Chapter 35

It had been a full day since the raid on the human trafficking ring. Shortly after the explosion, Ocho had sent one of his men to contact Hange to have her collect us at the same entrance we had used only a day prior.

We had to move quickly, immediately composing ourselves after the smoke, dust and falling debris had settled. I had wanted to stay a moment longer to survey the level of my own doing yet Levi had collected my hand in a tight grip, dragging me behind him as we followed Harley and Ocho into the next alley way.

"That – that was insane!" Harley breathed out loudly, grasping his chest. The large man was covered in soot, his bright blue eyes a beacon on his now darkened face. "I honestly did not think we'd survive that – no offense of course, Juno, it's just how could I have thought otherwise?"

I was breathing heavily myself, an airiness fogging my head and a tingling sensation rising in my finger tips and toes. "I don't blame you," I mustered through pale lips as if energy was leaving me quickly. Levi shot me a look. "I didn't know if you'd get hurt eith –"

The world slipped into an odd angle and Harley and Ocho were now horizontal, both giving me concerned stares. "Fuck sake," Levi's lowered voice met my ears and I realized he was now cradling me in his arms. "We didn't factor in how much energy that would have taken – she's down and out."

"Oh yeah," I chuckled, feeling a slight trickle release from my nose. Sniffing, I wiped the droplet of blood and met Levi's concerning stare. "How we getting home?"

"I had my men clear the way back to Harley's hideout," Ocho explained, nodding towards the other end of the alley. "The MP's should arrive shortly so I recommend that you leave now."

A brief silence met the men before Ocho said, "Thank you, Levi. Thank you, Juno. You're both truly unmatched." And with a pat on Levi's shoulder and a brief nod to Harley, Ocho darted in the direction we had come from to meet with several of his men.

The journey back to the hideout had seemed only moments yet I was sure Levi was trying his best not to move me around too much from fear of me becoming further exhausted. His chest and arms had remained tense as he pressed me to him, an arm beneath my knees and another securely around my back and under my arms. I had wrapped my arms around his shoulders and neck, burying my nose into his neck and breathing in that citrus scent.

Harley had found me some clean clothes and the three of us waited by the exit point of the tunnel. Conversation had fallen short after we had arrived, the men busying themselves with preparing to leave while forcing me to sit still, drink clean water and eat some bread.

Hange almost punched Levi square in the face when she saw the state I was in. She launched herself off the small boat, carelessly falling into the filthy water and splashing it everywhere.

"Stupid woman," Levi snarled, not only dodging the filthy water but pushing me out of the way as Hange propelled towards me at an alarming rate. "Get your shit together, Four Eyes."

The trip back to headquarters was mostly silent, my head resting against Levi's shoulder and one arm looped into Hange's elbow. Soft murmurs could be heard around me, questions being asked and finger tips running along my hands and wrists. When we reached HQ, I was gently taken to Levi's room.

"Boo," I mumbled against fluffy, crisp white pillows. "I need the Boo."

The muttering in response told me that he didn't want to have that horse in his perfectly cleaned living quarters but after the door clicked behind him and with minutes passing, my brain struggling to remain conscious, I was met with a heaviness pressing into the bed and a flutter of sloppy licks against my check, forehead and hair.

Somehow, I managed to rub her head, feeling soft folded ears and a wet nose and before I knew it, the world had morphed away into darkness. The only thing I managed to maintain before slipping into one of the deepest sleeps of my life was the soft rumble of Boo snoring next to me and cool lips pressing against my head.

Minutes drifted into hours and perhaps a full day before a door slamming tore me from my slumber. The bed shook with Boo's sudden jolt, both of us sleepily staring at a figure at the end of the bed.

Standing tall, shoulders square and fisted hands resting on hips, Hange declared loudly, "Juno Monroe, how dare you go on adventures without me!"

It wasn't long before she had kicked her boots off and climbed into the bed with me, her words flowing out of her mouth at an alarming rate as she relayed current events. The development with Historia, Reiner and Berthold hadn't moved in the past couple of days yet with the events of The Underground, it was hard to move forward when your best soldier was elsewhere.

"Erwin asked something about Levi but I pushed it away," Hange explained, resting a leg on the sleeping dog. "Speaking of Erwin, he passed by and dropped this newspaper off. Let's have a read in my office, shall we?"

The sun was setting, sending an array of pink, orange, yellow and purple like an exotic blanket over the sky. I had managed to get through several hours of Hange and Hange alone, much to her credit, after she gave me a mouthing and news I simply did not expect, gave me a meal and handed me a letter.

I was not sure what to expect from such a perfectly folder letter, crisp and faintly scented of earth and berries. How could such an otherworldly being be capable to making such a symmetrical square?

Sighing, I leaned into the window frame to stare out into the training fields. I had since returned to Levi's room and now sat in the huge window that overlooked the entry point of his personal rooms, a location which I had become very familiar with.

What was I to do first? Read the letter or tell Levi?

I hadn't seen him for almost a day and I assumed it was due to the workload he needed to catch up on. He had a lot to do for one man and honestly, he had spent a large portion of time catering to my own personal goals.

Oh shit, and now he's meant to care for a freakin' family?! I swallowed hard, almost certain all moisture in my mouth and throat was soon to be non-existent. Levi was a highly sought after man – both for his skill and well, people also hated him and wanted him dead. How was he meant to juggle keeping the cause alive, as well as a baby?

Huffing, I pulled the wax from the letter and abruptly opened the folds. I needed something else to look at before my brain exploded.

In neatly scrawled ink and much to my surprise, English, began one of the last correspondences I would ever have with the great Baphomet.

Sweet Juno,

I am certain that you are riddled with inner conflict as to how or when to tell Levi but I will be honest with you – it doesn't matter. He will be elated, overjoyed, given purpose. Nothing in this world will matter more than the heart that you keep and the life that you will give.

Secondly, I am so proud of you, Juno. So very proud.

You did what you were meant to do, you fulfilled a purpose that no other generation could muster. You fought for your beliefs, your rights to live, accepted your linage and of course, created a means to live on: that bundle of life that rests so warmly and safely within you.

It may not be overly clear but both of you were needed to begin the change of the century. We needed something more than brute strength and just enough warmth, smiles and love.

How else would we accomplish this without Humanity's Strongest and The Foreigner?

Please do not feel as if you were used.

I might be something of another time and land yet I do not have the power or strength to make the rules. I answer to something higher, more powerful, greater than life itself; the Universe.

Evolution is simply put, trial and error. Experiments, as Hange would say. When trial and error occur, we fight for a remedy.

You and Levi are our remedy.

You are The Purpose.

Baphomet.

"Why are you crying?"

Startled, I sniffled loudly and turned towards the familiar drawl. Closing the door softly behind him, Levi peered back at me with that signature eye line built to detect every minute detail. He was dressed in a plain button-up shirt and black trousers tucked tightly into combat boots. Always combat boots incase 'shit hits the fan'.

His careful stare drifted to the note in my hand and swiftly back to my eyes as he said, "I see. Baphomet has left."

I nodded. "Yeah, he's gone."

Standing slowly, very much aware of my aching joints, I moved down one step and over to the desk where he now stood. He had lowered a folder onto the old desk, a levelled placed once used as a doctors table not that long ago.

"Will you be able to see him through those weird dreams?" Levi pressed, studying my expression.

I shrugged in response. "I don't know if that was me or him. Probably him. I was never able to will it to happen."

He seemed to absorb the response, eyes darting to the letter in my hand and gradually back to my expression. Levi sniffed lightly and muttered, "Four-Eyes has been here. It smells like a barn."

Scoffing, I let a chuckle roll out of me like warm butter.

"Nothing gets past you," I whispered lightly, reaching forward and wrapping my arms around his neck. His natural response was to reach down and curl his own arms around my waist, lightly and softly, so consciously aware of whether I was weathered from the fire storm created a day ago. I stared up into his chiseled features, carved from the pure design of a deity himself, and asked, "Hey, how does it feel being Humanity's Strongest?"

Thin brows shifted, meeting in the middle at the abrupt and sudden question. He mulled over the query, eyes searched my own before replying with the faintest gruff in his tone, "I didn't make that title. The media did. I also don't think it's true – I'm not overtly stronger than other people. I'm calculative and precise."

"Hm, I'm willing to say that you're fairly strong," I added a hum to my statement, resting a hand on his upper arm. "What if I said that you were significantly stronger than other males, so much so, that you defied military grade medications?"

Levi frowned. "I've never had to take military medications because I don't get sick, just the annual –"

He paused.

The furrow in his brow remained for a millisecond longer before narrowed orbs widened and his iris' thinned, studying my expression for answers.

"You are the publics savior. You're the great, great, great, great grandson of what we can only assume is a God," I began, staring deeply into metallic orbs, the colour of frosted icicles in the middle of winter. "The moon to my sun. And now, Levi Ackerman, Humanity's Strongest, you are the father of our child."

I felt him stiffen as the final words left my mouth, a sliver of light passing over his orbs as if waking from a decade long slumber. He stared hard into my expression, stoic, arms still firmly secure around me yet now, Levi had brought me a little closer.

"How?"

I blinked. "As in how did I become pregnant?"

Levi scowled, "Not how it's done, idiot. How did you manage to get pregnant when I'm on the needle?"

"Hange explained that there was no reason to assume the dosage needed to be adjusted to suit your slightly different metabolism and DNA because simply put, they didn't know until almost a year ago about your different heritage and I guess, we've been at it for some time," I shrugged, feeling my eyes well up a fraction due to the bundle of nerves pulsating in my chest. "So, um…"

"How many weeks?"

"Fourteen."

His eyes widened once more, arm muscles tensing. "Fourteen! Has fuckin' Four-Eyes known this entire time and still let you go out and –"

Placing a finger on his lips, I hushed Levi and then took his hand. Guiding him to the bed, we sat down on the edge and so I began the direct and somewhat detailed explanation that Hange had provided me. I began with what she had identified after the Garrison incident, closely followed by the changes in tissue and how she was unable to determine the changes immediately simply due to not having previous studies to refer to. Finally, I divulged how Levi and his superhuman genetics were the reason I was able to carry and survive the onslaught we had recently faced.

"I also think that Baphomet knew the entire time based on his letter, and he gave me that extra power boost to protect both us," I smiled, placing a hand on my stomach once more. Levi lowered the letter and stared thoughtfully at nothing in general as I said, "I guess you could say that the three of us will change everything."

A flicker of time passed by and Levi lifted his gaze, reaching my own and said, "I'm going to be a father."

I nodded, unable to hold the growing smile on my lips.

"My child is in there," he indicated to my stomach and gingerly placed a hand over mine. "There is an Ackerman in there."

"Also Monroe," I corrected, beaming as he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. "She'll be perfect in all the ways possible and more."

Levi's kisses fluttered over my lips, to my cheek and jaw as he mumbled, "She? How do you know it's a she?"

Giggling, I sank into the sheets as his weight hovered over mine, the kisses still fluttering all over my neck and face. "It's obvious," I let out a breath of air as cool finger tips skimmed over my stomach. "She made it through all this shit, she's tough as nails. It's a she with my personality and your strength, Ackerman."

Levi paused, his lips pressing against my ear as he murmured, "Then she won't mind me showing my other half and her mother my appreciation."

Sighing, I caught his face and stared up into his shining, silver eyes and asked, "You're okay with everything?"

His expression shifted slightly as he said, "I could not have asked for anything more than what I have now," Levi pressed his lips to mine once more before saying, "I didn't have a father and only a mother for several years of my life. She will have both."

"Okay," I murmured as skilled fingertips slipped past the hem of my pants. "I won't argue with that."

The same tingling sensation had begun against my skin as Levi pulled away the clothing, piece by piece. His fingers wove into my hair, tugging to pull my neck back and feast upon the delicate flesh of my neck and shoulder. I stopped thinking; gone were the thoughts of the Garrison or The Underground, the havoc of trauma and what little I remembered of my past and now as I was swiftly flipped to straddle his hips, I sunk down and relished in that sensation which always made whatever connection between us become alive with fire.

He groaned, throwing his head back and hands subconsciously reaching to rest against my hips, pushing too-and-fro to enjoy the very same relief I was also experiencing. Lowering his head once more, glowing orbs met my own lava stare as I began to move back and forth, grinding down. Whimpers slipped from my throat as hands groped at my breasts, my backside but not nearly as rough and possessive as he had done in the past.

Levi's narrowed stare was trained on me, our sinful actions causing his brow to furrow and his teeth clench but his stare never wavered.

Until the door flew open, thumping loudly against the wall and a particularly eccentric woman sprung behind me, "Hey, Juno! Just wanted to see if – Oh my god, I'm so freakin' –"

Freezing in my place, arms covering my chest, I shrunk into myself and tentatively peered over my shoulder to squeak, "H-hi Hange, um, perhaps you sh –"

"Get out, shit for brains!" Levi roared, propping himself up on his elbows. He reached up, pulling a huge strand of my hair over my breast. "We're celebrating."

"Okay, okay," she murmured in response, hands firmly over her eyes. "I mean, you already have one bun baking, why would you –"

"Get. Out." Levi hissed, one grey orb glaring past my arm and at Hange.

"Okay, sorry!" She shouted, disappearing beyond the wall and slamming the door behind her. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks!" I hollered back in response, grinning and turning my gaze back to the lightly sweating man below me.

I smirked at him, moving the strand of hair away from my breast. A faint growl rose within his chest, running along his chest and with the acute speed I still was not used to, I was flipped once more and neatly tucked below Levi.

He peered deeply into my expression and that deep, drawl met my ears, "You know, right?"

I love you.

Smiling in response, I tucked a strand of his hair back, enjoying how it fell foreword once more, "Yes, I've known. Just like how you know as well."

I love you too.

A/N: My shortest chapter yet but only because the next two are super long / it was the only appropriate place to chop it.

Firstly, many thanks to Otaku-Oneechan - It's been such a ray of sunlight during some dark times to get your reviews. Thank you for being so involved!

Pati, my girl, thank you as well for still being such an amazing support.

I believe we have only two to go... but it will be beautiful.

Side note: I have started my BnHA Kacchan x OC fic. I will likely have a short break after I complete The Purpose because I do need to do some mythological/religious study for my BnHA fic.

I hope you are all well 3