Chapter 10: Friday

"Choices from the older, reflect the youngest needs."

"Someone please tell me Marco's here," Levi growled, exiting his office. He hoped something was working efficiently after the last few days' catastrophe. He was dressed in a charcoal grey cardigan with a long sleeve maroon button down beneath. A white cravat was controlled with the usual crest pin. Black slacks and dress shoes completed the look.

He'd gotten ahold of Carla yesterday. He learned that she had known. Every time the boy and his sweet little ones had visited, she asked how things were; if they were okay. Accordingly, Eren smiled sweetly like he always had in the past and told her that things were fine. However, Carla knew better, as the tips of her grown son's ears were aflame, and the truth danced in his eyes. Many times though, she found it, and in finding it, was implored not to say anything.

"I just want him to be happy Levi, I really do." Carla was in tears and Levi could tell she was holding back sobs that wanted to tear through her. Between that and the hiccups, Levi barely caught what she whispered before hanging up.

"He was happy with you Levi. He really was."

The whole conversation had ignited sleep-denying questions. By the time Levi passed out, the alarm had shrieked, causing Levi to send it crashing into a wall. The cold bed didn't help, as Levi groaned and made ready to go to work. The questions continued to plague him as well, since there would be no answers until Eren was ready. If he ever was.

"Yup! He's here Levi!" was Hanji's shrill reply, breaking Levi out of the never ending questions. "And before you tell me to quest, yes Petra, Nanaba, and the attending kids have been measured." They grinned.

Levi hmph'ed, crossing his arms before him. "And Eren and the kids?"

Their face faltered, as a frown settled in. "They're not here yet."

"Shouldn't they be here by now?" Levi quirked an eyebrow. "He better not be late."

"He normally calls when he's going to be late, Levi. No call from him yet," Erwin answered, appearing from his office, a small tablet in hand. He joined Hanji, handing the device over. Hanji immediately began tapping away at the thing.

"Is his car here?" Levi asked, moving towards the elevator.

"That's what I'm checking, you Grumpy Gus," Hanji joked.

"Oh? I'm a Grumpy Gus now too?" He shot a glare their way. "Tch, you would be too after two hours of sleep and the conversation I had with Carla yesterday." Levi called for the elevator before turning back to the duo following him. "Is his car here?"

However, Hanji was showing something to Erwin on the tablet. Both of their faces were scrunched up with concern. Something didn't settle with Levi and he swallowed hard.

Erwin took the device and headed to Levi, knowing Hanji couldn't not cower under the short man's glare.

"His car's not here. On the other hand, there's an unregistered car we all know."

Dread dropped into Levi's stomach. He took the offered tablet, skimming over the image on its surface. Levi's eyes narrowed as he spotted the red Lincoln Town parked haphazardly near the rear of the building. Levi stepped into the elevator when it arrived, Erwin and Hanji following behind. In the meantime, Levi's eyes never strayed from the screen. The driver's side door opened and Eren lurched out, attempting to keep himself upright.

That's when Levi saw it. Behind him, Erwin inhaled sharply.

iYeah okay, I'm not the only one seeing that,i Levi thought, as he shakily handed the device back to Hanji.

"Call Moblit and get him over here. Get Mike down to us asap. Erwin with me, now."

The door slid open and they were on their way. The older blonde and raven sprinted past the lobby, headed towards the receiving bay doors. Erwin stopped long enough to grab a security duo and instructed them to block off the rear exit to everyone but Mike. They nodded and Erwin took off to catch up with Levi. He was waiting for him at the door.

The two of them exited the doors carefully, not wanting to alarm the already panicking burnet. As they walked closer, Levi saw that Eren had managed to get Mikasa out of the car. She was in the process of getting Armin out, when her twin pointed and cried out as the two older adults approached. Mikasa turned and saw Levi and Erwin fully, before she gave up freeing her brother and tore off running at Levi. She was fully crying and sobbing by the time he picked her up easily from the ground. Levi rubbed her back, hushing her lightly.

Levi glanced at Eren, catching the remains of a smile, before it morphed into a grimace, a hiss accompanying it. He's resting on the ground, leaning back against a tire. Grey eyes discerned that Eren was trying to keep the weight off his ribs. His shoulder didn't look well off either. That wasn't including his head, which was matted with blood in one area.

At the sound of his dad's pain, Armin began thrashing at the belts keeping him in his car seat. Erwin crossed the remaining few feet and efficiently pulled the struggling little boy out of the vehicle. Mikasa was beginning to calm down when Levi sat down off to the side of Eren with the little girl still clinging to him. Levi looked him over once more and didn't find anything else; for now anyway.

Eren opened his mouth to say something.

"Don't," Levi half whispered. "Your breathing is too erratic, talking will just make it worse." Levi took a deep breath before continuing. "You're keeping weight off your ribs and your shoulder's probably dislocated. You've probably have ribs pushing into your lungs, which is causing it to be hard to breathe. As for your head, we'll find out soon enough," he said levelly, watching as Mike approached with a wheelchair.

"These circumstances aren't ideal, but we'll talk about that later, Eren," Erwin said, as he knelt, releasing Armin. He scurried over to Mikasa, taking her offered hand. "We have our personal physician on the way." He caught Eren's head nod slightly.

Levi looked into Eren's painfully tired eyes for a moment before looking at the kids. Armin had been pulled up into his lap as well, and both were blinking owlishly up at him. They were drained from whatever had just happened, and were falling asleep by the second.

Erwin and Mike managed to situate Eren in the wheelchair, as Levi slowly stood up with the now asleep kids. After doing so, Erwin took Armin from Levi, careful not to wake the boy. Fairly quick, they made their way to the third floor where the small clinic room was. Mostly it was used for when accidents on stage happened, but it came in handy now.

By the time they got Eren situated on one of the beds and the kids on another, Moblit and Hanji were there. When Moblit glanced at Eren, he frowned before setting to work. This was going to take a while.