V

Disguise and Uniform

"Good morning, boss! How was your day off?"

"What? Four eyes not here to entertain your thoughts?"

"No..! And I'm so bored!"

"You're not supposed to have fun, you know."

"And her name's Zoë! Zoë Hange! She even introduced herself to you!"

I really couldn't care less…

Levi was his own clockwork. He lived that ninety-eight percent and didn't stray too far from it. He came to his business, made sure things were running smoothly, did some numbers, and went home to read or taste new teas he imported from some website.

It was when Zoë Hange made it a habit of showing up and forcing him to socialize with her that he found his schedule shifted. She babbled in his ear for about an hour before Nanaba finally grabbed her attention and they resumed their own conversation. It was amazing. Levi figured that she just babbled about whatever she was researching that day, but then he found that she spoke about literally everything. Just when he thought he could figure out what she was studying, he had no idea.

After adjusting his schedule to fit her idle ramblings - not that big of a deal - he might find himself with a bit more free time than before. He wondered…

"Leeeevii! God I'm so bored. Wanna hear about my date with that tall, strong, officer?" Nana a was like a needy child. Always in need of attention. It makes it very hard to ignore her.

His face scrunched up in mild disgust. "Don't really want to hear about what handlebars you held on to, no."

Nanaba laughed. "Really, now? I wasn't even gonna say that, you perv. I was gonna talk about how much fun I had."

"Hm?"

"God! Did you make no friends since coming to City Maria? No gossip? No squealing about a fun night out with someone?"

"No."

It was true. Levi didn't really have friends he associated since living in Maria for the last dozen years. He got his degrees and opened a business. Very seldom he went out to enjoy city nightlife.

At first he would hang out with his cousin every now and then, but as his removed cousin got older, Jim spent more time with daughter. Wanting to be involved with her adolescence, growing pains would be easier to deal with with supportive parents around, he thought.

Levi was a bit jealous, he won't lie. But that time of his life has passed and he could only be what he could now.

Nanaba was still speaking to the air, hoping Levi would give an actual response. "Now that my queen is not here to entertain me, I suppose you'll be leaving here earlier. Which means you'll have free time."

Levi lifted a brow.

"Which means you can make spontaneous plans."

He turned his body to her, hands on his hips.

"Which means you can go out."

No.

"And party."

"No."

Try as she might, Nanaba wasn't going to convince him of anything. "Oh, but come on. You had your horny teen phase! Come have your partyitup phase! It'll be fun!"

"No. I've had all the phases I needed. Now I can run a business and relax."

"Goddammit you're no fun! Just you wait, shorty. I'm gonna get you out that cage."

"Oh? How exactly do you plan on doing that?"

"Hmmm. No clue! But it'll happen!" She promised.

"Live in your fantasy all you want, you psycho."

All he wanted was a nice and quiet life. Nothing rowdy or exciting. Just somewhere he could live without being disturbed by the things that don't concern him. A nice honest life.

Yeah. That's it. That's all he wanted now.

No reason to go out and party without a care. Or what would be worse is if Nanaba invited her new boy-toy and he third-wheeled. Not worth the time or stress in his opinion. He was thirty-three goddamn years old. He was past that stage in his life.

That lifestyle wasn't his anymore. He was curious how Nanaba had maintained the energy all these years.


"That the hardest punch you got? Come at me with everything, otherwise this is a waste of your own time."

Mikasa set aside specific times for one on one training with Annie so that she wasn't in 'classroom' mode each training session. As Annie's new personal trainer for her boxing career, Mikasa didn't want to feel the weight of mass disappointment on her shoulders for being responsible for one of the world's biggest rookie athletes. It would spell the end for both of their careers.

Annie was dedicated, to say the least. She was never late to a session and always delivered. Even outside of one on one sparring she spent most of her free time at a private gym conditioning and punching bags for hours at a time.

Today felt a bit different.

Annie hadn't been here more than a couple months, and it looked as if her progress was staggering. Her punches held no motive and her overall movements were slow. It was the first time Mikasa saw her like this.

It was a fine line between being an instructor and listening to her empathetic instincts.

It was stupid. This is dumb. Who cares.

Annie was trying a little bit more than when they had started. Her punches had a bit more weight and she moved just a bit faster. But the way Mikasa threw Annie and had her pinned on the floor mat put it into perspective.

There was no reason she should have thrown Annie. Annie could have countered that easy and their positions would have been switched.

"We're done for the day. Get some rest." Mikasa still had her pinned on the floor mat.

Annie turned her head to look Mikasa, confused. Done for the day? "I'm fine. Let's reset."

"No. There's no reason for you to be on the ground like this. You're not in the condition to train right now."

Annie couldn't believe this. Not in the condition to train? What the fuck does that mean? She was always training. Mikasa was always training. They were the same. How else could she make it to the top?

"I'm always training. There's no reason for me to stop now. The season's going to be here before we know it." Annie had slowly tried to stand up once Mikasa had let go of her. True. She did feel off, but couldn't let that stop her.

Mikasa held out her hand to help Annie up. For the strength and muscle Annie had, she felt lighter than you'd think. She had also noticed this when throwing her not too long ago. This had Mikasa make a puzzled look.

"What?" Annie asked.

"You're a lot lighter than I thought." Mikasa pointed out.

"Don't try to pull that. I'm incredibly small. I'm no giant like you. We're not gonna weigh the same." Annie was a bit defensive about that comment.

Mikasa wasn't in the mood to argue with her defense. But it did make her worry a bit. Yes, Annie was a lot shorter and smaller than Mikasa, but with what just happened she felt a sense of worry develop.

"Well…" Mikasa started, "Whatever's going on, fine. But take a break. I can tell you're not in top shape right now."

Annie couldn't respond to that. It was hard for her to admit, but Mikasa was right. She wasn't in top shape. She felt like shit. She was tired and drained. She almost didn't even show up for today's session. Her independent training had been relentless and it was starting to show.

The door to the gym opened slowly. A blond head shyly peeking it's way through the opening. Blue eyes roamed the room cautiously to make sure they weren't interrupting.

Mikasa immediately recognized the long hair and curious blue eyes. She smiled. "You're okay, Armin. We're done for the day."

That was all he needed to fully emerge in the room. He knew how important this was for Mikasa, and he could gauge Annie's temper with public criticism to know not to walk in carelessly. Mikasa had never known Armin to be ignorant of outside information and she appreciated it greatly. As considerate as it was, she also knew how he could easily rub salt in the wound with information like that.

"Hey, Mikasa! Hey, Annie. Thought I'd come by and invite you both to a small coffee lunch? If you're done for the day?" He was a little reluctant in his decision to come here. But he also didn't feel like being by himself. Armin had three tests this week and was overwhelmed with studying.

"Where's the maniac? He's usually with you." Annie asked while wiping her neck with a small towel.

"Maniac? Do you mean Eren?" Mikasa asked.

"Yeah. After yesterday at Sasha's I can't see him as much of a sane person."

Armin laughed a bit remembering, "When he and Jean kept getting 'Sorry!' cards and going after each other I can't blame you."

"I can't believe you didn't stop them, Mikasa." Annie remarked.

Mikasa sighed remembering last night, "Well. Can't force them to play nice. It'll just blow up after a while."

"So just let them hash it out?" Armin snickered and Mikasa laughed with him.

"So where did you plan on going?" Mikasa asked. She was walking around the room making sure things were put away and sorted. She didn't have any classes scheduled for the day, but she didn't want to do the cleanup when came back tomorrow morning.

"Just on campus. I've been studying all morning and the last few days included."

"Why not somewhere not on campus?" Annie suggested.

"Is there a place you'd like to go?"

"Not really. But you might want to get away from the place you study if you're looking to relax." Annie was right. That's the exact reason she was here and not in Marley.

Mikasa gave an 'oh' and turned to face the two blondes in the room. "I think my dad said his cousin owned a tea shop in the city? Like 20 minutes from here or something. They sell coffee and finger food, I think."

Annie raised an eyebrow, "oh?"

"Hm…" Armin thought about the suggestion. He wanted to go, but between the distance and everything he needed to study he was reluctant to give an answer to his friend.

Mikasa could sense Armin's reluctance and offered another suggestion. "If distance is an issue, I can drive us and drop you off at your dorm so you can keep studying. I already know you don't want to take too long of a break, but give your brain a break."

Annie scoffed, "Seems you tell everyone to take a break, huh?"

Mikasa threw Annie a side-eye, not aggressive, but to assert dominance for her reasons. She didn't say anything, though. It wasn't worth the argument.

That didn't stop Armin from noticing this, though. "To be fair, Annie, you do look really pale. We can get some coffee and food and you should collapse in bed until tomorrow."

"I'll pass." Annie decided. She couldn't take the emotional surge this was causing her. She had to be by herself.

"What? Why?" Armin was confused.

"I.. need to be alone right now. Sorry." Without another word, Annie picked up her heavy gym bag and walked out the door.

Mikasa put a hand on Armin's shoulder and he looked at her and whispered, "Was it something I said?"


She tried not to feel guilty. She really did. She had never had that much emotional support in her life. All she had known was to fight. Fight, fight, and fight. It was all one sick cycle she was forced to be a part of.

"If only running away to be a professional athlete could be enough to save you." A mezzo soprano voice called from the alleyway.

Annie was the only one walking down the street. No one would be able to call for help if it came to it.

In horror, Annie looked over to see a tall, slender figure leaning against the grimey brick wall of a building near falling apart There was no way she could be here.

Why are they here..!

Annie's mind was racing. She wanted to run as fast as she could, but all of her muscles were frozen in place. Her legs felt like lead and feet glued flat to the pavement.

"Annie…" The voice was right behind her, almost a whisper in her ear. "Breathe, sweetheart."

Annie let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Her head was starting to hurt. "Wh.."

"Shh. No need to ask questions. I'm just here to talk."

The figure moved from behind Annie to lean back against the wall.

The area they were in wasn't a particularly nice one. Construction was abandoned halfway through and the infrastructure was compromised by weather and delinquents looking for a night of pyrotechnic fun and satanic rituals. As one might expect, very seldom people take this route when walking around the city.

It was the one route Annie could take to her apartment without being bombarded by paparazzi or other media outlets. Coincidentally, the one route that was all too obvious for those that knew her.

The person that stood next to her was one of those few people. It was a shame the two of them weren't on the best of terms with one another.

Annie shot them a glare from her icy blue eyes. Oh, if only looks could kill.

"Oh, my. You hurt me, Annie." A forced laugh left their throat. "I'm only here to have a little fun. And you owe me a favor."

"After what you did back in Liberio? No thanks. I want no part in your fucked up mind games."

The taller figure shook their head and shrugged. "But that was all in jest. Can't you forgive me just this once?" They put their hands in their pockets and came off the wall. Walking back towards Annie. "Although, I can't blame you. After all, Zofia was such a weak mind-"

Annie snapped. She didn't want to hear another word from this snake. Everything they said was full of lies. Lies and lies and lies. She didn't know what their endgame was, and goddammit she didn't want to.

Before they could finish, Annie yelled to block out anything that might have sounded like their voice. "No! Don't you say another damn word! Get the hell outta here!"

Taken aback by Annie's outburst, the mystery person laughed. This was no laughing matter to Ms. Leonhart. Quite the opposite, actually. But she had to restrain herself from getting in to a fight on the streets.

Noticing Annie's fist curling to a ball and one of her legs getting into position, another voice called out far behind the two. "Annie! Hey!"

It was Connie. And at this moment - her savior.

He was running up to Annie and the person standing next to her waving his hand as a nonverbal attempt to get her attention.

Unnecessary, really.

What she did notice was the person next to her slithering away back into the alleyway. Tall and thin, they really did remind her of a snake running away in tall grass. The unfortunate thing for them is that they stick out like a sore thumb in society. Hard to get away with shady business when you can't fit in.

"Annie! Is everything okay? I heard you yelling." Concern filled Connie's voice. To him and his friends Annie was an ice block of emotions and didn't express much around anybody. To hear her yell in such an angry voice raised alarms in Connie's mind. He didn't know her very well (They've only known each other about a month) but he wanted to keep potential friends in his life.

Annie shifted on her feet, readjusting the gym bag she had on her shoulder. Her face was visibly uncomfortable at what just happened, but that only pushed Connie to keep asking her if she was okay.

"Annie, please! You know I'm an officer in training! I can't report this without your permission. Who was that?"

"It's nothing…" She turned away from him. "You should forget this ever happened, Connie." It was a pretty weak attempt.

He shook his head disapprovingly, "No! No way! Not after the way I heard you yelling. That's serious."

Annie turned back to look at Connie dead in his eyes as a way of pleading with him to let it go. She didn't have the stamina to argue right now. Especially not with this idiot.

The glare itself was aggressive, but the words that came out of her mouth were soft and vulnerable, "..please.."

Connie understood what she was trying to say. He sighed and relaxed his shoulders. "Okay. Let me at least walk you home. You don't look too good."

"Fine."


"Can you please shut up?" A rhetorical question from Levi, obviously.

A week full of work. A week full of productivity. A week without Hange.

This was also a week of Nanaba crying in Levi's ear because she was lonely.

Did the good really outweigh the bad? Not really. Not in this situation.

Levi would be lying if he said that he wasn't worried about where Hange's been. Not just for Nanaba's sake, but he genuinely wondered if he'd been too mean to her. He thought by offering her a planner showed he wasn't too much of a monster.

But she didn't even take the damn thing! She left as soon as he made it back up to the front of the shop. That sure as hell pissed him off. And whatever pissed Levi off made Nanaba laugh. Which pissed him off even more.

"But Levi! My best friend! I've been apart from her for so long!" Nanaba complained loudly.

"It's been five days. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Oh but I'm not! I won't! My wife!" She was doing it on purpose now. If she couldn't see her friend in person and joke around she'll just have to make her own entertainment. Which in this case involved bothering Levi until he couldn't take it.

Levi raised his brow and looked over at Nanaba laying across a table in exaggerated motions. "Best friend to wife? In less than a month's time? You guys sure did move fast."

"Oh you're awful! Don't you mock me!"

In the middle of their banter they failed to notice a customer walking in the shop. By no means was he a stranger, but he did stall for a moment to take in the bad comedy happening in front of him. He let this happen for a few minutes before he spoke up.

"Yo! Nanaba! This child bothering you?"

Nanaba's eyes lit up. You could swear you saw them twinkle with joy.

It was the first time Levi has seen her in such a way that he basically ignored the insult.

"Mike!" Nanaba squealed. She ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck. It seems they've had fast development since the week's beginning.

"Hey, girlie." Mike said with a wink. "Gotta place an order, if that's alright."

"Usual?"

"Yeah. I need to order for Hange, too."

Levi couldn't stand the PDA in front of him. It's not that people being affectionate with each other was the problem, it was how they were affectionate. She was running her hands through his hair and touching his facial hair. Their proximity was much closer than a dance of tango.

Gross.

"So I take it there's nothing wrong with her? Shitty glasses and all?" Levi asked Mike.

"Besides the usual? Nah." Mike got closer to Levi and gave him a good sniff. "So your name's Levi, hm? The commander talks about you a lot."

Levi tried his best to be disinterested in the comment, "Does she now?"

"Yeah, says you're like a star crunch. Crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside."

While waiting for the coffee machine to start brewing, Nanaba laughed. "Now that's a description!"

"Can't wait to see the soft part, though." Mike teased Levi and gave him a wink.

Levi grimaced, "You cops are disgusting. Are you all like this perverse?"

Mike put his hands up in surrender and took a small step back. It was like watching a bear get frightened by the fish. "Woah, man. You went there, not me."

Levi made his way past Mike and walked as elegantly as he did to the back office of the shop. He was trying to show sincerity to Hange when he offered the planner to her earlier this week, but she can only process one brain cell at a time and left before he could hand it to her.

Would it be too much to ask him to give it to her? He couldn't dwell on the thought.

Levi came back to the front, planner in hand. He felt Mike constantly throw him glances and look away just to repeat it every few seconds.

"Nanaba! Tell your boy toy to lay off."

Levi asked her, but it didn't go as well as he wanted because all she did was laugh even more. She apparently thought this was the funniest thing in the goddamn world.

"No can do, boss! But I do have your orders ready. One black coffee and a Hange special!" She walked over and handed Mike both drinks.

"Oi, give this to Hange. She left before I could give it to her." Levi handed the small planner to Mike in the most indifferent way possible.

"Oh? This got your number in it or something? Smooth operator?"

"No."

"Aw. A shame." Mike thanked Nanaba and waved at both her and Levi. "I'll call you later, Nanaba. Levi!"

"Hah?"

Mike smiled, "Have fun at day care!" And then he ran as fast as he could.

Levi's eye twitched. "They're too comfortable here and I blame you."

"Oh, come on now. They're fun! Plus one thinks you're their friend! You need friends!"

"They can think whatever they want. But I'm not a child."

"Well don't get mad at me that you're short." She crossed her arms.

"That-" Levi paused. "Wait. Did you say 'Hange Special'?"

Nanaba tried to bite back a small smile, "Comes here so much we made her a special drink."

"…no."

"Too late!"


The next morning Levi decided to go on a run around the city. The days were finally cooling off and he could enjoy the weather around him. It was Monday - the one day he usually left blank - so he could take as long as he wanted.

His favorite part was running along the bridge across the river. The open breeze felt good against his body and gave him a nice shock of adrenaline. Bystanders watching him pass by and continuing their own day.

It was amazing how everyone has their own lives with people who care about them and yell at them and praise them. It's amazing how everyone has their own world that they live in while living alongside others. It was hard not to crack a small smile at those thoughts.

This was also the same area he and his cousin had that conversation about a month ago. He hasn't heard anything from him since that night, but he has been getting an increase in strange calls from anonymous caller IDs. He wants to ask him about that.

He did see his distant cousin come into his shop with her friend yesterday. Not really having interacting with her as a child (he only held her once), he recognized her from photos Jim had shared online. He could have just asked her about her father, but he doubt she knew anything about the family's business. Jim always did want to keep his family at a distance from that.

The one thing photo's failed to interpret was the height at which his distant cousin was. She was giant! Her blond haired friend was even shorter than her by a bit. What tall gene did the Ackerman family have that skipped him? It ticked him off a bit.

Sweat dripped down from his hairline to his chin and glistened his pale body. He was breathing heavy and took a small towel out of the small gym bag on his back as he slowed to a stop. He took in his surroundings to find that he had no fucking idea where he was.

Oh wait.

He saw police tape in the distance and an onslaught of officers patrolling the area inside. Most of them looked bored. Specifically the one with the buzz cut and the ginger with the weird mullet-undercut.

Sent out to make sure civilians don't touch the scene or get hurt, but they all end up falling asleep. Tsk.

He walked up by the scene half to get a closer look, half so his legs didn't cramp up on him.

Jesus.

"Leeeeviii! Yoo-hoo!" A loud voice called out to him and caught him off guard.

Hange came running up to Levi, hair pulled up and faded dark circles under her eyes. She looked like a goddamn train wreck. She was wearing a white button up with black dress pants, black suspenders, black gloves, and all of the weapons and tools she should need on her waist.

"Well this is a first." He calmly said.

Hange looked confused. "Hm? What? Me working and you enjoying time off?"

"No your clothes aren't wrinkled."

"Oh. Well. I was forced to go home last night so I finally got some sleep. I was able to sort my laundry and went with this. I look cool, right?" She was giddy like a kid on the first day of school. The absolute most important outfit of the year.

"You look professional. Like a detective on the mainland. This outfit looks good on you."

The compliment must have caught Hange off guard because she started to blush a bit. "Oh, um. Thanks. You too"

Levi raised his eyebrow and let out an oh. "Glad to know that gym shorts look good on me."

Hange could feel secondhand embarrassment and started looking everywhere but at Levi. "Oh! I-I didn't mean it like that. It was just a reflexive response."

"It's fine," he reassured her. "I don't mean to throw you off your work."

"No, no! You're not!" Hange waved her hands in front of her. "We're coming up short on any leads here, so I'm going back home before everyone gets on my case about sleep again."

"Hm." Levi took a look at the burned building behind Hange. He had heard about it on the news. He's no detective, but from previous experience he could only assume it was some unhinged person.

"Oh! Mike gave me the planner yesterday! Thank you!" Hange said.

Levi shook his head to say no problem. "Use it. You might not be able to control whatever shit mess this is, but you can get a handle on your personal life."

Hange took a moment to think. "Hmm… you sound like a control freak."

"I'm not."

"Mmmokay. I'll believe you."

It was confusing. You call me a control freak and then say I'm not?

"You're weird."

"Yeah. I know." She gave a smile. "And I was joking about the control freak part. I've just never met someone so determined to get me a planner…. And then tell me what parts of my life I should organize."

The two men Levi saw falling asleep on each other earlier were walking up to him and Hange. Somehow more awake than before.

"Commander. Next unit is coming in. Can we go?" The taller man with the strange haircut said first.

"Hmm let Shadis know. I'm about to leave myself." She told the two officers.

You could tell the one with the buzz cut was trying hard to fill the role of the 'honorable' police officer when he did a small bow of respect towards Levi and asked, "how do you do?"

Levi wasn't rude. He responded to the young man. He was trying and it was admirable in Levi's eyes.

Apparently Hange said something stupid because she was laughing loudly the way she usually did. Her subordinate only had a pained expression his face.

Seems like a common occurrence.

"Hange." Levi had to snap her out of her hysteria. "I'm leaving now. Find the time to come back in. Nanaba's talking my ear off because of you."

"Okay!" She waved him goodbye as he started to run back in the direction he came.


Jean watched the short man continue his run and realized he had seen him somewhere before. "Isn't that the guy who worked at that tea shop? But they sell more coffee than anything? You're friends now?"

"Hey, commander." Connie asked Hange before Jean had a chance to confirm that with their commander.

"Yes?"

"I'm not gonna ask how you know that guy, but can you ask him for a workout routine? Like for me?"

All Hange could do was laugh. Either from Connie's desire to get ripped or from the fact that Hange was trying hard to forget the desire to stare openly at Levi's sweaty chest. They apparently couldn't resist the urge.

Jean ended up speaking after Connie with the shared brain cell they used, "Yeah, uh. Me too."

"Hey! You're already tall. You don't need to be ripped, too! Let me have some glory!"

Hange sighed. Here we go again.

"Huh? I'm the one who keeps running into pretty girls! I can't just disappoint them if I take my shirt off!" Jean defended himself.

"Hey, commander! Opinion as someone attracted to men!" Connie asked for help.

"Uuhhh," truthfully Hange had no idea how to respond. "Not everyone is going to be attracted to you whether you're tall and in shape or short and a little pudgy."

"What's that gotta mean?" Connie was confused.

"Um… I don't know. Honestly. Work out for yourself not for girls?"

"Seriously? That's lame." Jean said.

"Be a good person and people won't take you for just your body? S'all I got, kiddos."

"Come on. You weren't in your twenties at one point, commander?" Connie asked.

"Well I was in college for most of it. And nobody at the party cares what you look like when you're drunk." She said.

"You partied, commander?" Jean asked in disbelief.

"Sometimes. It was fun. But I got bored pretty quick. I had some friends that tried to get me out, but I just focused on my degree." She explained.

"Well. Learn something new everyday, huh?" Connie said.

"You guys treat me like a mystery! I'm allowed to have fun every once in a while, too!" Hange complained.


The officers parted ways and Hange went home to actually sleep. Jean and Connie both decided to meet Sasha at a seafood restaurant by the pier. It wasn't very far from the burned down warehouse so it didn't take them very long to meet up with her.

It was when they got there that Jean nearly had a heart attack.


A/N:

Hey, everyone! I hope everyone's having a good day/evening/night.

I hope everyone enjoyed the new chapter. I just undid all the coding error from the last four chapters not too long ago, so I really don't have much to say lol.

So, uh. Stay safe. Write a review. Let me know I guess. Phone in.