He had been this inconsiderate once.

If his mother had lived into his teenaged years, he was certain that she would have been experiencing the aggravated worry he felt writhing within him. Unlike himself, he didn't suspect that his daughter was straying her youth with larcenous or other criminal activities. No, she was fairly straight laced; of course, she had her insubordination outbursts, having had inherited his stubborn attitude. But for the most part she behaved herself. That's exactly what angered and troubled Levi about ________ not being home past two in the morning.

Tea was his only petty consolation at such an unholy hour. He had gone into a stress cleaning of some sort until there was nothing left to rationally tidy. Hell, he even cleaned his cleaning supplies, though that was more or less scheduled to be done soon. As he began succumbing to the fatigue, slipping deeper into his recliner, the front door suddenly but quietly opened and closed. Newfound alertness and rekindled anger prompted him from the chair and into the foyer. It was none less than his daughter, who must have known how much trouble she was in, as she adamantly avoided eye, even facial contact.

"________," he hadn't yelled, but sounded stern and frustrated, "do you realize it's past two in the morning? What the fuck were you doing! You didn't answer your cell phone all night! Explain yourself!"

"...I just want to go to bed." She took off her shoes and jacket, then slowly trudged to the stairway, but a firm hand grasped her arm.

"Nice try, young lady. You're going to be a freshman in college in two months, and staying out all night to party doesn't show me you're serious about it. You may be a legal adult, but you're still under my roof, eating my groceries, borrowing my car, so what gives you the impression you can just disappear all night?!"

"Daddy..." She quietly whimpered before burying her face in his chest and crying. This startled the man immensely; she was a normal young woman, but she didn't cry when unnecessary. Especially in front of him. Breaking through his stupor and frustration he hugged her back, holding her reassuringly as she wept. On the other instances when he yelled at her, she either retaliated, or pretended to listen while truly blocking it out. She was more than used to his temper and could deal with it well. That was his rationalization that he didn't induce her tears.

She hid her face after he tried to grasp her chin between his fingers. She had also flinched at his touch, a very foreign response. As loud and frightening as he could be when scolding, he did not ever get physical by any means. Her hands covered her face and she turned from him. Observing the behavior did little to calm him about the situation.

"________, don't hide from me."

Reluctantly she lowered her palms and allowed him to see the damage. He looked and felt utterly aghast when he saw her blackened eye and busted lip. Was she in a fight? That was the obvious first conclusion, but it didn't add up. Levi himself trained her in self defense and fighting, as he was a professional soldier until his retirement five years ago. So ________ should have beaten the life out of whoever tried to harm her. She also was never so jumpy after previous physical altercations. He could only imagine a terrible story, but he needed to know the truth immediately.

Levi grabbed an ice pack from the freezer for her eye and the first aid kit to remedy the cut on her swollen lip. He remained silent during the whole time, assuring her that she was indeed in trouble. His paternal instincts must have detected her insecurities. He sat in a chair directly in front of her.

"_________, I'm going to ask you what happened, and you aren't going to lie to me. Do you understand, sweetheart?"

She nodded and sniffled.

"I was with... Him... And he took me for a drive, saying we were going to the movies. Instead he ended up taking me to a party his friends were throwing. They all were drunk except for me... And then he took me behind the house where a group of guys were waiting. He told them I was okay with them sharing me... I tried to leave but there were five of them, and they were football players... He hit me when I yelled, and they tossed me around, and broke my phone, but I managed to run out, and I found my friend Eren and begged him to take me home... He's actually the one in the car outside..."

He could only stare at her, disgusted and horrified. The man only felt worse about jumping down her throat as soon as she was home. Levi hugged her as she cried into his shoulder and embrace. Unbridled rage was brewing inside of himself, and he could only think to do one thing. After all, he was convinced it was his fault. He was never fond of her boyfriend at all, but she was too infatuated to care, so he resigned on the matter.

He hadn't been this inconsiderate before.

Without warning, he left her in the kitchen alone to go out onto the sidewalk. He knocked on the driver's window, then it rolled down to reveal the so-called Eren. The corporal's steely eyes put the boy at unease, but he cleared his throat and introduced himself as Eren Jaeger, a long-time friend of ________'s (and, admittedly, long-time crush).

"Oi, brat, what the hell happened to my daughter?"

"That prick boyfriend of hers and his posse tried to gang rape her. She says they only hit her. I was just waiting out here in case she needed to come back for any reason, or needed to vent."

Levi noticed his knuckles were whitening due to his vice grip on the steering wheel. Asking the boy to wait for a moment, he went back inside to his daughter. She hadn't moved a muscle while he was gone.

"________, listen to me. I'm so sorry. I should have never let you run around with him, especially since I never liked him. This isn't your fault by any means. Come on."

He hoisted her into his strong arms and fit a moment he remembered carrying her as a little girl, and how different the atmospheres were. The father carried her all the way into her bedroom. He tucked her in under the blankets after turning on the air conditioning. And, for a comforting measure, he placed an old yet beloved teddy bear he had given her as a child next to her bruised face. Oh, how her injuries pained him.

"Get some rest, sweetheart. I promise this doesn't end here. I love you."

After a goodnight kiss, he went back outside, wasting no time in getting into the passenger seat of Eren's car. The boy stared a bit at the older man.

"You got any balls, kid?"

He was unsure how to respond.

"You're going to take me to wherever this jackass is, and you're going to help me teach him a lesson."

It wasn't that it was the command of a corporal to do so (entirely), but rather to defend his friend's dignity that inspired him to go. He started the car and raced toward the party house. Even Levi was impressed with the boy's disregard for the speed limit. Beyond the shared animosity the two had for the bully and the situation, there was a bit of awkwardness between them. Eren knew that now was certainly not the time to address it.

Within minutes, they reached the house, right as the clock struck three. The party was dead at this point, only the passed out and staggering drunks remaining. They hopped out of the car, and in no time, Eren pointed out the group that harassed ________. Everybody who could serve as witnesses blacked out. Plus, they were fairly away from the rest and seemed lit themselves. Abruptly the corporal was standing directly in front of the ringleader, with Eren right behind him.

Levi's head didn't even reach the boy's shoulders, and the kid was pretty built. The same could be said for the other four. The kid snorted at the short man, asking him what his problem was.

"You're clearly the piece of shit that has the audacity to hurt my daughter."

"That dumb slut wouldn't put out, she deserved it! And what's it to you? You're gonna hit me now? You're too fucking short to even slap-"

Levi grabbed the kid's wrist, yanked him a bit downward, then used his foot to kick his face to the left, then again to the right, sending him to the ground, and astounding his posse and Eren. With a struggling composure, he got back up, spitting out a tooth. He threw a punch, but Levi dodged it by stepping beside the hit, and proceeded to kick the back of his knee, then elbowed his sternum, knocking the wind out of him and subduing him.

The attack inspired his friends to join in, and they went two for two. Eren, while not trained like Levi, had been in numerous fights throughout his childhood, and picked up a few tricks. The first to strike for him was taken care of easily. After missing a hit, Eren kicked his shin, then smashed his face against his knee, knocking him out instantly. Another kid landed a few punches on him before he kicked the kid in the jaw, earning a similar result.

Levi fended the last two off, but they were more resilient than the rest. Eren stepped in to take care of them for him. It took a bit more effort, but they joined the realm of unconsciousness. Both men were panting, tired from the workout. The older man could see the black eye the boy was getting that mirrored ________'s, causing him a pang of upset for a moment. The only thing that took Levi's attention from his daughter's sell being was the sharp, stabbing pain in his back. He lunged forward.

Eren could see that the ringleader somewhat recuperated and stuck Levi on the back with a two-inch switch blade. While Levi was on the ground to his knees, the kid made a motion to stab his head, but Eren tackled him, sending them both tumbling down a hill. Eren landed on top and began punching him in the face while receiving some himself. The bully managed to come on top soon, and he began strangling him.

"You're all idiots... She would have liked it..."

The knife was opened and adjacent to Eren's head, and within a blind fury for his own life, he managed to grab the weapon and drive it into the kid's membrane, just above the ear. Immediately the tension in his throat was alleviated as the bully fell, dead. Eren chocked on his own spit as the airflow came back into his lungs. His breathing never returned to normal, as his breath drew shaky when he laid his emeralds irises upon the corpse he was responsible for.

"Looks like you did my job for me. Good job, kid."

Eren found Levi standing over him. He had taken off his button down shirt and tied a knot over his wound, revealing his shaped physique, and explaining his fluency in combat. The older man could see the horror in the boy's eyes, and he nearly scoffed until he remembered he was his daughter's age.

"I'm guessing he was your first?"

Truth be told, it wasn't. Many years ago he had saved one of his closest friends from being sold within the human trafficking ring by killing two of her captors. The rest of the details were fuzzy, and honestly, he remembered none of it, having repressed the whole ordeal. But it was unlikely he'd forget this one.

"You'll be fine, it was self-defense. The marks on your throat and neck prove it."

"Shouldn't you get to a hospital? You've been stabbed!"

"Wasn't my first time, and for all I know, it won't be my last. It's not that bad, he missed anything important. Let's go."

The two made it back to Levi's house by four in the morning. The ride back was much less awkward then the initial, but much denser and, oddly, uplifting. Levi saw the unbridled fury steaming from Eren when the boy made crude remarks about ________, and even began to remember him as the boy that had a crush on her for years. A long time ago, he warded him off, but he saw the kid through a new lens.

"Eren, I know you've had a thing for my daughter for some time. I never thought I'd say this to any boy, but you have my blessing to ask her out. Though I doubt she'll be eager to jump into romance anytime soon."

"Just so long as I'm near her, through friendship or more, I can live with it. I just hope she's okay."

"Are you?"

"Yeah... Are you?"

He smirked and nodded. They were at the house, and Levi invited him to stay the night, which he accepted. The corporal ventured upstairs with Eren trailing behind. _________ was asleep, still in her bed, holding the bear. He sat next to her, and coincidentally, she won't from a nightmare she was suffering from. Her father held her, combing her hair through his fingers and shushing her. She lamented her fears of her old boyfriend coming after her. He reassured her that she would never have to worry about him again.

"Did you beat him up?"

"Yes. But Eren really took care of him."

"Where is he? I need to thank him... And apologize."

"For what?"

"I always knew he liked me, but I went after jerks instead, even when he was always there. I just took advantage of his heart. And honestly I do like him, but he's got to have moved on."

"I can hold my breath and affection for a long time, actually."

He joined them, earning himself a hug from his infatuation. The news reports about her former boyfriend's death raised serious questions from her to them, but resolves were made in the name of gratitude. And, for once, Levi didn't have the incessant instinct to attack the boy with his arm around his daughter's shoulders. He was pre-approved. It also helped that most of the time spent with her was under his watchful eye at their house. Levi acknowledged that the boy never made any unwise moves or suggestions, provided a smile to her face, and protected her up to his own standards. He felt relieved, even with a hard-headed boy as a potential son-in-law. Just so long as his daughter's face was smiling and unmarked.

He hadn't ever been this considerate.