A/N: In case you don't know, capture-bonding is another name for Stockholm syndrome – a strong emotional attachment of a victim towards their kidnapper. I was just thinking that in a world closed between the walls they probably wouldn't call it Stockholm syndrome, so I went with the other name...


Levi heishichou was a light sleeper. And he didn't appreciate being woken up by some panicky little brats running around.

"Eren! Eren! Eren, where are you!"

He rolled his eyes when he realized the shouting was getting louder; the brat in question was coming closer.

He cursed voicelessly and got out of his bed to shut her the fuck up. She can panic and run around to her heart's content but for god's sake let her do it silently!

He stalked to the door of his private room (where noone – well, almost noone – was allowed to enter and spread filth all over) and threw it open.

"EREN! PLEASE ASWER ME!"

He winced. Now he's just woken himself up even more. Without the filter of the door the shouting suddenly got so much louder...

"Ackerman, shut up; it's the fucking middle of the night."

Mikasa immediately went quiet, stopped with her running and turned around to face her superior.

"I apologize, sir," she stated with her normal cold tone full of dislike for the man, "but Eren isn't in his room. I was looking for him as I was afraid he may have gotten kidnapped."

Levi raised an eyebrow. "Why the hell were you looking for him at this hour...? Whatever. By all means look for him all you want but please do try not to wake the whole bloody building. I'm pretty sure he'll show up himself in the morning, so let's wait with alerting everyone until he doesn't show up. Now shut up and do what you want."

Mikasa wasn't amused by his careless attitude but knew better than to argue with a superior when she had no proof he wasn't right. It just made the meter for her hate for Levi go up considerably.

"Yes sir." She shot him a look full of venom and ran off.

Levi wasn't intimidated in the least and closed the door, satisfied.

His face was as composed as always, however he couldn't help the smirk when something stirred behind him, followed by a sleepy question, "Wha was dat? Did somethin' 'appen?"

Levi walked to his bed and climbed back next to the half-asleep (or maybe more like three-quarters-asleep) boy. "No, nothing. It just seems like this one little brat got kidnapped... And apparently this brat has a very bad case of capture-bonding."

The last sentence was added after Eren resumed the position he was in before Levi went to turn down the volume outside – snuggled close to the older man that was his direct superior.

"Hm, thass nice..." mumbled Eren in response.

Levi smirked. "You didn't register a word I said, did you?"

"Mm... Sanks, I love you, too."

"..." Levi wasn't sure if he should laugh because Eren was so funny right now, or smile fondly at the honest declaration. In the end he decided both were out of character, so he did neither.

As he was finally falling asleep again he heard hurried footsteps run past his door. Levi smirked once again. 'That's for waking me up... and for trying to sneak into the wrong room... and for being a clingy annoying little bitch. Have fun, Ackerman.'


When time for breakfast came, a tired Mikasa with dark circles under her eyes, caused by a night without a single second of sleep, came face to face with a practically sparkling Eren, who for once got to sleep in a comfortable bed for the whole night. Moreover, with his beloved heichou next to him.

Not to mention all that happened before actually going to sleep on the soft, warm bed...

The difference was all too obvious. If she wasn't so relieved Eren was alright, Mikasa'd be furious.

"Eren! Where were you tonight?! I was looking for you everywhere!" she asked as soon as she caught sight of her precious brother who walked in right after the bastard of a heichou.

Eren blushed madly in response, keeping his mouth shut. Mikasa was the absolutely last person he wanted to know. (Well, maybe Hanji would be even scarier in her own way, for a whole different reason, but that didn't really matter to him at that time.) …Little did he know that everyone but Mikasa, who was actually just half in denial, already knew. And Mikasa would soon fully realize, too (read: be taken pity on and told). The process would be accompanied by much screaming, death threats, and the whole of the ex-104th Trainees Squad to prevent the blood-bath and losing the two best soldiers they had.

Mikasa's eyes narrowed dangerously at his lack of words. Eren cowered and unconsciously moved a tiny bit closer to Levi. Luckily for him, Mikasa didn't seem to realize what that movement meant but Levi sure did. 'Capture-bonding,' he thought with an amused smirk.

Levi was the one who actually answered Mikasa in the end. "See, Ackerman? I told you the brat would show up on his own. You should really try to control that crazy brother-complex of yours a little."

A short staring contest between the two took place, but Mikasa ended it with a single realization. "You bastard, you knew where he was all along."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. I have absolutely no obligation to answer you. And don't go calling your superiors bastards, Ackerman. One day it might not end up pretty for you-" Levi paused to take in Mikasa's appearance and cringed in disgust. "I do expect you to do something about that before you contaminate the food."

He was highly disturbed by the fact that she dared to come into the building (let alone the dining room) while covered in mud like that, letting dust and dirt and god-knows-what-else fall of everywhere.

She must have looked for Eren even outside.

'...Did I go too far? ...Nah.' A hint of a sadistic smile was added to his disgusted expression creating a... very... interesting mix.

"Shut up, you creepy clean-freak; it's your fault anyway. Where was he?"

"Not that it's any of your business but he was fulfilling an order. Confidential one. And I told you to fucking respect your superiors, Ackerman."

"Well, when you can tell me that now, you could have very well told me last night, sir."

Meanwhile, Eren was confused. Very confused. 'Did I... miss something?'