Chapter Text
It was a quiet night, just like the ones before it had been. The members of Captain Levi’s new squad were still too exhausted from their chores to strike a conversation, and nobody ever wanted to say anything wrong around their ever taciturn superior. It was hard to estimate what they were allowed to do in the short man’s presence and what would count as unacceptable. Although it could've just been a foolish exaggeration, they weren’t in the mood to risk anything, and ducked their faces into their bowls like well-behaved, obedient children.
The only new recruit who was somewhat more familiar with the Captain was Eren, and he was also the only one the man met with a less cold attitude than he did others. However, instead of trying to end the awkward silence, the boy was stuck in a deep daydream of hoping his comrades had managed to cleanse their hideout-hut to the Captain’s contentment, and he was probably monologing to himself how they simply didn't understand that everything had to be spotless. Everyone else was absentmindedly slurping their rather tasteless noodle soup.
Nobody would’ve complained about the lack of flavor of course, not even Sasha. She seemed to be happy there even was food.
Levi simply stared into his bowl indifferently, at least the squad members could make out so much by the few glances they shot over to the end of the long table. The silence was merely tattered by spoons scraping against the bottoms of plates, and the creaking of wooden chairs whenever someone shifted, when suddenly, the door was flung open and a cheerful someone barged in.
All eyes flew in the direction of the noise as Hanji marched towards them without a care, stopping next to Levi. "Good evening, Levi's squad." They saluted.
"You better have a good reason for being here, shit specs," Levi nearly growled, feeling disturbed in his task of ignoring the awkwardness among his new recruits.
"What, I'm not invited to your little tea party? You hurt me deeply, Levi." Hanji faked disappointment. "However, this time it's a matter of importance. Eren, you know that I sent some of your blood to research after your latest titan shift attempt failed and-"
"Does this have to be while we're eating, Hange?" Levi interrupted them curtly, his voice even lower with annoyance as he wrinkled his nose at the Major in disgust.
"Like I said, it's an emergency!” Planting their hands on the table, Hanji turned back to Eren after swatting at Levi's shoulder. “I heard they found something in your blood that indicates very 'lively' actions inside of you, and we’re all sure that they’re not caused by your 'titan'. You're last attempt to transform probably failed because your body is busy nursing something, or rather someone, with what they need. It must be taking up quite some of your ener-"
Hanji was cut off once more. This time by rough coughing as Levi slammed his clenched fist against his chest. He threw a panicked look at a wide-eyed Eren, who suddenly jumped out of his seat and cupped the man's face, voice hysterically high pitched: "Noodle?? IN THE BACK OF YOUR THROAT??!!"
"MHHPF MMMH!!" Levi nodded viciously, and the boy's lips came crashing down on his immediately with all their life-saving force. Everybody else in the room had frozen in time as Eren openmouthed kissed Levi, clutching the man’s face in alarm. They dug into each other, seemingly as if the only way to breathe was through one another, until Eren hurriedly pulled away again.
The Captain gasped upon finally catching his breath, and started panting heavily between little coughs as he bent over the table for support. Eren fell into his seat in relief, his plump lips sucking up the noodle that had probably been responsible for nearly suffocating Levi.
"Oh dear..." he mumbled after a moment, rubbed his superior's back gently and placed a hand on his heaving chest, concern spreading over his face.
"We-well..." Hanji started anew, finding their jaws again after gaping had them going numb. "This may be a shock to everyone, but... I find the fact that we could lose humanity's strongest to a noodle rather than a titan much more unnerving... Wait 'til Erwin hears the news, oh my. But don't worry, he hasn’t had quite the appetite lately, so I doubt this strange event will repeat its-"
"Hanji," Levi addressed them in an unsettlingly low tone of voice as hooded eyes looked up from where he'd hunched over. "Are you telling me, there's a brat inside the brat?"
His narrowed, dark pupils demandingly searched his comrade for answers, and Hanji hid behind their glasses, stuttering: "U-uhm. You wouldn't have anything to do with it, Levi. Would you?" The Major merely said the first thing they could think of. Who else was there to be suspected of having caused Eren's condition? Levi had had the most contact to him ever since the brunette had joined the Survey Corps. The only dominant male around Eren with direct access to him had been Levi alone.
The man's eyes widened in disbelief, losing every sense of indifference they’d once reflected, and he stiffly sunk back on his chair in shock to stare at some distant spot.
"L-Levi?" Hanji poked him with a finger. "Eren?" A sharp intake of breath followed as the Major realized Eren was looking equally as shaken, desperately staring at Levi for help. "Has this happened before?" Hanji turned to the rest of the squad at the table, but they all shook their heads like puppets on strings save for one.
Mikasa was glaring Levi down as if she could kill with her sheer willpower. Armin turned terribly red, his head threatening to burst from trying to find a logical or at least suitable explanation for all this while Jean and Connie tried not to laugh. Their lives pretty much depended on what little self-control they could bring up. And Sasha and Krista just looked on, clueless.
“Ah”, Hanji broke the silence anew. "I understand. You're just shocked to hear that Eren probably won't be able to turn into a titan for a few months... And that there'll be another 'brat' you'll have to look after!"
Levi's lids dropped back to his usual bedroom gaze and he pointed at his ear, briefly shaking his head.
"I see, you don't want to hear any more. Well I'm off to report to Erwin then. Enjoy your food!" Levi's companion patted his shoulder firmly and disappeared out the door as quickly as they came.
It was a serious issue, the Major knew that, but no doubt they had feared for their life in there while the unbearable tension kept on rising, forming a dangerous atmosphere. And they felt as if they had fled from a horrible place to be in.
"C-captain?" Eren asked, somewhat unsure, after a long moment of silence had passed.
"Eren," Levi hummed in his husky voice as he lifted himself out of his seat. "Come with me." And with that he walked off, Eren stumbling up to follow him. Mikasa stood, ready to protest, causing her chair to grind over the floor and creating an unpleasant screech, but fortunately Armin stopped her from launching herself after her brother.
“Wait, Mikasa!” Armin grabbed her arm while the two left the room. “Don’t you think they have some things to work out? I'm sure neither Captain Levi nor Eren would approve if you disturbed them now.”
“Do you realize what just happened, Armin?” Mikasa freed herself of his grip, spinning to glare at the little blond. “The Major asked him if he had anything to do with this, and he didn’t even deny it! I don't believe this, I have to find out for myself-!!”
“M-maybe it wasn’t him, you know? Or... there's been a mistake...” Armin stammered completely unconvinced of his own words, and still bewildered by the previous revelation. “Maybe it was Jean?” he blurted out the sheer nonsense in a panicked attempt to distract Mikasa.
“WHA-? Babe!” Jean called out to Armin in hurt, who shrugged apologetically.
Mikasa rolled her eyes helplessly, and surprisingly dropped back down in front of the leftovers of her soup, imitating Levi’s absent glare from earlier; at least their similarities made it seem that way. It didn't take long until she had lost her resolve, and fell forward to drop her face into her hands in defeat. This wasn't true, it had to be a misunderstanding. She'd failed to protect Eren obviously, and that she was trying to deny it now was plain pathetic if she was honest with herself, but she just couldn't get it into her head, desperately trying not to crumble beneath her slow, impacting realization. The others watched quietly as Mikasa tried to calm herself, beginning to shake as though she was ready to break something in half.
The only one who resumed eating was Sasha.
“…So is the squad having a baby?” Krista finally asked into the round of silence.
“Captain? Please wait! Where are we going?” Eren whined, staring at the man’s back, the shorter hair of his undercut, the firm shoulders shifting as he walked on.
Levi didn’t answer, and Eren began shakily wiping at his cheeks, even before he realized with dread that his eyes had started to spill tears of fear. Fear of his superior being angry with him, fear of having disappointed. What Hanji had said meant that he was pregnant, if Eren understood correctly. But him pregnant? Now?
Levi finally came to a brief halt in front of his door and stepped inside, Eren obediently following him to the center of the room. He nearly crashed into his Captain when the older suddenly turned, catching Eren in a careful embrace. A deep crease bent Levi's brows, and he looked Eren over in puzzlement to see if he might falter from shock or anything. Eren only stared back at him so goddamn frightened it gave Levi chills, and he slowly pulled the boy closer to wrap his arms around him safely.
“Damn, I’m sorry. This is all my fault," the Captain mumbled against Eren’s shoulder, squeezing him as if to see if he was still there, because the whole situation felt surreal and Levi didn’t want to believe it. He pulled away firmly to glance up at the stunned brunette.
“Eren…” Levi’s words got stuck in his throat when he noticed the gleaming of tears in those bright, sea green eyes. He was the absolute worst.
Instinctively he lifted a hand to gently wipe them away; he couldn’t really provide any better sort of comfort. He was at a hopeless loss on what to do. This was… Was there even a way to solve such a situation without harming the innocent?
Eren. That baby. They were innocent.
The Captain heard Eren's snivel, watching him bite his lip while he appeared to be getting lost in the man before him. They both remained helpless in place, unmoving, unknowing of what came next now, but the Captain was sure of one thing. He couldn’t bear to see his love like this. “Don’t cry, kid. It’s my fault, after all. You had as good as no part in it.” He cupped the boy’s face to steady him, and Eren shook his head right away, but he couldn’t speak to protest, not a single sound came out.
“Fuck,” Levi cursed with a strained intake of breath after aimlessly inspecting Eren’s expression once more. “I’m such a worthless fool! Why did I… How could this even happen? It's not like I didn't know...” He let off of Eren with grave hesitation, and ran a hand through his jet black hair nervously. He spun towards the windows almost as if to flee from this mess he'd caused. He had ruined Eren, found something so perfect and had screwed it over in a matter of days.
“Cap-tain…?” Eren finally managed between hitches, despite feeling sick to his stomach. Levi's choice in words hadn't been the best, and something about the way he was acting was making Eren feel even more uneasy. “Will I get to keep this baby?” The moment the words were out they shocked Eren himself into freezing up. How could it be the baby’s safety he was worrying about first and foremost? Could instincts really be that strong?
Levi appeared just as surprised, turning to face Eren with a speechless expression.
“Eren, we can’t-…” Levi cut himself off. Who was he to decide? He loathed people that abandoned their responsibilities, disregarded their duties, and he did not want to become such a person. He couldn't deny that he felt obliged to the little life that was growing inside Eren, his Eren, and something Levi himself had put there no less.
The man couldn’t hate anything his Eren was carrying inside him, and the longer he looked at the precious boy, the more he realized that Eren was starting to quake in horror. He looked lost in the silence Levi had left them in, and pressured by this little being that in this night had chosen to make its appearance. It caused a tight pain in the Captain's chest, he knew it wasn't Eren's place to be drowning himself in guilt.
“Fuck, Eren, look at me,” the older hissed.
Eren jolted at that, and he didn’t miss the fierce glow of silver returning into Levi’s eyes as the man's fists clenched and he gritted his jaws. Something came over him, something Levi would've called common sense. He nearly stormed the way back to the boy, immediately regretting that he'd strayed even an inch from him.
“I don’t know what’s going on right now, or what I should say or do, because - I’m not gonna lie - I’m not a ‘father’… But I swear,… I won’t let anybody hurt either of you, Eren. No harm will ever come to you. Not you, not this baby.” The wish to protect what he held dear formed words of its own, words Levi couldn't control, but he didn’t care as long as they were the right things to say. He wanted Eren to stop looking so afraid, so lonely, when it was his job and his wish to be by Eren’s side.
Eren covered his mouth probably in shock, sobs ripping through the darkness of the room as he was taken into strong arms again. “I love you- Mh… Le-vi,” his voice skipped several words due to how tremendously he was trembling, but Levi was there to still the shudders, supporting Eren with his entire being as he held him close.
He was going to be a father, and that sounded terribly wrong as he repeated it in his head. He didn’t know how, but he would have to make this work out. For Eren, the apparently only one in his life that had ever seemed to be of importance.