Disclaimer: I own none of these characters

"Eren! Eren! Come inside already!"

Eren ignored the voice and sprawled out on the grass with a lazy yawn. The grass was soft and the evening sun was warm on his face. It was relaxing and comforting. It felt familiar.

Well of course it should feel familiar. It was home.

He curled his fingers around a blade of grass and closed his eyes.

"Eren!"

The sun was shaded from his face as someone stepped over him. He still didn't open his eyes but he curled up tight, rolling over. He could smell the dirt and the grass and feel it cool on his face.

"Dammit, Eren, don't ignore me!"

There was a tug on his ear and he sat up straight. His mother stood over him, her hands on her hips and a spoon in her hand.

"I called you almost five times. If you don't get inside, your food is going to be all cold and I'm not warming it up for you."

She shook the spoon at him and pointed back to the house as she spoke. Eren watched her closely with a hazy expression in his eyes. He rubbed the dirt off his face and nodded, holding his hand out.

"Sorry mama…"

A faint smile spread over his mother's face and she scooped him up into her arms. Eren wrapped his little hands around her shoulders, leaning his head against hers.

"You're almost getting to be too heavy for me to carry you," she laughed, patting him on the head as she walked. "You're growing up to be a big boy."

" 'm already a big boy."

"Oh, yes. I'm sorry," she said. "My big handsome boy."

Eren nodded and yawned.

"There's someone here to see you, Eren."

"Mikasa? Or Armin?"

His mother shook her head and walked into the house. She sat him down and went back into the kitchen. Eren looked around at the dark haired man, sitting calmly at the table. Eren took a step back and shook his head.

"Ma…"

"Eren, come give your papa a hug," the man said, "we're going to go away."

Away…

Eren squeaked and shook his head again, running to his mother's side. He clung to her dress and she patted him on the head with a calm hand.

"It's alright," she said, "it's your papa. He'll take care of you. He won't leave you again."

He won't leave again. Again. It was an empty lie. Eren knew that; he had heard it enough times to know that she was lying.

"But mama! Mama, no!"

He felt hands pulling on his shoulders and arms. Pulling him away from her. But she kept smiling, so happily, like it wasn't happening. Like everything was alright. Eren's heart sank as her face became blurred. He kept his hands outstretched to her, trying to grab at her. But within seconds he couldn't reach her. So he called out to her, as loud as his little voice could possibly be, but instead of his squeaky, childlike voice, Eren heard himself. His adult voice.

So he tried to pull again at the hands on his body, but he was still too small to do anything.

Eren.

He shook his head as he tossed around, trying to get free.

Eren.

He was breathing harder and harder with each passing second. He was sweating and something was shaking him.

Eren.

Calling him…

Eren's eyes jolted open and he tried to sit up, gasping for air. Levi was over him, his firm hands on his shoulders, shaking him awake. Eren felt an immediate pain in his side as he stared up at Levi and tried to remember what had happened.

He looked around as he gripped Levi's shoulders. The room was white and smelled sterile. There was a faint beeping not too far away. Metal was shaking and stirring with his every move. He looked at his arm as he held on to Levi and saw a medical bracelet on his wrist. He looked down his arm at the thick IV taped to his skin, and the cords intertwining from it. They connected to the machines and then there was a bag of fluid above his head.

He sat up, pushing Levi back a little as he got a better look of his surroundings.

Eren dug his nails into Levi's shoulders, trying not to panic. Tears swelled in his eyes. He started to shake as the fear sat in. He was in a hospital. Injured to an extent he didn't know. He started to try to recall what had happened. All he could remember was a gunshot and feeling dizzy. Then the pain in his side…

He bit his lip, trying his hardest to keep back tears. He choked back the lump in his throat. He tried to choke it back. But the more he tried, the more it pushed itself up and before he could stop it, hot tears were rolling down his cheeks.

"Oi, Eren…"

Eren shook his head, still shaking, as a gentle hand was pressed to his cheek. Levi wiped the tears from his cheek with a light thumb. He left a wet smear on Eren's cheek, doing the same to the other side. Slowly, Eren's eyes fluttered open. Tears clung to his eyelashes as he watched Levi through his mess of fringe.

Levi wiped Eren's face and brushed back his hair enough to expose his forehead. He leaned forward and pressed a light, gentle kiss to Eren's head. He linked a hand behind Eren's head and took a handful of brown hair, pressing his forehead to Eren's with a heavy sigh.

"You shitty little brat," Levi breathed. "I thought you were dead."

Eren was breathing hard. His heart was racing. He was close to Levi again, his body still shaking. They were close—so close. Their heads and noses touched; their parted lips were barely inches away. He could taste Levi on his tongue. A mix of toothpaste and cigarette smoke fell on Eren's tongue, the scent of Levi's cologne in his nose. It was an awful combination but to Eren it was perfect; it was what he needed to escape the hospital's awful stench.

Eren wrapped his arms around his waist and could feel through the thin gown he wore that he was bandaged.

"I'm sorry…," Eren muttered, shaking his head. "I'm so sorry…"

"Stop apologizing," Levi said. "Stop fucking apologizing already. You…you nearly got yourself killed. How many fucking times did I tell you to stay away? I told you this would lead to trouble."

"I know but I just wanted…I wanted to prove that I'm not worthless…"

He was really admitting it…

"I didn't want him to think I was useless. I just wanted to prove that I'm capable…"

Eren's words broke into incoherent whimpers. He pressed a hand to his mouth, pulling out of Levi's grip. More tears streamed down his face at an uncontrollable rate.

Levi wrapped his arms around Eren's shoulders and pulled him close. He hummed and shushed Eren with a surprisingly soft voice. He ran his fingers through Eren's hair, rubbing Eren's back with his other hand. Eren held on to him as tight as he could but his fingers were too weak.

They stayed like that, wrapped up in each other, for what felt like hours. But barely a few minutes passed by.

"W-Why are you here…? Are you going to tell me to stay away again?" Eren said quietly. He sniffled into Levi's shoulder as the man stroked his hair.

"No. I came here to check on your goofy ass," Levi replied. "I hope you're not allergic to fucking daisies."

Eren pulled his face from Levi's shoulder and the wet spot he had left from his tears (and drool). He looked at the small table by the bed and saw a small vase filled with pretty white flowers. A little smile spread over his face and he buried his face back in Levi's shoulder, tightening his grip on Levi's sides a little more.

It was truly endearing.

"Thank you…"

Levi shrugged.

"Eren, you know you're going to be in a shitload of trouble when you go back to work right? I'm not a fucking cop but even I know—"

"N-No," Eren said, sitting up. He wrapped his hands around Levi's neck and pulled the man closer. "I don't want to talk about work yet."

Before Levi could protest, Eren pressed his quivering lips to the older man's. He didn't care how sloppy and inexperienced he was with kissing. He ignored the sharp pain in his side and how tangled he was getting with the cords on his arm.

"I'm not sorry." Eren muttered the breathy words against Levi's lips. "I'm not. And I don't care if you have a girlfriend or whatever she is. You should be with me."

Levi stared at him, lowering his hands to Eren's sides. He let his fingers crawl around to Eren's back and pulled him even closer. Levi kissed him back and the sensation sent Eren flying.

Eren moaned into Levi's mouth. Chills ran up and down his spine. Levi dominated the kiss; he dominated Eren's mouth with his tongue. Eren leaned against him, relaxing his weak arms to rest around Levi's shoulders.

"You're a little shit."

"Shut up."

"Fuck you."

Eren nipped Levi's lips and the man kissed him even harder.

The door to the room suddenly flew open, hitting the wall with enough force to rattle the vase on the nightstand. Dr. Zoe ran in, her hair a mess and her glasses nearly falling off her face.

Eren and Levi pulled away from each other. They wiped their mouths of the silvery strands of saliva that had accumulated and Levi adjusted his suit. Eren looked away, rubbing the back of his head. His cheeks and ears were bright red.

"Eren, are you okay!?" D. Zoe cried, running over. She looked over the monitor that was attached to one of the various cords on Eren's arm. "Your heart monitor skyrocketed. I thought you were having a heart attack."

"R-Really? I'm sorry…," Eren said. He pulled the sheet over himself. "I...uhh…"

"Hm?"

"I should leave," Levi said, standing up.

"B-But Levi!" Eren cried, reaching out for him.

"I can go," Dr. Zoe said. She smiled big. "I'd hate to be interrupting something."

"You weren't," Levi replied. He took Eren's hand, still standing close to the bed. "I was on my way out. I'm sure this brat has some family that wants to see him. And I'd honestly hate to be around for that."

"Too soon to meet the family?" Dr. Zoe teased.

Levi rolled his eyes and kissed Eren on the head before backing away. Eren let out an unhappy sigh and looked back to Hanji, ready to hear her diagnosis. The door to his room flung open again, before Levi could leave.

And Eren felt his heart stop for a brief second.

Armin ran into the room first. He hit the bed and threw his arms around Eren's neck. Eren caught him and a sharp pain shot down to his side at the sudden weight. But he smiled and hugged Armin tight, tears brimming in his eyes again.

Over Armin's shoulder, Eren watched Mikasa run into the room. She stopped, however, to examine Levi. Their eyes met and locked furiously as they measured each other up. Their aggravated tension was dangerous and Eren could feel it from where he was.

Levi nodded his head to her and soon left the room, but Mikasa kept her eyes on him. She quietly closed the door and looked back to Eren.

"Eren!" Armin cried, over and over into Eren's shoulder. "We thought…we didn't know!"

Mikasa sat on the edge of the bed and patted Eren on the foot.

"We would have been here earlier but the doctor said you had to rest," Mikasa said. There was guilt all in her voice.

Dr. Zoe nodded. "I didn't want you to be disturbed. You were shot, after all. Took a few hours of surgery to get you stabilized. You're lucky you didn't lose too much blood."

"I was shot?" Eren asked.

"You don't remember?" Armin asked.

"Ah, I'll leave you kids to explain this," Dr. Zoe said. "Don't overwork yourself. I'll have a nurse bring you some food in a bit too."

She smiled and waved and left the room, leaving the three of them together. Eren looked to Armin and Mikasa, waiting for answers.

"It got messy," Armin said. "It was not good."

"Did Irwin—?"

Armin and Mikasa looked horrified at the mention of the name. Eren quieted down as Mikasa rose. She walked over to the vase and Eren thought it best to keep his eyes on Armin.

"Everyone else? How is…?"

Armin's expression dropped. Eren dared to look at Mikasa. She let her hand fall from one of the white flowers.

"Marco was shot too. He's alive. But he was worse off than you," Mikasa said. "Dr. Zoe said he'll have to stay in the hospital longer."

Eren's heart sank. He sat back against the pillow on the bed and pulled the sheet up around his chin. A heavy, sinking feeling of guilt settled into the bottom of his stomach.

"Fuck…," he muttered.

"Eren, it's not your fault," Mikasa said.

"Don't say that," Eren replied softly. "It is…"

"You can't do that to yourself," Armin added. He patted Eren on the arm. "You didn't know. So…it's not your fault. You can't blame yourself."

Eren pulled his knees to his chest, keeping himself covered up. He shoved his face onto his knees and wrapped his arms around himself. Getting hurt himself didn't bother him. But now he had a friend's blood on his hands. On his own hands. And it was all his fault.

He didn't deserve his job…

"The men who attacked us…shot at us…," Mikasa said calmly, "they were all killed. Shot. There were seven of them and they were all shot once." She looked to Eren, her hands still on the vase. "Someone there was a professional with a goal, I think."

It took several minutes for it to sink in. A professional with a goal…

Levi wasn't meeting Irwin at that site. He was going there to assassinate whoever was meeting at that site.

And he had informed Irwin ahead of time.

A hard lump swelled in his throat. Irwin knew about that meeting. He knew that Levi would be there. And he knew that Levi would kill whoever was there. And yet the Commissioner did nothing to stop it…

Eren gripped the bed sheets.

"Are you okay? Eren?" Armin asked. Mikasa placed a firm hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. Eren looked up at her and the door to his room opened for a third time.

Within seconds, Jean had pushed an unsuspecting Mikasa aside and had grabbed Eren firmly by the shirt.

"You bastard!" Jean shouted. "You fucking bastard!"

Eren gasped and tried to push him off. But the more he struggled, the more the tubes in his arm made it impossible for him. Armin grabbed at Jean's arm, but he was pushed off easily and rolled onto the floor. Once Mikasa regained herself, she was on Jean's other arm, prying him off with more force than Armin.

"Marco almost died! This your fault! You bastard Eren!"

That awful guilt buried itself deep in the pit of Eren's stomach. He felt his limbs go numb at Jean's words and he stopped struggling, letting Jean shake him around until Mikasa threw him off. Jean stumbled back, panting hard. Eren laid back on his bed, his eyes on the ceiling as more tears filled up his eyes. His arm was bleeding from where the needle in his skin had twisted and pulled.

"I fucking hate you!"

"Jean!" Armin shouted. "Jean, stop it!"

"NO!" Jean hollered. "I FUCKING HATE YOU EREN!"

Mikasa quickly stood between Jean and the bed, not letting him get any closer to Eren. But it was Armin who grabbed Jean and pushed him back to the door. He forced Jean out, as difficult as it was, and into the hallway.

From where they were, Eren and Mikasa could still hear Jean's angry yells, mixing with Armin screaming back at him. Within seconds those furious shouts turned to hysteric sobbing.

Eren's stomach couldn't drop any lower.

"Eren…"

He looked up at Mikasa and saw her still lingering over the flowers. She turned the card over in her hands and Eren knew, from her furrowed brow, that she was wondering just who Levi was. He wrapped his arms tighter around himself, waiting for her scorn to top off his guilt.

She looked over at him and set down the note that was with the card. She lowered herself onto the bed and curled up next to Eren. She wrapped an arm around him and stroked his hair with tender fingers.

"Everything will be okay."