I am also bothered by my tendency to write short chapters ); I'm uploading the fic to archiveofourown combining two chapters into one and so it doesn't seem so bad if you want to keep up with the fic there? Sorry!
"Are you going to carry me again?" Eren did not bother to hide the dread in his voice; it was one thing to be carried by another man, but this particular man happened to be his superior officer (and not to mention four inches shorter than himself).
"You're in no state to make the walk back yourself. Obviously I'm going to be carrying you so suck it up." Eren sulked.
"You're just like Mikasa…"
Levi had developed habits with Eren over the time they had spent together. When you see enough of a person, you test your limits with them and find out what is and isn't comfortable to do or say. There are some insults that are only reserved for the closest of friends and some habits that only certain acquaintances will tolerate. Levi had a friendly habit of being violent with Eren; this habit was unique to Eren whom with his titan abilities could withstand temporary pain easily and recover quickly. Upon hearing an underling compare his habits to those of an embarrassingly overprotective sister, Levi did not think twice before aiming a punch at Eren's ribs. He quickly stopped himself before his fist was able to connect, but the damage was already done.
Eren curled in on himself. Trembling with hands protecting his face, his eyes were shut tight and his breathing turned sporadic. Levi immediately regretted his carelessness. He spoke softly and placed a comforting hand on Eren's shoulder (which flinched away initially). "Eren…sorry. I'm not going to hurt you."
Eren tried to answer the corporal, he tried to stop shaking and wished he could get his body to move, but he felt disconnected like he was watching what was going on from across the room. He hated this feeling! He wasn't actually afraid of Levi and didn't really care if Levi threw a few punches his way since that was sort of how they had communicated to an extent before recent events. Eren would do something stupid. The corporal would hit him and he would stop (for a while). Repeat. That process had been comfortable for the both of them and now Eren was fucking that up.
Despite the state that Eren was in, Levi decided that staying in the outpost was doing nothing to help the situation and that he would have to quickly get over any hesitation to pick Eren up for now if any progress was to be made. The truth of the matter was that Levi was never one to hesitate at anything, so he effectively lifted Eren into a standing position, hoisted him onto his back and made his way out the door towards the base. Eren, at this point, was hardly reacting to anything at all, be it because he was simply too shocked or perhaps too tired.
The walk back was surprisingly quiet and even comfortable. Levi kept at a slow pace and it was not long before Eren was able to fully relax and get some much needed sleep.
Their arrival was not so peaceful.
Out of anyone in the whole world that could've possibly been walking out of the barracks as the two were passing, what were the chances that it would be the very overprotective sister that Levi had been compared to not an hour earlier? Apparently very high, because said person stepped quietly from the inside building to be greeting by what could only be described as her worst nightmare-Eren, dead (or so it appeared).
She wasted no time, frantically running up to where Levi had paused upon spotting her. He had not been looking forward to explaining the situation to anyone, let alone Mikasa whom he knew would react the harshest. Her eyes were wide and tearing up quickly and Levi wondered how she could possibly hold enough air in her lungs to voice all of the questions she was rapidly firing off. Eren, probably used to being on alert for any small noises that signaled danger, woke up. This was effective in calming the girl down better than any reassuring words from the corporal could. Her bombardment of questions was then turned to Eren who seemed to be less than capable of processing so much at once, let alone answering. Levi was quickly fed up with the behavior, and interjected.
"Oi, calm the hell down and listen. I'll explain the situation to everyone later, but for now we've got to get him properly treated so can you kindly pull yourself together?"
If looks could kill, Levi would be a dead-man. Then again he would've been dead long, long ago by some other person he's managed to piss off. None the less, Mikasa begrudgingly nodded and allowed Levi to continue on his trek toward the medical staff room, albeit with her company.
Upon arriving, Levi only explained Eren's current ailments to the nurse and left out any details of the torture itself. He emphasized the jerking movements Eren had been eliciting whenever touched and the nurse looked thoughtful.
"Unfortunately, there's about as many cases of PTSD out here as there are soldiers. I'll be mindful."
With that she urged both Levi and Mikasa let her take care of Eren's wounds and that she'd send someone to fetch the corporal when she was finished properly treating him. Neither of said persons looked particularly pleased at the suggestion but had to comply after Eren complained that he wasn't a child and didn't need them to hold his hand every second (they both disagreed, but allowed him to believe otherwise anyway).
The nurse led Eren backroom where he could get some privacy and where she would be able to check out the extent of his wounds and malnourishment. Satisfied, Levi motioned Mikasa to follow him as he headed towards Irvin's office. They walked briskly and he let out a sigh to collect his thoughts.
"You were already informed about the details of the experiment Eren was ordered to participate in a month ago." Mikasa nodded. "Well, obviously it went to shit. The asshole chosen for the job was a psychopath and decided he would torture the hell out of Jaeger for shits and giggles, I guess."
Mikasa was fuming. Not even a titan would dare cross her at this moment. "Who the hell is responsible for this?" Heads would roll.
Levi regarded her for a moment, he acknowledged that she was probably the only person in the world that he could fully trust the brat with. He wasn't sure if she would trust him after what he was about to tell her. "The judge ordered the experiment to be carried out, Irvin chose the guy to do it, I handed Eren over him. It's all our faults."
At this, Mikasa looked even more pissed off than before, if that was possible. She looked to be holding herself back. "…I'll take him away from here…I'll hide him away from all you bastards that think you can play around with his life…"
Levi stopped abruptly.
"And what are you doing? Deciding already for him where he should and shouldn't be? What a hypocrite. I guarantee you'd actually ask him, Eren would choose to stay in the Survey Corps, under my command." His cold gaze softened in a way that was almost undetectable. "I understand your anger, believe me, but the person it should ultimately be directed at is Böse, the guy who willingly decided to hurt Eren."
Mikasa held his gaze and let this information sink in. She burned the man's name into her mind. "…I'm not happy with you and I don't trust you, but you're right."
They had almost arrived at Irvin's office when Levi had stopped and before Levi could reply to his subordinate, he caught glimpse of the commander presumably heading towards his office.
"Oi, Irvin. Eren is with a medic, what news do you have?"
Irvin looked clearly on edge and rushed over to the two taking long, quick strides. He was sweating, and anxiety looked so shockingly out of place on the man that Levi could not help but feel affected.
"Levi. Ackerman. It's a relief to hear that Eren is being taken care of. Unfortunately, the situation has gotten worse. Böse is missing; he never even returned to the base after talking to us. He must have known that he wouldn't get away with what he'd done and now we have no clue as to his whereabouts."
"…You're fucking kidding me." Levi was pissed. Mikasa was pissed. There would be hell to pay.
