I know the secret we share, look what this feeling has done to me. There's something deep in the air, just hope your hands lift me comfortably.

Levi's movements disturbed her, and Zoe shifted, sheets falling from her slight frame, squinting at the morning light, his shirt over her hands as she raised it to her eyes, rubbing away sleep. The mess hall was down the hall from this room, and she knew Auruo had a handle on that, being that he'd woken her up an hour before with his movements. She watched Levi move about, making no move to follow before he turned back, leaning in for a kiss.

Zoe stood, walking to the door after grabbing her records book, stopped by him as he said, "What are you doing?"

"Going for breakfast."

"Not in that you aren't," Levi wasn't close enough to stop her, and she trotted out.

Erd looked up as she walked in, hardly in full gear himself, Auruo without much better on. The man whistled, grinning widely over his shoulder, winking at her as she brought her bowl close. Levi cleared his throat, looking at him without any amount of emotion, glancing to Zoe's bare legs, turning slightly to watch as she passed. He sat beside her, finger tracing along the grooves of the table, musing quietly.

She nudged him, placing her leg near his, shifting closer. He raised his eyes to hers, relaxing just slightly, eating a bit faster than she did. Levi reached for her bread, and she slapped his hand away, felt it land at her leg, curving over to rest on her inner thigh, jolting her a bit closer to him. Zoe was manhandled, Levi's arm across her stomach, held back against him, and he stole her bread properly, holding it away from her as she tried to grab for it.

"Levi, give me it back," she said, huffing at him.

"No," he said, eyes dropping pointedly to her bare legs, just as Petra walked in, Gunther following presently, actually wearing full gear, possibly out for a morning patrol.

Zoe glared at Levi, knowing she could get it from him if she honestly wanted, but she decided to let him eat. Petra started when Zoe looked up, giving her a hesitant wave as her eyes flicked over the woman, wondering why she'd never heard of her, deciding that she'd had more assists than actual kills. That's what was valued highly in the military police: straight forward kills. There wasn't much team work up there, a bare amount of partners even, because most of them didn't work well with others. As well as the fact that they'd all been in the top 10 of their classes, and while the position was valued, it didn't give anyone much incentive to work outside of their superior stations.

"So, I suppose the Captain is kinky," Auruo said, raising his eyebrows with his spoon, slurping his soup rather noisily to attract both her and Levi's attention.

"What?" she asked.

"From what I heard last night."

Levi made a low noise in his throat, raising his eyes to his subordinate. She was quite happy she'd never received that glare in person, watching Auruo shrink back, eyes drifting away from Levi's. Suitably happy with breaking off the conversation, Levi went back to his food, glancing to her once or twice when she flipped a page, as if to make sure that she was still there.

"What are we doing today?" she asked, closing her book.

"I was thinking some type of close combat training, at some point. Maybe 3D gear movement; the brat probably thinks he's some big shot now."

She hummed, amused with how irritated Levi got at just the thought of Eren having a swelled head. "A big shot like you."

"I'm not a big deal, Zoe."

"Captain, yes you are," Auruo said, banging his fist down, showing a bit too much zeal.

Zoe shrugged, looking down to her tea as she murmured, "Nathan thinks he can beat you."

"tch. That redhead is full of himself."

"He's quite good."

"Zoe, I am humanity's greatest solider, if you'll remember the advertisements the Military loves to slap up. A poster with a shit drawing of me. With a smile, too, it's very offensive."

"See, you are pretty cocky."

Levi sighed, eyebrow raising as he asked, "What point are you trying to make?"

"I don't know, I kind of lost it," she said, happy that there was a spark of amusement in his eyes.

Gunther was passing by the windows, carrying his bowl back for seconds, when he suddenly halted. Levi instantly stood, and Zoe followed after him, crossing her arms over her chest to lean around them, identifying the horse and rider as a common messenger from the Garrison Troops. Zoe saw Levi make the same connection as she did, and with the attention on him, he pointed back to the location of their rooms.

"Gear up, all of you. Down in 10, at most."

There were quick nods, Auruo pouring the rest of his soup down his throat, getting a strange look from Erd. Zoe was jogging slightly, blowing into their room, jerking his shirt from her body as he closed the door. She tugged her pants on, buckiling them over her shirt, jacket over her arms next, making sure her bandages were set properly before stepping into her boots, walking back to the area where they'd left their gear.

Gunther had already brought horses out, and Zoe walked to hers as she strapped her gear on properly, checking the amount in her tank, the number of blades. She swung up on horseback as Hanji and Eren ran out of the room they'd been in all night. Levi ground his teeth together, watching Hanji, fumbling with her attempts to get back on her horse. Eren was on horseback, gear at his sides now.

Levi nodded, making sure everyone was there before jolting his horse forward into a canter. The Messenger's horse was obviously tired, but the man coaxed the mare forward, right behind Levi's formation. Zoe didn't stop when Levi did, swinging her horse sharply around as she searched for the man who was essentially the third in command now, with Nule's reclaim of Commander, finding him near the green enclosure, glancing to the steam, putting two together easily. Garrison troops dodged as she cantered out of the fountain space, under the slight tunnel space to a yard, encompassed on 3 sides by a building.

He saluted, reintroduced himself, "Lieutenant Commander Roth; Sergeant Thomas-"

"Tell me what's going on," she snapped, remaining on horseback, swinging her horse around, making an annoyed noise as the horse pranced in place.

"Someone;" the man searched for words until she cleared her throat, "The two Titans Hanji was holding there, someone came in the middle of the night, or around that time, and killed them. The damn Garrison Troops didn't realize it, and there were at least 20 on guard; they can't do anything right, those second rate loafers."

"And none of you?" she raised her eyebrows, her horse shaking under her, its hoof stamping at the ground, head dipping once. "None of you thought it was important enough? You hurl insults so quickly."

"They're Titans, Lieutenant Commander," Thomas said, resisting an eyeroll.

She sighed, collected her reins before she dismounted, seeing Jay out of the corner of her eyes, making a beeline for her. Since Nathan and Jay were usually paired up, it was odd to see him alone, never mind him looking pissed off instead of blandly amused. He shoved Garrison troops out of his way, gun on his back, the strap messing up his otherwise crisp attire.

"Lieutenant Commander," Jay started, giving Thomas a once over that made the man rethink his proximity to the both of them. "We have two ideas as to how this was carried out; 3D gear was taken from the weapons store in this district, and the night guards, both Military Police, are being questioned, along with the night shift workers, like the repairmen, and exchange clerks. Second idea, we think that it was a more personal device, and are setting up to push through inspection at high speed. Including the new Cadets."

Zoe nodded, closing her eyes for a beat as she thought over the situation, "This was done with intent other than revenge, and I'd like the problem regarded as such, so make the inspection good, nothing but through checking. Check our 3D movement devices, whether they were already in lock up or otherwise, and don't allow anyone to pull rank to get out of inspection, yes? And then switch those locks on the weapons store here, and further into Sina. Distribute those keys to only Captains and above. I'd like a list sent to me of who holds them presently. And asses the value of the workers of each Weapon's store, see if they should stay, or can be replaced, as it may be come necessary to do so."

She handed off her reins to Thomas, and walked towards the fountain, a good ways away from the chaos. Jay's strides were so much longer than hers, she was forced somewhat into a jog/walk, eventually reaching for his shoulder to keep him at her side, hoping he'd calm down. Zoe didn't ask him what was wrong, just stood in front of him as he sat on the stone rim of the fountain, turned to gaze at the water.

"I don't like doing a bad job," Jay grumbled, shaking his head as he briefly dipped his hand into the rippiling water. "And letting that shit through, however it happened, makes me feel like I did."

"You think I don't feel guilty? I shouldn't have left; I should've set up the watch on the Titans. It might not have happened, but it's out of our hands."

"You're really staying with the squad?"

"Yea."

"Because of Levi, right?"

"How do you-"

"I'm not stupid. I see how he looks at you, and how you try not to look at him. How when the regiment comes back, it's easy enough to find him near you. I think it's nice to have that."

"Should I stay, Jay?"

"I'm not supposed to give you orders, Commander."

"Lieutenant."

"Not second rank to me," he said, wiping his wet hand on his knee before he stood to his full height. "I think you should do what makes you happy, and stay there. Not all of us have that option," that bland amusement was back, and any actual animation was no longer present.

"Right. Thanks."

"What about the Cadet ceremony, Commander Roth?"

"Please. As if they expect to see me there instead of Nile. Erwin is there to give his piece and nothing else, you know our assured amount."

"Yes, you're right."

"I expect you have this, then?"

"Of course," he looked almost offended. "I'll treat it with an amount of gravity expected."

She gave him a curt nod. "I expect nothing less."

Zoe walked slow, looking down at the slip of names in her hand, glancing up at the sight of cadets, watching Ness shout at them. His horse eventually went for his hair, per usual, and none of them did anything to help. She'd already been briefed repeatedly on the formations, so thankfully, she didn't have to be in class with the Cadets, which would've been something of an embarrassment.

Levi had made sure that she knew every single thing that he valued vitale the day before, even if she couldn't really see the pages if he was fucking her that hard. And quite frankly, she wasn't allowed to look at it the third time over, just spoke it as well as she could, even if she couldn't form sentences well, grasping as his sweat slicked body. He'd snapped open the window as soon as had been possible, even though Zoe had been fairly sure his troops had heard them, because she wasn't at all good at the quiet portion.

But there had been a surprising amount of cuddling. Which was all fine and good, but Levi had a thousand more duties to perform, and he was up and down often, coming into bed late at night, and jostling her awake. He pressed his head to her back tonight, and she woke, turning slightly, catching sight of his face before rubbing along the arm slung over her stomach.

"Everything okay?"

"Fine. If all…" he breathed out shortly. "Fine. Should be fine."

A tense silence stretched between the two of them, and she turned all the way, shifting close. Her orders kept him away from her, placed next to Erwin, their position allowing them to shoot into the forest, to the layout there. Zoe wasn't going to say anything, and Levi knew what her orders were in that respect, as the both of them were in on what had been planned, what this 'tryout run' was actually for, rather than practice. Nothing could be said, because none of them knew who was listening.

"Don't die on me," he whispered, thumb smoothing over her lips. His eyes flickered over her face as if to memorize it in the dim light, and her heart gave a jump.

"Same to you."

"Zoe, I mean it." His jaw clenched, an unexpected surge of emotion. He tipped his forehead to hers, hand fumbling for hers.

"Isabel, and Farlan," she finally said. "What happened?"

"I fucked up, that's what happened." Levi's hand left hers. "Pride, all that shit, and it was my fault."

"Levi-."

"Don't try to coddle me, Zoe. It's my burden, and I can carry it."

She nodded, and he took her hand once again.

She'd watched the recruits put on their capes in the yard, catching sight of them again, though her presence wasn't noticed, and she didn't aim for that. Mostly, her existence was hailed by the Special Tactical force, and the few Scout Regiment troops who'd seen her return from a early morning walk. She understood, suddenly, why the people here deserved to be hailed as heroes, what the wings brought, even if they weren't apart of the 10.

Zoe had leaned against the window, watched the capes get caught in the light, crossing her arms over her chest. She nodded briefly, regret slamming through her, mind flicking through all the times her squad, or just the people she'd hung out with had mocked them, diluting the bravery presented here. The times they'd mocked the children's fascination with them, highlighting all the failures, the casualty risk, and she'd stood by. While Levi carried a burden no one else could, wouldn't let a single person help him.

In her mind, she saluted them, all of them she could remember, the ones in her class who hadn't made it, at least they'd known something other than life behind a wall.

But it's really out of my control, the way you feel is not my problem. I don't wanna see you go, but I don't have time to solve this. And you don't have the right, after all you put me through

Zoe frowned down at Eren, happy to an extent as she was finally taller than him, even with his station in the bottom of the well. She looked back to Levi, remembering his drawing on the board.

"Are you ready to do this, Eren?" Hanji called, and Zoe shifted, kicking one leg up briefly, movement inspired by a sudden itch in the crook of her knee. "When we're done with the preparations, we'll fire a signal flare. After that, it's up to you."

Eren shouted back a garbled response.

"This dry well will contain him even in titan form when he loses self-control," Hanji murmured. "Or should."

She pranced back, doing a tiny little circle, to which Levi responded by gazing at her for a solid second before he looked away, resisting a sigh. Zoe swung up on horse back, guiding her horse away. Hanji fired a flare, and Zoe leaned slightly on her horse, waiting for it. Nothing happened and she yawned, glaring at Levi for an instant, tired due to the veritable marathon sex they'd participated in last night. His squad had taken till the afternoon to find the courage to ask them to keep it down, the request put forward by Petra and Gunther.

Auruo had rolled his eyes, and she was fairly sure he'd given her a thumbs up, Erd along side him, lips squeezed tight to hide a smile. Levi had whipped around at that moment and the two had jolted back, Auruo's feed bucket trailing a bit of oats on the ground. Levi's horse had proceeded to snuffle by him, sticking out it's neck to get all of the food it could before inching back to his side. Apparently, everyone was a bit off then.

"Maybe he didn't see the signal?" Hanji mused.

"No," Levi said, the slash of his lips dipping. "There are no guarantees to what we're doing." He nudged his horse forward. "Hey, Eren! We're canceling the test!" he barked, walking to the edge as Hanji did, Zoe remaining on horse back, just in case.

"Is something wrong?" Hanji asked, jolting back slightly, and Zoe swung off her horse, stepping forward to lean over with them.

Her eyebrows lifted, the scene before her a bit, well, the kid, or brat, as Levi had taken to referring to him, had his own blood all over him. Zoe's mouth twisted down into a slash, the look echoing her fellows at the top of the well.

"Hanji," Eren's voice quavered. "I couldn't turn into a Titan."

A time after, with all of Levi's squad clustered around a table, Eren still sat, looking almost ashen. Zoe sat quietly, calculating the amount of shit she was going to have to go through if his abilities had shorted out. She let her knee begin to bounce, nervous adrenaline shooting through her, and she recalled the numerous panic attacks throughout the year, and her breath grew even shorter.

She'd backed the little fucker, and now he wasn't transforming? Levi turned away from all of them, with a very threatening sentence, Petra walking up to him, while Zoe rested, turned away from Eren, before standing up, and walking a ways away, breathing faster, unable to refill her lungs, it seemed, and she fixed on a point, cursing softly, knowing what the start of a panic attack felt like all too well.

She stabbed her boot into the Earth, muttering to herself, knowing it wouldn't do to fall apart here, after one year free of panic attacks. Zoe took a deep breath, turning slightly, just as a explosion created a large amount of steam, jolting her back, her hands raising to protect her eyes from the steam, assessing the situation, stepping in close, noticing the extreme lack of a titan body, even with the mist as it was.

Zoe clicked her tongue, resting a hand on her hip, finding herself between Auruo and Erd, the only one without swords out, besides Levi. She wasn't entirely scared of Eren, fairly sure she could disable him, at least, to a certain degree, and with Levi here? If he saw a threat, he wouldn't be stepping in front of it, nor holding up a hand. And quite frankly, Levi probably would've incapacitated him already.

"Calm down," he coaxed, and she eased herself out of the ring of people, stepping away from the blades. "All of you."

Hanji was bearing down towards him, and Zoe took an extra step back, grasping her elbow, smiling. Actually, more of a smirk, and she raised her eyebrows, her look a bit happier than Levi's at the moment. His troops continued to remain hostile, obviously annoying Levi as they continued to threaten Eren, and Levi's previous look vanished.

Petra shouted at him to move away, but Levi scowled a bit more, saying, "No, you guys are the ones who need to back off."

"Why is that?" Petra exclaimed.

"My hunch," Levi said, reply instant.

"How about it, Eren?! Say something!" Erd shouted.

"Don't try anything!" Auruo barreled over Eren's attempt to speak.

"Prove it now!" Gunther cried.

They continued to volley words at him, hurrying his response, threatening him over and over, reminding them that they could kill them. She raised her eyebrows, looking to Levi, expecting him to have a better handle on his people. Zoe didn't stand for this kind of panic, not that her men could really be whipped into something like this unless it came to something directly affecting wall Sina. In fact, she'd managed to cut down on the speaking she needed to communicate orders, due to the fact that she sincerely wasn't big on words.

"Wait, please stop talking!" He shouted, stopping their barrage.

Hanji made her way closer at that moment, barreling by Gunther, shoving the man out of the way, screaming his name. Zoe had managed to step to the side, having kept tabs on her just as she'd made it out of the forest.

"Can I touch that arm?" Hanji wailed, almost drooling. No, no, that was drool. "Come on, it's okay, right?"

Eren tried to say something, but she was already moving, gazing at the arm lovingly before she pressed her hand to it's skin. Her hands sizzled, smoke openly wafting from the location, and she ignored the pain for another instant, before springing away, shouting about it's temperature. Hanji jumped into the air, sliding away on her knees, flinging them up to the sky.

Her helper was right next to her, trying to tell her about something risky, but if there was anything Hanji wasn't going to do, it was take precautions when it came to experiments. She cackled over his words, and Zoe looked away, sucking in a deep breath, eyes flickering over the malformed body. Eren was still trapped there as Hanji popped back up, shouting questions at him.

Eren began to make attempts to pull his hand away, and Auruo shouted caution, but the boy was already making headway, falling back. Hanji grabbed her hair, freaking out over his departure from the body, and Zoe looked to Levi, watching him walk to Eren's side, vividly recalling their conversation about children. No. But still. They'd be awfully short.

"How do you feel?" Levi asked.

"Not too good."

His people put their swords back in place, and stooped to help him. Levi walked away, and she waved him close, his boots coming to rest toe to toe with hers.

"Your hunch?" she murmured.

"Can't you piece it together?"

"Levi," she crossed her arms over her chest, "don't be an asshole."

"Think for a second, Zoe, come on."

She gazed past his shoulder, eyes flicking to the spoon, then to the well, letting her eyes rest there as she considered the Trost District mission. For a moment, she blanked, then put it together as she recalled the part of the Trost report; Eren had been presumed dead, swallowed by a Titan, arm the only thing left. He wasn't dead, so maybe... Everytime he'd transformed, there'd been something he was trying desperately to do, like the power wasn't for show, but for survival, and he had a drive that she'd never seen, one that allowed him to pull himself from the belly of a Titan.

"Yes. I've got it, I think."

"Tell me."

"Everytime he does it, he's trying to do something. But the self-mutilation point holds. I think...it's for survival, or something along those lines, but still; he's doing something when he attempts it."

"Well done." Levi nodded, eyes flickering over her face, a look in his eyes she'd seen many times, mainly right before he had his hands on her. "How many times do you want to cum tonight?"

"Sex? Now? You are such a male."

"Tell me."

She sucked her teeth briefly. "5. But we both know you can't hold out that long, Levi."

"I'm going to eat you out," he raised an eyebrow. "then I'm going to fuck you into a sixth one, are we agreed?"

"Oh. Oh, okay," she said, blinking as he turned away, calling after him, "I could go for seven, if you're feeling particularly giving."

"We'll see. If you're quiet."

"I thought it was a reward, what do you mean, quiet?"

His eyebrow jumped briefly as he looked over his shoulder. Zoe shrugged, smiling to herself, hanging back with him as the team collected themselves, his hands drifting low as he caught her alone, blocked behind the small building in the huge field, giving her ass a playful swat(as playful as Levi could be) before swinging up on his horse. She brought herself up into her saddle as well, coming around the other side of the building, the squad getting into formation.

Zoe busied herself for a long while back at base, writing her report, catching one of the leaving Garrison messengers, smacking the rolled up paper in his hand. Her words were cold and clipped, much like Levi's, though she tried to find a balance, but not when she was speaking to a man so far beneath her level. Maybe she did have a large ego at the moment, but it was deserved, wasn't it? Her class had been extremely elite, and as some of the people muttered, the last one that really was fit, due to their ventures outside the wall, and availability of equipment, something that was sorely lacking by next round of cadets.

She asked him to repeat it back, and he did, stumbling over a few words, but he got it right. "If the seal is in anyway stretched or broken, I will find you, and you'd prefer a way out by Titan, yes?"

He blanched, swallowed thickly, but nodded. Zoe stepped back, swatting the horse's rump, and sending it forward, stepping back off the stool. At least when she used that tone, they forgot her gender and stature.

She was pulled away from her exodus back to her room by Hanji's man, requesting her presence. Zoe came in just as the woman set down a spoon which was a lovely detail she had observed, nodding along as Hanji spoke.

"Any thoughts?" she finished, calm now.

"As I remember, I was about to pick that up," Eren said, "and right after that, the Titan changes began."

"I see," Hanji murmured. "That might be the reason you weren't able to turn into a Titan this time." Eren's eyes widened as she continued, "Killing Titans, stopping cannon fire, lifting the boulder. In each case, you had a specific purpose before you turned into a titan. It's likely that inflicting self-injury is not the only trigger. You might not be able to do it without having a specific purpose."

Eren thought quietly at the end of the table, holding out his hand, fingers twitching. Zoe watched him, turned slightly, arms over her chest.

"What she's saying," Gunther began, brow creasing, "you didn't break the rules intentionally, did you?"

"No," Eren confirmed.

Everyone nodded, the movement of biting their hands traveling along the people who'd shouted at him hours ago. Levi looked on quietly, not mimicking this movement, standing still as Zoe was, watching them bite their hands. It was a moment of respect, an action that she'd never seen. There wasn't this kind of teamwork in the military regiment, she'd say that as much. Grumbles of pain flickered around next.

"Eren, how the hell can you bite it off?" Erd asked, and she allowed a smile, eyes shifting to Eren.

He met her eyes for the moment, and she gave him a short nod. Although she didn't mimic the movement everyone else had, she had a well of respect for the kid pooling in her chest.

"We misjudged you," Gunther added, looking at Eren, bitten hand down from his mouth, "this is our small way of apologizing. For what it's worth."

"What?" Eren asked.

"Our job is to restrain you," Auruo said, "there's nothing wrong about that part! Don't let this go to your head, brat!"

"We're sorry, Eren," Petra's voice was a bit softer than Auruo's, "we were frightened." She looked away. "We were jerks. You must've been disappointed. Still, despite all that," she was looking at him again as she spoke. "we'll be depending on you, and we want you to count on us too. So please, believe in us."

Eren glanced around, took a breath and nodded, hands clenching once at his side. "Okay."

Levi gave a nod, and Zoe moved, sitting on the bench next to Petra. She locked eyes with the boy, murmuring, "And although I'm not entirely invested in you," she took a breath, "it seems we've figured out something. So, I'll put an ounce of trust in you, being that your presence here weighs on my own. Though, it's honestly better than what my regiment wants. You can clean properly now, so if this fizzles, at least you have a future there."

The table chortled, the high strung mood falling, and Auruo tried to poke fun at that, but Levi cut across him, "It wasn't as if your work was any better."

Erd's laugh was contained, hand over his mouth before he gave up, laughing hard. Auruo opened his mouth, blustering through his embarrasement loudly, but Petra needled him as well, until the man's face turned red. Hanji sat, Gunther disappearing for a moment, and coming back with tea.

They made a night of it, and Levi actually seemed to be in a better mood, sitting with his legs spread around her body, dropping comments here and there. Eren's nervousness diminished, and she spoke to them, knowing her lack of speech would be pointed out, especially by Auruo. His comment was backed by her relationship with Levi, telling him how they fit each other in that respect.

Levi's frown wasn't on his face for the entire time, listening to them banter, allowing them to try and pry at origins of their relationship. Zoe's heart warmed to the people in front of her, more than she knew was proper, as most people, especially with them being Scout REgiment troops, didn't get close. Levi had finally opened up enough for her, but she knew he cared in an entirely other respect for the troops in front of her.

"Time to go up," he finally said, speaking at a lull.

"Ah, you to go up, and have really loud sex, we can't sleep anyways."

Levi flung the spoon Eren had had towards Auruo, but the man managed to duck. Hanji squawked over his action, but they were already moving away, Levi's hand at the small of her back as always. She saw him smile later on, almost too blissed out to pay attention to it, but it was genuine, nothing else but joy behind it, as he flopped down next to her too warm for covers.

"I should've chosen the Scout REgiment," she managed, and his smile twisted to a smirk.

"The world's going to shit, Zoe, you should've made that choice earlier."

she shrugged.

Since you been gone, I been having withdrawals, you were such a habit to call. I ain't myself at all had to tell myself nah; she's better with some fella with a regular job. I didn't wanna get her involved