Family

Chapter Nine; Reunited

"Papa?"

Dear God. Eren hadn't called him Papa in years. Not since he was very young. But Eren didn't have black hair, either. Nor was he a member of the Survey Corps. He would be just a trainee, hidden safely away with the other first-years in the barracks.

But noticing the patchless uniform and the comfortable wearing to the cloaks fabric, Levi realized it was Eren. Eren, who must have slipped away from the other trainees and gotten his hands on Manuver Gear and donned his cloak, to make it seem he was older than thirteen.

But he wasn't. He was still a child, and a child who looked like he was on his deathbed.

Carefully removing the rest of the rubble from Eren's body and dragging him out, Levi draped one of Eren's arms around his shoulders and managed to make it to a shadowed alcove made by two alley walls that had half-collapsed on one another.

Eren's gaze was still glassy and slightly unfocused, but he managed to fix it on Levi once more.

"Papa?" He repeated softly, with clear effort.

"Eren? My god, what did you do to your hair?" Levi asked, horrified.

"I...dyed it...and...cut it..." Eren said between coughs. Levi fumbled in his pocket for his flask of water. Finding it, he propped Eren up and gently poured a bit of the flask's contents into Eren's mouth.

It didn't help much.

"Ouch. Stupid titan. Shoulda cut off its other hand, too." Eren muttered crossly.

"Yeah, well, we can discuss your titan-fighting techniques later. But right now, I'm taking you to the infirmary." Levi said, standing unsteadily, placing all of his weight on his good foot. He reached down and pulled Eren upright, throwing his arm back around Levi's shoulder.

"Dad, I'm perfectly fine." Eren argued.

"You are not. Quit lying. I would bet money that you have broken ribs at the very least." Levi said, and ignoring Eren's protests he switched their Manuver Gear's, since Levi had been forced to cut his own line. Using Eren's Gear, Levi managed to get them up Wall Rose without another Titan encounter. Upon stumbling onto the walls top, they came face-to-face with Petra, Oluo, Eld, and Gunther.

"Captain?" Gunter asked incredulously, as the three had just been discussing whether or not to go and look for their Captain, as none of them had seen him since they got there.

"Don't look so surprised. I'm not dead yet." Levi said loudly, bringing them out of their shocked stupor.

"Of-of course you aren't! We didn't believe for a second you were! I told you, Petra!" Gunther said nervously, giving Petra a punch on the arm.

Petra grabbed Gunther's fist and twisted his wrist painfully.

"Mmm hmm. Sure. You're the one who told me." She said sarcastically.

"Hey, who's that?" Oluo asked, pointing to Eren, who was blissfully drifting in and out of unconsciousness.

Levi snapped his finger in front of Eren's face, causing his emerald eyes to fly open for all to see. The four let out simultaneous gasps.

"Wake up. You might have a concussion." Levi scolded.

"Five more minutes, Dad." Eren muttered.

Levi sighed, shifting Eren's weight carefully before glaring at his squad, who were staring with wide eyes and doing very good fish-out-of-water impression.

"Well? Any of you want to help me?" Levi snapped.

*********

That was how, nearly an hour later, a concussion-free Eren was happily sleeping in an infirmary bed with tight cloth bindings wrapping around the entirety of his ribs.

Levi stood in the doorway, observing his son silently. Eren looked pretty much the same, minus his hair, but something in his son had changed. There was an underlying sorrow to him, a carefully guarded expression that he had worn on the battlefield, one that Levi knew well. It was the same look every experienced soldier wore, when fighting titans. It was the look of one who had been exposed to the cruelty and malice of this world.

Eren wasn't a child anymore. He was grown up, even if he was only thirteen.

Quiet footsteps approached, and Hanji came to stand beside him.

"He's not a little boy anymore." She said quietly.

"Don't remind me." Levi said, just as quiet.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure the first girl he brings home will run at the first sight of us. And I've already made a bet with Erwin that the first girl to break his heart will end up dead. And you'll have no alibi." Hanji said, dead serious.

"I wouldn't do that. I'm not stupid. I'd have an airtight alibi." Levi said expressionlessly.

Hanji studied him, not quite sure if he was serious.

"Okay, then. I'm just going to go, you know, tests and experiments to run..."

Levi could almost see a smoke trail she had left so fast.

"Captain Levi, sir."

A new voice sounded through the halls.

Turning, careful to keep the weight off his injured ankle, Levi spotted the training officer he had spoken to on the first day.

"Hmm?" Levi asked, a bit irritated.

"I was told you had one of my trainees in your care. Cadet Rivaille?" The officer said.

"Rivaille? You mean Jaeger?" Levi asked.

"No. Cadet Eren Rivaille. That's what he signed up as." The officer said, confused.

It clicked then, for Levi.

"Oh, I underestimated him. He knew I'd come looking for him, so he used my surname." Levi said, talking to himself.

"Your surname? Do you know him?" The officer asked.

Fishing the picture from a year ago out of his pocket and showing it to the training officer, Levi said, "Do you remember, a year ago, when I came looking for my son?"

"Of course." The training officer replied.

"Eren cut and dyed his hair and used my surname when enlisting. He's smarter than I gave him credit for." Levi said, looking back into the infirmary at his son proudly.

Dead to the world, Eren was oblivious to the conversation. But the final parting comments reached him, in his dreams.

"You must be very proud, Captain Levi."

"I am. I always was."

Still sleeping, Eren smiled.