"Levi, I did a bad thing," were Hanji's first words when she barged into his office at twelve minutes past midnight.

Levi's grip on the pen tightened as he pursed his lips and glared at her with searing silver eyes lit by the dim lamp on his desk. He exhaled silently. "I'm busy. Get out."

Hanji continued to claw at her face and pull on her maroon hair as she paced his office with distress. "No, Levi, you don't understand, I've done a very bad thing and it's crazy and sorta awesome – actually, it's very, very awesome – but it's also weird and I know I love weird but some things cross the line, you know? And this definitely crosses every li – "

Levi put down his pen with a loud clatter, like the mallet of a judge after announcing a verdict. Hanji flinched in her step.

He sighed, passing a hand through his face and through his raven hair in defeat. "What is it?" he said, refraining from sticking Hanji's eyes with the poker resting beside the fireplace.

The mad scientist cleared her throat duly, straightening her posture. "Well," she began hesitantly. Even that was uncharacteristic of her. "How should I explain this?" She sheepishly rubbed her chin with one hand whilst her other hand rested on her hip, looking as if she was lost deep in pensive thought.

"Maybe before I drench you in oil and throw you a burning match," Levi sarcastically drawled, leaning to rest against his seat. "Tell me your business, then get the fuck out."

"Now, now, Levi," she nervously replied. "I know it's late and you're lacking caffeine but – "

"Hanji," Levi sighed. "Just get to the fucking point."

"Okay."

Silence. Inhale.

Exhale. "Okay so I was working with Moblit really late tonight and we might've concocted this really shiny liquid that looks like some sort of metal – maybe lithium? – but it wasn't really metal, you see, it's made of herbs and months of research into necromancy and ye olde dark arts from way back in the history of humankind. So, as I was saying, we had this liquid potion and we wanted to try it on both the living and the dead but we found out that it only worked on the dead and what I'm really trying to say here is that – "

The tired-eyed captain rose from his seat in exasperation, walking towards Hanji with a death stare. Wasting my damn time.

Hanji squeaked with every step he took forwards, reaching behind her to find the latch on the door and make a quick escape.

"What's this got to do with me?" he said, stopping his tracks to wordlessly open the door for her. "Explain in three words before I kick your scrawny ass out of my sight."

Hanji's hazel eyes darted around the room in a panic, eventually meeting Levi's intimidating bullet-grey gaze. She took a deep breath.

"Petra is alive."

Levi's heart almost stopped. His grip on the door latch faltered. All colour drained from his face. It was hard for Hanji to see in the dark of the hallway but she swore that sweat beads were trailing down her fellow squad leader's forehead. "Is this some kind of sick joke?" he finally managed to say through gritted teeth.

The taller woman shook her head frantically, her ponytail flying. "She's in the lab. Moblit is – "

But he was gone before she could explain the full story.

Petra Ral had died a true soldier, albeit in a more gruesome way than normal. Her spine was completely fractured in places that contorted her back into almost graceful, swan-like positions. Her honey-coated hair was caked with blood, but even when Levi reached out to touch it with visibly trembling hands…it was still soft and silken and she was beautiful.

His trance was shattered when her eyes fluttered open to reveal glistening, caramel orbs. He retracted his hand back, fear mustering in his chest, threatening to rip him open. "Hanji, what the fuck have you done?"

Moblit steered his frozen shoulders a few steps away from his fallen comrade whom he had believed and seen dead only twenty-seven hours ago. And now she was sitting up, spine imperfectly intact, and she was smiling. He couldn't say he was not scared shitless.

Hanji cautiously skipped over to the confused undead girl sitting upright on the table. "You see, I don't really know if she can communicate yet or if she's able to stay in this state for a long period of time but – "

"This isn't right," Levi almost growled, shrugging away Moblit's grip on him. "She's supposed to be dead. I've had my time to grieve so you better put her back where she was before or I'll tell Erwin."

"You can't!" Hanji blurted out in a panic. Her hands shook as she took Petra's fingers and laced them with her own. Levi watched in calm horror when Hanji began to cradle her hand to her chest. "You can't report this to Erwin, Levi. Look, all she needs is a bath and new clothes and soon enough she won't look so scary and frightening or something. I mean, I don't even know if she even eats or bites people."

"She might be a danger to us, in which case I am bound by duty to put her down immediately," Levi responded coldly. "And I don't want to be the one to do that."

Hanji opened her mouth to counter his argument but paused when she felt Petra's grip tighten. All three of them witnessed the honey-haired girl pull away from Hanji's hold and stand up shakily on her two feet. A single shaft of moonlight shone through the window, illuminating her crooked figure and casting her shadow in Levi's direction.

The air was still for a brief moment. As if time had paused in place.

She started to stumble clumsily towards him, almost knocking a shelf over on her way. Her footsteps were clunky but Levi could hear her laboured breathing as she approached gingerly, eyes locked on to his. He could feel his heart rate intensifying with each painful step, like the ticking of a clock in a silent room, drumming relentlessly in his ears.

His hands found his way to a knife stapled to his belt, ready to draw it out.

But when she got close enough to touch him with those pale, bloodied hands…his grip loosened and he reached out to push her shoulder away at arm's length.

With anguished eyes, he returned her dull stare, biting back a feral scowl. He whispered seven soft words.

Petra's face fell. She slowly craned her neck to look behind her at Hanji, who was observing her actions intently, and Moblit hastily taking notes beside her. She turned back to Levi, moving to push his ebony hair out of his eyes before leaning in to engulf him in a cold embrace, her blood-stained clothes making a mark on his.

He instantly froze in shock, tensing all muscles in his body.

"Le…vi…" she murmured to his ear before suddenly buckling underneath him.

He reanimated at once, picking her up gently with one arm supporting her legs and the other holding her severed back. He shot a glare at the immobilized scientist and her trusty assistant. Finally, he broke the silence.

"I won't tell Erwin."

The next few days were spent nursing this exanimated Petra back into her former, healthy-looking self. Or somewhat close to.

Levi did most of the cleaning, removing all traces of blood from her body and dressing her in a fresh uniform. Hanji used her limited time to attempt to set her spine straight, and after the fifth day of regular hour-long check-ups, she almost looked as if she was alive. The only difference would be the absence of fire behind her youthful eyes.

Everyone in the Scouting Legion went on by with their daily duties outside of where he was currently abandoning his in order to protect Petra from accidentally wandering outside and revealing her unanticipated existence. He'd even placed Eren Jaeger in Mikasa's temporary watch – a decision he hoped he wouldn't later regret.

Levi sipped his tea as he signed more papers to be sent back to Erwin, sporadically glancing towards Petra's blank face opposite him.

He couldn't say whether or not he was absolutely delighted at his squad member's return, but then again he had never been familiar with that emotion before. But one thing he knew was that if it had been Gunther, Erd, or Auruo in her position…his feelings wouldn't have been the same.

He would've hesitated less to draw out his knife and slice their napes in one swift movement as he would a Titan. He would've immediately reported everything to Erwin, even watch disinterestedly with crossed arms as the commander scolded Hanji in his dusk-lit office.

But Petra was different. And for some reason he couldn't help but think this was some god-given second chance to say the things he'd wanted to say to her before he couldn't. Like a test or a torture to see if he could accomplish his task this time round.

He put his cup down and set aside his papers, choosing to lean forward and scrutinize his undead friend instead.

"I'm going to get into a lot of damn trouble for this," he said quietly, placing a tentative hand on her slim shoulders.

A small smile graced her formerly expressionless face. "You…don't…have to…" she managed to stammer out. "C-Captain."

Levi sighed, muttering a "what-the-fuck-am-I-doing?" under his breath. "You know you don't have to speak so formally around me."

Petra blinked at him in amusement. "You… look like… you… have… something… to say…"

No shit. He withdrew his hand from her shoulder and buried his fingers in her satin toffee hair instead. "It's nothing," he began, warily meeting his eyes with her vacant amber ones. "About your father's letter…" he trailed off. He cleared his throat awkwardly then shook his head. "Never mind. I'll take you to Hanji now."

A frown adorned her sickly pale features as he led her steadily down the hallway, unseen from the outside world. Her cape hood hid her face well and Levi's strong arm around her shoulder further shielded her from curious eyes. He walked with purpose and with an elegance that belonged to kings.

Hanji received their presence excitedly, taking Petra's body and manhandling her to a convenient position on the table.

"I'm glad you're here," was the last thing he said before retiring to bed that night. But 'here' was so very different from 'alive', and that was what was haunting him in his dreams every day.

"What if you are dangerous?" he found himself asking her one evening.

With the recent deaths of his team, bar Eren, he had taken comfortably into spending his nights alone in the common room. What used to be a place filled with laughter and Auruo's defiant yelling was now as vacant as the memory he had of them all.

"Can you imagine me as dangerous?" Petra quipped back, handing him a cup of coffee. It had taken her a while to form one flowing sentence, but now that she could, he convinced himself to believe that she had finally returned to the old Petra.

Levi shrugged in response. "Guess not," he said, bringing the cup to his lips.

Petra giggled. It had been a nice surprise when she first laughed at one of his lame, blunt-as-fuck jokes about damn brats and dirty floors. In fact, up until then he'd almost forgotten what it sounded like. But hearing it once more was something he felt guilty of forgetting.

"So… I remember you mentioning a letter a while ago," she continued, seating herself snugly beside him on the sofa. "Care to elaborate, Captain?"

He rolled his eyes. "I also remember dismissing it."

She pouted. He didn't budge an inch. "Fine," she huffed stubbornly. "What did Hanji say to you today?"

He thought he could see a hint of jealousy in her eyes flash for a millisecond. But the absurdity of it caused him to consign it to oblivion. "Nothing important," he lied smoothly, taking another sip of his coffee.

Petra swooped in closer to his face, so their noses were almost touching. He almost let out a yelp in surprise, nearly spilling coffee all over them, though he knew she couldn't feel anything. Not even pain.

"Petra, what are you doing?" he demanded, apprehension evident in his low voice.

His bright-haired, bright-eyed squad member 'hmm'ed in response, and he followed her gaze hovering on his lips.

Instinctively, he licked them. Her eyes darted back to lock on to his.

"Captain," she whispered airily. "Permission to kiss you?"

He could feel her so close to him; their breathing had become simultaneous.

He could feel his chest imploding as he gulped down his impulsive response. Wasn't it considered sick to kiss a corpse? Even if they were staring at you with wide, pretty eyes and no-one was watching?

"She doesn't have long. The dead mice I tested on beforehand turned feral and vicious in two weeks. It won't be long before – "

"Shut up, Hanji."

"Levi…just be careful. And don't get attached."

"It's too fucking late."

Levi clenched his jaw at the memory. If they had such limited time left to be together, surely it wouldn't do anyone harm to be a little sick and crazy for once? Given their current worldly situation, this in comparison was nothing. Insignificant. Fleeting.

But not to him. Never to him. Because it was her. And he was this close to losing her again.

Fuck it.

He was Captain Levi Ackerman of the Scouting Legion and she was Petra Ral, his former subordinate. He hadn't counted on falling in love. Not once, not ever. But it was with her and how could he have not? She had taught him how to smile after he thought there was nothing worthy left to consider happy. She had taught him how to fly after he thought he had lost his wings.

And faced with her now when she was so much like the human she once was…

A perfect ghost, a seamless reflection.

Fuck, fuck, fuck it.

He found himself uttering the words anyway.

"Permission granted."

He woke up to the sound of screaming.

Bolting out of bed, he hastily buckled up his uniform and put on his boots before rushing outside to see what the commotion was.

His worst nightmares had come true.

One of the new recruits was cradling a brutally savaged arm to his chest, kicking away the attacker before it could advance further.

He saw Eren and Mikasa staring in shock and horror at the familiar face underneath the green hood, wearing their insignia on her back.

He saw Erwin observing the scene that had unfurled before him with cold, calculating, unsympathetic blue eyes.

He saw Hanji anxiously biting her nails with her eyes closed shut in an inexplicable dread that overruled her curiosity.

He saw her, and he knew what to do, and he knew he had to be the one to do it.

Petra was no longer Petra.

His Petra had long been gone, her soul buried in the tree she was smashed against while her body remained walking and talking right in front of everyone.

Her howls were lupine; her eyes were bloodshot and broken.

When silver clashed with gold, he thought, he wished he saw her eyes soften and return to their vernal state. She had the kind of eyes that could burn out the sun and all the stars. Her hair was captured sunshine.

But what stared back at him was an empty shell of a girl he once loved and regretted never having the chance to. A girl he had always treated like family but always too cowardly to make her his.

As he raised the knife to strike her bare neck, he whispered seven words – the same words he'd said to her when he'd first seen her rise from her bloodless slumber, fluttering her eyes open as if she had been some kind of sleeping beauty. Even in death she was beautiful.

"If you can hear me, speak now."

But this time there was no answer. No name, no title to address him. The knife in his hand was resolute. Final.

And this time, he had no choice. His blood ran cold as he struck.

Precise, swift, and fatal.

And when they'd finally buried her body in the same soil shared by her deceased comrades, Levi said the words he'd always wanted to say to her before he couldn't.

"Thank you."

A/N: well. it's 4 in the morning (actually almost 5) and i'm delusional. leave a review if you can.