Yesterday's Enemy [AoT]

SIXTY-THREE

'Power is most often in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

-An extract from the book 'Royal Questions' written by scholar and journalist Aksel Briggs.

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SIXTY-THREE

Wall Sina, Interior, Mitras, Royal Palace

Levi awoke to a sudden knocking at his door.

"Levi! Get your ass up; we have work to do," he heard Lorelai call from the corridor outside. Levi exhaled heavily. He'd never understood why she insisted on banging on his door at dawn.

It wasn't even dawn. It was still dark outside.

He grumbled. Then again, he couldn't really refuse when it came to her. Levi stumbled out of bed, stretching his bad arm as he went to the door. "What time is it?"

"0400 hours, sleepyhead. Thomsen came to me with a lead; we're going to head down to the police station," said Lorelai, standing with a hand on one hip. She seemed relatively chipper.

"...Briggs?" he mumbled groggily.

"Someone who might know where Briggs is."

"So early..." Levi complained, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"You're the one who wanted to do this; don't regret it now," Lorelai retorted, slipping past him into his rooms and drawing the curtains sharply. "Nice day today." The sun was barely beginning to peek over the horizon.

"Day? More like night."

"Get dressed, sweetheart," she turned around. "Unless you're planning to interrogate this guy in your nightclothes?"

"Yeah, yeah." Levi went into the adjacent bathroom to get dressed.

Splashing water on his face, he resolved himself to the day's challenges. They had to find Briggs— find him, and put him under six feet of earth. Only then would she be safe. If... if this didn't work, Levi didn't know what he'd do. He wasn't about to let Lorelai be killed as she seemed to think was imminent.

If this didn't work, he'd go it alone at the first sign of Briggs. He'd leave Lorelai safe with Erwin, use his meagre savings to find the man, and put a knife through his back. Army or otherwise, all it took was a quiet night and an open window. Levi wasn't exactly an assassin, but he'd deal with whatever mess she needed. Only then would she be safe.

"Levi?"

"Sorry. Lost in thought." He stepped out, wearing a crisp navy shirt, neat and proper as ever.

Lorelai turned around. She looked him up, down, met his eye, then smiled softly. He was actually a handsome man in his own strange, gloomy way. She didn't know why she hadn't noticed it before.

Levi's stomach gave a frightening flutter. Suddenly self-conscious and lost to all thoughts of assassination, he fiddled with his collar before striding out the door. Dear God. What was she thinking? What was he thinking? Should have worn black. No, white. Shit. In the corridor, he composed himself. It didn't matter, after all; a different shade of shirt wouldn't change the fact he was a small, grumpy old man, and she was like a princess.

He eyed her as she passed, lovely in the blushing dawn. Enamoured of her or otherwise, Lorelai was unfortunately way out of his league.

Still, as if in protest to his pessimism, when they left the palace, and she took his arm, his heart beat faster. Mitras was quiet around them, its streets slumbering after the previous day's excitement. Levi's eyes stayed on Lorelai beside him as they walked. She noticed.