Work Text:
Levi didn't exactly know how he got into this situation.
Okay.
Maybe he can guess how.
There was only one person who could have knocked him out cold without a prior warning, drag him to god knows where while unconscious then let him wake up with a bag over his head, obscuring his view.
Two if he wanted to count Erwin but Erwin didn't need to do any of this. If he wanted to ambush Levi, all he had to do was message or call him to meet him somewhere. Levi would have willingly came to wherever the hell Erwin wanted him to go to without any lingering doubts.
So that left only one other person who could have pulled off this kind of stunt.
"Take the damn face bag off or I will break all your bones then burn you alive before throwing your extra crispy body to rabid dogs while you're still breathing." Levi ordered with a low growl. He heard some shuffling and he hissed, "Now, Kenny."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hold your ponies." The face bag made of some kind of itchy cloth was finally pulled off his head. Levi involuntarily blinked for a couple of times as his eyes tried to adjust to the sudden light. Once his eyes finally adjusted, he quickly scanned his surroundings. He seemed to be in an empty family restaurant. It wasn't high end but it didn't look dingy either. It looked like the type of restaurant that middle class families would enjoy a warm lunch or dinner when they don't want to cook. The type of restaurant that Eren would have liked. Levi was sitting on one of the tables on the middle of the dining area in an otherwise empty family restaurant.
... with Kenny.
That was never a good combination.
Sitting wasn't exactly correct though. He was tied to the chair.
The bastard didn't even bother with the ropes. He had tied Levi using handcuffs that chaffed against Levi's skin.
The bastard (who was named Kenny but Levi and Isabel prefer to call him the bastard) raised his hands and said, "I am going to uncuff you. Promise me you won't try and kill me."
Levi glared at him and drawled, "I promise I will try not to kill you."
Kenny nodded and slowly walked towards Levi. While Kenny crouched next to him, Levi asked in an annoyed tone, "Why the hell did you even kidnap me?"
"I was ordered to." Kenny replied, taking out a key from the inner pocket of his jacket as he said, "You know how it is back in your old branch. We don't ask questions."
Levi raised an eyebrow and turned to stare at Kenny, watching him as he uncuffed Levi's right wrist while he asked in a tone that pretty much flat out states he does not believe Kenny at all, "The CIA ordered you to kidnap me?"
"Not exactly." Kenny replied in a singsong tone. Once the handcuff came off, Kenny smirked.
Then he went skidding across the floor after Levi delivered a swift jab to the jaw.
"You promised." Kenny whined which only made Levi roll his eyes.
"I promised not to kill you. I didn't promise to not fucking send you to a god damn hospital." Levi reminded him and picked up the key Kenny had dropped when Levi punched him.
Kenny sighed and stared at the ceiling as he commented, "I guess I should have made you promise me a more detailed 'I will not do this and that' instead of the typical 'I promise not to kill you' oath."
Levi quickly uncuffed his left hand and took out his service pistol. He aimed his pistol just in time for Kenny to sat up and raise his own pistol at Levi. Kenny grinned while Levi glared at him, "Now... doesn't this seem like deja vu?"
Levi raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Which one? Berlin or Vatican?"
"Aaaah, Berlin." Kenny said in a reminiscing tone. He smirked as he corrected, "I was actually thinking about Kuwait."
Levi took a few seconds to remember that event and frowned as he commented, "You and I remember Kuwait very differently."
"Wait." Kenny furrowed his brows as he asked, "Which country did I try to kill you because of my cover story?"
Levi narrowed his eyes as he said in a deadpan tone, "Too many to count, old man. Both Berlin and Kuwait to start with but I would remember if we had this cliche stand-off in Kuwait. We did have one in Vatican. Then there was that one time in France where-"
"AGENT ACKERMAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!"
Both Levi and Kenny turned to aim their pistol at the voice who had screamed at Kenny. Levi frowned when he recognized it was Rico Brzenska, the personal assistant of the president.
Wait.
What?
As if to answer Levi's mental question, an older man with dark brown hair walked in.
To the public, he was Grisha Yeager, the current president.
To his fiance, he was 'dad' or, sometimes 'old man'.
To Levi, he was 'the father of the man I am currently engaged to'......... who didn't know he was engaged to his son.
Grisha walked towards Levi, passing Kenny without sparing the obviously manic man a glance, and sat on the sit in front of Levi. Grisha grabbed the folded napkin on the table and placed it over his lap as he ordered, "Sit down, Levi."
Levi slowly holstered his pistol and awkwardly sat back to his sit, unsure of what to do in this current very surreal situation. Kenny holstered his pistol as well and stood. He adjusted his jacket as he explained, "We were just having a sweet uncle-nephew bonding. Isn't that right, Levi?"
Both Rico and Levi glared at him. Levi sighed and confirmed in a deadpan tone, "Yeah. That's how we bond."
Grisha sighed and commented, "Sometimes, I wonder what my son see in you."
Levi turned to look at Grisha while Grisha took out his phone.
Did he just...
He began tapping at the screen as he said, "Thank you, Kenny. You may go now."
"Ah, use me then show me the door. You haven't changed at all, Grish." Kenny commented in a teasing manner. He grinned when he saw Rico's glare turned more murderous as he grabbed his fedora from one of the table near the exit. He put the fedora on his head and said, "Well then. This is my cue to leave. I'll see you soon, Levi."
Kenny walked out of the restaurant and other men in suits walked in. Levi recognized all of them as part of the president's security detail. Levi turned to look at the man in front of him. Grisha had been tapping the screen of his phone for a while now and continued to do so as he asked, "Do you like chicken?"
The question was weird but this entire situation was weird anyway so Levi simply went with the flow and answered, "I don't mind chicken."
"Good. We're having steamed chicken." Grisha announced in a tone that reminded Levi of Eren's habit of telling things that doesn't interest him in the same bored tone.
Levi grabbed the napkin in front of him and put it over his lap as he asked, "So... you ordered Kenny to kidnap me?"
"I asked him to take you here." Grisha finally put his phone back in his jacket's inner pocket as he added, "I didn't expect him to hit you in the head and drag you here. How's your head?"
Levi shrugged and replied, "I've had worse."
Grisha hummed and said, "You definitely had."
Grisha leaned back and stared at Levi as he said, "You followed your uncle's footsteps and became part of many... undisclosed operations. After years of being one of CIA's best, you asked to be transferred to Erwin Smith's team. Why?"
Levi shrugged and said, "Erwin asked if I wanted to try something new. I was getting bored with my assignments in the CIA so I applied."
"Bored?" Grisha raised an eyebrow as he commented, "Your uncle loves his assignments."
Levi frowned as he retorted, "Kenny is fucking insane."
That comment made Grisha chuckle... which only confused Levi more.
It was already surreal that he was going to have a meal with the president in an empty restaurant.
"How... do you know Kenny?" Levi asked, mapping the interior of the restaurant in case he needed a quick escape.
While he might just be a bit paranoid, the entire set up feels a bit too much like a last supper before he gets gun-downed after Grisha says something along the lines 'a trash like you doesn't deserve my son'.
..................
Okay.
Maybe he had been watching too many movies with Eren.
"I suppose you can say Kenny and I had a similar relationship like you and Eren before." Grisha replied with a bored tone.
..............................
Word comprehension unit has shut down.
The mental image has fried all remaining mental capacities.
Urgent request for mind bleach.
A smirk appeared on Grisha's lips as he stared at Levi. Levi's expression must have been priceless because Grisha looked so amused as he clarified, "Relax. I did not sleep with your uncle. I meant he guarded me for a while when I was a senator."
"Oh." Levi sighed in relief, relaxing on his chair.
Grisha continued to look at him with amusement as he said, "Eren is the only Yeager who is still attracted to an Ackerman."
"Magnolia." Levi corrected immediately. Grisha raised an eyebrow but remained quiet so Levi explained, "Ackerman is the maiden name of my mother. Magnolia is my last name."
"Ah, yes. Forgive me." Grisha nodded and explained, "I've always considered you an Ackerman. Kenny had always talked about you and your sister so much I forgot you're his sister's children and not his."
Levi frowned and asked, "You're close to Kenny?"
Grisha smirked and explained, "It's better to be close to... talented people."
Grisha shrugged and added, "And he is the only one I can drink with while talking about you and my son."
Levi froze at those words. Grisha raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did you really think I did not know you are dating my son?"
"Eren said-"
Grisha rolled his eyes and cut Levi off, "Of course, you would listen to what my son would say about me. The same son who has never been with his father for more than one day and, even if we were together for the entire day, never had a long personal conversation at all."
Levi narrowed his eyes and hissed, "If you made time to talk to your own son then maybe you could have a long personal conversation with him."
Rico looked scandalous and she opened her mouth, most probably to shout at Levi, but Grisha cut her off, "I'm afraid that ship has already sailed."
Rico closed her mouth and turned to stare at Grisha with wide eyes while Grisha said, "Eren is right about one thing. I failed as a father."
Levi furrowed his brows, unsure what Grisha was trying to say. Grisha placed his hands on the table and intertwined them as he said in a nostalgic tone, "My political career was on the rise when Eren was growing up. I spent most of my time trying to be a good politician. I forgot to be a good father."
Grisha sighed and looked at the simple flower arrangement in the middle of the table as he continued, "I think it was around the time I became the vice president when I realized that I don't even know my own son anymore. I got a report from one of the undercover guards about Eren's... extra-curricular activities."
Levi raised an eyebrow as he clarified, "An undercover guard told you about Eren having sex with someone?"
Grisha sighed and corrected, "Someones. According to the report, he had multiple partners for that one."
"Oh." Levi uttered one word, unsure how to react. He knew a lot of Eren's 'experiences' but it seemed very awkward to ask Eren's father for clarification on which 'event' this was.
"It seemed that this was the first time the undercover guard reported this because the guard was a bit worried over... the numbers of partners this time." Grisha explained with a frown.
Levi nodded as he asked, "Oh, the debate club, huh?"
Grisha's frown became larger as he said, "So you know."
Levi shrugged as he retorted, "I was internally wondering which multiple partners event you were talking about."
Grisha sighed and rubbed his temple before saying in a resigned tone, "Eren seems to be open about his experiences to you but he is still my son. I would prefer it if you didn't talk about my son's adventures so casually."
Levi nodded awkwardly, mentally hitting his head to an imaginary wall for forgetting he was actually talking to his fiance's father... who can order him killed if he wanted to.
Grisha dropped his hand and continued, "After that, I realized I don't even know my own son anymore. I thought about talking to him a lot of times. Work always got in the way. Every time, I would think 'next time'. Then another work-related thing will occur and I would think 'there's always next time'. Before I knew it, I was president and I never got the chance to do that 'next time'."
Grisha looked at his hand as he continued, "One day, I managed to get an hour with him and I tried to talk to him. As we talk, I realized that there was nothing he wanted to tell me. There was nothing we could talk about. I asked him about school and he said it was fine. I asked if there was anyone special in his life and he simply shrugged. I asked what he wanted to do in life and..."
Grisha stopped talking, frowning as he stared at his hand. Levi stared silently for a moment before finishing, "He said he was going to be a politician like you wanted."
Grisha forcibly smiled before asking, "He also told you I wanted him to be a politician?"
There was no reason to lie to him so Levi answered, "He told me that's what you wanted him to do."
Grisha began tapping his thumb against his other hand as he admitted, "I never thought about that."
Levi furrowed his brows.
Okay...
He wasn't expecting that...
Grisha continued to tap his other hand as he explained, "I don't know where Eren got the idea that I wanted him to be a politician. Perhaps he heard it from someone else and thought they had heard it from me. We've just... drifted so far apart we were virtually strangers. I couldn't even find the right words to tell him he can follow his own dreams."
"Eren believed he doesn't have a dream." Levi said, mostly because he thought Grisha needed to hear that.
Grisha closed his eyes as he acknowledged, "He didn't."
Grisha opened his eyes and sardonically smiled as he continued, "My wife saw it. My daughter saw it. I was the only one who didn't. If I hadn't talked to Eren back then, I wouldn't have seen it as well."
Grisha frowned as he added, "But I couldn't do anything. He wouldn't have listened to me. He might even misunderstand if I tried to tell him my side of this broken relationship between us. Even I think it's mainly filled with excuses whenever I try to think about my side. So I kept quiet. We continued to drift apart until there is no more room to drift further apart from."
"That's when you came along." Grisha raised his head to stare at Levi and continued, "At first, I thought nothing would change. Then Eren started skipping, pretending to be sick or busy. He started... reacting."
"That's a strange word to use." Levi commented, staring at Grisha.
"There is no other words to use. Before you came along, Eren did as he was told, played the part of the perfect politician's son." Grisha leaned back before continuing, "Then you came along and he began reacting, began showing signs of his own free will."
"The media assumed Eren had began showing his selfish side, getting a big head over his father being the president." Grisha scoffed before continuing, "To the media and the public, Eren has fallen. To me and to the rest of our family, he finally started to want things for himself."
"Eren isn't a doll. Even before I came along, he already had things he wanted." Levi countered and Grisha simply nodded.
"True but not this big. Eren had wanted things before but he never reacts if he doesn't get them. The worst reaction he had before this was an entire night of simply watching movies filled with serial killers killing people left and right in ridiculous over the top ways. He never asked for anything that will jeopardize my career. He never did anything that would jeopardize my career." Grisha argued before continuing, "I knew you had something to do with it. it seemed too much of a coincidence that Eren started reacting after you became his bodyguard."
Grisha tapped the table once before continuing, "Then I read you slept with my son."
Levi's entire body froze at those words. Grisha's expression did not change as he continued, "I thought about having you transferred... but I concluded you would just be one of the many partners Eren had before. You two would have fun then Eren would grow bored or you would figure out that Eren is incapable of being in a serious relationship. Maybe you'd end up like that quarter back in Eren's high school... one of Eren's 'frequent partners'."
Grisha sighed and looked at the floor next to their table as he said, "But you stayed and I no longer received reports of Eren's less than desirable 'recreation activities'. I did get a lot of reports of your... adventurous exploits."
Levi... seriously wanted to die now.
After years of service to this country, doing classified operations, this moment right now, knowing all of their 'adventurous exploits' were reported to the father of his fiance, the president of his country, was easily the worst thing that has ever happened to Levi.
Grisha simply continued, either not paying attention or not caring about the gradual color lost of Levi's face, "Eren graduated and picked a different major. You two picked your own apartment. And throughout all this, you remained loyal to Eren as his..."
Grisha frowned as he said the word, "Boyfriend..."
Grisha stopped frowning as he continued, "Yet you also remained professional when it concerns Eren's safety. You two didn't flaunt your relationship in public. As far as the masses were concern, Eren is single and there seems to be a rumor going on that he has a very unpleasant personality that makes it hard to be in a lasting relationship which was not exactly a lie."
Grisha stared at Levi as he said, "Before you and Eren began this long monogamous relationship, I had honestly believed he simply saw sex as an optional outlet that requires little to no emotional attachment."
Levi narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything because Grisha continued, "I know it makes me sound like a bad father to find my son's lack of romantic feelings for anyone irrelevant but I would rather have Eren be able to find happiness without the need to depend on someone else than have him become dependent on a single person because, before you, that's what I expected would happen to Eren."
Levi gripped the napkin on his lap tightly but kept quiet, listening to Grisha as the older man explained, "I was never there for him. Hannes was more of a father figure to him than I ever was. While he had partners of both sexes before, I've gotten more reports of Eren engaging with men than women. My greatest fear was I had destroyed his very idea of having a male presence in his life that he would devote his life to a man who would spoil and pamper him, growing dependent on that man."
"But you weren't that. The two of you managed to make this relationship work, both personal and professional." Grisha tapped the table once more before continuing, "The only time you let your relationship get in the way of your profession is earlier this week."
Grisha turned to stare at Levi as he said, "You chose Eren over this country."
Levi remained silent, staring at Grisha as well. Grisha's face was expressionless as he asked, "Are you really willing to risk this country for Eren?"
"I would be willing to risk the entire world for him." Levi replied without any hesitation.
Grisha stared at Levi for a few moments before saying, "As the president of this country, I think you are a fool and a risk to this country. As a father, I would like to thank you for caring for my son this much."
Levi glanced around him before asking, "Are you firing me?"
"No." Grisha looked at the table as he mused, "As the president, I know the proper course of action is to take you off Eren's security details. You're compromised. Especially now that you are engaged to my son."
Levi's eyes widened and Grisha raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Did you think I didn't know that?"
"You never said anything." Levi replied, glancing around before he added, "... to Eren."
Grisha sighed and mused with a small sardonic smile, "Perhaps I was waiting for my own son to tell his father about his engagement."
Levi has never been so awkward in his entire life. Considering how socially awkward he was, this easily rising his top 10 most awkward moments was saying a lot.
"You don't spoil or pamper Eren. Quite frankly, you complement his brash, impulsive and annoying passive aggressive actions with your blunt and cool demeanor." Grisha grimaced slightly as he added, "While there are a lot of reports I wished I had never read about how you two show your trust and love for one another, I can wholeheartedly say that you treat my son right."
Grisha raised an eyebrow as he added, "Even going along with his... specific interests."
Grisha smirked at Levi's widening eyes and corpse-like pale skin. Grisha's smirk turned softer as he said, "Thank you for loving my son. I couldn't have asked a better son-in-law than you."
It took a moment before Levi could fully comprehend what had just happened. He glanced around once more, trying to find any evidence that he did not just hallucinate that. Levi blinked twice before replying in a slightly confused tone, "You're... welcome...?"
A door to the right opened and Levi's eyes widened when he recognized the man who had just entered the room, holding a tray with one hand and a pitcher with another. He walked straight towards their table and nodded before saying, "Your orders, sirs."
"Hannes?" Levi had to ask, officially confused.
"Hey, kid." Hannes greeted back with a grin as he placed the pitcher on the table, "Sorry you got dragged by this idiot. He may not seem like it but he has always had a thing for the dramatics."
"I've always liked the classics." Grisha countered, watching Hannes as he placed a plate of steamed chicken in front of him, "This will most probably be the only time my son would get married. It just seemed appropriate I would award my son's fiance with a Godfather inspired situation. Did I manage to make you feel like you could be rained with bullets then thrown to the sea at any given point in this entire conversation?"
"Yes." Levi replied honestly as Hannes placed the other plate of steamed chicken in front of him.
"Congrats, Grisha. You've done what you came here to do." Hannes sarcastically said as he placed a glass next to Grisha's plate, "You are just as bad as your son. No. You're actually worse than your son. At least Eren only makes references to what he has watched. You take it to another whole level with actually trying to recreate what you've watched."
"Recreate the feeling." Grisha corrected and shook his head as he said, "Trying to recreate a scene in the Godfather is just blasphemy."
Hannes raised an eyebrow and stared at Levi as he said, "And we all wonder why he can't get along with his son."
"What are you doing here?" Levi managed to get the question out. It was weird enough that Grisha was talking to him but having Hannes serve them food was just making Levi finally question if he had gone insane.
Hannes picked the pitcher up and asked, "Haven't you figured it out yet, Levi?"
"Figured what out?"
"You're dying." Hannes said seriously, "And this is your dying dream. A beautiful dream where you managed to get a nice partner who you want to marry. Your dream has started to fall apart because you are slowly waking up. Grisha and I? We're here to help you transition to the real world because your subconscious knows that if you saw Eren, you would reject the idea of that this entire thing is a dream and try to hold on to this dying dream."
Levi stared at Hannes for a second before asking, "Did you just... copied the plot of Jacob's Ladder?"
"Copy? Try butcher." Grisha scoffed before he said, "You did not even get the plot correctly. Did you even watch that movie?"
Hannes shrugged and filled Grisha's glass with what seemed to be some kind of soda, "I've watched parts of it. I fell asleep at most parts."
"You fell asleep?!" Grisha shouted, looking so scandalous that it seemed like Hannes had done something so much horrible than falling asleep in the middle of a movie, "How could you fall asleep while watching such a good movie?"
Hannes rolled his eyes and filled Levi's glass with the same soda as he argued, "It was around 3 in the morning when your son decided to watch that movie. I love movies, I do, but I am a human being who needs sleep."
Hannes raised an eyebrow at Levi and asked, "You sure you're ready to married to him? You will forever be responsible in joining him in his marathons that last for so long."
Levi stared at Hannes and said seriously, "I have already managed to survive a Lord of the Rings Extended Version marathon and a Marvel Cinematic marathon with him. I think I can manage."
Hannes grinned and warned, "You have not experienced his Halloween marathon."
Levi frowned and asked, "Halloween the franchise or the holiday?"
Grisha sipped his soda as Hannes replied, "The holiday. That marathon started the night before Halloween and ended the day after Halloween. Good luck not getting fed up by stupid people who look like they have never seen a horror or a slasher movie before."
Grisha placed the glass back before he interrupted, "To answer your original question, this is Hannes' restaurant."
"Restaurant?"
"I've been saving up to open this up. The... events earlier this week only made me focus on actually opening up this damn thing." Hannes explained with a grin. He patted Grisha at the back as he added, "This idiot called me and said you two were having lunch here without any prior warning so all I could prepare were some steamed chickens I picked up in the closest grocery store."
"Mr. Arlert!" Rico called out, finally fed up with Hannes' attitude, "You will show the president some respect."
Hannes raised an eyebrow and grinned as he countered, "As far as I am concerned, I am talking to a good friend of mine who asked a favor in scaring his future son-in-law. A close friend who I think is quite an idiot."
Grisha simply shrugged and replied, "I am a bit of an idiot."
"Mr. President!" Rico shouted, looking so scandalous Levi would assume she had seen something far worse than the president calling himself an idiot.
"Relax, Rico. I'm here as an idiot father, not a competent president." Grisha said casually. Grisha turned to look at Levi and said, "Now then, before we eat, I would just get this out."
Grisha snapped his fingers and every single agent part of Grisha's security detail walked towards the table. Hannes quickly stepped back and the agents surrounded Grisha and Levi. Grisha placed his hands on the table and stared at Levi as he said in a soft tone, "You have proven yourself a good match for my son. If anyone can keep my son safe, the first name my mind would come up with is your name. If anyone can continue to make my son happy, it's probably going to be you. You said you would choose my son over the entire world and I believe you."
Grisha leaned closer and his tone turned colder as he continued, "But if you ever do anything that would hurt my son, I will promise you that I will hunt you down and make you regret the day you have hurt the son of one of the most influential and most powerful man in this world."
Grisha leaned back and added, "And I won't even have to lift a finger."
A predatory smirk appeared on his face as he said, "I have your uncle on speed-dial."
Levi could only stare at Grisha, unable to form any coherent words to reply to that.
Was he even suppose to reply to that?
Grisha's security details stepped back and returned to their previous positions while Hannes just sat on the table next to theirs, watching them with an amused expression on his face as he said, "Well, that has to be one of the most over-the-top 'if you hurt my child, I will hunt you down' speech I have heard. But really, Grisha? You're going to use Kenny Ackerman as a threat?"
"Not a threat, a promise." Grisha grabbed his fork and knife as he said, "Kenny is a very talented asset who can easily be persuade to teach his protege a lesson."
Grisha raised an eyebrow as he said, "You can eat now, Levi. All this unnecessary dramatics is over."
"Right..." Levi nodded, unsure of what else to say. He grabbed his fork and knife as well.
They began eating silently in a very awkward silence that was slowly suffocating Levi and making both Hannes and Grisha bored. Grisha sighed and said as he a bite size portion from his chicken, "Is there anything you would ask the father of your fiance about?"
Levi raised his head and immediately asked, "Do you know any embarrassing stories about Eren?"
Hell, if he was destined to finish this awkward meal then he might as well get some embarrassing stories to tease Eren about.
He still remembered Eren's dare when they had dinner with Farlan and Isabel.
Grisha raised an eyebrow at the question and hummed, "An embarrassing story? There's a lot I can think about."
Grisha smirked as he started, "It was when Eren was eight years old. There was this live action TV series about a team of masked superheroes or something, I forgot the plot. The important thing was Eren loved that show and I made the mistake of buying him a mask of the leader of that superhero team. He wore it and began shouting something like "Evil doers, beware!", doing this incredibly embarrassing poses."
"It was Power Rangers, the original one, if I remember correctly." Hannes added with a grin, "And he was saying 'It's Morphin' Time' among other things. It was both cute and very... well... embarrassing, really."
Levi couldn't stop the smirk from appearing on his face.
Oh yes.
It was payback time.