I'm back :D
Sorry for being on hiatus but I've been ridiculously busy for the whole summer... The recent comments, however, motivated me to make enough time to squeeze out this little piece here. It could be a bit weird, it was done in the middle of the night and I'll probably do a small editing session where I fix some mistakes and typos from both this and the earlier chapters.
Thank you so much for being patient, and I'm very sorry for those who've had to wait for long. I hope you enjoy this one. I have no idea when I'll be able to write more, but hopefully I'll see you soon!
As always, reviews are appreciated :3
Armin was up and about, once again doing Hanji's bidding. He was carrying the files assigned to him and hurried forward at the Headquarters courtyard. It had been over a week since the last time he'd seen Ansel. Ever since Levi gave the guy a whooping, he'd been keeping his distance. He smiled at the memory, though. He was happy that the problem had finally been settled with.
That's when Armin saw Jean running towards him.
"Oi", he shouted. "There is a meeting in the main hall. Come quick."
Armin frowned with a nod.
The hall was filled with the Survey Corps soldiers. Levi's squad was gathered up in the middle of everything, so Jean and Armin had to push their way through to their friends. Eren glanced quickly at his friends.
"Hey", the boy whispered to Armin.
"What's going on?" he asked quickly.
Mikasa looked at him with a worried frown. "Erwin is about to explain."
Their commander stood up on a higher level, Levi and Hanji right behind him. Their squad leader had his normal, smileless expression on his face.
"Greetings", Erwin begun. "I am sad to inform that one of our fellow soldiers has been murdered."
Armin's fists clenched and is heart started pounding louder - who had been killed? Was it someone he knew? The news caused some whispering and mumbling.
"The soldier's name was Greta Font", he continued. "My deepest condolences go to her friends and family."
The man narrowed his bright, blue eyes. "Since this was a murder, every single one of you is a potential suspect. We will catch whoever is responsible."
Armin stared at the grim faces around him. He had seen Greta a few times, but never spoke with her. He didn't really know her, but based on the horrified, empty looks that some of the soldiers had on their faces, they sure had known her.
"You're free to go", Erwin finished before nodding to Levi and Hanji.
The people started talking in low, angry tones. Armin understood them – who would even consider killing a comrade? It was an outrageous thought. And from now on, everyone would still be suspecting each other.
"Captain", Eren gestured to the short man who could now and then be seen from behind the mass of people. People stepped aside to make him way, though. The captain walked up to them and glared at them with his usual manner.
"What do we do now?" Sasha asked, clearly scared. She looked around with huge eyes.
Levi pouted slightly. "The fuck if I know." He then tilted his head. "Just don't go and get yourselves murdered, I guess."
"That's helpful", murmured Jean. Levi glanced at him.
"Fine", the captain sighed. "Yes, we need to be careful now. Greta Font was a trained soldier, just like all of you. It means that our murderer is either a stealth assassin or just as highly trained soldier."
Armin frowned. Levi was right. "It could be that this was a one-time-thing", he stated. "If someone had something special against Greta. The killer could have been hired."
"Or", said Connie, "The killer has just started."
The next few days were filled with tension. Levi noticed how people didn't look each other in the eye anymore. He walked to the training grounds slower than usual. His squad was already waiting when he arrived.
"Start by doing ten pushups, thirty lunges and twenty squats", he said with a bored tone. The captain sat down and watched as his squad started. Mikasa was the fastest, as always. She was no doubt the strongest of them – after Levi himself of course. Eren was trying very hard to keep up with Mikasa, and Levi saw how the girl was actually holding back her strength to make Eren feel better. Armin was determined, but he got tired very fast and his breath started to wheeze. Jean was focused on what he was doing, ignoring the others completely (except for Mikasa, he occasionally stared at her arse), which left Sasha and Connie competing against each other.
Levi looked down at his hands. He liked this squad, really. It didn't matter that they were a bunch of brats, not even grown-ups yet. They became better soldiers every day, and they were even closer together than Levi's old squadmates had been. Eren and Jean's arguing sometimes reminded him about Auruo and Petra. Levi stared into the distance, wrapped in his memories before realizing that everyone was finished. He blinked a few times before assigning a new set of moves for them.
Levi leaned on his elbow. I'm getting old, dwelling in my memories. Get your shit together, Levi.
With a sigh he got up and removed his jacket. He had a sleeveless, dark grey shirt on and he walked next to Eren, got down and started doing pushups.
It was late. Eren was walking down the stairs that lead to the dungeons. He was tired, but still his senses were tingling - there was a murderer on the loose, and he could be anywhere. He sighed - it hadn't been an easy day. The atmosphere was heavy, no more jokes or smiles in the hallways. Eren was just at the end of the stairs, when he heard it.
Soft, quick steps. The boy frowned - someone was trying to sneak, walking on their toes, heels barely touching the ground. The steps of someone who did not want to be noticed. Cold sweat climbed on his brows.
Very slowly and very quietly Eren sneaked back up the stairs. He carefully peeked under the railing and immediately noticed something was off. The figure that was walking away from him was dressed in the Scouting Legion's cloak. Their hood was on, and it was impossible to see who was under. Eren narrowed his eyes - this was way too suspicious in times like this.
Eren felt anger boil inside of him. This could be their murderer. He wasn't afraid to face the despicable bastard if it came down to it.
He crouched on the dimly lit hallway, every sense tingling like electricity. Eren's heart was pounding like crazy, and he didn't even understand why. He was safe - he could turn into a titan and smash murderer under his thumb. Eren gulped - the cloaked figure had stopped at the end of the hallway. There was someone else there as well. He cursed his bad luck - the hallway was really long and he had no other hiding place but a niche in the wall. He pressed against the cold wall and pinched his hearing to its limits - what were the two saying?
Eren could only hear bits and pieces. He heard something about the "payment", and the "objective". He frowned - this was definitely suspicious, but it could be just drug dealing instead of murder.
Suddenly Eren froze still, when he heard another set of footsteps coming right from the hallway behind him. He glanced back and cursed mentally. Captain Levi was walking calmly right towards them, focused on reading some kind of report. Eren glanced back at the two figures, who had yet not noticed anything. He gritted his teeth and breathed out to calm himself. Levi was almost next to him…
Levi walked down the hallway at the Northern wing, reading lazily the report that he'd need to sign and hand over to Erwin, some bullshit about the new recruits' training results. It was late and he had some other paperwork to do as well before he could get some sleep. He'd need to get some tea.
Levi didn't notice the hands that suddenly reached out to cover his mouth and pull him back. He heard someone hissing to his ear, and it took him only a moment to realize it was Eren. Levi grunted and pushed the kid's hands off of his face.
"What the hell, Jaeger?"
"Hush!" Eren hissed again and raised a finger to his lips. Levi stared at him and then moved his gaze to the direction he was pointing. There were two men at the end of the hallway, and both of them were now looking at the direction they were hiding. The captain noticed how Eren bit his lip nervously, but seemed to relax a little after the two returned to their conversation.
"Care to explain what we're doing?" Levi whispered angrily to Eren's ear.
"Spying. Those two are suspicious"; Eren answered with a sharp look in his green eyes. The captain rubbed his eyes.
"Don't you think you might be overreacting? They're just talking."
The kid's frown got deeper. "At this hour? Hardly. Those two do not want to be seen."
Levi glanced at them again and had to admit he was right. The two hooded figures clearly didn't have good intentions.
"So, what's your plan here exactly?" Levi whispered.
Eren shifted his weight. "Shut up. I'm trying to listen to what they're saying."
The captain frowned. "Did you just say shut up to me?"
Suddenly the guy dressed in the Scouting Legion cloak turned his head a bit, making his voice just loud enough for Eren and Levi hear what they were saying.
"Meet you again after you've done your next job."
"Agreed."
Levi frowned. Something was definitely wrong with these two. Were they really making a deal about a murder? It was impossible to sneak up on the guy from the position they were in, and unless the guy would come right past them they had no chance of catching him.
The man in the green Scouting Legion-cloak looked around before giving the other one something. Levi and Eren both squinted to see what was going on. Some kind of letter, the captain was quite sure of it. Within the next few seconds both of the hooded figures disappeared to the shadows. Levi knew that chasing would be a waste of time.
"Damn", he muttered before stepping back to the light. He looked up at Eren, who had the same serious frown on his face as earlier.
"Now what?" he asked.
Levi sighed. "I suppose we'll go report to Erwin. Come on."
The next morning everyone was dense. Eren was tired, though – he had slept maybe for two hours after he and captain Levi had went and woken up the commander to tell him about what they'd seen. He couldn't understand how someone could cope with this little sleep. He sat down for breakfast and started eating his cereal like in a machine-like manner.
Armin leaned closer and Mikasa narrowed her eyes at him.
"No sleep, huh?" smirked Jean who carried his tray to the opposite side of the table.
Eren grunted as an answer.
"What were you doing?" Armin frowned.
"I saw stuff", Eren slurred. "With Levi."
"Eren, you make no sense", stated Jean. "Saw what with Levi?"
The boy stared at Jean's horse-face for a while before is brains processed what he'd just asked.
"Um… two guys acting suspiciously. I had to explain the whole thing to commander Erwin last night, and I really don't feel like explaining it again right now", he finally said and took a long gulp of his apple juice.
That's when Erwin Smith started clearing his throat and stood up, gathering everyone's attention.
"I'm just letting you know that from now on we'll be working together with the Military Police in order to catch Greta Font's killer. We have strong suspicions that he is still within the HQ and is planning to kill again." Eren flinched as the commander's ice-blue gaze swept over him.
Frustrated sighs could be heard all over the hall. No one liked the Military Police. The two forces had always had it out for each other.
"I expect you all to act like soldiers, and assist the Military Police in any way possible. Don't forget we're on the same side", Erwin finished.
"Great", Jean muttered. "Just what we needed."
Eren yawned. "Don't forget that you were on your way to the MPs as well."
"Shut it."
The Military Police arrived in the afternoon, ten of them. The Survey Corps gave them long faces, but of course everybody would co-operate. Levi hated the MPs with a passion. He considered them to be cowards, people who thought that hiding behind the walls and serving the royalty served more purpose than killing titans. The people who made it to Military Police were once the cadets with the best results in their training, meaning that the most capable titan killers went to hide away. Levi could never live his life like that. He remembered one particularly disgusting member of the Police force, who'd once come down to the Underground City for a drink. Levi had been just a kid back then, maybe six or seven, and then guy had begun to come onto him, touching him, thinking he was a little girl. Levi did have certain femininity in his facial features, and his hair had been a long black mess back then. He could still remember his rotten breath on his face. The captain grimaced and watched as the MPs marched in like they owned the place.
His squad didn't seem too enthusiastic either. Erwin made a small speech about the importance of companionship and some crap like that.
That's when one of the MPs approached him – he was a tall, brown-haired man with a big nose and a stubble. He eagerly reached out his hand and stared at Levi with bright eyes.
"Captain Levi! It is an honor to stand before you."
Levi blinked and could feel Erwin's eyes drill into his skull, so he reluctantly grabbed the man's hand and squeezed it.
"I have to say, you're shorter than I imagined", the man smiled. The captain narrowed his eyes and heard his squad members hold their breaths.
"Yeah, you're not the first", he managed to squeeze out, even though it killed him in the inside. I'm doing this for Erwin. Come on, Levi, just take it in. You can do it.
"Well, I'm looking forward to working with you", the man finally stated happily and patted Levi on the shoulder. The captain glared after him so darkly that he saw how Armin flinched.
Levi hoped they'd catch the criminal soon. He wasn't sure how long he'd have the patience to stand these rude, cowardly prunes.
After the MPs had introduced themselves and had been accommodated, Levi turned his course towards the courtyard.
"Where are you going, captain?" yelled Eren after him.
"Going to find something to punch!"
Levi was so tired. There had been a number of so called "suspicious activity" going around the castle, including a hungry Sasha grabbing something to eat from the food storage, Hanji blowing up some shit in her laboratory and so on. It was ridiculous.
Levi finally made it to his room. He started unbuckling the straps that formed his harness. The captain removed his jacket and hanged it up to his closet. He changed into a pair of loose, knee-height shorts and a sleeveless white shirt.
He was actually going to sleep in his bed tonight - usually he preferred the chair, but he hadn't slept at all last night and he really felt like he could use the rest. Levi fell into his bed and allowed himself to fall asleep.
"Levi!"
"Captain, open up!"
"Captain!"
Levi slowly opened his eyes. There was an ungodly noise coming from behind his door - several hissing noises and some half-whispered words, some quiet pounding on the door.
His head hurt and he rubbed his eyes as he got out of bed and marched to the door.
"What the fuck?" he growled as he opened the door. Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Connie and Sasha all stood in front of him. Eren hushed him once again with an angry frown.
"Come quick!" he said and grabbed the captain's arm pulling him to the hallway.
"Oh fuck this…" Levi sighed but surrendered to his fate and followed the kids. "What's going on?"
"I saw him", Eren explained. "At least I think its him. We were spending time in the boys' barracks when Armin saw someone sneaking towards the courtyard. I took a look, and I'm almost certain it was the same guy we saw that night in the hallway."
"It's strange", Armin continued. "There was something familiar about him."
Levi nodded. He was now fully awake. "Towards the courtyard, then."
He rubbed the back of his head with a sigh. His head was pounding like crazy - usually he was fine with sleep deprivation but apparently this was different.
"Got a headache, captain?" asked Armin quickly.
"You are my headache", Levi grunted as they closed in towards the courtyard. Their pace had slowed down and everybody quieted down.
Levi squinted and peeked through the window.
"There's someone there", he admitted. The captain grimaced as he saw the snowflakes that were slowly falling to the ground - and he was wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt.
"Great", he muttered. "Alright, listen up, brats."
Levi turned towards his squad. "Connie, Mikasa and Sasha, get over there", he pointed his finger outside. "Block their way from there."
"Eren and Jean, go block that exit over there", he pointed towards the door on the opposite side of the yard. "Armin and me will stay here and guard this door. When they're done with their little talk, we get them. Clear?"
"Roger, captain!"
Levi squinted as he tried to see something in the dark. Everyone was in their place, waiting for action. Finally the two cloaked figures started to move away from each other. Levi narrowed his eyes - one of them was coming right at him and Armin.
The younger soldier was on the opposite side of the door. His mouth was just a straight line and his bright blue eyes glimmered in the dark. Levi nodded and pressed against the cold stone wall.
The door opened and the victim stepped in. Levi gritted his teeth and Armin opened the fight by kicking the man to the stomach.
There was a muffled "uuf"-sound as the man stumbled forwards. The man tried to swing a fist at Armin, but he grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. Levi grabbed his hood and pulled it back, revealing the man's face.
His eyes widened. "You?"
"So let me get this straight", Erwin said slowly. "Ansel Klein hired a hitman to kill Greta Font in order to rise in rank. His next plan was to order a kill on Armin Arlert, so that he could get a place in the Special Operations Squad?"
"Yes", Levi stated, glancing at the golden-haired boy next to him. Armin was tense and kept looking down.
"He's had it out for Armin for a long time", the captain added. "Who could've known that his lust for a powerful status would go this far."
Erwin nodded. "And both of them are now safely behind bars?"
"Correct", the captain replied.
After the report was finished, Levi and Armin left the commander's office and stepped into the corridor.
"You okay?" the captain asked as they started walking.
Armin didn't answer at first, but then he nodded slowly. "I suppose. It's just difficult to think that… even though he was an ass, he was capable of getting rid of his own comrades in order to rise in rank."
Levi sighed. "Greta Font died for nothing, anyway. I would have never taken him in my squad."
Armin nodded, but stayed quiet. When they reached the boys' barracks the captain turned to the boy one more time.
"Armin", Levi said. "You are irreplaceable for the Special Operations Squad, and I hope you know that. Ansel was a traitor, who will most likely be sentenced for life in prison. You are a good soldier and I am proud to have you fight by my side."
Armin's big, blue eyes glimmered and Levi could see how he couldn't stop a smile from climbing to his face.
"Th- thank you, captain!"
He nodded at the boy. "Now go get some sleep", he grunted before heading back towards his own room.
Armin sat down on his bed. He couldn't stop himself from smiling. He didn't know how captain Levi had managed to pick the perfect words to say. The boy took out something from under his pillow. They were glimmering in the candlelight - his razor blades. He thought about all those times Ansel had beaten him up, but how in the end it was Armin who had won the war. The boy slowly stroked the scars on his arms before taking the small, sharp blades on the palm of his hand and throwing them to the garbage can.
I am needed, was his final thought as he fell asleep.
Guest number 1, 2 & 3: Thank you, I'm so happy that you like it! Here's your chapter and I hope y'all are satisfied :'D
Guest number 4: That's amazing to hear... I agree with you about how unloyal some fics are to the actual characters. I try to always think if this particular character would do this or do that, but I don't know how well I've succeeded... Anyway, your comment was really nice and motivating, thank you :3
HeartElyse: Don't worry darling I'm not stopping :3 I have tons of ideas for future chapters. I'm thrilled that you like it so much and you reminded me that I really need to write again. Your comment meant a lot to me, thank you :3