A/N: OVER 50 FOLLOWS! My god are each and every one you you amazing, and I am so thankful you guys seem to like the story I'm putting out here. Celebrations aside, welcome to the Trost arc where we'll actually see the bloodiness and gore all us AOT fans love...but not really LOL. Anyways hope all you amazing people enjoy the chapter as I catch up on this week's episode, see you in the next one. ~Scipias

CHAPTER 11 – THE BATTLE FOR TROST: CALM

Lukas stood perched up in one of the dark corridors making up the Military Headquarters of Trost. After a rather restless night, the teen was still no closer to deciding what his course of action would be by the end of the day, when he would be given the choice of what regiment to join. Not that the dark, dank confines of this part of the building helped his decision making. No, the black-haired teen was here because he happened to notice Sasha stealth fully slip down the corridor shortly after breakfast. Seeing the only relevant rooms in this direction happen to include the officer's pantry, Lukas didn't have theorize what the brunette was doing.

The door to said room creaked open slowly yet silently, Sasha peaking her head out checking the corridor for people. Lukas smiled at the covert display, he had to admit that his girlfriend was a master at procuring food as quietly as possible although he himself had begun to notice whenever she went on these self-styled 'missions' as she would disappear without a word. Nevertheless, this little high-stakes operation took his mind off the matters at hand, and Lukas chuckled when Sasha registered he had been standing there, her face transitioning from a look of shock, to one of guilt, then to one of happiness as she heard the boy laugh.

"Shouldn't you be off cleaning some cannons with Connie right now?" Lukas crossed his arms.

"I just had to make a little pitstop…" she smiled as they walked down the corridor, sizeable lump underneath her jacket, knowing full well that Lukas had known what she'd done but would never snitch on her, "not like anybody caught me."

"I did." The boy snorted.

The brunette gave a distasteful face and sighed sarcastically, "My instincts are slipping, being with you makes me sloppy."

"Ah…so it's my fault?" Lukas smiled, "You know, it could just be that I'm that good!"

"I doubt it." Sasha snorted, "but don't worry, I'm willing to sacrifice some of my talent for you I reckon."

"How very romantic of you…" the boy replied, as the duo walked through a door out to the inner courtyard, "to give up some of your ability to steal food."

Sasha side eyed him with a smirk, "Your one to talk, I can still smell that booze on your mouth LuLu."

Lukas craned over, speaking softly into the brunette's ear, "Ah…so thinking about my mouth, are we?"

The girl from Dauper stopped, a quick spell of goosebumps hitting the brunette along with a tiny blush of red overcoming her face. Sasha was fast on the recovery though, giving the boy a quick shake of her head, "Jerk…"

The teen crossed his arms leaning himself up against a pillar laughing, "That's for last night Sash."

The two stood for a moment in silence, the boy giving off a small smile. He couldn't care less about what anybody thought about their relationship, even with the moral crisis Lukas faced today, being around Sasha always brought a degree of joy to him, and now that they were in a relationship it was even better. Growing up, he was never one to take judgement of himself to harshly in the first place, so jabs about his relationship to his food-loving girlfriend always seemed to glance off though of course he was more than willing to jab back if someone was bold enough to judge her. This seemed to work out well since Sasha took awhile to become comfortable with the fact that they were technically dating now and was adamant on taking it slow. That didn't bother him though, this was a first for the both of them and he expected as much, though he didn't expect his mom to find out quite so quickly, despite the seemingly positive outcome that came from it, which was a good sign.

Like a flash, Lukas caught Sasha's hand mid-flight, the brunette taking advantage of the formers distracted demeanor to try and launch another slobber coated finger into the boy's ear. The girl attempted to resist for a moment but then pouted and dropped her hand.

The teen motioned to the hidden morsel in Sasha's jacket, "Best be sharing that with your cleaning crew, they might forgive you for being late."

The brunette huffed, wiping a strand of hair from her face, "You know I will!" she exclaimed and poked the black-haired teen in his chest, "…and I'll make sure to save some for my favorite accomplice!"

Lukas smiled giving the girl a hug, in their closeness feeling the heat radiating off what was sure to be meat hidden under his girlfriend's jacket. The teen gave Sasha a little peck on her forehead earning an audible squee from the brunette before he let go.

Sasha however didn't let go, speaking up, "You're going to be ok today, right?" she said, her tone still warm, but a look of concern on the girl's face.

"Of course, Sash."

"You sure?" She looked up at him, chin resting on his chest.

"I'll tell you what…" Lukas started, "If you can manage to save a little more of that meat, we can eat it together for lunch today."

Sasha's grasp suddenly got tighter, her eyes beaming with excitement at him, "Are you asking me on a date!"

The teen shrugged, "I suppose I am…granted you don't eat too much of that beforehand." He motioned down at the lump extruding from the girl's jacket

She shifted her head on his chest, giving him a sly look "You act like you won't give me half of yours anyway!"

Lukas rolled his eyes, "So is that a yes?"

"YES!" the reply almost deafening the teens eardrums.

…

Sometime later Lukas sat leaned up against another pillar, this time one of the ones lining the promenade separating the outer shell of the military h.q. building and the street beyond it. It was mid-morning now, the sun progressing towards its apex in the sky, and the warm rays coating the teen as he sat there in thought. The streets close to him were quieter than usual, only a spare few people walking about so when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching, he turned to look.

"You look in a good mood today?" He questioned the figure who turned out to be Jean, his friend striding towards him in a glowing demeanor, pencil and small pad of paper in hand.

"Why wouldn't I be?" The gray-haired teen replied stopping before him, "We'll be on our way to the interior this time tomorrow, fully fledged members of the military police."

"Yep." Lukas replied flatly looking down. A few moments of silence past between the two before the taller teen who had been examining his friends face spoke up.

"Ah…" Jean sighed, "You're having second thoughts."

"Nope" the teen lied, once again being short.

The taller of the friends rolled his eyes, "It isn't your responsibility to follow in your dad's footsteps Schmitty, you know that."

Lukas scoffed at that speaking once more, a slight edge in his voice, "It isn't my responsibility to follow you to the MP's, but I still do!"

Jean looked down at Lukas, somewhat surprised by his friend's sudden outburst. The gray-haired teen looked angered for a split-second but quickly regained his composure, his face even softening as the taller friend took a seat next to him. Even though visibly upset himself, Lukas was surprised by this; he was sure if he had been any other person, hell even if it had been him but in another situation that Jean would've exploded on him but instead, he sat quietly next to him.

"I know you do" Jean said softly, "and I'd do the same for you."

At that Lukas pinched his brow, the realization that he had just sounded like a major ass, "Ah fuck…I'm sorry…"

Jean gave a chuckle, "I'll give you that one."

"Yeah, but I know you'd follow me too." Lukas mumbled, "But it's not something you'd want."

The taller teen shrugged, "But you don't really want to join the Military Police either."

"You're forgetting the part where one has a significantly higher mortality rate than the other."

"I already know that…" Jean replied snidely, "but do you? I understand where you're coming from, but I can't say Potato Girl would be too happy with you…"

Lukas scoffed at his friend, giving him a side eye, "Why would that matter to you. Thought you hated Sasha?"

"Hate? No. Does she annoy the fuck out of me? Yes." Jean responded with a smirk, "I'll admit that you two have some weird fucking freakshow couple vibe thing going though…"

"Wow" the shorter friend rolled his eyes, "that was almost a compliment."

"I can try only so hard." The taller teen said sarcastically, "but really, I'd really appreciate if you joined the MP's."

"Well…we'll see tonight won't we"

Jean nodded as they watched a group of people walk by. It was now mid-morning by this point, the streets were starting to fill up as the many peoples of Trost begun going about their daily business; folks walking to work or various shops and stands opening up to begin to peddle their wares. Lukas took it all in, taking a breath before glancing over at his friend. Jean was doing much the same, only difference being the occasion glance down to the sketchpad in his hands, the teen considering the validity of what he'd created in it no doubt.

"You done with it?" Lukas questioned motioning to the pad in his friend's hand.

Jean grunted, "I guess..."

"Lemme see?" the shorter of the two reached out his hand.

The taller teen begrudgedly submitted knowing his friend wouldn't let up, and Lukas took hold of the pad. He perused past the cover, the sketch being on the front page though it was evident that many pages before that had been torn out. Upon seeing the image Lukas had to do a double take, he had known of his friend's talent for the longest time, but the sketch before him could've have been mistaken for real. Of course, it was of Mikasa, but it wasn't lewd, not in the slightest, it was just the black-haired girl as she stood on the porch portion of the training grounds mess hall.

"Jean..."

"That bad is it?" the gray-haired teen responded misinterpreting the look on Lukas's face.

Lukas still wide-eyed, chuckled a bit, "Damn...we could've made so much money selling this shit." He turned to a now shocked Jean, "You gotta give this to her."

Jean shuddered embarrassed for a moment before calming himself, "No." he said sternly, "There's no point anyway. She'll run off with Yeager tomorrow anyway."

"Ever the more reason to give it to Mikasa today."

The taller teen shuddered hearing even the mention of the girl's name. Jean was probably more relaxed talking about this subject with the person he considered to be his best friend, but it still didn't make it any less awkward.

"That makes no sense Lukas." The gray-haired teen replied confusedly.

"Sure, it does!" Lukas gave Jean a playful pat on the shoulder, "If anything, it'll end you two on a good note."

Jean gave his friend an anxious look, "Yeah and what if she doesn't like it?"

"Jean, believe me when I say I'd bet a whole month's salary that that wouldn't be the case." Lukas responded, "Besides girls love gifts. I'm in a relationship, so I should know!"

The taller friend gave a skeptical look, "Are you really comparing the extra portions of food you give to Sasha to this?"

"It's the thought that counts bud…" Lukas smirked, "besides different people value different things, Sasha just happens to value food over life itself so appreciates it that much more. Who's to say Mikasa won't value this as well?"

Jean shrugged; his friend's words were actually making sense. He looked down at the ground reflecting his decision for a long while until Lukas spoke up once more.

"Would you regret it?"

"What?" Jean looked at him confused.

"Would you regret not giving this to Mikasa?" Lukas replied calmly.

The gray-haired teen squinted in thought, "I think I would?"

His black-haired friend smiled softly, "Well there's your answer."

Jean looked to be deep in thought for a moment before he shot back to Lukas's gaze, "Wait where did you get that shit from, you've always been terrible at giving advice!"

Lukas feigned a look of shock and disgust, "How dare you! I'll have you know I've grown a lot in these three years!"

The two stared off at each other, Jean held his look of utter disbelief, while Lukas failed to keep his façade up, "Ok fine, it was Marco's advice." The shorter teen slumped in defeat, "but it's still applicable advice!"

Jean facepalmed, "Ugh…yeah I know…that's how I knew it wasn't yours!"

"First…wow that hurt!" Lukas replied, "Second, giving this sketch to Mikasa is better than the alternative…"

Jean looked at his friend confused, "What do you mean?"

Lukas rolled his eyes look painfully upward, "As your best friend, and as your bunk mate for the last three years, founder please don't make me answer that!"

For the shorter boy's sake, Jean didn't push the conversation quickly realizing what the black-haired teen meant. Still the taller of the two hesitated, doubting himself, and straying closer to a negative response.

"I'm not going to do it." Jean announced.

"That's a shame…" Lukas said calmly still holding the pad in his hand, "was really hoping not to resort to Plan B…"

"Schmitty…" Jean looked at his friend coldly, "…what's Plan B?"

Without a word, Lukas jumped up and bolted down the promenade, the pad of paper and Jean's sketch in hand. "MIKASA! HAS ANYONE SEEN ACKERMAN?"

The original look of horror turned into a look of pure anger in Jean's face, and before Lukas could round the corner, he could hear the sound of manic running behind him, "GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKER!"

The two skirted around many of the other cadets, Jean slowly making up ground on his shorter shithead of a friend. It was right after the two passed through an archway leading into the inner courtyard of the Military Headquarters, that the taller of the teens was able to pin Lukas up against a wall, wrestling the pad from the still screaming teens hand.

"Lukas…" the triumphant smirk from Jean's face was wiped off when he heard the black-haired girls voice, "Why were you yelling for me?"

Mikasa as well as Armin walked up to the duo, as Jean released Lukas from his hold. The taller of the friends was about to spew some excuse but was cut off by Lukas handing the girl a neatly folded piece of paper from his back pocket, "Jean wanted to give this to you, he was a bit self-conscious about his work though."

Jean looked horrified seeing that his sketch had been cleanly detached from the rest of the pad, and doubly so when Mikasa blankly took the paper from Lukas's outstretched hand. The girl opened the folded piece, her face still emotionless as she scanned its contents. Lukas smirked at Jean who looked halfway between having a heart attack and killing him where he stood. Before his friend could act on either of those though, it was Armin who spoke out.

"Wow Jean." The blonde teen exclaimed, looking over Mikasa's shoulder "That's incredible, it looks so realistic!"

"Thanks, uh…" Jean stuttered as the two switched their gaze in unison to the girl who still silently look at the sketch.

Lukas looked at Mikasa, intrigued at the girl's expression. He was almost concerned; their class leader wasn't very social in the first place, but she honestly looked like she was straining herself trying to figure out what to feel about this or even how to respond. Lukas looked at Jean who in this silence wasn't faring much better, the teen looking like he might pass out from suspense at any moment. Finally, the teens examination was interrupted by Armin who put a hand on Mikasa's shoulder seeming to reassure the girl. She looked to the blonde, looked at the sketch once more then looked at the taller teen. In a tone so quiet that even Lukas who stood not five feet from the girl strained to hear, Mikasa mumbled.

"It's beautiful Jean, thank you." The girl stammered through giving his friend an awkward hug before slipping the refolded portrait into her breast pocket.

The black-haired teen could hear Jean fumble through a weak thank you before something else caught his attention. The teen glanced down at his arm; his hand was starting to shake violently. He instinctually grabbed it with his free hand trying to steady it, but then the same thing stated to afflict the other hand.

"Lukas are you ok?" he could hear Armin react to the situation.

Before Lukas could utter a reply though, his head was hit with a feeling similar to what he thought it would feel to have a horse-drawn cart run over your head, and his chest felt as if it were impaled by an icepick. The shock of this was worse than anything he had ever felt, and Lukas fell to his knees grasping his head.

"SCHMITTY!" he could hear Jean gasp out in shock, as his friend, Armin and Mikasa closed in on him in concern.

"Something…something terrible…is about…to…to happen…!" Lukas gasped out taking all of his willpower.

The teen felt someone grab his shoulder, "Lukas we're gonna get you..."

CRASH!

Whoever was talking was immediately silenced by a large crash coming from the front of the city, followed by multiple screams in the distance. Lukas managed a look up from his pained position and saw the three others doing the same. In said direction, multiple plumes of black smoke rose where none had resided before followed by one scream that made the teens blood run cold.

"TITANS…A TITAN HAS BROKEN THROUGH THE WALL!"