"You must be mad if you expect me to go through with this," Levi stated blankly. He folded his arms as he casually leaned back in his seat. Yet for all his calm, poised demeanor, the glare he leveled at Erwin was fierce.

The Commander simply smiled, a hint of amusement and glee shining in his eyes. "Madness is not my strong suit. I leave that to Hanji."

Levi scowled. "You are enjoying this way too much."

Erwin shrugged. "Do not deprive me of the simplest joys I may find in life."

"And one of your joys is sending me on a mission disguised as a high born trader?" Levi demanded.

"You are the only one I trust to send," Erwin stated simply. "Not to mention your skills and expertise would be greatly needed." His eyes flickered over to Levi's knee. "There is also another matter entirely," he continued. "You have barely contained yourself inside the base with your injury."

Levi's hand flexed as it brushed up against his knee, the one that he had damaged when he had saved Eren from the Female Titan. When his entire squad, save for Yeager, were slaughtered.

"Besides," Erwin said, pulling Levi out of his grim thoughts. "You might enjoy it. It will be good for you."

Levi scowled. "You think I am in need of coddling?" he demanded, irked. The very thought that Erwin regarded him in such a way was highly offensive.

Erwin scoffed. "Of course not. I am simply stating that...we all need to have some time to ourselves."

Levi raised an eyebrow. "No one just gets 'time to themselves.' Or are you just trying to get rid of me?" His tone was not yet accusing, yet he enjoyed seeing Erwin come up with different, persuasive reasons as to why Levi should agree with this plan.

Erwin sighed in exasperation. "No, I am not trying to get rid of you." He leveled a glare at Levi. "Why can't you just accept this assignment without question?"

Levi leaned back and folded his legs, careful with his damaged knee. "I would have accepted this without question," and he would have, he really would. He had sworn to follow Erwin wherever the commander ordered him to go. But today, of all days, he was finding it immensely difficult to follow that simple vow. "It's just your choice in my partner that gives me pause."

Erwin folded his hands. "What? You think it is a bad fit?"

"I think it is a terrible fit," Levi stated. He smirked when he saw Erwin rub his forehead tiredly. Oh, he was going to make the commander's migraine explode with his arguments. "What makes you think we won't kill each other during the mission?"

"Because the two of you have always worked so well together before," Erwin sighed, head in his hand as he glanced at Levi with a blank stare.

"That's because we've never been alone." Levi paused. "For a while, that is."

"This won't take long," Erwin reminded him. "Less than a week, maybe."

Levi frowned. "Maybe?" he echoed.

"It depends how long you two can perform the mission without causing much suspicion," Erwin stated.

Levi sat back in his seat. "So, you received a message from someone high up in the chain of command who is looking for his runaway daughter?" he clarified.

Erwin nodded. "Emilie Zachies," he stated, passing a small slip of paper to Levi. The captain merely raised an eyebrow at the small picture of the young girl. Her blonde, shoulder length hair was done up in the usual fashion trend, and her complexion looked sweet and enduring as she smiled. Levi had to guess that the painter over exaggerated on her flawlessness when he put this portrait together.

"She ran away from her family two weeks ago with her lover, quite possibly to elope," Erwin continued. "Her lover, Jaque Bosh, is a low born who is known for his skills in forgary, mainly paintings. Naturally, he has run into trouble with the law before."

"Girls like the bad boys." Levi frowned. "The situation is nothing unique. Did she get cramped in her gilded cage and wanted to spring herself from daddy's comfy palace? She might find the real world with a criminal harder than she expected."

"Something like that, but don't repeat that in front of her father," Erwin said.

"So why are we bothering with this?" Levi asked.

Erwin slid a small stack of papers over to Levi. "Because just three days ago, Lord Zachies received a letter in his daughter's handwriting. She feared for her life and knew that she had made a mistake in running of with Mr. Bosh." Erwin sat back ever so slightly. "She wants to come home and escape her relationship, but she is unable to do it alone and her exact location is not known. However, we were able to pinpoint exactly where she might show up. Jaque is most likely going to show up at a festival." Here, Erwin pulled out a small map of a city. "An art exhibit is going to be displayed, and Jaque is known to admire such art. It is there that we might find Emilie."

Levi frowned, disinterested as he flipped through the folder. "This is not something that falls into the Scouts category," he stated.

"I informed Lord Zachies that we would do everything we can to find his daughter," Erwin replied.

"Well, did you also tell him that the Military Police are better suited for this job?" Levi asked, handing the papers back.

"Lord Zachies came to me first and foremost," Erwin replied as he received the papers. "He only wants the best in the field for this mission, and I recommended you."

"Thank you," Levi muttered.

Erwin folded his hands and rested them on the desk as he leaned forward. "You are to find Emilie and bring her back. We have been insured Lord Zachies's full support should we accept this mission. Naturally, I agreed. The profits are very promising."

"They would have to be," Levi stated. He fixed his gaze on Erwin. "Why can I not go alone?" he countered, eyes narrowed. "I perform just well by myself." In fact, his skills were always at their height when he was alone.

"Because one man alone will attract more attention and be easy to identify in a setting such as this," Erwin said. "But a married man and his wife, that will be more than useful."

"Why married?" Levi exclaimed. "Was signing me up as a married man really necessary?"

"Because a married couple rather then two lovers will not ignite as much gossip," Erwin retorted. "But knowing you two, the entire Wall will be up in smoke with your antics."

Levi smirked at the comment. "I do know how to ignite such gossip."

"Just say you'll do it and come back in one piece," Erwin grumbled.

Levi shrugged as he stood up, brushing his coat off of any offending dirt. "No promises," he stated simply.

"You will have to inform her of the mission," Erwin said. He slid a small, black box across the desk to Levi. "Here's the ring. When you arrive at the inn, the two of you will scout out the area and stage a simple rescue for Emilie."

Levi stared at it with a scowl, as if the box was the reason for all his miseries. "Why me?" he demanded. "Why do I have to be the one to inform my partner of all this? You're the commander."

"Because you will be the husband," Erwin said with a smirk, and Levi now knew for a fact that the commander was enjoying this. "Congratulations Levi, she is a lucky woman indeed."

Levi huffed and snatched the box up. "You have no idea," he grumbled.

However, as Levi walked down the halls, his strides full of purpose as he set out to track down his partner, he could not help but smirk as a playful thought occurred to him. Yes, he might be reluctant to be placed in such a situation, yet he knew he could stir up some trouble while he was gone. After all, he bored easily, and his partner was going to be so easy to rile up. That, and he was going a bit stir crazy with being coped up in the fortress. He was just about to count the tiles on the ceiling before the walls finally closed in on him.

The sun hit his eyes just right as he stepped outside. He blinked for a moment, his gaze surveying the area thoughtfully. Finally, his gaze fell on the one figure who was chatting excitedly with a few uninterested scouts.

He let out a breath, pulling the box out of his pocket before striding toward the group. He did not want to do this in front of the others, but it seemed like it could not be helped, and he did want to get it over with rather quickly. One thing was for sure, he was never going to live this down.

However, upon noticing his arrival, the captive group became very eager to escape and took his presence as an excuse to leave. Good, then he didn't have to do this in front of an audience.

Hanji turned to look at him with a confused frown when he cleared his throat, before her face lit up. "Levi! What brings you out here? Surely not my wonderful studies!"

Levi huffed. "No, not your weird obsessions, that's for sure. Just a question that desires an answer." With that, he displayed the box to her, opening it to reveal the glittering ring inside. "Hanji Zoe, will you be my wife?"

A/N: Oh, look, it's a lonely little review box that needs some readers insight.