Chapter 2: Family Ties
At Trost...
Saying that Captain Levi's premature return had caused quite the ruckus was, perhaps, an understatement.
When the mysterious man, drenched in blood, came through the gates of Trost with the absence of his cloak, most had expected the worst. Rumors spread like wild fire and much speculation was made, the people of Trost only knowing that, for the first time ever, Humanity's Strongest Soldier returned from a mission appearing to be injured, only emphasized by the fact that he requested a doctor to meet him at the old Scouting Legion's headquarters - a doctor whom was sworn to secrecy by Levi.
So when the Scouting Legion, Commander Erwin included, finally returned, the latter had no problem finding out from the nearest soldier about Captain Levi's current situation. At first, he was relieved, then he was worried and then he was just plain mad. He couldn't have been that injured if he was able to ride back... And why did he not just send a smoke signal?!
By the time he had reached the castle, he simply couldn't wait to get an answer from the smaller man. And by the blood on his blade, he was going to get one. He stormed through the castle halls and burst through the door of the Captain's quarters, effectively ignoring the doctor's protests.
"LEVI YOU SON OF A- Where the hell have you been!?"
The raven-haired man before him merely sat calmly on a chair next to his bed, his narrow eyes never leaving it despite the other man's outburst, seemingly devoid of all emotion.
"I apologize for concerning you."
"Concerning me?! I thought you were dead!"
"I'm fine."
Sure enough, the man seemed to be of perfect health even though his clothing was stained with a rather large amount of dried blood. The Commander calmed himself for a moment - everyone knew the younger man had a serious problem with OCD and normally, wherever he went, things were always squeaky clean, yet he still haven't moved to clean himself up. This made the Commander stop his coming anger-fueled rant and think for a moment.
Suddenly, he became aware of the uneasy feeling in the room. One he hadn't felt for a very long time...
"Levi...What happened out there?"
The man didn't reply for a moment. Instead his thoughts drifted to the events only hours prior to this point...
-(FLASHBACK)-
Levi cleaned his bloodstained hand in annoyance.
He hated when that happened..
With a high pitched whistle, he called his horse to return. It was time to leave. That is, if the smoldering corpse behind him, had any indication. If he left now he would easily be able to catch up with Erwin and the others. He brushed off his jacket, getting rid of some of the remaining blood and grime left over from the titan as he prepared himself to leave...
Gkrk...
He froze when a sound coming from nearby attracted his attention. He listened attentively for the sound.
Had he heard right?
It couldn't have been a titan. The area is too wide open for it to be. He would have seen it coming. He cast a wary eye in the direction of the nearby wreckage. He remembered the building being crushed when he had struck down the Titan.The sound seemed to come from there.
Curiosity overtaking logic, he took a step towards the demolished building, to where he thought he had heard the sound, careful not to step anywhere that might cause him to lose his footing. All while keeping a sharp eye out for any new unwelcome guests.
There it was again...
The sound.
To his left. This time he recognized it. His heart beat picked up. It sounded like a moan.
'Did someone follow me and get trapped under the debris?'
With new resolve he started searching the corpse of rock and stone, unsure what to think. As he drew closer, the sounds grew fainter, but now he was sure of it. Somehow, somewhere someone was trapped underneath all the rubble, of that he had no doubt. However by the sound of it, if he didn't find them soon they won't last much longer. He scowled when the sounds ceased. Who ever made them must have passed out from the pain.
That's when he saw it...
A hand.
Only big enough to be that of a small child, sticking out from under a collapsed wall. The Captain didn't hesitate to rush to the child's side, heaving the rock off of the groaning adolescent boy in one big effort....
It was a gruesome sight.
Even for the much respected and feared Corporal, this was not something anyone could be prepared for, highly experienced soldier or not.
A young boy, appearing to be no older than six or seven lying in the rubble. Blood gushing out from a rather nasty looking head wound. His left arm was bent at an angle that it was plain to see that it was broken in the collapse and his clothing(which seemed far too small for him) was ripped to shreds. Thankfully the boy seemed to be alive. The only indication of that, being the steady rise and fall of his chest every so often. Even so, his breathing was shallow and strained. A possible sign of a few badly broken ribs.
The boy's most concerning injury though, was much worse than a few broken ribs. His entire leg from his knee down, was crushed by the building during the collapse. If he was awake at the time, this happened he would have surely been in a lot of pain.
He was lucky he was alive.
Wasting no more time, Levi took off his cloak, ripping it in two and wrapping the one piece around the severed limb tightly in order to prevent any more blood loss. The other piece was used to make a temporary splint for the boy's broken arm. At this rate the child would bleed out before he even reached Wall Rose. Not to mention there was no telling how much blood he had lost already being trapped under the building. Once in Trost,Levi could get the boy the medical attention he needed. But for now his makeshift compromises would have to do. Making sure he had stopped most of the bleeding, with the boy's arm safely secured to his body, he carefully lifted him from the wreckage.
He was surprisingly light despite what he believed the boy would weigh.
His attention was drawn away when he heard the sound of his horse galloping over to him, having heard his call. He scratched the animal on its nose as a sign of praise for it's return and mounted the beast's back, holding on tightly to the tiny child in his arms-now wrapped in his blood stained jacket. He stole one last glance at the direction the rest of the scouts had gone.
He was probably going to get into trouble for disobeying Commander Erwin's orders but at the moment he couldn't care less. The man would understand once he had explained the situation to him. Whether or not the higher ups would feel the same way though, was uncertain. But alas he would jump off of that bridge when he comes to it. They will be fine without him for awhile. Right now he had bigger things to worry about.
He commanded his horse to turn around and started riding at full speed back in the direction of Wall Rose...
...
Levi blinked choosing his next words carefully. He did after all, disobey orders.
"An unexpected situation arose and I made a judgement call."
It was a valid reason albeit not a clear one- his attention though never left the bed in front of him, despite his thoughts. Erwin sighed and moved over to him. Suddenly, a movement underneath the blankets caught his eye, startling him.
Were they not alone?
A mop of messy dark brown hair stuck out from under the blanket. The figure shuffled around a bit before settling back in its place again; back in its peaceful slumber. Perplexed, the blond man moved closer. Now, he was able to see that it was a small boy- he had little chubby cheeks made up of baby fat which he would grow out of one day, tiny freckles barely noticeably dotting his cheeks and a slight blush on his otherwise extremely pale skin.
"He's lost a lot of blood." Levi spoke up. "Doc says he will probably be out for another week or so. Still, I have my doubts."
"Where did you find him?"
His voice sounded hoarse when he asked. So this is why Levi left? He crouched down to the bed's level, eyeing the sleeping child.
"He was in a building the titan I was fighting fell on. He broke his arm, sustained a minor concussion, a few broken ribs and his leg was severed when the building came down on him.
Erwin understood this, his previous anger soon replaced by understanding- Levi had done the right thing. "One of the scouts found a severed leg in the wreckage. I believe it belonged to him, then?"
The man simply nodded- the room was left in an awkward silence one again. Only then did the Commander notice the small golden object being twirled in the man's hands.
"What do you have there?" He asked, gesturing to the trinket in Levi's hands. Levi looked down for a moment as if to ponder the question, before he handed the man the object.
"A key?"
"The doctor found it around his neck when she was cleaning his wounds." He paused for a moment, staring at the key.
"I gave that to him a long time ago. I never thought I'd see it again."
It took him a moment to register what Levi had said before realization sank in.
"You knew him?"
Levi lowered his head down again, brushing a hand through his hair.
"We were...brothers."
...Brothers? Erwin looked to the man in utter shock.
"I thought I recognized him the first time. I just wasn't sure whether or not I was right, but when I saw the scar and the key, I knew it was Eren."
"...How?"
"Two years ago, my parents were concerned for his health- he was abnormal. Sometimes it almost seemed as if he was dead. So they snuck him out of the underground, there wasn't enough money for all of us so I stayed behind with my mother. At the time there was only one doctor who wouldn't just have sent them back."
"Yeager..." Erwin quickly caught on. Levi nodded.
"During Shiganshina my father was killed and my brother went missing. My mother was already dying from lack of sunlight. She didn't have long. When we heard what happened...it was too much for her. I was nineteen at the time and Eren was four."
He opened his mouth but the man silenced him before he could say anything. "Its all ancient history. This is all just a bit...unexpected."
He nodded in understanding- the situation was indeed a lot to take in, especially if this implies that said little Ackerman had to have survived outside the walls all this time. How exactly that's possible though, only heaven knows.
Levi stood, gesturing for Erwin to come closer. "There's something you should know, but at least for now I need you to keep it between us."
"Alright, but what can-"
"Just trust me. Please, Erwin."
He hesitated for a second. "...Alright. I'll trust you."
"Well...When I saw this, I didn't know what to think." He took hold of the edge of the blanket covering the boy. "I think this might have to do with why he was able to survive for so long- it was also one of the reasons that my parents took him to Yeager."
With one swift movement he pulled the blanket off of the boy. Erwin's eyes widened in astonishment- he could have sworn the soldier said that the entire leg was severed, yet low and behold the half of the boy's leg was there, a bit pinkish and raw but there.
Slowly but surely he could see the skin crawling over muscle and muscle weaving its way around the slowly growing bone.
"He's regenerating...Like a titan!"
"Eren always healed fast, but this... I never thought that it could go this far."
"If Hange saw this she would want to pin and prod him like those two 'pet' titans of her. What where their names, Chickihilo and Albert?"
"Which is why we are going to keep it a secret. At least for now. We don't want the central government sniffing up our asses just yet." Levi was being completely serious. Erwin did not have much of a choice. Though he's the ranking officer, this was a personal matter. Even if he did refuse and went to his superiors about this, Levi would find a way to protect the boy from harm's way regardless.
It was a funny thought. Levi had not even been with him for a day and he was already turning into a overprotective big brother.
"Alright. We keep it a secret for now. But, if the situation calls for it, the secret's out."
Levi nodded in agreement.
"We will speak more about this later. Right now you need to go take a shower and get some sleep. You look like shit. And that's an order Captain."
He snorted, a little bit of emotion only seen by the Captain's closest friends.
"Yes sir."
The Commander watched as his friend left to get cleaned up. He stole one last glance to the sleeping boy in the bed. From now on out nothing will ever be the same.
I hope you enjoyed! Please Review!
Until next time!
-Ziixx
(Last Updated: 22 November 2015)