Chapter Text
"Hey, guys wait up!" Armin called after his friends.
"Hah, no way slowpoke." Eren taunted as he barreled ahead towards the forest. Mikasa effortlessly trailing just behind him.
"Eren, you know we're not allowed in the forest on our own, it's dangerous!" Armin called out to no avail. "There's bears and bandits in there!"
Eren and Mikasa had come to a stop just infront of the forest waiting for Armin to catchup, which to his credit only took him 7 seconds this time.
"C'mon Armin are you really that scared of your grandpa's bed time stories?" Eren teased. "You know it will be fine, just like last time and the time before."
"You're probably right, I just don't want to get in trouble is all." Armin said sheepishly.
"Yeah yeah, let's just go." Eren said before running of into the forest.
Armin was about to call out to his friend but was stopped when Mikasa spoke up.
"You know he can't be reasoned with when he gets like this."
Armin looked back at her before responding. "I know, it's just that I don't know else to how to deal him."
"We don't I'm afraid." She responded before taking a few steps. "Let's go after him."
"Wait, Mikasa are you really going in after him?" Armin questioned her. "Won't Mrs Jaeger be angry with you?"
"She will, but only if we get caught." Mikasa answered. "And besides, someone needs to make sure Eren is OK."
She ran off after Eren leaving Armin behind. Armin took a moment to steady himself before joining his two wayward friends in their offence.
Meanwhile in Shiganshina one Carla Jaeger was doing her rounds in local the market place, bliss fully unaware of hers sons defiance and the fact that he had drawn both Mikasa and Armin into his rebellion.
She had a basket slung over her right forearm which she used to carry her purchases. Which today were comprised of ingredients for tonight's dinner. She was planning to make a beef stew for which she needed to buy a an assortment of vegetables and herbs and most importantly beef.
Meat was rather expensive in the walls but with the money that Grisha pulled in they could afford to buy it with some regularity.
So with that train of thought settled her mind turned to the man in question, her husband. Grisha Jaeger, the man who definitively owned her heart, and she his in turn, was currently away on business. Treating the son of a high ranking military police officer in wall Sina. He was supposed to be gone for a week, of which four days had already passed, which meant he was due home in three days.
Not for the first time Carla felt a pang of anxiety course through her. She knew it was irrational. That it had been perfectly fine every time Grisha had gone on such a trip. She knew that both of them were far to careful to ever discovered that easily and she knew that if they were, they should be able to overcome the humans through shear strength alone. But she feared nonetheless.
She could sometimes see it, the revulsion on the face's of those she held dear. The fear that would show in their eyes if they ever learned the truth of what she truly was. Worse she feared that her friends would reject her, treat her as a threat, as if she were one of the pure Titans that shuffled about beyond the walls. Would Hannes and Keith take up arms against her, against her husband and worst of all her son.
The boy was defenseless. Functionally human at this point in his life, he couldn't even regenerate from a paper cut yet, didn't even know what he was. He shouldn't even start exhibiting signs until he was atleast 10 years old. Assuming he's not an early bloomer that is. The boy was only 9 years old as of 3 weeks ago.
"Oh Carla!" Called a familiar feminine voice breaking her out of her ruminations. "What a lovely surprise."
"Rebecca?" She responded. "It's lovely to see you."
Her friend Rebecca, stood 10cm shorter than Carla with chestnut brown hair and blue eyes.
Her friend frowned after a second and commented "Are you alright? You look rather upset."
"Oh, I'm fine really, just worrying for my family is all."
"Oh I see, it must be hard with a husband that needs to travel some much leaving you to care for Eren and Mikasa all by yourself." The human responded shifting her gaze to a baby in her arms, swaddled up in white cloth. "Little Luke here is already giving me so much trouble and that's with Damien's help."
Rebecca looked back to Carla and not for the first time Carla feared someone would look at her and just know she was different.
"If you ever need some help you know you can call on me." Rebecca continued.
"Thank you, for the offer but I've got things under control." Carla answered.
"Well it was lovely chatting but I must be off, so much to do in so little time." Rebecca said waving as she walked off.
Carla waved back until her friend was out of sight. 'If she knew, would she still be my friend', Carla wondered inwardly.
'No she must never know'
'None of them could ever know'
'It's to dangerous for then to know."
And so with a somber heart, Carla returned home.
"5..4..3..2..1, ready or not here I come!" Eren announced as he took his hands off his face. He took a look around to see nothing out of the ordinary. He then promptly began his search for his hidden friends.
Behind that tree? Nope.
Behind this tree? Nope.
Behind that Bush? Nope again.
After about five minutes of searching he had found himself in a small clearing, which had a few large boulders in the center.
"Cool" he said to himself, being easily exited by the thought of playing on it. "I've got to show Mikasa and Armin."
"After I find them that is." He mumbles to himself.
"So how is he?" Asked a well dressed man.
"Not to worry Captain Hemsworth, your sons condition is improving." Grisha answered.
"Oh, thank the walls." The captain sighs visibly relieved.
He slumps down next to an equally well-dressed and relieved woman.
"Hear that Veronica, our sons improving." He says to her as she looks to him tears brimming in her eyes.
"Oh thank Maria, Rose and Sina. I thought we were going to lose him." She says weepily.
"I would like to monitor him for the next two days before I leave, but I believe he will make a full recovery, provided he continues takes the medication I prescribed at the specified times." Grisha said. "I would still recommend having a local physician monitor him though, just to be safe."
"I'll see to it." Mr Hemsworth replied. "And thank you Dr Jaeger, I don't know what I would have done if I had lost him."
"It's really no trouble at all Mr Hemsworth." Grisha replied. "I'm a doctor this is what we do."
"Please call me Charles, you've more that earned the right. I am in your debt if you ever need assistance I'll repay you gladly."
"I'm afraid I can't accept, I'm just doing my job." Grisha answers. "It would be improper Mr Hemsworth."
Charles stands up and straightens his blazer. Taking a moment to compose himself.
"May we see him?"
"Of course, though he is sleeping now and it would be best not to wake him."
The couple shared a glance before replying in unison. "We understand."
A few minutes later and they had arrived in the boys room. It had a polished dark wooden floor and stone walls then furnished with a bed, in which the boy currently lay, a desk infront of the rooms sole window, a wardrobe and a few shelves all filled with various toys and books.
Veronica made her way to her sons side, she took a look at him and began to run her hands through his blond hair, inherited from his father.
"Marcus its all going to be ok." She says more for herself than him.
"In celebration of his improving health I think I'll fetch a bottle of wine. Would you like a glass doctor Jaeger?" Charles asked.
"I see no harm in a little celebration." Came the doctors reply.
"Excellent." And this that said, Charles Hemsworth left the room.
The door creaked shut as the man left. The only noise in the room being the slightly strained breathing of Marcus. A few moments later the relative silence was broken.
"Do you have a family, doctor Jaeger?"
"Yes I do, I have a wife by the name of Carla and a son, Eren. He's about 4 years older than yours."
Which makes him 9, Grisha thought to himself. Which is around the age where the first signs of his true nature may begin to show, he realized. He'd need to start looking out for them, even if it was improbable for them to manifest this early.
"Then there's Mikasa, we took her in after she lost her parents."
"Oh, that poor girl."
"Indeed, though she is healing from the loss gradually. But that will take time, Carla and I try support her as best we can but she's still mourning the loss of her parents."
"And your son?" The woman asked.
"Eren?" Grisha started. "He's a strong willed boy. Gets into more than his fear share of trouble. He's also quite driven and a free spirit. Quite a lot of fight in him too, he can be quite the rouge."
Which was normal for their kind, all those traits were fairly common in rouge titans, which Eren was. He and Carla were very similar him in their own childhoods. In all honesty he had to admit Carla still had a stubborn streak a mile wide and he was still just as doggedly determined to realize his goals as ever.
It was then that the door creaked open and in stepped Charles Hemsworth.
A few moments later and the drinks were all poured.
"A toast, to my sons health."
Grisha and Veronica raised their glasses and drank in unison.
Grisha downed the whole glass in one go.
It's not like he could get drunk if he tried.
It took a while but Eren was eventually able to find both Mikasa and Armin. He'd found Mikasa first hiding in a hollow tree. Afterwards he'd spent at least half an hour search in vain, scouring everywhere he could think of before he caught sight of Armin when he looked back. Turns out Armin had been trailing him this entire time, hiding not in a tucked away crevice somewhere nor in plain sight but in the places that have already been searched.
Needless to say, Eren was incensed.
"You cheated!" He yelled while pointing an accusing finger at Armin.
"What?" Armin responded. "No I didn't."
"Uh, yeah you did. You were supposed to find a place to hide not follow me around." Eren retorted
"But I was hiding." Armin defended, " I was hiding in a place you wouldn't expect, that's the point of the game."
"Yeah well, next time that's not allowed ok." Eren said in as much of a commanding tone as he could muster.
"Fine." Armin responded, it's not like that trick would work again a second time anyway.
A stiff silence settled over the group. Armin shifted on his feet uncomfortably while Eren stood uncomfortably feeling a little guilty for his outburst at Armin.
"You said you had something to show us earlier." Mikasa offered, in hopes of defusing the tension, it work flawlessly. Armin perked up in curiosity and Eren beamed in excitement. He the began to lead Mikasa and Armin towards the boulders he had found which they reached after a few minutes.
"Check it out!" Eren announced with tangible glee. "We can pretend it's our very own castle and defend it from the Titans."
Armin looked at the boulders skeptically. "Eren that sounds fun and all but are you sure with is safe."
"It is a bit high up." Mikasa agreed.
"What it's fine. Don't be a bunch of scaredy cats." Eren said as he climbed up the rock face, when he had made his way to the top he looked down at his friends. "See its perfectly safe."
"I think you should come down from there, you could get hurt." Mikasa pleaded
"Mikasa's right it's a dangerously high fall from there and we don't know it's as safe as you say." Armin joined.
"Oh come on guys. Your worrying for nothing." Eren said and to prove a point he started bouncing on his feet. "See its perfectly safe."
Unfortunately for Eren that was the exact moment his left foot landed wrong on a protruding piece of stone and he lost his balance. In the following moments he went tumbling off the edge and landed hard on the group with a cry of pain.
"Eren!" Both Mikasa and Armin cried out in unison, before rushing over to his side.
"Eren are you ok?" Mikasa asked. A pained grunt was her only answer.
"Mikasa, you stay with Eren I'll go get help." Armin ordered.
"Right." She responded.
And with that said Armin raced of to Shiganshina as fast as his legs would carry him.
Carla had just finished the current load of laundry when a frantic knocking sounded at the door. Curious she went to open it only to find a very frightened and very alone Armin Arlert.
"Armin?" She asked, crouching down to his level. "What's the matter and were are Eren and Mikasa?"
Armin took a deep breath before he spoke. "I'm really sorry for breaking the rules but we went out I to the forest and now Eren's hurt."
"What were you thinking going out there on your own!" She scolds before her mind can process the words Eren and hurt together.
"I'm sorry, I tried to talk Eren out of it but he went anyway and then Mikasa followed after him to try keep him safe and I sorta..... went with them."
"Wait, you said Eren was hurt." Carla asked mildly frantic. "Where is he?"
" I can lead you to him. Mikasa has stayed with him in the meantime." Armin responded.
With that said Armin took off as fast as he could with Carla following close behind.
It wasn't long until the two arrived at the gatehouse.
"Hey, what's got you two in such a hurry?" Comes the familiar voice of Hannes.
"No time to explain, Erens hurt somewhere out in the forest and I need to get to him." Carla answered.
"Wait let me help, its dangerous out there." Said Hannes. "Hey Bross, fill in for me will ya!"
Hannes followed after Armin and Carla.
"Aauuuughh" Eren groaned.
"You'll be alright." Mikasa assured.
It had been about 15 minutes since Armin had gone so help should be arriving shortly.
"Eren!" Came the distressed cry of Carla Jaeger.
She, Armin and Hannes had just arrived in the clearing. Carla immediately went to her sons side.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Eren climbed the big rock, we tried to tell I'm that it was dangerous but he didn't listen and started messing around." Mikasa explained, "He fell and landed on his side."
Carla made to inspect her sons side. She pulled up his shirt and saw a large ugly patch of purple and blue was already spreading over it. She grimaced as she thought about pain her son must be in.
Scolding the kids could come later. She needed to make sure her son was safe first.
"We need to get him back home. He'll be able to rest there." She said.
" I'll carry him back." Said Hannes.
So later Carla found herself back home laboring in the kitchen, cooking dinner for the day.
Eren had been placed in bed a few hours ago were he currently slept.
Mikasa, after being scolded, had been sent to her room where she would remain until called.
So she had the house all to herself once more, and quite once again ruled the Jaeger abode, save for the rhythmic noise of her slicing up the vegetables she had acquired earlier.
It was the perfect chance to lose herself in though. Her mind turning to her injured son, her heart swelling with worry. Such an injury was bound to be agonizing, and to make matters worse he was so young. It would take weeks to heal, oh how she wished she could take his place. An injury like that wouldn't even last a minute on her anyway.
A sudden sharp bite of pain shaped her back to reality. In her contemplations she had grown sloppy with the knife and cut her index finger with it.
Completely unfazed she glanced out the window to make sure no one passing by had seen her little accident. No one had, thankfully.
Sighing to herself she let her regeneration take over. Somewhat enjoying the pleasant warmth it heralded as a small trail of steam rose from her finger. The parted flesh mended itself back together in mere seconds.
Once fully healed she gently closed her fist in front of her before dropping it to her side.
She decided to check on Eren and see how he was doing in order to alleviate her worries.
The door to Erens room creaked open and she stepped through.
"Hey sweetie. How are you feeling?" She asked him, tone laced with concern.
"A bit better." He said in a strained voice.
Carla frowned, that couldn't be right. The pain from the bruise should still be at its peak.
"Can I have a look?"
"Sure"
She tentatively pulled up the left side of his shirt and froze.
The bruise had gotten smaller.
Not by too much but it was noticeable.
"Mom, is something wrong?"
"No Eren, everything's fine, you'll be alright." She said in a pensive tone that Eren failed to pick up on.
She stood up stiffly and left the room, closing the door behind her.
She leaned back against the the door raising her left hand to inspect her index finger, which had been cut moments earlier."
"So soon?" She muttered to herself.
By the next morning the bruise had been reduced to about half it's original size. Allowing Eren to sit up with when he ate breakfast.
By the third day Eren was almost fully healed save for some tenderness on his side, which would heal by the afternoon.
Eren had blown it off thinking that the injury was simply not as bad as it looked. Mikasa taking his word for it.
But Armin had questions.
Carla could see it in the way he looked at Eren and even her sometimes. It made her somewhat uneasy. She knew just how intelligent and perceptive that boy could be. One wrong move around the boy, one mistake, and she feared he would figure them out completely.
After that she did not know.
She needed to speak with her husband as soon as possible.
It was mid afternoon when Carla found herself pacing up and down the Kitchen, waiting anxiously for Grisha's return.
The kids had gone out again so them over hearing the coming conversation was no concern.
Finally the door opened.
I'm home" Grisha announced stepping through the door and entering the Jaeger household.
"Welcome back, darling." Carla responded, making her way to her husband to greet him with a kiss. "How was your trip to the interior?"
"It went well all things considered, my patient has turned the corner and I believe he'll pull through."
"That's wonderful dear." Carla responded brightly before a troubled expression overtook her face. "But I need to talk to you about something."
"Hmm, what's the matter dear?" Grisha said, lifting her chin with his finger.
"Eren had a fall off some rocks while playing with Armin and Mikasa three days ago." She began "He bruised his left side pretty badly."
"I see." Grisha started "I'll make sure to have a look at..."
"It's already healed." She cut him off.
"Oh, so our son has begun to come of age then?" Grisha responded.
"Yes"
"We'll need to tell him sooner or later." He said
"I know." Carla finished.