A/N: Sorry for being away so long! D: I've been down for the count for a few months because of an injury, but I'm back and ready to write!

Also, if anyone is interested, I have an account with Fictionpress under the name ObsydianWing is anyone would like to check out my latest, original work, "Riders of Haven". I'd greatly appreciate the feedback!

With that, enjoy!


It'd all been a blur. The call came out that the titans overtook Trost, and that they now had to begin fighting them back. It was five years ago all over again. Only this time there was no false hope that the soldiers would take care of everything. They all knew they were going to die, that the world they once knew was over with.

Trost had fallen, and humanity would be pushed back to the interior. The soldiers out of gas and waiting for death to claim them.

All hope was dead.

Jean combed a hand through his hair as he glanced over to Armin. The blonde had been too quiet… too shocked to speak to him. He'd tried everything to get him to talk to him… to tell him what was going on and how he'd managed to survive. But Armin was still as a statue. Cold and unfeeling. Everything he'd witnessed, everything he'd been through… it'd been too much.

The teen looked away from the blonde and grit his teeth. 'I should have been here for him… I should have helped him… he shouldn't have to go through all this! Not him! Not his gentle soul!'

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to find Marco looking down at him with reassuring eyes.

"Jean… it's not your fault…"

He smacked the hand away and turned forward once again. "Armin doesn't deserve to witness death. He's too pure, too innocent for it. And had I stuck around to stay by his side, to help him when he needed me…"

"Then you would have been killed." Marco interrupted. "Just like the rest of his squad."

"I'd happily die for him if it meant he got what he's been dreaming of for so long now." The teen admitted. "Even if we weren't… together… I'd still give my life for his. No one with a heart like his, with a mind more brilliant than any others, should live through knowing he watched his friends and allies dying."

Marco was silent then, backing away slightly when he realized that he wasn't getting through to the brunette. He was too angry, too upset to deal with Marco and his vapid little attitude about life and death. Jean couldn't deal with that right now, not with his gas on the brink of being extinguished and his nerves shot from watching death and destruction all around him.

A few moments passed by where Jean contemplated on what to do next. With their gas being low and the resupply headquarters being overtaken by titans, there wasn't much for them to do other than wait and pray the titans didn't see or care about them. Of course, that was just wishful thinking and he knew that just sitting around and doing nothing would be useless. Titans were faster than they thought and twice as ravenous as first believed. There was no getting out of this mess…

…they were all done for.

"Armin!" A familiar voice called, gaining Jean's attention.

He turned to see Mikasa talking to a half-dead Armin and asking him about what had happened to his squad and Eren. He could hear Mikasa begging for answers right before Armin began to crouch in on himself and begin tearing up. Before long, everyone knew of the devastation that hit the blonde and his squad… including Eren.

As much as Eren pissed him off, Jean was upset to hear about his death. Mainly because Armin didn't deserve to lose his best friend in that way.

Armin had mentioned many times before that Eren had been like a saviour to him when he'd been bullied. And so Jean really couldn't hate the guy due to this. Did he have some animosity towards him? Of course. But knowing that suicidal bastard did everything within his power to save Armin from the treacherous torments of youth and bastardization of society, Jean couldn't find it within his heart to truly hate the guy. Eren had been a good friend in the past, despite his lousy portrayal of one that had surfaced during training. Armin remained loyal because Eren had remained loyal.

And Jean found that to be quite refreshing in a world where friendships were hard to come by.

Of course, the news of Eren's death made Mikasa determined to show her prowess as a supreme soldier. And despite the hell that awaited her, she left towards the supply station without anyone else. Her duty was her own.

And so Jean made the decision to follow.

What did they have to lose? If they were still they were dead, and if they tried to retake the supply station they were dead but with a small chance at living. There really was no other option.

Stay and be eaten…

…or leave and die putting up a fight.

…well, if they were going to find his corpse, he'd rather it be found knowing he wasn't sitting around waiting for death.

He convinced the others to follow, making sure Armin was well within his sights as they moved forward. He followed Mikasa through the rooftops, making sure his gas wasn't wasted, and kept a close watch on Armin. Though he knew the blonde was a tough little nut all on his own, that didn't stop the fact that he was physically weak when it came to combat. If it came down to it, he'd defend him with his life as best as he could.

The teen landed on the rooftops and began running to save on gas when he heard someone join him.

"Jean, Mikasa's using too much gas." Armin noted to him. "Her supply is going to run out."

"What! Why would she be so careless!?" The brunette demanded.

"You may not be able to see it as clearly as I do, but she's taking Eren's loss too personal. She's lost the will to think straight."

"So what do we do to snap her out of it?!" Jean demanded once again.

The blonde turned to him with a look of determination. "You do nothing. Just get as many soldiers as you can to the supply station. Promise me you'll do that."

'What the hell is he thinking?' The teen thought to himself.

Without his answer, the blonde jumped into the air and sped off to follow Mikasa close behind. In mere moments he could see the girl falling to her death with Armin speeding off to find her.

The brunette almost lost his head when he saw this, immediately thinking about turning back to look for them, but cleared his mind when he saw Connie rush off to help them. With this he could only hope that they'd all come back in one piece.

The teen growled under his breath. 'I swear, if I never see Armin again, I'll search for Eren's corpse myself, cut off every limb, and feed his severed body to the crows!'

"KEEP GOING!" The teen commanded, leading the charge now.

'Please come back, Armin.'


Punching the asshole that had supposed to have been the one to help them out with the gas had felt amazing to Jean. Knowing he got his two pence was worth it despite having to be held back by Marco in the heat of his anger.

These bastards had no idea what was going on out there, how many lives were lost, and how many people were eaten alive. They had no idea of the devastation, of the absolute horror, that they all went through. Not to mention the stragglers who probably didn't make it, and Armin with Connie and Mikasa falling behind, and they couldn't supply the gas because they were cowering in fear! What an absolute disgrace of human skin! OF HUMANITY! As true soldiers they should have fought to the death to save as many people as they could, but instead holed themselves up like cowards!

How many people's lives were lost due to their incompetence and selfishness of human life?!

Jean didn't want to think of that…

…not when Armin could easily be part of the statistic.

Right as Marco loosened his grip on the teen, making sure he was just a little bit calmer than before, a sudden crash filled the air as titans surrounded the building in order to get at the soldiers. Because of this people began running for their lives and driving deeper into the building in hopes to live another day.

Jean, however, stayed behind.

'So this is it…' he thought to himself, 'this is how humanity ends. As fodder for the titans. This truly is hell beyond all reason.'

There was no escaping them…

…the end was now.

As if some miracle from beyond the makings of the gods themselves, the titans that had been reaching in to grab the soldiers, were suddenly punched away from the opening by another – more abnormal – titan. The screams it emitted making the world tremble at the very sound. Each step it took was with more purpose and fight than any other titan alive.

This titan… was not like the others.

In too much of a haze of shock and dismay, Jean failed to notice right away that Connie, Armin, and Mikasa had all crashed through one of the windows and rolled to safety. Their gas supply completely empty.

Jean held his breath when he saw that they were alright, mainly to stop himself from showering the blonde one affection and gratitude for his life being spared, he asked what exactly was going on and how they managed to get back.

"That titan over there," Mikasa noted, looking over at the abnormal, "it isn't like the others. It fights against its own."

"Yeah!" Connie exclaimed happily, patting Armin on the back. "And we have Armin here to thank for helping us see its potential as a weapon!"

The blonde groaned at the pain before standing up. "That's enough, Connie. We need to refill on gas and get the hell out of here. The titan will keep the others at bay while we get refueled."

The four teens made a mad dash away from the opening then, with Jean and Armin following Connie and Mikasa. Before they could make it down the stairs and into the supply room, however, Jean grabbed hold of Armin's elbow and pulled him out of sight from the others.

Before the blonde could question what he was doing, he was taken off guard with a rushed and lengthy kiss, immediately shutting him up and making him relax at the intimate moment. Why it had felt like a thousand years since their last kiss, he would never understand. But by the wall had it felt amazing to have this moment with him once again.

Jean parted from the shorter teen and rested his forehead against his. "Don't EVER scare me like that again."

Armin only laughed at this though. "No promises."