I'm excited to deliver on my promise to write part 3 which will include - I swear!!! - a happy ending for Levi and Hanji. You can read it without having read Part 1 and 2 though some of the OCs and some of the previous plot might be mentioned. If you get confused, ask me in the comments, I'll be happy to explain. I hope I don't get confused myself about some of the open plot points but if I do, please mention it in the comments too :))))
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He hated everything about this town.
The screeching, constantly shitting birds, the stench of rotting fish that made him gag, the early morning fog from the river that was so thick you couldn't see your own shoes. He hated the posh swanky buildings uptown, the fumes from the smokestacks that made your eyes water, the crooked, sickly trees and the lumpy sad flowers in their neat flower beds into which dogs on leashes were brought to poop. He hated to wear the uncomfortable clothes that were in fashion here and he hated the food: It was too heavy, it gave him a stomach ache and constant constipation. The beer? Tasted like water with some piss in it. And the so-called technology these people were so damn proud of? Loud, dangerous, and mostly useless. Who needed a thing called "car" if one had perfectly fine horses?
Yes, he hated everything. And nobody had told him that one could miss one's home with a weird, hollow ache in the chest that grew by the day... a feeling he hated the most. After staying up all night for business, he was irritable and jumpy this morning, frankly feeling like he had reached a limit he hadn't known he had.
"Springer, did you finally manage to lose your last brain cell?" Levi snapped at Connie, who ducked his shorn head and looked at him with frightened eyes.
"But I thought..."
"No, that's what you didn't do," Levi cut him off, taking a couple of deep breaths, clenching and unclenching his fists. "You just acted. And got us into so much fucking trouble, you idiot!"
Connie looked at the stacks of wooden boxes piled up on the wharf behind him, his head cocked slightly to the side. He still didn't get it.
"This. Is. Not. Our. Cargo," Levi explained extra slowly, stabbing his finger at the green label that marked the crates as the property of the Bindella brothers.
Connie bent down to study the labels from up close, shutting first one eye then the other as he squinted at them. "I don't see it," he marveled. "You're saying this isn't ours?"
Somehow, Levi managed not to kick him into the water. It was likely that Connie couldn't swim and it would be a big hassle to pull him out before he drowned - because Levi couldn't swim either. Also, the stench of things rotting in the water was extra strong this week. Getting that out of Connie's clothes and hair would be way too gross.
"This is green. Ours are red," Levi managed to still sound patient even though his blood was boiling. "Besides, theirs is showing a bulldog. Ours is showing a panther."
"Huh?" Connie scratched his head. "I could have sworn..."
"Captain!" Levi swiveled around at the shout, watching Jean take form as he jogged towards them through the fog. He was ready for work, wearing the loose pants and linen shirt of a dock worker, a red bandana around his head. They were expecting a shipment in about an hour and Levi had requested Jean to oversee the unloading. They had reason to suspect that one or several of the hired hands were stealing from them. It had to stop.
"Captain, someone's here to see you," Kirschtein panted, wiping a hand over his moist face and scratching at that ridiculous fluff he let grow along his jaw.
The Bindella Brothers moved fast, huh. Smelled like a setup, actually.
"Can you explain the difference between our labels and the Brothers' labels to
your idiot friend in the meantime?" Levi huffed, flicking some disgusting looking piece of algae off his sleeve as he turned around to head to the warehouse.
"Oh, he cannot see the difference," Jean said, like this was common knowledge.
"Excuse me?" Levi drawled. "I hope you aren't fucking with me. Because I swear, if you are, I'm going to r..."
"He just can't," Jean quickly explained, hands shaking defensively. "Hange-san told us that it happens sometimes. It's not even uncommon."
Levi's eyebrows shot up. When had Hange-san said that? And why had she not told him?
"The condition is called something-something," Jean murmured nervously. "Hey, Connie, do you remember what the Commander called it?"
"Nah," Connie straightened up. "No clue. Sorry, Captain Levi, I will pay more attention next time! I'm sure I can do better, well, I think I can?"
Levi looked up to the sky, counting from ten backwards. There was no sky to see though, only yellow, low-hanging clouds that perfidiously sprinkled their darn humidity onto everything. He felt the wet sheen settle on his upraised face and lifted his hand to wipe it away.
"We'll change the labels," he sighed. "Springer, you can instruct Sasha about how to design them so that you will never again steal our rivals' cargo by accident."
"Shit," Connie squealed when the implications of his little mishap finally sunk in.
"You stole Bindella Brothers' goods?" Jean yelled, rushing towards the stacked crates in horror. "You fucking moron!"
"We'll sort it out," Levi said, though he knew that they probably wouldn't. People just waiting to start a fight? He had enough experience with the likes of them. They started the fight as soon as they felt it was a good time. Tensions were high enough as it was. This? Might well start a bloody war. It came at the worst possible time.
Leaving Connie and Jean to yell at each other, Levi made his way over to the modest, red-bricked warehouse at the far end of Liberio's river docks. It served as the headquarters for his respectable "business"' here in Marley. The illegal and far more lucrative part was run out of the basement of his "boxing school" in lowtown.
Once a criminal, always a criminal, he thought wryly, pushing open the door on the side of the building that led to his offices. Are you laughing, Erwin? You had such high hopes for me.
Upon his entrance, Sasha looked up from where she sat on the couch studying a newspaper, her mouth filled to the bursting with the bread that she clutched between her hands. "Hmhmmmh," she greeted him politely, nodding her head. "Hmmmhm?"
It was fortunate for her that she was extremely crafty at stealth operations besides being by far the best shot he had ever known. Their infiltration of Liberio several months ago had been a success not least because of her knack of instinctively identifying the targets most easy to manipulate in an enemy population. Those skills also helped with business - there wasn't a single trading company in Marley whose weaknesses she hadn't identified. It helped that most of them imported foodstuffs.
"Where's the person who came to see me?" Levi asked moodily, eyeing the scattered crumbs on the floor with displeasure. He had told her at least a thousand times not to eat inside the building unless she hunkered over a plate but she just couldn't help herself.
"Hmhm," Sasha said, pointing a finger at the door with the frosted glass that connected the administrative area to the actual warehouse.
"Clean that up," he pointed his finger at the mess at her feet and walked out of the small office into the main storage area. It lay in almost complete darkness. The light was always dim here by design, but with that much fog outside, the skylights did nothing to illuminate the large hall. Levi turned to the wall and flipped the small black switch there. He still had no idea how it worked but a long row of light bulbs flickered on reliably, revealing stacks upon stacks of imported goods waiting to be distributed.
Coffee smells so very good, Levi thought, taking a deep, satisfied breath as he passed along the crates, though he abstained from drinking the bitter brown liquid with the indignation of a tea lover.
His visitor was standing at the center of the warhouse, studying the skylights above him. It was Rudolf Bindella himself, his fashionable hat sitting on his head rakishly crooked, the rest of his fine, tailor-made clothes immaculate as always.
"Ah," Bindella smiled, turning towards Levi. "Mr. Smith in person. What an honor."
Hanji had given them both new names before the operation, which went into their fake identification papers.The name Ackerman, she had argued convincingly, might be known to the Marleyans, if Appius Tybur's interest in his bloodline was any indication. He wasn't to use his real name under any circumstances, she had stressed. Without much reflection, she had chosen the name Edward Smith for Levi. And the name Alex Smith for herself.
"And what are we to each other?" Levi had quipped. "Brother and sister?"
"Hmm," Hanji had taken the question seriously. "Do you think Smith is an uncommon name over there? Okay, if anyone asks, we are husband and wife. Nobody will believe we're brother and sister, we look nothing alike!"
Oh, goodie. Husband and wife. Who lived miles apart and never saw each other? Not what he wished for if he ever got married.
"Can I help you with something, Bindella?" Levi asked, looking the man up and down warily. They had met on a few occasions in public, it had always been outwardly civil, but he knew from several sources what the Bindellas really thought of him and his arrival on the scene in Liberio. What fault of his was it that he was this good at being a criminal?
"I wonder," the handsome man with the olive skin grinned ferally.
He had all the looks, whereas his brother had all the muscles. It was a perfect division of labor. Levi was getting there. He had needed a bit of time to teach the kids the necessary skills for smuggling goods at a large scale, but soon, they would stop creating more work for him instead of being of help.
"Haven't you heard the news?" The grin deepened.
Bindella was much too smug and confident coming here all by himself like this, Levi decided. Not good. It smelled like a trap and like trouble he didn't want but couldn't avert. Really, the timing was awful.
"That the war against the Mid-East Allied Forces is over?" Levi asked. "Or that the weather is finally clearing up today?"
"Haha," Bindella chuckled, tilting back his hat even further with a flick of his fingers. "You have a sense of humor? That's unexpected, Smith. No, that's not it." The smile disappeared from Bindella's face abruptly as he narrowed his eyes on Levi, making sure to look down on him from his superior height. "Somebody tipped off the authorities. Public Security is going to conduct a raid here today."
Public Security? That was inconvenient. He had other plans.
"That's a waste of time," Levi scoffed though frankly, this was a different league of not good. "I have nothing to hide."
Kiyomi Azumabito's head accountant had taught him how to keep immaculate books. There was not a single illegal item to be found in this warehouse. His boxing school was as reputable as a boxing school could be. It was so popular that almost all the rich kids were fighting for a training spot there.
"You don't?" Bindella's voice was full of menace.
Definitely not good. He knows I can just throw his cargo and whatever it contains into the river and deny any involvement, Levi thought. So what is it?
"How about you lose the fight tonight?" Bindella suggested smoothly. "We might be able to stop the raid."
Levi frowned. How fucking insulting. "No," he didn't have to think about this answer. Considering the betting odds in favor of Levi, the Bindellas would fill their coffers to the rim if they bet large and he lost to their champion on purpose. But tonight was going to be his very last fight in the pits. The Warriors were returning to Liberio this week, a triumphant parade of the victors to show off the power of the Titans was announced. The next part of the mission called for a different identity: Mr. Smith, the successful businessman, would cease to exist in a few weeks.
"Shame," Bindella's eyes glittered dangerously in the artificial light.
For all their brutality and underhanded dealings, Liberio's crime bosses were no match for someone who had grown up in Paradis' Underground City.
"You probably haven't heard yet. But they have developed new tests," Bindella said, watching him closely for a reaction.
Oh FUCK.
The blood tests! To identify Eldians. An Eldian in the wild without a written and stamped permission to leave the internment zone could be killed on sight by any Marleyan citizen.
How does he know? Had they been careless, slipped up somewhere? The kids just couldn't get it into their heads not to call him Captain Levi, but they never did it in front of anybody else... or had they? They had manufactured detailed stories for each of them with the help of the Azumabitos. Their papers were foolproof. But of course, if somebody dug deep enough... Or maybe he doesn't know... he just suspects?
"I had no idea," Levi deadpanned. "Why, are you thinking of trading them?"
"You think you're so smart, don't you?" Bindella growled. "You little shit. We'll get you good, Smith, we'll get you and your friends in midtown good. I'll make personally sure they execute Mrs. Smith in front of you, you scum!"
Bindella was quick but Levi was so much quicker. A sudden fear lacing through him, he kicked the pistol out of Rudolf Bindella's hand before he could aim properly, the launched bullet ripping into a bag full of tea in one of the shelves above with a deafening bang. With fragrant tea leaves raining down on them, Levi finished the pretty brother off with the practiced ease of someone who had learned how to use their fists in life and death situations since the age of zero though the Marleyan shithead put up a valiant fight.
"Ruuuudiiii?" Someone shouted outside and began banging their heavy fists against the locked and barred warehouse doors. "Ruuuuuuddddiiii?" That had to be Donatello. The other brother.
"Captain Levi?" Sasha had rushed out of the office, still clutching her bread. "What is happening?"
"We need to leave," Levi brushed tea leaves out of his hair and touched his ribs that suddenly hurt, his hand coming away sticky with blood. Had that low talent been able to stab him? That should teach him never to underestimate anyone even if they were the good-looking person in a duo of ruffians.
"Got it," Sasha moved quickly, throwing open a trapdoor half hidden underneath some bags of grain. "What about..."
"Captain?" Jean and Connie were outside on the other side of the warehouse, "what's going on?"
"We're evacuating," Sasha told them, unlocking a small door to the side, "move quickly before they think to come around the building."
"Captain Levi, are you hurt?" Connie's eyes grew round when he saw the blood on Levi's white shirt.
"It's nothing," Levi grumbled though he wasn't quite sure that was true. "Move!"
"So it wasn't so bad I stole their cargo?" Connie asked once they were down in the tunnel that would lead them to a place on the outskirts of Liberio, the trapdoor locked from the inside to slow any pursuers down..
Considering that Smith Trading Company would cease to exist from this day on, probably not. Funny how much he'd come to like being a trader by day, and a smuggler by night, Levi thought with a bitter quirk of his lips. Especially the loss of so much exquisite tea was a heavy blow.
"We should have stolen more of it," Jean grumbled, "fucking scumbags. How dare they?"
"They suspect we're Eldians," Levi pressed out, another wave of fear gripping him. "We need to warn Hanji and the others!"
If it's not too late yet. Please, let her be alright. Please.