This chapter is only half-edited because I'm just not feeling it right now and it's been a month since I updated so I really just wanted to get this up. I'm so sorry for the wait, guys; hopefully it doesn't take this long next time, but life is kicking my ass right now.

(And yes, this entire chapter is a flashback.)

---

"Whenever you're ready, then," Hanji called from several meters away.

Eren gave them a nod, but his eyes were trained fifty meters up. He couldn't specifically see the short man at the top of the wall, but felt he could somehow feel Levi's eyes on him as well.

Levi watched impassively as Eren, fifty meters down below, sunk his teeth into the flesh of his hand and a nearly blinding green light exploded around him, causing the corporal to have to squint. His hands stiffened around the handles of his blades, ready to jump into action if need be. Erwin's orders were to give Eren at least ninety seconds in titan form - if he changed - before anyone was to pursue freeing him from the beast, and that was only if his behavior was abnormal. It wasn't like Levi to disobey orders, or even plan to, but with it being Eren down there in the given situation, he was prepared to face the consequences if it came to that.

Despite its size, Eren's titan was difficult to see past the billowing steam. Levi's knees bent, his eyes never straying from the large gray cloud, prepared to jump as it gradually thinned out.

"Hold your positions!" boomed Erwin's voice from Levi's left.

Down below, Hanji and their squad had jumped away from the steam and were clinging to the side of the wall, watching, waiting.

Finally, finally the face of the titan came into view. It was eerily still, its eyes heavily lidded as if it were lethargic, its jaw hanging slack with steam pouring from the open throat. It only had patches of hair, and as the steam continued to dissipate, Levi found patches of its skin were missing with the muscle underneath frayed and torn like wires.

Hanji shouted something Levi's ears couldn't make out, though he was sure they were trying to grab Eren's attention. They continued to yell in that overly cheerful voice of theirs.

And then the beast roared louder than he'd ever heard before. Only twenty-two seconds had passed, and the beast fell to its knees with a cacophonous boom that rattled the ground - and Levi was springing into action. Various forms of his name reached his ears as he swung toward the grass, but he paid them no mind as his main concern was with Eren. He swung directly into the thinning cloud of hot steam and found a steady perch on the titan's shoulder just as it suddenly went completely silent and limp, slumping toward the ground in a fetal position on its knees, its arms thudding against the ground.

"Dammit, Eren!" Levi hissed as he found his way to the nape where the skin was a bit puckered and stretched out - where he knew Eren would be. Automatically his eyes were measuring out where Eren's body was trapped inside the beast, preparing to cut him out as quickly as possible without severing any limbs or fingers.

He tore away at titan flesh with his blades, ignoring the steam immediately rising up and nearly blinding him. He could hear shouting from all around, could hear the zipping of maneuver gear cords, yet he paid it no mind. His priority was Eren.

Eventually, he came to a mop of brown hair, the reddened skin of Eren's neck, and a half-lidded left eye. He continued to tear it away and once most of Eren's torso was revealed, sheathed his blades and leaned down into the fleshy heat, worming his arms around Eren's torso and yanking him upward. The muscle-y flesh connected to the usually smooth skin of Eren's cheeks snapped almost immediately, but his trapped arms were a different story. As Levi tugged and slashed at it, holding up Eren's limp, too hot body all the while he spit curses to the wind until finally, finally he managed to completely free Eren's body from the titan that, without the boy inside, was already beginning to evaporate into the air.

Quickly, Levi gathered the unresponsive boy into his arms and hopped from the hunk of steaming flesh. His own skin felt almost searing; between moisture from the steam and his own sweat, his hair and clothes clung to his skin. The air once outside the vapor cloud was a major relief, and he sunk to his knees before easing Eren onto the ground in front of him.

In no time they were surrounded by other soldiers, including Erwin, who had a hard, steely look in his eyes - whether it was due to Levi deliberately disobeying orders or Eren's condition (or both), the corporal did not know, though he expected an earful for it later.

"Eren," he said, shaking the titan shifter by the shoulders. "Wake up, brat."

Levi was internally panicking. Eren's eyes were shut, his skin an odd, light shade of pink as if he'd suffered minor first degree burns all over. Lines ran from beneath his eyes to his jawline where he'd been connected to the beast on the inside, and there was no definitive sign of life.

Several sets of feet ran forward from the small crowd of soldiers. Levi didn't have to look up to know it was the rest of his squad.

Holding his breath, Levi pressed two fingers just beneath Eren's jaw and waited. A small sigh of relief involuntarily escaped his lips when he felt the quickened thrumming beneath them - though the rate of his heart was seemingly a bit too fast...

"We need to get him back," Levi said. "Quickly."

A few feet ran off to fetch a cart and others went to investigate what was left of the titan carcass, per Hanji's orders. Another set of legs kneeled at Eren's side - Erwin. The corporal ignored him while he worked on collecting Eren's body in his arms again just as his eyes peeled themselves open and a soft moan escaped his lips.

"Eren?" Levi asked, brows knitting heavily toward one another. "You in there, kid?"

Slowly, just as Levi's ears picked up the clattering of carriage wheels, Eren's eyes trailed up to Levi's, mildly unfocused. "Levi?" he breathed, barely audible.

"Yeah, kid, I'm here," the corporal assured. "You're such a slacker," he muttered.

The very corner of Eren's lips turned up a bit, a breath resembling a laugh brushing past them. "Sorry..."

Levi rolled his eyes and pulled the teen's body closer to him and worked on pushing himself to his feet. Eren fell almost completely limp in his arms; he could feel the shifter's heart racing at an almost unnatural rate. The corporal refused to leave his side as he was placed in the carriage and covered with a light sheet. Two others joined for the ride, and though he barely spared them a glance, Levi knew it was Armin and Mikasa.

Only moments later they set off back toward the castle with the rest of the legion trailing behind on horses or between the buildings with their gear.

"What went wrong?" Levi was asking Hanji several hours later. They stood at the foot of Eren's bed in the infirmary, watching Eren sleep. He'd curled up on his side, his hair splayed about the pillowcase and his cheek pressed into the palm of his hand.

"Not entirely sure," Hanji responded. "There wasn't enough of the carcass left after you pulled him out to tell much. Judging by his fever, though, I'd say it put his body in some kind of shock, suddenly transforming like that after so many months."

"Has his fever gone down any?"

"A little. But it'll be a while before we're able to test it again. His body will need the time to recoup."

Levi forced a swallow. "So his life isn't in danger?"

"No. His vitals are strong. And with my past data from experiments with him, the elevated heart rate and blood pressure, along with the fever is fairly normal with his ability."

Levi gritted his teeth. Sure, the heart rate and blood pressure spike was normal for him, but not quite at such an alarming rate, and the fever was much too high for Levi's comfort zone. Nonetheless, it wasn't his place to make any medical judgment - he knew the bare minimum basics and that was it. But if anything happened to Eren, he'd be having some strong words with several people.

"Relax, Levi," Hanji said with a smirk, placing a hand on his shoulder. "He'll be fine. You of all people know he's a fighter." With that, they strode from the room, leaving Levi alone with the sleeping cadet.

He remained at the foot of the bed a few seconds longer before sighing and taking a seat in a chair at Eren's bedside. He could watch the boy's ribs expand and contract with his mildly quickened breathing, could see his eyes flicking back and forth beneath their lids. His caramel skin was flushed a soft rosy hue from his fever, and he'd been virtually unresponsive since right after being pulled from his titan. Oddly enough, the bite wound he'd inflicted to transform was nowhere to be seen which, with the other scars on his hands from the previous times, worried the corporal.With these things in account, Levi wasn't prepared to leave him alone.

It took less than a day for Eren to come to, and only two days for him to be mobile again. But his fever remained for nearly a week despite anything they gave him to try and break it. They kept him in the infirmary just in case, and rarely was he alone, Levi being the one in his company more than anyone.

"You don't think anyone will get suspicious that you're here so much?" Eren whispered one night.

"I don't care if they do." And he'd meant it. At that, Eren's lips quirked up into a small, tired smile. He'd wished Levi would crawl into the bed with him, but they both knew the risks of being walked in on, and that was a scenario neither of them had the energy or desire to deal with. So while Eren curled up around a pillow instead, Levi remained in his chair, often with paperwork and different possible strategies others in the regiment came up with.

It was just over a month before the medical team - and Hanji, who was all too eager to do more experiments on the poor kid - deemed him ready to try for a second experiment in trying to coax his titan abilities back after being unable to transform on the failed expedition to the basement. They used the same spot; Levi insisted upon being against the wall with Hanji's squad rather than on top of it, bringing him closer to the shifter and therefore making it easier to get to him and cut him out if need be.

Hanji gave their cue, and Eren bit into his right hand once more. A flash of green light and a cloud of steam erupted from where he stood, and suddenly there stood the fifteen meter titan with its piercing green irises and mop of chocolate brown hair. Its eyes lifted from the ground and found Levi directly; he could just feel Eren in there and Hanji let out an excited holler.

They let themselves jump to the ground and sprinted right up to the beast, who watched them with mildly startled eyes. They shouted something Levi couldn't make out just as the last of the steam dissipated and then the beast knelt down, offering its hand for the lunatic of a soldier to clamber their way into without a second's hesitation.

"That damn fool," Levi muttered as he released his cords from the wall and hopped to the ground himself, followed by the rest of Hanji's squad. Despite his irritated scoff, he couldn't deny his relief. Eren was acting impeccably normal as he lifted Hanji toward his face, who automatically started giving him commands to follow, which he followed with ease.

After scratching several things in the dirt in Eren's messy handwriting, stacking a few things, among several other commands, Hanji hopped from his hand and spun in a circle, rejoicing that their shifter 'had returned!'

Arms crossed, Levi gazed straight up at the beast, who sat cross-legged on its bare ass. He swore, just as Eren met his eyes, despite the beast lacking lips, that it smiled proudly at him.

"Brat," Levi muttered under his breath.

By then, the rest of the legion was joining them on the ground, some applauding and some smiling at the success. Levi felt Erwin saunter up behind him and glanced over to find him nodding in approval in Eren's direction.

"Looks like we may be able to start planning another expedition soon!" Hanji gushed as they trotted up.

"Not so fast," Erwin murmured. "We have to make sure this keeps up becau--"

The instinctual tightening of his gut had Levi stopping listening and his head whipping back up to the titan. Its eyes had suddenly gone vacant and completely gray, holding no more luster or animation to indicate Eren's presence within it. Its arms slid off its thighs and thudded into the ground, just before its head lolled forward.

That was all it took for Levi to draw his blades and run in Eren's direction. The hooks of his cords were embedded into a giant shoulder in a second flat, and in the next he was launching through the air toward the beast's face. Almost as soon as the soles of his boots connected with its skin, it snapped to attention and a giant hand came up to grab at him. Fortunately, he managed to launch himself over its shoulder and sink a blade into it to keep himself from tumbling back to the ground. The beast roared in pain, causing the corporal to wince as he watched a giant hand follow him.

"Eren!" he yelled, dodging it once more and clinging to the titan just above where the boy was embedded inside. He was only met with another roar erupting from the titan's giant throat, this one different than others he'd heard. It was almost...agonized and steam began curling from the orifices in its head. "Dammit," he hissed. He could feel the thing heating up by the second and knew he'd have to get Eren out as fast as possible before the situation became life-threatening, if it wasn't already.

The corporal worked quickly, tearing his blades into the flesh again and again to rip it away from the boy's body with his bare hands. The impossible heat seared at his own flesh; the more he tore into it, the more steam rose up and blinded him, but he had to fight it, he had to get Eren out of there.

"Captain!" he heard from several voices toward the ground but offered no response. "What's going on?!" someone else shouted, followed by a command in a deeper voice that could only be Erwin's.

Finally, Levi felt the soft texture of Eren's clothing beneath the pads of his fingers. He searched up, squinting into the steam to find the boy's head. When he did, he found it to be completely concealed by muscle, only a few clumps of his hair free from the searing prison.

"C'mon, kid, work with me here..." he muttered. His hands were beginning to go numb from the pain of being burned; tears streamed down his cheeks from the heat stinging at his eyes and his face was so hot it almost felt cold, but he refused to give up. He worked at cutting away the muscle from Eren's face, afraid that, with the titan immobile again, Eren couldn't breathe being trapped like that.

And suddenly, just as Levi managed to free his head, another set of hands and blades came to his aid. He didn't bother to look up to see who they belonged to though he was thankful for the help, for they got Eren out in half the time it would've taken him on his own.

Levi gasped in a breath of fresh air as soon as he carried Eren out of the thick cloud of titan steam and fell to his knees almost immediately. He could feel himself shaking, could see the blisters already beginning to form on his hands. Still, he laid the unconscious kid on the ground and pressed an ear to his chest to be met with the abnormally quickened beating of his heart.

"Get him back," he rasped, vaguely aware of the people rushing around him. "Hurry." He moved to gather Eren to his chest once more and lift him when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Slow down there, Levi," came Hanji's still-chipper voice. "You're injured, too."

"He's more important," he muttered, pushing himself up anyway and dragging his feet over to the waiting carriage. Several other sets of hands helped him ease Eren into the carriage and, despite the vigorous trembling of his hands, the stinging of his eyes and tingling of his burned skin, managed to climb in beside him just as the previous time. Briefly he looked up to find Mikasa boarding beside him as well, her own hands sporting a blistering red - though they weren't nearly as bad as his - and it took him only a split second to realize she was the one who'd jumped in to rescue him from his searing prison of flesh.

Mikasa's eyes were not on him, but on her unconscious childhood friend and adopted sibling with a deep worry set in her dark irises. And he couldn't blame her - Eren looked terrible, with crimson red lines decorating the skin of his cheeks, the rest of his face a flushed red, his eyes visibly spastically darting in a hundred different directions beneath their closed lids. Every once in a while, his hands or his feet would twitch; his breath came in short little pants.

Levi forced back a swallow and slumped against the inside of the carriage, his stinging eyes sliding shut themselves. A few moments later, a soft voice was calling out his name and he peeled them back open to find Hanji offering him a cool, wet cloth, which they placed across his hands. He automatically relaxed; though the cloth was just a bit of relief, it was enough to keep him going until they made it back to HQ. From then until they got back, he didn't once take his eyes off Eren in spite of his own pain.

It took Eren nearly a week to come to, and again Levi rarely left his side. He'd been in a chair at Eren's bedside with his arms and legs crossed, asleep when the sudden rattle of a chain pulled him back to consciousness. His eyes snapped open to find Eren sitting completely up, his eyes opened to two different sizes almost crazed, tugging weakly yet relentlessly at the chains bound to his wrists.

"Calm down, kid," Levi said softly, reaching out with his own bandaged fingers to still Eren's chaotic thrashing. "You're safe."

As soon as Eren felt the warmth against his hands he stilled and looked up at his superior with sudden recognition. His eyes opened a bit more, his breathing slowed.

"Levi?" he breathed.

"Hey," mumbled the corporal, sinking back down into his chair without releasing Eren's hand. "You've been out for almost a week. How you feel?"

A chain rattled as the cadet's hand came up to his throat. "Thirsty," he mumbled. "And cold. But...otherwise okay, I guess..."

Levi was already halfway up and headed toward the other side of the room to retrieve a cup of water for his subordinate by the time he finished answering. "Yeah, you suddenly went rogue again," he explained. "Don't know if you remember...but you're alright. Hanji's been working on some theories..." He turned to offer Eren the water. "But they're too stubborn to admit that the effects of whatever injection your father gave you back then is probably just reaching its limit."

Eren tenderly took the cup between his hands and sipped mildly at it; the relief on his face as the cool liquid slid down his parched throat was instantaneous, but that was when he caught sight of Levi's hands and nearly dropped the cup.

"What happened to you?" he gasped, leaning toward his superior as he took his place in the chair once again.

Levi pressed his lips together, hesitating in his answer. He knew Eren deserved the truth, but hated how it'd make him feel once he knew what it was from. Knew Eren would immediately blame himself and waste his time feeling guilty about something he couldn't control.

"Burns," he quipped. "They're nothing."

"But if they're bandaged, they're bad..."

Levi held even with his gaze for a moment before opting to change the subject. "Do you remember what happened?"

Eren's brows tugged together in bewilderment. "I think I remember everything being normal...but that was about it." His gaze dropped. "But I guess if I'm here and chained to the wall, things went wrong, didn't they?"

"You heated up. Immensely. And Erwin ordered you be chained to the wall just to be safe."

"I must've done something bad for him to do that..." Eren's voice was small. Without even knowing exactly what happened, the guilt was flooding in - Levi could sense it. "Did I hurt someone?"

"Not technically." The corporal moved to perch himself on the mattress beside his subordinate. "You kept grabbing for me when I was trying to get you out."

The kid's frown deepened and his eyes reverted back to Levi's covered injuries before trailing up to his face. "Did I hurt you?" he nearly gasped.

"No. I'm too fast for you, even in titan form." When Eren didn't respond with the grin Levi expected, he sighed. "Even if you did, it wouldn't have been intentional. I know that, so you can spare yourself the guilt."

Eren said nothing but lifted his water to his lips again for a small sip. Levi could tell he was feeling drained despite the week of sleep he'd gotten; his eyes were framed by dark circles, the lines on his cheeks only just beginning to fade, his hair a mess and his breathing uneven.

"Get some rest, Eren," Levi said, standing up.

"Are you gonna leave?" Eren asked quietly.

"You know I should." Levi moved the chair he'd been using toward the wall.

The chain rattled; Levi turned to find Eren wrapping his arms around his own torso, the cup still in hand. He didn't meet the corporal's eyes.

"What, you afraid of the dark or something?"

Eren's eyes narrowed a bit, but he still didn't look up. After a moment's silence, he said, "It's fine. You can go ahead." He moved to place the cup on the table beside him, wincing as the cuffs on his wrists rattled more.

Levi crossed his arms, watching as Eren's eyes finally lifted to his. It was almost as if he could feel the loneliness projected in those eyes, the pain, even a miniscule amount of fear. And it wasn't of the dark; Levi knew that.

"Alright. I'll stay for a while." He perched himself back on the bed, sure to be gentle so he didn't jostle the shifter too much.

Eren blinked at him, dumbfounded. "But you just said..."

"I changed my mind." He lifted his feet onto the bed, leaning against the wall behind them without uncrossing his arms. "Get some rest."

Eren nodded, but made no move to lie down. He instead shook his arms a bit, rattling the chains again. "Would it be okay...if I went to the bathroom?"

"Hmph. No surprise you have to shit after being in bed so long." Levi stood and retrieved the key from a cabinet across the room to remove the shackles. Eren rubbed at his temporarily freed wrists before moving toward the end of the bed and placing his bare feet on the wooden floor. As he pushed himself up, he wobbled and immediately started to stumble forward, his legs weak from lack of use. Reflexively, Levi caught him by the shoulders to steady him.

"S-sorry," Eren breathed out.

Levi hummed quietly, forcing away the grimace from stretching the burned skin of his hands. He was more worried about the heat he could feel radiating from his subordinate even through the thin cotton of Eren's T-shirt and the bandages on his own hands. Instinctively, he brushed the inside of his wrist across the shifter's forehead and automatically frowned. Eren was still significantly burning up.

"Wh-what's the matter?" he murmured, a bit flustered.

"Your fever's showing no signs of breaking."

"Oh..."

"Go on." Levi gestured toward the bathroom.

With only a second's pause, Eren shuffled toward the bathroom, Levi following and watching carefully to make sure he didn't stumble again until he shut the door. He stood waiting, absently chewing his lip in worry for his subordinate, his mind working on ways to bring down his fever...

When the door reopened, Eren was mid-yawn with a hand up his shirt scratching his chest. Levi had to force himself to keep his eyes away from the exposed skin until he nearly collapsed back into the bed. An involuntary frown etched its way into Levi's features while he reluctantly placed the cuffs around the kid's wrists again.

"Are you still gonna stay?" Eren mumbled, dazedly blinking up at the corporal, who offered but a curt nod in answer. This elicited a small smile from the titan-shifter as he moved over a bit and patted the now vacant spot beside him. "Sit with me."

"Hmph. You need to sleep, kid," Levi retorted for the third time that night. "You're delusional."

"Am not," Eren grumbled back.

Levi rolled his eyes and perched himself beside Eren, who automatically leaned into him. Levi felt himself tense up as Eren's mop of hair found a comfortable place on his chest; he placed a tender hand on his warm shoulder.

"What about you...?" Eren mumbled.

"The hell are you talking about?"

"You need rest, too."

"Quiet, kid. You know how little I sleep."

"Mm...yeah, I guess..."

Levi's free hand reached up to extinguish the torch above the bed before finding Eren's hair in the sudden darkness. Despite his hands being confined in the bandages, he gently pulled his fingers through the chocolate-colored mop, the other gently rubbing Eren's side. In no time, the kid was asleep and breathing deeply, leaving Levi to his thoughts for the remainder of the night.

Eren was confined to the infirmary for another ten days. Levi's bandages came off for good two days after that, and they were back to fairly normal routine. Erwin required Eren to make a visit back to his medic every other day for a checkup before he reported it back to the commander himself.

"Three months," he told both him, Levi, and Hanji one morning at breakfast. "We wait three months to try it again. In the meantime, we plan strategies and do business as usual. I don't want to risk putting too much strain on your body and risk your life needlessly."

Though Eren's brows were set together in frustration, he nodded. Gently, Levi knocked his knee against the shifter's to send some reassurance, knowing how much Eren hated to be virtually 'incapacitated'. It made him feel useless while, in human form, he bore no outstanding abilities aside from his unrelenting drive and motivation to win this war.

For Eren, it was a long three months, and though he was getting used to the frequent doctor visits and 'business as usual', he was growing restless. The only thing that kept his mind at ease were nights spent next to Levi, be it sleeping while the man did his paperwork or lost himself in some sort of book, sleeping next to him, or lying in the dark either talking or in a comfortable silence.

When the three months was up, Levi was forced to cut Eren from his titan for a third time, again with Mikasa's help and the rest of the Special Operations Squad nearby on the ground, expecting the same results as last time. He'd had to bite his hand twice before the explosion occurred, and when the titan stood before them, it almost immediately began attempting to pull its hair out, endless roars ripping from its throat.

And yet Eren was fully conscious when he was pulled from the steaming muscle and flesh, his burning irises almost immediately finding Levi's through the steam.

Mikasa and Levi both managed to shuffle him back onto the ground, despite his slurring protests of saying he could walk on his own. They lowered him down onto a readied sheet across the grass, his muffled protests slowing and his eyelids fluttering as if he was trying to stay awake.

"Water," Levi ordered immediately. Not two seconds later a canteen was being held out to him; without bothering to look at who the hand belonged to, he snatched it and quickly unscrewed the cap before holding it down to Eren's level, sliding a hand beneath his head to lift it and press the opening to his lower lip. The boy's eyes fluttered again and when he realized what was happening, took several long gulps of the liquid.

"'M okay..." he mumbled once the canteen was pulled away from his face.

"Let's get you back," Hanji said from the side. Eren's eyes slowly found theirs and he managed to prop himself up on an elbow.

"No...I...I wanna try again."

"No," Levi said immediately.

"Not a good idea, there, Eren," Hanji agreed, kneeling down. "That reaction was to erratic and probably put a lot of strain on your body. It's best if you rest for now."

And even in his mildly dazed state, Eren managed an annoyed sigh. "At least let me walk," he insisted.

"Think you can?" Mikasa asked worriedly.

"Yeah," breathed the shifter.

Levi was the one to help him move to his feet and once he was there, immediately started toward the carriage that would be carting them back to headquarters. The corporal remained by his side as a precaution, noting his knees to be quite unsteady. The kid made it about halfway from the sheet to the carriage before he gasped and stumbled forward, his arms not even reflexively flying forward to catch himself. Before he could hit the ground, however, Levi intervened the fall with an arm around his ribs, nearly buckling under the sudden extra weight himself.

* * *

"I'm tired of this damn room," Eren muttered several nights after the incident. He was sprawled out on his back staring blankly at the ceiling, an annoyed frown etched into his features.

"So am I, kid. Believe me," Levi responded without so much as looking up from the book he was writing in, documenting the situation for his own records.

"Then let me leave," Eren grumbled, "and we can go back to your room."

That managed to coax the smallest of smirks from the captain, though he made sure not to let Eren catch a glimpse. "Not my decision," he said, nearly accidentally writing the words he spoke and screwing up his whole sentence.

Another heavy sigh of irritation blew from Eren's lungs.

* * *

Leave it to Hanji to come up with the bright idea of attempting some odd form of therapy to see if it helped with Eren's titanization. As Levi watched from the sidelines in the training grounds, it looked like nothing more than simple physical therapy, but he wasn't one to argue, especially after Eren all-too enthusiastically agreed to try it.

"I'll try anything that might help," he'd said. "I want this to work again."

'I want to be useful,' is what Levi had heard, knowing good and well that was why Eren was entirely too eager to continue the experiments. He'd had enough conversations with the brat getting emotional about being 'useless' if he lost his ability for good to know.

Hanji 'tortured' him for a good three weeks, each task she had him do always more physically demanding than the last, and eventually Eren looked as if he was about ready to collapse from exhaustion. The one night in an entire week he mustered the energy to sneak up to Levi's room, he'd stayed awake for maybe ten minutes before succumbing to his exhaustion with his head on Levi's stomach, forcing the man to remain in an odd position for most of the night and end up with a stiff neck the next day. (Though he wouldn't say he minded much.)

After two more weeks of rest, they tried it again. Levi swore he'd never seen his subordinate look more bound and determined to get something right in the couple years he'd known him, and had only once before seen that undying turquoise fire burning passionately in those lustrous irises. He believed the therapy worked, and though Levi was skeptical about it, he wouldn't say anything to dull those flames; they gave him too much of a thrill.

Eren's 'titan' was nothing but an enormous half skeleton with miscellaneous muscles clinging to them, his body not even ending up in the beast itself. He was found instead crumpled in the grass, his hands twitching, his breathing erratic, his eyes half-lidded and clearly only vaguely aware of what was going on. This time he lacked the fever yet remained in the infirmary for a month, his body rejecting any kind of nourishment that wasn't water or broth and too weak for him to merely stand up on his own.

Levi would never forget what the kid had said to him in the middle of the night halfway through his stay in the infirmary.

"We're going to lose this war because of me."

And there was not a thing the man could think to say to ease his mind of that statement.

* * *

They waited six months to attempt any more experiments, per Erwin's orders.

"I think this might have to do with pushing him too hard too soon after each attempt. So we'll give his body time to recuperate before doing anything else. In the meantime, train as a normal cadet as much as you can under Levi's wing. Don't focus your mind on your abilities."

Levi made sure to keep him as occupied as he could to keep his thoughts away from it over those six long months. But two nights before the next attempt was supposed to take place, he'd woken up to find the other side of his bed vacant of the brunet and set out in search of him, only to find him down in the dining hall huddled near one of the windows.

"Hey, kid."

Eren's eyes shined up toward Levi as he shuffled toward him. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"For?"

"Leaving."

Levi waved him off and sunk to the floor a few feet away. "You're thinking about it, aren't you?"

"Yes and no..."

"Hm?"

Eren audibly swallowed and pulled his knees up. "I'm...thinking about my mother," he said quietly.

"Why's that?"

"Because I swore to myself I'd avenge her and if this doesn't work...if I've lost this ability forever, I'll be breaking that promise. And I'll be breaking a promise to her, too."

Levi could think of nothing to say to that, so he simply tugged at Eren's fingers and held his hand in his own. Eren always seemed to be so warm, but with his own clammy fingers, he enjoyed the sensation.

The younger gazed down at their hands. "And I..." He cut himself off, lowering his head more.

"You...?"

"I don't wanna let you down...even more than I don't want to break that promise."

Levi had half the mind to dig his thumbnail into the back of Eren's hand. "Idiot," he muttered, skimming the pad of his thumb across Eren's knuckles instead.

"What am I an idiot for this time?"

"Forgetting what I told you when we were in that tower."

"I didn't forget. I'm just afraid it might happen anyway."

"It won't."

"A-are you sure?"

"Yes."

"...Promise?"

A pause. Then, "Promise."

* * *

"Ready to try again, then?" Hanji was asking a couple days later. The entirety of the Survey Corps was back on the field surrounding Eren once again, blades drawn and ready from a few dozen meters away, just in case. Hanji and Levi were the only ones near the shifter, whose eyes swam with apprehensiveness.

"I think so," he said.

"Know so," Hanji told him, "or we shouldn't be doing this."

Turquoise irises flickered toward stone gray ones. Levi gave him a miniscule nod of encouragement; despite his own uneasiness about the situation. This would be the fifth attempt with none of the others being even remotely successful.

"Yeah," Eren said. "I'm ready."

"That's the spirit," beamed Hanji with a hand on the kid's shoulder. "I think this time luck is on our side."

Levi made it a point to keep in eye contact as long as he could as he walked away. As he came to a stop at Hanji's side, they held their arm up, signaling the countdown to those above on the wall and then pointing directly at Eren who, exactly on cue, sunk his teeth into his own flesh.

The familiar wave of heat washed over Levi's exposed skin as Eren's form disappeared into a thick cloud of steam billowing around him. From it rose the familiar figure of his titan and he anxiously waited for the fog to clear, to see if this one truly was successful as much as he doubted it in his very bones.

The titan was completely faceless. Where the face should've been was nothing but shiny stretched skin with only random, stringy clumps of chocolate-colored hair hanging from its scalp. While the titan remained standing, the entire upper half of its body was limp, its arms hanging loosely at its side and its chin resting against its chest.

Erwin's previous orders to keep his distance for at least two minutes before rushing in to Eren's rescue suddenly meant nothing, just as the first time. If the titan was faceless and completely immobile, Eren wouldn't last long being trapped inside; Levi couldn't have cared less about what Erwin might say later. He broke out into a full-on sprint toward the beast, whose fingers were beginning to pour steam that gradually started traveling up its arms, the skin evaporating away from the bones it clung to.

Voices erupted from around the entire regiment, shouts of shock and surprise tangled with orders nearly drowned out by heavy bootsteps.

Rushing into the steam was even hotter than the time he'd gotten burned. Grimacing past the thick moisture and the scent of the air laced with something akin to rotting flesh, Levi pressed on, managing to reach the titan's right shoulder before its knees gave out. The impact rattled his bones and the heat stung his eyes as he slashed at the searing flesh to dig the boy out of the muscle-y prison.

Numb. His body was completely numb by the time he dragged Eren's body from the remainder of the carcus. The boy was completely unresponsive and dangerously hot, his face shiny with sweat and his skin flushed bright red - the same color Levi adored to see when he blushed, but for completely different reasons.

Levi was met with several pairs of hands attempting to help by wrapping them in a sheet. Voices swam to his ringing ears but making out any coherent words was impossible. Eren in arms, he sunk into the grass, unable to hold the weight any longer.

"...a minute to rest." A familiar voice finally managed to penetrate the drum of his head.

"Armin, get some water," someone else said. "And wet a cloth with some for Eren's ski-"

The commander's voice immediately cut of as Eren's body jerked in an awkward fashion in Levi's lap before the muscles throughout his entire body began twitching, seizing, and jerking his limbs and bending his torso in odd directions. Levi's hands froze in midair as he watched in pure shock, somehow knowing what was happening but bearing not a clue how to stop it.

"He's having a seizure!" barked Hanji before they started yelling orders to the rest of the squads.

More voices traveled around, the sound of carriage wheels and horse hooves, but none of it really registered. Levi couldn't tear his eyes from the shifter, from his shifter until his body gradually stilled again and relaxed against his legs, though his breath came in awkward little hiccups, his hands still twitching.

The trip back was an absolute blur, and the next thing Levi knew, he was peeling his dry, dry eyes open to the blurry wooden ceiling of the infirmary. The room was lit with dull gray light. An unrhythmic pattering sounded from above.

Rain...

'Where's Eren...?'

He felt too weak to even push himself to sit up. Bandages encased his hands and arms again, his neck, were even taped to parts of his face.

'Is he alive?'

His eyelids did nothing to clear his vision or chase away the sandpapery-ness of his eyes; swallowing only caused him to realize how his throat was even dryer.

'Tell me he's alive...'

"It's nice to see you awake again," a soft soprano said from across the room. Footsteps drew nearer and there was suddenly an olive-colored female face in view. "How do you feel, Mr. Ackerman?"

Levi internally winced at the name. "Thirsty," he managed in a scratchy, shredded voice he couldn't even recognize as his own.

"Would you like to sit up?"

He nodded and the woman moved his bed to sit him up before offering a straw to his lips. He hated having to be cared for in such a dependent way, but he couldn't deny the cold water felt good wetting his mouth and throat. When she moved away, he was automatically scoping out the place. It took very little searching for his eyes to land right on Eren, curled up in the bed next to his.

Red. His face was completely flushed, his face still covered with a layer of sweat. Every few seconds, a tremor ran the length of his body. His breath still came in pants, though his eyes were still beneath their lids.

"How is he...?" Levi croaked.

"Not much has changed in the past couple of hours," the medic explained as she moved to gently run a cool cloth over Eren's skin. "He's got a dangerously high fever, and without his healing abilities, I'm afraid it can be life threatening..."

Levi's heart jumped into his throat. Eren didn't so much as twitch at her touch.

"As for you...you've got second degree burns on your hands and parts of your arms, face, and neck, but they're nothing a little skin serum can't treat over a few weeks."

Levi's eyes narrowed. "It's only been a few hours?" he asked.

"Mhm."

"Where's the commander?"

"Not sure. Would you like me to have someone look for him for you? He only left half an hour ago."

"Check his office."

Erwin made his appearance not five minutes later, and he could see Levi was ready to practically chew him out before he even made it over to his bed. He held up a hand to stop him before he could start.

"I know what you want to say," he said, "and I agree. I'm drawing the line." He perched himself on a chair near the window.

Levi's steely eyes never left his face. "Don't make him go through that again," he muttered lowly.

"I wouldn't. I know it's time to draw the line as much as I hate to say it. His ability was an inexpendable asset to us, but he's better alive and without it than dead."

Levi nodded firmly. "Have you spoken to Hanji?"

"Yes, and they agree."

"Good."

* * *

Levi was right by Eren's side when he came to two weeks later. Levi had been released from the infirmary only hours after waking up, but Eren had remained.

A soft whimper sounded from Eren's parted, chapped lips before his lashes fluttered a bit, his eyes flashing in and out of sight until he managed to keep them slightly open. Something that sounded like a mumbled word came out.

"Hey, slacker," Levi said, leaning toward him with narrow, concerned eyes.

"Mmph...Le...vi...?"

"Yeah, it's me. 'Bout time you opened those shitty eyes of yours."

"Levi..." he breathed again, his eyes opening just a bit wider.

"You're fine. Just relax, okay? I'm not going anywhere."

And just like that, he drifted back under.

It took another week to get him mobile again, and Levi would never forget the look of absolute disbelief and hopelessness on his face when Erwin broke the news about drawing the line on the experiments. It damn near broke his heart, and he vowed to train Eren even further in physical combat to make up for his lost abilities. Though he knew in Eren's perspective the kid believed he'd let the entire human race down; there was very little the corporal knew he could do to change his mind about it.

---

Yeah like I said, only half edited, so if there's some weird grammar shit or whatever, let me know and I'll fix it asap. Thanks guys, love ya :*