This chapter has been reposted from my 'Bunch of Oneshots'.

Eren/Levi.

Warnings for violence and fighting. Cursing too. Enjoy.

-P.

The Hurt Business

January in Trost Ridge, which sits nearly 6,000 feet above sea level, was an exercise in endurance. The snow fell in stinging pelts one minute and in thick sheets the next. On that particular winter morning however the winters harsh chill had tempered itself as a bundled up Eren Jaeger stiffly rushes from his truck to the sanctuary that is the gym. His workplace.

At twenty-six Eren was living his life at the top of the food chain, he was a successful MMA fighter but even the strongest have their down days. Currently the UFC Welterweight was getting sick. Maybe it was just a cough. It could be a cold. Maybe it was strep throat. Maybe nothing at all, but he knows he can't risk it. He also can't stay home from the gym - not with so many of his competitors getting added to the UFC fight card in March - so he showed up to work this morning wearing a black turtle neck, winter gloves, and a face mask to cover his mouth and keep his germs from spreading.

As he stomped the snow from his boots he tried his hardest to ignore the numerous stares he was receiving from the other fighters barely wearing any clothes. The stares are understandable, but that doesn't keep him from ducking his head as he hastily escaped into the locker room. Though he hadn't escaped harassment completely as he begins shuffling himself to the farthest corner in the room.

"Jaeger, the hell are you wearin' man? You a friggin' Ninja or somethin'?" UFC heavyweight Reiner Braun, who stood on the opposite side of the bench, asks.

Eren would have laughed if his throat hadn't been threatening to close up on him. So instead he decides that one crack deserves a counter, and nowadays the easiest way to rib Reiner was to point out his rapidly swelling cauliflower ear, which bulged like an angry fist from the side of his head.

"Look at that thing," Eren rasps. "Seriously, man. It looks like a mini butt."

Reiner smiles and reaches up to touch the mass of skin and fluid.

"It's gotten so sensitive," The blonde says, not sounding the least bit defensive. "Wakes me up in the middle of the night if I happen to roll onto it."

The cauliflower ear was just the latest casualty on the blonde's face that was once so handsome. Though according to Reiner's boyfriend, Bertholdt, it's the natural progression of a fighter's face and that it made Reiner look more rugged and appealing on the flat screen they had mounted at home.

Eren lets the conversation drop as his jeans pooled around his ankles, he proceeded to kick the clothing item towards his duffle that holds his folded black shorts that he is quick to put on his chilling legs. A shiver wracks his body as the new material works on warming up to his body.

"Seriously Jaeger go home, you look like shit." Reiner says straddling the bench.

"Ya know I can't do that." Eren mumbles as he stuffs his duffle into his locker and shuts it.

He can't do that. Eren was only nine fights into his pro career, and has only gone out of the first round twice. He didn't have the time to lounge around while others spent countless hours during the day bettering themselves for their next fight. It wasn't the fights that were going to transform his body so much as the training, which he obsessed over.

On a typical day Eren would wake up early and drive the 40 minutes from his loft apartment to Shinganshina to work with some wrestles, then grab a quick bite to eat before heading back down to Trost to hit mitts with Reiner. After that he'd head to the gym with a friend of his who plays in the NFL and jack some weights in an attempt to "get those meathead days back."

His routine was probably why last week his coaches sat him down and gave him an ultimatum: either take a few days off, or else find someone else to train him. Because the way he was working himself into the ground, they were tired of watching him take steps backwards. He'd have to stubbornly agree with them too, even though it brings him almost to tears, but if he was to go home he'd be stuck with doing absolutely nothing. Something which Eren would rather break his nose twelve times over than do.

Eren blinks twice as he realizes the blur in front of him is his colleagues calloused hand waving in front of his face, trying to get his attention back to the here and now. He gives his head a shake before he looks up to the blonde now standing in front of him.

"Just go home..." Reiner says sounding exasperated.

The brunette shrugs his shoulders and removes the mask from his face. "I'll be fine. Just a light workout today and then I planned on going home to sleep off this, this...whatever."

He stuffed the mask in his pocket and grabbed the athletic wrap off the bench and began wrapping his hands. He secured the wrap with a layer of tape as the two fighters exited the locker room and headed for the main training room. They were greeted by the sounds of fists meeting flesh and the muffled pounds of fists colliding into punching bags and punching mitts.

Eren looked to the hexagonal ring that was currently occupied by two sparring fighters locked against one another. The two were quick to separate when their supervising coach yelled for them to. Eren looked at the scruffy blonde coach, taking in his outfit for the day: loose fitting, grey sweats, with a tight black t-shirt and his usual running shoes. As usual the man had tired eyes that fit the mop the man called hair. Mike Zacharius was his long term coach one of the four that have built him up from when he was scrapping in the streets.

"Morning Jaeger." Mike called, lifting a hand in a small wave before tucking it back into the crook of his other arm currently crossed over his chest. Eren waved back and the blonde went back to work, correcting the currently sparing fighters on their posture and such, as Eren and Reiner continued deeper into the training area. As usual they would start by stretching and move on to the punching bags.

Perhaps today they'd even get the chance to spar against one another. Eren had been itching for a practice match all month but since Reiner had been training for another fight the two never got their chance. They both knew the aches they could unleash on one another so that usually saved their spars for when they each had down time that wouldn't jeopardize their matches.

The brunette tucked his shoulder behind his head and stretched out his arms before seating himself on a matt and spreading his long legs out in front of him in the shape of a V. Eren grabbed his right foot as Reiner's hands came to rest on his shoulders, the heavyweight pushed him forward as he began to stretch.

"You wreak of Vics, Eren." Reiner mumbled.

"Can't do much about that Reiner, helps me breathe." Eren grunted his reply as the tensing burn in his thigh muscle became too much. He switched to his other leg and did the same stretch, this time without Reiner there to aide him.

"Need some help here big guy." Eren's voice cracked as he sat upright again. He looked over his shoulder to find Reiner staring him down with a stern glare, the blondes arms were folded behind his head and his posture said he wasn't in the helping mood. Eren released a huff of frustration and pulled his feet together, he dropped his head forward to touch his toes. The stretch pulled some cracks from his spine.

"Stretch Reiner." Eren felt like he was talking to a brick wall as he popped to his feet, the motion making his head fuzzy but he remained planted to the ground, which he was very thankful for. Relenting the blonde sat down and began stretching, smacking Eren's hands away when he went to help, the brunette shrugged and started doing wall sits.

When the two felt thoroughly stretched Eren led them to an empty ring and squared off with the muscular blonde. Reiner's golden eyes pierced him as he dropped his body into his favorite fighting stance, every part of him wanted to fight but his body felt the sluggish effects from whatever sickness he'd caught.

"We're going easy today Eren," Reiner started but stopped when he saw Eren's deepened frown.

"Don't go easy on me just because I've got a cough. I'll kick your ass if you do." Eren declared loud enough to pull attention away from the punching bags. He circled Reiner, jabbing his left fist out to meet the blondes ribcage. His body warmed up as the fight escalated.

Reiner threw a solid punch that met with Eren's chin and the brunette stumbled backwards, regaining his stance before he fell on his butt. Some days it was difficult to fight with the heavyweight in front of him. Most of the time it was hard to get out of bed after their fight, but he still did it, only to drive to the gym to get more training in. Despite his obsessive tendencies he's nothing compared to lightweight Annie Leonhart who only goes home to get a proper amount of sleep.

The brunette narrowly dodged a left hook, he dove forward into Reiner, wrapping his arms tightly arms his midsection before lifting his feet off the ground and slamming the blondes back into the floor. Reiner's breath left him in a harsh gasp but he didn't relent, he battered Eren's sides with fierce punches, landing a few more on his face.

Eren tasted blood as he returned the blows, feet planted firmly as Reiner's thighs threatened to crush his pelvis with the force they were squeezing him. Eren's vision blurred before him for a millisecond, that being enough time for his muscles to give just slightly and allow the blonde to gain the upper hand. The two of them rolled around the middle of the ring, Reiner coming out on top, they each could hear the cheers from their fellow colleagues that had swarmed around the ring knowing they'd see a good fight.

They always did.

Reiner's last known punches landed abruptly on Eren's temple and sternum causing the brunette to gasp raggedly. The headlock he'd had around Reiner sagged as his hands pawed at the ground. His chest screamed for air and his eyes stared wildly at the droplets of his own blood, beading onto the rings floor. Panic seized him but another feeling of stubborn immobility became his "wishing not to turn and run" anchor.

So he delivered another to Reiner's face, his shoulder, his knee and only shook his head to knock the concussion free when the blonde returned his favor tenfold. Trodden, bloodied and incredibly overheated Eren shoved Reiner's weight off of him. His chest labored, his throat phlegmy as he rolled over, his arms buckled under his weight as he went to stand. The brunette's vision blurred again as he dragged himself to his feet.

Reiner was right there as he looked up he caught the blonde's right hook and was sent back to the floor. At times like this he remembered that he was always told not to pick a fight with the blonde. Eren realized with a twisting ache in his head that he'd lost control of the fight even before he'd set foot in the ring.

He coughed into his taped, bloodied fist and sat back on his heels. The fight had come to an abrupt stop as Reiner came to kneel beside Eren.

"What the fuck kind of fight was that Jaeger?" Eren's head snapped to the sidelines where Coach Ackerman stood with a hooded glare. The stare was menacing but it didn't strike the fear into his core like it used to. Eren offered the shorter man a shrug as Reiner helped him to his unsteady feet.

Blood from his head wound dribbled into his eye, he swiped his eyes clear while Reiner pressed his open palm into the wound over his left eye. When he met the coaches stare against he froze. Fury bared its teeth directly in front of his face, blocking all exits as the shorter man ducked between the ropes and marched over to where Eren stood.

He'd usually boast about his quick reflexes but nothing he could do could stop Levi's blow from meeting his chin. His head snapped backwards into Reiner's shoulder and darkness swarmed before his eyes. Eren's body crumpled to the rings floor mere seconds after the blow landed.

*.*.*

Eren swam in and out of consciousness, a constant ring in his ears welcomed him each time he came close to breaking the surface and he was back out like a light. He was probably better off that way too. Each time he stirred everything ached. He never felt warm enough as shivers wracked his body.

"Jaeger wasn't... too well." A partial explanation.

"Stupid ...ker should...home." A different, deeper baritone.

He picked up bits and pieces of conversation as he stirred again, a groan pulling from his sore throat as he rolled onto onto his back. His eyes opened slowly, shutting almost immediately as the light burned against his eyes.

"Tell me 'm dead." He rasped, voice barely audible as it cracked in his throat. A cough forced him to sit upright, he covered his mouth with his hand as his body shook and trembled against the cool air. His free hand dug into the blankets piled on top of him, he was overcome with the need to curl in on himself. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so terribly.

A cool hand rested on the back of his neck, kneading gently into the tensed nerves of his neck, the chill to those hands was enough to bring Eren's body to a sudden and very violent shiver. His coughing subsided and left his throat feeling scratchy and unusable but even so he cleared his throat, roughly so, to speak.

"Where am I?" He asked, swallowing around the ball of pain in the back of his throat.

"Your house." A familiar voice answered, Eren felt the hand fall away from the back of his neck and turned to watch as Levi sat on the edge of his very large bed. Suddenly Eren felt territorial over strangers being in his house, not that coach Ackerman was a stranger, but how the hell had they gotten into his house anyway?

"Why didn't you stay home today Jaeger?" Levi asked, looking at him with an indifferent expression that matched the indifference in his tone. Eren studied the man's complexion, the usual dark rings under his eyes were ever present, but the rest of him was neat and orderly. Not a strand of his undercut was out of place, no sign of the bed-head that plagued Eren day in and day out and except for a small scar on Levi's chin his face was unmarred. Which was a rare sight to see since Levi had once been an elite MMA fighter.

Like himself Levi had grown up on the streets. He didn't talk about his family and usually avoided answering questions about his past to the media. No one but a handful of people knew his background, Eren included. Not that he never tried to ask, but he could respect not wanting to tell your life story to strangers. Especially since the only person who knew Eren's story was Mike.

"Did you fall asleep sitting up?" Levi pressed his hand to Eren's forehead and snatched it away as if it had given him third degree burns. The brunette frowned and touched his own forehead, it felt fine to him, other than the layer of sweat on it.

"Ew." He mumbled, wiping his hand on the blanket. His hand came to rest on his lap and he noticed his bare chest for the first time. He stared at the marred scar tissue spidering out across his sternum, a fresh bruise was forming where he remembered Reiner hitting him during their match. Eren found himself self conscious over the up-close look Levi was getting of his scar, one that held a terrible amount of memories that plagued his nightmares still.

Sure he was used to getting questioned about the scar during interviews since he couldn't hide behind a shirt during the matches, he never answered the question preferring to end the interviews if such a subject was brought up. At the gym though he found no one that would ask about his scar, no one really looked at it. Except for newcomers, but they were warned not to ask, usually by Hanji or if Reiner caught them asking others he'd use threats to keep their curiosity at bay.

He was lucky and thankful to have friends who would become a roadblock for him. It kept him from drudging up old memories that he just wasn't ready to deal with yet.

Eren froze under Levi's touch as his cold palm came to rest directly on top of his scar tissue. "How does the bruise feel? Reiner really got you there." His fingers dropped over the mounds of built up tissue as if it was nothing new to the man, as if he wasn't crossing a boundary by mapping out the crevasses of Eren's scar.

"Hardly feel it." Eren replied earning a look of disbelief from Levi. He didn't know why but he feel obligated to tell Levi more. So he did. "Nerve damage."

"Dangerous placement for nerve damage Eren." Levi said nonchalantly dropping his hand away from Eren's bare chest.

The brunette shrugged grateful that Levi wasn't prying for more.

"I need a shower, maybe that'll warm me up." Levi looked almost alarmed as Eren finished speaking.

"You have a really high fever Eren. You'll pass out if you move around too much. Just go back to sleep." Levi started pushing him back against the bed, tugging the blankets back over top of him.

He caught onto Levi's arm, halting the older man in his place. He looked miserable as his thoughts fought with him. Reason was forgotten when the brunette lifted the four layers of blankets off of him and tugged Levi underneath them as well. His only excuse being: "It's...cold."

Levi struggled to be free but he wasn't about to kick a sick persons ass, not when the reason was so meaningless. Eren wrapped himself around Levi's smaller frame, the fever winning out over his screaming conscious. "...better." He whispered, snuffing his head back into his pillow.

*.*.*

Eren woke when his fever broke, he breathed in deeply, smelling a shampoo that did not belong to him. His eyes shot open to find a body tucked tightly against his own, the persons clothed legs were entangled with his and Eren found his arms were hooped around the person beside him. The brunette dared not move as the body scooted closer against him, their butt brushing against his wood. Whether it was morning or not Eren didn't know, he'd completely lost track of time during his fevered sleep.

"If you're awake, get your dick out of my ass Jaeger." Eren jolted at the sound of his coaches voice. Though he reacted in a way that was very much unlike him. Eren moved closer to his coaches frame, purposefully pressing his appendage into Levi as he did so.

"I'm sleeping. Shaddup." He mumbled into Levi's neck earning a sharp elbow so his side. Eren released the older man and rubbed at the tender new injury that would definitely leave a bruise.

"I don't need a southpaw's tiny prick poking me where it doesn't belong. If you're well enough to dry hump my ass get the fuck up and shower." Levi commanded, ditching the warmth of the covers to stand in front of the bed.

Eren huffed, apologizing to the older man for his teasing before moving to stand. With his legs planted on the floor the brunette stared at the floor. Apparently someone had undressed him during his fever because he found his manhood standing for attention, unrestrained by fabric beneath his bed sheet. "If this is tiny I wonder what you consider large, Coach."

Eren looked up at Levi, smiling at the faint blush gracing the man's cheekbones. While the two of them were on a trainer/trainee relationship neither of them had denied the attraction they felt for one another, though neither of them had acted upon such attraction yet either. Gay MMA fighters weren't unheard of but if the media caught wind that Eren was gay many homophobic fighters would avoid fights with him or would seek to put him out of commission.

His eyes dropped down Levi's body, he wore jeans with a loose fitting sweater, both articles of clothing leaving little to the imagination. He didn't care that Levi caught him openly ogling his body and he certainly wasn't threatened by the glare Levi had fixed him with. In fact it turned him on.

"Shower Jaeger. You're smelling up the place." Levi announced, leaving the room abruptly.

"Got it, Coach."