Chapter Text

Disgusting.

Putrid, moldy, disgusting , rotting filth-- everywhere

People slumped against walls, hiding in alleys. 

Wondering if they’ll live to see another day. 

Had the underground always been so abhorrent?

Levi hated it. All of it.

But what he hated more was the egocentric pigs that lived above-ground.  They were the reason everyone around him was invariably suffering. 

Levi wasn’t what people call an empath, but he still couldn’t stand to see the agony that surrounded him day after day.  However, everything changed when he was approached by one of the very pigs he so despised. The rather pompous man, clad in silky velvet, had a proposition for him.  If he and his two accomplices, Isabelle and Furlan, could rid the government of the man who was using their money for expeditions with his revolutionary battle formations, then their names would be cleared and they’d be able to live above ground.  They would finally be away from the misery, and turmoil that was the underground. 

Naturally, they took the job. 

Only two days passed until they were hunted down by the MPs.

Omnidirectional gear zipped and crashed throughout the cave, causing bystanders to look up in a frenzy. Levi was scrambling about as he tried to compose his mind and movements. He couldn’t get caught, not now. Not after he was so close to finally being out of this hell hole.  He turned to look over his shoulder.

Had he lost them? Where were Isabell and Furlan?

Their pursuer’s ODM expertise made it clear this was not the MPs chasing them this time. This was the Scouts.

Then he saw him. The target. The man that was his ticket out of here. His stupid face was a dead giveaway.

Erwin Smith.

***

Puddles are gross. Really gross. 

They’re sopping, rancid, muddy pools of muck--and Levi got a face full of it. 

Before he could think, his inky hair was pushed and pulled into the ground, and his face met the murky water with a splash. It was a rather unpleasant feeling. 

Someone was talking over him. A deep, authoritative voice. 

Levi had never liked people talking down to him, although it was hard to avoid considering his height, he felt like he was being mocked, or belittled. 

He tried to focus on the buzz of sound, piecing together the words he could hear. Past the ringing, the water still clogging his ears, and the incessant squealing of Isabelle struggling against the other soldiers. 

“I’ll ask again.”

Levi craned his neck around to meet the man's voice, and fiery slate eyes met with zealous cerulean ones.  He expected to find disgust, resentment, or detestation--but found nothing but a blank, empty stare. 

It was worse .

He would have rathered a reaction out of him--to have the satisfaction of seeing the pretentious facade fall and crumble at his feet, but, of course, he couldn’t even have that.

He was talking again, but Levi couldn’t unmuddle the words into something that made sense. Luckily for him, it sounded like Isabelle and Furlan were answering for him. 

“My name is Erwin Smith. What are your names?” 

Levi thought of something spiteful to retort, but before he could get a single syllable out, his head was jerked back out of the puddle by the soldier to look up at Erwin. 

Mud, water, and blood raced down his face, hindering his sight as the light burning sensation of them mixing together in his eyes passed. 

This was the man he had promised to eradicate.  He was right in front of him, speaking at intervals he couldn’t comprehend quite yet. Levi tried to control his breathing--gasping for air and coughing up whatever was in that god-forsaken puddle.  Indignation quickly dispersed throughout him, coursing in every vein his body had as he gathered his strength. 

“You bastard…” Levi spat. 

He wasn’t used to being at the disadvantage, but he needed to adapt swiftly if he intended to untangle himself and his friends from this situation. 

“What is your name?” Erwin smoothly inquired, seeming to be searching for the answer in his expression rather than his words. 

Levi was backed into a corner, so for now he’d have to comply.  He gritted his teeth and swallowed his pride. 

“...It’s Levi” He seethed. 

He wished he could wipe the blood and sweat from his sight--he’d have an easier time glaring if he could--but his hands were still forcefully interlocked with each other. As he blinked back the mud stinging his eyes, he noticed the subtle scuff of boots clacking closer and closer to him until-- Was he kneeling?

Erwin leaned down to his level and, without missing a beat, asked another question. “Levi, would you make a deal with me?”

‘What kind of inane deal could he want to make with me?’ Levi wondered to himself.  “Deal…?” He thought out loud. 

He had said something about how he would forget about his crimes if he joined the Survey Corps, but Levi only heard bits and pieces over his own thoughts.

‘Wait. Join the Survey Corps? Was this guy really that dense?’  But then again--this could work in his favor. 

“If I refuse?”

Levi normally wouldn’t be so mellow in this particular situation, but the large sum of cash and promise of above-ground residency was serenading him into following Lovof’s orders.  Erwin responded rather blandly, saying something about how he’d turn them over to the real Military Police, which would quickly prove to be problematic. 

Even so--he was giving Levi a choice.

Of course, Levi didn’t want to comply, but playing along would be in his best interest. Besides, it would only be for a month or so until he got close enough to land the kill--surely he could handle that.

Just play along.

“Very Well. I’ll join the Survey Corps.”