A/N-ok so this was only supposed to be an itty-bitty one-shot but you guys begged for a chapter 2 so i caved and wrote one. and for those of you who were wondering, Armin isn't dead, i just didst want to writ him in. so here you go and Mikasa has another kick-ass woman-powered rage-fueled redemption at the end so...ENJOY!

The fireplace crackled in the far corner of the room and a couple sets of Maneuver Gear lay crumpled by the door. Eren was stretched out on the sofa under a giant blanket the covered him and the floor around the sofa. His wet clothes lay in a sopping pile in front of the fire and he was now wearing some old clothes they had found. Eren's hair was still slightly wet and glistened in the firelight.

Levi sat on a stool next to the sofa up by Eren's shoulders. He hadn't bothered to change as he was too concerned for Eren. Mikasa walked down the stairs; still in her wet uniform. She was running a towel through her hair and her scarf was draped over her shoulder. The girl walked over to the fire place and wrung out the scarf. Water puddled on the floor by her feet as she hung the precious thing on a rack near the fire.

The funny thing was, this wasn't even their house. It was just a tiny inn off the street where they had been standing. Levi had kicked the door in and walked down the hall and into the first room he saw. There was a closet upstairs where they had found some clothes and that huge blanket that probably had taken months to knit. Some MPs were pacing out side the door and their boots made the floorboards creak when they walked.

Mikasa walked over, stood by Levi, and looked down at Eren. Levi looked up at her when he realized she was next to him.

"He's going to be alright. Eren just has to rest," Levi broke the silence.

Mikasa nodded silently and sat down in an unoccupied space in the middle of the sofa. The movement made Eren's eyelids flutter and this time...they opened. Mikasa's heart jumped and she scooped him up in her arms and held him tightly-much like she had done so many years ago when he first emerged from the Titan after believing her was dead. She cried into his shoulder and squeezed him tighter.

"Eren!"

"Mi...kasa? Zhinganshina...the Titans..."

"It's ours. The gate was sealed!"

Before the moment could continue, the door opened and Nile stepped in. Hanji and Erwin were standing behind him.

"Ahh...so I see that that little shit was alive after all," Nile gave a smirk to Mikasa.

Mikasa's expression changed to one of anger and the desire to murder someone. She stood up, pulled her scarf off the rack, and wrapped it around her neck; all the while her eyes were focused on Nile.

"Hey, what's with her?" Nile laughed.

Mikasa walked over to the commander and pulled a spare blade from one of the sets of Maneuver Gear on the floor. She grabbed him by the collar, pulled him into the room, and threw him against a wall. Before he could so much as move, Mikasa drove the blade into the wall an inch from Nile's head. Her hand still held him by his collar. Levi rose and took a step forward; Erwin and Hanji stood in the doorway and watched. No one reacted though.

"That 'little shit' is the only family I have left," Mikasa hissed through gritted teeth. Her grey eyes flashed with fury, "and he just saved your snobby ass and those of your utterly stuck-up military pigs you call soldiers. If I were you-which I thank God every day that I'm not-I'd be damn grateful! So think about that before you go and order his execution. If this ever happens again
for any reason...I will hunt you down and do all of tonight to you, Commander Nile."

Mikasa let Nile go and when he was at the door, she planted a solid foot in the center of his beck and kicked him out of the room, literally. He hit the floor in front of Hanji (who was staring down at him and trying to keep her composure) and Erwin (who was in the same position as Hanji). He scurried to his feet and out of the hall as fast as he could. Mikasa pulled the blade from the wall and sheathed it back into its slot in the Maneuver Gear.

She returned to her place on the sofa; Hanji and Erwin walked in. Eren propped himself up on the armrest as the two walked in.

"Well...the good news is that we recovered Zhinganshina. The bad news is...that we still have to get to your basement," Hanji piped in.

Eren nodded and slumped back down on the sofa. The four walked out and let Eren sleep. His key draped down out of his shirt and hung loosely from his neck-reflecting the firelight across the room. The key that held that answers to his past and his future. The key that held everything he had ever known...or will know.