The hallway was tight and dark, the perfect back rest for Levi to lie in wait, arms folded and looking like a messenger of death. The shadows clung to him, hollowing his cheeks and palling his skin. A orange hue casted over the pair from the torches, the light flickering to the beat of Elsie's heart as she finally faced Levi.

It had been hours since they'd talk and the whole world had changed.

"Figured you would sneak out," Levi's voice was monotone, face hidden by rebelling hair. "Come with me."

Elsie followed albeit reluctantly. Their steps echoed, the only ones awake at this hour. She knew by now that most of the Scouts who had been on todays mission were gladly asleep, having a peaceful black break from this horror of a life. Yet instead of finding a moment of relief she was walking out of the castle and towards a grassy area that someone else had lit, three stone fire pits flaming boldly. Elsie stopped next to one while Levi walked to the center, rolling up his sleeves and facing her.

"Do you seriously expect me to train right now?" She asked incredulously. Not only was she in her pajamas but this was fucking Levi, the last person she wanted to see at the end of her day.

"No, I don't fucking expect you to want to train right now. You don't need this, I fucking do. So get your stinking, worthless ass over here and fight me." Levi's voice was harsh and curt, raising his hands in a defensive poise.

Elsie's felt her shoulders sag, the battle leaving her. She knew this was difficult for him, even if she hadn't seen how'd he personally dealt with the squads death. They had been family to him, to Elsie now even, and they had just lost four of their brothers and sister.

Elsie tied the robe around her waist and squared off, "These are my nicest pajamas you better not ruin them."

Levi tried his absolute best to destroy her clothes. She was tossed to the ground, thrown over his shoulder, narrowly dodged a knee to the face and another broken nose courteous of Levi. Elsie rolled, getting to her knees and raising her forearm to block his kick. His fist swung and she moved with it, rolling under his arm and jabbing him in the side. Levi grabbed the back of her neck and shoved her forward, right into his knee.

Elsie moaned, falling to her knees and cupping her bleeding lip, her tooth having sliced it open. She looked up through her hair to see Levi heaving above her, pushing his hair back and staring down at her.

"You are literally the dumbest piece of shit I've ever met. Who the fuck offers to go to the right wing? Do you know what I thought when I met Erwin in the forest and you weren't there? We all thought you were fucking dead! Because you can't fucking do shit, you can't fight, you can't defend yourself, and you sure as fuck can't take on the female fucking titan! FUCK!" Levi bellowed, punching the air.

The castle didn't move from Levi's defining roar. All that it had accomplished was Elsie staring wide eyed at him, still nursing her lip. Levi was on a tangent now, his fists flexing, his right arm spasming.

"Have you not been paying attention? Men stronger than you, older than you, fucking men better than me, have died because of these shit heads and you, a little girl playing dress up, thinks she can take it on? The fuck do-"

Elsie shoved off the ground, slamming into Levi's right side and toppling him. Elsie gave him a good kick, one that she hoped conveyed just how much his words had hurt her. Because Levi's words meant that she was doing all that she could to help, that she was making progress and helping him. She didn't want to hear him demolish every positive thing she'd been commended for by her friends.

"I fought for my life! I killed titans and I survived! I killed Reiner and what did you do, Levi? Huh? You mocked the female titan and you made her scream and you got them all killed, you did!" Elsie was on her knees with her words, pounding into Levi's chest. He feebly smacked her hands away but the fight had left him, as if he finally was getting what he wanted. "I told you that I had to worry about myself and that all you had to do was stick together."

Levi's head dropped, his dead eyes staring at the sky, "I did. I killed them."

Elsie pushed away from him, scoffing and wiping her nose. Her lip had stopped bleeding and was beginning to crust but her new robe was covered in blood drops. She groaned and tried to wipe at it, finally giving up and looking back at Levi. He hadn't moved an inch, frozen as he stared at the heavens as if they would return.

Elsie sighed and laid down beside him. The stars were magnificent, brighter than she'd ever seen. She'd taken Astronomy as her science elective freshman year of college and could easily identify every constellation, something that had been hard to do from her back yard. But she wasn't a college girl anymore, instead she was laying in the Capitol's yard with Levi Ackerman, who was mentally blaming himself for the death of his team. Elsie turned her head, looking at him, the way his nose was shaped in the darkness, his lips puckered in blatant disgust.

"You didn't kill them, Levi."

"I did. Erwin sent a scout with the plan for them to stay for interrogation and I thought that you were being scared. That you didn't understand just who was on this team because you've only seen them on break, joking and being human, and not on the field as soldiers who can kill beings fifty times their size. How could you possibly know when you've never seen them? I thought you were scared and wanted us around you so I told Erwin to stick with the original plan."

Levi turned his head to finally meet her gaze. They stared, the words in the open now. Elsie had thought that she had gotten through to him.

"It's not just your fault," She amended, turning back to the stars. "I should've tried harder. I could've done more. From now on, I will. We both will. Okay?"

"It's not that easy, brat."

"It can be if we make it."

They laid in silence. It could've been hours they laid there, staring at the stars, glancing at the trees when the wind shook them. It began to sound like waves, the wind rushing over the leaves, and she could begin to predict when it would come. Levi hadn't moved, his arms at his side and eyes wide open at the universe.

"I met Petra when she was twenty and I was twenty six. It started off as something casual. She was the only person I could stand to be around, for a long while. She was too serious, she wanted a husband and a kid. I couldn't give that to her."

Elsie knew her only job was to listen. Levi suddenly sat up, wincing at his right arm. He glanced down at her, "From now on we stick together, alright?"

It seemed like an easy enough promise, "Alright. Is your arm okay?"

Levi was cusping his elbow, frowning at the dark edges of the castle. Her words seemed to wake him, spurring him to stagger to his feet.

"It's broken."

Elsie gasped, "Did I break it?"

"No, you weak shit, I broke it this morning."

"Why didn't you go with the medics like the rest? And then sit here and fucking punch me around!"

Elsie's ranting didn't end there. The entire walk to the hospital wing, Elsie hissing into his ear and Levi sulkily shoving the door open, a nurse jumping at the sound. They must have made quite the sight, Levi's scowling impressively threatening and Elsie's bloodied mouth running a mile a minute, her hazel eyes not once leaving Levi's face as the nurse hurried over to examine the arm he was holding out, shirt rolled up.

"Shut up for fuck's sake," Levi finally snapped when Elsie had said the word 'trust'. She caught a bubble with her mouth, folded her arms compliantly, and watched as the nurse took her hands back, nervously glancing between them to make sure she could put a word in.

"You dislocated it and fractured it pretty bad. Other than surgery-"

"No surgery." Levi growled.

"You'll be wearing a cast for a month, if the healing goes well and you don't put unnecessary strain on it. I'll put your arm back in place and wrap a temporary bandage around it. Come back in the morning for the doctor to put your cast on."

Levi's expression said that he wouldn't be coming back so Elsie leaned forward, "Bright and early."

He didn't flinch when the nurse used two hands and all her body weight to push Levi's shoulder into place. Nor did he complain when she began to wrap it, saying that she had some pain killers he could take. He denied them and with a cloth used as a sling, the nurse sent Levi and Elsie back into the hallway.

Levi didn't move when Elsie did. He stared at her, a look of mingled sorrow and bafflement. She sighed, spinning to look at him with an exasperated look. Wasn't he the least bit tired? She thought her bones were apart to solidify from how badly she wanted to lay down.

"What now?"

"Did you really kill Reiner? Must have if you can say his name now."

"I did. In the forest before Annie..." They both stopped breathing when the name had fallen from his lips, no melting pain in her throat or gasping breaths. She had finally said it. "I guess I can say it now because of Armin."

"Annie? That's the female titan?" Levi was awake with new vigor, jaw clenched and intent to go hunt her down that instant. Elsie blocked his path, not afraid of his strong hands anymore.

"Levi, you'll know everything in the morning. We have to go to sleep now, it's almost dawn, surely."

He didn't look like she'd talked him down but none the less swallowed his revenge plan and took her back to her room. She wondered how many times he'd been at the castle by the way he breezily walked through the foyer where all new guests were introduced by servants and maids - now eerily empty - and up the stair case to the right of the entrance. It spiraled to a hallway she knew instantly as her own.

"Elsie..." Levi was behind her when she grabbed the door handle. The tone in his voice made her look back, seeing him for the first time. He didn't look as confident as she was used to. "I'm proud of you, shit head."

"I know. I'll see you in the morning."

Levi nodded, retreating to the shadows. Elsie fell into her room, crying herself to sleep with the memory of holding Gunther's head in the carriage so it didn't roll away from his body in the carriage ride home on a constant loop.