Chapter Text
It continued to mist rain on the way to the Survey Corps’ headquarters in Trost. It wasn’t a horribly long route from Karanes, but with only his horse and a relatively small child as companions for travel, the trip took Levi the rest of the afternoon into the evening. Bee was still wearing his green Scout cloak, and as the journey continued on he made sure to cover her little head with the hood so that she wouldn’t get as wet.
Of course, this meant that by the time they ended up at the barracks, Levi was soaked, but he had survived worse.
They had stopped by Petra’s childhood home to pick up all of Bee’s worldly possessions after they had left the cemetery. Thankfully, the little girl didn’t own much being so young, so everything happened to fit into Levi’s saddlebags just fine. Levi had been anticipating a confrontation from Bee’s grandfather as he glared at the younger man standing sentry to Bee packing up her clothes and memories from her room. Instead, the old man just frostily saw them away from the house, muttering things under his breath as his granddaughter left him forever that took all of Levi’s self-discipline to not turn back and punch Mr. Ral’s lights out.
It was only out of respect for Petra’s memory and Bee’s emotional well-being that he spared the old man.
Now, the newly acquainted guardian and charge could see the Scouts’ barracks on the horizon. Levi could feel the tiredness in his bones, and knew Bee was feeling the same fatigue, as her head had been nodding into his chest for the better part of an hour as she tried to stay awake on the horse.
“Almost there, kid, then we can get cleaned up and get you settled in,” Levi reassured her as little huffs of air blew out of her nose, showing off her agitation with the damp air around them. “Maybe some sleep too, it’s gotta be way past your bedtime now, huh?”
Bee pouted, still fighting sleep as Levi’s horse trot steadily towards the barrack gates. “No...I don’t wanna sleep. No thank you.”
“That doesn’t seem practical at all, you’re falling off this damn horse as it is,” Levi said, wincing as he realized he had sworn in front of the child once again. Ah well, at this point she was just going to have to live with it. “It’s been a long day, are you at least hungry?”
“...Maybe,” Bee said softly, afraid of asking for anything more as she got used to Levi’s personality. “I like soup.”
“Yeah? Me too. We don’t get too much meat around here, but the potatoes aren’t half bad. Sometimes the bread is shit- crap, I mean, but it’s nothing a good pot of tea won’t fix.”
“How do you eat tea? The leaf is blech!” Bee pulled a face, scrunching up her nose quite adorably from what Levi could see when he looked down the little girl’s shoulder. He probably should be more offended about her opinions on what he deemed the only quality beverage in the world, but she was still pretty young and had time to learn better.
“Kid, you don’t actually eat the leaves. C’mon, we’re here now, once we get settled in and get some food I’ll make you a cup to try,” Levi said.
“Okay Mr. Levi Captain.” Bee yawned and swayed once more, causing Levi to steady her shoulders for the fifth time that day. He didn’t correct her on his name again, however, feeling that it may just take some time for both of them to adjust.
They made it to the stables where Levi tacked up his horse, patting her down for a job well done on a rough day. After he swung off the saddle, making sure he had a hold of Bee’s waist the entire time, he went to pick her up and set her on the ground. About halfway down, she threw her arms around Levi’s neck, clinging to him and burying her face into his neck.
“Don’t wanna walk,” she whimpered, agitation in her little voice.
Levi may be gruff and not willing to suffer annoyances, but he knew that children (especially as young as Bee) simply couldn’t help how they felt, especially after trying and traumatic experiences. He was more than happy to carry the little girl to the kitchen, making sure the rain continued to stay off her face as they faced the elements one final time that night.
When Levi walked into the kitchen, he wasn’t expecting anyone there. He certainly wasn’t expecting a new Scout from Jaeger’s class to be there of all people. The young woman seemed to be packing food supplies in a hurry, most likely under orders from the squad that Mike and Nanaba were taking out while Erwin, Hange, and the rest were in Stohess with Eren. At his light footsteps, the girl jolted and turned, snapping into a neat salute.
“Captain Levi, sir! I’ll be out of your way soon, just needing to pack as much as possible for Squad Leader Mike! I’m so sorry I’m running longer than I thought!”
Fuck if this brat wasn’t nervous, Levi thought, shifting a restless Bee from one shoulder to the other.
“At ease, kid. You’re fine. Get your shit and get out of here,” Levi grunted, searching for her name.
“Yes, of course, sir, my name is Sasha Braus from Dauper village and I’ll be sure to-- oh, hello! Who’s this?” Sasha paused her skittish address of Levi, distracted by the child in his arms. “You look hungry, do you want me to set out the leftover soup from tonight?”
“Braus, I got it, no need,” Levi answered, wanting the kid to finish her task and be on her way so that Bee didn’t have to talk to any more strangers today.
“Alright, Captain if you’re sure! Hello little one, my name’s Sasha! The soup is potato cream tonight, pretty good for Scout fare. And I think there’s a wee bit of bread too if you’re interested.”
Levi was about to interject to dismiss Sasha, when a small voice peeped out from his side.
“Thanks Shasha,” Bee replied to the new girl in the kitchen, not quite able to pronounce her name correctly. “My name is Bee.”
Sasha smiled warmly, always happy to make a friend. “Well hello Miss Bee, and welcome to the Survey Corps. Why are you with us today?”
“None of your damn business-” Levi began hotly, but was interrupted by the child once more.
“Momma died,” Bee said quietly, and Sasha’s eyes gleamed in sorrow and understanding.
“Bee Ral?” Sasha replied. For such a new Scout, Levi observed that Braus was incredibly perceptive. “I’m so glad you’re safe here with us. And I’m sorry for your loss, Captain. Eren told us what he could.”
Levi pursed his lips and nodded once, not wanting to relive the horrors of the previous weeks anymore than he had to, and certainly not in front of a rookie Scout. As Sasha reached out to try and embrace Bee, she was pulled back by a sharp voice.
“Oi, Sasha! We have to go now! Are you done packing the food? Nanaba says we need to guide them since we know our way around the villages and-- Captain Levi, sir! Connie Springer at your service!”
Levi sighed, another distraction. “If both of you are finished can you just get the hell out? I have a tired and cold five year old to feed and I believe your orders are to go quickly.”
Connie and Sasha pull a rapid salute and dashed away with the supplies, but not before Sasha shouts, “We’ll see you soon Bee! I’ll introduce you to Connie later and we can all eat together! Bye!”
Once they were gone, Bee looked at Levi in a sort of terror, obviously overwhelmed by the buzz of activity that Braus and Springer left in their wake. “Let’s heat up some soup,” Levi said, gently setting Bee on a chair as they fully entered the kitchen. “I’ll make us a cup of tea too, it’ll warm you right up.”
Bee simply nodded, swinging her little legs subconsciously as the soup started to warm and bubble on the stove Levi had lit. She watched him in fascination, elbows propped on the table while her cheek rested in one hand and her head tilted to the side as she watched him start brewing a pot of mint tea for the night. The hood of Levi’s Scout cloak had fallen off of her head, leaving water to drip steadily down her back as she warmed up in the cozy kitchen. Levi watched Bee out of the corner of his eye while he worked, making sure she didn’t fall asleep and fall off the chair while he made their dinner. He had long since discarded his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows, allowing some warmth to finally settle in his bones as he dealt with the hot stove. Finally, once both the soup and tea were finished, Levi doled out two generous helpings of the meal into bowls and set them on the table in front of Bee, and then set the tea out in equal fashion. He made sure to put a saucer-type plate under Bee’s cup, as the little girl was a novice tea drinker and would most likely spill.
“Go ahead and eat, then we can get out of these shitty clothes and go to sleep,” he told her, taking a much-needed long dreg of his tea before tucking into the soup. Suddenly, he heard the clattering of a spoon against the table and a yelp, and he was out of his seat faster than the blink of an eye.
“Ow!” Bee yelled, sticking her tongue out where it was obviously burnt from the food.
“What happened?” Levi cried out, horrified to think he had fucked up so badly already that Bee was getting hurt.
“Soup hot,” she shuddered, blowing on her tongue to most likely make the pain stop. Levi came to her side quickly and picked up his discarded canteen from the table, unscrewing it and handing it to her.
“Drink some water,” Levi said, gently guiding Bee’s hands to secure the bottle with both hands so she wouldn’t drop it, then screwed the cap back on when she was finished. “You gotta wait until it cools off a bit or else you’re gonna get burned again.”
“Okay...I’m sorry Levi,” Bee said softly, her eyes downcast like she was about to cry.
“Hey, it’s ok kid. Just want you to be able to eat without frying your damn taste buds.” Bee giggled at this, earning her a grumpy look from the Captain. “I mean it. Take it slow. Try some tea now, it should be cooled down enough.”
Levi proceeded to be further scandalized as Bee decided to stick her tongue into the liquid without even picking up her teacup.
“Hey! That’s not how you do it, Bee, wait-” Levi said exasperatedly, as the little girl looked up in confusion.
“It doesn’t taste like anything! I hate it.”
“No, you just haven’t tried it like it’s supposed to be drunk, kid. Here-” and without further ado, Levi guided her hands to both ends of the cup and brought it to her mouth, enabling Bee to take a small slurp of the tea. She scrunched her face up (oh so painfully like Petra used to when she didn’t care for something, Levi noted) and made her feelings known.
“It’s ok, Mr. Captain Levi. But I like hot chocolate better.”
“ Tch, you’ll appreciate it more as we go on. Now eat your soup.”
“Okay,” Bee said quickly, ducking her head and finishing off most of what had been given to her while they ate together. Levi finished off the rest, not wanting it to go to waste, and quickly cleaned up the kitchen. He then helped Bee off of her chair, setting the kid’s feet on the ground for the first time since they had arrived at the Scout barracks.
“Let’s go kid, time to clean up.”
“Where are we going?” Bee said, looking unsure, and a little afraid now that food had been eaten.
Levi squatted down on his toes, balancing his hands on his thighs as he spoke to Bee face to face. “I’m gonna get you cleaned up okay? You’re soaking wet and my room has a good bed for you to get some sleep in.”
“Bath?”
“If you want...the hot water should still be on.”
“Yes please.”
“Alright. Let’s go then.” Levi took her hand once more as they shuffled up the stairs to his room.
Levi quickly realized that his quarters were absolutely not suited to house a small child. He had the bath and towel and all the proper cleaning products for a wash available, but he didn’t really have a space to sleep other than his bed and he certainly didn’t have any clothes available for her that weren’t needing to be washed from the journey. He strategized what he was going to do for this first night of child responsibility while he guided Bee to take her rain-soaked clothes and put them in the laundry basket he showed her while he ran the bath and stepped out of the room to change his own clothing. Once that was finished he stepped back inside the washroom to find that Bee had been able to clamber into the bath and had found the bubble bath that Hange had gifted him about three years ago as a joke and he had never opened. Lunging for the bottle before she could dump it all in, Levi asked Bee if she wanted just a bit of bubbles, to which she squealed and said yes. As he poured the bubbles in and started to wash the kid’s hair, he was struck by how trusting she was of him and how her mother must have cherished this time at the end of a day with her daughter.
“Bubbles, Levi!” Bee exclaimed, shaking him out of his mournful state for Petra once more. He quirked his lips up as she rolled the bubbles onto her shoulders, splashing around with too much energy for a kid who was supposed to go to sleep soon.
“Hey. Stop splashing and close your eyes. It’s time to rinse your hair and get out.” Levi told her.
Bee squeezed her eyes shut as he poured water onto her hair from the little cup he’d brought with him to assist with the bath. He tried his best to keep the soap out of her eyes, blocking the water from her face with his hands. Once he was finished, he pulled the drain out and told her to stand up, standing up and grabbing a fluffy white towel to wrap her snugly in. Once the towel was secured he lifted her out and told her to dry off while he found her pajamas in the dresser.
Since Levi wanted to wash all of Bee’s clothes that had traveled with them to Trost, he picked out a large flannel shirt of his. Knowing it would be too big, he returned to the side of the bath and shrugged it over Bee’s head anyway.
“It’s too big!” she giggled as Levi rolled the arm sleeves up to her wrists, and made sure she wouldn’t trip as the shirt went down well past her knees. Taking the towel to dry the rest of her dark red curls, Levi finished bathtime with a cursory clean of the room and brought the extra candle into his bedroom.
“Here’s where you’ll sleep, kid,” Levi said, pointing to his bed. Bee climbed in, too tired to make a fuss about it’s unfamiliarity. She snuggled into the pillow, letting him tuck the sheets around her with the precision he completed every household chore with. At the feeling of her shivering and her teeth rattling, he unfolded the quilt at the foot of the bed and draped it around her as well, making sure that she was warm enough even with her hair still damp. He thought maybe he should have brushed her hair before bed, but he was sure it would be fine until morning. He stood up and made to leave her be for the night when her small voice whimpered up to him:
“Levi...where will you sleep?” Her eyes were watery and she was fighting sleep and exhaustion, but she still looked scared enough to find out where he was going. “Please don’t leave me.”
Levi sighed, crossing the room and bringing his desk chair closer to the bedside. “I’ll be sleeping here, right next to you, okay?”
“But won’t you be cold?” Bee exclaimed, eyes wide now that she realized he wouldn’t be leaving her alone.
“Nah, kid, I’ll be fine. Now go to bed.”
“Okay, Levi Captain.” Bee said, still not getting his name quite right.
He settled in and blew out the light, getting ready to close his eyes and try to sleep after an exhausting day. He had no sooner closed his eyes when he heard Bee’s little voice cry out again.
“Levi?”
He opened his eyes again. “Yeah, Bee?”
“I miss mama. I want her to come back.”
Levi fought down the tears that sprung to his eyes. It was all too much, he felt utterly too much, and he couldn’t just break down alone anymore, because Petra was dead. Petra was dead and her daughter had followed him home to find safety.
“I know. I miss your mama too, Bee. But she can’t come back.”
Silence permeated the room as the little girl sniffled as she tried to face the reality she was now living in.
“Levi?” Bee called out once again into the darkness.
“What is it, kid?”
“Can I hold your hand while I sleep? I don’t want the Titans to come and take me away too, and I’m scared.”
“Of course, Bee,” Levi choked out, trying his best to remain calm, and holding his hand out so that the girl could grasp his thumb and index finger in her tiny palm. “I’ll be here.”
“Okay. Goodnight Levi.”
“Goodnight, Bee.”
Levi Ackerman did not sleep at all that night.