AN: I am a little behind on SNK right now, so I've tried my best to leave out too many spoilers for other people who are behind too. Enjoy!

Eren had grown overly comfortable with him in the past weeks, Levi noticed. The brash child who'd been terrified to make a sound in fear of retribution was now questioning his decisions, acting rambunctiously around him and – dare he say? – being insubordinate. This change was sudden, new, and altogether unpleasant. Gone were the days when he could walk down the hall without hearing the mocking laughs regarding his height. Now he was lucky the scouting legion followed him at all.

A sharp peal of laughter, easily identified as Hanji, made Levi cringe. The result was a large ink blob in the middle of his report and a slight twitch above his left eye he feared to never be rid of. In sharp contrast to his normal quick temper, Levi instead resumed his work, hoping to have all the papers written and turned into Erwin before the military police found out they were late.

He'd barely continued working when there was a knock on his door. He ignored it. Whoever it was, was hardly as important as preventing yet another altercation with those unicorn-clad imbeciles.

"Corporal?" The voice was accompanied by an obnoxious creaking sound, indicating an opening door. His eye twitched again.

"Not now, Jäger." The scratching of the pen never ceased.

"Sir, I was wondering if I could speak with you." It wasn't a question, and unless the shorter man was deceived, it sounded as if Eren had blatantly disobeyed his orders and walked into the room.

"You have 5 seconds to get out of this room, so help me god." His patience was waning.

"It's about our mission tomorrow. Sir you have me listed as being in the back and – "

But Eren's concerns were never voiced, because at that moment, Levi felt his composure – as well as his pen – snap.

"If I turn around and see so much as a hair of your presence in here, I will beat you within an inch of your life and deliver your cold, unconscious body to Hanji and let her perform whatever experiments she wants on you! Leave." There was a scrambling from behind him, and he knew without turning that Eren was gone. For reasons unknown to him, he turned to check. The damn kid had forgotten to close the door.

They were barely a day into their four day mission when Eren disobeyed him yet again. He'd given clear orders to the boy detailing how he was not, under any circumstances, to turn into his titan form. But did he listen? No. That thickheaded brat transformed anyway, and he and the rest of the legion were forced to clean up the mess he'd left in his stead while he charged off chasing the other titans through the damn forest.

Control was something Levi prided himself on, and it was that control his junior lacked. If it weren't for the other's…enthusiasm…about killing the titans, he was positive he would've killed Jäger by now. As it was, he could barely restrain himself when Mikasa drug him back from wherever he ended up running out of steam.

To his credit, Levi managed to wait until the idiot woke up before he started yelling and kicking.

"There is no point in having rules when you disobey them!" Shot to the ribs. "You could have killed your teammates!" Kick to the head. "You're lucky Springer and Braus were only injured!" Right in the groin. "The next time you pull a stunt like that I'm going to kill you!"

And on and on it went. At one point, Levi gave up on yelling at him, simply grabbing the other's hair and punching him repeatedly in the face. This only angered him more, as he watched Eren's titan blood heal his wounds almost as soon as they appeared.

But Eren stayed silent. He didn't complain, didn't cry, didn't even whimper the entire time, and soon enough Levi tired out. The rest of the scouts were gone, too used to this behavior to care much anymore, leaving Levi and Eren alone on the ground. The elder just sat there, refusing to look at or speak to Eren, but not quite wanting to move yet either.

"I'm sorry." The words were spoken so softly – almost whispered – were it anyone else, they wouldn't have caught them.

But Levi did. His eyes widened ever so slightly, but he made no response. Nor did he make any other sign he'd heard. It wasn't until Eren stood to leave that he responded.

"You can't disobey orders." His voice was barely louder than Eren's had been.

Eren stopped. "I wasn't going to let them just die."

He took a different tactic. "The other branches want you within their ranks. They'll take –"

"I know."

If Levi could've screamed at that moment, he would've. Instead, he dropped his voice. "If you know already, then why risk it?" He sneered. "Or perhaps it's that you wish to join those pigs behind the walls?"

"Of course not! Look, I already told you…"

But Levi didn't want to hear anymore. "Go. Find your friends or something."

And naturally, this time Eren obeyed without question. Not that he cared. He didn't care about anything the titan shifter did. Why should he? The boy was a useful tool, nothing more. He just needed to learn his place that was all…

Something was very, very wrong. Having been a soldier since before most of his men had been born – a fact he didn't need to be reminded of – he had better intuition when it came to things like this. He gave the order to approach slowly, then retreated to the back to better guard the boy.

"What's going on, sir?" Mikasa asked when he reached her.

"I don't know," was the response, his eyes never leaving their search of the forest.

What he didn't expect was for one of his own soldiers – the one he was guarding, nonetheless – to collapse off his horse onto the ground. "Ackerman!" He called. To his relief, she understood what he was implying and rode forward to take the lead.

Levi, in turn, dismounted. Eren was out cold. Resisting the urge to plant his foot between the other's ribs, he reached forward and felt his forehead. He jerked back almost immediately. The boy was burning up.

He racked his brains. What had Hanji said? Something about his body temperature being warmer because of the titan blood inside him. But then, there was no sign Jäger was about to turn either. So it must be something else.

She had mentioned something about the transformation causing his body extreme exhaustion if pushed too hard, hadn't she? He couldn't remember.

Damn that woman. Damn Erwin for letting her stay behind and conduct 'research'. Damn it all to hell.

"Jäger," he shook the boy's shoulder roughly. They were exposed here; titans could pop out at any moment. And the last thing he needed was some dead weight preventing him from getting his squad out of whatever bad situation they were in. "This is the worst," he sighed aloud.

Wrong thing to say.

An ear shattering roar tore through the trees. Two more followed it, and in seconds Mikasa reappeared at his side. "I can take care of this," his eyes honed in on the direction the sound came from. "Get everyone to the outpost as fast as possible."

"Eren?" She breathed, staring the same place he was.

"Won't be left behind." A 7 meter class titan appeared. "Go," he urged before activating his 3D gear and flying atop the nearest tree. He could handle this easily.

He launched his hooks into the trunk directly opposite him, then used the momentum from the gas to fling himself just past the back of the titan. Two flicks of his blades later, and the titan collapsed. Levi hardly had time to admire his handiwork, however, as there were several more 7 meter class titans approaching Eren's still body.

Using his maneuver gear again, he flew toward the other two titans, severing their spinal cords before they even noticed his existence. By then, there were even more titans, varying from 3 to 10 meters, all racing toward Eren. It was as if they were more attracted to his scent than Levi's. He even stood on the nose of a 10 meter titan, before stabbing it in the eye, and it hardly noticed him. It lazily swatted at its face, but not quick enough – or with enough intention – and Levi had already sliced through the back of its neck.

The sheer number of titans was seemingly endless. Levi may be the best of all mankind's soldiers, but even he was getting tired. After what seemed like hours of battle, he noticed a second, much larger problem than exhaustion; he was almost out of gas. He'd managed to make it last so long by jumping from titan to titan, taking advantage of their lack of attention, but now he had enough for maybe one more large attack.

It was right when he realized this that a 15 meter class titan appeared. Running through a mind-numbingly quick calculation, he blasted the last of his gas to launch himself directly onto the 15 meter titan's shoulder. He should've been able to tell something wasn't right the moment he moved; this one didn't have the same expression of disinterest the others had. As soon as Levi landed on its shoulder, the titan grabbed him around the waist.

Shit. Today was really not his day, was it? Couldn't catch a damn break.

The titan lifted mankind's strongest soldier – worth more than an entire brigade – before its face. The blades he'd been holding clattered uselessly to the forest floor below.

Titans really did resemble humans, he thought absently, watching this one's mouth grow larger. If titans had gender, he would call this one female; it – no, she – had a similar face shape to a human female. The only thing off about this one was its strange, too large smile. When he didn't immediately struggle, she squeezed her hand tighter. He heard a crack, and knew whatever gas was left in his maneuver gear was gone, along with the blades.

"Corporal!" Someone screamed from below.

Of course, the idiot would choose now to wake up.

"Corporal!" He shouted again.

If Levi could, he would've said something about redundancy not being an endearing trait. As it was, the 'female' titan holding him was continuing to increase her grip, and he could feel his ribs fracture. It wouldn't be long before his spine snapped too.

It didn't have time to. A roar, more guttural than the first he'd heard that day, sounded from behind him, and the next thing he knew he was falling. An enormous shadow fell over him as he hit the ground, and the last thought Levi had before slipping into unconsciousness was 'that rebellious idiot.'

A warm pressure wrapped around his hand. He couldn't move it. Oh god, he couldn't move anything.

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind, then Levi was forced back to the world of the living, the pressure on his hand abruptly disappearing. Someone was groaning. Oh. That was him. He shut up and opened his eyes.

Two large steaming bodies framed the background behind his disobedient junior's face. Not the best sight to wake up to. "Are you crying?"

Eren's eyes seemed swollen, and he had trails of clean skin amidst the dirt on his face. "No."

"But you were."

"No!" Jäger's face was more indignant than his voice, if that were possible.

He tried to shrug, the motion simply causing more pain than anything. He must've shown it too, because Eren suddenly looked more concerned.

"Sir, can you move?"

"Not easily. What time is it?"

"Getting close to sundown." That wasn't good. Sure, the titans slept at night, but there were wolves and all manner of other dangerous beasts mankind didn't often think about, roaming the woods. The safest and wisest move would be to get to the outpost as soon as possible. This was why the scouting legion made the outposts in the first place. They may only be mildly safe when it came to titan attacks, but he and Eren would be protected from everything else. If they could get inside.

Keeping all that in mind, Levi put forth a valiant effort to sit up. His muscles weren't quite doing what he told them to, and so he instead ended up spasming until Eren restrained him. It seemed even when he wanted them to stop moving, his muscles weren't obeying him. For the first time since seeing his entire squadron die before his eyes, Levi felt fear. But it wasn't death he feared.

He was completely at Eren's mercy. Eren. The boy he'd beaten within an inch of his life more than once. The same Eren he'd forbidden from using his titan form on this mission. The person who disobeyed all his orders. He was sure if, given the chance, Eren would leave him. And he said so.

"Well, what are you waiting for? This is your chance."

A confused expression graced the other's features. "My chance for what?"

"To be rid of me. I can't move. If you go now, you can make it to the outpost by dark. Tell them I fell to a titan. In all likelihood I'll be dead by morning. There won't be any retaliation."

Now the boy looked horrified. "Why would I leave you?"

Being unable to shrug was a serious issue.

"Levi…" He glared sharply at the boy. "Sir," Eren corrected. "I would never leave you out here."

And without anything further, he lifted Levi up like a sack of flour. "What are you doing?!" The shorter man raged.

"Didn't we have horses before?"

"They were well trained; they'll have already made it to the outpost by now." If he could thrash, he would. "And put me down!"

"Sir, you can't move your muscles very well. I remember the stories you told us about the wogs and being trapped out here alone in the dark. It doesn't really sound that fun." The boy started walking in the general direction they'd been headed earlier.

"Wolves, Jäger. Not wogs."

"Large dogs that begin with a w. Wogs."

"I am not arguing with you about this."

Darkness was upon them in almost no time. Luckily they had Levi's experience on their side, and he recalled seeing an abandoned farmhouse not far. Eren stumbled about, nearly dropping Levi twice – which he made a mental note about for later – before he finally found it.

The door was hanging from one hinge, but it was enough to keep the creatures at bay for one night. At least that's what Levi thought. Eren apparently didn't agree, because he promptly dropped Levi on the bed – causing the shorter man to cough and curse at the dust now flying around his face – and drug one of the chairs to the door. Well, at least the kid was being thorough.

The younger soldier returned to his side after that, looking hesitantly at the bed. Levi made no move to encourage him to sit; if the boy had balls he'd do it, otherwise he could fend for himself on the dusty floor. Not that the corporal cared either way.

Eren made up his mind and flopped down on the bed next to Eren. Another, larger, cloud of dust flew into the air, forcing them both into coughing fits. It was even worse for Levi, since he wasn't fully convinced his lungs were working properly.

"Sorry," Eren mumbled when the older man finally calmed his breathing back down. He decided not to respond. Silence fell between them. After a while, Levi decided he couldn't take hearing the kid fidget much more.

"So you 'rescued' me. What now? Going to blackmail me until I convince Erwin to promote you?" Which he would never do. Damn child couldn't even take care of himself, how was he supposed to take care of an entire squad?

Eren glared at him indignantly. Goodness, he certainly did that a lot. "I've looked up to you since I was a kid." Levi resisted the urge to remind him he was still a kid. "I always heard stories of the great Levi, how you were – are – worth more than an entire brigade. I wanted to be just like you, but more than that, I wanted to fight with you. I wanted you to acknowledge me."

The corporal cleared his throat, not knowing how to respond to such honest admiration. Sure, people were always singing his deeds to the wind, but they'd never truly wanted to fight with him. Everyone had always been content letting him fight mankind's battles alone.

Unaware of the other's inner thoughts, Eren plowed on. "And even though you tell me you hate me and kick me around, I still respect you. You're the best there is."

"I'm not that great." He spoke without thinking, and would've clapped a hand over his mouth, were he a fourteen year old girl. What did he mean he wasn't that great? He was a strong fighter and a good leader. In a world like this, those were the most important things.

But it was true, he wasn't that great. If he was, defeating that 15 meter titan wouldn't have been a problem. Instead he was reduced to lying on an old, dusty mattress, feeling like his entire body had been beaten mercilessly until his muscles were too bruised to move – which was pretty much what happened, actually.

"Levi." There it was again. His name, spoken so casually from a person who was supposed to fear him. He didn't even glare this time. "Look at me." No. He refused. "Please." Something in the tone of the other's voice made him look.

Eren's face was much too close. And it was getting closer. An instant before it happened, Levi knew.

The boy's lips were soft and warm on his own, reminding him of the last pair he'd kissed. It was soft, nothing more than a peck, but he could already feel little tingles of electricity shooting through his body. He hadn't felt this since…

But now Eren was pulling away, the warmth gone. Without meaning to, Levi growled. "No." His hand snapped out, grabbing the other's arm, and he pulled the younger back toward him, smashing their lips together with more force than strictly necessary. Not that Eren was complaining. Not that he could.

They were both kissing each other now, though each one was shallow, frantic. At some point Eren had moved on top of Levi, straddling him. Levi felt the other's knees against his thighs and hands cradling his face. But it still wasn't enough.

He swiped his tongue across the other's lower lip, hoping to get the message across. Instead, it ended up ruining everything. Eren broke apart from him, the heat disappearing from Levi's cheeks. He was staring down at the older man, barely containing the lust in his eyes. Yet there was something else in his expression; something Levi couldn't quite place.

"Sir."

He raised his eyebrows. "You chose now to return to rank?"

But the other ignored the question. "I can't just…I shouldn't…"

"Speak your mind or I swear to every ancient deity I will murder you once I regain feeling in all my limbs. Why did you stop?"

"I'm sorry sir. I just…"

"Stop apologizing. Either tell me, or accept your punishment later."

At that, Eren snapped his mouth shut. They glared at each other for almost a full minute before the idiot finally decided to speak again. "Yes sir. I'll let you sleep then." A creaking sound accompanied the younger man's exit.

Levi ignored the twinge in his stomach, instead opting to close his eyes. If the kid wanted to be so damn indecisive then it wasn't his problem. Assuming the problems he was having moving were muscular and not implying he'd broken his back, he'd be able to kick Jäger's ass again soon. He wiggled his toes experimentally. Good, so at least he wasn't paralyzed. He drifted to sleep, hoping he'd wake up and be able to move in the morning.

AN: Well that wasn't a one-shot like I'd planned. Is there any interest in me continuing it? I have no idea where it's going yet; right now I'm just along for the ride. I'm not gonna put a "number" on interest required for me to continue this, but if there isn't any (or what I think of as enough) then it may be updated rarely if at all. What counts as enough? Well, whatever encourages me to get off my ass and write. Fallout still takes priority though, sorry!

Reviews are wonderful and appreciated, especially if you catch the pun I intentionally put in this chapter. :)