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The Facility. A graystone building in the middle of the southern desert, surrounded by barren wasteland, a gray blip on the red-brown sandy terrain. As if the desert alone were not enough reason to keep its unfortunate inhabitants contained within the grounds, there was also a looming fence on all sides. Ten feet worth of matching gray stone lined the bottom half while the second half was wire fence completed with barbed spirals along the top. Inside the Facility the gray continued. From the gray tile floors, to the gray stone walls, the metal tables and beds, even the uniforms of the Facilities workers, doctors, nurses, guards and soldiers, all of them wore varying shades of gray. Only the specimens for whom the Facility was built were given another color to wear and they wore black. Black pants, shirts, underwear, even their sheets and pillow covers were all black. For they were the product of sin, spawns of the devil and cursed beyond their wretched heritage. But yet they were also gifted.Gifted with the strength, endurance and speed of any titan without shifting into mindless monsters. Though they lacked the ability to regrow severed limbs, as had been tested many times, nor did they heal at the same rate as Titans and Shifters, Ackermans still possessed advanced healing far greater than any other ordinary human. Where a single direct hit may break the nose of a normal person, the Ackerman wouldn’t even bleed. An explosion may tear a regular Eldian to pieces, while the Ackerman, though wounded, would survive. The force required to break a bone on the healthy Ackerman was much more than that of a normal person. While a sharp blade could still carve into their flesh with the same ease it could carve into any other human being. All of which had been tested on numerous unfortunate souls. Their speed was incredible. They could run and react far quicker than even the most seasoned and train soldiers among Marley’s elite military. An instinct bred into their blood that could not be replicated no matter the trials and tests. They possessed the ability to predict an opponent's next move allowing them to avoid a strike even with their back turned towards them. They could sense danger before it even begins to present itself. They instinctively and immediately know what to do without pausing for thought, simply reacting and always in the most efficient manner. The Ackerman’s possessed strength no normal human could ever hope to achieve. It was an inborn strength that no level of training or exercise could ever allow another person to obtain. With the ability to splinter wooden beams and bend metal rods, they could shatter bones with a single strike, and obliterate internal organs beyond surgical repair. They could carry heavy loads far beyond what the human body should be able to move on its own and they could do so with grace and ease, as if the task were no burden to them at all.These were the traits of the Ackerman bloodline and she was the best Marley had ever grown. Faster than her Ackerman teachers, stronger than them too. Able to hoist metal beams twice her height as if they were mere twigs from an old tree. The strength to pull a dead horse along the training grounds as if the animal were no heavier than the sack of grain used to feed it. She dodged bullets, ripped the limbs of her enemies clean from their sockets, splintered wooden beams while bending metal ones with a single kick from her seemingly small foot or one punch from her dainty hands. At only ten years old she was a lethal weapon ready for war. There was only one problem; she was Untamed. To tame an Ackerman meant to recreate within them the purpose for their design. When King Fritz first began experimenting with titans and created the abomination in the Ackerman blood that gifted them their strength, there was a catch. While any Ackerman could wield that strength, it only came after an ‘Awakening’, a point in the Ackerman’s life that forced them to fight for survival. A life threatening moment of terror and sometimes even pain, when their only choice was to fight or die. In that moment they experience a literal jolt to their system, an unexplainable calm washes over them and a newfound, inhuman strength develops immediately within them. Ackerman’s who had not experienced this Awakening were more like normal Eldian’s than their Awakened brethren. While still somewhat stronger and with an increased overall endurance, they were nothing like the Awakened. They lacked the sense for danger, they didn’t have the strength and speed nor did they possess the elevated healing rate. They were better than the average Eldian, but still nothing compared to the lowest Awakened. King Fritz employed the Awakened amongst his elite guard and instilled within them the blood bound duty to serve the royal family. Many Ackerman’s of that time bonded with either the king or a member of his immediate family and they would do whatever their Bonded required of them. They would fight for their Bonded, defend them at all costs. Oftentimes it was in service to the royals that the Ackerman would experience their Awakening. By choosing to protect the royals their blood would come to life and they would also become bonded to the one whom they were protecting. But not all Ackerman’s experienced the Bond. The Unbonded eventually became known as the Untamed. No one to hold power over them, no one to keep them in check, to ensure their strength was used only for the purposes of the royal agenda. The Untamed were dangerous as was discovered when King Fritz decided to retreat behind the Walls of Paradis and erase the memories of his people. Most Ackermans were immune to the Founders powers of manipulation, just as they themselves could not but turned into titans. While some whose bloodline had been weakened by breeding outside the Eldian heritage, and those yet to be Awakened, could be manipulated and influenced by the Founder, the majority of the Awakened and especially the Untamed were immune. When the king of that time decided to hide in cowardice and manipulate his people into believing they were all that remained of humanity, the Untamed rebelled against him. Some of the loyal Awakened and the Bonded tried to quell their rebellious kin, but eventually even they turned on their king and when at last they were defeated, at a great cost to the king, he issued an order of extermination. Whether Bonded, or simply Awakened, even those yet to experience their Awakening and especially the remaining Untamed, were all subject to the death warrants. The royals and their church along with their other elite guard began purging the Ackerman’s from society as if they were cursed or afflicted. But not all the Ackerman’s were destroyed during this purge. Some escaped and hid themselves with new names and identities. Others simply ran away, hiding in the forests far from the cities and distancing themselves from the royals with the promise to never interfere with them again. While a select few escaped the island entirely and an even smaller few had remained on the mainland of Marley. Most that escaped the island found refuge in Hizuru, a nation friendly to Paradis before the island closed itself off to the outside world. But those that remained on Marley or were unfortunate enough to find their way back there suffered a fate worse than death. The Facility was built a short few years following King Fritz’s retreat and the end of the Great Titan War. Marley wanted to know what made the Ackerman’s so unique, what gave them their strength and if they could harness it into their own soldiers or find a way to control it for themselves like the Royals did with the Bonded. They captured every Ackerman they could and began performing tortuous testing. They fileted skin, bled them dry, burned them, carved into their flesh and bones, broke ribs and fractured skulls, severed fingers, toes, even whole limbs, everything they could to see what the Ackerman’s could survive while studying their blood and its ability to be blended into Marleyan genes. While they learned the Ackermans did not have the same healing abilities as titans and Shifters, they also learned the power in their blood could not be given to a Marleyan. They forced their women to give birth to children born from rape as Marleyan men had their way with them until pregnancy was achieved, but even then the Eldian and Ackerman blood would simply overrule the Marleyan, leaving no real trace that it even existed within the child. Those children were then forced to endure the same torture as their predecessors, seeing what their little bodies could and could not endure. This was how Marley discovered what triggered the Awakening and that it could be done in children as young as four. It was also these children that revealed the effects of a Bond. While not all of them showed this particular trait, some did and it was a bond unlike anything Marley had seen. The sheer volume of devotion and loyalty between an Ackerman and their Bonded was indescribable. Once again, Marley decided to try and use this to their advantage and once again it proved more difficult than they predicted. It was nearly impossible to get an Ackerman to bond with a Marleyan however it proved considerably easier with another Eldian and surprisingly even more so with a Shifter. Their only hypothesis on the matter was that it had something to do with the closeness to the Founder that came from possessing the power of one of the Nine. By the time Lilith was born, they had mostly done away with their testing for the purpose of theory and now simply tested for the level at which the Ackerman could perform. They rated them, from weakest to strongest, slowest to fastest, easily injured or stricken to most hardy, and Lilith was the top of them all. She was small, despite the strict diet given to all Ackerman’s to ensure maximum growth and health. She remained short and petite even after her forced Awakening at just six years old. At ten, she was the best the Facility had to offer and yet she was not ready for war because no matter who they sent to her, she Bonded with no one. Not even Mr Ksaver who possessed the Beast Titan before giving it to the Yeager boy. She showed no particular closeness or indications of Bonding with the Armored, Jaw, Colossal, Cart or Female and even when the Tyburs allowed their Warhammer to be a part of the experiments, she still showed no signs of Bonding. By the time she turned eighteen and was considered an adult, she was exactly five feet tall and weighed one hundred and twenty-two pounds of pure lean but solid muscle. Like all the female Ackermans within the Facility, her dark brown hair was cut short, just long enough to distinguish her from one of the bald males. She had small breasts, which allowed her to appear male if she wore loose enough clothing. Aside from her prowess in all forms of battle, her most shocking feature was her eyes. A soft purple like the amethyst gem, they shone brightly beneath her thick dark lashes and were easily the most distinguishable among the four Ackerman’s on the training grounds of the Facility. Unknown to many, save for the nurse assigned to her since birth, but she was not the first, nor the only Ackerman with amethyst eyes. Her mother had them also, but they were scarcely seen by anyone before her death as she had lived the last nine years of her life within the breeding grounds section of the facility after giving birth to Lilith. Isolated within the walls, never allowed beyond her room unless for exercise specific to her health. But Mila Ackerman’s purple eyes were not simply a unique feature, they were the result of a secret only she herself knew and she would die before telling it.  Mila was the only Ackerman at the facility who was not born there but was simply unfortunate enough to have been caught. After her half sister, Dina Yeager, was sent to Paradis alongside her husband following their son’s betrayal, Mila was turned in to the Marleyan Public Security for having been seen with Dina, though it was only once in the last twenty years. They shared the same father, but had different mothers and Mila had not grown up with Dina. While Dina was raised with both of her parents, Mila was the product of an affair. Her mother was an Ackerman whose family had remained hidden under a false name. Dina had learned of her fathers affair when she was a young lady, but it was only after she and Grisha were wed and leading the Restorationists that she decided to seek out Mila. She found her, introduced herself, and begged Mila to join them. But Mila refused, sent her away and told her never to darken her doorstep again. Unfortunately for Mila, someone had seen the Eldian woman leaving Mila’s home outside the internment zone and after Dina and the other captured Restorationists were paraded through town on their way to the ship that would take them to Paradise, that witness turned Mila in. Mila was taken forcefully from her home and had her blood tested, revealing her as not only an Eldian outside the zone, but an Ackerman as well. Her Ackerman blood saved her life but condemned her to the breeding grounds at the Facility where she would suffer even greater than a condemnation to Paradis. During her blood tests, it was discovered that she was pregnant with her husband's child, a fellow Eldian in hiding. He was taken, beaten, and sent on the next boat to Paradis shortly after the one that took Dina and the others. Mila was transported to the Facility where she was allowed to carry her child to term before the baby was taken away. She would get to see her only for feeding and by the time the little girl turned two and no longer needed her mother's milk, she was taken away, pulled from her mother’s arms after her final feeding as both child and mother screamed out for one another.Mila was immediately placed into the breeding program and she suffered four miscarriages over the course of the next seven years. During that time she tried her best to find out about her daughter, about Lilith who shared her amethyst eyes. She learned of her accomplishments and how greatly she impressed the teachers and other three Warrior Ackermans. It was Lilith’s prowess that kept Mila alive because they thought she could produce another child like her first. But eventually they realized something was wrong and decided Mila was no longer worth keeping in the program and once her worth was gone, she was condemned to death. Her final request was to see Lilith just one more time, even if from a distance. It was all she wanted and she would go quietly. During her time in the Facility, Mila had been a constant source of rebellion. She’d killed three of her guards over the years and had severely wounded several others as well as the men sent to rape her for breeding. She was informed of her termination date while surrounded by armed gunmen. They expected a fight but instead she simply took a deep breath and dared let her lips turn into the first smile to grace her face in years. She asked one thing before her death; to see her daughter just one more time. Her nurse had taken pity upon her after spending the last nine years watching her suffer and wither from the beautiful woman she was to the walking corpse she resembled. So she helped her. On the way to the crematorium where she would be killed before having her body burned to ashes, her guard, having been paid off by the nurse, took her by the training grounds. Once there she paused to watch her nine year old daughter take down a full grown man dressed in armor and wielding two blunt wooden swords for weapons. Lilith felt someone watching her and had turned to see the frail looking woman standing by the doorway. Nothing about the woman seemed all that familiar, until she noticed the woman had the same unique violet eyes as she herself had. Upon closer inspection Lilith realized they shared the same dark brown hair color and the same curved button nose, they even had similarly high cheekbones. But despite all the other similar features, it was the eyes that brought a sudden answer to a burning question that had always festered in Lilith’s heart. She had no memories of a mother and had wanted so desperately to know more about where she came from aside from the story given to all those born at the Facility. She wanted to know who her parents truly were, their names, their stories. She often imagined what it would be like to know them and even what they would look like. In all of her daydreaming the one thing she felt certain of was that one of her parents would have shared her eye color. It was so unique and unheard of, it couldn’t have simply come from nowhere. She started to run towards the woman in the doorway, desperate for answers from the person she suddenly knew had to be her mother, but her path was quickly blocked by three of her trainers while the woman was grabbed by two of the guards and dragged away. Mila wanted to cry out to her daughter, to scream she loved her, but she refrained. It would only make things harder for Lilith than she felt certain they already were. So she let them take her away and led her down below where they laid her on a metal table, held a gun to her head and pulled the trigger before rolling the table over to the blazing fire pit and deposited her corpse into the fire. But that singular moment changed the little girl. Seeing her long lost mother, knowing she had lived, and so closely to where she had grown up, but also seeing the results of her mother’s painful life, caused something inside Lilith to shift. She no longer cared to be the greatest Ackerman so as to impress the Marleyan’s. Instead she wanted to destroy them. To tear them down, break them like they broke her mother. She wanted to see them burn until all that remained of them was the ashes in the wind. She just had to wait until the perfect moment to enact her plan. She still needed to be the best but she also needed to learn why she was different from all the others. There was something else inside of her, something she hadn’t cared to question until the day she saw her mother. The moment she saw the same glowing purple eyes that she had only ever seen in her reflection, she knew they meant something. She heard people whispering about it, how strange it was and questioning what it could mean. She may be an Ackerman, but she was also something more, something greater, and it was this hidden power that she knew would lead her to victory over her oppressors. So she trained and she grew stronger every day. By the time she was eighteen and considered an adult, the tides of Marley's many wars were shifting. They were looking to Paradis once more in hopes of obtaining their Founder so as to eliminate the island devils once and for all, allowing them unlimited access to the island's many resources, most valuable of which was ice burst stone. But the Warriors failed and in their failure they lost both the Female and the Colossal to the island. By the time the Beast, Armored and Cart returned, Lilith was approaching her twenty-first birthday. She was immediately intrigued by the famed Warriors phenomenal failure and most of all by tales of the single soldier who had managed to best Marley’s fearsome Beast single handedly. Captain Levi was all they ever referred to him as, even Reiner who had spent time among the military branch known as the Scouts, didn’t know the man’s last name. But Lilith knew. Perhaps the man himself didn’t know, but upon hearing the tales of his strength, his achievements and how he bested the Beast, she knew he was an Ackerman just like she was. He would be the key to her plan of destroying the Marleyan’s which made it all the more satisfying when at last her captors gave her a mission. Go to the island. Spy on the Scouts and kill the Captain.

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Lilith sat quietly in her room on the small cargo ship carrying her to the infamous island. It was a small room, cramped, hot and muggy and her only bed was a mat on the steel floor with a single sheet to cover herself with at night. She wasn’t even granted a chair to sit on, not that this was any different than her time at the Facility. The only real difference here was that she was given a gray sheet and she was allowed to wear something that wasn’t solid black. Though she still preferred black pants, she now wore a light gray shirt. She’d even been allowed to grow her hair out over the course of the last six months since she was given her first assignment. In order to blend in, they had told her, when she got to the island. It felt strange, having roughly six inches of hair. Her long bangs tickled her forehead near the center while the longer strands did the same as they tapered out and around her cheeks and down to her jawline. The back was cut to lay evenly with the shorter strands of the front giving her an overall bob-style haircut. Often she found herself fidgeting with her new hair, pushing it behind her ears only for it to fall back in her face again. She decided she wasn’t a fan of this length and the way it fell into her face, obstructing her view of the world around her. But they told her that keeping it cut so short to her scalp would be an immediate sign she didn’t belong amongst the islanders and so she would have to endure. So with reluctance she tried to accept the ever growing length of her hair with the determination to allow it to grow just long enough to be able to pull it back and out of her face. Which, unfortunately, would take a while longer. A particularly rough wave rocked the small boat and she found herself forced to brace herself against the wall. She was cursing the ever increasing swaying of the boat when a knock sounded on the door to her room. Without being welcomed in, Zeke Yeager opened the door and walked inside. ‘’We are nearing the island but we’ve come into a bit of a storm.’’ He told her, as if she cared about their approach. The only thing she needed to know was when the two of them would be boarding the boat that would take them ashore. The plan was for Zeke to get her to the second Wall, referred to by the islanders as Wall Rose. He would be her protection against the free roaming titans on the island and those still trapped between Maria and Rose. That was of course assuming the Scouts had not already eliminated the ones inside since reclaiming the lands lost following Reiner and Bertholdt's attack six years ago. ‘’You really think this plan of yours is going to work?’’ She questioned him as he closed the door behind him. She took note of the pistol strapped to his side at the hip, reminding herself of the four blades she herself carried. ‘’I suppose that all depends on you, if you can persuade Eren to our cause while also managing to complete your mission to assassinate Levi.’’ Zeke said as he came to stand near her while she herself had moved to her feet. They may be working together, both under Marley’s orders and on a traitorous plot of their own, but as far as she was concerned this man was not her ally. During her time at the Facility, they had tried over and over to get her to achieve the Bond with one of the Shifters. Something had always felt off whenever she trained with Zeke. Like a part of her was drawn to him and simultaneously another wanted to get as far away from him as she possibly could. She knew nothing of their relation until Zeke himself had revealed it to her a few years into their training together. They were first cousins. His mother was Dina and he had learned of Lilith’s mother, Mila, and her connection to Dina after which he managed to piece together their kinship following a lengthy, and secret, investigation. As far as he knew, he was the only soul alive with knowledge of Lilith’s royal blood. Not even the girl herself was aware. He’d been reluctant to reveal their connection to her, but after numerous failed attempts to get her to Bond to him, he thought perhaps their familial relationship would be the final trigger. But even then she hadn’t formed the connection they all so desperately wanted in order to have some form of control on her. But it never happened. She never Bonded with him and in fact she seemed more resistant to him than any of the other Warriors, hence his decision to reveal their familial relationship. While he had told her that their mothers were half sisters, he had not told her about his, and therefore her, royal blood. Not even when he decided to let her in on his plan to win over his half brother, Eren. He told her that together he and Eren could change things, that they could help ensure the eternal freedom of the Eldian race by eliminating them through a passive means of extermination. The Eldian Euthanization plan would see all Eldians changed by the powers of the Founder so that they could no longer have children. No more children born to be spat on, kicked, and beaten. No more children turned into titans or forced into places like the Facility. No more orphans whose parents were condemned to the island or lost to Marley’s many wars after being forced to fight for a motherland that despised them for their blood. No more children like her and perhaps even more importantly to her, no more mothers made to suffer and die like Mila. Lilith had agreed to help him under the guise that she shared his dream, that she believed it was better to never exist rather than be born into this hell. While in a way she did understand the sentiment, often believing both she and her mother would have been better off had one or both of them either died sooner or never been born, that wasn’t her sole motivation for aligning with Zeke. She had plans of her own, plans to take Marley down once and for all. To destroy those that dared keep her from her mother throughout her life while holding the woman against her will as part of a forced breeding in an attempt to recreate the ‘shining success’ that Lilith herself was within the program. In many ways she felt guilty and responsible for her mothers suffering. Her skill and success in the program and her apparent loyalty to Marley made their captors want to make more of her. Thus they wanted her mother to become pregnant again and so they raped her. Over. And over. And over. After seeing her that day on the training grounds, Lilith had tasked herself with a personal mission to learn more about the woman she suspected was her mother and her journey to the truth of her origins had only revealed the depravity of the Marleyan military. She never learned who her father was or if he was among those that raped her mother, but she did learn about the breeding program and how desperately the Marleyans wanted to make more of her. The result was a multitude of miscarriages for her mother before they eventually decided she was incapable of conceiving and delivering successfully a second time. Then she was murdered and they burned her remains to ashes. Her mothers story enraged her and so Lilith was determined to make them suffer for what they had done, not only to her mother but to all of the other women in their breeding program and the children they forced into military servitude. She accepted her fate, the training and even the torture training that came later. After all, it could only make her stronger in the end. She would use her strength to rescue the two children currently too young to train, as well as their unfortunate mothers, and also the young boy who had just recently experienced his Awakening. She would even rescue grouchy Edgar and cynical Alma so that her two eldest teachers could live out the rest of their years in peace. They were both graduates from the program who had served in Marley’s wars before becoming too injured in the field and sent back to the Facility to train Lilith. She would enact revenge on Marley for their role in the torture and forced service of her Ackerman kin. She would bring them down, them and all others who cursed the Eldian people and forced them behind walls and into internment zones. Who viewed them as lesser and used and abused them. She would burn the country of Marley to the ground and she would kill them all. Every. Last. One.Upon being given her first mission and being granted her first chance to leave the Facility, Lilith knew that betraying Zeke and befriending Paradis would be the first steps to achieving her goal. Perhaps most importantly, the man she was sent to kill would be her most necessary ally. But perhaps even more difficult than killing him would be the task of convincing him to join her. She wished she’d tried harder to find a way to talk privately to the POW they brought to the facility. From what she knew, he would know best how to befriend the infamous captain.Lilith forced herself back to the present and out of the ruminations of the past and her current plans, remembering Zeke was in the room with her and that he was trying to have a conversation with her. ‘’If Eren suffered the same fate under your fathers thumb as you yourself did, convincing him to our side should be easy enough. As for the Captain, don’t worry. I can handle him. The real question is which do I work on first? The Captain or the kid?’’ Lilith asked, both she and Zeke still standing and working to balance themselves against the rocking ship being tossed about by the ever growing waves. ‘’I suppose that depends on whether or not you believe the good captain will allow you to live long enough to reach Eren under his nose and whether or not his death will help or hinder swaying Eren to our cause.’’ Zeke told her, seeming to seriously contemplate which avenue would be the better course of action and ignoring the lengthy pause between his last statement and her return remark. ‘’I guess I’ll just have to play it by ear. The first act of my mission is information. Did you manage to get anything from him ?.’’ Lilith asked casually, referring to the newest shifter amongst the ranks of the Warriors and Marley’s POW. While she was not in the least bit concerned with killing the captain, unless she had no other choice, she was still curious about Marley’s new prisoner of war and how Zeke had turned him into the Jaw. So, for the sake of appearances and gathering her own intel, she was happy to continue playing this game a little while longer. Zeke’s job was to get her inside and then leave. Once he was gone she could officially start working on her own plan. But until then there was no one better to help her learn about her ‘enemies’ than one of their very own and so she hoped Zeke would have learned something from the man.‘’I have a similar influence over him as the other titans turned by my spinal fluid, but it isn’t as complete as it is with them nor the way it would be if I possessed the Founder. That said, he hasn’t been very forthcoming with the information we’ve asked of him, even when I’ve ordered him to talk. I think I will have a greater influence on him when he is in his titan form but that will be tested after I return from this. He is strong willed and continued to try resisting my commands during our last session.’’ Zeke said and she knew how loosely the term ‘asked’ was being used. Though she had yet to see him face to face, she had intimate knowledge of the sound of his screams.She knew he was being tortured for information and many of the tortures they were implementing on him were the same as the ones used on her predecessors as well a few she herself had been subjected to. A good Ackerman was strong and durable but also loyal no matter the pain befalling them. Yet another part of her training had been the subjection to and endurance of a good variety of tortures from typical waterboarding and the bloody removal of toe and fingernails to more unique brands of agony saved for Ackerman’s and Shifters. She was glad she wasn’t a Shifter, at least she got to keep her appendages and limbs whereas Marley would cut them off a Shifter because of their ability to grow them back. ‘’It would be nice to have some information from him before going after his famed captain.’’ Lilith admitted, though the information she had wanted wasn’t what would help her kill the captain, but rather to make him an ally. As far as Zeke was concerned, however, she just wanted intel on her target and that was enough to loosen his lips even if only a little. ‘’Use caution, my little Firelily, and whatever you do, do not let them know we captured him. Not only do they not need to know who we have, but I would rather they not know how we obtained him.’’ Zeke warned, using the pet name he had given her, the name she hated.‘’Don’t want the Island Devils knowing they can still be turned into titans even after cardiac death?’’ She teased with a smirk earning her a silent glare in response. Even now, Zeke was loath to admit her theory had been right. Lilith was not only an incredibly talented warrior on the battlefield but she was highly intelligent and drawn to the sciences. Seeing what she herself was capable of both achieving and enduring had made her wonder the intricacies of how the human body worked, especially in comparison to a titan and where she and the other Ackerman’s fell on the scale in between. She was the first person to ever raise the question regarding the cellular level of transformation and whether or not it could be achieved even after cardiac arrest. It came to her after she read a book solely dedicated to the study of cells. In the book it talked about the theory that brain cells live on for a time even after cardiac death. During her time trying to Bond with Ksaver before his titan was given to Yeager she had talked a great deal with him about his research into titans and even how Eldian’s were transformed into them and why no one else could be turned. His theory was that it was something on the molecular level, something Marley was only just learning how to study as their technologies were growing. They were in the process of developing microscopes capable of observing things on the cellular level but had not perfected it yet. So during one of her ‘sessions’ alone with Zeke, she had asked him his thoughts on the matter, knowing he was close to Ksaver and should also have access to Ksaver’s memories. He at first brushed it off as impossible but when she brought up Mr Ksaver and his research, Zeke actually considered her theory. He’d had many dreams and memories of Ksaver’s time with Lilith and he knew she was brilliant. This knowledge also made him all the more wary of aligning with her, wholeheartedly believing she was up to something of her own and therefore she could not be completely trusted.‘’Didn’t mean to ruffle your fur, Beasty.’’ She teased back with her own non-unique nickname for him after a prolonged glare from him.  ‘’Regardless, he hasn’t given us anything useful for your mission and we cannot wait until he does. The great Lilith, pride of the Facility, should be able to handle this on her own, even without a little extra intel. Right?’’ Zeke smirked back at her. ‘’Never said I couldn’t handle this, if that’s what you’re trying to imply. I’ll get it done and I’ll get Eren on our side. Just you wait.’’ She replied and this time it was her turn to glare at him.But things would not go so easily for her and would certainly be a lot more bloody than she anticipated. Namely the blood to be spilled would be her own. Eventually Zeke left her to devices once more and the waiting game began again. The ship had to wait out the storm before getting close enough to the shore in order for them to use the rowboat to reach the sandy beach. It was just before dawn when at last they stepped on land again and Lilith was mildly caught off guard by how strange it felt trying to maneuver on dry land after their month at sea. She was quick to recover, needing only a few short minutes to regain her bearings and balance, but it was still off putting to have needed the adjustment period at all. It was something she was unaccustomed to and therefore something she didn’t like. She’d been allowed to drink alcohol in order to test her tolerance and how quickly she recovered during which she discovered that alcohol barely had an effect on her even after an entire bottle of whiskey was downed. This had resulted in them deciding to test what else had little effect on her.They tested her resilience to drugs and even poisons, including a test of the most deadly poisons known to man. Not wanting to lose their specimen, they first tested each substance with her blood to see how it would react. When they deemed something safe enough to try on her actual body, she was subjected to it, usually either by consumption or injection. The stronger poisons had caused her to become violently ill but even then she had retained most of her strength and speed. At least enough to subdue her attackers during the tests.So even being poisoned had not affected her the way the transition from sea to land had and regardless of how short lived the imbalance had been, she didn’t like it and it soured her already normally bitter exterior. Fortunately for the Marleyan’s they only had to drop her and the Beast off and then return to their ship, while Zeke was subjected to her questioning of why she felt the way she did followed by her complaining about it. She also complained about how little the transition seemed to affect him and she wasn’t exactly pleased with his reply that he was simply used to it from traveling so much as a soldier. The Marleyan’s and their rowboat were half way back to the ship when Zeke transformed and lifted Lilith onto his shoulder, both completely unaware that their arrival was witnessed by none other than the man Lilith was sent to kill.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Levi was on patrol along the beach when he recognized the familiar yellow flash of a titan transformation. He hurried his horse forward and felt his stomach churn upon seeing the very monster he had failed to kill last year. But perhaps even more disturbing than the Beast’s sudden return to the shores of Paradis was the woman he carried on his shoulder.

It was hard to make out her features from a distance, but he could see she was small with short dark hair. His blood boiled and he wanted nothing more than to charge ahead and kill the Beast, rip his titan to shreds and carve up the man inside. But he was at a disadvantage out here on the coast with nothing to hook to for his ODM gear and no way of sneaking up on the monster without being spotted.

The Beast took off at a brisk walk in the direction of Maria and Levi had no choice but to turn around and report his findings to Hange. They had made camp about a mile north of where he was now, having just reached the sea earlier in the week. So Levi kicked his horse into a gallop and rushed back to camp, wondering what the Beast's return could possibly mean and who the woman was that he carried on his back.

When he arrived back at camp, the sun was beginning to burn brightly along the horizon and Levi rushed through the campsite to Hange’s tent, shouting orders as he went for all troops to begin preparations for deployment back to the Walls.

‘’Levi?’’ Hange called out as she took in the extra stiffness to his movements and the blanched white skin of his clenched fists.

‘’The Beast.’’ Levi said and Hange’s tired eye widened with alertness. ‘’I saw him about a mile south. He was the only titan but he had a woman on his back. She might’ve been the holder of the Cart Titan but I don’t know. They left heading back towards the Walls.’’

‘’I doubt the woman was the Cart. Considering the fact that when we last dealt with them, the Cart was likely the spy that warned them of our approach, I can’t imagine them needing to be carried instead of simply transforming.’’ Hange said, her chin pinched between her finger and thumb in contemplation.

‘’Regardless, we can’t stay here. We need to move. Now.’’ Levi said and Hange agreed.

They decided they couldn’t simply leave the coast unguarded and so they elected to leave Levi’s squad. There was a brief debate of leaving both of their titans, but eventually they decided they were more effective on the coast in the event the other Marleyan Shifters arrived or if any ships carrying soldiers landed on their shores.

Levi gave the orders and left Armin and Jean in charge. Armin was to be their main strategist however in the event he needed to use his titan, command would shift to Jean. Both soldiers saluted and accepted their orders and then Levi and Hange along with the majority of the newer recruits all left in the direction of the Walls. 
 
----------
 
It took five days for Zeke and Lilith to reach their destination. They had quickly come to terms with the fact the Scouts had apparently eliminated the vast majority of titans outside the Walls which also meant they had also probably done away with those inside as well, meaning Zeke could simply drop her off somewhere along Wall Maria rather than having to get her all the way to Rose.

The Beast hardened his fingers and toes to allow himself to climb one of the jutted columns along the Wall approximately halfway between Shiganshina to the south and Quinta to the west. Once atop the Wall, the Beast looked around to ensure there were no witnesses to their arrival and then began his descent. When at last he reached the bottom, he spoke in that deep, gravely voice of his titan that always had her skin crawling whenever she heard it.

‘’You can make your way to a town from here. It seems there are no titans left on the island and so you don’t need me for protection.’’

‘’Fine. Just put me down and go. You smell like a wet dog.’’ She growled back at him, feeling that nauseous feeling building in her stomach that always came anytime she came in contact with his titan. It was like her body physically rejected his mere presence, even more so his actual touch. His human form wasn’t much better in the way it caused her to physically react to him. But in his titan form it was so much stronger. It just felt wrong. Everything about being near him, hearing his voice, feeling the slightest of touches from him, all of it felt wrong. She didn’t even like to spar with him just because of how strange and ill she felt around him and she hated whenever she trained with him in his titan form.

It wasn’t always this way. She’d met him before, when he was still just a candidate. Back then it felt just like being around anyone else. But after he inherited his titan she had noticed the change in her body immediately the next time she’d seen him. Her physical response had been so abrupt and unexpected she hadn’t been able to hide it. Since then she had learned to quell the urge to vomit and hide how ill she would get, largely thanks to the intense training she’d undergone that required her to learn to hide how she felt, to show no fear, no pain, not even illness.

So when Zeke wrapped his hairy titan hand around her to let her down to the ground, she suppressed the urge to retch and even the fiery tingle that danced along her spine when her hands were forced to find purchase along his fingers in order to keep her balance. The moment he set her down and they were no longer touching, the burning along her spine ceased and most of the nausea disappeared along with it.

‘’Thanks for the lift. See ya around, Beasty.’’ She said with mock salute as she turned away and began walking directly north, assuming she would find her way to either a small village or eventually to one of the Walled Cities.

Zeke didn’t return her goodbye, not that she expected him to. Instead he simply turned away and began the journey back towards the coast where the ship would pick him back up and take him home to Marley where he would continue his ‘experiments’ with the new Jaw.

Lilith was surprised when she came across a family traveling the road in a horse drawn wagon. They immediately stopped and offered to give her a ride, even offered her food and water. They were friendly and not at all the devils Marley portrayed the people of Paradis to be. She was skeptical of their hospitality and generosity at first, but the wife had a sweet smile and the husband had kind eyes and they had both passed these traits on to their four children who were loud and rambunctious but still rather adorable.

It was strange being around a family dynamic, something she was never familiar with aside from what she read in books. But she had learned the basics of human communication surrounding friendly and familial ties and despite how foreign it was to witness, it was nice to see it in reality rather than simply trying to imagine it from the pages of her books. She also knew how to blend in and hide how strange she found the kindness of others, how odd the sound of laughter was to her ears and even how shocking she found the children’s energetic shrieking. The first time she heard them her immediate thoughts were that something had happened to them however she quickly discovered they were simply playing with one another.

The sight was oddly endearing and she found herself smiling. Genuinely smiling at the playful children who eventually even managed to get her to join them. She chased them through the weeds, splashed water from the creeks, she even pretended to be a titan while they were fearsome Scouts coming to slay the giant beast. Playing with the kids reminded her of the times she had tried cheering up the other Ackerman children back at the Facility, only this time felt more natural and considerably less depressing. The entire journey with the family back to Trost was the most carefree and light hearted she’d ever felt.

‘’Where to from here, deary?’’ Lina, the mother, asked of her upon their arrival in the city.

‘’I’m not really sure.’’ Lilith confessed. ‘’I’ve thought about joining the military since my mother passed but I’m just not so sure at my age. Most that join are kids and I’m in my twenties.’’ She had fabricated a partially true and believable story to tell everyone about her origins. Her mother died, she had no father, no other family, and she was on a journey to find her new purpose in life.

‘’Well anyone can join, so long as they’re fit and capable.’’ John, the father, interjected. ‘’S’pose it just depends on where ya think the military will take you. Lotsa folks joining the Scouts these days thanks to the titan’s bein’ gone.’’

‘’The Scouts are intriguing, especially with the chance to learn about the outside world.’’ Lilith answered with a practiced smile that didn’t feel as forced when she was around this simple family.

‘’Whatever ya do, just take care.’’ John told her and Lina agreed.

‘’I’ll do my best. Thanks for the lift.’’ Lilith told them and then she hugged each of the four children and she parted ways from the family she’d spent the last ten days with. 
 
---
 
Levi and the Scouts had returned to Trost roughly three weeks prior and there had still been no sightings of the Beast, the strange woman with him, or even any new titans. After the first week had resulted in nothing out of the ordinary, he’d sent three squads back out to the shore with orders for his squad to return to Trost. But he didn’t understand it. Just where the hell had they gone? It was possible the Beast had returned to his human form but even still Levi felt certain he could recognize that bearded piece of shit even without the titan markings around his eyes or Levi’s sword stabbing through his mouth. But what would be the purpose of shifting back? Why would the Beast have come alone with a single woman on his shoulder? What was their goal? Their plan? He was making another patrol along the outskirts of the Trost HQ, trying once more to decipher what he’d missed, when he suddenly heard Hange shouting in excitement.

He kept his steady pace and shifted in her direction however the moment she came in to view his blood ran cold.

She was talking to a woman. The woman was petite but well built, with shapely hips and muscular thighs and arms that were accentuated by the tight black pants and accompanying gray shirt she was wearing. She had short dark brown hair, not much longer than his own. She had pale porcelain skin, soft round cheeks, and a pointed chin. But her most defining feature, and perhaps the thing that settled ice into his veins and fire in his heart, was her eyes.

Angular, cat eyes with thick dark lashes surrounding dark amethyst irises. They were unlike any pair of eyes he’d ever seen. No one had eyes like hers, not below ground and not above. Somehow, even though he hadn’t been close enough to see the features of her face, much less the color of her eyes, he knew. This was the woman he’d seen with the Beast. This woman was the enemy.
 
---
 
Lilith was asking Hange about the process to become a Scout when she felt her spine tingling with a sense of danger. The Captain came around the corner, having launched himself in the air and angling himself in her direction as he brought his leg square across her side. She braced herself with one arm up to block his strike and protect her head while her other arm reached for one of the knives concealed along her lower back. She unsheathed her blade and spun ready to strike.

Levi was surprised at the speed with which she not only blocked his kick but also unsheathed a weapon as well as her strength. She was faster than Mikasa and possibly stronger too, judging by the fact she had remained upright. She was no normal human, of that he was certain. He spun around and instantly had two blades affixed to his gear handles only to find she had also retrieved a second weapon.

Their blades clashed as he swung downward towards her collarbone only for her to use both of her knives to block his strike, her blades crossed in an X as she stopped his advance midair. She lunged back and threw one of her knives towards his center while simultaneously grabbing a third and re-equipping herself to prepare another attack. Levi used his sword to deflect the knife and then launched himself forward, propelled by his gear as he moved to stab her straight in the gut.

She parried his advance and dodged his attack but he used the anchor of his gear to prevent her from turning, launching the hook in the direction she intended to spin so as to block her path. She tried maneuvering away from the line now blocking her escape and when she jumped back he shot the other hook directly at her thigh. She deflected the hook enough to prevent it from sinking into the meat of her thigh but it was still close enough to slice cleanly along the edge of her hip.

Levi noticed the blood spraying up from the cut along the curve of her hip just as he also noticed she didn’t even flinch from the wound. Instead she leapt forward in a spinning attack seemingly hell bent on slicing his throat. He ducked beneath her strike and brought his knee up towards her gut only to find her other blade instead.

She stabbed downward at his leg and caught the edge of his thigh, stabbing cleanly through the top and out the side, not really reaching enough muscle to cause damage but certainly a wound that would hurt.

The Captain grunted at the sudden sharp pain brought with the bite of cold steel both as it penetrated and upon its swift removal from his flesh. He used his planted anchors to propel himself further towards her in an attempt to knock her off balance. The anchors reeled him in and he used the awkward angle of their bodies to bring his sword inward against her shoulder blade. She was unable to completely block him this time and his blade found purchase down to the bone.

This time she flinched, but only just. Blood sprayed from the wound and he felt the moment his sword embedded into the bone of her shoulder blade, a debilitating wound to someone unaccustomed to extreme pain, but she only grunted in response and jerked herself free of the sword, ducking down and landing a punch to his ribs.

Levi clenched his abdominals in preparation of her strike as he released his anchors to momentarily retreat. Only then did he hear Hange crying out to him.

‘’LEVI! What the hell is going on?!’’ Hange yelled at him, baffled by his sudden attack on what she initially believed was simply a young, curious woman interested in the study of science. Even more surprising had been the woman's immediate counter attack. No one moved as fast as Levi. No one could withstand the full force of one his kicks. Even Mikasa struggled to remain upright whenever the two of them sparred, and yet this woman had not only remained standing, but she blocked his kick and unsheathed a concealed weapon of her own. On top of that everything had happened so quickly Hange hadn’t even been able to process the fight.

One moment she was conversing with the young woman and the next she was looking between the woman and Levi to see that Levi’s leg was bleeding and the woman was bleeding along her back and hip.

‘’It’s her.’’ Levi seethed, feeling the warmth of his blood staining the white pants of his uniform while watching the amethyst eyed woman who seemed to be ignoring her own wounds and bracing herself for another attack.

‘’Who?’’ Hange asked, looking wide eyed between the two and taking notice of Levi’s squad that had come running up from the training grounds, apparently drawn by the sounds of the fight.

‘’The woman that I saw with the Beast Titan.’’ Levi snarled and before Hange could inquire how he could possibly know for certain, both he and the woman launched back at each other only this time Mikasa joined the fray.

Mikasa had taken in the volume of blood coating Levi’s leg and immediately knew this woman was a threat. If she could make Levi bleed, she had to be abnormal, and if Levi deemed her a threat, then Mikasa believed him. She heard him claim her to be the woman he’d seen with the Beast Titan and even without any further details than simply seeing what the woman was capable of in a fight, she was inclined to believe her captain. So she leapt forward, unsheathed her blades and fought this new enemy alongside Levi.

Lilith felt the blood soaking her shirt along her back and chose to ignore it as she shifted to avoid the man who was undoubtedly the Captain she was sent to kill. She blocked the blades of the woman joining their fight while still avoiding the Captain’s advancement. She had been informed of the other Ackerman, Mikasa, and she could only assume this woman was her.

She’d fought two Ackerman’s before, but not while they were using ODM gear. Didn’t matter. Her cover was all but completely blown now that she’d been forced to fight, her only chance now was winning this battle so that she could try to plead her case and convince them she wasn’t aligned with Zeke. But in order to do that, she had to make it out of this fight alive and with both Ackerman’s charging her in full ODM gear, she needed to focus.

Levi swung a blade low while Mikasa swung high. The amethyst eyed woman dodged his blade and blocked Mikasa’s. He and Mikasa swapped directions and used their gear to change their angles of attack, launching up in the air and back down, bringing the full force of their blades into their strikes only to have them blocked or deflected by the woman’s knives.

They chased her all along the grounds until they were able to back her into a corner. Mikasa shot her anchors and went straight up and above the cornered woman while Levi blocked her in with his wires. He leapt forward in another attack and she again blocked him. When Mikasa came straight down intent on knocking the woman out, she turned and angled one of her knives upwards. As Mikasa descended rapidly, she realized the trap the woman had laid for her and only barely avoided being stabbed in the gut. Levi took advantage of the woman’s turn towards Mikasa and whipped the flat end of his blade along her face, the sharp edge still catching slightly along her cheek.

She spun back from the strike and Mikasa struck her hard in the back of the head with the handle of her gear. The woman staggered and Levi kicked her along her temple, but still she refused to go down. She fell back and both Levi and Mikasa charged at her, kicking at her legs and abdomen until at last she fell and once more Levi brought the heel of his boot across her temple with all his might. At last the woman fell, knocked completely unconscious.

‘’Did we kill her?’’ Mikasa asked, slightly winded from the fight and the amount of maneuvering she had done in her multiple attempts to gain the upper hand on this mysterious woman.

‘’No.’’ Levi said, kicking the woman over and onto her back to see that she was indeed still breathing. Her face was bruised and she was bleeding from the cut along her cheek, and busted lip. Not to mention the cut on her thigh from his gear and the rather long laceration on her back from his blade.

‘’Who the hell is she?’’ Mikasa asked just as the others came over to join them.

‘’Dunno. Right now, don’t care.’’ Levi replied coldly, glaring down at the newest face of his enemy. ‘’Jean. Connie. Get her in a cell. I want her stripped of all weapons and chained to a wall, ankles and wrists both.’’

‘’Sir!’’ Both men saluted and immediately moved to obey his orders.

‘’Mikasa, go with them in case she wakes up before they get her properly detained. I need to clean up.’’ Levi ordered her and didn’t bother to wait for her quieter response before he was turning away and walking towards Hange.

‘’You want me to stitch that up for you?’’ Hange asked, knowing exactly where things were headed from here.

‘’Yeah. Then I’m going to the cells and when she wakes up that bitch is gonna talk.’’ Levi seethed, not even stopping to answer his commander and instead continuing to walk back towards the barracks while Hange simply fell in line beside him.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Hange cleaned and stitched Levi’s leg quickly and efficiently. Once his wound was dealt with he made his way to the showers to clean up and change clothes. He decided on black pants and a gray long sleeve shirt, no point wearing his uniform for what he had planned next.‘’Who do you think she is?’’ Hange asked as they made their way down into the cells. She’d seen the damage to Levi’s leg as well as the bruises along his body from the fight. No one, not even Mikasa had ever wounded or bruised him like this in all the years she’d known him. Even his two fights with Kenny a couple of years prior hadn’t resulted in wounds like this. This woman was special, she had no doubt, and she also had a theory.‘’Dunno. But judging by her strength and speed, I’d be willing to wager she’s an Ackerman. That, or another product of titan and human experiments.’’ Levi answered plainly, coming to the same conclusion that Hange had. ‘’If she is an Ackerman, doesn’t that mean she should be loyal to the royal family? At least according to the chapters related to the mysterious bond between Ackermans and Eldian Royalty.’’ Hange said as she recalled the books they had found hidden in the Royal Archives. They had only found a few that referenced the Ackerman’s and from what they had read it seemed Ackerman’s were a product of Titan biological engineering and also tended to be extremely loyal to the royal bloodline, or whomever activated the supposed genetic desire to protect and obey.Levi had thought it was all a bunch of nonsensical bullshit and had strictly forbidden Hange from mentioning any of it to Mikasa. She had a fucked up sense of loyalty to Eren already, last thing she needed was thinking her desire to protect him came from her blood and not her heart. ‘’I told you, I don’t believe in the bullshit you read in that book. There is no such thing as bonding or whatever you call it. At least not that kind.’’ Levi couldn’t deny that bonds existed, after all he’d felt one with Erwin and even with Hange. But he didn’t believe for a single second that it was because of his blood. He chose who he was loyal to for no other reasons than he believed in them and the kind of person they were. ‘’Commander, Captain.’’ Jean saluted as the two arrived in front of the cell containing the mysterious woman. ‘’At ease.’’ Levi told him. ‘’She awake yet?’’ ‘’No, sir. She’s moved some and made a few noises, but she hasn’t come to, yet.’’ Jean told him and Levi simply hummed in response before dismissing the young man. He had a lot planned for this woman and he didn’t need the violence he was about to unleash on her to further scar the minds of his squad. He and Hange then entered the cell and Levi immediately took out a knife and cut away the woman’s clothes, leaving her in nothing but her bra and underwear. She was lying on her back atop the bed, the wooden headboard against the wall with her arms extended upward from the tension in the chains around her wrists. Her ankles were bound together and the chain connecting them was anchored to the floor at the foot of the bed.‘’Should we check on the wound to her back?’’ Hange asked, not exactly eager to hurt the young woman she’d spoken so briefly to and also not wanting her to get sick with infection from such a nasty wound. ‘Whatever.’’ Levi said, and he moved to loosen the chain enough so that they could rotate the woman and examine her back. As Levi was tightening the chains into position again, he heard Hange gasp softly. ‘’I don’t think she’s gonna talk easily unless she wants to.’’ Hange said and before Levi could ask why, he turned his attention from tightening the chains to looking at the now exposed back of their prisoner.Aside from the gaping, bone deep wound on her shoulder, her back was littered with scars. Some appeared to have come from blades while others were clearly burn scars. She looked like she’d even been whipped judging by the multitude of crisscrossing lines. The knife wounds were all meticulously placed, measured and carved deep. The burn scars all looked like the end of a hot poker from a fire. He turned his gaze from her scarred back and took in the rest of her. The scars continued down her arms and legs too and he noticed how crooked some of her nails grew, suggesting she’d lost them all more than a few times. No wonder she hadn’t flinched when he’d wounded her with his anchor. She had clearly endured much, much worse than a wound like that. ‘’Levi, I...I don’t think I can help you hurt her.’’ Hange said, her one remaining auburn eye blown wide as she looked over the scarred body of the young woman. It hurt her heart to even consider what this woman had endured in her young life because many of the scars looked old, several years and maybe even a decade or more. She’d been tortured even as a kid. ‘’Who could have done all of this?’’ ‘’Someone who wanted to make sure she was worth risking getting captured. Someone who wanted to ensure she wasn’t the type to break easy.’’ Levi answered, outwardly seeming unaffected by the sight in front of him. ‘’Torture training?’’ Hange asked, appalled at the mere idea of putting people, children, through that kind of agony. ‘’There’s no doubt she came from Marley. Question is what did they send her here to do and why did they pick her?’’ Before Hange could formulate a response, the woman was groaning and began to shift on the bed. Levi immediately tightened the chains, not wanting to risk her threatening Hange. ‘’Where am I?’’ Lilith asked, feeling her head throb from the assault on her temple and her back lancing sharply with pain along her shoulder. Not to mention the incredible ache throughout her entire body from the fight and beating she’d taken from both Ackerman’s. She hadn’t been this sore or this hurt in a long time. ‘’A cell and that’s all the answer you get.’’ Levi snarled down at her. He turned to Hange and told her to leave and just bring him whatever he would need to clean up the woman's current, and future wounds. Hange left, uncertain what else to say or do. ‘’Wanted me all to yourself, Captain?’’ Lilith asked, bracing herself for whatever pain he intended to unleash on her. She tried not shivering from the cold, it only made her ache more, but she was fully exposed to him and her only worry was that he was a sick bastard who enjoyed taking advantage of women. It was the only thing she’d never had forced upon her and she wasn’t sure how she would handle that level of violation.‘’In a way. Don’t have to worry about others feeling sorry for you if there’s no one else around.’’ Levi told her plainly, trying to remain unaffected by the evidence of misery carved along her body. ‘’So, first things first. Who are you?’’‘’You won’t believe me even if I tell you.’’ Lilith told him and without warning, Levi punched her straight along her wounded shoulder blade, splitting the wound open again and causing her to bleed once more. She grunted and grit her teeth at the pain, but otherwise made no sounds to show just how incredibly his strike had hurt. ‘’That’s not an answer. I’ll ask again. Who are you?’’ Levi asked, ignoring the ache in his knuckles from hitting her directly along the bone of her shoulder. ‘’Lilith Ackerman.’’ She ground between her teeth, deciding to play along for the moment. After all she’d never intended to lie about who she was. Perhaps she considered foregoing her surname in the beginning, but she imagined these people already had suspicions after the fight, might as well confirm at least this much. ‘’Where is the Beast Titan.’’ Levi demanded. ‘’Dunno, suppose he’s almost back to Marley by now.’’ Lilith answered truthfully and The Captain seemed to believe her, for now. ‘’Why are you here?’’ Levi asked, choosing to believe she’d been left alone only because all the evidence, or lack thereof, they had so far gathered pointed in that direction. ‘’Ah, now we come to our first hurdle.’’ She smarted back and Levi chose to kick her shoulder this time in order to keep his hand a little cleaner.She hissed from the pain and took a few deep breaths before regaining enough control to appear unaffected by the agony radiating through her shoulder, into her arm and down her back, even up and into her neck. It hurt, the bone was bruised, the skin burned and the raw exposed flesh felt like she was being cut open all over again. But she would not break. She needed to know who she was dealing with before giving up her plan and besides, the way things were going she’d be better off killing him than siding with him. He was a sick bastard who enjoyed having power over others, just like Marley wanted all of their Ackerman’s to be. He would’ve fit right in back at the Facility. ‘’Why are you here.’’ Levi demanded again. ‘’Cause I wanted to see the island devils for myself, maybe even try to make a few friends.’’ Lilith smarted back and then braced herself for another strike against her throbbing shoulder. But none came.Instead she heard the tell tale sound of a knife being slowly unsheathed. She listened as Levi walked around to the head of the bed where her arms rested and she resisted the instinct to recoil away from him as he grabbed one of her suspended hands. He softly poked the tip of his knife beneath her fingernail and waited for a reaction. She gave none. So he pressed further and further until the knife began to slowly cut into the skin between the nail and her finger, lifting the nail up as he pressed on.He felt the muscles of her arm tense but otherwise she showed no reaction to the pain. He pushed onward, slowly carving his way completely through until he reached the cuticle. Without warning he wrenched the knife back, taking the fingernail with it and leaving her fingertip bloody and raw.She was still silent.Without asking again, he proceeded to remove a second nail, this time from her middle finger. Again the muscles of her arm tightening were the only reaction she had, even as he ripped the second nail from the bed of her finger, she remained silent and still. Flesh wounds weren’t enough. He would have to break bones. He wiped his blade clean, continuing the silence around them, and proceeded to return it to its sheath. He then grabbed her pinky finger and without warning bent it at a ninety degree angle to the side, breaking the bones of her finger and even tearing the small ligaments in the process. She tensed but still uttered not a single sound, only a sharp intake of breath and then she was breathing normally again, as if she felt nothing. Tired of the games, he grabbed one of her chained wrists with one hand and used the other to strike her elbow, bending it in the wrong direction with enough force to obliterate the joint and push the broken bone out and through the skin around it. This time she grunted, her eyes closed tightly and she ground her teeth. ‘’You ready to tell me why you’re here? I can keep this up all day, you’ve still got plenty of bones left.’’ Levi warned her, wanting her to just confess so that he didn’t have to keep hurting her. She’d clearly hurt enough in her life and he didn’t like being another one of her tormentors when she had so obviously had a great many of them before him.‘’Curiosity.’’ She ground out between her teeth, her arm throbbing with pain as she felt blood running down from her now mangled elbow to blend with the blood oozing from her back. ‘’You know what they say about curiosity and the cat.’’ Levi spoke calmly, readying for his next strike, this time to her knee.‘’Guess it’s a good damn thing I’m not a pussy.’’ She snarled at him, bracing herself for the next wave of agony he was sure to unleash only for the sound of a creaking door to halt his next assault. Hange walked down the stone stairs and into the cell block to see Levi standing next to the bed with the woman still on her belly, her back covered in blood from the wound to her shoulder, blood running down her hand from her fingertips, trailing into the blood from her compounded elbow. It made her pause in her steps, but the silence in the cells had her feet moving again, fearful that perhaps the woman had died. ‘’Did you kill her?’’ Hange couldn’t help asking, having braced herself for cries, screams, or at the very least grunts and groans. Anything but silence. ‘’No.’’ Levi bit back and stepped aside enough for Hange to see the woman’s face.‘’Come to join the party, Commander?’’ Lilith smarted at the woman who had been so friendly to her when she was asking about titans, the same woman who left her alone with this monster. ‘’Actually, I came to tend to your wounds, the ones you had before. I didn’t expect, or rather I had hoped not to come back and find so many more already.’’ Hange confessed and Lilith scoffed in reply. ‘’I’ll take care of it Hange. Get back upstairs.’’ Levi practically ordered his commander. ‘’Yeah, fine, ok.’’ Hange said, reaching the medical supplies through the cell bars and placing them on the floor. She made a considerably swifter exit than her slow entry had been. She felt bad for leaving the task of obtaining information solely to Levi, but something about this woman, the light she’d seen in her curious eyes while they spoke compounded with the array of misery carved into her flesh, and Hange just couldn’t stomach hurting her. Once Hange was gone and Levi heard the door close behind her, he turned back to the woman lying prone before him. She was starting to sweat despite the cold air of the cell block and her broken left arm was beginning to tremble enough to rattle her chain ever so slightly. ‘’I’m gonna ask again, and your answer will determine whether I start putting you back together again or if I keep going.’’ Levi said lowly, his voice as level and calm as if he were talking about tea rather than continuing to torture her. Until he asked her why she was here and it was then she realized that there was something else, something in his voice that she’d only noticed when he mentioned the Beast. It was an underlying tension in his tone, almost indicative of a painful rage. Something no one else could probably hear, but she had been taught to listen for everything. The slightest changes in breathing pattern, the pitch of a person's voice, the words they emphasized and the words they whispered. Every change was indicative of something, every inflection had a meaning behind it and she was learning the changes in the Captain’s tone. ‘’I’ll answer your question, if you answer one of mine.’’ She said, trying her best to also keep a level tone so as to hide her pain as much as she could. ‘’That’s not an answer.’’ Levi growled and he stomped down on her foot, bending and breaking her ankle with a loud snapping sound that echoed off the brick cell walls. She gasped and grunted at the sudden sharp pain in her ankle, the way it lanced up her leg and through her foot, so intense the muscle of her calf was beginning to lock up. She never thought she could ever feel enough pain to consider giving in. Marley had broken her fingers before, but never any other bones, apparently fearful of damaging their precious pet. But the Captain didn’t care about permanent damage, his only concern was keeping her alive, as apparent by the medical supplies Hange had brought. It didn’t matter what state she was in, so long as she still lived he would keep this up until he’d broken every single bone in her body or she gave in and answered his questions. But no. She was stronger than the pain, she knew this, she’d experienced it and she’d been praised for it. She could endure, she would just have to learn how to adjust to this new pain and deal with it the same as she dealt with the other pains she’d survived up to this point. ‘’Why are you here?’’ Levi demanded again, growing tired of waiting for an answer and feeling his anger rise. She was an Ackerman sent here from Marley, carried to their Wall’s by none other than the Beast himself. She was here on a mission and he was determined to find out what it was. But perhaps even more important than the need to know her mission was the desperate need to know if she knew other things as well. Maybe, just maybe she would have some of the answers he’d been seeking ever since they had returned to Shiganshina to retrieve the bodies of their fallen comrades. Perhaps she could tell him why one of them wasn’t where he’d left them.‘’Tell me...something....Captain.’’ Lilith struggled to speak normally, her body trembling with pain, her muscles locking up from the way she she tensed all over, her shoulders burning from her arms being held up and forward against the headboard, her arms and hands beginning to tingle as if poked with millions of white hot needles from their lack of steady blood flow. Her wounds throbbed, her head pounded, she was cold but hot, hungry but nauseous, but still she refused to give in. She’d also come to the conclusion that this man wasn’t worth seeking out as an ally. She originally didn’t care for Marley’s orders to kill him, but now she was determined to see them through. ‘’Still not an answer.’’ Levi seethed and she felt the air shift around them as he moved to strike her again. ‘’Wa-!’’ She started to cry out and beg him to wait, but she stopped herself before the full word escaped her lips. She bit her tongue until it bled and held her breath while she tried to prepare herself for another broken bone.‘’Something you wanna say?’’ Levi asked, pausing mid-strike as he moved to break her other ankle. ‘’No.’’ She growled even as she involuntarily shifted from a subtle tremble to a violent all over shake. ‘’So loyal to Marley you’d rather lie there and suffer than just spill whatever it is they sent you here to do.’’ Levi snarled down at her, like he was disgusted anyone could be loyal to a land like Marley.‘’You’re wrong.’’ She hissed, willing to withstand the misery but refusing to let anyone believe she did so only for the sake of a homeland that had taken everything from her.‘’Really? Care to enlighten me then?’’ Levi asked, feeling he’d finally struck a nerve. ‘’I don’t give a single shit about Marley and their wars. But that’s all your getting from me.’’ She bit back at him, refusing to give him anything more but also not wanting even this sick shit to think she cared at all about Marley.‘’If not your homeland, then tell me what you do give a single shit about.’’ ‘’What about you, Captain? What do you care about?’’ She asked in a taunting tone. ’’Finding pleasure in others' pain? Carving your enemies into bits? Or perhaps your emotions are more vested in your comrades? Namely the dead ones, the ones you left behind, the ones you never brought home.’’ Outwardly Levi showed no signs her words had any affect on him, while inwardly his blood was beginning to boil. So she does know what happened. ‘’Does a lowly Marleyan Ackerman even know what it feels like to have comrades to care for?’’ Levi taunted back, having recognized the loneliness in her eyes even as they were fighting and even more so now. No one was coming to help her and she knew it. Either she succeeded in whatever they sent her here to do or she died. Marley didn’t care about her fate so long as she completed her mission and Levi knew that just as much as she herself did. ‘’Tell me, Captain, what hurts more, leaving them behind or coming back to find them gone?’’ She continued to taunt him, knowing she had no way to hurt him physically the way he was hurting her, at least not right now, but she could hurt his heart. The loyalty their POW seemed to have for the Captain, the pain he endured while refusing to speak anything of the Ackerman or his comrades, she knew that kind of loyalty could never be one sided. ‘’Nice try, but your little trick won’t work. So what if we’re missing a few bodies? We’ve left more behind than you could ever fathom, devoured by the titans your people sent here to contain us.’’ ‘’Ah, but what if they were alive after all?’’ She teased and for the first time Levi felt his heart jolt.‘’Impossible.’’ Right?‘’Afraid not.’’ She continued, having finally found the upper hand and willing to twist this torment back on him in any way she could. Her blood turned to fire in her veins as she reveled in the way she could tell he was beginning to falter, to doubt, and to wonder. ‘’You tryna tell me Marley can bring people back from the dead?’’ Levi replied with sarcasm, not even considering such a ludicrous idea.‘’They can if they are Eldian and they just happen to have a little titan serum on hand.’’ Levi froze, icy cold horror clutching his heart in a sudden shock of realization. But he couldn’t let her know, couldn’t let her see his pain, his fear. He was in control of this cell and so he channeled his rage and struck her hard across the temple without warning nor care and she was silenced, her wretched wicked mouth muted for the moment because he needed time to process this sudden possibility. He needed to think. He needed to talk to Hange. --- When Lilith awoke after having been knocked unconscious by the Captain, her head was pounding even harder than last time. It throbbed in her temples and in her eyes, even her ears. It was hard to focus her mind through the pain in her head and even more so when compounded with the burning ache in her shoulders, the tingling fire in her hands and the excruciating throb of her broken bones. She tried listening for sounds of anyone nearby but her pulse pounding in her ears made it difficult. Until a soft voice called out to her from considerably closer than she had expected. ‘’I see you’re awake.’’ Hange said softly and continued to reassure her when she noticed the woman tensing in front of her. ‘’Don’t worry, Levi isn’t here and I have no intentions of hurting you.’’ ‘’Let your dog of a captain do all your dirty work, Commander?’’ Lilith smarted angrily. ‘’Not always, but sometimes, on the rare occasions I can’t stomach something, which isn’t very often.’’‘’Pray tell, what made you unable to stomach my torture?’’ Lilith found no capacity for sympathy in someone who couldn’t handle their own dirty work and had others do it for them. Like the many times she was ordered to torture suspected Restorationists, cutting their fingertips off when they didn’t answer the way she was told they should. Yet another aspect of her training, learning to torture the things she had learned to endure.‘’I saw your scars and I couldn’t bear the thought of being the cause for more, though I suppose I still am seeing as I allowed Levi to interrogate you.’’ Hange answered somberly, looking down at her hands as she sat in a chair next to the bed, her head bowed low, her auburn hair obscuring her face even more than the limited light already did. ‘’Tch.’’ Lilith scoffed, hating that the only thing that kept the Scout Commander from hurting her was sympathy and she proceeded to tell the woman as much. ‘’I don’t need your sympathy, Commander, nor do I want it. So piss off with your pity especially if that’s the only reason you’re in here.’’ ‘’Not entirely, no.’’ Hange confessed and then finally looked the injured woman in the eye. ‘’You told Levi something that I found very interesting even though Levi himself doesn’t believe you. You see, as I told you the first time we spoke, though I am the current Commander of the Scouts as you well know, I am first and foremost a woman of science even if my current responsibilities don’t allow me the time and flexibility required for research.’’‘’My condolences on your terrible predicament.’’ Lilith smarted again, her anger growing with the ever increasing tightness overtaking her entire body. She'd been in this uncomfortable position entirely too long and it was only compounding the pain of her injuries. ‘’I suppose a person like you has never known freedom of any kind, not even the freedom to dream.’’ Hange continued, her tone still soft and sympathetic. ‘’I can logically understand Marley’s decision to train and attempt to utilize an Ackerman. After witnessing the things Levi and Mikasa are capable of achieving, it only makes sense that Marley would want that kind of power for themselves in their dedicated soldiers. What I don’t understand is why you remain loyal to them even after all they have obviously done to you.’’‘’Like I told your cold blooded captain, I’m not loyal to them, I couldn’t care less about Marley.’’ Lilith really hated the thought that these people could actually believe she would endure this kind of misery for a homeland like Marley, especially the Commander who claimed to feel sorry for what she had endured at the hands of such a country.‘’So why? If you truly hated Marley like you claim, why go through all of this instead of just telling the truth? I’m not asking you to answer Levi’s questions, and I won’t have him hurt you for not answering mine, though I also won’t stop him when he comes back to continue his interrogation. I just wanna know why. What could possibly be worth Levi’s wrath if not a strict sense of loyalty to something or someone?’’Lilith contemplated the Commander’s question. She hated to admit it made sense and it would be hard to explain her reasonings without revealing them. But perhaps a small admission, without fully giving her story away, would at minimal appease the Commander and therefore perhaps temper the Captain at least somewhat.‘’I hate Marley.’’ Lilith admitted softly. ‘’They’ve taken everything from me, turned me into a weapon and treated me like a tool and nothing more. I have my own reasons for following my orders so far, and my own reasons for disobeying them, too.’’‘’Thank you.’’ Hange said with a sincere smile. ‘’That sounded like an honest enough answer and I can certainly understand keeping personal reasons to yourself. I will warn that won’t be enough for Levi, but that’s enough for me. For now at least.’’‘’Not sure what that means, but ok.’’ Lilith said, her voice low and betraying her exhaustion.‘’Can I ask one more thing?’’ Hange said softly.‘’I’m the prisoner, here, ask away Commander.’’ Lilith smarted. ‘’Hmm. I suppose that’s true, but we are having a conversation rather than an interrogation, so I thought I’d attempt some semblance of civility for the time being.’’‘’Just say what you wanna know.’’ Lilith barked at her, growing angry with the way the Commander was treating their ‘conversation’ so casually while she herself was laying there, mutilated with broken bones, almost completely naked and covered in her own blood chained to a bed in an underground cell.‘’Is it true that titan serum can bring a person back to life as a titan, assuming their brain cells still live?’’ Hange suddenly turned very serious with her tone as she asked the question she’d come down here to ask.‘’Wanna know if your missing comrade is now a titan shifter?’’ Lilith taunted, knowing this bit of information was her only leverage and not willing to part with it just yet.‘’Yes, I do. The man they took was not only our leader, but a dear friend of mine. It was my order to leave our fallen comrades behind that day and I need to know what fate I subjected him to with my ignorance.’’ Hange confessed, her voice serious but also sincere. There was pain in her voice reflected in her single visible eye, and Lilith thought for a moment she could pity the pain the woman was feeling. ‘’What’s in it for me if I tell you?’’ Lilith asked, wanting to know the stakes. ‘’I won’t let Levi hurt you again, at the very least until all of these wounds are healed, including the broken bones. I’ll keep him off of you completely, so long as you tell me the truth.’’ Hange promised and Lilith barely concealed her surprise at the sudden offer of reprieve for such a small amount of information. Was it worth it? Was giving up her leverage worth a chance to heal without further injury? Yes. Yes it was. Uninjured she could fight back and that was her only chance. ‘’The Beast used his spinal fluid and injected it directly into your comrades brain, activating the still living cells and turning him into a feral titan.’’ Lilith confessed and Hange gasped.‘’He’s alive?’’ She asked, unable to hide the tremor in her voice or the sudden shake to her hands.‘’Your former commander, Erwin Smith, is now the Jaw Titan.’’

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

After questioning Lilith further on the science behind Erwin’s transformation, wanting to know for certain this was indeed a scientific possibility, Hange had left in a rush to inform Levi. Lilith had explained Marley’s research into death and how the brain reacted as well as their attempts to understand the human body on the cellular level. She told them that her best guess was that the transformation of Eldian’s to titan’s occurred on a cellular level within the cerebral spinal fluid contained within the brain and spine which was why spinal fluid was needed for the transformation to occur and also why a feral titan had to devour the spine of a Shifter in order to take their power. She also went on to explain that brain cells don’t all die at once upon cardiac death, thus allowing the still living cells of an Eldian’s brain to be activated if they came into direct contact with titan spinal fluid.

It all made sense and so Hange believed her. Which meant she had to tell Levi. So she rushed up the stairs where she found Levi in the hallway standing still as a statue with murder in his eyes.

‘’Do you seriously believe her?’’ He asked, fearful of believing himself the mere possibility of what their captive was describing. The guilt was already beginning to gnaw at his insides at just the thought of his friend and former commander being turned into a titan and taken by their enemies.

‘’I do.’’ Hange confessed and for a moment she feared Levi was going to punch the stone wall behind him, the way he clenched his fists, his entire body coiled and tensed as if he were ready for battle.

‘’If it’s true, then they have him and there is no telling what they’re doing to him.’’ Levi growled, feeling perhaps the angriest he had ever felt while also feeling like he could hurl at any given moment.

‘’I know.’’ Hange agreed, the tremor returning to her voice. ‘’We have to get him back but I have no idea how, at least not without her help.’’

‘’No. Absolutely not. That bitch can’t help us and even if she offered we couldn’t trust that she wouldn’t betray us.’’ He immediately argued.

‘’I think there is potential here for us to have an incredible ally in her, we just need to connect with her. I believe her when she says she isn’t loyal to Marley and I think her plans involve completely betraying them. That’s the only reason that makes sense as to why she wouldn’t tell you anything while also getting so defensive any time you mentioned Marley. She wants to take them down but she needs allies to do it, same as we need allies to rescue Erwin.’’ Hange tried to reason with Levi and she could see that despite his resistance to her, as usual, he understood her point no matter how reluctant he may be to admit it.

‘’So what, we go in, offer to leave her be and let her join the ranks in exchange for information and help rescuing Erwin?’’ Levi asked, knowing the answer to his question but wanting to hear it out loud anyway.

‘’That’s exactly what we do.’’

Levi huffed in annoyance and walked away without another word, deciding to get in there and at least begin working on their attempt at an alliance with this strange woman. Which meant he had to start by tending all of the wounds he had given her.

He walked back into her cell without uttering a single word. She kept the silence between them and he could see the tension in her body from both the pain she was in as well as what could only be anticipation for more. Levi grabbed the alcohol bottle and without warning, poured the burning liquid over the gaping wound along her shoulder blade. This time she hissed at the burn, her body writhing as she fought with herself to keep still in an attempt to avoid irritating her numerous other wounds. Her eyes were clamped shut and she ground her teeth in agony.

‘’You...should....work on...your...bedside......manner,..Captain.’’ She ground out the words, her body feeling like she’d been set on fire with the burn of the disinfecting liquid.

‘’Apologies, never went to medical school, so this is as good as it gets.’’ Levi smarted in reply and proceeded to douse her again, this time over her compounded elbow.

She gasped and groaned, unintentionally pulling on the chains around her wrists and further irritating her broken arm which only made her groan even more. Marley had trained her well in the art of tolerating great pain, but her broken bones were a form of pain she wasn’t as accustomed to dealing with and it was getting harder and harder to keep herself quiet.

Without warning or explanation, Levi unlocked the link around her left wrist, letting her broken arm fall limply on the bed. Before she could ask what he was doing, he forced the bone back into the mangled flesh and jerked the joint back into realignment. She cried out with the pain of maneuvering the raw flesh and the throbbing bones. She hissed and groaned between her teeth, trying to force herself back into silence and while he was still angry with her, Levi was also a little impressed she had yet to scream at this point. He’d seen grown men wailing like infants with wounds less than these, tears and snot coating their faces and here she was, still enduring and trying her best to hide her agony.

Levi ignored her misery, hoping this, as well as the fact she had already spoken about Erwin would be enough to continue to loosen her lips. He prepared a needle and thread while she remained silent, her heavy breathing the only indication she gave of how much pain she was in, even as he proceeded with sewing back the skin he’d just torn open. He closed the wound around her broken elbow and made a splint to hold it in position, partially bent as if he wanted it to heal properly. He then moved on to stitching the wound along her shoulder blade.

Throughout the process for both, she remained silent and he could tell she was beyond exhausted.

‘’I’m gonna take the rest of the chains off so you can sit up and I can properly wrap this bandage around your shoulder as well as take care of everything else. Fight me, or resist in any way, and I’ll break your other arm along with both your damn legs.’’ Levi warned her.

‘’Why are you even bothering with this?’’ She grit out angrily, almost more infuriated with his tending than his torture.

‘’Because I have no intention of letting you get an infection. I’ll bleed you dry and break every bone in your body before I let you get sick and spread filth to anyone else.’’

‘’How shitting sweet of you.’’ She hissed back and Levi decided for once maybe he should try a different approach. Hange wanted Lilith as an ally and considering the damage he’d done to her body, simply putting her back together again wasn’t going to be enough.

‘’I overheard your conversation with Hange and I intend to follow her orders not to interrogate you further, though the pain of putting you back together can’t be helped.’’ He began as he finished stitching the wound on her shoulder, his voice soft in a way she hadn’t expected and truly didn’t think he was capable of.

‘’This your way of saying thanks for the info?’’ Lilith asked, hiding her surprise that Levi would so readily agree to Hange’s terms as well as how gently he tried to be while he was stitching her back together. Whether it was his desire to be precise, or something else, she didn’t know. But despite the cruelty with which he had maneuvered her arm and even doused her in alcohol, his sutures were tender. As tender as suturing could be.

‘’If that’s what you wanna call it.’’ Levi replied after he tied the final suture and shifted to her broken ankle which he snapped back into place once again without warning.

Lilith cried out at the sudden pain and she began panting heavily, so consumed with pain that it was getting hard to concentrate on anything more than breathing. She was still trying to regain control of her breathing as she felt him finally begin to remove the shackles around her ankles after which he proceeded to the last one at her wrist

She hissed at the ache in her shoulders and followed it with a subtle groan of combined relief and pain. While it felt so much better to no longer have her shoulders contorted in such a way, she had been in that awkward position for so long it hurt trying to move even the slightest.

‘’Can you sit up on your own or do I need to help you?’’ Levi asked, somehow managing to sound both sincere and also irritated.

‘’Gimme a minute, Captain.’’ Lilith hissed. She tried using her right arm to push herself up enough to rollover while bending her aching knees so that she could sit up. Her entire body was stiff and it was hard to move.

Levi patiently waited while she slowly maneuvered herself into a sitting position along the edge of the bed. Once she had finally sat up, he grabbed the bandages and splinting materials and got to work splinting her ankle in place. When he finished her ankle he told her he was going to apply some ointment to her open wounds that would help keep away infection but also had numbing qualities to it.

‘’If you're expecting me to thank you for this, it’s not gonna happen.’’ She told him, her voice lacking the full bite she had intended as she felt herself growing weaker with exhaustion.

‘’I wouldn’t thank me either, I’m just trying to tell you what I’m doing so you don’t get jumpy on me and fuck up my splints and stitches.’’

‘’Glad to know it’s all for your own benefit.’’

‘’If it were up to me, I’d still be breaking your bones until you tell us why you're here. Loath as I am to admit, Hange is usually right and she thinks we’re better off as allies than enemies. So no, this is for neither of our benefit, it’s for Hange. And for Erwin.’’

The softness in his voice when he said Erwin’s name had Lilith pausing. There was pain there, more than just that of a lost leader. There was sorrow and guilt and perhaps even a bit of longing, too.

‘’You don’t want to know what they’ve done with him, but I’ll gladly tell you.’’ She mocked, not wanting to seem empathetic to the man who had just tortured her.

‘’You’re right, I don’t. But I need to know.’’ Levi confessed softly, his guilt eating away at him enough to loosen his lips.

‘’Not that I sympathize with you for your loss, Captain, after all what could a lonely Marleyan trained Ackerman such as myself possibly know or understand about caring for and losing comrades.’’ She mocked again as Levi finished applying ointment to her fingers, having already put it on her shoulder and elbow which were both starting to hurt less and less with each passing minute. ‘’But if I didn’t know better, I’d say you sound guilty and that you only wanna know what happened to him in order to punish yourself with the knowledge of what you condemned him to.’’

‘’You can try to analyze me all you want, but I’m not telling you shit so might as well drop the theatrics. You couldn’t care less about us, him or anyone else.’’ Levi bit back at her. ‘’Not once have you threatened us with your comrades, with the Beast or Marley, not even any other Ackermans. You're alone, bitter and angry and with no one to call an ally much less a friend or more. You care about no one and no one cares about you. You don’t even care about yourself Which is why I know I’ll eventually find out why you're here. Because eventually you’re gonna want to tell someone, anyone who will listen. You’re a sad little girl and nothing more, so don’t go trying to tug on my emotions when your own broken heart is the one looking for an outlet.’’

‘’I’m not sad.’’ She scoffed, looking away from him as she felt a rawness she’d never known before, an ache deep within her chest stirred up by his words. He read her so easily and so accurately it was astounding and also infuriating. Because he was right. She did care for no one, not truly, and certainly no one cared for her. Yes she worried about the three kids back at the facility and her two grouchy Ackerman trainers, but she didn’t care about them in the way Levi and Hange seemed to care about Erwin, or the way Erwin cared about them. No one was loyal to her and she was loyal to no one. She was alone. A weapon that wasn’t supposed to have feelings. She could normally appear unaffected by anything and everything, her pain or the pain of others. She never showed fear and had certainly never known a moment of happiness. It was this outward control that had always truly impressed her captors.

But the truth was she did hurt, she did want to cry, only she didn’t know how and had certainly never felt free enough to let herself learn. She kept her emotions locked away, buried in the deepest recesses of her heart and mind, never to be considered or felt. It was this denial of emotions that seemed to give her current captor the insight he needed to work on breaking her without laying another hand on her. She could only assume he understood her loneliness because he’d felt it too.

He understood having no one and also having to hide what he truly felt, never allowed to appear vulnerable, never allowed to openly grieve his situation or losses, never allowed to show his humanity. She was a weapon built for Marley and he was one for Paradis. Regardless of their different histories, she suddenly realized how similar they both were and she could only guess he had the same realization, just sooner than she did, which was why he knew what to say to truly hurt her.

‘’You say you’re not sad, but aside from the inability to cry you’re the saddest person I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something.’’

‘’If that’s the case, then take a look in the mirror. You’re no better than I am.’’ She growled back at him as he finished wrapping her shoulder. She had ignored his hands on her body as he wrapped the bandages around her, so focused on the things he said and how they made her feel that she hadn’t even realized he was touching her. She hadn’t realized he’d been close enough that she could smell the scent of tea that lingered to his clothes and even how it seemed to overpower the metallic smell of her blood and the musty stench of the cells. Until he pulled away and the scent disappeared.

‘’Why do you think I’m the one who got the pleasure of interrogating you?’’ Levi replied as he finally looked her in the eyes.

It was only then, when he had finally finished, that she truly took note of how gentle he had been while wrapping her wounds. He was brutal in his torture, brash in his words and even harsh in the way he cleaned her wounds and reset her bones, but there was gentleness to the way he wrapped them that she hadn’t noticed until it was gone. Perhaps because his touch was so soft it was like she wasn’t being touched at all. The way he delicately wrapped the bandages, taking great care to place them where they should be and to also not wrap them too tightly, as if he were ensuring he did it as correctly and precisely as he possibly could. That was the only thing that made sense to her, because there was no way he had been so gentle wrapping her up for the simple sake of not adding to her pain.

‘’So, the great Captain Levi is just as sad as his lowly little prisoner.’’ Despite her teasing words, they were spoken softly, no longer angry as she stared into his eyes, a mixture of gray and blue reminiscent of storm clouds, and like the clouds, she guessed so much more lay beyond their surface, the outward appearance a mask to cover the depths of the storm raging within.

‘’I wouldn’t say just as sad, only that of everyone here, no one else knows the type of isolation you’ve experienced.’’ He surprised her with his openness, and yet it also angered her.

‘’How could you possibly know what I’ve been through and how I feel?’’ She seethed, her momentary softness gone, the exact reaction Levi had expected and was silently hoping for. Because now he had her.

‘’Born and raised, likely, in some type of designated facility dedicated to training soldiers, perhaps even one solely for Ackermans.’’ Levi began, ready to tear her apart once more only this time from the inside out. ‘’Kept away from all others, treated like an outsider, like a freak. Taught to fight for your life in all circumstances, to be loyal to those who were abusing you because it wasn’t abuse, it was discipline. Forced to hurt others while enduring your own pain. Never allowed to express your emotions, never allowed to voice your thoughts. A weapon and nothing more, certainly not a living, breathing, bleeding human being. Scars litter your flesh from what they made you endure because according to them it would only make you stronger. When at last you achieved whatever greatness they claimed you could be, you were still an outcast. Still set aside, still a weapon waiting for use and serving no other purpose.’’

Levi paused, watching how her eyes narrowed back at him, how she kept her composure but her breath had hitched, her uninjured hand was balled into a fist that he could see she wanted to hold tighter and was having to force herself not to. He had her and he knew it.

‘’Your whole life, you wanted a purpose, a reason to exist that wasn’t what Marley gave you. Maybe you even dreamed of one day bringing them down. Yet here you are, beaten and bloody in a cell, captured by the island devil's you hate because that’s what they told you to do, to hate them and to hate yourself for sharing in their blood.’’ Levi paused again as he noticed the twitch in her eyes, how she wanted to glare at him, to scream at him, how she was doing her best to hide the effect his words had on her. She could try to hide, but he could still see it. Every word he said was eating away at her, bit by precious bit.

‘’If you’ve figured me out so easily, why torture me for information?’’ Her voice was low, a soft growl despite her efforts to rein herself in.

‘’Because I wanna know why you’re here. What mission did Marley give you?’’

‘’And what will you do if I tell you?’’

‘’Depends on the answer.’’

She stared back at him, internally seething because how dare he mock her like this. How dare he look down on her like she was beneath him, like somehow her pain meant nothing, like her past was just one more thing for him to use against her, to further the ever lingering pain of her scars.

‘’What makes you think you’re right about anything you’ve said?’’ She dared ask, as if her reaction weren’t the confirmation he needed. But then she continued. ‘’Is it because you're a freak, too? A weapon your so-called-comrades hide behind on the field of battle because they know you’ll protect them and yet once back to safety they avoid you like the plague because they fear you? Humanity’s Strongest sets such a high standard, who would dare cross paths with a man carrying such a title? You say you understand my isolation, why? Because you're a sad, lonely little man? Because in the end no one truly cares about their weapons of war, only that they remain useful and that they can be disposed of the moment they aren’t.’’

Levi stared back at her, giving no indication at all that he cared for a single word she said.

‘’Lets cut the bullshit, shall we?’’ She challenged, slightly surprising him. ‘’We both know the real reason you’re trying to break me is because you wanna know about Smith.’’

‘’I highly doubt they’d let a lowly Ackerman like you know anything about their prisoner of war.’’

‘’I know plenty. His name and rank while he was here, the very reasons he was chosen out of all the others.’’ Lilith taunted and still Levi showed no reaction. ‘’But perhaps most important to you, or rather the most concerning, is that I know intimately the sound of his screams.’’

Levi’s body tensed only slightly, his rigid control over his exterior allowing him to remain outwardly unphased because after all, even if the confirmation of Erwin’s torture was devasting, he knew it would be happening if indeed they had brought his commander back to life.

‘’Tell me, Captain, was the dearly departed commander your Bonded?’’ Lilith asked and finally she earned a reaction.

‘’My what?’’ Levi asked in disgust, wondering where she was going with this and why.

‘’To Bond, is to achieve the highest level of Ackerman abilities. To find your Bonded, the one you dedicate your soul in service to, the one you bleed for, the one you would die for. The choice to serve a natural reaction because how could you choose anything, or anyone, else?’’

‘’Hate to break it to you, but that Bonding bullshit you were taught is nothing but exactly that; bullshit.’’ Levi told her, surprised she had resorted to such a tactic and uncertain why Marley would teach the lore of the supposed Ackerman bond. After all, it was meant to be used as a bond with the Royal Family, a biological way to indenture the Ackerman’s in service to the Royals until their dying breath.

‘’You wanna know something about me, Captain?’’ Lilith asked, an unexpected sincerity in her voice, like she had something true to tell him that wasn’t a taunt or tease.

‘’You finally gonna tell me why you’re here?’’

‘’The Bond is real, and the only reason this is my first mission is because I never Bonded.’’ She confessed, willing to use what Marley viewed as her one and only failing as a means to break the Captain. If she was right, and he had Bonded with his commander, then surely he would react eventually.

‘’Your point?’’

‘’I dunno how they did it, but Marley figured out that the Bond doesn’t have to be with a Royal. It can be with anyone, so long as they are Eldian. So they tried to make Ackerman’s bond with their Warriors. I never did and because I was Unbonded, they kept me in that place. My predecessors Bonded, even both of my teachers, both with previous Shifters. They both said the same thing. It’s an instinctual desire to protect that goes beyond a feeling of love. It’s controlling and you feel it, but you don’t care. It feels good, it feels right to protect them and to serve them, in whatever way they want. As a shield, as a weapon, sometimes even as a lover.’’ She trailed off, her eyes suddenly unfocused as if she were seeing something else rather than the cell around her or even Levi where he stood in front of her. It was a sad expression, the first real emotion he’d see on her face that wasn’t anger or hate.

‘’Being bonded means having a purpose and, your right Captain, a purpose is all anyone really ever wants in the end, even people like you and me.’’ She finished and went silent, her body drooping with exhaustion, her eyelids heavy with the desire to sleep, even as her stomach growled in hunger. She was pale from the blood loss and Levi could tell she was nearly spent from everything. But he wasn’t done with her yet.

‘’I still don’t see any point to anything you’ve said, other than proving to me everything I myself have already said. You're the sad, lonely little girl here, looking for a reason for your existence and unable to accept that perhaps there just isn’t one.’’

‘’My point is, they tortured him to the point his voice was broken even as he continued to scream. They wanted information on his comrades, his country, and especially his captain.’’ Lilith paused, looking Levi in the eye to see the guilt she knew was festering in his heart. She didn’t know why, but she knew he felt responsible for his commander's imprisonment. ‘’You don’t hold out against Marley and the sick and twisted things they are capable of out of pure stubbornness. You do it out of loyalty to something or someone greater than yourself. You do it to protect and the only things worth that kind of protection are things you love with your heart, body and soul. So tell me, Captain, did you love your commander the way he clearly loves you?’’

‘’Even if I told you yes, you still wouldn’t understand. You have no idea what that kind of loyalty or love feels like and the only reason you want me to talk about it is so you can imagine it. So you can pretend to feel that kind of dedication or perhaps even worse, so you pretend someone feels that way for you.’’ Levi glared down at her, his words striking true deep in her heart because once again, he was right. Even if not a conscious thought, it was still a deep desire that festered in the darkest regions of her frigid heart. The yearning to feel wanted, needed, loved. It was something she never knew and he was right, it was something she wanted to feel even if she had to pretend.

Levi left without another word, leaving the sad and lonely woman to stare at his back as he walked to the cell, opened and closed the door behind him and ascended the stone stairs. She stared wide-eyed back at him, in complete and utter disbelief that he had made her feel so raw and exposed with mere words. Because he was right, he was absolutely right and the fact that he knew he was right made it all the more infuriating.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Throughout the following month, Levi continued his care of Lilith’s wounds. Changing her dressings, cleaning her sutures, evening adjusting her splints when needed. It surprised Lilith that he continued this level of care and even more so that he obeyed his commander’s orders to forgo further physical torture of their prisoner. That didn’t mean he let up on the things he said to her, but true to Hange’s word, he didn’t harm her physically again. Part of her had hoped that Hange would take over her care and questioning simply because she preferred the commander to the captain, but she had no such luck. While Hange did come in and speak with her both to question and to simply converse, it was always beneath Levi’s ever watchful eyes.When Hange wasn’t there, Levi still tended to her wounds with a combination of a lack of care for her pain and yet complete consideration for her healing. He cleaned her wounds thoroughly, not caring for the burning discomfort of disinfecting and yet he always wrapped her new bandages softly. His fingers were light on her skin as he moved wrappings around her shoulder, carefully avoiding touching her in private and sensitive areas such as her breasts. Not even a single accidental brush of his fingertips near them. It was an obviously conscious decision to avoid touching her in that particular area given that he had to wrap bandages around her chest to cover her back and Lilith took notice of the effort.She still hated him. Hated that he so easily read her like she was an open book laid out for his perusal. She hated that his expression never truly changed, regardless of their limited conversation, her snide remarks or even when she dared mention Erwin Smith. Taunting him for the simple sake of looking for a reaction careless of the potentially painful consequences of such foolish comments. Her hatred only grew when he brought Mikasa in with him one day. He claimed Lilith needed a bath, at minimum a sponge bath, commenting how she reeked and her filth was risking the contamination of her wounds. He told her he figured she would be more at ease with a woman helping her to bathe rather than a man such as himself. She hated his consideration and even more so his kindness. The bath was the only time his sharp tongue had been tamed. He was gentle with his words, as gentle as a man such as himself was capable of being while also telling her that he’d chosen Mikasa to be the one to bathe her simply because Mikasa could handle her should she attempt lashing out.He was full of too many contradictions and she hated them all. How could a man who broke her bones care enough to have a woman help her bathe? How could a man who wordlessly carved her nails from her fingers worry about touching her inappropriately? How could a man who admitted having a desire to kill her care for her wounds so thoroughly and worry about them getting infected? It just didn’t make sense to her and she hated him all the more for it. She hated his torture and and she hated his consideration, uncertain which she hated more.While her hatred for the Captain only grew, she was slowly beginning to like the Commander.Hange visited her as regularly as she could and she always wanted to talk even if Lilith didn’t feel like returning the gesture. The Commander talked about a variety of things. Often it was questions about Marley, where Lilith was born and raised. Did they have other Ackerman’s where she was from? Were some stronger than others? Were there other families or clans that had similar abilities or traits? Did she know if Eldia or Marley either one had ever experimented on other clans and if so what happened to them and why were the Ackerman’s the ones with such incredible abilities? She even asked about Bonding and how it worked. Lilith didn’t always answer and any question she didn’t answer, Hange was sure to ask again later, though she also tended to rephrase questions she’d already been given answers to. When Lilith pointed this out, Hange told her she asked questions again with obvious hopes for an answer or in an attempt to verify Lilith’s first answer. ‘’A scientist always double checks their results, even if those results are just answers to questions.’’ Hange once told her and Lilith had to actively fight against the smile threatening to turn the corners of her mouth.Sometimes Hange returned to their very first conversation before Levi had attacked. It was this return to Lilith’s genuine interests that actually had her opening up to Hange which led to more personal questions. Hange was particularly interested in Lilith’s healing and during one of their sessions sometime around week three, Lilith confessed that a few of her wounds were healing slower than she was accustomed to. Broken bones typically took the most time to heal regardless, however her elbow was taking longer than she was used to. Usually broken bones only took 1-3 weeks to heal, depending on the severity of the break and how large the bone itself was. For example a minor fractured finger would heal within a week while it took her broken femur three weeks after Edgar had broken it with the butt of his rifle. Thus she admitted surprise that it was nearly four weeks before her compounded elbow was healed. Hange had suggested the theory that the combination of a multitude of wounds along with their severity could be a contributing factor. She even went so far as to talk about Eren Yeager and his titan healing, how small wounds would steam and heal almost instantly and yet if he lost a limb it would take several hours to grow it back and sometimes even a full day.Lilith’s open wounds all healed at a rate typical to what she was used to. Levi had removed the stitches in her shoulder within three or four days though he waited a full week to remove the ones in her elbow because he claimed he didn’t want to mess up the healing ligaments by moving the joint any while taking out the sutures. It was while he was removing the stitches in her shoulder that Hange mentioned the remarkable rate at which her nail beds had healed. Lilith told her she thought it was this quick healing that actually made her nails grow back crooked. Ackerman’s healed incredibly fast but their hair and nail growth was only slightly above average. Which meant that the skin healed faster than the nail grew back resulting in an uneven regrowth. Of course Hange had been fascinated with the rapid rate at which Lilith recovered, commenting that she healed just as fast as Levi and faster than Mikasa which had been one of the reasons she started questioning Lilith about the differences in other Ackermans. As Hange had continued visiting and talking to her during her recovery, Lilith had slowly become more open to speaking to her while keeping her verbal distance from Levi as often as she could. She told Hange that most Ackerman’s healed at a fairly similar rate and that she had this knowledge thanks to the documentation of Marley’s researchers back at the Facility though she didn’t go into details regarding what that documentation entailed nor how it was obtained. Fortunately, Hange seemed to already have an idea and didn’t question her further on that particular part.Between Hange’s conversation, Mikasa’s carefulness in bathing her every week and Levi’s attentiveness to her recovery, Lilith felt herself questioning her own resolve for the first time. Could she really kill Levi knowing how much it would hurt Hange? Was Levi possibly still worth considering as an ally? What would she do when she was finally healed? Would she enact her revenge on Levi and run back to Marley looking for praise and give up on taking them down? Or should she ally with the Scouts and give them all the answers they were looking for? She didn’t know and she was running out of time to decide.Eventually a full month had gone by and at the end of that month Hange had declared her fully healed which meant her reprieve from Levi’s interrogation was officially over. The only remaining evidence of her injuries were the new scars, the one from her compounded elbow, the jagged line at her hip from his ODM hook and the clean slice along her shoulder. She regained full mobility of her elbow, ankle and fingers and even her badly battered shoulder moved just fine. Levi hadn’t broken her shoulder blade but he’d bruised the bone which in some ways almost hurt worse than a break, at least it hurt worse than her finger and ankle did.Hange had told her that she would be the one to decide when Lilith was fully recovered though Levi would undoubtedly be there as he had during all of her other assessments. He’d stayed away whenever Hange had come just to talk from outside the cell, but Lilith imagined he wasn’t very far. However, any time Hange was checking her, and therefore in the cell with her, Levi was also in there with her. The moment Hange deemed all of her wounds completely healed, Levi was stepping forward. Lilith had been waiting for this very moment, trying to decide what she would do when the time finally came. She spent the entire month seething, brewing her hatred, letting it fester into a boiling rage, all of her torment, her pain, the lifetime of repression and torture, she had tried to aim it all at the Captin. She had wanted to break him down, tear him to pieces and have him begging for her mercy only to have her piss in his face and leave him writhing. She wanted to want to kill him, it would certainly make some things easier, but something was still holding her back even as she watched him stalking closer to her.‘’Well, I guess she’s all yours, Levi. Both of you try to behave.’’ Hange said with an unexpected airiness to her voice and then she was gone, leaving Lilith and Levi alone in her cell. Lilith mentally prepared herself for whatever would happen next because she decided that whatever his next move was would determine her own. ‘’You should get out and walk, your limbs are bound to be stiff from spending the month down here.’’ Levi blurted out as he turned away from her and back towards the cell door. She could only stare back at him with a dumbfounded expression on her face. ‘’What?’’ She asked, taken completely off guard by his unexpected comment. ‘’You want outta this cell or not?’’ Levi asked as he opened her cell door and gestured her out. She hadn’t been allowed out of her cell a single time, not once, the entire month she’d spent here. ‘’What kinda games are you playing, Captain?’’ She barked at him, her hands clenched into fists at her side as she concluded this had to be a trick of some kind. ‘’The Queen has decided that you should be allowed to roam the base, but only common areas such as the training grounds, communal barracks, showers and the mess hall.’’ Levi told her like her sudden partial freedom was common knowledge. ‘’Why?’’ She asked, not believing for a moment that this was a genuine offer or that it came without conditions. ‘’Because she thinks if we treat you more like a guest than a prisoner you’ll eventually decide to talk. Not sure where she got the idea to be so soft on people, certainly not from her time under my command.’’ Levi practically scoffed like it soured his tongue just mentioning her newly granted privileges. ‘’And let me guess, you’re to be my bodyguard in case I decide to act out?’’ She asked, knowing there had to be a catch somewhere. ‘’Yup.’’ Levi told her with a pop to the ‘p’ at the end of his one worded answer. ‘’Is this real or are you fucking with me?’’ She asked pointedly.‘’Despite what you might think of me, I have yet to lie to you.’’ He told her plainly and she couldn’t argue with that.‘’Why didn’t Hange tell me I was getting let out?’’ She asked, feeling like this was certainly the kind of information the Commander would have known and likely been happy about which left Lilith wondering why Hange hadn’t shared it before she left. ‘’Because the final decision was left to me by both her and the Queen, seeing as how I’m the one responsible for you. Apparently the higher ups enjoy making me a damn babysitter for the potentially violent brats we happen across.’’‘’You say that like I’m not the first potentially violent brat you’ve been made to watch.’’‘’That’s because you're not. Now, do you want outta here or are you gonna keep glaring at me from over there by the bed?’’‘’You said access included the showers. Does that mean I can take a real shower instead of a bucket bath?’’ She asked, deciding to trust him for now and finding the desire for true cleanliness to be more overwhelming than even the thought of sunlight.‘’Fine by me, but everywhere you go, I go. Argue or try to fight, and you’ll come right back to this shitting cell, Queen’s orders be damned.’’ ‘’Fancy seeing me naked and sopping wet, Captain?’’ She teased earning herself a rather disgusted looking scowl and accompanying ‘tch’.‘’You’re sick in the head.’’ He told her as he crossed his arms and glared back at her like the mere thought of her wet and naked body was repulsing. ‘’Ah, but isn’t that why you’ve grown to enjoy spending so much of your time with me?’’ She continued the tease as she stepped cautiously towards the cell opening and slowly walked through the door he was holding open for her with his foot. ‘’You stink, you have a foul mouth and an even fouler attitude. You don’t know how to hold a normal conversation without snapping or attempting what you think is some kind of messed up tease or joke. Why would anyone enjoy being around someone like you?’’ He snapped back at her, wholly unaffected by whatever it was she thought she was trying to do and getting generally annoyed with her constant references to his non-existent desire to see her naked or lay some kind of sexual claim on her. In the last month, whenever he had come to tend her wounds, she always without fail made some kind of stinking sexual reference. Whether he was wiping her down or even when he brought her clean undergarments to change into. Even the times that Mikasa helped her wash more thoroughly, she still said shit. She claimed he must’ve been too nervous to be around a naked woman or that he would’ve enjoyed it too much to actually help her bathe properly.It was revolting and it was annoying. He hadn’t dealt with someone like her since his days in the Underground and the only thing he hated more than her behavior was how much she reminded him of the people he used to have to deal with down there. Aside from the fact he still viewed her as an enemy, if ever he were to be attracted to someone it wouldn’t be someone with a mind and mouth as twisted and disgusting as hers.He knew she only said those things to get a reaction out of him, at least he hoped that was the only reason and that she didn’t really think he was that kind of person. Not that it truly mattered in the end what she thought, but he’d always tried so hard to not come across like that particular breed of miscreant. Like the bastards who went to his mother and the other working girls. He had his faults, sure, but he wasn’t a womanizing, filthy pervert. He might be a violent bastard with a touch of insanity rolled in the mix to get him through this blood stained life of his, but he was never a disgusting scumbag. Hell, he was still a virgin. He considered telling her as much just in hopes she would shut up with the jokes but he rightly assumed that would only add further fuel to her fire or give her another brand of kindling. Either way it was more than he wanted to deal with so he just let her go on the way she was and told her to shut it when he’d had enough. Lilith finally exited her cell, albeit cautiously like she half expected him to attack her the moment she crossed the threshold. She paused and looked at him once she was out and he just turned and told her to follow him, leading her upstairs and towards the communal showers. However once they reached the stairwell to the showers he stopped to reconsider. He hadn’t prepared for her to want a shower and he didn’t have soap, towels or clothes for her.‘’Change of plan. If you want a shower right now you can take one in the officers' showers. Just this once. I didn’t get any soap for you so you can use mine. It’s almost used up anyway.’’ He told her as he changed direction and headed down a separate hallway. ‘’Ah, the great Captain’s true intentions are finally revealed. Taking me back to your shower so you can stake your claim on me.’’ She started again with the sexual shit.‘’Either you accept the offer of a shower in silence or we turn around and I take your stinking ass back to your rotten cell and leave you with another bucket and rag.’’ Levi threatened and for once she seemed to relent, knowing he would hold true to his threat. She apparently didn’t want to miss the opportunity to have a real shower, which was something he could understand. When they arrived at the showers, Levi directed her to his stall and his diminished bar of soap that wasn’t really all that used. The bar had enough left for several more washes despite his claim that it would take all of what remained to properly clean her. She took in the crisp scent of cedarwood and inhaled deeply the pleasing aroma from his soap. She’d never noticed the scent on him before and she could only assume it was because it was likely masked by black tea. That and the overall musty metallic smell of her cell.‘’Hurry up and don’t take all day.’’ Levi quipped as he walked from the shower stall back to the doorway. ‘’While I appreciate the gesture of graciously allowing me to use your products, you wouldn’t happen to have clean clothing for me to wear, would you?’’ She said, dropping some of her usual theatrics.‘’There’s robes hanging in the closet that you can use until we can walk back to my office. I think I have some spare clothes that will fit you.’’ Levi told her and she had to force herself not to remark on another golden opportunity to tease him about his desire to lay some kind of claim on her. First his shower and his soap, now his clothes too? He made it too easy sometimes. But she relented and decided that if he was going to be civil for the time being, she might as well try to do the same. ‘’Thanks, Captain. You didn’t have to do this.’’ She said sincerely and Levi looked at her like she’d grown a second head. He erased the surprised expression as quickly as it had appeared on his face and he turned away from her. ‘’You’re right, I didn’t. So hurry and get on with it.’’ He quipped and if it weren’t for the subtle discomfort she sensed from him, she would have said something smart right back. But he genuinely seemed surprised by her sudden politeness and even a bit thrown off by it. He looked as though he hadn’t expected her sincerity, or perhaps he truly thought her incapable of it, which wasn’t really the surprising part. It was in the way he turned away from her when he spoke, his head slightly bowed and his voice soft despite his sharp words. It was as if he seemed to feel her thanks was unwarranted despite his generosity towards her in giving such an offer to someone who was still technically a prisoner. He practically demanded her respect and gratitude and yet the moment she showed it he was uncomfortable. Yet another infuriating contradiction. She decided to let it go without further thought, and turned to the shower, closed the door behind her and began to undress. She turned the water on and was surprised to find it warmer than she expected though it was certainly not scalding in the way she preferred. Regardless, that was ok because at least it wasn’t cold. She couldn’t help the sigh of relief as she allowed the spray to soak into her greasy hair and run down her naked body. She used the soap to lather up her hair and washed it twice just to ensure she’d properly cleaned herself. Same for the rest of her, scrubbing a little extra along her pits and inner thighs where the sweat clung to her the most. When she finished, she dried off and before she could ask, a tan bathrobe was tossed over the edge of the stall door. She wrapped herself in the knee length robe, tied the matching sash around her waist and stepped out of the stall. ‘’Where should I put my dirty clothes and towel?’’ She asked, maintaining the civility between them. ‘’I’ll take care of it.’’ Levi said, brushing past her to pick up both her clothes and her towel and then turning back to leave, presumably in the direction of his office. She followed him, not the least bit worried about walking the halls of their headquarters in nothing but a bathrobe because if he was going to do something to her he would have done so already and she knew he wouldn’t let anyone else try something either. Not that she couldn’t handle herself if they did, but it was nice to feel a sense of protection in his presence rather than the intimidation or repression she’d so far been subjected to. As they walked, she looked over the stone architecture of the building and the large glass pane windows as they changed halls but something else kept catching her eye that she couldn’t figure out. Where torch sconces seemed to hang, instead of wooden torches ready to be lit there were lanterns with what looked like some kind of crystal in them. All along each and every hallway, these lanterns hung on the walls by the sconces. She knew they didn’t have electricity here and the crystal certainly wasn’t a light bulb, at least not like any she’d ever seen before. So when she eventually decided she had no idea what they could be, she elected to ask. ‘’What’s with the crystal lanterns?’’ She broke the silence between them and half expected him to ignore her. But she was pleasantly surprised when he answered.‘’It’s titan crystal from some old underground catacombs. It’s brighter at night when it actually glows. It's less of a fire hazard than flaming torches plus no one has to go through and light the damn things every night.’’ Levi told her plainly and she couldn’t help the surprised expression that painted her face as she stopped at the next one to simply stare at it in wonder. ‘’These are titan hardening?’’ She asked and Levi paused to turn and look at her as she stood staring at one of the lanterns, an almost childlike expression on her face. She suddenly looked so young without her normally furrowed brow, narrowed eyes or snarling lips. Instead her amethyst eyes were blown wide, and her jaw slack with the faintest beginnings of a smile beginning to curve her lips. As Levi watched her examining the lantern with unfiltered intrigue, he suddenly began to wonder just how young she actually was. Looking at her now and she didn’t look much older than the brats on his squad. It was almost shocking to consider that she might be close to their age, at the very least closer to theirs than his own. Looking at her like this, he suddenly realized the real reason Hange hadn’t been able to join him during his interrogation. Hange had told him about her conversation with Lilith before he’d intervened. How the young woman was asking about the Scouts and how the two of them had even begun talking about science, Hange’s one and only true love. Hange told him there was something in Lilith’s eyes that she couldn’t shake, especially after seeing the scars littering her body. He hadn’t understood her then, but now he did because he felt certain that the look Hange was talking about was the one he was currently witnessing. Innocence. She looked so innocent as she gently plucked the lantern from the wall and turned it over in her hand, examining the crystal with that still present gleam in her eyes. She didn’t look like the war ravaged soul he knew lay beneath the covers of her bathrobe. She didn't look like a trained killer, a battle hardened soldier, a weapon of war stripped of her humanity. She just looked like an innocent young woman full of wonder, curiosity and intrigue. She didn’t look completely like a child, her features mature enough to let him know she was at least an adult, even if still young. But she still had a childlike innocence about her and he knew this was what Hange had seen and what had kept his commander from being able to join him in tormenting and torturing the young woman.As he watched her he questioned whether or not he could’ve proceeded the way he did had he seen her like this beforehand. It was one thing to hurt your enemy, you could mentally strip them of their humanity, imagine them as nothing more than the tool you were using to extract information or the barricade standing in your way that needed to be removed. But when you see your enemy's humanity, it starts to blur the lines and makes certain actions harder to complete. He didn’t regret hurting her for the information they needed, but he found himself hoping he didn’t have to do it again. Looking at her like this and he suddenly felt like the last thing he wanted to do was cause her pain ever again because he never wanted that look to leave her eyes. Because anyone that could look at something the way she was looking at that crystal lantern should never have their light darkened by pain.Uncaring that Levi was watching her, Lilith continued looking over the lantern, noticing how the crystal held a subtle glow even in the sunlight gleaming in through the windows along the corridor. It was fascinating. She’d never seen anything like this. She’d seen the Female Titan as well as the Beast use their hardening in training but it never glowed like this did. Both of their hardening had a crystalline appearance to it, but not really a glow. Then of course there was the Armored Titan but his golden brown hardening didn’t glow at all.It was amazing. Even in the books she’d been allowed to read regarding titans, they never mentioned a hardening crystal that could glow like this. ‘’How were these made?’’ She asked, keeping her attention on the crystal lantern. ‘’Is the glowing something only the Founder can make?’’ ‘’Don’t really know how the catacombs were made, but Hange thinks it’s likely they came from the Founder.’’ Levi told her, watching her with a renewed softness in his heart that only a few people had ever made him feel. In a way she reminded him of Armin when he first heard him talking about the sea. She had the same excited look as Hange whenever she discussed titans. Yet she also had the same wonderment he remembered in Isabel’s eyes the first time he took her to one of the collapsed caverns and she got to feel the sun’s warmth for the first time in her life. He thought he shouldn’t feel like this looking back at her, she was still his enemy as far as he was concerned. But maybe Hange was right, maybe there was a chance for an ally in her, or so he hoped. Perhaps even more disturbing was the fact that a small part of him was beginning to agree with his deranged commander. Old age was really making him soft when it came to this new generation. He felt certain the brats were to blame. Lilith looked back at Levi after he answered her latest question and her breath caught in her chest at the look he was giving her. She saw a softness in his expression she had never seen before. For the first time he wasn’t glaring or scowling at her and instead he looked...honestly she didn’t know what he looked like. It was certainly an expression she never expected to see on him, least of all directed at her after their fight and the things he did to her back in the cell. ‘’You ok there, Captain?’’ She tried to tease, the edge failing to form in her tone as she softened her expression in return. ‘’Just how old are you?’’ He asked, suddenly needing to know how young she really was. ‘’I’ll be twenty-one at the end of summer. Why?’’ She asked, so caught off guard by his inquiry that she didn’t even consider holding back the answer. Not that her age had anything to do with her mission one way or the other. Roughly three to four years older than the brats after all and over a decade younger than himself. He felt the twinge of guilt in his heart for the way he hurt her but once again he refused to allow himself to regret. This was war and some things simply had to be done and he was more often than not the only one who could, and would, do them. ‘’C’mon, let's get you dressed so you’re not traipsing the halls half naked.’’ He sighed and turned away from her, expecting her to simply fall in line behind him again. She silently obeyed, returning the lantern to its place on the wall before falling in line once more. They continued down the hall, took the stairs to the fourth floor and down another hallway until at last they came to Levi’s room. He withdrew a key from the pocket of his white uniform pants and unlocked the door then gestured her inside. Once inside, he closed and locked the door behind them and for once she didn’t say anything, a miracle in and of itself and yet his gut told him it had something to do with their little moment in the hallway with the lantern. He kept the silence between them as he made his way to his dresser where he withdrew a black long sleeve shirt he rarely wore and a pair of loose fitting gray pants. He tossed the garments in her direction and she grabbed them easily with a soft thanks in return. ‘’I’m not certain the pants will fit and if they don’t we can talk to Hange about getting you something for the time being.’’ He told her plainly. ‘’So long as they aren’t too tight in the hips they should be fine.’’ She said softly, trying not to show the awkwardness she couldn’t shake from the way he’d looked at her back in the hall. ‘’I don’t have much in the way of underwear and nothing for a chest wrap in here, but we can check the supply closets back in the barracks once you have some actual clothes on.’’ Levi told her, maintaining a level tone but still with that softness underneath that was beginning to make her question just what the hell was going on. Not one to ruin a good thing while it lasted, she kept her mouth shut just to see how long he would continue the almost kindness while a part of her wondered if it was a trick to get her to let her own guard down. Not that it was working, but it was still interesting to watch him like this after the way he’d treated her so far. He stood facing the door while she changed into the clothes he’d given her. The pants were a little snug but not too tight and certainly not uncomfortable. They would do for now. When she finished dressing, she told him he could turn around.He looked her over with a stoic expression that revealed nothing of what he thought or felt upon seeing her in his clothes. He told her to leave the bathrobe in the laundry bin where he’d already placed her old clothes and dirty towel and then to follow him to the supply closets. Once there he managed to find her a few pairs of underwear and two separate chest wraps. They didn’t have the same type of bras here that she was used to wearing but she was small enough that the chest wrap should suffice. After putting on the wrap she found it wasn’t all that uncomfortable and in some ways she preferred it over a traditional bra. When at last her clothing situation was taken care of, Levi led her to the mess hall and told her to grab something before they went outside. She settled on a red apple and some bread then followed him to the training grounds. He told her that depending on how she continued to cooperate with them, she may eventually be allowed to train in ODM, both the traditional and the anti-personnel gear that they were working on modifying in the event they engaged in battle with Marley. ‘’Can I do any kind of training right now?’’ She asked, feeling the sudden desire to stretch her aching muscles and get her body back into a routine like she was used to. ‘’Depends. You gonna go feral on my Scout’s or are you gonna continue this civil act you’ve got going on right now?’’ Levi questioned in a tone she was much more familiar with, the tone that revealed how little he still trusted her. ‘’So long as it keeps you off my back, I can behave.’’ She retorted, willing to continue playing along for now. ‘’Fine.’’ He said and the next thing she knew he was moving to toss his half coat over the fence rail along with that damned white cravat he wore that had truthfully drove her insane every single time she’d seen him with it on. What kind of weirdo wore a cravat with their infantry uniform? While the Scout military garb was different from that of Marley, it was still what they wore out into the field to fight titans. Picturing him taking down Zeke’s titan while wearing a cravat would’ve made her laugh out loud were she not currently trying to figure out just what the hell he was up to right now. ‘’What are you doing?’’ She asked, not entirely sure she could trust her eyes as she watched him rolling his sleeves to his elbows then take what appeared to be a fighting stance. ‘’Fight me. If you can keep your cool while fighting me then I’ll trust you enough to train with the others.’’‘’And if I don’t?’’ She asked pointedly, knowing full well how hard it would be to not react negatively to fighting him again especially after his treatment of her in the cell. She knew she could do it, after all Edgar had been the one to put many of the scars on her back and yet she had trained with him daily afterwards. Still, it wasn’t a pleasant experience to train with someone as an equal after spending time tied down and at their mercy. But the difficulty in maintaining her composure while fighting him was exactly why he was challenging her. Even after she had told them the truth about their former commander he still didn’t trust her. So no matter what softness he’d shown earlier or how he’d taken care of her wounds, he was still looking for a reason to lock her back in the cell and this was the perfect opportunity for him to find it. He didn’t agree with his commander or his queen and he was looking for a way to prove to them he was right. She refused to give it to him. ‘’Fine. Let’s fight, Captain.’’ She said and she launched at him, refusing to hold back but also unwilling to give him anything to use against her. Besides, what better way to unleash her pent up anger than on the very person at the center of it? Levi dodged her first swing but she was relentless and continued the charge with jab after jab. He parried each of her strikes while somehow maintaining that same expressionless look on his face but there was something in his eyes even if the rest of his face didn’t change. She recognized the look in his eyes because she’d seen it before. In Edgar and Alma, even little Felix. It was a look all Awakened Ackerman’s shared whenever they fought. It wasn’t confidence or pride, it wasn’t even the thrill of the fight. It was freedom. Freedom in letting your body do what it wanted, what it was made for. Unleashing your potential without holding back, relying on that unnatural instinct that resides only in your Ackerman blood, the instinct to know without question what to do, how to do it and that you could do it. There was no questioning your capabilities, no doubt. Fighting hand to hand like this was the most freeing feeling and she reveled in it and she could tell that Levi felt it, too, which meant as hard as he may try to deny it or distance himself from her, they were still cut from the same wretched cloth.He let her continue her attack for several strikes before deciding to see how she handled being on the defensive. She swung her leg towards his chest and he spun beneath her strike and charged, swinging his fists in rapid succession one after the other, aiming for her center and her head only for her to block him each and every time, the same as he blocked her. For perhaps the first time in his life he’d found a true equal. Someone who could match his speed and his strength. Who could take a hit if it meant gaining an advantage on a counter strike and still come back swinging. Which is what happened when he finally struck her along her lower right ribs.Lilith took the hit, her abdominals clenched so as to keep as much of her breath as possible and she hooked his extended arm as she brought her knee towards his chest. He couldn’t dodge so he took the brunt of her knee in the same fashion she had taken his fist.He brought his elbow down hard on the top of her thigh. She released his arm and he spun around to land the heel of his boot across her temple. She fell to the ground in a roll and jumped back up to continue the fight. He watched her for any signs she was losing control, that she was falling back on her anger or that her mind was being pulled back into the cell at his mercy. But she remained calm, alight with the fire in her blood that he knew all too well came from a challenge like they presented to each other, but she remained in control of her head just as much as she was her body. By now their fight had drawn the attention of practically every soldier on the grounds, everyone from new recruits to his own squad and they were all watching with a combination of fascination, bewilderment and a hint of uncertainty. He’d told his squad of the Queen’s orders regarding their prisoner and that they should expect to see her out and about sometime today, but he hadn’t told them to anticipate witnessing a fight between him and her on their training grounds. He could feel their eyes on him, looking for signs this wasn’t something he intended, anything to indicate her actions were a rebellion rather than an allowance. He was sure to give them no doubt. So long as she maintained her control, a part of him was glad to fight as long as she wanted to. The two of them were almost perfectly matched in a simple fight without weapons or gear for an advantage. The moment one landed a strike, the other was countering. They blocked and parried with equal strength and speed. Even Mikasa couldn’t hold her own as well as Lilith was. Mikasa was fast, and she was strong, but he was still slightly faster and noticeably stronger. He didn’t hold back much, but he still held back whenever they sparred and he knew it infuriated his subordinate when he did. Lilith was the first person to truly match him and there was a sense of freedom in being able to unleash himself against her, no holds barred, full strength and speed while allowing his body to take control. Free of thought or care with only the full feeling of letting go. But as with all good things, they must come to an end by either choice or an abrupt interruption. For them, it was the sudden shift in Lilith’s eyes when Levi grabbed her arm, the same one he’d broken. She had countered his hit and was coming back with rapid strikes when he dodged and grabbed her extended arm. He saw the moment panic threatened to take over, the subtle widening of her eyes and the audible gasp of fear. She jerked from his hold and spun around but instead of launching herself at him in a fear-induced-frenzy, she backed away from him. Lilith thought she was in control. She was flying on the high of fighting an equal and yet the moment his hands wrapped around her arm she was thrown back into the cell when he’d snapped her elbow and forced the bone out of the skin. Fear tickled her insides, churning her gut and clamping tightly in her chest. But she refused to let it win, she refused to let him win. So she escaped his hold and backed away until she could regain the control she needed to finish this fight. However it seemed her moment was enough for Levi. He raised his hands palms up and spoke. ‘’Enough. I don’t have all day to keep you entertained with a real challenge.’’ He spoke like he was ending this out of his own need to do something else rather than because of her obvious slip. ‘’For now, if you wanna spar again so.e other time you can train with Mikasa. Anything else you’ll just have to do on your own.’’‘’So what now? You talk like you’re leaving.’’ She said, wiping the blood from the split skin along her temple while Levi did the same to his chin and lip.‘’We’re leaving. I’ve got paperwork and we’ve been out here for nearly half an hour. Don’t wanna overdo it after spending a month in a cell.’’ Levi said and before she could counter, wondering just how in the hell he knew they’d fought that long and also how she hadn’t felt that much time pass, he turned back to grab his coat and cravat. ‘’C’mon, I’ve got paperwork to finish. The rest of you gawking shits can get back to your own training, following ten laps around the grounds.’’ Levi shouted the last part directed at what looked like the majority of the regiment now gathered around them.He was met with a chorus of ‘yes, sir!’’ and they were all running off and away to start their laps. Lilith followed him back inside where he grabbed a cloth for each of them to clean up with, then went to the kitchen, brewed a pot of tea and told her to drink some water while they waited for the tea to finish. Then when they went back to his office he sat down at his desk with his kettle and pulled two cups from a cabinet behind him and filled them both.‘’Have some if you want, but don’t spill it.’’  He said as he handed her a cup of steaming hot tea.‘’So what, I’m supposed to sit here, sip tea and watch you do paperwork?’’ She asked, uncertain if she should feel insulted at the literal babysitting or relieved to have the hot tea and a soft chair to rest her ass in. ‘’Until Hange gets here. Then she’s gonna question you more about some things and if we both like your answers, you just might get to sleep in a room instead of a cell tonight.’’‘’Let me guess, your room, because wherever I go, you go.’’‘’Now you're catching on.’’‘’Where the hell am I supposed to sleep in your room? The floor or with you?’’Levi visibly cringed.‘’The bed, alone. I don’t use it.’’She started to smart back with another comment about sleeping with him, when she paused as she realized what he’d just said. ‘’You don’t use the bed to sleep? Then where do you sleep?’’‘’I have a chair if I get tired enough, but I usually don’t sleep, at least not much. So don’t worry, you can have your clearly needed beauty sleep while I work on some more paperwork tonight. Assuming you play nice with the Commander, that is.’’ ‘’I can’t decide if your trying to be nice and just don’t know how to, or if this is all a new form of torture to get information from me.’’ She told him as she finally sipped the tea. It was good, she had to admit.‘’Call it both and shut up so I can get to work.’’ He said it so bluntly like he didn’t care if he was socially inept or that she thought he was attempting to be nice. But as she sat there and sipped her tea, she looked at him and how he kept his posture rigid while pouring over the paper in front of him. She studied the way he signed his name with the quill pen, taking in the straight slope of his nose, the narrow shape of his eyes and the bags beneath them. His thin lips and how they seemed permanently etched into a frown while his equally thin brows remained straight and unbothered no matter his level of concentration or what thoughts he had on whatever it was he was reading. The pointed tips of his black fringe angled just above his eyes, matching the point of his nose and chin, like everything about him was made with an edge sharp as his blades. He was strikingly handsome when he wasn’t torturing or intimidating someone, she suddenly realized. It was also nice to know another petite Ackerman existed out there and she wasn’t alone. She hadn’t had the chance to fully measure, but she was certain they were of almost equal height, if perhaps he were a centimeter or two taller. He had narrow hips and shoulders with a thin but solid waist. His arms were compact and lean but nothing about him was bulky like many of the other soldiers she’d seen. He really was an enigma, full of contradictions that piqued her curiosity. As she sat there she ran over all that she knew of him and the sides of him she’d seen. He didn’t care to dirty his hands if it benefited him or his comrades, but he never seemed to enjoy her pain the way others had before. He was careful when he tended to her wounds, and respectful of her as a woman even if he fought her like she was a man. The bags beneath his eyes compounded with his confession that he rarely slept suggested there was a reason he didn’t sleep and she was willing to bet it had something to do with nightmares. After the way he’d seemed so riddled with guilt over his late commander’s fate along with his confession that he didn’t want to know but rather needed to know the extent of what the man had endured, it would make sense that someone who felt like he did suffered nightmares as a result. Then there was the respect shown to him by each and every soldier they encountered. The way Hange trusted him implicitly with everything and how she valued his input. He seemed to even have the Queen’s ear considering she’d given orders for Lilith’s release but both she and Hange left the final decision to him. There was also the fear in both Reiner and Zeke’s eyes as they had spoken of his skill and the things he’d done to them. He’d stabbed Reiner through the neck and chest before he’d even had a chance to transform and then he’d carved Zeke’s titan to bits before violently extracting him from the nape. There was Erwin’s loyalty to consider as well. How it was now so obvious to her that Levi was an Ackerman even if what Reiner claimed was true, that he’d had no surname to speak of. Erwin still refused to admit Levi’s heritage while enduring the absolute worst of Marley’s torture, refusing to give them answers she felt certain he possessed, especially if he was even half as brilliant as Reiner claimed him to be. No one endured that level of pain for someone whom they were uncertain was worthy of their dedication. As she sat there considering it all and putting more and more pieces together, she came to the conclusion that perhaps Levi was worthy of her trust, too. Perhaps he and the Scouts were the allies she needed and perhaps it was time she let herself be the one they were looking for.She decided, then and there, she would talk to Hange and Levi and she would finally tell them why she was sent here and that she would help them rescue their long lost commander by betraying her oppressive homeland.