One Shot no.1:

Hey guys! :) So this is the first one shot in this mini series of Ri-vents ;). I decided to just do lots of little fluff pieces because I love these two so much! :)

Hope you all enjoy, I'll be adding more as I go! :)

Sunlight filtered down in dapples through the broken canopy of trees above Petra as she spun and swung and flew along on her ODM gear.

She loved the feeling, like flying but more, being able to glide along then suddenly whistle into action and shoot and turn on a cent and rip into a Titan before it knew what had happened.

So when up ahead of her she saw such a beast, her heart thrummed a little faster in anticipation and she gathered herself for zoning in on the kill.

However, as she started to gather herself, Petra saw her fellow Squad Levi member, Eld Jinn, move in as well.

Watching her tall, blonde friend, she waited to see if he needed help. His expert manoeuvring was flawless and the caramel haired woman was about to turn when the Titan out of nowhere got the upper hand.

It swatted its giant meaty hand out at an impossible angle and caught Eld as he was swinging around to go for the neck, squeezing as it drew him to eye level.

"No! Eld!" Petra screamed and shot forwards to aid him.

...Only, no matter how fast or hard she tried to reach him, her grappling hooks sank into the same two trees, swung her in an endless cycle in the same little cove she'd started in.

"What the hell? What is this?" She yelled in frustration.

There was no moving forwards, no reaching Eld and she had to watch in horror as her friend was swallowed whole right in front of her.

No!

Petra felt her body freeze in shock and a cold sensation washed all over her.

What was this insanity?

To her left, a call for help snagged her attention, and brunette haired Günter Schultz was battling wildly against an 8 metre Titan.

It had him suspended by one of his wires on his gear, spinning him on the end of it like a toy.

Why was a Titan doing something so... deliberately toying?

"I'm coming, Günter!" Petra called out to him and shot off at a hurried pace.

Once again though, she got nowhere, no matter how fast she flew, staying the same distance she started at.

"No, no, no!" She screamed out as, finished playing cat and mouse, the Titan lifted it's deformed arm, holding her team mate dangling above its mouth.

With a deliberate opening of its fingers, down it dropped Günter and there was another of her Squad gone.

Tears sprung forth as Petra once again had to hang and watch her friend die.

This wasn't real, it was a nightmare.. It had to be.

Movement caught her eye and when Petra turned behind her, she felt a nauseous swell in her stomach.

How could this be happening?

Large trees surrounded the Abnormal Titan who was standing twisting and grinding it's foot down on the fast fading form of Aurou Bossard.

His strangled, gargling moans reached Petra's ears and she couldn't stand it, couldn't look, knowing she couldn't help.

So she covered her ears and crushed shut her eyes, willing this horrible image to be gone.

Tears were still silently pouring down her face when she defeatedly let her hands fall from her ears, opening her eyes to reveal Aurou and the Titan were gone.

The forest was still and Petra sighed in relief as she could finally take a breath.

Suddenly, a figure appeared ahead of her again, only this time it was the familiar shape of Captain Levi, calling to her.

"Petra! We're needed ahead, some soldiers are being swarmed. Come on, get your ass in motion!"

"Yes, sir!" She called back, following suit.

Except, the more they launched forwards, the more she got left behind.

"Captain! Wait!" The caramel haired soldier's desperate call echoed and bounced back to Petra's own ears, sounding foreign and not echoing properly, ringing before suddenly cutting off, then sounding again, further away and from all directions.

It happened in slow motion - from behind two bordering trees, right before a clearing, two hands simultaneously shot out from either side and the two Titans plucked Levi right out of the air.

"Captain! No!" Petra battered and pulled and swung and smacked at and with her gear, cursing the faulty thing to the ends of the earth.

Battle cries drove through her skull as Levi fought ferociously, trying to free his left arm and right leg from them both.

He sliced with his blades, Titan blood steaming around him, but not from places that mattered.

Nothing he did loosened their death grips and the two beast looked at each other before they started to pull.

Petra thought she was going to lose her mind, not being able to look away from this one.

Screams and pleas tore from her throat, leaving it raspy and raw.

With a sickening, wet crack, the Titans gave one final heave and tore her Captain in two.

Blood poured and sloshed out of each half, staining the forest floor crimson.

Petra was shaking uncontrollably and her stomach was roiling.

They... They were all gone.

Dead.

And she could do nothing to stop it.

One of the Titans that had ripped Levi in half turned to look at her and it was one of those creepy damn grinning ones.

It's eyes stared at her and it was all she could do not to stare, knowing she had no escape.

The grin was as unnerving as watching her friends deaths and she felt another scream build in her throat.

Before she could, before she could move, her vision was filled with straw coloured hair, then the giant, round eyes of a Titan as it rose up right in front of her, only inches from the immobilised soldier.

There was no time to scream, no time to try pointless flight.

As it cavernous mouth opened wide, the smell of blood and death wafting out in hot waves, Petra felt her muscles lock, hands gripping her blades in desperate comfort that she could slice the Titans mouth up so much on her way in, it would rear back in pain and she'd somehow be free of her paralysis.

No such thing happened, she had no control of her body and all she could do was let silent tears continue to fall down her face as the Titan loomed closer, ever closer and now she could FEEL the huge mouth surrounding her on its descent.

Darkness, damp, sickening darkness greeted her and as she landed on the tongue, she felt it roll as she was swallowed whole like Eld and Günter.

The scream finally ripped through her as she fell down the throat and then she was falling, falling, falling into an endless cavern.

That's when Petra mercifully awoke, her body giving a slight jump and a small gasp.

Her eyes frantically adjusted to the familiar darkness in her chambers, back inside the Walls and their current base.

Her breath trembled out of her body quietly and her limbs had a fine sheen of sweat on them.

That had been so real and hauntingly, terrifyingly, possible.

She lay perfectly still for a second in her bed, heart thrumming painfully.

Firmly telling herself it wasn't real, she closed her eyes harshly at the image of them all being slaughtered. The image of Levi being ripped in two particularly stuck in her head and she tried to slam it away.

Opening her eyes again, Petra tentatively reached out from under the covers and ran her fingers gently over the defined muscles and random scars on the exposed back in front of her.

"Same one?" Levi's voice came softly over his shoulder.

He always woke at even her slightest jolt, not that he minded - he still slept better with her nightmares than he did all those years of sleeping alone.

"Yeah. Same one," Petra confirmed with a tortured sigh, her fingers still trailing over Levi's back.

With a rustle of the covers, Levi turned in the bed and she was now looking into his onyx eyes.

"You ok?"

"Mmhmm," she nodded, looking to where their hands had automatically found each other's.

Pressing her fingertips against his, Petra looked up into her Captain's eyes.

It was strange, how different they looked at night than during the day.

For instance, the steely gaze, in colour and tone, was shuttered and incalculable during the day when he was purely her Captain and she his subordinate.

Now, laying next to each other as lovers, as equals, Levi's stormy eyes held only a sleepy contentedness and concern for her.

"It's fine. It's just a nightmare," she smiled fleetingly at him, reaching her hand up once again to let her fingers fall gently across his cheek.

Capturing her hand under his, Levi kissed her palm, eyes never leaving hers.

There was still a slight tremor in her touch and he wished he could go into her nightmares and stop them from haunting her supposedly peaceful slumber.

He couldn't, so instead, he gently tugged her closer and tucked her against him, feeling the damp chill from her skin against his.

Giving a sigh, Petra nestled against him, her face resting in he crook of his neck, his arm wound around her waist, a comforting anchor against the dark thoughts.

The room was once more filled with only the sounds of their breathing, Petra's now even and calm.

After a few seconds, however, her eyes opened of their own accord and Petra couldn't quiet her brain to sleep again.

What if she were to ever be as useless as in her nightmares? Not, obviously, stuck in the one spot, but still not able to save any of her team mates?

She never let her gender be an issue, she trained as hard as everyone else, but it was a known fact that, due to muscle mass/density etc, men were usually physically stronger.

Should she be training more, trying to close that gap? Maybe then she'd have less to worry about, her nightmares might plague her less?

This could be her brains way of telling her that was something she needed to watch or was unconsciously worrying about.

Well, she wasn't going to ignore such a possibility.

Knowing Levi wouldn't be asleep yet, it had only been a minute since they fell silent, she voiced her thoughts. If he knew of her plans, her worried, he'd make sure she saw it through, got the time to do so.

"I think I need to put in some more training time... Build up my muscles more," she said softly into his throat, where he still had her tucked into him.

There was a beat of silence and she felt him suck in a slight breath.

"Petra."

She practically hear the scepticism in his voice.

"You do not need to train more than you already are. You don't think I'd be pushing you more if I thought you weren't up to scratch?"

"Well... No, I suppose not, but-"

"No, no 'but' no 'supposing'. Sometimes things happen, things we can't foresee or predict. That's why I train you all to expect those moments, to be on high alert. Which, all of you naturally do, anyway. It's one of the reasons I picked you all," Levi deep voice and calming, sure words were like a soothing balm to her jangled nerves.

Levi was definitely not one to bull or lie to comfort someone, not the guys, not even her, who'd he'd secretly been seeing for a year or so now.

So she knew she could trust his assurance.

"...Alright," she agreed softly, smiling into the little dip between his collar bones.

"I swear, if I find you until all hours training yourself into the ground, Petra, I'll throw you over my shoulder and tie you to this bed," Levi grumbled, his voice becoming heavy with sleep.

"Hmm, maybe I should do that then," she teased, trailing the tips of her fingers across his arm.

"Behave yourself," Levi smirked.

"Maybe you'll have to make me?" Came the challenge and Levi pulled back to look down at the innocent expression on Petra's face.

"Is that a direct act of insubordination, soldier?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Hell, yes," Petra scoffed, poking him on the shoulder.

"Oh. Now you're asking for it!"

Petra could barely conceal the squeak from her throat as, in a flash, Levi was straddling her, his dark gaze above her now.

"I hope you're ready for your punishment, Ms. Ral?"

"Bring it on, Captain."

It was a while later when the two were finally drifting off to sleep again and this time time, wrapped up in Levi's arms, Petra's dreams were filled with nothing but sweet things.