I run,

stretching my wings

To as far as they go;

Waiting, waiting

for this wind to come again

To toss me back

into the starry heavens

Joining my friends,

Who fall beside me

Giving their life for mine

Fading out of existence

Yet granting me,

these bloodstained,

patchwork wings -

my Wings of Freedom.

Humanity's strongest.

It was like those words were scorched into his back. People knew him as the great captain of the Survey Corps, the one person at the commander's side. The one person who would never fall. The invincible captain Levi.

The pale sunlight made its way to the crack of the old tombstones. He slowly ran his fingers on the cold stone, closing his eyes for a moment.

Levi imagined them beside him. Her small, short form dancing around her, and the man's hand on his shoulder.

Isabel. Farlan.

Levi opened his eyes, and his imaginary friends were gone. It was the thirteenth anniversary of their death.

Thirteen years since he'd last heard the melody of Isabel's voice. Thirteen years since he saw Farlan smile.

Thirteen years since he had buried their bodies.

At least his heart was still where it should be. He had never been heartless, never been unempathetic.

But he wasn't happy anymore. All the people who used to make him happy were dead.

Levi had never been the one to smile, really - his mother's death had taken his smile with him. Isabel and Farlan's death took away his happiness. His squad's death took away his will to go on.

Levi had noticed that in himself recently. He no longer cared if he returned home from an expedition of not. He'd been fighting for this damned humanity for so long now.

Humanity's strongest soldier. And still he couldn't save all these people.

In the end, Levi would be the only one left. He always survived, no matter what. It was his curse. No matter how many bodies piled up next to him, no matter how many comrades fell…

He remained.

Why couldn't I just lose? Just this once, and it could be all over? Levi bit his bottom lip. I don't want to be in this cold world any longer.

It was silent in the graveyard. Small, silent drops of water started falling down from the grey sky. The snow had melted ages ago, and the earth was grey.

Levi exhaled slowly, before kneeling down and starting to scrape away the dirt that had formed on the two gravestones during the last year.

Believe in us, Farlan's words rang in his ears, like he'd heard them yesterday. His oldest, dearest friend. Oh how far they went together. Levi and Farlan, the kings of the Underground City. And their little queen.

We're counting on you, brother, Isabel's voice haunted him.

They counted on him. They counted on Levi to be there for them. To keep them safe.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry that I left you alone.

Levi straightened up and watched his handiwork. The graves were now clean. He placed down the flowers he had brought, the pure white roses. They looked even whiter on the cold, grey soil.

Levi took the candles from his bag. He placed them all around the two graves, putting on the covers so that the rain wouldn't put them out.

Levi lit the flame of the match. He stared emptily as the wick ignited, and suddenly his heart clenched harder than before.

I just want you here, damnit. I want to see you again, I want…

Levi stared at the graves, eyes unseeing. He felt his breathing get heavier, but he wasn't crying. Never. His tear channels had dried up a long time ago.

Why can't I just die?

It was times like this when he just wanted to scream - scream with the top of his lungs. He hadn't done that, not after he had tore apart that titan… that titan who had killed his friends. Ever since that day he had abandoned the rage inside him. He swore he would follow commander Erwin wherever he went. That he would follow his orders no matter what.

And Levi had done that. He'd been the most loyal soldier ever since. He was a grown-up now, and an experienced soldier.

Look how far I've come. Look at me now. Levi clenched his fists. No matter who I am now, I would give it all up, even my freedom to live in the Surface… if it just brought you back.

He stood there, in the rain, letting the water soak into his hair, clothes and fall down his face. The sky cried for him, so he didn't have to. Those two sad gravestones seemed to look back at him.

"See you then", he whispered.

As he walked back to the city, under the rain, sunken into his own, depressed thoughts - he saw the grey sky being pierced by a bright, green lightning. A heavy, hot wind blew on his face and Levi froze for a moment.

That was a titan transform. Levi sprinted into a run. The deeper into the city he went, the more chaos he saw. People crying in panic, fleeing from their homes, praying to their own gods.

Eren, what do you…?

His thoughts were interrupted when a dark shadow towered over him. The captain stared in disbelief as Eren's titan form roared to the skies, eyes glimmering like emerald flames.

Levi didn't have a maneuver gear on. Erwin always gave him this day of the year off.

The people were running and screaming in panic all around him, but he stood still. Eren had stopped - apparently he had noticed Levi. The captain stared back at the huge beast without blinking an eye.

Eren let out some steam from his mouth and then suddenly dropped down on his knees and pushed his huge face to Levi's direction.

He was faced with the huge green eyes staring right at him.

"Fucking hell", Levi muttered. "What did you do?"

Eren growled something, and the voice echoed in the streets.

"You're in control if yourself. That's good. We need to get you out of town though so we can cut you out."

Eren bellowed again and then touches his nape, shaking his huge head very stiffly. Levi frowned. What was the boy trying to say?

Eren exhaled and suddenly grabbed the captain to his fist. Levi grunted in surprise and struggled at first, but Eren put him down quite quickly

He was staring at a weird, grey lump of… stone? Levi blinked in confusion.

Eren's whole neck was made completely of stone. Not crystal, like Annie's, but stone. Anyhow, the the stone's patternlooked very irregular and didn't even seem like skin.

"How did this happen?" Levi murmured before climbing up to Eren's shoulder. The titan tilted his head.

"Oh well", Levi grunted. "I suppose the others are putting on their gears to come and put you down."

Eren's ears moved slightly.

"Let's go", the captain said. "The others will follow, and most of the citizens are out of the way. Come on."

The short man had to climb onto Eren's head so he could hold on without falling. He felt slightly naked without his maneuver gear, but he was quite certain that if he lost his balance, Eren would catch him.

Levi guided Eren away from the city central - the titan was careful not to step on any buildings - or people. The guards at the edge of the city were staring with wide, terrified eyes as the titan and captain Levi passed them.

"Don't mind us", Levi mumbled, knowing they wouldn't hear. They had reached the tree line, where the city ended. Eren kept marching on in the middle of the pine trees.
"Over there", Levi pointed. "There's a clearing. Let's stop there and wait for the others."

The titan did as he was told and marched to the middle of the clearing. Levi sighed and slid down to the giant's shoulder. He eyed at the city, and could still hear the screams of panic. Had there been casualties? This was bad...

Suddenly Eren moved restlessly. Levi frowned and then staggered on his feet, grabbing onto a lock of Eren's rope-like hair.

"What are you doing?" Levi hissed. The titan then grabbed a nearby tree - Levi could hear the wood whining and creaking - and ripped it from its roots. With a low growl raising from his chest, Eren raised the tree up in the air, like a torch. He then started waving it from one side to another.

"Clever", Levi stated. This would ensure that the Scouting Legion would find them.

"Eren!"

Levi and the titan both turned to look. Mikasa was the first one on the scene. Her black eyes were worried, and she looked from Levi, who was sitting on Eren's shoulder and leaning to the titan's neck, to Eren who was waving around a pine tree, and then back.

"He's okay", the captain told her. "But I still don't know what happened."

Mikasa used the maneuver gear to climb up to Eren's shoulder. Her eyes darted back to Levi, who got up on his feet.

"It was better to take him out of the city as fast as possible", the captain stated. "I don't have anything to cut him out with, though."

Mikasa shook her head. "I don't know if we can… that stone on his nape? It's a whole rock."

Levi raised his brows.

"Eren fell backwards towards a rock, when a horse pushed him", Mikasa explained. "He transformed around the rock. We can't get him out - he could be crushed."

Levi frowned with worry and glanced at the titan, who looked back at them with his huge, emerald eyes.

"Eren!" another voice shouted. They looked down and saw Armin, Jean, Connie and Sasha soaring through the trees.

"What's the situation?" they yelled.

Eren looked down at them and slowly lifted his thumb up.

"...Oh."

"Eren", Levi exhaled. "Would you be a lamb and put me down?"

The titan tilted his head, reached out his hand and opened his palm. Levi balanced on the titan's hard skin and climbed onto his hand.

Eren knelt down, allowing Levi to step back on steady ground. He felt a bit dizzy, but he knew it'd pass.

"If I understood right", Levi said, "Eren is stuck in there."
"It would seem so, sir", Armin frowned.

It didn't take long before Hanji and commander Erwin arrived, along with a bunch of other soldiers - all looked worried and slightly terrified.

"It's okay, he's fine, he's just stuck", the captain sighed. "No one's dead."

Hanji stared at the huge form with wide eyes and a slight smile. "Oh my…"

"Hanji. What do you think we should do?" Levi asked with a frown.

The woman pushed her glasses higher up her nose. "Well, if we can't cut him out… he has no choice but to stay in titan form for now."

It became silent. Eren eyed at Hanji.

"I'm sorry but that's just how it is", the scientist exclaimed. "We'll have to transport him to a private location away from all settlements."

"And what?" Erwin narrowed his eyes.

"And we'll figure something out", she stated.

:.: Two Days Later :.:

Levi stared out of the window. It had started snowing again. He reached for his teacup and enjoyed the feeling that the hot liquid brought. It filled him up, made him warm to the bones and cheered up his tired brain. Tea was amazing.

He was on guard at the moment. The other soldiers were sleeping safe and sound in their bunkbeds. The cabin they stayed in was relatively small, but it was on an ideal place - away from towns, villages and cities. It was supposed to be a hunting cabin, but it had been out of use for a while. They had to clean up the whole place, but because of the size of the cabin it didn't take very long.

Levi sighed and took another sip of his tea. Suddenly something caught his interest. Eren was sleeping like a truck outside, behind the cabin - he could hear the titan's snore - so it couldn't be Eren. And no one else was outside…

So what on earth was that yellow glow?

Levi frowned and grabbed the shotgun that had been leaning on the wall. He slowly walked up to the door and tried to into the woods a bit better. However, it was snowing and the wind was rough, so he couldn't really see much better.

The captain narrowed his eyes. The glow was still there - it was a small, orange light. A cigarette?

In a few seconds, the light went out. The snow covered his view, but Levi was now certain. That was a light from a cigarette. Who would be out here, in the mountains, all by themselves at this hour?

Levi frowned, and pulled the door close. It was no use going after someone right now, but he'd be sure to keep an eye on the treeline.

The next morning, after everyone had woken up terrified to a huge, green eye staring into their room from the window, Levi had told them about the light that was presumably a cigarette light. Hanji frowned at this.

"I'm not sure who could possibly be out there", she stated. "Probably some hunter, who just stopped to see how the cabin was full of people suddenly."

Levi nodded and stretched his back. "Oh well, I'm off to take a nap. Wake me up for anything unusual."

"Unusual?" Jean scoffed. "Well, there's that big-ass titan right outside the door…"

The captain didn't bother to answer - he was too tired. He fell into a soft chair and closed his eyes. It didn't take long until the sleep took him away.

Levi didn't wake up until afternoon. It was actually quite a long time to sleep in his scale, so he felt well-rested. With a yawn he walked into the small kitchen and poured himself more tea.

Levi noted that nobody was inside any longer - were they all outside playing with Eren or something? He sighed and walked up to the window, taking a sip of his tea. It was chilly inside - the brats had let the fire die out.

"Idiots", he mumbled as he placed new wood inside the fireplace, and lit the match. He sat down on a chair and stared into the flames, that slowly started spreading. He enjoyed this - having some lonesome time, all by himself.

Although that's when he had the most time with his own thoughts. His new squad made him forget things that were bothering him. They made the captain focus on the moment, taking his thoughts away from things like Farlan and Isabel.

Levi licked the tea from his lips and got up. He put on his cloak and boots before putting down his cup and opening the door.

It was cold. The temperature had dropped significantly. He squinted at the pale sun that made the snow glimmer like diamonds.

The captain glanced behind him, but didn't see Eren's tall form hovering over the trees. He could hear some distant noise not too far away.

He started making his way towards the noise, that he soon recognized to belong to Hanji. Levi raised his brows as he reached the unusual scene.

He could see Eren crouching in front of the small group who was gathered in a small ring. Levi slowly walked closer.

"Her wing must be broken", he heard Armin say.

"We should take her inside to warm up", argued Sasha.

"We should find something to fix his wing with", Connie stated.

"Nah, she's doomed", Jean grimaced.

Levi cleared his throat, and everyone immediately turned their gazes to the captain.

"Oh, hi Captain Sleepyhead", Hanji grinned. "Come and see this little darling."

The short man tried to ignore the fact she'd just called him sleepyhead even though she knew that he barely ever slept more than four hours a night.

There, on Armin's cupped hands was a small lying bird on its side. It was grey and it had wet, fuzzy feathers. The birds little, black button-eyes darted from one person to another.

Levi froze still for just a second - he could remember it clear as a day.

The first time they'd met Isabel. She had been carrying a bird with a broken wing. She had attempted to free it before and almost got herself caught by the guards while risking herself over a bloody bird. It wasn't like the bird could fly anyway - it's wing was broken. But with Levi and Farlan's help, the bird had been nursed back to health and they had freed it together. He remembered the feeling of joy, and the brightness of Isabel's green eyes.

"Here", he said stiffly, taking out a handkerchief from his pocket. Levi knelt in front of Armin and slowly, trying not to scare the bird, took the wing in between his fingers.

"We'll have to place her wing back to its original place", Levi explained. "It's not broken, just dislocated." The others gathered around with interested looks. He felt Eren's moist breath on his face.

"Hold on to her, Armin", Levi warned. "This will make her panic."

Quickly and carefully he pulled the wing back to its place. The bird started squirming like a madman and whistled with a stressed tone. He frowned and wished for her to calm down soon, so that she wouldn't put the wing out of place all over again.

"Shush, little bird. It's alright", Armin hummed. The bird calmed down for a minute and finally let Levi to touch her wing again. Very slowly and very carefully he wrapped the fabric around the fragile creature's wing. He tried his best not to hurt the thing any more, but pulled the bandage tight enough to hold the wing still. Levi finished his handiwork by tying up the knot.

"Wow", Armin breathed out."You really know what you're doing, captain."

Levi blinked. He had watched Farlan do that. "Bring her inside to warm up, as Sasha said", he murmured. "She'll need rest before she can fly again." The captain glanced up at the sky.

"And it looks like there's a blizzard on its way."

For the next few days they were trapped inside the small cabin. Eren wrapped around his big body, and kept himself quite warm enough all by himself. Hanji had made close notes on his condition, that had actually taken a turn for the better. The stone on his neck had started to fall off. The heat from the titan's body had made it crumble.

"Good", Levi said. "We'll get out of here soon."

They weren't ready to ride back yet, though. Eren had to be out of his titan before that. His squad passed the time by taking care of their horses, keeping watch on the fireplace, throwing darts or playing card games. The worst part was that Levi was out of tea.

But their day turned into a much more interesting one, when they heard hoof steps along the path that lead to the cabin.

It was commander Erwin and two other soldiers. The commander's majestic white horse, Santiago, looked around with its big, deep eyes.

"Commander", Hanji saluted.

"Hanji", he greeted. "I'm here to hear the results of the past week myself."

Erwin jumped down from the horse.

"And we also brought you more food, water and toilet paper."

Levi stepped forward. "And tea?"

The commander smirked. "And tea."

"Hold still", Levi grunted at the squirming giant. Eren exhaled and the body the captain was standing on, stopped moving completely.

"You don't have to hold you breath."

Eren He was about to perform a very difficult and dangerous task.

Eren's stony skin had thinned down so much that it was no affecting his spinal function. The titan could barely move anymore.

Levi ran the tip of his blade on the edges of the stone. After the stone layer would be gone, he would have to be fast enough not to let Eren regenerate.

He narrowed his eyes and started slashing. His every move was planned to make the stone crumble apart at the right spots. He knew exactly where Eren's real body was located, so he was careful to leave that part untouched. Had the stone layer been any thicker, this would have been impossible. Levi dropped down his dulled blades and took up another pair.

He walked slowly around the titan's nape. His squad seemed to hold their breath. Levi suddenly struck both his blades between the stone and the flesh, but not too deep. He would have to be careful not to snap them.

Levi tried to find the place where the stone ended. He felt Eren inhale sharply.

"Sorry", he murmured, realizing he'd probably hit the boy.

"I'm going to try and lift this off", Levi announced to him. He felt Erwin and Hanji's looks on his back - and he knew full well that Mikasa was probably glaring at him.

Levi took a deep breath, before slowly starting to press down on the handles of his blades. He grimaced as he heard them bend and whine. These blades weren't exactly strong - they were made to cut the titan's skins - they were sharp if nothing more. Unless the wielder of the blades was highly experienced in handling them, the blades would break just from cutting a few titans' napes.

Levi grunted out as a cloud of hot steam erupted from under the rock layer.

But that was good - it meant that he had created a crack.

"Mikasa!" he yelled. "Come and give me a hand, will you?"

In a matter of seconds she was by her side, sticking her fingers under the small crack that Levi had created.

Mikasa glanced up at the captain. "On three", she said.

With their powers combined, the huge stone slab started lifting. The titan's body twitched slightly. Some more hot steam burst from under the stone, and Mikasa hissed as her fingers got burned.

"Those two have amazing strength", Armin admired. The others remained silent as the two soldiers worked.

Mikasa grunted out as they finally managed to flip the rock over, taking a big part of the titan's skin and rips of flesh along with it.

Both of them stepped away from the hot, blinding steam. They were both out of breath.

Levi sniffed and watched as Mikasa slowly stepped closer. He could see Eren's body. It had been right under the stone - a very dangerous position.

"Eren!" Mikasa yelled sharply. "Eren!"

Levi stepped in to help her cut him off from the now-decaying remains of a titan.

"Is he alright?" Hanji yelled.

Eren's thin, slimy body had been dragged out of the gaping wound on the titan's neck.

"Huh?" the boy mumbled, and Levi felt a wave of relief.

"He'll be okay."

Mikasa quickly lifted him on her arms and jumped down, supporting his neck at the same time.

"Great", Erwin stated. "Once he's regained his strength, we'll be ready to move."

Eren had slept for full twenty hours straight, but he seemed to be in good health. When he did woke up, he was ravenous.

"What was it like?" Hanji questioned, a slight mad glimmer in the corner of her eye.

"Well", the boy staggered. "The stone that was stuck to my neck was really uncomfortable. There are some blanks, I don't remember everything from the past week."

Hanji frowned. "What do you remember?"

Eren shifted on his chair and took a sip of his cocoa. He could feel the commander's eyes staring at him.

"I remember when Armin found that injured bird. And how the captain fixed her wing", he explained. "And I also remember when Mikasa sat on my shoulder one night and talked to me."

Hanji scribbled this down on her notes. "Interesting. Do you remember anything about the trip here, or the times you were alone at night?"

Eren frowned. "Not really. It's all hazy."

"Oh, how fascinating", Hanji grinned. "You seem to remember humane moments, when you were with someone else instead of the times when you were alone with your titan self."

Erwin scratched his neck. "If it makes you feel any better, there were no casualties. The damage to the city wasn't large either. It took a while to make the citizens calm down, though."

"Are you ready to ride home?" Hanji asked.

Eren nodded. "Absolutely. It's nice to stretch a little, anyway."

In a few hours, everything was packed and everyone was ready to leave.

Eren was riding between Mikasa and Armin, and had both of them glance at him with worry every now and then.

"Guys, I'm fine", he sighed.

"You were a titan for a week", Armin stated. "It's got to have some side effects."

Mikasa didn't say anything, but stared unblinkingly at Eren. He was starting to feel a bit angry - he wasn't a child any longer and he was feeling fine. Eren was about to say this to Mikasa, when the air was pierced by a sharp and loud gunshot.

He watched in horror as Hanji, who was riding in front of them, fell off her horse, holding onto her leg. Eren could see the thick, red blood trickle from between her fingers, and saw the pained expression on her face. But what was more worrying, were the twenty rifles aimed straight at them.

Eren's heart left out one beat. There was no way he could transform into a titan at the moment, not after spending a week in that state.

Commander Erwin watched sharply at the people, who were approaching them. Sasha had gone to Hanji, and tried to help her stop the bleeding.

"Everyone, get off the horses", one of the men growled, aiming the rifle straight at the commander. After a small pause, Erwin gave an order:

"Everyone, do as he says."

In a moment, their horses were being taken away. Eren gnashed his teeth and glared at the men with anger. He remembered full well the time when a group of mountain thugs had taken Historia hostage and stolen all their gear.

"As I said, boss", a man suddenly spoke, stepping forwards. He was holding a cigarette in between his fingers. "Here we have commander Erwin Smith and captain Levi of the Survey Corps."

"Well, well, well", the group's assumed leader grinned, walking closer to the two, pulling out a pistol. "Guess we truly hit a jackpot here", he said as he pressed the gun against Levi's forehead.

Well, that was that :D I hope it made sense even somehow... I love to end in cliffhangers, sorry all xD The poem in the beginning is NOT mine, don't know the person it belongs to. Just found it from Pinterest and thought it was cool and fitting to the beginning of the story.

I know I was actually supposed to update my other fics before this one, but I seriously have the most inspiration on this story, and the credit for that belongs to you guys! I'm baffled by the positive comments I get from you!

Supergurkan: Ask and you shall receive! Hope the beginning has enough angst for you x) I'd like to keep these pretty one/two-shotty, but I won't forget the events of the previous chapters ;) Also, oh my god, canon or a spinoff? :3 That's so nicely said... I smile every time I see your comment. I love to have a loyal reader like you. Take care!

HeartElyse: Aww, I'm so glad you liked it! I tried to make the ending touching, and I'm glad you noticed my effort, hehe ;) I really hope you liked this one too!

Guest: Hello again, beloved Guest :3 I feel honored to be the first person to reply, although a little sad that no one else has done that. I feel like it's the least I can do for the readers who are kind enough to review! Also I feel highly honored by the fact that my fic is in the favorites-folder of your phone! This is my proudest moment... And I feel the same way, I tend to keep the romance in their own stories. This is purely adventure and friendship-fic :)

DraconisWinters: Thanks to yourself! I'm glad you enjoyed this little fic of mine, and I hope you'll be satisfied by the future chapters as well:3

Don't forget to review more, since your support and opinions are what keep me motivated :3

Alright then, toodles y'all and see you in the next chapter!