You were forced to rest until your ankle recovers. You watched your new team practice and train formations, execute combinations, and assist through the forest, while you work closely with Levi as you're the one observing them since you can't join yet.
It was fascinating to watch Levi in his own element as a leader. He was a natural and he knew how to make people listen. Yes, he is intimidating and sometimes scary, but deep down he cares a lot for the people around him.
His strict and hellish way of training allows him to channel his concern to ensure his squad can survive. Sure, it can't shield them from any possible accidents, but one has to try harder in order to live, to survive. That's how he had done things underground. The weak won't be able to survive without help.
Being a captain gave him lesser free time, lesser idle moments, and lesser opportunities to spend time with you. And you're not taking it against him as it's a part of his job. You just miss him. That is all.
You decided to spend your free time regaining the muscles that you have lost during your recovery time as you swung your blades around in the usual routine that you do as if you're on the field.
There really isn't much to do yet, aside from rebuilding your muscles and making sure that you are keeping up with the formations and executions, even if you work best with Levi, you still need to team up with others. Eld was the first one who got at ease with you and your movements, although you somewhat expected it to be Oluo based on the last incident.
You took it one day at a time and everybody was getting better at reading and working with each other. Levi seemed to be satisfied and allowed the rest to have a day off, but you decided not to take it, as you know that all your friends are busy. You have finished the paperwork that Levi asked you to do, while Erwin and Miche were deployed on a mission, Hange and Moblit were busy in the lab, and Levi is buried under a pile of paperwork, which you have already managed to lessen by half.
This leaves you and your teammates. You decided to hang out with them and get to know them even more. But then again, you feel a little off as you miss Levi. It's been weeks since the incident. You felt the air shift between the two of you. He seems to be distant, but then again, you are not sure if that's the case as there are a lot of things that he has to do now that he is handling a team.
But even so, Hange would sometimes hang out with you. Moblit would sit with you when he's not busy in Hange's lab. Erwin would sometimes check in on you while Miche would walk with you in the hallway.
It could also be because you really gave him a scare and he is somewhat still pissed off about it. It is frustrating, yet at the same time, it is quite understandable that he got mad. It doesn't change the fact that you miss Levi.
The next day came and both you and Levi were called by Erwin. This is the first time that you've walked along the corridors for quite some time and honestly, you felt awkward. So you remained quiet and trailed behind him, instead of walking beside him. You can tell that something is bothering him, but if he's not ready to say anything, then you can't force him to. It's not like you're in a relationship with him anyway.
You both arrived at Erwin's office and saw that there are other people inside. You recognized their uniform and knew that they were from the Military Police. You can tell that Levi got irritated the moment he saw the insignia of the police and you hated them just as the same.
"Captain Levi, Vice Captain Laney," Erwin greeted you both and you gave your salute before Erwin nodded to acknowledge both of you, "These are officers from the Military Police -Emilia Stein and Cullen West," he introduced.
Levi gave a curt nod then looked at Erwin with a raised eyebrow in question, while you gave the two a polite smile. Erwin handed Levi a folder and he opened and scanned the report while Erwin began to explain.
"We need to check the illegal trade underground. Apparently, weapons are being sold against the law, along with illicit substances. We need your team to work with the Military Police for the investigation and in catching these men," Erwin finished while Levi handed you the folder and you proceeded to check its content.
"Erwin," Levi began to speak with a hint of annoyance, "Our specialties include slaying fifteen-meter titans. Why do you need us for this?"
The woman named Emilia interrupted, making Levi stare at her in irritation that she dared to even speak, "Nobody knows the place better than you do, Captain," she finished, her voice definitely sounded a little sultry to your liking, while she smirked at him deviously.
Levi gave Erwin a look that said, 'Well?' while you remained silent, waiting for Erwin to give you the full details. It does make sense for them to ask Levi's help, but he's right - your specialty is to deal with Titans. Surely they have their own elite soldiers to deal with situations like this. The woman did not even seem affected by Levi's intimidating aura and it annoys you because they are standing here as if they own the place.
"Where are your elite soldiers?" You inquired and the woman raised an eyebrow at you, as if you asked a very dumb question, "I agree with Captain Levi that we have other missions to prioritize. We'll never know what may happen outside the walls. Somebody might need our help."
"I was told that there are six members on your team, including the two of you, so there shouldn't really be any problem, right? I mean, with the number of soldiers that you have and the kind of training, each is surely equipped to take down at least one titan. Or are you saying that your regiment is not capable of such?" She questioned and you were insulted immensely.
You gritted your teeth at her remark, her face all smug and she was definitely looking down at you. Erwin remained calm and passive, while Levi did not even give her any attention, but he glared at Erwin so badly that he clenched his fists into a ball.
You remained calm, but deep inside you are seething. This bitch just insulted the regiment that's keeping their arrogant asses alive. You are sure that they have never even seen even a hair strand of a titan. The Scout Regiment is the whole reason they can sleep comfortably at night, while you mourn for the loss of your comrades who gave their lives for pigs like this bitch.
"If you think it's as easy as that, then I'd gladly give you a tour outside the walls. I'll even give you the honor of taking down a two-meter titan to give you the whole experience," you responded, your usually sweet voice laced with menace and anger, "I'm sure with your kind of training, a small Titan should be easy enough."
The tension was rising as you and Emilia glared at each other. She couldn't find any comeback to that and you found her companion, you think his name is Cullen, sniggering at your rebuttal.
Erwin cleared his throat audibly to diffuse the brewing tension, while Levi huffed and leaned on the wall beside you, one leg resting against it, while he crossed his arms and waited for your Commander to speak.
"We won't be asking you to take part in this mission, but just to help them plan. You are well-acquainted with how things go underground and we may be able to use your connections. The worst-case scenario would be the two of you joining, of course, the expedition outside the walls is still your priority. You will help them come up with a plan, while Vice Captain Laney would take your place on days when you're with them, unless again, we'd have to deploy the Special Ops team outside," Erwin finished.
Levi turned his head toward the arrogant Emilia, "You still haven't answered my Vice Captain's question," his eyebrows furrowed in irritation, "Where are your elite forces?"
It wasn't Emilia who answered, instead it was Cullen. He wasn't impolite or anything. He was indifferent. He looked at Levi with a cordial expression and answered him, "They're deployed somewhere. We don't really have that intel as it would only be deemed as classified."
You were still seething from Emilia's insult, but you did not speak again. You were trying to understand the situation if Levi would agree. He will be working closely with the Military Police while you keep an eye on the Special Operations Squad. If ever there's a need to be deployed, then Levi would join, otherwise until this mission is over, he'll spend more time with the pigs.
"Fine," Levi answered, but obviously he was against the whole ordeal, "I accept but the moment that you pigs would insult the Scout Regiment, even the tiniest look of arrogance and judgment toward anything and anybody related to the Scout Regiment, then I would personally escort you out."
You realized that he'd be away from you longer than he already is. For some reason, you couldn't help but think that you and Levi are drifting apart. You nodded and gave Erwin a salute, as he caught your eyes flash with sadness, but it was gone in a snap, replacing it with indifference. You did not even wait for Levi and you briskly walked to the training grounds, doing what you do best to divert your mind which is to train until your body drops with a dreamless sleep.
After Levi explained the whole situation to the rest of the squad, they were as annoyed as you were that they couldn't deal with their shit themselves. However, Erwin reasoned that this also affects the weapon supplies for the regiment as the scoundrels were smuggling them. This is why there are times when the inventory doesn't match the list given. It's disgusting that the Military Police couldn't even do their job well. The Scouts already have their hands full with the lives of humanity resting on their shoulders.
"Fucking pigs," you muttered under your breath as you swung your blades elegantly in the air, bringing it down with a swoosh. Days went by and the last time you spoke with Levi was when you provided him an update about the formations that you were trying to perfect. He was too busy and preoccupied so his attention was divided. He didn't even look at you while you gave him your report.
It made you angry, but you couldn't do anything about it except to somewhat lash out at him with a very irritated tone of, "Anything else you need, Captain?" instead of calling him Levi, which somewhat got his attention, but as he turned his gaze on you, you clicked your tongue and didn't even let him talk, "Nothing? Okay then. Will be back with the next report." Then left with him staring at the door dumbfoundedly.
Today, you spent the day with Hange and Moblit. You missed your best friends and you feel so much better already. Hange would always fill you in with whatever you missed and you listened to her intently, laughed when she would say something you find hilarious, or even exchange friendly banters. Moblit would always sit by you and you'd always read his reports and ask him about some things that you find interesting and he would always tell you more about it. You never found it gory or icky as you were already used to it. It's just that Hange has a different way of telling stories about her experiments and it would always make your skin crawl.
After a lot of arguments, you finally convinced Hange to take a bath and then meet you at the Mess Hall. You exited her lab and you went to your own quarters to freshen up. You feel like you smell of Hange's chemicals so you'd really want a fresh set of clothes before you eat, then you decided to check if you could spar with Miche.
You did not even bother checking on Levi as it's expected that he'd be busy. Plus he never really checked in on you anyway. You admit that you miss him, but for some reason, you'd rather not do anything this time as there were so many mixed signals everywhere between the two of you. You have already moved on from Flagon, but seriously you'd rather not get your heart broken again.
However, you were wrong.
You were walking down the hallway toward the corridor when you heard Emilia's high-pitched voice echoing in the hallway. Scratch that, you heard her high-pitched voice laughing in the hallway. You initially thought it was because of her companion, Cullen, but as you got nearer, you realized that she was with Levi. You turned to the corner and saw them sitting on a bench, looking at a bunch of papers, oblivious to your presence.
Levi's eyebrows were furrowed in concentration while Emilia was sitting too close to him and was also looking at the paper he was holding. Levi must have said something again that made her laugh and she slapped his arm playfully. Normally, Levi would give the person a death glare, but today, he didn't even budge. There was no reaction at all. His face looked passive and he didn't care at all if Emilia had a hand resting on his arm, or if their heads are huddled close together.
You turned in the other direction and walked far away from them, your chest heavy with disappointment and you thought, "Maybe I'm not that special to Levi after all," and decided to go straight to the training grounds, losing all your appetite.
You channeled all your energy and attention to training, hoping that it would drain you enough that you'd just drop on your bed due to exhaustion, each thought drifting away from your head, hoping that it would be empty and dreamless.
Meanwhile, Levi can't help but feel guilty. Ever since that day when you fought the abnormal, he realized the weight of his feelings for you and it terrified him. He distanced himself to sort it out and find a way to tell you that. However, he would always be bombarded with paperwork that he couldn't deal with anything at the moment, or he used it to somewhat run away from it.
He realized that the two of you have been spending little time with each other, other than squad duties, you two weren't hanging out together at all. He would often catch you staring at him with sadness and longing in your eyes, but you would always turn away. There were times when he felt like you were avoiding him unless you'd be thrown together in a meeting. Even during training, you would be respectful, but indifferent. Sure you would still smile at him, but it was nothing more than just being polite. He could tell that you were confused as he somewhat led you on.
He couldn't blame you either as he really did have feelings for you. Sincere feelings that scared him. He's not sure if he's worth it. He's afraid of hurting you. There are just so many things that made him think about all the emotions that he has for you.
He was annoyed by Emilia, so much that he was fighting the urge to punch her in the face. Her comrade, Cullen, was much bearable, however, he was working with Erwin most of the time. So he had to endure the presence of this fucking bitch. He stopped reacting to her at all because he realized that she doesn't deserve any attention or his reaction at all. So he focused on speeding up the process and finding a way to capture the smugglers the soonest so that he can get rid of these pigs.
He knew that she was trying to flirt with him. Her sultry voice, coy touches, and playful smacks on his arm on something that he said wasn't even funny at all and it was driving him close to throwing her out.
He just didn't know that you saw one of the instances.