mayajadewrites

"Here she is, Captain." A member of the Military Police throws you at the feet of a man with raven hair and storm eyes and a taller, brighter man standing beside him. Both of them have their arms crossed over their chests, looking down at you like you're dirt on their shoe.

Your hands are bound behind your back, your long hair covering half of your face as you hang your head. How could you let them catch you like that? This was your one chance, the only -

"Your Commander is speaking to you." The raven haired man interrupts your thoughts. "You will speak when spoken to."

Well… you're not one for formalities.

You tip your head up so the two men can see your eyes. There are dark circles underneath each eye and a scar across the top of your cheek with fresh purple bruises riddling your skin.

"What's your name, soldier?"

Your lips remained zipped. You've used so many pseudo names before that you don't even know which one to use this time.

"We call her Ghost." The MP kicks your shin, causing your body to push forward, almost like a bow. "She has a name but she's never even so much as uttered it."

"I'm Commander Erwin." The tall blonde kneels over, his eyes at my level. His gaze is… kind. Blue eyes like the sky. "I'm the Commander of the Scout Regiment. This is my Captain, Levi."

Levi… where have you heard that name before?

"I'm Captain Levi to you, runt." He mutters, his eyes shifting to the MP. "And why are you dumping her on us?" "We believe she'll be of great use for the Scouts. If not, you can get rid of her. We don't care." "You just don't want to deal with her is what it sounds like." Captain Levi's eyes shift to you for a moment. His eyes squint like he's trying to figure something out.

Commander Erwin gently takes your forearm to help you stand, using a knife he sheathed to cut the bind behind your back. "Commander! She could escape -" The MP gripped your arm and sank his nails into your skin. "She's under the Scout Regiment now. Unhand her."

He did as he was told. Your eyes find Erwin's, then Levi's before you cradle your hands together. There's no point in running away now. You've been running for so many years.

Erwin and Levi lead you into HQ where you see members of the Scout Regiment training and studying. One group is sparring while the other has their noses buried in books.

"Welcome, Ghost." Erwin's voice is powerful as he leads you inside his office where Levi stands with his back against the door. "We've heard a lot about you, but not enough at the same time. You can speak, right?"

You look to the side, teeth sinking into your bottom lip as you glance at Levi. His cold exterior is almost… comforting? He juts his chin out in affirmation. "Yes. But I would still prefer if you call me Ghost. Or whatever else you want." "You don't want to me called by your birth name?" "No, sir." You grit your teeth, looking down at your scratched and bruised hands in your lap.

"I see." Erwin leans forward, examining your face with his eyes. "Well, Ghost, we would like to see what you can do. Tomorrow morning bright and early, you'll be asked to spar with another cadet. It's typical for new recruits to see what they can do. But first, take a shower and get a warm meal. We just got our meat in for the week."

A warm meal? The last time you ate something that was warm was… well it had to have been years ago. "Is the water warm, too?" You clear your throat as you look up. Levi raises an eyebrow behind you as he walks up to the desk. "Why wouldn't it be?" "Levi, enough -" "When's the last time you showered?" Levi looked almost disgusted. "I shower often. But it's always a cold shower. I… didn't have access to warm water." Levi didn't even blink, just narrowed his eyes. "Yes, the water is warm." Erwin chimed in, giving you a soft smile. "Don't mind Levi. He's rough around the edges." "Tsk." Levi turned on his heel, his boots heavy against the wooden floors as he opened the door. "I'll show you to your barrack. You'll have your own since you came so late. Consider that a gift."

Levi leads you to your barrack, a simple room with a small bed, a dresser, nightstand, and lamp. There are a few books piled in the corner collecting dust next to a window. "Showers are just left of here, and when you're done you can go to the mess hall and eat." Levi places a pile of clothes on the bed with a sigh. "Those damn MPs didn't give us any clothes for you to wear when not in uniform, so here's some that have been unused. If they don't fit, oh well."

"Thanks Captain." You nod as you turn your back to him, your fingers grazing the bedding.

How odd. Levi thought. Has she never had a bed?

Having a warm shower, a warm meal, and a semi-warm bed is something you haven't experienced in years. You're naturally a loner, so you ate alone. But you felt Levi's stare on you as he stood in the corner, a brunette woman in glasses talking his ear off.

As you're eating your meal, you hear commotion on the other side of the room. Two cadets are in each others faces, one taller than the other, and pushing ensues. Cadets gather around the two as they watch them fight.

"Eren, you bird brain! Stop being an asshole!" "Shut up horseface. You don't know anything!"

The fight moves over to where you're sitting, your eyes still following them as they unknowingly move closer to you.

And closer.

Until the shorter one, Eren, is shoved into you.

And immediately you're in fight mode. All you see is red.

Next thing you know, your fists are pummeling into a body. Or two. Or three.

But you're not there. At least your brain isn't.

You feel a strong arm pull you off of them, his scent of bergamot and soap filling your nostrils. "I said that's enough." Levi spoke, his voice as cold as ice. "Eren, Jean, clean up this mess. And go the hell to bed."

You blink a few times, coming back to reality. What even happened? Why are your knuckles bleeding? Why would you fight two other cadets you don't even know?

Levi pulled you to the hallway, then standing across from you - a couple of feet apart. His arms are crossed over his chest which gives you a view of his muscles outlining his uniform. "What the hell was that about, Cadet? Picking fights with your comrades?" "I don't know them." You mumble, looking down. Which is true, you don't know them and you don't want to. "If you want me to say sorry I'm not going to." "I want to know why you did it. They didn't mean to push into you, it was an accident." "It was just…. on instinct. I don't know." Your cheeks burn slightly. Embarrassment takes over as you rub your hand over your face.

Levi looks you over. An eyebrow raised like he's unsure if he should trust what you're saying. "Do you make it a habit to get into fights?" "If I'm provoked to then yes." Levi sighs, sucking his teeth as he shakes his head. "Go to bed. And try not to get into any fights on the way there."

Levi watches you walk to your barrack, curiosity getting the best of him.

When he goes to Erwin's office and looks through your file, he's surprised to see nothing there. The text is blacked out. The whole damn page. "What's the point of a file if I can't read any of this shit?" He mutters, flipping through more blacked out pages. "I was wondering the same, Levi." Erwin hummed as his eyes looked over the pages. "So odd."

As the men read the files, or tried to at least, they only saw a handful of non-redacted words.