AU because this story basically exists nowhere specifically in the chronology of the anime or manga. The Survey Corps has expanded and has a new headquarters, Levi's elite squad is made up of the 104th, but they're older now - like let's say 24 to 26 - but not much more mature. Krista is still named Krista and not Historia Reiss because I just cannot deal. There will be many references to Levi's obsessive compulsive neatness because that is one of my favorite things about his character. I like to refer to Hanji as Hange, just because.

I don't own Attack on Titan. I do own my OC Erna Raban. I own the shit out of her.

.,.,.,..,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

"I'm adding a new member to your squad" said Erwin, walking with Levi through one of the courtyards within the current Survey Corps headquarters. He had arrived about an hour ago after seeing to a short reconnaissance mission. Levi's and about 10 other squads had remained at headquarters. The new strategy of the Survey Corps was to only deploy around half of its forces on any mission outside the walls when possible so as to eliminate the possibility of the complete decimation of the entire Corps at any one time.

Levi frowned. "Don't make things difficult. I don't need the distraction of training and assimilating a new squad member. The team I have now works well together."

"This one will be easy for you. Erna Raban - Graduated 1st in the 106th trainee squad. – "

"Tch. Young." Levi interrupted. He calculated: the 106th was one of the most recent classes of trainees, putting Erna Raban at best around the age of 19, (only five or six years younger than the 104th) and at worst around the age of 16.

Erwin pressed on, ignoring Levi's scowl "She doesn't act it. She could rival you in humorlessness. She's been a regular soldier in the Survey Corps for less than a year and has more titan kills and assists than any other soldier still living, including anyone currently on your squad – "

"Excluding me."

"Excluding you, but you've been doing this longer, old man" Erwin teased Levi, lightly elbowing him in the ribs.

"You're skipping something. Why not promote her to team leader?" Levi asked. He was suspicious of the whole thing.

"I thought about it, only very briefly. It wouldn't work. She doesn't have a will to lead. She wouldn't be very inspiring to a team of soldiers anyway. You'll see. She's passionless - not apt to give highly emotional, motivational speeches off the cuff like your other recruits. She's an invaluable tool, not a leader. You don't ask the hammer to lead the carpenter." Erwin stopped walking and faced Levi, now giving him a serious look.

"So you think I can use her." It was a statement, not a question.

"I think I want her on the kind of high risk missions that your squad is assigned. If there is a mission that we cannot afford to lose, I want her there."

"The members I have now, they've known each other since training. They work perfectly as a team. I don't want a new 'tool' messing up that dynamic. You have the final word and I'll respect your decision, but I'm against it."

"I do have the final word." Erwin paused, "She's with one of the teams on reconnaissance. I'll send her word and she'll report to you here at 7." That was all he had to say. He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving the courtyard before Levi could object further.

"Tch." Though Levi was pissed, he didn't move to follow Erwin. He was on record that this was a bad idea and that was enough. He moved to go back inside the castle that made up the Survey Corps headquarters and to his office and attached living quarters to clean. He thought best while cleaning.

The abandoned castle had been the safest structure found by the Survey Corps in between Wall Maria and Wall Rose. It was considered a temporary headquarters taken up for the purpose of keeping the Survey Corps closer to recapturing Wall Maria and therefore closer to titans, but within a relatively safe distance if they needed to retreat to Wall Rose. Outermost there was a moat, filled with water when there was enough rain but otherwise it was a dry, 16 ft deep ditch. Inside the moat was a stone wall about 30m in height, still intact, on top of which they could set cannons. The only opening in the wall was for the drawbridge. There were about two to three miles of open space between the outer wall and the castle structure where there was open space for training and outbuildings like the stables. Additionally there was a large, main courtyard in the center of the castle which most rooms looked out on. The inside of the castle served mostly to house the Survey Corps members when they were in between missions and the city. Due to the large size of the castle and the relatively small size of the Survey Corps, it was usually possible for each soldier to have their own sleeping quarters. Larger apartments were issued on a basis of seniority. Regular soldiers would get a single room, big enough for a bed and some furniture. Team leaders had larger bedrooms and private bathrooms. Levi and some other squad leaders like Hange had large apartments with several rooms. That is where Levi should have been at 9 o clock, not standing in the entrance courtyard, looking out over the open drawbridge and waiting. Most of the soldiers who had been out had returned from the short reconnaissance mission by 7, there were only three teams still outside the walls. They did not go far, or long, so there were relatively few casualties – only two reported dead. If Erna Raban did not report to him soon, Levi would call it as 3 dead.

Just as he was starting to feel conflicted about his feelings - sadness at any loss of human life but also relief that he wouldn't need to train the new recruit if she turned out to be dead – he saw a lone horse and rider galloping towards the drawbridge. They slowed to a trot once inside the wall and Levi could make her out more clearly. She was dirty, sweaty, and bloody, breathing hard. Though her face was partially hidden under the hood of her green cloak, he could make out her hair color – dark black, making her skin look paler than what was normal for most Survey Corps soldiers since they spend a large portion of their lives outside. Without even slowing her horse to a halt, she dismounted in front of him and saluted mechanically with her fist over her heart. "Erna Raban, reporting for duty." Her eyes were grey and though exhausted, they were emotionless.

Levi circled her, looking her up and down. She was only slightly shorter than him and lean, all around smaller than he expected based on what Erwin had told him. He stopped in front of her, staring at her and still saying nothing. He was annoyed. Half of him was pleased that one more soldier survived a mission outside and half of him felt his life would be easier if she had disappeared. Her rigid, emotionless expression did nothing to make him feel less annoyed. She should look remorseful or at least slightly anxious. He wanted to unnerve her, so he stared at her in silence for what seemed like an eternity.

Erna's body was weak and it was physically difficult to continue standing at attention, but mentally she felt nothing but relief. The moment she got the message that she was being removed from her team and folded into Captain Levi's squad, she felt the shock of being untethered, without clear purpose, "free." She hated it. She rode as fast as she could back to headquarters to again be under someone's command and to carry out orders.

Erna Raban, unlike other trainees, had flourished under the harsh atmosphere of the military's training camp. She executed any order with the quickness and efficiency of an automaton, working herself to exhaustion, never complaining, never seeming to have a rebellious bone in her body or a contrary thought in her head. Erna was happiest in the military system. Before joining the military, she had felt utterly lost, without any sense of self preservation. In the military everything was simple: her superior officers ordered Erna to kill titans and she did so, they ordered her to save other soldiers from harm and she did so, they ordered her to continue living and she continued to do so. Erna was afraid of nothing except being on her own again with no one to tell her to survive. She feared that without outside encouragement, she would not feel the drive and would give up on surviving. When training was over and it was time for everyone to decide which branch they would join, there was no question or hesitation for Erna. She chose to join the Survey Corps because they were the least idle, they would always have something for her to do. Unlike most people, she hated to have free time. She never wanted "time to think," she wanted only to act and the best way to be constantly acting and executing quickly was to leave the thinking to others.

For the duration of her hard gallop, all the way from her team's position to the point at which she stood now, she let herself think only of finding her new superior officer, the whole time pushing away a feeling of terror at the thought of being free and alone. So now, although her body ached and her muscles were weak and wanting to rebel, she was grateful and relieved to be standing at attention. Even if rain began to pour in buckets around them and titans began tearing at the walls, she would stand at attention, her mind a blank slate, until told to do otherwise.

"You're late," said Levi after almost a minute.

Without hesitation Erna replied, "I apologize, Captain Levi."

Levi waited, again trying to unnerve this new recruit with his silence. Her expression remained the same and she showed no sign of speaking further. He had to ask, "You don't want to tell me your excuse for being late?"

"You don't seem like the type to accept excuses, so no, Sir," she replied with complete honesty.

Inwardly, the response enraged Levi, but outwardly he wouldn't show it. She was right, he didn't accept excuses, but he had wanted her to make one so that he could tell her that excuses were unacceptable and discipline her, shame her, do something to make her change her expression. In a way her decision to not try to make an excuse took some of his power away. He could not have been more annoyed.

Levi looked down at Erna coldly, "Start running... Laps... Now."

Erna made no response but to nod and began to remove the pack from her shoulders.

"Keep your pack on and your gear. Go!" Levi could no longer hide his anger. It didn't startle Erna, she didn't flinch, she just took off running. A soldier from the special Veterinary Corps came and took her horse away to one of the stables to be cared for. Levi stood still where he was, fists clenched.

Krista, Armin, and Jean watched out one of the castle windows.

"I heard we're adding a squad member. That must be her. Erna Raban." Armin said quietly.

Krista's brow furrowed, "She looks so young, poor girl."

Armin replied thoughtfully, "The intelligence I have says she's 19… And she has more titan kills and kill assists than most of us combined…"

Krista only continued to look worried, watching the dirty, exhausted girl run laps around the castle in the dark. Jean's jaw dropped briefly, but he caught himself and tried to appear and sound disinterested, "Ah well, it won't matter if Levi kills her. I've never seen him actually stick around to watch a recruit run laps. She must have really pissed him off."

Erna was on her second lap. Each circuit around the castle was about 2 to 4 miles depending on how close one stuck to the walls. Everything hurt and it was hard to breathe, but she was good at ignoring signals her body sent to her. She let herself hear and think of nothing but her blood rushing, except each time she ran past Levi she listened in case he should tell her to stop. He wouldn't. Despite her best effort her pace got slower and slower, but she did continue on at what could technically be called a run. Finally, at the end of her fourth lap Levi barked at her to stop, only because it had begun to rain and he didn't want to be out in it. She stopped without turning to face him, her head rolled backwards, eyes looking to the sky her mouth opened for a moment and caught some rain. Her arms hung uselessly and she seemed suspended. As Levi began to walk over to her, she fell forward flat on her face, completely unconscious. Levi put his foot in her ribs and shoved her over onto her back. Her face was now even dirtier than when she arrived and now there was grass in her hair. He waited two seconds. "Get up. I'm not carrying you, you're filthy," he nudged her with his boot again.

Erna's eyes opened, for a moment she looked disoriented, even confused, then her eyes affixed on Levi, looking at him questioningly.

"Get up."

She rolled over and onto her knees, hands still in the dirt, everything aching, even her tongue. She paused there because while she did very much want to, she knew that she could not get up. She knew her body had limits.

"Come on, I'm not carrying you," Levi said as he knelt down to take her left arm and drape it over his shoulders. He pulled her up to a standing position and put his right arm around her waist, "I'll help you if you make the effort to walk."

Erna put one foot in front of the other. Everything was a haze, but that didn't particularly bother her.

Levi continued to admonish her, "First you arrive two hours late, then you make me stand out in the rain, and now you're getting me dirty." They passed into the castle, made some turns down some corridors. He stopped in front of a wooden door like all the others and while still supporting her pushed it open with his foot, "This is your room." It was small, just big enough for the bed, dresser, and washbasin. He helped her over to the bed and let her fall onto it. "Be in my office at 7am sharp. Don't keep me waiting and don't come without cleaning yourself up first," Levi said this as he left, not bothering to look back or make sure she comprehended, he closed the door behind him.

Erna felt the bliss of being utterly exhausted and lying in bed. She fell asleep without taking off her cloak or gear. She didn't even move to pull the blanket over herself.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,..,

(A/N)

The OC's first name, "Erna" was supposed to be a placeholder for "another archaic German name that I will insert later," but by the time I got around to thinking about picking a good name I had grown too attached to "Erna." It has the basic qualities that I wanted for her name - not too many syllables and not too pretty or girly. When I hear it in my head, it's with the Dutch pronunciation, "Air-Nah." Her surname, "Raban," is an old high german name meaning "Raven."

This is my very first fanfic ever. In fact, this is the very first fiction thing I have ever written, so please be merciful with the comments!