Chapter Text
Levi makes his way down the stone staircase leading to the lower level of the Survey Corps headquarters. His steps are short and clipped. The halls are cold enough that he wears his cloak indoors at night. His fists are clenched tightly at his sides and he’s taking short, controlled breaths. It’s the only way he’s found to get through this.
He follows the dark hallway to the very end, where there is a single door made of thick, heavy wood. He raps on the door twice before he can press his ear against it like he secretly wants to.
“Alright in there, Jaeger?” He says. “Got everything you need?”
For a moment there’s no reply. Levi waits. Sometimes it takes a moment to get a response. Sometimes a bit longer.
Levi hears a low-pitched moan and flinches. He can smell Eren through the door, his scent seeping through the wood like maple syrup. He wants to kick down the door. He wants to claw his way inside. He considers how easy it would be for him to rip the thing off its hinges.
Behave! He demands of his alpha.
A moment later, he hears Eren’s voice. “I’m...I’m alright, Captain. All...” There’s a pause and his next words come out gritted. “All set, sir.”
“Good.” Levi replies immediately. “Someone will be back to check on you in two days.”
Levi turns, and starts walking back down the hall.
He pauses outside the dungeon where Eren was first kept, a cell with iron bars and a bed. He resists the urge, as he does every night, to unlock the door and press his nose up against the mattress. To inhale the faded scent of Eren’s first heat, from when he presented shortly after the Survey Corps had taken custody of him.
Levi had been there then, as well.
Three Years Earlier
It was a bitter winter’s night, and the fireplaces in their old castle had been burning all day. At first, Levi thought that was why everyone was so red-faced and cheerful around the dinner table that night. That was before they realized what was happening. Eren had been Levi’s responsibility since the trial in the Summer, and they’d achieved a functional routine in the months they’d spent together. Every morning, Levi would unlock Eren’s cell with a gruff but companionable get up . There would be tea and breakfast. They would train, or run experiments on his titan during the day, followed by a communal dinner in the headquarters kitchens. Eren was still an unknown quantity then, so for the first few months it had only been Levi’s squad alone in the old castle. At night Levi would lock Eren in his cell and there he would stay until they did it all over again the next day.
But something was different that night. The snow was falling softly, the first snow of the year, but Levi had been feeling warm all day. Dinner had been a strange affair - Gunther and Eld were loud and boisterous, telling stories over their ales. They were competing for who could tell the best titan-slaying story, tripping over themselves to prove their bravery. Oluo had participated at first, but soon sat back and just listened to the two alphas as they got more and more animated. Petra, too, sat back and watched the entertaining display with surprised eyes.
But Levi was watching Eren. He seemed excited, sitting on the edge of his seat, eyes wide as he listened to the stories. He was young, and had wanted to be a scout since before Wall Maria fell, Levi had heard. Of course he would be excited; he thought the scouts were heroes. Levi could see sweat on his brow, even though he was only in a thin shirt and the castle was quite drafty. Levi watched Eren watching Gunther and Eld, who were seemingly getting drunker by the minute. They were standing and reenacting their close calls and brave feats with wild gestures and wolfish grins.
Levi had the peculiar urge to lead Eren away from this room, to find somewhere small and quiet and tell him his own stories. Not because he needed to show off his strength to a recruit like these two did, but just because he wanted to know how Eren would react. Captain Levi was Eren’s real hero, this Levi knew. Even if Hange hadn’t insisted on teasing Levi with this knowledge at every opportunity, he could tell from the way Eren looked at him. If Levi leaned in close and revealed the deep violence of his history, what would Eren’s green eyes look like then? Would his worshipful gaze vanish, replaced by innocent, naive fear? Or would it excite him? Levi had a feeling it would excite him.
Distracted from these strange thoughts, Levi narrowed his eyes when Eld leaned over to Eren and insisted that Eren drink some of his ale. Vaguely, Levi knew this was rather strange behavior for the usually reserved Eld, but he couldn’t focus on that. He wanted to bear his teeth, snap at Eld and tell him to get away from his charge, if anyone was going to give Eren his first sip of ale, it would be him, the Captain -
Before Levi could act on this sudden impulse to attack a member of his own squad, Eren stood up and excused himself. He said he wasn’t feeling too well. Before Levi could offer to come with him, to help him - he was gone, scurrying out of the kitchens. Levi stared at the door Eren had left through. The urge to follow him was strong. Eld and Gunther had both stood up, and were standing awkwardly, like they too wished to follow Eren.
“What’re you guys doing?” Oluo asked. His smile had been replaced by a creased brow.
Eld and Gunther looked confused, like they’d just woken up. They blinked and sat down.
“Captain?” Petra said. “Are you alright? You look strange.”
Levi turned his head towards her and she shrank under his gaze. He’d never felt like this before. His blood was boiling, his heart thundering in his chest. He considered jumping over the table and ripping out the throats of his own squad with his teeth. Especially Gunther and Eld, the morons who had chased Eren away.
“I’m fine.” Levi told Petra in a deliberate, even tone. “I must be tired.”
It was the furthest thing from the truth. He felt electrified, exhilarated - like the first time he’d killed to survive, like he’d just slayed a titan, like he had when he first came above ground. He stood up, his chair scraping across the floor.
“I’m going to lock Eren in his cell and go to sleep. Clean this up and turn in.”
Petra and Oluo responded with a yes, sir! but Eld and Gunther didn’t respond, their eyes on the door, mouths hanging open dumbly.
“Eld? Gunther? Have something to add?” Levi asked them. His voice was calm, but everyone in that room knew him well enough to detect the threat just underneath.
“No, sir.” said Eld, tearing his eyes from the door and looking at Levi.
“No, sir.” Said Gunther. His eyes stayed on the door.
Oluo and Petra just looked at each other with confusion and concern.
“Good. Then get to it.”
Authority achieved, Levi left the room and headed for the basement. He took no detours, and walked quickly. When he descended the staircase, an odd feeling of victory came over him.
Yes , something deep inside him rejoiced. Almost there...
He felt strong, powerful, like he could achieve anything. It was a new feeling, but not dissimilar to how he’d felt that strange day when he was a kid and those animals had tried to get a piece of him. Strength and purpose had coursed through his body on that day and he knew exactly what to do. He’d slaughtered those men and survived with a new sense of his own capabilities.
This feeling was similar - his body knew what to do and he followed it willingly, with complete trust. At the bottom of the staircase, he rounded the corner openly scenting the air. But it wasn’t until he was outside Eren’s cell, nothing but iron bars separating them, that he even understood what it was his body was telling him to do.
Levi stood shocked as he stared into Eren’s cell. Eren was facedown on his small single bed, and he was writhing . His pants hung low on his hips, his shirt rucked up past his ribs. His hands were above him, gripping the edge of the thin mattress as he grinded his hips down.
Breed him. Breed him now! He’s ripe, he’s perfect, he’s all yours!
Eren was letting out these little throaty moans in time with his jerky thrusts.
“Nn-ngh-Nnn-”
Levi took a step closer. There was a pillow shoved between Eren’s legs and he was grinding down into it, whining with every bit of friction achieved. Levi took another step closer and could see a shadow on the seat of Eren’s pants.
He’s slick! He’s ripe! Ready for you! He’s so wet, you’ll slide right into that tight, velvet heat! Take him, take him now!
The scent of Eren’s slick was intoxicating - like honey straight off the comb. Levi’s hands came up to grip the cell bars, pressing his face between them, breathing in through his nose. His cock was rock hard. The base, where he knew his knot to theoretically exist, was throbbing.
All yours! His alpha screamed. Bend him over, knot him, breed him and stuff his sweet little cunt with your pups!
Levi opened the door to the cell and stepped in, the hinges screeching loud in the quiet basement full of Eren’s breathy moans. Eren jumped and rolled onto his back, the pillow still caught between his legs. His eyes were huge, dark and clouded, but alert enough to recognize the position his Captain had caught him in. His cheeks were flushed, his hair damp and messy.
But his scent had changed - only slightly, but enough to momentarily sour the cloying honeyed scent of his pooling slick. For one brief moment, Levi felt the lust-cloud clear and his alpha told him exactly what was going on:
Eren was an omega.
Eren was in heat.
Eren was scared.
Eren’s head fell back onto the mattress and he cried out through his clenched teeth. He pressed the pillow against himself with both hands, moving it between his legs, thrusting up into it. His cries were different now, pained. Levi realized it could be because Eren knew he had an audience, and was embarrassed. Humiliated. It also sounded like it hurt .
Levi stood there, both his body and mind demanding that he close the cell door and lock it. The question was which side of the door he would be on when he did.
Eren’s scent was making Levi drunk, and it was speaking to his alpha through a chemical language. Levi’s alpha was thrashing inside of him, screaming demands.
Give that little brat what he wants!
He wants it! Wants your knot, alpha!
Take him! Take him now! All yours!
All yours!
But his alpha was receiving the other chemical message coming through in Eren’s scent.
He’s scared.
He’s scared.
Levi stepped out of the cell, closed the door and locked it. Eren’s eyes shot open. He sat up halfway, one hand still holding the pillow in place as he mindlessly humped it.
“Where are you going?” He gasped. His eyes were wide and panicked, and almost completely black. Only a thin ring of green remained.
Levi took a step back. Then another and another until he backed up into the wall. He didn’t trust himself to speak.
“Don’t leave!” Eren cried, humping the pillow harder, clenching it and rubbing it against himself like he was trying to scrub out a stain. “You can’t leave!”
He wants it He wants it He wants it
Levi put his palms on the cold stone wall behind him. It felt like ice, his body was so hot. His heart was pounding so fast he thought it might burst.
“Please!” Eren sobbed, frantic and hoarse. Tears were falling down his cheeks. He grinded that pillow against himself punishingly. Rough and fast. “I’ll do anything! Anything! Please, alpha, please! Please alpha! Alpha! Alpha!”
Levi watched as Eren came, his mouth falling open, his hips stuttering into the pillow. His whole body shuddered violently before he collapsed into the mattress. Levi somehow had the presence of mind to cover his mouth just before the scent of Eren’s orgasm and subsequent release of slick could hit him. Clenching his eyes shut, Levi felt along the cold stone wall with his hand to the staircase, which he took two at a time.
He burst through the door at the top of the staircase, gasping for air once he slammed the door behind him. Shaking with the effort to control himself and feeling nauseous, he slid down the door to the floor. Then he realized he wasn’t alone in the hallway.
His squad was there, and from what he could tell, he’d interrupted some kind of physical altercation. Oluo had Gunther in a headlock and Petra and Eld were squared up against each other. They all jumped apart when Levi gave them a weary look from his spot on the floor.
“Captain! Are you alright?” Petra asked. “You’re all...pale.”
Before Levi could answer, Gunther tried to lunge forward, but Oluo caught his arm. Gunther scented the air frantically.
“Is that what I think it is?” He asked Levi, his eyes crazed.
Levi took a long, shaking breath. He drew up his knees and rested his forehead on his folded arms.
“Yes. Eren Jaeger is an omega.”