Hi all! This is my first chaptered fanfic I've ever written. I've wrote only few one shots in the past, meaning I am in no way an experienced writer. I was always more of a reader but this story and ship had been stuck in my head for so long, I felt the need to get it down on paper! Please go easy on me.

With all things aside, this is a Levi/Petra fanfic, set in the far future but I wouldn't say it's an AU, more like an alternative timeline as memories would be mentioned and events might connect to the past. The place setting is similar to Psycho Pass (if anyone have watched that), since I guess part of my inspiration came from there. I won't spoil too much for you but characters will have the same working relations to add to the immersion. I hope you like it!

Chapter 1

She cuts through the air in a swift movement, making turns in precision while her eyes roamed around the woody terrain. She clasps on her blade handle even tighter when the corner of her eye caught an extensive figure beneath the tall trees. A 10 meter class on her left, she mentally takes note. It didn't seem to have noticed her yet. Promptly surveying around the perimeters to find no other foes, she considered her limited options; Wait for her team and reinforcements or take on the giant alone. Though, she wasn't entirely convinced that any of her squad members were even nearby. Looking back at the beast, it seemingly was still unaware of her presence…Perhaps she can detour around to it's back to make a clean kill, she decided.

Landing herself strategically on a nearby tree, she readied her sword and takes a steadfast breath. A second after, she vaults down and propels towards the giant in rapid speed, with the grapple hook of her maneuvers clasped to the far opposite timber. She arched her arms back before swinging the blades in full force at the beast's back neck and struck. It let out a vicious cry, but rejected to fall to his knees before it gandered at it's attacker. No! Her cut was too shallow.

The giant turned around, taking no time to plunge itself to her, it's fingers grabbed at air when she hastily maneuvered away. But within a blink of an eye, it's opposite hand lunged to seize her small frame in success. It's clutch tightened almost instantly on the girl's body as she can feel a cartilage in her one of her arms break. Yelping in pain, she gritted her teeth to leer at the giant's smiling face in antipathy. The moment the giant loosened it's tight grip ever so slightly, she swung her blade mercilessly at it's fingers, drawing blood on the monster. It dropped her to the ground in an instant, letting her fall at a considerable height before she can even use her maneuvers. Pain bestowed upon her when she hit ground, but the giant again lunges itself at her again while she was still lying on her back.

To her surprise, it didn't grab at her. The giant slowly fell to it's knees, with it's eyes rolling back before crashing down completely to the dirt floor, only centimeters alongside of her. Dead. But how- Her eyes snapped to the short male figure in front of her as he swiftly dropped down from his iron wire, striding towards her with a clearly exasperated face.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing." He spoke in a harsh tone before stopping in front of his subordinate.

Jerking at his words a bit, she hurriedly stood up to her feet, ignoring the sharp ache over her body. "C-Captain! I-I was careless on my judgment and thought I could take on the giant by myself… I'll make sure that'll never happe-"

"Stop being so fucking reckless, soldier." His eyes looking irritated now.

"Yes, sir!"

"Where's the rest of the team?"

"I think they've scouted ahead, sir. We wanted to be thoroughly familiar with the territory by the next expedition but we decided to go separate ways."

Their exchange in words seemingly ended quickly as he glanced at the hazel haired girl who now had a resolute display on her face, her left hand clutching tightly to her other arm. Without warning, he grabbed at her wrist and pulled her.

"O-ow, ow!"

The man paid no attention to her cry, with his eyes shifted to her arm, gently pushing up the sleeve of her jacket. As she has guessed, a sizable bruise has already formed on the limb where she has broken it.

"Tch." He clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. His thumb lightly brushed over the wound a few times, eyebrows marginally scrunched together before he shifted his gaze to her face. With his one hand still gripping at her wrist, his other made it's way to her cheek.

"When did you get this cut?" He murmured.

"H-huh?" There was a cut on her face? "Oh! I must have gotten it scratched while fighting…" He have caught her completely off-guard, a bit taken back from the sudden physical contact and change of tone in speech.

"Hm." His eyes focused on the girl, searching into her eyes for long seconds until his lips curved into almost non-existent smirk. "Why are you so nervous?" He asked, interested. Though, the question didn't exactly seem to be directed at her as he lets his arms fall promptly. He gave her no time to answer, immediately dropping an order, voice now authorizing in command.

"Get back to base camp right now and get that fixed, fighting in this condition's only going to get you killed… And don't make any detours, got it?"

"..Ah, yes sir!"

He turned around without a second look and propelled into the air.

*Buzz buzz, buzz buzz*

The gadget rang relentlessly, offering the girl no mercy in the pitch dark room. Petra ran her hands above the bed's head storage, face still buried deep into her pillowcase. She soon found the resounding culprit in question as she trailed her fingers along it's narrow metallic cylinder surface, pressing down on a button. A translucent screen projected up from the small device.

3:42 A.M.

Urgh. Petra groaned, sluggishly swiping a finger at the floating projection.

1 Voice Message from Captain Levi

She pressed play, the voice of the man resonated louder than she have expected, pitching in jurisdiction as usual.

"Get your asses to the meeting room within 20 minutes."

Short and straight to the point as usual as always eh? …What kind of dream was I having anyways? It was strangely vivid… The projection switches itself off, leaving her quarters back to it's darkened state. With a sigh, Petra swiftly pulls herself out of bed and walked across the unlit room to the restroom, pushing away any irrelevant thoughts. I definitely need a very quick shower, she contemplated as her body still felt fatigued and disheveled from last night's raid, she began undressing her t-shirt and shorts.

28th Floor, Government Military Survey and Investigation's Office

3:56 A.M.

Pouring caffeine to the last demitasse on the ivory tray, Petra stifled a yawn. She was surprised even herself as to how fast she managed to get ready; with her short hair already blown dry, orderly dressed, and now, coffee ready for the team. She inspected her clothing one last time. Her close-fitting white blouse was neatly tucked into the waist of her snug black office pants with 3 inch high heels accompanying in the same color. A tight black suit blazer partially buttoned up with it's sleeves slightly rolled up exposing her forearm. The usual. Everything looked in place.

Petra picked up the tray of beverages and departed the office kitchen. The brief walk to the meeting room was dim and deserted as it was already well past midnight, but rows of the still lit-up screens of the computer monitors proved to serve as more than enough lighting for Petra. The glass cubicle room situated by the walls of the open office also illuminated bright fluorescent light.

Still within meters to the room, she can already spot her commander alone through the complete open glass, seemingly focused on the paper in front of him, sitting crossed legged at the head of the long table with one arm relaxed on the chair's backrest. He wore a black thin tie with the usual well-coordinated dark grey suit vest on top of his dress shirt, which hugged his upper frame and outline perfectly. As if he almost knew it's something that sets the girls in the Survey and Investigation regiment into a slight frenzy. Though on the other hand, Oluo, the only subordinate in the survey commission who's sporting the similar choice of outfit and hairstyle as the captain, never seemed to captivate the same desired effect. That being said, despite his low stature, their captain Levi is definitely popular with the ladies; how some of them would sneak glances at him when he took off his tie, merely to loosen a few buttons on his shirt. Or when they come back full of sweat from a raid, how he would carelessly tear his suit jacket, vest, and tie off, leaving only his soaked dress shirt on for a brief period before departing to his quarters for a shower while the females blatantly ogles after him.

Petra grinned, shaking her head when she recalled the sight. Well, girls will be girls. She thought. He definitely does have many admirable qualities to look up to. His seriousness, boldness, skills, compassion for comrades, all added up to be the qualities of someone Petra aspires to become. She felt more than honored to work under him. She, herself has the utmost respect and affection for the captain, though not necessarily in a romantic sense. No, she wouldn't dare.

"Morning, Captain." She greeted him with a smile as she passed through the opened door.

"Mm." He grunted faintly in acknowledgement, eyes never leaving the documents.

Eyebrows rising, Petra half expected at least one of the male individuals in her team would've arrived sooner than she. Seeing that is not the case, she placed her tray of coffee on the transparent glass table, setting down a cup for the team one by one, before seating herself in her usual spot on the right wing of the table next to Levi.

"Is it another mutant assault?" Petra inquired, unbuttoning her suit jacket and taking it off.

His eyes flicked to her momentarily from his papers. "..Yeah, something like that. We'll discuss it when everyone gets here." He concluded.

"Got it, captain." She nodded while placing her coat on top of the chair.

Levi stood up in an abrupt matter, smoothly passing by Petra to the file cabinet located behind her. He lazily flipped through the archive, professedly to be looking for a folder.

Petra turned her attention to the files in front of her, scanning through it's contents, pen in hand and began scribbling down annotations.

"Say, Petra."

"… Hm? What is it?" She turned her head to answer, startled to find the man no longer by the filing cabinets but already standing alongside to her cantilever chair, folder in hand. He casually leaned against the tableside on his rear, adjacent to her seat. His body was angled to face her, or more so; was towering over her.

"Did you shower this morning?" The captain's eyes ostensibly to be focused on her hair now.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I did." Petra gave him a polite smile, tucking a lock of hair behind her ears, perplexed by the unexpected inquiry. "Why do you ask, Capta-"

Her sentence was cut short with Levi's fingers lacing through a few strands of her hair, his face still impassive. He twirled at it's locks, examining it as if it was an obscure matter. W-what is the captain doing? Petra can feel her cheeks moderately heat up but he continued. Trailing his fingers down in between the strands leisurely, she felt fingertips lightly scraped against her side neck as he eventually was reaching the bottom of her hair, but held on. Petra swallowed, trying to shift her glance at anywhere else but the captain, still contemplating whether she should question his conduct or not at all. She can feel his eyes on her watching her movements, making no intention to remove his gaze anytime soon. Releasing her strands, he slid his palm to backrest of her chair, as if to corner her. His body was slightly leaned down, studying her face with his usual stoic expression. Petra glimpsed upward at her commander, a bit hesitant. ".. Uh… Is there som-"

"Captain. Petra." A low voice greeted as a blond haired individual made his entrance into the room; Eld Jinn. He eyed the pair with slight interest but seem to have disregarded them after few seconds.

"Ahh." Levi turned his head to his male subordinate, giving a short response. His arms sank down, straightening himself before casually sitting down at the head of the table again. With an arm habitually draped around the rail of his chair, legs crossed in an imposing fashion. The captain looked well composed.

Petra offered Eld a serene smile while nodding in acknowledgement, though it was quite contradictory to how she felt. How can these guys be so goddamn nonchalant about this? She thought, still trying to mentally assess the prior situation while her cheeks refused to simmer down. He most likely felt my hair out of curiosity… The captain's just being his usual indefinable self. Though, he's not exactly one to initiate skin ship like that… Bizarre. Petra shook off her inquisitive thoughts. No, focus on your work, Petra. Focus. She took up her pen again.

Levi peered at his watch. "About damn time. The others even awake yet?" His query directed to Eld at his left.

"No idea. Didn't check up on them before I came." He answered.

The remaining duo collectively rushed to the meeting room barely in time as Levi glowered at their delay. Oluo and Gunther exchanged quick nods with their team before hastily seating, helping themselves to their coffee and reports.

The captain cut straight to the point.

"We've got another mutant attack." He picked up his caffeine by the rim of the tea cup, avoiding it's handles and proceeded to stare squarely at his squad. "They want us briefed before heading to the scene."

"Well I suppose it is too much for the Garrison to handle." Gunther muttered.

"They wouldn't dare to risk letting more guards know, since the military and government is trying to keep this whole case under wraps. Especially when this suddenly became a frequent reoccurring event this past year. " Eld replied in reason.

This was true. While technology speedily advanced during the past century, the state's public enemies mostly only consisted of humans and infrequently awry bionic cyborgs, commonly to be the results of fail researches. Mutilated creatures such as these however, were by far unheard of until this case.

Oluo snickered cockily, shaking his head. "Yeah, can't say I blame 'em. The civilians would go batshit if they knew something like this is happening right under their noses."

"Erwin thinks it's a lab experiment gone astray, I think there's more than that."

Petra turned to Levi, "What makes you say that, captain?"

"My gut feeling." He replied. "There was also a sighting today."

"Of what?"

The captain looked her solemnly. "A titan."

Petra can notice every one of her comrade's eyes widen by a margin in disbelief.

"A titan." Gunther repeated. "That's…That's impossible. Those things were abolished a millennium ago. And they once drove humanity to near extinction… That can't be right… Where's the proof in this?"

"There's none, it was a mere sighting." Levi sipped on his coffee, expression in disinterest. "If we see one, we kill it. We're to wipe out anything that stands in our way and isn't remotely human. Got it?"

The party nodded in union, though no one looked assured.

Levi pressed on his temple briefly, notably irritated. "Good. Then let's talk about the squad positions." The room fell to black with a swift touch on the translucent display on his tablet. A 3d projection of a map illuminated at the center of the long glass table in front of them before they decided to turn their attention back to the task at hand.

Their instructions of infiltration were vague as they knew a constructed plan was nonessential for them to coordinate their assaults. Memorizing the layout of terrain was the more critical task. The meeting was prominently short, lasting about 15 minutes as they were required to promptly head to the scene in question.

"Alright. Then get down there and be ready in 5." Levi commanded in a fatigued tone, pinching the bridge of his nose as he stood up. The light faded back on.

The team responded in action, hurriedly pulling their suit jackets on, and gathered their documents. Petra complied in the same manner as she watched the crew gradually exit the meeting room one by one, ultimately leaving the office empty with only herself and the captain. She took a glance at the Levi, who seemed fixated on organizing the folders in front of him. He seems particularly tired today… Moving to the door now, she hesitated before she spins her heel around, speaking up in concern.

"Captain, when was the last time you slept?"

Levi glimpsed at her from the corner of his eye, continuing to stacking the reports before finally turning to her.

"Petra. Now's not the time to talk." He said, peering at his watch. "Let's get moving."

"Ah yes, sir. I apologize for the postponement, I was just worried." She replied formally.

He gazed at her with an impassive expression but wordlessly places his palm to the top of her head, giving a light stroke.

Petra smiled. "J-Jeez, stop treating me like a kid Captain." She said, playfully patting away his forearm.

He drew his hand off, suddenly focusing at her in seriousness. "That so?" Levi cocked his head down in the slightest degree, keeping his eyes fixed on her, intrigued. An eyebrow rose up by the tiniest bit. Petra knew this look. She's seen it when he shot down a mutant for the first time, or whenever Erwin suggested an appealing proposal in scheme. He was amused. Levi reached for the ends of her auburn locks, mildly toying with it between his index and middle finger like he did earlier.

"Be careful of what you ask for, Petra." He stated, loosening his hold on her strands to walk past her, leaving her in place while he strides through the door.

Be careful of… what? Petra was rooted to the slipped a palm to her cheek. Hot.

Author's note:

Phew! I'm finally done! I feel like the quality of my writing significantly dropped after the 2nd half of the story since I was kind of running out of words to use but didn't want to sound too repetitive.

Btw, I normally need a visual while writing stories, so I could get more immersed while writing. For anyone who is curious or interested in knowing how I imagine Petra's and Levi's clothes were, here's some photos I used while writing: imgur{dot}com/a/yQQ9z I just imagined the rest of the crew wearing normal tight fitting suits in dark colors.

I sort of made the suit vest Levi's thing like how the cravat was his trademark in snk. (Yes I admit I have a thing for them men in suit vests.) But then again we all already know how good he looks in one for those who watched his ova. *Wiggles eyebrows*

Please review review review~ Though I personally wrote this story mostly for my own enjoyment, it makes me happy to know if someone appreciates my writing. Please don't hesitate to comment, constructive criticisms and opinions are very much welcomed!

Btw, anyone willing to be my beta? :D