A/N: Guuuys, why are you so nice to me? I honestly don't deserve any of you or your beautiful reviews ㅠ.ㅠ You keep me going when school gets hard and I love you, every single one of you for that. Really, thank you so much! ꒰⌯͒•̩̩̩́ ᴗ •̩̩̩̀⌯͒꒱
Eren dutifully followed Levi out of Hanji's lab but was surprised when instead of into the mess hall the alpha led him into a random empty room.
"Levi?" Eren questioned as soon as the door was closed after him.
Levi sighed but went straight to the point, "I talked with Erwin."
Eren felt his stomach drop with nerves. All these what-ifs started running around in circles in his head. Did Erwin change his mind? Did someone find out?
The change in Eren's posture didn't escape Levi's notice and he shook his head immediately, reaching out to grab his omega's hand, rubbing soothing circles over his wrist. "No, don't worry; it was nothing bad. He just needed to complain to someone." He was glad to feel the tension leave his mate's body little by little. "But he said you can go ahead and tell Mikasa, Armin and Jean whenever." Aaand the tension was right back. Levi almost had to smirk as he looked up at Eren's face to bask in the glorious scrunched up expression of distaste. It was obvious he wasn't looking forward to that conversation.
Eren groaned, slumping forward into Levi and hiding his face in the older's neck. "I don't want to."
Levi chuckled as he ruffled Eren's hair fondly, "I know you don't but you're going to have to, sooner or later."
"I know but I hoped I would have more time to mentally prepare myself. Mikasa's going to be so pissed. We will fight then she'll leave in a fit because I won't listen to her and instead go pick a fight with you. Armin will try to make me feel guilty for not telling him sooner, while grinning like an idiot and then he'll start overthinking everything. And Horseface will just keep making fun of me," Eren finally finished with his rant in a drawn out whine.
Levi smiled crookedly, kissing the side of Eren's head. The kid was just too cute sometimes. "I'll talk to her when she comes to me but you're such a brat, you know it will just get worse the more you postpone it."
"Can't you just nod along and pretend to sympathize with me for a minute?" Eren growled in frustration.
"Nope. I need to make you angry so you actually do something about it. Just give me a warning before you do. To prepare the battlefield."
"I hate you," Eren mumbled as he nuzzled deeper into Levi.
Levi smiled, massaging his mate's head. "I hate you, too."
After a rushed lunch Eren was glad to finally be able to attend training, to Levi's belated horror and Mikasa's relief. The girl ran to him as soon as she saw him coming, showering him in questions about his whereabouts earlier that day and the day before and his well-being, while Eren tried his best to evade her inquiries. Not that he was good at it but he could still try.
Mikasa would have none of it though and she finally had enough after a few minutes of fruitless back and forth. She grabbed his elbow to prevent him from running away from her and leaned close to his face, staring straight into his eyes from such a small distance that it made it difficult for Eren to look anywhere else. "Eren, you will tell me what the hell is going on or I swear I'm not going to let you go anywhere alone," she growled, trying to assert her alpha dominance. As if it ever worked on her stubborn brother.
At that Eren snapped, not having the patience for this alpha bullshit. "Mikasa, stop it! I can't fucking tell you right now and honestly, I don't even have any obligation to tell you every little thing going on with me! I was planning on telling you later tonight but if you're still planning on babying me like you did when we were 9, you can forget it!" Eren shouted back at her, knowing fully well on rational level that he was overreacting. Mikasa was only worried about him but he could never control the bursts of emotions.
As always when their arguments got to the point of shouting, it was Armin who had to step in and calm them both down, assuring Eren that they won't push him to tell them anything but they would appreciate not being kept in the dark completely, and then assuring Mikasa that Eren will tell them when he's ready. Always the peace keeper of the little group.
Eren had to take several deep breaths to calm down, being careful not to look at Mikasa or Armin as he tried to keep control of his voice, "After dinner come to my room but please don't talk about this with anyone, okay?"
Mikasa and Armin exchanged a confused look before they quietly agreed to leave it for now.
It was only moments later when Levi called for his squad to pay attention. As they all scurried towards their Captain, Eren noticed Jean giving him a weird look. Suddenly he recalled how confused the young alpha with a horse face had to be after yesterday when he came to get Eren and sighed to himself. That's another confrontation waiting to crash.
Looking at Levi giving out instructions for the maneuver course they were about to go through, Eren got the impression he was almost amused. If he didn't know better, he would think his mate did it on purpose when he announced that Eren and Jean would be the last ones to start.
The omega did his best to discreetly send Levi a betrayed look. Levi stared back at him blankly, only the corner or his mouth twitching almost unnoticeably.
Eren tried to ignore Jean drilling holes into him as they waited for their turn, most of the squad, the Captain included, was long gone and only Reiner and Bert were still there with the two of them.
All too soon for Eren's liking the second to last signal to start came, leaving the two all alone and Jean jumped at the chance served to him on a silver platter. "Okay Jaeger, what the hell is going on? After that creepy shit you pulled yesterday no one sees you until breakfast the next day, after which you disappear again up until now. What. Is. Going. On."
Eren grit his teeth to keep himself from barking at Jean that it was none of his business. He had to remind himself he needed as many people knowing and on his side as he could get and after all that "let's hope you get to find out" shit he pulled, he thought Jean deserved at least a little bit of courtesy. "I can't talk about it now. It's still... confidential."
Eren didn't think he'd ever seen the young alpha's eyebrows shoot so far up so quickly. He almost wanted to laugh at the dumb expression.
The seriousness in Jean's voice was the only thing that kept him from actually snorting. "Are we in danger?"
Eren was taken aback by the no-bullshit attitude Jean suddenly seemed to have developed. "Well... That depends on how you define danger." Jean narrowed his eyes at him. "Not right now but," Eren paused, looking at the ground, hand twitching to cover his stomach. "But we could be. I'll tell you everything if you come to my room after dinner. I'll be talking with Mikasa and Armin then, might as well get it all over with at once," he sighed with a shrug.
The two boys stared at each other challengingly for a long while, before the last signal sounded. They still didn't move for a moment, but then Jean nodded and shot his gear out and disappeared. Eren followed a split second later, wondering at the strange experience he just got. He thought that was probably the quietest, calmest and most level conversation he had had with the Horseface since he met him. He could only shake his head and attribute it to momentary confusion on both their parts.
The more Levi watched his squad throughout the course, the more he realized what a terrible idea this was. Eren was expecting. What if he hurts himself? What if there's a malfunction and he falls from this height? What if-
"Worried?"
Levi almost fell of the tree he was perched on himself at the voice full of amusement that came from somewhere above him.
He glared up at Hanji, who was grinning madly back at him. "Are you trying to kill me?"
Hanji shrugged. "Not my fault you were so lost in thought you didn't hear me coming. Or calling you, like, twenty times."
The alpha only glared harder. "What are you even doing here, Shitty Foureyes? Shouldn't you be writing reports or something?"
"I'm observing! Eren's performance in training is an important indicator to determine if there are any unwanted effects, like losing balance, worsened eyesight, bad judgment of distance, stuff like that."
She snickered at the slightly panicked look on Levi's face. "There shouldn't be anything wrong," she assured quickly. "Judging from the tests from this morning he's perfectly fine but knowing Erwin, he'll want to know every little detail I can get."
Levi didn't seem placated in the least, instead looking frantically for his mate. He should have realized that if anything went wrong, the bond would let him know right away, but in his worried state the bond didn't cross his mind at all. The beta studying him from above only smiled to herself. If only those people claiming how cold hearted and unfeeling Levi was could see him now.
"Levi, you do realize he's not invalid, right?" she questioned with badly concealed laugher when Levi's head snapped in the direction from which a sound of a 3DMG was coming louder and louder and his whole body relaxed visibly at the sight of Eren, perfectly fine, trying furiously to overtake Jean.
"Shut up."
Hanji wasn't sure if the red on his ears was only the product of her imagination or not, but she decided to think it wasn't; if only for the sake of her own amusement.
Dinner was a very tense affair. Eren did his best to ignore the looks boring into him from several different directions while simultaneously trying to suppress the rising nervousness; and if that wasn't enough, Levi seemed distracted for some reason while Hanji kept sending the alpha looks while snickering to herself. It just screamed suspicious.
The part of the squad that wasn't directly, or indirectly, involved didn't dare move or speak any more than necessary lest they set someone off and it didn't really matter to them which one of those someones that would be. Eren, Mikasa, Levi, it was all the same. Something was going on; however, nobody but Hanji seemed to know what.
Eren was the first to get up rather aggressively, fed up with Mikasa glaring daggers at him constantly and Armin and Jean thinking they were sneaky with their occasional peeks. Of course, Hanji's random bursts of laughter didn't exactly help either.
Mikasa looked like she wanted to follow right after him but Armin's hand on her arm stopped her. She gave her friend a questioning and slightly accusing look, but the blond only shook his head and gestured towards her untouched plate. Only then did she realize she was so busy trying to figure out what was wrong with Eren that she didn't eat at all. She let out a defeated sigh, finally picking up her spoon and digging in, much to Armin's satisfaction.
Eren went straight to his room after and proceeded to pace nervously. Was he ready for this? Hell no. Did he have any choice? Not anymore. Was Mikasa going to kill him? Definitely.
The omega grasped and tugged at his hair desperately. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to be in Levi's office, bothering him while his alpha did paperwork, like he did only two nights ago. He wanted to pretend nothing changed, as if their life didn't turn completely on its head and then right back in the span of 24 hours. As if their life wasn't still wobbly, still looking for the center of gravity it lost.
Eren felt like he was on the verge of panic when there was a knock on the door. He abruptly stopped pacing and instead slumped into his chair (that Levi graciously provided when he first prepared the room for him) in defeat. "Come in!" he shouted up the stairs, wondering how his voice didn't shake at all.
He wasn't surprised to see Armin's blond head poke in only a moment later, sending him a warm smile. Armin was, of course, immediately followed by Mikasa, who looked about ready to burst with questions, but was holding back. No doubt Armin gave her some talking to before they came in.
Eren gestured to the bed for them to sit, trying very hard not to blush when his panic fueled mind supplied that it was probably that very place where this whole problem started.
Armin smiled encouragingly, "We're ready when you are."
Eren's mouth twitched up into a humorless smile as he mumbled in response, "Somehow, I doubt that."
Mikasa looked at him worriedly. Was it that bad?
But Eren just shook his head to clear it before he continued at normal volume, "Well, we have to wait for Horseface first. I refuse to talk about it more times than I have to."
Both his friends' jaws dropped. "Jean?" they questioned in unison as if they could have heard wrong.
"Yeah, there were some... circumstances and I thought he deserved to know. Besides I think it would be better for more people to know and," Eren took a deep breath before he finished, sounding and grimacing as if he was in great pain, "I trust him."
Eren's eyes widened in terror as he looked away from Mikasa and Armin only for his eyes to fall on the horse in question, grinning like he won something. (Eren had to begrudgingly admit he didn't not win something.)
Eren scowled at him. "Ever heard of knocking, Horseface?"
Jean's smirk only widened. "I figured I was welcome to come in since you told me to come – and since you trust me."
The omega rolled his eyes. Perfect, now he wouldn't hear the end of it for at least a month. He had to remind himself that there were bigger problems right now than fighting with Jean.
He took a deep breath to keep himself from retorting. "Whatever. Anyway, can you all promise me that you won't tell anyone? As far as I know, the only people who know about this right now are Hanji, the Commander and the Captain and it has to stay that way for now."
Mikasa frowned at this. Just what the hell was going on?
"Why are you all looking at me?" asked Jean defensively.
Mikasa just shrugged while Armin gave him an apologetic look. Eren, on the other hand, "Because you have a big mouth, unlike them."
"What is that suppo-"
"Okay, okay, time out," Armin interrupted before they got completely off track. "Leave it guys, this looks like it's serious and Mikasa looks like she's going to punch a hole in the wall if Eren doesn't explain soon."
Jean and Eren huffed simultaneously but luckily listened to Armin.
"Fine. I promise not to tell," Jean recited in a forced tone of sincerity. The others only rolled their eyes before all attention turned to Eren.
The omega decided to just dive in. No use in trying to dance around the subject. "Okay, so, I'm kind of pregnant."
The effect was immediate. There was silence so deep you could hear it. No one moved and time practically stopped for a very long while.
Finally, a high pitched shout of "WHAT?" coming from none other than Jean broke the spell and suddenly all of them were moving. Armin squealed as he jumped up to hug Eren, while Jean started backing away slowly, as if he was some sort of a dangerous, unknown creature.
Mikasa was the last one to wake up from the shock, but as soon as she did, she ran to Eren's side, pushing Armin away and kneeling before her brother, clutching at his knees. "Eren, you weren't raped, were you?" she asked seriously.
Armin gasped at the possibility, as the other two only stared at her, Eren's eyes slowly filling with horror. "Oh my god, no! Seriously, how do you always jump to the worst possible conclusion? I'll let you know it was very much consensual!" Eren froze as he realized what he just said and his friends got to see as his face slowly turned the darkest shade of red.
Luckily no one commented. Mikasa only slumped, her head hanging low as she quietly whispered, "Thank god." Eren could only run his hand through her hair soothingly.
He jerked away from her on instinct when Jean asked the golden question, "So, who's the father then? Or mother?"
The color that was just starting to fade from the omega's face was back full force immediately as all heads turned back at him, Mikasa narrowing her eyes dangerously.
Eren turned away, mumbling, "I don't have to tell you that."
"Eren," Mikasa said warningly.
"And what are you going to do with that information? Go pick a fight?"
"Just warn them not to hurt you and to better take care of you two or so help me, I'm going to skin them alive."
"So go pick a fight! Keep dreaming, I'm not telling you!"
"Armin."
"What?" the blond was taken off guard by Mikasa addressing him.
"Who's the alpha? I know you know."
Armin turned a little pink, whether at the roundabout praise or at the topic, no one knew. "Well, I can't say I know but there aren't that many alphas Eren's has any real contact with. It's not you and obviously not Jean either," he was interrupted by disgusted protests by both of the boys at the mere idea, "and I somehow doubt it was Commander Erwin. Also going by the fact that Eren said only 3 people knew before us, it only leaves..."
Armin trailed off, letting the others to figure out themselves what he was suggesting – though judging by Eren's horrified expression, he was spot on. The beta knew the exact moment the dots connected in Jeans head at the impressed whistle he let out, followed by small, awkward yet equally as impressed laughter.
It took Mikasa a few more moments to give any reaction but then she shot up, heading straight for the door. "I'm gonna kill that fucking midget," she seethed as she strode purposefully forward.
Eren stumbled after her, trying to stop her desperately. "No, Mikasa, wait, what are you trying to do?!" Eren shouted at her.
Mikasa didn't even bother looking back at Eren as she answered with a voice full of venom, "He doesn't deserve you, Eren. I can't let him go unpunished for taking advantage of you."
A scandalized look crossed Eren's face. "He didn't take advantage of me! Why are you so dead-set on hating him?!" he asked loudly as he made to grab Mikasa's arm, even though it didn't slow her down much, as they left the basement and he was forced to continue in a whisper-shout. "What did he ever do to you?"
"He beat you up terribly, Eren. He lost his right to even look at you when he hit you for the first time."
Eren growled, growing more and more angry, his eyes lighting up a little bit with the protective feelings towards his mate. "He had no other choice and you know it, Mikasa! Don't you dare hold it against him; he beats himself up over it enough!"
"Good, he should beat himself up over it."
"NO!" for a second Eren forgot they weren't in private at shouted full volume, but the deafening echo reminded him to keep it down, as difficult as that was. He tugged Mikasa a step back, forcing her to a stop. "No, he fucking shouldn't," he snarled at her, his eyes shining full-force now, taking Mikasa by surprise. "My own mate shouldn't have to blame himself for something he had no control over. I won't let him blame himself for it."
They stared at each other for a long time, alpha protecting her family to omega protecting his mate, as the implications of Eren's words set in. Mikasa's eyes started flashing as well, a need to protect her brother only fueling her further despite her better judgment. "Mate. Your mate. And you didn't even bother to tell me." It sounded accusing, and if Eren was in a better state of mind, he might have detected a bit of hurt in there as well.
"I didn't tell you because I knew you would react like this! You always react like this, like I can't make my own decisions about my own life!" Eren hissed back.
Mikasa turned back around, freeing her arm forcibly and setting off again. "Fine, I get it. He's your mate," she spat the word as if it was poisonous. "I won't kill him then."
"Then where the hell are you going now?! Mikasa!"
After Mikasa left with Eren in tow, Armin and Jean stayed behind, looking at each other helplessly. This wasn't going to be pretty but they probably had no choice but to let it happen.
"Might as well enjoy the show, huh?" Jean gave Armin a crooked, ironic smile.
The beta sighed deeply, gesturing for Jean to go first. "Follow the screeching."
Eren was very, very angry. Levi could tell from the bond. Also pretty close, if the shouting getting closer by the second was anything to go by.
That was quick; he wasn't expecting them for another ten minutes or so. Well, nothing he could do about it but put away the paper work so it doesn't fall victim to anyone's wrath. He would have to write it all again. No fucking thank you.
He only had a second to prepare himself when he could finally understand what the voices were saying (It seemed they weren't even fighting over him anymore. Something about Mikasa always carrying Eren's share of wood? ...What?) before the door to his office rudely slammed open. Not that he expected anything less.
The both of them were obviously seething with eyes lit up and faces flushed from shouting at each other. He curiously looked at the blond and ash-brown heads peeking cautiously from around the doorframe, obviously not knowing what to do. If it weren't for this situation, Levi would laugh.
As it was, he could only look from one face to the other, heaving a sigh before finally looking straight at Eren. "Could you leave us, please?"
Eren gaped at him, feeling betrayed. "You can't be serious."
"Eren, you know we have to talk or it will only get worse. We talked about this."
"But-"
"Eren," came an unexpected interruption from behind as Armin finally stepped up. "I really think it would be better if you left them to sort this out between themselves."
Eren didn't seem to be willing to move so after a few awkward minutes Jean rolled his eyes and strode into the Captain's office, grabbed Eren by the elbow and dragged him out, saluting half-heartedly as Levi nodded his thanks at him, before slamming the door shut behind himself.
"They're big kids, Jaeger. I think they can do this without shedding blood. Come on." And he proceeded to drag a limp Eren away, Armin jogging after them.
They ended up back in Eren's room, mostly pushing Eren for details about their Captain and teasing him along the way. This of course didn't go without few small fights between Eren and Jean, but most of the time the omega was so distracted he didn't even care what the other was saying.
That was how Mikasa found them half an hour later – Armin dying of laughter on the floor while Eren was attempting to strangle Jean. However, as soon as they heard the door open, they all sat up straight, waiting, holding their breaths.
When the girl finally came down the stairs so the light from the several lamps could shine on her face, they all let out a collective sigh of relief. Though hiding behind her scarf, Mikasa couldn't mask the gentle expression now adorning her face. "Well... He's not that bad in the end," she mumbled, maybe a little embarrassed. She then turned to her brother, determination shining through while she took those last few steps separating them. As soon as she got close enough, she latched onto him, hugging him tight. "Congratulations. I'm sorry I don't think I even said it before."
Eren was a little surprised at first but soon he wrapped his arms around her waist in return, squeezing her tightly. "Thank you," he whispered back.
Their quiet reconciliation was interrupted by Jean asking curiously, "So what happened up there?"
Mikasa looked at him and then Armin before answering vaguely, all the time not letting Eren go, "Nothing much. We talked and realized we had a common goal. So we called a truce."
Eren snorted as Armin smiled knowingly. "Well, I think it's time you two had a good long talk," Armin announced, grabbing Jean by the collar and dragging him with him. "Once again, congratulations, Eren. Just so you know though, I really don't appreciate you keeping secrets from us. I expect you to make it up to me and Mikasa later."
Eren scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah sorry, I will. But why are you leaving already? I mean, not the horse, but you can stay longer Armin."
"Hey!" came a weak protest from Jean. He really didn't like that nickname Eren gave him.
Armin shook his head. "Unlike you guys, I'm weak so I actually need my sleep, you know. Thanks for the offer though. Night!" he smiled brightly as he waved at the still loosely hugging siblings.
Armin parted ways with Jean soon as well, as the alpha opted for joining the rest of their friends who were still making ruckus in the mess hall instead of joining Armin and retiring early.
Honestly, Armin silently welcomed Jeans decision because in the light of recent events the blond came to a decision of his own. It didn't matter how unsure of his theories and deductions he was. Now there was an innocent, unborn child at risk and he couldn't take any more chances.
As they say, better safe than sorry, right?
He needed to talk with the Commander right now.
A/N: I hope Mikasa didn't come across as annoying or anything because that definitely was not my intention. She's just overly protective of Eren and had some unresolved issues with Levi. If she seems too OOC, please let me know and I'll try to fix it...^^;;
By the way, would anyone be interrested in a silly little Halloween special? (^・ω・^ )