Angel With A Shotgun [Levi Ackerman x OC] / Attack on Titan / Shingeki no Kyojin

Code XXXVII: The Calm Before the Storm

[f]

[graphic warning: later on in the chapter, there are depictions that are gruesome and bloody.]

"Infiltration successful," Xora breathed into her comm device, watching silently as Mikasa laid the unconscious guard against a cabinet in the security office. Watching her take him out was faster than the blink of an eye; getting into the building without any kind of identification was rather easy. "The guard is out. I believe there are currently no civilians in the building, aside from Piquet. Levi and I will head to our positions."

"Roger," Hanji's digital voice crackled through the little speaker. "Armin, you know what to do!"

"Copy that," Armin said as he began to breach the security system. He gave both Levi and Xora a nod to signal that he had control of all cameras and the entire building's security. Swiftly, the two took off and made their ways to the fourth floor, immediately locating the unit in which Piquet's belongings were supposed to have been stored⁠—and hopefully, where the Mona Lisa was, too.

Levi stationed himself beside the door frame, and Xora, crouched behind him. It was now that they had to play a waiting game, checking the timers on their watches. It was Hanji who informed them that Piquet always spent exactly seventeen minutes and forty-one seconds inside before leaving. Whether that was intentional or not, they would hopefully be finding out soon.

Seventeen minutes and forty-one seconds passed in what seemed like hours to Xora; even though she had done a stimulation of this exact situation countless times, there were still many uncontrolled variables that would change the outcome of the situation. She was trained to make quick decisions, but the incentives for those decisions could always change into something worse.

Perhaps the simulation chamber wasn't cruel enough to toughen not only her mind and body, but her heart as well.

"Five seconds," Levi whispered, the counter on the timer lessening by the tenth of a second. "Four... three... two..."

All went still for a split moment, then the knob of the door turned. As expected, the person in question stepped out of the room, one hand in his pocket, the other running through his tousled hair. When Levi moved, it all seemed to happen in slow motion.

He darted out from his spot, barely giving Piquet any time to react as he jabbed his hand into the crook of Piquet's neck. A grimace came upon his face when Piquet only staggered back, a hand on the spot where Levi had prodded him; the strike missed, and he was still conscious. Levi had to resort to plan B. His fist drilled hard into Piquet's gut, where he was wearing a studded ring—a modified one where the studs would be as sharp as needles, filled with a tranquilizing liquid. The liquid acted quickly; within mere seconds, Piquet's eyelids drooped and he fell limp into Levi's arms.

"Go, go!" Levi urged, his eyes flashing when they met Xora's. She nodded and darted inside the unit, freezing when she spotted what was inside.

"Hanji," she gasped, her eyes wide. "Are—are you seeing what I'm seeing?" In her left eye, she sported a contact lens that contained a camera-like technology, sending whatever she saw straight to Hanji's computer immediately.

"Yes," Hanji responded, her face aghast. She removed her glasses and slid them up to rest atop of her head as she leaned closer to her computer screen at HQ to get a clearer look. "Is this really... it?"

It was a plain room—extremely plain. All of the four walls were a plain white, the ceiling was white, and the floor was straight white tile. There was only a single light bulb in the middle of the room to illuminate what was below it: a wooden podium, and on top of it, a USB jump drive plugged into the wood.