"A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act." - Mahatma Gandhi
Warnings: Later mentions of blood; Character death(s); Levi swearing slightly
Disclaimer: SnK/AoT belongs to its rightful creators. I do not own the franchise, for if I did, you'd be seeing a lot more of Armin being a cutie/being a champion.
Authors Note: Please don't be mad, fandom. This has been in my head since I watched episode 17 of the anime way back last week. I've actually finished the story, but because it was so long, I've decided to break it up into chapters. It was supposed to be a angsty-feely drabble and now it's over 10,000 words. What the hell...
Also, there are no spoilers for the manga in this, so as a result, Bertl, Reiner, and y'know, the rest of the gang are sort of absent for a majority of this fic. I didn't want to risk letting out spoilers for you lovely readers.
It seemed as if it had been nearly four days since Eren had last seen his oldest friend. Certainly Eren had seen the shorter blond around the far too large and far too clean dwelling the newest members of Levi's team were using a base, but he hadn't had the chance to speak to him properly. The very few times Eren managed to exchange glances with the overwhelmed blond, the moment he opened his mouth to inquire about Armin's health, either Hanji would pull him away with a wild glint in her eyes or Commander Erwin would distract the younger boy with questions of strategy. He didn't even see his friend at night, either because Armin entered the shared room after Eren was already asleep or left before the titan-shifter got up. Judging by the dark circles around Armin's bright blue eyes, Eren was also considering that Armin just didn't sleep at all.
Which, of course, only made the older boy worry more furiously over his smaller friend.
With only Connie's grating humor (and everyone had had enough of that to last them several lifetimes) to keep him distracted as the higher ups and Armin were busy, Eren was about to go crazy.
Mikasa was barely fending any better. Built for action, the long hours of waiting at the former estate wore down on the girl. The question of Armin's uncertain condition made things even less enjoyable for those around the usually composed girl. When one night Armin had nearly collapsed into his soup bowl from exhaustion, sporting a purpling bruise across his cheek bone, it wasn't Eren who stalked towards the officer's table spoon in hand, but Mikasa.
After much pleading and coaxing from a majority of the new Survey Corps recruits, Mikasa finally lowered her deadly spoon and returned to eating.
Connie was the first to ask the question. "Whadd'ya think they're planning?" He shot a pointed glance towards the table where Hanji and Erwin were seated next to a vigorously nodding Armin.
"I don't know," Sasha whispered, "but it must be something important for the Captain to be a security guard." She jerked her head towards the fourth member of the party. Levi, who was leaning against the wall by the table, seemed disinterested by whatever the other three were conversing about and instead stared blankly across the dining hall. Feeling the combined force of many curious stares, the short man slowly turned his scathing gaze in their direction with an implied "what do you shitty brats want?". The younger soldiers' curiosity was quickly disbanded and they struggled to find a different topic of conversation in case Levi was possibly eavesdropping.
However, within moments, Connie redirected the conversation about Jean's hair back to their previous discussion. "I wonder why they wanted Armin over there, though. Isn't he, I don't know, kinda young to be planning strategy?"
Jean finally interjected himself into the conversation with a raised eyebrow. "Where were you when we ambushed Annie?" he asked, slight bitterness staining his voice.
The conversation stalled again.
After a few moments of silence, Mikasa pushed her half-empty bowl away, which Sasha watched with great interest. "I want to do something."
Connie nodded slowly, agreeing with the dark haired girl. "Yeah, whatever they have us do, it'll be better than being stuck here with Captain Clean for a moment longer."
Early on the fifth morning, Erwin announced the plans for a short excursion. He gave little information about their purpose, but Hanji behind him looked overjoyed while Levi remained his typical stoic self. Eren looked around for Armin and was surprised to see the slight blond sinking down next to the human-shifter.
"Armin?" Eren blinked, half shocked to see his friend so close after so long. The wound on the boy's face had all but dissipated, leaving behind the tiny yellow remnants of a bruise.
The younger boy smiled weakly and rubbed slightly at his tired eyes. "Eren," he responded, his weary smile growing larger.
"Are you okay? When was the last time you slept? Do you know what's going on?"
"I'm fine, Eren," Armin repeated, delicately avoiding the last question. Eren wanted to ask more, but Commander Erwin was speaking again, and he didn't want to lose any important details.
"Our force will be divided up into five main sections. Two survey flanks, the center force, and two secondary forces." A brief whisper spread throughout the room before it was promptly hushed. Eren sat up a little higher. If Erwin was employing two covert forces, then it was obvious that whatever they were doing, it was important. The fact that he announced there were secondary teams made Eren even more intrigued. The last two operations were kept completely secret from a majority of the Survey Corps—Eren frowned and bit his lip. And look how well those turned out… The human-shifter tore himself out of his thoughts and continued to listen to Erwin's speech.
"The majority of you will either be in the survey flanks or in the center force with me." Eren tilted his head slightly. Would he be amongst those or would he be with Captain Levi elsewhere. He waited for Commander Erwin to clarify his personal situation, but the man continued talking about the rest of his plan. Maybe he'll tell me afterwards. Eren glanced sideways towards his best friend, but the blonde's impassive face gave little away regarding the plan.
As Erwin read off a list of names, the respective corps members slowly stood up and exited the room, preparing for service on either the survey line or the central force. Eren slowly looked around the room with widened eyes. Armin was still seated next to him, as was Mikasa, Jean, Connie, and Sasha. Several other Survey Corps members who Eren was relatively unfamiliar with also remained seated. Eren suppressed an excited smile. He was in one of the important groups with his closest friends. The terror and pain form the 57th expedition briefly vanished as he wondered over their more secretive purpose.
Commander Erwin paused in the middle of the names and exchanged glances with Levi and Hanji. Finally, he read the last name.
"And Eren Jaeger."
Eren's head snapped up, all fantasies of killing titans with his friends dissipating immediately. He slowly stood up and made his way to the door, avoiding the surprised faces of those around him. I… I'm not in the secondary force…? Eren felt his ears burn slightly. Is it because I messed up last time?
"You're in center," a voice muttered behind him. Eren started slightly and turned to see Captain Levi following him out of the room. "Stay close to me and don't fall behind." Eren arched his neck to see over the smaller man's head as he left the room. The faces of his companions paled considerably at Commander Erwin's next statement. Eren turned his gaze away and glared holes into the neatly scrubbed floors, wanting more than anything to be a part of the secondary mission.
"Mikasa Ackerman, you will co-lead the right force with Hanji Zoe." The younger woman nodded once as the latter grinned widely. Sasha and several others were also assigned to their group. Erwin turned back to the others. "Jean Kirstein, you will lead the left force."
The brunette jerked subconsciously at the mention of his name. What? He looked back at Erwin with a frown, wondering what was going on. A softer flurry of whispers trickled through the crowd, but not one openly objected to the commander's decision. Without even bothering to ask Jean's opinion on the unfolding of events, Erwin continued, listing Armin and Connie among others also as members of Jean's squad.
Still stuck in a shocked trance, Jean slowly turned his head to the side to look at his new squad mates. Connie was blinking widely at Erwin, probably still in shock, but Armin met Jean's stare with a reassuring smile. Jean jerked his gaze away, realizing the blond must have been responsible for this. Why would Armin want me to be the leader? Leading by myself? Jean closed his eyes and suppressed the urge to shout or throw something or both. What's going on?
"—I wish you the best of luck with your mission," Erwin smiled and stepped back. Wait! What did he say about our mission?! Jean silently willed the man to repeat himself, but Commander Erwin promptly exited the room.
Immediately, Hanji bounced into the location that Erwin had just vacated. Her bubbling excitement and uncontainable fidgeting tore most of the shocked soldiers out of their personal thoughts and worries and they watched her with barely veiled concern.
"Just imagine the things we're going to learn today!" The woman's almost demonic smile spread wide across her face, causing several of the remaining soldiers to chuckle nervously. Several of the young soldiers were starting to regret their brief joy over being selected for the special mission. Hanji all but pirouetted out of the room, leaving behind bemused and anxious Survey Corps members.
Jean immediately rounded on Armin, but the demanding question died on his lips when he noticed the blond had already left. His only source of answers had left without a trace.
Aw, hell… Jean didn't want to admit it, but he would give anything to be in the central force like Jaeger with his only job being survival.
One moment he was adjusting his strap. The next Jaeger was all but snarling in his face. Jean barely had the time to mold his face into a disgusted glare before the human-shifter's hands were clenched around Jean's collar.
"What are you doing, Jaeger?" Jean jerked away from Eren's grip and glared at the shorter boy. He brushed off imaginary dirt from where the boy's hands had been previously.
"What are you doing?"
Jean narrowed his eyes. No doubt Eren was curious about what their mission was. Especially since it involved his two best friends and excluded the human-shifter. There's no way in hell that I'm telling Jaeger I don't know what's going on. "Can't say."
"Mikasa told me you're the squad leader for your group." Jean gritted his teeth. He shouldn't have been surprised that Eren already found out. "She doesn't understand why either."
Thanks. Jean stepped back from the shorter teen and surveyed the younger man's 3DMG with elevated eyebrows. If Erwin intended for Eren to shift into titan form immediately, it was unlikely that he would be completely armed. Eren's just a regular soldier today. "I think maybe you're jealous, Jaeger. Jealous that I get to lead one of the special teams."
Judging from the dangerous glint in the boy's eyes and his involuntary curling of his fists, Jean knew that he struck a chord. It was very likely that two of the 104th recruits would be reduced to blows if a stern "hurry up, brat" hadn't shattered the mood.
Jean smirked slightly as Eren took a step back and followed the tiny Captain through the crowd with a disappointed expression. Suddenly Eren was in his face one last time, gripping the older boy's shirt with white, trembling fists. Jean was too startled to form a witty comeback and stared down at the younger boy with wide eyes.
"Don't let anything happen to them," Eren hissed. Jean wanted to pull away from the boy, but the latter's blazing eyes held him in place. "Connie. The others. Armin. No one gets hurt."
After another tense moment of the glaring contest, Eren finally released Jean's shirt and stepped back. Casting one more glare at the taller squad leader, Eren disappeared in the crowd.
Jean pursed his lips and turned his head slightly. He didn't want this. He didn't ask for it.
It wasn't until his team officially assembled did Jean finally get some idea of what their mission was. Based on the equally confused faces of his squad mates, Jean realized that apart from Armin, no one else knew what was going on. For some reason, the fact that he wasn't alone in his ignorance did little to soothe the squad leader's twisting gut.
Jean surveyed the setup with a blink, followed quickly by another blink. Armin and Hanji were in the bed of a wagon, fidgeting excitedly with something under a tarp. Jean glanced to his right. Mikasa's team was assembled only a few meters from them with an identical wagon complete with a mysterious covered object. While the others looked equally distressed, Mikasa merely watched the unfolding events with crossed arms and a blank stare. Jean tried to meet the girl's eyes, but either because of apathy or vague curiosity, she did not tear her gaze from Hanji and Armin.
The moment the two finished, Hanji gave a little giggle before jumping off of the wagon and disappearing amongst her own team.
Connie, as expected, was the first to break the silence.
"Are you serious? We're supplies?" The short boy's face molded into something not unlike disappointment. He had wanted to do something exciting—not tote supplies for the central force.
Armin carefully maneuvered himself around the covered cargo and hopped off the wagon. "Not quite, but I'll explain on the way." A green flare exploded above their heads, indicating that the mission was about to begin.
Jean's squad and Mikasa's squad split almost immediately, the latter taking a sharp right from the start and the former gradually sloping towards the left flank. Periodically red flares and green flares would grace the sky accordingly, but Armin seemed to take no note of it. Jean glanced to his left to see the blond staring intently at the forest to their left.
"Spill, Arlert. What's going on? What's inside your big head?"
The blond started and smiled sheepishly. "There have been rumors of a dangerous titan in this area. We're in charge of finding it while the central force and the survey flanks make sure we aren't ambushed by any," Armin hesitated, "regular titan."
Connie pulled up his horse on Jean's right and sent the boy a questioning look. "By 'dangerous,' do you mean an Aberrant or…" Connie hesitated, "or someone like Eren and Annie."
Armin glanced back towards the forest. "I'm—we aren't sure." Jean glanced upwards and Connie sputtered incoherently.
"Wait… What? What are we doing then?" the latter managed to ground out.
The blond looked back at his two friends and tried to smile reassuringly. Jean felt his gut clench slightly. That was twice in a short period of time that the little twerp had tried to make Jean feel better, but the slight anxiety in the blonde's eyes wasn't fooling anyone.
"It's possible this titan is an Aberrant, but it's also possible that it's a human-shifter." Armin began. "Commander Erwin just told us that it didn't go after a lost survey team when they apprehended it, but instead it attacked a nearby herd of deer."
Jean tilted his head. "A titan that attacked animals and not people? A human-shifter wouldn't do that. It must be an Aberrant."
"Yeah, why is it our problem then? I mean, I like venison like the next guy, but I'm not going to fight a titan for it."
Armin continued as if the two hadn't interrupted him. "Erwin thinks it may be a human-shifter who shifted without maintaining consciousness." Jean and Connie stared at the blond blankly. "Remember when Eren shifted in order to move the rock to seal Trost? And he forgot who he was?"
Jean felt the hairs on his neck prickle. "He attacked Mikasa and almost ruined the mission."
Armin's head bobbed slightly. "Eventually Eren was able to retake control, but if this is a human-shifter, then it may never take control. Or it might become very, very dangerous when it regains consciousness. If what the scouts said was correct, it may be easier apprehending the titan if it isn't conscious. If it attacks animals, it may think it's still a human and not a titan." The blond suppressed a sigh. The last time they tried to capture a human-shifter had been disastrous and costly and unfruitful.
Jean seemed to be on the same wavelength as the smaller boy. "How're we going to capture it then?"
"Yeah, what'll stop it from going all," Connie hesitated before pantomiming a fist closing, "crystallized on us?"
Armin nodded behind him towards the wagon and the group of soldiers assisting in its transport. "Hanji and I've been working on something that could possibly help." Armin smiled faintly and subconsciously reached for the fading bruise on his cheek. He had earned that after standing too close to the device when it snapped.
"So that's where you've been this whole time. Eren was about to pull his hair out the whole time you were gone," Connie added with a wide smile. Somehow, having humanity's brightest on their side always made the energetic soldier feel more secure.
"What is it then?" Jean asked, curiosity vaguely piqued. Of all the times they fought Annie, Armin had been present throughout the majority of the time. Of everyone, he was the most familiar with how deadly an enemy a capable human-shifter could be. Jean suppressed a shudder as he remembered how he nearly died by Annie's hands before the blond runt beside him had distracted the female titan with his lunatic ravings. The memory caused Jean to pause.
"You remember how Annie always protected her weakest spots in titan-form—right, Jean?" The older boy nodded once. It seemed as if the blond was able to read his exact thoughts. "Hanji and I tried to create something similar to the stationary hooks but instead the prongs would catch the human in the titan's neck and hopefully pull him out." Armin began rattling on about the exact measurements and the precision error and—
"Basically you created a grappling net?" Connie asked with a roll of the eyes. He knew the warning signs of when it was too late to stop the little genius from ranting. If he didn't act quickly, they would be hearing about qualitatem psychics or whatever the blond always loved talking about.
"Uh," Armin started, surprised to be jostled from his thoughts. "I guess we did." He smiled at the simplicity of the other boy's answer.
"Do you think it'll work?" Jean wanted to know. He watched the youngest boy's face closely, waiting for any signs of telltale doubt to flicker across.
Sure enough, Armin hesitated and looked away. "I think so…?" The blond sighed and glanced back at his friends. "I mean, Hanji and I were really sure on the calibrations—though there's always a chance for a mistake and I—"
"I'm sure everything will be fine," Jean announced, ending the conversation. His positive statement startled Armin and caused the short boy to his right to narrow his eyes accusingly as if to ask "what have you done to our pessimistic Jean Kirstein?".
No matter what would happen that day, Jean could trust the slight blond beside him. If anything, he owed him his life several times already.
Eren was having a miserable time. Only a few pairs of red and green flares had gone up in the past twenty minutes and nothing had yet been heard from the two secondary groups to the sides of the central force. He instantly berated himself for wishing any sort of action on the expedition, reminding himself that no action meant no titans and no death.
However, Eren's sighs were grating on those around him and caused the stern captain beside him to stiffen his shoulders every time a slight puff of breath crossed Eren's pouting lips. "Stop sighing."
The human-shifter jumped in his saddle and met the frosty gaze of his elder with wide eyes. He hadn't realized Levi was so close to him. "I—sorry…" Eren muttered, turning his gaze away and suppressing another sigh. Levi was beginning to hope that they would continue to ride in silence until Eren opened his mouth again. The older man glanced skyward with his half-lidded eyes and waited for whatever shitty comment that would come tumbling out of the brat's mouth.
"Do you know what's going on?"
"Yes."
"Will you tell me?"
"No."
"Please?"
"Quiet."
The captain's monosyllabic responses only made Eren more distressed. The boy's anxiety was rolling off in waves so severe even Levi's horse became uncomfortable. Levi stared stonily at his own fidgeting mount and then back to the even more fidgety brat and silently cursed his luck for being put on babysitting duty.
Eren sighed one last time and provided an unsolicited answer, which the other man could care less about. "I'm worried about the others," he announced. Levi sent him an unsympathetic side look and wondered if the brat began to associate their relationship with an unwanted friendship. "What are they doing? Why wasn't I a part of their team? Why did they make Jean a squad leader?" Levi maintained his blank stare ahead of him. Eren gripped his reigns tightly in his fists. "What's Armin got to do with any of this? Why is he in the mission?" Worry tainted the younger boy's voice and Levi tilted his head slightly.
Arlert was it? He's the smart blond brat that Hanji likes so much. Of all of the 104th trainees Eren talked about, more often than not he mentioned the girl with the scarf and Arlert. Although Levi usually tried to drown out the human-shifter's babbling, he did listen periodically when necessary to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the newer Survey Corps members.
"If your friends live, congratulations."
Eren's emerald eyes widened at the unexpected comment from the captain. "I—"
"And if they die, then they're dead."
Eren's mouth parted slightly from shock and slightly from horror. He was about to say something when a black flare rose from behind and blossomed in the blue sky above. He traced the dissipating trail of graying smoke and noticed with a clench in his gut that it came from the right side.
Mikasa… They found an Aberrant.
Levi watched the smoke fade in the air with narrowed eyes and turned back to face the front of the line.
"Aren't we going to do so—"
From the front of the line where Commander Erwin supposedly was, a greenish flare burst into the sky as a response. Levi watched it fade away and nodded slightly.
"Stay here." Levi ordered. Before Eren had the chance to open his mouth to argue, the shorter soldier spun his horse around with a slight jab to the ribs and was racing in the direction of where the black flare had originated. Every muscle in Eren's body screamed to follow Levi, but he forced himself to follow the central force in front of him, swallowing every burst of red, green, and black with a determined grimace.
I'm so sorry if some of them are OOC. It always takes me a little to get the hang of them the first time I write with a new back of cuties.
I hope everyone has a fantastic new year and thanks for reading! Feel free to offer any sort of advice. I'd really appreciate it!