*Levi's POV*

"I'll admit, it would have been nice to know ahead of time that you were going to hijack the interrogation like that to antagonize her."

Levi ignored the pointed jab at his actions down in the dungeons, gaze instead roaming around and taking stock of the people they past in a surveillance instinct too ingrained into his being by now for him to shut it off even going down the street towards a tea shop.

Considering L/N could hear so far out, even when she wasn't paying attention, Erwin and Levi had decided to leave headquarters entirely to have this conversation. Which was why they were now headed for a tea shop instead of Erwin's office to discuss something so confidential. Or at least their opinions on the situation, not necessarily the information itself.

"Did you at least get what you wanted out of it?" Erwin asked as they took seats at one of the outside tables.

"I did. Mostly. You?"

"I was skeptical when you told me, but after that little display of hers, she's clearly not human. Not anymore." Erwin leaned back in his seat and appraised Levi, their conversation pausing momentarily as they placed their order with the waitress that came outside to check on them. Once she went back inside, Erwin continued. "If you have more questions, why didn't you ask them before we left?"

"It had nothing to do with why we were there. Personal curiosity. And it didn't seem like the time to ask."

Especially after he'd goaded her like that, making jabs at painful memories for her until she reacted, throwing harsh accusations at her semi-blindly and seeing if anything stuck. The last thing she would want to do would be to give clarifying details about her past traumas to satiate his curiosity.

Her tale made her origins make more sense, but there were a few details that still weren't so clear to him.

The way she explained it, she was attacked and turned by a vampire the night before--for reasons unknown, he noticed. She hadn't said why she was turned, or by who. She'd actually glossed over that part and moved on--and then went home, not knowing what happened to her, thinking she was sick. Her friend came to visit her, Y/N lost control, attacked and killed her, then fled. He was sure there were details to make the tale far more gruesome, but this was what he knew for sure without letting his imagination run wild.

But then she'd shown up dead a few days later as well. That was the part he was trying to figure out.

"Some deaths, okay, fine, I'll come back from it."

So, she ran away after the initial panic, and then came back solely to fake her death so they wouldn't keep looking for her.

And by fake her death, she went for a...temporary death, something she would come back from.

But why go so far as to let herself be buried? It was a closed casket funeral, so she could have snuck out before they sealed the casket and no one would have known. Why wait?

He hadn't forgotten the fear and trauma in her eyes when she'd mentioned being buried alive was one of her deepest fears. And now the mental image in his mind of a woman clawing desperately at a coffin, screaming for help while no one could hear her had a face to go with it, the face of someone he knew, no less.

It was humanly impossible to break out of a grave and crawl your way out. But if you had vampire strength, and every time you suffocated from the lack of oxygen or the dirt crushing down on you and maybe even getting into your lungs...then it was possible. So long as you died a few times on the way up.

Shit...something like that had to do some damage to a person.

Not to mention what came after. Forty years living in the Underground, roughly. He'd only been down there a little over half the time she had. And he hadn't spent it like she had--skulking in the shadows killing people because what she was demanded she kill to survive no matter where she was, and she couldn't go above ground not because it was denied to her, but because if she did she would literally die. Yeah, he'd killed plenty of people in the Underground as well, but far less, and for a reason that was entirely different even if it could be worded the same. He killed in fights because the Underground was that dangerous, or he was protecting people he cared about. She had to actively hunt and kill people to...feed.

If she'd been in the Underground before he was even born...he wondered if they had ever crossed paths, and he just didn't remember.

Hell, with her criteria for who she hunted and killed, he was surprised she hadn't killed Kenny in all that time with him Underground.

Or maybe she had, after Kenny left. It wasn't like Levi would know. Though he was fairly certain the man had gone topside, which would mean out of her reach and away from her hunting grounds.

If only there was an alternative to her diet. She'd laid out why it couldn't be helped, and he understood that, they were good reasons. But still, if there was another way...

"You're thinking about something rather hard over there, Levi," Erwin commented, and Levi realized he'd been staring intently at the table and had even failed to notice that the waitress was in the process of delivering their tea. Erwin was also watching him, though his hands were still in motion, his analytical gaze fixated on Levi's still form. Shaken out of his thoughts, Levi leaned back so he wasn't leaning forward intently anymore, picking up his teacup to start drinking before it got cold. Erwin waited until the waitress left to continue talking. "Is it something I should know about her? Another hunch, maybe? The last one was mostly right."

Levi snorted softly at that. Mostly right his ass. He'd been thinking murder and treason and assassinations, someone out to get them, someone seeking to harm people in the Scouts. Ulterior motives and selfishness, malice.

Maybe the murder hadn't been that far off, considering her body count, if he did the math right in his head. And maybe she had been hiding a secret. Perhaps she was dangerous, but so was Levi. It didn't mean she was an enemy.

"No," he said curtly, putting an end to Erwin thinking Levi might be holding out on him regarding his suspicions after how off they'd both been about this situation. "Like I said, it doesn't have to do with whether or not she's trustworthy and if she should be in the Scouts. Just personal curiosity."

"So you believe her? About her intentions?" Erwin asked casually before taking a sip from his cup, eyes cast down as he spoke but flickering up to gauge Levi's reaction once he finished speaking.

Levi eyed him because of the look on his face, but answered nonetheless. "...I do. She was sincere down there, some would say too honest. Most people try to hide the fact they've killed hundreds--thousands--of people, or that they could kill the people who didn't trust them without blinking an eye, but she was upfront about it. She didn't have to be. She's dangerous, that's a reality no matter how you look at it, but she's attempting to channel that into helping instead of just causing damage." Levi sighed, setting down his cup. "I assumed a lot about her intentions and where she came from, and it's going to bite me in the ass."

And he was probably going to have to put some effort into making amends after all this--especially with how he'd antagonized her down there and clearly crossed a boundary. Several boundaries, actually. And now that the moment had passed, the guilt was starting to settle in. He'd accused her about some harsh stuff, some of which she was sensitive about, given her reactions. She was the one who had to live with what she was, so he doubted someone going after the very things you might cling to in order to retain your humanity was something anyone would take kindly to. After she saved his life--even if it had also been her that had almost killed him to begin with--after she protected him from herself and other vampires, even if he wasn't aware, after she'd gone out of her way to learn from and appease the entire squad, after going through years of training to get where she was now, after putting so much at risk when she could have stayed safely in the shadows, after trying so hard to find a place topside, he'd jabbed at pretty much everything. Her basic motives, her humanity, her intentions, her personality, everything.

He had a lot of damage control to do moving forward if they were going to keep working together. He sincerely hoped he'd only damaged the well and hadn't poisoned the water. A damaged well he could fix, but a poisoned water supply...

Levi's gaze narrowed at Erwin as he realized the other man still hadn't said anything, his suspicions solidifying.

"What about you? Do you think she's a risk you're willing to take?" Levi asked, echoing her words from down in the dungeon Levi had immediately known would catch Erwin's attention.

"I am a man who likes a good gamble," Erwin said with a bittersweet smile, resting his cheek on his fist as he considered the situation before them. "As long as she's not attacking other Scouts, she's trying to keep her bloodlust under control, she's not causing problems for or bringing more danger upon the Scouts...I don't see why we shouldn't let her stay. From the sounds of it, having a vampire willingly join our ranks wanting to use all those abilities to help our cause is a once in a lifetime chance. She's offering it on a silver platter. As long as she can keep herself under control, which she's been able to do so far, I say we take her up on her offer."

"And if she can't? If something happens and she loses control?" Levi asked, eyebrows raised. She'd said it herself, she was a threat, there was always a chance something could happen, and that shouldn't be forgotten. But what would they do if she did slip up with no sign of being able to correct herself before it got out of hand?

"Then she'll be our responsibility to take care of," Erwin said evenly, gazing at Levi in a way that made him believe Levi would be the one to take care of her if she stepped out of line. He had the best chance, yes, but it would still be risky. "Hopefully we won't have to kill her if anything goes wrong, she's valuable, and it would be a huge setback to lose her vampire abilities...but if it ever comes to that..."

"It won't be a problem," Levi said flatly. He meant that in the matter of conflict of interest, not that killing her if it ever came to that wouldn't be difficult.

Erwin nodded. "She stays in the Scouts, then. I'll have to factor in all this new information about where best to put her. She probably shouldn't be anywhere near medical, for her sanity's sake. And Levi?" Levi fixed him with a stare as if to ask what the hell was up with his change of tone, which Erwin ignored. "Considering the strangling tension between the two of you down in the dungeon, are you going to ease up now that you have the story--for the most part--or do I need to switch her to a different squad?"

Levi scoffed. "I'm not going to apologize for being angry about the fact that she kills people, Erwin."

"It's not like she has much of a choice, from the sound of it. And she's doing rather well, given her situation. A lot of thought had to have gone into coming topside and joining the Scouts, how to pull it off. She was ready with those questions, and considering she wasn't planning on us figuring out what she was, that means she already went over those questions herself. She's going with what she believes to be the best route, and considering she's more of an expert on the subject than we'll probably ever be..."

Levi waved him off--he didn't need this explanation, he already knew this. She wasn't going to prey on innocent people, she couldn't afford to downgrade her diet too much considering she needed to be in peak health and control fighting in the Scouts, and she couldn't just stop unless she wanted to die a slow and agonizing death.

Starvation over decades, maybe even centuries...

Regular starvation was bad enough, he knew that from personal experience. He couldn't imagine going out like that--he wouldn't wish that on anyone. Especially self-inflicted.

Levi's gaze wandered to the few people in the street, moving idly from one person to the next, not really paying them any attention beyond basic people watching as he brought himself to his decision.

While he understood her position, that didn't mean he was entirely comfortable with it. But was he willing to try and make this work, to keep her on his squad--this time as his decision, not a decision Erwin made in the name of surveillance--and see if things could still work out despite the mess this entire ordeal had turned into that almost ended in his death.

Was it a damaged well, or poisoned water?

Was he going to cut his losses, or try to fix this?

"...Don't put her on another squad," he finally told Erwin. "She'll still have her skills put to the best use with my Squad. I'll figure out how to deal with...everything."

He was going to try and make this work, despite the current friction between them.

The only question now, was how?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Erwin was the one to tell L/N that she was staying in the Scouts, of course, and by extension he was also the one to tell her she'd remain on Levi's squad, and that it was Levi's job to keep an eye on her and make sure she stayed in line. As for Levi, it was back to business as usual while Erwin handled speaking with L/N.

And two days later, Levi abruptly decided that everyone was going to do a deep clean of HQ, assigning everyone at least one room, with L/N having two considering how fast and how well she cleaned, and himself having three so that he had plenty of time to think while he was cleaning.

Now that his concerns about betrayal and deceit had been assuaged, he could finally allow the softer sides of her he'd glimpsed to settle in his mind, too. Between the darker side he now had a better picture of and the person he'd been seeing since she joined the Scouts, he could finally form a more complete picture of the new person on his squad and start to decide what he thought of her.

Any lingering concepts in his mind that she wasn't up to the job went out the window--except for a general concern about her being around too much blood. She hadn't been in the middle of a truly hairy expedition with people dying left and right. She'd been struggling when he was bleeding out in front of her--what would it be like when there were people dying bloody all around her?

Then again, she'd already pointed out that his blood was particularly alluring.

That was still an odd thing to think about--he was probably going to do his best not to think about it.

He wasn't too worried about her being able to hand the more...psychological stresses of being a Scout. If she could handle being directly responsible for death, and being around it so much after living in and hunting in the Underground, she might fare better than most in the environment.

If it hadn't been the sharper, harder edge he'd seen to her personality in the dungeon, the knowledge of the things she'd already seen and been through, he'd be worried she had too soft of a temperament and personality for the Scouts. It had been what he'd seen from her before the whole vampire thing came out.

She was the woman who went out of her way to comfort the horses and make sure they knew they could trust her. Who sat in the field with the horses and simply soaked in the sun's rays while drawing whatever she could see--namely horses, at least once the man who had been watching her, yet she never said a word. She was the woman with a tea garden in a hidden corner of the Scout's headquarters so that she could save more of her salary...and use it to shelter and provide for the parents who didn't know, and would probably never know, they're daughter was still alive. The woman who snuck treats out to the horses from her own plate, who'd gotten at least half of Levi's squad drinking their tea with a bit of white sage for health purposes--only Levi aware of just how much it was actually doing for them. The one who had asked for a different kind of lesson or tutoring from each squad member so they wouldn't feel like she was some air-headed newbie that thought she was better than everyone because she was put on a fast track to Levi's squad fresh out of the cadets, so that they could feel like they were still teaching her something, that she was learning from them. She was the kind of person who made little gestures like covering him with her cloak when she saw him asleep at the table without a second thought, or timing a fresh cup of black tea almost perfectly to help keep him alert when despite his insomnia he would start to feel tired in the middle of the day, who'd risked the loss of a leg to make sure Eld wouldn't get hurt even after Levi killed the Titan, and who had saved his life even though, at the time, doing so was a great risk to her, because he could put a swift end to the life she'd been trying to build above ground.

She was a good person at heart. Complicated as hell, still dangerous and a risk, and she had her skeletons, her demons and dark secrets, her flaws...but still, a good person at heart.

He'd been watching her closely long enough to pick up on all of that and then some, even if he'd tucked most of it away for later evaluation considering at the time he was worried it might be a front for some insidious ulterior motive.

And he had to do something to try and mend the relationship they had. They couldn't function as part of a squad with all this tension and friction, let alone as captain and subordinate, definitely not as a team. There had to be some level of trust if they were going to be working together in the future, and right now, there was pretty much none, mostly because of him. And he had to be the one to make a first step towards repairing the damage that he had inflicted so that they could start building at least the groundwork of a working trust in one another. They would need it when they went out in the field, because all that raw ability meant nothing if they couldn't function with each other.

Levi scrubbed harder at the stone floor, seeing his fingertips turn pale with the rest of his hands red from the hot soapy water and the pressure he was putting on the brush.

"Captain?"

Levi sighed, leaning back and putting the brush back into the water, turning and lowering the cloth over his face to look over at Petra standing in the doorway with a broom in hand.

"Oluo says he's done with his room, he's just waiting for your inspection," she informed him, though the look on her face was enough to tell him he'd be telling Oluo to do it all over again as soon as he saw it.

"I'll do it when I'm finished," Levi answered, raising the cloth over his face and pulling out the brush to start scrubbing again. "Tell him to make sure he's finished while he waits."

"Yes, Captain," Petra said with a small nod, turning to leave.

"Has L/N finished with her two rooms?" Levi asked before she could leave entirely, focused on a new spot of stone as he spoke instead of looking up at her.

"Yes, sir. She actually went outside, out front, to do some extra cleaning while she waited for you to be ready to inspect the rooms."

She was also really good at cleaning. She had to be, right? She'd lived below ground longer than he had, and her senses were extra sensitive. One bad smell must be torture for her, the dust probably setting off her sensitive nose with the slightest buildup, her sight probably making it easier to pick out grime, and her speed making her a faster cleaner than anyone here--when she didn't have to slow down because she was being watched by someone who didn't know what she was. No wonder she was so damn good at cleaning, why he hadn't found any flaws with it to date.

It almost felt like cheating to him, for some reason.

He pressed unnecessarily hard down on the brush again, feeling the bristles bend and strain slightly in the brush, his fingertips turning pale again.

"Tell her when she's finished with whatever she's doing right now to come up here," Levi told Petra, offering no more explanation as he continued scrubbing at the floor.

"Yes, sir."

Petra left after that, and Levi focused on the room around him--his third room, mind you, and he was almost done. His hands were red, a little raw, too, but it wasn't anything serious. He just kept getting lost in his thoughts while he was cleaning, and instead of calming down like he normally did when he cleaned, he'd tense up at those moments where he got lost in his thoughts. He was going over his attempt at a peace offering over and over again, well aware that he wasn't the best...people person, that communication on a social or emotional level was not his strong suit. But he was hoping the intention behind the gesture would be clear. She wasn't an idiot--she was smart. There was a decent chance she'd be able to see what he was trying to do.

Hopefully.

Levi was just starting to finish up, finishing with a bit of polish on the metal in the room when L/N finally made her appearance, standing in the doorway with similar cleaning additions to her uniform as him, though she had an apron on that was currently tucked up and into her straps to keep any dirt from falling onto the floor while she walked.

She must have been doing some garden and yard work, then. Pulling weeds or something like that out front. At least she wasn't tracking dirt everywhere, from what he could see--and his eyes were scanning her and her surroundings carefully to make sure she wasn't about to ruin his hard work.

"You wanted to see me, Captain?" she asked formerly, keeping her gaze fixed on him instead of letting it wander around the room at anything other than him.

That was a start, at least. He'd be worried this entire rebuilding the bridge thing wouldn't work out well if she couldn't even look him in the eyes.

But the tension was still there, thick and uncomfortable, enough to put even him on edge. There was a distance in her posture, a different kind of guarded than when he'd been snooping around and watching her every move. Like she was hyper-aware of what he was going to think of her moving forward.

He was still coming to a decision about that one, honestly.

"You're going to start training with me," Levi said with no lead up, causing her eyebrows to raise in surprise, opening her mouth like she was about to ask questions before she quickly closed it again, since he continued to talk as if her reaction didn't phase him in the slightest or give him any kind of pause. "You've got some things to work on before the next expedition. Two lessons a day, sparring and ODM gear. Make sure you make the time for it."

"Ah, Captain...I'm not sure if I...should..." she said hesitantly, caught between obeying what was close to a command from her Captain and a reluctance to take him up on the lessons because...what, was the tension that bad for her that she didn't think she could train with him? Did she not want to be anywhere near him any more than she already was? Did she think she would make him uncomfortable? Did she not like the thought of being alone with him?

That was a viable concern, actually.

Or maybe she just thought there wasn't anything he could teach her.

On the contrary--she'd said herself that she was having trouble with the ODM gear. She'd said one of her risks was that she reacted too fast for the gear to keep up with her, sometimes. That was a problem, especially in a situation where one needed to rely on instincts--how could you rely on instincts while also trying to muffle them to lower to the level of the gear, or nearby people?

She needed help finding the middle ground, or at least training herself to instinctually pace herself so she didn't outpace the gear in an emergency. Like she'd pointed out herself, that kind of mistake could be the difference between life and death, even for her.

As for the sparring...well, the only people here that came close to matching their skills was each other. Who else were they going to spar besides each other? Besides, it would be refreshing to have someone he could actually go all out on that would be a challenge for him. He was sure the same applied for her, now that she didn't have to hold back to keep her secret hidden.

If that had been the reason she'd thrown the fight the first time they'd sparred.

Plus, all that raw strength and speed meant nothing if she didn't know how to use it. He could still teach her things, show her some techniques she could use in a fight, that kind of thing.

Is offer to teach her was his way of offering an olive branch to her...and he didn't take too kindly to her starting to turn down the offer.

Levi narrowed his eyes slightly at her as she continued to cast about for a solid excuse to turn him down. Most people here would kill for one on one lessons from him--a fact he was well aware of. Yet here she was, proving just how out of the ordinary she was as she seemed to be beyond just the vampire thing, trying to weasel out of it. "What? Don't think you have anything to learn because you're so naturally gifted?" he asked in a jab much softer than his accusations during their interrogation.

"No, it's just..." she started to say with a frustrated sigh, looking over her shoulder like she was looking at someone, even though no one was there. "Eld's already giving me ODM gear lessons..."

Was that really it? He doubted it. Yes, Eld was teaching her a few things, Levi was aware, but it wasn't the same as what Levi was offering to teach her. And it wasn't a reason to turn him down in the first place. Just another excuse. Unless she was really worried about what the others would think if she got not only one daily private lesson with Levi, but two. As much as Levi was usually of the opinion "To hell what other people think," this one he could see where she was coming from if it was the case. She'd just gotten the others to warm up to her despite their grumbling and cold shoulders after the extremely green rookie got sped through all the tape and obstacles right into Levi's Squad while they put in hard work and were hand picked by Levi after some time in the Scouts after displaying their own strengths and skills over a period of time. It must have looked like favoritism--and Levi giving her double private lessons wasn't going to help anything.

It didn't change the fact that she still needed them or could benefit from them. And that it was a way for them to start making amends...in a roundabout way.

"ODM techniques. Special maneuvers: team and solo, correct?" Levi asked, mostly rhetorically, though she still nodded in confirmation. Levi moved over to the table he was keeping his cleaning supplies on, starting to pack up his things so he could leave to start doing inspections of everyone's designated rooms. "I'm not going to be teaching you what Eld is. You said you were having problems with reacting too fast for the gear, right?"

Levi spoke pointedly, giving her a sidelong glance so he could gauge her reaction and she could see he was serious about this--and that he didn't have any ulterior motives. She didn't protest again. She still looked a little uncomfortable, possibly because of the bump this could cause with the others once they found out, maybe because it meant the two of them were going to be spending more time with one another and they were going to have to get over this tension between them really quickly if they didn't want to end up at each other's throats trying to kill each other, but she didn't protest anymore.

"Four a.m. in the woods for hand to hand. Two hours before dinner on the training grounds for the ODM gear. Don't be late," Levi told her, taking his supplies and leaving her behind in the room as his way of dismissing her.

Now to go yell at Oluo for not getting his cleaning job done properly, most likely.