Angel With A Shotgun [Levi Ackerman x OC] / Attack on Titan / Shingeki no Kyojin

Code L: To No Avail

After wrapping up her announcements, Hanji dismissed the agents to their rooms. She knew that it was a lot, and that the agents would need time to comprehend the circumstances. No one objected to her ruling.

No one except, of course, except the Sanctioned Archangel. Instead of returning to her room like everyone else, she went to the exercise room. Levi had spotted her slipping in as everyone headed off. Initially, he'd wanted to intervene and insist that she get some sleep, but he knew that it would have been futile.

He returned to his room and planned on getting some rest—something he rarely had the time to do with his constant pile of work. Crawling into bed with nothing on but a pair of sweatpants, he nestled deeply into the fluffy pillows and covers, prepared for a good rest. But that night, no matter how much he tossed and turned in his bed, he couldn't seem to find his way into slumber. His nerves were buzzed with the impending war, as well as the new information on the Xyrochron. It would be a straight lie if he had said that he wasn't afraid that something was going to go wrong with the brain link... but he had no choice.

He had to believe that he was making the right choice without regret. In the past, he had learned gruelingly that some sacrifices were absolutely necessary for the best resolution—even if the resolution itself was grim.

The train of thought he was following crashed when the felt the muffled vibrations of a loud bang. Immediately, he knew the sound; it was the sound of the deadlift being dropped onto the ground. Rolling over, Levi glanced at the clock on his nightstand and squinted to read the neon numbers. 2:09 AM, it read.

"What the hell?" he groaned quietly, sitting up. Swinging his feet over the edge of his bed, he left his room. Heading straight down the stairs into the lobby and down the main hall, he was silent as he approached the door. He peered inside to see Xora, drenched in sweat, her hair tied back into a small ponytail. Several strands of hair were falling loose.

The woman donned only shorts and her sports bra, but they were drenched in sweat. In fact, her entire body was shiny with perspiration. Levi watched in silent awe as she added on a couple of weights to the deadlift before tightly wrapping her hands around the bar and heaving it upwards. Her body trembled as she lifted it off the floor; but even with the thick muscles that were carved into her skin, Levi could tell that it was too much for her.

Before Xora could properly lift the heavy bar, she let out a small grunt and released it, letting it plummet to the ground with a sharp bang! She collapsed to the ground, her chest heaving, the trembles still rippling through her skin. She attempted to rise to her feet, but her knees gave out, and she stayed on the ground. At this point, she had clearly pushed herself too far.

"That's enough!" Levi cried, barging into the room. Xora's head whipped around; she was shocked to see him, and even more so because he was half-naked. He rushed over and crouched beside her, one hand on her shoulder. "You need to stop and get some rest, you reckless fool."

"There's not enough time for that," Xora argued, turning her face away. Underneath Levi's touch, he could feel that she was most definitely still shaking. "Leave me be. I need to train for this... even if I have to do it alone."

"I don't care if you want to be alone. You do realize that you're only going to be able to break your limits if the Xyrochron prototype is successful, right? Lifting weights now doesn't influence it as much as you think. Pushing yourself like this now will do nothing. You need rest."

"I don't need any rest!" Xora yelled. She roughly shook Levi's hand off of her shoulder and tried to stand, but her legs gave out and she fell to her knees once again. "Dammit... dammit! Why?! Just a little more!"