The Path Back to You | Levi x OC

Chapter 10 - Assassin

Anastasya

Anya awoke the next morning feeling haunted. Her nightmare lingered like a malevolent shadow in the back of her mind, and she suppressed an involuntary shudder. Levi was already awake and dressed, and he wordlessly handed her a cup of black tea. He looked as tired as she felt, and she immediately felt guilt clawing at her stomach.
"Thanks," she said, stifling a yawn. "I'm sorry about last night."
"There's nothing to be sorry for. How do you feel today?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Strange. But I'll be fine. What's the plan for today?"
"For you, rest and recovery, mainly, and making sure that everything is in place for tomorrow."
"How do you think it's going to go?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "It's damn risky, but I don't see us having any other options. We're going to be in deep shit if it doesn't work, but I trust Erwin's judgement."
She nodded, taking a sip of her tea.
"I think we've covered every eventuality as best as possible."
"Yeah," he said, though he didn't sound entirely convinced.
"I thought I'd go to see Hange in a bit."
"To tell her about talking Titans?" he asked.
"You don't believe me."
He sighed.
"No, I think I do, but I damn well wish I didn't. I never fully dismissed what was written in Ilse Langnar's notebook, so for you to say the same thing... Anyway, if humans can suddenly shift into Titans, I don't see how them being able to talk is such a stretch of the imagination. We'll find out they're able to shit, next."
She mustered a small smile.
"That's a disturbing thought."
"Yeah. That would be some damn big shit," he said, before becoming serious again. "Take it easy today, okay?"
"I will."
"I have to run some errands and help organise the teams for tomorrow, so I might not be around much until later this afternoon."
"Is there anything I can do?"
Before being left outside of the walls, she had played a pivotal role in the Scouts, and was commonly referred to as the one that bound everything together. To be taking a back seat ahead of a major operation left her feeling disorientated and...useless. She glanced down at her lap, frowning, until Levi gently cupped her chin and made her look at him.
"Hey. I know you're not used to it, but let other people do the prep work for once. On this occasion, you're going to be more useful during the operation itself, so don't worry about it."
She sighed through her nose, knowing that he was right.
"Okay. Is Hange here, or at HQ in Trost today?"
"Trost. Take a carriage. You shouldn't ride yet."
"I'll be fine as long as I mount with my left leg first. Trust me."
He frowned, and she reached up and kissed him.
"Stop worrying about me so much. Go run your errands."
"Hmm. See you later. Stay out of trouble."
"Yeah, yeah. See you," she said, yawning again.
When she was sure that Levi had gone, she placed her cup down and scrubbed at her face with her uninjured hand, closing her eyes for a long moment. She needed to keep it together, at least until after the mission. She forced herself to get ready and go to Trost, hoping that Hange would be able to cheer her up.

***

"Morning!" Hange exclaimed brightly, as Anya strode into the library-come-laboratory over an hour later. "Have you eaten?"
"Not yet," she replied.
"Well, here."
As she slid into a seat, Hange passed her a plate full of pastries.
"Thanks. Wait...are these all for you?!"
"Research is hungry work!"
"Yeah, yeah. What are you working on?" she asked, taking a bite from a croissant.
"Oh, nothing much." Hange looked up from her microscope and frowned. "What's wrong? What happened to your hand?"
"I had a rough night," she confessed.
Hange stopped what she was doing and went to sit beside her. Anya put the pastry down, suddenly having lost her appetite.
"I had the first nightmare. I had plenty while I was out there on my own, but they were different, somehow. This one was... intense."
She told Hange what she had seen, and what she had heard.
"Do you really think they're capable of speech? They have vocal cords, so... And Ilse said the same," she asked.
"They have the ability, but we've always thought they simply didn't have the mental capacity. That what Ilse witnessed was either an anomaly or a delusion. Besides, where would Titans learn to speak? If they get close enough to hear us, they just try to eat us. It also seems like neither Eren's Titan nor the Female Titan can speak," Hange reasoned.
She sighed.
"I see. Anyway, that's not the only reason I'm here. If Eren can change, and so can Annie Leonhart, then what's to say there aren't others? I want you to come up with some way that we can identify who has the ability and who doesn't. Think you can do that?"
Hange pursed her lips. "It could take some time."
"I don't know if we have it," she replied gravely. "If we take down this Annie girl, anyone else who can transform might retaliate. What if the people who control the Colossal Titan and the Armoured Titan are in our regiment? We need to figure this out, and quickly."
"As soon as tomorrow's out of the way, I'll start," she said. "Maybe we can get some answers from Annie and find out who the others are."
"I hope so. If not, we're pretty screwed."

***

After seeing Hange, Anya had decided to go for a ride in the woods for the afternoon to get some peace and process her thoughts. As the afternoon had melted into twilight, she'd left her horse to rest in the stables at HQ in Trost, and then meandered through the city for a few hours, reacquainting herself with the place in which she'd spent so many years of her life. Night had steadily fallen to veil the streets in darkness, but she was more than used to wandering around in it. The city was still better-lit than her surroundings beyond the wall had been.
She'd bought a sandwich for dinner from her favourite bakery, and ate it as she walked along, observing the people around her, occasionally saying hello. Everyone seemed far more upbeat than she'd remembered them all being, considering how food was scarce and times were hard; they had been ever since the fall of Wall Maria. She went and sat down by the canal in one of her preferred spots, mulling over tomorrow's mission while watching the boats. She prayed that the operation went smoothly. She wasn't sure how much use she was going to be if things went wrong.
When the church bells began to chime that it was 9 o'clock, she stood up and slowly dusted her trousers down, realising that she didn't quite feel ready to go back to the castle. To the concerned faces of all those she cared about, and even of those she barely knew. She was surprised by the revelation that she'd enjoyed her day alone, and she decided to delay her return by walking back to the Scouts' old HQ and leaving her horse in Trost for the night. She passed through the inner gate of Wall Rose and out into the moonlit countryside, taking the shadowy, dirt path to the castle. It was tough going, but it meant that she didn't have to think, and she made good progress. As she laboured up the steep hill, she thought she heard a rustle in the dense bushes to her left. She paused, her breathing instantly becoming erratic, her chest tightening as though someone was sitting on her. The city was far behind her now, and she wasn't totally sure of how much further the castle was, such was her sudden disorientation.
She frowned. It wasn't like her to react so strongly to something like a mere noise in the dark. She calmed herself enough to resume walking and breathing normally. It couldn't be a Titan. She would be able to see it long before she could hear it. Probably. She started to increase her pace, even though her aching body protested. She felt distinctly uncomfortable, as though she was being followed, yet every time she glanced around her, all she could see were the trees and their looming shadows. Just as she spotted the warm, welcoming lights of the castle in the distance, a hooded figure tackled her to the ground with a bone-jarring impact. She hadn't thought to take any weapons to the city with her, and was therefore utterly defenceless as the attacker tried to slice her throat open. They narrowly missed their target as she instinctively ducked her chin to her chest, and she felt the blade bite into her cheek instead.
"Fuck!" she screamed, both in fear and frustration.
Using both of her legs, she kicked the assassin with all of her strength – for their intention was clearly to kill – and propelled them off of her. They landed flat on their back, momentarily dazed, and she scrambled to her feet and ran. Even without a weapon, she would normally have been able to defeat a single, armed opponent, but with her injuries and her malnourishment, she wasn't sure that it was a fight she would walk away from. As she sprinted for her life, a blade whizzed past her, just clipping her ear, before embedding itself in the ground. She grabbed it and continued running, clutching it close. She glanced up at the castle and saw light glowing from the window in Erwin's room. She dared look behind her, just once, but there was no longer any sign of the would-be assassin. However, she wasn't about to risk stopping. Sweat stung her eyes and it felt as though shards of glass were rattling around in her lungs, but she forced herself onwards. She finally reached the castle and crashed through the heavy wooden doors, sprinting along the stone corridors and up the stairs, knowing the way by heart. She barrelled straight into Erwin's room and tripped over, rolling onto the rug next to his bed before coming to an abrupt halt. For a moment, she simply stared up at the ceiling, gasping down air.