Desmond turned over in his bed, trying to find a way to sleep. He'd counted sheep in his head, deep breathing, nothing worked. Beside him, Mason slept soundly across from him, a calm and contented smile growing on his lips. No doubt his dream was a good one. Desmond threw off his blanket and snuck outside, quiet as a ghost. The crisp night sent shivers down his spine, and Desmond hugged his coat tighter. Over by the mess hall, he spied Bertold talking with Reiner and Annie, he ignored them, walking to the armoury and looking at the dark hut. Crickets were chirping in the tufts of grass that dotted the ring of dirt where they ran around every dawn.

"Trouble sleeping?" A voice said behind him. Desmond whipped around to find it was Jean Kirstein.

'Just the person I wanted to see…' a voice in Desmond's head buzzed, full of sarcasm.

"Yeah, got a lot on my mind." he answered, closing the doors and leaning against them. "It's Mason and Desmond."

"They fighting or somethin'? Twins are always a pain in the ass!" Jean rested against the wall to, chewing on his nails.

"No, it's not that. It's their skills."

"James is great at almost everything he does, and Mason tries his hardest, nothin' to worry about!"

"That's my concern." Desmond admitted, kicking a loose stone around, watching it bounce around. "They're going to graduate from the Academy in no time, and probably join the Survey Corps." This caused Jean to chuckle to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I didn't know that they were suicidal freaks like Yaegar. You're scared they'll get eaten?"

"Exactly! There's no way they'd settle for the Garrison, or the Military Police. What to do…" they both sat in silence, Desmond mulling over the different predicted outcomes of what could possibly happen to his younger brothers. Jean on the other hand, was thinking about how he could get into Mikasa's panties.

"What if… what if they didn't have the opportunity to sit the examinations?" Desmond turned to the young man from Trost, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? How could they not sit the-" his eyes widened at the realisation of Kirstein's idea. "You don't mean…"

"You could sabotage their equipment, make sure that they fail the cables exam."

"No, absolutely not!" Desmond stood up and started pacing angrily about. "I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Because they're part of House Pixis! We've been captains and commanders in all factions of the military since the Walls were built! To not join the military is shameful! They'd rather kill themselves than not serve!"

"So what are you going to do?"

"Thant's the thing, I don't fucking know!" Desmond punched the doors with all his might and rage, and the door shuddered open, leaving blisters in his knuckles. "Unlike you, we've faced the titans before. I had to kill one to save Mason and my mother, and then she died anyway!" His outburst caused Annie, Bertold and Reiner to stop their hushed tones and look over in their direction. One of the instructors opened his door and shouted at them to be silent, before slamming his door even louder than Desmond shouted.

Jean had no intention of upsetting Desmond like this. In fact, he wanted his help with the cables. He was one of the best in the class, only Mikasa and Annie could compare to him. Though he was in a real dilemma. Desmond was responsible for his brothers. James would immediately sign up for the Survey Corps, and drag Mason along. If that happened, they'd be titan chow.

"You're an inventor, right? Why don't you just build something?"


"What's the matter, Yaegar? Can't stand up straight!?" Instructor Shadis roared at the boy who was currently hanging upside down. The 104th Trainees Squad were on their last day of training before the cables test. Some of the recruits had taken an immediate liking to it. Mikasa and Annie had no trouble. Some on the other hand, like Eren and Connie, struggled. "Get down and let someone else try." Eren was glowering as he was unstrapped and moved to the back of the line. Shadis looked over the squad, at who hadn't tried out. "Pixis, Mason." Mason looked around nervously before approaching the apparatus. As the gears turned and Mason began to rise, Desmond could see his hips swaying from side to side sloppily. In the next moment, he was hanging upside down, arms dangling to the ground.

"I thought you were a Pixis, not a pile of cow shit, next!" Shadis yelled as Mason was lowered down.

"You did good," James said, slapping him on the shoulder. "Lot harder than it looks, ain't it?" Desmond looked around at the other recruits trying out the cables. His eyes landed on a girl who was floundering around on the apparatus, surrounded by other women trying to help her. She had plain brown eyes and brown hair tied into a ponytail. Pretty face, gorgeous figure.

"Hey Connie," Desmond nudged him and pointed towards the girls. "Who's the lass over there?"

"They're all cuties, aren't they?" Connie gave him a toothy grin, as if he were a shark. "You know Mikasa and Annie, the short blondie who's adorable is Krista, and the black haired quiet one is Ymir!"

"What about the one in the harness, brown hair, ponytail?" Upon recognising her, Connie started snickering at the sight of her.

"Potato Girl? She's hilarious!" Desmond remembered the events of the welcoming briefing that had dubbed the girl to be called 'Potato Girl'. Desmond couldn't quite remember her name, for all the good his mind was.

"She seems to be struggling." Desmond mumbled, looking at her with interest. As he approached her, Mikasa nodded to him.

"Eren's not doing too well." She said, almost whispering.

"Yeah, it's not easy." Desmond agreed, glancing over at Armin try to calm his fuming friend. "How you finding it, Krista?"

"Alright, thanks!" the blonde beauty smiled at him. "It's kinda fun once you get the hang of it!" Ymir stood quietly behind her friend, looking at Desmond with disapproval.

"It isn't easy, I'll-" Ponytail girl screamed as she fell from the harness and face planted into the dirt. "admit…" Desmond helped the girl up and she dusted herself off.

"Thanks," she panted, rubbing her strained midriff. The girl had a strange accent, hinting that she came from the countryside. "Name's Sasha, how you finding this cable thing?"

"Pretty hard, but let me show you a trick I learnt from Armin…"


"Man, my shoulders are killing me…" James groaned, laying face flat on the desk. "Mas, gimmie a massage, will ya?" Mason got up, telling his brother off for trying to show Thomas a flip.

"'Tenchun!" a voice rumbled at the door, Shadis stood there with another instructor, and a man Desmond had never seen before. On his jacket sat an icon that he'd only seen a few times before. It was a shield, cut into four segments. He worked for the Generalissimo.

"These are the three?" the man asked, watching two of them stand to attention and salute, and the third still laying face down on the table.

"Get your arse up Pixis, before I ram my boot up there so far you won't be able to sit down!" Shadis roared, coercing James to get up and stand with his brothers.

"My name's Alex, I'm a secretariat for the Generalissimo," the man said. "You must be the Pixis brothers. Dot wasn't lying when he said about how similar you all looked!"

"You three will now be working for him." Shadis announced, much to their surprise. "You will receive the same wages as a member of the Engineers Guild, as well as a bonus for everything you invent."

"May I have a look around?" Alex invited himself in anyway, browsing over their work, or what could be called work. Dismantled ODM gear, shattered blades and a few books were what they had to show for their work over the last month. "What's this?" the secretariat looked at a map of the three Walls and all the lands within them. Several dots had been painted on, as well as a maze of connecting squiggles.

"That's just something that Mason come up with," James answered.

"I-it's nothing really!" Mason immediately tried to bundle up the map in his arms, but Desmond was faster, snatching it up and presenting it to the two teachers.

"It's a plan of how we can reduce casualties when the titans break through Wall Rose and Sina." Desmond explained while James held his twin back. "The main reason that humanity lost so many people when Wall Maria fell was because there was no one to tell all the towns and villages."
"Interesting," Alex nodded in thought. "What do these dots and lines mean?"

"Each dot is a watch house, a barracks if you will. The red lines are the routes that the soldiers garrisoned there will take to go to all of the towns in the area." Alex started at Trost, his finger training up the red lines. At every dot they branched of into several directions, the interlocking web spreading far and wide.

"You'd need to have either the Military Police or the Garrison Regiment do the runs," Shadis grunted, looking disinterested. "What do you think, Secretariat?" The man was silent, eyes darting to and fro.

"Gentleman, you've just saved millions of lives." Desmond smiled, proud of his brothers.

"This is amazing!" James laughed. "We've actually invented something!"

"I wouldn't exactly call it inventing something," Mason mumbled, smiling meekly.

"I shall take it before the government for examination," Secretariat Alex explained. "Upon approval, you will receive payment into your family bank accounts."

"Give half of my share to the Scouting Legion," Desmond ordered, much to the surprise of all in presence.
"…Are you sure?" Alex asked, clearly perplexed.

"I'm certain." With all said and done, the secretariat and chief instructor left the brothers to their work.

"Desmond!" James barked. "Why the hell did you just give your money away? We needed it!"

"No we do not," Desmond replied, sitting in a chair and opening a book. "We almost have too much money! With father's fortune, the steady wage Seamus earns as head of the Trost Garrison, and what we earn, there's too much money! It needs to be used for good."

"By wasting it on the Scouting Legion?" Mason asked, folding his arms. "I don't understand why."

"To make an impression."

"A what?" James grunted, picking up a sword and swinging it around.

"An impression. If we help Commander Erwin Smith, he'll repay us when it's time to. Plus, the Survey Corps-"

"Scouting Legion," Mason corrected.

"I thought it was just the Scouts?" James asked.

"Anyway," Desmond sighed. "They need all the help they can get. Besides, I want to make a good impression if I'm going to join!"

"Hey Desmond!" Eren shouted from the door. "Jean and Connie broke the water filtration system again! Can you fix it?"

"Let me take a look!" The older brother nodded, grabbing a bundle of tools from the table and following him. The twins looked at each other, not saying a word. Even so, they both spoke the same thing.

We cannot let Desmond join the Scouts. We have to stop him.