[Two days earlier…]

Eren grabbed the plate of hard bread and tasteless soup before sitting down at the table. He could see Corporal Levi from the corner of his eye. The soldier was looking something over. A few other members of his squad were with him here in a secluded cabin, including Mikasa and Armin. It didn't occur to him that despite all being in the Survey Corps, the three childhood friends had been split up on several occasions. They followed orders reluctantly and bid hopeful farewells, praying that they'd all come back from a mission alive.

Eren was losing sleep and he could tell by the bags under his eyes he saw in the bathroom mirror. Here, he was confined to the basement most of the time, like an animal. He understood people feared him but…these were his friends. And if anything happened, Hanji and Levi could easily take his Titan form down.

"So what was that about the Titans in the wall, Armin?" Eren asked as he gnawed on the stale roll of bread. Mikasa seated herself beside him, her eyes dark and unreadable. Eren almost felt Corporal's glare from across the table but when he looked up, Corporal began rubbing a spot on the table with a piece of cloth.

The morning passed smoothly as the team formulated a rough plan with Captain Erwin, who left to spread the news to the units back on the wall, taking two soldiers with him. Eren walked down to his temporary room. The air was chilly and there weren't any extra blankets left for him. Reluctantly, he had to use his cape as a makeshift comfort and his hands as a pillow.

Mikasa and Armin were sharing rooms with other soldiers upstairs but were not allowed to visit him without permission. The rules were getting ridiculous. "There's nothing to do about it though," he sighed and sat on the military cot. The springs squeaked beneath his weight. As time passed, he expected Hanji to come down any minute to put him through another one of her experiments. Or maybe Mikasa or Armin would venture to keep him company. As he struck a match and lit a candle, the stairs creaked. Someone was coming to relieve him of his boredom!

"Armin? Mikasa?" he called.

"Wrong and wrong," answered Levi.

"What do you want?" Eren waved the match in his fingers to put the small flame out. Since this was the basement, there were no windows to let in sunlight.

"Do you always talk to your superiors that way?" Corporal countered and sat on the desk chair facing Eren's bed. His dark grey eyes scanned the room and then rested on Eren, as if the dust and dirt bothered him but Eren was the filthiest thing in there. It was an uncomfortable feeling.

"Sorry sir," he corrected himself, half fearful and half admiring. The Corporal was not a big and broad kind of soldier like Captain Erwin but everyone in Eren's district had heard of the great Corporal Levi from the Survey Corp, a man who could count as a whole squad. He remembered seeing Corporal for the first time through the throngs of people crowding in the street. The Corps had returned from another mission aimed at gathering more intelligence on the Titans but to no luck. Many a soldier had died, but at the time, that never occurred to him. All he saw was strength and glory.

But Corporal was a cold and off stand-ish type of person. Eren had never seen him crack a smile. He had zero sense of humor and was as solid as a mountain. That's what he liked about him.

The corporal's small shoulders carried a heavy load. Eren was a full head higher than him but that never stopped Levi from kicking his ass. He had heard that the Corporal used to be a criminal before he was forced into the Survey Corps by Captain Erwin. Before the Captain, Levi had never once been caught and confined in a jail cell. A simple thief became one of the greatest assets to the military. That had to prove something.

Levi sat there with arms crossed. He was wearing the standard uniform. He couldn't see it through the cloth, but Eren figured Levi was probably wrought with muscle. He imagined Levi without a shirt, tough curves running down his arms and abdomen. Wait, why was he thinking about this again? Yuck, he wasn't a pervert.

"I see you haven't cleaned since we've arrived," Corporal remarked rather offhandedly.

Was that an implied order to clean now or just an annoyed observation? "No sir, I haven't had that much time with uh…Hanji's experiments and planning the wall repair and everything. I can start cleaning now if you hand me the tools…"

"Yeah. Do that….But I'm not down here to talk about your shitty home keeping skills." There was Corporal's harsh potty mouth again. Everyone was used to it by now. It was to the point where Eren couldn't imagine Levi at a time he didn't have this sort of attitude.

"What are you going to talk about then?" Eren asked when Levi's attention had gone to a spider web in the back corner. He could see the man's lip twitch slightly, muscles tugging in disgust.

"Are you going to fix the wall?"

"What?" Eren brought his eyes back up from Corporal's tight lipped mouth.

"It's a simple yes or no question. Are you going to fix the wall?"

"Well…maybe, I'm not sure—"

"Maybe's not gonna cut it, brat," Levi growled. Eren felt himself shrink. "On average," Levi shifted his weight in the chair and crossed his legs. "Maybe half of the soldiers on missions return with their limbs. The ones who made it never want to face Titan scum again but they all know that they have no choice but to live the nightmare again."

"Is there a point to this speech?" Eren had lost the patience with these lectures. Wasn't it enough that so many people he knew and loved had perished? He knew what it felt like. He knew that everyone was dep—

Smack! A boot smacked him in the stomach, driving Eren off of the bed and onto his knees. He hadn't even seen Levi get up from the chair.

"Don't interrupt me," Levi said darkly.

"Don't kick me!" Eren replied. It was an invitation for a boot to the face which his corporal much obliged.

"I hate getting my shoes dirty," Levi looked down at the human Titan freak show crumpled on the ground. "Obviously talking to you while you're obviously constipated isn't getting us anywhere."

Eren looked up to see Corporal's face mere inches away from his. His breath caught in his throat. Corporal was so close. He could see nothing but fury in those dark eyes. Warm breath washed over him and he shivered. Eren almost never felt so threatened by another human being.

Levi grabbed him by the collar and wrenched him to his feet.

"You said it before, Corporal. We can decide to put our trust in others or ourselves but either way you'll never know the outcome for sure. All I want to do is kill these Titans and save humans from extinction. That's it. I put my trust in the others and it got them killed. You know what happened back in the forest! I believe in my own capabilities. Forgive me if I am not as trusting in you as you are in me."

There. He said what needed to be said. With closed eyes and flexed muscles he braced for another hit. Silence. Seconds passed and Corporal hadn't hit him yet. Eren ventured to open his eyes and saw that the Corporal was looking at him but not focusing on him. He was distracted. Had Eren brought up a taboo subject? After all, the Survey Corps members that were killed had been with Levi since the appearance of the Colossal Titan.

"So I'm sorry…" Eren repeated, wondering just how touchy Corporal really was.

"If you become a threat because you can't control your 'capabilities', I will have no problem killing you."

"I know, sir." More silence.

Sweat beaded on Eren's forehead . The room felt hotter than usual.

"It's hot in here," Levi said.

Did he read my mind?

"I'm going outside to get some air. You should come and cool down too, mouthy brat."

Was that a kind invitation or an order? Eren followed Levi up the stairwell and outside of the cabin without a word. More guilt tugged at his chest when he recalled what he'd said. Did he hurt Levi's feelings? No way. Did Levi hate him? Eren wouldn't blame him, but…he didn't want his corporal to hate him. Life was difficult as it was.

"Eren," Mikasa walked up to him from behind.

Eren gave Levi a last look before turning to face his friend. "Hey. What's up?"

Armin also arrived with a distressed look on his face. "We're going to launch the initiative in two days, which means we'll have to send in reinforcements tonight."

"Isn't Erwin taking care of that?" Eren asked.

"Yeah, that's right," Armin nodded.

"Two days, huh…I wonder if Haji is going to put me through more experiments to prepare me for it."

"Maybe," his blonde-haired friend bit his lip.

"If that woman hurts you, Titan form or not, just tell me and I'll take care of her," Mikasa added.

"Agh, Mikasa. You don't need to protect me all the time. I'm not your baby!"

Mikasa's expression didn't change. "We're all here to protect you."

"Yeah, Eren. We have to protect you since you're our only chance," Armin nodded. "We'll stay together, the three of us. No matter what you have to go through, Eren. You can count on us."

Eren saw Levi watching him across the lawn. They made eye contact for a second before Levi's stare broke away. Could he? Could he count on them? He couldn't even count on himself. "I can do it myself. My own will, my own strength. I will bridge the wall."