So, there was an idea I had and decided to hop to it before I forgot.

Hope you all love some Armin, because you've come to the right place! Watch as our little coconut becomes a true soldier at heart and fights for the good of man kind, even if it takes a monsters hand to do whats right. Please review if would be ever so kind and chat among yourselves about the fic.

Enjoy!

Armin thought nothing of the small headache when he first woke up, dismissing it easily as a poor result to the lack of sleep he's been getting.

Personal health was never really the first thing on his mind, many other more important things needed to be thought about rather then himself, however he did make a small note that involved going to bed a little earlier than most others would. He wasn't a big fan of getting sick and wanted to at least put at a little effort into trying to avoiding it.

He got ready for his usual daily attire without a problem; correctly putting on all the straps to his uniform as he got dressed and even managing to get through a few chapters in one of his favorite books before finally going out to have breakfast. He decided not to mention to anyone about the headache, assuring himself it would eventually go away through out the day.

Today Armin had been assigned to go out and clean up the supply room, simply rearranging and organizing things here and there to make things a little neater, and of course to fit his captains approval. It still amazes him how much time they are given every now and then just to clean up around the large facility.

Mikasa and Jean were also assigned to the project, giving the blond a good advantage to getting things done much faster, he most certainly wasn't the strongest soldier and was very grateful to have at least some muscle around to help out with the heavy objects. Mikasa was a lot stronger than most males and could easily surpass someone like him in many things, strength being one of them entirely, not to mention her bravery and even combat skills. Jean had some potential himself, again, many that surpassed Armin's own skills, but his ego usually got in the way and he'd sometimes mess up on his objectives as he would try to show off. Either way having him here was better than no one, and that's all that mattered right now.

Armin let out a huge sigh as he wiped the sweat off his forehead, he actually started feeling worse when evening finally came, all energy completely drained from his being despite having plenty this morning. He's only been put to work for 15 minutes and he was already ready to call it a day.

What on earth was wrong with him?

"Armin, are you feeling alright?" Mikasa asks calmly, putting down a set of large boxes outside the cluttered room before making her way over to the next batch nearby. "You look kind of pale."

Armin gives her a weary smile and shakes his head, wincing in pain to his mistake. His headache was much worse than before, the throbbing and pulsing of his brain making it much harder to focus on any work that needed to be done. The silence within the supply room helped, but it didn't make things easier when something as simple as moving sent a ringing sensation to his ears, even the sound of human tongue made him feel dizzy.

Mikasa frowned at the lack of his response and turned to look at the him. He was pinching the bridge of his nose and concentrating really hard on something, eyes closed and lower lip slightly bitten down. She calls out his name again a little louder. "Armin."

Armin slowly looks up at her and lowers his hand, eyes locked to one of the boxes in front of him. ""Hm? No! I mean...yes? I don't know, it's just that my head is killing me today."

"Oh?" Mikasa questions. "For how long?"

"Since this morning. Maybe it's from the lack of sleep, or even the lack of food."

"You haven't been eating?"

"Yes, of course I have, but I didn't sleep very well last night."

The female soldier blinked. "Nightmares?"

Armin opened his mouth, but was a little hesitant to answer. His nightmares have been more frequent, but he certainly doesn't complain about them, most of everyone would think the same way considering that they have the same problem at night.

He only sighed and shrugged.

Mikasa continued. "If it's that bad maybe you should just sit this one out for the day. I'll clean up everything and-"

"Ah, no that's alright, really. I'm capable of at least re-stacking a few boxes." Armin looked around and spotted an opened box full of countless parts to some of their old maneuver gear equipment, parts usually used to patch up whatever needs to be fixed. He smiled and walked over to it, bending down and attempting to pick it up. "See I can do this."

Mikasa flinched seeing him start to lose his footing. "Armin, that's pretty heavy."

"No it's not." He retorted a little to quickly, taking a small step forward and stumbling about again, a small beat of sweat running down the side of his cheek. He could feel his heart beat increasing as his breathing got heavy, his headache growing worse with each intake of air. Armin's world began to spin, making it almost impossible to focus, a small gasp leaving him as his knees suddenly gave into the pressure.

Pale hands carefully grasped the other end of the wooden crate as Mikasa found herself rushing across the small room towards him, quickly taking away the large object and placing the burden upon herself as the other hit the ground with a heavy thud. Armin winced in pain after the unexpected impact and slowly looked up to stare at his companion, his vision blurred.

She was right to worry about him after all...

The raven haired teen placed down the crate beside her and looked him over thoroughly, surprised to not have noticed the small changes in his appearance earlier. His face really was much more pale, lacking the usual flush red color it had while working under the heat of the morning sun, he also had looked much thinner despite all the food he has been given lately.

To put it bluntly.

He looked terrible.

Pushing such thoughts aside, Mikasa held out her hand and helped him up. She knew Armin wasn't the type to complain easily, it sometimes took a lot of pestering and pleading just to find out if he had injured himself during one of their expeditions.

"Thank you." Armin says shyly, sweaty palms taking her hand.

Mikasa nods."I'm going to do this for now, you just go over there and rest for a bit." Armin begins to protest but is stopped by the raise of her hand. "Just rest for at least an hour, you look like you really need it."

"Mikasa, I can handle some boxes. Not all of them, but the small ones, I guess." He coughs twice into his hand, feeling how stiff and soar his body was. Maybe taking a break wasn't such a bad idea. Mikasa was definitely capable of doing this by herself and sleep never sounded so amazing.

Mikasa looks him over again before answering, still a little hesitant to her words. "Fine. Only the small ones."

Armin gave her a small smile. "Alright then."

"Well, Jean has a few things outside he's handling himself, you can go help him."

"That sounds reasonable." Armin says with a sigh before taking his leave.

She was still very unsure with his decision, and even had to hold herself back from changing her mind and forcing him to take a break, but even if she did he would always find a way to talk her out of it. Armin might not have the strength, but he most certainly had quite the intelligence and definitely knew how to use it well.

Just as Armin stepped out into the open air he was unexpectedly caught off guard by the scorching heat, a wave a dizziness hitting him hard as he saw the world around him start to spin. He caught his balance on a large barrel near by and thanked the gods he wasn't going to be here much longer, the supply room wasn't very dusty or cluttered to begin with because a few of his other friends had the same duty there a couple weeks ago. If he had to guess an exact estimate to how much longer he would be here, Armin would give at least 10 more minutes.

If he could just get through 10 more minutes, all of this would pay off...

The sudden feeling of nausea came over the blond fast as his stomach started to gurgle and turn in very painful knots. He burped and covered his mouth, the heavy taste of bile lingering in the back of his throat. Armin tried to swallow it down.

"Hey, are you ok over there?" A voice - Jean's voice - came from the distance as he came out from inside the horse pen, a shovel in one hand and a large metal pale in the other. He lifted a brow and took a few steps closer. "Armin, shouldn't you be helping Mikasa? Oh wait, your just taking a break aren't you?" He sighed and lifted the shovel to place over his shoulder. "Yeah, that doesn't sound bad at all in my opinion. It's to hot to be doing any of this crap."

Armin's eyes widened and he quickly turns to get away, taking only two steps forward before instinctively bending over and heaving out all of the contents placed into his stomach.

Jean carelessly tossed his utensils aside and rushed over to his aid, cursing under his breath before calling out to Mikasa, telling her to come outside. It only took seconds for her to spot out the situation and quickly go into action, putting a comforting hand on Armin's back as he emptied his contents.

Jean backed away slowly and watched the two of them in shock. Mikasa clicked her tongue and pointed to the abandoned bucket. "Go get that and bring it here, then find Ms. Zoe! She's in charge of us today for cleaning duty."

Jean stuttered as he spoke. "A-Alright, but-"

Mikasa gave him a cold glance. "Just go!"

With a short nod he went and fetched her the pale before going to seek help, bumping into a small box in his path as he left. It wasn't the first time he had seen someone throw up unexpectedly, but just seeing it sent a nervous shiver down his spine. Vomiting was definitely not his favorite thing to do.

Armin's eyes started to water as his body forcibly continued to ride out with his humiliation. It was so embarrassing to have someone see him in such a discussing state! He never wanted anyone to see him like this!

Mikasa did her best to try and calm him down, her words of comfort falling on deaf ears as she continued to rub his back in small gentle circles. She wanted to kick herself for not being more stern on Armin, forcing him to rest when he needed to most. 'How long has he even felt this way?' She thought, and started to think back.

Two days ago he did trip while going down the stairs with her to get dinner, thankfully Sasha was also their to catch him before he could hit the ground, but it happened again a few minutes later on the next stairwell, Armin started using the railing for the rest of the day after that. The following day she heard that it took Connie a couple of tries to get Armin up and out of bed in the morning, which was pretty odd considering he was the one who usually got up earlier than most others before breakfast. No one really thought much of it though, thinking that he just stayed up late reading one of the many books he had stashed under his comforter.

Mikasa mentioned those experiences to the doctor, despite how harmless and minor they seemed, before being badgered with countless questions about the boy; questions like what he last ate and-or if he was allergic to anything. She answered all of them of course, but it still didn't take away the small tinge of guilt she had for not taking note of things sooner.

The doctor scribbled down something on the wooden clipboard she carried before looking up from it to face Hange, her blue eyes scanning the information on paper one last time. She gave a low sigh and slid her small pen into the pocket of her white coat.

"I still haven't figured out what's wrong yet despite what Ms. Ackerman has told me so far." She spoke in a deep, meaningful tone. "However, I can determine that he is in critical condition."

Hange lifted a brow and folded her arms. "Is he now?"

The doctor nodded. "He has a terrible fever and his heart rate is fairly above normal. It seems as if his body is fighting off something that isn't there."

"That's odd, he seemed fine this morning. Is he awake now?"

"No, he passed out just seconds after we got him into the infirmary. You can see him if you like, just try not to disturb him until he wakes up. I can tell already that he has pushed himself a little to hard despite the condition he's in."

Hange turned to Mikasa who stood close by with Jean, the two soldiers waiting patiently by the infirmary door. The scientist gave the both of them a small smile. "See you two, he's fine. It's probably just some nasty bug he caught."

"I want to go and see him." Mikasa states firmly. Jean quickly protests.

"Hold on, what if what he has is contagious?"

The doctor gave her clipboard another glance. "He's not contagious. I took a small blood sample from him and found out that whatever he has has been inside him for a very long time, it's just now only starting to resurface again."

Jean blinked. "Wait, he's had this for a while now? For how long exactly?"

"I honestly can't quite confirm that either. All I know is that if he doesn't over come this soon, it could most likely be resolved in death."

Mikasa's heart dropped.

Armin was a very strong willed and determined soldier, constantly hungry for knowledge that would help them out strategically and even sometimes mentally, but physical strength was definitely not in his best qualities.

Even since they were kids Mikasa knew just as well as Eren that Armin was a sickly child, constantly getting colds and catching the flu almost every winter. The reason they even knew each other at all was because Eren's father, who was a very well known and liked doctor in Shiganshina at the time, occasionally visited the Arlert's when Armin needed to be checked on. Even at the age of 16 it still seems that such illnesses could still get the best of the young blond.

"Wait, death!? Now hold on a minute, if he's had it for so long why isn't he dead already? I mean, Shouldn't he be? Why hasn't there been-" Jean's rant was quickly cut off by Mikasa.

"Is there nothing we can do? Nothing at all?" She asks in a low, shaken tone. She had always been ready to hear about her friends death, knowing very well that one day he would most likely be taken by the hands of the carnivorous monsters beyond the walls, but hearing it now, hearing it in such a way that rendered her powerless to stop it even when the problem was right in front of her...

"I'm sorry, but I don't think there is." Explained the doctor, and Mikasa could feel a small lump forming in her throat.

Hange frowned. "Can we at least go see him?"

She thought about it, thought about it a lot longer then she probably should of. Mikasa stiffened. "Well, if you'd like. I suggest only one person at a time though." she finally said. "I don't want anyone to over whelm him at this point."

Without hesitation, Mikasa pushed herself passed Jean and entered the room before anyone had the chance to stop her. She spotted the blond immediately. His hair was bathed in sweat as it pooled out onto the pillow, his heavy breathing breaking the rooms silent void. She slowly made her way over to his bedside, a little hesitant to run her fingers through his long thin hair. Her mother would do small things like that when she was very young and ill.

Jean looked through the door frame along with his superior, both worried and slightly baffled at his state. Not even an hour ago was he walking around and talking to others like usual. It all just seemed to hit him at once without any warning.

"I'll leave you two alone." The doctor said as she scribbled down a few more things with her pen. "Make sure he drinks plenty of fluids for now, i'll be back in a few days to check on him again." She respectfully gave a small bow before taking her leave, leaving the three of them in her patients care until then.

Hange narrowed her eyes. "This is going to sound a little strange for the both of you, but I would like it if you two could keep this to yourselves for now and not tell anyone about Armin's condition."

Mikasa looked over to her. "Is there a reason why?" She asks in a cold tone, carefully getting off the floor and facing the open window.

"There is a reason actually, but I can't quite give you that information just yet. Trust me on this one."

The other female glared at her, brows knitted together in annoyance. "Fine," She accepts, knowing very well there was nothing she could do about it at this time. "but I want to stay here a little longer, just to make sure he doesn't get worse or anything."

Jean was worried that her request sounded more like a demand, but Hange either chose to ignore her attitude or never noticed, giving her a smile and gave the approval willingly.

"If that's what you'd prefer. As for me though it's my job to report this to the commander and Levi of course, I have no choice or saying in the matter, he was on my watch after all."

With the approval, Mikasa pulled up a chair from the other side of the room and sat next to Armin's bedside.

Jean already knew he had to keep his mouth shut about all of this, no one needed to tell him that, so he thought it would be best to continue his routine for the day and finish up work for the both of them. Who knew how long it would take to do it all by himself, but at this point, he honestly couldn't have cared less.

*(*)*(*)*(*)*

It was around noon when the nose bleeds started.

It caught Mikasa off guard when she spotted red leaking onto the clean white sheets, very careful when taking a napkin from Armin's barley touched lunch, brought up to him by Hange's assistant, and wiping it away. It happened again minutes later but came out heavier, giving the boy a bigger migraine as he almost passed out into her arms. He blew into the stained red napkin before pinching his nose and slightly tilting his head up.

"Do you feel any worse?" She asked, her voice low and gentle. Mikasa already knew conversation wouldn't be much help, but wanted to try and have him say something never the less; Armin hasn't even made a sound since the incident, doing nothing but sleep and sweat for almost half of the day. She was at least a little grateful he hasn't thrown up again.

Armin glanced at her and let go of his nose. "I-" he started, now taking his attention to his hand to see small drops of blood. "...I feel fine." A small cough left his chapped lips forcing him to turn away.

The female frowned and picked up a bowl of soup from his small tray, stirring around a silver spoon inside it's warm contents. "It seems to have cooled down a little." She lifted the spoon and offered a little bit to him. He leaned away from it and subconsciously tightened his lips, eyeing it over as if it wear poison. "You have to at least take a couple bites, Armin." He continued to refuse.

"Thank you, but I'm really not that hungry right now." He looked over to the tray resting on a small table top near by and spotted a small loaf of bread. His stomach turned at the very site of it, but he knew deep down she was right- he really did need to eat something if he wanted to make any progress on getting better. He lifted a finger and pointed to the small loaf. "I-I think I can have a little bit of that though."

Mikasa looked over her shoulder and back at the tray, handing him over the bowl before reaching over to retrieve the pastry. "Would you like some butter on it?" Armin gave a light nod. She leaned over again to retrieve the knife and a cup of sliced butter, they weren't given the stuff very often so it seamed Hange did pull of few strings to make this meal a little more decent.

She pulled off a piece and smeared some on before popping it into his mouth. Armin really didn't like the idea of being fed by hand, but knowing Mikasa she probably could care less what he thought right now. He swallowed as she picked off another piece to feed him, both caught by surprised when someone from outside dropped what sounded like to be a large pale, creating a loud bang.

Armin gasped and jumped a little, the hot bowl in his hands spilling over and onto his shirt and arms. With his throat soar it was a lot more painful to scream, instantly ripping off the covers to try and take off his shirt. Mikasa remained calm and helped him out, putting down everything in her hands and lifting up Armin's painfully stiff arms to take off the stained garment.

The soup turned out to be hotter then she had anticipated. His now bare chest was all red but his arms were covered in burn marks now, not sever ones but enough to notice. She used the blanket to clean him up some more, watching as drops of tears fell down his sticky red cheeks, tears of both physical and mental pain. Armin's never felt more humiliated in his life up until now!

Hange's assistant came through the door again and took in the situation, running off to get some medical supplies and clean towels after asking the both of them to stay put. 'Like I could go anywhere,' Armin thought.

"Hang on." Mikasa calmly states and begins to take off her jacket, wiping up any left over spills she had missed and trying to suppress his painful wound. She looked around some more and spotted his forgotten cup of water. She got up quickly and went to retrieve it, using another set of napkins to dip inside and care for his wounds.

After she got up Armin tightly shut his eyes to try and ignore the pain growing in his head and now his arms. His tears felt just like the soup as they slid down his face, painful and unwanted. His body started to tremble, the tears now overflowing as a wave of shame swept over him. He wanted nothing more than to just disappear at this point! No. Not only did he just want to disappear, but he wanted the pain, his illness- All of it! to just disappear! He was so humiliated by everything that his whole body was on fire with rage and embarrassment by how weak he really was.

Actually, he really did feel like he was on fire.

He opened his eyes and looked back down at his arms through blurred vision, watching in shock as steam started to repel off of his pale skin. The room grew quiet again, both himself and now Mikasa watching as his wounds started to fade away.

His skin slowly started to patch up together, the red marks even on his chest vanishing in thin waves of smoke. Armin could even feel the pain slipping away.

His tears dried up instantly, as if they've evaporated themselves through all the heat surrounding him. The two of them observed in shock for what seemed like hours before both wounds were patched up completely, not a single scratch or mark left behind. Armin's hands started to tremble in disbelief, his mind racing and heart feverishly pounding.

Mikasa was the first to snap out of her shocked state and took a small step closer to her friend. Armin continued to stare at his arms, eyes wide and frightful. He would never be able to answer or even understand how he felt at this moment, no word he could think of matched the way he felt.

"...Armin." Mikasa finally spoke up, her light voice shattering the intense atmosphere.

He never looked away or even flinched at her, lost in his own deep sea of thoughts as his mind continued to process all of this. She took a few steps closer to him and further examined his arms. They were both fully healed. They looked as if nothing had every happened. Just like...

"Just like Eren..." She muttered ever so faintly under her breath, but it was close enough for the blond to fully understand. His eyes jolted as if he'd been shocked, the reality of the situation coming down on him hard. He tentatively held himself as his breathing started to increase, his heart rate speeding up dramatically as a thick bead of sweat came down his already drenched forehead.

Neither of them had any idea what to do.