"Hey, guys, is it just me or is something up with Eren?" Connie whispered to his friends as he warily watched the happenings at the other side of the table during breakfast a few days after Commander Dawk's surprise visit.

Krista shook her head slowly. "No, something is definitely wrong."

Just as she finished her sentence, the sound of a chair scraping against the floor echoed around their table as Eren shot up with a hand covering his mouth. He quickly ran out of the mess hall, Armin following soon behind him, after a quick hushed discussion with Mikasa.

In the few seconds of silence that followed, they could hear Jean's voice asking, "How long is this going to last?" to which Mikasa only shrugged helplessly.

The rest of the squad exchanged looks. "Do you think the food's gone bad?"

"If that was the case you'd be the first one to get sick," Ymir sneered at Sasha's worried question. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"And it wouldn't explain why Mikasa is so calm about it. He's been sick for days..." Connie added.

"Yeah, neither does it explain why he keeps missing morning practice but not any of the others," joined in Reiner.

"Guys, you don't think..." Krista paused thinking better of sharing her idea. It was absurd but if she happened to be right, there had to be a reason Eren didn't tell them yet.

"What?"

Krista shook her head. "No, it's nothing." She received a few skeptical looks but no one inquired further.

"I think the others are starting to notice something's going on," Eren mumbled while Hanji prodded and poked around his stomach.

"Hmm? Why do you think so?" Hanji asked distractedly, writing something down.

"I don't know, they keep staring at me and asking if I'm alright."

Hanji shrugged. "Well, it's natural; you've been throwing up a lot lately."

"Ugh, don't remind me. I brushed my teeth, like, six times since I woke up and it still feels disgusting."

Hanji patted the unhappy omega on the shoulder, pitying him silently. With every passing day she was more and more sure she didn't want a kid of her own. It just wasn't worth the trouble and pain and she was quite happy with her experiments, the subjects being like her children to her.

"But it's too suspicious. I know I can't do anything about how sick I feel but what if someone realizes what's going on?"

Hanji smiled soothingly as she heard the faintest hint of panic in Eren's voice. "Don't worry, I don't think anyone but your squad pays you enough attention or spends enough time with you to notice. It's going to be fine and the throwing up will stop soon enough."

"How soon is soon?" Eren questioned with blatant hope shining in his eyes and Hanji could only chuckle.

"Probably not as soon as you'd hope."

Eren visibly deflated at that but quickly returned his attention back to the actual problem when Hanji threw his shirt at him. "But what do we do if someone from the squad finds out but won't know not to say anything? Shouldn't we tell them before it's too late?"

Hanji smiled wryly at him. "Well, that's not for me to say. It should be a decision for you two to make but I don't recommend ignoring Erwin. Do you want me to talk to him about it?"

"You would?" It was obvious the boy didn't want to talk to the Commander himself.

The beta shrugged, gathering some documents along the way. "Sure. I have to go report to him now anyway so it's no problem." She smiled at the boy knowingly. "You wouldn't like having to keep secrets from your friends much longer, right? Especially once they directly ask you."

"It's not that I really mind keeping secrets," Eren paused and blushed a little, scratching at his head in embarrassment. "I know it's necessary but I'm aware I'm a terrible liar. I don't want to cause any more trouble."

Hanji blinked a few times before she burst out laughing and Eren stared at her in complete confusion for a second before she engulfed him in a hug which only baffled him more.

"Oh, Eren, you're so precious!" the beta squealed before she tightened her hold on the other and grew serious. "But seriously, stop thinking everything is your fault or that you have to do everything by yourself. You're going to break at this rate." Besides, it was them pushing everything on Eren so if anyone was to be feeling guilty, it was the society and mainly the top of the Survey Corps.

Eren frowned up at Hanji as the scientist smiled sadly at him, ruffling his hair, before she left him alone in the lab. Eren sat there quietly for a long time after the door was closed, staring into space and mulling over what Hanji had said. He didn't think he had to take responsibility for everything. Or did he?

Hanji knocked on the door to Erwin's office a few minutes later, interrupting what seemed like the beginning of the secret little meeting they had there. She knew she would be late. Why did Eren have to be so cute?

"Sorry, did I miss anything?" Hanji asked apologetically as she looked over who was there. Obviously Erwin but next to him stood Armin and in the chair opposite of them sat Mike... and Jean?

This was going to be interesting.

"No, it's okay, Hanji. We haven't even started yet," assured Erwin calmly and gestured to the only empty chair which Hanji took gratefully.

"First, Hanji, please, how's Eren's condition?" Erwin asked when everyone was settled.

Hanji pushed her glasses up as she looked down on the papers in her lap. "Everything seems okay. His morning sickness finally started so I think there aren't any problems with the pregnancy."

"And the experiments?" The blond alpha prompted.

"I have the reports here; I'll give them to you after. But so far it seems his shifting ability hasn't been affected. Only the regeneration ability seems to be changing. At first it was faint but now it's obvious it's being focused around the child. He regenerates much faster in the stomach area than any other. Subconsciously he tries to protect his child with any means he has."

Erwin hummed, "That's interesting."

Hanji beamed with excitement. "Isn't it? It is right?! I was so delighted when I realized!" She deflated slightly when she realized she was nearly shouting and this was a secret meeting. "But even the concentrated regeneration isn't as fast as his normal rate was. The pregnancy is taking a lot of energy from him as is, and with my experiments and his training on top of that, I'm worried it will be too much for him soon."

"So we either lay off the experiments or the training before it's too late."

"Exactly. I'd like to keep the experiments going as long as possible so I say to start reducing the amount of training he gets."

Erwin nodded in understanding. "Alright. I'll talk to Levi about it. Anything else?"

"Actually, Eren said his friends are starting to notice something's wrong. I think you should let him tell them before they figure it out and start rumors." The beta shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"Actually, that's why I called you here," Erwin said, giving all of the present a serious look. "I decided to let Levi's squad know about Eren's condition now but there are some... set-backs."

"Umm, may I... have a question...?" Jean asked, hesitation and uncertainty all but radiating off him, and all eyes turned at him.

Erwin cocked his head with a slight smile. "Go ahead."

"Why... why am I here? And not Eren or Captain Levi?" It was a wonder his voice didn't shake and Jean thanked the walls for that. He might have attended a few meetings with the Commander but never alone like this. Sure Armin was there, but he was on the other side of the desk and that honestly scared Jean even more.

"Erwin's expression didn't change. It was pretty obvious he expected Jean to ask sooner or later. "Because we need someone capable close to Eren to know about this and we deemed you to be the most fitting of the role. You might not be as skilled as Levi or Miss Ackerman, however, you have great judgment and you are currently not as emotionally clouded when things concern Eren as the two of them are. Their protective instincts prevent them from acting rationally. Armin didn't feel adequate enough by himself, so here you are."

Jean only nodded, still trying to process what the Commander said.

Hanji took hold of the silence with her own question, "Is this about the background checks you did?"

Erwin nodded in answer. "Yes. Armin suggested to look into the childhood records of two people from the current squad."

He paused and everyone kept silent, intently listening for what the Commander found out.

"Just to be sure, I looked into all the past members of the 104th Training Corps who have joined us and survived. Coincidently, all of them are now members of the Special Operation's squad. But I found exactly what Armin suspected, only more. There weren't any records about three people up until the fall of wall Maria five years ago."

Hanji sat up straighter at that information. "Any?"

Erwin nodded. "Absolutely none. Even Eren, Mikasa and Armin, who come from Shiganshina, have at least basic information from before that. But these three, all their information was taken down only in Trost when they evacuated."

"That's impossible. All citizens' records of birth and such are stored in Sina." Hanji shook her head in disbelief.

"Yes. Unless their files got erased by someone but I can't imagine why. Moreover, I know for a fact they would rather get falsified then destroyed completely. Or they aren't citizens and either they came to the surface from the underground, but then there is no explanation of why they materialized in Trost and not somewhere within wall Sina. Or they aren't citizens and only arrived within the walls on that day five years ago."

Complete silence settled over the room.

"Who are they?" Jean growled, forgetting all formalities in his rage when memories from the battle of Trost caused by the Colossal and Armored Titan flashed before his eyes.

"Erwin gave him a grave look before shaking his head. "I'm not finished, yet."

The three gaped at him while Armin only looked down sadly. "All three of you are well aware that Commander Dawk came here a few days ago."

They all nodded, not looking away from Erwin.

"Well, apparently within Levi's squad there is also someone with direct connections to the King."

Mike sniffed, voicing the shock that hit them all, "How?"

"That is the mystery. Obviously their records got falsified excellently because after Nile left, I looked at all the files much closer than before but I couldn't find anything."

"But... Why is someone like that here?"

Erwin sighed heavily. "Your guess is as good as mine. We don't even have any means to find out whether they are on our side or not. Are they a spy? Were they a servant who got fired but somehow holds sensitive information? Were they an illegitimate child whose existence was too shameful? Is it someone who is here because they genuinely believe in our cause and we have nothing to worry about?

"Well, we sat down with Armin as he knows much more about the soldiers than I do, and thought about each of them individually. We ruled out Eren for obvious reasons and then Mikasa and Armin as well. Mikasa because it's unlikely they would bring her up during Eren's trial if they wanted to keep the attention off of her, and Armin because his parents were both members of the Survey Corps."

"And me?" Jean asked in a small voice like he was scared of the answer.

Erwin gave him a piercing look that didn't settle the young alpha's worries in the least. "We didn't actually rule you out. But both Armin and Eren swore you're trustworthy."

Jean looked up at Armin who smiled at him shyly and Jean felt this weird wave of thankfulness wash over him. He smiled back.

"So we won't give you any names. I want you to treat everyone in Levi's squad as suspicious but if possible don't let them know you suspect them. Wait for their move and protect Eren at all cost."

"Erwin," Mike spoke pretty much for the first time since the meeting started and Erwin nodded for him to continue. "Why do you think we should now be more cautious than before? Wasn't Eren in the same amount of danger? Why even call for this meeting?"

"Actually," surprisingly it was Armin who answered. All eyes turned on him and he blushed violently, looking like he wanted to apologize for interrupting, but the Commander smiled encouragingly. So Armin took a deep breath and continued. "Actually, if they are ever planning on kidnapping him like Annie tried, this is actually the perfect opportunity for them as it's likely that Eren won't put up much of a fight. He is an omega and will do what he can to protect his child. Just as Squad Leader Hanji said, the squad is starting to notice something is going on. Once we tell them what it is, they are going to pay Eren even more attention and it will only be a matter of time until they notice that Eren isn't fully transforming. Sure, it's no guarantee that he can't but he is reluctant to do so and the reluctance will only grow the further into pregnancy he gets."

"That makes sense," Hanji hummed in agreement. "So we really do need to keep closer watch over Eren until his pregnancy is over."

"Not exactly," Erwin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "Yes, we will keep close watch over Eren but only so no one will notice, to make them think we trust them, that they can kidnap Eren."

"You want to use Eren as bait to catch them," Mike summarized in monotone and Erwin nodded.

Hanji clicked her tongue in disapproval but said nothing, knowing that Erwin probably came to this conclusion after weighing all possibilities and there was no use arguing.

But Jean didn't have years of trust to build on. His jaw dropped open and he turned accusingly at Armin, who avoided his glare. "Armin, you agreed to this?"

"Yes."

"You can't be serious!" Jean wanted to argue more, but Hanji's hand on his shoulder brought his attention to the Squad Leader and he turned furiously to her. But when his eyes were met with her troubled ones, her bottom lip in between her teeth, and shaking her head, the young alpha visibly deflated.

He slumped in his chair, only fuming silently. He didn't even understand why he was so angry about this. It was not like he liked Eren. They were barely even friends, most of the time only tolerating each other. Was it the unfairness of the situation, always pushing all the risks and responsibility on Eren? Or was it just his instinct as an alpha concerned about a pregnant omega? Maybe it was a mix of both.

And suddenly, Jean understood. So this was why the Captain and Mikasa weren't there. Not because they might have murdered the whole squad just to be safe, but because they might have murdered Erwin, and Armin right along with him, for this suggestion. Or more like an order.

"Jean," the Commander said, authority dripping from his voice while his expression stayed disturbingly calm. "If we catch them before they get to Eren then what is there to worry about?"

Jean had several retorts on the tip of his tongue about how well that idea went with Annie, but held himself back. Partially thanks to the tightening of Hanji's hand still on his shoulder and partially because he felt this was a battle he couldn't win. The Commander was right. It was their best shot to catch those bastards, even if it meant risking Eren's safety. Hell, Eren would probably be delighted to be of so much use even while being out of commission.

Jean understood how important and good plan this was.

But that didn't mean he had to like it.

It took him a few minutes before he managed to force out a "Yes sir" through painfully gritted teeth.

The young alpha felt Hanji squeeze his shoulder one last time before the comfort of her hand left him.

Eren was already almost asleep in his nest of stolen blankets in Levi's bed when he felt the bed dip as his mate finally joined him. The omega hummed in approval when he felt the Captain's strong arms snake around his middle to pull him closer.

"Sorry I took so long," the alpha whispered when he settled behind Eren.

"'S okay. You have to work," Eren slurred sleepily, grabbing the other's hand with his own. The hand that wasn't rubbing small circles across his still-flat stomach.

"But I have good news."

"Really?" Eren turned his head around to blink at his mate questioningly.

Levi couldn't help but kiss him when he looked at him like that. Eren smiled into the kiss before he pulled back and turned around to face his alpha fully.

Levi hugged him close, burying his nose in the brown mess of hair. "Really. We can finally tell the squad tomorrow."

Eren perked up, almost breaking Levi's nose with how his head shot up. "Really?" he beamed, full of hope.

"Yes really," Levi confirmed with a fake eye-roll. "Now go to sleep, you're tired."

"Well, now I'm not. You woke me up."

"Oh, so it's my fault?" Levi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. I bet you did it on purpose so your insomniac ass didn't have to be so bored being up all night by itself."

"Brat. I did not."

"Did too." Eren resisted the urge to stick out his tongue. "But seriously, if one of us is tired it should be you. How much have you slept in the past week?"

"I'm fine, Eren, I'm not the pregnant one. And I'm used to it. Go the hell to sleep."

"You first."

"You're such a brat," Levi grumbled, shoving Eren's face to his chest to hide his smile.

A/N: Hope it was okay? And did you notice yet that I can't go a chapter without artificially sneaking an ereri moment if one doesn't fit in normally?

Did anyone miss me last week? :D If so, I'm sorry about missing an update but midterms took up all my attention ^^;; (Not that I actually studied in the time I didn't spend writing as I am a pathological procrestinator, but I honestly couldn't focus on anything. OTL )