They sat in silence. Erwin staring at one of three computer monitors, alternating between rubbing at his eyes and temples while Hanji had retreated to a corner, shuffling through a folio and making calls while scribbling down notes. Levi sat at the table, poring over a stack of papers with his leg propped up awkwardly under the table on a small box that was slightly too low to be of any real use. He didn't react when Hanji sat down heavily in their usual seat at the table, their head falling into their hands at they let out a long groan of frustration. It was only when Hanji slammed their hands down on that table that Erwin and Levi both looked up.

"Dead end?" Erwin's face was grim.

"Our network is gone. All of my contacts have gone to ground except Moblit and Nifa and they aren't exactly plugged in to the less aboveboard activities in Trost." Hanji sighed and sat fully upright again, looked between both Erwin and Levi. "Either of you have any luck?"

"I've been trying to reach out to some of Mike's contacts but like you said: everyone's gone to ground. And on top of that I can't exactly go out at night with my fucking ankle. I'm screwed if I get backed into a corner."

"Erwin?"

"I have one I've been able to coax a little bit out of, but not very much. Nothing particularly useful now either other than that the MP and the Guard are keeping a low profile - which we already knew. The syndicates are apparently starting to pull back a bit though."

"That's nothing new. I could have told you that and I've been binge-watching Kitchen Nightmares for the past three nights."

"At least crime is down a lot?" Hanji ignored Levi's frown. "Everyone is waiting to see what happens. We're getting a chance to lick our wounds in peace."

"So we're just going to sit here?"

"Well you are absolutely going to sit here and wait for your ankle to heal. You already messed it up worse insisting on walking on it right after."

"What did Nifa say?" Erwin was giving Levi a look of concern.

"She said to stay off of it. Which I know you haven't been." Hanji had a challenging look on their face, daring Levi to disagree.

"What? Does she want me on crutches?"

"Yes, she wants you off it completely for the next three to four weeks."

"That's –"

"And," Hanji cut him off quickly, "she said you need to be off active duty until at least December."

"That's almost a fucking month and a half."

"Keep off your fucking ankle or it's going to be longer." Levi recoiled under the ugly glare that Hanji was giving him.

"Levi, do it. Minimum three weeks on crutches. No arguments. We'll see after that." Erwin abruptly turned his attention to Hanji. "Is there anyone else we can tap?"

"We're going to scare people off if we push too hard now." Hanji paused and frowned. "This isn't going to be easy."

"I'm going to work through official channels for a bit and see what we can dig up that way. Double back on our ground sources in a week or two when the dust has more or less settled." Erwin waited for Hanji's nod of assent before continuing. "And Levi, I want you to actually talk to Nifa and see what else she wants you to do."

"Hn."

"I'm meeting with Commissioner Lamont as Commander Handsome in an hour so I need to get going."

"Because now is the best time to be doing PR work?" Hanji raised an eyebrow, Levi joining them with a decidedly nonplussed look.

"Damage control. We need to keep Mike and Nanaba's deaths from going public for as long as possible. To do that we need someone who can spin the media's attention elsewhere. And like you said: crime is down."

"That's information that isn't just going to stay with him. News has already started to filter out into the larger community. We already know Trost PD has more leaks than a sieve. You can't seriously be thinking of handing them that sort of information on a silver platter."

"What they said." Levi jerked his head in Hanji's direction.

"It's starting to get out anyway. This way we can at least control it. Changing around some details also means we can maybe figure out where the leaks are and who they're going to." Erwin stood to go. "I'm heading out now. Hanji, make sure Levi isn't an idiot and doesn't hurt himself worse."

Levi swore under his breath and Hanji allowed a small tired smile to sneak across their lips.

"Okay, I'm going to get crutches from upstairs and I'll drive you home."

"I'm not a fucking invalid."

"You shouldn't be driving with your ankle injured like it is. You drive a manual, you're going to get yourself or someone else killed."

"Fine."

As soon as Hanji had left Levi threw the stack of papers he had been reading onto the table, a few stray pages spilling off the stack and fluttering to the floor. His shoulders sank and he allowed his body to go slack, his chin lowering to his chest. Exhaustion pulled at him and yet he couldn't sleep. His insomnia was clawing at him worse than usual as flame and ash painted the inside of his eyelids, his breathing painful and his ankle throbbing no matter how he laid down. He straightened up and rolled his shoulders as he heard Hanji return, wincing as he stood up and rubbing at the sore muscles of his leg before taking the crutches that were being held out to him.

"You know, you'd be less sore if you fully elevated your leg and didn't prop it up on something that low."

"Couldn't find anything taller."

"There's a chair literally across the table from you." Levi's eyes went to the empty chair, a melancholic frown briefly passing across his face.

"It's just…" Levi slumped, putting more of his weight on the crutches. "It feels weird… wrong."

"I thought Mike wasn't anything to you besides someone you trusted?" Levi looked at Hanji as though he'd been slapped. Hanji's face was harsh and Levi stared at them for a moment, expression oddly unguarded and regretful before he turned away sharply.

"Just take me home."

.

There was a faint dusting of snow on Levi's coat when he walked into headquarters. He discarded it quickly upon entry, hanging it haphazardly on the coat hook next to the door and neglecting to take off his heavy boots, tracking slush and dirt inside and earning him a raised eyebrow and a look of surprise from Erwin.

"I got Hanji's text while I was grocery shopping; you tracked down a lead?"

"You didn't read the follow-up one, did you?" Hanji's expression was sour.

"We hit a rather unfortunate dead end of a sort and I don't think we'll be getting past this particular road block until after the holidays." Erwin pursed his lips and his brows furrowed. "If only we'd hit on this a week earlier."

"Want to fill me in on what the fuck you found?"

"We got a hit on Grisha Jaeger." Levi's head snapped to focus on Erwin. "Or rather, a source tipped us off that while the bank robbery back in October was pulled off by the Titans, the money wasn't what they were so concerned about. There was a safety deposit box at that bank registered to Grisha Jaeger."

"And?"

"Bank records show that it was opened on August 12th of this year." Hanji frowned deeply. "Nothing was ever deposited though. A man signed the paperwork as Hannes Schutz, but we have no idea if it was Grisha under an assumed name or someone opening it on behalf of Grisha and it's too far back for them to have kept the surveillance tapes."

"Hannes?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Eren mentioned knowing a Hannes, but he's dead." Erwin was looking at Levi with interest.

"Did you get his last name?"

"I didn't ask, no. It's not like it's a common first name."

"So we have a dead man opening a safety deposit box for a missing man."

"So that's our dead end?"

"No, actually." Levi frowned at Erwin before joining the both of them at the table.

"It gets more interesting." Hanji jumped in and pushed a file towards Levi. "The bank here in Trost has a branch in Shiganshina as well and guess what's there?"

"A deposit box registered to Grisha Jaeger?"

"Even better. It's registered to Grisha and Eren. Opened by one Grisha Jaeger three years ago on Eren's birthday."

"Okay, what does that mean for us?"

"Since Eren's name is on it we can access it. Well, Eren can."

"So what's the fucking issue then?" A frustrated look crossed Erwin's face.

"They won't release any details to us besides that. Normally there are forms you can submit – proof of identity, signed affidavit, proof of death" Levi's eyebrows raised sharply, "–and they'll release it to a registered courier or next of kin."

"No dice?"

"Apparently the contract has an addendum: Grisha or Eren must be physically present in addition to other requirements that would prove their identities."

"I've been on the phone with them four times under three fake names." Hanji sighed in exasperation. "I couldn't even find someone who'd take a bribe to tell me what the other requirements are!"

"So what are we doing?"

"I was hoping that we could speak to the bank manager, but he's away until after New Year's." Erwin's jaw clenched and released. "If we'd known a week earlier we could have caught him and…" He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I don't know, maybe showed our hand and told him that the Survey Corps needs the damn box. Christ, I wish we could take three weeks off too."

"So you're saying we're shit out of luck getting them to give us the box?"

"The only consolation is that while the Titans probably figured it out first, they're in the same situation."

"No?" Levi looked back and forth between Erwin and Hanji, incredulity etched on his face. "We have Eren. What the fuck are we sitting here for? Just grab the kid and go get the fucking box."

"He's taking his finals right now." Hanji gave him a look, daring him to continue.

"You've got to be shitting me."

"Do you really think the Titans aren't going to make a move the moment we head for Shiganshina?" Now it was Erwin's turn to look at Levi with incredulity. "We'll try and figure something out, but in the meantime we sit tight and we watch Eren very closely. Like a hawk if you will."

"So I'm babysitting again?"

"Nifa just cleared you less than a week ago. You've been out for a while, ease your way back in."

"Fuck off."

Levi glared at Hanji, ignoring their look of concern before storming out. Mid-December snowflakes swirled around in the biting evening wind. He brushed the light dusting of snow off the windshield of his car before getting in and turning it on, pausing to take out his phone.

[Levi:] Keep your eyes sharp. Don't let your guard down.

[Eren (brat):] wait what?

He threw his phone onto the passenger seat before shifting the car into gear and driving off into the night.

.

"He has a point, Erwin."

"I know, but we don't know nearly as much as I want to before we do this. We can't afford to have things go wrong again."