Chapter Twelve – A Year in Time, pt. 1

It took the Survey Corps two months to get approved for their next expedition — which was apparently faster than usual for them. Levi suspected it had something to do with Erwin and his scheming in the capital, but he's not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The 25th Scouting Expedition launched late that summer, and surprisingly, it was a great success. After hearing about how smooth Levi and Quinn's first abnormal encounter was, Section Commander Miche decided to test their potential during their next trip beyond the walls. There was always an unavoidable amount of carnage, but thanks to a certain pair of Scouts, not even two abnormals and a small herd could put a dent in their main formation. Levi and Quinn worked alongside each other like it was second nature.

It was on that expedition that Quinn rediscovered her unnamed flower. Despite its withered end-of-life state, Quinn was ecstatic to show it off to him. It was… sweet. Amusing.

The results of that expedition also seemed to egg Hange on even further. They started to hover around even more, usually pestering Levi about giving them tips on ODM gear techniques.

"But what if one day a Titan catches up to me and eats me alive because I didn't have the super awesome moves that you do?!"

"Then I hope it likes nuts."

Quinn didn't find that one very funny.

As far as Levi could tell, Hange was the only one who was interested in pestering him for lessons. Nobody else ever approached him (probably because they didn't have the balls to), and Quinn certainly never expressed any desire to learn from him.

Not openly, anyway.

They were just approaching the peak of autumn now, the trees surrounding Levi starting to turn all various shades of reds and oranges. He remembers his mother saying something about how the color of the leaves change with the seasons, but watching it happen in real time was something else.

He wishes Isabel could've seen this. That girl would've lost her mind.

Commander Miche had just sent Levi outside to retrieve a certain someone, saying something about a change in their mission briefing or some other shit Levi didn't care about. He had overheard Quinn say something to Nanaba about using the ODM course the other day, so naturally, that was the first place he was checking.

Once he gets a bit further into the course, he spots Quinn a few yards away, her back turned away from him as she fumbles around with one of her blades. Levi can't tell exactly what she's doing from this distance, so he lowers himself to the ground as quietly as he can and starts to approach on foot. When he gets close enough, he can finally make out exactly what she's doing.

She's trying to rotate the hilt of her blade upside down in one hand.

Seems awfully familiar.

She's still facing away from Levi when he stops just a few feet short from her. "You're holding it wrong."

The girl jumps like a startled cat. "What th-"

Her mouth smacks shut when she realizes that it's Levi who had snuck up on her, her face flushing a deep shade of red. It's then that Quinn realizes that she's still holding the backwards handle in her hand, causing her to drop it in alarm, the blade landing just a few inches short of her foot.

Levi looks down at the piece of metal and then back up at Quinn with a raised eyebrow. "How the hell have you survived this long?"

"Hey, Levi." Quinn breathes out an awkward laugh as she clasps her hands behind her back. "What are you doing out here?"

"You know, if you wanted my help, you could've just asked."

Quinn's eyes shift to the side as she tries to feign ignorance. "Help with what?"

Levi crosses his arms across his chest, cocking his head towards her blade on the ground. "Alright. I'll play along. You wanna tell me where you picked up that trick in the first place?"

Quinn holds her ground for a moment, maintaining Levi's stare for as long as she can manage before inevitably cracking. She groans dramatically and runs one of her hands over her face. "I figured it wouldn't do me any good to bug you since you're always telling Hange no. You said it's not something you can just teach."

"It's not something I can teach normal people, no."

Quinn blinks at him like she's unsure whether she should be offended or not. Levi sighs. "Pick up the damn blade."

There's a moment of hesitation before she reaches down and picks up the sword, holding it upright and looking at him questioningly.

"Show me how you were holding it before."

Quinn turns the hilt around in her hand – slowly, clearly not comfortable with handling it like this yet – and gestures it out towards him. Her pinky and ring finger are resting tentatively on the triggers, strained and awkward as she tries to settle the handle in her palm. Levi doesn't say anything and grabs her hand, finding resistance for a moment before she relaxes into his hold and allows him to manipulate her grip at will. Her hands aren't too much smaller than his, but they're slimmer — daintier. He has to adjust her hand to hold it a bit differently than he does, choking her thumb higher up on the handle, and rotating it slightly so her fingers can better reach the controls.

"Does that feel better?"

Quinn nods, and it could just be the warm colors around them, but there's a hint of pink on her cheeks. Levi realizes that he's still holding onto her hand and releases it, looking away and clearing his throat. "So, how much have you actually practiced?"

"Oh! Um-" Quinn trips over her words for a moment. "… Not at all. You may or may not have witnessed my first attempt at even holding it this way."

Levi raises his eyebrows, looking down at the canisters of Quinn's gear and stepping to his right, so that if she were to accidentally press a trigger her hook wouldn't end up impaling him. Quinn rolls her eyes. "Don't be dramatic."

There's a hint of a smirk on Levi's face as he looks away from her and down the tree line. "Put the blades away and try getting used to the reversed controls first. I don't need you actually losing your damn foot."

Quinn starts to look uneasy again, sheathing her blades and taking a moment to double check the placements of her fingers. When she takes off, her movement is far from graceful, but the controls seem to be translating in her head well enough.

Then she misfires her hook, and nearly collides into a tree trunk.

She finds her bearings again and glances back at Levi with a sheepish look. He shakes his head dismissively and gestures for her to keep going. "It's gonna take a bit to get used to. You'll probably have to practice with the movement for a while before we start working with the blades."

"We?"

"What, you gonna drag four eyes out here to help you instead?"

Quinn drops herself to the ground with a huff. "Y'know, you don't have to do this."

"The last thing I need is for you to bite the dust trying to imitate something I could've taught you." He pauses and gestures his head back down the course. "But I do value my time, so less talking, more training."

Quinn scoffs and rolls her eyes, giving Levi an overly-dramatic formal salute. "Yes, Sir."

*︎**

Levi was a great teacher, but man, did he work her hard.

His methods were unforgiving, and he was almost as picky about her performance as he was about his cleaning. Every position had to be precise, every movement smooth and thorough, and he'd make her repeat it over and over until he was satisfied.

He didn't do it that way because he was a sadist — he did it because it was effective. Quinn was a fast learner, and with a firm hand she was able to master maneuvering with reversed controls in just a couple of weeks — right handed, left handed, and dual handed.

Levi had smiled at her when he told her that she was ready to work with the blades. He told her that she had done a good job — that she impressed him.

Quinn tried not to overthink how happy it made her to hear that.

But the next step in her training would have to wait, because their next expedition was fast approaching.

As her squad is making their trip to the outer gate, Quinn slips away for a moment to visit with her family. When she approaches them, she sees that Jericho has another boy hanging alongside him and the blonde one. This boy had shaggy brown hair and deep green eyes — ones that look oddly unsettling until they spot Quinn approaching them.

"Quinn, these are Jericho's friends, Armin and Eren. Armin here has been keeping an eye on your little brother for us when we're busy, and his friend Eren here is really excited to meet you."

Ah, so that's what this is. Someone heard that Ms. Older Sister is a big strong Scout.

The new kid, Eren, looks a bit embarrassed to be put on the spot, but it quickly turns into enthusiasm once he starts asking questions.

"So you're a real Scout? Have you killed a Titan before? Are there a lot of them? What's it like out there?"

Quinn chuckles a bit under her breath. "Yes, yes, yes, and big. Wide open fields, huge forests, lots of different plants and animals — it's very pretty."

Eren's face beams with excitement. It's obvious that the Scout Regiment was a big interest for him. As the boy starts to ramble even further, Quinn spots another child looming behind them. It's a girl, with long black hair and even darker eyes. She has a red scarf tied snug around her neck, and she's watching Eren like a hawk. The blonde one, Armin, sees that Quinn has noticed the girl and turns around to address her. "Mikasa, don't be rude. Come say hi."

The girl doesn't look interested at all. If anything, she's looking at Quinn with a bit of hostility.

"It's okay, really. I should get back, we should be taking off soon."

As Quinn says her goodbyes and walks away, she notices that she has her own pair of keen eyes watching her from a distance.

*︎**

The success from their last mission had carried over to the next. With far less supply loss to make up for, the Scouts actually managed to last two nights without serious issue. They were starting to reach the precipice of uncharted territory, traveling through land that Quinn had only ever seen once, maybe twice in her entire career.

They were on their third night of the expedition now, this being the first time they'd made it to night three in who knows how long. The Scouts had established camp in a small clearing in a wooded area, one that looked just a bit too familiar once Quinn got a better look at things.

Suddenly, all plans of sleeping that night were thrown out the window. If her assumption was right, she had far better things to do.

She used to slip away in the dead of night all the time, with nothing but her ODM gear and trusty little journal in hand. It was something she usually did by herself in the past, but…

Quinn raises her head from where she's tucked in her sleeping bag, glancing over to where Levi was laid out on top of his own a few feet away. He was on his back, motionless, too far away for her to tell whether his eyes were open or not.

Levi wasn't big on sleep, so surely he wouldn't mind if Quinn bugged him just a little bit.

"Levi!"

Quinn's voice comes out as a harsh whisper as she looms over him, watching his eyes flutter open instantly. It didn't look like he was sleeping, more like resting his eyes at best, but he still gives Quinn an agitated look. "What?"

"Grab your gear. I wanna show you something."

"Now?"

"Now."

Levi looks less than enthused, but he listens, swearing under his breath as he tries to muffle the sound of metal against metal. Quinn leads him a few yards away on foot, slipping past the soldiers posted on night watch, before switching to her ODM gear.

"You know, most people would say venturing off into uncharted Titan territory is a bad idea." Levi jeers as he trails close behind her.

"Relax, nobody's ever actually seen a Titan active at night." Quinn calls back to him before her movements start to slow. She pulls herself up to a higher branch and starts scanning their surroundings, trying to see if she can spot anything that looks familiar.

Levi lands next to her without a sound. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"Trust me, you'll know it when you see it — or hear it."

He gives Quinn a confused look but says nothing, continuing to follow her lead as she takes off down a different path. They're a few minutes out now, and just when Quinn is starting to fear that she might've been wrong — she hears it. A faint roaring sound, almost like a vicious storm in the distance. Both her and Levi come to a stop at the same time, listening closely.

"What the hell is that?" he asks from her right.

Quinn can't help but break out into a smile when she looks over to him, taking off towards the sound without another word. The noise is getting louder, but she still can't see anything past the dense foliage. Then the treeline comes to an end, and she finally finds what she's been looking for.

It's enormous — a monster of a waterfall spewing white frothy water down a rocky cliffside. There's a sizable body of water below that almost shimmers in the light of the full moon. Quinn balances herself on a thick branch and stares ahead in awe.

"Holy shit." she hears Levi breathe out from next to her, barely audible over the sound of rushing water.

"I know, right?"

"How the hell did you know this was here?"

Quinn sits herself down on the branch, the surface wide enough for her to cross her legs comfortably. "My first section commander took me here during my first year of service. The Titan population wasn't as dense back then, and we managed to get this far one time." She pauses for a moment, her facial expression growing soft. "She never made it back to the walls."

Levi mirrors Quinn and sits down next to her. "I'm sorry."

She tries to shrug it off as 'no big deal', but the sadness is still evident on her face. "It's just… how things are. We lost a lot of important people that day." She pauses and extends one of her legs in front of her, rotating it like she's examining it. "A Titan caught one of my legs during that expedition. Tore the ligaments to shreds."

Levi tears his eyes away from the scenery and addresses Quinn head on. "But you fully recovered."

He says it as a statement, not a question.

"Yeah."

Quinn would normally avoid this kind of conversation like the plague — one about her injuries, or lack thereof. But somehow, she knows that Levi just gets it. He didn't share the same phenomenon as her, because he didn't need it in the first place. What had happened earlier that summer was very obviously nothing but a fluke, and Levi hasn't had anything close to a near-miss encounter since.

It was a hard pill to swallow, but Quinn won't even try to deny it now — in terms of both strength and agility, Levi is leagues ahead of her. He was far more efficient at killing Titans, and his instincts as a Scout already seemed even more fine-tuned than hers. Somewhere along the line, their dynamics had switched, and Quinn became the one following him. They fought well together because Quinm was just fast enough to read and adapt to his movements in real time. Other people needed verbal communication beforehand, but when it came to working with Levi, she had a sixth sense.

In just a few months, he had become a better Scout than she was after four years of service.

You don't possess abilities like that and just… not question it.

"You sure get lucky a lot, huh?"

Quinn scoffs. "Something like that."

Levi turns his attention back to the waterfall in front of them, then down to the ground below. "Has it always been like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You and your 'luck'. Have you always had it?"

"I don't know. I think so?"

Levi straightens up a bit and looks over at her in confusion. "You think so?"

Quinn extends her other leg and dangles both of them in front of her, kicking them absentmindedly. "When I was a kid, there was an illness that spread all over Shiganshina. I apparently caught it, and I ended up on death's door. Luckily, a doctor in town found a cure, but it still took me a long time to recover. Apparently my memory was shot to hell from the fever. I had to be told my own name, who my parents were, the whole deal. Everything up until I was around seven or so was pretty much wiped blank, but as far as I can remember, I've always been like this. It's funny, not a lot of people remember that far back anyways, but I remember the disturbing feeling of remembering nothing."

Levi hums thoughtfully.

"Why? Was it different for you?"

He stays quiet, like he's debating whether or not he wants to answer. "I was weak as a kid. Really weak. And then one day, I wasn't. And I have no idea why.

"So in other words, we're both clueless?"

Levi huffs out something close to a laugh. "I guess."

Quinn turns her attention forward again with a half-hearted smile. "This will probably be the last expedition of the year, y'know?"

"What, are all Scouts complete wimps about the cold?"

Her eyes flick over to glare at him for just a second. "Harr harr. No, the bastards in the interior don't like to fund expeditions in the winter – they always use the weather as an excuse. It already takes a couple of months to win their approval as is, so they usually hold out until spring." She smiles somberly as she watches the luminescent water rage down the cliffside. "I'm sure it's really pretty here in the springtime. Maybe we can come back."

Levi's response is short, but there's weight to his words. "We'll find something better."

Quinn's smile grows wider. "Yeah."

In the middle of her gawking, she perks up as she remembers the one important thing she brought with her — her journal, secured with a holster attached to her waist that she quickly retrieves it from. She crosses her legs and rests the book against her thigh, flipping to the first blank page she can find. Quinn takes one more moment to glance at the sight in front of her, then her fingers start to move.

Levi had seen quite a bit of Quinn's drawings at this point, but he's never actually witnessed her in the act. Her strokes were swift and precise, portraying the scene in graphite at an impressive speed. The finished product is obviously a quick sketch compared to her stand-alone pieces, but it still looks satisfyingly accurate.

The man next to her doesn't even try to hide the fact that he's been watching her. "Well that was fast."

Quinn tries her best to hide the trace of a smug smirk on her face. "Not a lot of free time on your hands as a Scout. You gotta be quick."

"Well it's not like we have anywhere important to be right now." Levi mumbles as he looks off in the distance.

No matter how indifferent he tries to sound, Quinn always knows what he's saying. 'You can take your time, if you want.'

So, she does. She starts to work a lot more patiently, cleaning up the lines and rendering the finer details. Levi isn't staring anymore, but she can see him steal a peek every once in a while. Other than that, the two say nothing. Comfortable silence.

Even working slowly, it only takes Quinn about 20 minutes to turn what once was a rough sketch, to a full landscape covering the surface of the entire page. When she announces that she's finished, Levi leans just a bit closer to look over her shoulder.

"It's nice."

It's a brief response, but there's sincerity in his voice.

It's absolutely fucking ridiculous how that small compliments makes her chest swell up with pride.

Levi leans away again, and Quinn takes the opportunity to give her arms a much needed stretch. As she settles herself, a shiver rattles deep in her bones. She's already wearing the thickest damn sweater she could fit under her jacket — the coarse material has been scratching at her neck relentlessly all damn day — but the cold always finds a way to get to her.

"You picked one hell of a time to forget your cloak."

Quinn shakes her head as she tugs at the neck of her sweater. "It's filthy. Got ripped off and thrown in the mud. The cold isn't that bad, though. It's worth it."

A grunt of acknowledgement comes from the man at her side as she sees Levi stand up in her peripheral vision. Then, just a split second later, something soft hits her in the back of the head. Quinn pulls the object off of her back and examines it, her eyes widening when she realizes what she's holding in her hands — Levi's cloak.

When Quinn looks back up at him, he darts his eyes away from her, one of his hands rubbing awkwardly at the back of his neck. "Wash it before you give it back."

Quinn gives him a bashful nod and secures the cape around her shoulders. The first thing she notices is the fragrant smell of peppermint oil, and it confuses her for a moment before she remembers that peppermint is a good deterrent for rats.

He's probably made it a habit to keep some of it with his clothes.

There's another smell that follows — one that's softer, richer. Black tea. Either he stores that in his drawers as well, or he drinks so damn much he's starting to sweat it.

Looming under everything is another scent that's indescribably warm. Maybe it was the fresh air. Maybe it was just Levi.

Quinn looks back up at him, preparing to say thank you, until she sees that his eyes are locked onto something in her lap. She follows his gaze down to her journal, which had slipped down her thigh, a few of the pages drooping to the side and revealing a peek of a different drawing underneath.

It reveals only a sliver of the page, but the contents are more than revealing. Dark hair, shaved undercut.

Quinn slams the book shut.

Her face is as hot as the goddamn sun, and part of her is praying that it'll just melt off completely then and there. She doesn't dare move a muscle, her eyes glued to the book in her lap. Levi is completely. Fucking. Silent. It's torture. It's like she's got a gun to her head.

'Please just say something. Hurry up and laugh at me. Call me a freak, a weirdo, a creep — please just SAY-'

"We should get back."

Out of all the things she expected Levi to say, it definitely wasn't that. He wasn't exactly the kind to pass up an opportunity to make a sarcastic remark – but no, he doesn't say a word. He doesn't even ask for his cloak back — not when they get back to camp, or the next morning when things warmed up, or even when they get back to the walls.

And Quinn doesn't take it off.

*︎**

Quinn returned Levi's cloak to him the day after they returned to HQ.

Her cheeks were tinted a soft pink as she extended it out to him, completely spotless and perfectly folded. The next time Levi put his cloak on, he noticed a mellow, floral scent.

It was obvious that Quinn didn't use 'military standard' soap to wash it.

It was probably the same thing she used on her own clothes, because it smelled just like her.