"A toast!" Commander Hange raised her glass of sparkling champagne. The soldiers around the dining table followed suit. "To the fallen. Because of their sacrifice, humanity is one step closer to reclaiming what belongs to us."

"To the fallen!" The chorus was followed by clinking glasses and swigging drinks.

It was odd to be in a room so full of laughter and lightheartedness but also devastation. Friends were lost. But friends also returned home. It was a bittersweet victory.

"I'm so glad you made it out alive," Mikasa said, arm draped across Karma's shoulders.

"Me too," Karma said, unable to touch her dinner. Her steak was partially raw, and the watery blood oozing from the pink center made her queasy. She nibbled on a roll instead.

"Could you imagine if I helped you escape and then you ended up dying? I don't even want to think about that." Mikasa shuddered then sliced into her meat.

"Yeah, it's a damn good thing Captain Levi talked some sense into me. I was literally frozen in fear. It was really weird," Karma said, plucking apart her dinner roll.

"I'm not surprised. Facing Titans and almost getting eaten…it changes you."

"For the better, I hope."

"I think so. If what you went through today doesn't make you a hero, then I don't know what does."

"Thanks, Mikasa." Karma half-smiled.

"Of course." Mikasa laid her fork across her plate with a gentle clink. "Now that I've brought you up, I need to ground you."

"Huh?"

"Rumor is you and Captain Levi fought more than just a war of blood…"

"What do you mean?" Karma's cheeks were redder than the center of her steak. She knew exactly what Mikasa was getting at. But how had anyone seen them kiss in the midst of that hellish battle?

"I'm talking a war of passion. It's true then!"

"Whatever. It was the heat of the moment, and we didn't even know if we were gonna survive," Karma said, feigning a nonchalant swat of the hand.

"Oh, come on, you're worse than me with Eren. You're telling me if you could have foreseen the outcome, you two wouldn't have kissed?"

"Well, he probably wouldn't have kissed me."

From behind them came the voice that pumped Karma with icy slush."Excuse me, Mikasa. I need to steal Karma."

Her roll paused midway to her mouth. How much had he heard?

Captain Levi was draped in a clean, green robe, looking stoic as if he hadn't just been fighting for his life. In fact, Karma didn't see any signs of fatigue or so much as a scratch on him.
"Sure thing, Captain." Mikasa side-eyed Karma with a smirk that said, "We'll see about that."

Karma stood, tossing her napkin on the table. She saluted. "Captain."

"Karma." He gave a slight head dip. "We need to talk in private."

"Alright."

The soldiers paid no mind as they slipped into the quiet corridor.

Karma recognized the door to the captain's quarters and her heart rate picked up. Was Mikasa right? Did that kiss mean something? Or was he taking her to revoke it in private? Either way, she would know soon enough and that thought alone spiked her with an overdose of adrenaline.

They entered the captain's quarters. He closed the door behind them.

The room was cozy, illuminated by candlelight. Captain Levi had an organized office space and a neatly pressed full-sized bed and deep blue loveseat. A few loose clothing articles and ODM trinkets scattered the coffee table, but for the most part it was immaculate.

A dark doorway suggested a private washroom. Karma's brain bubbled with that sudsy fantasy. She tried to appear unaffected when he slid the lock into place, but her chest felt like it was a breath away from bursting.

Captain Levi shrugged out of his riding cloak, revealing a white button-up. He hung the cloak as if forgetting Karma's presence entirely. She worried she should've already taken a seat or maintained a saluting stance, but it was too late to do either naturally.

He settled himself behind his desk and gestured for her to take a seat. She lowered herself by the armrests, keeping a wary eye on Levi.

"You need to learn to stay out of trouble," he said.

Revocation route it is.

"Right, I'm sorry, Captain." Karma's heart plummeted to the floor. She was already dreading the inevitable standby.

"I don't want your apologies. I want your obedience."

She clamped her jaw. Levi raised a brow, waiting. When she didn't respond, he sighed.

"No surprise there," he said.

"Guess I'm not as smart as I look."

"I'll give you that."

Captain Levi rose, which Karma found odd since he had just sat down. He approached her and splayed his hands on her armrests so that she was trapped beneath him. It was thrilling being this close to him in private, even if it was just for another lecture.

His thumbs stroked the leather of the armrests. Karma imagined that his fingers were on her skin instead. The desire thumped her pulse impossibly harder.

She wrung her clammy hands in her lap. "Just what did you bring me in here for, Captain?"

"We need to talk about what happened during the battle." His voice was low, velvety. Was he trying to send tingles raging through her or was he just that sexy? She cleared her throat.

"You mean when I saved your ass?"

"The kiss." Did he lean in closer or was it her imagination? She focused on not hyperventilating.

"What about it?"

"It can't happen again—I need your obedience." His tone was serious, his composure cool.

Why? Couldn't he sense the frothing lust brewing beneath her pinkened skin? Didn't he feel anything? If he didn't want her, this was a cruel way to go about it.

"Really?" Her voice was broken.

"Really." He captured her gaze, leaning closer. "I plan to make it difficult for you, of course." He was close enough to hear her heartbeat. His lips whispered across her cheek. His hot breath dripped down her jaw. His hands slid from the armrests to her hips.

It took Karma a blissful and dizzy moment to realize that Captain Levi was toying with her, counting on her disobedience. She exhaled shaky relief that was nearly a moan as Levi suckled the sensitive skin of her neck. He savored the sweet flesh, running his hands along her thighs, experiencing as much of her body as he could in the confines of this chair. But he couldn't get enough—

He scooped her up and splayed her on the loveseat. He pressed the weight of his muscular body against her. His hips rolled against hers.

Karma was so inebriated by the sensations that her fingers couldn't unbutton his clothes fast enough. She wanted to feel their skin press together. She wanted him all around her. He chuckled at her fluster and yanked off his shirt, dumping it to the floor. She tore hers off as well, exposing her bare chest. His breath caught at the sight.

Levi's fingers drank in the exposed surfaces of her torso—her slim waist, the curve of her breasts—while his mouth savored the feeling of hers. When lips weren't enough, his tongue communicated his desire instead.

His breath, sweet from the champagne, filled her mouth while their bodies moved in a slow rhythm. Her nails burrowed in his back. Her hands skimmed the corded muscles of his arms, the uneven ridges of battle scars that added to the intrigue of his body.

All of the vigor and determination Levi stirred in Karma dissolved into desire. And all of the frustration and annoyance Karma spiked in her captain melded into lust. The fear of the Titan battle was long forgotten, replaced by the need to satiate their bodies with one another's—to win the battle of flesh and passion.

And in a swell of heated moans and deep kisses, they reached victory together.

Captain Levi, slick and panting, stared down at her pinked face. Her eyes glowed like amber in the dying candlelight. She'd never seen Levi so open and vulnerable. So tender, yet powerful.

"You disobeyed," he said once his breathing slowed and the heat of battle simmered. Karma traced a finger along the line of his jaw.

"I intend to disobey your every command."

"Promise?" he said against her temple, pressing his smiling lips on it.

"Of course, Captain."

The End