Gahhh sorry it took so long to get this up guys! Read and review...?

Disclaimer: We do not own Attack on Titan or any of the characters thusly.

ENJOY

~Aria

-Ghosties

Someone was in the room when he next became aware. Eren remained still, deciding to let whoever it was think he was still sleeping.

"Can't believe they made me do this," a familiar voice grumbled. Jean fumbled with something and then grunted, "Dumbass." He seemed to linger for a moment, but then made for the door.

With that, the other male exited the room.

He waited a few minutes after the door had closed before he made his move. He was done waiting for answers. If no one would tell him anything more about Levi, then he was going to find out by going to his lover.

Eren peered around the room with one eye opened, pleased to find it empty. He sat up carefully, groaning quietly with effort. With a soft pat to his stomach, he moved to stand. Shivers ran through him as his foot met the cold floor and his blankets fell away. He hobbled for only a moment before he moved forward, legs still unsteady.

"Come on you weakling," he muttered to himself, "this is nothing."

It took him a second too long to realize he had already pushed the door open and was out in the hallway. He didn't remember looking to make sure it was clear. Despite this, he began moving down the hall towards the main infirmary where he knew he would find his spouse. His legs shook with exertion, but he pushed past it.

Levi… he needed to see his spouse. He deserved to have someone there at his bedside in his time of need.

Eren's vision slanted, making him stumble into the wall desperately to stay up. "No…." he cried weakly, "L-Levi needs me…" He peered forward again, taking a couple more shaky steps forward. The infirmary door was so close.. But then black spots invaded his vision and he knew no more.

A loud thump came from outside the room and immediately Hanji was alert. She went towards the door cautiously. "Moblit," she hissed, "stay at his side, just in case." They had already had one intruder after Eren; so if word had gotten out that Levi had been injured, what was to stop them from trying to go after him as well?

He nodded tersely, shifting himself into a ready position.

The brunette then opened the door carefully, peering out into the hallway for the source of the sound. Her brain froze momentarily as she took in her favorite cadet's motionless form on the ground.

"Shit," she growled. Two things hit her immediately - his head was bleeding and he was more front faced than side faced; neither of which meant anything good.

"Moblit! Get out here," she shouted to her trusty assistant. She rolled Eren onto his back and looked for the source of his bleeding. A small laceration on his temple made itself known through the blood seeping from the wound. The amount of blood didn't exactly alarm her as head wounds tended to bleed unnecessary amounts.

"E-Eren? What is he doing out here?" Moblit asked with surprise, kneeling down beside his superior.

Then her attention shifted to the more serious matter at hand. She placed a delicate palm on his stomach and let her eyes fall shut with concentration. "Come on baby…" she murmured, "just give me a sign that you're okay in there."

If Eren had landed mostly on his front then there was the terrifying possibility that the force of impact had hurt the baby… possibly even killed it had the hit been hard enough.

She waited with baited breath, hand still on his protruding middle. "Come on," she begged, "anything.. Please.."

Another minute passed and there was nothing and her heart sank. "No… please," she called in a shaky tone, "we've gotten this f-far. Don't give up now, little one."

It suddenly occurred to her just how attached she had become to that little lifeform. Even though the scientific part of her mind had known the risks involved. Even then, she had gotten attached. She had gotten attached… and now...

There was a kick at her hand.

Hanji jumped and beamed with a cry of: "There we go!" A breath of relief whooshed from her lungs, "Moblit, help me get Eren back to his room. His passenger seems to be okay." With her underling's help, they managed to heft the brunette to his feet. Together they went back to the private infirmary room where Eren was posted.

Her medical side kicked in as soon as he was fully situated back on the bed. She straightened her glasses swiftly and took a closer look at the still bleeding head wound. "Moblit, I'll need some gauze and adhesive. His temple is still bleeding," she called absentmindedly.

In the meantime, she lifted his shirt to peer fully at his rounded belly. A bruise was already beginning to form where he had fallen. She winced and rubbed it ever so gently. "You'll be feeling that when you wake up," she muttered.

A part of her wondered how the baby was really doing. It wasn't exactly the first time Eren had managed to hit his stomach. There was only so much such a small being could take with such limited protection. The possibility was already there that it might come out a titan - but what if it came out deformed in some other way because of trauma?

She shook the thoughts away, deciding to be optimistic. It had given her a sign of life, that was all she needed for now.

The duo spent the next hour caring for their patient. By then, Hanji had a full catalogue of things that needed done. Everything from Eren having three daily meals to having time to stretch his legs. She couldn't confine him to bed completely, as much as she wanted to, but she could restrict him severely. Perhaps if he finally acknowledged how weak his body currently was, he would accept her new orders more readily.

Moblit peered over her shoulder wordlessly as she wrote down yet another rule. His intelligent gaze moved back to the pregnant male after a moment. "Why do you think this fever keeps coming back?" He asked.

Hanji hummed in response, "Could be several things. The most probable cause is his body believes he is fighting some kind of infection and so a fever develops. In actuality it is just the abnormality of carrying a child." She huffed, "I need to try and make some kind of fever reducer for him. Something that won't interact with the baby or anything."

"Giving yourself too much to do again," her assistant pointed out.

She cracked a small grin, "Always. That's what I'm good at."

"..That and being loud," Eren muttered from the bed.

The spectacled woman scoffed in a way that was reminiscent of Levi, "Good morning to you too, idiot! What were you thinking getting out of bed like that!? Your body is in no condition for you to be moving so drastically."

His glassy eyes glared at her weakly, "Your fault for not telling me anything more about Levi.."

Her assistant nudged her when she went to retort.

"Oh fine," she conceded, "but I didn't want to stress you out. So I decided not to tell you details."

"Which in turn only made it worse," the titan shifter countered easily.

Hanji puffed her cheeks up in response, "Whatever. How are you feeling?"

He shifted onto his good side with a grunt of effort and then shrugged in a noncommittal way. "Bad," he said.

Moblit had to stifle a chuckle.

The brunette grinned, "Thanks for the status update there, my little titan. I'll be keeping a closer eye on you now. Especially since I know how dire things have gotten." She snapped, "Ah! That reminds me - no getting out of bed unless someone is here to help you."

Eren stared at her in disbelief, "W-What?"

She looked to him sternly, the way a mother would a disobedient child. "You heard me, Eren. Your body is weak and a bit malnourished because you can't keep anything down. So we're going to have to build your strength back up little by little. Until I think you're strong enough, no getting up without assistance."

He frowned. "I don't need to be coddled," he grumbled.

"You could have lost the baby," she broke in suddenly, feeling fed up with his denial as to what his condition was.

His head snapped in her direction, shock written all over his features.

Hanji looked back at him steadily, "Did you even notice the needle that's feeding fluids into you? You were so dehydrated I had to put one in you. On top of that, you very well may have hurt the baby falling like you did! You keep on this course and you will miscarry, Eren."

Moblit put a hand on her arm, which stopped her from saying anymore.

She ran a hand through her unruly locks in exasperation, "I'll… leave you for now. I'll station Moblit just outside in case you need him." Hanji got up and left the room after that, unable to look at the look of shock and sadness that marred her favorite cadet's face.

Guilty as she felt for having said such a thing, she didn't necessarily regret it. If he wouldn't accept his physical weakness as a warning, then maybe her spelled out warning would finally get the message through. He needed to acknowledge that this wasn't something that would just pass on like nothing. It would probably linger and fester.

When she finally found it in herself to return to the room, hours later, Moblit informed her that he had tried to escape the room three more times before finally conceding and seemingly giving up.

The woman couldn't help a sigh as she took in the teen's disheveled state. His fever had returned yet again, bringing dreams along with it. She stayed with him and comforted him for a few hours. Half of her wanting to make up for her harsh words, and half of her wanting to coddle him against his wishes. Because whether he liked it or not, Eren had pretty much become one of her favorites.

His nightmares had been rather consistent, with hardly any gaps in between. He couldn't really tell what was real anymore. Sometimes the images he saw made him feel physically sick - their macabre scenes so detailed. Eren had lost count of how many times he had thrown up from the bloody and grotesque displays of his comrades being decimated before him.

He tossed fitfully in bed, sweat gathering at his forehead from the low grade fever he had been running. His delirious thoughts kept returning to Levi. Even in the fogginess of his mind, he recalled that Hanji had said he was alive. But that didn't necessarily mean he would make it. Perhaps his injuries were too great and he was dying.

The dull pounding of his heartbeat in his ears slowly increased in volume. Surely they wouldn't be so cruel as to keep something like that from him. And yet, he had heard no further news on the wellbeing of his spouse.

His head was spinning. A low whine escaped his lips as he rolled his head about on the pillow. He needed to know.

Suddenly there was a cool hand at his forehead.

It gave him pause. Eren peeled back his eyelids to peer around feverishly. His vision was blurred but he managed to focus on a figure to his left. He blinked heavily in their direction, trying desperately to get his eyes to cooperate. "W-Who..?"

"Shhh," came a familiar voice, "rest, Eren."

His sluggish mind struggled to register the resonance, and then it hit him. His gaze widened as he finally managed to focus completely on his husband's face, "L-... Levi..?"

An exhausted smile came onto the other's face, "Yeah it's me, brat." The cool hand that had been placed at his forehead then moved to lightly stroke his cheek.

This time it was tears that blurred his vision, "LEVI!" He ignored the dizziness and nausea he felt to sit up and latch onto the man.

"H-Hey not so hard," the Corporal scolded with a hiss.

Eren gasped and backed away, becoming hyper aware of the various bandages that littered his lover's form. "Oh god Levi… I-" He was interrupted when Levi pulled him back to his right shoulder. He accepted the new position and gently worked an arm around the other's smaller frame.

The familiar scent of his partner filled his heart and chipped away at the fog surrounding his mind. He cried into that firm shoulder, choking on his own shaky breaths. "Y-You're here…. You're not dead… oh thank god…." He blubbered.

Levi was quiet for a long while before he said anything. "..Of course," he finally said. His right hand moved to the growing stomach that took up residence between them as his eyes looked into those bright ones he had envisioned even in unconsciousness. "I had something to come back for."

He didn't think he'd ever tell the teen the truth of the matter - he had nearly been dead. So nearly that his long deceased mother had appeared to him, if only for a moment. In all of his life, Levi couldn't think of a time when he had come quite so close to death.

His thoughts were broken by Eren reluctantly pulling away and wiping frantically at his wet eyes. He watched wordlessly, his good hand placed on his lover's knee.

The brunette sniffled and finally looked at him, eyes raking over his form. Eren's heart sunk as he catalogued all the injuries. Some kind of head injury based on the wrappings about his head. His entire left arm was engulfed in bandages and hung in a sling. He could also see the bulkiness of wrappings under the white button down Levi wore.

Tears again came to his eyes as he realized the severity of his spouse's wounds. "I-Is anything permanent?"

"Hanji isn't sure yet," he replied dully. "Though I'm sure she'll be surprised to see me up and about," he then muttered, more to himself.

Eren let his head rest again on his lover's right shoulder, "You shouldn't push yourself…"

"Nor should you," came the sarcastic retort. Those dearly familiar eyes gazed up pointedly to his bandaged temple.

He bowed his head in shame, "I know… I… I just…"

"It's alright," Levi murmured, "I understand."

The two sat in a comfortable silence after that, neither relinquishing their hold on each other.

Eren wasn't exactly sure when he had fallen asleep, but when he woke up Levi was gone. He sat up quickly in bed, the action causing his stomach to spin, and looked around. He definitely was gone, and it made Eren wonder if perhaps he had dreamed the whole thing-Levi coming in and comforting him. He had been having a lot of lucid dreams lately, so it wouldn't be unheard of.

Tears began to well in his eyes. If it had been a dream, then what condition was Levi really in? Everyone had been keeping him fairly in the dark on things, and since Hanji had recently restricted him from leaving the bed without help, there had been no chance for him to get up and actually see his lover. He could've been dying, and Eren would have no way of knowing.

He swung his legs over the bed, determined to stumble down to the main infirmary despite Hanji's stupid subscription of bedrest.

The door was thrown open then, making the teen squeak as he drew his legs back into the bed.

Hanji sauntered in with a sombre face, eyeing the shifter suspiciously as he wriggled to get back under his covers.

"Eren, how many times do I have to tell you to not get out of the bed without someone here?" she sighed dramatically.

The teen laughed anxiously, rubbing the back of his neck and shrugging off her accusations.

The scientist rolled her eyes before grinning widely, "Levi woke up this morning."

Eren took a sharp breath. So he had been out all this time. His gut wrenched in sorrow. Hanji seemed to notice his discomfort as she crossed the room to approach her patient.

"But it'll still be a while before he can get out of bed. He's pretty weak. I caught him out of bed this morning and-"

"You did?! You mean he actually got up?"

Maybe it hadn't been a dream.

Hanji smiled, "Yeah. The stubborn shorty was pretty much stumbling out of your room this morning. I assume he came to see you, but you were probably asleep."

Eren sighed, a soft smile gracing his lips.

Thank you, Levi.

After Note:

Soooooooooooo yeah? No? Sorry these last few chapters have been kinda short we were struggling to find inspiration but I think we're getting it back now! And hey, we didn't kill Levi so you shouldn't hate us now, right? ...Right?