Hi everyone! Sorry for such huge gap between the first and second chapter, I'm trying to be more consistent overall with writing so it hopefully won't happen again. I hope I did okay in describing the Ackerbond jazz because it's been a while since I read the chapter focusing on it. I appreciate all the feedback I got from the last chapter and hope this one is just as entertaining! :) (There is an abrupt pov change at the end of the chapter, I'm sorry that's just how it worked out.)

Levi's new squad had been hauled up at the farmhouse for a week now, a very frustrating week if you asked the captain himself. He was sure the only reason Erwin had allowed Levi to run this bootcamp-like training was because the raven had already told the cadets to start packing. The commander's permission had come at a cost though.

Levi could take a month's worth of rations with the new squad but for the remaining time he was obligated to purchase everything else necessary besides training equipment. Of course, this made sense considering how low the funding for the Survey Corps was already. However, that didn't stop Levi from bitching to Hange about it for an hour. The 7 of his cadets were the only ones permitted to go, much to Hange's chagrin and, of course, the team were to return immediately in the event of an attack or new course of action.

The space itself spread across acres of land with plenty of trees for the squad to train with using their 3DMG gear. Levi hadn't been here for a long while, this area, while owned by Erwin himself, wasn't lived in. White cloths had been draped over furniture and dust had gathered everywhere. The captain had forced his new rabble to clean out every nook and cranny after their arrival, by the next days end, there wasn't a speck of dirt in sight.

Levi's problem had nothing to do with the space, no, it was perfect for his training exercises. There was a stable large enough to house all their horses and plenty of vegetation for the beasts to graze. The building, while simple, had two floors, the bottom containing a kitchen, living area and dining room. The second contained three large bedrooms and a bathing area. Levi, being the captain and preferring not to bunk with a bunch of hormonal brats, had a room for himself and separated the others.

Mikasa, Historia and Sasha were to share one and Eren, Connie, Jean and Armin another. It was all a standard protocol and Levi had even gone to the curtesy of helping them put together those god-awful bunks.

Fat lot of appreciation that got him from one particular soldier. Mikasa Ackerman was his first puzzle, his first goddamn problem.

Given he'd beaten her brother, though with her obvious romantic affection for him Levi wasn't sure if he should use such terminology, he could understand some of her rage. Even with the events that transpired in the courtroom Eren seemed to idolize Levi and there was no bad blood between the two. Her general dislike for him wasn't the problem, he disliked most people and hardly had room to judge if she wished to do the same.

It was her attachment to Eren, though, that threw him.

It had been a trying morning as Eren bickered over Mikasa's fussing at breakfast, her tendency to stuff him with food and mother him seemed overbearing for the boy. It did no good that Jean and Connie seemed to tease him for it to no end.

Levi watched them now, from a slightly higher vantage point as the team showed him their skills using the 3DMG, he noted how Mikasa was no doubt the fastest of the group. Jean following quickly behind her and Eren trying desperately to beat him. While Eren still stumbled from time to time he was a great soldier and due to his independent training with Levi and his old squad, was an elite young soldier. Still, Jean was quicker.

Levi's eyes were piercing as he scrutinized them, the rest of the team flew through the air closely behind them and he kept his steps consistent to watch all of them, while Arlert struggled to keep up they generally knew how to fly as one unit which he was relieved by.

Orders to move faster sat at the tip of his tongue, in the event of a real titan, the four cadets falling behind couldn't afford to be this slow and he would have to work with them individually, teach them how to move faster and preserve more gas. He held back his words, choosing instead to let them fly through the wind at their own pace for now.

"Keep up Jaeger-boy," shouted Kirstein, a shit-faced grin sitting on his face, picking up his face even further, rivalling Mikasa as he swung above a thick tree branch and adjusted his wires. Eren yelled something back but Levi wasn't listening, concentrating only on their footing as they ran along the surfaces of trees.

"Focus!" Demanded the captain, Mikasa hadn't slowed in pace at all despite her teammate's mockeries. Good, he thought, not getting distracted is good. She was outstanding to watch for such a young cadet, reminding him of Kenny as she maneuvered flawlessly without even a thought put into it. Everything the girl seemed to do was natural, like she knew her next move not because her brain was ticking but because her very bones understood the objective.

Levi knew that feeling all too well.

"Shut it horseface!" It wasn't until he heard a muffled cry follow this that he shifted his eyes to the other teenagers swinging through the forest, Eren had lost his concentration and had misfired his wires.

"Eren!" Mikasa bellowed highly, dashing down to him, she slung a wire to the tree where he was falling and directed her full speed at his person.

Levi could see the ensuing chaos in an instant, the girl threw herself passed Jean as Eren caught his grip, bringing himself to safety quickly and efficiently just as he was taught. Kirstein staggered backwards through the air to avoid her shooting wires and the hole in his chest that would have come with it. Kirstein swiveled his hips, trying to re-hook the wire that had detached from his second directory point.

It jammed, he continued to press down on his sword's handle, empty of blades, to adjust his equipment, alas at his pace he was being pulled straight into the tree his first wire was attached to.

Fuck.

The squad leader moved immediately, hoping to save Jean's arm from permanent damage as it would be the first to collide with full force into the trunk. With his gifted reflexes Levi sped to catch Jean before he hit the trunk, moving while also being cautious of the other cadets still flying through the air trying to still themselves to let him pass.

Within seconds of Kirstein's impending crash the captain managed to grapple him around the waste and slow most of their force before landing against the wood with a booming thud. Levi's recently healed leg sent waves of pain through his body.

He could feel the kid shaking in his grip and commanded him to release his second wire. When this was achieved, he moved them to a spacious branch along the forest sky, letting his full grip of the fifteen-year-old go only when the two-toned kid had steadied himself.

"Sorry Captain." He breathed out lowly, still recovering from shock. Levi scoffed, though not at Kirstein. The other cadets rushed to meet them, worry contorting their young faces. Mikasa and Eren hauled themselves up the tree, the titan-shifter looking particularly miffed while also schooling a frightened expression. He hurried past the captain and went to check on his friend.

Mikasa stood there with her head held high, willing to take whatever was dished out and it irritated the living hell out of Levi. He'd take a bumbling idiot spouting apologies over a girl who understood she had done wrong by her teammate but had no plan to change her actions in the future.

"I want you running laps in the field until you can't feel your lungs," he knew it would be an easy task for her but he needed her away from himself, "get out of my fucking sight until you can be a contributing factor to this squad!" He hollered with pinched brows.

She removed herself quickly with nothing but a firm nod.

Shit, she was a piece of work.

"Captain, I'm sorry, I lost my footing I didn't think-" He cut the little spew short.

"Shut up Jaeger." Levi took a deep breath, telling the other recruits to go exercise their horses around the farmhouse while he inspected Jeans equipment and have time in his own head.

Levi swapped gear with Jean so he could make a speedy return and left Levi to think.

He couldn't fathom a way to get the girl to stop only seeing Eren, he felt that her actions stemmed from something deeper, as if the protection she felt for the titan shifter was buried beneath her skin.

Levi knew that by late afternoon he needed to relieve the girl before she collapsed, even with her unexplained abilities she would likely reach her limit soon. Still, he waited and thought on how to address the problem. He knew her fellow teammates would grow distrustful of her if another stunt like this was pulled again and that would accomplish the exact opposite of his goals.

What would Hange do? A question that determined the basis of every action he'd taken with this team so far, he knew that he wasn't Hange but he was so dreadfully lost on what to do to help train these children into a fully functional team.

He thought that she would take an entirely different approach to him, instead of beating her he thought that perhaps Hange would talk to her.

Levi hated talking, he wasn't good with his words and while Erwin and Hange were used to it he knew that to get through to his knew squad he would have to be better than his usual self. Finally, he stepped away from the window where he had stewed over his hot tea and refilled the small teacup, grabbing a full canteen of water for the brat.

There had to be a reason she wanted to protect Eren at all costs and he would be damned if he let her keep that reason to herself.

Calling her over from the porch of the large house he waited for her to jog to him, as she approached, he could spy her drenched forehead dripping with sweat and the way her feet had begun to drag across the ground. Throwing her the canteen from where he had sat down, he was still surprised she managed to catch it without faltering.

"You're done for the day." Mikasa nodded her head after indulging in the cold fresh water, her short black bob now sticking to her cheeks. She made a move to leave before he barked out "I didn't dismiss you soldier, sit the fuck down." She only nodded stoically, sitting beside him where she was directed. "Now I don't really do this talking shit, it's not my strong suit, but your going to tell me exactly why you decided one person's life meant more than another today." Levi thought to cut right to the chase, not giving her a chance to spout any bullshit excuses and yet –

"Eren was in danger." The captain's sharp eyes met her own, there was no uncertainty in her tone, no regrets. As it was, he understood the concept that every person's worth in the military was different, of course he himself would save Erwin or Hange, his team members or any other high-ranking officer over the life of a rookie who offered little potential. In every scenario, he would save Arlert over Springer.

Because that is what Erwin expected of him.

Yet, he knew he wouldn't ever intentionally put another in jeopardy at any inkling of danger faced by Eren or Erwin or Hange. Because he trusted they could take care of themselves.

It seemed that Mikasa always overlooked this, Eren was a capable soldier and with his Titan abilities would be okay in a scenario that he got injured.

"Today Kirstein was put in danger, a very capable and potential soldier and a strong asset to the military, so that you could make sure Eren didn't scrape his knee. Jean could have lost a limb today, would have if I hadn't saved his ass in time, lizard boy can grow his arms back Ackerman, Jean cannot." His voice was firm and left no room for argument, still, she looked perplexed, not seeming to understand his meaning.

"Eren was in danger, so I went to help him. I didn't intend for Jean to get hurt." Mikasa argued under Levi's scrutiny.

"Eren isn't weak and I sure as hell know that he can handle himself. He is not a child who needs to be fucking rocked every time he gets beat." He knew he was contradicting his own beliefs, that they were kids, they're too young he had told Erwin less than a week ago. But… he needed her to think outside of her bubble of Eren Jaeger. To see them all as important and valuable.

Though he almost missed it, Mikasa's voice having grown soft, he still managed to catch that small voice saying, "he's my family."

Well shit. He didn't know what he was doing, how to tell her that her family wasn't always the priority, it would only make him more of a hypocrite.

Levi stared into the tea that swirled under his movement.

They sat in silence for a long moment; Mikasa thought that now it was best only to leave when dismissed. She couldn't explain to her captain, whom she already had a negative disposition for that it was about Eren.

Everything was about Eren.

She didn't know why, just that it was, from the moment they met, about Eren.

"It's my job to protect Jaeger." Captain Levi told her, but it sounded like a lie in her ears. "You need to protect yourself and everyone else on this team when you can because you're a damn good soldier." She thought that maybe he was just pulling this out of his ass to get her to listen and understand. Still, she wasn't convinced. But – she could see how desperately her fierce captain wanted her to believe that he would protect the person she loved most in the world.

"Eren has been my responsibility for quite a while now and I understand that at every turn, you've been there for the brat." The Captain's voice had begun sounding lighter and more genuine. "I know what you're feeling, the need to protect someone at all costs, I think that for people like us that shit just sticks and won't go away." People like us? "But the truth is I can't build this team if they don't trust you. Another stunt like today can't happen again, training accidents like that shouldn't ever happen. So, you need to try your damn fucking hardest to see beyond your instincts, to see someone other than Eren." 'Please' she could hear it even if it went unsaid and the thought that her captain wasn't perhaps as cruel and malice as she'd originally perceived had cut through her like a knife.

He'd called them instincts, what she felt and her need to protect, and that made her consider that perhaps he had them too. A sliver of her believed that if that were true, she truly could bend her instincts to incorporate her entire team like he had.

"I- I can try." Mikasa finally agreed.

Relief washed over his face and it was evident he was not used to these kinds of talks. It didn't help that she didn't favour conversations either, generally finding her actions spoke louder than her words.

Captain Levi stood quickly after that. "Good, now go fucking eat, you're on-dish duty tonight and if the plates don't shine, I'm going to beat your ass." Gone was his understanding mannerisms and back was the heartless grumpy façade.

She didn't find that she minded so much and while she'd never admit it, Mikasa scrubbed the dishes twice as hard that night so they would indeed shine.

If you have any feedback, ideas or requests please let me know!