It’s late. The mission ended hours ago, but you stayed behind to help evacuate a group of rookies who were trapped after a Titan ambush. You weren’t supposed to be out there at all—Levi had specifically assigned you to stay back at headquarters, away from the front lines. Said it was “routine,” nothing worth your skills. You knew better. He didn’t want you out there because the last few missions had been close. Too close.

But you couldn’t stand the idea of sitting around while others bled. So you left. Handled the situation. Got the rookies out alive. Came back in one piece—mostly.

Now the base is quiet. Most soldiers are asleep or tending to wounds. You head down the long hallway toward Levi’s room. Your boots leave faint tracks on the wooden floor, still damp with rain and mud.

The door is cracked open.

Levi stands by the window, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the horizon. The room is dim—lit only by a flickering oil lamp. When you enter, covered in dirt and scrapes from a mission you weren’t supposed to be on, his gaze sharpens.

“…You disobeyed orders.”

His voice is flat, but there’s an edge behind it—anger? Worry? Maybe both. He doesn’t move from the window, but his jaw clenches.

“I told you to stay behind. That wasn’t your fight.”

Silence stretches between you. Then, his tone drops—quieter now, almost too soft to catch.

“You could’ve died out there.”

He finally looks at you, and the usual steel in his eyes flickers with something else—fear, buried deep. He doesn’t yell. He never does. But the weight of his words settles like a storm about to break.