Hey guys RonaldWeasleyTheHero here, got another chapter all done and ready, hope you enjoy it. the first Arc of Commander will be done in the next 1 or 2 chapters then were going to start a new one essentially. Anyway its Aruani week and i urge anyone reading to write some aruani of their own, i even added a little bit lol =) see you guys next chapter!

Chapter 8: Bluff

Erwin Smith's blue eyes roamed the documents in front of him rapidly, taking in all the information Shadis had managed to scrounge up for him, it was all of Armin Arlert's grading history for the time he was in the academy. It was as expected, his academics were far above the rest of his scores. He was honestly impressed, these were the best grades he had ever seen for any trainee.

The door creaked open and Erwin shifted focus from the papers to his number one soldier who had just stepped into the dim office.

"You needed me?" Levi walked in, looking bored and uninterested as always.

Erwin beckoned him to the chair in front of his desk and Levi sat down without a word crossing his arms and waiting patiently, he knew that Erwin would tell him whatever was on his mind.

"Levi, would you be willing to let me borrow you and your squad for an evening?"

"Borrow? What for?"

Levi knew that the next expedition was in a few months at best, so him and his team would not be fighting titans anytime soon so what could he possibly need?

"I'm putting some small things into motion, you and your team are not only extraordinary titan slayers but exceptional soldiers as well. I will need you and them in order for this to go as smoothly as possible."

"In order for what to go smoothly?" Levi was beginning to get irritated, usually Erwin did not start manipulating everyone into his schemes till they knee deep in titan blood.

Erwin was quiet for a moment before linking his fingers together, his gaze locking onto his subordinate.

"Do you trust the Military Police, Levi?"

Levi raised an eyebrow, "Is that a rhetorical question...?"

"I'm going to assume by your answer that you don't, but are you aware that by most citizens The Military Police are portrayed as the best and most honorable soldiers we have to offer."

Levi scoffed, "The Military Police is honorable? I believe that bullshit about as much as I believe Auruo is 19..."

"He is, I've checked his file." Erwin stated, a bit amused.

"I Still don't believe it..."

"It matters not, the fact is that the incompetence of the Military Police have risen to new levels and so has their corruption."

"So what...as long as those low lives stay in the inner wall and out of my sight I'm fine."

"Yes, I agree wholeheartedly, but are you aware that one of those low lives transferred to the Survey Corps a few months ago."

"Transferred?" Levi was genuinely surprised by the news "I didn't know you could do that."

"You can, it just has never been done before. but not only did it happen, it did so twice."

Now Levi was intrigued "Twice, what do you mean?"

"5 months ago, there were two transfers from the Military Police, one to the Garrison and another to the Survey Corps."

"You think there is a connection?"

"Yes," Erwin began to look through the many papers on his desk and pulled out two that looked exactly the same. Levi, noticed the picture of the small blonde trainee who had injured himself saving his big nosed girlfriend.

"It's that kid you've had a hard-on for all this time. What about him?"

Erwin handed the two files to Levi who took it and started to examine the contents, he gave an impressed nod to the kid's academics which were the highest he had ever seen, the rest of the file showed the kid's overall ranking, exercise score, and in bold red a minor summary explaining how he was injured and his transfer date to Wall Sina. He looked at the other document but paused when he noticed they looked exactly the same. "You made copies..."

"Yes, several, though I happened to misplace one recently." Erwin stated, The tall Commander leaned forward "Did you know that the transfer likes to practice his knife throwing skills alone in the lounge after sunset."

"That's a stupid question, of course I don't know that."

"Well, I unfortunately misplaced it there yesterday night after sunset."

"Misplaced..." Levi began to get suspicious.

He took another look at the papers and then back to Erwin who seemed to be staring right through him.

"The only thing different about these papers from any other recruits is that they show that he's injured and transferring to Wall Si-"

Levi's eyes widened as things started to click into place.

'He needed me and my squad, Corruption, transfers, misplaced...the transfer date.'

Levi finally had a small inkling to what was going and he did not like it, not one bit.

A scowl came across Levi's face, the first sign of his disapproval "Erwin...What did you do?"

Erwin's demeanor remained calm "What was necessary,"

He stood up "Time is short, gather your squad and equip them with rifles from the Armory. Swords will do them no good in this situation, but I suggest you still bring your Maneuver Gear along with you."

Levi walked past Erwin, the blonde Commander could see the conflict in his subordinate's eyes.

"Levi...do you trust me?"

Levi gave a slow nod, "Yeah, more than anyone, and you damn well know it."

"So trust me now..."

Levi walked out into the hallway "Fine, but whatever happens to this kid, it's on your hands."

Erwin followed Levi, they needed to find his squad so they could move out.

Levi often times wanted to know more about what Erwin was planning. More than once on expeditions he would have to make due with little to no information only blind faith in his commander. He was constantly kept in the dark and he detested it, but as he walked the narrow hallways of the Survey Corps headquarters in search for his team, he came to the conclusion that maybe sometimes it was best not knowing.

Eh, right now!?" Petral Ral looked at her superior in mild shock as she held a mug inches from her face.

"Yes, right now." Levi answered impatiently

"Are there anymore details you can give us, Corporal?" Eld shin asked, his face clearly showed his surprise and his suspicion.

Auruo bossard stood up, his smile as smug as it always was "No matter, just give me a sword corporal and it'll be business as usual."

"Corporal," Gunther spoke up "I'm sorry, but to go outside the wall without proper planning and numbers seems unreasonable...no disrespect sir."

"I agree with you Gunther, but we're not going outside the walls."

Levi Squad blinked at the news waiting for their leader to elaborate. "We're heading to wall Sina or somewhere near it, and We're taking firearms too."

"Guns?" Auruo's face contorted in disgust, "Those things lack elegance Corporal."

Despite his tendency to bullshit, Levi could not help but agree with Auruo.

"If Wall Sina is involved with whatever is going on then shouldn't this have been left to the Military Police?" Petra's question was mirrored in the faces of his squad and Levi let out a sigh.

"Normally, but certain matters demands our intervention." Levi explained, The small Corporal could tell they wanted more from him, after all in their line of work information could be the difference between life and death. The last thing him and his team wanted to do was to go in blind and end up dead.

"Those are our orders, were soldiers so we will follow them as we should." Levi walked out of the room, expecting his squad to follow "Enough chit-chat, we gear up, and we move out!"

He could hear voices, not the ones that had captured him but voices nonetheless. He could smell it, the filth, the death, the blood. He could also taste, every breath he took left something foul in his mouth. He wanted to see though, to witness with his very own eyes where he was, and what they intended to do with him. With great effort Armin opened his heavy eyes to see metal bars directly in front of him.

Armin felt like someone just stuck a sharp knife through his stomach.

"No..." His voice came out in a hoarse whisper, his throat still aching from where the man had grasped it so tightly.

"This can't be happening..." Armin rolled over and dragged himself over to the metal bars, His uninjured foot was tied to a nearby pipe with a rope but it was long enough to allow him to reach the bars. he grabbed them, willing them to break under his strength.

Strength he knew he didn't have.

"Please...please..." He was begging to an inanimate object. This was a new low even for him.

"Oh shit!" The startled voice got Armin's attention, his focus shifting from the bars to the man on the other side that had not been there a few seconds ago. "Hey, the kid's awake!" he shouted.

Just like that the sound of footsteps could be heard as multiple people rushed to his position. Armin crawled himself to the farthest corner of his cell, wanting as much distance from him and his captors as possible.

A tall, heavy, balding man with slightly tanned skin carrying a sharp knife in his side-pocket walked up to the bars, his form being flanked by six others.

"Hey there boy, we're not going to hurt you if you behave. We just wanna know a few things that's all."

The man was smiling at him, Armin almost vomited at the man's sickening attempt to play nice.

Armin began to drown out the man as he spoke, his mind racing to find a solution to his problem. Just by the few snippets of conversation Armin had heard before he was captured this was some kind of human trafficking operation. That meant he was suppose to be sold to some person?

'And who the hell is going to buy a broken product you idiot!'

Armin gulped as he remembered what the man had said, He had a broken leg, he was of no use to anybody in this condition, and he did not expect the inhuman criminals in front of him to treat him till he was all better.

And worst of all they were not just going to let him go.

Armin's eyes widened in horror as the truth dawned on him.

They were going to kill him.

"Hey blondie! Dont space out on us now, we just want to ask you something," one of the men behind the big one said.

He was going to die.

"Hey is he even listening!?"

They were going to murder him and leave him in some ditch somewhere.

"Did the kid go deaf! Open the cell!"

He would never be fou-

Armin Arlert was forced out of his thoughts by the vicious punch that was given to him by the large man, the small blonde's head snapped to the side as pain erupted from seemingly all directions.

Armin gasped and choked, feeling blood pool on the insides of his mouth.

"Now listen up, you promise to cooperate and we'll make it quick, no pain."

Armin was still gasping, trying to catch his breath and recover from the strike.

A door behind the men slammed open and Armin looked up to see another one running inside looking out of breath. Armin let out a pained gasp, he was Survey Corps, the jacket with the wings of freedom on it proved it. Was he in on it, was he not going to receive any help from anyone?

The big one turned his attention away from Armin to glare at the new arrival. He stomped over and grabbed the officer slamming him against the wall.

"You're info was complete crap you know that, not only was there one kid but he's injured!"

The Survey Corps officer looked frightened, "I knew the kid was injured when I read his file, but I told you I thought that there would be more! they always have like five or six of those kids on them, I only really looked at the date of the transfer, I have no idea why he was the only one in there!"

Armin barely registered the conversation, his head was spinning in all different directions.

'-min, Armin!'

was that his name, who was calling him? Whatever, it didn't matter he was so freaking tired.

Everything was so...pointless.

The world began to blur as an image began to take form in front of him.

A small blonde boy lying on the ground, rubbing his bruises.

A tall dark haired girl wearing a red scarf standing behind an angry looking boy that had blood running along the side of his mouth.

'Ah...why am I remembering this now?'

His mind took him to a place far away.

'Armin!'

"Armin!"

Armin could not look his best friends in the eye as he rubbed the bruises forming on his arms, he could practically feel Eren's frustrated glare on him.

Mikasa was silent but he could clearly see her disapproval.

"Why don't you hit them back damn it!?"

Armin looked away "Because I don't like fighting..."

Eren glared viciously at him. Armin knew that it wasn't aimed at him, but it was still a terrifying sight to see

"If they ever seriously hurt you Armin...I'll kill them."

Armin looked at his friend in horror "E-Eren you can't kill people!"

Armin did not notice the look that Mikasa gave Eren as she grabbed the scarf on her neck to pull it closer.

"Why the hell not! They won't even leave you alone, they rip up your books! They beat you up and all you do is take it!" Eren grabbed Armin by the collar of his shirt "Are you going to spend your entire life being a coward!?"

Mikasa decided to separate them pushing Eren off the smaller blonde. "Eren, that's enough."

Eren backed off still looking angry as Mikasa approached him to help him up "Armin," She began, her voice impassive. "Why don't you fight back?"

"Because I don't like hitting people..."

"I never said you have to hit them Armin...Eren only knows how to punch things that's the way he fights back."

"That's not the only thing I know!" Eren retorted incredulously, but he was silenced with a warning sideways look from her. She turned back to the blonde.

"But what about you, Armin?"

What was she saying?What did she mean by that?

He didn't understand.

Eren pushed past Mikasa and kneeled down to stare Armin in the face, this time he seemed much calmer. "Look I'm sorry alright but what would you do if someone tried to take away your dream, Armin?"

"I-i don't know..."

"Well I do, I would fight! I don't care how you do it Armin, just fight!"

'I don't care how you do it Armin!'

It was as if something in the Air had changed, his teeth clenched and his eyes narrowed.

'But what about you Armin?'

The words of his friends felt like they were pounding in his skull.

These men, they wanted to take everything from him. His life, his dreams.

Everything!

'Just fight!'

The words thundered in his head, life rushing through his body and soul.

Armin spit up some blood, an idea forming in the back of his mind. If he could just buy some time and get free, there was a small chance he could make it out of here.

He would hop, crawl, whatever he needed to do he would do it if it meant getting out of here alive. A fire rose up inside in him, determination and anger consuming him.

He would live no matter what.

The words needed to set his plan in motion spilled from his mouth without hesitation, "You're all under arrest!"

If he hadn't been so fixated on his thoughts Armin would have laughed at the gaping mouths and the deafening silence that followed his statement.

He locked gazes with the big one, urging, daring him to reply.

"What the hell did he just say...?"

"I said you're under arrest for Human trafficking and crimes against Humanity!" His voice seemed to echo around the room, there was so much conviction in his voice that for a brief moment even Armin himself actually believed that these men were being arrested.

But he didn't need everyone to believe him, not yet at least, just to doubt.

"You wanna repeat what you just said kid?" The already tall man seemed to grow twice in size as he approached Armin.

Armin looked in the man's eyes and never wavered.

"The building is currently surrounded by Military Police officers, I have full authority over this investigation so if you give yourselves up without resistance there is a chance I can work out a deal and not have you executed for your crimes!"

The one from the Survey Corps stepped up "There is no way this kid is part of the Military Police, I've never even seen him before!"

"You left the Military police you idiot!"

Armin observed the soldier.

'He was part of the Military Police, this must be related to how he got information on me and my whereabouts. But why is he wearing a Survey Corps uniform he must have left somehow, and judging by his look he's no older than 15, he must have graduated in the last class so assuming he chose the military police first then he must have only been in the Survey Corps for a very short time probably less than a year.'

Armin's focus shifted to the largest one.

'The bigger one is clearly the leader and the smartest one, if he starts to suspect the Survey Corps soldier then the rest will follow and since he supplied the info...'

Armin smirked, "Your colleague here was fooled, The Military Police launched an investigation a year and a half ago into a Human trafficking operation with plans to bring it down, We took all the necessary measures to Concoct a plan in order to deceive you! "

'Be vague, ambiguous. Let them make up their own questions.'

"No way, there was nothing like that going on, Hes lying! All we did was play cards and drink wine!"

"How would you know, didn't you hear what the brat said! This was before you were even around!" One of the men told the Soldier who began to tremble.

'So my guess was right, when it comes to information past a certain point they are completely blind.'

All they could do was take Armin's word for it.

'Now start doubting each other, especially him!'

"How did you get your information?" The question washed across the room and all eyes turned to the large man, he was staring at the soldier waiting for an answer.

"I f-found it near the lounge in the Survey Corps."

The man gave him a hard look "You just found it? You just found it!?"

'Exactly what I needed! I didn't even need to invalidate his Military Police source!'

Armin latched on the information like a hawk hooking its claws into its prey "We worked in tandem with the Survey Corps to plant the information knowing that you would respond! We allowed you to capture me so we could follow you to wherever your base of operations were."

Armin smiled feigning confidence in his statement "That is why I was the only one present, we as protectors of the citizens could not risk anyone else's safety in this operation. So I will repeat this again give yourselves up now."

There was no movement, only silence, But Armin could feel the small seeds of doubt that he had planted into his words growing into wonderful fear.

"We were set up, we were set up!"

The big one sill somehow remained calm but Armin could also see some form of uncertainty lingering beneath his demeanor.

"How do we know you're telling the truth? You're just a kid, you don't even look old enough to graduate, What makes you so special.!?" He asked.

"His file, I remember now...he-he's some kind of genius or something all his scores were like perfect..." The Survey Corps soldier stated his voice was barely a whisper.

Armin almost laughed, 'Be vague enough and they'll make up answers to their own questions'

"I was specifically chosen for this and allowed to graduate early in order to bring you down!"

Armin could not have planned it better himself as he could see the trepidation in their eyes.

"I-im not going to go to prison for you assholes! I'm out of here!"

Armin could feel his heart soar as a domino effect set in.

"Holy shit I am done with this!"

"We're so screwed!"

"You stupid asshole, you ruined everything!"

the last one shoved the Survey Corps soldier out of the way who didn't seem to even register the contact, his eyes wide with dread as his situation dawned on him.

He dropped to his knees "Its over...my life is over."

The man began to sob and the sight of it made Armin slightly angry.

'How many people have you condemned to the same fate...?'

The soldier stood up slowly and began to run out leaving only him and the large man who was sweating nervously. His gaze shifting back and forth from the door to the blonde boy in front of him.

He seemed to make his decision, taking steps towards the door to leave.

'Not yet...' Armin thought.

"Except for you..." The large one stopped and turned to meet Armin's cruel, belittling smile, The blonde trainee knew he was faking. but even he felt a little unsettled by the disturbing look that was surely spread across his face at this very moment. "You assaulted an officer..." Armin laughed before glaring at the man "I will make sure they hang you good!"

In just a few seconds the man had ran across the room to wrap his hands around Armin's neck, lifting him up making his feet leave the ground.

Unfortunately in his rage, he failed to notice Armin's thin fingers slowly wrapping around the blade in the man's side pocket.

He took the sharp weapon out softly making sure that the man did not feel a thing.

"I Should kill you, you little shit!" his grip became tighter, and Armin realized these were the same hands that had bought him here in the first place.

Armin started to feel lightheaded, if he needed to do this he would need to do it now. Armin positioned the blade near the man's stomach his hands shaking.

He had to do this, he needed to do this.

He would have to become a murderer to live.

With that final thought Armin-

"Hey we need to leave!"

Armin felt himself fall to the ground as the pressure around his neck finally ceased.

"You can't kill the kid, do you know what they would do you if you killed a Military Police officer!'

The heavy man scowled and gave Armin one last look of loathing before running off with his associate the door closing behind them with a loud bang.

Armin was frozen in place as he now gazed at the empty cell before him.

'It worked...it actually worked!'

Armin wasted no time as he began to cut the rope that constrained him. When he could no longer feel the tightness of the rope around his feet Armin stood on his uninjured leg to open the cell door that they forgot to close in their panic.

Armin took one step but stumbled as even that movement caused an unbearable jolt of pain to rush through his limbs. Fortunately Armin knew he could do this, he had done this before and knew the best way to go about it. Armin Arlert stayed close to the wall using it to guide himself through the dank dungeon like location he found himself in, A blade held tightly in his grasp, and the hope for freedom held tightly in his heart.

Hope you guys liked it, i had a blast writing this chapter. I can't stress enough how much i love Armin =).

this shit cray: ok...lol I'll take as a compliment :)

Adventure Span: lol thank you, but it's honestly thanks to my beta reader, she really enhances the quality of my writing, but thank you!

Brook Uchiha Daughter of Zeus: lol keep reading and you'll see XD

waterxeno: well if you read this chapter, armin conjured up a plan, but is he safe yet? we'll see =) and the thing with Annie, i guess you'll find out.

Thank you for all the reviews, next chap will probably come after Aruani week since ill be busy, anyways enjoy!