Hanji blanched. "What?"
"Did you not hear me?"
"I–I did. I just didn't believe it. You want to give yourself up to them?"
He nodded. "I'll give myself up so that I will come into contact with your brother. When I find your brother, you'll both come in and help me free him."
"But how? What if you don't even get the chance to see him? What if they torture you? Or worse...kill you?"
"They won't do that. They'll want me to see the person that I'm giving up my life for. Eventually, one way or another, they'll lead me to your brother. I'll warn you though, once I see him, they'll probably kill him."
"What?" Somehow Hanji was paler than before.
"They want to make me pay for what I've done. Death isn't enough. Death will set me free. They want to make sure that I suffer in the most painful ways. Killing the person that I came to save right in front of me would cause me more pain than dying myself. That's why, when they show him to me, I'll need you two nearby to rescue him."
"How? How can we even do this? We may know where you'll go, but once you meet up with them anything could happen. They could bring out Kiyoshi in front of you right then and there. Or they could take you away to one of their bases. How would we track you? There are so many unknown obstacles. They'll probably be expecting some sort of trap in the first place." She rubbed her forehead. "This is making my head hurt. Let's go find a place to sit down and talk about this more."
She called over the officer and explained to him that she was leaving and would like any new information to be sent to the barracks.
He readily agreed and they quickly left.
Hanji took them to a cafe. A server greeted them at the door. "Hanji, it's been so long." The lady gave her a small smile and hugged her.
"Isa, I've missed you."
"I heard about what happened to your family. I'm so sorry." She shook her head. "It's just wrong. What happened... It's just wrong. If there is anything I can do..."
"Thank you, but for now I'll be focusing on getting my brother back."
Isa led them to a table. "Well, I'm sure with you looking for him, it won't be long before he's found. When he's found, please let me know. I know that he likes my cooking. I'll whip up something tasty for him."
"He'll love that."
She nodded and went to greet more customers who had entered.
Levi looked pointedly at Isa. "Are you friends?"
Hanji nodded. "We were childhood friends and have been in and out of touch since then. Sometimes, I get so lost in everything surrounding the Survey Corps that I forget my friends and relations back home. It's a bad habit, but I've never broken it." She gazed at her friend with something akin to longing in her eyes. Reluctantly, she turned away to face him. "So, let's hear your plan. I want details. Everything that you know that will impact your decisions and choices. I want to know it. Now."
He leaned back in his chair, draping one arm over the side, looking as relaxed as he could be, but inside his stomach was in knots. He had never done something so dangerous. In fact, facing down titans felt easier than this. In only a few days his perspective on the world around him had changed.
A gang that he thought he had destroyed was actually still in motion. He wondered who was in charge now. He had killed the leader. Was it someone he knew? He didn't think that he had left anyone alive that was capable of taking control of the gang. Or maybe it was someone totally new. Something about the gang gave him a queer feeling, as if he was missing something incredibly important that was right in front of him. It wouldn't stop bothering him until he figured out what it was.
Another thing that had changed was something that he didn't understand. Something that he didn't want to admit that he was afraid of. There was this pain in his chest. His heart, hurt. It hurt because of the people all around him that he had put in danger. The deaths that he had unknowingly caused. Levi had thought that he had buried all his feelings long ago. After Furlan and Isabel had died, all he had felt was pain. More and more pain. The only thing that made it go away was when he separated himself from his feelings. He had buried them, buried them so that he wouldn't ever feel such pain again. He didn't want to be close to anyone. People died day in and day out. He didn't want to be in pain because he couldn't do anything about it. But somewhere along the way, these people had attached themselves to him, trusting him to do the same. Against all that he had promised himself he wouldn't do, he had become attached. And because of that, he was risking his life to save someone that he shouldn't even care about.
Part of him wanted to stop, to turn back, to go back to the way things were. That was the safe path. But he had already started on this path. He couldn't go back now. He had to follow this path, see where it leads. He told himself that he had to, but he guessed that some part of him wanted to.
What would these feelings that he had buried so deep inside himself do? Where would they take him? He wasn't sure, but he looked forward to finding out.
"Levi?" Nadja looked at him with worry in her eyes. "You seem out of it."
He shook his head. "I was just thinking. That's all."
"You don't have a plan, do you?" Hanji's voice was accusing.
"I have the start of one. I just haven't fully figured it out."
"Which means that you don't have a plan."
"I–" Levi decided that it would be better not to argue the point.
She sighed. "Let's hear what you've got. I don't care how much of it doesn't even seem relevant, I want to hear it. Get started."
Just then the server, Isa, came by.
Levi was pleased that he was given a little more time to collect his thoughts.
"What can I get for all of you?"
Before anyone else got in a another word, Hanji ordered all their meals.
Isa didn't say anything about it. There was this small smile that she seemed to be trying to hide but failing that told him that she was finding this amusing.
When she left, Hanji immediately focused in on him. "Talk. Now."
She just wasn't going to leave him alone.
"They know that I know what they want me to do. They left enough hints for me to be able to see it even if I was dumb."
"So what do they want you to do?" Nadja leaned forward, an eager look in her eyes.
"They expect me to give myself up." They knew that he had attachments to the people here. They expected him to give himself up to save Kiyoshi. It was logical to think that. What bothered him was the fact that they knew that he had attachments to these people. How did they know unless they had someone on the inside, watching him, making sure that he did what he was expected to do. The realization made him feel like there was ice sitting in his gut.
"But you're not going to do that, right?" Hanji glared at him.
"I am." He leaned forward. Could he trust them? Could one of them be working for the 'Black Skulls'? It seemed outrageous to even suggest that. Hanji wouldn't kill her own family. He knew enough about her to know that. As for Nadja, she was just a child in his eyes. She adored Hanji. She would never do anything to hurt her. Also, Hanji trusted her. That gave him reason enough to trust her.
"I am going to give myself up to them." He watched as they both panicked at the serious look in his eyes.
Nadja grabbed one of his wrists. "You're just going to give in to them? The murderers? You're not the person you claim to be if you do that."
Hanji voiced her complaints. "We've already discussed this. Giving yourself up to them like a fancy meal on a platter is not an option. Your plan has to be something better than this."
"There's more. Don't you know better than to believe that I would just give myself up without any plan? Is that not why were sitting here? We want to come up with a plan, right?"
They relaxed, just a little.
He leaned forward. "There is something that you both need to know first. There is someone working for the 'Black Skulls' within the Survey Corps."
Their eyes widened.
"What proof do you have of this?"
"Only that I'm known to not have many attachments to people. I wouldn't give myself up to save some random people. I don't care about other people. But somehow, they knew that I had attachments to you and you family, even though I only visited your place once and the rest of the time I spent at the barracks. How would they know that unless they had someone on the inside?"
Nadja was the first to object. "I just can't believe that. You think that there is someone working for the 'Black Skulls' within the Survey Corps? I don't believe it! How could you be suspicious of your own comrades? The ones who fight with you every time we go outside these walls. The ones who return with wounds that they will never recover from. Or the ones who die and never return. How could you disrespect them in such a way?"
"Nadja. Quiet."
It was like a light had suddenly been turned off. Suddenly, she was silent.
"Levi, I don't want to believe what you're saying. I don't want to think that it is true. I would hate to be suspicious of people who have done nothing wrong, and it would be even worse to accuse a person who has nothing wrong."
"But worse than that would be for people to die because we didn't catch the person within our ranks."
"Yes, you're right. From what you have explained to me just now, I see no reason why your logic would be wrong. I may not know you very well, but to know if a person has attachments to someone you have to know them. You have to know what they do, who they hang out with, who they talk to, and a number of things. The only way that you would know all of that is if you were with that person a lot."
He nodded. "That's my thought."
"This causes trouble not just for us, but for the Survey Corps as a whole. We could have an, no we definitely have an, informant in our midst. What I need to know is, will they be trying to get important military information from us? Or is the informant just watching you?"
"I don't know. I'm the one who killed their leader and most of the central members of the original gang. I don't know the intentions of this new gang. They could be looking for more than just revenge."
Isa just then came by with their plates of food. "Here you go." The plates were piled with steaming food.
Nadja's eyes widened bigger than he had ever seen them. Her mouth gaped open.
"Is there something wrong with your meal?" Isa looked at her with concern.
"Uhhh... Ummm..." She couldn't seem to get the words out of her mouth.
"I think she is just a bit amazed at the amount of food." Hanji looked at Isa and they shared some kind of silent conversation with only their eyes.
Isa laughed. "Well, you are in for a treat. Everyone needs food to live so I see no reason why we can't eat a lot of it, especially when it is enjoyable." She winked and sped off.
Nadja still sat there, gaping at her food.
"Nadja, you look like you're trying to catch flies. Please, just eat it. It's not going to eat you, if that is what you're thinking." Hanji looked at her with a look of exasperation on her face.
"Oh...okay." She took a small bite. Her expression immediately changed. Her eyes widened. Pure happiness shown on her face. "Oh!" She didn't even stop to speak. She scrambled in one bit after another. She said something but it was hard to tell with all the food in her mouth.
"It's good. Huh?" The Captain looked at him. "Aren't you going to eat? You better. I paid for it."
He took a few bites. It was seriously good, he had to admit, but it restrained himself from eating fast.
There was silence at their table while everyone dived into their food. Levi focused in on the noises around him. The random snippets of conversation that he heard around the cafe. The clinking sound of glasses. The screeching noise of silverware against dishware. It was the kind of noise that was comforting for a moment, and annoying after some time had passed. He glanced around at the people. Could there be anyone tailing him right now? It didn't seem like it, but no one could be sure.
"Where do you plan to go to give yourself up to this gang?" Hanji asked, having finished her meal.
"There's a place, a building, in the Underground. It's the only place that I think they would expect me to go."
"Why is that?"
"Because it would be ironic. It's the building where I killed the leader and many other central members of the 'Black Skulls'. There's no question that they would want me to go there."
She nodded. "Our first move is to head down to the Underground then."
"Right, but what exactly are you going to do next? You can't just walk in an give yourself up without a plan." Nadja still stared longingly at her now empty plate. "And how are we to know what they plan to do once you meet them? Will they take you somewhere else or keep you in the same building?"
"I can at least tell you that they will move me from that building. They probably have a covered wagon available for that. But none of that matters because we're going to bring your brother out into the open right there."
"And how might you do that?" Hanji's eyes were narrowed.
"You are not going to like it."
"Really."
"I'm going to have them bring your brother out in front of me. If they don't, I will kill myself."