The Captain and the Assistant

Chapter 20: The Visit

Life with Levi was sweet. He treated you softer than you would expect for a man of his nature. You wonder if time without titans has made him soft. He's not one for grand gestures, but he excels in the small ones. When it rains, he covers you with his cloak. In the evening he makes sure your bath is hot when you arrive home from working with Hange all day. And tea is always ready for you when you wake up.

Even after things started getting busy again, Levi always found little ways to make you feel special.

After the expedition beyond the walls and the discovery of the Marleyans off the coast, Levi squad and Hange had moved into the new base on the shore after it's construction. Hange hadn't even bothered assigning the two of you separate rooms.

"Waste of space!" They had said jokingly when Levi had asked. "You can't always get your own room princess Levi."

You had giggled at that when Levi shot you an annoyed look.

"It's.. not a problem," Levi ultimately decided.

You had even gotten to know some of Marley's captives, (even though Hange didn't call them that). You didn't get along with the one named Yelena, but you enjoyed the company of Onyonkapon. He spent many nights eating dinner with the three off you. Levi didn't trust anyone ever, so he rarely talked, but Hange always made up for his lack of noise. Hange had actually been more talkative than they had been (if that were even possible) and if you didn't know any better you'd think Hange had a crush on the man. Mostly they would just ask them about the technical advancements of Marley and "oooh and ahhh" at anything that came out of the mans mouth.

The time had come to make a decision, whether to team up with the Marleyans and Zeke, the beast titan who had killed many of your comrades, or to proceed forward another way. Apparently Zeke had some grand plan to save all Eldians, but you and Levi don't trust him as far as you can throw a thunder spear.

Most days you still spent strategizing with Hange, but you had been spending more time with Levi squad as well. They kept busy with training mostly. It was clear they thought the worst was over, all except Eren who had been acting strange ever since Sheganshina. You all figure it's because you all changed after that day, but Eren was significantly different. You almost feared being left alone with him sometimes, but it was never for long.

He had denied Levi an answer at the council meeting about cooperating with Zeke. He hadn't disclosed his ability to use the founding titans powers when in contract with someone of royal blood. Levi had wanted to kick his ass. So much pain and suffering could have ended had he just disclosed that information. You're usually able to calm Levi down most nights.

Levi squad has almost grown used to the noises that come from your room. Occasionally they bang on the walls, but Levi likes when other people hear the two of you. He always seems to get more turned on when people start bitching. You don't mind either way. Levi treats you like some prize that he wants everyone to see is his.

Despite you knowing this about him, he is very limited on public displays of affection. Even handholding and no one, not even Hange has seen the two of you kiss. Levi likes those moments to be private, but you know it's because he's not embarrassed. Come to think of it, the only person who has seen the two of you kiss is Simon, but at this point, he's become part of your makeshift, broken family.

....

"This is very important," Hange urges you all. "Our main goal is to go undercover and see if there's anyway peace can be brokered with the Marleyans. Worst case scenario, we figure out how we are going to beat them."

You shift in your tight dress and try to adjust your stockings over your knee caps. Levi chuckles at you and you elbow him in the stomach.

You all had been given nice clothes from ambassador azumabito. They had brought them over from the East so that you could fit in. Hange had arranged all of this after agreeing to work with the Marleyan captives. Despite Hange's typical scatterbrained self, they were a great commander. You try to imagine Erwin working with foreign ambassadors. You wonder if he would be too stuck in his ways to work with another country. You wonder if Erwin could somehow talk Eldians out of this one.

Everyone on board the ship to Marley understand the importance of this mission, and unfortunately the dangers of it as well.

You stumble over to the side of the boat and grab hold of the railing. Walking around the ship reminded you of when you started using ODM gear, you couldn't seem to find your balance.

Levi came over and you took his shoulder with your other arm to steady you. Of course he's completely sturdy and smirks at you when the ship is hit by a moving wave and you lurch forward.

"Stop trying to fall off the ship,," Levi chuckles. "We kind of need you on this mission."

"Ha Ha," you snarl at him as you push yourself to a standing position. You even put your arms out at your sides and look at him raising your eyebrow, silently saying "see look at me now, asshole," but the ship lurches again and sea water splashes the side of your face. You fall forward and Levi catches you in his strong arms. He helps you up again and makes sure you are steady, moving both of your hands to the railings in front of you.

"You are staying with me on this mission, got it?" You turn to face him and smile. "Yes, Captain," you mock him with his title.

"I think I see Marley!" you hear Sasha yell from in front of you, pointing in the direction of steam. You wonder if it's because there are titans, but as you arrive closer, you realize it's coming from ships and small buildings.

Your mouth falls open when you leave the boat. Everyone dashes for land. Levi walks calmly behind everyone. Everything looks so shiny. There are vehicles moving on their own without horses.

"If you don't stop them, they'll start feeding carrots to that lump of iron." Levi convinced Onyankopon.

You try your best to act cool when Levi reminds you of the mission, but it's hard to remain straight faced with all the new technologies on Marley.

The squad momentarily pulls themselves together and begins walking down the boardwalk. Levi trails close behind you. You speed up when you hear Sasha calling out to you and waving everyone over.

"It's called Icecream and it's the most delicious thing you'll ever put in your mouth!" Sasha yells, handing you the cone.

Levi chuckles at Sasha's comment and you elbow him in the stomach again. "You lick it!" Sasha urges.

Your tongue meets the ice cream and you feel like you've been electrified, "It's so cold! It's so good!" you yell, going in for another taste.

"Levi, you have to try this!" You insist, holding the frozen treat in front of his face.

Levi pulls back away from you, "Absolutely not." He answers slowly.

You take your finger and dab some of the delicious treat on your finger and you chase after Levi with your sweet-tasting digit. You try to take a few swings at Levi, grabbing at his collar with your free hand. He finally gives in, fearful that someone is going to figure out who you all are. He tentatively takes your pointer finger in his mouth and licks off the ice cream. You pull your finger away and wipe it on your dress. "I've tasted better," Levi winks at you and chuckles.

"Someone's desperate," you say rolling your eyes and walking back towards Sasha, who's standing in a large crowd.

Levi's eyes dart forward when a child bursts through the crowd around the ice cream stand. Before you can stop him, Levi's on the move towards the child. "That's not your wallet," Levi says sternly grabbing the child.

The crowd turns to look at Levi, who's holding the kids arm in the air. He's clutching a small coin purse. It looks like the one she got from Azumabito for the trip.

"We'll make that dirty brat pay. We will teach him a lesson. Not only that, but he could be one of those Subject of Ymir!" A large man yells from the crowd. The rest of the surrounding people are nodding in agreement. "Make him pay!" They spit venomously.

Levi picks the child up, like he does with Simon when they are playing around, and carries him out of the crowd.

"This isn't his wallet, it's his sisters," Levi calls back to the upset men in the crowd who were ready for vengeance. Levi drops the boy in front of Sasha who starts bowing apologetically, "I'm so sorry about my brother," she pleads nervously.

"You really expect us to buy that?" A man calls out angrily.

Your eyes are wide when his gaze meets yours, "Let's go!" He calls out and you all head away from the crowd at a full sprint.