The following day tensions were high. Everyone knew that as the sun began to set on that day, the mission to retake Wall Maria would be go and then there'd be no turning back. Leah, being characteristically over prepared, was packed and ready with her gear by late afternoon. She decided to take her Captaining duties seriously for once and made her way to the wall lifts of Trost where a handful of soldiers had been tasked with moving the horses en mass over the wall and into titan territory.
Leah took the initiative to help with the loading and unloading of horses. Thanks to Hange's invention of the Executioner from Hell - the titan killing machine - outside the Walls of Trost the world was barren of titans. This meant that unloading the horses was far from a nerve wracking experience. Leah calmly led the horses from the lifts and lined them up on the grasslands, ready for soldiers to mount later. Not a single titan in sight.
The whole process was rather repetitive, but made a few hours fly by, something Leah was grateful for. Everytime she thought about returning to Shiganshina, a wave of nausea hit her like a tsunami and left her weak in the knees and out of breath. Distractions were a must if she was going to make it to sunset.
And so once the horses were taken care of, Leah began her journey back through Trost towards the Barracks. Their last meal was in motion but Leah didn't feel like eating. She sat on the bench next to a few other Scouts, poking at the food on her plate with her fork. Her stomach grumbled in protest. Leah knew she stood in greater stead of not throwing up if she didn't eat anything. She vowed to make it up to her stomach with the best meal of her life after this was all over.
Her main worry was she'd have to set her eyes on the street she grew up in, or worse, the rubble of her childhood home and by extension the unofficial grave of her Mother and Brother. Leah had spoken to Eren before about growing up in Shiganshina; he'd describe the area he lived in and Leah was reassured when she realised his house was on the opposite side of the District from hers. Leah grew up in the markets in the centre of Shiganshina, while Eren's house sat on the hill close to Wall Maria.
This meant that, unless something went terribly wrong, there was a good chance she could avoid her neighbourhood altogether. "Leah. Let's go, the Premier wants to see us." When the female looked up she met Levi's eyes. He was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed, his usual cold hint in his gaze. Leah nodded and stood up, taking her plate of food with her and scraping it into the bin as she passed. She piled the dirty plate with the others and joined Levi at the door.
"You didn't eat much."
"Not hungry."
Levi shrugged and led the way, Leah following behind him silently. "How are you feeling about going back to Shiganshina?" Levi tried to make small talk as they walked through the military base of Trost. Leah furrowed her brow. Levi never made small talk, usually their travels would be in silence unless Leah initiated a conversation.
"I've been trying not to think about it."
There was a long stretch of silence before Leah added, "I have a bad feeling about this, Levi." The male, who had been walking a few paces ahead of her, stopped and turned to face her. His hands were buried deep in his jacket pockets. Leah slowed to a stop, looking at him with anxious eyes. Levi sighed and looked away from her, "I can't reassure you that everything's going to be okay. You know as well as I do that there's every chance we could all die out there."
Levi's words offered no comfort, something Leah appreciated. The cold, hard truth was sometimes the hardest to accept, but at least she wouldn't be disappointed when he turned out to be right. Leah looked at her feet until she felt a hand gently grip her arm, slowly increasing in pressure. "You need to stop worrying, it's not going to help you. I know you're a skilled soldier, but at this rate you're going to end up being useless when it comes to executing the plan. Please, just care a little less for once. Out there, everyone is responsible for their own life. You just need to focus on keeping yourself alive and following orders." By the end of his rant, Levi's hand was taught on her arm.
Leah let his words sink in. Her lips involuntarily quirked into a smile and a small laugh escaped her lips. Levi narrowed his eyes at her, not seeing what was so funny. "I can't believe you're wearing that stupid cravat again." Leah snorted, pointing at the fabric around his neck. He rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue as he started striding away again.
"C'mon, you idiot."
As expected, Premier Zachary only wanted to pass on words of wisdom and encouragement. There were a few other soldiers of importance there that Leah recognised; Commander Pyxis and Nile Doc from the MPs. After Zachary's brief speech, Nile chose to approach Leah. He slapped a hand to her shoulder. "Try not to die out there, alright?"
Leah raised a brow, "Don't act like you'd care, Nile." Her voice conveyed her suspicion. Nile shook his head and let out a short laugh. "Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't care. But, they do." Nile nodded behind her and Leah followed his gaze to see Erwin, Hange, Levi and Pyxis in a relaxed conversation.
"And so do they." He nodded again, this time towards the window of the office they stood in, from which they could see the rows and rows of Scouts on top of Wall Rose. "It seems you've left quite an impression on them. Even some of my MPs came back raving about you from when they helped you save that Jeager boy. So, stay safe out there."
Leah offered an awkward, tight lipped smile and nodded. "Thanks, Nile. I appreciate it." He let go of her shoulder and moved away. Leah made her way to the four previously referred to. "Well, Miss Anderson, this might be your last chance to change your mind about the Garrison. It would be a shame to lose a talent like yours." Pyxis said, earning a grimace from Leah.
"You sound as positive as ever, Commander. But I've made up my mind," Leah turned her attention to the three Scouts stood beside her, "This is where I belong." Hange beamed and threw an arm over Leah's shoulder, engulfing her in an overfriendly hug.
"Oh, please. You must've heard how cheesy that sounded?" Levi groaned, giving Leah a judging look and causing everyone to chuckle. Erwin put an arm around Levi, "Lighten up, Levi."
-
The send off for the Scouts was nothing like Leah had ever experienced. The response from the public to Scout expeditions was normally dirty looks and boos. This time, the crowd rallied at the foot of the wall, cheering and shouting words of encouragement. This show of support was enough to send Leah away in slightly higher spirits. If anything, she felt excitement brewing with every clop of her horse's hooves.
Outside Wall Rose, a new danger lay. There was now a chance of potentially running into the Armoured Titan; Reiner and Bertholdt had spied successfully under much harsher conditions - travelling in the darkness with everyone in identical uniform would make it easy for them to slip into their ranks unnoticed.
As soon as the mission began, Leah snapped out of her previous nerves. Her hands which shook in the streets of Trost, were now perfectly steady as she clutched onto her crystal lantern, walking calmly alongside her horse. Even when her surroundings started to become familiar, Leah kept her cool. "I used to take Isaac to these woods. We're getting close." She muttered to Erwin in a hushed voice. He hummed and glanced to the sky.
"Perfect timing, dawn is almost upon us."
When they broke through the trees and the trail to the gate of Shiganshina grew more prominent, the Scouts saddled up once more and charged the remaining distance to the walls. Leah secured her hood over her head as her eyes shot around, watching for any titans ready to jump out at them. As the wall grew closer, Leah readied herself to switch to ODM Gear, crouching on the back of her horse.
A sea of green hoods surrounded her, and the fact she had no idea who was who was somewhat daunting, but reassured her that Erwin's plan would work. One hundred soldiers, all in identical uniform with their hoods drawn to hide their faces would make it difficult for even the most masterminded foe to find Eren now. When the soldier riding in front of Leah fired into the air, she did the same, headed straight for the top of the wall leading to Shiganshina.
That addicting kick of adrenaline surged through Leah's veins the second she landed with a stumbled on Wall Maria. She gazed out upon the Shiganshina District for no more than a second before tearing her eyes away and clenching her first; she'd recognised the streets immediately, despite the invading undergrowth and detroyed buildings. She was home. Leah broke into a run and dived off the wall, keeping her attention on scanning for any sign of titans or the potential enemy in the form of Reiner or Bertholdt.
Just ten minutes later, when Eren successfully plugged up the hole to the outside world without any contest, Leah knew there was something more sinister at play here. She peered over the edge of the wall to catch a glimpse of Eren's crystalised titan form. The breach was perfectly sealed. But celebration now would be premature. "The enemy could strike any second, stay the lookout." Hange voiced Leah's exact thoughts just as Mikasa landed on the wall beside them, Eren tucked securely under her arm.
His cape was gone, Leah noticed, which meant his recognisable tousled brown hair was on show for anyone to see. Leah strode over with purpose and shed her green cape while Eren checked his ODM Gear was secured. She dropped the green fabric over his shoulders and lifted the hood. "Nobody wants to see your ugly face, Jeager." Leah drawled, surprising herself with how much she sounded like Levi. The boy laughed and stood up, securing the cape around himself. "Thank you, Captain."
Now was time to seal the inner gate. To save precious gas, all Scouts ran along the top of the wall as fast as they could. Without her hood, Leah felt incredibly exposed. Though the green capes weren't exactly camouflaged on top of a wall, Leah's red hair stood out like a sore thumb. She self-consciously ran a hand through it as they ran.
As they ran, Levi voiced that the mission wouldn't really be over until they brought down Reiner, Bertholdt and whoever else they were working with as they could just continue to break down the walls. And then a red smoke signal shot into the air above the remaining breach. The signal to halt the mission.
On reaching Erwin, he explained the theory Armin had come up with. It linked back to the Wall Titan discovered during the battle against the female titan. He suspected there was a chance the enemy - who's freshly extinguished campfire he'd just found - could be hiding in gaps in the wall, waiting to jump out on us and seize the upper hand. Erwin wouldn't have that.
Leah rotated her blades in the air, unable to stand still. Her wrists were screaming in protect from the incessant pivoting. Rows of Scouts lowered themselves down the wall, tapping their blades to test for any signs of hollow hiding spots. Leah's job was to be ready for when they found anything.
A green smoke signal was enough to send a tremor through Leah's body. From there everything happened so fast. There was a pained scream as the Scout who fired the signal got a blade through the chest. Seconds later Reiner Braun emerged from his hiding spot. Leah's body jerked forward but Levi was just so much faster.
He shot like a bullet off the wall and down towards Reiner, plunging one of his blades deep into the blonde's neck, the other into his chest. That was it, he was sure to be dead now, right? Wrong.
A strike of amber light shone from where Reiner's body landed and before Leah knew it she Armoured Titan took his place; motionless but alive. "Keep your eyes open, we still need to find his ally!"
The words had barely left Erwin's mouth when a series of similar yellow explosions went off in series in the distance. A perfect semi-circle of titans appeared outside Shiganshina, and at the head of it all crouched who Leah could only assume was the Beast titan. Even from a distance she could recognise his sheer size, bigger than that of Reiner and Eren's titan, and covered mostly in brown fur. Leah had heard of him from the cadets that survived Utgard Caste and so she knew his tactic consisted mainly of throwing clumps of rock at his targets. From their current position, huddled together on top of the wall, they were practically sitting ducks.
And what was worse, his army of titans now blocked their exit. If the Scouts wanted to retreat they'd have to go through him first; the beast titan and his battalion of seemingly mind controlled minion titans. As if on cue, the giant monkey swung back an arm and hurtled an equally sized rock them. "Incoming boulder- get down!" Erwin hollered. Leah braced herself, bending her knees in preperation for a harsh impact. The wall shook beneath their feet and the ginger Captain rushed to peer over the edge. At first, it seemed as if he'd missed them entirely, but then Leah caught on. They weren't his target - the boulder became a pile of rubble that perfectly fit in the gaping hole in the wall - preventing their horses from entering Shiganshina. They were now stranded, surrounded and most definitely outnumbered.
Leah found it difficult to believe there was a way it of this one.
The Captain stood there, staring in awe at the fur-covered, monkey-ish looking titan in the distance. Everything about him seemed sinister, from his pointed ears to his feet the size of a house. Leah was snapped back to reality when the thud of gargantuan footsteps started up again. She spun on her heels just in time to see Reiner's titan had regained composure and began charging the wall from behind, sandwiching the Scouts between the Beast titan and the Armoured titan.
"Soldiers, you are not to engage the Armoured titan, please keep a safe distance-" Erwin commanded in a rush. Leah, not liking how close the Armoured titan was getting as he started scaling the wall, took a few stumbling steps backwards. When she turned back to face the Beast titan, it slammed a fist into the ground and let out a beastly roar. On cue, the smaller minion titans started charging towards their horses.
They were trapped, and if they didn't work quickly, Reiner would be on top of them in seconds. Leah forced herself to stay level headed and turned to her Commander as he spouted orders. "Levi, Leah and Hange's squads, I need you to take down the Armoured titan. Employ the thunderspeers at your own discretion. Do whatever it takes to achieve your objective. This is our moment. Our chance to strike. The fate of human-kind depends on this battle. Lay down your hearts and lives one final time for humanity!"
Leah jolted to life and made for Hange up ahead of her. Levi, who had been stood by Erwin's and Armin's side, turned and immediately searched the crowd of soldiers for Leah - a task made easier by her lack of a cape. "Hey, hold on, you two." Erwin interrupted. The male skidded to a stop at the same time as Armin. "Hange can lead both your squad's, I'm going to need you right here, Levi."
"So I'll protect the horses instead of Eren?" Levi tried to control the incredulity in his voice.
"That's right. And when the chance arises, you'll strike him down." Erwin sliced his blade through the air until it was pointed straight at the hairy beast of a titan. "You're the only soldier I can trust to dispatch the beast titan."
"Understood, sir. I wasn't fast enough to finish of the Armoured one earlier, but I'll atone for that by taking the beast titan's head." Levi paused and swapped his attention from the monkey-ish titan to the Commander next to him.
"Remember our agreement though."
"Yes, very well," Erwin turned hastily and his gaze roved the wall's plateau until he spotted his desired shock of red hair. "Anderson, wait. You're with Levi."
~
Levi trudged down the deserted hallways of the military headquarters. His feet carried him in the direction of Erwin's office on autopilot, his mind occupied by the addictive scent radiating from his shirt.
Leah's perfume.
When she fell into him earlier, he'd tried to distract himself from their sudden closeness and hadn't allowed himself to notice the inviting hint of citrus mixed with the deep note of wood that emanated from her body.
Now this was all Levi could smell. The fragrance clung to his shirt and made his heartbeat gallop in his chest with every inhale. He resorted to breathing through his mouth as he felt his mind derail with every breath through his nostrils.
After breaking up the fight between Jean and Eren, and allowing Leah's tirade of disapproval to scold the boys, Levi disappeared from the mess hall in the hopes of retiring to his quarters. That plan didn't last long and before long he arrived at Erwin's office door. Levi raised a shaky fist to pound the door. "It's me." He added.
"Come in."
Erwin sounded exhausted, and his appearance, as Levi paced into the room, matched it. His blonde hair was far from its usual combed back style and strands hung over his eyes which were shadowed by dark circles. Erwin let out a sharp sigh and ran his hand over his face.
"What is it, Levi?"
The black haired Captain dropped himself into the spare seat across from Erwin and rested his head on his fist as he crossed one leg over the other.
"I think we can both agree that we care deeply about Leah." Levi strained to get the words out. In truth, he'd never admitted to actually liking the woman before and instead chose to keep up the smoke screen of merely tolerating her. Erwin showed no sign of surprise at his sentence, but instead squeezed his eyes shut.
"Yes, I think that's fair to say."
"Well, whatever happens tomorrow, I want you to keep Leah with me. That way I can keep her safe. For the both of us."
"Levi-"
"I don't care- I know how skilled she is but I don't care." Levi took a deep breath to compose himself. "This mission is nothing like we've ever done before and the last thing I need is to be worrying about her safety. If anything happens to her--"
He felt himself choke on his words and gritted his teeth in frustration. "-I'll blame myself anyway so you might as well give me the responsibility of her safety."
"Surely you see how careless it would be to put my two best soldiers in one place." Erwin tried to remain pragmatic, leaning forward on his forearms which pressed against the wooden desk.
Levi opened his mouth to argue but Erwin spoke again before any words could escape him. "My mind is set against it, Levi... but as cliché as it sounds, my heart says otherwise."
The shorter male shut his mouth and stared at him for a beat. "I don't want to hear about your feelings, Erwin."
"And I don't want to hear about yours, as facinating as that would be. Let's keep this strictly professional." Erwin fixed his posture and combed his hand through his locks so that he now sat ramrod straight with his hair neater on his head. He cleared his throat before fixing Levi in his seat with a disciplined gaze.
"Captain Levi, I want you to remain with your Co-Captain, Leah Anderson, during the mission tomorrow. That is an order."
Levi rolled his eyes, but felt intense relief flood him. "You're an idiot. But thanks."
Erwin sat back in his desk, a content smile growing on his face. "You really care about her, don't you?"
As if in shame, Levi hung his head. "More than anything else."
(3528 words)