Petra chased her captain across the estate's park, headed for the dark forest beyond. She kept her skirts snatched up to avoid trailing in the snow. The crunch of her boots, and the huff of her breath were the only sounds. The boots she'd stolen off one of the men were obviously too big, but she'd double tied the laces at her ankles to keep them from slipping off, and the man's jacket had deep enough pockets to hold her own heeled shoes. She didn't want to leave those behind. They were her best pair. Well. Her only pair.

Of course, if the captain and she couldn't find a way to turn this whole mess of an evening around, she wouldn't have anywhere to wear them ever again.

Well, maybe to my execution.

That was not funny. At all.

Ahead of her, Levi led the path into the forest. The idea was for them to trample around, make it impossible to tell whose footprints were whose. The MPs who came looking for them wouldn't know which to chase.

As the captain had said, "We have to improvise this part, Ral."

Well, she was doing her best.

Petra skidded to a halt as a man lunged at the captain from out of the trees, zooming down on ODM gear. What was he doing with that gear at a fancy ball?

Of course, Petra cursed to herself as she tried to figure out what to do. It was custom at large gatherings in Wall Sina to have at least a few guard in ODM gear, a symbolic gesture in case of a titan attack. She nearly fell onto her side as she tried to turn about, but she shouldn't have worried. With a growl, the captain leapt and knocked the man to his knees, then incapacitated him. While the poor man groaned, Levi unbuckled the ODM equipment, and nodded to Petra.

"Go ahead, into the forest. Run a ways in, turn, and run back this way. Meet my footprints where they vanish. I'll wait for you."

She didn't question. She merely did her job.

"Yes, sir." Heart racing, she galloped deeper into the forest, glancing about wildly at the dark overhead branches in case any other MPs happened to be waiting. Her breath clouded as she came to a halt, and looked back. Torches dotted the snowy lawn now, torches carried by men. They were coming into the forest, looking for the escaped pair. If they caught her…

The captain will take care of this.

Petra sprinted to the left, and then down, racing along the forest path. Moonlight streaked through the trees to give her an idea of where to go. She prayed that there were no deep drifts for her to stumble into and disappear.

Petra gasped in relief when she saw the captain's footprints ahead. They'd stopped dead in the snow, like he said they would. She met and merged hers with his, gripped her shoulders (she was freezing now) and looked about.

"Sir?" she whispered, then flinched as torchlight began to grow nearer to her hiding spot. A minute more, and the men would find her. Where was the captain? Petra gritted her teeth, praying they wouldn't start chattering. Where, where was he? If she wanted to get away, she needed to run now.

But…she had told him she would wait.

So. She would wait, even as the voices drew nearer, and the crunch of boots on the snow grew louder. Petra closed her eyes, and let them come.

The sound of a motor behind her, and the whirr of a cable. Petra felt strong arms wrap around her waist, and a man's warm breath against the back of her neck. She was lifted off the ground and shot fifty feet or so into the air in an instant. The world, and the men, and her fears shrank from one heartbeat to the next. She smiled as her feet touched down upon a tree branch.

"Try to keep still," the captain whispered as he helped her gently turn to face him. Out of necessity, he kept his arms around her. "If we shake snow off these damn branches, they might notice."

"H-How long should we stay here?" She didn't mean to shiver. It was the cold, mostly. The cold and…being held like this. Her face was mere inches from his face, and the captain looked her right in the eyes as he spoke.

"Until we get the signal." He gave a slight nod towards the mansion behind her. "When the guys have your witness, they're going to get him to the upstairs, take the room on the far left of the north-facing side. They'll light a candle in the window."

"The guys? My witness?"

"That shitty guy you were in the training corps with, Gregor."

"How…how do you know all of this?" Petra didn't add his honorific, but right now she was too confused to be formal.

And so he told her. He told her how Erwin and the rest of Squad Levi had come up with the plan. How Levi, on Erwin's subtle signal, had knocked out the guards in his room. How Eld and the others had snuck in, told him the rest of the Commander's plan with regards to the asswipe, Gregor. (Asswipe was the captain's word, though she agreed it fit well.)

"So we're going to meet up with the others when they have Gregor, and force him to tell who actually killed Lord Karl?" she whispered.

"Exactly. Though apparently Erwin thinks that the killer won't be the only one to blame."

Petra frowned. "I don't understand."

"I've barely got a handle on the whole thing myself. This family's fucked up in ways I thought only existed in one of your little stories."

"My stories?"

"You know, the ones you tell to the guys by the fire sometime. The goblins, the ghosts, the dead kings. All that shit, er, stuff."

Petra couldn't help her smile. "I thought you called it "brat stuff" sir."

"Well. I get bored sometimes. Maybe I listen. Occasionally."

"You could always stop in and listen with the rest of them," she murmured. "Have some coffee. Or we could even make tea." To that, the captain merely turned his eyes away. Probably looking to the window, waiting for the signal.

"You guys don't want your superior officer hanging around on your down time. That's no way for you all to relax."

Petra couldn't help it. That stung. "We want to have you around. Captain."

"Yeah, pretty sure Oruo'd burst something if he had to keep his war face on the whole time I'm there." Levi sighed. "That gets annoying."

Petra suppressed a giggle. "I mean it, though. We all…look up to you." She'd been about to say love. Bad word choice.

"Do you?"

Was he asking rhetorically, or did he want her individual opinion? Petra wasn't sure, so she said nothing. They were silent a minute; the crunch of boots and voices below meant that the men had tracked them to this point. Petra shivered involuntarily, and the captain pressed her closer against his chest—he probably thought she was cold. His hand moved up her back. Under any other circumstances, Petra would have relished every second of this. But now, all she could see when she closed her eyes was the captain. The captain kicking and stomping Karl into the floor.

The captain with that electric, joyful light in his eyes.

She had seen such wildness before, when he slew titans. But with a human being…

Petra flinched, and found herself pressing against him, trying to get away. Levi loosened his hold on her at once. Though he kept his hands on her waist so she would not fall, he pushed himself off of her.

"Sorry. Thought you were cold," he muttered. Then he stared at the snow beneath them, until the torches and the men's voices moved on into the dark forest.

Petra studied his face in the moonlight. Too dark to get a decent read, but it was obvious that she had offended him. By god, when he'd come to get her from that hellish room she'd been ready to confess her feelings to him right there. Even if would be their first and last, she'd wanted to kiss him. But now…

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Petra swallowed, summoned her courage. "Would you tell me why Karl wanted to hurt you, sir?"

"No."

The word was a sharp slap. Now he looked at her again, his gray eyes cold and his gaze distant.

"Why not?"

"I don't think my affairs involve you. That's why."

Petra had never been angry at her captain before. Humiliated earlier tonight, yes. Frustrated, yes. But now, her famous temper was starting to flare.

"He assaulted me because of your affairs. Sir." Instantly, she felt herself quailing under his look, but forced herself to go on. "I think I deserve an explanation."

He had nothing to say to that. She drew a bit nearer—it was cold out here—and frowned.

"Sir. Your heart's beating very fast. Are you all right?"

"Yeah. I just ran half a mile in dress shoes with ODM gear strapped to me. It's been a night." His voice was as flat, as affectless as ever. "I'm not some superhuman, you know. I can get tired as much as the next asshole."

"Why won't you answer my question?"

"Told you. I'm all right."

Now she wanted to throttle him. "You know what I meant."

"Sir."

"Sir."

If she hadn't been paying attention, Petra would have missed the nearly imperceptible tightening of his jaw, the purse of his lips.

"Karl thought I might inherit this estate instead of him when his father died."

Petra blinked. That was not at all what she'd expected. "Why on earth would he think that?"

"Karl Morgenstern was a crazy shithead."

"Yes. He was. But I don't think he was stupid. He'd need a reason to think something like that could be true."

"Mmm. We've all got our reasons for things."

"So. What were his reasons?"

"Petra. Stop. All right?" He spoke through his teeth now. His arms, the steadiest that had ever held her, began to tremble. But not, she'd bet, with tiredness. "You asked why he wanted to get at me, and I told you. Let me keep the specifics to myself."

He was right. He had answered her basic question. While it wasn't satisfying, if the particulars didn't concern her, they were his to keep.

"All right. Thank you, sir."

At that, Levi relaxed a bit. The wind whispered past, bringing a slight patter of snow against the back of Petra's neck. She shivered violently now.

"Shouldn't be too much longer." Levi huffed, his breath a cloud. "Those guys know I hate to be kept waiting." Again, he tried to pull her nearer to him just for warmth. Again, she went rigid without thinking. Levi grunted, and looked to the ground below. "They're gone now. Maybe it's possible to get you back down, so you don't have to touch me." He did not say it with any venom. Only sadness. "I know I scared you."

"Captain." She couldn't deny it, but she had to explain. "You…you saved me."

"No." He stared into her eyes again. His nostrils flared. "You saved yourself, Ral. I walked in and made everything worse. Because." He worked a muscle in his cheek, apparently debating with himself whether to continue. "Because I wanted to kill him for hurting you."

"But you didn't."

"But I wanted to. If you hadn't pulled me off, I would've. I wanted to crush his throat," the captain whispered, his voice low and guttural. Petra shivered, and not from the cold.

"I don't blame you for wanting to. I wanted to kill him, too. But…it was the way…" Petra stopped, feeling the tears freeze in her eyes. "You looked like…when we're out in titan territory, sometimes. When you get this…this look in your eyes. Like you're happy." Her chin quivered. "Like you like it."

"I like taking down dangerous beasts that threaten my subordinates," he muttered.

"But Karl wasn't a beast. He may have acted like one, but… He was human." She stared him in the eyes. Her vision of him blurred for a second as the tears welled and fell. "It. It scared me because I was wondering if you just like hurting things."

This was a hell of a time to have such a conversation with her superior: literally balancing on a fifty foot branch with a sheer drop to death waiting on either side. Levi nodded his head, and looked over her shoulder again. Probably checking the damn window.

"I did like hurting him, Petra." He appeared weary as he spoke, his shoulders rounding to a slight degree. It was like some horrible, shadowy weight had descended from the trees to perch on his back. "But not for the reasons you think. I don't like causing pain. In fact, I fucking hate it. But I will do what needs to be done to fulfill whatever my duty is. If it's getting Erwin results, anything I do to make it happen is good. If it's saving someone's life from a titan, it's a good kill. If it's protecting my subordinate from some rapist asshole, I'm having a good time. Okay?" He looked her in the eyes again. This time, when he pulled her a bit closer, she let him.

"Even though I'd already saved myself?" she whispered.

"Yes. Because scum like that can't be allowed to do whatever he wants to people and get off with a broken nose. He had to know fear, like you probably did. That's the only way it's fucking fair." He was breathing heavily now, and his words were strained and slow.

"So you hurt him to make it fair? To make him feel what I felt?"

"I hurt him because no one in this shitty world goes after my subordinates. You are all…special to me."

Petra nodded and tipped her chin to her chest. Her bangs fell into her eyes. Yes, she was a dear subordinate to him. He would do the same for anyone else.

"But." Levi stopped then.

"But what, sir?"

Even in the darkness, she could see the stunned, almost horrified look on his face as he spoke the words.

"But of all my subordinates. You. Are my favorite." He nearly choked on the word.

It hadn't meant much to hear Oruo say it. They all knew it, after all. But it was one thing to be seen as a favored pet, and another to be… He sounded so…

"Why am I your favorite?" All of a sudden, her skin was buzzing, the blood in her veins a hum.

"Because if anything happened to you, it would hurt me worst of all."

"Why, sir?"

"Because." He looked to the branches and the sky overhead, as if asking someone for help. Finding nothing, he continued. "Because I don't understand you," he growled. His hands moved possessively up her back, and she would not dream of stopping him. "Everyone else in this shitty world, everyone else in the Survey Corps, I can understand them all. Hange's here because she's fucking crazy. Erwin's here because he has a dream. Mike's here because…I don't know, he's a fucking giant and his nose is way too sensitive. Eld wants to be a hero, Gunther wants to follow, but I can't ever understand why you're here. How after years of seeing friends torn up and shit out, stomped on, how you keep smiling. You tell your stories. You look at me like." He winced; it was as if the word had gotten caught in his throat. "Like I'm some great guy. No matter how much I fucking swear at you, or shout at you to make your bed perfectly, or drill you in training… No matter I never smile at you, or praise you, you keep smiling at me. Like you see all that, and you like me anyway. It's. It's like when I first came out of the underground." There. The first time he'd admitted that much to her. "First time I saw the sun. It hurt me, but it was instantly the only thing I wanted. It was too bright, too warm. I thought it was a lie. I thought it was a trick. That fuckhead Karl, it's like he wanted to rip the sun outta the fucking sky. If anything broke that part of you." His face twisted in a violent expression of hate. "I don't want to live without that. So that's why I liked mashing that fucker's face into the carpet, Petra." His face was mere inches from hers now; she was captive in his arms. "That's why I wanted to kill him. Because it's like he was trying to take the sun away from me."

She had never heard him say so much in one go. The captain appeared almost weary with it now.

They were pressed so close together. Petra swallowed.

"Your heart is still beating fast," she whispered.

Levi had nothing to say to that.

It was too much to be believed. She was ready to dissolve into tears, because this had to be a dream and she knew waking up would break her spirit. This couldn't be real. It couldn't be possible that everything she'd ever wanted or prayed for was real.

That was a fantasy.

I have to know.

So Petra placed her hand upon the captain's cheek.

He jerked backwards, almost like a horse shying from her. But Petra knew horses, and she was patient. Slowly, she settled her hand back on his cheek. Levi continued to stare icily at her—his expression did not change a whit. But then, his eyes dropped closed, and he exhaled deeply. Petra stroked her thumb across his chin, and trailed her fingers along his cheek. She smoothed her finger along his bottom lip, receiving a thrill as he gasped softly at her touch. She skated the back of her fingers up the other side of his face, lost in caressing him. It was all right now if they hanged her. She'd gotten this, if only for a moment.

She was touching him.

The captain grabbed her wrist, holding her hand in place. He turned his head slightly to allow his lips to brush her skin as he spoke.

"This isn't a good idea, Petra."

"No. It's not," she murmured. "Please, sir."

With a moan, his eyes still closed, he kissed the back of her hand. Petra gasped as he let her go, and she cupped his other cheek. He nuzzled against her palm, pressed his lips to it. Petra shivered as his lips trailed to her wrist; he kissed her there as well. He was so beautiful, the ink of his hair, the paleness of his skin in the starlit dark. Petra began to reach around his neck, and Levi kissed along her arm as she did so. Then, as she wrapped herself around his neck, their noses brushed, their lips hovered an inch apart. They shared a single breath.

"I'm going to hurt you. I know it," he grunted.

"You said you would never hurt me." She smiled. "I believe you."

Levi gasped, and closed the distance between them.

He kissed her gently at first, only a quick brush of lips. That touch alone had her reeling; it was only thanks to him holding her that she didn't fall right out of the damn tree. Their embrace really was a delicate balancing act, the pair of them hooked into this position only by virtue of the ODM. But it was perfect, she thought, as he kissed her again and again. Everything about this was dangerous, as it should be.

His kisses were light, closed-lipped, almost chaste. He was being delicate with her. Levi did not want to pressure her. He was, as she'd always known in her heart, one of the kindest men.

She did not want kind. Not right now.

The next time he kissed her, Petra grazed her teeth on his bottom lip. He grunted in his throat as she bit down, then let her tongue stroke lightly against his closed mouth. He startled, as if she'd shot him with lightning.

"Petra," he growled. "I…I can't lose control up here."

"Yes, sir," she purred, and kissed him. This time, his mouth opened. His tongue stroked against hers. She groaned, and he answered in kind. His arms wrapped tight around her, his hand traveled up to fist her hair. She kissed him until she barely remembered to breathe, and after she'd paused for air she kissed his cheek down to the point of his chin. Levi's breathing hitched as he tilted his head back.

"Oh, fuck," he whispered as she began to kiss down his neck. Usually the man would take the initiative to explore the woman's body, but she had been far too horny for far too long to stand on ceremony. Petra kissed the glorious line of his throat, her hands trailing up and down his back as she did so. Fuck, even though it was impossible right now—all these circumstances were impossible—she wanted to see him naked. If she was able to get through this, and if they both were exonerated, she wanted to lock herself in a room at the inn with him and not come out for days, not even to eat. She wanted to explore every inch of his body, and let him explore hers. "Petra. Are you all right? I mean, after what happened," he muttered.

"This is just what I need to forget," she whispered, her lips tracing the hollow of his throat before she moved back up to taste his mouth. They kissed again and again, until her lips were swelling from it. She loved every second. Her hands trailed through his silken hair, across his shoulders, down his back.

I'd give anything to find out how firm his ass actually is, Nifa had said.

Why not? She'd already lost her mind.

Petra's right hand glided down, and she grabbed him. Oh god. It was more perfect than even she'd imagined.

"What the fuck," the captain hissed, startling and shaking some snow off the branches. They both waited there, frozen in silence. Nothing. No one was around. Thank the walls and the goddesses above. Petra flushed as she looked back into his eyes. "You. Fucking. Wild animal." He bit her lip. Petra moaned as his tongue thrust deeper into her mouth, as one hand cupped the back of her neck, and as he pressed his ever-hardening body against her own. Petra was breathless, alive, and happy to be so. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she broke the kiss and tilted her head. His lips were hot on her neck, and she shivered in his embrace.

Against her lower body, he was throbbing and impatient.

"What do you want, captain?" she whispered in his ear.

"I want. You," he groaned in return, nibbling at her ear before delivering a line of searing kisses down her jaw, back to her lips. They kissed, and kissed.

"What do you want to do to me?" she breathed against his mouth.

"Petra." He said her name several more times against her lips. Breaking free, kissing at her pulse, he whispered, "I want to fuck you."

Those words alone could have made her come. Petra gave a short, soft cry. She couldn't stop giggling now, the tears coming readily.

"Shut up. Shut up," he whispered. "You little idiot, the MPs are around."

It was the least effective name he'd ever called her, considering his tongue was down her throat again a second later. Petra devoured his lips. He was hers. Hers. She couldn't believe it. Oh fuck, why did this have to happen when they were on the run from the authorities? And in a tree?

The thought of that made her giggle again. Perhaps he'd punish her for her disobedience. Petra wondered how far they could manage to go if she lifted her skirt…

And then…

Her foot slipped, and she fell.

His. His, his. She was his.

Levi finally understood what Erwin meant when he used the word 'ecstasy.' She was light in his arms, her kisses were hot on his lips. He wanted to be inside of her, wrap her around himself. He wanted to live with her whispered moans in his ear, every single day. Why had he wasted so much fucking time when this kind of feeling could have been his?

Every kiss, every lick, every embrace made up for that.

Dimly, he remembered something about a window, but right now he couldn't be sure that was right. He felt no cold, or fear. He was lost in her.

And then, for half a heartbeat, she was falling out of his arms.

"Shit!" Levi cried as he grabbed Petra when she began to tumble into space, and hoisted her back onto the branch. She clung to him, hand clamped over her mouth to contain the shrieks of horror. "You okay?"

"Yes, sir." The prim little way she used his honorific after grabbing his ass and jamming her tongue down his throat almost made him laugh. Levi had a weird laugh, and liked for only a few people to hear it. Definitely not an erotic sound. Petra sighed as he held her close against him. "I suppose we should calm down a little." She sounded reluctant.

"Feel like I went for a ten mile run." He didn't know what the hell he was saying as he petted her hair. "Only the high, though. None of the pain."

"Hmm." She trailed kisses up and down his cheek. "We need to get our names cleared. After that, I can't wait to follow your orders to the letter."

He frowned. "My orders?"

"You know." She nuzzled him. The moonlight made her amber eyes shimmer. "I want to fuck you," she repeated, her voice hot against his ear. She kept kissing, but those were the words Levi needed to hear, the magic spell required to wake his ass up.

What…what the fuck was he doing to her?

Whatever druglike haze he'd been wrapped up in, it vanished. Tonight Levi had, in no short order, done the following:

Put Petra in danger because he wouldn't guard her or tell her the truth.

Made it so that a psychopath tried to rape her in order to get to Levi.

After she'd managed to claw herself away from the monster, she'd had to watch Levi nearly murder the asshole in cold blood.

Got her arrested for murder.

Broke her out of custody, which could wind up with her being shot on sight.

And after all this, he had the audacity to project his weakness onto her. To force her to carry the burden of his sins. To get her to make him feel better. To grow so fucking needy that he started humping his most faithful subordinate like a horny adolescent itching for his first fuck. Telling Petra, the sweetheart of his squad, the angel who deserved nothing more than to be treated with class, that he wanted to fuck her.

She was so primed up on adrenaline and her own feelings—which he'd taken advantage of—that she was willing to let him rut with her in the woods her like some kind of animal.

So even in the event that they didn't swing for murder or get sent to jail for resisting arrest, he'd now ruined her career and their working relationship.

And he'd taken something so pure and beautiful that he'd felt for her, and she for him, and warped it into simple lust. Like Mike and Nanaba, "just sex."

This whole fucking setting was perfect. The two of them high off the ground, in a risky position. Ah, but he was the one wearing ODM gear; he was fine. In control. Petra was the one in real danger, relying on only his arms to protect her, to keep her from oblivion.

Of all the greedy, nasty monsters involved in this whole sordid night, Levi himself had to be the worst of all.

"Petra. Stop," he croaked. She pulled away from him, puzzled. "I'm sorry. This… This isn't right."

"What?"

"If we keep going like this. Fuck. It'll ruin your career. They'll talk about. Shit. Fuck." Words had always come slowly to Levi, but right now they seemed to be actively running away from him. He could only latch on to the worst ones. "They could hang us."

"And if they don't?"

"I'm taking advantage of you."

"You are not. Sir. I want this." She frowned; that temper of hers was kindling again. That sweetness and that fury were a potent combination. What he loved about her. "Are you going to tell me what I want?"

"No. But as your commanding officer, I'm telling you that what you want is bad for you. And I'm sorry for putting you in this position." Silence. She stared at the ground, far away. "You're pissed."

"I'm confused."

"You sound pissed."

"What would you like me to say, sir?" Petra raised her face again. She was rigid as a plank in his arms now, where a few moments ago she'd been sweet and pliable. "Should I cry? Or beg you not to do this? Or tell you to put me down? Or smile? Don't you like it when I smile?" Her voice was tight with tears now, but he heard her swallow them down.

Levi sighed. This was too much fucking drama in a night full of it, and they hadn't even fixed their damn problem yet.

"Can we hold off on the fucking and the not fucking until this night is over?" he said at last. "Focus on getting ourselves out of trouble."

Petra was silent. Then, in a small voice, "Yes. Sir."

A beat. Levi looked to the sky.

"Shit. I made this awkward."

"Yes. Sir."

But at least he'd stopped it. Stopped her from giving up her innocence in a rush of excitement. Even Levi had to marvel at how he could go from hot to cold at such a fast, almost insane speed. Only the abnormal could behave that way. After all he'd seen in his life, he could never be normal. That's what Petra needed. Someone who wasn't out of his damn mind.

Maybe this fuckup was what it would take to kick him out of her heart once and for all. If seeing him nearly stomp a man to death hadn't killed her love, this shit would do the trick.

She was still the sun, and he'd see to it she still shone. But you could not touch the sun, or you died. Some story Hange once told him, about a guy who used wings to fly up there. Wings melted, guy fell and died. "How do you make wings? Who has time for that?" had been his response to the story.

Now he sort of knew what she'd meant.

Across the dark lawn, through the forest, a light came on in the mansion's window. The signal he'd been waiting for.

"Ready?" Levi asked. "Ready to go see this fucker?"

"Yes. Sir."

Even as she traveled in his arms through the night, Petra had never been more distant.