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"-vi. Levi!"

When Levi opened his eyes, everything was bright, but not so bright that it hurt. He attributed it to the figure leaned over him, blocking out the worst of the sun's rays. He could not really see the features of the man, but he knew who it was.

"Erwin?" he said dumbly, and his mouth felt like cotton.

He propped himself up on his elbows. Erwin backed away, allowing Levi to sit up properly, and the sun lit up that smooth skin and made his pretty blond hair shine. His face was cool, impassive. It was warm, though not warm enough; Levi shivered slightly and rubbed his hands against his upper arms. He blinked several times against the harsh sunlight.

"Yes?"

Jolted from his observations, Levi squinted a little at Erwin, confused. Had he asked a question? He could not remember. "I . . . don't know."

Erwin cocked his head, looking Levi up and down. Levi stared back, noticing the white undershirt and how it was absolutely covered in blood. Erwin's orange jacket had been discarded and lay some distance away. It was also stained with a remarkable amount of red.

"Here." Erwin handed him a bottle of orange juice from a cooler beside him, along with two small capsules. He leaned against the side of the Jeep's bed after Levi had accepted them both and started chugging the juice. "You lost a lot of blood back there, so you'll feel like hell for a while."

The orange juice was cold, refreshing, and it helped lift the fog over Levi's mind. The scenery around him grew clearer, and he made out a forest. It was different than the one around the prison; this one was darker, greener. Conifers, probably. A glance to the front seat revealed Armin was driving, and Mike seemed to be asleep, with his arms crossed and chin drooping onto his chest.

Glancing back at Erwin, his eyes caught on the man's neck. Levi could still see faint bruising where he had marked him. He decided he should darken those up soon. Now that they were free, he would have all the time in the world.

As his mind cleared, pain in his leg became evident, and with a hiss he clutched at his thigh. His pants were stiff and uncomfortable from blood and it felt disgusting. "Shit," he complained loudly, an effort at distracting himself. "Fuck! Jesus Christ, Erwin, this fucking sucks. You should have just left me to die, holy shit."

Erwin's eyes narrowed. "There are painkillers in the glove compartment," he said stiffly, and inclined his head toward Levi's hand, where he still held the medicine from before. "And take those. They're iron supplements. You'll need them."

Levi was taken aback for all of two seconds, baffled that Erwin did not take the provocation. "Not trying to poison me, then, asshole?" he grumbled, reaching for the cooler. His leg complained at the stretch and he winced. Erwin quickly swatted his hand away and fetched him another bottle. Bristling, Levi snapped, "I can get my own fucking juice, you twat!"

Erwin's eyes were piercing in a way they never had been before, and Levi wanted to shrink. Of course, Levi did not know what was good for him, so he glared back. Finally, Erwin said, "I'm not trying to poison you, Levi," and that was that.

With a quiet, childish huff, Levi downed the supplements and rested against the passenger seat. His thigh jolted painfully every time it moved, and with the bumpy road they traveled on, that was every second, sometimes multiple times a second.

Levi did not want to speak again, but after a particularly bad bounce, he'd had enough. "Blondie - "

"Here," Armin interrupted, sounding relieved, and shook a bottle of pills in Levi's face. Annoyed, Levi snatched it from his hand and shook out a few more ibuprofen than he was probably supposed to take. He handed the bottle back, hoping it would kick in soon. It was just over-the-counter, but it was all they could get.

Levi did not want to look at Erwin anymore, so he watched the scenery go by instead. Geese flew overhead, and on occasion he saw larger animals in the trees, though they went by too fast to figure out exactly what they were.

"Hey, blondie," Levi started, unwilling to talk to the other asshole, "where are we?"

"Canada," Armin answered, and he sounded grateful for the conversation. Levi did not blame him, though he was surprised at the answer. The air was tense. "Mike got us across the border easy through some connections. We're home safe."

Connections. It was all connections. Who even was Mike? Just how many people did they have? How could someone even form this many connections? Levi sipped his orange juice. "Where to now?"

"At the next trucker stop we find, we're going to get you and Erwin showers if we can," Armin said. His fingers tapped against the steering wheel. "There's usually small clothes selections there, so we'll get you something nicer to change into and some new bandages."

"New?" Levi questioned, surprised. He supposed all the blood on his pants was dry for a reason, but he did not genuinely think they would bother to wrap it.

"Mike offered his jacket and Erwin treated it the best he could. It's makeshift at best. At worst, a total mess."

When Levi glanced back to Erwin, the man's eyes were glued to the spot on Levi's thigh where the bullet hit. Erwin treated it, huh? Of course he did - who else would? Levi should not have been surprised, so he decided not to be. It was just treating a wound. Erwin probably did it all the time.

"I'm tired," Levi said suddenly, and he was being honest, even if it was mostly because he did not know what else to say. He scooted forward with a grimace and laid down. It was not comfortable, but it was not uncomfortable, either. "Don't wake me up unless it's for a shower or drugs."

"Roger that," Armin said brightly.

Levi fell asleep almost instantly, his thigh resonating nothing but a dull ache.

.

Levi awoke to a big, gentle hand shaking his shoulder. For a moment, he thought it was Erwin, but it turned out to be Mike instead. An odd feeling had Levi's stomach dropping. He could not pinpoint it, so he ignored it.

"What?" Levi grumbled, a little ruder than he should have been. His leg did not hurt as much as earlier, so he deduced he had only napped and that the painkillers had kicked in. Thank fucking god.

"Shower," was all Mike said, and he left to join a waiting Armin. Together, they marched towards a large building nearby, and it was then that Levi noticed their location.

The building was gray with a red roof, and absolutely huge. Gas pumps covered the lot, and next to the building was a smaller gray building, where Levi assumed the rest stop had the showers. Levi watched Mike and Armin disappear inside, and then . . .

Then he was left with Erwin.

Levi wanted to say something snarky. He wanted to roll his eyes or snap at Erwin or call him some dumb name, but he knew none of it would get him banter. It was frustrating, even infuriating. So infuriating, in fact, that when Erwin offered assistance to get out of the truck, he refused it. Violently.

"Fuck off, I don't need your help!"

Erwin's eyes flashed dangerously, and for a moment, Levi was certain he had made a giant mistake. But then Erwin stepped back and allowed Levi to get down by himself.

Levi landed gracefully on the pavement, and immediately his bad leg flared. He buckled with a weak, pathetic noise. He had made a mistake after all. Erwin was there in an instant, throwing one of Levi's arms over his shoulders and walking him over to the showers, moving slow for Levi. It was infuriating.

The sun was only just setting, so very few truckers had stopped there, and none seemed to pay heed to two blood-soaked men wandering into the building. Erwin made his way into an empty stall and set a bundle of clothes and towels that Levi had not noticed previously on a shelf, setting Levi down on the stone bench.

Erwin pulled his stained shirt over his head and tossed it in a corner and, at Levi's wary look, cocked an eyebrow. "You should probably get undressed," he said flatly.

Anger flared and tinted Levi's cheeks, his voice growing heated. "I'm not fucking showering with you, you dick! Get your own damn stall!"

"We only bought one," Erwin replied, slipping his shoes off and setting them with the clean clothes. "It's not anything you or I haven't seen, Levi."

"Don't talk to me like a fucking idiot, Smith." And there it was - the surname. Erwin had been avoidant all day, and it was starting to really piss him off. "You don't want to talk to me? Fine. Get the hell out of here and shower somewhere fucking else, far from me! I can take care of my own damn self!"

"I doubt you can do anything with that leg. You're lucky you're even here."

Levi's eyes went wide. That hurt more than it should have, even if it was just the tiniest of twinges. Now it was perfectly clear to him. Things suddenly made sense. His eyes narrowed, and he clutched at the stone wall, standing and leaning his weight on his good leg.

"So what, do you want a fucking thank-you blowjob?"

Levi's free hand clenched into a fist. Erwin's expression was inscrutable.

"If it's that much of a fucking burden to deal with me and this shitty injury," Levi growled, "then you should have just left me to fucking rot in the first place." Taking a deep breath, he limped toward the door, holding onto the wall the entire time for support. Every step hurt like hell, but he was too angry to admit it. "I'm leaving. Get back to your shitty friends and go the fuck home. Away from me."

Erwin did not say anything. Of course he fucking won't. I'm useless to him now. Bastard. Levi's leg was screaming at him and he was almost at the door. His hand reached out to the curtain.

"Levi - "

And then Erwin was grabbing his waist, carefully turning him so they were face-to-face, and gently grasping his chin. Levi wanted to struggle, wanted to punch him in the throat and knee him in the fucking dick and hobble right out of there, but something in the other man's face stopped him. He had never seen Erwin so troubled, eyebrows low and drawn close together, jaw clenched tight.

Levi was far from calm. He was not forgiving Erwin by leaning up and kissing him. He was not going for reassurance for either of them. He was just very, very tired of seeing that stupid expression on his face and ridiculously fucking frustrated, and he needed an outlet for all this bullshit.

And Erwin kissed back, meeting Levi's angry passion with a ferocity of his own, and that asshole had the nerve to look so frazzled when they pulled back, the usually impeccable smirk he wore after a kiss replaced with soft gasps for air and slightly parted lips. Levi got a very brief window to take in the sight, and then Erwin was kissing him again with the familiar edge of need and hunger, but within it a sort of tenderness Levi had never felt before.

They pulled back once more, both panting and red in the face. Levi did not know when his fingers had dug into Erwin's shoulder blades, but he was unwilling to let go. They stood there for what felt like hours, staring intently, each waiting for the other to speak - or perhaps working up the will to speak themselves.

"I shouldn't have put you in that kind of danger," Erwin said into the silence.

And then it clicked, actually clicked. Erwin did not think Levi was a burden - he thought Levi's condition was his own fault. He was not angry or petty, he was guilty.

Levi always thought he would want to see the day when Erwin was vulnerable to him. He would laugh in the man's face, mock his insecurities, rub his nose in it. That sick bastard would get everything he deserved.

"Levi - "

Ah, fuck it.

Levi silenced him with another kiss, stubbornly refusing to let him finish whatever it was he was going to say next. "You don't have to say anything, moron," he whispered against Erwin's lips. "Let's wash this blood off. I feel fucking disgusting."

When he pulled away, Erwin's cocky smile was back, and Levi would never admit how relieved it made him.

.

"Hey, asshole."

"Hm?"

The sweater was warm and comfortable, Armin having guessed his size well, and Erwin's lap made for a nice pillow. His thigh had gone down to a dull throb, welcome after the scorching pain that was cleaning and properly bandaging it. Erwin's fingers rested comfortably in his now clean hair, scratching lightly at his scalp.

"Will you finally tell me what the hell you were in for?"

He was hopeful, but Erwin's moment of vulnerability had long passed. He ruffled Levi's hair fondly, like one would to a pet dog.

"Porn, Levi. Lots and lots of illegally downloaded porn."

For a moment, Levi was speechless. Only a moment. Then -

"What the fuck ever, asshole."