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It takes a lot to hurt Levi. Erwin has never met anyone, soldier or otherwise, with a tolerance anywhere near Levi’s. It takes a lot to really rattle him, and it takes an injury large enough to actually kill him to get him out of commision.
But even then, that doesn’t mean he’s always able to act like there’s nothing wrong with him.
It’s rather uncommon for Levi to get hurt. He almost never gets caught, and when he does it’s usually to be blamed on a squadmate or gear failure. A Titan’s hand going through the wires of his ODM gear and sending him to the ground is an anomaly. He manages to catch himself anyway, though his left leg ends up smashed into a tree as he goes.
He gets back up like it’s not an issue at all, so Erwin doesn’t really think anything of it.
Erwin notices it after they’ve finished mowing down nearly seven Titans they’d come across in a forest. They’re regrouping on the ground in a space free of fallen Titans, medics looking over injuries, Hange moaning obnoxiously about the dead creatures. Levi is favoring his left foot.
A normal person wouldn’t ever notice, but Erwin spends so much time looking at and existing around Levi that spotting an irregularity is practically second nature. He’s leant against a tree with his left leg bent against it, but his foot isn’t flat against the trunk like it usually would be. It more hangs there, with just his heel ever so slightly touching, taking no weight.
It’s odd, but there’s no time for Erwin to question him. There are injured that need to be tended to back at camp, and night is about to fall. So he leaves the matter for now, and trusts Levi to deal with himself.
Levi is limping. It’s a subtle thing that, again, one would not notice unless they spent a great deal of time watching him and learning his mannerisms. His left leg is clearly struggling to hold him up properly, even if it doesn’t look like it hurts.
“Levi,” Erwin says, waving a hand to beckon him closer, towards Erwin’s tent. “Come here a moment.” Levi does as asked, limping along. Erwin’s tent is rather larger than most of the others around the camp. There’s a map in the center of the floor, and a sleeping bag and pillow tucked into one corner. Not much else. “What’s wrong with your leg?” He asks.
“My leg?” Levi murmurs to himself, glancing down. “I don’t know what you mean.” Erwin stares at him with disbelief. He can tell that Levi is not playing with him. He genuinely doesn’t know what Erwin is talking about.
“You’re limping on your left side,” Erwin explains, gesturing to where Levi’s left leg is only connected to the ground by his toes. “Why?”
“Am I?” Levi places his foot on the ground, flat. “I really hadn’t noticed.” He says it earnestly, as if Erwin needs convincing. Levi’s pain threshold is ridiculous. It’s not surprising he’d been injured without noticing. Would not be the first time.
“Perhaps you and I should take a trip to Medical and have it looked at?” Erwin suggests. Levi does not like Medical, this is known, so Erwin is just taking a chance.
“No,” says Levi, predictably. Erwin expected this.
“Then would you consider letting Hange look at it?” he offers instead. This option is not very favorable to Levi, as Hange’s energy sometimes does not mix well with Levi’s and it puts him on edge. Before Levi can decline, Erwin pulls his trump card. “If you refuse, I’m afraid I’ll have to remove you from active duty until you are cleared by an actual medic.” Levi scowls.
“Fine, Hange can look,” he growls. Erwin nods, satisfied, and leaves the tent to hunt down Hange. He finds her milling around the yard, ranting manically about something or other.
“Hange,” he calls, grabbing her attention instantly. “I need you to have a look at something.” She gives him a thumbs up and bounces after him towards Levi.
“What’s up?” she asks.
“Levi is limping,” Erwin tells her. “I want you to examine his leg and figure out why.” She nods. Hange is often asked to handle any of Levi’s issues, this is not new. She isn’t a doctor, and she can’t help with anything too serious, but Levi never needs help with anything serious anyway, so she’s perfect.
Levi is still standing exactly where he was left, arms crossed and scowl on his face. He glares at both Hange and Erwin as they enter, but when Hange tells him to sit down with his leg outstretched he complies.
She feels around it with her hands, and Levi doesn’t so much as twitch.
“I think you fractured your tibia,” she announces with a deep frown. “Not a bad break, ‘cause I can’t feel it, but still a break.” He scowls harder. “You definitely should not be putting weight on it.”
“It’s not bad, you said?” Levi asks, pushing himself to his feet, despite Hange’s warning. She nods, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, as if she’s trying to mirror his behavior. “Then I can still use it.”
“Then why are you limping?” Erwin raises an eyebrow at him. His stare is nowhere near as powerful as Levi’s, though, and Levi does not back down.
“I haven’t the faintest clue,” Levi replies, shifting his weight as if testing how usable his leg is. “But it still works, and we have stuff to do, so.”
“Levi, you really cannot work with a broken leg,” Erwin says, with his Commander Voice.
“Can.” Is all Levi says, like it’s a challenge. “You all need me. We can sort the rest out when we get back inside the walls.” As usual, it’s a flimsy but compelling argument. They really do need Levi on this mission, he’s not someone they can give up. “We’ll deal with it later, Erwin. It’s not a bad injury, there are others far worse off than me, it can wait.”
“I hate to agree with little Levi on this one, but he is kind of right,” Hange chimes in, much to Erwin’s chagrin. “It’s not like there’s much we can do about it. He just needs to stay off of it.”
“Fine,” Erwin concedes. “But when we get back home a real doctor is going to look at it and you’re going to do whatever they ask of you. Whether it’s resting or something else.”
“Fine,” Levi mocks, shoving past Erwin, presumably to return to his own tent. Hange shrugs and skips away after him, leaving Erwin alone.