better with time. Ch 13
You learn about Annie Leonhart, some questions are answered, while more form in their place. (AO3)
Words: 2,143
Two more days passed before Hange finally submitted to Levi’s pestering and protesting to put you back to work. You were thankful for it though, sitting alone with your thoughts and wracking your brain for your lost memories quickly grew boring. You were weary, and looking forward to getting out of bed and doing someone around other people, be it cleaning or eating. Something, some sort of human interaction.
You were dressing for the day, just buttoning up your oversized blouse when the door was forcefully kicked open. It was later in the afternoon so; you suppose Levi assumed you’d be dressed and was uncomfortably surprised to find you only half way done. He quickly turned his back to you and you did the same gasping at his intrusion. If he was nervous you couldn’t tell, his demeanor didn’t change. His voice was steady as ever, his body language showed he was unfazed for the most part.
“Sleeping in i guess. You got cleaning duty today, made sure the kitchen was nice and filthy for you.” He said as he quickly shut the door behind him. You could tell he hadn’t left just yet as you saw his shadow linger on the other side. He heaved a long-suffering sigh before you heard him bark at some other innocent victim and stalked off. Your shoulders finally relaxed as he left, a warm heat rushing to your cheeks momentarily. You groaned as you quickly finished dressing, wearing an oversized pair of slacks to match your shirt and some heavy-duty boots. You tied your hair back to keep it out of your face while you worked for the day.
Awkwardly, you poked your head out into the hallway to check if the coast was clear of Levi. You’d hate to run back into him after that run in earlier. You knew he couldn’t care less, but still you weren’t looking to address that just yet. You looked left, right, and then left one last time. No one was around, you released a puff a breath before stepping into the hall.
“Who are you avoiding!” Hange shouted right behind you. They must have just materialized out of thin air, because truly you were sure no one was in the hallway just a moment ago. You felt as if you jumped about four feet into the air, your heart hammering hard in your chest.
“N-no one Hange! Where did you come from?” You asked, stupefied at Hange’s apparent speed.
“Never mind that, where you headed then?” Hange always had a talent for ignoring your questions, whether intentional or not. You sighed before responding, telling Hange that you’re headed to the kitchen to clean.
“Ohh, sounds fun!” They playfully mused before telling you about what they had planned for the day. Training, research, more training, a meeting with Levi and Erwin, dinner, and then more research.
“Commander Erwin? I thought he wasn’t coming for a few more weeks?” You inquired, cutting into your friend's dialogue. Hange explained that after Erwin heard about how your test went that he put all of his affairs on hold to come down and discuss next steps.
“What do you think will happen...?” Instantly, Hange could sense your unease. Fear of the unknown, anxiety must be eating away at you. They wrapped an arm around your body before giving you’re a comforting squeeze.
“Don’t worry. This is all just to understand your situation better. The quicker we figure you out, the quicker things can settle for you.” Hange gave you a small smile, their eyes crinkling along with it. You could tell by the darkening bags under their eyes that they were sleepy, working through the night to meet deadlines. Writing up reports and filling out their notes... their notes about you. You couldn’t help but fear you were causing them trouble but, its not like it’s something Hange, Levi, and Erwin could ignore.
And not just them, Moblit and Mike were picking up more slack to help the others. Taking more shifts to train the young scouts in their absence. All while still going out on expeditions and scouting the perimeters once a week. Your arrival changed a lot of things for these people. You smiled back to Hange, in hopes to take some of the edge off of them. Hange always had fun talking to you, and you were a great listener. Thus, it always cheers them up to see you happy and more comfortable with each passing day. That’s what friends are for. You were eternally grateful to Hange Zoe, your first friend since becoming human again. Understanding, patient, kind, funny, a great distraction from all of the noise in your mind.
As the two of you reached the kitchen you both parted ways, waving good bye as you both went to handle your duties for the days. At the end of the hall, you caught a glimpse of Levi’s shiny black hair slipping into a room and following behind him was Hange, while Commander Erwin held the door for the both of them. He gave you a curt nod and professional smile before closing the door. He was out of sight now but still you felt compelled to nod back to the man, and so you did just that before turning on your hell and walking into the canteen to clean.
Inside you were immediately introduced to two sets of large eyes boring into your own. One set an impressive golden hue, and the other a lovely mahogany brown. A third pair farther away looked you over once before they averted their gaze to the broom in their hand. Clumsily you stumbled off to the side to put some space between you and them. They were young, at least ten years your junior. A boy with a shaved head, large owlish eyes, one curious brow cocked hard as he studied you. A girl with her hair pulled back into a high pony tail, a loaf of bread stuck into her mouth and crumbs dusting her cheeks.
“Um, hello...” You said sheepishly, you stuttered feeling awkward as they stared intently at you unblinkingly.
“Are you really a titan?” The girl asked, her voice muffled as it was still filled with food. The boy next to her frowned before turning to her and snatching the loaf from her mouth.
“Oi Sasha, you can’t just ask things like that!”
She ignored his scolding in favor of fighting for her food back
while the third off into the corner scoffed at the comment.
“Why not? She’s another one just like Jaeger... and Annie.’’ He said, he seemed to be sulking but you weren’t sure why. However, you were interested in what he had to say, and he seemed to pick up on that.
“Jean...” The one with the golden eyes warned.
“She clearly wants to know Connie. And I doubt there's any harm in telling her about Annie, it’s been months.”
Connie, Sasha, and Jean. Weeks ago, you remember Levi telling you about these three, they seemed close, always eating together at every meal.
Just as Connie opened his mouth to protest you interjected.
“If you don’t mind! Please, I keep hearing about her but I don’t know anything about it. What happened?” You asked, eyes darting between Connie and Jean. During the momentary silence Sasha finally managed to get her bread back from Connie and she scurried off to a table to eat in peace and listen to the story.
Connie shrugged his shoulders before going to plop down in his seat next to Sasha, he laid his head onto his folded arms while he listened to Jean retell the events that took places months ago, not too long before you were found and taken into custody.
“Months ago, just before you got here there was an abnormal titan chasing us through the woods during an expedition trying to take Eren. Well, long story short that titan was actually a girl named Annie and she was a part of the Military Police in the capital.” You gawked at the news, trying to understand the implications.
“But how?”
“Exactly! No one knew, we found out on accident about Eren, he didn’t even know he was a titan but that was back at our first mission. Annie seemed to know what she was doing, she’s a spy for someone. Any who-––” Jean continued recalling the story, how so many people died including all but one of Levi’s old squad. How Annie escaped but at this moment, they still weren’t aware that she was the titan. Erwin had growing suspicions, but his quick thinking helped them to realize that titan was lurking about in scout gear. He told you about how Armin created a plan to capture Annie but that it ended up costing a lot of civilian lives, but they learned a lot in the end despite it all.
Your expression fell, and heavy weight landing on your shoulders.
“I’m... I’m sorry for the loss. That’s terrible.” The room fell silent for a moment, you had long abandoned your chores in favor of giving the story your full attention but it left you disturbed and with plenty of questions running amuck in your mind.
“Where is she now?” You asked innocently, looking between the three kids.
Sasha opened her mouth getting ready to answer but just before she spoke Levi was stepping through the door. Sasha, Connie, and Jean simultaneously snapped to their feet and stood straight with their lips pursed shut for their Captain.
“I don’t know that you lot were ever given permission to talk about that with her.” He said, his voice icy. Your heart dropped; you hadn’t meant to get them in trouble. You didn’t know it was anything classified.
“I’m sorry, it was my fault for asking–-”
“ Quiet .” He snapped. You stepped to the side so he could address his scouts without you in the way. Your heart was stuttering in your chest. You felt like you really messed up now. Not only were they getting scolding by Captain Levi, but with Annie’s story being classified now you look extremely suspect to him. Of course, luck would have it that he walked in just as you were asking where she was.
His hands planted themselves on his hips, he sighed before she addressed the three brats.
“Don’t let me catch any of you talking about that again. Got it?” The three scouts quickly nodded their heads in unison before chanting a ‘sir yes sir’ and placing their fist over their heart. Without another word they picked up their mops and brooms and got back to work.
Levi’s eyes scanned towards yours, he didn’t have to say a word. You understood exactly what he was saying. “Don’t ask the scouts any questions.”
“I’m sorry.” You whispered. With the tense relationship you had
with Levi, you never imagined you’d apologize to him about anything, but this, this was in regards to his trust in you. You did not want to tarnish the progress you made for anything. You feared, if Levi couldn’t trust you, nothing in your life would progress the way you wanted.
He didn’t respond, instead he just walked out the room and after hesitating a moment you rushed after the man.
“Wait, Levi.” You called after him, he stopped in his tracks before looking back over his shoulder to you waiting on you to continue.
“I’m sorry about your loss. Your last squad...” You chose your words wisely, afraid to overstep, but you didn’t want him to leave without you giving your condolences.
His eyes softened a moment before he turned himself forward. He took a moment to respond, taking time to remember his fallen comrades.
“It comes with the job. Get back in there and finish cleaning. Silently .” He spoke, his voice was softer than usual, almost hushed to a whisper. You stayed staring at the back of his head a moment before doing as told, you turned back towards the doors to the canteen and stepped inside.
Hearing the doors shut quietly behind you, Levi let a puff of air slip passed his parted lips. He rolled his head back to glance at the ceiling, or rather, toward the sky obscured by the ceiling.
He thought of many people he lost over the years, in all this time only people who were like him gave a damn about their deaths. Only the scout regimen cared and even then, not everyone would console him, not that he was needing consolation in that moment. But... it was a pleasant surprise. In that moment, Levi was thankful to you. You gave him a moment of peace to remember his long-lost friends, he made a mental note to go a little softer on you for a few days. Just a few days.
