'Erwin, ' said Hamlin, not unkindly, 'What the fuck are you going on about? '

The Captain's office on the courthouse's third floor was a warmly lit room, even during the the wettest of nights, due to the strategically mounted candles set at regular intervals along the walls. It was necessary that Hamlin have as much light as possible at any hour of the day, and in any weather, as she could never be sure when she might be called out of bed to consult or advise on some field matter or another. As one of the most highly prized tacticians in the service, she tended to get whatever office-related necessities she demanded, and usually with a respectful salute and a query as to if she required anything further. She taught strategy and field tactics to trainees and interested MP officers (though there were generally far fewer of the latter) and rarely approved any of them to higher levels of capacity. Her exacting standards were impossible to live up to, according to most of the soldiers who attempted to train with her, and pointless anyway, as tactics had little value to the MP or the Wall Garrison. Nevertheless, the brass did not share these opinions, and Captain Hamlin's good word was worth its weight in gold when it came to getting somewhere within the ranks.

Erwin had been her favorite student since his entry into the service, and it had been on her recommendation that he be allowed entry into the MP's branch. He suspected that the recommendation had been partially made out of concern for his safety, and partially out of a desire to not lose the finest and most obedient assistant she'd ever had. He'd been fetching her papers, tea, and lunches for so long that it had become more or less automatic; he could barely sit in her presence without keeping one eye on the liquid level in her cup, or on the un-filed paperwork on her desk. Currently, he was briskly forging her signature on a heavy sheaf of paper, while she smiled at him with all fondness and all skepticism, the candlelight catching in the deep wrinkles around her eyes and cheekbones and casting heavily defined shadows on her dark and weathered face.

'It's just a thought I had, ' Erwin said, setting each new signed form neatly in the little wooden box marked OUT on the edge of her desk.

'It's not just a thought. ' Hamlin leaned back in her chair comfortably, folding her hands behind her head, and watched him. 'You wouldn't have brought it up if it was just a thought. You don't talk about anything you haven't got another five or six steps planned out for. '

He smiled a little, looking up at her briefly. 'Yes, ma'am. '

'So explain yourself. This prisoner ' this criminal? Some kid you think is promising enough to pull off Embry's rack and stick on top of the wall? ' She grunted. 'He's breathing fire today. I guess this is the one he's got down in the courtyard, getting acquainted with pneumonia? '

'Yes, ma'am. ' Erwin straightened the papers in the box. 'My father says he scaled half of Wall Sina bare. '

Hamlin lifted her eyebrows. 'With a rope, or something? '

'Apparently not. He told me he'd done it with his hands and feet. '

'You believe that? ' She blinked, and narrowed her eyes a little. 'You talked to him, huh? '

'I- well, yes, I- '

'You didn't come here to ask me if I thought it was a good idea. You came here to get me to help you spring him. Am I correct, Erwin? '

Erwin let his breath out slowly. 'Yes, ma'am, ' he said, calm. 'I did. '

'What the hell for? ' Hamlin said, sitting forward again. She was scowling. 'You're a police officer, Smith. You're in good standing, not just because of the pathetic scraps of association your father tosses your way ' it's because you're bloody brilliant. In Gear, and out of Gear. You'll make brass rank in another month or so. Hell, I'd take you on as a full time underling, if they'll let me. I've never met a mind as sharp as yours. And you're telling me you want to ' what? What do you want to do with him, exactly? If I can convince Embry to hand him over to you ' which I'm not saying I can, or that I'll even try ' what then? Are you going to keep him in the barracks like a pet? Send him off to die with those lackwits in Survey? What's the point? '

'Maybe I'd like an underling of my own, ' Erwin said.

She eyed him for a moment, and then laughed. 'Boy, ' she said, 'You think you're fooling me with that 'nice kid' persona of yours? '

'Maybe, ' Erwin said, 'I believe that I can train him into a perfect weapon, one I'm personally responsible for, and that with him under my fist as such, I can finally get to work revolutionizing our entire combat system for the greater good of humanity. '

Hamlin didn't say anything for a long moment. Erwin didn't flinch under her hawk-like gaze.

'Smith, ' she said slowly, at last, 'I do believe if anyone is capable of such a thing, it's you. You've talked about it enough. But you listen to me, here. You're ruthless. You're driven, ambitious, and underhanded. That obedient mild bullshit you pull with your father and your superiors isn't going to help you with this. Do yourself a favor, and stop hiding your better qualities. ' She jerked her chin at him in a slight nod. 'Wear it on your sleeve. They'll be properly terrified of you then. '

Erwin smiled a little, rueful. 'And terror is what I want? '

'They'll never listen to you unless you scare them more than Titans do. '

'Ah, ' Erwin said, sighing. 'Well, I suppose that shouldn't be too difficult in the long run. Most of them haven't seen much more than a silhouette on the horizon. Myself included, to be honest, ' he added.

Hamlin snorted. 'This is why you're a brilliant tactician, ' she said, 'and a terrible person. What's the boy's name? '

'Levi, apparently. '

'And he's still out there in the yard? '

'I believe the Marshal is trying to teach him a lesson in his last remaining hours on this earth. '

She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. 'What lesson is that, then, I wonder? '

Erwin hummed. 'I couldn't say, Ma'am. '

'Well, you look. ' She tapped the desk, eyeing the papers he was still holding. 'You finish these up, file them properly. I'll go and see if the good Marshal has finished his last late night pint down at the Black Sickle, and if he hasn't, I suppose I'll buy him a few more until we've drained off the last of the anger. When you're done here, go out there and get the little rat off the rack if he's still alive. You can bring him up here and put him on the daybed. If he decides to get rowdy, Erwin, you're entirely responsible for making sure he doesn't make a mess of my office. Am I understood? '

'Yes, Ma'am. '

She scowled at him. 'I want a proper salute for this. Get off your ass. '

Erwin rose in a single fluid motion, snapping to attention with a perfect ease. He even managed to keep the triumphant grin off his face in the process.

Hamlin grunted, standing and coming out around the desk to grab her jacket off the coat rack. 'Good. Now get to work. Better get done fast. I hear people can suffocate strung up like that for too long. '

'Not that one, ' Erwin said. 'I don't get the impression that he'll die so easily. ' This time he did grin, widely enough that she growled at him, reaching up to slap at the back of his head as she passed him.

'You understand that if you stumble on this, if you fail in any way here, Smith ' you understand that I'll gut you myself, yes? '

'Oh yes, ' Erwin said, widening his eyes a little. She only slammed the door in response.

It didn't take him very long to finish the work, as he'd known it wouldn't; another handful of minutes saw him straightening the neat stack in the OUT box a final time. His own uniform jacket was still unpleasantly damp, but he supposed it was only going to be soaked again fairly shortly, so he pulled it on anyway, shivering, and went out, down the steps to the courtyard.

The courthouse was largely deserted at this hour, and even the standing watch was nowhere in sight. That was fairly typical, in Erwin's experience, especially on cold, wet nights. There was warm light gleaming from somewhere down one of the second story corridors, and he suspected that down that way was an open room with a large, warm fire, and a number of fine wines gifted to the Military Police in thanks for noble services rendered.

Levi remained where he'd been left, head hanging against his chest, knees bent loosely. He didn't move as Erwin approached him. Erwin paused for a moment, and then reached out to place the flat of his hand against Levi's throat. The boy's skin was icy, but there was movement beneath, the low and steady flicker of heart's blood stubbornly refusing to cease its flow.

'I thought not, ' Erwin murmured, half-smiling. 'Stubborn creature, aren't you? '

He glanced up at the rack and pole, then steadied a hand against Levi's shoulder and reached around to pull the pin that held the crossbar in place. It came free with a clank, and Levi sagged forward, his strained arms dropping at last. Erwin caught him easily ' he weighed hardly a thing, and even now Erwin supposed water retention had to be some percentage of it. Erwin was not a small man, and could lift a considerable amount when called upon to do so. Levi's body felt like hardly more than an afterthought in size. He thought he'd never handled a person quite so small.

He considered the cuffs, but decided to leave them on for now, and lifted Levi up, supporting his upper body against one shoulder, one arm across his back and the other under his knees. The rain tapered off, and finally stopped as he mounted the stairs out of the courtyard.

A few stray patrol officers were wandering the halls inside now, and they gave him strange, suspicious looks as he walked past with his prize. He kept his face schooled into an expression of calm, confident professionalism, and hoped that Captain Hamlin was as convincing as she seemed to think she was. Otherwise, he thought, the situation could spiral out of control fairly quickly, especially if Levi woke in a state of distress.

No strategy is without risks,

he reminded himself, nudging Hamlin's office door open with the toe of his boot. Every advantage has a potential cost. And all tacticians are playing the calculation game in everything they do. Everything we do.

He left Levi in a sodden heap on the daybed to soak the sheets and comforter and stripped off his jacket again, snagging the bit of toweling Hamlin kept on a hook by the door for just such an occasion. Thoughts of the bath he'd missed that afternoon surfaced again as he dried himself, but he pushed it away. There'd be time later. There'd be time for any number of things later.

'What a liar. '

Erwin looked up, startled despite himself. Levi had rolled onto his side, his bound hands tucked between his thighs, knees drawn up so that his body took up as little space as possible. He'd lifted his head and was looking at Erwin with those tired, heavy lidded eyes, their grey lost by the candlelight. He looked like tiny predatory animal, assessing Erwin as either food or as threat. 'You're a liar, ' he repeated, with perfect, uncanny calm.

Erwin gathered himself expertly. 'Am I? ' he said pleasantly. 'What have I lied about? '

'Closed door, convenient bed, and we're alone. ' Levi rolled his eyes, strangely patient, like he was dealing with a man who was deliberately working at being obtuse. 'It's fine. I thought you'd get around to it eventually, if you could manage it. '

'To ' Oh. I see. ' Erwin smiled. 'Again, no. ' He wrung out the towel in the floor bucket beneath the hook.

'Are you sure? I've heard a lot about you limp-dicked MPs. The only ass you can get is the usual upper crust inbred ' what are you doing? '

Erwin dropped the towel over Levi's face, pressed his hands on either side of the boy's head, and began to scrub vigorously. 'You're soaking wet, ' he said. 'I'm trying to help. '

He'd expected some kind of ruffled and outraged sputtering, perhaps, some break in Levi's preternatural calm, but the only thing he got was silence, and a long, solemn stare when he lifted the towel again. Levi's black hair was ruffled into rather charming disarray, and some of the color had returned to his face.

'Motherfucker, ' he said, without the slightest change in that calm and reasonable tone, as though he was commenting on the weather, 'I'm going to rip your throat out. '

It was the only warning Erwin received. Levi moved faster than he could blink, and Erwin gagged in shock as one of Levi's feet struck him hard just below the adam's apple, slamming him backwards into the table as Levi leap onto him, bound hands seizing a good handful of his hair painfully. The table's edge dug into the small of his back and Erwin gasped as the rest of the breath was knocked from his lungs. Levi's weight, which had seemed so slight when he'd been wet and unconscious in Erwin's arms, was now centered directly over his lungs and solar plexus, laboring his attempts at breathing, and it no longer seemed so infinitesimal. The boy perched on him like a bird of prey atop a downed partridge, toes flexing with practiced balance.

Erwin stared up at him.

'You thought this would be pretty easy, huh? ' Levi said. He sounded almost bored. 'Lazy. At least those men who died were actually trying to catch me, instead of waiting to see if I'd come quietly. ' His fingers tightened viciously in Erwin's hair and Erwin, hating himself, heard a tiny squeak of pain pass his own lips beyond his control. 'Lazy, lazy. '

'Just ' trying to be nice, ' Erwin managed, amazed by how calm his own voice sounded. 'You looked ' cold. '

'Vulnerable, ' Levi said, giving Erwin's head a rough little shake. 'That's the word you want. '

'Fine. Yes. '

'Do you fool people with this nice act bullshit? ' The boy peered at him. His heel pressed into Erwin's breastbone and Erwin gasped, trying to catch some modicum of breath to hold.

'Yes, ' he said, hoarse and honest. 'Yes, 'lie, I do. '

Something angry rushed into Levi's eyes. The corners of his mouth flattened out. 'I told you not to fucking call me that. '

'You don't like it? ' Erwin tried to smile, grasping at the first tool he'd found that seemed capable of prying him free of what was starting to look like a very messy and unsightly death. 'I think it's awfully pretty. '

'You haven't earned it. ' The boy's voice was tight, now, and Erwin fancied he could feel that death grip loosening ' that there was a tremble beginning in those powerful legs. No matter how strong and flexible he was, his muscles wouldn't hold him up forever, after what he'd been through.

'You said that before, ' he said, deliberately soothing, like he was speaking to a child. 'Is there a trial process, then? Some paperwork I should submit? '

'Do you want to die that badly, pretty boy? ' Levi snarled, voice raised for the first time since Erwin had laid eyes on him. Despite himself and the pain he was in, he felt an odd warmth growing in the pit of his stomach ' something like fondness, or admiration. This wild, black haired creature, half his size and still partially bound, more than capable of conquering him with indomitable will and skill alone.

Imagine,

he thought.

Imagine what he could do with weapons and training. Imagine what you could do with him.

'Do you? '

Levi stilled, looking momentarily unsteady.

'Do you really want to die, Levi? '

'It doesn't matter, ' the boy said, but Erwin could hear the hesitation in his voice now. 'It doesn't- '

Erwin moved, swinging his arm around, up and under, and punched him as hard as he could in the stomach as he rose up off the table, using his momentum. Levi slammed into the far wall with a startled yelp, and dropped face first onto the floor, unable to catch himself with his hands on time. Erwin was on top of him in an eyeblink, pressing him to the floor, while beneath him Levi bucked and struggled, growling like an animal.

Erwin wrapped a shaky hand around his throat and squeezed.

Levi stilled, all sounds dying in his throat.

'I don't want you to die, ' Erwin said softly, leaning down until his head was close to Levi's ear. His breath touched the sensitive skin and he felt Levi shudder, felt the bob of his throat as he waited, his life once more in Erwin's large hands. 'I don't want you to die, 'lie. I want you to live. '

Levi squirmed once, under him, but Erwin could feel him straining to lift his head, to look Erwin in the eye. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.

'I want you to live, because you're magnificent, ' Erwin murmured. His lips brushed Levi's ear, and the white hot curl of sensation that went through him was startling. He felt strangely divided from himself, as though there was one man, here on the floor, his free hand stroking up Levi's bare back slowly, and another standing over them both, asking

what are you doing, Erwin? What are you doing?

in a voice only he could hear.

That voice seemed to grow louder, suddenly, and Erwin leaned up again, releasing Levi entirely. He reeled to his feet. He could still feel the heat of Levi's back against his body, a dent in the chilly dampness that suffused them both. Levi remained where he was, half kneeling and half sprawled on the floor, his head still lifted as though waiting to hear the end of a sentence Erwin had begun but left unfinished. The look in his eyes was strange, and heated, and it made Erwin so uncomfortable that he he had to look away, unable to bear it any longer.

'Get up, ' he said roughly. 'Go and sit on the bed and be still. '

He heard Levi grunt quietly, and the shuffling sounds of the boy getting to his feet. When he looked back again, Levi was settling himself neatly on the still damp bed. He crossed his legs together, dropped his bound hands into his lap, and lifted his head, his eyes still on Erwin, intent and predatory. He was perfectly still, without even a shiver from cold. There was a terrible, animal grace to him, poised as he was, and Erwin had the distinct feeling that, despite this sudden and strange obedience, he'd been defeated here, somehow. Somehow, he'd lost.

Erwin stepped back, seized the chair in front of Captain Hamlin's desk, turned it around, and sat down in it heavily. The strained creak of the old wood sounded much too loud in the suddenly quiet room.

When he met Levi's eyes again, the boy looked almost as though he was smiling.