As soon as I was dressed and out the door, walking with Hange toward headquarters, the interrogation began.

"Okay, (F/N). Spill." Hange glanced over at me as we walked side by side, her eyebrows raised and her eyes lit with excitement behind her glasses. "Tell me everything."

I tried to play innocent first, just to see if she really knew something had happened between Levi and I, or if she was just guessing. I lifted one of my shoulders in a slight shrug. "I left the banquet because I needed some air, and then I was upset about something I overheard, and Levi came to make sure I was alright. That's all that happened."

She shot me a glare and elbowed me in the side hard, making me let out a little yelp of pain. "Shut up. I know that's not all that happened. The two of you looked pretty flustered and out of breath when I found you."

I rolled my eyes and cursed quietly under my breath. Damn it. I couldn't evade her questioning. I might as well just tell her what had happened the night of the banquet. However, I'd leave out the details of our own private after party that had followed. I sighed. "Fine. Levi found me, I was upset, we talked a little bit, and then he kissed me." I glanced over at her, trying to conjure a look of annoyance on my face. Actually, it felt nice to tell someone what had happened. "Good enough?"

Hange stepped out in front of me and took me by the shoulders, stopping me in my tracks. Her eyes were wide. "Wait, wait, wait. Rivaille, Captain stone-cold, the man of no emotions, who likes no one in particular, actually kissed you?" Her voice was laced with disbelief, even though just seconds earlier she had been hinting at just that.

I couldn't help it. I let a sly grin slide over my lips and then said smugly, "That's the one."

Hange gasped loudly and released her hold on me, waving her hands wildly in front of her as if she didn't know what to do with all of her excitement, and was letting it out in nonsensical movements. "Holy hell! I can't believe it!" Her voice was shrill with frenzy as she grabbed my arms again and screeched, "I knew it! I knew he liked you all along!" She hugged me to her and then shoved me away again just as quickly, her eyes lighting up again as she asked breathlessly, "How was it?"

With a wince, I pried her fingers from my arms one by one, red marks left behind on the skin from her tight grip, and held her away from me a bit, meeting her gaze with a slight smile on my lips before saying, "If I'm being totally honest, Hange, it was probably the best damn thing I've ever experienced."

Hange's eyes widened again and she wriggled in my hold as excitement took over her face and voice again. "Damn it, (F/N)! This is amazing. You should have told me sooner!"

Just then, Levi walked past us, my hands still holding Hange away from me, her face still alight with thrillful disbelief.

He glanced over at us as he passed and said in an annoyed tone, "Oi, you two. Whatever the hell you're doing can wait till later. If we're late to this meeting, Erwin will give us a lecture, and I'd rather not sit around for an hour listening to him complain when I could be out disciplining brats."

I dropped my hands from Hange's arms, releasing her, and rolled my eyes, shooting her a look as I muttered under my breath, "Just a ray of sunshine like usual, isn't he?"

Hange grinned at me and then glanced over her shoulder at Levi's retreating form. She returned her gaze to me, her eyebrow raised suggestively as she said teasingly, "What? That magical kiss didn't suddenly make you guys best friends?"

I shoved past her. "Shut up. I admitted he's a hell of a good kisser, but that doesn't mean he suddenly has a great personality to match." She trotted to catch up to me as I strode after Levi toward headquarters. I glanced over at her. "I can enjoy kissing him, but still hate his guts, right?"

She laughed and put an arm around my shoulders as we walked. "Sure. I'm fairly certain that's how most relationships work anyway."

We entered headquarters and made our way down the hall to the conference room, where we had been convened the week before to hear the plan about the beast titan.

As we walked into the room, I noticed that Jaeger was at the debriefing this time, as well as all the commanders that had been involved on the mission to take down the abnormal.

I passed Jaeger, who was sitting at the table, and ruffled his hair slightly as I walked behind him and took the seat next to him. He gave me a slight smile as I sat down, and I noticed that he seemed to have healed up quite well. His damaged arm was still in a sling, held tightly to his chest, but most of his other injuries appeared to be gone.

Levi, who had been talking to Erwin when we entered the room, came around the table and stood next to me, his dark, flat gaze focused on Hange, who sat beside me, as he said in monotone, "Move, four-eyes. That's my seat."

Hange glanced over at me, her eyebrow slightly raised, a smirk flashing across her lips, and then she stood, moving over a chair so that Levi could sit down next to me. As Levi sunk into the chair, Hange leaned over to him and said cheerfully, "You know, Rivaille, if you wanted to sit by your girlfriend, all you had to do was ask."

Levi scoffed, scowling over at her as he said darkly, "Tch. Shut it, four-eyes."

I grinned at Hange over his head and she sent me a quick wink before turning her attention to the front of the room, where Erwin had stood, rapping on the table for our focus.

"Commanders. Thank you for joining me." Erwin glanced across the table at all of us, his eyes stopping on Jaeger for a brief moment. "And Jaeger. We appreciate all of your help with the previous mission. We couldn't have accomplished it without you."

He moved his gaze over to Levi. "And Ackerman, even though your methods were slightly....unorthodox." He furrowed his brow for a brief moment, as if remembering the damage done to the wall, and then continued. "I appreciate your forward thinking in helping Jaeger accomplish his goal."

Levi waved a hand at him dismissively, as if telling him to get on with it.

Erwin cleared his throat and then said, "Alright, we've taken out the beast titan, which was our greatest threat at this point. We are far from winning this war completely, but we've gained a large advantage for now." He walked over to the large window that looked out over the barracks and stood for a moment, his hands behind his back. "Our main goal now is to take out the remaining titans behind Wall Maria. After that is accomplished, we can pull back for awhile, knowing we are safe behind the wall, at least for now, and work on our long-term strategies."

Erwin turned to face us all again, his features stern as he said, "We had a day off. Now the work begins again. We need to get out into the field and take down the rest of the wandering titans the beast titan brought behind the wall." He motioned to Hange. "Squad Commander Zoe, you will be paired with Squad Commander Lewis's squad." He flicked his fingers at Levi. "Ackerman, you and Corporal (L/N) will be commanding the special forces jointly on the mission as usual."

I leaned over to Levi and said smugly under my breath to him, "A whole day in the field together. Aren't you excited?"

"Tch." He let out a sound of annoyance and then replied in a low voice, "Another whole day of practicing self control around you? It doesn't sound that appealing, especially now that I know what can happen when I don't." He shot me a pointed look, his dark eyes boring into mine.

I blushed slightly and looked away from his intense gaze, just as Erwin finished the debriefing and announced loudly, "Alright then. We gather to leave in an hour. You're dismissed."

Everyone stood, pushing their chairs back from the table, and we left the room, walking down the hallway and out of headquarters to get ready for the mission.

I trailed slightly behind Hange and Levi, who were arguing about something amongst themselves, Hange waving her hands wildly to accentuate her points. Levi shot me an exasperated look over his shoulder as we emerged into the morning sunlight, his dark eyes begging me to get him out of the conversation, but I simply shot him a grin and lifted my shoulder in a slight shrug, as if to say that I couldn't help him.

I glanced over as Jaeger caught up to me and fell into step beside me. We walked in silence for a few moments, the only conversation floating back to us from Levi and Hange's impassioned argument, until finally, Jaeger said, "Corporal (L/N), about the mission to clear the wall today..."

I waved a hand at him as I shot him a hard look, cutting him off mid sentence, my voice stern. "No. Jaeger, you're not going on the mission today. You need to rest and heal up. You'd do more harm than good for us with that injured arm." I raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to try to argue with me. "You're going to stay behind and take a much needed day off. And that's an order."

He looked as if he wanted to say something to refute me, but then thought better of it, clamping his lips into a thin line as he said tightly, "Yes, Corporal."

I put my hand on his shoulder as we stopped in front of the officer's quarters and faced him, holding his gaze with mine. When I spoke, my voice was serious. "Jaeger, you did more for us on the last mission than we can ever repay you for. Honestly, we couldn't have taken down the Beast Titan without you. And we owe you everything for that. So please. Consider this a small token of our thanks, even though we owe you a whole lot more."

He held my gaze for a few more seconds, his green eyes wide, as if no one had ever said thank you to him out loud before. Finally, he looked away, a slight blush creeping over his cheeks, and said in a low voice, "Thank you, Corporal."

I dropped my hand from his shoulder and waved him off toward the barracks. "Now get out of here. And if I come back from the mission today and see you anywhere but lying in your bed, I'll personally feed you to the titans myself."

He grinned at me and gave me a slight wave as he headed off toward the cadets' rooms.

I stood for a moment, watching him go, wondering how in the hell our world had gone so wrong. We were relying on some sixteen year old kid to save humanity. And beside that, we never even took the time to thank him for throwing his life away for all of ours.

I shook my head and turned, walking into the officer's quarters and down the hallway to my room. Pushing open the door, I strode over to the closet and began to pull down the pieces and straps of my 3DM gear from the hooks on the wall where I hung them every night before bed.

I strapped the pieces of supple leather around my thighs first, and then slowly worked upward, my fingers deftly fastening each buckle of the harness in place. I had done this so many times now, I could have done it in my sleep.

And as if on cue, because I had thought that, I reached around my back to strap one of the final buckles in place, and couldn't find the end strap. As my fingers fumbled around for the strap, my arm bent at an uncomfortable angle, I swore under my breath. "Damn it."

Suddenly, I felt fingers brush across mine, and the leather strap was placed into my palm.

"Looking for this?" Levi's voice spoke in my ear, his warm breath tickling my neck, making me shiver slightly.

"Thanks." I pulled the strap tightly through the buckle, tightening the last bit of the harness around my waist, and turned around to face him.

He was already harnessed into his gear, his blades at his waist, his survey corps cloak slung loosely over his shoulder. I felt my heart start to pound in my chest. Why did he look so damn amazing in his gear? He looked great in a suit, or in casual clothes, but damn, there was something about him in his survey uniform that would always get me.

He arched an eyebrow at me, noticing me studying him. "Oi, (F/N). You alright?"

I shook my head slightly to clear my thoughts and strode back over to the closet to grab my blades that were leaning against the wall. Sheathing them at my sides, I ran my hands over my gear and the harness, mentally checking to make sure I had everything I needed. When I was satisfied, I turned back to face Levi, and was surprised to see him right behind me. He had crossed the room silently to stand behind me while I was finished my check of the gear.

He leaned closer to me, forcing me back against the wall behind me, his hands on either side of my head, his dark eyes intense as they stared into mine. I swallowed nervously. Why did he still make me so nervous? "Levi...."

Before I could say anything else, his lips were on mine, cutting me off mid sentence. His hands dropped to my waist and he pulled me closer to him as the kiss deepened, his lips hot and insistent against mine. All thoughts of the day's mission, the titans, the world, melted away as my body melded with his and my arms went around his neck and into his hair.

It was over way too soon.

He pulled back from me, his hands still on my waist, just above the top strap of my 3DM harness, and I tried to catch my breath for a moment before I gave him a weak smile and said breathlessly, "What was that for?"

"Tch." Levi raised an eyebrow at me. "We're stuck with each other all day. And I can't touch you. I've kept my hands off of your for years, I've proven I can accomplish it, but that doesn't mean it's easy. It's hard as hell. And now Erwin's sending us out on a mission together, with the brats, and that means I can look, but can't touch." He slipped a hand underneath my shirt and ran a finger lightly up my bare skin to my ribs. His cool, soft touch sent a shiver up my spine and he noticed, the corners of his lips lifting in a slight smirk as he leaned into me again and murmured in my ear, "So I'm getting it all out of my system now."

He nipped the lobe of my ear lightly with his teeth as he pulled away and then dropped his hands from my skin, stepping back as he straightened his 3DM harness. I stayed there for a frozen moment, my back pressed against the wall, the fiery trail left by his fingers still sparking on my skin.

I glanced over at him as he adjusted his uniform. He never had gotten that growth spurt. He was still shorter than me. But when he touched me, when his arms were around me, I felt so small, so secure, like he was a giant and could protect me from anything that came our way. I wanted to keep that feeling forever. I'd never felt more safe than I did with Levi Ackerman.

"Oi, (F/N)." His voice cut through my thoughts and I looked up at him as he flicked his fingers at me. "Let's get going. We need to get the brats gathered before we leave."

I nodded. "Okay. But there's something I need to do first."

He shot me a slightly impatient look as I double checked my gear and then headed toward him, where he now stood by the doorway. As I passed him to exit the room, I looped my fingers through the straps of his harness and pulled him toward me. I kissed him hard, just briefly, for no more than a few seconds, my teeth brushing his bottom lip, and then pulled back, releasing him as I shot him a small smirk. "Okay. That's all I needed. We can go now."

I walked past him into the hallway, not looking back, leaving him to shut the door behind us. As I walked, a small smile flicked across my lips and I put a hand up to my mouth, my fingers brushing across my lips where Levi's had just been.

I couldn't help it. Being with him made me incredibly happy, even if the world was still crumbling around us.