LEVI'S P.O.V.

It was a few weeks later, the morning of the expedition. They were going back out into wall Maria for the umpteenth time to try and push back the titan's once more. It was an impossible task as for every titan they killed, three replaced it the next time but they kept going because if they gave up then all hope was lost. If they gave up, then humanity was doomed.

"That's Captain Levi! They say he's a whole brigade onto himself!" Someone shouted in the crowd and Levi rolled his eyes.

"Spare me, please." He muttered. Similar comments had been thrown around as soon as they reached Trost. Some about him, some about Dilan or rather the 'Titan ripper', others about the commander. It was exhausting.

Levi pat his horse on the neck for reassurance as he stirred slightly. They were outside the gate, awaiting the order to push forward and there was a tense atmosphere of anticipation like always. But beyond that... Levi felt... on edge. Perhaps his horse felt it too. He looked around the walls and pursed his lips at the people gathered and cheering for them to 'give em hell'. Levi almost preferred it when they hated the scout regiment. Now they cheered when they left and complained when they got back.

Two faced bastards.

Levi felt another wave of paranoia and looked around again. What was this feeling? It was like when he was back down in the underground, waiting for an enemy to strike.

Dilan rode up to his side and he spared her a glance. She looked as serious as him. Apparently, she felt it too.

"Levi, something aint right." She said quietly, clenching her reins tighter than usual. Levi swallowed, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck prick. She was right but what was it? Where they heading towards danger or... were they currently in it?

Before he could answer a loud shriek from Hanji interrupted his train of thought and she rode up in between them, a bright smile on her face.

"Isn't this exciting! I mean can you imagine if we bag an abnormal! I'll burst with tears of joy!" She started sobbing and Levi rolled his eyes. Today's mission also involved capturing more titans for Hanji to experiment on, given she killed the last ones by accident. The crazy shits grieving went on for days and Levi's headache went on a similar amount of time. He agreed to her proposal just to get her to shut the fuck up. They had captured a number of titans since that first mission and their method had improved significantly. Special ops no longer needed to be involved specifically to get the job done.

Dilan cracked a smile and let go of some of her earlier tension.

"I think we have the craziest abnormal right here." She smirked. Hanji's eyes widened and she looked back and forth. Levi bit back a smirk of his own.

"I agree." He joined in

"Huh? Where?" She asked.

"We mean you, crazy shit." He replied, resting a hand on Hanji's head and giving her a deadpan look. Dilan sniggered as Hanji's eyes went wide and she cracked a wide smile.

"AW! YOU GUYS THAT MEANS SO MUCH!" She shrieked, trying to grab Dilan and hug her. Levi rolled his eyes, grabbing the scruff of her collar before she ended up falling off her horse.

"Calm the fuck down. Wait until we get outside, before you fall of your horse. Then you can get left behind and I don't ever have to see you again." He retorted in a bored tone. Hanji gasped and Dilan failed to supress a smile of amusement.

"Why Captain! How rude to lie. You know you love me!" She grinned. Dilan laughed and Levi was about to smack the crazy scientist when Erwin interrupted them.

"MOVE OUT!" He ordered and the gates rose. Levi shared a look with Dilan, and she nodded before they pressed on. Whatever the feeling was they couldn't do much about it right now. They could only keep going and hope for the best.


"Three titans approaching, sir! 10 O'clock!" Gunther informed. Levi glanced in that direction, pursing his lips. They were in the way.

Unavoidable.

"Dilan." He ordered and she nodded.

"Yes sir." She replied, pulling away from their formation to ride towards the titans. She would deal with them fine, no assistance required, and they couldn't afford to waste gas right now.

"One of us should go with her, Captain! For back up!" Eld protested and Levi frowned.

"Denied." He replied simply, keeping his head forward.

"But sir-" Eld continued but Levi cut him off, frustrated with his blabbering.

"Dilan is second in command of this squad, second strongest in this legion. She doesn't need back up and she certainly doesn't need babying by someone who is letting personal feelings affect their judgment. The only thing you would be doing by going out there with her is getting in her way." Levi replied, monotoned. He kept his head straight, but he could feel the irritation and embarrassment radiating off of the blonde and he had to prevent a smirk of satisfaction as Eld remained silent.

The remaining five watched Dilan approach the titans, engaging with her 3DMG. She took down the faster one by slicing its ankles and blinding it, dodging some hands to cut the nape of the second one. She used the steam as a cover to blind the third one and cut the beasts nape too and circled back around to the first one as it just finished regenerating, using her gas to push herself into a spinning motion and slicing deep into the beast's flesh. Dilan grappled to its shoulder as it fell, standing on the back as she whistled for her horse. Levi watched with pride as she hooked onto a nearby tall tree, getting up to the top with ease.

"What is she doing?" Oluo asked.

"Gaining perspective." Levi replied briefly and they rode towards her as she mounted her horse and moved towards the formation. The brat had initiative and it's why he wanted her as second in command originally. No other soldier would have done that without being ordered too. She had her own mind and it was as tactical as his own.

"What're we looking at?" Levi asked as Dilan joined them.

"Clear path to the next village, sir. Looks like team Natalia are already there. I suggest we hurry; I have a bad feeling." Dilan replied seriously. Levi nodded in approval; he had the same bad feeling. But he couldn't shake the thought that with every second, they were getting away from the danger. Not heading to it.

Still, he pressed on. They had a job to do.

"Full speed." He ordered.

"Yes sir!" The team replied and they galloped towards the next village.

They got to the village in no time and it was clear from the screams Natalia's squad was struggling.

"Engage 3DMG. Fan out and deal with the rats. Quickly." Levi ordered and everyone stood up on their horses as they reached grappling distance.

"Yes Captain!" They replied, shooting upwards.

Levi flew through the buildings with dangerous precision, twisting left without a second thought as an arm shot out and made a grab for him, circling back around and slicing deep into the nape before carrying on. He mentally applauded himself for being able to talk Dilan into teaching him the evasion moves, 7 years ago now. He would have been dead ten times over without them.

"Fuck you! Ha! Stupid bastard!" He heard Dilan in the distance, and he chuckled to himself. The brat loved to talk to herself while she fought. It was slightly irritating but also slightly adorable.

Taking down a few more of the beasts, saving a few of Natalia's squad in the process and telling them to regroup, he circled a corner and almost flew right into the brat. They dodged each other by a hair, hooking to the same roof to look out.

"How many?" He asked. Dilan smirked evilly.

"How many just now or how many in total? You worried I'm coming for your score, grumps?" She teased. Levi scoffed.

"You know very well I have no fucking clue how many titan's I've killed." He retorted. Dilan shrugged.

"Neither do I at this point." She said dismissively. They both heard a scream and snapped their heads in that direction. In the far distance, Levi could see the bald head of a titan bobbing along. "Race?" She offered with a smirk. Levi smirked back.

"Why not?" He replied, not waiting a second long before jumping of the roof and flying towards the titans like a bullet. Dilan was neck and neck with him as they flew around horses and debris, scraping past death every few seconds. It was weird to think at one point in his life, he didn't use the gear like this. He didn't used to be so reckless. The brat had changed him in many ways.

They flew over a building and a 3-meter jumped up at them. Levi smirked at her before dodging the hand and continuing onwards, leaving the brat with no other choice but to deal with it, therefore forfeiting the race and proclaiming Levi the winner. The annoyed look he received from Dilan told him she knew exactly what he was doing.

"Fuck you, Levi!" She yelled, doubling back around to cut down the 3 meters. Levi smirked to himself, bursting into the scene and gaining height, he analysed the situation immediately spotting a scout getting casually chewed on in the distance. He didn't give up as he faced certain death, plunging his sword into the creature's face and Levi's eyes hardened. He shot towards him, hooking into a building past the titan's nape and dragging his swords into the nape as he flew past liked a bullet. The titan fell and erupted into steam as Levi landed on a rooftop, Petra, Gunther and Oluo joining him. There was one titan on the right and two on the left.

"Captain! The reinforcements are here, sir!" Petra informed and Levi nodded in approval.

"Good. Tend to our comrade below, Petra. You two take out the titan on the right. The pair on the left belong to me." Levi ordered, shooting off before they could protest. He landed on a roof and walked towards them, rolling his eyes as he heard Hanji screaming somewhere as she fought. She was worse than the brat. She actually tried to get a response from the bastards.

He grimaced at the sheer ugliness of these beasts, pissed at how many lives had been taken by such a disgraceful looking thing, dodging a hand and hooking into a wall, he flew round and sliced the nape before launching himself at the second titan, throwing his blades into the eyes and delighting in the scream he enlisted. He landed on the bald ass head and was about to go for the nape when there was a flash of a green cape and the titan was falling. He frowned and hooked onto a roof as Dilan landed next to him with a smirk.

"That was my titan." He glared. Dilan laughed and shook her head.

"Payback from before. That was totally an illegal move." She pointed out with a huff. Levi smirked and walked towards the others, taking out his cloth to wipe his blades.

"You're just pissed because you lost." He retorted. Dilan flicked him on the side of the head. "Oi!" He hissed. Dilan smirked.

"Double payback. See ya!" She grinned, jumping off the roof to move towards where Hanji was yelling about specimens. Levi looked after her, supressing a smile. He shook his head slightly and flew back over towards Petra.

DILAN'S P.O.V.

Dilan landed next to Hanji as she poked and prodded at a large disintegrating titan with a moustache and raised an eyebrow as Moblit was on top of it holding a bag of containers.

"Okay! NOW TRY THE JAM JAR!" Hanji ordered.

"Section commander! I really don't want to-!"

"NOW, MOBLIT, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! HAHAHAHA!" She grinned. Dilan blinked as Moblit took out a jar and crouched down, grimacing as he scooped out a section of the titan's flesh with none other than an ice-cream scooper and plopped it in the jar, screwing the lid on top.

Those around them made faces of disgust and others gagged as Moblit threw the jar down to Hanji and she stared at it with wide hopeful eyes.

Dilan watched her watch the jar as the titan flesh steamed, creating a cloud and blocking her vision until suddenly it cleared, and the jar was empty. Hanji's face fell. "Damnit!" She huffed, throwing the empty jar behind her and ignoring the yelp as it almost hit one of her soldiers and shattered on the floor. Dilan couldn't hold back any more questions.

"Hanji what the actual flying fuck?" Dilan asked, completely baffled. Hanji jumped and looked at her, cracking a smile.

"Sweet little Dil! When did you get here?!" She grinned. Dilan chuckled.

"Long enough ago to be really fucking confused. What are you doing to Moblit?" She asked. Hanji blinked before looking back up to Moblit who was pouting heavily as he brought out another container and scooped out more titan flesh.

"Oh! Yes! Well you see, Dilan, I was contemplating what storage container would hold a titan's flesh without it disintegrating." She started. Dilan gave her a deadpan look.

"And jam jars are going to help with that?" She asked, monotoned. Hanji laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer.

"Who knows! Maybe! Sometimes science is all about observation and testing the resources you already have. Once I test the materials, we have perhaps I can create my own one based upon which type of container made the titan flesh stay put the longest." She explained and Dilan guessed that was one way to look at it. A crazy way for sure but this was hanji we're talking about.

Moblit threw down a plastic tupperware and Hanji went through the same process as before. tossing it behind her when the flesh and blood evaporated.

"How is an ice-cream scooper getting through the titan's flesh?" Dilan asked curiously. Sometimes swords wouldn't even go through if you angled them wrong.

"EXCELLENT QUESTION MY DEAR-!" She started enthusiastically.

"Section commander!" Moblit complained and Hanji ignored him to carry on with her explanation.

"You see! As the nape is struck the flesh starts to decay and grows weak-" Hanji started her lecture and Dilan kind of regretted asking but the cracking of bones cut her off and they both looked up at Moblit in time to see the dreaded expression on his face before the skin and bones he was standing on broke through and he fell into the titan's body.

"ARGH!" He yelled and Dilan's eyes widened, shooting up towards him, careful of the flesh herself.

"Moblit! Are you okay!?" Dilan asked, looking into the hole. It still looked pretty disgusting in there. Moblit was hyperventilating, looking extremely pale and on the verge of a panic attack, too scared to move.

"Get me out! Please!" He said quickly. Hanji's head popped over the edge, face twisted in a gross delight.

"No way! You are staying in there until you TELL ME EVERYTHING! Is it warm? Is it boiling? Does it smell? Are there any human body parts left?" She asked and Moblit gagged, putting a hand over his mouth and eyes.

"Hanji!" Dilan scolded, hooking to the titan so she could reach in and get Moblit out.

"Did you gag because of my statement or does it smell really bad?!" Hanji called as some of her subordinates dragged her away, knowing she was too excited right now. Dilan rolled her eyes and took a breath before lowering herself down. She extended a hand and Moblit was quick to accept. She pulled them both up and they slid down the side onto stable ground before more of the titan could collapse.

"Thank-" Moblit started, covering his mouth to prevent another gag and Dilan grimaced at his green complexion. "Thank you, Dilan." He made it through. Dilan didn't have the time to reply as Hanji jumped on him and Moblit gagged again.

"MOBLIT I NEED DETAIL, WHEN-" Hanji started.

"Hanji!" Erwin called and all eyes turned to him. Dilan raised an eyebrow, confused at his sudden appearance. He wasn't supposed to be at this part of the formation.

"Commander?" Hanji asked, getting off of Moblit and being somewhat professional for once.

"We're turning back." Erwin informed and Dilan frowned.

"Why? We can go further." Dilan protested. Men had died today; they should cover as much ground as possible.

"The titans are drawing away, moving North back to the wall which can only mean one thing." Erwin said seriously and Dilan and Hanji's faces fell, getting there easily.

"Trost has fallen." Hanji said gravely. Erwin nodded.

"It's just like five years ago. We need to move out. Now." He said seriously. Dilan's eyes hardened as flash backs of the massacred ran through her head. All those soldier's lives. All those citizens that died. The chaos of it all still haunted her sleep.

A pure unadulterated rage ran through her veins.

"Permission to go ahead, sir." She said in a low tone, looking up at him with fiery determined eyes. Erwin stared at her for a moment.

"Dil-" Hanji tried to protest but Erwin answered before she could.

"Very well. Be careful." He ordered. Dilan whistled her for her horse, scoffing as it rode to her and mounted it quickly, turning around.

"Let's not pretend you care about my safety." She retorted. Erwin gave a slight smile.

"Perhaps not. I care more about what he would do in retaliation if you got yourself killed." He mused. Dilan supposed he was right to worry about that.

"Fine. I'll do my best." She replied before rearing her horse and galloping off at full speed towards the walls. She wouldn't waste a single second. This time would be different. It had to. No more lives would be taken if it was up to her.

ARMIN'S P.O.V.

"MIKASA! ON YOUR LEFT! IT'S GOING FOR EREN!" Armin screeched at the top of his lungs as he dodged a titan's grasp by a hair. They were in a dire situation. Eren was doing it, he was so close to plugging the whole, but the titans were starting to swarm them. Mikasa was skilled but she wasn't that skilled, and Armin was trying but he had been dealing with the same 15 meters for the last 10 minutes and it was slowly wearing him down. He wasn't sure how much longer they would be able to go on.

The vanguard we're dealing with another load of titans. They were on their own.

"EREN!" Mikasa yelled, slicing another nape, her gas was faltering but she was still moving forward, pushing her gears and her body to the limits. "STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" She lunged at the approaching abnormal screaming a battle cry as she dug into the thick skin and sent it packing to the floor. She barely made it to a roof before collapsing.

Armin was so distracted he forgot about his situation completely.

"ARGH!" He shrieked as the titan picked him up while he forgot to pay attention.

"ARMIN!" Mikasa yelled, pushing herself up and lunging towards him but even Mikasa couldn't close such a distance in such little time. Armin shuddered as he was pulled towards the mouth, glancing back at her friend, he was about to offer her a small smile of goodbye when something caught his eye in the distance. Something that was approaching fast. Almost too fast.

"OI BASTARD! WHAT'S THIS?!" A woman's voice yelled from somewhere and Armin blinked as there was a flash of silver and blades were launched into the beast's eyes with scary precision. Armin's eyes were wide in shock. Never had he seen such a shot been made from such a distance before. Speaking of which where was she?

Armin didn't locate her in time as the beast decided the fact, it couldn't see didn't faze it, meaning it was one of the less intelligent ones, and continued to bring Armin towards its mouth. Mikasa was still moving towards him but she wasn't close enough. Armin took a shaky breath and closed his eyes, inches away from the beast's mouth.

He was about to die.

"Hang tight, kid." The voice rang through his ears again, alarmingly close now and Armin opened his eyes in time to see a woman with black hair and glinting orange eyes fly right past him and into the mouth of the titan. The titan's jaws snapped shut and Armin screamed.

"ARMIN!" Mikasa yelled, finally reaching him and cutting him out of the hand. She grabbed him and threw them both of onto a roof. Armin coughed as he was finally given adequate air. They watched the titan that the woman disappeared into with wide eyes.

"S-she sacrificed herself! She didn't even know me!" Armin sobbed a bit, trying to blink back the tears. He couldn't believe anyone so selfless existed. Eren had saved him early from the same fate but they had grown up together. This woman didn't even know his name. Mikasa sighed and stood up, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll avenge her. Let's refocus. I'll take it out." Mikasa said seriously and Armin took a breath, taking the hand he offered her and standing back up. They blinked as they looked at the titan again and it was falling towards the floor, blood and steam pouring out of its nape.

Who...?

"So, how are you kids doing?" The same voice asked from beside them and they jumped, yelping in surprise.

They both snapped their heads around to see a short woman, looking to be in about her mid-twenties. She was very beautiful, long black hair, olive skin and dangerous orange eyes. Although, this was mostly based on what Armin was remembering from before considering that this woman was currently covered head to toe in titan blood.

Armin felt his knees buckle slightly and he had to lean on Mikasa for support who was also balking at this woman. Armin had never seen Mikasa balk in his life!

The woman looked down at herself.

"It's not mine." She reassured. They continued to balk. She sighed and rolled her eyes, snapping her fingers in front of them and they blinked out of it.

"I said how are you kids doing?" She spelt out slowly. Armin swallowed.

"How-how-"

"I cut through the inside. Irrelevant. You don't look hurt and we have shit to get done. I need a debriefing and I need it now since there's a scary ass titan carrying a bolder and I aint seen something like that before in my life. One of you kids fill me in. Now." She said seriously, her tone leaving no room for argument. Armin jolted slightly at her dangerous look, observing that she was from the scout regiment from her cloak. He couldn't see any other members so she must have ridden ahead.

"W-well ma'am. That's our friend. Eren." Armin explained, pointing to the titan. The woman arched an eyebrow.

"You're friends with a titan?" She asked.

"No ma'am. Our friend is human. We have recently discovered that he has the ability to... turn into a titan. The Garrison commander agreed to utilise this ability to help plug the wall and reclaim Trost." Armin explained as logically as possible, cringing as it still sounded very far-fetched. The girl looked at them for a moment with a blank face.

"Seems logical enough." She shrugged. Armin blinked, wondering if this woman was crazy. "Our mission is to protect this Eren kid then, correct?" She asked. They nodded. "Very well, let's get to it then because four titans are closing in on him as we speak. Move your asses." She replied in a collected voice before jumping off the roof and zooming towards Eren. Armin was astounded by how fast she had grasped the situation. The fiery eyed woman was quick.

"I like her." Mikasa replied before darting of, following this strange woman. Armin let out a small breath of belief before doing the same. Somehow, he felt a lot safer with her around. Maybe they would pull this off.

DILAN'S P.O.V.

"Fucking hell, you're big." Dilan mumbled as she dealt with the third titan, leaving the fourth to the girl and the boy. She hooked onto the bolder boy's shoulder and observed him. He wasn't like any titan she had ever seen before. He had actual muscles and defining features. The green eyes were practically glowing, and it had sharp ears.

The titan grunted with effort and continued to take small steps forward towards the goal. It didn't acknowledge her.

"Well... you aren't so scary." She sighed, sitting down on his shoulder and relaxing. "Your name is Eren if I recall. I'm Dilan, your flea for the time being." She chuckled to herself. She was slightly exhausted. It had been a long ride getting here and once she did, she took it upon herself to demolish every single titan she found, which took a while. When she was done, she went towards the noise and found these kids. She hadn't stopped moving the in last 4 hours, so it was nice to have a bit of a break.

She looked up at the titan boy as it grunted again. She sighed.

"It's a real shame they're probably going to kill you. People always kill what they don't understand." She frowned. "We're cool though. Your helping not hurting so yeah. I'll tell you, when I heard the wall fell again, I almost lost my shit... you know what... that's not true. I totally lost my shit. Abandoned formation all together and took down like 40 titans. That pretty much classifies as losing your shit. Last time this happened... me and my friends went through a lot. Something tells me you did too, titan boy." She pointed out, looking up at the hard-determined face.

She knew the boy had no idea what she was saying but she felt like having a chat anyway.

She sighed.

"Well, I better get back to helping. I caught my breath. If you see Levi, don't tell him where I am. Holy shit am I going to get chewed out. I'd like to avoid that for as long as possible." She chuckled, taking a breath before standing back up. "Okay. Be cool titan boy. Win us this battle, yeah?" She smiled, patting him on the arm. The titan's eyes flicked to hers and he did what almost looked like a nod.

Dilan blinked at it, completely astonished. It could... understand her?

"MIKASA!" Armin yelled from somewhere and Dilan snapped out of her shocked daze, jumping off the titan's arm and locating the teens quickly. Mikasa, she guessed her name was, the lean girl with the black hair and coal eyes, was currently facing off with three titans while Armin was trying not to get squished.

Whoops. My bad. I spent too long having a heart to heart.

Dilan rolled her eyes at herself and soared down, hooking into a wall and dragging herself across the first nape, switching gears she took out the second titan's eyes while she dealt with the third. It reached for her and she pushed herself off the hand with her boot, free falling while she restocked her blades, grappling around to drive her swords deep. She threw her blades into the eyes of the next Titan and doubled around to deal with them but Mikasa apparently had it covered.

They made it back to the roof and Dilan sighed in relief.

"Nice one, kid. You're a natural with the blades. Which branch are you in?" Dilan asked, curiously before looking at their jackets. Her eyes widened slightly.

They were only training cadets.

"Shit. I'm sorry. This must have been bad if they sent out rookies." Dilan emphasised. The kids looked down, distance expressions on their faces as they likely started going through all the death they'd seen today. Blondies eyes started watering up and Dilan sighed, squeezing his shoulder. "We're almost there. Hang on." She comforted. The small blonde sniffed and looked at her, blue eyes growing in determination. Their faces hardened and they nodded.

Dilan smiled in approval.

"RICO GET BACK!" Someone yelled.

"HE'S THERE! HE'S GOING TO DO IT!" Another one screamed from somewhere and Dilan supposed they were the supporting squads for this mission.

They all watched with wide eyes as Titan boy let out a guttural yell and slammed the bolder into the breach, shaking the very earth they stood on. The breath was knocked out of Dilan's lungs and she felt tears swimming in her eyes.

It was a victory...

After all this time...

Humanity had secured a victory over the titans!

"Eren!" Mikasa yelled as the titan started falling and they all rushed over to him. The two teenagers ran to Eren as his body started emerging from the titan's nape and Dilan grimaced at the gloop attached to him, about to cut him out when she heard fast approaching footsteps and snapped her head in that direction to see two abnormals sprinting towards them. She reached for her blades and her eyes widened.

She had used them all up.

"Shit! Any of you got spares?" Dilan yelled up to the kids who were looking at the titans with wide fearful eyes. They were too scared to move but Dilan could see no spare blades in their boxes. She cursed and faced the titan's head on, trying to come up with a solution.

She found none.

"God Levi's going to kill me for dying." She sighed, rubbing her face. She walked towards them, hoping she would think of something before they got to her. Or a miracle happened. Either one.

Surprisingly it was the latter.

Gears sounded and there was a flash of steam and blood before both titans were toppling to the ground with a large thud. She chuckled to herself, shaking her head. She already knew who it was before they even dropped to the floor. No one killed that efficiently apart from her.

"Levi! Nice of you to finally show!" She said as she climbed back up the titan to meet him. He looked at her and he did not look happy.

Fair enough.

"We will discuss your dumbass later, brat." He glared before turning to the others. Dilan noticed Titan boy had his eyes slightly cracked open.

He was a cute kid. Brown floppy hair, tanned skin and bright green eyes. "You three. Care to explain what I'm looking at?"


"Come on, Levi. I had to!" Dilan complained as they walked back through the wreckage. The teenagers had been collected by members of the Garrison. Mikasa and Armin were sent back to where the remainder of the training corps cadets were resting, after debriefing her and Levi of everything that went down in fine detail. Titan boy was taken into custody and was likely locked up in a prison deep within the Sina court. It wouldn't be long before the MP's demanded his head.

Levi was not happy.

"Except the thing is that you really fucking didn't Dil! 5 minutes. 5 minutes and I would have been right there with you. We could have pushed forward ahead of the others together. You almost died again." He said seriously. Dilan sighed.

While she understood his point, she felt no remorse.

"I'm sorry but I don't regret my decision. If I was even a few seconds later than I was, a lot of the people that I saved here would be dead. I want to say it won't happen again, but I have a feeling this war has just started. I go with my gut, Levi. You know that better than anyone." Dilan said, equally serious. Levi looked into her eyes and she saw him admit defeat.

He sighed.

"I think you're right. This is only the beginning. I can feel it... and I can't lose you. I know you can't always stay put but I need you to stay alive... at least until I get there to save your dumbass." He said with a subtle smile. Dilan smiled back, nodding in agreement.

"I promise." She said, intending on keeping it. Levi nodded and opened his mouth again when Dilan swayed slightly. Levi steadied her.

"You alright, brat?" Levi asked. Dilan blinked dizzily.

"Um... yeah. Just a little tired. I-I'm okay I think." She mumbled, not completely sure. Levi ignored her, checking her for injuries but it was hard thanks to all the blood from titans. Most off it had rubbed off but enough of it remained to make it difficult for him.

"Does anything hurt?" Levi asked. Dilan hummed in thought, leaning into him slightly. He was so freaking warm and she was too dazed to care about anything else right now. Levi touched the back of her head and she winced.

"There hurts." She mumbled tiredly, closing her eyes. Levi stepped closer to her, wrapping her arms around his neck to hold her up and turning her head slightly so he could check. Dilan leant into him, leaning her head on his shoulder. She smiled sleepily; not sure she could recall the last time she was this close to him. She couldn't deny she missed it.

"Idiot. You hit your head." Levi muttered under his breath. Dilan sighed happily. She didn't really care as long as she stayed here with him. "Let go and I'll pick you up." He suggested. Dilan frowned and hugged him tighter.

"No... I'm happy like this." She said in a tired tone. Levi tensed slightly but she didn't notice.

"Brat... you have a concussion." He said quietly.

Dilan didn't give a shit.

"Is it bad?" She asked. Levi hesitated.

"Not really." He admitted. Dilan smiled, leaning her head into the crook of his neck.

"Then let's just stay like this for a second." She whispered, sighing in content. There was more hesitation before Levi gave in and she had just felt loose arms start to wrap around her back before a distant yell brought them both of out their fantasy where things didn't have to be done right now. Where they weren't standing in the middle of a battlefield.

"Captain! Dilan!" Petra's voice registered and Dilan's mind cleared slightly. Levi pulled her back and Dilan got a second to look into his eyes which were full of an emotion she didn't have time to interpret before he picked her up and started heading towards the medical tent. Dilan heard the others land and run towards them.

"Dilan! Shit, is she okay?" Gunther asked in a panic. Dilan smiled at him lazily.

"Yo Gunther! You're like a cute porcupine and I dig it." She informed in a drunk voice, reaching out to poke him on the nose. The others blinked in confusion.

"She has a concussion." Levi informed. Dilan felt someone take her hand and frowned slightly, wondering how Levi could take her hand if he was carrying her. Then she realised it was Eld, her boyfriend and cringed internally. She hoped she wouldn't say anything stupid. She could hardly think straight. Her filter was shot to hell.

"Dil, baby, are you okay?" He asked. Dilan felt Levi tense slightly and wondered why.

"Fine!" She said with a sporadic chuckle, pulling her hand back with a sort of dramatic flair to poke Levi on the chin. "So... grumpy..." She mumbled with a smile. The others gasped and looked at her with wide shocked eyes, clearly thinking the Captain was about to kill her. Dilan knew differently. He was doing that thing with his jaw when he attempted not to smile.

"Here, Captain, I can take her." Eld said seriously. Dilan frowned subconsciously, not wanting Levi to let go of her.

"No..." She mumbled, leaning her head into his chest. So, freaking warm. A tense silence followed but she didn't give a flying fuck.

"She has a concussion. She doesn't know what she's doing." Levi reminded and Dilan rolled her eyes. She knew perfectly well what she was doing. She was doing what she wanted, and it felt fucking fantastic.

"So, let me take her." Eld demanded more forcefully this time. "Sir." Dilan heard him add, after probably receiving some sort of glare. Levi hesitated and Dilan was honestly about to tell Eld she was comfortable so he could fuck off when luckily, she didn't get the chance.

"Levi! Meeting in 5, come on!" Dilan heard Mike's voice from somewhere. Levi hesitated again before starting to pass her to Eld. Dilan's eyes widened in panic and she looked at him desperately once the transfer was made, a weak grasp on his jacket sleeve. Levi's eyes widened a fraction seeing her expression and he hesitated for a third time before stepping back. Thankfully, no one else saw her gripping onto him.

"We'll take care of her, Captain." Petra assured kindly, stroking some sweaty hair behind Dilan's ear. Dilan smiled, happy with the attention from her friend. Levi nodded before walking off. The remaining members of the squad started back towards the medical tent that was set up due to the tragedy just inside wall rose.

"Petra's cute." She said happily and Petra giggled.

"You're cute too, Dil." She replied with a smile.

"What about me? Am I cute?" Oluo smirked. Petra rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the stomach causing Oluo to bite his tongue and almost fall over. Dilan laughed, amused by their antics.

"How are you feeling?" Eld asked softly. Dilan shrugged.

"I feel fine. Fine, fine, fine. Fine!" She sang. The squad shared unconvinced looks.

"I don't know what that is but it aint fine. Dilan hasn't ever sung in front of us before. Even if it was a made-up song." Gunther pointed out. Dilan giggled.

"Gunther's cute." She smiled.

"Yeah, let's pick up the pace." Eld agreed.

"Eld is cute. Hanji's cute. Mike's cute. Nanaba's cute..." Dilan continued to list everyone she knew, describing them as cute as they made it to the medical tent. Oluo complained regularly at how she hadn't mentioned him once.

"We have a head trauma patient here. We believe she has a concussion." Petra explained to the nurse. She nodded and Eld lifted Dilan up slightly so she could take a quick look.

"Erwin's not cute." She pouted. "But Moblit is!" She said happily. The nurse smiled, testing her temperature.

"Seems like she has a concussion and a small fever. We have room in the back." She said kindly.

"Nurse, what's your name?" Dilan asked in a drunk voice. She smiled.

"Missy." She replied, materialising a gurney for Eld to lay Dilan down on.

"Missy is cute!" She said with a grin and Missy chuckled.

"We'll take care of her, don't worry." She assured her worried friends. Dilan waved at them as she was pushed away, and they smiled and waved back. Dilan felt like she was forgetting someone. She gasped when she remembered.

"Levi is super cute!" She laughed as she was taken into the back and passed out from her injuries.

ELD'S P.O.V.

Eld blinked as Dilan was wheeled into the back room and disappeared. Then he blinked again, wondering if he had misheard it.

"Did I hear wrong or did Dilan just call the Captain... super cute." Oluo mentioned.

"Yeah, everyone else just got a cute." Gunther pointed out. Oluo frowned.

"I didn't get a single cute!" He exclaimed. Gunther rolled his eyes.

"Why are you so triggered, man?" He asked.

"Because even the stupid nurse got a cute! She went through everyone she knew!" Oluo complained.

"At least you didn't get a not cute. Like the commander did." Gunther pointed out with a shrug.

Oluo sighed.

"That's hardly comforting." He mumbled.

Eld was still blinking.

"Eld stop reading into things. She's practically high, she has no idea what she's saying." Petra said sternly. Eld frowned.

"Except she does Petra. Even if it's subconscious everyone else got a cute. The Captain got a super cute." He pointed out sceptically. Petra scoffed, incredulous.

"Are you hearing yourself right now? You sound insane!" She laughed.

Eld frowned, looking at her.

"You saw what happened before. She preferred to be carried by him too!" Eld hissed. Petra rolled her eyes.

"What she preferred, was not to be moved while she had a head injury. You're reading into things Eld and you're honestly sounding like a pathetic jealous boyfriend." She said firmly, crossing her arms. Eld sighed, still not completely happy but he would let it go. She did have a concussion.

He was worried when she just disappeared, even more so when the Commander informed them that she had ridden ahead. Why would she run into danger like that? Did she not know the affects it has on him? He needs to fight to his full potential too and he couldn't do that with his head constantly worried about her! Sometimes it felt like she didn't think about him or his needs at all.

"Come on, we should go. Did you see how many dead there were? This is going to be an all hands-on deck clean up situation." Gunther pointed out and they all sighed, nodding in agreement before reluctantly leaving the medical tent.

Eld only hoped Dilan would wake up soon.

LEVI'S P.O.V.

Levi raked a hand through his hair, trying to calm his racing heart. Was the brat trying to kill him? First, she hugs him like that and then she acts all cute and then she grips onto him and gives him that desperate look not to leave her. Was she trying to be as irresistible as possible? Did she know what she was doing to him? He could barely take it.

When he was told by Erwin that the brat had left them behind... again. Levi had almost lost his shit right there. He charged full speed towards the walls, going so fast, he lost the squad at some point. He didn't really care, and he wasn't worried considering most, if not all of the titans were flocking towards Trost gate, which meant they'd be fine. They were capable soldiers at this point, and he trusted them to handle a few stragglers.

The person he didn't trust not to get herself killed like an idiot was that suicidal brat. Which is why he moved as fast as he did. God, he hadn't pushed himself to move that fast since the brat collapsed on that pile of titans after defending the left wing. Weird how long ago that was.

Thank fuck he made it when he did though. He saw when Dilan landed that she had no more blades, so he wasn't sure what she planned on doing. Probably sacrificing herself for the teenagers like the idiot she was in order to buy them time. Damn, he wanted to punch that brat sometimes. And yet, he could never follow through. Love had made him soft.

"Levi." Erwin greeted when he entered the tent that was set up so they could have a meeting. In the room was Dot Pixis, his second in command Rico and some other shit from the Garrison. From the scouts was Erwin, Hanji, Mike and himself.

"Let's get on with this shit, shall we." Levi said, monotoned, taking a seat.

"Pleasure as always, Levi." Pixis chuckled. Levi frowned, he had met this shit before? Probably at one of the military balls or something. He didn't care. He wanted to get this done so he could see how the brat was doing.

"Alright. As we've been informed here by Pixis, Eren Yeager is 14 years old, fresh from the training corps which he has been in for the last three years. He was born in wall Maria and suffered the Shiganshina attack five years ago..." Erwin continued to spew facts about the boy that Levi didn't give two shits about. His mind was somewhere else.

He felt Hanji nudge his foot under the table and narrowed his eyes at her.

'How's Dilan?' she mouthed.

Apparently, her mind was somewhere else too.

'Concussion' Levi mouthed back with a shrug.

Hanji cracked a smile.

'Could be worse' she pointed out. Levi would have to agree.

"I'm sorry commander Erwin. But are those two even listening?" Rico said sternly, crossing his arms and jutting his head towards Hanji and Levi. Hanji jumped slightly at the blunt interruption and went slightly red, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. Levi gave her a bored glance, unfazed.

"Not really. Will someone tell me what the fuck I'm doing here?" Levi asked, nonchalantly. Rico clenched her jaw in annoyance with his attitude.

"Excuse Levi. He likes the hands-on approach." Erwin apologised, giving Levi a stern look. Levi crossed his arms, bored with this now.

"I like to take action. Who cares where the shit wiped his ass when he was younger? What we need to be talking about is when the MP's are going to make their move on killing him and if we are going to risk our reps stopping them." Levi said seriously. They were wasting time on this conversation.

There was a moment of silence before Pixis chuckled.

"I believe your Captain is absolutely right. Let's get into the good stuff." Pixis agreed and Erwin hesitate before nodding in agreement. Levi supressed an eyeroll, wondering why he always had to spell everything out for everyone. Why couldn't people just use their god damn brains sometimes?

From the glare he was receiving from Rico, she obviously didn't agree with his bluntness. That one was intriguing. Clearly something wrong with her if she wasn't intimidated by him.

He decided to test his theory.

Levi glared back at her and she paled slightly, immediately averting her eyes. He had to bite back a smirk. Apparently, he was wrong. It was just a momentary splurge of confidence. Okay, now he was bored again. He wanted to go see the brat.

Hanji nudged him under the table again and he gave her an annoyed look. Hanji gave him an annoyed look back, telling him to pay attention. He sighed but forced himself to tune into what the old men were saying.

"... from my understanding, they are keeping Yeager in the basement dungeons of the Sina court. As we imagined from the beginning, the MP's want the boy dead. Not only them but others on the board including the merchant's gild and the wall cultists." Pixis explained and Levi prevented a scoff. Those assholes shouldn't even be allowed on the board. They were only there because they managed to buy their way in. One group was crazy and the other was so privileged Levi couldn't bear to look at their ugly ass faces for more than 5 seconds at a time.

"When will the trial for his life commence then? It must be soon." Hanji asked. Pixis sighed.

"In a week. We must decide before then if we plan to use the boy. It's obvious he has the potential for great weaponization... but also great destruction. I will speak honestly that the Garrison have no intention on backing him. We can't afford to start a political war with the MP's however if you decide to proceed then you will have no resistance from us. We will offer you all the support we can." Pixis said seriously.

Erwin nodded his thanks.

"Very well. I would like to visit the boy. Would you be able to use your contacts to arrange that?" Erwin asked.

Pixis thought for a second.

"With the right amount of money bribing the right amount of people I could get you thirty minutes at the most. Give me 2 days." He replied. Erwin nodded, standing and everyone followed suit. He extended his hand and Pixis shook it.

"You're help on this matter is much appreciated commander Pixis." He said gratefully. Pixis nodded and smiled.

"I will send a runner to update you on the details as soon as I have them." He replied. Erwin nodded and left the room. Levi, Hanji and Mike saluted the Garrison commander before following their superior out.

"Are we going for the Yeager boy then!?" Hanji asked excitedly, her mouth practically drooling. Levi rolled his eyes, imagining the woman might actually spontaneously combust if she got that freak as a test subject.

Poor bastard has no idea what he's about to stumble into.

Erwin hummed dismissively. It wasn't a yes and it wasn't a no.

"Are we sure this is wise, Erwin?" Levi asked, monotoned. His feelings on the matter were undecided. It was true that weaponizing such a thing as their own titan could prove priceless in the fight but... could they risk it not to go berserk. It had already tried to squash that girl, a friend of his no less. Rico had put that in her report and Levi had managed to listen to that park.

He frowned, realising the little runts had kept that part from him during their debriefing to him and Dilan. Guess they were trying to protect him. They knew that was likely a deal breaker. Levi wondered what Dilan's thoughts were. Given that she could remember the battle at all. With that troubling thought, Levi was eager to go see how the brat was doing again.

"I'm still in decision. Regardless, Levi. I imagine I will require you and Dilan's assistance to pull this off. Return to base and wait for instructions." Erwin ordered before walking off with Mike. Levi frowned in confusion.

Why did he need him and Dilan?

"What'd you think he meant by that?" Hanji asked, blinking as they watched their commander walk away.

"Beats me." Levi said with a shrug before heading off towards the medical tent.

"LEVI, I DON'T KNOW IF I HAVE EVER BEEN THIS HAPPY!" Hanji squealed, keeping pace with him. Levi ignored her. "CAN YOU IMAGINE THE CAPABILTIES! A TITAN, OUR OWN TITAN!" She laughed manically. Levi rolled his eyes and slapped the back of her head. "OW!"

"The information you are screaming at the top of your lungs is top secret, crazy shit. Shut the fuck up for a damn second and think before you speak." Levi hissed and Hanji cringed in realisation. They walked into the busy medic ward and Levi looked around for someone in charge.

A man in a white coat ran past.

"You." Levi said and he stopped, almost falling over but Levi was recognised immediately and was giving full attention. "We're looking for a patient-"

"Cute, small and goes by the name sweet little Dil!" Hanji interrupted. Levi glared at her before continuing.

"Concussion. Black hair, orange eyes. Dilan Church. You know her?" Levi asked. The man thought for a moment before nodding.

"She's straight back there, bed nearest the window. I would show you but I have-"

"No problem. Thanks." Levi replied, monotoned before walking in the direction instructed. Hanji scampered along with him and they got to the back door. He looked through the window and saw Dilan resting peacefully. Then he saw Eld by her bedside, holding her hand and swallowed hard.

Suddenly the last thing he wanted in the world was to go in there.

"Levi why are you just standing there with that constipated look on your face?" Hanji asked, pushing up her glasses. Levi took a step back. He didn't feel like waiting with blondie for Dilan to wake up and he certainly didn't feel like watching Eld be all touchy, touchy with Dilan while he did.

"I... have other shit to do. She seems fine." Levi shrugged, turning on his heel. He heard Hanji sighed behind him.

"Levi! You can't just go!" She complained. Levi ignored her and kept walking forward.

"Watch me." Levi replied nonchalantly. Of course, he wanted to be with her, but his heart could only take so much. The injury wasn't deep and if she was allowed visitation she must be recovering well. He would see her soon. Until then, he wasn't really lying.

Looking out at the destroyed city of Trost, he sighed. A lot of shit needed to get done.

This would only be the beginning.


A/N: Hey! Cannon has commenced!

Apologies to those who thought I would do be waiting a little longer but this was always roughly the plan. Sorry if I made that unclear.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was really fun to write and I can't wait to incorporate the rest of the 104th. Eren is finally here! This is back when he used to be all cute. Now he's old and evil but I'm not that many episodes into season 4 yet so I'll have to see where that goes. I hope he gets nice again, I really do.

Also I know that originally the meeting between Pixis and Erwin takes place on the wall but I wanted to change that up for my story. This just seemed better so Levi could be apart of it and be his usual blunt self.

I'm glad you all liked Nanaba in that last chapter. The Queen of good advice. Someone had to say it. And I agree the talk with Petra was good for Levi. He needed to talk about it. I didn't know if you could tell but Petra made sure to reassure Levi in this chapter that they would take care of Dilan because even though he didn't show it, Petra knew he was worried. That girl is so cute. I really wish that they aren't all going to die soon.

Well... not soon. We got a good while yet. Don't worry, I'm not going to kill them off the chapter after Levi and Dilan confess. I am not that evil. We'll leave a solid few chapters of happy in between, lol.

Thanks for reading and commenting. I love hearing from you! 3 more chapters guys! X