The rain continued to fall upon Trost, fat drops of water splashed against its cobbled streets and its white brick buildings. When the wind picked up, the rain fell sideways, blinding anyone standing against it.

During his years in the scouts, Armin had learnt to hate the rain. It was one of the three things that all scouts came to share, regardless of gender, age or experience.

A morbid sense of humour, the ability to drink any non-scout under the table and coming to despising the rain.

After all, what could be worse than risking life and limb against gigantic man-eating monsters in the wildlands beyond the relative safety of the walls? Doing it whilst soaked to the bone and freezing their ba… bits off.

As Armin travelled across Trost, he felt his displeasure bubbling just beneath the surface. The rain lashed against his face, forcing him to squint to keep the water out of his eyes. His uniform was already soaked through, the thin white shirt under his soggy jacket was nearly see-through, and his harness straps were rubbing against his skin through the wet material with a vengeance.

In short, he was cold, miserable, half-blinded and his skin was being rubbed raw. The joys of being a soldier…

Perhaps the only good thing to come from nature's intervention was the extinguishing of the fires spreading through Trost. The sputtering black smoke was all that remained of the blaze that threatened to engulf the city. At least now they wouldn't have to fight in a titan infested kiln.

He knew from memory the other cadets would be gathering on top of the District Town Hall. It was a good central location for the mid-guard to regroup at, as it was practically right in the middle of Trost. But that did mean it was also the furthest point away from the walls.

With the impending gas crisis the cadets would soon face, they would come to regret picking that spot to recuperate at. Now they didn't have a choice about retaking the armoury if they wanted to make it over the walls.

He had left the rampaging Eren behind to re-join the cadets. He doubted his friend was consciously controlling his titan at that moment, so trying to lead Eren anywhere right now directly would likely end in disaster, and if it didn't, it would be tough to explain to the others how he was commanding a 15m class titan around.

But when he pictured the looks on their faces, he wonders if it would have been worth the incredible risk.

Armin noticed how strangely quiet the city had become. With the evacuation complete, the church bells had ceased ringing, and the screaming civilians were now behind wall rose. Without a squad beside him, the only sounds he could make out was the falling rain, the wind and his own breathing as he soared through the air. In a strange way, it could almost be described as peaceful.

And that made what he came across next so much worse.

"No, no, no, please, Franz, please!" On the street below, Hannah Diamant, the normally kind and cheerful girl, was weeping over the mutilated body of her boyfriend, Franz Kefka.

Armin landed opposite her, getting a clear look at Franz. Even with everything he had seen in his life, the sight of a person who had been bitten clean in half turned his stomach. He called her name as he knelt down next to Franz, careful to avoid the puddle of blood which surrounded his lower half, not sure if she was aware of his presence.

"Oh Armin, thank the Gods. Franz is hurt, he needs help." the freckled girl spared him only a second glance before turning back to her boyfriend.

Armin was no doctor, but he had read plenty of medical books and seen countless injuries in his life. He knew that Franz's wounds were fatal, no normal human could survive injuries like that, the shock and the blood loss alone would…

A bloody, hacking cough interrupted his thoughts, as he looked down, wide-eyed, and completely lost for words. Franz was still alive.

"Ha…hann..ah." the voice from the ruined boy was scarcely above a whisper.

"Hold on Franz. Look, Armin is here now, he can help you. You're going to be alright now, okay?" The girl held the boy's hand and lightly stroked his short black hair as she spoke.

Slowly Franz's head turned towards him, his face was ghostly pale, and blood dribbled out his open mouth. His glassy eyes found Armin's downcast ones, and a moment of understanding passed between them.

Franz realised that he was going to die; his injuries were catastrophic, and he knew there was nothing Armin could do to help him. But Franz had clung to life, not because he thought he might survive, but to do one last thing.

Slowly, Franz's bloody hand shakily reached towards him, and Armin grasped it with his own, as what little of Franz's remaining strength started to fade away.

"Ar… armin…" his hand now lay limp in Armin's grip, as his voice grew softer with every word, "get… han… safe… please."

He squeezed the dying boy's hand, trying to offer some comfort in his last moments.

"I will Franz, I promise." He didn't realise he was crying until the first tear fell onto their joined hands, only to be washed away by the rain.

"Tha… nk you." Franz let out with his last ragged breath before his eyes slowly closed and did not open again.

"Franz?! Franz! Noo!" Hannah let out an agonised wail as she started performing CPR, desperately hoping to bring him back.

'That's another death on your hands, Arlert. Another victim to your failure.' A cruel, spiteful voice echoed in his mind. He had seen and caused death so many times before; friend and foe alike, but this had been the first time someone had practically died in his arms.

He may have never been that close to Franz, in either life, but the good-natured boy had always been kind and friendly, he never mocked or insulted anyone and only ever wanted for everyone to get along.

To watch as the life slowly drained out of him had shaken Armin to his very core.

During his first life, Franz was already dead when he came across Hannah, trying to revive him. He tried to tell her he was dead, but Hannah wouldn't listen. So, he had left her, like a coward, emotionally broken and clinging to Franz's body on the street.

He had been the last person ever to see the pair of them, as no remains of the two were ever discovered during the post-battle clean-up.

He wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up. He couldn't save Franz, but he would fulfil his promise to him.

He moved next to Hannah, taking care to avoid stepping over Franz's body. The girl seemed completed oblivious to his movement, as she continued to perform chest compressions and mouth to mouth.

He crouched down next to the crying girl, placing his hand on her heaving shoulder. "We need to get off the street Hannah; it's too dangerous to stay down here."

"What? No, we can't leave. Franz needs help!"

"I'm so sorry, Hannah, but Franz… he's gone."

"Don't say that! He's not dead! He's not!" She shouted at him, anger and grief thick in her voice.

Armin bit his lower lip, not sure how to proceed. Hannah, in the depths of anguished denial, didn't want to listen to him, but he knew they couldn't stay here; a titan could arrive at any moment, and he had promised Franz to save Hannah.

He hooked his arms under hers, lifting her up as he pulled her away from Franz's remains. She screamed and struggled, desperate to break away from his grip.

"NOO! GET OFF ME! FRANZ!"

"I'm sorry, Hannah, but we can't stay here."

"LET GO OF ME!" Armin caught an elbow to the side of the face but managed to hold on.

"Hannah, HANNAH! Please listen to me…" Unexpectedly, the girl's screaming died down slightly. She was still fighting against his grip, and he knew if he relaxed, she would break free.

"I know how you're feeling, believe me, I know. I know the pain, the loss and the suffering. I've felt it too. I've lost countless friends and family, people I loved and cared for, people I would give my life to bring back. It's painful, I know that it's so painful."

"But Franz loved you; he loved you so much. He held on until he knew you would be safe, that you would survive. Please, don't let that be in vain."

With a final soul-rending wail, her resolve broke, and she went slack in his arms, the overwhelming grief draining the fight from her. Taking his chance, Armin span her around and scooped her legs up, carrying her bridal style. She wrapped her arms around him as she buried her face into his shoulder, the floodgate of tears fully opened.

With a final glance back at the lifeless Franz and whispered, "I'm sorry", before turning around and firing off his grappling hooks and took off into the sky.

Hannah continued to cry quietly on his shoulder as he silently carried her across the city.

Their landing on the roof wasn't easy as 3DM gear could be challenging to use at the best of times but using it while carrying someone made it infinitely more demanding. Armin nearly toppled over, not anticipating the effect Hannah's weight had on his centre of gravity but managed to right himself just in time.

He looked around, assessing the situation. The rooftop was filled with dozens of cadets all milling about. Most were sitting down looked exhausted or resigned, some tapped at their gas canisters hoping that somehow more gas might suddenly materialise. He could see Jean and Marco sitting together, and a handful of others he knew well. Distressingly, there seemed to be fewer cadets present than there had been last time. Armin hoped it was because he had arrived sooner than before, as he hadn't gone catatonic after Eren's 'death' like last time.

He knew that if there were going to survive this, he would have to take control but right now wasn't the time. Despite him likely being in the top 10 now, he knew that the other cadets didn't see him as proper leadership material, he didn't have the commanding presence of Mikasa or the sheer bloody-mindedness Eren possessed.

He decided to wait until Mikasa arrived, and then together they would whip their comrades into shape and retake the armoury.

"Hannah!" a girl with short black hair ran over to them, turning some heads with her yell. Armin started to feel slightly self-conscious under their combined gazes, as he was still carrying the sobbing Hannah.

"What happened?" she asked him. He couldn't recall the girl's name but remember she was often sitting with Hannah and Franz during meals. She must be one of their friends.

"I think her squad was wiped out, I found her and…" his words died in his throat as a muffled wail picked up. He looked at the girl, trying to convey the information about Franz with his eyes.

The heartbroken expression that appeared on her face showed she understood.

"Oh, Hannah, I'm so sorry." She reached out to comfort her grieving friend.

Armin gently pried Hannah off of him, allowing the girl to pull her friend into a hug. Armin quietly pulled away from the hugging pair, knowing that she would do a better job of helping the grieving Hannah than he could.

It takes around 20 minutes before Mikasa joins them, landing on the roof with unmatched grace. In that time the rooftop had swelled with additional cadets; Historia, Ymir, Connie, Sasha and a dozen more had joined them.

As had Reiner and Bertholdt.

It had taken Armin all his self-control to not march straight up to them and run them through with his blades. The sight of them standing around, acting as if they were not entirely responsible for this disaster, had filled him with rage.

Bastards, treacherous bastards both.

The half Asian cadet headed straight toward him, completely ignoring Jean's flustered questions about her safety and health.

"Armin, are you alright?"

"I'm fine Mikasa, I take it that was you?" he gestured towards the rising haze of steam from the direction of the inner gate.

She raises an eyebrow, seemingly bemused he even needs to ask. "Where's Eren and the rest of your squad?"

Armin noticed a few nearby cadets were not so subtly listening in; they must have noticed that Eren wasn't with him and also wanted to know what had happened.

"A titan got Nack, and Milieus lost his arm. I told Mina and Thomas to get him over the wall and to a doctor. Eren… Eren was swallowed by a titan." He slightly emphasised the word swallowed, hoping Mikasa would understand that Eren was still alive and he was now tearing through Trost in titan form. Nevertheless, to the eavesdropping cadets, it just sounded like someone in denial over a dead friend.

There's a flicker of concern in her eyes when she hears about Eren's fate.

She had told him several weeks after their return that she no longer had that 'bond' Eren had told them about; she no longer received headaches when she didn't intervene in Eren and Jean constant fights, or when contemplating smacking him over the head for doing something stupid.

But she still cared about him, and no-one wants to hear something like that had happened to their friend, even one who could turn into a 15m tall titan.

"I see…" she states slowly, before looking around. The prying cadets quickly looked away, not wanting to be caught spying by Mikasa. "We can't stay here much longer. The rear-guard has already withdrawn, and that gate has been sealed."

"Yeah, it's time to leave. Let's go gather the troops."

Together they walk toward the building edge, as they looked across the city. The armoury dominated the Trost skyline; ignoring the walls, it was the largest structure within the district and had been constructed on a hill, further raising it above the rest of the city.

Even from here, Armin could see the titans surrounding it, scratching at its mighty walls trying to reach the few survivors still trapped inside.

He took a deep breath as he turned to face the cadets. He channelled his inner Instructor Shadis and opened his mouth.

"104th, FALL IN!" he shouted, inwardly cringing at how strange it sounded for his shrill voice to fire off military commands. Despite his complete lack of authority, muscle memory had most of the cadets on their feet and facing him in an instant.

Excellent. He had their attention, and now he needed to keep it and convince them to follow him.

"As most of you know, the evacuation of Trost has been completed, and the rear-guard has now pulled out of the city. As per the original plan, we are to withdraw with them."

Before he could continue, Jean interrupted him, "How the hell are we supposed to do that, Arlert? I don't know if you've noticed, but we barely have enough gas to reach the wall, let alone get over it!"

"We are not going to the walls. As Jean says, we don't have the gas needed to leave Trost, so that leaves us with only one option." He pointed behind him. "We will retake the armoury from the Titans."

There was an oppressive silence at that declaration; his fellow trainees couldn't quite believe what they had heard. He wanted them to fly halfway across the titan infested city, clear out Gods knows how many titans surrounding the building, all with minimal gas and limited blades.

The idea was almost too insane to comprehend. However, such stunned disbelief could not last.

"You what?!"

"Are you mad?!"

"Forget that! The titans have it surrounded!"

"Hell no! That's suicide."

"Who the hell put you in charge?!"

Dozens of voices cried over each other, openly expressing their fear, disbelief or anger. All of which were directed entirely at him.

Clearly, they didn't approve of his plan.

"Enough!" Mikasa's snapped at the baying cadets. The anger in her voice was more than enough to silence the others.

"You hide on this rooftop, begging and praying for someone to save you, yet when Armin offers you the chance to fight for your own survival, you refuse. You are not soldiers, you are just pitiful weaklings and cowards." She accusingly pointed her sword at the still cadets, before raising it in the air in defiance.

"But Armin and I are not weak. We are strong, stronger than the rest of you combined. We didn't spend years of our lives training to fight and survive, only to lay down and die when things get difficult. We refuse to cower and wait for our enemy to devour us."

"Even if we have to do it alone, we will head for the armoury. If we lose, then we go down fighting, weapon in hand, as a real soldier should. But if we win, we survive. And the only way to win is to fight!"

She turned away from them, looking towards their eventual destination. Armin wasn't sure if the notes of disgust in her voice was real or if this was part of an act, but knowing the girl, he doubted it was the latter.

Most of the cadets looked suitably chastened and shamefaced at Mikasa's hard words. They had all been so eager to voice their objections to his plan, but none could bring themselves to protest Mikasa holding up a mirror to their flaws.

Eventually, a quiet, desperate voice once more breaks the silence, "But how? How are we supposed to get there? Most of us are running on fumes, and there are dozens of titans standing in our way. They'll slaughter us, and there is nothing we can do to stop them." A few other cadets nod or mutter in support, sharing similar thoughts and concerns.

Many years ago, during the planning to retake Shiganshina Commander Erwin had told Armin that doubt was infectious, it could spread from person to person faster than any plague and could be just as debilitating. A soldier consumed by doubt on the field will, quite literally, be consumed.

If he wanted the cadets to follow them, if he wanted them to survive, he would have to prevent it from spreading further.

"We can make it. Look at how Trost has been designed, can't you see how most of these buildings have been constructed? They have been built in large, continuous blocks, well out of reach of all but the tallest titans. If you are really low on gas, stick to running across the rooftops where possible, you'll only need to use it when jumping to the next block. This will be slower, but you won't end up falling out of the sky."

"As for the titans, they are not invincible. I've already killed two, Mikasa has killed over a dozen, and I reckon we are not the only ones. Just remember your training; aim for the napes and don't keep your arms and legs dangling."

Some cadets looked more hopeful, but more still looked doubtful. Armin suppressed a sigh; they were running out of time. Perhaps it was time for a change in tactics.

"Ultimately, Mikasa is right. There are only two outcomes left for us now. You either stay here and die, or you fight. Now is the time to figure out what kind of person you truly are."

With that, he turned away, joining Mikasa as they focused on the objective at hand.

"You ready?" she whispers to him. He nods slightly as the rain continued to bathe the city, cleansing its blood-filled streets.

Together they jumped off the roof.

Without the grief of Eren's supposed death pushing her on, Mikasa was using her gas at a far more sustainable rate. It didn't decrease her lethality however, as she continued to carve through any titans that stood in her way.

They were nearly halfway to the armoury now, and the number of titans was increasing. There seemed to be two or three of the monsters at every junction, each trying, with various degrees of success, to grab one of the passing cadets.

Armin let out a blast of gas to propel himself over a 13m titan, dodging its grasping hand. As he reached the apex of his manoeuvre, he fired off his grappling hooks while squeezed the gas-triggers to reach the next block.

But nothing happened.

He squeezed again, harder this time, panic starting to rise within him as yet again nothing happens. His hooks did not fire, and gas was not expelled.

There's a moment of weightlessness as he finally reaches the top of his arch, a second or two of simply gliding through the air before gravity starts to pull him down.

Armin almost wants to laugh as he realised what's happened, for all his words and plans to the other cadets he didn't think to check his own gas supply.

It was a stupid, idiotic mistake. It was one of the many things that training had relentless drummed into his head. Whenever you get a chance, always check your gas supply. But like a greenhorn cadet on his first day of training he hadn't.

He had been relying on his memories of last time, remembering that he had enough gas to reach the armoury. He had been focusing on Mikasa, more concerned about her supply than his own.

But things were different now. He had used far more gas this time; he'd killed two titans which required precious gas to manoeuvre himself for the killing blow, and he had carried Hannah for a time which used up further gas. He must have been running on fumes, and now those fumes were gone.

'Good job Arlert. Apparently, time travel doesn't save you for your own stupidity…'

He plummeted like a stone, crying out in shock as he fell. He could see the building below rapidly rising to meet him, the only thing he could do was to brace himself knowing full well this was going to hurt.

He heard someone screaming his name as he smashed onto building below, tumbling across the hard tiles before slipping straight over the edge into the alleyway below.

...

...

...

"Urrgh…" a loud groan was the first sign of his returning consciousness. Armin cracked open an eye, squinting into the sky. Everything was blurred and spinning, and his head was throbbing painfully as a trickle of blood flowed down his face from the small cut on his forehead.

He slowly pushed himself up, headache worsening as he moved, and spat out a glob of bloody saliva onto the floor. He looked around the dirty alleyway he found himself in, as he sat upon a large metal dustbin, which now had a human-sized dent in it.

'How did I get… oh right, the fall.'

Pieces of broken of wood and metal laid around him, they were all that remained of his 3DM gear. He must have landed on it during the crash, breaking his fall. That had probably saved his life, but now he was stranded at street level with no way out.

He rested his bruised and scraped hands against his head, massaging his temples, trying to relieve the pressure from his pounding head. It didn't seem to work as the thudding only seem to worsen; at first, he thought his head was going to split in two. The thudding was so intense it shook his vision.

When his entire body started to shake with it, he realised the thudding wasn't just from his head.

At the end of the filthy backstreet, a smiling, potbellied titan was slowly walking towards him.

"There's no way my luck is that bad." he deadpanned.

He threw himself off the dumpster, trying to get out of reach of the titan. His body protested at the rapid movement as he landed hard on the cobbled floor, narrowly avoiding the monster's hand.

He scrambled away, pushing himself back onto his feet. He was desperately searching for any weapon he could use against the crouching titan when his eyes fell on a jagged fragment of one of his blades, which must have sheered off in the fall. There was no hilt attached to it, so it sunk deep into his flesh, cutting through skin and muscle when he snatched it up and slashed it against the titan's outstretched fingers.

In response the titan simply batted him away, sending him flying further down the alley and robbing him of his 'weapon'.

It takes all the strength he has to get back up; every muscle in his body is crying out in pain from the abuse it has received both in the fall and the fight. His heart is beating painfully against his chest, and he struggles to breathe, semi-winded by the titan's blow.

He sways unsteadily on his feet, bloody hand cradling his bruised ribs, wondering how he was going to make it out of this situation. His racing mind came to a screeching halt as another set of thudding started to come from behind him.

He twisted around, dreading what he would see. There was only one thing that could create that noise; only one thing that could shake the ground as it moved. It was another Titan.

Apparently, the powers that be had decided he'd had enough bad luck for now and decided to take mercy on him. While it was another titan that appeared behind him, this one was different. Very different.

"Eren…" he breathed out, falling to his knees in relief, as the familiar green-eyed titan loomed over him.

Eren let out a terrible roar as he punched the other titan to the ground, the force of the blow was enough to shatter every window in the alleyway. Shards of glass fell like raindrops.

Before the fallen titan could get off its back, Eren stormed over to it and repeatedly stomped down on its head, intending to destroy the nape by going straight through it. It was a brutal and awe-inspiring display of titan on titan combat.

The pure titan was still twitching and shuddering helplessly under the blows when someone yells his name from behind. Before he can turn around to see who, a blur of black and red slams into him, driving the air from his lungs as he is yanked off the street and into the air.

They landed heavily on the nearby roof with Armin being held tightly in his saviour's embrace.

"Armin, I…I saw you fall, I didn't know… I thought…" Mikasa fell silent for a moment, seemingly debating what to say, "This isn't what 'stay safe' means Armin!".

At this point, Armin was just thankful to be off the street and just looked up at Mikasa with a pained smile, "I'm sorry 'Kasa. I was stupid and careless, but I'm alright now. Thank you… thank you for coming back for me."

She gave a rare smile as she held him close, "I'll always come back for you, Armin."

She ran her eyes over his body, checking for injuries as he lay in her arms. She frowned at the dozens of small scrapes and cuts he now had but gave an audible gasp when she saw his hand.

Careful, she pulled up his hand, inspecting the injury in more detail, "Armin, what happened?"

"It's nothing. I picked up a fragment of my blade when that titan tried to grab me." Armin tried to pull his hand out of her grasp, not wanting to cause her undue concern, but Mikasa had no intention of letting it go.

"That isn't 'nothing' Armin, that's a deep cut. We need to stop the bleeding." Without a second thought, she started unravelling her ever-present scarf from around her neck.

"Wait, Mikasa, you don't have to…" the no-nonsense look she shot him told him that he wouldn't talk her out of this.

Both were silent as she delicately wrapped the old red scarf around his bleeding hand, taking great care to avoid aggravating the wound further. Unlike most soldiers, her hands were still soft and smooth, despite the years of training. It was a side effect of the titan healing ability, for the skin to continually heal, preventing any callouses or scarring from forming.

He shivered slightly as her fingers lightly brushed against the back of his hand.

When the entirety of the scarf was around his hand and forearm, Mikasa held the back of his hand, moving it up so she could inspect the quality of the temporary dressing.

"You didn't need to do that Mikasa; I know how much it means to you." Armin nearly jumps at how loud his voice sounds after the extended period of silence.

She gives him a strange look, as her dark grey eyes met his bright blue ones. "It's just a scarf Armin. You're more important."

For some reason that causes his breath to hitch. He knew the history behind that scarf and how it became Mikasa's. He knew how much it meant to her, he distinctly remembered, when they first joined the cadets, that she beat one of the trainees nearly unconscious when he accidentally caught it, tearing it slightly. It had never been 'just a scarf' to her.

She rarely allowed others to touch it (he and Eren were the few exceptions), let alone wear it. So, to see it wrapped around his hand as a makeshift bandage was a surreal experience.

Suddenly, she broke eye contact, hiding her face as she looked back down at his hand.

Armin got the impression she had wanted to say something more and found that he did as well. Simply saying 'thank you' just seemed wrong; almost disrespectful after such an intimate gesture, but he knew that saying nothing was a far worse option.

Swallowing his uncertainty, he opened his mouth, "Mikasa, I…"

The sudden arrival of Connie shattered the strange tension that had built between the two. Armin wasn't sure if he felt relieved or annoyed at the buzzcut cadet's abrupt appearance.

"Are you guys alright?" he asked them, a slight tremor in his voice from the wild flight across Trost.

Mikasa loosened her grip on him and let go of his hand, allowing Armin to shuffle out of her embrace and stand up.

"We're fine, Connie." Mikasa replied as she stood, brushing a rogue strand of hair from her face.

"Great, then we better get out of here. Oh crap! Two 15m titans!"

All three of them watched as Eren squared off against another titan, letting out a challenging roar as he raised his fists in front of him, ready to fight. Connie gasped at a titan using a recognisably human fighting stance.

The other titan answered with a roar of its own and swung wildly at Eren accepting the challenge. It barely moves before Eren's punch smashes its head clean off its body, muscle and flesh tearing under the force. Its decapitated head is sent flying across Trost, eventually crashing into a church tower.

"Holy shit…" Connie mutters.

The pain seemed to fade from his battered, weary body as Armin smiled. Now was the time to bring Eren fully into the fight.

"Connie, fancy giving me a lift to the armoury? I have another plan, and Mikasa will need both hands free for this to work."

Fortunately for the three of them, their final dash across the city was no more challenging than the first time they battled for control of Trost; Mikasa cut a path through the titans in their way, leading the furiously roaring Eren toward the armoury, as Connie carried Armin close behind.

With the very last puff of gas, all three smashed through one of the armoury's mosaic windows, landing in front of a petrified Jean, who had just witnessed Eren punching two 15m titans to the ground. After a brief explanation, claiming Eren was simply an 'abnormal' titan, Armin and Mikasa lead the surviving cadets towards the basement.

There was one small change, however, which took Armin by surprise. There were only six titans in the supply room rather than the seven there had been last time. He hesitated for a moment when this was reported to him, curious as to where the seventh had gone but soon realised he shouldn't be complaining about there being one less titan to deal with. He gives out the same plan as last time, lowering a majority of the cadets down in the supply elevator, and shooting out the titan's eyes, while several of the strongest cadets; Sasha, Connie, Mikasa, Jean, and annoyingly, Bertholdt and Reiner would all strike from above.

Anticipating Connie and Sasha to fail again, he asked Ymir and Historia to join them 'just in case', Ymir had tried to protest that, not willing to put 'her Krista' at risk but the blond girl had simply nodded and pulled the protesting Ymir along.

Having a backup plan was something he missed last time, and he wasn't going to risk it this time.

It turned out it was the right thing to do. While Mikasa had killed the titan Sasha missed, she couldn't reach Connie's one without 3DM gear. Fortunately, Historia jumped from the ceiling beam and took it down. Armin saw a genuine smile stretch across her face as she achieved her third titan kill.

Not wanting to lose the command authority he now had over the cadets, he ordered them to quickly resupply; filling up gas containers and grabbing spare blades, while he went to find a replacement set of 3DM gear. This time there were no complaints.

As everyone geared up and prepared to withdraw from Trost, Armin quietly pulled Marco aside.

No one knew for sure how Marco had died, but from the fact, Annie had been using his 3DMG after Trost Armin assumed the traitors had something to do with it. Marco must have been killed at some point during the counter-attack as he had still been alive during the withdrawal. So, if Armin could stop him from joining the assault, he would survive.

"Marco, when we get over the wall, could you do me a favour?"

"Sure Armin, we'd probably be dead if it wasn't for your plans, so I owe you one. What do you need?"

"Could you find Mina, Thomas and Milieus and make sure they're okay? Milieus was badly injured, so I told the other two to get him over the wall and to the infirmary."

"Yes, of course I'll check on them. But can I ask why you can't do it?"

He gave the freckled boy a half-smile, "I would, but I've got the feeling I'm going to very busy soon and that my time in Trost isn't over yet."

Five minutes later, Marco watches as that strange, abnormal titan falls, missing both arms yet surrounded by a dozen steaming titan corpses and against all odds a person pulls himself out from its split nape. As if that wasn't bizarre enough, the person in question was the infamous titan hater, and supposedly dead, Eren Yeager.

The few cadets left in Trost travelled silently, as a grim-looking Mikasa carried the unconscious Eren. Marco saw Jean open his mouth to break the silence before deciding against it. He didn't blame him, what were you supposed to say when you find out someone you've trained with for two years, and had an active rivalry with, can turn into a 15m tall titan.

When the small group of cadets landed behind the wall, the garrison quickly surrounded them; swords were drawn, and rifles pointed squarely at them. They were all ordered to step away from Eren, which all but Mikasa and Armin complied with. They had been slapped with a gag order and promptly escorted back to the reserves, leaving the trio from Shiganshina to face the garrison alone.

He had quietly split off from the stunned group, intending to honour his promise to Armin and finding the remains of his squad. As he walked Marco momentarily wondered if Armin was some kind of clairvoyant, as his cryptic message seemed to come true before his very eyes.

Marco just shook his weary head; he was too tired to deal with all this. People appearing from a titan's nape, and blond psychics were well beyond his paygrade. He would focus on something that didn't make his brain hurt.

"Right…" he murmured to himself, "where's that infirmary?"