CHAPTER 10

Hanji had gathered all of us into the mess hall of the Survey Corps Headquarters. People milled around, chatting idly as we waited for Hanji to speak. She was busy preparing a set of posters, all rolled up and scattered around the table. Mike and Moblit, Hanji's assistant, stood beside her, listening as she barked orders at them.

But the rest of the conversations drowned their voices out, and I had no idea what they were talking about.

"Why are you so interested in the Titan-Lover, Petra?" Auruo suddenly asked.

I jumped slightly at his voice, then turned around. Eld and Gunther were deep in conversation, and Levi, though visibly bored, didn't seem like he'd be an easy scapegoat.

"Auruo, don't you think it'd be better if you paid attention to you to you and your speech problem?" my voice was flat, hinting that I wasn't in a mood for him and his acts.

"Don't you think you should pay attention to your hair? It's orange now, if you didn't notice."

My cheeks turned redder. Not because of what Auruo said—well, yes in part, but only because when he said that, Levi glanced over.

He looked bored enough, but…did his eyes look a bit different. A bit like…a crazed animal? It wasn't his typical 'Murder the Titans' look, but…something a little different. His eyes darted from Auruo to me, then, almost like he was reaching a decision, he turned back so that he was facing Hanji once again.

I sighed in slight relief. I guess it was normal for Levi to be checking on his squad, but I didn't want him to think there was anything going on between both me and Auruo…because there wasn't.

"It's my natural hair color. I just didn't dye it." I explained. I prepared myself for another one of his snarky remarks, but he didn't say anything else. Instead, he nodded in acknowledgment, and went over to join Gunther and Eld.

Levi made his way over to me, his usual bored expression plastered on his face. I felt my heart beating a little faster. Sure it was normal for Levi to come over here—we're part of the same squad. I tried to keep my heart at bay, but it was like it had a mind of its own. When did I become a fourteen year old girl again?

"Oi, Petra." Levi settled himself next to me, leaning against the wall as he did so. "This is dull, do you want to leave?"

If I said I wasn't shocked, I'd be lying. His offer came all of a sudden, and I didn't know what to say. I looked back at him. He looked exactly the same, just…a little…off? It wasn't very usual for him to cut meetings or such. But maybe this wasn't such a big deal. Come to think of it…it didn't see many people. Erwin wasn't in sight. Nor was Nanaba, or Lynne. The only other high ranking soldiers were really just Hanji, Mike, Moblit, then us. And the three of them were there just to moderate this entire meeting. But what if they were going to disclose important information? No, then everyone would be here.

"We won't be missing much." Levi suddenly said, as if reading my thoughts. "Hanji just wanted to go over the basics. Didn't you notice all the new recruits around us?"

Levi did have a point…plus it probably wouldn't hurt to get out of this stuffy place.

"Okay. Let's go." I replied firmly, spitting out the words before I regretted them.

Levi stood up, now mildly surprised. "Oh? So you do want to go out. Let's go."

He led us out of the crowd of people with ease, managing to escape the notice of the other members of our squad.

When we stepped outside, I was almost surprised to see how bright it was. It was a nice summer day, and the temperature was warm, but had a pleasant cool breeze to it. I took in a deep breath, and stepped out onto the stone road. I was glad I didn't bring my cloak with me today, otherwise I would've baked. My jacket was good enough today. I smiled, then turned back to Levi.

His eyes, previously fixated on me for a few moments, flicked away. I immediately felt embarrassed for no apparent reason, other than he had been watching me. Suddenly self-conscious, I brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear, and glanced away, too shy to meet his gaze.

My heartbeat was faster than usual, and I was suddenly aware of all my surroundings, Levi included. I tried to pick something to distract myself, anything really besides Levi. But looking at everything else only made me want to glance at him even more. It was as if trying to distract myself only made me feel more bored and impatient. Why was I so shy? Nanaba was right. I have to start being more upfront, I can't just—

"Petra," Levi's voice was incredibly soft, and the gentleness shook me out of the din inside my head. His fingers laced themselves through mine, slipping through my palm. "What's wrong?"

I couldn't help but feel pleased about Levi's question and his softness. I blushed profusely, and smiled.

"Nothing, Levi." I replied.

We walked down the streets of Trost in silence, which I honestly didn't mind. I listened to the bustle of the city, and enjoyed the sun's rays which beamed down on us. I was slightly curious as to where Levi was taking me, but I didn't ask. If Levi wanted me to know, he would've told me. He's not a very talkative person, but when you're around him a lot, you start to learn all his habits.

Levi expertly wove his way through the crowds, pulling me along, moving as though he'd done this many other times. The cobblestone road was full of cracks, and despite passing through swiftly, I still managed to get jostled around by the other bodies around me. We finally reached an empty area, slipping into an alley where no one else was walking. But the crowd still pushed me. I tripped on a crack, and was sent flying. My hand slipped out of Levi's, and I fell. But I didn't hit the ground. I fell into someone's arms. My initial confusion was greeted by sudden fear when my arms were pinned behind my back. It was not Levi who had caught me, no, that would've required cat like reflexes, and though Levi was quick, would he have caught me? Eventually, perhaps. But this person wasn't Levi.

I craned my neck around, and smelled foul breath.

"Hey Kenny, I think I like this one." the man shouted. My heart pounded. What should I do? I balled my hands up, but after a brief moment's thought, I looked up at Levi.

He looked shocked, but my guess it wasn't only by the fact that I was pinned down by some man, but something about what the guy said. Kenny…Kenny? Could that be what shocked him.

I brought my leg up, then swung in back. Hard. The sole of my boot made contact with something I assumed was his shin, and as soon as that happened, a slew of colorful curses came with it. Still, his grip was like iron, and I made no progress. The best thing that came out of the that was the way his left side tilted down a bit. My kick didn't do nothing.

I was prepared to keep advancing, and battle my way out, when I heard the unmistakable click of a gun being loaded. I froze in place, and Levi's expression turned from shock to bitter hatred.

"Levi." I heard a voice say. It certainly wasn't the same voice as the man who attacked me at first. No, this voice was much colder, and slightly gravelly. It reminded me of rock—hard, coarse, and almost expressionless. The sound of his voice sent chills down my spine once again. "The brat's older now."

I could almost hear the sneer in his voice when he said that. I looked up at Levi, who had once again, returned to his placid self. "Kenny. Is it really necessary to be doing this now? Can't you see I'm trying to go on a date with someone?"

A date?

I looked up at Levi questioningly, but he didn't even glance at me. His eyes were fixed on the man behind me.

"Oh? I can't imagine how an idiot like you would manage to get a girl." Kenny laughed, sounding like a hyena more than anything.

Levi sighed, then walked up to me, his eyes still on Kenny. A gunshot went off, narrowly missing Levi's feet.

Kenny made a tsking noise, then reloaded his gun. "Take so much as another step forward, and she gets it."

The sound of heels clicking on the road made me turn around.

"Not yet." A cold hand gripped the bottom of my chin, smushing it back to its original position, making me face Levi. "Let's make a bet, Levi."

"I don't gamble." Levi replied calmly, adjusting his cravat. "I'd appreciate it if you left us alone."

"You don't gamble, huh? Bullshit." Kenny shot another bullet, but this time, it grazed the side of my cheek, spritzing droplets of my blood around me.

I didn't make a move, and neither did Levi. The grip on my arms tightened.

"You're tough, aren't you?" the man grunted. "If so, I don't think you'd mind a little interrogation, would you?"

I jammed the heel of my boot into his foot, and he cried out in pain. Another shot, this time in my leg.

I bit down on my lip hard to keep from crying out in pain. I was biting down so hard to the point that the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

"Levi, a bet." Kenny continued. "I have one more bullet in my gun. I'll let her go, and if she manages not to get killed, then you can both go."

"And if she does get shot?" Levi asked, bored.

"Then you die too."

Levi tilted his head in contemplation. "Oh? Seems like an offer I can't refuse then."

My eyes widened. How could Levi agree? What is he thinking? Gambling! With our lives! But…I glanced up at him, his face stoic.

He's never thrown lives away, and to say I trust him would be an understatement. He's my captain. He's led the squad through several expeditions, and managed to keep each and everyone of us alive. Even Auruo, when a titan almost consumed him. I entrusted Levi with my life. I had to have faith in him.

I looked back down. I could run for it. But who's to say Kenny won't shoot me in the back? I can't hesitate. As soon as I'm let free, Kenny will shoot. My mind was racing, and I felt myself caught in a mixture of desperation and determination. I won't die today. But how could this even be happening?

My arms were let loose, and I immediately sprung myself away. I turned my head, and saw in that brief second, Kenny aim his gun at Levi. Of course. He doesn't actually care about me. If his true motive was to kill Levi, why not kill Levi now? I'd be alive, yes, but Levi would be dead. That's probably all he needed.

I slammed my body into Levi's, and the shot narrowly missed both of our heads. It found a home in my shoulder though, and it was painful. I heard laughter as we were suspended in the air. This laughter followed us to the ground, where I landed on Levi, then rolled off onto the stone, my face inches away from a wall. I resisted the urge to cry out in pain as I lolled onto my shoulder, and felt the tears spill out.

I laid there, thinking about standing up and fighting, then resisting and laying there. I heard Levi's voice, but the words were inaudible. And the pain. It hurt. It hurt a lot. It throbbed. My mouth tasted my blood. And all I could smell was dust. The dust being kicked up. The dust that filled my mouth, and dried it out.

"Levi," I murmured under my breath. My eyes closed, and I tried to imagine myself in a nicer place than this road. A field. A field. Of blue flowers. And there'd be a light breeze. Cool and pleasing, not harsh at all. I smiled.

But then my eyes reopened, and the crushing reality came back.

I'm not just going to lay here while my Captain fights.

I pushed myself up with my good arm, and stood up. I saw Levi punch Kenny's goon, making him fall to the ground. Levi's jacket fell off in the process, and I could see Kenny smirking in the corner. The exact same smirk I thought he'd have. Almost satisfied after seeing Levi beat up his subordinate, he disappeared.

I started after him, but Levi pulled me back by my left arm, making me wince in pain.

"Leave him." Levi ordered, hinting at no sort of bitterness in his voice. "He'll come back when he wants to, but I doubt that'll be soon."

I nodded, and Levi—sharp as ever—dropped my arm, and had me turn around.

"What happened?" he demanded, his voice tinged with worry.

"Nothing," I replied, forcing myself to sound as calm as possible.

"The last time you said it was nothing you smiled, so I could it actually was nothing. But now you look like you're in pain."

Levi pulled my jacket off, revealing my left shoulder, and the splotches of blood blooming on my white shirt. I glanced down at it. It wasn't that bad…was it? But I saw Levi biting his lip, looking at it in a mixture of worry and concentration, like he was thinking about what to do with it.

"That stain will be hard to get out." he declared, and I could tell, he was already thinking about all the methods to get this stain out of my shirt.

Levi kicked the door down to the room, and stormed inside it. His arms full of medical supplies, he relied solely on his feet to perform other actions. He didn't seem to mind though. Levi, being hard to read, looked the way he did every other day. Bored.

He dragged a stool across the room, then kicked it over to the bed, narrowly missing me. It teetered dangerously, but stayed standing.

I sat down on the bed, and hugged my knees tightly to my chest, burying my chin into my knees. I always knew I was going to get injured like this one day. I just never imagined that it would be by a gun, let alone another human. The cracks in our society were starting to show. It was only a matter of time before—

"Oi, Petra. Lay down on your stomach with your shoulder towards me." Levi commanded, suddenly interrupting my thoughts.

Silently, I obeyed his commands, my head tilted towards Levi. I stared blankly at the wall as Levi cut away the fabric around my shoulder. It was crusty from my blood, an ugly shade of dark brown.

Levi gazed down at my wound, trying to assess the situation. He was completely silent for a few moments, and I had no idea what was going on in his head.

I rested my head down on the soft sheets, and closed my eyes. I imagined it couldn't have been that bad. I was still alive afterall.

Finally, I heard him shift. I eyes popped open, and I lifted my eyes up. Levi was cleaning a scalpel and a pair of tweezers. For the briefest of moments, I had no idea why Levi had those, when everything came crashing down on me.

I bit my lip to keep from saying anything, and closed my eyes shut. I didn't think that I wanted to see him take the bullet out of my wound. It was already bad enough as it was. I was perfectly fine not seeing it.

I felt the scalpel nudge open my skin, and I bit down from crying out. It hurt, to say the least.

"Petra. If you really don't want to go through with this, we can wait. However I can't say for sure how it'll turn out."

"No. Continue." I insisted, my eyes firmly shut.

A moment's pause later, I felt the scalpel touch my skin again. The same sensation continued for a bit of time, until Levi seemed satisfied with the hole he made.

A sharp pang of pain.

I bunched the blankets up in my hand, and let out a gasp of air. I felt the bullet being taken out of my shoulder, but I still didn't have the courage to look up and see it being pulled out, stained with whatever.

I heard the sound of metal on metal, and concluded that it was over. It still hurt a bit, but was considerably better. The pain began to subside, but I still remembered the sensation I felt when he was removing the bullet all too well.

A soft piece of cloth brushed against my skin, and with it came a stinging sensation. Disinfecting it, I suppose.

"Petra, you need to sit up now."

I opened my eyes, and did as he said. My legs folded on top of one another, I waited for the next thing for the next command, but he almost seemed to hesitate before he said this one.

"Turn your back towards me, I need to bandage you up." Levi said, his voice almost too calm. I looked at him strangely, perplexed. Why was he acting so bizarre all of a sudden?

I turned around, my back towards him. I sat there, waiting from him to bandage it up, when he spoke again.

"You need to remove your shirt so I can wrap the bandage around your arm." he said, his tone of voice almost flustered.

My cheeks immediately started to flare up. "Oh." I said quietly, my eyes the size of saucers.

I unbuttoned my shirt, and he helped remove my sleeves, carefully avoiding my wound.

I felt bare. And embarrassed. Really really embarrassed. It's no wonder Levi was so flustered. I'm kind of impressed he stayed as calm as he did.

He wrapped the bandage around my shoulder, lifting up my arm at times to wrap it underneath. I didn't say anything, feeling much too embarrassed to even utter a word. I bit down on my lower lip, and waited for him to tie the knot.

"I got you a spare shirt when I got all the medical supplies. It might not fit great, but…"

"…Thank you, Levi." I slipped it on, and buttoned it up. The crisp white shirt was slightly too large on me, but it was a clean shirt. Plus, it was in a much better state than my battered up shirt. My fingertips just barely reached out of the sleeves, and it passed my waist a bit. It was extraordinarily comfortable though, and the scent was comforting. It reminded me of grass, and tea, with a hint of something that represented cleanliness, like soap or such. It didn't take me long to realize that those were all the scents I usually associated with Levi. Did that mean that I was wearing one of his shirts? I looked down at the sleeves. Well that would make sense why it was too big on me. My heart beat a little faster, and my cheeks felt hotter than before. And they were already burning earlier.

I folded the cloth into the palm of my hands, then turned around. Levi was standing by an open window, gazing down at the streets below.

A memory flashed through my mind, and I couldn't help but recall another time when Levi stood

in front of a window, his back turned to me. Why would I think of something like that at a time like this? I tried to clear my thoughts, but the longer I watched him, the more that memory came back to me.

I slipped off of the bed, my boots scarcely making a sound. And even though I had a clear goal in my mind, I found myself hesitating.

Hesitating again Petra? I demanded myself furiously.

I ran over to Levi, and wrapped my arms around his stomach, burying my face into his back. I felt the shock when I hugged him, his muscles slightly stiffened, but when I didn't remove myself, he relaxed.

"Thanks." I said, my voice muffled by his shirt. I squeeze him a bit tighter, and took in a wiff of

his scent. Black tea…and the scent of the world outside these cramped walls…freedom… It was the most pleasant smell ever, and it was even better being associated with Levi.

I placed the side of my head against his back, and closed my eyes. Levi placed his hands on top of mine, then brought one up to his lips, and kissed it, his soft lips brushing against my skin. Warmth spread across my body. My eyes still closed, I couldn't help but think for a second that Humanity's Best Soldier…is really sweet.

We stood there, in this blissful sort of peace, when I heard footsteps behind me. I glanced back, and saw Nanaba standing in the doorway. She had this sort of smile on her face, gazing at the both of us. Her gaze flicked down to me, and she tilted her head, a smile still on her face. Her hands were full of bed sheets, and like a cat, she made her way over to the bed, dropping a set of sheets on it, then passing back through the doorway without making another sound.

I stood up on tiptoes, then rested my chin on Levi's shoulder. He glanced over and gave me an almost questioning look, but said nothing. My arms had shifted upwards so that they rested right over his chest. I could feel his heart beating underneath my hands. It was steady, but relatively fast. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

"Your heart's beating fast." I murmured, smiling at the ground.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

Levi glanced back at me, his usual bored expression replaced by a sort of amused look. "Oh?"

I smiled back up at him. "Yeah.

I pressed my lips lightly on his cheek, then placed my head back on his shoulder.

His hand rose behind my head, giving it a sort of pat, pushing down my hair. Levi's fingers ran through my hair, combing out the strands. He pressed the back of my head so that I was leaning into the curve of his neck. We were so close I could feel his breath and the warmth of his skin. His arms were strong against me, and it gave a sort of comforting feel. There were few places where I felt safe. And Levi was one of them. Being with Levi made me feel safe and reassured. I could trust him. I sighed contentedly, resting my head in the crook of his neck.

We walked back into the room where Hanji had gathered all of us at first. It looked as though they were finishing it up, and as far as I could tell, the only thing they had talked about was the formation…again.

We joined the rest of our squad, who all looked just about bored to death. When they saw as, their expressions seemed to be relieved of their apathy, just a bit. Auruo sighed in relief, then pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning against.

"Where were you two? Did you cause the captain trouble by ditching Petra?" Auruo asked, trying to sound like Levi…per usual.

I sighed impatiently, and shook my head like I was pitying him.

"I bet the Captain and Petra were having a hot date." Gunther said.

"Whaa?" Auruo asked, not holding back his surprise.

"Oh?" Levi added, amused.

Eld began to laugh, and Gunther too. I rolled my eyes, seemingly unimpressed by their maturity, when in reality I was trying to contain myself.

"We were just messing with all of you." Gunther replied, attempting to stifle his laughs.

Auruo quickly switched his expression back, then scowled at the two men. "You two are both idiots." he scoffed, holding his head higher than at first.

It was my turn to laugh. What would I do without all of them?

This chapter was originally supposed to be chapters 10 and 11, but since they were both kinda short, I just bunched them up together. I want to thank everyone who has favorited, followed, reviewed, or who has just been reading this story and following along! I've been thinking that this story is coming to an end soon, and is it weird that I've kind of become attached to writing this? Maybe. Anyways, since this is wrapping up, I wanted to know if any of you wanted me to write a chapter about something that'll fit into this story, so no AUish stuff, but I'd be glad to add bonus chapters to this story that you guys came up with!

VP