LEVI P.O.V.
Levi watched Dilan walk away with mild concern. What was with her? After he pinned her down, she completely freaked out. He could see it in her unusually wide eyes even if she didn't show it on her face. And then after, she looked like she was going to have a panic attack. She could have easily defeated Tabitha. Why did she let herself get on the ground? Why didn't she fight back? Was this like when the brat tried to jump of the roof. What happened to her? And what happened in her past to make her so damn careless with her life? They only get one.
"Don't touch me."
Levi had a feeling those words ran deeper than her just trying to be a bitch. The look on her face worried him. He didn't like feeling worried about that brat. He was supposed to hate her with a passion.
"TABITHA. STOP ARGUING BACK. THIS IS GROSS INSUBORDINATION!" Mike bellowed snapping him out of his thoughts. Tabitha had tears streaming down her face at this point.
"I WAS TRYING TO PROTECT US!" She yelled back, uncaring of the consequences. Levi sighed and crossed his arms.
"You were trying to protect yourself." He said in a monotoned voice. Tabitha sniffed and glared at him.
"What?!" She protested. Levi was unperturbed.
"She scares you. Back then you had the chance to end her so you would be scared anymore. To prove there was no need to be scared in the first place. You were trying to protect yourself." Levi explained logically. Tabitha balked at him as realisation slowly came to her eyes and the fight drained.
"Shit." She whispered under her breath and gripped her hair. Toby was quick to reassure her.
"It's okay Tabs." He said softly and she looked a little reassured, but Mike wasn't going to let her get off that easy.
"No. It's not. You just broke about 10 of the corps guidelines. You will report to me at the end of the day for evaluation. I will review and decide whether you still belong in this squad." Mike said decisively. Tabitha sniffed and looked at her shoes.
"Yes sir." She said quietly.
"Good. Sort yourself out. Toby and Brand, you're up next." Mike ordered and they hoped up in the ring.
"I don't think she's manipulating us, sir." Johnson's voice rang out quietly and Levi turned to see him looking after where the brat had stalked off. "I tried to see it, but I can't. She's genuine." He continued. Levi furrowed his brows. He didn't agree but he didn't disagree either.
"For now. Don't let your guard down Johnson." He ordered and Johnson hesitated before nodding.
"Yes sir."
Levi didn't see the brat for the rest of the day. she wasn't at lunch, so he assumed she was still resting at the infirmary but when she didn't show for dinner either, he got pissed off. Was the brat trying to skive off of training for something? Did she get hurt on purpose? Fully prepared to yell these questions at her face he finished dinner and walked down to the infirmary in a fowl mood. He burst through the door, startling Hanji who was attempting to mix some test tubes.
"Where is she?" Levi questioned. Hanji blinked.
"Who?" She asked. Levi rolled his eyes, not in the mood for her games.
"Dilan, you imbecile, who else?" He rolled his eyes and proceeded to search the infirmary. There was no sign of the brat. Hanji scrambled in after him.
"Dilan? Why would Dilan be here?" Hanji questioned, confused.
"Mike sent her here..." Levi trailed off, not liking this. Did she get herself beat up to get some time to herself so she could do what she came here for? Could she be that elaborate or was he over thinking things? He wasn't sure.
"I haven't seen cute little Dilan today, unfortunately." Hanji pouted. Levi raised an eyebrow at her.
"You do realise she is a likely mass murderer, right?" He asked with a deadpan look. Hanji chuckled.
"We don't know that Levi. But I don't think I would care even then. She's too cute." Hanji cooed. Levi frowned. He didn't like the psychopath being called cute.
"Stop calling her that, Hanji." He hissed. Hanji smirked.
"What, you don't think she's hot?" Hanji questioned, materialising a notepad from nowhere. Levi rolled his eyes and pushed past her.
"Fuck off."
"She's attractive and you know it Levi!" Hanji yelled down the corridor. Levi shook his head in disbelief. I'll have to kill her one day.
Levi checked the common areas before going straight up to the roof where she was again. Unsurprisingly, laying on the ground, staring up at the sky. Her uniform had a fare few rips and blood stains on it and her throat was a decent purple shade now. It was clear she hadn't gotten any medical attention.
"The sunset was nice." Dilan commented softly before he could announce himself.
"Is this where you've been all day?" He questioned harshly. Dilan nodded. "Being injuried doesn't justify slacking off. You could have come to meals at least." He hissed.
"Don't worry, sir. I still did the stables." She said in a tired tone. Levi blinked, noticing some hay stuck to her boots. The brat really cleaned the stables in the state she's in?
"Why didn't you fight?" He got straight to the point. Dilan sighed.
"Why should I fight? My life's pathetic, isn't that what you said, sir?" She said simply. Levi felt a small pang of guilt at his own words but promptly pushed it away, more peed off then ever.
"When your life's pathetic you fight to make it meaningful! You don't lay on the ground and take it like a piece of shit on the sidewalk!" He hissed, kicking her in the side for emphasis. Dilan winced and shrunk back on herself a little. Levi couldn't understand her. One second she was a mouse and the next she was a cobra. Which persona is fake and how can he tell?
"Is that what you did?" She asked weakly. "Did you fight?" She explained. Levi swallowed as a painful memory flashed through his head.
"That's none of your business. You caused a strain on the team today; I know you provoked her." He guessed. Dilan shrugged, confirming his suspicions. "I am not going to let you tear this squad apart for your own amusement. Get down to the fucking infirmary and sort yourself out. Get a new uniform too and have a shower. You smell like shit." He retorted before leaving her alone again.
Why did she make him so angry?
DILAN P.O.V.
Dilan sighed as she heard the roof door slam shut behind him. Is that what he thought then? She was trying to tear his squad apart. Not a stupid assumption but not an accurate one either. She hadn't meant to have a depressive episode during training. It sort of just happened. She can't exactly control it; she wasn't stable, and they were getting more frequent up here. She needed to get back to the underground where she felt safe and familiar. She wanted a hug from Mama P and an innocent pat on the head from Joel. She wanted to see the only people she cared about. They were the only ones who gave her life any meaning. Up here, with no one. She really was pathetic.
The door opened again, and she sighed, preparing herself for some more verbal and light physical abuse from Levi.
"Dilan?" Johnson's voice rang out and Dilan sat up to look at him. What was he doing here?
"Hey?" She blinked in confusion as the boy gave her a small smile.
"Hanji sent me with some stuff after she followed Levi to the roof and figured out where you were." he explained, holding a small bag of medical supplies. Dilan blinked again before cracking a small smile.
"Thanks." she said genuinely. She probably wasn't going to be able to drag herself down to the infirmary. Not because of the physical pain, more the mental pain. She sat herself up with a wince and Johnson came over and sat next to her, riffling through the bag. "Sorry you have to be messenger for me. I'm sure you would rather be sleeping." She added. Johnson gave her a curious look.
"It's fine." he smiled again, passing her the equipment before standing. "Look, I was thinking... maybe we could be friends." He offered. Dilan grit her teeth in annoyance realising what was happening. Johnson already said she needed to earn his trust and she sure as hell didn't do that yet. The more likely scenario for Johnsons changes of heart was that Levi or Mike wanted to get some more information on her, so they were forcing him to play nice. It hurt more than him being a dick, but she didn't let it show. If they wanted information on her then fine.
"Sure. I'd like that." She forced a sweet smile back, catching the hesitation in his eyes. It was obvious the boy didn't want to go through with this plan.
"Cool. I'll see you tomorrow then. Try not to be late." He chuckled before walking off. Dilan sighed as the door shut. She felt more alone than ever. Damn her for being so calculating. If she was less perceptive, she could have just enjoyed the boy's fake friendship. But no. she always had to be one step ahead of everything.
"Fucking perfect." She mumbled, opening the medical bag and assessing herself. Day one went splendid.
Dilan woke early the next morning and decided to get up. She didn't want to see Johnson yet and she was hungry from missing a day of meals. She normally got something in the underground, even if it was a roll. But after looking down at herself she decided she needed to sort herself out since she did indeed smell like shit. Horse shit in fact. Spending time with the horses had been so amazing yesterday, everything she dreamed of. She wished she didn't have to clean the massive place, but she didn't complain. Much.
Dilan made it to the room she was given a uniform in last time and picked the lock, retrieving herself a new uniform before heading to the showers. Pleased to find herself alone she stripped quickly, taking a moment to observe her battered body. There were various bruises covering her torso and a light red staining her shoulder. Yesterdays sparing had really done a number on her. Although, she couldn't blame anyone other than herself. She gave up again, in front of everyone.
Rolling her eyes at the thought she turned on the shower, gasping quietly in surprise at the warm water. Was this the luxury of surface facilities? It felt foreign but amazing. She definitely wasn't complaining and had to actually force herself to step out of the amazing stream after she had scrubbed her hair and body with the soap provided. Ringing out her black locks she changed quickly and threw her tattered uniform in the bin. She would try harder to keep this one clean. Or cleaner at least.
Dilan made her way down to the mess hall, pleased once again to find herself alone. She thrived by herself. That much was clear. She grabbed another apple and a ration bar before sitting at her three seated table at the back and eating her meal in silence. Apples were everything she imagined and more. She'd have to steal a few for Mama P before she got back so she could try. Dilan wondered how long the fruit lasted for. Can't be that long right? They look so vulnerable.
She was brought out of her musings by the sound of footsteps and talking.
"I'm just saying Tabs, you got really lucky. You can't be pulling shit like that again." Brands voice rang out. Dilan heard a scoff.
"Yeah, I'll thank the bitch for not dying under my foot the next time I see her." Tabitha's mocking voice replied. Dilan was too tired to be offended.
"Tabs, she could report you. You need to lay off for a bit." Toby's quiet voice reasoned. Dilan heard a sigh.
"Fine, fine. I mean it's my word against hers, but I'll be less bitchy when I next see-" she replied, cutting herself off when the three entered the room and saw Dilan sitting at the table analysing them.
"Me, right?" Dilan smiled, amused. Tabitha growled and Brand pulled her back. Dilan cringed internally. That was supposed to break the ice. Apparently, it didn't work. The three stared at each other and Dilan was about to leave since she was clearly not wanted before Tabitha huffed and made her way over, mumbling something about getting this over with, she sat down next to Dilan on the table. Dilan blinked at her.
"I'm sorry for almost killing you." She forced out. Dilan could tell she didn't mean it. Mike probably forced her to.
"No, you're not." Dilan replied. Tabitha gave her an exasperated look before turning back to the others.
"This bitch-" she started but Dilan cut her off.
"You're not sorry and that's okay. If you were just trying to protect the people you care about, who am I to judge? I'm just scum right? You shouldn't have to apologise to scum." Dilan shrugged, taking a bit of her apple. Tabitha looked slightly guilty for a second before she shook it off her head.
"Your weird." She commented. Dilan nodded.
"I know." She said simply. Tabitha narrowed her eyes for a second before standing.
"We cool then?" She raised an eyebrow. Dilan nodded and she spared her a last glance before walking back to the others. Dilan bit back a smile. That could have gone worse, she supposed.
Deciding to quit while she was ahead, Dilan finished her meal and left the mess hall so the three friends could talk rather than eye her cautiously while they ate. She made it outside into the morning sun and sighed in relief, running her hands through her hair.
"You're up early." Levi's slightly annoyed voice sounded from beside her. She nodded.
"Yes sir. I was told to sort my shit out." She replied. There was some sort of noise between a huff and a very light puff of amusement before Levi walked into the mess hall leaving her alone to stare up at the sky. She stayed there for a while. It was still beautiful, no matter how many times she saw it. Sunsets had to be her favourite.
Suddenly there were a pair of arms around her and she didn't hesitate to flip that person onto the ground, arm pressing on their throat. She gasped when she realised it was only Hanji and got off of her immediately.
"Shit, I'm so sorry. Reflex's." She apologised, offering her a hand to get up. Hanji coughed a bit from her winding but managed a manic grin anyway as she took the hand and Dilan helped her to her feet.
"No, no. it's me who should be apologising Dilan. I wanted to test your reaction time." Hanji shrugged, taking out a notepad and writing the words, instant death, next to her name and then the actual number of seconds it took her to react. Dilan couldn't help the wide smile that came to her face at that and she accidently let out a light laugh. Hanji gasped. "Did I make you laugh?!" She squealed. Dilan blinked at her intensity. "I DID, I DID, I DID!" She cackled, running around the quadrangle like a mad woman.
"Section commander! What are you doing?!" A voice yelled and Dilan turned to see a tall man running onto the scene. He was lanky and pale, long face, warm brown eyes and a brown bowl cut on the top of his head.
"Moblit!" Hanji screamed and jumped on him. "I made Dilan laugh! It was beautiful!" She squealed, tears stinging in her crazy eyes. Despite herself, Dilan chuckled again. The woman was pretty funny, even if she was crazy. Hanji gasped and ran back over to her. "Dilan can we be friends?! Can we, can we, can we?!" She shrieked, gripping her hands. Dilan bit her lip, trying to figure out if the woman was being genuine or not. She, Levi and the commander were pretty tight, weren't they?
"Section commander, I think your scaring her." The man pointed out through gritted teeth.
"Oh, my. I apologise. Dilan this is my second in command, Moblit Berner. Such a cutie pie, isn't he?" Hanji smirked and pinched Moblit's cheek. Dilan watched as the man went deep red before her very eyes. Dilan chuckled again. "INTERESTING!" Hanji suddenly screamed and started scribbling things down on her notepad.
"She does this a lot." Moblit whispered. Dilan smiled; she liked these two. They didn't seem to be afraid of her. Perhaps they didn't know about her past, or at least maybe Moblit didn't anyway. Hanji seemed too crazy to care.
"Yeah, I gathered that." Dilan replied and Moblit chuckled and nodded.
"CONCLUSION!" Hanji shouted, halting her scribbling. "You my dear little Dil, have a rather dark sense of humour." Hanji smiled in satisfaction, like she just solved one of the grand secrets of humanity. Dilan smiled and rolled her eyes. She guessed it was true.
"Probably." She shrugged. Hanji nodded, patting her head quickly before bounding into the mess hall. Dilan smiled at the affectionate touch. That was one of the nicest interactions she'd had since she got here.
"Sorry about her. She's well... she's Hanji." Moblit chuckled. Dilan nodded and extended a hand.
"I'm Dilan." She smiled, deciding she liked this guy. Moblit nodded and shook the hand.
"Nice to meet you. See you around then." He said simply and walked into the mess hall. Dilan smiled again, a satisfaction filling her. It was nice to meet such open-minded people/ slightly crazy people. Then she frowned. Those people were just going to become disappointed once they realised what a crummy person she was. What was she doing? Trying to behave all nice like someone she wasn't. She was a fox and that's all she'd ever be.
Dilan nodded decisively. She hated the survey corps. She didn't belong here, they had already taken enough from her, she didn't need this shit. She needed to be working on her plan to escape and make sure no one followed her, she shouldn't be trying to gain peoples approval. It was pointless. If Johnson wanted information on her. He would lead him in the wrong direction. She was Dilan Church. Deadly. Untrustworthy. What the fuck was she getting so upset about? She didn't belong here. She was scum and that was okay. The fox was back, she just hoped she wouldn't lose it again.
"Dilan. Training now." Mike's voice pulled her out of her musing, and she nodded, following him and the rest of the squad who had finished training. Johnson smiled at her forcefully and she smiled a fake smile back. They wanted a beast; she would give them one.
After gearing up they headed to the forest. Mike stopped them before they entered. "Now before you start, remember. This isn't a competition-"
"Yeah, because Levi always wins." Brand mumbled under his breath, but a glare from Levi made him back down again.
"As I was saying. The only competition is between yourself. Beat your last scores, impress me and Levi?" Mike turned to the raven.
"Yes sir?"
"Go easy on them." Mike smirked as the others frowned. Levi nodded and Dilan though she could see the faintest of smirks on his lips. "Three. Two. One. Go!" Mike called and everyone shot off into the distance. Dilan looked down at the controls. It seemed easy enough. Like her 3DMG but with giant swords. Although people were using them weird. Maybe she should try them like she held a knife. "Cadet! I said go!" Mike bellowed and Dilan flipped her blades into a reverse hold, glancing at Mike, before offering him a sly smirk and shooting into the trees. The speed of the gear was incredible. Way better than her old pair. Guess that gave Levi a rather huge advantage when they fought in the underground.
It didn't take Dilan long to catch up with the squad. While Levi was nowhere in sight, she saw Tabitha going for a titan dummy and Dilan pushed herself, swinging round a tree and shooting her gas to carve a wide, deep chunk out of the titan's rubbery flesh. She scoffed at how easy it was and sped off quickly, snickering to the colourful protests of Tabitha behind her. Liking how fun the first one was, Dilan shot around the forest at the speed of light, carving out titans wherever she went. It was oddly stress relieving and she enjoyed taking out her frustrations of the last few days on something. Sure, scum from the underground would be more fun but these would do just fine for now.
Eventually Dilan caught up to Levi before sparing him a smirk and twisting in front of him to take out his titan kill as well. She saw Levi scowl at the way she was holding her blades and the reason amused her so deeply, she burst out laughing. He was holding them the same as her. Guess they were rather similar. He probably used knives down in the underground too. Not sparing him enough time to ask she bolted off, jumping over and under trees. She was falling more than she was flying and it was why she was going so fast. No one can beat the speed of someone suicidal. She thought with a snigger as Levi struggled to catch up with her and he was left in the distance.
Dilan ended every titan dummy she found, almost getting bored at how easy it was. She wondered whether he was good at this too. She wondered whether he was scared when the real versions of these figures ended his life. Gritting her teeth at the thought she sliced a titan dummy so hard the head came off completely and toppled down to the forest floor. Oops, she thought before hearing the acoustic shell that told them their time was up and started making her way back to the others.
When she landed a while after them, due to how far she was in the distance, she bit back a smirk at their scowling faces. Ha! Yesterday that might have even upset her. How times changed. She bathed in their hatred for her. These people took everything from her. She hated them with a passion. Especially that bushy eyed bastard Erwin smith. She was barely there for a second before the complaints started.
"Sir! She cheated; I don't know how but she did!" Tabitha complained, ignoring the fact that she was probably on very thin ice after yesterday's stunt.
"Agreed! No one can fly that fast!" Brand argued, giving her a sour look. Toby nodded his agreement while Levi and Johnson were just looking at her curiously.
She smirked evilly, loving their frustrations.
"Why you little!" Tabitha growled, lunging but Brand held her back, whispering something about her not being worth it.
"Enough!" Mike snapped and everyone fell back into obedience as the people who were watching and counting each titan kill flew down and handed Mike the stack of papers. apparently, their blades had a colouring agent on them, so the assistants were able to tell who made the kill and counted them efficiently. Dilan smirked noticing hers was bright orange.
There was silence while Mike looked at the papers and a frown appeared on his face. Dilan noticed the rest of the squad were sweating rather heavily. What were they so worried about?
"Brand?" Mike looked at him with fierce disappointment. Brand gulped.
"Yes sir."
"One titan kill. Are you serious? What were you doing out there?" He scolded. Brand looked at his feet in shame.
"Toby and Tabitha, your no better with 2 each! And Johnson, 0? Over 300 dummies in that forest and you couldn't kill a single one." He ranted; the others looked down in shame too. Mike shook his head in disapproval and flipped the page. He froze. Then he snapped his head up at Levi. "Seriously, Levi? Only 15? That's nowhere near your usual scores!" Mike snapped, completely frustrated. Levi looked unfazed.
"Sir, I suggest you look at the brats score before you continue to chew us out. We didn't slack off, there were just a lack of options." Levi replied, monotoned. Mike frowned in confusion and flipped to the next page. His eyes widened.
"104? Is this right?" He asked Dilan, completely baffled. The whole squad, minus, Levi balked at her. Dilan blinked.
"Honestly I have no idea." She admitted. It was more fun than training. She liked being in the air again. She didn't care about numbers. Mike looked equally frustrated and impressed, like he had absolutely no fucking clue what to do with her.
"Let's go again." He said suddenly. "We'll know if there were any mistakes if we go again." He nodded his head in decision.
"Mike, I'm telling you-" Levi tried but Mike cut him off.
"We're going again." He said seriously. Levi sighed, sparing Dilan a dirty look.
"Fine. We should go refuel then." He grumbled and Mike sent out the orders for the dummies to be replaces.
Another round later and the squad was eagerly awaiting the results. Dilan didn't much care since she bothered to count this time, but she did leave some dummies for the others to make them feel better. Levi was glaring at her as always as the assistants returned and Mike practically snatched the papers out of their hands. He looked at her first note and sighed in relief.
"Brand good job. 10 dummies." He praised and Johnson shook Brands shoulders as a well done.
"Tabitha and Toby, 12 dummies." He smiled.
"Johnson 9. Not bad, not bad." He continued, flipping the page. "Levi, 63. Excellent." He praised but Levi's glare never faltered. Guess he knew what Dilan did. Mike flipped the next page and his face dropped. "Dilan... 156 dummies." He forced out the words and the squad gasped. "How the fuck..." He mumbled, looking at her with wide eyes.
"Did I do something wrong, sir?" She asked, monotonously. Mike took a moment to reply.
"No... I suppose not." He mumbled. "Wait here. I have to speak to Erwin." Mike said decisively before jogging off. And as soon as he did Levi rounded on her, grabbing her by her jacket as he started dragging her deeper into the forest. Dilan growled and tried to get him off of her. But the man seemed to be on a mission and took all her kicks and punches without relenting until they were out of the squad's sight and let her go. Dilan sprang back immediately, fury in her eyes.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO FUCKING TOUCH ME!" She snarled. Levi glared and took a step towards her. Dilan took a step back, repressing the urge to unsheathe her blades.
"Yesterday. Yesterday you were a pathetic, quiet, suicidal little mouse. You didn't fight back, and you freaked out over the stupidest things. Today your back to how you were in the underground. Now answer me this, no bullshit. Which one of those people are you? Why are you pretending!?" He growled, taking another step. Dilan tried to ignore the hurt his words sent her. Maybe they were stupid to him, but they weren't stupid to her.
"I wasn't fucking pretending. I just realised who I am after a day of getting physically and verbally abused. I remembered I don't belong here! I remembered no one is going to look out for me! I remembered the survey corps are a home for shitty manipulative people who enjoy turning innocent people from the underground titan chow!" She yelled back. Levi let out a low humourless laugh and crossed his arms.
"Innocent huh? That's how you describe yourself? How rich." He scoffed. Dilan glared.
"I wasn't talking about me." She said in a low voice. Levi looked at her quizzically and opened his mouth, but Mike's call cut him off.
"Let's head back before I actually murder you." He hissed and walked back towards the open, leaving Dilan no choice but to follow him and try not to stab him in the back. She was done showing this asshole even a shred of respect.
