- Are you sure you want to take him? - Levi gazed at the fragile blonde, before hesitantly handing him the pile of papers.

- Yes sir. - Armin smiled a bit and his eyes quickly went through lines of text. - It doesn't seem like anything special, just a mental disorder, right?

Rivaille nodded, his expression saying that he's bored with whole situation - as always. He took a cup of still hot coffee.

- Yes, guy thinks he's the only survivor of some kind of war. Wouldn't be this bad if he didn't think the war is still going. He snaps from time to time, certain that we're some kind of 'Titans' if I'm not wrong. 'S gonna be hard for you to get him back to our world.

- I'll try, sir. - Armin smiled again and fixed his glasses. - Everyone deserves a chance to come back to normal life.

He stood up an bowed lightly.

- If anything happens, feel free to leave. He's hurt two of our doctors already, not severely, but still. You're our last try on his case.

Armin nodded and walked away, quietly closing the door.

Levi yawned shortly and went back to drinking his coffee, bluntly staring outside the window. He didn't really care about the patient, he had brought too much trouble for them already. But Armin liked such cases; Technically normal mental issue, but the more they try to fix it, the worse it gets. But can a fragile, delicate blonde like him change anything in this deviant's mind...?

Armin went back to his own office and sat down, carefully reading the documents. Illness' history, patient's past and family contacts, personal information... Blunt character, zodiac Aries, his age. He went through a mental breakdown after his best friend died in an accident that he took part in. After it, it kept getting worse, and seems like the patient locked himself in his own safe world, where he can blame everything on so called 'Titans'. The blonde smiled to himself lightly.

Jean Kirschstein.

He's going to be his hardest case, or so it seems.

The door clicked loudly before they were opening. Brunette looked up at them, uninterested.

- Good day, Jean! - he heard.

- Tsk.

- Not being too talkative today, hm? - the short blonde in glasses sat in front of him and smiled encouragely. - I got a pile of papers about you, but I didn't have time to read it all. So how about you tell me something about yourself?

Jean frowned and looked down at the desk. Armin raised his eyebrows. Strange, he thought, documents stated he doesn't have communication problem. But then... he hasn't been locked down before.

Indeed, the brunette was sitting with his arms tied behind his back. It didn't look too comfortable.

Armin thought about it for a while and in the end he's decided that if he won't risk something, he'll never get what he wants. So he stood up with a bunch of keys and smiled again.

- Now, let's make this conversation more comfortable for you. - He said, unlocking the small lock and untying patient's hands. - It's not a prison, after all. But, - he added as he sat down at his place again. - we'll have to tie you up again before I leave. What I did isn't strictly okay with the law, you know.

Jean rubbed his hands in silence for a while before eventually looking up at the doctor.

- You're different. - He said suddenly, making Armin raise his eyebrows in silent question. - They're all afraid.

- Of you?

- ...Of breaking the rules, idiot.

- Oh, right... Well, they don't want to lose their jobs.

- And you want to?

- No. But I'm ready to sacrifice something in order to gain what I'm seeking. You know, - he bent over the table - I believe that people can't get anything, can't CHANGE anything in this world, if they're not ready to take a risk, to sacrifice something. That's how it works.

- So everyday when you buy things in shop, or change your phone's wallpaper, you're ready to sacrifice your life to do it? - Jean tilted his head. - That's stupid.

- But isn't it the same at war, too? - Armin eyed him carefully, knowing that he's entering the dangerous territory.

- And what do you know about the war? - Jean growled.

- Nothing. That's why I want you to tell me about it.

- It's nothing to talk about. War is full of death and losses.

- Did you loose someone then?

- Many. - Jean kept rubbing his hands. They couldn't still hurt. A tick, maybe?

- Tell me about them.

Armin waited carefully and just watched as Jean stopped his activity and slowly looked up at him.

- ...Marco. - he said finally. Armin didn't even blink. He'd read in Jean's documents that the friend that died in an accident which started it all was Marco Bodt. It was obvious Jean would mention him first. - Marco was one of their victims. He was my best friend... my only friend at the time. - Jean looked in Armin's eyes all the time while talking. The blonde swallowed, suddenly finding the golden irises unnerving. - Last memory of him I have is when he's saved my ass. He drew back Titan's attention and flew away. Next time I saw him, he... he was... - Brunette sighed heavily. - He was halved, and dead. Noone saw his death. There was noone to listen to his last words.

- ... - Armin noticed that he's stopped breathing. He inhaled deeply now. - My condolences. - He said quietly.

Blonde knew it's all made up. Just a story to cover-up the truth. There was an accident. Head-on collision. Only Jean made it out.

But yet, when he was telling this tale, he seemed so certain...

It was obvious at this point. His mind has created this all to save itself from the guilt. It's always easier to blame everything on the huge, powerful creatures that can't be stopped.

- So what happened after your friend's... ?

- After Marco's death, I've changed all my plans, and joined Recon Corps. - said Jean. He swinged on the chair. Armin blinked.

- Wait. Would you mind if I ask you to... tell it all? Whole story, from the very beginning.

- ...

Jean eyed him, as if contemplating whether Armin's worth his time or not. Seems like 'being different' gave the blonde alot, because brunette leaned his head on his hand and sighed.

- Alright, if you want to know it so badly...

Armin spent next two hours listening to the story, where reality mixed with Jean's imagined world. The story where world was surprisingly far more cruel than it actually is; Story about death, blood and terror, about fighting with monstrous beings to survive, and to regain what was originally ours. Someone came few times, checking if everything's okay, but Armin was too dragged into the story to even notice.

The world, infected by huge, deadly Titans, wasn't known to the people. The mankind survivors were closed within giant walls, keeping them save from beasts. But nothing lasts forever, and eventually the Titans broke through wall into one of the district. This day, the humanity got the grim reminder.

Along with other people his age, Jean joined the trainee squad, and for a year he was being prepared to fight with Titans. Eventually, the ten best trainees were picked, and they've had a chance to join Military Police - and stay inside the walls deepest in the country. But the sudden action took place, and every soldier had to take part in it.

Their aim was to keep Titans in district's corner. That's when it happened; Jean's 3D Maneuver broke and Marco saved him. Later, freckled man couldn't be found, but brunette didn't lose hope.

Not until the point when he saw his halved body, lying under one of the buildings.

The group funeral was the moment when Jean decided he'd join Recon Corps instead of Military Police. He didn't want to hide in safe place far from the danger anymore. He'd wanted to help in defeating the monsters that Marco fell victim to. Or at last in getting more information about them.

The mankind's victory seemed more realistic since one of the soldiers, Eren Jaeger, came out to be so-called Titan Shifter. He could change into one of them, but kept his mind, so he was a big help.

Their first mission outside the walls shown that there are more people who can do that. That's where things got more complicated.

Armin listened how Jean's team was torn apart one by one; How the most powerful soldiers were falling helplessly. Up until the moment when there were only few left.

Finally, the blonde stood up, feeling suddenly heavy.

- I have to.. - he found himself whispering.

- I know. - Jean put his hands behind and waited patiently as Armin tied them up again.

- Well, I'll... I'll come back tomorrow. - Armin smiled hardly. Jean just nodded. - I'll try to talk to them about that tying up thing, too. But I can't promise anything.

- Right. ...Thanks.

- ...No problem.

Armin left the room and took a deep breath. This case was so much different than any he's ever tried to solve. It was something between schizophrenia and many other mental illnesses.

But overally Jean seemed to be able to save; He just has whole this story in his head. If Armin is able to interpretate all of it's components right, he may be able to get to the centre of the illness, and maybe destroy it from it's roots. Marco is important in whole this story. After all, he seems to be the only person from both real world and Jean's head. He's keeping it all together.

Armin packed his things up, getting ready to leave. The door had opened and he's heard the bored tone of his boss.

- Successful so far?

- Let's say. He's told me his story. His version of reality.

- ...Need a lift home? - Levi looked around the office, unamused by how messy it was. Armin smirked. Of course he minded the mess, Rivaille was always a clean freak.

- Yes, if it's not a problem.

- Would I ask if it was?

- ...Well.

The two of men left the building and soon they were in Levi's (super clean) car.

- You think you can handle him?

- It won't be easy, but I think it's possible to help him. - Since Levi was quiet, Armin cleaned his throat and continued, thinking loudly. It always helped him to embrace thoughts.

- It all started almost two years ago, right after the accident. Head-on collision, three people died, only Jean survived, with minor injuries. As a runaway from the guilt, his mind created brand new world, where all of his sins can be blamed on gigantic beasts, Titans. Marco's death, all of his wrong choices in life - everything is easier to survive if it's not really your fault. - Levi nodded, and Armin went on. - Titans can symbolize the fate. They're huge, they're far more powerful than any human - but they are radom, too. They don't have a special aim in killing humans. They eat them, but don't have to. They took over the world, and there is no way to run away from them, no matter how tall the walls are. Titans are either fate, or only worse side of it - the bad luck.

There was this boy, Eren. He could transform into a Titan. So maybe he represents all the good thing in Jean's life, that lost their meanings after the accident. ...Or... - Armin looked outside the window. - Or Eren shows that humans can overcome the fate. Jean seems to dislike him, maybe he's jealous of this person he created in his own head, that seems to be more determined than he himself.

- Maybe Eren represents his goals. - said Levi.

- Yes, that's possible, too. But the most important thing in all this is Marco Bodt. He keeps truth and lies together. The fact that he's dead in both our and Jean's world may suggest that somewhere deep inside, he knows he's partly guilty for his death.

- Also, he may be an impuls.

- Hm?

- An impuls strong enough to bring Jean back to reality.

- You say Marco is key here?

Levi just shrugged.

- You said something about walls?

- Yes. - Armin thought about it for a while. - Propably part of his unconsciousness is aware of the situation; Walls would symbolize how he's enclosed himself inside of his mind. And every trip outside is dangerous. His mind tells him, in it's own way, that he's trapped - but for his own good.

- Armin. - Levi stopped the car. They were near blonde's home. - What if he's just another fucked up psycho that CAN'T be helped?

- Rivaille, everyone needs a chance.

- Yeah, but don't forget what happened the last time you gave someone a chance.

- It won't happen again. If anything suspicious happens, I'll just leave. Or call for help.

Levi glanced at him for a while, finally giving a loud sigh. His expression didn't show any concern though.

- Okay, now go home. - He waved his hand. - Things will get serious tomorrow.

- Thanks for the lift! - Armin got out and closed the door. Levi just nodded and drove away.

The blonde stood there for few long seconds before entering the home. He threw his bag at the sofa and sat on armchair.

- Jesus. - he sighed, taking off his shoes.

What if Levi was right, and all he'll be left with after this case is another scar?

He took a short shower, as usually, and got into bed with a book. It didn't take long before he fell asleep with it on his chest.