A/N: Okay... Imma just hide over here...
-Misty
Vamp. Modern AU:
Here he was, Eren Jaeger, a nineteen year old college student who worked at a store selling everyday things, had just found a boy who couldn't be any less than fifteen and was a vampire, and by the looks of it, he didn't seem all too happy to be one.
Rated M for sexual content, adult language, violence and gore, mentions of rape
Couple: Eremin (Eren and Armin)
Anime: Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack on Titan)
Dead of Night
Chapter 14: Pure Bloods
Armin couldn't have been more nervous.
"Listen; to you, you're fine. You're tame, and you won't hurt anyone. You know that, I know that, but they don't. They're going to get defensive around you, and fast, especially with Christa around." Those were Erwin's words.
"Christa…?" Armin had asked.
"Christa is human, but she's Ymir's mate, like Eren is to you." Mikasa had explained for him. "She's a tiny, little thing that Ymir stands next to, and she's the one who I had the nurse mistake you for. You can't miss her."
"And Ymir…?"
"Ymir is tall. She's standing next to Christa. You can't miss either of them." Levi had gruffly retorted. Even though it had been half an hour, the man was still violently bitter, a frown worse than his usual stuck to his face. He was pissed, but who could blame him? What they were planning was insane, illegal even, going against everything any of them knew, but it was Eren's only chance to live.
If anyone were to ask, they were surprised he lasted half an hour, but he was getting worse. Everything had dropped significantly within that small timespan, and they were truly waiting for those alarms to go off one last time.
"So, what about these other people you talked about?" Armin was curious, but after that question, no one would answer him, and now, half an hour later, here Armin was, sitting on a bench and fidgeting in place.
He was afraid, because he didn't know how the pure bloods would react to him. He was a new blood after all, a thing that they could create by breaking the law. He was supposed to be insane right now, but, because of Eren, he was alive… Well, as alive as a walking dead person could be.
He was just waiting now, but it was hard. He wasn't sure what he was waiting for the most: For them to get there and save Eren, or for the alarms to go off. He was hoping, praying to whatever God there was up there that they'd make it in time, and they'd agree to help them, because they were still trying to break the law. Doing this would put them at risk as well, but they had no other choice.
If it meant saving Eren, then they had to try.
That was the most they could do at this point.
"Alright, where is he?" Suddenly, a loud voice boomed into the hallways of the hospital. Erwin stood quickly and left to the elevators, Levi following behind at his own pace. Mikasa followed soon after, and, not wanting to be alone, Armin stood up to find them. He was slow though, hesitant and cautious about finding out who it was who was so loud. He only had the guts to look around the corner of the hall to find his friends standing around, but not alone.
Next to them were two people, and guessing by the short girl standing beside the taller one, he assumed this was the infamous Christa and Ymir.
Mikasa had been right. Armin definitely looked like her. Give him a wig and something to elevate his chest just a little and they could be twins. They still could be twins, regardless of their gender.
Ymir, however, was another story entirely. She was tall, almost Erwin's height even, but she was thin. Armin could see the protruding collar bones and hips bones under her leather jacket, the way her legs were thin with no real meat on her to make her look like a girl. Her hair was short, spiky, and sticking out all over the place like she had just gotten out of bed. Maybe she had. The girl removed her sunglasses, and her eyes, near slits like Levi's, were red and glaring daggers at the two adults in front of her.
"Good to see you again, Ymir." Erwin addressed her and held out his hand. Ymir pushed her glasses on top of her head while looking down at his hand, and with a sneer, she ignored the friendly handshake.
Well, wasn't she charming?
"Uh huh…" She muttered.
"Good to see you, Commander Erwin, Corporal Levi, Mikasa," Christa spoke up, her voice light and very goddess like. Her smile spilt her cheeks in two, her eyes big and practically shining with beauty.
Was she even human?
"Nice to see you, Christa." Levi mumbled.
"Alright, let's get to fucking business." Ymir suddenly intruded, her arms crossing over her chest. "Now, I think that the message was gargled when Christa called me, and I think the message was gargled when you called her." Ymir suddenly laughed, her posture shifting to rest her weight on one leg. "I swore that she told me that you wanted me or one of the others to turn a human."
"Is that true, Commander Erwin?" Christa asked with those big eyes on him.
Erwin would have liked to answer the abrasive girl, but a quick and quiet sound from the elevators alerted them to the new arrivals. All eyes fell to the elevators as people walked out, a few nurses, and then a few people. Armin could have guessed who it was the others were looking for, and his guess was right.
He couldn't tell apart a human from a vampire, not yet at least, but the air around these Pure Bloods was different. It was harsh, standoffish, an aura that said "back off and don't get in my way," and the way the people flocked away from them said something. However, there was an air of elegance around them, of wisdom and humanity that was far different than what Ymir possessed. They walked with backs straight, heads high, with the feeling of owning the world, and Armin felt the need to bow to their feet.
There were two men, both absurdly tall and muscular. The one standing to the left side was the tallest, with short, brunette hair like Eren's. He must have been a good six foot four at the most, towering far over Erwin. He had softer features than Erwin though, like a rounder jawline and softer nose. Though he had that feeling of authority with him, he had a softer expression, more kind and worrying than the other two.
The second vampire, though shorter, still stood tall, and he had more muscles than the other. His features were sharp, his expression smug like he walked around making women and men swoon at the sight of him. With his short, blond hair and blue eyes matching Armin's, it was possible to work with. He was more playful, more sly and cunning, even without having to say anything. With his puffed out muscles hidden behind a thin shirt to exaggerate them and his cool stride, Armin was sure he saw a few heads turn to him. Was that because of his persona or because he was a Pure Blood?
There was one more person, a girl standing in between the two men as if they were her body guards. She was short, shorter than Armin. In fact, she was shorter than Christa, and she was five feet two at the most. As well as Armin and Christa, she was a blond with big, blue eyes. Her hair was pulled up into an odd sort of bun in the back of her hair with her bangs hanging down in her face. She wore heavy clothes, like heavy, white sweater with a hood over her thin body and heavy, black jeans that contrasted against her pale skin.
Unlike the others, she had no personality. She was completely apathetic, stoic with absolutely no emotion on her sharp features. She walked with strong footsteps and attitude behind each and every one of them. She was the one not to mess with, and that was obvious to everyone who looked at her.
"Commander Erwin," The tall blond said and took up Erwin's hand when he held it out for him. His voice was deep, smooth, and glided well when he spoke. The smile he wore when greeting the man was kind, in no way threatening, almost like they were good friends. Maybe they had known each other before this? They must have. "Good to see you again."
"It's good to see you too, Reiner." Erwin spoke, trying to force a smile, but the situation was dire. "Annie, Betholdt, you're looking well." He noted to the others.
"And doing well, sir." The one, Bertholdt, spoke softly.
"Erwin, what are you doing?" Levi asked in a low tone. "You think we have time for that shit?" Levi wasn't going to waste time.
"I didn't want to be rude." Erwin replied and cleared his throat.
"As I was saying before you showed up," Ymir began with a pointed glance to the other Pure Bloods. "You were saying you wanted us to... Turn someone?"
"That's what we were told by you as well." Annie mumbled.
"Now listen, with all due respect, Commander Erwin, what you do is protect people. If we do that, you'd kill us, and I don't feel like dying today." Reiner said and held up his hands. "I don't think the others want to as well."
"It's against the law. Your job is to kill New Bloods and kill us for creating them. Then you turn your back and say you want us to turn someone? What the fuck is going on here, Erwin?" There was a bite to Ymir's words as she cocked her hips to the side, her frown deepening.
"You aren't trying to lure us into some kind of trap, right?" Bertholdt asked, anxiety in his tone.
"Of course not," Erwin assured. His paused for a moment, the grim reminder of the situation catching up to him, and the Pure Bloods and Christa could see it in his face. "... It's Eren."
"Eren...?" Bertholdt asked.
"Eren hates us. Why does he want to be a New Blood?" Ymir asked with a growl.
"... Eren's dying." Mikasa finally spoke up, but her voice shook far too much.
Shock came across their features, Christa and Bertholdt both exclaimed in shock, but it was Annie who seemed most troubled.
"What...?" Christa gaped. Erwin turned his back to them, his eyes finding Armin still hiding behind the wall.
"Armin, come here." He instructed. The blond swallowed shakily before doing as told, leaving the safety of the wall to be with the others.
As quickly as the eyes were on him, the Pure Bloods became defensive. Ymir pushed Christa behind her, something akin to a hiss leaving her and threatening Armin all at the same time. Annie was pushed away as well, Bertholdt and Reiner standing in front of her to keep her safe, but Armin didn't doubt that Annie wouldn't tear him to shreds if he made one move.
"He won't hurt you. He's tame," Erwin assured, but the others weren't listening.
"Erwin, what the fuck is going on here? What in the hell is a New Blood doing here?" Ymir growled, her eyes never leaving Armin as the teen walked over to the others.
"Yeah, are you trying to get us killed?" Reiner asked, growling just as much as the taller girl.
"He won't hurt you," Levi hollered over their frantic behavior.
"Bullshit!" Ymir spat at him.
"You can't tell us that when he's like this! His eyes are red and everything!" Bertholdt pointed out.
"So are yours!" Armin fought back, but it wasn't his best idea tonight.
"We were born like this, you little shit!" Ymir said with venom dripping from her every word as she stepped up to Armin. "You can't fight us, not with how pathetic you are. So don't even try it!"
"You created me! Who is pathetic now?" Armin really didn't understand why he was putting up a fight, and when Ymir grabbed at his arm, he was truly questioning why he even spoke in the first place.
"Ymir, let him go!" Christa was by their sides quickly, pulling at her mates arm to help the poor New Blood.
"Christa, stay back!" Ymir instructed, but an arm was quick to grab at her own and shove her away. Surprised by the sudden act, Ymir found it to be Levi who had shoved her away, as if he poked at a toothpick and made it roll away. He had no problems overpowering her.
"Don't touch him." Levi threatened. Mikasa soon followed, standing in front of Armin to keep him in distance from the others.
"You're protecting him now? Just what in the hell is going on?" Reiner exclaimed.
"Please just calm down. Panicking in this situation is only going to make it worse." Erwin said calmly.
"And it only makes you sound like idiots." Annie suddenly said behind the others. Bertholdt gasped, seeming hurt by the rude remark.
"Annie..." Was he whining?
"Tell us what's going on. I'm not a very patient girl." Annie said, her arms crossing over her chest.
"Thank you, Annie." Erwin said and then sighed. Truly he was thankful that the Pure Blood was so level headed, or he wouldn't know what to do with the situation. "I think it would be best if Levi told you. I was just recently told only some of the situation."
"Only if the bitch stops baring her fangs at me." Levi retorted. It didn't take much to know who he was referring to, and Christa was quick to hit her mate in the arm.
"Ymir, stop it." She commanded, and like being given a direct order, she listened.
"Alright, so Arlert here was turned two weeks ago. Some Pure Blood lost it and killed his whole family, but to his unfortunate luck, he survived... Somewhat. Eren found him a few days ago, and like the idiot that he is, he took Armin in and fed him."
"So you killed him?" Bertholdt asked with mild surprised.
"No! I would never hur-"
"I'm talking here, thank you very much." Levi interrupted and cleared his throat. "And like the idiot that Eren is, he went and made the kid his mate, among other things."
"Whoa, wait." Reiner was suddenly serious, his expression a mixture of confusion and… More confusion. "Back up. Eren has a mate? This kid right here, this New Blood is his mate?"
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Levi implied.
"There are so many things wrong with what's going on here!" Reiner blurted. "First off, Eren has a mate before me. I've been around for six hundred and fifty-two years, and he gets his while he's nineteen!"
"Beat me by forty one years." Ymir muttered.
"Furthermore-!"
"Shut up, Reiner." Annie warned and stepped out from behind her two personal "body guards."
"A-Annie," Bertholdt stuttered, his hand reaching out to stop her, but the smaller girl sent a pointed glance back at him, a silent warning most likely. He brought his hands back to his sides, and Annie turned her attention back to the others, or more importantly, Armin.
She stepped up to him with a quiet footfall, her eyes staring directly into his without looking away. She was mere inches from him, and though she was smaller, Armin felt like he had been reduced to three feet tall by the Pure Blood just by her gaze alone.
Armin had been right; unlike the others, Annie was the one you didn't want to mess with.
"What happened…?" She asked, her voice deep and low, threatening him that if he told one lie, she would know, and she would throttle him where he now stood. Armin hadn't planned to, and he was sure she knew that, but she was just making sure.
Armin swallowed what could have been his last breath.
"… T-The Military Police came after us. Levi and Mikasa stalled them while we ran, but when we got away, we found another New Blood…" Armin began, his voice shaking when it shouldn't have been.
"And this one had lost its humanity?" Annie assumed. Armin nodded his head to gesture that she was correct.
"I had been shot, so I smelled like blood. Eren said it was after me, so he cut his hand open with a piece of glass, and… A-And it went after him instead…It pinned him to the ground and…"
Armin didn't want to think about it. He didn't want it to be a memory, let alone have it be so vivid and unforgettable. He wanted the memories gone forever, to forget that it ever happened, but how could he?
He was still living his nightmare.
"I-It bit into his neck… It kept tearing him apart so I… I-I took the glass Eren had and…"
He didn't want to remember the life he took. Innocent or not, that person had been someone like Armin at one point in time. That person had been human, lived a human life, and maybe even had a family. Whether he or she, Armin didn't even know, had a family, some kids, and a nice job in a nice home. This person lived at one point, and Armin took any options of that away.
"Is that whose blood is on you?" Annie asked while motioning down to the stains on Armin's clothes. "The New Bloods and Eren's?" All Armin could do was wordlessly nod his head and wipe at his face, but there was nothing to wipe. That was unless he wanted to smear the blood on him.
He couldn't cry. There was nothing left in him to cry.
Annie's eyes drifted to Erwin and the others, freeing Armin from her permeating gaze.
"Where's Eren…?" She asked without moving her head.
"In there," Erwin said while gesturing to the hospital room down the hall. Annie silently began walking, not another word leaving her lips as she made her way to the room. The others followed without question, and that left Erwin, Armin, Levi and Mikasa to follow them.
Armin looked over to Mikasa, noticing the shake begin to take over her body.
They hadn't seen Eren yet. They hadn't seen the true damage that had been done by the New Blood, and they hadn't seen the damage created from the doctors in an attempt to save him. They had been told while waiting what Eren was like, and now they wished they had never known.
Eren wasn't breathing on his own anymore. He had multiple IV lines running through him, and the bandages around him were sopped with blood. How he was still alive no one knew, but the doctors said he wouldn't make it through the night. It wasn't even a possibility.
So they were about to see what he looked like. They were about to see the extensive damage done to him, and even though Armin didn't need to, he held his breath.
He grabbed at Mikasa's hand and held tight, his fingers lacing with hers. He wasn't sure if this was for his comfort or her own, but it didn't matter. They were there for Eren and each other, and that was all that mattered.
The Pure Bloods entered first, all except for Ymir who was arguing with Christa. It was something about how Ymir was too antsy to go in there, Christa saying she should wait in the halls, but Ymir assured her that she was fine and forced herself in. Armin hadn't really been paying attention, nor did he care what the arguments were about.
He felt a hitch in Mikasa's movements, her legs stalling for a moment, long enough for Armin to tug on her hand. The New Blood looked back at her to question if she was alright, but just the simple tug was enough to get her moving again. They walked into the room that way, with hands held firmly together and breaths held. Neither of them knew what to expect when they walked in. They had some ideas as to what to think about, what to prepare themselves for when they walked in, but this was far from their wildest imagination.
Hanji had been right. How Eren was alive now was beyond belief, a miracle in itself. The poor teen was lying flat in the bed, tubes running down his throat. As Hanji had mentioned, he couldn't breathe on his own anymore, and it was slightly sickening to see tubes inserted into his mouth, knowing they were down his throat. What was even more nauseating, however, was the amount of IV bags hanging from poles, and how many of those were inserted into him by needles going into his arms. If that wasn't the worst, then surely it was the numerous bandages around his body, around his arm and his shoulder to keep the bleeding under control. It wasn't enough though, that much was obvious by the amount of blood already staining the pure, white articles of cloth.
The monitor beside his bed would sound out each individual beat of his heart, and it was slow. So, so slow, and every few beats, one seemed to skip.
Mikasa stopped suddenly, her hand leaving Armin's to cover her mouth. She gagged, and Armin thought she was about ready to vomit had Levi not come to her side and place a hand on her back. Armin wanted to help her, wanted to make her feel better, but he was in no better condition.
"Eren…" His name was barely a whisper on the New Blood's lips, his legs carrying his shaking body over to the bed where Eren lay. His hand shook as he reached out, his fingers barely brushing against Eren's skin.
Why was he so cold? Eren was never cold, physically or metaphorically. Eren was warm, always warm, so why was he so cold?
"He shouldn't be so close."
"He's fine, Bertholdt. He won't hurt him."
Armin could hear their voices, hear Erwin talking, Mikasa crying, and Levi trying to help her, but the words didn't make sense to him. Not only was Eren cold, but he looked fragile, and Eren wasn't fragile. Would someone fragile take on an insane New Blood, and then survive as long as he had? Armin highly doubted it.
"Annie, how long do you think he's got?" Reiner asked from behind them. Armin's eyes flickered up for only a moment, but it was long enough to see that Annie was on the other side of Eren's bedside, her blue eyes sweeping over his limp form. She was quiet, among other things, as her hand lifted and touched his forehead, the only area that didn't seem to have damage.
"A few minutes…" She answered while pushing his bangs back.
"And you can be sure of that?" Levi asked. Annie nodded her head, her hand retreating. "Are you going to do it?" To that, Annie didn't answer.
"If she won't, I will." Ymir responded.
"Ymir, stop it." Christa reprimanded and elbowed her mate's side.
"No," Annie mumbled. "I'll do it."
"Thank you, Annie." Erwin said gratefully.
"Don't thank me yet." Annie looked up from Eren, her eyes first finding Armin's, and then looking off to everyone else. "You need to know that, if I do this, you may not get what you want out of it."
"What do you mean?" Armin asked, and he was once again surprised by how scratchy his voice sounded.
"Eren is weak. His body is dying, and doing this won't help him any. At the end of the night, Eren's going to be dead… There's only one instance where he'll come back and see you again." Annie explained, her eyes slowly falling to Eren. Her hand touched at his chest, feeling the weak heart fighting for life, but she could feel it failing. She had to speak fast, or there wouldn't be time to make a decision.
"If I do this, I may just kill him quicker. There's no saying if it'll work or not; it doesn't always work. The pain can kill someone and leave them dead long enough before the venom does its job, and Eren is already at death's door. This may just kill him in seconds, and we wouldn't know… So you need to think about that." Annie looked up, her eyes on Erwin. "And think about it quickly."
Levi may have been Eren's guardian, but he wasn't mentally stable, even if he didn't really show his pain. He wouldn't make the right decision, and Annie was looking to Erwin to properly think this through, which she knew he would.
"And he's damaged. If he's not breathing on his own, his brain isn't working right anymore. He doesn't have enough oxygen getting there, and parts of him may already be dead… Knowing that, if he came back as a New Blood, you may not be getting the same Eren you're looking for. He may already be unstable when… If he does wake up."
"Is that all…?" Erwin asked. Annie closed her eyes and nodded her head.
"Knowing that, do you still want me to do this to him? Do you really want me to try? I'll do it if you say so, but remember that you may not be getting the same Eren back, or at all for that matter."
"Do it." Levi's response was a surprise to everyone, eyes falling to him, though Mikasa kept her head low.
"Are you sure, Levi?" Erwin asked.
"Did I fucking stutter? I said do it. If Eren comes out unstable, then it's our job, my job, to kill the New Blood. As for you, we'll pretend that we never saw you here. So get it over with before it's too late." Levi demanded before grabbing Mikasa's arm and pulling her out of the room. Armin knew that Mikasa wouldn't, couldn't see this, and Levi probably wouldn't want to see it either.
Having to know, however, that he'd be the one to kill Eren if he lost his humanity must have taken its toll on him. Levi was the only one who could kill Eren, because he was the only one with enough will to do it. However, that didn't mean he didn't care.
"How are we going to do this?" Erwin asked. Armin was slightly put off that Erwin would be so quick to ignore what just happened, yet he had to remember that they didn't have time to waste. They needed to do this and needed to do it now.
"Hold him down. This is going to hurt him, and he'll thrash around and hurt himself if we don't keep him still."
"Isn't he too weak for that?" Bertholdt asked while stepping up to the bed.
"It doesn't matter how strong or weak he is. The pain could wake someone up even from a coma." Annie's eyes looked up to Armin, her eyes easily reading him and his emotions. "You would know, wouldn't you?"
Instead of a verbal response, Armin picked up Eren's hand carefully within his own and held on tight.
Yes, he did know. He knew the pain she spoke up, the pain that was like fire running through his veins, of his bones breaking, healing, and then snapping apart over and over again. He knew the pain of feeling like he was choking on acid, like his lungs were filling with blood. He knew the pain where it felt like someone had grabbed at his heart and squeezed until it popped, the pain that lasted for hours on end, and he knew it all too well.
Now that he thought about it, he didn't want Eren going through that pain. He didn't want Eren experiencing that, even if it meant saving his life. Then again, he didn't want to be alone, didn't want to lose the most important person in the world to him.
"I can't say this won't hurt him." Annie mumbled, her words for Armin. Had she read his mind? Did she know what he was thinking?
"I know…" He mumbled, his fingers lacing with Eren's.
"Hold onto him." Annie instructed the others. Bertholdt and Reiner held most of Eren down, as much as they could without disturbing his injuries. Erwin, Ymir and Christa stayed back however, and this left Armin only holding onto Eren's hand.
Annie pulled Eren's arm up, careful not to mess with the needles in his arms. She pulled on some of the loose bandaging, only having it slip from his arm to show the damage the New Blood had done. It had been stitched up, but there was only so much the doctors could do there though when Eren was bleeding out from his shoulder.
"It won't be a deep bite, but it's not needed." Annie said while bringing his arm close to her mouth. Armin looked away, fearing the sight he was about to see. He kept his eyes on Eren, waiting for the reaction that would take place.
What would the first indication be that Eren felt pain? Would his eyes open? Would he yell, scream, or cry? That seemed like it would be hard to do with a tube down his throat, but one would never know.
And then Armin heard it; the sickening sound of teen biting into flesh. He cringed, because only he could hear it, unlike Erwin and Christa. The others must have been used to it by now, because they made no disgusted face or disturbed sounds.
Eren's hand suddenly squeezed around Armin's, and Armin thought his fingers would break off from the grip Eren had around him. He screamed despite the tube, his whole body arching and trying to escape the pain. Annie released Eren's hand quickly to avoid being hit, and Bertholdt and Reiner pushed against his lower chest to keep him still.
"Eren…!" Armin gasped, lost between yanking his hand free from his grasp and holding on tighter to keep Eren grounded. He used his free hand to press his fingers into Eren's cheek, and Armin truly didn't notice when Eren's body had gone from cold to hot so quickly. "Fight it, Eren! Y-You can do this!"
The heart monitor was frenzied, beeping out of control to Eren's erratic heartbeat. He gasped, choking around the tube that was restricting so much of his painful screams.
"Pull the tube out of his throat. It's going to hurt him like this." Annie instructed. Armin shook his head, his eyes widening. How could she ask him to do something like that? He couldn't do that, even if it meant helping Eren.
"Switch with me, kid." Reiner said and pushed past Armin. Armin did as told, but as soon as he lost his grip on Eren's hand, he felt panic begin to hit him full force. A pain in his heart began to form, his lungs begged for air even when he didn't need it. He was being hit with what could only be described as an anxiety attack, and he didn't know what he could do to fix it.
For some unknown reason, he watched as Reiner removed the tape holding the tube in place and carefully pulled. Eren gagged, nearly vomiting until it was out, and then that was when he really started to scream. Armin felt his anxiety rise, his bones shaking where he stood. Hearing Eren scream like that was the worse sound in the world to him.
At least that was what he thought.
What turned out to be the worst sound in the world was the sound of the heart monitor suddenly running long.
Armin looked at the monitor, finding the little line that moved with Eren's heart flat and endless. He looked back to Eren, only to find that the brunette had gone completely silent, his body no longer moving.
"Eren!" Armin cried and tried moving to him, but arms were once again wrapped around him and keeping him in his place. Armin looked back, his vision blurred with anger when he saw that it was Erwin holding him back. "Let me go! Let me go!" He yelled and kicked within the older man's grasp.
"Armin, there's nothing we can do!"
"No, let me go!" Armin tried fighting the man, even went so far as to try and bite the fist near his head, but that only caused him more trouble.
"Armin, we have to wait now! We can't do an-!"
"No!" Armin was having none of it. He wasn't going to listen, wasn't going to take it. He wanted Eren alive. He wanted Eren being the one to tell him that he they had to wait, not Erwin.
"Armin," Annie spoke softly while wiping her mouth off with a tissue. She tossed the material into the trash can before walking over to Armin, her stare cold and apathetic, but calm all at the same time. Armin would have fought her more, but Annie's hand touched his cheek, a touch much colder than Eren's had been, but softer at the same time. He couldn't help but relax, his muscles seeming to listen to her own will and not his. "Armin," She repeated. "All we can do now is wait and see if it worked."
Armin went limp against Erwin's body, his head tipping back into the older man's chest. If he had any, he'd be shedding tears he wished he could shed. All he could do, all he could manage, was heavy sobs with nothing behind them but pain.
He knew Annie was right. He knew Erwin was right, but that didn't mean he didn't want to believe it.
All they could do now was wait.
A/N: Dun keel meh bru...