Captured . . . Again

Everything went to shit faster than one could blink. Armin and Mikasa were Eren's weakness, and Titan knew it. In spite of the heavy security of St. Sina's Super wing, Mikasa had disappeared from her room without a trace. Armin had been taken from the Kirstein's home in broad daylight. "He went to the bathroom and never came back out," Jean had told The Commander.

Levi and Hange had yet to figure out how Eren had left headquarters without setting off the door alarm, but when Levi had woken up for the evening and come down to the common room, Eren was nowhere to be found. The entire team had spent over an hour searching the entire building for the young man but came up empty. "I don't understand," Hange whined. "How could he get out without setting off the alarm? ALL the doors have an alarm on them!"

"He's pretty observant. He may have watched one of us . . . okay, he may have watched me entering the passcode to get out," Levi surmised. "We'll just have to ask him when we get him back here."

"It's safe to say that Titan has him," Erwin said. "Considering his friend and his sister both disappeared earlier today, they may have used the two as hostages to lure Eren to them."

"SHIT!" Levi swung a punch at the wall, breaking the wood paneling. "I was the one who was supposed to be watching him."

"It's not your fault, Levi," Erwin countered.

Levi spun to face the blond. "Like hell it isn't! I made an assumption that he would be safe here and that I didn't have to watch him. I was the one who decided to sleep instead of making sure he was okay."

"Even the great Raven Knight needs to sleep," Nanaba offered. "We all trusted Eren to stay in as he promised and to let us know if he had any problems."

"Nana's right," Mike agreed. "Titan probably told Eren to come alone and not alert us to the situation or they'd kill his friends."

"They're gonna kill his friends anyway!" Levi snapped. "He should know that!"

"He does, Levi," Erwin assured. "But put yourself in his shoes. If you thought there was even the slightest chance that you could save a loved one by going, wouldn't you take that chance over the definite death of not going?"

Levi immediately though of his father. That's exactly what I did . . . and look how that ended . . . but I'd probably do it again for even the slightest change of saving them. "We have to find him. Hange, please tell me you 'snuck' a tracking device on him."

"Of course, I did," Hange stated proudly. Then their expression darkened. "But it's not working. I don't know if it's because of where he is or because Titan found and disabled it."

"Shit," almost everyone in the room whispered simultaneously.

"We should check the city and business security cameras in the area to see where he went," Ymir suggested.

"Way ahead of you," Hange said. "He took to the sewers at 23rd and Prattler streets."

Levi headed for the door. "I'll find him. I'll let you know when I do, and you can plan how to get him out, Commander."


Kenny's sources had nothing on Titan's activities or whereabouts. Frustrated, Levi turned to the one person he knew that might be able to track Eren down. Huntress was nothing short of shocked when Levi landed in front of her stating, "I need your help."

She blinked a couple of times, deciding whether or not he was serious. "Oh. Okay."

"I'm told you're pretty good at tracking down people considered to be impossible to find. Is this true?"

"Of course, it is," she replied. "I haven't failed yet."

"Well, there's a first time for everything," Levi refuted dryly. "And this may be that time. I need you to find someone taken by Titan."

The girl cocked her head slightly. "Titan? Who's that? What's their power?"

"It's not a who. Titan is a global organization that's been taking doctors and geneticists from all over the world. We're not sure why, but it's not good. They're too eager to kill anyone that gets in their way. They have people in government and law enforcement, so you're up against a group that's impossible to pin down," Levi explained. "They want a college kid named Eren Jaeger pretty badly and have stopped at nothing to get him. He was under the Scouts' protection, but they took his sister and best friend to lure him to them. Unfortunately, it worked. We need to get Eren back before they get what they want from him."

Huntress looked surprised at the mention of Eren's name, but quickly hid it, though not before Levi noticed. She thought for a moment on the information Levi had given. "Okay. So, this guy, Eren, went to Titan of his own free will because they have his friends and you can't find him. If they're as resourceful as you say, then they would have made sure he couldn't be followed. Assuming they want him to go to the same location they have his friends at, so they can garner his cooperation, then perhaps tracking one of his friends would be best. Where were his friends taken from?"

"His sister, Mikasa, was taken from the Supers' wing of St. Sina. His friend, Armin Arlert, was taken from the home of a friend, Jean Kirstein."

"They would have had to be extra careful to get someone out of St. Sina without being noticed. That means the best way to find them would be to track them from the Kirstein home where Armin was taken from."

Levi brought the girl to the Kirstein residence, now all dark as the occupants slept for the night. She started her search outside the window of the bathroom Armin was last seen heading for. "Hm. The window was jimmied. They were really careful about it, but there's still a tiny bit of damage I can see. There's also a denim thread on the sill. No drag marks on the ground, so he was obviously carried. Ground is kinda soft here. Looks like two people. Probably one to carry him away and another to close the window. Bold as brass. They headed right out to the street with him." Huntress continued muttering to herself as she followed an unseen trail out to the street in front of the Kirstein's house.

Levi simply followed behind as the girl found something that looked like a pebble at the edge of the road and used a grappling gun to get to the rooftops and start across the city. Light was just beginning to show on the eastern horizon when she finally stopped atop a long-abandoned factory in the rundown slums of the city's southwestern former industrial sector. Sniffy would never have found Eren here. First the sewers and now this cesspool of rot and decay – his poor nose'll have a fit, Levi thought.

Huntress crouched down and scowled at the dark building across a cracked and unused parking lot from them. "It's too quiet around here. Too clean too; no trash or used condoms and needles or empty beer cans and bottles. No people at all; not even vagrants or dealers or winos. No signs of life for an entire 3 block radius. It's like even scum wants to avoid this place like the plague. This Titan group must be even scarier than you let on."

"They are," Levi confirmed. "You telling me Eren's here?"

She pointed to the building across from them. "That building, there. The only people in this entire area are in that building."

"How can you tell?"

The girl's brown ponytail bounced as she shrugged. "I can feel it."

Levi turned to leave. "Okay then. Thanks for your help."

"Wait. You're not going in to rescue Eren and his friends?"

"Not without backup."

"Let me help."

Levi turned and regarded her for a moment. "Eren a friend of yours?"

"What? No! I just think I can help. I found his location, after all. I want to make sure everyone gets out of safely."

Levi sighed and brought his hand up to his earpiece. "Commander, I've got someone who can help us get Eren back. It's Huntress. Should I bring her back with me?"

"How do you feel about it?"

Levi's eyes never left Huntress. "I think we can trust her."

"Very well, Raven. Bring her in using standard protocol. Did you find Eren's location?"

"We did. We'll be there shortly."


Huntress had a great deal of trust, allowing Levi to blindfold her and carry her on his back as he flew back to headquarters. Levi was sure that trust wavered when he was suddenly down-drafted. He recovered quickly enough to avoid crashing, but his ears were ringing after Huntress screamed at the sudden loss of altitude. He landed on atop a flat roofed skyscraper and turned to face the Super he knew to be responsible.

"Let Huntress go," the young man snarled at them.

Huntress stood beside Levi, having removed her blindfold and arms folded over her chest and looking thoroughly unimpressed. "Northwind, just what in the hell do you think you're doin?"

"I'm saving you from this fiend," the Super replied.

Both Huntress and Levi rolled their eyes. "Do you even know who this is?" Huntress asked.

"No. Should I?"

The girl face-palmed. "Ugh! This is Raven Knight . . . from the Scouting Regiment. You know . . . the good guys."

"Oh. Um . . ."

"Tch! Maybe he should be called Airhead instead of Northwind," Levi suggested. "So, let me guess; you're trying to pay Huntress back for all those times she's saved your sorry ass."

Northwind's face started turning red. "No. It's not that. I need her help."

"I got her first," Levi stated flatly. "You'll just have to wait your turn."

"But I can't find my friend without her!" Northwind protested. "He was taken from my home this afternoon! He's in trouble!"

Levi and Huntress exchanged glances. They both knew instantly who this was. "Your friend's name; would it happen to be Armin Arlert?" Levi asked.

The young Super's eyes widened. "Yeah! How'd you know?"

"We're already on it," Levi told him. "Now for both Armin's sake and your own as well as ours . . . in fact, for everyone's sake, just go back home and wait for him."

"What?!" Northwind shouted, suddenly very angry. "No way! He's a friend of mine and I won't sit idly by while other Supers do my job for me!"

Levi looked the younger square in the eyes. "Let's get one thing straight, dipshit. You may have Super abilities, but you're in no way a hero. All you do is blindly and recklessly get in the way, risking not only your life, but the lives of those you supposedly protect and those who, like Huntress, have to bail you out. There's far more going on here than you realize, so we don't have time to babysit a reckless halfwit like yourself. Go home and stay the hell out of my way."

The young Super's indignant fury mounted. "Just where in the hell do you get off telling me . . ."

"I had years of training before I took to the streets on my own. When I realized that wasn't enough, I went through 2 more years of training. I currently have over a decade of experience and a lifetime of training influencing every decision I make on the job. It's painfully obvious to me that you don't have any training at all. Every Super these days assumes that just because they have special powers that they're automatically heroes. Well you're not. Most of you are nothing but a menace to serious heroes such as Huntress and the members of the Scouting Regiment and to the general populace. Get your act together, Blowhard, and get some training. But in the meantime, stay the fuck out of my way, or I'll run you over and leave you to your fate."

Levi took off again with Huntress, leaving a gape-mouthed young man in his wake.


Levi couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his gut. I feel like something is gonna go horribly wrong. I've been in worse situations than this . . . but I haven't felt like this since my father and Harbinger. He made his way into the old factory building from a set of underground tunnels that ran everywhere under this section of the city. It was as if the current city was built right over an older one and the tunnels were the remnants of the old city's streets.

The Commander and Codex had, using heat signatures, been able to determine that there were over 150 people in the building. Eren's body temperature ran about 1.5° hotter that most people, so it was easy to see that he was near the center of the top floor of the plain, boring cube of a building. An entire day of observation had also located Mikasa and Armin, in a sub-basement in one corner of the building.

Being a hive of Titan activity, Codex and The Commander were to break in and gain any computer information they could as well as capture the highest ranked Titans for questioning. Huntress was to get Mikasa & Armin out. T-BAB, Faerie, Bloodhound and Static were to set charges at strategic points throughout the building to bring it down once they were done and the hostages were safe.

Levi made his way up to the top floor by climbing up through the space between the inner and outer walls. Good thing this building is so old. Buildings are required to have dividers between floors in the wall spaces to act as fire-breaks these days. A fire in the basements would race up to the top floor through the wall space in no time flat in this building.

A small ventilation opening at the top of the wall gave him access to the top floor. Checking first to make sure no one was around, he carefully squeezed out the vent and lowered himself to the floor. He stood completely still, listening. It's too quiet. Something's really wrong. There should be some sounds in this building – ventilation for computers, equipment, something. His unease led him to do something he almost never did; he used his telepathy. SHIT! There's almost no one here anymore! Titan knows we're coming! Levi brought his hand up to his ear. "Commander, it's a trap! Titan knows we're coming!"

All he got in response was silence. "Commander, respond."

A few seconds later he tried again. "Codex, can you hear me?"

Again, "Bloodhound, are you there?"

Silence.

"Shit!" Too late. They're jamming our communications. Probably why the tracker Codex put on Eren isn't working. Time to grab him and get the fuck out of here. Throwing caution to the wind, Levi raced down the hallway. His telepathic exploration had told him that Eren was up ahead with two other people that were planning on moving the panicked student. Two masked people were just dragging Eren out of a room when Levi approached.

He wasted no time slicing both Titans' throats with a couple of swift strikes with his dagger. The next two slashes cut the ties holding Eren's wrists and the gag around his mouth. Eren fell to his knees, looking very glassy-eyed. His clothes were torn, filthy and soaked in his blood. "Eren, can you at least walk?"

"'m dizzy," he slurred. "'nject'd me w' som'n'. M' head hurtses"

Shit! They drugged him. Gonna have to carry him out. Levi grabbed Eren up and draped the young man over his shoulders like a mink stole. He knew Eren must be really out of it since he didn't protest in any way. Levi turned to find a room with a window to get himself outside, but he lost his footing and hit the floor when the entire building heaved and shook violently with a deafening roar. What the fuck?! Did the explosives go off prematurely? He groaned as he pulled himself out from under Eren.

"Said they g'nna blow 'p th' build'n" Eren mumbled, tears falling from his glassy eyes. "Mika. Armin."

"Someone's getting them out. Right now, I've got to focus on getting us out of here alive," Levi told him.

Smoke was fast filling the hallway they were in from the open wall spaces and vents, reducing visibility to almost zero. "Eren, I need you to focus. You need to crawl along behind me. Keep one hand on my ankle so we don't get separated." Levi's only reply was the feeling of Eren's hand gripping his ankle with surprising strength. They crawled slowly along the hall on the side nearest the outside of the building, looking for a door that would lead to a room with a window. The first door was a supply closet. Levi cursed and continued on.

Levi had to stop twice to retrieve Eren. The second time, he draped the student over his back and carried him as he crawled along. Even low to the floor, acrid smoke burned his throat and lungs. He could feel the building tremble and rumble again, and the heat was quickly rising. We don't have much time. This building is about to collapse! Desperate, Levi got to his feet, still holding Eren to his back, and facing the wall, he phased in his wings, hopped up and set off a powerful Thunder Shock, blowing the wall into the room beyond. He tossed Eren back over his shoulders and taking advantage of brief visibility before the room filled with smoke from the hallway, he moved to the far wall of the room, set off another Thunder Shock only to find another hallway. He groaned but continued. By the fourth Thunder Shock, his wings ached from the stresses, but he was at last rewarded with the sight of the abandoned parking lot outside.

He spread his wings and glided down to the ground. He landed badly, twisted his ankle and went tumbling, coming to rest against the wall of another building. Eren coughed and looked up at him. "Oth'rs. Where?" he rasped.

Levi picked himself up with a groan, holding a bloodied elbow and looked around. He was relieved to see Codex running over to him. A short way behind them, against the same building, was Huntress with Mikasa and Armin, T-BAB and Faerie, and The Commander. "RAVEN! Are you okay? How's Eren? Have you seen Hound or Static?"

"I'm fine. Just a scraped elbow and twisted ankle. Eren's been heavily drugged and has a sore head." Levi's voice was just as raspy as Eren's, and his throat burned. "Lost radio communication. Haven't heard from Sniffy or Static."

Suddenly, Huntress pointed towards the burning factory. "THERE!"

Running towards them, carrying an injured Static, was Bloodhound. Another explosion rocked the factory, and it began to collapse in on itself. Hound was still very close to the building, and as the rest of the Scouts watched in horror, a large chuck of the building came crashing down on the two.

Everything went silent for Levi. It was as if his entire existence had just gone numb. He didn't even hear Codex's and Faerie's screams of dismay and grief. He wasn't sure how long he just knelt there staring at where he'd last seen his teammates. He barely heard The Commander telling T-BAB to call for Dr. Beringer to come to headquarters. His movements as he carried Eren to the van and lay him in back beside his two dazed friends were almost robotic. With T-BAB driving and Codex and Huntress tending the three injured, there was not extra room in the van for The Commander and Levi.

Levi spread his wings to follow Erwin back to headquarters, but barely made to the rooftop of the building they'd been beside before he was out of breath. He landed and fell to his knees, coughing violently, his lungs burning and barely able to get any air in. "I can't fly like this. Can't breathe," Levi gasped as Erwin landed beside him. Any creature that flies relies heavily on their lungs. If the lungs are compromised, flight is not possible.

Erwin rubbed the smaller man's back as he tried coughing up his lungs. The sounds of sirens could be heard as emergency crews rushed to put out the raging inferno that was once a large factory building. It took Levi several minutes to stop coughing. When he finally did, Erwin crouched in front of him. "Get on," he commanded. He knew something was very wrong with Levi when the small man didn't protest, but simply wrapped his arms around the larger man's shoulders and allowed himself to be carried back to headquarters.

When they returned to headquarters, Beringer had yet to arrive, but Hange, Huntress and Krista had gotten the three students laid out on cots in the common room. Hange was just exiting the elevator with a cart of six oxygen tanks and masks. Still coughing, Levi took one of the tanks and a mask and sank down against the wall nearest Eren's cot, looking utterly defeated. He hooked up the mask, opened the valve partway. He held the mask over his nose and mouth and leaned his head back against the wall.

Everything happening around him felt surreal. Beringer came in and began treatment of the three with Krista's and Hange's help. They ran blood tests to determine what drugs had been used on Eren. The tears and blood in his clothing left them certain they'd have to clean and treat a number of cuts and possible broken bones, but there wasn't a mark on him. This finally got Levi's attention.

"He was a mess when I found him," Levi croaked. "He could barely crawl. He should at least have the cuts on is wrists from the cable ties."

Beringer shook his head in disbelief. "There isn't a mark on him. There are tears and cuts in his clothes with blood around them. I can't imagine it came from anyone other than him."

"He said they injected him with something. He also complained about his head hurting," Levi told him.

"Hm. Didn't find any injection points on him," Beringer stated. "In fact, I can't even see the puncture from where we just took blood from. I thought you healed fast, but this guy's got you beat."

Levi frowned. Has Eren always been able to do this, or is it the result of what they injected him with? Guess we'll just have to wait until he wakes up. Another coughing fit took hold of him, and he placed the oxygen mask back over his face.

Hange came over and detached the line long enough to add a humidifier bottle to the valve before reattaching the line. "The moisture will help," they explained. They then knelt down beside him and began to gently clean his face, then the scrape on his elbow. After wrapping his elbow, they checked and wrapped his ankle. They couldn't help but worry over Levi's uncharacteristic lack of protest as they worked. Once they were done, they simply sat beside him and held the hand that wasn't holding the oxygen mask.

An hour later, Armin was awake and talking to Erwin about what had happened. Mikasa, also awake, was listening, but more interested in staring at Eren, who was still out cold. Levi was oblivious to it all, staring at the floor while still holding Hange's hand. Hange jumped slightly when Levi lowered the mask and spoke. "You were right."

"What?"

"When you told me that it didn't matter if I call someone a friend or not. You were right."

Hange regarded him quietly as he took a few breaths from the mask before he continued. "Just because I didn't call Mike and Nana friends, doesn't make it hurt less now that they're dead." A single tear silently escaped a silver eye. "I still cared about them as friends. Now that I've lost them, it still feels like a nightmare. I still feel sick to my stomach. It still hurts like a mother-fucker."

Hange put their arm around him and lay their head on his shoulder as they began to cry softly. "I know it does, Levi. I know it does."