Vogel Im Kafig (End Of Tears) Levi X OC

shattered soul

We were all sitting in the officers' lounge during sunset. I sat to Levi's right, and he held Rivielle on his knee as she played with the doll we had purchased from a street vendor. We had gotten it for half price since we are scouts.

Eren and Levi were still discussing his abilities, and Levi said, "You will be comfortable here in the scouts as long as a certain someone doesn't get their hands on you."

We all shifted in our seats as an awkward silence filled the room, keeping silent although we knew exactly who Levi was talking about.

As if being summoned, there was a loud crash outside the door accompanied by a familiar voice screeching, "OW!!!"

One of our squad members opened the door, and Hanji came in, groaning and rubbing her forehead.

She paused in front of Eren, ranting about titans and then asked, "Will you join me in a quest of scientific discovery?"

"What do you mean?" Eren asked.

"Not another lecture," Oulo muttered.

Levi scooped Riv up into his arms as he stood.

"Well young lady, there is a bathtub with your name on it," He said, obviously looking for an excuse to leave.

"Do I have to?" Rivielle complained.

"Listen to your father," I said. "Look, Hanji, I would love to stay and chat, but I can already see that Riv is gonna be a handful." Technically not a lie, I could pull this off.

"I'm gonna go....muck the stables," Mike said.

"Yeah, me too," said Oulo.

"I'm going to the medic ward to check on someone." Petra pulled her hair in front of her face to hide her expression. She is also a terrible liar.

With that, we all fled the room as Hanji took Levi's vacant seat and grabbed Eren's hands.

Petra took off running down the hall and Oulo chased her. He tripped over uneven cement and bit his tongue on the way down. Still running, Petra glanced over her shoulder and laughed upon seeing Oulo in the floor.

Levi rolled his eyes. "Tch."

Rivielle copied his action, and Levi tried to hold back his grin, but failed to do so. He softly chuckled at her antics.

He put her down in front of our apartment door and said, "Go with mommy now."

"Why does mommy always give me a bath?" She asked, confused.

My philosophy was that if a child was old enough to ask a certain question, then the child was old enough to get the most honest answer, so I said, "Because daddy is a boy and you are a girl."

I grabbed her tiny chubby hands and opened the door, leading her to the bathroom.

Time skip after a bath and some sleep

We walked in to the officer's lounge, not surprised to see Eren slouched over with a cup of coffee, black rims around his eyes.

Hanji was contemplating something, what I did not know.

A scout member suddenly came busting in through the door.

"Squad leader Hanji! The titans! They're dead."

Time skip brought to you by hysterical Hanji

Levi, Erwin, Eren and I sat in the officer's lounge, discussing earlier events.

"Even so, someone would have had to use their 3DMG to kill these two titans," Erwin said

"That would require a supply check to find the culprit," I said

"Do whatever it takes," said Levi. "I'm not saying this for Hanji's defense, but we did lose some valuable test subjects. Humanity could have used that information and gained an edge."

"Speaking of Hanji, I will go check on her. She's taking this worse than last time." I stood up, and left the room.

Knock, knock.

"Hanji?" I called softly from outside her door.

"Go away," she said, sounding like a heartbroken teen.

I opened her door to find her sprawled out across her bed. Her jacket was hanging on a bedpost.

I sat on the coverlet next to her. She sat up when my added weight sagged the mattress a bit. Her eyes were rimmed with red. She continued to sob, and hiccuped.

I put my arms around her, and she buried her face in my shoulder.

"Every time... hiccup...I take a step forward... hiccup...I am pushed a thousand steps back...hiccup....and what for? Everything....hiccup...I work for is taken away."

"It's not for nothing," I said, rubbing her back. Fresh tears soaked through my jacket. "You have come further than anyone else I know with your dedication and hard work. Your efforts have been extremely beneficial."

Hanji's shoulders shook.

"How about I make some warm milk and honey, make you feel better?"

Hanji raised her head and nodded, wiping her eyes.

"That sounds nice."

As I made her her drink, she laid back down and covered herself up with the coverlet. When I brought the drink over to her, however, she was curled up on her side fast asleep.