CHAPTER 2

Marisol awoke to her head spinning as she adjusted to the bright daylight filtering in through the window above where she lay. As she had done times before, she cursed at herself and promised to any and all higher powers that she would never do something like this again in exchange for relief from her raging headache and intense nausea.

She turned in the bed hoping for some respite and relaxed against the warm sheets, sheets that were much softer than the ones she was used to sleeping with. She fluttered her eyes closed as her heavy lids continued to weigh down on her.

As quickly as she could, given her current state, she began piecing together the previous night and how it ended with her in Captain Levi's room. The minute details would be lost forever on Marisol as her earlier inebriation, together with her mental fragility, blurred her experience beyond recognition.

Worry began to set in as she patted herself below the covers to ensure she was still in her clothes from the night before. She was relieved to feel the familiar tautness of her white trousers and the closed buttons of her shirt aligned all the way up her chest.

Marisol sighed in relief as she lay still for a moment, taking an interlude from the outside world to bask in the softness of the bed she occupied.

"Good morning Managold, I am assuming with all that movement you must be awake."

Marisol felt her heart leap out of her chest at the voice, not realising someone else had been in the room. She slowly blinked, opening her eyes, and nearly jumped out of the bed at the sight of the captain facing her from the chair opposite from where she had been sleeping. She should not have been as shocked as she was, this was his room, and she was in his bed.

Levi looked as calm as ever as he held a newspaper open with one hand while the other gripped over the top of a teacup. He was impeccably dressed as always with not as much as a hair out of place.

With immediacy Marisol hauled herself to sit upright in the bed, although the movement was enough to make her head throb incessantly. She tried smoothing down her unkempt hair and felt her whole body shiver with each movement.

"Captain, I did not see you there," Marisol managed to stutter out through her now dry mouth. She took a second to collect her thoughts, breathing deeply as the overwhelming sense of embarrassment and shame took over, "I must extend my most humble apologies, I cannot believe I let myself lose control in this way, please do not see this as a reflec-" Before Marisol could continue, Levi abruptly interrupted her.

"I cannot stand superfluous apologies, just make sure it does not happen again on my, or any other superior's, watch or your sorry ass will be out of the Survey Corps before you can even say the word 'apology'." Levi spoke with conviction as he put the cup down and stared directly at Marisol, causing her to uneasily shift her weight and look down.

Marisol nodded and let out a small 'Yes, sir'. She quickly moved out of the bed, unsure of the etiquette required in this type of situation. She decided to try neatening the bed as much as she could, feeling her every movement being watched from behind.

"Stop that, I'm going to rid myself of those sheets," Levi states with a repugnant edge, "the blood marks make me want to throw the pillows out altogether." He haphazardly waves his hand in the direction of the pillow where Marisol had lay.

Marisol stopped her actions and directed her gaze to the pillow, noticing the faintest of red streaks, so faint she could barely make them out. For Levi, however, the bedding was tarnished irreparably. Marisol remembers the dried blood she had failed to entirely wash out of her hair and made a mental note to shower the moment she was able to leave this tense room.

Marisol quietly put on her boots and picked up the harnesses that had been neatly rolled up. She could never have been that organised in her drunken stupor and realised Levi must have done some tidying prior to her waking.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Captain, I promise this will never happen again." Marisol says while avoiding eye contact with Levi who was still seated with the newspaper over his lap.

Marisol turned towards the door, scurrying to move all her harnesses into one hand to twist the doorknob with the other but stopped when she heard Levi clear his throat.

"How do you suppose you're going to get back into your chamber, Managold?"

Marisol does not have to look at the captain to know his eyebrows are furrowed in his usual glare as his words drip with sarcasm. When she turns around, she notices her room key between his fingers. Marisol feels the blush infiltrate as she remembers yet another humiliating detail about the night before.

She paced over and reached for the key but noticed that Levi did not relinquish his grip. She glanced towards his face and spotted a softened expression as he looked up at her from his seat, staring into her.

"Care to tell me what had you drinking yourself sick last night?" Levi carefully asked without breaking eye contact, even amidst the uncomfortable silence that submerged the room as the question lingered.

Marisol contemplated how to broach the subject as she found the captain difficult to read, she was unsure of whether this was merely feigned interest with an ulterior motive, or genuine concern. She wanted to opt for the latter as his eyes roamed her face with a touch of solicitude.

"Uhm," Marisol began, unable to articulate her thoughts as her emotions became too much to bear, "On our last mission my best friend...my only companion, he was killed." Marisol looked to the side when she whispered those final words. Her lip began to lightly quiver and if it were not for her fingers squeezing the key for dear life, she would not have been grounded enough to continue.

"I feel like…like my world is crumbling around me. I'm…angry, I'm sad, I'm guilt-ridden to the point of nausea. Last night I just needed to not feel. I-it was irresponsible and immature, but this pain is crushing me…all I wanted was to be numb."

She did not even recognize the sound of her own voice; it was so distraught and thick as she spoke around the lump forming in her throat. Marisol shut her eyes briefly in an attempt to stop any more than a single tear trickling down her face, although she could feel the floodgates rattling as tears threatened to burst their way through.

When she opened her eyes, she looked towards the key. She could feel a slight warmth from the proximity of their hands as they held onto opposite ends of the small key. The key almost felt like a bridge between them, something that allowed Marisol to vocalize her truth to the man across from her.

"I guess I wanted an easy way out, just drink away my sorrows instead of coming to terms with reality."

Levi knew this feeling all too well; losing those closest to you was not something you could bat an eye towards. However, as a captain he could not let his guard down by showing signs of vulnerability towards a young scout. He thought over a response and decided not to mince his words, he needed to be firm in directing Marisol in not losing sight of what was important: the duties and responsibilities of being a scout.

"Get yourself cleaned up; this is not how a scout should present themself. Do not appear before me in a state like this ever again." Levi spoke softly yet his words were still harsh in addressing the distressed girl.

Although Marisol should not have come to expect more out of her superior, she still wished for an empathetic and reassuring response. Marisol knew it was wishful thinking to believe Captain Levi would be understanding of how she felt, he has probably experienced more deaths than imaginable and most likely did not give a single one of them a second thought.

Clearly Captain Levi did not ask her to explain her situation from a perspective of care, he needed the information to report to Commander Erwin, or so Marisol told herself.

And yet, Levi's hand remained firm on the key. Perhaps, he thought to himself, his next words may be harsh but if he would utter them and words worse to other scouts without a second thought, then why was he questioning his instincts at all?

"Everyone has been through this, and everyone moves on. Maybe in your lap of luxury this isn't reality but right now you are a scout first and foremost. If you cannot develop a tough skin and take death head on, then I don't think this is the place for you."

Talk about kicking a girl when she is down, Marisol thought. Her mind pondered for a moment on Levi's 'lap of luxury' comment but paid it little mind, noting it down as Levi articulating his thoughts of her being a brat.

Regardless of wanting to argue back against his verbal persecution after her current display of vulnerability, Marisol took what the captain said on the chin and nodded. She was in no position to disagree after her inexcusable behaviour the night before

"You are right Captain, and I hope to continue gallantly serving as part of the Survey Corps." These words should have been uttered with conviction and pride, yet there was uncertainty laced within each syllable.

As quickly as she could, Marisol yanked the key (force that proved unnecessary as Levi had easily relinquished his grasp at this point) and wiped away any evidence of tears that remained.

Without delay, Marisol was able to reach the door and leave the room that had turned suffocating.

As the door closed quietly, Levi was left staring at it, lost in thought over the upheaval of the past twelve hours. It was out of his character to do what he did but his confidence in his actions was confirmed earlier this morning.

Levi knew sleep was not on the cards the minute he sat in his chair. It had been 5 hours since he calmed the girl, known to him only as 'Managold', and lulled her into a deep sleep. Levi, however, was as far from sleep as one could get, his eyes still being fixed on the girl from his vantage point in the corner of the room.

His brain pondered the possible causes of her actions that evening: could it have been a regular binge? He discarded this thought as he frequented that tavern between missions and had never seen this particular scout there before.

Perhaps she had broken up with a significant other? If this was the case, Levi would have heard nothing about it as he overlooks any and all petty gossip especially when it is to do with new scouts that he barely cared to know the names of.

Just then, a part of Levi's brain ticked as he remembered that passing whisper he had heard from the scouts in the mess hall as he brought the girl back. They had mentioned her killing the abnormal titan they encountered a few days prior as well as her subsequent meltdown.

Levi remembered turning back when the abnormal appeared far behind his squad. If there was one person who he had faith in, in taking down any titan, it was himself. However, as he rode towards the titan he was met with a gust of steam and the reverberation of the titan's large body hitting the ground. Although confused as to how quickly the threat was mitigated, he did not think much of it, assuming a large-scale offensive against the titan had taken place with 3 or 4 scouts attacking from different angles. As long as the titan was down, he saw no problem in who took the kill.

For this girl who was so unassuming in both stature (a ground on which Levi had no right to judge) and disposition, to have been the one dealing the final blow? Levi was impressed to say the least.

Not much could impress Levi.

Had the girl approached the tavern in a celebratory manner, Levi could make sense of it, however, for her to say she was celebrating the worst day of her life, left him only further stumped. He knew he would have to get the full story from the source, which should not prove to be difficult considering that the very source lay, curled up, in his bed.

Looking at the clock, it read as half past four and Levi's curiosity bested him. Taking one last look to ensure the girl was fast asleep, he grabbed his coat and cautiously left his room, making sure not to wake the girl, or anyone else for that matter.

As Levi shut the door, he swiftly descended the corridor and mazed through the building as he found his way to the basement. He reached for his ring of keys and found the one that matched the door he faced. As he entered the dust was overbearing and were it not for his determination to be as quick as possible, he would have gotten down to some serious scrubbing.

"These fuckers wouldn't know how to keep a place clean even if I hit them over the head with a ten-foot broom." Levi muttered to himself.

Using the matches that were sat on a desk, Levi lit an oil lamp hanging near the drawers he had come to scan through.

In his hours of wake, Levi devised a plan to conduct a background check on the Managold woman. He would be met with raised brows and sarcasm if he began asking people about her, and frankly did not believe his temperament would manage that well.

And so, Levi decided to make use of his seniority in the Survey Corps and entered the record room which was restricted to everyone except for Commander Smith, Hange Zoë, and Levi, among a handful of other superiors. The permanent record of every scout, present and past, was carefully maintained within these four walls.

Levi mumbled the letter 'M' to himself as he searched the labels and finally found the drawer of interest. He opened the drawer that required a hefty tug owing to it being stuffed to capacity with manila folders. Levi's nimble fingers worked their way through the names.

Maia, Maltz, Mallory…

Managold, Marisol

Without any other files with the same surname, Levi knew he had found what he was looking for.

Levi lifted the folder out the drawer and began paging through. The first page was titled 'Personal Information' and informed Levi that Marisol was twenty years of age, having completed cadet training at the age of 18 – slightly older than the average graduate.

Marisol's birthplace was listed as Mitras, earning a scoff from Levi. The inhabitants of Mitras, the capital city within Wall Sina were the elite amongst the elite. It was the antithesis of who he was, and it made him sick.

Living the majority of his life beneath the feet of those who ignorantly walked above had permanently poisoned Levi's view of the people of Mitras.

The underground was treated as a fountain of evil, and Levi could not help the anger that seethed through him at the thought of all the innocent children who, through accidents of birth, would be resigned to a painful, short, life while the children of Mitras flourished and prospered in ignorance.

Although in Levi's youth he, alike with his contemporaries, would have done anything to claw his way to a life on the surface, his maturity has taught him how vile those select few were, basking in excess.

Levi lets out a hollow chuckle, "Typical, her little cry for help was nothing more than Mitras hedonism at its finest."

Levi's displeasure dissipated as he turned the page to her cadet evaluation, she had graduated and placed third within the top ten. Not first, Levi smugly thought, but certainly not bad by any measure.

Levi scanned through the notes on her performance, 'Excelled in collaborative tasks…took the lead wherever necessary…omni-directional mobility has been perfected'

Nothing but praise for Managold the golden girl.

The pages that followed proved to be uneventful as they listed the serial numbers of Marisol's ODM gear, and room number. However, the final page of her portfolio accounted for her titan killing record. In her mere two years as a scout, she had already managed to kill five titans (not yet reflecting the abnormal from the most recent mission), as well as accumulated 13 assists.

Although these numbers were nowhere near the impressive level of Levi, closing in on his 50th kill, Marisol's record was not something to turn your nose up at. What was even more impressive was the fact that she was able to take down these titans with little to no injury as the medical reports state nothing but minor scratches and a torn muscle here and there.

"The girl must have moves, I'll give her that much." Levi mumbled as he aligned the pages back inside the folder before closing the drawer.

Marisol's sheer talent was not something Levi could ignore and so he told himself that he would continue to keep tabs on her, wanting to see the 'wunderkind' in action with his own two eyes.

All this information proved vital for Levi as he could, first and foremost, put a name to the face as well as the fact that he could now pinpoint Marisol's behaviour to being a brat who has had nothing but a privileged life.

He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, she was young and naïve, she may not have grasped the full extent her Mitras-living that she benefitted from at the expense of those trapped in the underground. Deep down, Levi wanted to believe her actions in the bar were a genuine cry for help but upon what he had learned he could not be sure.

The next thought to cross his mind was what could prompt a girl like her to join the scouts? No one in their right mind would give up life, of the most secure kind, in exchange for certain death. She was not the first person from Mitras to join the scouts, something about the 'unpretentious' nature of this job was oft cited by anti-establishment youth who told their cash-stacked parents to go fuck themselves. This urge of rebellion would often give way to tears as those 'rebels' cried for their comfortable beds and servants to rescue them.

Levi pondered Marisol's choosing of the scouts over a cushy Military Police job, as he snuffed the lit oil lamp and made his way towards the door.

Levi wanted to make one last stop down the hall before he would return to his post as watchdog until Marisol awoke. As he arrived at the door he was searching for, he once again used the key that only a select few held. Inside the room, the small window shone enough light on the large wall where a spare key for each room hung and Levi could quickly find what he came for. She had said the night before, as was written in her personal file, that her room number was 65A, and when Levi located the label with the same digits, he grabbed the key and placed it in the breast pocket of his coat.

"Marisol Managold…" Levi whispered as he neared his chamber door, just wanting to sense how the name felt in his mouth.

Although he would never admit it, he liked the way her name rolled off his tongue.

So, Levi thought as he stared at the closed door, her actions could not be chalked up to pure brat behaviour.

The room returned to its regular quiet, the past evening having disturbed the norm. He huffed and began to change the sheets as the blood stains on the pillow, that were faint at most, were irking him to his very core.

With fresh linen laid, hospital corners as neat as ever, Levi lay down and sighed heavily as he allowed himself to relax, even if only momentarily.

Tough love was what Levi justified his words as. It was not that he desired to lambaste the girl, he hoped some harsh words would kick her into shape, but he could not deny the twinge of regret over the way he spoke.

He could instantly picture how someone like Erwin would have handled the situation. Erwin would have offered Marisol more than consolation, he would have offered her a shoulder to cry on, told her to take the next day off from training. More than anything, he would have inspired her with encouraging words to come back from this stronger than ever and fight in honour of those she had lost. Levi slightly smirked as he pictured the Commander's eyebrows dancing on his forehead through the flux of emotions.

However, it was not Erwin who had acted last night, it was him, Levi, and he was far from the worst person Marisol could have gone home with. He can only imagine the type of sleezy men who would take advantage of a girl like her, passed out at a bar, alone.

Levi did not allow himself to finish that thought. Instead, he looked towards the grandfather clock to his right and noticed that it was nearing the time for the post-mission briefing with Erwin, the rest of the superiors and some politicians who merely join these meetings to complain about the budget and threaten Erwin with constraining the finances.

He decided he had enough time to freshen up and headed towards the showers to wash the past 12 hours away. As he arrived at the first shower stall, one that he had come to known as cleaner than most, he placed his towel on a hook and began retrieving personal care products from his brown canvas satchel.

Levi's personal hygiene was something he spared no expense towards, in the same manner as he treated the tea he drank. Most of his salary would be used towards these ends and provided Levi with immeasurable pleasure.

As the hot water washed over him, Levi felt his shoulders relax before lathering himself with soap. He was meticulous in ensuring that every part of himself was doused in soap, letting the essential oils seep into his skin.

After a few moments, Levi stepped out and efficiently dried himself off before getting dressed into a clean outfit. He moved towards the mirror to brush his hair into place and straighten his signature cravat.

Feeling satisfied, Levi dropped his personal items back in his quarters before making his way to the conference room for the debrief.

Many of the relevant parties had already arrived by the time Levi entered the room, but there were still a few moments before the meeting would officially convene. Levi made use of this time to fix himself a cup of tea, ignoring the spread of pastries and biscuits that had been set out for the benefit of the politicians.

Cup in hand, Levi made his way over to take a seat next to Hange, paying no mind to the last few officers filtering into the room.

"Good morning, everyone, the time reads 9 o'clock and so I believe we should get this meeting started," Commander Erwin said with his usual polite smile as he shuffled the pages laid out before him, "I will begin with a run through of the previous mission then turn to budget concerns before finally detailing the course of action going forward."

There were some sighs and rolled eyes that filled the room as everyone was more than aware of how boring and stretched out Erwin's debriefs could be.

Erwin favoured traditional methods and flat out refused requests in favour of debriefs being summarized on paper to save everyone the effort.

And so, Erwin began his lecture.

"This past mission went off without a hitch. We were able to travel 25 kilometres out of the walls with only 3 minor titans appearing, all of whom were dealt with by our very own Captain Levi Ackerman and as you can see, he did not as much as suffer a scratch."

Multiple pairs of eyes made their way towards Levi as he raised a hand in recognition of what Erwin had just said.

"Again, the first evening went down alright, nothing necessary to report there, we settled at the basecamp before sundown and did not experience any titans in our vicinity." Erwin stated as he scanned over his account of what occurred beyond the walls.

The details were of little interest to Levi as he continued to peer towards the clock wishing for the meeting to adjourn.

After running through budgetary details ad infinitum, much of which Levi filtered out, his ears pricked up at the mentioning of further missions.

"So, as for what our next moves are, there are not too many pressing issues right now, but I was informed that some vandals had broken into the former scout headquarters and taken refuge. The military police are…less than willing to involve themselves and so Levi, I am tasking your special operations squad to make a trip out there within the next week. Just search the place, make sure no one is residing there and ensure any important documents are still in order in the storage facility. The last thing we need are leaks in information with the potential to cause mass hysteria."

Levi nodded his head while uttering an affirmative towards Erwin. Assuming that would be it for the day, Levi began to rise from his seat, only to hear the Commander's voice rise again, capturing an audience from those in the room. Erwin's confidence faltered slightly as he broke some news of importance.

"There was one last incident which I feel it's necessary to relay," Erwin shifted on his feet as he continued to speak, "I know this forum does not usually concern itself over the deaths of scouts, however, on the second day of the mission there was an encounter with an abnormal titan…something unlike any of us had ever seen. It was severely deformed with arms that doubled its height and dragged behind it. I believe that it was taken down, singlehandedly, by one…Marisol Managold? A relatively new scout in Captain Ness's squad." Erwin recited, looking down at his pages to confirm the scout's name before he pressed forward.

There were slight murmurs and raised brows in response to this. Levi's questions as to whether the young girl really was involved in killing the titan had finally been answered. Moreover, the realisation that she did so without assistance was remarkable. It was easily a 3-to-4-man job that would require expertise and experience he was sure she did not have. As he looked around at Hange, Dieter Ness, Mike Zacharias, and other squad leaders, their expressions conveyed the same air of astonishment.

Levi then pondered what this had to do with a scout dying? Marisol was alive and well a mere hour ago, peacefully resting in his bed. Before he could allow his mind to wander further, Erwin continued on his roundabout way to culminate his thoughts.

"And while I will definitely be making our praise and sentiment known to the young recruit in due time, the real reason I have mentioned this is owing to the fact that a rather important scout died at the hands of the titan. As I have said, I know this is not the usual triviality we discuss in this type of forum, but the scout that died was Clay Blythe, the son of former Commander Nicholas Blythe."

Any murmurs that had surfaced at the news of Marisol's achievement were immediately dwarfed by the dramatic response of gasps and wide eyes that came from squad leaders and political elite alike.

Commander Nicholas Blythe was known as the Claidheamh Mòr owing to his sharp intellect in devising the most brilliant military formations that had been memorialised as the Blythe Formation. The nickname was also given in recognition of his absolute proficiency on the battlefield. Although none other had donned the title of 'humanity's strongest soldier' besides Levi Ackerman, if there were any contenders, it would most certainly have been the former commander.

As the news settled, Erwin was able to add in an aside, "That is, unfortunately, the morose reality of being a scout. Despite not having had the opportunity to truly stand out amongst his peers on the battlefield, Clay Blythe had immense determination to follow in father's footsteps. Commander Blythe was a defining factor in my ability to become a commander and I have no doubt that was the reason his son joined the Survey Corps. I will make sure to personally send condolences to Mrs Blythe. But…yes, I just thought this was a point worth mentioning and I hope the scouts will continue to defend their honour going forward."

There was an awkward disquiet in the air that slightly cleared when Erwin announced the conclusion of the meeting. Levi immediately lifted himself up and exited the room, the post-meeting 'chit-chat' being of little interest to him.

Levi's mind went back and forth as he walked towards the training grounds, eager to release his pent-up tension. Levi pieced together all the bits of information he was privy to and made the connection that Clay must have been the 'best friend' that Marisol had mentioned earlier this morning.

He did not want to let his mind wander; it had been years since he had last borne the full weight of emotions that came with losing Isabel and Furlan. However, all he had heard in the past day was making it more difficult than ever to supress those feelings and keep his composure.

He knew instantly this morning that in Marisol's state of vulnerability, he should have validated her emotional response to Clay's death and told her that he knew exactly how she was feeling, that he was sorry for her loss, that he would be a sounding board for her to openly express her feelings. But no, he resigned himself to a cold position of non-involvement and forced upon her the ultimatum of choosing between her emotions or her place in the scouts.

He sighed as he reached the members of his squad, their cheery disposition heavily contrasting his conflicted one as they waited for their training session to begin.

"Oi, get up you lot, we are here to train, not talk shit," Although Levi's stern words garnered some light chuckles, everyone quickly dropped their conversations and halted to attention, "Oluo, come, you're my sparring partner for today."

Levi turned his back to the squad to remove his cravat and cropped jacket, missing the nudges and raised brows sent in Oluo's direction as everyone else visibly relaxed at not having to face Levi themselves. His eyes were darker than usual and when Levi was in a bad mood, albeit a mood with only subtle differences to his usual demeanour, his squad knew to be on their best behaviour and stay out of his way.

"Yes sir!" Oluo shouted as he stepped out of line to make his way over to the plane of dirt designated for the practice of hand-to-hand combat.

"We have a new mission this week, our squad is heading to the former Survey Corps headquarters. It has been riddled with break-ins recently and so we will be required to scope the place out and, if necessary, kick the shit out of anyone who tries to attack us when we enter." Levi relayed the details, with his back still turned to the squad.

Levi outlined what he had planned for today's training: everyone would pair up and the first person in the pair to successfully takedown the other ten times would win and could leave.

Levi walked towards where Oluo was standing, his back towards the captain as he gazed at some birds flying overhead. Levi rolled his eyes and used this as an opportunity to dropkick the man and destabilize him, forcing Oluo to lurch forward and hit the ground with a loud thump.

"Levi you sure ain't going easy on me today, at least give me some damn warning next time." Oluo said as he lifted himself off the ground with a small huff.

"Firstly, no titan or any person is going to say, 'hey I'm about to beat the shit out of you so get into position'," Levi's usual sarcasm came back with a vengeance, "And secondly, lest you have forgotten, I am your superior so you should address me as such."

"Well, captain, I ain't never heard you say anything to Petra when she addresses you like that, 'Levi…Levi! I would do anything for you Levi!'" Oluo put on his best performance of a doting young lady pouring affection over Levi.

Without as much as dignifying the baseless claim, Levi rolled up his sleeves and again made his way to tackle Oluo to the ground by leveraging his foot behind Oluo's calves, causing the man to fall flat on the ground beneath the captain. This time, Levi landed with a knee on Oluo's abdomen, kicking all the air out of the scout beneath him.

"Maybe I should have picked someone else, I don't think this is a fair matchup." Levi said as he pointed his gaze at the man under him.

And Levi was right, within 30 minutes he was able to pin Oluo down using a variety of techniques, while all Oluo could do was bite his tongue and wish that none of his comrades saw this pathetic, one-sided, battle. His wishes would not be granted as he became that evening's laughingstock.

When the training came to an end, Levi made his way to freshen up before returning to his chamber to do some administrative work and read over a set of plans that had been placed under his door in his absence, relating to the upcoming mission.

Time passed slowly and daylight gave way to a pink dusk through the window on his left. He was still scanning the words on the pages before him, yet he had long since taken in any of the information.

His mind would not stop drifting back to Marisol. He could not place the feeling exactly, it was somewhere between guilt and kinship, however, that feeling was soon conquered by worry over whether she would be all right.

He had too much pride to find her and apologize for not showing sympathy, but not enough egotism to forget about her completely. He was between a rock and a hard place and cursed himself for allowing his thoughts to go this far.

When he went back to concentrating on his pages, he tried hard to focus but at that very moment something, albeit small and wavering, ticked in his head. As he had already understood it, the mission he was to go on would be relatively simple, a mere day or two within wall rose and they would be back. He did not need any additional help beyond his own squad but there was also no harm in having someone extra tag along.

Without allowing himself to play devil's advocate with the voice inside his head. He stood up and left his room, darting down the hallway.

Levi's intention of asking- no, instructing Marisol to join his squad on their endeavour had reasons that were two-fold. The first, selfish, reason was to appease himself, as the worry of what she would do to herself in his absence was a thought he did not take lightly to. In his four years as a scout there had been 6 reported suicides from the daily trauma and stress these soldiers faced, however, in every one of those instances, Levi did not give the dead more than a passing thought. Levi forced death to be an insignificant concept in his mind. Yet, when it came to Marisol, it felt different, he did not want to leave anything to chance.

The other reason for his decision was for Marisol's own good. Levi believed that this safe mission could prove to be a meaningful distraction from the depths of her troubled mind. Levi was not prepared to give her any special treatment but perhaps this could reignite her sense of purpose in the scouts and slowly put her back on track.

As he rehearsed some lines in his head, he stepped closer and closer to the room marked 65A. Just before his knuckle could connect with the door, he faltered for a moment with a voice in the back of his head asking himself why he cared as much as he did.

In fairness it had been less than 24 hours since this girl became a defined part of his psyche. Despite the whole 'deep seated hatred for people from Mitras' thing, there was something intriguing about the girl who had experienced a completely different walk of life to Levi but who had also seemed to share striking similarities.

He wanted to tell himself that Marisol should fend for herself and learn to grow up, however, as if written in giant letters, all that Levi could envision was a banner placed before him spelling out: 'DO THE RIGHT THING'.

Levi wished he had heeded his own advice about having a tough skin and moving on, but he had made it this far and was not about to sheepishly turn away.

He knocked three times and waited.

Silence

He thought for a split second that this was a sign to turn on his heels and forget about his emotionally driven plan. He felt idiotic, if Levi had watched anyone else do as he was, he would have cringed.

Just as he let out a somewhat defeated huff, he heard slight rustling beyond the door and small patters of feet. The handle began to jangle as the door swooped open revealing Marisol's shocked disposition at the sight of Levi.

"Captain!" She acknowledged, straightening her posture as she remained as composed as possible. However, she was unable to cover the blush that spread across her cheeks.

Levi could not help but find her response to his presence…endearing?

"I hope I am not intruding on anything?" Levi asked as a polite formality; he intended to instruct her regardless of her response.

"No, not at all sir." Marisol responded hurriedly as her heartbeat quickened.

Levi unintentionally remained silent as he could not help but let his gaze run over her from head to toe. She had cleaned herself up since he last saw her. Her once matted hair now had body and complimented the curves and angles of her face. She had removed her uniform in favour of a simple white dress akin to the attire of a milkmaid, the corset on her waist lay loose but still achieved some affect of flattering her figure. Despite the difference in her physical appearance, her emotional state remained delicate as a slight redness persisted upon her eyes.

With Levi's silence holding out, Marisol took it as a cue that he was waiting for her to speak, "W-would you like to come inside?" She slightly moved out of the doorway to make room for him to walk through. She was relieved that the stark contrast between their rooms in terms of cleanliness this morning had prompted her to tidy up.

"It's quite alright, I will be brief," Levi said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "My squad is going on a mission this week and you are joining us."

The casual nature of his tone almost made the words go over Marisol's head.

"Excuse me?" She asked timidly, unsure of whether his order was some sick form of punishment for the night before. All she could think of was how Levi's squad were the cream of the crop, made up of the most elite scouts in the Survey Corps. Was he forcing her along to emphasize how weak she was in comparison? She felt sick at the thought of being the butt of this cruel joke.

However, Levi outlined the objectives of the mission in such a matter-of-fact way that unless he had perfected his acting abilities (a thought Marisol could believe considering Levi was skilled in every discipline), she could not find the sarcasm or hidden joke anywhere in his words.

"Sir I will do whatever I am told to, but of all people to accompany your squad, why me?" Her eyes shifted to her feet, feeling bashful over all this. This morning she was convinced he would sack her from the scouts there and then but now he was giving her a privilege that any and all scouts dreamed of? Her mind was severely muddled over this.

Levi was naïve to think that Marisol would simply oblige, and he could be on his way. He had not prepared an answer to what she had asked and although the truth was on the tip of his tongue, he could not bring himself to utter his thoughts. Instead, he quickly went through all the mental notes he had made of Marisol thus far in hopes that one would be a plausible excuse.

"You seem to have…aptitudes and have proved yourself to other superiors. I would like to see your skills first-hand," Levi said while capturing her gaze as she looked up at him, "We will be expecting you first thing Thursday morning. I hope to see you rise to the occasion."

Without another word, Levi turned and walked back down the corridor from which he had emerged.

"Yes, captain." Marisol said, though she was unsure of whether Levi had heard her.

Closing her door, a small smile played at her lips at the recognition he, Levi Ackerman, had given her.

It was the first smile she had cracked in days.

She bit down on one of her fingers in an attempt to cover her gleefulness. She felt a girlish reaction wash over her as she flopped onto her bed and let the flush overtake her features. She could not help but feel butterflies at the way his eyes had taken her in, followed by his words of praise, albeit mundane in typical Levi-fashion.

Yet, she soon found herself trying to shake these thoughts out of her head. Marisol may have now represented herself to be physically fine but mere moments before Levi knocked on the door, she was still lost in the thicket of mourning. She closed her eyes as she let out a long sigh. She had to prove her worth and she knew it, but the thought of her wavering willpower frightened her.

Marisol may have doubted herself in that moment, but Levi had a sense of faith in the girl.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Hiiii, I hope all are enjoying this so far! I'm happy this has at least garnered some views here; I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read the pieces I write so thank you all.

I do just think that the AOT fandom seems to be more active on AO3, but I will continue to cross-post here for the time being as I want to reach as many people as possible.

I must say that I am struggling to get the formatting of my work on FFN to space correctly, but I know there are toggles for readers, so make use of that if you need bigger spacing between paragraphs.

Anyway, these chapters have already been on AO3 for a while so I just wanted to post these now but for the remainder of the fic, I will post updates at the same time.

Until then, please leave feedback I love to read what you guys have to say about the story, it is a great motivation!

Byeeeee xoxo :3