A/N: It's aliiive!

Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are. (Does anyone even remember this? ^^;;)

It was before dawn the next day when Armin hesitantly knocked on the door of Captain Levi and Eren's room. Hearing no movement even after knocking again, he slowly opened the door to peek inside. The room was completely dark but he could make out the shapes of them sleeping on the bed. Carefully, he took a step inside but before he could call out or otherwise make his presence known, one of the shadows shot out to crouch protectively over the other, with what seemed like a knife in his hand.

Armin cried out in surprise, jumping back a bit and saluting on reflex. "Sir! I'm sorry, Sir! I was just sent by Squad Leader Hanji to wake you and Eren up!" he explained rapidly, his heart still beating loudly.

It took a few seconds for his words to process in Levi's head but then he visibly relaxed, putting his dagger back under his pillow. "Sorry I startled you. Thank you, Armin, you can go."

"Sir," Armin said, heaving a sigh of relief before releasing his salute and backing out of the room.

The room was silent for a moment before Eren, rolled over on the bed. "That scared me," he mumbled, voice still hoarse from sleep.

"I though you were asleep," Levi said, running a hand through his mate's hair.

"I was," Eren stated matter-of-factly.

Levi winced. "Sorry."

Eren shook his head, suppressing a yawn. "No need. I'd rather you wake me up for nothing than not wake up at all one day."

Levi made a face and Eren smiled a little, pulling him down for a kiss in reassurance.

There was still barely any light outside when the four of them were getting ready to leave, horses patiently waiting to be mounted just outside the inn. Mrs. Dawk stood in doorway, watching them as they put on their jackets and cloaks. She was biting on her bottom lip and looked very much like she had something to say, throwing glances outside before going back to eyeing Eren carefully.

It wasn't until they were almost out the door that she finally spoke up. "Eren, dear, you're not going to ride a horse all the way back to your headquarters, are you?"

Eren paused, blinking at her owlishly before exchanging a look with Levi and then Hanji. Both of them looked just as confused as Eren felt.

"Umm..." Eren let out dumbly, having no words to say.

Mrs. Dawk frowned, shooting an accusing glare at Hanji, before elaborating. "You're expecting, you should be avoiding excess tremors or there might be complications!"

"Oh," Eren blinked a few times, taken aback by this new information. "Well, there's not much we can do about it."

"We'll probably have to go much slower than we planned to," Hanji said slowly, thinking. She hadn't noticed anything wrong with Eren before but she was no expert by any means. "What exactly could happen?"

Now it was Mrs. Dawk's turn to be taken aback. Her frown deepened as she gave Hanji a suspicious look. "Aren't you his doctor?"

Hanji smiled wryly, "Only out of necessity. I'm not a doctor and I don't know much about pregnancies in general."

They received a narrowed glare under which they all shrunk guiltily; the one Levi received being especially sever, as it was apparently his fault he couldn't get his mate a proper doctor. He had to bite back a defensive growl.

The old woman sighed, accepting begrudgingly that she didn't know about their circumstances, and they did look like they were trying their best. So she went to explain. "Well, he might end up being too open to be able to keep the child in his womb. Worst case scenario, the baby falls out. If it seems it might be getting to that point, it's bed rest immediately until he closes again.

"If he starts not feeling well at any time, you listen to him. No 'it's just half a mile more.' Let him rest. That applies all the time, not just for this travel. Also-"

The woman continued to rapidly hurl information upon information at them in regards to pregnancy, frequent problems and what to do during labor, trying to educate them as much as she could in the little time she still had.

Soon Armin started turning green as Eren gulped audibly, staring wide-eyed at her, and Levi just looked like he would give anything to be able to erase the conversation from his memory. Only Hanji was hanging onto her every word, committing everything to memory.

They were all dead quiet until they'd left the inn behind them and Armin, still not exactly healthy looking, said in a slightly high-pitched voice, "Well, now I'm sure glad I can't get pregnant."

Eren laughed at that, sounding slightly hysterical while doing so. Levi resolutely stared ahead, determined to ignore any discussion bordering on the topic from earlier. Hanji, on the other hand, gave Eren a sympathetic look. "At least we have some idea what to expect now. Better than going completely blind like before."

"I think I would be better off going blind, in all honestly," Eren muttered bitterly. "You're not the one who'll either tear or be cut open when the time comes – but don't worry, the labor pain will be so bad I won't even notice."

Hanji winced, having nothing to say to that. "At least she'd promised to come help us when the due date comes close."

"Yeah..." Eren sighed, trying to find solace in having someone who actually knew what they were doing on their side. He was startled from his brooding by shouting from somewhere ahead. He frowned, wondering what was going on so early in the morning. Only when their little group exited the narrow street they were going through, finding themselves in the wide open area in front of the main gate, did it hit him. There were still several buildings that were in a state of disrepair, with men running around trying to rebuild them.

Armin immediately looked like a sense of shame ran through him. He exchanged a look with Eren who felt just as guilty for a moment before the shadow of the anger and betrayal he felt back then overwhelmed him again. He grit his teeth, trying to push the emotions back; especially the one feeling of confusion he still harbored somewhere deep within him over the last few seconds of the fight he had had with Annie. He tried to ignore the biting memory of how sad and broken she looked right before hiding in her pretty, little, convenient crystal. Somehow, Eren had always doubted since then that she was that much of a demon as they – he – made her out to be, but thinking about it was too confusing and too painful. It was easier to think of her only as the enemy, the traitor. It was easier than wondering about what-ifs and making up excuses for her. The fact remained that she killed too many people to be forgiven and then ran away rather than face the consequences.

Still, Eren couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her to make her show such an expression.

After they finally exited the city, Eren slowed down his horse to fall back next to Hanji. She gave him small, if questioning smile and he took a deep breath. "Hanji, what's going on with Annie now?"

The squad leader gave him a slightly puzzled look. "Where did that come from?"

"I know I've never asked but..." Eren looked away from Hanji's piercing look. "Passing through Stohess; I got curious, I guess?"

Hanji studied his expression for a bit, trying to figure out what was going on in Eren's head right now. Ever since the incident, Eren had refused to even hear the name. He'd always left the room whenever someone mentioned her, much less asking about her himself. She wondered if he finally came to terms with it or if he simply decided to stop running away. However, finding no answer on his slightly nervous face, she went to explain. "There hasn't been much progress, actually," she sighed, making Eren raise his eyes to look back at her. "You know we took custody of her after you beat her. We've put her underground in one of our smaller bases and I've been trying to figure out how to get her out. I've been experimenting on a piece of crystal that was left after her titan body disintegrated, trying to find some chemical that might be able to dissolve it."

"But you haven't?" Eren asked, though it was not much of a question.

The beta shook her head. "No. So far I've only discovered it's similar in basic structure to what the walls are made of."

"So that means..." Eren started slowly, not sure he understood what she was saying correctly.

"Yes. The walls are probably made by titans crystalizing themselves," Hanji said simply, confirming Eren's suspicions.

The boy took a sharp intake of breath. "So that's why you'd been making me try to harden before..." he looked down at his stomach, biting his lip. "And now we're hindering what could be a solid clue to retaking Wall Maria."

"It's for a good cause," Hanji said quietly with a soft smile and Eren couldn't help but smile as well. It was, indeed, for a good cause, if a bit ill-timed.

Hanji's smile turned into a wide grin as she realized Eren didn't even notice his inadvertent use of 'we' instead of 'I' and the knowledge made her feel irrationally giddy. She decided not to mention it.

Eren cleared his throat then. "So have you tried just... I don't know, breaking the crystal?"

Hanji cocked her head to the side, studying Eren for a moment. "Well, you were pretty out of it so you probably don't remember but some people tried that kind of immediately. They weren't even able to put a scratch on the damn thing with our swords." She chuckled humorlessly before continuing "But I'm kind of wary of trying to use force, honestly."

"Why?" Eren questioned, eager to know whatever she was willing to share with him.

"Because it might kill her. All her functions probably have to be completely stopped while she's inside so who knows how much she's actually blended into the crystal, somehow? If we broke it, we might break her right along with it. Like a frozen fruit. Cracked right inn half. Even if that's not the case, it might be too much of a shock for her body to be suddenly woken up from this sort of heavy hibernation. Either way, I don't think this is a process that could be sped up too much."

Eren didn't say it but they both knew it. Not daring to speed up the process was one thing; not knowing where to even start triggering it was another.

The ride back to headquarters took them much longer than they meant it to. After the horror story they got to hear that morning, not one of them was exactly eager to hurry the move up, but the whole thing was much more grueling than needed be. The fact they expected an ambush every minute of the way only added to the fatigue they all felt when they finally arrived at the castle early that afternoon.

Apparently, they also unintentionally caused some nervousness there as well, as Mikasa met them as soon as they stopped in front of the stables. Obviously she'd been anxiously awaiting them and judging by the growling of her stomach, she even skipped lunch because of it.

"What took you so long?" she questioned Eren and Armin as soon as the officers dismissed her salute.

Eren rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly after landing on his feet, dismounting from his horse. "Sorry, we've received some... disturbing warnings over hurrying," he explained, making a face. He really didn't want to remember that particular conversation.

"What?" Mikasa frowned, not understanding. She looked to Armin for explanation, who only shook his head.

"You really don't want to know."

Taking in the twisted looks on all of their faces Mikasa decided she indeed didn't want to know. So instead she nodded, turning to Hanji. "The Commander asked to tell you to report to him as soon as you arrive. He seemed nervous about your delay as well."

Hanji groaned. "I don't want to talk to him; Levi you do it," she whined, hanging herself over Levi's shoulders.

Levi immediately shook her of. "Disgusting. You smell like a horse and five days of sweat." He shuddered, making a face. "You better take a shower before checking on Eren."

"I will if you report to Erwin for me," she said innocently.

The alpha only sneered before shoving her face away. "No fucking way, shitty glasses. This is your problem so go deal with it yourself."

"Mean!" Hanji cried, dramatically clutching at her chest. Suddenly, she turned to Eren. "Isn't he mean? Eren, tell him he's mean!"

"Uhm.." Eren looked around helplessly but was met only with amused and slightly curious stares from his sister and best friend, and a challenging one from his mate. He looked back at Hanji and begged, "Please, leave me out of this."

Hanji pouted slightly, but got distracted immediately after as a short bark of laughter came from the Captain. The other four stared at him in amazement even as he caught himself a second later and schooled his expression back to neutral.

Soon, Hanji was grinning like a maniac, barely stopping herself from jumping to hug her short, grumpy friend. Who knew something – or someone – could ever make him actually laugh, out in the open, in front of witnesses. She grinned wider when Levi frowned, obviously unhappy with himself. "Okay, I'll take that as payment," she sang, not caring she just agreed to both reporting to Erwin and taking a bath.

Still, Levi didn't seem happy. He clicked his tongue, before yanking all of the reins from their hands and striding off, leading the horses away.

There was silence after him that broke only when Mikasa snorted quietly, covering her mouth with her scarf in an effort to muffle herself. "Was he actually embarrassed?"

"I think so," Armin whispered, still staring after their Captain with wide eyes.

"Definitely," Eren nodded with a grin.

Hanji laughed again, clapping Eren on the back. "Good job."

Eren turned to look at her questioningly, but she only winked at him before she turned around, stretching her arms above her head to release some of the tension in her back as she headed inside the castle. "I expect you in the lab in two hours."

The three of them who were left exchanged glances before shrugging and heading inside as well, Eren immediately dragging Mikasa towards the kitchen to feed her, whether she liked it or not. If she wouldn't let him starve, like hell he would let her do so.

Only when Eren finally sat down in his own bed minutes later to get dressed after his shower and wait until it was time to go to Hanji, did Eren realize how tired he still was, even after sleeping half the day away the day before. He didn't know if it was the relief of finally being back at the headquarters or what, but suddenly he felt every muscle in his body relax for the first time in what felt like forever and he only wanted to bury himself in Levi's warmth and pass out for a while. He definitely didn't feel like moving or letting Hanji prod at him.

He reasoned he still had time before he had to go anywhere so he let himself fall down on his bed, staring at the ceiling for a long time. His thoughts came back to the trip they just came back from and he felt his face scrunch up. He bit his lip, trying no to cry; he thought he got it out of his system that night when he had the fight with Levi but now, lying in the silence of his own basement cell made into an inhabitable room with Levi's own hands, with Levi's clothes inside his closet, and the knowledge he could go in and out whenever he wanted to, see Levi whenever he wanted to, it hit him again just how damn close this was. He almost lost everything. He almost let Levi lose everything.

He hated crying this much; people had always called him a crybaby but he just couldn't help it, not this time. These past few days were too much. First the fear and stress with the interrogation, then more stress with Nile, the exhaustion from the long, slow journey back. And now he could lie back and let it all go and suddenly it was too much to hold in. So he let it go and the tears finally spilled. Eren curled up around his stomach protectively, stroking at it carefully, and letting himself cry. Then he had to laugh when he realized he could feel a tiny bump there already.

Not two minutes later the door to his room opened and soon his bed dipped with additional weight. He didn't have to open his eyes to know who it was; he only leaned up into the touch when his mate stroked his cheek carefully.

It took either of them a moment to acknowledge the situation but then Eren reached up to grab Levi's hand and slowly looked up at his alpha. He was surprised himself how easily he smiled when he saw the caring look on Levi's face.

The other frowned lightly at the conflicting emotions both on his mate's face and those that were seeping through the bond. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the serene atmosphere in the room.

Eren's smile widened a bit as he replied. "I am now."

And he was.

They were home.

A/N: Apparently no school means no procrastination means little to no writing. Who'd have thought? Hopefully, the next chapter won't take me as long to write as this one did...