Erwin had failed to mention that she would be sleeping in a prison cell. She was the only captive currently in the facility, and she frequently wondered whether or not anyone else even knew she was down here. She had no idea what time it was when Levi swung open the door.

"Get up," he ordered, kicking at the steel bars of her cell to make more of a racket, "And put on some deodorant. Shit, you reek."

"No one's let me take a shower."

"I don't have time to wait on you to do that. You can take one later. Let's go."

She, as per his request, did put on deodorant, racing to catch up with him at the staircase. He didn't bother looking at her, nor did he try to slow down for her sake, walking briskly until they reached the door.

"I'm hungry," she told him, feeling her stomach ache when she saw a soldier carrying a ration bar.

"I don't care."

They kept walking until they reached an empty area, Levi stopping abruptly and turning to her.

"What are we doing? I'm supposed to be helping you, since you're injured and feeble."

"Maybe that's what you thought," he huffed, "But I'd rather be out here than sitting on my ass all day. Show me how you fight."

"I'm supposed to be playing nurse until Erwin needs a confirmation from me. I'm not fighting you."

"I'm ordering you to. I'm guessing you're okay when it comes to fighting other people, considering you were going to kill me," he retorted, taking off his jacket and rolling up his shirt sleeves.

"I already apologized for that."

"Whatever," he scoffed, "Show me what you can do."

"You have an injury. I don't want to hurt you even more."

"You won't."

"You're confident."

"And you're stalling. This is already a waste of my time."

"You said you wanted to be out here and actively doing something. Is this not satisfactory?"

"Being out here without you would be better. Now, try to land a hit on me."

Sighing, she shook her hands at her sides in an attempt to calm her nerves, bending her knees a little and planting her feet firmly on the ground.

"Your stance is shit."

"I beg to differ, Captain."

She maintained eye contact with him when she swung her fist at his jaw. Unsurprisingly, he managed to stop it, clutching her wrist in his hand.

"There's power behind it. Still, you couldn't touch me. A real fight would move a lot quicker, though," he murmured, looking behind her, "Oi, you! Get over here!"

At his summoning, a young man came scurrying over, saluting the second he arrived.

"Spar with this girl," he demanded, crossing his arms, "If you let her kick your ass, you're on stable duty tonight. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Hey, I don't really wanna fight a kid," she protested.

"I don't care about what you want. He's seventeen, and I'm sure he doesn't want to clean up horse shit all night. He'll be fine."

"If you say so."

She sighed and braced herself once more, waiting for Levi's signal.

"Go."

The boy was taller than her, and appeared to have more muscle mass. In terms of height, he had the advantage, but that also meant there was more of him to hit. So, when he took his first swing at her, she dropped to the ground as quickly as she could, grabbing his ankle and pulling him down. She barely managed to roll out of the way before he collapsed.

"Alright, I've seen enough," Levi said, "Get out of here."

Nodding, the boy stood and fled, cheeks having turned pink from embarrassment.

"Not a bad trick," the captain offered, "But were you really going to try to pull that shit on me? You're taller. It wouldn't work as well."

"I didn't intend to fight you at all, Captain. The plan was to get you to trust me, and then I would slit your throat. Besides, you're injured. You keep forgetting about that part."

"Varga," he snorted, rolling his eyes, "I'm not actually injured."

"What? Then why have—"

"Would you have come to me so often if I wasn't?"

"So, you did know. Erwin did tell you."

"No, he didn't. He told me to stay out of uniform and away from camp, and I did."

"You didn't bother to ask why?"

"I know now, don't I? Try to land a hit on me. Actually try."

Frustrated by the knowledge that not only had Erwin been playing her from the very beginning, but also that he had been using Levi as bait the entire time, she charged at the captain, fully prepared to give him a real injury. He met her strength at full force, restraining her wrists in front of her as she struggled against him. Gritting his teeth, he swiftly brought a leg up to her abdomen and kicked, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Do you get it now?" he questioned, standing over her defeated form, "You're in no position to manipulate anyone here. You're in no position to fight me. Stand up."

Begrudgingly obeying, she pushed herself off of the wet grass, glaring at him.

"What's with that look? Do you think you have any right to be angry?"

"I know I don't," she replied, clenching her fists, "But don't you? Aren't you upset over being used as bait? Aren't you mad that he put your life in danger?"

"Are you stupid?" he asked, his features contorted in disbelief, "Do you know why Erwin said he knew you weren't going to kill me? It wasn't because he had faith in the goodness of your heart, dumbass, it's because he knew you couldn't. I'd have snapped your neck before you got the chance."

"That's not fair," she hissed, voice low as she grabbed a fistful of his shirt.

"No?"

"It isn't fair! The Scouts get to play mind games with me while I'm trying to get my brother back? My brother, my disabled brother, might I remind you, was taken, and your commander thought the best thing he could possibly do was to trick me into coming after you? Was it that important for him to see my reaction when I found out I'd been played? Does he do this often, Captain? Does he like to put other people's lives in danger so he can have the upper hand?"

"First of all," he seethed, grabbing the hand that she had put on his chest and squeezing it until she cried out in pain, "Remember where you are. You think these people wanna stand around and listen to you talk shit about the man they've entrusted their lives to? Don't be stupid; they'll beat the shit out of you."

That might be worth considering. She probably shouldn't say things like that when they returned to the more crowded areas of camp.

"Second of all," he continued, "I already told you that you're in no position to fight me, and you should know that the next time you touch me with your filthy hand, there will be a fight. Third of all, how dense are you? Did you not hear Erwin when he said that you're here to give us a confirmation? Why do you think I'm wasting my time with you right now, Varga?"

Startled by the realization, she whispered, "He put us together so it would seem like I'm still trying to carry out the hit. This is just a spectacle."

"Looks like your skull is full of something other than horse shit," he snorted, releasing her hand.

"But why have you return to camp? Why not just continue with the tea shop bit?"

Levi said nothing, grabbing his neatly folded jacket from where he had placed it on the ground. It would seem that the scouts had many secrets, she thought, checking the condition of her fingers to ensure that the captain hadn't broken them.

"Where are we going now?"

"Lunch."

"I thought we missed it. Hey, if I'm supposed to be helping you because you're injured, why take me outside to fight?"

"Needed to make a few things clear."

"I see. You had to assert your dominance," she said, lips curling upward into an impish little grin.

"Whatever. At least pretend to respect me when we're around other people,"

"Why not demand it when we're alone?"

He chose to ignore her again. The two of them approached a door, which Levi gracelessly shoved open, and waited impatiently for her to go inside.

a/n: i will say this once again for this part of the story since i forgot to say it originally: this takes place right b4 the female titan arc!! yuh so levi isn't actually injured yet. he will b tho. poetic justice.
i had to break this chapter up into two parts it was originally 3k...
anyway thank u for reading! comments and votes are appreciated if u had a grand ole time. thanks again!!