"Levi!" Eren called softly, yet urgently. Levi only groaned in response, burying his face deeper into Eren's pillow, circling his arms around his mate's middle to drag him close again.

"Levi, we have to get up!"

"No we don't," Levi mumbled in response, sleep dripping from his voice.

"Yes we do! It's late! Almost lunch! Mikasa even came looking for us."

"It's a fucking day off; I don't have to do shit. Erwin isn't even here; who would even bitch at us?" Levi cracked open an eye to glare at Eren. "Just go back to sleep." And his eye fell shut again.

Eren shook his alpha insistently. "Levi, seriously; it's gonna be suspicious," he whined. "And what if someone needs to talk to you?"

"I'm not in charge, Mike is. Everyone can go eat shit."

Eren looked down incredulously. He couldn't believe how lazy his mate had become as soon as the Commander was away. Suddenly he felt something yank at him and he found himself blinking into Levi's chest a split second later.

"Just go to sleep." It was probably meant to sound like an order but muffled by sleep and Eren's hair it came out more like a sigh.

Finally, Eren couldn't find it in him to fight him anymore. He only hoped no one other than those in the know noticed they were both nowhere to be found and missing meals in the process. A few minutes later Eren was almost asleep again, snuggled into his alpha who was long gone as well.

But then a creak came from the door leading into the basement and before Eren could panic and shove Levi from the bed in a vain effort to hide him, down came Hanji's voice, "I hope you're not having sex 'cause I'm coming down."

Eren groaned internally, while Levi groaned externally. "Go the fuck away, Four eyes. I get one full night of sleep but then all these shitty people keep waking me up." His growl was getting more and more aggressive with every word. Even Eren felt the need to cower.

Hanji actually looked and sounded apologetic when she spoke up next. "I'm really sorry but I need to talk to you. A message came from Erwin, there seems to be a problem with the higher ups in the capital. They want to talk to me and Eren. That means you have to come, too, Levi. I'm really sorry, but we have to leave as soon as we can."

Eren felt his stomach twist with fear. What happened? Did they find a hole in Hanji's reports?

He only calmed down when he felt Levi's hand in his hair. The silent reminder that he wasn't alone was enough to ease him completely and suddenly he felt more annoyed than anything. The capital was so far.

He heard the alpha sigh in relief at the calmed rush of emotion from his mate before sitting up. Levi was pissed. It's been a while since his last day off and he could actually normally sleep for once without staring into the ceiling for hours on end and then the pigs from the capital decide to ruin it. As if he hadn't hated them enough before. They always ruin everything. He'd bet even the fucking titans were their fault somehow.

"Okay, you're up now," Hanji started matter-of-factly. "Just in case; before we leave, we need to get our stories straight."

Eren's brows scrunched up in confusion. "Stories?"

Hanji nodded as Levi got up from the bed and headed for Eren's dresser, where he had half of his own clothes stored, and started changing. "Yeah. We don't know why they're calling us up there but we have to be prepared for the questions and you don't have any idea what I wrote into the reports."

"Oh." Eren scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "What should I say then?"

"If they ask you whether you're pregnant, deny it."

Eren rolled his eyes, throwing a pillow at his mate. "I know that! I'm not stupid; I'm not letting them touch them!" he snapped in irritation.

Levi shrugged, tossing the pillow that completely missed its mark right back.

"Right. Levi, I know you're nervous, but-"

"I'm not nervous, Hanji," Levi glared at her over his shoulder while shrugging into his shirt.

"Of course not," Hanji noted, giving him a look when the alpha 'tched' over the realization he buttoned the shirt wrong. Hanji decided not to comment for her own safety. "But don't rile Eren up too because of it. We all need to be calm and not all of us have your damn poker face."

"Are you sure it's not you who is nervous?"

"Okay!" came a loud voice from upstairs and all three of them startled, looking like a group of some especially dumb titans. Armin snorted at the sight as he closed the door after himself and Mikasa. When the three of them realized who it was, they relaxed, Eren heaving a huge sigh and falling backwards to land on his bed. He had enough surprise entrances today to last him until next year.

When the cadets came down, each carrying a tray with what looked like lunch, Armin gave them all a look. "I don't know what's going on, and excuse me if I seem rude, but you all seem kind of on edge. Take three deep breaths and you can start again."

Eren groaned from his resigned position. "Don't scare me like that, haven't you heard of knocking? And why are you here, Mikasa just left."

Armin exchanged a look with Mikasa, who then answered for him. "When I did leave, and that was almost an hour ago, by the way," Eren frowned at this information. He didn't think he fell asleep at all before Hanji came, but there was no way this much time passed otherwise. "I told you it was almost lunch time but you didn't come anyway, so we figured we'd bring you something to eat," she mumbled, trying to bury her face into her scarf even though she had her hands full. Then she glared. "And we knocked. Several times, in fact."

Armin looked around the room, taking in the fact that Hanji was dressed in her uniform and Captain Levi was gathering a set of 3DMG straps that looked a bit too big to be his, and was on his way to be in uniform as well. He frowned, putting the tray in his hands down next to where Mikasa had put it on the table, and asked, "So what happened? Isn't it a day off for you, too, sir?"

The Captain tossed the 3DMG in Eren's general direction before announcing in a resigned voice, "We've been summoned to the capital."

Armin gasped as Mikasa shot a glance at her brother and then his mate. "Did they..." she let her question fade out.

Hanji gave her a wry smile. "No idea and that's the problem. Would be easier if we knew we should better run, honestly," she sighed heavily, taking off her glasses to rub at her eyes. "But honestly, I don't think so. I had Moblit look through our reports and he didn't say anything, so I doubt the idiots up there noticed we were making it all up."

Mikasa hid behind her scarf while Armin bit his lip. "Can we go as well?"

Eren shot up at the innocent question from his best friend, eyes wide with alarm. Luckily, before he could protest, Levi beat him to it. "No," he said sternly, giving Mikasa an especially hard glare since she looked like she would fight him over it. "You can't go because one, we don't need any more people stressing out. Two, in case we need to run, the less people the better. Three, I need people I trust here."

Levi got four surprised looks in return for his speech but he only stared impassively back. Finally, Eren asked, "Why do you need people here? Isn't Mike here?"

Levi rolled his eyes.

"If there is someone waiting for an opportunity and realizes all the biggest threats, the Captain, the Commander, Eren and even Squad leader Hanji, are gone, they are probably going to take action," mumbled Armin, surprising everyone. "But if there are such people, they would be after Eren; I don't think they're going to make a move in this situation," he continued, looking up, but then he realized everyone was staring at him and listening in wonder. Immediately a blush appeared on the beta's face as he visibly shrunk away.

There were a few seconds of silence before Levi shrugged. "You can never be too sure. And as I said, the less people, the easier the run. And if we are to run, the more people we have on the inside, the better as well."

"You are so pessimistic," Hanji muttered into the following silence. Levi folded his arms in front of him, rolling his eyes, and suddenly the heavy, solemn atmosphere was broken.

Eren cleared his throat before speaking, "Hanji, you wanted to coordinate our answers?"

"Right," she clapped, jumping at the change of topic. "You two can have your lunch while we're talking, so we can save time. So as for tests we've been supposedly running..."

It was only an hour later when they actually set out for the ride to the capital. Not only did Hanji have so much stuff to tell them that Eren doubted he'd remember half of it were someone to question him about it, but Levi also refused to leave without a shower. Sure, he was quick about it, but in the end it held them up good fifteen minutes since he had to go upstairs to his room for his things, then to the showers and back to his room. Luckily they didn't have to hunt down the squad since Armin and Mikasa happened to stumble into the commotion by themselves. It was a day off. Finding anyone but the poor person in charge was a challenge.

There were only the three of them going and they were in a hurry to catch the postponed meeting so they took their horses instead of a carriage. It was faster and honestly, all three of them were far more comfortable on horseback than sitting in some shaking carriage. As soon as they left the castle premises, Eren started feeling anxious. For some reason he had a feeling something was going to happen every minute now and judging from how fidgety the other two looked, he wasn't alone in this uncomfortable feeling. Of course, in the alpha's case that could be caused by Eren's own nervousness getting carried over through the bond but Eren thought that was unlikely. Their bond was kind of dull in this area and the omega was pretty sure his unease wasn't strong enough. But he was convinced something was wrong. Something was going to happen and he just hoped all four of them would come out of it unharmed.

However, despite his worry, not a single thing happened on the way. They arrived in Mitras safely, without any incident, within four hours, although their horses didn't look like they appreciated this record time. More so, when Erwin met them at the Military police headquarters after they got there only to sheepishly relay to them the big shots were "tired after the long morning business talks" so the meeting they were called for was pushed back to tomorrow either way.

When the three heard this, they looked at each other, and Eren swore he could hear Levi's teeth grinding, then at their panting horses.

"Well, I'm glad these tired sweeties can't understand us," Hanji chuckled awkwardly. "I'd bet they would be pretty pissed otherwise."

Levi grumbled in response, "No shit. I'm pissed enough and I didn't run all the way here. Those pigs better hope I take a really good shit or I'm going to fucking murder them tomorrow."

Eren felt his hand twitch as he suppressed the need to touch his mate to help calm his anger. That would be a bad idea considering their whereabouts. Instead he affectionately patted his horse in praise, promising her quietly to come and feed her and her friends some really good treats for their vain effort.

Suddenly, he felt something run through him, an emotion that didn't belong to him and that was gone so fast he couldn't identify it. He stood up straight, feeling his neck crack with how fast he looked at his mate. The alpha wasn't looking at him but he was definitely standing closer to him than before, moreover in a slightly defensive stance. Eren quickly scanned the courtyard they were standing in for threats but they were virtually alone, the only people in sight being the two obviously bored guards at the entrance who weren't paying them any attention.

"Levi?" Eren asked quietly, worrying at his lower lip. He didn't understand what was going on.

His mate ignored him though, instead addressing Erwin in an icy tone, "So we're spending the night."

Erwin looked like he had to force down a sigh, knowing it would only agitate the Captain further. "We would have to either way, Levi." He said carefully, calmly.

"Where is Eren sleeping?" he was positively growling now.

Eren went rigid at the realization and they could hear Hanji's sharp intake of breath. Obviously this problem hadn't occurred to her either.

Erwin shot an apologetic look at Eren before he answered clearly, "In one of the basement cells." He visibly flinched and Eren could only imagine Levi's eyes were glowing now. He really wanted to grab his mate's hand now, or better yet, kiss him in assurance, however, as things were, the omega could only hope Levi wouldn't do anything reckless.

Their Commander quickly spoke up, trying to placate the furious alpha. "But I managed to convince them he didn't need guards and I don't think it will be difficult to arrange for you to have the keys and be the one to pick him up tomorrow." He lowered his voice into an almost whisper, "It's an isolated cell, so you can have some time to settle down together."

Eren couldn't say he was completely happy about it but it was probably the best they'd be able to get. He was supposed to sleep in the basement, chained, in their own headquarters as well, after all. He shot the tall blond a grateful smile for his efforts. "Thank you, sir. We- ahem. I appreciate it." He could almost feel Levi rolling his eyes.

Erwin smiled slightly back before nodding towards the small stables for temporary stay. "Tie your horses by the entrance, I'll tell Nile to send someone to properly take care of them. I need to debrief you about today."

The three of them saluted, although Levi still looked ready to rip his superior's head off, and strode away together. In a few paces Hanji caught up with Eren, speaking in a low voice, "Do you think you can spend the night separately?"

They could hear Levi snort a mirthless laugh as Eren gave her a smile. "Of course, don't worry. We won't be that far away; still in the same building. It won't be the most comfortable sleep but it shouldn't be a problem."

"Are you sure?" the beta wasn't convinced. "With every passing week the need to stay together should be getting stronger. When was the last time you were further than fifty meters apart?"

"We'll be fine, Hanji," Levi snapped at her, while aggressively tying up his horse by the water canister, apparently still very much annoyed.

Eren sighed, but nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Hanji, promise." He paused before muttering to himself, resigned, "Not like we have much choice anyway."

Hanji shot them both a sad, guilty look; as if it was her fault. They were pointedly not looking at her, pretending to be busy checking on their horses. Hanji couldn't help but notice how they obviously gravitated towards each other, standing closer than necessary, trying to soak up the other's presence.

She hoped they were right and they would be alright in the morning, able to properly face whatever was awaiting them tomorrow.

A/N: Sorry, I'm late again ㅠ.ㅠ

And I honestly don't know how I feel about this chapter... So much ereri, so little plot...