lose it." The now impoverished Hanji grumbled, picturing all the lab equipment she could have bought with that sum. But if it got them even a vague location on Eren and Petra then it would be more than worth it.

"No shit." Levi muttered under his breath as they reached the door and pushed it open, granting them entry into the crowded, sweltering bar.

Tobacco smoke permeated the air, leaving it hazy and grey, forcing Hanji to squint as she silently cursed herself for removing her goggles. Music blared out from a band sitting in the corner next to an elevated stage, the flutes and drums competing with the drone of overlapping conversations from the countless patrons sitting at tables and perched on stools.

To their right, directly opposite the stage, was a large ornate bar, made of solid oak with fancy brass edging and patterns which had been polished to a shine. Four snazzily dressed bartenders kept the drinks flowing, operating like a well oiled machine as they passed out mugs, bottles and glasses in one hand and accepted coins with the other.

With how busy they were right now, Hanji could only imagine how much money they raked in on a daily basis.

"Come on. He's over there." Levi nodded his head towards the booths lining the back wall. Hanji tried to follow his gaze to see who Levi was talking about but couldn't make them out through the mass of bodies and tables in their way. Realising the futility of looking, Hanji just fell in behind Levi and allowed him to lead the way… again.

Hanji took a step forward only to immediately cringed as her foot landed in something sticky on the panelled floor. It was a conscious decision on her part to not look down at whatever she had stepped in and just assumed it was spilt beer.

It was only a few more sticky steps further when the atmosphere in the bar suddenly changed. Conversations died down as the music picked up and the beat changed to a steady. The drinkers began hooting and whistling towards the stage as three scantily clad women strode up onto it and struck an alluring pose.

'Ah, so it's that kind of bar…' Hanji looked away as the women began to sway their hips and dance to the music, now acutely aware of the patrons' one-sided demographics. Apart from a few barmaids roaming from table to table with drinks and the three dancers she was the only woman in sight.

Awkward as the situation may be, it would at least make for some excellent teasing material if they made it out of the underground in one piece, probably the best she'd had in years. Hanji smiled beneath her hood, picturing the moment sometime in the near future when they would be surrounded by fresh face recruits and their fellow officers and she would proceed to loudly remind Levi (with no context given, of course) of the time he took her to a *ahem* gentlemen's club.

Would Levi murder her in her sleep? Most likely.

Would it be worth it? Absolutely.

However, the sudden appearance of the dancers wasn't just a boon in terms of ribbing material, they also helped out in a more literal sense, as a good amount of the crowd which had been milling about between them and their destination moved closer to the stage, clearing a path. The 'distraction' they offered also meant no one paid any attention to the two cloaked individuals in their midst, which suited the two senior scouts just fine.

It also allowed Hanji to finally see who Levi was moving towards with single minded determination. In one of the booths in the corner, sat a single well dressed man, with slick back hair and an almost finished cigarette hanging between his lips. In his hand was a quill, the nib black with ink, as he tapped it against the open notebook laid out on the table, obviously deep in thought.

They got within a few metres of the man's booth before they were stopped short by two towering bodyguards, each as tall as Erwin and broad chested as Mike.

"That's close enough." The guard on the right growled, a pair of big beefy arms folded over his chest.

Levi didn't even look up at the man as he replied, instead keeping his gaze on the individual in the booth. "Move. We're here to see your boss."

"What did you just say, runt?" The other guard spat, taking a half step forward so he loomed over them in the most basic form of intimidation. The move didn't work so well against two people who spent their lives fighting Titans, but the height remark was enough to draw Levi's ire as he looked up at the two men for the first time, dark eyes blazing.

"Move." Levi icily repeated. "Or I'll make you."

"I'd like to see you try." Rightie spoke up again, unfolding his arms and cracking his knuckles. Hanji tensed up, readying herself for a fight. It had been a long time since she'd been in a bar fight, and while she could certainly hold her own with Levi here any brawl would be a painfully one sided affair. Still, Hanji was more than willing to throw down.

Before a punch could be thrown however a voice cut through the tension, halting the two encroaching guards in their tracks.

"Let them through."

Despite the loud music and the general noise of the crowd the command came across loud and clear. With a gentle flick of his finger, the man in the booth closed his notebook, and placed the quill down on top of it. There was a curious smile on his face as he leaned back into the dark leather of the booth, peering down at them between the gap of his two guards' large forms.

Leftie, who clearly wasn't the sharpest knife in the draw, started to protest. "But boss, we haven't searched 'em for weapons yet. They might be armed."

The man just laughed. "That, you fool, is Cisco. Of course he's armed. Now get out of the way, before you get blood on my new floor."

'Cisco?' Hanji blinked at the weird name Levi had been called, her readiness to fight temporarily lulled as her curious nature made itself known.

Looking to Levi she saw no reaction to the name as he maintained the hard, unblinking stare at the two guards who now looked absolutely terrified.

As soon as that strange name left the booth man's lips, both guards had gone rigid in fear, their faces paling so quickly that Hanji thought they might pass out. Leftie in particular with that height comment still ringing in their ears.

She almost felt bad for them.

"R-right. Sorry..." Like two kicked puppies, the guards mustered enough semblance of mind to shuffle aside, allowing the two scouts to pass. The grinning man in the booth gestured at the empty seats opposite, inviting them to sit.

"Hello old friend. It's been a while." He greeted when Levi slipped into the booth and sat down with an unreadable expression.

Hanji moved to join them, sliding her butt along oddly luxurious leather seats and trying not to wince as her hidden hip boxes dug into her sides. 3DM might be designed to be stored vertically like this but it certainly hadn't been done with comfort in mind. Once she was settled in and had subtly removed the edge of the box from her ribs, Hanji took a moment to properly assess the man Levi had brought them here to see.

If she had to describe him in a single word it would be average. Remarkably average, in fact.

He had the same pale, sallow skin that was so ubiquitous in the Underground. His facial features were well proportioned, not too big or too small, too close together or too far apart. He had crow's feet around his milky blue eyes and his nose was slightly crooked at the bridge but Hanji couldn't tell if that's just how it was or if it had been broken at some point. Narrow lips parting around the cigarette revealed a full set of off-white teeth.

All in all, his was a face Hanji would never pick out in a crowd. Not particularly good looking, but not overly repulsive either. Simply a non-entity that in a normal situation her brain would register then discard in the blink of an eye, barely reaching past her subconscious thoughts.

However as Hanji looked at him now, really looked, behind that deceptively plain face she could see a certain glint in the man's eyes. It was a sharp, cunning glint. The sort Erwin often had.

Make no mistake, this man was smart, and that made him dangerous.

Smart men always were.

"...you've redecorated." Levi gruffly replied, the comment snapping Hanji out of her assessment.

The corners of the man's mouth twitched up as he removed the cigarette and blew a perfect smoke ring into the air. Hanji's nose wrinkled as it passed overhead, noticing how it had a very different smell to the haze of tobacco which permeated the room.

"I've moved up in the world since we last met, Cisco, and lifted the Tooth up with me. She's my pride and joy after all." The apparent owner of the bar proclaimed as he placed what little remained of the still smouldering cigarette into an ashtray, before cocking his head toward the stage. "Still has the old comforts of home though, eh?"

More cheering and hooting broke out among the crowd as one of the dancers started removing her top and flung it into the assembled audience.

'Good thing we left the kids behind.' Hanji absently noted, following the top's trajectory. It would have been a real challenge to keep some of them focused on the mission right about now. Stressed out, hormonal, teenage soldiers and a place like this was not a good mix for maintaining discipline.

When the noise of the crowd eventually died back down the owner was still grinning at them, totally unfazed by Levi's distinctly unimpressed look.

"I'm looking for someone." Levi started, cutting to the chase. "Two people in fact. I know they're being held down here somewhere and I know you still have eyes all over the city, so-"

As Levi went to expand further, the man raised his hand, cutting off Humanity's strongest soldier with a single gesture.

"No, no, no. Come now, Cisco, don't tell me your time above ground has dulled your memory." The man chided, almostly mockingly in his tone. "This is not how we do business."

Levi's face tightened in anger at the interruption, but to Hanji's immense surprise, he bit his tongue and fell silent. It made her wonder what sort of person they were dealing with here if they could force compliance from Levi.

Someone holding all the cards she supposed.

Hanji was about to find out however as the man held three fingers up above his head. It must have been a well established signal because at the sight of it one, an attractive barmaid with short red hair came striding over with a coy smile and a silver tray held aloft.

As the buxom woman reached their booth, she bent forward at the hips to deposit three shot glasses from the tray one by one onto the table, giving them all a long look at where her black bodice stopped and the bare skin of her chest started.

That combined with the overly short skirt she wore which had a tendency to ride up with every step had Hanji fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

"Will there be anything else, sir?" The barmaid asked as she straightened back up, hazel eyes sweeping over them only to stop and linger on Levi's cloaked form for a moment before suddenly growing wide in recognition.

The owner smirked. "I think we're good for now, Abby. Thanks. Say, before you go, you remember our old friend here, don't you?"

"Of course, sir." 'Abby' folded her arms underneath her chest, the now empty tray dangling loosely in her slender fingers. "It's nice to see you again, Cisco. It's been a while." She said, voice dropping into a throaty purr.

"Abigale." Levi returned the overly friendly greeting with a blank stare.

"Aww, not even a small smile for little old me? I'm hurt." The barmaid grinned as she cocked her hip, that coy smile of hers now outright predatory, like a hungry wolf leering at its next meal. "You know, my offer still stands, if you've got time. I've picked up a few new tricks since we last met that I'd just love to show you." She finished, batting her eyes.

"My answer is still no." Levi bluntly replied, his eyes never wavering from hers, despite the woman's clear attempts to make them wander.

"So cold." Abigail pouted, the devious look still shining bright in her eyes. "I like it. Be seeing you, babe." With that the barmaid blew Levi a kiss before twisting on the spot and sauntered off, leaving Hanji in a frozen state of shock.

'I… I think the smoke is getting to me. Did that really just happen?'

The cutesy name and the kiss played in her head again as she turned and raised an eye at Levi.

Levi ignored her searching look as the man opposite them let out a wistful sigh as he watched Abigale leave. "Ain't she a gem. One of my best employees. An absolute demon with a knife, but you don't need me to remind you of that." He said as he swivelled back round to look pointedly at Levi's left shoulder, where Hanji just so happened to know Levi had a long jagged scar that had nothing to do with 3DM or Titans.

Connecting those two dots made Hanji stop and ponder on the exact nature of Abigale's 'offer' and the mindset of the woman who made it. The results weren't exactly positive.

Any further questions she might have regarding the mental stability of the knife wielding barmaid would have to wait, as the well dressed man abruptly picked up one of the shot glasses and toasted it in their direction.

"To old friends, and new opportunities." He announced, bringing the glass to his lips and eyeing them expectantly.

Hanji tilted her head. 'Ah, so he wants us to drink with him. Is this some kind of weird power play or just some personal quirk? Well, either way this is going to be a bit awkward. I don't mind taking one for the team, but everybody knows that Levi doesn't-'

The rest of Hanji's carriage of thought came to a screeching halt as Levi reached across the table, snatched up one of the shot glasses and without a second's hesitation knocked the drink back and slammed the now empty glass back down with a dour look.

'...Drink.' Hanji's inner voice lamely concluded as she stared at her friend with wide eyes, her once well established perceptions of Levi shifting yet further.

At this point she wondered if it might be better to throw them all out and start fresh. It would be less of a shock to the system that way.

'Right… okay then… THAT just happened… I guess it's my turn then.'

With only mild tepediation Hanji reached out and picked up the last glass. The man's pale blue eyes followed her movements, the intensity of his gaze making her skin tingle. She couldn't help but question if this was a good idea, accepting a drink from a stranger in a seedy underground bar of all places. But if Levi had done it without pause then it was surely okay.

Probably.

Hopefully.

As the glass approached her mouth, Hanji tried to determine what it was she would be drinking but couldn't quite place it. It had the colour of whiskey but was far too viscous to be Erwin's drink of choice. It wasn't rum either which was a shame because Hanji didn't mind rum. Beer was right out as well.

Whatever the unknown drink was, it had an aroma like a punch to the nose. If her eyes weren't already watering from all the smoke, they would be now.

When the cold rim of the glass touched her bottom lip, Hanji stifled a sigh.

'The things we do for Humanity... well, bottoms up.' She thought, before throwing her head back and swallowing the drink in one gulp.

It burnt the whole way down like liquid fire clawing at the inside of her throat. When it finally landed in her stomach after what felt like a torturously long time, it took considerable effort to keep it there and hurl it back onto the table.

It must have shown on her face because the man let out a barking laugh as he placed his own empty glass back on the table. "Ha! I like this one, Cisco. A proper iron stomach."

"Can we get on with it now?" Levi bit out sourly, growing tired of the man's antics as Hanji fought to assert authority over her roiling stomach. Levi didn't look and sound any worse for wear from the eye wateringly strong drink, which led Hanji to believe this wasn't his first time.

"Mean and impatient. Never change, Cisco, never change… But very well, honour is satisfied. Let us talk business. There's no need to repeat what you said earlier," The information broker's mouth curled into a shrewd smile "I already know why you're here, and what you want from me. You're after the Titan boy and his guard, no?"

Suddenly the burning sensation in Hanji's throat was swept away by an icy chill gripping her heart. Eren and Petra…

"How did you kno-"

A hard kick to the shin from Levi stopped Hanji in her tracks. The damage was already done however as the broker's pale blue eyes twinkled in rich amusement.

"Because it is my job to know these things and that's why Cisco brought you to me. I'm one of the few who keep track of the happenings on the surface world." The broker answered her aborted question, taking great pleasure in bigging himself up before pausing and creasing his brow. "You know it just dawned on me, we haven't been formally introduced yet. Where are my manners…"

"Jakob." The man stuck his hand out across the table in offering. "The eyes and ears of the underground and beyond. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Having already failed to leave the talking to Levi, Hanji had no real choice but to take his hand and shake it.

"Is that your real name?" She questioned, trying to establish some kind of equal footing as their hands met and grasped the other tightly.

"Sometimes." Jakob's smile didn't falter, not even for a second.

Hanji narrowed her eyes, irked at how he was toying with her.

"Mary." She supplied, picking a name at random as their hands separated. The man smirked at her.

"What a lovely name. Now, where were we? Ah yes, the Titan boy. A fascinating story." Jakob sank back in his chair as he spoke, idly toying with his empty shot glass, rolling it around with a single finger. "I thought my contacts were having me on when they first reported what happened at Trost. Even after sending me the logs of the court session, I couldn't quite believe it. A fourteen year old boy who could turn into a Titan at the drop of a hat. What a strange world we live in. Very strange indeed."

"Enough, Jakob." Levi snapped, his patience at an end. "Do you know where they are or not? You're not the only broker in the city, so stop wasting our time."

The spinning glass came to a halt. Then came a sigh.

"I do."

It was only two little words but it was enough to make Hanji slump back in her seat and let out a relieved breath she had been unknowingly holding. Those faint embers of hope in her heart burned just a little bit brighter. They hadn't come here for nothing.

"We have payment; your usual fee plus some more for a map of the area. I know you can get one of those." Able to hide his own relief more than she could, Levi quickly reached down into his cloak and withdrew the money they had put aside for this single purpose. With a metallic clatter of clinking coins, the bulging pouch was dropped on the table.

But to the surprise of both of them, Jakob did not move to pick it up. Instead he eyed the offering like someone who had been delivered a meal with several bites already taken out of it.

"If that's not enough, we can double it." Believing the issue was in the amount of the money on the table, Levi made his new offer hoping to sway the man. It only succeeded in making Hanji damn near choke.

Double it?! How the hell were they going to do that?! She was tapped out, and Levi spent most of his wages on cleaning products and tea so didn't have anywhere near as much cash on him.

Was he planning on shaking down the recruits for whatever pittance they might have as well?

The impossible offer was for naught though as Jakob let out another sigh and shifted forwards, placing his elbows on the table so his chin could rest on his folded hands. "Like I said, old friend, I know where the boy and his guard are and why you want them, but I also know who took them."

Kenny.

The name went unsaid even as it hung in the stale air between them. The oppressive weight of it was almost tangible at the table, as if the man himself was looming over them ready to strike.

Another chill went up Hanji's spine. The level of fear and deference Kenny held over this nearly lawless society was difficult to wrap her head round. It was a kind of ever present dread usually reserved for Titans instead of a mere man.

But then again, if he was as strong as Levi, if not stronger, then 'a mere man' Kenny was not.

"It is only out of my immense respect and admiration for you Cisco that I allowed this meeting to occur. Had you been anyone else, anyone at all, my men would have stopped you at the door. Just talking to you like this is a tremendous risk. If word got out you were here, he would burn the Tooth to the ground with everyone still inside." Jakob continued, a note of apprehension in his voice.

"If you tell us where they are, I can deal with him." Levi retorted, attempting to allay the fear of reprisals. Hanji thought it prudent not to mention Levi's uncertainty regarding who would win if, or more likely, when, he and Kenny came to blows.

Jakob wasn't convinced and quickly fired back. "Or he'll kill you, and if he suspects anything he'll then come after me for selling him out. This is the Ripper we are talking about, Cisco. There are no guarantees when it comes to him. Not even from you."

He had them there.

"Don't get me wrong, the thought of toppling the Ripper from his throne is an intriguing one. The power vacuum his fall would leave behind would be immense and if I played my cards right I could ride the ensuing chaos all the way to the top. Or you fail and I spend my last days on earth being tortured to death as an example." Jakob contemplated, his thumb rubbing a small circle on the back of his hand. "I have many vices, Cisco, but gambling isn't one. If you want what I have, you need to bring more to the table than a promise you can't keep and a few bits of silver and gold, because I already have plenty."

"Then what do you want?" Annoyed and frustrated, Levi retrieved the untouched pouch with gritted teeth. "Just cut the crap. We both know if you didn't want something we wouldn't be speaking right now, 'admiration' be damned."

There was a smug look in Jakob's eyes as Levi said this, and it became overwhelmingly clear to Hanji that this had been exactly what he wanted to hear from the very beginning. He had never wanted their money, even if they had walked in here with contents of the royal treasury carried on their back.

"The only thing of true value to men like us." Jakob replied, the smugness in his eyes leaking into his voice. "A favour."

A burning knot of discomfort formed in Hanji's throat, one which had nothing to do with the alcohol she had consumed. She didn't like where this was going, not one bit. They were here to get their comrades out, nothing more. Paying a broker for information was one thing, but doing something for them in return was very different.

Part of her wanted Levi to shut the idea down here and now, and walk away. He said earlier that there were other brokers in the city. Surely one of them would have the information they needed and would accept cold hard cash for it?

For a moment it seemed possible, as Levi's hand clenched fist at his side, knuckles whitening, but it was not to be.

The fist unclenched. "...Go on."

Jakob's face lit up at the tentative agreement and he was quick to capitalise with an explanation. "I have a task that needs doing. The sort of thing I would have contracted out to your posse back in the day. There was an... incident a few weeks back with one of my now ex-employee. He was just some dumb, third rate grunt, who believed his mediocre service wasn't being rewarded richly enough so he hatched a little scheme to steal one of my coded ledgers to blackmail me. The fool didn't even know the value of what he had in his hands, and only demanded a few hundred gold coins for its return. It was almost insulting."

'Only a few hundred?!' Hanji's jaw dropped open. 'ONLY?!'

"While the price he demanded was inconsequential in the long run, the fact remained that I do not bow to blackmail, ever. So I tasked Abby with retrieving my property and to explain my displeasure with the thief." Jakob paused, a small sigh leaving his lips. "That should have been the end of it, but, unfortunately, the idiot had been bragging about his little theft to some very unsavoury characters who understood the true value of what he had in his hands. By the time Abby reached his location, he was already dead and my ledger was gone."

"There is a certain irony about the whole situation, because I have since spent considerably more than a few hundred gold pieces trying to track it down again. It was like chasing a ghost throughout the city. It was most vexing and frankly embarrassing to my reputation. Still, I am not a man who gives up easily and my perseverance paid off the other day, when it finally resurfaced in the eastern pleasure district in the grimy hands of the Rat King."

Levi twitched in his spot, a subtle, almost imperceptible stiffening of his back. It took Hanji a moment to recognise it as a flinch.

"I want you to go there and retrieve my ledger. Do this for me, and in return I'll tell you everything I know about your quarry. Location, number of guards, rough rotations. I can even arrange some supplies for you; food, weapons, medicine, even shelter if you need it. A good deal for such a simple task, no?"

Despite her discomfort with the idea of helping this man out, Hanji had to admit that it was a good deal. Suspiciously so, in fact. Only minutes ago Jakob had been saying how he would not get involved in their fight with Kenny for a pittance (and no, Hanji was definitely not offended at her three month's wages being dismissed as such) yet here he was offering to not only give them the vital information he had on Eren's location but material support to help rescue him all for a single ledger.

There had to be a catch.

She was certain Levi would come to the same conclusion and await him to say something, yet as the seconds ticked by and the pregnant pause became more and more awkward, he still said nothing.

Eventually, Hanji was forced to nudge Levi's leg with her own under the table. Levi didn't jump at the sudden contact, because Levi doesn't jump at anything, but there was another momentary twitch as he finally spoke up.

"If this was a simple job you would have sent one of your goon squads to do it. Or Abigale. Why do you want me?"

"Because why settle for good, when I can have perfection." Jakob evaded the question as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded slip of paper.

"Everything you need to know about the job is in here." He waved the paper, before placing it on the table between them. "Now I'm afraid our time together is at an end. I have another appointment, one that I simply cannot miss so I must leave you. Should you choose to accept my offer, then return here with my ledger and I will have all the information regarding your Titan boy waiting for you. If not, then I wish you the best of luck out there. I won't take any actions against you or report your presence to him, but know that I expect this to be the last time we ever meet, Cisco."

With that Jakob picked up his notebook and quill, and rose from the booth, carefully straightening his jacket and brushing off some residual ash from his cigarette.

"I would say feel free to have another drink on the house while you discuss it with your partner, but it would be in all our interests if you didn't dally here too long." He said, slipping from the booth before glancing back to look Hanji dead in the eye. "Oh, and Mary, I do hope our quaint little hole in the ground is living up to expectations. We so rarely get surface folk down here."

With that final parting remark, Jakob turned and walked away, heading towards a staff door behind the bar, quickly flanked by his still fearful guards.

Hanji let out a shaky breath. "Well, that was… interesting." She half-heartedly offered, still reeling from everything that had happened in that whirlwind of a meeting. "How did that smarmy bastard know I'm from the surface anyway?"

"You gave him your hand." Levi grumbled as he reached for the paper and unfolded it.

"Say what now? My hand? What's that got to do with anything?" Hanji looked down at the two dexterous appendages sticking out of her cloak sleeves. Her calloused fingers wiggled back at her.

"They're tanned, foureyes. Where else could you be from?"

"Oh... Yeah, that makes sense I guess." Hanji continued to gaze down at her weathered hands for a few seconds before turning to regard Levi carefully.

"So…" She drawled, unsure how to play this. Levi had brought her here willingly, but she got the distinct impression he hadn't planned on her witnessing… Well, whatever the hell that whole thing was. "Do you want to explain everything that just happened there to me, because I have so many questions right now."

"It's a code name. Yes. No. Not a word. And yes, I'm aware. Save the rest for later." Levi grunted out as his eyes flickered back and forth over the dense scrawl of black ink.

Hanji opened her mouth to protest, paused, then closed it again, having received the answers to her most pressing unspoken questions. Levi knew her too well.

Shifting on the spot to alleviate the pins and needles in her bottom, Hanji spoke up again, asking perhaps the most important question of the day and the only one Levi hadn't already answered.

"So are we actually doing this then?"

Levi's eyes never left the paper as they skimmed back and forth. "Do you see any other option?"

"Try another broker? Search on our own?" Hanji proposed, deciding someone had to play the devil's advocate. "Jakob could be lying about Eren. Claiming to know where he is so we do his dirty work. This whole thing could be a setup, Levi." She warned, expressing her doubts.

"Brokers live or die on their reputation. If one gets caught lying or gives shitty intel they're a dead man walking." Levi rebutted with a solitary shake of his head. "I've known Jakob a long time. He's a smug, annoying, condescending arsehole with a god complex but his info is always good. If he says he knows where Yeager is, then he does. Trust me, I don't like this any more than you do."

Hanji chewed her lip, looking around the busy bar to make sure no one was looking their way before expressing another lingering question. "Is… Is that because of this 'Rat King' person? I've never seen you freeze up like that before."

The rapidly shifting look on Levi's face at the name told Hanji she had just trood on dangerous ground, but she could be just as stubborn and headstrong as he. It was obvious something was wrong.

"Levi, we're a team… If it affects you, then it affects all of us. You can talk to me."

"I-..." The paper in his hand crumpled into a ball, as Levi exhaled sharply through his nose, steadying himself. "...Years ago there was a plague which was sweeping through the underground. It gutted entire wards, wiped out entire families. The government did nothing of course. Didn't matter that there was a cure above ground, they were just worried about it spreading out of the city so they blocked the entrance and waited for it to burn out."

"Farlan… he caught it. Tried to tough it out for a few days, but by the week's end he was bedridden and dying, barely able to move, struggling to breathe. I needed to get that cure, but the few dosages that made it down here had already been used up or stashed away by the gangs. The Rats were one of those groups. New gang at the time, I had never heard of them, but I approached their leader and made a deal. He'd give me the cure and in return I would help him a few days later… a cargo mission he called it. Just protecting a wagon from one side of the city to the other. Didn't bother asking any questions, just assumed it was drugs or some other contraband. The Rat King kept his word, and Farlan got better, so I kept mine. Guarded the wagon the whole way, chased off a few attacks, and that was it. Only learned what was inside much later."

There was a distant look in Levi's eye as he stared down at his clenched fist and the crumpled paper ball which lay within, almost like he was reliving some distant or painful memory.

It wasn't the first time Hanji had seen that look today.

"Worst thing is, even if I had known, I might have still done it. That's how desperate I was. I… I couldn't let him die." The confession comes out slow and stilted, and it's clear to Hanji that Levi has never spoken of this before.

"It-..." Hanji swallows thickly, that creeping sense of dread from earlier returning in full force. "It wasn't drugs was it?"

"No, it wasn't." Levi looked at her, eyes shadowed with shame. "It was people. Three young women kidnapped from their families, to be sold on the black market. The Rat King's a slaver. And I helped him to save my friend."

Hanji watched on mute horror as Levi stiffly reached out towards the ashtray with his spare trembling hand, and used the almost extinguished cigarette Jakob had left behind to set the ball of paper aflame. It slipped from his fingers onto the table top, turning black before their eyes as the flames wiped away the information it contained, until all that remained was hot ash and bitter smoke.

"Does that answer your question?"

---

Dun, dun, dun!

So any guesses what happens next?

Yeah, so the main reason why this took so long to get out was that I had to basically re-plan the entire underground arc. Originally I was going to leave the first kiss till the climax of the fic but now that I brought it to the underground I had to change what I was going for since my first plan was terrible. Like baby's first SI/[generic boy band singer] fanfic kinda bad.
Hopefully what it will be much better now and more in line with the tone of the fic. That or it'll be so god awful that it will make romance in canon snk look good XD

Also, the final thing to note, the first segment with Armin and Mikasa was entirely self-indulgent and exactly how I picture them being at first. Mikasa being a quiet semi-traumatised child and Armin being awkward, overly curious, with few friends would have definitely resulted in at least one foot in mouth incident like that. Shows how far they've come now though.