Morning readers!

Happy Sunday. Hope yalls weather was as nice as ours was on my end of the screen. I'm posting this and then I'm suiting up for the river for and will hopefully be gone all day. Water levels are NICE and kayaking is life out here, so it's time to get out of here and get some sun.

Not much to report on my end – enjoy the chapter and tell me your thoughts :)

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"How's he doing?" Eld asked between bites of his sandwich, and Petra sighed in exhaustion, picking at her food quietly before responding. Even though she had taken the day off duty, she was certain that she had already worked ten times harder than she would have if she had just done drills like Levi had insisted from the start.

Between the fighting for attention at the medical ward, running across the compound for whatever Levi needed, as well as hearing him complain about everything, absolutely everything she did – she was exhausted. Watching over a sick Levi Ackerman was certainly not for the faint of heart, and while she didn't regret choosing to take the day off to watch over him, she knew that she would sleep very well tonight when it was all said and done.

She rubbed her eyes in exhaustion, "He's resting right now. Honestly, I don't know if I've ever seen him sleep this much. It's a little scary to watch as it goes to show just how sick he really is, but considering how pleasant he is when he's awake right now, I can't really complain too much. At the very least, he's quiet when he's asleep."

The Doctor had left hours ago and once she finally worked up the nerve to return back to his room, Levi complained for a straight ten minutes that his ass was on fire, he bitterly drank the whole bottle of water Petra had brought to him in a show of indignance, had a few swallows of milk to wash down his first dose of medicine, and only then did he stand up from the chair he was stationed at, complaining further that she was intentionally hovering and babying him, but then demanding in the very next breath that she go fetch him more water because if she was going to take the whole day off she may as well do something other than stand around uselessly and piss him off.

His long rant had not surprisingly caused another painful coughing fit, this one so severe that Petra had to all but hold him upright as he nearly doubled over from the force of his own hacking, leaving his shoulders trembling and body quivering weakly in her arms. It wasn't until he heard Petra make a small, pained noise that Levi realized how tightly he had been gripping onto her for support, and he released his hold immediately, standing up fully and feeling a rising heat through his face and chest that wasn't entirely a result of his fever.

Saying nothing, demanding no apologies or explanations, Petra patiently held the Captain up supportively until his breathing fell back under control, and again wordlessly helped him back into bed while he avoided her gaze in either embarrassment, or newly gained humility.

Within minutes he was asleep again.

The first few times of entering his room after that, the turning door handle and creaking sound that resulted as she came into the room woke him up and subjected her to a few more of his sarcastic and scathing rants, where he'd complain about how noisy she was, remind her that he wasn't an invalid so she didn't need to coddle him, and for the last time he wasn't fucking hungry so she could just lay off.

Petra quickly learned to leave his door open just a few inches so she could peek in without actually disturbing him, and spare him the pain of talking, and spare herself the verbal beating. She entered his room once with a newly refilled water bottle, brought him some fruit from the kitchen should he decide perhaps that he was hungry, but for the most part, as long as she didn't wake him, the Captain had mercifully remained asleep without incident.

When the guys returned for their afternoon lunch break, laughing and shoving each other as they sat down with their lunches, Petra had rushed into the main room, angrily shushing them until they fell silent in fear that their cavorting about would wake up Levi unnecessarily.

"So the Doctor says he's got the flu? How long do you think he'll be out of it?" Gunther asked next, and Petra considered his question for a moment.

"Well, considering-" Petra paused as she spoke, about to say something along the lines of, 'Considering he can't even stand on his own two feet right now' but found that she just couldn't bring herself to say something like that to her team. Levi was proud, and the fact she saw him at such a vulnerable time, the fact that when he coughed or struggled with his sickness he watched her bitterly as though he were ashamed of himself and hated being seen as weak in front of her – her gut told her those intimate details should remain a secret from her team.

She shook her head, adjusting her previous choice of explanation, "Considering the Doctor gave him a five-day supply of medicine, at least today and tomorrow he'll probably be resting in bed, if I have anything to say about it at least. If he reports back for duty after that, I can't see it being anything more than office work at first. He may go outside and tell us what to do perhaps, but his traditional ability to be out and leading drills or running with us, that may be a week or so as an estimate. He's really quite miserable."

Eld nodded at her response, chewing his sandwich thoughtfully. He swallowed and cleared his throat, "And how long are you planning to take off? Erwin said you could take whatever time you felt was necessary right? Are you going to be with Levi the whole time, or what are you thinking?"

Petra looked at Eld suspiciously, questioning the motive behind his concern considering all they had accused her of as of late - and the blonde sighed at her perhaps warranted lack of trust. While it was true he had given her a hard time right before their so-called wedding ceremony, Eld sincerely wanted nothing more than happiness for Petra. Even now he didn't agree with her decision but making her life hell at this point served no purpose as their marriage was a done deal.

He watched her with a small smile, "Calm down. That's not a loaded question Petra, I'm just wanting to know so I can plan these next few days out in terms of our exercise material. All the drama from this morning aside, we are all worried about the Captain, so I don't think it bothers any of us that you are staying behind to watch over him. The guy is stubborn, so it puts us all at ease to know that you're here to keep him in check."

Petra watched Eld for an extended moment, finding his response innocent enough, and she conceded her suspicions with an accepting sigh of relief, "Well, I dunno. I'll play it by ear I guess. I haven't really had a chance to sit down until just now. Today will obviously be spent monitoring him. Tomorrow I'm assuming I'll take off, but I really can't be too sure. If he's feeling better, then there's no reason for me to bother him. As for the days after that, if I feel he still could use the help, I may do like split days, where half the day I'm with the Captain, but the other I'm half running routines with you guys. I don't want to sit idle for too long or I'll get out of practice, you know? Levi definitely wouldn't want that, so I'll try to be mindful of how much time I'm taking off."

"Well that's reasonable." Gunther responded, taking a long drink from his water canteen and clearing his throat, "Are we all just about done here? I don't want to linger too long if it means we wake the Captain by mistake. He needs the rest, so we can go elsewhere for the rest of our lunch break. You gonna be alright Petra? If he's too much trouble you can always tag team with one of us, we'll make it work."

She stood up with her team, walking with them toward the door so she could close it quietly behind them, not sure how light of a sleeper Levi might be. She smiled as they each seemed to watch her in concern, and she found it ironic that it seemed they were actually more worried for her than the Captain himself. "I'll be fine guys. Tired sure, but I'll be alright. Now get out of here, you don't want to spend your entire lunch break fussing over me."

She gave her final goodbye's and quietly closed the door with a warm smile.

Gods they drove her nuts sometimes, but she really did love her team.

Taking a deep breath to focus herself, Petra tiptoed back down the hall with renewed purpose toward Levi's room. It had probably been a good forty minutes since she had last checked on him, so it was definitely time she made her rounds and stole a quick glance into his room just to double check that all was well.

She stepped quietly towards the Captain's door and peered inside, her eyes going wide at what she saw.

Levi was awake, sitting up in bed and pressed up against the wall with a blanket wrapped around him tightly. Even through the mess of the jumbled blanket, she could see he was literally trembling as shivers racked across his body.

"Levi!" she gasped as she quickly tore across his room, though the Captain hardly even turned his attention toward her, merely made a pained expression as his teeth chattered together continuously. She sat down on his bed beside him - he didn't resist as she placed a hand over his forehead. She gave a long sigh at the overwhelming heat that emanated from his skin and looked at him in concern, "Damn it Levi, your fever spiked even higher. You okay?"

At her questions, he turned his head toward her slightly, blinking as though trying to focus on her, though he gave a defeated sigh and his head fell to the side limply and rested squarely on her shoulder. His voice was a mere whisper, "It's cold."

Petra gave a sympathetic sigh, again feeling his forehead and brushing the hair out of his face gently as he continued to rest against her shoulder and shiver against her. It seemed he had very little intention of moving, and while the contact didn't bother her, the fact he was intentionally seeking out physical contact, even something small like this, was not a good sign and only made her worry intensify. She frowned and found herself again pressing her palm against his forehead gently, "No, it's not cold Captain, you have a really high fever."

When a pained sort of moan left his lips and he nuzzled into her neck in clear misery, Petra looked around the room with wide eyes, feeling suddenly helpless. Even with the shot and his medicine, his fever was only climbing higher. Worse still, his next dose wasn't for another hour yet. What could she do to bring his fever down in the meantime? Should she just let him ride it out and wait for his next scheduled dose?

No, she couldn't do that, he was clearly miserable. She needed to do something now.

Would it hurt him if she perhaps gave it to him early?

She mentally turned down the idea, not knowing what sorts of impact the too early dose may have on him and deciding it simply wasn't worth the risk considering it wasn't her health she was gambling with.

It was tempting to just call the Doctor again. Considering they knew Erwin was somewhat involved, it wouldn't be hard to convince them that it was important Levi be double checked, the only problem was that by the time she got all the way there and back with the Doctor in tow, it would just be time for his medicine and they would leave it at that.

Besides…she couldn't leave the Captain all alone while he was like this.

As if to confirm her assessment, Levi coughed loudly, leaning forward and away from her as he coughed directly into the mattress. Petra watched him with ever growing concern, gingerly placing her hand across the center of his back – testing the waters slightly – before rubbing the expanse of his back in small gentle circles, hoping that the simple gesture would provide even a slight amount of comfort as the loud tremors tore across his body.

When his coughing fit finally came to a merciful end, Levi sat up slowly and leaned not against the wall, but rather against Petra directly, his head resting back into the crook of her neck as he shivered and tried to get comfortable. He was resting himself against her completely, clutching on his blanket and still trembling from being 'cold' as he tried desperately to catch his breath because his coughing was growing all the more terrifying with intensity.

She frowned as the silence extended. She could feel his body heat radiating from him in waves, reminding her that she needed to be decisive and find a way to break his rising fever and fast. A fever this high was dangerous and she was suspicious that Levi was somewhat delirious due to the high temperature, as his behavior – while completely innocent in nature – was so unlike him that it made her worry increase all the more.

She needed to think of something. What did her father do back when she got sick like this? Were there any home remedies that might make him a little more comfortable while they waited for the medicine to kick in?

An idea finally came to her, and she tried to look down at Levi, though with how closely he was pressed against her, it was difficult to actually make eye contact with him. She carefully backed away and redirected him to rest back against the wall as she twisted herself off the surface of his bed in determination, "Listen Captain, I'm going to go run you a bath. My dad used to do that for me when I was sick, and I think it may help. We need to get your fever under control, it's way too high."

Levi opened his eyes a mere crack as she backed away, and whether he agreed or disagreed with her, he didn't have time to say as she left soon after.

It had been difficult and more of a pain than she ever thought possible, but she had somehow managed to move the Captain step by step out of his bedroom, all the way to the bathroom where she had a drawn bath waiting for him. While he could stand and support his weight, walking was another matter entirely considering his balance was all but nonexistent at this point.

For every step he took, he leaned onto Petra for support and she learned very quickly that Levi was amazingly heavy. She tried not to complain as it certainly wasn't his fault that he had fallen ill, but by the time they had slowly walked the meager distance from his room to the bathroom, she was exhausted and very ready for a break.

She walked him over to the sink so he could stand against it for support and balance, and once she was certain he was stable, she stood up slowly, popping her back and stretching her suddenly aching arms and legs because the task had been admittedly more difficult than she had expected.

Thank Maria that was finally over.

She took a moment to get her breathing under control, mentally checking the first task of 'Get Levi into the bathroom' off her to do list.

Now she just had to get him in the tub.

As she tried to think about how to accomplish this, an obvious problem came to mind and she felt a sort of mortified embarrassment come over her. She tried her best to sound confident and cleared her throat, "Alright Captain, the water is ready for you and I've got a towel setting on the rack here for when you're finished." She exhaled and looked at him directly, then lost her nerve and looked to the floor instead, "Do you need any help...you know, getting undressed?"

Oh gods please say no.

She tried desperately to keep the tremble out of her voice, knowing now was not the time to be shy or self-conscious in the event that Captain legitimately needed her help, but despite her best efforts, her voice was weak and lacked the confidence she usually spoke with.

Levi shivered and crossed his arms tightly over his chest in attempts to warm himself, though wobbled in an unsteady manner and placed a hand back on the sink to balance himself. He seemed to think her question over for a long moment, then slowly shook his head. He cleared his throat, "I'll manage."

Petra gave a silent exhale of relief, giving a simple nod as she observed him, "Alright. Try to relax okay? I was thinking that while you're in here, I could make you a cup of tea? If that's okay with you of course, it would be your tea leaves that I'd be using after all."

Levi's eyes sparkled with sudden interest as he looked toward her – Petra had a feeling that he would like her idea – and he gave a slow nod as she continued speaking, "I was thinking green tea would be best if you had any. Green tea is supposed to have healing properties if I remember correctly, and at the very least it should help your throat, right? You'll just have to tell me how to make it as I can't remember the right ratios for that sort of thing. Do you keep your tea somewhere in your room?"

Levi slowly pulled his large shirt over his head, allowing the garment to drop on the floor without a second thought as his teeth chattered between words, "Green tea. It's in my office desk – one of the left drawers." He spoke quietly, rubbing his eyes as he tried to organize the vague collection of details he could recall about the specific tea, "Two spoonful of tea leaves per cup, steep for at least a minute and a half but never more than two minutes or it gets bitter."

Petra grabbed his forgotten shirt from off the floor and folded it quietly before setting it on the edge of the sink, not wanting him to later trip on the loose fabric when coming out of the tub. He was wobbly enough on his feet and he certainly didn't need any floor hazards to make the task any more difficult. She nodded toward him in confirmation, "In your office. Two spoonful, not more than two minutes. Got it."

She motioned toward the door, "Alright Captain, I'm going to leave and give you some privacy. If you need anything just holler. I'll come back in and check on you about twenty or so minutes and I'll have your tea ready for you. Want me to grab you some food while I'm out? It's coming up on your next dose of medicine and you haven't eaten all day."

Levi took a long breath and exhaled, clearly still exhausted from the challenging excursion that was their previous trip from his bedroom to the bathroom. He sighed and shook his head, keeping a firm grip on the sink as the room continued to spin without any discernable direction, "No, I feel like shit."

She nodded, "Very well, Captain. I'll just get you another glass of milk for now and we can revisit the matter come dinner time okay?" Petra exited the room and closed the door behind herself, choosing to rest against the nearby wall for a few moments and listen in for any sounds that might indicate he was having trouble. While Levi had stated he could manage on his own, after the miserable walk they shared just to get here, she wasn't exactly convinced. She at least wanted to stick around until she could hear the sound of moving water, that would be proof enough for her.

After a few minutes went by, more rustling fabric, another coughing fit that she felt guilty not being beside him for, finally the sound of moving water could be heard. Petra sighed in relief and pushed off the wall so she could get a start on her new line of tasks - at least until Levi's alarmed voice suddenly echoed loudly from within the bathroom.

"Mother FUCKER!"

His voice was the loudest that it had been all day, and in an instant, Petra's hand was back on the door handle, ready to run into the room if there was any further indication that something was wrong. She didn't want to jump to any hasty conclusions - after all he didn't call her directly so maybe…he was alright? She couldn't barge in on him unless she was absolutely certain he was in danger.

She spoke loudly through the door, her voice demanding and audibly showed signs of panic, "Levi! Are you okay? What's wrong?"

His previous shout was not without consequences, and Petra had to anxiously wait out another one of his coughing fits, the sounds echoing throughout the small room and making her feel even more guilty as the not knowing continued to eat at her nerves. As he continued hacking, Petra continued to feel more and more anxious and impatient.

Should she just barge in? She wasn't trying to spy on him or anything, surely he would understand right? Damn it all, maybe she should have just stayed in the bathroom to begin with! She could have always faced the wall as he undressed, closed her eyes, or hell, actually just seen him naked but handle it like an adult and move on like the professional she was.

As he continued coughing, she gripped the handle even tighter. She was certain that something was wrong, and his state of dress was becoming the least of her worries as worry and 'what ifs' plagued her mind. Just as she was turning the door handle with the intention of walking in on him, his cough subsided, and he cleared his throat to respond.

"…Why is the water fucking cold Petra?" Levi's raspy and weak voice reverberated off the walls, and in that moment Petra sighed in overwhelming relief and dropped her death grip on the door handle, resting her head against the door as her heart continued to beat wildly, pounding firmly against her rib cage from what she had thought had been a potentially terrible turn of fate.

Gods he had really worried her!

She moved back toward the door frame and leaned back against the wall, turning her head towards the door and responding gently, still just happy that he seemed to be alright. "Of course the water is cold Captain, we have to break your fever somehow. I told you my dad used to do this when I was a kid."

"You never said it was cold."

Petra remained patient and a light smile pulled at her lips, "Just stay in there for a little while longer. Yes it's miserable in the moment, but if it gets your fever to break you'll feel so much better. Besides, you will have tea waiting for you when you're done so just put up with it as long as you can okay?"

There was a long sigh that followed her explanation, and Levi responded bitterly, "Bribing me with damned tea…the tea better be hot at least."

She smiled at his grouchy response, taking further comfort in the fact he was at least speaking and responding to her now – a drastic improvement from the miserable and quiet Levi that she had found and had to drag to the bathroom step by step a mere ten minutes ago.

"I'll be back in a little while." She reaffirmed, walking away from the bathroom and finally toward his office.

She wasn't sure why, but she found herself knocking on the door before peering inside, taking the first few steps into the lifeless room and closing the door behind herself, admittedly a little on edge. She wasn't sure why she felt so uneasy about being in his office like this – it was as though she was expecting someone to jump out from behind a curtain and shout, 'What are you doing in here?!'

It was just so weird when he wasn't there. It wasn't like his office was off limits or anything, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember ever having needed to step foot in his office without Levi himself already being present beforehand. It had somehow become sacred ground in her mind - the location where Levi sat down to do…whatever it was he did while he wasn't commanding their team throughout the day - and now with how quiet and empty the room was without him there, it just seemed wrong for her to be snooping around through his things.

She could see it in her mind so clearly, as it was always the same conversation time and time again. She would burst through the door, immediately start talking without giving him a moment to pause or mentally switch gears, and he would give a long, low sigh. His pen would tap a few times against his desk in unspoken rebellion, and Levi would slowly set it down before looking at her in barely restrained irritation, his voice deceptively smooth, 'What can I help you with Petra?'

He always emphasized the word 'help' for some reason, most likely his passive aggressive attempt to make her get to the point, before watching her in a manner that suggested he was debating if he could successfully get away with murdering her or not. Thinking of the expression he would watch her with, a mix of desperation and utter exasperation, Petra almost smiled in satisfaction. Not many could get him into such a state as quickly as she could – Hanji was good competition though.

Petra exhaled as she made her way across the floor, knowing that being so nervous was just silly. Levi knew she was going in there, she would obviously have to dig through his desk if she was ever going to make good on her promise to prepare his tea for him, so there was no reason to be so intimidated by his empty, unguarded office.

She walked around to the other side of his desk and took a seat in his large office chair. She made a shocked face as she sank into the chair fully, setting her hands down across the arm rests and all but gasping at just how comfortable it was.

Oh yes, she understood everything now.

The chair was padded, it could swivel, it had a large back that rose high against her neck and shoulders – she gave a contented sigh and relaxed even deeper into the chair, rolling her shoulders and exhaling in a carefree manner; extremely pleased with her discovery of the Captain's secret throne.

She could totally get used to sitting here; it was no wonder the Captain spent so much time in his office, what with a chair like this waiting for him. Forget her pay checks, forget worthless money - how many hours did she need to work until she could get one of these chairs? Did all Officers get one? Maybe it was that nice store he had taken her to, this was the kind of chair they would sell in such an elegant establishment, she was sure of it. Or perhaps…did Levi have to make a dark deal in the black market from way back in his Underground days?

Petra puzzled over this, not sure if people actually sold chairs in the black market or not. It was an exceptional chair to be sure but…Petra blinked in wonder, surprising even herself with the odd direction her thoughts had taken her. She supposed it just went to show how much she actually knew about that side of society, or fancy chairs in general, and she forced her mind to get back on task.

Right, where did he say he kept the tea at? Somewhere in his desk right? Had he been more specific than just 'in his desk'? She couldn't remember now.

Petra opened the long, thin drawer that rested just beneath the surface of the desk itself, rolling the chair back slightly (It even had wheels?) and looking into the drawer curiously. It was a little disappointing as nothing fancy really jumped out at her. There was a number of pens and pencils, small pads of paper, a stack of envelopes, some paper clips – no tea.

Petra closed the drawer and moved to one of the larger desk drawers, pleased to see that her search was already over, just as simple as that. There were about eight individual tins that took up the majority of the drawer's space, and Petra looked passively over each one, eyes going wide as she quickly realized that there was not a label to be seen on any of them.

…How was she supposed to know which one was which?

After a moment of thought she supposed it only made sense, Levi wouldn't need the labels – he knew tea enough where the look or smell would be enough to distinguish one tea from another, however Petra was not nearly as versed as the Captain. She had drunk a few cups of Earl Grey tea in her lifetime, but for the most part, she was a complete novice at this sort of thing.

She opened the first tin, seeing a collection of what Petra could only describe as some sort of…sun dried mulch. It looked to be nothing more than cracked leaves, small twigs, bits of hay and grass clippings – she knew full well that it was a treasured tea of the Captain's and he would all but choke after hearing her initial thoughts of comparing it to mulch –but to be fair it did smell nice at least. There was an earthy quality to it and a light minty something or other that she couldn't quite name.

She set it aside and grabbed the next tin, pulling off the lid and smelling the contents curiously. Even with the little experience she had with tea, she knew full well that whatever this was, it was a black tea of some kind. As if the color of the blackened contents weren't enough, the sweet robust smell was a giveaway even to her untrained nose.

Well at least that was one tea she could cross off the list.

Petra continued, going through the various other tins and mentally attempting to distinguish the different types of tea that were in front of her. How many types of tea were there to start with? She knew there was green tea, and of course black tea and…

And…

Her mind blanked and she groaned, looking at the various tins and finding that she couldn't determine for the life of her what other types there were, or what may be what. While they did all look different and have different robustness or sweet notes to their scents, at the end of the day it all just looked and smelled like tea to her.

After debating with herself for what felt like an eternity, Petra finally settled on one tin that she figured just had to be a green tea. It smelled somewhat floral – a good sign she imagined – and the tea leaves or grass or whatever it was that even made tea, appeared to be dried needles of an evergreen or fir tree. Had it not been for the light floral smell, she would have assumed it was dried evergreen needles and been none the wiser.

She wasn't too certain but felt just confident enough in her decision that she began placing the other tins back in the drawer one by one, leaving just her one selected tea out on top of his desk. She was preparing to stand up and leave his office, tea in hand, when a sudden curiosity overcame her – a Pandora's box moment – and she pondered with growing curiosity what else might be in his desk.

She knew from the start that it wouldn't be anything exciting; her Captain wouldn't have any need to store useless items in his desk so it would likely be just papers, progress reports, training diagrams, yet even still Petra felt an itching need to glimpse into a behind the scene's sort of look at what comprised the rest of the Captain's day to day tasks when he wasn't shouting and running the squad to exhaustion.

…He wouldn't mind, right?

Petra pressed her lips together and looked around the room nervously, again as though she were afraid of being caught doing something she shouldn't be, and slowly opened a different drawer inch by inch, peering inside with bated breath at whatever secrets the drawer might contain.

Petra sighed in disappointment, opening the drawer to its fullest extent once she figured out what 'treasures' were contained inside and frowned at how anticlimactic her findings were.

Not surprisingly, it was as she had expected. A few manila folders were stacked upward with black marker'd tags that read, 'Training', 'Inventory', 'Schedules', 'Pay Statements' and other completely boring subject matters. She frowned at how dull his desk turned out to be, and with much less enthusiasm, opened the other two drawers that comprised his desk, simply seeing even more folders with similar boring subject matters written out on the tabs.

She clicked her tongue and made a face, suddenly having a newfound understanding for why the Captain always seemed to be behind in his paperwork. Aside from his super fancy chair, there was nothing appealing about these forms and nothing that would make him want to spend his time answering the lackluster questions about their training progress and how he planned to achieve greater performance in the future.

It was all diplomatic, bureaucratic – considering the fact that their squad didn't follow the rules and had no real guidebook to go off from, most of these forms truly were a waste of time from start to finish.

Yuck.

She grabbed out a folder, one marked 'To Do' and scanned through it, eyes passively reviewing the various pages and questions that he was expected to answer on a routine basis – even in the two seconds she had spent looking at it she found it boring as hell – however a bright yellow note caught her attention as she scanned through the various pages as though they were part of a children's flip book.

She stopped her page turning and more intentionally went back page by page to find whatever yellow note had caught her attention previously. It was a smaller sheet of paper that was clipped onto a document, with a black, bold hand-written message across it:

"Levi,

This was due two weeks ago. I understand the new forms have put you behind, but I expect this to be completed as a top priority. Get it together.

-Erwin"

Petra frowned as she read the note, her stomach churning as she realized that she had officially crossed the lines of casual curiosity, to legitimate snooping through Levi's things. A part of her knew he wouldn't want her digging through his things this intimately, but her own curiosity gripped at her again and she couldn't stop the questions that now plagued her mind.

How old was this note? Had he just gotten it today, where Erwin stopped by and placed it into Levi's 'To Do' folder and walked away, knowing Levi would have to get to it when he was feeling better? Or perhaps this note was from weeks ago, and Levi still hadn't gotten around to it?

Furthermore, what 'new forms' was he talking about that put Levi behind? Had he ever been caught up to start with? Was he just a little behind, or drastically behind? Was it more of a slap on the wrist, irritation sort of deal, or was he legitimately in trouble with the Commander?

Gods, Eld would have a hay day if he saw this note…

Petra chewed her bottom lip as she grabbed out the document that Levi was supposed to have turned in who knows how long ago, and she only grew more confused as she looked over whatever it was that he was supposed to have filled out. It had…charts of some kind? Was it used for metrics, or inventory or…she had no idea what, but apparently it was important enough that Erwin himself was fussing about it.

She shook her head in concern, but knowing there was nothing she could do, Petra merely placed both the form and its angry yellow note back in the folder. Concerned and intrigued, Petra began to actually start looking at what it was that was housed in the folder. To her surprise, that was the first of many hand-written notes that expressed how late he was turning in such and such forms. Some were from Hanji, others from Erwin, and others from various divisions within the Scout Regiment that had routine forms that needed to be updated, and Levi had apparently dropped the ball there as well.

This baffled Petra, as she knew full well that Levi was not lazy. While he didn't necessarily care about the paperwork, he did care about his role as a Scout and wouldn't let himself fall behind like this just because. There had to be a reason.

The 'new forms' that Erwin had mentioned, that just had to be it. But what new forms though? Obviously, she wasn't a Captain, nor a Commanding Officer of any kind, but even still, she hadn't heard of any new procedures or changes in the higher ups that would trickle down and cause a sudden explosion of paperwork like this – so what sudden task got Levi so behind in the first place?

Petra felt a knot of worry form in her stomach – she wasn't sure exactly what she was worried about – and she began to look through the other folders for some sort of answer as to what in the world was causing Levi to fall so far behind like this.

It was hard to know what she was looking for. The more she scanned the various pages and folders that comprised the majority of his desk, the more she realized how much the Captain knew and was held responsible for. It was painfully clear how different their roles really were - half the things she looked at she didn't even know how to fill out, and the other half, she found she had no idea what the form was even talking about to begin with.

She gave a long sigh, discouraged and feeling admittedly guilty. She had no clue the kind of stress Levi was under, and it wasn't just her – none of her squad had any knowledge that Levi was struggling like this. Eld had joked about it some weeks ago, but it was a joke, a suspicion that a mere form or two was a couple days behind. Not…not this.

What was worse, even knowing how behind he was, after seeing the forms and all the angry notes demanding he turn in this paper immediately – reality was she had no clue how to fill them out. She wasn't a Captain, she wasn't a Commanding Officer of any kind. Even if she had wanted to help him, she truly didn't know how.

With a sudden gloominess, Petra began to place his folders back one by one, thinking maybe it was for the best that she put an end to her search. She couldn't help him much on this ground, but perhaps her watching over him while he was sick might help him recover sooner and he could get a jump on everything. It was better than nothing at least.

She placed the folders back, preparing to close the last drawer and be done with it when a file moved just right and caught her attention.

Petra.

Her name was what was written on the subject tab.

She curiously grabbed it, expecting to see a Gunther, or Oluo, or Eld folder underneath it – but was surprised even more after realizing that this folder was a standalone. She double checked back through the other drawers, all the various folders, but sure enough…this was a one off.

Well now she was definitely curious.

Was she that troublesome that she got a folder all to herself?

Petra, amused and curious, opened the folder, expecting to see either a hand-written list of all the various things she had complained about, perhaps a form documenting her other expenses that her male teammates didn't share - bras, pads, other pleasant things she loved having to request from Levi every so often – but when she opened the folder to the first page, her eyebrows pulled down in confusion, not having expected something like this.

It was a pay stub, of her…and Levi's pay?

A combined paycheck?

What the…?

That was a weird glitch. Looking at the date, it seemed that their most recent paycheck had somehow been combined into one and went straight to Levi's account by mistake. The page that followed was a receipt that showed the separated amount after he withdrew her funds individually. He hadn't said anything to her about it last week, merely handed her her pay as usual and said nothing about the mix up. It seemed the problem was the original check was written out to 'Levi and Petra Ackerman' and so – her mind seemed to snap the pieces into place and she flipped to the next page hastily, her breath catching in her lungs as her sudden suspicion grew stronger with each word she read.

No. It couldn't be…

She continued flipping pages, her eyes growing wide, a hand moving to cover her suddenly gaping mouth as she continued flipping one page after another, after another.

All these forms, every single one, page after page, document after document – she closed the folder for a second, horrified after realizing how thick this folder actually was – before opening it back up and reviewing it further as tears began to well in her eyes… These were all forms Levi had received as a result of their wedding two weeks ago. It was all forms, tax documents, confirmation of identity, verification of employment, on and on the papers went.

That was it then.

She was why he had fallen so far behind. The new forms were all a result of the trouble she had caused him.

Her eyes scanned the pages in outright disbelief. Some various documents had already been filled out and returned, some stating this form was filled out in error, some that further verification was needed, some stating that copies in triplicate needed to be sent over to such and such office for documentation – Petra set the folder down across his desk and brought her hands over her face, frustration and sadness overwhelming her every thought as she finally realized all that Levi had been dealing with.

Damn it!

He…he hadn't told her! He had never once mentioned the burden he was being crushed under; he had never once stopped to tell her that his own performance was falling behind because he was so busy with all the sudden duties that resulted from being her new husband – Damn it!

Petra stood up with a snap, pacing the room as thoughts raced wildly within her head.

Why didn't he just say something? It seemed Erwin knew about the sudden influx of papers that required his attention. It was likely that Hanji knew as well in that case – so why didn't she? Did he not trust her? Did he think it best that he just shoulder these things alone?

Was…was this why he had gotten so sick? All the sudden stress from the mountains of paperwork, the angry notes that discouraged and only confirmed that he was falling more and more behind with no end in sight? Had he been so stressed out, run ragged with the recent demands that his body just couldn't keep up anymore?

Gods, Petra felt like putting her fist through a wall.

She hadn't asked him to do that for her, and yet he had chosen to anyway. He never fussed, never begrudged her for the abundant trouble she had been causing him for three straight weeks – he was all but drowning in the consequences of her problems, but wore it behind his perfect unreadable mask so things would go right back to normal on his team, just like he had promised.

Damn it, she felt like such an idiot!

Interrupting her thoughts, she could hear Levi from across the Compound, suddenly coughing and hacking in misery.

It sounded bad. Real bad.

She sighed and tried to clear her head, knowing she needed to get back to him but couldn't risk him finding out that she knew. She pressed her trembling lips together, vowing to herself that somehow, she was going to pay the Captain back. She didn't know how, but she would find a way to make it right.

Bolstering up her fragile emotions, Petra wiped her eyes, grabbed the tea from off his desk, and headed back toward the bathroom where her sick Captain was waiting.

...

End Of Chapter

...

*relaxes into couch*

Actually guys, this was a pretty long chapter as well! I always like to comb through the chapters just ONE last time before I post them, and I've gotta say, it took me a while go get that last read through because there's a lot of material here!

I know I say this every chapter, but I love this section so much. I think the part that makes me laugh, and it wasn't done intentionally because I LOVE symbolism and irony and all those literary devices, but the fact that Petra goes looking in Levi's desk for tea – literal tea, not the 'drama' tea mind you – and yet, still manages to find plenty of both!

Oh the tea! So much tea!

In addition, I myself am actually a big fan of loose leaf tea (has nothing to do with Levi, I swear.) and maybe its not as clever as I thought, but long story short, I have a lot of tea I keep at my desk at work so one day I was fixing to make myself a cup, and my coworker, being dead serious was all 'What's with the tin of mulch?'

I laughed so, so hard, because it made me realize that to the untrained eye that's what a few teas would look like – and that's where Petra's comment about how the tea just looked like twigs and grass clippings came from. I can't read that section without laughing hysterically now as I always remember my coworkers face as he watched me methodically measure out my 'mulch' and drink it.

Anyhow, off to the river! Wish us luck in that we don't burn to a crisp, and I'll see yall next week.

~Midnight