Levi attempted to whistle to himself as he walked casually down the road. His whistling was awful so he stopped after a few minutes of trying. He stopped in front of the horse stables, and looked both ways before entering. Inside, everything was made out of oak wood, presumably from the nearby forest he'd passed on the way there. Horses of different colors and sizes were placed within holding pens, and they neighed slightly when he walked in with a now fierce expression.

After grimacing a bit from the overwhelming smell of horse manure, he shouted, "Thomas! I came back!"

An older boy, in his early twenties, comes running out from behind a corner. There was hay in his hands and a sack of oats tied to his right leg. His face shows surprise, respect, and a tad bit of confusion. The boy's hair is a dirty blonde and long, but slicked back. His skin is flawless and a paler shade than you'd think a man in his line of work would have. His outfit consists of a long-sleeved, white, button-up shirt, and a brown vest to go over-top of it. His pants are brown as well, but both browns are of a light shade.

"O- oh! Levi! It's been much longer than you said so, I thought something might've happened or you'd forgotten!" Thomas - the boy - shouts at him, while trying to use one of his legs to balance and still unlock a gate. "You need your horse now?"

"Yeah. Sorry for taking so long, but something . . . interesting happened." Levi looked down as he thought about the recent events. He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice walking over to him with the sack of oats still tied tightly to his leg.

"Well, if you want to talk about it, just tell me and I'll listen. Then again, it's none of my business and you don't have to!" Thomas shouted quickly afterwards as soon as Levi lifted his head up with an almost . . . angry expression.

"Tell me Thomas," he said in a quiet and intimidating tone. "Why are there oats attached to your leg?"

Thomas was taken slightly aback by his question, as the bag of oats seemed completely normal to him. "Oh! These? Well, it makes it easier when it's feeding time. Instead of making two trips, I just tied it to my leg so my hands would be free! Brilliant, right? Well, at least I think so and the horses don't complain! Ha!" Thomas starts quietly chuckling to himself while staring down at his feet.

Levi was about to say something rude to him, but stopped himself. He'd really had a long day, and he just wanted to get back home before Shitty Glasses did so he wouldn't have to deal with her for a few hours at least. So instead, he got straight to the point.

"I need my horse."

"OH! Right! What did it look like again?" Thomas asks patiently, snapping himself out of his weird state of happiness and laughter that only he seemed to be experiencing.

"It was brown, with a sort of star shaped mark on its nose, remember?" Levi refreshed, agitated slightly. How could he have forgotten where he'd put his horse?

"Yeah, that one! What's its name by the way? I didn't have anything to call it while you were away."

"Its name is . . ." and Levi trailed off as he realized that he actually didn't know the horse's name. "I don't know," he said finally.

"Oh," Thomas shouted, surprised. "Well, we can just call it horsey I guess!"

"You're too happy, Thomas."

"Excuse me?" Thomas stopped walking to look at him.

"How can you be so happy? You work as a stable boy for crying out loud! Don't you have crappy wages? Didn't you tell me when you first came here that you had a disability? I mean, I would rather have your life, because mine right is absolutely awful! Not to mention we're stuck behind these damned walls, and everyone's dying!"

Thomas's expression softened as he looked down and away from Levi.

"I see what's going on, Levi," he said, his voice quiet and his tone comforting.

"Really?"

"Yes. I do. You're claustrophobic!"

Levi stood there staring at the seemingly stupid man for a few minutes, trying very hard not to slap himself in the face. Levi's jaw clenched as he continued to stare at Thomas's stupidly happy face.

After a few moments to process what he'd said, Levi did his best to smile as he sarcastically replied, "Yes! Oh my God, I thought no one would ever understand!"

Thomas continued to smile and chuckle a bit at him. "I knew it! That's why you grimace every time you come in here; you don't like small spaces! 'These damned walls' I get it now! And don't worry, Levi! No one's actually dying from being inside buildings."

Levi gave a fake nervous laugh. "Thanks for understanding, so I think I'll just wait outside while you fetch my horse for me. Okay?"

"Yes, yes of course!" Thomas put on an understanding look and shooed Levi outside. As soon as Levi was outside, he sighed to himself. How can someone be that off? He cleared his head and returned to his usual stoic self.

"Levi, here's your horse!" Thomas called out giddily. Charlie's horse was led by Thomas and he looked like it was in relatively good spirits. Though, it was a horse so it's not like he could tell or anything. Perhaps it was happy to get away from this overly eccentric man.

"Here's your money," Levi handed Thomas a few gold coins, but at he turned around to leave, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He was a tiny bit surprised to see Charlie with a sympathetic look on his face with hand on his shoulder.

"Levi," he said quietly, with a different tone of voice. He no longer sounded like an excited child, but somebody who wanted to comfort him and understand. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Levi was trying very hard to keep a straight face by this point. He was greatly surprised by his words, and it seemed so out of character of him. It led him to believe that Thomas had been acting before. Levi turned around and began to walk away again, leaving Charlie just standing there staring at his back. He stopped though, and turned around yet again to him with a much more mild expression than he usually had on. Levi was amused to see that Thomas was a little surprised.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Levi heard Thomas say softly as he walked away.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Charlie kicked yet another rock as he walked down the road, which was much longer than he had previously thought it was. He kicked another rock, but it hurt much more than suspected so as soon as the rock made contact with Charlie's foot, he bent down in pain and began to whimper pitifully.

"Somehow, I knew that pathetic sound was coming from you."

"Levi?" Charlie looked up to see Levi standing there, but this time he had Chamberlain right next to him. His expression brightened upon seeing his horse. "Chamberlain!" he shouted.

"Take your Goddamn horse, Charlie," Levi spat. "It may not like you, but I don't want to take care of it anymore. I already apologized."

"What? You didn't apologize to me?"

"Why would I do that? I apologized to the horse."

"Naw, Levi! My horse loves me," Charlie insisted.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever makes you sleep at night."

Charlie ignored his last comment and talked to his horse. "Aw, come on, Chamberlain! Did you miss Daddy? I'm sure you did!"

"Is Chamberlain the name of the horse?" Levi asked suddenly.

"Why yes it is! No making fun of her!"

"It's a her?"

"Of course, Levi! And she's absolutely beautiful!"

"Funny, this isn't how you were treating her when I first met you."

"Oh, well I had a change of heart! Am I not allowed to change?"

"No, no. Change is good," Levi sighed.

Charlie sensed that Levi wasn't okay. "Is everything alright, Levi?" he asked sincerely.

Turning away from him, Levi said, "Yeah, everything's just peachy."

"Alright. It's just you don't seem like you're okay."

There was a short-lived silence before Levi suddenly let out a large breath. Charlie did the same, while Chamberlain whinnied.

"Do you know where I can find Hanji? I have to bring her back to HQ also," Levi said, exasperated. He turned his head to stare right at Charlie, as if to see if he would tell the truth.

Charlie looked down and continued to pet his horse as he thought about his answer. He wasn't very sure if he should tell the truth or not. He pursed his lips as he decided.

"You know, Levi." Levi looked up. "I don't think Hanji wants you to find her. She's not stupid. She can find her own way back."

"Is there something you're not telling me, Charlie?" Levi asked with a completely blank face, though somehow it was intimidating.

"There's nothing that you need to know. Last I saw her, she was delivering Cameron Blanc's journal back to her family. Do you really want to interrupt that? Besides, don't you have to return to your commander?"

"I do, but I can't just leave her behind. It's almost completely dark. In fact, the sun has already set, and it's going to be darker than shit out here. There are a lot of bad people out there who would definitely use Hanji. I would never allow that to happen."

"Wow."

"What?"

"That was really sweet. I knew it, you do have feelings for her!"

This time though, Levi didn't seem to want to mess around. He said quickly, obviously upset, "For the last time, I don't like her like that!"

"What? Are you gay?" Levi tensed. "Wait . . . NO! Really?" Levi still didn't waver from his tense position. "Are you? Tell me? Please? Why won't you tell me?!"

"I'm not gay," he said with force.

"Then why did you tense up when I asked you about it?"

"It's a sensitive topic."

"Why's it a sensitive topic?"

"Because I know someone who's gay and I don't like it when people insult them."

"I wasn't insulting! I was just mentioning," Charlie defended.

"Your tone spoke for you."

"Are you?"

"Am I what?"

"Are you gay?"

"No."

"TELL ME."

"I already told you, no!"

"I don't believe you though! Tell me, PLEASE!"

"No."

"To being gay or to telling you?"

"Both."

"Oh, come on Levi," Charlie pleaded. "Don't be like that! Just tell me the truth!"

"You little annoying piece of shit, fine! I'll tell you! I'm bisexual!"

Charlie gave a dramatic gasp. "HUH! Oh."

"What? Did I disappoint you and your weirdo mind?"

"Nah, it's just I thought you were entirely gay."

"Listen, Charlie." Charlie looked up at him. "Don't go spreading that info around."

"Why not?"

"Do you know how many weirdos would walk up to me all the time asking me stupid questions?"

"Oh . . . right. Anyways . . ."

Things had gotten a little bit awkward between them from the recent news. Especially Charlie because he really wanted to ask Levi questions, but then he realized how rude that would be so he didn't.

"Forget it Charlie, I have to go. I'll take your advice and just go home. I'm sure Hanji's okay and she's most likely back already."

"Okay. Well . . . I'll be seein' ya! Bye Levi!" Charlie turned around and started walking, but stopped after half a minute when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to see Levi following him.

"I have to go the same way," Levi explained.

"Oh, okay."

Levi eventually sped up to walk alongside Charlie instead of behind him. After a couple of uncomfortable minutes of silence, Charlie decided that he should just ask him anyways. It's not like he saw Captain Levi often anyways.

"Hey, Levi?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah?" Levi slightly turned his head towards Charlie, but soon returning to look straight ahead.

"I was wondering, since I think you would know. But . . . do you think I'm attractive?"

Levi stopped walking and soon after Charlie stopped walking too realizing how weird and personal that question was. Charlie was about to apologize when Levi suddenly had an outburst.

"What kind of question is that, Charlie? I've got feelings too, dumbass! That's exactly why I don't tell just anyone!" Levi started frantically pointing at Charlie. "SEE! I don't want weirdos randomly coming up and asking insensitive questions like that! WEIRDO!"

"Okay, Levi I get it sorry!"

"Damn right you're sorry, you shitstain!" They continued walking and after a couple of minutes of an even more awkward silence, Levi stated, "And just for the record, you're the ugliest guy I've ever seen."

It continued on in awkward silence the rest of the time until they came into a fork in the road, and Charlie chose the left while Levi chose the right.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Levi was extremely tired when he finally reached the Scouting Legion HQ that night. He didn't really want to talk to anyone. He didn't want to clean, he didn't want to talk to Shitty Glasses, and he most certainly didn't want to have to deal with any stupid brat that was still up. He swore he would punch Erwin if he walked into his office with more paperwork.

As soon as he got into his room, he fell face down onto his bed and almost immediately fell asleep. Then, of course since the world just seemed to hate Levi, there was a knock on his door just as he was about to fall asleep.

"Captain Levi?" a feminine voice calls. "Commander Erwin wishes to see you!"

Levi groaned. "Tell him I'll be in his office soon!"

"Oh, no! Has no one told you? The Commander is currently in the infirmary recovering from the recent attack."

The woman outside of his door jolted in surprise when she saw the intimidating captain open his door and give her an intense glare. The next question that came out of his mouth was quite predictable.

"What?"

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"How coincidental that this happened while I wasn't here," Levi remarked.

He sat on a chair next to Erwin's recovery bed, glaring intensely at no one in particular. Erwin lay down, slightly paler than usual with several bandages wrapped around his arms and apparently his legs though Levi hadn't seen those for himself.

"Levi, calm down," Erwin insisted. "It's just a few scratches that I don't mind. I got these from landing on the ground anyways, so stop thinking that I was ever in any actual danger.

"Never in any actual danger?" Levi scoffed. "They were basically assassins!"

"We don't know that for sure. They could've just been a few criminals and we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"But for some reason Erwin, I don't think that was the case this time. You were out walking alone. Me and Hanji weren't there today, and these people came at you! You obviously beat them down, but they still attempted something. Don't ignore this."

"I never ignore anything important, Levi," Erwin said sternly, staring straight into Levi's gray eyes. "I've already taken into account everything, and there's no evidence confirming that it's something out of the ordinary."

"Do you really mean that or are you just saying that so that I don't worry?" Levi asked showing just the slightest amount of emotion.

"You're a smart person Levi, I don't have to dumb things down for you. You can handle pressure. I've definitely taken that away from all these years of working with you. I've looked at it, and it was a stupid attempt and the MPs never got anything off of them so it's not like they've got buddies hellbent on revenge. It's fine."

After a few moments, Levi finally sighed and said, "Fine, Erwin. I'll trust you on this and I'll drop my suspicions." Erwin began nodding as his way of showing satisfaction. Erwin snapped his head back up to Levi when he realized that he wasn't finished. "On one condition though."

"Alright. What's the condition?" Erwin asked smoothly.

"Don't do stupid shit like that again. You didn't have anyone with you and look what happened. Someone tried to kill you. I thought you cared about your soldiers more than that, not just to put yourself in that kind of unnecessary danger. Going outside the walls is one thing, but putting yourself in danger when you don't need to, is selfish and greedy. You don't have the satisfaction of being careless with your own life, Erwin." Levi kept a straight face throughout his entire speech.

"Are you worried about me committing suicide, Levi?" He didn't answer. "I had a perfectly good reason to be walking through town today."

"Oh, really?"

"Since you seem so interested, I'll just tell you right off the bat. Don't tell a soul about this unless I give you permission. I have some old colleagues of mine who ended up joining the Military Police-"

"Then why are they your colleagues?"

"That's an entirely different story involving a really angry bear and some really strong rope."

Levi's refusal to show emotion in this situation made it even more comical. He said, stretching out the word, "Okay. Continue."

"I wanted to confirm the fact that Annie was indeed the Female Titan before we start planning irrationally. My colleagues, belonging to the Military Police, had exclusive knowledge and connection to our perpetrator. This knowledge would've been very useful for securing our evidence. Though I know Armin is a smart kid, since I've seen his records, it never hurts to check. Do you understand my reasons now?"

Levi nodded ever so slightly. "I understand now. If the other people in the Military Police catch a whiff of what you're planning, we'll surely be banned and forced to return the Jaeger kid earlier than planned."

"Exactly."

"Why can't I tell anyone else about this? If people in the Regiment already know that we're planning a surprise attack within Sina, then . . ." Levi trailed off.

"That is one of my main concerns right now Levi," he admitted, as he turned away to look away from Levi's penetrating eyes. Levi was confused, but allowed him to go on without question, for he knew he would be enlightened soon.

Erwin continued, "Levi . . . I believe that these injuries weren't accidents."

Levi said sarcastically, "Whoa, really? I'm surprised."

Erwin rolled his eyes, and ignored Levi's comment. "It may be an unlikely possibility, but a possibility all the same. I cannot be ignorant during times such as these, when we are backed against a wall and vulnerable."

"You believe the Regiment to be vulnerable?"

"We are always vulnerable. No matter how much we calculate and prepare, there is always the possibility that we may not predict all the factors. Those thugs may not have been coincidental, but I have no other evidence that says otherwise."

Levi's eyes widened and he remained silenced, making Erwin turn to him with curiosity.

"What is it?"

"I think . . . I may have found a connection, but . . . I'm not sure. I shouldn't have mentioned anything with it all being so unfortified."

"Well when your connection becomes not "unfortified" you can tell me anytime."

Levi nodded his head. "I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed now."

"Bye, Levi," Erwin excused him.

Levi stood up tensely, and walked out of the room.

He talked to himself, "I'll need some fresh parchment, and some ink."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Dear Hanji,

I have some information that needs to be checked out and only you can help me. You've read the other two journals, so you would know. I can't speak openly about this, because the betrayal seemingly has no end and anyone can overhear us. I know that there's a chance that this letter will be intercepted, but I doubt it since I know anyone who goes into your Lab unallowed will be subjected to tons of unwanted experiments. Who would dare?

I don't think Squad Six's deaths were an accident. I can't go into full detail about it in this letter, in case of interception. When you get this, at an appropriate time, contact me and I'll fill you in entirely.

Sincerely,
-Levi

End of Part One

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A/N

Does anyone want me to continue?

I was thinking that this would be the end of this book, then there'd be a sequel. However, I'm now considering if I should just make a Part Two to this book, that focuses on the betrayal within the Regiment. Now that I'm thinking about it, the latter seems like a much more reasonable decision.

Thank you for reading this. Comments are always appreciated, even if they're mean and nasty! I just really want someone to tell me how I'm doing and if this story sucks.

After rereading the first few parts to this, it seems pretty awful to me so editing will happen before I start the second part to this.