When I grow up I want to be important.
Year 848- February.
Erwin appealed to all his self-control not to scream. The facade that he had built over time, becoming not only Commander but also a respectable and professional man, was now about to give way to a young woman.
Levi, to his right, as the situation dictated, stood straight and stiff trying not to laugh at the absurd situation that was being created. He was quite sure that if it weren't for the great contribution she had made, as well as for the conditions she'd been brought back to, he'd already kicked her out.
The two military policemen involved in the experimental drug trafficking had been identified and captured, leaving Kenny still on the loose for what was an inexplicable reason for Elizabeth. She still wondered how the man managed to get by every time...
The man with the wound in his leg, the redhead one, had been on the ground for so long that he was about to bleed to death. Fortunately for him he was found in time and brought back by his companions.
However, there were repercussions for that single injury he had sustained and Elizabeth had to take responsibility for it.
The thing that amused Levi the most was the moment when Erwin officially asked her and she hardly gave him time to finish the sentence that she had already confessed everything as if she didn't even mind.
And it was so. She didn't feel guilty for hitting him; at that moment it was either her or him and she had chosen herself.
"I'm in trouble, right?" Elizabeth asked now resigned to punishment.
Erwin untied the fingers that he had held together under his chin and took a deep breath; she was giving him a headache and he wondered how the hell Levi could keep her with him all nights.
Then he considered other aspects of what their relationship was and he let it go.
Elizabeth knew how to make people love her and she had become an important component for everyone; she always managed to put everyone in a good mood and had so much courage that she seemed reckless in many ways, but he respected her.
"You were about to kill him."
"He was about to kill me."
Hange, on the other side of the desk, couldn't hold back a small laugh but was immediately struck by her superior's glare, forcing her to become serious again.
Erwin turned immediately after to return to pay his full attention to the blonde in front of him.
"I never said you were wrong, just that you almost killed him."
"But I didn't, so... where's my present?"
Erwin in seeing how naturally she had managed to get at ease, despite having to receive a punishment and was surrounded by three superiors, could not hold back too much and gave her some little freedom.
"On my right."
Elizabeth's eyes lit up as she heard her Commander joke like that, while Levi mentally cursed him for giving her material for at least three months of teasing.
She was a tempting vixen.
"I really like this present."
"Are you serious 'war goddess'?"
Levi asked, purposely using the nickname a cadet had given her, but using it a few times and never in front of Levi, at least as far as she knew.
What, however, she did not know was that the last time she was called that way by her former training partner two other pairs of ears had heard it and they were those of Levi and Erwin.
"How do you know that nickname?"
"If you're done flirting, we can continue." Erwin warned them both but this time it was he who tried to hold back the laughter, maintaining a greater demeanor than Hange who struggled harder to succeed.
"I'm not flirting." Levi answered continuing to stare Elizabeth in the eye.
Tonight he would make her pay for it, and from the glitter she had in her two-tone irises he knew it very well.
"I am."
"Okay ..." Erwin brought attention back to the main problem which was Elizabeth's punishment for nearly killing the boy, although he too considered it unfair.
He pondered this for a few seconds before issuing his verdict.
"I can't leave you here on the next expedition, you are the best soldier in the whole Scouting Legion and we need you. But I can force you to take care of the horses on the way back."
"Should I wash all those horses?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes widening slightly at the thought of the hours she would have to spend in the stables grooming horses.
"You get by with an evening with the horses, but the boy there has been arrested and is awaiting trial in front of Zackly. What's worse?"
"Who cares about him, I have to spend the whole evening grooming horses." Elizabeth repeated bewildered, she could already feel her fingers ache at the thought of all those animals to wash.
"You'll be fine honey and then it's only for one day." Hange tried to console her, showing her the bright side of it.
"I can always extend the punishment to the next three missions if you prefer, Elizabeth."
The blonde became completely serious, clenching her fists behind her back and forcing herself to be very careful about what she was saying; when Erwin let her she could joke but when he got serious then she had to be too.
"No sir."
The adrenaline that radiated through Elizabeth's body every time they stepped outside the walls was something incredibly contagious for everyone.
Finally she had returned not only to train with them but also to fight and she had been given the consent to participate in the mission. In spite of the punishment that awaited her that evening, nothing could have taken away her good mood in that instant.
The team had immediately embraced her again, except for Oluo who just ruffled her hair and smiled at her, stating that they had all been worried about her likely death.
She replied with a simple 'only inside', before diverting all thanks to Hange who had done a timely job of resealing the wound and disinfecting it before she got infected.
But feeling the wind on her face as she rode the horse made her feel completely free.
Levi gave the orders, dividing the squad and keeping both Eld and Elizabeth with him, still too early for her to act alone against the titans.
The blonde knew that it had been imperative on Hange's part that she fight alongside someone and not because she did not trust her abilities, when she was the first to define her as a perfect soldier, but precisely because of her return to action.
She didn't have to overdo it.
Each pattern of the day was perfectly drawn in Elizabeth's memory, acting as usual with a seriousness that didn't seem to belong to her.
She changed her mood at the very moment when duty became property.
The first titan that was entrusted to Elizabeth was a mere ten meters, at least according to her considerations, and immediately grabbed her own blades.
The horse stopped its run, spurred by her who stopped it with a stroke of the reins before going down, letting herself be carried by the 3DMG with the hook anchored to a tree.
Climbing onto the branch at the right height, she released the hook and plunged into the titan's head.
He tried to grab her with one hand but she was quicker, spinning around on herself through his fingers and moving the right blade so she cut his neck with one precise blow.
Flawless as always.
Levi, despite his work, never lost sight of her. It was a sight to see her fight, she changed her expression and looked like a completely different person.
There were three others that Elizabeth killed without a fuss. The team was working perfectly and the number of Titans dropped dramatically as they passed.
It was only when Elizabeth saw Petra in trouble that she lost her concentration.
Her friend had been captured, held in place by the hand of an anomalous forty meter, and she didn't even wonder what made her lose her concentration, she knew she had to help her.
However, she still had to take into account the titan who was aiming her; she certainly couldn't leave him undisturbed or she would save Petra but then endanger both of them by what followed her.
At the same time, however, she couldn't let Petra be eaten by that disgusting beast.
She had to think fast.
Petra managed to free herself, cutting off his fingers, and then climbing up enough to kill him.
With the knowledge that she was fine, Elizabeth could also concentrate on her work, but that moment of distraction was dangerous because the anomalous who was chasing her had managed to catch her just when she was looking at Petra.
Shit, I let myself be distracted ... she mentally admonished herself as the titan's hand pushed her sharply into a tree.
The wound in her abdomen had started to ache inside her from the strong impact but she began to feel the energy running through her veins.
After Hange's tests she had become more aware of her body and her sensations and if before it was a natural thing now she felt everything.
When the Titan, taking advantage of the fact that she had just hit the tree, reached out to grab her and eat her, Levi snapped his head off with a clean blow before he could touch her.
"Are you okay?" Levi asked, examining her closely, especially on the worst wound she had sustained.
Elizabeth noticed his gaze but in that moment he was her Captain and she had to maintain a certain distance.
"Yes, sir."
However, a nuisance took hold of her in knowing that he had killed that titan instead of her.
She was close to it and she would have done it alone. At least that was what her pride made her think.
With Erwin's punishment over, after a full four hours in the stables, Elizabeth was too angry to even eat.
She walked past the hall where the others were still eating and chatting among themselves, to head straight to the room where she knew she would find the source of her anger.
She heard no voice inside, a sign that Levi was alone, and threw open the door with a sharp gesture, then closed it behind her with a thud.
Levi knew that she was angry, he had clearly seen anger coloring her eyes red as he avoided certain death and he also knew that her release would soon come.
"The fact that you are my man does not authorize you to take the Titans out of my hands when I am killing them!"
"I'm also your captain." Levi replied keeping his calm and letting go of his paperwork before standing up and facing her. "And you have to be more careful out there, he was going to kill you."
"I'm not a child, I know how to take care of myself." she replied, puffing out her chest with pride and looking up just enough to feel herself his equal.
He was the Captain, true, but it wasn't him that she was mad at.
"But you act like one."
Elizabeth was outraged by the Captain's response, spoken so calmly that he only managed to increase her anger and frustration.
It annoyed her that she had made such a trivial mistake.
"You know what? Fuck you." she said, aware that the discussion about the titan was over before it had even begun.
"I prefer to fuck you." he answered noticing how she was giving way.
He didn't like scenes but seeing her angry made him definitely aroused. She had already entered his office once in a rage and it had been extremely difficult for him to maintain control and not get her on his desk.
"Then do it." she concluded, letting herself be kissed with angry enthusiasm, setting up a fight between lips, teeth and tongue that he won without difficulty.
Levi pulled back just enough to catch his breath, holding her tightly in his arms.
"You're the only person I can't lose. Not you."
Elizabeth smiled, feeling her body warm from a heat other than passionate; his gaze was so intense and deep that even her anger was instantly gone, leaving only her heart beating fast in her chest. Levi wasn't used to say sweet and romantic things to her, he almost never did, but when he decided to express his feelings he always managed to leave her speechless.
"I'm not going anywhere."
Elizabeth let herself be carried to that bed for the umpteenth time, the scene of endless nights of passion, kissing every available inch of skin he could reach.
Levi squeezed her hips until he left a slight sign of his fingers on her skin but she didn't mind at all, he wasn't marking her but he was making sure she didn't run away, a sign that when he spoke he did it honestly.
He was the first man who was able to make her feel important to what she had inside instead of what she was on the outside, he made her feel beautiful without saying a single word to her and the way her heart beat every time they were close and alone it made her happy.
Levi's kisses went down to tease her neck, immediately finding the spot she liked; she folded her head to the side, giving him more access to her skin where he gave her little bites, always careful not to hurt her.
The clothes disappeared from their skin as quickly as the temperature had risen and she found herself beneath him, anchored to the bed by his hands as he teased her breasts with skill.
He kept kissing her, sinking lower and lower and causing shivers all over her body.
Instinctively she closed her legs, looking for some relief from that pleasant torture but he had no intention of giving it to her.
He opened her legs again with one hand, slipping between them to prevent her from closing them except around his pelvis and this was what she did: with her thighs she brought him even closer, making their intimacies touch, eager for more contact and even managing to get a restrained groan from him.
"You really can't wait?" he asked, teasing her ear with his breath and then her neck with his tongue.
"No Captain."
He grunted at being called that, just as she was naked and at his complete mercy; he had recently discovered how much he liked it, it made him feel important despite his charge. Everyone called him Captain, but with that tone only she could do it, only she was allowed, and keeping her, so rebellious and proud, firm in his grip excited him madly.
He grabbed her hips again, turning her over with a single movement and waited for her to pull herself up onto her hands and knees before penetrating her with a single thrust.
Elizabeth's moans began to become the only sound his ears heard and his thrusts began to assume a contained rhythm, enjoying every moment inside her.
With one hand he pushed her shoulders further down, increasing the angle and intensity of his thrusts, until her moans became more disjointed as well. The face pressed against the pillow muffled the sound but the way she moved, trying to accommodate him with every movement was enough for him to understand that he was doing the right thing.
Then, when he felt her wall starting to squeeze him further and her screaming his name into her orgasm, he pushed even harder only to reach her in that ecstasy and kiss her back hungrily. Levi emptied himself into her with after few more thrusts and the kisses on the back softened as they both caught their breath.
That night he held her even tighter to him, stroking her hair until she fell asleep. That woman had turned his life upside down and he could not do without it anymore. Neither did she of him.