Recap:

Levi crossed his arms and tilted his head.

"Welcome back."

I smiled gently at the greeting.

"I'm home."

"We're all home actually, Captain Levi."

Both Levi and I froze at the unwanted intrusion, a wave of annoyance washing over me as it registered who the voice belonged to. Of course Levi and I couldn't be alone for more than a minute.

"I assumed Rina was successful in bringing you all home if she risked showing her face back here, Brian. I trusted she would finish the mission." Levi countered smoothly, raising an eyebrow at the man. Brian moved his horse beside mine, before shifting his back to Levi and sending me a quick wink. I rolled my eyes, barely holding down on the blush threatening to appear. It seems he also caught that Levi called me directly by my first name without even thinking and complimented me in one breath.

"We all have a lot of faith in her." Brian assured, still smirking.

"As do I."

At this, the dam broke and I could feel my face heating up instantly at Levi's continuous compliments. Of course, the Captain remained oblivious. Mission accomplished, Brian pushed his horse to head back to the stables. Watching in my flustered state, I glared at the retreating team member.

Until something caught my eye.

"Halt, Brian!"

At the sound of my commanding voice, he stopped his horse and twisted around to look at me meekly. I raised an eyebrow at him, already knowing the answer but wanting to force the truth out of him.

"Yes, Squad Leader?"

"isn't…that Steve's horse?" I questioned.

"Oh, uh-"

"-lie to me and die."

"Yes, it is, sir."

"So you swapped places with Steve before you even made it to the HeadQuarters?"

"Yes sir."

"…how long have you been listening?"

At this, he paused, contemplating his next words.

"Brian." I deadpanned.

"A while. Permission to leave?"

I scratched the back of my head in annoyance and embarrassment, trying not to grit my teeth too hard. After a tense moment, I sighed in resignation and pointed at him directly in warning.

"Granted, but be prepared to get absolutely smashed in training."

Brian let out an audible sigh, no doubt regretting his choice to come eavesdrop and tease me.

"Yes sir."

As the last of the 104th gathered themselves and began to slowly walk back to the barracks, I stole the Captain for a bit, allowing him onto the back of my horse. Despite everything, the ride back wasn't as tense as I expected. I guess even with the both of us…acknowledging where our relationship stood, we were too at ease with each other to be stiff with nervousness.

"You took longer than I expected, Hazura."

I chuckled and looked over my shoulder at him.

"I didn't think I was going to find them in a mere few days, Ackerman. Besides, it didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped for."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that I had to pay another trip down to the UnderGround. And let me tell you, I am not well-liked down there."

"As am I. What's new?"

"There's a bounty on my head down there. Looks like John Mizuka's hounds are more loyal than I gave them credit for."

"They gave you trouble?"

"We took care of it."

"On another note, did you get Erwin's last letter?"

I raised an eyebrow at the question. "I take it he's been keeping you in the loop with those then?"

"He has. Are you joining us for the-"

I glanced back at him, holding in a chuckle. "I am not going with you."

"It was an order, Hazura."

"In case you didn't read the letter, it was actually an invitation, not an order."

"He extended the invitation to you?" Levi cursed quietly. "I told him to make you attend because I knew you would bail any other way."

"You know me so well, Levi." I dean-panned. "Look, you and I both know that attending such a political social gathering is one of the last things that I want to do. I can't deal with all the excuses they give us without having to resist the urge to clock them in the face. It's best for everyone if I skip this one out."

"You and I are more alike than you think. Who says that I want to attend too?"

"Levi, you're the Captain of the Survey Corps and although you hate politics as much as I do, you understand them and are at least civil to their faces."

We finally reached the stables and Levi leapt off Streak, landing expertly on his feet and naturally held a hand up to me.

"Because Erwin would kill me otherwise."

I swung leg over to dismount and paused side-saddle, chuckling at the sudden image of Commander Erwin berating Levi for his rash actions. Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed a hold of Levi's assisting hand.

"He would, wouldn't he?"

With one swift movement, I jumped off, Levi holding me steady.

"Look, I'm sure Erwin will talk to the both of us about this now that I'm bac-"

"RINAAAAA! Welcome back!" Hanji ran up to us, yelling from the top of her lungs as she did. A large grin took over my face as I spotted her familiar hyper-energetic figure race up to us. As I opened my mouth to greet her back, she whipped up a hand to my face.

"I'd love to chat to you but Erwin said he needed to speak to all three of us as soon as your feet hit…the…ground..." Hanji trailed off, her gaze focused in somewhere else. Following her line of sight, Levi and I both jerked our still-clasped hands away from each other and awkwardly looked in different directions.

"But I see you've already managed a quick intimate cha-"

Levi pounced, quickly slamming a hand to Hanji's mouth.

"Shut up, Four-Eyes."

Despite managing to extinguish her loud voice, the smug expression on Hanji's face could not be smothered. I took in the sight of my two closest friends struggling against one another and sighed, shaking my head in amusement.

"I'm sure she already knows, Levi. Come on you two, Erwin's waiting." And dragged both their butts along with me to the Commander's office.