Natural Strength || Levi Ackerman x Reader

Chapter 9: Necessary Wounds

You're in a cleared out room with Levi, Eren, Hanji, Mike and Erwin. You're nonchalantly leaning against the wall and gazing out the window while Hanji cleans Eren's wounds.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Hanji says, dabbing a cotton ball on Eren's cheek which results in him hissing at her. "Does it hurt?"

"Yeah," Eren mutters with that kicked-puppy look.

"Yeah!? Describe it to me," Hanji commands with a wide smile.

"Sorry for all that," Erwin apologizes, "but the theatrics did get you placed in our custody."

"No, I understand," Eren replies.

"I can assure you, the pain was worth it. We played our trump card at the perfect time." Erwin walks over and kneels in front of Eren with his hand outstretched. "You have my upmost respect. Eren, I'm glad you're on our team."

"Me too," Eren responds quickly in admiration and shakes Erwin's hand. "Glad to be here, Sir."

Levi nearly makes Eren jump out of his skin when he drops down on the couch next to him and crosses his legs. You subtly roll your eyes.

"So, Eren, you don't resent me now, do you?" Levi questions.

"N-no," Eren promises. "I can see that what you did was necessary, Sir.

"Good, then you understand," Levi says, satisfied with his answer.

"Even though it was excessive," you mumble. "You seemed angry."

"That was the whole point, Genius," Levi retorts. "I was trying to make myself angry and then I thought about the time..."

"What?" you push.

Levi clears his throat and you know he does that when he's not entirely comfortable--an infrequent situation, but it happens. You're still too curious to what got him angry enough to basically maim the boy.

"You remember that time... with the Bleach," Levi hints to you and twirls his hand in a circular motion.

For a moment, you have no idea what he's talking about until it hits you and you burst out laughing. You end up clutching your stomach with tears in the corners of your eyes and the other soldiers in the room are taken aback by your intense display of uncharacteristic emotion.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Mike asks.

You take a deep breath and answer with, "Let's just say I messed with his Bleach before and he's still mad about it after all these years."

Erwin, Hanji and Mike don't need anymore elaboration as they're all aware of Levi being a clean-freak and knowing you messed with his Bleach somehow is enough information. You know Levi can't be too livid about the situation to hold it against you and you know he wants to laugh at the memory as well, but he won't. Not in their presences.

"Okay, but still, don't you think you went too far?" Hanji asks, getting back on the subject and pulling a cloth from her pocket. "You knocked his tooth out!"

"You picked it up? That's disgusting," Levi says while cringing and you want to laugh all over again.

"This is a precious sample, I'll have you know," Hanji retorts.

"Just be glad people like that aren't dissecting you," Levi says to Eren.

"Don't you dare compare me to them. I would never even dream of killing him," Hanji affirms and gets into Eren's face. "Hey, Eren, let me take a look in that mouth of yours."

Eren opens his mouth and Hanji is immediately confused about what she sees.

"Your tooth," she whispers, "it grew back."

✱✱✱

The next day is spent packing the necessities for the time you'll be spending at the old Scout Regiment Headquarters. It's in the middle of nowhere, so the ride is going to be long but at least it will be quiet around as Eren learns to control his titan shifting.

"Isn't this the same HQ you were staying in when you first joined?" you ask Levi as you carry the crates to the stables with him.

"Yeah, it's a damn castle from back in the day. The place was really nice when we were there, but it's probably a dump now," Levi answers.

"Is that why you brought extra cleaning supplies?"

When you get to the stables, there's a wagon waiting with the other supplies and one side is filled with enough chemicals to scrub the surface of the earth. Twice.

"Yeah, you know what it's like. I don't want to stay in some fucking disgusting place while trying to make sure some kid doesn't go crazy and kill us," he replies.

"Cut him some slack. He's a sweet boy," you say, pushing the crate onto the wagon.

"Until he decides he wants to become a 15-meter killing machine, yeah, sweet boy," Levi sarcastically comments.

"You know as well as I do that he's going to do great things for humanity. He's already given us our first real victory against the titans and I know you like him."

Levi sighs and walks off to gather his horse with you following. The others should be arriving any moment and you want to get there as soon as possible.

"I don't like him, he's just got a nice sense of justice and dignity that I haven't seen in those other kids," he counters.

"I know you want to instill discipline in him the real way with morals and judgement, but don't be so hard on him. Everyone is putting their trust in this kid and it's a lot to handle at such a young age."

You bring out your horses and lead them back to the wagon where Gunther has attached his horse to drag it and the others are preparing for departure. You spot Eren getting on his horse and Levi leans over to whisper to you.

"No promises."

You push his head away from you with your palm and join your team. You set off five minutes later at an easy pace with you and Levi taking up the rear with Eren and Oluo in front of you, Petra and Eld in front of them, then Gunther leading with everyone's possessions and supplies in the wagon.

The trip to the old headquarters feels like what you need. It's just a quiet ride in the sunshine away from any of the carnage and death that invades your life on a daily basis. At least for now, you get a few days away before setting off on the expedition to Shiganshina.