Chapter Text
“Absolutely not.” Levi declared. He crossed his arms.
“Levi, I’m not asking. The Military Police need our help apprehending thieves in The Underground. Your expertise is essential in taking them down.” Erwin’s gaze was level. Even though Levi was standing and he was sitting, he was only slightly lower than the captain, and his icy blue eyes pierced Levi in a way that they rarely did. The dark haired man could tell his commander was serious.
“I’m not going back down there, Erwin. It’s not happening. The Military Police can go and fuck themselves. Put a gun to my head, I don’t care, I won’t do it.” The captain’s words were firm and he meant what he said, but he already had a feeling that he would be following Erwin to The Underground no matter what.
“I’m not giving you a choice, Levi, and I’m not going to debate it with you; you’re going. We’re leaving for Sina in two days; just me and you. We’ll be going undercover, not as military, so wear plain clothes. The MP’s will have ODM gear down there for us when we need it. We’ll be relying on you for most of the intel. I know you don’t want to go and I know it will be hard for you — I really am sorry to put you through this — but I don’t have any more of a choice in the matter than you do. It’s final, so get yourself in order and we’ll leave in two days.”
Levi just stared at the commander for a moment, teeth grinding, eyes furious. Then he turned on his heel and walked out without saying a word.
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It felt weird to be at the top of the staircase looking down. Levi had always been at the bottom looking up. But things had changed now.
He was in plain clothes, just like Erwin had asked. He stood next to the commander as he talked with the stairway guards, ensuring their safe passage to The Underground.
This was the first time he was recognized. “Hey, Levi, it’s been a while since you’ve been on these stairs, huh? Can’t believe you’re going down! Are you sure you’ll be allowed to come back up?” Taunted one of the guards.
Levi was already on edge, he nearly lashed out at the guard, but Erwin spoke before he had a chance. “My colleague has all his paperwork in order and full citizenship on the surface, same as me. I think you know that.” He said coolly, and Levi just gave the guard a sneer before shoving his papers in his face and crossing his arms. The guard smiled sheepishly, authorized the paperwork, and welcomed them to The Underground.
The walk down the stairs made Levi’s stomach feel like it was floating uncomfortably. As much as he tried to suppress it, he could feel his body start to tremble. He clenched his fists and his jaw and kept walking.
The stench hit him first. It had been a long time since he’d smelled that smell. It was a mixture of rot and death combined with earthiness and wetness. It hit his lungs and made him choke. Erwin wrinkled his nose in displeasure, but he did not cough like Levi did.
They got to the bottom of the staircase and Levi tipped the guards handsomely. Even though the guard had made a slight about his past, they couldn’t afford to be making any unnecessary enemies. Now they were officially in The Underground; Levi’s home.
Erwin noticed an immediate change in Levi the second they descended the staircase. He was meaner. He looked like he would cut a bitch just for looking at him the wrong way. He had knives sticking out of the top of both boots, and undoubtedly more elsewhere on his person. As they traversed the underground, Erwin began to wish he had armed himself more heavily, too. But Levi was more than prepared, and he had made a name for himself down here, so Erwin wasn’t too worried. Levi would protect him; Levi was his weapon.
“Hey handsome, blondie! I’ll give you a two-for-one if you want to go together!”
Erwin turned his head. A voluptuous looking woman was hollering at them from a corner. Levi just scowled at her, but Erwin felt affronted. He had never been solicited so boldly before! Of course, rich perverts had given him underhanded suggestions as to ways he could secure funding for the Survey Corps on his visits to Sina and women had given him sultry glances and winks from bars and stuff, but this was new. He looked away, looked at Levi for guidance. This was his turf, not Erwin’s. But Levi didn’t seem to care, so Erwin ignored her too, but he couldn’t suppress the blush that colored his cheeks.
When he was here for the first time, when he met Levi, he wasn’t even down for a day. He knew when and where Levi was going to strike, met him there, and apprehended him. This time was different. These thieves operated differently, they didn’t use ODM gear like Levi had, they were more underhanded. More underground , one might say. That’s why Levi was so important to this mission. His connections would enable them to get information that the Military Police wouldn’t be able to.
“Where to, Commander?” Levi asked, with just a hint of bitterness in his voice. Erwin gave him a look but didn’t acknowledge his brattiness. “Do you know a good inn?”
“I’ll do you one better.” Levi responded. He lead Erwin down a main road, and then branched off into some side streets and alleys that looked like a maze to the commander, but Levi navigated them with complete confidence. “Where are you taking me?” Asked Erwin. “My old home. Cheaper than an inn.”
They traversed the winding and rundown alleys for what seemed like hours before they finally got to a small courtyard with a few buildings around it. Levi walked to a set of stairs and began counting the wrought iron rails on the railing. When he got to the fourth one, he traced it down until he was hovering over a specific cobblestone on the floor. He counted three stones out from that one, then knelt down, pulled out a knife, and used it to dislodge the loose stone. Erwin was thoroughly confused as to what he was doing until Levi extracted a key from underneath the stone. He motioned for Erwin to follow him as he climbed the small set of stairs and unlocked a door.
“Ugh, it’s disgusting in here.” He scoffed. It was exactly the same as when he had left it six years ago, just with a thick layer of dust. There was still dirty dishes in the sink.
“You lived here?” Asked Erwin.
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“No, with Isabel and Farlan. There’s only one bedroom, so you can share with me, or sleep on the couch if you want. I don’t care. I’m going to get started cleaning this place up.”
Levi seemed detached, he just disappeared and reappeared moments later with cleaning supplies. He tied a cloth over his head and another over his mouth and got to work scrubbing the counters, mopping the floors, washing the windows, etcetera.
Erwin watched him. He didn’t seem like himself. When they were on the street, he seemed almost animalistic, like his fight or flight response was activated. But here, he seemed vacant. Empty. Erwin worried about the future of the mission if Levi was going to be so mercurial. He hoped the captain would be able to keep it together.
Erwin grabbed a rag and began absently wiping the counter, but he wanted to talk to Levi more than anything. “So, Levi, the people down here can’t know we’re affiliated with the military. We will have to use more underhanded techniques to get information. Do you have any sources we could go to? Connections from when you lived here?”
Levi didn’t look at him. “I don’t know; all my friends are dead.”
Erwin was not going get upset over Levi’s bad attitude. “How about acquaintances?” He asked. Levi sighed. “I’ll see. But I don’t know what has changed down here since I was last here. All my knowledge is potentially outdated. I’ll see if any of my old contacts are still around.”
“Good. Thank you. Do you mind if I start a fire?”
“We don’t really have anything to burn. Even if we did, it will make the air in here filthy. We don’t have great ventilation. My lungs already feel sick.”
Erwin looked at Levi. “I noticed that. You were coughing a lot on the way down here when the air changed. Are you going to be alright?”
“I hope so. I used to get respiratory infections a lot when I lived down here, but they got better when I came to the surface. Hopefully they don’t come back. Either way, I’ll be fine. I didn’t let it hold me back then and I won’t now.”
A little creature made of anxiety brewed in Erwin’s stomach. Maybe he had made a mistake bringing his captain here. They had been down less than an hour and Levi’s mental and physical health were already being affected. But he was strong — Erwin knew he was strong. Stronger than he looked, stronger than he appeared. He would be fine. He lived down here for twenty years, another week wouldn’t hurt him.