Ch 4 Sleepless

Levi climbed the staircase to the highest floor. There was a lone room labeled "Wall Maria" at the very end of the hall. Erwin sat in his office with the lights turned out.

"You've made it," he said. "It's a good thing you did. The Jaegar family has always produced powerful sacrifices. It would be a shame if he fell into the wrong hands."

Levi shook his head. "Brat doesn't even know his name. How good of a sacrifice is that?"

Erwin turned around to face Levi.

"When I found you, you didn't have a name either, and look at you now." He sighed. "If I wasn't a fighter like you, I'd have gladly given you my name."

Levi saw the name scrawled across the back of his hand. "Endless" it read. It was faded, more like a scar, but it was still there. It had been a long time since he had fought. His sacrifice had long since gone off to live his own life. Only a special kind of person stayed on past youth. Pairs that stayed together well into their upper twenties like Hanji and Petra were rare, or rather, if they stayed together, they stopped fighting for the organizations and usually raised families instead.

"You're here much later than I anticipated." Erwin's voice was full of concern. "What happened?"

"We were ambushed," Levi spat. "The enemy had to have been tracking my movements from our side. She followed me and set my fucking horse free. She knew she had no chance of engaging us if we were on horseback, so she set up a trap in the forest."

Erwin furrowed his brow. "What makes you so sure she was tracking you from our side?"

Levi lowered his head. "Intuition. She was about the same age as the kid, and I don't know what horny teenage boy needs to be convinced to go off all alone with an attractive friendly girl. She could have easily picked him up elsewhere with less mess, but she used me as the trace to find him, risking battle in the process."

Erwin nodded. "I agree with your analysis." He folded his hands together. "This is troubling. Somehow information was leaked from our end to the enemy."

"This time was a single fighter; she didn't even have a damn sacrifice. She went by the name Heartless. Have you heard of her?" Levi asked. The memories of how she talked down to him made his skin crawl.

"No, we've never encountered the Heartless fighter." Erwin sighed. "But Dauntless has reported getting into a battle with the Ruthless pair today as well. I'm not sure if Heartless and Ruthless are working together, but I'm sure that we'll know soon enough."

"Them again?" Levi's eyes went wide. "Fucking hell. Are they okay?"

Erwin shook his head. "The fighter is in a workable state of health, but her sacrifice, he was wounded badly before she could get him to safety. I'm dispatching Peerless to their location tomorrow morning."

"Shouldn't we bring them here?" Levi asked.

"No, it's best if the younger fighters and sacrifices don't know what's going on out there," said Erwin. "They need to learn and do their best."

"Understood." Levi frowned. "There was one other thing I have to report. After I hit the enemy with a full damage spell, instead of surrendering she conjured a…titan."

"You mean—"

Levi shrugged. "Yeah. She pulled a fifteen meter tall skinless woman completely out of thin air. If I hadn't executed a banishment spell right then…well it looked like it was gonna eat me."

Erwin looked pale. "That's similar to what was described by Dauntless. That's why the sacrifice…he was bitten."

"Fuck." Levi rubbed his forehead. "It seems like we're gonna need something besides just spells."

"I plan on speaking with Dot Pixis and Dallis Zacklay tomorrow to see what needs to be done. It seems the situation is even worse that I thought," said Erwin sharply. "In the meantime, try and get some rest."

Levi turned to head out the door.

"Oh, and Levi?"

"Yes?"

"Excellent job."

Levi shut the door behind him, leaving Erwin in the dark.

xXx

"Son of a bitch…" Annie cursed.

The roof of the house was coming into view and her titan was hurtling towards it. She tried to dissolve its form but it busted through the wooden roof with its head before finally disappearing. The swirling air carried her through the hole that the titan had made and left her sprawled unceremoniously on the floor.

"Damn it!" She hit the ground with her fist.

"It's okay, Annie. We didn't need that roof anyway." A blond youth with the name Ruthless spelled down his arm started cracking up.

"Shut your face, Reiner! I don't see any members of Dauntless here tied up." She bit back. "They handed you your ass didn't they. Where's Bertyl? Is he bleeding to death in a corner somewhere since you can't cover your own ass?"

Bertholdt walked down the steps from his resting place in the loft. Unlike Annie, neither he nor Reiner had ears or a tail. "I'm fine. We almost had them, but they pulled an escape. That fighter has a fast tongue."

Reiner shrugged. "My titan bit their sacrifice after it rammed him hard. I thought for sure that it was a done deal."

"Great. So you've made the fighter that you've been playing cat-and-mouse with even angrier. It's only a matter of time before she finds this place and guts you in your sleep," said Annie.

"Pffft. It seems like your run in with Infinity didn't go so well either. He used that lightning spell on you didn't he? He really likes that one. Your hair is all funny," Reiner teased.

"Tell me about it," said Bertholdt. "He's not gentle if your shields are down. Oh and he's got this one spell that makes it feel like you're being waterboarded. He's got a sick mind. His words are pretty, but he himself? He's a thug!"

"I provoked him enough that he called battle first, so I figured that was fine since he couldn't back out." Annie paced back and forth in front of Reiner and Bertholdt. "But when I pulled out my titan, he threw a ridiculously powerful banishing spell on us, enough to lift the titan! How was I supposed to know he could do that?"

Reiner and Bertholdt started laughing. "Well, duh. He's Infinity."

Bertholdt gently touched Annie's shoulder. "I'm inclined to agree with you that we need to move. We can call boss tonight and tell him that Dauntless is sniffing around too close."

"Thanks Bertyl. It's nice to know that only one of you is hardheaded."

Bertholdt blushed.

"This coming from a woman without a heart. How sweet." Reiner crooned. "And anyway, who said you could use your titan! We're supposed to be keeping that under wraps."

"Yeah, since you followed that rule." Annie crossed her arms over her chest. "I bet it was the same deal for both of us. We thought we could use it and win."

"I wonder what boss wants us to do now…" Bertholdt mused. "You know the organization knows about the titans now."

"Yeah, we'll probably have to lay low for a little while," said Reiner. "Then we'll come out in force."

"Oh boy, oh boy," said Annie. "Trapped in a house with you two for a couple months…"

She fell into a fit of giggles as Reiner and Bertholdt came on either side of her and tickled her ribs. For as much as Annie hated contact with other people, these two almost made her want to care. Almost.

xXx

Levi was dead on his feet. The clock had struck midnight over an hour ago, and only now had he gotten around to raiding the larder for something to eat. In fact, standing up, he kind of swayed back and forth since he was so tired.

He made it down the hallway to where the bedrooms were. No lights were on underneath the doors; everybody was asleep. Even Hanji and Petra were sleeping, which he was thankful for, because the walls were thin and Hanji was loud and he now knew way more about either of them than he had ever wanted to know. He was starting to suspect that Petra's ears were fake.

Levi got to his door and pushed it open with his knee. He didn't even bother to turn on the lights when he closed the door; he was already pretty used to the dark from Erwin's office. He was so tired that he uncharacteristically let his clothing lay where it fell, his cloak tossed behind him, his shirt over a chair, his pants on the floor. He traced over the infinity symbol that lay over his heart, feeling its familiar curves and then stretched.

Levi slid into the bed and relaxed. There was nothing better at the end of a hard day. He rolled over and hugged the warm body that lay up against the wall. He cradled it with one arm and burrowed his face into its neck. The smell of the skin was slightly sweet.

Warm body… Slightly sweet…

Wait a minute.

Levi immediately rolled over and turned on his bedside lamp. In his bed was Eren!

Oh, no. No way.

Levi shook the boy, which just made him shift into a different position. He watched his chest rise and fall, a pure, peaceful look plastered on his sleeping face.

Damn it!

He shook him harder. "Hey. Hey you."

Eventually Eren woke. Levi was taken aback by the bright green eyes that opened sleepily.

"Levi," he said dreamily. He touched Levi's chest. Levi shivered. "So that's where your mark is. If I become an Infinity, will mine be in the same place?"

Become an Infinity? What on earth had Hanji been feeding him? He must have a name with someone waiting for him. He was a sacrifice after all. He could even get a blank fighter and put his name on it.

Eren was now starting to become a bit more lucid. He blinked at Levi. "I'm in your bed, aren't I?" He said with some confusion on his face. "Oh god. I was just…"

Levi glared at him. "What the hell are you doing in my bed, brat?"

Eren sat up. "You see Hanji and Petra told me to stay the night in here. I was waiting for them to fall asleep so that I could leave and use my sister's room."

"So you took off your fucking clothes and got in my goddamn bed?"

The look Eren gave him was tooth rottingly innocent. "It looked really comfortable, sir."

Levi hid his head in his hands.

"Hanji and Petra, huh? None of this was your idea?"

"Well, I did want to keep our connection."

Levi shook his head. "There's more to building a connection than just making out. I had to join with you out of necessity today. Besides, it was a onetime thing. I was just doing my job."

Eren blushed. "Well, even still, I'd like to stay connected. I was hoping to just maybe sleep next to you…like how Mikasa slept next to me when I was little. Or if that's too sudden, I can make a bed on the floor."

Now Levi was stumped. Eren was a teenager, but he wasn't so horny that he was trying to jump his bones after making out with him today. He said that he had planned on leaving to stay in his sister's room, but was now offering to make himself a nest on the floor just to be in his presence. And Hanji and Petra were mixed up in this, the damn harpies…oh this was a mess.

Eren continued, "Hanji said that she's going to tell Erwin to put me in the Infinity program since I don't have a name."

"But—"

Eren shook his head. "Trust me, Hanji did a strip search."

"I see."

There it was again. The Infinity program. Of all things, why Infinity?

Levi cleared his throat. "And what makes you think that the top brass will accept a brat like you as my partner? They're more likely to bond you to some other fighter. And even if you do get bonded to me, you'll be switched around into other pairs anyway. The name Infinity isn't special."

"I don't know," said Eren. "I don't know what's going on with me, with you, with this place, with fighters and sacrifices and all this other shit. But I do know I have to be stronger, and fight."

"Hmmm." Levi reached out and touched Eren's cheek. He traced up through his hair and over his cat ears again. Eren closed his eyes and gasped.

"Do you really want this, or are you just looking for an easy excuse to lose your ears?" Levi said accusingly. "You have no idea what I am."

Eren slapped back his hand.

"You're right, I don't know what you are. Everybody here knows a hell of a lot about you, but nobody will say anything to me. They say I have to get it from you yourself," Eren stared back at him. "So give me something!"

"And if you don't like it?"

"It doesn't matter. It's you."

"It doesn't matter. It's you," Levi repeated mockingly. "Don't give me that pansy ass bullshit."

Levi glared at him flatly. "My last sacrifice ended up dead because of me. Are you okay with that? Don't you just want to sign right up into the Infinity program?"

Silence filled the room. "I'm sorry," said Eren softly. "I had no idea."

"I let our shields drop without refreshing them and she got hit with a ton of restraints. When I asked her, she told me she was fine, but she wasn't. She suffocated to death while I just kept on spouting out stupid magic words to the enemy, attacking rather than defending or freeing some of her bonds."

"That was 7 years ago." Levi leaned back against the wall. "Why the fuck am I telling you this!?"

"It's not your fault." Eren said.

"Sure it is. I didn't maintain my damn connection with her as strongly as I should have, and in the end, that was it." Levi said without any emotion. "I couldn't feel her pain. It's not like we were born under the same name anyway. Not like the other pairs."

He continued. "Bonds are easy to form but hard to hold. It's one of the defects in the Infinity name. It was fixed in theory when Speechless was overwritten; their underlying bond wasn't destroyed in the process. But good for them, it doesn't fix me."

"Levi…"

"In the end I'm just a blank fighter with a broken name and it sounds like you're a fucking unicorn. Now, did any of that make it through your thick skull?"

"Yeah, everything makes sense."

"Good." Levi sighed with relief.

"Now I understand why Hanji and Petra threw me in here tonight." A small smile crossed Eren's lips.

"No, that's not what I meant!" Levi barked.

"Keep a connection with me. I may not know anything right now, but that will change." Eren's eyes burned with fire. "I'll train as an Infinity. I'll eat with you. I'll sleep with you. I'll share my heart, my body, my mind, and my soul. I'll become as strong as possible, and one day I'll be your equal."

Levi's heart caught in his chest. He had doubts of whether Eren could be his match, but the look in his eyes right now made him want to do nothing but sit by his side. And in his words was the commanding strength found behind the voice of any true sacrifice… He looked away.

"If this doesn't work out, it's your fault. I gave you the warnings and you were too stupid to care," Levi muttered. This wasn't happening, was it?

"So I can stay?" Eren's ears perked up.

"I don't even know why the hell you'd want this. Your life is probably so fucked up right now that you're just grabbing on to the first person you can find. And plus, I'm older than you…by a lot." Levi looked at him sideways.

"Who cares? If we work, then we work," said Eren adamantly.

"Fine." Levi said. "Stay here."

Eren grinned. Levi eyed him suspiciously, not really believing what he was doing or what was happening.

He smacked Eren lightly across the chest. "Don't be so cheeky about it. Now lay on your side."

Levi turned off the light and slid in behind Eren. He ran a hand over his chest, tracing his collarbones.

"So then we're not going to sleep?" Asked Eren.

"You're an idiot," hissed Levi.

Levi continued running his hand down Eren's chest and kissed the back of his neck. He kissed all along the back, all along the side before sucking on an earlobe. Eren continued to make quiet guttural noises as Levi played with his hair. He kissed the underside of Eren's jaw.

"Are you going to take my ears?" Eren asked breathlessly.

"Tch!" Levi pulled back. "You're still in fucking high school! And I'm not kidding when I say that I'm a lot older than you."

"There are plenty of people in my school that have no ears, some younger than me. And, I'm legal, so what does age matter once I reach 18?" Eren lashed his tail over Levi's thigh.

Levi sighed. "Brat, I just met you today and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that it was your first time when I kissed you in the woods."

Eren was glad that the lights were off and nobody could see his beet red face. "Was I really that bad?"

"You weren't bad. It was just clear you had no fucking clue what you were doing." Levi laughed. "It was sweet how hard you tried in the end."

"Oh." Eren frowned. "Because that makes me feel better."

Levi curved back into him. "Some pairs are born as siblings or cousins. Some pairs are born as good friends. As an Infinity, I only understand how to bond this way."

Eren reached up and grabbed the hand that was pressed against his chest.

"It doesn't bother me, if that's what you're nervous about. My sister has her own name, and I've never been any good at making friends." Eren paused. "We don't have to be anything; we can just be fighter and sacrifice."

Just be fighter and sacrifice… Levi rested his head against Eren's shoulder. Why did this kid always know what to say?

"Hey, Levi," called Eren.

"What do you want now?" Levi sighed.

"Can I touch you?"

Levi froze. "Uh…sure."

Eren rolled over so he was now facing Levi.

"Lay flat. Close your eyes," Eren whispered.

Levi was apprehensive, but he complied. He could tell Eren was nervous; his touch was cold as he drew the infinity symbol on his chest with his index finger. Eren ran his fingertips up along the side of his neck, and rested his palm on his cheek. Gently, he brushed a thumb over Levi's lips. He traced over an eyebrow and furrowed his fingers deep into Levi's hair, stroking through it. The hand moved back to his chest again, sliding down his sternum. It went lower over the curves of his abs, tracing across the cut of his hipbone. He reached under Levi at the small of his back then slid up his ribcage. Finally he slipped his hand down the underside of Levi's arm, intertwining their fingers when he reached Levi's hand.

Everywhere that Eren touched was burning. Levi took deep breaths; he knew how to handle this. Eren was exploring someone for the first time. But what shocked Levi more was the fact that he was being the first man that someone had ever touched intimately. This jaded, bitter man would be someone's first love, no matter how hard he had tried to warn him off.

"Levi," said Eren. "Where do you want to be kissed?"

Again, Levi was at a loss for words. Eren was asking the most innocent questions and it just made him feel like a dirty, dirty pervert.

"Damn it, Eren."

Eren immediately withdrew his hands. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, get back here. That was a 'good' damn it." He pulled Eren over on him. "Now kiss me everywhere you just touched."

He felt Eren shift his weight so that he was on all fours over him. He smiled at the tentative lips that kissed at his collarbone. The light trail leading up his neck made Levi groan softly. Now it was three soft kisses, his browbone, his cheekbone, and finally he settled at his lips. Levi reached back with his own mouth and caught Eren's lower lip. He sucked on it and let it go with a slight pop. He smiled at the startled little noise Eren made.

He had forgotten this part; Levi felt the lips return to his chest and they went down, down, down.

"Don't go any further or—"

"I know," said Eren. He laughed. "You only met me tonight," he said in a mocking tone. "And you're way, way older than me." He kissed the hipbone that jutted out from the muscular body.

"Watch it, brat."

Eren kissed his waist and he went up the side of his ribs. He moved on to the inside of his bicep, the underside of his forearm. Finally, he kissed the palm of Levi's hand so gently that he barely felt it touch.

Levi opened his eyes.

"Did that feel good for you?" Eren asked, wide-eyed. "Everything you do to me feels good…so yeah."

Levi held Eren's face in his hands. "You're playing with fire." He pulled Eren in and kissed him deeply, languishing in his taste.

He let go and fluffed up his pillow. "I don't even want to know what time it is, but we should be sleeping, not doing…whatever the fuck this is! It's probably past two by now."

"So, can you come to bed earlier tomorrow?" asked Eren as he settled down into his side of the bed.

"Maybe," said Levi. "Depends on what shit they have me doing."

Levi settled in behind Eren, his forehead in the crook of his neck. Within minutes Eren was back to sleep, but Levi lay there awake.

A new sacrifice, one made just for him… Only now did it sink into Levi how terrified he was.