Chapter 61 - Remove her Mask

                                    

                                          
Few days have passed, and the two kids noticed that Dahlia was more quiet than usual. Whenever she'd speak, her voice gets croaky all of a sudden. It seemed like she was also avoiding conversations with them
                          
Up until now, what the Survey Corps leaders said was still stuck in her head. She recalled Gabi's face when she came for them at the bimp, was that her face just minutes after slaughtering a scout? 
                          
"It's amazing, how could you still breathe when you had that mask on for days?" A loud voice drawls
                          
When her head subtly tilts over her shoulder, she sensed them impaling her raw soul by mere stares. She quietly sighed and focused back at the wall. It was the same two who'd ask her all about Jaeger and his schemes everyday
                          
"If you're that doubtful about that monkey then why would you even cooperate with him in the first place?" The Lieutenant spoke lowly
                          
"Well" Hanji chuckles "We weren't planning to talk about Zeke today"
                          
"So you have no reason to be here"
                          
The Captain unlocked the cell, and then followed a screeching sound of a chair being dragged across the floor. Dahlia's been talking to them for days, but she never laid her eyes on them. Because she always hung her head low, closing her eyes while talking to them. And since she kept the same mask on for months during a war in Marley, a week wasn't a problem for Dahlia
                          
Being pulled by the Commander, she was pushed onto a seat where her hands were cuffed behind its backrest. They tried getting a glimpse of her face, but it was just impossible. She knew that they would suspect her intentions, but she would defend it to her extent 
                          
"Lieutenant Colonel, why would you keep a mask on for a week straight?" Hanji directly questioned
                          
"I keep this on every fucking day. So shut the hell up" She mumbled
                          
Hanji laughed "Everyday? I don't think so Lieutenant. We happen to have some alliances that recognized you the moment we said The Lieutenant Girl, and they said you only keep your mask when you want to hide your face from the enemies. Is that correct?"
                          
Their Captain clenched her hair, arching Dahlia's head backwards
                          
"I don't even think this brat's a girl anymore, she sounds like the local drunkards with this darn mask on"
                          
Scolding him, Hanji shooed his hands away from her hair "But telling from the way you've helped us so much in the past days, I don't think we're enemies now. Correct?"
                          
"You must know that, so why are you so eager to keep that mask on? We can't help but suspect that there's something more to revealing identities to the enemy"
                          
The Lieutenant had her eyes closed despite the blazing light that shone from the lamp above her. But she sensed someone leaning closer to her, it was the woman Commander
                          
"I guess you value the secrecy of your name since Yelena doesn't even know it, so who are we to ask you right?" Hanji grinned at her
                          
"Hooowever, I couldn't help but overwhelm myself with curiosity to see the face behind that mask. The Marley's famous Lieutenant"
                          
Shit. Dahlia gritted her teeth, but the clenching of her fists was the only reaction they saw from her
                          
"What was that?" Levi mocks her
                          
The Lieutenant kept her cool, but she quivered inside "No. D-don't"
                          
The man lifted her hair, clicking his tongue when he caught a glimpse of locked chains behind it
                          
"She even has the mask locked. Just what are you trying to do by caging your face like this?" Hanji asks her
                          
"D-don't try to remove m-my mask"
                          
However, all of her mumbles were ignored when they tried to unlock the chains. She was now daunted
                          
"This needs some key" Hanji examined the lock carefully
                          
When their Captain sensed her right arm slowly shifting, he flick his eyes towards it and immediately caught the armband. As his hands placed a grip on it, her heart began to throb hard and she felt immensely agitated - like her nerves could burst at any moment
                          
He shook her arm, and down fell a small key. Hanji gasped as she gripped the key to her eye level 
                          
"Don't worry, it's just a little peek Lieutenant" Hanji grinned "Why can't you stay still? Stop shaking"
                          
Bullshit, this cannot be happening right now!! Dahlia's insides were burning wild. She had no option but to recourse to physical actions
                          
When their Commander inserted the keyhole, she began thrusting every inch of her muscle to shake her off. At this point, she knew it looked pathetic but it was all she could do. Her strident retorts rang through the cell. Until a hand gripped her neck, preventing her from making the slightest movement. It was the Captain
                          
While his hand helped to steady the keyhole, Hanji inserted it and smiled widely before twisting it. The sound of it unlocking clicks, and the chains were unclasped
                          
Dahlia's eyes watered in panic yet rage, and bowing her head low was her last resort. The mask fell down from her head, exposing her face to the air around her. It was already removed though they waited for the Lieutenant to tilt her head up herself. The sobbing sounds that originally sounded like a man, was now frail and weak like a woman's
                          
Hanji stated "Bring your head up Lieutenant, there's no hiding now"
                          
"I-I won't" She clenched her fists
                          
It was completely different from the voice they've been hearing for days. But no, they immediately recognize it as someone else's. Someone that only existed in their memories - or as they both thought
                          
This voice, Levi's eyes slowly widen
                          
The grip on her neck loosened, and his fingers rested under her chin. He lifted the Lieutenant's face up and when it reached eye level, her eyes finally opened under the light
                          
A weak gasp fell out of Hanji's lips, and the key dropped when she muffled herself with her hands
                          
As soon as her infuriated eyes met his, it felt like a million years since his heart skipped a beat. Levi was rooted to that spot, unable to move
                          
"You're-" His voice began to shake
                          
"I'm the Lieutenant Colonel, Dahlia Klein" She said in an official voice
                          
"N-no" Levi's hands fell to the chair's arm rest, brittle in tone
                          
Before any one of them was able to speak, in came the Garrison who called Dahlia for work outside the cell. Like the other captive Marleyans, they were forced to help the Garrison in the barracks. She was uncuffed from the chair, being brought outside the cell. The two scouts didn't keep their eyes off Dahlia, too frozen to move. 
                          
"Stop" Levi sternly stated, calling the two Garrison soldiers to a halt
                          
His voice cracked "W-who are you"
                          
Dahlia replied in a straight, and blunt expression "A Lieutenant born in the Marleyan internment zone. If you still doubt that then ask those little brats yourselves"