Present Day
It had been a full week since Reina was placed back under Levi's command and every day, Levi pushed her further than ever. Each night her body ached and she revelled in every surge of pain that shot through her body. She wondered if Levi knew how much she was enjoying his 'punishment', but figured that he almost certainly did. He was not a dense man.
Reina was stood in her small room, securing her hair back into her two trademark braids for the day and secretly admiring the bruises that were beginning to litter her skin. They were not Levi's intention, of course, but simply a side effect of the harsh training he was providing her. Reina cherished each and every one of them.
She finished securing her hair and left immediately for the training grounds, having decided to skip breakfast (again) with the rest of her comrades. Her team, Reina had learnt quickly, did not like her. Reina was entirely fine with this and if anything, she preferred it this way than to have to fake pleasant conversations with people whom she did not have interest in. They would stay away from her, and she would stay away from them – simple.
She found Squad Levi warming up on the training ground and she jogged over to them, saluting Levi momentarily before she joined her squad in running warm-up laps. Levi clenched his jaw at her ease because he had hoped that she would have limped out to meet them this morning, the pain he had inflicted on her becoming too much, forcing her to finally show some sort of weakness. Once again, Reina had defied him.
Levi called his squad back over and began having them complete various warm-up activities. Soon enough, he told them to practice their hand-to-hand combat in partners. He placed Reina with Eren, knowing full well that Eren held the most resentment for the brunette. Levi was curious if Eren was the type of person to hit a girl, and was more than open to finding out.
Eren went first, with Reina securing the pads on her forearms to block Eren's punches. He seemed overall disinterested in training and was hardly paying attention to what he was doing. This bothered Reina because, no matter how trivial it may seem, this training might someday be imperative to their survival. The fact of Eren not paying attention simply meant another heavy body that Reina would have to save.
When Levi realised Eren would not try anything underhanded, he instructed the pairs to swap and hoped to finish with this pointless exercise as quickly as possible.
With the pads secured on Eren, Reina raised her hands into fists against her chest and extended her leg forward, aiming her foot against one of the pads. The momentum seemed to shock Eren and he looked back at her fully, eyes wide. He seemed to be surprised that she was putting in so much effort. Reina didn't hesitate, thankful that he was finally paying attention, and continued delivering kick after kick.
Eren was reluctantly impressed with her strength and his hatred for the girl was quickly diminishing, having witnessed the harsh treatment she had received from Levi each day. Although he may have been initially jealous of her 'special treatment', he now found nothing envious about it. If anything, he felt sorry for the poor girl. However he quickly lost interest in her kicking routine and his focus once again began to wander.
He heard Mikasa let out a grunt and turned slightly to see what had happened and at the same time, Reina's foot moved to connect to the pad on Eren's forearm. His change in position caused her foot to bend at an awkward angle and, given the momentum she had exerted into the kick, she felt a harsh jolt of pain shoot up her leg.
Reina let out a cry and fell to the ground and Eren shot back around, eyes wide in horror. Reina clutched to her ankle in pain as Eren crouched besides her, asking her what was wrong in a panicked mumble. Levi noticed her sudden displeasure and, after a moment of shock, he composed himself and walked towards her. He surveyed her for a moment before he knelt beside her and pushed her hands out of the way. Reina looked at him in pain as Levi touched her quickly swelling ankle and she cried out again, confirming his suspicions.
"It's broken." He told her after a moment, and Reina's eyes widened. A broken ankle meant she would be unable to train for at least 6 weeks, and that was unacceptable to her. This also rendered her completely useless if they were to go out on a mission, to the point where she would be unable to even ride a horse. This was certainly not good.
"No, no it's fine. I just overreacted – I can stand." Reina insisted, pushing against Eren slightly as she pulled herself to her feet. After a moment of hesitation she lowered her weight onto her swollen ankle and cried out in pain again, collapsing back to the ground. Both Levi and Eren caught her simultaneously and the two briefly exchanged a hostile glance.
"I told you it was broken, Evans. Stop being stubborn, you'll only make it worse." Levi barked at her and Reina grimaced, both from Levi's words and the pain in her ankle.
"You should go to the medical station, just to be sure." Eren stated and Levi narrowed his eyes at the words, because surely Eren wasn't implying that his Captain's judgement was wrong. Reina opened her mouth to argue but was swiftly cut off.
"It's a broken ankle, nothing more can be done about it." Levi spoke harshly and Eren frowned, but knew better than to argue with the man.
"I'll take Reina back to her room, Sir. After all, I'm responsible for this." Eren began to pull Reina away from Levi but before he could, Levi dug his fingertips into Reina's waist and she accidentally let out a gasp. Eren perceived it as a gasp of pain and Reina wasn't sure whether she was relieved or concerned by his misunderstanding.
"You're dismissed, Jaeger." Levi stated bluntly and after a long moment, Eren hesitantly released his grip on Reina. He walked back to re-join the rest of his squad, not noticing the fire burning in Mikasa's eyes at his sudden display of concern for the new recruit.
Levi didn't waste a moment and began leading Reina back into the castle, however it was a slow and painful process given her new handicap. Reina couldn't think straight, between the pain in her ankle and Levi's fingers on her skin. And although Levi would never admit it, he was revelling in the feeling of her skin, thought he had started to forget what she felt like, decided it would be a lot better without her uniform in the way. He rejected the train of thought immediately.
"I didn't realise you had built any relationships among my squad." Levi mused eventually, though his voice was filled with deadly venom. Reina hesitated, wondered if she should push him further into this territorial act, but ultimately decided against it.
"I haven't." They walked in silence for a long while before Reina added, out of seemingly nowhere, "I haven't even introduced myself to them."
This didn't surprise Levi, because he knew that Reina had never been open to the concept of making friends and, on the rare occasions that she had accepted people into her life, the consequences had been dire. Levi had learnt the same lesson.
After what seemed like a lifetime, they finally made it back to Reina's room. Levi opened her door with his free hand and then helped her inside, over to the bed. She lowered herself onto the stiff mattress and looked up at Levi in curiosity, trying to think of something to say, anything that would mean he had to stay just a little longer. Her mind was blank.
"Remember to ice your ankle." Levi stated, before turning away and briskly walking out of her room. Reina collapsed back down onto her back and let out a sigh of frustration. She had been trying to find a way to communicate with Levi, to talk over their problems and start afresh, but so far she had failed miserably. In fact, if Reina didn't know better she would say that Levi was intentionally avoiding her attempts at conversation. The whole thing frustrated her to no end, and she sighed heavily into her pillow.
Reina was quickly realising that without the distraction of pain, being back in the Survey Corps elicited a lot of painful memories. She hadn't had time to really stop and think about everything because each night, Levi pushed her so hard that she would simply collapse into bed and pass out. But now, without that harsh routine she had become accustomed to, Reina had no other option but to think. And her thoughts were a lot darker than she would care to admit.
A knock on her door was a welcome distraction, and after taking a moment to compose herself, she invited the person inside.
The door cracked open and Eren peeked inside, hesitating another moment before he opened her door completely and entered her room. When he did, he looked around and found it to be bare of any personality. It was just the standard room that each person was given upon arrival. He couldn't even see any family pictures anywhere.
"Did you need something?" Reina asked, and Eren's head snapped back around to look at her. He cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly.
"I realised that we've never actually introduced ourselves. I'm Eren." He told her with a smile, outstretching his hand for her to shake. Reina looked at him with narrowed eyes and after a moment, Eren lowered his hand in embarrassment.
"There's no need for introductions. I'm aware of who you are." Reina told him bluntly, because she had no desire to establish any kind of relationship with these people. Eren pushed on.
"Well, I came to apologise for your ankle. It was my fault." Reina shook her head.
"It was my own carelessness that caused this. An apology is unnecessary."
"Still, I should have been paying more attention. Sorry." Eren gave an awkward huff of a laugh and scratched the back of his head with one hand. Reina noticed the veins in the muscles of his arm and her eyes clouded over. She remembered when she had first left the Survey Corps and had partaken in a variety of things as means of distractions. One of those, being sex. She didn't have the distraction of pain any longer, so perhaps she would have to resort to other measures of distraction.
Eren turned to leave, feeling defeated and embarrassed, when her voice called out and stopped him.
"Eren." He turned back to look at her and was somewhat startled at her sudden change in attitude. She seemed… different, somehow. "Sit down." She told him gently, her hand patting the spot on the bed beside her. He eyed it for a moment before he crossed the small room and sat beside her, his hands in fists on his thighs and his eyes focused straight in front of him. He suddenly felt nervous.
"Do you have a girlfriend, Eren?" Reina asked with a smile and Eren shivered, shocked by the tone her voice was suddenly taking. It was obvious that she had done this before, though the thought didn't cross his mind until later. Eren shook his head slowly in answer to her question. "Good." Reina told him, and Eren turned to question her.
The moment his face was turned towards hers she leant towards him, her lips connecting with his with a force that had him falling back against the bed. A part of him felt that this was wrong, that it was sudden and rushed, but a bigger part of him hadn't had sex in a long time. He shoved the more logical side of him away and instead pushed back against her, parting her lips with his tongue and pushing his way inside her mouth.
Reina moaned at his act of control and Eren took it as encouragement, letting his hands come to rest on her hips and pushing back up off the bed. He pushed her down until her back was on the bed and she arched her back into him, raking her fingers through his hair. Eren was quickly getting worked up and began pushing her up the bed, turning her around so her head was resting against the pillow.
Reina let out a sudden shriek of pain and Eren stopped, disconnecting their mouths and looking at her in confusion. Then, realisation dawned on his face and he looked down at her ankle. His eyebrows furrowed.
"What, Levi didn't even bandage it for you?" He questioned in disbelief, and Reina shook her head slowly, still catching her breath. Eren sighed.
"Honestly, after the fuss he made to take you back to your room, and he couldn't even bandage it for you…" Eren leant back away from Reina, kneeling on her bed. "Some Captain he is." Eren paused and, when he received no response, he continued, "Let me bandage it for you, alright?" Still, Reina didn't answer him and after a moment of confusion, Eren looked back at her. She was sitting up now, staring at her hands in her lap. "Reina? Are you oka-,"
"Get out." Reina told him lowly, and Eren froze. He studied her for a moment and found her to be void of all emotion once again, her eyes giving nothing away.
"What? It'll only take a moment to bandage it for you." Eren said slowly, not understanding. Reina's eyes shot from her hands to Eren, and she looked at him full of malice.
"Get. Out." She enunciated each word and Eren blinked slowly, a frown on his face.
"What did I do wrong? I don't understand." He argued, but Reina didn't reply. She just stayed staring at him, her eyes cold and unforgiving. After a long pause Eren crawled off of her bed and walked slowly towards the door, disbelief written all over his face.
He turned back around before he walked out the door and saw her gaze was unwavering. Shaking his head, he stormed out, muttering 'crazy bitch' just loud enough for Reina to hear. She didn't care. She felt disgusting. She felt absolutely terrible for what she had done, and she felt a strange hatred for Eren at hearing him regard Levi so negatively. She couldn't allow anyone to speak about Levi in such a manner – at least, not around her. She couldn't stand it.
Reina took a deep breath, composing herself the best she could, and then slowly pushed to her feet. She hopped out into the hallway and headed in the direction of the medical office, determined to bandage her god damned ankle because as much as she hated to admit it, it was hurting like hell and she needed some relief.
She was absolutely infuriated with herself for doing something so useless as to seduce a fellow squad member, and she knew the negative repercussions of her actions would be insufferable. Reina felt absolutely terrible and, if she didn't feel bad enough as it was, she found herself craving the attention of one person in particular. She wasn't sure if she was hoping for comfort or punishment but, if she was honest with herself, she didn't think she minded which she received.
As she hopped down the hallway, she felt guilty with herself because her motive was clear and she was not out in the hallway this late at night simply to bandage her ankle. She had only one thought on her mind, and her eyes darted around every few moments as she secretly hoped to run into the man who clouded her thoughts.
"Evans, what the hell are you doing?" She almost smiled in glee when she heard his voice.
a/n
Oh my God no amount of apologising can make up for the wait on this chapter.. I am SO SORRY it took this long, but I have been absolutely drowning in school assignments and I had to write a story for english and didn't think I would be able to manage writing two very different stories at the same time! But I'm finally starting to finish some of my school work which means I've finally had time to sit down and write a half-decent chapter of this story!
Please tell me if you like it, if you think it's consistent with the flow of this story so far or if it's more poorly written - you're sincere feedback is greatly appreciated! Also, is there anything you want to see happen in this story? Between Reina and Levi? Or any of the characters for that matter? Let me know!
Thanks to everyone who stuck with this story, and I hope the wait was at least a little bit worth it! I'll try to update again soon, because I love writing this fanfiction as much as you (hopefully) love reading it!