Here's another chapter enjoy!

-Two months later-

Eren stared at his squad, not quite sure what to say. All four of them were all sat around a long table in one of the upper offices of HQ- a rather meagre space, containing only the table in question, three dusty bookshelves lining the left wall with tatty, unread books stacked upon them in a disorganised fashion, a well-worn armchair angled away from the window and a desk placed underneath the stream of daylight spilling into the room. Outside, the sky way murky, leaving the corners of the room dim. Gunther, Eld, Petra and Oluo were all staring towards the door where Eren stood, indifference lacing their expressions from where they were sat.

"Is it so hard to believe?" Gunther remarked. "We've got a tactical meeting with the Captain today, so we don't need you. Take the day off."

"Not completely off, mind you. We're not asking you to slack, just clear off," Oluo added, lips twisting in a satisfied smirk. "It'll be nice to have a day without a brat under our feet."

"Are you sure?" Eren asked. "There isn't anything you need me for, or anything I could do-"

"Eren, it's fine. None of this will mean anything to you." Petra reassured him. She leant back in her chair, arms raised above her head as she eased the strain out of them. "Besides, these meetings are usually pretty boring so you won't be missing anything, promise."

"Now scram before Levi shows up and has you deep clean the whole castle."

Eld got up and shut the door in his face, leaving Eren standing out in the otherwise abandoned corridor, the point of refusal still lingering on his lips.

With a sigh, he stared at the wood grain of the door as a burst of laughter bubbled up from behind it. Well, if he wasn't needed, then he wouldn't argue. Eren spun on his heel and turned around, glancing down the hallway, and beginning his trek back the way he had come. He passed several doors before reaching the winding staircase, which took him down to the second floor of HQ, making his way through the building with no particular sense of direction. He was so used to being kept under such strict supervision it felt odd; out of place, even, to have suddenly been discharged from the squad supposed to monitor him at all times. Well, maybe it was a sign they were trusting him more than ever and no longer viewed him as the kid with the potential to manifest into one of the creatures they'd sworn to eradicate.

As this thought crossed his mind, a deep sense of gratification settled within Eren whilst he rounded a corner, pleased if that truly were the case. Things might just finally be looking up- or, looking up as much as they could for a-

His head suddenly collided with something- someone- hard, the blunt force of the impact sending him staggering back a few steps as he clutched his head pounding from the point of harsh contact. It was a person, clearly, who audibly gasped in surprise.

"Mother bitch-" he cursed, the raw bruising thudding in his skull. Eyes watering, he swung upwards, about to give whoever he'd crashed into a piece of his mind. "Watch where the hell you're- oh. Hey, Mikasa,"

"Eren," she stood before him, seemingly completely unfazed by their crash as if she didn't even feel it. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you? Are you OK?"

Her gentle hands reached out and took hold of his cheeks, one resting against the flat of his head at the sore spot.

"I'm fine,"

A weak smile crossed her mouth before her features reassembled into confusion. "What are you doing here? Where's the rest of your squad?"

Eren shrugged, taking hold of the crook of her elbow and looping one arm around her waist. "Tactical meeting. Apparently they don't need me there, so they let me go. I'm supposed to join the rest of the recruits for training. Although," his gaze narrowed. "Isn't that where you should be? What about you- why're you in HQ?"

"It's the cadet's day off. There's no training."

"Oh," a sly smile slipped onto Eren's face as he spun her around and backed them both into the wall. He ducked his head and nuzzled into the side of her face, playfully nipping at her ear lobe with his teeth. "Does that mean we've got time to ourselves?"

"You wish," Mikasa snorted and slapped his chest, before something suddenly occurred to her and she began to push him off. "Wait, Eren, not here. Someone could walk through at any moment."

"We're fine. The Special Ops Squad are the only ones in this quarter and they're all upstairs."

"Eren..."

"Fine." He released her and took a step back, readjusting the collar of her jacket, patting it fondly back into place. "So- why are you in HQ?"

"Armin wanted some help in the library. He's found some files that need organising by date and subject, so I promised I'd lend a hand."

"Oh, right, so fun stuff," Eren said sarcastically, earning a cuff on the shoulder.

"Be nice, it's interesting for him." Mikasa chided, a grin playing upon her lips as she shook her head in doting disdain.

"Whatever, if it's in the library, then I can join you," he grabbed hold of her hand and began leading her down the corridor, his pace quickening in anticpation. "It feels like ages since the three of us have spent time together-"

"Eren, let go. Someone will see."

"I told you, there's no one else here."

"Please, let go-"

"Don't worry so much-"

"Eren-"

"You've got nothing to worry about..."

"Eren...!"

What's wrong...oh shit," he stopped dead when he caught sight of Mikasa's face.

She'd grown very pale all of a sudden, one shaky hand risen to clasp over her lower face, covering her mouth as she blinked hard.

"What did I do? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she spoke quietly from behind her hand. She took a second to compose herself, allowing some colour to leech back into her cheeks before she looked back up and did her best to assume a reassuring smile. "You just...surprised me."

"Surprise doesn't make you look like you're about to throw up."

"...dizziness?"

Eren exhaled softly before reaching out and taking hold of the back of her head, the sleek strands of hair catching at his fingers as he planted a kiss on her forehead. "I'll walk slower, alright?" he paused as he withdrew and their eyes lingered on each others for several seconds. "You look pretty today."

Mikasa's cheeks coloured as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. She was wearing her usual military uniform- minus the straps for the maneuver gear- with her signature red scarf folded beneath the lapels of her jacket. "Don't be an idiot. I look the same way I always do."

"Sure you do. Better than the last time I saw you." Eren chuckled, his forehead bumping against hers as they clasped each other's hands. "Hey, your shirt's come untucked."

Mikasa looked down to see the lowest button had come undone and the left corner of her white shirt had come free of the waistband of her jeans. She hurriedly stuffed it back beneath her belt, hands looping round her back to check the hem of the shirt was still in place.

"And you've missed a button." Eren reached out, indicating a loosened point near her chest. "Geez, did you get dressed in the dark this morning or what?"

He stepped closer and took hold of the button as Mikasa's breath hitched in her throat. His fingers brushed against her chest, sending an eruption of goose pimples across her flesh, her heart beginning to pound in nervous anticipation as he tugged at the fabric, making to put the button back through the hole it had loosened from- but he was met with a surprising amount of strain.

"This is your shirt, right?"

"Yes...?"

"Is it the right size?"

Mikasa stared at him for several moments in silence before she brushed his hands off of her and did the button up herself, before weaving around him and continuing the walk to the library herself.

"Mikasa! Wait- what the hell did I say?"

"Nothing, Eren. You didn't say anything." she said quietly as they reached a set of three steps leading up to an additional hallway. At the end a set of double doors waited which contained the library. "Armin will be waiting for us."

"O...K..." he frowned and went to take her hand again for the final stretch of the trip, but it darted away from him before he could wrap his fingers around hers.

Mikasa placed her palm on one of the door handles and pushed it open.

The smell of musty, old books filled out the air and clouded their senses as they both entered. The library wasn't particularly big- there was just enough room for less than a dozen book shelves, varying in height from about four to eight feet tall; all stacked with a combination of leather-bound tomes and tattered folders containing sheets of parchment inked with old mission reports and tactical theories. Towards the end of the rectangular space was a large, square workbench behind the shelves which likely belonged to Hanji, judging by the books spread across it ("A Comprehensible guide to Titan Biology" "100 years of Titan Study" "Observation in the Field: Notes"). Three arched windows dominated the back wall, the grey clouds outside rolling ominously from beyond the pane. Every few seconds, a droplet of rain would skid across the outside of the glass, leaving tiny crystalline beads in its wake.

At the sound of the door, a familiar face popped up from behind one of the smaller shelves from the opposite end of the room away from the table, breaking out into a smile of recognition.

"Glad to see you could make it- Eren! What're you doing here?"

"His squad gave him the day off, so I figured he could come give us a hand." Mikasa said by means of explanation as the two of them crossed the room, dodging round the furniture to find Armin sat amidst a sea of papers lapping at the hard wood floor in waves between two shelves.

"Holy crap," Eren picked his way through the mess before dropping to the floor besides Armin and picking up several sheets from the floor. "What are you doing? Other than creating a paper mass-murder scene."

"Commander Hanji asked me to try and categorise their research notes from the titans they've managed to keep captive." He explained, laying down a stack of pages to his left and taking the folder from Eren. "There's no dates on them, though, so it's a bit tricky to put them in 'order' perse..."

"These are all of the notes?" Eren's eyes widened as his gaze swept across the floor littered with Hanji's scrawly handwriting and sketchy diagrams, blotted with ink spots. The sheer amount of them could have easily equaled the collective number of pages in every book in this library alone. "How long has Hanji been researching with the Survey Corps...?"

"Not important- but seriously, some of this stuff is really fascinating. It's more about understanding titans, rather than just viewing them as beings functioning on instinct; regarding what drives that instinct-"

"Uh, he's going Hanji on us."

"Don't go too far Armin, the Survey Corps already has one mad biologist." Mikasa squatted down across from them on the other side of the river of paper, folding her arms across her knees as Armin gave her a weak grin.

"Sorry. You'd change your mind if you actually read some of this stuff."

"Whatever. What do you need help with?" Eren shifted so he was sat properly on the floor, eyeing three significantly small stacks of paper next to his friend, already categorised. There were dismally few in comparison to what was left to sort.

"Right," Armin scraped his hair behind both ears. "If we just start with separating it into three main sections- Titan analysis, experiment write-ups and mission reports, we can put them into sub categories after. I'll take the analysis, Eren, you take the experiments, and Mikasa-" he looked up and blinked. "Uh...y...you take mission reports."

Mikasa frowned.

"What?"

"Hm?"

"What's wrong? You looked at me like I've just stabbed someone." her gaze narrowed as Eren glanced up in bewildered curiosity at the two.

"Nothing, honestly, it's nothing. It's...um...just-" Armin motioned to his chest, face colouring in chagrin, looking absolutely mortified. "Your shirt..."

Mikasa's gaze fell to her shirt where it became quite clear her button had burst open once more...and it was exposing the clavicle dip between her breasts with no apparent shame.

Eren's gaze followed hers to which it froze on her exposed chest, a hot blush creeping across his cheeks as his lips parted and a soft "Ah..." escaped.

Feeling her own face heat up, she hurriedly re-did the button, trying her best to ignore the tension in the fabric as she got the button through its hole and dropped to the floor, sifting through the sheets of paper around her feet. She spoke quicky, "Right, mission reports- do you want them in any particular order, or just collected together?"

"Just collected is fine..." Armin's voice trailed away.

"Sure."

A few seconds passed as they sifted through the sheets on the floor before Mikasa spoke again.

"Eren, put your eyes back in your skull and get on with it."

Eren jolted in surprise from his former position, quickly falling to the ground and grabbing fistfuls of paper and scanning through their contents, blinking hard, evidently distracted and not really processing what was in front of him.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the little group, punctuated only by the shushing of paper being slid back and forth over the floorboards between them. Mikasa tugged at her scarf to cover the lower half of her face, trying to cover the abashed rouging along her cheekbones, overly conscious of every move she made. She could feel both of the boys' gazes upon her as they glanced up at her every so often. Something wasn't right. She wasn't totally ignorant. She knew something was changing. She knew something was happening to her- but she was desperately trying to ignore all of these rapid differences in her body and hoping it would pass with time. But now, as they sat amidst the tidal waves of mission reports and scribbled notes, it was becoming abundantly clear that both of her companions were beginning to suspect something as well. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears as she reached out, fingers stretching towards a stray piece of paper laying a couple of feet away.

"So..." Armin was the first to speak, his voice filling the otherwise empty room, swelling to twice its intended volume. It seemed to resonate within them all. "I've been meaning to ask..."

He was interrupted by the sound of foot fall echoing in the corridor outside. All three of them tensed as it sped up, resounding in the creaking of floor boards. The door burst open, and an overly-enthusiastic Hanji strode in.

"Armin! You here?" They bellowed from across the room. Armin leant back on his haunches and turned his head towards the door, peering across the top of the small shelf once more.

"Here, Commander," he called in response.

Hanji's face lit up at the sight of him, and with a few quick strides, crossed the room and rounded the shelf, coming to view the trio.

"Oh- Eren, what a surprise!" Hanji remarked in surprise as their gaze fell upon Armin's companions, each in turn. "Aren't you supposed to be with Levi's squad?"

"They gave me the-"

"No matter," Hanji waved him down, before pausing for a few lingering moments, one hand still held up in the air as they regarded the three cadets before them in consideration. "But since you're here..." A wicked grin lit up their features as they took a step forwards to Eren, carelessly treading on the documents littering the floor- earning a protesting squeak out of Armin- until they stooped to his level, face inches from Eren's. "Care to take part in a little study for me?"

Eren flinched at Hanji's face so close to his- he was dimly aware of Mikasa glowering behind the Section Commander's intrusive figure- and shuffled backwards to give himself some distance.

"Uh...sure, I'll help," he said uncertainly.

"Oh, you won't be helping. You'll be the subject!" Hanji seized hold of his wrist and yanked him up from the floor, dragging him from the paper-sorting and across the room to the workbench behind the other shelves. "You two come as well!" they ordered, beckoning Mikasa and Armin to join them. "I'll need a control, and someone to take notes."

"Control?" Eren echoed as they reached the aforementioned table, at which point Hanji released him.

"Indeed- see, I've had lamentably little time to carry out something resembling a study on you- ever since the spoon incident-"

"What spoon incident?" Mikasa's apprehensive voice came from behind Eren.

"-I've been itching to analyse your biological structure, so to say." A possessive gleam radiated in Hanji's eyes. "Basically, what we need is a good, old-fashioned observation study."

"With all due respect, Commander, I'm not going to turn into a Titan in the library."

"No, no, that's not what I'm interested in- well, not right now anyway. No, I'm curious to see whether this titan shifter ability has affected your human form in any way. We know about the accelerated healing, obviously," Hanji twisted around and seized a notepad and pencil from the counter behind them, scribbling a few brief notes across the top of the page before tossing it to an unsuspecting Armin. "But increased muscle mass, height, lack of reproductive ability-"

"Commander-!"

"-these are all things we've yet to consider. So let's investigate, shall we? Armin!"

Armin jumped, caught off-guard, still fumbling with the notepad which clattered to the floor in his surprise. "Yes, Commander?!"

"You'll be taking notes! And Mikasa here will be our control-" Hanji marched away from Eren and clamped their hands down on an unsuspecting Mikasa's shoulders, who seized up in response, a look of baffled shock crossing her face at this rude awakening. "an average human to act as a comparison!

"Uh, Commander Hanji?" Eren said uncertainly as Hanji steered Mikasa towards him. "I wouldn't exactly call Mikasa average-"

Hanji, however, didn't appear to be listening as they released Mikasa and began dragging her jacket off with no shame.

"Hey-!" Mikasa exclaimed.

"What the hell?!"

"Come on, you two, strip." Hanji ordered, completely unfazed by Mikasa's evident discomfort, pleasant anticipation lining their face. "How do you expect me to make any halfway decent observation when you're both fully clothed? You too, Eren, shirt off."

"Commander, I really don't think-" Eren could feel his face flaming once again. He wasn't particularly bothered himself by stripping down to being half-naked- being in the training corps for the past three years and having no privacy almost all of that time does that to a person- but Mikasa was clearly uncomfortable as she writhed away from Hanji's grip, her jacket sliding off her shoulders in the Section Commander's hands.

"Commander please..." Mikasa protested, folding her arms stubbornly across her chest, ducking away from Hanji.

"Oh, come on! Don't be such a prude!"

"I'm not being a-"

"Fine then, off with the shirt!"

"Commander Hanji-"

"No time like the present, come on now!"

"Please-"

Eren took an uncertain step forwards, reaching out to shield Mikasa from Hanji's unrestrainable pursuit of scientific study, but before he could even make contact, Hanji seized hold of the untucked corner of Mikasa's shirt and pulled upwards without warning.

"See! How hard was that-"

The Section Commander's voice had barely risen before the enthusiasm behind it weakened, diminishing to silence as a hush settled over both Eren and Armin who stared at Mikasa's now exposed midriff.

Something glaringly obvious was unprecedented about Mikasa.

The usual taut, well-toned muscles defining her abdomen were something she was well known for among the cadets, the pinnacle of much envy from many of her male and female comrades alike. But the usual chiseled stomach was...different.

The former deep-set muscles now only formed shallow divots in her flesh, a shadow of their former glory.

And there was a distinctive roundness to her stomach that had never been there before- a slight curve, starting just below her sternum and ending several inches beneath her navel.

In fact it looked like she was-

"Oh, poo, I forgot Eren's files. They're still in Levi's office." Hanji released Mikasa's shirt, which she seized and tugged harshly down over her stomach, cheeks practically glowing with shame. Apparently unaware of Mikasa's situation, Hanji weaved around the table, brushing past Armin, calling behind them, "I'll be back in a moment- don't go anywhere-!"

The trio stood in silence as Hanji's footsteps faded away as they left the room, echoing in the otherwise deadly quiet room. They didn't speak until the door's hinges creaked, and the soft click of the lock's lever swinging into place as it shut sounded when both Eren and Armin swung around to face Mikasa.

"Mikasa, what the hell's going on?" Eren demanded. Mikasa deliberately kept her gaze averted as she hastily tucked her shirt back into her jeans concealing her slightly protruding abdomen. The button near her chest had come undone again, but her fingers kept slipping as she went to redo it, struggling against the strain of the garment clumsily. Her face was glowing bright red in humiliation.

"It's nothing," she uttered plainly.

Armin laid the notepad and pencil Hanji had given him on the table, taking an uncertain step forwards. He looked pale and stricken, looking towards Mikasa, before his gaze darted to Eren. They shared a deeply panicked look for a few moments.

"Mikasa..." Armin said gently. He hesitated, before he spoke again. "How long has it been, Eren? Since you two...?"

Mikasa's head turned incredulously towards Eren, suddenly looking alarmed.

"Uh..." Eren counted back on his fingers, heart pounding. "Three...three months?"

"You don't think-?" Armin cleared his throat nervously. The air was thick with heady anxiousness. "There isn't a possibility that...Mikasa could be pregnant, could there?"

"No...there's no way." Mikasa's rebuttal sounded harsh and strong but there was a distinct tremor to her voice. "There's no way. It was one time." Her hands met round her middle, laying on top of each other as she clutched her stomach. "It was one time,"

"One time is all it needs..."

"That's insane." Eren couldn't think straight. His head was pounding. His stomach churned. He felt weak. He gripped the side of the table for support. "You're joking- please, Armin tell us you're joking,"

He and Mikasa shared a worried glance before she hurried over to his side. Wrapping a protective arm around her, he burrowed his head into her shoulder, seeking refuge to hide from the potentially chaotic hand fate had just dealt them. His breathing grew shallow against her neck as he held the back of her head, quivering like a frightened animal.

"I know, it's daunting," Armin was saying. He approached the two and laid a reassuring hand on both of their shoulders. They could feel him shaking too. "But Mikasa has all the symptoms- think about what happened during training last month. Dizziness. Fatigue. Weakness. Extreme hunger. Sickness. Increased girth..."

"Fuck," Eren cursed, clasping Mikasa hard. She was quaking under his grip as he stroked the back of her head in what he hoped translated as comforting, the former sturdy, firm figure now feeling as delicate and as brittle as glass. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..."

"There's still a chance we're wrong about this-" Armin added hopefully. His tone was fraught with hapless desperation. "These things can all be explained...it doesn't necessarily mean she's-"

"She's what?"

A cold voice came from the door way and all three of them leapt to attention, Mikasa springing from Eren's arms swiftly as they all whipped around...

To see Levi, leaning against- what they had thought to be closed- door, one shoulder against the frame; his arms folded and his face set in a hard line. He scrutinised them all with an unyielding gaze that bore into them all in turn as he straightened up and took a few steps forward.

"Just what the hell were you two doing," he said, his voice edged thickly with ominous undertones as he surveyed Eren and Mikasa.

"N-nothing, sir," Eren stammered, shifting his feet uncomfortably, overly-conscious of Mikasa standing only inches away from her.

"Don't try to bullshit your way out of this. I saw you,"

"S...sir, how long were you standing there?"

"Long enough to hear everything I needed to."

Oh fuck.

"Captain, we can explain-" Mikasa began before Levi held up his hand for silence.

"Good, because if I know what I heard then this is going to be a shit stain on the whole regiment. Jaeger, Ackerman, you're coming with me. Arlert," His lip curled as his gaze fell on the scattered papers from across the library. "Clean up this mess."

He turned on his heel and strode over to the door, turning around and waiting for Eren and Mikasa to follow.

"What the hell are you waiting for? Get moving. Now."

Without even time to share an uneasy glance, Eren and Mikasa were forced out of the library, hearts thudding in the back of their throats as they followed in the Captain's wake out into the corridor, abandoning Armin.

We are so dead.

To be continued...