Hello! Another Friday, another update! Enjoy
LEVI POV
They secured his ankle, fussed over his scrapes and bruises, and avoided eye contact. A whole squad. Gone. His squad hadn't been in an official leading position or anything, but he knew they were looked to as an example. And now they were dead. All except the Titan Freak, and the Broken Doll. At least, that was what the idiots kept whispering in the corridors, to then look outraged that he would question their words. That Titan Freak tried. As much as Jeager needed to be bailed out afterwards, he really did try. And the Broken Doll? Robyn got lucky. That was it. Every medic, every squad leader agreed. Sheer luck. And she would hate herself for it when she woke up.
Beyond that… They didn't know half of it.
Levi sought the silence of solitude whenever possible. It hurt to hear the voices that were no longer there, but even more to not notice when the other noises drowned their absence out.
Jaeger chose to trust the team, whether that had been right or not was unclear, but he had trusted. That much, Levi could respect. And Robyn. Well, she had fought as hard as any of them, she even dragged herself to Petra to try and help. Broken. They got that much right; four fractured ribs, her left leg turned to dust, a dislocated shoulder, punctured lung and several counts of internal bleeding. He had never seen someone so broken still breathing, usually they had ended up in a Titan's mouth already. Small mercies. But as he had gotten closer, and taken stock of the damage, he couldn't believe what he saw.
Steam.
Faint. Barely there. But definitely steam.
As soon as his eyes caught it drifting from her leg, he found himself struggling to look away. She didn't seem to even know it was there, and it was much fainter than Jaeger's when he was injured. Like hers was diluted somehow. But had that been the only reason she had survived? He had so many questions brimming his mind when he saw that vapour, but she was beyond answering. Fever gripped her, likely only worsened by the literal heat emanating from her body. And nausea. It seemed to be drowning her. Almost like her body was rejecting the healing, refusing to accept the impossible aid. Ever since she got to the wagon, to Hanji's care, and then the infirmary, she had been muttering, hallucinating people as her mother, Petra, Gunter and Eld. So even when she was 'awake' she wasn't in the real world.
Levi hadn't dared visit when she was conscious. Beyond the need for answers, the last thing he needed to hear or see was her guilt, or even maybe her fear of reprimanding. He wouldn't. He couldn't. None of it was her fault, but he knew it would be a hard sell for Robyn to accept. Another team loss. And she had known Petra since training.
Two days after their return to civilisation, she lay under a blanket, finally still. The fever had broken a couple of hours ago, peaking the day before with her trying to scramble out of her bed, convinced the building was on fire. He and Hanji had done their best to avoid anyone else seeing the steam, or realising how quickly Robyn was healing – though it was still taking far longer than Jaeger. So their suspicions thinned with every passing minute. Clearly something wasn't normal here, but it wasn't as abnormal as Jaeger.
Once she woke up, they could talk.
She had to wake up.
Levi carefully pulled up a chair at the pillow end of her bed, watching her finally rest properly, only a slight flush against her pale cheeks. Deep bruising remained in her legs, ribs and shoulders. His own injury throbbed. A stupid mistake, but one that would keep him out of action for a while. She would be the same. At least, he thought so. The healing seemed to have slowed once she was out of critical danger. As far as they could tell. He reached and caressed along her cheekbone, glad to feel only regular human heat. It had been searing hot last night. As he grazed along her skin, he noted that small tweak of her lips, the corner twitching upwards ever so slightly.
A lump formed in his throat.
"You followed orders." He swallowed hard and retracted his hand, once again feeling useless. "You kept breathing."
The only survivor. His whole team was gone. No doubt they had fought well, they always did. When he reached where they were sprawled across the undergrowth he thought he'd fallen into a nightmare. Gunter, left swinging on his wires, neck broken. Eld bitten in two, staring up at the canopy, aghast, just like Farlan. And Petra. Sweet, terrifying Petra Ral, bent around the trunk of a tree, eyes dulled. Oluo a smear against the bark. And then finally Robyn. At first he had thought she was dead, he didn't even know why he had paused to go closer, she looked as gone as the rest of them. Body ripped open, cast into the undergrowth like mere debris. Then she moved. The slightest twitch, but it was enough to rob the air from his lungs. A chance. A hope. It was more than he deserved.
"You dumbass…" He dragged his mind back to the present. "You crawled over to Petra to see if you could revive her, didn't you? Probably made your injuries worse like that. Could've made yourself bleed out."
She frowned in her sleep.
He sighed. "Always got to look after someone else. And again I wasn't there to look after y–"
"Not your job." She croaked, one eye open and watching him, a weak smile on her lips.
The other eye wouldn't open for another day, too much bruising. Hopefully she would still be able to see out of it.
"I'm still sorry." He cleared his throat and looked away when the words came out choked.
Robyn drew a long, slightly shaken breath. "She completely blind-sided us. We didn't know what the hell was happening until we saw a signal and… And…"
And then it was too late.
He made himself turn, to make himself face her, and he jolted as he saw the tears rolling down her bruised cheeks.
"It happened so fast." She closed her eye, gritting her teeth.
"Robyn you don't have to–"
"We… I… Sh-Shit." She sobbed, putting a bandaged hand over her face as the pain wracked through her body.
He took her other hand and held as tight as he dared. "Reports can come later."
"But don't you want to know?"
"It doesn't change the outcome."
She squeezed his hand. "You won't let me apologise, will you?"
"For coming back alive? No."
She smirked, eyes shining but tears no longer falling. "Guess I'll save my breath then."
He leaned forward and pushed her hair back, glad to see the light in that pale hazel eye. "Not arguing with me?"
"Not this t-time, at least not yet."
"You must be feeling rough."
She sniffed. "What about you? No one would tell me anything on the way back."
"You wouldn't have understood it anyway, you were delirious." He recalled how unnerved Hanji had been. Between the strange healing and the fever dreams Robyn had been babbling her way through, Hanji Zoe had looked the most confused she ever had before. And worst still, she wasn't enjoying it.
"So?" Robyn pestered. "How're y–"
"I'm fine." He shook his head. "We got Jaeger back, he's in a cell for now while we find out what's happening."
She frowned. "You were limping."
Levi glanced at his bad leg. "You heard me come in then."
"Wasn't sure it was you. Took a few attempts to open my eyes… eye." She raised a brow. "So, what happened?"
Was she actually avoiding the conversation about her healing? No. This wasn't her dodging, this was her usual. She was just more interested in how everyone else was doing. Typical. Levi pushed the paranoia aside. He had served alongside Robyn for too long to be so easily bought by nerves. She hadn't been hiding this potential power from him, she probably didn't even know about its existence – same as Jaeger hadn't.
Levi cleared his throat. "I had some trouble retrieving Jaeger, the Ackerman girl made a bit of a mess of things."
"Shit, she ignore orders or something?"
"Mm."
"Dammit… She cares about him so much."
"Damn idiot."
Robyn laughed softly, before coughing. "Yeah, imagine throwing yourself into danger for someone you care about."
Clearly she had a little strength if she was able to so freely sass him.
"More like she ignored orders due to it, but I see your point." He pressed a kiss to her head. "Do you remember… Do you know what happened to the team?"
"Yeah." She drew a long breath that wobbled at the very end. "They're all gone."
He nodded. "Yeah."
"Sh-Shit." She closed her eyes and then hid behind her arm for a few moments.
He took her other hand, gently running his thumbs against the back of it, tracing the bandaging lightly, letting her breathe and find herself again. Erwin was always saying they had no time, but Levi disagreed. If they couldn't be allowed a moment to breathe, what was the point? So he would buy Robyn all the time she needed. She deserved that and so much more.
"They were a damned good t-team." She finally managed, with only one waver. "And damn good people."
"Damn right they were." He put his forehead against her hand. "And they all adored you, trusted you. Don't… Don't doubt that."
"Likewise."
He jolted, finding that hazel focused in on him like a cat ready to pounce. "I–"
"As their Captain, their comrade and anything else you want to throw in there." She sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. "We were a team to the fuckin' end, you hear me?"
For a second, he thought she was genuinely angry with him, but no. She just refused to let him taint any kind of connection they had shared with their dead comrades. There was no room for doubt. No time for second-guessing. No. They had been a squad to the end, and always would be.
He kissed the back of her hand. "Thanks."
"You're welcome, n-now come here and kiss me." She sniffed and he couldn't bring himself to say no.
Relief. He finally felt it as their lips met. He deepened the kiss, cupping her face, relishing how she sighed against his tongue, how her fingers tugged on his hair. If she wasn't still so fragile he'd have climbed onto the hospital bed right then, eager to chase that warmth, to remind himself of how alive she still was. But he couldn't. So instead, he broke the kiss and stared into her bright hazel eye, the gold almost fully enveloping the green and brown flecks.
"We have to make her pay." She swallowed hard, brows lifting as the words left her mouth, as if she expected him to argue. He nodded, placing a hand to her cheek. They both had to recover, but he was just as determined to avenge their team.
He nodded and sat on the edge of the bed. "We will, but first, indulge me?"
"Of course."
He kissed her again, gently. He trailed his lips down her throat and then put his head against her chest, ear pressed to the bandaging, listening to the thud of her heartbeat. Constant. Strong. Still there. She ran her fingers through his hair and he could have fallen asleep. Bliss. That was what it was. He had no idea if he had any right to feel that, but there it was filling him to the brim, slowly healing his loss and wounds alike.
He was in big trouble.
She put her head against his. "How long have I been out?"
"A couple of days." He mumbled, still making his way through the fog of his own thoughts. How deep had he sunk into this? How much more would this loss have hurt had she not come home? Questions swirled in his head.
She sighed. "You guys need to lay off on the pain meds then, I feel far too okay for it to only be a couple of days. Hanji being overprotective again? Or experimenting?"
He leaned back so he could look at her properly. She really had no idea. That or she was very good at acting. But that didn't seem like her style. Matter-of-fact. To the point. Blunt. That was Robyn. And in that infirmary room, he saw no lie in her bright eye. No falsehood. He recalled, after Sente's attack on the infirmary, how she had talked of her quick healing as a kind of defence mechanism thanks to Vincent's brutality. But that had been mainly a joke. Cuts seemed to scab quick, that was all. Not bones reforming and intensive inner injuries resolving. She had no clue. No, he only saw her brewing confusion as he hesitated.
"Levi?"
"She's kept the dose low due to your delirium, she was worried a head injury had occurred."
Robyn blinked. "Then how…" She looked down at herself, raised her bandaged arm and saw the still present deep bruising, but it was far less intensive than it should have been after a little over forty-eight hours. "What… Levi, how…"
"Shh." He soothed. "We'll figure this out."
"But…" she swallowed, hand beginning to shake. "Figure what out? This makes no sense. I was a mess, in bits, I thought I was dying. And I'm… Well I'm not fine but… b-but–"
"Shh."
"Levi, w-what's happening to me?"
Her eyes shone with panicked tears and her lips wobbled; fatigue mixed with her growing confusion. The last thing her body needed was a panic attack.
"Take some deep breaths for me."
"I don't… I don't underst-stand." She wasn't breathing right.
"Easy, take longer breaths."
She tried. She failed. She winced as her injuries acted up, and she began to cough harshly, clutching her side and leg as her body revolted.
"Shit." He darted to the corridor. "Help! Oi, Glasses! I need some help in here!"
Hanji stumbled into view, having likely been pouring over samples or books on theories. As soon as she saw Robyn, she got a needle with some sedative ready. "The hell happened, Levi?"
"She doesn't know a damn thing about the steam, Hanji. And she's freaked." He went to Robyn and took her hand again. "Robyn, you're safe. Just–"
"Doesn't… make… sense." She gasped, baring her teeth and shaking her head, eyes scrunched closed as tears rolled down. "How can I be… No.. Is it like Er… Eren? Can't… Be… Not p-possible…"
Levi tried to hold her steady. "We don't know, but please just breathe."
"But… How'd… I not… kn-know?"
Hanji pushed the sedative in and perched on the bed. "Hey Kiddo, we'll sort this out once you're rested, okay? Don't worry, we ain't telling anyone. We trust you."
"R-Right." Robyn gasped, gripping Levi's hand tight before the drugs took hold and she started to fade. "Just… Please… I d-didn't… I didn't lie…"
"We know love, we know." Hanji stroked her hair until her eyes had closed and her breathing evened out. Then Hanji checked her pulse and sighed. "Why the hell did you bring it up now?"
"I didn't."
"Oh so she just jumped to conclusions all by herself?"
Levi rolled his eyes. "No, Glasses. She realised how much better she was feeling, asked how long she had been out, I answered, and it went from there. I didn't pounce on her with questions."
"Oh… Sorry." Hanji rubbed her eyes, glasses scraped back into her hair. "Not slept much."
"It's fine."
"Nah… It isn't. I shouldn't have accused you like that. I know you care about her too much to be so harsh."
His eyes stayed low, his hand still holding Robyn's as her grip loosened with sleep. He carefully moved her so she was lying properly, her side stitches not busted and her leg looking alright as well. Still fractured, still bruised to all hell, but at least not bleeding.
"I'm being so foolish, Hanji."
"No, for once I don't think you are." She touched his shoulder and then tended to Robyn, checking the bandages and stitching herself. "You're feeling again, and considering how long it's been since I saw you do that… I would never call that foolish."
He swallowed hard, knowing full well that she was referring to Isabel and Farlan; Hanji had been one of the few Scouts to make them all feel properly welcome. Even if Levi had been a bit of a shit to her about it at the time. Had he really been so cold since then? He sighed. Yes, yes he had. That was exactly why it took him so long to admit feeling anything towards Robyn, even if he only initially admitted attraction instead of affection.
"She really didn't know." He sat by the bed again, watching her worried brow slowly smoothing out with the sedation. "What the hell does that even mean? Surely they can't be born like this, if she didn't know. All the brutality Vincent put her through would have surely triggered it."
"Mm, I agree." Hanji placed a cool cloth to Robyn's forehead. "Which is why I think Vincent's work has more to do with this than anything else. Not that I know how that ties to Eren…"
"But how can that work?" Levi could see how those dots aligned, but the implications were frightening. "How can Vincent have turned her into this? Did someone turn Jaeger?"
"Well, his Daddy dearest has been missing a while, hasn't he? Dr Jaeger has been gone since Maria fell."
"So we have a theme of shitty fathers…" Levi hung his head. "None of this makes sense to me."
"There's been hints before, I guess."
He frowned. "How so?"
"Remember when we were babysitting one of my Titans? And Robyn recalled the feeling of their skin? I wonder if she somehow experienced it."
Levi stared at her hand. "You mean… Like she shifted?"
"I have no idea. But then when we were at the new base camp initially with Eren, she was having some odd recollections too, connected to Vincent." Hanji hummed, mind churning as Levi gave her the room to theorise.
His own mind was too cluttered by the implications for the long term as well as for the immediate with him and Royn. What did any of it mean? Would Erwin want to study Robyn? Could Levi keep her safe from that kind of scrutiny? Should he? On and on the questions bounced off each other.
Hanji tapped her chin. "If we could find out who the hell this Kenny guy was that would be a big help. Then again, one half of a name isn't much to go on."
Levi stared at the ground. The hairs on the back of his neck twinged and he stared at his paling knuckles. It couldn't be that Kenny, could it? What would be the connection though? He was off somewhere, possibly even dead by now, but if not, conning or killing some poor MP bastard.
"What was the context?"
"Hmm?" Hanji popped her lips. "Oh apparently Vincent and this Kenny guy were arguing about Vincent's work and the royals not being happy or something… Not sure how that would tie in though. Bother."
"Did she describe the voice?"
"Eh?" Hanji tilted her head. "For Kenny? Not really, though I dunno how much that would help identify–"
"It might." Levi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Every part of him ached for it not to be that Kenny, for his own past to not be so unceremoniously dragged into proceedings as well. But if it was a Kenny that was particularly harsh, mean, blunt or had that damn way of speaking, he couldn't ignore it. "We should ask her more when she's awake and calm."
"Levi have you got a theory–"
"Maybe, but there's no point going into it without talking to Robyn first." He shook his head and put it against the mattress. "I hope I'm wrong, which probably means I'm right."
"I'd call you a cynic but at this point…"
"I'm just being realistic."
Hope you guys enjoyed ^-^