Right after they ate lunch – Eren practically force fed by the end as his portion was just too big and everyone refused to listen to him – Hanji dragged Eren back upstairs to her and now Armin's room for a quick check up. She didn't have any of her equipment on her but what she could do was still better than nothing at all and she wanted to make sure the forced separation or the other events that transpired had any serious effects on Eren.

While the two of them were gone, Levi and Armin stayed behind in the dining room in what would be an awkward silence if it weren't for the chatty owner. Apparently they were her only guests at the moment and she had nothing better to do than talking their ears off. Levi didn't have the heart to deny her, partly because he found every little piece of information about little children priceless right now as neither he nor Eren actually had any idea what to do with babies, but mostly he felt obligated to do at least this for the old woman after she shared her worries about her business since the visitors to Stohess greatly decreased after the last Survey Corps "visit". She didn't seem like she knew the two titans who wrecked the town appeared because of them – or that one of them was currently pregnant and getting examined in one of her rooms – or if she new, she was definitely not blaming them and the soldiers were grateful for that. Nonetheless, they still felt guilty.

Armin even deeply apologized several times. It was mostly his plan, after all. Maybe he even should have seen through Annie earlier, much earlier maybe, like during training or after Trost, when he saw Marco's gear in her possession.

He couldn't help the guilt even after all these months and countless assurances from his friends.

Eren and Hanji only emerged again just before the sun started setting. The owner went around the room lighting lanterns and illuminating the darkened room with warm softness while Hanji announced Eren seemed perfectly healthy and the omega beamed at the other two. Levi visibly relaxed at that and leaned over to kiss his mate softly while ignoring the old woman cooing at them.

At that moment a loud, forced cough came from the entrance to the dining room.

The soldiers froze as they turned around to come face to face with none other than Commander Nile Dawk who looked about as shocked as they were.

The tension immediately raised as everyone jumped up to protect Eren, Nile reacting instinctively and taking up a defensive position himself. They stood there in icy silence, no one moving a muscle.

All the soldiers jumped when a loud clap resounded in the still room. "I don't know the problem is but there will be no fighting in my inn as long as I'm alive. I'm sure you can talk this out over a nice cup of tea."

"Madam, you don't understand," Levi growled, only moving closer to Eren, who made a sound of displeasure. He was quite done with everyone protecting him these days. However, three voices shushed him immediately.

"Captain Levi is right for once. You don't understand," Nile said, his voice nearly as dangerous as Levi's.

"Nile Dawk, you will listen to your mother and you will be nice to her guests. I don't care about your work a bit so sit your ass down."

Nile visibly hesitated but didn't relax; the owner only huffed and turned to face her gaping guests. "I apologize for my son, he really is a good boy but sometimes he forgets his manners when he's not working. I hope you can excuse his rudeness."

The four Survey Corps' soldiers tensed after being addressed but than breaking out of the stupor they were thrown into, they blinked a few times, glancing in between Nile and the owner.

Finally, Hanji spoke up, "I'm sorry, did you say you're his mother?" she asked, jerking her thumb in the Commander's general direction.

The owner smiled warmly at her. "That's right. My oldest son. I suppose you know each other."

The squad leader only nodded mutely, still not fully comprehending what was going on.

It was still a few tense minutes before Levi relaxed his stance and put his dagger away, though his pheromones were still deeply penetrating the air. "Who'd guess the big, bad Military Police Commander was really just a mama's boy?" he said with fake nonchalance, wariness still apparent in his tone of voice.

Nile scoffed as Hanji snickered, joined by the old owner. "He is, isn't he?"

"Mother, please," Nile protested offendedly, however, he was ignored.

"Nile, your mother is old and ready to die. Don't add to her stress and sit down already and be nice. They are lovely people."

Nile scoffed, glaring at the Survey corps angrily. "Why are you still here?"

Hanji finally sat down first, soon followed by Armin who was still shaking a little. The brown haired beta cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Still? Did you know we'd stop here?"

"Yes," Nile nodded, slowly nearing the table as well, but carefully eyeing Levi who refused to move from his protective stance. "I told Erwin this would be the safest place to stop for the night. I just didn't expect you to stay so long. Where is he?"

Hanji frowned, her confusion only growing. "We had..." She groaned in frustration, turning her gaze to the small alpha next to her. "Levi, you're making me nervous! Calm down already!"

Levi had to bite back a growl but after a few seconds he obliged, flopping down to the closest chair and throwing an arm over the backrest. He still dominated the whole room but at least the tension considerably lowered. Eren followed him and slowly sat down as well, nonetheless never taking his eyes from the threat.

Hanji sighed, shaking her head, before she continued, "We had to take care of something. The others, Erwin included, left in the morning already. The four of us are leaving tomorrow. But what do you mean, you told Erwin? Safest?"

Nile looked uncomfortable and for a few seconds looked everywhere other than them. But after a minute it looked like he made up his mind as he got up again, striding over to the door he used to enter and shut them closed resolutely, before joining the others back at the table. Suddenly he looked more like the Commander he was.

"Okay. Some of you," he glared directly at Levi when he said this and the alpha only stared back impassively, "might think I'm stupid. But I'm not blind. Something is going on or you lot wouldn't be so aggressive during the whole affair. I don't know what exactly it is, but I can't help but think the accusation, however fake, wasn't that far off."

There was a collective intake of breath the four tried to hide. Nile only shook his head and continued, "When I add the fact even I felt like I should stop the trial to it, for which I had no reason..."

The omega bit his lip anxiously, exchanging a look with Levi. Nile knew. But why... If he indeed did, why were they here, talking calmly? There was no hostility coming off of Nile; more like resignation if anything. Eren didn't understand.

"I said this to Erwin as well," he sighed. "You're awfully lucky those cadets came when they did. We had to call the whole thing off before it blew up. Since the accusation was proven fake from the culprit's own mouth, we had no real right to push the issue." He paused to rub at his temples, the stress he was under apparent. "And let me tell you, the nobles weren't happy about it. They wanted me to go through with the trial anyway. I refused, saying it was against protocol. They said, and I quote, 'They are the Survey corps and the damn monster, who cares about protocol.'"

Hanji cursed under her breath quietly while Armin stared in horror and Levi's fists clenched angrily. Eren could only make a disgusted face as it didn't exactly surprise him.

"So..." Armin started hesitantly, seemingly deep in thought. "You let us go even though you suspected something was up? Why? Uhm, Sir!" he added quickly, remembering last minute he was talking to a Commander.

Nile gave him a calculating look, staring the scared blond beta up and down. "Don't get me wrong. I didn't do it for you. I just don't have any proof and I value the rules. As opposed to you people," he scoffed, giving them all a look to which Hanji only grinned, obviously taking it as a compliment.

"But you sent us to a safe place for the night..." Armin pressed, too curious to listen to his instincts that were warning him not to push the alpha.

The tall man didn't look pleased at the inquiries and the beta shrunk back at the dirty glare he received, but he didn't relent. Finally, Nile sighed. "I'm against ambushing people in the middle of the night with the intent to kill someone who's only sin so far is existing," he paused for a second before shaking his head dismissively. "Not that I wouldn't feel better if he were dead but..."

He didn't have to say anything explicitly for the others to understand. The nobles were plotting to have some soldiers launch a surprise attack on them and kill Eren – or maybe all of them. Levi's alpha dominance suddenly spiked again accompanied with a growl as his arm stretched to partially shield Eren.

Of course that wasn't a very smart move as the only effect it had was the gears visibly turning in Nile's head as he put two and two together, until his face twisted into a disgusted frown. Of course, Levi couldn't say he cared.

"So that's why..." Hanji mumbled after a moment of silence thoughtfully, for which she received several questioning looks. The beta looked around and upon realizing the others were not following, she elaborated, "This was probably what Erwin wanted to talk to you about yesterday, Levi. After you left, he just told me to be careful and look out for Eren, that he might be in danger. Told me to tell you as well. He was really vague about it, though, and wouldn't tell me anything else, so I just assumed he had a bad feeling or something."

Solemn quiet followed Hanji's explanation until Armin muttered, "He didn't want us to worry."

"Would not worrying be better than going out fucking blind?" Levi growled menacingly. Obviously he was angry at his Commander.

Suddenly everyone started looking around, decidedly uncomfortable but unable to detect the reason. However, it only took Levi a second to detect the overwhelming anger that was radiating off of his mate.

Eren, who has until now been suspiciously quiet, was seething. Levi immediately grabbed his hand, which earned them another disgruntled look from Nile. "Eren?"

There were several seconds of silence before the omega abruptly got up, his chair clattering to the floor as he leaned heavily on his hands over the table. "Are you fucking serious?" he bit out though clenched teeth. "I knew people would always be after me but to pull out something like that? They are goddamn cowards!" If it were possible, his eyes would burn a hole into the table as he glared intensely at one spot on it, his head hanging low, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

"No one ever said people were decent, Eren," Hanji whispered, resigned knowledge in her voice.

"I know!" Eren all but shouted. He had to take several deep breaths as his alpha gripped his forearm assuringly. When he started again, his voice was much more controlled. "I know. I've known since forever; since those scumbags who kidnapped Mikasa and killed her parents. But this... Those people are supposed to be leading the last of humanity and they stoop so low as to attack from behind in the middle of the night." He was angry. Angry at this disgusting world, at those disgusting pigs, at Erwin for trying to keep it from them, at Nile for telling them. At himself that things like this still succeeded in making him angry.

No one said anything for a long time, silently agreeing with Eren, yet not having anything to say.

It took the omega several more deep breaths to calm down before he shut his eyes and exhaled deeply. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for," he whispered, leaning down to pick up the fallen chair, before he sat back down slowly, carefully, obviously trying to control himself.

Hanji only chuckled humorlessly while Nile shook his head, surprising everyone else with his next words, "It's understandable. I hate to say I even agree. But you'd be wise not to speak this way in front of me, or really anyone else not from your... happy little group, again."

Hanji actually snorted at that. "Happy little group? That's a new one."

Nile glared at her but said nothing. If they didn't know better, they'd say he maybe blushed a little bit.

The door to the kitchen opened then, Mrs. Dawk peeking out hesitantly. "Can we bring out dinner for you? We can leave again after that but it's getting cold and you shouldn't eat cold food for dinner."

Nile sighed something that sounded on the borderline of frustration and fondness. "It's okay, mother. We're done here."

"Oh, great. I was getting worried you were threatening to arrest them or something," she noted teasingly as she put a giant bowl of mashed potatoes in the middle of the table.

"Thank you mother," her son barked bitterly, obviously not amused by his mother's teasing.

"Yeah, thanks mom!" Hanji sang happily, digging a spoon into the bowl. She received a wide grin and an eyeroll in response.

"You're more than welcome sweetie."

"Your mom is great! Nothing like you," the female beta said with a wide grin, scowling at Nile during the last part.

Nile only scoffed, yet he was secretly amused when she got a whack over the head from the alpha Captain – who still had one of his hands on the titan-shifter's knee.

Honestly, the implications of their interactions disturbed the policeman deeply but he decided not to ask any questions. One, he doubted they would admit to anything and he had no means nor any proof to make them confess, and two, he was pretty sure the less he knew, the better. For him as well as everyone else. If the shifter was indeed expecting a little titan, god knows what the nobles – or worse, the First Military Police Brigade – would make him do. Worst case, they would have him... "retrieve" it. No thank you. A mission like that was equally as terrifying as it was probably dangerous. Not only would he be up against a goddamn titan but by the looks of it, against Levi as well. He had a wife and three kids. Suicide missions were not exactly on the agenda for him.

A/N: These chapters are getting shorter and shorter... OTL (And I hate this one on top of it being short. Really hope you don't share my sentiments.)

Sorry, once again, for taking so long. I've been struggling with myself a lot lately and had no energy or motivation to write.