Here is the final chapter for this story!

It's actually a little late, which I apologize for but my laptop pulled some evil bull crap on the day I planned to edit :c

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters

Warning: Much blood, language, Character deaths, and emotional themes

Chapter 4

"Let me have everyone's attention!" Survey Corps' leader, Commander Erwin, called out to the melancholic soldiers waiting for the cue to head back home within the walls where there was no doubt that their failure will be unpleasantly recognized. "The wagons are ready, we'll be leaving soon! Mount your horses and get into formation!" Erwin ordered, hoisting himself onto his own charcoal steed.

Erwin's instructions were to keep Eren off of a horse and stabilized in a wagon with the miniscule task of holding onto the cases crammed with the important paperwork regarding the expedition. Levi, being forced to rest in the wagon as well due to his foregoing foot injury, insisted that he remain in the same wagon as Eren, prepared to protect the boy in the case of an attack.

"Levi," Eren hissed to the man besides him. "If I was riding a horse now I'd be crying in pain the whole way. Why didn't you warn me?" He asked all the while glaring at Levi and holding his aching lower back.

"It didn't cross my mind." He muttered, turning to Eren. "Aside from that, you realize what will happen when we get back right?"

Eren closed his eyes and sighed. "I'd rather not think about think about it but I guess I need to start working out a plan." He opened his eyes and left his eyes to linger on the passing trees. "I'm not even sure I'm capable of keeping a steady mind after learning about Annie this morning. Not only that, but now having to give up…" Eren eyes flicked over to Levi who had been directing his pupils at the contemplating boy the entire time. "…To give up this." Eren hung his head and concealed his face with a trembling hand.

"When we get back everything will be a messy unorganized blur. I can tell." Levi gripped Eren's hand. "But you need to focus on surviving okay? You're capable of withstanding setbacks like this. You're stronger than you think. Don't second guess yourself, focus, and I'll be waiting for you in the end." Levi held tightly onto Eren's hand behind the luggage and away from the other's line of view.

"Thanks Levi." Eren said quietly trying to wrap his mind around positive thoughts.

'Levi has gone through a lot and is still alive, still fighting, still relying on humanity to save him from this slump of a life he has now.'

Eren gripped Levi's hand back. He could tell Levi truly didn't want him to die. Levi didn't show much emotion, but Eren could tell. He wanted him to stay. He needed Eren to be his reason to go on. He has hope for happiness and Eren could see it.

Eren drifted closer towards Levi. "I'll stay with you Levi. I love you." He whispered for only Levi to hear.

"I hope so." Levi spoke faintly as he massaged Eren's hand within his own. He longed more than anything to hear those words and be assured that he could rely on Eren to cure him.

Reluctant faces soon arrived within the wall boundaries knowing that they'd receive truculent ridicule as soon as they appeared within the citizen's line of view.

Levi got out of the wagon immediately upon arriving within the walls. Sitting while others fought irked him for the entire trip, not to mention, if they wanted this pan to work it needed to begin promptly. "Hurry up Eren; we need to initiate the plan now."

"Right." Eren nodded grim faced. They'd lost more people along the way. More deaths, more anxiety, more fear. Eren was furious, nothing was going right. He'd been betrayed, pulled out of comfort, his teammates were dying one by one and he hadn't done a damned helpful thing yet. Eren's fist shook unwillingly as he dug hard into the dirt with his boots. Eren's breathing quickened while muttering curses under his breath. He needed to stay strong and calm down. He needed to put on his best for humanity. He needed to protect his comrades and most importantly protect himself, because protecting himself ultimately meant protecting Levi.

"Eren, let's go." Mikasa insisted as she approached Eren and Levi.

"Okay." Eren nodded to Mikasa. He turned to look at Levi once more before they'd be apart. He opened his mouth to speak but his words stopped in their tracks when he saw Levi's face. Its unemotional core was still maintained but now it was somehow different. Levi's face was paler than usual and his eyes stabbed through Eren. His mouth quivered slightly.

"Eren if you fight, you'll win." Levi said lifelessly, almost to himself, and then turned to leave and prep for the nearing battle.

"Be careful." Eren barely managed to say as Levi's form had already begun to fade away in the distance. Pain pierced through his chest. He wanted to hug and kiss Levi, to let him know that everything will be okay. Eren would fix everything for him.

'Just wait for me Levi.'

Eren hurried back to Mikasa who likewise stared as Levi made his departure. She focused her glare on Eren as her and he readied their selves for the battle.

"I don't think it was necessary to warn him to be careful," the words left her mouth softly, her eyes focused in front of them as they trudged through the dirt path. Eren looked to the side at Mikasa as she spoke nonchalantly. "It's not because I don't like that reckless midget, but I've seen him fight and his skills are beyond comparable to anyone else's. I'm sure, without a doubt, he could get himself out of any tight situation."

"I know. I know Levi's capable of surviving in this type of situation, but lately he's been…Never mind. It's nerve-wracking but I'll trust him as much as I can and focus." Eren's head lifted to observe the sky as he frowned. "I'll stop Annie. I have to."

"Annie, stop fucking around and come with us!" Eren yelled as he motioned Annie to lead them down the darkened tunnel. As according to plan, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin located Annie and asked her to assist in aiding Eren through security. She helped them to a point but if only she could've followed them into the tunnel she would have been cleared of suspicions. "Why aren't you moving?! Annie!" Eren was screaming now, the anger boiling up.

"We'll believe you if you come with us." Armin added, eyeing Annie hopefully.

"I'm not going…It's too scary." Annie called down as she reached a hand towards her face.

"Don't do it!" Eren ran at Annie with Mikasa passing by him briskly.

Within that moment, Annie was bound by the arms of several soldiers who'd been hiding out, waiting for her to make any rash moves. It proved impossible now for her to bite her own hand and transform but unexpectedly she pressed against her ring releasing a spike meant to pierce her hand thus initiating her inevitable transformation.

Armin, Mikasa, and Eren stepped back at the impact. Within seconds screams were filling the air as Annie, now a 14m blonde titan, ruthlessly took out whoever was in her way. Eren watched mortified as who he once considered a comrade, was now crushing fellow soldiers without hesitation. Eren couldn't take it, he didn't want to believe it, yet he could see the truth clear as day in front of his eyes. He watched his trust in the world shatter before him, deluding his train of thought. Eren stumbled back and ran alongside his friends as Annie reached through the hole, barely missing her chance to grasp them.

Eren couldn't think straight anymore but if his will to fight wasn't driven by humanity's best interest, it was fueled by the anger deep within him. The cries of civilians and soldiers flowed into his ears as Annie destroyed anything that blockaded her from Eren. He needed to fight. Now.

Eren gripped the skin of his thumb with his teeth and bit down hard. Blood oozed from his hand and dripped down streaming from his chin.

"Damnit!" Eren cursed causing Mikasa and Armin to cease running. "I can't let this happen now! I can't let-"Eren exhaled as he imagined Levi's distraught face before they separated. He still couldn't grasp the idea of Annie being the female titan or being a murderer but that wouldn't stop him from protecting Levi at any cost.

"You guys get out now! I can do it, I know I can." Eren said to his friends who panted breathlessly as their faces were showered with worriedness.

"But Eren, are you sure you can-" Armin began before focusing behind Eren as the ceiling began to crumble not too far from them.

"I am!" Eren insisted, slapping his hand in front of him to shoo them away. "Now go!"

As soon as Armin and Mikasa were far enough to not take damage from Eren's transformation he forced his teeth into his skin once again. The sky freshly visible to Eren and soon the air was filled with the sound of his roar. Eren steadied himself in his titan form and darted towards Annie, launching a fist directly at her face. Annie deflected the attack and grabbed onto Eren's other arm hurdling him into a building instantly turning it into a useless pile of wood.

Eren was on his feet quickly as he noticed Hanji standing on a rooftop out of Annie's line of view. Hanji gave the signal for Eren to lead Annie to herself and numerous soldier where a trap would be anticipating to stabilize her. Eren immediately ran the opposite direction of Annie knowing she would follow close behind. He stretched his legs as far as he could towards his camouflaged team waiting to attack. He scanned the area as he turned the corner of another building lined road and could finally see Levi positioned with the other soldiers, his eyes focused on Annie's approaching figure.

"NOW!" Hanji ordered sending hundreds of fleeting arrows through Annie's body causing her to be cemented in one position. It was true that Annie couldn't call for other titans to come to her aid but she was stronger than that. She ripped a leg free from the binding and pulled it around to knock out the immediate surrounding soldiers, extinguishing their gloats and sighs of relief upon having capturing her.

As with her leg, Annie released an arm and immediately yanked the rest of her free before sprinting towards Eren who remained virulent in the area prepared to attack. She took him down effortlessly with a strategic kick. He fell hard into another building, this time, the wooden blades stabbed straight through his body, giving him one less second to try and free himself. Annie took this opportunity and pounded aggressively against Eren's left leg with one of her own, then the right one likewise, in order to paralyze his mobility for the time being.

While she was focused on the grounded Eren, soldiers made their move and advanced towards her neck. The attempts were futile as Annie gripped the cords of their 3DMG and swung them into the surrounding buildings. More soldiers came only proving to become a tragic display for Eren who watched them get slaughtered again and again. Strangled screams grew louder as one by one each brave soldier her pursued Annie was taken down in an instant. Eren roared in fury helplessly, not being able to do a thing until the regeneration completely kicked in.

After taking out rough 15 men, Annie directed her attention to Eren. He was almost capable of defending himself but not quite yet. Right as Annie leaned in to further attack, two swords thrusted into Annie's eyes then churned as they dug deeper in the sockets. Her body arched upwards as she lifted her hands to her eyes quickly to remove the aggravating swords. Levi launched himself at Annie and slashed at her neck. Though it was shielded strongly, he managed to direct her attention from Eren. Annie's current state of blindness left her without an accurate line of attack. She swatted the areas she could hear Levi in, aiming to catch hold of his cord in the midst of his attacks.

Eren watched steadily in place, plummeting his fists into the ground and preparing to hurdle towards Annie as soon as his legs returned. He was almost there. He needed Levi to not fight as a distraction for him. He growled and grumbled in frustration, straining to return to his previous state of fighting.

While Annie's eyesight was still handicapped, Levi took a moment to move onto Eren's shoulder. "Eren," Levi began sternly raising his voice. "Don't let your emotions overcome your thoughts. Hurry and fight." He left Eren with that and sent himself flying at Annie again. She keenly turned around in his direction. Levi realized her eyesight must have healed at least enough for her to see his movements.

Eren was almost ready. Steam emitted from his body as he lifted himself up enough to prop on his left knee having one leg fully revived and the other one forming itself slowly. He was dying to get up. He could feel his right leg coming back to him. He was ready, cringing with the compulsion to fight. He eyed Levi's every movement closely and no close calls were made. Levi fought fiercely and thoroughly. He spun circles around Annie and sliced harshly at the flesh. Levi shot himself around her cautiously knowing exactly where and how to avoid her attacks. There was not one flaw in his technique. That was, until today.

Levi's 3DMG cord was pulled down strenuously by Annie's reflexive grasp. Shock struck Levi's face as he plummeted down towards the ground. Annie, still holding onto Levi's cord, prevented him from immediately clashing against the floor and pulled him into her hand.

Eren panted and growled anxiously as he watched Levi lifelessly get pulled closer and closer to Annie's upper half.

'Fight Levi!' Eren screamed in his head. 'You're better than this!'

Annie began to clench Levi in her fist but was jolted backwards by a kick Eren managed to throw at her, given with all the strength his injured body could handle at this point.

Relief spread over Eren as Annie's grip of the cord loosened giving Levi a chance to escape. Levi could manage it being as tactful as he was. Eren knew that Levi noticed the new opportunity for him to escape as Levi's eyes glided in Eren's direction. Levi wouldn't move. He had the brief chance to escape, to continue going but he wouldn't even move.

Eren was stunned again as he waited for Levi to make his escape.

'Now Levi….Go now….' Eren proceeded think. His gaze fixed on Levi's every movement that his dangling body reflexively made. Eren could see Levi's cold steel eyes reflect the desperation in his mind and a twisted smile barely formed on Levi's pale face as Annie regained her balance.

"Eren, I'm tired," Levi called out, his lips still cringing at their ends. "I'm tired of waiting, not knowing when I'll lose you, or when humanity will fall." Thin tears rolled down Levi's sympathetic face. "I'm sorry Eren."

Annie's hand containing Levi clasped together, streams of blood to splattered through the air. Scattered droplets fell against Eren's skin. Eren couldn't move now, his leg had regenerated to the point where he could get up but he was paralyzed in shock.

'He couldn't have…I thought he was healing…I thought I- ' Eren's thoughts silenced as his eyes followed Levi's limp body smash against the ground.

Eren, fully regenerated, lifted himself up and reached for Levi, grabbing his lightweight body and eased it down and off to the side away from being harmed even further. He flung at Annie, forcing all of his energy against her. Annie kicked her leg at Eren who dodged the attack by jumping back. Without hesitation, Eren ran at Annie, grabbed her with both hands and slammed her into a building.

Annie sat limp as Eren moved in, viciously ripping pieces of her apart, stabbing his fingers into her, scratching out the tendons that allowed particular limbs to fight back. He curved in and bit into her neck tearing apart as much as he could, roaring in frustration as he intend for her to feel his pain. He wanted her to regret everything as she died miserably.

"Eren stop! You can't kill her!" Mikasa warned heading towards Eren dander faced.

Eren could hear her but he couldn't stop, he wouldn't, it was impossible for him to draw back as images of the Special Ops Squad and Levi flashed through his mind fueling his energy.

Eren's destruction ceased as he was suddenly being forced against Annie, pushing into her, fusing with her.

"Eren!" Mikasa shouted, non-hesitantly launching herself at him. She landed on his shoulder and made her way to his crooked neck, tearing into it to reach Eren. Mikasa struggled while pulling Eren out from within his titan form but successfully released him and aimed her 3DMG at a distant rooftop far enough to secure Eren.

The surrounding team flew in aiming for Annie's nape to pull her out as well. The team's efforts were deemed pointless once Annie began to freeze over, securing her body in an icy capsule.

Unconsciously, tears had been rolling down Eren's closed eyes since being forced from his titan form.

He opened his watery eyes and winced sharply at the pain that overcame his body. "What's going on?" Eren asked looking up at Mikasa's relieved face. "Where's Capt-" Eren then remembered. He gazed through Mikasa, re-watching Levi's deadly impact in his head. He sat up instantly brushing away the excruciating pain.

"Are you asking about Captain Levi?" Mikasa asked, her relief now changing into a serious expression.

"Mikasa," Eren stared at her with a feeling mixed between confusion, hopefulness, and worry. "Please tell me that he didn't really…" He watched her eyes move down as she looked at the scurrying soldiers on the ground. He followed her gaze down and saw Erwin carrying Levi's body splotched with red all over. Levi's eyes remained open and unfocused, his smile faded. His head bobbed with each step Erwin took. Eren's mouth twitched as he tried to form words, but nothing would come out. His mind blurred as he attempted to piece everything together. He slowly stood up and staggered towards the edge of the roof wanting to reach Levi. Levi needed him. Everything would be okay if they were together.

"What are you doing?" Mikasa asked, grasping Eren's arm. He remained in shock, silently crying as the entirety of his body shook in fear.

"I n-need to see him." Eren stuttered. "He was fine."

"He's dead Eren." Mikasa looked at Eren whose emotion was drenched from his face. "Don't make any rash decisions." She said while moving her hand down to hold Eren's.

Eren wiggled his hand free and fell to his knees. He covered his mouth and started to cough into his hand gasping for air while a salty taste stung on his tongue.

"W-why? He was healing. I was helping him! I would've stayed with him no matter what! So why? Why Mikasa?! Tell me why he-" Eren grabbed his stomach hurriedly and lurched forward throwing up in front of him and off of the roof. He took sharp breaths trying to hold back any more repetitive outbursts as his body ached and his throat burned. He buried his face in his hands whimpering as Mikasa placed a hand on his back.

"I'm sorry Eren." Mikasa said leaning in so he could hear her faint voice. There was no reply. Only the muffled sounds of Eren's sobs blended into the frantic yelling of the soldiers below them.

"Eren Jaeger reported that Captain Levi was killed within Annie's grasp while she was in her titan form." Erwin informed the court judge during the meeting following the recent battle. "Without Captain Levi the Special Ops Squad may be forced to disband but we'd still like to keep Eren with us in the survey corps."

"After the previous failure to reach the basement of Eren Jaeger's home and causing the death of hundreds of soldiers, why would leaving him in your custody prove to be a good idea commander?" The judge asked, eyeing Erwin closely.

"Sir, after we discovered that the walls are made by a direct correlation with the titans, we've planned to use Eren's titan abilities to regain Wall Maria by the same process. With another chance, we'll take back Wall Maria and advance successfully to Shiganshina." Erwin said straight faced, not a hint of desperation in his words.

"Commander Erwin, you're putting me in a difficult position right now." The judge said while entwining his hands together. "But I'll allow you another chance because this young man is humanity's last hope." He lifted his mallet to dismiss the trial as an obscure cry was made.

"Why should we rely on humanity's last hope when humanity's strongest proved to be a failure?!" someone called out from the crowd.

Eren winced at those words. He knew Levi wasn't a failure, he understood after reflecting on Levi's last words what exactly happened. It was true that Levi could have continued relying on Eren and mended day by day as time passed but Levi's mind had snapped that day and in that moment his will to fight died leaving Eren to ponder for days on just what he had done wrong or how he could've prevented this. But now he didn't want to think about Levi or even hear anything relatively related to him. He became numb to Levi's existence, eventually dismissing it completely.

Weeks went by and the inevitable fights against the titans carried on with more and more being uncovered each day. The Special Operations Squad was decided on being reformed by Erwin's orders. Said squad was now made up of Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackerman, Jean Kirchenstein, Connie Springer, Sasha Braus, Historia Reiss and essentially Eren Jaeger.

Eren finally agreed completely to the mission concerning the recapture of Wall Maria though he was hesitant at first. Directly after the battle with Annie within the inner walls, Eren amongst others received nothing but ridicule, slanders about their missions saying that it was only killing off the human race and creating more poverty for the people living within the walls. Eren felt as if humanity didn't need him and he didn't need it anymore. The world was harsh, he knew this when he became a trainee, but he never truly understood the pain until now. The world he carried on his shoulders was becoming heavier and heavier as his reasons for holding it up slipped away with time. Reluctantly though, he accepted the mission to try and counter humanity's current stalemate.

"Okay Mikasa, all the wagons are loaded, so get your boyfriend and let's leave." Jean said walking into the Special Ops Squad's cabin.

"He's not my-"Mikasa started caught off guard by Jean's teasing words.

"Yeah yeah, just get him so we can leave." Jean said walking towards the kitchen to discuss the newest plans with Armin.

"Eren we're leaving now." Mikasa said while knocking on Eren's bedroom door. "Eren?" Mikasa opened the door and first thought that Eren must not have been in the room as she saw no one but when she opened the door further she saw him. Eren sat on his bed against the wall with a kitchen knife stabbed through the nape of his neck and leading out his front.

"Eren!" Mikasa immediately ran to Eren, her scream sending in Armin and Jean behind her. She checked if he indeed impacted his nape evidently destroying his regeneration capabilities. Mikasa grabbed onto his arms and looked into his dulled dilated eyes.

"Eren! Eren! He can't die! You can't die on me Eren!" She squeezed his arms and squeezed against his chest sobbing. The teas were near silent though blatantly visible.

Armin ran in, doing almost exactly as Mikasa by checking Eren while Jean grimaced at the sight. It was a scene he didn't like to associate himself with but Mikasa had become too important to him now and leaving her to cry wasn't an option. He walked over to her but stopped suddenly as a written letter folded on the desk besides Eren's bed caught his attention. Jean unfolded the paper and read the note. After his eyes glided over the last words he gripped the paper tightly in his hands before shoving it deep into his pocket.

"Fucking selfish coward." He mumbled glancing up at Armin and Mikasa with tears still streaming down their cheeks and slips of the name "Eren" still escaping their lips. "I won't let it end here," said the last of humanity's willpower. "It's not over until every last one of us are gone." Jean walked over to the two wailing teens and reached an arm over the both of them to pull them closer to him.

'I have a reason to fight. For better days, less corpses, and humanity.' Jean assured himself clenching onto Armin and Mikasa who shuddered beneath his hold. He had his comrades and the entirety of the human population to worry about. It wasn't about him and at that moment he made his resolution to continue fighting. The note in his pocket read:

With its strongest soldier and last hope gone, how will humanity be saved now?

Okay so I'm sorry?

Actually I really am, because I love this couple and then I just killed them, but it was like this really annoying urge that I had to work with and turn into a fic.

BUT

I think I mentioned before how I'm planning on writing a new Ereri fic and that one will NOT contain characters deaths for sure, it'll have a good ending I can promise that.

Thank you for reading Supplement, please review! My next fic will be posted on this account so follow me for the story alert if you'd like!~