Equanimity » Levi Ackerman

9 | 𝔉𝔬𝔯 𝔰𝔢𝔠𝔯𝔢𝔠𝔶'𝔰 𝔰𝔞𝔨𝔢

𝕹𝖔𝖙𝖊: there's a small flashback in italic.

· · ─────── ·𐂃· ─────── · ·

Maria had been avoiding Levi since her ink-spilling incident. She simply couldn't face the man after messing up his hard work. As for Hanji, avoiding her was a bit harder. The woman had her ways of popping up out of nowhere. Which didn't make it any easier for Maria to get certain events out of her head.

The expedition day had come closer and this meant they would dispatch the next morning. Erwin had arrived early and therefore it couldn't be helped when the commander called for Maria, Levi, and Hanji in his newly arranged office.

"All members of the Survey Corps will arrive soon." Erwin was staring out of the window, giving him a full view of the courtyard. "Tomorrow's expedition is going to be one of many sacrifices..." Maria crossed her arms and stared down at her feet. "Levi," The short man hummed. "You know what to do, your main goal is for you and your squad to protect Eren with your life."

"Maria, you've been briefed?" "Yes, I will be in the rear, should anything happen." The Levi Squad had been assigned to the center of the last ranks. It was one of the safest places in the formation, but they knew anything could happen.

"Hanji?" "Everything is ready for tomorrow's dispatch." "Good."

No matter how many times she saw her comrades sacrifice their lives, Maria never got used to it. Was it even possible to push those images away? Scouts being eaten alive... She was almost certain her friends could – to a certain extent.

"We must hold into account anything can happen. Keep your eyes open. I'm almost certain something is going to occur. Especially after those test subjects were killed. We can't afford to lose our leads to any new titan information, so this expedition will be one where we cannot fail our objective." Erwin spoke.

"I suppose babysitting that shitty brat Jaeger is going to help us." "Eren is going to be bait."

"Bait?! Erwin, are you joking right now? Eren is just a kid." Maria's eyes widened. "That's why you're going to protect him with your life. He will have the protection of the Special Operations Squad."

"Besides, we don't have a choice. Something does not add up here," Hanji spoke up. "With us finding out Eren has titan abilities, there has to be someone like him. This can pose a serious threat. The colossal titan and the armored titan might even be somewhere within these walls."

"There is a spy amongst us, and they are going to try and sabotage this expedition." "Erwin..."

"You are not to talk about this to anyone within the ranks. For secrecy's sake, I've only revealed this to survivors of five years prior. For they could not be spies. If there is an abnormal titan, we are going to capture it with our newly developed restraining weapon, should they infiltrate."

"False information has been spread of the location of the special operations squad. Therefore they will not know where you will be in the formation."

"Yes, we know." "I can count on all of you?"

"Well, of course, we wouldn't be here if you couldn't."

"That was all I wanted to say for now. Take it easy today and try to be well-rested." With that said, Hanji bid her goodbye and left Erwin's office.

"Bambi I need to talk to you." Maria's eyes shot up to Levi's, suddenly feeling panicked. Erwin watched the two carefully as he noticed the young woman's pleading eyes, almost begging him to save her out of this situation.