A/N: The final season of AOT is here! I haven't watched the first episode as of posting this chapter because I intend to wait until it's finished so I can binge watch it. Also, I started rewatching the first season again and it's crazy how many small hints there are to Annie, Reiner and Bertolt. It makes it insanely fun to rewatch and think to yourself, "How did I miss that?"

Onto the story and thanks for reading!

"Sit."

He rolled his eyes at the command from the shortest person in the room but otherwise said nothing else. He pulled the chair out and sat across from a number of those in the Survey Corps. They all looked at him with a mix of interest and hope and even a bit of fear and Erwin just looked at him with a stoic expression from behind his desk.

"So, where do you want me to begin?" He asked as he got himself comfortable in front of his audience.

"You can start by saying where you are from Chief." Levi commanded as he leaned forward in his chair.

He looked at the dark haired soldier for a moment, did the man hate him already or was that just how he was? It was hard to really tell but he couldn't let it get to him. "Well, I'm from outside the walls-"

"We know that already, get on with it."

He looked at Levi with annoyance for the interruption. "Are you gonna let me talk or what?"

"Levi." Erwin cut in before any more verbal spats could be interchanged. "Let him talk, that goes for your squad and Hange too."

He nodded at the commander in thanks before continuing. "Well to start off, I'm from a country called the Federation of Eldia." He held up a hand, seeing as they looked like they were about to ask something. "Don't ask me where it is, I don't even know where I am in the world or if this is even my world."

They all stiffed at the last bit. Erwin was the first to recover, his face ever passive. "What do you mean, my world?"

"Exactly as it sounds, I may not be in my own world. If I'm lucky then all went as planned and I'm only halfway across the world or I'm in a different one entirely." He shrugged. "I guess we will find out sooner or later but I suppose since that's the case, you want to know how I even got here right?" Seeing them nod he continued. "It took us a while to reach a point where we could afford to search for others, search for anyone who might've survived the titans. At first we tried to do so conventionally, using long range scouts and military expeditions, I was a part of some of those expeditions."

"You were essentially the Survey Corps for your country?" Levi asked, now looking marginally more interested in his tale.

"Yes, but we didn't have a cool name like the Survey Corps." He lightly joked. "We just called ourselves the Expeditionary Force. In any case, after months and months of scouting we still found no one and it got to a point where we truly thought we were alone in the world. That is, until one of our scientists made a brilliant discovery, which is also the cause of how I got here." He smiled and leaned forward. "Commander, do you have a piece of paper by any chance?"

Erwin looked at him curiously. "I do." He reached over and handed him a piece of paper. "What for?"

"It's the easiest way to show you all." He commented as he took the paper with both hands and held it on each end with his fingers. "Essentially what this discovery was the theory that we could potentially travel great distances by simply shortening the distance." He pulled each end of the paper together. "What we are doing is taking a fancy shortcut, one where we literally cut through the distance between two points. Easier said than done of course."

The brown haired woman, Hange, looked at him with wide eyes as she quickly caught on. "Hold on a minute, you can just do something like that?"

He nodded. "This is just a gross simplification of the actual theory but yes, it is. And we made that a possibility through our own ingenuity or at least I think."

"Wait, wait, wait." Hange waved her hands in front of her rapidly as she shook her head, as if she wasn't believing what she was hearing. "So if it takes me a day on a horse to reach Wall Maria conventionally, then based on this theory you can do it quicker by not simply going faster but by somehow shortening the distance between the two?"

He gave her a smile as she caught on to exactly what he was saying. "Precisely but again, I don't know for sure if it worked or not. Maybe it did work but not in the way we expected because I have no idea where I am in comparison to my own homeland."

"But that's literally cutting through space so that's why you don't know if you're even in your own world. Something like that…'' She trailed off before jumping up from her seat and rushing him. He leaned back as her face was suddenly inches away. "Tell me more! What else can you guys do?"

"Hange! You two can talk about all that later." Erwin interjected, much to his relief.

She pouted at the order but said nothing else as she took her seat again.

Erwin sighed through his nose and turned his attention back to him. "Do you have a map? Perhaps we can reference it with our own?"

He shook his head. "Nope, all important information is up here." He tapped his temple. "But I will appreciate it if I could take a look at your maps later, maybe something can come from it."

"And now that you have found us, what will you do? What's your goal here?"

He leaned back and crossed his arms. "Well now that I've found you, I need to figure out a way to either get back or communicate with my superiors."

"And what will happen then? Your military comes in, kills the titans and subjugates us? You're technologically superior to us, correct?"

He could tell the question had everyone else in the room on edge. 'I'm sure this was what they really had in mind as soon as they figured out I was a soldier.' He thought to himself, uncaring of how they saw him. "I'm a soldier, an augmented one in fact and my orders were to find survivors and report back." He clarified. "As for what happens beyond that? I'm not privy to that information but even I have my own imaginations."

Erwin closed his eyes in thought as he mulled over that bit of news he had just said.

"Those are my orders." He added in a resolute and firm voice. A stark change from his light hearted and easy going tone he had used thus far. "But my duty has always been to the people, to save everyone I can, without exception."

Levi scoffed, he didn't seem impressed. "And how long have you had this "duty" to the people?"

"7 years."

Silence filled the room for a while before another one of the female soldiers spoke up in a soft voice. "And how old are you now?"

"Petra-"

"I'm 15."

Petra sighed and looked away at the thought. "I thought we started them young….You've been fighting since you were 8. Who does that to a child?"

"Technically, I've actually been a part of my military for a decade now, my first three years were mainly training and light duty missions." He said it in an even tone, as if there was nothing wrong with his words.

She and the others looked sick at the statement. "Since just 5?! Do they do that to all children there? Are you guys really that desperate?!"

He looked down at his hands, their pitying gazes annoyed him "No, the legal age to join the military is 17 years old with parental consent and 18 on your own. I'm just an outlier."

"Putting that aside." Petra's head snapped to Erwin as he said that but he didn't look bothered by it. "You said you're an "augmented" soldier? Care to explain?"

He continued to look down at his hands. Some of them may not like what he said next but he needed a way to explain how he healed literally in front of their eyes just hours ago. "Select soldiers, who show high aptitude are given the option to undergo surgery to receive an "improvement" of sorts to increase their chances of survival. I was one of the few and that's how I am able to heal as fast I did."

"Would it be possible for some of us to receive the same treatment? Someone like Levi?" Erwin pushed.

"Hey, don't go making decisions for me, Erwin." Levi droned with a serious expression.

He shook his head. "Not my call, I'm just here to save lives."

Erwin hummed in thought as he silently judged him. "Save lives huh…." He perked up a moment after. "How about you join us on our next expedition?"

"I'll do it." He instantly replied without hesitation.

Erwin looked at him in surprise. "I haven't even told you any details. For all you know, I could be just planning on sending you out there as you are right now. No knowledge on using our ODM gear or any of our tactics. And you'd still agree without knowing this?"

"If it means I can save at least one then I'd be happy with dying on the spot." He spoke with complete and utter conviction.

For the first time that day, Erwin was genuinely at a loss for words. Someone like this kid, just wasn't natural. That wasn't what a normal soldier would say, much less a 15 year old.

Alphonse reached out and slammed his hand on the table in front of him. "You wouldn't be the first person trying to use me and you certainly won't be the last but as long as I can fulfill my duty one more time then you won't hear any complaints from me. So get on with it." His voice never broke the even and steady tone he had been using but there was something else behind it now.

It was an unyielding will to stand steadfast in his beliefs.

'What an interesting kid but how much of what you are saying is real?' Erwin thought with a smile. He couldn't help but respect the kid a little more. "Do you think you can learn the ODM gear and everything else necessary to take part in the expedition? You will have a month." He challenged the young soldier, he ignored the shocked stares of his subordinates.

"Consider it done."

"You might as well have Shadis teach him a thing or two. Maybe those new recruits will get a backbone." Levi offered in a disinterested tone. Not that he expected-

"Good idea Levi, it'll also be a good opportunity for Alphonse to learn how we do things around here." Erwin agreed as he began formulating on how to inject the child soldier into the training program. "And maybe we can do it while we reveal who he is. It might even give some more of the recruits the nerve to join our ranks."

Levi blinked numbly at the idea. He never thought his idea would be taken seriously. He took a closer look at his commander and long time friend and saw the same look he got when he had some scheme whipped up.

"You'll have two weeks with Shadis and his recruits at their training camp, I'll convince him to spend extra time with you. Then one week to learn our formations and tactics and finally you'll get some practice in with your squad. How does that sound for you, Chief Alphonse?" Erwin addressed him by his rank directly.

He nodded in agreement. "Sounds good, I take it that you'll take care of the details?"

"Of course all you will have to do is train how to fight titans our way since you don't have any other options right now, which brings me to the next issue of how to reveal you to our superiors and the public or if we should at all. We don't want to incite any panic or-"

"Doesn't matter to me, do as you will."

"I see…." Was all Erwin managed before he took a deep breath. "I believe we are done here then, for now, thank you Chief Alphonse. Petra, will you take him down to his room?"

She silently nodded and stood up. Alphonse quietly followed after her.

"LevI and Hange you two stay behind, we have matters to discuss. Levi Squad, return to your posts and keep silent about what transpired here, I'll take care of addressing the men later."

"Sir!" The rest of Levi Squad gave Erwin a salute before leaving quickly.

Erwin waited a while to make sure the three of them were alone before he stared at Hange and Levi. "So, what's your opinion on him? Do you think he's lying?"

Hange nodded. "For someone who seems to be an experienced soldier, he's not very good at lying or at the very least hiding the fact that he is withholding information."

"Like why he's wearing regular clothes. If he somehow got transported here on some sort of military operation then he should be in uniform and armed." Levi added as he rested his elbows on his knees.

Erwin agreed. "Indeed, from what it looks like, he was sent here with a purpose, which was to blend in with our population. What his real mission is, is anyone's guess."

"So why didn't you interrogate him? For all we know, his friends are coming to kill every last one of us."

"Because, I get the feeling that he doesn't really care about his mission."

"Why?"

"You saw how drastically he changed when he talked about his duty of saving lives."

Levi scoffed. "Yeah and looks like he's been at it when most of us would be shitting our pants, what's your point?"

"Perhaps he's just an ignorant fool but he isn't. He has a self realization that his "duty" includes potentially getting used by a group of people he doesn't even know. In the face of that, any normal human being would play their cards tight to their chest but he doesn't."

"So what?"

"He's an abnormal and I intend to see what makes him tick." Erwin concluded with a smirk. The young boy had just become another question he needed answers to.

Hange sighed as another thought occurred to her. "And what about this next expedition? I know we lost a lot of men but do you really think he'll be able to get three years of training down in just 4 weeks?"

"If not then he dies during the mission." Levi concluded as he stared closely at his friend. "Are you really going to be okay with that? We finally got a break, and it just literally fell into our laps. If he dies then-"

"Then it was meant to be." Erwin said with finality. "In the meantime we'll extract as much information as we can from him."

"Another one of your gambles." Levi muttered as he just accepted what was to come. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "And what are we going to do about revealing him? The Military Police are going to be all over him."

"That's why they won't know until after this next expedition. I'll ensure Zachary, Shadis and anyone involved with his training knows he's with us but we won't tell them anything else until the time is right."

"It's to make sure he can't get away from us." Hange stated as she realized what Erwin was planning. "Zachary isn't the type to just the Military Police have someone like Alphonse, at least not immediately and if we can show he can do some good in the Scouts…"

Erwin nodded. "Indeed and since the fall of Shiganshina and Wall Maria, morale has been low for everyone, us included. The public never viewed us positively but after the fall of the wall we're being seen as the most expendable branch. After all, who needs a scouting force to retake the wall when the others have fallen? We've been on the chopping block for a while now but if we can finally get a win, finally get a victory with Alphonse here then we can start to turn public opinion on us."

"And the Military Police won't be able to forcibly take him. If they tried, the masses would riot. That is, if the Survey Corps can be something more than just suicidal idiots." Hange concluded with a smile.

"That's right." Erwin placed his palms on his desk and stood up. "I'm going to arrange everything for Alphonse, Levi you can get back to your squad." He turned to the brown haired female. "Hange, get as much information out of him. Bug him for as long as you'd like."

Levi winced at the face splitting smile the woman got. He almost felt bad for the kid.

"Yes sir!" She exclaimed as she scurried out of the room. She didn't even close the door behind her as she sprinted down the hallway, yelling all the while. "Where is Alphonse, Moblit?! I need to see him immediately!"

Levi took that as his cue to get to his squad. "I'll see you later, Erwin."

Erwin merely nodded as he began to prepare the paperwork and whatever else was necessary.

'What answers do you hold of this world Alphonse? Or are you really even from this world?' Erwin thought as he sat back down. Whatever the case was, he intended to get everything out of the newcomer.

Alphonse blinked as he saw his "room" which was a holding cell. "So this is my room." He mused as he stared at the singular cot sitting in the corner of the little cell. He took note of the two scouts standing guard.

Petra gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry, just being cautious. It'll only be for a little while and you'll be allowed out whenever you want."

He sighed but otherwise said nothing and willingly walked in and laid down on the old cot. He propped his head up with his arm and just closed his eyes. While it annoyed him to be treated to a hard as hell cot and metal bars for a room, his own room back home was just a glorified cell anyway. It's just that this one stank more and looked a lot worse. "It's fine, no big deal." He muttered as he settled in. He allowed himself to close his eyes and just relax hearing the woman walk away.

Despite the smell of the dungeon-like cell, he didn't really mind it at all. Compared to the sterile and recycled air of his own, this almost felt like paradise. He felt his bracelet shift as he adjusted his body. It still shocked him that he had such free reign over the mission, to the point where he could do quite literally anything he wanted as long as he provided results and kept within his parameters.

But how long would that last?

And how would they take knowing that he had blown his cover within the first day? No, if they knew then they would try to pull him from the mission, he couldn't allow that. 'I just won't tell them about my cover, they're only reliant on my reports after all. Just gotta make it convincing.'

"Oh Alphonse! It's me! Hange! I'm here to interr- I mean talk to you!" An overly excited female voice pulled him from his thoughts.

He opened his eyes as he heard the rapid sounds of running footsteps. When he turned around he found a heavily breathing Hange gripping the bars of the cell as she looked like she was about to squeeze through them. "Yes?"

"You and I are going to have a lot of fun together!" Her face had the biggest shit eating grin he had seen on someone in a while. She looked at the other guards and shooed them away with her hands.

Moblit trailed in with an exasperated look on his face. "Hange-san! I'm sure you can talk to Alphonse later? He's probably tired from-"

Hange waved him off. "I'm sure he's fine. Right?"

He smirked at her assistant. "Must be a lot of work being her adjutant." The man looked frazzled and out of breath trying to catch up to his commander.

"It is!'

He chuckled at the reaction as he sat up. "It's good to meet you, Moblit."

Moblit smiled at him and nodded his head. "You as well, Alphonse."

"I'm still here, you know." Hange huffed before she grabbed a chair and sat down in front of the bars with a notebook and pen. "I'll get right to it, I'm curious about your military life. Can you tell us more? Like how you managed to get recruited at 5 years old? What requirements are there for that to happen?"

He didn't miss the way Moblit looked shocked at the comment. It didn't really bother him any, word was bound to get around somehow. "As far as I know, my case is the only case where someone as young as I am was enlisted. And as for requirements? There really was none, the person that rescued me did it on a whim, or so I was told. My memory is still hazy for most of that period."

"Rescued?"

He nodded. "I was rescued from a big fire in my hometown. The man that rescued me was a soldier and I guess he saw something in me." He looked down at his hands and clenched them tightly. "Turned out to be the right call."

Hange didn't look at all perturbed by the story. "Why's that?"

"Why was it a good call?" He breathed out through his nose and stared at her brown, expressive eyes. "Well during training they told me I was a freak of nature….and within the next year, I was sent out on my first assignment, to track down and assist in killing an enemy spy. We had to make it look like an accident of course."

Her jaw dropped slightly. "Wait, earlier you said you were on light duty missions for the first three years."

"I was, those were my "light duty missions". These spies, they expect everything from here to the moon…but they never expect an innocent looking kid." He shrugged. "Made my job easier or maybe I really am just talented at that kind of stuff, who knows."

Moblit looked away as he bit his lips in what he could only describe as discomfort. Hange just wrote whatever it is she needed before she looked back up at him.

"You know I never saw a titan until today." He softly commented as his memory recalled how grotesque they looked like.

Hange looked confused. "But how? With how long you've been fighting surely you've at least seen them? I thought your country was also under threat from the titans?" She narrowed her eyes with a calculating glint. "Or were you lying?"

He scoffed. "Like I said, we finally got to a point where we could afford to send soldiers out on long range expeditions but that was some decades ago. We destroyed the titan threat from our homeland but how long do you think that took? How many lives did it take before we could stand up to them?" He crossed his legs and rested an elbow on his knee. "It took us centuries and millions dying in the process. My generation would be the first to grow up without seeing a single titan."

She sighed as she heard the news. "Sorry, I didn't mean to come off like that but that raises the question of how did you guys do it?"

"It's not very complex really. Throw enough shit at the wall and something is bound to stick. After a while….we got really efficient at making the shit stick."

"But you didn't use a weapon like our ODM gear, right?"

He shook his head. "Never crossed our minds, we did it the old fashioned way."

"Interesting…" Hange trailed off as she wrote into her notebook.

Seeing as she was taking her time he took the chance to lay down on his back. "Hange, I have a question for you, if you don't mind."

"Sure, go ahead." She replied as she continued with scribbling whatever she was scribbling.

"These expeditions, they're pretty rough on you guys right?"

She stopped and slowly laid her pen down. "They are." She softly mumbled. "Way too rough." A quiet chuckle escaped from her. "Us in the Scouting Regiment, we know nothing but defeat. But we can't stop, not now, not ever because we are humany's spear. We dedicate our hearts to find the truth and to find victory, wherever it may be. With Erwin as our commander, things have improved but we still lose too much every time we venture beyond the walls."

"I see….then I'm glad I'll be where I am needed then."

"You think so?"

"I know so, I refuse to stand back and be an overseer. I'll always be where I'm best suited for."

Hange lowered her head a bit. "On the frontlines and you sound excited about it."

He closed his eyes as memories of the people he couldn't save reared its ugly head. Everyone he couldn't save, their blood was on his hands. Salvation could only come at the cost of his own life, until then he had to save as many as he could. He had to work harder, work longer and without question, do his utmost to fulfill his duty to the people he sacrificed all those years ago. Because only a coward would beg for his sole salvation at the cost of others, for his crime he had to-

"Alphonse? Alphonse, you ok?"

He blinked and shook his head of the errant thoughts. "I'm ok, just thinking is all. But to answer, I've been killing other humans for the past decade." He tore his eyes from the ceiling to stare at Moblit and Hange. "Here, I won't have to so I can hopefully right my wrongs….no, without question I will right my wrongs." He said with conviction.

Hange smiled tentatively. "I think I know what you mean." Suddenly she leaned in closer. "But onto something a little less drab, tell me more about your country, this Federation of Eldia."

"Well, our country was formed nearly a millennia ago when the clans were brought together by a king. Since then we've fought with our neighbors more times than I can count, gone through several periods of expansion and stagnation and everything else in between. Today, the royal family holds little power and the central government presides over what the royal family used to do."

"I see and your country seems much more advanced than we are. Especially given what you told us earlier." Hange pointed out.

"We are." He confirmed. "But I would also say you guys are also geniuses in your own right. Like your ODM gear, I'm interested to see how they work exactly."

Hange nodded at the compliment. "Well when you're left with your back against the wall, you've gotta figure something out right?"

"Very true." He agreed with the sentiment wholeheartedly. "Is there anything else specific you want to know?"

"Yes, there is something that has been bothering me ever since I saw you. Why aren't you in your military uniform? Unless your military likes to send out soldiers looking like peasants to fight with no weapons. Which by way, those clothes are awfully similar to what regular folk wear around here But that can't be right? After all, this is our first meeting between our countries…sorry worlds, right?."

He glanced over at the woman. There was a certain glint in her eye. Like she had just caught him in some sort of trap, or maybe she wanted a confession out of him. And what would happen if she got a confession? Torchure? Or maybe put to death? Either way, it didn't matter to him. "Technically no, some of our people have been here before. Mostly just to keep tabs on what was going on here."

"And?"

"We lost all contact with our people two years ago, I'm here to find out why and continue their mission."

She looked at him carefully, judging him for any more lies. Finding none in his last comment she sighed. "And this would be the part where you ask what happened two years ago."

He shrugged. "So? What happened?"

"A titan bigger than the walls, what we call the Colossal Titan along with an abnormal armored titan broke through the walls. Those two are the ones responsible for the deserted towns you passed through."

A titan bigger than the walls and an armored titan. That sounded terrifying. "I'm assuming you weren't able to kill them?"

"Nope! As soon as they broke the walls, they disappeared without a trace."

"Hmmm." He hummed in thought at the news. So that's how they died but why the hell were all of the previous Overseers in the same town at the same time? He shook his head. The more pressing news was the fact they just disappeared afterwards. They weren't seen running away or pushing their attack but just simply decided to vanish. What was their purpose then? If they wanted to break the walls, why stop at the first wall? Why not push in and destroy it all?

She snapped her book shut, getting his attention. "Well, as much as I want to ask a million more questions, I think you deserve some rest before you get shipped off to Shadis and his cadets." She stood up and began walking away. "Someone will be down to get you for dinner."

"Alright." He stared back up at the brick ceiling.

"By the way." He craned his head down to stare at the brown haired women. She gave him a threatening smirk. "You are a terrible liar, your story is full of holes and contradictions."

Instead of being threatened by it, he smiled back jovially. "And? I thought I made my purpose here clear."

Her threatening face disappeared in an instant as she laughed and waved him goodbye. "That you did! Good, good, I'll see you for dinner! I look forward to working with you, Chief Alphonse!"

He heard the doors close shut, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more.

'How much farther do I need to go?' He pondered to himself. He had been trying to find his way through his world, finding his way to finding his salvation for the better part of a decade. How much farther did he have to go before he found it? Or maybe, he was never destined to find it.

"You'll never find your salvation in saving people when you, yourself, are in need of saving."

He shook his head. No, that man was wrong. If the man who saved his life all those years ago could find salvation within a burnt up boy then he could also find such answers in someone else.

Plus….he had already been saved once, he didn't need to be saved.

Sighing as the bothersome thoughts bombarded his mind, he rolled over onto his side again. He desperately switched topics within his own mind.

Now that he had been found out, what would they do. He was reasonably sure Erwin didn't buy the entirety of his story for a second. That man seemed too smart to be fooled by half assed lies. Hange definitely didn;t buy it, she made that clear and he didn't have a clue on the shortstack captain. Whatever the case was, they knew he was here to spy on them. So what would they do with that knowledge? Would they even care?

Hange sure didn't seem all that upset when he told her. Maybe it was because she already knew he was lying?

Whatever, he'd have to just wing it and go with the flow with whatever they chose to do with him. Unless they chose to just kill him, which in that case he supposed he should probably try and escape.

"Chief Alphonse?"

He snapped his attention to his new guest. "Yes?" He mentally cursed himself for losing track of his surroundings so easily.

"Dinner is ready sir, I'll escort you to the mess hall." The scout opened the door for him and he quickly took the invitation to get up from his cot.

He silently fell in behind the scout and followed him to the mess hall. We walked out of the building and across a small courtyard to reach a small stone building. As soon as we entered, the bustle of everyone present reached their ears.

A few gave him curious glances but otherwise kept to themselves. He sighed in relief, the last thing he wanted was everyone in the room staring at him.

"Oh! Alphonse, we're over here! Come join us!" Until Hange decided to give him the spotlight. All chatter ceased immediately as soon as Hange had opened her mouth.

He looked over at the overly excited section commander, mildly annoyed that she had just dumped everyone's attention on him. Ignoring their gazes, he pushed past the scout and made his way over to Hange's table. He saw Levi and his squad were already there but Erwin was missing. On top of that, an extra tray of food had been placed next to Hange. That along with her overly excited waving made it easy to see where his seat was.

"You didn't have to be so loud, Hange." He grumbled as he took his seat.

"Oh kids your age love the attention, you'll be fine!" Hange laughed before placing a hand on his shoulder. "By the way, you weren't introduced properly earlier, these guys are the Special Operations Squad otherwise known as Levi Squad. That's Eld over there, he's a serious one and second in command, that's Oluo, he likes to copy Levi, that's Petra, she is the sweetest! And finally, Gunther, he's kind of boring."

He ignored the last bit and gave the squad a quick nod of his head. "Chief Alphonse, I look forward to working with you all."

Oluo scoffed. "As if a rookie like you would be working with us." The man put down his piece of bread and pointed at him condescendingly. "Listen kid, you're 10 years-ack!" He yelped as he bit his tongue.

He looked at the soldier in amusement as he grabbed a napkin to nurse his bleeding tongue. "Is he going to be ok?"

"Oh yeah, he does that a lot. You can ignore him for the most part." Hange assured him.

That didn't do anything to really answer his question but he didn't push it. He smirked as the man winced as he tried to continue eating.

"What's your last name, Alphonse-san? I don't think you ever mentioned it."

He looked at Petra. That was the woman who seemed the most distraught during their little meeting earlier.

'Well she isn't going to really like this either.' He mused as he bit into the cold piece of bread. He washed it down quickly with some water before answering her question, being mindful of his words. "I…don't have one."

Her face froze in a surprised expression. "What do you mean?" She managed out.

"Does it have to do with that thing of you being rescued from a fire?" Hange asked as she looked down at him with an unbothered look.

He nodded. "Yeah, I got rescued from a fire in my hometown but I forgot everything. My parents, my name, everything."

"And that's when your military took you in." Hange surmised as she tore off a piece of bread. "And gave you your name."

"Yep, unofficially of course." He added as he shrugged. "The public wouldn't take it too kindly of the military using child soldiers."

"Your military has a lot of time, taking in strays." Levi commented offhandedly in that disinterested voice of his.

He looked down at his water as he struggled with that piece of his memory, completely unbothered by being described as a stray. "I'm not too sure either. I've asked plenty of times why I wasn't given over to an orphanage but the only response I get is that all the orphanages were destroyed in the fire." He sighed, not seeing the questioning looks he got from those at the table. "Still doesn't mean there aren't any in nearby cities." He quietly mused as he munched on a cracker.

"It must've been a pretty big fire." Hange quietly prodded him along, trying to drain more information out of him.

"I mean yeah, the whole city got burned down. As far as I'm aware, I'm the sole survivor of it all." He stuffed the rest of the dry crackers and drank the rest of his water. He clicked his tongue, between the dry bread and crackers, he drank all of his water already.

"...That so?" Hange mumbled through a piece of her bread. "How big was your home?"

"Nothing too crazy. About 3 million people, I think." He didn't miss the way everyone froze up at the table but chose to feign ignorance as he scarfed down his food, or tried to anyway. Even the vegetables tasted dry, somehow.

"That's a lot of people. Say, how big is your country?"

"Roughly….400 million people."

"400 million…." Hange trailed off into silence. The scale of it was hard for her to grasp. "400 million people." She softly repeated to herself By contrast, after the suicide charge that costed a quarter million lives, they themselves had around a million people within the walls. Of course the number of those in the military were even smaller. Which meant….

"And before you ask, the last time I checked, there are about 7 million personnel within the military." He coughed into his hand and hit his chest with a closed fist. "You mind if I get some more water?"

Hange nodded numbly and passed her cup over. "Here, I haven't drank out of it yet."

"Thank you." He gratefully took the cup and downed nearly half its contents. "God, this stuff is dry." He grumbled and tore back into the bread.

"Sorry it ain't up to your tastes kid." Levi scoffed.

Hange perked up suddenly from whatever thoughts she had and clapped her hands together. "Oh and by the way!" She turned to Alphonse with a grin. "Erwin should be able to get everything set up for you soon. You'll be headed off to Shadis and the 104th a few days from now. If anyone asks, you're getting sponsored by the Survey Corps. Nothing more, nothing less. We won't reveal who you really are until after the first expedition, provided it goes well."

Alphonse smiled at the news. "The commander works fast, I'll be sure to make the most of it."

"You better." Levi added. "You got 4 weeks to cram in three years of training."

He looked over at the black haired soldier with a blank stare before he gave him a small but confident smirk. "Good."

Levi blinked at his answer before he settled a menacing glare. "Good? Is that all you got to say kid? Erwin is putting his own reputation on the line for you and all you say is….good?" He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "None of us care where you are from, so if you fuck up during the expedition or can't keep up then we'll leave your ass to die. That's your reality that you have to face."

And of course Levi would choose to say something to rile him up. He clenched his jaw in annoyance, well he finally succeeded in doing so. "And you think I'm being overconfident or trying to be because I can't face the reality of my own situation? If so, then find a different reason to bitch at me because I ran out of the ability to stay ignorant a long while ago." He fiercely glared at the man he hated most around here. "I've hunted humans longer than most people in here have been food to titans. So I suppose the real question that you should be having is, can I keep up with you? And if you've got a problem with that, then meet me out back and I'll show you what a decade of killing humans looks like, shorty."

There was a crash as Levi flung his chair backwards as he stood up. "Perfect idea, I'll make you regret those words as you're puking the dry ass food back out your filthy mouth."

Hange stood up from her stupor. "Hey, Levi-"

"Shut up Hange, this is his idea. Let's go." Everyone gave Levi and Alphonse a wide berth as we practically stomped our way out of the mess hall.

He made a point to ignore all the hushed whispers and comments from the others.

"Hey look, the kid is gonna get his ass beat by the captain."

"Shoulda kept his mouth shut."

"Let's go watch."

He wasn't surprised they all unanimously wished for his downfall. It was unfortunate it was never going to go their or Levi's way.

After all….

Unconsciously a bloodthirsty grin etched on his face.

Close quarters combat was his favorite.

As he and the others trailed behind Levi outside the building, he made a show to remove his torn jacket and shirt.

Behind him, he could hear several gasps and murmurs about the scars that littered his body. Particularly a burn scar that covered a majority of his left arm and torso and the jagged scars that littered in it. He cracked his neck with a loud pop and rolled his shoulders as Levi came to a stop in the middle of a small field, away from the buildings they were just in.

'Finally something more than just talking.' He mused to himself as he dropped the clothes on the ground. He found great satisfaction in the way Levi's eyes widened ever so slightly when he turned around and saw his body.

Because even he had to admit.

It was a body cultivated to kill.

"I'm pretty proud of it, you know." He started casually, as if he was talking about the weather. "This body I mean, I trained day in and day out and this is the result." He grunted as he twisted his body, feelling his muscle fibers loosen up. "Although I can do without the scars but we can't win them all I guess." He slowly and deliberately raised his hands up, both fists near his lower cheek and jaw.

It was his silent way of starting the match.

Levi matched his but in his own way, for one, his hands were much farther out from his body.

'Interesting.' He breathed in and out in a level rhythm. 'Let's see if he's got some power in that short body of his.' He goaded the man to attack with his hand.

Levi took the invitation and charged in. He threw a jaw with his right hand, aiming for his nose. He purposely used both arms to block the blow, leaving his body wide open. The punch barely felt like much, it wasn't supposed to, all it needed was to get his guard up and expose his lower body for another punch or kick.

Through the crack between his arms he saw Levi's body twist as he lashed out with a kick.

He braced himself for the impact but he didn't expect the shockingly absurd amount of power from the tiny frame. The kick landed hard on his side, nearly knocking him off his feet before he saw another one come flying towards his abs. The strike slammed into his well conditioned abs, absorbing the impact somewhat.

Still, whatever they gave him to eat was something else. The man was a freak of nature and was damn casual about it too.

But….

The smirk never left his face as he remained rooted to his spot. He slowly lowered his arms down and stared at the shocked man. While he wasn't sure Levi had put everything into those kicks, he definitely wasn't holding back that was for damn sure but he wasn't going to let the short have the satisfaction of knowing he caused a decent amount of pain.

"Nice kick, good form too." He complimented, already feeling the nanomachines numbing the pain and repairing whatever bruising that may have been caused. "Now, it's my turn." He took a step forward but was stopped immediately.

"What's going on here?" Erwin demanded as he pushed through the crowd.

"Ah Erwin this is…." Hange trailed off, trying to figure out the words.

"We were just coming to an agreement, right?" Levi turned to ask him.

He laughed and rubbed the back of his head, going along with the short captain. "Yep, a nice wholesome agreement between two guys. That's all sir." He shoved down the feeling of disappointment at the fight being cut short.

Erwin didn't look at all convinced before he breathed out through his mouth. "I see. While I am glad you are making friends, you start your training soon so I suggest you go rest in your cell."

He nodded. "Yes sir, consider it done." He picked up his clothes and forced his way through. He wanted to rub the sore spots on his torso but refrained from doing so. He was a AAlittle disappointed though, he was looking forward to seeing what that man was really made of.

Erwin watched the young soldier get accompanied by one the scouts before he turned to the disappointed looking crowd. "All of you dismissed! Return to your posts!"

They all snapped to a salute at the order. "Yes sir!" Before rapidly making their way back. As they all left, leaving Levi, his squad and Hange. He looked down at the shorter soldier and to his surprise, found him shaking his foot. "So? Is there anything you want to say?"

"It felt like I was kicking a brick wall." Levi grumbled as he continued to shake his foot. "So that's what an "augmented" soldier is like." He narrowed his eyes at his foot. 'I wonder…what would've happened if we really fought?'

Erwin nodded in agreement as he pressed for more information. "Anything else worth mentioning?"

"Nothing much."

"It'll be interesting to see how far he can regenerate." Hange added. "Any normal human being would show something from that. Bruises, internal bleeding or trouble walking and sitting down. I think we should have a medic check him out later today."

"You think he can heal himself like a titan? I somehow doubt that." Levi scoffed as he gently placed his foot down. He clicked his tongue as a sharp tingle shot up his foot. Thankfully it wasn't broken or fractured.

"Maybe not." Hange conceded but otherwise pressed her thoughts to everyone gathered. "But he healed himself right before our eyes not even a few hours ago from getting impaled by the hooks in our ODM gear. Even if he can't regrow a head or limb, think of what that means for our people. Maybe we can develop it further so we can regenerate like a titan or maybe it can even slow down aging or prevent illnesses altogether…." She took a deep breath. A crooked smile etched on her face, scaring some of Levi Squad. "I just need a blood sample."

Erwin hummed in thought before coming to a decision. "Hange, figure out a way to get a blood sample and have a medic check him over later tonight and report back their findings."

"Hah! I'll get it done Erwin!" She beamed at her commander and gave him a sloppy salute before running off.

"Commander Erwin!"

Erwin turned to find one of his scouts running towards him but he found himself drawing a blank trying to remember her name. 'Was she a squad leader?' He eyed the young woman carefully as she ran up to him.

She pushed her black hair to the side and gave him a quick salute.

"Yes, what's the matter?" His eyes bore into her light brown eyes. All of the sudden she froze up, realizing she was also in the presence of Levi and his squad.

She took a deep breath, catching her breath. "Would it be permissible if I go check on Chief Alphonse sir?"

Erwin showed no emotion at the rather innocent question. "Why? A medic and Hange are already taking care of him."

"I….I'm just curious sir." She straightened up and stared right back at her commander. "I want to know more about him sir, about the world outside the walls."

He quietly pondered the request. In the end he found no real problem with the request. "Very well I will allow it." He saw her lit up with a brilliant smile. "However, should you find anything worth noting, you will report it to your section commander…."

"Squad Leader Ilse Langnar, sir."

He nodded, putting her name away for memory. "Squad Leader Langnar, you're allowed to visit Chief Alphonse but only for a short while and you will report back any of your findings. Dismissed!"

"Sir!" Ilse Langnar thumped her chest with her fist with a salute before running off to the subject of her interest, already grabbing her notebook and pen while doing so.

'Just who are you, Alphonse?'