Chapter 17

Gabriel liked being around Hanji, her goofy attitude always made him laugh. She was definitely a far cry away from the grumpy Levi. She had come to him to apologize for not being able to help him during the clean up operation and Gabriel was quick to forgive her. Hanji was overjoyed to say the least and often talked to him about her dream of learning everything to know about the titans. He had made the mistake of asking her about her research despite numerous warnings from Eren who did the same thing, he was subject to hours and hours of scientific processes and words that he didn't understand but knew Hanji enjoyed talking about so he didn't want to hurt her feelings. When the two Titan test subjects had been murdered by an unknown assailant, Hanji had become a wreck. Gabriel was exonerated from suspicion due to him being present at Scout Regiments old headquarters. He couldn't figure out why Hanji was so upset, Gabriel did feel guilty whenever he killed a Titan but even he understood it was either kill or die.

He had gone out to town to find something to cheer her up. He found an ugly looking Titan doll in a shop and purchased it. He then walked back to HQ when he saw a group of children playing.

"Wow look it's a Scout!" One of them said pointing to Gabriel.

"He's the really strong one that helped Captain Levi! He's sooo cool!" Another said. Gabriel smiled and waved to them as their parents quickly came over and grabbed their child's hands.

"No, the scouts are not cool, they are reckless and a waste of money!" The father said. "There is nothing beyond those walls for us!" Gabriel frowned hearing those words. That wasn't very nice of him. Gabriel sighed as he finally approached HQ and made his way to Hanjis office. He could hear her still sobbing over Sonny and Bean, her titans she had been experimenting on. Gabriel knocked one the door and waited.

"Come in!" He heard Hanji reply. Gabriel opened the door and saw a desk full of papers and random assortments of scientific equipment spread throughout the room. "Oh Heimer! Good evening!"

"G-good e-evening." He replied as he observed the mess. It was the polar opposite of Levi's office which he kept so clean a surgery could be performed without risk of infection. "H-how a-are y-you?"

"Ugh honestly not good." Hanji said sitting down as she poured herself a glass of the bad juice Gabriel remembered his father would drink. Gabriel uncomfortably watched her take a sip.

"I'd offer you one but you're not old enough." Hanji said before noting the scared look on his face. "Is something wrong?"

"A-are y-you g-gonna y-yell at m-m-me?" Gabriel said twitching in nervousness.

"Of course not why would I-" Hanji said.

His father was an alcoholic, he would abuse and beat him in his stupors. Hanji quickly dumped out the rest of the glass and hid the bottle remembering Gabriel had a very bad experience with alcohol. "I'm sorry Heimer, I forgot that this doesn't bring good memories."

"D-daddy s-said h-he l-loved me a-and t-t-then w-would h-hit a-a-a-and y-yell a-at m-m-me w-ehh h-he h-h-had t-the b-bad j-j-juice." Gabriel said. Hanji sighed, how cruel to tell your only child you loved them only to drink and then abuse them.

"Well deep down he cared for you." Hanji lied. Gabriel had the mindset of a child and she wanted him to feel better. As an adult she knew better than to believe those with anger and alcoholic abuse issue actually cared for those around them more than their addiction. "Sometimes people are just really sad and they don't realize what they are doing."

"W-well h-he m-m-missed m-mommy." Gabriel said referring to his mother. Hanji remembered Erwin saying how his mother died during childbirth.

"I'm sure your mother would be really proud to see you now." Hanji said trying to console him.

"S-she w-was r-r-really p-pretty." Gabriel said recalling old portraits he saw of her as a child. Hanji, being at child bearing age for awhile now, always wondered what it'd be like to be a mother but her life called her to something else. She knew how much children needed their parents love and support, for him to grow up in such a sad household and still be this kind was impressive. "A-are y-you a m-mommy?" He asked her. Hanji raised her eyebrows at the question.

"Me? Oh no." Hanji said laughing. "Being in the Scouts makes it hard to have a family." She was correct, very few Scouts, if any that was, had a family waiting at home for them. Yes Scouts had parents and siblings but none could allow themselves the emotional baggage of having children waiting for them. This line of work demanded they be ready to lay down their lives at any moment and no one wanted to leave their children fatherless or motherless.

"B-but y-you're s-so p-pretty, a-and y-you'd m-make a g-good m-mommy." Gabriel said in all honesty, Hanji was appalled, not in a negative way but for his comment. She cared very little for her appearance, often going days without bathing and barely doing her hair much to Levi's chagrin, who was a neat freak and had been known to forcibly clean her on many occasions.

"Why do you say that?" Hanji asked intrigued. She didn't know why but the mention of having children had her interested. Perhaps it was her internal instinct and the fact her biological clock was ticking.

"Y-you're r-really n-nice t-to t-titans." Gabriel said. "If y-you're t-that n-nice t-to t-them, y-you'd b-be r-really n-nice t-to k-kids."

"Gabriel, sometimes people just don't have children." Hanji explained. This was true, before Wall Maria fell, people were often allowed to have as many children as they wanted but now that a third of the land humanity once had is now gone, families were limited to at a max two children. "Besides after losing my Sonny and Bean I couldn't bear the struggle of motherhood!" She suddenly blurred out in a complete reversal of her mood.

"O-oh I-I f-forgot!" Gabriel said reaching into his bag. He fumbled going through other supplies till he reached what he was looking for. Hanji looked in confusion as Gabriel pulled out a Titan doll. Many found the Titan dolls to be repulsive, especially those who had seen the monster first hand, but there was always someone willing to buy them which explained why it was even up for sale in the first place. Hanji was one such customer but never got around to town much due to constantly being in her makeshift lab.

"Ooooooooooooh!" Hanji squealed. "He's adorable!"

"I g-got I-I-it f-for y-you." Gabriel said holding the doll out to her. Hanjis eyes widened. She had heard from many that Gabriel was known to buy gifts for people when they were upset. He had gotten dumbbells for Reiner, a hoodie for Annie, books for Armin, a brush for Mikasa and so forth.

"Oh Gabriel I don't know what to say!" Hanji said excitedly grabbing the doll and holding it to her cheek. "Look at this handsome boy!" She said in a way a mother would to a newborn child. Gabriel was happy to see she liked it. Normally new recruits giving officers gifts was frowned upon as it was viewed as an attempt to brown nose but Gabriel was an exception. "Of course I love it but why did you buy it for me?"

"Y-you w-were s-was about S-Sunny aa-and B-Been." Gabriel said mispronouncing the titans names. "I-I t-thought I-it w-would c-cheer y-you up!"

"That was so nice of you!" Hanji said cuddling the Titan doll. Such random acts of kindness were rare these days. "Having you here gives me hope for the future!"

"R-really?" Gabriel asked excited.

"Yup! With your help we will get more Titan captures!" Hanji cheered much to Gabriel's dismay. He had had enough of titans for a lifetime.

Xxxx

"So what do you all think?" Reiner asked in the hall of the Survey Corps main base. After they all chose the Scout Regiment they were all stationed there for further training.

"I like the idea but what would we get him?" Connie asked. Gabriel's birthday was the next day and they had gotten permission for him to have the day off so he could come see them. They all wanted to have a surprise party for him.

"Beats me." Jean said standing up as he looked to Armin. "What does he like?"

"Well honestly, I'm not sure." Armin said embarrassed. Being his brother he should know better than anyone what Gabriel would like as a present. "For his birthdays in the past when I asked he always said the same thing, he wanted to spend the day with his family and buddies."

"Of course." Reiner laughed. "Seriously though we have to give him something!"

"How about a journal?" Christa suggested. "He likes to draw."

"Oh um-" Sasha peeped up. "I actually already got him one…."

"Really?" Christa asked.

"He's done so much for me I wanted to give him something." Sasha said embarrassed. She thanked the heavens Ymir wasn't around to hear that. Ymir still was in trouble for getting her so drunk that night. Sasha has woken up with the worst headache of her life and filled with shame for saying she wanted to "fuck Gabriel's goddamn brains out!"

"That's fine, we just do to think of something else." Reiner said as he pondered. "Now that I think about it, he isn't the easiest person to buy a present for."

"That's because he's already happy with what he has." Mikasa piped up to everyone's shock. She had been mostly quiet due to worrying about Eren. "He isn't like most people who always want more, he was always so happy and grateful for what he had." She continued. The group nodded at this, Gabriel had lost everything when Wall Maria fell, because of that he learned to cherish what he already had instead of wanting more. "All he wants is for everyone to be happy."

"Well maybe we could donate to some charity for him?" Connie suggested.

"That's the stupidest thing I've heard." Jean said. "The point of a birthday is to give that person a gift! Not to someone else!"

"Well I don't see you coming up with any ideas!" Connie retorted. The group snickered as th two argued.

"Has he ever mentioned wanting anything else?" Bertholdt finally asked.

"Well he said he would like to get married and have a lot of kids one day." Armin said. "Not that we could really do that.

"Well we could always find him a prostitute." Reiner joked. "Guy like him needs to get some action." Most people laughed at his joke but Sasha felt massive surges of jealousy grow within. The thought of him being with another woman made her angry. She didn't know why at first but remembered it was because she had fallen for him. Just being around him made her feel safe and happy. He could always cheer up anyone. She sighed, wondering if he felt the same or if he was even capable of understanding romantic love. His heart was so big she wasn't sure he could invest it on just her. She sat pondering as the rest of the group tried to figure out what to get him till Armin settles on an idea.

"A portrait of all of us." Armin explained. "So he knows that he's never alone and that we will always be beside him."

"That's actually a good idea." Jean said. The group went on to plan out food and decorations as Sasha inched over to Mikasa who sat expressionless as usual.

"Hey um Mikasa?" Sasha tenderly squeaked out. She had always been terrified of her, her skill, strength, and desire to maim all those who harmed Eren made her intimidating.

"Yes?" She replied.

"Can I talk to you? It's about Gabriel." Sasha explained. Mikasa turned to her and let out a very faint smile.

"Yes." She accepted.

"Can we go somewhere private?" Sasha asked turning red. "I need your help."

"Of course." Mikasa said as the two girls left the arguing group. They stepped into another room where no one was present. "What do you need?"

"Well it's about Gabriel, I just- I don't know- I can't- I LIKE HIM!" She finally blurred out much to Mikasa's amusement. Sasha expected a blow to the head, aside from Eren and Armin, Mikasa was very protective of Gabriel as well due to his handicap making him a target for people to exploit and manipulate.

"Well? Everyone likes him." Mikasa replied.

"I know but I really like him!" Sasha said. This was so embarrassing! "When I'm with him I just feel so happy, I always want to be around him and I just- I don't know!"

"Sasha, do you love him?" Mikasa asked as Sasha gasped out loud. Mikasa knew Gabriel really held Sasha in high regard. He was constantly talking about how pretty and brave she was.

"Please don't tell anyone!" Sasha begged. Ymir knowing was already had enough.

"I'm not sure what you need my help with." Mikasa replied.

"Well I thought since you like Eren you'd relate to me on this." Sasha confessed as Mikasa gasped.

"Eren? I-I-" Mikasa said turning away flushing red. Sasha was shocked, she never saw Mikasa like this, she was always so calm and level headed, but then again it was involving Eren after all.

"You can talk to me about it if you want." Sasha offered. "It's only fair I help you out too."

"Really?" Mikasa asked. Her and Sasha while not on bad terms, had not been close either.

"Well yeah, it's nice to have another girl to talk to." Sasha explained. She mostly was around Connie, Jean, and Gabriel. She talked with Christa from time to time but found Ymir and Annie rather unapproachable.

"Thank you Sasha." Mikasa said smiling. She had always been around boys all the time since she was a kid, it would be nice to have another girl to talk to. "And yes, I do like Eren but he doesn't feel the same way about me, I just want to live a peaceful life with him."

"Maybe he does but he just doesn't know how to show it?" Sasha suggested. She had seen how aggravated and down right mean Eren would be to Mikasa when she tried to help him. Sasha wasn't particularly close with Eren but she knew he was such an angry kid, she had never seen someone so full of rage in her life. She couldn't blame him though, he and Gabriel suffered the worst when Wall Maria fell. "He's just so focused on beating the titans and with this Titan power he has now he has a lot on his plate, I'm sure once everything calms down a bit, he'll see how much you mean to him."

"Thanks Sasha." Mikasa said. She never thought of how much Eren had on his plate, maybe she was right, maybe when all this was over…

Provided of course they survive to see that day.

"So Um about Gabriel-" Sasha said.

"Oh yes, what would you like to know?" Mikasa asked.

"Well does he, how do I put this-" Sasha said twiddling her thumbs. "Does he understand romantic feelings?" Mikasa pondered, as long as she had known him he never seemed to have a desire for sexual intimacy or romance. He talked about wanting to get married and have kids but she doubted he knew the specifics.

"I think-" Mikasa said. "He just loves everything too much to really focus on one person like that." Sasha sighed in disappointment. "But he may surprise you, he does talk about you a lot."

"R-really?" Sasha asked flustered. "W-what does he say?!"

"He says you're the prettiest girl he's ever seen." Mikasa said as Sasha nearly died of embarrassment. "He also says how you're nice and very brave, he also-"

Flashback

"T-there y-you g-go!" Gabriel said as he finished drawing Mikasa who opted not to smile for her portrait. He handed his drawing to Mikasa who had to force herself not to react to the awful drawing. The closer she looked, the more odd details she saw like a third arm and a tail?

"Thank you, it's gorgeous." Mikasa complimented. The drawing really was awful, one of the worst attempts at a portrait she had ever seen but she knew he worked hard and that he liked drawing.

"T-thanks! S-Sasha l-l-liked h-hers t-t-too." Gabriel said. Mikasa could only imagine Sashas reaction to her portrait.

"When did you draw her?" Mikasa asked.

"Oh u-um, b-before t-the t-t-Titan b-bitey m-mission. Gabriel said nervously. He liked to not remember the day he almost become a high protein snack. "I-I d-drew h-h-her a-a-and s-spent t-t-the d-day w-with h-h-her." Mikasa noticed the smile on his face at that last part.

"What did you guys do?" Mikasa asked. She liked hearing about his day.

"W-we w-went t-t-to t-town a-and t-then w-w-we g-g-got a d-drink! A-a-a-and w-we-ummmmm." He said flaring red.

"And what?" Mikasa asked curiosity wondering why he had stopped.

"Y-you w-won't g-g-get m-mad r-right?" He asked feebishly twiddling his fingers.

"Of course not." She replied.

"W-well we w-went o-on t-the w-walls a-and h-held h-h-hands…." Gabriel finally blurted. Mikasa couldn't help but laugh at how nervous he was confessing something so little.

"Why would I get mad?" She asked. "That was sweet."

"C-cause I-I-I g-got y-yelled a-at w-when e-everyone t-thought w-w-we t-touched p-privates." Gabriel said. Mikasa let out another light giggle remembering that day.

"This is different, you just held hands." Mikasa said. "Gabriel do you like her?"

"Oh w-well ummmmmmmmm." He said starting to sweat. Mikasa picked up on his hesitation to answer and knew the answer was yes. She wondered why he picked Sasha, not that she was mean or bad looking but there were so many girls that liked him. "I-I g-guess!"

"You guess?" Mikasa asked.

"S-she's s-super pretty and n-nice, a-a-and s-she I-is r-really b-brave!" Gabriel praised. He spent the next several minutes praising Sasha.

"Would you want to marry her?" Mikasa asked knowing how much Gabriel wanted to have a family of his own.

"Um." He said sadly. "I-I'm t-too d-dumb."

"Gabriel." Mikasa said, her heart ripping in two.

"I-I'm s-s-so d-d-dumb." He said sniffling. He internally had a deep and severe self loathing of his low intelligence. One could say aside from the Armored Titan, the only person he hated was himself. He knew he was different from everyone else, he just wished he could be smart so he could be the best he could. "E-everyone s-said I-I-id b-be t-too s-stupid t-to d-do a-a-anything! W-why w-would s-she w-w-want m-me?"

"But look at you now, you have so many friends who care about you, you saved so many people at Trost." Mikasa said hugging him. Seeing him so beaten down by something he had no control over was so disheartening. "No one thinks your dumb, everyone likes you." She comforted as she ran her hands down his back. "Sasha would never hate you for such a small thing, and neither would anyone else."

"R-really?" Gabriel asked her.

"Yes, you're so kind to everyone, you always try to help people with no expectation of repayment. I wish more people like you were around." Mikasa said heartfully. She always wondered, if more people had Gabriel's kindness, how much better off everyone would be. He was so upset about his handicap but she never knew he hated himself that much because of it."

"W-well-" He said cheering up. "M-maybe o-one day s-she w-would l-like m-me t-too!"

End of flashback

"Mikasa?" Sasha asked noting Mikasa had gone blank.

"Oh! Sorry!" Mikasa responded as she came back to the present. Part of her wanted to tell Sasha Gabriel also liked her but another part of her told her that she should let them learn themselves.

That part won over in the end.

"I think he is capable of loving someone like that." Mikasa said. "You just have to show him you feel the same way."

"Really?" Sasha said excitedly. She really did care form him deep down.

"Just one thing." Mikasa said.

"Yeah?!" Sasha asked excitedly.

"If you break his heart, or hurt him in any way." Mikasa said as she glared darkly. "I'll come for you." Sasha nearly fainted at the threat.

Enjoy readers!

R&R!