Footsteps sound across the hallway as small boots stomp across the wooden floor. A woman with blonde straight hair tied in a high ponytail walks firmly towards the large doors at the end. She stops right before the doors, hands clenched into fists as she breathes a shaky sigh. Her emerald green eyes stop at the doorknob, wondering if she should turn her heels and walk away now. What awaits her behind the wooden doors will change her life forever, and in fact might cause her to die in the coming year.

Yet with that scary thought, she brings her hand to the door and knocks loudly.

"Come in." A woman says behind the door. She opens the door and walks in, presenting herself ramrod straight as she puts a fist to her chest and her head held high. The military's salute shows respect for the people before her and to the cause they serve. She eyes the emblem on the forest green long uniform coat on the man and woman before her. Wings of freedom, the emblem of the Scout Regiment. One of the three factions of the military, and the most important faction over the years as humanity's fate rests on that emblem; or rather, the fate of the Eldians in Paradis Island.

"State your name and position." The man speaks sternly.

"Rosaria Suede, captain of squad three in the Garrison sir!" Rosaria replies quickly and surely. Her eyes linger on the man before her. He has black hair that swept across his eyebrows and an undercut behind. He was noticeably short and sat on the wooden chair calmly, a hand over his piping hot cup of tea as his black eyes pierced Rosaria's emeralds. This wasn't the first time Rosaria met humanity's strongest, but still Rosaria couldn't help but feel the man before him was an ordinary man. A man just like her who lost friends and comrades to titans. Human.

"Captain Rosaria. Thank you for making the trip down here. It was short notice for you to come after all." Hanji speaks with a smile. The older woman has her brown hair in a low ponytail while an eyepatch covers her left eye. Rosaria blinks, biting her lower lip subtly. She has also seen Captain Hange before, but now as she stands before Rosaria as Commander, there is no doubt that she has lost a great many things to be where she was today.

"It is my honour, Commander Hanji." Levi sips on his tea. "Tell us, why would you request a transfer to the Scout? I've heard from Commander Pixis that given your experience and skills in 3DMG, you were due for a promotion to Corporal next year." Hanji says. Rosaria looks at Hanji and straightens her back.

"Humanity has just taken back wall Maria from the very titans that broke it five years ago. This has been humanity's first victory against the titans… but at a great cost. We have lost more than 40% of the population, among them are our family, friends and majority… the comrades we fought beside." Levi lowers his head, looking down for a brief moment as his mind wanders to the faces of the people he has lost.

"Their deaths allowed for humanity to fight back for the first time… and without a doubt, now is the most crucial time for humanity as we prepare for a war not against the titans that we've been fighting all this while - but the humans in Marley who have been our true enemy. I want to fight for humanity, no- Paradis' humanity. I want to continue the fight the cause my lost comrades sacrificed their lives for. That is why I want to join the Scouts, where I will gladly sacrifice my life for the future it will bring." Hanji looks up at Rosaria, smiling. Levi looks unamused, leaning back into his chair.

"Looks like we have a replacement for Erwin's shittiest speeches now" Levi says. There is a distaste in his mouth when Erwin's name comes out, but he doesn't say anything.

"Congratulations Rosaria, I hereby accept your transfer to the Scouts. From today onwards, you will be squad captain of squad two and you report to Levi. Although…. As you know we currently only have nine members, and including you that would make ten; so you won't have any formal members to your squad yet. The plans for the enrollment of new recruits will only start next week unfortunately." Rosaria nods as Hanji speaks. "Thank you, Commander." Rosaria says as she puts her fist closer to her chest.

"Ah, you can just call me Hanji. I'm still not used to the title." Hanji laughs. Levi finishes his tea and stands from his seat.

"Rosaria, we won't have time nor the need for a formal welcoming party unlike the Garrison. So pack your things and report to the barracks by noon where introductions to the rest of the Scout and cleaning duties will take place. I will not tolerate tardiness, understood?" Rosaria raises her head up and salutes Levi.

"Yes sir!" Levi nods and walks towards the door with Hanji.

"Wait, cleaning duties sir?"

….

Rosaria unpacks the last of her things in her small room of the Scout's barracks. She lets out a sigh and wipes the sweat off her forehead. She leans against the wall, taking the time to clear her mind. Not long after, a knock sounds at her door.

"Ah yes, come in." The door opens and reveals a young boy with short blonde hair and curious blue eyes that carried a hidden weight in them. "Captain Rosaria, I'm Armin. I've come to show you to the barracks." Armin smiles. "Ah, it's nice to meet you Armin. And please just call me Rosaria… I still have a lot to learn from you and everyone else in the Scouts." Armin nods. The two walk out of the room and towards the main hall.

"As you've heard, we only have nine surviving members left in the Scout. I'm one of the new recruits from the 104th." Surviving. The words ring in Rosaria's head. "Oh wow, you must be very young." He wasn't just young, he was too young to be fighting and leading the front lines in an upcoming war.

"Armin, who's that?" Jean asks. He has reddish brown hair and a cast on his left arm. "Jean, this is Rosaria. A captain who just transferred from the Garrison to the Scouts." Jean tenses and immediately salutes with his free arm. "Ah please don't. You're injured after all." Jean nods. "Corporal has asked everyone to gather in the hall. We should get going." Armin nods and follows Jean. Rosaria enters the main hall where members of the Scout gathered.

Everyone looks at her with confusion but doesn't say anything. Instead, Rosaria notices that everyone is young, most likely cadets from the 104th just like Armin.

"Attention you brats, this is your new captain. Rosaria, introduce yourself." Levi says in a loud and firm voice as he stands in the middle of the room. "Rosaria Suede, former captain of the third squad in the Garrison. I look forward to working with all of you." Levi nods. "Alright, now that introductions are over, let's get down to business." Levi says as he adjusts the cravat on his blouse. Without missing a beat, everyone except Rosaria picks up a cleaning utensil and a bucket.

"We divide into teams of three. Squad one - Jean, Connie, Sasha. Squad two - Mikasa, Rosaria, Floch. Squad three - Armin, Eren; you're with me." Levi says. Armin hesitantly speaks. "Corporal.. Eren isn't here. He told me he's resting in his room." Levi clicks his tongue. Mikasa looks down at her feet, worried. "Well, let's make quick work and clean up before four-eyes comes back from her meeting."

….

"No good, do it again." Mikasa says with a neutral expression, examining the spot Floch just cleaned. "What? Really?" Mikasa sighs. "Floch, you haven't been through what the rest of us has experienced with Corporal's obsession for hygiene. Believe me, this is not even close to average." Mikasa replied. "This is ridiculous!" Floch yells, throwing the rag onto the floor. "I didn't watch hundreds of my comrades march into their deaths at the battle at Shiganshina and be the only survivor to come back and scrub walls!" His yell echoes around the room. Mikasa frowns. "If you don't like it, you can tell that to Corporal Levi."

Floch rolls his eyes. "Corporal and you all let your personal emotions get in the way and let Commander Erwin die. None of you have the right to tell me what's right and what's wrong when all you watched as our only hope, Erwin died on that rooftop. Tell me, what happens to the men who sacrificed their lives for Erwin? For this cause? Will Armin be able to ever replace Erwin and save us from Marley?!" Mikasa growled. She looked at Floch with eyes that were ready to kill. As she inched closer to Floch, a hand blocked the both of them.

"Enough. Stand down Mikasa. And you Floch, go take a breather and come back in ten. You may not like cleaning, but don't forget your duty as a soldier. If you disobey Corporal's orders, you are at risk of being sent back home cadet. Is scrubbing the toilet floor such a high price to pay compared to continuing your dead comrades' fight against Marley?" Floch clicks his tongue and sighs. He leaves the room but is only greeted by Levi's stone cold grey eyes.

"Corporal…." Floch says.

"Floch, consider yourself lucky that Rosaria has given you a pass. If this repeats again, I will not hesitate to send you back home for disrespecting your commanding officers and disobeying orders, understood?" Levi growled. Floch lowered his head and nodded quietly. He leaves the room, leaving behind the two Ackermans and Rosaria.

"Mikasa, learn to control your anger. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Levi growled, crossing his arms. Mikasa bit her lower lip and glared at Levi. "Floch is a piece of shit, but he has every right to do so. Bear with his words, Mikasa. He's still your comrade and you will one day have to trust your back to him in combat." Mikasa nods.

Rosaria blinks in disbelief. She did not expect Levi to be able to defuse Mikasa so easily. It seems Levi isn't a corporal in strength only, he's calm and rational in any given situation. "Rosaria." Levi calls. "Yes?" Rosaria replies immediately. "You did a good job. We need more people like you in the Scouts instead of young, hot-tempered and wild cadets."

….

Days went by quickly as everyone prepared for the welcoming of new recruits. Hanji has been busy with travelling to the cadet base and winning fresh cadets to join the Scouts. For the remaining members, the days go by in a blur as we are occupied with kitchen duty in the early morning, and then training in the hot afternoons, cleaning in the evening, then kitchen duty again… then strategy meetings at night. Unlike the garrison where there were dedicated cleaning and kitchen staff due to a large number of people, Rosaria was quite surprised that the Scouts did everything themselves even though they were the strongest of the three military factions.

"Attention!" Levi yells firmly as he stands in front of the row of scouts. Everyone is lined up in a straight line with their fist on their chest, all attention on Levi. "Today we'll be doing hand-to-hand combat training." Levi speaks as he walks across the line of scouts. "Although we've always been focused on 3DMG training to kill titans, we need to change our combat strategy to kill not only titans but humans as well." Everyone's faces grim. Rosaria glances at Eren, noticing just how tired and lifeless the young boy's eyes looked. "Guns and weapons may be powerful to fight our enemies, but in the situation where you're unarmed - your fists will be the only weapon you have to survive." Rosaria nods.

"Everyone find a partner. Engage in hand-to-hand combat as if you're life was on the line. Whoever is unable to fight or surrenders first, loses the battle." Everyone nods. "Start." Levi yells. Mikasa pairs against Sasha, Eren against Jean and the alike. Rosaria was about to approach Armin but Levi calls out her name.

"Rosaria. You're with me." Levi speaks. Everyone turns their head in surprise. "I've seen everyone's combat skills except you, Captain. It's time to show us what you can do." The cold wind blows against Rosaria's blonde hair as her emerald eyes look at Levi with a sense of uncertainty.

The two move to an empty patch on the green field. Ample space away from the other cadets who were already engaged in battle. Levi stands with his arms by his side, his white cravat gently blowing against the wind. Rosaria changes to a combat stance, her hands balled into fists as she puts them beside her cheeks. The two look at each other for a long moment in silence, wondering who will make the first strike. When Levi doesn't strike, Rosaria goes in for the first attack. She sprints against him, throwing a jab at Levi's face. He dodges it without breaking a sweat but she continues on with a cross, then a jab, then a cross again but all of her strikes are dodged. Levi narrows his eyes, striking a kick to her face. Rosaria barely manages to catch Levi's flying leg by the ankle with her hand then quickly shifting her weight and stance as she throws him over her shoulder.

It's at this moment that everyone stops to watch the fight between humanity's strongest and the newest member of the scouts - curious to see if the latter lived up to the title of captain.

When Levi is sent crashing towards the grass Rosaria uses the opportunity to drop a powerful kick of her leg right down towards Levi's torso. Just as the impact is about to be made, Levi rolls towards the left, barely avoiding the painful crunch of her boots towards the ground. Levi jumps up, this time being met with a direct kick to his face. As the impact hits, Levi ignores the pain and catches Rosaria's ankle and this catches her off guard. Levi smirks and easily uses one hand to swing her body in the air and throw her a few feet away onto the ground.

Connie and Sasha cheer at Levi's upper hand - watching as Rosaria scrambles to get to her feet as Levi sends a painful kick towards her jaw. Blood spits out of her mouth but Rosaria continues to block Levi's painful continuous kicks. She closes her eyes as she bites her lip. As levi kicks again, Rosaria rolls over with the leftover strength in her body to dodge it and gets up at the speed of light, sprinting towards Levi as she slams her entire weight into his hard body made of toned muscles. Levi is on his back as Rosaria straddles his hips, immediately throwing a punch at Levi. Levi attempts to block but her punches are quick and aimed at his chiseled jaw, then his throat, then again his jaw -

Mikasa cheers in joy at the sight of Levi coughing up blood.

As Rosaria goes in for another punch, Levi still has the upper hand and throws his entire weight against her. They switch positions, this time Rosaria on the ground as Levi straddles her hips and punches straight across the jaw. Rosaria tries to block the punches but Levi's left hand is on her wrist, pulling it with his strength to prevent her from blocking. As the punches go on and on - two, four, six, eight… everyone watches in horror, waiting for Rosaria to surrender. Still, her lips do not move despite the bruise already forming with fresh blood dripping down the sides.

As Levi's punches start to slow from fatigue, Rosaria shifts her weight slightly and grabs Levi's right wrist, preventing him from punching her again. Still, Levi continues to strike with his left fist instead.

"Surrender Rosaria, or you're going to spend the week in the medic bay." Levi's voice sounds more like a warning than concern. He had expected her to surrender by now, but still, she was here fighting. Levi had to say he was a bit impressed. Most of the enemies he fought before would have crumbled and fainted by now, yet Rosaria hadn't given up just yet. Rosaria, still holding on to Levi's right wrist manages to gather a surge of strength and pulls Levi's weight. She directs his hand towards…. A warm place between her legs. The unfamiliar sensation sends Levi into a state of shock - pausing his attacks, and Rosaria smirks as she headbutts into Levi's forehead. The two stumble in opposite directions, rolling onto the ground.

Levi is still confused, unsure if it was from the sudden sensation of a woman's intimate part or from how dirty his captain had fought. Rosaria recovers faster, sprinting towards Levi and wrapping her thighs around his neck, holding him in a chokehold.

"Ughh!" Rosaria yells with all her strength, finding it hard to hold Levi in place as he was obviously stronger. Levi struggles for a while, then finds the strength to pull her thigh away from his neck and throws her to the ground. Rosaria plunges to the ground with a loud sound, too loud to not have left a bruise. With all the strength sucked out of Rosaria, she pants heavily as Levi flips her body over and puts both her hands behind her back.

"Did you think you could win with a cheap trick using your body, Rosaria? I have to say, I'm impressed. I had the impression you were too noble for dirty tricks like that, brat." Levi sounded furious. He smirked as Rosaria laid limp with her face against the grass. Rosaria doesn't say anything, panting as she looked up at Levi with heavy, tired emerald eyes.

"C-corporal won!" Armin cheers. The entire squad blinks and finally relaxes their body after the tense and bloody match. Mikasa clicks her tongue as if she was hoping to see Levi's defeat. "Sasha, tend to Rosaria's wounds. She'll likely need a few stitches." Sasha rushes over and helps Rosaria off the ground.

"Back to training, brats!" Levi's words are fierce as everyone returns back to their combat positions.

…

Rosaria leans in her bed as she feels sore in every part of her body. She sighs as she looks up at the ceiling. There was no way she would be able to train tomorrow with the amount of bruises forming on her body and the stitches she just got on her lips. As she was about to close her eyes, a firm knock sounds on her door.

"Come in." She says as she gets up. The door opens slightly, revealing someone she least expected to show. Rosaria immediately salutes, feeling the pain intensify in her ribs. "At ease, Rosaria." Levi says as he comes into the room. Rosaria relaxes, glancing at Levi. She notices that he's carrying a tray of with a teapot and two teacups.

"Sit down. You'll be on bed rest for the next two days I presume." Levi orders as he sets the tray down on a table. Rosaria nods, sitting down on the bed. "What's in the teapot, sir?" Levi pours the content of the teapot into the teacups. The refreshing smell of chamomile lingers in the room as a mild yellow liquid pours into the teacup. "Chamomile tea. It helps relax the mind and body. Something you'll need after all the bruises you've sustained." He hands a teacup to Rosaria and she holds it in her hand. Levi casually sits in an empty chair, taking one of the teacups in his right hand by holding onto the rim of the cup. He doesn't say anything, choosing to sip the tea in silence.

Rosaria blinks, unsure of her Corporal's intentions. She brings the teacup to her nose, smelling the refreshing fragrance of the tea. "Oh, it smells nice." Rosaria smiles, her eyes meeting the Corporal's. She takes a sip of the tea and blinks in surprise. "It's really good! I've never had such great tasting tea. The tea leaves are brewed to perfection - not too bitter, not too mild. I-it's just right!" Rosaria smiles brightly at the teacup.

Levi smiles, watching an excited Rosaria taking a big gulp of the tea.

"Did you brew this yourself?" Levi nods, taking a sip from the teacup. "Teas are my favourite." Rosaria nods. "Will you teach me to brew this next time, Corporal?" Levi perks up at the odd request. "Why the wish to learn? It's just tea. Unless you're particular about the taste of teas like me, most people wouldn't find the interest to learn." Rosaria smiles. "So that next time when I get on your bad side, I can bribe you with freshly brewed tea to your liking sir!"

The answer catches Levi off guard. He wonders just how many times he's caught off guard by the new Captain already. "Is that how you curry favours with Pixis, Rosaria? It might work on the drunk old man, but it won't work on me." Rosaria laughs. "You seem to have an odd way of getting out of trouble, Rosaria. First, you use your body to try to win in combat; and now you're using tea?" The words make Rosaria spit out her tea as she choked.

Rosaria coughs, paling as she realizes she just spat on her Corporal. The same Corporal that hates being dirty. "O-oh my god - s-sir, let me clean you up!" Rosaria pales as she uses her handkerchief to wipe Levi's face. Levi grunts in annoyance as he grabs the handkerchief, wiping his face clean.

"I've met a titan obsessed four-eyed freak, a brat who shifted into a seven-meter titan with a death wish, another brat who is obsessed with the former and puts herself and everyone in the danger for it, a food addicted monster who would eat the Scout's into bankruptcy if it weren't for me to stop her - but never have I met a brat who outright seduced her commanding officer mid-combat and spat tea at his face." Levi was undecided if he was annoyed, shocked or somewhere in between.

"I-i'm sorry, sir!"

…...

Author's Notes:

Fun fact, I wrote a Levi x OC fanfiction back in 2013, almost 7 years ago when the first season aired. When the idea came for me to write a short story shining a light on our favourite Corporal as I watched the final season; I thought - hey, why not reuse the name I came up with for that OC I wrote in 2013? I never got to finish that story in 2013, but I definitely see the difference in my writing then and my writing now. If you're curious, the story was titled "Dream to Reality".

This new story though, I hope to show more of Levi's vulnerability and the events that I wished happen post-season-three. I want to be able to reveal and dive deep into what makes Levi who he is, and the emotional burden that comes with being Humanity's strongest. And I hope Rosaria, will be able to share that burden with him too.

Please leave a comment and what you thought of this story and I hope to see you in the next!