No rest for the wicked. No peace for the good.

-James S. A. Corey

-Emmryn's POV-

Sitting at a cleaned desk situated in a room on the second floor of the old HQ while trying to focus on the paperwork in front of me while the rest of the Special Operations Squad were all cleaning was highly uncomfortable. Special treatment like this was only going to cause me to be ostracized again by our squad members, but at the same time, I was under strict orders from the medics to keep off my foot when possible.

It was frustrating. Letting out a growl of frustration, I ran my fingers through my dark copper hair, pushing my bangs out of my right eye and pinning them back as I reread the report in front of me for the fifth time still not really paying attention to it. Resisting the urge to throw the desk I was sitting at, I leaned back in the chair I was in and let out a quiet, annoyed groan.

"Fuck this!" I muttered as I looked up to see Eren and Petra returning to finish cleaning the room I was in, a concerned look across both of their faces as Eren's eyes went to my now partially exposed neck, his face now resembling a tomato.

"So that's why you're wearing the captain's cravat. Man, you two sure didn't waste any time did you?" Petra teased, and the blood drained from my face as I realized what Eren had noticed. Dammit, Levi! Deciding to not let them get the upper hand in this situation, I willed my face to go to the stoic expression I had learned from the man responsible for my current embarrassment.

"Nope. I mean, would you? Have you seen my husband?" I shot back with a smirk, knowing about Petra's (as well a majority of the women in Survey Corp) attraction to my raven-haired lover. Her face went cherry red as Eren looked increasingly uncomfortable causing me to let out a small laugh.

"Sorry, Eren. Petra started that whole thing. But seriously you two may want to focus on getting this room done before Levi hears us slacking off in here. Believe it or not, I'm not anymore immune to punishments than you guys are. I'm only on desk duty because he hates paperwork and I'm under strict orders from the medics and Erwin to stay off my foot as much as possible," I reminded, trying to keep us all out of trouble. Eren and Petra went a bit pale before rushing to start cleaning the room, Petra sweeping and Eren with the windows.

"Hey, um… Ackerman?" Eren called out nervously. I smiled comfortingly at him.

"Eren, chill out. You can still call me, Emmryn. Just because I'm married to that old grump doesn't mean that we can't remain friends," I soothed as I looked down to reread the stupid report from earlier.

"Well…" Eren started, seeming nervous to continue.

"I bet you're shocked because the captain isn't like what you expected," Petra helped.

"Yeah! I mean, he's humanity's strongest soldier but he's sooo…. By the book… I didn't expect that…" Eren admitted, sounding a bit disappointed. I looked up, paying more attention to the conversation as Petra spoke again.

"I heard that he was more like you were imagining when he first got here. Something about Erwin putting him in his place or something… Even those of us who've been on his squad for a couple of years don't really know what happened or even how old the captain is to be honest," Petra admitted before turning to me, "Do you know any of it, Emmryn? Surely, he's told you."

At that comment, I folded my hands in my lap and looked at them a bit nervously. The truth was, besides telling me about his mom and that he was originally from the Underground, I didn't know any more than they did. Well I did know Levi's age or the best guess of it since there wasn't exactly a record of him being born given the circumstances. How did Levi get into the Survey Corps from the Underground in the first place?

"Emmryn?... You okay?" Petra asked nervously, causing me to blink as I looked up at her. There was concern reflected in her gaze as I guess my insecurities were starting to show on my face. Wanting to avoid seeming like I didn't know as much as I felt now that I probably should, I spoke up answering one of their questions.

"I'm fine. Just trying to figure out how to fill out this report," I lied as I pretended to squint down at the report in front of me before adding to appease them, "And Levi is 34." Surprised gasps escaped the other two in the room.

"So wait, he's like 12 years older than you!" Eren exclaimed in disbelief. I rolled my eyes and looked at him.

"Have a problem with that, Jaeger?" a bored baritone voice challenged from the doorway causing all of us to look at the stoic captain himself, and I would have laughed at his cravat tied over his face and the one over his head if I wasn't so bothered about my conversation with Eren and Petra.

"N-no, sir!" Eren shouted nervously, his eyes trained on Levi who walked beside me and looked at the report that I was working on.

"I'll handle that one, Emmryn," Levi stated quietly in my ear, not commenting on the fact that I didn't acknowledge his statement with any more than a nod as he turned back to Eren, "Your cleaning is lamentable. Do it all again."

I glanced up to see Eren's devastated face and wanted to laugh but honestly wasn't feeling that great anymore. My focus was interrupted by Levi's firm grip on my arm as he pulled me out of the chair gently causing me to look at him in confusion. He ignored me.

"Petra," Levi called, getting the attention of the ginger-haired girl, "Put these papers on my desk. And come get me when the cleaning is done so we can have a meeting."
"Yes, sir!" Petra responded enthusiastically with a salute as Levi nodded in acknowledgement as he led me out of the room and down the hallway to his office. Opening the door, I saw that while smaller than his previous office, it was still set up much the same way. It even had a bedroom attached to it, which is where Levi led me before closing and locking the door behind him as I sat on the bed, looking at my hands.

"What the hell is your problem?" Levi inquired, sounding a bit frustrated, though honestly, he was most likely exhausted. It had been a long week already. Deciding not to add to the frustration, I figured I should just be up front with him.

"How did you end up in the Survey Corps?"

Nothing. He was silent causing me to look up and see the man in front of me with his usual expression gone, his jaw locked and a slight glare on his usually stoic face.

"Levi… How did you end up going from the Underground to the Survey Corps?" This time my tone was more firm. The fact that he clearly didn't want to talk to me about this only spurring me to feel like I needed to know.

"That's none of your business," he finally answered as though that were the end of the conversation causing my temper to flare.

"Like hell it isn't my business!" I snapped, meeting his now fiercer glare with one of my own, "Look, I'm not just some cadet or soldier here. I'm freaking married to you for Wall's sakes! And my older brother probably knows more about you than I do!"

"Then why don't you go ask him how the hell I ended up here?" Levi growled back causing me to pause before I stood up from the bed and pushed past him, limping towards the door to his office.

"Where are you going?" At his angry tone, I turned to look at him out of my one good eye and met his glare with a calm, measured expression. My voice was calm as well, completely the opposite of the turmoil that was going through my head at the moment.

"Back to HQ. You gave a suggestion, so I figured I'd take the initiative to go ask before you try and force me to talk to my brother by pulling rank again," I responded, as though it were the most obvious decision in the world. In no time at all, I was pushed with my back against the closed bedroom door, a now very pissed off Levi in my face.

Blue and white eyes met stormy steel gray as I met his fierce gaze with a calm measured one that I tried my best to avoid expressing how hurt I was feeling that he refused to tell me anything about this. After a couple of tense seconds, Levi sighed and his expression softened from anger to annoyance as he backed up from pinning me to the door and sat on the bed, running his fingers through his dark locks before motioning for me to come to him.

Once I approached the bed, Levi wrapped his arms around my waist, taking special care to avoid putting pressure on my injured ribs as he moved us both to where we laying down, facing each other, with one of his arms wrapped over me and around my waist, the other under my neck and with his hand wrapped into my hair. This was not usual for Levi, especially when approached with a topic he clearly didn't want to deal with. He's really trying. With that thought, I lifted my free hand to gently cup his cheek and pull him down for a sweet kiss as I pressed my full lips to his thin ones, appreciating the warmth and gentleness he used in returning the action before pulling away.

"Levi," I cooed softly as I rubbed the side of his cheek with my thumb getting his attention, "I don't want any more secrets between us. This hellish world is full of them without us having them between each other. No more secrets, Levi. Please." His steel gray eyes were much softer than usual, almost vulnerable, but resolute in his decision to approach this obviously less than comfortable topic for him.

"Fine," he conceded before taking a breath and agreeing, "No more secrets."

Song: comethru by Jeremy Zucker