Present Day
Reina did not want to open her eyes. Every muscle in her body ached when she moved and the thought of pulling herself out of bed was terrifying. Her eyelids slid closed and, clouded in darkness, she immediately thought of Levi. She wondered if he had dreamt of her because she had certainly dreamt of him, but Reina knew he was not that type of person and she decided it was best not to indulge herself with those types of thoughts.
She wondered if Levi would push her harder today, knowing full well that every part of her was in pain from her extensive running. Then again, Levi knew how she enjoyed pushing her body and she figured that if he had really been that hostile towards her, he would have forced her into some other sort of punishment. With this in mind, Reina decided that the thought of Levi having to come to her room and wake her up was more terrifying than anything, so she begrudgingly pulled herself out of bed.
After the longest shower she could allow time for, Reina made her way towards the dining hall of the castle in search of coffee. She had never begun a morning without coffee and she dreaded to think of the day that she would. She saw her new squad members sitting together at a table, laughing amongst themselves. She hurried past by means of not being seen, and quickly made herself a cup of black coffee.
Reina began searching for a vacant table but was quickly interrupted by a firm tug on her arm. She cringed at the thought that it was Levi, because she wasn't sure if she was quite ready to face him again, but knew that if it were Levi, the grip would be much tighter. Her suspicions were confirmed when a loud, female voice rung in her ears.
"My god, Reina!" Reina turned around and saw Hange standing in front of her, a plate stacked high with food in one hand and a steaming mug in the other. A small smile graced her face immediately, glad to be reunited with the insane woman.
"Hange, it's been too long." Reina told her, and Hange looked her up and down carefully. Then, a frown settled over her face.
"I swear… You've barely aged a day since I last saw you! And that was… what? Nine years ago?" Hange shook her head a little in disbelief and raised the mug to her lips, paused, then quickly lowered it again.
"It was ten years, actually. I left ten years ago."
"Well either way, you look as youthful as ever! You and Levi must have some secret that you're not sharing with me…" Reina faltered slightly at the mention of Levi and Hange noticed it, but thought it best to ignore. She had witnessed two of her dearest friends falling apart ten years ago and, now that Reina had returned, she could see the same scars beginning to open once again. She didn't want to be too close to the wreckage, this time.
"Have you eaten yet?" She asked Reina, and the small girl shook her head. Without another word Hange took her arm and pulled her to a table and Reina sat down beside the eccentric woman quietly. She was thankful that Hange had chosen an empty table and she wouldn't complain, even if it meant she had to wait while the woman ate the mass of food she had collected.
The pair sat in silence, though it wasn't uncomfortable. It was enough to simply enjoy the company of an old friend, and no words were necessary. Reina sipped quietly on her coffee but quickly, she found her cup was empty. She glanced around the dining hall and saw it was beginning to thin out, with most troops beginning their training for the day. She saw her squad still sitting together at a table, so she didn't think she needed to leave just yet.
Absentmindedly, Reina reached for the other mug sitting on the table and pulled it towards her. She wondered why Hange had even bothered pouring it for herself, if she wasn't going to drink it. She was delighted to smell the bitter scent of coffee and quickly took a gulp, unbothered by the cooling temperature of the liquid. She raised the mug for another sip when someone spoke from behind her.
"Are you drinking my coffee, Evans?" She paused immediately, eyebrows crinkling in confusion for a moment before she turned around to see Levi standing behind her looking less impressed than usual, if that was even possible.
"Your coffee?" Reina questioned hesitantly, and Hange gasped from across the table.
"Oh! I didn't even see you pick it up!" Hange gushed, and Reina felt like she had been stabbed in the back somehow. She looked questioningly at Hange, who continued, "Yes, that was for Levi… I get him coffee every morning."
Reina let out a sigh and began to stand up, the mug of lukewarm coffee clutched in her hands, intending to make him a new cup.
"Where are you going with my coffee?" Levi asked, looking slightly exasperated as he pulled out the chair next to Reina's. She looked down at him in confusion and he rolled his eyes. "Sit down, Evans."
Reina was still unsure, but hesitantly reclaimed her seat. She kept her eyes on Levi curiously, who sat patiently for a moment before letting out a frustrated sigh. Then, he reached towards her and took the mug from her hands, and they both pretended the feeling of his skin on hers did not elicit a whirlwind of painful memories.
He grabbed the mug from her and took a gulp, staring straight ahead as Reina continued to look at him. Levi could feel his resolve crumbling with each second her eyes stayed on his face, and his eye twitched in annoyance. Finally, Reina looked away, and instead focused on her hands in her lap.
"I thought you didn't like coffee." She mumbled after a moment, not expecting an answer so much as just wanting to rid the horrible tension suddenly in the atmosphere.
Levi paused, and then said, "I took a liking to it."
Hange sat quietly, opposite the pair, her eyes darting between them and her food. She had always been fascinated by their interactions and this time was no different. She thought it might have been, given the time they'd spent apart, but anyone could sense the connection they still had. Levi turned suddenly and looked at Reina, who froze when she felt his eyes on her.
"Have you eaten anything this morning?" He asked of her, and Reina shook her head after a moment. Levi sighed, because he knew before he had asked the question that she hadn't. She had never liked eating breakfast, though he couldn't understand why. A soldier needed as much energy as they could get, he had told her. She had simply said that it made her feel heavy, and more susceptible to a titan's mouth. He hadn't argued.
"Idiot." Levi told her simply, grabbing a roll off of Hange's plate and placing it forcibly in front of Reina. He wouldn't say it, but Levi knew that she needed to regain her strength after pushing herself so far the night before. Especially given the training he had in store for her today.
Reina stared at the roll for a moment before she reluctantly picked it up, breaking off a small portion and shoving it in her mouth. Food just didn't taste right in the morning, she thought. Levi relaxed his posture a little when she started eating, and took another sip from his coffee in satisfaction.
Across the room, Levi's squad watched in confusion as their new team member ate breakfast at the captain's table.
"Why aren't they telling her to leave?" Sasha asked in astonishment.
"Screw that – why would she even sit there in the first place?" Eren demanded, frustrated at the new girl's special treatment. Why was she any better than the rest of them, he thought?
"I get the feeling we don't have the full story about her." Mikasa muttered, and they all nodded their heads in agreement. They decided that they would find out what Reina Evans was hiding from them, they just needed to figure out how.
At training, Levi worked them harder than usual. They had run five laps around the castle, practiced their hand-to-hand combat for two hours and worked on their 3DMG manoeuvres for almost four hours. When it started to rain, they all expected to be dismissed for the day but instead, Levi told them to start doing push-ups.
It had rained rather incessantly for the past week and usually after a certain point, all the captains would agree that enough was enough. Today, however, Levi was in the mood for torture. At least, that was what his squad assumed. And Levi would let them assume that, because it was better than letting them know that he was trying to break Reina – push her to the point where her body shut down and she couldn't do anything else but fall to her knees and beg him to stop. He wanted control over her.
Reina's arms shook as she lowered herself for another push-up and, without letting herself stop to think about the ache in her arms, she pushed herself up once again. Each time she lowered herself, the front of her uniform fell into the mud on the ground and slowly, she had become saturated. She could hardly see from the rain in her eyes and her hair was falling out from her braids and hanging in her face, but she couldn't let herself stop.
"Captain Levi, please!" Jean begged, and the rest of the squad groaned in agreement. Levi stood in front of them, eyes narrowed and focused solely on Reina. He leaned forward in anticipation as her arms shook slightly while she tried to raise herself up and a second later, she collapsed on the muddy ground.
"Dismissed." Levi told them the moment she fell, and they all disappeared immediately, not wanting to stick around for him to change his mind. Reina lay in the mud for a moment longer before beginning to push herself to her feet, only to be shoved back down by a boot on her back.
"Not you, Evans. Keep going." Reina breathed deeply, looking at the rain splashing on the ground beside her as she tried to calm her anger. She had a reason millions to argue with him, to tell him he was being ridiculous and immature and he had no reason to make her keep going, but she didn't. Instead, she pushed herself back into a push-up position and lowered herself down.
She saw Levi's boots moving around her and before she could begin pushing back up again, she felt his boot on her back again. This time it was in the middle, between her shoulder blades, and he was pushing down to make it harder for her. She paused for another moment and inhaled deeply, then pushed herself back up and ignored the extra weight.
She struggled against him for as long as she could but finally, she couldn't take it. Her arms shook uncontrollably and she collapsed down onto the muddy ground again, but this time Levi did not force her to continue. He simply looked down at her in silence for a moment, engraining the image in his mind. Then, he muttered 'dismissed' and turned away.
She watched as his boots moved further into the distance before they disappeared inside the castle, and only after she knew he had gone did Reina pull herself to her feet. She dragged herself back into the castle, hating the fact that she was subconsciously trying not to drip mud on the floor because she knew how much Levi hated dirt. She went immediately to the bathroom and stripped off her ruined clothes, stepping into the shower and trying desperately not to cry. She would not let him win.
Levi was sat in his office with a frown on his face, a half written report in front of him that he somehow could not finish. Every time he moved to write, he would wonder if Reina was still lying out in the rain or if she had gotten up. He was worried because he knew that last night, she would not have moved on her own. Logically, he knew he could simply look out the window and check, but he wouldn't allow himself the pleasure.
He had wanted to push her, to break her, but his victory did not taste as sweet as he had hoped. Instead, he simply felt like an irresponsible captain, and that bothered him. Levi was perfectly content with everything his subordinates thought of him – because it was all fact – but he would not allow anyone to think of him as a shitty leader.
He was disrupted from his thoughts by a swift knock on his door and a moment later, Reina walked into his office. Levi was shocked, to say the least. Shocked because she had managed to clean herself so quickly and shocked because, after all her had put her through, she would actively seek him out. He was instantly suspicious.
"Evans." He stated, and she took a step further into the room. Her hair was hanging over her shoulder and the ends were still wet, dripping every so often. He could see droplets of water on her shoulders and wondered if she had even tried to dry herself at all.
"I…" Reina paused, looking down at the cup of tea in her hands and suddenly wanting to throw it against the wall and run. She had made it out of instinct, her usual way of saying truce, but suddenly she had remembered that Levi drank coffee now. "I made you tea." She finally muttered.
Levi narrowed his eyes and stayed quiet, and Reina squirmed under his stare.
"Sorry, I'll leave." She blurted suddenly and turned to retreat, tea still clutched in hand. "I'll get you coffee." She added as she reached for the door, only to be halted by Levi's voice.
"Give me the damn tea, Evans." He sounded tired. Reina hesitated, but then turned back around and walked towards his desk. She placed the tea in front of him, by his half-written report, and then leant against the side of his desk absentmindedly.
"I'm sorry, I forgot you prefer coffee now." She muttered an apology, and Levi picked up his pen and continued writing his report. He was annoyed that she was apologising to him, because she knew as well as he did that she hadn't done anything wrong. Levi knew that this was her attempt at wiping the slate clean, starting afresh, but he wasn't happy. He didn't want Reina to try and fix things with him, he just wanted her to disappear. Levi was quickly understanding that his dream would not be realised.
"I never said I preferred coffee." Reina frowned, watching him as he wrote. She had always liked his handwriting and had even tried to imitate it, though hers never looked quite as nice.
"But this morning…" She trailed off, deciding it was a nuisance for her to ask him questions while he was trying to work. She was already in his bad books as it was.
Levi sighed, placed down his pen, and took a long sip from the tea. He drank it slowly, then carefully placed the cup down on his desk again.
"You ruined it." He said after a moment, and Reina titled her head at the words.
"Ruined what?" She asked, and Levi looked up at her. His eyes stayed on her for a moment before he looked back at the cup of tea, and then picked up his pen again.
"Tea. You ruined it." Reina jumped, ready to lunge for the cup and bring him another.
"Sorry, I'll make you another cup." She mumbled quickly, but his hand reached out and clutched her wrist as she made a grab for the tea. She paused and looked at him inquisitively.
"No, I mean tea in general. You ruined tea." She stayed perfectly still because his hand was warm on her skin and, although she would not admit it, she had been longing for his touch. She wondered what he would say if she asked him to never let go.
"I don't understand." Reina told him quietly. She hated telling him that, because he would always smile a little, like she was being funny when really she was just stupid. Levi didn't smile.
"You used to make it for me, and I enjoyed drinking your tea. Tea didn't taste the same when you left." Levi muttered after a moment, eyes still focused intently on the page in front of him though he wasn't writing anymore. He was just staring at the page.
Reina didn't say anything because she didn't think anything she could say would be good enough, so instead she just kept quiet and tried her best not to move, although her arms were killing her and she was so tired she could have collapsed right there.
Levi saw a drop of water land on the page he was looking at and he watched it sink into the paper for a moment before he looked up at her condemningly.
"I'm so sorry, Levi. That was completely my fault, I'll go and-,"
"You can't even dry yourself properly." Levi muttered, interrupting her. Reina lowered her head in shame, but was careful to flick her wet hair back over her shoulder and away from Levi's desk before doing so. "Wait here." He told her, and then let go of her wrist and stood up from his desk.
Reina watched in curiosity as he walked around his desk and opened a door to the side of his office. Reina knew that it led to his adjoining room. She drummed her fingers on the wood of his desk absentmindedly while she waited and a moment later, Levi reappeared with a towel.
He walked back to her, stopping in front of her and looking at her for a moment before he patted down her shoulders with the fluffy material. Reina stood quietly as he dried her, head lowered and cheeks burning.
"You're getting careless." Levi muttered after a moment, before telling her to turn around. She did so, and then felt him drying her hair.
"What do you mean?" She asked quietly, enjoying the feeling of his fingers in her scalp.
"I'm your commanding officer. You can't address me informally." Levi told her and Reina realised her earlier mistake.
She hadn't even noticed, because she had called him by his name longer than she had referred to him as 'Captain'. She was surprised she had let it slip, because she had been so on edge around him that she hadn't dared so much as to step a toe out of line. She thought that maybe being back in his office had brought back too many memories and for a moment, she had forgotten herself.
Levi took a step away from her and Reina turned back around, running her fingers through her hair, which was now considerably drier. She stood awkwardly for a moment before deciding she needed to leave, because every moment in this office was suddenly making it harder for her to breath.
"Thank you, Captain Levi." Reina muttered, glancing up at him to see that he was already moving to sit back down behind his desk.
"Dismissed, Evans." Levi told her bluntly, and Reina hesitated for a moment before she walked out of his office without another word, closing the door firmly behind her.
a/n
You guys are unreal, seriously! I can't believe I've had so much feedback on this story after only two chapters, it's really amazing! I wasn't very keen on this story when I started but all the support and positive feedback has made me eager to keep writing!
I would like your opinions on the time jumps - whether or not you like going back and forth in their timeline or if it's too confusing? I enjoy writing it this way because I feel it's a really effective way of character development, but if you guys don't like it I'll try something different! Let me know!
And thank you so so much to everyone who has left me a review, I feel terrible that I can't reply to them but I have taken everything you've all said into consideration and you've really motivated me to keep writing. Thanks again, and I'll be back soon with another chapter!