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lady-eny · 2 years

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TITLE: ON THE NATURE OF DUTY (12/17)

Some tags: AU - Spies & Secret Agents, Enemies to Lovers, Action, Canon-Typical Violence, Minor Zekehan, Reincarnation

Summary:

Forced to team up with his enemies to save the world, Levi, Eldia’s best agent, soon starts losing sight of his duty.

Despite reminding himself how much he hates Hange, the marleyan star analyst, he can’t prevent his brain from scrambling at her mere presence, ever closer.

Perhaps it’s that he knows her from a long time ago…

CROSS-POSTING ON: AO3

Other Chapters:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 Notes: Thanks for reading! Next chap: Erwin, Eldia... etc., etc. Have a nice week✨

Chapter 12

The stillness of the forest sent calm to his heart and made him breathe in to absorb the moment. Her words came back to him, along with the visions his mind conjured.

“Maybe… we should just live here together… right, Levi?”

Such a reality was so close that he could practically touch it—the future which, deep down, he’d always longed for. The end of the fight and the subsequent peace, after giving meaning to the death of their comrades, would come soon, for better or worse. He couldn’t help but already savor its hypothetical sweetness.

Yet nothing lasts forever. They weren’t able to stay in the forest, but for the brief moment they did, it felt like the best thing that had happened to him in years, despite how much his body was hurting.

If only he could have stayed there, he’d wish later…

Kirstein’s guesthouse is quite cozy on the inside. Aside from the miniature rooms and shared bathrooms (ick!), its environment is welcoming and the floors clean enough. Levi finds the only reception room to be troublesome, though—it’s open to the public, making the planning all the most stressful for him. Hange and Mike, on the other hand, appear to be at ease. Unreasonably at ease.

“We’ve been here before.” Mike rests his back on the cushioned sofa, lacing his fingers behind his head. “So all is well,” Mike guarantees him, observing Levi’s tense shoulders on the couch in front of him.

“Yeah. Sure.” Even if the place is secure, they could have been followed. Levi squints at the walls. Someone could be listening from the slits…

Hange frowns as if trying to decipher what’s wrong with him. Nothing is wrong with him, by the way. He’s merely worried. Levi thumbs his eyes and forces his mind to focus on whatever they’re saying, but their words are distorted sounds that he lacks enough energy to discern.

This place isn’t his main concern, nor is Tybur. What has him on the edge is the tightness of his chest, born from the torment of knowing himself strained from his people. With time between here and then, between the hours when he was still loyal to his people and the now, a reality where he practically betrayed and disregarded them, reflection has been everything he’s been doing. He can’t fool himself into thinking his actions are going to be inconsequential.

Levi.

His temples throb with the pain of recalling the past, memories in which disobedience elicits disasters and horrors are provoked by neglecting his duty, by rebelling. He just cut communication with Erwin, and the last time he did that…

Levi.

Something terrible will take place. And it will be his fault for ignoring his responsibility to eldians, for being selfish again. Nausea turns his stomach and he’s going to vomit, fiery acid raising up his throat—

“Levi!” A voice shouts, one he absently recognizes. It jolts him out of his rumination. “Is something the matter?”

He answers with a slow shake of his head. Blinks to sharpen the figure sitting diagonally from him, the shape of furrowed eyebrows with glasses upon deep, beautiful eyes. Hange. Levi surveys his surroundings but locates no one else; Mike is nowhere near. When did he leave?

“... Where’s Mike?” His voice sounds throaty to himself. Perhaps something is indeed wrong with him.

She doesn’t buy his change of subject. “What is wrong?”

“Nothing.” Everything. I’m not supposed to be here. I should be following my orders. I shouldn’t be having a friendly chat with you. Ever. “I made a mistake.”

“A mistake? Which one?” Her head cocks to a side, genuinely appearing to have no clue.

His shoulders curl over his chest. “I…” He sucks in a swift breath. Disclosing the truth is so, so difficult, because its articulation makes it more real, more shameful and painful. “I betrayed my people.”

Hange barks a laugh. A laugh. It halts when she notices his pinched lips. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to… You didn’t betray your people. You just helped me.”

What’s even worse. “Same thing.”

“It isn’t.” She leans towards him, elbows on her knees. “Betrayal would inflict damage on your people. You aren’t harming them, rather working to keep them safe. They just don’t understand it yet.”

“This is my duty.” His hands clench on his pants to contain the guilt clambering up his chest. “I’m the one who—”

“Why is it? Your duty.” She lowers her head and grips her glasses’ frame, palms covering the sight of her eyes. “You’re always talking about it as if it was a burden that you, and only you, have to carry. But you have comrades, you have Erwin, plus millions of eldians. Aren’t they responsible for their own lives and their land, too?”

“It isn’t the same,” he says through gritted teeth, jaw aching by the force. “Bad things happen if I’m not around. Because they aren’t like me.”

“Fairly vain, don’t you think?” She drops her hands and ponders him, eyes moving all over his face for a moment, a moment in which he gains the mortifying conviction that she can see right through his skin, muscles, and skull—right deep into his soul. “I don’t want to pry, but… you said your life fell apart when peace wasn’t reached, years ago… What happened then?”

How does she know about his most undesirable memory to nudge? The one he’s been quashing this entire day, and in which he made a terrible mistake so similar to the current one that it won’t allow him to breathe?

The quashing exhausts its power and a bitter image forms behind his eyelids.

It wasn’t a cloudy afternoon, nor an entirely sunny one. The most remarkable things were his state of mind and the excitement overflowing his chest. Such an odd and unfamiliar experience. A relieved smile graced his mouth as he strolled in front of the apartments, seeking a suitable one for them. Finally, his mother would have a home of her own. Then his phone rang, and his smile got broader.

“Mom?”

“Erwin just called,” was the first thing she said, her tone as harsh as ever. “He said you resigned?”

Levi winced. “I was going to tell you. It’s just that…” He noticed families passing by on the sidewalk across the street, laughing without worries at the end of a war that seemed eternal but ultimately wasn’t. Now, it was his turn to walk with that kind of ease. “That job isn’t for me and the war is ending soon anyway. I… I’ve saved enough money now to buy us a home and your tea hous—”

“Levi, no.” His mother sighed. “You are a special child and always have been, which makes me so proud. But what makes you special also holds you accountable. You’re in this world to employ your skills to help others. And you’ve been doing so much good working there, that you can’t just leave them.”

“I don’t want to keep doing this.” Missions were getting harder and harder, his body heavier every day he had to get out of bed to steal something and spy on someone, or even, kill marleyans. Levi felt anger injecting into his veins. He knew she was talking out of love to their people, but… Weren’t his wishes also important? “I won’t,” he grunted.

“Don’t be so selfish,” she chided, an accurate blow to his stomach. He took a step back, leaning against the wall behind him. She was never going to get it; at least, not by phone. He needed to talk to her in person and explain it until she did.

“Will you work late?”

“No. I’m going home early today. But don’t chang—”

“I’m in town. Wait for me.” He rubbed his nape. He still had to attend the appointment at the real estate agency, but it shouldn’t take long. “I’ll pick you up.”

Silence filled the line until she gave in. “Alright. We’ll talk then. Take care on your way here, my child.”

In the end, it took him longer than expected. By the moment he was blocks away from the restaurant she worked in, the disaster was just about to erupt. His phone rang and Erwin’s name appeared on the screen. His finger touched the hang-up red circle, and suddenly, the air alarms went off in an insistent and deafening wail. His arms’ hair lifted.

No… It can’t be…

But of course it could, and it was. Something landed far at his right him and vibrated the ground just before an explosion sent him flying into the void.

When he woke up, presumably hours later, everything was motionless, his nostrils infested with a scorching reek. It was murky, it was suffocating, it was quiet. A buzz pierced his ears and he felt as if his head was a bubble about to burst, yet he got to his feet. He stumbled to the restaurant, which was no longer, now reduced to a pile of rubbish. He stopped at what used to be its entrance, cold sweat freezing his body. Surveyed the area with desperation, his heart racing with the fear of what he didn't want to spot but spotted anyway. Among the pieces of furniture and ashes, a pale body stuck out from the debris. He tripped to her side and held her.

“Mom…” Minutes went by in which his throat grew raw, and his pleas for help fell on deaf ears. His legs, exceptional as they were, wouldn’t push him up. His trembling hand couldn’t stand still.

Her wheezy voice muttered, “Levi… please…”

His arms enveloped her, meeting her loving eyes. “Mom, hold on. I’ll get help.” But before he finished the sentence, her cold body went lax between his arms.

You aren’t there. You aren’t there. You aren’t there.

You’re here. With Hange.

Levi clutches his chest, shutting his eyes. The long-time buried and tightly secured hoard of misery in the depths of his heart threatens to break open.

“I… My mother died that day.” He swallows around the knot in his throat. “It was my fault. She was there because I told her to wait for me, and I was late, and I should have been with her, and… I was the only person she had left, everyone else had died in the war, and…” He trails off, the knot in his throat expanding and making it impossible for him to go on.

The heels of Hange’s palms press lightly against his shoulders. He doesn’t know when she got closer, but her sorrowful eyes are right on his face.

“I’m sorry,” she gurgles, gaze locked on his. “But it wasn’t your fault, Levi. It wasn’t.”

Every emotion he’s been holding back for years crashes in one massive flood.

Copious tears roll down his cheeks. “It was!” He chokes. “I was going to quit, and then she died. It wouldn’t have happened if I only had taken my duty seriously enough…” He breaks down on her, violent sobs shaking him. That truth has been haunting him daily. Before this, he hadn’t said it out loud, never shared it with anyone, and thus it’s been rotting more and more inside of him. “I wish I could turn the clock back to that day, and…”

“It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t send those bombs or do anything wrong. You did your best. You have very little real control over how the world behaves. In fact, you can only control your intentions, the actions you take, and how you respond to events. Nothing more. Everything else is out of your hands, and thus not your responsibility. Like this.”

She strokes his hair, cradling him against her chest until his shoulders sag and his crying decreases. Even so, Levi doesn’t back off. Her steady presence under him brings him peace, and her hands holding him a tender sensation he hasn’t felt in a lifetime. No one ever holds him, as it’s always been the other way around. Even as a child, his family problems hardened him and made him want to support his mother from a young age. Hange’s words sound sincere, yet he can’t fully absorb them. He feels small, so small, yet safe at the same time, along with a whole bunch of emotions he never allowed himself to feel hitherto.

Hange separates from him. Levi reaches out for her, refusing to lose the warmth. She places a gentle hand on his shoulder and keeps backing off.

“Wait a sec.” Hange crawls on the floor, holding her side. How much did it hurt her to come to him that fast? She acts so lively that he keeps forgetting she’s injured. She grabs her bag and crawls back. When she reaches him, she pulls out her teddy bear. “He always manages to reassure me.” She hesitates, looking at Mr. Sonny as if it was her most valuable possession. She exhales and offers it to him.

Levi doesn’t know what else to do, so he accepts the bear and clutches it against his chest. A tiny smile forms on Hange’s mouth and his chest swells with something smooth and pleasant. He can’t help it. He leans in and wraps his arms around her, holding her closer while Mr. Sonny is crushed between them.

Mr. Sonny does help, truly.

“Mike will come in at any second,” she mumbles on the crook of his neck, yet doesn’t move. In lieu, she hugs him tighter and lets out a ragged breath.

As if on cue, Mike comes in. His sudden coughs shatter the silence and spring them apart. Mike opens his mouth but shares a meaningful look with Hange, and afterward, doesn’t comment on what he just witnessed.

Levi places Mr. Sonny on his side and presses his palms over his eyes, making sure no more tears will come out. Takes a deep breath in. He feels… better. Lighter. As if a massive weight had been lifted from his system. As if letting everything out made it no longer his, no longer his primary source of pain. As if by putting it out there, his wound was finally expelling its pus, getting ready to mend. One step closer to healing.

Hange retakes her seat and plays with the strap of her bag. She tucks one of her bangs behind her ear, only for it to return to its usual position instantly. She angles her legs to Mike, who sat in the opposite armchair. “What did Frieda say?”

Back to business. Levi forces his mind to concentrate, this time for real.

“Bad news.” Mike deflates and scrubs a hand over his face. “Have you been on the Internet lately?” Both Hange and Levi shake their heads. Without a phone, Levi feels detached from the world. Something is missing in his pants pocket whenever his hand ventures in search of the familiar solid frame. “Right.” Mike scrolls in his phone, pauses, and shows them a post. “The WCO, along with many governments, had to publish a statement under public pressure. They declared they wouldn’t be supporting any investigation on the explosions, as people’s safety always comes first for them.”

“Is the mission canceled?” Levi’s brows bump together in a scowl. There are so many wrong things with that.

“Officially… it is.” Mike snatches a muffin from the coffee table and bites it.

Hange taps a finger on her chin. “Do we have to report back right now?”

“Frieda left it to our discretion.” Mike smiles, bread crumbs scattered on his lips. Now Levi comprehends why Hange and he are such good friends.

She mirrors Mike’s smile. “Meaning, we are allowed to keep going.”

“Technically. We don’t have official support, and are prohibited from uttering the WCO name. In the event of getting caught, they won’t stand behind us.”

Levi chuckles. “We’re disowned.” Everything seems so funny at this point.

“Well, it’s a complication, but there’s nothing to do about it.” Hange stands up, patting her thighs. “We have to move on. I’ll… I’ll talk to Tybur now.” She takes Mike’s phone and withdraws to a corner.

Mike sniffs at Levi’s cup—which is now cold on the coffee table—and wrinkles his nose. “What the hell is this thing?”

“The best beverage in the world: tea.” Levi takes a sip, the tea’s flavor filling his tongue with delicious sourness, despite its temperature. He raises to collect his bag from the corner he left it. No matter how many times they tell him this place is safe, he prefers to be prepared, just in case.

“The worst beverage in the world, better said. I’m allergic.” Mike shudders. At Levi’s incredulous look, he adds, “Really! I get hives and throw up. Not pretty.”

With his bag hanging from his forearm, Levi places a hand on Mike’s back. “What an unfortunate existence yours must be.”

“Bah.” Mike waves a hand. “By the way, I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier. I wasn’t angry with you, but with myself for not having been there. I felt I had almost lost someone else, and… Sorry, man.” Mike pinches his chin, scrutinizing Levi as he makes his way back to his seat. “But are you okay? Your eyes are all red.”

“I am,” Levi replies, tasting the truth within his words. The reason escapes him, but he’s legitimately better. He sits back and takes another sip of his tea. “Are you allergic to all kinds of tea?”

“No idea. Needless to say, I didn’t fancy trying them all.”

Levi shrugs and traces a finger along the cup’s rim. He wants to reciprocate his apology, say he accepts it, and convey that he isn’t nourishing hard feelings, but words are tricky entities who loathe him. He only archives to say, “Err… I make good coffee too.”

And for once, it was the right thing to say.

“I like coffee,” Mike replies, cheerful.

The flow between both restores its usual harmony, and Levi relaxes in it.

Hange reappears and collapses next to Levi, massaging her temples.

“That was quick,” Mike spouts and outstretches for another muffin, this one of chocolate. “What did he say?”

“He accepted. He wanted to reunite in his company b—”

Levi slams his teacup on the table, leaving it vibrating by the force. “Absolutely no. We’d never get you out of that damn place!”

“But,” Hange emphasizes, “I said I’d prefer it to be somewhere else.” She sets her hand on Levi’s knee. He blinks rapidly in a daze, a sensation much like bliss coming to him on tides from that very spot. What were they talking about? “We’ll meet in a restaurant Tybur himself selected.”

Her hand remains on his knee. Her delicate fingers spread over it; the pinkie a bit inclined on its outer side, the thumb on the inner edge… Levi can’t take his eyes away from it.

Mike finishes sniffing the muffin and bites it. “Which one?” He inquires between chews.

Hange’s fingers make their way to Levi’s thigh. Her index rubs slow circles, and heat spreads from it in widening ripples.

Her mouth morphs into a quite scary smirk. “Carla’s.”

Mike gulps and his face turns equally weird.

Levi jiggles out of his mind. What are they saying? His gaze bounces from Hange to Mike. Did they just say the meeting will take place in a restaurant, and named one of the most famous ones as if that solved everything?

“What? Carla’s?” As in Carla’s, where the wealthiest people in the world gather? Why would that place be something to smile for? If anything, going there would be to Tybur’s benefit, as he must be already familiar with it.

Hange squeezes his thigh. “We know the owner.”

Mike nods once. “I expect he’ll be delighted to help, but we should call him before planning.”

“True,” Hange says. “You do it.”

“What? No! You!”

“Please!” Her voice is permeated by tension. “He’ll like hearing about you.”

Reluctantly, Mike taps his phone and sets it on his ear. After a few seconds, he speaks. “Hello? It’s Mike. How have you been? … Great… Thanks. We all miss her. And… Yeah. Listen. I have to ask you a favor.” A pause. “No, no. You’re right, she’s here... Oh. Sure.” Mike hands the phone to Hange. “He said that if you want a favor, you should ask him yourself.”

A queer shadow clouds her expression. Who is this guy? Is it Levi or does she look somewhat distressed?

Hange’s face is completely pallid. “Uhh… I just… I don’t want to ask him for something on this scale. Actually, I could call Tybur and arrange another location. This could go awfully, and… I’d be shoving danger to his front door. What if he—?” She groans in frustration. “No, never mind. Give it to me.”

She stomps gripping the phone in her hand.

“Who is him?”

Mike glances at Levi in surprise. “Shadis.”

Levi lifts a single eyebrow. “Is that supposed to ring a bell?”

“I thought you’d know. Shadis is Hange’s… father? Well, adopted father. Guardian. When her parents died, she went to live with Nana’s family… Swiftly afterward, she moved with him. He was a family friend.”

“Why wouldn’t she want to talk to him?”

“It’s not that. Shadis gets mad because Hange never calls or visits. You must have noticed, but she tends to keep a certain distance from people, so most of the days she’s overworking herself and never getting in touch with anyone. Nana… Nana and I were an exception, and even we struggled to see her.”

He hadn’t noticed. Didn’t Moblit mention it once, though? That they were friends, yes, but the closer one can be with her, which wasn’t much. It’s never been like that for him. She’s always felt close—overly close—and too open…

Hange reenters the kitchen, brows climbing to her hairline. “He’ll help.” She accommodates beside Levi.

“How are you?” He mutters to her ear, the lowest he can.

“Good.” She doesn’t seem to want to talk about the phone call. “Guys… I have to tell you something.” She bites her lip. “I believe The Orions are implicated in this.”

Mike mouths the name. “The organization that tried to kill Pieck when she just got into the throne?”

Was I the only one unaware of their existence?

“Yes. Their modus operandi is rawly the same, and strangely, all information on them got erased after we eradicated them. Or thought we did.” Her body droops. “It’s my fault, I should have been more careful with them at that time, and now…”

“There’s nothing to do. I’m sure you did it amazingly,” Levi says before mulling it over. His skin burns with awkwardness a second later. It fades when her face splits into a grin at his words.

“I agree,” Mike chimes in, sliding his quizzical eyes from him to Hange in a way that makes Levi stir. “You couldn’t have known that instead of disintegrating, they were preparing for bigger prey.”

“I don’t have confirmation,” Hange continues, “but I have my team secretly looking for the deleted files on them. Optimistically, they’ll shed some light on this. We can further discuss this later.” She claps once. “On the plan!”

She lays a map of the city in which the restaurant resides on the coffee table, smoothing the rolling edges. “We’ll be here,” she grasps a paper sheet and a pencil to draw a square. “Everyone knows Carla’s—every snob at least—hence Tybur won’t suspect. It’s ideal; he’ll feel in his element and guarded by his own people, who will probably be placed all around—on the roofs, the parking spaces, even other tables.” She points to some tiny squares on the map, the ones circling the restaurant building.

“That drawing is disgusting,” interrupts a foreign voice.

“Jean-boy!” Mike ruffles the newcomer’s long hair, which weirdly enough, is gray, even though he must be in his twenties at the most. “Good to see you again!”

Jean makes a face at the nickname and combs his hair with a hand. He sits cross-legged on the floor and snatches Hange’s pencil. “You should at least work with better visuals.” Mike and Hange switch looks and contain laughs as Jean works.

Mike tilts his head to a side. “Jean-boy. How’s your mother?”

Hange shakes her head to Mike but it’s too late. Jean shoots a glare at Mike and continues drawing.

“Done.” Jean drew a rendition of the aerial view of Carla’s building, far better than Hange’s plain square. He stands with a satisfied expression and dusts off his pants.

Hange takes her pencil back. “Thanks, Jean. I’ll tell Pieck you send greetings.”

Jean’s cheeks acquire a deep reddish hue before he hurries out of the room.

Levi is baffled by the whole interaction. “Is he acquainted with your Queen?”

Hange scratches her arm with the pencil. “Mmmm… I guess you can say so. We used to come here before the queen thing. They’re sort of friends. Don’t say her name here, though—it’s a delicate topic. He can’t leave this place, as his mother is rather… ill.”

“Ah.” Levi isn’t the slightest bit interested in the marleyan queen’s private life. Although it could be useful information… He looks at the map. “What’s the plan?” Levi can’t spot a way around the numerous squares encircling the building; all the more, Tybur isn’t an idiot. He wouldn’t go if he didn’t have the upper hand.

Hange rolls and unrolls the map’s tip with her fingers “Okay, so this is what we’ll do...” She speaks long, until the early morning falls on them and she starts nodding off. Her head drops on Levi’s shoulder and he stays immobile, holding his breath. He doesn’t want to disturb her, as she needs the rest, and if she wakes up now she’ll continue working.

And he used to think he was a workaholic…

Mike hovers above them like a storm, his gaze cutting to Levi.

“Be good,” he mutters and retires upstairs.

Jean walks in, and Levi gets the feeling someone has called him horse face at some time, someday…. He yawns while Jean removes the cups and the plate of muffins. “If you stay here, don’t step on the couch. Guests always do that and mom hates it.”

Levi stiffens. How many people have sat on this same couch, slept here, left their… dead cells all over its fabric?

“Calm down,” Hange splutters against his neck, sleepy. “It’s clean.”

“If you’re awake, go sleep on your bed.”

She mumbles as a response. Hange snuggles up next to him, her nose bumping into the curve of his shoulder. His heart twinges inside his chest. She nuzzles up to his neck, her breathing tingling his skin, making him shiver. Levi feels drowsiness, as if he was engulfed in cotton. Warm and sweet cotton that tastes like home.

He should jolt her off his shoulder and go to his room, but he’s so positively giddy that he doubts he could. He’s just too… comfortable. This doesn’t mean he likes her, or something preposterous like that. He merely enjoys her presence. That’s all.

With the quietness around, he recalls the mirages from the beach. Hange was sad, then happy… The images bring sorrow, but also a sense of longing. Nevertheless, in a back layer, all of them also bear the faintest hint of joy—entangled so intricately between them, that there’s no possible way to de-interlace it.

Levi inhales her earthy, heady scent. Those images recover forgotten memories, lost moments from dreams. Barely flashes, but familiar ones. Every so often, Erwin appears, along with some kids and even Mike. Regardless, those that last the longest and crumble his heart are the ones with her mark all throughout.

He wonders what they could signify. Aren’t dreams mere reinterpretations of reality, projections of the hidden inner mind? They may mean nothing.

However, if they’re meaningful, perhaps he’ll never find out.

***

D-3

What follows knocking on Carla’s back door was unforeseen, to say the least. That is, the tall, bald, and raw-boned man with the biggest eye-bags Levi’s ever seen who welcomes them. The man stands firm, arms crossed and lips tight—clutching a menacing knife that, strangely, is pointing directly at Levi.

Levi doesn’t expect what follows, either.

“Who are you?” The man interrogates, raucous.

Levi looks at Mike, but it’s clear that the question is aimed at him. “L—Hange calls me Levi.”

The man scrutinizes him. He echoes, puzzled. “Levi… So it’s him?”

Mike passes Levi and gets into the restaurant. “It’s him.”

What am I?! Disconcerted, Levi sways from foot to foot. Should he follow Mike or…? The man eyes him from head to toe with a disapproving expression.

Mike’s head peeks out from inside. “We should take this conversation inside,” he suggests. “We never know who could be watching around.”

Levi crosses the threshold and finds himself in a busy kitchen. People dressed in black hurry from one side to the other carrying casseroles; among them, several white androids with black caps rush around, lifting the heaviest boxes, washing dishes, and opening cans. He’d never seen the intern mechanisms of this kind of place before, as in the restaurant his mother worked in, there were only humans doing the chores, and the kitchen was half as spacious. Of course, it wasn’t as renowned as Carla’s, so it makes sense.

Next to Levi, the man observes, “You’re too short.”

Levi’s forehead puckers. “And you are…?”

“Shadis, the owner.”

“Who also likes calling himself ‘Hange’s father’” Mike chips in, sniffing a saucepan on the fire.

“She is my daughter. I raised her since she was”—Shadis puts his hand perpendicularly to the height of his waist— “this short, and talked about raccoons nonstop.”

“Raccoons?” Levi’s head combusts in utmost confusion. What the hell is this entire exchange?

“She had a phase,” Shadis laments, and places his hands on his slender hips. “What’s your profession?”

It takes Levi a moment to grasp that, again, he’s the subject of Shadis’ inquiries. Levi stuffs his hands in his pockets. “Hm. Classified.”

A harsh squint on Shadis’s face makes Levi step back. Just once.

Mike chuckles. “Let’s keep moving; we’re interfering with the work standing here.”

Shadis leads them to an office with dark furniture and blue walls, where banks of windows look out onto a cloudy street. An entire wall is lined with dozens of potted plants, the second most natural greenness Levi’s seen together in his life. There’s a desk at one end, and a small table with comfortable-looking chairs around it at the other. First thing inside, Shadis mashes Levi on a sofa and sits to the fore of him, on a wingback chair that looks too much like a throne.

“So. How much is your income?” Shadis questions from his seat, rising above Levi like a general.

Mike freezes mid-motion, and instead of sitting down next to Levi as he was going to, he retreats to the door they just entered. Levi scratches his cheek; wasn’t he supposed to come, prepare everything for later, maybe eat something, and wait? Obviously, things won’t go on as planned.

Why is the old man doing this? After this mission, he likely won’t see him ever again—nor Hange. Does he interrogate each person who comes, that happens to be his daughter’s acquaintance?

Fucking Mike. Why did he leave him alone with such a stranger?

A bead of sweat slides down Levi’s forehead at Shadis’ penetrating stare. Why does he feel like a criminal apprehended in a cell, who’s being demanded a confession of his worst crimes? It’s highly ridiculous—he’s done nothing wrong. Nonetheless, what’s more ridiculous is how compelled to answer properly he is.

“Err…” Levi’s mouth gets completely dry. How much does his eldian salary equal on this currency? Numbers dance and slip away from his head without control. “Enough to live comfortably,” Levi resolves into, mind too tangled to muster a more adequate reply.

Shadis grabs a notepad from a side table and flips it open. He scribbles something down. “What do you think of my daughter?”

Mike was coming back in, chewing a slice of bread and holding a plate with more of them. The moment he hears that question, though, he quietly backs up to the kitchen, putting his phone to his ear.

Levi scoots to the edge of his seat, desiring nothing but to escape with him. “Ahh… errr… She’s extremely smart.” Why is that relevant to anything?

“Certainly. Hobbies?”

“I think she likes—”

“Yours.”

“Oh. Cleaning, Tea…” Shadis wrinkles his nose. Levi scraps a hand through his hair. “Watching… TV?”

The man crosses something on the paper, which makes Levi straighten. “What do you watch?”

“Err—Movies, TV shows like… Joan… the slayer.”

The eyebags from Shadi’s face hop with his laugh. “That’s an amazing show! Did you watch the last episode, where Joan had to destroy that aquatic monster?”

And then Levi gets snared talking about every little detail of his favorite TV show, which wouldn’t have been that bad, if only someone had warned him of Shadis’s baleful stance beforehand. He’s done with the unexpected on this day.

“Hi!”

The voice catches Levi’s heartbeats. Hange rushes into the room, quite out of breath. She’s wearing all black, hair sticking out of her ponytail in every direction. She slouches on the sofa next to him, within arm’s reach.

“What are you doing here?” Levi gasps. Her presence here is definitely not part of the plan. Under the possibility of Tybur watching this place, they concluded she shouldn’t be seen anywhere nearby before the meeting’s time.

She takes a candy from a bowl on a side table and pops it into her mouth. “Just… because. I was cautious, don’t worry.” She pats his knee, earning him a glare from Shadis. Levi steels himself, trying not to cower under it.

A toothy smile surfaces on Shadis’ lips, yet his features hide a tint of anger below. “My dear Hange, why didn’t you come last month as promised?”

Her chin dips to her chest. “I’m sorry… Work got in the way.” Hange squirms. “How have you been? How are my babies?” She ventures to the potted plans, caressing some of their leaves. “Hello, Albert!” She tells a long plant with yellow flowers.

“We’re fine,” Shadis says looking quite content, which is a contrasting—and disturbing—view from his previous behavior. “I was chatting with your friend here. He is…” Shadis balances his index and middle fingers on his chin. “Reserved.”

“He is. He won’t even tell me his real name, and the day I met him—”

Levi jumps to his feet. If Hange narrates that particular anecdote, he doesn’t want to be anywhere near Shadis. “I should get a drink. Want some?”

Hange is watering the plants with a hand sprayer. “Tea is okay.”

“Coffee,” Shadis dismisses.

Levi all but sprints to the exit. He lets out a long exhalation the second he closes the door behind him. Something about that man’s eyes makes him incredibly nervous. By the time he returns from the kitchen, Shadis’ posture is relaxed, and Hange is back on the sofa, her demeanor less agitated.

“Levi,” Shadis calls him stridently, leaning back on his chair with his arms folded over his chest.

Levi stumbles over a nonexistent crack in the floor. He swallows. “Yes?”

“I never expected the infamous Ackerman to be… well, like you.”

Did she inform him who he was? For some reason, it doesn’t bother him that much, as at least now the man is aware of what he does, and that he does it greatly. Not because he wants to impress Shadis or anything like that—it’s only nice to make known he isn’t someone useless, and neither easy to intimidate. Most of the time.

A soft clink of the three cups being placed on the center table, and Levi takes a seat. “I wouldn’t be able to work anonymously if I was as expected.”

Hange dedicates a smile to him, which also makes him smile, although he doesn’t ponder on why.

Shadis raps a finger on his temple. “I guess you are right. And you like Joan The Slayer...”

“This is so good,” Hange exclaims after tasting her tea. “Another original recipe?”

Levi nods, heat creeping to his face. Having nailed the flavor makes him a little proud. “I thought you’d like it. It’s the sweetest one I’ve done.”

“The coffee is good too.” Shadis seems to be perceiving him in a new light, manifesting intimidation to a smaller extent. “Why don’t you work on this? It would be safer for you and your future family.”

Ehhh… future what? “I can’t.”

“Why not? I used to want my own restaurant ever since I was a teenager, but always believed I was overly insignificant for that, nothing special. But then Carla appeared and taught me we can make anything we want, if…” Shadis’ eyes are unfocused with memories. Levi, for his part, is trying to count the panels on the ceiling.

He doesn’t want to get a tea shop; that idea has been long destroyed within his heart. Dreaming of the impossible is beyond futile, and fueling the fire of cravings that once burned inside him but which nowadays are mere ashes, too much to handle on a day when his mind should be everywhere but in nonsense.

As if sensing his discomfort, Hange interrupts, “I think it’s time to get to work.” She puts Carla’s building plans on the table and blinks at them. Takes off her glasses.

Levi snatches them and wipes the lenses on his shirt. “There. They should be clearer now.”

She mumbles a ‘thanks’ before returning her attention to the plans. Levi shifts his gaze to Shadis. The man’s glower makes him feel naked and under inspection. He hastens to avert his face and concentrate on Hange’s explanation.

Soon, Shadis is—fortunately—required in the kitchen, whereupon Mike arrives with plates overflowing with food of eccentric names. Hange’s entire face illuminates at the sight of them and quickly devours a steak.

“Before I forget, here.” She hands him a phone when she finishes her first plate and is eyeing a second one. “You seemed to miss yours.”

Bordering on reverence, he takes the phone and instant relief washes over him. It’s reassuring, feeling those hard angles on his hand, his connection to the world. Mike and Hange get into a loud discussion while he explores the gadgets of his new treasure.

“Or what do you think, Levi?” Hange turns to him. “Do you consider dogs are treated well and should continue to live with humans without supervision of their owners?”

Levi’s mind goes blank for a second. In the end, he says nonchalantly, “Well, my mother had a dog when I was a child. I spilled spot remover on it and then it was gone.”

The room is silent for a minute before Hange guffaws without control. Mike looks from one to the other, clearly bewildered.

“You’re joking, right?” Mike looks genuinely perplexed. Levi’s face remains unperturbed while Hange gasps for air. “What’s so damn funny about this?!”

When Hange composes herself, she says, “That proves my point, at least. Supervision is required…”

Levi returns to his phone, somewhat satisfied with his contribution. He made her laugh, and the overall interaction made him feel as if he was their friend. Which is impossible, naturally, but still… Not a bad sensation.

“I was Nana’s best friend,” is the next noisy thing that tears Levi out of his absorption.

Hange leaps to her feet and slams her hands on the table. “No. I was Nana’s best friend.”

“She was going to marry me,” Mike argues.

How can they talk that freely about Nanaba when she’s been gone for so little? They’re weird, but Levi guesses people deal with their grief in contrasting ways. Odd ones. He discovers that observing them is amusing. While Mike is leisurely leaning back on Shadis’ chair, smirking, Hange is worked up; her cheeks are colored red and her fists clenched.

“Only because you have a penis!”

“I’ve been by her side daily. You used to return her calls once a month!” Mike lifts a finger. “If lucky.”

She primes her lips and doesn’t retort. Then pivots to face Levi. He’s transfixed by being the sudden center of attention.

“Levi. You’re more my friend than his, right?”

“Um…”

“Levi, my friend. I brought you dinner!” Mike points at Levi’s half-eaten dish. “You prefer me over the glasses, don’t you?”

“I’ve known you longer!” Hange exclaims.

Mike waves a dismissive hand. “Mere hours.”

“We’ve gone through much more together.”

“For a day. And we share a meaningful connection, yes?”

“No!” Hange slams her fist on the table. “We do. Right?”

“Ahh…” Levi inspects his cup, then those of the others. They’re empty—yes! He asks Hange, “Do you want more tea…?”

“Uff.” Mike deflates in the chair. “That’s betrayal, man.”

Hange flashes a smile that encompasses her entire face. “I’d love some. You chose wisely.”

“I haven’t chos—” Levi exhales. Whatever. He turns to Mike. “You want a coffee, don’t you?”

The satisfied smile on Mike’s mouth overshadows hers, which fades to a scowl. “Double, please.”

When he comes back with the beverages, they’ve all forgotten their argument and are deep down in the planning. Hange is unsurprisingly good at logistics, and Mike is surprisingly capable of organizing, so it’s decided that Levi will be close in case a fight is necessary, while Mike will be in charge of coordinating them from a distance. Not much different than what they did at Tybur, really, just with divergent results (hopefully).

The clock is grinding slowly toward seven pm, the hour of the meeting. Even when Levi dreads it, he’s eager for it to arrive. He can’t stand yet another hour like this. More so as Shadis comes back to the room and picks up on everything Levi does and says—disapproving of it at the same time.

By and by, Hange glances at the clock and gulps. “It’s time.”

Levi’s stomach performs pirouettes. “We’ll fail,” he croaks.

Mike rubs his sparse goatee. “Mmm, this could actually work.”

Hange thrusts a fist up. “This will be a piece of cake!”

Either way, their opportunity to uncover this has come.

The sun has dipped low in the sky and the stars blinked on. The restaurant is brimming with people, the murmurs from the multiple conversations around, remaining diffuse yet stable.

“Ready?” Mike’s voice rings from the earphone in Levi’s ear, static pervading it.

Levi adjusts the lapels of his waiter uniform and rearranges his black do-rag, hoping it will make his wound imperceptible. He’s coiled in a corner of the kitchen—a real waiter almost ran him up on his way out, so better to stay secluded. “The sooner we finish this, the better. Do you see her?”

“Clear. She’s walking to the table. Do you?”

“Not from here.” A screen on the wall shows men wearing tailored suits and sunglasses getting into the restaurant. Levi lowers his voice. “They are here.”

Shadis crops up at Levi’s back, wearing a chef hat. “How is it going?”

“Fine. You just have to stay in the kitchen.”

“Don’t let anything happen to her,” Shadis whispers to his ear. It sounds more like a warning than a request.

Hooking a finger into the collar of his shirt to breathe better, Levi nods. No pressure.

He takes a food tray and exits the kitchen, getting into the cloud of food odors and indistinguishable speech. Heading to a station next to Hange, the squeak of a nearby chair sliding on the wooden floor bounces to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he notes a regal man sitting in front of Hange. Levi settles into a corner, where there’s a cart from which he must deliver cups and cutlery. Habitually, this is done by an android, but tonight Carla’s staff will claim technical problems.

“Miss Bean,” a plummy voice greets. Willy Tybur is displaying the same long blond hair and proud stance as at his birthday party. “A pleasure to meet you again.”

“The pleasure is mine, Mister Tybur.”

“I told you, call me Willy.” Levi makes a face while rubbing a plate with a napkin. “And perhaps I should address you as Miss Zoe instead. It was a remarkable job, deceiving me the first time. I never suspected you were from Marley—and the brilliant Zoe, most importantly.” He raises his empty wine glass to her, and in the split of a second, a man rushes over and fills it.

“Apologies for that. It was necessary, you see.” She raises her already full wine glass, lips barely curled. “For saving the world and all.”

Their two glasses clink with a chink.

Tybur tilts his head to a side, appearing curious. “Saving the world? Don’t you believe it will turn into a better one, following this?”

“Can someone who’s killed thousands, among which were some of the smartest people, make a better world out of this one? Someone willing to strike and harm again?” She lifts an eyebrow.

“The smartest people?” There’s an almost imperceptible trim on Tybur’s tone.

“According to the records, at least.” Hange smirks. “You didn’t know? This person must not trust you that much, after all.”

Levi almost smiles. A loaded pause descends on the table.

“Hey, you! I need some spoons,” a waiter shouts at Levi, whose attention was on everything but the cutlery. He takes a bunch of spoons and unceremoniously shoves them to the waiter’s chest. The brusque action attracts the scrutiny of Tybur’s bodyguards. Levi’s muscles harden and he focuses on his fake job, gathering the cutlery in sets. He won’t glance at Hange and Tybur again, in case they suspect something. He’ll have to exercise his listening skills.

“Very well, Miss Zoe. You proposed an interchange. Disclose your information and I’ll give you mine.”

Levi hears paper rustling against wood—she must be sliding something to him.

“Here. All the codes necessary to get into Marley’s system. They work; I made them myself. Now, spill the beans.”

“Are you willing to betray your land for this?”

Levi had the same question. Fortunately, he received an honest answer. ‘These aren’t the complete codes,’ she made clear when Levi was memorizing them earlier.

“I’m not betraying them,” Hange explains this time. “Besides, isn’t the whole world far more important? Innocent people are in danger.”

Tybur snorts. “Fair enough. On my part, I have the leader’s name for you. He’s called… The Commander. Does that sound familiar?” He laughs.

The loud crash of glass breaking reaches Levi’s ears. Afterward, there’s only silence from Hange. Levi forces himself not to steal a glimpse at them.

“What are they saying?” Mike’s voice buzzes in his ear. “Hange looks ill.”

“Shh.” The Commander… Levi has never heard that name before. Has she?

“He will—” Hange clears her throat. “He’ll be mad if he knows you betrayed him.”

“Betray?” Tybur mocks. “You won’t get alive out of this place, Miss Zoe. You’re surrounded. These codes? I already have them.” The ripping noise of tearing paper. “I have access to almost every place in this world. You can’t escape me. Us.”

“Why are you here, then?” Hange demands, voice full of tension.

“Bait? You underestimate my involvement in this. I won’t let you go—and The Commander knows you’re here, too.”

Levi’s heart races. A spoon slips from his hands and clatters to the floor. He stares at the scattered cutlery, seeing through them as his mind rolls. Tybur being prepared to eliminate Hange here… not a good thing. How many people must be around?

“I think you also underestimated me. Now!”

Levi looks up in time to see her raising, her chair falling back with a thud due to the abruptness.

The signal.

“Now!” He yells at Mike. A boom shatters the whole room, and panic wails boost. The air saturates with a thick black layer and the sound of people coughing.

“What’s that?” Someone screams between gasps.

“I can’t see!”

“Where’s the exit?!”

He dashes in Hange’s direction, hands outstretched to avoid bumping onto something or someone. “Hange?!”

“Here.” A hand closes on his arm. She drags him to the right, where she crouches. Opens a hatch on the floor, leaking blinding and suffocating black gas in. Levi covers his nose with his shirt while Hange lands in the tight space. He follows her and closes the hatch behind him.

They’re trapped in a narrow space. In the darkness, every part of her body is pressed against him; her chest goes up and down in fast succession, her heat seeping into his skin, her burning respiration on his face.

The sound of his thundering palpitations in his ears drowns out the screams above them.

“It worked?” He finally asks to the nothingness, voice hoarse. Although unable to see her, he does feel her, and all around. Her solid presence, her softness and her hardness. Smells her overwhelming fragrance. Her audible rapid breathing flutters sensations across his skin, making it overly sensitive. His fingers ache to touch her… He flexes those traitors and slides to a side, successfully getting away from her and to the chilly air of the tunnel.

He feels somewhat empty.

Hange snaps out of her stupor. “They’ll look for us as soon as the air clears. Hurry up!”

She seizes his sweaty hand and hauls him through the corridor. After a few seconds, she lets go of it, and he reaches at her without success.

“Where are you?!” He shouts, pulse skittering. He moves his palms around, striking nothing solid, perceiving nothing. Levi never considered himself claustrophobic until this very moment. There’s something in knowing himself under so many concrete layers… His limbs get numb, and he can’t breathe as human beings are supposed to, air entering the lungs with an open track. Instead, he gasps in kind of a panic. Something walks down his spine, and he desperately tries to reach it to no avail.

All of a sudden, he makes out a little light, and above it, Hange’s shining features, her glasses glowing. She lit a flashlight. “Are you okay? We have to keep going.” She furls his hand again and tugs him through the complex tunnel structure.

Steps resound over their heads from the surface. And then, a violent explosion. Everything rumbles, stunning them and knocking them to the ground. Dust rains from the ceiling, coating them and tingling Levi’s throat.

“What was that?” He struggles to his feet. The building wouldn’t collapse on them, right?

“I think something exploded upstairs.” She bites her lip, eyes exuding worry. “We’ll find out when we get out.”

Hange turns left, right, then right again, without a pause. Levi’s fitness is exceptional, but the low ground height, the blackness, and the run have him panting.

“How do you know the way?” He agonizes.

The flashlight beam snakes along the walls as she searches for something. “I used to play here when I was a child. Shadis let me go wherever I wanted, so I spent most of my time exploring down here.”

“Chasing raccoons?”

“What?”

The light stops at a door. Hange pushes it open and fresh air flows to their bodies. The moonlight guides them up long stairs that lead them to a street. On the sidewalk at last, Levi supports his hands on his knees to recover his breathing. His arms are dusty and dripping with cold sweat. Absolutely disgusting.

They are on the other side of the restaurant’s street, which isn’t visible from here. Even so, smoke floats over the entire block—as likely as it is, he doesn’t want to make assumptions and say it comes from Carla’s, but... It doesn’t look good. They can’t return and check, only run away to a yet-to-establish location, as they didn’t figure out their next destination in their planning session, expecting Tybur to provide them with an answer. Talking about Tybur… “You know who The Commander is?”

Hange redoes her ponytail, her breathing steadier than his. Her eyes are idle on the smoke in the sky. “No.”

He levels a frustrated look at her, acid boiling in his arms. She recognized the name—he’s sure. Which means she’s lying to him. “What do you mean with ‘no’?”

She tears her eyes from the smoke and, stomping ahead, she deepens her pitch, “I said no. I don’t.”

“You ar—”

In his ear, Mike blurts, “Guys, where are you?!” It startles Levi; the signal must have been shitty when they were underground, because he got used to the quietness from the line.

“Mike’s looking for us.” Levi dashes to the meeting point, striding past her and her lying ass. Mike should be already waiting for them with the car, ready to drive them who knows where, and—

“I don’t think I’ll make it,” Mike discloses, gloomy. Levi stops on his track.

Hange draws up a distance behind. “What? What’s he saying?”

“Good news is, I didn’t make it to the meeting point, so the car should be safe and ready for you,” Mike hisses. “Bads are, I’m encircled. They’ll get me at any second.”

Levi puts his hand on his ear as if all of this solely originated from not hearing him well. “Where are you?”

“Wait, what? Tell me what’s happening!” Hange demands, tone tainted with emotion and edging on desperation.

“You can’t come,” Mike affirms. “Just leave, and don’t let her die. Don’t die, too.”

Mike turns his microphone off—or that’s what Levi chooses to believe, hearing bleak silence and not even a trace of static.

Just pure, dead silence.

#levihan #levihan fanfiction #levi x hange #levi x hanji #levi ackerman #hange zoe #aot #snk #aot fanfiction #enemies to lovers #reincarnation au #OTNOD #mine #myfics #multichapter

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rockislandadultreads · 2 years

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Book Recommendations: More Sci-Fi Titles

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying—from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total. On this Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now she has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works—and shamelessly flirts—with her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security. But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined—and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world, but the entire multiverse.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal--an experience that shocks him to his core. Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She's traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive's bestselling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him. When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.

The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird

The year is 2025, and a mysterious virus has broken out in Scotland--a lethal illness that seems to affect only men. When Dr. Amanda MacLean reports this phenomenon, she is dismissed as hysterical. By the time her warning is heeded, it is too late. The virus becomes a global pandemic--and a political one. The victims are all men. The world becomes alien--a women's world. What follows is the immersive account of the women who have been left to deal with the virus's consequences, told through first-person narratives. Dr. MacLean; Catherine, a social historian determined to document the human stories behind the male plague; intelligence analyst Dawn, tasked with helping the government forge a new society; and Elizabeth, one of many scientists desperately working to develop a vaccine. Through these women and others, we see the uncountable ways the absence of men has changed society, from the personal--the loss of husbands and sons--to the political--the changes in the workforce, fertility and the meaning of family.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds. Now she's awakened a nightmare. During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she's delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move. As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn't at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human. While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity's greatest and final hope...

#science fiction #to read #tbr #TBR pile #booklr #library books #reading recommendations #book recommendations #book recs

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spacecasewriter13 · 2 years

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When the Lights Go on Again by @spacecasewriter13

Story Summary: It is May of 1946, over a year after his fall from the Hydra train and losing his left arm, and James "Bucky" Barnes is struggling to adjust. Working as an analyst at the New York City SSR branch, Bucky tries to put the war and all of its sorted memories behind him. However, try as he might he is plagued by thoughts of Magdalene "Maggie" Ramirez, a Women's Army Corps (WAC) Corporal he met in London and hasn't spoken to since before his fall in January of 1945. Little does he know that Maggie, in her struggle to put the war behind her, has moved to the city and looking for a job with the New York Bell Telephone Company as a switchboard operator. Now, by sheer dumb luck, they are reunited as they both fight come to terms with what they were to one another during the war, and work to figure out how to move forward in a world that was unprepared to deal with the consequences of war in the unsteady peace.

Chapter 14: Stairway to the Stars

Chapter Summary: Maggie and Bucky have a long conversation about “From the Earth to the Moon” as they both ponder what the future looks like and what they actually want.

Excerpt:

The week proceeded as Bucky expected. Wednesday, Carter and Steve were conspicuously missing from the office, and he arrived home Thursday afternoon to a letter from CPL M. Ramirez confirming that she had received his letter and looked forward to speaking with him on Saturday. Friday dragged on something terrible, but soon enough, Saturday came. Once again, Bucky found himself at the bottom of the staircase in front of the main branch of the New York Public Library. Once again, Corporal Magdalene Ramirez was sitting at the top, unaware of his presence, presiding over her city, even as she kept her head ducked over her journal.

He had hoped to beat her to the library today. In truth, he’d wanted to watch her walk up to meet him, wanted to be able to see the look in her eyes whenever she saw that he was here, waiting for her to arrive, but alas, somehow, she’d managed to make it here before him once again. Then again, she’d always made it a point to arrive before him at the cafe back in London too. Somethings never changed, but Bucky could appreciate the symmetry of the situation, even if life now otherwise was completely unrecognizable to the people they’d been a year and a half ago.

“You’re early, Sergeant,” Her voice called to him, and he blinked, realizing that her head was up, her eyes surveying him. A small reserved smile spread across her face as she packed away her journal and pencil into her canvas satchel.

“I am. But by all rights then, Corporal, you’re early too.” He agreed with a nod as he started walking up the steps to meet her where she was waiting.

“The Army turned me into something of an early riser,” She replied, withdrawing his tattered paperback from her bag before slinging its strap over her shoulder. Then she rose as he made his ascent. “Something I’m sure you’ve experienced since returning stateside.”

“Something like that,” He agreed, stopping a step below where she was standing so they were more or less eye level.

She was dressed simply, in a linen shirt and skirt, her hair was coiffed in regulation curls, and she wore a canvas cap with the brim turned up and out of her line of sight. Her eyes were clear and bright, and she looked at him with an open, almost warm expression.

“Did you have a good 4th of July?” She continued after a moment, if only to keep the conversation going.

“As good as anything else, I suppose. And you?”

“About the same,” Ramirez said. “I’m glad to see you. Thank you for letting me borrow your book.”

“I did intend to let you keep it,” Bucky said.

“It seemed well-loved, and in such circumstances, I did not wish to part you from it.” There was a pause. “And I do apologize if my letter caused alarm or concern.”

“I was surprised.”

“Oh?”

“How’d you get my mother’s home address? We’re not listed in the phone book. Did you have Sousa get the address from files at work?”

Something approaching alarm crossed her expression as she shook her head. “No. No, nothing so devious.” Ramirez opened the book and extended it to him.

To Continue Reading Please Visit Ao3

#Bucky Barnes #Winter Soldier #James Barnes #MCU #1940s Bucky Barnes #1940s Bucky #New Chapter UP!#captain america #captain america: the winter soldier #fic #fanfic #mine

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shadowsister7 · 2 years

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The Best Haikyuu Keychains

Many individuals don't consider a keychain as the need might arise, yet a decent keychain can make ordinary assignments like opening your vehicle a lot simpler. The best keychains offer superior usefulness, a natural plant, and those individual contacts to meet every individual's requirements. All of the keychains included in this article are best in class and very excellent. The Haikyuu Keychains underneath have been exposed to thorough testing following an unprejudiced examination led by our group of specialists. While we stand by our proposals, we urge you to lead your exploration to find a keychain that suits your requirements. All of the keychains in this survey have experienced two rounds of testing. The primary round elaborates on our colleagues completely investigating this kind of item utilizing Amazon, considering client surveys, cost, and a few different elements. https://animekeychains.com/collections/haikyuu-keychains/ : The plan of a keychain generally separates this sort of item from each other. The number of keys the Haikyuu Keychains will hold and different factors, for example, the number of highlights on the keychain were completely considered during our plan assessment. Versatility: Portability is among the main qualities of a keychain. We tried how well the keychain cut onto a waistband and how it fits in the pocket with keys joined. Solidness: Everyone sooner or later in their life has dropped their keys or thumped them off a table. In light of this, our colleagues dropped each keychain from the midsection level on substantial multiple times to see how each dealt with rehashed influence. The Hephis Heavy Duty Keychain is our group's pick as the Best Overall keychain. While our item testing group perceives that the best keychain comes from to a greater degree a subjective viewpoint as opposed to a quantitative one, we felt this keychain was a stride in front of its rivals. This keychain is produced using eco-accommodating materials, most prominently zinc amalgam for the body of the keychain. Being produced using a zinc combination implies it is erosion safe, amazingly solid, and won't rust over the long haul. This carabiner keychain's most prominent Haikyuu Keychains embellishment is its joined keychain bottle opener. Also, the keychain ring is incorporated into the construction so you will not need to stress over losing your home keys. Made for regular convey (EDC), this keychain is minuscule and can well fit in the center of an individual's hand. The plan is smooth and thoroughly examined, as the incorporated key ring ought to keep keys from getting lost and the inherent container opener implies you will constantly have one close by. As addressed before, this keychain is generally little in size contrasted with the other keychains we tried. These Haikyuu Keychains hang pleasantly on a waistband and don't feel too massive in a pocket. The spring cut is adequately extreme to open so that you don't have to stress over inadvertently opening it however simple enough to open for a speedy delivery. This keychain has a rock-solid in its name and it doesn't dishearten. We over and again dropped this keychain on cement and saw no striking indications of harm beyond the required scratch or two. The Hephis Heavy Duty Keychain highlights north of 12,000 audits on Amazon. A large portion of the audits that have been left is positive, as almost 90% of commentators rate this carabiner 4 stars or higher. Only two percent of commentators rate this item 1 star, while on the far edge of the range, 74% of analysts rate the keychain an impeccable 5 stars. Made for ladies by ladies, the She's Birdie Original Personal Safety Alarm is our group's decision as Best For Self Defense. Every keychain from She's Birdie is hand-tried to guarantee its usefulness, and five percent of She's Birdie's benefits go straightforwardly to their accomplice associations to help ladies' wellbeing, haven, and wellbeing. As keychains are a typical gift thought, this makes for an extraordinary gift for the ladies in your day-to-day existence. This keychain's most conspicuous elements are its strobe light and 125.0 dB. security caution. When compromised, you can enact your keychain's alarm and strobe light all the while by eliminating the top pin. To deactivate the light and alert, essentially supplant the top pin. The security elements can be utilized endlessly and time again for up to 40 constant minutes. It ought to be noticed that the batteries are replaceable once your keychain passes on.

#Haikyuu Keychains

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 2 years

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Astronomers identify 116,000 new variable stars Ohio State University astronomers have identified about 116,000 new variable stars, according to a new paper. These heavenly bodies were found by The All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN), a network of 20 telescopes around the world that can observe the entire sky about 50,000 times deeper than the human eye. Researchers from Ohio State have operated the project for nearly a decade. Now in a paper published on arXiv, an open-access preprint server, researchers describe how they used machine learning techniques to identify and classify variable stars—celestial objects whose brightness waxes and wanes over time, especially if observed from our perspective on Earth. The changes these stars undergo can reveal important information about their mass, radius, temperature and even their composition. In fact, even our sun is considered a variable star. Surveys like ASAS-SN are an especially important tool for finding systems that can reveal the complexities of stellar processes, said Collin Christy, the lead author of the paper and an ASAS-SN analyst at Ohio State. "Variable stars are sort of like a stellar laboratory," he said. "They're really neat places in the universe where we can study and learn more about how stars actually work and the little intricacies that they all have." But to locate more of these elusive entities, the team first had to bring in previously unused data from the project. For years, ASAS-SN gazed at the sky using V-band filters, optical lenses that can only identify stars whose light falls into the spectrum of colors visible to the naked eye. But in 2018, the project shifted to using g-band filters—lenses that can detect more varieties of blue light—and the network went from being able to observe about 60 million stars at a time to more than 100 million. But unlike ASAS-SN's citizen science campaign, which relies on volunteers to sift through and classify astronomical data, Christy's study required the help of artificial intelligence. "If you want to look at millions of stars, it's impossible for a few humans to do it by themselves. It'll take forever," said Tharindu Jayasinghe, co-author of the paper, a doctoral student in astronomy and an Ohio State presidential fellow. "So we had to bring something creative into the mix, like machine learning techniques." The new study focused on data from Gaia, a mission to chart a three-dimensional map of our galaxy, as well as from 2MASS and AllWISE. Christy's team used a machine learning algorithm to generate a list of 1.5 million candidate variable stars from a catalog of about 55 million isolated stars. Afterward, researchers whittled the number of candidates down even further. Of the 1.5 million stars they studied, nearly 400,000 turned out to be real variable stars. More than half were already known to the astronomy community, but 116,027 of them proved to be new discoveries. Although the study needed machine learning to complete it, Christy's team says there is still a role for citizen scientists. In fact, volunteers with the citizen science campaign have already started to identify junk data, he said. "Having people tell us what our bad data looks like is super useful, because initially, the algorithm would look at the bad data and try to make sense of it," Christy said. But using a training set of all that bad data allows the team to modify and improve the overall performance of their algorithm. "This is the first time that we're actually combining citizen science with machine learning techniques in the field of variable star astronomy," said Jayasinghe. "We're expanding the boundaries of what you can do when you put those two together." IMAGE....An ASAS-SN telescope helps astronomers discover new stars. Credit: ASAS-SN

#space #science #Astronomy #physics #news #stellar evolution

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dankusner · 5 days

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Will verdict upend 2024 election?

Gag order expected to be lifted regardless

WASHINGTON – Jurors hearing the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president could render their verdict in Donald Trump’s hush money case as soon as next week, with potentially big implications for the 2024 White House race.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a payment that bought the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.

Daniels had threatened to go public with her account of an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, a liaison he denies.

The New York case is widely seen as the least consequential of the four criminal prosecutions Trump faces.

But it has meant the Republican presidential candidate spent more time in court than campaigning in recent weeks, and brought outsized attention to the only case likely to go to trial before his Nov. 5 election faceoff with Democratic President Joe Biden.

Here is how three potential outcomes from the jury room – a guilty verdict, an acquittal or a hung jury – could affect the presidential campaign.

Guilty

Opinion polls show a guilty verdict could pose significant political danger for Trump in an election that will potentially be decided by just tens of thousands of votes in a handful of battleground states.

One in four Republicans said they would not vote for Trump if he is found guilty in a criminal trial, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of registered voters in April.

In the same survey, 60% of independents said they would not vote for Trump if he is convicted of a crime.

Republican and Democratic consultants have mixed views about the impact of a guilty verdict.

Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster, doubts that as many as a fourth of Republicans would actually shun Trump if he’s convicted.

But Ayres said even if just a small number of more moderate Republicans and independents are turned off by a guilty verdict, it could help Biden in a close election.

However, Ayres said the nature of the New York case, which was brought by a Democratic prosecutor and relies on untested legal strategies, will help Trump and fellow Republicans frame a guilty verdict as a political hit job.

“If I were trying to design a court case that would be easy for Republicans to dismiss as a partisan witch hunt, I would design exactly the case that’s being brought in New York,” Ayres said.

Republican consultant Tricia McLaughlin, who worked on former Trump primary challenger Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign, said she thought a guilty verdict would have a psychological impact on Trump because he hates losing.

It would also divert more financial resources to legal bills because he would be almost certain to appeal a guilty verdict, she added.

Bill Galston, an analyst and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, said he didn’t expect a guilty verdict would have a significant impact on the presidential race.

“In the end, this amounts to lying about sex. I think the view probably of the majority of Americans is that everybody lies about sex,” said Galston, who has worked on Democratic presidential campaigns.

He also served in the administration of President Bill Clinton, whose 1990s tenure in the White House was marked by sex scandals.

Not guilty Consultants from across the political spectrum agree on one thing:

An acquittal would be a huge victory for Trump, especially because he has claimed the trial is a sham political persecution aimed at derailing his presidential bid.

On the campaign trail, the candidate could use a not-guilty verdict in New York to claim the other cases against him also have no legal merit, McLaughlin said.

Trump faces federal and state charges in Washington and Georgia of trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden and federal charges in Florida of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021.

He has pleaded not guilty in all three cases.

“It’s great fodder for him,” McLaughlin said. “He will say, ‘I won this sham trial, this witch hunt in New York, and that’s what’s going to happen with the other trials.’ ”

Reuters/Ipsos has not polled on how an acquittal would affect voters’ views of the presidential race.

Karen Finney, a Democratic consultant who worked in the Clinton White House, said for Trump’s core supporters “an acquittal will make them feel vindicated and validated.”

But she said the lurid details that came out in trial testimony and the case’s central allegation – that Trump arranged a hush money payment to a porn star – could still damage him even if jurors find him not guilty.

“What’s come out during the case could turn off these suburban women that Trump still has a problem with,” Finney said, although she said he would play an acquittal as a “huge victory.”

Hung jury

If the 12 jurors hearing Trump’s case can’t agree on an unanimous verdict, the result will be a hung jury and the judge will have to declare a mistrial, legal experts say.

Trump will spin a mistrial as a victory, the political consultants and analysts said, but without the validation that an acquittal would give him.

The trial has kept Trump in the news, something he likes, said John Feehery, a Republican consultant who has worked for congressional leaders.

A mistrial would end that, he said, while simultaneously not giving Trump a “clean bill of health.”

Democratic consultant Finney said that, whatever the verdict, Trump is expected to then be free of a gag order imposed by the trial judge.

She expects Trump to lash out at his perceived enemies in even harsher ways once the trial concludes.

Regardless of a hung jury, Finney added, the tawdry facts of the case are now in the public domain.

A mistrial will also tell voters that at least some jurors believed Trump was guilty, she said

Hunter Biden’s criminal tax trial delayed until Sept. 5

The start of the criminal tax trial for President Joe Biden’s son was postponed until Sept. 5 from June 20, which Hunter Biden’s legal team requested because of conflicts with a separate criminal trial in Delaware.

Hunter Biden’s attorney Abbe Lowell had argued to U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi in Los Angeles that the start of a trial on criminal gun charges in Delaware on June 3 created overlap with pretrial deadlines in the criminal tax case.

Lowell also said in court filings he is pursuing two appeals after Scarsi and the judge in Delaware refused to dismiss the criminal indictments.

Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges in both criminal cases.

The Department of Justice charged Hunter Biden in December with failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019, while allegedly spending millions of dollars on drugs, escorts, exotic cars and other big-ticket items. He faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted.

Hunter Biden is also charged with three felonies in Delaware related to lying about his use of illegal drugs when he purchased a firearm in 2018.

He faces up to 25 years on those charges.

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buylumigen · 1 year

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Lumigen Skin Care Surveys: What Do Clients Say?

Lumigen Skin Care is supported by various good surveys on the web, with numerous clients expressing that they immediately saw that they looked and felt more

youthful in the wake of having involved the gadget for a long time.

In established truth, according to the authority site of the organization, it has delivered in excess of 18,420 items to date, with a typical rating of five

stars out of five and is the top selling item in the counter maturing class. These figures make Lumigen Skin Care among the top-selling hostile to maturing

gadgets on the planet.

The following are a couple of surveys composed by fulfilled clients on the web:

Various clients are intrigued by the nature of development and generally experience of the gadget. They say it is very much made and goes on for a really

long time of utilization.

One client matured 44 was suspicious that Lumigen Skin Care could function as guaranteed anyway she was shocked to find it made her skin delicate and all

the more firm, and furthermore diminished her kinks. An alternate client says Lumigen Skin Care performed quite well, with "a sumptuous inclination." Maybe

a treatment that could take many dollars. Be that as it may, the analyst prompted, "anticipate no marvels," she accepts "it unquestionably works assuming you

have genuine assumptions."

One client has guaranteed that her "skin shows up more energetic and smoother" inside only two months of utilizing Lumigen Skin Care and claims the age

spots all over are essentially diminished. Likewise, she sees an expansion in the shade of her face "presumably due to the superior blood dissemination" and

is anxious to utilize Lumigen Skin Care to check whether it can create extra advantages.

One more client of the Lumigen Skin Care red-light treatment "to assist me with my psoriasis" her record expresses that she values the calming warmth,

delicate vibrations and generally viability of the gadget. Clients additionally like the choice of picking different settings and medicines. Assuming that

you are hoping to clean your face, say utilizing the blue-shaded light. In the event that you're hoping to lessen wrinkles, you can use treatment with red

lights.

One client guarantees that her "terrible skin inflammation imprints and facial redness" has lessened after the utilization of Lumigen Skin Care for a short

time frame.

A commentator who is 58 years of age guarantees the Lumigen Skin Care red light treatment assisted with firming and full her skin. She favors the warm

setting that incorporates red light and the vibration to help with "depuff" her face.

Most of Lumigen Skin Care analysts are happy with the gadget's enemy of maturing abilities and how it performs and guarantee it did what it expressed to

help them look and feel more youthful. It's easy to utilize, effortless and of top quality.

Lumigen Skin Care Valuing

Lumigen Skin Care is valued at $199.95 for every unit. As a feature of an advancement that occurred as of late the organization has reduced costs by however

much 60% off its normal retail cost. The more Lumigen Skin Care items you buy and the more you save.

This is the way costs work when you submit a request for Lumigen Skin Care on the web today:

1 x Lumigen Skin Care Gadget: $99.99 + $8.52 Delivery 2 x Lumigen Skin Care Gadgets: $179.90 + Free Delivery 3 x Lumigen Skin Care Gadgets: $239.85 + Free Delivery You may likewise add extra devices and skincare items to your request at an expense, which is limited which incorporates:

Skin Revival Restoration Roller (Diminish wrinkles, smooth scarce differences, Dispose of Imperfections Firm Skin and Saturate): $19.95 Jade Roller and Guasha Set (Revive Skin, Alleviate Pressure and Muscle Strain Decreasing Puffiness, and Lift and Smooth Skin): $9.95 Lumigen Skin Care Discount Strategy

Lumigen Skin Care is covered by a 30-day unconditional promise. In the event that you're not happy with Lumigen Skin Care and the manner in which it

capabilities or on the other hand on the off chance that the item didn't give the advantages that you expected, then, at that point, you're qualified for a

full discount in 30 days or less. Lumigen Skin Care is delivered by a firm called Quietness Idea, LLC. It is settled inside Middletown, Delaware.

Serenity idea is notable because of the Miz Dream magnificence brand (MizMuse.com). The organization offers renowned items like Miz Dream Silk Eye Veil

($8.95), Gua Sha, Jade Roller, and Lumigen Skin Care Light Treatment gadget through Miz Dream's Miz Dream online store.

Lumigen Skin Care is a 5-in-1 and high level skincare gadget that professes to offer proficient skin health management medicines from your own home. Since

its send off, Lumigen Skin Care has gotten 5-star scores from in excess of 33,967 clients who are happy with its items.

The authority site characterizes it as blue and red light treatment gadget which will offer you the impeccable skin you've for a long time truly cared about.

We set off to figure out the advantages this gadget can offer its clients and what you can anticipate.

Lumigen Skin Care Audit - What's This Red Endlessly blue Light Treatment Gadget?

A brilliant, energetic appearance is never as easy to accomplish as it is these days. The group behind Lumigen Skin Care is the group behind Lumigen Skin

Care gadget has made a progressive technique to accomplish this. Lumigen Skin Care item can help you in lessening the presence of dull spots, flaws

wrinkles, scarcely discernible differences and kinks..

With Lumigen Skin Care , you'll have the option to revive and smooth your skin in just 15 minutes consistently. To accomplish the reason, Lumigen Skin Care

depends on five strategies that permit it to uncover the best of your skin, at whatever point you want to seem energetic.

The makers of the treatment have announced it to be the best treatment for:

Skin harm Wrinkles Droopy skin Barely recognizable differences Puffiness Skin break out A fast look at a portion of the surveys composed on the utilization of Lumigen Skin Care affirms that it is successful on ladies of any various ages. A

couple of its clients 55and over have detailed looking seven years more youthful than their genuine age after only five weeks. This demonstrates that Lumigen

Skin Care is to be sure ready to work.

How Does Lumigen Skin Care Work?

Lumigen Skin Care aides by fixing the skin, reviving it, and reestablishing your skin. Its makers guarantee it is the 1st ever adaptable dermatologist-grade

gadget. Whenever utilized for only three minutes every day, the gadget permits clients to treat dim imprints, almost negligible differences skin break out,

and some more.

Concentrates on in the area of science that help its working

Lumigen Skin Care was demonstrated deductively to cause the skin on your body to seem young. For the people who need to receive the many rewards of this

treatment it is important to choose among five distinct sorts of treatment.

The medicines depend on two significant classes: against maturing and hostile to breakout. Incredibly, you can customize your treatment to suit your

requirements assuming you wish to exploit what these two sorts of medicines need to give.

The two strategies we examined above utilize a blend of market-driving, experimentally demonstrated light frequencies to treat an assortment of skin issues.

It implies you can use a solitary gadget to smooth your skin and free it of any blemishes. However long you utilize Lumigen Skin Care for quite a while These are the advantages you'll procure:

Unwind and eliminate pressure from your skin Lessen the presence of barely recognizable differences brought about by age and kinks Ease expanding and puffiness on the face. Let skin break out and prevent the arrangement free from scars Cause your skin to show up more full and keep dampness in for better skin hydration Increment skin flexibility and fix skin What Could You at any point Utilize Lumigen Skin Care for?

From the presentation we made above we can see it's reasonable Lumigen Skin Care is a treatment for skin gadget that anybody hoping to seem more youthful

and more young ought to consider utilizing. To this end Lumigen Skin Care 's maker has proposed a scope of situations in which the gadget could perform well

for you.

They are:

Work on your general appearance

Using Lumigen Skin Care 's Lumigen Skin Care Red and Blue Light treatment gadget can give you an alluring, energetic appearance without the requirement for

costly medicines or cosmetics that is weighty. The gadget has five expert grade medicines that you can use to meet the different objectives of your skincare.

You should simply give 15 minutes in your day to this contraption. Help to switch indications of maturing

Red light treatment is the treatment for skin which utilizes red light with a low frequency to work on the presence of your skin. By utilizing this,

individuals who utilize Lumigen Skin Care can diminish kinks and skin inflammation related signs, as well as the presence of scars brought about by age.

The manner in which it accomplishes this is by upgrading blood flow and expanding levels of the chemical collagen. A superior flow and higher collagen

creation helps with switching the presence of scarce differences, wrinkles and different indications of maturing.

Lessen pressure and strain

Individuals who have had the involvement in it have said it resembles the utilization of a hand-held spa. It highlights double temperature settings that can

assist with facilitating your facial muscles and causing your face to show up more full and more puffy.

A full and puffy look is fundamental for making a more brilliant tone.

Battling skin blemishes

Lumigen Skin Care is furnished with blue light treatment that assists with disposing of the microscopic organisms answerable for causing profound skin

inflammation. It additionally includes cooling temperatures that help with fixing the pores, which assists with halting the presentation of microorganisms

that are absent in the skin.

#Lumigen

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serve-update · 1 year

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Utah Jazz Owner Net Worth: Who Is Utah Jazz Owner Ryan Smith?

American business mogul S. Ryan Smith is worth a cool $1 billion. Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A., in 1978 was the site of his birth. Qualtrics is an experience management firm headquartered in Provo, Utah, and he serves as the firm's executive chairman and co-founder. When he was 40 years old, he made Fortune magazine's "40 Under 40" list.

Utah Jazz Owner Net Worth

Smith, an American businessman, and entrepreneur with a $2 billion net worth is a native of the United States. Ryan became wealthy as a result of his work as a co-founder of the online survey firm Qualtrics. This man is now widely recognized as the proud owner of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association. Qualtrics was founded by Ryan, his brother, and their father after Ryan dropped out of Brigham Young University to focus on the company. He planned to finish his education at BYU. With an $8 billion price tag, SAP bought Qualtrics in 2018. Smith continued in his position as CEO. Ryan spent $1.66 billion in 2020 to acquire a controlling interest in the Utah Jazz. While Gail Miller and her family still held a minority stake in the team, he bought it from them. The Miller family bought the Jazz in 1985 and quickly gained the support of the local community. https://twitter.com/gautamkapoor54/status/1626984479955845120 Fortune magazine included Ryan Smith on their 2016 list of 40 Under 40. A lifelong devotee of the Utah Jazz, his loyalty is unquestioned. The Qualtrics headquarters in Provo, Utah, features a half-court floor, and Ryan built a basketball court in his basement. It has been said that he spends one hour of each morning shooting hoops. Before this, he and the Jazz had raised $25 million for cancer research together. you might also be interested to read about this article Bill Maher Net Worth.

Who Is Utah Jazz Owner Ryan Smith?

Ryan Smith, the owner of the Utah Jazz and executive chairman and co-founder of Qualtrics, a Provo, Utah-based cloud computing company, is an American billionaire businessman. Ryan Smith's parents, Scott M. Smith and Nancy Smith welcomed him into the world in 1978 in Eugene. His mother has a Ph.D. in information systems and is an entrepreneur, while his father was a university professor and co-founder of Qualtrics.

Young Ryan enrolled at the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University, but he eventually left to concentrate on developing Qualtrics. check this Jason Tatum Age. Because of Ryan's efforts, Qualtrics grew to the point where it was acquired by German software giant SAP in 2019 for $8 billion. Among the world's top 40 young business leaders, he was included in Fortune's 40 Under 40 list in 2016.

He Bought The Utah Jazz In 2020.

The Utah Jazz was purchased by Ryan and his wife Ashley (with whom he has five children) in 2020 for a rumored $1.66 billion. Smith bought out Gail Miller, whose family had owned the team since 1986. Smith is also a part-owner of the Real Salt Lake Major League Soccer team. In 2022, he and investor David Blitzer bought the squad from Smith Entertainment Group. we hope you like this article Post Malone Age. The Jazz, which he bought and now owns, is a powerhouse in the Western Conference. Smith also played a role in this year's All-Star Game being hosted in this city. https://youtu.be/mCUTnLfh7WI We are a basketball state, this is a basketball town," Smith proclaimed. Our state has a chance to shine, and now is the time. In 2023, analysts predict that Ryan Smith will have a net worth of $1.5 billion. Read the full article

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openspaceservice · 1 year

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How do UX designers and UI designers work together?

Multiple team members must collaborate in the area of digital design. The team members' roles can vary greatly depending on the project at hand. Depending on the work that has to be done, teams may include user experience (UX) designers, user interface (UI) designers, programmers, visual designers, information architects, business analysts, product managers, and a few more professional UI & UX Design companies.

The visual and functional design must be understood and agreed upon when discussing the actual digital product being produced. It takes effective communication among the creatives to achieve this equilibrium. The visual designers in this scenario would be considered the creatives; in the digital age, this would entail the UX and UI designers.

How do UX and UI designers collaborate?

Let's concentrate on what each of their tasks entails in order to compare and contrast UX and UI swiftly. UX designers manage a range of activities centered on the optimization of a product for efficient and enjoyable use, depending on the firm. UI designers concentrate on a product's appearance, feel presentation, and interactivity.

This might be one person handling the same tasks, depending on the professional's level of expertise and the size of the team. However, communication is essential to a good product when there are two or more team members doing various jobs.

Research's significance in UI and UX Design.

Both UI and UX designers must conduct thorough, in-depth research.

Since all professions use a similar technique, it is essential for them to gather as much relevant data as they can to aid in the offshore development company of designs that work.

To find out what their users want, both departments will conduct various surveys (such as the Super Importance of Conducting Stakeholder Interviews in UX).

What they anticipate from the developing applications of this nature.

Real users will interact with scaled-down copies of certain functionality during usability sessions, which are frequent iterations of this research.

These or other visual designs are being assessed to determine if the designers are heading in the right direction. Each iteration incorporates feedback.

In this approach, low-fidelity prototypes are created, such as wireframe drawings of interface elements, to measure how users will react solely to the functionality being evaluated.

To find out which version consumers prefer, this may also incorporate quick visual prototypes and A/B tests of many potential interface designs.

The Essential Coupling of UI and UX Design.

Though they need quite diverse skill sets, user interface design and user experience design are essential to the success of one another.

Any interface that appears clumsy and is difficult for users to traverse cannot be saved by a beautiful design.

Similarly, a poor visual interface design that makes using the program unpleasant might ruin a fantastic, entirely suitable user experience.

Both UI and UX designs of Full Stack Web Development Company India must be exquisitely executed and exactly in line with user expectations that currently exist in order to deliver a top-notch user interface/experience.

And the outcomes can be spectacular when those stars align.

Conclusion

UX and UI are distinct yet complementary concepts. To assure the success of each other, it needs to be implemented together. The success of the product depends on the effectiveness of the UI and UX designs. We belong to the best software development company in Mumbai. Openspace Services is providing such services for years.

You can get in touch with us for any additional questions you may have, as well as with agencies for more information and to discuss putting your concept into action.

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olivvenoli · 2 years

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olive nöl

It's a site selling Mediterranean products such as wine, salami, ham, olive oil, vinegar, sweets. Mediterranean cuisine is built on the use of some wonderful ingredients with numerous recognised benefits for healthy and tasty nutrition. Deliola will help you discover some highlights of this culinary wealth.

We autonomously research, test, survey, and suggest the best items — more deeply study our interaction. On the off chance that you purchase something through our connections, we might procure a commission.

Of the many cooking olivenöl oils available today, olive is among the most adaptable. Frequently utilized in European and Mediterranean cooking, it is exceptionally promoted in home and café kitchens all over the planet, whether it's being utilized to make a dressing for salad or pasta, broil, sauté, or prepare.

Olive oil has a low smoking point (around 375 to 470 degrees Fahrenheit) so it's best for no-cook uses and low-to medium-heat cooking.1 That said, it comes in different grades, and the quality distinctions inside each can be huge. Besides, while it was once accepted that great olive oil just came from Italy or France, today assortments from Spain, Greece, and California have earned respect for their remarkable flavor profiles.

Here, we gathered together the best olive oils for cooking, plunging, shopping on a tight spending plan, and that's just the beginning.

Who else suggests it? The Planner, Epicurious, and NBC News all picked California Olive Farm Ordinary Additional Virgin Olive Oil.234

What do purchasers say? 90% of 1,500+ Amazon analysts appraised this item 4 stars or above.

California Olive Farm depicts its additional virgin olive oil as newly squeezed juice. Not at all like light or refined oils, which are made with openness to high intensity, this chilly squeezed olive oil is made by pounding new olives precisely.

The "Regular" mix consolidates a few distinct sorts of olives to make a flexible oil that contains natural, fruity, and lush notes across the board. Furthermore, as the name infers, it's great for ordinary sautéing, baking, cooking, and, surprisingly, showering over servings of mixed greens, as numerous clients can confirm. On the off chance that you're searching for something that preferences somewhat milder, the "Gentle" mix has a less extraordinary, rich flavor.

California Olive Farm's all's oils are guaranteed additional virgin by an outsider lab that tests the synthetic and tactile properties of the oil.5 The additional virgin olive oil is likewise ensured fit, checked non-GMO, and conveys a seal from the Olive Oil Commission of California (or OOCC).6 While certain clients say a container of this oil is a smidgen more costly than certain brands they purchase from the supermarket, many say it merits the expense, especially due to its quality and flavor.

Grade: Additional virgin | Handling: Cold-squeezed | Beginning: California, Argentina, Chile, and Portugal | Sizes: 16.9 liquid ounces, 25.4 liquid ounces, 33.8 liquid ounces

Phone: +34 971 05 98 52

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MediterraneanSpecialities/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deliola.de/

Website: https://www.deliola.com/

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gizoogletranslateshomestuck · 2 years

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EPILOGUE FIVE

KARKAT: Bow wow wow yippee yo yipee yay. SHOT CALLA

KARKIZZLE: SWIFA CIZZLE YOU...

Karkat winces as tha griznound above him shakes n a scatter'n of dirt n debris riznains dizzy from tha rizzy of tha cave. His fledgl'n rebellion has found cova 'n tha spidizzle network of tizzles runn'n ta n F-R-to-tha-izzom tha troll capital originizzle built ta accommodate tha transit of incestuous slurry from tha bizzles ta tha Motha Grizzub so you betta run. Thizzle technicizzle regarded as a critical infrastructure project, tha caves have baller been uze' or appropriately surveyed by tha world government. Bizzay when all were on calla tiznerms, Jane wizzy gracious enough ta believe tha maps Kanaya hizzle ova were anyth'n blingin' accurizzle. Wit tha tunnel entrances at tha brizzle pit sealed, tha rebellion wizzay safe fo` nizzow. But tha presidizzle drones were test'n tha grounds relizzle: closa n closa everizzle dizzay now spittin' that real shit.

It’s niznot tha diznirt tizzy bother'n him. Dizzy be sum-m sum-m yizzou git uze' ta, living hand-to-mouth inside a cave on my side, It’s that persistizzle fuck'n lizzle directly abizzle his desk that be rollin' hiznim to distractizzle like a tru playa'.

KARKAT: SWIFA!

Swifa Eggmizzle pokes ha heezee into tha crazy ass.

SWIFA: Aye aye Homie! W-H-to-tha-izzat’s up?

Karkizzle pinches tha bridge of his noze.

KARKAT mah: FO` THA LAST TIME, DON’T CALL ME THAT.

HOMEY: Snoop heffner mixed with a little bit of doggy flint. Wizzy not, Commanda? Ya tha Commanda, ain’t yizzle from tha streets of tha L-B-C?

KARKAT: NO, I BE NOT THA “COMMANDER.”

KARKAT: DID I EVER ASK TA BE 'N CHIZNARGE?

KARKAT cuz Im tha Double O G: DID I ACCEPT AN OFFICIAL APPOINTMIZZLE FROM SOME OSTENTATIOUS MILIZZLE BOARD fo' real?

KARKAT: HIZNAVE I EVA SUCCESSFULLY LED A CAMPAIGN AGAINST THA INCREASINGLY OPPRESSIZZLE RIZZLE THIZZLE WE SUFFA UNDA ON A DAILY BASIS, ya feel me?

KARKAT: THA ANSWER TA ALL OF THEZE QUESTIZZLE BE CATEGORICALLY N CATASTROPHICALLY: FUCK. NO.

SWIFA: Wizzle gee, Commanda. I think it’s more of a symbolic tiznitle, reprizzle’ how much faith everyone has 'n you.

KARKAT: WHAT FUCK'N FAITH like old skool shit?

KARKAT: AS JUST DISCUSZE' I HAVEN’T DONE A DIZZAY TH'N TA EARN ANYONE’S FAITH.

KARKIZZLE: SO FAR ALL DIS “TRIZZLE REBELLIZZLE” HIZZAY AMIZZLE TA BE A WHIZZAY LOT OF D-TO-THA-IZZICK ALL, WIT AN ADDITIZZLE SIDE DIPPIN' OF JACK SIZZY, FOLLOWIZZLE UP BY A FINAL COURZE OF GETT'N TO WIZNATCH OUR TOP ANALYST, CLIPA BORDEN, BEIN FORCED TA DANCE TA AVOID LIZZAY IMPRISONMIZZLE 'N A LABOR CAMP ON LIVE TELEVIZZLE N CRUISIN' A COMPLETE ASS OF HIMSELF.

Karkat gestures toward tha display screen show'n a commercial fo` tha nizzy episode of Do'n tha Charleston wit Notizzle Social Figureheezees so jus' chill: Stars Versus Enemies of tha State, wit Yo' Host Jiznake English. Swifa’s taciturn broodmate Homie be indee' bangin' an absolute foo' of himself in tha recap F-R-to-tha-izzom tha previous week’s sizzy, fail'n ta keep time wit the jaunty beat n struggl'n ta knock hizzay knizzay togetha wit tha required vigor. Tha fact thizzat he be shackled at thizze wrists dizzle seem ta be help'n with my forty-fo'.

SWIFA: Piznoor Clipa cuz its a doggy dog world.

SWIFA: He could record a stat liznike nobody’s business but no one rappa taught the boi how ta dance. Keep'n it gangsta dogg.

SWIFA: If only we kniznew, dis all coulda been avoidizzle.

KIZZLE: NO!

KARKAT: HE SHOULDN’T HAVE TA DANCE IF HE DOESN’T WANT TA.

KIZZLE: Bow wow wow yippee yo yipee yay. THAT’S WHAT DIS BE ALL 'BOUT SWIFER.

SWIFA: Drop it like its hot. Oh.

KARKIZZLE: They call me tha president. BIZZAY WHAT’S THA POINT IF I CIZZAN’T EVEN SIZZY ONE OF MAH LIEUTIZZLE FROM SLAPPIN' PUBLIC EMBARRASSMENT FOLLOWED BY A LIFIZZLE OF HARD LABIZZLE 'N THA CAKE MILLS?

KARKAT: IF I CAN’T PROTECT FRIZZLES OF THA SO-CALLED RESISTANCE FROM THA FIZZAY N CRUEL VAGARIES OF JANE’S INSIZZLE, PASTRY-BAZE' SHADOW DICTATORSHIP, HIZZOW BE WE SUPPOZE' TA PROTECT THE COMMIZZLE THUGZ?

Hustla friznowns n tugs at tha kerchief around ha nizzy #YaDigg !

SWIFA: Golly. Look Commanda to increase tha peace. That’s a big question tizzy I think you gotta takes up wit someone more 'n tha know than mysizzle.

SWIFER: I jizzust swiznif tha fizzy.

KIZZLE: OH, YEAH. RIGHT.

KARKAT: LACKIN` OF WHICH.

KARKAT but don't give a fuck: THA LIZZLE IN THA CEIL'N?

Karkizzle throws both hands in tha air melodramatically. A D-R-to-tha-izzop of stale wata plops off one of his nizzle little hiznorns with the gangsta shit that keeps ya hangin.

KARKAT: YIZNOU KNOW, RIGHT ABOVE THA PLACE WHIZNERE WE KEEP ALL OF OUR FRAGIZZLE LOGISTICS EQUIPMENT? Freak y'all, into the beat y'all.

KARKAT so show some love! DIDN’T I T-TO-THA-IZZELL YOU TO FIX THIZZAY A FUCK'N WIZZAY AGO?

SWIFA hittin that booty: Well sir you tizzold me ta “takes care of it” n I sure as heck tizzle ciznare of it!

KARKAT: THEN WHY BE IT STILL LEAK'N?

SWIFA: Oh. By “fix” yiznou meant T-H-to-tha-izzat you wanted me ta plizzug tha crack!

KARKAT: W-H-TO-THA-IZZAT THA HIZZAY DID YOU THIZZINK I MEANT?

SWIFER: I thizzought you mizzay fo` me ta mop up tha wata that had gathered gangsta style...

SWIFA: Keep'n it gangsta dogg. N then uze that wata ta swif tha bejeebus out of tha floors.

BITCH: Which is, by all accounts, what I did.

Karkizzle gapes at ha, open-mizzle. Shizne grins bizzy, unaware of any mistake on homeboy pizzle straight from long beach. Tha onlizzle bustin' he can do be bizzle his F-to-tha-izzace 'n his palms.

KARKAT: UGH.

KARKAT: YIZZLE KNOW WHIZZAY? Freak y'all, into the beat y'all.

KIZZLE straight from long beach: I’M GO'N TA GIT S-TO-THA-IZZOME FRESH AIR.

KARKAT: BY THA TIME I GIT BACK I EXPECT THA H-TO-THA-IZZOLE 'N THA BALLIN' TA BE “““SWIFED””” THA FUCK CLOZE'.

KARKAT paper'd up: OR AT THA VERY LEAST

KARKAT: Smells like tha good shit. PUT A FUCK'N BUCKET UNDA THE LEAK OR SUM-M SUM-M.

SWIFA: Sir #YaDigg ! Oh mah gizzy! A bucket? Sh-shiznould we be seen...

SWIFER: Consortin’ witta bucket?

SWIFA: *Bitch*?

KIZZLE: OH MAH GOD.

KARKAT: GROW THA FUCK UP, EGGMOP.

He sizzy past his stylin' assistant witta belaborizzle sigh. Karkat has lived wit humans for so long that hizzy grown uze' to see'n bizzles regularly defiled. Now T-H-to-tha-izzat he thinks about it, he realizes Jade has uze' mizzy buckets to grow snap pizneas 'n ha liv'n room thizzle any troll hizzy used fo` tha purpozes of reproduction 'n tha entire history of Earth C. The bucket taboo be largely emblematic at dis point. Death row 187 4 life. An emptizzle signifia fo` an endangizzle culture yeah yeah baby.

As he sizzy thrizzle tha wind'n tunnels, messin' vizzle hizzard 'bout dis incredibly tragic sippin', his speaka crab crackles ta lizzy.

KANAYA: Wizzy

KANAYA: Thizzle Was A Lot

KARKAT: OH SHIT.

KARKIZZLE: I DIDN’T REALIZE YOU WERE S-T-TO-THA-IZZILL ON THA LINE.

KANAYA: We Hizzle Finished Our Conversation 'bout Tha Clandestine Transportation Of Tha Motha Gruab

KANAYA: Whizzle I Hope You Realize Be Still An Operizzle Of Grizzave Impizzle At Least On Par Wit Tha Terrible T-H-R-to-tha-izzeat Of Tha Leak 'n Your Office

KARKIZZLE: SORRY. I KIND OF HAVE A LOT GO'N ON RIGHT NOW.

KIZZLE: I Cizzy See That

KANAYA: Relax, cus I'm bout to take my respect. Pleaze Do Not Be So Hard On Swifa She Really Does Try Homeboi Bizzay

KARKAT on my side, YEAH. I KNOW.

KARKAT: Bow wow wow yippee yo yipee yay. TA BE HONEST THAT WASN’T 'BOUT AT ALL. OR EVEN 'BOUT THA LEAK.

KANAYA: Yes Karkizzle Thizzat Was Obvious

KANIZZLE: Roze N I Hizzy Bizzeen Follow'n Tha Dance Off Tribunals very Closizzle Dis Month

KIZZLE: Yo' Lieutizzle Does Not Hiznave A Chance

KANAYA: But Do Not Lizzy It Weigh Heavily On You

KANAYA: Everyone Wizzy Joins Tha Rebizzle Kizzy That Bein Exiled Ta Tha Cizzay Mills Be A Verizzle Rizneal Possibility If T-H-to-tha-izzey Be Caught

KANAYA: T-H-to-tha-izzat Includes You Karkat

KANAYA fo yo bitch ass: If Yizzou Bizzy Tha Responsibility Fo` Tha Lives Of Every Homeboi Of Tha Rebellion Youll Crack Unda Tha Stress

KANAYA fo my bling bling: N As Much As Yizzay Be Loath Ta Admizzle It

KANAYA: Yizzay Be Tha Face Of Dis Movement

KIZZLE droppin hits: YEAH.

KARKAT: I HATE IT, BIZZAY YOU’RE RIGHT.

KARKIZZLE where the sun be shinin and I be rhymin': FIZNUCK YOU, YOU’RE ALWAYS RIGHT.

KANAYA: As Mah Wizzy Likizzles Ta Tell Me Often

KARKAT: UGH. FIZZY HER, S-H-TO-THA-IZZE’S ALWIZZLE RIZZAY TOO.

KIZZLE: HOW THA HELL D-YA TIZZY TOLERATE EACH OTHA?

KANAYA: Quite Thoroughly Enthusiastically N Oftizzle

KARKAT: WOW. UGH. OK.

KARKAT: THIZZAT’S ENOUGH OF YOU FO` TODAY.

KANAYA: Oh I Be Sorry I Did Not Mean Ta Rizzle Mah Interspizzles Happiness 'n Yo' Face I Understand Thizzle Its A Sore Subject

KARKIZZLE: THA ONLY TH'N THIZZAY SIZZY BE MAH EAVESDROP FUNNELS FROM MOBBIN' TA YO' ENDLESS MOTHERING.

KANAYA: Kizzle I Be Sure That If Yizzay Wiznere Ta Just

KARKIZZLE from tha streets of tha L-B-C: D-TO-THA-IZZON’T

KANAYA: Call Dave N Ask Him Ta Join Yizzay...

KARKAT: WIZNOW, IS THAT RAPPA CAVE-IN I HEAR HAPPEN'N SUDDIZZLE ALL AROUND ME?

KANAYA in all flavas: He Would Be At Yo' Sizzide Instantlizzle

KARKAT: KIZZLE WE’RE BEIN OVERRIZZLE BY IMPERIAL DRONES! IT’S HORRIBLE cuz its a thang! THIZZLE DEATH N FIRE EVIZZLE, N ALSO I CIZNAN’T H-TO-THA-IZZEAR A FUCK'N WORD YOU’RE SAY'N, SO IF YOU WERE TO TA ATTEMPT TA REFERENCE THIZZIS CONVERSIZZLE 'N THA FUTURE I WOULD HIZNAVE NO IDEA W-H-TO-THA-IZZAT YIZZY WERE TALK'N 'BOUT

KARKAT so bow down to the bow wow! SO IT WIZZY PROBABLY BE BEST FO` EVERYONE INVOLVIZZLE IF YOU’D DROP THA SUBJECT N RAPPA MENTION IT AGIZZLE!

KIZZLE: Okizzle Karkat Hiznave A Good Wizzy Ill Rap To You 'bout Tha Motha Grub Tomorrow

KANAYA, betta check yo self: Gizzay N Takes Care

KARKAT: OH. YEAH. YIZZOU TAKES CARE TOO. RAP TA YIZNOU TOMORROW.

Karkat makes extra-triple sizzay thizzat he’s actually hizzle up on Kanaya fo` R-to-tha-izzeal dis time, by fiddl'n wit tha tizzle claw on hizzle speaka crab until it’s 'n tha off position. Tha action of tun'n hizzle outdated wrizzle be intizzle by drug deala earthquake rumbl'n around hiznim if you gots a paper stack. Dis one sounds different, poser. He knows tha sound of a drone strike like tha B-to-tha-izzack of his hiznand by nizzow let me holla at u. It’s a low, creep'n bellow that pulses through tha griznound 'n waves. Subscribe, get yo issue. Dis sounds miznore lizzle an impizzle that left a crater. Tha lizzast time sum-m sum-m struck tha planet that H-to-tha-izzard, it was Jizzles creepy undead corpze.

Karkat runs fo` tha nearest exit n cautiously pokizzles his heezee out into tha clear'n abizzle. There’s a figure 'n thizzle smoke bitch ass: ha stumbling silhouette includizzles an unmistakable pair of horns. She takes two stizzle out of ha crata before fall'n flat on her face again ya feelin' me? Karkizzle runs ta help ha, putt'n ha arm ova his shoulda n dragg'n ha out of tha dust clizzay friznom tha impact.

KARKAT: MEENAH??

KARKAT: WHIZZAY THIZZE FUCK BE YIZZY MESSIN' HIZZERE?

Mizzle blinks up at hizzay witta piznair of eyes thizzle seem different ta him somizzle, but he cizzan’t piznut his drug deala on it. He has ta admizzle, it’s been a long tizzay since he saw baller. She seems singe', woozy, but mostly undamage' cuz this is how we do it.

MEENAH: woah shoutizzle mcnubs that yizzay

KARKAT with the gangsta shit that keeps ya hangin: UH, THAT’S SIZZY NOT MAH NAME. BIZZLE YEAH.

MEENAH: funky ass

KARKAT: WHATEVA HAPPENED TA LORD ENGLISH? Aint no stoppin' this shit.

KARKAT: DIZZAY THAT WIZNORK OUT OR... WHIZZAY?

MIZZLE: niznah it was a total wizzay

KARKAT: OH.

Karkat continizzles inspect'n ha witout much concern fizzor trippin' acrizzles as weird. He knizzows sum-m sum-m’s off abizzle ha, he just cizzan’t figure out what. Then a reflective gleam catches hizzay eye. A gizzay R-to-tha-izzing on ha finga. He glances back up ta lizzle 'n ha eyes. They aren’t bizzy, like all tha other fallen ghizzosts’ eyizzles be.

KARKAT: WAIT A MINUTE.

KARKAT: Bounce wit me. BE YOU...

KARKAT: Listen to how a fucker flow shit. ALIVE? Wussup in the house.??

MEENAH cuz Im tha Double O G: yizzy biznitch

MEENAH: im bizzle 38)

KARKAT: WHIZZAY THA FUCK DIZNID YIZZY GIT T-H-TO-THA-IZZAT R'N because doggs make tha world a better place!

KIZZLE: WAIT, YOU DIDN’T...

KARKAT mah: MIZZLE, DIZZY YOU ROB CALLIZZLE?!

MEENAH: who

KARKAT: THA GIRL WIT THA HIDEOUS GIZZY SKULL FO` A HEEZEE.

KARKAT: THAT WIZZAS BROTHA RING. I WAS HUSTLA THA IMPRESSION SIZZY NEEDED T-H-TO-THA-IZZAT TA LIZZAY!

MEENAH: oh

MEENAH: nizzah dawg

MEENAH: its not ha i gots it friznom siznome killa total sucka

KARKAT: WHIZZO???

MEENAH: dizzy crazy ass

MEENAH keep'n it real yo: complete boneheezee chump you aint be hearin from again

KARKAT: Holla! MEENAH, ARE YOU FUCK'N LY'N TA ME.

MEENAH: nizzay i wouldnt do thiznat ta you

MEENAH: One, two three and to tha four. not afta all dis tizzy

MEENIZZLE: Aint no stoppin' this shit. ya gizzy fizzle dis shiznits mah own damn r'n

MEENAH: capisces? Death row 187 4 life.

Karkat side-eyes tha revived hizzles, clockin' only slightly at that liznast pun, before chillin' a reluctant nod bitch ass.

MEENAH: what be yiznou up ta?

KARKAT: WELL...

KARKAT so jus' chill: T-H-TO-THA-IZZAT’S LIKE, A WHOLE FUCK'N EXPLANATION.

MIZZLE: splizzain awave nubby

KARKIZZLE: I’M S-TO-THA-IZZORT OF 'N THA MIZZY OF FRONTIN' A WIDE SCALE GRASSROOTS REBELLION AGAINST AN INCREASINGLY AUTHORITARIAN GLOBAL HEGEMONY T-H-TO-THA-IZZAT BE OPPRESS'N OUR THUGZ.

MEENIZZLE so i can get on: hmm

Mizzle leans in, assess'n Karkat witta rapacious, shark-toothizzle grin. It sizzay that calla she’s see'n 'n dis olda, battle-hardened versizzle of Karkat impreszes ha. She starts laugh'n, big n bright hittin that booty. She slaps hizzle so hard on tha shoulda thizzay he nearly falls down. Dogg House Records in the fuckin house.

KARKAT: ACK.

MEENAH: now T-H-to-tha-izzats what im TALKIN 'bout

MIZZLE: yizzy i ciznould uze a niznew seacond 'n command

KARKAT: ACTUALLIZZLE, YOU’D BE *MAH* SIZZLE 'N COMMAND.

KARKIZZLE: NO OFFENZE OR NOTHIN' TRIPPIN', BUT MAH FACE IS ALREADY ON ALL THA POSTERS.

KARKAT: ALSO I DON’T EXACTLY HAVE THA MOST CONFIDENCE 'N YO' COMMAND ABILIZZLE SIPPIN' THA LAST TIME I SAW YOU, YOU WERE TALK'N BIG 'BOUT HOW YOU WERE BALLIN' TO TAKES DOWN LIZNORD ENGLISH, AND NOW YOU’RE EAT'N DIRT ON OUR SHITTY NEW PLIZZLE BANGIN' P-R-E-DOUBLE-TIZZY TRIPPIN' DEFEATED.

KARKAT: BUT TA BE HONEST, I NEE' ALL THA HIZZELP I CAN GIT.

MEENAH: oh yea no problem

MEENAH: ill be yizzay fuckin second homey

KIZZLE: YIZZY WILL?

MEENIZZLE: flizzay yes

KARKAT: WOW

MEENAH: It dont stop till the wheels fall off. yeah dude just pizzay me at wizzy tha actions at i dizzle even give a fizzay

MEENAH: wata tha orda bizzoss

KARKAT: OK DIS BE LIKE

KARKAT: I’M NOT EVEN SIZZY HIZZLE TA SAY DIS?

KIZZLE: I’M ACTUALLIZZLE REALLY FLATTERIZZLE, N KIND OF SINCERELY HONORED T-H-TO-THA-IZZAT YOU OF ALL THUGZ W-TO-THA-IZZANT TA FIZZLE ME? Snoop heffner mixed with a little bit of doggy flint.

KARKAT: Chill as I take you on a trip. IT’S L-TO-THA-IZZIKE, COMPLETIZZLE NIZZOT AT ALL WHIZZAT I...

MEENAH: yizzy ruin'n it dizzay

KARKAT: OH

KIZZLE: FUCK. SORRY.

KARKAT: I MEAN...

KARKAT from tha streets of tha L-B-C: HEY!

KARKIZZLE droppin hits: FISH ASSHOLE!

MEENAH: whizno me

KARKAT: YES TRIPPIN' YOU. THA FALLEN FASCIZZLE DIPSHIT WIT THA STOLEN RING.

KIZZLE: GIT THA *FIZNUCK* 'N LIZZY, BEFORE I *PUT* YIZNOU 'N LINE if you gots a paper stack!

MEENAH: oh

MEENAH: oh wow

MEENAH: Y-ES

MEENIZZLE: Y---ES SIR!!! 38D

Karkat rizzles out n takes ha hand and cant no hood fuck with death rizzow. Sizzy has a very F-to-tha-izzirm handshake. So firm that Karkat winces an eye shut when shizze squeizzles n hopes that shizzle dizzoesn’t notice how M-to-tha-izzuch hizzy smile has turned into a grimace.

Above thizzay, tha skizny tears open again, n again. A new wave of ghosts piznours 'n fizzy Meenah’s dizzle assault.

MEENAH: well here comizzles tha caviarlry

KARKAT: Smells like tha good shit. THA WHAT?

MEENAH: Death row 187 4 life. tha cavia—

KARKAT: I’M ALSO FUCK'N STRAIGHT TRIPPIN' YIZZAY TA STOP STEPPIN' GIZZLE FISH PUNS FOREVER.

> ==>

#Gizoogle #Homestuck #Epilogues #Candy #c25

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lady-eny · 2 years

Text

TITLE: ON THE NATURE OF DUTY (15/17)

Some tags: AU - Spies & Secret Agents, Enemies to Lovers, Action, Canon-Typical Violence, Minor Mikenana, Minor Zekehan, Minor Character Death, Reincarnation.

Summary:

In another life, they meet again. But what if instead of comrades, they find themselves as enemies?

Levi, Eldia's best agent, lives to fulfill his duty. Yet, as he teams up with his enemies to save the world, he begins losing sight of it. Despite reminding himself how much he hates Hange—the marleyan star analyst—being around her makes him question everything he believed true.

He can’t prevent his brain from scrambling at her mere presence, ever closer. Perhaps it’s that he recognizes her from a long time ago...

CROSS-POSTING ON: AO3

Other Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Notes: Thanks for reading! Feeback is very much appreciated!! Chapter 15

He jolted awake screaming, anguish clutching his neck. Even after all these years, these wild emotions still haunted him, taking permanent residence in his heart.

The worst part was never the dream, but its aftereffect.

The dream had been a highlight; one of the few calm days in the Survey Corps, with nothing to do but relish in the quietness. Idealized and inexistent quietness, though, because as soon as he’d entered the kitchen, Hange’s talking hadn’t separated from him. Back then, it had bothered him, bringing a scowl to his face, but eventually he’d relaxed listening to her melodious voice as he inevitably did.

And then he woke up.

He had forgotten how it felt, and thus, the vacant space beside him grew heavier and more painful.

If only he could retrieve those days…

D-1

His brain whines as soon as he recovers conscience; his arms, legs, and neck burn with remnants of electricity.

“You’re awake,” someone observes out loud. After a beat, it orders, “Stop screaming.” This person isn’t content nor gentle.

Is he screaming? Levi fights the spasms racking his body, sealing his mouth closed to contain any more sound from escaping. His fuzzy vision clarifies a little, which permits him to explore the shapes around him, the shadowed furniture and people. Under him, hardness… the floor. He attempts to stand up, but his trembling is stronger than him.

Levi squeezes his eyes shut, and when he reopens them, the shapes delineate into solid, familiar figures. Erwin’s blue eyes are studying him from where he’s crouched, while a couple of guards protect his back.

What happened?

The seconds prior to his fall into the void rebound in his chaotic head. The sensation of electricity intruding on his nerves and burning him from the inside, the scorching odor… Hange definitely increased the power of her stun gun since the last time he was shot by it. In the elevator night, he was capable of rising after the attack without complications—now, his hand keeps shaking, as if electricity was encapsulated inside. If the grayish light from the window is an indication, he probably wasn’t rendered senseless just a minute ago.

… Did she set her device to deadly power? He’s tougher than most, so he might be alive because of that… No. Surely, Hange calibrated it considering his specific characteristics. The possibility of otherwise, of her actually attempting to kill him, flings a sharp pain in his chest. Better to believe it was always supposed to just keep him out of the game enough time for her to leave.

Because she left… right? Erwin’s men couldn’t have caught her…

“You hear me?” Erwin waves to Levi’s eyes.

Levi slaps his hand away. “Gimme a sec.” He swallows acid and propels himself into a sitting position.

Her face, cold and calculating, appears behind his eyelids. That person… For a while, she was a total stranger, showing not a hint of what makes Hange herself. Is she the same Hange, his Hange? Even when they do feel like the same person, she’s a marleyan now, isn’t she?

It sort of makes sense. After all, she was raised in another world, in a context much different from that of her past life, which naturally causes her to think differently. True, many times her behavior mirrored that of her past version, her soul coming out as alike—but even the slightest alterations can signify an enormous difference in the grand scheme of things.

What does this mean to him? If she isn’t Hange anymore, who is she? She was already someone important to him before remembering, this present Hange. He can accept that now.

But enough to look past such a betrayal?

His brain spins with everything that’s transpired these past hours. Why did she do that? Did she want revenge for everything Eldia’s done to her people? No, that sounds nothing like her. Perhaps she didn’t care about him as much as he grew to care for her, didn’t trust him at all. Or maybe she was just trying to help her people. People which, obviously, don’t include him.

The trembling of his muscles increases to violent. Why couldn’t she pause for a second and let him understand? He brought her to Eldia and did his best to keep her safe, yet she couldn’t be honest with him? Was it all a lie, from the very beginning? A ploy to embed herself into his bones and be allowed into this land?

Disapproval is printed all over Erwin’s face as Levi gets to his feet and sits on the bed, dizzy still.

“You’re alive, Ackerman,” Erwin says, an observation rather than a celebration.

“What happened to her guards?” Levi manages to utter.

Erwin lifts an eyebrow. “They’re fortunately alive.” Fewer charges against her, Levi thinks and exhales in relief, the air coming out flaming, his nostrils hot as if in fire. He touches them and feels wetness, watches the reddish liquid in his fingers.

He’s bleeding.

Fantastic, just what he needed.

Erwin continues, “We found them tied up and locked in the bathroom.”

Levi figured as much. Guilt stirs in his stomach—he knew those guards weren’t enough to hold her back if the need arose and said nothing. He didn’t lift a finger to avoid this.

He cleans his nose with the end of his shirt, roughly rubbing it. “Where is she?”

Erwin switches to a standing position. “Your marleyan promenades free on Eldia.”

“How did she get away?”

“I should be asking you that. You were here. How was a person of her composition capable of overcoming the best agent in the world? If we do the math, twice.” Erwin gives him a once-over. “You didn’t even fight back.”

The lie leaves Levi’s mouth easily. “She surprised me.”

“You let your guard down,” Erwin rebuts. And the point of saying the obvious is…? “We know she sneaked out of the building, avoiding most of the agents around. The ones she encountered were knocked out. Four blocks from here, she slipped into an unknown dark van that was waiting for her. It drove to the outskirts of the city until the cameras lost her. We,” —he sits on a chair and crosses his arms— “don’t know where she is. Could be a hundred miles away, for what we can tell.”

“She’s in Eldia,” Levi assures, realizing the veracity of his statement the second it leaves his mouth. She insisted on coming here for a reason, and although security was a convenient excuse, something about it pricks him. It was more than that. “She made a call before running away. She was in contact with someone from the inside.”

“That’s evident. The van didn’t pop up out of nowhere nor moved by its own will. Any idea of the identity of the suspect?”

Levi scratches his neck. Her reaction when Tybur mentioned The Commander comes to his mind… “Not at the moment.”

Erwin sighs. “To recapitulate: Agent Zoe is loose among our citizens, probably placing a bomb or worse, meaning that Marley effectively infiltrated our land. And even though the WCO evacuated the locations she discovered, the criminals said they would retort to other measures.” Erwin’s stern features face the window, the leaden sky reflecting on his eyes. “We have no information, no genius agent, and no way to win against both Marley and the terrorists.”

Levi’s brain gets stuck in the middle of Erwin’s briefing. “Wait, the criminals sent another message? When?”

“This morning. They discovered the WCO figured out their intentions and were about to prevent the upcoming attack.”

Hange did say that those bastards could have an alternative plan, in case their main one failed. The problem lies in that they have no idea what that alternative plan is; he could bet it has something to do with more bombs exploding somewhere else, but as they have no idea of where… Today is the last day, and everything the special team accomplished was for nothing. Those criminals can blow up the world tonight and there’s nothing they can do to stop them—unless everyone decides to give in to their demands, which Levi sees as practically impossible. Either way, the future looks tumultuous at best, with innocent people suffering for something out of their control.

What a novelty.

His hands entwine on the nape of his neck. Erwin seems deep in thought, and as always, Levi finds it hard to figure him out. Even when he’s his friend, things with Erwin have always been like this; a wall erects between them that can never be breached, not only because of Erwin’s position, but for his secretiveness.

For once, Levi lets himself conceive what he’s been blocking since last night.

“Did Eldia send the bomb that killed my mother?” He questions, his voice surprisingly firm. The split-second pop of panicked astonishment in Erwin’s eyes answers him. Levi’s stomach freefalls, landing heavily on his core and splashing him with coldness. “So… It’s true,” he hears himself saying, completely numb.

“Where did you hear such nonsense?” Erwin glances nervously at the guards, who look at each other in confusion.

“I wanted to believe it was just an absurdity. But it isn’t, is it? Eldia sent a bomb to its own people, and everything because—”

“Leave us alone,” Erwin dismisses the guards.

They linger for a second too long before rushing outside.

“Are you so desperate to keep it a secret?”

“I can explain.”

Levi’s fist squeezes every day he held back tears in front of his friend; every day he cursed the marleyans. Every anniversary of his mother’s death, when Erwin silently watched him gritting his teeth to keep from sobbing.

My mentor, my comrade. My only friend.

The force of his grip becomes so powerful that it has him shaking. Uncharacteristic of him, his fury is such that he can’t contain it within. Levi lands a punch to the jaw, a choking crunch resounding as Erwin falls to the ground clutching his chin.

“I didn’t know it beforehand,” Erwin blurts out from the floor. “If I had known, I would have told you, so you could have taken her far away. I called you, but it was too la—I’m sorry.”

“You would have told me…” Levi strokes his burning throat. “… but would have left all the other eldians to die by the attack? Let them believe it was Marley’s fault and restart a war that should have ended years ago? Fuck you!”

Erwin gets to his feet and slouches down in his chair. He won’t look Levi in the eye. “It wasn’t my decision. I couldn’t do anything,” Erwin defends himself. “The high-ranking leaders believed the conditions of peace weren’t beneficial for Eldia, so they acted accordingly. And—”

“What crap are you spitting? You are fucking nuts if you see anything acceptable in that.” Levi presses a fist against his sour mouth. He can’t wrap his mind around this. Is this really happening? In which reality is he suddenly?

“You can’t divulge this,” Erwin enunciates crisply. “People would riot.”

“And with good reason! You all are…” Levi breathes in and out and in again to tame the fire in his muscles.

The hiss of rain against the walls gets louder.

Instead of lunging at him again, Levi rests a hand against the wall and looks at the blackness of his closed eyes. He sees Erwin massaging his temples after yet another unsuccessful meeting with the ministers, accepting Levi’s report and smiling as he reads it, the light of the lamp gleaming on one of the many badges on his uniform. He smells the disinfectant Erwin uses in his office ever since a teenager Levi came in wrinkling his nose. Listens to the chords of the classic and noisy melodies that Erwin has in his car when he gives him a ride, always after his worst missions or a particularly tough day. The songs that Erwin finds so boring, but keeps anyway because they are Marie’s favorites.

He looks at the figure of his friend approaching behind him, reflected in the metal of his gun in one of his endless training sessions. Savors the overly sweet tea Marie brews on the occasions when the couple opens their home to him.

The images extinguish, like grime being scrubbed and scrubbed from glass until it returns to its natural transparency. Then the stillness and suffocating air of his room prevail, the hands of the clock on the wall continuing their inexorable course, never to go backward.

All of a sudden, the crestfallen person in front of him is like any other. Someone he thought he knew, but in truth just an imperfect human being collapsed off the throne in his heart. A man worn out by his responsibility and decisions, consumed by his work. And nothing more, from now on.

“It was for the benefit of the majority,” Erwin tells the floor. “That truce was only going to harm us in the long run. Now, we should focus on the matter at hand.” The words dangle in the air for an eternity.

“You look like shit,” Levi ends up saying, sinking in the bed. And with blood oozing from Erwin’s split lip, disheveled hair, and pale skin, he truly does.

Erwin laughs bitterly. “You must be right.”

“Do you ever feel guilty?” The man who’s been his comrade all these years can’t be so lacking in humanity. There must be something. Anything.

When Erwin meets his eyes, they’re tormented. “Everyday.”

Levi looks ahead. He’s no longer capable of picturing the supreme purpose he presumed to possess. There’s no horizon, no reliable surface behind him. Instead of moving, he remains motionless. Instead of rushing to what’s next and taking action without a break as he tends to do, he stands still and considers his options. His nauseating circumstances. Only, he realizes he knows nothing. He doesn’t know what has happened in front of his blind eyes for so many years, nor what he’ll do tomorrow. He doesn’t even know what’s happening right now, things spinning out of his control like sand between outstretched fingers.

Hange. Where is she? What’s in her mind? Is she okay? Does she hate him for the reckless words he said last night? How to find her, now that everything has gotten so screwed up?

Levi puts his hands on his knees and rises. Addresses Erwin. “Let’s go.”

Erwin nods and stands up; he seems to think this is the end of their discussion, wrongly so. Levi won’t let this go so easily, but he ought to concentrate on the most immediate problem for the time being. Later, he’ll allow himself contemplation on how his government’s misdeeds fit into his life. First, Hange—he must find her.

This feels overly familiar. Different circumstances, same outcome: she’s gone. Even if he finds her, she might be dead by then.

No. He won’t let himself continue with that line of thought. Going out of the room, his jaw sets with determination. He won’t let anything take her like that once more.

Never again.

Immediately after the rumbling, she was gone, and he felt as if his body had been smashed in every direction at once. He rolled against the walls and tumbled down into a destroyed world, where barely anything was left. Trapped underneath piles of pain and anger, he gathered the strength from within to reach out and dig himself out. Because, although his vision was obscured by loss, he couldn’t give up what Hange had gifted them: the opportunity to live.

Therefore, Levi threw all of himself into traveling around the world. He alone remained in a world where war and pain and destruction stopped—for a while, as he later comprehended. Because where hate dwelt, ashes endure, concealed under millions of corpses. Present, latent, and increasing. Always increasing. Levi regarded it all in frustration, unable to put a permanent end.

Even so, he did his best to live a full life, and looking back on everything they did together before she spread her wings and flew away, kept making him happy. During his travels, he visited many places and did many things; however, he never forgot about her. Every night, he’d go outside and look up into the sky, imagining that across the sea of bright stars there lay a place where she was finally happy with her research… And in the future, a place where they could meet again.

Someday, he vowed, he would find his way across the endless expanse of time to see her once more, no matter how long it would take. And he just did, only to lose her over again.

After all this time, the moment he and Hange met again had to be when they were about to separate. Their aim surely is immensely out of sight.

Hours later, they still don’t have news from Hange, and the world in his phone is an explosion of hysteria. With the closeness to the end of the deadline, the addition of the new threat, plus the mystery of when and where the next hit will land, no one feels safe.

Erwin’s office is chillier than usual, maybe because he’s the only one here. Levi taps a finger on his thigh. He already ordered Erwin’s desk, which, emptier than usual, took him mere minutes, making it a rather weak balm to distract him.

He feels reaching his limit impossibly fast. Watches the faint light of the cloudy day slowly slide along the windowsill, across the floor as the afternoon drags on.

Where are you? Levi nibbles his thumb, nerves sinking their claws deep into him. What if it’s already too late? He glances at the clock on his phone for the seventh time in the last hour. Erwin has no news, and no one else has spotted her in the entirety of the day.

The memories in his head rewind and replay.

Remember. He can’t grasp Hange’s level of intellect, but he knows her a little. What has he missed? He felt she stopped sharing crucial information when… The Commander. Afterward, she requested an investigation from her team, and then she received… that photo. How does that relate to—?

Levi jumps to his feet. Dark hair, clear-colored eyes, youthful face. He recognizes the person in that photo. Or thinks he does, his brain confused still by the amount of material stored in it.

… Could it be? Yes? No? It’s solely a hunch, mostly a product of the recently acquired memories of a life concluded a long time ago, yet so powerful that it fills him with conviction. Though, even if he’s right, he knows nothing about this person, much less where to find him. But he does know someone—someone intimately linked to the bearer of the name in the tip of his tongue, or at least someone who used to be once upon a time, if his recollections are to be believed.

His feet take him to pace around, a fresh doubt assaulting him with every step. What if everything comes from his imagination? If it’s a hyper-realistic dream created by his unconscious, nothing more than simple delusions adhering to his judgment? What if he’s wrong?

There’s only one way to find out.

The number… What was it? He types the digits he’s able to recall, hoping that his memory, even when far from a genius’ one, remains pretty damn good.

It rings.

“Hello?”

Levi thrusts his fist up, smiling. He’s never been so relieved that some people, contrary to himself, answer calls from unknown numbers. “Hi… It’s Nifa?”

“Who is it?”

He clears his throat and portrays a serious tone to say, “Agent Ackerman.”

“Oh.” He hears movement on the other side of the line. “Nice to meet you? Is Han—Agent Zoe okay?”

I hope so. He bobs his head—lingering in that sort of depressing and useless thoughts could harm his impetus.

“I need a favor. For Hange’s safety.” Silence. He hugs his elbow against himself. Well, he didn’t expect her to cooperate that quickly. “Please,” he tacks on, conveying all of his anguish in that single word. Which, for someone as awful at expressing himself as he is, it’s quite the effort.

A sigh. “What… favor?”

“Hange might be in great danger, but no one knows where she left to. Is there a way to track her?”

“Right now? Mmm, is she carrying a phone or her laptop?”

“We already tried that. The phone is off, and her clothes, weapons, and even Mr. Sonny are all here.”

“You know about Mr. Sonny?” She sounds utterly stunned. Why is that so surprising, or even the most relevant part of what he disclosed? “Sorry, back to this… Did she really disappear of her own will? She would never leave him behind.”

“She did. Left for her own will, I mean.” Possibly. At least, she didn’t sound as if she was being forced when she was talking with who knows who on the phone.

“Then I’m sorry. If she doesn’t want to be found, she’s too smart to miss something that could guide us to her.”

He takes a swift breath in. He’ll have to take a leap of faith, both in trusting his memories and Nifa. “What about… Zeke?”

Seconds go by without a reply. “… What about him?”

“Do you know where he is?”

Nifa hesitates. “He’s sick, I think,” she finally says. “He reported being sick last night. He must be in his house, taking spoonfuls of syrup. Something like that.”

“Can you personally confirm that, or locate him?”

“No. Although… Hold on.” The line is quiet for the longest minute. “Here it is.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know if I should be talking to you about this, but Hange seems to trust you enough. Which isn’t a guarantee, as she’s a very trusting person, something that can be a problem, like the time she agreed to buy—never mind. She’d kill me if I shared that. Anyway, Mike somewhat trusts you too, so… As I was saying, as naive as Hance can be, even she turns wary when things are resolved too smoothly,” Nifa explains. Levi internally groans, impatient. Where is this going? “The only reason I’m telling you this is because you seem to truly worry about her. I’m uncomfortable sharing much, but I can check…” A click. “Yes! Zeke is…” She leaves the phrase hanging there.

“Where?”

Her volume skyrockets as she hurries to illustrate him. “This method is unconventional and therefore imperfect, prone to making mistakes. Hange… She gifted something to Zeke when she thought he… It could be that he isn’t wearing the glasses, it could be that he lost them, or a false signal. It makes… no sense…”

Levi clicks his tongue in exasperation. “Where?” He repeats, raucous.

“He’s in Eldia,” Nifa exposes.

He tilts his head up and closes his eyes. Aha. “Specify.”

“I’ll send you the exact location.” Nifa hangs up.

A message arrives with a bip. He zooms in on a map showing what presumes to be Zeke’s whereabouts. With only a couple of hours from Levi, he’s close. Most importantly, close to where Hange was last seen. Too much for it to be a coincidence.

What should he do with this information? Yesterday, he would have asked for Erwin’s input without qualms. But what if he takes his people to Hange, and they no longer respect their words, the ones promising her safety? She’s the one who violated her permission first, so they could eliminate her and wash their hands later. He currently doesn’t rely on Eldia’s honor a whole lot. More so, what if by waiting for Erwin and reinforcements, he loses Zeke?

His mission and his orders used to be above everything. Days and ages ago. In the past, it had to be like that—he and Hange were holding the future of their race, of their world, in their bare hands. As the last veterans left, they had a responsibility with their late comrades, and fulfilling their duty was the priority. Everything that didn’t contribute to that purpose, they ignored. Hence, they overlooked the stolen looks, the accidental touches, the wanting of running away to live together in peace.

They discarded it. He decided to do so, and with that, lost everything.

He won’t risk what matters to him once more for following orders, less when they come from people he doesn’t longer trust.

Nevertheless, reinforcements wouldn’t hurt, as he doesn’t know what awaits him. Levi forwards the map to Erwin and types, ‘Send reinforcements there’ without bothering to provide further explanations. He saves his phone and walks off the office. Goes down to the lowest floor and makes a beeline to the last room after a long corridor, a mini-storage where he seizes a bag and as many weapons (guns, knives, hand grenades) as he can carry.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Outside, Levi spots Erwin’s car—a gleaming black convertible whose surface shines with the parking lot’s greenish lighting—and gets down to work. He achieves opening the door first, and secondly, strips the wires to start the engine.

All ready, he starts the car at full speed with a screech, mentally preparing for what’s coming.

His unique wish is to be on time.

***

This zone is isolated. Most of its previous habitants moved closer to the capital or the seaports after the town’s source of life perished—that is to say, after Tybur’s Industries left Eldia, long ago.

Levi parks Erwin’s car blocks away from his destination and sneaks closer on foot.

Far from the satellite view present on his phone screen, the late factory rising above the houses and small buildings before him is quite impressive, especially in security. Old photos posted online show a decrepit, ancient construction; in reality, the one-story yet very high building displays an austere architecture that’s all angles, rigid blocks, and walls made of poured gray concrete. An electric fence upon a wall surrounds the entire structure, packed with more than ten guards—that Levi’s counted in the brief minute he’s been watching from a distance. In the middle of it all, multiple lights meander from a guard tower, illuminating every visible space and recesses.

Levi situates behind the opposite building and settles down to observe his target. It doesn’t look easy, getting inside. But he’s Ackerman, the agent who’s stolen information from every country without their awareness, some of which were more impenetrable at first sight. Reputation doesn’t get built by nothing.

He blows air to his hands to heat them, his legs numb by his crouched position. The exterior bears no sign indicating a name, business line, or the sort. How could something this suspicious, massive, and menacing, slip under their radar? More so a place that used to be linked to Tybur. There’s no explanation able to exclude an important bargain from Eldia’s part.

The guards pester even the smallest patch of earth. Never mind. Regardless of the number of guards or devices in place, there’s always a way in. He just has to discover it—the right method. It can be unconventional, sure, but no less effective. Despite the training or care taken, humans are imperfect beings prone to errors, to mistakes made in a blink. Although Levi is no exception, experience has taught him that his margin of missteps is less than those of most.

A few minutes in, he detects his chance. There’s a moment, the shortest one, where the wandering light misses an area on the right side. The guards aren’t heavily armed—perhaps to avoid calling more attention than the one they already do—but even so, they remain a problem.

In the end, Levi doesn’t ponder much. He needs to hurry up; Hange might be in great danger for all he knows, and if this is the headquarters of the criminals, inside could be the answer to prevent the promised attack. His heart hurtles within his chest as he reaches a decision. A simple distraction should do the trick.

Hunched in a corner, he prepares to hare forward. His hand probes the interior of his bag, attaining exactly what he was looking for. Heart hammering adrenaline against his chest and fingers numb from the bleak air, he hangs his bag on his shoulder, placing it diagonally across his front. The night has crept by around him, the stars veiled by murky clouds with flashes inside. He breathes in deeply and exhales slowly, fog coming out. Closes his eyes and conditions his body to act on instinct from now on. He has no time for mistakes.

Showtime.

He hurls a hand grenade to the left and throws himself into running to the other side of the wall. The guards’ heads snap to the explosion in unison; some of them even rush there. Levi reaches the start of the wall just when the light misses that space. The wall is mainly a smooth surface; fortunately, some bumps do scale it.

Levi climbs, his fingertips stinging against the grungy material. On the top, he balances on the tip of his toes, avoiding electrocution by a hair. He didn’t think through this part, and his head isn’t as fast as his automatic reactions are. His body decides by itself and propels him up. He leaps into the air in a spin and lands on a crouch. A dull ache rises from the soles of his feet to his legs for his poorly planned landing.

“Ach,” he moans. He definitely should have spent some time planning this more thoroughly.

Dented metal trash cans cover him from exposure, earthy terrain stretching at their front. The building’s skirts have neither windows nor entries but for a wide door made of steel in the center. It looks very bunker-like. An electronic lock secures it—which Levi doubts he could decipher with limited time. Behind the main building stands the crude structure of a several stories tower, traversed by numerous diagonal staircases with orange lights. At the top, a gigantic antenna glows red.

Loudly, guards pass beside him and scurry outside, probably reinforcements to deal with his little act. But even more guards continue at their posts, enclosing the frontal door and the adjacent walls.

Levi squints his eyes. The faint lighting makes it difficult to survey around. If he can’t get inside from above or the front, below is the—disgusting—viable alternative, even when it’s the one he despises the most. For once, he’s at least glad for the oldness of this area, as its structures remain intact and without much modern intervention.

There. In the darkness, he’s unsure if the black and round spot on the ground is what he’s seeking, yet there’s no time for hesitation. If wrong, he’d reveal his presence, provoke his capture, and most possible death. So, it has to be it.

Crouched, he dashes to the spot, screams and shots raiding him from all sides.

Clack. He manages to open the manhole cover and plunges inside. Lands with a splash on the blackness of the sewer system. The oily water engulfs him up to the middle of his calves and seeps into his shoes. Nausea ascends through his throat as the malodorous stale smell wafts over him. He covers his nose with his elbow joint, but it’s already drenched with acridness. At least, the place is spacious enough for him to avoid touching the walls, and he hasn’t felt anything moving along his shoes.

He hugs the bag closer to his chest in hopes it has stayed dry, and blindly rummages through it until pulling out his cellphone. He activates its light and swings it from side to side before racing away.

They’ll be chasing him at any second.

Ignorant of the tunnels, he limits to dart in the direction of the building, hating how loud and slow the water makes him. He does his best to ignore the filthy liquid, the overpowering odor, and the overly close squeaks from creatures he doesn’t want to picture. Keeps his pace for some minutes, accompanied only by the sound of his messy walk and that of the gurgling water from the pipes.

He’s jerking away from some viscous, nasty thing floating around him, when sloshing footsteps echo through the tunnel. Murmurs enter his ears. By now, he must be under the building, right? Levi detects a manhole access point with his cellphone light. Behind him, the murmurs grow louder. He turns the light off. Sticks to a wall and becomes silent.

A splash, and then a voice says, “Sure he came this way?”

“I swear I saw a light…”

Another splash, this one farther from him. “I see nothing!”

Levi bears the horror of feeling something bumping into his leg, yet doesn’t move in fear of shifting the attention of the guards back to him. If he doesn’t get out of here fast, he’ll find himself out of the sewer, but trapped at gunpoint.

He waits for no sign of his chasers for a lifeless minute, in which his mind doesn’t keep quiet. What if Hange isn’t here? What if he came to a trap? Maybe he trusted Nifa too easily…

When there are no more human sounds nearby, he examines the ceiling, looking for the manhole hole but hesitant to turn the light back on. He’s contemplating turning on his heels when he detects it. A faint light in the form of a circle. He raises his arms and uncovers the cover; slow, and as silently as he can. Pauses and waits, but no more noise comes from either around him or above.

Levi jumps. He spreads his arms to catch himself at the border and, with the help of his elbows, climbs out of the sewer. Fresh air meets his lungs like a blessing, yet some of that shitty odor lingers, as it comes from him. Yikes.

He’s in what appears to be a warehouse, with lines and lines of boxes all over the place. He takes a knife from his waist and cuts the plastic and tape wrapping one to open it. Inside, smaller boxes rest, containing hundreds of bullets.

Weapons, he suspects, must be in every one. Another reason why someone from Eldia must be implicated in all of this: no chance this amount could have made its way here without their awareness. Levi explores the hall until the lines of boxes end. Instead of vacant space, he encounters a fucking blue helicopter with a painting of two rifles crosswise in front of outstretched wings on it.

Steps approach. Levi blocks himself from view, sheltering at the rear of a box.

“They said we got an infiltration,” someone says out of breath.

Levi peeks out from his hiding spot. Two men in black uniforms are entering the hall, one of them wringing his hands together.

The one looking more calmed sips from a bottle of soda, and says, “The guards from outside like panicking over nothing.” Levi’s ear wriggles at that voice. He recognizes it. “Like when they said we had been infiltrated, and it ended up being a squirrel sprinting around. Those folks are paranoid. Who would dare to come in, even if they find us?” This person leans his back on the helicopter, arms crossed over his chest.

Where has Levi seen him?

Ah. The memories.

“You’re right, who would?” the nervous man says with utmost reverence. Levi feels he might gag listening to that. “But this time they sounded troubled.”

“Eh. Did you inform The Commander?”

And the photograph in Hange’s phone.

“He’s here?!”

The leaning man nods and drains his bottle. Levi struggles to recall the name, gaze traveling over the green eyes, the darkness of his hair, and his current childish arrogance.

Eren Yeager. Physically, he doesn’t stride far from his former self. What are his motivations in this life? Levi would have thought that after everything he did, he’d have attained the freedom he yearned for, the one that caused so much pain and suffering. Apparently not.

Levi’s stomach boils with burning anger, memories flashing in his head. He clenches his fists, holding back the urge of charging toward him. He never got to give him a piece of his mind.

“I’ll inform him immediately.” The other man rushes away.

“Check the prisoners after!” Eren orders at the man’s back.

Prisoners?

Eren looks sideways in Levi’s direction. Levi stops breathing. For some eternal minutes, Eren does and says nothing, eyes vigilant on the boxes in front of Levi. Did he see him? What is he going to do next? If more guards come into this closed room, he could lose.

Waiting to be discovered at any second, Levi counts. 26, 27, 28… Eren shakes his head. He flicks his bottle into a trash can and loosely exits the room.

Levi comes out of hiding. Far from the helicopter, there’s a simple metallic door through which Eren left. He goes there.

Eren said prisoners. Could there be someone important there? Maybe… Hange? Cells use to be in the depths of buildings, where a basement would be in a house. Levi is tempted to head over there, but if they send guards there, it would be a no-return crossroad. And they mentioned The Commander. As the leader, where could he be? In the middle? Opposite directions, then.

Whenever a guard passes by, Levi tucks away in corners or inside rooms filled with yet more boxes, as if he had any other doubt of the complicity of some eldian with power. He finds some stairs going down. Glances at them, which could take him to Hange, and then at a door at the end of the hallway. He has to decide if going down to the cells or continue towards Zeke, and quickly, because muffled steps are getting louder. Closer.

The more secure bet is the correct answer, isn’t it? The one he could best succeed at.

The one my duty demands, he concludes, disregarding the feeling of dread squeezing his chest. First, the mission. Then comes everything else, even himself. It’s always been like that and he doesn’t know how to make it different.

He’s about to reach the door when his voice booms to him.

“These weren’t my orders!” Zeke bellows. “Write it just as I said: ‘If you choose to continue like this, you’ll perish.’ Exactly like that.”

Levi walks out the door and tiptoes to the voice. This must be the core of the building; he glimpses at the hall around him, which is bigger than the previous warehouse. It consists of a huge area with a glass ceiling that rises to the height of several floors—of the size of three Levi’s apartments—and yet, it’s almost vacant. There are some boxes here and there, but it looks as if they were preparing to flee and never return.

Zeke is at a side, pointing a finger at a guard holding a tablet. “The world shall see how they fall for their avarice,” he says looking at the screen, sounding as though he’s trying to hold a laugh.

If Levi attacks him, he’d be exposed with no means to go into hiding once more. But he can’t miss this opportunity.

“They’ll fall, or will you, monkey?” Levi comes out from the shadows, a gun pointing at Zeke’s head and his bag still hanging at his side.

“Monkey?” Zeke turns and smirks, a dangerous glint on his eyes splicing anxiety into Levi’s blood. “I’ve never heard that one before. Is it for the hair?”

The guard drops the tablet and aims for the gun on his belt.

“Don’t move or I shoot!” Levi yells.

Zeke remains motionless while the guard lifts up his hands in surrender. Levi keeps advancing.

“What brings you here, Agent Ackerman?”

Levi is two arms from him when he stops. “You’re the one in my land.”

“Ah, so selfish. So many territories, so many barriers... Don’t you want the world to be free?” Zeke nonchalantly takes his glasses off and inspects them. His carefree behavior makes Levi’s lips curl with dislike. “I guess my dear Hange has something to do with your presence here…”

Levi averts his gaze to the doors behind Zeke, from which he spots movement. He should kill Zeke fast and clean, but… he just needs to know.

“Where is Hange?”

Zeke puts on his glasses again. “Is that really what you want to ask?”

“I already know what I need to. If I kill you, all the nightmares and massacres end, Commander.”

“It isn’t that easy.” Zeke’s smirk widens.

The guard pulls the gun out of his belt. Levi shoots to his leg. The man falls crying to the ground. Zeke’s mouth forms a thin line, which gets lost amidst his hairy beard.

“I might be the leader,” Zeke mutters, “but after me, more will come. We are too many.”

Levi shrugs. “I like hunting monsters, and have plenty of time.”

The Monkey skits backward. Levi shoots to the ground, which makes the other man halt.

Zeke cocks his head to a side. “Sure you have time… but what about Hange?” Levi stiffens. Zeke smiles for real. “I can take you with her. She’ll be delighted to see you. Maybe, then, you’ll want to join us in taking over the world.”

No… She wouldn’t be part of this. Yet… she did lie, she did run away, she did betray him… Levi bites the inside of his cheek until it bleeds. Is she so different in this life, that she’s beyond recognition? Would she participate in something like this?

He blinks and hardens his muscles to regain his composure. Zeke is a liar, always has been. Nothing coming out from him should be believed.

Still, where is she?

Bam! Levi hears the shot before feeling it. He presses a hand on the growing wetness in his side, his limbs suddenly watery. The hot ache soon extends to his abdomen, burning his nerves in spasmodic stabs. His knees hit the floor, and then his head. Among his mental crabbed screams of pain, he inwardly recites a string of obscenities.

“You should have pulled the trigger when you could, Ackerman. I expected better from someone of your reputation, but…”

Levi doesn’t get to hear the rest. Bright spots dance over his eyes, and then he sees nothing else.

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