Eren is panicking.

Scratch that. Everyone is panicking. The humans are running back and forth frantically, there's shouting and screaming and the smell of blood and pain and distress.

Mikasa had instructed him to carry the fallen, screaming woman to the doctor, and Eren had been so grateful just to have some direction to follow, but the doctor isn't here and he doesn't know what to do. Humans are flitting around him like fish around a blockage in their stream 'seeing him just enough to sidestep around him to complete some task or another without really acknowledging him or explaining anything. Bowls of water are passing hands, someone is lighting a fire under a heavy, black pot, someone is carrying in sheets and small pieces of cloth.

Eren doesn't know what to do. He feels helpless. The humans all seem to at least understand the situation but Eren doesn't understand and he

doesn't know what to do

.

Just then the door bursts open, slamming against the wall with a

bang

, and the doctor comes through, panting for breath, Armin at his heels. "Carla!"

The injured woman lets out a scream followed by a whimper. "Hannes! It's here! It's com 'ahh!" She curls up on the cot even more tightly, a forceful tremor racking her body as she grunts in pain.

Now the doctor is yelling, too, pointing at each person in turn and issuing them a job. Eren is instructed to lean Carla forward while another human stuffs pillows behind her, and he does so without hesitation. Armin had always told him that if there was an emergency, he should listen to what the doctor said, so he wasn't about to ignore the orders given to him now.

When Carla has been adjusted according to the doctor's instructions, he turns back to see the blond human sitting between her raised legs, murmuring soft things to her. Soon, another shriek rips through her as her whole body clenches and shudders again. "Hannes," she whimpers "Hannes, I need you up here, please I-" she gasps "I can't do this without you here, I need, I-" Her hands twist into the sheets below her so hard, Eren expects them to tear.

The doctor gives her a look of pained sympathy. "You can, darling. You can do this. I have to be down here, though. I have to make sure our baby comes out alright. Don't want him to fall out onto the floor do you?" He gives a shaky smile, his hand stroking one of her legs comfortingly, and Carla gives a hiccupping laugh.

Another shudder wracks her body, and this time, one of her hands darts out to grab Eren's in a vice-like grip. He flinches away in shock at first, but she just holds onto him and doesn't do anything further. Belatedly, he manages to puzzle out the doctor's meaning, the word

'baby'

catching his attention, and he looks around at the chaos around them in a new light.

Carla is going to lay her clutch. Mikasa's words about the dangers of childbirth spring to his mind all at once, and it's all he can do not to start panicking again.

Hannes makes more assuring noises and "that's it, Carla"s, and it seems to help her, the death-grip on his hand relaxing a little. Without thinking, he squeezes her hand, a quiet warbling noise slipping from low in his throat, just loud enough for the shaking woman to hear.

Carla looks up at him, and he uses his free hand to swipe the hair out of her face. Slowly, so she doesn't startle, he leans his forehead against hers, cooing softly again. Her grip tightens in thanks for just a moment before relaxing 'as much as the tremors allow, at least.

A throat being cleared draws his attention to the doctor, who has a lone eyebrow quirked and a smile pulling at the worried mask of his face. "Better not be getting any ideas up there, kiddo."

Eren frowns in confusion, but Carla lets out another laugh, strangled as it is by the next shudder that goes through her. "This '

ahnggh

'this is Eren, dear."

The doctor's face lights in understanding, and though his attention is focused mostly on the writhing woman in front of him, he spares a long glance at Eren. "Ah, I've heard a lot about you, Eren. Carla says you've been making her dinner for the past few months." He looks up again, eyes serious. "Thank you."

Eren doesn't really know what to say to that, so he shrugs. "Armin cook. I only catch."

Hannes smiles again. "Armin's a good kid. He talks about you, too." He does something with his hands after Carla lets out another scream, digging her work-rough fingers into the meat of Eren's hand. "Speaking of..." he mutters, turning around "Armin! Get over here!"

The small blond stumbles over at his name, and warm water sloshes out of the bowl in his hands to darken his sleeves. His back is ramrod straight, but other than that, he seems calm under the stress.

"Ah! Perfect." The doctor grabs the bowl and one of the cloths from the table next to him and begins furiously scrubbing at his hands. He begins instructing some of the other humans, but another tremor wracks Carla's frame, so Eren returns his attention to her, resuming the soft cooing and running his fingers through her hair.

After what could have easily been an hour of this, Hannes calls out Carla's name. She gives a whimpering groan in response.

"You're going to have to push now, alright? Can you do that for me?" Carla nods, and grips Eren's hand harder (a feat he had thought impossible). He squeezes back when she lets out a throaty scream, her upper body rising off the bed with the force her full-bodied clench.

When it's done, she collapses against the bed, panting heavily, and Hannes gives her a breathless smile. "I can see his head, I can see our baby. You're doing so well. Just a few more to go."

It's a long time of watching Cara push and push and push before something apparently happens, and suddenly the humans are running around again, bringing water and cloths, and Carla is smiling and laying back against the cot, chest heaving.

He's about to say something comforting to her, when a shrill shrieking pierces the air. His hands fly up to cover his ears as he looks in the direction of the wailing, and it takes a full minute for his brain to compute the sight.

There's a small pink...

creature

writhing in the doctor's arms, and the humans around him are wiping at it with wet cloths, removing some of the slime that coats it, and cutting at a...

tentacle?

protruding from what looks to be its stomach. What was Hannes doing? What could possibly be more important right now than making sure Carla's clutch was lain safely? Where did that

thing

come from? And

why

is was making that

noise

?

He takes in a deep breath to scent the air, but all he can smell is blood and distress and human. The humans are jostling each other aside to try to get a look at the creature, and he looks back to Carla to see her smiling with a look of complete adoration on her face as she looks at it. None of the humans seem worried about it 'just excited 'so at least that means it shouldn't be dangerous...

The doctor lets out a relieved laugh, and turns to Carla with wet eyes and a wide grin splitting his face. "Carla, dear, would you like to hold her?"

"Her?" Hannes nods, still smiling, and she smiles weakly. "I told you it'd be a girl."

The doctor laughs, and pulls the creature to his chest. "Well if you don't want to hold her I guess I'll just..."

The woman on the bed stretches her arms out to receive the small thing. "You're horrible. Now give me my baby, Hannes. I just spent a hellish amount of time carrying her around, and I want to see what she looks like.

Eren watches as the shrieking mess passes hands gently, and blinks in confusion at the dopey looks of affection on both humans' faces. Carla had called the thing a 'baby', which unless he 's translating wrong means that that...

thing

is a human hatchling, despite the fact that it's fully-skinned and doesn't have an egg. It 's also severely underdeveloped, and surprisingly docile for a hatchling. Titan hatchlings tend to devour anything in sight with rabid ferocity, striping flesh from bone in the space of seconds.

He thinks back to his own hatching. It was so long ago, but he remembers it clearly.

Waking up disoriented by the light shining in through the dirt that used to cover them; tearing through the membrane of his egg only for a the smell of blood to flood in after it; standing up and looking around to see the legs of one of his clutchmates dangling from the mouth of one much bigger than it; the soft, pink eggs around and under them wriggling and tearing open; the din of a dozen clicking shrieks.

The big one ignoring him while they both ripped and tore at their smaller clutchmates for no other reason than the raw instinct driving them to do so; the taste of them on his tongue; the two of them turning on each other once they had finished with the others.

Eren walked away that day as sole victor, the hatch-calls of his clutchmates silent behind him.

At least now he knows why the creature '

the human

'was making that sound. It may be the only thing he

did

know right now, but he knew it must have been a human hatch-call. It was definitely loud enough to be one.

He wonders if this is a standard clutch-laying for humans, or if this hatchling was simply defective. He never would have expected humans to have live-born offspring. It seemed so...

primitive.

Like an animal. He forgets sometimes that humans are not just tiny Titans. That their biology and behavior is much different, despite outward appearances.

Eren is shaken out of his reverie when his name is called. He looks up to see Carla beckoning him to come over, and he cautiously does so.

The hatchling squirms, but the hatch-call has gone silent, its mouth instead latched onto its own hand like it's the most delicious thing ever created. Eren has to agree on that point. It's been a very long time since he's tasted human, but he remembers that it was absolutely decadent.

"Very small." He says, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the bundle.

Carla nods with a smile. "Yes she is. She'll grow though." He watches her nuzzle the top of the hatchling's head, face bursting with affection and knows without having to ask that humans keep and raise their young like many of the animals outside the wall.

"What is name?" He asks, as he looks at the small creature gazing vaguely in his direction with unfocused blue eyes.

Hannes smiles, brushing his fingers along Carla's shoulder. "Well, we've got a few ideas, but nothing is set in stone, right Carla?"

Carla nods, and continues stroking the hatchling. "I'm not naming my baby Bertha," she says, not looking at the doctor.

"Bertha is a lovely name, and you know it."

"Not on your life."

Hannes grumbles, but his face is still light and relaxed. Eren watches them for a while, but soon his gaze is pulled back to the strange hatchling. It looks only vaguely human, but he trusts Carla's judgment that it would indeed become one. It's just so soft looking, so...

squishy.

He fights the overwhelming urge to touch it.

"What about you, kiddo? You like the name, right?" Eren looks up to see Hannes giving him a cocky grin.

He doesn't know much about humans name things, but the word doesn't exactly seem like it fit the small, blobby hatchling. He shakes his head minutely.

Carla chuckles from where she lays on the cot, "See?"

Hannes huffs, "Well let's see you come up with something better."

Eren blinks in surprise and looks down at the tiny human. He has no idea where he would even begin naming a human. He tries to think of the names he's heard before, but he can't remember most of them very well. What if there were rules on which names could be given to which humans? What if the humans didn't like the name? What if he accidentally mixes up a human word and offers the name "wheat" or something?

As he frets, a conversation he 'd had recently with Mikasa nudges at his mind, and he smiles. It's perfect!

He wets his lips and looks up at the new parents. They're talking to each other 'about the hatchling probably 'so when he speaks, Carla apologizes and asks him to repeat himself.

"Maria." He says quietly.

The humans go still, and for a moment Eren wonders if he's said something horribly wrong. He hadn 't meant to upset them, it was just '

"It's perfect." Carla says, smile soft. She looks up to the blond at her side, and he nods in agreement.

Eren smiles in relief. He wants to stay with them longer, but soon Armin calls him over to help clean up the mess left after the chaos of Carla's delivery. Sheets and towels needed to be sorted and cleaned and the unused ones put away; dishes full of mucky water have to be washed and returned to their owners; and the bottles and books that had been knocked over in the rush have to be righted and put back where they belong.

It isn't hard work at all, but he keeps looking longingly over at the hatchling and its loving parents while he works.

Eren is carrying a stack of clean sheets to a cupboard when he looks over to see Hannes leaning down, pressing his lips to Carla's. She pushes her chin upwards to into the kiss, and Hannes reaches up to cradle the back of her head...

Only to be yanked away by a terrified Eren.

"No!" He yells, clapping both hands over the doctor's lips. "That's dangerous!"

Hannes blinks rapidly as he takes in the sudden change in position before giving Eren an incredulous look. He makes a noise that's muffled by Eren's hands, but Eren doesn't dare to remove them. "You do kiss, Carla get pregnant again." He says sternly.

Hannes stares at him blankly for a long time before his shoulders start to shake, and puffs of air begin to tickle Eren's palms. He pulls Eren's hands away to reveal a poorly hidden grin.

"Son...we need to have a talk."

Eren learns a lot that afternoon about human biology and mating habits, such as their strange courting rituals and their tendency to choose life-long mates. It seems as though humans really are like many of the animals outside the Walls. He thinks of the wolves and the swans that he'd seen when he wandered aimlessly in his youth. He'd thought it odd then, but to hear Hannes describe it, it almost sound...appealing

The biological aspects were interesting as well, and the doctor gives him a look of mild disbelief when he explains to Eren that the fleshy bit between his legs was not just for urinating. It was fascinating the things that the human body could do.

They talk for quite a while before Hannes announces that he needs to tend to his mate and his new hatchling, and Eren holds himself back from asking to join him. It probably shows on his face, however, because the doctor gives him a small smile. "You know, we're thinking of having a nice dinner tomorrow to celebrate. If you wanted to, you could come over. Bring Armin and Mikasa, too."

Eren enthusiastically agrees, and Hannes grins before heading out.

As Eren walks towards home, he wonders if he'll have time to catch a bird or two to bring over. After all, according to Hannes, Carla is still eating for two.

It occurs to Eren that he might be a bit too obsessed with Maria.

He takes any chance he can get to see the tiny hatchling, to the point where Armin comments that he never sees him anymore. After that particular conversation, he makes sure to spend more time with the blond, but he just can't help it! Maria is everything a Titan hatchling isn't and everything he didn't know he adored.

They had learned early on that Maria loved being held by Eren just as much as he loved holding her, and while Armin said it probably had to do with how ridiculously warm he ran, it still gave him a soft, buoyant feeling in his stomach to see the wailing infant slowly grow still and content in his arms.

Carla often foists the hatchling on him whenever she has exhausted all other options, and always looks affectionately exasperated whenever it works.

Right now, he has the tiny human tucked into the crook of his elbow while Carla and Hannes went about doing errands.

Maria is a great companion. She does not require him to use complex vocabulary and sentence formation or have in-depth knowledge of culturally-appropriate behavior. She is content just to wiggle, chew on things, and play with one of the strings at the neckline of his tunic.

The last part she's doing now. It's a simple game 'grab, let go, grab, pull, let go, grab, chew on it, and so on.

It's so relaxing to shed the complex structure of humanity like this and go back to relying simply on instinct.

It was an odd feeling. He'd never been close with other Titans (an understatement) and most animals tended to avoid him because of his sheer size, and humans always seemed to require him to act like them before they would socialize with him. He loved his humans to the ocean and back, but his friendship with the hatchling was still a much easier one.

While he was in thought, Maria had found and repurposed his hand as a chew-toy, and Eren blinks down at her and trills in surprise.

The irony of a human chewing on a Titan is not lost on him, and he can feel a grin pulling at his face.

He pulls her closer to him and rests his cheek against her mop of fine blond hairs. Her scent is unique 'milky and vulnerable 'and he can detect the faintest hint of the other humans who've held her recently. The feeling of warmth and

family

is strong as he holds her close.

It's a good feeling.

It's official. The Scouting Legion is truly, unequivocally, desperate.

"Aw, cheer up Levi! We have an important mission to do!"

Levi levels a baleful glare at the scientist. "This isn't a fucking mission, it's a goddamn publicity stunt." He crosses his arms, careful not to tug on the reins in his hands too hard. "I'd be much more effective killing Titans than doing...

this

shit.

" He gives a vague gesture with the last two words that he hopes encompasses the entire situation and his derision of it.

Hanji snickers, turning around in their saddle to grin at him. "You make it sound

much

more awful than it really is. It's just recruiting!"

Levi scoffs. "It's not

just

recruiting. It's Erwin sending me out to shake dirty hands and kiss snotty babies instead of doing my actual fucking job."

Hanji just rolls their eyes. "As Humanity's Strongest, you are an inspiration to the people," They parrot, scrunching their eyebrows down to imitate the Commander. "And right now, the people need to be reminded just how important the Scouting Legion is, and the difference joining can make for Humanity." They can't keep the mirth from their voice, and Levi elects to ignore them so he doesn't end up throttling his only friend. Erwin obviously doesn't count as a friend; not after this stunt, at least.

"I'm no one's fucking show pony." He grumbles, urging his horse forward to escape the scientist's irritating laughter.

It's over a month before they reach the last podunk town on their itinerary, and Levi can't fucking wait to get the stupid routine over with.

It's still early in the day, so they go about setting up shop in what looks to be the middle of the village, unloading one of the wagons to work as a makeshift stage, polishing buttons and adjusting straps so that every soldier looked the epitome of orderliness and precision, and going over what to say to the rabble as if they haven't done this dozens of times already.

Levi looks up from his pristine uniform to see that they've already begun to form a crowd. The vast majority of the village is made up of farmers, and he can't help but see some potential in the well-defined muscles and work-strong hands. They'd be lucky to get a few of these people into the Scouts. Sure, most of them look a bit malnourished, but that could easily be fixed by the military's healthy rations.

Erd calls for attention, saying something warm and charismatic and completely scripted to draw people out of their homes on their day off. When the crowd is big enough, Levi heaves himself onto the wagon to begin his speech (written by Erwin of course) to the masses.

As he speaks, his eyes trail lazily through the crowd, assessing just how many people are falling for the stupidly sentimental words about justice and patriotism and making family proud. Some of the faces look cautiously hopeful, while others wear a mask of thick skepticism, and many of the rest just look exhausted.

One face stands out however, and when he sees the kid, he falters briefly in his speech. It was...unexpected to see such a look of delight and fascination on someone's face when confronted with members of the Scouting Legion trying to recruit people.

He continues on smoothly, but as he speaks, his gaze keeps finding its way to the olive skinned brat in the back of the crowd. Something about him seems...familiar. But he can't for the life of him figure out where he might have seen the kid.

It takes all of five minutes to figure it out, and this time his mouth clamps shut with the shock of memories flashing before his eyes. He pries his teeth apart and forces his tongue to keep forming words, but his mind is elsewhere throughout the rest of his speech.

Chaos everywhere. Titans in a feeding frenzy all around him. Flesh slicing under his blades. Fear.

The Titan Gunter had been using as a tether getting cut down by a Garrison Guard, sending him tumbling into a grounded soldier. Landing on a half-disintegrated Titan corpse to assess the situation. His surprise at the realization that what he'd thought to be a soldier was actually a civilian 'a kid.

Outside the Wall? How did he get here?

Asking the kid a question and getting a gabled...

sound

in response. Sending Gunter to bring the kid back to the Wall.

That had been the last he 'd seen of him. He 'd almost forgotten about the incident.

It's easy to feel useless when fighting a war of attrition against an endless army of terrifying monsters, so he's happy to count this scruffy, barefoot kid as a win. After all, it isn't every day that he gets to see real evidence that they had actually made a difference on that fateful day, but here's this brat. Alive and kicking and smiling like a loon.

He wonders if the kid recognizes him from the battle or if it's just his amazing charisma and fantastic people skills putting the dumbass look on the brat's face.

When he's done with his amazing and inspirational bid for assistance, he steps down from the makeshift stage, allowing Erd to climb up after him to give the villagers actual information.

His eyes track straight to the brat in the back without his permission, and he startles a bit to see the kid still staring at him instead of listening to Erd.

The fuck are you looking at?

He thinks, eyes narrowing.

The kid doesn't seem fazed, green eyes (or were they blue? too far to tell) wide and blinking owlishly at him.

After almost a full minute, the kid finally looks away, distracted by some broad next to him getting his attention and shoving an infant in his arms. Levi watches for a few seconds as the same wide-eyed look of delight is directed at the wriggling baby before he averts his eyes.

That wasn't incredibly uncomfortable or anything.

Eren can't believe his luck. His little one is

here!

Right here

in the village! The human had been speaking, and while most of the words were big and hard to understand, the overall message was clear.

His little one needed help.

The tiny human had mentioned something called the Scouting Legion, and while Eren knows almost nothing about it, he could understand that it consisted of humans fighting back against the Titans.

He looks down at the hatchling in his arms. Maria was fussing, but she hadn't started actually crying yet. He holds her close to his chest, and watches her nuzzle into his inhumanly warm skin, spit-sticky hands grabbing at his tunic and his neck. Her eyes slip shut and Eren feels affection blossom in his chest.

Another emotion rears its head as well, and not just for the hatchling in his arms.

Protectiveness.

The little one had spoken of the Scouting Legion as a precision offensive force, but also as defensive one, designed specifically for the task of protecting Humanity and defeating the Titans.

Eren's hands tighten slightly on the precious bundle in his arms. If the Titans could be defeated, his humans would be safe.

He thinks back to Olympus. He thinks of the chains around his wrists and neck falling to the ground with a deafening clatter as the two nice ones heave the wide doors to the warehouse open. Of the portcullis slamming shut behind him, metal teeth digging into the wooden base with the force of it. The sting of skin abrading as he stretches his arm through the metal grid to help the two humans who had freed him through as well. The humans who were just as much prisoners as he was.

They had just shaken their heads and motioned sadly at the seething mass of Titans behind him. Titans that were frantically fumbling at the gate and walls to get to the drug-like scent of the humans inside.

Before he could do anything to convince them to come with him, shouting from the building behind them had them bolting away. The mute one looked over its shoulder at him as it ran.

'

I owe you a debt

, ' he'd tried to project in his eyes and face.

'And I swear on all I am to repay it. '

The little one had said that they could defeat all of the Titans with enough help. If that happened, Armin could see the ocean and the fire mountains he spoke if with such awe. The nice ones could get away from the clutches of Olympus. Maria could grow up far from her namesake, in a place not ruled by the fear of impending annihilation.

Eren looks down at the sleeping hatchling in his arms, then at the crossed wings on the little one's flowing cape, and he makes a new promise.

'I'll kill all the Titans.

'