Concerns

Levi's POV:

It had only been four days since the mission to retake Wall Maria and Erwin was already paying me a visit. Once I invited him into my office, he closed the door behind him.

"How's your new recruit?" He asked, his hands clasped behind him.

"Fine," I told him blandly, knowing he was on a fishing expedition. "She's made some enemies though."

"That's not exactly surprising, is it?" He replied, walking up to the window behind my desk.

I held in a weary sigh as I stood up joined him. Outside, I could see my team scattered out in the yard, tuning their 3DMG's.

"This squad is full of stubborn personalities, it's only to be expected. Though, she's having no trouble holding her own," I tell him.

"Glad to hear it," he replied.

I knew I had a couple of rough bastards in the mix, Oluo and Franc being perfect examples. If Uma hadn't of been able defend herself against them I would have begun to think twice about her position here. As I suspected, she was one tough nut… nut seeming to be the optimum word. Regardless, I respected her particular brand of crazy and was curious to see what she'd bring to the table.

"She knocked both Olou and Franc on their asses the first day. I consider that a pretty good start."

Erwin chuckled in response, which I found somewhat odd. This whole conversation felt forced from the beginning. We were not the type to shoot the shit together, or with anyone else for that matter, so what did he want? He obviously had something to say and there was no point in skirting the damn issue. So let's cut to the damn chase.

"What brings you here, Sir?"

"The same person we we've been talking about, Uma Belova. I found some information on her that's somewhat troubling," he informs me, his demeanor returning to its usual seriousness. It seemed that the pleasantries were over.

"What's that?" I muttered, pretty certain nothing he'd say could surprise me. This was the military no one had a perfect track record.

"I think it's best if I show you," he said, putting a manila folder on my desk and flipping it open. It was Uma Belova's recruitment file. Her picture from when she was a trainee was paper-clipped to the front of her documentation. Even back then, she looked hardened- a young face with an old soul.

"Uma Belova's first official documentation came from an orphanage called Open Arms in Little Millan. There's very little written in there about her past except where she came from. She was born in Misk Mina a village in the Mountain Forests of Maria."

Misk Mina… now that was somewhat surprising. That village was a bitter reminder that humanity itself is it's own enemy.

"I've heard of it," I tell him. Who the hell hasn't?

"Do you know what happened there?"

Slaughter, torture, madness… "I do." I told him.

"That was sixteen years ago, the same time Belova was brought to the Open Arms," Erwin informed me.

"So she was there, what's your point?" I asked.

"My point is Uma Belova was a victim of the Misk Mina Massacre. We don't know what this girl has seen or what has been done to her. It can only be assumed she's undergone no shortage of torture in her childhood. She's not just some hothead or a thrill-seeker that can quickly be whipped into shape. She's been molded by the traumatic events of her past and most likely will never change. I think, given the circumstances, it would be dangerous to keep her in your unit. The Special Operations Squad cannot afford to have an uncontrolled variable running around."

I knew Erwin had a legitimate reason to be concerned but I was too stubborn to say as much. Watching Belova out the window, so focused and calm as she worked, I tried to imagine her as the unstable lunatic Erwin feared she was. I couldn't see it. There were a lot of broken minds wandering loose in the Survey Corps, but I doubted she was one of them. Uma was tough, tougher than most soldiers I've seen. And she didn't have to play at it either. Just one look at her and it was obvious… she was an instrument of carnage.

"To me, the past is the past," I told him. "Looks like she feels the same way. But if you want her demoted, she's on probation anyway."

Erwin's brow knit as he stared down at the young woman in question, as if boring a hole in the back of her skull would give him the answer. I could tell he felt sympathy for what happened to her as a child, whatever appalling things that might have been. When it came to violence, Erwin was well acquainted with the kind that came from Titans, not other humans. Still it didn't take much imagination to think of what we humans are capable of doing to one another. I could tell he was disturbed by all of the possibilities. I'm sure that was the only thing that spurred him to make his next decision.

"Just keep an eye on her," he muttered, his brow still knit in concern. "If she shows any troubling signs, immediately pull her out of play."

"Out of play?" I asked, looking over to him. He had to be joking…

Erwin nodded curtly, "I will be leading an expedition beyond the wall in a couple of days. The Special Operations Squad will be one of the units to join me."

"Do you think they'll be ready to face the Titans again so soon?" I asked. My unit was still exhausted from the last mission. The idea of shoving them back out there irked me.

"I'm afraid they'll have to be ready," Erwin answers with a regretful sigh.

Erwin didn't stay for much longer and when he left, he didn't take Uma's file with him. I opened it up to her picture once more and stared down at it. Who the hell are you, Uma?

AN: PLEASE REVIEW! Sorry for the short chapter everyone. It is the length I intended it to be- Levi isn't a very talkative guy so all his POV chapters are concise and say everything they need to without romanticizing anything. For those of you who are here for the romance, it's very subtle and slow, but hopefully you can see the possibilities of stirrings in this chapter lol.