Humanity's Strongest Woman

by xDollfie

In every empire, there is an epic era that defies the boundaries of time and immortalized itself in the history books. For mankind, an epic era they will never forget has finally emerged. The war between humanity and Titans has finally come to a head. Love cease to exist in a time like this, but they found it, and promised that it'll be worth it. Every stubborn inch of it [LEVIXOC]

47. Special (4)

Surprise! I just thought, well wouldn't it be a perfect time to post the promised special before the start of a new arc?

I'm guessing everyone would know how a special chapter works by now—reading this is optional if you're here just for the main story. I know many wanted more fluff, but as I said before, it's hard to incorporate such scenes because of the war looming behind them. There's SO MUCH plot to cover that I find myself cutting out scenes. *sobs*

So for all of you who wanted more fluff, here is a small collection of some of the cutout scenes! They are all short-stories/scenes of mainly Levi and Ida during RTS arc. I hope you enjoy them.

Thank you Aniket for giving me your opinion!

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Humanity's Strongest Woman by xDollfie

Special (4)

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Date Night

"I can't believe I just fucking let you do that to me," Levi gritted angrily through his teeth several hours later, his smooth skin glowing under the illumination of the torches that lit the fortress of the HQ.

He tucked his hands into his black jacket and stood still. His black pants swayed under the gust of cold winter wind blowing in their direction. They had just returned from watching a famous play in Sina that Levi deemed as "a shitty play from hell" and it became clear early on that Levi wasn't the only one bitter about a horrible experience.

"I can't believe you just ruined that for me," Ida griped sourly, nothing but anger spewing out of her. "But now I see that you're nothing but an old miserable sour git."

Ida had been dying to see this play for ages having heard good reviews about it through the grapevine. After stubbornly insisting that they should go on a date—to which Levi argued that they didn't have time—she finally got her way when she applied a day leave on behalf of him and forced him along with her, claiming that they "haven't even been on an official date yet" and that it would be "good for their relationship."

But the experience couldn't have been more terrible for her. The night was supposed to be the pinnacle of their wonderful relationship after returning to the Survey Corps. Now, all she had to show for it was resentment because the night ended in shambles as Levi always had a way of fucking things up even when he wasn't directly doing it.

Surprised with the toxicity spearing through her voice, Levi turned to her in disbelief, flabbergasted as to why she was acting the way she was. "Why the hell are you pissed off, brat? You got to watch your stupid play."

"I get to watch it?" Ida narrowed her eyes. "How? All I could remember was you complaining about how it was a waste of time, you grumbling about how shitty and ridiculous the plot was, you getting up to leave ever so often, and you getting loudly fawned at by the noble ladies finally having a good look at humanity fucking strongest!"

It was an unfortunately accurate statement that even Levi couldn't argue with.

Since Ida had chosen a romantic play aimed at impressionable young ladies, all the eyes of rabid noblewomen were on Levi as opposed to the theatre stage. It was terrible. There were constant whispers and murmurs of the audience, giggling and wondering why the 'famous' Levi Ackerman was doing here.

And so, for most of the play, they focused their undivided attention on Levi, who was cringing while he watched the play. Ida hated that they were looking at him like he was a piece of meat. Not that she was jealous or anything, of course.

Levi scoffed. "I didn't ask them to look at me, don't be ridiculous."

Though it wasn't his fault, Ida directed her anger at him. He should've done something to keep himself from being in that position.

"Well, you could've worn a hat or something!" It was a completely illogical argument, but she had to say something. "How is it that everyone knows who you are?!"

Ida hurled her dirtiest glare at him. She was so excited to watch the play with him and now everything was shot to hell. What a horrible first official date.

Levi tsked indignantly. "You knew damn well I didn't even want to go in the first place."

"Yeah, I should've brought Sasha or Mikasa instead of you. I'm sure they would've appreciated that play," Ida mumbled bitterly, though she didn't mean it. Despite his outright hatred for it, Levi would always be her first choice.

"Tsk." He shook his head. "Yeah. I'm sure those two would be the ideal shitty candidates to appreciate a guy that is a creepy sleaze bag."

Ida knitted her brows. "Sleaze bag?"

He didn't reply but scoffed hotly. Levi appeared to have found it absurd that she didn't understand what he was implying.

"How is the prince a creepy sleaze bag?" Ida demanded, crossing her arms. "He was saving the princess from her long slumber cast by a wicked witch! It's romantic!"

"Hah!" Levi let out a snarled laughter at her statement. From the rising incredulity in his face, she knew he found that statement ridiculous. "You find that romantic?"

Ida gaped at him, offended at his tone. "Well… yes! I mean, I did find it moving how he was willing to sacrifice his life to save the slumbering princess—"

"With a kiss," he deadpanned seriously.

"Yes, with a kiss," she said obviously, confused at what Levi's point was. "It was a kiss of true love!"

Levi only regarded at her, his body language conveying that he thought that she was truly a hopeless case. He racked his fingers through his hair. As though he was done with her, he grumbled a few angry words under his breath before walking to the buildings.

Completely confused by his behavior, Ida followed him.

"Wait, what's wrong with that?"

"Must be all those damn books you read," Levi grunted, looking increasingly annoyed.

"What books?"

"Those." Levi glared at her. "Those 'romantic' crap with those cringey titles that usually involves something you perceive to be scandalous."

She flushed beet red at the mention of her adult romance novels. It was a pastime of hers that she enjoyed but wasn't particularly proud of. "H—How did you find them?"

"How?" Levi snorted disbelievingly that she was even asking such a thing. He folded his muscular arms on his chest and enlightened her, "Who do you think packs all that shit you leave lying around your room that's good enough to be a pigsty?"

She grimaced. "A perfect answer from a clean freak like you."

Levi grunted loudly, which made the indignant Ida add, "But there was nothing wrong with the play, I thought it was romantic! Maybe that's because a miserable snot like you don't have an ounce of romance in your body!"

Ida sneered when Levi turned to glare at her, in disbelief that she would even say such a thing. "How the fuck is that romantic? That sleaze bag doesn't even know the girl and he sneaked into her room."

"That's because he wants to undo the curse of eternal slumber!" Ida argued, even though she thought that part was rather strange as well.

"Oh! Captain and Ida, you're back! How was the play?"

Levi and Ida turned at the intrusion of the voice, temporarily ending their glaring match. Eren stood in front of the headquarters entrance with a heavy box in his hand.

"Uh…" Eren shifted awkwardly on his feet, probably realizing that his superiors weren't in the best of moods from their dark expression. "I'm just leaving—"

"Eren, I told you to give those boxes to me." Mikasa emerged from the doors, carrying three heavy boxes with ease. She looked at Levi and Ida with a stoic expression and nodded her head as a form of greeting.

"It's nothing," Ida said, gesturing with her head. "It's past curfew. Finish whatever you're doing and head to bed."

Before they could leave though, Levi suddenly stopped them. "Oi, Mikasa."

Mikasa raised a brow. "Yes, sir?"

"What would you do if a guy climbs into your bed at the dead of the night and kisses you?"

Mikasa looked confused at the question. She darted a quick glance at Eren beside her. "Who's the guy?"

"A stranger, you don't know him. Just a runt that's wet behind the ears."

Immediately, Mikasa's expression turned deadly. "Kill him."

Levi, triumphant that he had proven his point, turned to look at Ida as if to say: 'see, I told you.'

Ida merely wrinkled her nose at Levi while he dismissed their subordinates. When Eren and Mikasa left, he faced her again and folded his arms, satisfied at her silence. Damn cocky bastard. Her finger itched to hit him.

"What?" Levi smirked, cocking his brow. "Nothing else to say?"

"I don't care," she grumbled, jutting her chin at him. "I still find it romantic."

"Whatever," Levi dismissed tiredly, his eyes giving way to the fact that he wanted to forget about the terrible play altogether. "The next time, I'm choosing where to go."

Her ears perked up. Didn't he say going out with her was unproductive?. She was honestly content that it'd be a one-time thing. It took her almost everything to convince him to take a night off to go out of the stuffy headquarters, so it surprised her that there would even be a next time.

Though elated, Ida refused to show it and instead sneered at him. "You'll just bring me to some stupid cleaning shop."

Levi snorted at her comment and his thin brows furrowed. "Rather that than a ridiculous play," he groused. "But no, not there."

She couldn't help but smile this time around. Frankly, she knew how much Levi detested watching the play with her, but in the end, the strict, no-nonsense Captain conceded because of her. That was points in her books.

After all, how bad could a day get when they get to spend it together peacefully?

"Fine then, Captain," Ida laughed, finally melting off her cold façade. Unable to contain her happiness, she hugged his arm and smiled at him. "The next time, you choose."

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Errand (Pt. 1)

Levi sighed tiredly as he held onto his precious bag of tea leaves and cleaning supplies. His gray eyes scanned the packed streets of Trost. He couldn't wait to get back to the headquarters, but before he could there was something else that he had to do.

Right, there was still a stupid errand that Ida had sent him on.

The woman had caught him just before he left hours earlier. Upon learning that he was going to town to pick up his cleaning liquid, her green eyes lit up with a mischievous twinkle. She dragged him to her room and proceeded to write down a list of books she wanted him to pick up before sending him off with a warning that "if he forgets, she'll kill him."

Truth to be told, Levi secretly dreaded her request because he had thought she would want some sweets instead, but upon learning it was books, he couldn't help but agree. He was much more inclined to enter a peaceful bookstore by himself than some damn sweet stores filled with noisy kids.

Not to mention, there was an annoying effect of Ida's smile. Somehow, it made his rational mind blank. Oftentimes, he found himself unable to even think even.

"Damn little brat," Levi muttered.

He shook his head at the memory and at the predictability that came with the spoiled one's behavior. Ida got away with too much when it came to him. Unfortunately, he seemed to always be the stupid one who ended up spoiling her rotten by always allowing her to get away with anything she wanted.

Levi sighed. He was damned, wasn't he? He knew it deep within him. He had gotten too fucking soft.

He exhaled deeply again, determined not to feel so bitter about it. It wasn't that unreasonable of a request anyway. It couldn't help that her schedule didn't permit her to leave the headquarters. Levi cringed at the traumatizing memory of the sweet stores Ida was fond of patronizing.

Yeah, he'd be quick with it. All he had to do was pick up some shitty books and piss off out of there and back to work. Nothing could go wrong.

As he walked through the market to his destination, Levi realized just how lively the town had become. Goods and the quality of life were increasing. And that was all because of the sacrifices of the Survey Corps that were the foundation of the changes.

Yet, even all the losses and the gains of it so clearly shown, it still not enough. There was still much to do.

He grimaced. And that was the reason why he had to hurry back to the headquarters.

"Hey, mister! How about some pastries for your family?"

From his peripheral view, Levi saw pastries displayed in a stall and a balding baker with a wide smile. He was used to the musky muddy scent of the headquarters, but after being around Ida for so long, he found the sweet aroma comforting.

"These are freshly baked! I'm sure your family would like them!"

Levi was about to ignore him as he didn't have any family, but suddenly, familiar faces of the dead appeared in his mind. The memory was of the first that time Ida brought pastries back to the Survey Corps. Prices were steep then and she had saved up and treated their old squad to this expensive treat.

Everyone in their previous squad was puzzled, with Ed being the most suspicious of Ida's intentions. They looked at Ida in surprise—it was the first time they saw her kind side outside the battlefield. Petra was the first to a piece, followed by Gunther. It wasn't before long that they were all having tea together, all smiles and shit.

It seemed like such a damn long time ago.

He frowned when a dark thought passed through him. Levi didn't have the slightest of hope that after all they've been through his current squad would smile like his subordinates in the past. Recently, even Ida who was known for her cankerous sweet tooth had stopped indulging so much.

But even so…

Family, huh.

He whirled around and walked to the baker.

The warmth from the pastries in the bag seeped into his cold hands. Levi felt his lips tilt upwards slightly.

Perhaps that woman wasn't such a bad influence on him after all.

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Errand (Pt. 2)

The musky, dusty smell of old books hit his nose when Levi arrived at the bookstore. It was a quaint little store by the corner of the Trost market. The bookcase with its inky treasures adorned the cozy store, quiet in that sense of easy solitude and gentle in its fading hues of warm red, greys, and brown. By the corner, a group of housewives was browsing the collection, chattering away. They seemed to notice who he was and whispered among themselves, but Levi only ignored them.

He went up to the bookkeeper, a young lady with tumbling blonde hair framing her oval face. Her back was facing him as she sorted an assortment of books.

He tapped the counter to get her attention.

"Oh!" The bookkeeper whirled around, realizing his presence only now. "Hello! How may I help you, sir?"

Feeling out of his element, Levi uncomfortably cleared his throat, "I want to buy some books."

"Certainly, what titles are you looking for?"

Levi frowned and narrowed his eyes. Titles? Wait, what were the damn titles was Ida looking for again?

Oh, he remembered. Ida had shoved a shitty piece of paper with the titles she wanted in his pocket. She probably figured he'd forget. She seemed to be excited about getting the new books though. She was giggling about how she couldn't wait for him to come back.

He smirked inwardly at the thought of how happy she would look.

Yeah, that damn brat was a shitty bookworm at heart.

"Give me a moment," Levi said, extracting out the small note from his pocket. His steely eyes turned to slits at Ida's cursive, delicate handwriting. He snorted. It was clearly a noblewoman's handwriting. It didn't fit someone as crass as her.

The list was surprisingly long. Damn, Ida really wanted a lot of books. How the hell does she find all the time to read them?

What a waste of her damn money.

Ah fuck it, just get it for her. Otherwise, the brat would be up to his damned ears and that was the last thing he wanted.

With a deadpan expression and a stoic voice, Levi read the first name of the title Ida wanted.

"Villainess Countess Contract Lover."

A sharp gasp came from the group of housewives behind him, but Levi paid it no mind and continued to emotionlessly read out the next title in a firm and even voice.

"I Became the Selfish Knight's Maid."

Levi looked up at the bookkeeper, sensing something wrong. Why the actual fuck was she staring at him with that odd expression and why was she blushing? Shouldn't she be packing the shitty books so that he could get the hell out of here? He still had work to do.

"Oh my," a housewife behind him giggled.

He grimaced uncomfortably. For the first time in his life, a slither crawled up his spine. Why did he get a damn feeling that the nosy housewives behind him were staring at him? He could feel their dissecting stares at the back of his head. They should've minded their own business.

Feeling increasingly awkward, Levi cleared his throat and focused back on the small piece of paper in his hand. He kept his face deadpan. Fuck it. He was used to getting stared at anyway. Nothing unusual.

Ignore it.

"Arranged Marriage with the Monster Duke—"

Oh.

Levi's gray eyes expanded when he realized what the hell he was saying.

WHAT THE FUC—

In conjunction with that horrifying realization, the excited chatters and murmurs from the housewives behind only grew louder.

"Hehe," a scandalous giggle came from behind him. "who would've thought he liked books like those?"

Shit.

Nothing but curses flowed through Levi's head. His anger sparked like a firecracker within him. How the fuck could he be so dumb? He should've fucking known. Those cringy titles she loved to read. Those shitty adult romance novels with degenerate plotlines.

How could he even think that it'd be any different this time around?

Trapped between the blushes of the bookkeeper and the giggles of the housewives who had clearly gotten the wrong idea, Levi felt hopeless. Utterly, fucking hopeless. Hell, he never felt this bad even when he was beyond the Walls. He would've better luck escaping two Titans hot on his tails than this.

Shit. What the fuck was he supposed to do now?

Levi guessed that the best option was to continue as nothing had happened. Yeah, he should fucking ignore it. Maybe they'll just stop staring. With that determination in mind, he plastered the coldest expression he could muster on his face.

It couldn't get any worse than fucking this.

He looked down at the next title Ida wanted.

The Seduction of the Tyrant Prince.

Oh, fuck no.

Levi slammed the piece of the paper down on the counter, causing the murmurs of the housewives to stop abruptly and startling the bookkeeper who yelped in surprise.

"This," Levi snarled angrily, "all of this. Pack it up. Quickly."

The bookkeeper nodded, frightened by the ice in his tone. "Y–Yes, sir! Right away sir!"

She scrambled away to collect Ida's books. Levi exercised his jaw and readjusted his cravat, feeling the rage pile up in layers within him. That damned fucking shitty brat. The nerve of her to ask him to buy these shitty books for her.

When he gets back at the headquarters, there would be hell to pay.

After what seemed like an eternity, the bookkeeper returned. She placed the books Ida wanted on the counter. "Uhm… would you like to check it?"

Levi cautiously looked at the first title on top of the book. Unable to help it he cringed. Hard.

"No. Just pack it up."

"Oh! He's even got 'Warlord Hubby'!"

Hearing this, Levi made the mistake of shifting his head back. The nosy group of housewives was peeking their heads from behind his frame, shamelessly staring at the books. Though Levi was certain his expression was frigid, perhaps even intimidating, they merely smiled sheepishly at him, almost as if they shared a secret connection of being fans of the same titles.

He scowled and opened his mouth to explain that it wasn't him wanting these books, but he clamped it shut immediately when he saw the twinkle in their eyes.

No. He was fucked. He was thoroughly and sincerely fucked in the damn ass. Even if he explained it, they would think he was lying because he was embarrassed.

Shit. That'd be worse.

He groaned inwardly. He was beginning to get a fucking headache.

"Here you go, sir." The bookkeeper placed the bag of books on the counter. Levi couldn't help but glare at it. It looked nothing else but a fucking tumor to him. "That'll be—"

Levi grabbed the bag and quickly dropped a pouch of coins on the counter. "Thanks."

"Wait! Your change!"

"Keep it," Levi grumbled in an even voice throbbing with resentment. He pushed past the housewives, never turning back as he bolted out the door. He was never more eager to get back to the headquarters. There was hell to be paid and a pretty head to collect.

On second thought, Levi much rather the shitty sweet store than a bookstore.

When will he ever learn?

He should've known better than to agree to run an errand for Ida fucking Starke.

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Apprehended (Pt 1)

"Stupid midget bastard."

Ida angrily stuffed another toffee in her mouth, hoping that it'll ease the current bitterness plaguing her days. It has been three days since their last argument regarding the "dumbass errand" that she had sent him on. While Ida reasoned that Levi had the right to be mad, how was she supposed to know that he'll stupidly read the titles out loud?! In addition, she didn't really give it much thought! It wasn't intentional!

She had let her pride get to her then and lashed back. Perhaps that had added dry wood to the fire. Ida had hoped that things would naturally get back to normal within them with time, as it tended to. To her dismay, Levi had promptly taken it upon himself to ignore her.

Needless to say, Ida didn't appreciate the cold treatment.

"Miserable git," she muttered angrily to herself. Despite her verbal declaration, she still found herself stealing glances by the door.

Since she had simmered down, Ida admitted to only herself that maybe it was a little unreasonable for her to act that way.

Okay, maybe a lot.

But still, isn't ignoring her for three days a little much?!

A brief knock came on her door. Ida bolted out of her chair. "Lev—"

It wasn't Levi but Mikasa who entered her room instead. The girl blinked curiously at her reaction.

Ida's smile dissipated. Shit. It wasn't him.

Mikasa lifted an eyebrow. "Not who you were expecting?"

She said nothing and only sighed, sinking back to her chair.

Gods, this was terrible.

Levi had never ignored her for so long before ever since they got together. Maybe, he was tired of her? With the Survey Corps consisting mainly of men, Ida was no stranger to the woes and complaints of men and their love lives. After all, from what she heard from Mike when he was alive, there was nothing a man hated more than an unreasonable woman.

Shit.

What if one day, Levi really left her because of her brattiness? What if someone else better came along? What would she do then? Crap. She should hurry up and apologize, right? There was only so much of her obstinate personality one can take.

Ugh. Damn it.

"Erwin wants to see you in his office tonight for a meeting," Mikasa told her. She frowned when Ida didn't reply and only sighed louder. She could almost see a cloud of gloom on top of her superior's head. "If it'd help you feel better, Captain will be there too."

Ida bristled at the mention of Levi and cleared her throat. "I didn't ask."

Mikasa shrugged. "Alright then, I'll go back to my work."

"Wait!" Before she could stop herself, Ida rushed to stop her. "Mikasa, we are friends, right?"

"Huh?"

She grabbed her hands and with genuine eyes, she said, "Can you help me keep watch on Levi?"

Mikasa's face was stoic as she processed her request. "On that shorty?"

Ida nodded eagerly. "Just let me know what he's doing, and if he does anything suspicious, tell me!"

"Suspicious? Like what?"

Like meeting another girl, Ida almost wanted to say but she refrained. "You've been helping him with his work nowadays, so you should know if anything is amiss! Just keep a careful eye on him, okay?"

Mikasa examined Ida's green eyes for a moment, expression completely bewildered with her odd request, but after a few seconds, she sighed and gave in.

"Fine, I'll let you know."

Little did Ida know; it'd be a request that she would regret later hours later. Right after the meeting concluded that night, a red-faced Ida bolted through the headquarters, determined on finding Mikasa for some much-needed answers.

"What did you do?" Ida demanded after pulling Mikasa away from Eren. They were behind a pillar in the mess hall, a location that Ida had deemed was a safe spot for their private conversation.

"I don't understand what you mean," Mikasa responded honestly.

Ida frowned at how serious she looked. Something was amiss. She had thought something was wrong when Levi kept glaring at her throughout the meeting, but it was only after his snide comments when the meeting ended did Ida realized Levi was privy to the embarrassing fact that she had sent Mikasa to spy on him

She crossed her arms. "Levi said you were staring at him the entire day."

"You told me to watch out for anything amiss," Mikasa said seriously. "So, I did. I kept my promise."

If her jaw had the ability to unhinge, Ida was sure that it would've dropped to the ground. "You mean you just… openly followed him and stared at him for hours while he worked?"

"Yes, he was annoyed and thought it was a 'damn joke' at first." Mikasa appeared genuinely confused. "Was I not supposed to do that? You told me to watch him carefully."

"Yes, but I mean watch him inconspicuously!"

Ida slapped a hand to her forehead, grumbling a string of curses. Mikasa had taken her promise to her far too seriously if she had followed Levi for hours. Damn it, she should've known. What the hell was she thinking?

Wait a moment, but that didn't make any sense still.

Sighing, Ida asked, "Then how did that midget know that I was the one who told you to do that?"

"He confronted me."

Ida seethed. Of course, he would. Knowing Levi, he wouldn't be able to tolerate being followed around so openly and stared at.

God, could it get any worse than this?

Ida wasn't sure if she really wanted to know what went down between the two Ackermans. But now that things had escalated to this point, she might as well get all the details. "And… what did you tell him?"

"I said that I was keeping watch on your orders."

Flabbergasted by what she was hearing, Ida could gawk at stone-faced Mikasa as if she was the strangest entity on earth. Fuck. She had only herself to blame for this embarrassment.

She should've known.

She should've known better than to fucking trust an Ackerman for something like this! Distant relatives aside, the two of them were one of the most serious and straight-forward people she knew! What the actual hell was she thinking of asking Mikasa in the first place?! Jean would've been a much better choice!

Mikasa raised a brow, mystified with her reaction. "Was that supposed to be a secret too?"

Unable to believe that Mikasa was asking such an obvious question, Ida continued to gape at her. There was nothing more she wanted to do now but to pull on her hair and shout obscenities to the world.

Realization slowly seeped into Mikasa's eyes. Her lips went onto the shape of a circle.

"Oh."

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Apprehended (Pt 2)

The next day, Ida was found poking around the busy streets of Trost in civilian wear. After that horrible request she asked Mikasa had gone awry, Ida had bestowed the task on Connie instead.

Unfortunately, what she had learned from him horrified her.

Ida looked up from her meal at Connie's report. "What? Where did you say he went?"

Connie shrugged. "He went to town today with Squad Leader Dirk and Harold."

She prodded a piece of potato on her plate. "Did the shorty say where?"

"No," Connie shook his head. "Ah, actually, I did hear that Dirk and Harold were going to a bar to find a barmaid, maybe Captain went with—"

Connie cut himself off when Ida clenched the fork in her hand so hard, it bent.

"I see. Thank you, Connie," Ida said stiffly with a forced smile. "Could you please ask Marlene to cover my shift today?"

Connie looked a little terrified with how her smile was twitching, but Ida couldn't help it. "Uh sure, but—"

"Thanks."

Not even finishing her lunch, Ida left the mess hall, changed, and mounted her horse. She went straight for Trost. If her memory had not failed her, she had once overheard Harold rambling about a bar that hired the prettiest barmaid when he was down in his cups. There was no way that Levi would go to somewhere like that, right?

Impossible, the Captain she knew hated places like that.

But what other reason was there? Last Ida remembered; Levi had gone to town four days ago. She was certain he had an ample amount of tea leaves and cleaning supplies. Her Captain wasn't one to take breaks to go to town unless necessary.

It wouldn't hurt to just check. Not that was she jealous or anything of course.

There was just one tiny problem. Though Ida knew which street the bar was located at, she had no idea exactly which bar it was. Unfortunately, she had only realized this once she arrived. Left with no other choice, Ida decided she just had to look the old-fashion way.

"God damn it," Ida grumbled when a drunken civilian almost bumped into her. She pulled her hood up higher to hide the color of her hair. It was the most conspicuous thing about her and she rather lose an arm to a Titan than risk being found out by Dirk and Harold. Or worse, Levi.

For the love of all the Walls, what had she gotten herself into?

Fuck.

This was all her fault; she could've apologized earlier and mended things between them. But no, she had let her stupid pride get between them again.

As she meandered the roads, Ida realized that she was getting into one of the shadier streets of Trost. The roads were getting less packed and the buildings were in poorer conditions.

Ugh, great.

"Alyana was gorgeous today," a civilian walked past her, nudging his friend. "Told you, that place has the most stunning ladies. But Alyana, mhm, she's one hell of a beautiful blonde."

"Haha, you're right," his friend jested back. "We should come back again."

Ida clenched her fist and green eyes grew deadly.

Alyana, huh?

Her eyes snagged on the sign of the bar the two men emerged from like an eagle. Clutching onto her hood, she pressed herself on the wall next to the window. When she realized what she was doing, Ida couldn't help but curse at herself.

Fuck, this was ridiculous. She couldn't never imagine herself stalking someone to this extent, but it couldn't be helped, she knew she would be restless if she didn't find out for herself.

Breathing in rhythmic patterns, Ida crouched down and peeked through the windows. The bar was packed with noisy patrons. She held her breath as she scanned the inhabitants one by one.

They aren't here…?

She furrowed her brows. This had to be the bar. Could they be on the second floor? Crap. How was she supposed to get up there?!

"Hey! You there!"

Ida flinched at that loud call that she instinctively knew was directed to her. Immediately, she straightened her spine.

"Oh shit," Ida cursed when she saw two Military Police hurriedly approaching her, toting guns in their hands.

She clutched her hood tighter around her head and whirled around. She didn't recognize two officers, but they looked young. Boys that were just teenagers. Freshly enlisted it seemed. Still, Ida wouldn't take any chances. Though she had made an active effort not to appear in joint military meetings, her reputation would go to hell if they recognized her.

Deciding that she needed to get the hell out of her, Ida started her escape.

"Oi, hold it! You in that cloak, turn around!"

Oh no.

Holding her breath, Ida hesitantly turned around, keeping her head low and her features concealed. "Yes, officer?"

Even with the hood protecting her, Ida could sense how the towering MPs was studying her suspiciously. "What were you doing?"

"Uhm, I am not from here… I am from another part of Rose and I just wanted to get some drinks—"

"Why were you sneaking around?" The other office demanded. "We were watching you. Who are you supposed to meet here?"

Meeting someone? Bollocks. She was stalking someone! But Ida couldn't openly say that she was, could she?

She clutched her hood tighter around her neck. "Uhm… well I..."

"Put down your hood."

Waiting for her response, the pair of officers folded her arms in a condescending manner. They stood with their shoulders stiff as if they were proud that they managed to enlist in the esteemed Military Police branch.

Shit shit shit…

Damn it she needed to say something!

"I wasn't—"

"Word is, someone has been selling the illegal substance similar to the highly addictive coderoin on this street. Do you know anything about this?"

Incredulous at what she was hearing, Ida snapped her eyes to them and gawked.

Idiots. These two brats clearly had their heads up their fucking asses. Even if she had any knowledge of this, they were idiots for asking a suspect so openly. She needed to have a word with Nile about his incompetent officers sooner or later.

"No," Ida gritted out. She felt slightly offended by that accusation. "Now if you were to excuse me, officers, I have somewhere to be—"

At the same time Ida turned around, one of the officers reached out to prevent her from escaping. "Hey! Stop—"

The next thing Ida knew, her seasoned instinct took over. Just as the officer's fingers grazed the fabric of her hood to pull it down, Ida panicked, backpedaled, and launched a counterattack. She charged straight to the center of his body, grabbed him, and slammed his body to the ground without thought.

Unable to react to her swift attack, the officer landed on the ground with a loud thud.

"Argghh!"

"Rickon!" His friend shouted. "Are you okay?!"

Ida gasped and covered her mouth when she realized what she had done.

Oh fuck. Oh fuck. She had really screwed herself over this time!

"S—Sorry!" Ida quickly muttered, panicking over how the young officer was grunting agonizingly on the ground. "I'm really, really sorry! I didn't mean it! It was instinct! Uh, just ice it, okay?!"

Knowing that things were getting out of hand, Ida attempted to flee the scene. Fuck this. She'd just outrun them.

"Stop right there!"

The sounds of bullets loading into the cartilage of the gun jumped in the air. She didn't need to look behind to know that there was a gun pointed at her.

Fuck.

Left with no other choice, Ida reluctantly halted her escape.

"Hands in the air!"

Debating her best options, Ida sighed and obeyed. She could have escaped, but the noise they generated had attracted many onlookers from the bars and houses around them. The last thing she wanted was for things to escalate further with open gunfire.

Ida carefully turned around, still holding her hands up in the air.

It wasn't too late to tell them her real identity, right?

Ah damn it, she had to try either way.

"Hey…" Ida started nervously, "you got it wrong, I am—"

"Shut it," the officer snarled, raising his gun up higher. "You're under arrest!"

And that was when Ida knew, she was thoroughly fucked.

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Apprehended (Pt 3)

"I told you," Ida said impatiently for the tenth time. "I am Ida Starke from the Survey Corps!"

The atmosphere in the confined interrogation room at Trost military police station was a sorry affair. Seated on a chair with her back pressed against the rusted frame, a small dainty desk separating them, Ida glared at the two officers who were holding her prisoner.

The two little runts who apprehended her had handed her over to their superiors, looking almost dementedly proud that they brought back a suspect. Ida had hoped that someone among the higher ranks would recognize her. Alas, her hopes were dashed when she found out her current captors were recently transferred from another branch in Sina. The rest of the higher up were away too.

She quickly realized that they probably were transferred to a more undesirable branch was because of how dumb they were.

The blonde, who Ida had come to know as Derrick, snorted rudely. "Yeah lady, and where's your tag to prove it?"

"I didn't bring it," Ida forced her voice into a civil tone despite the rage stirring inside her. "Is it an offense not to carry my military tag everywhere I go?"

"Oh yeah?" Luthan, the other officer in the room, laughed sarcastically. He bent over the small desk with his hands on his hips, leering close to her face. "And why would someone like her be sneaking about the shady streets, assaulting my subordinates, and attempting to run when asked to stop?"

Crap, for a bunch of idiots, they did have a point.

Ida couldn't possibly explain that she was stalking her Captain, with who she is also in a secret relationship with because she had an argument with him, right? She was sure that story would be far more absurd and unbelievable.

"Get Commander Erwin over then," Ida exercised her jaw as she crossed her arms. The handcuffs on her wrist made a loud noise. "Or better yet, bring over Nile Doks!"

"Drop the act, those names aren't for you to just casually summon," Derrick admonished. "The Survey Corps is busy with preparations to retake Wall Maria. Even the little kids know that. Come on, make my job easier, lady. What were you doing there?"

Ida bestowed her iciest glare at him. "I told you, I was just there! Your men tried to grab me first when I did nothing wrong! Is it a crime to wear a cloak and wander the streets?!"

Derrick scoffed. "You're not apprehended because you wandered the streets wearing a cloak, but because of suspicious activity."

Luthan grunted and raked his hair down his black hair. He nodded to the large pouch of coins on the table that they took off her earlier.

"You are carrying an awful lot of cash for a mere 'scout'. Seems to me you are involved in some shady business, aye?"

"And might I remind you, sir, I'm also a noble lady," Ida countered, "Look at the color of my hair, isn't it obvious for you fucking idiots?!"

Derrick released a sardonic chortle. "Yeah, if we can just determine who a person is based on their hair then I'm the fucking Queen!"

Luthan followed with another round of boisterous laughter. "I'm Levi Ackerman then!"

Ida cringed visibly at the two laughing officers. Black-haired or not, she couldn't believe the aging officer had compared himself to Levi. He didn't have one ounce of his good looks.

"Excuse me, sir—"

"No, no," Luthan stopped her, unable to stop his laughter. "You should call me Captain, ain't that right?! Haha!"

Ida seethed. Great, just great. This really was the work of the absolute shit tier luck in the entire world.

She slammed both hands on the desk and stood up. Their laughter ceased then.

"I'll repeat what I said again," Ida was nearly snarling at this point. "Get any scout. Anyone. They'll be able to vouch for my identity."

Unfortunately for Ida, her death glare didn't have the intended effect she wanted.

"Relax," Luthan chortled. "We already sent someone out to get a scout since you insisted."

"But in the meantime, Lady Starke," Derrick snickered, waving his hand in false courtesy to the chair to mock her, "please do take a seat, because you're stuck here with us till then! HAHA!"

Ida's eyebrow twitched. Oh, she couldn't wait to make them pay for this mockery later.

Derrick seemed to notice how she was seething. "Oooo, feisty one, isn't she? C'mon don't be angry, it's all for good laughs."

"Now that I take a good look at you, you aren't that bad looking for a criminal," Luthan smirked. "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll enjoy our company. Who knows? If you cooperate, I'll even treat you nicely."

The two officers laughed again. Ida clenched her fists as she sat back down in her chair.

Forget making them pay, she would demand for their heads instead.

"Hey, don't look so tense, we won't hurt you—"

"Touch me and I will end you."

Derrick lifted a brow and retracted back his hand at her deadly threat. "Still at it, aye? Listen lady, Ida Starke is a well-known name here on the streets, but pretending to be someone like her is only going to backfire on yourself—"

Disregarding her warning not to touch her, he grabbed her shoulder. Ida didn't give him any time to react when she grabbed his wrist and stood up. "Listen you, I'm in a really, really, bad mood today."

Derrick scoffed. "Hey lady—argh!"

"Ah, Derrick!"

She applied pressure to her grip to silence Derrick and glared at Luthan. He paused in his tracks. "I mean it, touch me again and I will end you."

Thankfully before Ida could proceed with her initial plan of strangling them both with her handcuffs if they said another word, a knock to the door cut the tension in the room.

Another officer came in. "Sir, we brought someone from the Survey Corps—huh? What… what is happening?"

Ida smiled at the news and finally let Derrick go.

Finally! Was it Erwin? She sure hoped so—that'll show them to mess with her!

A hand pushed away the bewildered officer and her savior emerged from behind him.

Ida's triumphant smile dissipated out of her face like a leaking tap.

Oh shit.

"Oh!" Derrick gasped, surprised at the man at the door. "Captain Levi, sir! Sorry about this, I didn't know that they'll get someone as busy as you for such a trivial matter!"

Levi said nothing but only glared at her from the door. He was dressed in his casual attire and had a paper bag in his arm, yet he radiated nothing but superiority that completely dominated the room.

Ida felt her heart skip a beat. The color rapidly drained from her face while her mind grappled with the situation.

Why…?

WHY HIM OUT OF ALL PEOPLE?!

Dazed, she slumped back down in her seat, defeated.

Curse her shit luck, what did she do in her past life to deserve this? She never thought it was possible, but right now, she wanted the officers to deny that she ever said that she was Ida Starke.

She took another brave peek at Levi and flinched. No, fuck that. They were right, she wasn't Ida. If the heavens were kind, this was all just a terrible dream. She didn't know if there was a God out there, but if there was—she hoped he'd at least protect what's left of her dignity.

Luthan seemed to have caught on that Levi wasn't in the best of mood.

"This woman has been claiming that she's a subordinate of yours." He paused to throw her a mocking look. "We know it's a lie, but she insisted and—"

"She is Ida Starke," Levi started approaching her like an animal stalking its prey. Ida only shrank smaller in her seat with each step. "A seasoned and respected veteran of the Survey Corps, who was supposed to be busy with her work, but somehow ended up in a fucking interrogation room."

Ida grimaced at how he enunciated every word. Unable to look at him directly in the eye, she kept her eyes fixated on her handcuffs. His shadow draped over her. She could feel the disapproval practically radiating off him.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

How shit could her luck possibly be?!

"Isn't that right, Starke?" Levi snarled, tapping his finger on the desk. She flinched with every single tap.

"Sorry," she whispered, completely deflated under the weight of his glare.

"Tch." Levi turned to the gaping officers in the room. "Oi, get the damn handcuffs off her. I'll handle it from here."

"Huh? What? Oh, r–right away, sir!"

Luthan scrambled to get the cuffs of her wrists. Meanwhile, Ida wondered wryly if it was possible to die from embarrassment. Hm. Maybe she would be the first person to do so.

'Death by mortification: Ida Starke of the Survey Corps passes away!'

Yeah, that would sound great as the headlines. The gossiping civilians would suck that up. Newspapers sales would skyrocket. Roy from Berg newspapers would love that, wouldn't he?

If I didn't die from this, maybe I should run out of this room and fling myself off Wall Rose and down the throat of some stupid Titan...

"Which dumbass put that on you?" Levi demanded when he saw the chafe marks on her wrist from the handcuffs.

Ida peered at the two officers in the room. They paled.

"Can't remember," she said, still not looking at Levi.

"Tsk." Levi gritted his teeth. From her peripheral view, she saw that he was glaring daggers at the two officers. He knew it was them.

She tugged on his sleeve. "It's fine, let's just go."

If the two officers found it odd that her behavior took a sharp turn upon the arrival of Levi, they didn't voice it. Instead, they quickly attempted to leave the room. Which Ida thought was a smart thing to do.

"Haha! Sorry about that, it was just a big misunderstanding—"

Levi didn't even wait to hear their explanation and grabbed her wrist, leading her out of the door.

Keeping her head low to hide her flushed cheeks, Ida didn't have much of a choice other than to be dragged out. Levi merely ignored all the curious stares of the MPs. She wondered if she realized he was holding onto her hand.

Surely, he didn't.

It wasn't until they were out of the building that Levi let her go. "You never fail to impress me, Starke."

Ida bit her bottom lip.

"Explain," Levi demanded. "How the fuck did you end up there?"

Shit. How was she supposed to answer that question?

Ida fiddled with her fingers. "Uhm, well…"

She trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

Levi cocked a brow at her unusual reaction. Then, his eyes thinned. He appeared to have realized something. "Don't tell me you were following me like a pesky fucking rat."

Silence.

Ida could do nothing but allow the shameful silence to cloak over her.

Levi's eyes widened slightly at her silent response. As usual, he was quick to connect the dots. Weirdly enough though, a challenging sort of smirk flashed across his face when he scoffed.

Great. He is finding amusement in my stupidity.

"I went to pick up some items." He nodded to the bag in his hand. "Cleaning detergent."

In disbelief, Ida snapped her wide eyes to him. "What?"

"There was a sale, Harold told me."

Ida gaped. She could not believe what she was hearing.

A sale.

A fucking sale for cleaning detergent.

That was all it took for Levi to get out of the headquarters. Ida wanted to scream at herself. She should've known. She should've fucking known. Oh, mother of Titans, she went through all of that all because the clean freak couldn't resist stocking up on cleaning detergent.

On second thought, she really should fling herself off Wall Rose.

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Apprehended (Pt 4)

"Disgraceful," Levi muttered, shaking his head.

He glanced back at the woman trailing after him. They had just arrived back at the headquarters. All throughout the journey back, Ida did not even speak, much less make eye-contact with him. Which was damn well odd for her. He had thought that she would've had enough of his snarky comments by now.

Maybe she felt a little guilty for what had happened. Good, she should.

Though Ida was pouting to herself, Levi simply wouldn't allow her the reprieve from the shitstorm she cooked up earlier.

"You were supposed to be on duty today but what the hell did you do? You went to play hide and seek. Worse, you even got caught by those shitty pigs—"

"I'm sorry!"

Her voice was raised well beyond what was necessary. A few scouts stopped walking along the path, looking at them with wide eyes before realizing just who it was that was making such a commotion. They scurried away as though they hadn't noticed in the slightest. While Ida was the one that grabbed their attention, it was Humanity's Strongest that they feared, and whatever was going on between the rumoured salacious couple, they did not want to be caught in the crossfire if it meant getting on the Captain's bad side.

Levi narrowed his eyes. It wasn't like her to apologize so quickly. "What?"

"You were ignoring me for days!" Ida said loudly, causing Levi to grimace at her volume, "and I didn't know how to apologize! You never did that before, and I felt so bad and I didn't know what to do! I know that I can be a bratty kid at times, but I am really sorry—"

"I know. I know." Levi stated quickly, his voice quiet and even in an attempt to try to calm her down. "Ida, I know."

He looked over his shoulder at the various scouts walking past them with wide eyes. Suddenly, he regretted his decision to have this conversation with her out in the open like this. He should have known Ida had a long-standing history of loudly arguing with him. To her credit, she did fall silent under his gaze.

"So… we're good now?"

Levi only sighed exasperatedly and nodded.

"Really?" Ida sounded hopeful.

"For fuck sake Ida, it wasn't like I went beyond the damn walls. I was busy either way."

Truth to be told, Levi felt a little guilty after seeing how affected she was. He had wanted to teach her a lesson, but damn it, he would be lying if he said he didn't miss her.

Levi paused for a slight moment and observed her, weighing his next move. Then, he crossed his arms passively, "This Saturday night, do you have any plans?"

Ida thought for a moment, then looked at him with a slight grin, "Well, you're the Captain, you tell me."

Levi snorted. "I'm being serious, do you already have the evening free or are you scheduled for something else that I need to get you out of?"

Ida looked straight into his eyes in an effort to understand what his intentions were. She appeared to have considered his question more. She wasn't sure what was so important that it made Levi willing to pull rank just to clear her schedule.

"Nothing really. I was on rotation with Marlene last week, but my schedule is pretty flexible now. Why? Something wrong? Is it Erwin?"

Levi only nodded to an empty path leading to the courtyard behind the headquarters. Ida followed him.

"No. We're going out," he said a while later when they reached the empty junction.

"Out?" Ida tilted her head. "Is it a mission? Is our squad coming?"

"No. Just us."

"Does this have to do something with the previous monarchy? What do I have to pack? Gears? Gas? Provisions? Did Hanji find out something—"

"That's not what I'm talking about." Levi corrected, intentionally stopping in the middle of the path so he could get her attention long enough to say what he needed without her making even further assumptions. "We're just going out."

The light of realization slowly entered Ida's green eyes. Levi cleared his throat and averted his eyes away. Damn it. It was all impulse. He didn't know what had gotten into him, but it didn't mean it wasn't any less awkward to ask her out.

Ida cleared her throat as well and shifted on her footing. "Uhm… where?"

"Somewhere that isn't a damn shitty bookstore."

She laughed good-naturedly. "Another play then?"

Levi cringed at the memory. "No."

"Then where?" Ida asked. When he remained silent, she urged him, "Come on, tell me—"

"No, you'll just have to wait."

This seemed to have amused her. "Oh my, a surprise? Now this is unlike you, Captain."

Levi grunted in response. His hand nervously reached up to adjust his cravat. He felt well out of his element. Shit, why was this so hard? Just as he was kicking himself, Ida suddenly placed herself in front of him, head tilted as she tried to make eye-contact with him. He didn't know why, but he avoided it.

"I still have work to do." Levi nodded to her wrist. "What else did those pieces of shit do?"

"Why?" Ida smiled teasingly. The awkwardness was gone from her now. "Are you upset at what they did to me?"

Levi felt his throat go a little dry when she leaned in closer to him. The way she was looking at him made his heart hammer in his chest. As though she had sensed his nervousness, Ida continued to tease him—he knew she was enjoying how awkward he looked.

"You are behaving a little weirdly today, Levi," Ida said coyly and feigned a gasp. "Oh! It can't be? Don't tell me you never asked someone out on a date before? Is this your first time?"

A nerve jumped in his throat. The galls of this brat. Damn it. He had work to do. But—

Before Levi could help it, he grabbed her hand and pulled Ida to the forest that surrounded the headquarters. He smirked when he heard her gasp when he pinned her against the tree.

If she wanted to play, he'd play with her.

Levi assessed the rustled look in her eyes and saw the fear within them. Good. Now she'd know who she was messing with.

"I have work to do," she light-heartedly noted something else. "You have work to do, remember?"

"I am not the only one distracted here."

Ida hid a smile and tilted her head in the direction of the headquarters. "Someone might walk past."

He did not even blink in concern. "No one is watching us."

She giggled nervously when he etched closer to her. It felt somehow satisfying to see her withering under his gaze, clearly unsure whether she had pushed too far.

Levi was motionless for a moment. His heart hiccupped uncomfortably in his chest when Ida peered up to him nervously, a pretty blush on her cheeks. He had wanted to teach the brat a lesson, but why did it feel like he was the one under her spell now?

Fuck it.

Before he changed his mind, his arms reached for her thighs and lifted her easily. Ida shrieked, wrapping her legs around his waist to prevent her from falling. Levi slammed her onto the tree, pinning all his weight on top of her.

Oh, he was screwed. So fucking screwed.

"Levi…" she breathed at him. It was a weak protest.

"Quiet," he whispered, nose inches away from hers. His lips curled in amusement when he leaned in and pressed her lips to hers. Ida tensed up from the sudden kiss, but slowly melded into him.

Her lips were so soft and delicate on his, yet he could feel her applying increasing pressure, her kiss becoming more desperate. He'd raised a hand to the back of her head, threading his fingers through her red hair. He pulled her deeper into the kiss.

Fuck. He really wasn't meant to be enjoying this.

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Habits

Was this what it was always going to be like?

Damn it.

Levi grumbled an expletive to himself, going back to his meal. He felt Ida's stare from across the table. From the way she shifted in her seat, she was probably concerned about what had upset him this time.

"What's wrong?"

He rolled his eyes at her question and gestured to her plate. "Just eat."

"Say it," she demanded.

He looked up and studied her face this time. There was a speck of food at the side of her mouth and she didn't seem to notice. The Walls, did she really infuriate him with that. Taking a handkerchief from his mouth, he reached forward and cleaned the sides of her lip. He couldn't help but notice a blush on her cheek when he did this.

"Thanks," she muttered when he retracted back his hand. "So, what's wrong? I think the food isn't too bad."

Levi grimaced. How could she ask something like that? How the hell could this woman be so dense? The brat was a wonder he could never even begin to decipher.

He watched her eat a mouthful of her pasta and took a sip of her black tea as she waited for his answer. They were out in town this weekend and Levi had chosen this restaurant based on Mobilt's recommendations.

"Levi?" Ida tilted her head. "What's wrong?"

Ah, fuck it.

Without any momentum, he asked in a straightforward manner, "Is this a new shitty habit of yours or what?"

Ida's brows bunched together. "Huh?"

"That." Levi nodded to her pasta and her black tea. He folded his arms and leaned back in his seat, deadly serious. "Ordering something, fucking regretting it when it comes, and then proceeding to take what I ordered instead."

As if she hadn't noticed it until he pointed it out, Ida looked down at his plate of pasta, then at the plate of potato stew she ordered in front of him and that god awful looking bubbling pink juice—which Levi had no idea what the hell it was—before she issued a nervous laugh.

"Oh."

He lifted a brow. "Yeah, oh. I thought you said you just wanted to try it."

"I changed my mind," Ida said shamelessly, twirling her fork in the already half-eaten pasta. "Should we just order something else? Or… do you want your pasta back?"

Levi narrowed his eyes at her, wondering if she was doing this intentionally to piss him off. But upon seeing how sheepish she looked, he realized that maybe she really did like his choice better.

Damn it.

There was no other way than to suck it up, was there?

"Forget it," Levi grumbled, taking his utensils. "People are starving." He glanced at the strange pink liquid in the glass and grimaced, "But what the hell is this? What did you order?"

"I don't know," Ida said honestly. A nervous shrug danced on her shoulders, "It sounded fancy on the menu, so I decided to try it."

Levi snorted at her spoiled predictability. Fucking impetuous as ever.

He observed the drink again, hesitant to even touch it. The shitty brat certainly didn't like it if she had taken his black tea in exchange for this. Levi frowned. Was it even edible? It looked like one of those strange liquids in Hanji's lab.

But it had to be at least safe right?

He sighed and threw another wary glance at the drink again. It was bubbling, in a light shade of pink, with a lemon slice swirling around in it. Frankly, it looked like it would have tasted like shit. All sweet and crap.

"I can return your tea to you if you want," Ida suddenly offered, obviously feeling a little guilty. "Sorry, I didn't realize."

Stone-faced, Levi exhaled sharply. "Just take it," he grunted. "I have tea back at the headquarters."

Ida only gave him a beautiful smile as though to apologize and thank him. Levi hesitated as he stared at the glass, and then back at Ida. She was dressed in civilian wear like him today. Her red hair was unbraided and allowed to fall past her shoulders.

As he grabbed the glass, Levi's felt his throat go a little dry when he realized how pretty she looked.

The glass reflected the image of Ida drinking his black tea. A strange sensation overcame him as he did so. As strange as it was, Levi felt as though everything was as it should be. Naturally.

He cautiously took a sip of the pink juice.

As expected, it was sickening sweet, bubbly, and refreshing but there was a hint of sourness of the lemon as an aftertaste. It was totally not his type of drink.

Levi smirked and snorted in disbelief.

But he didn't think that it was so bad.

Because it tasted like her.

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Sick (Pt. 1)

Light layers of cold sweat coated her forehead. The rock in her dry throat had grown so huge that she was sure she was going to choke on it. Ida sniffed and groaned on her bed, feeling insanely terrible.

This was just her luck. The one time she had thought that everything was going fine on their dinner date, the Gods just had to play their cruel joke on her. Ida wanted to end the night with a nice walk around town, and just as she thought that everything was perfect, they were soon under the mercy of a sudden thunderstorm.

Though she was a sickly child, Ida had always thought that she had a strong body now, presumably because she had awakened her powers. She was hardly sick, and whatever physical wounds would heal quicker than an average human.

It was exactly because of this that Ida had neglected to take a bath after arriving back at the headquarters with Levi. And now she was paying the consequences in full.

She stared at the door bitterly.

Hours earlier, Erwin left with the doctor after insisting that she take a rest, but Ida had never taken kindly to being cooped up in bed like a patient. To make matters worse, Levi had yet to visit her and night would fall soon.

She grunted and pulled the covers over her and turned to the other side. Damn it. She could only hope this fever would pass soon.

"You look like shit."

Surprised at the sudden voice, she jerked off her bed and looked at the door. She frowned, not believing what she was seeing. When she was certain her eyesight wasn't playing tricks on her, Ida snorted loudly.

"Is that really necessary?"

Levi continued to watch her intentionally, a single eyebrow now raised in question.

"That," she gestured to his outfit. "Isn't a mask a little too much?"

"The last thing we need is for this to spread and for our entire legion to be sick, dumbass."

Ida moaned and dove straight back to her pillow. "I have a cold, not the fucking plague."

Levi sat down at the foot of her bed. Though she didn't look at him, she pulled her legs in to make more room for him. Ida wondered if he intended on staying, she knew that he was busy.

"Need anything?"

"I need you to stop treating me like as if I have—" she broke off into a coughing fit. Suddenly, she felt a hand land on her head.

She closed his eyes and gave a sigh of relief, his cool touch feeling wonderful against her suddenly extremely hot and flushed skin.

Levi frowned deeply. He appeared to have realized that her breaths were weak and cumbersome, almost panting. "You're sweating."

Ida smiled weakly and nodded, not surprised. "Probably the fever breaking. I'll be fine by tomorrow, you know us, awakened powers and all, we recover quicker too."

Levi's eyes narrowed down. His touch was so sedating, and Ida wanted nothing more than to feel his cool fingertips brush over her skin until the sudden overwhelming heat wave passed.

All too soon Levi retracted back his hand. Ida opened her eyes in unspoken protest, but he was already walking toward the door.

She smiled sadly, guessing that he had work to complete. Ida repositioned herself in the bed, brooding.

Well, it wasn't like the clean freak to stay in a room with a sick patient after all.

To her surprise, Levi returned a few minutes later with a large pot of water and a few washcloths that he had draped over his shoulder. He frowned when he saw that she had kicked all the blankets off the foot of her bed.

She raised a brow when she saw his mask was gone as well. "Don't you have work to do?"

He set both rags into the water and pulled out the first one, wringing out the extra water and folding the cloth absently. "Finished it earlier. Had a ton of shit piled up today because I was covering for you as well, but it's done."

Ida wondered if he hurried through his work today so he could accompany her.

"Go to sleep. The last thing I need is for your fever to come back now that it's finally broken." As he said this, he placed the wet towel on her forehead. "That'll keep you cool while you sleep right?"

She smiled weakly and gave a single nod to his question.

Levi returned her nod and settled down on the chair beside her bed, crossing his arms. Ida blinked in surprise.

Wait a minute… was he staying here?

"You don't have to… I'm sick, I don't want it to pass to you—"

"It's a cold not the fucking plague," Levi shot her own words back at her. "Sleep."

Ida looked at him just slightly, not wanting to move her head too much so that the washcloth didn't slip away. "Then… can you come here?"

He gave her a suspicious brow lift but listened to her request. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she held his hand and pressed it on her flushed face, "I feel better than you're here—"

She broke off when she sneezed.

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Sick (Pt. 2)

He felt the water droplets disperse into the air and onto his hand. He shuddered inwardly. Levi could hardly control the cringe that crept up his face. Shit. He would've bolted the fuck out of there, but suddenly Ida groaned, and his mortified thoughts dissipated.

"Sleep," he commanded, putting his hand on the washcloth to check the temperature.

Ida gave him a weak smile, and nodded, closing her eyes.

The night seemed to pass like a fever dream for Ida, but Levi it wasn't the case. Every so often, an exhale and creaking caused him to stir awake and groggily look up from where he was seated on the chair in confusion. It was Ida and he knew the rag wasn't enough to keep her comfortable anymore.

Hours continued to pass by this way with him replacing the washcloth. The process repeated itself frequently. Levi was barely starting to fall asleep in his armchair by the time Ida would begin tossing and turning once more.

Thankfully, Ida had recovered by the time morning came.

But unfortunately, her cold had since passed to him.

"Fuck," Levi cursed angrily as Ida placed a wet washcloth on his forehead.

He was kicking himself internally for removing the damn mask.

Just a cold and not the fucking plague? Damn it. He should've known better than to listen to her. All disease and bacteria were one and the fucking same and they spread just as damn easily. It was exactly the reason why he kept the headquarters in such pristine condition.

Fucking idiot he was.

"I know it's pretty miserable, but you need to stop moving so much and try to get some sleep," Ida said as she crawled away from him on his bed. "Don't worry about anything else, okay?"

Levi inhaled deeply, irritated. He couldn't even remember the last time he had fallen ill. "Did Erwin or anyone else look for me?"

He did find it strange how no one had come to find him yet.

"Nope."

"Not even four eyes?"

She shrugged. "Probably, but I publicly issued a threat that any asshole that tries to look for you will have to get through me."

At her honest explanation, there was a harsh sort of snort or exhale from Levi, a rattled kind of wheezing, but there was a hint of a smirk on his face. The slight bounce to his shoulders suggested to her he wasn't battling off a sudden coughing fit.

Ida moved to the chair beside his bed and sat down. She took out a stack of paperwork that he knew belonged to him and smiled.

"Sleep, I'll stay with you till you recover."

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Training (Pt 1)

Levi headed towards his office in the morning light. On route on his path, he found himself stopping to take in the scenery. It was one of those baby-blue skies today, not the washed-out grey so characteristic of wintry mornings.

The training fields were teeming with activity; unsurprising for a weekday morning. Levi had expected as much, but he found it still irked him to see so many of his subordinates laughing and chattering as they worked out together.

His eyes fell on his squad, who were gathered around the far corner of the fields near the stables. Levi had instructed his squad to spend some time on personal training, but they looked perfectly content on watching.

He grimaced. Disciplining unruly squad members was certainly the last thing he could be assed with right now. Wondering what was so damn interesting, he turned to the fields.

Levi quickly understood their interest.

Mikasa and Ida were locked in a sparring session. They were so involved in the foray that they hadn't even registered the looks of reverence around them.

Deciding he could spare some time; Levi leaned his back on a stone pillar and observed them.

They weren't going easy on each other, but from the ghostly grins on their faces, Levi knew they were enjoying it. Ida was just like him, only coming alive when it came to violence, but now he could see it was the same for Mikasa as well.

Levi grunted, suddenly remembering the time when Ida asked about their familial connection.

"Probably distant relatives," he recalled saying, but Ida only smiled.

"That means she's family to you, isn't it? That's great. That means you're not that alone as you thought you were."

Despite their rocky start, Mikasa and him had come to a decent understanding, or so Levi had assumed. But it wasn't as a close familial relationship like that brat had hoped, it was just… formal.

Even so, Levi couldn't shake a pang of pride when he watched her. He knew the girl was skilled, but she had always lived under his shadows as the secondary Ackerman. Ida was in no way an easy opponent, and the fact that Mikasa was holding his ground against her was impressive.

Intrigued by their fight, he found himself watching for much longer than he had planned.

Mikasa's height made it easier to counter Ida's attacks, but Ida's small stature meant she could dodge her advances with relative ease. Though Mikasa's throws were firmer, harder, but Ida's was quicker, more agile and she moved with more field experience.

Levi was watching the match when voices drifted from around the corner. They bounced off the long, empty stony hallway, reaching his ears.

From their bitching, it sounded like some new recruits slacking off. His eyes thinned. The two men were talking about how life at the Survey Corps was shitter than life back at the Garrison unit they previously enlisted in.

Normally Levi would have ignored them, but then they began talking about Ida.

"Man, if there's anything good here, it's my instructor."

"Oh, you mean Ida from the midget's squad?"

"Right. I forget, Klaus is your instructor. But yeah, that's her."

Levi tilted his head slightly from the pillar he was leaning on to see the recruit pointing to the fields where Ida was. He didn't recognize them. Freshly enlisted it seemed.

"Oof, feisty," his friend whistled. "Looks like one heck of a woman."

"She's surprisingly nice contrary to the rumors about her."

"Really?"

"She has a great smile… and great tits."

His friend guffawed at his last comment and added, "A nice firm ass too."

Levi felt a muscle jump in his jaw.

"The one she's fighting is hot too."

"Too young for me man, that's illegal."

His friend nudged him. "Tsk, you could wait a few years, but you only have eyes for your instructor."

"Can you blame me? Look at her go. Imagine how nasty she'll be in bed."

His friend nodded. "Think anyone tap that yet?"

"Probably, all the feisty ones are usually freaks."

Laughter issued from them both. "Let's go, training is about to start."

Levi glared at the back so the two recruits when they emerged from behind him, seemingly oblivious to how he was just behind the stone pillar and had heard everything they said.

They were walking to the training fields when his friend suddenly turned to him, "Yo, keep the comments between us yeah? I just remember I heard the midget and her had a special relationship."

"Really?" He didn't seem perturbed by that information. "Well, maybe she'll let me tap that too. Or the both of us can at once."

Nothing but indignant rage blared inside of Levi.

Scum of society.

Those little shits. He still had paperwork to complete, but without a second thought, he followed them to the training fields.

Ida and Mikasa had ended their match by the time he arrived.

"We should do it again," Ida grinned, a towel draped on her shoulders. Her red hair was choked into a high ponytail, revealing her slender neck. "You were great."

Levi couldn't help but grimace when he saw her in her tank top.

Damn it, brat, stop smiling so much.

"Could say the same for you," Mikasa gave her a small smile as she wiped her sweat off. "How about later?"

"My training session is about to start, but tomorrow is okay for—huh?" Ida blinked when she spotted him coming from behind Mikasa. "Levi? What are you doing here?"

"Go and take a break." As he said this, Levi shrugged off his jacket and threw it at her. "Wear that."

Surprised as she was with his sudden appearance, Ida caught it.

"What?" Ida was bewildered. "Levi, what's going on?"

Levi rolled up his sleeves and loosened his cravat. "You're dismissed, I'll take over."

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Training (Pt 2)

Ida tilted her head as the murmurs around her swelled. Levi had always kept his participation as an instructor to the minimal, and now suddenly, he wanted to take over?

Goodness, what was wrong with him?

Levi's eyes had a deadly glint as he scoured the group of subordinates on the fields.

"You two," Levi pointed to the two of them, and did a motion for them to get their asses over, "are with me."

Immediately, they stiffened, nervous at being singled out. They looked like they had just shat their pants.

"Uhm, why us, sir?"

"Don't make me repeat myself," Levi warned gravely, cracking his knuckles. "Let's go."

Confused and unable to go against his direct order, Ida moved to the side with her squad. She felt herself smile when they began. Truthfully, it was more of a beat-down than a spar. The two recruits struggled to defend, and it looked like they couldn't even be bothered to attempt to fight back.

Jean winched painfully when he saw one of them bleeding from the nose. "Ouch."

"Oh God," Armin hid his face behind his hands.

Connie swallowed. "Is it just me, or is Captain in a really bad mood?"

Hm, now that she thought about it, what the hell happened to get Levi so worked up?

"Should we stop him?" Eren asked, flinching when Levi's boot contacted the recruit's stomach.

"I think so?" Sasha said, looking to Ida beside her who was completely engrossed with the fight happening. "They'll end up at the infirmary if this continues."

Unfortunately, Ida didn't share her squads' worry. Instead, she whistled and crossed her arms. "That was a great upper kick."

Her squad gawked at her off-handed comment. Was that a thing to say when her subordinates were getting ruthlessly beaten up? Surely, that couldn't be considered a spar!

Sensing their disbelieving gapes, Ida turned to them and frowned. "What?"

"Don't you think… uh you should stop Captain?" Sasha said, wincing when Levi broke one of the recruit noses.

"What for?" Ida appeared completely lost and confused. "He's doing great, it's just a sparring match."

Mikasa rubbed her chin, studiously watching the match. "Hmm, he does have great form."

The rest of the squad turned their gapes to Mikasa. Meanwhile, Ida grinned and nodded, "Right? It doesn't look like it, but he fights in a very calculative and insightful way. You can learn a lot from watching him."

Connie was flabbergasted. How is there anything insightful with how Levi is fighting right now? It wasn't even a sparring session; the recruits aren't even attempting to land a blow!

Mikasa nodded in agreement. "Think he'll spar with me?"

"Maybe. You can ask, I don't see why he would reject you," Ida shrugged. Her smile only grew wider when Levi landed an uppercut straight to the recruit's face. Anyone could tell that she was rooting for him.

"They're inhuman," Jean mumbled, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I forget that it was them we were talking to. Of course, they'll find that normal," Connie said, looking back at the beatdown happening at the fields. He cringed. "Ouch, I felt that."

The methodical beating continued until the recruits were nothing but groaning messes on the floor. By then, the crowd surrounding them had shrunk back.

Levi dangerously leaned down to the two moaning recruits and muttered something. Then he walked towards them. The soldiers visibly avoided him and made a path of him.

"You did great," Ida handed him a towel, looking almost proud. "Mikasa wants to spar with you next."

Levi grunted and took it from her. Then he looked at Mikasa. "Some other day maybe." He returned his gaze to Ida. "I forget I still have shit to do, can you take over?"

"No problem. Why did you come here so early? Did those two recruits call you short or something?"

"Yeah," he deadpanned.

Ida lifted a brow and snorted. What a joke to make. "Hilarious, Levi."

"Remind me never to make a short person joke in front of him," Connie whispered to Sasha beside him. The girl nodded vigorously in agreement.

Ida took the towel back from him after Levi had wiped off his sweat. "Join you for lunch later?"

Levi nodded and moved to leave for his office. She might be thinking too much of it, but why did he look so satisfied?

"Wait!" Ida called for him and started removing his jacket off her. "Your—"

"Keep it," Levi turned back to her. "Oh. And make sure it fucking stays on."

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Babysit (Pt 1)

"What the hell is this?"

As Levi asked this, he grabbed Ida's arm and moved them to the corner of the room. There were little things that left him flabbergasted, much less surprised. But this was way beyond his realms of fucking normality. Levi threw a dirty glare at the unknown toddler in his office. The brat didn't seem to notice, his curious blue eyes scoured his new surroundings in awe.

"First a damn dog, fine, but and now a brat?" he hissed. "This isn't a fucking orphanage, Ida. Send him to Historia."

She blinked, expression crumpling into confusion at the hostility he was emitting. "Huh? What does Heichou have to do with this?"

"That." Levi threw another apprehensive glance at the toddler who was prancing in the middle of this office. "Where did you pick that up?"

He had just arrived back to his office, only to be flabbergasted when he saw there was an unknown brat in there. When he saw Ida though, all his questions were answered.

Of course, who else could it be? Levi knew she had a knack for charity and all, but this was too much. Way too fucking much.

The Walls help him. Where and how did she find this kid? And most importantly, how did she manage to bypass Erwin? There was limited to have fucking spoiled she acted.

Ida stared at him for a long time, until it finally registered with her. She burst out laughing.

"Wait, you can't possibly think that I picked a random orphan kid off the streets?

Levi only glared at her, his expression speaking volumes. He didn't think that something as absurd as that was beneath her.

"That's Klaus's kid," she enlightened him, smirking. "He's on off-duty today. His wife is sick. I offered to take care of his kid for him today while he goes home to take care of her."

Thank the bloody Walls.

"Fine," Levi replied curtly, relieved that the situation wasn't as he thought it was. "Do whatever you want but bring the brat somewhere else. I have work to do."

Without missing a beat, Levi pulled his chair from the desk and sat down, determined to get some work done. While he did this, Ida went to pick up the toddler in her arms.

"Don't call him that, he has a name Levi," she chastised, and then looked fondly at the brat in her arms who was biting his thumb. "Say hello to Captain Levi, Finn."

"Captain Levi?" Finn mumbled, blinking. "Papa says he's the strongest soldier."

"Yes!" Ida laughed, walking to the desk where Levi was to grab his attention. She frowned when he didn't acknowledge them. "Come on, Levi, say something. Seems like this little one is your fan!"

Levi grimaced, not even looking up from his folders.

"He isn't really that friendly," Ida grinned placatingly at Finn and pinched his cheeks. "But I'm sure that he will love you soon. You have the entire day with him! Aren't you happy?"

The last statement finally arrested his interest. Levi looked up from his papers. "What?"

Ida tried to hide how nervous she was with a sheepish smile, but Levi could see right through her. His eyes thinned.

Don't tell me…

"Well… uhm…" Ida bounced Finn in her arms as she struggled to find the right words, "…you see, I kind of forget that I had to accompany Hanji on one of her experiments with Eren... you know, they want to test my freaky ability and all. I can't really skip out on it…"

Levi raised a thin suspicious brow and leaned back in his chair, unamused when she trailed off.

"It's today," Ida confessed quickly, losing composure under his glare. "I can't bring Finn with me, so I just need someone to babysit him for a few hours, and I thinking that you—"

"Not interested," Levi replied curtly. "I'm busy, and even if I'm not, hell no."

It wasn't like he didn't like kids, but he didn't appreciate being around them. He never had. No matter how old they were, or how well behaved, he just didn't like them around him, especially when he was working.

Kids were loud, dirty, and troublesome. He felt annoyed just looking at them.

"Please?" Ida begged while Finn played with the ends of her hair. "I really can't bring him, Eren going to transform so I don't want to traumatize him."

Tsk. And she thought it was okay to traumatize him by giving him a brat to take care of? Ridiculous.

"No."

"One time? I need a responsible adult to take care of him. I can't trust the kids. The others are busy and you're just in your office the entire day—"

"No, don't make me repeat myself again, Ida."

Ida opened her mouth, readying a retort, but before she could the door burst open. Hanji walked right in. She waved her ink-stained hand cheerfully at him. "Good morning, Levi! You look amazingly pissed as usual!"

Levi grinded his teeth at her energetic greeting. "Yeah, don't knock, just stroll right in, why don't you."

Hanji gave him an apologetic smile. She gasped when she spotted Finn in Ida's arms. "Oh! Is this Klaus's kid? The one you told me about? He's precious!"

Ida smiled proudly, bouncing Finn in her arms and the brat clung tighter to her. He was somewhat wary of the eccentric four eyes.

"Right? I fell in love with him the moment I saw him!"

As the two women conversed with each other, it took all of Levi's might to keep his eyes trained on his folders. There was an annoying ache in his chest, and he knew it came from watching Ida being just so damn perfect naturally with a child.

Hanji tucked her folders under her armpits and affectionately caressed Finn's round cheeks. "He would be a heartbreaker this one. Though I must say, he doesn't have a tiny bit of Klaus in him."

Ida nuzzled her face on Finn's cheeks. "I know!"

Hanji laughed. "Anyway, you ready? We need to leave now if we're going to be back by sundown."

"Yeah," Ida nodded. "Levi said that he'll babysit for me."

Levi bristled at that statement. He stared at Ida for a moment, wondering if she was kidding. But something told him that she wasn't. Fucking bollocks. He wasn't going to stand for it.

His lips twisting into a snarl, he said, "I didn't fuckin—"

"That's great, Levi!" Hanji looked at him in surprise, clapping her hands. She obviously didn't think that he would agree to something like that. "Thanks! I was worried that we might have to postpone!"

Levi rose from his seat, realizing that the two belligerent women had no plans on listening to him. "Oi, shitty glasses, I didn't—"

"He did," Ida interjected curtly as she placed the toddler back on his feet. She smiled at Finn and ruffled his head. "Remember to be good, okay? I'll be back soon! Captain Levi will look after you."

Her tone was suddenly so affectionate and sweet that Levi couldn't help but stare at her as she patted Finn's locks of black hair. She was the picture of motherhood, and somehow it made her even more beautiful.

"Okay, Ida!" Finn said with a toothy grin. "Come back soon!"

Shit. Levi clenched his jaw. Idiot. Now wasn't the damn time to be staring at her.

Ida and Hanji were already on their way out when Levi rushed to them. "Oi, fucking stop. I have shit to do—"

At the sight of him approaching Ida talked over him as she quickly pushed Hanji out of the door. "Thanks, Levi! I owe you one! Remember no cursing! You can ask our squad for help if anything goes wrong! You're the best!"

Before Levi could get another word in, the door slammed to his face.

Fuck. There was no way that woman would take no for an answer was there?

He hissed to himself, raking a hand through his hair.

Damn the fucking pair of them. Was Ida hell-bent on making his life harder than it already was?

Levi took in a deep breath. He counted slowly in his head until he was able to return to the calm and level-headed coolness the situation called for.

A tug came to the end of his shirt. Keeping his face deadpanned, Levi looked down.

Bright blue eyes stared back at him with admiration as Finn tilted his head curiously.

Shit.

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Babysit (Pt 2)

"I already approved these, send it to the respective locations." Levi handed a folder to one of his subordinates standing in front of his desk. The female recruit took it nervously as he asked, "Any word from the Garrison about the progress of building the mounted weapons?"

Though Levi pretended not to notice, his two subordinates were constantly throwing glances at the small life form in his office.

"Uh, do you mean the executioner from hell, sir?" the male recruit inquired.

He nodded. He refused to call those weapons that ridiculous name. Albeit that shitty glasses developed that Titan guillotine, that woman had no sense in naming her inventions.

"From the last report, the construction at Utopia and Karanese district is complete."

As the female recruit said this, her wide eyes wandered back to Finn who was seated on the floor by the side of the desk, doodling on a piece of paper. Not that he could blame her open curiosity. For the first damn time, the floor in his pristine office was a complete mess with scattered papers.

The sight of the mess made him grimace.

"Good." Levi opened his folder. "Let me know when they begin—"

He cut himself off when he felt a small tug on his shirt. He looked down. The little brat looked at him with extreme unease when he met his eyes.

"What do you want, kid? I'm busy."

Maybe his tone was too stern, but the boy shook a little at the sound of his voice.

"Uhm…" Finn shifted on his footing. "When will Ida return…?"

"Soon. Anything else?"

"N–No…"

"Then go," Levi pointed to the mess that he made in his office. "Continue drawing or something."

The female recruit peeked curiously at Finn who was dejectedly returning to his pile of scattered papers as instructed. "Captain is that…?"

"Don't ask," Levi growled. He didn't think it was any of her business, more so, it infuriated him to even explain how he got into this mess. Exhaling loudly, he waved them off, "Go and send the report, you're dismissed."

His subordinates saluted and quickly swept the room, probably sensing that he was in a bad mood. Silence settled in the atmosphere after they left. Levi diligently went through his work, but he found unable to concentrate. Every so often, Finn would dart a sad glance at him or sigh loudly as he doodled.

What a bother, Levi thought. He looked comically pathetic.

"Oi kid, you can go and sit down," Levi gestured to the couch by the window with his chin. "Nap there if you want."

"Okay…"

Finn attempted to crawl up to the couch but tripped on his own foot clumsily in the process. Levi felt his heart skip a beat as the little brat almost fell but managed to hold onto the edge of the couch before he could.

Dumb kid.

Sensing that he couldn't go up the couch, Levi sighed and crossed the room. Gently, or as gently as the roughed Captain could manage, he picked him up and plopped him on the couch. The toddler stiffened when he touched him.

"T–Thank you…" Finn mumbled, unable to meet him in the eye.

Levi frowned when he realized that was an ink stain on his cheek. He took out his handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to him. How bothersome, the kid would have to use his belongings too.

"Wipe it," Levi demanded, crossing his arm.

"…Okay…" Finn replied compliantly, wiping his hand with the handkerchief.

"Tch. Not that." Levi grabbed the fabric from his hand. He kneeled to reach the eye level of the toddler and started wiping his cheek. "I mean your cheek, it's dirty."

When he was done, Levi tucked the handkerchief back into his pocket. He appraised the toddler silently. Finn's hands were bunched tightly around his pants and he seemed unable to make eye-contact with him.

Clearly, Finn was intimidated by him.

Damn it, Ida. How was he supposed to handle a kid? Levi sighed and looked out the window. It was just mid-afternoon. He counted the time till she fucking got back, and then he could throw this brat back to her.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, a poor attempt in attempting to keep the edge away from his tone.

Finn flinched. "No…"

Levi rubbed his temples and then folded his arms. Kids always need something. That was why they were cumbersome. He figured that maybe Finn was bored. He had spent the last hour doodling and making a fucking mess out of his office.

Right, so the brat wasn't hungry. That was good enough right? He wouldn't want to starve his subordinate's kid.

"Look I have work to do. If you need anything, tell me."

Levi didn't even wait for the kid to reply before he returned to his desk. The minutes ticked by. He was almost at the end of his last stack of paperwork when he decided to check at the brat on his couch. Finn was seated upright but his head was downcast, bouncing almost.

Crap, is that kid going to fall asleep seated like that?

Ever so often, when gravity pulled him and his body leaned forward, Finn jerked awake and rubbed his tired eyes. Levi tried to ignore him, but the process continued until he found himself aggravated.

Damn it. He couldn't possibly work like this. His heart would give up halfway thinking that Finn would fall off the couch and hit his head. Why wouldn't the kid sleep lying down on the couch? Was he nervous?

Fuck. How the hell was he supposed to know? Should he just ask someone? Erwin, maybe?

He vetoed the idea as soon as it materialized. The bastard had dropped by earlier and upon learning what had happened, he laughed.

Obviously, his shitty predicament amused him.

"Shit," Levi cursed softly, rubbing his temples. Ida made it look so damn simple—the brat was happy around her, but with him, he could tell he was anxious.

Ah, fuck it.

Levi got off his chair and went to Finn. He lifted him up by the armpits, eliciting a surprised gasp from the toddler, and positioned him in his arms.

"You tired?"

Although he rubbed his eyes, Finn said, "N–No…"

"Bored?"

Finn didn't answer him this time and Levi assumed it was the case.

With a loud sigh, he carried the kid back to his desk and sat down with him. He decided he simply couldn't leave him on the couch, it was a hazard basically waiting to happen. The boy instinctively adjusted himself on his lap and peered on the documents on his desk.

"Interested?" Levi lifted a thin brow, realizing how he was looking at the folders.

Finn faced him and nodded eagerly. Levi could see the sparkle in his eyes. He smirked and gave it to him to read. It wasn't hard per se, but it was very detailed and meticulous work, not to mention time-consuming. Levi doubt he could understand it.

"I want to be a scout like Papa when I grow up," Finn said, smiling at him for once. "Will I do all of this when I join?"

Levi said nothing but gave him a small grimace. He knew it would be the last thing Klaus would've wanted for his son. It was a life that any good father wouldn't wish on their children; cruel, dangerous, and lonely.

After all, the Squad Leader was an exception. Klaus was one of those rare scouts who were married and had a family. A sudden thought crossed his mind and Levi wondered momentarily if it was possible for him. If it was possible for Ida and him.

"Look, I need to finish all of this," Levi said, shrugging off that useless thought. "You can watch."

Finn nodded in agreement. But as with any young toddler, it didn't take long for Finn to lose interest in what he was doing. Soon, Finn drifted off to sleep on his lap, using his arm as a makeshift pillow. It limited his movements, but Levi didn't think that it was wise to wake him up.

This brat is considerate, Levi mused, realizing that he hadn't complained once.

Levi was at his last document when a stench suddenly pulled him away from his concentration. Fuck, he cursed inwardly. He was used to the stench of the stables, it was nothing compared to the filth of the Underground City, but the smell was distracting, nevertheless.

Maybe he should go and clean the stables later. It had to be filthy if the stench had reached his office.

He took a quick glance at the windows and frowned.

The window is closed?

Levi wrinkled his nose and scowled. Hold on. Where the hell was the stench coming from then? It was strong. A horrendous odor that smelled literally like… shit.

It was at this exact moment in his thoughts that the sleeping toddler in his arms shifted slightly. Levi froze in his seat.

Oh, fuck.

Holding his breath when Levi finally noticed there was something squishy and wet on his lap, a thousand curse words ran in his mind at the speed of light when the starling realization hit him in raging waves.

The fucking brat just took a shit on him.

o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o

Misunderstanding Version 4

Rumors.

It was one of the deadliest things of all. Oftentimes, one wonders how the hell such absurd rumors are formed, especially when they didn't have an ounce of truth grounded in them. The answer was surprisingly simple, as Ida and Levi had learned.

Information passed via word of mouth was not always accurate. In fact, if one never receives the word from the source, there was a damn good chance it wasn't accurate and an even bigger chance that at least part of the information was incorrect.

It was no surprise that the rumor mill in the Survey Corps was efficient and constant. Not that Levi or Ida could fault their comrades. Being a scout was a depressing, lonely job and they had to find what little pass time and entertainment they could.

Even so, it wasn't like they appreciated it. Not when they were the constant hot topic for their eager-eyed curious subordinates. It was the price that they had to pay as they both tend to keep to themselves.

Currently, the Survey Corps had come alive with the wildfire of scandalous gossip.

It all started when Levi appeared with Finn in his arms and promptly dumped the toddler on Sasha and Connie.

"Captain?" Sasha asked in surprise, blinking at little Finn who looked embarrassed. "Uh. Who is this?"

"Don't ask," Levi seethed, grimacing as if he had touched something dirty, "I need to take a quick shower, take care of him. If he even loses a hair, I'll hold you two responsible."

Connie tilted his head. "Huh?"

Levi shot a heated glare at him. "What part of my instruction do you not understand?"

At that scathing statement, Sasha and Connie promptly swallowed and nodded obediently. Strangely, they realize that Levi's shirt was soaking wet, but they decided not to ask about that too. Something told them that their Captain wasn't in the best of moods and it was wise not to push further.

Levi went to the cabinets and extracted out a towel, tossing it at them. "Dry him and don't let him catch a cold."

With that instruction, Levi mumbled something that sounded like curses under his breath and slammed the door on his way out. Connie and Sasha looked at each other in utter bewilderment and back to the little toddler that their Captain had left with them.

Sasha was towel drying Finn's wet hair when she asked him what happened.

"I had an oppsie," Finn admitted bashfully. "So…"

"Oh." Connie and Sasha exchanged brief looks.

Sensing the little boy's embarrassment, Sasha smiled at him, "It's okay we all have oppsie once in a while!"

"Yeah," Connie nodded, joining in. Then, he suddenly remembered that Levi's shirt was wet when he gave him. Did he give Finn a shower? It made sense, someone so stringent about hygiene that he probably couldn't stand it.

Wait, holy hell, Connie thought startlingly.

Who the hell was this kid and why was Levi taking care of him?

"Hey Finn," Connie asked, curiosity beguiling him, "Why is Captain Levi taking care of you?"

"Ida asked him to," Finn replied. "She said she would be back. I miss her already…"

Sasha and Connie exchanged another set of surprised looks, the questions hovering on their mind. They wanted to ask what his relationship was with them, but they both promptly decided not to ask when they saw how dejected the boy looked.

"Maybe, he's an orphan?" Connie whispered. "Or is this a secret mission from the higher-ups?"

Sasha shrugged. "Maybe."

Sometime after, Floch and Jean walked in, only to see Sasha attempting to feed Finn an entire potato that she stole.

"Hey! Potato girl!" Jean screamed, bolting to grab the whole potato from Finn who was attempting to gnaw through it. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I was doing?! I was feeding him!" Sasha retorted, almost too proudly.

"You can't feed a toddler an entire potato," Floch said, crossing his arms. "Who's this?"

"Don't know," Connie replied honestly, pulling Jean and Floch to the side. "Ida asked Captain to take care of him. He entrusted him to us while he takes a shower. We guessed he's either an orphan or maybe it's a secret mission from the higher-ups."

"What?" Jean and Floch echoed in unison, obviously hoping for a more thorough explanation.

Before Connie could explain it anymore, Levi came back to the room a towel draped around his neck. His black hair was still damp. The entire room stiffened at his appearance. The Captain merely ignored them and went straight for Finn.

Without saying anything, he bent over and lifted Finn by his armpits, carrying him. Finn automatically clung to his neck as Levi ran his fingers through his hair to check if it was still wet. The teenagers watched this in amazement, mouths slightly agape in shock.

What the hell was happening?

Levi sensed their curious eyes on him. "Don't you kids have better things to do?"

Sensing his irritation, the recruits promptly dismissed themselves and scrambled to leave the room. Floch was still thinking about the strange appearance of the toddler when he arrived at the mess hall. His friends were already engaged in a conversation when he sat down at their table.

"I saw something strange today," Jarold suddenly said. "You know Captain Levi? He had a kid with him when he came to the shared bathrooms, he was grumbling about how the kid shat all over him."

Floch looked up when he heard that. "Oh, I saw the kid earlier as well."

"Really?" Rosemary chirped, tilting her head.

"Yeah. I heard it from Selena and Ben too, they went to his office to deliver some reports," Jarold said. "There was a toddler in his office. Made a huge mess, so I heard. Apparently, everyone is talking about it."

"Where did the kid come from?" Marcus asked, confused.

"Ida told him to take care of him," Floch inputted. "I heard it from Connie and Sasha. They think the kid's an orphan."

"Whoa," Rosemary gasped. "But why would they take care of him though?"

"Don't know," Floch replied. "I didn't ask him; he looked cranky as hell. He just came in and carried the kid and left."

Rosemary smirked cheekily. "Maybe that's their kid? How long has it been since Ida joined the Survey Corps anyway?"

Marcus furrowed his brows, suddenly recalling a piece of information he had heard from one of the older members of the Survey Corps. "Hey, you know I overheard Squad Leader Hanji saying that both of them were from the Underground City."

The entire table looked to Marcus at that pearl of information. Because most of the veterans had perished earlier on, the bulk of the Survey Corps was made of new recruits and transfers. Naturally, they didn't know much about the remaining veterans' background and any amount of new information interested them.

And so, the information passed on throughout the day, twisting as it passed each person. As the rumor mill churned, small tidbits were added ever so often, distorting the information even more as it passed.

"Did you know? Captain Levi and Ida knew each other from the Underground City."

"Dude, I heard they had a thing for each other way back before they even enlisted."

"You know there's a kid in the headquarters following Captain Levi? I heard that's his child, Ida was the one who asked him to take care of him."

"Pfft. They are probably trying to keep the scandal under wraps, orphan my ass. Why else would Captain Levi be willing to take care of the kid?"

"If you ask me, I think Ida gave birth to the kid back during their liaison when they still lived in the Underground City."

"Now that you said it, I heard from my squad leader their relationship was terrible when Ida just enlisted. Jeez, it must suck to work with your ex."

"You won't believe what I overheard just now at the training grounds! Ida-san and Captain Levi dated and broke up, he left the Underground City when she was pregnant with his kid! How terrible!"

"They recently got back together, right? Haha, so that's why Ida decided to bring their kid to light now. Gods, can you imagine Captain Levi's shock? I bet you that's the reason why his mood was so foul when we saw him just now."

"Shit, does Commander Erwin know about this?"

By the time dinner came around, the entire legion was in a total mess, a cluster web of distorted, reshaped information. With most of the veterans' squad leaders away to assist with Hanji's experiments and with Levi cooped up in his office, there was no one to correct the rumors.

Oblivious to how the gossip had misshapen throughout the day, Levi was walking down the hallways to the mess hall. Finn trailed after him like a duckling following its mother, stumbling slightly on his own two little feet as he attempted to keep up with his speed.

Sensing that the brat was struggling, Levi sighed exasperatedly to himself. He abruptly stopped in his tracks and Finn bumped into his leg, falling to his bum.

"Ouch!"

Dumb kid, Levi thought wryly, staring at how pathetic Finn looked. Then, he quickly bent over and scooped Finn up in his arms. Damn it. The little brat really was a walking hazard. But he was Klaus's kid. This was the least he could do for a fellow subordinate.

"Next time just tell me if you can't walk fast enough," Levi said flatly, adjusting the toddler in his arms. "You hungry?"

Finn bit his lower lip and nodded, encircling his small hands on his neck. Levi nodded, guessing that much. He had especially left his office earlier because he was worried that the little brat would be too hungry. Usually, he would've had his dinner later after he was done with his work.

"Good," Levi nodded. "We're going to go have dinner. Tell me what you want to eat later, and I'll get it for you."

As Levi walked with Finn in his arms, he wondered how the hell he was going to feed the kid. Fuck. Does Finn even know how to eat by himself? How old was he anyway?

Damn it, where the hell was Ida? It was dinner time. She should've been back by now.

When Levi appeared at the mess hall, it was bustling with rowdy recruits as expected. They fell silent upon seeing him, eyes wide in shock.

He self-consciously wondered if there was anything wrong with him.

Levi realized it was because of Finn in his arms. Tsk. Of fucken course. How bothersome. Maybe it'd be better to bring the food up to his office, but then again, he didn't know what Klaus's brat wanted to eat. Kids were picky eaters, right? It was better for Finn to pick his dinner out himself.

He was walking to the kitchen lady when a familiar loud voice stopped him.

"Ah, there you are Finn!"

"Ida!" Finn happily let go of his neck and reached his tiny arms out for the approaching woman.

Ida was bolting towards him, with the widest smile that Levi had ever seen on her face. Gone was her reserved and cold façade. Heck, she looked like a different person altogether. A wave of frustration overcame him when he saw this.

Why the fuck was she so happy? It was only a few hours. She never looked at him that way after a day of work, did she? Levi didn't know why, but the thought irked him.

Before she could grab Finn out of his arms though, Levi angled him away from her.

"Hands," he said coolly. "Did you wash them?"

He didn't know what she'd been up to, but he wasn't a fool. It was necessary to maintain a level of hygiene around brats. They were weak, cumbersome, and annoying, more so when they were sick. He would've hated it if the little runt fell sick.

Ida rolled her eyes. "Of course, I did!"

"With soap?"

Patience thinning, Ida said nothing but glared at him.

Levi sighed. "Good."

He watched as Ida took the brat away from him. Finn giggled when Ida nuzzled her face in his round cheeks. Somehow, it made him even more frustrated. Damn little ungrateful brat. He spent the entire day toiling with him around like a tumor, but not once did he look happy. In fact, all he got was a pile of shit on him. Literally.

But look at this now. The brat was all smiles when he was with her.

Tsk.

How bothersome.

"How was your day, sweetie?"

Levi rolled his eyes internally—yeah, not a single word of fucking concern for him when he literally went through hell because of her. Bollocks.

"Good!" Finn smiled. "Captain Levi helped me take a shower!"

"Oh! He did?" Ida smiled at him then. "How nice of you, Levi."

He grunted a reply. As he watched Ida and Finn chatter idly away with smiles on her beaming faces—a strange emotion overcame him.

She was good with children, he observed. If Wall Maria didn't fall… if she didn't join the Corps… then…

He clenched his fist by his side.

"Levi?" Ida tilted her head curiously at him. "Did you have dinner yet?"

He sighed sharply and looked away. Fuck. What the hell was he thinking? How useless.

"No," Levi deadpanned. "I'm going back to my office."

He was about to leave when Finn grabbed onto his sleeve. "Are you not hungry? You haven't eaten anything…"

He frowned. Was the brat concerned about him?

"Shall I go get some food and bring it up to your office?" Ida suggested. "We three can eat together."

Levi lifted a brow. Usually, he would have dinner with her but with how she was basically fawning over the little brat, he had thought that she would've wanted to spend some time alone with him.

Dinner, huh?

Surprisingly, he didn't even feel frustrated at the thought of Finn being around at dinner either. Admittedly, he was even dreading it before Ida came.

But now…

Levi scoffed. "My office is already in a mess, makes no difference if you want to come."

"Great!" Suddenly, Ida leaned in closer to him. Her voice dipped into a whisper, "You know, it's been bothering me, but everyone has been giving me weird looks since I got back. Anything happened while I was gone?"

Levi furrowed his brows. Now that Ida mentioned it, he too had received his fair share of odd looks today. He started to properly observe his surroundings. The tables were packed with scouts engrossed in idle conversation as they ate, but they were too quiet. Almost as if they were covertly discussing something. Occasionally, he felt a few surreptitious eyes on them too.

Tsk. Why did this feel so annoyingly familiar?

The horrifying light of realization slowly seeped into his eyes when he connected the dots. Levi was mortified.

Don't fucking tell me—

"Ah! There's the happy reunited family!" Hanji was hardly holding into her laughter when she approached them. Mobilt trailed after her, looking equally amused.

Great. Damn four eyes and her quick intuition. She must've heard it from someone already.

Hanji burst out into laughter upon seeing Ida's bewildered expression. "Man, this is the best thing that I've heard all week! I can't even—BWAHAHA!"

Levi seethed. Fucking glasses. She thought it was funny, huh?

With Finn still nestled in her arms, Ida cocked her head, still confused. "What's going on?"

The fucking woman could be so dense at times. Levi muttered a string of expletives underneath his breath as he massaged his temples.

Shit.

What the fuck did he get himself tied into this time?

The end.

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I hope you enjoyed this special. I'd love to hear your thoughts so do leave a review if you want to! Feedback is appreciated :D

The next official chapter will be the Trigger. Tentative update still on March if things don't screw up, will update on my profile. Crossing my fingers here because… I'm still NOT satisfied with it and I've been so busy ):