I do not own AOT or any of it's characters, only my own OCs and situations. Many situations can and will be graphic so please read with caution. As always please comment/follow, I love hearing how you feel about the story! It keeps me motivated. Enjoy!
Commander Erwin's presence caught me off guard as he stood next to me on the steps of the HQ. I broke my gaze from Levi's and glanced up at Erwin who's face was completely stern.
"What now…" I grumbled while leaning forward onto my knees. His eyes never moved from everyone in front of him.
"We have some intel on that female titan in the forest." My heart wrenched slightly at the thought of Levi's team splattered through the forest. "We have a mission coming, and I need to know I can trust you to help us carry out this mission." I stared confused for a moment before standing up, his gaze finally turning to mine.
"Even though I can't stand you, and all suspicions are still on me, I promise you, on the deaths of Petra, Gunther and Oulo, I will do whatever is necessary to bring that bitch down." A smirk played to the corner of Erwin's mouth.
"I think that's the first time I've ever heard you sincere…cadet." I rolled my eyes, but couldn't stop the smirk that played on my face. "There may just be hope for you yet."
"So what's this plan?" I crossed my arms over my chest, tilting my head inquisitively. He shook his head though, stifling my curiosity.
"Only a few will know of the plan, and you're one of them, but not yet. Tonight, midnight, head to my office. I will tell you this, we will be in the Stohess district, and from what I know, your family lives there correct?" My heart sunk. Great, he's going to try to kill two birds with one stone isn't he? I nodded, displeasure spreading across my face. "Good…intel on your brother's disappearance rendered you innocent; regardless of Levi's word, I still wanted to find out. It seems more traitors are among our midst and I need to ensure I have your full cooperation."
"As much as it may trouble you to trust me, Commander, I've made a home here in the Survey Corps. As much as I hate to admit that really. I am willing to place my life on the line to fight against that titan bitch and the rest of anyone who doesn't believe in you guys." Surprise riddled his face and I chuckled, "I know I've been here a short time and all, but seeing you guys in action, being around you guys daily, losing the first real friends I've ever had…I can honestly say I'd rather not be anywhere else than here." It was his turn to chuckle this time as a big hand landed gently on my shoulder. I stared up at him quizzically.
"Alessa, your skills and cunning are going to be crucial for this coming mission. Don't forget, midnight." I nodded as the Commander turned on his heel and headed inside. I glanced back at Levi who's eyes watched with immense curiosity. In actuality, he was probably more curious as to why the Commander and I could speak so civilly rather than me lose my shit like I loved to do. I took this chance to walk towards him, taking my time while the throbbing pain in my hand still had not ceased.
"You know Captain, people are going to think things if you keep on staring at me." He rolled his eyes, turning his head to watch his soldiers sparring. "I already heard it from Hange."
"Four eyes better keep her nose out of my business." His cold tone made me laugh quietly.
"To be honest we should really keep everything under wraps you know, god forbid you get in trouble for fraternizing with the enemy." Humor spread over his face just as quickly as it disappeared. He really did try hard not to show his emotions.
"Fuck 'em." I giggled and nodded my head watching the training. "Speaking of enemies, your little watchdog is probably going to come at you the moment I'm not around. I think he's suspicious of my knowledge."
"Ugh, guess I'm just going to glue myself to your side so I can avoid that mess."
"Yea, cause that isn't suspicious or anything." I jokingly glared at him.
"I'm going to have to deal with him at some point. I'm sure when I do it isn't going to be pretty." I winced as a sharp pain shot through my hand.
"You're going to have to have that set by the doc you know." I rolled my eyes. "Don't put it off, you're going to need to fight through more pain at some point. Letting it get worse is only going to hold you back." Begrudgingly, I agreed, convincing Levi to leave his squad and escort me. I wasn't afraid of Greg so much as I just didn't want a confrontation so soon after he broke my hand. And now that Levi was on board, and the Commander was increasing his suspicions, if I had to defend myself, I could. But Levi was right, not getting this set was only going to increase my pain and hinder me. We made it to the medical wing where the doctor managed to set my hand, where I most certainly screamed out numerous profanities in the process. This time, I had a stronger wrap and a sling for my arm with strict instructions from the doctor to not use it. Using my 3DMG gear was not going to be happening any time soon that was for sure.
I sighed as the sun was setting. My curiosity peaking about the secret meeting tonight with the Commander. Luckily I was able to avoid Greg at all costs throughout the day, and dinner was no different. I managed to sit in the middle of squad Levi, keeping my guard up at all times. I sighed, full after the stew, still nibbling on my bread roll. Squad Levi made no attempts to leave the chow hall, to my gratefulness, as the room cleared out slowly with everyone finishing their food. Eventually, our squad and Hange's squad remained, where they joined us at the same table. One of her soldiers passed out hot tea as another cleared the table of all the dishes. Once they finished, Hange broke the content silence in the room.
"Erwin spoke to all of us it seems. Whatever he's planning, it must be real serious to keep it to just us." We all nodded our agreements.
"We have to be very careful of what is going on in our ranks," Levi stated, swirling his tea in his cup. "It's time you all knew the truth." Everyone's interests peaked as we all listened to him intently. "It's not just the titans we are worrying about right now. As you all know Alessa here transferred from the MP's to us fairly recently. In doing so, it's stirred a lot of animosity with the MP's as a whole as well as some mercenaries."
"Mercenaries? Why the heck.." Hange started but Levi silenced her. I internally groaned, not thrilled where this was going.
"My family, the Evans' , are a mercenary family. We hire, train and cash out on dirty, bloody work for profit." Everyone's eyes stared at me in shock. "I was avidly involved until my transfer here. My family, had no idea of the transfer and are not happy, especially with my brother having been jailed. Whatever is to come from them is not going to be pretty and I'm confident it's going to make anything we do even harder here."
"Were you a spy when you joined up?" Mikasa spoke up, glaring daggers.
"Initially yes, my job was to gather information about Eren, report back to the MP's and eventually kill him." Mikasa growled, ready to pounce, but Eren grabbed her arm. "However, I got to know Eren and all of you and I have chosen to go against my orders. I have also chosen not to go back to the MP's or my family, which is causing quite the ruckus."
"We have an opportunity here," Levi spoke up, thankfully able to drag Mikasa's death stare off of me for a short time. "We have prime intel on not just the MP's but the most notorious crime family in Stohess. With Alessa's help, we can keep the MP's at bay, and with ours, she can keep her family out of the picture." Everyone remained quiet, looking around at each other, many glares in my direction.
"Your family, you mentioned were mercenaries. You must know a hell of a lot of dirt on a lot of people then, correct?" Hange spoke up, my nod making her place her hand on her chin in thought. "I wonder…." Her thoughts were cut off briefly as Armin entered the chow hall. I hadn't realized he wasn't with us this entire time.
"The Commander wants to see us early." We all nodded, though the way he spoke incredibly low made me cautious. No one argued though as we all left, moving towards the Commander's office quickly. Inside everyone but Hange and Levi stood, the two of them taking up the only chairs.
"I called you early because I had our newest recruits put on work duty outside the headquarters." A few confused looks made me remember no one knew about Greg. "We have spies in our midst and I'd like the office to remain as free from prying ears as possible. Now to business, Levi, did you fill in the teams about Alessa…" Levi and I both nodded simultaneously. " Good, now then. Alessa, I need you to infiltrate your family for one major thing." My eyes nearly popped out of my head. Really? Are you kidding me? "I need you to find specific information on a number of people. While you are handling your family affairs, everyone else…" I cut off the Commander quickly.
"I don't think you understand how difficult that is going to be." His eyebrow arched and I continued. "Sir, my family's office that has all of that sort of information is not only underground beneath the house, but is incredibly hard to access. We are talking top notch security, guards everywhere and on top of that if I get caught, you will probably never see me again because they'll probably have me killed, or worse." The Commander sat back for a moment.
"Is there anyone you can trust that knows that house the way you do?" Anyone that I trust?
"I used to but my brother isn't much into trusting these days…"
"Is there any other way to get this information?" I paused and thought for a moment.
"The annual Evans' ball is coming up in a few days, during that time security will be centrally located for the most part making getting to the files a lot easier. The only downside is that there will be many more crime families, corrupt merchants and political officers all over the place. The only way I can think of getting through is if I could somehow not only convince my family to not disown or kill me, but be willing to invite some of the members here to the ball. It would be incredibly challenging."
"But not impossible…" Levi spoke up side glancing me. I nodded my head.
"I just have to get some major shock factor across to make them believe I am still being me and not venturing sides." The Commander thought for a moment, looking around the room.
"What would it take for your family to hear us out?" I sighed exasperated trying to wrack my brain.
"Well it would take a lot, but all I can think of us they are keen on uniting families for their cause, recruiting people for their cause or if I brought someone worth their interest to gain information from."
"We could bring me for information…I mean I am a titan…" All of us shot Eren an are you crazy look.
"They don't care about that Eren, they'd end up dissecting you with the Military Police paying for it." Eren grumbled as we all sat in silence for a moment.
"We could tell them Levi and Alessa are getting married!" Hange yelled out incredibly proud of her outburst. Both Levi and I stared at her like she was insane. Well, let's be honest, she is.
"How is that.." Levi started but Erwin cut him off.
"Humanity's strongest soldier, with an already grey past, siding with the Evans' family might come out favorable…" Erwin mumbled, the gears in his head visibly turning. No one but Hange knew about Levi and I hooking up, so this took everyone by surprise.
"Plus, Levi is probably the best person to get Alessa out of there if things go south…" Armin chimed in. Come to think of it, it wasn't a half bad plan. Plus, my brother already knew Levi and I hooked up so it's not like it'd be too much of a surprise.
"We can convince your family that Levi's interests were turned in favor of your family and to prove it he's willing to marry you and join the MP's." Hange giggled.
"I am not joining the MP dogs." Levi growled.
"You wouldn't have to, we'd be long gone with the intel before any of this got far enough." I spoke up contemplating the outcome. While my father wouldn't be happy I'd be 'marrying' someone outside of the crime families, the fact that Levi Ackerman's reputation and shady past could potentially make him see past that. "This might work." Levi stared at me for a long moment and everyone else at him, awaiting what was next.
"Good when is the ball?" Erwin spoke.
"I believe this weekend." Erwin nodded jotting something down on a piece of paper.
"We will begin preparations for this. Whatever it takes, we get in, and we get out just as fast if we can. No one can suspect us." Erwin looked around at all of us. "After the ball, we take out the female titan." Everyone stared at Erwin confused. "We need to do this one after the other. The commotion that will end up coming from our infiltration into your family will be drowned out by us luring out the female titan publicly and taking her out." Everyone stared in disbelief.
"He's right…After everything we've found out about her, we can conclude that the female titan is in fact Annie Leonhart." Armin spoke this time. This just blew everyone's minds. "I thought about all the events that have taken place since we first saw her. Every event leading up to it confirmed that Annie is the only possible choice as the female titan." Most of us stared slack-jawed at Armin as he explained his reasoning. Erwin nodded along while Levi just stared expressionless…Does nothing ever surprise him? Silence took over the room after Armin's explanation and Erwin's plan was brought to light.
"I hope I don't run into her, I'll rip her damn throat out." I growled, now knowing an identity of the person who killed Petra and all of squad Levi.
"You cannot let your emotions take over during this mission, hold yourself together, we need everyone doing their jobs as flawlessly as we can." We all nodded, many of us quiet. Everyone nodded, grim in remembrance of everyone we lost. I looked around the room at some of Eren's friends, Jean, Krista, Mikasa, Armin…these guys have had so much chaos the last few months and have seen so much loss. Hopefully this can give us a new chance at survival and peace and an understanding of what titans are all about. The room cleared, aside from Levi, myself and the Commander, though we stayed silent for a few moments after.
"This spy in our midst, Levi told me of him." I glanced at Levi, slightly annoyed even though I said I would trust him.
"We have to be careful about him Commander, he's likely to make a move if he feels cornered and I'm really not wanting to be the brunt of his shit again." I groaned as I spoke.
"We could trap him tonight though. Lock him up so he can't hurt you again." I stared at Levi for a moment finally registering what he meant. I glanced over at Erwin who just raised his hands as if to say you do what you do.
"How do you propose we do that…" Levi's intense stare gave me chills before he continued on with his devious little plan. I smirked now.. "well, I have to say, I never thought I'd be excited to be a guinea pig, but let's see how this works." It made me laugh to myself, in all honesty, the fact that we have insinuated goings on with the Commander in on it to a degree and not really even knowing there was really things going on. Levi's brain always made me curious and is he doing this intentionally? To alleviate any suspicions if any aroused? Depending on how long this lasted we may have to find other avenues of cover-ups to pursue.
We stepped out of the Commander's office, walking slowly and silently through the HQ. It was a waiting game at this point, to lure Greg out and hopefully catch him without getting myself hurt too badly. I glanced over at Levi who's face, yet again, was emotionless. I couldn't read this man to save my life and I was usually really good at reading people. Being in his presence, with his emotionless face or not, made me feel a lot better. It was a strange feeling to allow my walls to come down a bit, and what was even stranger, was that I didn't dislike it. Levi was living up to his word, slowly but surely about trusting him and everyone else here. For as cold of an ass as he could be, this side of him was my favorite.
"What are you staring at?" I jumped once he spoke, not realizing I was staring at him the entire time.
"I was just thinking…" I smirked shaking my head. He glanced at me as we stopped by his bedroom door, his tilted head waiting for me to continue. "I was just thinking that you normally look so cold and mean and yet you've proven to me otherwise on so many occasions. I'm afraid you're a big softie in there." I joked poking his chest gently.
"I'm definitely not a softie." He rolled his eyes, leaning against his door. "You've gotten me to be too nice to you lately, I'm going to have to be extra mean and strict later so you don't keep thinking ridiculous things." I giggled.
"Right, because appearances are everything." He nodded in agreement, the faint hint of a smirk forming. It faded quickly as his eyes darted past me down the hall. With as serious as his face got I assumed immediately our target was approaching.
"Well I believe this is good night to you, Captain." I forced a smile dreading the next confrontation I was about to have. He glanced back down at me, planting a quick kiss on my lips.
"Be careful." His voice was low. I nodded turning on my heel and taking my time walking down the hall towards my own room. Glancing back over my shoulder I caught Levi as he closed the door behind himself to his room. Phase 2. Greg caught pace with me, plastering a fake smile onto his face as he walked beside me.
"You seem to be in fine spirits today," his voice was fake as can be as other soldiers passed us up heading to their own rooms. "I wonder if your mind is far too distracted by the Captain to do your job right." I rolled my eyes as we walked and scoffed.
"I told you I'll hook up with who I want. It won't impede my job." He chuckled as we reached my room. I stopped in front of the door, not ready to open it as of yet.
"It's only taken me a day and I think you're full of shit. I think you're playing a very stupid game and you don't realize who you are playing it with." I sighed, a bored look coming across my face.
"Right because I am just an idiot girl who has a reputation for not knowing how to do her job…" My sarcasm made him frown. He knew I was right, I was not known for being dumb or letting anything get in the way of my job. "Do you really think that someone like Captain Levi would get in my way? A girl may have needs but did you ever stop to think that maybe having him between my legs was a good ass strategy. I mean come on, humanity's strongest soldier at my beck and call. I think that would be a pretty good look, don't you think?" I smirked, opening my door finally, walking in casually. That's right Greg, you think you have games, but you don't.
"Well, I never pegged you for the whore yourself out to get what she wants type. Are you hoping for hesitation from him when you kill the titan boy? Are you hoping he'll just let you leave after playing with him the way you are?" Greg followed me, closing the door and locking it behind him.
"Nothing will happen to me, I am confident that I have him right where I want him." Greg's eyebrow arched.
"Really now. You must be very good at playing all sides of the coin. Either that or you are full of shit." I smirked up at him, pushing the conversation for as long as I can. "You wouldn't be so stupid as to say…play with a man like that's emotions and turn on him right? I mean the man is from a horrible background and is a deadly force of reckoning. Who's to say he doesn't already know your game?" I rolled my eyes.
"Please, if he knew my game I'd be dead already." Greg shook his head closing the gap between us.
"I don't think so. He's a calculating man, I'd wager he'll wait til you can't help but feel something for him and then that's when he'll strike. No woman could handle her emotions with a cunning man like that." Hearing those words made me curious, could Levi ever be like that? He's always been upfront with me always speaking his mind. I shook the thought from my head. I can't let Greg into my head, this won't turn out well if I do.
"Then he'll be making a very large mistake. You and I both know that I am very capable of handling myself. Let him try to break me, I'll bet it backfires. He's not the only deadly force in this building." Greg chuckled and nodded.
"That you are right, Alessa…but what strikes me as odd, is someone as skilled as you with no emotional history of love or dating, can act like a love sick puppy when he's around." I stared at him confused now. "You giggle, you bite your lip and fidget when he talks to you…and you know what else.." He paused leaning in close. "You watch him like a hawk. No one else. No fear of danger that could be surrounding you." His hand grabbed at my throat again, though this time I managed to roll away to the door and dodge his strike. "You're getting sloppy Alessa, you need to be reminded what you are." I growled low.
"I know who I am, Greg. The problem with arrogant assholes like you though? You think you've got it all figured out." As if on cue my bedroom door opened. Levi, Erwin and Hange stepped in. Greg's eyes narrowed. He was cornered, no where to run and if he tried jumping out the window, he'd most certainly die.
"You're just a little traitor like Jason said you were. You've gone and switched sides you stupid little bitch. You're going to regret doing this Alessa, not just to me, but to your family." Greg's face was panicked. It took a lot to get him to the floor, but luckily he was no match for Levi's quickness. Greg spat the blood that pooled in this mouth from where Levi sucker punched him at his feet. "All of you are going to regret this. You better kill me now, because if I get out, I am coming for you all."
"Riiiiight, because your scrawny ass compared to a titan is just so terrifying." Hange remarked following Levi and Erwin out the door, myself in tow. "You know what I like to do to cocky assholes who threaten my friends?" Greg stayed silent as we descended into the cells. "I like to hurt them and experiment on them, you know, in case they think about fucking with us again." Her smile was that of a madwoman and I loved every second of it. With Greg out of the way, we could proceed with all of our plans as we needed.