Detective Levi x Reader - Vintage fic

Chapter Twenty Eight - Valsa dos Clowns

I unlock the back door in less than a minute. Nowadays it is so much easier breaking in houses, now that I own a picklock set, beautifully folded in a leather case. In my dark times I'd use a small old knife to do it and it'd make a mess out the lock, making it so obvious that someone invaded. Now, with experience, Annie wouldn't even know I've been here.

The three of us get in, letting Eren outside to guard our back. Since he came uninvited, I could make some use of him. The back door took us to a small and unorganized kitchen, its light blue tiles begging for some scratching and washing.

"This is a small house, where could we find any evidence?" Hange says.

"There's no office around here, I'm guessing" I state, completely bothered by the mess around us.

"No" Mikasa agrees. "We should start with her room. It's the only one, upstairs".

From what we gathered, Annie has been living alone since her father passed away, years ago. From what Armin told us, he wasn't very wealthy, so she started working at the factory as soon as it was inaugurated. Annie is a loner, has been for years.

Aside from her mess, I sympathize with her, for it could have been my destiny if I hadn't met Isabel, Farlan or Hange. And it still could be my future as an old man, if Y/N doesn't forgive me...

"Come on, Levi" Hange calls out for me.

I walk to them, fastly. This is not the time for me to be in my head. I could end up alone, but hell, I'd get my money from this case.

— — —

I stay by the reception with Armin, looking out for every employee who passes by us. Most workers go directly to the machines, all the way down to a corridor in our right. But Annie has a higher position, so she's supposed to have meetings with mr. Smith and supervise the logistics at the factory's base.

It takes about 15 minutes for us to see Annie leaving her office. I look away from her, not sure how to act, since we haven't talked in years. Armin glances at her from time to time, while she makes her way to mr. Smith's office, not acknowledging us, as expected.

The door is closed and I breathe again, not really sure what I'm so scared of.

"How long have they been gone to her house?" I ask Armin, in a whisper.

"They left a few minutes before you came in. So I'd say 20 minutes".

"Is it enough to gather information?"

"It takes 10 minutes just to get to the center in town, Y/N".

"Shit..." I bite the side of my finger, nervously. "I wish time would go faster".

My mouth should have kept itself quiet, for we see Annie getting out of the office and coming towards the reception. I stare at Armin, my palms feeling sweaty. Afraid she will say something or be suspicious of me.

Worse than that, she passes us, her briefcase in her hand.

"It's soon for lunch break" Armin says to her, sounding lighthearted, his voice echoing through the silent hall.

Annie turns to us, slightly startled, probably not expecting Armin to talk to her so apparently friendly.

"It's 9 in the morning, Arlert. It's clear that I'm not on lunch break".

"Oh, then what are you up to?"

He says it so casually it surprises me how good of a liar he is. But Annie doesn't seem to buy it so easily. She doesn't answer, instead looking at the stairs that lead to the offices where she just came from. Then, she says directly at me:

"I heard the detectives are out".

I stay silent, trying to act invisible, but for some reason I'm still on her sight:

"Do you know why that would be, Y/N?"

"How would I know?"

"Aren't you marrying that short detective or something?"

I feel embarrassed by her bluntness, not expecting that she would know about it. And feel even more embarrassed to confess that me and Levi were not in a good place at the time being. So I lie:

"Yes, we are engaged. But I don't keep track of every little thing he does. I don't work with him".

She ignores me completely: "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Keeping me company" Armin answers for me.

"Truly, I don't care. Excuse me".

"Where are you going?" I blurt out, not thinking of any other way to stop her from leaving.

"It's none of your business".

Me and Armin both know she's heading home. I feel it in my guts and she must feel it too. Annie knows she's on the line. I get nervous thinking she might have seen me and Levi trying to eavesdrop on her conversation with Bertholdt.

I look at Armin, desperately, asking with my eyes for him to stop her somehow. She's not going to listen to me. She doesn't give a damn about me.

"Annie, wait!" I scream.

As expected, she continues to make her way to exit the building.

"Armin has something to say to you!"

— — —

We take the narrow stairs to reach what should be Annie's room. For someone probably acting criminal, it's easy to barge in, once the door was already unlocked.

"Suspicious" I whisper to myself.

"This room smells like a man" Hange says behind me, her face in full disgust. "Are you sure Annie lives by herself?"

"I'm sure" Mikasa replies.

Walking towards the night table, I see drawers are half-open, as well as one door of her wardrobe. I open one of the drawers to find it completely empty.

"She cleared it up. Annie knows we're onto her".

Both Mikasa and Hange turn to me, their faces sinking into panic when we hear the wardrobe opening by itself.

The very first thing I see is a gun pointing directly at my forehead.

"Don't move" Bertholdt says to us.

Fucking hell.

[Song from title: Valsa dos clowns, Jane Duboc

This is so embarrassing 'cause I disappeared for MONTHS. I had given up on this but then people messaged me asking for updates, so I'm going to finish this story. It's so close to the end anyway!]