Title: Regrets
Summary: Levi was humanity's strongest in more ways than one.
Pairing: Eren/Mikasa, Levi/Petra
Warning: May contain adult themes.
Author's note: AU. It stopped just after Chapter 65 or an assumption of what happened after that.
Disclaimer: the manga, characters, etc. are not mine.
"So, let me get this straight." Hanji Zoe, a member of the Survey Corps that Levi had not even cared to notice before, said. Why she was even in the room, he failed to understand. "You think you time traveled."
They were all in the Commander's office with Shadis sitting behind his mahogany desk, his fingers steepled in front of him. Flagon was standing on his right with his hands behind him, glaring at everyone while Erwin stood a few feet away at Shadis' other side with a measured gaze. Most of the black clad squad stood close together, a joint force except for the other Levi or Ackerman, as most of the people have taken to calling him. He was casually leaning against the wall by the window with his arms crossed on his chest, looking nonchalant. His squad still insisted on calling him Captain despite Flagon's protests that the rank didn't even belong to Ackerman yet. He was met with a very intellectual, almost patronizing, explanation from Armin about the nature of Ackerman's status to his squad. Flagon gritted his teeth in annoyance. Levi, Farlan and Isabel were standing opposite of Ackerman's squad, another joint force of their own while Hanji stood somewhat in the middle of them.
"What other fucked up explanation can you come up with?" Ackerman responded sarcastically.
"Maybe you and him are twins separated from birth?" Hanji continued to offer helpfully. From the bland expressions of both Levi and Ackerman, she quickly retracted her theory.
"Ackerman," Shadis called his attention. "What made you think you time traveled?"
"The differences in the years we think we're currently on, for one. From where we came from it was closer to 851 than the 844 that you think it is." he said. There was a little pause before he added, "Farlan and Isabel, for two."
Farlan, Isabel and the others looked at him with befuddled expressions. Erwin and Commander Shadis merely looked calculating with their shrewd eyes narrowing and lips in a tight line.
"How can you tell you time traveled because of us?" Farlan asked.
"Yeah, we aren't time travelers in the future too, are we?" Isabel wondered.
"No," Ackerman said. "You died."
"What? Isabel, she— no, that can't be—" Farlan whispered.
"Both of you." Ackerman corrected.
The others in the room tensed and collectively glanced at Levi.
Levi had clenched his fists, his pale grey eyes widened just a fraction and he looked about ready to murder someone. Judging from the intensity of the glare he kept throwing in Erwin's direction who met it with a cool gaze, it wasn't a secret to whom he would likely readily commit homicide.
"Let's go." he snapped at Farlan and Isabel, making his way out of the office. His shoulders were tensed and his eyes were as sharp and cold as the steel of his blades.
"Big bro?" Isabel asked tentatively.
"We're not even sure if what these guys are saying is true." Farlan reasoned with him.
Levi turned back and shot him a hard look. "I don't give a shit. We're leaving."
"But what about—" Isabel started to ask.
"Fuck the job." Levi snapped and headed for the door again with Isabel and Farlan flanking him without any other protest but warily kept him at a distance.
"Levi," Erwin blocked his exit and Levi seemed to have seen red. Farlan and Isabel shared a nervous look. "I understand that this is upsetting you—"
"Get. Out. Of. My. Fucking. Way." Levi hissed, the unspoken threat rang clear with the way he subtly, almost unconsciously, shifted into a fighting stance. He was passed caring what they'd do to him if he murdered Erwin on the spot. He can feel Farlan and Isabel tensing as well, readying for a fight, falling into the old habit of the ingrained loyalty they've perfected long ago from standing beside him through all those years they've spent underground.
Levi's heart thumped faster from adrenaline and he secretly took solace in the familiarity. This was as part of him as the strength coursing through his veins; the three of them against the world, taking on enemies stupid enough to fuck with what's theirs. Levi had started from the bottom, someone who had seen his fair share of cruelty and injustice mankind can do to each other. He was someone who did dishonorable things to survive. He was someone who was cold and selfish because in his world, he couldn't afford to be anything else if he wanted to live. But that all changed when he found Farlan and Isabel. Now, he strives to make a better life, not only for himself, but for others as well.
Because he didn't just gain friends. He gained a family.
And he'd die a hundred fucking times over before he'd let anything happen to them.
Levi roughly pushed Erwin aside and continued walking away.
"He knows." Ackerman spoke up. Levi stopped on his tracks. Farlan and Isabel spun their heads back back to Ackerman. "About the job. Erwin knows."
There was a moment before it clicked.
Isabel rounded on Erwin. "What? How did you even—"
Farlan gave him a look of distrust. "If you knew, then why didn't you arrest us?"
"Because I needed your skills to fight the titans." Erwin told him but his intense gaze was focused on Levi. "Even without proper training with the 3DMG, you use it more naturally than any cadet I've seen. You weren't even here long but your skills have already outdone many of our veterans. Your help is far more valuable to humanity than the knife you hung above my head."
Levi clenched his fists even tighter, his nails digging into his skin that it drew out blood.
"The documents you're after doesn't exist either." Ackerman continued. "This was all a ruse to arrest Lovoff. Erwin only made him believe that he held evidence against him so he'll be looking in the wrong direction while they delivered the real ones to Zacklay. He knew Lovoff hired you to kill him off."
"So, why did we die? If he knew and Lovoff was arrested, how did it even happen?" Farlan asked.
"Your first expedition outside the walls." Ackerman answered him.
Isabel's mouth formed into an O and Farlan visibly swallowed considering they had just come back from the said expedition.
"But Levi, Isabel and Farlan are some of the best in the entire Legion even if they are relatively new in the ranks. That's why they're clustered in one unit because they work best together. And if what you're claiming is true, that you are from the future and this is your past and that in your said future, you're called Humanity's Strongest which cannot be argued once we saw you and Mikasa over here," Hanji said, pointing back where Mikasa stood beside Eren. "Fight all those titans single-handedly. No one in history has ever done that which probably makes the safest place in the world is probably to be right beside Levi Ackerman. And you three are practically inseparable. I'm sorry being so frank about this but how did they just die? We had a new impregnable system of communication to avoid titans during our expedition. Not to mention almost a quarter of the Legion around us and they were with you."
Hanji flailed his hand in Levi's direction and his eye twitched in annoyance. Ackerman inhaled deeply. He'd always have trusted Hanji to ask the right questions.
"On the second day of the expedition— tomorrow— there's going to be a thunderstorm." Ackerman said, his eyes glazing slightly, remembering. "The rain poured down hard and we couldn't see shit. We couldn't use the flares and there was no way of knowing where the titans were. And that's when I saw the opportunity to kill you." Ackerman turned his gaze to Erwin. Erwin nodded in acknowledgement of his own assassination attempt, accepting the tactical opportunity of the scenario.
"Farlan and Isabel told me it was too dangerous to go after Erwin alone. But I didn't listen." Ackerman said, his voice grave. "The choice that I made back then was wrong."
No one made a sound, too horrified to move as if breaking the silence will descend the chaos waiting to explode upon them all.
Levi's eyes dilated in anger, becoming darker and darker like storm clouds.
His fault.
They died because it was his fault.
As if sensing what he was thinking, Ackerman lifted his gaze to Levi's direction. Their eyes met, ancient greys like a lake reflecting the storm. The calm that settles between the raging thunder and lightning.
Levi looked away.
"When the fog cleared, I saw a trail of titan footprints leading back to our unit." Ackerman told them, shrugging slightly, almost nonchalantly. "I was the only survivor."
"And what? You just let it fucking happen?!" Levi barked, stalking back toward Ackerman who still leaned calmly against the wall even as Levi obviously intended to beat him into a pulp. "You fucking little—"
"Stop it, big bro!" Isabel stepped forward and grabbed his arm. Levi turned to her, his eyes blazing. She stood her ground and looked him fairly in the eye. "You may call me idiot a lot and I know that I could be most of the time but you're acting like one right now."
Levi looked surprised by her outburst. Isabel had never went against Levi in any way. He was her big brother, a title she had proclaimed the moment they met. She stood by him, supported him, looked up to him and, most importantly, cared about him like family. Isabel had always been impressionable, selfless, kind and head strong. She would follow Levi anywhere with her brimming heart and her unwavering trust hence the shocking effect of her currently calling him an idiot.
She let go of his arm and stepped back, standing as tall as she could. "Maybe it wasn't as easy as you think. Maybe you just couldn't save us. I know you, big bro, and I know what you'll do for us."
Levi's eyes narrowed at her words and from the look in her eyes he realized she knew. A long time ago, Isabel had encountered bad people and had hurt her and he had dealt with it. He can still remember coming home with his knife and Farlan waiting for him, asking him if he had killed them.
He didn't answer.
He never had to judging from the grim satisfaction in Farlan's eyes.
"But whatever happened, if what they're saying is true, then it never happened. That's how this time traveling works, doesn't it? You can change the past." Isabel continued, slightly fidgeting, expecting to be rebuked by her silly theory.
"Change the past." Ackerman echoed and everyone turned to look at him. He was no longer leaning back on the wall but standing upright, face pale, hands clenching into fists, the calm he wielded moments ago replaced by an epiphany.
"Yeah," Isabel said, sounding defensive. "I mean, isn't that what most people would wish for if they traveled back in time? To change something that happened that they didn't like?"
Then, at that moment, everyone's expression sobered.
Farlan snickered. "For someone who gets called idiot a lot, that was kind of ingenious, Isabel."
"What do you—" she started to ask but figured it out. "Oh. Oh! That was very clever, wasn't it, big bro?"
She turned to Levi with shining eyes, feeling extremely pleased with herself. Levi snorted, his anger dimming when she beamed at him. He rolled his eyes.
"Captain?" Eren spoke for the first time since coming into the office. Levi turned to Ackerman, seeing as the man seemed to be frozen where he stood. "Are you alright? What is it?"
"We were sent here." Mikasa whispered and Eren turned to her as she swayed slightly, catching her and holding her steady. She put her palm on her head and closed her eyes. "I think I— I remember something."
"What do you remember?" Armin asked. "Mikasa?"
She ignored him and looked Ackerman in the eye.
"Levi," Mikasa said. She was the only one of Ackerman's squad who refused to call him neither Captain nor Ackerman. "If this is what I think it is then we can save—"
"Everyone. I know." Ackerman said quietly.
"So, someone sent us here to change the past and you two remember who they were?" Jean asked, sounding skeptical.
"Why don't we remember any of this?" Sasha wondered.
"But time traveling? How is all this even possible?" Historia said.
"It's not. It's virtually impossible. Nothing in all the knowledge of humanity that we know can turn back time." Armin argued. "This must be some kind of—"
"There's more." Ackerman cut him off, his voice grave.
"What else can there be?" Connie asked sarcastically. "This day is already too insane."
"It gets even more insane." Mikasa hissed, her features turning angry.
"Why? What happened that we don't remember?" Eren asked.
"The titans." Ackerman said. "They've won."
"Petra, stop, stop," Hanji gasped.
Petra stopped pulling the little makeshift bed she wove with her uniform and Hanji's gear. She dropped to her knees beside Hanji and started to fuss over her.
"What is it, Hanji? Are you hurt anywhere else?" she asked, checking her wounds bandaged with the same cloth as her uniform.
"No, no, I'm fine. But you're not." Hanji said. "I think— I think you should leave me and go."
"What? No! I'm not leaving you." Petra protested, frowning.
"No, no, it's the logical thing to do, Petra. I'm injured and I can't walk. I'm only slowing you down. You have to go and get help. Use your gear. If we're going in the right direction—"
"We are going in the right direction." Petra argued.
"—then you'll reach the wall in no time."
"I'm not leaving you." she insisted.
"What happens when we encounter a titan?"
"But we haven't encountered one—"
"Yet." Hanji finished for her and Petra frowned. "I'll only be a liability. You need to get out of here. Find Levi and the others. Help him stop all of this."
"We can't do it without you, Hanji." Petra told her.
"I know." Hanji said, smiling. Already panting from exhaustion of talking. "That's why I was going to tell you that you'll have to leave me up a very high tree while you go and get help."
Petra snorted, relieved. "I thought you were going to say something noble and suicidal."
Hanji snickered. "Not today."
Petra sobered and looked worried. "I may upset your injuries further if I try to maneuver you up a tree."
"Can't hurt me more than I already am." Hanji told her, sighing. She covered Petra's hand in her own. "It's worth the try."
Petra nodded. She laid Hanji near a try and took the makeshift bed. She planted her grapple hooks up a tree and flew up, choosing the highest and the sturdiest branch she could find. She tied her coat up the branch above her and made it resemble a small hammock. She lowered herself into the ground and helped Hanji. She cried out in pain when Petra carried her bridal style and quickly took in the air, trying to avoid bruising her ribs any further. She set her down gently on the hammock and Hanji winced in pain as she tried to get more comfortable.
"I leave you a few blades for emergency." Petra said, fussing over her.
Hanji nodded.
"I'll be back, okay?" Petra told her, reaching for her hand.
"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." Hanji smirked.
"You better not." Petra said, smiling in return.
"Now, go. Run along and find your boyfriend." Hanji said, making weak shooing gestures.
"My what?" Petra stuttered.
"Oh, please," Hanji murmured, sighing tiredly but also exasperatedly. "I may wear glasses but I'm not blind, you know. Besides, I think Levi got even crankier when you were gone."
Petra smiled shyly. "It wasn't the right time."
"It's the end of the world, Petra. Now's the best time." Hanji whispered, feeling her eyelids dropping. "Now, please go. I want to take a nap."
Petra laughed gently. "I won't be long."
Hanji nodded and fell asleep.
Petra took off and flew as fast as she could. The wall was far, she knew, but there was one other place she can get help and they were closer.
It's time she visited the titan-shifters domain and appeal to their humanity.