Val D'Or was one of these unremarkable small towns. Farmland in either direction, trees as fas as the eye could see. There was a mine here, and the town had a church, but other than that it was empty of anything of interest.

I tapped my fingers on my knee impatiently. Erwin was taking his turn at the wheel, guiding the SUV elegantly over the city streets. In our car, it was the two of us, plus Armin, Mikasa, and Gunther. The second car had Hanji, Moblit, Luke, Keiji, and Moses. I had caved in after all, asking Erwin to arrange the extra help. I hadn't gone so far as to trust any of the new recruits, though. I'd denied everyone from Reiner and Bertholdt to Jean, no one of the younger generation apart from Eren's family were welcome.

"We're arriving in a few minutes - let me connect with the other car and we can go over the plan again," Erwin suggested.

At my nod, he made the call.

"You guys there?" Erwin asked.

"Roger, we're here," Hanji answered.

"Okay, let's go over the plan. When we get there, we'll park our cars half a click away and keep them out of sight. If we can get closer but still stay under cover, we will. Then, Hanji and Armin will try to hack into their security system and get a look inside. At the minimum, we will want to disable their alarm and their communications." Erwin rehashed the details with accuracy.

"Keiji, you're the expert at electronics, so I'll be depending on you to cut the wires," I told him.

"No problem," he assented from the other car.

"So after security and communications are taken out, what then?" Moblit asked.

"We'll keep ourselves in the same groups as our car configurations. If there are multiple entrances, then we'll enter from both of them simultaneously. If not, we all go in the same entrance, but we'll stagger the entrance by a few minutes to give the advance team the chance to map out the location," I said.

"We weapons hot for this or what?" Luke asked.

Erwin and I exchanged a glance. "We've got to assume it's a hostile situation, after all they killed our own. Shoot to maim if you can, but these guys are freaky strong. You may have no choice but to shoot to kill."

"And don't forget to bring your knives in with you too," I added. "It'll be close quarters fighting in there, and sometimes in that situation a knife is more effective than a gun."

"We'll be taking point," Erwin said, ending the briefing. "Hanji's group, you'll be backup."

At everyone's assent, we cut the call.

I turned around in my seat, looking back at Armin and Mikasa. Armin was sitting in the middle, since he was the smallest, and I couldn't help but think how young he looked sitting there. I shook it off, then said, "You guys are less experienced than us, so you'll stay in the middle of the group. Erwin and I will take the front, Gunther the rear."

Mikasa's mouth flattened, but she nodded.

I locked eyes with her. "I know you're strong, Mikasa. I trust you not to get killed in there. But we need to work together as a group if we're going to get in and get out alive."

Her mouth softened. "I understand. You can depend on me." She turned to look at Armin, then I saw them clasp hands and smile at each other. I turned back to face the front, because my heart skipped a beat when it reminded me that I was close to seeing him again. God, I'd do anything just to see Eren smile again.

I turned off my emotions, I just shut everything off - now was not the time. Now was the time to be a soldier. I had a mission, and damn it, I would see this mission through to the end.

—

Armed and ready, and dressed in black, we loped quietly over the grass. When we got to the building, at my signal, Hanji got out her smart phone and got to work hacking the system. Armin got his out too, and the two of them whispered together as they worked.

When Hanji nodded, I gave Keiji the signal to go cut the communications. He went around the old farmstead, cutting all the wires, he even got up onto the roof and disconnected the satellite. It was the best we could do.

Armin put his things away, and he and Mikasa got out their guns. They handled them well - I was glad Erwin had taken the time to train them.

Erwin and I took point, and approached the building. When we entered the farmstead, we found the house itself empty. We checked all the floors, just in case, but it was a front, nothing more.

We circled back to the barn, and when we crept into the barn, I was disgusted by how old and decrepit it was. There were beams of soft moonlight filtering down through the wide slats making up the roof. The walls looked fit to fall down, and there was dust everywhere.

We searched all corners, but found nothing. Erwin and I looked at each other, and I began to get frustrated.

"Do you think the old bastard gave us the wrong address?" I whispered to him.

Erwin just shrugged.

"You guys," Hanji whispered loudly. "Come here."

Hanji had kicked aside the dust enough to find a hatch in the floor. Erwin tugged it open, and it squeaked on rusty hinges, making me cringe - but nothing we could do about that now. It's not like I walked around with a can of WD-40 in my pants. Although, for future reference, having a small can on hand was not a bad idea…

Erwin went down first, and I followed behind him, motioning for Armin and Mikasa to stay close. Gunther pulled up the rear, his gun in hand, watching our backs to make sure no one snuck up behind us.

The facility underground was immense. It was a warren of rooms, laboratories, cells, and surgeries. We went from one to another, checking for Eren. Most of the rooms were empty, which I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not.

Then we came up on a canteen, a cafeteria smack dab in the middle of the facility, and yep - there were all the people. There were a dozen orderlies, and some doctors that scattered, and some people that for lack of a better word were just big.

It was a goatfuck.

We went in shooting. "Take out the orderlies and the big fucks first!" I called out to Armin and Mikasa.

Armin was sweating, his face was pale, and his hands were shaking. I couldn't worry about him though, we had too much shit coming our way for me to worry about him wetting his pants.

I shot one of the big guys in the body, and he just kept on coming. I shot him again, and again, and shit, he just didn't go down. Finally I shot him in the head, and yeah, that put him down.

Only now I had used up half my bullets.

"Head shots on the big fucks," I yelled to Erwin.

"Gotcha," he called back.

We got three of the big guys down before they reached us, but that left ten or so orderlies that were swarming us. I holstered my gun and went for my knives, brandishing a long dagger in each hand. I then threw myself into the group, spinning with my knives out, cutting an arc through them. I felt hot blood spray on my cheek, and heard screams and some went down. But I just kept on whirling, then I stopped and thrust my knife up into one guy's neck.

I had stopped caring about maiming, and I went straight for the kill. I didn't even care how many of them I had to kill, as far as I was concerned they all fucking deserved it. They'd killed our own - even innocents like Petra.

I saw Petra's face swim in front of my eyes, and I remembered her sweet smile, and I felt myself go calm. When I was really angry, I just went cold. Everything got quiet. It's like everyone was in slow motion, and I was cutting into them at double speed. It was almost easy, I thought.

I heard Gunther's voice grunt out behind me, and when I turned, he was grappling with the last big guy. I didn't even stop to think, I just leapt up, and I whirled, and my knives cut through the back of the big guy's neck, severing his spine. He dropped like a stone.

It was over, somehow. We stood around, breathing hard. The look of fear on Armin's face was gone, replaced now with one of quiet horror, but he was biting his lip and keeping it in. Mikasa just looked fierce, like an amazon warrior woman, and she too had her daggers out. There were bodies scattered around her, and she looked like an avenging angel.

Erwin was poised as ever, holstering his gun and putting his knives away. "Shall we move on?"

"Hang on a sec," Gunther called out.

When I took a closer look, I saw him holding onto his side. I peeled his hand away, and saw that the big guy had ripped into his side - with his nails? In any case, I could see Gunther's organs poking out through the blood.

I pressed his own hand back against his side. "Can you double-back on your own, and make it outside?" I asked him, looking in his eyes.

He was still standing, and he was still strong. He grunted and nodded. "Keep going, I'll get out."

I nodded, and squeezed his shoulder. "If you rendez-vous with the other team, get Hanji to go back out with you and tend the wounds. She's the doctor after all."

Gunther gave a little salute and limped off.

"Let's go," I called out to the others.

Now that Gunther was gone, I had Mikasa take up the rear. We moved in formation again, going through another maze of tunnels. Finally we saw a huge, bright-lit hallway. At the other end, there was a large steel door. I could hear banging, like someone was trying to kick through that door. Impossible, I thought.

Then I heard him yell. I'd recognize that rage-infused scream anywhere. It was Eren.

"He's on the other side of that door!" Armin cried out.

We ran forward along the hallway, and I prayed there was no trap along the way, but we made it safely to the door. When I yanked on it, though, it was locked.

"Armin, get this door open!" I cried out.

Armin connected his phone into the panel beneath the lock, and started hacking into the system. I could hear Eren yelling, and punching the wall, and the door.

"Armin!" I ground out, impatient.

"Just a second…got it!" he said triumphantly.

The door slid open, just in time for me to see this seven foot tall Bigfoot pick up Eren like a ragdoll.

"Eren!" Mikasa shrieked.

I darted forward, but I wasn't fast enough. I watched Bigfoot crack Eren's back over the back of his knee. I heard a sickening crunch, then Eren was tossed on the floor like so much trash.

"Eren!"

The sheer pain of a wounded animal was what Mikasa sounded like, as she ran to his side. I didn't look at him - I couldn't look at him - I didn't want to know, right now, whether he was alive or dead. Because if he was dead, I would stop fighting. I'd have nothing left to fight for. And then we'd all die down here.

I did hesitate, though. Just for a moment. Just for long enough for Bigfoot to pull his arm back and take a swing at me-

-But Erwin jumped in front of me, and took the blow for me. He didn't even cry out, or grunt, he just one second was standing there, and the next he was crashing into the wall. Bigfoot lunged over to him, and picked him up, and then he ripped Erwin's arm in two.

I heard the sound of tearing flesh, and Erwin's agonized scream.

Then I jumped into action. I got my gun out, and I shot at Bigfoot, but I was shaking so I missed the head shot. I got him in the shoulder, instead, and every time I shot him I kept hitting him in the chest or in the gut. Then my gun ran out.

There were orderlies running in now, and I tossed my gun aside and pulled out my knives. I went after them, while Bigfoot was falling to his knees, clutching at his chest. I cut through the orderlies, spinning and whirling in a neverending arc, then I made full circle and ended up back at Bigfoot.

I was about to go for the back of his neck, but Bigfoot seemed to summon up some reserve of energy, and he threw his arm out. I felt the impact on my side and then I was dashed into the wall.

Luckily, though, Bigfoot must have been injured enough that he decided this fight wasn't worth it. He turned and looked once more at Eren, and screamed in frustration, but then he took off down the hallway at a half-run.

For the moment, everything was clear.

I stood, and craned my head back, and gulped in a deep breath of air. I gave myself three seconds, then I got myself together.

I scanned the room, and saw Armin and Mikasa both cradling Eren, Mikasa with tears streaming down her face. I then allowed my eyes to scan over to Erwin, and I saw him slumped against the wall. There was blood, a lot of it.

I jogged over to him, and pressed my fingers against his neck. His pulse was there, but faint.

I pulled off my shirt, and tore it into strips. I was left kneeling there in my black tank top, and I shivered from the cold, but pushed the discomfort away. I tied a tourniquet around Erwin's upper arm, grimacing when I saw the rough stump from where his arm had been ripped away.

I saw the arm, lying there a few metres away. I briefly considered grabbing it, in case they could somehow reattach it, but Erwin's hand squeezed my arm weakly. "Leave it," he whispered.

"But…"

Erwin just shook his head. "It's too late. And too heavy."

I smirked. "You're too heavy. Now you're at least a few pounds lighter."

Bad joke.

I stood up, and held out my arm for him. "Need a hand?" I asked, then grimaced. Worse joke. "Fuck, I didn't mean that."

Erwin took my forearm in a firm grasp, and pulled himself to his feet. He wobbled, and was shaking like a leaf, but managed to keep to his feet at least.

When we got over to Eren, I finally got to look on him. He was lying there, his torso on Mikasa's lap, as she sobbed and hugged him. He looked a little less tan than normal, but otherwise he looked… good. His arms had a few new scars on them, and he seemed drawn and thin, but he didn't seem… he didn't look…

Fuck it. He was alive.

Just to make sure, I knelt by him, and pressed my fingertips to his neck. I looked into Armin's eyes, that were big like saucers, and he was waiting for my reaction. At my nod, his eyes filled up with tears of relief, and he smiled.

Behind us, I heard footsteps, and I shot to my feet - but it was just the others. Luke, Keiji, and Moses were all there.

"Where's Moblit?" I asked.

"He's fine," Moses said, walking over. "He just got injured so he went back out with Hanji."

Erwin staggered, and Luke rushed over, getting an arm around his waist. Moses took the other side.

"Is that him?" Keiji asked, pointing at Eren with his chin.

"Yeah, that's him," I said, looking down at him. I knew I probably had a soft look on my face, but I couldn't stop it.

"Mikasa, we've got to get out of here," Armin said, tugging on her sleeve.

"I'm not leaving him!" she cried.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course we're not leaving him. We're taking him with us. We've got to get him back home, Mikasa, so Hanji can take a look at him."

Erwin and the others were already heading out, so I waited for Mikasa to get her shit together.

"He's dead, he's dead, isn't he?" she sobbed.

"He's not dead," Armin said. "Mikasa, can you carry him?"

Mikasa stood up, holding Eren in her arms like he weighed nothing. I didn't protest - I still had to protect us on the way back out. I got my knives out, just in case.

Mikasa ran with him. She was fast, when she wanted to be. She had a goal now, and that goal was to get Eren out. It fuelled her, gave her wings.

Armin raced after her, and I followed him. We made it all the way back out - or, almost, anyway. Mikasa was flying up the stairs that led to the outside, when I heard a roar from behind us.

It was the Bigfoot again. Christ, this guy did not know when to back down. He was coming after us, and if he caught up with Mikasa, then he'd just take Eren right back again. I couldn't let that happen.

I turned to Armin, who had stopped to look at me. "Get them out of here. Get him to a safe place."

"Levi…" Armin stood there, indecisive.

I turned my back on him, and went to confront Bigfoot.

—

I'd never fought anyone so tall, in such close quarters. It was hard even just to get close to him. My normal technique wasn't working, and I didn't have any long range weapons on me anymore.

Bigfoot took a swipe at me, and I danced back out of his reach. Next punch that he threw I hopped up over it, but then the wall got in the way and he hit me again.

I couldn't fight in here like this.

I scrambled back up the steps, taunting him to get him to come after me. "I'll never let you have Eren, you big ugly Sasquatch!"

He roared and chased me, and we ended up in the old barn. The others were all gone, thank God. It was just the two of us, and here I had plenty of room to manoeuvre. I leapt up onto a pile of old crates, then I took a spinning leap and cut an arc through the air. I landed on Bigfoot's shoulders, ramming my knives up through the meat of his shoulder. I didn't quite connect with his neck, and he got his hand on my tank top and flung me to the ground.

I landed hard, taking the impact on my shoulder, and I winced. I rolled over and to my feet, narrowly avoiding his meaty fist hitting the ground. I had to get close enough…

I ran away again, just to get some space. Then I had an idea. I scrambled up this old rotted ladder, up onto the rafters above. Bigfoot charged after me, and then I took a running leap off the edge. I kicked off the wall, then rolled on the ground, and came back around under him and cut through the back of Bigfoot's ankle.

He roared, and fell to the ground. I took the opportunity to slice up his leg, then rammed my elbow into the back of his neck. He jerked and spasmed, then went still.

There was honking outside.

I should have killed him right there. I should have just taken the extra thirty seconds, and cut his big hairy head off. Instead, I ran outside, and leapt up into the open back door of the SUV.

Armin was behind the wheel. Mikasa was in the backseat, and in the front was Keiji. Eren himself was laid out in the trunk area. I draped myself over the back of the seat, then said fuck it and crawled into the trunk with him.

Mikasa looked back at me, her eyes wide and biting her lip. I curled down next to Eren, and I put my fingers on his neck again - but it was still there, his pulse. For now, at least, my Eren was alive.

My Eren.

Did I even have the right to call him that?

I'd never even told him how much I loved him. What if he'd died in there, today? Without knowing?

"Sir? Is everything all right?" Keiji called out.

"Yeah," I said, in a raspy voice. My throat was raw from yelling, and my whole body was trembling with the aftershocks of the adrenaline. "Just get us back as quick as you can."

I sat up, stretching my legs out and bracing my back against the back of the seats. Eren was right there next to me, but he felt like he was a world away. I wanted him to wake up, to blink those big lazy green eyes at me, and make my heart flutter in my chest again. God, I just wanted him to be okay.

I pulled up my knees, and pressed my face into them. I let my hand drift down, and ghost its way down his arm, until I found his hand. I gripped his hand tight, and breathed harsh stuttering breaths. He was alive. I had to hold onto that.

Eren was alive. He was here. He was going to be fine. He had to. Or else…. It was all over, before it had even begun.