𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙰𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝙴𝙲𝚁𝙴𝚃𝚂

9

Y/N was sitting at the table that was full of plans and sketches and maps of the church and the buildings that connected to it. There were notes on all the guards, which rooms were guarded by the military police and which rooms were unguarded and what was likely to be in which room. Y/N herself had made most of these plans with input from Levi, Farlan and Isabel.

After all, she was still the one that could read and write the best out of all four of them and she was also the only one that had access to pen and paper. It wasn't really something that most people in the underground needed, so it wasn't that easy to find, but due to the nature of her family's business, Y/N had a lot of paper at her disposal, which came in handy right about now.

Either way, this was a pretty tough piece of planning, especially because Levi preferred to be as safe about this as possible. The clergy was working closely with the military police and Levi wanted to avoid them by all means necessary, especially when he was going to be in "their" territory up on the surface.

Y/N thought that it was sweet how much he cared about them (even though he did it while calling them all idiots), but Isabel seemed to be strictly against being careful. Y/N got it - the girl was still young and wanted to just take the risk - after all she had been close to death pretty much her entire life. But Levi didn't want to risk any of their lives - the only life he was willing to risk was his own.

"You getting anywhere with that?" he asked, putting down his cup of tea. Y/N looked up and rubbed her eyes.

"I mean... sort of?" she replied. She wasn't really sure what to tell him. She had made a few plans, none of them completely without risk. And she still hadn't figured out how to get past the military police that was guarding the entrance to one of the libraries. Y/N suspected that that was where most of the books she wanted were - well-guarded, so no one could ever find them.

"Sort of? What's that supposed to mean? We're keeping you around because you're so smart and the best you can come up with is a sort of plan?" he muttered. Y/N rolled her eyes. Levi was always so impatient about everything. He leaned in closer to take a look at what she had noted down.

"Well, without me you wouldn't have much of a plan." she retorted, letting him read what she had written down, but not moving.

"We would have a plan in our heads!" Farlan chimed in. Y/N glanced over at him with a smirk.

"If I remember correctly you both have terrible memories. So yeah, you would have a plan, but it would probably be a really bad plan." she countered. Farlan opened his mouth to say something, but she knew that he had nothing to come back from this. She was right and everyone knew it.

"Why are you stuck here?" Levi suddenly asked, pointing to a note she had scribbled on the side of the paper. Y/N leaned in closer, their foreheads almost touching. It was hard to focus on the note she had written when she was so close to Levi, but she did her best to make sense of it again.

"Because I have no idea how to get in there without the two MP guards noticing us. We might have to go and kill them, but that would definitely draw way too much attention. They'd come after us for that." she explained. Levi looked at her sternly and shook his head decisively.

"No. We're not going in there. So don't worry about that." he just said. Y/N looked up, her eyes meeting his. She would have been completely starstruck in that moment if she hadn't been angry.

"What the fuck do you mean, we're not going in there? That's where they have the most important books. The ones that are most secret. Levi, I need to go in there!" she protested. Levi just shook his head.

"No. You can fight me on that, but I'm not letting you go in there. It's too risky, before we even have done one successful operation in this place. We can do that once we know the place better... maybe." he replied calmly. Y/N was furious. Why was he so calm about this? He knew that's what she was coming for! He had always known that that was her goal - so why wasn't he letting her have this?

"Are you serious? Once we do an operation they will know that someone was there. They're going to increase security and it'll get even more difficult for us to get in there! Levi, you're not making any sense!"

"I know you don't like hearing it, but we're not going in there and that's the end of it. We'll focus on one of the unguarded libraries and the supply chambers. We need food more than we need books."

"Well, maybe you need food more than you need books! Levi, they've murdered my parents! They've murdered my parents just to get those books back and I'm stealing them back from them. I need to know. I need to know what's going on in this world. If you can't understand this, I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. I don't care what you're doing, but I'll be going in there and getting my parents' life work back."

"No. You won't. I'm not going to let you put your life in danger, because you're being impatient, Y/N. You can go and try that on your own, if you want. Or you can go along with our plan." Levi told her, standing up straight again and taking a sip of his tea. Y/N really hated that he was this calm about it, when she was absolutely fuming. Farlan and Isabel seemed to be thinking it was easier to stay quiet and not get involved and Y/N didn't blame them.

"And, pray tell, what is this plan? You sound like you have some long-term plan to get those books back, but you don't really have anything, do you?" Y/N asked, walking around the table, backing him into a corner. He still seemed perfectly calm, cup of tea in one hand and his face expressionless.

"I do have a plan. And I swear, if you make me spill that tea, you won't be alive to see it happening." he answered, before lifting the tea up to his lips and sipping it. Y/N wanted to punch him in the face, but she knew there was no point in this. If he had such a great plan, maybe she should just ask him about it. She was almost certain that he hadn't even thought about it.

"Then tell me what it is and I'll happily go along with it, if it's any good." she said. Levi nodded and handed Farlan his tea, so he would put it down for him, before clearing his throat.

"If we focus on the supplies - which we need much more urgently at the moment - then they will eventually start guarding the supply section more heavily. Once they do that, the security for the library that you're so desperate to get into will be much more lax - which will be when we're going in and getting your things. It's a long term plan, but if we stick to it, we can keep the risk to a minimum. Does that sound good to you?" he asked. Y/N took a deep breath. She had to admit that it made sense. It was a solid plan. She just hadn't really expected Levi to come up with anything.

"I guess it sounds good." she answered. Levi nodded and put his hands on her shoulders, gently pushing her aside, so he could sit down again. She was standing in the middle of the room, Isabel and Farlan looking at her nervously. With a sigh she made her way back to the chair she had been sitting in to continue planning - this time without getting into the library. It would make everything much easier, Levi was right about that. But if there was one thing Y/N would risk everything for, it was those books.

"Right. Let me go over this again and see how it would work out without getting to the library. We could go and pass by that library here... it seems to be semi-public, so not a lot of people would have access to it. It might be worth a try, I could probably find something that's worth something..." Y/N muttered, as she looked over all the maps and notes once more. They would get there eventually, she was sure. It was just frustrating having to start all over again. And it was frustrating to have everything in front of her eyes and not being able to just take it. But if she was patient she might find her way back to those books eventually.