Part XI
Plot

(The second part to the 'No Regrets' storyline will be within this section. Once again, I'll stick to the events of No Regrets as much as I can, but there will be additional lines and encounters between characters so that it fits around the FF, and Fury.

I hope you're all enjoying it so far, as soon, it'll start leading up to the events within Season 1 of the anime.)

Not too much time had passed since Isabel was somewhat recruited by Levi. Must be just be coming up to almost a year. She's sure had to adjust to a clean way a living. Farlan tended to tease the young girl often over how bad her cleaning skills were and Levi was never shy in telling her to do better either.

The group hadn't spoken much about still wanting to relocate to the surface, but they knew it was all still on their minds.

Both Fury and Levi both did well in building up the funds. Isabel tended to dip her hand into it from time to time in order to buy a slice of meat from the market within the centre of the Underground. That only made her get told to clean more as a result.

They all took it in turns to teach Isabel on how to use the ODM gear, as Levi had promised. She was terrible with it… at first. But it wasn't all that long before she got what she wanted and soared around like the bird she had saved.

It was on the evening that the four of them were soon returning home from a well deserved meal. The meal itself was no luxury, but it was enough the keep them fed until they needed to avert back to bread and beans.

"Ah, my stomach is well and truly over stuffed!" Bragged Isabel as she patted her torso whilst inhaling a large amount of air.

"Not surprised!" Laughed Farlan, wrapping his arm around her like a brother would. "The amount of that soup you ate was enough to feed the many!"

"Heh, I have a big appetite. Better to have something than to have nothing at all, am I right?" She joked in response. Fury and Levi were walking behind the two as they continued to banter with one another. They had formed a good friendship. Sibling-like.

"What's the matter with you?" Levi asked Fury, pulling her out of her focused gaze on where they were walking.

She looked at Levi then looked back to the path ahead of her. "Nothing. What's with that kind of question?"

"You've been quiet… more so than usual." Levi pointed out. She always felt like he was getting closer and closer to finding things out about her that she decided she did not want to reveal to him. Like Kenny.

"Honestly, something is bugging me. And it started this morning when I woke up. Just… felt like today was going to be… I don't know. Ignore me."

Levi raised his eyebrow at her but he did not press for an explanation. He found her too confusing at times. He wondered if most women were like this. Fury always had her guard up. Not once has she even shown some form of emotion that even revealed if she even cared for these friends around her. Levi himself was cold at most of times, but even he was capable of showing appreciation. For this reason, he always had his guard up around her.

The two continued to walk on in silence, coming up the familiar archway that connected their home to their neighbours opposite them. But this would be the night that would set in a chain of events that could not be avoided. Levi himself could never have been prepared for it.

"Who are you, old timer?" Asked Isabel to a man of clear wealth that was stood staring at his pocket watch. He soon closed it as he saw the four friends etch closer his way.

"I've come for a job request." He revealed. Fury sighed. Another heist. But how did a man of his standards know of the things these four get up too?

"Get the wrong house?" Farlan asked, smiling and pretending he knew nothing of the man's type of request. "We're not a handyman shop…"

"I can promise you all a substantial reward." The male continued, causing an interest to peak within Isabel.

"Go home!" Levi then suddenly burst. It was obvious something was bugging him too. Fury wondered, did Levi feel the bad vibes that she could feel too?

"The deposit has already been paid."

"Tsk, you're joking right? This is the first time I've ever seen you!" Snarled Farlan, Isabel then folding her arms with Levi and Fury halting to perhaps listen to the gentleman.

"True… But you should already know about him." The man replied as his gaze turned to behind him, revealing a carriage with two medical assistants lifting the young male which Farlan had given extra money to into the carriage itself. "His leg is finally at its limit. He needs treatment at a hospital on the surface."

"What's going on here?" Worried Isabel.

"I told you, didn't I? It's a deposit for the job." The man turned back to look at them and he smiled. "You'll listen to the details now, right?"

They all look over at Levi, besides Fury, and awaited on his reply. "Fine."

The shady man nodded at Levi to which he then proceeded to take the four up the stairs that led them straight up to the surface. What was going on? Clearly people of importance knew of their actions down here in the Underground but why couldn't they find someone from the surface?

Fury frowned to herself. It was all down to people's backgrounds, most likely. They figure that those living down here wouldn't mind performing such criminal things if to get things put in order for those on the surface. And it's easier to keep their noble name's clear if scum do the work for them. Typical, she thought. This was why she did not like people all that much. She found most to be hateful, full of spite and greed. Did they all deserve to be protected by the walls around them? For Fury, she once speculated the Titans were put on this earth as punishment for humanity. Get rid of the tainted, leave only the pure. But that way of thinking was in the mind of a preacher, and a believer in Gods Fury was not.

The more they now walked up the stairs, a brilliant shine of light was approaching them. They all had to raise their arms to avoid the light from hurting their eyes. They may not be fully out and up on the surface, but for the likes of the four, this was the first time they felt the sun reflect off their entire body. But today wasn't the day they will go any further. Yet another carriage blocked their way. Clearly someone of importance sat within.

"Is this the four you told me of?" A voice from within the carriage asked the man that had lead them all here.

"Yes, sir. And I've been told they are of the best down there."

"Who the hell are you?!" Levi asked, getting rather impatient with this smoke and daggers. "What is going on?"

"I understand why you're wary of me, I understand why you all are." The unknown male replied. "But you'll soon learn that it's okay to trust me."

"I'm speaking for myself here, but I don't trust strangers." Fury muttered loud enough to hear. "Why would we trust you?"

The unknown man's eyes widened as he gazed upon Fury. She looked almost familiar to him. He soon composed himself by clearing his throat. "The fact that I'm here personally says everything. I'm at great risk by doing that. Have you received the deposit already?"

Levi frowned and clenched his fist. "I don't know how things work up here but down there it's called taking someone hostage!"

"That young man with the rotting leg?" The unknown male scoffed. "That's just a contingency plan we laid in place. When you have successfully completed your jobs, you won't just be getting a sum of money… But also, a Citizenship for on the surface."

All but Levi reacted to this news. Was he being truthful? It would be cruel to ignite their dreams like this once again. And because of that, Levi refused an answer and began making his way back down into the Underground, with the others soon following. However, they knew Levi, and they knew he was most likely considering the opportunity.


-2 days later-

"We've received conformation on that guy Farlan gave money to." Fury told Levi as she had returned from following some suspicious individuals. "He's in one of the top hospitals. I've also discovered the identity to our… mystery man. The job is 100% a real thing. So, have you made up your mind yet?"

Fury's mind went back to the day they were offered the job, remembering the man's words exactly.

"I'll tell you this one thing…" The man spoke aloud to Fury, who was the last to go back to the stairs that lead them down. "Regardless to whether or not you all accept this job, the target will still make contact. In other words, because of who you are, you can no longer remain unrelated in this matter."

Because of who she was? Fury was no one special. Yet he spoke to her like she was of some kind of importance revolving around this job they'd gotten tied into. She remembered when Kenny also seemed surprised when she revealed her true name to him, before she adopted the identity of 'Fury'. He was shocked, like he'd heard the name before. But this man, how could he know? It was the first time she had ever seen him, the same for the others too. Fury's head was littered with questions but finding answers would for now wait.

"We carry on as normal." Levi ordered, dealing with his own questions. "But if the target appears just like he told Fury they would, only then will start the job."


-1 Week later-

Was this so called target ever going to show their face? As instructed, the four friends continued living their lives as normal. Though they all had this one major job on their minds, they still played out little jobs here and there. They couldn't stop what they were initially doing because some rich guy promised them freedom.

Today though, today they all had to hijack a crate of food being brought in illegally by the underground merchants. The reward wasn't just money, but some of the food too. And ever since their night out, the four haven't eaten anything but stale bread and they longed for flavour.

Levi, alongside Farlan, Isabel and Fury within their ODM gear, crashed into the transported food within wooden crates, causing the impact to allow the crates to open and reveal the goods inside. But at the same time, it incited panic among the merchants.

"No, not them!" One of the merchants called out in anger, watching them traverse the streets within their ODM. "Someone hurry and call on the Military Police!"

The four, showing off their acrobatic skills using their ODM, saw that their job was done, though having no idea the Military Police were soon to be hot on their tails. They always tried, yet never succeeded in catching up to them. They certainly weren't going to start either.

"Levi! Behind us!" Fury called out, as they all witnessed the ensue of MP's.

"Military Police again?" Isabel scoffed in a mocking tone. "I like the fact that they don't give up trying!" She then called forward to Levi, feeling a sense of pride in herself. "Leeevi! What I just said was true, right?!"

"Are you an idiot?" He called back, causing Isabel to shrink from her embarrassment.

"They're… not Military Police…" Fury muttered, keeping her eye on the hooded figures fast approaching them.

"Yeah, no mistake there." Said Levi, almost smirking. "It's them. That Wings of Freedom crest… It's the Survey Corps!"

With this revealed, not one of them showed a sign of panic. "The ones who fight those Titans?" Asked Farlan, watching how they manoeuvre much more skilfully than that of the MP's. "They're as different as I expected…"

"You all know what to do?" Levi then asked, simply focusing on the task at hand.

"It's the job, right?" Farlan asked, grinning like a naughty child. Both he and Isabel altered their ODM to take them down opposite streets, leaving Levi to continue forth as Fury altered her own ODM wires to latch onto the building walls, causing the slow MP's to become tangled within it so that Levi could simply focus on the Survey Corps only. He'd noticed the two of the members followed in pursuit of Farlan and Isabel, leaving only two for him to deal with.

He wanted to see how good they really were. Pushing himself more than before, he volleyed himself through a degrading building at the end of the street, only to be harshly pursued by one of his followers, knocking him off guard and almost causing Levi to lose balance. If Levi had not bypassed the pursuers attempts at cutting him down, it may have been a sift end for him.

Levi himself admitted that was close, but he was not out of it yet. For another pursuer crashed through debris above Levi, crashing into him and taking him down to ground level.

Both men hit the ground and with a back-flip from Levi as he skidded backwards, he pulled out his clean pocket knife to defend himself against the attacker. Twirling his blade, he flung the man's Cutter out of his hands, leaving him without a weapon. Levi then clutched to his knife with both hands as he was about to plunge it deep into his attacker without remorse, only to be halted by the final pursuer who rained down from above. His cutter and Levi's knife clashing against each other as he prevented his comrade's certain death.

The final pursuer overpowered Levi, pushing him backwards, his knife almost contacting his throat, but Levi did not whimper, for her too pushed back with all that he had as his strongest pursuer glared into his grey eyes.

"Stop it!" He commanded. "Take a look around you."

Levi averted his gaze to a handcuffed Farlan and Isabel. Isabel, who showed struggled trying to break away whilst Farlan seemingly accepted their capture. Levi became conflicted. He knew if he continued to fight back, these men would have no guilt in killing his friends. And so, he let go of his pocket knife, accepted surrender as his pursuer placed iron cuffs around his wrists.

"You're quick at reading the situation." The pursuer almost praised as he had Levi, Isabel and Farlan knelt on the ground in front of him. "I'll now ask a few questions. Where did you get these ODM's?"

Farlan and Isabel looked at one another whilst Levi remained looking at the ground, feeling defeated. "You three are skilled with this. But someone must've taught you." The purser walked towards Levi, he was towering over him. "You're their leader, right? Were you trained within the Military Police?"

Levi looked up at his fierce pursuer, though he refused to offer a response. For this, another member of the Corps grabbed a hold of Levi's head and slammed in onto the floor, his face being smothered within a dirty pool of water. This caused shock for both Isabel and Farlan, no one has ever done this to Levi before.

"Stop!" Came the voice of Fury who remained hidden atop a rooftop nearby, as she acrobatically landed in front of the tall pursuer, causing the other Corps members to draw their cutters, though the tall blonde figure in front of her was not at all phased by her. "Don't you dare hurt them!"

"Fury!" Isabel called out with a wide smile. This was a first for any of the three to see Fury show any type of care or protection. Levi managed to turn his head to the side so that he could catch a gasp of air from having his face swallowed by water. His vision momentarily blurry, he knew it was Fury.

"Lift him up!" Fury then demanded, her teeth gritted and she was clearly irritable.

"A fourth?" The blonde pursuer spoke. "How is it that you managed to lean away but your friends here get caught? Rather easily, I might add."

"Didn't you hear me?! Lift him up!" Clearly Fury was pained seeing Levi in such a position, for she too never thought something like that could happen.

"Fury, is it? I'll ask one more time in case you misheard me. Where did you all learn how to use the ODM Gear?"

"Is it so hard to believe that we all learnt by ourselves?!" Farlan called out, preventing Fury from taking that blame of having to answer.

"Self-taught?" The blonde replied, frowning, though his gaze never leaving Fury. She was making him feel somewhat unnerved. "I don't buy it."

"It's just so we're able to live in garbage like this!" Farlan continued. "People who live up there could never understand that!"

"Don't be cocky just because you're soldiers!" Isabel then joined in, all protecting each other.

The blonde male continued looking down upon Fury. She was visibly shaking due to distress. A fire was clearly lit within her. Even she could not deny that she's not felt like this before. She felt… almost empowered by some unknown will. A twitch tickled through her, a clear focus was set upon the towering soldier before, blocking other noises out.

"I won't ask you again." She hissed, her face blank of any other emotion but anger and she was ready to attack if need be. "Let him up, or I'll kill you where you stand!"

She lunged at the blonde male, but was soon pulled back and held into a restraint by other Corps members. Her attempted assault was as if something had taken over her. Her eyes were darkened and she was showing genuine care for not just Levi but for all three of them. Her teeth were constantly gritted as she tried to continue a struggle within the constraints of the Corps members. It almost shocked her three friends, they barely noticed this Fury, though her protectiveness was appreciated.

The blonde male did not want to torment Fury any longer and with a nod of his head, Levi was lifted out from having his head held down in the puddle of water. An instant calmness had then befallen Fury and her struggle stopped. But she was left weak and therefore she too was handcuffed and then knelt next to Levi. Whatever had overcome her, it had now been sparked. The unknown for her had just gotten a whole lot bigger. She knew her reaction was not out of normality, she felt possessed almost. Now she was left weak and fragile, with concerned friends beside her. Barely able to even maintain kneeling, Fury laid herself down, breathing like she hadn't stopped running for days. Even Levi showed concern upon his face.

The blonde male noticed how as soon as Levi was out of any type of harm, she calmed. He knew himself that wasn't normal, nor has anyone ever dared to threaten him. It somewhat enlightened him and he wanted to know more about her. About her as well as her friends.

"My name is Erwin Smith. I'd like to know yours."

"Levi." He took a few deep breaths before answering to this Erwin who had him cornered.

"Levi…" Erwin repeated, kneeling down in front of him. "Why don't we all make a deal?"

"What deal?" Levi quickly snapped back.

"I will allow your crimes to go unpunished. In return, lend me your skills." Erwin offered, looking at each one of them, even at Fury, who still laid curled upon the ground, trying to control her panicked breathing. "Join the Survey Corps!"

"And if I…We… refuse?" Asked Levi, realising Erwin was addressing each of them.

"The Military Police can have you." Erwin simply put. "And after her little performance today, I doubt you'd all see her a while. I was threatened with death. That won't be taken lightly. And considering each of your crimes, she and your friends won't be treated nicely. Choose which ever you prefer. Either way will be a win for me."

"Fine!" Levi quickly responded. The male didn't even need to think this through. He'd look after his friends, above all else, even if it means having to drag them along with him. "We'll join the Survey Corps."