We all thought the war on the titans would be never ending. We constantly thought of how many more of our friends would die to save the human race, some sick bastards even made bets on who would kick the bucket next. But it was all a waste; we would all be dead sooner or later.

Armin sat and stared at his lunch. It was unusually cold outside and he had lost his appetite, listening to the others in his group gossip and laugh. He unconsciously gasped in the cold air and folded his arms across his chest to keep his warmth as close as possible, but it slipped out of his grasp like a ghost in the snow.

There was still news flying around the camp of Annie and how she was the female-titan. People still talked about how she was now shielded inside and unbreakable crystal barrier hidden underground. It was all old news to Levi Rivaille and his new squad, though. They were there after all.

Armin looked up and observed the others as they animatedly chatted with one another. Mikasa sat close to Eren, practically breathing down his neck, to which he would push her away slightly with his elbow. But Mikasa still scooted back to her spot and protectively put her hand on Eren's each time. She reminded Armin of a puppy looking for attention. Yeah, Amin thought to himself, a dangerous puppy with the capability to kill a 15-meter titan by herself without even blinking.

Sasha and Connie were the loudest of the group, what with Sasha always complaining about being hungry and Connie calling her stupid. Armin had always guessed that Connie had a thing for Sasha though. He seemed to always be around her and though he insulted her constantly, Connie also seemed to be somewhat protective of Sasha and there when she needed him most.

Jean sat on the corner of the table with his head in his hand and a mockingly amused smile on his face. His eyes sometimes wandered over to Mikasa before flashing back to his food or whoever was talking. Amazingly, he had stopped fighting with Eren as often as he used to, though a glimmer of resentment still flashed over his long face whenever Mikasa touched Eren.

"What do you think will happen to Annie?" Connie finally said, knocking Armin out of his trans. His expression had grown solemn and he was silent as he waited for an answer, "I mean we can't just let her stay in there forever…right?"The room had gone suddenly quiet and it made the chill of late autumn seem worse.

Jean sat up then, the smile slipping from his face, and Eren looked at Mikasa before saying, "She'll have to come out sooner or later," He smirked slightly, "Besides, I'm sure Corporal Rivaille and Captain Smith with find some way to get her out soon enough,"

"Do you think everything is going well?" Erwin asked Levi as he reclined his head against the wall behind the couch he sat on.

"Yes," Levi answered shortly in a disinterested tone. He had his legs crossed just to the left of Erwin Smith.

"Do you trust Eren not to shift without authorization?"

"Yes,"

"How do you know he won't do something stupid?" Erwin looked over at Levi, but he still stared forward with a bored expression.

"I don't," Levi said, rolling his eyes over to Erwin before blinking them forward again. "But I know he doesn't want to hurt his friends."

"But how do you know he'll be safe? Another Shifter could come and try to kidnap him again," Erwin narrowed his eyes. He waited for Levi to look at him before cocking an eyebrow suspiciously.

They sat like that for a moment before Levi finally broke. Bastard's always staring at me with his freaky-ass eyebrows and a stupid smirk on his face. He thought.

"Do you want me to check on the little brat then?" Levi sighed and stood. He gracefully walked to the door and walked through it, leaving Erwin alone in the small room.

Erwin smiled to himself and walked over to his desk, looking out the one large window at the open fields stretching out before him. He thought it was beautiful and ached for the day when he could walk through one of those fields and stare at the sky without fear of getting eaten.

Levi closed the wooden door behind him and began walking to the door which led to the mess hall with smooth movements and silent steps. He grimaced as he landed awkwardly on his left leg, which still had bruises and tender nerve-endings from being broken only weeks ago.

"Corporal!" Someone yelled from behind Levi. He turned to see a short boy with white-blond hair and acne scars on his cheeks running toward him at full speed. The boy breathlessly made it to the short man and leaned over slightly, putting one hand on his knee to support himself while pointing in the other direction with the other. "We need you…to get your squad…and Commander Erwin…" The boy gasped for air a few times before continuing in a slightly stronger voice, "…Come to the clearing just…west of here and bring your…smoke signals," He stood up straight and waited for an answer from Levi. He is breathing was still annoyingly heavy and his shirt was wrinkled.

"What are you talking about?" Levi asked in an annoyed voice, "Where is Hanji?" He folded his arms over his chest and looked expectantly at the young recruit.

"We couldn't get her away from them," The boy breathed, "I will explain more when we get going but we need to hurry or something might happen to her,"

Levi sighed and pushed the door open. "Dumbass is going to kill herself," he muttered before adding, "The Commander is in his office. You can get him with I gather my squad." He pulled the door shut behind him and ascended to the mess hall where his new squad was waiting.

"So, what's going on?" Jean finally asked as the group made their way through the chilly air to the large clearing where Hanji was. "Why do you need all of us?"

"We still don't know if they are dangerous to us yet," The boy with the acne scars said from the front of the group. He had his hood pulled over his head so that it came just to his hairline. "We just found them wandering around and they followed us back when we retreated, but nobody has gotten hurt so far. One of the bigger ones actually saved a guy from falling," He said it in awe.

"Who are you, again?" Armin asked. His breath came out in a cloud of grey before disappearing behind him.

The boy looked taken aback before slapping himself on the forehead and offering his hand to Connie. "Oh! I'm Simon Typer! I just got here a few weeks ago!" He smiled and turned to give Armin's hand a hearty shake. "Yeah, I'm from the 105th trainee group. I graduated and immediately signed up for the Scouting Legion!" He glanced back at Levi with child-like awe, "You guys are so cool!"

"Yeah, we are," Connie said flexing his arms in a macho way, "no need to bring it to the light,"

"How much further?" Levi asked suddenly. He gave Simon an unemotional look before raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Just up ahead," Simon said. He stopped in front of the group and looked at them with something unreadable. "But you must contain yourselves when you see these titans. They are extremely abnormal and quite possibly dangerous. Make sure not to kill them just yet, though," He looked everyone in the face before turning back around and continuing forward.

Armin and Eren exchanged glances of confusion before following behind Levi and Simon. Mikasa loomed behind Eren like a hawk and kept an eye open for any surprises. Jean hung in the back and took slightly slower steps than the others. He was still upset about Marco's death and the thought of abnormal titans made his stomach heave grievingly.

Don't think about him, Jean, he thought to himself as the group continued forward. He stared at his boots and lumbered onward. You're just going to make yourself feel worse if you keep thinking about him. He still didn't look up when the group stopped. What if I had saved him? What if I had saved anyone? If I had someone who was finally grateful that I was around, would I still feel this worthless?

Jean sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He just wanted to go back to the old times when he was still a naïve little trainee with his eyes set on being in the Military Police. He wanted to go back to the 3DMG lessons and laugh at Eren when he lost his balance or overcorrected himself and went tumbling to the ground. He wanted to feel happy again.

Jean continued walking, not really paying attention to anything. He was more than shocked when a firm hand landed on his shoulder and yanked him back, knocking off his equilibrium as well. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Someone yelled down at him.

Jean blinked and looked up at a wild eyed Simon. His fisted were clenched at his sides and his breath came out in hot bursts of vapor that barely had time to vanish before being replaced by another.

"Jean!" Armin yelled, running up to him, "What were you doing?" He knelt down next to him and gave him a concerned look.

"I…I don't know,"

"You practically walked right up to that titan!" Simon said incredulously, pointing skyward.

Jean gasped and looked up at the 15-meter titan glancing down at him. He scooted away and got to his feet, still staring at the beast in terror. It didn't move, save for tilting its head to keep its dark eyes on Jean. It was restrained into a sitting position with large clamps around its neck, ankles and wrists. Its hair was blond and short and its sleepy eyes stared at Jean almost mockingly, the dark circles gyrating around them seeming to give them a more supernatural glow.

Jean scowled up at the titan. It saw this and seemed to smirk at him, a loud grunt emitting from its chest before it looked away.

Jean's jaw dropped to the ground and his scowl deepened. "Did you see that?" He asked Simon, gesturing up at the titan, "it just smirked at me like I'm some kind of—"

"I know! Isn't it fantastic?" Hanji screamed, jumping out from behind Jean, "They're all so human I keep expecting them to start talking right and left!" She hung over Jean's shoulder and stared up at the titan lovingly, practically drooling on Jean's shirt.

"Hey, knock it off!" Jean yelled shrugged Hanji off of him. "Not everyone here is a titan enthusiast,"

"Oh, but you should be!" Hanji squealed, "They are simply fantastic creatures! Look at this," She run up to the blond titan, trampling over anyone who got in her way and crawled onto its knee. "Look! I am standing right on his knee and he hasn't tried to eat me once! And this," She grabbed one of the titan's fingers and hugged it to her face, "He's so gentle, too!"

"Ugh," Jean rolled his eyes and folded his arms, "This sucks," he said to himself, still watching Hanji as she explored and observed the titan. It watched her, its eyes still lazy and his lip lifted into a smirk. Jean began to think it was natural.

"Jean," Eren said, turning his head toward him but keeping his eyes on the titan before him, "I think you should come see this,"

"Jesus," Jean swore, "How many did you find?" He took a step back and looked to his right and saw even more titans.

"Five!" Hanji screamed, one of the titan's hands balanced over her head, "I don't even know where they came from! That one over there actually saved one soldiers when his maneuver gear jammed up in the forest!" She pointed to one titan with dark hair whose face was hidden behind one of the others.

"Jean!" Eren yelled again. He finally ripped his eyes away from the titan in front of him, "You need to see this," His eyes said that it was urgent.

"Coming," Jean said. He gave Hanji and her titan one more disgusted look before jogging up to Eren. He passed three more titans. One was especially ugly, with hair seemingly slicked back into a slight point and tears in the skin all over its body and hands. It gave him a strange look with big, black eyes.

Jean looked down at the ground, not bothering to look at the other titans. "What is it, Eren?" He asked in an annoyed voice when he finally made it to his side.

"Look," Eren pointed up at the titan. His expression was a mixture of fear and sorrow and Jean stared for a moment before doing as he said.

The titan had its head lowered so its face wasn't visible save for a slight shadow beneath messy black hair. It didn't move much, the only indication that it was even alive was the slow movements of its chest and its fingers twitching occasionally. It didn't even seem to mind when a soldier tripped over one of the pegs fastening its chains to the ground.

"So it's a lazy titan, so what?" Jean shrugged, "nothing we haven't seen before," he scratched the back of his neck and looked around. "Hey, Hanji," He called, "Since there is really no danger here, can I go back to camp?"

The rattling of chains had Jean looking back at the titan. It was lifting its head to face him and he took a step back. Jean had never liked it when titans looked at him; it was like they were taunting him with illusions of some kind of humanity that wasn't there.

Jean made eye contact with the titan and wanted to throw up. Its eyes were a bright brown, encircled with black, bruise-like rings along the lids and beyond them. There were dark patches on its cheekbones with tears in the skin below them showing off dangerous teeth. It had a toned but lanky body, covered in openings of the skin to reveal red muscle and tendons. It had sleepy eyes just like the blond titan but this one's eyes seemed to droop out of genuine fatigue rather than boredom.

The muscles in the titan's jaw tensed and it visibly swallowed as it stared down at Jean. It seemed like it was trying to say something but its mouth couldn't move. Finally, a low whine wrestled its way out of its throat and Jean knit his eyebrows in confusion.

The titan's hand suddenly lifted from its spot on its leg and slowly reached toward Jean. He jumped back just in time to not get touched by the massive hand. It paused before it dropped over where Jean had been before he moved. It stayed there for a moment before sliding back onto the titan's lap.

The titan looked down and lowered its head again, going back to its unmoving stance.

Jean sneered at the titan before looking in the other direction. He hated that one in particular. It was one of the weird ones that looked more humanoid than the others with correct proportions and no frozen smile on its face. It was monstrously beautiful in a way and it made Jean sick to look at it for too long.

"I'm going back to camp," Jean said turning on his heel and walking back in the way of the large castle in the distance. He heard the titan whine behind him again but ignored it. He didn't want to look at any more of these deviants or the people working around them at such a close range.

"Jean—"

"I'm going back to camp!" Jean yelled back over his shoulder.

Eren growled and ran after him. He grabbed Jean by the shoulder and whirled him around, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt. "Don't you see what this is?" he demanded, shaking Jean, "Look at all these titans!" He gestured to the five restrained titans behind him. One appeared to be a female like Annie with wide greens eyes that shifted and blinked almost kindly. "Look at their faces! Those are not like other titans faces; they might be able to help us!"

"Don't you dare say that!" Jean yelled pushing Eren away from him, "don't you ever tell me that some random titans that started following you around can help us! You were the one that said that you wanted to kill all of them off, didn't you? They may be calm right now, but what happens when we let our guard down? What have they been doing to us for the last century? Just because you found some that haven't killed you right away doesn't mean they won't kill you as soon as you take away their restraints! I thought at least you of all people would keep your head straight," Jean glared one more time at every titan before storming away from the scene, his breathing heavy.

"Eren," Mikasa said from behind him, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Mikasa," He grunted, "Jean's just too much of an idiot to realize what this could mean for the sake of freaking humanity!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled the last part to Jean's back. His response was a middle finger raised in his direction and a gaudy "go fuck yourself" for everyone to hear.

"What was that all about?" Armin asked, coming up to the duo with a chatty Simon at his side, "I haven't seen Jean so passionate about anything since Marco died…" He glanced up at the titan before him. Its head was still lowered in submission and its hands withdrawn so they were hanging in the space between his folded legs, his forearms resting on his thighs.

The sudden sound of screaming had everyone looking to the left. A soldier was kicking and wriggling as a dirty-blond titan next to the female lifted him by the hood of his cloak. It didn't appear like it wanted to eat him, but rather keep him away from the other soldiers. The one in front of him was actually holding his nose as blood ran down his chin.

People screamed and blades were drawn but the titan didn't move. It remained with its hand suspended in the air.

"Now, now," Hanji said running over and trying to calm everyone, "You don't want to eat Moblit he would be awfully bitter, though not as bitter as Levi!" She ran up to face the titan.

Shockingly enough, the titan gently put the soldier down. The only real damage it did was pull its index finger back and give Moblit a quick flick in the butt which earned a surprised yelp as he quickly scrambled off.

Hanji gasped. "Yes!" she screamed, "Excellent! Flicks in the butt are much more preferred over getting eaten!" She squealed and jumped up and down.

The titan in front of Armin had raised its head and was somberly looking at the scene before him. It looked subdued, rejected and Armin studied it with narrowed eyes. He made sure to take in the messy hair and dark patches and bright eyes with an open mind. He sifted through anything that might help him figure where they had come from. Past classes and lectures and battles…like the battle of Trost.

Armin gasped like a fish pulled out of the water. He could hear Simon ask him if he was okay but he couldn't make out any real words, he could only hear muffled sounds. "I gotta get Jean back here!" He gasped and began to clumsily run after Jean. "Jean!" He yelled looking around for the long-face soldier, "Jean I need to tell you something!" He frantically looked around and saw Jean running from what looked like a 10-meter titan with a gaping mouth. Armin quickly reeled back and turned back to the soldiers surrounding the titans.

"Hey," Armin screamed running back to everyone else, "heeeyy!" He waved his hands desperately above his head. "Jean is getting chased and I really don't think he can keep it up for much longer," He ran over to Eren. "I know you don't care much for Jean but there are no buildings around—"

"Yes," Hanji breathed coming up to the group, "shift, Eren. It is amazing. Jean needs your help!" Levi was behind her and gave Eren a vague nod of approval.

"I'm on it!" Eren said, already getting a jogging start with Armin and Mikasa at his sides, "Where is he?"

"Just over there," Armin pointed forward and, sure enough, there was Jean, being a complete idiot and running for his life.

They heard more chains rattling and Mikasa looked behind her to see the titan that had reached for Jean leaning forward and staring toward them. It struggled slightly against its restraints, tilting its head toward them like it was trying to listen. The other titans seemed to notice as well but didn't have as urgent as a reaction.

Eren bit into his hand with vigor. Mikasa and Armin along with any other watching soldier watched as hot muscle and skin surrounded Eren and his titan form was unleashed. Its eyes glowed green as it began to run toward the 10-meter threatening Jean's life.

The rattling behind Mikasa grew louder until it was a complete metallic groaning. It didn't attract much attention aside from the female titan and maybe one other soldier.

"He's not going to make it in time," Simon gasped to Armin, "there is no way he is running fast enough to get to Jean before that other titan does; He's gonna—"

One of the female soldiers toward the back of the group started screaming, causing most to look back to see what was happening. The messy-haired titan with the bright eyes was fighting his restraints, the grounded pegs being uprooted and yanked from the ground, swinging wildly. It easily ripped the clamp around its neck off and broke into a sprint toward Armin, Mikasa, and Simon.

Mikasa readied her swords but was pulled to the ground by Simon and Armin as the titan jumped over them. They all watched as the beast effortlessly caught up with Eren and passed him, its steps light and long. It reminded them of a deer.

The titan caught up with Jean just as he was snatched up by the gape-mouthed titan. Time seemed to slow to half speed as Jean stared into the wide mouth. He held his breath and closed his eyes tight, the rank breath of the titan dampening his clothes in the cold weather. He could almost sense himself being suspended over a slimy tongue and hoped that death would come quickly.

There was a suddenly loud thud as something hard and wet hit Jean in the side of the face. He got splashed with something hot before he was suddenly airborne, flipping wildly through the chilly air. Jean opened his eyes to see the world growing farther and farther away from him before crashing closer at a breakneck speed. His lungs hurt from being squeezed by the titan but he screamed anyway, his voice cracking.

A plume of steam and another thud later, and Jean was caught by something, staring up at the grey sky. He stayed like that a moment, his breathing coming in harsh gasps that stung his lungs, before he sat up. Another wall of steam quickly cleared before he saw the dark, messy hair of the titan being slowly raised to face him.

Jean scooted back against the fingers of the titan, holding an injured left arm to his chest. Breathing was difficult and he looked over to see a whole squad of people running toward him with blurry eyes. Just beyond that he could see two large bodies decomposing in the distance, large billows of steam rising from what he assumed was the back of their necks. Jean's eyes widened and he tried to focus them, realizing that is he was being held by one of the deviants just caught then one of the bodies over there could be Eren's.

Jean's breathing quickened and a low, rumbling whine had him looking back at the titan holding him. He liked how warm its hands were, and that bothered him. Jean glared up at the titan, his breathing fast and shallow until his body finally gave in to the pain of crushed ribs and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. The faint sounds of people screaming his name could be heard in the distance as his head was finally submerged into the darkness of unconsciousness.