Captain Levi's response was nearly the same as Arya's had been.
"So you're telling me that you and your administration used your leverage over this doctor to force her into performing unwanted surgery as a BRIBE to make me want to assist you in a rescue? I fear for the stability of Marly, then, if that kind of idiotic thinking is running its government."
Levi was staring daggers at President Wohl, who sat on the opposite side of his desk regarding him with a look of both confusion and anger.
"Now, Captain Ackerman, I can understand that you may feel a bit blindsided by this whole thing, but please have some sense! You're acting as though you were given an extra limb! We were in the process of treating you for the injuries you sustained at the Marlyean Extremist camp, and we thought there was no better time than that to offer you this gift."
"Oh, so you've labelled it a gift instead of a bribe now. That must help you sleep better." Levi snapped. "Whether or not what you've authorized proves to work or not, you expressly went against my desires without consent. If that's your idea of a "gift", you are sorely mistaken."
The members of the Paradis rescue mission had held their tongues during President Wohl's description of events and plan of action regarding Historia's capture, but now Armin stepped forward.
"Captain, your well within your rights to be upset over this, but we can't undo it. It's done. All we can do now is figure out the best way to go about rescuing Historia, her family, and her people. You are the only one left who has any memory of the terrain north of Wall Maria; information that we need if we want this mission to be successful." Jean and Connie looked at each other. Armin was using what Jean called his "bossy voice", the one he saved for rallying the troops or issuing a command. Armin had never used this type of voice with Captain Levi, which was evident by the frown now sitting on Levi's face, but he continued.
"As the President has said, you don't have to agree to come with us. No one in this company has been commanded or forced to be here. We didn't argue when Arya said no, and we are not arguing now. Nevertheless, your decision to either give us the information you have or not will determine if we live or die on this rescue attempt, plain and simple. I'm tired of beating around the bush, are you going to help us or not?"
Levi was quiet as Armin finished his speech, but after a moment he gave him a wry kind of smile. Long ago he made a choice: a choice between Armin's life and Commander Erwin's. For years he believed he made the wrong one, until their last stand against the Rumbling. Here was the boy who dreamt of the sea, standing tall and sure of himself. Dedicated. He was becoming more like Erwin every day in both looks and in determination for a better world.
Levi began to nod. "I guess that is the long and short of it, isn't it? Another mission, another rescue. Your heart is as dedicated to the cause as it was years ago, Mr. Arlert. I want to be clear that I in no way plan to drop the subject of my…condition and the acts taken against me. However, considering the current circumstances I would be no better than a winey child if I refused. I will give you the information that you need, and nothing more."
With that, he grabbed onto the edges of his chair's wheels and pushed himself from the room.
And so, the plan was set. In five weeks from the moment Levi Ackerman agreed to help them, they would travel to the air base in Kardif on the northern point of Marly. From there, they would fly east until they reached the mountains of Paradis, sailing over them and landing just short of the open plains. Using the information gathered from the captain, they would then make their way South to the outer edges of Wall Maria. The steps after that were vague as they had no way to know where Historia was being held. They would require a great deal of help from Mikasa on that front, though how she was expected to get anywhere close enough to gather intel was still a mystery.
The team was relocated to a newly constructed military housing unit in the Northwest section of Veritas. The building was U shaped, offering a large courtyard in the middle that was designed to be used as a training ground for new recruits. Being the housing unit's first occupants, they were all able to take their own living space, much to the relief of the group.
The five weeks was to be spent in two ways: training the several new recruits that had agreed to accompany them in ODM usage and a brief understanding of Paradis and its layout, and to learn all they could from Arya and Levi of the Jaegerist Movement and land beyond the now ruined walls. Jean and Connie were responsible for the first part, Armin the second.
Reiner, thought just as apprehensive as the rest of them, agreed to join them. Just the thought of Historia in the hands of the Jaegerists was enough, though he reluctantly admitted that the basis of their plan was eerily similar to the one the Warriors had considered after the battle of Liberio. Falco and Gabi had also insisted on joining, much to their protest, but President Wohl had overruled them. They were well of age and experience to make this choice for themselves.
Within the first week of their stay in military housing, it became very clear to Armin that even though both Levi and Arya offered him excellent details on their respective expertise, it would be significantly more beneficial to them if they were there. Riding off with an idea was much less helpful than he cared to admit. Yet he respected their choice to refuse, no matter the outcome of that choice.
Levi had elected to relay his information separately from Arya, which at first seemed understandable given their situation, but now it seemed frustratingly pointless. Arya was putting in all efforts to remedy the malcontent between them, but Levi wasn't responding to her attempts. However, it seemed to Armin that his irritation was not as much about his operation anymore, but that he was actively trying to distance himself from her. He no longer seemed angry with Arya (the President was another story) but he continually went out of his way to avoid her. Armin had a difficult time understanding that; he was hard-pressed to find anyone that didn't find Arya's company enjoyable, except maybe Jean. Levi's avoidance couldn't be maintained for long, however, as Arya was still the doctor charged with his recovery.
In the mid-morning of their ninth day, Arya found him in the courtyard under a large oak tree on the west side of the training grounds. Reminding herself of his limited sight, she approached him from the left side and sat neatly in the grass next to his chair. Glancing up at him, she studied his profile while waiting for him to acknowledge her.
Just as she had not known what to expect when she first laid eyes on Armin and his Allied Ambassadors, she had been equally surprised at the man who sat in front of her now. Once again, she had been expecting an old and grizzled man of war. Captain Ackerman was older than she, certainly, but only grizzled in personality. Her eyes ran along his dark hair and to the sharp angle of his jaw, then moved from his tense shoulders to the edge of his defined chest. She remembered Armin's joke about his size but seeing him now Arya didn't find him small in the least. In fact, to her he seemed larger than life; a myth of indescribable power that she couldn't even begin to understand. She had listened to Connie's stories of Levi on their ride to Cardend with rapt attention, and she knew how ruthless this man could be, how dangerous.
Regardless of that knowledge, for the life of her she couldn't feel the fear or apprehension she knew she should. Arya couldn't explain to herself the sense she got as she looked at him other than a profound sense of rightness. She could feel his strength, his loyalty… his goodness. It was these uncomfortable and embarrassing emotions that had her trying so hard to bridge the gap between them, as if having a distance between them was a disservice to them both, somehow. However, it seemed that her attempts at reconciliation were going unnoticed.
Arya cleared her throat. "Good morning captain." She said as professionally as she could muster after her intrusive ogling.
His chin tilted slightly in her direction, dipping his head to signify that he had heard her. Arya's brow knitted together.
"If I could, I'd like to give your injuries a once over to make sure they are healing properly and not rejecting the implants. I can also give you something to manage any pain you might have."
"I'm no stranger to pain, Doctor. Don't trouble yourself."
His voice was deep and resonating, vibrating in her chest. Another surprise. She also knew he was right; he was healing faster than she could have anticipated. She had mentioned this to Connie the night before who said it had something to do with his Ackerman bloodline. Arya had once believed she healed quickly as well, but this was something else to witness. On the other hand, his casual dismissal of her once again hit a nerve this time.
"Captain, that's quite enough." He almost turned to her at the seriousness of her statement as she continued.
"You're right, you are healing well. I don't expect any issues with your recovery. But I am your doctor as of this moment, regardless of how much that seems to bother you. I have a job to do, even if it wasn't one I chose for myself. So, if you could stop treating me like some incessant pest designed to torture you, I'd like to take a look at your injuries." Arya rolled to her knees in front of him and held out her hand with determined stare.
Levi was looking at her, at last. His crystal blue eyes were searching for something in her face, just as Armin's had years ago. It wasn't the look of annoyance or anger that she had been expecting to see, but one of burning curiosity desperately masked by indifference.
Arya broke the eye contact, squirming under the pressure of his gaze. She looked to his hand and gestured again.
"You certainly are a persistent little thing, aren't you." He said finally with a resigned sigh, and he outstretched his hand to lay it gently into her open palm.
"Thank you." She said tersely. His "little thing" comment bothered her, though mostly she was just grateful that she didn't have to argue with him any further. Focusing, she went about examining the healing operation site around the silver base. She worked in silence for a few minutes until his voice broke through her concentration.
"Why did you risk your life for them?"
Arya looked up at him, surprised. He was studying her again. Assuming that he was referring to the Paradis escape, she looked back down at what she was doing and answered him quietly.
"It was the right thing to do."
"Please, don't give me that horse shit. Everyone and their dog are fighting for something because they think it's the right thing to do. I'm asking why you did it." He said, not exactly unkind.
"I did it," she said as she moved from his hand to unravelling the bandages around Levi's knee, "because I didn't want to die not knowing the truth: if I was on the wrong side, I wanted to know it beyond a doubt. I may have been trained as a soldier for a time, but I didn't want to fight, I wanted to protect. I would have done anything to never have to raise arms again."
"And now?"
Arya sighed. "Now I realize that even though this might not be my war, it is my world. If fighting is what I need to do to protect the people I care about, so be it."
"Not sure how much "protecting" you're going to manage: you refused the call to duty just the same as I did." Levi looked at her speculatively.
"Yeah, well," she replied curtly as she began rewrapping his now clean leg with fresh gauze, "you're not the only one who doesn't like having their choices made for them." This comment seemed to confuse him for a moment, until he comprehended her meaning.
"You never intended to decline them, did you? You only wanted to make the choice yourself?"
Arya stood and fixed him with a hard look. "Your leg is healing at a faster rate than I was able to calculate for. If you remain in that chair for much longer, the metal is going to fuse in the wrong places." And with that, she stalked across the lawn and through the door to her quarters.
Levi watched her as she went, feeling slightly bemused. He hadn't intended to question her in any way, but the words had formed before he had so much as given himself permission to think them. Her answers seemed pointed in some way, but they hadn't given him a long enough look inside her head for him to form any conclusions. Why he was interested in that at all was beyond his understanding, and Levi sat wrestling with his curiosity. This doctor was no different than any other person he had known who wanted to fight for what they believed in. Her thoughts should hold no interest to him, and yet…
The sound of her footsteps returning snapped him out of his musings. She was carrying a large tube of treated leather with belts hanging off the sides. Dropping her item onto the ground roughly next to him, she walked until she was standing straight on and almost directly over him. This time she extended both her hands and forearms to him, not meeting his questioning look.
"What? Are we going to dance or something?"
Arya rolled her eyes, exasperated. "You need to stand up so I can get this brace around your leg. If not, I'd be happy to let your knee calcify to the point where you can't stand up at all." She shot him a threatening smile, and Levi froze.
That look was an exact replica of one Hange had worn on more occasions than Levi could count. Instead of the doctor's face, he suddenly could see Hange's visage floating in front of him in her brilliantly mocking way. He turned his head away from her as a pang of sadness echoed through him, then dissipated.
"Look," Arya said, a little less harshly, "I'm not exactly a fan of being this physically close to other people either, but right now you have two choices: do this now with just me to bear witness, or…" she nodded backwards and lowered her voice. "You're going to have a much bigger audience."
He peered around her side in the direction she had signaled. Sure enough, on an upper balcony directly across from them, Armin, Reiner and Pieck were looking at them curiously, their morning coffee still steaming out of the cups in their hands. Levi could also hear movement now from Gabi and Falco's suite off to the right; he could just about hear the scream she would make.
He recoiled from the thought. "That would definitely be worse." He mumbled, looking at her doubtfully. "Damn it, fine."
Levi reached out and took ahold of Arya's forearms as she squared off her shoulders and braced herself. Taking on as much weight as he would permit her to, she lifted. He rose smoothly into a standing position with only a small wince as his leg straightened out, and he gripped onto her arms tightly.
They stood arm in arm like this for a minute as they both gauged Levi's balance. He was already baring more weight than he should have been able to with no more than the occasional flinch. As a little more time passed, he was able to shift all of his weight back into his control, though naturally he was heavily favoring his left. Arya couldn't believe it; the trauma to his leg had been so severe that he should have passed out or collapsed by now. But here he stood, carefully taking stock of his capabilities with a mildly surprised expression.
"There's obviously some discomfort from your handiwork, but… the old pain is gone."
Levi hadn't dared to hope for this, had not believed in this result for a second, and yet here it was. Whatever treatment this woman had performed while he slept seemed to be working. It would take a little more time to heal, but once it had…
He lifted his head to look at Arya, who was beaming back at him with excitement. All their previous animosity melted away in this extraordinary moment of success. Regardless of how adamant he had been to avoid it, he was beginning to understand the hold this woman, Arya, had on other people. Her warm brown eyes held such depth and kindness that Levi had to look away. He was suddenly very aware of just how close she was to him and yet she didn't seem to take any issue with that fact: yet. Instead, she let out a breathy laugh that blew warm, sweet air across his face and neck.
"Hold on." She said softly, reaching out her foot to drag the brace closer to them. "Shift as much weight as you can over to your left foot while keeping your right leg as straight as possible."
Sliding her hands down Levi's arms and to his own grip, she slowly knelt in front of him, guiding his hands to rest on her shoulders. She scooped up the brace quickly and began threading the belts through the loops and around his knee. In less than a minute she was tightening the last one. Inspecting it intently until she seemed confident in its application she gathered herself up to her feet again, looked back into Levi's wary eyes.
"Your movement will be a little stiff due to the brace, but it should hold everything together nicely." She gave him an encouraging smile.
"Okay, you can let go now."
For a split second he hesitated, unsure. But then he slowly lifted his hands off Arya's shoulders and brought them down to his sides.
He didn't so much as waiver as he stood unassisted for the first time in six years.
"Oh my god." Arya whispered excitedly, taking a few steps back from him to get a better look. "Okay, okay, okay- now try a step!"
Levi still looked doubtful but followed her instructions. Shifting his bad leg forward, he put his weight on it and brought his left foot in front of it. The movement was indeed very stiff, a little more than a hobble, but he stayed upright. The pain was there, but exceptionally manageable with the assistance of the brace. He took another step. And another. Then several more after that until he was only a foot or so away from her.
"Well, I'll be damned." Were the only words Levi could find.