This is My Last War (Attack on Titan // LeviHan) - Part 3

The Monkey

"I'll be back in the evening," Zoë promised, even if the kids would be okay without her. In fact, Armin was ready to take over from her. He'd been for a while.

"Stay safe," Armin's face was grim.

The way from the Doctor's house to the Titan Research Facility was considerably shorter than the one she had taken on her first day from their now temporarily abandoned little house further down the hill. Secretly scanning her surroundings for unwanted followers, Zoë walked down the street as briskly as possible. There were far fewer folks around than usual, even up here, because the presence of Public Security had been doubled. Three idle officers stood leaning against the wall at the corner with their rifles next to them, their eyes following her as she strode across the square.

Don't let them see how nervous you are.

The slight dizziness that felt like a coming storm in her head threatened to make her stagger. Calm. This is no different than Trost. Ignoring the military police wasn't her natural impulse, she preferred to tease them until they went into raging bull mode, but she was a pro at handling the likes of them. Snickering, she remembered what walking around with Levi by your side was like. He was so notoriously violent, military police had orders to ignore him and whoever he was with.

The one time a very inexperienced military officer had stared, Levi had stopped abruptly in front of him. His "Are you looking at me?" had sounded so menacing, the young officer had turned as white as a sheet, stammering something about admiring the perfect cut of Levi's uniform while clearly hefting his eyes on Levi's ass. Mike had teased Levi about being a young officers' fantasy for weeks afterwards.

Nostalgia. The sign of growing older. I miss you, little thug.

The walls of the internment zone came into view to her left. Don't look. It wasn't like she was going to see Levi zoom around across the rooftops anyway. Unless... she turned her head with a twinge of apprehension, it wasn't entirely impossible... But no, of course he wasn't zooming around! He was likely hiding somewhere, ready to scout out the places where the warriors and warrior candidates would train later, or he might be trying to locate Eren.

The wind moved a cloud across the sun, painting a dark, ominous shadow across the rooftops behind the wall. Suppressing a shudder and the impulse to see it as a bad omen, Zoë walked on, threw a disgusted look at the golden Helos statue, noticed with immediate glee that a bird had shat on his shoulder, and then turned to the left, towards the Titan Research Facility.

If they arrest me, it's going to happen here. Brace yourself.

"Alexander Smith", she said at the gate, flashing her new employer card with the photo they had made of her. Damn, her heart was beating way too fast. But nobody came rushing out to arrest her. One of the two guards threw her card a cursory look, then stood aside. There were dark circles underneath his eyes. Either he had partied hard or his duties were this exhausting.

Well. Maybe I was worried about nothing.

Zoë dared a little whistle as she crossed the courtyard, her fingers on the ampulla in her pocket. They had said every employee needed to take regular blood tests but they had not said how regular. Daily? But the room they had taken her last time was dark and empty and nobody intercepted her, so she walked up the stairs. She was still on high alert because it was likely that Willy Tybur was here again. She had imagined meeting Tybur in a thousand different variations, settling on lying her ass off if he should confront her. Alexander Smith did have a twin sister after all and he surely wouldn't insist on checking her sex, would he?

It was Tom Calvi who welcomed her at the door of the lab though, as friendly and easy-going as on the first day. From a few of his remarks about the riot and police brutality, she came to suspect that he had a very strained relationship with Marley's martial society and urgently needed to assure everyone he did not agree with it. He seemed to be a genuinely nice person. So they did exist here, even in a General's family?