Hanji Zoe stared down at the ring with a raised eyebrow and finally brought her eyes up to look at Levi once the initial shock had worn out. She smirked, placing a hand on her hip as Levi's true intentions became clear. She knew full well that he was not serious about this, and she was not going to fall for a simple prank. "Wow Levi, didn't know you felt that way."

She took great delight in seeing the annoyance flash through Levi, though his expression stayed blank. "Will you just accept the ring?" he sighed. Already, he seemed ready to walk away from the situation, which confused her even more. His reaction told her all that she needed to know, and that he was expecting her response to be a positive one.

Well, why not throw a wrench in his plans?

"No," she said simply, folding her arms.

Levi did not move for several seconds. But in some miraculous way, his gaze did grow darker without changing his expression. Hanji ignored her first instinct, which was to run, and instead decided to stick around and watch the results.

She realized her mistake when Levi's hand shot out suddenly and grabbed her ponytail, forcing her to look directly into his eyes, which were now sharp with annoyance. "You will accept my proposal, or I will break your bird beaked nose," he hissed.

Despite the threat and sudden close proximity, Hanji still smirked. A riled up Levi was a fun Levi. "If this is how you go about expressing your affections to women, you're going to have to do a bit better," she stated. "Call me old fashioned, but I really don't like it when my man threatens to break my nose for a ring."

Levi growled, a sound that resembled an unholy beast that was threatening to burst. With that, Hanji's wariness grew. Her wariness increased tenfold when Levi pulled her closer, their noses almost touching. "Listen," he said, his voice low. "Don't make this any harder on me. Commander Erwin already told you about this mission of ours with rescuing that spoiled brat. But if you are making this difficult before we have even begun, then I am seriously reconsidering this partnership of ours."

Hanji blinked before frowning. Yes, Commander Erwin had told her before that she would be teaming up with Levi to track down a young runaway. But what was this whole marriage thing about?

Her eyes widened as a sudden thought occurred to her. Oh no. Levi couldn't possibly…? But one glance down at the ring showed her once more that he did indeed.

Levi Ackerman really, truly wanted to marry her.

She let out a tired sigh. Oh boy. How to let the little guy down gently?

"Look, Levi," she said with what she hoped was a sweet smile. "I like you, I really do, but I don't like you enough to become Mrs. Neatfreak. Okay?"

Levi blinked, and she thought for a moment that she had broken him with her blunt truth. However, he just seemed as equally confused as she had felt. "This is part of the mission!" he exclaimed, letting go of her hair and stepping back. "We are to pose as a married couple!"

Hanji's smirk fell from her face, and she was instantly overcome with confusion. "We are to what?" she demanded. Of all the…

"Married, Four-Eyes," Levi hissed. "You and I are to be...married."

Her heart clenched. "Well, not legally, right?"

Levi scoffed. "Of course not."

With that, Hanji relaxed slightly, though she was still trying to make sense of the situation before her. Her and Levi as a married couple? Erwin must really want the entire town to suffer from this combination. If the commander was behind this, then he had some explaining to do as well.

But, on a more positive note, if she and Levi were to pretend to be a married couple….hm, this did have some appeal.

She smiled, her eyes glinting with the possibility of what this could mean for her. She looked at Levi with a cocky grin. "Well then, Levi darling, if you want me to accept your proposal, then you will have to get me a better ring."

He blinked and looked down at the ring in his hands. "What's wrong with this one?" he demanded.

"It's obviously a cheap one that's made of glass and a thin piece of silver," she sniffed. "I refuse to wear that for my wedding. Now, are we going to go shopping for a ring or what?" She held up a hand to hurriedly stop him from protesting. "No need to answer! I already know what you are going to say. My ring size is a five. Now let us go find a good hunk of gold!"

Hanji had to admit that she was surprised that Levi had agreed to come, and with less grumbling than usual. But he did appear to be brooding as they walked through the stalls. Levi had stayed silent as Hanji examined the various jewelry pieces, only speaking up to remind her that she needed to 'stay within budget.'

Hmph. Figures.

"So," she started, fingering a blue necklace before letting her eyes roam over the display case. "We are to find this Emilie girl and rescue her from her lover who is a thug?"

Levi nodded, his gaze flickering over the gritty glass in the stall. Hanji smirked when she noticed Levi's hand twitch as he resisted the urge to wipe the dirty surface clean. She wondered how long it would take for him to clean it down, or to leave.

"We're not buying here," Levi said abruptly, answering her silent question. "This place is a dump, and who knows how bad their rings are here." Ignoring the sputtering salesman he had just offended, Levi dragged Hanji away. "Just pick something so we can go," he grumbled.

"Really Levi," Hanji said. "I wouldn't be too concerned if to the jewelry was dirty. After all, with your cleanliness, the diamond would be a shining hunk in two minutes." She stopped to examine a bracelet in a different stall. While Hanji never really fancied jewelry (the Titans could choke from it. The horror) she did like to look every once in a while. It was a guilty pleasure that she enjoyed.

"And how exactly are we to find this girl?" Hanji asked as she looked at the assortments in front of her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Levi fingering one of the blue scarfs on display.

"We wait for her lover to show up at some art festival," Levi started, examining the rack of scarfs. "The little particulars that Erwin gave me were rather simple. The girl will leave us a sign near her lover's favorite art statue."

Hanji frowned. "And how did this information come across?"

"It was in the letter that she sent her father," Levi explained. "It was in code, and quite easy to decipher." He huffed. "They were able to find the signs all over the town square, which is where we will conveniently be staying."

Hanji nodded, frowning thoughtfully. In reality, she found this mission to be a bit boring as it was. There was nothing unique about it: a rich girl runs off with her lover and finds out that she misses her pampered life. So she sends a letter to her dear old dad who recruits the dear old Survey Corps who in turn assagins dear old Levi to be her partner.

Hanji stroked her cheek. "These signs all over the town square are of a jackdaw, right?" she asked. At Levi's look, she grinned. "I looked at the file Commander Erwin sent me. I did my homework." She actually skimmed it, as she had been in the process of uncovering more glorious secrets of the Titans. To think that she'd be deprived of her wonderful experiments for a whole week...she'd go crazy!

Hanji sighed in disappointment at the thought as she examined the display case in front of her. Her eyes widened as her gaze caught sight of a small, gold object. Placed in a velvet cushion, the gold ring was small and simple with a bright shine t it. Just how Hanji liked it. "Oh!" I want that one!" she exclaimed.

Levi strode over to where she was pointing, and frowned. "That one? But it's a man's pinky ring!"

"And it's made of pure gold!" she said. "Perfect!" She folded her hands as she beamed. "Buy that for me, dear."

Levi glanced at her, as if hoping she wasn't serious. But as he took in her expression, he sighed. "Four-Eyes," he started, straining to keep his voice even. "I am not buying you a ring that you will only wear for a week. It's a waste!"

Hanji folded her arms and tapped her foot.

Levi glared at her. "No."

Hanji cocked her head.

"Just buy the woman something," the vender grumbled, watching the silent stand-off between the not so happy couple. Levi shot a glare at the vendor, silencing him with his icy look. He glanced once more at Hanji before pointing at the ring. "Give me that one," Levi grumbled to the vendor.

The whole entire time Levi was paying for the ring, he was glaring at Hanji. She could barely contain her smirk, knowing what was going through his head at the moment. Finally, with the ring in his hand, he held it out to her. "Here."

She hummed. "I am a traditional girl, so you have to do it right."

He blinked. "Do it right?"

She nodded, pointing to the ground. "Come on, be a gentleman." She reached into her pocket. "Here, I'll even put a handkerchief down on the ground so you don't muddy up your pants." With that, she dropped the handkerchief, watching as it fluttered to the ground in between them.

"C'mon!" the vender shouted at Levi. "Get on your knees!" At that point, a small crowd was gathering towards them, looking at the captain encouragingly. "Treat the little lady right!" the man said, leaning out of his stall eagerly.

Hanji snorted in amusement. "Wow Levi, you sure do know how to bring in a crowd."

Levi huffed, looking anywhere but her before slowly getting down on his knees. "Hanji Zoe," he said through gritted teeth. "Will you…" he grimaced, as if he tasted something bitter. His expression almost looked pained, and Hanji felt mildly offended. Was the thought of marrying her really that bad?

"Will you do me the honors of becoming my wife?" he finally asked.

In that moment, everyone turned to look at Hanji expectantly. She smirked. "Well, since you put it that way," she held out her hand. "Of course."

The door to Erwin's office slammed open, and the commander had barely looked up before Hanji whirled in.

"Commander Erwin!" she announced, standing before him. "I am engaged." She flashed the ring on her finger towards him, declaring the information with a flare that only Hanji could pull off.

Erwin raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the ring. Wow, Levi moved fast. "Congratulations," he said simply. With nothing more to say, Erwin went back to filling out his notes.

Hanji sputtered, appalled at his apparent lack of interest. "To a man!" she exclaimed.

"I should hope so."

She huffed, placing her hands on her hips as she glared at him. "At least show some interest!" she said.

Erwin sighed before placing his pen down and looking up at her. "Who's the lucky man?" Erwin asked, though his lips twitched in amusement.

"Who do you think?" she asked. "He threatened to break my, and I quote, 'bird beak nose' if I refused his proposal."

He nodded. "Ah, so it was Levi," he said simply.

"At least pretend to be concerned!" she said, sitting on the edge of his desk and continuing her intense glare.

Finally, Erwin looked up, placing a confused look on his face. "What? I think it is a great match and that you two will be very happy in the next few weeks." He frowned, a disturbing thought occurring to him. "Levi did tell you the reason behind the engagement, did he?"

Because if he didn't, then the Survey Corps would find themselves with one less captain in their ranks.

Hanji huffed, bored already as she fiddled with one of the pens on the desk, obviously more interested in the pen then the commander. "Yeah, he did. Something about tracking down this high born girl who ran off with her lover. A jackdaw bird will be her way of messaging us her location. Her dad is paying us a lot of money, right?" She glanced at Erwin. "Why didn't you tell me about this engagement thing first?"

"Honestly? It was much more entertaining to do it this way," Erwin confessed with a smile. He then frowned. "That's not the ring I gave to Levi," he said. At Hanji's mischievous glance, he huffed. "The ring I gave to Levi to give to you."

Hanji started preening, staring at her ring with a smile. "This one suits me," she said. "It doesn't have that cumbersome diamond that will get in the way of my work."

Erwin frowned while also making a mental note on that information.

Hanji smirked. "And besides, I don't like wearing rings that come from men who are not my husband." She leaped from the desk. "Oh well, I guess I should be off. Time to start packing and get ready for my honeymoon." She winked at Erwin as she left his office.

Erwin frowned. He could already feel a headache coming on, as if preparing for what was to come. A bad feeling settled in the pit of his stomach, and he wondered if pairing Levi and Hanji up for a covert mission was the best idea. If so, what was his backup plan when everything went south?

As he was contemplating these disturbing thoughts, the sound of evenly paced footsteps caught his attention. He looked up just in time as his office door was slammed open with a loud 'bang.'

"She refused me!" Levi exclaimed as the door to Erwin's office slammed open once more.

Erwin was starting to see a dent form in the wall from where the door was repeatedly slamming into it. He'd have to get that fixed, or keep his office door open from now on. Maybe he should purchase a few curtains in place of the door.

He raised a thick eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Twice!" Levi exclaimed.

"Was that when you threatened to break her bird nose?" Erwin asked with an amused smirk.

"After she demanded that I buy her a decent ring," Levi growled. He tossed Erwin the ring he had previously been given. "You keep it. She refused to wear any 'cheap glass rings' for her wedding."

Erwin caught the ring in mid air, mildly offended that his ring had been declared 'cheap.' "How thoughtful of you," he said, pocketing the ring. He paid good money for that thing anyway. Maybe he could get a discount.

"Not even married and she's already emptying my wallets," Levi grumbled, pacing around like a caged animal.

"It's only for a week," Erwin reminded him. He cleared his throat. "I have already taken the liberty of sending you some formal attire for the two of you to wear. I have booked the two of you under the name of Mr. and Mrs. Buckswith."

Levi's head snapped up to glare at Erwin. "Buckswith?" he echoed.

"Would you have prefered the name, Buttan?" Erwin asked simply as he flipped through the papers in a relaxed manner. He blinked when the papers were snatched away from him by an incensed Levi. The captain scanned the papers with narrowed eyes, hands clutching the paper.

"You will both be spending your honeymoon at an elaborate inn called the 'Shoe n' Shine'," Erwin continued casually. "Your rooms are conveniently right across from where we suspect Emilie to be staying." Now to lay down some ground rules. Erwin leaned forward. "Do try to keep this mission professional between the two of you."

Levi glanced at him. "I do not mix business with pleasure."

Erwin blinked. "I didn't suggest that you did."

A small smirk flashed across Levi's face. "But you were thinking it." He dropped the papers back on the desk in a neat manner. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Four-Eyes."

As Levi left, the trepidation inside Erwin grew. Indeed, it had been a bad idea to pair Levi and Hanji up for this mission. But there was no back-up plan now, and Erwin did like his fail safes for everything he did. But throw Levi and Hanji into the mix, and all his plans would be a moot point.

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind then did his office door slam open once more.

"Don't you know how to knock?" he asked in exasperation, snapping his gaze up at his newest visitor.

"Apologies, commander!" Moblit shouted as he came in. "But did you know that Hanji is engaged to the captain?"

A/N: What's that down there? A little review box!