Hoodwinked: Levi Ackerman x Reader

You gasped for air, coughing out the water a person with glasses was dripping into your mouth. They had dark brown hair and were missing an eye. Are all devils scarred? You sat up, your head throbbing with pain. The lights from the lanterns were too bright. You covered your eyes, trying to wipe the sleep and exhaustion from your face.

"Who are you?!" You pressed. "Where am I?"

The person put a hand on your shoulder to lay you back. "You're in the Survey Corps' barracks. I'm Hange Zoe, and I'll be acting as your medic today," they explained in a sing-song voice. Are they insane? You tensed as you saw another person watching you. He had blond hair and a broad frame. Hange caught onto who you were looking at. "That's Commander Erwin. Don't worry about him; he's just worried."

Erwin nodded to you, a silent greeting.

The door opened, causing you to jolt upwards and reach into your pocket to grab your makeshift knife. Your pocket... Did they replace my clothes with Paradis clothes?!

Another man entered. This one was shorter and he had black hair. He was clean-cut—better than Hange's matted mess of a ponytail—and he carried tea with him. He handed one cup to Erwin, then set another cup on a table for Hange. He stood next to the commander and sipped his own tea.

Hange ran several tests on you, checking your hair for lice (surprisingly, there were none), checking your pulse, and putting water next to you for you to drink. They also gave you some crackers. Although they were tasteless, you felt as if you had never had a more delicious meal in your life.

They concluded the tests. "Alright, boys, feel free to ask questions now. I'll supervise so 'grumpy' doesn't get carried away. You sat up and drank more water, preparing yourself for the usual questions; the questions you were trained to answer.

"What were you doing outside of the walls?" Erwin asked.

You shrugged, feigning innocence. "I can't remember..."

The shorter male scoffed, muttering, "Yeah, right. Likely story."

Erwin shot him a glare and turned to you. "Do you have any clue as to what was going on before you were found?"

"Sprinkle a bit of truth on your story to make it believable," Zeke said. "There was a girl. She had freckles... That's all I can remember."

Erwin sighed. "Do you know your name?"

You thought for a moment—you weren't even acting. After spending so long away from mankind, you weren't entirely sure. It had been forever since you heard your name; forever since you spoke to anyone. You closed your eyes. "No matter what happens, don't forget your name," your father said, "that is all you have sometimes."

"Y/n."

Hange smiled, sitting next to you. "Y/n, huh? Do you come with a last name, or do we get to make one up for you?"

"Hange," the shorter man scolded.

"What? I'm just saying, they're confused and they might need a name." They looked you up and down, getting closer. "What about Newgate?"

Erwin ushered them out of the room. "Stop trying to name them like they're one of your titans." He turned to you, sitting in Hange's chair. "Listen, I need to know how long you were out there. What did you see?"

You closed your eyes. The sun would set every night and darkness would fall under the many leaves in the forest. The leaves rustled eerily and you wondered if it was the wind or a creature you needed to beware. The moonlight was filtered through the treetops. Shadows were cast on the ground and if you looked long enough, you would see the faces of your family in the silhouettes. The skeletal branches of the trees reached out and every night, you wished they would grab a titan by the nape and slit it, just to protect you.

But Mother Nature was a cruel, wicked witch whilst being a feminine nymph. The air she breathed was cool and sometimes damp, depending on how deep in the forest you were. She breathed life into you, but she would just as quickly take it away.

"I saw the beauty of nature."

The dark-haired man sneered. "This is pointless. Let's go."

"No," you protested, "I saw titans. I saw so many. I know how to kill them."

"Yeah, old news," he muttered, "but just how did you kill them? How did you figure that out in the woods?"

You remembered climbing trees—a large part of your training to be a warrior—and slitting their napes with makeshift swords. The steam from the titans' corpses kept you warm at night. "When all else fails, humanity finds a way to survive."

He frowned. "Right."

Erwin leaned forward, his eyes on you. "Tell me, Y/n, how skilled are you at killing the beasts outside of the walls?"

The man interrupted before you could reply. "Erwin, you're not seriously thinking of—"

"We could use an extra pair of hands, Levi."

Levi. He was making your mission harder than it had to be.

"But how do you know we can trust them?"

"Look at that gleam in their eyes," he announced as he rose to his feet. "That is a shimmer of hope. We need hope, especially in times like these."

Levi shook his head. "I don't trust them."

"You'll have to learn to. They'll train under you when they're well enough," he said. "Is that clear?"

The man opened his mouth to protest, but quickly closed it, nodding. "Clear, sir." Levi glared at you after Erwin left. "Come with me. Don't make this any harder than it has to be."