Levi had his thumbs clasped under the thick shoulder straps of his beige vest, looking up at the projection screen that covered the center of the room. This meeting room was surrounded with red clothed like walls, black foam around the corners to trap sound inside the area, making it so quiet, yet loud at the same time to Levi's ears. He stood among his other squad members along the back side of the room. They all stood stiff, head up straight, backs were pushed forward and with a confident chest puffed up. Some had their hands held in front of them, or from behind their backs. Levi was the only one who felt like he didn't need to impress anyone. He was a simple man, only wanting to get the job done. Ahead of them stood a tall blond man with crystal blue eyes, full of intensity and determination. His black vest represented his upper authority. Levi kept his eyes solely focused on him, waiting for his grand speech that he was about to pour out from his mouth.
Levi, the raven, hated these types of meetings; This room especially, with no signs of life, no plants or even a bowl of fruit on the wooden table in front of them. It was a room full of seriousness, no time for joking. His squad was often brought to this room, almost once a week.
"We need to think clearly of our future actions." The crystal blue eyes looked over at Levi and his squad. Erwin's voice was heavy and full in his chest as he spoke, something Levi always seemed to appreciate when talking to them. He knew that he had Erwin's trust and absolute will to do as is required of him. The commander didn't treat them like fools, didn't make them feel like they didn't deserve this position. The red room, not holding windows, made it feel claustrophobic and secretive. They felt trapped inside, the air being suffocated and filled with germs. The air was surely going to run out soon. This room was for special missions and only for the trustworthy.
Levi thought, I'm starting to question why I am here.
Within the claustrophobic room was a long wooden table with chairs on either side of it. However, no one sat in them.
Levi thought to himself, Those shitty chairs. Disgusting, probably never cleaned.
The table was a nice brown, if not for the rubbing oil on the oak wood table, it would surely crumble from all the miserable news it's heard from the voices that occupied this space. Bad news and suffocating cases were often discussed in this room, and Levi was slightly impressed to see how perfect the wood was. Especially since he wasn't the cleaner in this facility. The oak wood had swirls of dark streaks, signature for a rich table. Levi and his squad knew that sitting would not help with their beating hearts, finding it worthless to sit and be unable to jiggle a leg or sway the swivel chair. The team wouldn't say they were anxious, they were simply bored from being in a chair and unmoving for so long. Who wouldn't want to roll around and suck on some blasted candy? Pick at their fingernails and chew on their lips?
The room was dark, lights turned off so the screen could shine its information to the eyes in the room. The white projector hung from the ceiling, a red dot flashed here and there, showing that it was projecting correctly. Levi's attention was brought to the man when he heard squeaky wheels rolling on the black carpet. Levi contained his distasteful glare, knowing that these rugs were filled with dirt and grime from under their boots.
Erwin moves the small table up closer to him; a black laptop resting on it with a symbol of who they represent spread along its black sheen.
FBI.
What a great way to show the world who they were. Levi shakes his head, Just for super nutty programers to hack into it.
The commander opens his damned mouth again to spew out information. He motions finally to the projection screen with an extended hand. His thick brows steady on his forehead as he spoke.
"We have been receiving multiple reports of drug distribution in our state. Records of death that easily follow due to this large amount of dispatch. The drugs being laced with something unknown to us currently." He takes a pause, pressing another key on the laptop, causing a slide to pass through. He retracted his extended arm out and placed it back to his side, eyeing the officers in front of him. Levi and his squad watch the panel flip through, swallowing down the information being told to them. The tall man continues to speak, "We have been sending trained officials into areas we deem to have been suspicious. Gunshops, tattoo parlors, grocery stores, deli markets, and even daycares. These individuals were asked to do a Buy and Bust operation. The operatives asked sketchy people where they could get their hands on the following drugs; Meth, cocaine, and heroin."
Levi could feel himself become bored with this 'secretive' mission already. The raven sighed in defeat.
Why am I here? Why is Erwin wasting my time and my squad's time for a drug crime?
Levi felt his shoulders lax in distaste of the situation. This didn't feel exciting to him. Another gang on the streets that made a stupid mistake of getting caught. He could feel Petra on his right shift her hands to her back clasping them confidently behind her back.
Levi looks over at Petra and she's standing at attention, her back straight. Clearly not showing laxity like the rest of them. Teacher's pet.
Levi kept looking blankly at the screen ahead, his mind in a fuzz of uninterest, almost blurring out the words Erwin spoke. However, It captivated his teammates' ears. His squad wouldn't dare show disrespect towards their commander, seeing him as a powerful being that could take their position with the snap of his fingers. But to the raven, he had no fear of those icy eyes…. Levi refocused catching part of what the commander said.
"...es, this has been a long going investigation. One dealer after the next, and we cannot get the leader of this drug distribution. All these criminals being put into jail?... all pawns." Levi held his expressionless face. All pawns? Wow, I could not have fucking guessed. I could shit myself right now. His commander reminded him of a children's show, talking like they were going to solve the puzzle and win the day. 'Have you seen the mafia boss?' Dora, the Spanish little girl would ask the audience as she pointed towards an obvious weird man standing beside her. 'Do YOU see the bad bad man?' Levi held his eyes still in his skull, not wanting to show signs of boredom, his mind drifting in and out, only picking up interesting facts. Even Dora the Explorer rang in his head with idiotic questions that pissed him off. Just to keep myself entertained. Erwin lets a panel slip through the screen. All pictures of criminals. Some with longer hair, some with no hair. Black, white, tan; all of these people were subject to crime. It wouldn't matter what skin color you had, what you look like, anyone was capable of doing shitty things.
Levi's cold orbs could not help trace these people's figures, eyeing some of the ones that particularly had a strong and devilish intent in their eyes. Even a woman with short black hair was in the slide show, freckles sprinkled across her nose. Her lids sheltered the top half of her eyes almost as if she had 'siren eyes.' You could look at these people on the streets and never question a thing.
These people are part of a statewide mafia drug dealing fiasco? Not a fucking chance.
The blond man interrupted Levi's thoughts once again. "The south side of this state is becoming the home for these criminals. From apartment buildings, to abandoned warehouses. Their target clientele are the rich, however, the poor are not excluded. Your mission is to find the king… of this chess game."
Levi was now starting to listen more intently. The bottom of his back was starting to ache from this tense stance, it was still unmoving. No toe could bounce, no calf could flex as he was stuck in this position in front of his commander. He would describe this feeling as 'Itchy', wanting to move around and get on with doing something else. His thumb under the thick straps of his vest was starting to become numb from the tight compression.
How long have I been standing here? What is Erwin blabbing about now?
They have been on countless missions, some big, some small. Erwin's intense eyes looked into Levi's cold ones and Levi immediately understood that this was big. "Needless to say, we need to put a stop to this." Levi gives a slight nod.
Yes, I think we got the memo, eyebrows.
Erwin motions towards the projector again, skipping into another panel. Lines, circles, and diagrams decorated the given map of their states. Levi could see on the map that his old childhood hometown was even circled. He furrowed his eyebrows a bit.
Those people are not strong enough to get away from these drugs.
The amount of information that was just brought to them was nearly unfathomable.
What did it all mean? Oluo was surely going to bite his tongue on this one.
Erwin speaks once more, "We need to get our bodies into these facilities to destroy their supply. We may take down their pawns, but if we could destroy their prized possessions, it would immensely stall their production. A domino effect you might call it… when the Mafia Boss notices the lack of money coming into his pocket, he would become more irrational. He will become sloppy, and then… we grab him by the ear. While he's distracted, it gives us the room to get in while he's searching for the reason behind the loss of profit. That's when we expose him due to his recklessness." Erwin's thick brows mirrored Levi's, their eyebrows furrowed down the middle of their forehead… undoubtedly ugly.
Levi pondered about this mission for a moment to himself. Thinking about the information that was given to him, although it was mostly boring, he still had a job to do.
So come up with a plan… take down the dog.
His eyes drift to the side slowly away from the screen, a way of showing his deep concentration, limiting his senses from witnessing too much so that he could think clearly. This habit wasn't noticeable to his comrades, or even close friends. I don't have friends anyways. He's been in countless interactions with gang members, and drug abusers. He even knew what it was like to be in one of those gangs.
Over the years of the 1970's, drugs have been looked upon in a positive light. Marijuana and other substances used to be advertised as wellness, reducing anxiety and stress. It was even seen as an escape for your worries, demons, and your past . Who wouldn't want to take these substance's if it meant a lick of freedom?
The children he grew up with in his hometown, they thought smoking a cigarette was cool, and made them look 'edgy.' The yellow fingers and teeth didn't stop these fools from continuing to chain smoke. Wasting dollars and dimes on useless habits that only kill you slowly. To the kids that didn't think smoking cigs was enough, they went onto harder things.
Tsk, gateway drugs
That freedom? What was it worth? They trapped themselves into another pit of demons.
Idiots.
To be shackled again, to the prison of addiction. Nothing is more controlling than being dragged around by a substance that causes your brain to create hormones of dopamine. To have fake reassurance for freedom, free of stress and anxiety. To have a false friend that will help you through anything and all situations. It only made you have an itch for more.
While Levi and Petra hung out in their cubicles at work, Petra would occasionally express how sorry she felt for some of these addicts. Especially after a certain case was fulfilled.
Petra's eyes would often look to the ground as she played with her fingers in a fidget. Sitting in a chair at her desk, full of useless folders and papers scattered around. It's so unlike her to be messy... That is when Levi could read her so clearly, even more than usual. She is pondering about something. She's overthinking.
She needs to vent.
"Why can't we just… y'know, bring them to a facility to help with their addiction?" She would gesture using her hands to help her process what she was feeling. Being so animated, it made the conversation appealing to the raven. It reminded Levi of the Italians at pasta restaurants.
I should stop there sometime again…
Petra would love to help them more than just to force their hands behind their back and slap some handcuffs on them. He would continue his work silently as he listened to her. Petra noticed Levi had to be doing something to truly focus on her words, he couldn't simply just listen. When she knew Levi was listening to her, she would continue with her worries. Levi would write in his paperwork, stop to listen occasionally then continue working on. Once he felt like he knew everything, he would continue writing, listening to her voice and emotions. He often left the conversation with a few sympathetic words like, 'They are in a better place.' 'They still have food and water.' 'Their inmates would teach them a lesson not to do drugs again-'
Petra didn't seem to like that one.
Levi fell back into the present, but the droning of Erwin ultimately caused him to once again enter his own thoughts... The black-haired man felt his eyes drift to the side, unfocused on anything in particular. He is starting to feel the urgency and why this mission was handed to him.
Is it really just that the squad is best for the mission?
It's more than just that.
His silver orbs narrowed on to Erwin, seeing that the commander was looking at him with high intention. Erwin knows… He knows too much for Levi's liking. Erwin knew where he had come from… his background.
"I believe, Captain." He pauses as he begins to close the laptop. "That you and your squad will be best fit for this mission, as you all have had more than enough expertise in this field. An open minded group with the ability to know what is right ." Erwin's gaze follows through his squad, Gunther, Oluo, Petra, Eld, and Himself. He steps aside from the small table, finally revealing the rest of his strong structure. Long legs that had at least 50 pounds of muscle on them alone. His black pants held his skin close, capturing him captively. The white dress shirt under his vest became more noticeable with how it was the only thing on him that wasn't black, besides the blue jewel that hung around his neck.
Levi looked similarly to Erwin, but also different for obvious reasons. Levi had a green undershirt and pants, almost like he was coming straight out of a military base. At this point, the government teams are starting to blend in too close to each other. If you weren't experienced, you wouldn't be able to tell any of them apart. Without his logo, 'Captain Ackerman' and 'FBI' printed on his back, no one would fucking tell if he was military.
CIA, tsk.
He could fool someone into thinking he was maybe even a police officer.
Erwin begins to walk towards us with long strides, the black military boots creating a small rumble under his steps as he draws closer. "Meet up with Hange after our departure this evening. They want to talk to you more in depth about what has happened to these victims for taking the laced drugs." His hands reach up to tighten the leather straps of his blue jewel as if it were a tie. Levi felt his jaw clench just slightly almost unnoticeable, hating how Erwin held himself. Cocky and confident. Levi was sure Erwin caught the slight flex of his jaw, nothing could slip past the commander's observations. However, despite this, the raven bows his head in understanding. He had to meet up with that lunatic scientist.
Erwin gives a light, 'hm.' As acknowledgment, he gives a small nod towards the rest of the squad as he turns on his feet, heading out towards the red door with a word of, "Dismissed." Levi couldn't tell if it was getting dark outside or not. There were no windows for him to look out at. The air in the room seemed to be less tense, now it didn't seem as poisoned like it was before. The tall man didn't make Levi nervous, or scared, he just hated how fucking clusterphobic this damn room was. Now with less people, and the freedom to leave, it made his body less heavy.
He felt as though he was in this room for hours, when in reality it was probably only up to 45 minutes. He wasn't usually like this, feeling 'itchy'. It started to develop more recently in the last few months. He could stand still with his hands clasped behind his back for hours. Hell, he was part of the National Guard. Standing for hours on end without a single twitch of movement was his job. Yet recently, he can't seem to keep his mind from drifting off topic, or having to look away from someone's eye to have a concentrated thought process.
Petra was the one to finally break the silence between them and his thoughts, her back finally slouching just a little bit, her hands unclasping from behind her back. She ran her slim fingers through her ginger hair, allowing herself to feel free from the conversation as well. At least I'm not the only one. Petra places her hands on her hips and rolls her neck a bit to the side with a long awaited sigh, "Oh, he really knows how to make your bones stiff, doesn't he?" Levi looked over Petra's face, a thought jumped to the tip of his tongue, but he tightened his lips to a straight line, not letting the comment slide. …Stiff bone?
Gunther, who was beside her, gave a small breathy laugh. "Yes, he really does. I can't stand being on my feet anymore today, we should have sat down in the chairs-" Oluo drops in, bringing his arm around Gunther's shoulders dramatically. "Come ooon, you wouldn't stop moving if you were in those chairs!" Gunther gave a nervous laugh, knowing that Oluo was correct. Eld bumps into the conversation, literally brushing a shoulder against Oluo, "You wouldn't last long either!" Levi was starting to think maybe his antics are starting to rub on his team. He huffs out the intruding thought. He got it from them. He's been around them too much, he thinks.
Levi felt the muscle behind his ear begin to twitch, showing his irritation and growing migraine from his squads friendly interaction. Their loud voices in this claustrophobic room almost made his skin crawl, he was itching to leave this damned room. However, his cold eyes never leave their faces as he simply watches them talk, observing them like he always did, but with a face of distance and uninterest. Petra leaned back to observe the boys who continued their bickering about who possibly fidgets the most. "These chairs are so old, they squeak anytime someone simply moves its wheels, it is totally your fault, Gunther." Oluo continues, "You wore down all the plastic with your constant moving-!" He brings a hand up to his mouth, finding that his twisted tongue fell between his teeth due to his chatting. Bit his damn tongue again.
Gratefully to their squad's ears, it silenced him. "Well deserved." Eld smiled a little bit to himself, happy to see that even through the years of their time together, they still found the energy to talk amongst themselves like this. Even if it was silly bickering, and childish chat. Levi was the first one to be done with it, walking past his squad with a hand to his temple to smooth out any further irritation. The sound of his steps were silenced by the carpeting on the floor. He needed to get to that doctor before it was too late, he didn't want to be here all day. Although his team would have their annoying bickering, with loud voices bouncing in his skull from their shouting, he couldn't lie that he was glad that they were still alive.
He wouldn't show that, however. His monotone mask kept himself in check. He could hear the faded footsteps behind him, signaling their exits with him. Finally, out of that shit hole of a room.
In the corridor, Levi was met with white walls, light panels specifically spaced out in the ceiling above them, lined perfectly through the middle. A corridor that led straight to the exit and one that went to the left. On either side of him were windows. There were even posters about the FBI, health precautions, and weapon safety. It felt like Levi was back in elementary school and the teachers asked him to make posters to advocate for safety and how to take care of one's health. D.A.R.E and Not Me, Not Now echoing in his head… Levi noticed that the sun was still in the sky to his disbelief. He still had a lot of work and talking to do.
Levi's eyes turned back behind him to look at his fellow teammates. "You all get home now and rest. Keep your eyes peeled on the news for more information about this case." He saw his team smile with the early dismissal. Gunther brought his hands up in the air, "Whoa! An early dismissal? By Captain Ackerman himself?" He looks at his team in shock. Eld also brings his arms up to cheer. "Drinks on me! Let's go to the bar tonight, guys!" He suggests, almost forgetting that Levi instructed him to go home and rest. But also to look at the news. Oluo elbows him in the side. "Dude, our captain is still here-."
"And you're making the situation worse." Petra interrupts. She wasn't really that big on drinking, or any types of those activities.
Despite all of this, Levi knew that they may deserve a break with how they give him their utmost loyalty and trust. Why not throw a bone out once in a while? What they do out of work is not any of his concern, unless it was against the law. He wouldn't trust any of these fools again if they got themselves into shit because of their own stupidity. Levi however knew that his day was not over yet, the commander's words hung over his head like a bounty. He wasn't really looking forward to the feeling of his neck twitching with irritation when being around the scientist. He wanted to tackle this small mission by himself. He didn't want to drag his team around with him everywhere. Give himself a break from them too.
Petra began walking down the hall while Levi was left behind. The boys falling behind by a beat. Petra looks back towards Levi and she starts to give a wave of her hand to show her regards. The men caught up to her quickly. A small blush was seen along her cheeks as her eyes stayed in contact with Levi's cold ones. Levi noticed it. Oluo wraps his arm around Petra's shoulders, grabbing her attention, making her eyes break the line of contact. She looks down towards the hall now where the exit doors are located. Petra lightly shrugged off Oluo's arm, but it was playful with a smile.
Levi turned towards the left.
His military boots made a softer sound against the hard floors. The raven made smaller strides due to his height. He was envious of Commander Erwin for his height. Blasted height difference between the men. Levi shook the thought out of his head, his arms swaying by his side as he went through the facility. He knew his headquarters like the back of his hand.
Being here for a long time, he learned the shortcuts, and walked past loads of useless rooms. The 'red room' and these empty rooms were all part of the Meeting Hall. Rooms designed to discuss a variety of cases, to secrets, and government status. No one of normal knowledge should be allowed to enter.
Sometimes scientists will occupy a room to themselves to discuss further hypotheses, showing a presentation to their other lab partners. In other rooms, there will be military commanders talking with their captains about tactical advancements in another country. Who knows? Even Levi didn't know it all . Levi was just a captain, right? One of the captain's out of many in the FBI.
Levi felt himself brace his sanity as he entered the laboratory section of this facility.
The wall's didn't differ from one place to another. Levi felt a sneer fill his face, All of it looks the fucking same .
White walls, a window here or there. White ceilings with the weird holes in it and lights topping it off, making it impossibly bright that it hurt Levi's eyes if he stayed in the halls for too long.
Levi has been to this side of the facility multiple times. Discussing with Hange and Moblit with all sorts of different topics. Of course all related to cases. Erwin sent him there each and every time.
However, the raven thought to himself, well it's not like Hange doesn't drag me here all the time anyway. Orders or no orders… crazy brunette. Hange dragged him to their study sometimes to tell him about a new discovery they've made, unable to hold the excitement to themselves and needing to share it with someone else. **Hange pronoun: they/them*
Hange and Levi were brought together since they both got promoted to their higher ranking. Hange was, at one point, part of his squad; fighting alongside him, getting bad guys. Even though the scientist did enjoy those crazy adventures and dangerous situations, they've found more joy in discovering why people do what they do.
Why do people get involved with drugs? Why do criminals choose to live how they do? You could simply ask a sociologist these types of questions, but Hange wanted to learn the biological reason through the pure form of science.
For Hange to transfer their field mid-way through their career was a risky move. Having to sit down and take classes in a separate facility on how to be the best lab rat possible for the FBI.
Coming back to the present, he opened up two large white doors. Immediately hearing a screech of excitement coming from behind a counter. This naturally made his eyebrows furrowed in irritation, causing a crease in between his brows. "Leviii~!" He saw the maniac with their large protection glasses pop out from over the black counter. It was almost like this table belonged in a kitchen as a 'marble island.'
I would love one of those in my kitchen…
The lab was in complete disaster; as always, Levi thought. How does Hange get away with this mess? A fire could become a blaze from the amount of scattered paper. Levi eyed the different colored flasks that sat in a straight line on the table. Hange was obviously working on something and he was intruding. Even though the front counter was in the middle of a 5 level tornado, the rest of the white room was still intact. Black top tables were lined up on both sides of the room. Loads of drawers underneath them, probably full of necessary utensils for labs to take place there.
Hange did often teach new recruits about their crazy science experiments.
"How did you know it was even me?" Levi deadpanned, noticing that the scientist didn't even see him enter yet. "How can I miss your typical strut comin' in here?" They said as they pulled out a medicine dropper filled with something unknown. Levi couldn't ever tell what Hange was doing. He watched the scientist with curious eyes, lifting up an eyebrow.
He didn't move closer when he saw that Hange aimed the medicine dropper down into a purple colored flask, squeezing the black rubber for the liquid to drip into the glass. A loud noise echoed in the lab. A popping was made inside the flask the moment those two liquids touched. Smoke started escaping the top quickly.
This caused Levi to hiss a bit, making his muscles tense quickly into a flinch. He relaxed just as fast, hiding the fact that he was surprised by such a sound. White foam started to form in the flask, spewing over the sides of it. Levi heard the scientist squeal at the reaction. Moblit came out from one of the side rooms with a clipboard in hand, the edge of the wood pressed into his hip. The man's lab coat was hanging from his shoulders and it ended all the way down to his calves. "Did something happen?!" He seemed worried until he spotted the foamy glass.
Hange clapped their hands in excitement, "The test was a success! Finally!" They giggled and went to write something down in her own clipboard of papers.
How could Hange stay organized with all this mess? Untamed? It was horrendous!
He would never let his own desk look like that.
Levi was not feeling any excitement, especially when he got shocked by the loud sound from before. Who was he kidding? He wasn't at all excited in the first place to even be there. Especially knowing that a migraine was growing as time went on.
Levi was so used to unusual situations, he didn't like how he got comfortable enough thinking that he was safe within these walls. The raven got frustrated with himself for getting stunned from the noise.
I am better than that, tsk… Get your shit together.
Levi rolled his eyes, hiding his previous thoughts before finally walking forward, hooking his thumbs once more to his vest. Levi motions to Hange with his free fingers that weren't tucked under the vest. "Commander Erwin sent me here, he says you have information for me, four-eyes?" He didn't beat around the bush, he wanted- no, needed , for this interaction to end quickly. He would say he hated this scientist, hell, despised them, but he knew that would be a lie. They have been through too much.
Too much.
Hange glanced at Levi before looking back to Moblit.
Hange waved him off with a smile, "Nooo, only that I finally cracked my hypothesis!" They gesture with their hands in excitement once more. Moblit smiled, feeling calm knowing that there wasn't anything bad that happened in their lab, which does happen quite often due to Hange's antics. Moblit looked at Levi and he gave a bow of his head in respect. He separated himself from the room, going back to whatever he was doing. That poor, poor soul. The raven thought to himself. How can he handle this mess of a human being?
Hange looked back to Levi, pointing at him with a sudden thought that came to their mind. "Ah! Right!" They bent down behind the counter once more, bringing up a big yellow file that seemed like 'its mouth' was going to barf out all of the contents inside it. Hange walked over to the other side of the black counter, their lab coat flapping behind them. …At least Hange was safe whenever doing stupid things. Levi thought. His eyes glanced over the scientist's figure.
Hange seems more serious now, silencing their own achievements that happened just moments ago. They place the tortured file onto the marble counter, opening it to show loads of stapled files that were put together, or maybe even loose slips of useless information.
Levi came closer, with slight hesitancy of course. He didn't know when Hange would squeal again. That would make the raven's ears revert themselves back inside his skull from the shitty sound. Hange reached up and took the sides of their goggles, bringing them to the top of their brunette hair. Their lab coat was filthy, Levi noticed. Dotted with black spots, colorful and odd liquids. Handprints from Hange wiping their hands.
Moblit was almost spotless and then Levi sees this monstrosity.
He tsked under his breath before taking his eyes away, eyeing the scientist and the files. "This is about the drug gangs isn't it?" They asked Levi, pausing from what they were doing, holding the dingy file with still hands. They were trying to clarify with Levi to make sure that they weren't mistaken on what the two were about to talk about. Levi eyed the scientist again with a crease in his forehead. "If you didn't know for sure, why did you drag out this shit of a folder? It is about to fall apart." He hissed his words, although he only got a small laugh from the scientist. They were used to these types of responses from Levi.
If Hange wasn't careful that thing was about to bust if it was mishandled.
"Oh Levi! Relllaax." Hange dropped the file down on the counter, making some papers slip out from its opening.
If that thing busts I'm going to have a fucking heart attack.
Hange used a hand to push Levi's shoulder with friendly intent, trying to get him to shake off the fake venom on his tongue. Levi only rolled his eyes again, taking his thumbs out from under his vest to place his palms on the cold surface of this table, leaning over it. He looked down at the papers with a cold gaze.
"Just get to it, shitty glasses. I ain't got all day." Levi paused when he looked up into Hange's eyes. Hange raised an eyebrow at the raven, wanting to push his buttons more. They always loved messing around with Levi, trying to get him to snap. Hange wanted to make things exciting between them, just to have a little fun!
With this, Levi huffed. He knew what they were doing. He rolled his neck to the side. His voice went up in octave with annoyance.
That's new.
"Yes, it's about the shit drug dealing in the south! It is obviously taking over the fucking world, Hange." Levi exaggerated, picking up one of his wrists off the counter to roll it. He really wanted this conversation over with. Hange was satisfied with his confirmation.
They started to look and pick out certain sheets of paper from the dingy file.
Levi silently watched, both of his hands still firmly pressed into the black marble. He leaned in, trying to pry on the information. Although he had every right to look through all of this paperwork, he didn't want to get into Hange's way. The raven wanted them to do the work for him. Hange was the professional right now in this instance, and he wasn't going to intrude on their thinking process.
Levi traces the scientist's hands with his eyes; having nothing to do but just observe and let his mind wander from this silent moment. Watching Hange pick up a stack of stapled information, placing it down in an unknown pile . Probably trying to organize a little bit. Levi thought to himself as he watched the scientist. From start to finish, Hange was putting things in chronological order to help the flow of their upcoming conversation.
How do we even begin with this fiasco? What did the scientist need to tell me again? …Oh, right… How these drugs killed so many people because it was laced with something. With what? How can it be laced?
Hange was whispering statements under their breath, fishing out paper after paper. The brown haired scientist dropped one down if it didn't satisfy what they were looking for. More unknown piles started to form because of their 'organization.'
Levi was beginning to grow itchy again. Something in his chest tightened to a severe degree… and his teeth clenched together; causing the bone of his jaw to protrude out from his skin. His knee bobbed up and down in an anxious movement. He stopped himself.
He was waiting. And fucking waiting. Levi's pointer finger started to tap onto the black table, having to move something.
Dreadfully waiting for Hange to finish what they were looking for so that they could continue this.
He felt his breath leave in a sigh when he saw Hange close the sad folder again, probably joyful that its hinges weren't going to explode from the tightness of shit inside it. Hange moved it to the side and placed the files in front of him, spread out in logical order. Hange began to start their observations. Pointing at the first document.
Levi eyed it now, feeling free to drill holes into the paper. He finally had something to do, something that was important. So he stopped his finger from moving, letting his mind come back into focus. Levi noticed diagrams and annotations that spread along the margins of this file. Hange has been doing some serious work. Impressive, Levi would maybe even say.
It was a newspaper the scientist was writing in. The header of the page read, 'Statewide drugs being passed down from generation to generation.' It was dated a few weeks ago. July 20th, 1970. Levi read a few sentences, but it wasn't all too useful. The writers for these newspapers always exaggerate and fool the general media with bullshit, so he didn't take it to heart.
So his eyes drifted away, looking at the photos instead. Hange's voice spoke up, taking up his own concentration.
"This is who we think could be the Boss." Hange says briefly before pointing to a picture of a man with a patchy cowboy hat on his head. Levi lifted an eyebrow at the hat. It has definitely seen better days. Black hairs drooping down from the hat, it reached down to the man's chin. This man's cheeks were hollow, his cheekbones clear in his features. Either it was due to starvation or he was old. Definitely both. His eyes were a darker blue, filled with something unknown to Levi. It didn't seem evil, but not nice either. The man had stubble scattered along his jawline, crawling up to the bottom of his lip.
Obviously patchy and ugly. Shave that shit off if you can't pull the look. Levi's lip curled in a scowl. The man seemed oddly familiar to Levi, causing him to feel a small lump in his throat; but he doesn't question it. He swallowed it down and he tilted his head in slight amusement.
"He looks like a goat." Levi motions with his chin towards the picture. Full of distaste. This reaction causes Hange to throw in a laugh before nodding in agreement. "This old fart really needs a bath with all that dirt on his face." Hange leaned down closer to the black and white picture like they could see it clearly. But it was no use, so they came back up to a straighter posture.
"He has been spotted multiple times in the area Erwin and his team investigated. There are warehouses full of these laced drugs. However, he hasn't been seen inside these factories, as far as we are aware. He seems to be an outsider, but he likes to talk to people, and be social. A convincing man, and a smooth talker. Typical features of someone who could possibly be involved in this case. He seems to know exactly who to talk to and pick out their weaknesses. Advertise these drugs to these souls looking for relief."
Hange pauses their spewing before shifting the newspaper to the side, pulling out another document. "In these warehouses we mostly see Marijuana plants, loads of them. How he has managed to stay unknown for this long seems unnerving to me. This plant has all sorts of different properties. From feeling hyper, to feeling relaxed. These plants have all different types of strands and strengths. With how popular it seems, I can't believe how no one has tried to rat him out. Which tells me… that he has some trusting people on his side." Hange shows Levi the picture of this plant. How it looks and how it could smell.
"It smells like a skunk..." Levi huffs, his nose scrunching up in disgust. Hange intrudes once more, showing Levi more papers.
Levi could feel himself begin to feel dulled out from this conversation. He is aware of all of these facts. He doesn't need to be reminded of how they smell. Weed and cigs are one of the two most popular smells that get stuck to your clothes. The smell is just fucking awful.
Levi knew how dangerous these drugs could be. He knew just what it does to people. He didn't need to know all the compounds of the plant and how it can grow. Levi didn't need to stand here and be lectured on how these plants affect the mind. All he knew was that it made people fucking stupid. Make them do such stupid things.
He could feel the weight of his vest begin to push into his shoulders. He has been wearing it for too long. His feet that were settled in the military boots were starting to ache. The underside of his front toes are being pushed into the pad. Due to his leaning on the table, it didn't help his aches at all.
The sun was probably on the other side of the earth. The moon high up in the sky, showing midnight. He wanted to be 'home.' He shows no disrespect to Hange however, quietly letting their information come into his mind, picking out the shit that is actually useful to him. He knew the scientist would often ramble on and on and on.
Levi makes a quiet sigh to himself, knowing Hange wouldn't hear.
His face remained unreadable, masking completely over his pale features. His blue orbs watched Hange's fingers trace over words or pictures. His brain continuously filtered out the maniacs ramble while his eyes remained unfocused, but not distracted. It was like a lens filter over a camera. The outsides of his vision were blurred out while the center was focused.
Still following along, even letting his head follow the direction of their hand. If they were to move a document around, Levi's gaze would follow. Suddenly, Levi felt his eyes widen when he saw that the same hand from before went up towards his face with a sheet of paper in between their fingers. This completely grabbed his attention. "...ey, are you listening to me?" Hange says to Levi with a lifted eyebrow. Levi looked towards them with the same plain expression.
"Yes. The bags of cocaine, how it is hidden inside objects, and even boxes full of the stuff." He recalled back to the scientist, remembering the last few words they spoke to him.
Hange brought the hand back down, feeling like they knew Levi was drifting away from them.
"Erwin wants you to go as a 'Buy and Bust' in a strip club." Hange brings up suddenly, causing the raven's brow to crease deeply between his eyes. "What?" He could feel the tighten of his chest from these words. Bile on his tongue, his voice lowered from Commander Erwin's intentions. He didn't want to put the blame on Hange, knowing they had no control on what the commander would decide. Yet it didn't stop him from expressing himself to them.
"Our next place for investigation will be at a strip club, and you will be coming in as a guest there." Hange explained further. They could sense the raven's conflictions inside his eyes. Hange could understand why he wasn't a fan of this, especially if they were the ones to tell him the news. Maybe they weren't in the right place to tell Levi these plans, especially if Erwin didn't inform him first.
Levi's eyes darkened at this, taking his hands away from the marble counter. His hands left a warm print from where they laid.
Levi shakes his head in disbelief. It wasn't usually him that went into missions being the bait. That is what he liked to call it. I'm being fucking bait? Baiting in the criminals to pull a crime right in front of me? The raven was usually the one to take the criminal out. To pull his gun out and shout for the person to bow down to him.
"Ahh, there is nothing to worry about!" Hange brings their hands up in an attempt to calm the raven down, noticing how his emotion shifted further from his own thinking.
Finally, Levi spoke up. "When will that be?" And why did Erwin not tell me sooner? Levi thought as he looked into the scientist's eyes.
They simply shrugged and looked to the side. "I don't know, shorty, you might need to talk to him again. He could still be here. But before you do." Hange brought a palm up towards Levi to stop him from possibly moving away too quickly. "I need to tell you about the deaths from these drugs, Levi." Hange's voice suddenly became serious, and they pulled a stack of papers in front of them.
The raven was distracted briefly from the outrageous news that was told to him previously. However, the seriousness in the scientist's voice always made him wary. He knew it was important. His cold eyes went to the tables, seeing the statistics. Hange gave him the blessing of explaining it to him.
"In the first column here, we have the deceased named by a number. The next over is the cause of their death, and lastly was the percentage of which drug was present in their systems." Hange points at each column they just named. Their brown eyes looked over into silver ones. "These victims get a rush in their brain, signaling loads of dopamine. This is the happy hormone. This is their 'high' for a period of time. Then the victim will start to 'crash' because they are approaching an overdose." Hange pauses, keeping eye contact with their captain. The brunette was checking to make sure the shorter man was really there with them. That he was paying attention.
Levi kept his orbs on the brown ones, not drifting away in thought as he usually did. He knew this was important.
"First it would reach the heart. Slowing down the oxygen to the brain, this causes the brain to stunt. This further caused the heart to falter from its typical rhythm. Things start to shut down, and lungs stop expanding and accepting air anymore. When your brain starts to not get its required oxygen, you're already starting the process of getting long term brain damage." Hange stops talking to regain their thoughts. They wanted to make things simple so the Captain could understand. Levi's eyes remained calm and collected.
Hange continues, "You start to foam from the mouth, pulmonary edema getting into your lungs. You're basically history from there." Hange ends this statement by bringing the documents back into their rightful place. Stacking them on top of each other in an 'organized' fashion.
The scientist looked back towards their Captain, seeing that Levi was still observing them and looking into brown eyes intensely. Still with a deadpan expression, though.
Such a confusing man. Hange thought to themselves.
Four-eyes looked down at their watch with a soft huff. "7:00 pm right now, I think you could still catch Erwin." Levi breaks eye contact with the scientist, looking forward now to the white walls to absorb all the information he just endured.
Levi looks distantly in thought for a moment longer. He then looks down at the piled files. "Anything else for me?" His silver eyes traced against the table once more to see if he could pick up any more information.
"Be careful." Hange then said with caution, bringing their goggles back down over their eyes. They continue speaking before Levi could inject, "That club. The one Erwin is talking about has a high attraction for these types of activities."
The brunette placed the stacked papers back inside the 'gagging' yellow folder. Levi watched as the file strained to swallow around all of it.
"You're gagging the poor thing." Levi point's to the folder Hange was trying to force down. His tone was still monotone, showing nothing for what was really happening.
Hange gave a laugh. "He likes it that way." They looked over at Levi with a grin, which made Levi narrow his eyes at them with suspicion. "You need to organize better. It's a mess." Tsk, shitty-glasses.
"I'll be seeing you again, short stack!" Hange waved towards the man, but Levi chose not to see. He felt pressure leaving the top of his head as he opened the door from the lab, leaving its chaotic energy behind him.
The raven let out a deep sigh, letting irritation leave him. He takes a deep breath through his nose, letting the oxygen come to his brain to release some stress. I am going as bait. Levi repeated to himself. He didn't like this idea. Why the sudden change in plans? Did Erwin not trust me? I'm the captain of a squad, and I was asked to go below my rank as a buster?
Levi was going to go to his office and show him hell for this shitty ass decision.