A/N: A short chapter this week, sorry about that! But it is a sweet chapter and I hope you all like it! Please leave a comment to let me know what you think!

Chapter 28

Present Day – Under the Streets of Wall Rose

Levi sits in the dark and dank room with nothing but a candle to light his surroundings, taking a sip of his tea, as he is reminded of the Underground. He always hated places like these. The smell of grime violating his senses with the damp air so thick it's as though he is choking on it.

He takes another sip of his tea, holding the cup at the brim as he tips the contents into his mouth, eyes never leaving the cocoon of crystal that stands before him.

He leans back in his chair, leg hoisted up over the other as he looks onto her closed eyes, never wavering his glance. His eyes land on the facial marks that indicate she is a Titan. Similar to Eren's, Willow's marks are three to four pink raises scratching from just under her eyes, however, unlike Eren's sweeping towards his ears, Willow's marks scrape straight down her cheeks, ending at just above her jawline, as well as above her eyebrows and into her hairline. He hates seeing these cuts on her face, as it is a constant reminder to him of the irreversible decisions she's made.

He watches her through the grooves of the crystal, seeing the symbolic separation of her face reflecting back to him, splitting into a thousand copies of herself. He contemplates how many faces she wore in front of him before she finally snapped into a thousand pieces.

Levi comes here every day to see her while his leg heals, sometimes telling her about the changes they have made within the Scouts, and sometimes just sitting in the darkness waiting for her to look back at him.

Her face is peacefully still, eyes shut as if she were sleeping, having the most calming dream he can imagine. He wonders if she dreams in there, and if she does, what accompanies her mind in that crystal prison she has created?

He tips the teacup back to his lips, drinking its contents as he watches her through his eyelashes. He remembers the look on her face when he came zipping down to pull Eren out of his Titan and save her from being devoured by him. He could see the tears streaming down her face, but she was not scared… she was instead sad.

He could see it in her wet eyes that she was grieving in that moment, and he wondered if she regretted what she had done to his squad. He wanted to ask her then, but she cowardly entrapped herself in this cocoon to escape taking responsibility for her actions. He considers asking her now, but he knows that every word he speaks to her falls on deaf ears, with nothing but silence to return.

He hears footsteps approaching and he straightens his posture as someone enters the cell that they have confined her in. "Captain," Nifa's voice calls out over the deafening silence. "A letter from the Commander."

Levi takes the letter from the redhead, thanking her as she salutes him and turns away from him. Levi rips the envelope, pulling out its contents as his eyes scan the paper. He drags his lips into a prominent frown at the words staring back at him. He exhales deeply, allowing the words to gain comprehension in his mind before he speaks.

"Looks like Reiner and Bertolt have made their move," he says aloud, allowing a false sense of hope that she can hear him guide his motives. "They captured Eren," he shakes his head. "Hange, Mikasa, and a few members of her Squad have been injured in the fight." Levi places the paper down and watches her for a response, maybe a victorious smile or surprised eyes, but she remains as she always has. "Things could have been different if I was there," Levi says with a lidded expression.

Levi tosses the paper onto the table holding his candle. "We figured they were Titans, but the Armored and Colossal?" he shakes his head of the thought. "Makes me wonder how you managed to survive the attack from the Armored. I saw the way your back bent around that tree. No surviving that," Levi sighs as he takes another sip of his tea.

"Hange and I have this running wager; I believe you miraculously survived the attack and those two buffoons somehow managed to turn you into a Titan before you died. She thinks your death was faked and you agreed to help them in favor of the Titan's powers." Levi shrugs, keeping his eyes on the ground, unable to look at her. "Call me optimistic, but it doesn't sit right with me to think you were on their side the whole time." He swallows hard, "Still… makes you question it all."

Grabbing his leg and shifting his weight, Levi grunts in pain as he tries to get comfortable in his position. "Hange is working on creating some sort of chisel that can breach this cocoon you have fastened yourself in. She is very eager to get you talking," Levi lingers on the sentiment, allowing the implication of torture to set in. "Won't do us much good. If you're out and we make a mark on you, you'll just turn and crush us all. Something tells me you're not too worried about going out yourself. People who have died before tend to not to fear it so much a second time."

Levi sighs, wondering why he is even speaking to her. He has no validation that she can hear anything he is saying. He figures that he is just wasting his breath on her, but another part of him feels as though he needs to be here by her.

"Sometimes I wonder if you would speak to us if you didn't lock yourself away in this imprisonment," Levi questions. "You were eager to speak to me back in Stohess, but it is clear your mind has been made up. There's no turning back from your decision; your actions were pretty irreversible."

"Take me back to the start, Willow," Levi leans back in his chair, looking up at her closed eyes and peaceful face. "What was the moment that you broke? I can assume you settled on the decision to kill the squads once you were turned to the Female Titan, but at what moment did you become so disillusioned with the Scout Regiment and its Soldiers, that you felt there was no way out? Was it the moment we retreated? Somehow, I think it was before then. Maybe when Erwin pressed you into the field when you were still in recovery?" Levi shakes his head, "I'd like to believe you had more resolve than that." Levi looks away from her, "Maybe it was a combination of it all, like bricks stacking on your chest until you finally buckled under the pressure."

"Forcing your training, the lack of proper recovery, the Abnormals, the push of your limits, Derrek's suicide, everyone else's death, our retreat. Seems like there was a lot stacking up on you." Levi swallows hard as the memory scrapes at the back of his head. "The night that we… kissed." Levi takes a large gulp of tea, burning his throat intentionally as he tries to push down the growing lump in his throat.

He shifts his weight in his seat, trying to formulate what to say to her. Explaining himself to her wouldn't do him much good either, since she most likely cannot hear a word that he is saying to her. Still, he feels as though he owes her an explanation, whether or not she can hear him now, he still remembers the pain in her eyes so vividly.

"I couldn't really tell you in that moment, because I was not sure how to explain myself. Never been good at emoting." Levi sighs, "My mother was a prostitute in the Underground," he informs her as the lump builds in his throat. "Oftentimes when she was with her clients, I would roam the streets of the Underground with the other children around. Sometimes I would meander around in the brothel itself if it was too late to be in the streets. But there were occasionally times where it was unsafe for me to explore either, so my mother was forced to tuck me away in the wardrobe in her room until she was finished." Levi turns from her, eyes fixated on the ground as he is unable to watch her while speaking of his mother.

"Curiosity would get the better of my young mind, and I would peak through the small crack in the doorway, watching my mother through that small sliver. From the angle, I could only see my mother's face." Levi tightens his jaw as the image scratches at his skull.

"The expression on her face was something that I did not understand then, but as I have grown, I have recognized it in the faces of the Scouts when they return from their missions. It's shame," he says as his eyes fixate on the ground.

"She was ashamed of herself, and her actions, losing herself in the moment with the men that visited her. With every client, I watched my mother dissolve into nothing. Every man that entered took a piece of her that she could not regain on her own until she was eventually evaporated with nothing left."

Levi's eyes finally dare to look unto Willow, expecting her to watch him with sad eyes, and feel remorse and understanding for how he handled the situation with her. Hell, he'd be fine if she even showed him anger at his inability to communicate what he was feeling that day. But he gets neither of those from her, and to his disappointment, her eyes are still closed and her face peacefully cold.

"When you were on top of me," he shakes his head, chuckling to himself as he admits that he actually wanted her. "All parts of me wanted nothing more than to have you there. But then I thought of my dissolving mother; and I thought about how you would respond. Would your eyes hold the same shame in them? I refused to see that look in your eyes and I refused to be the reason you dissolved. So, despite what I wanted more than anything in that moment, I pushed you off… and I walked away." Levi leans back, questioning if his attempts to keep her from dissolving might have led to her breaking. And some sick part of him figures that maybe she is better off this way.

Levi hears footsteps and he clears his throat, straightening his back and pulling himself out of the memories of the Underground, unsure what came over him. He unenthusiastically glances over at who joins him down here, when he is shocked by the entrance of Commander Erwin.

"I see you received my letter," he says standing straight as he glances down at the letter on the table, not daring to allow his eyes to fall on the encased girl.

"Yeah," Levi breathes looking down at the paper. "It's a damn shame."

"I am going to lead a group of Cadets to retrieve him," he promises Levi and the Captain returns with a simple nod. Erwin sighs, closing his eyes for a moment until he gathers the strength to turn and look at her. He approaches her slowly, a part of him thinking she will jump from the encasement and crush them here, but she does not, and she instead remains as she has been; eyes closed and unmoving. "Any progress here?" he asks, knowing the answer already, but striking up the conversation nonetheless.

"None," Levi begins as predicted, "I even told her that if she cut this shit and came out, I'd let her go toe to toe with you. Didn't seem enticing enough of an offer," he says in a snark tone that the Commander does not smile at.

The Commander nods simply at this, eyes completely transfixed on the girl inside the cocoon, seeing a peaceful and serene side of her that he has never seen before. "It's humbling what lengths she will go to keep her secrets."

"Humbling? Strange," Levi exhales, "I would have used 'infuriating' possibly even 'exhausting'," he says, lifting his drink to his lips.

The Commander's lips turn upwards at this, "Yes I suppose it's all of those things too."

Unlike Levi, the Commander has not visited the imprisoned girl, feeling strange at the idea of seeing her once more. Erwin came to terms long ago with the realization that his dreams of using her to retake Wall Maria were crushed with her death. But with her dramatic return, he found himself feeling almost reignited, as though there were still hope for those dreams once more, despite everything she's done.

The Commander turns away from her and to Levi, watching him with careful eyes, "Any progress from Hange to see how we can crack this material?"

"Nothing so far," Levi shifts his weight in his seat. "Though she had her hands full with the Wall Rose breach."

"Speaking of," the Commander speaks up, "The wall was not compromised."

Levi furrows his brows together with confusion, "What do you mean?"

"There was no visible breach in the wall. So, unless we have Titans that have learned to dig or fly, we have no idea how the Titans made it within the walls."

"Well, isn't that fantastic," Levi grumbles in frustration, feeling as though it will never end. The thought tightens his throat as the image of Derrek scratches at his sanity with his final words.

Commander Erwin turns to Willow, looking at her with curious eyes, "Something tells me she might have an idea," he says watching her curiously, placing his hand slowly on the encasement carefully, almost fearing that he will hurt her in there.

Levi watches him cautiously as he looks up at the girl with an unreadable expression. "We truly failed you, didn't we?" Erwin breathes, looking at the girl that he once held in such high regard, despite her constant battle with his authority. He understood her potential and valued all the thing she was capable of doing for the Survey Corps. "Maybe we could have another chance? If you allow us?"

"What makes you think she can even hear you in there?" Levi asks him, watching as he speaks to her.

In spite of all the times Levi wasted his breath on her, he wonders what compels the Commander to believe that she can hear him now, figuring he does not have unfinished business with her that weighs him down as much as Levi does.

The Commander turns away from her and onto his Captain that watches him with curious eyes. "I suppose we do not know, do we? Maybe it is wishful thinking? I never seemed to have the chance to tell her before. Now seems as good of a time as any, don't you think?"

Levi holds back a reaction to the Commander's words. He never expected him to regret anything truly, and yet here he was, regretting everything he did with her, and allowing now to discharge himself of the burden that's built in his chest.

Levi shrugs, "I guess. Seems as though it all falls on deaf ears in the end," he says doubtfully knowing all the words he has spoken to her with no avail.

"I have faith in Hange's ability to find something that will release her from here, then we can tell her everything that needs to be said," the Commander promises, turning away from her and towards him. "Keep me updated if her condition changes in the slightest. I ride out to assist in the return of Eren," he tells him, and Levi lifts himself to his feet.

The Commander leaves the room and Levi looks over at Willow once more. "We will not allow another Scout to fall senselessly again. That I promise you." Levi turns from her, heading to the bars of her cell. "Until tomorrow then," Levi says with a nod of his head, taking the candle with him as he turns from her, leaving her alone in the darkness, feeling the weight on his chest every time he leaves her here alone.