Disclaimer: In no way does Dwellin own, produce, write, draw, or participate in the creative process or production of Shingeki no Kyogin (or, if you prefer, Attack On Titan) in any way, form, shape, or manner. It is the brainchild of Hajime Isayama.

Chapter 14

Pushing through the kitchen door into the hall that led to the door that opened out into the main barrack's dining hall, Levi Ackerman quickly spotted the ones he had been hoping to find and made for their little group.

Christa, Ymir, Eren, Mikasa, and Arwyn, Airwin, or something like that.

One of the group of five was sitting facing in his direction as he continued toward them with Brainless still protesting from her place over his shoulder.

The tall one, he of the long face, saw them and his immediate reaction was to leap to his feet exclaiming, "Oh hell! What's she done now?!"

The sound of his voice echoed through the empty room and the others instantly turned and rose to see what it was that had their companion acting in such a manner.

So, it was that Eren, the kid with the challenging blue eyes scowled at him, every line in his body tensing as if readying for a confrontation. Then the girl wearing the red scarf with the blackest of black hair, whispered something to him so that he relaxed his stance but not the frown.

That one, the girl who now met his eyes without any show of emotion showing, was, in his opinion, the most dangerous one out of the litter. Standing next to her was boy, Aylwin, Aryen, the blond boy. That left the two females, the blond and the tall, thin one; all of them staring at him with various levels of curiosity showing.

It was an odd assortment of friends, but that was the military for you; it threw all sorts of people from different walks life together.

As he neared, he watched as their eyes cut over to the squirming girl over his shoulder, and surprising himself, he found that he was enjoying the sight of their shock even as they did their best to hide it. That is, all except the girl with the red scarf. She merely took in the sight with such calm composure as he, himself would have displayed.

He set the bundle of outraged girl on her feet but kept a firm hold on her ponytail, which had her in place despite her squawking protests. He ignored them.

"Is anyone here ready to take responsibility for this?"

The expressions on the faces of three of them as they glanced at each other made this whole trip worth it. Well, along with Sasha's sublime performances; yes, he didn't regret this little expedition at all. It was turning out to be the most amusing and satisfying outing he had experienced in a long time, but he wasn't about to admit that to anyone here.

The calm, black-haired girl spoke first, "We will assume responsibility."

Levi looked at the blond youth. He started to say something but stopped, and waited a beat before asking, "Do we need to sign a form showing that we have received her into our care?"

Levi gave them a minuscule lift of the lips which normally people would take as a smile, but on him, it looked more menacing than anything else. "No, your word is good enough for me."

The irritating one, Eren, frowned and then asked, "What do you expect us to do with her? Lock her up? Have her run laps?"

"I don't think you need to be that drastic." He cut a look over at the girl who was reaching up behind her head, slapping at his hands and trying to pry his fingers loose from her ponytail. He tugged on it a bit to get her to stop. "But maybe take away her meat privileges."

"What! You can't do that! That's just plain mean!" Sasha now held still except for trying to furiously frown over her shoulder at her captor.

The rest of the group turned their attention to the brunette who wasn't squirming anymore but still kept trying to throw dark looks in a futile attempt to show her ire. It wasn't make the least impression on Levi who only smirked.

Surprising everyone, even Levi, Mikasa went over and reached up her hand to the side of Sasha's head. With a half-grin, their superior handed over the ponytail. Mikasa took it but only tugged gently on it before dropping it and saying softly to Sasha, "Come on."

Strangely enough, Sasha allowed herself to be led closer to her comrades. Sasha, barely aware of her action, lifted a hand and ran it over her hair and ponytail as if to ascertain that all was right and well with her head, such as it was from all the mishandling.

Coming as a surprise to Levi, it was Eren who asked, "Well then, what do you want us to do with her?"

Levi studied him from under half-lidded eyes; damn but there was something about the kid that made him just want to smack the piss and vinegar out of him, but ignoring it he answered, "Nothing. There is no punishment to worry about. I merely returned military property—"

"Hey!" Sasha protested and turned to scowl at him and cross her arms in front of her.

Levi tuned her out, first looking at Eren, then Mikasa, Armin, and Jean all in turn, while saying, "to where it belongs—"

"Hey!"

"And I'm sure you will all watch out for it," Levi's small black eyes slid over to Sasha from under half-closed lids, took in her working up to a full-on tirade of offense and vexation for a second before turning back to them saying, "Her, and I know you will all continue to work smoothly as team."

With that, Levi spun on his heel and proceeded toward the door. No one moved until the door swung shut behind him.

"He's a little intense," remarked Jean into the silence that had descended on the departure of Levi-heicho.

"He's a good soldier," spoke Mikasa with a thoughtful look at the door.

"He's a pain in the ass is what he is!" huffed Eren. "I don't like him."

"He's just different from us, but remember, we all have the same goal," Armin countered. He too had a thoughtful look on his face, but his musings seemed to be taking him in a different direction as he then looked over at Sasha who was now had her cheeks puffed out in irritation with a deep frown as she glared daggers at the door.

Maybe it was time to change the atmosphere of the group so Armin, in an offhand manner mentioned, "You know, I"m feeling like I could have one of those cinnamon, gooey breakfast rolls leftover from this morning. Anyone with me?"

Eren and Mikasa didn't say anything, he didn't expect them to, and while one couldn't say that Ymir smiled, the expression on her face did seem to soften a bit and Christa definitely brightened, while Jean pumped a fist and said, "Hell yeah!"

They all started moving toward the kitchen with Armin waiting a beat to follow them, smiling at the instant camaraderie, or maybe it was merely sharing a mutual gluttony.

Sasha; no surprise to anyone, was ahead of the group already half way to the kitchen.

There was an imperious knock at the door. Erwin immediately knew who it was and how a mere knock could be classified as "imperious".

"Come," he answered distractedly, not bothering to look up while signing transfers, approving requisitions for any immediate scouting trips, and an endless sea of paper that appeared like magic on his desk every morning.

Levi entered and stopped a couple of paces in front of his desk.

Erwin stopped signing, put his pen down and then laced his fingers together on the desk in front of him, giving his subordinate his full attention.

Levi shifted a little and that instantly had his attention. The younger man never acted hesitantly. His face showed neither rejection or interest, but waited to hear whatever news the younger man had for him.

Instead of saying anything, Levi stepped closer and put a paper down in front of his superior's folded hands.

Curious, Erwin skimmed it and then looked up, his thick, blond eyebrows rising a bit in surprise at the request form he had just read.

"Have you thought this through?"

"Do you think I haven't?"

Erwin sighed a bit and gave a small shake of his head. With any other solider he would question them a bit further but he had yet to see Levi make any life decisions that he waffled over or made while in a reckless moment, or cloudy state of mind.

The commanding officer reached for his pen and signed at the bottom.

"So, who's the lucky barmaid? Anyone I know?"

"Yes you do, but she's not a barmaid."

Now Erwin's eyebrows went skyrocketing, which was unusual but so was the news, because Levi's "usual" was a certain type that more often than not, came with some kind of unsavory past.

"Really?" Now he was curious where he had been indifferent before

There was a space where the two stared at each other, both not minding the silence that descended in the room.

Levi finally relented. There was only one man he knew of that could lock gazes with him and not relent or back down in the least. Erwin was the sort of man who wasn't intimidated by the silences in a conversation, he was a patient and collected and merely waited his subordinate out. This was only one of the many reasons why Levi greatly respected him.

"I plan on having a companion in the future."

Erwin waited a beat and then asked, "I take it then that this is serious and not just a fling?"

"Yes."

Not a trace of expression of surprise, concern, or disapproval showed on Erwin's face. He let the silence gather in the room again as he studied his protege`. "Does she know?"

"No."

Now the officer leaned back in his chair to contemplate the younger man who was now gazing back at him with a challenging glint in his eyes.

"For the record, the Survey Corps does not condone kidnapping."

Now Levi's hooded eyes opened a little in surprise before he responded, "Of course not," he stated flatly in agreement, "I just haven't told her yet."

"She doesn't have a clue as to your… uh, feelings?"

"No, she's clueless in more ways than one."

Erwin took a deep breath, he was going to ask and bring up something that he believed was usually, none of his business, but this time, for some reason, he felt very invested.

"If it is just a matter of satisfying your, uh," Erwin paused, hardly ever uncomfortable, but feeling as if this was not solid ground to be traipsing over. "Let's just say, urges, then why don't the two of you embark on getting to know one another before deciding to take her away from her usual haunts—"

"I'm telling you, she's not a barmaid or hooker, or anyone like that. She's military."

Again Erwin felt surprise run through him while, characteristically, not a hint of it showed on his face, he merely stared at the younger man.

"One of mine?" he asked softly.

"Yessir."

Erwin took another breath. He wasn't against liaisons or marriages among military personnel, in fact, didn't care in the least but he had a different set of worries about this particular arrangement.

"I just never thought I would see you turn in a request form for larger quarters before. Usually only those getting married in the near future do that. While I admit I might be wrong again in assuming, but does that mean you plan on getting married?"

"In time." Levi then placed another paper on the his superior's desk for him to read.

It wasn't long and Erwin had seen enough of these forms to know what it was so dropped to the line with the name of the intended person written there. His eyebrows went up higher and he looked up at the standing man with frank surprise showing on his face. He couldn't help asking, "Really? Her?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure this person is the one?"

"Yes."

"You do realize she is from the high country and they do things a little differently up there?"

Now Levi merely stared, holding Erwin's gaze.

"Okay fine, but what I am going to do is contact her father and let him know. If I remember correctly things are a little more complicated there then they are here."

"Fine."

Without being aware of it, Erwin slid a hand over his immaculate hair without one strand out of place as he looked up and off into a distance. Levi noted it and waited.

Finally Erwin lowered his eyes to Levi and locked gazes with him. He waited a heartbeat and then said, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not against any of your flings, unions, liaisons, affairs, or whatever you want to call them. In fact, couldn't care less about them or if you want to get married someday or not."

He stopped to look steadily at the younger who waited, his hooded black eyes never breaking away from the unspoken challenge being directed at him.

"Here's my concern: this soldier has had her head broken already. I don't need you, or anyone for that matter, to be breaking her heart at the same time." He regarded the younger man who bore the weight of that stare without fidgeting.

"I need soldiers intact. My whole focus is the endgame and anyone who gets in the way of that may be crushed in the process. Am I clear?"

For the first time, a nearly imperceptible smile graced Levi's lips. It would have gone unnoticed by most, but Erwin knew the young man too well and saw things most others would miss. He nodded in reply.

"Well, do give me a chance to get a word in edgewise, will you?" Erwin's lip twitched in a smile as he reached for his pen and signed the appropriate papers.

"Go, collect your woman, but," he held gazes with Levi, hard and fast, "only if she wants collecting." He knew this soldier. He was inflexible, unbending, relentless and went after what he set his mind on, and to hell what anyone else thought.

He breathed out a soft sigh and gave a small nod at the door which they both knew meant Levi was free to go.

"Just be careful," he added. He didn't add that this time his concern was for the youth he had rescued from the dark city, also knowing that he didn't have to explain, it was evident in Levi's eyes that he knew exactly what his commander had meant. The acknowledgement was there in the slight upturn of the lips.

"Always."

The door shut behind the young man and then Erwin turned in his chair to look out the window. He waited until Levi emerged and walked off down the street.

With that, Erwin turned back to his never ending work pile muttering, "Poor girl. She doesn't know what she's in for."

~Dwellin

Thank you to the 'guest' who wrote of your support for the LxS. I appreciate it!