Levi POV
"Tch, that just leads us back to suspecting there is a spy on my ship," Levi spat. The words were like venom. Erwin and Levi had been in a meeting about the last attack for what had felt like hours. Each possibility of what led the RMP to them they discussed seemed less likely than the last. The only idea that made any logical sense was that there was a spy on Levi's ship. "We need to get to the bottom of this now, eyebrows. How did they find us so fast?!" Levi didn't want to believe it for even a minute. He had trusted his life to his crew so many times and the idea of a snake aboard his ship, putting his crew in danger, putting Eren's life in danger, made him livid. "Levi, the king is a powerful and cunning man. We can't for a moment think we are invincible. It seems the only course of action to take at the moment is weeding out the spy." Levi nodded his head solemnly. He didn't want to believe that he of all people let a spy aboard his ship but all the clues pointed in that direction. Levi would not let his pride blind him from keeping the rest of his crew safe.
"So, eyebrows, what do you suggest?" Levi watched as Erwin's eyes lit up. Besides piracy, Erwin loved nothing more than outwitting his enemy. Erwin had the uncanny ability to guess his opponent's next move. Like a game of chess, slow and calculating, each move was thoroughly thought out 10 steps earlier until the inevitable checkmate. "You can leave it to me, captain!" Erwin responded with the same fire in his eyes.
"Now… on to our other business. How are the repairs to my ship going?" Levi began again. "Well, captain, most of the outer damage has been repaired and the infirmary has been restored," Erwin replied. "The crew is just finishing up the last few repairs on the sails and the main mast. I must say, repairs went rather smooth with the materials supplied by the two RMP ships. Our ship seemed to take most of the damage that night so we were able to repair most of the damage by stripping down their ships."
Levi nodded again before responding, "Good. I want to leave at first light so get the crew's asses moving. I am going to check on Hanji and Armin. The two of them together makes me a bit nervous and they seemed like they have been deep in conversation about something the last two days. I'm curious about what they have been working on." "Yes captain!" Levi watched as Erwin rose and started for the door but before Erwin left, Levi said one last thing. "Erwin… when we leave, make sure to sink the RMP ships to the bottom of the ocean. Let those Alpha scum decompose on the bottom of the ocean floor forever." "Yes, Captain!" Erwin replied and he left the room.
Levi pinched the bridge of his nose and sat back in his chair. He glanced up from his desk at Eren who was still sleeping on his bed. The steam coming from Eren had subsided a lot over the last 24 hours and Armin had said it was a good sign. "He should be waking up sooner than later," Levi thought. Levi pushed himself up from his desk to leave for the Infirmary but stopped at the bedside next to Eren's sleeping form. His face seemed much more relaxed and at peace. Levi hoped he was at least dreaming and not stuck in nightmares the whole time. Levi brushed his hand ever so slightly through Eren's hair. His hair was soft and just the slightest touch sent a spark of electricity through Levi. He retracted his hand quickly and turned to the door to head to the infirmary.
As Levi approached the infirmary door, he heard the insane and loud voice of Hanji who was speaking way too fast for anyone to possibly follow. He heard as an equally enthusiastic Armin replied. How Armin was even able to keep up with Hanji's rambling was a mystery to Levi but his curiosity of what the two of them had been discussing burned in his mind so he opened the door. "So! Like I was saying, Hanji, I have a theory that in the same way you are able to suppress the Overpowering Alpha pheromones, I truly believe we can synthesize a suppressant that can help omegas make it through their heat cycles without being discovered so easily." Levi was immediately drawn into the discussion with the mentions of omegas and just listened intently, not even noticed by them as the two went back and forth with each other. "Exactly!" Hanji replied. "I mean, the medication I produced only suppresses it to a certain extent, so the Omega's would still have to go somewhere slightly secluded during their heats. However, they would not have to go to the extents of places you three traveled during Eren's."
The mention of Eren jolted Levi from his deep thoughts about the benefits this medication could have on society and omegas. "So, what did the three of you do during Eren's heat?" Levi's sudden invasion of Armin and Hanji's conversation startled the two of them and they jumped slightly. "Jeez... captain," Hanji began "you scared the living day light out of me! How long have you even been standing there?" Levi simply shrugged Hanji's comment off and asked Armin again. "So, brat? What did you guys do?" Armin stood up straight obviously slightly more intimidated by Levi but proceeded anyway. "Well sir, Eren gets his heat every 6 months so that is about 2 times a year."
Levi nodded and Armin continued. "Well, for the most part when Eren was not in heat, we stayed away from big cities and heavily populated towns anyway. Mostly we stayed on the road and trained with each other." Levi looked at Armin in slight disbelief. "So, you are telling me all the stuff you guys learned to do is self taught?" Armin nodded his head and continued. "We learned a lot about sword forms and proper uses for weapons in books we found throughout the world. We didn't have much else to do in our travels except learn how to survive." Armin looked down with a slight sad look in his eyes before looking back up at them and continuing. "Well anyway, for the most part during Eren's heats we would travel to the Titan Mountain range."
At Armin's last words, Levi simply shook his head "That is just not possible…" Levi said again disbelieving. What in the world had these brats gone through to survive? "Armin," Hanji began. "that is just not possible. How did you even survive there? The wolves and bears and other beasts that live there and not to mention, the weather is deadly." Levi listened intently as Armin continued his story. "Well, the first few times we had traveled there we almost did die but it was less dangerous than when we stayed closer to civilization. See the first time Eren had gone into heat, we miscalculated the range his pheromones could travel and were almost caught. We decided to go somewhere where there was no one around." Armin paused for a moment before continuing. "As I mentioned before, the first few times in the mountains were some of the hardest times in our travels. We were half frozen and stuck in a cave. Eren's heat mostly consisted of him running and extremely high temperature and he had a lot of discomfort. I tended to him mostly; being a beta his Omega pheromones did not affect me as heavily as they did Mikasa."
Levi felt his hands clench tightly upon hearing the last statement but Armin chirped in immediately. "But Mikasa never ever fell into her instincts. The heats just made it hard for her to think clearly so she mostly kept watch over the mountain. See, she has a lot of control over her Alpha and she loved Eren but as a brother." Levi felt himself relax again. He would be lying to himself if he said the closeness between Eren and his Alpha sister made him slightly jealous but he also knew Eren probably would not have made it without her so he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. "So," Levi began. "you brats had a cave hideout in one of the most treacherous mountain ranges that you frequented two times a year for 6 years?"
Armin looked at Levi shaking his head and began again. "Well, Eren's first two heats were spent in a slightly less treacherous place, but when that almost lead us to be caught we decided to move to the mountains during Eren's heats. We used our same cave hideout for the next 4 visits but…" Levi watched as Armin paused looking to the ground. "but what brat?" Levi said a bit more harshly than he meant but Armin's eyes snapped up again and he began talking. "Well, I guess Eren wouldn't mind me telling you about it. See on our 5th visit our normal route had been destroyed in a landslide so we had to find an alternate method up to our cave. As Eren led us up another route he literally just fell suddenly down a hole." Levi felt himself gasp at the thought of Eren suddenly falling down into a pit out of his grasp but listened as Armin continued.
"Well, me and Mikasa panicked and ran over. We fell to our hands and knees and yelled down the hole for him. Eren told us quite quickly that he was fine and that we should take out some of our rope and climb down into the hole. Mikasa and I had not wasted any time. We quickly tied some rope to a nearby tree and made a rope ladder down into the pit. Thankfully Eren escaped with only a slight sprain. However, while he was down there he lit a torch and noticed he had landed in an underground passage. We decided that it was just as good of a place to camp out during the heat so we decided to see if it led anywhere." Armin paused a second more as it seemed he was deciding whether or not to continue. "Well! Well! What did you find?!" Hanji had started squealing obviously over anticipating Armin's answer. "It… It was something we never could have imagined." Armin started.
"The tunnel had opened up into a beautiful flowering meadow. It was full of wildlife, streams and even had a lake. The place was like something out of a fantasy novel. The harsh weather of the surrounding mountains seemed to be stopped by the peaks." Levi looked at Armin in disbelief. How could something so alive be in the middle of the deadliest mountain range forever and no one know of its existence? "THAT IS TOTALLY UNBELEIVEABLE! HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN THERE MORE THAN ONCE?!" Hanji screamed in her now uncontrollable fit of excitement. "haha… yeah we have spent all of Eren's heats there since, well except his last one…" Armin trailed off on the last statement and Levi had felt his blood boil again. Levi's voice sounded even more venomous and cold. "Where did you spend his last heat… Armin?" Levi watched as Armin shivered slightly at Levi's tone. "On the RMP ship… sir." Levi felt his stomach drop. He felt as his possessiveness of Eren burned inside him. If he could kill all of those pigs again, he would.
"Well!" Hanji rang out obviously trying to lessen the tension in the room. "Why don't we call it a night Armin? We can all talk again in the morning." "Oh… um okay. Goodnight, Hanji. Goodnight, Captain Levi. I'll see you in the morning," Armin replied sheepishly and walked to the door leaving the infirmary. Levi looked over to Hanji, his blood still slightly boiling. He told her goodnight and left the infirmary.
As Levi made his way back to his cabin, he noticed the crew had finished the repairs and had all mostly left to go to sleep. A few of his crew including Mikasa were sparring on the main deck and Levi decided to join them for a session. His blood was boiling and he needed to calm down. After a successful session of throwing most of his crew to the ground while giving some instructions to others and an extremely satisfying sparring match with Mikasa, Levi told them to head to bed and proceeded back to his cabin. Levi walked to his desk sitting on his chair and sinking into it. The day had been exhausting but tomorrow they would finally be back at sea and heading back to Trost Island: Levi's home. As Levi leaned back in his chair, his eyes felt heavy and fell into a deep slumber.
POV Eren
Pain was the last thing Eren swore he could remember. As his eyes fluttered open he only felt the cool feeling of soft sheets on his skin. He leaned upward slowly and peered around the dark room. He was in Levi's cabin in Levi's bed. Eren felt as a rush of heat hit his cheeks and started peering again around the room. The cabin was mostly dark only slightly illuminated by the moonlight peering through the window. His eyes finally settled on Levi who was huddled over in his chair apparently sleeping. The moonlight fell over him exposing his half unbuttoned top and his hair slightly tussled to the side. Eren didn't know exactly what he should do next. Should he wake Levi? Should he walk to his room and wake Armin or Mikasa, let someone know he is awake?
Eren was not even exactly sure how long he had been sleeping but his joints and muscles ached as he stretched his arms above his head. He slid silently out of the bed deciding to wake Levi. Eren didn't think Levi could be all that comfortable sleeping in his chair. He walked over quietly and found himself momentarily staring again at Levi. The moon shining through the window highlighted some of the fine edges of Levi's jaw and cast a silent peaceful look on his face. Eren looked up to Levi's slightly tussled hair. He laughed silently to himself. Levi's hair had always fell perfectly into place, even when fighting so seeing the slight bed head made Eren's face feel a little warm again. Levi's hair looked soft and inviting. Eren was struck with the sudden urge to touch his hair and fix it in place. He reached his hand out but as his fingers ghosted over Levi's hair Levi's eyes snapped open.
In an instant defensive reflex, Eren felt as Levi jumped from his seat and swiped Eren's legs from under him. Eren felt a sudden surge of panic as he seemed to fall in slow motion to the ground. Eren watched as Levi, who was now aware of what happened, panic to catch Eren so he wouldn't hit his head on impact with the floor. Eren closed his eyes and braced for impact as they both ended up tumbling down to the ground together. When Eren opened his eyes he was greeted with stormy grey eyes that were piercing directly into his. Levi had landed right on top of Eren who had become extremely aware of the fact he was only wearing a hospital robe.
"You're awake...?" Levi's voice came out as a whisper. His voice was still scratchy from sleep and the close proximity of Levi's lips made Eren's face light up again slightly. "Yeah… how long was I out for?" Levi, who was staring intently into Eren's eyes, spoke softly again. "4 days." Eren felt his face warm up again as his eyes fell between Levi's eyes and lips. When he had seen Levi cornered on the back of the ship he was sure that would be the last time he ever saw him.
Feelings Eren didn't quite understand started to well up inside him. What if Levi had died that day? What if that night when they enjoyed tea together was their last real memory? Before Eren knew what he was doing he lifted his head up and kissed Levi. Eren felt as the shock of the kiss went through Levi. At first Levi simply stayed perfectly still not moving. Eren felt a sudden jolt of electricity as Levi began to kiss him back. The kiss went on for a few moments more and was sweet and tender, not at all heated or passionate.
They suddenly heard the twist of the guest room doorknob and knew the fall must have woken Mikasa or Armin and quickly broke off the kiss. They both stood up from the ground and stepped slightly away from each other. Mikasa and Armin ran into the room. "You're awake!" the two of them shouted enthusiastically in unison. Eren felt as a mixture of relief and happiness swelled through the air. Mikasa and Armin pulled him into a hug with silent cries of relief from his two closest friends filled his ears. "I'm back" Eren replied hugging them back. Eren looked back up to Levi who was simply sitting on the edge of his desk watching the trio crying in each others' arms. Eren smiled up to Levi and watched as a ghost of pink passed over his face and he turned his head looking toward the window. "tch…brats."