Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

chapter 1:  Suppressing Truth: The Cost of Belonging

By the time Levi finished, the sky was darkening and the sun had almost completely disappeared beneath the clouds. Panting, he wiped his forehead with a towel he'd brought along. Despite being one of the strongest soldiers in the survey corps, he had to train harder than most. People undoubtedly assumed that things came easy to him since he was a “natural” in combat, among other things. Though if they thought that, they were dead wrong.

Being an Omega in a place full of Alphas and Betas, was in fact not easy. Nevertheless; Omegas were and have always been strictly forbidden in the military, not only due to their weak and fragile bodies but also due to their scent, which could easily distract the other members, well mostly the Alphas, that is. If you aren’t careful enough as an Omega, it could end up dangerous. For the poor Omega, of course. Omegas are often taken advantage of, whether male or female. No exceptions. Unless they’re on suppressants, (which are highly illegal due to the terrible side effects).

Suppressants… Levi thought bitterly, probably the only useful thing that he’d brought with him from the underground.

In summary; Omegas were weak .

That's why Levi had to work harder than most. To ensure that his omega instincts were to be locked in a small box which he had buried deep underground and never be brought up to the surface ever again. He refused to submit to anyone, ever again. He had made that mistake too many times before and he vowed it never happened again. Now, in the present, living at the surface and being strong and respected enough for people to think of him as a Beta and not an Omega was enough. Although he’d wished to be born an Alpha, being seen as a beta was far better than being treated as an Omega.

He sighed as he made his way back to the headquarters and into his office. Everyone was probably asleep by now. Levi opened the door to his office and stepped inside, closing the door behind him before heading over to his bed. He rarely slept in his bed, but today he felt like it. Why? He didn't know. So he removed his jacket and unbuckled his harness and straps, neatly folding them, preventing wrinkles. When he finished, he slid beneath his duvet and fell asleep.

As dawn broke, the initial beams of sunlight gently streamed through the office window, casting a warm glow that danced across the room. Levi opened his eyes and squinted at the sunlit window. He groaned and sat up. The noises from outside made him frown; were people already up? Did he sleep in? strange, he usually was amongst the first ones to wake up. He shook his head and stood up to get dressed and to fix himself before heading towards the mess hall to eat breakfast.

Levi opened the door to the mess hall and walked towards the table where Commander Erwin and Hange sat. He sat down and crossed his arms.

“Well hello there, finally got your beauty sleep, hm?” Hange, of course it was them, grinned and threw her arm over Levi’s shoulder. He visibly recoiled, glaring at the filthy animal next to him before shaking their arm off him. “Get off shitty glasses, when was the last time you bathed?!” He snapped.

They laughed, “Oh woah! Guess the beauty sleep didn't help with your attitude at all, did it?” Hange laughed. They must think they're absolutely hilarious. Levi clenched his teeth, “shut up.” He grumbled.

“But seriously, Levi! How come you sle-” They continued before getting cut off by Erwin. “Ah, how are you Levi?” He asked, gently as ever, even though he had just rudely cut Hange off mid-sentence.

Levi let out an exasperated sigh, rolling his eyes. "I'm fine.” he replied curtly, his tone laced with a hint of irritation, shutting down any possibility of further discussion. Erwin chuckled, nodding. “If you say so.”

Levi's gaze shifted to his squad's table, where the brats were chattering noisily while eating. Their mouths were probably stuffed full with food. He wrinkled his nose in distaste as he saw Sasha coughing up chewed food onto the table. Yuck, disgusting.  

“Sasha!” Jean gagged, “That's disgusting, man!” He stated, staring at the chewed food sprawled at the table.

“What! I couldn't help myself!” Said girl spoke, mouth full of food. “At least don't talk with your mouth full of food!” Jean grumbled angrily.

“You’re starting to sound like the Captain, Jean!” Connie snickered.

Eren picked at his food, bored. Though the word “captain” caught his interest and reminded him of something to be brought up. “Hey guys,” Eren blurted out, causing everyone at the table to stare at him. “What's up Eren?” Connie asked. “I was wondering if you guys have noticed that the Captain is up training really late at night like, everyday?” He questioned, eyes drifting off to Captain Levi. “Oh yea! I actually have.” Armin affirmed eagerly, “I’m not sure why though..” He drifted off.

“I guess he’s just training to get stronger?” Mikasa replied, voice monotone and uninterested.

“Why? Isn't he already, like.. super strong, anyways?” Eren continued, frowning. “ I mean, surprisingly as it is, he’s just a beta after all!” Sasha said before swallowing her food. “Maybe he wants to get even stronger to make sure he can beat the Alphas!” She finished.

“He could already do that easily though…” Eren mumbled quietly.

Levi grit his teeth, putting his head in his hands. “Levi?” Erwin raised his eyebrows in concern. “Are you alright?” He had been acting strange ever since he first stepped foot in the mess hall this morning. His scent was what concerned Erwin the most, it smelled rather.. sweet? Which was weird because usually Betas didn't have a scent at all, and if they did; it was calming and natural. Not sweet? He was about to ask about it when Levi suddenly stood up, his expression wary. “I've got one hell of a headache, I need some air.” He breathed and turned around, ready to leave the place. Damnit! This wasn't supposed to happen! The suppressants were supposed to hold longer. He grimaced, managing to make it halfway across the room when a clang was heard from behind him. He turned around when he started hearing shouts.

“Back off Yeager!” Jean growled, clutching Eren’s shirt with one hand as the other one was raised and balled into a fist. Eren’s eyes were widened and wild as he took hold of Jean’s hand which was holding his shirt. “What is your damn problem Horseface!?” He shouted, “Can’t you face the truth?” He tore Jean's hand off of him and clenched his fists, ready to deliver a punch right into his stupid face.

Levi groaned, his headache wasn't making this much better! Of course the newly presented Alphas would be fighting. He stomped over towards the brawl that had begun, when all of sudden someone stumbled right into him, making him stagger. When he got his balance in check again, he narrowed his eyes, glaring daggers into the person who had almost made him trip and fall.

The whole mess hall turned quiet, they were holding their breaths , waiting for Levi’s response.

Eren managed to land a punch right at Jean, making him stumble back. Though, the fall which he expected never came. Instead, he bumped right into Captain Levi. He turned pale, eyes widening in fear and shock all together.

Levi tsked, rolling his eyes. “I want this place spotless, not a single speck of dust to be found, am I clear?” He questioned. They all nodded, ready to start cleaning immediately. “Not you two.” He added, glancing at Eren and Jean. “You are coming with me.” He said before turning around and walking out, The young alphas quickly followed behind.

Jean and Eren opened the door to the barracks, dragging their feet behind them with sagged shoulders. They looked like shit, hair tousled and sticking to their foreheads. Dirt speckled across their faces. 

“Hey, welcome back!” Connie snickered, “What was the punishment?” Jean full out groaned, “We had to run around the camp until now.” He grumbled, throwing himself onto his bed. “I'm so tired I could sleep for days !”

“Are you alright, Eren?” Armin asked, eyes widening in concern. Eren answered with a tired nod before flopping down onto his bed just like Jean.

Later that evening, Levi sat beside his desk, resting his head on one of his hands while fidgeting with his pen. His headache hasn't improved at all, and the pounding has simply become worse. The raven-haired man let out a grunt before standing up to take off his jacket and go to bed. He frowned when he took off his jacket, one of his pockets was empty. He stuck his hand into the now empty pocket and brought it back out when he found nothing. His lips parted in shock. His suppressants! They were gone!

He recalled the earlier events, desperately trying to figure out where they could be. Mess hall, headache, fighting, Jean bumping into him… his eyes widened, no fucking way! The bottle full with pills (suppressants) must've fell out when Jean bumped into him. CRAP! He clenched his jaw in frustration, he could go back to the mess hall and search for the bottle… since no one should be there this late, but if anyone finds out he snuck into the mess hall in the middle of the night it’d be too suspicious. However, people finding the bottle with pills was way worse!

He weighed his options for a while before saying fuck it , and making his way to the mess hall. He was usually light on his feet, which he was grateful for. When he arrived at the mess hall, he halted, hesitating before eventually opening the door and entering inside; despite not being religious, he hoped and prayed to every deity that existed that no one had discovered the pills. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Behind The Lies; Uncovering The Truth

Erwin watched Levi as he walked out of the mess hall with amusement, though it quickly morphed into concern when he saw something slipping out of his pockets when Kirstein bumped into him. The cadets started fumbling with their dishes, quickly putting them away to begin with the cleaning orders. Not wanting to be seen slacking off.

He stood up and headed over to the place where Levi had dropped his belongings to pick it up and return it to its rightful owner when Hange called his name. “Commander! I need your assistance immediately!” They said before slipping out the door, expecting Erwin to follow and so he did, ignoring what had caught his interest. 

“Gosh! This is sooo boring and I'm so hungry!” Sasha whined, leaning onto the mop she was holding. “Shut up Sasha, you're always hungry! And quit slacking off, the Captain is going to kill us if he finds out!” Connie complained, washing the table with a dishcloth.

She sighed, stomach rumbling as she began mopping the floor. When she was mopping a quiet, strange sound similar to a glass rolling on the floor was heard as she hit something hard with her mop. She stopped, frowning as she crouched down to pick it up, “What’s this? Is it food?” Sasha wondered out loud as she inspected the item. It looked like a glass bottle with white ‘beans’ inside. Unscrewing the cap of the small bottle, she poured out the ‘beans’ onto her palm and picked one up to sniff it, trying to figure out whether it was edible or not.

“Huh? What do you mean Sasha?” Armin said, peeking from behind her with a concerned look. Sasha let out a startled shout at Armins sudden appearance. “You scared me Armin!” She exclaimed. “They’re beans! Wanna try them with me?”

Armin backed a bit, waving his arms in front of him in a nervous gesture. “Uh, no thank you!!” He stammered, “I don't think you should eat them either, we don't know what they are.”

Sasha pouted, “Fine party pooper! I’m gonna try them by myself then!” She picked a ‘bean’ up and put it in her mouth, swallowing. Armin watched with wide eyes, did she just eat that? “Sasha!” He squawked, his high-pitched voice catching the attention of the others and they turned their heads to look at him and Sasha.

“What's going on Armin?” Mikasa frowned as she walked up to them. Armin pointed at Sasha, “She just ate something she found on the floor. Without knowing what it was!” He said with a panicked voice.

“Yeah, they're just beans and they didn't taste much anyway. Although, they were a bit hard and difficult to chew… But I feel completely fine!” Sasha assured, grinning as she ate another one. Mikasa narrowed her eyes, staring at the chestnut-haired girl in front of her. Those didn't look like ‘beans’.

Commander Erwin entered the mess hall only to find the cadets still there. He frowned and walked up to them. When they noticed his presence they immediately stood up straight and saluted. “Commander Erwin!” Connie said, greeting the Commander. “Sorry we didn't see you come in!”

“At ease cadets." Erwin chuckled. “How is it going?” He questioned politely.

Armin was the first one to answer, “Sasha found these while cleaning, do you perhaps know what they are?” He asked, holding the bottle which was almost empty. Erwin raised his eyebrows as he took the bottle, turning it from left to right in his hand. The label of the bottle had been carelessly ripped off. The bottle and the pills inside seemed familiar, had he seen it before? He tucked the bottle in his pocket. “I'll take a closer look at it in my office, continue your duties.” He said and offered a gentle smile before turning around to head out.

When he reached his office, he unlocked the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He stood there for a while before walking over to his desk. Erwin took the bottle out of his pocket and brought it closer to his nose to sniff it. A faint scent of Sasha, Armin, himself, Levi and… someone else? The unfamiliar person's scent was similar to Levi’s but not Levi’s usual scent… More like the scent that oozed from Levi which he caught a whiff off earlier. A sweeter scent . He inspected the bottle a few more times before letting out a tired sigh and closed his eyes. That's when it hit him, he knew where he had seen those before. In one of the books he had borrowed from Hange about secondary genders. He walked up to his bookshelf and searched for the specific book. Ah, there it is! He grabbed the book and opened it, flipping through the sides until he saw a picture of a bottle with pills that looked identical to the ones at his desk which he looked at earlier. He skimmed through the text that was written underneath the picture, there was one sentence that caught his eye, it read ‘ Suppressants; They are small, white pills that are usually used by omegas to suppress their scent and make it less sweet and enticing .’ So they were suppressants , but Levi was a Beta, why the hell would he go around carrying suppressants? Hold up, it said Omegas . With a deep intake of air, his eyes sparkled with the light of realization. (delight)

It couldn't be!

He had to find Levi. Fast! 

Throwing up his office door, Erwin sprinted out before halting to a stop. Where could he be? His office? No. If he was correct, Levi would go look in the mess hall the very same second he found out his suppressants were missing. He rushed towards the mess hall once more, ready to confront his Captain.

When Levi stepped foot into the now empty mess hall, he immediately turned his head towards the place which he had been bumped into. If he really did drop them here, they couldn't have rolled far away. He felt his hope getting thin, someone must have found the bottle by now. Stalking over towards the nearest table, he crouched down. Maybe it had rolled under the table. When he saw nothing he let out a shaky sigh which turned into a frustrated groan, this really had to be the one time the brats actually had cleaned properly according to his orders. He stood up and turned around only to be met with the sight of Erwin. Levi froze, swallowing. Why him! Anyone but him!

“Captain Levi!” Erwin’s voice boomed across the room, a slight tinge of exhaustion laced in his usually commanding voice. Levi said nothing because he did not trust his voice at this time. Levi always had a remark ready to be made. Now, however? He wasn't sure what to say, so he remained silent. Levi was panicking inside, even though his face remained stoic and composed.

Erwin walked closer to the Captain, he was furious, that much was clear. Though, it was unclear who he was furious at. Nevertheless Levi took a few steps back until the back of his knees hit something hard. The table . He was stuck, surrounded while the enemy Erwin came closer.

“Captain.” Erwin said, eyeing Levi up and down. He looked like he was ready to run the second he got the chance. Slightly shaking his head, Erwin brought out the bottle which he had in his pocket.

“I believe those are yours.” He handed the bottle over to Levi, who immediately snatched it from his hand.

“Why do you have those?” Erwin questioned, somehow making it sound more like a demand than a question. When Levi didn't answer, he tried again, more gently this time. “Levi, why are you carrying suppressants?”